I've been playing Pokemon over battle simulators since before Netbattle came to be, on a crappy browser page called the Pokemon Battle Simulator which still exists.
Anyhow, I quit for a long time after D/P was released, probably because the radically changed metagame put me off. Then I came back, and left again. And now I'm back. Lol.
As you read this keep in mind I missed most of the metagame and I never even played the games to begin with. The last real Pokemon game I bought was Leaf Grean. It never was the game itself that appealed to me anyway, but the battling. I'm winning rougly 2/3 to 3/4 of my battles so I'd say it's working pretty good.
So, an introduction.
It is nothing fancy. No stalling, no baton-passing, nada. If I would have to name my strategy for this team it would be scouting. I try to get my opponent to expose his team as fast as possible while keeping as many of mine unknown. Synergy is key here.
Before I got to this point the most notable changes I made was getting rid of Heatran, who proved to be dead weight besides Flash Fire, and getting rid of a supporting Dragonite, who did little more than playing cleric and passing paralysis through the enemy team.
@ Leftovers
240 HP, 216 Def, 52 SpDef (Relaxed) [Torrent]
*Earthquake
*Ice Beam
*Protect
*Stealth Rock
At first I went without Stealth Rock in this team, but it helps out so much that it becomes just as much as a staple as a sponge. Meet both. With the given EVs hardly any lead I run into forces me to switch out. Protect helps keep it alive and scouts possible threats. He's relatively new to the team, as I first had Scizor up front and someone else instead of Pert. As I rose in the rankings I came across more and more Machamp leads so I chose Pert.
Synergy:
Grass -> Scizor
@ Choice Band
248 HP, 252 Atk, 8 Spe (Adamant) [Technician]
*Bullet Punch
*Pursuit
*Superpower
*U-turn
I actually use him more to soak up damage than anything else, slowly crippling the enemy team with Bullet Punch and occasionally trapping. I don't use U-turn as often because of his low speed. Superpower when Bullet Punch doesn't cut it.
Synergy:
Fire -> Swampert, Flygon, Gyarados
@ Leftovers
156 HP, 72 Atk, 96 Def, 184 Spe (Intimidate) [Adamant]
*Dragon Dance
*Taunt
*Waterfall
*Stone Edge
Another bulky water type, but this one can actually sweep. Easy to set up, especially late game. Not much to say about it besides that I chose Stone Edge for other Gyaras. EQ is already on Pert and Gon anyway.
Synergy:
Rock -> Swampert, Flygon
Electric -> Swampert, Flygon, Electivire, Scizor, Rotom-S
@ Expert Belt
40 Atk, 216 Spe, 252 SpAtk (Motor Drive) [Mild]
*Cross Chop
*Thunderbolt
*Flamethrower
*HP Grass
Usually, this boy only shines mid to lategame, ripping through weakened teams. It doesn't get as much as speed boosts as I'd like though, probably because I've got electric covered so extensively. I suppose that was the biggest help of that TWaving Dragonite I talked about. Very good when it comes to sweeping weakened teams. Lots of people seem to underestimate it too. Yeah, I'm looking at you Swampert. Usually the last pokemon I reveal unless I can get in a speed boost midgame.
Synergy:
Ground -> Gyarados, Flygon, Rotom-S
@ Choice Scarf
252 Atk, 252 Spe, 4 SpDef (Levitate) [Adamant]
*Earthquake
*Stone Edge
*U-turn
*Outrage
Primary revenge killer, Scizor being the backup. U-turn, again for scouting. Outrage works wonders lategame, or when I already know the enemy can't resist it. Very standalone and reliable.
Synergy:
Ice -> Scizor
Dragon -> Scizor, Gyarados (Intimidate, to a lesser extent)
@ Choice Specs
252 Spe, 252 SpAtk, 4 SpDef (Levitate) [Modest]
*Air Slash
*Thunderbolt
*Shadow Ball
*Trick
One of the least used Rotom applications, but I believe it's the most fitting here.
Rotom-F: Really only works in hail teams.
Rotom-C: Swampert doesn't prove much trouble and will often fail against Vire. Ground types are covered well enough.
Rotom-H: It can OHKO tons of steel-types. Between Pert, Flygon and Electivire, I'd say we're good there. If I'd switch it would probably be to this one.
Rotom-W: I had this one at first, and oh how rarely does Hydro Pump prove useful. This team already laughs in Tyranitar's face, it doesn't need overkill.
