Hi all, I have now ditched the idea of a Sandstorm team (too many decisions), and so I decided to make a Standard team one day, and I've testedffd them on Smogon. Of all the teams that I've used, this team seemed to be the most successful. Well, here goes:
Overview:
Updates are listed in a red font
Pokemon In-Depth
Role: Lead
Item: Leftovers
Nature: Impish
Ability: Serene Grace
EV's: 240 HP, 160 Def, 76 Sp.Def, 32 Spe
Moves:
Well, this is my lead. The tactic here is to cripple some leads with a Body Slam for a 60% chance paralysis, and then either set up rocks or Iron Head the opponent to death due to paraflinching. Fire Punch is there for the steel-types that resist Iron Head and Body Slam. Pretty straight-forward: cripple the lead, set up rocks, flinch, flinch, flinch...
Role: Staller/SubPasser
Item: Leftovers
Nature: Timid
Ability: Natural Cure
EV's: 252 HP, 80 Sp.Atk, 176 Spe
Moves:
This set is used to take care of some Pokemon whose attacks are not so effective against Celebi. This set is also effective against walls because it has Substitute to absorb status and Leech Seed to sap their hitpoints while gaining back lost hitpoints at the same time. Psychic is there for a STAB move, but it can be replaced with Energy Ball for better coverage. I prefer not to use Grass Knot because of its inconsistent base power and Leaf Storm is out of the question due to the lowering of the Sp.Atk stat and the possibility of Baton Passing it. Baton Pass is not only there to simply pass Subs; it is a very good counter against Pursuit-users (especially when sub is up) so that I can either Sub pass or dry pass (both ways escape the dread of a double-powered Pursuit) to Lucario, who has a quadruple resistance to Dark and can set up afterwards.
Role: Revenge Killer
Item: Choice Scarf
Nature: Naive
Ability: Flash Fire
EV's: 252 Spe, 252 Sp.Atk, 4 Atk
Moves:
The beautiful thing about this Heatran is that the opponent can't determine if this is a pure special attacking set or a mixed set just by looking at it. Thus, this could actually prompt a switch-in for Blissey in which you can explode on it. Of course, I don't intend to use Explosion as soon as this thing comes out, because by switching in onto something that hates Heatran, it can cause switch-outs, giving me scouting opportunities. Yeah, pretty self-explanatory; switch-in, scare something, and when you think you got the opponent in a check-mate position, sweep. Oh, and this thing switches in nicely to bug attacks aimed towards Celebi.
Role: Revenge Killer/Surprise Attack
Item: Choice Scarf
Nature: Timid
Ability: Levitate
EV's: 252 Spe, 252 Sp.Atk, 4 HP
Moves:
The thing about Gengars these days is that a Scarfed variant is uncommon (at least from my experiences). Anyways, this thing can cause some kills if you predict a setup from a Pokemon that this set could OHKO. For example, I managed to kill a Gyarados attempting to set up with Dragon Dance with a Scarfed T-Bolt. Anyways, this can also kill other fast non-Scarfed Pokemon such as Azelf, DD'd Tyranitar (the Sandstorm bonus can be an obstacle though), non-Scarfed Gengars, etc. Yeah, plays similarly to Heatran, but with a touch of surprise to it. This thing is another good switch-in to incoming bug attacks intended towards Celebi.
Role: Physical Sweeper
Item: Life Orb
Nature: Adamant
Ability: Inner Focus
EV's: 252 Spe, 252 Atk, 4 Def
Moves:
This beast has three quadruple resistances (bug, rock, dark) and several other normal resistances (on a minor note, a complete immunity to poison). Anyways, this thing switches in onto something that it can scare (possibly Blissey), set up Swords Dance, and sweep with ExtremeSpeed. Close Combat is to deal with rocks and steels that resist ExtremeSpeed, and Crunch is for ghosts who resist ExtremeSpeed and Close Combat. This thing is especially deadly if you manage to SubPass from Celebi on an incoming Bug/Dark attack intended towards the passer, both of which would most likely not break the sub (watch out for fire attacks though). Anyways, also self-explanatory.
Role: Wish Support/Staller
Item: Leftovers
Nature: Bold
Ability: Water Absorb
EV's: 188 HP, 252 Def, 68 Spe
Moves:
This puppy provides a nice switch-in on incoming water attacks (most likely directed to Heatran), and serves as a great wall too. Basically, you can use Protect to scout out enemy attacks, or Wish/Protect to gain lost health back. Surf is there to launch a water attack of your own, and Toxic is there to deal with walls and other bulky fellows.
Threats List
Overview:
Updates are listed in a red font
Pokemon In-Depth
Role: Lead
Item: Leftovers
Nature: Impish
Ability: Serene Grace
EV's: 240 HP, 160 Def, 76 Sp.Def, 32 Spe
Moves:
- Iron Head
- Body Slam
- Fire Punch
- Stealth Rock
Well, this is my lead. The tactic here is to cripple some leads with a Body Slam for a 60% chance paralysis, and then either set up rocks or Iron Head the opponent to death due to paraflinching. Fire Punch is there for the steel-types that resist Iron Head and Body Slam. Pretty straight-forward: cripple the lead, set up rocks, flinch, flinch, flinch...
