I checked back six pages and didn't see my first team thread, so I figured it has been long enough for me to post a new RMT. If it hasn't I apologize and moderators may take care of this as necessary.
So after my last RMT got a grand total of zero replies for what I assume for being too standard, I decided that I would build another team with a couple less common Pokemon and see how it does. I watched the Battling 101 Smogcast on Teambuilding and decided to give a FWG Core team a shot, since that's what the casters suggested to do, and see how I did. I've come a long way and have a team that has had some relative success.
Team Building Process:
I started off the team with a water type which I enjoy using, Choice Band Azumarill. The Fairy/Water typing is very good and I like the coverage that it offers. It became the "W" of the FWG core.
With weaknesses to Poison, Grass, and Electric, I found one Pokemon that covered all three of those weaknesses and also fulfilled the requirement of being a little less standard than the Pokemon you regularly see. With that said, Camperupt fulfilled the "F" portion of my FWG core.
And finally the "G" of the FWG core. I picked Roserade because of it's special attacking capabilities and based on the fact I never used one and always wanted to try. I believe my only weakness between these three based on single types is Psychic, which was where the next step came in.
So after meticulously making the original FWG core, I was ready to battle so I kind of started throwing crap at a wall hoping that it would work out for me. I threw in Bisharp for a Psychic counter, Espeon for Hazards and Dual Screen Support, and Sylveon as a Cleric (which looking back makes absolutely zero sense). I started battling and realized that either this wasn't a good combination or team members or I wasn't using these Pokemon to their potential. It also became apparent that Camerupt just wasn't good enough to be in viable in OU, at least not in the role I was trying to use it in.
Back to the drawing board, I decided to get rid of Sylveon and Camerupt completely, where I had an idea to add a new fire type to the team and replace another member that was already on the team, as well as add a fifth member that would work well with the new fire type and aid in hazard removal as well.
Houndoom is my favorite Pokemon, and a Nasty Plot special attacker with Flash Fire was something I always wanted to try. Then, I decided that I would add another fire weak team member, who could also spin away hazards and do some decent damage on it's own. Enter Excadrill.
The final addition to the second version of this team was after a battle I had online with a Twitch streamer. I brought Machamp to test it out and it OHKOed one of my opponents entire teams in the multi-battle that I was in. So, I wanted to try out the same set that I have there here on Showdown, so I added it. This iteration of the team was slightly more successful, but pretty weak to flying and the ever present threat of Talonflame. Espeon wasn't really carrying it's weight and I didn't really like the setup time for the dual screens much as it seemed like I had difficulty setting them up before Espeon went down (later found out this was because I forgot to add EVs, but still wanted to do something new).
For the heck of it, I decided to try out Lanturn to be my Talonflame/other flying type counter. I really liked it on my RU team last gen and thought it might be useful here. After a few successful battles, this is the team I'm currently at.
Individual Rundowns
Azumarill @ Choice Band
Ability: Huge Power
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 HP / 4 SDef
Adamant Nature
- Waterfall
- Play Rough
- Superpower
- Aqua Jet
Pretty basic Azumarill set, Waterfall and Play Rough for STAB as Play Rough tears anything that doesn't resist it a new one. Superpower is for the predicted Steel switch in and Aqua Jet is to get a quick revenge kill if I need it or to take out frail sweepers. Not sure what else I could do with this besides maybe put in Ice/Fire/Thunder Punch or change up the EV Spread to outspeed something (not sure on either of those though). I ran Fire Punch before but found Superpower is better.
Roserade @ Life Orb
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 SAtk / 4 HP
Timid Nature
- Leaf Storm
- Synthesis
- Sludge Bomb
- Sleep Powder
As I stated before, I always wanted to run a Roserade and I was really pleased with the results. Leaf Storm hits lots of things really hard and Sludge Bomb is nice secondary STAB especially for the common switch in of Togekiss or other things that resist Grass. Synthesis is there for recover to Life Orb recoil although I haven't gotten a chance to use it much and Sleep Powder is there to cripple a threat like Dragonite. Also helps with Houndoom and it's Flash Fire ability.
Houndoom @ Life Orb
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 SAtk / 4 HP
Timid Nature
- Fire Blast
- Dark Pulse
- Nasty Plot
- Sludge Bomb
I was honestly expecting to swap this right back out, but have been pleasantly surprised at how hard this thing can hit. I'm thinking of swapping out Sludge Bomb for HP Grass for water coverage after I get a boost, but I'm not sure how much difference that would make. I originally had this as Mega Houndoom until I realize I like the ability Flash Fire too much in order to mega evolve.
