Title says it all folks. This is a team that revolves around, and supports, a very rarely used (if used at all) Charizard X set. I wanted to try this out because, well, I actually really like Charizard X. I think it has a cool design, a great typing both offensively and defensively, and it puts a lot of pressure on, and really, I wanted to use something unique. Now, this set is incredibly risky, and honestly, the Dragon Dance set could very well be better, in terms of reliability. But in terms of Raw Power....I don't think anything can match this set. And just as an example, here are some damage calcs, before we get into the Team Building Process.
Now that we have some demonstrations of power, time for the team building process I went through to make this team!
First and foremost, Charizard is obviously the main focus of the team. It acts as a mid-late game sweeper, once its checks and counters have been eliminated, or weakened to the point where it can finish them off itself. Despite the overwhelming power Belly Drum gives, X isn't perfect, and needs some good support and backup.
Charizard's biggest counter in my opinion, especially for this set, is Azumarill. Immune to it's Dragon STAB and resisting its Fire STAB, Charizard can literally do nothing against Azumarill. Bulky Ground and Water types in general, such as Unaware Quagsire will also give X a hard time, so in order to counter this, I chose defensive Venusaur. It acts as a nice check to not only most Ground and Water types, but it Poison typing is also great to deal with certain Fairy types that can also check and counter Charizard.
Remember how I said before that regular D-Dance Charizard could potentially be better than this set in terms of reliability? Well yeah, as it turns out, opposing Charizard Xs are a severe problem so far. They can easily outspeed and OHKO my zard X without a Flame Charge Boost. And so, to deal with this problem, I brought in Choice Band Azumarill to not only act as a power Wall Breaker, but is also acts as a great check to opposing ard Xs that aren't running Thunder Punch.
Rocks. Rocks are a HUGE problem for this team. If Charizard comes in with half of it's health missing, there is no way in hell that it can set up a Belly Drum, which defeats the whole purpose of the set. There, Specially Defensive Excadrill is my choice for not only a spinner, but a rock setter as well, allowing for Sturdy and scales to be broken, allows Charizard to pick up important KO's that might have been missed because of this.
Next up, I needed a scarfer that could not only help revenge kill threats, but also clean up the devastation Charizard leaves in its wake should it fail to sweep. In terms of raw power, and unique STAB options, I chose to go with Kyurem-Black. Quite versatile and threatening, Kyurem-Black has proven to be a powerful member of the team.
Last, but not least, I wanted a Pokemon that could act a both an anti-lead, and Speed Control, while still giving off an offensive presence. The Pokemon that came to mind was of course Thundurus here, thanks to one of the best abilities in the game, Prankster.
With the team building process out of the way, time for an In-depth look on each member of this team!
Charizard (M) @ Charizardite X
Ability: Blaze
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 72 HP / 252 Atk / 184 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Belly Drum
- Dragon Claw
- Flame Charge
- Roost
Here he is folks. The main star of the show. Charizard X is such a powerful Pokemon thanks to its great typing and STAB options, versatility, and probably what makes it the most viable, the ability Tough Claws. Tough Claws + Any kind of boost is gonna hurt, no matter how you look at it, so when we add Belly Drum put us at +6....well, you better watch out. Now, I'm running Dragon Claw over the far more Powerful Outrage for a few reasons. I don't like locking myself into a move that is immune to what has become one of the most common types to see around these days. I want to be able to freely switch up if I think a Fairy is coming in to take a second Dragon STAB. The other reason is at +6, if I hurt myself in confusion, I'm gone. Finished. And I'm not switching out once I've cut my HP in half. NOT. HAPPENING.
