RMT for a tourney worth a copy of XY part 2! 2100+ in the ladder

[jucaa]

Hi guys!

Recently i made a thread here in which i say that i'm participating in a regional tourney and the winner wins a copy of Pokémon X or Y!
The tourney already started and I'm very happy to announce that I'm on the semi-finals =)
This is my original thread here: http://www.smogon.com/forums/thread...mpionship-worth-a-copy-of-pokémon-xy.3488650/

After all the suggests i got, i experimented a little and the final result is this:

Tyranitar @ Leftovers
Trait: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 HP 252 Spd 4 Atk
Careful Nature
- Stone Edge
- Crunch
- Pursuit
- Stealth Rock

Tyranitar is the weather inducer and one of the special defensives pokes of the team. Stealth rock is self explanatory, as this is more of a stall team and every team should have it. Pursuit is here to trap psychic types and kill on switch. Crunch is for when i predict the opponent isnt going to switch or when more power is needed. Stone edge is here for a second stab move and coverage.

Skarmory @ Leftovers
Trait: Sturdy
EVs: 32 SDef / 252 Def / 224 HP
Impish Nature
- Spikes
- Roost
- Whirlwind
- Brave Bird

Skarmory is the first defensive core of the team, nothing much to say here, its the standard set, phazer and spikes, little by little mining the opponent. Whirlwind to do a lot of damage when stealth rock and spikes are on the field, brave bird to not be taunt bait and deal with some pokemons on the switch, roost to recover damage.

Gliscor @ Toxic Orb
Trait: Poison Heal
EVs: 244 HP / 40 Def / 224 Spd
Impish Nature
- Protect
- Toxic
- Substitute
- Earthquake

Gliscor is the star of the team, its the other defensive pokémon on the team and this set deal with a lot of threats after they are poisoned, like conkeldurr and other slower pokémons. Earthquake is here to hit steel pokémons who cant get poisoned. After gliscor gets behind a substitute it can stall a lot of threats and use toxic safely. The combo toxic + sand + hazard with the fact that i can protect and substitute kills a lot! In many cases i dont even need to use earthquake.

Gastrodon @ Leftovers
Trait: Storm Drain
EVs: 252 HP / 84 Def / 172 SDef
Sassy Nature
- Toxic
- Recover
- Scald
- Ice beam

Gastrodon is a monster on the special defense side and it is a threat to many things, mostly rotom-w, which the only way that it can damage it is through toxic or wow, but then get poisoned too, or use trick. Toxic is here to cripple other walls and help gliscor do its job so it dont waste a turn on toxic and can go to the sub/protect combo. Recover to heal damage, scald for stab and the chance to burn some physical threats. In the last slot i choose ice beam over earth power or earthquake because as i battled i noticed that a lot of dragons switched into gastrodon, so this solves the problem and i'm using it with a lot of success as people dont expect it after seeing scald.

Jellicent @ Leftovers
Trait: Water Absorb
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SDef
Bold Nature
- Will-O-Wisp
- Recover
- Taunt
- Scald

Jellicent is one of the new pokemon i put in the team, its here basically to counter keldeo, as it is immune to it both stabs. Other than that, i choose a defensive set, will o wisp is here to deal with the physical threats that toxic dont cripple so much and some steel types such as scizor and jirachi, recover to heal, taunt to counter calm mind pokemons such as reuniclus and scald to deal basic damage and burn.

Landorus-Therian (M) @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Intimidate
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Naive Nature
- Earthquake
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- U-turn
- Stone Edge

In the last slot i choose Landorus-T, i know that first you might seem odd to have it and gliscor because of the weakness, but they have different roles and thats why i choose the choice scarf set. Landorus is here because i like to have at least one fast pokemon on the team and it can work as a late game sweeper and as a lead with u-turn. Hidden power ice to hit other landorus and dragons, earthquake for stab and stone edge for coverage.

So this is it guys, my team for the tourney, as i got to the semi finals now we can make changes to the team and thats why i made another RMT here.
One pokemon that gives me trouble is skarmory, so one of the changes i'm thinking is fire blast over stone edge on tyranitar.

Any other suggestions? I would apreciate any help i can get to make the team better =)
With this team i have 2106 points on the ladder so i guess i'm doing good already, but i know there is room for improvement!

 

[ShootingStarmie]

Hi there, so I'm here to rate your team.

So this is generally a very defensive sand based team, utilizing Skarmory and Tyranitar's entry hazards, and Gliscor and Gastrodon are here to wall threats and Toxic stall your opponent. Jellicent is your spin blocker and Landorus-T serves as your late game cleaner.

