Incidentally, Mongols was mine too. I just kind of abandoned it one day though...
Introduction
Well hey there, Smogon! Today I am presenting a team which I have been using almost (almost) exclusively in BW2. I created this team in early July, during the first couple weeks of BW2, mostly because I wanted to use Sandslash. He is my favorite Ground-type, as well as the 2nd cutest one. So I initially created the team to support a Sandslash sweep, and while I think the team does utilize Sandslash quite well, I end up using him less than I first imagined I would. That will come later, though.
I've decided to retire this team, and so it's a perfect time for an RMT. I'm retiring it for a few reasons, including: 1) Many of the things which made the team work are now becoming less useful. Take Scarf Latios. When I made the team in July, no one, and I mean no one was using Scarf Latios. The core of CBTar+Keldeo is another example. 2) Although this is my favorite team I have ever created, I've logged 2000+ battles with it over the last 6 months. I am tired of using it, to be honest. Now that XY is going to come out in October, I want to experiment with some other teams before the BW era comes to an end.
I've been told that this team is ineffective, even poorly made. Honestly, I don't really care though. I've made reqs in a couple Suspect Tests (although I missed the 2nd half of Garchomp's, as well as Kyurem-B and Genesect due to being inactive on Smogon) and I have topped the Pokemon Showdown ladder with it. Although generally speaking, ladder peaks are not any more than a little impressive, doing so with “such a bad team” would be a compliment to my battling ability, so I'll take it. *shrugs*
Well, I think I've talked enough. The last thing I'll say is an explanation of the team's name. I am a little bit sad to retire this team, even though I know it's time, so I wanted a nostalgic name for it. In the French Republican Calender, which was only used for about 10 years during the (first) French Revolution, they renamed all of the months. Messidor was the period between mid-late June and mid-late July. Seeing as that is the period in which this team was born, I thought that it would be an appropriate name. With that done, let's move on to the team!
The Team
Robopon (Tyranitar) (M) @ Choice Band
Trait: Sand Stream
EVs: 152 HP / 252 Atk / 104 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -Satk)
-Stone Edge
-Crunch
-Pursuit
-Superpower
Tyranitar is interesting on this team for me. Interesting, because I like Hippowdon better. But alas, Tyranitar has been the better fit. Okay, so as you already know, I wanted to create a Sandslash-based team, meaning I knew I would have to choose the Hippo or Tyranitar. I actually put this choice off until later into my teambuilding, but I ultimately chose Tar, clearly. This is because as I went through, and picked up Pokemon like Keldeo and Latios alongside Sandslash, I saw that my team was leaning more offensively. I would tell you that Tyranitar often wears down Skarmory/Gliscor/Landorus-T, so that Sandslash can sweep later on, but it rarely works out that way. Tyranitar's job is simply, to kill things. I use the Choice Band set because my team has a little bit of a weakness to Skarmory and Ferrothorn, and the power of this set helps to mitigate that a bit. Other than being my general check to things like Latias/Latios and Sun/Rain (<3 Pursuit), Tyranitar is typically my best sac. Not because “Oh, I've won the weather war, I'm done”, but because he has the least utility out of all my team members. Nonetheless, I don't want to short-play my big green friend. Without him, Reuniclus would tear me a new one everytime I saw it, and Latias/Latios would be fun to face either. Despite his importance to the team, Tyranitar's role is simple though. I run more Speed EVs than the standard set, but that is because of Wobbuffet. Skarmory and defensive Politoed frequently run enough Speed to beat fast-Wobb, and so I speed-creeped enough to still comfortably outrun them.
Summary: Pursuit and weather-control are essential roles. Also, dat power.
