Non-Smogon Tournament Team - RMT!!

[Alexavier]

RMT #1 - Take Two

Ok so I really messed this up last time and I apologise to anyone who wasted their time reading it. Here we go with the new thread!

Basically I built this team around my #2 Pkmn, Scrafty. I suppose the team could be called "Offensive Bulky" or something similar. Almost all serious playing I do is in tourneys in college and they use the item clause (and Species and OHKO Clauses but not Evasion Clause) so I need some help deciding what's best for each Pkmn.

At a glance:

As I said the basic idea for the team was to be a bit more "stallish" than all-out offensive without being 6 outright walls. A lot of the sets and EV spreads were based (ranging from loosely to tightly) on current Smogon analyses but if you feel anything needs changing let me know.

In detail:

Scrafty "Skwaftee" @Big Root(?)
Nature: Impish (+Def, -SpA)
Trait: Shed Skin
EV: 252 HP, 8 Att, 68 Def, 180 SpD
- Drain Punch
- Bulk Up
- Dragon Tail
- Crunch
SYNERGY:
Fighting: Gliscor, Espeon
Flying: Rotom

This guy was the inspiration for this team! Because I'm using SR in this team I wanted something to phaze to help rack up damage! STAB +1 Drain Punch seems good for recovery, though I'm not sure if the Big Root would help a lot. Shed Skin shrugs off status (alliteration!!). The EVs are meant to give it similar bulk on both sides of the spectrum (though I could be wrong here as I only did rough calcs on my phone's calculator).

Gliscor "Carlita" @Toxic Orb
Nature: Impish (+Def, - SpA)
Trait: Poison Heal
EV: 252 HP, 216 Def, 40 Spe
- Protect
- Earthquake
- Facade
- Taunt/Substitute
SYNERGY:
Water: Ferrothorn, Rotom
Ice: Rotom

I just had to put this guy on my team. I love him! The Trait is self explanatory, giving double Lefties recovery each turn. Basically I would send this in to sponge a Fighting type move aimed at Scrafty, activating the Toxic Orb at the end of that turn (sub on the switch if I use it over Taunt). Good typing and immunity to Spikes are really helpful. I think Sub could be more useful than Taunt but I'm not sure.

Ferrothorn "Prickles" @Leftovers
Nature: Sassy (+SpD, -Spe)
Trait: Iron Barbs
EV: 252 HP, 4 Def, 252 SpD
- Thunder Wave
- Stealth Rock
- Leech Seed
- Power Whip/Gyro Ball
SYNERGY:
Fire: Rotom, Gliscor (If physical), Togekiss (If special)
Fighting: Gliscor, Espeon

As I said I wanted some form of entry hazard on this team but taking three turns to fully set up spikes didn't appeal to me so SR was the obvious choice, also messing with fire types. T-Wave is for crippling sweepers due to the overall "average" speed of this team. I'm unsure about Power Whip and Gyro Ball; Gryo Ball is weaker with T-wave but does Power Whip give me much better coverage? Perhaps even the Rocky Helmet would work here? I'm also thinking about Shed Shell for HP Fire Magnezone.

Espeon @Light Clay - This thing is Japanese so I can't put in the nickname
Nature: Hasty (That's just what I got) (+Spe, -Def)
Trait: Magic Bounce
EV: 252 HP, 86 Def, 170 Spe
- Psyshock
- Reflect
- Light Screen/Baton Pass
- Calm Mind
SYNERGY:
Ghost: Togekiss, Scrafty, Ferrothorn
Dark: Scrafty, Ferrothorn,
Bug: Togekiss, Gliscor

The general idea here is to set up reflect to boost the other team members' Defense as most of them are more specially orientated, improving survivability across the board. Also Magic Guard is for reflecting opposing Thunder waves, Will-O-Wisps, Stealth Rocks, spikes etc to reduce setup time for the rest of my team, as well as potentially racking up more damage. It also prevents Espy form being Taunted, ensuring a Baton Pass. Another interesting note is that Baton Pass lets Espeon out without double damage from faster pursuit users (Due to the EVs and it's ~15 Spe IV this is *i think* anything with Base 100 or more, 252 Spe EVs and a boosting nature) which could be a big help.

Rotom-W "ROTOM" @Life Orb(?)
Nature: Rash (+SpA, -SpD)
Trait: Levitate
EV: 252 HP, 96 SpA, 120 SpD, 40 Spe
- Hydro Pump
- Thunderbolt
- Volt Switch/Shadow Ball
- Substitute
SYNERGY:
Grass: Togekiss, Ferrothorn

I initially had Milotic here but no set I came up with really "worked" with the team and I also wanted an electric type for a bit more coverage so that's where this guy came in. I've never really used one before so I'm unsure quite how to use it although Hydro Pump and T-Bolt seems fairly standard. After that I think Substitute could work due to the SpD EVs and the Reflect I would hope to have up before sending him out. I also thought of a Choice Scarf set with 4 attacking moves but I'm REALLY unsure about this.

