I played B/W as soon as it came out, but after awhile work and school took priority and pokemon was soon forgotten. Fortunately I was working in a factory all summer, and that's boring as hell. So while I was engaging in menial drudgery I got back to thinking about pokemon, and what were the best pokemon back in 4th gen. This had me thinking about metagross and machamp a lot. Metagross was a terrifying pokemon to face, with powerful attack and priority you almost always lost at least one pokemon, whereas I've swept entire teams with machamp behind a sub with a shallow speed boost (from an unorthodox lead gliscor). I somehow got the idea that they are both relatively bulky and powerful, and separate they are dangerous, but together they could work incredibly well together. Meta has steel/psychic typing, which could be used to sponge the flying/psychic attacks aimed at machamp. Machamps strong fighting attacks and dynamic punch could also be used to knock out most things that metagross can't (by power or confusion). So I had the start of my team
In the past, all my teams usually included at least one unusual pokemon just to keep my opponent guessing. On one of my teams I included a curselax, and used it to great affect because most teams weren't prepared for it due to it being mostly unused. Although he has a lot of pokemon that can counter him, as a late game tank he works incredibly well. Now that I have a normal pokemon, I needed a ghost type to take advantage of the fighting attacks aimed at snorlax, so an offensive gengar seemed like a good fit (mostly picked him over say, chandelure because he is the coolest pokemon ever. Nuff said). So that gave me the 3rd and 4th members of my team.
All I needed was a lead, and a revenge-killer. I was also trying to keep within my slightly unorthodox theme, so I went and decided to use a kabutops lead. I know some of you just spit out your beverage you were conveniently taking a sip of, but let me explain; kabutops has great offensive typing of water/rock, combine that with access to rocks, and a priority move. He also has weak armour as an ability, so if somebody hits me, they break my sash but I'll still be alive, albeit with a speed boost so I can hit back or lay down rocks. Another bonus is that people won't expect to see a kabutops outside uu, much less as a lead. Now for revenge-killer I had to go with a scizor, for type synergy, and so something can respond to reuniclus, but can also set up on the bastard. Plus you can never go wrong with more priority imo.
Alright so lead kabutops, essentially I wanted a pokemon that can lay down rocks and have priority. I was considering aerodactyl but he didn't have priority and in my experience everybody has a plan for aero, which usually involves hitting him hard and laughing. Also Aero would be really weak to getting taunted by those stupid genie pokemon, and if he can't hurt the other lead a lot/ set up rocks then he's not a good lead. I always considered kabutops in 4th gen. but he didn't have the speed outside of rain, but that is partially remedied by weak armour and focus sash. Either attack or set up rocks on turn one, and depending on what happens you either finish them off with aqua jet, or hit them with an attack that will hopefully deal a lot of damage so scizor or metagross can switch in and set up. Now I haven't played much 5th gen, but for the pranksters I would attack as they anticipate rocks, while with suicide leads I would set up rocks and hit them with aqua jet if I can't outspeed them. This guy would definitely struggle with metagross or jirachi, or basically any steel types, but I'm confident in the rest of my team's ability to handle them. Icy wind gengar is also a bit of a problem, but my own gengar or snorlax should be able to counter it effectively (snorlax if it lacks focus blast).
Kabutops@focus sash
Jolly nature with Weak Armour
4hp 252atk 252spe
-Stealth Rock
-Aqua Jet
-Stone Edge
-Waterfall
Metagross was a beast in the last gen, so what's stopping him from doing the same now? I opted for the agility set posted on the site, as I wanted to abuse his ability to cause switches as much as possible. The only downside is that I don't have room for bullet punch, as I need the last slot for much needed type coverage in Ice Punch, otherwise outraging dragons could ruin my day. Besides who's really expecting a metagross to pack ice punch? Earthquake and Meteor Mash are pretty self explanatory, STAB and an attack to deal with those pesky steel types. Skarmory pretty much walls this set, so if I encounter one it will get a layer of entry hazards up before I can nuke it with Gengar or confuse it with machamp. I might replace Ice Punch with Thunder Punch because I feel that scizor can handle any dragons I might come across.
