Hi! This is my second RMT on smogon forum and I hope you'll enjoy this much better than the former (I had very few comments T.T). I'm an italian player, in recent times I didn't have much time for competitive battling but a few days ago I came up with the idea that I'm going to show you. This is IMHO one of the most beautiful team I've ever made:
Teambuilding:
I always liked sun teams, however I've never built one before this one.
Now, all started with Venusaur and his LifeOrb custom-made moveset that I'll explain later.
To make it all work out Ninetales was the obvious next choice for the team.
Then I wanted something that could give Venusar a second life once its LifeOrb has taken him down too much, so I thought about Healing Wish but the only notable users are Jirachi, Celebi, Blissey and Lilligant but I thought they wouldn't fit well in my team for many reasons. However, there's a signature move that has the same effect of Healing Wish: LUNAR DANCE. The only pokemon able to learn it is Cresselia. She was a fantastic choice for the team as my physical wall.
Now I felt that I was missing something to really abuse Sun. It was time to introduce a fire pokemon that could hit hard and not weak to Stealth Rock (looking at you Volcarona). I needed also a Steel type pokemon as my only resistance to Dragon-type attacks so Heatran was another obvious choice. Now I can get my own SR on the field.
I didn't feel comfortable with the lack of a spinner so I started looking for one that could fit well in the team...
Starmie, TTar eats it, no.
Tentacruel, too poor offensive stats, no recovery, no usable STAB, no.
Donphan attracted me very much but I wasn't interested in dragon revengekilling and Stealth Rock already had a place in the team, sorry, no.
Cloyster, Forretress, Claydol, Blastoise, no no no no!
When I was looking for a spinner I noticed I was weak to pink blobs since I could not touch them. I needed a fighting-type spinner: Hitmontop.
Ok, now I wanted some raw physical power able to punch holes in the opposite team and to revengekill, all in a good overall bulkyness. Who's better than a dragon? Sorry, the Dragon: Dragonite.
In detail:
Ninetales (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: Drought
EVs: 248 HP / 120 SDef / 140 Spd
Calm Nature (+SDef, -Atk)
- Flamethrower
- Toxic
- Substitute
- Protect
Classical Sp. Defensive set to last longer in the match.
EVs given allow Ninetales an odd HP number and the Speed to outspeed and KO Toxicroak, the rest is put into SDef to back up its frailty and attempt to stall thanks to her moveset.
Flamethrower is the STAB of choice and with Toxic+Sub+Protect Ninetales can scout, cripple many switch-ins and stall them out.
I previously run Will'o 'Wisp over Toxic, but after the insertion of Hitmontop and Cresselia I felt covered enough against physical sweepers and I opted for Toxic for more accuracy and versatility.
IMHO is the best set for dealing with other weather inducers.
Venusaur (F) @ Life Orb
Trait: Chlorophyll
EVs: 4 HP / 76 Atk / 252 SAtk / 176 Spd
Hasty Nature (+Spd, -Def)
- SolarBeam
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Sunny Day
- Earthquake
The very start of everything.
I wanted something you don't see every day, that cure lure and kill some of its most common switch-ins like dragons and Heatran.
That's how my Venusaur is born =) 4 HP EVs bring the stat to 301 and consequently the recoil of Life Orb will be 30HP per turn, meaning that this Venusaur may attack 11 times before dying (I'm not counting other types of damage obv); 76 Atk EVs to OHKO Sp. Def. Heatran after Stealth Rock damage and all other versions of Heatran; 176 Spd EVs allow Venusaur to outspeed Scarf Latios that is the faster threat in the metagame (Scarf Starmie/Azelf DON'T EXIST!). The remaining EVs, 252, are put into SAtk to hit very very hard.
Moves: SolarBeam is the STAB of choice, with Life Orb boost can really rip holes into the opposite team and is supported by Sunny Day, this makes Venusaur my second weather inducer (this team is very Sun-dependent) and helps me to deal with other weather starters. HP Ice allow Venusaur to OHKO every flyling dragon and to severly dent non-flying ones. Earthquake is for Heatran and fire types in general.
