So I figured I would post the team I've been playing with for a bit now. It's gone through several permutations, but I haven't laddered much the last few weeks. I'm currently hovering around 1500 after playing with the most recent version tonight. I'll probably make a push to get to the next rating tier soon and would welcome any suggestions or thoughts to help me get there. So without further ado;
The team has 2 cores; a standard F/W/G core and the more trendy steel/fairy/dragon core. I (and many others) have found that this combination gives an exceptionally good mixture of coverage. The team is actually a bit more offensive than I usually play, but I've really enjoyed the amount of burst damage this team can do. With only one true tank, and no defog/rapid spin, I'm usually limiting my switches and running more of a mini hyper offense, with an emphasis on speed and raw power (hence half of my mons using choice items).
Rotom-Wash @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
- Hydro Pump
- Volt Switch
- Thunderbolt
- Trick
The pokemon that nobody actually wants on their team, but everybody is forced to run because it's just too useful to ignore... Rotom generally serves as a lead. Pretty standard scarf set with EV's in attack over HP; I've found that this more offense rotom catches a lot of people off guard. Most non-resistant pokemon will take at least 50% damage from hydro pump (including bulky mons that think they are getting a safe switch in). Considering the amount of switches he promps, he can usually get off two hydro pumps before they can even move, which is often enough to pick up a surprise kill. Thunderbolt is there for the occasional bulky water-resistant mon, when I don't want to switch out of rotom. I should probably be running a coverage move like hidden power ice here, but rotom 2HKO's the dragons anyway with either pump or tbolt. Trick is there for disrupting hard walls or support mons that I can't kill
Entei @ Life Orb
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Sacred Fire
- Stone Edge
- ExtremeSpeed
- Bulldoze
The second part of my F/W/G core, sacred fire is an amazing, amazing move. I used heatran for a long time, and I agree that heatran is a better mon generally speaking, but entei fits the up-tempo offense of this team perfectly, dealing large chunks of damage. He serves as a valuable will-o-wisp sponge for pranksters and support mons. Also one can never have too many extreme speed users...
Ferrothorn @ Leftovers
Ability: Iron Barbs
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SDef
Impish Nature
- Power Whip
- Leech Seed
- Thunder Wave
- Stealth Rock
The physical tank and final member of my F/W/G core. He also serves as part of the steel/dragon fairy core, bridging that gap. When I first tried this super offense group I wanted to use 6 offensive pokemon, but it was horrible. Thorn anchors the team by providing a suitable switch in for a variety of attacks. Paralysis/stealth rock support is always appreciated, and Power whip helps handle threats like greninja/rotom-wash. I also have decent answers to his fire weakness with rotom (who can still take a few hits even without investment in bulk) and garchomp (although this is not ideal given how much he hates burns). I do have a bit of a hard time answering fighting types though, since none of my pokemon really like switching into a close combat from even an unboosted mon. In these cases I will often sacrifice him so I can bring in a full strength staraptor or whatever on the next turn.
Garchomp @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Rough Skin
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature
- Dragon Tail
- Outrage
- Earthquake
- Poison Jab
Ahh beloved garchomp, one of the best scarf users around. So dragon tail is a bit odd, but my team didn't have any phasing pokemon, and I found myself having a hard time answering defensive set up mon/baton pass teams. Although these are pretty uncommon they do come up. Dragon tail has the added bonus of going through magic bounce, and it pretty much ends any baton pass team in their tracks. I'm running outrage because I need the power; I don't have a problem avoiding using outrage until all their fairies are dead, thanks to the amount of firepower on my team. I hesitated to use 2 scarfers on my team (I tried alternative sets of both rotom and chomp), but once you get used to playing with that much speed, it's kind of addicting. I've found that the "excessive" amount of speed/priority on the team (everyone ignore ferrothorn) has been essential for pulling off my offensive beat down strategy.
Mawile @ Mawilite
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Sucker Punch
- Iron Head
- Play Rough
The final part of my steel/fairy/dragon core. Pretty standard build; she finds an opportunity to set up once her checks have been eliminated, and then proceeds to go to town... I try to get away with switching into her off a volt switch or u-turn wherever possible, then dancing on the turn my opponent switches in response. Sucker punch can require good prediction, but fortunately I was obsessed with mega absol for most of December, and I have pretty good sucker punch skills by now :D Iron head is my only anti-fairy move on the team, and therefore I try to get her mega evolved early on in case I need to risk a switch in.
