Welcome to my first RMT =D This isn’t my first team; in fact it’s far from it, but I chose to post this one up because I feel it is competent, but requires tweaking for further improvement. I was reading up on potent defensive cores such as the CeleTran and so on, and I considered the possibility of forming a team by simply sticking three of those defensive combinations together. I knew that this should not be the way one assembles a team, but I found it an interesting proposition anyway.
I created this team to test that idea, originally going with lanturn + tangrowth, gliscor + empoleon, and lucario + latias. It was a fun and casual team, but after a few surprisingly promising results I put more care into the team building area and it slowly evolved into this:
Team BIFOLD CITADEL!
Bi-fold refers to something that can be divided into two, for example a window, while a citadel is a defensive stronghold. Seems fitting to me, because that is the theme here – pairs of pokemon that complement each other defensively; yet still pose a threat to the opponent.
This wasn’t put together with a specific aim in mind such as freeing up a sweep for a certain team member, and neither was it designed to effectively neuter all the metagame’s top threats; therefore it might have limited potential in the long run.
Also note that this team has zero stealth rock-weak pokemon, one 2x resist and 4x resist. Two take nothing from spikes and four are immune to toxic spikes (while tyranitar packs a lum berry). These might not mean much, but it helps against stall, and it means I can freely set up while they lay down the entry hazards I do not care about.
On with the team!
THE NON-SUICIDE LEAD
Tangrowth @ Leftovers
Ability: Chlorophyll
EVs: 252 HP/228 Def/28 Spd
Impish nature (+Def, -SAtk)
- Sleep Powder
- Knock Off
- Earthquake
- Power Whip
---
The vine pokemon from the depths of never-used leads my team, and it has been a competent performer so far. I personally dislike suicide leads, and my team isn’t the all-out offensive kind where stealth rock support is vital. Tangrowth’s bulky 100/120 stats in defenses help out in OU where many common leads are physically based, and with two disabling moves I often get off to a good start. Despite its multitude of weaknesses and imperfect type coverage with two moves, I have found tangrowth to be a very usable lead. Late game, it helps out with physical threats in the form of lucario, gyarados, kingdra and the like.
I have included some calculations which explain how tangrowth performs against common leads:
Jolly aerodactyl stone edge: 21% to 25%
Jolly aerodactyl ice/fire fang: 19% to 22%
Impish swampert ice punch: 18 to 21%
Relaxed swampert ice beam (if power whip misses): 54% to 64%
Adamant metagross meteor mash/ice punch: 28% to 33%
Adamant metagross explosion: 94% to 110%
Jolly jirachi iron head: 17% to 20%
Jolly jirachi u-turn: 19% to 23%
Adamant sash mamoswine ice shard: 22% to 27%
Adamant LO mamoswine ice shard: 29% to 35%
Power whip on relaxed swampert: 113 to 134.66%
Power whip on max/max impish swampert: 99% to 116% (87% chance to OHKO)
Power whip on aerodacty: 60% to 71%
Power whip on mamoswine: 78% to 92%
Earthquake on adamant metagross: 31% to 37%
Earthquake on jolly jirachi: 40% to 47%
Needless to say, I get ohkoed by all heatran, azelf and infernape; but apart from these there are few leads that force me out.
---
THE PHYSICAL SET-UP SWEEPER
Tyranitar @ Lum Berry
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 4 HP/252 Atk/252 Spd
Jolly nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Dragon Dance
- Crunch
- Fire Punch
- Stone Edge
---
Dragon dance tyranitar seems to be falling in popularity, with most opting for the standard CBtar. DDtar’s advantage is obviously its ability to clean up late game, and with the amount of switches this forces, it isn’t hard to get a dragon dance in. However, I often try to bring it in early and punch holes with its strong stab moves from that sky-high attack stat, and with no leftovers recovery or life orb recoil it often fools the opponent into thinking this is a CBtar. I also avoid changing moves and DD up only when swampert, machamp and co are weakened.
I opt for lum berry instead of babiri berry mainly because of rotom appliances who try to burn me, and helps me set up against certain blissey or celebi who fear pursuit and try to status me instead.
---
Notes: tangrowth resists ground, water and grass while tyranitar resists fire, flying and poison. Both are weak to bug, though that challenge is not insurmountable with the remaining four of my team resisting bug.
