Rise of the Moth (and its underlings)

[The Yellow Grovyle]

Hiya! Glad to see Smogon is back up and redesigned. Everything looks great, and hopefully the security is much stronger than before. We don't want Missingno wrecking things anymore now do we? Anyway, I bring you a team that was created to be as hard hitting and as offensive as possible, with some hazard and spinning "support". The goal of this team is to dent the opponent enough as well as clearing hazards on my side for Volcarona to come in and sweep with one or two Quiver Dances. And I must say it works real well. Obviously there is no team that is perfect, so there will be notable threats, but I will talk about that later. Why don't we take a look at the team?​

Team Preview​

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Doesn't look too bad right? Now, for the team building process..​

Since the team was centered around the fiery moth (more or less), we gotta have it on the team. I feel like it's overlooked because GASP FIRE BUG THAT'S HORRIBLE STEALTH ROCKS WILL KILL IT no stfu it's not 8x weakness it's 4x rocks isn't gonna send it to the Distorted World unless you send it in twice.

Then I tried Breloom to take on the water types that can hurt Volc. From there I tried fillers that would work well, but nothing was successful. So I trashed the entire Volc-loom idea.

I tried a different approach, focusing on what Volcarona could not touch. Tenta, Heatran, and all the dragons our there. Mamoswine seemed like a great mon, as its STABs hit everything mentioned above.

Noticing a water weakness, I chose Gastrodon, cuz with Storm Drain, it can actually gain damaging power instead of being a stereotypical wall.

This is where things got trippy. I didn't know what to use as a 4th mon. Luckily, I had a talk with my good friend The Bald Braviary and he suggested Lucario. At first I was skeptical since Lucario is a little rare in the current meta, and I always thought some mons aren't used for a reason. But I gave it a shot, and oh my Arceus it does wonders. Paired with Mamo, they form one-two physical dents on almost everything! So creds for Luc to my buddy.

At this point I realized that my team is slow (Volc unboosted really is slow with all the scarf mons and Terrak running around), and I decided Scarf Latios would be a great member. It may not hit like a truck like the Specs set, but the speed was greatly needed, and without Specs Latios is still a threat.

After a quick review, I NEEDED A SPINNER! As well as hazards for the opponent. I was forced to use Forretress, and I was reluctant to do so. I have used Forretrees many other times, and it never worked well. This time, however, it was tolerable, as it walls some mons that would otherwise destroy my team.

Now that we have the building process over and done with, let's move on to the sets. There will be some calcs, but I won't do a lot. Feel free to do some on your own.

-Flame Body
-Life Orb
-Timid​

- 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe​

~Quiver Dance​

~Bug Buzz
~Fiery Dance
~Giga Drain
Yes, standard. Does it really have anything else going for it? Bug Buzz is the best STAB (damn it rain teams) and Fiery Dance over Fire Blast means better Accuracy, as well as having the chance to boost the moth's firepower to INSANE levels. As I stated before, Volc-Loom was not working out, so I gave Volc Giga Drain to help deal with the water types tha could potentially wall it. It also allows Volc to live longer, which is greatly appreciated, and it can really hurt Keldeo and Terrakion switch ins.
Calcs: (no boosts)​

Giga Drain vs 4/0 Keldeo or Terrakion: 73-87%​

Giga Drain vs 252/0 Politoed: 57-67%
You get the idea.

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-Thick Fat
-Life Orb
-Adamant​

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- 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe​

~Ice Shard​

~Icicle Crash​

~Earthquake​

~SuperPower​

I already said this, but I'll say it again. Mamo hits all the mons Volc cannot. Heatran is decimated by EQ unless it has an unpopped Balloon or is Scarfed with random HP Grass (I say random cuz I never see it anymore). It outspeeds the standard bulky Tenta with ADAMANT nature, and the ice STAB is just amazing. Ice Shard revenge kills all dragons bar Sash and Yache, and Icicle Crash destroys Dragon/Flying or any Flying type that tries to come in on an what they think will be EQ. Superpower allows it to damage Ferro, other Mamo, and Rotom-W (which otherwise walls the prehistoric elephant).
Calcs:
Superpower vs 232/0 Rotom-W: 59-69%
Superpower vs 252/88 Ferrothorn: 71-84%​

