I must have either terrible teambuilding skills or terrible battling skills. One or the other because my attempts to climb the OU suspect test ladder have ended in repeated misery and horrendous defeat. Which, given that I've yet to break 1200 ELO is probably a very bad sign. So, is it my team or is it me? I've got a list of both my team and my recent matches that might hopefully help you. Any suggestions on tweaking either my team or my own technique would be appreciated.
Athena (Espeon) (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Magic Bounce
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
- Dazzling Gleam
- Calm Mind
- Morning Sun
- Psyshock
Poseidon (Gyarados) (M) @ Gyaradosite
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Waterfall
- Dragon Dance
- Earthquake
- Ice Fang
Hermes (Skarmory) (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Sturdy
- Stealth Rock
- Whirlwind
- Roost
- Brave Bird
Artemis (Delphox) (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Blaze
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SAtk / 4 SDef
Modest Nature
- Calm Mind
- Mystical Fire
- Psychic
- Will-O-Wisp
Persephone (Togekiss) (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Serene Grace
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SAtk / 4 SDef
Modest Nature
- Defog
- Air Slash
- Thunder Wave
- Dazzling Gleam
Hades (Umbreon) (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Synchronize
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 SDef
Careful Nature
- Toxic
- Moonlight
- Foul Play
- Heal Bell
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Espeon: Espeon is in here for the magic bounce. A bit of a modification on my old OU team, in which she served as an effective counter-stall Pokemon with Magic Bounce and Calm Mind to pick up boosts off of stalls, I've retooled her into a Magic Bouncing sweeper in this version of the team. Dazzling Gleam and Psyshock is for coverage, as well as being able to hit both physically defensive 'mons as well as specially defensive mons. There isn't much too her, besides using her to wall opposing set-up Pokemon or stallers to let her set up with Calm Mind and then go to town on anything that doesn't have Sucker Punch or is faster than her with Knock Off or U-Turn (which sadly seems to be half of OU nowadays).
Gyarados: Originally I used Mega Lucario as my team's physical sweeper. Then he got banned to Ubers so I had to come up with someone new. I originally tried switching him out for Garchomp, but Garchomp lacked the speed to do the sweeping job adequately. After scouring the list of Pokemon for an adequate replacement I settled in on a Dragon Dancing Mega Gyarados. In additon to being able to use Intimidate to weaken opposing Physical Sweepers (though utterly useless against Terrakion-- see below), once he gets two Dragon Dances up, he can mow through ALMOST anything, and outspeed pretty much anything as well. Getting up two Dragon Dances is the problem though, and I really miss having a physical sweeper with fighting moves.
Skarmory: Skarmory is a multipurpose Pokemon in this team. It's there for set-up, breaking Baton Pass teams which I previously had absolutely no answer for, being a Physical Wall, and has Brave Bird for damage (though I've often considered shifting it up for Steel Wing. I'm torn between the two). Anyways. Skarmory is the team's physical wall, using Roost to keep in there, and can block Toxic, if Espeon dies due to my mispredictions. A solid opening Pokemon imho due to its ability to set up Stealth Rocks, and then Whirlwind away the opposing Pokemon if they open with a boosting move like Sword Dance, as Sturdy will let it soak up their first attack to get off the Whirlwind and break their boost. The jack of all trades master of none in this team, and really, my only hope against a Baton Pass team.
Delphox: Delphox I included due to my fascination with Mystical Fire and a realization that (in theory at least) she can counter ALMOST any type of sweeper, as long as she can survive their opening attack. More of a support Pokemon in her own right, she can counter Physical Pokemon with Will O Wisp, counter special attacking Pokemon with Mystical Fire, and if given time can set up with Calm Mind. Psychic is really only there for coverage, and to help her deal with certain threats like Conkeldur or Infernape.
