Hello! Thought I'd introduce myself to the forum with an RMT. Played competitive Pokémon a few years ago, and the four month summer break between A levels and Uni has been boring enough to bring back a few old habits. Been running this team a while (and varied it a fair bit) and seems to be doing quite well, but I'd appreciate any help and advice that the stellar Smogon community could sort me with - probably you'll say the team's terrible, but hopefully all that'll do is make me better! Here we go:
I won't break it down in terms of how the team was assembled, 'cos it wasn't really, it's been tweaked so much since the first version my strategy doesn't really resemble the team building process.
Basically, my favourite approach to Pokémon has always been stall, stall, stall, and this team originated with that in mind. I love being able to self-heal as well - it does wonders for staying power, particularly when you're trying to dig in with Curse or Calm Mind or something. In putting this team together I wanted a stable group of six, that was an all-round stall team, but where every member could heal themselves as well. This minimises risk and maximises the staying power of each individual.
The Sunny Day idea got dropped in because Sandstorm was crippling my team: not so much the graduated damage, as three of my team members having weather-dependent heal moves. It's not the core strategy of the team to have it up - I only really use it if Zapdos has got a definite free turn - but it's an essential component of my anti-Sandstorm strategy, and nearly every team member (save Miltank) gets at least a moderate benefit from Sun being on the field.
Graduated damage isn't really a problem for these guys: Venusaur was chosen over alternatives (such as Torterra) because he could absorb Toxic Spikes, and if someone tries to Whirlwind-Spikes me all that happens is I heal with everything until the appropriate counter is sent out, so I actually get a net benefit from having my team shuffled. As such, I've never really felt the need for a Rapid Spinner in practice: I tried Forretress over Venusaur for a while, but all that did was reduce my capacity to actually deal out damage without really helping me out defensively.
Big threats that have emerged have obviously been quick sweepers, stuff that can do significant damage before I've properly dug in. Heatran has been particularly dangerous (particularly given my use of Sunny Day) but I've built a solid counter into the most recent version, the one given below. I usually lose a team member to a big sweeper, but once I get in either a counter or just my Curser or Calm Minder (as appropriate) that tends to see them off fairly well, though know doubt you guys'll spot a few gaping holes that I haven't been able to recall here.
A slightly unconventional lead, both in terms of what you normally see leading and in terms of the rest of my team. But she deals with most of the big leaders out there at the moment: she tends to get underestimated, so people set up thinking she won't be a threat to them, only for me to either 1 or 2HKO them. With Calm Mind and Morning Sun she has the added advantage of being able to come back in and be effective later: a strong sweeper for the lategame, able to round things up better than my other chaps. As such I tend to be cautious with her, and if the lead sent out against me looks like a sweeper I switch straight to a wall, but against support leads she's a beast, well able to take advantage of the surprise factor.
We all know why Zapdos is good, and my usage is fairly typical, despite the eccentric set. Zapdos feels like the most sensible Sunny Day user on this team: it has a habit of forcing switches when it comes in, and the move it replaces (Hidden Power) is weaker than an NVE Heat Wave after Sunny Day anyway. This is a good counter for above-average (but not high) power sweepers of either attack sort, and tends to get involved in reaction to those, a fallback for the midrange sweepers that I haven't got a more specific counter for. It tends to do quite well - most of the midrange things that would challenge Slowbro or Miltank's ability to switch in are countered by it.
Probably my favourite Pokémon for competitive play. I used to run Hell Bell over Hammer Arm, but now the Eevees get that, she gets a slot freed up and is made stacks better because of it. She can switch in on just about anything physical (not to mention average to above-average power specials) and set up. Hammer Arm seems to have the surprise factor still, and I quite often get a KO just 'cos someone's chosen their counter poorly. She's my bread-and-butter, and is usually what ends up sweeping.
Usually when I run these stall teams, high power sweepers tend to rip me apart: defensive strategies seem to work better against above-average power than high power. This time I've run Umbreon, and she's been a godsend. She can take just about any hit for about a third damage or less, and if they don't resist it, Payback is often surprisingly good at hurting them back. Mostly I use her against defensively weak opponents (naturally, as I send her out against the most powerful sweepers), so her own low attack power doesn't let her down as much as you'd think. Steel types obviously block her, but I can send most of those to either Zapdos or Slowbro (or even Miltank).
