Introduction:
Hey there! Today I wanted to share with you the team that I have been using for the past few weeks. I am quite new to competitive battling, but I do believe that this is a great team, and I hope you can help me improve it even more.
This team was made based around Shell Smash Cloyster, and I tried to balance it as much as possible.
At a glance:
In-depth look:
Virile (Conkeldurr) @ Flame Orb
Ability: Guts
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 HP / 4 SDef
Adamant Nature
- Facade
- Drain Punch
- Mach Punch
- Earthquake
Conkeldurr has always been a powerful tank and sweeper, but not a lot of people make use of the Guts + Flame Orb + Facade combo. Facade is a 70 base power move of which the power doubles upon any status effect except for sleep and freeze. The guts ability can be used in combination with this to make an extremely powerful 140 base power x 1.5 move, becoming 210 power. Mach Punch is used towards fast but weak opponents, such as Smeargle, and Drain Punch is used to recover some of the HP lost by burn. Earthquake is only there for coverage, but is still used quite a bit.
Jaw (Garchomp) @ Choice Band
Ability: Rough Skin
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 Atk / 4 HP
Jolly Nature
- Fire Fang
- Earthquake
- Outrage
- Stone Edge
Garchomp is extremely powerful. Choice Band makes extremely powerful things even more powerful. This set is completely based on power, but can still outspeed nearly anything that comes in it's way. It may be extremely weak to Ice Shard Mamoswines, but it takes out the rest easily with STAB + Band boosted Outrage. Fire Fang is only there to take out Ferrothorn, Scizor and Forretress, and is not used a lot outside of that purpose. Earthquake is really good for Aegislash, and Stone Edge can be essential against Talonflame and Mega Charizard.
Beak (Talonflame) @ Life Orb
Ability: Gale Wings
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 Atk / 4 HP
Jolly Nature
- Brave Bird
- U-turn
- Flare Blitz
- Roost
Talonflame is my main lead, as long as I do not notice a huge weakness of another member of my team. With a combination of an extremely high speed and the ability Gale Wings, this thing is the ultimate counter towards any Bug-, Fighting-, and Grass-types. It can also easily take out unprepared lead such as Ferrothorn and Forretress, and is also the ultimate counter towards Mega Scizor. Brave Bird is extremely powerful, and is STAB + Life Orb boosted, making it a whopping ~230 base power with priority from Gale Wings. Flare Blitz has the same power, and is used towards any Steel-types. Roost is given priority from Gale Wings, making it great when expecting the foe to use a weak priority move to break sprees, and U-turn is used to switch into Ferrothorn to then be able to set up.
Stash (Alakazam) @ Alakazite
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 SAtk / 4 HP
Modest Nature
- Protect
- Focus Blast
- Psychic
- Shadow Ball
Alakazam was extremely powerful as it was, but the Mega Evolution made it more of a beast than it has ever been. It's whopping base 175 base Special Attack and 120 base Speed made it an extreme special sweeper. Magic Guard gives it immunity to Stealth Rock, which can be essential. Protect is used to set up, as Mega Evolution stats are received the turn after the Mega Evolution has been performed. It can then use whatever move fits for the opponent, and is nearly impossible to wall with a great supply of coverage moves. Trace can get it into some tricky situations, but as long as it sets up at a good time it could end up with a great ability such as Protean.
Bivalve (Cloyster) @ Scope Lens
Ability: Skill Link
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 Atk / 4 HP
Adamant Nature
- Icicle Spear
- Shell Smash
- Rapid Spin
- Rock Blast
Cloyster started out as that kind of bulky Pokémon who could take out a Dragon-type, but then evolved into something beastly in Generation 3. It was then when it received it's ability Skill Link, giving it 5 hits on every multi-hit move. After a Shell Smash, this thing is unstoppable. Scope Lens gives it critical hits on usually one or two of the hits in every turn, making it extremely strong. Icicle Spear is 25 base power + STAB + Shell Smash giving it 75 base power per hit. Rock Blast becomes 50 base power per hit, and Rapid Spin is used to take out hazards which could be dangerous for Talonflame and itself on a switch in. However, Lucario counters it with Bullet Punch and Vacuum Wave, so just look out for that before sending it in.
Spike (Ferrothorn) @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Iron Barbs
EVs: 252 Def / 252 HP / 4 SDef
Bold Nature
- Spikes
- Thunder Wave
- Leech Seed
- Stealth Rock
Ferrothorn can set up when it is necessary. Talonflame U-turns into this guy, and the first thing to do is always to Stealth Rock. Stealth Rock is so necessary as it counters nearly every Ice-, Fire-, and Flying-type. Spikes or Leech Seed should be set up next, to regain some health and deal some extra damage to switch-ins. Thunder Wave can be used when necessary, but is honestly just used to leave a little present when health is low. This thing used to be the most necessary thing ever back when Mega-Kangashkan was OU, as it does massive damage back to it, but it is still useful against every physical sweeper, especially Azumarill.
Conclusion:
So, as I said in the beginning, and as this thread's purpose is, please rate my team. I would really love some feedback on this team, as I have been using it for a while and it has yet to fail me completely. This team can only get swept when making terrible plays, as most of the time there is a counter for every sweeper. I would love to have your opinion on some of my items, especially if I should replace Choice Band on Garchomp with Choice Scarf.
