History 101: Dictatorship through Intimidation

[Rafael J. Feliciano]

History 101: Dictatorship through Intimidation
​

Nobody knows this, but I studied History in College. History fascinates me in that, even though there appears to be copious amounts of evidence that suggest that certain acts should not be repeated due to the negative backlash or results that were netted from the event; people, leaders and countries, somehow still find ways to re-commit the same errors as if there isn’t already a precedence for the action in question.

Take for example the Munich Agreement of 1938. It was supposed to appease Nazi Germany and establish a baseline for peaceful relations between all the countries in Europe. As history would have it, this was nothing more than a failed attempt at trying to stop a leader and his country from plunging the world into a Second World War.

Despite these lessons in history, we currently have a situation in the world that is eerily similar to it in the form of the Ukraine, Crimea, Russia Story. Despite both the White House (US) and the European Union (EU) declaring the referendum that Crimea backed unanimously on March 16th a violation of international law, undermining the re-designation that Europe went through after the USSR dissolved in 1991, it appears, per media sources, that Russia and its leader will plow ahead and annex Crimea from the Ukraine, despite threats from both the US and the EU.

The reasoning for mentioning this to demonstrate how intimidation is the most effective tool for bending the people to ones will. If the Crimean Parliament building was taken in a storm of gunfire, it goes without saying that we wouldn’t be talking about this situation with such civility. Mussolini did the same thing when the Fascist Grand Council passed the Acerbo Law of 1923. Even though all political figures that weren’t Fascist knew that ratifying the law would be political suicide, it’s hard to voice your opinion when your life was literally hanging on your vote.

Intimidation in our game has the same purpose. Though not immediately life threatening, when used judicially, can be an exceptional tool for strong arming your opponents into making decisions that would otherwise, not be considered because of the lack of positive momentum it generates. Though in our Meta, with the presence of Bisharp and to a lesser extent, Thundurus, an ability that had no real drawbacks now has to be used more carefully. With that in mind, here is the team that we came up with to Intimidate our foes into submission:

Everyone Loves Rocks ^_^

Landorus-T @ Leftovers
EV: 248 HP / 172 Def / 88 Spe
Ability: Intimidate
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- Stealth Rock
- U-Turn

This EV spread allows me to outrun Adamant Gyarados and Dragonite, affording me the opportunity to pummel them with Stone Edge before they can get off a Dragon Dance. EQ is for STAB goodness and every team needs Entry Hazards, and this guy does his job best. U-Turn completes the Intimidate Core and provides options and momentum.

Bad Girl

Latias @ Life Orb
EV: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Ability: Levitate
Timid Nature
IV: 0 Atk/ 30 Def / 30 SpA / 30 SpD / 30 Spe
- Hidden Power [Fighting]
- Draco Meteor
- Defog
- Psyshock

I love Latias… she just rocks ^_^ In all seriousness, whenever you plan on using VoltTurn, hazard removal becomes a priority and thus, Defog is needed. HP Fighting is here for Nazi Overlord, Bisharp, trying to switch in and net a free +2 cause of the Defog. Draco Meteor is the standard nuke of this set, with Psyshock rounding out the set to take on opposing Mega Venusaur and Chansey/Blissey who would otherwise wall my girl (xoxo)

Did Anyone Get the Plate on that Truck???

Keldeo @ Choice Specs
EV: 252 SpA / 252 Spe / 4 HP
Ability: Justified
Timid Nature
IV: 0 Atk
- Hydro Pump
- Sacred Sword
- Hidden Power [Flying]
- Icy Wind

Was added to the team thanks to strong support from the RMTers of this AWESOME forum. Keldeo just breaks shit. FU Blissey, Chansey, Mega Venusaur... hell even Icy Wind on a Multiscale Dragonite nets a 2HKO. If that ain't power, I don't know what is...

Escalibur Wannabe?

