I really really love poliwrath, so I decided to build a team around him. It didn't work out very well, it kind of went off on a tangent, it is now more centered on the houndoom+poliwrath combo. So I'm going to ask for help restoring some synergy now. I've gotten a lot of help so far. What should I use as a lead, btw?
Thor (Zapdos) @ Leftovers
Bold | 252 HP/220 Def/36 Spe
Thunderbolt
HP Ice
Roost
U-Turn
Maybe my lead. A pretty functional counter to infernape and lucario, it can HP ice to hurt dragons, thunderbolt for waters and gyarados, roost off damage, and U-Turn out. This is a very helpful edition to my team, thanks Tangerine!
Stockholm (Houndoom) @ Choice Scarf
Mild | Flash Fire | 80 Atk/252 SpA/176 Spe
Overheat
Dark Pulse
Pursuit
HP Ice
I got annoyed about how not many pokes worked as well for revenge killing as weavile, so I tried to find another. Scarfdoom does a pretty good job. Scarf fixes his low speed, making him a better sweeper. Although pursuit isn't matching with his better attack stat, it can still kill thing weak to it pretty well. HP Ice is for dragons, dark pulse is for a more appropriate special dark move, and overheat is for fire STAB. He also functions for bating water attacks for poliwrath, and helps it with a grass resistance and psychic immunity. I don't know why I named it after a city, but it sounded good.
Reggie (Regice) @ Leftovers
Calm | 252 HP/252 Def/4 SpD
Rest
Sleep Talk
Ice Beam
Thunderbolt
My special wall. With restalk and boltbeam, regice is pretty cool. With great durability and coverage, he's difficult to take down. he also bates fire attacks for houndoom's flash fire. The name comes from Reggie Fils-Aimes or however you spell it.
Flying Spaghetti Monster (Tangrowth) @ Wide Lens
Bold | 252 HP/228 Def/28 Spe
HP Fire
Grass Knot
Stun Spore
Sleep Powder
My physical wall. Wide lens is for the powders because I really hate missing. HP Fire along with stealth rock (from donphan, below) means the only things that really annoy him are heatran and poisons. He can sleep them, cripple them, or just switch to someone else. Double powder sure is great. Electric and grass resistances aid poliwrath greatly. Also bates fire attacks for houndoom. As for the name, well, I'm pastafarian.
BARREL ROLL (Donphan) @ Leftovers
Imppish | 252 Hp/4 Atk/252 Def
Ice Shard
Earthquake
Stealth Rock
Rapid Spin
My spinner and stealth rock layer. He can also deal with heatran with earthquake, and ice shard helps with dragons. The electric immunity is very helpful to poliwrath, although the grass weak certainly isn't. Pretty basic. Screwed over by toxic spikes though.
QWRATH (Poliwrath) @ Salac Berry
Jolly | Water Absorb | 12 HP/244 Atk/252 Spe
Belly Drum
Substitute
Ice Punch
Brick Break
The star of the show, sort of. Basic bellywrath, but with paralysis and sleep support, water absorb bate, and stuff to switch to in case of his resistances coming in. Substitute on the expected switch, belly drum the next turn, and then proceed to sweep. If it gets messed up, I may be able to heal it and start again with houndoom and donphan's water weaks. The name QWRATH is an inside joke from nsider, don't worry about it.
So please help. After doing the threat list I noticed a lot of problems, and I need help fixing them. Thanks. Only request is leave poliwrath on the team. I've got a total of five immunities, and triple weaknesses to ice and rock, although crobat is one of the weaks to both, and he isn't meant to take attacks at all.
Threat List:
Tyranitar: Rock/Dark. Choice Banded Crunch, Stone Edge/Rock Slide and Pursuit from 134 Base Attack. Tyranitar can also boast Dragon Dance or 101 HP Substitutes and utilize Ice Beam, Thunderbolt and Flamethrower/Fire Blast with 95 Base Special Attack and great all around defenses. Its "Sand Stream" also limits the durability of non-Rock, -Steel and -Ground Types, while also boosting by 1.5× the Special Defense of itself and all other Rock type pokémon.
Physical tyranitar isn't a problem, becuase both tangrowth and poliwrath can take care of it, but the special ones can cause issues. Regice isn't a reliable counter to them because of focus punch, although if he gets in when t-tar has no substitute he can probably take it as long as he keeps attacking. Houndoom has the same focus punch problem, but he can revenge kill with HP Ice.
Gyarados: Water/Flying. 125 Base Attack, 100 Base Special Defense, 95 Base HP, Dragon Dance, "Intimidate", fantastic typing, and physical STAB in Waterfall to replace its lost physical Hidden Power Flying from Advance. Also boasts Stone Edge, Earthquake, Ice Fang and, possibly its most threatening move, Taunt, which now lasts 3-5 turns instead of always two.
Crobat can taunt it's taunt and dragon dance or sleep it, but won't like ice fang. Regice can't take hits from it well enough to thunderbolt it either. I need help with gyarados.
Infernape: Fire/Fighting. Swords Dance, Nasty Plot, 108 Base Speed, 104 Base Attack and Special Attack, and a very, very diverse movepool, including, of most importance: Close Combat, Flare Blitz, Thunderpunch, Stone Edge, Flamethrower, Hidden Power Ice and Grass Knot.
Infernape may be a big problem for my team. Destroys both of my main walls, as well as donphan if it has HP Ice. Houndoom can switch in on a fire attack and outspeed, but it won't be able to do much and if I mispredict and go in on Close Combat I'll get killed. Poliwrath won't like thunderpunch or grass knot. Crobat can hit it fairly hard, but can't really take hits at all.
Azelf: Psychic. 115 Base Speed, 125 Base Special Attack and Attack, Nasty Plot, "Levitate", Psychic, Flamethrower, Grass Knot, Thunderbolt, U-turn and Explosion.