-Storm Drain​

-Choice Specs
-Modest​

- 124 HP / 252 SpA / 132 SpD
~Surf​

~Earth Power​

~Hidden Power Grass
~Ice Beam​

That's right. Specs Gastro. I figured since I put him on the team to absorb water attacks, I might as well make great use of the Drain boosts. And Specs basically means +2 instead of +1. It easily catches the opponent off guard, and it confuses them when they don't see Leftovers. Surf is the strongest STAB, and with Specs it can hit like a truck. Earth Power is next line for powerful STAB, and hits all grounded mons for serious damage. Specially defensive Heatran thinks Scald is comin when suddenly the earth opens up swallows it whole. Hidden Power Grass annihilates other Gastro, as well as the bulky water types that think they can stay in. Ice Beam is a filler move that can hit Gyarados hard enough to break its sub. This either tells the opponent to either switch out or take considerable damage, along with the chance of freeze.
Calcs: ​

Surf vs 252/4 Forretress with rocks: 85-100%​

Ah I don't feel like doing these calcs actually.

-Justified
-Life Orb​

-Adamant
- 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe~Swords Dance​

~Close Combat
~Crunch​

~ExtremeSpeed​

Standard Lucario is the only Lucario. I don't want to explain this set cuz it's straightfoward, but the rules for posting state I must. Swords dance makes Luc's Atk skyrocket, allowing it to OHKO almost everything that doesn't resist XSpeed. Close Combat, +2, STAB, LO, need i say more? Crunch hits all the Psychic types resisting CC. ExtremeSpeed. Priority. Powerful. Massacre. I think I made my point. Oh, right, with Mamo, one-two punch, etc etc. And, Justified is there to take the Crunches and other dark type moves bar pursuit aimed at Latios or anything else. +3 Atk, not bad.
Calcs:​

+2 CC vs 224/252 Skarm: 86-101%​

+2 CC vs 252/252 Jirachi: guaranteed OHKO after rocks​

+2 Crunch vs 252/252 Celebi: guaranteed OHKO after rocks

-Levitate​

-Choice Scarf​

-Timid​

- 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
~Draco Meteor
~Psyshock
~Surf​

~Hidden Power Fire​

Scarf Latios pretty much ensures I outspeed everything except other Scarf Lati@s, and this helps since my team can have issues with Terrakion, Keldeo, and ther base 100+ Spe mons. Draco is that powerful STAB at the cost of -2 after it hits. Dents everything but steel types. Psyshock hits Keldeo, Terrak in the Sand, and the DAMN FAT PINK BLOBS. Surf is just a great neutral move to use when I'm stuck and not willing to risk HP Fire or Draco if I mispredict. HP Fire deals with Ferro and other steel types that think they can come in and tank a Draco. Pretty simple.

-Sturdy​

-Leftovers​

-Relaxed​

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- 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD​

~Stealth Rock​

~Rapid Spin​

~Volt Switch​

~Gyro Ball​

I was in great need for a spinner because I have 2 choiced mons that would switch in and out, and Volc is sitting there fearing rocks. I also needed my own hazards to be set up, and Forretress was the only mon that can do both... I had no choice. At first, I considered Custap Explosion but immediately disregarded cuz I needed my spinner to be alive before Volc comes in. Also, it's the only defensive mon, and I kinda needed it to eat up physical attacks. And, death fodder. Who doesn't use Forretress as death fodder? Volt Switch guarantees a switch out: if opponent has Zone, and I overpredict thinking it will trap Forretess, I may lose Mamo if i switch it in to EQ said Zone. Volt Switch allows me to get out of that situation. Gyro Ball allows me to hit any on that thinks it can set up speed boosts on me, before I Volt Switch out.​

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So, that's the team. There are a few threats here and there, but I havn't come across many notable threats, only a handful.
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Threats
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Sash Zam can be difficult to deal with. My priority users are weak to it, so breaking its sash is a hassle.

