I was wondering if anyone would be willing to rate my dual weather(sand and rain) team that I'll be using in the upcoming tournament at the end of July. I am open to any and all suggestions especially those pertaining to whether or not I should replace Dragonite with another Pokemon.
Team At A Glance:
In Depth Analysis:
Tyranitar@ Focus Sash
Sand Stream
Evs: 4 Atk/252 SpA/252 Speed
Hasty
Crunch
Fire Blast
Low Kick
Stone Edge/Stealth Rock
Tyranitar might be my all time favorite Pokemon from the first three gens, its massive offensive power, amazing ability, and decent bulk make it a wrecking machine. Sand Stream is one of the key factors of my team, allowing me to set auto sand for Excadrill and giving Scizor some added defenses. I know many T-tars lack speed investment in order to always set up sand but Breloom is too great of threat to this team and max investment will allow me to outspeed most Breloom and kill with Fire Blast before spore becomes an issue. Crunch is Tyranitar's main STAB as it allows me to deal with Latios and other Psychics. Fire Blast is to dispatch of Breloom's and helps with Grass types and Steels who can survive Low Kick. Low Kick is to counter opposing Tyranitar who are unlikely to be as fast, as well as steels mainly named Heatran. For the 4th move, I'm undecided; Stone Edge would give Tyranitar dual STAB and provide more coverage against Fire Types. On the other hand, Stealth Rocks would provide hazard damage and with focus sash equipped it would be all but guaranteed, My hesitation being I'm not sure how useful they would be in a 3 on 3 match.
Excadrill@ Life Orb
Sand Rush
EVs: 4 HP/252 Atk/252 Speed
Adamant
Swords Dance
Rock Slide
Earthquake
Iron Head
Excadrill and Tyranitar might just be the best one-two punch in the game, Sand Rush allows Excadrill to become so fast it was kicked to Ubers. With the added speed in a storm, Excadrill should have no trouble switching in, setting up a Swords Dance and then wrecking havoc on the opponent. Rock Slide and Earthquake create a very effective combo that is resisted by almost nothing. Iron Head grants Steel STAB and while not hitting a large variety of types super effectively, it does provide a decent flinch chance. I chose Life Orb over Air Balloon for the added power when combined with an Adamant nature.
Scizor@ Choice Band
Technician
EVs: 248 HP/252 Atk/8 SpD
Adamant
U-Turn
Bullet Punch
Superpower
Pursuit
Choice Band makes Scizor an Immediate threat and with only three Pokemon per side, it makes the prediction side of using a choice item have less on an impact. U-Turn allows Scizor to scout matchups and becomes insanely powerful when being choiced, having Technician, and benefiting from STAB are factored in. Bullet Punch is there for priority and can kill such threats as Salamence and Terrakion. Superpower gives me another weapon against Heatran which would otherwise murder Scizor. Finally Pursuit traps Psychics such as Latios, Gengar, and Starmie. Scizor's move set, typing, and the fact that rain covers its fire weakness makes it a solid asset to either half of my team.
Kyogre@ Choice Specs
Drizzle
EVs: 252 HP/252 SpA/4 Speed
Modest
Water Spout
Surf
Ice Beam
Thunder
When I first decided to run a mud team, I knew I would need an auto rain inducer at first the logical choice was Politoed, but after realizing that you could use any Pokemon my thoughts shifted to why the fuck would I use Politoed with Kyogre readily available? A Water Spout from a Specs boosted Kyogre is one of the most powerful moves in the game thus it became a logical choice for my main attacking move. Unfortunately Water Spouts power decreases with the amount of damage taken by the user, to counter this surf is backup STAB for when I need Kyogre at lower health. Ice Beam and Thunder round it out as coverage moves helping out with Grass and opposing rain teams respectively.
Gyarados@ Life Orb
Moxie
EVs: 252 Atk/4 Def/252 Speed
Adamant
Dragon Dance
Waterfall
Bounce
Stone Edge
Gyarados receives great help from the rain set up by Kyogre boosting its already powerful waterfall to greater heights. Dragon Dance turns it into a feared sweeper that can outspeed almost all unboosted Pokemon. Bounce allows me to hit Grass and fighting types hard while avoiding potentially crippling status. Stone Edge covers opposing Gyarados.
Dragonite@ Leftovers
Multiscale
EVs: 252 HP/4 SpA/252 SpD
Calm
Hurricane
Thunder
Dragon Tail
Roost
Dragonite is my main concern surrounding this team, I intended to make it similar to Scizor being able to use it with both halves but its move set is more effective in rain. The tank version of Dragonite is used to counter many of the common threats to rain oriented teams. Hurricane is the main STAB for this set as it has perfect accuracy in the rain and also carries a 30% chance to confuse the opponent. Thunder counters the bulky water types that often give rain teams problems as well as having a 30% paralysis rate. Dragon Tail is used to phaze set up sweepers trying to gain the upper hand on Dragonite. Lastly Roost provides recovery and keeps Dragonite in Multiscale range more easily. The main advice I need here is whether I should switch up the moves on Dragonite to make it more viable on both weathers or if it would be better to swap it out for another Pokemon.
Team Strategy:
The two major cores of this team are Tyranitar and Excadrill for sand and Kyogre and Gyarados for rain. I aim to keep the previously mentioned pairs together and then select the 3rd member either Scizor or Dragonite based upon what I see in the Team Preview. As stated above I'm concerned about Dragonite's bias toward being better suited for the rain section of the team. That being said is there a better set I could use to make it more balanced? or should I scrap Dragonite all together and choose something else and if so which Pokemon do you think might fit the role better?
