The team
Skarmory
Item: Leftovers
Ability: Sturdy
Nature: Impish (+def/-satk)
EV spread: 252 HP, 232+ Def, 24 Spd
Brave bird
Roost
Spikes
Whirlwind
As one half of my defensive core, Skarmory acts as the physical wall for my team. Ever since his introduction in the second generation, he's had a great run thanks to his high defensive stat and great typing. This generation is no different. Even though Skarmory lost his resistances to dark and ghost attacks, he still resists a good deal of attacks, including the newly introduced Fairy-type. Skarmory is my answer to Mega-Kangaskahn as he can even tank a +2 Return and whirlwind him away. M-Kangaskahn may very well be banned to ubers, but until then, I'm keeping my Skarmory right here. Standard EV spread for physically defensive Skarmory.
Tyranitar
Item: Leftovers
Ability: Sand Stream
Nature: Sassy (+sdef/-spd)
EV spread: 252 HP, 252+ Sdef, 4 Satk
Fire Blast
Stone Edge
Stealth Rock
Crunch
As the second half of my defensive core, Tyranitar acts as my special wall for the team. Though he may be ridden with tons and tons of weaknesses, Tyranitar has quite the absurd special defense under the sand. While an Assault vest would be great to further enhance Tyranitar's special defense, Tyranitar's niche as one of the very few viable pokemon who can set up rocks Pre-pokebank makes the prospect of an assault vest displeasing. Fire Blast is for those fortresses, ferrothorns, scizors, and lucarios that think they can set up on Tyranitar. Even if it doesn't outright KO them, it'll deal a nice big chunk of damage. Crunch over pursuit because Lati@s and Celebi can't be played Pre-Pokebank, so trapping those threats is a non-issue. You can still try trapping Gengar, but he might just hit you with a Focus Blast. Stone Edge for second obligatory STAB, even with its poor accuracy.
Talonflame
Item: Choice Band
Ability: Gale Wings
Nature: Adamant (+Atk/-Satk)
EV spread: 4 Def, 252+ Atk, 252 Spd
Brave Bird
Flare Blitz
U-turn
Tailwind
Talonflame is THE fastest priority attacker in the game, which gives him a great niche as a revenge killer. Slap on a Choice Band and not only is he fast, but he packs quite the punch. The only real problem with Talonflame is his quadruple weakness to Stealth Rocks and unfortunately... I couldn't fit a rapid spinner in the team. Nonetheless, Pre-pokebank has been kind to Talonflame as there aren't that many viable Pokemon that can legally use Stealth Rocks yet. U-turn is to hold on to momentum and Tailwind is used in emergencies when a Banded Brave Bird can't take out a Pokemon and Talonflame is about to die.
Azumarill
Item: Sitrus Berry
Ability: Huge Power
Nature: Adamant (+Atk/-Satk)
EV spread: 132 HP, 252+ Atk, 124 Spd
Play Rough
Belly Drum
Aqua Jet
Superpower
Finding an opportunity to Belly Drum can be rough, but when you finally manage to get it off, it feels pretty nice. Granted, don't expect to Belly Drum every game. Sometimes the opportunity just doesn't rise. Even then, Azumarill can do some work with his priority Aqua Jet. The speed EVs are to out speed un-invested and neutral natured base 65 Pokemon. All in all, despite his useful typing and his occasional sweeps, Azumarill is probably the least important player on my team. I chose Superpower over Waterfall and Return because I really appreciate the extra coverage that fighting gives. Sitrus berry is used to increase Azumarill's survivability if he manages to get a Belly Drum off.
Kangaskahn
Item: Kangaskahnite
Ability: Scrappy (Parental Bond)
Nature: Adamant (+Atk/-Satk)
EV spread: 252 HP, 252+ Atk, 4 Spd
Return
Power-up Punch
Earthquake
Sucker Punch
Here is one of those devastatingly powerful mega-pokemon that just might find itself in Ubers. Until that happens, he'll be on my team. M-Kangaskahn is quite the powerhouse, sporting nice coverage, a way to set-up, and even priority. On top of all that, he has bulk. I chose the bulky variant of M-Kangaskahn over the faster variant because my team packs a whooping 4 priority users; speed isn't much of an issue. I chose Return over Double-Edge to not compromise his health. He's usually the one to clean up teams. Talonflame can also help him with the sweep by setting up a Tailwind for Kangaskahn.
