Helloooooo Smogon!
I've been playing on showdown for a while, bouncing from tier to tier, trying to find one I was good at. I found that gen 6 UU was pretty fun, didn't like gen 7, but Gen 5 pretty quickly became my favorite tier. I've been trying really hard to make teams that work, and finally I made one that seems to have potential, but there are a few issues that I think can be worked out with a few moveset swaps. I've been thinking about it, but with no success, so I'm hoping that someone with more experience than myself can help me out.
I've found that over the about 3 years I've been playing pokemon, the only team archetypes I really pull off well is balance and semistall. With offensive teams, I tend to play conservatively, and with stall teams, I don't really have the patience and skill to pull it off. I think you'll get the idea of my preferred playstyle from looking at my team. The team I have here is a balance team, and it uses most of my favorite poke's in gen V's metagame so it's a lot of fun to play for me.
I'm gonna keep all the individual poke explanations pretty brief because they're all pretty standard sets.
That said, here's the team (Peaked at 1350 ELO):
Jirachi @ Leftovers
Ability: Serene Grace
EVs: 252 HP / 236 SpD / 20 Spe
Careful Nature
- Iron Head
- Wish
- Stealth Rock
- Thunder Wave
This is the pretty standard specially defensive Jirachi. Handles all the special dragons, can support the rest of the team with wish (which it really appreciates because I have 3 life orb attackers), and twave to make it not 100% setup fodder. I use twave over body slam because I don't have too much trouble with ground types and I like the 100% paralysis over the 60% of body slam).
This one is pretty standard.
Landorus-Therian @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- U-turn
- Hidden Power [Ice]
One of the most common pokemon in the OU metagame, Lando-T is just great for the team. It handles the fast fire types like Volcarona that Jirachi hates, can scout with U-turn, and HP ice hits dragons and other lando-t.
Jellicent @ Leftovers
Ability: Water Absorb
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Recover
- Scald
- Will-O-Wisp
- Taunt
Jellicent is able to handle a lot of pokemon that gives both Jirachi and Landorus trouble, such as most waters (namely Keldeo, because even Jirachi gets 2HKO'd by specs hydro pump or surf in the rain), Garchomp, and Scizor. I've considered putting in toxic over will-o-wisp, but Jellicent really loves the ability to burn Tyranitar and Scizor consistently.
Excadrill @ Life Orb
Ability: Mold Breaker
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Rapid Spin
- Iron Head
- Earthquake
- Rock Slide
Excadrill is just great. I agree with the unban from the OU tier, but it still a top threat. I run mold breaker over sand rush because easing the predictions against enemy rotom-w and lati twins is more useful to me than the sweeping potential against sand teams.
Virizion @ Life Orb
Ability: Justified
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 3 Atk / 30 Def / 30 SpD / 30 Spe
- Focus Blast
- Giga Drain
- Synthesis
- Hidden Power [Rock]
Virizion was the last pokemon I added to the team, because it handles the threats that the rest of the team has trouble with. It destroys Ferrothorn with focus blast and wrecks bulky waters and politoeds with giga drain. Most virizon run HP Ice to threaten out grounds not weak to grass like chomp and lando-t, but I use Rock to hit Volcarona on the switch. Usually, I bluff HP Ice when I send it out agianst Lando-t and chomp, which causes them to switch.
Life orb is for the extra power, because Virizion kind of needs it for only a base 90 special attack. Special Virizion usually runs Calm Mind, but I find that it's hard to find time to set up because usully the opponent will just switch into something that can take Virizion's attack and force it out with super effective STAB. Synthesis is my replacement for CM to help with LO recoil.
VIrizion is the pokemon in question the most. It's the best thing I can think of for this slot, because of it's typing and coverage, but a more threatening special attacker with more offensive presence would probably be preferable, if it can do Virizion's job better. I'm also unsure about synthesis, because while it is useful, there are probably other moves that are more worthy of the slot. Currently Life orb for power, but lefties are also a worthy option.
Hydreigon @ Life Orb
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Draco Meteor
- Dark Pulse
- Taunt
- Fire Blast
Standard stallbreaker/anti-lead. Not much to be said here, Hydreigon just covers threats that would otherwise destroy the team, like reuniclus (if it has a little damage on it) and skarmory.
Threats to the team:
CONKELDURR!!!!!!!!!!! (Particularly if it's got Iron Fist)
Conk with drain punch/ice punch/thunder punch can 2hko my whole team. It can also live at least one hit from any single move at full health. If it's sent out against Hydreigon, for example, Mach punch forces it out. This leads to a 50/50 between going to Landorus to take a Thunder punch and intimidate or Jellicent to take an ice punch (and then burn conkeldurr). In general, if I guess wrong, I lose.
Bulky steels (especially if not weak to fighting or ground), such as Skarmory, Jirachi, and Ferrothorn.
These guys are hard to kill, and for Skarmory, Hydreigon's Fire blast is the only thing that can meaningfully dent it. Meanwhile, it can set up tons of entry hazards that give my team a lot of trouble.
