But Smeargle is one of the best Baton Passers of all time! Of all time!
Opening Notes: Okay, now that we've gotten that out of the way, how is everyone doing this evening? Good, I hope. Well, let me make this very clear before I go indepth with this team. I do not like Baton Pass. It is a attack that can easily screw you over at the wrong time, or it can be the savior that you need in an emergency. So far, Baton Pass has been the latter for me.
Team Creation Process: Well, I was browsing various forums on competitive battling when I came across a post that caught my interest. The post read "Dual Screen Azelf is on the rise concerning usage". I found that interesting since throughout my entire time on Shoddy, which is quite a bit if I do say so myself, I had never once seen a Dual Screen Azelf. So, I decided that the next team I made would feature it as a Lead. Now I've got one Pokemon decided.
Current Team:
Team Creation Process: Now, since I'm using Dual Screens, it would behoove me to use a Pokemon that can set up easily, but still be a bit unpredictable. I decided to use a Baton Passer in this slot, so I started running down the list of Pokemon that could use Baton Pass, crossing out the Pokemon that wouldn't work on my type of team. I was looking for both Bulk and Speed, so that alone eliminated a large bit of the list. I eventually narrowed it down to either Zapdos or Gliscor. Zapdos lost for the fact that it can, at the very most, pass only Speed. It has the potential to pass Special Attack boosts with the aid of Charge Beam, but Charge Beam is such a weak move by itself, so I decided to go with Gliscor for its ability to pass Attack and Speed, Bulk, and typing.
Current Team:
Team Creation Process: Okay, now that I've got a Passer, I need a reciprient for those boosts. Now, what could put both Attack and Speed boosts to good use, and have amazing coverage? The answer was simple: Lucario. Lucario has great attacking status from both side of the spectrum, and its only real weakness is its lack of Speed, unless you decide to give him a Choice Scarf. So, Lucario was the newest addition to the team.
Current Team:
Team Creation Process: Now I've got a slight problem. Gliscor is weak to Ice attacks, while Lucario is weak to Fire, two of the main types of attack in the OverUsed tier. I need a Pokemon that can resist both types, have plenty of Bulk, and, hopefully, put any Attack or Speed passes to good use. Scrolling down the list of OverUsed Pokemon, I happened to see Snorlax, which has gone down in usage lately. With its ability, Thick Fat, and its massive HP and Special Defense stats, its like a wrecking machine. Give him a Swords Dance and the only thing killing him is his terrible Speed, which is somewhat remedied by Rock Polish.
Current Team:
Team Creation Process: Another problem just arrived. I have a weakness to Fighting type attacks. Now normally, Gliscor would be able to take Fighting attacks like a pro, but Gliscor is only supposed to show up once or twice during the match, set up, and pass. No more, no less. Now I need a Pokemon to absorb Fighting attacks, so the obvious choice would have to be a Ghost type. This would cause a weakness confliction with both Azelf and the chosen Ghost, but Azelf usually doesn't live that long anyway, so it's not a problem. What was a problem, and still is, is choosing the Ghost type to use. I had to major choices, both of which are good: Choice Scarf Gengar or Choice Scarf Rotom-H. Now Gengar has a higher base Speed and Special Attack at its disposal, but it really lacks HP, which can hurt it with the constant switching it will have to do. Rotom-H has pretty decent base HP stat, and its Special Attack is nothing to scoff at. The only thing is its Speed, which isn't the greatest in the world. I chose to go with Rotom-H for the bulk that it carries, but if anyone can give me a decent reason as to why I should switch to a Choice Scarf Gengar instead, I might be swayed.
Current Team:
Team Creation Process: Okay, now I've got practically all bases covered, except for one. I want more chances to send Gliscor in incase I wasn't able to set up early in the match. He easily comes in on Ground attacks that could kill Lucario, no questions asked. But I wanted there to be at least one other Pokemon that could work well off of Gliscor's typing. Eventually, I found it in Gyarados. Gyarados loves to recieve Speed or Attack boosts from Gliscor, and Gliscor can absorb any Electric based attacks sent Gyarados' way. And with that, I found the last memeber of my team.
Current Team:
Team Creation Process: Well, I got a reply that gave me a great bit of advice that I had forgot to mention. Their advice was to use Metagross over Lucario. While I was a bit apprehensive at using Metagross, seeing as its not as versatile as Lucario, I tried it out and it has worked perfectly so far. I've also tried out Hariyama and both have worked well off of one another, so I'll be removing Lucario and Snorlax from the list of Pokemon. Also, Rotom-H and Gyarados will be changing slightly.
