Foreword
hi! been forever lurking around here, but now I am going to do a RMT! I've been battling infrequently since I guess mid-Gen 4. never often enough to make competitive battling something that I put a huge amount of thinking into at the team-building level (I just throw Pokemon together lol) but often enough to figure out what generally works well for me and keep going with it. my approach is basically intuitive lol, though I'm a pretty good battler if yall would pardon the ego pumping.
I've battled like 10 times in Gen 6 OU over a bunch of infrequent appearances in PS through I guess one month or so, but I feel like I have a solid enough grasp on things from lurking and my history. this team has done mostly pretty well, though it's probably not that flashy or anything. I guess I'm like 8-2 with it? would love to get some opinions on it doe
zard x/rotom w/shaymin/goodra/mandibuzz/lucario
Charizard @ Charizardite X
Ability: Blaze
EVs: 120 Atk / 252 Spd / 136 HP
Jolly Nature
- Will-O-Wisp
- Flare Blitz
- Dragon Claw
- Roost
I didn't know what I was doing when I started this team, so I figured I'd go with a Grass-Fire-Water core (generally what I'm most comfortable with). Charizard X gets all the hype in this tier, so I picked it. Surprisingly, it hasn't been that great for me - everyone knows how to deal with it at this point I think. Zard X is dope as a threat, since it's very tricky to deal with even if you know what to do, but in its actual use, most teams come prepared with a counter that can status it. this was initially the staple DDance Zard, but I changed to Will-o-Wisp Zard (lasts longer against physical attackers if they can burn, and also it's fun to get a burn on things) for the sake of having a Zard that can be useful even if I make a mistake and let it get statused or to bother switch-ins.
I've been thinking about swapping out Zard since it's not spectacularly effective when it's active, but I still like having it there since it's a) comforting to have as a sheer powerhouse, b) probably tricky for opponents to deal with as a threat even when it's not active, c) good for switching into things like Grass-types or sometimes even other Zard X's, and d) I haven't had a good experience with many other Fire types in the past. Also this team (to me) feels on a very delicate level of 'balanced' right now, so I want to keep my status/powerhouse attacker guy.
Rotom-Wash @ Assault Vest
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 232 HP / 56 SAtk / 220 Spd
Modest Nature
- Volt Switch
- Hydro Pump
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Discharge
Great in Gen 5 and still great. Generally lead with this guy and mess around with Volt Switch. HPump is great (probably should have a Surf user or something somewhere so that I'm not dependent on HPump's 80 acc but w/e), and HPIce is great coverage. Discharge was sort of a filler choice, and I wanted an electric attack other than Volt Switch. It's worked pretty well, so I'm sticking with it. Rotom-W is great 10/10 always recommend
Shaymin @ Life Orb
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 40 HP / 252 SAtk / 216 Spd
Modest Nature
- Seed Flare
- Earth Power
- Dazzling Gleam
- Hidden Power [Rock]
There weren't a lot of Grass-types I was familiar with when I looked at gen 6 OU. I love Venusaur but it seemed a poor fit for this team, and I was mostly best with it as a Chlorophyll sleep-and-sweep guy anyway. Shaymin has worked excellently, and its coverage/well-rounded stats makes it great as a fill-in attacker. It's not dominant or anything, but generally hits hard enough to dent in a lot of things which is fine. I'm finding that not many people expect Shaymin to have Dazzling Gleam or HP Rock, which is excellent when I use it. Even Earth Power has caught a few people off guard. Natural Cure has been helpful to have too, especially against folks that try to set a status on Zard.
Goodra @ Assault Vest
Ability: Gooey
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Def / 252 SAtk
Quiet Nature
- Draco Meteor
- Flamethrower
- Thunderbolt
- Dragon Tail
Pivot Pokemon that tanks most special attacks and fills out the rest of my coverage-based attackers nicely. Goodra goes really well with the Grass/Fire/Water-core too, given what it resists and also what it hits (mostly everything). Draco Meteor, though I'm not fond of it, has saved my ass on a few occasions. Flamer/T-Bolt have also proven necessary at times, and where Goodra fails to really hit anything, Dragon Tail is good to just annoy people with.
