Other OU Teambuilding Competition Round 5 [Entries OPEN See Post #294]

[TheAntler]

Movesets

Gardevoir @ Gardevoirite
Ability: Trace
EVs: 252 SAtk / 252 Spd / 4 SDef
Timid Nature
- Thunderbolt
- Hyper Voice
- Shadow Ball
- Focus Blast

Bisharp @ Life Orb
Ability: Defiant
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature
- Iron Head
- Sucker Punch
- Knock Off
- Swords Dance

Thundurus (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 252 Spd / 44 HP / 188 SAtk
Timid Nature
- Thunder Wave
- Taunt
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Volt Switch

Goodra @ Leftovers
Ability: Gooey
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SDef / 4 SAtk
Calm Nature
- Dragon Pulse
- Flamethrower
- Toxic
- Thunderbolt

Mamoswine @ Life Orb
Ability: Thick Fat
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 Spd / 4 Def
Jolly Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Icicle Crash
- Ice Shard
- Earthquake

Skarmory @ Leftovers
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 232 Def / 252 HP / 24 Spd
Impish Nature
- Brave Bird
- Roost
- Defog
- Whirlwind

Explanation

So when I started out making this team, I immediately noticed the offensive presence created by Mega Gardevoir and Bisharp. While Fairy-type is an incredible defensive type, it is also an amazing offensive type, hitting several very common types super-effectively, which are Fighting, Dark, and Dragon. Mega Gardevoir further increases its offensive capabilities with its ability, Pixilate. Accompanying this special attacking powerhouse is Bisharp, whose typing also got a boost in power. Being able to hit Fairies super-effectively and the boost to Knock Off make Bisharp a dangerous physical sweeper. Gardevoir's set gives her perfect neutral coverage, a powerful STAB in Pixilate Hyper Voice, and Thunderbolt for coverage. Bisharp's set is his standard sweeping set, with a good STAB in Knock Off, priority, and the ability to hit Fairies.

I figured that this team needed a good defensive core to sponge hits that are aimed at the two sweepers. Skarmory and Goodra make an excellent defensive core, covering both special and physical hits and covering Gardevoir and Bisharp's weaknesses as well as each other's almost perfectly. Skarmory is the hazard remover of the team as well as the physical wall. Defog's buff this gen has greatly improved Skarmory's role as a defensive mon. Goodra's set was designed to be able to tank almost any special attack and then hit back with a reasonably strong attack, or cripple the opponent with Toxic. And Gooey is a good ability for a special wall, as it discourages physical attacks.

To finish off this team, I decided that I needed a hazard setter and a pivot or something that could shut down an opposing support mon. A good hazard setter and a secondary physical sweeper came in the form of Mamoswine. Mamoswine is a great hazard setter, and he comes with the best STAB combo in the entire meta. And finally the pivot/support-stopper was the logical choice of Thundurus-I. With Prankster Taunt and Thunder Wave, he stops hazards, status, and sweepers in the same set. Volt Switch gives him the ability to grab momentum, and HP Ice is to hit Ground-types that you'll otherwise wall him completely.

Even if this isn't the best team (and it probably won't be), I'd really appreciate any kind of feedback to help me improve my teambuilding abilities.

 

[U-Ralph]

I post here a replay of a wonderful 6-0 that shows my team is not handicaped by a lack of rapidspinner/defoger :
http://pokemonshowdown.com/replay/ou-89813003

 

[totoTavros]

U-Ralph: I would say that your team does seem to function well even w/o one, and it would be a pity to shoehorn one into a team, it might be useful as your team did take a lot of damage from the entry hazards that it didn't need to take.

 

[#Toxicologist]

I like Rob's team a lot
The Gard and Bishop core is pretty sweet
However, how do u deal with a conkelder when your mega is gone?

 

[Ajwf]

I like Rob's team a lot
The Gard and Bishop core is pretty sweet
However, how do u deal with a conkelder fight types in general when your mega is gone?

Was wondering that a bit myself.

Really, this challenge requires a few pokemon to be sealed off...
Pinsir-mega
Charizard-Y
Conkeldurr
Landorus-I
Infernape


All of which can either revenge kill bisharp or require bisharp to be at +2 to get them first, and all but conkeldurr can really give Gardevior hell. Of course, this is my opinion.

