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Dracovish is my lead Pokémon. I have the standard Draco set. It’s nothing too special. I always try to do the most with certain abilities like strong jaw. I honestly think I should have tried Dracovish from the start. It’s a lot better than I thought.
Bisharp @ Iron Plate
Ability: Defiant
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Iron Head
- Night Slash
- Poison Jab
- Power-Up Punch
I chose Bisharp to be counters to Pokémon like Clefable, Dragapult and others. Iron head and poison jab for fairy types, power up punch for the power bonus and a move against Excadrill, Ferrothorn, Obstagoon, etc.
Toxapex @ Life Orb
Ability: Merciless
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Atk / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Toxic
- Venoshock
- Knock Off
- Liquidation
Toxapex is a special Merciless poison sweeper. This set (mainly with Toxic+venoshock) takes full advantage of the Merciless ability. Liquidation is there for water type STAB, and knock off is for psychic types and to see what items the opponent may use.
I used Dragapult to counter against other dragon types of Dracovish goes down. Facade is there in case of a status condition. Will-o-wisp is there to make my opponents suffer, and U-turn is to get Dragapult out of a sticky situation. Shadow ball could be another option. I haven’t worked out the kinks of this set yet...
I decided that I could try to take advantage of the prankster ability. Grimmsnarl is here to paralyze my foes try its best with it’s two STAB signature moves. Protect is there for just in case I want to try and get more damage in if Grimmsnarl is at low health.
Zeraora @ Life Orb
Ability: Volt Absorb
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Plasma Fists
- Close Combat
- Grass Knot
- Brick Break
Zeraora is my fast physical sweeper. I chose grass knot for ground type coverage. Brick break is for th screen setters I might face. Close combat is for enemy Excadrill, Ferrothorn, etc., and Plasma fists is for STAB and coverage for Toxapex, Corviknight, Togekiss,etc.
I'm locking your RMT for the time being as the forum rules require that you provide at least 3 lines of descriptions for each Pokemon to explain their roles. Please read the rules carefully and take a look at Team Showcase to see the level of detail we require. PM me with updated descriptions and I'll be happy to unlock this.
Honestly your team is vaguely incoherent. You describe Zeroara as a fast sweeper but don’t give it any speed EVs. Your Dragapult has physical moves but special EVs. You say Bisharp runs Poison Jab for fairies, but the only fairies it hits harder than Iron Head are Mawhile (extremely bad)NVM, Mawhile is steel type and so is immune to Poison Jab and Primerina (2HKO by both Iron Head and Posion Jab, destroyed by Zeroara). Your Toxapex is too weak to do anything offensively, and loses to Pokémon it has a type advantage against like TBolt Clefable,
I think you have other poor decisions but these ones fundamentally undermine your team.
Hey there! HO is a really interesting playstyle and is definitely a fun one to look into, though I think we can definitely get some stuff changed to really amp up your game.
So, first, before I explain some changes I would like to make to your team, I would like to first explain how HO generally works, just so these changes can make a bit more sense since you seem like a newer player based on your choices.
With HO, you want to make it so you get as many opportunities as possible to punch holes in your opponent's team, and more often than not, you do this through getting into your opponent's head and capitalizing on momentum you gain through pivoting and your hazards. There are a myriad of ways in which you can make this work. For instance, there are Web based playstyles, which allow for somewhat slower wallbreakers to wreak havoc, and Screen based ones that make offensive Pokemon more capable of taking on onslaught. Since you already have a Grimmsnarl on your team, which is the best Screen setter in the tier next to Alolatales, I think it'd be a good idea to focus on a Screen based playstyle.
Your Grimmsnarl set definitely needs tuning up. Its speed investment makes no sense, and you have little to no utility in the moves you selected. So, let's use this Screens set instead!
Dual Screens + Taunt guarantee you Screens, and Taunt is a great way to set up in Defoggers' faces. Prankster gives you +1 priority on your status moves (just don't use Taunt on Dark types), so your speed investment can be specked into Special Defense, which lets it better take on Hydreigon, Kyurem, and Specs Dragapult, which are pretty common threats in the tier (and dismantle your team as it is).
--
Now that we've established this, we want to establish pivoting and hazards. There are suicide leads that HO teams use to get their rocks up as fast as possible such as Excadrill, but with Screens, Lead Excadrill doesn't make as much sense.
Nothing on your team really has this, unfortunately. You lack hazards, which leaves your team vulnerable to Focus Sash users, and you also lack any kind of pivot options, leaving your team somewhat muddied and forcing you to hard reads, which is inherently sub-optimal. In fact, your choice of Toxapex simply does not make any sense for Hyper Offense, even if you try to make it offensive (which you shouldn't). So, I would like to suggest these two Pokemon for your team!
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What? Why over Zeraora?
Well, Zeraora is definitely a great offensive Pokemon, but the biggest issues I see here are a huge Ground weakness and the fact that Zeraora isn't quite a good Volt Switch user. Rotom also has very handy resistances that it appreciates through Grimmsnarl's screens, is more effectively able to threaten Toxapex and Corviknight thanks to Nasty Plot and their favoring toward physical defense, and gives you hazard control. Celebi is a bit of a niche pick, but I like it here since it is able to set hazards, pivot, beat Seismitoad (which your Fish greatly appreciates), and check Excadrill.
Or, if you'd prefer to jack up your strength as a whole...
