Hey what's going on Smogon? What. Is. Good!?
I am going to be playing in a tournament hosted at my college this coming week, we will be playing on cartridge not on showdown.
That said I didn't want to be playing Stall which is what people in my locals are used to seeing out of me, so I want to change it up for this event.
I decided to base a team around the one and only Mixmaster from the D/P days Infernape.
Now the team came out having ridiculously overused pokemon, and if at all possible i'd like to get away from that.
So here's the team at a glance:
So I wanted to use MixApe, but he suffers from a lot of new threats in X/Y that he just doesn't handle very well.
Most of these are used heavily in the group i'll be competing with. These include pokemon such as Talonflame, Azumarill, Greninja, Rotom-W, and Charizard, so I needed answers to those.
I picked up Rotom-W as a means to deal with Talonflame specifically.
Next I decided to bring in T-Tar with Stealth Rocks because he traps the Lati twins who otherwise happily switch into Infernape, and having SR will help when dealing with threats such as Talonflame and Charizard.
Next I need to address such as Venusaur and Volcarona since i'm expecting to see a LOT of Charizard-Y + Chlorophyll Venusaur which my main three have absolutely no way to stop once sun goes up. This is chose to use Talonflame to be able to revenge kill a +2 Venusaur in the sun which would otherwise sweep everything I had. Originally I used a Spec's Noivern but I found that when RNG isn't on my side and I miss a Spec's Hurricane on either Venusaur or Volcarona it instantly meant GG, and I didn't want to leave entire games up to a low accuracy move as my only check.
At this point I need a spinner due to my 4x weakness on Talonflame who I can't afford to lose early in a game. I picked Starmie so i'd have a way to deal with Gliscor who either outright OHKOs half my team, or cripples it with Knock Off, plus I needed something with Ice Beam. Lastly I picked up Scizor for some late game priority who forms a VoltTurn core with Rotom.
A Closer Look:
Infernape (M) @ Expert Belt
Ability: Iron Fist
EVs: 96 Atk / 160 SAtk / 252 Spd
Naive Nature
- Overheat
- Close Combat
- Thunder Punch
- Mach Punch
The MixMaster Ace from the ages of D/P. I honestly just love the idea of mixed attackers, and Infernape is one of the coolest looking ones.
I'm running him with Expert Belt over Life Orb to bluff a choice set and because I have Tyranitar on my team. So Life Orb and Sandstorm would quickly put an end to Infernape's life.
I'm running Mach Punch because my in-game Infernape's Hidden Power type is like Ground or something (and breeding for HP types would make me insane), so I figure running Iron Fist + Mach Punch in the 4th slot gives him the ability to pick off a few wounded targets.
One of my biggest fears in this meta is Mega-Charizard(Y) + Venusaur, and if my Sand isn't up then Infernape loves having the sun boosted Overheat.
Starmie @ Life Orb
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 SAtk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
- Surf
- Ice Beam
- Thunderbolt
- Rapid Spin
Standard for multiple generations, Starmie is a fantastic offensive spinner.
It does more damage to itself than the opponent when it Rapid Spins and doesn't even give a fuck about it.
It also checks Charizard fairly well which is half of the Charizard-Y / Venusaur combo which inevitably spells the end for my team if it goes off, and keeps my Talonflame alive, so it's got that going for it, which is nice.
I do have my doubts here though. Firstly i'm using Surf over Hydro Pump in this thing because I already have Hydro Pump on Rotom-W, and do I really need two Hydro Pump users on the team? Which begs the question should I even be using the both of them in the first place? And if I were to replace him I would NEED to replace him with something that deals with Gliscor, because nothing on my team will.
Rotom-Wash @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 228 HP / 60 SAtk / 220 Spd
Modest Nature
- Hydro Pump
- Thunderbolt
- Volt Switch
- Will-O-Wisp
I really hate using this thing. It's by far the most overused washing machine in the entire game.
But it's undeniably necessary because Talonflame is a thing, and it forms a that oh so nice VoltTurn partnership with Scizor.
I don't feel there's much to explain about the moveset, I think we're all familiar with it, but i'm finding that as much as I hate using the most overused pokemon in the game that he's such a vital pivot on my team, and more often then not if i'm in bad spot the grand answer is switch to Rotom-W and Volt Switch on the switch.
He does stuff.
Scizor (M) @ Assault Vest
Ability: Technician
EVs: 248 HP / 112 Atk / 148 SDef
Adamant Nature
- Bullet Punch
- U-turn
- Knock Off
- Aerial Ace
Originally I used a Choice Banded set on this Scizor, but I found that i'd rather have the Vest to sponger more attacks while VoltTurning with Rotom-W, in addition I really liked having the utility of Knock Off without being Choiced into it.
