This is not a high ladder player speaking.
This team is my second HO, when laddering I consistently hover just above the 1600 mark, and on a good day can get to 1700. This team was built around the core of Nihilego and Celesteela, and I would prefer if that part is preserved (unless its a change that's begging to happen). Air balloon Heatran took me a total of two seconds to slap on, because it is a great answer to options such as SpDef Heatran and situationally things such as lefties Melmetal and Landorus while setting rocks and being a potent wallbreaker. My last three slots were used on Garchomp, scarf Tapu Fini, and Dragonite. Garchomp is another wallbreaker on this team, and by using aqua tail I am able to break through Landorus either for Nihilego or a future Garchomp sweep if I am patient. Tapu Fini is speed control and provides important defensive utility and trick, and Dragonite provides a rain check, abuser of holes Garchomp creates, and modest defensive utility.
My goal for this team is to get into and consistently hover around the top 500 mark. Pokepaste in the minisprites below:
Nihilego @ Power Herb
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 80 HP / 176 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Sludge Wave
- Thunderbolt
- Meteor Beam
- Power Gem
On this team, Nihilego is not the main win con due to the team's lack of focus on breaking steels (they abuse them and this pokemon makes it too dangerous to sack them), and instead is used to abuse fairy types such as Tapu Koko and scarfed Tapu Lele that would try to stop my dragons and Celesteela. The EV spread above is primarily to get the speed beast boost, but it also comes in handy since I routinely switch into Tapu Fini and Tapu Koko. In the scenarios that I do try to use this as my main win con, I try to trick the bulky steel that would switch into Tapu Fini or force the steel to eat one of my dragons.
Celesteela @ Power Herb
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 40 HP / 252 SpA / 216 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Meteor Beam
- Autotomize
- Flamethrower
- Air Slash
This pokemon is my most common endgame sweeper, because it can beat most things that aren't Heatran, electric, and the rare special wall that doesn't crumple to chip and air slash flinch chance. It also provides defensive utility as it is able to keep momentum against scarfed Kartana and chipped scarf Tapu Lele and Tapu Fini. Many switch ins to this pokemon, such as Heatran and SpDef Toxapex can be abused by double or reactionary switches to Garchomp and Heatran, so this pokemon is still a useful tool to position my threats even if it cannot effectively break or clean. The spread uses enough speed to outspeed Zeraora after a boost, and the rest is squeezed into HP.
Heatran @ Air Balloon
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Stealth Rock
- Magma Storm
- Earth Power
- Eruption
Air balloon Heatran is used because of its unparalleled ability to set rocks and abuse SpDef Heatran, as well being a threatening wallbreaker. If possible, I will lead it to set rocks, but if there is too great a risk of losing momentum I won't. Modest is used for extra power, and eruption is used over coverage to again hit as hard as possible. Since this is my most instantly dangerous wallbreaker, it is the easiest pokemon to make trades with, but more often I will try to conserve it and when relevant its air balloon.
Garchomp @ Yache Berry
Ability: Rough Skin
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Scale Shot
- Earthquake
- Swords Dance
- Aqua Tail
I chose this pokemon due to a need of a ground type and I liked its ability to break Landorus when equipped with aqua tail. It is my second breaker, but unlike Heatran it needs to setup, therefore I don't often try to preserve it for a second break/sweep attempt and instead opt to get the most favorable trade I can with it. The one regular exception to this is against Landorus when I have hazard support. In those situations its worth aqua tailing on the switch instead of using SD as I can then switch out and landorus will be unable to check chomp later and counter Nihilego. Yache Berry is used to give me a better hail mu, but it also lets me beat Weavile in the golden scenario I get a speed boost with full health as well as beating things like ice beam bro.
Tapu Fini @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Misty Surge
EVs: 252 HP / 40 Def / 216 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Hydro Pump
- Moonblast
- Trick
- Defog
Tapu Fini is my speed control, as well as my answer to a variety of threats such as Weavile and the dragons. When attempting to win with my special sweepers, I will try to trick the bulky steel / SpDef blob when possible. After I trick however, I try to use Tapu Fini as sparingly as possible, as it provides no offensive threat. In spite of that, I have had little problems pivoting it off the field due to being able to utilize the resistances and bulk my team had while also being able to double switch.
Dragonite @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Multiscale
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Roost
- Earthquake
- Ice Punch
To round out my team, I chose Dragonite because it both is an effective cleaner if Garchomp trades with a fairy, and it is effective against rain. It also boasts reliable recovery and key defensive utility, such as being able to help out against Urshifu, Rillaboom, choiced Kartana so that they have enough health to setup. A key thing to note is that this pokemon can almost never break a team, and is instead a cleaner, so it is either used to position other threats or if a team's defenses are already crippled.
Overall:
I'm proud of this team. In the two weeks I played with it, it preformed well, with its main flaws being that it sometimes had difficulty breaking bulky structures, had no ghost resist, and Weavile and scarf Tapu Lele were effective speed control against this team. I submitted this team into the team building competition, but when I did I thought it was a little bit better than how it preformed. I am mainly looking for advice on how to refine HO teams, since this is the first one I've built that looks like it can reach the finish line.
