Hi. I'm only an occasional casual player but with the release of X/Y I decided to take a look at the new additions to the game. I'm not very familiar with the competitive scene so I've been playing in the pre-pokebank meta as a way of testing the waters, since it's a smaller meta and there are fewer things to take into account. I'm afraid there's no particular theme or grand strategy with this team, other than using bulky offense and being able to survive major offensive threats (and to a lesser extent, trying to do it without resorting to any of the most extremely overused monsters.) So far this is what I've come up with and it's taken me up past 1650 and rising:
Sableye @ Leftovers
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 252 HP / 136 Def / 112 SDef / 8 Spd
Impish Nature
- Knock Off
- Will-O-Wisp
- Taunt
- Recover
Support and harassment lead. Cripples status/stall threats with Taunt and physical attackers with Will-o-Wisp, which plays nicely to Gyarados and Malamar's strengths. Against inexperienced players this guy can chew through entire teams crippling and killing everything; more experienced players will bring in their special attackers, but Knock Off will wreck obvious counters like Gengar or Dazzling Gleam psychic-types on the switch-in. Any special attackers that he can't burn and stall off with Recover (which admittedly is most of them) are generally safe switch-ins for Florges or Venusaur.
Malamar @ Leftovers
Ability: Contrary
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Def
Impish Nature
- Superpower
- Night Slash
- Psycho Cut
- Topsy-turvy
The most unique part of the team, Malamar's usual role is to come out late in the game when both teams are worn down and the enemy sends in their physical sweeper to finish it--and then deliver a hilarious reversal. In the worst case his defensive investment allows him to win a lot of 1v1 slugfests simply by Superpowering his way to victory, or take a neutral +2 hit and use Topsy-turvy to stop an attempted sweep in its tracks; in either case this will likely leave him crippled but hopefully having accomplished his job. In the best case he can come out of a confrontation with the equivalent of several Bulk Ups and enough leftover health to keep chewing through the enemy team. The downside is that without SpD investment virtually any special attacker is going to send him packing, although he can still reasonably take a neutral +1 special and Topsy-turvy away a Calm Mind, and like Sableye he has bulky special tanks to fall back on. Mixed attackers are also a problem, but note that even mixed/special Aegislash is going to be countered by Malamar (physical Aegislash is going to die like a chump.) Bugs and Fairies are an obvious weakness, but it's usually easy to see them coming, especially fairy--most pokemon that use fairy moves for coverage are going to be special attackers that Malamar's not going to want to stay and face anyhow, as the distribution for physical fairy moves is abysmal so far (and note that Malamar can often take on Azumarill anyhow!)
Gyarados @ Leftovers
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 88 HP / 248 Atk / 4 Def / 168 Spd
Jolly Nature
- Waterfall
- Earthquake
- Substitute
- Dragon Dance
The third part of the team's anti-physical toolbox; Intimidate can create an opening for Sableye to come in and do his thing, and if the opponent's already burned it just cripples them further. Sub+DD Gyarados can practically solo whole teams, but his counters are too common to make that Plan A, so his main role is to force switches and check threats like Volcarona that are troublesome for the rest of my team. Since he's not expected to be a solo sweeper Earthquake is taken over a better coverage move in order to punish common switch-ins like non-Levitate electric types and Tentacruel.
Tyrantrum @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Strong Jaw
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature
- Stone Edge
- Crunch
- Fire Fang
- Ice Fang
Having a good answer to Talonflame is mandatory, and Tyrantrum accomplishes that nicely while also functioning as a competent revenge killer with hard-hitting coverage moves from Strong Jaw. He isn't likely to outspeed anything if he's facing Sticky Web or a +1 speed sweeper, but Malamar tends to handle those just fine, and without speed mods he's faster than almost anything that doesn't have its own scarf. He's deceptively fragile and isn't meant to come in and trade blows too often, although a 4x fire resist makes him a handy answer for fire types in general. Possibly the team's weak link (especially with his accuracy problems), but he definitely pulls his own weight and more than one game has ended with Tyrantrum sweeping the last 2-4 enemies.
