Hey! You got your Dragon Dance in my Mixmence!

butterfingers158

Changes in Red
Things being tested in Green while original is in black.

As you probably guessed from the title, this team is based around Mixed Dancing Salamence. I made this team yesterday, and have played with it for quite a few hours in that time. Currently hovering around the 1400 CRE mark.

Team at a Glance
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Team Building

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I wanted a sweeper who was unpredictable and powerful from both sides of the spectrum, so I chose Mixed Dancing Salamence.

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To cover Salamence's Dragon and Ice weaknesses, I chose the omnipresent Scizor. He runs a slightly odd set, bluffing a CB set.

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Next I wanted to cover the Mence counters that are pursuit bait (Latias, Starmie etc). I also wanted to lure in opposing Scizors and fry them as they try to U-turn away. So I picked up a BaitTar.

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Next I wanted something that could cripple physical pokemon, and could also threaten opposing Scizor. I picked standard Defensive Rotom-H.

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Next I wanted something that could take status, and could be a general nuisance to my opponent. I picked RestTalk Machamp.


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Finally I needed a lead. I picked Azelf for its ability to shut down slower leads with taunt, and because I could save it to explode on a troublesome pokemon later.

A Closer Look

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Azelf @ Focus Sash
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 4 Atk/252 Spd/252 SAtk
Naive nature (+Spd, -SDef)
- Psychic
- Stealth Rock
- Taunt
- Explosion

Reasoning: Azelf is a very popular lead for a reason. He is fast, and has good attacking stats from both sides. Flamethrower was picked over Fire Blast because Azelf is frail and cannot afford a miss. Stealth Rock is obvious. Taunt is used to shut down slower leads, so that they cannot get their rocks up. Explosion is used to take out problem pokemon.

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Salamence (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 4 Attack/252 Speed/252 Special Attack
Naive nature (+Speed, -Special Def)
- Draco Meteor
- Earthquake
- Dragon Dance
- Outrage

Reasoning: Ah Salamence. I read through the Salamence discussion in Stark Mountain and noticed that everyone was talking about two sets, Mixmence and DDmence. So I said to myself, why not mix them? My strategy varies, sometimes I'll play him like a Mixmence, Draco Meteoring things left and right. Then I DD when they bring something in to take the hit. Other times I'll DD right away, and then Meteor the physical wall they bring in. Outrage is obvious complement to Draco Meteor. Earthquake is coverage. The only things that I don't hit for atleast neutral are Skarmory and Brongzong. Changed EV's and nature to up his speed and have been pleased, the loss of power isn't too major and the extra speed is crucial.


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Scizor (M) @ Iron Plate
Ability: Technician
EVs: 32 HP/252 Atk/224 Spd
Adamant nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Bullet Punch
- Superpower
- U-turn
- Swords Dance

Reasoning: And here's another Scizor. But wait, it isn't a Choice Band Scizor! This guy is generally a surprise to my oppoent. I'll play it like a Choice Band Scizor until I get a chance to Swords Dance and start ripping things up. EV's are standard Swords Dance, but Iron Plate is used so I can bluff a Choice Band. Bullet Punch is pretty much mandatory on Scizor. Superpower to hit Steels other Bullet Punch resistors. U-turn is what really lets me bluff a Choice Band, though more experienced battlers might notice the power difference, the bluff has worked out well so far.


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Tyranitar (M) @ Expert Belt
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 Atk/208 Spd/48 SAtk
Hasty nature (+Spd, -Def)
- Crunch
- Flamethrower
- Superpower
- Pursuit

Reasoning: Tyranitar may be the greatest Scizor lure in the game, and this set is used to capitalize on that. Crunch and Pursuit with Expert belt allow me to bluff a Choice Band set. Then pokemon hoping to come in and set up get a nasty surprise. Crunch is obvious STAB. Flamethrower is for frying Scizor who comes in to scare me away and wants to U-turn to keep momentum. EV's and nature mean I outrun max speed Adamant Scizor. Superpower is for opposing Tyranitar mostly. Pursuit is to trap pokemon that threaten Salamence (like Latias).

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Rotom-h @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP/252 Speed/4 Special Attack

Timid nature (+ Speed, -Attack)
- Overheat
- Shadow Ball
- Thunderbolt
- Trick

Reasoning: I needed a pokemon that could take hits and could deal with threats like DD Gyarados. Rotom-H is a great defensive Pokemon with his resistances and good base stats. Overheat allows me to threaten Lucario and Scizor primarily. Shadow Ball is good STAB. Thunderbolt is also STAB, and allows me to take out Gyrados and other threatening Pokemon. Will-o-Wisp cripples physical attackers and gives set-up opportunities for my sweepers. He is now a choice scarfer, which lets me check dangerous threats such as lucario and gyarados, while also letting me mess walls up with trick.



