Hi everyone, so this is my first time discussing a team that I built last year, that has proven to give much success in my gameplay. I’ve played on and off in tournaments, ladder (which has been a joke for some time now), and playing against top players in hopes of improving my gameplay.
To start us off, the focus of this team build was centered around Mega Alakazam. I know Mega Zam is fairly frail in the metagame, but it also has a solid speed tier, and has an immense special attack stat. I knew that all good Zam sets must run Psychic, along with Focus Blast, however the last two slots are typically filled as Shadowball and either Calm Mind, Hidden Power Ice/Fire, or Encore. Encore’s potential isn’t always given credit for, but has proven to be valuable to the team’s purpose. It provides pressure to various setup mons that are common in the tier, such as clefable, slowbro, gliscor, manaphy, and bisharp, while providing you with the opportunity to gain momentum on helpful switchins.
Gaining momentum on helpful switchins is one of the intended purposes for the next pokemon I will discuss, with that being Crawdaunt. After encore trapping, your opponent typically is forced to switch out, providing you with the opportunity to punish the switchin with Zam’s versatile moveset, OR by bringing in Craw vs stall teams. Chansey, being one of the safest switchins to Zam, suffers greatly when Crawdaunt enters the battle, I mean Craw’s presence alone is threatening to nearly all team compositions. Having access to Knockoff, Crabhammer, and Aqua Jet provides Crawdaunt with the capabilities to force switch-ins, while punishing the predictions heavily with Knockoff. Just by looking at the metagame, the only semi common pokemon that can safely switchin and threaten Crawdaunt is Mega-Altaria, which is only seen nowadays on semi-stall/balance compositions. If you’re able to remove Altaria from the picture, Crawdaunt shatters through defensive cores with ease, which also helps fulfill the team’s goal, by consistently threatening opposing teams while maintaining momentum. Now the 4th slot is typically a filler, running Crunch can still punish pokemon that have already lost their item, but I’ve noticed that I typically only use the other 3 moves consistently in battle. You could even opt for switcheroo as a possible curveball, but in all honesty, it’s sorta difficult to recognize why you’d need to trap a setup user when you already punish most of them. Banded Adamant Crawdaunt does 75.6%-89.3% to Max Defensive Clefable, Max Def. Suicune takes between 52.9%-62.8%, the list goes on.
Now after talking about both Alakazam and Crawdaunt, we need to have some safe reliable switchins for when opposing Rotom’s, or Heavy offensive pokemon like Mega-Metagross, Mega-Scizor, Mega-Lopunny, Magnezone, etc become threats. Rocky Helm Garchomp has always been a top tier threat within the metagame, and for good reason. Since the best ways to punish Mega-Metagross is typically chip damage, or bulky psychic types, I knew that Garchomp can help provide the needed chip for the rest of the team. Garchomp’s hazard potential, combined with setting up Toxic, EQ required, and dtail gives many great opportunities for Garchomp to deny setups, and punish physical threats. Most players know the capabilities of Garchomp, and often play with a conditioned mindset when facing it. A great example of this, might be having Crawdaunt into battle against Mega Scizor. Scizor could opt for an easy uturn, but they may not go for it when realizing the additional chip they’d receive. Instead, the opponent may try to gain the momentum by doubling into Keldeo, Azumarill, or Latios as a midground play at the risk of receiving a Banded Knockoff. These types of plays are possible, but carry immense risk, so you really have to know about how to condition your opponent within the battle.
Moving forward, all teams that suffer from hazards need a way of removing them. The most popular hazard removals are Excadrill, Starmie, Lati Twins (which i don’t often suggest), and Skarmory. Excadrill is arguably one of the best pokemon currently within the format, with its consistent potential to threaten various offensive teams. I know that lefties Excadrill rose in popularity, however in order to maintain a solid wincon against Talonflame (if garchomp gets weakened), and both Zards, having scarf Drill was required. Most Zard X’s run Adamant, so they guarantee the KO onto Defensive Garchomp. With Excadrill’s speed tier, having Scarf secures the KO for one of the teams larger threats.
Tornadus-T is typically the glue for most of my teams. If I had to say what my favorite competitive pokemon would be, Torn-T would be ranked number 1 on the list, thanks to its diverse movepool, combined with the raw utility it brings, and on top of it all, having access to regenerator. Torn’s defensive spread is a fairly common set, except over the past year I changed it’s speed from 375, to 365. This provides extra investment into increasing Torn’s defense, while also still outspeeding the pokemon that it needs to, such as Scarf Tyranitar, Serperior, Starmie, and the 350 speed tiered mons. The only thing this spread hinders you from is securing your opponents Tornadus to land Hurricanes first, but most of the time you gain the benefit of a slower u-turn. You also are slower than Alakazam, but Zam isn’t much of a threat to the team.
