I went into making this team wanting to use Scizor. For whatever reason, I'd never used Scizor on any successful team, so I built this team around Scizor. I've had a lot of fun with this team. Without further ado, here it is:
(Overview) Scizor, Rotom-W, Celebi, Starmie, Skarmory, Garchomp.
Scizor @ Choice Band
Trait: Technician
EVs: 252 Atk / 248 HP / 8 SDef
Adamant Nature
- U-turn
- Bullet Punch
- Superpower
- Pursuit
Part of the Volturn Combo, Scizor also helps out by trapping psychics and cleaning up with Bullet punch. He has a variety of handy resistances and an immunity that make him invaluable to the team. His main problem is my problem-- deciding when to use U turn and when to go for bullet punch or an all out attack. He usually gets taken down if I mispredict and get surprised with a fire attack, or too many powerful special attacks get to him. If Skarmory is gone, he is my only switch in on dragons and that can whittle him down quickly.
.
Rotom-Wash @ Leftovers
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 232 HP / 56 SAtk / 220 Spd
- Volt Switch
- Hydro Pump
- Will-O-Wisp
- Pain Split
Another part of the Volturn Combo, Rotom is also my main status inducer. He has nice synergy with Scizor because he resists fire. I usually lead with Rotom, and almost always go for Will-O-Wisp to start with passive damage against walls that may want to switch in on him (especially ground types) as well as crippling any physical attacks that switch in first turn such as Garchomp or Mamoswine. Rotom is one of the MVPs of my team since burning physical attacks can essentially end a game, allowing me to set up with Skarmory or sweep more easily.
.
Celebi @ Leftovers
Trait: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 HP / 236 SDef / 20 Spd
Calm Nature
- Heal Bell
- Giga Drain
- Recover
- U-turn
My last Volturn Pokemon. This is my main specially defensive wall, and has great recovery with both recover and giga drain. I keep Heal Bell on him just in case one of my physical attackers gets burned, or Rotom gets toxic'd. He used to have stealth rock, but after playtesting, I decided that I needed a dedicated rocker, so I picked heal bell arbitrarily over psychic because I didn't really need the psychic attack. Hence Starmie. I am happy with my Celebi set, but I think it can be improved. I've noticed that often, I will switch Celebi in on a special attack and take almost no damage, but then find I have nothing I can really do to the attacker in return.
.
Starmie @ Life Orb
Trait: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 SAtk / 4 SDef
Timid Nature
- Ice Beam
- Rapid Spin
- Surf
- Psyshock
Surprisingly, this Starmie has swept more times than any other of my pokemon. His speed is enough to take out most of the meta, and with a life orb he is able to pull off a lot of OHKOs and 2HKOs. I chose psychic over Tbolt because I figured I have enough to take out water types and I wanted to free up Celebi from needing a psychic move. After a lot of testing, I'm wondering if rapid spin is even worth keeping on this set. I know, spinning can be essential, but starmie is so weak that spinning usually results in his death, and I think I've lost more often because starmie, at present, can't really do anything against bulky water types, especially Jellicent.
.
Skarmory (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: Sturdy
EVs: 232 Def / 252 HP / 24 Spd
Bold Nature
- Brave Bird
- Spikes
- Whirlwind
- Roost
Mainly a utility pokemon, my Skarmory still comes in handy. Entry hazards are obviously a huge part of the meta, and it's always good to get them up. Whirlwind is enough to take down most wanna be smash passers or full out baton pass sweepers, as well as most dragons that try to set up. I'm definitely open to suggestions on how to maximize Skarmories usefulness. Recently, I changed taunt out for Brave Bird, and that has been extremely helpful. It provides almost a foolproof counter (in conjunction with Celebi) to Breloom.
.
Garchomp @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Rough Skin
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 Atk / 4 SpAtk Naive Nature
- Dragon Claw
- Fire Blast - Earthquake
- Outrage
My scarfer and second physical attacker. Garchomp comes in handy whenever there's a faster threat that needs to be taken down ASAP. I have both dragon claw and outrage on here because sometimes I just have to have a kill and other times I may fear a steel type coming in.It's nice to be able to switch out when you only need to do a little bit of damage to finish off an opponent. However, I find I don't really need both of these moves, and if anyone has a good suggestion for Garchomp, I'm all ears. Fire Blast is, obviously, for Ferrothorn and Forretress.
.
.
So there's my team. I've found pretty good success with it, getting my ranking on PS to oscillate around mid to low 1800's I understand that's not amazing, but it is the highest I've been able to ladder with any team. I find I have a problem taking out good stall teams, especially sand stall and heatran/Jellicent cores. I don't have too much of a problem with any other types of teams, except maybe really well made hyper offense teams, but those can be a problem for virtually anyone. I think I have a good team, but I think it needs some work to become all it can be. Thanks a lot for any suggestions!