Aegislash @ Air Balloon
EV: 248 HP / 252 SpA / 8 Spe
Ability: Stance Change
Quiet Nature
- Shadow Ball
- Pursuit
- King’s Shield
- Sacred Sword

Though this mon may not have the Intimidate ability, he is arguably one of the more fearsome Mixed Wall Breakers in the game. EVs and Move set are standard, with Air Balloon providing pseudo immunity to Ground Attacks that would otherwise jeopardize Aegislash’s longevity.

Edit: Added Pursuit after a very nice rate from a fren ^_^

The Oddity

Clefable @ Assault Vest
EV: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SpA
Ability: Magic Guard
Bold Nature
- Thunderbolt
- Moonblast
- Flamethrower
- Ice Beam

Ok, this is probably the first time anyone has seen this, but I was feeling a little frisky. So please bear with me as I try to hashs this thought process out.

So after settling on the first 5 members of the Fascist Party, I actually took a while to figure out who I wanted for the 6th slot. This usually is rare, as between fitting in Stealth Rock, Defog, VoltTurn, etc; the team tends to build itself. Normally, when I have a sixth undedicated slot, I usually go for a Cleric, so I looked at all of them and decided I wanted one that could actually put up a fight. (Sorry Blissey and Chansey)

After thinking about this further, I looked at my team and felt that though reasonably bulky, a Cleric might not be necessary as my Main Sweeper(s) were either relatively frail and can absorb a Will-o-Wisp cause they are mostly attacking from their Special Attack (Mega Manectric & Aegislash ) or can absorb a T-Wave (Mega Manectric & Landorus-T).

So that’s when I started fumbling with Clefable. I’ve seen her in action and thanks to her new found typing, was granted a second lease on life; combine all the shiny new resistances and a new immunity to the fact that her weaknesses don’t have as wide a distribution pool as some would like and, finally an awesome ability in Magic Guard, making WoW and Stealth Rock obsolete, well, let’s just say it was time to experiment.

Standard Life Orb and Leftovers sets already exist, but I still felt, though efficient in the roles they played, the team needed something different. That’s when it hit me like a truck, AV Clefable. Not saying this is the new ground breaking set that will take the world by storm, but at the bare minimum, if you read this far, I’m assuming that this set piqued your interest. (Either that or you just wanted to understand how retarded people think and have a good laugh) If that was the case, then you’re welcome ^_^

Well with AV, even unvested Clefable’s Special Defense sits at a Base 324 which is just 4 points below a Calm Specially Defensive Celebi. With that being said, I decided to Fully Invested HP and Defense with a Bold Nature to give her a Base 269 Defense which is slightly under an un-invested neutral nature Hippowdon, which is no small feat.
Since this is an AV set, nothing but attacks are allowed and we have everything and the kitchen sink to throw at the opponent; Flamethrower for Steel Types, T-Bolt for Azumarill, Ice Beam for Ground Types and Moonblast for good old fashion STAB goodness. This addition will definitely raise some eyebrows… so please think and be thorough when evaluating this addition.

The Grand Finale

Manectric @ Manectite
EV: 72 HP / 252 SpA / 184 Spe
Ability: Lightningrod -> Intimidate
IV: 0 Atk / 30 Def
Timid Nature
- Thunderbolt
- Flamethrower
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Volt Switch

The EV Spread allows SS2 Manectric to outspeed Talonflame’s Flare Blitz, allowing me to invest the remaining EVs into HP, which also gives me an odd number for Stealth Rock Damage purposes. The set is pretty standard, creating an Intimidate Core with the next member on this list. Though some people prefer the fully invested 252 Speed to outrun certain mons like Garchomp and Charizard on the turn they Mega, I believe that the teammates around Manetric will be more than capable of handling these threats.