Cresselia (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 248 HP / 228 Def / 32 SAtk
Bold Nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Ice Beam
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Moonlight
- Lunar Dance
And here's my second creation =) the concept behind her is to absorb those powerful Fighting and Groung (many times Rock-type too, with a +0 Jolly Terrakion dealing maximum 28,21% with Stone Edge) attacks that plague OU metagame and to sacrifice herself to give new life to a teammate thanks to Lunar Dance.
Furthermore, despite not having a dragon-type resistance, Cresselia loves switching into outraging dragons and KO them with Ice Beam. 32 SAtk EVs are given to OHKO 248 HP / 0 SDef Scizor in the sun with HP Fire (after Stealth Rock damage). Moonlight is for reliable recovery, restoring 66% of health in sunlight, Lunar Dance as my ultimate safety net =)
Though Ice Beam and HP Fire have an horrible coverage and Cresselia's very low offensive presence hinders them to higher levels, she really satisfied me and always did what I wanted her to do.
Heatran (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: Flash Fire
EVs: 248 HP / 100 SDef / 160 Spd
Calm Nature (+SDef, -Atk)
- Lava Plume
- Protect
- Roar
- Stealth Rock
I swapped Heatran's previous set for the Sp. Defensive set in order to tank Latios' DMeteors better and phaze those pesky CM users that I can't take down such as Latias and it's working very good. Lava Plume is the Sun-boosted STAB in order to deal reliable damage and the 30% burn rate is not so bad. The rest is pretty self explanatory: scout, phaze, rocks. 160 Spd EVs in order to outspeed BulkUp Breloom, maximed HP and the rest in SDef to maximize special bulk. (suggested by da hui, thanks)
Hitmontop (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Intimidate
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SDef
Impish Nature (+Def, -SAtk)
- Rapid Spin
- Close Combat
- Foresight
- Stone Edge
Now the much-needed spinner and only Rock-type resistance of the team.
Hitmontop is always able to spin away hazards thanks to Foresight that enables him to hit Ghost-types with Normal- and Fighting-type moves.
EVs are given to ensure him the maximum overall bulk. Even with no Atk EVs he can always 2HKO Blissey and Chansey (the latter after Stealth Rock damage). He's my go-to pokemon for Tyranitar; Close Combat OHKOes.
Intimidate is such a nice toy to have in a frail team like this and the combination between Himontop and Cresselia covers me from the majority of the physical attackers that infest OU.
Rapid Spin and Foresight are pretty obvious, Close Combat is the STAB of choice and Stone Edge is for coverage, does decent damage to Gyarados and Flying-types switching into Hitmontop and OHKOes Volcarona.
However I was thinking about switching Stone Edge for Sucker Punch to hit Ghost- and Psychic-types better, but I don't like the move very much, or for Mach Punch to deal better with SD Terrakion that gives me trouble...
Dragonite (F) @ Choice Band
Trait: Multiscale
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Outrage
- Fire Punch
- Earthquake
- ExtremeSpeed
Last but not least, Dragonite, the hard hitter of the team.
I chose the Choice Band set to pack an immediate powerhouse and a strong priority move in ExtremeSpeed.
Multiscale provides excellent bulkyness as long Dragonite's HP are intact.
Again, the EVs spread is self-explanatory, 252 Atk EVs Adamant to punch holes through the game immediately and pressure the opponent, 252 Spd EVs for maximum Speed obv.
Another reason I chose the CB set is that I didn't want to choose between Fire Punch, Earthquake and ExtremeSpeed and with this set I can pack all three the moves. Outrage is the jaw-dropping ridicolously powerful STAB of choice, ExtremeSpeed is the much-needed priority move, Fire Punch abuses Sun and Earthquake is again for Heatran and other Fire-type pokemons, Tyranitar, Tentacruel and so on.
Threats:
SubSD Terrakion is a real pain in the ass, if he manages to set up he can decimate my team in the blink of an eye.
