Nothin' quite like tanking (Bulky Core + Wallbreaking Action)

[Shenkomi]

Hello, everyone! This is one of my more focused attempts at competitive battling. I've always liked using bulkier Pokemon, and when some neat new abilities and Pokemon came around I just decided I needed a team to build 'em with. I've got a few things working with this team and a few things going against me, so hopefully we can figure out just exactly what needs to be done.

Let's begin then, shall we?

TEAM AT A GLANCE

- Bulky core feat. Gliscor, Ferrothorn, and Slowbro
- Wallbreaking Support in the form of Haxorus
- Heatran as a switch-in to sponge Fire attacks and create panic
- Rotom (who replaced Scrafty) switches in w/ resistances to all the 4x weaknesses and messes w/ the other team

Toxicity (Gliscor) (M) @ Toxic Orb Trait: Poison Heal
EVs: 252 HP / 40 Def / 216 Spd
Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Swords Dance (replaced Fling)
- Earthquake
- Ice Fang
- Taunt (replaced Protect)


The first mate of the Bulky Trio. This guy can take hits from many Fighting-Type attacks directed towards Ferrothorn and can fly in unscathed by electric attacks aimed at Slowbro. He tanks hits well and often will dish out respectable damage when not being specially abused. I used to run Toxic and Fling on it, but I have other things on my team to deal damage with. Plus, SD is just faster at killing anyways.

- Swords Dance added to help take out opposing physical attackers
- Taunt to stop Skarmory from Spiking all over mah field
- New EVs to counter faster threats

Nuts2You (Ferrothorn) (M) @ Shed Shell
Trait: Iron Barbs
EVs: 252 HP / 48 Def / 208 SDef
Careful Nature (+SDef, -SAtk)
- Leech Seed
- Spikes
- Thunder Wave (replaced Protect)
- Power Whip


The second member of my Bulky Trio is a fairly common yet reliable Pokemon. Standard Leech Seeding plans plus Spikes helps chip away the opposing team quite nicely. Ferrothorn switches in on pretty much any special attack directed at either of the two partners, as it is neutral to ice attacks and resists water and electric attacks (not to mention ghost and dark attacks, too). I opted for Power Whip versus Gyro Ball to better eliminate opposing Bulky Water Pokemon, as otherwise I'd be stopped by them, too. Shed shell is there to escape should a Magnezone come out (and if one does come out, it's a pretty safe bet it is running HP Fire anyway).

- New EV spread to take special hits even better
- Thunder Wave to cripple particularly fast opponents

Broseidon (Slowbro) (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SDef
Bold Nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Scald
- Fire Blast
- Psychic
- Slack Off


The third and final member of the Bulky Trio is a personal favorite of mine. He gets his opportunity to switch in when a particularly nasty Fire or Fighting attack is aimed at Ferrothorn or when someone thinks they can just launch an ice attack against Gliscor. Basically this guy will just sit there and take anything thrown at it and return with even better damage. Scald offers that burn chance, which makes it even harder for physical attackers to break my team. Fire Blast conveniently takes care of Ferrothorn and Scizor, as they often just think they can beat this guy hands down. Psychic gets rid of some nasty Fighting Pokemon who'd otherwise fully enjoy themselves punching my team.

Rotom-W @ Choice Scarf Trait: Levitate
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Volt Switch
- Hydro Pump
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Trick

As recommended by Wario is OSSIM. This guy is actually looking pretty neat. Not only does he resist ALL THREE 4x moves which would give my teammates trouble, but with this set-up he can also do something about the darned Pokemon who launch said attacks. The Scarf allows me to outspeed quite a few Pokemon, namely anyone who hasn't already got a speed boost one way or the other. All three of the attacking moves are pretty self-explanatory; Volt Switch to hit-and-run, Hydro Pump to blast through enemies, and HP Fire to kill off Ferries or whatever other steel types who resist Water. The best thing about this set-up though is probably Trick. It certainly makes for fun battles when I Trick an enemy into a set-up move and they cannot really do much about it. Plus, I'll usually end up getting something pretty nice in exchange. :D

Heatran (M) @ Leftovers Trait: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SAtk / 252 SDef
Calm Nature (+SDef, -Atk)
- Stealth Rock
- Lava Plume
- Roar
- Protect

As recommended, I decided to pull up this guy to help absorb some special hits. He's also great at absorbing the fire attacks aimed directly at Ferrothorn! The plan is to support on the switch with SR and either Roar for collateral or Lava Plume for burns and pain. Protect is always a great move and definitely worth adding in. This guy can also take in ice attacks directed at Gliscor like it's nobody's business.