So why Rotom then? Firstly, I wanted a ghost to block Rapid Spin, one with Levitate and one who could stand up to the likes of Breloom and Machamp. I ended up choosing between Rotom-S and a Gengar running Psychic.
In both cases it would be a 2HKO on Champ unless I gave Gengar Specs and a Modest nature. One pokemon isn't worth messing up an entire team for imo, and Rotom has superior typing and bulk. I currently just hit Machamp once with Pert, switch over to Rotom and finish it off with Air Slash. Max speed neutral Heracross outspeeds it though, but I rarely run into it and the attack boost from modest more than makes up for it.
Trick is used on whatever could annoy it, though most of the time I prefer keeping the Specs on me.
Synergy:
Ghost -> Scizor
Dark -> Scizor
Notes:
As I said there's no real plan. Scout, find out what the enemy's team is made off/ what its plan is and go from there. This makes it versatile, but it doesn't really stand out at anything. I'm looking for critique concerning movesets, spreads and the pokemon themselves.
Concerning the synergy: I think it's pretty good. At first glance it seems that Scizor has a pretty big duty to carry out but it's not bad. Grass, Dark and Dragon aren't thrown around nearly as often as you'd think.
Entry hazards: I don't bother myself with a spinner. Three of my pokemon are immune to spikes, four are immune to toxic spikes. Two resist SR and only one is weak to it. Even if the enemy manages to put down a layer or two, they're just giving me time to come back at them.
(Thanks to the OP of the threat list below btw)
Threats:
Defensive Threats
Blissey - Swampert resists TWave while it hammers EQs. Electivire and Flygon can also switch into it with relative ease. Then there's Scizor. Absolutely no problem.
Bronzong - An annoyance at best. Electivire can 2HKO it, though it's risky. Scizor's Superpower wears it down and resists Explosion. Swampert protects from it. If Gyara is feeling lucky: DD.
Celebi - Swampert and Gyarados don't cover it. Every other party member can deal with it very well.
Forretress - Don't run into many of these. Electivire outspeeds it and has Flamethrower. Scizor's Superpower hurts, as does Flygon's EQ. Gyarados can easily Taunt it, but more often than not it blows up in my face.
Gliscor - Swampert eats it. It also doesn't like repeated hits coming from Scizor/Flygon. Gyarados.
Tentacruel - Swampert, Electivire and Rotom safely threaten it. Flygon is a bit of a gamble as it can pack Ice Beam.
Dusknoir - Rotom deals with it, Scizor and Flygon hurt it. Generally it fails to wall out. Sub sets + WoW can cripple either of those last two though.
Gyarados - Electivire before it gets a DD in. With SR up, I can switch over to my own Gyara, Intimidate it, and go for the kill with Edge while staying alive. Unless the enemy has SR up too. Flygon is still faster after one DD. If it's weakened Scizor has priority.
Hippowdon - Swampert. Gyarados is a riskier bet.
Jirachi - Flygon and Swampert can safely switch in and threaten. Electivire, Rotom and Scizor can deal a nice amount of damage too.
Rotom-A - Mine is pretty slow, so it isn't a reliable counter. Flygon and Scizor are good choices. Swampert's Ice Beam isn't damaging enough.
Skarmory - Electivire and Rotom are easy switch ins. Gyarados can set itself up on it.
Snorlax - Scizor lols, Curse or no Curse. Gyarados can Taunt it into a corner after Intimidating.
Suicune - These are annoying, but I don't really have anything that fears it. Hammer hammer hammer till it's down.
Swampert - Same as Cune. Also Vire's HP Grass.
Tyranitar - Swampert, Scizor, and Flygon can easily wear it down/kill it. Electivire too if it's weakened.
Vaporeon - Rotom and Electivire again. It really doesn't want to run HP Electric. Scizor and Flygon can finish it off as well.
Zapdos - Scizor can soak up its moves but not retaliate decently. Electivire can switch in, as can Flygon. Not much of a problem.
Offensive Threats
Azelf - It will Taunt. I switch Swampert for Flygon and U-Turn. If it switches, back to Pert for SR. If it stays in I go to Scizor for Bullet Punch.
Breloom - Attack with whoever is active in case it just tries to sub. After Spore -> Rotom-S. Easy OHKO.
Gengar - Scizor and Flygon can revenge kill. Vire comes in on the TBolt. Rotom too if it's Choiced.
Gyarados - Gyarados/Flygon with Edge. Rotom, and Electivire before the DD.
