This is the fourth serious competitive team I've designed (with some input from others). I've been playtesting it for a while and its performance seems pretty meh- partly due to me making stupid mistakes left and right, but I'm still not entirely satisfied with the team's performance.
Without further ado...
THE TEAM
Infernape (M) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Blaze
EVs: 36 Atk/220 Spd/252 SAtk
Rash nature (+SAtk, -SDef)
- Overheat
- Close Combat
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- U-turn
Standard Scarfape set from the analysis. Formerly leading ScarfMoltres, but the terrible SR weak and difficulties I had with fitting in a spinner led to this change. It is intended mainly to serve as an anti-lead, capable of outspeeding and KOing many OU leads. He also makes a fine revenge killer with good coverage and great speed, but he has had some issues, especially with the widespread popularity of sashed leads ruining the entire strategy. Suicide Azelf still gets SR up, Gengar still gets Hypnosis off, Yanmega OHKOs with Air Slash, etc. after absorbing a normally fatal Overheat. He also can't guarantee a OHKO on standard Zong, which kinda sucks.
I've been considering trying out Grass Knot in place of U-Turn. It's useful for scouting and breaking the sashes of other leads, but with U-Turn just about any bulky water gets an almost free switchin when Ape comes out.
Metagross @ Choice Band
Ability: Clear Body
EVs: 252 HP/244 Atk/12 Def
Adamant nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Meteor Mash
- Earthquake
- Bullet Punch
- Thunderpunch
CBGross, an all-around beast that cleans up banged-up pokes and stops sweepers with Bullet Punch and can lay a hurting down on healthy ones with Meteor Mash/EQ. Thunderpunch is in over the usual Explosion to serve as another way to take down Waters without sacrificing Gross. Explosion definitely has its uses, but as much as possible I'd prefer to keep my priority move user around for the endgame, leaving the 'blowing up other pokes' job to Zong.
Garchomp (F) @ Yache Berry
Ability: Sand Veil
EVs: 6 HP/252 Atk/252 Spd
Jolly nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Outrage
- Earthquake
- Fire Fang
- Swords Dance
Standard YacheChomp, which pretty much speaks for itself. I try to preserve it as much as possible for an endgame sweep, but it's usually good for at least a kill a game if I'm forced to bring it out sooner. I've been considering swapping it to Scarfchomp and using it as a revenge killer/late game cleaner due to my speed fetish and the fact that so many people seem to expect Yache, but having so many Choiced pokemon would probably be overkill.
Starmie @ Expert Belt
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 160 HP/216 Spd/132 SAtk
Timid nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Surf
- Ice Beam
- Thunderbolt
- Recover
Counterstar set from the analysis, though I've been experimenting with Expert Belt (and Life Orb) over Leftovers for more oomph on its attacks. I found that most of the time it either takes enough damage off the bat for Lefties to be a moot point anyway, or lasts long enough to Recover off enough damage to scrape through. It can revenge kill weakened Garchomp or Gengar and works decently against Gyarados, Infernape, and Heatran. LO Surf also hurts a lot of neutral switchins like Metagross.
Zapdos @ Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 HP/36 Spd/220 SDef
Calm nature (+SDef, -Atk)
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Roost
- Sleep Talk
Special defense oriented Zapdos, which together with Starmie can handle most Heatran and can deal quite well with Yanmega, Azelf and Gengar. It's also usually my first switchin against most bulky waters as I prefer to save Starmie as much as possible. Rest was an option over Roost to make it a better status sponge and avoid having it crippled by random Vaporeon Toxics, but the 50% heal and loss of its Ice weakness in one turn was too good for me to pass up. It covers pretty well for Metagross and Bronzong, and both of them resist its only weaknesses.
Bronzong @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP/128 Atk/128 Def
Relaxed nature (+Def, -Spd)
- Gyro Ball
- Explosion
- Hypnosis
- Stealth Rock
Provides sleep, SR, and physical bulk for the team, as well as the option to blow up on something I can't handle. The nature and EVs were designed to make it bulkier on the physical side, with the rest of the team capable of handling most special sweepers by committee. It utterly shuts down Mamo and is my best Chomp switchin. At times I've thought about trying out Hippowdon, but outside of Chomp the rest of the team doesn't really appreciate the sand and it utterly screws with my type chart.
----------------------------
I've had some issues with Swampert lately (in fact I've been thinking of replacing Starmie with him). My best options seem to be either blowing it up with Bronzong or slowly chipping at it with Zapdos while Roosting off Ice Beams/Avalanches.
