omg haaaaaaaaaaaaax!!!

[animenagai]

I've won quite a few battles with this team (climbed back to the top 50), but to be honest, this team feels quite average. Basically what I've realised are that my teams can be very good, but never elite. Therefore when I play guys like panamaxis, I feel like I'm starting on my back foot. My problem is that I still have that counter mentality, and I don't feel like I put quite enough effort into my own strategy. So, I've tried building a team based on paralysis, and this is what I got so far.

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Team at a glance:

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Heatran (M) @ Shucca Berry
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 4 HP/252 Spd/252 SAtk
Naive nature (+Spd, -SDef)
- Stealth Rock
- Fire Blast
- Earth Power
- Explosion
---

Blufftran by popular demand replaces scarftran and is now my lead. You guys were right when you said that it scores 1-2 kills per game. Enemy heatrans are usually the culprits. Blissey also gets hit HARD by this thing (I don't know if the OHKO is guaranteed but I know it's pretty close). Great for mind games, making people think that it's scarfed. The fact that this is a para team also helps, as heatran without a choice item is an absolute beast, it just doesn't have the speed for it. That's not much of a problem here.

Jirachi @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Serene Grace
EVs: 106 HP/252 Atk/152 Spd
Jolly nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
-Thunder Wave
- Iron Head
- Trick
- Ice Punch
---

Changed from a non-scarf para-flinch set to this little beauty. Outruns adamant DDmence and OHKO's it with ice punch, even without SR. Trick's here because I would probably prefer lefties late game when everything's paralysed, or at least when Salamence is dead. Can still play a deadly paraflinch game. Is good at both spreading para and taking advantage of it. I use this thing as much as possible. Gets killed by magnezone, but I can live with that.

Machamp (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: No Guard
EVs: 132 HP/252 Atk/124 Spd
Adamant nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Bulk Up
- Dynamicpunch
- Bullet Punch
- Stone Edge
---

What can I say? This thing's a beast. Meant to be my late game sweeper once everything's paralysed. I'm not quite sure about the set, but then again, it's not bad. Confusion + para = 3/8 chance that the other guy even gets to move (and perhaps hurt themself) which I find pretty broken. I usually only break this thing out late game after everything's paraysed for a sweep. Can work as a wall breaker too, as even the bulkiest of things (swampert, hippow) don't like confusion. Ev's are made to outrun Skarm, as that's as much speed as I need if everything else is paralysed. Also my only reliable T-tar counter, though I would prefer it if I didn't need to risk it before attemting a sweep.

Zapdos @ Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 86 HP/252 Def/172 Spd
Timid nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Heat Wave
- Discharge
- Roost
- Hidden Power [ice]
---

Now the same Zappy I used in my last RMT. What can I say though, I always knew this thing was a beast. Enough speed to outrun any lucario, enough coverage to cover half the metagame and of course decent bulk to take hits even after SR damage. This guy is here because I wanted something that counters many pokes so I use more of my other team slots to run my para strategy.

Togekiss (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Serene Grace
EVs: 252 HP/4 Def/252 SDef
Calm nature (+SDef, -Atk)
- Nasty Plot
- Thunder Wave
- Air Slash
- Roost

Replaces CB lax and does the job well. Kiss has 2 main roles: 1. to counter major special threats such as gengar and starmie (hence the EV's) and 2: to be a true member of this hax team, both distributing and taking advantage of paralysis.

Celebi @ Leftovers
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 HP/252 Def/4 SAtk
Bold nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Thunder Wave
- Grass Knot
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Recover
---

Changed from the very questionable Starmie to Celebi. Helps me with Mence which I have problems with. It also manges to kill the likes of hippowdon and gliscor, something that neither Zapdos or Heatran can do despite being special based. I also don't need to worry about Swampert anymore. Fully defensive EV set because I don't need any speed. I might put in more SAtk EV's though so I can 2HKO Skarm for example.



OK, that's the team. here's what I don't like about it:

A. Zapdos, heatran and snorlax were all not only used in my last team, they run exactly the same sets, barring zapdos having t-wave over HP ice.

B. My para strategies don't seem to work as well as they should. I don't think I put in too much thought as to what switches in to certain pokes.

That's it really. Tear it apart.

Changes are in Bold.