Volcarona. My only chance is to have Stealth Rock on the opposite field, if so I'm able to revengekill with Nite, or hope that it doesn't have HP Ground for Heatran and Ninetales, in this case it's manageable.
Latios can hit my team very hard, if I somehow lose Heatran I need Cresselia in perfect shape to deal with him. However prediction is the best bet to deal with Specs variants, LO versions are a bit less manageable.
CM versions of Reuniclus may bother me, all I can do against it is to Outrage or roast it with Heatran's Fire Blast (2HKOes in sun even at +1), hoping its Focus Blast misses. Trick Room variants are not so troublesome.
SpecsTornadus is a pain as it can OHKO or 2HKO every single pokemon in my team. Fortunately Hurricane has 50% accuracy in Sun, but switching in Ninetales is risky. However, Dragonite can revengekill with ExtremeSpeed once Tornadus is worn down enough.
These are the threats I found playing the team, if you can see any other weakness please rate and advice me =)
I really like this team and I really want to improve it; so I hope you like this team too and that you can help me =)
This is the log of match with one of my italian teammates --> http://pokemon.aesoft.org/replay-TRkRoxas-Legend-vs-TRkDoomTrain--15-maggio-2012-at-20h25-private1213865051
Sunlight Flare
Teambuilding:
I always liked sun teams, however I've never built one before this one.
Now, all started with Venusaur and his LifeOrb custom-made moveset that I'll explain later.
To make it all work out Ninetales was the obvious next choice for the team.
Then I wanted something that could give Venusar a second life once its LifeOrb has taken him down too much, so I thought about Healing Wish but the only notable users are Jirachi, Celebi, Blissey and Lilligant but I thought they wouldn't fit well in my team for many reasons. However, there's a signature move that has the same effect of Healing Wish: LUNAR DANCE. The only pokemon able to learn it is Cresselia. She was a fantastic choice for the team as my physical wall.
Now I felt that I was missing something to really abuse Sun. It was time to introduce a fire pokemon that could hit hard and not weak to Stealth Rock (looking at you Volcarona). I needed also a Steel type pokemon as my only resistance to Dragon-type attacks so Heatran was another obvious choice. Now I can get my own SR on the field.
I didn't feel comfortable with the lack of a spinner so I started looking for one that could fit well in the team...
Starmie, TTar eats it, no.
Tentacruel, too poor offensive stats, no recovery, no usable STAB, no.
Donphan attracted me very much but I wasn't interested in dragon revengekilling and Stealth Rock already had a place in the team, sorry, no.
Cloyster, Forretress, Claydol, Blastoise, no no no no!
When I was looking for a spinner I noticed I was weak to pink blobs since I could not touch them. I needed a fighting-type spinner: Hitmontop.
Ok, now I wanted some raw physical power able to punch holes in the opposite team and to revengekill, all in a good overall bulkyness. Who's better than a dragon? Sorry, the Dragon: Dragonite.
In detail:
changes will be made in RED
Ninetales (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: Drought
EVs: 248 HP / 120 SDef / 140 Spd
Calm Nature (+SDef, -Atk)
- Flamethrower
- Toxic
- Substitute
- Protect
Classical Sp. Defensive set to last longer in the match.
EVs given allow Ninetales an odd HP number and the Speed to outspeed and KO Toxicroak, the rest is put into SDef to back up its frailty and attempt to stall thanks to her moveset.
Flamethrower is the STAB of choice and with Toxic+Sub+Protect Ninetales can scout, cripple many switch-ins and stall them out.
I previously run Will'o 'Wisp over Toxic, but after the insertion of Hitmontop and Cresselia I felt covered enough against physical sweepers and I opted for Toxic for more accuracy and versatility.
IMHO is the best set for dealing with other weather inducers.
Venusaur (F) @ Life Orb
Trait: Chlorophyll
EVs: 4 HP / 76 Atk / 252 SAtk / 176 Spd
Hasty Nature (+Spd, -Def)
- SolarBeam
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Sunny Day
- Earthquake
The very start of everything.
