Hi guys, I've played Pokemon for all my life but only in the last week got around into understand the competitive mechanics of the game. I've made a team on Pokemon Showdown that serves me well, and I would like any suggestions you guys feel the need to make.
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Hydreigon @ Life Orb
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Mild Nature (+SpA, -Def)
-Draco Meteor
-Fire Blast
-Superpower
-Earthquake
The backbone of the team. This guy starts the snowball with his excellent type coverage. The point of my Hydreigon is to simply leave more people dead on their side than me when he faints. Which is why I take Life Orb and go full offensive in my moveset. Draco Meteor pretty much one shots anything that isn't Steel Type, including Polited. To remedy Steelies, I have Fire Blast. Even though Draco Meteor lowers SpA, since this is a Mixed Build, it means I can then switch to my physical moves after, surprising people by not switching (and Fireblast still OHKO's Ferrothorn even with 50% Special Attack). Earthquake takes a lot of people by surprise and beats Heatran, who causes this team a lot of problems.
Ferrothorn @ Leftovers
Trait: Iron Barbs
EVs: 252 HP / 88 Def / 168 SpD
Sassy Nature (+SpD, -Spe)
-Stealth Rock
-Leech Seed
-Protect
-Power Whip
My chief annoyer. His primary role is to punish Pokemon not priortising offense. Leech Seed and Protect setup, along with Leftovers, means that if the enemy does not do damage over the health recovered by 2 Leftovers and 2 Leech Seeds (hint:it's a lot), then Ferrothorn gains HP while the enemy dies from Iron Barbs, Leech Seeds, Power Whips and Life Orb. Stealth Rock is there to punish when they do eventually decide to switch out. I get Sassy Nature instead of Relaxed because I feel that Fire types are usually Special based and the most common fighting type move is Focus Blast.
In terms of weather, though it may seem strange to put him on a sunny day team, let's face it, Ferrothorn is pretty much always gonna get OHKO'd by Fire Attacks even if Sunny Day is excluded. On his own, he provides protection VS. sandstorm, and his grass typing helps him beat Rainy Day teams.
Tentacruel @ Black Sludge
Trait: Rain Dish
EVs: 252 HP / 236 Def / 20 Spe
Bold Nature (+Def, -Atk)
-Rapid Spin
-Toxic Spikes
-Protect
-Scald
Another strange choice for a Sunny Day team, you might ask. Tentacruel has a huge role in the team. He clears deadly traps, especially the dreaded Stealth Rock. Toxic Spikes adds his own hazards along with Ferrothorn's Rocks. Protect allows for stalling and Scald is mainly used to apply Burning and a STAB.
First off, Tentacruel synergises fantastically with Ferrothorn. Ferrothorn can safely retreat to Tentacruel if a fire or strong Fighting type comes out. Thanks to his very high SpD and typing resistence, fire types will harm him little and only STAB physical Fighting type moves will make him wince. Likewise, Leech Seed benefits Tentacruel massively, allowing him more time to stall and cause problems.
Secondly, Tentacruel isn't really harmed much by Sunny Day. His Scald gets weaker but it's not really there for doing mass amounts of damage, it's for the BRN and taking advantage of Tentacruel's high base SpA in order to whittle down opponents. Why Tentacruel is really good on a Sunny Day team is because he's a great counter to Rainy Day Teams when they get the Weather Advantage. Rain Dish allows him to recover health, and his Scald gets dangerously stronger.
Ninetales @ Leftovers
Trait: Drought
EVs: 252 HP / 120 Def / 136 Spe
Timid Nature (+Spe, -Atk)
-Flamethrower
-Will O' Wisp
-Sunny Day
-Roar
The crux of Sunny Day application. I use a tanky support Ninetales since I already have 3 Sweepers and still have some much needed gaps to fill. Flamethrower is the simple STAB move for taunt users especially. Will O' Wisp is great for the burn and reducing the enemy's Attack. Sunny Day is including for emergency reapplication. Roar is there to finally fill the hazer role, allowing me to get rid of Stat Boosters and Baton Passers that try to take advantage of Ferrothorn and Tentacruel's stalling tactics.
It's important to note that I very rarely start with Ninetales. Because of my team setup, it's generally better to let Hydreigon deal with the Weather inducer and let Ferrothorn and Tentacruel setup and abuse Sandstorm/Rainy Day before switching to Ninetales and starting Sunny Day for Lilligant, Volcarona and Revenge Hydreigon.