If anyone is curious, here are some (optional of course) replays of me using this team against good opponents:
http://pokemonshowdown.com/replay/ou-43677388 (WIN)
http://pokemonshowdown.com/replay/ou-44088515 (LOSS to stall)
(Overview) Scizor, Rotom-W, Celebi, Starmie, Skarmory, Garchomp.
Scizor @ Choice Band
Trait: Technician
EVs: 252 Atk / 248 HP / 8 SDef
Adamant Nature
- U-turn
- Bullet Punch
- Superpower
- Pursuit
Part of the Volturn Combo, Scizor also helps out by trapping psychics and cleaning up with Bullet punch. He has a variety of handy resistances and an immunity that make him invaluable to the team. His main problem is my problem-- deciding when to use U turn and when to go for bullet punch or an all out attack. He usually gets taken down if I mispredict and get surprised with a fire attack, or too many powerful special attacks get to him. If Skarmory is gone, he is my only switch in on dragons and that can whittle him down quickly.
.
Rotom-Wash @ Leftovers
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 232 HP / 56 SAtk / 220 Spd
- Volt Switch
- Hydro Pump
- Will-O-Wisp
- Pain Split
Another part of the Volturn Combo, Rotom is also my main status inducer. He has nice synergy with Scizor because he resists fire. I usually lead with Rotom, and almost always go for Will-O-Wisp to start with passive damage against walls that may want to switch in on him (especially ground types) as well as crippling any physical attacks that switch in first turn such as Garchomp or Mamoswine. Rotom is one of the MVPs of my team since burning physical attacks can essentially end a game, allowing me to set up with Skarmory or sweep more easily.
.
Celebi @ Leftovers
Trait: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 HP / 236 SDef / 20 Spd
Calm Nature
- Heal Bell
- Giga Drain
- Recover
- U-turn
My last Volturn Pokemon. This is my main specially defensive wall, and has great recovery with both recover and giga drain. I keep Heal Bell on him just in case one of my physical attackers gets burned, or Rotom gets toxic'd. He used to have stealth rock, but after playtesting, I decided that I needed a dedicated rocker, so I picked heal bell arbitrarily over psychic because I didn't really need the psychic attack. Hence Starmie. I am happy with my Celebi set, but I think it can be improved. I've noticed that often, I will switch Celebi in on a special attack and take almost no damage, but then find I have nothing I can really do to the attacker in return.
.
Starmie @ Life Orb
Trait: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 SAtk / 4 SDef
Timid Nature
- Ice Beam
- Rapid Spin
- Surf
- Psyshock
Surprisingly, this Starmie has swept more times than any other of my pokemon. His speed is enough to take out most of the meta, and with a life orb he is able to pull off a lot of OHKOs and 2HKOs. I chose psychic over Tbolt because I figured I have enough to take out water types and I wanted to free up Celebi from needing a psychic move. After a lot of testing, I'm wondering if rapid spin is even worth keeping on this set. I know, spinning can be essential, but starmie is so weak that spinning usually results in his death, and I think I've lost more often because starmie, at present, can't really do anything against bulky water types, especially Jellicent.
.
Skarmory (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: Sturdy
EVs: 232 Def / 252 HP / 24 Spd
Bold Nature
- Brave Bird
- Spikes
- Whirlwind
- Roost
Mainly a utility pokemon, my Skarmory still comes in handy. Entry hazards are obviously a huge part of the meta, and it's always good to get them up. Whirlwind is enough to take down most wanna be smash passers or full out baton pass sweepers, as well as most dragons that try to set up. I'm definitely open to suggestions on how to maximize Skarmories usefulness. Recently, I changed taunt out for Brave Bird, and that has been extremely helpful. It provides almost a foolproof counter (in conjunction with Celebi) to Breloom.
.
Garchomp @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Rough Skin
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 Atk / 4 SpAtk Naive Nature
- Dragon Claw
- Fire Blast - Earthquake
- Outrage
My scarfer and second physical attacker. Garchomp comes in handy whenever there's a faster threat that needs to be taken down ASAP. I have both dragon claw and outrage on here because sometimes I just have to have a kill and other times I may fear a steel type coming in.It's nice to be able to switch out when you only need to do a little bit of damage to finish off an opponent. However, I find I don't really need both of these moves, and if anyone has a good suggestion for Garchomp, I'm all ears. Fire Blast is, obviously, for Ferrothorn and Forretress.
.
.
So there's my team. I've found pretty good success with it, getting my ranking on PS to oscillate around mid to low 1800's I understand that's not amazing, but it is the highest I've been able to ladder with any team. I find I have a problem taking out good stall teams, especially sand stall and heatran/Jellicent cores. I don't have too much of a problem with any other types of teams, except maybe really well made hyper offense teams, but those can be a problem for virtually anyone. I think I have a good team, but I think it needs some work to become all it can be. Thanks a lot for any suggestions!
If anyone is curious, here are some (optional of course) replays of me using this team against good opponents:
http://pokemonshowdown.com/replay/ou-43677388 (WIN)
http://pokemonshowdown.com/replay/ou-44088515 (LOSS to stall)
