Productive Procrastination - An RMT

[Astamatitos]

Team At A Glance
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Introduction
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Hello guys! Some of you might still remember me, for those who don't no worries. Anyhow i've been away from the Pokemon scene since the past two years (?) if i am not mistaken.
After seeing the awesome replay viewer feature for PO, while procrastinating from doing a college lab report, i decided i'd give 5th gen a look. So there was again, team building, gimmicking, tinkering, trying to find a niche for BW as i did in in D/P. I have to admit this generation seems to have more variety and more strategy involved than D/P.
Anyhow, moving along, this is a team i laddered with my alt account, which is ranked at about #20 on PO. It has some cool ideas in it, but there's always place for improvement.

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In Depth
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Donphan (M) @ Leftovers Trait: Sturdy
EVs: 252 HP / 216 Atk / 36 Def / 4 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Earthquake
- Ice Shard
- Stealth Rock
- Rapid Spin

Donphan is my most common lead in case my opponent doesn't have a potential Rapid Spinner. Reason being that i need Stealth Rock down asap, obviously. In my opinion this guy is the best Rapid spinner around, able to force Jellicent to Recover on the switch out thanks to its powerful Earthquake. I am opting for more Attack Evs rather than boosting Defenses as i prefer that extra punch it gives to STAB Earthquake. Ice Shard is also boosted which helps. Makes a great check to the likes of Dragonite and Landorus. 216 Attack EVs to benefit from the +Atk nature, 4 Speed Evs to outspeed other Donphan as well as Pokemon that share the same base speed. Counters Deoxys leads as well. Gets rid of Stealth Rock that my Dragonite so much appreciates.

Dragonite (M) @ Lum Berry
Trait: Multiscale
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Dragon Dance
- Outrage
- Fire Punch
- ExtremeSpeed

One of my favorite RSE Pokemon has received an enormous boost in the form of Multiscale. A pretty self-explanatory set. I opted for Extremespeed due to the offensive nature of my team allowing it to revenge more offensive threats. Donphan helps clearing those annoying stealth rocks for this to spread havoc. Checks Volcarona and sun teams that would otherwise prove troublesome. Helps weaken walls down with its powerful Outrage, and potentially take out Ferrothorn or Forretress with Fire Punch.

Gliscor (M) @ Flight Gem
Trait: Poison Heal
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Swords Dance
- Quick Attack
- Earthquake
- Acrobatics

My late game sweeper, this Gliscor is a beast. A +2 Flight Gem Acrobatics has the potential to OHKO everything that's neutral to it, and correct me if i'm wrong but i think it OHKOes offensive oriented Rotom-W after SR damage. Great type synergy with Slowbro.
Quick Attack is rather filler, but i found it more useful than say Substitute. The nature of my team doesn't really give me the luxury to set up subs. Quick Attack on the other hand has saved my ass plenty of times with opposing Terakions and Dragonites sitting on 4% HP, or needing that extra punch to OHKO Latios with an Extremespeed from Dragonite.

Slowbro (M) @ Rocky Helmet
Trait: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 216 Def / 40 SDef
Bold Nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Scald
- Psychic
- Slack Off
- Toxic

Manliest Pokemon of the team. Takes hits like a pro, but watch out! It's also wearing a Rocky helmet. Truth be told, Slowbro does not need Leftovers. Regenerator makes up for it, and if you are playing Slowbro correctly you'll barely have it in for more than two turns. Switches in on Bullet Punches and unstabbed U-turns, racks an enormous 17% and switches out next turn, only to have it regenerate any lost HP.
My main Heatran wall as well. I prefer Toxic to Thunder Wave as priority attacks in my team already take care of faster opponents, and Toxic allows me to disable Leftovers from bulky waters, allowing Gliscor and Dragonite to take them out after an appropriate amount of Stealth Rock damage has added up.

Virizion @ Leftovers
Trait: Justified
EVs: 252 SAtk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Calm Mind
- Giga Drain
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Focus Blast

Awesome new Pokemon. My main Rotom-W wall. I have to make sure i don't recklessly lose this. Giga drains boost was a great addition to this gen. Provides flawless type synergy with Slowbro as well. I tend to spam Focus Blast early on if my opponent has Scizor or Steels in general. Its usually the Pokemon that ends up sweeping, since if Lati@s is revenged by Scizor, there's not much holding this down. It takes care of Quagsire which stops all of my physical hitters. Otherwise i'd have to outmanuever it with Toxic. Indispensable member of the team.

