Hey everyone! My favorite thing about 5th gen is that no matter what set Dragonite uses, it will always have an advantage that the other pseudolegend dragons don't have, which is Multiscale. Anyways, I'm going to start by showing you the process that I used to build this team, but if you don't care about that, feel free to skip down to the actual team! Edits in Red
The first thing I knew is that I wanted Dragonite on my team, as he is my favorite(and probably many other people's favorite) pokemon. I've tried a variety of sets this gen, and while the ParaShuffler is effective, I felt that I wanted more of an offensive set. I then decided that a CB set would work best, as I don't seem to have the skill to pull off a sweep with any sort of DD set.
I then felt that I needed a good way to prevent Stealth Rocks from crippling Dragonite by deactivating Multiscale, so I decided to find a pokemon to spin rocks away and a pokemon that would eliminate some of the biggest entry hazard pokemon. I had used Magnezone on a previous team and I loved how easy it was to set up on Skarmory, Forretress, and Ferrothorn with it. I also knew I would need a good special sweeper, so all signs pointed to adding Magnezone onto my team. I then knew that if I used Skarm, Forry, or Ferrothorn to set up on and kill, I would have to allow some entry hazards to be set. This meant I needed a spinner. I really wanted a good defensive spinner, but none of those have a good recovery method, which I really wanted in case I needed some late game spins. Starmie and Cryoganol are the only spinners with reliable recovery methods, and of the two, Starmie is easily the better.
I then knew that in order to keep Dragonite at its most effective, it would need a way to stay at full health. Because I'm using a CB set, it had no leftovers or Roost. Therefore, Wish support would be my best option. I would hate myself if I used Blissey, so I decided to go with Vaporeon as this gen's new Wish mechanics make it perfect for passing onto Dragonite, or really any of my other pokemon.
In order to get a really effective sweep by either Magnezone or Dragonite, I knew that I would need help in the form of Stealth Rocks. Ferrothorn came to mind as one of the best to do the job, as I wanted something to take on bulky waters and provide added support to my team with leech seed. Plus, having something that can stand up to Garchomp is always a positive.
The last piece of my team was difficult to decide on, but eventually I figured that something that resisted fire and fight would help immensely as two key members of my team are weak to it. Additionally, having something that could hit hard on the special side without need for set up would help a lot. Victini fits my needs perfectly.
After a lot of testing, I found that Jupiter Djinn's Infernape suggestion has been extremely successful in the place of Victini. It will be easier to make on my actual White version and it seems to be able to do just a few more things than Victini.
Now for the actual team!
Dragonite@Choice Band
Multiscale
4 HP/252 Attk/252 Speed
Adamant
-Outrage
-Extremespeed
-Fire Punch
-Brick Break
As I stated before, I decided to go with an offensive set on Dragonite and I'm not really able to sweep with any sort of a DD set. This Choice Band set has worked out incredibly for me. Outrage OHKO's almost everything it hits, and if it doesn't, it almost always survives the first hit that it takes so it can KO on the next turn. My biggest issue here is whether or not I should run Jolly, as I'm not really sure where to find a speed tier chart. I find that with this Dragonite, I'm out sped more often than I'd like, and it usually leads to my undoing. I find that in most battles, Outrage+E speed are all I really need to KO half of the opponents team, but of course Fire Punch is essential and really takes care of those pesky steel types. Finally, I needed a move to take care of Tyrannitar. Originally I had Waterfall, and I found I almost never used it. However, Brick Break is infinitely better for my needs than Waterfall, thanks DarkCry! Out of the ridiculous amounts of Tyrannitars that I've seen, only one has actually switched out against Dnite. I can almost always eliminate Ttar on the very first turn of the game now!
Infernape @ Life Orb
Ability: Blaze
252 Atk/ 252 Spe/ 4 SAtk
Nature: Naive
-Close Combat
-U-Turn
-Mach Punch
-Overheat
I'm going to forgo the red text in this paragraph, as it might be a bit annoying. Future edits here will be in red, but just keep in mind that the whole section about Infernape is an edit
While it was a close race, I've found that Infernape has fared a bit better than Victini. When I used Victini, if my Dragonite went down and the opposing team had a strong special wall, I was completely screwed. The rest of my team was composed of special attackers(Ferrothorn doesn't count) and I would usually have to try and win a stall war. Now with Infernape, I can take out most of the special walls with ease and I've been able to save a lot of games with him. Additionally, Infernape has gone an extremely long way in taking care of Excadrill with Mach Punch, and he counters a lot more threats. While most of what Infernape brings to the table is good, there are still a few things that Victini did that Infernape can't. The biggest thing is that Victini took out Poison types like Weezing with ease. Fortunately, there aren't too many of those, so Infernape stays. Finally, one of the biggest factors in my choosing of Infernape was that he will be much easier to build on my actual White version, which is where I want this team to end up.