Houndoom can take it fairly easily. Immune to psychic and flamethrower, and neutral to grass knot and thunderbolt, it can switch in, outspeed, and kill with pursuit or dark pulse.
Electivire: Electric. 123 Base Attack, a unique Ability in "Motor Drive" that raises its speed by 1.5× whenever an electric attack is used on it, 95 Base Special Attack and Speed, and the ability, with a Thunderbolt/Cross Chop/Earthquake/Ice Punch moveset, to score a Super Effective Hit on 13 of the 17 pokémon types (all but Psychic, Ghost, Bug and Fighting types).
Electivire doesn't seem that common anymore, but it may be a problem. Donphan can hit it with earthquake but won't like ice punch, both crobat and tangrowth can sleep it, but again, neither will like ice punch, although tangrowth can take physical hits really well, and crobat won't like thunderbolt. It kills regice with cross chop and poliwrath with thunderbolt, and takes houndoom with both earthquake and cross chop. Another one I don't know what to do with.
Heracross: Bug/Fighting. 125 Base Attack, an Ability in "Guts" that raises its attack by 1.5× when afflicted with a status condition (PAR, BRN, PSN), 85 base Speed, 95 base Special Defense, and a great physical movepool, including, of most importance: Close Combat, Megahorn, Stone Edge/Rock Slide, Pursuit, Swords Dance, Night Slash, Endure and Reversal. Can also utilize Choice Scarf to boost its average speed to surprise enemies. Crobat can switch in on pretty much anything but rock attacks, and can kill with air slash, or taunt endurers. Houndoom can also revenge kill it okay, although it will probably switch. I'll have to be careful not to stun spore it.
Salamence: Dragon/Flying. 135 Base Attack, 110 Base Special Attack, 100 Base Speed, "Intimidate", and the ability, with either Choice Band or Choice Specs, to hit EXTREMELY hard off the bat from both ends of the damage spectrum. Besides Dragon Dance, its large movepool includes: Draco Meteor, Dragon Claw, Earthquake, Rock Slide/Stone Edge, Brick Break, Flamethrower/Fire Blast, Hydro Pump, Dragon Pulse and Roost. While special varieties may be a problem, tangrowth walls physical ones and can status it or sleep it. Regice fails at dealing with special varieties due to fire attacks, but it can still ice beam it. Houndoom can't take brick break, but can switch in on a fire attack and kill it with HP Ice.
Togekiss: Normal/Flying. 120 Base Special Attack, 115 Base Special Defense, 80 Base Speed, and an Ability in "Serene Grace" that doubles the extra effects of moves that have them. Its movepool includes: Nasty Plot, Air Slash (60% flinch with "Serene Grace"), Aura Sphere, Wish/Softboiled/Roost, Thunder Wave, Baton Pass, Tri Attack (illegal with Nasty Plot) and Grass Knot. Regice counters it pretty well, taking it's hits, not worrying about twave, and hittting it with both ice beam and thunderbolt. Poliwrath can brick break it as well, but it won't take thunderwave or grass not very happily.
Gengar: Ghost/Poison. 130 base Special Attack, 110 Base Speed and "Levitate". Its fantastic movepool includes: Shadow Ball, Thunderbolt, Hypnosis, Focus Blast, Will-o-wisp, Sludge Bomb, Giga Drain, Explosion and Destiny Bond. Houndoom can switch in on anything but focus blast and hypnosis and outspeed it to pursuit/dark pulse it. Tangrowth can take anything it throws at it except will-o-wisp, including explosion, and sleep it, but can't do much damage to it. Regice can wall everything but focus blast, but can't do much either. Damn, focus blast sucks.
Garchomp: Dragon/Ground. 102 Base Speed, 130 Attack, very solid defenses, and an Ability in "Sand Veil" that raises its evasion 20% in a Sandstorm. Its movepool includes: Swords Dance, Earthquake, Dragon Claw, Fire Fang, Fire Blast, Draco Meteor, Stone Edge/Rock Slide and Outrage. Houndoom can easily revenge kill with HP Ice, outspeeding it, and donphan can wall it and ice fang.
Lucario: Fighting/Steel: 110 Base Attack, 115 Base Special Attack, 90 base speed. Its obscene movepool includes: Close Combat, Swords Dance, Calm Mind, Crunch, Endure, Reversal, Calm Mind, Extremespeed, Aura Sphere, Focus Blast, Bullet Punch, Bulk Up, Agility, Shadow Ball, Dark Pulse and Dragon Pulse. Houndoom can revenge kill with overheat, but isn't a true counter because of it's fighting moves. Poliwrath can take most everything and brick break it. Donphan can also take most moves and EQ it.
Starmie: Water/Psychic. 115 Base Speed, 100 Base Special Attack and "Natural Cure". Can work very well with or without Choice Specs thanks to a great movepool that includes: Surf, Psychic, Thunderbolt, Ice Beam, Grass Knot, Recover and Rapid Spin. Its adequate, somewhat-overlooked 85 base Defense and Special Defense make it a surprisingly durable threat with Recover. Houndoom outspeeds it and can hit it hard with pursuit or dark pulse, while taking everything but surf. Regice can also wall it and hit back with thunderbolt. Tangrowth can power whip it but doesn't like ice beam.
Weavile: Dark/Ice. 120 Base Attack, 125 Base Speed, Swords Dance, Night Slash, Ice Punch, Brick Break and a STABbed Pursuit and Ice Shard make this a threat with or without Choice Band. Poliwrath is resistant to all it's most common attacks but aireal ace, and immune to waterfall, and kills it with brick break. Houndoom is also capable of beating weavile in his own revenge killing game, by resisting his attacks and killing with overheat.
