Hello all, I am Vareki. I've lurked here for years, but done very little on the site beyond that. However, I'd like to change that and start being more active. Regardless, on with the RMT
Heatran: This...thing is one of the most powerful weapons against this team, since it's typing and bulk give me a lot of trouble. Immunity to Flamethrower make it a great counter to Genesect, who can only run from the confrontation. Its use of Balloon makes it incredibly difficult to kill, but with some switching between Genesect, Latias and Tyranitar, it is possible to nail it with an Earthquake. It is entirely possible for me to beat it with Rotom-W as well. It's immunity to Toxic and Will-O-Wisp doesn't help me much either
Chandelure: It doesn't threaten the team as a whole, but it has the ability to remove one piece of my team with ease. If that piece is Genesect, I lose a powerful offensive force, and if it's Ferroseed, a Defensive Pivot. In some cases, it can even dispatch Latias or Gligar. Generally, Tyranitar can take anything Chandelure throws at it, and KO with Pursuit (even if it stays in)
Ninetales: With STAB Flamethrower/Fire Blast and Solarbeam, Ninetales can threaten all of my defensive walls, and only Tyranitar can safely switch in to kill it. It can't be threatened with Pursuit, however, till it is on low health, so it can run from the confrontation to fight another day. Latias beats it handily if she was already in, or they both entered on a double switch, but she doesn't relish switching into Fire Blast, even resisted.
Gengar: Depending on what set this elderitch ghost is running, it can range from easy, but costly, to difficult and even costlier. Behind a Sub, it will certainly take out something, but if its trapped in the Open, Tyranitar can destroy it. Focus Blast is an ongoing risk, but without LO or SR, it never OHKOs (still risky, depending on how hard Tyranitar takes the switch in, and it fodders Tyranitar) Latias can deal with it, and Ferroseed hardly fears it at all, and can cripple it with Thunder Wave or Leech Seed.
Conkledurr: Gligar walls this clown to hell and back. Even with Guts boosted Drain Punches, Gligar beats it handily. Still, its Mach Punch is a powerful threat to Genesect and Tyranitar, and Rotom-W doesn't have the physical bulk to face it and win. Ferroseed can take a hit and Seed it, but it can't win 1-on-1. Latias doesn't like its Payback, but can beat it when its on half health or less.
Breloom: This guy is only a threat when he's behind a sub. Other wise, I can sacrifice someone to Spore, and then KO it with either Genesect or Latias or Toxic/Earthquake it to death with Gligar.
Excadrill: Once its balloon is gone, its cake to destroy it with Gligar. But without any priority move, that balloon is a pain to break in the Sand. If it SDs when I try to break, I win against it. Even with Gligar gone, Ferroseed can take a neutral EQ, Leech Seed and run to Latias or Rotom-W.
Landorus: Ice Beam from Genesect handles this Genie admirably, and Gligar beats it with Toxic. Rotom-W has a chance of ending it with Hydro Pump, but it risks death if I mispredict into a Rock Slide rather than Earthquake on the switch. It still threatens Tyranitar massively, however.
Terrakion: Gligar again, I'm afraid. It can take Rock Slides and CCs with ease and deal massive damage back with Earthquake.
Hydrogien: If its Choice Locked into Draco Meteor, Surf or Dark Pulse, Ferroseed can cripple it with Thunder Wave, Stall it with Leech Seed and Hit hard with Gyro Ball. LO or Leftovers Variants can be fought with Tyranitar, And Latias outspeeds if its not scarfed.
Infernape: Mach Punch, Close Combat and Flare Blitz all Hit stupidly hard with Life Orb, the most common item for it to run. Gligar can check it, and watch as it dies to recoil, but it can't attack back lest he be Killed next turn (Dem Roosts). Hydro Pump is an OHKO, but Close Combat does massive damage. Good thing people are so used to Rotom-W being part ghost.
Blaziken: Not as immediately threatening as Infernape, so Gligar can still EQ it to death. But, after a few boosts, it becomes much more difficult to handle. Baton Pass sets are even more dangerous, because the thing that comes in on +2 Speed and +2 Attack could be anything...