---
THE SPECIAL SET-UP SWEEPER
Lucario @ Salac Berry
Ability: Inner Focus
EVs: 4 Def/252 Spd/252 SAtk
IVs: 30 HP
Modest nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Aura Sphere
- Calm Mind
- Shadow Ball
- Substitute
---
Frankly, I have never seen anyone use a CM lucario before, and even specsluke are becoming rarer as everyone reaches for the admittedly stronger SDluke. Calm mind lucario does have the element of surprise at its side, being able to dispatch many of its would-be counters. My original idea was pairing lucario with screen support from latias, coming in on a dragon/bug/ghost/dark/ice attack, set up a substitute that could not be broken in a turn, and calm mind up. But lucario’s poor 70/70/70 defensive stats meant that its substitutes were broken despite the screens and +1 sp def unless I sacrificed additional speed EVs into HP, so the idea was abandoned.
I retained substitute because it helps scout for counters, blocks status, and activates my salac berry. +1 lucario can’t KO many things, but when the opponent’s team is weakened this has the potential to wreak some havoc. The salac berry also helps to bluff choice specs if I need to send him out early in the game, when they see me using special attacks without life orb recoil. 30 IVs in HP are required so that the salac berry activates after three substitutes instead of four, giving lucario more protection against priority attacks.
---
THE... LAWNMOWER
Rotom-cut @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP/32 Def/192 Spd/32 SDef
Timid nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Will-o-wisp
- Thunderbolt
- Shadow Ball
- Substitute
---
Even though this team doesn’t use a single entry hazard, I still like to use rotom. It is bulky, it is fast, and it helps against many of the metagame’s threats. Even though the signature move is absent, I chose the lawnmower because it draws out scizor hoping to come in on a 4x resisted leaf storm and pursuit me to death. Substitute helps beat CM-less blissey, prevents any accidental guts activation, and helps stall by wearing down opposing pokemon via will-o-wisp until their in KO range of thunderbolt. I believe RaikouLover came out with this idea, so I will like to credit him. The speed EVs beat adamant lucario by two points, which mean that 176 speed salamence are outsped as well. 252 in HP maximizes bulk, and the rest are split evenly into its defences.
---
Notes: rotom is immune to ground and fighting, while lucario resists ghost and dark.
---
THE CORE
Empoleon @ Life Orb
Ability: Torrent
EVs: 40 HP/216 Spd/252 SAtk
Modest nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Agility
- Surf
- Ice Beam
- Grass Knot
---
Empoleon has earned the distinction of being perhaps the best late game special sweeper, with the SubPetaya set being popularized far and wide. I personally prefer the perfect neutral coverage attained from water + grass + ice compared to the power boost from torrent and +1 special attack. I prefer not to use agility till late game when I am sure empoleon can get a clean sweep, because I obviously lack substitute to protect against status. The EVs allow it to reach 418 speed after an agility, enough to outspeed timid scarf heatran. The rest are put into HP to take outrages better.
+
Gliscor @ Brightpowder
Ability: Sand Veil
EVs: 252 HP/40 Def/216 Spd
Jolly nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Roost
- Substitute
- Toxic
- Earthquake
---
Gliscor’s high speed lets it roost off damage, and set up subs to protect against status. And while the set looks no more than a gimmick, you need to try it to see how well it really works. There is an offensive set with cacturne on the analysis – sand veil abuse, but it disappointed me because cacturne can’t take a hit for nuts and relies on the unreliable sucker punch as its stab move. In this case, I can set up substitutes before most opponents attack and stall for a miss, which happens 38% of the time. From then on I just toxic and stall with substitute and roost. It seems to piss a lot of people off too, which helps in some cases, lol.
Earthquake is my generic stab move and hits most poisons and steels that are immune to toxic. I’m still walled by gengar and bronzong though.
---
Notes: gliscor + empoleon is a tried and tested defensive combination, and the only core pairing that survived the upheavals/facelifts to this team since the beginning. As you all will know, gliscor resists fighting and is immune to ground and electric, while empoleon takes the water and ice attacks aimed at gliscor. Between them, only fire and grass aren’t resisted.