 

[totoTavros]

Dealing w/ (especially) Guts Conkeldurr has been a little tricky, as my typical response to most physical sweepers is to burn them w/ a Rotom-W, but he almost forces me in this case to run some flying type (typically talonflame), but this is pretty unreliable as mach punch does ~65ish damage and drain easily ohko'ing. Even w/ Talonflame, if rocks are up, I'm left w/ 11 HP after BB recoil



252+ Atk Conkeldurr Mach Punch vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Excadrill: 230-272 (63.5 - 75.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
(230, 234, 236, 240, 240, 242, 246, 248, 252, 254, 258, 260, 264, 266, 270, 272)
252+ Atk Conkeldurr Drain Punch vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Excadrill: 432-510 (119.3 - 140.8%) -- guaranteed OHKO
(432, 438, 440, 446, 452, 458, 462, 468, 474, 476, 482, 488, 492, 498, 504, 510)
252 Atk Choice Band Talonflame Brave Bird vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Conkeldurr: 446-528 (107.7 - 127.5%) -- guaranteed OHKO
(446, 452, 458, 462, 468, 474, 480, 482, 488, 494, 500, 504, 510, 516, 522, 528)
(My own calculations for recoil)
298 (Talonflame's HP w/ 4 EVs)- .5*298 (SR) - 414 (Conkeldurr's HP w/ 252 EVs)/3(due to the OHKO)=11 HP

 

[rob.]

I like Rob's team a lot
The Gard and Bishop core is pretty sweet
However, how do u deal with a conkelder when your mega is gone?

Was wondering that a bit myself.

Really, this challenge requires a few pokemon to be sealed off...
Pinsir-mega
Charizard-Y
Conkeldurr
Landorus-I
Infernape


All of which can either revenge kill bisharp or require bisharp to be at +2 to get them first, and all but conkeldurr can really give Gardevior hell. Of course, this is my opinion.

Unfortunately Conkeldurr is the teams glaring weakness, whenever I see Conk on the opposing side I play more conservatively with Latios and Mega Gard. Often using Latios to counter the obvious conkeldurr lead.

252+ Atk Conkeldurr Drain Punch vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Mega Gardevoir: 50-59 (18 - 21.2%) -- possible 5HKO
252+ Atk Conkeldurr Drain Punch vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Latios: 85-101 (28.2 - 33.5%) -- 0.2% chance to 3HKO

I felt the two resist would fair well against Conk because they both can OHKO the most common variant.

252 SpA Life Orb Latios Psyshock vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Conkeldurr: 354-421 (85.5 - 101.6%) -- 50% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock
252 SpA Pixilate Mega Gardevoir Hyper Voice vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Assault Vest Conkeldurr: 432-510 (104.3 - 123.1%) -- guaranteed OHKO

It takes a little more strategizing.

 

[Ajwf]

Those are all out of date and unfair representations of fights... First, Conk gets knock off on either for neutral/SE respectively and they suffer. Secondly, the calc for Latios shows a strange as hell EV spread.

The only thing helping is the recent ban of mega lucario at least prevents the bullet punch/outsped Crunch from wrecking it altogether.

 

[rob.]

Not really when I have three pokemon that can lure drain punch and mach punch effectively from any fighting type Pokemon.

Granted I may lose Latios or Mega Gard to Conk but it'll rack up a decent amount of damage that puts it in revenge KO range.

And lol, I was messing around with the calc. I fixed the error though. You're right about Luke but it's gone so ...

Any suggestions that would make it easier to deal with Conk?

 

[U-Ralph]

Not really when I have three pokemon that can lure drain punch and mach punch effectively from any fighting type Pokemon.

Granted I may lose Latios or Mega Gard to Conk but it'll rack up a decent amount of damage that puts it in revenge KO range.

And lol, I was messing around with the calc. I fixed the error though. You're right about Luke but it's gone so ...

Any suggestions that would make it easier to deal with Conk?

Two cases:

• The opponent doesn't know what it does and you can revenge kill it thanks to Gardevoir or Latios.
• The opponent see how conk struggle your team and keep conkeldurr far from Latios and Gardevoir, then the only way to deal with is sacrifying Rotom-W and weaken conkeldurr enought . When it is below something around 40%, it won't be able to switch easly and could be manage by other teamates.

BTW Conkeldurr has more bulky spread nowaydays, i often see something like that : 248HP / 16Atk / 244SpeDef Adamant nature

 

[er ber ter]

My team for round 2 of the OUTC.

