Ahhh, great song. Anybody else a fan of Godspeed You! Black Emperor? I was listening to it while I wrote this RMT hehe xD
So anyways, I jumped on Shoddy today for the first time in a while with my old Offensive team. It didn't perform as well as it used to so I decided to make a new team. I had just read Tay's article on Choice Items and I was really itching to try Banded Snorlax so this team is more or less built around him.
As you can see, my team is quite bulky. It's follows the same philosophy as my old offensive team; switch in on resistances and fire away with powered up attacks. My team utilizes both Banded Snorlax and Specs Slowbro to deal massive damage. Gardevoir fills in nicely with Wish support and SalaZone provides a great number of resistances for my team while providing Steel Protection and a source of offense.
My biggest problem with this team has been the fact that I can't absorb status at all. It really cripples me and I have no way to counter it other then sending in Bronzong to take the status move.
Things that I am testing will be in red.
Changes that I have made will be in blue.
Bronzong @ Macho Brace
Ability: Levitate
252 HP | 84 Atk | 80 Def | 92 SDef
Sassy nature (+SpD, -Spe)
- Trick
- Stealth Rock
- Gyro Ball
- Earthquake
Lead Bronzong is great. I know that Macho Brace isn't the best item to be tricking. I would prefer to Trick a Lagging Tail but for some reason Shoddy doesn't have Lagging Tail available. With the abundance of Metagross and Jirachi leads, Bronzong works great. He resists all of the moves that those leads generally carry and he can dent them both with EQ or cripple with Trick. I may change Bronzong's ability to Heat Proof so that I can take on Infernape and Heatran leads as well. Tricking the Macho Brace is great because it allows me to reduce an opponent's Pokemon's speed by 50% which lets Snorlax and Slowbro outspeed it and hit very, very hard.
Snorlax @ Choice Band
Ability: Thick Fat
4 HP | 252 Atk | 252 SpD
Adamant nature (+Atk, -SpA)
- Return
- Selfdestruct
- Crunch
- Earthquake
Snorlax makes a great Choice Bander. When holding Band, Snorlax hits 525 Atk. Couple that with stab Return and great Special Defenses and a monster HP stat and you have your self a beast of a Pokemon. Crunch and Earthquake are mainly filler on this set. They are only there to hit things that I can't touch with Return. Selfdestruct is basically a free OHKO whenever I feel like it. It's the strongest stab move in the game and has a chance to OHKO max HP / Max Def Skarm if rocks are down.
Slowbro @ Choice Specs
Ability: Own Tempo
EVs: 252 HP | 4 Def | 252 SpA
Modest nature (+SpA, -Atk)
- Surf
- Fire Blast
- Psychic
- Thunder Wave / Slack Off
Slowbro is the second power house of this team. Slowbro follows the same general strategy that Snorlax does. Surf is my primary attack while Fire Blast and Psychic are used to hit things that resist Surf. The last slot is filler. I'm currently using Thunder Wave because my team really benefits from Paralysis support but Slack Off is great too because it allows me to heal up and hang around for longer.
Gardevoir @ Leftovers
Ability: Trace
252 HP | 32 Def | 48 SpA | 176 SpD
Modest nature (+SpA, -Atk)
- Wish
- Will-o-wisp / Thunder Wave
- Psychic
- Thunderbolt
I wanted my team to have Wish support because everybody on my team is lacking a recovery move. Vaporeon may be better for this but I wanted to give Gardevoir a try because of it's ability Trace. Trace works wonders. I can switch in on Vaporeon, Jolteon, Heatran, Electivire and a number of other Pokemon and not take any damage from their most powerful attacks thanks to Trace. Will-O-Wisp lets me cripple any incoming Physical Pokemon and lets me come out on top against Electivire. I'm currently testing Thunder Wave because, like stated earlier, my team really benefits from Paralysis support. Psychic and Thunderbolt provide a decent amount of coverage and let me hit alot of things for neutral damage.
Magnezone @ Leftovers
Ability: Magnet Pull
228 HP | 100 Def | 84 SpA | 96 SpD
Modest nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Substitute
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Charge Beam
- Thunderbolt
All of the Magnezone that I have seen lately have been Scarfed. I really think this is a terrible idea. It leaves you vulnerable to set up sweepers among other things. I prefer my Magnezone to be bulky. This spread lets me switch in on generally any Steel Pokemon and absorb their hits. Then I sub up and Charge Beam away. This works really great on things like Scizor and Jirachi locked into either Bullet Punch or Iron Head. After a few Charge Beam boosts, the next Pokemon that switches in is threatened by a very powerful Thunderbolt or Hidden Power Ice.
Salamence @ Leftovers
Ability: Intimidate
148 HP | 184 Atk | 176 Spe
Adamant nature (+Atk, -SpA)
- Dragon Dance
- Fire Fang / Fire Blast
- Earthquake
- Outrage
Salamence was orginally my late game sweeper but I prefer this bulkier spread alot more than the sweeper spread. It allows me to switch into more Physical attacks thanks to the HP EVs and intimidate. This gives me more opportunities to set up. You all know what happens after I get up a DD so there's no reason to explain that. 176 Spe EVs allows me to hit 420 Spe after a DD which is really all Mence needs. I'm currently using Fire Fang because it gets a boost from Dragon Dance so why not? Fire Blast is another option and I'm currently testing it.
