This is my first (and currently only) team that I have something like 500 hours into at this point, mainly due to IV breeding. I will go ahead and admit that I'm still pretty new and despite having lots of battles with my friends using the team, I'm still very inexperienced and just looking for some advice to help balance what I have. So without further ado...
I started building a team around two/three things...
1.
because I knew I wanted permaSandstorm, and because I love TTar.
2. A primarily steel type, but also ground and rock type team, because I'm a metalhead and wanted steel types, but also wanted to balance without taking damage from Sandstorm.
3. Planning for a primarily Stall focused team, with a few sluggers to balance it all out into a middle-of-the-road kind of team that I could hope to use for just about anything.
So I ran through some draft teams, and I hardly remember what my first lineup was at this point. Roughly, I think it was something like this:
1. Lead Attacker Tyranitar (Despot V) @ Leftovers
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 HP/ 40 Def/ 216 SpDef
Careful nature (+SpDef, -SpAt)
- Curse
- Crunch
- Stone Edge
- Brick Break
The idea behind this TTar being to have a lot of bulk and come in to set up sandstorm immediately, and come back in to switch into fire type attacks and hit back with Stone Edge if need be. I didn't like this set long term, so I ended up breeding a new TTar and replacing this one, with...
1. Lead Attacker Tyranitar (Despot Rex) @Lum Berry
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 254 Atk/ 252 Spd
Jolly nature (+Spd, -SpAt)
- Dragon Dance
- Stone Edge
- Crunch
- Outrage
I'm much happier with this TTar, she wrecks shit, and has performed very well especially since switching out leftovers in favor of lum berry recently. I find she's much more versatile than her bulky counterpart and fulfills a much wider number of roles. The coverage provided by Stone Edge and Crunch has worked great for dealing with a number of common threats with STAB damage and a reliable 0HKO. Despite being an offensive set, she still works very well for switching in to resisted fire type attacks and hitting back on the next turn.
I'll list the other pokemon I had on my old team in the event people think I should bring them back on to my current team since obviously I still have them waiting in the wings, but most I don't use anymore. Since I'm not using them I won't bother to go into much detail about their use unless people want me to explain what I was thinking. They were probably something like...
2.
Sweeper Excadrill @ Air balloon (this was before he was bumped to ubers)
Ability: Sand Rush
EVs: 252 Atk/ 252 Spe/ 4 HP
Jolly nature (+Spe, - SpAt) [no idea why I didn't go for Adamant here, probably an error as it was the second pokemon I bred)
- Earthquake
- Rock Slide
- Swords Dance
- X-Scissor
3.
Metagross @Life Orb
Ability: Clear Body
EVs: 252 Atk/ 204 Spe/ 52 HP
Jolly Nature (+Spe, - SpAt)
- Agility
- Meteor Mash
- Earthquake
- Zen Headbutt
4.
Ferrothorn @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Iron Barbs
EVs: 250 HP/ 208 SpDef/ 48 Def/ 4 Atk
Relaxed nature (+Def, -Spe)
- Power Whip
- Gyro Ball
- Curse
- Protect
5.
Skarmory @ Leftovers
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 252 HP/ 252 Def/ 4 SpDef
Impish nature (+Def, -SpAt)
- Whirlwind
- Spikes
- Toxic
- Brave Bird
6.
Magnezone @ Air Balloon (obviously I didn't have this on him when Excadrill had it, not sure what I did there)
Ability: Magnet Pull
EVs: 36 HP/ 252 SpAt/ 220 Spe
Timid nature (+Spe, - Atk)
- Thunderbolt
- Toxic
- Flash Cannon
- Volt Switch
Magnezone does really well when dealing with Rain teams, and I'll often pre-emptively swap out Thunderbolt for Thunder, knowing Politoed is slower than TTar and allowing the rain to get set up, only to temporarily assist Magnezone's hard-hitting SpAt STAB before putting Sand back up. I've played with switching TWave out for Toxic, but I like having lots of poison opportunities to assist the stall.
Magnezone's resistances allow him to switch in on predicted Ice moves directed at Gliscor or Cradily, predicted Steel moves directed at TTar, and it's weaknesses draw out ground type attackers for the switch back into Gliscor, all the while accumulating residual damage while the opponent is forced to switch around to find an attack that isn't heavily resisted or completely immune.