Dugtrio: Ground. 120 Base Speed, 80 Base Attack. Only used for its "Arena Trap" trait, which prevents all pokémon that aren't Flying types or that don't have the Levitate ability from switching, making Dugtrio's Choice Banded or Life Orbed Earthquake, Aerial Ace, Night Slash or Sucker Punch quick and efficient. A "threat" because it can stop other threats like Tyranitar, Infernape and Raikou from running rampant, and makes you think twice about building a team loaded with pokémon Dugtrio can kill off easily. Everything on my team can rape it with some attack except crobat, who can just sleep it and keep hittting it. Can you u-turn away from it?
Porygon-Z: Normal. 135 Base Special Attack, 90 Base Speed, a unique Ability in "Adaptability" that makes its Same Type Attack Bonus 2× instead of 1.5×, Nasty Plot, Tri Attack, Shadow Ball, Recover, Agility, Hidden Power Fighting for Rock and Steel types, and the ability to OHKO a full Health Blissey with a Nasty Plot, Adaptability, Life Orb Hyper Beam. Poliwrath can outspeed and punch it after the salac boost, crobat hypnosises it or u-turns to something else. Houndoom outspeeds it and can take advantage of its feeble defenses.
Machamp: Fighting. 130 Base Attack, 90 Base HP, 80 Base Defense, 85 Base Special Defense. Already a viable threat with "Guts", Machamp's "No Guard" gives all of its attacks — and its opponents' — 100% accuracy, which is great news for its Dynamicpunch, Cross Chop, Stone Edge and Mega Kick. Machamp also has Close Combat, Thunderpunch, Ice Punch, Fire Punch, Bullet Punch and Bulk Up at its disposal. Crobat will outspeed and can aerial ace it, but probably won't ohko it, leaving him open to stone edge, thunderpunch and ice punch. Tangrowth can take it if it doesn't have ice punch or fire punch, but it definitely doesn't like the 50% confusion rate.
Snorlax: Normal. 160 Base HP, 110 Base Attack and Special Defense, 65 Base Defense. With Curse, Fire Punch, Ice Punch, Thunderpunch, Return/Frustration/Body Slam, Earthquake, Fire Blast, Selfdestruct and Crunch, Snorlax can contend with Skarmory a little better in this generation. Its "Thick Fat" Ability still halves the damage from Fire and Ice attack, and Rest can annoy you with or without Sleep Talk if you're not prepared. Poliwrath can take everything but thunderpunch and then use it to set up, before brick breaking it. Crobat and tangrowth can sleep it, but it may have sleep talk.
Zapdos: Electric/Flying. 125 Base Special Attack, 100 base Speed, 90 Base HP, Attack and Special Defense, 85 Base Defense. With Thunderbolt, Roost, Discharge, U-turn, Hidden Power Ice or Grass, Substitute, Agility, and Baton Pass, Zapdos can be quite the nuisance, not to mention how well it can use Rest/Sleep Talk with its "Pressure" Ability. Donphan won't like HP Ice or Grass, but can switch in on any electric attack and attempt to kill it with ice shard. Poliwrath can ice punch it, but won't like it's stab electric attacks. Regice walls it and also has an ice attack at it's disposal.
Suicune: Water. 100 Base HP, 90 Base Special Attack, 115 Base Defense and Special Defense, 85 Base Speed. Calm Mind, Surf, Ice Beam, Roar, Rest and Sleep Talk with its "Pressure" Ability make this virtually unchanged threat from Advance just as hard to beat in DP if you're not ready. While it's hard to counter a roaring opponent, regice can thunderbolt it and tangrowth can power whip it, although the latter doesn't like ice beam.
Breloom: Grass/Fighting. 130 Base Attack, 70 Base Speed. Spore is the best move in the game hands down, and "Poison Heal", which grants Breloom 12.5% HP Recovery (to Leftovers' 6.25%) when Poisoned (easy to accomplish with Toxic Orb), is arguably a top-five Ability when you consider it will grant Breloom immunity to other status as well. To complement these unique tools, Breloom can utilize Focus Punch, Seed Bomb, Mach Punch, Substitute, ThunderPunch (though illegal with Poison Heal) Sky Uppercut, Stone Edge and Leech Seed. Crobat can taunt it to prevent substitute, and then either sleep it or aireal ace it. Even with crobat's weak attack stats, breloom IS 4x weak to flying, and stab makes it even worse. Thunderpunch won't be a problem because if it has thunderpunch it doesn't have poison heal, so I can sleep it.
Ninjask: Bug/Flying. 90 Base Attack, 160 Base Speed, an Ability in "Speed Boost" that raises its speed by one stage every turn. Among its main options: Substitute, Swords Dance, Baton Pass, Aerial Ace, X-Scissor, U-Turn and Protect. Mainly a threat on full-fledged Baton Pass teams that utilize Ingrain to keep both it and stat-ups from getting Whirlwinded away, but Ninjask can probably beat you in the right hands anyway if you don't have Haze, Taunt, Roar or Whirlwind handy. Crobat can taunt it but I may want to put roar somewhere on my team.
Metagross: Steel/Psychic. 135 Base Attack, 130 Base Defense, 80 Base HP, 70 Base Speed, 90 Base Special Defense. Doesn't need a Choice Band to wreak havoc with moves like Meteor Mash, ThunderPunch, Earthquake, Zen Headbutt, Agility/Rock Polish, Explosion and Pursuit. Its "Clear Body" prevents its stats from being lowered. Houndoom can switch in on everything but explosion and earthquake, as well as revenge killing. Tangrowth can take all its attacks and HP Fire it. Donphan can also EQ it.
Heatran: Steel/Fire. 130 Base Special Attack, 106 Base Defense and Special Defense, 77 Base Speed 90 Base Attack. Can utilize its "Flash Fire" ability to boost its Overheat, Fire Blast and Flamethrower and Magma Storm, and also boasts: Earth Power, Dragon Pulse, Metal Sound, Lava Plume and Explosion. A perfect candidate for either Choice Specs or Choice Scarf. It and houndoom mess with eachother because they both have flash fire, but donphan can EQ it, and poliwrath resists most of its attacks.