Excadrill (F) @ Air Balloon
Ability: Mold Breaker
EVs: 252 Atk / 136 HP / 120 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Earthquake
- Rapid Spin
- Iron Head
- Rock Slide
Excadrill is my trusty Rotom(W) counter. Might change to Jolly Swords Dance Set (replace Rock Slide) to better counter the washing machine, but overall I like what I'm doing. The added utility of a ground immunity if I predict correctly is also nice. It also helps Houndoom in that it can be a target for Fire attacks that activate Houndoom's Flash Fire.
Machamp @ Assault Vest
Ability: No Guard
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 HP / 4 SDef
Adamant Nature
- Dynamic Punch
- Stone Edge
- Thunder Punch
- Earthquake
Assault Vest Machamp is really good. The special defensive bulk allows it to take a few hits and dish out some massive damage with it's attacks. No Guard Dynamic Punch and Stone Edge are amazing and I've taken out several Charizard coming in on me after predicting the switch. Open to suggestions for the other slots, does Machamp get Knock Off? Right now rocking Thunder Punch for bulky waters that don't care about Dyanamic Punch like Jellicent and Tentacruel and to an extent Skarmory and Earthquake is just there because that's what I have in game. Please don't tell me to replace this with Conkeldurr, I like No Guard Dynamic Punches.
Lanturn @ Leftovers
Ability: Water Absorb
EVs: 252 HP / 96 SAtk / 160 SDef
Serious Nature
- Volt Switch
- Scald
- Thunder Wave
- Ice Beam
I was surprised at how effectively this thing can take on a Talonflame. Wish it got a more effective means of recovery, but having a solid switch in on such a huge threat is great. EV Spread was a random spread made by me and I actually like how it's faring. Might put more into physical defense to better take Brave Birds and Flare Blitzes. Volt Switch for momentum, Scald for the burn chance on physical attackers, T-Wave to slow down faster threats, and Ice Beam for coverage.
Conclusion:
This is my first REAL dive into team building and the Battling 101 Smogcast helped me out quite a bit with it. I like the team a lot, but I'm open to more suggestions to make it better. I'm hoping for at least one reply to make this more viewed than my previous RMT and seeing as it's not a completely standard team I think I could. I've got one replay that I'd like to share where I beat a team that I view as carrying pretty standard Mons in which I won.
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/ou-88918054
I think I played well aside from not switching to Lanturn on the obvious Hydro Pump to Houndoom.
Any help is appreciated. Thanks for looking.
So after my last RMT got a grand total of zero replies for what I assume for being too standard, I decided that I would build another team with a couple less common Pokemon and see how it does. I watched the Battling 101 Smogcast on Teambuilding and decided to give a FWG Core team a shot, since that's what the casters suggested to do, and see how I did. I've come a long way and have a team that has had some relative success.
Team Building Process:
I started off the team with a water type which I enjoy using, Choice Band Azumarill. The Fairy/Water typing is very good and I like the coverage that it offers. It became the "W" of the FWG core.
With weaknesses to Poison, Grass, and Electric, I found one Pokemon that covered all three of those weaknesses and also fulfilled the requirement of being a little less standard than the Pokemon you regularly see. With that said, Camperupt fulfilled the "F" portion of my FWG core.
And finally the "G" of the FWG core. I picked Roserade because of it's special attacking capabilities and based on the fact I never used one and always wanted to try. I believe my only weakness between these three based on single types is Psychic, which was where the next step came in.
So after meticulously making the original FWG core, I was ready to battle so I kind of started throwing crap at a wall hoping that it would work out for me. I threw in Bisharp for a Psychic counter, Espeon for Hazards and Dual Screen Support, and Sylveon as a Cleric (which looking back makes absolutely zero sense). I started battling and realized that either this wasn't a good combination or team members or I wasn't using these Pokemon to their potential. It also became apparent that Camerupt just wasn't good enough to be in viable in OU, at least not in the role I was trying to use it in.
Back to the drawing board, I decided to get rid of Sylveon and Camerupt completely, where I had an idea to add a new fire type to the team and replace another member that was already on the team, as well as add a fifth member that would work well with the new fire type and aid in hazard removal as well.
Houndoom is my favorite Pokemon, and a Nasty Plot special attacker with Flash Fire was something I always wanted to try. Then, I decided that I would add another fire weak team member, who could also spin away hazards and do some decent damage on it's own. Enter Excadrill.
The final addition to the second version of this team was after a battle I had online with a Twitch streamer. I brought Machamp to test it out and it OHKOed one of my opponents entire teams in the multi-battle that I was in. So, I wanted to try out the same set that I have there here on Showdown, so I added it. This iteration of the team was slightly more successful, but pretty weak to flying and the ever present threat of Talonflame. Espeon wasn't really carrying it's weight and I didn't really like the setup time for the dual screens much as it seemed like I had difficulty setting them up before Espeon went down (later found out this was because I forgot to add EVs, but still wanted to do something new).