Staraptor @ Choice Band
Ability: Reckless
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature
- Brave Bird
- U-turn
- Double-Edge
- Close Combat
The wall breaker of the team. The power of a brave bird from this guy is truly astronomical, it levels almost the entire meta game in 1-2 hits. Although it is rarely used, a well predicted close combat (or double edge on a rotom) can end steel walls quickly and without recoil. But lets be honest, the other three moves might as well be leer, growl, and peck...it comes in and mashes brave bird until it's dead, usually outright killing (or at the very least, massively weakening) the walls that would otherwise give my sweepers problems (especially walls with will-o-wisp, as mawile can't set up on them). Staraptor also does an excellent job of taking out fighting mons (usually after ferrothorn has been sacrificed to bring raptor in safely)
One nice thing about this team is that Mawile, chomp, and even rotom are all capable of finishing a team off with a sweep, thanks to their speed and decent attack. It gives the flexibility to really play with whatever my opponent gives me; between the three of them ONE of them is going to be alive at the end with no one to check them. The team is a bit more physical-skewed than I would like (I've considered replacing staraptor with choice specs latios as my wallbreaker, I gain a few weaknesses but it's not like staraptor was defensively covering for anyone anyway). I'll probably test latios this weekend to see if he fits better. The things is raptor is my only source of fighting and flying moves, which both have their uses (even if close combat is only rarely used). Plus being able to u-turn if no rocks are up is also a nice ploy. I hate using entei and staraptor and not having defog or rapid spin, but I've been able to muscle through it pretty well. Every turn they spend setting up is another turn I'm relentlessly attacking them, and I'm usually able to simply overpower opposing teams in spite of hazards being up (sticky web was actually a bigger problem when I was on my test account, but thankfully it is almost non-existent past 1400).
The team basically boils down to a bunch of pokemon that excel at 1v1 matchups thanks to speed and strength, while they act in synergy as 2 cores to provide good defensive and offensive coverage. The overall lack of bulk is (hopefully) balanced by their impressive blitzkrieg offense, which tries to overwhelm opponents with fast attacks, with the hope that one of my sweepers will be able to finish off their ravaged team at the end. Any suggestions/advice is always appreciated though!
The team has 2 cores; a standard F/W/G core and the more trendy steel/fairy/dragon core. I (and many others) have found that this combination gives an exceptionally good mixture of coverage. The team is actually a bit more offensive than I usually play, but I've really enjoyed the amount of burst damage this team can do. With only one true tank, and no defog/rapid spin, I'm usually limiting my switches and running more of a mini hyper offense, with an emphasis on speed and raw power (hence half of my mons using choice items).
Rotom-Wash @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
- Hydro Pump
- Volt Switch
- Thunderbolt
- Trick
The pokemon that nobody actually wants on their team, but everybody is forced to run because it's just too useful to ignore... Rotom generally serves as a lead. Pretty standard scarf set with EV's in attack over HP; I've found that this more offense rotom catches a lot of people off guard. Most non-resistant pokemon will take at least 50% damage from hydro pump (including bulky mons that think they are getting a safe switch in). Considering the amount of switches he promps, he can usually get off two hydro pumps before they can even move, which is often enough to pick up a surprise kill. Thunderbolt is there for the occasional bulky water-resistant mon, when I don't want to switch out of rotom. I should probably be running a coverage move like hidden power ice here, but rotom 2HKO's the dragons anyway with either pump or tbolt. Trick is there for disrupting hard walls or support mons that I can't kill
Entei @ Life Orb
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Sacred Fire
- Stone Edge
- ExtremeSpeed
- Bulldoze
The second part of my F/W/G core, sacred fire is an amazing, amazing move. I used heatran for a long time, and I agree that heatran is a better mon generally speaking, but entei fits the up-tempo offense of this team perfectly, dealing large chunks of damage. He serves as a valuable will-o-wisp sponge for pranksters and support mons. Also one can never have too many extreme speed users...