This team is my second HO, when laddering I consistently hover just above the 1600 mark, and on a good day can get to 1700. This team was built around the core of Nihilego and Celesteela, and I would prefer if that part is preserved (unless its a change that's begging to happen). Air balloon Heatran took me a total of two seconds to slap on, because it is a great answer to options such as SpDef Heatran and situationally things such as lefties Melmetal and Landorus while setting rocks and being a potent wallbreaker. My last three slots were used on Garchomp, scarf Tapu Fini, and Dragonite. Garchomp is another wallbreaker on this team, and by using aqua tail I am able to break through Landorus either for Nihilego or a future Garchomp sweep if I am patient. Tapu Fini is speed control and provides important defensive utility and trick, and Dragonite provides a rain check, abuser of holes Garchomp creates, and modest defensive utility.
My goal for this team is to get into and consistently hover around the top 500 mark. Pokepaste in the minisprites below:
Nihilego @ Power Herb
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 80 HP / 176 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Sludge Wave
- Thunderbolt
- Meteor Beam
- Power Gem
On this team, Nihilego is not the main win con due to the team's lack of focus on breaking steels (they abuse them and this pokemon makes it too dangerous to sack them), and instead is used to abuse fairy types such as Tapu Koko and scarfed Tapu Lele that would try to stop my dragons and Celesteela. The EV spread above is primarily to get the speed beast boost, but it also comes in handy since I routinely switch into Tapu Fini and Tapu Koko. In the scenarios that I do try to use this as my main win con, I try to trick the bulky steel that would switch into Tapu Fini or force the steel to eat one of my dragons.
Celesteela @ Power Herb
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 40 HP / 252 SpA / 216 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Meteor Beam
- Autotomize
- Flamethrower
- Air Slash
This pokemon is my most common endgame sweeper, because it can beat most things that aren't Heatran, electric, and the rare special wall that doesn't crumple to chip and air slash flinch chance. It also provides defensive utility as it is able to keep momentum against scarfed Kartana and chipped scarf Tapu Lele and Tapu Fini. Many switch ins to this pokemon, such as Heatran and SpDef Toxapex can be abused by double or reactionary switches to Garchomp and Heatran, so this pokemon is still a useful tool to position my threats even if it cannot effectively break or clean. The spread uses enough speed to outspeed Zeraora after a boost, and the rest is squeezed into HP.
Heatran @ Air Balloon
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Stealth Rock
- Magma Storm
- Earth Power
- Eruption
Air balloon Heatran is used because of its unparalleled ability to set rocks and abuse SpDef Heatran, as well being a threatening wallbreaker. If possible, I will lead it to set rocks, but if there is too great a risk of losing momentum I won't. Modest is used for extra power, and eruption is used over coverage to again hit as hard as possible. Since this is my most instantly dangerous wallbreaker, it is the easiest pokemon to make trades with, but more often I will try to conserve it and when relevant its air balloon.
Garchomp @ Yache Berry
Ability: Rough Skin
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Scale Shot
- Earthquake
- Swords Dance
- Aqua Tail
I chose this pokemon due to a need of a ground type and I liked its ability to break Landorus when equipped with aqua tail. It is my second breaker, but unlike Heatran it needs to setup, therefore I don't often try to preserve it for a second break/sweep attempt and instead opt to get the most favorable trade I can with it. The one regular exception to this is against Landorus when I have hazard support. In those situations its worth aqua tailing on the switch instead of using SD as I can then switch out and landorus will be unable to check chomp later and counter Nihilego. Yache Berry is used to give me a better hail mu, but it also lets me beat Weavile in the golden scenario I get a speed boost with full health as well as beating things like ice beam bro.
Tapu Fini @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Misty Surge
EVs: 252 HP / 40 Def / 216 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Hydro Pump
- Moonblast
- Trick
- Defog
Tapu Fini is my speed control, as well as my answer to a variety of threats such as Weavile and the dragons. When attempting to win with my special sweepers, I will try to trick the bulky steel / SpDef blob when possible. After I trick however, I try to use Tapu Fini as sparingly as possible, as it provides no offensive threat. In spite of that, I have had little problems pivoting it off the field due to being able to utilize the resistances and bulk my team had while also being able to double switch.
Dragonite @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Multiscale
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Roost
- Earthquake
- Ice Punch
To round out my team, I chose Dragonite because it both is an effective cleaner if Garchomp trades with a fairy, and it is effective against rain. It also boasts reliable recovery and key defensive utility, such as being able to help out against Urshifu, Rillaboom, choiced Kartana so that they have enough health to setup. A key thing to note is that this pokemon can almost never break a team, and is instead a cleaner, so it is either used to position other threats or if a team's defenses are already crippled.
Overall:
I'm proud of this team. In the two weeks I played with it, it preformed well, with its main flaws being that it sometimes had difficulty breaking bulky structures, had no ghost resist, and Weavile and scarf Tapu Lele were effective speed control against this team. I submitted this team into the team building competition, but when I did I thought it was a little bit better than how it preformed. I am mainly looking for advice on how to refine HO teams, since this is the first one I've built that looks like it can reach the finish line.