Whimiscott: I hardly ever see this outside of the lead slot, so the plan for dealing with it is to simply U-Turn out. Stun Spore Cripples Genesect, but generally the play is Leech Seed (why, I don't know, I'm not a Whimiscott player), so Its a free KO
Reuniculus: The Psychic Teddy bear, and in fact all users of Magic Guard, give me an amazing amount of trouble in removing them. Since my main method of dealing damage is the stacking damage of the Hazards and Sand helping me weaken opposing pokemon for my Attackers, This guys abililty to come in Safely is ruinous. Tyranitar can fake Crunch to scare it off (Pursuit doesn't come close to a KO unless it runs), and Genesect can nail it with U-Turn, but Recover gives it the survivability to keep on going.
Garchomp: Beating 'chomp is criminally easy for me to do. Switching in Ferroseed on the Outrage, Leech Seeding on the second turn and Spiking on the Third drops Garchomp down 60%, on top of any prior hazards or damage. Even if it chooses to attempt a KO with Earthquake, Ferroseed will almost certainly survive, lay nother layer of spikes and drain more HP with Leech Seed. And, if it stays in, it has to risk Confusion.
Volcarona: Without question, this is the biggest threat to my team. If Stealth Rocks aren't up before it comes in, I have no chance of OHKO it. If it Butterfly Dances and the pokemon thats in cannot immediately threaten it, I lose. If it runs Timid, and not Modest, I can't even touch it, because it outspeeds my whole team. If its Modest, I can at least Revenge it with Genesect's Explosion.
Serperior: Ferroseed can take a Leaf Storm and paralyze with Thunder Wave. With its speed destroyed, it can no longer threaten the rest of the team. Genesect can also outspeed and KO with U-Turn or Flamethrower/Ice Beam depending on what Download boost it got.
Venusaur: In the Sun, its very hard to beat Venusaur, since +2 in both Attack Stats and chlorophyll make it near impossible to take down. Outside of the sun, it becomes much less threatening, with Genesect outspeeding and KOing with its move of choice, and Latias outspeeding and setting up against its less powerful grass type moves with CM
Chansey: Sharing my Evolite Shenanigans, Chansey become unreasonably difficult to kill. Without Superpower on Tyranitar, I cannot guarantee a O/2HKO, so it really relies on me being able to nail it on the switch, with a reasonable amount of hazards up, and then outspeed. Or, to save it till last and batter it down with Toxic and Leech Seed.
Starmie: The Fastest Rapid Spinner not named Excadrill, Starmie only gives me trouble by removing my hazards. I don't really worry about Starmie itself, since I can outspeed and KO with Genesect, Trap and KO with Tyranitar, Resist and KO with Rotom, Tank hits with Ferroseed...Only Latias without any CMs and Gligar really fear it.
Dragonite: SR breaks Multiscale, and both Latias and Genesect outspeed and KO with Dragon Pulse and Ice Beam, respectively. With Multiscale intact, its a different story. My best option is to Toxic him, wait for him to get into Roosting range, before switching to Genesect to Ice Beam him. With the Toxic Damage, its a sure OHKO. Alternatively, I could just keep using Gligar to Toxic Stall him.
Rain Dance: On Smogon this isn't that much of an issue, since Drizzle and Swift Swim are banned on the same team. But, I also play on PO (since there is usually more people there). The problem with Rain is that they outspeed everything, and hit hard. Tyranitar can't keep the Sand up safely while switching into Water Attack after Water Attack. Gligar can't tank anything, since practicaly any water attack is O/2HKO in rain. The best strategy for me is to use my Defense core of Latias, Rotom-W and Ferroseed to beat through them, relying on Latias SubCM to take out as much as possible (Tyranitar needs to be protected till Politoed is dead, since I need rain to be down to win)
Voltlos: This is the hardest Prankster user for me to face, since it can taunt my Walls (making Gligar useless against it, and Ferroseed almost the same) and Thunder Wave Genesect and Latias, crippling them. I don't fear its attacks, but its support options are crippling.
MAMOSWIN: With STAB and a Choice Band, Ice Shard and Earthquake both pose serious threats to my team. Genesect can KO with a +Sp.Atk download and flamethrower, but everything else is threatened immensely by this guy.
Have I forgotten any relevant threats?
The idea for this team was a simple one: Could Ferroseed and Gligar, equipped with Evolites, be just as good as their bigger brothers? What's stopping them?
