Here goes.
I wanted to differentiate a little from the standards I'd been using, since my other main Shoddy team is completely OU and is full of completely standard movesets. For this reason, I decided to put some time into structuring a new team, with a few BL and UUs thrown in. It's been performing much better than my standard team on Shoddy as well, which is great. Still, like all teams it isn't perfect, and after five days of tweaking and testing I thought I'd like to put a RMT up to get some more opinions.
This is the second draft of the team. The first contained a Mismagius and gave the team almost no answer to Tyranitar. Ape still can't switch into Ttar and therefore cannot be called a counter, but it can scare it away. However it was nice to have a Ghost around, so I might switch her back with Kingdra.
General Strategy: Screw-up. This team excels in Tricks and Status ailments, which add up to allowing one of the sweepers to clean the rest of the opposing team up. It usually works very well but, like I said, isn't perfect. I'm sure there are ways of it being better. This team is quite stally, so I'm also thinking about getting a Spiker or Toxic Spiker.
Azelf @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 4 Atk/252 Spd/252 SAtk
Naive nature (+Spd, -SDef)
- Explosion
- Stealth Rock
- Trick
- Psychic
---
Trick lead. Tricks the Choice Scarf onto stuff to royally screw them up. Azelf gets 541 Speed with the Choice Scarf taken into account which is enough to outspeed pretty much everything. This also means that the opponent is definetely locked into whatever move they used (when I had Uxie here with just enough Speed to get past Gengar and friends, I was often cursed with Aerodactyl and his move-switching). Azelf can screw up Ninjask leads that decide to use Substitute first, or if they don't have Protect. Stealth Rock is for utility, and this team needs it quite a bit for helping with the screwy-ness. Psychic is for STAB and hurts coming off of 349 SpAtk, and there's always the chance that I tricked a Life Orb or something. Explosion is for when Azelf has done his bit and it helps take out some potent threats that might cause me trouble otherwise including Starmie and Salamence. I'm considering moving some EVs to HP though, to make sure Azelf can set up Stealth Rock after Tricking.
Azumarill (M) @ Choice Band
Ability: Huge Power
EVs: 212 HP/252 Atk/44 Spd
Adamant nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Aqua Jet
- Ice Punch
- Brick Break
- Waterfall
---
Overpowered Physical sweeper. It works really well what with a powerful Priority move off the bat. Azumarill is killer late game, but it can work at any point. Ice Punch hits the dragons and Grass types. Brick Break slaughters Blissey. Azumarill is slow as well, so it doesn't care much about Paralysis. 44 Speed EVs outspeeds Blissey. Azumarill is a good MixApe counter, and it's surprisingly bulky! It can also switch into Tyranitar and use Aqua Jet to get about 60% on it (252 HP/0 Def TTar), and many aren't that defensive.
Kingdra (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Swift Swim
EVs: 252 Atk/16 Spd/240 SAtk
Naughty nature (+Atk, -SDef)
- Draco Meteor
- Hydro Pump
- Rain Dance
- Waterfall
---
A regular mixed Kingdra. The Speed EVs allow for the outspeeding of Choice Scarf Heatran/Porygon-Z in the rain. After a Rain Dance, Kingdra is really fast and has some very overpowered moves. Draco Meteor is overpowered in the rain or not; it deals with the other Dragons nicely and hits things really hard. Hydro Pump is a little unreliable but when it works, it REALLY works. It's needed to kill Scizor and Forry. Waterfall is for Bliss, and for stuff with low Defence. It's also what I'll revert to if they're on low health since it has the highest accuracy of the three moves. Somebody suggested moving the Attack EVs to HP, but that really diminishes Waterfall's power so I'm not sure. Life Orb adds a lot of power onto the set. Kingdra makes a good Scizor counter since it resists the feared Bullet Punch and takes neutral damage from everything else.
Clefable (F) @ Flame Orb
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: 252 HP/4 SAtk/252 SDef
Calm nature (+SDef, -Atk)
- Thunder Wave
- Softboiled
- Ice Beam
- Trick
---
Special Wall, and a fine one at that. Clefable absorbs Status for the team after the Flame Orb burns her, after which she can Trick it over to a Physical sweeper that comes in to kill her. She can also cripple stuff with Thunder Wave, attack with Ice Beam and heal with Softboiled.
The problem is I always feel like I'm using and inferior Blissey which, apart from Trick, I am. Clefable's Tricking is much needed, though.
Slowbro (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Own Tempo
EVs: 252 HP/252 Def/4 SAtk
Bold nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Ice Beam
- Surf
- Slack Off
- Hidden Power [Electric]
---
Physical Wall and Gyarados counter, who otherwise runs through this team unless I can Trick Flame Orb onto it or Paralyse it. Slowbro is an invaluable asset because it helps against so many Physical assaults; Lucario, Gyarados and Mence all spring to mind. Slowbro is a great counter for DDOutrage Mence, who fails to OHKO even with a Life Orb and Slowbro retaliates with Ice Beam. However, it does mean that I have a highly weakened Slowbro after. It can counter Ttar as long as it's not CB Crunch.
