Old Pokemon - New Tricks - A UU Wifi team (WIP)

[Akusu]

The Newb!
This is indeed my first rate my team post. Although I've been playing since the days of RBY, Emerald was the first point where I tried to make serious pokemon. DPPt has been awesome in that with Wifi, I can have opponents anytime, anywhere and that has increased the appeal of the game for me alot.

Origin!
This team came out of alot of the need for a fairly standard-built team. It's leaning towards the stall side and has earned me a few hard-earned victories and has not gone down without a fight yet.

The Goal!
Dish out as much toxic/stealth rock damage as possible and wait it out as long as possible, allowing for a good sweep at the end.


At a glance!

Under Consideration!

The Leader!

Venusaur/ Plumos Viir @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Overgrow
EVs: 56 HP / 252 SpA / 200 Spe
Nature: Timid
- Sleep Powder
- Leaf Storm
- Sludge Bomb
- Giga Drain -> Earthquake

Apart from the missing earthquake (I'm in a BP recession!) Plumos has been serving me well as a lead. No lead that I have run in to has outsped me and avoided a sleep powder or some wicked stab to the face.

My main problem with Plumos has been later in the game. Since I invariably switch out after using Sleep Powder (due to the sleep clause and all) He becomes one of my late-game sweepers later on, which has had various degrees of success.

The Support!

Claydol @ Light Clay
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 80 Def / 176 SpD Nature: Careful
- Explosion
- Reflect
- Light Screen
- Stealth Rock

Against a non-threatening, sleeping lead, this is my first switch in on the turn after a successful sleep. His main goal is to set up Stealth rock and both screens if he can, allowing my toxic stallers to start working their magic, especially if he can take out a threat with explosion on the way.

Claydol is somewhat of a placeholder. As good in theory as he sounds, he always seems to flop. I haven't gotten one successful explosion off, even when it seems like it will be possible, i.e. getting statused off a 10% chance, getting crit through a screen, etc.

Still, his main goal is usually fulfilled and allows for a greater chance to stall.


The Inducers!

Blastoise / Duros Siir @ Leftovers
Ability: Torrent
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 6 SpA
Nature: Bold
- Surf
- Toxic
- Protect
- Rapid Spin

Serving double-duty as a rapid spinner, this is the first of two toxic stallers. His sturdy frame has allowed him to survive explosions (allowing him to toxic the switch in) and once in torrent range he can dish out some pain that racks up with toxic damage for a deadly combination.

Duros has been working really well for me. I wanted a spinner that could handle ghosts well enough, and he can.

Helps alot that he's a good old standby from RBY!

Moltres @ Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 248 HP / 148 Def / 112 Spe
Nature: Rash
- Flamethrower
- Toxic
- Substitute
- Roost

I have never had any love for this bird until now. This is the second of my toxic stallers. The goal is simple: Toxic, then stall. (C wut I did thar?)

Seriously though, his ability to drag most opponents through at least 3 turns worth of stall is incredible, and he can have much more devastating effect if used correctly. He's also got alot of power against the toxic immune steels, and so far I've had no real issue with stealth rock because of the excellent support of my Blastoise.

Unfortunately I find that his sturdiness belies my luck, and sometimes I find he gets taken down early by a crit on a switchin or a miscalculation of his sturdiness to take the hit I was looking at.

Btw he was reset farmed in FR, not the friendliest game for trying to get the right nature =/ I did my best but settled for good IVs and a decent nature.

The Disruptor!

Hariyama/ Galroon @ Leftovers
Ability: Thick Fat
EVs: 76 HP / 180 Atk / 252 Def
Nature: Impish
- Knock Off
- Force Palm
- Payback
- Whirlwind

This is my answer to stall/setup teams. I'll usually bring him in on something non-threatening and use knock off to deprive it of leftovers etc. A follow-up whirlwind tells me what my opponent will try to switch in (if they didn't switch something different to take the knock-off) and helps to rack up stealth rock damage.

