Intro:
Hey all! This is my first RMT since I'm a relative newcomer to competitive battling (probably been doing it around a month). This team seems to work decently but I've been running into a few problems which I'll go into later on.
Edit:
My team has undergone a major revamp after further testing and I feel that it's a significant improvement upon the old one. I've traded a bit of power for more flexibility and can check previous threats a lot better. Feedback would be much appreciated!
At a glance:
In depth:
Tyranitar (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 HP / 76 Atk / 180 SDef
Sassy Nature (+SDef, -Spd)
- Crunch
- Pursuit
- Low Kick
- Fire Blast
My weather inducer and occasional lead. Low Kick is there for denting Dialgas that lack Aura Sphere and Fire Blast is for roasting those pesky Forretress and Ferrothorn who think they can set up on me for free while also making Scizor think twice about switching in. Pursuit is used to deal damage when I force switches by sending in TTar against a special attacker locked into a resisted move. Crunch is there as my most reliable STAB.
Arceus-Rock @ Stone Plate
Trait: Multitype
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Calm Mind
- Judgment
- Recover
- Will-O-Wisp
I'm really loving mono-attack Rock Arceus right now. In sandstorm, its SpDef is boosted to massive levels with Calm Mind, allowing it to even take on Mewtwo's Aura Sphere. Rock-type Judgment allows me to counter Ho-Oh, Lugia and Reshiram while still hitting Zekrom for neutral damage. Will-O-Wisp allows me to take physical hits fairly well - completely walling Zekrom and ExtremeKiller Arceus. While sandstorm is up, Rockceus also acts as my emergency check for absorbing Draco Meteors.
Giratina-O @ Griseous Orb
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 248 Atk / 252 SAtk / 8 Spd
Lonely Nature (+Atk, -Def)
- Draco Meteor
- Shadow Sneak
- Dragon Tail
- Earthquake
Giratina-O was a great addition to the team. Its Ghost-typing is fantastic - allowing it to both spinblock and take Fighting-type hits for TTar and Rockceus. Draco Meteor allows it to severly damage opposing Dragons switching in while Dragon Tail allows it to PHaze around (notably disrupting stall teams) and racking up Spikes damage. Shadow Sneak is there as a useful priority for picking off weakened Mewtwo and Earthquake is mainly used as a coverage move for use against the various Steel-types that are common in Ubers.
Palkia @ Lustrous Orb
Trait: Pressure
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Hasty Nature (+Spd, -Def)
- Spacial Rend
- Hydro Pump
- Outrage
- Thunder
Palkia was chosen to cover both my Fire and Water (for switching into Kyogre's Water Spout) weaknesses with its 1/4x resistance to both. It's great base 100 speed allows me to run a Mixed set and check Kyogre effectively with Thunder. The Mixed set is much more flexible that the Specs set that I previously used, allowing Palkia to cause more havoc. Spacial Rend was chosen over Draco Meteor as Palkia really doesn't appreciate the SpA drop as it doesn't want to switch out unless forced to. Hydro Pump is great STAB, doing massive damage to Groudon, Excadrill and Garchomp while Outrage is used to break would-be walls. The only problem with this set is that it can be revenge-killed rather easily.
Shaymin-S @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Serene Grace
EVs: 252 SAtk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Seed Flare
- Air Slash
- Earth Power
- Hidden Power [Ice]
Scarfed Shaymin-S is among the fastest pokemon in the game and allows me to beat Darkrai leads around half of the time with Serene Grace Air Slash. However, its main purpose is to OHKO standard support Groudon (0 SpDef investment) with Seed Flare as it is a huge threat, hitting half of my team super-effectively with STAB Earthquake while easily dispatching of Manaphy. Air Slash is a great secondary STAB with a handy flinch rate while Earth Power is for general coverage. HP Ice allows me to revenge kill weakened dragon-types. Shaymin-S also acts as my emergency check to Kyogre should Palkia fail to dispatch it.