For the heck of it, I decided to try out Lanturn to be my Talonflame/other flying type counter. I really liked it on my RU team last gen and thought it might be useful here. After a few successful battles, this is the team I'm currently at.
Individual Rundowns
Azumarill @ Choice Band
Ability: Huge Power
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 HP / 4 SDef
Adamant Nature
- Waterfall
- Play Rough
- Superpower
- Aqua Jet
Pretty basic Azumarill set, Waterfall and Play Rough for STAB as Play Rough tears anything that doesn't resist it a new one. Superpower is for the predicted Steel switch in and Aqua Jet is to get a quick revenge kill if I need it or to take out frail sweepers. Not sure what else I could do with this besides maybe put in Ice/Fire/Thunder Punch or change up the EV Spread to outspeed something (not sure on either of those though). I ran Fire Punch before but found Superpower is better.
Roserade @ Life Orb
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 SAtk / 4 HP
Timid Nature
- Leaf Storm
- Synthesis
- Sludge Bomb
- Sleep Powder
As I stated before, I always wanted to run a Roserade and I was really pleased with the results. Leaf Storm hits lots of things really hard and Sludge Bomb is nice secondary STAB especially for the common switch in of Togekiss or other things that resist Grass. Synthesis is there for recover to Life Orb recoil although I haven't gotten a chance to use it much and Sleep Powder is there to cripple a threat like Dragonite. Also helps with Houndoom and it's Flash Fire ability.
Houndoom @ Life Orb
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 SAtk / 4 HP
Timid Nature
- Fire Blast
- Dark Pulse
- Nasty Plot
- Sludge Bomb
I was honestly expecting to swap this right back out, but have been pleasantly surprised at how hard this thing can hit. I'm thinking of swapping out Sludge Bomb for HP Grass for water coverage after I get a boost, but I'm not sure how much difference that would make. I originally had this as Mega Houndoom until I realize I like the ability Flash Fire too much in order to mega evolve.
Excadrill (F) @ Air Balloon
Ability: Mold Breaker
EVs: 252 Atk / 136 HP / 120 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Earthquake
- Rapid Spin
- Iron Head
- Rock Slide
Excadrill is my trusty Rotom(W) counter. Might change to Jolly Swords Dance Set (replace Rock Slide) to better counter the washing machine, but overall I like what I'm doing. The added utility of a ground immunity if I predict correctly is also nice. It also helps Houndoom in that it can be a target for Fire attacks that activate Houndoom's Flash Fire.
Machamp @ Assault Vest
Ability: No Guard
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 HP / 4 SDef
Adamant Nature
- Dynamic Punch
- Stone Edge
- Thunder Punch
- Earthquake
Assault Vest Machamp is really good. The special defensive bulk allows it to take a few hits and dish out some massive damage with it's attacks. No Guard Dynamic Punch and Stone Edge are amazing and I've taken out several Charizard coming in on me after predicting the switch. Open to suggestions for the other slots, does Machamp get Knock Off? Right now rocking Thunder Punch for bulky waters that don't care about Dyanamic Punch like Jellicent and Tentacruel and to an extent Skarmory and Earthquake is just there because that's what I have in game. Please don't tell me to replace this with Conkeldurr, I like No Guard Dynamic Punches.
Lanturn @ Leftovers
Ability: Water Absorb
EVs: 252 HP / 96 SAtk / 160 SDef
Serious Nature
- Volt Switch
- Scald
- Thunder Wave
- Ice Beam
I was surprised at how effectively this thing can take on a Talonflame. Wish it got a more effective means of recovery, but having a solid switch in on such a huge threat is great. EV Spread was a random spread made by me and I actually like how it's faring. Might put more into physical defense to better take Brave Birds and Flare Blitzes. Volt Switch for momentum, Scald for the burn chance on physical attackers, T-Wave to slow down faster threats, and Ice Beam for coverage.
Conclusion:
This is my first REAL dive into team building and the Battling 101 Smogcast helped me out quite a bit with it. I like the team a lot, but I'm open to more suggestions to make it better. I'm hoping for at least one reply to make this more viewed than my previous RMT and seeing as it's not a completely standard team I think I could. I've got one replay that I'd like to share where I beat a team that I view as carrying pretty standard Mons in which I won.
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/ou-88918054
I think I played well aside from not switching to Lanturn on the obvious Hydro Pump to Houndoom.
Any help is appreciated. Thanks for looking.