Thank you!
Hey there! Today I wanted to share with you the team that I have been using for the past few weeks. I am quite new to competitive battling, but I do believe that this is a great team, and I hope you can help me improve it even more.
This team was made based around Shell Smash Cloyster, and I tried to balance it as much as possible.
At a glance:
In-depth look:
Virile (Conkeldurr) @ Flame Orb
Ability: Guts
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 HP / 4 SDef
Adamant Nature
- Facade
- Drain Punch
- Mach Punch
- Earthquake
Conkeldurr has always been a powerful tank and sweeper, but not a lot of people make use of the Guts + Flame Orb + Facade combo. Facade is a 70 base power move of which the power doubles upon any status effect except for sleep and freeze. The guts ability can be used in combination with this to make an extremely powerful 140 base power x 1.5 move, becoming 210 power. Mach Punch is used towards fast but weak opponents, such as Smeargle, and Drain Punch is used to recover some of the HP lost by burn. Earthquake is only there for coverage, but is still used quite a bit.
Jaw (Garchomp) @ Choice Band
Ability: Rough Skin
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 Atk / 4 HP
Jolly Nature
- Fire Fang
- Earthquake
- Outrage
- Stone Edge
Garchomp is extremely powerful. Choice Band makes extremely powerful things even more powerful. This set is completely based on power, but can still outspeed nearly anything that comes in it's way. It may be extremely weak to Ice Shard Mamoswines, but it takes out the rest easily with STAB + Band boosted Outrage. Fire Fang is only there to take out Ferrothorn, Scizor and Forretress, and is not used a lot outside of that purpose. Earthquake is really good for Aegislash, and Stone Edge can be essential against Talonflame and Mega Charizard.
Beak (Talonflame) @ Life Orb
Ability: Gale Wings
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 Atk / 4 HP
Jolly Nature
- Brave Bird
- U-turn
- Flare Blitz
- Roost
Talonflame is my main lead, as long as I do not notice a huge weakness of another member of my team. With a combination of an extremely high speed and the ability Gale Wings, this thing is the ultimate counter towards any Bug-, Fighting-, and Grass-types. It can also easily take out unprepared lead such as Ferrothorn and Forretress, and is also the ultimate counter towards Mega Scizor. Brave Bird is extremely powerful, and is STAB + Life Orb boosted, making it a whopping ~230 base power with priority from Gale Wings. Flare Blitz has the same power, and is used towards any Steel-types. Roost is given priority from Gale Wings, making it great when expecting the foe to use a weak priority move to break sprees, and U-turn is used to switch into Ferrothorn to then be able to set up.
Stash (Alakazam) @ Alakazite
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 SAtk / 4 HP
Modest Nature
- Protect
- Focus Blast
- Psychic
- Shadow Ball
Alakazam was extremely powerful as it was, but the Mega Evolution made it more of a beast than it has ever been. It's whopping base 175 base Special Attack and 120 base Speed made it an extreme special sweeper. Magic Guard gives it immunity to Stealth Rock, which can be essential. Protect is used to set up, as Mega Evolution stats are received the turn after the Mega Evolution has been performed. It can then use whatever move fits for the opponent, and is nearly impossible to wall with a great supply of coverage moves. Trace can get it into some tricky situations, but as long as it sets up at a good time it could end up with a great ability such as Protean.
Bivalve (Cloyster) @ Scope Lens
Ability: Skill Link
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 Atk / 4 HP
Adamant Nature
- Icicle Spear
- Shell Smash
- Rapid Spin
- Rock Blast
Cloyster started out as that kind of bulky Pokémon who could take out a Dragon-type, but then evolved into something beastly in Generation 3. It was then when it received it's ability Skill Link, giving it 5 hits on every multi-hit move. After a Shell Smash, this thing is unstoppable. Scope Lens gives it critical hits on usually one or two of the hits in every turn, making it extremely strong. Icicle Spear is 25 base power + STAB + Shell Smash giving it 75 base power per hit. Rock Blast becomes 50 base power per hit, and Rapid Spin is used to take out hazards which could be dangerous for Talonflame and itself on a switch in. However, Lucario counters it with Bullet Punch and Vacuum Wave, so just look out for that before sending it in.
Spike (Ferrothorn) @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Iron Barbs
EVs: 252 Def / 252 HP / 4 SDef
Bold Nature
- Spikes
- Thunder Wave
- Leech Seed
- Stealth Rock
Ferrothorn can set up when it is necessary. Talonflame U-turns into this guy, and the first thing to do is always to Stealth Rock. Stealth Rock is so necessary as it counters nearly every Ice-, Fire-, and Flying-type. Spikes or Leech Seed should be set up next, to regain some health and deal some extra damage to switch-ins. Thunder Wave can be used when necessary, but is honestly just used to leave a little present when health is low. This thing used to be the most necessary thing ever back when Mega-Kangashkan was OU, as it does massive damage back to it, but it is still useful against every physical sweeper, especially Azumarill.
Conclusion:
So, as I said in the beginning, and as this thread's purpose is, please rate my team. I would really love some feedback on this team, as I have been using it for a while and it has yet to fail me completely. This team can only get swept when making terrible plays, as most of the time there is a counter for every sweeper. I would love to have your opinion on some of my items, especially if I should replace Choice Band on Garchomp with Choice Scarf.
Thank you!
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