Movesets

Bisharp @ Life Orb
Ability: Defiant
EVs: 252 Atk / 36 HP / 220 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Sucker Punch
- Iron Head
- Knock Off
- Swords Dance

Gardevoir @ Gardevoirite
Ability: Trace
EVs: 252 SAtk / 252 Spd / 4 HP
Timid Nature
IVs: 30 Atk / 30 SAtk / 30 Spd
- Hyper Voice
- Psyshock
- Encore
- Shadow Ball

Rotom-Wash @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SAtk / 252 HP / 4 SDef
Modest Nature
- Hydro Pump
- Thunderbolt
- Will-O-Wisp
- Hidden Power [Grass]

Mandibuzz (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Overcoat
EVs: 252 Def / 252 HP / 4 Atk
Impish Nature
- Roost
- Defog
- Foul Play
- Whirlwind

Thundurus (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 SAtk / 4 HP
Timid Nature
- Thunderbolt
- Psychic
- Thunder Wave
- Hidden Power [Ice]

Infernape @ Life Orb
Ability: Iron Fist
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 Atk / 4 SDef
Jolly Nature
- Close Combat
- Flare Blitz
- Mach Punch
- Stone Edge

Upon reading this over I noticed gardevoir had 30 sp.atk ivs and 30 spe ivs, I turned them both back to 31 not sure why they were ever at 30.

Explanation

Bisharp - is the set up sweep of the team, I generally wait for a good opportunity for it to come in and destroy the enemy's team during mid game or I save it as my late game sweeper. Bisharp does a great job of keeping psychic, ghost, fairy and rock types at bay it also is a great stop to set up sweepers and scarfers. I chose the life orb set with knock off over the set I normally run with substitute and leftovers because this team really needed bisharps immediate power over the ability to ease prediction.

Gardevoir - this thing is a lot better than I expected it to be, many teams are unprepared for a decently fast, insanely powerful fairy attacker. Gardevoir is a great check to conkeldurr and the insanely bulky mega venusaur, along with many other, less notable pokemon. The set I think is pretty standard other than encore which greatly helps create opportunities for bisharp to set up, other than that it stops pokemon that want to use wish+protect or set up moves. Trace is great for pokemon such as heatran and thunduros-t, although this effect is lost once I mega evo.

Rotom-w - now I don't normally mind using rotom-w as just because it's common doesn't mean it doesn't help my team considerably but I was hesitant to use it as I would have liked to show some more creativity with my team, I soon realized that no other pokemon can fill rotom-w's role. Rotom-w really helps the bisharp/gardevoir core by providing a reliable switch to fire-, steel-, and ground-type moves as well as checking a number of top tier threats, and being able to burn pokemon making it easier for bisharp to set up. The set is not any of the more common ones, I like my rotom-w to be powerful but still bulky enough to switch into lots of attacks, now that sounds like I put a lot more thought into it, where what I really did was just click the suggested evs button on the team builder. As for the moveset hydro pump is standard and needs no explanation, thunderbolt is for reliable stab with out having to switch, will-o-wisp is standard as well, and hidden power grass is purely for the water/ground types, as they have all ways been a problem for rotom-w and fitting grass coverage anywhere else was hard. I've used this set many times to great success, many tell me to run volt switch and/or pain split but I honestly dislike pain split due to it being completely dependent on the opponents health, and volt switch while the momentum is great the 20 added base power that lets me stay in and ko things like togekiss is more helpful to me most of the time.

Mandibuzz - defog support is always welcome, also foul play is great hitting for a great amount of damage and koing anything that thought it was a good idea to use swords dance, but mandibuzz is primarily a wall that is a great counter to aegislash which threatens the bisharp/gardevoir core, as well as walling most psychical attackers wanting to kill gardevoir and is able to soak up spore which is always a bonus. I wish I had more to say about mandibuzz but it's job is pretty simple.

Thundurus - originally a galvantula to provide sticky web support for the core with subpar speed, then a jolteon for a great check to a multitude of pokemon and an amazing late game cleaner, finalizing on thundorus with the simple t-wave + 3 attacks set, with psychic over focus blast, this is solely for the threat of mega venusaur, which is why my favorite pokemon jolteon no longer resides on this team, venusaur is too damn annoying against this team oh and conkeldurr is hard to deal with, with out 2 checks, but I still need a fast electric type to handle threats like mega pinsir, charizard Y, any of the ground/flying types and the dragons 4x to ice, and the priority t-wave never hurt.

Infernape - Great pokemon with powerful stabs that have amazing coverage together, and decent speed and priority to top it off, great check to a multitude of pokemon, simply an amazing revenge killer. The life orb set hurts, adding ridiculous amounts of power to it's already threatening moves, obviously I have to be careful with flare blitz as my health can go down to 50% quite easily in one turn with recoil damage + life orb damage.