Threat List:

Aerodactyl: Usually a lead, so I'm really not concerned.
Alakazam: Snorlax
Azelf: Snorlax if it's the sweeper set, Heatran can deal with it very well too.
Blissey: Champ, Snorlax
Breloom: Get something to go to sleep, then send in zapdos.
Bronzong: Heatran, Zapdos
Celebi: Heatran, Snorlax, possibly jira
Cresselia: Snorlax, Jira, Heatran
Donphan: Starmie, heatran as long as I don't come in on EQ
Dragonite: Zapdos and Jira can paralyse it. Heatran can kill it as long as I get a good switch in.
Dugtrio: Most are CB'd so revenge kills are fine.
Dusknoir: Heatran, Zapdos
Electivire: Not too worried about this TBH. Not a lot of top players use this guy. Jira can paralyse it.
Empoleon: Zapdos, starmie, Zapdos. If it Subs down for petaya, I can bullet punch it if it's low enough.
Flygon: Celebi, Heatran on a revenge kill or predicted outrage.
Forretress: Zapdos, Heatran, Machamp if need be.
Gengar: Mainly Snorlax. Heatran Does well enough.
Gliscor: Starmie, heatran if it doesn't get EQ'd first.
Gyarados: Zapdos, Starmie
Heatran: Snorlax is a wonderful switch in. My own Heatran can counter it well enough too.
Heracross: Zapdos mainly, Heatran for a revenge kill.
Hippowdon: Celebi.
Infernape: Heatran and Jiraichi owith prediction and revenge kills. Really big problem.
Jirachi: Heatran, Zapdos.
Jolteon: Snorlax does well enough, though specs t-bolt does 40%. Heatran can revenge kill it.
Kingdra: Paralyse it somehow or dragon pule with Heatran (usually outruns it even with 1 dd).
Lucario: Zapdos, heatran revenge kill.
Machamp: lol, this one's always a bit dangerous, but what team isn't without a ghost or slowbro? It's not fast so I an deal with it well enough.
Magnezone: Snorlax does well. Heatran can kill it as long as it wasn't trapped on dragon pulse.
Mamoswine: Heatran revenge kill, Zapdos, starmie revenge kill.
Metagross: Heatran, Zapdos, Jira and starmie can paralyse it.
Ninjask: LOL
Porygon-Z: Jira, Snorlax.
Rhyperior: Celebi possibly, Jira if it has a bit of health. A bit problematic, but it's rare.
Rotom-A: Heatran mostly. Snorlax for choiced versions.
Salamence: Jiraichi, Celebi, Snorlax and heatran depending on the set and what they're switching into.
Scizor: Zappy, Heatran.
Skarmory: Zappy, Heatran, Starmie.
Snorlax: My own lax as most of them aren't CB, so I can hit harder. Machamp.
Starmie: Snorlax with pursuit. I can finish it with my own starmie or Zapdos if need be.
Suicune: Snorlax.
Swampert: I'll need to rely on machamp or jira for this one.
Tentacruel: Snorlax, Zapdos. It's not really an offensive threat anyways, just toxic spikes.
Togekiss: Snorlax, Zapdos.
Tyranitar: Machamp. Starmie and heatran for revenge kills. Jira's iron head absolutely smokes T-tar.
Vaporeon: Zapdos, Snorlax, Machamp.
Weavile: Jira.
Yanmega: Zapdos, Snorlax.
Zapdos: Snorlax

 

[Bloo]

Hello

Okay I'm gonna start from the top. You're terribly weak to Salamence. You have no reliable switch-ins, and it's really gonna kill you in the long run. But enough with that, I'm gonna give you a few suggestions here and there since your team looks fine. It just needs a few adjustments. Another Pokemon that can cause you significant amounts of problems is Flygon since you have no reliable switch in. Choice Band Flygon can OHKO/2HKO your entire team.

Okay first off, I would do a few things with your Jirachi. First, I suggest making Jirachi your lead and giving him a Choice Scarf with the following set:

Jirachi @ Choice Scarf
Nature: Jolly
Ability: Serene Grace
EV's: 108 HP/252 Attack/200 Speed
-Iron Head
-Trick/Body Slam/Zen Headbutt
-U-Turn
-Ice Punch

This Jirachi will help you greatly with your salamence problems. With 200 SPeed EV's and a Jolly Nature, Jirachi reaches a total speed stat of 471, allowing Jirachi to outspeed and Salamence after a Dragon Dance and OHKO with Ice Punch. U-Turn is an excellent move as it allows Jirachi to escape from any Magnezone that might switch in as well as serving as a great scouting move and that is why it is chosen over Stealth Rock. Trick is a great disruption move. Trick can be used on walls to diminish their tanking ability. However, Trick can be dropped for Body Slam if you prefer the ability to paralyze your opponent. Zen Headbutt can also be used to help you revenge kill Infernape.

Now, to further assist you with your Salamence problem I suggest using a Celebi over Starmie. Celebi is a great addition to your team for a couple of reasons. One reason is that it provides you with a much needed Electric resist. In addition, Celebi is an overall better counter to Gyarados and Salamence than Starmie ever will be. Celebi still provides you with a Fighting resist and a very welcome Ground resist to your team. Not only that, but Celebi has amazing synergy with Heatran. So, I suggest using the following Celebi set.