Flame Charge may also seem like a very...odd choice in Fire STAB, as most, if not all Zard Xs run Flare Blitz. Once again, I have my reasoning for this choice. Unfortunately, I have to sacrifice some Speed for added Bulk for this set, and without the Speed Boosting power of Dragon Dance, I'm quite vulnerable to speedy threats. Flame Charge is a way for me to not only dish out Damage, but increase my Speed as well, mitigating this problem at worse, and eliminating it all together at best. Also, once again. Since I'm already cutting my HP down to half, I'd rather not take the massive amount of recoil sure to follow. And finally, Roost. Great for getting HP back after taking some damage, or great for recovering after Belly Drum if used correctly.
Venusaur (M) @ Black Sludge
Ability: Chlorophyll
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpA
Bold Nature
- Giga Drain
- Sludge Bomb
- Synthesis
- Leech Seed
As I stated in the team building Process, Azumarill completely and utterly walls me. No joke. So in order to not only check Azumarill, but to also take care of other threats like bulky Ground types, and Bulky Water types in general, I decided to use Venusaur. This is a fully defensive set, with Giga Drain as the main STAB option here, allowing it to get some HP back while dealing damage. Sludge Bomb acts as secondary STAB, as certain Fairy types can also give Zard X a hard time. Synthesis is a great recovery move, keeping Venusaur healthy, while finally Leech Seed can take advantage of predicted switches, and take advantage of opposing walls. Chlorophyll as an ability may seem weird for a defensive Pokemon on a team with no sun, but Venusaur can actually take advantage of opposing Sun team's Sun, with its Speed doubling AND getting more HP back with Synthesis.
Azumarill (F) @ Choice Band
Ability: Huge Power
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Aqua Jet
- Waterfall
- Play Rough
- Superpower
Choice Band Azumarill is a great Wallbreaker thanks to its wonderful Water/Fairy typing, and its Ability Huge Power. However, Azumarill's Wallbreaking potential isn't the only reason I'm using it. Azumarill can also check opposing Charizard Xs, which can really give this team trouble. With EVs to make is bulky but hard hitting, Priority Aqua Jet is going to be the main move to click for faster threats, taking huge amounts of damage. Waterfall acts another Water STAB option, to take on threats that won't be taken out by Aqua Jet, or that are just slower than Azumarill. Play Rough is probably Azumarill's most devastating STAB, at least when it comes to Dragon Types, while Superpower provides Azumarill with some nice versatility against Steel-types predicting the common Belly Drum set.
Excadrill @ Air Balloon
Ability: Mold Breaker
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Atk / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
- Rapid Spin
- Stealth Rock
- Iron Head
- Earthquake
It's funny. I never realized just how often I use Excadrill on my teams. I'm not a huge fan of Excadrill to be honest...I mean, it's a cool Pokemon, just not my favourite. However, the amount of times it has made it onto my teams is proof of how good, and surprisingly versatile it can be. Hence this set. A specially defensive Spinner/Rock Setter for the team. Rocks are a huge hazard that completely shuts BellyZard X down, and so I need someone to get rid of them. I chose Air Balloon to avoid Ground Type attacks, which give Excadrill a hard time. I was originally going to go with Assault Vest, but I really wanted the power to break Sturdy on Skarmory and similar defensive threats with Stealth Rock. Iron Head allows Excadrill to also act as a Fairy Check/Counter, while Earthquake is just a great, powerful STAB option to hit a lot for neutral damage.
Kyurem-Black @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Teravolt
EVs: 252 Atk / 32 SpA / 224 Spe
Naive Nature
- Ice Beam
- Outrage
- Fusion Bolt
- Iron Head
Kyurem for me, is the exact opposite of Excadrill. I love Kyurem, however I never seem to use it, in any of its Formes. I have finally got the chance to really use it on this team, and it has proved to be a monster. Acting as a Physically biased mixed Scarf, Kyurem-Black acts as a versatile Revenge Killer as well as a cleaner, sweeping up weakened Pokemon near the end of a battle. Ice team it the only Special Move on here, and provides as Ice STAB for Kyurem, which the team can take advantage of. Outrage is powerful Dragon STAB, and while I didn't want to use it on Zard X, I have no problem locking myself into it with this guy, especially when there are no Fairy types around, and it is a guaranteed sweep. Fusion Bolt is mandatory as it provides with some great coverage, and just insane power, while Iron Head is a great option against threats like Mega Altaria.
