After taking a few years off from competitive battling, I rediscovered my love for it when I found out PO had an Android app, and haven't looked back since. This team originally started off as the Glacial Cataclysm team which I used as my premade copied team to dip in and learn about the current metagame. After weeks of tweaking, I came up with this team (And I generally continue tweaking practically daily but I feel like I've reached a good balance). Anyway that's enough about that, onto the team.
This is a full out offensive team, utilizing a lot A LOT of choice items to abuse the instant stat boosts to hit hard and fast right out of the gate (or Pokeball). The 2 main sweepers on this team are the 2 dragons, Haxorus and Salamence, with Salamence being the priority and the rest of the team used for support to trap and eliminate anything that can threaten the dragon sweeps.
Aerodactyl@Focus Sash
Jolly Pressure/Unnerve
252 Att 252 Spe 4HP
-Stone Edge
-Stealth Rocks
-EQ
-Taunt
Basic run-of the mill suicide Aerodactyl lead. Just here for Rocks and scouting. For a while I actually ran this team without Stealth Rocks, and just used pure hard hitting Pokemon (without Aerodactyl) but then realized the synergy was way off and not having rocks would really hurt at times. Of everyone in my team, Aerodactyl would be the 2nd most expendable in terms of replacement, but 1st most expendable during battles.
Haxorus@Choice Band
Adamant Mold Breaker
252 Att 252 Spe 4HP
-Outrage
-Dual Chop
-EQ
-Brick Break
Round 1 for sweeping. This thing WRECKS damn near everything. Honestly, using this guy on the Glacial Cataclysm team became the main basis that I built this team around. This thing OHKO's so many things I can't even begin to list. Very rarely do I ever use any other move besides Outrage, it just eats everything. If Haxorus is able to take out 1.5 Pokemon, he's done a good job. Other than breaking walls, his real main purpose is to lure out my opponent's dragon counters. I don't even care if he gets revenge killed instantly, if he brings the dragon counters out I can trap them and take them out with something else and clear the skies for Salamence. Like I said above, Salamence is the priority. Haxorus is just here to scare, and really...there's not much scarier than 648 attack coming at you with 293 speed on a base 120 STAB attack resisted by only steels... Dual Chop over Dragon Claw because I hate Substitute, Brick Break and EQ for general coverage.
Magnezone@Choice Specs
Modest Magnet Pull
252 Sp.Att 252 Spe 4HP
-Volt Switch
-Thunderbolt
-HP Fire
-Flash Cannon
And once Haxorus attracts the steels like a magnet, the real magnet comes out. Magnezone takes care of all Steels that can wall Salamence's sweep, barring Heatran and Lucario. Specs Tbolt can generally 2HKO Jirachi, Volt switch can OHKO Skarm, and switch you out so you're not stuck with a Magnezone and can get right back out safely into your dragons to start sweeping all over again. Flash Cannon for coverage (And it's not too shabby against Mammoswine who'll also be a problem for your dragons, if your opponent overpredicts and hits Magnezone with an Ice move instead of EQ) I found that in this Ferrothorn infested metagame, Magnezone is probably the most efficient, cleanest, and fastest way to get rid of the metal spiky plant. Also scarfed Genescts locked on Ice Beam (used to kill your Haxorus) or CBScizors stuck on Bullet Punch are both taken care of very nicely. Genesect in particular is a major threat since most Scarfed Genescets outspeed scarfed Salamence. One of Magnezone's most appealing aspects in this team is that once you're sure you've gotten rid of all the steel types, Magnezone becomes basically expendable. In a team with this much Choice items, being able to have an expendable death fodder Pokemon is gold and it's steel typing gives it a plethora of resistances to make it almost like a multiple use death fodder Pokemon.
Scizor@Choice Band
Adamant Technician
252 Att 252 Spe 4HP
-Bullet Punch
-U-Turn
-Superpower
-Pursuit
Scizor. Basic CB Scizor. The same Scizor that exploded when Platinum came out. This guy fills a nice noche in my team in that he keeps pesky Ice Pokemon in check, namely Mamoswine. A really nice added bonus to this is he traps Scarfed Latios with Pursuit who outspeeds all my Pokemon, and threatens to OHKO or 2HKO all of them. U-Turn also puts in huge dents on Reuniclus and Slowbrow who are both bulky enough to actually stall out Haxorus with repeated Recovers/Slack Offs. I try to save Scizor as much as possible for the late game to just Bullet Punch and U-Turn everything to weaken them enough for Salemence to finish off easily, or to use as Switch fodder when Salamence gets confused and I don't want to risk the game on a 50/50 chance of hitting myself.
