Intro
I've been playing RU for a while, had a pretty typical team with obvious Honchkrow and other such Pokémon, and playing with this I got learning the strengths of different teams, and certain Pokémon. From that, I formed this team, and so far has been okay. If I remember rightly has done 23-6, but I have a feeling a few changes can be made to help it become stronger. This is a more offensive team than what I am used to playing, focused on a strong opening to lower an oppositions options in endgame, whilst having a good support to lean back on. Looking back, this seems like an odd combination to have, but it works well, but definitely has points that could be improved, and so that's why I am here in RMT.
Team Building
A reliable, well known lead. Protect coupled with Speed Boost gets the ball rolling, then strong STABs with a high attack stat starts wrecking. Low defenses lead me onto walls...
Gligar + Eviolite = Physical wall of awesome. Non-STAB Ice Punch does 25-30%, which says enough for a 4x weakness to do that. Special Defensive gets a nice boost too. Provides nice walling, whilst it's ability to heal itself and toxic stall, and so make its way thru teams one Poké at a time is impressive. Next needed is a true support Pokémon.
Clefable is a support queen, with an odd attacking edge. Magic Guard prevents it getting stuck by Toxic, Burn or Leech Seed, whilst the combination of Wish, Protect and Heal Bell keeps the team on its feet. Double-Edge gives it an option if taunted/against a taunter. This attacking edge catches many off guard, with Magic Guard stopping recoil, and the STAB meaning it has surprising strength for the little guy from the moon. Wish-Protect means it can also wall, as well as reasonable defensive stats making it a slight special wall, tho support primarily.
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Armaldo was my set-up sweeper. Swords Dance one, and then let it rip. When given the opportunity, it did its job well. However, the horrific speed with terrible defenses meant it couldn't fight its corner well at all, and is for the majority of the time useless, coming in as death fodder. A different physical sweeper with different focuses from the Sharpedo are needed, and for that, Entei comes to the foreground.
The Choice Band set with a twist has worked in the few battles this has had since the change of roster. Flare Blitz is the obvious STAB which produces good results. It can revenge-kill with ExtremeSpeed, and Stone Edge, tho unreliable, takes care of all the Bugs and Flyers in the tier.
Special attackers are all that are left for this team. Sceptile uses a 4 attacks set that is tried and tested, whilst Haunter's Sub+3 attacks set also has strong power. Both of these can come in more than once due to Subs lending themselves to faux-scouting. Between them, they cover most Pokémon, especially those in RU.
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Less offense, but can now take on Trick Room and walls better too.
The Team
Sharpedo (Jaws) (F) @ Life Orb
Trait: Speed Boost
EVs: 252 Atk / 64 Def / 68 SDef / 124 Spe
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SpA)
- Protect
- Earthquake
- Waterfall
- Crunch
Pretty standard set. Protect gets the first Speed Boost sorted, plus can helped get that little edge against Scarfers if needs be for another +1 to outspeed. Waterfall and Crunch are strong STABs with extra features (flinch and defense drop in opp respectively). EQ is mainly for enemy Sharpedos, as tis the strongest move that it'll have against them. Preferred to Aqua Jet because Speed Boost does the job speed-wise, and common priority is not strong enough apart from ExtremeSpeed, which Protect can check for, and switch into a better Poké when it happens.
Gligar (Peeves) (M) @ Eviolite
Trait: Hyper Cutter
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SDef
Impish Nature (+Def, -SpA)
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Toxic
- Roost
This is the wall. Immune to two typings, and defensive bulk against everything. Roost gives recovery, Toxic gets the stalling going, and SR never hurts, either hurting the opponent all game, or forcing turns to be wasted on Rapid Spin. EQ means taunt doesn't force switches (always, levitate and flyers still mean it is), and the STAB 100% accuracy is always a lovely thing to have. First and foremost though, this is the wall that sponges damage whilst also taking pace out of an opponents attacking.
Clefable (Clanger) (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: Magic Guard
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SDef
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SpA)
- Wish
- Protect
- Double-Edge
- Heal Bell
Wish can either be used with Protect to heal itself within a pinch, or passed around to keep the team healthy. Protect can also be used to get some quick Leftovers health, whilst Toxic on opponents whittles away health. Double-Edge is a fantastic STAB with no recoil thanks to Magic Guard. Adamant and 252 Atk EVs gives it a nice move to surprise anything that taunts it. Heal Bell rounds off the supporting prowess of the Poké, and has been game-changing before.