Scarf Kyurem-Black
Jirachi is the only thing that can survive 2 Outrages, and that's not even guaranteed from full health. Meanwhile, it's nerve-wracking to send in Landorus on an ice-type to set up an intimidate, because if I'm wrong, instant OHKO.
Setup sweepers (namely Dragonite and Volcarona)
Dragonite and Volcarona are really prominent in the tier, and for good reason: if they set up, it's basically GG. If Jellicent is dead or misses a will-o-wisp on Dragonite, I get swept. But if Jellicent is alive and healthy, I'm mostly okay.
Notable Issues in the team:
-I often don't have good control over entry hazards. It might be my fault as the player, but I find that it's hard to use rapid spin with Excadrill without getting punished pretty hard, and Jirachi is sometimes forced out before it can set up rocks. Jellicent is a great spinblocker but it's hard to send in against starmie because tbolt is a 2HKO, and it doesn't appreciate getting statused (toxic from spikes) by tentacruel.
-I don't have any moves to hit fighting super-effectively. Never really been too much of an issue outside of Conkeldurr, though, because usually fights are dual-type like with the musketeers.
Things I've considered to improve the team
-I can put in Zen Headbutt over Stealth Rock on Jirachi to hit conkeldurr, while making Excadrill a support poke with rocks and rapid spin
-I can replace Virizion with HP Fire Latios or CM Latias (but Virizion's ability to murder Ttar and Gastrodon will be missed)
What do you guys think? Any feedback is appreciated. I think if I can improve the team's ability to handle the enemy even a little bit, it can be very successful.
Thanks in advance!*
EDIT: I think the roles in the team are pretty self-explanatory, but if more detail is needed or wanted, please let me know
I've been playing on showdown for a while, bouncing from tier to tier, trying to find one I was good at. I found that gen 6 UU was pretty fun, didn't like gen 7, but Gen 5 pretty quickly became my favorite tier. I've been trying really hard to make teams that work, and finally I made one that seems to have potential, but there are a few issues that I think can be worked out with a few moveset swaps. I've been thinking about it, but with no success, so I'm hoping that someone with more experience than myself can help me out.
I've found that over the about 3 years I've been playing pokemon, the only team archetypes I really pull off well is balance and semistall. With offensive teams, I tend to play conservatively, and with stall teams, I don't really have the patience and skill to pull it off. I think you'll get the idea of my preferred playstyle from looking at my team. The team I have here is a balance team, and it uses most of my favorite poke's in gen V's metagame so it's a lot of fun to play for me.
I'm gonna keep all the individual poke explanations pretty brief because they're all pretty standard sets.
That said, here's the team (Peaked at 1350 ELO):
Jirachi @ Leftovers
Ability: Serene Grace
EVs: 252 HP / 236 SpD / 20 Spe
Careful Nature
- Iron Head
- Wish
- Stealth Rock
- Thunder Wave
Landorus-Therian @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- U-turn
- Hidden Power [Ice]
Jellicent @ Leftovers
Ability: Water Absorb
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Recover
- Scald
- Will-O-Wisp
- Taunt
Excadrill @ Life Orb
Ability: Mold Breaker
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Rapid Spin
- Iron Head
- Earthquake
- Rock Slide
Virizion @ Life Orb
Ability: Justified
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 3 Atk / 30 Def / 30 SpD / 30 Spe
- Focus Blast
- Giga Drain
- Synthesis
- Hidden Power [Rock]
Hydreigon @ Life Orb
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Draco Meteor
- Dark Pulse
- Taunt
- Fire Blast
Ability: Serene Grace
EVs: 252 HP / 236 SpD / 20 Spe
Careful Nature
- Iron Head
- Wish
- Stealth Rock
- Thunder Wave
Landorus-Therian @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- U-turn
- Hidden Power [Ice]
Jellicent @ Leftovers
Ability: Water Absorb
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Recover
- Scald
- Will-O-Wisp
- Taunt
Excadrill @ Life Orb
Ability: Mold Breaker
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Rapid Spin
- Iron Head
- Earthquake
- Rock Slide
Virizion @ Life Orb
Ability: Justified
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 3 Atk / 30 Def / 30 SpD / 30 Spe
- Focus Blast
- Giga Drain
- Synthesis
- Hidden Power [Rock]
Hydreigon @ Life Orb
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Draco Meteor
- Dark Pulse
- Taunt
- Fire Blast
Jirachi @ Leftovers
Ability: Serene Grace
EVs: 252 HP / 236 SpD / 20 Spe
Careful Nature
- Iron Head
- Wish
- Stealth Rock
- Thunder Wave
This is the pretty standard specially defensive Jirachi. Handles all the special dragons, can support the rest of the team with wish (which it really appreciates because I have 3 life orb attackers), and twave to make it not 100% setup fodder. I use twave over body slam because I don't have too much trouble with ground types and I like the 100% paralysis over the 60% of body slam).
This one is pretty standard.
Landorus-Therian @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- U-turn
- Hidden Power [Ice]
One of the most common pokemon in the OU metagame, Lando-T is just great for the team. It handles the fast fire types like Volcarona that Jirachi hates, can scout with U-turn, and HP ice hits dragons and other lando-t.
