[RMT] Aggressor (OU)

wildfire393

Here's a team with which I have had an alright amount of success, but I still feel like it is lacking in some aspect. So I'm open for all suggestions.

The basic premise is that I'm not a big fan of walls. So the large majority of my Pokemon are some form of sweeper, even the more wall-ish ones. I'm also not a huge fan of choice sets, which is why you will not see any of those here.

Lead:
Zapdos @ Leftovers
Bold; Pressure
EVs: 252HP/220Def/38Spe
Thunderbolt
Heat Wave
Toxic
Roost
Stragety: Fairly simple. Bolt things that are weak to Electric, Heat Wave things that are Fire Weak. Toxic things that look like they're going to set up, and roost to keep up on HP. General purpose is to come in on physical attackers and ground attackers and Toxic them, maybe finish them off with a Bolt/Wave.
Weaknesses: Steel types that are also fire immune/resistant (Heatran, Bronzong) are tough to deal with because they cannot be Toxic'ed or Heat Waved. Thunderbolt still deals neutral and has STAB, however, so Zapdos is an OK switch in on a ChoiceTran, especially if you know he's quaking.

Crippler:
Spiritomb @ Leftovers
Careful; Pressure
EVs: 252HP/140SpA/108SpD
Pursuit
Will-O-Wisp
Pain Split
Shadow Ball
Stragety: Spiritomb comes in on Ghosts and Psychics to annihilate them with Pursuit, whether or not they switch out. Spiritomb comes in on physical attackers (preferably on a Normal or Fighting move) to cripple them with Burn. Pain split keeps HP up, and can take a decent chunk out of many walls. Shadow Ball is a decent all-purpose attack, good for picking off things that have lost HP to burn and pain split.
Weaknesses: Special attackers with decent defenses shrug off getting burned and can take out large chunks off Spiritomb's HP, often before Spiritomb gets a chance to Pain Split. Usually Spiritomb can cripple several Pokemon before biting the bullet if used wisely, however.

Paraflincher:
Togekiss @ Leftovers
Timid; Serene Grace
EVs: 252HP/192Spe/64SpD
Air Slash
Thunderwave
Nasty Plot
Baton Pass
Strategy: Thunderwave/Airslash makes for a fairly standard Paraflinch set. Nasty Plot can make it even more deadly, and Togekiss's durability pretty much guarantees it gets off. If Togekiss gets knocked low on HP, Baton Pass can send off that Plot boost to Zapdos, Spiritomb, or even Gyrados.
Weaknesses: Priority attackers don't mind so much getting Paralyzed, and can get in before flinch. Especially watch for Ice Sharders. Togekiss is Beefy enough that he won't get OHKO'd usually, but if you're not prepared it will prevent you from being able to BP to something else.
Note: Considering losing BP for Roost. I haven't had a lot of opportunity to BP Plots.

OH NO GYARADOS:
Gyrados @ Life Orb
Adamant; Intimidate
EVs: 74HP/252Att/184Spe
Dragon Dance
Waterfall
Ice Fang
Flamethrower
Strategy: Come in on a physical attacker (preferably an Earthquaker), Intimidate it into switching, Dragon Dance on the Switch, and proceed to sweep. Pretty basic. Flamethrower lets Gyarados break Physical Walls, especially as it hits some of the most common Physical Wall types.
Counters: Something bulky with a good Electric Move can make short work of Gyara, obviously, but against this build it has to have decent Special Defenses (and appropriate typing) or it eats a Flamethrower and dies too fast.

Silver Bullet:
Scizor @ Life Orb
Adamant; Technician
EVs: 252Att/255Def/6Spe
Swords Dance
Bullet Punch
X-Scissor
Brick Break
Strategy: Fairly basic since Platinum. Get him in on something you can SD against, and then proceed to Bullet Punch with Technician and STAB through everything that gets in your way. Brick Break and X-Scissor are for type coverage.
Weaknesses: Like Gyara, a 4x weak to something can leave Scissor in bad straights if something can come in and absorb his BPs and Flamethrower/Fire Fang him. Additionally, a faster Pokemon with a priority move can throw him completely on his head.

