Hey guys! This is my first RMT upload. I recently attended a local convention and took 2 of my teams (we weren't required to lock a team in) and I ended up going undefeated (6-0) on the day. I've been building this team for awhile. The team that had the most wins (4-0 with one team, 2-0 with the other) bases itself around the powerful Mega Medicham being persistent and sweeping. So for that to work, the rest of my team was based around inflicting enough damage to my opponents team to help him sweep. Here's the list of Pokemon and why I chose them.
1. Medicham @Medichamite: Pure Power (Psycrusher)
Jolly 252 Atk, 252 Spe, 4 HP.
-Drain Punch
-Fake Out
-Psycho Cut
-Bullet Punch
So again, I like the extreme power Mega Medicham has to offer. I am not a risky player, so Drain Punch was the better option (in my opinion) to High Jump Kick (which, if it misses, can ruin a sweep). I also note that most people will try to run one of the Elemental Punches (generally Ice Punch) rather than have a double priority move like Bullet Punch. In my experience, the team had a general weakness to Weavile and this allowed me to fight through that Pokemon with ease without worrying about getting Revenge Killed at every possible turn. Bullet Punch also allowed me to kill things that were weakened but not quite within Fake Out's KO range. It also was quite unexpected according to most competitors and they all agreed with my intentions.
2. Bisharp Focus sash: Defiant (Gajeel)
Adamant 252 HP, 252 Atk, 4 Spe
-Sucker Punch
-Knock Off
-Iron Head
-Stone Edge
I know this set is quite unusual (as the general Bisharp will run bulk with a Lum Berry or Life Orb) but the Sash came in handy quite often). My reason for running Bisharp is that the team generally used at least 1 entry hazard per game and I wanted to punish Defog users like Latios or Scizor with a Defiant option. I often during the tournament found my team fighting off a strong threat like Dragonite or Charizard and had no way to tank it down immediately. Bisharps Focus Sash/Stone Edge combo came in handy when dealing with those threats (even though both are somewhat unusual). Otherwise, he served the purpose of KOing Clefable/Sylveon or forcing switches and Knocking Off an item before returning to fight another day.
3. Rotom-Heat Choice Specs: Levitate (Hot Pocket)
Modest 252 HP, 252 Spc Atk, 4 Spc Def
-Overheat
-Thunderbolt
-Volt Switch
-Trick
So this might have been the most unusual choice for the team, but it only came after EXTENSIVE testing to fill the last slot on my team (originally occupied by Volcarona). I changed to Rotom after determining that Volcarona simply did not fit on a team already based around sweeping with a Mega evo. I started looking for another Special Attacking Fire-type that could function as a bruiser and Rotom-Heat fit the bill. On top of the STAB Overheat and TBolt capable of KOing OU threats such as Venusaur, Skarmory and Scizor, the ability to ruin a wall by Tricking Specs onto it served it's function more than a few times (and was the reason behind at least 2 wins). Combine that with Rotom's bulk, it became a good switch in against Bisharp/Scizor/Dragonite. This was, again, the most unusual pick for my team, but it worked like a charm and I don't regret it.
4. Garchomp Rocky Helmet: Rough Skin (Cocoa)
Impish 252HP, 252 Def, 4 Atk
-Stealth Rock
-Toxic
-Dragon Tail
-Earthquake
Defensive support Garchomp was honestly the perfect addition to this team. Its incredible bulk combined with Skin/Helmet damage, Rocks+Dragon Tail made it the ideal support to inflict chip damage to enemy Pokemon to help set up a sweep. Its capabilities to switch into almost any Physical attack made it good to keep around, but was my most common lead. Toxic initially seemed like an unusual idea, but I ran into several walls such as Slowbro and Porygon2 that proved my doubts wrong and helped me get around them by predicting the switch and letting a beater take care of them while they take additional chip damage.
5. Sylveon Leftovers: Pixilate (Anna)
Calm 252 HP, 252 Spc Def, 4 Spc Atk
-Wish
-Protect
-Heal Bell
-Hyper Voice
Sylveon, like it does so well, served as my team's cleric. On top of being an ideal switch in against Lati@s, it walled in several Dark-types and was able to get rid Burns that were preventing Medicham/Bisharp/Garchomp from dealing an appropriate amount of damage. It was a pretty early decision to run a cleric to help this team function in case of Sableye (which I determined was a pretty threatening Pokemon to the other members). She served her purpose well (better IMO than a Clefable would have).
6. Cofagrigus Sitrus Berry: Mummy (Akmunrah)
Bold 252 HP, 252 Def, 4 Spc Def.
-Shadow Ball
-Will-o-Wisp
-Pain Split
-Toxic Spikes
Cofagrigus was another somewhat unusual addition to the team. My logic for him was to help prevent physical sweepers from doing damage to my team (an ideal switch-in against Talonflame to get rid of the Gale Wings ability and either force a switch and use Toxic Spikes, or just switch back to Medicham and get some Fake Out damage put on). Another reason behind running Cofagrigus was to have an out to other teams running Mega Medicham/Gallade by removing their abilities and having a STAB Shadow Ball to hurt Psychic-types. During the tournament (and in general) Cofagrigus doesn't last too long, but it serves a purpose of annoying enemies into making sub-par plays to get around it, then allowing me to come in with a more threatening Pokemon.