Celebi: Psychic/Grass. 100 Base in every stat, boasts Calm Mind, Swords Dance, Recover, Baton Pass, Psychic, Energy Ball/Grass Knot, Leaf Storm, Giga Drain, Shadow Ball, U-Turn, Heal Bell, Leech Seed, Perish Song and "Natural Cure". Houndoom hurts it badly with all of its attacks, and can revenge kill it. Crobat can probably kill it due to its 4x weak to u-turn and 2x weak to aireal ace. Donphan can ice shard but doesn't like grass attacks, poliwrath can ice punch but is weak to both of it's stabs, and regice can ice beam and deal with everything but leech seed.
Jirachi: Psychic/Steel. 100 Base in every stat, boasts Calm Mind, Psychic, Grass Knot, Thunderbolt, Wish, U-Turn, Reflect, Baton Pass, Thunder Wave and greatly benefits from "Serene Grace". Houndoom can outspeed and overheat, and can switch into everything, although it doesn't like thunderwave. Donphan can earthquake and is immune to thunderwave and thunderbolt, but doesn't like grass knot.
Dragonite: Dragon/Flying. 134 Base Attack, 100 Base Special Attack, 80 Base Speed. Separates itself from its threatening brothers Salamence and Garchomp thanks to the ability to use both Outrage and Dragon Dance. Dragon Claw, Earthquake, Fire Punch, Focus Punch, Draco Meteor, Dragon Pulse, Thunderbolt, Flamethrower/Fire Blast and Ice Beam are among its impressive myriad attacking moves, and Dragonite also has Roost, Heal Bell, Thunder Wave and Safeguard as great support options. Houndoom can swwitch into everything but focus punch and can HP Ice it, possibly revenge killing. Donphan doesn't like ice beam but can ice shard it. Regice doesn't like fire or focus punch, but can also ice beam it. Poliwrath doesn't like thunderbolt but can ice punch. None of them but regice will like thunderwave though.
Mamoswine: Ice/Ground. 130 Base Attack, 80 Base Speed, 70 Base Special Attack. Boasts one of the strongest STAB Earthquakes in the game, which, coupled with its STAB Ice Shard and Avalance, grant it great physical STAB coverage. Stone Edge, Ice Fang, Curse and Blizzard round out the main options of a monster that works very well with a Choice Band. Houndoom can revenge kill, but can't switch in because of EQ. Poliwrath might not be able to survive a stab CB earthquake, but can use it as set up fodder and kill it if he gets in.
Gallade: Psychic/Fighting. 125 Attack, 115 Base Special Defense, 80 Base Speed. Its impressive, varied movepool includes Close Combat, Psycho Cut, Stone Edge, Night Slash, Ice Punch, Swords Dance, Hypnosis, Will-o-wisp, and Thunder Wave. Crobat outspeeds and can hypnosis, taunt or aerial ace, but won't like stone edge or ice punch. Tangrowth takes everything but ice punch like a champ, and can criple with stun spore. Houndoom may be able to hurt it with pursuit, but doesn't like fighting moves.
Yanmega: Bug/Flying. 116 Base Special Attack, 95 Base Speed, 86 Base HP and Defense. Has two very useful abilities in "Tinted Lens", which doubles the power of NVE (not very effective) hits, and "Speed Boost". Yanmega can use Air Slash, Bug Buzz, Hypnosis, Protect, and Choice Specs, Choice Scarf or Focus Sash very well. Houndoom outspeeds non scarf/speed boost varieties, and can kill it with overheat. He of course won't like hypnosis, but regice can absorb that, possible hit it with a couple of ST ice beams and thunderbolts while taking hits pretty well as well, and then switch to houndoom.
Kingdra: Water/Dragon. 95 Base Attack, Defense, Special Attack and Special Defense, 85 Base Speed, 75 Base HP. Sports two fun abilities in "Swift Swim", which doubles its speed in the rain, and "Sniper", which grants its critical hits 3× power instead of 2×. Among the most effective moves for Kingdra are: Rain Dance, Surf, Waterfall, Dragon Pulse, Draco Meteor, Dragon Dance, and Yawn. It's worth noting that with Swift Swim, the single turn it takes to set up Rain Dance will not only double Kingdra's speed but boost both its physical and special Water-type moves one stage, which makes both Life Orb and Mystic Water look great on it. Inside or outside of the rain, regice doesn't mind any of it's attacks and can then thunderbolt and ice beam it. Donphan can also ice shard, but gets killed pretty badly by its water moves. Poliwrath can also use its water moves for healing if it needs it, and then switch to regice to avoid the draco meteor/dragon pulse.
Roserade: Grass/Poison. 125 Base Special Attack, 95 Base Speed, 105 Base Special Defense. Has Leaf Storm, Sludge Bomb, Sleep Powder, Weather Ball, Leech Seed, Spikes (illegal with Sleep Powder), and Toxic Spikes. Further, the constant switching associated with using a rather handy Choice Scarf or Choice Speics makes "Natural Cure" a great ability on Roserade. Regice walls it and can proceed to wear it down with ice beam, but toxic spikes can prove a problem, as donphan can't effectively spin them away without dying soon after.
Scizor: Bug/Steel. 130 Base Attack, 100 Base Defense, 65 Base Speed. Makes great use of its new "Technician" ability, which grants a 1.5× boost to all attacks 60 Base Power or less, and can still benefit from "Swarm" which grants the same boost to Bug-type Attack when at 33% or less HP. Scizor's decent movepool includes, X-Scissor, U-Turn, Iron Head, Brick Break, Pursuit, Aerial Ace, Quick Attack, Swords Dance, Agility, Baton Pass, and Roost. It very much welcomes the benefits of Life Orb, Choice Band and Choice Scarf. Houndoom can take everything but brick break, outspeeds, and easily kills it with overheat.