Infernape (M) @ Life Orb/Expert Belt
Ability: Blaze
EVs: 24 Atk/232 Spd/252 SAtk
Naive nature (+Spd, -SDef)
- Close Combat
- Flamethrower
- Grass Knot
- Nasty Plot
---
A standard Mixape rounds the team out. I currently use Life Orb, but if I use Expert Belt then the team doesn't break the Item Clause, so it's useful to have a replacement in case the Item Clause is ever in play. Not much else to say here; it kills Bliss, Skarm, Scizor, TTar and the like.
Problems
No Spinner - I often get Toxic Spike'd. This is especially painful to Kingdra and Slowbro.
No Special Sweeper - Hasn't really affected results as I've never wished I've had one, but it's worth mentioning. Kingdra is practically one, though. I might swap Azelf out for one.
Easy to sweep - After setup, there are a few Pokemon that find this team really easy to run through.
Problematic Pokemon - Tips or suggestions for dealing with these would really help.
Gyarados - I only have one counter. If Slowbro goes down I have to get Clefable in and hope Gyarados doesn't switch out so I can Trick or Paralyse it, because Max Attack Adamant Gyara only does 46.45% - 54.57% off the bat so it can't OHKO with one DD either. Even if it is crippled, I don't have much in the way of doing much about it.
Tyranitar - CB variations in particular. The only actual counter is Azumarill who can do good damage with Aqua Jet. Mixape can kill him but can't switch into any of his attacks. Slowbro can sort-of counter Ttar, but CB Crunches take their toll.
Jirachi - Calm Mind versions. They can set up on Clefable and start their epic sweeping.
Porygon-Z - The worst. Even Clefable cowers at the might of Porygon-Z. Once I know what version it is, there's no problem. Specs? Azumarill and Ape can kill him. Scarf? Get crippled by Clefable! Nasty Plot? Ape'd. The problem is, finding out what version it is. And by the time I've discovered, half my team is gone.
Salamence - DDOutrage Mence. Really, really, really hard to stop. Slowbro wins and Azumarill can live an unboosted hit, but other than that there's nothing. I might give HP Ice to Ape over Nasty Plot; what do you think?
Skymin - I think it'll go to Uber but it's worth mentioning in case. Clefable can win if she doesn't get overhaxed, as can Kingdra, but it's still annoying.
There you go. Hopefully my first RMT isn't TOO bad. Any help is appreciated.
I wanted to differentiate a little from the standards I'd been using, since my other main Shoddy team is completely OU and is full of completely standard movesets. For this reason, I decided to put some time into structuring a new team, with a few BL and UUs thrown in. It's been performing much better than my standard team on Shoddy as well, which is great. Still, like all teams it isn't perfect, and after five days of tweaking and testing I thought I'd like to put a RMT up to get some more opinions.
This is the second draft of the team. The first contained a Mismagius and gave the team almost no answer to Tyranitar. Ape still can't switch into Ttar and therefore cannot be called a counter, but it can scare it away. However it was nice to have a Ghost around, so I might switch her back with Kingdra.
General Strategy: Screw-up. This team excels in Tricks and Status ailments, which add up to allowing one of the sweepers to clean the rest of the opposing team up. It usually works very well but, like I said, isn't perfect. I'm sure there are ways of it being better. This team is quite stally, so I'm also thinking about getting a Spiker or Toxic Spiker.
Azelf @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 4 Atk/252 Spd/252 SAtk
Naive nature (+Spd, -SDef)
- Explosion
- Stealth Rock
- Trick
- Psychic
---
Trick lead. Tricks the Choice Scarf onto stuff to royally screw them up. Azelf gets 541 Speed with the Choice Scarf taken into account which is enough to outspeed pretty much everything. This also means that the opponent is definetely locked into whatever move they used (when I had Uxie here with just enough Speed to get past Gengar and friends, I was often cursed with Aerodactyl and his move-switching). Azelf can screw up Ninjask leads that decide to use Substitute first, or if they don't have Protect. Stealth Rock is for utility, and this team needs it quite a bit for helping with the screwy-ness. Psychic is for STAB and hurts coming off of 349 SpAtk, and there's always the chance that I tricked a Life Orb or something. Explosion is for when Azelf has done his bit and it helps take out some potent threats that might cause me trouble otherwise including Starmie and Salamence. I'm considering moving some EVs to HP though, to make sure Azelf can set up Stealth Rock after Tricking.
Azumarill (M) @ Choice Band
Ability: Huge Power
EVs: 212 HP/252 Atk/44 Spd
Adamant nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Aqua Jet
- Ice Punch
- Brick Break
- Waterfall
---
Overpowered Physical sweeper. It works really well what with a powerful Priority move off the bat. Azumarill is killer late game, but it can work at any point. Ice Punch hits the dragons and Grass types. Brick Break slaughters Blissey. Azumarill is slow as well, so it doesn't care much about Paralysis. 44 Speed EVs outspeeds Blissey. Azumarill is a good MixApe counter, and it's surprisingly bulky! It can also switch into Tyranitar and use Aqua Jet to get about 60% on it (252 HP/0 Def TTar), and many aren't that defensive.