---
And that’s the team! You probably have realized three of my pokemon have substitute, and it could be four had I opted to use SubPetaya empoleon. I also like bluffing choice items, and I try to keep the façade up for as long as possible. That's about it; please offer any constructive feedback or suggestions, and I will take the time to consider every one of them.
Thanks =)
I created this team to test that idea, originally going with lanturn + tangrowth, gliscor + empoleon, and lucario + latias. It was a fun and casual team, but after a few surprisingly promising results I put more care into the team building area and it slowly evolved into this:
Team BIFOLD CITADEL!
Bi-fold refers to something that can be divided into two, for example a window, while a citadel is a defensive stronghold. Seems fitting to me, because that is the theme here – pairs of pokemon that complement each other defensively; yet still pose a threat to the opponent.
This wasn’t put together with a specific aim in mind such as freeing up a sweep for a certain team member, and neither was it designed to effectively neuter all the metagame’s top threats; therefore it might have limited potential in the long run.
Also note that this team has zero stealth rock-weak pokemon, one 2x resist and 4x resist. Two take nothing from spikes and four are immune to toxic spikes (while tyranitar packs a lum berry). These might not mean much, but it helps against stall, and it means I can freely set up while they lay down the entry hazards I do not care about.
On with the team!
THE NON-SUICIDE LEAD
Tangrowth @ Leftovers
Ability: Chlorophyll
EVs: 252 HP/228 Def/28 Spd
Impish nature (+Def, -SAtk)
- Sleep Powder
- Knock Off
- Earthquake
- Power Whip
---
The vine pokemon from the depths of never-used leads my team, and it has been a competent performer so far. I personally dislike suicide leads, and my team isn’t the all-out offensive kind where stealth rock support is vital. Tangrowth’s bulky 100/120 stats in defenses help out in OU where many common leads are physically based, and with two disabling moves I often get off to a good start. Despite its multitude of weaknesses and imperfect type coverage with two moves, I have found tangrowth to be a very usable lead. Late game, it helps out with physical threats in the form of lucario, gyarados, kingdra and the like.
I have included some calculations which explain how tangrowth performs against common leads:
Jolly aerodactyl stone edge: 21% to 25%
Jolly aerodactyl ice/fire fang: 19% to 22%
Impish swampert ice punch: 18 to 21%
Relaxed swampert ice beam (if power whip misses): 54% to 64%
Adamant metagross meteor mash/ice punch: 28% to 33%
Adamant metagross explosion: 94% to 110%
Jolly jirachi iron head: 17% to 20%
Jolly jirachi u-turn: 19% to 23%
Adamant sash mamoswine ice shard: 22% to 27%
Adamant LO mamoswine ice shard: 29% to 35%
Power whip on relaxed swampert: 113 to 134.66%
Power whip on max/max impish swampert: 99% to 116% (87% chance to OHKO)
Power whip on aerodacty: 60% to 71%
Power whip on mamoswine: 78% to 92%
Earthquake on adamant metagross: 31% to 37%
Earthquake on jolly jirachi: 40% to 47%
Needless to say, I get ohkoed by all heatran, azelf and infernape; but apart from these there are few leads that force me out.
---
THE PHYSICAL SET-UP SWEEPER
Tyranitar @ Lum Berry
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 4 HP/252 Atk/252 Spd
Jolly nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Dragon Dance
- Crunch
- Fire Punch
- Stone Edge
---
Dragon dance tyranitar seems to be falling in popularity, with most opting for the standard CBtar. DDtar’s advantage is obviously its ability to clean up late game, and with the amount of switches this forces, it isn’t hard to get a dragon dance in. However, I often try to bring it in early and punch holes with its strong stab moves from that sky-high attack stat, and with no leftovers recovery or life orb recoil it often fools the opponent into thinking this is a CBtar. I also avoid changing moves and DD up only when swampert, machamp and co are weakened.
I opt for lum berry instead of babiri berry mainly because of rotom appliances who try to burn me, and helps me set up against certain blissey or celebi who fear pursuit and try to status me instead.
---
Notes: tangrowth resists ground, water and grass while tyranitar resists fire, flying and poison. Both are weak to bug, though that challenge is not insurmountable with the remaining four of my team resisting bug.
