Hey ppl, this is my second team, a few pokemon remain the same, but the core has changed. Anyways, all abuse welcome (as long as constructive :P). Thanks.
Accelgor @ Focus Sash
Sticky Hold
252 HP / 252 Speed / 4 Def
Jolly Nature
Yawn
Spikes
Final Gambit
Protect
This guy's my lead. Starts with a yawn, then spikes, then yawns again until:
1. 3 layers of spikes laid - at which point he either final gambits (if he's getting nowhere or protects if it just seems necessary - can't really explain the situation, quite complicated).
2. Opposition pokemon is asleep - switches out at this point to bring in Scrafty
3. Opposition is faster - e.g. ninjask / deoxys / speed increase / he's paralyzed / whatever - switches out to the appropriate counter, or Mandibuzz if there have been a lot of stat changes by the foe.
Things that go wrong:
1. U-turn / volt switch users - I use yawn, they get me down to one health, I uses spikes, they use U-Turn, getting rid of the problem of drowziness, and basically getting a free 1 up. Common examples: Infernape / Thundurus / Tornadus / Landorus / Jolteon / Electrode / Rotom (all forms). When these pains come in, I straight away switch out Accelgor (accepting that he's far less useful in this game until the above pokemon is out of the picture), normally onto Duknoir, who then uses painsplit to fully heal himself.
2. Pokemon which automatically give them self a status problem - avoiding the yawn, the most common of these seemingly is Glliscor. These are probably the single most annoying pokemon I find, as tere are a fair few variants, many of which not using Toxic Orb. When something like this comes (another example: Sigilyph), I usually switch onto Scrafty to set up on Gliscor (one DD and then an ice punch never fails), Mandibuzz - to stall, or sometimes Haxorus to quickly remove them with his scarf.
3. Paralyzer leads - I use yawn, they use thunder wave. They then switch to a pokemon and take advantage of me - the most commonly used 'advantage taker' is politoed. I could solve this problem by running hydration over sticky hold, but that would then produce a different problem: trick users - most commonly giving me a choice item, rendering Accelgor fairly useless (apart from the odd yawn or spikes now and then).
4. Something gets it down to 1 health (focus sash), switches out to avoid the yawn, and then something else uses a priority move to finish it off. This can be avoided by prediction, but it's quite difficult.
5. Something is already asleep - only self-inducers are a threat though because when yawn is use and forces the foe pokemon to sleep, Scrafty comes in, sets up, then tries to sweep.
Scrafty @ Shell Bell
Moxie
252 Att / 252 Speed / 4 HP
Jolly Nature
Dragon Dance
Crunch
Hi-Jump Kick
Ice Punch
The usual dragon dance set. Tries to come in when:
1. opponent is asleep (from yawn)
2. about to become asleep (and scrafty would be able to endure the incoming move)
3. when the foe can easily be set up upon and cannot force a switch (hydreigon's taunt helps this too).
Aims for two DDs if possible (not lost once after 2 - admittedly there haven't been many phazers but still).
Crunch and HJK are there for nice STABbed type coverage (still debating over HJK and Drain Punch). Ice punch is primarily for gliscor and the dragons, but others suffer from it too. Problems occur when opponent anticipates HJK and switches to ghost / protect / whtever. I prefer shell bell over leftovers because he deals massive damage, even to bulky pokemon (if things go well that is), which gives him more HP.
Counters:
1. Mach punch on Conkeldurr and others - dusknoir comes in to take the hit, then uses the Will-O-Wisp / pain splits to just generally be a pain.
1. Scarved fast pokemon - hard to tell sometimes - finishes scrafty off before he can get in a juiced up Stab move or something like that to OHKO them. If they look like they would be sending in a suicidal pokemon to no gain for them, and being scarved is liekly, I usually switch out onto mandibuzz to toxic / whirlwind them - more stalling.
3. Prankster pokemon with thunder wave or bulky pokemon with thunderwave - a bit of a pain - was thinking of using a shed skin Scrafty as a result, but the attack increase seems to work better - was thinking of also replacing Mandibuzz with a staller / heal bell pokemon too, but Mandibuzz just fits in too nicely to do that. As a result, I usually switch out to Mandibuzz to phaze if prankster pokemon / Ferrothorn (although he's not a problem after two DDs) / dragonite (again not a problem after two DDs) - not come across any other effective paralyzers yet.
4. Phazers - anything which I know to be a possible phazer, which isn't bulky, I go for the suitable attacking move. bulky phazers, and I switch to Mandibuzz to stall as usual.