Skarmory (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Sturdy
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SDef / 4 Spd
Careful Nature (+SDef, -SAtk)
- Spikes
- Roost
- Whirlwind
- Taunt
I chose to run a specially defensive set as it's rare that any physical attacks can break through Skarmory's gigantic 140 base Def. It allows me to sponge all unboosted Dragon-type attacks (especially loving Outrage as it lets me set up Spikes for free). Whirlwind allows me to PHaze out serious threats such as Swords Dance ExtremeKiller and Rock Polish Groudon and rack up residual damage. Taunt allows me to laugh in the face of opposing Forretress, Ferrothorn and standard Skarmory (which is why I chose to invest 4 EVs in Spd instead of Def). Spikes and Roost are self-explanatory.
Change Log:
- 29/2/2012: Gave my team a complete overhaul. Giratina-O was first to be added and ended up replacing Terrakion due to the fact that it gave my team two very useful immunities to Ground and Fighting while also checking Mewtwo to an extent. Rockceus was my second change and replaced Swords Dance Excadrill as it could break stalls and act as a semi-wall in sandstorm. It brings great utility with WoW and Rock-type Judgment - maintaining coverage that otherwise would have been lost with the replacement of Terrakion. With Rockceus now in place, I decided to give TTar Fire Blast instead of Stone Edge to deal with entry-hazard users better which led to a change in nature (Adamant to Sassy) and item (CB to Leftovers). Shaymin-S was left untouched as it filled its role superbly. Palkia was crucial to my team in checking Kyogre but I disliked the inflexibility of Choice Specs so I switched it for the Mixed set instead. Ferrothorn was no longer needed as I more-or-less have Kyogre under control so it was replaced by Skarmory who brings a lot more utility with Taunt and Whirlwind - capable of checking boosting threats that Ferrothorn could not.
Comments:
This new team is doing notably better than the original as it overcomes most, if not all of the problems I originally had. I would really appreciate some feedback in order to make further improvements! Thanks for reading!
Hey all! This is my first RMT since I'm a relative newcomer to competitive battling (probably been doing it around a month). This team seems to work decently but I've been running into a few problems which I'll go into later on.
Edit:
My team has undergone a major revamp after further testing and I feel that it's a significant improvement upon the old one. I've traded a bit of power for more flexibility and can check previous threats a lot better. Feedback would be much appreciated!
At a glance:
In depth:
Tyranitar (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 HP / 76 Atk / 180 SDef
Sassy Nature (+SDef, -Spd)
- Crunch
- Pursuit
- Low Kick
- Fire Blast
My weather inducer and occasional lead. Low Kick is there for denting Dialgas that lack Aura Sphere and Fire Blast is for roasting those pesky Forretress and Ferrothorn who think they can set up on me for free while also making Scizor think twice about switching in. Pursuit is used to deal damage when I force switches by sending in TTar against a special attacker locked into a resisted move. Crunch is there as my most reliable STAB.
Arceus-Rock @ Stone Plate
Trait: Multitype
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Calm Mind
- Judgment
- Recover
- Will-O-Wisp
I'm really loving mono-attack Rock Arceus right now. In sandstorm, its SpDef is boosted to massive levels with Calm Mind, allowing it to even take on Mewtwo's Aura Sphere. Rock-type Judgment allows me to counter Ho-Oh, Lugia and Reshiram while still hitting Zekrom for neutral damage. Will-O-Wisp allows me to take physical hits fairly well - completely walling Zekrom and ExtremeKiller Arceus. While sandstorm is up, Rockceus also acts as my emergency check for absorbing Draco Meteors.