I wanted something you don't see every day, that cure lure and kill some of its most common switch-ins like dragons and Heatran.
That's how my Venusaur is born =) 4 HP EVs bring the stat to 301 and consequently the recoil of Life Orb will be 30HP per turn, meaning that this Venusaur may attack 11 times before dying (I'm not counting other types of damage obv); 76 Atk EVs to OHKO Sp. Def. Heatran after Stealth Rock damage and all other versions of Heatran; 176 Spd EVs allow Venusaur to outspeed Scarf Latios that is the faster threat in the metagame (Scarf Starmie/Azelf DON'T EXIST!). The remaining EVs, 252, are put into SAtk to hit very very hard.
Moves: SolarBeam is the STAB of choice, with Life Orb boost can really rip holes into the opposite team and is supported by Sunny Day, this makes Venusaur my second weather inducer (this team is very Sun-dependent) and helps me to deal with other weather starters. HP Ice allow Venusaur to OHKO every flyling dragon and to severly dent non-flying ones. Earthquake is for Heatran and fire types in general.
Cresselia (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 248 HP / 228 Def / 32 SAtk
Bold Nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Ice Beam
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Moonlight
- Lunar Dance
And here's my second creation =) the concept behind her is to absorb those powerful Fighting and Groung (many times Rock-type too, with a +0 Jolly Terrakion dealing maximum 28,21% with Stone Edge) attacks that plague OU metagame and to sacrifice herself to give new life to a teammate thanks to Lunar Dance.
Furthermore, despite not having a dragon-type resistance, Cresselia loves switching into outraging dragons and KO them with Ice Beam. 32 SAtk EVs are given to OHKO 248 HP / 0 SDef Scizor in the sun with HP Fire (after Stealth Rock damage). Moonlight is for reliable recovery, restoring 66% of health in sunlight, Lunar Dance as my ultimate safety net =)
Though Ice Beam and HP Fire have an horrible coverage and Cresselia's very low offensive presence hinders them to higher levels, she really satisfied me and always did what I wanted her to do.
Heatran (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: Flash Fire
EVs: 248 HP / 100 SDef / 160 Spd
Calm Nature (+SDef, -Atk)
- Lava Plume
- Protect
- Roar
- Stealth Rock
I swapped Heatran's previous set for the Sp. Defensive set in order to tank Latios' DMeteors better and phaze those pesky CM users that I can't take down such as Latias and it's working very good. Lava Plume is the Sun-boosted STAB in order to deal reliable damage and the 30% burn rate is not so bad. The rest is pretty self explanatory: scout, phaze, rocks. 160 Spd EVs in order to outspeed BulkUp Breloom, maximed HP and the rest in SDef to maximize special bulk. (suggested by da hui, thanks)
previous set:
Heatran (F) @ Air Balloon
Trait: Flash Fire
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Fire Blast
- Earth Power
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Stealth Rock
Now Heatran, she's my only Steel type and therefore my only dragon-type resistance.
I choose Air Balloon Heatran 'cause I wanted something really offensive that could take advantage of Sun. And with a monstrous 130 SAtk Base Stat and STAB fire-type attacks she can do sooooo good.
EVs spread is pretty self-explanatory, maximum Spd and SAtk to hit the hardest she can, the fastest she can.
Fire Blast is the absurdly powerful STAB move of choice, ripping everything that switches in that doesn't resist to, Earth Power and HP Ice for coverage issues, the former allow my Heatran to deal with other Heatrans and the latter can OHKO Gliscor and Landorus. Stealth Rock is simply the best move in the game =)
Heatran (F) @ Air Balloon
Trait: Flash Fire
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Fire Blast
- Earth Power
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Stealth Rock
Now Heatran, she's my only Steel type and therefore my only dragon-type resistance.
I choose Air Balloon Heatran 'cause I wanted something really offensive that could take advantage of Sun. And with a monstrous 130 SAtk Base Stat and STAB fire-type attacks she can do sooooo good.