Ferrothorn @ Leftovers
Ability: Iron Barbs
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SDef
Impish Nature
- Power Whip
- Leech Seed
- Thunder Wave
- Stealth Rock
The physical tank and final member of my F/W/G core. He also serves as part of the steel/dragon fairy core, bridging that gap. When I first tried this super offense group I wanted to use 6 offensive pokemon, but it was horrible. Thorn anchors the team by providing a suitable switch in for a variety of attacks. Paralysis/stealth rock support is always appreciated, and Power whip helps handle threats like greninja/rotom-wash. I also have decent answers to his fire weakness with rotom (who can still take a few hits even without investment in bulk) and garchomp (although this is not ideal given how much he hates burns). I do have a bit of a hard time answering fighting types though, since none of my pokemon really like switching into a close combat from even an unboosted mon. In these cases I will often sacrifice him so I can bring in a full strength staraptor or whatever on the next turn.
Garchomp @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Rough Skin
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature
- Dragon Tail
- Outrage
- Earthquake
- Poison Jab
Ahh beloved garchomp, one of the best scarf users around. So dragon tail is a bit odd, but my team didn't have any phasing pokemon, and I found myself having a hard time answering defensive set up mon/baton pass teams. Although these are pretty uncommon they do come up. Dragon tail has the added bonus of going through magic bounce, and it pretty much ends any baton pass team in their tracks. I'm running outrage because I need the power; I don't have a problem avoiding using outrage until all their fairies are dead, thanks to the amount of firepower on my team. I hesitated to use 2 scarfers on my team (I tried alternative sets of both rotom and chomp), but once you get used to playing with that much speed, it's kind of addicting. I've found that the "excessive" amount of speed/priority on the team (everyone ignore ferrothorn) has been essential for pulling off my offensive beat down strategy.
Mawile @ Mawilite
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Sucker Punch
- Iron Head
- Play Rough
The final part of my steel/fairy/dragon core. Pretty standard build; she finds an opportunity to set up once her checks have been eliminated, and then proceeds to go to town... I try to get away with switching into her off a volt switch or u-turn wherever possible, then dancing on the turn my opponent switches in response. Sucker punch can require good prediction, but fortunately I was obsessed with mega absol for most of December, and I have pretty good sucker punch skills by now :D Iron head is my only anti-fairy move on the team, and therefore I try to get her mega evolved early on in case I need to risk a switch in.
Staraptor @ Choice Band
Ability: Reckless
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature
- Brave Bird
- U-turn
- Double-Edge
- Close Combat
The wall breaker of the team. The power of a brave bird from this guy is truly astronomical, it levels almost the entire meta game in 1-2 hits. Although it is rarely used, a well predicted close combat (or double edge on a rotom) can end steel walls quickly and without recoil. But lets be honest, the other three moves might as well be leer, growl, and peck...it comes in and mashes brave bird until it's dead, usually outright killing (or at the very least, massively weakening) the walls that would otherwise give my sweepers problems (especially walls with will-o-wisp, as mawile can't set up on them). Staraptor also does an excellent job of taking out fighting mons (usually after ferrothorn has been sacrificed to bring raptor in safely)
One nice thing about this team is that Mawile, chomp, and even rotom are all capable of finishing a team off with a sweep, thanks to their speed and decent attack. It gives the flexibility to really play with whatever my opponent gives me; between the three of them ONE of them is going to be alive at the end with no one to check them. The team is a bit more physical-skewed than I would like (I've considered replacing staraptor with choice specs latios as my wallbreaker, I gain a few weaknesses but it's not like staraptor was defensively covering for anyone anyway). I'll probably test latios this weekend to see if he fits better. The things is raptor is my only source of fighting and flying moves, which both have their uses (even if close combat is only rarely used). Plus being able to u-turn if no rocks are up is also a nice ploy. I hate using entei and staraptor and not having defog or rapid spin, but I've been able to muscle through it pretty well. Every turn they spend setting up is another turn I'm relentlessly attacking them, and I'm usually able to simply overpower opposing teams in spite of hazards being up (sticky web was actually a bigger problem when I was on my test account, but thankfully it is almost non-existent past 1400).
The team basically boils down to a bunch of pokemon that excel at 1v1 matchups thanks to speed and strength, while they act in synergy as 2 cores to provide good defensive and offensive coverage. The overall lack of bulk is (hopefully) balanced by their impressive blitzkrieg offense, which tries to overwhelm opponents with fast attacks, with the hope that one of my sweepers will be able to finish off their ravaged team at the end. Any suggestions/advice is always appreciated though!
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