What History has taught us…

Really, history doesn’t teach people anything, people teach people. History is nothing more than a living recorder denoting all of humanity’s greatest achievements and failures. The onus is on us to expand and progress on the achievements, while finding ways to learn from our failures and mitigate the reasons why these failures occurred. With that in mind, any critiques and input would be greatly appreciated. Thank you to all for taking the time to read through this team and may you all have a wonderful day. ^_^

 

[Attack Order]

Hi Rafael J. Feliciano! Really solid team you have there ;]. However, I noticed that Bisharp really screws you over. You have two intimidate users, and Bisharp's Defiant ability will take advantage of those boosts, and RestTalk is a bit unreliable in getting rid of boosted threats. Latias completely dies to sucker punch, Clefable dies to Iron Head, Mega Manetric (Boosted +2 sucker kills iirc), and Aegislash both die from the powerful STAB moves from Bisharp. :(

Maybe try out Cobalion? It gets an attack boost from Knock off, resists Iron head, and it also gets Volt Switch to keep momentum.

+2 252 Atk Life Orb Bisharp Iron Head vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Cobalion: 133-156 (41 - 48.1%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Leftovers recovery

That's if Bisharp even gets a chance to attack before getting smashed by Close Combat. Since Latias has a bit of trouble with Bisharp, maybe you can switch into Cobalion, get the attack boost, and just sweep! Here's the set:

Cobalion @ Leftovers
Ability: Justified
EVs: 28 Atk / 228 SAtk / 252 Spd
Naive Nature
- Volt Switch
- Close Combat
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Iron Head

If that doesn't suit your fancy, Mega Scizor can work, it has access to U-turn and what not. Your team lacks priority as well, so maybe adding Conkeldurr would be nice. Just mach punch Bisharp to pieces :P.

In all seriousness, Bisharp is a huge threat to your team and you need to find something to deal with it!

Also, I LOVE the way you are utilizing Assault Vest Clefable. However, I would change a few things. Instead of Psyshock, maybe change it to Thunderbolt? BoltBeam has really good coverage, the only thing that resists it in OU if I recall correctly is Magnezone, which is hit hard by Flamethrower anyways. Psyshock doesn't really hit anything important, maybe Poison-types, but those are rare anyways. You already hit Fighting type pokemon with Moonblast for super effective damage! The only Poison-type I can think of right now is Mega Venusaur, and you wouldn't want to stay in it.

8 SpA Clefable Psyshock vs. 252 HP / 252 Def Mega Venusaur: 78-92 (21.4 - 25.2%) -- 0.1% chance to 4HKO
8 SpA Clefable Psyshock vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Mega Venusaur: 94-112 (25.8 - 30.7%) -- guaranteed 4HKO

While...
0+ SpA Mega Venusaur Sludge Bomb vs. 248 HP / 0 SpD Assault Vest Clefable: 186-218 (47.3 - 55.4%) -- 69.5% chance to 2HKO
If Venusaur has maximum spA investment, then RIP Clefable.

Aegislash looks good, however I'm not so sure about the item. Sure it provides immunity to ground for a bit, but you already have 3 pokemon that resist Ground! I would suggest changing it to leftovers, as then Aegislash has an increased longevity, as it has no other form of recovery.

Overall, nice team! Good luck with it, and I hope this helps! :)

 

[Ladder Heroes]

Cool team there. Okay so no matter how Intimidating you are, there will be people who will remain defiant, and oppose you in spite of the oppresion, like Bisharp or Thundurus for example. Manectric deals with Thundurus fine, but if Bisharp gets that boost, you are in big trouble. This is why I recommend using Keldeo>Gyarados. On your team, Specs Keldeo works nicely, resisting Bisharp's STABs and breaking down walls for a final
Manectric cleanup. Next, I'd recommend running Pursuit>Shadow Sneak on Aegi, with a quiet nature and the 8 speed EVs into Attack. This allows you to "outslow" opposing Aegislashes and hit them in attack form. Pursuit is mostly preference, but it screws Latios over. I love the creativity of the AV Clefable, but I'd probably run Unaware over Magic Guard to check most Dragon Dancers. Good luck.