Toripon (Volcarona) (F) @ Chesto Berry
Trait: Flame Body
EVs: 144 HP / 252 Satk / 112 Spd
Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
-Quiver Dance
-Fire Blast
-Bug Buzz
-Rest
You'll notice that I did not include a Teambuilding section in my RMT. That's because I actually cannot remember the exact order in which the team members came onto the team, and I didn't want to accidentally provide an incorrect Teambuilding section. However, I do know with certainty that Volcarona came last. Volcarona does not conclusively solve any issue that my team had before... but it helps out with pretty much all of them. My team hates Steel-types with a passion, and guess who Volcarona sets up on! Additionally, Latios is a shaky switch-in to things like Conkeldurr and Breloom, which Volcarona does a much better job of. I'll come back to Breloom in a minute though. I normally don't try and sweep with Volcarona though. If my opponent lacks a Skarmory, Bronzong, Ferrothorn, or Heatran, then you can bet your can that I am going to play Volcarona pretty early on and try to wedge into the opponent's team. Despite the number of Pokemon in OU which resist Volcarona's dual STAB, it makes a surprisingly good wall-breaker early game. Also, I play Volcarona recklessly because of Stealth Rock. You'll see in a moment that Sandslash is not a Rapid Spinner, and so I never want Stealth Rock to get up on my side before Volcarona hits the field. Now, back to Breloom. Screw Breloom. Spore too strongth. Volcarona is a guaranteed switch-in to Breloom on my team. Although I am aware of Stone Edge, most Breloom are too cautious of Latios switching in to spam it the first time. I might be digressing too much into Breloom... but seriously, screw Breloom. Additionally, Volcarona eases the pressure off of Keldeo to check Scizor, so that I can preserve Keldeo for when I need it to tank a Volt Switch and Secret Sword the pants off a Rotom-W or something. I use ChestoRest Volcarona because it fits the wall-breaker role that I use it for the best. My team's greatest weakness is to Stall, and Volcarona is my best bet against Stall. Although the whole “set-up to +5 on a counter, Rest, 2HKO and sweep” thing only works about half of the time, at best, that still gives me a significantly better win-loss ratio vs Stall teams than I would otherwise have. I run more Speed EVs than the standard set, although Volcarona's revamp is switching it to my EV spread. I feel a little bit ahead of the ball-game on that one, but whatever. It's to beat Jolteon at +1, and to beat Scarf Latios at +2, just to be clear.
Summary: Ferrothorn and Skarmory should go die in a hole. Otherwise, it just tries to set up and do as much damage as possible.
Kibapon (Sandslash) (M) @ Life Orb
Trait: Sand Rush
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Def / 248 Spd
Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
-Swords Dance
-Earthquake
-Stone Edge
-X-Scissor
Ah, Sandslash. You are my favorite Ground-type, as well as the 2nd cutest one (I haven't said that before ^_^). Call me a Sandslash fanboy, but I think it is absolutely hilarious that Stoutland gets more usage than Sandslash. They have the same Attack stat. And it absolutely goes without saying that STAB Earthquake beats STAB Return. Oh, and let's not forget that Stoutland is weak to Mach Punch, which is (slightly) more common in the metagame than Ice Shard is. The only real difference I can see is that Stoutland can afford to run an Adamant Nature, for a bit more power. But if you ask me, having to use Return as your STAB neuters the extra power. Sandslash has better coverage moves. Oh, I admit that Superpower on Stoutland is really cool. But other that, he has... Fire Fang? Yikes. Okay, enough about Stoutland. Sandslash is the reason that I built this team, and I love him so much. Although his role has changed a bit since the beginning. Early on, I kept trying to use him as a sweeper, and it didn't work well for me. Nowadays, Sandslash is my (amazing) revenge-killer. When he does sweep, it's often because I take my opponent's team down to something like Jirachi/Tentacruel/Tornadus/Salamence. Although Sandslash does have trouble with bulkier teams, and he is dependent on Sand, his ability to slip in and kill threats I need him to is pretty phenomenal, and it really helps to take the pressure off of Latios. Sandslash's moveset is probably one of the big reasons why other people don't like to use my team. It lacks Rapid Spin, and my team (*cough* Volcarona *cough*) is very vulnerable to hazards. This is actually where part of my weakness to Stall comes in. They get up their hazards, and my team dies fast. However, I'm disillusioned with any Rapid Spinner who uses a Life Orb and is vulnerable to all hazards without recovery. So why Life Orb? Because without it, Sandslash would not have guaranteed kills on Tornadus (who just got banned), Thundurus, Salamence, Gyarados, and more. Sandslash has a decent Attack, but he's not Landorus-T. Anyway, X-Scissor has proven quite useful against Rain teams. I won't switch Tyranitar in to Pursuit Celebi in those situations, because I want to save it to Pursuit Politoed, so Sandslash can get in some nice Celebi kills there, allowing Keldeo to go nuts. Splitting the last 8 EVs between HP and Defense insead of putting it into one allows Sandslash to take about half a percent less damage from physical attacks, which has probably only come into play... maybe once or twice in all my battles. But hey, every bit counts. … I'm all done with Sandslash now, except for my obligatory rant on Adamant Sandslash. Don't use it. The power doesn't matter when Scarf Salamence/Jirachi or Thundurus/Landorus all beat you, not to mention the occasional Hydreigon or (rarely) Haxorus. Oh, and Volcarona after a Quiver Dance. I haaaaaaate Adamant Sandslash.
