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Starmie and Goodra are an interesting pair. Starmie posses good offensive stats, typing and bulk. It can also run bulky sets utilizing Reflect Type which allows it to take on threats such as Bisharp and Ferrothorn. Bisharp would usually go for the Sucker Punch as it doesn't out speed Starmie, or the Pursuit, but Reflect type allows Starmie to wall Bisharp resisting all of Bisharp hits (inb4 Low Kick). It also takes on Ferrothorn as it becomes immune to Leech Seed and resist Power Whip. Goodra is here to tank things that Starmie wouldn't always be able to handle. For example, if you choose not to be a boss and use Reflect Type, Goodra can take basically all of Starmie's weakness (- Bug / Dark / Ghost) and sponge them easily and can retaliate back. Goodra also has a wide movepool getting moves such has Sludge Wave Ice Beam Thunderbolt Fire Blast Earthquake and the list goes on.
I may have to participate in this one <3
But anyways, teams are due Tuesday, September 2nd at 11:59 PM EST.
Yoshi (Goodra) @ Assault Vest
Ability: Sap Sipper
EVs: 248 HP / 252 SpA / 8 Spe
Modest Nature
- Draco Meteor
- Fire Blast
- Sludge Bomb
- Dragon Tail
Jade (Sylveon) (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Pixilate
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 HP / 220 Def / 36 SpD
Bold Nature
- Hyper Voice
- Wish
- Heal Bell
- Protect
Link (Scizor) @ Choice Band
Ability: Technician
EVs: 4 Def / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- U-Turn
- Bullet Punch
- Knock Off
- Superpower
Smiles (Gengar) @ Life Orb
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Shadow Ball
- Sludge Wave
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power Fire
Bruce (Medicham) @ Medichamite
Ability: Pure Power
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 6 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Fake Out
- Drain Punch
- Zen Headbutt
- Ice Punch
I enjoyed this team, it deals healthy damage and it's easy to get on a roll with.
I decided to try out Offensive Starmie because it can still wreck face in OU, and out pace threats like Excadrill, Landorus, The Lati twins and Gengar
Goodra is assault vested so he can be a fantastic sponge, as his resistances are fantastic, and his bulk allows him to take on other dragons and OHKO with Draco Meteor
I thought Scizor would make a fantastic addition to the team because he checks many switch ins to Starmie (Tyranitar, Latios, Weavile) and he resists all of their weaknesses barring ghost and dark
Choosing to run analytic on Starmie was a hard choice for me, because I like having the natural cure, but then I said screw it and added a cleric. Sylveon does it really well because it also has wish support.
Gengar because of coverage and general badasserry makes it a great revenge killer
I wanted to add a mega with a lot of power and I figured Mega Medicham would do nicely, as he can break down walls so So gengar and Starmie can wreak havoc later.
So when looking a the two stupid pokes terrak chose i thought these pokes suck that the to pokes would only be viable on a stall team. although i have a strong hate for stall, i knew it was almost impossible to put Rtype starmie on an offensive team (since it hits like a girl).
so starmie was used like starmie. the spread was basically just to outspeed modest cube and just random bulk. starmie's main role on the team is to spin and fix are slightly horribl keld weakness. goodra was a tricky one because one of it's flaws is that it hits decently with it's av varient but has literally 0 recovery. I went with a curse goodra set i saw on the forums and added restochesto to it. goodra had dragon tail which seemed like a good phazing move for stall especially to deal with np thundurus, cm lando, and etc. goodra is mainly used late game to sweep the opponents with the hazard support we have from ferrothorn.
i then obviously added ferrothorn due to it's ability to beat cm guard fable with stored power (fuck you Rostam), a great threat to stall, as well as having a good azu check and give hazards for pressurizing the opponent (and helping goodra). the set is standard so,yeah. he also takes the knock offs for dusclops and chansey which is p important. later i realized zard x raped this team from top to bottom (as well as scarfchomp) so i thought about hippo. hippo is my main wall to many physical atkrs and helps me phaze zard so he isn't a littl bitch. he also checks birdspam and scarf grounds. I run sand force cuz chansey and dusclops ain't no like sand.
in this phaze of teambuilding i was lazy af so i really just slapped these mons on realized i needed a wish passer like all other stall teams and smth to heal / absorb status. chansey was my (wo)man who just walled spatkers left and right. everyone knows who chansey is, so i need to shut up. dusclops was added to spinblock and beat common stallbreakers like cham, hera and garde. i also needed will-o so yolo.