Magnezone@Leftovers
Magnet Pull
40 HP/248 Sp.Attk/ 220 Speed
Timid
-Thunderbolt
-Charge Beam
-HP Fire
-Substitute
Magnezone is the bane of some of the most annoying pokemon in this generation. Forretress, Ferrothorn, and Scizors that lack Super Power are all easy to set up on with Charge Beam. Skarmory is also dealt with easily. Magnezones ability to take out just these few pokemon make it vital to my team. The way I usually use Magnezone is I switch it in on one of the aforementioned pokemon, and then I start Charge Beaming while they set up entry hazards. I then make sure I have a Sub up and then I proceed to sweep through at least 2, sometimes 3 of the enemy's pokemon. Once Magnezone goes down, I get Starmie in to spin away the efforts of the pokemon that Magnezone set up on. It's a plan that has worked pretty well for me, and it makes Magnezone vital to my team's success.
Starmie@Life Orb
Natural Cure
4 HP/ 252 Sp.Attk/ 252 Speed
Timid
-Surf
-Ice Beam
-Recover
-Rapid Spin
After looking over all of the possibilities, it seems that Starmie is the best possible rapid spinner for my team. I've used Hitmontop in the past, but I just feel like he accomplishes very little besides actually spinning. Starmie, on the other hand, takes out non-scarfed pokemon that are 4x weak to Ice. It also forces a lot of Heatran to switch out, and it's one of my only ways to take on Sand teams. Starmie offers great resistances that fit extremely well onto my team, as it works extremely well in conjunction with Magnezone.
Vaporeon@Leftovers
Water Absorb
248 HP/ 252 Def/ 8 Sp.Def
Bold
-Scald
-Wish
-Protect
-Toxic
Vaporeon is definitely one of the best Wish passers in the game. It's main role is to give Dragonite a little more longetivity, and it does a great job of accomplishing that. However, I've found that it is invaluable when taking out Garchomp and other pokemon that I can't counter very effectively. Toxic+Protect allows me to prevent most situations in which one pokemon sweeps my entire team. Having a bulky water is always helpful and Vaporeon's support keeps me in most of my battles.
Ferrothorn@Leftovers
Iron Barbs
252 HP/ 48 Def/ 208 Sp.Def
Relaxed
-Power Whip
-Gyro Ball
-Leech Seed
-Stealth Rock
And finally, Ferrothorn. I apologize if my commentary has gotten worse and worse as this RMT has gone on, but....ya I have no excuses. Anyways, Ferrothorn gives my sweepers a decent chance to pull off an effective sweep as Stealth Rocks is essential in taking off that tiny bit of health that would otherwise prevent me from winning. It also makes most opponents think twice before they switch. Anyways, Ferrothorn is my go-to guy when I need something to soak up an Outrage or a Choiced Draco Meteor. Leech Seed allows it to force switches and give the rest of my team a little extra support. Furthermore, the Seeds give Dragonite an additional recovery method, and the more ways to keep Dragonite at 100% health the better. Ferrothorn's extraordinary bulk and great typing make it a perfect fit on this team.
Well there it is, my team. Love it, hate it, remain impartial to it, either way, I want your input. I want your suggestions and constructive criticism more than anything, and most anything would help. I'm also going to provide a short list of pokemon that I have difficulty dealing with. Some people make their RMTs to show off excellence. I am not one of those people. I want input and help, so that I can be in a place where I can make an RMT to show off my excellence. Anyways, here's the list, and thanks for reading!
Main Threats
-Tyrannitar: Used to dominate me but now has been more than taken care of
-Toxicroak: Toxicroak in the rain is a real bitch to my team. If it gets up a Bulk Up and a Sub up, I'm basically finished. Victini gives me the best shot of KO'ing it, but Sucker Punch usually takes me out first.Removing Victini has made this guy even more threatening, heavily heavily considering Gliscor on my team
-Azelf: I don't see many Azelfs, but the one that I did was able to outspeed and KO half my team
-Garchomp: Starmie can usually take Garchomp out, but if I'm up against a Garchomp with a Yache Berry or Scarf, I'm usually in trouble.
-Sand teams in general: In general, sand teams can hurt my team pretty bad if Starmie fails to KO a good portion of the opposing team.
-Excadrill: Vaporeon and Ferrothorn are really my only ways of taking Excadrill on, and it's usually slow going
-Reuniclus: This thing pisses me off... a lot. Dragonite is usually the only one that can take it out, but only with Multi-Scale if it has used Calm Mind. Infernape helps, but is still risky
Those are just some pokemon that rip through my team with a lot more ease than I'd like. It's strongly possible that it's just my terrible predicting that allows these pokemon to beat me, but still, any suggestion that would help rid me of these problems is welcome. Additionally, if you see a possibility of anything else ripping through my team easily, please tell me. Finally, I'm open to ANY suggestions, and I'll replace any of my pokemon except for Dragonite. That is all, and once again, thanks for reading!
