Ever since I returned back to competitive battling, I've been always stuck using one offensive Poke in which I've grown heavily accustomed to: Sheer Force Landorus-I. To be honest, I was skeptical at first (115 SpA is a bit lackluster compared to beasts like Thundurus-T), but a friend pointed out just how powerful his ability was, and Landy lived up to his name. However, due to his recent suspect test, Landy-I is now ubers, and with him retiring so does about about 90% of my teams (lol).
The team is called Hazard Play because it plays with some very dangerous tools.: high risk, high reward, and some very niche plays, (also because it plays around with hazards :p). To win the early game is to control the match, and the team tries to put a lot of pressure on the opponent right at the beginning in attempts to abuse any of their misplays. I grouped up majority of the elements of a team that "suits my playstyle", and I found something that worked for me. I also never really intended the team to have some special niches, but with them they opened a multitude of playstyles and made the team more surprising from my own perspective.
Generic team is generic, I know. But in my defense I've known the potential of these Pokes for a long time now without a lot of outside influence.
Skarmory @ Custap Berry
Sturdy
Timid
IVs: 0ATK
EVs: 252HP, 4DEF, 252 Spe
- Stealth Rock
- Spikes
- Whirlwind
- Taunt
Possibly the weirdest set of all of them, but I've made pretty good use out of it even though it's incredibly unconventional. This is a lead Skarmory with no attacks. That's right, o damage moves, otherwise known as "taunt bait". This set still carries its weight though. Two of the biggest things I've realized about the team is that they're not the absolute best in forcing switches to abuse hazards, and the team itself doesn't really require max hazards to be a threat. In this manner, Skarm doesn't have to suicide himself trying for max hazards, but instead can put some pressure himself. Whirlwind pulls its weight by putting free damage early into the game. Say you got 1/1 hazards and Skarm is still healthy, Whirlwind gets at least some damage on the board and possibly gives the opponent a worse match up giving Skarm more free turns for hazards OR another Whirlwind for hazard damage.
...or you could just suicide for 1/1 hazards. seems standard ._.
This set is also has another vulnerability against Rapid Spin, as I don't have a Ghost type, but I'll get into that reasoning later.
Tyranitar @ Chople Berry
Sand Stream
Adamant
EVs: 232HP, 184 ATK, 92Spe
- Crunch
- Stone Edge
- Fire Punch
- Stealth Rock/ Superpower
The EVs all serve a nearly specific purposes, and the numbers actually fit really well. 232HP hits 399HP, which maximizes my HP while also mitigating all forms of residual hits by 1damage. 184ATK hits a magic number for +nature. And 92Spe puts me at 181, comfortably outspeeding a lot of bulky Pokes, primarily Scizor. Fire Punch>Fire Blast mainly because I really like to maintain my bulk, so I kept it all physical. I find Superpower's uses to be rather small so I slashed it with SR. Also you may find it weird that SR is on this set as well since I have Skarm...
...its for AFTER I get Rapid Spinned ._.
Running Chople Berry was something special I added and it's used mainly because the Pokes that put a big dent on my team also use Focus Blast to deal with TTar, Chople Berry gives me a fighting chance to hit them hard and also makes it very luck-based for the opponent (you guys should know hitting 2 Focus Blasts isn't an easy feat).
Scizor @ Choice Band
Technician
Adamant
Evs: 196HP, 252ATK, 60Spe
- Bullet Punch
- U-Turn
- Superpower
- Pursuit
Standard CBzor. The only real difference in the set is the EVs, in which I try to run enough Spe to outpace many of the bulky Pokes. I like CBzor because he provides a lot of pressure as well as good momentum. Most of the time he can force switches easily and with U-Turn more switches are forced. Scizor makes the best use of Skarm's Hazards and provides a check to many threats against the team. The good abuse of forcing switches and hazards also means that Pokes are constantly being whittled down, potentially to a point where I can easily sweep with BP alone.
Celebi @ Leftovers
Natural Cure
Bold
IVs: 0ATK
EVs: 236HP, 252DEF, 4SpD, 16Spe
- Giga Drain
- Recover
- Nasty Plot
- Baton Pass
Being a bit of a better tank, as well as not having the best offensive presence, I fell that Celebi could be the biggest crutch to the team. I wanted something that could abuse slower gameplay, and Celebi proved decent as it can threaten to set-up. Giga Drain is incredible, even moreso with a NP in its belt. TTar actually loses to Celebi because it heals so much of your HP, and even then you could just BP out with no fear of Pursuit. The combo of NP and BP is what makes Celebi a lot more threatening than what tanks normally do, because the potential giving Landy-I or Keldeo a +2 means that something is just gonna die.
