Following the train wreak my last team ended up being (relied way too much on Gorebyss not messing up, which happened more then i can count), I'm picking up from my past mistakes and will come back with something, a lil more standard but by sticking with pokemons that aren't on every single team **cough Conkeldurr cough** cough Ferro/Jelli cough **
Hopefully this time I'll get someone's opinion as well
I won't be posting my previous teams anymore either, cuz its kinda moot and doesn't really affect my current one so enough with the chit chat and lets get going.
Note.. I've actually edited while I was building, so if I forgot to change a sentence and it ends up making no sense... sorry I guess.
Primary team building(more info right after these messages)
If I learned anything from my last team, its that patching in some tanks at the end is about as dumb of an idea as duck taping my hand to a heating oven. So I'll reapply my concepts of pre DW (which was loads more successful then my DW team... sad) and start with the shields before anything else. That said, Slowbro comes right around to mind to set my physical shield, it fares well in the heavy fighting type metagame, and it has a few niche of his own and DW was pretty kind to him too.
Following that chain of thought, finding a special wall that covers Slowbro's weaknesses is only natural, and here came Zapdos. If anything did go well with my previous mess of a team, it had to be Zapdos, and sporting a resistance to Slowbro's grass weakness on top of a boosted immunity to electricity due to Lightning Rod, that only leaves Dark and Ghost. Slowbro takes care of Zapdos' Ice weakness on top of laugh off most Rock type users as they are usually physical.
Another thing I realized that was as stupid as kicking inside a bear trap (see how I bring diversity in "idioticness") is to take for granted that with team preview leads no longer serve any purpose (told you it was retarded). Now I see people everywhere with Deoxis-S and that bores me. Instead a bulky lead is always appreciated... at least Swampert used to do a good job, too bad I already have a grass weakness... Anyway, Steelix resists both Slowbro's open Ghost/Dark weaknesses and Zapdos' Rock weakness that both didn't already cover between each other.
Note I had originally thought of Froslass but the stacking of early weaknesses and reliability in her role were questionable.
lil Mienshao's up to pep the party by kicking around those Rock types around... or anything that doesn't resist her anyway. She can also do great as 2nd lead and does wonders as a scout. Should Mienshao be missing on a thing or 2, her sister Infernape could tag along as well. Anyway, with either sisters the team does get some nicely appreciated offencive power.
Originally Mienshao was covering up for my previous "1st lead" when it used to be Froslass, but even with Froslass gone that doesn't take anything out of Mienshao.
**Also on a side note, I should have called this team "Mienshao goes back in time".. seriously I don't think I'm getting out of generation 1 or 2 any time soon.**
Vendetta Vendetta!! How about having a revenge killer in the house this time (FFS what was I thinking last time not even having an avenger). Further informations are in the description section but not picking a revenge killer that has to rely on 1 priority move is pretty neat. I originally wanted Weavile or Breloom but they both have that "what if I need another type of *bullet* to snipe" syndrome.
Now to seal the whole thing I noticed I have a few criteria. First I could use another physical damage dealer (sorry Rotom-W). 2nd I need to cover up some weaknesses, notably Water, Ice, Ground and Psychic (although I'm not as worried about Psychic). I then fell between Gyarados and Feraligatr. Feraligatr has the pros of actually resisting Ice and isn't as scared of Electric and doesn't fear SR. While Gyarados is immune to Ground and can actually cover its Electric weakness with Zapdos, Steelix and Nidoking almost in a similar fashion as it does with Jolteon and Electivire.....it doesn't solve my Ice type problem though.
Let there be light!.. well in this case, more like deeper strategy discussion
Name: Metal Gear
Item: Leftovers
Ability: Sturdy
Nature: Impish
EVs: 252 Hp / 252 Atk / 4 Def
-Dragon Tail
-Earthquake
-Crunch / Taunt
-Stealth Rock
After thinking things over, Froslass was just far too frail and conflicted on her lead job, and like I said in the building section I used to be a fan of bulky leads, only this guy's defence is sky high even with no investment. Steelix getting Dragon Tail is pretty darn handy as well as not only does it allow him for some good phazing, but it allows him to deal some pain on dragons while shrugging off their Outrage. Crunch and Taunt both have their pros, Crunch does get rid of stuff like the already mentioned Deoxys-S, and does annoy stuff like Reuniclus and Cresselia at least. Taunt on the other hand will shut Deoxis (after letting 1 turn pass, but who doesn't...) and it will also shut down Whimsicott, Sableye and other lil pranksters (actually thats kinda it right?) Earthquake is only there for some good hitting STAB (just like Swampert used to do)
Name: Kasumi
Item: Life Orb
Ability: Regenerator
Nature: Jolly
EVs: 4 Hp / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
-Hi Jump Kick
-U-turn
-Fake Out
-Stone Edge
Mienshao is one of my personal favorite from this generation, she does amazing jobs as a scout as well as a purely close combat specialist (ohh the pun). Thanks to team preview I can identify if I'm at risk to some Ghost switching in on the Hi Jump Kick carnage. Life Orb powered U-turns serve as quite a backslap while she dances around (the whole thing triggering Regenerator too). Fake Out works as pseudo priority and free flinch. Stone Edge takes care of Fire and Flying types I thought of using Taunt as well, but since Mienshao doesn't sport the most impressive defencives I'd rather go for coverage instead. It's a possibility that I'd change either Fake Out or Stone Edge with Hidden Power Ice with the appropriate shift from Jolly to Naive should I run into too many Gliscor/Landorus.