Summary: Think of Weavile, except better. Great tool to remove things, but needs Sand and is not a powerhouse.
Megapon (Latios) (M) @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
-Psyshock
-Draco Meteor
-Trick
-Surf
I'm gonna have a hipster moment now. When I first started using this team, Scarf Latios wasn't original, but it was certainly uncommon. Nowadays, the set has almost doubled in usage, and it has flown up to Latios' most common set. This upsets me, because all of the free Starmie and Scarf Salamence kills are going away. Nonetheless, it remains my faithful Scarfer. As I was saying with Sandslash, having the redundancy of two dedicated revenge-killers is really helpful, allowing me to play a little more recklessly than I otherwise would. I actually prefer LO Latios myself, but Scarf Terrakion, Scarf Keldeo, and Venusaur would butcher me without the Scarf here. That's why I picked Latios in the first place... it can actually out-speed most things. Although speaking of Venusaur, I should mention how Scarrfed Latios is good against pretty much every member of your typical Sun team. It's really my best defense against them. I do love using Latios in conjunction with Sandslash, because if I've gotten a chance to read my opponent, I regularly get a great double-switch into Sandslash, as their Tyranitar or Jirachi or Heatran switches in. My only problem with Latios on my team, as a Scarfer, is that it exacerbates my weakness to Stall and combinations of Steel-types. Trick does prevent it from being utter dead-weight vs Stall teams, but it's not enough sometimes. On the flip side of that, Offensive teams are almost a non-issue for me. Although Latios is an absolutely crucial team member, I really don't have much to say about it. It's common enough now that most battlers have seen it multiple times, and unlike with the Pokemon I've shown so far, nothing really stands out about mine. The moves and EVs are completely standard, because they let it do the job I want it to do the best. Latios has saved my life plenty of times, and I love spamming Draco Meteor against Steel-free teams, but I guess you could call it a “popcorn break” in my team.
Summary: ...It's a Latios. Revenge-kills stuff that Sandslash can't and uses Draco Meteor a lot.
Mahopon (Keldeo) @ Choice Specs
Trait: Justified
EVs: 252 SAtk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
-Secret Sword
-Hydro Pump
-Hidden Power [Electric]
-Icy Wind
WATER PONY. This is the 2nd cutest Pokemon in existence. Don't you just want to snuggle with it? Okay, so Water Pony is my fifth Pokemon. Although the core of CBTar and Water Pony is very well-known and common nowadays, I actually wasn't thinking about it last July. I chose Keldeo because it was a new toy that BW2 gave to us, and I love new toys. Well, there was more to it than that. These were the days of yore, when CM Keldeo was at least as common as Choiced Keldeo, possibly even more common. And Scarf Keldeo was nowhere to be seen. Nowadays, Scarf Keldeo is the most common, and for good reason. It is nuts in the Rain. If my Latios dies somehow, and my own Keldeo has been weakened, an opposing Scarf Keldeo will straight-up sweep me. I opted not to use it though, for the very reasons I mentioned under Latios. I needed a way to revenge-kill things like +2 Dragonite, Venusaur, Stoutland (ironic, is it not?), and then Scarf Terrakion. Unfortunately, Scarf Keldeo cannot. But Specs works better on my team anyway. If my opponent does not have a Celebi or a Ferrothorn, odds are that I'm bringing Keldeo out early on to try and knock a couple holes in my opponent's team. Sound familiar? That's because Keldeo and Volcarona have very similar jobs on my team! Sandslash is fast as heck, as is Latios, but they're power is severely lacking. Keldeo and Volcarona can oftentimes provide a one-two punch that teams without Tentacruel (in the Rain) fail to hold up to. On another note, Keldeo's typing is exceptionally helpful, allowing it to act as a secondary check to things like Volcarona, Scizor, Cloyster, and others. The 4 SDef EVs are still a holdover from the Genesect era, when it was preferable (for my team) to give Genesect an Attack boost and not a Special Attack boost, although they could just as easily be shifted over to HP now. Many Keldeo opt for HP Ice and Surf as their two coverage moves, but I prefer this set. Gyarados with Ice Fang will beat everything on my team if it gets a chance to set up, but for some reason, they never switch out of Keldeo. It's as though they think that Keldeo switches