So the lineup was initially
I ended up replacing everything but TTar slowly after tweaking the team here and there, and my current line up looks like this:
1. Aforementioned TTar (Despot Rex)
2.
Counter killer/Sweeper Gliscor @ Flying Gem
Ability: Sand Veil
EVs: 252 Atk/ 252 Spe/ 4 Def
Adamant nature (+Atk, -SpAtk)
- Substitute
- Swords Dance
- Acrobatics
- Earthquake
I'm really satisfied with how Gliscor has functioned. I managed to IV breed him effectively flawless, 31/31/31/5-7/31/31 with only special attack not maxed out. He's been great for switching into predicted Electricity and Ground type attacks with the immunity, as well as resisting fighting type attacks which plague my team, and hitting back hard with either STAB move.
Leading with TTar usually means expecting either a fighting type counter to come out, or a TWave attempting to prevent TTar's DD, and switching into Gliscor predicting that fighting type often provides the time for at least Swords Dance, if not Sub+SD, she he has pretty good synergy with TTar, IMO. I don't anticipate switching him out anytime soon.
3.
Physical Wall Shuckle @ Chesto Berry (originally Binding Band)
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 252 SpDef/ 252 Def/ 4 HP
Careful nature (+SpDef -SpAt)
- Sand Tomb
- Toxic
- Power Split
- Rest
Despite how stupid it sounds, Shuckle has worked pretty amazingly for me. People always underestimate him and try to set up, only to find themselves hit with a power split, stuck with him because of Sand Tomb, and then toxic'd and taking sandstorm damage while Shuckle Rests off whatever damage or status he takes. I'm fairly content with him, although there have been a few times he's been knocked out sooner than expected.
He's been great for switching into physical attacks, and the 50% boost to SpDef makes him viable for switching into special attackers too. He does a great job of completely neutering sweepers via Power Split. His NU status makes him all the more of a surprise when he starts locking in and pouring on the build up damage.
4.
Special Wall Cradily @ Yache Berry
Ability: Storm Drain
EVs: 252 HP/ 252 SpDef/ 4 Def
Bold nature (+Def, - Atk)
- Amnesia
- Recover
- Energy Ball
- Toxic
I was stuck between choosing Amnesia and Stockpile for the buffing move for a while, but ended up going for Amnesia relying on Shuckle for physical walling. Cradily is great for switching into predicted water type attacks and hitting back with the boosted Energy ball, since it can usually sponge whatever second hit it takes after switching in. This means Cradily is essentially the answer for any bulky water type, especially with toxic on the move set, it does a great job of coving for the others that have weaknesses to water. It's obviously super screwed in the face of Taunt whenever the opponent can resist Energy Ball, but in its role it's done pretty well for me.
Having another stall pokemon with toxic has given the opportunity to sit and laugh at any pokemon without a poison immunity that needs time to set up. Without the ability to cut Cradily down quickly enough to ignore the Recover, offensive oriented pokemon find themselves crippled and needing to switch out.
5. Aforementioned Magnezone
6.
Special Attacker Nidoking @ Life Orb
Ability: Sheer Force
EVs: 4 HP/ 252 SpAt/ 252 Spe
Timid nature (+Spe, - Atk)
- Earth Power
- Flamethrower
- Ice Beam
- Thunderbolt
I'm admittedly not in love with this Nidoking, primarily because I need to rebreed him for a maxed speed IV. This is just the fairly standard special attacker coverage set, to function as a versatile attacker ready for a number of threats with heavy damage.
So my current lineup is
I haven't finished breeding it yet, but I'm leaning towards switching out Magnezone for...
5. Support Special Wall Empoleon @ Big Root
Ability: Torrent
EVs: 252 SpDef/ 252 HP/ 4 SpAt
Calm nature (+SpDef, -Atk)
- Stealth Rock
- Scald
- Aqua Ring
- Roar
The idea of course being that my STALL team still lacks any entry hazards, which is a pretty big loss. I was also considering rebreeding a Ferrothorn with spikes and stealth rock, but liked the idea of having a water type STAB with the possibility of burning on the team, as well as Empoleon's defensive typing over Ferrothorn's.
