So, my second RMT in a while. This one is actually an older team, but I'm looking to make changes to suit the new metagame. The basic premise is to open up a hole to let Lucario clean up at the end of the game. This configuration covers each others weaknesses fairly well in both types and roles, I feel, but it could use some tightening up.
"Spitefire"
Male Infernape = @Focus Sash
<Blaze>
[Naive] 64 Atk, 252 SAtk, 192 Spd.
- Fake Out
- Stealth Rock
- Overheat
- Close Combat
In terms of a lead, I always found Infernape to be the one I never wanted to be matched against, so he seemed a good choice. What I find remarkable with Ape is how easily he can prevent opposing Stealth Rocks without losing his Focus Sash. The only leads he has trouble with are the Occa Berry Metagross, because he generally doesn't mind being Tricked a Scarf on the Overheat, and then switching out to come in later and set up Rocks or Revenge Kill like a mini-Heatran.
"Ozymandias"
Male Lucario @Life Orb
<Inner Focus>
[Adamant] 252 Atk, 252 Spd, 4 Def
- Close Combat
- Swords Dance
- ExtremeSpeed
- Crunch/Stone Edge
The primary sweeper for the team. Luke was the first pokemon to supplant Pidgeot as my favourite, and with good reason. I'm generally preferring Crunch over Stone Edge for accuracy concerns and to deal with Rotom-A, but I think Rotom tends to outspeed (certainly with a Scarf) and OHKO in most cases, so perhaps Stone Edge is better to deal with Zapdos and Gyara?
"Devastator"
Female Heatran = @Choice Scarf
<Flash Fire>
[Timid] 252 SAtk, 252 Spd, 4 HP
- Fire Blast
- Earth Power
- Explosion
- Dragon Pulse
The first weakness I usually encounter with Lucario is Fire, and what better counter is there than Heatran? I've maxed speed to force the tie against opposing Heatran, and to best act as the revenge killer Heatran is meant to be. Dragon Pulse is to take out Dragons, especially those in Outrage mode. Fire Blast for general killingness, and Explosion for problem pokemon in general that are too difficult to work around.
"Machina"
Rotom-C = @Leftovers
<Levitate>
[Bold] 252 HP, 76 Def, 180 SDef
- Leaf Storm
- Thunderbolt/Discharge
- HP Ice/Shadow Ball
- Will-o-wisp/Substitute
The weaknesses that Lucario and Heatran shares are Ground and Fighting. Rotom-A is the best counter for them, easily. I chose this particular forme because I often have trouble with Swampert, and Leaf Storm is an easy OHKO. I'm not totally sure on moveset here. I run a defensive spread, because I'm not really using it as a revenge killer when I have Heatran, so I figured Discharge is the better move for it's Paralysis chance. However, I don't know what support move I'm using. I recently dropped Sub (as it is less effective with Leaf Storm) for Will-o-wisp to hinder Pursuiters, and so the Paralysis is less needed and the increased damage output is more useful. Finally, I'm currently running HP Ice because this set can take standard Mence Outrages and OHKO back with HP Ice; but this leaves me with an annoying hole against opposing Rotom, so I'm thinking of replacing it with Shadow Ball. Advice on this move set would be greatly appreciated.
"Ravage"
Salamence = @Life Orb
<Intimidate>
[Naive] 252 Spd, 84 Atk, 172 SAtk
- Draco Meteor
- Outrage
- Earthquake
- Fire Blast
A wallbreaker was the next piece of the puzzle I wanted. I tried a number of things in this slot, but I definitely wanted a Ground-immune given my three weaknesses to it. I tried to avoid a MixMence, but eventually I just settled to the fact it was the best in the business for what I was trying to do. I max out speed because a lot of MixMence counters are based on outspeeding neutral/standard EVs,especially opposing Mence.
"Xanaphia"
Latias = @Leftovers
<Levitate>
[Calm] 252 HP, 220 Def, 36 Spd.