Derpasarus (Haxorus) (M) @ Choice Band
Trait: Mold Breaker
EVs: 28 HP / 252 Atk / 228 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Outrage
- Earthquake
- Dual Chop
- Brick Break


My wallbreaker and stallbreaker. Just as I start to rage, I'll bring the Derpasarus to Herp all over the enemy team without even thinking twice about it. I find myself severely denting even opposing Steel types, and if they've been weakened properly I can even take out some walls with one hit. Its huge attack hurts, and I can't really be bothered to Scarf him because he can already outrun pretty much any wall. Even despite his frailness, he proves to be a powerful asset to my team.


Retired teammates

CandleJack (Chandelure) (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Flash Fire
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Substitute
- Fire Blast
- Shadow Ball
- Pain Split

This guy finds himself thrown into battle just as the heat is its hottest, offering his blazing Fire Blasts against those whose bodies are not ready. If there is a right time to switch into this guy I will, and for the most part he can absorb the fire needed to break through even resistances. Subbin', of course, happens when the opponent freaks out and switches, whereas Pain Split helps not only in keeping this guy alive but deleting chunks out of opposing Pokemon. He is pretty frail, however, so he doesn't often see the light as much as he should. Regardless, he is there to hurt when he can.

Unfortunately, he has been pretty much shafted due to the support which Heatran provides. While absurdly powerful Fire Blasts were indeed nice, Heatran is much more reliable and doesn't burn out quite as fast.

ZiggyPunch (Scrafty) (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Shed Skin
EVs: 252 HP / 8 Atk / 248 SDef
Careful Nature (+SDef, -SAtk)
- Bulk Up
- Drain Punch
- Crunch
- Rest


A great member who somehow manages to always wonder me is this Scrafty. Bulking Up is amazing with this guy; couple in status recovery and great recovery and he's nearly impossible to stop. I'll switch this guy in on special attacks that I just can't find a way to deal with easily and proceed to set up. The neutral coverage which this set provides proves to be quite an asset when sweeping. Heck, this guy may as well be a fourth member of the Bulky Trio, except he ends up doing more killing than sweeping. Shed Skin + Rest just makes things easier with this set; there's no real need to be dying at any given time.

For the most part, however, he didn't really fit in with the team. Sure, he met the bulky qualifications, but he was acting more as a soloist rather than part of the ensemble. So I put in Rotom-W in his place, who conveniently resists ALL of the huge SE attacks which can be launched at three of my Pokemon, in turn hitting them up with respectable damage. Best part? No set-up whatsoever.




As I've used this team for a good amount of matches, I find situations where my team gets mercilessly owned. Here are what I believe to be the problems:

- Set-up Pokemon. Usually it'll be something like a SD set or a NP set where not even my Pokemon's defenses can hold up to the attacks. Obviously the remedy to that is to eliminate set-up boosts, whether it's hazing or phazing or Taunting - I just dunno how to go about it. FIXED! Nothin' quite like roaring and taunting, am I right?

- Status. I can't say it's a huge deal for all of my Pokemon, but for Slowbro and Haxorus, Toxic and Burn respectively cripple them. I can offset some damage done by Toxic via switching, but it prevents me from setting up and tanking. The burn on Haxorus, while relatively uncommon, still takes it out of its wallbreaking duties. The other Pokemon don't really mind the damage as much, though. Not quite as big as it once was! Progress is indeed progress~

- Scizor. Maybe it's just that I don't know how to take care of him, but each one which shows up seems pretty hard to deal with. Perhaps it's the SD set which hurts me the most? I cannot really tell. FIXED! Thanks for the feedback~


And that's about it for my team. I'd like to thank anyone who bothered even reading this, as I understand this isn't quite an exciting read or a unique team. Anywho, I'll be awaiting replies and be accepting the worst. :D




EDIT: I haven't really encountered many more Scizor to really say how this is progressing, but I'd like to think things are working well. Putting Fire Blast on Slowbro really catches people off-guard, especially when I have him pit off against smarty grass types. Thanks for the advice!

EDIT Numero Dos: My team's coming along quite nicely! Thanks again for the support, guys! I'll be sure to let you know if any more problems arise.

 

[GreasyPanda]

This is a pretty good team and I just have a few things to say. First of all you might wanna try fling over toxic on gliscor which will result in still badly poisoning the enemy but also doing 30 dark damage. And I also have a solotion for you problem with pokemon setting up.
This is just one pokemon that could do the job and I'm sure there's lots more that can do it possibly better but you could run with a pokemon that has roar. Here is a specially defensive latias set although I am not sure what you would take off.