Thor (Zapdos) @ Leftovers
Bold | 252 HP/220 Def/36 Spe
Thunderbolt
HP Ice
Roost
U-Turn
Maybe my lead. A pretty functional counter to infernape and lucario, it can HP ice to hurt dragons, thunderbolt for waters and gyarados, roost off damage, and U-Turn out. This is a very helpful edition to my team, thanks Tangerine!
Stockholm (Houndoom) @ Choice Scarf
Mild | Flash Fire | 80 Atk/252 SpA/176 Spe
Overheat
Dark Pulse
Pursuit
HP Ice
I got annoyed about how not many pokes worked as well for revenge killing as weavile, so I tried to find another. Scarfdoom does a pretty good job. Scarf fixes his low speed, making him a better sweeper. Although pursuit isn't matching with his better attack stat, it can still kill thing weak to it pretty well. HP Ice is for dragons, dark pulse is for a more appropriate special dark move, and overheat is for fire STAB. He also functions for bating water attacks for poliwrath, and helps it with a grass resistance and psychic immunity. I don't know why I named it after a city, but it sounded good.
Reggie (Regice) @ Leftovers
Calm | 252 HP/252 Def/4 SpD
Rest
Sleep Talk
Ice Beam
Thunderbolt
My special wall. With restalk and boltbeam, regice is pretty cool. With great durability and coverage, he's difficult to take down. he also bates fire attacks for houndoom's flash fire. The name comes from Reggie Fils-Aimes or however you spell it.
Flying Spaghetti Monster (Tangrowth) @ Wide Lens
Bold | 252 HP/228 Def/28 Spe
HP Fire
Grass Knot
Stun Spore
Sleep Powder
My physical wall. Wide lens is for the powders because I really hate missing. HP Fire along with stealth rock (from donphan, below) means the only things that really annoy him are heatran and poisons. He can sleep them, cripple them, or just switch to someone else. Double powder sure is great. Electric and grass resistances aid poliwrath greatly. Also bates fire attacks for houndoom. As for the name, well, I'm pastafarian.
BARREL ROLL (Donphan) @ Leftovers
Imppish | 252 Hp/4 Atk/252 Def
Ice Shard
Earthquake
Stealth Rock
Rapid Spin
My spinner and stealth rock layer. He can also deal with heatran with earthquake, and ice shard helps with dragons. The electric immunity is very helpful to poliwrath, although the grass weak certainly isn't. Pretty basic. Screwed over by toxic spikes though.
QWRATH (Poliwrath) @ Salac Berry
Jolly | Water Absorb | 12 HP/244 Atk/252 Spe
Belly Drum
Substitute
Ice Punch
Brick Break
The star of the show, sort of. Basic bellywrath, but with paralysis and sleep support, water absorb bate, and stuff to switch to in case of his resistances coming in. Substitute on the expected switch, belly drum the next turn, and then proceed to sweep. If it gets messed up, I may be able to heal it and start again with houndoom and donphan's water weaks. The name QWRATH is an inside joke from nsider, don't worry about it.
So please help. After doing the threat list I noticed a lot of problems, and I need help fixing them. Thanks. Only request is leave poliwrath on the team. I've got a total of five immunities, and triple weaknesses to ice and rock, although crobat is one of the weaks to both, and he isn't meant to take attacks at all.
Threat List:
Tyranitar: Rock/Dark. Choice Banded Crunch, Stone Edge/Rock Slide and Pursuit from 134 Base Attack. Tyranitar can also boast Dragon Dance or 101 HP Substitutes and utilize Ice Beam, Thunderbolt and Flamethrower/Fire Blast with 95 Base Special Attack and great all around defenses. Its "Sand Stream" also limits the durability of non-Rock, -Steel and -Ground Types, while also boosting by 1.5× the Special Defense of itself and all other Rock type pokémon.
Physical tyranitar isn't a problem, becuase both tangrowth and poliwrath can take care of it, but the special ones can cause issues. Regice isn't a reliable counter to them because of focus punch, although if he gets in when t-tar has no substitute he can probably take it as long as he keeps attacking. Houndoom has the same focus punch problem, but he can revenge kill with HP Ice.
Gyarados: Water/Flying. 125 Base Attack, 100 Base Special Defense, 95 Base HP, Dragon Dance, "Intimidate", fantastic typing, and physical STAB in Waterfall to replace its lost physical Hidden Power Flying from Advance. Also boasts Stone Edge, Earthquake, Ice Fang and, possibly its most threatening move, Taunt, which now lasts 3-5 turns instead of always two.
Crobat can taunt it's taunt and dragon dance or sleep it, but won't like ice fang. Regice can't take hits from it well enough to thunderbolt it either. I need help with gyarados.
Infernape: Fire/Fighting. Swords Dance, Nasty Plot, 108 Base Speed, 104 Base Attack and Special Attack, and a very, very diverse movepool, including, of most importance: Close Combat, Flare Blitz, Thunderpunch, Stone Edge, Flamethrower, Hidden Power Ice and Grass Knot.
Infernape may be a big problem for my team. Destroys both of my main walls, as well as donphan if it has HP Ice. Houndoom can switch in on a fire attack and outspeed, but it won't be able to do much and if I mispredict and go in on Close Combat I'll get killed. Poliwrath won't like thunderpunch or grass knot. Crobat can hit it fairly hard, but can't really take hits at all.
Azelf: Psychic. 115 Base Speed, 125 Base Special Attack and Attack, Nasty Plot, "Levitate", Psychic, Flamethrower, Grass Knot, Thunderbolt, U-turn and Explosion.
Houndoom can take it fairly easily. Immune to psychic and flamethrower, and neutral to grass knot and thunderbolt, it can switch in, outspeed, and kill with pursuit or dark pulse.