Metagross@leftovers
Jolly nature with Clear Body
52hp 252atk 204spe
-Agility/Bullet Punch
-Earthquake
-Meteor Mash
-Ice punch/Thunder Punch
Man I loved machamp in 4th gen, No Guard mixed with Dynamic Punch is just painful, and a shallow speed boost allowed him to rip through entire teams. The rotom forms were always a pain in the ass however, but now that I'm not boosting him I'm not afraid to switch out to metagross or scizor or snorlax so they can setup. This is just the same set from last gen, you set up a sub and laugh while you confuse your enemies and spam pointy rocks. Again this set works well with metagross, since metagross cannot handle fire very well, so you can respond with a rock in the face of whatever fire type it is (or a punch, in the case of annoying pokemon such as heatran). Machamp has a problem with psychic and ghost pokemon, but snorlax, metagross and scizor should be able to handle them. Gengar could also work to revenge kill slower pokemon, but generally I'm worried about reuniclus which is where snorlax comes in. The EV's are from the site, and I opted for a slower more bulky machamp because he will be switching in and setting up a sub, and those extra EV's aren't really going to help him that much imo
Machamp@Leftovers
Adamant nature with No Guard
252hp 252atk 4spd
-Substitute
-Dynamic Punch
-Stone Edge
-Payback
Snorlax. One of if not the best curse abuser in the game. Slow as hell but hits like a truck. I picked him because he is an unusual pokemon in last gen, and is probably moreso now. Nobody expects to see a snorlax lugging himself around, and he can easily setup late game and cause some havoc. Again fighting types give him trouble, so he has good synergy with a ghost type, which allowed me to fit my favourite pokemon gengar in this team. Snorlax can use his special bulk to absorb the ghost and some dark attacks aimed at Gengar, plus snorlax is my answer to reuniclus, especially the trick room variants. His speed is tied with reuniclus, so 0 IV's and a hindering nature will ensure he at least gets the speed tie under trick room. Fire Punch was chosen for coverage, and return is the obligatory STAB attack. The EV's ensure he can tank most special hits, and a curse or two will keep him good on the physical side. He gets walled by most defensive pokemon, but after two curses he can usually at least get a 2HKO. Thick Fat also gives a useful fire and ice resist, which helps my steels a lot.
Snorlax@Leftovers
Sassy nature with Thick Fat
188hp 104def 216spd
-Curse
-Return
-Fire Punch
-Crunch
Gengar is by far and away my favourite pokemon, and is one of the best as well imo. He has maintained a presence competitively through every generation, has a great movepool, variability and looks cool to boot. However he has a new competitor in chandelure, and he always has to compete with the rotom forms, but they have lost their ghost subtype, making gengar a great ghost choice. In this team he provides a useful immunity to ground and fighting, the two most common attacking types. His great movepool also help him take out pokemon that my team fears such as skarmory and gyarados before he boosts. Gengar is my go-to pokemon on this team if I need a pokemon gone without them hurting my tanks, using his scarf to outspeed boosted pokemon, or fast pokemon such as starmie. He is easily walled by blissey if I'm attacking already, so I need to be careful about that as blissey could status spam my team.
Gengar@Choice Scarf
Timid nature with Levitate
4hp 252spa 252spe
-Trick
-T-bolt
-Shadow Ball
-Focus Blast
Now finally my revenge killer, I chose scizor because of his ability to revenge kill effectively, and because he has a lot of resistances but only one weakness. My team is going to be hunting fire types already, so I'm not really worried about him being set up on by fire types, however I am worried about a random HP fire. Their isn't really any way I can prepare for that other than knowledge, so whatever. He is another counter to any psychics or what have you trying to spoil my fun, and he can set up on a large number of pokemon. He can also abuse technician bullet punch and bug bite, and is generally a pain for the opponent. I chose the bulkier version because if he is swords dancing he will need that extra bulk to keep alive. Best case scenario I switch in on a choice scarfed outrage, set up a swords dance or two and proceed to sweep as much of his team as I can. Roost is also to help him heal any damage obtained from entry hazards or hits from the opponent. The only problem is he is walled pretty badly by most steel types, so I will have to rely on fire and ground attacks from the rest of my team to support him. I'll use him to revenge kill early, and setup late game if he is still around.