so i was trying to figure out what on earth the goodra + starmie core was giving me, and realized it actually provides a solid backbone vs a bunch of threats, including keldeo, electrics, tran, zard y, etc. goodra hates rocks too, because they make it worn down so fast, and starmie is the best spinner around. the immediate partner i picked was ferrothorn, which just synergizes so well with this core, covering latis, azumarill, mega gyara, hp grass greninja, and a host of other crap that could otherwise be problematic. opted for knock to get rid of stuff like tran lefties and generally items of mons, for example lo excadrill and amoonguss's black sludge. at this point, i had a solid defensive core of starmie + goodra + ferrothorn going, but i didn't really have enormous pressure going or a 'breaker' on the opposing team. i decided to use mega heracross for this role, as it can pretty easily break down many defensive cores and in general puts enormous amounts of offensive pressure on the opposing team. sub allows it to fare better vs offense teams which i decided was important.
the last 2 slots i fiddled with a lot of times, with a couple priorities, mainly hp fire latis, cm clefable, birds, and zard x which just tore up this build. i ended up using physically defensive heatran for a few reasons. i needed a solid switch-in to talonflame that could come in multiple times, i wanted it to be able to tank an unboosted pinsir cc pretty well, i needed it to solidly beat dd zard x (which is also why i'm running toxic + ep)...it was also for hp fire latis and cm clefable, but i needed defense to reliably handle these threats.
252 Atk Mega Pinsir Close Combat vs. 248 HP / 212+ Def Heatran: 214-252 (55.5 - 65.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
+1 252+ Atk Tough Claws Mega Charizard X Dragon Claw vs. 248 HP / 212+ Def Heatran: 102-120 (26.4 - 31.1%) -- 9.5% chance to 4HKO after Leftovers recovery
+2 252+ Atk Sharp Beak Talonflame Brave Bird vs. 248 HP / 212+ Def Heatran: 134-158 (34.8 - 41%) -- 63.1% chance to 3HKO after Leftovers recovery
+2 252 Atk Sharp Beak Talonflame Brave Bird vs. 248 HP / 212+ Def Heatran: 122-144 (31.6 - 37.4%) -- guaranteed 4HKO after Leftovers recovery
252+ Atk Choice Band Talonflame Brave Bird vs. 248 HP / 212+ Def Heatran: 84-99 (21.8 - 25.7%) -- possible 5HKO after Leftovers recovery
for fun:
252+ Atk Huge Power Azumarill Waterfall vs. 248 HP / 212+ Def Heatran: 228-270 (59.2 - 70.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
252 Atk Terrakion Close Combat vs. 248 HP / 212+ Def Heatran: 278-330 (72.2 - 85.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
0 Atk Mega Charizard X Earthquake vs. 248 HP / 212+ Def Heatran: 260-308 (67.5 - 80%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery - nice wisp zard imo
the last mon i picked was np twave thundurus, which seems really out of place, but fit in for a few reasons. first of all, i needed a good pinsir check, otherwise if it sd'd up i lost. by running thundurus i actually encourage it not to sd so heatran can sort of check it, too. i also found the team pretty weak to cune, and wanted a form of speed + the prankster twave to revenge kill various threats. hp ice > hp flying to ohko lando-i which this is a bit weak to :s, and tran switches into venu easily every time and shuts it down so not too concerned it, prob the main target of hp flying. np thundurus also serves as a good win condition for the team.
so that's the team, i'm sure it's not without its flaws (for example the lando weak) but with thundurus mainly as well as starmie's speed in addition to a solid 4-mon defensive core, i can play around most threats, and generally functions pretty well.
Chesnaught @ Leftovers
Ability: Bulletproof
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SpD
Impish Nature
- Spiky Shield
- Spikes
- Hammer Arm
- Leech Seed
Goodra @ Assault Vest
Ability: Sap Sipper
EVs: 248 HP / 240 SpA / 20 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Sludge Bomb
- Draco Meteor
- Muddy Water
- Fire Blast
Jirachi @ Leftovers
Ability: Serene Grace
EVs: 252 HP / 224 SpD / 32 Spe
Careful Nature
- Wish
- Protect
- Iron Head
- Toxic
Landorus-Therian @ Leftovers
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 152 HP / 252 Def / 104 Spe
Impish Nature
- Earthquake
- Rock Slide
- Toxic
- Stealth Rock
Clefable @ Leftovers
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: 252 HP / 160 Def / 96 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Stored Power
- Moonblast
- Soft-Boiled
- Calm Mind
lately i've been loving stall. something about it just makes it beautiful. i don't know, maybe its watching people suffer :]
anyway i started off with reflect type starmie, as rapid spin is really nice for stall teams as they can run spikes to pressure opposing teams. my spiker of choice was chesnaught - they had decent defensive synergy(chesnaught took dark and electric attacks, shadow balls and not too strong bug attacks for starmie, while starm took ice, fire, and psychic). chesnaught also took on m-gyara, specifically subdd variants. i couldn't figure out how to incorporate goodra into this team, but ultimately decided the assault vest set was a really nice choice to beat stuff such as landorus, thundurus and gengar. jirachi provided rocks and wishes, and spreads toxics which is nifty vs opposing stall. it also countered kyu-b, m-garde, and lati@s. l lastly, i needed a win condition. i chose clefable. magic guard let me absorb wisps and toxics. it also made sure my team wasnt full uu. with rachi being immune to toxic and starmie having natural cure i didn't really need heal bell/aromatherapy support. stored power is used for crocune. the spdef is handy in case goodra is to pressured to beat greninja. also lets me take 1 off. mega venu's sludge bomb at +1 and another at +2. overall a pretty nice stall team. after a bit of testing i realized the team was completely swept by mzardx, so i replaced megadactyl with toxic landt, which was nice for letting me wear down mmedi and mhera. rachi didnt need rocks anymore so i could afford wishtect. overall a really nice stall team, and shows that its still viable in the ou meta. mega medi is something i have to play around but its not too much of a issue most of the time.