Overall Problems:
- Fighting types are still a huge pain. Both of my walls, Shuckle and Cradily, still have a weakness to them, and my lead has a x4 weakness which essentially forces me to switch when there's even a possibility of a fighting type move on a pokemon that's faster than TTar. Switching into Gliscor with good timing and provided he's faster than the opposing pokemon is usually enough, as Acrobatics has never failed to deal with a fighting type quickly, but it'd be nice to have another option short of having one of my main attackers take damage just to save what's supposed to be a wall.
- Fire types, although they can be dealt with neatly by TTar, are pretty much in the same place as fighting types, with the small plus that my walls are neutral to fire type moves. Shuckle has done a decent job of dealing with fire types in the past, but I don't like switching him into an attacker who is going to go straight for repeated hits rather than try to buff in front of Shuckle, as he needs a bit of time to set up the trap.
- Bulky grass types with poison immunity have also been a problem. Answering Venasaur or Ferrothorn has been difficult, even with Nidoking waiting with flamethrower since he has trouble switching in to either of them.
- Really not sure what pokemon to keep on the team, and who to switch out. I don't get to battle with friends often enough to find consistent problems with a 6 pokemon roster, and the battle subway is really only good at pointing out that I'm hard pressed to have an answer for everything with only three pokemon. I'm open to suggestions on a better way to balance my team.
- Really in need of entry hazards I think. I'm not sure that Empoleon is the answer I'm looking for, as it'll only give me stealth rock, but I'm also open to suggestions. I'm sort of against putting Forretress on the team, since everyone and their mother has one, but I guess that's available to me as well.
EDIT: I played around with my lineup in the simulator for a few hours and did better than I was expecting to. Probably won 8/10 battles, and only severely hampered by bulky grass types, as mentioned above. Need some additional answer to grass types immune to poison.
Like I said at the beginning, I'm still pretty inexperienced, and I know a lot of this probably sounds pretty haphazard, so let me know what you think in all honesty, as long as it's constructive. "Start from scratch" probably won't help me much, as I basically have 11 pokemon to juggle, at least pick a few you think could stick around. Thanks!
I started building a team around two/three things...
1.
because I knew I wanted permaSandstorm, and because I love TTar.2. A primarily steel type, but also ground and rock type team, because I'm a metalhead and wanted steel types, but also wanted to balance without taking damage from Sandstorm.
3. Planning for a primarily Stall focused team, with a few sluggers to balance it all out into a middle-of-the-road kind of team that I could hope to use for just about anything.
So I ran through some draft teams, and I hardly remember what my first lineup was at this point. Roughly, I think it was something like this:
1.
Lead Attacker Tyranitar (Despot V) @ LeftoversAbility: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 HP/ 40 Def/ 216 SpDef
Careful nature (+SpDef, -SpAt)
- Curse
- Crunch
- Stone Edge
- Brick Break
The idea behind this TTar being to have a lot of bulk and come in to set up sandstorm immediately, and come back in to switch into fire type attacks and hit back with Stone Edge if need be. I didn't like this set long term, so I ended up breeding a new TTar and replacing this one, with...
1.
Lead Attacker Tyranitar (Despot Rex) @Lum BerryAbility: Sand Stream
EVs: 254 Atk/ 252 Spd
Jolly nature (+Spd, -SpAt)
- Dragon Dance
- Stone Edge
- Crunch
- Outrage
I'm much happier with this TTar, she wrecks shit, and has performed very well especially since switching out leftovers in favor of lum berry recently. I find she's much more versatile than her bulky counterpart and fulfills a much wider number of roles. The coverage provided by Stone Edge and Crunch has worked great for dealing with a number of common threats with STAB damage and a reliable 0HKO. Despite being an offensive set, she still works very well for switching in to resisted fire type attacks and hitting back on the next turn.
I'll list the other pokemon I had on my old team in the event people think I should bring them back on to my current team since obviously I still have them waiting in the wings, but most I don't use anymore. Since I'm not using them I won't bother to go into much detail about their use unless people want me to explain what I was thinking. They were probably something like...
2.
