Intro:
Unfortunately US South made an early departure from the World Cup and Salamence recently found itself being moved into ubers, so my time with this team is over. It has served me quite well, going undefeated in the World Cup and also reaching both the OU and Suspect (with a slight variant) ladders under the alt 'Raw Dough'. I'm looking for help on what could possibly be as effective as Mence for punching holes in opposition teams, so all rates are welcome. A lot of my inspiration came from my good friend FLAMETHROWA. who ran a similar team and showed me the potential of hp ground on Jirachi.
The idea of the team is to set up as much entry hazards as possible and force switches through phazing, countering and Mence to gain as much residual damage on the opponent as possible. Entry hazards make it extremely difficult for anything to counter mence, let alone switch into him and he often takes out huge chunks of the oppositions team. This then allows Jirachi to perform to its full potential and clean up late game.
The Team:
Swampert (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Torrent
EVs: 252 HP/252 Def/6 Atk
Relaxed nature (+Def, -Spd)
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Ice Beam
- Roar
While building the team I left the lead spot open and didn’t decide on who would lead until the very end. I had the pokes together that I wanted but none made for the effective lead that I had hoped and Swampert was really the only mon that could lead. Fortunately I have enough support in my other team members that I rarely find myself at a disadvantage to any lead and I'm often able to get rocks up nice and early. Together with Rotom and Roserade, Swampert forms my key defensive core which gains further support from Tyranitar and Salamence. He is the only member who provides phazing. Losing him early causes many problems so I always play him conservatively.
The EVs, nature and moveset are standard to give me as much defensive bulk as possible. While Swampert can be somewhat of a poor lead at times, with the right support he works extremely well.
Here is how I deal with other leads:
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Roserade (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 HP/120 Spd/136 SDef
Calm nature (+SDef, -Atk)
- Spikes
- Energy Ball
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Rest
Roserades role on the team is to lay spikes, which is surprisingly easy as there are so many pokemon it can set up on. Thanks to its special bulk, rose can also double as a check to special threats such as Starmie. Rose acts as my initial switch in to things like Rotom and Bliss because of its ability to absorb status. Carefree switching to status is extremely helpful and prevents me from getting Tyranitar or Salamence burnt or para’d. I run HP ice so as to prevent DD Salamence from setting up and it works very nicely. Because this is a set rarely seen a lot of people switch in Mence believing that they can set up only to be killed in the process. HP ice also helps to take down Zapdos. I did run hp fire for a while which worked well too, however because I found Mence setting up on my team too easily. Because of natural cure, rest gives Roserade great longevity and he is able to come in over and over again without fear. The ease with which Roserade can lay spikes is just amazing and that is why he is such an integral part of this team.
The EVs and nature aim to gain as much special bulk as possible to promote longevity while retaining sufficient speed to outspeed defensive threats that carry taunt.
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Tyranitar (M) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 4 HP/252 Atk/252 Spd
Jolly nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Stone Edge
- Crunch
- Pursuit
- Superpower
Tyranitar fulfils the role of my primary revenge killer and that in itself shows my vulnerability to setup sweepers. The only time such a pokemon is able to set up is if I find myself locked into either Superpower or Pursuit. For this reason I rarely find myself using these two moves. It acts to cover holes that I have left open, such as my weakness to Gengar, LO Starmie and Latias back when it was OU. Tyranitar acts to check Starmie far more often than Roserade and sub Gengar is an overall nuisance so if Tar can deal with him my other pokes have a much easier time fulfilling their roles. Tar also acts as my primary revenge killer for Lucario so that I don’t need to risk Mence being crippled beyond repair. Tyranitar acts in a way to support the other members of the team and for that he holds a crucial role. The synergy he creates with lead Swampert to deal with many leads is essential to prevent me from having a bad start to a match. He prevents me from being put on the back foot so that I can attempt to dictate the match.
Standard EVs and nature, maximising speed to outspeed base 115 pokemon such as Starmie and Azelf.
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Salamence (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 16 Atk/252 Spd/240 SAtk
Naive nature (+Spd, -SDef)
- Draco Meteor
- Earthquake
- Fire Blast
- Roost
Salamence performs the most crucial role on the team, which is to rip massive chunks in whatever team type I am facing. His three moves provide unresisted coverage and when this is coupled with his great speed and attacking stats it is easy to see why Mence has been moved to ubers. As mentioned previously, with spikes and stealth rock support there is next to nothing that can switch in without fear. He forces switches and always tears apart the bulk of my oppositions team. With such strong support, prediction is made extremely easy and I rarely find myself overpredicting as there is simply no need to. I find roost to be a crucial move on this set, as it allows me to heal off sandstorm, life orb and stealth rock damage which can often restrict Mences ability to shine. Mence is crucial for this teams success thanks to its ability to break stall and weaken teams sufficiently for Jirachi to get a clean sweep. In a suspect version of this team I ran Dragonite however his lack of speed make him much less effective.