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Heatran (M) @ Choice Scarf (Over Machamp)
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 4 Atk/252 Spd/252 SAtk
Naive nature (+Spd, -SDef)
- Earth Power
- Fire Blast
- Explosion
- Hidden Power [Ice]

Reasoning: Another dragon/ice resist, and a fire immunity. Great revenge killer, rarely do I miss the status absorbing of Machamp and have found this guy much more useful in general.


OLD TEAM MEMBERS:

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Machamp (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: No Guard
EVs: 252 HP/252 Atk/4 Spd
Adamant nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Dynamicpunch
- Rest
- Sleep Talk
- Stone Edge






Thanks for Reading!
 
Ironically, your own team is very MixMence weak. It can come in and start firing off huge Draco Meteors, and with only one resist, there's not much you can do. Once your own Scizor is gone, everything on your team is taking hefty damage from Draco Meteor. To fix this problem, and to provide a SD Luke counter which you severely need, I suggest Scarf Heatran over your current Machamp set.

Heatran@Leftovers
Naive/Timid
-Fire Blast
-Earth Power
-Hp Ice/Hp Grass/Hp Electric
- Explosion/Dragon Pulse/Dark Pulse etc.

If you fear DD Gyara, run HP Electric and Dragon Pulse. Naive is for boosting your speed without dropping attack and powering up Explosion. If you don't feel the need for explosion, run a timid nature.

Otherwise, good team. Hope I helped ;D
 
That Salamence set is really best paired with Magnezone. At the moment, you are likely to get walled by Skarmory, Forretress and Bronzong. Currently, you are relying on your Tyranitar to remove these, presumably, but you have to remember that Ttar is only capable of removing one threat via this method. Magnezone could remove all of these along with Scizor, so I'm suggesting a Steel killer Magnezone over Tyranitar.

If you were to replace Tyranitar, however, you would lose your sandstorm, exacerbating your weakness to DDmence. Therefore I would suggest changing your Scizor set to Standard Choice Band (yes everyone hates it.) This would also provide a replacement for Tyranitar as a trapper, particularly of Latias.

The Heatran suggestion from above is good. I would recommend Fire Blast/Earth Power/Dragon Pulse OR Hp Ice/Explosion myself. Dragon pulse or Hp ice is a must if you want to use it to counter MixMence. Dragon pulse is an OHKO with SR, so as long as you can guarantee this, Dragon Pulse is the way to go. Swampert is convincingly beaten by Salamence with a bit of prior damage (dragon pulse would do enough), so you don't really need hp grass.

If, consequently, you really miss a status absorber, try RestTalk Rotom.

Good Luck!

EDIT: nitpick: perhaps the 4 evs on Azelf should go into attack. Come to think of it, you could probably combine the roles of Heatran and Magnezone by using Scarf Magnezone - it checks SD luke, and can take out Mixmence provided it doesn't EQ, and you use HP Ice. It does, however, then struggle to take out SpDef Forretress (without allowing multiple entry hazards), Bronzong and SD Scizor

Also, Towelie, you listed leftovers by mistake. You didn't list the Evs either, as they are obvious, but here they are anyway: 252SpAtk/252spe/4 atk OR 4hp if not running Explosion.
 
Your team has a problem with DD Gyarados. It can come in on Scizor, DD Up then sweep. To remedy this situation, I suggest that you run a Choice Scarf on Rotom-H.
Rotom-H @ Choice Scarf
Timid Nature
252 SPE, 252 SPA, 6 HP
-Thunderbolt
-Shadow Ball
-Overheat
-Trick
This gives you a way to revenge KO Gyarados.

Also, Scizor's EV's are decent however I believe that you can change them to the standard CB Scizor' EV's, which are 248 HP, 252 ATK, 10 SPE.
 
Hello!