- Dragon Pulse
- Wish
- Protect
- Surf/Toxic
This is the unusual member of my team. Originally, I was running a standard WishBlissey here, and did so for a long time. I still have my doubts about changing to Latias, but Latias is becoming increasingly popular, and she can fulfill a similar role with a defensive EV set like this, and her superior typing for covering weaknesses. The only thing she -can't- do is switch in on a Draco Meteor, but I have Heatran and Rotom who can. Latias also fulfills a fairly unique interaction with Lucario; she baits Pursuit like nothing else in the format.
Dragon Pulse and Surf give good coverage; I thought about Toxic, but wasn't really sure if the ability to stall would be effective enough. Dragon Pulse alone would leave me in a sticky position against such problems as Empoleon, Jirachi or Heatran. Does the rest of my team cover those guys well enough, or should I switch back to Blissey?
Also, any adjustment to the EVs to survive any relevant attacks I should be aware of would be great.
Team Building Process In a Nutshell:
I started out with my favourite, Lucario. Ever since I first started using him when the Swords Dance set first broke, I've loved his power. Heatran was the next member of the team, because it is the metagame counter that covers Lucario's most common weakness well. I also frequently find myself struggling against opposing Heatran without one, so it's a nice pyschological crutch. After testing a Rotom-A elsewhere, I knew it was the perfect choice as my physical wall. I originally had Rotom-H to beat Scizors, but I'm finding they're much easier to predict nowadays and Swampert was always remarkably difficult to remove, so I changed to Rotom-C, and the additional coverage against Tyranitar was well recieved as well.
Blissey followed Rotom closely as the best Special Wall in the format, and she served me well, often allowing me to stall out the last few pokemon after a sweep was interrupted or unexpectedly countered. She also added much-needed Wish support to the rest of the team. After that, I shuffled wallbreakers and leads for some time. I wanted a reliable offensive lead that could set up SR, but no matter what lead I chose, I always found that opposing Infernapes would have the edge. So rather than run something specifically to counter Infernapes, I decided to run one myself. I resisted including Salamence for a long time, trying all kinds of other mixed attackers to act as my wallbreaker, but eventually the Dragon's superior typing and movepool won out.
Finally, I recently realised Latias may be able to fulfill the same role as Blissey, but with superior typing to cover some of my weaknesses.
"Spitefire"
Male Infernape = @Focus Sash
<Blaze>
[Naive] 64 Atk, 252 SAtk, 192 Spd.
- Fake Out
- Stealth Rock
- Overheat
- Close Combat
In terms of a lead, I always found Infernape to be the one I never wanted to be matched against, so he seemed a good choice. What I find remarkable with Ape is how easily he can prevent opposing Stealth Rocks without losing his Focus Sash. The only leads he has trouble with are the Occa Berry Metagross, because he generally doesn't mind being Tricked a Scarf on the Overheat, and then switching out to come in later and set up Rocks or Revenge Kill like a mini-Heatran.
"Ozymandias"
Male Lucario @Life Orb
<Inner Focus>
[Adamant] 252 Atk, 252 Spd, 4 Def
- Close Combat
- Swords Dance
- ExtremeSpeed
- Crunch/Stone Edge
The primary sweeper for the team. Luke was the first pokemon to supplant Pidgeot as my favourite, and with good reason. I'm generally preferring Crunch over Stone Edge for accuracy concerns and to deal with Rotom-A, but I think Rotom tends to outspeed (certainly with a Scarf) and OHKO in most cases, so perhaps Stone Edge is better to deal with Zapdos and Gyara?
"Devastator"
Female Heatran = @Choice Scarf
<Flash Fire>
[Timid] 252 SAtk, 252 Spd, 4 HP
- Fire Blast
- Earth Power
- Explosion
- Dragon Pulse
The first weakness I usually encounter with Lucario is Fire, and what better counter is there than Heatran? I've maxed speed to force the tie against opposing Heatran, and to best act as the revenge killer Heatran is meant to be. Dragon Pulse is to take out Dragons, especially those in Outrage mode. Fire Blast for general killingness, and Explosion for problem pokemon in general that are too difficult to work around.