into them for no reason. Also, HP Electric lands a 2HKO on most Jellicent. Or rather, it would, if they ever stayed in for the second hit. But it's no big deal, because it easily puts them into Tyranitar's Pursuit-range (staying in). Icy Wind is usually equivalent to HP Ice, so I'm not entirely sure why people use HP Ice. Against Salamence, Haxorus, Gliscor, and both formes of Landorus, Icy Wind will get the same OHKO that HP Ice does. Against Latios and Latias, Icy Wind will get the same 2HKO that HP Ice does (in fact, it allows you to actually hit twice). I'll admit, that having Hydro Pump as my only Water STAB has lost me matches (in fact, Hydro Pump singlehandedly knocked me out of the OST), but ultimately, I think that having both HP Electric and Icy Wind has proven the better trade. As far as Specs Keldeo goes, mine is not very unique, but I don't know where I'd be without my Water Pony.
Summary: Water Pony is very cute, and VERY strong. Like Volcarona, tries to go on a slaughter early, so Sandslash and Latios can succeed later.
Dekapon (Metagross) @ Leftovers
Trait: Clear Body
EVs: 224 HP / 252 Atk / 32 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, - SAtk)
-Zen Headbutt
-Stealth Rock
-Ice Punch
-Bullet Punch
If anyone here tells me to replace this with a Jirachi or a Scizor, I will draw what I think you like, and punch it. Don't do it. Although I've stressed with each member how they help my team and how important they are, I am gonna have to do it twice with Metagross. He carries the defensive weight of my team on his shouders. Oh sure, I can switch Latios and Keldeo and Volcarona in on resisted hits. They all have some bulk, but it's Metagross who takes all the real hits. I'm not going to bother listing every Dragon attack he has ever tanked, or the number of times he's stomached an Earthquake and then KOed Landorus-T/Gliscor. Metagross is a “just enough” Pokemon. He has just enough bulk to take the hits I switch him in on. He has just enough power to KO the threats I want him to KO. He's not excessive in anything though. I'd rather have a Scizor using Bullet Punch, but then my team loses Stealth Rock and is much more vulnerable to Dragonite or Volcarona. Perhaps a Jirachi would be nice, but then you encounter that 15% DDMence or Scarf Terrakion which sweeps you (after Latios is down, of course). Metagross can't do either of their jobs as well as them, but he can do both of their jobs (mediocrely) and only take up a single Pokemon slot. It's a trade I'm happy with. My regret with Metagross is that I generally don't get him in the battle (and therefore, get Stealth Rock up) as early as I would like, but unfortunately, there's not much of a way around it. With Metagross, we finally return to me actually tweaking some of the standard sets. I use Zen Headbutt rather than Meteor Mash, because... Steel STAB. It's just not good. Most Metagross that I've faced use Earthquake to catch an incoming Heatran or Magnezone, but I just don't have room for it, because Metagross needs all the moves it has. Poor Meta, with his 4MSS. Heatran doesn't really worry me, between Latios, Keldeo, and Tyranitar as switch-ins, and with Sandslash to revenge-kill it. Magnezone is an absolute pain to face, but it's a cross I've got to bear. Predicting around it is often my only choice. However, if I took out Ice Punch, then I could do nothing against the things that Metagross is actually supposed to counter. And lastly, I can't remove Bullet Punch, because... well, I just described earlier how I would like a Scizor. Despite Metagross's 4MSS, he pulls the team in a sleigh behind him. Frequently, Metagross's job is “check a dangerous sweeper, and almost die in the process”, but that's perfectly alright. He kills the sweeper, and then I have a great sac to use later on. I know that there's a whole lot of Metagross-hate going around in OU right now, but that's probably because people use him where a Jirachi or a Scizor is supposed to be. Now, I'll admit that Metagross is part of my weakness to Stall. He can't do anything to a physically-bulky Pokemon. He sits there and lets them do their thing. But it's just like I said for Latios: The weakness that he provides against Defensive teams is compensated for by the immense support he gives the team elsewhere. The only other noticeable thing that I neglected was the Speed EVs. Metagross has the same speed as Tyranitar: just enough to speed-creep Skarmory and defensive Politoed. It beats fast-Wobb, which lets me be the one who chooses which move Wobb inevitably Encores.