 

[Idyll]

Hey fren :] I suppose I'll provide my input on this case. Right now you've got a solid Intimidate VoltTurn core in Lando and Manectric with support from Gyaradods and co. that you often capitalize on. However, all your use of Intimidate leave a huge hole for Defiant users, and to a lesser extent Competetive users, to tear upon. Notably, Physical Thundurus-I* and Bisharp leave huge holes in your team as they can manage to utilize your Intimidates in their favor. Therefore, I recommend you to use Keldeo over Gyarados, particularly Scarf in order to check both of these threats. This change also gives you a wonderful Revenge-killer to help with out of hand threats. Gyarados in particular isn't really giving much more than it takes and only compounds your weakness and sits pretty. There's also some synergy in this change as you have most of his problems in Talonflame covered and he helps you beat opposing Chansey.

Now, provided you followed my suggestion, the need to lure in Bisharp with your Latias becomes unneeded. Thus, it is recommended that you change Hidden Power Fighting into a coverage such as Thunderbolt. In addition, you may also use Healing Wish if you so desire; if not, it is recommended to replace her with Latios due to his offensive nature more synergetic to the team.

Now, this is a bit disagreeable, but why Clefable with an Assault Vest? You see, Assault Vest only *really* works when the user has reliable recovery such as Drain Punch for Conk and... that's it. His slot is mainly that tanking role that has coverage already hit by most of his teammates. Put short: unnecessay tank. Now to put some more use in this slot, I recommend the offensive cleric Sylveon. Particularly because your team kinda needs the power to last against Stall, and also because you're kinda Sub Kyu-B weak when it gets a sub. Sylveon in particular performs the same thing Clefable used to do, but with more power and recovery. Sylveon checks the same relevant things mostly, so yeah your choice. Also, Pixilate Hyper Voice is pretty cool :]:];] Not saying AV Clefable is bad though, p creative.

*Physical Thund-I often run Wild Charge, Knock Off, Superpower, and a mix-up of Fly, Hidden Power Ice, or Psychic most of the time.

Sets:

Keldeo @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Justified
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 SAtk / 4 SDef
Timid Nature
- Hydro Pump
- Secret Sword
- Icy Wind
- Hidden Power [Flying]

Sylveon @ Leftovers
Ability: Pixilate
EVs: 4 SDef / 252 HP / 252 Def
Bold Nature
- Hyper Voice
- Wish
- Protect
- Heal Bell

 

[AM]

One minor thing is I would keep the colors consistent. Some things like the yellow were hard to read. Ok so for one since you're running all physical attacks anyways I would go Jolly nature on Landorus-T. No need to decrease your special defense with Naive nature when you're not running any special attacks. Also for Mega Manectric you want to run at the very least 216 speed to outrun base 130 speed mons such as Aerodactyl. Put the 40 remaining EVs into Hp (It will fall on an odd number btw). Most of the other things were already mentioned above by others but those were some key things I noticed. Keep up the good work.

 

[TheInsanity]

After testing this team from 1100 to 1450 with an old account, i can say that clefable is a dead weight.

U can handle dragons with the intimidate core. Latwins are fucked by aegislash.

But fun fact, like the players over me says, bisharp is not a problem. When people see latias, the switch into bisharp is automatic. Bisharp totally isn't a threat for the team.

Chansey is a problem. Latias psyshock is not strong like latios psyshock, and u are not using the clumber aegislash. That bitch can wish pass easily.

I suggest to replace clefable for keldeo:

Keldeo @ Choice Specs
Ability: Justified
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 SAtk / 4 SDef
Timid Nature
- Hydro Pump
- Secret Sword
- Surf / Icy Wind
- Hidden Power [Flying]

The speed is not a problem for the team, because u can easily force a lot of switch with intimidate.

Players still don't understand how much is awesome air balloon aegislash: forced switch on gliscor, scarf chomp/excadrill, instead of a useless 6% of health back every time.

Nice team like always.

 

[Rafael J. Feliciano]

Hello all. ^_^

Thanks to everyone who replied to my RMT.