Heatran - Flygon and Swampert with EQ make short work of it. Gyarados' Waterfall as well. Scizor if it outpredicts it with Superpower, expecting Bullet Punch instead. Vire's Cross Chop.
Dragonite - Flygon can revenge kill/switch in on EQ. Scizor soaks up any STABed dragon move. Swampert kills/threatens leads with Ice Beam. If need be, Gyarados can Intimidate and use Stone Edge.
Aerodactyl- Everyone on the team can at least 2HKO this guy.
Infernape - Leads rarely pack Grass Knot. Easy for Swampert. If it's not a lead then Flygon can take it out. Even Scizor's BP does about 40%. Gyarados is a reliable switch in as well.
Jolteon - *Points at the electric covering* Swampert can take it out. Flygon can revenge kill. Vire gets a boost, Rotom and Scizor can come in as well.
Ninjask - Immediate switch to Scizor and Bullet Punch. If it used Protect it's dead. If it subbed then it can pass, but at least it won't be much.
Smeargle - Try to EQ with Pert. If it Spores, switch to Flygon/Scizor.
Heracross - Gyarados can Intimidate. Weakened it's taken out by Pert or Scizor. Adamant is outsped by Rotom-S and OHKO.
Kingdra - I generally hate weather abusers. Intimidate with Gyarados or Superpower with Scizor. Basically anyone on the team can fire at it. It will go down.
Lucario - Flygon takes it out easily, as does Electivire after a boost. Swampert's EQ hurts. Scizor is a safe switch in and can Superpower.
Machamp - EQ the lead, then switch so Rotom absorbs the DynamicPunch. Air Slash, gone. Pert has two attempts to EQ, since Machamp can't 2HKO it.
Magnezone - Occasionally kills Scizor. Nothing much to do about it besides kill it with Pert or Flygon. Electivire can come in on it too.
Mamoswine - Scizor's Bullet Punch hurts bad. I keep Flygon out unless I know it's locked into EQ or something, anything but Ice Shard. Rotom's Shadow Ball can also 2HKO with ease.
Metagross- Pert and Flygon's EQ. Scizor can kill it if it's weakened. Rotom outspeeds it.
Electivire - Flygon revenges if it gets motor drive boost. Not a problem.
Flygon - Swampert's Ice Beam. Gyarados Intimidates and sets up. Flygon can generally outspeed it with Outrage. Not much of a hassle, especially with all my EQ immunities.
Togekiss - Just an annoyance, it doesn't pose a real threat at all. Anything on the team could take it out.
Weavile - Bullet Punch. Flygon can revenge kill. Boosted Vire takes it out easily. Gyarados can set up.
Scizor - Gyarados is an easy switch in, often giving a free DD. Flygon can hurt it, and Scizor can easily take a BP and fire off a Superpower. Again, boosted Vire makes short work of it.
Tyranitar - Bullet Punch, Flygon's EQ. Swampert's EQ. Only the scarf-variant is really threatening, and it's still outsped by Flygon.
Starmie - Flygon can revenge kill with U-Turn, Scizor can Pursuit. If it comes in on Gyarados then Vire usually gets a boost off of it. Rotom can OHKO it as well.
Zapdos - Vire nabs a boost and kills it if it's weakened. If not Flygon can revenge kill. Rotom can 2HKO. If it doesn't have HP Grass Pert can poke it a bit with Ice Beam.
Anyhow, I quit for a long time after D/P was released, probably because the radically changed metagame put me off. Then I came back, and left again. And now I'm back. Lol.
As you read this keep in mind I missed most of the metagame and I never even played the games to begin with. The last real Pokemon game I bought was Leaf Grean. It never was the game itself that appealed to me anyway, but the battling. I'm winning rougly 2/3 to 3/4 of my battles so I'd say it's working pretty good.
So, an introduction.
It is nothing fancy. No stalling, no baton-passing, nada. If I would have to name my strategy for this team it would be scouting. I try to get my opponent to expose his team as fast as possible while keeping as many of mine unknown. Synergy is key here.
Before I got to this point the most notable changes I made was getting rid of Heatran, who proved to be dead weight besides Flash Fire, and getting rid of a supporting Dragonite, who did little more than playing cleric and passing paralysis through the enemy team.
240 HP, 216 Def, 52 SpDef (Relaxed) [Torrent]
*Earthquake
*Ice Beam
*Protect
*Stealth Rock
At first I went without Stealth Rock in this team, but it helps out so much that it becomes just as much as a staple as a sponge. Meet both. With the given EVs hardly any lead I run into forces me to switch out. Protect helps keep it alive and scouts possible threats. He's relatively new to the team, as I first had Scizor up front and someone else instead of Pert. As I rose in the rankings I came across more and more Machamp leads so I chose Pert.