However, there are a few weaknesses to this team. I feel that having both Landorus-T and Gliscor is pretty redundant, because they have such similar typing. I really don't think this kind of team needs a late game cleaner, and this team slot I think could be put to better use. There also seems to be quite a bit of redundancy with Gastrodon and Jellicent. These two are both used to check rain teams, so I think this team slot could be better used. Sun teams with Volcarona & Venusaur seem really troubling for this team too, as Volcarona at +1 can easily muscle through your team, and Landorus-T is out sped, while Venusaur can potentially hit everything on your team for super effective damage. As you already said, Skarmory is kinda annoying for you to face, as well as similar Pokemon like Ferrothorn and Forretress, as they have no trouble in using your team as set up fodder for their entry hazards, and you have no spinner / way to prevent this.

So, here are my few suggestions to hopefully make your team that bit better.

1) Replace Landorus-T with defensive Heatran. Heatran fills many roles for your team, as it scares away Skarmory, Ferrothorn, and Forretress. It also simultaneously helps you out vs. Sun teams, as it walls Volcarona lacking HP Ground, and walls Heatran lacking Earthquake, while also being a general pain for Sun teams to face.

2) Change Gliscor's move-set. This is a small suggestion, but drastically improves your team. Running Taunt over Protect prevents Forretress, Ferrothorn, and Skarmory from using you as set up fodder, and generally helps you out a lot more vs. stall teams.

3) Replace Gastrodon with Celebi. Celebi fits this team like a glove, and fills a similar role that Gastrodon did (taking on rain teams) but offers your team much better synergy. Celebi also gives your team a way to beat bulky set up sweepers, which often trouble stall teams.

Here are the sets.

Hide

Heatran @ Leftovers
Trait: Flash Fire
EVs: 248 SDef / 248 HP / 12 Spd
Calm Nature
- Lava Plume
- Toxic
- Protect
- Roar

So Heatran as mentioned before really helps your team vs. opposing sun teams. EVs are used to give you maximum special bulk, while also speed creeping opposing Heatran. Lava Plume is STAB and has a cool 30% burn rate, allowing you to slowly wear down the opposing team. Toxic is used to nail bulky water types, as they love to switch into Heatran. Protect is used for scouting purposes while also Toxic stall and gains back crucial leftovers recovery. Finally, Roar is used to phaze bulky set up sweepers, like CM Jirachi, while also gaining momentum and racking up more residual damage.

Celebi @ Leftovers
Trait: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 HP / 40 Spd / 216 SDef
Calm Nature
- U-turn / Baton Pass
- Perish Song
- Psychic
- Recover

So, EVs are used to maximize special bulk while out speeding Adamant Breloom, Scizor, and most Tyranitar. U-turn allows you to gain momentum with your team and escape your Perish Song effect. Perish Song allows you to cripple bulky last mon sweepers, like Bulk Up Conkeldurr. Psychic is STAB and keeps Keldeo, Terrakion, and Breloom in check. Finally, Recover is used to keep Celebi nice and healthy for the majority of the match, allowing to to switch in for the majority of the game.

Well, there's my rate. Good luck with your team, and congrats. I hope I helped in some way.

 

[jucaa]

Hi ShootinStarmie!

Pretty interesting changes you did, gonna try them out to see how it goes, thanks for the rate =)

 

[Honus]

Cool stall team, not many weaknesses. I think it can kinda be streamlined though. First off you should really consider a spinner. Hazards is really going to be a big downfall for this team; those Custap Skarmory+Alakazam teams can get really annoying. I think you should consider trying out a Forretress over Skarmory to spin away hazards and whatnot, kind of functions the same way as Skarmory in walling Dragon types. After this though, I think you should consider changing Landorus-T to a defensive variant. Defensive Landorus-T and Forretress basically wall most physical threats in the metagame, one taking the dragon types and the other taking on fighting types that Forretress can't beat. After you establish a good physically defensive core, I reccomend maybe trying out a Heatran over Gliscor to patch up your sun weakness. Most physical threats should be contained between Jellicent/Land-T/Forry, and the team could have some trouble with sun if Tyranitar is down or whatever. Heatran's also just a great Pokemon to have on stall since it resists Draco Meteors and all that, and is one of the best pokemon to make use of spikes since it often forces Pokemon out, on both offensive and defensive teams. Also no SR leaves you with an open spot on Tyranitar; which you could use for a CB or Scarf to beat stuff like Reuniclus, or Lucario. Finally you should couldconsider running enough spe for Max Spe Scizor on your Heatran; it does take away from the bulk but SD Scizor with acrobat can be a little annoying for this team, just test it out I guess.

Landorus-Therian (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Intimidate
EVs: 248 HP / 44 Def / 216 Spd
Lax Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- U-turn
- Hidden Power [Ice]

Forretress (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Sturdy
EVs: 248 HP / 216 Def / 40 SDef
Relaxed Nature
IVs: 0 Spd
- Spikes
- Rapid Spin
- Volt Switch
- Gyro Ball

Heatran (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Flash Fire
EVs: 248 HP / 4 SAtk / 212 SDef / 40 Spd
Calm Nature
- Lava Plume
- Protect
- Roar
- Earth Power