After some testing, I pose the following questions to everyone:

1. Is it just how my brain operates or the way I play different from everyone but, Bisharp is NOT a problem for this team... Yes, when people see 3 Intimidate users and they are running Bisharp, I'm almost positive that they have an orgasm. But then they switch in on Latias thinking they either are going to Pursuit Trap me or SD to put their attack to stupid high levels, just to then summarily get OHKO by HP Fighting. With that being said, like always, everyone is more than welcomed to try the team out for themselves, including adding Keldeo (Specs or Scarf) for either Clefable or Gyarados. Yes, Defiant Thundurus, though few and far between, can give this team problems, with the proper switches, I feel that he can be managed. Especially since Aegislash laughs at Superpower ^_^

2.

One minor thing is I would keep the colors consistent. Some things like the yellow were hard to read. Ok so for one since you're running all physical attacks anyways I would go Jolly nature on Landorus-T. No need to decrease your special defense with Naive nature when you're not running any special attacks. Also for Mega Manectric you want to run at the very least 216 speed to outrun base 130 speed mons such as Aerodactyl. Put the 40 remaining EVs into Hp (It will fall on an odd number btw). Most of the other things were already mentioned above by others but those were some key things I noticed. Keep up the good work.

The 130 mons that I would need to worry about outspeeding from the get are Crobat, Aerodactyl and Jolteon to name a few... that's hardly murderer's row and besides, the first two I would prefer to have Landorus-T in on and, if we keep the team as is, Clefable eats every attack Jolteon can possibly throw at it (see below) and if Jolteon were Specs Locked into T-Bolt, well Lando-T gets a free switch.

Damage Outputs Specs Jolteon vs AV Clefable

Jolteon's Moves (select one to show detailed results)

- Thunderbolt 36.6 - 43%
- Volt Switch 28.2 - 33.5%
- HP Ice 16.2 - 19.3%
- Shadow Ball 21.6 - 25.6%

Clefable's Moves (select one to show detailed results)

- Ice Beam 24.2 - 28.6%
- Moonblast 37.8 - 45.2%
- Flamethrower 24.2 - 28.6%
- Thunderbolt 0 - 0%

3.

Also, I LOVE the way you are utilizing Assault Vest Clefable. However, I would change a few things. Instead of Psyshock, maybe change it to Thunderbolt? BoltBeam has really good coverage, the only thing that resists it in OU if I recall correctly is Magnezone, which is hit hard by Flamethrower anyways. Psyshock doesn't really hit anything important, maybe Poison-types, but those are rare anyways. You already hit Fighting type pokemon with Moonblast for super effective damage! The only Poison-type I can think of right now is Mega Venusaur, and you wouldn't want to stay in it.

8 SpA Clefable Psyshock vs. 252 HP / 252 Def Mega Venusaur: 78-92 (21.4 - 25.2%) -- 0.1% chance to 4HKO
8 SpA Clefable Psyshock vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Mega Venusaur: 94-112 (25.8 - 30.7%) -- guaranteed 4HKO

While...
0+ SpA Mega Venusaur Sludge Bomb vs. 248 HP / 0 SpD Assault Vest Clefable: 186-218 (47.3 - 55.4%) -- 69.5% chance to 2HKO
If Venusaur has maximum spA investment, then RIP Clefable.

Psyshock on Clefable was dropped for T-Bolt. (Didn't have a working damage calculator when I had my epiphany) -_-'

4.

Cool team there. Okay so no matter how Intimidating you are, there will be people who will remain defiant, and oppose you in spite of the oppresion, like Bisharp or Thundurus for example. Manectric deals with Thundurus fine, but if Bisharp gets that boost, you are in big trouble. This is why I recommend using Keldeo>Gyarados. On your team, Specs Keldeo works nicely, resisting Bisharp's STABs and breaking down walls for a final
Manectric cleanup. Next, I'd recommend running Pursuit>Shadow Sneak on Aegi, with a quiet nature and the 8 speed EVs into Attack. This allows you to "outslow" opposing Aegislashes and hit them in attack form. Pursuit is mostly preference, but it screws Latios over. I love the creativity of the AV Clefable, but I'd probably run Unaware over Magic Guard to check most Dragon Dancers. Good luck.