Scizor@leftovers
Adamant nature with Technician
252hp 40atk 216spd
-Swords Dance
-Roost/Superpower
-Bug Bite
-Bullet Punch
So I don't have all that much experience with 5th gen, so if I missed anything it would be much appreciated if you guys would help me out. Thanks for your time
In the past, all my teams usually included at least one unusual pokemon just to keep my opponent guessing. On one of my teams I included a curselax, and used it to great affect because most teams weren't prepared for it due to it being mostly unused. Although he has a lot of pokemon that can counter him, as a late game tank he works incredibly well. Now that I have a normal pokemon, I needed a ghost type to take advantage of the fighting attacks aimed at snorlax, so an offensive gengar seemed like a good fit (mostly picked him over say, chandelure because he is the coolest pokemon ever. Nuff said). So that gave me the 3rd and 4th members of my team.
All I needed was a lead, and a revenge-killer. I was also trying to keep within my slightly unorthodox theme, so I went and decided to use a kabutops lead. I know some of you just spit out your beverage you were conveniently taking a sip of, but let me explain; kabutops has great offensive typing of water/rock, combine that with access to rocks, and a priority move. He also has weak armour as an ability, so if somebody hits me, they break my sash but I'll still be alive, albeit with a speed boost so I can hit back or lay down rocks. Another bonus is that people won't expect to see a kabutops outside uu, much less as a lead. Now for revenge-killer I had to go with a scizor, for type synergy, and so something can respond to reuniclus, but can also set up on the bastard. Plus you can never go wrong with more priority imo.
Alright so lead kabutops, essentially I wanted a pokemon that can lay down rocks and have priority. I was considering aerodactyl but he didn't have priority and in my experience everybody has a plan for aero, which usually involves hitting him hard and laughing. Also Aero would be really weak to getting taunted by those stupid genie pokemon, and if he can't hurt the other lead a lot/ set up rocks then he's not a good lead. I always considered kabutops in 4th gen. but he didn't have the speed outside of rain, but that is partially remedied by weak armour and focus sash. Either attack or set up rocks on turn one, and depending on what happens you either finish them off with aqua jet, or hit them with an attack that will hopefully deal a lot of damage so scizor or metagross can switch in and set up. Now I haven't played much 5th gen, but for the pranksters I would attack as they anticipate rocks, while with suicide leads I would set up rocks and hit them with aqua jet if I can't outspeed them. This guy would definitely struggle with metagross or jirachi, or basically any steel types, but I'm confident in the rest of my team's ability to handle them. Icy wind gengar is also a bit of a problem, but my own gengar or snorlax should be able to counter it effectively (snorlax if it lacks focus blast).
Kabutops@focus sash
Jolly nature with Weak Armour
4hp 252atk 252spe
-Stealth Rock
-Aqua Jet
-Stone Edge
-Waterfall
Metagross was a beast in the last gen, so what's stopping him from doing the same now? I opted for the agility set posted on the site, as I wanted to abuse his ability to cause switches as much as possible. The only downside is that I don't have room for bullet punch, as I need the last slot for much needed type coverage in Ice Punch, otherwise outraging dragons could ruin my day. Besides who's really expecting a metagross to pack ice punch? Earthquake and Meteor Mash are pretty self explanatory, STAB and an attack to deal with those pesky steel types. Skarmory pretty much walls this set, so if I encounter one it will get a layer of entry hazards up before I can nuke it with Gengar or confuse it with machamp. I might replace Ice Punch with Thunder Punch because I feel that scizor can handle any dragons I might come across.