Latias (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Calm Mind
- Dragon Pulse
- Recover
- Roar

And for the scisor problem you have a pretty good solution. Slowbro. He soaks up physical attacks and all you have to do is teach him fire blast.Here is a slowbro set I would test if I were you.

Slowbro (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SDef
Bold Nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Scald
- Psychic
- Fire Blast
- Slack Off

One more thing is you should run with dual chop over dragon claw. Both are dragon moves that add up to 80 power if you include dual chop hitting twice. Except dual chop is great for breaking subs and proceeding to kill the pokemon. O yeah and on the latias set roar is also great for roaring away subs. This last suggestion I am about to give is just an idea and depends on your preference but you might wanna test haxarous with Choice scarf and keep the nature. It outspeeds almost everything and serves as possibly the best revenge killer in the game. Well take the suggestions you like and leave the ones you don't.
-Good luck

 

[Rofellos]

Agree with dual chop. Breaking subs also means you break momentum which is crucial for subpunch brelooms and subtwave jirachi in particular. Plus IMO unless it's a Dnite with outrage and Draco meteor haxorus shouldn't restrict itself by having two moves of the same type.

 

[BKC]

I really like the thought process that went into building this team. The main problem with it is that Chandelure is a very unreliable switch-in to fire attacks due to its Stealth Rock weakness and overall frailty. My suggestion is to try a specially defensive Heatran in Chandelure's spot. It works immensely well in this kind of team, one that focuses on type synergy and bulk. It can also set up Stealth Rock, freeing up your Ferrothorn to run Spikes - this makes your core even harder to break through, seeing as the opponent will have to take a ton of damage on each switch they make.

Heatran @ Leftovers | Calm | EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpA / 252 SpD
Stealth Rock | Lava Plume | Roar | Protect

With this change I think your team looks extremely solid. Good luck.

 

[Shenkomi]

Thanks for the input, guys. I've reworked my team with the following changes:

- Gliscor now runs Fling instead of Toxic
- Slowbro now runs Fire Blast instead of CM
- Haxorus now runs Dual Chop instead of Dragon Claw
- Ferrothorn now runs Spikes instead of Stealth Rock
- Chandelure has been shafted in favor of BKC's Heatran set

I'm planning on testing out the CS Haxorus soon enough, as even opposing Dragons tend to outrun and kill me. As for the Latias set, I may consider putting it in for Heatran. I find too many Fighting-type moves nowadays, and with three of my six teammates already weak to them it wouldn't hurt to run another resistance.

My team seems to now have three Pokemon with quadruple weaknesses, which is rather unfortunate as they are all common move types. I ran into a rather nasty Flygon who iirc was running a mixed set w/ Ice Beam, Earthquake, and Fire Punch. So meh, that ruined my day for those three Pokemon - although I guess that's what I have Slowbro and Scrafty for.

Thanks again for the feedback, as it is truly appreciated.

 

[Dragon-Shinobi]

http://www.smogon.com/forums/showthread.php?t=3449308&highlight=class

I like your choice of team members :p. Anyway, I don't really see what good Fling does for your Gliscor. Mainly, it's there to get off 1 poison and increase the power of Acrobatics. But without acrobatics, you're basically getting one chance of poisoning an opponent. Toxic is more reliable, imo. Also, from my experience, Slowbro and Gliscor should be good enough for fighting types, crippling them with poison/burn then stalling them out is always an option.

 

[Shenkomi]

Thanks for the feedback, guys! Edits are made in bold on the original post.

I'm a bit hesitant about adding another dragon onto my team. The way things stand, Haxorus plays an important role on the team (namely to wreck everything in its path). I'm interested in trying out the Salamence set-up, but I'm anxious about putting two things 4x weak to Ice on my team. I've also considered the Latias set-up, but then there'd be the common weakness and no bite to compensate for it. I understand the post was made before adding Heatran to the team, but I can't really see much point in having two Roaring Pokemon.

I cannot even fathom how this team can get any better, but I'm certainly thankful for all of you for helping it get this far. Of course, I'm not stopping with feedback there! Feel free to post s'more anyways!

Also, I like your Pokemon too, Dragon-Shinobi. Although I can't really say I'm surprised, since many of them are great Pokemon for a reason. :D

 

[NickPwnz]

Nice team, love the Heatran and your core. Just about Haxorus, not sure if you would like this set, but my Haxorus had
Mold breaker
@ Life Orb / Lum Berry (if using outrage)
-Taunt
-dragon dance
-dual chop / outrage
-earthquake

 

[-Tsunami-]

Hi there, nice team. 1 problem I noticed though is that DD Scrafty will completely destroy your team. It has super effective moves on everything besides rotom-w, which will be nailed and ohkoed by a Hi Jump Kick. Therefore, I recommend you run a skarmory instead of Gliscor, as most electric types are special and have hidden power ice anyway.