Mopper:
Breloom @ Toxic Orb
Jolly; Poison Heal
EVs: 252HP/252Spd/6Att
Spore
Substitute
Leech Seed
Focus Punch
Strategy: Fairly standard Breloom set, great for finishing off the last Pokemon or two on a team. If he comes in early, it will be just to get off a Spore (hopefully while absorbing a Toxic) and then switch out to allow Gyara or Scizor to set up. When it gets down to the last couple of guys, Spore, then Sub on the switch (if they've got a guy left they should switch, otherwise they pretty much just lose), then Focus Punch from behind the Sub to kill their switch-in. If he's resistant or Immune to Focus Punch, Leech seed instead and use Leech Seed + Poison Heal to be able to Sub every turn while staying at constant HP. If you are faster, you're basically guaranteed a kill at this point, at which point their Sleeping guy comes back in to get Seeded, Subbed, and Focus-Punched to death.
Weaknesses: Breloom has a bit of a problem with Pokemon who are a good deal faster than he is, especially if they pack a 4x Super Effective Flying move or even a regularly Super Effective Psychic, Fire, or Ice move (Ice Shard especially wrecks him). Sleep absorbers also give Breloom a good bit of trouble.


Overall strategy should be pretty aparent: drop status on opposing Pokes using Breloom, Zapdos, Togekiss, and Spiritomb in hopes of setting up an opening to set up with Togekiss, Scizor, or Gyarados for a sweep.
Overall strategy holes appear to be the lack of a Roarer, Rapid Spinner, Stealth Rocker, or Ice Sharder. Which just happens to sound like a Donphan set. Thoughts on who I could lose for a Donphan?
 
A little effort goes a long way
wildfire393 said:
Here's a team with which I have had an alright amount of success, but I still feel like it is lacking in some aspect. So I'm open for all suggestions.

The basic premise is that I'm not a big fan of walls. So the large majority of my Pokemon are some form of sweeper, even the more wall-ish ones. I'm also not a huge fan of choice sets, which is why you will not see any of those here.
zapdos.png

​

Zapdos @ Leftovers
Bold; Pressure
EVs: 252HP/220Def/38Spe
Thunderbolt
Heat Wave
Hidden Power [ICE]/[GRASS]
Roost

Strategy: Fairly simple. Bolt things that are weak to Electric, Heat Wave things that are Fire Weak. Toxic things that look like they're going to set up, and roost to keep up on HP. General purpose is to come in on physical attackers and ground attackers and Toxic them, maybe finish them off with a Bolt/Wave.
Weaknesses: Steel types that are also fire immune/resistant (Heatran, Bronzong) are tough to deal with because they cannot be Toxic'ed or Heat Waved. Thunderbolt still deals neutral and has STAB, however, so Zapdos is an OK switch in on a ChoiceTran, especially if you know he's quaking.


A Heatran will never be quaking, ever. Also you don't really need toxic on a Zapdos, the real thing you need is either Hidden Power [ICE]/[GRASS] I would kind of suggest Grass for swamperts who think they can switch in, where Ice hits Gliscors and Dragons really hard. It's up too you. Heat Wave is always going to be SE of Bronzong, they always run levitate.

​

spiritomb.png

Spiritomb @ Leftovers
Careful; Pressure
EVs: 252HP/140SpA/108SpD
Pursuit
Will-O-Wisp
Pain Split
Shadow Ball

Strategy: Spiritomb comes in on Ghosts and Psychics to annihilate them with Pursuit, whether or not they switch out. Spiritomb comes in on physical attackers (preferably on a Normal or Fighting move) to cripple them with Burn. Pain split keeps HP up, and can take a decent chunk out of many walls. Shadow Ball is a decent all-purpose attack, good for picking off things that have lost HP to burn and pain split.
Weaknesses: Special attackers with decent defenses shrug off getting burned and can take out large chunks off Spiritomb's HP, often before Spiritomb gets a chance to Pain Split. Usually Spiritomb can cripple several Pokemon before biting the bullet if used wisely, however.