Celebi @ Leftovers
Nature: Bold -
EV's: 252 HP/216 Def/36 Spe
Ability: Natural Cure
- Grass Knot
- Hidden Power Ice
- Recover
- Thunder Wave

This set will actually let you counter Salamence who runs all over your team. HP Ice is really there for Salamence/Gliscor/Flygon all of which are giving your team trouble. Thunder Wave is great for crippling Infernape and Heatran switch-ins as well as fitting into your paralysis based theme. The 36 Speed EV's allow you to outspeed most Tyranitar's allowing you to deal a hard hit with Grass Knot.

Now you say you are not happy with your current Heatran set because you used it on your last team. Luckily, I have an idea. SInce your team is lacking a Pokemon that can set up Stealth Rock, lets put Stealth Rock on Heatran and change Heatran to BaitTran. It works wonders since it actually can trick people into thinking it's a Scarf Tran. heatran can also take out an opposing Blissey's by Exploding on her making life for your Zapdos alot easier. So, I suggest using the following Heatran set:

Heatran @ Shuca Berry
Nature: Naive(+Spe,-SpD)
EV's: 252 Spe/ 252 SpA/ 4 Hp
Ability: Flash Fire
- Stealth Rock
- Explosion
- Fire Blast
- Earth Power

Basically, you switch Heatran in on something that it can scare away such as Scizor and then use Stealth Rock as they switch. After they switch in their counter, you can either Explode or switch out and save Heatran for later on in the match. This Heatran wil usually get you 1 kill on average, but if you play it right it can potentially kill a good 2-3 Pokemon. Fire Blast more power, and Earth Power for other Heatran. Explosion as a last resort, or just a way to take out a wall as stated before. Shuca Berry will enable Heatran to survive at least one Ground attack. For example, if you need a last ditch counter to salamence, Shuca Berry will save you from Earthquake allowing you to Explode on Salamence.

Now that Heatran no longer has a Choice Scarf, you are vulnerable to Ice Punch Lucario. However, there is an easy way to fix this so do not worry =) To fix this, I suggest making Zapdos fast enough to outspeed Lucario. To make Zapdos faster than Lucario, I suggest using an EV spread of 252 HP / 176 Speed / 80 Def with a Timid Nature. With a Timid Nature and 176 speed EV's, Zapdos reaches a total speed stat of 308, outspeeding any version of Lucario barring Choice Scarfed versions.

On Snorlax, I suggest using Body Slam over Return. Body Slam is an overall better option than Return as Choice Band Snorlax, being one of the slowest Pokémon available, prefers the 30% paralysis over the power provided by Return. Body Slam also fits into your paralysis based theme =) I also suggest using Crunch over Pursuit. The things Snorlax will be trying to Pursuit are Rotom and Gengar. Rotom can easily Will-o-Wisp your SNorlax and just Rest off the damage while Gengar can 2HKO you with Focus Blast. Crunch provides more power and allows you to use Selfdestruct. If you use Crunch, I suggest using Selfdestruct over Fire Punch. Fire Punch is not needed because you already have Superpower to hit steel types such as Scizor and Skarmory reasonably hard. Selfdestruct puts a massive dent in anything even if they resist the move making it the superior choice.

Good Luck =D

 

[blasphemy1]

The team looks pretty good but I think you need to replace Snorlax with something more capable of handling Rotom-A. It can switch into almost all of your pokemon, even Heatran if you are not stuck on Fire Blast. If Snorlax shows its ugly face, a simple Will-o-Wisp without a switch will make Pursuit do absolutely nothing, and now they can kill your entire team with just Rotom-A, save Heatran, who won't enjoy repeated Thunderbolts or Discharges, especially the latter due to its 30% chance of paralysis.

I think a CB Heracross could work wonderfully in that spot, especially since they have similar counters. A CB Pursuit from Adamant Heracross does 48.02%-56.57% to 252 HP / 252 Def Bold Rotom-A, who you won't encounter very often or even at all. That is an easy 2HKO and if they switch a OHKO. I highly suggest a Heracross on this team as status is going to wreck you.

 

[bugmaniacbob]

First off... Zapdos. It's a pretty crummy lead, in my opinion... Aero beats it, and it doesn't exactly DO anything for the team, as a lead. And it's needed for defence. Switch with Jirachi or something better as a lead. Also, Discharge and TW do pretty much the same thing, which is paralyse foes. If you want Discharge, stick on HP Ice for Flygon or HP Grass for Swampert and Rhyperior. And how, precisely, does it counter Mamo? I'm fairly sure CB Mamo Ice Shard 2HKOs. Rotom may be able to sort out your Machamp problems and keep all these threats in check at the same time.

Machamp... you mention that Machamp doesn't like status. To remedy this, you could give it Guts, or add Rest Talk, or add a Cleric elsewhere on the team.

Porygon2 may be a good addition to such a highly para-leaning team, as it has both Thunder Wave for parahax and Trace + Ice Beam + Recover for scaring off Salamence, Flygon and Dragonite.