Aegislash
Item: Leftovers
Ability: Stance Change
Nature: Quiet (+Satk/-Spd)
EV spread: 252 HP, 252+ Satk, 4 Atk
Shadow Sneak
King's Shield
Shadow Ball
Flash Cannon
I decided to use the less common specially offensive Aegislash over the physical variant because my team already contained a ton of physical attackers. I needed a special attacker. Plus, specially offensive Aegislash would make for an unpleasant surprise for certain Pokemon who come in expecting a physical attack (like Skarmory). While an excellent spin-blocker against things not called Excadrill, Aegislash can also act as a back-up wall of sorts, taking special and physical attacks very well. Though this Aegislash doesn't have much investments in his atk stat, his shadow sneak can still garner some KOs. For his special attacks, I went with the two STABs.
________________________________________________________________________________________
The general gist of this team is to try to set up Stealth Rocks and some layers of spikes and then smash the enemy team with your 4 priority users. My team is very indifferent towards sticky web what with the priority and all, but Talonflame is particularly vulnerable to Stealth Rocks. The beauty of this team is that all of its members (except Talonflame, lol) actually have some bulk to them. However, there still are some notable problems with this team.
For one... no rapid spinner. I already mentioned this before, but Talonflame really does like that spin support. Another issue with this team is its lack of special attackers. Tyranitar has one special attack in the form of Fire Blast and he has barely any investments in Sp. Atk. Aegislash is the only dedicated special attacker, once he's gone, my team may have difficulty getting past physical walls.
With my experience, this team's worst nightmare is probably Rotom-W. Not only do his STAB attacks hit 4 out of 6 of my team for super effective damage, but he also resists half of my team's priority attack. To make matters worst, Will-O-Wisp is a common move on Rotom-W, meaning that physical attackers may need to be wary. I usually just sacrifice Tyranitar to get a safe switch-in to Kangaskahn.
Skarmory
Item: Leftovers
Ability: Sturdy
Nature: Impish (+def/-satk)
EV spread: 252 HP, 232+ Def, 24 Spd
Brave bird
Roost
Spikes
Whirlwind
As one half of my defensive core, Skarmory acts as the physical wall for my team. Ever since his introduction in the second generation, he's had a great run thanks to his high defensive stat and great typing. This generation is no different. Even though Skarmory lost his resistances to dark and ghost attacks, he still resists a good deal of attacks, including the newly introduced Fairy-type. Skarmory is my answer to Mega-Kangaskahn as he can even tank a +2 Return and whirlwind him away. M-Kangaskahn may very well be banned to ubers, but until then, I'm keeping my Skarmory right here. Standard EV spread for physically defensive Skarmory.
Tyranitar
Item: Leftovers
Ability: Sand Stream
Nature: Sassy (+sdef/-spd)
EV spread: 252 HP, 252+ Sdef, 4 Satk
Fire Blast
Stone Edge
Stealth Rock
Crunch
As the second half of my defensive core, Tyranitar acts as my special wall for the team. Though he may be ridden with tons and tons of weaknesses, Tyranitar has quite the absurd special defense under the sand. While an Assault vest would be great to further enhance Tyranitar's special defense, Tyranitar's niche as one of the very few viable pokemon who can set up rocks Pre-pokebank makes the prospect of an assault vest displeasing. Fire Blast is for those fortresses, ferrothorns, scizors, and lucarios that think they can set up on Tyranitar. Even if it doesn't outright KO them, it'll deal a nice big chunk of damage. Crunch over pursuit because Lati@s and Celebi can't be played Pre-Pokebank, so trapping those threats is a non-issue. You can still try trapping Gengar, but he might just hit you with a Focus Blast. Stone Edge for second obligatory STAB, even with its poor accuracy.