So anyways, I jumped on Shoddy today for the first time in a while with my old Offensive team. It didn't perform as well as it used to so I decided to make a new team. I had just read Tay's article on Choice Items and I was really itching to try Banded Snorlax so this team is more or less built around him.
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As you can see, my team is quite bulky. It's follows the same philosophy as my old offensive team; switch in on resistances and fire away with powered up attacks. My team utilizes both Banded Snorlax and Specs Slowbro to deal massive damage. Gardevoir fills in nicely with Wish support and SalaZone provides a great number of resistances for my team while providing Steel Protection and a source of offense.
My biggest problem with this team has been the fact that I can't absorb status at all. It really cripples me and I have no way to counter it other then sending in Bronzong to take the status move.
Things that I am testing will be in red.
Changes that I have made will be in blue.
Bronzong @ Macho Brace
Ability: Levitate
252 HP | 84 Atk | 80 Def | 92 SDef
Sassy nature (+SpD, -Spe)
- Trick
- Stealth Rock
- Gyro Ball
- Earthquake
Lead Bronzong is great. I know that Macho Brace isn't the best item to be tricking. I would prefer to Trick a Lagging Tail but for some reason Shoddy doesn't have Lagging Tail available. With the abundance of Metagross and Jirachi leads, Bronzong works great. He resists all of the moves that those leads generally carry and he can dent them both with EQ or cripple with Trick. I may change Bronzong's ability to Heat Proof so that I can take on Infernape and Heatran leads as well. Tricking the Macho Brace is great because it allows me to reduce an opponent's Pokemon's speed by 50% which lets Snorlax and Slowbro outspeed it and hit very, very hard.
Snorlax @ Choice Band
Ability: Thick Fat
4 HP | 252 Atk | 252 SpD
Adamant nature (+Atk, -SpA)
- Return
- Selfdestruct
- Crunch
- Earthquake
Snorlax makes a great Choice Bander. When holding Band, Snorlax hits 525 Atk. Couple that with stab Return and great Special Defenses and a monster HP stat and you have your self a beast of a Pokemon. Crunch and Earthquake are mainly filler on this set. They are only there to hit things that I can't touch with Return. Selfdestruct is basically a free OHKO whenever I feel like it. It's the strongest stab move in the game and has a chance to OHKO max HP / Max Def Skarm if rocks are down.
Slowbro @ Choice Specs
Ability: Own Tempo
EVs: 252 HP | 4 Def | 252 SpA
Modest nature (+SpA, -Atk)
- Surf
- Fire Blast
- Psychic
- Thunder Wave / Slack Off
Slowbro is the second power house of this team. Slowbro follows the same general strategy that Snorlax does. Surf is my primary attack while Fire Blast and Psychic are used to hit things that resist Surf. The last slot is filler. I'm currently using Thunder Wave because my team really benefits from Paralysis support but Slack Off is great too because it allows me to heal up and hang around for longer.
Gardevoir @ Leftovers
Ability: Trace
252 HP | 32 Def | 48 SpA | 176 SpD
Modest nature (+SpA, -Atk)
- Wish
- Will-o-wisp / Thunder Wave
- Psychic
- Thunderbolt
I wanted my team to have Wish support because everybody on my team is lacking a recovery move. Vaporeon may be better for this but I wanted to give Gardevoir a try because of it's ability Trace. Trace works wonders. I can switch in on Vaporeon, Jolteon, Heatran, Electivire and a number of other Pokemon and not take any damage from their most powerful attacks thanks to Trace. Will-O-Wisp lets me cripple any incoming Physical Pokemon and lets me come out on top against Electivire. I'm currently testing Thunder Wave because, like stated earlier, my team really benefits from Paralysis support. Psychic and Thunderbolt provide a decent amount of coverage and let me hit alot of things for neutral damage.
Magnezone @ Leftovers
Ability: Magnet Pull
228 HP | 100 Def | 84 SpA | 96 SpD
Modest nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Substitute
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Charge Beam
- Thunderbolt
All of the Magnezone that I have seen lately have been Scarfed. I really think this is a terrible idea. It leaves you vulnerable to set up sweepers among other things. I prefer my Magnezone to be bulky. This spread lets me switch in on generally any Steel Pokemon and absorb their hits. Then I sub up and Charge Beam away. This works really great on things like Scizor and Jirachi locked into either Bullet Punch or Iron Head. After a few Charge Beam boosts, the next Pokemon that switches in is threatened by a very powerful Thunderbolt or Hidden Power Ice.
Salamence @ Leftovers
Ability: Intimidate
148 HP | 184 Atk | 176 Spe
Adamant nature (+Atk, -SpA)
- Dragon Dance
- Fire Fang / Fire Blast
- Earthquake
- Outrage
Salamence was orginally my late game sweeper but I prefer this bulkier spread alot more than the sweeper spread. It allows me to switch into more Physical attacks thanks to the HP EVs and intimidate. This gives me more opportunities to set up. You all know what happens after I get up a DD so there's no reason to explain that. 176 Spe EVs allows me to hit 420 Spe after a DD which is really all Mence needs. I'm currently using Fire Fang because it gets a boost from Dragon Dance so why not? Fire Blast is another option and I'm currently testing it.
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