Landorus-I @ Life Orb
Sheer Force
Timid
IVs: 2ATK, 30DEF
EVs; 252SpA, 4SpD, 252Spe
- Earth Power
- Focus Miss
- HP Ice
- Substitute
There's a reason Landy went to Ubers; he could single handedly win games. Literally. http://www.pokemonshowdown.com/replay/ou-16804472.1v6 np. I run substitute because Landy isn't used to sweep with RP or scout with U-turn, but he's used as a big fat obstacle for your opponent to get around, denting Pokes hard in the process. Not to mention Sub gives me a form of set-up to abuse slower gameplay, and it puts a lot more pressure as it's a bit more unexpected. Landy has the ability to at least 2HKO most of the tier, but he's on my team because (aside from Focus Miss blasting) he is a reliable hard hitter that is very difficult to force out.
Landy is also where I abuse my opponent from using Rapid Spin. First, Rapid Spin is incredibly predictable, mainly because there is little drawbacks of removing hazards, which means that Landy gets a free turn to switch in, hit hard, or set-up. Rapid Spin can't break Landy's Subs, and you will easily smite your opponent from thinking they got away from freeing hazards. Of course tho, I do lose the advantage of hazards now, but if the opponent loses a Poke because of it, then it's a win for me if I was able to hit a couple more Pokes with hazards. Suicide Skarmory for a Suicide Rapid Spinner? Okay.
And if Landy can even get a successful Sub with a +2 from Celebi, probably one of the best feelings you can get for set-up sweepers.
Keldeo @ Choice Scarf
Justify
Timid
IVs: 2 ATK, 30DEF, 30SpD
EVs: 252SpA, 4SpD, 252Spe
- Hydro Pump
- Secret Sword
- HP Bug
- Icy Wind
I needed a revenge killer since Scizor's BP isn't enough coverage, and Keldeo is absolutely solid in this role. I mainly run him because I needed another counter to Rain teams' attacks, and Keldeo also benefits from rain himself. With Celebi, Keldeo also becomes a potent sweeper with a +2 in his belt, essentially being a +2/+1 mono sweeper. Other than that though, the set is very standard.
Final Thoughts:
Overall the team was very fun to pilot as it was very versatile with a multitude of win conditions. I learned a great deal using this team and I hope by showing to others they could learn as much as I did for competitive battling. I'll admit the team has a lot of flaws, but aside from that the team also has some very interesting niches that made it quite inspiring and a good learning experience.
The team is called Hazard Play because it plays with some very dangerous tools.: high risk, high reward, and some very niche plays, (also because it plays around with hazards :p). To win the early game is to control the match, and the team tries to put a lot of pressure on the opponent right at the beginning in attempts to abuse any of their misplays. I grouped up majority of the elements of a team that "suits my playstyle", and I found something that worked for me. I also never really intended the team to have some special niches, but with them they opened a multitude of playstyles and made the team more surprising from my own perspective.
Generic team is generic, I know. But in my defense I've known the potential of these Pokes for a long time now without a lot of outside influence.
Sturdy
Timid
IVs: 0ATK
EVs: 252HP, 4DEF, 252 Spe
- Stealth Rock
- Spikes
- Whirlwind
- Taunt
Possibly the weirdest set of all of them, but I've made pretty good use out of it even though it's incredibly unconventional. This is a lead Skarmory with no attacks. That's right, o damage moves, otherwise known as "taunt bait". This set still carries its weight though. Two of the biggest things I've realized about the team is that they're not the absolute best in forcing switches to abuse hazards, and the team itself doesn't really require max hazards to be a threat. In this manner, Skarm doesn't have to suicide himself trying for max hazards, but instead can put some pressure himself. Whirlwind pulls its weight by putting free damage early into the game. Say you got 1/1 hazards and Skarm is still healthy, Whirlwind gets at least some damage on the board and possibly gives the opponent a worse match up giving Skarm more free turns for hazards OR another Whirlwind for hazard damage.
...or you could just suicide for 1/1 hazards. seems standard ._.
This set is also has another vulnerability against Rapid Spin, as I don't have a Ghost type, but I'll get into that reasoning later.