5. Toxic - just wears him down, fast. Not really aything can do to stop it except try and take as many pokemon down with him as possible :P
Hydreigon @ Life Orb
Levitate
252 Speed / 176 SpA / 80 Att
Mild Nature
Taunt
Crunch
Dragon Pulse
Flamethrower
Wall breaker set. Comes in when a support wall appears (normally against scrafty). Taunt breaks certain walls, which is especially useful as it encourages my Scrafty to switch in. Crunch and Dragon Pulse are there as they give STAB and combined with life orb bonus do fairly hefty damage. Flamethrower gives coverage against common walls: skarmory / ferrothorn / e.t.c. Prefer this build to any other because each individual move gives more power rather than better type coverage between them - seems more appropriate in this case.
Threats: Anything which is a wall or slow sweeper with low speed (main ones that aren't a threat: escavalier / reuniclus - the usual trick room beasts). There are so many threats, because Hydreigon is just plain flimsy. Normally I switch into Dusknoir if it's a physical / mixed attacker or Mandibuzz if its a special attacker (to soak up the damage as effectively as possible), then I start stalling, or if appropriate I attack (e.g. foe pokemon is weak to one of my attacks).
1. Conkeldurr - especially the bulk up set: Hydreigon is an easy set up opportunity for the bulk up. This set is most likely the second most annoying pokemon against my team (after gliscor) - because my offensive pokemon aren't particularly bulky, so the mach punch ruins them - especially as Hydreigon and Scrafty (two of the three offensive pokemon) are weak to fighting. Nomally I switch to Mandibuzz to phaze, but if he is down, there isn't much hope tbh, because Dusknoir is weak to the commonly used Payback, and the other pokemon can't take a beating. Accelgor can sometimes help (if he's still alive) by using yawn, as the mach punch shouldn't make him feint (bug is resistant to fighting), and he will outspeed anything else thrown at him without much trouble.
Haxorus @ Choice Scarf
Mold Breaker
252 Att / 252 Speed / 4 HP
Adamant Nature
Dragon Claw
Earthquake
Outrage
Brick Break
The usual Choice Scarf set. Comes in primarily when Scrafty is down, or there is a dragon roaming free on the opposite half of the battlefield. Dragon Claw is nice for general destruction as ofc dragon is the best-coverage offensive type by itself. I use outrage later in the game, or when there are a lack of steel types.
Dusknoir @ Leftovers
Pressure
252 HP / 228 Def/ 28 Att
Impish Nature
Pain Split
Will-O-Wisp
Earthquake
Fire Punch
The usual tank set. Works well with mandibuzz (surprisingly). Pain split is one of my favourites as it keeps him in there for a long time, healing on the opposition's switch to a healthy pokemon, and effectively deals with the high HP pokemon out there. Earthquake and Fire punch provide good coverage between them, and also deals with skarmory, a fairly effective wall against Scrafty. Pwns Ferrothorn aswell which can sometimes successfully wall against Scrafty. When a Conkeldurr comes in I usually switch into Dusknoir to avoid the mach punch. Other times, Dusknoir just comes in and relies on his bulk :P
Still considering running a 252 SpD instead of HP to make better use still of the Pain Split, but that results on worse resistances with Mandibuzz and less efficient walling of physical attackers.
Mandibuzz @ Leftovers
Overcoat
252 HP / 252 SpD / 4 Def
Careful Nature
Roost
Toxic
Brave Bird
Whirlwind
The usual Sp Wall - surprisingly good resistances (especially through EV distribution) with Dusknoir. Primarily used to phaze, but stalling is often useful too ofc - after Accelgor has used some spikes (if he has), and the switch to scafty wouldn't be appropriate, she comes in and whirlwinds / roosts / toxic - some nice stalling. Brave bird supplies a flying type move which isn't used anywhere else. Brave Bird + Roost combo is just good, while toxic gives that indirect damage option - coupled with Roost and it deals a lot of damage / forces switch.
Biggest threats:
Gliscor - explained above
Conkeldurr - explained above
Trick room teams - My offensive pokemon depend on their speed - similar problem to the conkeldurr threat, except not quite as bad - normally I send Mandibuzz in to roost up / stall or Accelgor to do some protecting until the trick room ends.
Well There's my team - many of these sets have been taken straight from the Smogon Threads, but I've played around with all of them, and mostly I end up back where I started (apart from Hydreigon - Accelgor just filled in the gap of the lead perfectly). Anyways, please go ahead and critisize!