Current Team:
Team Creation Process: Once again, the team has changed, this one prompted by the reply I got from locopoke. He mentioned that Hariyama wasn't doing much for the team, and I have to agree with him. I had placed Hariyama on the team to cover for Gliscor's weakness to Ice type attacks. However, Metagross easily absorbs those same Ice attacks, and he can hit back even harder, with or without a Swords Dance. Locopoke suggested replacing it with a Cresselia, which could set up Dual Screens in replacement of Azelf. Rotom was also removed, but not for a Offensive Suicune like locopoke recommended. Rather, a Gengar. My reasons will go more indepth during the analysis.
Current Team:
Indepth Analysis
Team At A Glance
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Azelf (U) @ Light Clay
Type: Psychic
Ability: Levitate
Nature: Naive
EV's: 6 Atk | 252 SpA | 252 Spe
Type: Psychic
Ability: Levitate
Nature: Naive
EV's: 6 Atk | 252 SpA | 252 Spe
~ Psychic ~
~ Taunt ~
~ Stealth Rock ~
~ Explosion ~
~ Taunt ~
~ Stealth Rock ~
~ Explosion ~
Originally, a Dual Screen Azelf had this slot as the Lead Pokemon. However, after a reply from locopoke, I realized that I was depending on Azelf to do way too much for the team. I was expecting it to be able to set up Stealth Rock, Dual Screens, and maybe use Explosion if I had the opportunity. I managed to pull off all four moves about 70% of the time during a battle, but the other 30% was a coin flip. I'd have to analyze the Lead against me, decided whether it was Physical or Special based, activate one of the Screens to help defend me, then either set up Stealth Rock or set up the other Screen. Usually, the opponent would go for Stealth Rock, letting me set up all three. I changed to a normal Lead Azelf to help alleviate the pressure I constantly put on it. I might change it to a TrickZelf in the future. Tests are currently pending.
Gliscor (M) @ Yache Berry
Type: Ground/Flying
Ability: Hyper Cutter
Nature: Timid
EV's: 252 HP | 196 SpD | 60 Spe
Type: Ground/Flying
Ability: Hyper Cutter
Nature: Timid
EV's: 252 HP | 196 SpD | 60 Spe
~ Swords Dance ~
~ Rock Polish ~
~ Taunt ~
~ Baton Pass ~
~ Rock Polish ~
~ Taunt ~
~ Baton Pass ~
Gliscor is the main star of the team, passing stats around as quickly as possible. The main idea behind this set is to come in on something that will most likely can't do any real harm to me, and as they switch out, use Rock Polish. With Rock Polish, I outspeed a Choice Scarf Jirachi, and shut down its Trick with Taunt, forcing it to switch out and giving myself another boost. Swords Dance is to give my main Physical Attackers the boost they really need. After a Rock Polish and Swords Dance, Gyarados becomes an unstoppable menace to my opponents team. Yache Berry is being tested over Lum Berry currently. With Yache Berry, I'm hoping to be able to withstand weak Ice attacks and still manage to get one boost passed on.
Metagross (U) @ Muscle Band
Type: Steel/Psychic
Ability: Clear Body
Nature: Adamant
EV's: 4 HP | 252 Atk | 252 Spe
Type: Steel/Psychic
Ability: Clear Body
Nature: Adamant
EV's: 4 HP | 252 Atk | 252 Spe
~ Meteor Mash ~
~ Thunderpunch ~
~ Zen Headbutt ~
~ Earthquake ~
~ Thunderpunch ~
~ Zen Headbutt ~
~ Earthquake ~
Right off the bat, I'd like to thank Joshe for suggesting this set to me. It's worked even better than Lucario, running thorugh Pokemon with its massive attack score. Out of the 20 matches I've played with Metagross, it ended the game at the very least seven times. The other few were a combination between Gyarados and Hariyama. Earthquake is a move that needs no explanation in OverUsed. Meteor Mash is one of the most standard attacks on a Metagross set, and it comes with the small chance of upping the attack stat by +1, which is always nice. Zen Headbutt is secondary STAB, and it allows me to break through Pokemon that wall Metagross all day long like the Rotom formes. I might be changing the item from Muscle Band to Life Orb seeing as by the time Metagross hits the field, it should be primed to sweep. It isn't effected by Toxic Spikes, takes resisted damage from Stealth Rocks, and and Pokemon that can set up Spikes is slower than Gliscor, so they're taunted.
