At A Glance:
Intro:
Hi everyone! 2sly4u here with my first Gen V team! Since I was just starting out in B/W, I wanted to adapt a strategy that was easy to pick up so I could ease myself into the metagame. After a day or so test battling and completely rebuilding my team more than a few times, I've finally found a team that's helped me win a bit more than half my matches. As you'll see most [read: all] of the sets are completely standard since I wanted to get a feel for this generation before I got all fancy. However, original sets are more than welcome. Without further ado, the Team Building Process!
Team-Building Proccess
In-Depth Look (Changes will be underlined)
Ninetales@Life Orb
Timid Nature, 252SpA/4SpD/252Spe
Fire Blast
Energy Ball
HP Fighting
Will-O-Wisp
Ninetales is on my team for one reason only: Drought. The basis of my entire team, permanent sun turns my three sweepers into complete monsters, capable of running through almost anything. Since my team was so offense driven, I decided to run a more threatening version of Ninetales as opposed to the support variant. Fire Blast is STAB, choses over Flamethrower because 81 SpA is horrible and she needs all the power she can get, even in Sun. Energy Ball lets me pose at least some semblance of a threat to Politoed and Hippowdon, as well as any Bulky Waters. HP Fighting is supposed to handle Tyranitar, but even with a Life Orb it still does pathetic damage. Will-O-Wisp forces pokemon like Dragonite and Gyarados the think twice before switching in. I've been thinking about switching to a Choice Specs set in increase my longevity.
Venusaur@Leftovers
Lonely Nature, 252Att/4SpA/252Spe
Growth
Seed Bomb
HP Fire
Earthquake
Venusaur is the inspiration for my entire team. Thanks to his fantastic new ability and the new mechanics of Growth, he's finally worth using above UU. As an added bonus, he absorbs Toxic Spikes, a huge necessity since nothing on my team can handle them. I chose the mixed set because I hate Blissey. Really, that's it. Admittedly I have less raw power than the Special set, but the ability to lure in would-be counters and destroy them more than makes up for it. Seed Bomb is my STAB, while HP Fire lets my roast pokemon like Skarmory who see Seed Bomb and think they can wall me. Earthquake rounds out my coverage and easily defeats pokemon like opposing Infernape and Heatran. I chose Leftovers over Life Orb because I didn't notice a loss of any notable OHKOs while playing and I loved the added survivability.
Wobbuffet@Leftovers
Bold Nature, 28HP/228Def/252SpD
Counter
Mirror Coat
Encore
Tickle/Safeguard
When I first put Wobbuffet on my team, I was almost certain he would end up getting dropped. Strangely enough, he's probably the MVP of my team. Thanks to his fantastic bulk and Shadow Tag, he's essentially a free KO on my opponent's most dangerous pokemon. He also has amazing synergy with Venusaur because of Encore, which guarantees me at least one free Growth. Counter and Mirror coat let me OHKO at least one pokemon. I've tried both Tickle and Safeguard in the last slot, and can't decide. Both have won me a match once, but neither sees much use. I also know that the standard EV set calls for more Speed, but I'd rather have a second chance at Counter/Mirror coat than the ability to outspend Blissey, who my team handles well enough already.
Infernape@Choice Scarf
Hasty Nature, 176 Att/80 SpA/252Spe
Close Combat
Overheat
Stone Edge
U-Turn
Infernape is my mixed wall breaker and revenge killer, as suggested by San Pellegrio. Close Combat is STAB, while Overheat gives me a way to handle physical walls. Thanks to the small investment in SpA and the Sun, it does tons of damage even after being used once. Stone Edge gives me a way to damage Dragonite and Volcarona.. U-Turn lets me maintain momentum if I have nothing better to do. He's a bit too weak for my liking, but he does a nice job of softening up my opponent's Fire resists and late-game cleaning. Even so, I've been testing out ScarfCini in this slot to abuse the almighty V-Create.
Virizion@Leftovers
Hasty Nature, 64Att/192SpA/252Spe
Giga Drain
HP Ice
Close Combat
Work Up
Virizion replaces Darmanitan, and covers a lot of my old weaknesses. After a Work Up, She's capable of doing a lot of damage with her STAB Giga Drain, while HP Ice covers Dragons and Gliscor. Close Combat makes up the mixed aspect of this set, OHKOing some would-be checks such as Blissey. Virizion maintains most of Darmanitan's coverage, but also had advantageous match ups against every weather starter except Ninetales, who the rest of my team handles fine. Credit to San Pellegrio.