After testing this team from 1100 to 1450 with an old account, i can say that clefable is a dead weight.

U can handle dragons with the intimidate core. Latwins are fucked by aegislash.

But fun fact, like the players over me says, bisharp is not a problem. When people see latias, the switch into bisharp is automatic. Bisharp totally isn't a threat for the team.

Chansey is a problem. Latias psyshock is not strong like latios psyshock, and u are not using the clumber aegislash. That bitch can wish pass easily.

I suggest to replace clefable for keldeo:

Keldeo @ Choice Specs
Ability: Justified
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 SAtk / 4 SDef
Timid Nature
- Hydro Pump
- Secret Sword
- Surf / Icy Wind
- Hidden Power [Flying]

The speed is not a problem for the team, because u can easily force a lot of switch with intimidate.

Players still don't understand how much is awesome air balloon aegislash: forced switch on gliscor, scarf chomp/excadrill, instead of a useless 6% of health back every time.

Nice team like always.

Hey fren :] I suppose I'll provide my input on this case. Right now you've got a solid Intimidate VoltTurn core in Lando and Manectric with support from Gyaradods and co. that you often capitalize on. However, all your use of Intimidate leave a huge hole for Defiant users, and to a lesser extent Competetive users, to tear upon. Notably, Physical Thundurus-I* and Bisharp leave huge holes in your team as they can manage to utilize your Intimidates in their favor. Therefore, I recommend you to use Keldeo over Gyarados, particularly Scarf in order to check both of these threats. This change also gives you a wonderful Revenge-killer to help with out of hand threats. Gyarados in particular isn't really giving much more than it takes and only compounds your weakness and sits pretty. There's also some synergy in this change as you have most of his problems in Talonflame covered and he helps you beat opposing Chansey.

Absolutely love these suggestions!!! I'll admit, putting Gyarados was a bit of a stretch but indeed Keldeo's Wallbreaking Potential is just too much t ignore. Especially because, as Dalai_Drama said, Blissey and Chansey are bitches... Consider this change done... though Dos might see a comeback... stay tuned ^_^

Hope to hear more great input from you all. Thanks a lot.

 

[BurningFury101]

A few nitpicks: Naive Nature on Landorus should be turned into Jolly

Impish Nature on Keldeo should be Timid (lol).

Aegislash shouldn't be running any Speed, so put the 8 Speed into SDef, and run 0 Speed IV's.

Last but not least, you said you have Psyshock on your Clefable but you have Thunderbolt instead.

I'll probably be back with a full rate, but for now this is all I can grasp.

 

[TheInsanity]

A few nitpicks: Naive Nature on Landorus should be turned into Jolly

Impish Nature on Keldeo should be Timid (lol).

Aegislash shouldn't be running any Speed, so put the 8 Speed into SDef, and run 0 Speed IV's.

Last but not least, you said you have Psyshock on your Clefable but you have Thunderbolt instead.

I'll probably be back with a full rate, but for now this is all I can grasp.

Aegislash runs 31evs in Spd and 8 evs in spd for outspeeding sassy Ttar.

 

[BurningFury101]

Aegislash runs 31evs in Spd and 8 evs in spd for outspeeding sassy Ttar.

It's Quiet natured, so it needs 12 EVs.

 

[Rafael J. Feliciano]

A few nitpicks: Naive Nature on Landorus should be turned into Jolly

Impish Nature on Keldeo should be Timid (lol).

Aegislash shouldn't be running any Speed, so put the 8 Speed into SDef, and run 0 Speed IV's.

Last but not least, you said you have Psyshock on your Clefable but you have Thunderbolt instead.

I'll probably be back with a full rate, but for now this is all I can grasp.

Natures updated... forgot to update as SleepTalk Gyarados was there originally... T-Bolt was added later on... forgot to update the soilioquy -.- thanks for the input... greatly appreciated ^_^