I'm going to tell you the truth, Spiritomb is sub-par compared to the new Rotom's. They are arguably the best anti-spin in the game, along with that, they carry higher special attack then spiritomb. Along with a greater movepool. I don't know the new Rotom sets off the top of my head, I'm sure someone else can fill you in or you can mess around with it.
​

togekiss.png

Togekiss @ Leftovers
Calm; Serene Grace
EVs: 252HP/ 252 Def/ 6 SpAtk

Air Slash
Thunder Wave
Aura Sphere
Roost

Strategy: Thunderwave/Airslash makes for a fairly standard Paraflinch set. Nasty Plot can make it even more deadly, and Togekiss's durability pretty much guarantees it gets off. If Togekiss gets knocked low on HP, Baton Pass can send off that Plot boost to Zapdos, Spiritomb, or even Gyrados.
Weaknesses: Priority attackers don't mind so much getting Paralyzed, and can get in before flinch. Especially watch for Ice Sharders. Togekiss is Beefy enough that he won't get OHKO'd usually, but if you're not prepared it will prevent you from being able to BP to something else.
Note: Considering losing BP for Roost. I haven't had a lot of opportunity to BP Plots.
​
Alright, Togekiss is more of a Tank than a sweeper, so boost her outstanding special def and pump Ev's into HP and Def so she can take hits from all spectrum's. You are now free to use Thunder Wave and flinch the opponent to death (barring special walls and Skarmory). Aura Sphere is mostly there for type coverage against nasty steel types.

gyarados.png

Gyrados @ Life Orb
Adamant; Intimidate
EVs: 252 Atk 252 Spe 6 HP
Dragon Dance
Waterfall
Ice Fang/Stone Edge
Earthquake
Strategy: Come in on a physical attacker (preferably an Earthquaker), Intimidate it into switching, Dragon Dance on the Switch, and proceed to sweep. Pretty basic. Flamethrower lets Gyarados break Physical Walls, especially as it hits some of the most common Physical Wall types.
Counters: Something bulky with a good Electric Move can make short work of Gyara, obviously, but against this build it has to have decent Special Defenses (and appropriate typing) or it eats a Flamethrower and dies too fast.

BAD! Flamethrower on Dos? WITHOUT EARTHQUAKE?No, this is not alright, you didn't even try to give him SpAtk Ev's so it's stronger... Any way, there's a reason the normal DD-Dos is the most commly used, it's because it is the best choice (arguably) or Dos. Use the set that I fixed above for you. Stone Edge can hit some Dos counters hard, where Ice hits Celebi and Zapdos (common dos switch in's)

scizor.png

Scizor @ Life Orb
Adamant; Technician
EVs: 252 Atk/6 Def/ 252 Spe
Swords Dance
Bullet Punch
X-Scissor
Roost

Strategy: Fairly basic since Platinum. Get him in on something you can SD against, and then proceed to Bullet Punch with Technician and STAB through everything that gets in your way. Brick Break and X-Scissor are for type coverage.
Weaknesses: Like Gyara, a 4x weak to something can leave Scissor in bad straights if something can come in and absorb his BPs and Flamethrower/Fire Fang him. Additionally, a faster Pokemon with a priority move can throw him completely on his head.

You want Scizor to be fast and strong, he already has great defences and typing. Being only weak to fire and yeah... I think that Roost is a better choice over Brick Break as he's not as fast as most Fire Types (which is what you're aiming to hit) and it allows you to heal of Life Orb Recoil. Which is a plus
​

breloom.png

Breloom @ Toxic Orb
Jolly; Poison Heal
EVs: 252HP/252Spd/6Att
Spore
Substitute
Leech Seed
Focus Punch

Strategy: Fairly standard Breloom set, great for finishing off the last Pokemon or two on a team. If he comes in early, it will be just to get off a Spore (hopefully while absorbing a Toxic) and then switch out to allow Gyara or Scizor to set up. When it gets down to the last couple of guys, Spore, then Sub on the switch (if they've got a guy left they should switch, otherwise they pretty much just lose), then Focus Punch from behind the Sub to kill their switch-in. If he's resistant or Immune to Focus Punch, Leech seed instead and use Leech Seed + Poison Heal to be able to Sub every turn while staying at constant HP. If you are faster, you're basically guaranteed a kill at this point, at which point their Sleeping guy comes back in to get Seeded, Subbed, and Focus-Punched to death.
Weaknesses: Breloom has a bit of a problem with Pokemon who are a good deal faster than he is, especially if they pack a 4x Super Effective Flying move or even a regularly Super Effective Psychic, Fire, or Ice move (Ice Shard especially wrecks him). Sleep absorbers also give Breloom a good bit of trouble.
​

I see no problem here actually. You may want a fast special sweeper in your team though
​

Overall strategy should be pretty aparent: drop status on opposing Pokes using Breloom, Zapdos, Togekiss, and Spiritomb in hopes of setting up an opening to set up with Togekiss, Scizor, or Gyarados for a sweep.
Overall strategy holes appear to be the lack of a Roarer, Rapid Spinner, Stealth Rocker, or Ice Sharder. Which just happens to sound like a Donphan set. Thoughts on who I could lose for a Donphan?​
Click to expand...
 
