I've play tested this team on showdown with some success, getting into the 1400s (a lot of losses have come because of bad wifi connection though so maybe it would be higher). I've been ranked in the top 500 in OU in DP and in BW with offensive teams, but I've been enjoying playing defensively this gen. I like this team in particular because it's reliance on prediction and switching still makes it an enjoyable high-risk team to play with, just one more defensively orientated than offensively.
This team survives on switching, prediction, and finding good one-on-one matchups, using Magic Bounce, Defog, and Regenerator to outlast the opponent. This team lacks some surprise factor (it's mostly the default set for a lot of these pokes) and may have too many support moves I'm unsure if it needs. Some creative help would be appreciated.
Sableye @ Sablenite
Ability: Prankster/Magic Bounce
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
- Knock Off
- Will-O-Wisp
- Recover
- Fake Out
Standard Utility Sableye is my mega and leads off my team. I start with a Fake Out for scouting and to get my Magic Bounce up. Moveset is self explanatory. With some prediction, Sableye is good at preventing status and hazards from being set up, things that would otherwise hurt my teams ability to check most threats. This team relies on constant switching and sometimes that can put my opponent off guard and second guess themselves into who I'm switching in next, giving me lots of opportunities to send back stealth rocks and status inducing moves.
Slowbro @ Leftovers
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 232 Def / 24 SpD
Bold Nature
- Scald
- Slack Off
- Psyshock
- Thunder Wave
Part one of the Classic Regenerator Core, Slowbro and Amoonguss work great together in checking each others threats. Between the two I can get a lot of switches going, pivotting and checking threats to confuse my opponent and get some free switches into my more offensive mons or into a Magic Bounce. I use Twave over Calm Mind because I'm usually not in long enough to set up, but I'm realizing I may have too many pokemon with status moves on the team, so it is getting a little crowded there.
Amoonguss @ Black Sludge
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 248 HP / 168 Def / 92 SpD
Bold Nature
- Spore
- Giga Drain
- Clear Smog
- Sludge Bomb
Pretty standard Amoonguss set, Amoonguss can switch into tons of threats and get a Spore off before pivotting into someone else along with Slowbro. I use this core for double switches a lot too to get my opponent second guessing, although this requires a lot of good prediction on my part. Sludge Bomb over HP Fire because I don't think a 60 BP non-boosted STAB with Amoonguss' offense even does much to Ferrothorn/Scizor, so would rather just have a more powerful STAB move.
Clefable @ Leftovers
Ability: Unaware
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SpD
Bold Nature
- Calm Mind
- Moonblast
- Moonlight
- Heal Bell
Clefable is generally my wincon, as people are usually thrown off a bit by Unaware variants, and teams love to try and set up on me because of my switches. I can usually get a free Calm Mind up as they set up uselessly. Lack of coverage can hurt but sometimes late game it doesn't really matter. Heal Bell is used because my team hates status, and it's tough to rely on Magic Bounce as much as I'd like to. I prefer using Wish/Protect instead of Moonlight/Heal Bell, but statuses just hurt me too much if I mispredict or if Sableye is down.
Heatran @ Leftovers
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpA / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
- Lava Plume
- Toxic
- Taunt
- Stealth Rock
I'm still playing around with these last two spots, but I think Heatran does an okay job on this team. Part of me wants to remove Stealth Rock altogether in favor of Sableye's Magic Bounce, but this team likes Stealth Rocks a lot, and it's such a good move anyway, so I'm unsure what to do there. It can be tough having SR and Defog on two different mons too. What Heatran does do is give me a good Special Defense buff, is a good typing to pair with Slowbro/Amoonguss, and can help check certain Steel types that give my team trouble (Steel set up sweepers aren't affected by Clear Smog and blow through Clefable). Though it's not exactly a full counter to Excadrill's Earthquake or Scizors Superpower, Heatran is such a versatile pokemon that I found it fits pretty decently on this team, but an upgrade is probably needed. I've considered Chansey in this spot but she's just too passive and predictable for my liking, and I've tried out Tyranitar but it made my Excadrill/Scizor weakness hella bad.
Latios @ Life Orb
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Draco Meteor
- Psyshock
- Roost
- Defog
Another mon I'm looking at other options for, Latios is the needed Defogger on this team. With constant switching it's imperative to remove any hazards that get by M-Sableye as fast as possible, and Latios generally does a pretty good job at that, though Life Orb and lack of defensive investment hurt its longevity that is only partially mitigated by Roost. I do love having instant offense on teams like this, as sometimes its the only thing that can break through certain walls. I've considered using Zapdos and Skarmory here but haven't really tried anything extensively.
Biggest threats to this team are set up Steel Sweepers. Slowbro, M-Sableye, and Heatran are all good checks but late game when they are weakened sometimes one Swords Dance from the right Scizor set is all it takes to easily sweep. This team also relies on its ability to switch to cover its weaknesses, so certain Wallbreakers with a lot of coverage can really chew this team up (i.e. Charizard Y)
Thanks let me know what you think!