Venusaur @ Venusaurite
Ability: Chlorophyll
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SAtk / 4 SDef
Modest Nature
- Giga Drain
- Sludge Bomb
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Leech Seed
Mega Venusaur absorbs a lot of status moves that would cripple the rest of the team and has the bulk to easily shrug off hits from the support pokemon that tend to rely on statuses (and take some good hits in general.) Unfortunately even with maximum SpAtk he sometimes struggles to present a threat to the enemy team; he needs HP Fire to keep steel types from coming and setting up for free, but he also needs both STABs to actually deal with the water/grass/fairy types he's supposed to counter, leaving only 1 slot for support. I went with Leech Seed over Synthesis because, again, Synthesis is wonderful for walling but by itself it's not going to be a threat; Toxic + Synthesis would let him stall things to death, but there are just too many immunities out there for that to be worth 2 move slots given his limited ability to cover those immunities.
Florges (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Flower Veil
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SAtk / 252 SDef
Calm Nature
- Moonblast
- Psychic
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Calm Mind
The most recent addition to the team, Florges tanks the special attackers that would rip through the physically defensive half of my team. She can come in on practically any special attacker and chase them off or kill them outright, using Calm Mind to bulk up on neutral attackers and start blowing holes in things. I started out with Clefable in this slot due to goodies like Psyshock, Flamethrower, and Magic Guard, but she just didn't have the special bulk to come in on the repeated special attacks her teammates needed her to take. Florges is the obvious answer (actually Goodra would be the obvious answer, but the team already has 3 Fairy weaknesses and needed a dragon immunity; Calm Mind is also important for being able to set up and overpower other bulky special attackers.) I'd dearly love to be able to squeeze in Aromatherapy and/or Wish to add some support, but ultimately the team needed a special tank that can go head to head and remove enemy special threats.
So that's my team. As noted, fairy types can be a problem for the team, with 3 weaknesses and the only resistance (Venusaur) being weak to Psychic attacks that tend to get paired with Fairy. That makes them dangerous, but I haven't run into anything that outright wrecks my team--Psyshock Mega-Alakazam is probably the most dangerous thing I've found, capable of sweeping the team if my bulkier mons are worn down and killing 1-2 even if he comes in against a fresh team. Mega Mawile is an issue but is much more manageable: there are plenty of fire attacks for her to switch into, Will-o-Wisp and Intimidate can bring her attack down to tolerable levels. SD variants are often thwarted in hilarious fashion by Malamar.
The team's also lacking any easy answers for entrenched Gliscor. I can make it dangerous for him to switch in, but once he's got his sub up I have a hell of a time dealing with him--Sableye's taunt is the only thing that stops him, and Sableye can't eat too many earthquakes (especially if Gyarados isn't around for Intimidate support.)
Obviously once the pokebank opens there will be a lot of new threats to deal with, but for the time being things seem to be going pretty well!
Sableye @ Leftovers
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 252 HP / 136 Def / 112 SDef / 8 Spd
Impish Nature
- Knock Off
- Will-O-Wisp
- Taunt
- Recover
Support and harassment lead. Cripples status/stall threats with Taunt and physical attackers with Will-o-Wisp, which plays nicely to Gyarados and Malamar's strengths. Against inexperienced players this guy can chew through entire teams crippling and killing everything; more experienced players will bring in their special attackers, but Knock Off will wreck obvious counters like Gengar or Dazzling Gleam psychic-types on the switch-in. Any special attackers that he can't burn and stall off with Recover (which admittedly is most of them) are generally safe switch-ins for Florges or Venusaur.
Malamar @ Leftovers
Ability: Contrary
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Def
Impish Nature
- Superpower
- Night Slash
- Psycho Cut
- Topsy-turvy
The most unique part of the team, Malamar's usual role is to come out late in the game when both teams are worn down and the enemy sends in their physical sweeper to finish it--and then deliver a hilarious reversal. In the worst case his defensive investment allows him to win a lot of 1v1 slugfests simply by Superpowering his way to victory, or take a neutral +2 hit and use Topsy-turvy to stop an attempted sweep in its tracks; in either case this will likely leave him crippled but hopefully having accomplished his job. In the best case he can come out of a confrontation with the equivalent of several Bulk Ups and enough leftover health to keep chewing through the enemy team. The downside is that without SpD investment virtually any special attacker is going to send him packing, although he can still reasonably take a neutral +1 special and Topsy-turvy away a Calm Mind, and like Sableye he has bulky special tanks to fall back on. Mixed attackers are also a problem, but note that even mixed/special Aegislash is going to be countered by Malamar (physical Aegislash is going to die like a chump.) Bugs and Fairies are an obvious weakness, but it's usually easy to see them coming, especially fairy--most pokemon that use fairy moves for coverage are going to be special attackers that Malamar's not going to want to stay and face anyhow, as the distribution for physical fairy moves is abysmal so far (and note that Malamar can often take on Azumarill anyhow!)
