So I have been playing around with some different teams and Pokemon for a couple of weeks or so, and so far this is the best team I have come up with, managing a win ratio of about 70 percent, although it did do extremely well a few days ago, where it managed 11 wins in a row. I would like to improve on my win ratio and make this team better than it is at the moment, and therefore I am open to any possible changes you may want to offer and I would be grateful for some feedback and advice. Feel free to rate as well and tell me what you think of it, but try and be nice as I have only started battling competitively very recently.
Without Further Ado, I present you Team Butters:
Solid Steel
Skarmory @ Leftovers
Ability: Keen Eye
EV's: 252HP/4 Def/252 Sdef
Impish Nature (+Def, - SAtk)
-Spikes
-Roost
-Brave Bird
-Whirlwind
Skarmory is a magnificent lead, with her great typing she is resistant to many of the leads in the current metagame, and can therefore play apart in battles later on as well as early on if used well.
I tend to just focus on setting up spikes early on, as this is a fundamental part of my strategy. And if tricked a scarf by the common Jirachi it is no big deal, and I continue to set up the 3 layers of spikes. Roost is there to recover lost damage, and is a great asset to the set, as unless super effective, most attacks will never do over 50 percent damage due to the ev's in special defnece and Skarmory's already sky high base defence stat.
Brave bird is there to 2HKO Roserade and Machamp leads while causing some self damage unfortunately, which can be roosted off.
And whirlwind is there as a lot of phazing goes on in this team. Also many Pokemon try and set up on Skarmory with stat boosting moves, so whirlwind negates that quickly too.
I tested out taunt on this set instead of whirlwind, however I found that it didn't work too well because of Skarmory's relatively poor speed stat, and then pokemon could easily set up on Skarmory and potentially sweep such as DD Gyarados or CM Suicune.
Mud Monster
Swampert @ Leftovers
Ability:Torrent
EV's: 240 HP/216 Def/ 52 SDef
Relaxed Nature (+ Def, - Spe)
- Stealth Rock
- Ice Beam
- Earthquake
- Roar
Swampert started off as my lead, but there seemed to be many counter leads because of how OU it is such as Roserade and Jirachi trick leads. I soon came up with a way too have Swampert still in the team but at the same time have a different yet effective and unexpected lead. Skarmory and Swampert have amazing synergy together, I switch Swampert in on the electric and fire type attacks, while Skarmory can switch in from Swampert on grass easily.
The given EV's help bulk out Swampert against both physical and special attacks allowing him to stick around as long as possible. Swampert's main use is setting up stealth rock after switching in from Skarmory to a Pokemon that can't cause him great harm. Ice Beam allows great coverage on ground and dragon types, which gives me a blocker against Flygon and Dragonites and earthquake allows for powerful STAB hitting anything that doesn't fly or resist it hard! And Roar obviously to continue phazing duties, which will be doubly effective if both spikes and stealth rock are up.
Spore Whore
Breloom @ Toxic Orb
Ability: Poison Heal
EV's: 12 HP/252 Atk/244 Spe
Adamant Nature (+Atk, - SAtk)
- Spore
- Focus Punch
- Seed Bomb
- Substitute
Ahh Breloom, the one who makes them ragequit! Breloom is a fantastic asset to my team, as I was looking for a hard hitting fighting type, and at the same time it meant I bagged myself a grass type to hit those pesky, bulky water types in particular i.e. CroCune and Wish Protect Vaporeon. Spore on this set is a must, and 244 speed EV's mean Breloom outspeeds a lot of the pokemon he comes up against and unless an attack is super effective or a critical hit, he is never normally OHKoe'd he also has a resistance to stealth rock which helps in terms of his HP staying intact. In the first turn he is brought in the opponent will normally switch their Pokemon out or stay in. Either way they get spore'd. I then proceed to set up a substitute which mean in the unlikely event they wake up straight away Breloom will only lose 25 percent of his health and even if they the n switch I have a sub up. Focus Punch does massive damage against anything , even against a resisted pokemon i.e. Gyarados it still does at least 30 percent, and against everything else a lot more. It OHKoe's a lot of Poke's as well because of Breloom's huge base attack, EV's and STAB. Seed Bomb gives a powerful STAB grass attack to hit water, ground etc. for super effective damage or to hit those that resist fighting.