Metagross@leftovers
Jolly nature with Clear Body
52hp 252atk 204spe
-Agility/Bullet Punch
-Earthquake
-Meteor Mash
-Ice punch/Thunder Punch
Man I loved machamp in 4th gen, No Guard mixed with Dynamic Punch is just painful, and a shallow speed boost allowed him to rip through entire teams. The rotom forms were always a pain in the ass however, but now that I'm not boosting him I'm not afraid to switch out to metagross or scizor or snorlax so they can setup. This is just the same set from last gen, you set up a sub and laugh while you confuse your enemies and spam pointy rocks. Again this set works well with metagross, since metagross cannot handle fire very well, so you can respond with a rock in the face of whatever fire type it is (or a punch, in the case of annoying pokemon such as heatran). Machamp has a problem with psychic and ghost pokemon, but snorlax, metagross and scizor should be able to handle them. Gengar could also work to revenge kill slower pokemon, but generally I'm worried about reuniclus which is where snorlax comes in. The EV's are from the site, and I opted for a slower more bulky machamp because he will be switching in and setting up a sub, and those extra EV's aren't really going to help him that much imo
Machamp@Leftovers
Adamant nature with No Guard
252hp 252atk 4spd
-Substitute
-Dynamic Punch
-Stone Edge
-Payback
Snorlax. One of if not the best curse abuser in the game. Slow as hell but hits like a truck. I picked him because he is an unusual pokemon in last gen, and is probably moreso now. Nobody expects to see a snorlax lugging himself around, and he can easily setup late game and cause some havoc. Again fighting types give him trouble, so he has good synergy with a ghost type, which allowed me to fit my favourite pokemon gengar in this team. Snorlax can use his special bulk to absorb the ghost and some dark attacks aimed at Gengar, plus snorlax is my answer to reuniclus, especially the trick room variants. His speed is tied with reuniclus, so 0 IV's and a hindering nature will ensure he at least gets the speed tie under trick room. Fire Punch was chosen for coverage, and return is the obligatory STAB attack. The EV's ensure he can tank most special hits, and a curse or two will keep him good on the physical side. He gets walled by most defensive pokemon, but after two curses he can usually at least get a 2HKO. Thick Fat also gives a useful fire and ice resist, which helps my steels a lot.
Snorlax@Leftovers
Sassy nature with Thick Fat
188hp 104def 216spd
-Curse
-Return
-Fire Punch
-Crunch
Gengar is by far and away my favourite pokemon, and is one of the best as well imo. He has maintained a presence competitively through every generation, has a great movepool, variability and looks cool to boot. However he has a new competitor in chandelure, and he always has to compete with the rotom forms, but they have lost their ghost subtype, making gengar a great ghost choice. In this team he provides a useful immunity to ground and fighting, the two most common attacking types. His great movepool also help him take out pokemon that my team fears such as skarmory and gyarados before he boosts. Gengar is my go-to pokemon on this team if I need a pokemon gone without them hurting my tanks, using his scarf to outspeed boosted pokemon, or fast pokemon such as starmie. He is easily walled by blissey if I'm attacking already, so I need to be careful about that as blissey could status spam my team.
Gengar@Choice Scarf
Timid nature with Levitate
4hp 252spa 252spe
-Trick
-T-bolt
-Shadow Ball
-Focus Blast
Now finally my revenge killer, I chose scizor because of his ability to revenge kill effectively, and because he has a lot of resistances but only one weakness. My team is going to be hunting fire types already, so I'm not really worried about him being set up on by fire types, however I am worried about a random HP fire. Their isn't really any way I can prepare for that other than knowledge, so whatever. He is another counter to any psychics or what have you trying to spoil my fun, and he can set up on a large number of pokemon. He can also abuse technician bullet punch and bug bite, and is generally a pain for the opponent. I chose the bulkier version because if he is swords dancing he will need that extra bulk to keep alive. Best case scenario I switch in on a choice scarfed outrage, set up a swords dance or two and proceed to sweep as much of his team as I can. Roost is also to help him heal any damage obtained from entry hazards or hits from the opponent. The only problem is he is walled pretty badly by most steel types, so I will have to rely on fire and ground attacks from the rest of my team to support him. I'll use him to revenge kill early, and setup late game if he is still around.
Scizor@leftovers
Adamant nature with Technician
252hp 40atk 216spd
-Swords Dance
-Roost/Superpower
-Bug Bite
-Bullet Punch
So I don't have all that much experience with 5th gen, so if I missed anything it would be much appreciated if you guys would help me out. Thanks for your time