The EVs and nature are standard and I feel are by far the most effective when playing Mence as a stall breaker.
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Rotom-w @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP/200 Def/16 Spd/40 SDef
Bold nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Rest
- Sleep Talk
- Thunderbolt
- Will-o-wisp
Rotom’s role within the team is primarily to act as a spin blocker, as spikes and stealth rock are crucial to the team’s success. He also acts as a sleep absorber and thanks to his great defensive bulk, a check to many offensive threats such as Scizor, Gyarados and Metagross. Without Rotom’s defensive coverage I would find myself being easily swept by a number of threats such as SD scizor and DD Gyarados, which is why I run such a defence orientated set. Along with Swampert and Tyranitar, Rotom helps to provide strong coverage against almost all of the top ten leads, which as I keep repeating ensures that I’m not put on the back foot because I lose out to a lead. I run Will-o-wisp over shadow ball as it allows me to deal with a greater number of threats and because I wouldn’t be keeping Rotom in on anything that shadow ball would hit effectively. It also means that if I predict other Scarf Tars I can cripple them and make them useless. Rotoms defensive coverage and ability to spin block make him an essential component of the team.
I've been running this spread on all my Rotoms ever since I saw Vashta's rmt. The defensive bulk is necessary so that Rotom can handle all the threats I need him to and the speed allows me to beat minimum speed Suicine.
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Jirachi @ Leftovers
Ability: Serene Grace
EVs: 88 HP/252 Spd/168 SAtk
Timid nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Calm Mind
- Psychic
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power [Ground]
Jirachi is my final sweeper and a damn fine one at that. The moveset provides unresisted coverage and most importantly, it absolutely rapes Heatran. I’ve said it before and as I will say again, with such strong support from spikes, stealth rock and Mence, Jirachi is able to live up to its full potential and sweep incredibly well late game. Psychic deals with weakened Swampert, Rotom, Metagross, other Jirachi and even Gliscor. HP ground is primarily for Heatran, however it also helps to deal with Tyranitar and Lucario and is really just a great move to have. Thunderbolt obviously deals with all waters along with Skarm and other annoying pokes. It is very easy to get in a calm mind and proceed to sweep and once Jirachi sets up it becomes hard for my opposition to stop him as he resists priority moves. The speed allows me to outspeed Lucario, Heatran and tie with other base 100’s like Mence. I’ve tried out greater SpA, however I find that Jirachi really benefits from the extra speed.
I have maxed his speed to allow me to tie with other base 100s and outspeed all major threats bar infernape.
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Conclusion:
This is one of the most effective teams that I have ever used and was incredibly strong in a metagame with both Latias and Salamence. After Latias left OU and Infernape became popular again I found that the team was beginning to become less effective. I have however had a great deal of success with it and would love suggestions to help improve it so that it works in the new metagame.
Threats:
I think that normal threat lists are excessive and just point out the obvious, so I’ll only be highlighting what I feel are my major threats. Might edit in something in greater depth soon.
Infernape – I really have nothing that can switch in freely to any Infernape set and I’m reluctant to revenge with Tar as a lot of sets carry vacuum wave. So Infernape is a major pain in the ass
Shuca Tran – If I know what moveset they are using then I can take it out with Mence or Swampert, however it often takes out a chunk of my team before I can work it out as hp ground doesn’t come near killing.
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Unfortunately US South made an early departure from the World Cup and Salamence recently found itself being moved into ubers, so my time with this team is over. It has served me quite well, going undefeated in the World Cup and also reaching both the OU and Suspect (with a slight variant) ladders under the alt 'Raw Dough'. I'm looking for help on what could possibly be as effective as Mence for punching holes in opposition teams, so all rates are welcome. A lot of my inspiration came from my good friend FLAMETHROWA. who ran a similar team and showed me the potential of hp ground on Jirachi.
The idea of the team is to set up as much entry hazards as possible and force switches through phazing, countering and Mence to gain as much residual damage on the opponent as possible. Entry hazards make it extremely difficult for anything to counter mence, let alone switch into him and he often takes out huge chunks of the oppositions team. This then allows Jirachi to perform to its full potential and clean up late game.
