Inception
The Dream Thiefs
___[Lead]___[Scout]__[Revenger]___[Tank]____[Utility]____[Supporter]_
I began this team with a few prerequisites: 1. An offensive Psychic/Dark/Fighting core. 2. Minimal Entry hazard weaknesses, and ways to remove them. 3. A balance between offense and defense. I narrowed my dark and psychic pokemon to Alakazam and Weavile. This team is also going to be used in the 5th generation, so Alakazam will eventually have magic guard, and as such, will be an even more potent team member.
Now, I knew Tyranitar would be a huge problem if I didn't find a reliable counter. I turned to Hariyama, who's bulk, typing, and great support movepool added a layer of depth to the team.
Next I began the search for a reliable lead. I wanted a bulky pokemon that could set up Stealth Rock, and provide some other utility. At first I thought about Forretress, Metagross, and some others, but in the end, I went for Skarmory because its typing gave some good synergy to the team.
Now I wanted a good utility pokemon. I needed a rapid spinner to keep weavile safe from SR, and other general damage. Tentacruel was on the shortlist with forretress and some others, but I chose Tenta for his bonus aborbing abilities.
And to round off the team I wanted a Scizor counter and some extra utility. Rotom was the first to come to mind and his typing and everything else fit snuggly into the team.
Unfortunately, I needed to patch up some weaknesses on the team from some threats. I had to take off a member, and sadly that member is Alakazam. Flygon covers those weaknesses nicely, and serves as a proper scout. Bonus point: He fits the name Arthur even better.
Overall Strategy
The general idea of the team is to lay down entry hazards to cripple sweepers and walls. Stealth Rock hurts some common sweepers, namely, Dragonite and Gyarados, among other popular sweepers. Toxic Spikes will hinder walls coming in, and weaken them for my team to pick them off. The Second part of the strategy is to keep my opponent on their toes, by keeping a team mate in for a limited amount of time. Most of the threats this team has can be covered by more than one member, so it forces my opponent into tough decision. To empliment this idea, my sweepers also function as revenge killers, so they can come in, remove a threat and immidiately switch to the next appropriate Pokemon. So, in summation, the idea is to cripple, then destroy.
Ariadne
The Architect
Skarmory (F) [Leftovers]
[Keen Eye]
[Impish; +Defense, -Special Attack]
[252 Hit Points] [164 Special Defense] [92 Speed]
-Stealth Rock
-Brave Bird
-Roost
-Taunt
Moveset: Stealth Rock is pretty obvious; set up to add to the killing power of the team. Brave Bird is some decent STAB, good for Machamp and such. Roost is for the neccesary recovery move. Taunt was a toss up until I decided on running whirlwind on Hariyama.
Evs & Nature: Impish is necesary for his bulk. The EVs given are to make Skarmory able to take hits from both ends of the spectrum and the Speed evs give him enough to Taunt slower leads, like metagross.
Role on the team: Skarmory sets the playing field for the rest of the team. She puts up rocks, and can prevent other entry hazards (among other things) from being set up. Taunt also prevents set-up sweepers.
The Name: Ariadne is the architect, and as such creates the world for the extractors to work in. Skarmory shapes the playing field for the team.
Type Synergy:
Fire --
Electric --
Arthur
The Point Man
Flygon (m) [Choice Scarf]
[Levitate]
[Jolly; +Speed, -Special Attack]
[252 Attack] [252 Speed] [6 Hit Points]
-Outrage
-Earthquake
-U-Turn
-Thunderpunch
Move Set: Outrage and earthquake are for dual STAB, and they cover some types that the rest of the team doesnt. U-turn makes him a good scout for the team, allowing me to take off some minor damage on my swtiches. Thunderpunch is here mainly for Gyarados, but it also helps with other waters. It also takes the pressure off of Hariyama in taking gyarados out.
Evs & Nature: Spread is there to maximize his speed and attack. Jolly to keep him outpacing other threats.
Role on the team: He checks some major threats to the team; as pointed out by a rater. Mixnite, Azelf, and lucario. He also works nicely as my scout so I can evaluate my opponent's team.
The Name: Arthur was the team's point man, and Flygon functions in a similar way. He can come in and check out what the opposing team is and either take out an enemy team mate, or switch to an appropriate
counter.
