The Team:
I started this team with a really silly and gimmicky idea: use Celebi to pass a few Calm Minds to Altaria, and then cotton guard up to become an invincible wall. Of course, the idea didn't end up working very well (too many variables during such a long period of time setting up), so i changed it to normal nasty pass, and offensive dragon dance Altaria. And as I will explain, the two work well on a team together.
I built this team with an offensive mindset, as that is my playing style. Anyways, here's the team.
Celebi @ Leftovers
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 248 HP / 84 Def / 176 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Baton Pass
- Nasty Plot
- Giga Drain
- Recover
The first mon of the core: Celebi, the best check there is to our beloved Keldeo (unless it has the rare HP Bug). It has very solid defenses and a great ability in Natural Cure, allowing it to be the Scald/status sponge of the team. It is also a good sponge to Earthquake which is one of the most common attacking moves in the meta. However it is weak to a lot of common threats such as Talonflame (which destroys my team if my Heatran dies), Heatran, and Pursuit Trappers such as T-Tar, Weavile and Bisharp. Anyways, the idea of this set is to baton pass a nasty plot to one of my team mates and do as much damage as possible. Giga Drain is so it can actually do damage to mons that it checks, and recover is pretty important as it will be tanking a lot of hits. I'm debating about whether I should change this set to stealth rock, as this team probably needs that little damage to net some OHKO's and also to deal with Talonflame.
Why this core: Celebi sponges a lot of hits aimed at Altaria like poison and steel type moves thanks to it's great bulk and recovery options.
Altaria-Mega @ Altarianite
Ability: Pixilate
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Return
- Dragon Dance
- Earthquake
- Roost
The second mon of the core: which is also the Mega of the team, not much can counter this after it sets up one or two Dragon Dances, but if there is, I try to eliminate them before I send this guy out. Return for STAB and Earthquake hit's most of steel, fire, and poison types like Heatran. However, it is still walled by common threats such as Ferrothorn, Scizor (which also gives Celebi bad dreams), and Mega Venusaur. It can also be revenge killed by other faster common threats such as Mega Metagross and Gengar). At first this was a special attack set, but as time passed I realized I had 5/6 special attackers, and I also needed Earthquake (to beat Heatran) more than I needed Fire Blast (for Ferrothorn/Scizor) because this team had more trouble with Heatran.
Why this core: Altaria deals with dark types that can threaten Celebi, like Tyranitar.
Heatran @ Assault Vest
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Magma Storm
- Earth Power
- Flash Cannon
- Ancient Power
As I've mentioned earlier, Altaria+Celebi Core is really weak to Heatran, even though Altaria has Earthquake it can't switch into any of its attacks, especially if it's offensive. Assault Vest Heatran is something I've thought of to beat special attackers like Mega Manectric and Alakazam. I think of it as a way to be offensive, whilst maintaining the bulk and taking minimal damage as it doesn't have recovery. It serves as a check to other Heatrans (that aren't scarfed) with Earth Power, Talonflame and other bird spam with Ancient Power, fairy types with flash cannon, and Magma Storm is great as even if they switch into a check, they wont be able to switch out for a few turns so I can send in a counter to that. With one nasty pass and some good predicting it can sweep a lot of teams, however good predicting is the key phrase. Even at max speed, it get out sped by a lot of things that could revenge kill it.
Why it's on the team: Celebi can check the water types that trouble Heatran, and some ground types, while while Heatran beats bug and fire types that annoy Celebi. It also works well with Altaria because it beats the steel types like other Heatrans, Ferrothorns, Scizors and Skarmorys (ugh) that all beat Altaria (unless I land a well predicted Earthquake). Altaria beats fighting types such as Keldeo and Mega Loppuny for Heatran.
Latios @ Choice Specs
Ability: Levitate
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Draco Meteor
- Psyshock
- Thunderbolt
I was also going for somewhat of a unique set on this Lati, as it is one of the most common Pokemon in the game, and I want to be unpredictable as that will surprise my opponents. I went for an all-out attacking set (as I am a very offensive type player), with Draco for stab, HP Fire for Ferrothorns and Scizors, Psyshock for stab and also for nerfing Mega Venusaur which walls Celebi+Altaria, and Thunderbolt for water types and flying types such as Azumarill, Gyarados, Starmie, Tornadus, and bird spam. At first I used Expert Belt as my item, because I was going for a (almost) full coverage set, and I'd be able to hit a lot of things super effectively. However, I found I was lacking the power, and missing on crucial OHKO's, so I switched it to life orb. But, I found I was still lacking a bit of power and without roost or defog, it was getting whittled down very quickly. In the end, I settled on Choice Specs, because I wanted as much power as possible, although it requires a lot of good predictions. It also guarantees the Draco OHKO on Lando-T, whereas with Life Orb it has a small chance to OHKO, and I dont have rocks to close that little gap. However, it does add to the teams dark weakness, especially to pursuit trappers like Bisharp, Weavile and T-Tar. For that reason, I am considering changing HP Fire to Fighting. However, the Choice Specs doesn't give me much flexibility if they want to revenge kill. I was considering running defog, but them I would lose a significant amount of power, and coverage.