So, I set to work on testing out this question. Gligar and Ferroseed were the obvious starting points
Both of these pokemon have very viable defenses with the Evolite/Evolution Stone, but they are both very much Physical walls. Their Special defenses are by no means horrible, but they shine better as Physical Tanks. However, they both gain a 1.5 boost to their weaker defensive stat in Sand, making up for the difference admirably. I passed over Hippowdon, since it would add little to the team besides sand, and I was wary of making the team too defensive (A trap I've fallen pray to before)
Tyranitar brought some much needed offense to the team, but it was plain to see that I was focusing on the physical aspect of the game. I needed a dedicated special wall, and a Special Attacker. To start with, I considered Jellicent, but I passed over it for the same reason as Hippowdon; Not enough benefits, too little power. Instead I choose to use a Semi-Bulky Latias
At this point I decided the weakness to common water type attackers such as Starmie or Kerudio needed to be shored up. With Ice Beam and Surf, any Bulky Water could hit SE on 3/4 of my team, something that wasn't going to be okay. My way of dealing with this was to introduce Rotom-W, to both take those attacks and threaten back with its powerful Dual STABs
Finally, I needed a Lead Pokemon. With Gligar and Ferroseed taking care of Hazards, I didn't need a set up lead. After looking at some taunters, I decided to go with the lead that, in my experience, had the most utility throughout the game: Genesect. Besides, I didn't want to play Wifi anyway
The Team:
Genesect @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Download
EVs: 80 Atk / 176 SAtk / 252 Spd
Naive Nature (+Spd, -SDef)
- U-turn
- Flamethrower
- Ice Beam
- Thunderbolt/Explosion
EVs: 80 Atk / 176 SAtk / 252 Spd
Naive Nature (+Spd, -SDef)
- U-turn
- Flamethrower
- Ice Beam
- Thunderbolt/Explosion
Genesect is a Brutal Anti-Lead, and a vicious Late Game revenger. His U-Turn is the move of choice, allowing me to scout switches, as well as beating his two biggest switch ins, Heatran and Chandelure, by ruining their attempts of defeating him. It also allows for Safe damage and adds more and more momentum.
Flamethrower and Ice Beam give the best coverage here, and let Genesect defeat common threats and walls, most notably Ferroseed, Scizor and Garchomp. Thunderbolt is also occasionally used for BoltBeam coverage, as well as hitting Genesect's counters for Neutral Damage.
I also have to give some recognition to [Zangoose]/Contest Master Majin for the idea of Explosion on Genesect. It hits pretty hard with a Download Boost behind it
Ferroseed (M) @ Eviolite
Trait: Iron Barbs
EVs: 236 HP / 248 Def / 24 SDef
Relaxed Nature (+Def, -Spd)
- Spikes
- Leech Seed
- Thunder Wave
- Gyro Ball
Trait: Iron Barbs
EVs: 236 HP / 248 Def / 24 SDef
Relaxed Nature (+Def, -Spd)
- Spikes
- Leech Seed
- Thunder Wave
- Gyro Ball
This little critter is quite a difficult pokemon to beat head on. It has better Defenses than Ferrothorn, but lower HP (something that, ironically, makes Leech Seed better) and Atk. Its magnificent typing makes it a defensive pivot on the team, and Leech Seed along with Iron Barbs allow it to inflict enough passive damage to deal with certain attackers (Notably, Garchomp)
Being able to switch in on bulky waters, and even threatening physical attackers, gives Ferroseed plenty of opportunities to lay down Spikes. Thunder Wave can, and often has, be used to cripple opposing sweepers, and put the wrath of the RNG on opposing set up pokemon.
Ferroseed is the member of the team that I will most readily sacrifice; He dies so that the team may live, often destroying the pokemon he was facing at the time, and making life harder for my opponent with his passing
Rotom-W @ Leftovers
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 168 SDef / 88 Spd
Calm Nature (+SDef, -Atk)
- Hydro Pump
- Discharge
- Will-O-Wisp
- Pain Split
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 168 SDef / 88 Spd
Calm Nature (+SDef, -Atk)
- Hydro Pump
- Discharge
- Will-O-Wisp
- Pain Split
This once-ghostly washing machine functions as a powerful team player, being able to take the plethora of Fire type moves aim at Genesect and Ferroseed with Impunity.
Dual STABs is all that Rotom really needs offensively, since the few things that beat them (Off the top of my head, Gastrodon and Lanturn) are dealt with by the rest of the team. Hydro Pump is the weapon of choice, since a 180 BP move hurts anything in the way, with Discharge for reliable damage, and the added chance for Paralysis.
Will-O-Wisp gives the team even more benefits on the Physical Side of things, along with extra passive damage (I like passive damage) it provides. Pain Split is a great way to keep Rotom healthy, and can be a neat way of slowing down Chansey/Blissey.