Scizor (M) @ Choice Band
Trait: Technician
EVs: 200 HP / 252 Atk / 56 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Bullet Punch
- U-turn
- Superpower
- Pursuit

The glue of the team. Resists Dragon attacks, revenges dragons, keeps the momentum with U-turn. A great Pokemon on most teams. Again, typing here matches well with Slowbro and Gliscor. 56 Speed Evs to outspeed its brethren. Takes care of Gengar, Lati@s, and really any pesky Pokemon that tend to pose a problem to Virizion, Gliscor and Dragonite.

Notable threats:

Chandelure destroys this team should my opponent manage to set Stealth Rock. Not much i can do about it. Gliscor always outspeeds but has to come in after something has died. Good thing is that if i have set up SR it won't have that many opportunities to come. Dragonite can also take a hit and attempt to take it down with him, but that's not really a good answer is it?

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Closing Words
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So there you have it. Its a team that manages to fare well against all types of weather. Pretty solid with good type synergy. Make sure you predict well with it, especially with Slowbro.
I am also going to provide a replay link showing how my team is used, that will probably help the raters get a better picture of this team:
http://pokemon.aesoft.org/replay-Stelenzos-vs-Dragonstar--05--2011-at-21h17-private364502118

Importable:

Hide

Donphan (M) @ Leftovers Trait: Sturdy
EVs: 252 HP / 216 Atk / 36 Def / 4 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Earthquake
- Ice Shard
- Stealth Rock
- Rapid Spin
Dragonite (M) @ Lum Berry
Trait: Multiscale
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Dragon Dance
- Outrage
- Fire Punch
- ExtremeSpeed
Gliscor (M) @ Flight Gem
Trait: Poison Heal
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Swords Dance
- Quick Attack
- Earthquake
- Acrobatics
Slowbro (M) @ Rocky Helmet
Trait: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 216 Def / 40 SDef
Bold Nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Scald
- Psychic
- Slack Off
- Toxic
Virizion @ Leftovers
Trait: Justified
EVs: 252 SAtk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Calm Mind
- Giga Drain
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Focus Blast
Scizor (M) @ Choice Band
Trait: Technician
EVs: 200 HP / 252 Atk / 56 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Bullet Punch
- U-turn
- Superpower
- Pursuit

Disclaimer: Sprites were taken from PE2K.com

~Astamatitos.

 

[Soulfly]

Chandelure is only a threat when not choiced.
I dont know in todays metagame how much it appears (if it appears at all :o) .

Basically , if unchoiced it will probably calm mind OR be a substitute +3 attacks set.
Calm mind set asks for a strong water/dark/ground/stone attack .
That means scissor , gliscor and donphan can hurt it .
Looking at their chances for survival then again this wont be a reliable counter.
As for a substitute set , basically you cant switch so attack with the best thing you have.

What could help is a vaporeon with roar in its move set.
Basically a chandelure cant do anything to vaporeon and if it thinks : cool i can get a sub up , they are wrong since you have roar.

Personally i would replace gliscor for this matter.
This also 'fixes' your 'lack' off special walls as vaporeon has (even when no EVs invested) a very nice special bulk :)

Hope this helped.

 

[aVocado]

Lati@s twins completely destroy your team, spamming Draco Meteor to OHKO every member of your team except for maybe Slowbro and Scizor, which they especially carry HP Fire for. Offensive Celebi can also be a potential threat as it can outspeed everything on your team and take it out using a super effective move. Leaf Storm > Slowbro/Gliscor, Psychic > Virizion/Gliscor, Donphan > Leaf Storm, Scizor > HP Fire. The only thing Celebi can't take down is Dragonite, but if it's multiscale is not activated, it's screwed.

For this I suggest to change Gliscor to a Choice Band Tyranitar to counter Lati@s and check Celebi. Beware of Celebi though as it can deal some heavy damage to Tyranitar with Leaf Storm.

Tyranitar @ Choice Band
Careful
244 HP / 36 Atk / 220 SDef / 8 Spe
- Crunch
- Pursuit
- Fire Punch
- Superpower

This guy can take a dragon pulse from Latios only doing 20% damage to it, and Draco Meteor doing 41-42%, while it can OHKO back with Crunch and 2HKO with Pursuit assuming they're not switching, if they switch its an OHKO. It can also Crunch/Pursuit Celebi. If you're still having problems with Celebi, you could try changing your Scizor to a Choice Scarf Scizor.

 

[CheezyMoon]

Lati@s twins completely destroy your team, spamming Draco Meteor to OHKO every member of your team except for maybe Slowbro and Scizor, which they especially carry HP Fire for.