Swampert@Leftovers
Adamant Torrent
252 Att 16 Def 240HP
-Waterfall
-Ice Punch
-EQ
-Roar
I actually just added this guy in today. This is the most expendable Pokemon on my team in terms of replacement though I feel like he fills this little niche quite nicely. The 2nd and last nonchoiced Pokemon on this team, a hard hitting tanky basic Smogon set Swampert. I basically use him for switch fodder when I feel like I still need Magnezone alive. He's also my answer to Quiver Dancing Volcarona (and set ups in general with Roar) and Ice types (Mamoswine). I've used a Physical wall Swampert back in the DPP days and he's served me so well with his bulk, I felt like I missed it in this generation. Nothing can quite fill his spot as a bulky water phazer, except for maybe Vaporeon but Vaporeon doesn't have that Electric immunity that's just oh-so handy with Swampert and can't hit as hard. Also he's essentially one of my only answers to Zapdos. Fast Zapdos can KO Haxorus and Salamence sometimes can't OHKO Zap without 1 Moxie boost.
Salamence@Choice Scarf
Adamant Moxie
252 Att 252 Spe 4HP
-Outrage
-Dragon Claw
-EQ
-Fire Blast
And now the main event. In the ideal situation, you'll be able to keep this guy hidden from your opponent until the very end of the game with all the steels cleared out, all the ice gone, no more fast scarfers, and all walls have either been broken by Haxorus or severely wounded. You wanna bring this guy out to clean up the last 2 or 3 Pokemon. 3 Pokemon is pushing it since before Moxie, Dragon Claw's power is iffy, and Outrage is not guaranteed 3 hits before you get confused. But it really is pretty amazing to witness how after all the dragon checks are gone, your opponent just cannot answer....at all. If everything was played and set up correctly, this should be the easiest part of the game, just click Outrage and watch. Something nice I found out in PO which I'm not sure holds true in the actual Pokemon DS games, is that if the opponent Protects an Outrage, the Outrage count resets and you can get like 4 Outrage hits without being confused.
THREATS
As stated before the biggest threats to this team are anything that can kill or wall Salamence. Steels, Mamoswine, Bulky Zapdos with HP Ice (Though Bulky Zapdos should be slow enough for Haxorus to take out before eating the HP Ice, and basically all Zapdos variants are OHKO by Haxorus) Bulky healthy walls, Scarf Latios, Scarf Genesect, Pranksters...that's all I can think of off hte top of my head. All my time using this team I never felt like it had a glaring weakness, all my losses I felt I lost because I overpredict one thing or I underpredict or I just get outplayed, nothing that was the team's fault, but fault in my play.
I apologize if this was unnecessarily lengthy or if this team's been done before or is just too basic and boring and standard but I'm just getting back into competative battling and been having a lot of success with this team. Thank you for your time.
This is a full out offensive team, utilizing a lot A LOT of choice items to abuse the instant stat boosts to hit hard and fast right out of the gate (or Pokeball). The 2 main sweepers on this team are the 2 dragons, Haxorus and Salamence, with Salamence being the priority and the rest of the team used for support to trap and eliminate anything that can threaten the dragon sweeps.
Aerodactyl@Focus Sash
Jolly Pressure/Unnerve
252 Att 252 Spe 4HP
-Stone Edge
-Stealth Rocks
-EQ
-Taunt
Basic run-of the mill suicide Aerodactyl lead. Just here for Rocks and scouting. For a while I actually ran this team without Stealth Rocks, and just used pure hard hitting Pokemon (without Aerodactyl) but then realized the synergy was way off and not having rocks would really hurt at times. Of everyone in my team, Aerodactyl would be the 2nd most expendable in terms of replacement, but 1st most expendable during battles.
Haxorus@Choice Band
Adamant Mold Breaker
252 Att 252 Spe 4HP
-Outrage
-Dual Chop
-EQ
-Brick Break
Round 1 for sweeping. This thing WRECKS damn near everything. Honestly, using this guy on the Glacial Cataclysm team became the main basis that I built this team around. This thing OHKO's so many things I can't even begin to list. Very rarely do I ever use any other move besides Outrage, it just eats everything. If Haxorus is able to take out 1.5 Pokemon, he's done a good job. Other than breaking walls, his real main purpose is to lure out my opponent's dragon counters. I don't even care if he gets revenge killed instantly, if he brings the dragon counters out I can trap them and take them out with something else and clear the skies for Salamence. Like I said above, Salamence is the priority. Haxorus is just here to scare, and really...there's not much scarier than 648 attack coming at you with 293 speed on a base 120 STAB attack resisted by only steels... Dual Chop over Dragon Claw because I hate Substitute, Brick Break and EQ for general coverage.
