Hello there! This is my second RMT, and this time, I've actually built the team from scratch instead of modifying another /proud. I've long since known that my favorite/best style of team is hyper offense, and it's come to my attention recently that Talonflame and Bisharp are two of my best mons within that style, so I made a team around them. Here goes.
Step 1: The Core - Talonflame and Bisharp
Talonflame
Ability: Gale Wings
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Acrobatics
- Roost
- Swords Dance
- Will-O-Wisp
This fairly standard bulky-no item-acrobatics set is my favorite Talonflame set, so it's where I started. No-item + acrobatics allows for safe switchins to knock offs from weavile/bisharp/others, and the HP investment means it's not the end of the world. With only 8 Speed EVs, we're relying on smart/timely usage of wisp and SD then powering through with acrobatics. The longer you can wait before sending out talonflame, the better you'll usually do, as one SD can tear through a looooot of mons, and +4 can even 2hko heattran. I really wanted to go with taunt instead of wisp, but wisp feels necessary to deal with the constant ttar and metagross switchins.
Bisharp @ Black Glasses
Ability: Defiant
EVs: 252 Atk / 52 SpD / 204 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Knock Off
- Iron Head
- Sucker Punch
- Pursuit
I was really torn on whether or not to use SD Bisharp here, but I ended up going with the Pursuit Trapper variant instead. I haven't had much success trying to spend a turn setting up with bisharp, as the meta currently has a lot of counters (Mega-Lopunny, Weavile, Heattran) in bulky mons that can OHKO with fighting or fire type moves. I also just really enjoy nailing a pursuit, lol. The EV spread is taken from smogon, which says "Special Defense EVs allow Bisharp to survive Life Orb Latios's Hidden Power Fire after Stealth Rock damage from full health." So that's useful. Defiant is just a super nice ability to have, especially to punish defoggers or when you know the opponent is switching into mega manetric/lando-t. Black Glasses boosts 3/4 moves and you can even bait a choice band with it on rare occasion.
Step 2: Coverage - Mega-Venusaur and Starmie
Venusaur @ Venusaurite
Ability: Chlorophyll
EVs: 232 HP / 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 20 Spe
Modest Nature
- Giga Drain
- Sludge Bomb
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Synthesis
A F/W/G core wasn't necessarily my goal, it just ended up that way. I wanted something to check water and electric types, and Mega-V's ability allows for the ability to withstand fire and ice on top, while even checking fighting types and absorbing knockoffs. All in all a very good fit for my team. This is the offensive variant, with three moves + synthesis: Giga for stab/recovery, Sludge for big stab, and hp fire for ferrothorn and scizor (and I guess non-heart stamp jirachi). According to smogon: "20 Speed EVs are used to outpace Adamant maximum Speed Azumarill accounting for Hidden Power Fire's IV drop." You'll want to get this fella mega'd sooner rather than later so you can switch more safely.
Starmie @ Life Orb
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Recover
- Scald
- Thunderbolt
- Ice Beam
Starmie actually entered this team as the rapid spinner, but has since changed roles. Now, this is just a full offense Starmie set, running scald instead of hydropump (after you miss four hydro pumps in a row, you give up) and thunderbolt instead of psychic/psyshock. Recover is for sustainability, allowing multiple switch ins to rocks and not dying to life orb recoil. All in all just a very solid piece of coverage that forces a lot of switches - very useful for my team.
Step Three: Hazards + Removal - Clefable and Excadrill
Clefable @ Leftovers
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: 252 HP / 172 Def / 84 SpD
Calm Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Moonblast
- Thunder Wave
- Soft-Boiled
Clefable plugged so many holes for me, as one of the top glue-mons in the tier tends to do. It's a pretty safe rock setter, can spread paralysis, isn't bothered by toxic/burn, and can switch in and out of hazards with no bother. Recently I've been strongly considering switching t-wave to fire blast, though. EV spread is just to maximize on bulk and be a reliable utility man.
Excadrill @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Mold Breaker
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Earthquake
- Iron Head
- Rock Slide
- Rapid Spin
The latest, but probably not last, addition to my team. Having a scarf spinner with talonflame is really, really nice. You can also use that to bait gengars and annihilate them with EQ. Iron head (STAB) and rock slide give decent coverage, but aren't used a super ton. EV spread is to maximize damage/speed; I decided to use an adamant nature instead of jolly to threaten bulky rotom-w more effectively. Originally, I had scarf Lando-T in this slot with starmie as my spinner, but felt I needed more pop on my team.
Summary and Threats
This is a difficult team to use. For a hyper offensive team, my team is surprisingly lacking on the momentum/pivot side. It's strength is more in forcing the other guy to do the guessing and pivoting. The core of Talonflame/Bisharp requires a lot of foresight, being able to send them out safely, and predict your opponent so you can choose the right moves. That sounds obvious, but a wrong guess can mean game over moreso than usual. Sand Rush Excadrill gives me fits, as it can beat my own excadrill (in sand) and just about everything else on my team. Hard hitting fairies like Mega-Gardevoir and Mega-Diancie can also cause problems, as it can be difficult to switch in to them repeatedly. Finally, Mega-Metagross can be difficult to counter if talonflame can't find a way to burn it.
I'd really appreciate some input to make this team more solid. I want to stick with Talonflame and Bisharp as the core, but the rest is totally flexible. Please give me your thoughts!