The first thing I knew is that I wanted Dragonite on my team, as he is my favorite(and probably many other people's favorite) pokemon. I've tried a variety of sets this gen, and while the ParaShuffler is effective, I felt that I wanted more of an offensive set. I then decided that a CB set would work best, as I don't seem to have the skill to pull off a sweep with any sort of DD set.
I then felt that I needed a good way to prevent Stealth Rocks from crippling Dragonite by deactivating Multiscale, so I decided to find a pokemon to spin rocks away and a pokemon that would eliminate some of the biggest entry hazard pokemon. I had used Magnezone on a previous team and I loved how easy it was to set up on Skarmory, Forretress, and Ferrothorn with it. I also knew I would need a good special sweeper, so all signs pointed to adding Magnezone onto my team. I then knew that if I used Skarm, Forry, or Ferrothorn to set up on and kill, I would have to allow some entry hazards to be set. This meant I needed a spinner. I really wanted a good defensive spinner, but none of those have a good recovery method, which I really wanted in case I needed some late game spins. Starmie and Cryoganol are the only spinners with reliable recovery methods, and of the two, Starmie is easily the better.
I then knew that in order to keep Dragonite at its most effective, it would need a way to stay at full health. Because I'm using a CB set, it had no leftovers or Roost. Therefore, Wish support would be my best option. I would hate myself if I used Blissey, so I decided to go with Vaporeon as this gen's new Wish mechanics make it perfect for passing onto Dragonite, or really any of my other pokemon.
In order to get a really effective sweep by either Magnezone or Dragonite, I knew that I would need help in the form of Stealth Rocks. Ferrothorn came to mind as one of the best to do the job, as I wanted something to take on bulky waters and provide added support to my team with leech seed. Plus, having something that can stand up to Garchomp is always a positive.
The last piece of my team was difficult to decide on, but eventually I figured that something that resisted fire and fight would help immensely as two key members of my team are weak to it. Additionally, having something that could hit hard on the special side without need for set up would help a lot. Victini fits my needs perfectly.
After a lot of testing, I found that Jupiter Djinn's Infernape suggestion has been extremely successful in the place of Victini. It will be easier to make on my actual White version and it seems to be able to do just a few more things than Victini.
Now for the actual team!
Dragonite@Choice Band
Multiscale
4 HP/252 Attk/252 Speed
Adamant
-Outrage
-Extremespeed
-Fire Punch
-Brick Break
As I stated before, I decided to go with an offensive set on Dragonite and I'm not really able to sweep with any sort of a DD set. This Choice Band set has worked out incredibly for me. Outrage OHKO's almost everything it hits, and if it doesn't, it almost always survives the first hit that it takes so it can KO on the next turn. My biggest issue here is whether or not I should run Jolly, as I'm not really sure where to find a speed tier chart. I find that with this Dragonite, I'm out sped more often than I'd like, and it usually leads to my undoing. I find that in most battles, Outrage+E speed are all I really need to KO half of the opponents team, but of course Fire Punch is essential and really takes care of those pesky steel types. Finally, I needed a move to take care of Tyrannitar. Originally I had Waterfall, and I found I almost never used it. However, Brick Break is infinitely better for my needs than Waterfall, thanks DarkCry! Out of the ridiculous amounts of Tyrannitars that I've seen, only one has actually switched out against Dnite. I can almost always eliminate Ttar on the very first turn of the game now!
Infernape @ Life Orb
Ability: Blaze
252 Atk/ 252 Spe/ 4 SAtk
Nature: Naive
-Close Combat
-U-Turn
-Mach Punch
-Overheat
I'm going to forgo the red text in this paragraph, as it might be a bit annoying. Future edits here will be in red, but just keep in mind that the whole section about Infernape is an edit
While it was a close race, I've found that Infernape has fared a bit better than Victini. When I used Victini, if my Dragonite went down and the opposing team had a strong special wall, I was completely screwed. The rest of my team was composed of special attackers(Ferrothorn doesn't count) and I would usually have to try and win a stall war. Now with Infernape, I can take out most of the special walls with ease and I've been able to save a lot of games with him. Additionally, Infernape has gone an extremely long way in taking care of Excadrill with Mach Punch, and he counters a lot more threats. While most of what Infernape brings to the table is good, there are still a few things that Victini did that Infernape can't. The biggest thing is that Victini took out Poison types like Weezing with ease. Fortunately, there aren't too many of those, so Infernape stays. Finally, one of the biggest factors in my choosing of Infernape was that he will be much easier to build on my actual White version, which is where I want this team to end up.