Role: Staller/SubPasser
Item: Leftovers
Nature: Timid
Ability: Natural Cure
EV's: 252 HP, 80 Sp.Atk, 176 Spe
Moves:
- Psychic
- Leech Seed
- Substitute
- Baton Pass
This set is used to take care of some Pokemon whose attacks are not so effective against Celebi. This set is also effective against walls because it has Substitute to absorb status and Leech Seed to sap their hitpoints while gaining back lost hitpoints at the same time. Psychic is there for a STAB move, but it can be replaced with Energy Ball for better coverage. I prefer not to use Grass Knot because of its inconsistent base power and Leaf Storm is out of the question due to the lowering of the Sp.Atk stat and the possibility of Baton Passing it. Baton Pass is not only there to simply pass Subs; it is a very good counter against Pursuit-users (especially when sub is up) so that I can either Sub pass or dry pass (both ways escape the dread of a double-powered Pursuit) to Lucario, who has a quadruple resistance to Dark and can set up afterwards.
Role: Revenge Killer
Item: Choice Scarf
Nature: Naive
Ability: Flash Fire
EV's: 252 Spe, 252 Sp.Atk, 4 Atk
Moves:
- Flamethrower
- Earth Power
- Hidden Power Ice
- Explosion
The beautiful thing about this Heatran is that the opponent can't determine if this is a pure special attacking set or a mixed set just by looking at it. Thus, this could actually prompt a switch-in for Blissey in which you can explode on it. Of course, I don't intend to use Explosion as soon as this thing comes out, because by switching in onto something that hates Heatran, it can cause switch-outs, giving me scouting opportunities. Yeah, pretty self-explanatory; switch-in, scare something, and when you think you got the opponent in a check-mate position, sweep. Oh, and this thing switches in nicely to bug attacks aimed towards Celebi.
Role: Revenge Killer/Surprise Attack
Item: Choice Scarf
Nature: Timid
Ability: Levitate
EV's: 252 Spe, 252 Sp.Atk, 4 HP
Moves:
- Shadow Ball
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power Fire
- Focus Blast
The thing about Gengars these days is that a Scarfed variant is uncommon (at least from my experiences). Anyways, this thing can cause some kills if you predict a setup from a Pokemon that this set could OHKO. For example, I managed to kill a Gyarados attempting to set up with Dragon Dance with a Scarfed T-Bolt. Anyways, this can also kill other fast non-Scarfed Pokemon such as Azelf, DD'd Tyranitar (the Sandstorm bonus can be an obstacle though), non-Scarfed Gengars, etc. Yeah, plays similarly to Heatran, but with a touch of surprise to it. This thing is another good switch-in to incoming bug attacks intended towards Celebi.
Role: Physical Sweeper
Item: Life Orb
Nature: Adamant
Ability: Inner Focus
EV's: 252 Spe, 252 Atk, 4 Def
Moves:
- Swords Dance
- ExtremeSpeed
- Crunch
- Close Combat
This beast has three quadruple resistances (bug, rock, dark) and several other normal resistances (on a minor note, a complete immunity to poison). Anyways, this thing switches in onto something that it can scare (possibly Blissey), set up Swords Dance, and sweep with ExtremeSpeed. Close Combat is to deal with rocks and steels that resist ExtremeSpeed, and Crunch is for ghosts who resist ExtremeSpeed and Close Combat. This thing is especially deadly if you manage to SubPass from Celebi on an incoming Bug/Dark attack intended towards the passer, both of which would most likely not break the sub (watch out for fire attacks though). Anyways, also self-explanatory.
Role: Wish Support/Staller
Item: Leftovers
Nature: Bold
Ability: Water Absorb
EV's: 188 HP, 252 Def, 68 Spe
Moves:
- Surf
- Wish
- Protect
- Toxic
This puppy provides a nice switch-in on incoming water attacks (most likely directed to Heatran), and serves as a great wall too. Basically, you can use Protect to scout out enemy attacks, or Wish/Protect to gain lost health back. Surf is there to launch a water attack of your own, and Toxic is there to deal with walls and other bulky fellows.
Threats List
- I can't really think of many threats, but off the top of my head, I have thought of Tentacruel being a potential threat. It sets up Toxic Spikes (although only Celebi and Vaporeon are affected, they are played defensively, so Toxic rapes them), and I have no Earthquake users; I have Genger's T-Bolt and Heatran's Earth Power, but both will prove ineffective due to Tentacruel's excellent special defence. It is also immune to Vaporeon's Toxic, resists Jirachi's Iron Head, and the possibility of Liquid Ooze on Tentacruel makes me think twice about using Leech Seed. I think using Trick on it is the best way to go at the moment, but I was thinking of replacing Heatran with a Choice Banded Dugtrio to kill it off without having to worry about it retreating and to give me a physical revenge killer.
- Not sure if this is a big threat, but Bronzong can be quite the pain as well. Heatran could take care of Bronzong, but is not to be taken lightly; Bronzong can carry an Earthquake up its sleeve to kill Heatran. I have Jirachi that can Trick it or Celebi stalling it out with Leech Seed. Vaporeon spamming Surf and Wish could help too, and Protect on a predicted Explosion.