Why it's on the team: It gets rid of Mega Venusaur for the Altaria, it beats Azu and Keldeo and some other water types that beat Heatran. Heatran gets rid of Fairies and other Heatrans which otherwise wall Latios.
Who's next?
When choosing my last two members I looked at the team's biggest weaknesses. This is what I noticed:
-Bisharp+Weavile wreck this team, only Heatran can beat them
-Water types are unchecked, besides T-Bolt on Latios, and Celebi, although it is more defensive
To deal with dark types I picked Keldeo. I needed a fighting type, and a water/fighting type would complete the fire/water/grass core, and it also serves as a good team mate to the other four, as I will explain later.
As for the lack of water type checks, I knew I needed a powerful electric type. However, I didn't want to add to my glaring ground weakness, so I picked Thundurus, as it is a flying type as well. I was considering Zapdos as well, but I again, I was worrying about having too many special attackers, so I picked mixed attack Thundurus.
Keldeo @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Justified
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
- Scald
- Secret Sword
- Hydro Pump
- Hidden Power [Ice]
Keldeo is one of the best special attackers in the game, with great speed and huge special attack. Scald and Hydro Pump are for stab, scald is if they have low health and you don't want to risk the shaky accuracy on Hydro Pump. Secret Sword is also stab, but it hit's the defense stat, which is great for destroying Chanseys which walls my team since they are mainly special attackers. I picked HP Ice over icy wind because I don't need the speed drop (it's scarfed) and that 5 extra damage could secure an KO. I needed a scarfer on this team, and I thought Keldeo was the best choice as it has great speed, and I sort of wanted to keep my sets on Heatran and Lati.
Why it's on the team: It checks Bisharp, Weavile, and T-Tar for Celebi and Latios. It also beats fire types that give Altaria and Celebi problems (secondary Heatran check), and Altaria beats the Lati twins for it. Celebi only loses to water types with a secondary dark typing such as Mega Gyarados and Crawdaunt, which are both checked by Keldeo. It also beats Chansey, which really irritates this team. It checks a lot of steel types that wall Altaria. It works well with Heatran because Heatran beats Grass types that beat Keldeo, and Keldeo beats Ground types such as Lando-T, Garchomp, and Gliscor.
Thundurus @ Life Orb
Ability: Defiant
EVs: 68 Atk / 188 SpA / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- Thunderbolt
- Knock Off
- Superpower
- Hidden Power [Ice]
I chose mixed attack Thundurus because I have 5/6 special attackers, so this would help beat special walls like Chansey. Thunderbolt for stab, HP Ice for all those cocky Landos, Garchomps and Gliscors who think they're invincible. On the physical side of things, knock off is always solid, especially for Chansey, and Superpower for steel types and also Chansey. It's a very good check to Tornadus-T, which is doing very well in the meta right now. Life orb is probably the best item for Thundurus because of it's great coverage, you do want to boost his power, but you don't want to keep him locked into one move. Thundurus is the only reason I would consider putting defog on Latios (the team isn't very Stealth Rock weak), as it takes 25% of his health, and it already gets whittled down quickly thanks to Life Orb damage.
Why it's on the team: Deals with water types such as Azu, Gyarados, and Keldeo for Heatran. It adds to my ground resists, which would also do harm to Heatran. Thanks to knock off + HP ice it can beat Latios for Keldeo. Latios beats Venusaur, which walls Thundurus. Thundurus beats Flying types like Tornadus-T and Talonflame, which would be Celebi and Keldeo.
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So I appreciate any advice/tips about the team, and I hope I gave you a good idea of what the role is of each mon and how they work together.
Weaknesses:
-Dark types : Even though I have Keldeo, Bisharp and Weavile still do tonnes to my team
-Celebi : It seems to be the weak link, as many common mons check it, and I'm not sure if the nasty pass strategy is really working
-Fairies : My only fairy resist is Heatran (and I have 3 weak), which puts a lot of pressure on it, and it has no recovery
-Special walls: This team has 5/6 special attackers, so special walls always are a problem (I had Azumarill instead of Keldeo at first, but I needed something that really checks Bisharp)
Again, I'd love to hear any kind of feedback. Thanks for reading!
EDIT: After further testing I realized that I'm really weak against Mega Altaria, any suggestions on how to counter it?