--------------------------------- Southern Beauty ---------------------------------
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The Team:
Swampert (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Torrent
EVs: 252 HP/252 Def/6 Atk
Relaxed nature (+Def, -Spd)
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Ice Beam
- Roar
While building the team I left the lead spot open and didn’t decide on who would lead until the very end. I had the pokes together that I wanted but none made for the effective lead that I had hoped and Swampert was really the only mon that could lead. Fortunately I have enough support in my other team members that I rarely find myself at a disadvantage to any lead and I'm often able to get rocks up nice and early. Together with Rotom and Roserade, Swampert forms my key defensive core which gains further support from Tyranitar and Salamence. He is the only member who provides phazing. Losing him early causes many problems so I always play him conservatively.
The EVs, nature and moveset are standard to give me as much defensive bulk as possible. While Swampert can be somewhat of a poor lead at times, with the right support he works extremely well.
Here is how I deal with other leads:
Azelf:
I will always switch to Tar to handle Azelf and it never causes any problems.
Aerodactyl:
Ice Beam scores a 2hko and aero will always taunt then sr.
Swampert:
I lay rocks the first turn and then hope to win the speed tie with roar. If not I can easily play around it and wow it with Rotom.
Machamp:
Switch to rotom and then wow twice to break the lum and cripple it.
Metagross:
Set up rocks and then switch to Rotom who can take anything Metagross throws at me.
Jirachi:
Set up rocks and walls it.
Infernape:
I usually just take it out with earthquake and leave the rocks until later.
Roserade:
Probably the biggest bitch of a lead to face. I usually switch to rotom and hope for the sleep powder, because leaf storm hurts.
Ninjask:
Set up rocks and then phaze it out as it baton passes.
Hippowdon:
Rocks and then ice beam or roar it out.
I will always switch to Tar to handle Azelf and it never causes any problems.
Aerodactyl:
Ice Beam scores a 2hko and aero will always taunt then sr.
Swampert:
I lay rocks the first turn and then hope to win the speed tie with roar. If not I can easily play around it and wow it with Rotom.
Machamp:
Switch to rotom and then wow twice to break the lum and cripple it.
Metagross:
Set up rocks and then switch to Rotom who can take anything Metagross throws at me.
Jirachi:
Set up rocks and walls it.
Infernape:
I usually just take it out with earthquake and leave the rocks until later.
Roserade:
Probably the biggest bitch of a lead to face. I usually switch to rotom and hope for the sleep powder, because leaf storm hurts.
Ninjask:
Set up rocks and then phaze it out as it baton passes.
Hippowdon:
Rocks and then ice beam or roar it out.
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Roserade (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 HP/120 Spd/136 SDef
Calm nature (+SDef, -Atk)
- Spikes
- Energy Ball
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Rest
Roserades role on the team is to lay spikes, which is surprisingly easy as there are so many pokemon it can set up on. Thanks to its special bulk, rose can also double as a check to special threats such as Starmie. Rose acts as my initial switch in to things like Rotom and Bliss because of its ability to absorb status. Carefree switching to status is extremely helpful and prevents me from getting Tyranitar or Salamence burnt or para’d. I run HP ice so as to prevent DD Salamence from setting up and it works very nicely. Because this is a set rarely seen a lot of people switch in Mence believing that they can set up only to be killed in the process. HP ice also helps to take down Zapdos. I did run hp fire for a while which worked well too, however because I found Mence setting up on my team too easily. Because of natural cure, rest gives Roserade great longevity and he is able to come in over and over again without fear. The ease with which Roserade can lay spikes is just amazing and that is why he is such an integral part of this team.
The EVs and nature aim to gain as much special bulk as possible to promote longevity while retaining sufficient speed to outspeed defensive threats that carry taunt.
---
Tyranitar (M) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 4 HP/252 Atk/252 Spd
Jolly nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Stone Edge
- Crunch
- Pursuit
- Superpower
Tyranitar fulfils the role of my primary revenge killer and that in itself shows my vulnerability to setup sweepers. The only time such a pokemon is able to set up is if I find myself locked into either Superpower or Pursuit. For this reason I rarely find myself using these two moves. It acts to cover holes that I have left open, such as my weakness to Gengar, LO Starmie and Latias back when it was OU. Tyranitar acts to check Starmie far more often than Roserade and sub Gengar is an overall nuisance so if Tar can deal with him my other pokes have a much easier time fulfilling their roles. Tar also acts as my primary revenge killer for Lucario so that I don’t need to risk Mence being crippled beyond repair. Tyranitar acts in a way to support the other members of the team and for that he holds a crucial role. The synergy he creates with lead Swampert to deal with many leads is essential to prevent me from having a bad start to a match. He prevents me from being put on the back foot so that I can attempt to dictate the match.