You have a large Lucario weakness and will have a particularly difficult time against Jolly Lucario. The first thing I suggest is altering your Salamence's EV spread a bit. 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe with a Naive nature maxes out Salamence's Speed. This is very crucial, as it gives you a chance in dire situations to tie and defeat Pokemon such as Jirachi, Flygon, and enemy Salamence. It allows allows you to outspeed even Jolly Lucario. However, the moderately frail Salamence still shouldn't be your only check to Lucario. I suggest also giving Rotom-H a Choice Scarf. Simply replace Will-O-Wisp with Trick, and move Rotom-H's Def EVs all to Speed and give it a Timid nature. Gyarados is still countered fairly easily, while Lucario can easily be revenge killed at worst.

I don't see a reason for Flamethrower on Azelf. Taunt already shuts down most leads you'd use Flamethrower on, i.e. Skarmory, Forretress. Metagross can survive a Flamethrower, and defeat you with the Meteor Mash + Bullet Punch combo. For this reason, replacing it with Psychic should make Azelf more effective. Psychic allows you to do heavy damage against Swampert, Rotom-A, and multiple other Pokemon.

Good luck!
 
I tried your team and found it to be well-built. However, your team has problems with paralysis. To rectify this, I addvise you to add a ground type or add Jolteon. Mamoswine may help destroy enemy Dragons, as well as absorb Electricity and defeat flying and steel types. You might want to consider replacing Tyranitar with Mamoswine's set:Physical Attacker

Choice Band / Life Orb Snow Cloak Jolly / Adamant MovesetEVs~ Earthquake
~ Ice Shard
~ Stone Edge
~ Ice Fang / Superpower
252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Also, the 4 HP for Azelf should be in Attack.

Meanwhile, Rotom can be replaced by Scarf Magnezone, I think.
 
Thanks for the rates.

@ Towelie

Hmm I'll for sure test out a ScarfTran, thanks!

@jc104

I've used Magnezone before, and I do agree he is a good team mate for Salamence. I'll keep your suggestion in mind, but am not going to test it currently as I've found no really issue with Salamence being walled.

@Sheshi

Scarf Rotom would work nicely I think, I'll try it out for sure.

@ MetaNite

While I'll miss the bit of power, I believe you are right that I need to up Salamence's speed. I'll give that spread a try. And I'm intrigued by your Rotom idea, leaving EV's in HP means he'll still have some bulk but can revenge kill threats. I'll see how it works out. Physic on Azelf is also a good plan I think.

@Aura Guardian

If I end up replacing Machamp I'll give your suggestion a try, but I feel that ScarfTran would cover all the threats that Mamoswine would.
 
Aura Guardian said:
I tried your team and found it to be well-built. However, your team has problems with paralysis. To rectify this, I addvise you to add a ground type or add Jolteon. Mamoswine may help destroy enemy Dragons, as well as absorb Electricity and defeat flying and steel types.
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^emphasized mistake. The next time a Mamosine can defeat a Scizor or ScarfRachi or Bronzong or (some) Metagross or _____ (<--- fill in kick ass steel here) 1v1, contact me please.

Mamoswine gets OHKOed by all variants of Scizor, ScarRachi. Bronzong resists Eq with Levitate and resists everything else and threatens. Metagross is boss against Swine with Bullet Punch.

With that said, i disagree with Aura's suggestion for a Mamoswine. Since he mentioned your status weakness, you might want to change your Rotom into a standard RhysTalk Rotom-a.

I cant think of any disadvantages with the change, but I can be sure that you will be able to absorb status as well as provide a needed check to Gyarados.

EDIT: i also noticed that ttar and mence are on the same team. Thats a bad idea and the reason being:

tyranitar brings about sandstorm which mence doesnt like. Mence will also be suffering damage from SR as well as LO recoil, thus dropping his survivability. If you REALLY want a surefire way to get rid of Scizor (which this team hates), might I suggest one of the following? Celebi, MysticGar, Magnezone, Heatran.

I recommend using a Celebi. With a Celebi, you would be able to outspeed and KO Scizor with HP Fire. You can try a standard TinkerBell set.

With Celebi, however, you get a bit of a MixApe weakness. You can replace Machamp with either Latias or Vaporeon. Vaporeon is recommended for Cleric healage for your Mence. You can also attempt a Cleric Latias, Wish Roar ThunderWave Dragon Pulse, to add a duo dragon strategy and for cute effects with Roar+Twave.

And may I suggest Fire Blast over Draco Meteor? With FBlast, you can hit everything in the metagame for Neutral or SE damage, perfect coverage. Of course, without DMeteor you cant fake a Standard MixMence.... But fuck that.
 