Having the freedom to Knock Off -> U-Turn out is really nice.
As for the last moveslot i'm using Aerial Ace because I can't get Superpower or Defog in-game pre-pokebank. Which really sucks.
If I had access to Defog I might have made Scizor my Mega and done a bulky defog set with him and just left T-Tar as non-Mega.
Tyranitar (F) @ Tyranitarite
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SDef
Adamant Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Stone Edge
- Pursuit
- Earthquake
My Mega of the team. Honestly a lot of it came down to not wanting to use a suicide lead such as Smeargle to setup rocks since Defog is a thing, and there's such a small pool of Stealth Rockers in-game pre-pokebank.
Either way T-Tar can trap things such as the Lati-Twins, and things like Talonflame quake in it's in wake while at the same time not able to flee for fear of the Rocks he sets up.
He's also a tremendous cockblock for Charizards trying to setup the sun.
This thing can put the hurt on Mandibuzz, one of the more popular Defoggers in my experience which at least buys me a free turn to switch while it Roosts.
Talonflame (F) @ Choice Band
Ability: Gale Wings
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 Atk / 4 Def
Adamant Nature
- Brave Bird
- Flare Blitz
- U-turn
- Acrobatics
Until I started using it, I never realized it's move pool was so bad.
I had some extreme tunnel vision when making this guy, looking only at the Choice Banded Gale Wings Brave Bird to ruin people's days (looking at you Venusaur / Volcarona).
I'm considering using Life Orb with Roost instead for the longevity and the ability to U-Turn out instead of being locked into Brave Bird on something that walls it.
Acrobatics are there in case I get slammed with a Knock Off.
In closing i'd like to say that a few key points i'd like addressed are my item setups. Expert Belt on Infernape instead of Life Orb? Not quite sure if the loss of upfront dmg is too much or not.
Was I right to be using a Banded Scizor set instead of assault vest?
Is it okay to be running 2x Choice Bands (Scizor and Talonflame) or 2x Life Orbs (Infernape and Starmie) or even running 2 Orbs AND 2 Bands?
I'm new to playing anything other than Stall, and I still haven't got the hang of it yet, any improvements would be greatly appreciated. Though keep in mine I have little access to pokebank mon's, mostly moves that are pokebank exclusive, so try and keep them realistic.
PS~ CMT for Gale Wings Talonflame, I still need one by the 3rd!
I am going to be playing in a tournament hosted at my college this coming week, we will be playing on cartridge not on showdown.
That said I didn't want to be playing Stall which is what people in my locals are used to seeing out of me, so I want to change it up for this event.
I decided to base a team around the one and only Mixmaster from the D/P days Infernape.
Now the team came out having ridiculously overused pokemon, and if at all possible i'd like to get away from that.
So here's the team at a glance:
So I wanted to use MixApe, but he suffers from a lot of new threats in X/Y that he just doesn't handle very well.
Most of these are used heavily in the group i'll be competing with. These include pokemon such as Talonflame, Azumarill, Greninja, Rotom-W, and Charizard, so I needed answers to those.
I picked up Rotom-W as a means to deal with Talonflame specifically.
Next I decided to bring in T-Tar with Stealth Rocks because he traps the Lati twins who otherwise happily switch into Infernape, and having SR will help when dealing with threats such as Talonflame and Charizard.
Next I need to address such as Venusaur and Volcarona since i'm expecting to see a LOT of Charizard-Y + Chlorophyll Venusaur which my main three have absolutely no way to stop once sun goes up. This is chose to use Talonflame to be able to revenge kill a +2 Venusaur in the sun which would otherwise sweep everything I had. Originally I used a Spec's Noivern but I found that when RNG isn't on my side and I miss a Spec's Hurricane on either Venusaur or Volcarona it instantly meant GG, and I didn't want to leave entire games up to a low accuracy move as my only check.
At this point I need a spinner due to my 4x weakness on Talonflame who I can't afford to lose early in a game. I picked Starmie so i'd have a way to deal with Gliscor who either outright OHKOs half my team, or cripples it with Knock Off, plus I needed something with Ice Beam. Lastly I picked up Scizor for some late game priority who forms a VoltTurn core with Rotom.
A Closer Look:
Infernape (M) @ Expert Belt
Ability: Iron Fist
EVs: 96 Atk / 160 SAtk / 252 Spd
Naive Nature
- Overheat
- Close Combat
- Thunder Punch
- Mach Punch
The MixMaster Ace from the ages of D/P. I honestly just love the idea of mixed attackers, and Infernape is one of the coolest looking ones.
I'm running him with Expert Belt over Life Orb to bluff a choice set and because I have Tyranitar on my team. So Life Orb and Sandstorm would quickly put an end to Infernape's life.