Thanks.
Hedgy.
Accelgor @ Focus Sash
Sticky Hold
252 HP / 252 Speed / 4 Def
Jolly Nature
Yawn
Spikes
Final Gambit
Protect
This guy's my lead. Starts with a yawn, then spikes, then yawns again until:
1. 3 layers of spikes laid - at which point he either final gambits (if he's getting nowhere or protects if it just seems necessary - can't really explain the situation, quite complicated).
2. Opposition pokemon is asleep - switches out at this point to bring in Scrafty
3. Opposition is faster - e.g. ninjask / deoxys / speed increase / he's paralyzed / whatever - switches out to the appropriate counter, or Mandibuzz if there have been a lot of stat changes by the foe.
Things that go wrong:
1. U-turn / volt switch users - I use yawn, they get me down to one health, I uses spikes, they use U-Turn, getting rid of the problem of drowziness, and basically getting a free 1 up. Common examples: Infernape / Thundurus / Tornadus / Landorus / Jolteon / Electrode / Rotom (all forms). When these pains come in, I straight away switch out Accelgor (accepting that he's far less useful in this game until the above pokemon is out of the picture), normally onto Duknoir, who then uses painsplit to fully heal himself.
2. Pokemon which automatically give them self a status problem - avoiding the yawn, the most common of these seemingly is Glliscor. These are probably the single most annoying pokemon I find, as tere are a fair few variants, many of which not using Toxic Orb. When something like this comes (another example: Sigilyph), I usually switch onto Scrafty to set up on Gliscor (one DD and then an ice punch never fails), Mandibuzz - to stall, or sometimes Haxorus to quickly remove them with his scarf.
3. Paralyzer leads - I use yawn, they use thunder wave. They then switch to a pokemon and take advantage of me - the most commonly used 'advantage taker' is politoed. I could solve this problem by running hydration over sticky hold, but that would then produce a different problem: trick users - most commonly giving me a choice item, rendering Accelgor fairly useless (apart from the odd yawn or spikes now and then).
4. Something gets it down to 1 health (focus sash), switches out to avoid the yawn, and then something else uses a priority move to finish it off. This can be avoided by prediction, but it's quite difficult.
5. Something is already asleep - only self-inducers are a threat though because when yawn is use and forces the foe pokemon to sleep, Scrafty comes in, sets up, then tries to sweep.
Scrafty @ Shell Bell
Moxie
252 Att / 252 Speed / 4 HP
Jolly Nature
Dragon Dance
Crunch
Hi-Jump Kick
Ice Punch
The usual dragon dance set. Tries to come in when:
1. opponent is asleep (from yawn)
2. about to become asleep (and scrafty would be able to endure the incoming move)
3. when the foe can easily be set up upon and cannot force a switch (hydreigon's taunt helps this too).
Aims for two DDs if possible (not lost once after 2 - admittedly there haven't been many phazers but still).
Crunch and HJK are there for nice STABbed type coverage (still debating over HJK and Drain Punch). Ice punch is primarily for gliscor and the dragons, but others suffer from it too. Problems occur when opponent anticipates HJK and switches to ghost / protect / whtever. I prefer shell bell over leftovers because he deals massive damage, even to bulky pokemon (if things go well that is), which gives him more HP.
Counters:
1. Mach punch on Conkeldurr and others - dusknoir comes in to take the hit, then uses the Will-O-Wisp / pain splits to just generally be a pain.
1. Scarved fast pokemon - hard to tell sometimes - finishes scrafty off before he can get in a juiced up Stab move or something like that to OHKO them. If they look like they would be sending in a suicidal pokemon to no gain for them, and being scarved is liekly, I usually switch out onto mandibuzz to toxic / whirlwind them - more stalling.
3. Prankster pokemon with thunder wave or bulky pokemon with thunderwave - a bit of a pain - was thinking of using a shed skin Scrafty as a result, but the attack increase seems to work better - was thinking of also replacing Mandibuzz with a staller / heal bell pokemon too, but Mandibuzz just fits in too nicely to do that. As a result, I usually switch out to Mandibuzz to phaze if prankster pokemon / Ferrothorn (although he's not a problem after two DDs) / dragonite (again not a problem after two DDs) - not come across any other effective paralyzers yet.
4. Phazers - anything which I know to be a possible phazer, which isn't bulky, I go for the suitable attacking move. bulky phazers, and I switch to Mandibuzz to stall as usual.