Importable
Replays (More Coming Soon™):
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/ou-400690049
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/ou-400677887
Step 1: The Core - Talonflame and Bisharp
Talonflame
Ability: Gale Wings
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Acrobatics
- Roost
- Swords Dance
- Will-O-Wisp
This fairly standard bulky-no item-acrobatics set is my favorite Talonflame set, so it's where I started. No-item + acrobatics allows for safe switchins to knock offs from weavile/bisharp/others, and the HP investment means it's not the end of the world. With only 8 Speed EVs, we're relying on smart/timely usage of wisp and SD then powering through with acrobatics. The longer you can wait before sending out talonflame, the better you'll usually do, as one SD can tear through a looooot of mons, and +4 can even 2hko heattran. I really wanted to go with taunt instead of wisp, but wisp feels necessary to deal with the constant ttar and metagross switchins.
Bisharp @ Black Glasses
Ability: Defiant
EVs: 252 Atk / 52 SpD / 204 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Knock Off
- Iron Head
- Sucker Punch
- Pursuit
I was really torn on whether or not to use SD Bisharp here, but I ended up going with the Pursuit Trapper variant instead. I haven't had much success trying to spend a turn setting up with bisharp, as the meta currently has a lot of counters (Mega-Lopunny, Weavile, Heattran) in bulky mons that can OHKO with fighting or fire type moves. I also just really enjoy nailing a pursuit, lol. The EV spread is taken from smogon, which says "Special Defense EVs allow Bisharp to survive Life Orb Latios's Hidden Power Fire after Stealth Rock damage from full health." So that's useful. Defiant is just a super nice ability to have, especially to punish defoggers or when you know the opponent is switching into mega manetric/lando-t. Black Glasses boosts 3/4 moves and you can even bait a choice band with it on rare occasion.
Step 2: Coverage - Mega-Venusaur and Starmie
Venusaur @ Venusaurite
Ability: Chlorophyll
EVs: 232 HP / 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 20 Spe
Modest Nature
- Giga Drain
- Sludge Bomb
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Synthesis
A F/W/G core wasn't necessarily my goal, it just ended up that way. I wanted something to check water and electric types, and Mega-V's ability allows for the ability to withstand fire and ice on top, while even checking fighting types and absorbing knockoffs. All in all a very good fit for my team. This is the offensive variant, with three moves + synthesis: Giga for stab/recovery, Sludge for big stab, and hp fire for ferrothorn and scizor (and I guess non-heart stamp jirachi). According to smogon: "20 Speed EVs are used to outpace Adamant maximum Speed Azumarill accounting for Hidden Power Fire's IV drop." You'll want to get this fella mega'd sooner rather than later so you can switch more safely.
Starmie @ Life Orb
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Recover
- Scald
- Thunderbolt
- Ice Beam
Starmie actually entered this team as the rapid spinner, but has since changed roles. Now, this is just a full offense Starmie set, running scald instead of hydropump (after you miss four hydro pumps in a row, you give up) and thunderbolt instead of psychic/psyshock. Recover is for sustainability, allowing multiple switch ins to rocks and not dying to life orb recoil. All in all just a very solid piece of coverage that forces a lot of switches - very useful for my team.
Step Three: Hazards + Removal - Clefable and Excadrill
Clefable @ Leftovers
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: 252 HP / 172 Def / 84 SpD
Calm Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Moonblast
- Thunder Wave
- Soft-Boiled
Clefable plugged so many holes for me, as one of the top glue-mons in the tier tends to do. It's a pretty safe rock setter, can spread paralysis, isn't bothered by toxic/burn, and can switch in and out of hazards with no bother. Recently I've been strongly considering switching t-wave to fire blast, though. EV spread is just to maximize on bulk and be a reliable utility man.
Excadrill @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Mold Breaker
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Earthquake
- Iron Head
- Rock Slide
- Rapid Spin
The latest, but probably not last, addition to my team. Having a scarf spinner with talonflame is really, really nice. You can also use that to bait gengars and annihilate them with EQ. Iron head (STAB) and rock slide give decent coverage, but aren't used a super ton. EV spread is to maximize damage/speed; I decided to use an adamant nature instead of jolly to threaten bulky rotom-w more effectively. Originally, I had scarf Lando-T in this slot with starmie as my spinner, but felt I needed more pop on my team.
Summary and Threats
This is a difficult team to use. For a hyper offensive team, my team is surprisingly lacking on the momentum/pivot side. It's strength is more in forcing the other guy to do the guessing and pivoting. The core of Talonflame/Bisharp requires a lot of foresight, being able to send them out safely, and predict your opponent so you can choose the right moves. That sounds obvious, but a wrong guess can mean game over moreso than usual. Sand Rush Excadrill gives me fits, as it can beat my own excadrill (in sand) and just about everything else on my team. Hard hitting fairies like Mega-Gardevoir and Mega-Diancie can also cause problems, as it can be difficult to switch in to them repeatedly. Finally, Mega-Metagross can be difficult to counter if talonflame can't find a way to burn it.
I'd really appreciate some input to make this team more solid. I want to stick with Talonflame and Bisharp as the core, but the rest is totally flexible. Please give me your thoughts!
Importable
Replays (More Coming Soon™):
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/ou-400690049
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/ou-400677887