After this maneuver, if I feel comfortable against my opponent I'll duke it out with Force Palm and Payback to lower their health a bit, using whirlwind liberally when applicable. Payback is there to help me deal with any ghosts that might be trying to prevent Blastoise from spinning, while a weakened pokemon that's been paralyzed by force palm is easier to deal with.

Hariyama has been working fine, although once he's out I tend to leave him out until he's dead. This is fine unless I'm having a hard time pinning down a stat booster; Usually I'm in trouble if I lose Hariyama before dealing with that threat, especially if I couldn't manage to use knock off on it.

Pretty good for one of my leftover Emerald pokemon, don't you think?

The Cleaner!

Swellow/ Aeres Aria @ Flame Orb
Ability: Guts
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Nature: Jolly
- Facade
- Brave Bird
- Protect
- U-Turn

A ticking, fragile time-bomb. If Swellow is outsped, or poked in any way, she's so out of there.

That being said, once my opponent's team is weakened enough, or ideally, Toxic Stall has failed to finish off my opponents and this is my last pokemon, I'll try to sweep with him and Venusaur. Protect gives him a chance to burn himself without interference and let me stall a previously poisoned opponent into KO range.

U-Turn hasn't done much for me yet, considering the point I'm at in the game when I bring Swellow to bear. This might be a good spot for a nasty surprise, but I have no clue what it would be.

It's too bad he really can't take a hit though.


The Considered!
More details to come, but suffice to say that I think Ursaring may perform better than Swellow getting more crucial ohkos and surviving better but being slower.

Tauros was originally in the team instead of Claydol, as a lead with Venusaur in the wings, but due to his massive 160 BP requirement he's been put on the backburner for now. (especially after he got two shot by an Ambipom lead.)

Pinsir has the feel of a faster UU Rhyperior and I feel that it would be worth considering as a sweeper.

Main problems!
In a nutshell, resters and defensive stat-boosters have been giving me trouble. Otherwise most of my matches are really close since I'm still making mistakes that aren't just mispredictions. I'm also considering tweaking Venusaur since his scarf seems to hinder him on any other turn that isn't number 1.

In Conclusion!
I would love suggestions on how to improve the team obviously. Bonus points if you find solutions that involve RBY pokemon. I just love the idea of the oldies still being the goodies!

 

[Sui89]

It seems to me that you're trying to utilize Venusaur in a similar way to Roserade, in that you have a fast Sleep Powder and you can clean up in the match later on. Venusaur is bulkier than Roserade is, but since it seems like you're trying to use him similarly, I'd recommend that you just try Roserade over Venusaur as a lead. Moves are the same, exept the last slot. Ideally, I'd try for HP Fire, but since this is a Wifi team, Shadow Ball is probably more practical.

Instead of Explosion on your Claydol, maybe try Earth Power, Ice Beam, or Shadow Ball. That way you have a means of damaging without imidiately resorting to suicide.

I'd say use Swellow over Ursaring. This team needs the extra speed that Swellow provides. Just make sure you take out their Steel first. Magneton would be useful in supporting Swellow for this, but I don't know what you'd replace. Making Claydol your spinning and replacing Blastoise could possibly work, but that kind of goes away from your team's theme a little bit then.

 

[Akusu]

It seems to me that you're trying to utilize Venusaur in a similar way to Roserade, in that you have a fast Sleep Powder and you can clean up in the match later on. Venusaur is bulkier than Roserade is, but since it seems like you're trying to use him similarly, I'd recommend that you just try Roserade over Venusaur as a lead. Moves are the same, exept the last slot. Ideally, I'd try for HP Fire, but since this is a Wifi team, Shadow Ball is probably more practical.

Instead of Explosion on your Claydol, maybe try Earth Power, Ice Beam, or Shadow Ball. That way you have a means of damaging without imidiately resorting to suicide.

I'd say use Swellow over Ursaring. This team needs the extra speed that Swellow provides. Just make sure you take out their Steel first. Magneton would be useful in supporting Swellow for this, but I don't know what you'd replace. Making Claydol your spinning and replacing Blastoise could possibly work, but that kind of goes away from your team's theme a little bit then.