Celebi @ Life Orb
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Nasty Plot
- Giga Drain
- Aura Sphere
- Stealth Rock
With these Celebi sets, the idea is to either U-Turn/Rocks on a Water type, either to get a layer of hazards up or to just get more momentum. With the second set, the idea is the same with Rocks, but you have a lot more immediate power and are better able to check things like Kyurem and Excadrill on the spot. However, I would favor Set #1 as it is more consistent as a rocks setter and pivot while still checking what it needs to.
This set is a pretty standard plotting pivot set, but it's really strong both as a pivot and as a breaker, similar to Celebi. They make a really strong momentum-gaining core and help to whittle common fat cores that your breakers appreciate having worn down, while retaining valuable momentum. They also are complimented nicely by screens due to the fact they both are running Nasty Plot.
Now for your base offensive core!
To be honest, this core is pretty ok, and with the two sets above to help open up some important holes in fat cores, they can do a really good job at breaking. However, your sets need a huge revamp, as they're very arbitrary and aren't really optimal.
Firstly, Dragapult.
Dragapult is a solid pick, but your chosen set makes absolutely no sense. You're running special investment on a set that has literally no Special move... which, you should not do whatsoever. So, let's make use of that special investment and run Specs Dragapult.
Specs Dragapult is a pretty nice member for your team. Not only does your team appreciate its sheer wallbreaking potential, but it can pivot with U-Turn as well to further garner momentum in your favor, something that's a fantastic asset for Hyper Offense. It's a pretty standard set, but it's standard for a reason.
Then, Bisharp.
Bisharp @ Dread Plate
Ability: Defiant
EVs: 48 HP / 252 Atk / 208 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Iron Head
- Swords Dance
- Sucker Punch
- Knock Off
Try this set. Poison Jab makes no sense to run when you have Iron Head; you're wasting a very valuable moveslot, and you don't really need a Steel plate when your Iron Heads are already massacring what they need to. Instead, a Dread Plate is much more of a service to you. Not only do you get to beef your strongest move in Knock Off, but more importantly, you beef up your priority move, which can net you very important KOs. The investment is to allow Bisharp to outspeed Modest Toxtricity and Adamant Vish, and the extra HP can let Bisharp more efficiently take hits in conjunction with Screens. This being said, Bisharp is a giant asset on HO, so you definitely had the right idea here. This thing is a fantastic cleaner once your other breakers do their jobs.
This one I didn't really have to change at all barring Ice Fang and the item. Bandvish is an astronomically powerful breaker, but it only really works to effectiveness on Webs, and since you're running Rainless HO, it'd be more reasonable to net more speed out of a Scarf and clean with it. The fish definitely works here, and Celebi/Pult really help open it up in the late game. Outrage is preferrable as well as it beats things like weakened Kommo-O, standard Kyurem, and NP Hydreigon more consistently.
Overall, this should be your new team after the changes! Now it should be a lot more potent and overwhelming as an HO team. If you'd like me to explain any specific decisions, please let me know and I'll be glad to fill you in.
welcome to the forum. As for the team, it's not bad at all. You have a good base like that offensive core formed by Dragapult / Bisharp and Vish. You just have to polish a little.
I think the Toxa was not a good idea to include him and even less with that set. I'm not sure if you wanted to innovate. It doesn't fit much here. A viable option may be to play something offensive that SR may also have as Exca. This would be the change.
Excadrill @ Leftovers
Ability: Mold Breaker
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Iron Head
- Rapid Spin / Rock Tomb
- Stealth Rock
this set is very useful and with mold breaker things like Rotom H or W is no problem. Spin is not a bad option to eject opposing SR tspikes spikes. I have added Rock Tomb as a second option because it also seems like a good move to press and have speed control.
this team has a lot of potential. I think abusing sticky web can be interesting. The best user for me is Ribombee which also has a Skill Swap to cancel Magic Bounce users like Hatterene. The change would be Grimmsnarl.
the aforementioned, if you fear for not putting web vs Hatterene or Xatu Skill Swap is the solution if you predict a possible change or keep the Sash.
Another point, although less delicate, may be to try Taunt in Bisharp, I think it is key in teams of this style. But the problem is that you sacrifice. Defiant has its prominence here since it increases the attack if it receives Defog.
This is the last change and perhaps the most difficult. You can leave it as an option if you want. It would be the next Gyarados by Dragapult. I think it may be a significant loss but it is a matter of testing. Besides, I find the offensive core water together with Vish interesting.
moxie about Intimidate and more if you take into account the team's offense. Every time you remove something your attack increases. Sub seems better to me than EQ since you protect yourself from status and there is no fear in using DD or whatever is necessary.
oh, by the way if you are going to try this the Vish I would do it CB Adamant.
Another thing is that I agree with adding Rotom H but without Defog since the strategy is based on pressing with rocks and sticky.
This doesn’t really address any of the criticism you’ve been given though. As I and others have said, your EV spreads on several Pokémon make no sense and actively neuter your team. Additionally, several moves (Brick Break on Zeroara, Poison Jab on Bisharp) don’t really do much and force you to forego significantly better moves.
Unfortunately, though, you're going to have to if you want to be successful with really any kind of team, including HO. I know it sounds counter-intuitive on paper, but the truth is, Status moves are an important crux of the game on any archetype. In our case specifically, being able to set hazards, set Screens, set webs, or just set up in general is important to giving your offense the ability to shine as actively and as effectively as possible. You have to remember that your opponents aren't going to just sit there and take hits; they're trying to win just as much as you.
Plus... uh, you were running several status moves on your original team, so I'm unsure if you just don't like our suggestions or you just forgot.
In fact, I love the suggestions!! It’s just my first time with the status moves and moves like taunt on the team. It’s something I have to get used to.