Toxic Orb is a dream with poison heal, and means as well as recovering twice as much health as leftovers each turn, Breloom cannot be inflicted with a status.
Eco-Wash
Rotom Wash Forme @ Choice Specs
Ability: Levitate
EV's: 252 Spe/252 SAtk/4 Sdef
Timid Nature (- Atk, + Spe)
- Trick
- Thunderbolt
- Shadow Ball
- Hydro Pump
Wow. Rotom W with specs, this thing is a staright out Beast. The amount of damage that this thing deals is unbelievalble, truly. Hydro Pump OHKOs Heatran, Gliscor, Hippowdon, Mamoswine and even the standard Tyranitar after spikes and SR damage. Its maxed EV's in speed combined with its nature assures that it still retains speed even without scarf and therefore can KO many pokemon before they can touch it. SAtk EV's are a must because that is where this sets power feeds off and the moveset offers great coverage.
Thunderbolt offers me a STAB electric option and deals out massive damage with the specs set to effectively everything. It is an easy way to end Gyarados that is stupid enough to stay in and even offers as a Lucario counter as thunderbolt can nearly always OHKO it after SR damage.
Shadow Ball is STAB and is there for Shaymin, other rotoms, it OHKOe's even the bulkiest rotom, obviously Gengar, and hits ground types where Hydro Pump may miss. Trick is brilliant for Blissey and Snorlax as well as other Poke's that try stat boosting, however rotom can normally 2HKO these anyway. It is a back up in case any last minute sweepers try to tear through my team.
Butters
Heatran @ Leftovers
Ability: Flash Fire
EV's : 248 HP/128 Spe/ 132 SDef
Calm Nature (+SDef, - Atk)
Lava Plume
Rest
Sleep Talk
Roar
Out of all the many decent Heatran sets available I chose the rest talker. This badboy is incredibly bulky so bulky that it is not 2HKOe'd by the average Suicune's surf or 3HKOe'd by Rotom's thunderbolt. Choice Scarf is seen to much nowadays that everyone expects it and has a counter for it. Therefore by bringing this Heatran in I can mess up the opponents plan. Roar is on this set for good reason, and allows me to send their pokemon into layers of spikes and SR, and each time they take a healthy amount of damage. Lava plume is a strong STAB attack, and with Heatran's huge base Special Attack stat it means that large damage is dealt out and it also offers a pretty high 30 percent chance of burn which is brilliant against many of today's top Pokemon who seek to deal out damage from their attack stat. It is also a great help against many of Heatran's counters who try to switch in and become burnt, making them a lot less of a threat. Because of this guys bulk, rest is a great move to have. They finally think they have put Heatran to an end when he suddenly recovers all of his help. And sleep talk obviously compliments this allowing him to still be annoying in his sleep.
Heatran is an amazing asset to my team and is a special tank. It is obvious why he has shot to the top of the OU list and this set in particular is normally a surprise for the opposing side, who may not know how to deal with it.
Flash
Flygon @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Levitate
EV's: 4 HP/252 Atk/ 252 Spe
Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Fire Blast
- Earthquake
- U-turn
- Outrage
Every team should ideally have a revenge killer. Flygon is mine. He is called Flash simply because he is the saviour of the universe :).
I started off with the ever popular banded Scizor. Although his bullet punch was formidable his 4x weakness to the very common fire made him only a short term threat. I looked around at other teams and checked up on other possible revenge killers. After some Infernape experimenting I stumbled across Flygon. After a while I succumbed to the choice scarf set. And I haven't looked back since. Although Flygon's attack stats are decent they do not stand out. This however does not seem to be a problem as his range of attacks, with STAB earthquake and outrage both coming of his base 100 attack stat cause huge amounts of damage to loads. U-turn also allows for ample scouting opportunities whilst inflicting a surprisingly high amount of damage and the ability to switch to a counter.
I bring Flygon in late game if I can when the opponent only has 2 or 3 Poke's left. By this point most of them will be severely damaged due to the layers of spikes and SR they have been eating and this allows Flygon to sweep easily with Outrage or earthquake. There have been times when battles looked lost until Flygon came in with his ridiculous speed thanks to choice scarf and his great attacks and tore through remaining Poke's with ease.