He can wait for Latios to DM, then switch Scizor in and Pursuit it for the kill. Also, Latias should be using CM, not DM

 

[Fear]

I believe the pokemon you can/should work a bit more on is Dragonite. Whilst the last 4 members of your team have a nice defensive synergy, your using Dragonite mostly for revenging with Extremespeed whatever faster is threatening the team + convinent use of his type resistance for whatever the main combo can't check(volcarona for example as you said).

I think a Dragon Tail/Roost/Extremespeed/Outrage or FirePunch with leftovers would benefit the team more if thats the role you want it: You have a spinner so you can multiply use your roost and dragon tail to get staff out that are setting up forming a more solid core(the said Celebi that was mentioned for example) and force opponents to directly hit you rather than set up-> slowbro switch ins for physical dmg with rocky helmet.
You will still have Extremespeed to get weakened stuff and you can also opt for the FirePunch for move coverage in the last slot or Outrage to continue be a threat that cant be ignored. I'd keep the same max attack and speed EVs. Remember that Multiscale can be used a lot of times and you lack a phaser for set up threats, Dragonite can fill that spot perfectly.
Type back if this feedback helped :D

 

[aVocado]

He can wait for Latios to DM, then switch Scizor in and Pursuit it for the kill. Also, Latias should be using CM, not DM

Not really, personally I think offensive Latias (the life orb tank set) is the most effective. And Lati@s usually carry HP Fire, which will damage Scizor a lot even if it's at -2 SpA, if not OHKO it.

And Scizor can revenge kill Lati@s, not counter it. There's a difference. If nothing can counter a Pokemon on your team then that Pokemon is a threat.

 

[Astamatitos]

I haven't found the Lati@s duo being a significant threat to the team thanks to team reveal. The nature of this team, and most offensive oriented teams is not to really have a counter to nearly everything, but rather to cope in multiple scenarios. Say poisoning Latias on the switch and sacrificing that 1 HP Donphan to revenge with Scizor.

I am liking Fear's rate, and i am going to tweak Dragonite to the phazer set instead. Having offensive Gliscor on the team as well as DDnite can be redudant at times. Still, the raw power of the DD set is kinda hard to bypass.

Thanks for the rates so far!

 

[Oblivion IX]

As mentioned by others both Latios and Latias give your team a tremendous amount of trouble. Their extremely powerful Dragon-type moves will obliterate your entire team outside of Scizor who easily dies to Hidden Power [Fire]. My suggestion to fix this is to use Tyranitar. It can take anything those two can throw its way and also benefits your team by bringing Sandstorm into play. This will make Gliscor more dangerous as you should be running Sand Veil on that set anyways. Pair that up with Substitute and you can set-up behind safety as your opponent fails to break your Sub thanks to that 20% boost in evasion. Now, to make room for Tyranitar I'm going to suggest replacing Donphan. You've already got an excellent physical wall in Slowbro and I've got a replacement in mind for Dragonite so the loss of Rapid Spin won't be too severe. As for a moveset, the standard MixTar will do well in this situation.

Of course, using Tyranitar will make things difficult for Dragonite. While it may seem counterproductive it’s obvious that T-Tar helps a lot by patching up weaknesses and summoning the weather that makes Gliscor truly a threat. Since you can’t satisfy both ends of the spectrum I’m going to suggest replacing D-Nite as this change won’t be as much of a blow to your team as getting rid of Gliscor and the new T-Tar to keep it. There are also several great options to use over it. The first is Haxorus for obvious reasons. It maintains the presence of a hard hitting Dragon-type on your team and this one doesn’t necessarily need Rapid Spin to be at its best. Another option is to use a Choice Scarf variant of Terrakion. He'll make up for the loss of priority that came by replacing D-Nite/Donphan by being able to outspeed and demolish +1 Salamence and Volcarona with Stone Edge. His speed and Scizor's Bullet Punch will be more than enough to keep everything in check that your team did before and also gives you a better way of beating things like DD Scrafty. Good team and good luck.

Movesets:

Tyranitar @ Leftovers l Sand Stream
Sassy l 252 HP / 64 SAtk / 192 SDef
- Stealth Rock l Crunch -
- Fire Blast l Ice Beam / Superpower -

Haxorus @ Lum Berry l Mold Breaker
Adamant l 36 HP / 252 Atk / 220 Spd
- Outrage l Dragon Dance -
- Earthquake l Swords Dance / Brick Break / Taunt

or

Terrakion @ Choice Scarf l Justified
Jolly l 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
- Close Combat l Stone Edge -
- X-Scissor l Earthquake -

In-Summary:

- Tyranitar > Donphan
- Haxorus / Terrakion > Dragonite

 

[Nelson]

You didn't mention your biggest threat against who you don't have any chances to avoid the 6-0.

Raikou CM 6-0 this team, not good.