Lilligant @ Focus Sash
Trait: Chlorophyll
EVs: 60 Def / 252 SpA / 196 Spe
Modest Nature (+SpA, -Atk)
-Sleep Powder
-Quiver Dance
-Giga Drain
-Hidden Power Rock
My favourite. <3. The drill is simple, since her Ability allows her to go first pretty much all the time, she can Sleep Power the opponent and start Quiver Dancing. My (I think) unique choice here is Focus Sash. This reduces the danger of the opponent waking up randomly from Sleep and OHKO'ing Lilligant. It means I can safely spam Quiver Dance until the opponent wakes up, then react to it with another Stun Powder and can proceed to start Sweeping with my enhanced amount of Quiver Dances (and hopefully get most of my health back with Giga Drain). Hidden Power Rock is chosen to deal with Volcarona, along with allowing Lilligant to hit most pokemon neutral, which, thanks to Quiver Dance, is all she generally needs.
Volcarona @ Leftovers
Trait: Flame Body
EVs: 240 HP / 216 SpA / 52 Spe
Bold Nature (+Def, -Atk)
-Roost
-Quiver Dance
-Bug Buzz
-Fiery Dance
Volcarona is my ultimate late game sweeper. With most pokemon on either side dead, Volcarona can likely survive 1 hit from the limited choice of moves on the enemy side in order to start a Quiver Dance>Roost loop. Thanks to Leftovers, as long as Volcarona doesn't take more than around 54% damage per turn (decreasing each turn if SpA thanks to Quiver Dance) then she can pretty much seal the game. If Ferrothorn applies Leech Seed and tricks the opponent into doing a Power Up or a switch on the next turn with Protect, Volcarona can come in and sweep up completely from one mistake.
SELF INSIGHTED PROBLEMS
The biggest problem I feel, is Heatran. His Flame Body makes all my fire type attacks useless. He annihilates everyone on my team except for Hydreigon, and only Hydreigon has the power to beat him with Earthquake and Superpower, unless Lilligant gets powerful and uses Hidden Power Rock on him. Hydreigon dying prematurely in general sets this team very far behind and forces me to play extremely effectively with my stallers in order to just make the game Neutral again.
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Well that's my team. Hope you found it interesting at least. Any feedback and criticism would be great! Thanks for reading!
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Hydreigon @ Life Orb
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Mild Nature (+SpA, -Def)
-Draco Meteor
-Fire Blast
-Superpower
-Earthquake
The backbone of the team. This guy starts the snowball with his excellent type coverage. The point of my Hydreigon is to simply leave more people dead on their side than me when he faints. Which is why I take Life Orb and go full offensive in my moveset. Draco Meteor pretty much one shots anything that isn't Steel Type, including Polited. To remedy Steelies, I have Fire Blast. Even though Draco Meteor lowers SpA, since this is a Mixed Build, it means I can then switch to my physical moves after, surprising people by not switching (and Fireblast still OHKO's Ferrothorn even with 50% Special Attack). Earthquake takes a lot of people by surprise and beats Heatran, who causes this team a lot of problems.
Ferrothorn @ Leftovers
Trait: Iron Barbs
EVs: 252 HP / 88 Def / 168 SpD
Sassy Nature (+SpD, -Spe)
-Stealth Rock
-Leech Seed
-Protect
-Power Whip
My chief annoyer. His primary role is to punish Pokemon not priortising offense. Leech Seed and Protect setup, along with Leftovers, means that if the enemy does not do damage over the health recovered by 2 Leftovers and 2 Leech Seeds (hint:it's a lot), then Ferrothorn gains HP while the enemy dies from Iron Barbs, Leech Seeds, Power Whips and Life Orb. Stealth Rock is there to punish when they do eventually decide to switch out. I get Sassy Nature instead of Relaxed because I feel that Fire types are usually Special based and the most common fighting type move is Focus Blast.
In terms of weather, though it may seem strange to put him on a sunny day team, let's face it, Ferrothorn is pretty much always gonna get OHKO'd by Fire Attacks even if Sunny Day is excluded. On his own, he provides protection VS. sandstorm, and his grass typing helps him beat Rainy Day teams.