Standard EVs and nature, maximising speed to outspeed base 115 pokemon such as Starmie and Azelf.
---
Salamence (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 16 Atk/252 Spd/240 SAtk
Naive nature (+Spd, -SDef)
- Draco Meteor
- Earthquake
- Fire Blast
- Roost
Salamence performs the most crucial role on the team, which is to rip massive chunks in whatever team type I am facing. His three moves provide unresisted coverage and when this is coupled with his great speed and attacking stats it is easy to see why Mence has been moved to ubers. As mentioned previously, with spikes and stealth rock support there is next to nothing that can switch in without fear. He forces switches and always tears apart the bulk of my oppositions team. With such strong support, prediction is made extremely easy and I rarely find myself overpredicting as there is simply no need to. I find roost to be a crucial move on this set, as it allows me to heal off sandstorm, life orb and stealth rock damage which can often restrict Mences ability to shine. Mence is crucial for this teams success thanks to its ability to break stall and weaken teams sufficiently for Jirachi to get a clean sweep. In a suspect version of this team I ran Dragonite however his lack of speed make him much less effective.
The EVs and nature are standard and I feel are by far the most effective when playing Mence as a stall breaker.
---
Rotom-w @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP/200 Def/16 Spd/40 SDef
Bold nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Rest
- Sleep Talk
- Thunderbolt
- Will-o-wisp
Rotom’s role within the team is primarily to act as a spin blocker, as spikes and stealth rock are crucial to the team’s success. He also acts as a sleep absorber and thanks to his great defensive bulk, a check to many offensive threats such as Scizor, Gyarados and Metagross. Without Rotom’s defensive coverage I would find myself being easily swept by a number of threats such as SD scizor and DD Gyarados, which is why I run such a defence orientated set. Along with Swampert and Tyranitar, Rotom helps to provide strong coverage against almost all of the top ten leads, which as I keep repeating ensures that I’m not put on the back foot because I lose out to a lead. I run Will-o-wisp over shadow ball as it allows me to deal with a greater number of threats and because I wouldn’t be keeping Rotom in on anything that shadow ball would hit effectively. It also means that if I predict other Scarf Tars I can cripple them and make them useless. Rotoms defensive coverage and ability to spin block make him an essential component of the team.
I've been running this spread on all my Rotoms ever since I saw Vashta's rmt. The defensive bulk is necessary so that Rotom can handle all the threats I need him to and the speed allows me to beat minimum speed Suicine.
---
Jirachi @ Leftovers
Ability: Serene Grace
EVs: 88 HP/252 Spd/168 SAtk
Timid nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Calm Mind
- Psychic
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power [Ground]
Jirachi is my final sweeper and a damn fine one at that. The moveset provides unresisted coverage and most importantly, it absolutely rapes Heatran. I’ve said it before and as I will say again, with such strong support from spikes, stealth rock and Mence, Jirachi is able to live up to its full potential and sweep incredibly well late game. Psychic deals with weakened Swampert, Rotom, Metagross, other Jirachi and even Gliscor. HP ground is primarily for Heatran, however it also helps to deal with Tyranitar and Lucario and is really just a great move to have. Thunderbolt obviously deals with all waters along with Skarm and other annoying pokes. It is very easy to get in a calm mind and proceed to sweep and once Jirachi sets up it becomes hard for my opposition to stop him as he resists priority moves. The speed allows me to outspeed Lucario, Heatran and tie with other base 100’s like Mence. I’ve tried out greater SpA, however I find that Jirachi really benefits from the extra speed.
I have maxed his speed to allow me to tie with other base 100s and outspeed all major threats bar infernape.
---
Conclusion:
This is one of the most effective teams that I have ever used and was incredibly strong in a metagame with both Latias and Salamence. After Latias left OU and Infernape became popular again I found that the team was beginning to become less effective. I have however had a great deal of success with it and would love suggestions to help improve it so that it works in the new metagame.
Threats:
I think that normal threat lists are excessive and just point out the obvious, so I’ll only be highlighting what I feel are my major threats. Might edit in something in greater depth soon.
Infernape – I really have nothing that can switch in freely to any Infernape set and I’m reluctant to revenge with Tar as a lot of sets carry vacuum wave. So Infernape is a major pain in the ass
Shuca Tran – If I know what moveset they are using then I can take it out with Mence or Swampert, however it often takes out a chunk of my team before I can work it out as hp ground doesn’t come near killing.
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