Thundurus @ Life Orb
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Taunt
- Thunder Wave
- Thunderbolt
- Focus Blast
What's better than spinning away those pesky Stealth Rocks? Why, stopping them from ever happening of course! Thunrudus is a great Anti-Lead thanks to Prankster. It can Taunt leads and stop them from setting up Rocks, Spikes, and Sticky Webs, while also stopping Set-up Sweepers in their tracks, such as Cosmic Power Clefable, and D-Dance Altaria. Thunder Wave is also great as it allows Thundurus to act as a Speed Control agent, slowing down fast Pokemon that would give Zard X a hard time. Thundrurus however, is an offensive anti-lead, so Life Orb and Max Special Attack EVs are paired with STAB Thunderbolt and Focus Blast for some great coverage against Steel and Dark types.
Yikes. Two hours of working on this RMT, and it has got to be the most in-depth one I have ever made. So yeah, I would really appreciate some opinions and feed back on the team, but I do ask one thing: Do not suggest I switch BellyZard X to the D-Dance set. That defeats the whole purpose of this team. I have been told by someone that "I won't be able to get this off" but I have been able too. The set does work. Is it always easy? No. Is it worth it? Yes. Do I believe this set is too gimmicky to be effective? Nope. Played right, this BellZard X can be a legitimate threat, not just a gimmick. Well, there we have it. I hope to her from people soon!
+6 252 Atk Tough Claws Mega Charizard X Dragon Claw vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Hippowdon: 232-274 (107.9 - 127.4%) -- guaranteed OHKO
+6 252 Atk Tough Claws Mega Charizard X Flame Charge vs. 248 HP / 236+ Def Skarmory: 260-308 (152 - 180.1%) -- guaranteed OHKO (After Sturdy is broken)
+5 252 Atk Tough Claws Mega Charizard X Dragon Claw vs. 252 HP / 240 Def Landorus-T: 271-321 (138.2 - 163.7%) -- guaranteed OHKO
+6 252 Atk Tough Claws Mega Charizard X Dragon Claw vs. 248 HP / 252+ Def Slowbro: 244-288 (121.3 - 143.2%) -- guaranteed OHKO
+6 252 Atk Tough Claws Mega Charizard X Flame Charge vs. 248 HP / 236+ Def Skarmory: 260-308 (152 - 180.1%) -- guaranteed OHKO (After Sturdy is broken)
+5 252 Atk Tough Claws Mega Charizard X Dragon Claw vs. 252 HP / 240 Def Landorus-T: 271-321 (138.2 - 163.7%) -- guaranteed OHKO
+6 252 Atk Tough Claws Mega Charizard X Dragon Claw vs. 248 HP / 252+ Def Slowbro: 244-288 (121.3 - 143.2%) -- guaranteed OHKO
Now that we have some demonstrations of power, time for the team building process I went through to make this team!
First and foremost, Charizard is obviously the main focus of the team. It acts as a mid-late game sweeper, once its checks and counters have been eliminated, or weakened to the point where it can finish them off itself. Despite the overwhelming power Belly Drum gives, X isn't perfect, and needs some good support and backup.
Charizard's biggest counter in my opinion, especially for this set, is Azumarill. Immune to it's Dragon STAB and resisting its Fire STAB, Charizard can literally do nothing against Azumarill. Bulky Ground and Water types in general, such as Unaware Quagsire will also give X a hard time, so in order to counter this, I chose defensive Venusaur. It acts as a nice check to not only most Ground and Water types, but it Poison typing is also great to deal with certain Fairy types that can also check and counter Charizard.
Remember how I said before that regular D-Dance Charizard could potentially be better than this set in terms of reliability? Well yeah, as it turns out, opposing Charizard Xs are a severe problem so far. They can easily outspeed and OHKO my zard X without a Flame Charge Boost. And so, to deal with this problem, I brought in Choice Band Azumarill to not only act as a power Wall Breaker, but is also acts as a great check to opposing ard Xs that aren't running Thunder Punch.