Sand Stream
Adamant
EVs: 232HP, 184 ATK, 92Spe
- Crunch
- Stone Edge
- Fire Punch
- Stealth Rock/ Superpower
The EVs all serve a nearly specific purposes, and the numbers actually fit really well. 232HP hits 399HP, which maximizes my HP while also mitigating all forms of residual hits by 1damage. 184ATK hits a magic number for +nature. And 92Spe puts me at 181, comfortably outspeeding a lot of bulky Pokes, primarily Scizor. Fire Punch>Fire Blast mainly because I really like to maintain my bulk, so I kept it all physical. I find Superpower's uses to be rather small so I slashed it with SR. Also you may find it weird that SR is on this set as well since I have Skarm...
...its for AFTER I get Rapid Spinned ._.
Running Chople Berry was something special I added and it's used mainly because the Pokes that put a big dent on my team also use Focus Blast to deal with TTar, Chople Berry gives me a fighting chance to hit them hard and also makes it very luck-based for the opponent (you guys should know hitting 2 Focus Blasts isn't an easy feat).
Technician
Adamant
Evs: 196HP, 252ATK, 60Spe
- Bullet Punch
- U-Turn
- Superpower
- Pursuit
Standard CBzor. The only real difference in the set is the EVs, in which I try to run enough Spe to outpace many of the bulky Pokes. I like CBzor because he provides a lot of pressure as well as good momentum. Most of the time he can force switches easily and with U-Turn more switches are forced. Scizor makes the best use of Skarm's Hazards and provides a check to many threats against the team. The good abuse of forcing switches and hazards also means that Pokes are constantly being whittled down, potentially to a point where I can easily sweep with BP alone.
Celebi @ Leftovers
Natural Cure
Bold
IVs: 0ATK
EVs: 236HP, 252DEF, 4SpD, 16Spe
- Giga Drain
- Recover
- Nasty Plot
- Baton Pass
Being a bit of a better tank, as well as not having the best offensive presence, I fell that Celebi could be the biggest crutch to the team. I wanted something that could abuse slower gameplay, and Celebi proved decent as it can threaten to set-up. Giga Drain is incredible, even moreso with a NP in its belt. TTar actually loses to Celebi because it heals so much of your HP, and even then you could just BP out with no fear of Pursuit. The combo of NP and BP is what makes Celebi a lot more threatening than what tanks normally do, because the potential giving Landy-I or Keldeo a +2 means that something is just gonna die.
Sheer Force
Timid
IVs: 2ATK, 30DEF
EVs; 252SpA, 4SpD, 252Spe
- Earth Power
- Focus Miss
- HP Ice
- Substitute
There's a reason Landy went to Ubers; he could single handedly win games. Literally. http://www.pokemonshowdown.com/replay/ou-16804472.1v6 np. I run substitute because Landy isn't used to sweep with RP or scout with U-turn, but he's used as a big fat obstacle for your opponent to get around, denting Pokes hard in the process. Not to mention Sub gives me a form of set-up to abuse slower gameplay, and it puts a lot more pressure as it's a bit more unexpected. Landy has the ability to at least 2HKO most of the tier, but he's on my team because (aside from Focus Miss blasting) he is a reliable hard hitter that is very difficult to force out.
Landy is also where I abuse my opponent from using Rapid Spin. First, Rapid Spin is incredibly predictable, mainly because there is little drawbacks of removing hazards, which means that Landy gets a free turn to switch in, hit hard, or set-up. Rapid Spin can't break Landy's Subs, and you will easily smite your opponent from thinking they got away from freeing hazards. Of course tho, I do lose the advantage of hazards now, but if the opponent loses a Poke because of it, then it's a win for me if I was able to hit a couple more Pokes with hazards. Suicide Skarmory for a Suicide Rapid Spinner? Okay.
And if Landy can even get a successful Sub with a +2 from Celebi, probably one of the best feelings you can get for set-up sweepers.
Justify
Timid
IVs: 2 ATK, 30DEF, 30SpD
EVs: 252SpA, 4SpD, 252Spe
- Hydro Pump
- Secret Sword
- HP Bug
- Icy Wind
I needed a revenge killer since Scizor's BP isn't enough coverage, and Keldeo is absolutely solid in this role. I mainly run him because I needed another counter to Rain teams' attacks, and Keldeo also benefits from rain himself. With Celebi, Keldeo also becomes a potent sweeper with a +2 in his belt, essentially being a +2/+1 mono sweeper. Other than that though, the set is very standard.
Final Thoughts:
Overall the team was very fun to pilot as it was very versatile with a multitude of win conditions. I learned a great deal using this team and I hope by showing to others they could learn as much as I did for competitive battling. I'll admit the team has a lot of flaws, but aside from that the team also has some very interesting niches that made it quite inspiring and a good learning experience.