Jellicent @ Leftovers
Ability: Water Absorb
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Recover
- Scald
- Will-O-Wisp
- Taunt
Jellicent is able to handle a lot of pokemon that gives both Jirachi and Landorus trouble, such as most waters (namely Keldeo, because even Jirachi gets 2HKO'd by specs hydro pump or surf in the rain), Garchomp, and Scizor. I've considered putting in toxic over will-o-wisp, but Jellicent really loves the ability to burn Tyranitar and Scizor consistently.
Excadrill @ Life Orb
Ability: Mold Breaker
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Rapid Spin
- Iron Head
- Earthquake
- Rock Slide
Excadrill is just great. I agree with the unban from the OU tier, but it still a top threat. I run mold breaker over sand rush because easing the predictions against enemy rotom-w and lati twins is more useful to me than the sweeping potential against sand teams.
Virizion @ Life Orb
Ability: Justified
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 3 Atk / 30 Def / 30 SpD / 30 Spe
- Focus Blast
- Giga Drain
- Synthesis
- Hidden Power [Rock]
Virizion was the last pokemon I added to the team, because it handles the threats that the rest of the team has trouble with. It destroys Ferrothorn with focus blast and wrecks bulky waters and politoeds with giga drain. Most virizon run HP Ice to threaten out grounds not weak to grass like chomp and lando-t, but I use Rock to hit Volcarona on the switch. Usually, I bluff HP Ice when I send it out agianst Lando-t and chomp, which causes them to switch.
Life orb is for the extra power, because Virizion kind of needs it for only a base 90 special attack. Special Virizion usually runs Calm Mind, but I find that it's hard to find time to set up because usully the opponent will just switch into something that can take Virizion's attack and force it out with super effective STAB. Synthesis is my replacement for CM to help with LO recoil.
VIrizion is the pokemon in question the most. It's the best thing I can think of for this slot, because of it's typing and coverage, but a more threatening special attacker with more offensive presence would probably be preferable, if it can do Virizion's job better. I'm also unsure about synthesis, because while it is useful, there are probably other moves that are more worthy of the slot. Currently Life orb for power, but lefties are also a worthy option.
Hydreigon @ Life Orb
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Draco Meteor
- Dark Pulse
- Taunt
- Fire Blast
Standard stallbreaker/anti-lead. Not much to be said here, Hydreigon just covers threats that would otherwise destroy the team, like reuniclus (if it has a little damage on it) and skarmory.
Threats to the team:
CONKELDURR!!!!!!!!!!! (Particularly if it's got Iron Fist)
Conk with drain punch/ice punch/thunder punch can 2hko my whole team. It can also live at least one hit from any single move at full health. If it's sent out against Hydreigon, for example, Mach punch forces it out. This leads to a 50/50 between going to Landorus to take a Thunder punch and intimidate or Jellicent to take an ice punch (and then burn conkeldurr). In general, if I guess wrong, I lose.
Bulky steels (especially if not weak to fighting or ground), such as Skarmory, Jirachi, and Ferrothorn.
These guys are hard to kill, and for Skarmory, Hydreigon's Fire blast is the only thing that can meaningfully dent it. Meanwhile, it can set up tons of entry hazards that give my team a lot of trouble.
Scarf Kyurem-Black
Jirachi is the only thing that can survive 2 Outrages, and that's not even guaranteed from full health. Meanwhile, it's nerve-wracking to send in Landorus on an ice-type to set up an intimidate, because if I'm wrong, instant OHKO.
Setup sweepers (namely Dragonite and Volcarona)
Dragonite and Volcarona are really prominent in the tier, and for good reason: if they set up, it's basically GG. If Jellicent is dead or misses a will-o-wisp on Dragonite, I get swept. But if Jellicent is alive and healthy, I'm mostly okay.
Notable Issues in the team:
-I often don't have good control over entry hazards. It might be my fault as the player, but I find that it's hard to use rapid spin with Excadrill without getting punished pretty hard, and Jirachi is sometimes forced out before it can set up rocks. Jellicent is a great spinblocker but it's hard to send in against starmie because tbolt is a 2HKO, and it doesn't appreciate getting statused (toxic from spikes) by tentacruel.
-I don't have any moves to hit fighting super-effectively. Never really been too much of an issue outside of Conkeldurr, though, because usually fights are dual-type like with the musketeers.
Things I've considered to improve the team
-I can put in Zen Headbutt over Stealth Rock on Jirachi to hit conkeldurr, while making Excadrill a support poke with rocks and rapid spin
-I can replace Virizion with HP Fire Latios or CM Latias (but Virizion's ability to murder Ttar and Gastrodon will be missed)
What do you guys think? Any feedback is appreciated. I think if I can improve the team's ability to handle the enemy even a little bit, it can be very successful.
Thanks in advance!*
EDIT: I think the roles in the team are pretty self-explanatory, but if more detail is needed or wanted, please let me know
Last edited:
