I am new to the B/W competitive battling environment so I need some help with team building. As the title of this thread suggests, this is a team based around Starmie. I have always loved Starmie. First, It has a cool design. (Actually, I love most of the water types from the first generation). Second, it has a versatile movepool and a decent stat distribution. Starmie has been in the OU from the beginning of competitive battling. Back in the old days, Starmie is a fearsome special sweeper with many special attack options and a high speed to utilize them. As the gameplay environment changes, Starmie has started to take on a more supportive role. I’ve decided to bring back the old glory of Starmie and use it as my offensive core.
It is a team based around Starmie, of course it starts with a Starmie. Although its special attack isn’t too impressive, it is compensated by its wide movepool. But it still does not have enough punch compared to other Pokemon in today’s metagame. I think about how to increase Starmie’s offensive prowess. So I equipped it with Choice Specs. But this is still not enough. That’s why I added Politoed.
Under rain, Starmie’s Hydro Pump becomes extremely powerful. Thunder also becomes an option for Starmie, which is a much better attack than Thunderbolt.
Next, I think some entry hazards will be extremely helpful to Starmie I choose Forretress over Ferrothorn because of Forretress ability to rapid spin away the entry hazards that my opponents set up. It is important as Starmie will be constantly switched in and out.
As I have set up the rain, I think I should add another abuser of the rain and I need a Wallbreaker. I have thought of Cloyster but I don’t want to add another water type pokemon as there are already two and I think of Dragonite. Its Hurricane is very powerful under rain.
I want to set up all kinds of entry hazards but still keep the team on a more offensive side. My Forretress can set up the spikes and I think which Pokemon can set up Stealth Rock but remains pretty powerful. That’s when Metagross came to my mind.
I want to keep my rain without being changed by other weather inducers, so I decided to add Dugtrio to trap and kill Pokemon like Ninetails or Tyrannitar.
However, after some playtesting, I found that Dugtrio is simply too weak and is a dead weight most of the time. So I switched to Landorus. It has a much higher Attack stat than Dugtrio and can function pretty well as a revenge killer.
This is how my team came together.
Metagross @ Leftovers
Trait: Clear Body
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Spe
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SpA)
-Stealth Rock
-Meteor Mash
-Hammer Arm
-Bullet Punch
I often start with Metagross to set up the Stealth Rock which gives residue damage that allowed my Starmie to kill off opposing Pokemons. Hammer Arm is excellent to kill Tyrannitar, which can remove my rain. Bullet Punch is a priority move that can make up for Metagross subpar speed and kill weakened opponents. Meteor Mash is here for STAB. The occasional attack boost is great too. It can hit hard and take hit quite well. The EV spread is to make it a powerful tank
Starmie @ Choice Specs
Trait: Natural Cure
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature (+Spe, -Atk)
-Hydro Pump
-Ice Beam
-Thunder
-Trick
Offensive Starmie’s biggest enemies are Chanseys and Blisseys. Therefore, I use Trick to cripple them. I’ve tried Psyshock before but I think Trick is generally more useful as Psychic is a poor offensive type. Hydro Pump and Thunder is very powerful moves under rain. But Hydro Pump is missing a lot lately so I am considering switching to Surf, which is less powerful but more accurate and safe. Ice Beam is for coverage and to eliminate those nasty dragons in OU. Choice Specs gives Starmie enough punch to power through defensive Pokemon in today’s metagame. I choose the +Spe nature as it needs to be as fast as possible take down its opponents before being taken out.
Forretress @ Leftovers
Trait: Sturdy
EVs: 252 HP / 176 Def / 80 SpD
Relaxed Nature (+Def, -Spd)
-Toxic Spikes
-Spikes
-Rapid Spin
-Earthquake
Toxic Spikes and Spikes are important to the team as it gives entry damage to the opponents to help my Pokemons to kill. Laying down entry hazards is essential to this team. It helps me in many OHKOs when I am testing. Rapid Spin is important as this team has to switch a lot. It can help my Pokemon survive. Earthquake is a high power attack that makes Forretress not complete Taunt bait. I choose the Defensive set as there are more Physical Attackers than Special ones in today’s metagame.