Xatu@Leftovers
Bold Nature, 252 HP/252Def/4SpD
Psychic
U-Turn
Thunder Wave
Roost
Xatu replaces Donphan as my hazards setter. Because my team is fast-paced, I decided to use a Magic Bounce abuser instead of a true spinner, which saves me valuable turns I would otherwise use Spinning and setting up hazards. He also can help my team when my opponent isn't using hazards by spreading paralysis and bouncing harmful statuses my opponent's way. He has great synergy with Wobbuffet, who appreciates the Paralysis to facilitate his Encore-abuse. In return, Wobby can encore status moves for Xatu to reflect back at my enemies. U-Turn lets me maintain momentum if I predict a switch, while Roost is standard recovery.
Conclusion:
Thanks for reading through my first Gen V RMT. Although I'm sure it's not amazing, I at least hope it's a decent first attempt. I hope you all enjoyed it, and I'm looking forward to all your suggestions!
Intro:
Hi everyone! 2sly4u here with my first Gen V team! Since I was just starting out in B/W, I wanted to adapt a strategy that was easy to pick up so I could ease myself into the metagame. After a day or so test battling and completely rebuilding my team more than a few times, I've finally found a team that's helped me win a bit more than half my matches. As you'll see most [read: all] of the sets are completely standard since I wanted to get a feel for this generation before I got all fancy. However, original sets are more than welcome. Without further ado, the Team Building Process!
Team-Building Proccess
After some thought as to what kind of team I wanted, I chose Sun because I've loved Venusaur ever since the days of RBY. I decided on an offense-driven Sun team with Venusaur as my star sweeper, so he and Ninetales started me off.
Since I was running weather, I wanted a surefire way to get rid of opposing Weather starters. I decided to try out Wobbuffet for his ability to beat Tyranitar and offensive Politoed, while also being useful against weather less teams. (Abomnasnow is lol and Defensive Toed and Hippo are beaten by Venusaur)
Now, I needed a powerful Fire-type to take advantage of the Sun. I've been on an Infernape kick lately and I wanted to keep my SR-weaknesses to a minimum, so I gave him a try. He didn't disappoint, so he became my fourth member.
I had no clue who to use in the last slots, so I just threw to random pokemon on my team and began testing. Right away, I noticed that Infernape was having trouble breaking walls and revenge killing on his own. I added Darmanitan to help him out, and Infernape's production more than doubled. I knew I had found my fifth member.
To be honest, the sixth slot is a revolving door; I haven't been entirely happy with anybody. Right now, I'm running Donphan for his ability to remove Rocks, a huge boon if I need to win a weather war.
Since I was running weather, I wanted a surefire way to get rid of opposing Weather starters. I decided to try out Wobbuffet for his ability to beat Tyranitar and offensive Politoed, while also being useful against weather less teams. (Abomnasnow is lol and Defensive Toed and Hippo are beaten by Venusaur)
Now, I needed a powerful Fire-type to take advantage of the Sun. I've been on an Infernape kick lately and I wanted to keep my SR-weaknesses to a minimum, so I gave him a try. He didn't disappoint, so he became my fourth member.
I had no clue who to use in the last slots, so I just threw to random pokemon on my team and began testing. Right away, I noticed that Infernape was having trouble breaking walls and revenge killing on his own. I added Darmanitan to help him out, and Infernape's production more than doubled. I knew I had found my fifth member.
To be honest, the sixth slot is a revolving door; I haven't been entirely happy with anybody. Right now, I'm running Donphan for his ability to remove Rocks, a huge boon if I need to win a weather war.
Ninetales@Life Orb
Timid Nature, 252SpA/4SpD/252Spe
Fire Blast
Energy Ball
HP Fighting
Will-O-Wisp
Ninetales is on my team for one reason only: Drought. The basis of my entire team, permanent sun turns my three sweepers into complete monsters, capable of running through almost anything. Since my team was so offense driven, I decided to run a more threatening version of Ninetales as opposed to the support variant. Fire Blast is STAB, choses over Flamethrower because 81 SpA is horrible and she needs all the power she can get, even in Sun. Energy Ball lets me pose at least some semblance of a threat to Politoed and Hippowdon, as well as any Bulky Waters. HP Fighting is supposed to handle Tyranitar, but even with a Life Orb it still does pathetic damage. Will-O-Wisp forces pokemon like Dragonite and Gyarados the think twice before switching in. I've been thinking about switching to a Choice Specs set in increase my longevity.