Overall, I'm very pleased with how this team functioned, but I'd like some feedback on what you think might work in favor of the team's overall strategy. Any help would be greatly appreciated guys! Thanks!
1. Medicham @Medichamite: Pure Power (Psycrusher)
Jolly 252 Atk, 252 Spe, 4 HP.
-Drain Punch
-Fake Out
-Psycho Cut
-Bullet Punch
So again, I like the extreme power Mega Medicham has to offer. I am not a risky player, so Drain Punch was the better option (in my opinion) to High Jump Kick (which, if it misses, can ruin a sweep). I also note that most people will try to run one of the Elemental Punches (generally Ice Punch) rather than have a double priority move like Bullet Punch. In my experience, the team had a general weakness to Weavile and this allowed me to fight through that Pokemon with ease without worrying about getting Revenge Killed at every possible turn. Bullet Punch also allowed me to kill things that were weakened but not quite within Fake Out's KO range. It also was quite unexpected according to most competitors and they all agreed with my intentions.
2. Bisharp Focus sash: Defiant (Gajeel)
Adamant 252 HP, 252 Atk, 4 Spe
-Sucker Punch
-Knock Off
-Iron Head
-Stone Edge
I know this set is quite unusual (as the general Bisharp will run bulk with a Lum Berry or Life Orb) but the Sash came in handy quite often). My reason for running Bisharp is that the team generally used at least 1 entry hazard per game and I wanted to punish Defog users like Latios or Scizor with a Defiant option. I often during the tournament found my team fighting off a strong threat like Dragonite or Charizard and had no way to tank it down immediately. Bisharps Focus Sash/Stone Edge combo came in handy when dealing with those threats (even though both are somewhat unusual). Otherwise, he served the purpose of KOing Clefable/Sylveon or forcing switches and Knocking Off an item before returning to fight another day.
3. Rotom-Heat Choice Specs: Levitate (Hot Pocket)
Modest 252 HP, 252 Spc Atk, 4 Spc Def
-Overheat
-Thunderbolt
-Volt Switch
-Trick
So this might have been the most unusual choice for the team, but it only came after EXTENSIVE testing to fill the last slot on my team (originally occupied by Volcarona). I changed to Rotom after determining that Volcarona simply did not fit on a team already based around sweeping with a Mega evo. I started looking for another Special Attacking Fire-type that could function as a bruiser and Rotom-Heat fit the bill. On top of the STAB Overheat and TBolt capable of KOing OU threats such as Venusaur, Skarmory and Scizor, the ability to ruin a wall by Tricking Specs onto it served it's function more than a few times (and was the reason behind at least 2 wins). Combine that with Rotom's bulk, it became a good switch in against Bisharp/Scizor/Dragonite. This was, again, the most unusual pick for my team, but it worked like a charm and I don't regret it.
4. Garchomp Rocky Helmet: Rough Skin (Cocoa)
Impish 252HP, 252 Def, 4 Atk
-Stealth Rock
-Toxic
-Dragon Tail
-Earthquake
Defensive support Garchomp was honestly the perfect addition to this team. Its incredible bulk combined with Skin/Helmet damage, Rocks+Dragon Tail made it the ideal support to inflict chip damage to enemy Pokemon to help set up a sweep. Its capabilities to switch into almost any Physical attack made it good to keep around, but was my most common lead. Toxic initially seemed like an unusual idea, but I ran into several walls such as Slowbro and Porygon2 that proved my doubts wrong and helped me get around them by predicting the switch and letting a beater take care of them while they take additional chip damage.
5. Sylveon Leftovers: Pixilate (Anna)
Calm 252 HP, 252 Spc Def, 4 Spc Atk
-Wish
-Protect
-Heal Bell
-Hyper Voice
Sylveon, like it does so well, served as my team's cleric. On top of being an ideal switch in against Lati@s, it walled in several Dark-types and was able to get rid Burns that were preventing Medicham/Bisharp/Garchomp from dealing an appropriate amount of damage. It was a pretty early decision to run a cleric to help this team function in case of Sableye (which I determined was a pretty threatening Pokemon to the other members). She served her purpose well (better IMO than a Clefable would have).
6. Cofagrigus Sitrus Berry: Mummy (Akmunrah)
Bold 252 HP, 252 Def, 4 Spc Def.
-Shadow Ball
-Will-o-Wisp
-Pain Split
-Toxic Spikes
Cofagrigus was another somewhat unusual addition to the team. My logic for him was to help prevent physical sweepers from doing damage to my team (an ideal switch-in against Talonflame to get rid of the Gale Wings ability and either force a switch and use Toxic Spikes, or just switch back to Medicham and get some Fake Out damage put on). Another reason behind running Cofagrigus was to have an out to other teams running Mega Medicham/Gallade by removing their abilities and having a STAB Shadow Ball to hurt Psychic-types. During the tournament (and in general) Cofagrigus doesn't last too long, but it serves a purpose of annoying enemies into making sub-par plays to get around it, then allowing me to come in with a more threatening Pokemon.
Overall, I'm very pleased with how this team functioned, but I'd like some feedback on what you think might work in favor of the team's overall strategy. Any help would be greatly appreciated guys! Thanks!