Magnezone@Leftovers
Magnet Pull
40 HP/248 Sp.Attk/ 220 Speed
Timid
-Thunderbolt
-Charge Beam
-HP Fire
-Substitute
Magnezone is the bane of some of the most annoying pokemon in this generation. Forretress, Ferrothorn, and Scizors that lack Super Power are all easy to set up on with Charge Beam. Skarmory is also dealt with easily. Magnezones ability to take out just these few pokemon make it vital to my team. The way I usually use Magnezone is I switch it in on one of the aforementioned pokemon, and then I start Charge Beaming while they set up entry hazards. I then make sure I have a Sub up and then I proceed to sweep through at least 2, sometimes 3 of the enemy's pokemon. Once Magnezone goes down, I get Starmie in to spin away the efforts of the pokemon that Magnezone set up on. It's a plan that has worked pretty well for me, and it makes Magnezone vital to my team's success.
Starmie@Life Orb
Natural Cure
4 HP/ 252 Sp.Attk/ 252 Speed
Timid
-Surf
-Ice Beam
-Recover
-Rapid Spin
After looking over all of the possibilities, it seems that Starmie is the best possible rapid spinner for my team. I've used Hitmontop in the past, but I just feel like he accomplishes very little besides actually spinning. Starmie, on the other hand, takes out non-scarfed pokemon that are 4x weak to Ice. It also forces a lot of Heatran to switch out, and it's one of my only ways to take on Sand teams. Starmie offers great resistances that fit extremely well onto my team, as it works extremely well in conjunction with Magnezone.
Vaporeon@Leftovers
Water Absorb
248 HP/ 252 Def/ 8 Sp.Def
Bold
-Scald
-Wish
-Protect
-Toxic
Vaporeon is definitely one of the best Wish passers in the game. It's main role is to give Dragonite a little more longetivity, and it does a great job of accomplishing that. However, I've found that it is invaluable when taking out Garchomp and other pokemon that I can't counter very effectively. Toxic+Protect allows me to prevent most situations in which one pokemon sweeps my entire team. Having a bulky water is always helpful and Vaporeon's support keeps me in most of my battles.
Ferrothorn@Leftovers
Iron Barbs
252 HP/ 48 Def/ 208 Sp.Def
Relaxed
-Power Whip
-Gyro Ball
-Leech Seed
-Stealth Rock
And finally, Ferrothorn. I apologize if my commentary has gotten worse and worse as this RMT has gone on, but....ya I have no excuses. Anyways, Ferrothorn gives my sweepers a decent chance to pull off an effective sweep as Stealth Rocks is essential in taking off that tiny bit of health that would otherwise prevent me from winning. It also makes most opponents think twice before they switch. Anyways, Ferrothorn is my go-to guy when I need something to soak up an Outrage or a Choiced Draco Meteor. Leech Seed allows it to force switches and give the rest of my team a little extra support. Furthermore, the Seeds give Dragonite an additional recovery method, and the more ways to keep Dragonite at 100% health the better. Ferrothorn's extraordinary bulk and great typing make it a perfect fit on this team.
Well there it is, my team. Love it, hate it, remain impartial to it, either way, I want your input. I want your suggestions and constructive criticism more than anything, and most anything would help. I'm also going to provide a short list of pokemon that I have difficulty dealing with. Some people make their RMTs to show off excellence. I am not one of those people. I want input and help, so that I can be in a place where I can make an RMT to show off my excellence. Anyways, here's the list, and thanks for reading!
Main Threats
-Tyrannitar: Used to dominate me but now has been more than taken care of
-Toxicroak: Toxicroak in the rain is a real bitch to my team. If it gets up a Bulk Up and a Sub up, I'm basically finished. Victini gives me the best shot of KO'ing it, but Sucker Punch usually takes me out first.Removing Victini has made this guy even more threatening, heavily heavily considering Gliscor on my team
-Azelf: I don't see many Azelfs, but the one that I did was able to outspeed and KO half my team
-Garchomp: Starmie can usually take Garchomp out, but if I'm up against a Garchomp with a Yache Berry or Scarf, I'm usually in trouble.
-Sand teams in general: In general, sand teams can hurt my team pretty bad if Starmie fails to KO a good portion of the opposing team.
-Excadrill: Vaporeon and Ferrothorn are really my only ways of taking Excadrill on, and it's usually slow going
-Reuniclus: This thing pisses me off... a lot. Dragonite is usually the only one that can take it out, but only with Multi-Scale if it has used Calm Mind. Infernape helps, but is still risky
Those are just some pokemon that rip through my team with a lot more ease than I'd like. It's strongly possible that it's just my terrible predicting that allows these pokemon to beat me, but still, any suggestion that would help rid me of these problems is welcome. Additionally, if you see a possibility of anything else ripping through my team easily, please tell me. Finally, I'm open to ANY suggestions, and I'll replace any of my pokemon except for Dragonite. That is all, and once again, thanks for reading!