5. Toxic - just wears him down, fast. Not really aything can do to stop it except try and take as many pokemon down with him as possible :P
Hydreigon @ Life Orb
Levitate
252 Speed / 176 SpA / 80 Att
Mild Nature
Taunt
Crunch
Dragon Pulse
Flamethrower
Wall breaker set. Comes in when a support wall appears (normally against scrafty). Taunt breaks certain walls, which is especially useful as it encourages my Scrafty to switch in. Crunch and Dragon Pulse are there as they give STAB and combined with life orb bonus do fairly hefty damage. Flamethrower gives coverage against common walls: skarmory / ferrothorn / e.t.c. Prefer this build to any other because each individual move gives more power rather than better type coverage between them - seems more appropriate in this case.
Threats: Anything which is a wall or slow sweeper with low speed (main ones that aren't a threat: escavalier / reuniclus - the usual trick room beasts). There are so many threats, because Hydreigon is just plain flimsy. Normally I switch into Dusknoir if it's a physical / mixed attacker or Mandibuzz if its a special attacker (to soak up the damage as effectively as possible), then I start stalling, or if appropriate I attack (e.g. foe pokemon is weak to one of my attacks).
1. Conkeldurr - especially the bulk up set: Hydreigon is an easy set up opportunity for the bulk up. This set is most likely the second most annoying pokemon against my team (after gliscor) - because my offensive pokemon aren't particularly bulky, so the mach punch ruins them - especially as Hydreigon and Scrafty (two of the three offensive pokemon) are weak to fighting. Nomally I switch to Mandibuzz to phaze, but if he is down, there isn't much hope tbh, because Dusknoir is weak to the commonly used Payback, and the other pokemon can't take a beating. Accelgor can sometimes help (if he's still alive) by using yawn, as the mach punch shouldn't make him feint (bug is resistant to fighting), and he will outspeed anything else thrown at him without much trouble.
Haxorus @ Choice Scarf
Mold Breaker
252 Att / 252 Speed / 4 HP
Adamant Nature
Dragon Claw
Earthquake
Outrage
Brick Break
The usual Choice Scarf set. Comes in primarily when Scrafty is down, or there is a dragon roaming free on the opposite half of the battlefield. Dragon Claw is nice for general destruction as ofc dragon is the best-coverage offensive type by itself. I use outrage later in the game, or when there are a lack of steel types.
Dusknoir @ Leftovers
Pressure
252 HP / 228 Def/ 28 Att
Impish Nature
Pain Split
Will-O-Wisp
Earthquake
Fire Punch
The usual tank set. Works well with mandibuzz (surprisingly). Pain split is one of my favourites as it keeps him in there for a long time, healing on the opposition's switch to a healthy pokemon, and effectively deals with the high HP pokemon out there. Earthquake and Fire punch provide good coverage between them, and also deals with skarmory, a fairly effective wall against Scrafty. Pwns Ferrothorn aswell which can sometimes successfully wall against Scrafty. When a Conkeldurr comes in I usually switch into Dusknoir to avoid the mach punch. Other times, Dusknoir just comes in and relies on his bulk :P
Still considering running a 252 SpD instead of HP to make better use still of the Pain Split, but that results on worse resistances with Mandibuzz and less efficient walling of physical attackers.
Mandibuzz @ Leftovers
Overcoat
252 HP / 252 SpD / 4 Def
Careful Nature
Roost
Toxic
Brave Bird
Whirlwind
The usual Sp Wall - surprisingly good resistances (especially through EV distribution) with Dusknoir. Primarily used to phaze, but stalling is often useful too ofc - after Accelgor has used some spikes (if he has), and the switch to scafty wouldn't be appropriate, she comes in and whirlwinds / roosts / toxic - some nice stalling. Brave bird supplies a flying type move which isn't used anywhere else. Brave Bird + Roost combo is just good, while toxic gives that indirect damage option - coupled with Roost and it deals a lot of damage / forces switch.
Biggest threats:
Gliscor - explained above
Conkeldurr - explained above
Trick room teams - My offensive pokemon depend on their speed - similar problem to the conkeldurr threat, except not quite as bad - normally I send Mandibuzz in to roost up / stall or Accelgor to do some protecting until the trick room ends.
Well There's my team - many of these sets have been taken straight from the Smogon Threads, but I've played around with all of them, and mostly I end up back where I started (apart from Hydreigon - Accelgor just filled in the gap of the lead perfectly). Anyways, please go ahead and critisize!
Thanks.
Hedgy.