SORRY I DONT HAVE PICTURES!!!! Please still give my team as chance I'm dying to improve my ladder ranking.
Hi I'm a long time lurker, I go by dmurray or DOT. I've recently been trying to get my ladder ranking above 1500 but after barely even getting to 1375 I'm having some trouble, I feel as though my over prediction is getting in the way of my battling but I'm sure my team has flaws as well. So without further ado, sorry I have no idea how to do pictures and make it all pretty, kinda straight to the business as time is of the essence.
STARTING THE TEAM: very familiar with FWG core so I always consider that when making a team. Versatility is something I strive for but struggle with due to having two choiced pokes. I began the team with MAMOSWINE because I think his utility is unmatched this format. Tried to mainly focus on checking or neutralizing popular threats with this team.
dookie (Mamoswine) @ Life Orb
Ability: Thick Fat
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Knock Off
- Earthquake
- Icicle Crash
- Ice Shard
::Okay, so he started out as my designated lead, but sash wasn't providing me with the power I needed, especially with his priority move, so often coming in handy, with Landorus-Therian and dragons whom are weak to stealth rock. EQ and Icicle Spear are for STAB coverage, I do miss the rock coverage but I can't pass up priority, and since people tend to switch so often against Mamoswine (when he comes out at the right times) knock off can disable some threats that could pose a problem. Overall this poke has maintained itself as invaluable on the team, KOing many Dragons and Ground types such as weakened dragonites, garchomps, a soft check to Gliscor, and a nightmare for Opposing Venasaur if timed correctly.::
Quagsire @ Leftovers
Ability: Unaware
EVs: 252 HP / 200 Def / 56 SpD
Relaxed Nature
- Recover
- Earthquake
- Scald
- Stockpile
::Many have criticized my choice to run stockpile, but aside from the obvious checks to talonflame, Keldeo, and many other physical threats, this thing shuts teams down. Quagsire's ability to spread burn, packed with solid recovery and defenses make it an ideal status spreader and physical wall. I've always had the idea in my head that hyper offense was the only way to go, but slowly this pokemon showed me that tanking, and bulky pokes capable of stall alongside solid prediction make this thing so difficult to take down. Overall I feel pretty confident with his moveset. I run the extra special defense evs, because I see so many mixed attackers like aegislash and landorus-T around and that extra bulk instead of offense usually gets me the desired burn I need.::
Infernape @ Focus Sash *Designated lead*
Ability: Blaze
EVs: 216 Atk / 40 SpA / 252 Spe
Hasty Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Close Combat
- Overheat
- U-turn
::As I suggested earlier, FWG cores seem effective to me although this thing can't switch in on much, it primarily acts as my designate LEAD, taking the place of Mamoswine who I deemed more effective as a late game cleaner. I've used this wether for a couple of gens now, u-turn for switch initiative as grass types love to switch out against Ape, I feel overheat provides me with the largest amount of fire damage possible, and nowadays, with everyone preparing for talonflames physical fire moves, I feel Ape can get some clean KOs with Overheat, the extra 40 ev points in sp.atk are to accommodate that, however I don't have damage calculations, most of my ev spreads are constructed based off my perceived reasons for losing battles. Lastly, as mentioned before, with sash I'm almost always guaranteed to get rocks up, and many times for free because Infernapes coverage is vast.::
Fast feet (Venusaur) @ Venusaurite
Ability: Overgrow
EVs: 180 HP / 216 Def / 68 SpA / 44 Spe
Bold Nature
- Sleep Powder
- Sludge Bomb
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Giga Drain
::Everyone runs rotum -w or breloom, heck, even Venasuar, and he provides an excellent counter or check to all, hp fire doesn't do much to other venasaurs but it packs a punch against ferrothorn and skarmory , and is useful against a damaged scizor. I've been switching between leech seed and sleep powder but as of late it seems like sleep powder is just better. Completely disabling a pokemon mid game helps my team immensely while sludge bomb keeps fairs at bay for Latios to come in later to assist. As I advance higher in the ladder it seems like hp fire has been less and less useful however, it's utility has me convinced it's necessary. The 44 speed EVs is what I could afford given his bulkiness, I was more concerned with him dishing out damage. I wish I had a better reason for the speed investment but I just found it to be a good idea, even the mere fact that it may out speed opposing venasaurs.::
