That's right. There he is in all his RU Glory. I know what you're all thinking and I'm sure that, on some level, you're probably right. However, there's no one Pokemon to replace Hitmonchan on this team. You would have to retool multiple things. This team has reached 1952 on the ladder and I'm still climbing, but, with the new gen quickly approaching, this is the only chance I have to get meaningful information if it is there to be had.
PR Rog (Hitmonchan)
@ Leftovers
Trait: Iron Fist
EVs: 36 HP / 246 Atk / 228 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Focus Punch
- Mach Punch
- Ice Punch
- Substitute
Okay, star of the show. You see those super wonky EVs? That's set-up to beat defensive Gliscor which absolutely mutilated my team in earlier versions. If you've ever seen a sub-puncher, you get the idea. That Focus Punch hits hard. There are very few things that can come in on this thing when it has a sub. The primary problem is Jellicent which can wall you completely. You could run Thunderpunch and deal with it, but then you lose to Gliscor and Lando-T in addition to dragons. Some games this Pokemon is an easy call to sack, but other times you need to defend him as one of your two priority users.
Things of note:
For things like Hippo and Skarm, Whirlwind has less priority than Focus Punch.
Many pokes (like Gengar for example), allow Hitmonchan (like other sub pokemon) a chance to outplay them and open up a hole for your team.
Hitmonchan's Special Defense lets it survive a Scarf Latios Draco Meteor from full health 100% of the time. If you put the 8 points of HP back into attack, he survives 93.75% of the time.
BT Dieminion (Magnezone)
@ Choice Specs
Trait: Magnet Pull
EVs: 72 HP / 252 SAtk / 184 Spd
Timid Nature
- Volt Switch
- Thunderbolt
- Flash Cannon
- Hidden Power [Fire]
Hey look! There's a Magenzone hanging out with three Dragons! I wonder why? Trap steels and kill them with extreme prejudice. I don't really have more to say. Outruns defensive Heatran so that you can Volt Switch out. I know I am running some more for a specific reason, but cannot tell you what it was. If you have a better spread, let me know.
IFC Yipes (Terrakion)
@ Focus Sash
Trait: Justified
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 Atk / 4 HP
Jolly Nature
- Close Combat
- Stone Edge
- Taunt
- Stealth Rock
My lead at least 80% of the time. Rocks help guarantee some KOs and three dragons force switches pretty often. I've been through a fair number of different iterations, and this is what I landed on. Make sure you save him if you foresee problems with Mamoswine. Note that the Sash allows you to play a little riskier if you foresee something you can taunt like a Lando-T lead throwing Stealth Rocks while predicting your switch.
AGE ChrisG (Dragonite)
@ Lum Berry
Trait: Multiscale
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 Atk / 4 HP
Adamant Nature
- Outrage
- ExtremeSpeed
- Fire Punch
- Dragon Dance
Lum Berry over leftovers to help deal with Breloom and Rachi. Fire Punch over Earthquake so that you can kill Breloom, Rachi, Scizor, Ferrothorn, Skarmory, and Foretress. Extreme Speed as the second priority user on my team. Use any chance you can get to Dance and then proceed to open a hole in the opponent's team. Standard stuff.
AS Reynalds (Latios)
@ Choice Scarf
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 SAtk / 4 HP
Timid Nature
- Draco Meteor
- Psyshock
- Surf
- Ice Beam
Went through a couple of different sets, but this is the one that stuck. He's your special attacker with pseudo-mixed coverage from Psyshock. Use something else to clear out their steel types and just drop a Draco Meteor whenever you see the opportunity. He's our fastest Poke and a great revenge killer. Again, he's pretty standard. Beware of pursuit trapping from TTar and Scizor.
EMP Flocker (Haxorus)
@ Choice Scarf
Trait: Mold Breaker
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 Spd / 4 HP
Adamant Nature
- Outrage
- Dragon Claw
- Earthquake
- Superpower
Okay. A lot of people don't like Haxorus, which is fair. However, he's managed to stick around since the advent of this team due to Mold Breaker. If you can clear out the flying types, this thing has a very strong chance of straight sweeping the opposing team with either an EQ or an Outrage. He hits like a Dragon and he can EQ levitaters. Scarfed to give my team a second scarfer. Beware of faster scarfs.
Previous Iterations:
Once I got past my stupidity with running some bad Latios sets and giving up DNite's coverage and Hitmonchan's ability to beat Heatran in favor of getting some priority, we were left with some slightly different EV sets and a Garchomp carrying rocks instead of Terrakion. This worked magnificently....... and then the Mamoswine sweeps starting happening. At this point, I had to go and find a decent check to Mamoswine, so I tried Jirachi as my rocks. What this did was ensure that I didn't get my rocks often enough and I didn't have the offensive momentum that I had with Garchomp. That combined with my complete inability to ever get lucky with Jirachi (and I get lucky with everything else in the world) provided me with a lot of frustration. Then I went looking for another answer. Unfortunately, due to the fact I want to run Sash to help Terrakion survive as a lead, I have a near useless item if they have a Mamoswine, but he still checks that dirtbag and guarantees rocks if I absolutely have to.
The basic strategy is Drag Mag. So, I would ask you guys, how do you rate my team?