Entei (Burn Baby) @ Choice Band
Trait: Pressure
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SpA)
- Flare Blitz
- ExtremeSpeed
- Stone Edge
- Toxic
Entei is a physical powerhouse. Flare Blitz annihilates most everything, whilst Stone Edge adds more coverage. Choosing between the two is dependent on the situation regarding an opponents team at the time. ExtremeSpeed makes for an effective revenge kill, and can also cut through teams. Moveslot 4 is the kinda odd area. Toxic so far has been effective, people not predicting the Choice Band after previously seeing it, and so more it adds the element of surprise. The fire scares out Steel types, and so most Pokémon immune to that don't have the chance to be effected.
Spiritomb (le Spook Mk2) (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Pressure
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SDef
Bold Nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Calm Mind
- Dark Pulse
- Rest
- Sleep Talk
The first change, this replaces the Sub-Haunter with a more defensive, but versatility adding option in Spiritomb. First off, obvious spin-blocker, but also a set up sweeper. Dark Pulse is the best STAB, and hits all, CM boosts it and defenses, Rest+Sleep Talk provide recovery whilst not (definitely) being useless for 2 turns.
Sceptile (Emma) (F) @ Life Orb
Trait: Overgrow
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SDef / 252 Spe
Timid Nature (+Spe, -Atk)
- Giga Drain
- Focus Blast
- Hidden Power [Rock]
- Leaf Storm
Much more typical sweeper. Giga Drain gives recovery (especially useful with Life Orb), whilst Leaf Storm is usually a strong final move, or one to use if switching is definitely coming next turn, or at least soon. Focus Blast and HP Rock provide coverage against the ever present Normal, Bug and Flying types, and also the few Dark types that occur. The base speed with nature and IV means this really does outspeed most of it's biggest threats, namely Fire and Flying types, which will already take damage from SR, and then HP Rock can finish them off swiftly.
Conclusion
That's the team. Any suggestions for move changes are welcome, tho some are set in stone I think. More importantly, any criticisms are welcome, because I know this isn't a perfect team, things can be improved, and you guys probably know that better than I do, but that's what RMT is for, so yeah. Look forward to any responses.
I've been playing RU for a while, had a pretty typical team with obvious Honchkrow and other such Pokémon, and playing with this I got learning the strengths of different teams, and certain Pokémon. From that, I formed this team, and so far has been okay. If I remember rightly has done 23-6, but I have a feeling a few changes can be made to help it become stronger. This is a more offensive team than what I am used to playing, focused on a strong opening to lower an oppositions options in endgame, whilst having a good support to lean back on. Looking back, this seems like an odd combination to have, but it works well, but definitely has points that could be improved, and so that's why I am here in RMT.
Team Building
A reliable, well known lead. Protect coupled with Speed Boost gets the ball rolling, then strong STABs with a high attack stat starts wrecking. Low defenses lead me onto walls...
Gligar + Eviolite = Physical wall of awesome. Non-STAB Ice Punch does 25-30%, which says enough for a 4x weakness to do that. Special Defensive gets a nice boost too. Provides nice walling, whilst it's ability to heal itself and toxic stall, and so make its way thru teams one Poké at a time is impressive. Next needed is a true support Pokémon.
Clefable is a support queen, with an odd attacking edge. Magic Guard prevents it getting stuck by Toxic, Burn or Leech Seed, whilst the combination of Wish, Protect and Heal Bell keeps the team on its feet. Double-Edge gives it an option if taunted/against a taunter. This attacking edge catches many off guard, with Magic Guard stopping recoil, and the STAB meaning it has surprising strength for the little guy from the moon. Wish-Protect means it can also wall, as well as reasonable defensive stats making it a slight special wall, tho support primarily.
Armaldo was my set-up sweeper. Swords Dance one, and then let it rip. When given the opportunity, it did its job well. However, the horrific speed with terrible defenses meant it couldn't fight its corner well at all, and is for the majority of the time useless, coming in as death fodder. A different physical sweeper with different focuses from the Sharpedo are needed, and for that, Entei comes to the foreground.
The Choice Band set with a twist has worked in the few battles this has had since the change of roster. Flare Blitz is the obvious STAB which produces good results. It can revenge-kill with ExtremeSpeed, and Stone Edge, tho unreliable, takes care of all the Bugs and Flyers in the tier.