Togekiss "Paul-E" @Shell Bell(?)
Nature: Calm (+SpD, -Att)
Trait: Serene Grace
EV: 252 HP, 24 Def, 232 SpD
- Thunder Wave
- Aura Sphere/Psychic
- Air Slash
- Roost
SYNERGY:
Electric: Gliscor
Ice: Rotom
Rock: Scrafty, Ferrothorn

This set is pretty much standard Parahax with a few EVs moved from Special Defense to Physical Defense to improve bulk on that side of the spectrum as many of the fighting types that switch in carry Smack Down, Rock Slide or Stone Edge. Roosting to remove the weakness to Rock moves also opens up a Fighting weakness, which isn't too worrying due to Gliscor's Defense stat and fighting resistance. I'm a bit unsure about Aura Sphere Vs Psychic although I'm leaning more toward Aura Sphere for both coverage and due to the fact that Evasion Clause is not a part of the tournaments I play in.



Final Thoughts:
So far I've had great success with Gliscor, Togekiss and a different Scrafty (different EVs but with the same moveset put on for proof of concept) but I've had limited use with them online due to moody (at best) wi-fi, however they seem to work well together when i do get on to random matchup. I'm hoping that Ferrothorn, Espeon and Rotom-W would be good additions to my team. According to the Marriland team builder I've pretty good synergy overall, although I do feel I'm heavily dependent on Rotom-w for resistances, so any decent replacements there would be appreciated! One (unlikely, but..) plausible problem I have here is if I Magic Bounce a set of Toxic Spikes back to the opponent and a Trace Porygon2 came in on Gliscor, gaining Poison Heal. As I said it's unlikely but it seems to be a potential threat.


Thanks for reading this so far and I hope you can help with my item choices! :)

 

[2sly4u]

This thread looks much better than your last one :)

While I like the Scrafy you're using, I don't like it for this team as it is right now. A phaser is much more effective if the team uses more than one entry hazard. Since you already have Magic Bounce Espeon, I'd think about changing Stealth Rock to Spikes. If you manage to bounce back SR and Ferrothorn gets down some Spikes, Scrafty's Dragon Tail is much more potent.

Your team can't deal with Thundurus at all if Ferrothorn has been weakened a bit. it can outspeed and OHKO everything with a +2 STAB Thunder/Focus Blast. I'd replace your Togekiss with a Starmie:

Starmie@Leftovers
Timid Nature, 252SpA/4SpD/252 Spe
Surf
Thunderbolt
Ice Beam
Psyshock/ Recover

Starmie gives you a counter to Thundurus, outspeeding and OHKOing with Ice Beam. Surf is STAB, while Thunderbolt and Ice Beam round out your near flawless coverage. The last moves depends on what you need. Psyshock lets you better handle walls such as Blissey, while Recover gives you some longevity. Rapid Spin is an option too, but seems redundant with Espeon.

I wouldn't worry about the Porygon-2 thing. Even if it does trace Poison Heal, you can force it out easily with Scrafty.

I hope that helps. Good luck!

 

[Alexavier]

Thanks! Although it's probably debatable whether or not the last could even be called a thread..

I completely understand you point about spikes, ESPECIALLY since i have a (relatively) IV bred Ferroseed without Stealth Rock! :) It's Impish though, would that be so detrimental?

Never thought of Thundurus, I'm not as used to Gen V as I'd like! I will definitely try that Starmie though and I reckon Recover would be better as I have Psychic coverage in Espeon. I suppose the extra Water type doesn't matter too much because of Gliscor's immunity to Electric moves and Ferrothorn's 4x resistance to Grass. One problem there though, Item Clause means I can't give Starmie Lefties unless I find another item for Ferrothorn. I'm thinking Rocky Helmet to stack with Iron Barbs and all the Entry Hazards to discourage the physical moves it has more trouble dealing with.

Thanks a million again :)

EDIT: Just checked the Marriland team builder to see if Starmie brought anything really bad to the table type-wise that I hadn't thought of; It didn't! It works very well synergy-wise :)

 

[2sly4u]

Oh yeah, forgot about Item clause. You could always run Expert Belt on Starmie, which lets you bluff a choice set. Lefties are much better for Ferrothorn.

 

[Alexavier]

Ok, I'll definitely try that. I've also thought of another slightly more obscure Pkmn that could replace Rotom-W but I'll playtest and update if necessary. Thanks again. :)