Sweeper Excadrill @ Air balloon (this was before he was bumped to ubers)Ability: Sand Rush
EVs: 252 Atk/ 252 Spe/ 4 HP
Jolly nature (+Spe, - SpAt) [no idea why I didn't go for Adamant here, probably an error as it was the second pokemon I bred)
- Earthquake
- Rock Slide
- Swords Dance
- X-Scissor
3.
Metagross @Life OrbAbility: Clear Body
EVs: 252 Atk/ 204 Spe/ 52 HP
Jolly Nature (+Spe, - SpAt)
- Agility
- Meteor Mash
- Earthquake
- Zen Headbutt
4.
Ferrothorn @ Rocky HelmetAbility: Iron Barbs
EVs: 250 HP/ 208 SpDef/ 48 Def/ 4 Atk
Relaxed nature (+Def, -Spe)
- Power Whip
- Gyro Ball
- Curse
- Protect
5.
Skarmory @ LeftoversAbility: Sturdy
EVs: 252 HP/ 252 Def/ 4 SpDef
Impish nature (+Def, -SpAt)
- Whirlwind
- Spikes
- Toxic
- Brave Bird
6.
Magnezone @ Air Balloon (obviously I didn't have this on him when Excadrill had it, not sure what I did there)Ability: Magnet Pull
EVs: 36 HP/ 252 SpAt/ 220 Spe
Timid nature (+Spe, - Atk)
- Thunderbolt
- Toxic
- Flash Cannon
- Volt Switch
Magnezone does really well when dealing with Rain teams, and I'll often pre-emptively swap out Thunderbolt for Thunder, knowing Politoed is slower than TTar and allowing the rain to get set up, only to temporarily assist Magnezone's hard-hitting SpAt STAB before putting Sand back up. I've played with switching TWave out for Toxic, but I like having lots of poison opportunities to assist the stall.
Magnezone's resistances allow him to switch in on predicted Ice moves directed at Gliscor or Cradily, predicted Steel moves directed at TTar, and it's weaknesses draw out ground type attackers for the switch back into Gliscor, all the while accumulating residual damage while the opponent is forced to switch around to find an attack that isn't heavily resisted or completely immune.
So the lineup was initially
I ended up replacing everything but TTar slowly after tweaking the team here and there, and my current line up looks like this:
1. Aforementioned TTar (Despot Rex)
2.
Counter killer/Sweeper Gliscor @ Flying GemAbility: Sand Veil
EVs: 252 Atk/ 252 Spe/ 4 Def
Adamant nature (+Atk, -SpAtk)
- Substitute
- Swords Dance
- Acrobatics
- Earthquake
I'm really satisfied with how Gliscor has functioned. I managed to IV breed him effectively flawless, 31/31/31/5-7/31/31 with only special attack not maxed out. He's been great for switching into predicted Electricity and Ground type attacks with the immunity, as well as resisting fighting type attacks which plague my team, and hitting back hard with either STAB move.
Leading with TTar usually means expecting either a fighting type counter to come out, or a TWave attempting to prevent TTar's DD, and switching into Gliscor predicting that fighting type often provides the time for at least Swords Dance, if not Sub+SD, she he has pretty good synergy with TTar, IMO. I don't anticipate switching him out anytime soon.
3.
Physical Wall Shuckle @ Chesto Berry (originally Binding Band)Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 252 SpDef/ 252 Def/ 4 HP
Careful nature (+SpDef -SpAt)
- Sand Tomb
- Toxic
- Power Split
- Rest
Despite how stupid it sounds, Shuckle has worked pretty amazingly for me. People always underestimate him and try to set up, only to find themselves hit with a power split, stuck with him because of Sand Tomb, and then toxic'd and taking sandstorm damage while Shuckle Rests off whatever damage or status he takes. I'm fairly content with him, although there have been a few times he's been knocked out sooner than expected.
He's been great for switching into physical attacks, and the 50% boost to SpDef makes him viable for switching into special attackers too. He does a great job of completely neutering sweepers via Power Split. His NU status makes him all the more of a surprise when he starts locking in and pouring on the build up damage.
4.