Dragonite @ Life Orb
Trait: Multiscale
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 SpA / 4 Spe
Rash Nature (+SpA, -SpD)
-ExtremeSpeed
-Hurricane
-Brick Break
-Aqua Tail
Dragonite can abuse the now 100% accuracy Hurricane and Aqua Tail is great in the rain. ExtremeSpeed is a great priority that finishes off weak opponents and Brick Break is here to hit Ferrothorn as it likes to switch in on my Dragonite. This Dragonite functions as a Wallbreaker that weakens the Walls that stand in the way of my Starmie. The Life Orb set is chosen to increase the offensiveness of my team as I don’t like stalling very much. The +SpA is to give more power to Hurricane. As the Walls it will be facing is generally very slow and it will outspeed them anyway so only 4 speed EVs are given to it.
Politoed @ Leftovers
Trait: Drizzle
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature (+Def, -Atk)
-Scald
-Toxic
-Perish Song
-Protect
It is here for the rain that comes with it, which makes Starmie’s Hydro Pump extremely powerful. Scald can score an occasional burn that proves to be helpful sometimes to help wearing down walls or cripple physical attackers. Toxic is used to deal with other walls especially Rotom-W which has the ability Levitate and is unaffected by Toxic Spikes. I use Perish Song against set up Pokemons or generally anything I am not able to deal with to force them out and to rack up entry damage. Protect is for gaining Leftovers recovery and stall out Perish Song turn. It can also sponge Fire attacks aimed at my Forretress. The EV spread is to make it as bulky as possible.
Landorus @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Sand Force
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Naïve Nature (+Spe, -SpD)
-Earthquake
-Stone Edge
-U-turn
-Hidden Power Ice
Landorus is the revenge killer of my team. It hits harder than Dugtrio. That is why I choose Landorus over the three-headed Pokemon. Earthquake and Stone Edge provides good coverage to many of the Pokemon. U-turn is for scouting and Hidden Power Ice is to kill the Dragon Danced dragons in which otherwise I am hopeless against. As most of my team is not very fast, Landrous helps me deal with the faster opponents. I make it as fast as possible so it can be effective in revenge killing
So this is my team. One of the most annoying threat is Ferrothorn as none of my Pokemon can OHKO it without a critical hit and it will Leech Seed me. Fire type moves are crippled in the rain and it becomes more difficult to take down Ferrothorn. It is quite annoying. I usually deal with it by Tricking it with Starmie or switching to Metagross to Hammer Arm it. Rotom-W is also quite annoying as its Hydro Pump is very powerful in rain. I usually switch to Politoed and Toxic it. Espeon can bounce back my entry hazard but as long as I am careful when battling after I see it in the team preview. It is not too problematic.. Please rate my team and help me get better in team building.
Team Building Process
It is a team based around Starmie, of course it starts with a Starmie. Although its special attack isn’t too impressive, it is compensated by its wide movepool. But it still does not have enough punch compared to other Pokemon in today’s metagame. I think about how to increase Starmie’s offensive prowess. So I equipped it with Choice Specs. But this is still not enough. That’s why I added Politoed.
Under rain, Starmie’s Hydro Pump becomes extremely powerful. Thunder also becomes an option for Starmie, which is a much better attack than Thunderbolt.
Next, I think some entry hazards will be extremely helpful to Starmie I choose Forretress over Ferrothorn because of Forretress ability to rapid spin away the entry hazards that my opponents set up. It is important as Starmie will be constantly switched in and out.
As I have set up the rain, I think I should add another abuser of the rain and I need a Wallbreaker. I have thought of Cloyster but I don’t want to add another water type pokemon as there are already two and I think of Dragonite. Its Hurricane is very powerful under rain.
I want to set up all kinds of entry hazards but still keep the team on a more offensive side. My Forretress can set up the spikes and I think which Pokemon can set up Stealth Rock but remains pretty powerful. That’s when Metagross came to my mind.
I want to keep my rain without being changed by other weather inducers, so I decided to add Dugtrio to trap and kill Pokemon like Ninetails or Tyrannitar.
However, after some playtesting, I found that Dugtrio is simply too weak and is a dead weight most of the time. So I switched to Landorus. It has a much higher Attack stat than Dugtrio and can function pretty well as a revenge killer.
This is how my team came together.