Mandibuzz (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Overcoat
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SDef
Bold Nature
- Foul Play
- Roost
- Defog
- Toxic
WHAT A BEAST. It complements Goodra so well. Physical attackers can't do anything to it, and the Roost/Toxic combination is great. Defog is helpful with Zard-X and also Volt Switch Rotom (wish Mandibuzz wasn't weak to SR though), and Foul Play is borderline amazing now that Steel type doesn't resist it. Where Foul Play fails to be effective, Roost/Toxic generally gets the rest done. I've found Mandibuzz able to stall out a lot more Pokemon than I expected when I picked it for this slot, which is nothing short of awesome.
Lucario @ Life Orb
Ability: Justified
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 Atk / 4 SDef
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Close Combat
- Earthquake
- Extreme Speed
With five Pokemon selected and my Fire-Grass-Water core nicely complemented by bulky Pokemon on both sides of the physical/special spectrum, I took a bit of time to decide which my last Pokemon should be. I realized I had a lot of coverage hitters, but not a lot of home-run hitters short of DDance Zard X (which is gone now). I also wanted something that was definitively faster, since I had a lot of base-100 speed Pokemon or Pokemon with a speed slightly below that. tl;dr I found that a revenge killer/late-game sweeper would be helpful
I've had a mixed experience with Lucario in the past, but I took a gamble on it and it's worked perfectly. It's fast and Swords Dance makes it hit incredibly hard. XSpeed is so much stronger than I expected, and CC/EQ are obviously powerful. Lucario has rarely failed me, and I've found that switching Zard X to Will-o-Wisp has helped it become even more useful. So yeah, this worked out well for me.
Conclusion/Review/whateva
This team is amazing for me. when I said it was on a delicate level of 'balanced', I meant that I felt like it had a bit of every component that I tend to succeed with and dealt with practically all threats well. Fire/Grass/Water is fun to play with since I switch a lot when I battle (and I tend to be short-sighted or overeager when I give myself stat up attackers), and Mandibuzz/Goodra are perfect for taking attacks and landing damage in retaliation. This team allows me to switch often, take hits and land SE or powerful blows in return. tl;dr perfect for me
I've rarely felt the urge to tamper since it's worked out so well (in fact, I feel like tampering could shatter the equilibrium it's at), and the only change I've made since creating this team was the Zard X change from DDance to WoW. prob not going to make any changes even after posting it, but I wanted to share this team and see what people's takes on it are. So, sup?
hi! been forever lurking around here, but now I am going to do a RMT! I've been battling infrequently since I guess mid-Gen 4. never often enough to make competitive battling something that I put a huge amount of thinking into at the team-building level (I just throw Pokemon together lol) but often enough to figure out what generally works well for me and keep going with it. my approach is basically intuitive lol, though I'm a pretty good battler if yall would pardon the ego pumping.
I've battled like 10 times in Gen 6 OU over a bunch of infrequent appearances in PS through I guess one month or so, but I feel like I have a solid enough grasp on things from lurking and my history. this team has done mostly pretty well, though it's probably not that flashy or anything. I guess I'm like 8-2 with it? would love to get some opinions on it doe
zard x/rotom w/shaymin/goodra/mandibuzz/lucario
Charizard @ Charizardite X
Ability: Blaze
EVs: 120 Atk / 252 Spd / 136 HP
Jolly Nature
- Will-O-Wisp
- Flare Blitz
- Dragon Claw
- Roost
I didn't know what I was doing when I started this team, so I figured I'd go with a Grass-Fire-Water core (generally what I'm most comfortable with). Charizard X gets all the hype in this tier, so I picked it. Surprisingly, it hasn't been that great for me - everyone knows how to deal with it at this point I think. Zard X is dope as a threat, since it's very tricky to deal with even if you know what to do, but in its actual use, most teams come prepared with a counter that can status it. this was initially the staple DDance Zard, but I changed to Will-o-Wisp Zard (lasts longer against physical attackers if they can burn, and also it's fun to get a burn on things) for the sake of having a Zard that can be useful even if I make a mistake and let it get statused or to bother switch-ins.
I've been thinking about swapping out Zard since it's not spectacularly effective when it's active, but I still like having it there since it's a) comforting to have as a sheer powerhouse, b) probably tricky for opponents to deal with as a threat even when it's not active, c) good for switching into things like Grass-types or sometimes even other Zard X's, and d) I haven't had a good experience with many other Fire types in the past. Also this team (to me) feels on a very delicate level of 'balanced' right now, so I want to keep my status/powerhouse attacker guy.
