I've thought dual screens are not only a strategy that could probably lead to a better kind of team but also something that is really fun to play around with...really really fun. I've been messing around with a gimmicky dual screen team for a bit and I made this one to be slightly more serious...albeit still somewhat gimmicky. The team is a support network around what I call the win conditions of the team. Teams with one win condition are too vulnerable to failure. This team has 2 win conditions...Suicune and Tyranitar.
I'm hoping this team will capture some interest and imagination.
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TEAM BUILDING PROCESS
My other team had Azelf and Cresselia both on dual screen duty. That worked nicely but it seemed a little obnoxious to have two dual screeners. For this team I was going to go with just one dual screener and Jirachi had the speed, bulk, and utility to fit that role nicely.
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Dual screen are great for letting defensive pokemon set up so I definitely wanted to try to exploit that with one win condition *through defense*. Suicune fits that role better than anyone else (crocune set).
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This may seem somewhat gimmicky, and that's because it is. Drifblim is so cool though. I wanted one offensive pathway to a win and Drifblim would make for a great baton passer to help my receiver set-up easier.
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I needed a receiver so I thought about it a little bit. I wanted something very bulky and very threatening. I thought it would be a good idea for it to be a dragon dancing pokemon so I could out speed the enemy and do a sweep. Tyranitar has a frightening dragon dance set, insane bulk, and goes along with Drifblim well because no one will be throwing a fighting attack at me as I baton pass. After 2-3 dragon dances a sweep should be easy.
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I know that if the opponent manages to set up a sweep it's going to be really hard for me to stop it. In general my team is weak against pokemon with set-up moves, especially those with substitute. For this reason I needed a revenge killer / suicider pokemon and scarf Gengar with destiny bond fit that roll well.
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Gengar has a pursuit weakness which is really bothersome so I needed some way to capitalize on its weakness should it be exploited. Of course the first pokemon that popped into mind was Lucario...but Lucario is old and people tend to have a counter ready for him. Then I thought of Breloom with spore...perfect.
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THE TEAM
Jirachi @ Light Clay
Ability: Serene Grace
EVs: 252 HP/100 Def/156 SDef
Careful nature (+SDef, -SAtk)
- Reflect
- Light Screen
- U-turn
- Wish
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Here is my lead and dual screener. I simply set up screens right in front of most leads faces because they probably won't attack me, much less kill me. As much as I think it would be great to put stealth rock on Jirachi over u-turn it would then give me troubles with Magnezone. Of course my hold item must be light clay. Bulky stats for survivability. Wish for team support or for healing Jirachi himself if I wish to. Without Jirachi this team isn't what it is supposed to be.
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Suicune @ Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 HP/252 Def/4 Spd
Bold nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Surf
- Calm Mind
- Rest
- Sleep Talk
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This thing needs no introduction. Counters are trick, Vaporeon, explosion, Latias, phazers, hazers, and scary stat-uppers. Trick can be avoided most of the time, and explosion can be survived if I have screens up. Phazers tend to have trouble against boosted surfs. This thing is the defensive win condition of my team and with all the support I get from dual screens it isn't hard for him to take on the remaining 4 pokemon on my opponent's team. Everyone that has used this thing knows what a beast it is.
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Drifblim (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Aftermath
EVs: 80 HP/176 Spd/252 SDef
Calm nature (+SDef, -Atk)
- Baton Pass
- Stockpile
- Substitute
- Thunderbolt
---
This is my stockpile passer, and it's great. Substitute is here mainly for the purpose of avoiding status attacks that would otherwise stop this set. As it stands the only real ways to stop it from doing its job are to destroy it, which is pretty hard but almost impossible with dual screens up, or phaze it. The most common phazer is Skarmory so I gave it thunderbolt to counter Skarmory and I haven't regretted it. Other phazers to look out for are Hippowdon and Swampert. While I can't do anything against them as far as Drifblim goes, I can switch out and go to Suicune and continue the battle rather easily.