The Team
Metagross @ Leftovers
Trait: Clear Body
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Spe
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SpA)
-Stealth Rock
-Meteor Mash
-Hammer Arm
-Bullet Punch
I often start with Metagross to set up the Stealth Rock which gives residue damage that allowed my Starmie to kill off opposing Pokemons. Hammer Arm is excellent to kill Tyrannitar, which can remove my rain. Bullet Punch is a priority move that can make up for Metagross subpar speed and kill weakened opponents. Meteor Mash is here for STAB. The occasional attack boost is great too. It can hit hard and take hit quite well. The EV spread is to make it a powerful tank
Starmie @ Choice Specs
Trait: Natural Cure
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature (+Spe, -Atk)
-Hydro Pump
-Ice Beam
-Thunder
-Trick
Offensive Starmie’s biggest enemies are Chanseys and Blisseys. Therefore, I use Trick to cripple them. I’ve tried Psyshock before but I think Trick is generally more useful as Psychic is a poor offensive type. Hydro Pump and Thunder is very powerful moves under rain. But Hydro Pump is missing a lot lately so I am considering switching to Surf, which is less powerful but more accurate and safe. Ice Beam is for coverage and to eliminate those nasty dragons in OU. Choice Specs gives Starmie enough punch to power through defensive Pokemon in today’s metagame. I choose the +Spe nature as it needs to be as fast as possible take down its opponents before being taken out.
Forretress @ Leftovers
Trait: Sturdy
EVs: 252 HP / 176 Def / 80 SpD
Relaxed Nature (+Def, -Spd)
-Toxic Spikes
-Spikes
-Rapid Spin
-Earthquake
Toxic Spikes and Spikes are important to the team as it gives entry damage to the opponents to help my Pokemons to kill. Laying down entry hazards is essential to this team. It helps me in many OHKOs when I am testing. Rapid Spin is important as this team has to switch a lot. It can help my Pokemon survive. Earthquake is a high power attack that makes Forretress not complete Taunt bait. I choose the Defensive set as there are more Physical Attackers than Special ones in today’s metagame.
Dragonite @ Life Orb
Trait: Multiscale
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 SpA / 4 Spe
Rash Nature (+SpA, -SpD)
-ExtremeSpeed
-Hurricane
-Brick Break
-Aqua Tail
Dragonite can abuse the now 100% accuracy Hurricane and Aqua Tail is great in the rain. ExtremeSpeed is a great priority that finishes off weak opponents and Brick Break is here to hit Ferrothorn as it likes to switch in on my Dragonite. This Dragonite functions as a Wallbreaker that weakens the Walls that stand in the way of my Starmie. The Life Orb set is chosen to increase the offensiveness of my team as I don’t like stalling very much. The +SpA is to give more power to Hurricane. As the Walls it will be facing is generally very slow and it will outspeed them anyway so only 4 speed EVs are given to it.
Politoed @ Leftovers
Trait: Drizzle
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature (+Def, -Atk)
-Scald
-Toxic
-Perish Song
-Protect
It is here for the rain that comes with it, which makes Starmie’s Hydro Pump extremely powerful. Scald can score an occasional burn that proves to be helpful sometimes to help wearing down walls or cripple physical attackers. Toxic is used to deal with other walls especially Rotom-W which has the ability Levitate and is unaffected by Toxic Spikes. I use Perish Song against set up Pokemons or generally anything I am not able to deal with to force them out and to rack up entry damage. Protect is for gaining Leftovers recovery and stall out Perish Song turn. It can also sponge Fire attacks aimed at my Forretress. The EV spread is to make it as bulky as possible.
Landorus @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Sand Force
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Naïve Nature (+Spe, -SpD)
-Earthquake
-Stone Edge
-U-turn
-Hidden Power Ice
Landorus is the revenge killer of my team. It hits harder than Dugtrio. That is why I choose Landorus over the three-headed Pokemon. Earthquake and Stone Edge provides good coverage to many of the Pokemon. U-turn is for scouting and Hidden Power Ice is to kill the Dragon Danced dragons in which otherwise I am hopeless against. As most of my team is not very fast, Landrous helps me deal with the faster opponents. I make it as fast as possible so it can be effective in revenge killing
So this is my team. One of the most annoying threat is Ferrothorn as none of my Pokemon can OHKO it without a critical hit and it will Leech Seed me. Fire type moves are crippled in the rain and it becomes more difficult to take down Ferrothorn. It is quite annoying. I usually deal with it by Tricking it with Starmie or switching to Metagross to Hammer Arm it. Rotom-W is also quite annoying as its Hydro Pump is very powerful in rain. I usually switch to Politoed and Toxic it. Espeon can bounce back my entry hazard but as long as I am careful when battling after I see it in the team preview. It is not too problematic.. Please rate my team and help me get better in team building.