Magnezone@Choice Specs
Modest Magnet Pull
252 Sp.Att 252 Spe 4HP
-Volt Switch
-Thunderbolt
-HP Fire
-Flash Cannon
And once Haxorus attracts the steels like a magnet, the real magnet comes out. Magnezone takes care of all Steels that can wall Salamence's sweep, barring Heatran and Lucario. Specs Tbolt can generally 2HKO Jirachi, Volt switch can OHKO Skarm, and switch you out so you're not stuck with a Magnezone and can get right back out safely into your dragons to start sweeping all over again. Flash Cannon for coverage (And it's not too shabby against Mammoswine who'll also be a problem for your dragons, if your opponent overpredicts and hits Magnezone with an Ice move instead of EQ) I found that in this Ferrothorn infested metagame, Magnezone is probably the most efficient, cleanest, and fastest way to get rid of the metal spiky plant. Also scarfed Genescts locked on Ice Beam (used to kill your Haxorus) or CBScizors stuck on Bullet Punch are both taken care of very nicely. Genesect in particular is a major threat since most Scarfed Genescets outspeed scarfed Salamence. One of Magnezone's most appealing aspects in this team is that once you're sure you've gotten rid of all the steel types, Magnezone becomes basically expendable. In a team with this much Choice items, being able to have an expendable death fodder Pokemon is gold and it's steel typing gives it a plethora of resistances to make it almost like a multiple use death fodder Pokemon.
Scizor@Choice Band
Adamant Technician
252 Att 252 Spe 4HP
-Bullet Punch
-U-Turn
-Superpower
-Pursuit
Scizor. Basic CB Scizor. The same Scizor that exploded when Platinum came out. This guy fills a nice noche in my team in that he keeps pesky Ice Pokemon in check, namely Mamoswine. A really nice added bonus to this is he traps Scarfed Latios with Pursuit who outspeeds all my Pokemon, and threatens to OHKO or 2HKO all of them. U-Turn also puts in huge dents on Reuniclus and Slowbrow who are both bulky enough to actually stall out Haxorus with repeated Recovers/Slack Offs. I try to save Scizor as much as possible for the late game to just Bullet Punch and U-Turn everything to weaken them enough for Salemence to finish off easily, or to use as Switch fodder when Salamence gets confused and I don't want to risk the game on a 50/50 chance of hitting myself.
Swampert@Leftovers
Adamant Torrent
252 Att 16 Def 240HP
-Waterfall
-Ice Punch
-EQ
-Roar
I actually just added this guy in today. This is the most expendable Pokemon on my team in terms of replacement though I feel like he fills this little niche quite nicely. The 2nd and last nonchoiced Pokemon on this team, a hard hitting tanky basic Smogon set Swampert. I basically use him for switch fodder when I feel like I still need Magnezone alive. He's also my answer to Quiver Dancing Volcarona (and set ups in general with Roar) and Ice types (Mamoswine). I've used a Physical wall Swampert back in the DPP days and he's served me so well with his bulk, I felt like I missed it in this generation. Nothing can quite fill his spot as a bulky water phazer, except for maybe Vaporeon but Vaporeon doesn't have that Electric immunity that's just oh-so handy with Swampert and can't hit as hard. Also he's essentially one of my only answers to Zapdos. Fast Zapdos can KO Haxorus and Salamence sometimes can't OHKO Zap without 1 Moxie boost.
Salamence@Choice Scarf
Adamant Moxie
252 Att 252 Spe 4HP
-Outrage
-Dragon Claw
-EQ
-Fire Blast
And now the main event. In the ideal situation, you'll be able to keep this guy hidden from your opponent until the very end of the game with all the steels cleared out, all the ice gone, no more fast scarfers, and all walls have either been broken by Haxorus or severely wounded. You wanna bring this guy out to clean up the last 2 or 3 Pokemon. 3 Pokemon is pushing it since before Moxie, Dragon Claw's power is iffy, and Outrage is not guaranteed 3 hits before you get confused. But it really is pretty amazing to witness how after all the dragon checks are gone, your opponent just cannot answer....at all. If everything was played and set up correctly, this should be the easiest part of the game, just click Outrage and watch. Something nice I found out in PO which I'm not sure holds true in the actual Pokemon DS games, is that if the opponent Protects an Outrage, the Outrage count resets and you can get like 4 Outrage hits without being confused.
THREATS
As stated before the biggest threats to this team are anything that can kill or wall Salamence. Steels, Mamoswine, Bulky Zapdos with HP Ice (Though Bulky Zapdos should be slow enough for Haxorus to take out before eating the HP Ice, and basically all Zapdos variants are OHKO by Haxorus) Bulky healthy walls, Scarf Latios, Scarf Genesect, Pranksters...that's all I can think of off hte top of my head. All my time using this team I never felt like it had a glaring weakness, all my losses I felt I lost because I overpredict one thing or I underpredict or I just get outplayed, nothing that was the team's fault, but fault in my play.
I apologize if this was unnecessarily lengthy or if this team's been done before or is just too basic and boring and standard but I'm just getting back into competative battling and been having a lot of success with this team. Thank you for your time.