Talonflame
Item: Choice Band
Ability: Gale Wings
Nature: Adamant (+Atk/-Satk)
EV spread: 4 Def, 252+ Atk, 252 Spd
Brave Bird
Flare Blitz
U-turn
Tailwind
Talonflame is THE fastest priority attacker in the game, which gives him a great niche as a revenge killer. Slap on a Choice Band and not only is he fast, but he packs quite the punch. The only real problem with Talonflame is his quadruple weakness to Stealth Rocks and unfortunately... I couldn't fit a rapid spinner in the team. Nonetheless, Pre-pokebank has been kind to Talonflame as there aren't that many viable Pokemon that can legally use Stealth Rocks yet. U-turn is to hold on to momentum and Tailwind is used in emergencies when a Banded Brave Bird can't take out a Pokemon and Talonflame is about to die.
Azumarill
Item: Sitrus Berry
Ability: Huge Power
Nature: Adamant (+Atk/-Satk)
EV spread: 132 HP, 252+ Atk, 124 Spd
Play Rough
Belly Drum
Aqua Jet
Superpower
Finding an opportunity to Belly Drum can be rough, but when you finally manage to get it off, it feels pretty nice. Granted, don't expect to Belly Drum every game. Sometimes the opportunity just doesn't rise. Even then, Azumarill can do some work with his priority Aqua Jet. The speed EVs are to out speed un-invested and neutral natured base 65 Pokemon. All in all, despite his useful typing and his occasional sweeps, Azumarill is probably the least important player on my team. I chose Superpower over Waterfall and Return because I really appreciate the extra coverage that fighting gives. Sitrus berry is used to increase Azumarill's survivability if he manages to get a Belly Drum off.
Kangaskahn
Item: Kangaskahnite
Ability: Scrappy (Parental Bond)
Nature: Adamant (+Atk/-Satk)
EV spread: 252 HP, 252+ Atk, 4 Spd
Return
Power-up Punch
Earthquake
Sucker Punch
Here is one of those devastatingly powerful mega-pokemon that just might find itself in Ubers. Until that happens, he'll be on my team. M-Kangaskahn is quite the powerhouse, sporting nice coverage, a way to set-up, and even priority. On top of all that, he has bulk. I chose the bulky variant of M-Kangaskahn over the faster variant because my team packs a whooping 4 priority users; speed isn't much of an issue. I chose Return over Double-Edge to not compromise his health. He's usually the one to clean up teams. Talonflame can also help him with the sweep by setting up a Tailwind for Kangaskahn.
Aegislash
Item: Leftovers
Ability: Stance Change
Nature: Quiet (+Satk/-Spd)
EV spread: 252 HP, 252+ Satk, 4 Atk
Shadow Sneak
King's Shield
Shadow Ball
Flash Cannon
I decided to use the less common specially offensive Aegislash over the physical variant because my team already contained a ton of physical attackers. I needed a special attacker. Plus, specially offensive Aegislash would make for an unpleasant surprise for certain Pokemon who come in expecting a physical attack (like Skarmory). While an excellent spin-blocker against things not called Excadrill, Aegislash can also act as a back-up wall of sorts, taking special and physical attacks very well. Though this Aegislash doesn't have much investments in his atk stat, his shadow sneak can still garner some KOs. For his special attacks, I went with the two STABs.
________________________________________________________________________________________
The general gist of this team is to try to set up Stealth Rocks and some layers of spikes and then smash the enemy team with your 4 priority users. My team is very indifferent towards sticky web what with the priority and all, but Talonflame is particularly vulnerable to Stealth Rocks. The beauty of this team is that all of its members (except Talonflame, lol) actually have some bulk to them. However, there still are some notable problems with this team.
For one... no rapid spinner. I already mentioned this before, but Talonflame really does like that spin support. Another issue with this team is its lack of special attackers. Tyranitar has one special attack in the form of Fire Blast and he has barely any investments in Sp. Atk. Aegislash is the only dedicated special attacker, once he's gone, my team may have difficulty getting past physical walls.
With my experience, this team's worst nightmare is probably Rotom-W. Not only do his STAB attacks hit 4 out of 6 of my team for super effective damage, but he also resists half of my team's priority attack. To make matters worst, Will-O-Wisp is a common move on Rotom-W, meaning that physical attackers may need to be wary. I usually just sacrifice Tyranitar to get a safe switch-in to Kangaskahn.