Your bog-standard physical Grass type. I modelled this on the Torterra I originally had occupying this slot, and it's not quite as good at the job, but soaking up Toxic Spikes is worth the difference. He's not all that easy to switch in, but if he gets a Swords Dance in he can be pretty effective, certainly the strongest physical attacks I have without getting Miltank properly dug in. I freely admit that he's sort of a niche-filler on this team, and if I was going to change one team member completely it'd be this one, but I think Venusaur's probably the best at the particular combination of talents I need for this slot: fairly bulky physical sweeping from something that gets rid of Toxic Spikes. I thought about Muk, but I'm not sure another Curser would suit this team. Thoughts here would be very appreciated, though in fairness Venusaur's served me fairly well while I've been using him.
People aren't caught quite as off-guard by Slowbro's versatility as they used to be, but BluffBro still has potential. He can ward off things that are weak to Water, Ice and Psychic just by switching in, even though he doesn't actually have the moves. This slightly unusual combination has very good coverage, though I mainly chose it as a consequence of Sunny Day - I used to have a Milotic in this slot before Sunny Day occurred to me. Flamethrower is for obvious reasons, and Focus Blast is the best anti-Heatran option on my team: Surf might work, but Heatran's only really a problem while Sunny Day's up - Miltank can handle it otherwise - so Focus Blast is probably the safer choice. Plus Water/Fire has appalling coverage.
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Thanks very much, I really appreciate anyone taking the trouble to read and rate!
Team Overview
I won't break it down in terms of how the team was assembled, 'cos it wasn't really, it's been tweaked so much since the first version my strategy doesn't really resemble the team building process.
Basically, my favourite approach to Pokémon has always been stall, stall, stall, and this team originated with that in mind. I love being able to self-heal as well - it does wonders for staying power, particularly when you're trying to dig in with Curse or Calm Mind or something. In putting this team together I wanted a stable group of six, that was an all-round stall team, but where every member could heal themselves as well. This minimises risk and maximises the staying power of each individual.
The Sunny Day idea got dropped in because Sandstorm was crippling my team: not so much the graduated damage, as three of my team members having weather-dependent heal moves. It's not the core strategy of the team to have it up - I only really use it if Zapdos has got a definite free turn - but it's an essential component of my anti-Sandstorm strategy, and nearly every team member (save Miltank) gets at least a moderate benefit from Sun being on the field.
Graduated damage isn't really a problem for these guys: Venusaur was chosen over alternatives (such as Torterra) because he could absorb Toxic Spikes, and if someone tries to Whirlwind-Spikes me all that happens is I heal with everything until the appropriate counter is sent out, so I actually get a net benefit from having my team shuffled. As such, I've never really felt the need for a Rapid Spinner in practice: I tried Forretress over Venusaur for a while, but all that did was reduce my capacity to actually deal out damage without really helping me out defensively.
Big threats that have emerged have obviously been quick sweepers, stuff that can do significant damage before I've properly dug in. Heatran has been particularly dangerous (particularly given my use of Sunny Day) but I've built a solid counter into the most recent version, the one given below. I usually lose a team member to a big sweeper, but once I get in either a counter or just my Curser or Calm Minder (as appropriate) that tends to see them off fairly well, though know doubt you guys'll spot a few gaping holes that I haven't been able to recall here.
Team Breakdown
Lead and special sweeper - Espeon
Salt (Espeon) (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Synchronize
EVs: 252 HP/40 Def/216 SAtk
Bold nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Calm Mind
- Psychic
- Signal Beam
- Morning Sun
Lead and special sweeper - Espeon
Salt (Espeon) (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Synchronize
EVs: 252 HP/40 Def/216 SAtk
Bold nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Calm Mind
- Psychic
- Signal Beam
- Morning Sun
A slightly unconventional lead, both in terms of what you normally see leading and in terms of the rest of my team. But she deals with most of the big leaders out there at the moment: she tends to get underestimated, so people set up thinking she won't be a threat to them, only for me to either 1 or 2HKO them. With Calm Mind and Morning Sun she has the added advantage of being able to come back in and be effective later: a strong sweeper for the lategame, able to round things up better than my other chaps. As such I tend to be cautious with her, and if the lead sent out against me looks like a sweeper I switch straight to a wall, but against support leads she's a beast, well able to take advantage of the surprise factor.
Physical wall - Zapdos
Volture (Zapdos) @ Heat Rock
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 248 HP/228 Def/32 Spd
Bold nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Thunderbolt
- Heat Wave
- Sunny Day
- Roost
Volture (Zapdos) @ Heat Rock
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 248 HP/228 Def/32 Spd
Bold nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Thunderbolt
- Heat Wave
- Sunny Day
- Roost
We all know why Zapdos is good, and my usage is fairly typical, despite the eccentric set. Zapdos feels like the most sensible Sunny Day user on this team: it has a habit of forcing switches when it comes in, and the move it replaces (Hidden Power) is weaker than an NVE Heat Wave after Sunny Day anyway. This is a good counter for above-average (but not high) power sweepers of either attack sort, and tends to get involved in reaction to those, a fallback for the midrange sweepers that I haven't got a more specific counter for. It tends to do quite well - most of the midrange things that would challenge Slowbro or Miltank's ability to switch in are countered by it.