Togekiss: As Gyarados and Delphox get crushed by Stealth Rocks, I needed a Pokemon to deal with it. I originally used Forretress in this role, but in additon to ghost types completely shutting Forretress down, Forretress was absolute set-up bait. If I brought Forretress out to deal with an opponent's hazaards, they needed only switch in a set-up sweeper and I generally lost the game right then and there. Togekiss is intended to fill in the gap Forretress left, as well as sharing work with Skarmory, who, if I put Defog on Skarmory, would leave him with no attacking moves. So I have Togekiss added, which I've chosen to go the Paraflinch strategy on, using Leftovers for recovery, and Dazzling Gleam for coverage against the handful of Pokemon that are either already status'd or too much of a threat to risk bringing down with Paraflinch (ie. Big nasty things like Weakness Policy Dragonite with Dragon Dance). And yes, also for clearing hazards.
Umbreon: I love Chansey. Chansey with Eviolite was my original Special Wall. However, Aegislash is too ungodly popular it seems, for Chansey to be effective in her role anymore. Chansey was too easy to trap with Shadow Tag and then set up on with a Ghost Type, or catch out with Aegislash and use to set up against her. Still looking for a Special Wall I went through a few candidates. Blissey had the same problems Chansey did, with the added weakness of worse defensive stats. Sylveon lacked an efficient healing move, besides Wish/Protect combo, which would take up two entire moveslots, and a consistent source of damage without SpA investment. Deoxys-D's Hp was lamentable, and besides which, there are better uses for him than a Special Wall. I could have chosen Goodra, but just wasn't too fond of that Pokemon in general, so I went with Umbreon. He is a Special Wall and stalling Pokemon and pretty much nothing else. Heal bell can take the heat off of the rest of my team, Foul Play can take down things like Aegislash, Moonlight ensures he can stay in the fight, and just all around, Umbreon is pretty tough at taking punishment. So he's my Special Wall.
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Pokemon that make my team weep
Terrakion-- This bull is a nightmare for me. He is faster than anything on my team, and Justified enables him to switch into a Foul Play from Umbreon to negate Gyarados's Intimidate (or if he waits until after I've transformed Gyarados into Mega Gyarados, then just gets the free boost). Delphox, regular Gyarados and Togekiss are all weak to his STAB'd Stone Edge, while Umbreon gets taken out by Close Combat, and even Skarmory gets 2HKO'd by him, meaning I can't switch anything into Terrakion. Espeon's the only thing that can reliably deal with him, but is just too fragile to survive most of the time until Terrakion can come out. I just cannot seem to take this bull by the horns.
Bisharp: This thing has grown to be a HUGE pain in the ass. Defiant makes Gyarados's Intimidate only make it stronger and if it sets up with Sword Dance, I've seen this thing 1HKO Gyarados. Without Dragon Dance, Gyarados cannot reliably 1HKO it with Earthquake, and it can use Sucker Punch to reliably 2HKO Gyarados if it didn't 1HKO it before. Dark Typing allows it to take out Delphox with Knock Off or Sucker Punch before Delphox can get off a Mystical Fire or Will O Wisp and Steel Typing allows it to take down Togekiss with a STAB'd steel move before Togekiss can get off Thunder Wave. If I see Bisharp on the opposing team and haven't already Mega Evolved Gyarados, I just end up in a world of pain.
I also struggle with Mega-Scizor and Talonflame, but to a much lesser extent than those two, and with Talonflame, it's largely due to the fact that I can't safely switch Skarmory into Talonflame, due to the potential Flare Blitz, nor can I switch any other Pokemon into it as Brave Bird 2HKO's almost everything on the team except Umbreon and Skarmory. And most Talonflames I see have a U-Turn to screw with Umbreon. Scizor I can deal with if I catch it early enough, and Skarmory DOES completely wall him, but he has the movepool to take out every other Pokemon on my team if I mispredict him even once and once Mega-Scizor gets going, I find it hard to stop him.
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Past matches:
Here's a list of some of the matches I've played today, just to get an idea of problems I run into, or perhaps problems in my technique/prediction abilities.