Flygon's speed allows it to beat Agiligross and Empoleon and swiftly finish them off with an earthquake. Fire blast is there for Skarmory, Foretress and Scizor as well as Roserade and Shaymin if he is encountered.
At the end of the day Scarfed Flygon is the best revenge killer I have used and his dragon and ground type allows him to easily come in on stealth rock and earthquake attacks for effectively free and sweep. He is awesome.
Threats
Some weaknesses that I have found are against soley baton passing teams who usually trap my Skarmory and begin statting up as Skarmory cant do much damage to them. They usually ingrain too which is extremely annoying.
Also DD Gyarados: While they can usually be taken care of by switching into Rotom if he is already injured or they get a lucky critical hit, that is usually the end and they will sweep as they will have already Dragon Danced once and nothing else on my team can OHKO them normally.
Azelf leads pose a problem as they can either set up a quick taunt or fire blast my Skarmory to smithereens. Aerodactyl taunt leads aren't too bad as I just switch to Swampert and 2HKO with ice beam.
Machamp leads can be a pain but brave bird normally takes care of them, however confusion from dynamic punch causes a problem, but I guess that always does.
CroCune's are a bitch to play against because they are tanks and although Rotom or Breloom can normally deal with them, they are both quite fragile and if previously injured, then I won't be able to KO Suicune at all.
Most things that try and stat up, are normally dealt with through one of my three phazers.
Swampert usually handles Infernape providing it is in good health, or otom will be given the duties with Hydro Pump. Same goes for Heatran.
The common Scizor is kept in check by a lot of my Pokemon i.e. Heatran, Flygon, Rotom's T-Bolt if necessary.
And if my Skarmory is immobilised at the beginning of the game and my Swampert is dealt with before it has the chance to set up Steath Rock (this is unlikely but has happened in the past) then it is usually game over as my team, especially Flygon relies a lot on both stealth rock and spikes damage to form a victory.
On the plus side if I manage to get up a couple of layers of spikes and SR then that helps me greatly and I will win frequently in this scenario.
Thank you for reading about my team. If you have any suggestions, changes, thoughts, criticism etc. post it below and I will definitely listen and take it on board! As well as posting back my opinions.
Cem.
Without Further Ado, I present you Team Butters:
Solid Steel
Skarmory @ Leftovers
Ability: Keen Eye
EV's: 252HP/4 Def/252 Sdef
Impish Nature (+Def, - SAtk)
-Spikes
-Roost
-Brave Bird
-Whirlwind
Skarmory is a magnificent lead, with her great typing she is resistant to many of the leads in the current metagame, and can therefore play apart in battles later on as well as early on if used well.
I tend to just focus on setting up spikes early on, as this is a fundamental part of my strategy. And if tricked a scarf by the common Jirachi it is no big deal, and I continue to set up the 3 layers of spikes. Roost is there to recover lost damage, and is a great asset to the set, as unless super effective, most attacks will never do over 50 percent damage due to the ev's in special defnece and Skarmory's already sky high base defence stat.
Brave bird is there to 2HKO Roserade and Machamp leads while causing some self damage unfortunately, which can be roosted off.
And whirlwind is there as a lot of phazing goes on in this team. Also many Pokemon try and set up on Skarmory with stat boosting moves, so whirlwind negates that quickly too.
I tested out taunt on this set instead of whirlwind, however I found that it didn't work too well because of Skarmory's relatively poor speed stat, and then pokemon could easily set up on Skarmory and potentially sweep such as DD Gyarados or CM Suicune.
Mud Monster
Swampert @ Leftovers
Ability:Torrent
EV's: 240 HP/216 Def/ 52 SDef
Relaxed Nature (+ Def, - Spe)
- Stealth Rock
- Ice Beam
- Earthquake
- Roar
Swampert started off as my lead, but there seemed to be many counter leads because of how OU it is such as Roserade and Jirachi trick leads. I soon came up with a way too have Swampert still in the team but at the same time have a different yet effective and unexpected lead. Skarmory and Swampert have amazing synergy together, I switch Swampert in on the electric and fire type attacks, while Skarmory can switch in from Swampert on grass easily.