Importable:
Slowbro (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 232 Def / 24 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Scald
- Psyshock
- Slack Off
- Thunder Wave
Latios @ Life Orb
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Draco Meteor
- Psyshock
- Roost
- Defog
Heatran @ Leftovers
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpA / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
- Lava Plume
- Toxic
- Taunt
- Stealth Rock
Sableye (M) @ Sablenite
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Impish Nature
- Knock Off
- Will-O-Wisp
- Recover
- Fake Out
Amoonguss (F) @ Black Sludge
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 248 HP / 168 Def / 92 SpD
Bold Nature
- Spore
- Giga Drain
- Clear Smog
- Sludge Bomb
Clefable @ Leftovers
Ability: Unaware
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SpD
Bold Nature
- Calm Mind
- Moonblast
- Moonlight
- Heal Bell
This team survives on switching, prediction, and finding good one-on-one matchups, using Magic Bounce, Defog, and Regenerator to outlast the opponent. This team lacks some surprise factor (it's mostly the default set for a lot of these pokes) and may have too many support moves I'm unsure if it needs. Some creative help would be appreciated.
Sableye @ Sablenite
Ability: Prankster/Magic Bounce
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
- Knock Off
- Will-O-Wisp
- Recover
- Fake Out
Standard Utility Sableye is my mega and leads off my team. I start with a Fake Out for scouting and to get my Magic Bounce up. Moveset is self explanatory. With some prediction, Sableye is good at preventing status and hazards from being set up, things that would otherwise hurt my teams ability to check most threats. This team relies on constant switching and sometimes that can put my opponent off guard and second guess themselves into who I'm switching in next, giving me lots of opportunities to send back stealth rocks and status inducing moves.
Slowbro @ Leftovers
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 232 Def / 24 SpD
Bold Nature
- Scald
- Slack Off
- Psyshock
- Thunder Wave
Part one of the Classic Regenerator Core, Slowbro and Amoonguss work great together in checking each others threats. Between the two I can get a lot of switches going, pivotting and checking threats to confuse my opponent and get some free switches into my more offensive mons or into a Magic Bounce. I use Twave over Calm Mind because I'm usually not in long enough to set up, but I'm realizing I may have too many pokemon with status moves on the team, so it is getting a little crowded there.
Amoonguss @ Black Sludge
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 248 HP / 168 Def / 92 SpD
Bold Nature
- Spore
- Giga Drain
- Clear Smog
- Sludge Bomb
Pretty standard Amoonguss set, Amoonguss can switch into tons of threats and get a Spore off before pivotting into someone else along with Slowbro. I use this core for double switches a lot too to get my opponent second guessing, although this requires a lot of good prediction on my part. Sludge Bomb over HP Fire because I don't think a 60 BP non-boosted STAB with Amoonguss' offense even does much to Ferrothorn/Scizor, so would rather just have a more powerful STAB move.
Clefable @ Leftovers
Ability: Unaware
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SpD
Bold Nature
- Calm Mind
- Moonblast
- Moonlight
- Heal Bell
Heatran @ Leftovers
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpA / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
- Lava Plume
- Toxic
- Taunt
- Stealth Rock
I'm still playing around with these last two spots, but I think Heatran does an okay job on this team. Part of me wants to remove Stealth Rock altogether in favor of Sableye's Magic Bounce, but this team likes Stealth Rocks a lot, and it's such a good move anyway, so I'm unsure what to do there. It can be tough having SR and Defog on two different mons too. What Heatran does do is give me a good Special Defense buff, is a good typing to pair with Slowbro/Amoonguss, and can help check certain Steel types that give my team trouble (Steel set up sweepers aren't affected by Clear Smog and blow through Clefable). Though it's not exactly a full counter to Excadrill's Earthquake or Scizors Superpower, Heatran is such a versatile pokemon that I found it fits pretty decently on this team, but an upgrade is probably needed. I've considered Chansey in this spot but she's just too passive and predictable for my liking, and I've tried out Tyranitar but it made my Excadrill/Scizor weakness hella bad.
Latios @ Life Orb
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Draco Meteor
- Psyshock
- Roost
- Defog
Another mon I'm looking at other options for, Latios is the needed Defogger on this team. With constant switching it's imperative to remove any hazards that get by M-Sableye as fast as possible, and Latios generally does a pretty good job at that, though Life Orb and lack of defensive investment hurt its longevity that is only partially mitigated by Roost. I do love having instant offense on teams like this, as sometimes its the only thing that can break through certain walls. I've considered using Zapdos and Skarmory here but haven't really tried anything extensively.
Biggest threats to this team are set up Steel Sweepers. Slowbro, M-Sableye, and Heatran are all good checks but late game when they are weakened sometimes one Swords Dance from the right Scizor set is all it takes to easily sweep. This team also relies on its ability to switch to cover its weaknesses, so certain Wallbreakers with a lot of coverage can really chew this team up (i.e. Charizard Y)
Thanks let me know what you think!
Importable:
Slowbro (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 232 Def / 24 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Scald
- Psyshock
- Slack Off
- Thunder Wave
Latios @ Life Orb
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Draco Meteor
- Psyshock
- Roost
- Defog
Heatran @ Leftovers
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpA / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
- Lava Plume
- Toxic
- Taunt
- Stealth Rock
Sableye (M) @ Sablenite
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Impish Nature
- Knock Off
- Will-O-Wisp
- Recover
- Fake Out
Amoonguss (F) @ Black Sludge
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 248 HP / 168 Def / 92 SpD
Bold Nature
- Spore
- Giga Drain
- Clear Smog
- Sludge Bomb
Clefable @ Leftovers
Ability: Unaware
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SpD
Bold Nature
- Calm Mind
- Moonblast
- Moonlight
- Heal Bell
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