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Tyranitar (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 6 HP/252 Atk/252 Spd
Jolly nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Dragon Dance
- Crunch
- Stone Edge
- Fire Punch
---
My stockpile receiver and offensive win condition pokemon. Tyranitar has insanely bulky stats and high attack. With dual screens and stockpiles it should be very easy to get a couple dragon dances in at which point Tyranitar becomes almost unstoppable. Typically I put a steel-resist berry on DD Tyranitar to deal with Scizor but since this Tyranitar is going to be packing a lot of back-up defense the omnipresent bug won't be a problem to kill with a quick fire punch. I went with Tyranitar over Salamence because Salamence has a 4x weakness to ice while Drifblim has a 2x weakness to ice. Other pokemon just weren't quite bulky or powerful enough. Kingdra with dragon dance and substitute was what I used to use but Tyranitar is a lot more threatening.
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Gengar (M) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 4 Def/252 Spd/252 SAtk
Timid nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Shadow Ball
- Thunderbolt
- Focus Blast
- Destiny Bond
---
This is the emergency pokemon. He saves me from just about any threat. I went with destiny bond over trick because I wanted to be able to save my team from pokemon that had a substitute up. The disadvantage of this is that I am now more vulnerable to pokemon like Latias who often will set up more calm minds in Gengar's presence. Still my hope is they might fear a trick or something and go for the kill. Gengar counters Gyarados and helps with Salamence, among others. Lucario is countered as well.
---
Breloom (M) @ Toxic Orb
Ability: Poison Heal
EVs: 48 HP/252 Atk/208 Spd
Adamant nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Spore
- Focus Punch
- Substitute
- Seed Bomb
---
Breloom is here to punish choiced pursuit users. If the opponent is playing their cards cautiously and, say, switches out Gyarados to Scizor to take my thunderbolt from Gengar, then I can attempt to switch out and should pursuit kill me in comes Breloom to sub and spore, and then wreck some havoc. Spore is essentially a free kill for my team because each inactive pokemon could act as an opening for a baton pass combo or an invincible Suicune set-up. Breloom can of course find times to do his job even if pursuit isn't around, especially if I have dual screens up.
---
That's the team. Advice and comments are welcome.
I'm hoping this team will capture some interest and imagination.
---
TEAM BUILDING PROCESS
My other team had Azelf and Cresselia both on dual screen duty. That worked nicely but it seemed a little obnoxious to have two dual screeners. For this team I was going to go with just one dual screener and Jirachi had the speed, bulk, and utility to fit that role nicely.
-
Dual screen are great for letting defensive pokemon set up so I definitely wanted to try to exploit that with one win condition *through defense*. Suicune fits that role better than anyone else (crocune set).
-
This may seem somewhat gimmicky, and that's because it is. Drifblim is so cool though. I wanted one offensive pathway to a win and Drifblim would make for a great baton passer to help my receiver set-up easier.
-
I needed a receiver so I thought about it a little bit. I wanted something very bulky and very threatening. I thought it would be a good idea for it to be a dragon dancing pokemon so I could out speed the enemy and do a sweep. Tyranitar has a frightening dragon dance set, insane bulk, and goes along with Drifblim well because no one will be throwing a fighting attack at me as I baton pass. After 2-3 dragon dances a sweep should be easy.
-
I know that if the opponent manages to set up a sweep it's going to be really hard for me to stop it. In general my team is weak against pokemon with set-up moves, especially those with substitute. For this reason I needed a revenge killer / suicider pokemon and scarf Gengar with destiny bond fit that roll well.
-
Gengar has a pursuit weakness which is really bothersome so I needed some way to capitalize on its weakness should it be exploited. Of course the first pokemon that popped into mind was Lucario...but Lucario is old and people tend to have a counter ready for him. Then I thought of Breloom with spore...perfect.