The given EV's help bulk out Swampert against both physical and special attacks allowing him to stick around as long as possible. Swampert's main use is setting up stealth rock after switching in from Skarmory to a Pokemon that can't cause him great harm. Ice Beam allows great coverage on ground and dragon types, which gives me a blocker against Flygon and Dragonites and earthquake allows for powerful STAB hitting anything that doesn't fly or resist it hard! And Roar obviously to continue phazing duties, which will be doubly effective if both spikes and stealth rock are up.
Spore Whore
Breloom @ Toxic Orb
Ability: Poison Heal
EV's: 12 HP/252 Atk/244 Spe
Adamant Nature (+Atk, - SAtk)
- Spore
- Focus Punch
- Seed Bomb
- Substitute
Ahh Breloom, the one who makes them ragequit! Breloom is a fantastic asset to my team, as I was looking for a hard hitting fighting type, and at the same time it meant I bagged myself a grass type to hit those pesky, bulky water types in particular i.e. CroCune and Wish Protect Vaporeon. Spore on this set is a must, and 244 speed EV's mean Breloom outspeeds a lot of the pokemon he comes up against and unless an attack is super effective or a critical hit, he is never normally OHKoe'd he also has a resistance to stealth rock which helps in terms of his HP staying intact. In the first turn he is brought in the opponent will normally switch their Pokemon out or stay in. Either way they get spore'd. I then proceed to set up a substitute which mean in the unlikely event they wake up straight away Breloom will only lose 25 percent of his health and even if they the n switch I have a sub up. Focus Punch does massive damage against anything , even against a resisted pokemon i.e. Gyarados it still does at least 30 percent, and against everything else a lot more. It OHKoe's a lot of Poke's as well because of Breloom's huge base attack, EV's and STAB. Seed Bomb gives a powerful STAB grass attack to hit water, ground etc. for super effective damage or to hit those that resist fighting.
Toxic Orb is a dream with poison heal, and means as well as recovering twice as much health as leftovers each turn, Breloom cannot be inflicted with a status.
Eco-Wash
Rotom Wash Forme @ Choice Specs
Ability: Levitate
EV's: 252 Spe/252 SAtk/4 Sdef
Timid Nature (- Atk, + Spe)
- Trick
- Thunderbolt
- Shadow Ball
- Hydro Pump
Wow. Rotom W with specs, this thing is a staright out Beast. The amount of damage that this thing deals is unbelievalble, truly. Hydro Pump OHKOs Heatran, Gliscor, Hippowdon, Mamoswine and even the standard Tyranitar after spikes and SR damage. Its maxed EV's in speed combined with its nature assures that it still retains speed even without scarf and therefore can KO many pokemon before they can touch it. SAtk EV's are a must because that is where this sets power feeds off and the moveset offers great coverage.
Thunderbolt offers me a STAB electric option and deals out massive damage with the specs set to effectively everything. It is an easy way to end Gyarados that is stupid enough to stay in and even offers as a Lucario counter as thunderbolt can nearly always OHKO it after SR damage.
Shadow Ball is STAB and is there for Shaymin, other rotoms, it OHKOe's even the bulkiest rotom, obviously Gengar, and hits ground types where Hydro Pump may miss. Trick is brilliant for Blissey and Snorlax as well as other Poke's that try stat boosting, however rotom can normally 2HKO these anyway. It is a back up in case any last minute sweepers try to tear through my team.
Butters
Heatran @ Leftovers
Ability: Flash Fire
EV's : 248 HP/128 Spe/ 132 SDef
Calm Nature (+SDef, - Atk)
Lava Plume
Rest
Sleep Talk
Roar
Out of all the many decent Heatran sets available I chose the rest talker. This badboy is incredibly bulky so bulky that it is not 2HKOe'd by the average Suicune's surf or 3HKOe'd by Rotom's thunderbolt. Choice Scarf is seen to much nowadays that everyone expects it and has a counter for it. Therefore by bringing this Heatran in I can mess up the opponents plan. Roar is on this set for good reason, and allows me to send their pokemon into layers of spikes and SR, and each time they take a healthy amount of damage. Lava plume is a strong STAB attack, and with Heatran's huge base Special Attack stat it means that large damage is dealt out and it also offers a pretty high 30 percent chance of burn which is brilliant against many of today's top Pokemon who seek to deal out damage from their attack stat. It is also a great help against many of Heatran's counters who try to switch in and become burnt, making them a lot less of a threat. Because of this guys bulk, rest is a great move to have. They finally think they have put Heatran to an end when he suddenly recovers all of his help. And sleep talk obviously compliments this allowing him to still be annoying in his sleep.
