"GRRRAAAHH!" Said the Giant Hippo

[Twinkytoes]

The Giant Hippo is also the star of my team.

Changes In Red

Team Hippofan


At A Glance:

Up Close and Personal

Hippowdon@Leftovers
Impish w/ Sandstream
EVs: 252 HP / 16 Atk / 152 Def / 90 SpD
-Earthquake
-Ice Fang
-Slack Off
-Stealth Rock

This is a common lead and he does it pretty well. He sets up Rocks and he slacks off any damage he takes. He has EQ for powerful STAB and he has Ice Fang for the ever common Dragons.

Heatran@Choice Scarf
Modest w/ Flash Fire
EVs: 6 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spd
-Fire Blast
-Earth Power
-HP Ice
-Explosion

Used to be Empoleon here, but I decided to go for a better special sweeper that requires little set up. Fire Blast for strong STAB, Earth Power for Enemy Trans, HP Ice for teh ever Prevalent Dragons and Dragon Pulse to screw enemy Kingdra. Explosion for dealing with Blissey. Kingdra is kinda not always used much and HP Ice AND Dragon Pulse are kinda sucky coverage together so I went for Explosion to kill Blissey switch ins.

Flygon@Choice Scarf
Jolly w/ Levitate
EVs: 80 HP / 252 Atk / 172 Spd
-Outrage
-Earthquake
-Stone Edge
-U-Turn

My Revenge-Killer. Has a move for pretty much everything. He is here for when something dies he can kill stuff. He is also just to add general coverage for some threats, but to avoid using Zapdos, as I just pure hate that thing. With Scarf he outspeeds Mence after one DD and outspeeds BulkyGyara after two. With it he hits 472 so that should be enough.

Kingdra@Life Orb
Naughty w/ Sniper
EVs: 252 Atk / 232 Spd / 26 SpA
-Dragon Dance
-Outrage
-Waterfall
-Hydro Pump

This is my fave Physical Sweeper and I put him in just on a whim. I saw aload of other people using him recently so I decided to try the DD set out. this might need replacement for a Special Sweeper that is more solid than Empoleon so I might replace this. Advice?

Scizor@Life Orb
Adamant w/ Technician
EVs: 32 HP / 252 Atk / 226 Spd
-Bullet Punch
-X-Scissor
-Superpower
-Swords Dance

You don't need me to explain this. He is seen so much it would just be unnecessary finger pain. He is a more solid physical sweeper than Kingdra, but he lacks speed and relies on a single move, so I'm not sure. He might be replaced instead of Kingdra for a Sp Sweeper but this one agrees with SS so i am less likely to replace him.

Celebi@Leftovers
Bold w/ Synchronize (I think it has that)
EVs: 252 HP / 220 Def / 36 Spd
-Thunder Wave
-Grass Knot
-HP Ice
-Recover

This is standard Celebi and Replace Rhyperior to deal with my general water type weakness, and also to "counter counters", as said by Gen. Empoleon. See below for his logic. Whether you do or not, I agree with it. Thunder Wave to cripple Celebis switch ins. Grass Knot for STAB. HP Ice for coverage. Recover for recovering.

 

[Sephiroth32194]

On Heatran, you might want to consider making it Timid, just so you can outspeed enemy Heatrans. Since most opponents are making their Heatran have a +Speed nature, at least you can Speed Tie with them now. Otherwise, you'll be the one doing the dying from their Earth Power.

Also, since HP Ice covers a lot of things, including dragons, you might want to consider replacing Dragon Pulse for Explosion so you can do some damage to Blissey. If you do put Explosion on, change the nature to Naive instead of Timid.

 

[JustANewbie]

I see a huge weakness in your team to Water/Ice attacks. Starmie and Gyarados tend to come up often in many parties and this is going to be a problem. Your Flygon may be able to outspeed (and take down) Gyarados, but Bulkier Water types like Starmie, Vaporeon and Suicune are going to slowly but surely take down your team. With no Grass or Electric type attacks at your disposal, it might be a hassle for you to take down. Lets keep in mind it doesn't even have to be a water type Pokemon, since HP Ice, Surf and the likes aren't uncommon either.

Also, since you're leading with Hippowdon, I don't see the need for U-Turn on a Scarf Flygon. U-Turn swaps you out once you use it and there's no reason why you'd bring out Flygon just to U-Turn.

Your Kingdra serves as a Physical Sweeper, with Waterfall already in its arsenal. There's no need to have another water type attack. Especially a Special type one. I suggest replacing Hydro Pump with something else and put those 26 EV's you have on Sp. Atk somewhere else.

Like you've already noticed, Heatran is your team's only Special Attacker. You'll run into problem with Blissey and the likes. I suggest something along the lines of Magnezone. It has a rather high Special Attack and is a bit bulky. It effectively counters against Skarmory with strong Electric attacks and Magnet Pull at its disposal. It'll also help clear away some Water types.

However, bear in mind that you'll have a problem with ground type attacks as well, with Magnezone. Spikes also causes a huge problem. A Rapid Spinner is going to be necessary. The problem with this is that common Spinners add to your type disadvantage. Starmie can be taken out along with Kingdra. Foretress shares the same 4x weakness to Fire as Scizor. And Donphan just adds to your Water type trouble. It'll be up to you which Pokemon you replace should you choose to. Someone will probably come up with a solution for this in the next 3 posts though. xD Sorry I can't come up with anything. ><

 

[Olie]

Yeah, you have A Scizor, so what's the need for a Rhyperior? You should invest in a Magnezone or Celebi so you have something to stand up to bulky Waters. Kingdra does not pose a threat to Vaporeon or Suicune, but Celebi does to both, not to mention is has great synergy with Kingdra and Heatran.

