(1)/Poke479(Platino)(N)(washer)(1).png)
Introduction
Hello, I'm george182 and this is probably the last D/P/Pt team I will make. I didn't make it as a last attempt at D/P and I didn't make it to be the best team I ever made. But originally, I just made it for fun and I have to say, it's been one of the most enjoyable teams I have used and incredibly successful as well.
The team is going back to good old days of D/P and using entry hazards with an offensive dragon dance Dragonite, something that never happened in platinum (due to Salamence). The team's strong defensive core helps to force switches and rack up entry hazard damage, while the offensive core hit's hard in order to take down and sweep through any weakened pokes.
Team Building
Well tbh, the team building was a little crazy and started off as a gimmick attempt at a water/dragon gym team. But it gradually evolved into the team it is today. The foundations for the current team was definitely the Swampert /Skarmory combo, because it is just so good for getting up the two most effective forms of entry hazards.
Obviously with a potential of four layers of entry hazzards, I needed a ghost type to block the move rapid spin. The obvious choice was a Rotom form, as I needed a pokemon that was both bulky and offensive. As Rotom's two main counters are Heatran and Tyranitar, I decided to use the wash form.
(1)/Retro479(Platino)(N)(washer)(1).png)
Next came the Dragonite, oddly he was originally used a choice band Lead, that could Hit hard and take advantage of spikes late game. The lead was mildly successful, but being locked into outrage from turn 1 was never great and a choice locked extreme speed was set up fodder for things like Sub Split Gengar.
Now I had been using Lucario to sweep, but his frailness meant he wasn't getting too many opportunities to set up and I found most of my sweeping was being done by my choice band Dragonite. So I decided to move Dragonite to the sweeping role with a DD life orb set and then lead off with Lucario. The lucario soon became a choice specs Heatran (N.B. lead Lucario is not very good lol)
For the final slot I originally had a Suicune, but I found Infernape was a bit of a problem. So I decided to test out a Gravity Starmie, thinking that with spikes hitting the flying type and Gravity increasing the accuracy I could use a set of Hydro Pump / Thunder / Blizzard / Gravity to make a great sweeper. However gravity screwed over my own team, and I found opposing entry hazards were very annoying, especially for Dragonite and Heatran, I also found my gimmick Starmie set was not working as well as I had theorised, so I switched to a bulky Starmie and the team became a lot more successful.
Due to Starmie, Jolteon and Stall problems. I decided to switch out Dragonite and use a shaymin because shaymin looks better green.
Team Black and White
Heatran (F) @ Choice Specs
Trait: Flash Fire
EVs: 248 HP / 252 SAtk / 8 SDef
Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Overheat
- Earth Power
- Hidden Power [Grass]
- Fire Blast
To compare choice specs Heatran to a normal special attacker, is like comparing a Pea shooter to a Nuclear Bomb. The explosive power behind this set is phenomenal, doing 83.1% - 98% to a naive Flygon. With stealth rock's down that's a chance to OHKO even though it's resisted. The Power and Bulk of this Heatran make it a very effective anti Lead, OHKOing slower bulky leads, while weaker faster leads cannot touch it. Heatran is also very effective mid game, I like to get Heatran in as much as possible and just fire off Nuclear Powered Overheats as many times as possible. Heatran is one of the few leads that is effective in both the Lead Metagame and the Full Metagame.
The Moves:
Overheat is chosen as the main attack because it suits the Nuke and run strategy of this Heatran during the mid game, while it allows me to get the OHKO's on other common leads. Earthpower is mainly for other Heatran's, as they take no damage from my overpowered fire moves. Hidden power grass allows me to OHKO lead swampert, and is also a great option 2hkoing bulky waters like Vaporeon (58.5% - 69.2%). For the final slot I chose fire blast, one because when I'm against leads like Azelf, it makes my Heatran look normal, allowing me to hide the fact it's actually choice specs. It's also a great option for when I want to get the KO but I don't want to lower my special attack and finally, with a flash fire boost or spike support it will 2hko Blissey. This is important against stall teams, because it means that my Rotom can trick it's scarf onto a different wall (once their scarftar is dead).
The Natue and Ev's:
Max special attack with a modest nature is chosen for the OHKO on Lead Hippowdon with Overheat. 248 hp puts me a 385 hp and the remainding 8 ev's went into sp.def, I didn't want 252 hp as this means I take 1 extra hp from residual damage like Spikes, Stealth rock and Hail. I chose bulk over speed to help against Zapdos and Rotom forms mainly, but I amassed at how bulky this Heatran actually is garunteeing my survival from a max special attack celebi 4x supper effective Earth Power (doing only 81% - 95.6%), while I OHKO even the occa berry versions (107.1% - 126.5%). I also decided the speed ev's were pointless, as it gave me a false sense of security against pokemon like Celebi/Rotom/Gyarados/Tyranitar, as they can run any speed or be scarfed.