Name: StonedBro (or any other juvenile weed references)
Item: Leftovers
Ability: Regenerator
Nature: Bold
EVs: 252 Hp / 252 Def / 4 Sp.D
-Scald
-Psychic
-Flamethrower / Ice Beam
-Slack Off
As stated before, this party animal's job is to keep silly muscleheads like Conkeldurr, Terrakion or Darmanitan from crashing his buzz. Scald and Psychic take care of said troublemakers, plus Scald's potential burn chance make this dude's insane bulk even crazier. Flamethrower would probly benefit more then Ice Beam as it allows Slowbro to take care of pesky Ferrothorn, and has nice coverage for the likes of Lucario or Scizor. Ice Beam sure could hit dragons well, but I got something in mind for that. Both allow me to hit hard on grass switchins, although depending on who shows up I might take a break (which benefits from Regenerator anyway).
Slack Off just seals the deal for some longetivity should my bro feel like hanging around for some time.
Name: Storm
Item: Leftovers
Ability: Lightning Rod
Nature: Calm
EVs: 248 HP / 16 Def / 228 SpD / 16 Spe
-Thunderbolt
-Hidden Power Frost
-Roost
-Thunder Wave
Taking up the magic shield is my big boy Zapdos. Out of all the mess I had on my last team, this guy was the one defending the gates and I'm glad he pairs well with Slowbro. Thunderbolt is the rational STAB as even with no investment they still hurt quite a bit. HP Ice is obligatory 2nd move as Heat Wave and Lightning Rod isn't a legal combination, although it still does pack the nice BoltBeam coverage. Roost is for the obvious survivability as well as loss of flying type should it be necessary. Thunder Wave might potentially conflict with Slowbro's potential Scald procs, but the way I see it, both burns or paralysis are annoying status effects that hinder if not annoy most pokemons.
Note, I know Rotom could have been another idea while avoiding the Rock type weakness, but Rotom isn't as reliable in his recovery, but who knows.
Name: Ragnarok
Item: Choice Scarf
Ability: Sheer Force
Nature: Timid (like hell he is.. not)
EVs: 4 Hp / 252 Sp.A / 252 Spe
-Earth Power
-Thunderbolt
-Ice Beam
-Flamethrower
A variation of my previous Nidoking (which I depended on far too much back then) by moving from a special sweeper role to an avenging sniper. I've tried a Life Orb set, but the king here just isn't quick enough to make it worthwhile (its basicly why i had built a Passing team just for that...). However Sheer Force's pseudo Life Orb coupled with Scarf turns the king from a below average speed powerhouse to a slightly faster version of ScarfTran only with different typing and better coverage at the cost of a just slightly lower damage output. Nidoking's coverage is perfect scoring neutral damage on every single pokemon alive, fact it can cover with super effective retribution in most cases.
Name: Tidal Fang
Item: Life Orb
Ability: Intimidate
Nature: Adamant
EVs: 6 Hp / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
-Dragon Dance
-Waterfall
-Earthquake
-Ice Fang
I can't exactly say this one's my pride and joy since it basicly fits in a patching up role for some common weaknesses as I stated in the building part. Nevertheless, filling the role of a physical sweeper has been a job Gyarados can do pretty well so I shouldn't be complaining I suppose. Waterfall is my main weapon obviously. Earthquake takes care of steel types (and electric types should I have DD up). Ice Fang takes care of grass switching on me while dealing some even greater punishement on dragons then Stone Edge would (with better accuracy as well).
If I can think of something else to do a similar job I'd likely replace the leviathan but for now it will have to do.
Considered but removed in the end. ... its sad for some of them.
Name: Shiva, or CoolBabe, IceQueen, idk any other clever ideas?
Item: Focus Sash
Ability: Cursed Body
Nature: Timid
EVs: 160 HP / 96 Def / 252 Spe
-Spikes
-Taunt
-Ice Beam / Thunder Wave
-Destiny Bond
As stated above, I've decided to plan leads again, and a darn special one at that. Sure lil Froslass isn't exactly dangerous in damage dealing situations, but her speed is pretty darn good which will allow some nifty Spikes. She's also one of the few if not the only Spikes setter who doesn't care about priority (Aqua Jet being the only one that isn't resisted or plain out immuned). Her excellent speed allows for sharp and quick Taunts and Destiny Bond can take care of a few threats after her job is done. Ice Beam serves little purpose outside of having at least 1 attacking move, but Thunder Wave could fit in nicely as well. Cursed Body, while not the most amazing ability is definitely a nice improvement over Snow Cloak as I have no intention whatsoever to implement Hail around here.
All 3 of those lil flower girls were on my mind cuz I thought I could finish with a Heal Bell / Aromatherapy user, but in every case I end up stacking even Ice weakness then I already have, so I'm giving up on that idea for now.