Tentacruel @ Black Sludge
Trait: Rain Dish
EVs: 252 HP / 236 Def / 20 Spe
Bold Nature (+Def, -Atk)
-Rapid Spin
-Toxic Spikes
-Protect
-Scald
Another strange choice for a Sunny Day team, you might ask. Tentacruel has a huge role in the team. He clears deadly traps, especially the dreaded Stealth Rock. Toxic Spikes adds his own hazards along with Ferrothorn's Rocks. Protect allows for stalling and Scald is mainly used to apply Burning and a STAB.
First off, Tentacruel synergises fantastically with Ferrothorn. Ferrothorn can safely retreat to Tentacruel if a fire or strong Fighting type comes out. Thanks to his very high SpD and typing resistence, fire types will harm him little and only STAB physical Fighting type moves will make him wince. Likewise, Leech Seed benefits Tentacruel massively, allowing him more time to stall and cause problems.
Secondly, Tentacruel isn't really harmed much by Sunny Day. His Scald gets weaker but it's not really there for doing mass amounts of damage, it's for the BRN and taking advantage of Tentacruel's high base SpA in order to whittle down opponents. Why Tentacruel is really good on a Sunny Day team is because he's a great counter to Rainy Day Teams when they get the Weather Advantage. Rain Dish allows him to recover health, and his Scald gets dangerously stronger.
Ninetales @ Leftovers
Trait: Drought
EVs: 252 HP / 120 Def / 136 Spe
Timid Nature (+Spe, -Atk)
-Flamethrower
-Will O' Wisp
-Sunny Day
-Roar
The crux of Sunny Day application. I use a tanky support Ninetales since I already have 3 Sweepers and still have some much needed gaps to fill. Flamethrower is the simple STAB move for taunt users especially. Will O' Wisp is great for the burn and reducing the enemy's Attack. Sunny Day is including for emergency reapplication. Roar is there to finally fill the hazer role, allowing me to get rid of Stat Boosters and Baton Passers that try to take advantage of Ferrothorn and Tentacruel's stalling tactics.
It's important to note that I very rarely start with Ninetales. Because of my team setup, it's generally better to let Hydreigon deal with the Weather inducer and let Ferrothorn and Tentacruel setup and abuse Sandstorm/Rainy Day before switching to Ninetales and starting Sunny Day for Lilligant, Volcarona and Revenge Hydreigon.
Lilligant @ Focus Sash
Trait: Chlorophyll
EVs: 60 Def / 252 SpA / 196 Spe
Modest Nature (+SpA, -Atk)
-Sleep Powder
-Quiver Dance
-Giga Drain
-Hidden Power Rock
My favourite. <3. The drill is simple, since her Ability allows her to go first pretty much all the time, she can Sleep Power the opponent and start Quiver Dancing. My (I think) unique choice here is Focus Sash. This reduces the danger of the opponent waking up randomly from Sleep and OHKO'ing Lilligant. It means I can safely spam Quiver Dance until the opponent wakes up, then react to it with another Stun Powder and can proceed to start Sweeping with my enhanced amount of Quiver Dances (and hopefully get most of my health back with Giga Drain). Hidden Power Rock is chosen to deal with Volcarona, along with allowing Lilligant to hit most pokemon neutral, which, thanks to Quiver Dance, is all she generally needs.
Volcarona @ Leftovers
Trait: Flame Body
EVs: 240 HP / 216 SpA / 52 Spe
Bold Nature (+Def, -Atk)
-Roost
-Quiver Dance
-Bug Buzz
-Fiery Dance
Volcarona is my ultimate late game sweeper. With most pokemon on either side dead, Volcarona can likely survive 1 hit from the limited choice of moves on the enemy side in order to start a Quiver Dance>Roost loop. Thanks to Leftovers, as long as Volcarona doesn't take more than around 54% damage per turn (decreasing each turn if SpA thanks to Quiver Dance) then she can pretty much seal the game. If Ferrothorn applies Leech Seed and tricks the opponent into doing a Power Up or a switch on the next turn with Protect, Volcarona can come in and sweep up completely from one mistake.
SELF INSIGHTED PROBLEMS
The biggest problem I feel, is Heatran. His Flame Body makes all my fire type attacks useless. He annihilates everyone on my team except for Hydreigon, and only Hydreigon has the power to beat him with Earthquake and Superpower, unless Lilligant gets powerful and uses Hidden Power Rock on him. Hydreigon dying prematurely in general sets this team very far behind and forces me to play extremely effectively with my stallers in order to just make the game Neutral again.
-------------------------
Well that's my team. Hope you found it interesting at least. Any feedback and criticism would be great! Thanks for reading!