Type Synergy:
Ice--
Dragon --
Dom Cobb
The Extractor
Weavile (m) [Life Orb]
[Pressure]
[Jolly; +Speed, -Special Attack]
[252 Attack] [252 Speed] [6 Special Defense]
-Night Slash
-Ice Shard
-Low Kick
-Pursuit
Moveset: Night Slash is the general beat stick move. Ice shard is probably the most useful, the priority is wonderful for picking off choiced flygons and others. Low kick is for Rock and Steel types especially Heatran and Tyranitar. Pursuit gives him psuedo trapping abilities, at least against Psychics and Ghosts
Evs & Nature: Nothing too ground breaking here, max atk/speed is an absolute neccesity. 6 HP is leftovers.
Role on the team: He is my absolute favorite revenge killer. He just looks like one to top it off. Prioity+Pseudo trapping are two great assets for a pokemon of his nature.
The Name: Dom Cobb was the extractor for the team, and had a very dark, troubled past. Weavile's role, and typing fit Dom perfectly.
Type Synergy:
Fighting --
Rock --
Fire --
Steel --
Bug --
Eames
The Forger
Hariyama (m) [leftovers]
[Thick Fat]
[Adamant; +Attack, -Special Attack]
[80 Hit Points] [172 Attack] [252 Defense] [6 Special Defense]
-Force Palm
-Bullet Punch
-Whirlwind
-Stone Edge
Moveset: The main reason I chose Hariyama was his support movepool. He also has thick fat, but thats another story. Force palm gives him STAB and paralysis support. Bullet punch works the same way it does on machamp, to pick off weakened foes. Whirlwind turns into a pHazer, and Stone edge lets him hit gyarados, zapdos, and others.
Evs & Nature: Adamant gives him extra attacking power. I skrate-up stole the ev spread from the smogon set because it works. The spread gives him enough bulk and offense for what I want him to do
Role on the team: He is mainly here to counter threats like tyranitar and heatran. Thick fat gives him the extra resists to combat heatran, and he can completely destroy the both of them with Force Palm.
The Name: Eames was brought in to help the team overcome some challenges would face; which is exactly why I brought in Hariyama.
Type Synergy:
Psychic --
Flying --
Yusef
The Chemist
Tentacruel (m) [Black Sludge]
[Liquid Ooze]
[Bold; +Defense, -Attack]
[252 Hit Points] [120 Defense] [136 Special Defense]
-Hydro Pump
-Toxic Spikes
-Rapid Spin
-Hidden Power [Electric]
Moveset: Because tentacruel has enough bulk to afford a miss, I chose Hydro Pump for the added power. Toxic Spikes helps break down stall, and hurt the opponent. Rapid Spin is mainly here to keep Weavile Alive. HP electric is here to keep me from being walled by gyarados and other waters.
Evs & Nature: Bold gives him some surprise physical bulk. Standard spread is standard, but it works as well, keeping him very bulky.
Role on the team: Tentacruel does two things: He keeps the team safe, and widdles away at the other team. He absorbs Toxic Spikes, spins the rest away, and sets his own toxic spikes up. His typing also covers some crucial weaknesses from the team.
The Name: Yusef created the chemicals necessary to keep the team under in the dream. Tenta is a vital member and specializes in chemical warfare.
Type Synergy:
Electric --
Ground --
Psychic --
Mr. Saito
The Tourist
Rotom-H (m) [Leftovers]
[Levitate]
[Bold; +Defense. -Attack]
[252 Hit Points] [252 Special Attack] [6 Defense]
-Thunderbolt
-Shadow Ball
-Overheat
-Will-o-Wisp
Moveset: Shadow ball and thunderbolt provide dual STAB. Overeat demolishes scizor and others. Will-o-wisp is my final status spreader on the team. It cripples any physical sweeper not names Infernape, and is great support tool.
Evs & Nature: The spread above keeps him very bulky while maximizing attack to ensure more KO's
Role on the team: Rotom is here solely to check threats that hurt the team. Scizor is the biggest one. His typing gives me 3 bonus immunities and some key resistances.
The Name: Saito was the funder of the operation, and was there to support the team. Rotom does the same thing here.
Type Synergy:
Ghost --
Dark --
Points of Interest on the Team:
- 1 SR weakness, 2 resists, 3 neutral.
- 3 Immune to Spikes
- 4 Immune to Toxic Spikes, 1 Absorber
- Good synergy
- Good type coverage
- All are reasonably bulky, except Weavile
- All are at least somewhat speedy, except Hariyama