Skarmory (M) @ Leftovers Trait: Sturdy
EVs: 252 HP / 240 Def / 16 Spd
Impish Nature (+Def, -SAtk)
- Brave Bird
- Roost
- Whirlwind
- Taunt/Spikes/Stealth Rock

Taunt is the preferred option here because you already have stealth rock on heatran, and spikes on ferrothorn. You could give Skarmory spikes, ferrothorn stealth rock (or vice versa) and Heatran a rest talk set w/ lava plume and roar, or just add Earth Power in place of Stealth Rock.

 

[AB2]

Hey, this team is really solid but it has some problems getting past calm mind Reuniclus. Calm mind Reuniclus could be hard to deal with since not really one of your team members is equipped to deal with it, and it has the ability to set up against most of them and do a lot of damage to this team. Tyranitar would work well on this team since it gives you the ability to win against calm mind Reuniclus, life orb Latios, and other special oriented threats such substitute calm mind Latias which Ferrothorn can have a hard time dealing with since it does not have gyro ball. A very important reason to have Tyranitar on these types of teams is that it gets rid of weather as well. Tyranitar will make sure that you can have the upper hand against opposing weather teams so that taking out the abusers will not be quite so difficult. Haxorus is the weakest link on this team as it is not adding to the bulky core that you wanted to build this team around. Also, Haxorus has a hard time spamming outrage to wall break if you do not have a dedicated way to remove steels from play, so in the end its not really doing much for you. You lose a water resist and gain a fighting weak when using Tyranitar, but Rotom-W, Gliscor, and Ferrothorn can handle the majority of threats that use those types of attacks.

A set with crunch | pursuit | superpower | stone edge would work with a choice band on Tyranitar. An adamant nature is also necessary; however a more specially defensive ev spread must be used in order to take down lati@s with ease. A spread with 252 HP | 56 Atk | 200 SpD is very viable as it can fulfill all that this team really needs. Gliscor's speed should also probably be taken down a bit. Gliscor should try and hit a speed number so that it outruns adamant Breloom and stallbreaker Mew so that you are able to taunt it. If you drop Gliscor's speed, it will also help you in switching into fighting types such as bulk up Conkeldurr. A spread with 252 HP | 176 Def | 80 Spe would be more optimal on Gliscor would fulfill these roles much easier than the one you're currently running.

Not much else to say, this is a very solid team. Nice job with it and good luck.

 

[Shenkomi]

Okay, so now I feel the need for rebuttal. While several points were well made, I'd like to respond to them just quickly.


@NickPwnz: I've heard relatively disappointing things about DD Haxorus, but after looking over your set again it seems to be an interesting enough set-up. Not being locked into one move is pretty nice, but heck I can't really afford the damage drop.

@TheMasterofOz: I do not really fear DD Scrafty as I haven't really ran into any of them. Most Scrafties I see run Bulk-Up, and switching out to another Steel-Pokemon is almost a call for Magnezone to eat through half my team. If things certainly turn out to be problematic enough with my Gliscor, then I'll be glad to try out your set, though.

@AB2: Tyranitar does certainly sound like an interesting option, but I surprisingly haven't met any Reuniclus which I couldn't handle. Weather surprisingly doesn't ruin this team either; the only minor problem I had was with rain (like everyone else) and for the most part my Ferrothorn takes those teams out cleanly. The residual damage dealt with Sandstorm does sound great, but I have to consider losing a great wall-breaker in exchange for it.

Even though I don't exactly have a dedicated Steel-killer, I do have things which can take care of opposing steel-types. Heatran often gets rid of the more defensive ones (since they aren't really packing anything extremely harmful to it), plus the more physical ones are taken out by Gliscor and even Slowbro. And even with those Pokemon who resist Outrage, they'll end up eating 40% chunks of damage from the raging dino. Coupled with traps and they're done for.

My Gliscor's EVs used to be what you suggested, but I've found the additional speed to be a great asset for my team. It also still takes physical hits well, and with its delicious healing powers it can quickly recover from those attacks.
Err, and its nature is supposed to be Jolly. I'm sorry that I forgot to change that, too. Hopefully that makes more sense with its current EV spread.


I'm considering the options suggested, but right now they aren't quite appealing enough for me to take them on. I don't mean to come off as ignorant or stubborn, but if I do them call me out on it. I'll be glad to hear you out.