"Machina"
Rotom-C = @Leftovers
<Levitate>
[Bold] 252 HP, 76 Def, 180 SDef
- Leaf Storm
- Thunderbolt/Discharge
- HP Ice/Shadow Ball
- Will-o-wisp/Substitute
The weaknesses that Lucario and Heatran shares are Ground and Fighting. Rotom-A is the best counter for them, easily. I chose this particular forme because I often have trouble with Swampert, and Leaf Storm is an easy OHKO. I'm not totally sure on moveset here. I run a defensive spread, because I'm not really using it as a revenge killer when I have Heatran, so I figured Discharge is the better move for it's Paralysis chance. However, I don't know what support move I'm using. I recently dropped Sub (as it is less effective with Leaf Storm) for Will-o-wisp to hinder Pursuiters, and so the Paralysis is less needed and the increased damage output is more useful. Finally, I'm currently running HP Ice because this set can take standard Mence Outrages and OHKO back with HP Ice; but this leaves me with an annoying hole against opposing Rotom, so I'm thinking of replacing it with Shadow Ball. Advice on this move set would be greatly appreciated.
"Ravage"
Salamence = @Life Orb
<Intimidate>
[Naive] 252 Spd, 84 Atk, 172 SAtk
- Draco Meteor
- Outrage
- Earthquake
- Fire Blast
A wallbreaker was the next piece of the puzzle I wanted. I tried a number of things in this slot, but I definitely wanted a Ground-immune given my three weaknesses to it. I tried to avoid a MixMence, but eventually I just settled to the fact it was the best in the business for what I was trying to do. I max out speed because a lot of MixMence counters are based on outspeeding neutral/standard EVs,especially opposing Mence.
"Xanaphia"
Latias = @Leftovers
<Levitate>
[Calm] 252 HP, 220 Def, 36 Spd.
- Dragon Pulse
- Wish
- Protect
- Surf/Toxic
This is the unusual member of my team. Originally, I was running a standard WishBlissey here, and did so for a long time. I still have my doubts about changing to Latias, but Latias is becoming increasingly popular, and she can fulfill a similar role with a defensive EV set like this, and her superior typing for covering weaknesses. The only thing she -can't- do is switch in on a Draco Meteor, but I have Heatran and Rotom who can. Latias also fulfills a fairly unique interaction with Lucario; she baits Pursuit like nothing else in the format.
Dragon Pulse and Surf give good coverage; I thought about Toxic, but wasn't really sure if the ability to stall would be effective enough. Dragon Pulse alone would leave me in a sticky position against such problems as Empoleon, Jirachi or Heatran. Does the rest of my team cover those guys well enough, or should I switch back to Blissey?
Also, any adjustment to the EVs to survive any relevant attacks I should be aware of would be great.
Team Building Process In a Nutshell:
I started out with my favourite, Lucario. Ever since I first started using him when the Swords Dance set first broke, I've loved his power. Heatran was the next member of the team, because it is the metagame counter that covers Lucario's most common weakness well. I also frequently find myself struggling against opposing Heatran without one, so it's a nice pyschological crutch. After testing a Rotom-A elsewhere, I knew it was the perfect choice as my physical wall. I originally had Rotom-H to beat Scizors, but I'm finding they're much easier to predict nowadays and Swampert was always remarkably difficult to remove, so I changed to Rotom-C, and the additional coverage against Tyranitar was well recieved as well.
Blissey followed Rotom closely as the best Special Wall in the format, and she served me well, often allowing me to stall out the last few pokemon after a sweep was interrupted or unexpectedly countered. She also added much-needed Wish support to the rest of the team. After that, I shuffled wallbreakers and leads for some time. I wanted a reliable offensive lead that could set up SR, but no matter what lead I chose, I always found that opposing Infernapes would have the edge. So rather than run something specifically to counter Infernapes, I decided to run one myself. I resisted including Salamence for a long time, trying all kinds of other mixed attackers to act as my wallbreaker, but eventually the Dragon's superior typing and movepool won out.
Finally, I recently realised Latias may be able to fulfill the same role as Blissey, but with superior typing to cover some of my weaknesses.