Heatran is an amazing asset to my team and is a special tank. It is obvious why he has shot to the top of the OU list and this set in particular is normally a surprise for the opposing side, who may not know how to deal with it.
Flash
Flygon @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Levitate
EV's: 4 HP/252 Atk/ 252 Spe
Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Fire Blast
- Earthquake
- U-turn
- Outrage
Every team should ideally have a revenge killer. Flygon is mine. He is called Flash simply because he is the saviour of the universe :).
I started off with the ever popular banded Scizor. Although his bullet punch was formidable his 4x weakness to the very common fire made him only a short term threat. I looked around at other teams and checked up on other possible revenge killers. After some Infernape experimenting I stumbled across Flygon. After a while I succumbed to the choice scarf set. And I haven't looked back since. Although Flygon's attack stats are decent they do not stand out. This however does not seem to be a problem as his range of attacks, with STAB earthquake and outrage both coming of his base 100 attack stat cause huge amounts of damage to loads. U-turn also allows for ample scouting opportunities whilst inflicting a surprisingly high amount of damage and the ability to switch to a counter.
I bring Flygon in late game if I can when the opponent only has 2 or 3 Poke's left. By this point most of them will be severely damaged due to the layers of spikes and SR they have been eating and this allows Flygon to sweep easily with Outrage or earthquake. There have been times when battles looked lost until Flygon came in with his ridiculous speed thanks to choice scarf and his great attacks and tore through remaining Poke's with ease.
Flygon's speed allows it to beat Agiligross and Empoleon and swiftly finish them off with an earthquake. Fire blast is there for Skarmory, Foretress and Scizor as well as Roserade and Shaymin if he is encountered.
At the end of the day Scarfed Flygon is the best revenge killer I have used and his dragon and ground type allows him to easily come in on stealth rock and earthquake attacks for effectively free and sweep. He is awesome.
Threats
Some weaknesses that I have found are against soley baton passing teams who usually trap my Skarmory and begin statting up as Skarmory cant do much damage to them. They usually ingrain too which is extremely annoying.
Also DD Gyarados: While they can usually be taken care of by switching into Rotom if he is already injured or they get a lucky critical hit, that is usually the end and they will sweep as they will have already Dragon Danced once and nothing else on my team can OHKO them normally.
Azelf leads pose a problem as they can either set up a quick taunt or fire blast my Skarmory to smithereens. Aerodactyl taunt leads aren't too bad as I just switch to Swampert and 2HKO with ice beam.
Machamp leads can be a pain but brave bird normally takes care of them, however confusion from dynamic punch causes a problem, but I guess that always does.
CroCune's are a bitch to play against because they are tanks and although Rotom or Breloom can normally deal with them, they are both quite fragile and if previously injured, then I won't be able to KO Suicune at all.
Most things that try and stat up, are normally dealt with through one of my three phazers.
Swampert usually handles Infernape providing it is in good health, or otom will be given the duties with Hydro Pump. Same goes for Heatran.
The common Scizor is kept in check by a lot of my Pokemon i.e. Heatran, Flygon, Rotom's T-Bolt if necessary.
And if my Skarmory is immobilised at the beginning of the game and my Swampert is dealt with before it has the chance to set up Steath Rock (this is unlikely but has happened in the past) then it is usually game over as my team, especially Flygon relies a lot on both stealth rock and spikes damage to form a victory.
On the plus side if I manage to get up a couple of layers of spikes and SR then that helps me greatly and I will win frequently in this scenario.
Thank you for reading about my team. If you have any suggestions, changes, thoughts, criticism etc. post it below and I will definitely listen and take it on board! As well as posting back my opinions.
Cem.