Sub Toxic Variants are a pain. Mamo either die to scald or get posioned. Frustrating. And Latios too. It will get poisoned. ;_; idk what to do.

ScarfRachi is really hard to deal with unless it's the last mon on the opponents' team. Scarf HP Fire. Or I can try to predict the switch in and CC with Lucario?
Rain teams. Only Gastrodon can take them. They hinder my Volc, which is not good at all. I really don't have that big a problem with these teams, but.. eh. Rain dominant meta right?

And that is the team. in depth, with the team building, and some threats. Hope you all liked this team. See you guys later :)

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[Laurel]

Hey man, what's up? Alright, so I think your team is really cool and very offensive, which I like, but your Forretress seems very out of place. Obviously, with a team centered around Volcarona a spinner is necessary, however, Forretress ruins the offensive momentum of this team, and ultimately does not have fantastic synergy for switching into threats when you need to spin. It also lacks offensive presence, and is set up fodder, for things like Sub Garchomp, which then can KO a huge chunk of your team, as it faster than Mamoswine. Therefore, I recommend Starmie as your spinner of choice. Not only will Starmie help you check rain better, but it can beat Tentacruel 1v1, take a shadow ball and spin on Zam, and finally it can do a chunk to Jirachi switching in and possibly burn it with Scald. It also gives your team much more offensive synergy, and it can outspeed Gengar whom would otherwise take hit most of your team very hard, as your Lucario lacks Bullet Punch, and your only poke faster than it Latios, cannot switch into Shadow Ball.

This is the set I recommend for Starmie.

Starmie @ Leftovers
Trait: Natural Cure
EVs: 248 HP /32 Def / 4 SpA / 224 Spe
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Scald
- Rapid Spin
- Psyshock
- Recover

This is still a somewhat bulky spread, so you can still switch into some attacks, rather than a full offensive Starmie. Reflect type is another option because you really need Starmie alive to spin for Volcarona, I'd use this over Scald or Psyshock, but the main pursuiter is Tyranitar, who Lucario sets up on forever. 224 Speed is enough to outspeed Gengar, 4 SpA is enough to OHKO it with Psychock. Also, make sure you put in 0 Attack IVs so Foul Play doesn't hurt as much from Sableye.

Because you now lack a Stealth Rock user, with out changing your team to much I recommend a Focus Sash Mamoswine, over your current set, or you can just throw SR in over Super Power.

The Focus Sash set, however, would look like this.

Mamoswine (M) @ Focus Sash
Trait: Thick Fat
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Endeavor
- Ice Shard
- Earthquake
- Stealth Rock

Endeavor can crush Alakazam for you, and Ice Shard can finish it off, as long as you have your sash intact to live a Focus Blast. Starmie and Mamoswine have nice synergy, so spinning shouldn't be too hard. If you are not worried about Jolly Breloom, use Adamant for more power.

I hope this helped :)

 

[The Yellow Grovyle]

Thanks for the suggestions, Laurel. I'll be sure to try them out. Hopefully results will be much greater than how my team is currently.

 

[Nova]

Hey The Yellow Grovyle

Laurel basically said most of what I was gonna say, those changes should definitely help out your team. I would just suggest changing Gastrodon's set from Choice Specs to a standard defensive set with Scald / Earth Power / Toxic / Recover. Choice Specs Gastrodon is admittedly a very heavy hitter, however he is best used on a rain team that can boost his Water type STAB even further. A defensive set is better suited for a non weather team such as your's since it can reliably check common threats throughout the course of a battle. The defensive set helps you with Expert Belt Keldeo who is a prominent threat to your team as Gastrodon can Toxic the pony and then stall it with Recover.

On Latios, I think you should try out Trick over Hidden Power Fire. HP Fire is nice to surprise Scizor and Ferrothorn for a knock out, but actually, your team benefits from having those two Pokemon alive on your opponent's side as Volcarona and Lucario have opportunities to set up on both of them. Trick helps beat troublesome stall teams and can give you openings to set up a sweep.

Gastrodon (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Storm Drain
EVs: 252 Atk / 84 Def / 172 SpD
Sassy Nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Scald
- Earth Power
- Toxic
- Recover