Now that we’re at the end, I’d like to discuss the second pokemon that I built this team around, being Volcarona. I wanted a bulky pokemon that provided a great offensive presence to a majority of teams, and the two pokemon that I know that provide this potential are Volcarona and Crawdaunt. Volcarona’s spread allows you to outspeed Scarf Landorus/Excadrill after a +1 boost. With additional chip onto Landorus, Volcarona can Kill with Fiery Dance. The reason I chose Fiery Dance over Fireblast, is because I felt the need for gaining potential power, without the need for additional quivers. I like having the opportunity after one quiver to provide chip damage, with the potential to increase my Spatt further. I think the best way I could explain this, is when two Slowbro’s face each other. Many people want to get their calm minds as quickly as possible, but the flaw is that you want your opponent to run out of Slack Off first. So clicking scald for the burn potential is needed for the early setup advantage. The same applies with Volcarona’s moveset. While gaining the spatt advantage with additional chip, you can kill many pokemon after clearing your initial threats relatively early. The Lum berry set helps when you’re facing T-wave Clef as it switches in, along with Starmie and other threats. With the addition of Gigadrain, and Bug Buzz, you gain more potential with a broader diverse movepool, while also gaining recovery from gigadrain. Another fact about Volcarona’s HP investment, is if you Quiver on the switchin with Keldeo, you cannot Kill Keldeo after one giga drain, but you can tank a specs Hydro Pump on a second Quiver, allowing you to KO with Giga. This is why lifeorb Volcarona has its rewards, but I opted for Lum Berry.
All in all, the team composition has a large set of tools that allow for much potential within the metagame. Although no team is completely perfect, so here is a list of weaknesses that pose threats to the team.
Counters
Mega-Diancie:
Although we have Crawdaunt and Scarf Excadrill, the team doesn’t have a safe switchin for Diancie. When facing Diancie, I typically will lead with Excadrill or Crawdaunt, attack on the protect, and double into either Garchomp/Torn-t to help with momentum. If I switch into Garchomp, oftentimes my opponent will aggressively double back into Diancie, predicting rocks. There is potential to EQ on this play. You also could go Torn rather than Garchomp, and U-turn on the re-entered Diancie, and repeat. It’s still a risky threat though, so it’s not something to take lightly.
Mega-Altaria:
Now Mega Altaria is also a struggle for various reasons, one being the lack of switchins, but also its bulk. When facing Altaria, I often have to risk Drill’s health, or even sack mons to provide the needed chip for something else to KO it. Zam still outspeeds 1 Dragon Dance, so you do have the encore trapping potential.
Keldeo:
Similarly to the previous mons, there isn’t a great switchin to Keldeo. The team’s intended purpose is to always gain momentum, but at the cost, the offensive pressure it brings does carry the risk when facing certain pokemon. Torn-T can switchin to Keldeo, but it never EVER appreciates burns. Both Zam, Torn, and Volcarona can threaten Keldeo, and after applied chip damage, Excadrill’s EQ can eliminate it. Garchomp can tank 1 Scald and chip it as well, but it’s not a fun circumstance.
Mega-Charizard-Y, and X:
Again most of the pokemon here struggle switching into these threats, and Zard Y is a major threat indeed. Typically I lead Garchomp and either setup rocks early, or click toxic to help bring Zard down. Zard X is a similar approach as well, but again there are ways to counter, its just a challenging matchup.
Weavile:
Weavile is another annoying threat to the team, especially since Mega evolutions do not gain their speed stat until the following turn. Typically when I see Weavile, I’m forced to bring either Crawdaunt, or Excadrill turn 1. Normally I bring Crawdaunt in so that I have the potential to threaten either Weavile, or the pokemon being swapped in. It’s what I need in order to gain the advantage.
Dragonite:
Lastly, Dragonite is a rather uncommon, yet frustrating threat to the team. Garchomp can help with stealthrocks earlygame, and can survive dragon claw sets. As for Outrage however, you need to sacrifice Garchomp with Dragonite taking recoil, and rockslide with Excadrill. If it takes stealthrock damage, dragonite can’t survive rockslide, but if not, then I’d need to sack two mons with Crawdaunt clicking Aqua Jet to KO. Dragonite is a major threat, but it is uncommon.