Rotom-Wash @ Assault Vest
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 232 HP / 56 SAtk / 220 Spd
Modest Nature
- Volt Switch
- Hydro Pump
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Discharge
Great in Gen 5 and still great. Generally lead with this guy and mess around with Volt Switch. HPump is great (probably should have a Surf user or something somewhere so that I'm not dependent on HPump's 80 acc but w/e), and HPIce is great coverage. Discharge was sort of a filler choice, and I wanted an electric attack other than Volt Switch. It's worked pretty well, so I'm sticking with it. Rotom-W is great 10/10 always recommend
Shaymin @ Life Orb
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 40 HP / 252 SAtk / 216 Spd
Modest Nature
- Seed Flare
- Earth Power
- Dazzling Gleam
- Hidden Power [Rock]
There weren't a lot of Grass-types I was familiar with when I looked at gen 6 OU. I love Venusaur but it seemed a poor fit for this team, and I was mostly best with it as a Chlorophyll sleep-and-sweep guy anyway. Shaymin has worked excellently, and its coverage/well-rounded stats makes it great as a fill-in attacker. It's not dominant or anything, but generally hits hard enough to dent in a lot of things which is fine. I'm finding that not many people expect Shaymin to have Dazzling Gleam or HP Rock, which is excellent when I use it. Even Earth Power has caught a few people off guard. Natural Cure has been helpful to have too, especially against folks that try to set a status on Zard.
Goodra @ Assault Vest
Ability: Gooey
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Def / 252 SAtk
Quiet Nature
- Draco Meteor
- Flamethrower
- Thunderbolt
- Dragon Tail
Pivot Pokemon that tanks most special attacks and fills out the rest of my coverage-based attackers nicely. Goodra goes really well with the Grass/Fire/Water-core too, given what it resists and also what it hits (mostly everything). Draco Meteor, though I'm not fond of it, has saved my ass on a few occasions. Flamer/T-Bolt have also proven necessary at times, and where Goodra fails to really hit anything, Dragon Tail is good to just annoy people with.
Mandibuzz (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Overcoat
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SDef
Bold Nature
- Foul Play
- Roost
- Defog
- Toxic
WHAT A BEAST. It complements Goodra so well. Physical attackers can't do anything to it, and the Roost/Toxic combination is great. Defog is helpful with Zard-X and also Volt Switch Rotom (wish Mandibuzz wasn't weak to SR though), and Foul Play is borderline amazing now that Steel type doesn't resist it. Where Foul Play fails to be effective, Roost/Toxic generally gets the rest done. I've found Mandibuzz able to stall out a lot more Pokemon than I expected when I picked it for this slot, which is nothing short of awesome.
Lucario @ Life Orb
Ability: Justified
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 Atk / 4 SDef
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Close Combat
- Earthquake
- Extreme Speed
With five Pokemon selected and my Fire-Grass-Water core nicely complemented by bulky Pokemon on both sides of the physical/special spectrum, I took a bit of time to decide which my last Pokemon should be. I realized I had a lot of coverage hitters, but not a lot of home-run hitters short of DDance Zard X (which is gone now). I also wanted something that was definitively faster, since I had a lot of base-100 speed Pokemon or Pokemon with a speed slightly below that. tl;dr I found that a revenge killer/late-game sweeper would be helpful
I've had a mixed experience with Lucario in the past, but I took a gamble on it and it's worked perfectly. It's fast and Swords Dance makes it hit incredibly hard. XSpeed is so much stronger than I expected, and CC/EQ are obviously powerful. Lucario has rarely failed me, and I've found that switching Zard X to Will-o-Wisp has helped it become even more useful. So yeah, this worked out well for me.
Conclusion/Review/whateva
This team is amazing for me. when I said it was on a delicate level of 'balanced', I meant that I felt like it had a bit of every component that I tend to succeed with and dealt with practically all threats well. Fire/Grass/Water is fun to play with since I switch a lot when I battle (and I tend to be short-sighted or overeager when I give myself stat up attackers), and Mandibuzz/Goodra are perfect for taking attacks and landing damage in retaliation. This team allows me to switch often, take hits and land SE or powerful blows in return. tl;dr perfect for me
I've rarely felt the urge to tamper since it's worked out so well (in fact, I feel like tampering could shatter the equilibrium it's at), and the only change I've made since creating this team was the Zard X change from DDance to WoW. prob not going to make any changes even after posting it, but I wanted to share this team and see what people's takes on it are. So, sup?