Giratina-O @ Griseous Orb
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 248 Atk / 252 SAtk / 8 Spd
Lonely Nature (+Atk, -Def)
- Draco Meteor
- Shadow Sneak
- Dragon Tail
- Earthquake
Giratina-O was a great addition to the team. Its Ghost-typing is fantastic - allowing it to both spinblock and take Fighting-type hits for TTar and Rockceus. Draco Meteor allows it to severly damage opposing Dragons switching in while Dragon Tail allows it to PHaze around (notably disrupting stall teams) and racking up Spikes damage. Shadow Sneak is there as a useful priority for picking off weakened Mewtwo and Earthquake is mainly used as a coverage move for use against the various Steel-types that are common in Ubers.
Palkia @ Lustrous Orb
Trait: Pressure
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Hasty Nature (+Spd, -Def)
- Spacial Rend
- Hydro Pump
- Outrage
- Thunder
Palkia was chosen to cover both my Fire and Water (for switching into Kyogre's Water Spout) weaknesses with its 1/4x resistance to both. It's great base 100 speed allows me to run a Mixed set and check Kyogre effectively with Thunder. The Mixed set is much more flexible that the Specs set that I previously used, allowing Palkia to cause more havoc. Spacial Rend was chosen over Draco Meteor as Palkia really doesn't appreciate the SpA drop as it doesn't want to switch out unless forced to. Hydro Pump is great STAB, doing massive damage to Groudon, Excadrill and Garchomp while Outrage is used to break would-be walls. The only problem with this set is that it can be revenge-killed rather easily.
Shaymin-S @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Serene Grace
EVs: 252 SAtk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Seed Flare
- Air Slash
- Earth Power
- Hidden Power [Ice]
Scarfed Shaymin-S is among the fastest pokemon in the game and allows me to beat Darkrai leads around half of the time with Serene Grace Air Slash. However, its main purpose is to OHKO standard support Groudon (0 SpDef investment) with Seed Flare as it is a huge threat, hitting half of my team super-effectively with STAB Earthquake while easily dispatching of Manaphy. Air Slash is a great secondary STAB with a handy flinch rate while Earth Power is for general coverage. HP Ice allows me to revenge kill weakened dragon-types. Shaymin-S also acts as my emergency check to Kyogre should Palkia fail to dispatch it.
Skarmory (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Sturdy
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SDef / 4 Spd
Careful Nature (+SDef, -SAtk)
- Spikes
- Roost
- Whirlwind
- Taunt
I chose to run a specially defensive set as it's rare that any physical attacks can break through Skarmory's gigantic 140 base Def. It allows me to sponge all unboosted Dragon-type attacks (especially loving Outrage as it lets me set up Spikes for free). Whirlwind allows me to PHaze out serious threats such as Swords Dance ExtremeKiller and Rock Polish Groudon and rack up residual damage. Taunt allows me to laugh in the face of opposing Forretress, Ferrothorn and standard Skarmory (which is why I chose to invest 4 EVs in Spd instead of Def). Spikes and Roost are self-explanatory.
Change Log:
- 29/2/2012: Gave my team a complete overhaul. Giratina-O was first to be added and ended up replacing Terrakion due to the fact that it gave my team two very useful immunities to Ground and Fighting while also checking Mewtwo to an extent. Rockceus was my second change and replaced Swords Dance Excadrill as it could break stalls and act as a semi-wall in sandstorm. It brings great utility with WoW and Rock-type Judgment - maintaining coverage that otherwise would have been lost with the replacement of Terrakion. With Rockceus now in place, I decided to give TTar Fire Blast instead of Stone Edge to deal with entry-hazard users better which led to a change in nature (Adamant to Sassy) and item (CB to Leftovers). Shaymin-S was left untouched as it filled its role superbly. Palkia was crucial to my team in checking Kyogre but I disliked the inflexibility of Choice Specs so I switched it for the Mixed set instead. Ferrothorn was no longer needed as I more-or-less have Kyogre under control so it was replaced by Skarmory who brings a lot more utility with Taunt and Whirlwind - capable of checking boosting threats that Ferrothorn could not.
Comments:
This new team is doing notably better than the original as it overcomes most, if not all of the problems I originally had. I would really appreciate some feedback in order to make further improvements! Thanks for reading!