I meant Metagross (if the player stays in to take an EQ). The others, as I can attest, are either not common at his skill level (being there myself, or at least on par with "Butterstest"), or not a threat. He has fared well against my Scizor in past, and Bronzong is not common. Lucario, well, has been covered already in the rates. "Steel types" being defeated includes prediction and switching to a counter. It would be able to lure an opponent in. In any case, this bit is a moot point because Butterfingers158 is likely to use Heatran instead.

TTar and Mence are a good idea together. That idea got me up 100 points on the ladder. I don't argue with 100 points.
 
Aura Guardian said:
TTar and Mence are a good idea together. That idea got me up 100 points on the ladder. I don't argue with 100 points.
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why are they good together? Ttar attracts scizor to ko it for Mence to have a clear path. So what? MysticGar can do the same.

And you obviously havent been using Mence properly. There are several things Mence hates: Sandstorm, Hail, SR, Scizor, Ice Shard, ice attacks, dragon attacks. Tyranitar brings about sandstorm, and after LO and SS calcs, the damage accumulates. SS taking 6% of Mence's HP per turn, SR taking 25% per entry, LO taking 10% per attack... Can you see where I'm getting at? Salamence won't be living for long with that much damage from non-attacks, and will probably only live a max of 3 turns after taking several hits from the opponent.

Roost helps here, but he doesnt carry Roost on his Mence, and replacing anything for Roost will mess up his original idea: DD MixMence.

Thus why I told him to replace his Tyranitar. Putting a Tyranitar with Salamence is like putting Shedinja with Obamasnow; its stupid, and if you were in Marriland Battle Strat, you would be totally called the next Buizel96.
 
jc104 said:
That Salamence set is really best paired with Magnezone. At the moment, you are likely to get walled by Skarmory, Forretress and Bronzong. Currently, you are relying on your Tyranitar to remove these, presumably, but you have to remember that Ttar is only capable of removing one threat via this method. Magnezone could remove all of these along with Scizor, so I'm suggesting a Steel killer Magnezone over Tyranitar.

If you were to replace Tyranitar, however, you would lose your sandstorm, exacerbating your weakness to DDmence. Therefore I would suggest changing your Scizor set to Standard Choice Band (yes everyone hates it.) This would also provide a replacement for Tyranitar as a trapper, particularly of Latias.

The Heatran suggestion from above is good. I would recommend Fire Blast/Earth Power/Dragon Pulse OR Hp Ice/Explosion myself. Dragon pulse or Hp ice is a must if you want to use it to counter MixMence. Dragon pulse is an OHKO with SR, so as long as you can guarantee this, Dragon Pulse is the way to go. Swampert is convincingly beaten by Salamence with a bit of prior damage (dragon pulse would do enough), so you don't really need hp grass.

If, consequently, you really miss a status absorber, try RestTalk Rotom.

Good Luck!

EDIT: nitpick: perhaps the 4 evs on Azelf should go into attack. Come to think of it, you could probably combine the roles of Heatran and Magnezone by using Scarf Magnezone - it checks SD luke, and can take out Mixmence provided it doesn't EQ, and you use HP Ice. It does, however, then struggle to take out SpDef Forretress (without allowing multiple entry hazards), Bronzong and SD Scizor

Also, Towelie, you listed leftovers by mistake. You didn't list the Evs either, as they are obvious, but here they are anyway: 252SpAtk/252spe/4 atk OR 4hp if not running Explosion.
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Oh ya my bad I mean scarf > Lefties xP thanks for clearin it up ;D
 
And may I suggest Fire Blast over Draco Meteor? With FBlast, you can hit everything in the metagame for Neutral or SE damage, perfect coverage. Of course, without DMeteor you cant fake a Standard MixMence.... But fuck that.
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His team is based around that Salamence!

As suggested above, you really need to remove Tyranitar. He is detrimental towards your salamence. To take out the steels, Heatran will not do, because they simply flee. You either need a trapper or a lure. MYSTICgar is a good example of a lure, but it really would give your team weaknesses to ghost- and dark-type attacks. The things is, that if you remove ttar, salamence will get walled.

Someone above suggested a celebi: celebi may surprise kill scizor, but again the dark/ghost weakness will tell. Therefore I strongly suggest you at least try Magnezone. Magnezone is also great with Salamence and Latias (as suggested above) type-wise.
 
Just a quick nitpick I just noticed, you should have those 4 HP EV's on Azelf changed to ATK. Just so Explosion does a tiny bit more damage. Sorry about the nitpick.
 
EDIT: My mistake on machamp, it was early lol.

But your descriptions are still very lacking, i suggest you fix that up.
 
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