Here's the Team : https://pokepast.es/eb87cc4e17875b1d
Forgot to post replays :
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-gen6ou-506276
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen6ou-1049428514-gvfphsh5jl6xvqwat0b9nqv3fpa0rwwpw (Friendly game, he beat me after xD)
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen6ou-1024350541
To start us off, the focus of this team build was centered around Mega Alakazam. I know Mega Zam is fairly frail in the metagame, but it also has a solid speed tier, and has an immense special attack stat. I knew that all good Zam sets must run Psychic, along with Focus Blast, however the last two slots are typically filled as Shadowball and either Calm Mind, Hidden Power Ice/Fire, or Encore. Encore’s potential isn’t always given credit for, but has proven to be valuable to the team’s purpose. It provides pressure to various setup mons that are common in the tier, such as clefable, slowbro, gliscor, manaphy, and bisharp, while providing you with the opportunity to gain momentum on helpful switchins.
Gaining momentum on helpful switchins is one of the intended purposes for the next pokemon I will discuss, with that being Crawdaunt. After encore trapping, your opponent typically is forced to switch out, providing you with the opportunity to punish the switchin with Zam’s versatile moveset, OR by bringing in Craw vs stall teams. Chansey, being one of the safest switchins to Zam, suffers greatly when Crawdaunt enters the battle, I mean Craw’s presence alone is threatening to nearly all team compositions. Having access to Knockoff, Crabhammer, and Aqua Jet provides Crawdaunt with the capabilities to force switch-ins, while punishing the predictions heavily with Knockoff. Just by looking at the metagame, the only semi common pokemon that can safely switchin and threaten Crawdaunt is Mega-Altaria, which is only seen nowadays on semi-stall/balance compositions. If you’re able to remove Altaria from the picture, Crawdaunt shatters through defensive cores with ease, which also helps fulfill the team’s goal, by consistently threatening opposing teams while maintaining momentum. Now the 4th slot is typically a filler, running Crunch can still punish pokemon that have already lost their item, but I’ve noticed that I typically only use the other 3 moves consistently in battle. You could even opt for switcheroo as a possible curveball, but in all honesty, it’s sorta difficult to recognize why you’d need to trap a setup user when you already punish most of them. Banded Adamant Crawdaunt does 75.6%-89.3% to Max Defensive Clefable, Max Def. Suicune takes between 52.9%-62.8%, the list goes on.
Now after talking about both Alakazam and Crawdaunt, we need to have some safe reliable switchins for when opposing Rotom’s, or Heavy offensive pokemon like Mega-Metagross, Mega-Scizor, Mega-Lopunny, Magnezone, etc become threats. Rocky Helm Garchomp has always been a top tier threat within the metagame, and for good reason. Since the best ways to punish Mega-Metagross is typically chip damage, or bulky psychic types, I knew that Garchomp can help provide the needed chip for the rest of the team. Garchomp’s hazard potential, combined with setting up Toxic, EQ required, and dtail gives many great opportunities for Garchomp to deny setups, and punish physical threats. Most players know the capabilities of Garchomp, and often play with a conditioned mindset when facing it. A great example of this, might be having Crawdaunt into battle against Mega Scizor. Scizor could opt for an easy uturn, but they may not go for it when realizing the additional chip they’d receive. Instead, the opponent may try to gain the momentum by doubling into Keldeo, Azumarill, or Latios as a midground play at the risk of receiving a Banded Knockoff. These types of plays are possible, but carry immense risk, so you really have to know about how to condition your opponent within the battle.
Moving forward, all teams that suffer from hazards need a way of removing them. The most popular hazard removals are Excadrill, Starmie, Lati Twins (which i don’t often suggest), and Skarmory. Excadrill is arguably one of the best pokemon currently within the format, with its consistent potential to threaten various offensive teams. I know that lefties Excadrill rose in popularity, however in order to maintain a solid wincon against Talonflame (if garchomp gets weakened), and both Zards, having scarf Drill was required. Most Zard X’s run Adamant, so they guarantee the KO onto Defensive Garchomp. With Excadrill’s speed tier, having Scarf secures the KO for one of the teams larger threats.
Tornadus-T is typically the glue for most of my teams. If I had to say what my favorite competitive pokemon would be, Torn-T would be ranked number 1 on the list, thanks to its diverse movepool, combined with the raw utility it brings, and on top of it all, having access to regenerator. Torn’s defensive spread is a fairly common set, except over the past year I changed it’s speed from 375, to 365. This provides extra investment into increasing Torn’s defense, while also still outspeeding the pokemon that it needs to, such as Scarf Tyranitar, Serperior, Starmie, and the 350 speed tiered mons. The only thing this spread hinders you from is securing your opponents Tornadus to land Hurricanes first, but most of the time you gain the benefit of a slower u-turn. You also are slower than Alakazam, but Zam isn’t much of a threat to the team.