Your Snorlax appears to be the one from the analysis. Tyranitar may be a good substitute for it, since your Snorlax has 350 SDef and 462 HP, whereas the Standard CBtar has 354 SDef and 385 HP, as well as the benefit of more attack, more physical durability, and still being able to force out most of the stuff Snorlax does (and hitting harder with Pursuit if they switch). Provided you don't walk into anything stupidly, it can also put pressure on Bulky Waters.

Jolteon or Magnezone could negate your electric weakness, but both are weak to Ground attacks from Hippo and Scor. Bulky Dragonite are also probably your best answer to Infernape, Gliscor and Hippo, since the mix set can pretty much handle any pokemon in the game (if you've been a-paralysing...)

Starmie seems a bit out of place on this team... it's very fast anyway, it doesn't need to use TW, and a different paralyser could work better, or simply scrap the idea of three pokes that paralyse and put something that better handles your weaknesses, such as Swampert, who can beat Hippo and Gliscor as well as being an electric immunity.

Compulsory Diagram (sorry)

 

[animenagai]

That's some good advice, but I don't think you guys understand one thing, this team is made to paralyse and sweep with champ with dynamic punch. Therefore, there is no way I'll give machamp guts over no guard.

Bloo's advice seem really good. I'm a bit weary of changing heatran to something not scarfed though, as infernape would rape my team even more. I think I'll scarf jiraichi and hit it with both trick and body slam on the set, dropping u-turn. I am willing to try bait-tran though.

I've been thinking about celebi > starmie for a while now. I was just worried about ape once again. O well, I'll t-wave it on the switch :D. Not sure I'll want the same EV spread as starmie, but that's ok, I can make a set myself.

Snorlax changes all seem very reasonable. I'll do make those changes now.

edit: I made some changes to the team as advised. Changes are in bold. Pretty temted to make heatran my lead right now.

 

[Scofield]

Okay, I see where this team can be improved. I like all of the pokemon you are using and their synergy....but I absolutely hate your movesets.

If you don't want to feel like you are starting out on your backfoot, get a good lead and get as much type coverage on your sets as possible.

1. Don't lead with Jirachi. You'll be fucked as you expose yourself to magnezone too early. I've tried it, choiced jirachi is a terrible lead. body slam also sucks ass. Use fire punch/thunder punch over it. body slam has low base power, is easily resisted (bad on a choice set) and only (using that term loosely) has a 60% chance of paralysis. Might as well use twave. I'll tell you who to lead with when I get there.

2. Zapdos. Twave isn't that good on zapdos, just use discharge to spread paralysis. Even if you do use twave, you would want tbolt instead in that case. Replace twave with hp ice. This makes it so that the only pokemon that can switch in safely on you is pert, and you have celebi to cover pert. I don't like the ev spread or nature, but that's a personal thing.

3. Again I don't like the nature/ev spread, but whatever. It's just that most mamo don't run max speed, let alone ice fang. They almost always just ice shard. What exactly are you trying to hit with hp ice? The dragons like twave much much less. Go with hp fire. Grass/fire has great type coverage, and you have the bonus of luring and killing scizors. Not much of anything can stand up to grass/fire and likes twave.

4. Ah, heatran. The previously mentioned "blufftran" is much much better for your team. You have jirachi to revenge things, and you are bulky enough to take any pokemon on and you have machamps bp for any sashers. Explosion is great. Lucario can be a problem, but if you go with fire punch on Jirachi, it can check lucario for you. Also, lead with this heatran.

Please at least test these changes, I guarantee that at least one of them will stick.

 

[panamaxis]

since this team is hax based I'd suggest using togekiss over snorlax. Use the set:

Calm 252 hp / 252sp.def / 4 def.
Nasty Plot
Roost
Thunder-Wave
Air Slash

This give you an answer to special threats, while thunderwave + nasty plot + air slash is godly in the right hands. You beat all blisseys, rotom and zapdos's with this set unless they run status.

Celebi does not need those speed evs, especially since you have t-wave. At most you want 36 to outspeed t-tar, throw the remainder in defense.

Maybe zapdos could be a subrooster? Substitute, discharge, roost, heatwave? If you want to keep it the way it is then either change discharge for thunderbolt or get rid of thunderwave for substitute or hidden power ice.

 

[animenagai]

Thanks to scofield and pana for some awesome advice. The reason I ran body slam over t-wave is because I wanted to be able to paralyse ground types as well. I guess the only ground types I was worried about were mamo and flygon, which i deal with pretty well now.

The more I think about what pana said about celebi, the more it made sense. Might use more SAtk EV's. Team's now updated. Thanks again guys.

 

[panamaxis]

please note animenagai, that you will not KO scizor with hidden power fire unless you invest in sp. atk evs.