Also I would like to add that I regret the lack of hazards on my team but with me using a defog user it was hard to keep them up at all with both me and the opponent constantly getting rid of them.

PS. I know ladder rankings are quite worthless as there are many other variables than my team, but with this team I'm currently have 57 win and 25 losses, at 1719 elo.

 

[LoDart210]

I post here a replay of a wonderful 6-0 that shows my team is not handicaped by a lack of rapidspinner/defoger :
http://pokemonshowdown.com/replay/ou-89813003

That was an excellent match, although you have to admit, with 4 slow pokemon weak to water, did you really have any trouble at all?

That doesn't diminish the competence of your team however. Nice volt-turn combo, and manaphy's powerful special moves alongside that mosntrous bisharp. Suffice to say, your team is good.

 

[Sturdynips]

I'll have a crack at this

This team is designed very specifically; to give Mega Gardevoir as many free turns as possible in order to break down the opponents team for a late-game sweep with SD Bisharp. This strategy is executed through the use of a VoltTurn core as well as a couple of unexpected lures designed to weaken key Pokemon on the opponent's team.

Importable

Gardevoir @ Gardevoirite
Ability: Trace
EVs: 252 SpA / 252 Spe / 4 Def
Timid Nature
- Hyper Voice
- Psyshock
- Shadow Ball
- Focus Blast

Bisharp @ Life Orb
Ability: Defiant
EVs: 252 Spe / 252 Atk / 4 HP
Adamant Nature
- Knock Off
- Iron Head
- Swords Dance
- Sucker Punch

Thundurus (M) @ Expert Belt
Ability: Defiant
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 Spe / 252 SpA
Naive Nature
- Thunderbolt
- Superpower
- U-turn
- Grass Knot

Landorus-Therian (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Intimidate
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- U-turn
- Earthquake
- Smack Down

Rotom-Wash @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpA
Bold Nature
- Volt Switch
- Hydro Pump
- Will-O-Wisp
- Pain Split

Tyranitar @ Chople Berry
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpD / 4 SpA
Calm Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Crunch
- Pursuit
- Stone Edge

Explanation

So, the Bisharp + Mega Gardevoir core has obvious type synergy. I chose Bisharp as a win condition for the team and Gardevoir as the primary hole-puncher to clear the way for Bisharp, as nothing really likes switching into it.

Everyone realises how effective the Rotom-W + Landorus-T defensive core is, but for Mega Gardevoir they are especially good partners to cover her lacking defenses as well as bringing her in safely with Volt Switch and U turn. Lets have a look at the Pokemon that will switch into Rotom-W: Mega Venusaur, Assault Vest Conkeldurr, Goodra, Kyu-B and the Lati twins are comfortably defeated by Mega Gardevoir, while Gourgeist, Celebi, and the Blobs are bait for Bisharp.

Landorus-T lures in Mandibuzz, Gliscor, opposing Landorus, Rotom-W, and Skarmory. The first two are handled by Mega Gardevoir, while the latter three can be trickier. As a result, I chose Smack Down over Stone Edge in order to be able to hit Skarmory and Rotom-W as the switch in and make them vulnerable to EQ, which in turn makes U turn a much more valuable move, allowing me to bring in Mega Gardevoir more easily. Hidden Power Ice is there for opposing Landorus-T and is useful against SD Garchomp and Sub Gliscor in last-mon situations. The Ev spread guarantees the KO on defensive Rotom-W with Smack Down + EQ.

Thundurus also plays a semi-lure role. Like Rotom-W, it lures in Mega Venusaur and U turns out. Grass Knot also allows it to lure and weaken Hippowdon and Unaware Quagsire which will stop Bisharp from sweeping. Superpower is mainly for Excadrill and Heatran.

Tyranitar is tough to justify when the team already has a Bisharp, but it does a great job as a special wall. It gets up SR reliably which is always nice. Chople Berry is chosen basically as a security measure. It is useful against Aegislash that predict the Bisharp/TTar switch and go for Sacred Sword which means I don't have to risk Bisharp on that kind of play. It is also incredibly good against Mega Charizard Y, as it avoids the OHKO from Focus Blast in Sun. The lack of a visible item makes the opponent a little uncertain; if I haven't mega evolved with Gardevoir then the might predict Scarf Gard and Mega TTar, or they might suspect a Choice or Assault Vest set.