Besides that, if anyone can point out any more flaws, that would be greatly appreciated.
Without further ado...
THE TEAM
Infernape (M) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Blaze
EVs: 36 Atk/220 Spd/252 SAtk
Rash nature (+SAtk, -SDef)
- Overheat
- Close Combat
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- U-turn
Standard Scarfape set from the analysis. Formerly leading ScarfMoltres, but the terrible SR weak and difficulties I had with fitting in a spinner led to this change. It is intended mainly to serve as an anti-lead, capable of outspeeding and KOing many OU leads. He also makes a fine revenge killer with good coverage and great speed, but he has had some issues, especially with the widespread popularity of sashed leads ruining the entire strategy. Suicide Azelf still gets SR up, Gengar still gets Hypnosis off, Yanmega OHKOs with Air Slash, etc. after absorbing a normally fatal Overheat. He also can't guarantee a OHKO on standard Zong, which kinda sucks.
I've been considering trying out Grass Knot in place of U-Turn. It's useful for scouting and breaking the sashes of other leads, but with U-Turn just about any bulky water gets an almost free switchin when Ape comes out.
Metagross @ Choice Band
Ability: Clear Body
EVs: 252 HP/244 Atk/12 Def
Adamant nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Meteor Mash
- Earthquake
- Bullet Punch
- Thunderpunch
CBGross, an all-around beast that cleans up banged-up pokes and stops sweepers with Bullet Punch and can lay a hurting down on healthy ones with Meteor Mash/EQ. Thunderpunch is in over the usual Explosion to serve as another way to take down Waters without sacrificing Gross. Explosion definitely has its uses, but as much as possible I'd prefer to keep my priority move user around for the endgame, leaving the 'blowing up other pokes' job to Zong.
Garchomp (F) @ Yache Berry
Ability: Sand Veil
EVs: 6 HP/252 Atk/252 Spd
Jolly nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Outrage
- Earthquake
- Fire Fang
- Swords Dance
Standard YacheChomp, which pretty much speaks for itself. I try to preserve it as much as possible for an endgame sweep, but it's usually good for at least a kill a game if I'm forced to bring it out sooner. I've been considering swapping it to Scarfchomp and using it as a revenge killer/late game cleaner due to my speed fetish and the fact that so many people seem to expect Yache, but having so many Choiced pokemon would probably be overkill.
Starmie @ Expert Belt
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 160 HP/216 Spd/132 SAtk
Timid nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Surf
- Ice Beam
- Thunderbolt
- Recover
Counterstar set from the analysis, though I've been experimenting with Expert Belt (and Life Orb) over Leftovers for more oomph on its attacks. I found that most of the time it either takes enough damage off the bat for Lefties to be a moot point anyway, or lasts long enough to Recover off enough damage to scrape through. It can revenge kill weakened Garchomp or Gengar and works decently against Gyarados, Infernape, and Heatran. LO Surf also hurts a lot of neutral switchins like Metagross.
Zapdos @ Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 HP/36 Spd/220 SDef
Calm nature (+SDef, -Atk)
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Roost
- Sleep Talk
Special defense oriented Zapdos, which together with Starmie can handle most Heatran and can deal quite well with Yanmega, Azelf and Gengar. It's also usually my first switchin against most bulky waters as I prefer to save Starmie as much as possible. Rest was an option over Roost to make it a better status sponge and avoid having it crippled by random Vaporeon Toxics, but the 50% heal and loss of its Ice weakness in one turn was too good for me to pass up. It covers pretty well for Metagross and Bronzong, and both of them resist its only weaknesses.
Bronzong @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP/128 Atk/128 Def
Relaxed nature (+Def, -Spd)
- Gyro Ball
- Explosion
- Hypnosis
- Stealth Rock
Provides sleep, SR, and physical bulk for the team, as well as the option to blow up on something I can't handle. The nature and EVs were designed to make it bulkier on the physical side, with the rest of the team capable of handling most special sweepers by committee. It utterly shuts down Mamo and is my best Chomp switchin. At times I've thought about trying out Hippowdon, but outside of Chomp the rest of the team doesn't really appreciate the sand and it utterly screws with my type chart.
----------------------------
I've had some issues with Swampert lately (in fact I've been thinking of replacing Starmie with him). My best options seem to be either blowing it up with Bronzong or slowly chipping at it with Zapdos while Roosting off Ice Beams/Avalanches.
Besides that, if anyone can point out any more flaws, that would be greatly appreciated.