 

[wildfire393]

Couple of comments:

Heatran should be timid, as most Scarftran are. Modest Heatran means you auto-lose in speed "ties" against other Heatran. Also, HP Ice + Dragon Pulse is redundant coverage. Dragon Pulse will already hit Dragons SE. I'd recommend either dropping HP Ice for HP Grass or Electric (to deal with water types that like to switch in on Heatran. Electric Pwns Gyarados, but Grass takes out Swampert, make choice) or drop Dragon Pulse for Explosion. You lose coverage on Kingdra that way, but Kingdras aren't all that common (and HP Ice has a lot better coverage on just about anything not-Kingdra).

If you're going to run Mixed Kingdra, Draco Meteor seems like a better option than Hydro Pump. Higher power, higher accuracy, drawback is fairly negligible as you shouldn't need to specially attack more than once.

U-turn on SD Scizor seems kind of awkward. Scizor is slow enough that you can't really use it to escape a counter while getting a hit in, and if you want the Bug-type attack, X-Scissor is stronger and doesn't force you to lose your SDs.

As for Rhyperior, Aqua Tail versus Earthquake.
Earthquake has 100% accuracy, AT has only 90%
Earthquake has 100 power, AT has only 90
Earthquake gets STAB, meaning it is really 150 power.
Earthquake + Stone Edge hits everything at least neutrally except: Breloom, Bronzong, Claydol, Flygon.
Stone Edge + Aqua Tail htis everything at least neutrally except: Breloom, Empoleon, Poliwrath, Toxicroak
So as you can see, Aqua Tail has marginally better coverage, but in return is only 60% as powerful and 90% as accurate.


If you're looking for a good replacement for Kingdra, I'd recommend a ghost like one of the Rotom-Formes, Gengar, or Mismagius. You currently have no fighting resists and two Pokemon that are weak to fighting, and having another levitator would help you to sponge Earthquakes aimed at Subperior or Heatran.

 

[Matthew]

I would suggest a defensive Celebi on your team as well, but I'll go more indepth as to why he would be a perfect choice over Rhyperior.

Celebi @ Leftovers
Bold Nature
252 HP / 220 Def / 36 Spe
- Thunder Wave
- Grass Knot
- Hidden Power [ICE]
- Recover

This is the standard Celebi set that I am suggestion over Rhyperior. The reason I am saying that Celebi should go over Rhyperior is simple, countering counters. Heatran's most common switch ins' are Swampert, Tyranitar and other Heatrans. The first two will pose some trouble as they can either OHKO Heatran OR Flygon, given they use the correct attack. So for a Swampert, you can switch to Celebi to threaten him away, then use Thunder Wave as he switches out, to cripple Celebi's counters (Tyranitar, Heatran and Scizor). Now, Kingdra, Flygon or Heatran will be the most common switch into these threats. The usual counters for Kingdra is Zapdos, who will (most likely) use a Thunderbolt to try to hurt you extremely. The obvious case to switch into is Flygon. Now that we see all roads (probably) lead to Flygon we can work on what HIS counters are. his counters are a bulky waters, once again Swampert or Vaporeon. This isn't bad, because if you U-Turn out, as soon as you switch in then go to Celebi you have the advantage once again. Forming a strong defensive, yet has quite a bit of offensive, core. Celebi will cripple her counter with Thunder Wave, while Heatran, Kingdra and Flygon will take care of her threats, and take care of some of each others threats. Sorry if this is somewhat confusing =/.

Hope I helped,
Empoleon

 

[Pisti]

Earthquake + Stone Edge hits everything at least neutrally except: Breloom, Bronzong, Claydol, Flygon.

Ehhh, Torterra? But EdgeQuake would probably be the superior option due to higher accuracy and base power.

Explosion may be a better option than Dragon Pulse on Heatran, since HP Ice hits the same things, and more super-effective, except for Kingdra and the un-used in OU Palkia. Dragon Pulse hits more threats neutral though, which may make it considerable I guess, but it's your choice.

 

[Erazor]

Replace Dragon Pulse with Explosion on Heatran. Ice and Dragon give redundant coverage, so you might as well have explosion for that annoying fat pink blob.
On Kingdra, maybe you should replace Hydro pump with Draco Meteor. The special attack drop is insignificant seeing as its the only special attack.



@JustANewbie: how will he have problems with blissey if Heatran is his only special attacker? He will have problems with physical walls, not that obese nurse.

 

[Twinkytoes]

I have taken all of this into accountb when making any changes. So here are my decisions:

-Celebi will replace Rhyperior, for reasons mentioned (somewhat confusingly... joke xD) by Gen. Empoleon.
-Heatran will be tested with a Timid nature, and will have Explosion over Dragon Pulse for good
-Rhyperior will be tested with EQ, but I have so far lieked Aqua Tail.

I have decided to keep Hydro Pump on Kingdra to take a chunk out of Skarmory. Draco Meteor clearly does not do this.

I will make the changed to the OP ASAP but I am playing COD for now xD!

 

[Twinkytoes]

Pardon Me for the double post, but this might need more attention and I need to get it to the top to do this.

I have been having problems with LeadTar. I also have some samll problems with MixApe too. I have attempted to address this with my Tran switch in in place of the previous Empoleon, as you noticed, but they are still causeing minor problems, particualry once Tran is down. The only potential answers to these I have is Revenge killing with Scizor's priority, but I am reluctant to let something die.