To sum up, the team lures Pokemon that Mega Gardevoir is not immediately threatened by, gets Gardevoir in with U turn/Volt Switch, and allows for massive hole punching to clear the way for Bisharp late game. It is far from perfect; hazards can be an issue for example. It relies heavily on momentum and offensive pressure and is just a fun team to use.

 

[Ajwf]

You know, it would've been interesting to do Xatu/Bisharp over Gard... They have better synergy in the core, and both have unique abilities to benefit each other in magic bounce and defiant.

I like your team, Sturdynips, but I'm not quite sure what TTar's main focus to pursuit is.... Psychics and ghosts should be not very threatening to your core... You might get aegislash but as you said, sacred sword is dangerous. It can retreat back in shield form and possibly give you a -2 before doing so. Landorus-T probably is a safer bet vs aegislash to begin with.

 

[Sturdynips]

Yeah, TTar was tricky. Pursuit is basically just there because I was undecided on anything else. Against Aegislash i often would try to set up SR first on the Kings Shield, but that is pretty risky, especially if TTar isn't at full health. I nearly added Fire Blast instead but decided not to...perhaps it is better value though

 

[U-Ralph]

That was an excellent match, although you have to admit, with 4 slow pokemon weak to water, did you really have any trouble at all?

That doesn't diminish the competence of your team however. Nice volt-turn combo, and manaphy's powerful special moves alongside that mosntrous bisharp. Suffice to say, your team is good.

I agree with you, the opponent's team had some trouble with water type, i do not get 6-0 each time xD. However this replay shows even if i haven't a rapidspinner or a defoger, my team is not weak at all against entry hazard.

 

[Ajwf]

The only team not weak to entry hazards without having a clearer/bouncer is one of Claydol (No rapid spin), Flygon (no Defog), Skarm (Same), Gliscor (same), Alakazam and Clefable, and a few neutral/resist rock resist levitators. Inevitably, all other teams are weak to rock/spike combinations if not possessing a conscious ton of ground immune/rock resists.

Now, that doesn't mean you have to clear them, but it doesn't change a weakness if they get set. Your bisharp died if he had one extra layer of spikes. Just simple things like that.

 

[U-Ralph]

The only team not weak to entry hazards without having a clearer/bouncer is one of Claydol (No rapid spin), Flygon (no Defog), Skarm (Same), Gliscor (same), Alakazam and Clefable, and a few neutral/resist rock resist levitators. Inevitably, all other teams are weak to rock/spike combinations if not possessing a conscious ton of ground immune/rock resists.

Now, that doesn't mean you have to clear them, but it doesn't change a weakness if they get set. Your bisharp died if he had one extra layer of spikes. Just simple things like that.

Ok, i will moderate what i said by saying my team have few trouble with entry hazards : first of all spikes are quite rare in the meta now, then it's hard to set up them when i let few momentum cause of a good offensive pressure.I agree, if the opponent see i have no potential defoger/rapid spinner it will set its entries as quick as it can. Nevertheless, i can take that as an advantage by leading with gardevoir and direcly put the opponent under pressure.

 

[Dread Arceus]

Importable

Gardevoir (F) @ Gardevoirite
Ability: Synchronize
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Psyshock
- Hyper Voice
- Shadow Ball
- Focus Blast

Bisharp (M) @ Dread Plate
Ability: Defiant
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Iron Head
- Sucker Punch
- Swords Dance
- Knock Off

Terrakion @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Justified
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature
- Close Combat
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- X-Scissor

Deoxys-Speed @ Focus Sash
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 36 Atk / 252 SAtk / 220 Spd
Hasty Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Psycho Boost
- Ice Beam
- Superpower

Talonflame (M) @ Choice Band
Ability: Gale Wings
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Brave Bird
- Flare Blitz
- U-turn
- Sleep Talk

Zapdos @ Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 248 HP / 128 Def / 24 SAtk / 108 Spd
Modest Nature
- Thunderbolt
- Heat Wave
- Roost
- Defog