Electivire: Electric. 123 Base Attack, a unique Ability in "Motor Drive" that raises its speed by 1.5× whenever an electric attack is used on it, 95 Base Special Attack and Speed, and the ability, with a Thunderbolt/Cross Chop/Earthquake/Ice Punch moveset, to score a Super Effective Hit on 13 of the 17 pokémon types (all but Psychic, Ghost, Bug and Fighting types).
Electivire doesn't seem that common anymore, but it may be a problem. Donphan can hit it with earthquake but won't like ice punch, both crobat and tangrowth can sleep it, but again, neither will like ice punch, although tangrowth can take physical hits really well, and crobat won't like thunderbolt. It kills regice with cross chop and poliwrath with thunderbolt, and takes houndoom with both earthquake and cross chop. Another one I don't know what to do with.
Heracross: Bug/Fighting. 125 Base Attack, an Ability in "Guts" that raises its attack by 1.5× when afflicted with a status condition (PAR, BRN, PSN), 85 base Speed, 95 base Special Defense, and a great physical movepool, including, of most importance: Close Combat, Megahorn, Stone Edge/Rock Slide, Pursuit, Swords Dance, Night Slash, Endure and Reversal. Can also utilize Choice Scarf to boost its average speed to surprise enemies. Crobat can switch in on pretty much anything but rock attacks, and can kill with air slash, or taunt endurers. Houndoom can also revenge kill it okay, although it will probably switch. I'll have to be careful not to stun spore it.
Salamence: Dragon/Flying. 135 Base Attack, 110 Base Special Attack, 100 Base Speed, "Intimidate", and the ability, with either Choice Band or Choice Specs, to hit EXTREMELY hard off the bat from both ends of the damage spectrum. Besides Dragon Dance, its large movepool includes: Draco Meteor, Dragon Claw, Earthquake, Rock Slide/Stone Edge, Brick Break, Flamethrower/Fire Blast, Hydro Pump, Dragon Pulse and Roost. While special varieties may be a problem, tangrowth walls physical ones and can status it or sleep it. Regice fails at dealing with special varieties due to fire attacks, but it can still ice beam it. Houndoom can't take brick break, but can switch in on a fire attack and kill it with HP Ice.
Togekiss: Normal/Flying. 120 Base Special Attack, 115 Base Special Defense, 80 Base Speed, and an Ability in "Serene Grace" that doubles the extra effects of moves that have them. Its movepool includes: Nasty Plot, Air Slash (60% flinch with "Serene Grace"), Aura Sphere, Wish/Softboiled/Roost, Thunder Wave, Baton Pass, Tri Attack (illegal with Nasty Plot) and Grass Knot. Regice counters it pretty well, taking it's hits, not worrying about twave, and hittting it with both ice beam and thunderbolt. Poliwrath can brick break it as well, but it won't take thunderwave or grass not very happily.
Gengar: Ghost/Poison. 130 base Special Attack, 110 Base Speed and "Levitate". Its fantastic movepool includes: Shadow Ball, Thunderbolt, Hypnosis, Focus Blast, Will-o-wisp, Sludge Bomb, Giga Drain, Explosion and Destiny Bond. Houndoom can switch in on anything but focus blast and hypnosis and outspeed it to pursuit/dark pulse it. Tangrowth can take anything it throws at it except will-o-wisp, including explosion, and sleep it, but can't do much damage to it. Regice can wall everything but focus blast, but can't do much either. Damn, focus blast sucks.
Garchomp: Dragon/Ground. 102 Base Speed, 130 Attack, very solid defenses, and an Ability in "Sand Veil" that raises its evasion 20% in a Sandstorm. Its movepool includes: Swords Dance, Earthquake, Dragon Claw, Fire Fang, Fire Blast, Draco Meteor, Stone Edge/Rock Slide and Outrage. Houndoom can easily revenge kill with HP Ice, outspeeding it, and donphan can wall it and ice fang.
Lucario: Fighting/Steel: 110 Base Attack, 115 Base Special Attack, 90 base speed. Its obscene movepool includes: Close Combat, Swords Dance, Calm Mind, Crunch, Endure, Reversal, Calm Mind, Extremespeed, Aura Sphere, Focus Blast, Bullet Punch, Bulk Up, Agility, Shadow Ball, Dark Pulse and Dragon Pulse. Houndoom can revenge kill with overheat, but isn't a true counter because of it's fighting moves. Poliwrath can take most everything and brick break it. Donphan can also take most moves and EQ it.
Starmie: Water/Psychic. 115 Base Speed, 100 Base Special Attack and "Natural Cure". Can work very well with or without Choice Specs thanks to a great movepool that includes: Surf, Psychic, Thunderbolt, Ice Beam, Grass Knot, Recover and Rapid Spin. Its adequate, somewhat-overlooked 85 base Defense and Special Defense make it a surprisingly durable threat with Recover. Houndoom outspeeds it and can hit it hard with pursuit or dark pulse, while taking everything but surf. Regice can also wall it and hit back with thunderbolt. Tangrowth can power whip it but doesn't like ice beam.
Weavile: Dark/Ice. 120 Base Attack, 125 Base Speed, Swords Dance, Night Slash, Ice Punch, Brick Break and a STABbed Pursuit and Ice Shard make this a threat with or without Choice Band. Poliwrath is resistant to all it's most common attacks but aireal ace, and immune to waterfall, and kills it with brick break. Houndoom is also capable of beating weavile in his own revenge killing game, by resisting his attacks and killing with overheat.