Latios (M) @ Choice Specs
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Draco Meteor
- Thunderbolt
- Psychic
- Surf
::Latios ability alongside it's nice coverage works as a great sweeper. I started with a latias assault vest with a bunch of special attack but it wasn't doing the trick, and I realized, while stealth rock damage sucked, it wasn't worth taking up a slot on my Latios not even sure if he gets it actually. Psychic stab can be very useful because I'm not running dragon pulse, and if I need to sweep multiple weakened pokes it helps. Draco is for maximum damage, his awesome speed just makes this guy a powerhouse, thunderbolt is there because it counters Keldeo and other water types that don't pack a nice ice beam and I don't have an electric type so I thought it was a given. I'll have to add it up, but this Latios hits super effective on a lot of stuff, and usually comes in later in the game after vena and quagsire have messed around.::
Togekiss @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Serene Grace
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
- Air Slash
- Aura Sphere
- Tri Attack
- Dazzling Gleam
::This was my last addition and it started with thunder wave roost, a slash, and gleam, and a bunch of def/sp.def, that wasn't working. I wanted a flying stab as fighting types are some of the most threatening pokes. At the time I gave this thing weakness policy because I couldn't take Quagsire's lefties away, then it just hit me:this thing has some decent resists, and moderate special attack, people don't expect it to outspend stuff too, I believe I calculated it speed to be at 388 so I can threaten Weavile, aside from that this poke is a great switch pivot for Latios, and I needed at least some sort of check to Mega heracross because it was running through my team. Not the biggest fan of abusing air slash, but damn it's good. I thought in theory that tri attack would be incredible, but I'm not using it much at all to my surprise! Because it can't hit super effective I tend not to use it however I want to test a bit more to see it's usefulness in action with serene grace also considering flamethrower or fire blast.::
REVIEW:
The team is on the boarder between defensive and offensive however it does lean more defensive, the myriad of resists this team provides alongside it's ability to effectively pass statuses make it pretty formidable against HO teams, I don't see a lot of spikes so I don't use a rapid spinner or defogger, I just feel like some battles are so immediate that players sometime can't even get up rocks.
I'm open to all suggestions, and ratings, please give me any feedback if you believe you can help me! I'm especially looking for holes and major weaknesses the team may have. Thank you guys for your time reading this I know it's long.
Threat list: optional read
Aegislash-quagsire typically, infernape maybe
Charizard x- quagsire
Charizard y- quagsire
Azumarill- Venasuar typically sometimes quagsire
Keldeo- togekiss and Venasuar
Tyranitar- Venasuar, infernape, togekiss
Conkeldurr- Latios togekiss
Blastoise- vena and togekiss
Venasuar- check with vena hp fire, but more effective is togekiss if sleep isn't a threat
Lati@s- mamoswine can ko with icicle spear after SR I believe, but these can be tough both*
Greninja- always a hard poke to check/counter togekiss/Venasuar
Bisharp-quagsire infernape
Breloom- Venasaur
Cloyster- usually time the shell smash right and I can Ko with togekiss but quagsire hard counters with unaware.
Dragonite-togekiss mamoswine
Heatran- quagsire togekiss
Gliscor- mamoswine quagsire
Landorus-t- quagsire these are tough*
Thunderus- no definitive counter! maybe I need a rock move, if I see one SR is going up for sure
Mamoswine- venasaur and quagsire, and infernape
alakazam- togekiss? No definitive counter
Scizor-infernape can threaten it, quagsire can disable it
Pinsir- see scizor, and togekiss is a pretty solid counter
Chansey-infernape mamoswine immune to t waves
Cofagrigus * this poke gives me trouble always no matter what team I make
Gastrodon- venasaur
Quagsire- venasaur, but it's still tough just like mine is :)
Ferrothorn- venas hp fire works well, infernape and possibly togekiss if I add a fire move
Mandibuzz- no hard counter for this, these can be problematic but if rocks are up they aren't too threatening*
Sableye- priority wisps suck! but this thing is totally predictable, and I soft counter with togekiss
This is about as extensive as I can be for now.