Yay a rate!

Roserade is quite likely a good idea, considering Venusaur's bulk avails him not. My only concern is that if I do that, I lose the earthquake that can take out the electric types my team doesn't like very much, as well as a way to damage steels that wall toxic.

As for Claydol, yeah, I'd much rather try an attack than do something that makes me replace Blastoise. If I made him spin, I could give Blastoise Roar though, but in that case I would have to worry about safe switches (thankfully easier with reflect etc up). It would give me another answer to stat boosters too.

I haven't found Steels to be an issue, provided I protect Moltres until they're gone. While I'm weak to special attacks overall, I'm noticing 3 pokes weak to special electric attacks (The physical ones get shrugged off) and an opposing magneton would have to get nailed by Hariyama or a risky flamethrower.

As for Magneton's synergy with Swellow.... I don't see it, seeing as he doesn't have magnet pull. I'd be more worried about rock types messing Swellow up, and that's why Venusaur/Swellow is a potent clean up combination.

 

[Sui89]

Magneton does have Magnet Pull, and he's faster than his two most common trapees, Steelix and Registeel, so he can Magnet Rise before they Earthquake. If you haven't found them a problem though, that's fine.

If you're that concerned about needing Earthquake to handle steels, you might try Will-o-Wisp over Toxic on Moltres. Granted, you can already deal with them with Flamethrower, but it gives you a more reliable way to hit everything on the switch in, barred things that have Flash Fire.

 

[Akusu]

Magneton does have Magnet Pull, and he's faster than his two most common trapees, Steelix and Registeel, so he can Magnet Rise before they Earthquake. If you haven't found them a problem though, that's fine.

If you're that concerned about needing Earthquake to handle steels, you might try Will-o-Wisp over Toxic on Moltres. Granted, you can already deal with them with Flamethrower, but it gives you a more reliable way to hit everything on the switch in, barred things that have Flash Fire.

He does? I thought that was a Magnezone only thing. Whoops.

Yeah I'll have to test for a while more, considering I haven't run into any steels that have caused me issues yet. Good thing about Steels is other than Magneton I can't think of a special based one, so they'll all have to work hard to get through Moltres and Blastoise.

I can always forgo rapid spin altogether and get earth power on Claydol to cover that concern as well. I'll have to mess around with it.

 

[memorexia]

I agree with Will-o-Wisp over Toxic on Moltres, as it's more common to see Steelix and Registeel than it is Ninetails or Arcanine with Flash Fire.

 

[LonelyNess]

So my first question to you is... what exactly are you accomplishing with those Screens? If you're going to ToxicStall, you're better off using naturally bulky Pokemon rather than trying to shoehorn Pokemon not generally good for the job into the role...

Screens are best used when you're trying to give a frail Pokemon a chance to set-up against opponents that it generally wouldn't be able to set up against, but in a stall team like this you're just... not accomplishing anything with them.

Now, if you're going to put in Pinser, Ursaring and other such Pokemon in your team, I'm all for Screens because they generally like the added bulk for getting Swords Dances off without too much trouble... but if you're going to maintain the Stall motif of this team I'd like to see more emphasis on covering threats to your team.

I'd like to see Claydol replaced... Your main opponents with this team will be Steel type Pokemon, and those with Rest / Sleep Talk. You will need a powerful attacker that can hit these Pokemon for heavy damage. But you also need to maintain a Stealth Rock user. I can't believe I'm actually going to suggest this Pokemon for your team but it honestly looks like the best option at the moment.

Camerupt (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Magma Armor
EVs: 252 Atk/92 Spe/164 SpA
Lonely nature (+Atk, -Def)
- Earthquake
- Fire Blast
- Stealth Rock
- Stone Edge

Now bear with me for a moment and let me explain. Right now, Rest Sleep Talk Spiritomb is absolute murder for you team. It will come in on Moltres and Blastoise... take the toxic, Calm Mind and begin to completely stall you out. You need some mixed power to bring that behemoth down.