Dugtrio: Ground. 120 Base Speed, 80 Base Attack. Only used for its "Arena Trap" trait, which prevents all pokémon that aren't Flying types or that don't have the Levitate ability from switching, making Dugtrio's Choice Banded or Life Orbed Earthquake, Aerial Ace, Night Slash or Sucker Punch quick and efficient. A "threat" because it can stop other threats like Tyranitar, Infernape and Raikou from running rampant, and makes you think twice about building a team loaded with pokémon Dugtrio can kill off easily. Everything on my team can rape it with some attack except crobat, who can just sleep it and keep hittting it. Can you u-turn away from it?
Porygon-Z: Normal. 135 Base Special Attack, 90 Base Speed, a unique Ability in "Adaptability" that makes its Same Type Attack Bonus 2× instead of 1.5×, Nasty Plot, Tri Attack, Shadow Ball, Recover, Agility, Hidden Power Fighting for Rock and Steel types, and the ability to OHKO a full Health Blissey with a Nasty Plot, Adaptability, Life Orb Hyper Beam. Poliwrath can outspeed and punch it after the salac boost, crobat hypnosises it or u-turns to something else. Houndoom outspeeds it and can take advantage of its feeble defenses.
Machamp: Fighting. 130 Base Attack, 90 Base HP, 80 Base Defense, 85 Base Special Defense. Already a viable threat with "Guts", Machamp's "No Guard" gives all of its attacks — and its opponents' — 100% accuracy, which is great news for its Dynamicpunch, Cross Chop, Stone Edge and Mega Kick. Machamp also has Close Combat, Thunderpunch, Ice Punch, Fire Punch, Bullet Punch and Bulk Up at its disposal. Crobat will outspeed and can aerial ace it, but probably won't ohko it, leaving him open to stone edge, thunderpunch and ice punch. Tangrowth can take it if it doesn't have ice punch or fire punch, but it definitely doesn't like the 50% confusion rate.
Snorlax: Normal. 160 Base HP, 110 Base Attack and Special Defense, 65 Base Defense. With Curse, Fire Punch, Ice Punch, Thunderpunch, Return/Frustration/Body Slam, Earthquake, Fire Blast, Selfdestruct and Crunch, Snorlax can contend with Skarmory a little better in this generation. Its "Thick Fat" Ability still halves the damage from Fire and Ice attack, and Rest can annoy you with or without Sleep Talk if you're not prepared. Poliwrath can take everything but thunderpunch and then use it to set up, before brick breaking it. Crobat and tangrowth can sleep it, but it may have sleep talk.
Zapdos: Electric/Flying. 125 Base Special Attack, 100 base Speed, 90 Base HP, Attack and Special Defense, 85 Base Defense. With Thunderbolt, Roost, Discharge, U-turn, Hidden Power Ice or Grass, Substitute, Agility, and Baton Pass, Zapdos can be quite the nuisance, not to mention how well it can use Rest/Sleep Talk with its "Pressure" Ability. Donphan won't like HP Ice or Grass, but can switch in on any electric attack and attempt to kill it with ice shard. Poliwrath can ice punch it, but won't like it's stab electric attacks. Regice walls it and also has an ice attack at it's disposal.
Suicune: Water. 100 Base HP, 90 Base Special Attack, 115 Base Defense and Special Defense, 85 Base Speed. Calm Mind, Surf, Ice Beam, Roar, Rest and Sleep Talk with its "Pressure" Ability make this virtually unchanged threat from Advance just as hard to beat in DP if you're not ready. While it's hard to counter a roaring opponent, regice can thunderbolt it and tangrowth can power whip it, although the latter doesn't like ice beam.
Breloom: Grass/Fighting. 130 Base Attack, 70 Base Speed. Spore is the best move in the game hands down, and "Poison Heal", which grants Breloom 12.5% HP Recovery (to Leftovers' 6.25%) when Poisoned (easy to accomplish with Toxic Orb), is arguably a top-five Ability when you consider it will grant Breloom immunity to other status as well. To complement these unique tools, Breloom can utilize Focus Punch, Seed Bomb, Mach Punch, Substitute, ThunderPunch (though illegal with Poison Heal) Sky Uppercut, Stone Edge and Leech Seed. Crobat can taunt it to prevent substitute, and then either sleep it or aireal ace it. Even with crobat's weak attack stats, breloom IS 4x weak to flying, and stab makes it even worse. Thunderpunch won't be a problem because if it has thunderpunch it doesn't have poison heal, so I can sleep it.
Ninjask: Bug/Flying. 90 Base Attack, 160 Base Speed, an Ability in "Speed Boost" that raises its speed by one stage every turn. Among its main options: Substitute, Swords Dance, Baton Pass, Aerial Ace, X-Scissor, U-Turn and Protect. Mainly a threat on full-fledged Baton Pass teams that utilize Ingrain to keep both it and stat-ups from getting Whirlwinded away, but Ninjask can probably beat you in the right hands anyway if you don't have Haze, Taunt, Roar or Whirlwind handy. Crobat can taunt it but I may want to put roar somewhere on my team.
Metagross: Steel/Psychic. 135 Base Attack, 130 Base Defense, 80 Base HP, 70 Base Speed, 90 Base Special Defense. Doesn't need a Choice Band to wreak havoc with moves like Meteor Mash, ThunderPunch, Earthquake, Zen Headbutt, Agility/Rock Polish, Explosion and Pursuit. Its "Clear Body" prevents its stats from being lowered. Houndoom can switch in on everything but explosion and earthquake, as well as revenge killing. Tangrowth can take all its attacks and HP Fire it. Donphan can also EQ it.
Heatran: Steel/Fire. 130 Base Special Attack, 106 Base Defense and Special Defense, 77 Base Speed 90 Base Attack. Can utilize its "Flash Fire" ability to boost its Overheat, Fire Blast and Flamethrower and Magma Storm, and also boasts: Earth Power, Dragon Pulse, Metal Sound, Lava Plume and Explosion. A perfect candidate for either Choice Specs or Choice Scarf. It and houndoom mess with eachother because they both have flash fire, but donphan can EQ it, and poliwrath resists most of its attacks.