Kingdra (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Swift Swim
EVs: 252 Atk/16 Spd/240 SAtk
Naughty nature (+Atk, -SDef)
- Draco Meteor
- Hydro Pump
- Rain Dance
- Waterfall
---
A regular mixed Kingdra. The Speed EVs allow for the outspeeding of Choice Scarf Heatran/Porygon-Z in the rain. After a Rain Dance, Kingdra is really fast and has some very overpowered moves. Draco Meteor is overpowered in the rain or not; it deals with the other Dragons nicely and hits things really hard. Hydro Pump is a little unreliable but when it works, it REALLY works. It's needed to kill Scizor and Forry. Waterfall is for Bliss, and for stuff with low Defence. It's also what I'll revert to if they're on low health since it has the highest accuracy of the three moves. Somebody suggested moving the Attack EVs to HP, but that really diminishes Waterfall's power so I'm not sure. Life Orb adds a lot of power onto the set. Kingdra makes a good Scizor counter since it resists the feared Bullet Punch and takes neutral damage from everything else.
Clefable (F) @ Flame Orb
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: 252 HP/4 SAtk/252 SDef
Calm nature (+SDef, -Atk)
- Thunder Wave
- Softboiled
- Ice Beam
- Trick
---
Special Wall, and a fine one at that. Clefable absorbs Status for the team after the Flame Orb burns her, after which she can Trick it over to a Physical sweeper that comes in to kill her. She can also cripple stuff with Thunder Wave, attack with Ice Beam and heal with Softboiled.
The problem is I always feel like I'm using and inferior Blissey which, apart from Trick, I am. Clefable's Tricking is much needed, though.
Slowbro (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Own Tempo
EVs: 252 HP/252 Def/4 SAtk
Bold nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Ice Beam
- Surf
- Slack Off
- Hidden Power [Electric]
---
Physical Wall and Gyarados counter, who otherwise runs through this team unless I can Trick Flame Orb onto it or Paralyse it. Slowbro is an invaluable asset because it helps against so many Physical assaults; Lucario, Gyarados and Mence all spring to mind. Slowbro is a great counter for DDOutrage Mence, who fails to OHKO even with a Life Orb and Slowbro retaliates with Ice Beam. However, it does mean that I have a highly weakened Slowbro after. It can counter Ttar as long as it's not CB Crunch.
Infernape (M) @ Life Orb/Expert Belt
Ability: Blaze
EVs: 24 Atk/232 Spd/252 SAtk
Naive nature (+Spd, -SDef)
- Close Combat
- Flamethrower
- Grass Knot
- Nasty Plot
---
A standard Mixape rounds the team out. I currently use Life Orb, but if I use Expert Belt then the team doesn't break the Item Clause, so it's useful to have a replacement in case the Item Clause is ever in play. Not much else to say here; it kills Bliss, Skarm, Scizor, TTar and the like.
Problems
No Spinner - I often get Toxic Spike'd. This is especially painful to Kingdra and Slowbro.
No Special Sweeper - Hasn't really affected results as I've never wished I've had one, but it's worth mentioning. Kingdra is practically one, though. I might swap Azelf out for one.
Easy to sweep - After setup, there are a few Pokemon that find this team really easy to run through.
Problematic Pokemon - Tips or suggestions for dealing with these would really help.
Gyarados - I only have one counter. If Slowbro goes down I have to get Clefable in and hope Gyarados doesn't switch out so I can Trick or Paralyse it, because Max Attack Adamant Gyara only does 46.45% - 54.57% off the bat so it can't OHKO with one DD either. Even if it is crippled, I don't have much in the way of doing much about it.
Tyranitar - CB variations in particular. The only actual counter is Azumarill who can do good damage with Aqua Jet. Mixape can kill him but can't switch into any of his attacks. Slowbro can sort-of counter Ttar, but CB Crunches take their toll.
Jirachi - Calm Mind versions. They can set up on Clefable and start their epic sweeping.
Porygon-Z - The worst. Even Clefable cowers at the might of Porygon-Z. Once I know what version it is, there's no problem. Specs? Azumarill and Ape can kill him. Scarf? Get crippled by Clefable! Nasty Plot? Ape'd. The problem is, finding out what version it is. And by the time I've discovered, half my team is gone.
Salamence - DDOutrage Mence. Really, really, really hard to stop. Slowbro wins and Azumarill can live an unboosted hit, but other than that there's nothing. I might give HP Ice to Ape over Nasty Plot; what do you think?
Skymin - I think it'll go to Uber but it's worth mentioning in case. Clefable can win if she doesn't get overhaxed, as can Kingdra, but it's still annoying.
There you go. Hopefully my first RMT isn't TOO bad. Any help is appreciated.