I started this team with a really silly and gimmicky idea: use Celebi to pass a few Calm Minds to Altaria, and then cotton guard up to become an invincible wall. Of course, the idea didn't end up working very well (too many variables during such a long period of time setting up), so i changed it to normal nasty pass, and offensive dragon dance Altaria. And as I will explain, the two work well on a team together.
I built this team with an offensive mindset, as that is my playing style. Anyways, here's the team.
Celebi @ Leftovers
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 248 HP / 84 Def / 176 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Baton Pass
- Nasty Plot
- Giga Drain
- Recover
The first mon of the core: Celebi, the best check there is to our beloved Keldeo (unless it has the rare HP Bug). It has very solid defenses and a great ability in Natural Cure, allowing it to be the Scald/status sponge of the team. It is also a good sponge to Earthquake which is one of the most common attacking moves in the meta. However it is weak to a lot of common threats such as Talonflame (which destroys my team if my Heatran dies), Heatran, and Pursuit Trappers such as T-Tar, Weavile and Bisharp. Anyways, the idea of this set is to baton pass a nasty plot to one of my team mates and do as much damage as possible. Giga Drain is so it can actually do damage to mons that it checks, and recover is pretty important as it will be tanking a lot of hits. I'm debating about whether I should change this set to stealth rock, as this team probably needs that little damage to net some OHKO's and also to deal with Talonflame.
Why this core: Celebi sponges a lot of hits aimed at Altaria like poison and steel type moves thanks to it's great bulk and recovery options.
Altaria-Mega @ Altarianite
Ability: Pixilate
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Return
- Dragon Dance
- Earthquake
- Roost
The second mon of the core: which is also the Mega of the team, not much can counter this after it sets up one or two Dragon Dances, but if there is, I try to eliminate them before I send this guy out. Return for STAB and Earthquake hit's most of steel, fire, and poison types like Heatran. However, it is still walled by common threats such as Ferrothorn, Scizor (which also gives Celebi bad dreams), and Mega Venusaur. It can also be revenge killed by other faster common threats such as Mega Metagross and Gengar). At first this was a special attack set, but as time passed I realized I had 5/6 special attackers, and I also needed Earthquake (to beat Heatran) more than I needed Fire Blast (for Ferrothorn/Scizor) because this team had more trouble with Heatran.
Why this core: Altaria deals with dark types that can threaten Celebi, like Tyranitar.
Heatran @ Assault Vest
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Magma Storm
- Earth Power
- Flash Cannon
- Ancient Power
As I've mentioned earlier, Altaria+Celebi Core is really weak to Heatran, even though Altaria has Earthquake it can't switch into any of its attacks, especially if it's offensive. Assault Vest Heatran is something I've thought of to beat special attackers like Mega Manectric and Alakazam. I think of it as a way to be offensive, whilst maintaining the bulk and taking minimal damage as it doesn't have recovery. It serves as a check to other Heatrans (that aren't scarfed) with Earth Power, Talonflame and other bird spam with Ancient Power, fairy types with flash cannon, and Magma Storm is great as even if they switch into a check, they wont be able to switch out for a few turns so I can send in a counter to that. With one nasty pass and some good predicting it can sweep a lot of teams, however good predicting is the key phrase. Even at max speed, it get out sped by a lot of things that could revenge kill it.
Why it's on the team: Celebi can check the water types that trouble Heatran, and some ground types, while while Heatran beats bug and fire types that annoy Celebi. It also works well with Altaria because it beats the steel types like other Heatrans, Ferrothorns, Scizors and Skarmorys (ugh) that all beat Altaria (unless I land a well predicted Earthquake). Altaria beats fighting types such as Keldeo and Mega Loppuny for Heatran.
Latios @ Choice Specs
Ability: Levitate
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Draco Meteor
- Psyshock
- Thunderbolt
I was also going for somewhat of a unique set on this Lati, as it is one of the most common Pokemon in the game, and I want to be unpredictable as that will surprise my opponents. I went for an all-out attacking set (as I am a very offensive type player), with Draco for stab, HP Fire for Ferrothorns and Scizors, Psyshock for stab and also for nerfing Mega Venusaur which walls Celebi+Altaria, and Thunderbolt for water types and flying types such as Azumarill, Gyarados, Starmie, Tornadus, and bird spam. At first I used Expert Belt as my item, because I was going for a (almost) full coverage set, and I'd be able to hit a lot of things super effectively. However, I found I was lacking the power, and missing on crucial OHKO's, so I switched it to life orb. But, I found I was still lacking a bit of power and without roost or defog, it was getting whittled down very quickly. In the end, I settled on Choice Specs, because I wanted as much power as possible, although it requires a lot of good predictions. It also guarantees the Draco OHKO on Lando-T, whereas with Life Orb it has a small chance to OHKO, and I dont have rocks to close that little gap. However, it does add to the teams dark weakness, especially to pursuit trappers like Bisharp, Weavile and T-Tar. For that reason, I am considering changing HP Fire to Fighting. However, the Choice Specs doesn't give me much flexibility if they want to revenge kill. I was considering running defog, but them I would lose a significant amount of power, and coverage.