Special Wall Cradily @ Yache BerryAbility: Storm Drain
EVs: 252 HP/ 252 SpDef/ 4 Def
Bold nature (+Def, - Atk)
- Amnesia
- Recover
- Energy Ball
- Toxic
I was stuck between choosing Amnesia and Stockpile for the buffing move for a while, but ended up going for Amnesia relying on Shuckle for physical walling. Cradily is great for switching into predicted water type attacks and hitting back with the boosted Energy ball, since it can usually sponge whatever second hit it takes after switching in. This means Cradily is essentially the answer for any bulky water type, especially with toxic on the move set, it does a great job of coving for the others that have weaknesses to water. It's obviously super screwed in the face of Taunt whenever the opponent can resist Energy Ball, but in its role it's done pretty well for me.
Having another stall pokemon with toxic has given the opportunity to sit and laugh at any pokemon without a poison immunity that needs time to set up. Without the ability to cut Cradily down quickly enough to ignore the Recover, offensive oriented pokemon find themselves crippled and needing to switch out.
5. Aforementioned Magnezone
6.
Special Attacker Nidoking @ Life OrbAbility: Sheer Force
EVs: 4 HP/ 252 SpAt/ 252 Spe
Timid nature (+Spe, - Atk)
- Earth Power
- Flamethrower
- Ice Beam
- Thunderbolt
I'm admittedly not in love with this Nidoking, primarily because I need to rebreed him for a maxed speed IV. This is just the fairly standard special attacker coverage set, to function as a versatile attacker ready for a number of threats with heavy damage.
So my current lineup is
I haven't finished breeding it yet, but I'm leaning towards switching out Magnezone for...
5. Support Special Wall Empoleon @ Big Root
Ability: Torrent
EVs: 252 SpDef/ 252 HP/ 4 SpAt
Calm nature (+SpDef, -Atk)
- Stealth Rock
- Scald
- Aqua Ring
- Roar
The idea of course being that my STALL team still lacks any entry hazards, which is a pretty big loss. I was also considering rebreeding a Ferrothorn with spikes and stealth rock, but liked the idea of having a water type STAB with the possibility of burning on the team, as well as Empoleon's defensive typing over Ferrothorn's.
Overall Problems:
- Fighting types are still a huge pain. Both of my walls, Shuckle and Cradily, still have a weakness to them, and my lead has a x4 weakness which essentially forces me to switch when there's even a possibility of a fighting type move on a pokemon that's faster than TTar. Switching into Gliscor with good timing and provided he's faster than the opposing pokemon is usually enough, as Acrobatics has never failed to deal with a fighting type quickly, but it'd be nice to have another option short of having one of my main attackers take damage just to save what's supposed to be a wall.
- Fire types, although they can be dealt with neatly by TTar, are pretty much in the same place as fighting types, with the small plus that my walls are neutral to fire type moves. Shuckle has done a decent job of dealing with fire types in the past, but I don't like switching him into an attacker who is going to go straight for repeated hits rather than try to buff in front of Shuckle, as he needs a bit of time to set up the trap.
- Bulky grass types with poison immunity have also been a problem. Answering Venasaur or Ferrothorn has been difficult, even with Nidoking waiting with flamethrower since he has trouble switching in to either of them.
- Really not sure what pokemon to keep on the team, and who to switch out. I don't get to battle with friends often enough to find consistent problems with a 6 pokemon roster, and the battle subway is really only good at pointing out that I'm hard pressed to have an answer for everything with only three pokemon. I'm open to suggestions on a better way to balance my team.
- Really in need of entry hazards I think. I'm not sure that Empoleon is the answer I'm looking for, as it'll only give me stealth rock, but I'm also open to suggestions. I'm sort of against putting Forretress on the team, since everyone and their mother has one, but I guess that's available to me as well.
EDIT: I played around with my lineup in the simulator for a few hours and did better than I was expecting to. Probably won 8/10 battles, and only severely hampered by bulky grass types, as mentioned above. Need some additional answer to grass types immune to poison.
Like I said at the beginning, I'm still pretty inexperienced, and I know a lot of this probably sounds pretty haphazard, so let me know what you think in all honesty, as long as it's constructive. "Start from scratch" probably won't help me much, as I basically have 11 pokemon to juggle, at least pick a few you think could stick around. Thanks!
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