Now that we’re at the end, I’d like to discuss the second pokemon that I built this team around, being Volcarona. I wanted a bulky pokemon that provided a great offensive presence to a majority of teams, and the two pokemon that I know that provide this potential are Volcarona and Crawdaunt. Volcarona’s spread allows you to outspeed Scarf Landorus/Excadrill after a +1 boost. With additional chip onto Landorus, Volcarona can Kill with Fiery Dance. The reason I chose Fiery Dance over Fireblast, is because I felt the need for gaining potential power, without the need for additional quivers. I like having the opportunity after one quiver to provide chip damage, with the potential to increase my Spatt further. I think the best way I could explain this, is when two Slowbro’s face each other. Many people want to get their calm minds as quickly as possible, but the flaw is that you want your opponent to run out of Slack Off first. So clicking scald for the burn potential is needed for the early setup advantage. The same applies with Volcarona’s moveset. While gaining the spatt advantage with additional chip, you can kill many pokemon after clearing your initial threats relatively early. The Lum berry set helps when you’re facing T-wave Clef as it switches in, along with Starmie and other threats. With the addition of Gigadrain, and Bug Buzz, you gain more potential with a broader diverse movepool, while also gaining recovery from gigadrain. Another fact about Volcarona’s HP investment, is if you Quiver on the switchin with Keldeo, you cannot Kill Keldeo after one giga drain, but you can tank a specs Hydro Pump on a second Quiver, allowing you to KO with Giga. This is why lifeorb Volcarona has its rewards, but I opted for Lum Berry.
All in all, the team composition has a large set of tools that allow for much potential within the metagame. Although no team is completely perfect, so here is a list of weaknesses that pose threats to the team.
Counters
Mega-Diancie:
Although we have Crawdaunt and Scarf Excadrill, the team doesn’t have a safe switchin for Diancie. When facing Diancie, I typically will lead with Excadrill or Crawdaunt, attack on the protect, and double into either Garchomp/Torn-t to help with momentum. If I switch into Garchomp, oftentimes my opponent will aggressively double back into Diancie, predicting rocks. There is potential to EQ on this play. You also could go Torn rather than Garchomp, and U-turn on the re-entered Diancie, and repeat. It’s still a risky threat though, so it’s not something to take lightly.
Mega-Altaria:
Now Mega Altaria is also a struggle for various reasons, one being the lack of switchins, but also its bulk. When facing Altaria, I often have to risk Drill’s health, or even sack mons to provide the needed chip for something else to KO it. Zam still outspeeds 1 Dragon Dance, so you do have the encore trapping potential.
Keldeo:
Similarly to the previous mons, there isn’t a great switchin to Keldeo. The team’s intended purpose is to always gain momentum, but at the cost, the offensive pressure it brings does carry the risk when facing certain pokemon. Torn-T can switchin to Keldeo, but it never EVER appreciates burns. Both Zam, Torn, and Volcarona can threaten Keldeo, and after applied chip damage, Excadrill’s EQ can eliminate it. Garchomp can tank 1 Scald and chip it as well, but it’s not a fun circumstance.
Mega-Charizard-Y, and X:
Again most of the pokemon here struggle switching into these threats, and Zard Y is a major threat indeed. Typically I lead Garchomp and either setup rocks early, or click toxic to help bring Zard down. Zard X is a similar approach as well, but again there are ways to counter, its just a challenging matchup.
Weavile:
Weavile is another annoying threat to the team, especially since Mega evolutions do not gain their speed stat until the following turn. Typically when I see Weavile, I’m forced to bring either Crawdaunt, or Excadrill turn 1. Normally I bring Crawdaunt in so that I have the potential to threaten either Weavile, or the pokemon being swapped in. It’s what I need in order to gain the advantage.
Dragonite:
Lastly, Dragonite is a rather uncommon, yet frustrating threat to the team. Garchomp can help with stealthrocks earlygame, and can survive dragon claw sets. As for Outrage however, you need to sacrifice Garchomp with Dragonite taking recoil, and rockslide with Excadrill. If it takes stealthrock damage, dragonite can’t survive rockslide, but if not, then I’d need to sack two mons with Crawdaunt clicking Aqua Jet to KO. Dragonite is a major threat, but it is uncommon.
Here's the Team : https://pokepast.es/eb87cc4e17875b1d
Forgot to post replays :
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-gen6ou-506276
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen6ou-1049428514-gvfphsh5jl6xvqwat0b9nqv3fpa0rwwpw (Friendly game, he beat me after xD)
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen6ou-1024350541
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