Here is how I handle some of the common leads:
------------------------------------
Swampert (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: Torrent
EVs: 252 HP / 216 Def / 40 SDef
Relaxed Nature (+Def, -Spd)
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Roar
- Ice Beam
"Thanks to his good typing, decent attacking stats, high Defense, and access to Stealth Rock, Swampert makes both a great lead and an exceptional mid-game defensive Pokemon. He is capable of taking on many popular threats, such as Tyranitar, with ease, and can serve as a great defensive pivot."
I couldn't have put it better myself. I also use Swampert as my T-wave and Electric immunity, and while Hp grass from the likes of Zapdos/Jolteon/Magnezone is a problem I can just double switch out to Heatran. Swampert is also great at using his typing to force switches and Rack up entry hazard damage, which helps the team out.
The Moves:
Stealth rock is there because it's the best move in the game, a game that is based on switching and stealth rock will punish every pokemon, every time they switch in. Earthquake is his most powerful stab move and is supper effective on 5 types with great power and accuracy. Roar is chosen, even though I have Skarmory as a phazor, roar allows me to rack up even more entry hazard damage, and if I get lucky can force even more switches. Ice beam is a good coverage move that hit's the grass type supper effectively, as they like to exploit swampert's 4x weakness to grass. It also gives me a Physical/Special split helping him out against dedicated walls.
The Nature and Ev's:
Originally I went to smogon for the ev's, and I saw they were not suggesting max hp, which puzzled me. Firstly the current smogon ev spread does not give you a leftovers number, and for a pokemon that resists stealth rock, is imune to sandstorm and has no reliable recovery, a leftovers number seems like a good idea. Secondly, they are suggesting an inefficient ev spread. So I decided to max out hp, giving me a leftovers number and also maximising the efficiency of his ev's. I then gave him just enough sp.def so he could take special hits better than the smogon version, and I put the rest into defence, enabling me to take physical hit's slightly better than the smogon version.
The Damage Calculations (done with 252 hp/ 212 defence/44 sp.def):
359 special attack Hidden power grass
Vs the Smogon Version 78.8% - 93.8%
Vs My ev spread 78.2% - 93.1%
216 attack Explosion:
Vs the Smogon Version 65.1% - 76.8%
Vs My ev spread 65.1% - 76.7%
216 attack Explosion:
------------------------------------
Skarmory (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: Keen Eye
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Speed / 252 SDef
Impish Nature (+Def, -SAtk)
- Brave Bird
- Spikes
- Roost
- Whirlwind
Skarmory pairs up really well with Swampert, the synergy between the two is amassing and It normally allows me to set up entry hazards with one, and then go straight to the other to get more hazards up. They also have duel phazing, which means I can phaze basically every phazable threat in the game. To add to that, they both have loads of resistances, which makes them great for forcing switches and tanking hits. I have found Magnezone is relatively rare in this almost dragon free metagame, so I haven't bothered with shed shell.
The Moves:
Brave Bird is surprisingly powerful considering Skarmories relatively low attack stat, but the STAB boost added to the 120 base power mean it puts a dent in anything that doesn't resist it. This is the main reason I chose it over Drill peck, I also find that leftovers heals off the Brave Bird damage. Spike's are my teams second form of entry hazard, and the more layers I get up, the harder it becomes for the opponent, as it decreases the number of times they can switch. Roost is there for reliable recovery, as well as removing my flying type, so I can take Rock, Electric and Ice moves from slower pokemon much easier. Whirlwind is here because with 4 layers of entry hazards, forcing switches becomes a great way to obtain 'free' damage, it also helps me out against baton pass chains as, unlike roar, it's not blocked by soundproof.
The Nature and EV's:
It may seem odd to have Max Special Defence and a Defence boosting nature, but the max sp.def allows me to take special hit's like neutral surfs, and resisted air slashes much easier and increases the number of pokemon I can set up spikes against. The Impish nature gives me more stats than a Careful nature would and allows me wall physical hit's really easily. Max hp is there obviously to take hit's from both sides much easier. The leftover 4 ev's I put into speed, this is purely to outspeed other Skarmory's and beat them to the whirlwind.
------------------------------------
Rotom-W @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 40 HP / 252 Speed / 216 SAtk
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Thunderbolt
- Shadow Ball
- Hydro Pump
- Trick
Rotom-W fills a nice role in my team. Firstly, it blocks the move rapid spin, and can also combat the common spinners, Tentacruel and Starmie. Against a Forretress I will switch in the block the rapid spin, and then go Heatran on the payback and Nuke it. Rotom is also my team's only scarf user, and can combat most speedy threats that my team cannot handle, or is too weak to handle. Finally Rotom is my trick user, which is a great help against stall teams and last man stat up boosters like Suicune.