Cresselia (F) @ Light Clay
Type: Psychic
Ability: Levitate
Nature: Bold
EV's: 252 HP | 60 Def | 152 Spe | 44 SpD
Type: Psychic
Ability: Levitate
Nature: Bold
EV's: 252 HP | 60 Def | 152 Spe | 44 SpD
~ Light Screen ~
~ Reflect ~
~ Ice Beam ~
~ Lunar Dance ~
~ Reflect ~
~ Ice Beam ~
~ Lunar Dance ~
Dual Screen Cresselia. This slot used to be occupied by a Hariyama with Thick Fat. After realizing that Hariyama didn't really do anything during the time I tested it, I decided to use the Cresselia locopoke recommended to me. Ice Beam is used so I'm not complete Taunt bait, but I might switch it out for Thunder Wave, seeing as Gliscor could really benefit from the extra turns it could get to set up its boosts. Lunar Dance is used in case Gliscor was weakened after passing off its boosts. Lunar Dance brings it right back in, and their counter to Gliscor (Priority users) are probably all dead or weakened by now, letting me finish up the sweep with the two other sweepers that should be alive.
Gyarados (M) @ Life Orb
Type: Water/Flying
Ability: Intimidate
Nature: Adamant
EV's: 40 HP | 252 Atk | 196 Spe
Type: Water/Flying
Ability: Intimidate
Nature: Adamant
EV's: 40 HP | 252 Atk | 196 Spe
~ Dragon Dance/Bounce/Stone Edge ~
~ Ice Fang ~
~ Earthquake ~
~ Waterfall ~
~ Ice Fang ~
~ Earthquake ~
~ Waterfall ~
This Pokemon has caused so many ragequits that it's not even funny anymore. Pass a Swords Dance and Rock Polish to this guy and the opponent completely freaks out, losing, at the very least, two Pokemon. Dragon Dance may be removed for Bounce or Stone Edge, seeing as Gliscor is doing most of the boosting itself, so I see no reason to use Dragon Dance other than a fail-safe. Ice Fang hits Latias (one of the main counters) and all Dragons for massive damage. Earthquake and Waterfall have near perfect coverage, excluding Shedinja, which would be taken care of by Bounce if I decide to add it. Adamant may be change to Jolly and Life Orb may be changed to Leftovers. Took a bit out of Speed EV's and dumped them into HP, giving Gyarados a bit more bulk. I haven't changed the item seeing as Gyarados should not be out on the field long. It should be either running through the entire team, or getting ready to die. Those are its two jobs.
Gengar (M) @ Leftovers
Type: Ghost/Poison
Ability: Levitate
Nature: Timid
EV's: 6 HP | 252 SpA | 252 Spe
Type: Ghost/Poison
Ability: Levitate
Nature: Timid
EV's: 6 HP | 252 SpA | 252 Spe
~ Hidden Power (Fire) ~
~ Shadow Ball ~
~ Focus Blast ~
~ Substitute ~
~ Shadow Ball ~
~ Focus Blast ~
~ Substitute ~
Rotom-H used to occupy this slot as a counter to Scizor. Then I realized that I don't really need a counter to Scizor on this team, seeing as nothing is hit for a large amount of damage from Bullet Punch, Superpower can be dodged with Gengar, Pursuit doesn't help much seeing as I rarely, if ever switch, and U-Turn is just racking up Stealth Rock damage. I wanted a fast sweeper, but I wanted it to also have some kind of defense. Gengar is sort of a "Las Stand" Pokemon, only coming in when I've exhausted practically all other Pokemon, sets up a Substitute, and just cleans house.
Closing Notes: There you have it: Team "Pass and Slash". As you can tell, this team wants to set up as soon as possible (it loves setting up before Turn 5) and then running through everything. This team could be best described as a "Suicide Team" for the fact that this team does NOT want to switch out by any means. It stays, fights, gets worn down, and then drags one last Pokemon down with it. Please don't tell me that when Gliscor goes down, my team practically falls apart. For one, no it doesn't. My team can function without Gliscor, just not on the same level. And two, Gliscor isn't supposed to go down without passing some major boosts. If Gliscor dies AFTER he pasts the boosts, chances are my opponent's team is already down quite a few members.