Thanks guys,
STABX4
Team At A Glance:
In Depth Analysis:
Tyranitar@ Focus Sash
Sand Stream
Evs: 4 Atk/252 SpA/252 Speed
Hasty
Crunch
Fire Blast
Low Kick
Stone Edge/Stealth Rock
Tyranitar might be my all time favorite Pokemon from the first three gens, its massive offensive power, amazing ability, and decent bulk make it a wrecking machine. Sand Stream is one of the key factors of my team, allowing me to set auto sand for Excadrill and giving Scizor some added defenses. I know many T-tars lack speed investment in order to always set up sand but Breloom is too great of threat to this team and max investment will allow me to outspeed most Breloom and kill with Fire Blast before spore becomes an issue. Crunch is Tyranitar's main STAB as it allows me to deal with Latios and other Psychics. Fire Blast is to dispatch of Breloom's and helps with Grass types and Steels who can survive Low Kick. Low Kick is to counter opposing Tyranitar who are unlikely to be as fast, as well as steels mainly named Heatran. For the 4th move, I'm undecided; Stone Edge would give Tyranitar dual STAB and provide more coverage against Fire Types. On the other hand, Stealth Rocks would provide hazard damage and with focus sash equipped it would be all but guaranteed, My hesitation being I'm not sure how useful they would be in a 3 on 3 match.
Excadrill@ Life Orb
Sand Rush
EVs: 4 HP/252 Atk/252 Speed
Adamant
Swords Dance
Rock Slide
Earthquake
Iron Head
Excadrill and Tyranitar might just be the best one-two punch in the game, Sand Rush allows Excadrill to become so fast it was kicked to Ubers. With the added speed in a storm, Excadrill should have no trouble switching in, setting up a Swords Dance and then wrecking havoc on the opponent. Rock Slide and Earthquake create a very effective combo that is resisted by almost nothing. Iron Head grants Steel STAB and while not hitting a large variety of types super effectively, it does provide a decent flinch chance. I chose Life Orb over Air Balloon for the added power when combined with an Adamant nature.
Scizor@ Choice Band
Technician
EVs: 248 HP/252 Atk/8 SpD
Adamant
U-Turn
Bullet Punch
Superpower
Pursuit
Choice Band makes Scizor an Immediate threat and with only three Pokemon per side, it makes the prediction side of using a choice item have less on an impact. U-Turn allows Scizor to scout matchups and becomes insanely powerful when being choiced, having Technician, and benefiting from STAB are factored in. Bullet Punch is there for priority and can kill such threats as Salamence and Terrakion. Superpower gives me another weapon against Heatran which would otherwise murder Scizor. Finally Pursuit traps Psychics such as Latios, Gengar, and Starmie. Scizor's move set, typing, and the fact that rain covers its fire weakness makes it a solid asset to either half of my team.
Kyogre@ Choice Specs
Drizzle
EVs: 252 HP/252 SpA/4 Speed
Modest
Water Spout
Surf
Ice Beam
Thunder
When I first decided to run a mud team, I knew I would need an auto rain inducer at first the logical choice was Politoed, but after realizing that you could use any Pokemon my thoughts shifted to why the fuck would I use Politoed with Kyogre readily available? A Water Spout from a Specs boosted Kyogre is one of the most powerful moves in the game thus it became a logical choice for my main attacking move. Unfortunately Water Spouts power decreases with the amount of damage taken by the user, to counter this surf is backup STAB for when I need Kyogre at lower health. Ice Beam and Thunder round it out as coverage moves helping out with Grass and opposing rain teams respectively.
Gyarados@ Life Orb
Moxie
EVs: 252 Atk/4 Def/252 Speed
Adamant
Dragon Dance
Waterfall
Bounce
Stone Edge
Gyarados receives great help from the rain set up by Kyogre boosting its already powerful waterfall to greater heights. Dragon Dance turns it into a feared sweeper that can outspeed almost all unboosted Pokemon. Bounce allows me to hit Grass and fighting types hard while avoiding potentially crippling status. Stone Edge covers opposing Gyarados.
Dragonite@ Leftovers
Multiscale
EVs: 252 HP/4 SpA/252 SpD
Calm
Hurricane
Thunder
Dragon Tail
Roost
Dragonite is my main concern surrounding this team, I intended to make it similar to Scizor being able to use it with both halves but its move set is more effective in rain. The tank version of Dragonite is used to counter many of the common threats to rain oriented teams. Hurricane is the main STAB for this set as it has perfect accuracy in the rain and also carries a 30% chance to confuse the opponent. Thunder counters the bulky water types that often give rain teams problems as well as having a 30% paralysis rate. Dragon Tail is used to phaze set up sweepers trying to gain the upper hand on Dragonite. Lastly Roost provides recovery and keeps Dragonite in Multiscale range more easily. The main advice I need here is whether I should switch up the moves on Dragonite to make it more viable on both weathers or if it would be better to swap it out for another Pokemon.
Team Strategy:
The two major cores of this team are Tyranitar and Excadrill for sand and Kyogre and Gyarados for rain. I aim to keep the previously mentioned pairs together and then select the 3rd member either Scizor or Dragonite based upon what I see in the Team Preview. As stated above I'm concerned about Dragonite's bias toward being better suited for the rain section of the team. That being said is there a better set I could use to make it more balanced? or should I scrap Dragonite all together and choose something else and if so which Pokemon do you think might fit the role better?
Thanks guys,
STABX4