Explanation

QueenBishop (hehe) has some nice synergy theoretically. The roles are obvious; Gardevoir punches holes, Bisharp sweeps thereafter. I decided that this looked like the start of an HO team to me, so I started by identifying weaknesses. The most dangerous thing for the two to face seemed to be coming from the Chars, so my I decided to use Scarf Terrakion, who can beat both Chars (even if X has managed to DD once). It fit in perfectly as a revenge killer, as its coverage hits just about everything for good damage. Next came a lead (yeah I know, I thought a bit backwards here). Sticky Web wouldn't be an awful idea for the team, except that I find it to be unreliable. Usually, I find Deo-D suicide to be just fantastic, but for this one I felt that getting down a layer of Rocks, followed by a Superpower, Psycho Boost, or Ice Beam was the best way to go, as the team appreciated hole punchers. Talonflame was a natural answer to powerful Fighting types that could hack away at Mega Gardevoir and and Bisharp, and can also function as a back-up sweeper. Finally, I needed to avoid getting destroyed by Talonflame myself, so I chose Zapdos due to its useful Electric/Fire coverage and ability to Defog.
Explanation of Mega Gardevoir moveset: Hyper Voice and Psyshock allow for powerful STABs, Focus Blast lets Gardevoir hit Heatran, and Shadow Ball lets her hit Aegislash for enough damage that Bisharp can come in and get a guaranteed revenge kill.
Explanation of Deoxys-S EVs: Speed allows Deo-S to outspeed Scarf Garchomp, if I decide I'd rather take it out later. The rest are pooled in to Attack for a slightly better Superpower.
Explanation of Zapdos EVs: Speed outruns base 70s (notably Breloom and Cloyster), HP is to avoid taking extra SR damage, Defense guarantees it won't be 3HKO'd by Mega Pinsir's Return, and the rest is put in to Special Attack to give more firepower.

 

[Knight of Cydonia]

Team

Deoxys-Defense @ Red Card
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
IVs: NaN Atk
- Stealth Rock
- Spikes
- Taunt
- Thunder Wave

Bisharp @ Life Orb
Ability: Defiant
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Knock Off
- Sucker Punch
- Pursuit
- Iron Head

Aegislash @ Air Balloon
Ability: Stance Change
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 SAtk
Quiet Nature
- Shadow Ball
- Sacred Sword
- Shadow Sneak
- King's Shield

Gardevoir @ Gardevoirite
Ability: Trace
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
IVs: NaN Atk
- Hyper Voice
- Psyshock
- Focus Blast
- Calm Mind

Garchomp @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Rough Skin
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SAtk / 252 Spd
Naive Nature
- Outrage
- Earthquake
- Dragon Claw
- Fire Blast

Azumarill @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Huge Power
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Belly Drum
- Waterfall
- Aqua Jet
- Play Rough

Explanation

So I looked at the core and immediately thought of a heavy offense team. Ended up with a very standard but effective team. Goals are pretty obvious, set and maintain hazards whilst dishing out as much damage as possible. Every pokemon except Deoxys has the potential to clean endgame and as such its a very flexible and threatening team.

Deoxys-D lays multiple layers of hazards to weaken the opposition with Red Card, Thunder Wave and Taunt preventing the opponent from achieving their own goals.

Bisharp deters Defog, provides priority and Knock Off for the teams benefit and can also sweep endgame. Pursuit is for Aegislash since my Gardevoir set can't deal with it and as such it is great support.

Air Balloon Aegislash helps out by spinblocking basically everything (crucially Excadrill) and provides a one time ground immunity which the team lacks. Strong Shadow Balls wear down common defensive pokemon and its typing forces a lot of switches to rack up hazard damage. Shadow Sneak gives useful if weak priority.

Calm Mind Gardevoir breaks down a lot of defensive pokemon with ease and very few offensive pokemon like taking even unboosted Hyper Voices. Can switch into a lot of stuff with Trace and checks Rotom-W which can be annoying for the other members. It can afford to ditch Shadow Ball with Aegislash taken care of by Bisharp.

Choice Scarf Garchomp brings power, bulk and speed to further ensure I can't be swept by stuff like Zard X and Mega TTar. Makes a nice cleaner once certain pokemon are weakened. Fire blast can 2hko Skarmory which is nice for Bisharp I suppose.

Belly Drum Azumarill is my other set up sweeper and thrives in the heavy offense environment provided by the other members. Stuff like Rotom-w, Mandibuzz and Mega Venusaur can usually be weakened by Bisharp etc. Is still useful without using Belly Drum due to power and priority and can switch into Greninja who can otherwise be a pain.

So yeah like I said it doesn't get much more standard than this (sorry) but the deadline is soon so I stuck to what I knew would work. I will say Mega Gardevoir works out better than I thought it would, especially at breaking stall, although its very poor physical bulk would probably stop me from using it again. Bisharp is still amazing and is easy to build with.

 

[Ajwf]

Seevea Zapdos looks strangely like a thundurus-I in your post :/

Zapdos @ Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 248 HP / 128 Def / 24 SAtk / 108 Spd
Modest Nature
- Thunderbolt
- Heat Wave
- Roost
- Defog

Then again, Victoreebell is currently Zygarde's small overworld sprite.