The Moves:
Thunderbolt and Shadow ball are Rotom's two most powerful stab moves and have great coverage in OU. Hydro pump is there mainly for Scarf Tyranitar, who seems to still switch in even though I'm a wash form. Hydro pump also nails scarf Heatran and hurts scarf Flygon, who both outspeed my Dragonite. Trick is there as a last resort, to cripple something that threatens my team, and turn it into set up bait for Dragonite.
The Nature and EV's:
Timid with max speed allows me to outspeed Scarf Heatran, DD Gyarados and DD dragonite, it also means that at worst speed tie with other Rotom's, and without out a scarf it means I still outspeed max speed Suicune. 40 Hp is there because Rotom has 250 duel defence, so I made the Hp stat 251. I did this just because you gain a lot from these ev's as his hp was bellow his defences. Then 216 special attack ev's gives Rotom a special attack stat of 300, which is plenty.
------------------------------------
Starmie @ Leftovers
Trait: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Speed / 4 SAtk
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Surf
- Thunderbolt
- Recover
- Rapid Spin
Starmie's main role is to remove entry hazards, as this helps my team out in many ways. Primarily, it allows Dragonite to come in with 100% hp, and people don't prepare for a 100% Dragonite, they prepare fore a 75% Dragonite. It also means that if I don't feel like sweeping with Dragonite, I can switch him out and come back in at 100% again, instead of 50%. The second purpose of rapid spin, is to help my team switch around without taking damage, as this allows me to just keep countering the opponents pokemon and wearing them down with Spike and Stealth rock's. Lastly, I have found that while I am trying to bring in Skamory and set up my entry hazards, it gives my opponent time to set up their's, and Starmie can easily just spin away spikes and toxic spikes. Starmie is also here as my main fire and water type counter, taking on threats like: Vaporeon, Gyarados, Infernape and Heatran etc., and then healing off their hit's. Starmie also lures in Scarf Rotom and Scarf flygon, and can wear them down with surf, making it easier for Dragonite to sweep.
The EV's and Nature:
I think the moves are self explanatory, so I'm not going to explain them, if you are unsure on any of them then just ask. The ev's look simple, but I am really liking them, the ev's smogon used to suggest were just horrible, they did the Job of countering Gyarados, but at the cost of Sp.def and Speed. I wanted max speed for at least speed tieing with other Starmie's. Then max Hp provides just the right amount of bulk allowing Starmie to take hit's from both sides of the spectrum. I put the spare 4 ev's into special attack, because I had no where better to put them.
------------------------------------
Shaymin (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: Inner Focus
EVs: 252 HP / 72 Sp.Atk / 184 Speed
Timid Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Seed Flare
- Hidden Power (Fire)
- Substitute
- Leech Seed
Shaymin was brought in because this team had a weakness to Jolteon and Starmie, which was pointed out by the raters below and I also noticed this teams weakness to stall. To set about fixing these problems, I originally resorted to Blissey, then I changed Skarmory to Forretress, Swampert to Hippowdon, Starmie to Gyarados and Heatran to Tyranitar. I tested the team with some success, but I realised I had an exact copy of Kevin Garrette's stall team. The idea came to when I was discussing with someone that the fire/water/grass core fails, because the grass type sucks. I then realised that Shaymin covered up this teams weaknesses, without compromising too much. I chose the sub seed set, to help against Blissey, rack up spikes damage and somewhat provide team healing. I Have also find that with Duel phazing and Spikes, last man stat upers can be a problem, and Leech seed helps to remedy this somewhat.
The Moves:
Substitute is my first move to go to on this set. I use it when I predict a switch out, a status move or when the opponents pokemon can't break my sub. Leech seed then allows me to sub stall, whilst gaining all the hp back from Leech seed + leftovers. Seed Flare is mainly for Vaporeon, Suicune, Jolteon and Starmie, but it's also an overpowered stab move with a 40% chance of lowering the opponents special defence 2 stages which is an amassing side effect. I Chose hidden power fire, because I have Swampert and Skarmory to check Dragonite and Flygon, so ice would be pointless. Fire also has the bonus of hitting Scizor and Skarmory, who can U-turn/Whirlwind respectively, ruining the sub seed strategy. It also means I'm not set up bait for Forretress and Skarmory.
The Nature and EV's:
252 hp means my subs are not broken by a blissey seismic toss. It's completely pointless because Leech seed on Blissey allows me to heal an entire sub hp anyway. But I haven't thought of any better ev spreads, it lets me takes hits from a suicune like a champ, and then 2hko with seed flare, or leech seed, and sub stall it into seed flare ko range. 184 speed ev's outspeeds 306 Lucario, and 308 pokemon like Gliscor, Jirachi and other Shaymin. The rest goes into special attack to garuntee the 2hko on Suicune after a calm mind.
Thank you for reading, please leave a comment