Ferrothorn @ Leftovers
Ability: Iron Barbs
EVs: 248 HP / 88 Def / 172 SpD
Relaxed Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Leech Seed
- Stealth Rock
- Power Whip
- Gyro Ball
Scizor @ Scizorite
Ability: Light Metal
EVs: 248 HP / 84 Atk / 176 SpD
Impish Nature
- Swords Dance
- Bullet Punch
- Knock Off
- Roost
The problem I've always had with the AV Goodra sets, every time I've tried them out, is the lack of recovery. Goodra was just too easy to play around and to wear down, and was super susceptible to status. Looking at that, my original thought was to add in Wish support... until I remembered that Goodra also gets Hydration. Playing around with Hydration + Rest Goodra, I was pleasantly surprised at how bulky it was even without the Assault Vest, and removing it meant I could open the door for Toxic, which helped considerably against bulkier enemies that otherwise shrugged off Goodra's attacks. After playing around with several sets, Toxic/Focus Blast/Dragon Tail/Rest provided the best mix of bulk and offensive presence, especially in the rain.
That same rain support allows Starmie to punch through many of its counters - for example, with the Analytic boost, 252/0 Rotom-W takes 58.8-69.4% damage from Hydro Pump. Even Latias takes a minimum of 50.1%. I ended up moving 40 EVs from Speed into HP, allowing it to always survive a Specs Keldeo Hydro Pump on the switch, while still outspeeding Gengar and the Latis. With Starmie providing Rapid Spin support, that opened the door for Tornadus-T, whose powerful Hurricanes could easily clean up after Starmie softened things up.
In the end, I built around a specially defensive core of Goodra and AV Tornadus-T, who provided Knock Off support and hit hard with Hurricane under the rain, alongside Starmie and a physically bulky Sleep Talk Politoed. For my last two, I decided on Ferrothorn and Mega-Scizor. The double-steel duo helped against CM Magic Guard Clefable, who otherwise laughed at the team, and Mega-Scizor has a multitude of opportunities to set up under rain (for example, Modest 252+ Mega-Venusaur only deals 32.6-39% with HP Fire in the rain).
The end result has been surprisingly fun - a balanced, bulky team with an answer to a wide variety of threats.
I started the team defining the sets that I wanted to use with Starmie and Goodra, choosing the Reflect Type set for the first and standard Assault Vest for the latter (The sets were inspired in the ones that Jukain posted). Then I added Mega Gardevoir to the team to have a good wallbreaker and to make pressure on my opponent, as almost nothing can switch into it. Then I wanted to have a pokémon that could set up Stealth Rock and help with the Pokémon that my first three mons were weak to, so I chose Ferrothorn to complete the FSD core and deal with things like Azumarill and Mega Gyarados. Then I added Gliscor to deal with things like Talonflame, Charizard X, Sand Offense and Heracross. In this point I wanted something that could help me to check Pinsir and hit Mega Gardevoir for good damage, so I added Jirachi (despite it seems like an odd mon, it has been very effective in this team).
Alrighty, once again this concludes the teambuilding part of the competition for round 8. Voting period begins now and ends Monday, September 8th at 11:59 PM EST. Happy Voting.
the bravest bird's team looks cool but it's rekt in the balls by pinsir, pursuit tar + char y, azumarill, mamoswine, mega scizor excluding lucky scald burn, and sub mega hera because of rock slide > stone edge on landt...it's really not that good j.s (i used it cuz it looked cool af :z)
the bravest bird's team looks cool but it's rekt in the balls by pinsir, pursuit tar + char y, azumarill, mamoswine, mega scizor excluding lucky scald burn, and sub mega hera because of rock slide > stone edge on landt...it's really not that good j.s (i used it cuz it looked cool af :z)
:[ i cant cover everything, i had mdactyl then i got rekt by ddzardx, ultimately had to make a decision(at like 4am) the other mons were really necessary tbh
e: shit i swear i had edge over slide... uh yea you prob want to use edge
e2: wanted to go rhyperior then i lose to mhera and like have a much harder time fighting mcham and i was gonna vote for you too