Once Upon A Time...

[rawwritsmikey]

Once Upon A Time...

Introduction...
Hello Smogoners! I'm very new to competitive battling. This is my first true competitive team that I have built and tested, so go easy on me. When building a team, I like to have a theme in mind to make it more interesting and fun. This team is based off of fairy tales, hence the name. I would've done something like a Hyper Offensive or Stall team, but balanced seemed to be what fit this team the most. When testing, I lost a little more than half my battles. A large sum of those lost battles could be attributed to my lack of experience, or maybe my team is just really bad. I'm not sure. I was gonna include an original fairy tale to go along with the team but I'm getting tired of typing and probably nobody cares anyway. Enough of that though. And without further a due, my team!


Team Building...
Now to be honest, I was thinking very competitively when building my team at all. I was just looking for pokemon who could fit in a fairy tale and filled the roles I needed. I did try to make it competitive though.

I started with Whimsicott because I really wanted to use one. He played the role of the prankster protagonist. In the team, he is being used as a defensive support.

I then saw Gothitelle and thought she'd be perfect for the role of a witch. She is being used as a support attacker in the team.

I saw Blissey as the fairy godmother to Whimsicott. I also needed a special wall so Blissey was perfect.

All fairy tales have dragons. Garchomp is more of a land shark, but that's besides the point. He is still dragon type and I wanted to use him. And there came my physical sweeper.

I exchanged Blissey for Jirachi because I wanted more of a fairy role. Plus, Jirachi can set up rocks. I think Blissey can too but oh well. ParaFlinch was also very appealing. It makes the team even more annoying combined with Whimsicott and Gothitelle with Trick.

I was running out of character ideas. I still needed a physical wall, and Gliscor looks like a monster and fits in a fairy tale so there we have it.

Finally, I needed a special sweeper. I saw Zoroark as another trickster who would frame Whimsicott and get Gothitelle to put a curse on him. I was hesitant about how well Illusion would work though, but I was determined to try it out.

At this point, I was worried with how much synergy my team actually had, but I just went with it. Looking at it, my team is pretty annoying and I liked the idea of that.

Team At A Glance...

In Detail...

Prankster|Impish
252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD

• Encore
• Taunt
• Switcheroo
• U-Turn

Some of you may be asking to yourself why I'm using a Whimsicott. Well quite simply, cause I want to. Whimsicott has been very useful to me. He is quite annoying to the opposing team. Usually if I see that I'm facing a hyper offensive or if I see a hazard setter, I'll lead with Whimsicott and prevent the hazards with Taunt. Taunt is also used to prevent setting up. Then I'd use encore in tandem with Taunt to force a switch incase they try to kill off my Whimsicott. I've equipped a Lagging Tail to him and Switcheroo to cripple sweepers and it helps the rest of my pokemon outspeed them. Lastly, U-Turn is used to keep momentum and prevent Whimsicott from being Taunt bait. The EVs I have for him are pretty standard I guess, maximizes bulk. I've really just been using recommended EV builds because I'm not experienced enough.

Shadow Tag|Timid
252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe

• Psychic
• Thunderbolt
• Hidden Power Ice/Fire/Fighting
• Trick

Gothitelle is my revenge killer, who happens to also take special attacks pretty well. His moveset and EV build is pretty basic. I chose a Choice Scarf over Specs for the extra speed. Psychic is self explanatory, it's Gothitelle's main stab. Thunderbolt is for coverage. I've been switching between HP Ice, Fire, and Fighting because I honestly don't know which one I should keep. HP Ice takes care ground types such as Gliscor. HP Fire takes care of steel types such as Ferrothorn and Forretress. Gothitelle is usually what I use to take out those hazard setters. HP Fighting is useful against the Ice types that this team has a major weakness against. The last move, Trick, is used with my Choice Scarf to cripple walls once I've taken out most other threats. And the EV spread is a recommended build again.

Rough Skin|Jolly
4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe

• Outrage
• Earthquake
• Fire Fang
• Dual Chop

Garchomp is my physical sweeper. He has a basic Choice Banded set. Outrage and Earthquake are the main stabs. Fire Fang is for coverage. I opted for Dual Chop instead of Dragon Claw to take out Substitutes. The EV spread is self explanatory. I guess there isn't much else to say...

Serena Grace|Careful
252 HP / 224 SpD / 32 Spe

• Stealth Rocks
• Wish
• Iron Head
• Body Slam

Jirachi is my main special wall equipped with Leftovers. I needed a hazard setter so I put Stealth Rocks on him. Wish gives Jirachi and the rest of my team some healing support. Then there's the ParaFlinch combo, Iron Head and Body Slam. This has saved me some matches so many times. I chose Body Slam over Thunderwave to hit ground types, but now I can't hit ghost types. I originally had the EV spread as 252 HP / 236 SpD / 20 Spe but then I boosted speed a little. I am not even sure which set was better to be honest.

Poison Heal|Impish
252 HP / 184 Def / 72 Spe

• Taunt
• Toxic
• Protect
• Earthquake

Gliscor is my main physical wall. I opted for Taunt instead of Substitute because I didn't need the stalling that much and I didn't want him to be set up bait. Toxic poisons stuff. It's nice to have that extra damage. Protect lets me scout and also gives me extra Poison Heal healing. Earthquake is to prevent Gliscor from being Taunt bait and it has helped me take out a few threats before because Gliscor has a decent attack stat. His EV spread is in kind of the same situation as Jirachi. I had it at 252 HP / 240 Def / 16 Spe but then changed it. I'm still clueless about the EV spread.

Illusion|Timid
4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe

• Nasty Plot
• Dark Pulse
• Focus Blast
• Flamethrower

Last but not least, my special sweeper Zoroark. Illusion has been more useful than I thought it would be. It got me a few vital kills and a chance to set up with Nasty Plot, such as taking out Deoxys-D before it can set up too many hazards. Dark Pulse is his main stab. Focus Blast is for coverage, but I'm seriously considering switching Focus Blast for HP Fighting because I can never land a hit with it. Flamethrower is also for coverage. Life Orb is for that extra power. EV Spread is another basic one I guess. I'm still a beginner so I might get more creative with these as I progress.

Weaknesses...

1. Physical ice attacks wreck my team. Both Whimsicott and Gliscor, the only pokemon on my team who can take a physical attack, get wrecked by ice.
2. My team overall is pretty frail. Zoroark cannot take a hit, and Garchomp is okay as long as it isn't ice or dragon. Both pairs of defensive pokemon (Jirachi/Gothitelle and Gliscor/Whimsicott) have the same vital weaknesses.
3. I'm drawing a blank right now so I'll add more as I think of them.

And Again...

​

 

[fire r a g e]

I'd say Full Incense would be more reliable than Lagging Tail if you want to cripple an opponent.

 

[rawwritsmikey]

That really just makes Whimsicott's job absolete until I get a chance to trick off the Full Incense.