Gligar (M) @ Eviolite
Trait: Sand Veil
EVs: 236 HP / 216 Def / 56 SDef
Impish Nature (+Def, -SAtk)
- Stealth Rock
- Roost
- Toxic
- Earthquake
Trait: Sand Veil
EVs: 236 HP / 216 Def / 56 SDef
Impish Nature (+Def, -SAtk)
- Stealth Rock
- Roost
- Toxic
- Earthquake
Gligar is, without a doubt, the star of the Team. His Defenses are boosted to massive levels, to the point where he can comfortably beat teams by himself (on occasion). His Tremendous Physical Bulk combined with Roost and Toxic let him outstall practically any Physical Attacker, and his Earthquake is not that much weaker than his Evolution.
Gligar's lack of Poison Heal is well made up for by Roost and Stealth Rocks, in my personal oppinion, and the far superior defenses the Evolite grants allows it to act as a much better tank.
Individually, he is an excellent check some of the biggest offensive threats of this gen, such as Blaziken, Excadrill (At least after the ballon is popped), Heatran (same as Excadrill) Garchomp, Haxorus, Terrakion, Infernape and Conkledurr and even putting up a good fight against Rain Sweepers, with a combination of Roost, Earthquake and Toxic.
Irregardless of all that however, Gligar is just a solid defensive pokemon that can take hits on both sides of the spectrum with ease, heal the damage off and continue to put up a good fight
Latias (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 192 HP / 64 SDef / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Calm Mind
- Recover
- Dragon Pulse
- Substitute
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 192 HP / 64 SDef / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Calm Mind
- Recover
- Dragon Pulse
- Substitute
Latias may be a less immediately powerful attacker than her brother, but boy oh boy can she take Special Hits. SubCM along with Recover gives her more special bulk, and eventual offensive power than the rest of the team combined. It is criminally easy to set up against pokemon that my opponent thinks would beat Latias. Status users almost always stay in to try and cripple her, giving at least one Calm Mind or Recover on the Switch.
Her resistances are key in the running of this team, and her special bulk gives her numerous oppurtunities to set up and sweep from behind a sub. She is often the pokemon that brings victory for this Team, and can break down even most steels (ParaJirachi is a 2HKO at +4 with two Layers of spikes...which doesn't sound that impressive, actually, but the ease at which I can achieve that makes it notable).
Her Physical Bulk is not easily dismissed either. With the investment in HP, She can switch in on resisted physical moves and avoid the 2HKO in most cases, giving her the oppurtunity to start boosting or firing off dragon pulses.
If Gligar is the Star, Latias is the Sun that Eclipses it.
Tyranitar (M) @ Choice Band
Trait: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 HP / 36 Atk / 220 SDef
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Pursuit
- Fire Punch
- Stone Edge
- Earthquake
Trait: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 HP / 36 Atk / 220 SDef
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Pursuit
- Fire Punch
- Stone Edge
- Earthquake
I've never really used Tyranitar in the past, and unfortunatly that means I'm fairly amateurish in the application of it. But, regardless of that, Tyranitar has remained a constant Metagame threat for a reason, and it has earned its place on this team time and time again.
Pursuit is the main attack on this set, allowing me to deal with some otherwise incredibly annoying pokemon, such as Espeon and Xatu (who's new ability to bounce back hazards and status would cripple Gligar and Ferroseed otherwise), Chandelure and Gengar (The given EVs allow it to survive a Focus Blast from Full HP). The Checkmate Situation is just as relevant now as it was last format. They just don't know that staying in is generally safe, if they're bulky enough.
That Special Bulk also Allows Tyranitar to take on Heatran (who has the potential to be a massive threat to my team) OHKOing it with Earthquake. Stone Edge gives a Powerful STAB move, and Finally Fire Punch gives me outs against Scizor, Forretress and Ferrothorn
The Permanent Sandstorm is also a boon, since it doesn't hurt anyone on my team badly (Latias and Rotom-W both have recovery options outside their Leftovers), and racks up more and more damage on my Opponents team. With Spikes, Stealth Rock, Toxic, Burn and Leech Seed coming from every direction, along with 6% each turn for Sand, Passive Damage is a very real threat.
However, Choice Band really limits what Tyranitar can do for me, and I'm considering replacing it to give me more options. Perhaps Expert Belt.
Have I forgotten any relevant threats?
All comments and rates are appreciated
