Sooo, I made a team today. Relatively successful on Shoddy, but you should also consider the fact that my lack of any activity on there has dropped me into the 1200s rank-wise. Just as an overview, you should know that I'm aware of the fact that I have 4 Ground weaknesses and not much to compensate for them, and also that the the stall-ish nature of Rotom and Tentacruel cause some pacing problems when you consider the offensive-minded composure of the rest of the team. Thus, here I am, with this thread. I'm just hoping to iron out the kinks before disaster strikes. Observe, if you will:
Jirachi@ Choice Scarf
Jolly, 80 HP, 252 Attack, 176 Speed
- Trick
- Iron Head
- Stealth Rock
- U-Turn
I really like Jirachi, but this is his only set I'm uncomfortable with, and that could be because it's a lead. I'd say leads are the toughest Pokemon to decide on, because good players use them for some quintessential part of their strategy, no matter how long they last. The problem is that only so many strategies tend to work when everyone submits to the infinite usefulness of Tricking a Choice item. Conformity was my solution, and though Jirachi's lead moveset faces down a counter on almost every team, it is still more reliable than my Azelf with a moveset almost identical to this (with Zen Headbutt in place of Iron Head). However, even as it works, I can't shake that inevitable uncertainty of what to do when faced with a similar lead. I feel like I need something different for a change of pace, but I'm not very good at thinking of leads, so I kind of gave up on being original, as you readers may have figured.
Tyranitar@ Choice Band
Adamant, 160 HP, 252 Attack, 96 Speed
- Crunch
- Pursuit
- Stone Edge
- Aqua Tail
I abandoned the Dragon Dance variant because I never really learned to see it as a late game sweeper. This solves all my Rotom issues and is generally very hard to counter no matter what I choose to do. I've actually never used this before, so I know now to never reinstate such ignorance.
Tentacruel@ Black Sludge
Calm, 252 HP, 120 Defense, 136 Special Defense
- Surf
- Toxic Spikes
- Rapid Spin
- Sludge Bomb/Knock Off
I had a major Infernape weakness, so this was my solution, and I really love it because it gives me a much easier time breaking into balanced teams that rely on some walling combination of Blissey and an annoying-as-hell physical wall. Tentacruel is really nice to all my team members, too, since the ability to poison anything that doesn't have some sort of immunity alleviates the harshness of poor prediction with Salamence or Tyranitar. The best part, though, is that it makes an Empoleon sweep that much more feasible. I've also had a lot of fun with Knock Off when I felt Sludge Bomb wasn't being very useful, which eased both prediction and the consequences of switching later on.
Salamence@ Choice Scarf
Naughty, 252 Attack, 176 Speed, 80 Special Attack
- Outrage/Dragon Claw
- Stone Edge
- Fire Blast
- Earthquake
I slightly altered the standard to meet my needs by taking out Hydro Pump (rather useless with Empoleon and Tentacruel hanging around) and replacing it with Stone Edge, which is a quick and completely unexpected method of dispatching Gyarados, who troubles this entire team except for maybe Rotom. There's some disparity on whether I should use Dragon Claw or Outrage, because Salamence is great for revenge killing Latias, who doesn't typically use a Substitute while setting up. Outrage is certainly powerful and cleans up nicely, but this Salamence is used mostly in the mid-game when I try to dispatch the other team's main offensive/defensive threats. Dragon Claw keeps Salamence from being trapped by a bad prediction, but forgoing Outrage's power might be costly.
Empoleon@ Petaya Berry
Modest, 12 HP, 12 Defense, 252 Special Attack, 232 Speed
- Substitute
- Surf
- Ice Beam
- Agility
This is my favorite thing to use in the late game because I get to ensure that it's practically inexorable thanks to Tentacruel's Toxic Spikes support. Not much to explain. I didn't go with Grass Knot because the team generally lacks a good way to deal with bulkier Grass types.
Rotom-H@ Leftovers
Bold, 252 HP, 176 Defense, 80 Special Defense
- Discharge
- Will-O-Wisp
- Substitute
- Pain Split
I have to thank Dark Azelf for this set. It's a quick and easy answer to a lot of physical threats to this team, namely Metagross and Scizor. Moreover, this Rotom can make use of Toxic Spikes and Pain Split to cause Blissey's health to plummet rapidly. Substitute also eases prediction in case of a switch, and the utility of the set gives it a lot of staying power anyway.