Summary: Sets up Stealth Rock, and checks a potential sweeper. Then it Bullet Punches something as it dies.
Importable
Code:
Tyranitar (F) @ Choice Band
Trait: Sand Stream
EVs: 152 HP / 252 Atk / 104 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Stone Edge
- Crunch
- Pursuit
- Superpower
Volcarona (F) @ Chesto Berry
Trait: Flame Body
EVs: 144 HP / 252 SAtk / 112 Spd
Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Quiver Dance
- Fire Blast
- Bug Buzz
- Rest
Latios (M) @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Psyshock
- Draco Meteor
- Trick
- Surf
Sandslash (F) @ Life Orb
Trait: Sand Rush
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Def / 248 Spd
Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Swords Dance
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- X-Scissor
Keldeo (Keldeo-R) @ Choice Specs
Trait: Justified
EVs: 252 SAtk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Secret Sword
- Hydro Pump
- Hidden Power [Electric]
- Icy Wind
Metagross @ Leftovers
Trait: Clear Body
EVs: 224 HP / 252 Atk / 32 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Zen Headbutt
- Stealth Rock
- Ice Punch
- Bullet PunchThreats and Conclusion
It's been my experience using this team that an entire load of Pokemon are able to threaten it, but that it can play around almost all of them if you know it's limits. I'm not going to go through the entire Threat List for RMT's, because it would be a series of repetitive one-liners, not to mention the multiple different scenarios that can come from a single Pokemon. All that said, however, there are a few threats to this team that are insanely difficult to play around, no matter how well you know the team.
I mentioned Stall teams a lot in the individual Pokemon. You'd think that with Specs Keldeo and CBTar that I could simply smash through all the walls, but nope. A well-built Stall team can just keep bouncing between its members until I am all but defeated. Generally, I can only win by setting up with Volcarona, predicting like a monster the entire time, or by getting lucky and Latios Scarfing the perfect enemy. Luckily for me, Stall teams have been on the decline for a while, but that doesn't make them any less dangerous when they do crop up.
The other huge threat to this team is Rock Polish Landorus and Agility Thundurus. Not together, but individually (or I guess they'd be just as threatening together). My team relies on Latios and Sandslash for revenge-killing duties, but these two can't be revenge-killed without priority (ie Mamoswine). After they boost their Speed, they outrun and OHKO everything on my team, except for Keldeo/Volcarona in the case of Landorus, and Metagross/Volcarona in the case of Thundurus. However, Keldeo, Metagross, and Volcarona are only able to take a hit if they are at or near full health, which is very difficult for my team to maintain over the course of a match. To beat them, I really have to hammer them as they set up, but if they find a good opportunity to boost, they will probably get off a clean sweep right there.
I really love this team. After half a year and literally thousands of battles, I'm not entirely sure how I'll do without it. Despite that, feel free to go all out on it, be it critique, compliments, using the team, or even a Messidor-induced rage. Thanks for reading, Smogon! And a cookie for whomever recognizes my Pokemon's nicknames ;)