Thanks again guys!
Hi I'm a long time lurker, I go by dmurray or DOT. I've recently been trying to get my ladder ranking above 1500 but after barely even getting to 1375 I'm having some trouble, I feel as though my over prediction is getting in the way of my battling but I'm sure my team has flaws as well. So without further ado, sorry I have no idea how to do pictures and make it all pretty, kinda straight to the business as time is of the essence.
STARTING THE TEAM: very familiar with FWG core so I always consider that when making a team. Versatility is something I strive for but struggle with due to having two choiced pokes. I began the team with MAMOSWINE because I think his utility is unmatched this format. Tried to mainly focus on checking or neutralizing popular threats with this team.
dookie (Mamoswine) @ Life Orb
Ability: Thick Fat
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Knock Off
- Earthquake
- Icicle Crash
- Ice Shard
::Okay, so he started out as my designated lead, but sash wasn't providing me with the power I needed, especially with his priority move, so often coming in handy, with Landorus-Therian and dragons whom are weak to stealth rock. EQ and Icicle Spear are for STAB coverage, I do miss the rock coverage but I can't pass up priority, and since people tend to switch so often against Mamoswine (when he comes out at the right times) knock off can disable some threats that could pose a problem. Overall this poke has maintained itself as invaluable on the team, KOing many Dragons and Ground types such as weakened dragonites, garchomps, a soft check to Gliscor, and a nightmare for Opposing Venasaur if timed correctly.::
Quagsire @ Leftovers
Ability: Unaware
EVs: 252 HP / 200 Def / 56 SpD
Relaxed Nature
- Recover
- Earthquake
- Scald
- Stockpile
::Many have criticized my choice to run stockpile, but aside from the obvious checks to talonflame, Keldeo, and many other physical threats, this thing shuts teams down. Quagsire's ability to spread burn, packed with solid recovery and defenses make it an ideal status spreader and physical wall. I've always had the idea in my head that hyper offense was the only way to go, but slowly this pokemon showed me that tanking, and bulky pokes capable of stall alongside solid prediction make this thing so difficult to take down. Overall I feel pretty confident with his moveset. I run the extra special defense evs, because I see so many mixed attackers like aegislash and landorus-T around and that extra bulk instead of offense usually gets me the desired burn I need.::
Infernape @ Focus Sash *Designated lead*
Ability: Blaze
EVs: 216 Atk / 40 SpA / 252 Spe
Hasty Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Close Combat
- Overheat
- U-turn
::As I suggested earlier, FWG cores seem effective to me although this thing can't switch in on much, it primarily acts as my designate LEAD, taking the place of Mamoswine who I deemed more effective as a late game cleaner. I've used this wether for a couple of gens now, u-turn for switch initiative as grass types love to switch out against Ape, I feel overheat provides me with the largest amount of fire damage possible, and nowadays, with everyone preparing for talonflames physical fire moves, I feel Ape can get some clean KOs with Overheat, the extra 40 ev points in sp.atk are to accommodate that, however I don't have damage calculations, most of my ev spreads are constructed based off my perceived reasons for losing battles. Lastly, as mentioned before, with sash I'm almost always guaranteed to get rocks up, and many times for free because Infernapes coverage is vast.::
Fast feet (Venusaur) @ Venusaurite
Ability: Overgrow
EVs: 180 HP / 216 Def / 68 SpA / 44 Spe
Bold Nature
- Sleep Powder
- Sludge Bomb
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Giga Drain
::Everyone runs rotum -w or breloom, heck, even Venasuar, and he provides an excellent counter or check to all, hp fire doesn't do much to other venasaurs but it packs a punch against ferrothorn and skarmory , and is useful against a damaged scizor. I've been switching between leech seed and sleep powder but as of late it seems like sleep powder is just better. Completely disabling a pokemon mid game helps my team immensely while sludge bomb keeps fairs at bay for Latios to come in later to assist. As I advance higher in the ladder it seems like hp fire has been less and less useful however, it's utility has me convinced it's necessary. The 44 speed EVs is what I could afford given his bulkiness, I was more concerned with him dishing out damage. I wish I had a better reason for the speed investment but I just found it to be a good idea, even the mere fact that it may out speed opposing venasaurs.::