 

[LoDart210]

My team may have gotten lost in discussion (its one of the first entries) do you think you guys might check it out and see if there is anything I could fix? (Before the. Deadline of course)

 

[Gary]

Hmm... As far as I know, it's basically mega gard try to handle fight types so Bisharp can do whatever or bisharp take care of the meta so gardevoir doesn't die to physical hits.

Meh, bulky offense w/gard ain't working. I think the best option lies in Gard's ability as support in this meta, as it doesn't have anything worth noticing for a CM sweep over other choice options (besides massive Spa, which anything doing CM will eventually get). Too low Def for that perfect role in sweep/cleaner.

Bisharp wants gone that Gard can handle... Conkeldurr? I mean, obv Gard benefits from Bisharp, but finding the subtle ways for vice versa is a bit challenging here.

I've noticed that you seem to be finding issues with this core in general, and while the point of this competition is for players to discover how the core works themselves, I'd like to try and steer you in the right direction.

First off, it seems that you're expecting way too much out of just those two Pokemon. The point of a core is to have two Pokemon that mesh very well together in order to support the rest of the team. Bisharp and Mega Gardevoir are by no means meant to be a perfect offensive core that covers every threat in the metagame, the main draw of that core is for their ability to not only beat each others checks and counters, but also tear into the opponents defense for something else to come in and finish the job. For example, I think ShootingStarmie did a great job showcasing how successful this core is at breaking through Pokemon such as Mega Venusaur, Rotom-W, and Latias by pairing the core with Keldeo, which has a lot of issues breaking through the previously mentioned Pokemon. The combination of Bisharp and Mega Gardevoir together put a ton of offensive pressure on these defensive threats, which allows Keldeo to easily clean up once they're heavily weakened or disposed of. Knight of Cydonia also has a great team that takes advantage of Bisharp and Mega Gardevoir's wallbreaking potential so that Belly Drum Azumarill or Choice Scarf Garchomp can easily clean up. Deo-D is icing on the cake, making it much harder for the opponent to repeatedly switch into Bisharp and Mega Gardevoir's devastating blows.

All in all, I think you should look less into the core itself and more into what the core can do for a team. There are many way to experiment with this core, but going off of my experience with it, the bulkier your team becomes, the less effective this core becomes, simply because it's meant to overload the opponent with offensive pressure, so by preparing it with a bunch of bulky Pokemon, you're going to lose a lot of momentum. I'm not asking you to change your team or the way you build around the core at all, I'm just hopefully helping you understand how this core can function very well when given the right support.

This message isn't just directed towards AJ, it's directed towards anyone who might have issues finding the right way to fit a certain core into a team. Some cores such as SkarmBliss or VenuTran are more obviously centered towards specific team archetypes, while some cores can only fit well on specific kinds of teams. This core is definitely not an exception, so try to look more carefully at what the core can accomplish on a team of 6 rather than just on their own.

 

[U-Ralph]

Okay, here goes nothing... (stupid vaporeon sprite...)


Zara...Balin... Randolph........Asha.......Ryder......Nero

importable

Gardevoir @ Gardevoirite
Ability: Trace
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 SAtk / 4 HP
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Hyper Voice
- Psyshock
- Will-O-Wisp
- Healing Wish

Bisharp @ Dread Plate
Ability: Defiant
EVs: 132 Spd / 252 Atk / 124 HP
Adamant Nature
- Knock Off
- Iron Head
- Swords Dance
- Sucker Punch

Hippowdon @ Leftovers
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 Def / 252 HP / 4 Atk
Impish Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Whirlwind
- Slack Off
- Earthquake

Vaporeon @ Leftovers
Ability: Water Absorb
EVs: 252 Def / 252 SDef / 4 SAtk
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Wish
- Protect
- Toxic
- Scald

Stoutland (M) @ Choice Band
Ability: Sand Rush
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 Atk / 4 SDef
Adamant Nature
IVs: 30 Atk / 30 Def
- Ice Fang
- Wild Charge
- Return
- Superpower

Latios (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 SAtk / 4 HP
Timid Nature
IVs: 6 Atk
30 Sp. Atk
30 Spe
- Defog
- Hidden Power Fire
- Draco Meteor
- Shadow Ball