==========
THE TEAM
Jirachi @ Light Clay
Ability: Serene Grace
EVs: 252 HP/100 Def/156 SDef
Careful nature (+SDef, -SAtk)
- Reflect
- Light Screen
- U-turn
- Wish
---
Here is my lead and dual screener. I simply set up screens right in front of most leads faces because they probably won't attack me, much less kill me. As much as I think it would be great to put stealth rock on Jirachi over u-turn it would then give me troubles with Magnezone. Of course my hold item must be light clay. Bulky stats for survivability. Wish for team support or for healing Jirachi himself if I wish to. Without Jirachi this team isn't what it is supposed to be.
---
Suicune @ Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 HP/252 Def/4 Spd
Bold nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Surf
- Calm Mind
- Rest
- Sleep Talk
---
This thing needs no introduction. Counters are trick, Vaporeon, explosion, Latias, phazers, hazers, and scary stat-uppers. Trick can be avoided most of the time, and explosion can be survived if I have screens up. Phazers tend to have trouble against boosted surfs. This thing is the defensive win condition of my team and with all the support I get from dual screens it isn't hard for him to take on the remaining 4 pokemon on my opponent's team. Everyone that has used this thing knows what a beast it is.
---
Drifblim (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Aftermath
EVs: 80 HP/176 Spd/252 SDef
Calm nature (+SDef, -Atk)
- Baton Pass
- Stockpile
- Substitute
- Thunderbolt
---
This is my stockpile passer, and it's great. Substitute is here mainly for the purpose of avoiding status attacks that would otherwise stop this set. As it stands the only real ways to stop it from doing its job are to destroy it, which is pretty hard but almost impossible with dual screens up, or phaze it. The most common phazer is Skarmory so I gave it thunderbolt to counter Skarmory and I haven't regretted it. Other phazers to look out for are Hippowdon and Swampert. While I can't do anything against them as far as Drifblim goes, I can switch out and go to Suicune and continue the battle rather easily.
---
Tyranitar (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 6 HP/252 Atk/252 Spd
Jolly nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Dragon Dance
- Crunch
- Stone Edge
- Fire Punch
---
My stockpile receiver and offensive win condition pokemon. Tyranitar has insanely bulky stats and high attack. With dual screens and stockpiles it should be very easy to get a couple dragon dances in at which point Tyranitar becomes almost unstoppable. Typically I put a steel-resist berry on DD Tyranitar to deal with Scizor but since this Tyranitar is going to be packing a lot of back-up defense the omnipresent bug won't be a problem to kill with a quick fire punch. I went with Tyranitar over Salamence because Salamence has a 4x weakness to ice while Drifblim has a 2x weakness to ice. Other pokemon just weren't quite bulky or powerful enough. Kingdra with dragon dance and substitute was what I used to use but Tyranitar is a lot more threatening.
---
Gengar (M) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 4 Def/252 Spd/252 SAtk
Timid nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Shadow Ball
- Thunderbolt
- Focus Blast
- Destiny Bond
---
This is the emergency pokemon. He saves me from just about any threat. I went with destiny bond over trick because I wanted to be able to save my team from pokemon that had a substitute up. The disadvantage of this is that I am now more vulnerable to pokemon like Latias who often will set up more calm minds in Gengar's presence. Still my hope is they might fear a trick or something and go for the kill. Gengar counters Gyarados and helps with Salamence, among others. Lucario is countered as well.
---
Breloom (M) @ Toxic Orb
Ability: Poison Heal
EVs: 48 HP/252 Atk/208 Spd
Adamant nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Spore
- Focus Punch
- Substitute
- Seed Bomb
---
Breloom is here to punish choiced pursuit users. If the opponent is playing their cards cautiously and, say, switches out Gyarados to Scizor to take my thunderbolt from Gengar, then I can attempt to switch out and should pursuit kill me in comes Breloom to sub and spore, and then wreck some havoc. Spore is essentially a free kill for my team because each inactive pokemon could act as an opening for a baton pass combo or an invincible Suicune set-up. Breloom can of course find times to do his job even if pursuit isn't around, especially if I have dual screens up.
---
That's the team. Advice and comments are welcome.