Rocks. Rocks are a HUGE problem for this team. If Charizard comes in with half of it's health missing, there is no way in hell that it can set up a Belly Drum, which defeats the whole purpose of the set. There, Specially Defensive Excadrill is my choice for not only a spinner, but a rock setter as well, allowing for Sturdy and scales to be broken, allows Charizard to pick up important KO's that might have been missed because of this.
Next up, I needed a scarfer that could not only help revenge kill threats, but also clean up the devastation Charizard leaves in its wake should it fail to sweep. In terms of raw power, and unique STAB options, I chose to go with Kyurem-Black. Quite versatile and threatening, Kyurem-Black has proven to be a powerful member of the team.
Last, but not least, I wanted a Pokemon that could act a both an anti-lead, and Speed Control, while still giving off an offensive presence. The Pokemon that came to mind was of course Thundurus here, thanks to one of the best abilities in the game, Prankster.
With the team building process out of the way, time for an In-depth look on each member of this team!
Charizard (M) @ Charizardite X
Ability: Blaze
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 72 HP / 252 Atk / 184 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Belly Drum
- Dragon Claw
- Flame Charge
- Roost
Here he is folks. The main star of the show. Charizard X is such a powerful Pokemon thanks to its great typing and STAB options, versatility, and probably what makes it the most viable, the ability Tough Claws. Tough Claws + Any kind of boost is gonna hurt, no matter how you look at it, so when we add Belly Drum put us at +6....well, you better watch out. Now, I'm running Dragon Claw over the far more Powerful Outrage for a few reasons. I don't like locking myself into a move that is immune to what has become one of the most common types to see around these days. I want to be able to freely switch up if I think a Fairy is coming in to take a second Dragon STAB. The other reason is at +6, if I hurt myself in confusion, I'm gone. Finished. And I'm not switching out once I've cut my HP in half. NOT. HAPPENING.
Flame Charge may also seem like a very...odd choice in Fire STAB, as most, if not all Zard Xs run Flare Blitz. Once again, I have my reasoning for this choice. Unfortunately, I have to sacrifice some Speed for added Bulk for this set, and without the Speed Boosting power of Dragon Dance, I'm quite vulnerable to speedy threats. Flame Charge is a way for me to not only dish out Damage, but increase my Speed as well, mitigating this problem at worse, and eliminating it all together at best. Also, once again. Since I'm already cutting my HP down to half, I'd rather not take the massive amount of recoil sure to follow. And finally, Roost. Great for getting HP back after taking some damage, or great for recovering after Belly Drum if used correctly.
Venusaur (M) @ Black Sludge
Ability: Chlorophyll
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpA
Bold Nature
- Giga Drain
- Sludge Bomb
- Synthesis
- Leech Seed
As I stated in the team building Process, Azumarill completely and utterly walls me. No joke. So in order to not only check Azumarill, but to also take care of other threats like bulky Ground types, and Bulky Water types in general, I decided to use Venusaur. This is a fully defensive set, with Giga Drain as the main STAB option here, allowing it to get some HP back while dealing damage. Sludge Bomb acts as secondary STAB, as certain Fairy types can also give Zard X a hard time. Synthesis is a great recovery move, keeping Venusaur healthy, while finally Leech Seed can take advantage of predicted switches, and take advantage of opposing walls. Chlorophyll as an ability may seem weird for a defensive Pokemon on a team with no sun, but Venusaur can actually take advantage of opposing Sun team's Sun, with its Speed doubling AND getting more HP back with Synthesis.