Gen. Empoleon said:
A little effort goes a long way
Click to expand...

Thank you for the comments. Let's take them one by one:

Zapdos: A HP move over toxic is a good idea, but I'm going to have to try it a bit before I fully commit to it. I've toxic-stalled out a number of pokemon with the Toxic/Roost combo, and it's a great way to shut down things like Togekiss and Serene Grace Blissey who rely on multiple turns for each KO they want to score and plan on staying in a while.

Spiritomb: I have no idea what new-Rotoms' movepools look like, as there are not listings on Smogon. When I have a better idea thereof, I'll consider it. However, I'm a big fan of Spiritomb; having 0 weaknesses and three Immunities (all to fairly commonly used types) is just too good. You'll note that he's not an anti-spinner, as I am not currently running Stealth Rock or either Spikes on this team.

Gyarados: This was an experiment that has actually been working out fairly well so far. A common reaction to Gyarados popping up is to switch in a physical wall. When the Gyardos proceeds to torch said wall with a Special move, it can turn things on its head, especially when common Physical walls include a lot of Steel Types. Waterfall/Ice Fang provides good type coverage on its own; the only thing it cannot hit at least even is Water types. Honestly, if I were to drop the Flamethrower, it'd be something that could Super effective water, maybe Thunderbolt even.

Togekiss changes sound spot on. I found myself very infrequently getting a chance to plot, and even less frequently getting a chance to BP it.

As for Defense vs. Speed on Scizor, I'm not sure what to make of this. The large majority of the time I will be using Bullet Punch, which ignores speed entirely, and I want to be sure he lives through that first attack on him, and with enough HP to get some good Life Orb'ed hits in. BrickBreak is necessary on Scizor to break Steel Walls, otherwise he's forced to switch. Roost seems unecessary; if I have set things up right, he will take at most 1 attack and 3-4 hits from his own life orb, and in the process sweep the other team. Roosting seems to me like just a way to let the opponent get a free fire attack in, at which he dies. If anyone manages to survive this (he orbs himself out, etc), Breloom comes in for clean-up detail.

As for fast Special sweeper, Zapdos fits this bill pretty well. He doesn't have a good set-up move, but he's got some pretty hefty SpA and Speed even without EVs there that let him dish out the damage in that regard.
 
You're better off maxing Scizor's HP rather than Defense. Scizor's HP is minuscule compared to its Defense (70 vs. 100) so investing in HP with benefit its Defense more. Furthermore, this allows it to take random Special attacks such as Gengar Shadow Balls and Focus Blasts and Deoxys-S Psychics.

If you're trying to use Mixed Gyarados, Fire Blast is superior to Flamethrower. Although it has worse accuracy, the extra power makes up for the lack of Gyarados' Special Attack stat.
 
Juuka said:
You're better off maxing Scizor's HP rather than Defense. Scizor's HP is minuscule compared to its Defense (70 vs. 100) so investing in HP with benefit its Defense more. Furthermore, this allows it to take random Special attacks such as Gengar Shadow Balls and Focus Blasts and Deoxys-S Psychics.

If you're trying to use Mixed Gyarados, Fire Blast is superior to Flamethrower. Although it has worse accuracy, the extra power makes up for the lack of Gyarados' Special Attack stat.
Click to expand...

Done and Done, both good suggestions that I have taken to heart, and they appear to help somewhat.
 
As said by others, definitely HP move on ZAPDOS.
SPIRITOMBs alright, you may consider Sucker Punch in one of the moveslots for a Priority move.
TOGEKISS: Drop BP. Do it now. The only thing that will benefit from a NP is Spiritomb, and only for Shadow Ball. I'd go Aura Sphere or HP or Tri Attack.
GYARADOS...plz change Flamethrower...now...itdoesnt get boost from DD and tbh its not doing that much. I'd replace w/ SEdge for coverage against other Gyaras.
SCIZOR: I personally would change XScissor to Pursuit on Scizor, as it fills a very similiar role, and gets rid of fleeing frail Psychics.
And BRELOOM is good.

Overall, good team, I hope you do well with it.
 
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