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/oususpecttest-100961463
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/oususpecttest-101129221
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/oususpecttest-101254757
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/oususpecttest-101065011
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/oususpecttest-100963307
Athena (Espeon) (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Magic Bounce
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
- Dazzling Gleam
- Calm Mind
- Morning Sun
- Psyshock
Poseidon (Gyarados) (M) @ Gyaradosite
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Waterfall
- Dragon Dance
- Earthquake
- Ice Fang
Hermes (Skarmory) (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Sturdy
- Stealth Rock
- Whirlwind
- Roost
- Brave Bird
Artemis (Delphox) (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Blaze
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SAtk / 4 SDef
Modest Nature
- Calm Mind
- Mystical Fire
- Psychic
- Will-O-Wisp
Persephone (Togekiss) (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Serene Grace
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SAtk / 4 SDef
Modest Nature
- Defog
- Air Slash
- Thunder Wave
- Dazzling Gleam
Hades (Umbreon) (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Synchronize
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 SDef
Careful Nature
- Toxic
- Moonlight
- Foul Play
- Heal Bell
----------------
Espeon: Espeon is in here for the magic bounce. A bit of a modification on my old OU team, in which she served as an effective counter-stall Pokemon with Magic Bounce and Calm Mind to pick up boosts off of stalls, I've retooled her into a Magic Bouncing sweeper in this version of the team. Dazzling Gleam and Psyshock is for coverage, as well as being able to hit both physically defensive 'mons as well as specially defensive mons. There isn't much too her, besides using her to wall opposing set-up Pokemon or stallers to let her set up with Calm Mind and then go to town on anything that doesn't have Sucker Punch or is faster than her with Knock Off or U-Turn (which sadly seems to be half of OU nowadays).
Gyarados: Originally I used Mega Lucario as my team's physical sweeper. Then he got banned to Ubers so I had to come up with someone new. I originally tried switching him out for Garchomp, but Garchomp lacked the speed to do the sweeping job adequately. After scouring the list of Pokemon for an adequate replacement I settled in on a Dragon Dancing Mega Gyarados. In additon to being able to use Intimidate to weaken opposing Physical Sweepers (though utterly useless against Terrakion-- see below), once he gets two Dragon Dances up, he can mow through ALMOST anything, and outspeed pretty much anything as well. Getting up two Dragon Dances is the problem though, and I really miss having a physical sweeper with fighting moves.
Skarmory: Skarmory is a multipurpose Pokemon in this team. It's there for set-up, breaking Baton Pass teams which I previously had absolutely no answer for, being a Physical Wall, and has Brave Bird for damage (though I've often considered shifting it up for Steel Wing. I'm torn between the two). Anyways. Skarmory is the team's physical wall, using Roost to keep in there, and can block Toxic, if Espeon dies due to my mispredictions. A solid opening Pokemon imho due to its ability to set up Stealth Rocks, and then Whirlwind away the opposing Pokemon if they open with a boosting move like Sword Dance, as Sturdy will let it soak up their first attack to get off the Whirlwind and break their boost. The jack of all trades master of none in this team, and really, my only hope against a Baton Pass team.
Delphox: Delphox I included due to my fascination with Mystical Fire and a realization that (in theory at least) she can counter ALMOST any type of sweeper, as long as she can survive their opening attack. More of a support Pokemon in her own right, she can counter Physical Pokemon with Will O Wisp, counter special attacking Pokemon with Mystical Fire, and if given time can set up with Calm Mind. Psychic is really only there for coverage, and to help her deal with certain threats like Conkeldur or Infernape.