Celebi: Psychic/Grass. 100 Base in every stat, boasts Calm Mind, Swords Dance, Recover, Baton Pass, Psychic, Energy Ball/Grass Knot, Leaf Storm, Giga Drain, Shadow Ball, U-Turn, Heal Bell, Leech Seed, Perish Song and "Natural Cure". Houndoom hurts it badly with all of its attacks, and can revenge kill it. Crobat can probably kill it due to its 4x weak to u-turn and 2x weak to aireal ace. Donphan can ice shard but doesn't like grass attacks, poliwrath can ice punch but is weak to both of it's stabs, and regice can ice beam and deal with everything but leech seed.
Jirachi: Psychic/Steel. 100 Base in every stat, boasts Calm Mind, Psychic, Grass Knot, Thunderbolt, Wish, U-Turn, Reflect, Baton Pass, Thunder Wave and greatly benefits from "Serene Grace". Houndoom can outspeed and overheat, and can switch into everything, although it doesn't like thunderwave. Donphan can earthquake and is immune to thunderwave and thunderbolt, but doesn't like grass knot.
Dragonite: Dragon/Flying. 134 Base Attack, 100 Base Special Attack, 80 Base Speed. Separates itself from its threatening brothers Salamence and Garchomp thanks to the ability to use both Outrage and Dragon Dance. Dragon Claw, Earthquake, Fire Punch, Focus Punch, Draco Meteor, Dragon Pulse, Thunderbolt, Flamethrower/Fire Blast and Ice Beam are among its impressive myriad attacking moves, and Dragonite also has Roost, Heal Bell, Thunder Wave and Safeguard as great support options. Houndoom can swwitch into everything but focus punch and can HP Ice it, possibly revenge killing. Donphan doesn't like ice beam but can ice shard it. Regice doesn't like fire or focus punch, but can also ice beam it. Poliwrath doesn't like thunderbolt but can ice punch. None of them but regice will like thunderwave though.
Mamoswine: Ice/Ground. 130 Base Attack, 80 Base Speed, 70 Base Special Attack. Boasts one of the strongest STAB Earthquakes in the game, which, coupled with its STAB Ice Shard and Avalance, grant it great physical STAB coverage. Stone Edge, Ice Fang, Curse and Blizzard round out the main options of a monster that works very well with a Choice Band. Houndoom can revenge kill, but can't switch in because of EQ. Poliwrath might not be able to survive a stab CB earthquake, but can use it as set up fodder and kill it if he gets in.
Gallade: Psychic/Fighting. 125 Attack, 115 Base Special Defense, 80 Base Speed. Its impressive, varied movepool includes Close Combat, Psycho Cut, Stone Edge, Night Slash, Ice Punch, Swords Dance, Hypnosis, Will-o-wisp, and Thunder Wave. Crobat outspeeds and can hypnosis, taunt or aerial ace, but won't like stone edge or ice punch. Tangrowth takes everything but ice punch like a champ, and can criple with stun spore. Houndoom may be able to hurt it with pursuit, but doesn't like fighting moves.
Yanmega: Bug/Flying. 116 Base Special Attack, 95 Base Speed, 86 Base HP and Defense. Has two very useful abilities in "Tinted Lens", which doubles the power of NVE (not very effective) hits, and "Speed Boost". Yanmega can use Air Slash, Bug Buzz, Hypnosis, Protect, and Choice Specs, Choice Scarf or Focus Sash very well. Houndoom outspeeds non scarf/speed boost varieties, and can kill it with overheat. He of course won't like hypnosis, but regice can absorb that, possible hit it with a couple of ST ice beams and thunderbolts while taking hits pretty well as well, and then switch to houndoom.
Kingdra: Water/Dragon. 95 Base Attack, Defense, Special Attack and Special Defense, 85 Base Speed, 75 Base HP. Sports two fun abilities in "Swift Swim", which doubles its speed in the rain, and "Sniper", which grants its critical hits 3× power instead of 2×. Among the most effective moves for Kingdra are: Rain Dance, Surf, Waterfall, Dragon Pulse, Draco Meteor, Dragon Dance, and Yawn. It's worth noting that with Swift Swim, the single turn it takes to set up Rain Dance will not only double Kingdra's speed but boost both its physical and special Water-type moves one stage, which makes both Life Orb and Mystic Water look great on it. Inside or outside of the rain, regice doesn't mind any of it's attacks and can then thunderbolt and ice beam it. Donphan can also ice shard, but gets killed pretty badly by its water moves. Poliwrath can also use its water moves for healing if it needs it, and then switch to regice to avoid the draco meteor/dragon pulse.
Roserade: Grass/Poison. 125 Base Special Attack, 95 Base Speed, 105 Base Special Defense. Has Leaf Storm, Sludge Bomb, Sleep Powder, Weather Ball, Leech Seed, Spikes (illegal with Sleep Powder), and Toxic Spikes. Further, the constant switching associated with using a rather handy Choice Scarf or Choice Speics makes "Natural Cure" a great ability on Roserade. Regice walls it and can proceed to wear it down with ice beam, but toxic spikes can prove a problem, as donphan can't effectively spin them away without dying soon after.
Scizor: Bug/Steel. 130 Base Attack, 100 Base Defense, 65 Base Speed. Makes great use of its new "Technician" ability, which grants a 1.5× boost to all attacks 60 Base Power or less, and can still benefit from "Swarm" which grants the same boost to Bug-type Attack when at 33% or less HP. Scizor's decent movepool includes, X-Scissor, U-Turn, Iron Head, Brick Break, Pursuit, Aerial Ace, Quick Attack, Swords Dance, Agility, Baton Pass, and Roost. It very much welcomes the benefits of Life Orb, Choice Band and Choice Scarf. Houndoom can take everything but brick break, outspeeds, and easily kills it with overheat.