Gyarados @ Leftovers
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 88 HP / 248 Atk / 4 Def / 168 Spd
Jolly Nature
- Waterfall
- Earthquake
- Substitute
- Dragon Dance
The third part of the team's anti-physical toolbox; Intimidate can create an opening for Sableye to come in and do his thing, and if the opponent's already burned it just cripples them further. Sub+DD Gyarados can practically solo whole teams, but his counters are too common to make that Plan A, so his main role is to force switches and check threats like Volcarona that are troublesome for the rest of my team. Since he's not expected to be a solo sweeper Earthquake is taken over a better coverage move in order to punish common switch-ins like non-Levitate electric types and Tentacruel.
Tyrantrum @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Strong Jaw
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature
- Stone Edge
- Crunch
- Fire Fang
- Ice Fang
Having a good answer to Talonflame is mandatory, and Tyrantrum accomplishes that nicely while also functioning as a competent revenge killer with hard-hitting coverage moves from Strong Jaw. He isn't likely to outspeed anything if he's facing Sticky Web or a +1 speed sweeper, but Malamar tends to handle those just fine, and without speed mods he's faster than almost anything that doesn't have its own scarf. He's deceptively fragile and isn't meant to come in and trade blows too often, although a 4x fire resist makes him a handy answer for fire types in general. Possibly the team's weak link (especially with his accuracy problems), but he definitely pulls his own weight and more than one game has ended with Tyrantrum sweeping the last 2-4 enemies.
Venusaur @ Venusaurite
Ability: Chlorophyll
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SAtk / 4 SDef
Modest Nature
- Giga Drain
- Sludge Bomb
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Leech Seed
Mega Venusaur absorbs a lot of status moves that would cripple the rest of the team and has the bulk to easily shrug off hits from the support pokemon that tend to rely on statuses (and take some good hits in general.) Unfortunately even with maximum SpAtk he sometimes struggles to present a threat to the enemy team; he needs HP Fire to keep steel types from coming and setting up for free, but he also needs both STABs to actually deal with the water/grass/fairy types he's supposed to counter, leaving only 1 slot for support. I went with Leech Seed over Synthesis because, again, Synthesis is wonderful for walling but by itself it's not going to be a threat; Toxic + Synthesis would let him stall things to death, but there are just too many immunities out there for that to be worth 2 move slots given his limited ability to cover those immunities.
Florges (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Flower Veil
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SAtk / 252 SDef
Calm Nature
- Moonblast
- Psychic
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Calm Mind
The most recent addition to the team, Florges tanks the special attackers that would rip through the physically defensive half of my team. She can come in on practically any special attacker and chase them off or kill them outright, using Calm Mind to bulk up on neutral attackers and start blowing holes in things. I started out with Clefable in this slot due to goodies like Psyshock, Flamethrower, and Magic Guard, but she just didn't have the special bulk to come in on the repeated special attacks her teammates needed her to take. Florges is the obvious answer (actually Goodra would be the obvious answer, but the team already has 3 Fairy weaknesses and needed a dragon immunity; Calm Mind is also important for being able to set up and overpower other bulky special attackers.) I'd dearly love to be able to squeeze in Aromatherapy and/or Wish to add some support, but ultimately the team needed a special tank that can go head to head and remove enemy special threats.
So that's my team. As noted, fairy types can be a problem for the team, with 3 weaknesses and the only resistance (Venusaur) being weak to Psychic attacks that tend to get paired with Fairy. That makes them dangerous, but I haven't run into anything that outright wrecks my team--Psyshock Mega-Alakazam is probably the most dangerous thing I've found, capable of sweeping the team if my bulkier mons are worn down and killing 1-2 even if he comes in against a fresh team. Mega Mawile is an issue but is much more manageable: there are plenty of fire attacks for her to switch into, Will-o-Wisp and Intimidate can bring her attack down to tolerable levels. SD variants are often thwarted in hilarious fashion by Malamar.
The team's also lacking any easy answers for entrenched Gliscor. I can make it dangerous for him to switch in, but once he's got his sub up I have a hell of a time dealing with him--Sableye's taunt is the only thing that stops him, and Sableye can't eat too many earthquakes (especially if Gyarados isn't around for Intimidate support.)
Obviously once the pokebank opens there will be a lot of new threats to deal with, but for the time being things seem to be going pretty well!