Why it's on the team: It gets rid of Mega Venusaur for the Altaria, it beats Azu and Keldeo and some other water types that beat Heatran. Heatran gets rid of Fairies and other Heatrans which otherwise wall Latios.
Who's next?
When choosing my last two members I looked at the team's biggest weaknesses. This is what I noticed:
-Bisharp+Weavile wreck this team, only Heatran can beat them
-Water types are unchecked, besides T-Bolt on Latios, and Celebi, although it is more defensive
To deal with dark types I picked Keldeo. I needed a fighting type, and a water/fighting type would complete the fire/water/grass core, and it also serves as a good team mate to the other four, as I will explain later.
As for the lack of water type checks, I knew I needed a powerful electric type. However, I didn't want to add to my glaring ground weakness, so I picked Thundurus, as it is a flying type as well. I was considering Zapdos as well, but I again, I was worrying about having too many special attackers, so I picked mixed attack Thundurus.
Keldeo @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Justified
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
- Scald
- Secret Sword
- Hydro Pump
- Hidden Power [Ice]
Keldeo is one of the best special attackers in the game, with great speed and huge special attack. Scald and Hydro Pump are for stab, scald is if they have low health and you don't want to risk the shaky accuracy on Hydro Pump. Secret Sword is also stab, but it hit's the defense stat, which is great for destroying Chanseys which walls my team since they are mainly special attackers. I picked HP Ice over icy wind because I don't need the speed drop (it's scarfed) and that 5 extra damage could secure an KO. I needed a scarfer on this team, and I thought Keldeo was the best choice as it has great speed, and I sort of wanted to keep my sets on Heatran and Lati.
Why it's on the team: It checks Bisharp, Weavile, and T-Tar for Celebi and Latios. It also beats fire types that give Altaria and Celebi problems (secondary Heatran check), and Altaria beats the Lati twins for it. Celebi only loses to water types with a secondary dark typing such as Mega Gyarados and Crawdaunt, which are both checked by Keldeo. It also beats Chansey, which really irritates this team. It checks a lot of steel types that wall Altaria. It works well with Heatran because Heatran beats Grass types that beat Keldeo, and Keldeo beats Ground types such as Lando-T, Garchomp, and Gliscor.
Thundurus @ Life Orb
Ability: Defiant
EVs: 68 Atk / 188 SpA / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- Thunderbolt
- Knock Off
- Superpower
- Hidden Power [Ice]
I chose mixed attack Thundurus because I have 5/6 special attackers, so this would help beat special walls like Chansey. Thunderbolt for stab, HP Ice for all those cocky Landos, Garchomps and Gliscors who think they're invincible. On the physical side of things, knock off is always solid, especially for Chansey, and Superpower for steel types and also Chansey. It's a very good check to Tornadus-T, which is doing very well in the meta right now. Life orb is probably the best item for Thundurus because of it's great coverage, you do want to boost his power, but you don't want to keep him locked into one move. Thundurus is the only reason I would consider putting defog on Latios (the team isn't very Stealth Rock weak), as it takes 25% of his health, and it already gets whittled down quickly thanks to Life Orb damage.
Why it's on the team: Deals with water types such as Azu, Gyarados, and Keldeo for Heatran. It adds to my ground resists, which would also do harm to Heatran. Thanks to knock off + HP ice it can beat Latios for Keldeo. Latios beats Venusaur, which walls Thundurus. Thundurus beats Flying types like Tornadus-T and Talonflame, which would be Celebi and Keldeo.
---------------------------------------------------
So I appreciate any advice/tips about the team, and I hope I gave you a good idea of what the role is of each mon and how they work together.
Weaknesses:
-Dark types : Even though I have Keldeo, Bisharp and Weavile still do tonnes to my team
-Celebi : It seems to be the weak link, as many common mons check it, and I'm not sure if the nasty pass strategy is really working
-Fairies : My only fairy resist is Heatran (and I have 3 weak), which puts a lot of pressure on it, and it has no recovery
-Special walls: This team has 5/6 special attackers, so special walls always are a problem (I had Azumarill instead of Keldeo at first, but I needed something that really checks Bisharp)
Again, I'd love to hear any kind of feedback. Thanks for reading!
EDIT: After further testing I realized that I'm really weak against Mega Altaria, any suggestions on how to counter it?
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