EVs spread is pretty self-explanatory, maximum Spd and SAtk to hit the hardest she can, the fastest she can.
Fire Blast is the absurdly powerful STAB move of choice, ripping everything that switches in that doesn't resist to, Earth Power and HP Ice for coverage issues, the former allow my Heatran to deal with other Heatrans and the latter can OHKO Gliscor and Landorus. Stealth Rock is simply the best move in the game =)
Hitmontop (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Intimidate
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SDef
Impish Nature (+Def, -SAtk)
- Rapid Spin
- Close Combat
- Foresight
- Stone Edge
Now the much-needed spinner and only Rock-type resistance of the team.
Hitmontop is always able to spin away hazards thanks to Foresight that enables him to hit Ghost-types with Normal- and Fighting-type moves.
EVs are given to ensure him the maximum overall bulk. Even with no Atk EVs he can always 2HKO Blissey and Chansey (the latter after Stealth Rock damage). He's my go-to pokemon for Tyranitar; Close Combat OHKOes.
Intimidate is such a nice toy to have in a frail team like this and the combination between Himontop and Cresselia covers me from the majority of the physical attackers that infest OU.
Rapid Spin and Foresight are pretty obvious, Close Combat is the STAB of choice and Stone Edge is for coverage, does decent damage to Gyarados and Flying-types switching into Hitmontop and OHKOes Volcarona.
However I was thinking about switching Stone Edge for Sucker Punch to hit Ghost- and Psychic-types better, but I don't like the move very much, or for Mach Punch to deal better with SD Terrakion that gives me trouble...
Dragonite (F) @ Choice Band
Trait: Multiscale
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Outrage
- Fire Punch
- Earthquake
- ExtremeSpeed
Last but not least, Dragonite, the hard hitter of the team.
I chose the Choice Band set to pack an immediate powerhouse and a strong priority move in ExtremeSpeed.
Multiscale provides excellent bulkyness as long Dragonite's HP are intact.
Again, the EVs spread is self-explanatory, 252 Atk EVs Adamant to punch holes through the game immediately and pressure the opponent, 252 Spd EVs for maximum Speed obv.
Another reason I chose the CB set is that I didn't want to choose between Fire Punch, Earthquake and ExtremeSpeed and with this set I can pack all three the moves. Outrage is the jaw-dropping ridicolously powerful STAB of choice, ExtremeSpeed is the much-needed priority move, Fire Punch abuses Sun and Earthquake is again for Heatran and other Fire-type pokemons, Tyranitar, Tentacruel and so on.
Threats:
SubSD Terrakion is a real pain in the ass, if he manages to set up he can decimate my team in the blink of an eye.
Volcarona. My only chance is to have Stealth Rock on the opposite field, if so I'm able to revengekill with Nite, or hope that it doesn't have HP Ground for Heatran and Ninetales, in this case it's manageable.
Latios can hit my team very hard, if I somehow lose Heatran I need Cresselia in perfect shape to deal with him. However prediction is the best bet to deal with Specs variants, LO versions are a bit less manageable.
CM versions of Reuniclus may bother me, all I can do against it is to Outrage or roast it with Heatran's Fire Blast (2HKOes in sun even at +1), hoping its Focus Blast misses. Trick Room variants are not so troublesome.
SpecsTornadus is a pain as it can OHKO or 2HKO every single pokemon in my team. Fortunately Hurricane has 50% accuracy in Sun, but switching in Ninetales is risky. However, Dragonite can revengekill with ExtremeSpeed once Tornadus is worn down enough.
These are the threats I found playing the team, if you can see any other weakness please rate and advice me =)
I really like this team and I really want to improve it; so I hope you like this team too and that you can help me =)
This is the log of match with one of my italian teammates --> http://pokemon.aesoft.org/replay-TRkRoxas-Legend-vs-TRkDoomTrain--15-maggio-2012-at-20h25-private1213865051