---
THE SPECIAL SET-UP SWEEPER
Lucario @ Salac Berry
Ability: Inner Focus
EVs: 4 Def/252 Spd/252 SAtk
IVs: 30 HP
Modest nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Aura Sphere
- Calm Mind
- Shadow Ball
- Substitute
---
Frankly, I have never seen anyone use a CM lucario before, and even specsluke are becoming rarer as everyone reaches for the admittedly stronger SDluke. Calm mind lucario does have the element of surprise at its side, being able to dispatch many of its would-be counters. My original idea was pairing lucario with screen support from latias, coming in on a dragon/bug/ghost/dark/ice attack, set up a substitute that could not be broken in a turn, and calm mind up. But lucario’s poor 70/70/70 defensive stats meant that its substitutes were broken despite the screens and +1 sp def unless I sacrificed additional speed EVs into HP, so the idea was abandoned.
I retained substitute because it helps scout for counters, blocks status, and activates my salac berry. +1 lucario can’t KO many things, but when the opponent’s team is weakened this has the potential to wreak some havoc. The salac berry also helps to bluff choice specs if I need to send him out early in the game, when they see me using special attacks without life orb recoil. 30 IVs in HP are required so that the salac berry activates after three substitutes instead of four, giving lucario more protection against priority attacks.
---
THE... LAWNMOWER
Rotom-cut @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP/32 Def/192 Spd/32 SDef
Timid nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Will-o-wisp
- Thunderbolt
- Shadow Ball
- Substitute
---
Even though this team doesn’t use a single entry hazard, I still like to use rotom. It is bulky, it is fast, and it helps against many of the metagame’s threats. Even though the signature move is absent, I chose the lawnmower because it draws out scizor hoping to come in on a 4x resisted leaf storm and pursuit me to death. Substitute helps beat CM-less blissey, prevents any accidental guts activation, and helps stall by wearing down opposing pokemon via will-o-wisp until their in KO range of thunderbolt. I believe RaikouLover came out with this idea, so I will like to credit him. The speed EVs beat adamant lucario by two points, which mean that 176 speed salamence are outsped as well. 252 in HP maximizes bulk, and the rest are split evenly into its defences.
---
Notes: rotom is immune to ground and fighting, while lucario resists ghost and dark.
---
THE CORE
Empoleon @ Life Orb
Ability: Torrent
EVs: 40 HP/216 Spd/252 SAtk
Modest nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Agility
- Surf
- Ice Beam
- Grass Knot
---
Empoleon has earned the distinction of being perhaps the best late game special sweeper, with the SubPetaya set being popularized far and wide. I personally prefer the perfect neutral coverage attained from water + grass + ice compared to the power boost from torrent and +1 special attack. I prefer not to use agility till late game when I am sure empoleon can get a clean sweep, because I obviously lack substitute to protect against status. The EVs allow it to reach 418 speed after an agility, enough to outspeed timid scarf heatran. The rest are put into HP to take outrages better.
+
Gliscor @ Brightpowder
Ability: Sand Veil
EVs: 252 HP/40 Def/216 Spd
Jolly nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Roost
- Substitute
- Toxic
- Earthquake
---
Gliscor’s high speed lets it roost off damage, and set up subs to protect against status. And while the set looks no more than a gimmick, you need to try it to see how well it really works. There is an offensive set with cacturne on the analysis – sand veil abuse, but it disappointed me because cacturne can’t take a hit for nuts and relies on the unreliable sucker punch as its stab move. In this case, I can set up substitutes before most opponents attack and stall for a miss, which happens 38% of the time. From then on I just toxic and stall with substitute and roost. It seems to piss a lot of people off too, which helps in some cases, lol.
Earthquake is my generic stab move and hits most poisons and steels that are immune to toxic. I’m still walled by gengar and bronzong though.
---
Notes: gliscor + empoleon is a tried and tested defensive combination, and the only core pairing that survived the upheavals/facelifts to this team since the beginning. As you all will know, gliscor resists fighting and is immune to ground and electric, while empoleon takes the water and ice attacks aimed at gliscor. Between them, only fire and grass aren’t resisted.
---
And that’s the team! You probably have realized three of my pokemon have substitute, and it could be four had I opted to use SubPetaya empoleon. I also like bluffing choice items, and I try to keep the façade up for as long as possible. That's about it; please offer any constructive feedback or suggestions, and I will take the time to consider every one of them.
Thanks =)