Curser - Miltank
Hester (Miltank) (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Scrappy
EVs: 252 HP/136 Def/120 SDef
Impish nature (+Def, -SAtk)
- Return
- Hammer Arm
- Curse
- Milk Drink
Hester (Miltank) (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Scrappy
EVs: 252 HP/136 Def/120 SDef
Impish nature (+Def, -SAtk)
- Return
- Hammer Arm
- Curse
- Milk Drink
Probably my favourite Pokémon for competitive play. I used to run Hell Bell over Hammer Arm, but now the Eevees get that, she gets a slot freed up and is made stacks better because of it. She can switch in on just about anything physical (not to mention average to above-average power specials) and set up. Hammer Arm seems to have the surprise factor still, and I quite often get a KO just 'cos someone's chosen their counter poorly. She's my bread-and-butter, and is usually what ends up sweeping.
Sponge - Umbreon
Pepper (Umbreon) (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Synchronize
EVs: 252 HP/92 Def/164 SDef
Impish nature (+Def, -SAtk)
- Payback
- Toxic
- Heal Bell
- Moonlight
Pepper (Umbreon) (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Synchronize
EVs: 252 HP/92 Def/164 SDef
Impish nature (+Def, -SAtk)
- Payback
- Toxic
- Heal Bell
- Moonlight
Usually when I run these stall teams, high power sweepers tend to rip me apart: defensive strategies seem to work better against above-average power than high power. This time I've run Umbreon, and she's been a godsend. She can take just about any hit for about a third damage or less, and if they don't resist it, Payback is often surprisingly good at hurting them back. Mostly I use her against defensively weak opponents (naturally, as I send her out against the most powerful sweepers), so her own low attack power doesn't let her down as much as you'd think. Steel types obviously block her, but I can send most of those to either Zapdos or Slowbro (or even Miltank).
Physical sweeper - Venusaur
Richmond (Venusaur) (M) @ Black Sludge
Ability: Overgrow
EVs: 252 HP/124 Atk/132 Def
Adamant nature (+Atk, -SpA)
- Seed Bomb
- Earthquake
- Synthesis
- Swords Dance
Richmond (Venusaur) (M) @ Black Sludge
Ability: Overgrow
EVs: 252 HP/124 Atk/132 Def
Adamant nature (+Atk, -SpA)
- Seed Bomb
- Earthquake
- Synthesis
- Swords Dance
Your bog-standard physical Grass type. I modelled this on the Torterra I originally had occupying this slot, and it's not quite as good at the job, but soaking up Toxic Spikes is worth the difference. He's not all that easy to switch in, but if he gets a Swords Dance in he can be pretty effective, certainly the strongest physical attacks I have without getting Miltank properly dug in. I freely admit that he's sort of a niche-filler on this team, and if I was going to change one team member completely it'd be this one, but I think Venusaur's probably the best at the particular combination of talents I need for this slot: fairly bulky physical sweeping from something that gets rid of Toxic Spikes. I thought about Muk, but I'm not sure another Curser would suit this team. Thoughts here would be very appreciated, though in fairness Venusaur's served me fairly well while I've been using him.
BluffBro - Slowbro
Travis (Slowbro) (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Own Tempo
EVs: 252 HP/252 Def/4 SDef
Bold nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Flamethrower
- Calm Mind
- Slack Off
- Focus Blast
Travis (Slowbro) (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Own Tempo
EVs: 252 HP/252 Def/4 SDef
Bold nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Flamethrower
- Calm Mind
- Slack Off
- Focus Blast
People aren't caught quite as off-guard by Slowbro's versatility as they used to be, but BluffBro still has potential. He can ward off things that are weak to Water, Ice and Psychic just by switching in, even though he doesn't actually have the moves. This slightly unusual combination has very good coverage, though I mainly chose it as a consequence of Sunny Day - I used to have a Milotic in this slot before Sunny Day occurred to me. Flamethrower is for obvious reasons, and Focus Blast is the best anti-Heatran option on my team: Surf might work, but Heatran's only really a problem while Sunny Day's up - Miltank can handle it otherwise - so Focus Blast is probably the safer choice. Plus Water/Fire has appalling coverage.
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Thanks very much, I really appreciate anyone taking the trouble to read and rate!