Rate, comment, whatever. Just offer the help you can. I'm willing to change a lot on the team, since I'm reconsidering Empoleon and Jirachi altogether.
Jirachi@ Choice Scarf
Jolly, 80 HP, 252 Attack, 176 Speed
- Trick
- Iron Head
- Stealth Rock
- U-Turn
I really like Jirachi, but this is his only set I'm uncomfortable with, and that could be because it's a lead. I'd say leads are the toughest Pokemon to decide on, because good players use them for some quintessential part of their strategy, no matter how long they last. The problem is that only so many strategies tend to work when everyone submits to the infinite usefulness of Tricking a Choice item. Conformity was my solution, and though Jirachi's lead moveset faces down a counter on almost every team, it is still more reliable than my Azelf with a moveset almost identical to this (with Zen Headbutt in place of Iron Head). However, even as it works, I can't shake that inevitable uncertainty of what to do when faced with a similar lead. I feel like I need something different for a change of pace, but I'm not very good at thinking of leads, so I kind of gave up on being original, as you readers may have figured.
Tyranitar@ Choice Band
Adamant, 160 HP, 252 Attack, 96 Speed
- Crunch
- Pursuit
- Stone Edge
- Aqua Tail
I abandoned the Dragon Dance variant because I never really learned to see it as a late game sweeper. This solves all my Rotom issues and is generally very hard to counter no matter what I choose to do. I've actually never used this before, so I know now to never reinstate such ignorance.
Tentacruel@ Black Sludge
Calm, 252 HP, 120 Defense, 136 Special Defense
- Surf
- Toxic Spikes
- Rapid Spin
- Sludge Bomb/Knock Off
I had a major Infernape weakness, so this was my solution, and I really love it because it gives me a much easier time breaking into balanced teams that rely on some walling combination of Blissey and an annoying-as-hell physical wall. Tentacruel is really nice to all my team members, too, since the ability to poison anything that doesn't have some sort of immunity alleviates the harshness of poor prediction with Salamence or Tyranitar. The best part, though, is that it makes an Empoleon sweep that much more feasible. I've also had a lot of fun with Knock Off when I felt Sludge Bomb wasn't being very useful, which eased both prediction and the consequences of switching later on.
Salamence@ Choice Scarf
Naughty, 252 Attack, 176 Speed, 80 Special Attack
- Outrage/Dragon Claw
- Stone Edge
- Fire Blast
- Earthquake
I slightly altered the standard to meet my needs by taking out Hydro Pump (rather useless with Empoleon and Tentacruel hanging around) and replacing it with Stone Edge, which is a quick and completely unexpected method of dispatching Gyarados, who troubles this entire team except for maybe Rotom. There's some disparity on whether I should use Dragon Claw or Outrage, because Salamence is great for revenge killing Latias, who doesn't typically use a Substitute while setting up. Outrage is certainly powerful and cleans up nicely, but this Salamence is used mostly in the mid-game when I try to dispatch the other team's main offensive/defensive threats. Dragon Claw keeps Salamence from being trapped by a bad prediction, but forgoing Outrage's power might be costly.
Empoleon@ Petaya Berry
Modest, 12 HP, 12 Defense, 252 Special Attack, 232 Speed
- Substitute
- Surf
- Ice Beam
- Agility
This is my favorite thing to use in the late game because I get to ensure that it's practically inexorable thanks to Tentacruel's Toxic Spikes support. Not much to explain. I didn't go with Grass Knot because the team generally lacks a good way to deal with bulkier Grass types.
Rotom-H@ Leftovers
Bold, 252 HP, 176 Defense, 80 Special Defense
- Discharge
- Will-O-Wisp
- Substitute
- Pain Split
I have to thank Dark Azelf for this set. It's a quick and easy answer to a lot of physical threats to this team, namely Metagross and Scizor. Moreover, this Rotom can make use of Toxic Spikes and Pain Split to cause Blissey's health to plummet rapidly. Substitute also eases prediction in case of a switch, and the utility of the set gives it a lot of staying power anyway.
Rate, comment, whatever. Just offer the help you can. I'm willing to change a lot on the team, since I'm reconsidering Empoleon and Jirachi altogether.