Venusaur@Leftovers
Lonely Nature, 252Att/4SpA/252Spe
Growth
Seed Bomb
HP Fire
Earthquake
Venusaur is the inspiration for my entire team. Thanks to his fantastic new ability and the new mechanics of Growth, he's finally worth using above UU. As an added bonus, he absorbs Toxic Spikes, a huge necessity since nothing on my team can handle them. I chose the mixed set because I hate Blissey. Really, that's it. Admittedly I have less raw power than the Special set, but the ability to lure in would-be counters and destroy them more than makes up for it. Seed Bomb is my STAB, while HP Fire lets my roast pokemon like Skarmory who see Seed Bomb and think they can wall me. Earthquake rounds out my coverage and easily defeats pokemon like opposing Infernape and Heatran. I chose Leftovers over Life Orb because I didn't notice a loss of any notable OHKOs while playing and I loved the added survivability.
Wobbuffet@Leftovers
Bold Nature, 28HP/228Def/252SpD
Counter
Mirror Coat
Encore
Tickle/Safeguard
When I first put Wobbuffet on my team, I was almost certain he would end up getting dropped. Strangely enough, he's probably the MVP of my team. Thanks to his fantastic bulk and Shadow Tag, he's essentially a free KO on my opponent's most dangerous pokemon. He also has amazing synergy with Venusaur because of Encore, which guarantees me at least one free Growth. Counter and Mirror coat let me OHKO at least one pokemon. I've tried both Tickle and Safeguard in the last slot, and can't decide. Both have won me a match once, but neither sees much use. I also know that the standard EV set calls for more Speed, but I'd rather have a second chance at Counter/Mirror coat than the ability to outspend Blissey, who my team handles well enough already.
Infernape@Choice Scarf
Hasty Nature, 176 Att/80 SpA/252Spe
Close Combat
Overheat
Stone Edge
U-Turn
Infernape is my mixed wall breaker and revenge killer, as suggested by San Pellegrio. Close Combat is STAB, while Overheat gives me a way to handle physical walls. Thanks to the small investment in SpA and the Sun, it does tons of damage even after being used once. Stone Edge gives me a way to damage Dragonite and Volcarona.. U-Turn lets me maintain momentum if I have nothing better to do. He's a bit too weak for my liking, but he does a nice job of softening up my opponent's Fire resists and late-game cleaning. Even so, I've been testing out ScarfCini in this slot to abuse the almighty V-Create.
Virizion@Leftovers
Hasty Nature, 64Att/192SpA/252Spe
Giga Drain
HP Ice
Close Combat
Work Up
Virizion replaces Darmanitan, and covers a lot of my old weaknesses. After a Work Up, She's capable of doing a lot of damage with her STAB Giga Drain, while HP Ice covers Dragons and Gliscor. Close Combat makes up the mixed aspect of this set, OHKOing some would-be checks such as Blissey. Virizion maintains most of Darmanitan's coverage, but also had advantageous match ups against every weather starter except Ninetales, who the rest of my team handles fine. Credit to San Pellegrio.
Xatu@Leftovers
Bold Nature, 252 HP/252Def/4SpD
Psychic
U-Turn
Thunder Wave
Roost
Xatu replaces Donphan as my hazards setter. Because my team is fast-paced, I decided to use a Magic Bounce abuser instead of a true spinner, which saves me valuable turns I would otherwise use Spinning and setting up hazards. He also can help my team when my opponent isn't using hazards by spreading paralysis and bouncing harmful statuses my opponent's way. He has great synergy with Wobbuffet, who appreciates the Paralysis to facilitate his Encore-abuse. In return, Wobby can encore status moves for Xatu to reflect back at my enemies. U-Turn lets me maintain momentum if I predict a switch, while Roost is standard recovery.
Conclusion:
Thanks for reading through my first Gen V RMT. Although I'm sure it's not amazing, I at least hope it's a decent first attempt. I hope you all enjoyed it, and I'm looking forward to all your suggestions!