You also need a way to prevent Steelix from getting Stealth Rock up, which nearly all of your Pokemon can so far, with the exception of Claydol... This will also patch up your weakness to the Chansey / Crobat / Steelix combination that many stall teams employ.

Your only care should be against Water types, but you have Blastoise to come in and take advantage of that.

To demonstrate the power of this set, look at some of these calculations.

Fire Blast vs. 0 / 252 Chansey 22%-26%
Earthquake vs. 0 / 252 Chansey 65% -77%

(sometimes a 2HKO when you use Fire Blast on the switch and then follow up with Earthquake, but it's a 2HKO with Earthquake regardless, and you outspeed)

Fire Blast vs. 252 / +252 Steelix OHKO regardless

Earthquake vs. 252 / +252 Spiritomb 43% - 51%
Fire Blast vs. 252 / 0 Spiritomb 61% - 75%

So Fire Blast followed by an EQ (to eliminate the chance of missing the second one and wasting 2 PP) is always a 2HKO.

This takes care of your stall problem pretty well, and maintains the presense of Stealth Rock

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Get rid of Force Palm on your Hariyama and put Close Combat. Force Palm is antithetical in conjunction with all of the Toxic you're spreading around, not to mention that it gives Steelix a chance to come in, take a weak hit and then lay rocks... it's just not the best choice for your team.

Also, I'd like to see Payback taken off for Stone Edge. There's no reason you should ever want to give Crobat a free switch-in... and Hariyama with no Stone Edge or Ice Punch does just that. You won't miss the coverage on Ghosts, since Mismagius isn't exactly the best spin blocker, and Spiritomb isn't weak to it in the first place (and you have a new toy with Camerupt to deal with that little bugger)

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Earthquake is a bad choice on your Venusaur, you should go with Hidden Power Ice if you can get it (I know it's an ingame team, but the extra time breeding will be worth it for sure).

If you can't get HP Ice, then at least put something useful on it... Imagine the surprise on an incoming Crobat when it gets hit by a speedy Stun Spore. I'm just saying that Earthquake is pretty much worthless, and any move that can increase coverage would be better over it.

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Also maintain Toxic on your StallTres... don't listen to the idiots telling you to get rid of it. Will-O-Wisp is meh... at best.

 

[Akusu]

I'm glad you're picking up on the glaring meh-ness of Claydol, because it was a temporary switch for Tauros originally that seemed to work out ok eventually. Theoretically it helps Swellow, but you're right, it doesn't really work.

Camerupt eh? That's so random it might work o.0

As you said that increases my weakness to bulky waters, but at the same time it's maintaining an immunity to super effective electric attacks that can nail 1/3rd of my team. And it looks like it might be able to be an effective threat too, considering it covers both steels and electrics beautifully. Best part is it's all TM attacks and I can breed one lickety split from Smeargle!

My whole qualm about rest/talkers and defensive stat-uppers came about when a certain someone lambasted this team with a calm minding, dark pulsing, sleeptalking Spiritomb >.<

I'll check Plumos's HP type with the guy in the vendors corner, although I tend to stay away from hrom HP because "perfect" hp involve a bit more effort than I should like. I do have a ton of bulba's from the breeding spree I went on to get him though, so maybe one of em has ice and I can check from there.

Edit: Plumos has HP Electric, which is fortuitous. Not ideal, but it gives me a mantine counter and still hit Crobat hard. I'll have to figure out how powerful it is though...

I'm a bit iffy about Close Combat, I don't necessarily want to see poor Hari get one-shot by something afterwards, but eh, it's only a heart scale, I can fix that after if I don't like it. I can use the BP I was working on for Venusaur on the Stone Edge TM for him too, since Payback is unnecessary with Camerutpt... and it was probably superior in the first place.

And yes, 60% chance to hit WoW that takes forever to kill someone and has no pertinent effect on my true weakness (the special attack side) or the 90% chance to hit Toxic that takes many less turns to kill with.... hrmmmmmmmm.

Thanks alot for the rate, I think I'll start breeding a numel now >.>