Togekiss: As Gyarados and Delphox get crushed by Stealth Rocks, I needed a Pokemon to deal with it. I originally used Forretress in this role, but in additon to ghost types completely shutting Forretress down, Forretress was absolute set-up bait. If I brought Forretress out to deal with an opponent's hazaards, they needed only switch in a set-up sweeper and I generally lost the game right then and there. Togekiss is intended to fill in the gap Forretress left, as well as sharing work with Skarmory, who, if I put Defog on Skarmory, would leave him with no attacking moves. So I have Togekiss added, which I've chosen to go the Paraflinch strategy on, using Leftovers for recovery, and Dazzling Gleam for coverage against the handful of Pokemon that are either already status'd or too much of a threat to risk bringing down with Paraflinch (ie. Big nasty things like Weakness Policy Dragonite with Dragon Dance). And yes, also for clearing hazards.
Umbreon: I love Chansey. Chansey with Eviolite was my original Special Wall. However, Aegislash is too ungodly popular it seems, for Chansey to be effective in her role anymore. Chansey was too easy to trap with Shadow Tag and then set up on with a Ghost Type, or catch out with Aegislash and use to set up against her. Still looking for a Special Wall I went through a few candidates. Blissey had the same problems Chansey did, with the added weakness of worse defensive stats. Sylveon lacked an efficient healing move, besides Wish/Protect combo, which would take up two entire moveslots, and a consistent source of damage without SpA investment. Deoxys-D's Hp was lamentable, and besides which, there are better uses for him than a Special Wall. I could have chosen Goodra, but just wasn't too fond of that Pokemon in general, so I went with Umbreon. He is a Special Wall and stalling Pokemon and pretty much nothing else. Heal bell can take the heat off of the rest of my team, Foul Play can take down things like Aegislash, Moonlight ensures he can stay in the fight, and just all around, Umbreon is pretty tough at taking punishment. So he's my Special Wall.
-------
Pokemon that make my team weep
Terrakion-- This bull is a nightmare for me. He is faster than anything on my team, and Justified enables him to switch into a Foul Play from Umbreon to negate Gyarados's Intimidate (or if he waits until after I've transformed Gyarados into Mega Gyarados, then just gets the free boost). Delphox, regular Gyarados and Togekiss are all weak to his STAB'd Stone Edge, while Umbreon gets taken out by Close Combat, and even Skarmory gets 2HKO'd by him, meaning I can't switch anything into Terrakion. Espeon's the only thing that can reliably deal with him, but is just too fragile to survive most of the time until Terrakion can come out. I just cannot seem to take this bull by the horns.
Bisharp: This thing has grown to be a HUGE pain in the ass. Defiant makes Gyarados's Intimidate only make it stronger and if it sets up with Sword Dance, I've seen this thing 1HKO Gyarados. Without Dragon Dance, Gyarados cannot reliably 1HKO it with Earthquake, and it can use Sucker Punch to reliably 2HKO Gyarados if it didn't 1HKO it before. Dark Typing allows it to take out Delphox with Knock Off or Sucker Punch before Delphox can get off a Mystical Fire or Will O Wisp and Steel Typing allows it to take down Togekiss with a STAB'd steel move before Togekiss can get off Thunder Wave. If I see Bisharp on the opposing team and haven't already Mega Evolved Gyarados, I just end up in a world of pain.
I also struggle with Mega-Scizor and Talonflame, but to a much lesser extent than those two, and with Talonflame, it's largely due to the fact that I can't safely switch Skarmory into Talonflame, due to the potential Flare Blitz, nor can I switch any other Pokemon into it as Brave Bird 2HKO's almost everything on the team except Umbreon and Skarmory. And most Talonflames I see have a U-Turn to screw with Umbreon. Scizor I can deal with if I catch it early enough, and Skarmory DOES completely wall him, but he has the movepool to take out every other Pokemon on my team if I mispredict him even once and once Mega-Scizor gets going, I find it hard to stop him.
-----------
Past matches:
Here's a list of some of the matches I've played today, just to get an idea of problems I run into, or perhaps problems in my technique/prediction abilities.
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/oususpecttest-100961463
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/oususpecttest-101129221
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/oususpecttest-101254757
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/oususpecttest-101065011
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/oususpecttest-100963307