Synergy:
Grass -> Scizor
248 HP, 252 Atk, 8 Spe (Adamant) [Technician]
*Bullet Punch
*Pursuit
*Superpower
*U-turn
I actually use him more to soak up damage than anything else, slowly crippling the enemy team with Bullet Punch and occasionally trapping. I don't use U-turn as often because of his low speed. Superpower when Bullet Punch doesn't cut it.
Synergy:
Fire -> Swampert, Flygon, Gyarados
156 HP, 72 Atk, 96 Def, 184 Spe (Intimidate) [Adamant]
*Dragon Dance
*Taunt
*Waterfall
*Stone Edge
Another bulky water type, but this one can actually sweep. Easy to set up, especially late game. Not much to say about it besides that I chose Stone Edge for other Gyaras. EQ is already on Pert and Gon anyway.
Synergy:
Rock -> Swampert, Flygon
Electric -> Swampert, Flygon, Electivire, Scizor, Rotom-S
40 Atk, 216 Spe, 252 SpAtk (Motor Drive) [Mild]
*Cross Chop
*Thunderbolt
*Flamethrower
*HP Grass
Usually, this boy only shines mid to lategame, ripping through weakened teams. It doesn't get as much as speed boosts as I'd like though, probably because I've got electric covered so extensively. I suppose that was the biggest help of that TWaving Dragonite I talked about. Very good when it comes to sweeping weakened teams. Lots of people seem to underestimate it too. Yeah, I'm looking at you Swampert. Usually the last pokemon I reveal unless I can get in a speed boost midgame.
Synergy:
Ground -> Gyarados, Flygon, Rotom-S
252 Atk, 252 Spe, 4 SpDef (Levitate) [Adamant]
*Earthquake
*Stone Edge
*U-turn
*Outrage
Primary revenge killer, Scizor being the backup. U-turn, again for scouting. Outrage works wonders lategame, or when I already know the enemy can't resist it. Very standalone and reliable.
Synergy:
Ice -> Scizor
Dragon -> Scizor, Gyarados (Intimidate, to a lesser extent)
252 Spe, 252 SpAtk, 4 SpDef (Levitate) [Modest]
*Air Slash
*Thunderbolt
*Shadow Ball
*Trick
One of the least used Rotom applications, but I believe it's the most fitting here.
Rotom-F: Really only works in hail teams.
Rotom-C: Swampert doesn't prove much trouble and will often fail against Vire. Ground types are covered well enough.
Rotom-H: It can OHKO tons of steel-types. Between Pert, Flygon and Electivire, I'd say we're good there. If I'd switch it would probably be to this one.
Rotom-W: I had this one at first, and oh how rarely does Hydro Pump prove useful. This team already laughs in Tyranitar's face, it doesn't need overkill.
So why Rotom then? Firstly, I wanted a ghost to block Rapid Spin, one with Levitate and one who could stand up to the likes of Breloom and Machamp. I ended up choosing between Rotom-S and a Gengar running Psychic.
In both cases it would be a 2HKO on Champ unless I gave Gengar Specs and a Modest nature. One pokemon isn't worth messing up an entire team for imo, and Rotom has superior typing and bulk. I currently just hit Machamp once with Pert, switch over to Rotom and finish it off with Air Slash. Max speed neutral Heracross outspeeds it though, but I rarely run into it and the attack boost from modest more than makes up for it.
Trick is used on whatever could annoy it, though most of the time I prefer keeping the Specs on me.
Synergy:
Ghost -> Scizor
Dark -> Scizor
Notes:
As I said there's no real plan. Scout, find out what the enemy's team is made off/ what its plan is and go from there. This makes it versatile, but it doesn't really stand out at anything. I'm looking for critique concerning movesets, spreads and the pokemon themselves.
Concerning the synergy: I think it's pretty good. At first glance it seems that Scizor has a pretty big duty to carry out but it's not bad. Grass, Dark and Dragon aren't thrown around nearly as often as you'd think.
Entry hazards: I don't bother myself with a spinner. Three of my pokemon are immune to spikes, four are immune to toxic spikes. Two resist SR and only one is weak to it. Even if the enemy manages to put down a layer or two, they're just giving me time to come back at them.
(Thanks to the OP of the threat list below btw)
Threats:
Defensive Threats
Offensive Threats