I gave my special pokemon 0 attack IV's so that (A) Gard and Latios take less damage from foul play (B) So that Vaporeon can win against Mandibuzz if it comes down to stall
​

explanation/roles

Mega Gardevoir = A special wall breaker. base 100 speed is great for wallbreakers, and that 165 special attack screams "USE ME! FORGET SUPPORT SETS!" Which is exactly what I did. I gave M-Gard Psyshock first and foremost, to break down the blobs. Hyper Voice was the obvious stab, and my answer to pokemon behind subs. Will-o-wisp is on predicted switch ins like scizor, or Excadrill. I know I can let Scald handle that, but some threats need to be burned and Gardevoir lures in physical attackers with her weak defense stat. I also gave it healing wish to give second wind to any of my sweepers. I decided not to run an extra coverage move, because well, Thund-T has a better thunderbolt, Focus Blast and Shadow Ball fail to do large amounts of damage to Tyranitar and Aegislash respectively.

Bisharp = I usually run a sub SD bisharp to great success, but, I needed my attackers to hit hard, while leaving it up to my defensive mons to set up the situtations needed for my attackers to take advantage of and gain momentum. Defiant keeps defoggers away, keeping the rocks up. Sub is there to avoid statuses, pressuring pokemon to attack him, making it easier to spam sucker punch.

Hippowdon = Oh yeah, THIS GUY. No but seriously I don't understand why isn't being used more, as he is great this meta. Stealth Rock and Whirlwind to abuse hazards in a pinch, Slack off is obvious, and Earthquake is to smack the steel types that want to hurt Gardevoir.

Vaporeon = With Vaporeon I did something interesting. I invested in its defense AND special defense, as a mixed wall. It's base 130 HP is so mammoth, that defensive investments are more beneficial than HP investments. I gave it a Special Defensive nature however, because that is more beneficial. Water Absorb saves Hippodown, and with Toxic and scald, it can spread a lot of status to help out with that passive rock damage.

Stoutland = I need stoutland to abuse the sand, and also to counter tyranitar, especially mega tyranitar as the dragon dance variant is a monster. With pseudo bolt beam coverage in ice fang and wild charge, I get lots of physical coverage. I chose crunch over return because I use Stoutland as a revenge killer and return isn't super necessary. Sacred Sword doesn't OHKO, but Crunch does >:)

Latios = offensive defog latios, with recover, and two moves, Draco Meteor to nuke, Shadow Ball if Aegislash is still alive and wants to scare me out, and HP fire for scizor or other steel types (minus heatran of course)

CORES:

Physical Attackers: Bisharp is my main attacker, while Stoutland is sent in to revenge things, or to sweep in the sand with Crunch (them defense drops are handy, and few things resist it now, except I think Fairy, dark, and Fighting, which Stoutland doesn't bother with.

Special Attackers: Between M-Gard, and Latios my special coverage is weak, but they're there to punch in holes, and provide secondary support in the form of defog and healing wish.

Defensive mons: Hippodown and Vaporeon are awesome together. Hippo takes the physical, Vap takes the special (he can be physical in a pinch, or against azumarill). Together, they also handle most status. Hippowdon ignores paralysis, Vaporeon doesn't care about burns, and Bisharp is immune to poison. Together they provide a lot of secondary damage through stealth rocks, toxic, and scald burns, so they dish out status well.

Whaddaya think? (I couldn't help but nickname them. They sort of had a middle ages england vibe)

Well as asked, here my comments ^^ : After a quick look, i don't see any particular weakness against some threats that is pretty good. The usage of shoutland is a bit surprising, as u can have excadrill which can use sword dance or rapidspin and is a bit bulkier i guess. Also use a sand strategy could be risky because Gardevoir and latios can't get their life back. This is leading me to that point: Latios LO without roost won't stay for a long time i guess, I think it could be better by using shadow ball and hidden power on Gardevoir as it has the same coverage problem, and then allows latios to get a recovery move. Healing wish is nice, as the lack of physical bulk and no good recovery option may do the game short for gardevoir, that allows it to heal a teamate before dying and surprise an opponent.
For ending my answer, i think you should be carefull with Mega-Pinsir which can put under pressure all your pokemon, force the switch, get a SD and hit hardly. Maybe using rock slide on hippowdonw could help you ... (even if this means sacrifying stealth rock)

 

[TooMuchSugar]

I was very proud of my team until I realized just how many other people were using Rotom-W plus Landorus-T as a bulky volt-turn core. I think I'd better go back to the drawing board again and try for some more originality this time XD

My team may have gotten lost in discussion (its one of the first entries) do you think you guys might check it out and see if there is anything I could fix? (Before the. Deadline of course)

Why are you using Stoutland when you could get so much more power out of a Sand Rush Excadrill?