Latios (M) @ Choice Specs
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Draco Meteor
- Thunderbolt
- Psychic
- Surf
::Latios ability alongside it's nice coverage works as a great sweeper. I started with a latias assault vest with a bunch of special attack but it wasn't doing the trick, and I realized, while stealth rock damage sucked, it wasn't worth taking up a slot on my Latios not even sure if he gets it actually. Psychic stab can be very useful because I'm not running dragon pulse, and if I need to sweep multiple weakened pokes it helps. Draco is for maximum damage, his awesome speed just makes this guy a powerhouse, thunderbolt is there because it counters Keldeo and other water types that don't pack a nice ice beam and I don't have an electric type so I thought it was a given. I'll have to add it up, but this Latios hits super effective on a lot of stuff, and usually comes in later in the game after vena and quagsire have messed around.::
Togekiss @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Serene Grace
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
- Air Slash
- Aura Sphere
- Tri Attack
- Dazzling Gleam
::This was my last addition and it started with thunder wave roost, a slash, and gleam, and a bunch of def/sp.def, that wasn't working. I wanted a flying stab as fighting types are some of the most threatening pokes. At the time I gave this thing weakness policy because I couldn't take Quagsire's lefties away, then it just hit me:this thing has some decent resists, and moderate special attack, people don't expect it to outspend stuff too, I believe I calculated it speed to be at 388 so I can threaten Weavile, aside from that this poke is a great switch pivot for Latios, and I needed at least some sort of check to Mega heracross because it was running through my team. Not the biggest fan of abusing air slash, but damn it's good. I thought in theory that tri attack would be incredible, but I'm not using it much at all to my surprise! Because it can't hit super effective I tend not to use it however I want to test a bit more to see it's usefulness in action with serene grace also considering flamethrower or fire blast.::
REVIEW:
The team is on the boarder between defensive and offensive however it does lean more defensive, the myriad of resists this team provides alongside it's ability to effectively pass statuses make it pretty formidable against HO teams, I don't see a lot of spikes so I don't use a rapid spinner or defogger, I just feel like some battles are so immediate that players sometime can't even get up rocks.
I'm open to all suggestions, and ratings, please give me any feedback if you believe you can help me! I'm especially looking for holes and major weaknesses the team may have. Thank you guys for your time reading this I know it's long.
Threat list: optional read
Aegislash-quagsire typically, infernape maybe
Charizard x- quagsire
Charizard y- quagsire
Azumarill- Venasuar typically sometimes quagsire
Keldeo- togekiss and Venasuar
Tyranitar- Venasuar, infernape, togekiss
Conkeldurr- Latios togekiss
Blastoise- vena and togekiss
Venasuar- check with vena hp fire, but more effective is togekiss if sleep isn't a threat
Lati@s- mamoswine can ko with icicle spear after SR I believe, but these can be tough both*
Greninja- always a hard poke to check/counter togekiss/Venasuar
Bisharp-quagsire infernape
Breloom- Venasaur
Cloyster- usually time the shell smash right and I can Ko with togekiss but quagsire hard counters with unaware.
Dragonite-togekiss mamoswine
Heatran- quagsire togekiss
Gliscor- mamoswine quagsire
Landorus-t- quagsire these are tough*
Thunderus- no definitive counter! maybe I need a rock move, if I see one SR is going up for sure
Mamoswine- venasaur and quagsire, and infernape
alakazam- togekiss? No definitive counter
Scizor-infernape can threaten it, quagsire can disable it
Pinsir- see scizor, and togekiss is a pretty solid counter
Chansey-infernape mamoswine immune to t waves
Cofagrigus * this poke gives me trouble always no matter what team I make
Gastrodon- venasaur
Quagsire- venasaur, but it's still tough just like mine is :)
Ferrothorn- venas hp fire works well, infernape and possibly togekiss if I add a fire move
Mandibuzz- no hard counter for this, these can be problematic but if rocks are up they aren't too threatening*
Sableye- priority wisps suck! but this thing is totally predictable, and I soft counter with togekiss
This is about as extensive as I can be for now.
Thanks again guys!