I'm running Mach Punch because my in-game Infernape's Hidden Power type is like Ground or something (and breeding for HP types would make me insane), so I figure running Iron Fist + Mach Punch in the 4th slot gives him the ability to pick off a few wounded targets.
One of my biggest fears in this meta is Mega-Charizard(Y) + Venusaur, and if my Sand isn't up then Infernape loves having the sun boosted Overheat.
Starmie @ Life Orb
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 SAtk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
- Surf
- Ice Beam
- Thunderbolt
- Rapid Spin
Standard for multiple generations, Starmie is a fantastic offensive spinner.
It does more damage to itself than the opponent when it Rapid Spins and doesn't even give a fuck about it.
It also checks Charizard fairly well which is half of the Charizard-Y / Venusaur combo which inevitably spells the end for my team if it goes off, and keeps my Talonflame alive, so it's got that going for it, which is nice.
I do have my doubts here though. Firstly i'm using Surf over Hydro Pump in this thing because I already have Hydro Pump on Rotom-W, and do I really need two Hydro Pump users on the team? Which begs the question should I even be using the both of them in the first place? And if I were to replace him I would NEED to replace him with something that deals with Gliscor, because nothing on my team will.
Rotom-Wash @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 228 HP / 60 SAtk / 220 Spd
Modest Nature
- Hydro Pump
- Thunderbolt
- Volt Switch
- Will-O-Wisp
I really hate using this thing. It's by far the most overused washing machine in the entire game.
But it's undeniably necessary because Talonflame is a thing, and it forms a that oh so nice VoltTurn partnership with Scizor.
I don't feel there's much to explain about the moveset, I think we're all familiar with it, but i'm finding that as much as I hate using the most overused pokemon in the game that he's such a vital pivot on my team, and more often then not if i'm in bad spot the grand answer is switch to Rotom-W and Volt Switch on the switch.
He does stuff.
Scizor (M) @ Assault Vest
Ability: Technician
EVs: 248 HP / 112 Atk / 148 SDef
Adamant Nature
- Bullet Punch
- U-turn
- Knock Off
- Aerial Ace
Originally I used a Choice Banded set on this Scizor, but I found that i'd rather have the Vest to sponger more attacks while VoltTurning with Rotom-W, in addition I really liked having the utility of Knock Off without being Choiced into it.
Having the freedom to Knock Off -> U-Turn out is really nice.
As for the last moveslot i'm using Aerial Ace because I can't get Superpower or Defog in-game pre-pokebank. Which really sucks.
If I had access to Defog I might have made Scizor my Mega and done a bulky defog set with him and just left T-Tar as non-Mega.
Tyranitar (F) @ Tyranitarite
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SDef
Adamant Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Stone Edge
- Pursuit
- Earthquake
My Mega of the team. Honestly a lot of it came down to not wanting to use a suicide lead such as Smeargle to setup rocks since Defog is a thing, and there's such a small pool of Stealth Rockers in-game pre-pokebank.
Either way T-Tar can trap things such as the Lati-Twins, and things like Talonflame quake in it's in wake while at the same time not able to flee for fear of the Rocks he sets up.
He's also a tremendous cockblock for Charizards trying to setup the sun.
This thing can put the hurt on Mandibuzz, one of the more popular Defoggers in my experience which at least buys me a free turn to switch while it Roosts.
Talonflame (F) @ Choice Band
Ability: Gale Wings
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 Atk / 4 Def
Adamant Nature
- Brave Bird
- Flare Blitz
- U-turn
- Acrobatics
Until I started using it, I never realized it's move pool was so bad.
I had some extreme tunnel vision when making this guy, looking only at the Choice Banded Gale Wings Brave Bird to ruin people's days (looking at you Venusaur / Volcarona).
I'm considering using Life Orb with Roost instead for the longevity and the ability to U-Turn out instead of being locked into Brave Bird on something that walls it.
Acrobatics are there in case I get slammed with a Knock Off.
In closing i'd like to say that a few key points i'd like addressed are my item setups. Expert Belt on Infernape instead of Life Orb? Not quite sure if the loss of upfront dmg is too much or not.
Was I right to be using a Banded Scizor set instead of assault vest?
Is it okay to be running 2x Choice Bands (Scizor and Talonflame) or 2x Life Orbs (Infernape and Starmie) or even running 2 Orbs AND 2 Bands?
I'm new to playing anything other than Stall, and I still haven't got the hang of it yet, any improvements would be greatly appreciated. Though keep in mine I have little access to pokebank mon's, mostly moves that are pokebank exclusive, so try and keep them realistic.
PS~ CMT for Gale Wings Talonflame, I still need one by the 3rd!
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