Special attackers are all that are left for this team. Sceptile uses a 4 attacks set that is tried and tested, whilst Haunter's Sub+3 attacks set also has strong power. Both of these can come in more than once due to Subs lending themselves to faux-scouting. Between them, they cover most Pokémon, especially those in RU.
Less offense, but can now take on Trick Room and walls better too.
The Team
Sharpedo (Jaws) (F) @ Life Orb
Trait: Speed Boost
EVs: 252 Atk / 64 Def / 68 SDef / 124 Spe
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SpA)
- Protect
- Earthquake
- Waterfall
- Crunch
Pretty standard set. Protect gets the first Speed Boost sorted, plus can helped get that little edge against Scarfers if needs be for another +1 to outspeed. Waterfall and Crunch are strong STABs with extra features (flinch and defense drop in opp respectively). EQ is mainly for enemy Sharpedos, as tis the strongest move that it'll have against them. Preferred to Aqua Jet because Speed Boost does the job speed-wise, and common priority is not strong enough apart from ExtremeSpeed, which Protect can check for, and switch into a better Poké when it happens.
Gligar (Peeves) (M) @ Eviolite
Trait: Hyper Cutter
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SDef
Impish Nature (+Def, -SpA)
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Toxic
- Roost
This is the wall. Immune to two typings, and defensive bulk against everything. Roost gives recovery, Toxic gets the stalling going, and SR never hurts, either hurting the opponent all game, or forcing turns to be wasted on Rapid Spin. EQ means taunt doesn't force switches (always, levitate and flyers still mean it is), and the STAB 100% accuracy is always a lovely thing to have. First and foremost though, this is the wall that sponges damage whilst also taking pace out of an opponents attacking.
Clefable (Clanger) (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: Magic Guard
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SDef
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SpA)
- Wish
- Protect
- Double-Edge
- Heal Bell
Wish can either be used with Protect to heal itself within a pinch, or passed around to keep the team healthy. Protect can also be used to get some quick Leftovers health, whilst Toxic on opponents whittles away health. Double-Edge is a fantastic STAB with no recoil thanks to Magic Guard. Adamant and 252 Atk EVs gives it a nice move to surprise anything that taunts it. Heal Bell rounds off the supporting prowess of the Poké, and has been game-changing before.
Entei (Burn Baby) @ Choice Band
Trait: Pressure
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SpA)
- Flare Blitz
- ExtremeSpeed
- Stone Edge
- Toxic
Entei is a physical powerhouse. Flare Blitz annihilates most everything, whilst Stone Edge adds more coverage. Choosing between the two is dependent on the situation regarding an opponents team at the time. ExtremeSpeed makes for an effective revenge kill, and can also cut through teams. Moveslot 4 is the kinda odd area. Toxic so far has been effective, people not predicting the Choice Band after previously seeing it, and so more it adds the element of surprise. The fire scares out Steel types, and so most Pokémon immune to that don't have the chance to be effected.
Spiritomb (le Spook Mk2) (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Pressure
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SDef
Bold Nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Calm Mind
- Dark Pulse
- Rest
- Sleep Talk
The first change, this replaces the Sub-Haunter with a more defensive, but versatility adding option in Spiritomb. First off, obvious spin-blocker, but also a set up sweeper. Dark Pulse is the best STAB, and hits all, CM boosts it and defenses, Rest+Sleep Talk provide recovery whilst not (definitely) being useless for 2 turns.
Sceptile (Emma) (F) @ Life Orb
Trait: Overgrow
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SDef / 252 Spe
Timid Nature (+Spe, -Atk)
- Giga Drain
- Focus Blast
- Hidden Power [Rock]
- Leaf Storm
Much more typical sweeper. Giga Drain gives recovery (especially useful with Life Orb), whilst Leaf Storm is usually a strong final move, or one to use if switching is definitely coming next turn, or at least soon. Focus Blast and HP Rock provide coverage against the ever present Normal, Bug and Flying types, and also the few Dark types that occur. The base speed with nature and IV means this really does outspeed most of it's biggest threats, namely Fire and Flying types, which will already take damage from SR, and then HP Rock can finish them off swiftly.
Conclusion
That's the team. Any suggestions for move changes are welcome, tho some are set in stone I think. More importantly, any criticisms are welcome, because I know this isn't a perfect team, things can be improved, and you guys probably know that better than I do, but that's what RMT is for, so yeah. Look forward to any responses.