Azumarill (F) @ Choice Band
Ability: Huge Power
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Aqua Jet
- Waterfall
- Play Rough
- Superpower
Choice Band Azumarill is a great Wallbreaker thanks to its wonderful Water/Fairy typing, and its Ability Huge Power. However, Azumarill's Wallbreaking potential isn't the only reason I'm using it. Azumarill can also check opposing Charizard Xs, which can really give this team trouble. With EVs to make is bulky but hard hitting, Priority Aqua Jet is going to be the main move to click for faster threats, taking huge amounts of damage. Waterfall acts another Water STAB option, to take on threats that won't be taken out by Aqua Jet, or that are just slower than Azumarill. Play Rough is probably Azumarill's most devastating STAB, at least when it comes to Dragon Types, while Superpower provides Azumarill with some nice versatility against Steel-types predicting the common Belly Drum set.
Excadrill @ Air Balloon
Ability: Mold Breaker
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Atk / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
- Rapid Spin
- Stealth Rock
- Iron Head
- Earthquake
It's funny. I never realized just how often I use Excadrill on my teams. I'm not a huge fan of Excadrill to be honest...I mean, it's a cool Pokemon, just not my favourite. However, the amount of times it has made it onto my teams is proof of how good, and surprisingly versatile it can be. Hence this set. A specially defensive Spinner/Rock Setter for the team. Rocks are a huge hazard that completely shuts BellyZard X down, and so I need someone to get rid of them. I chose Air Balloon to avoid Ground Type attacks, which give Excadrill a hard time. I was originally going to go with Assault Vest, but I really wanted the power to break Sturdy on Skarmory and similar defensive threats with Stealth Rock. Iron Head allows Excadrill to also act as a Fairy Check/Counter, while Earthquake is just a great, powerful STAB option to hit a lot for neutral damage.
Kyurem-Black @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Teravolt
EVs: 252 Atk / 32 SpA / 224 Spe
Naive Nature
- Ice Beam
- Outrage
- Fusion Bolt
- Iron Head
Kyurem for me, is the exact opposite of Excadrill. I love Kyurem, however I never seem to use it, in any of its Formes. I have finally got the chance to really use it on this team, and it has proved to be a monster. Acting as a Physically biased mixed Scarf, Kyurem-Black acts as a versatile Revenge Killer as well as a cleaner, sweeping up weakened Pokemon near the end of a battle. Ice team it the only Special Move on here, and provides as Ice STAB for Kyurem, which the team can take advantage of. Outrage is powerful Dragon STAB, and while I didn't want to use it on Zard X, I have no problem locking myself into it with this guy, especially when there are no Fairy types around, and it is a guaranteed sweep. Fusion Bolt is mandatory as it provides with some great coverage, and just insane power, while Iron Head is a great option against threats like Mega Altaria.
Thundurus @ Life Orb
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Taunt
- Thunder Wave
- Thunderbolt
- Focus Blast
What's better than spinning away those pesky Stealth Rocks? Why, stopping them from ever happening of course! Thunrudus is a great Anti-Lead thanks to Prankster. It can Taunt leads and stop them from setting up Rocks, Spikes, and Sticky Webs, while also stopping Set-up Sweepers in their tracks, such as Cosmic Power Clefable, and D-Dance Altaria. Thunder Wave is also great as it allows Thundurus to act as a Speed Control agent, slowing down fast Pokemon that would give Zard X a hard time. Thundrurus however, is an offensive anti-lead, so Life Orb and Max Special Attack EVs are paired with STAB Thunderbolt and Focus Blast for some great coverage against Steel and Dark types.
Yikes. Two hours of working on this RMT, and it has got to be the most in-depth one I have ever made. So yeah, I would really appreciate some opinions and feed back on the team, but I do ask one thing: Do not suggest I switch BellyZard X to the D-Dance set. That defeats the whole purpose of this team. I have been told by someone that "I won't be able to get this off" but I have been able too. The set does work. Is it always easy? No. Is it worth it? Yes. Do I believe this set is too gimmicky to be effective? Nope. Played right, this BellZard X can be a legitimate threat, not just a gimmick. Well, there we have it. I hope to her from people soon!
