Taking the Offensive

[Chessmanlo]

Hi there! My battling name is chessmanlo, and I created this team for NU, as it was the tier I first started playing in. Although this is not my first team, I find that it is the most successful out of the three months that I have been playing NU. Please rate my team, and leave and suggestions on what I should change.

Armaldo (M) Leftovers
Ability: Swift Swim
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 Atk / 4 HP
Adamant Nature
- Superpower
- Rock Blast
- Rapid Spin
- Stealth Rock

Armaldo is my lead, and like most other leads, he sets up SR, maybe get a little damage off, then get the hell out of there. Also functions as a spinner, which is really helpful in getting SR off the field for Charizard. Focus sash is for getting up SR safely (might replace for lefties). I find that Swift Swim is a lot more useful than shell armor because SS also lets me be a lot faster than normal.

Miltank (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Thick Fat
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 SDef
Impish Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Milk Drink
- Heal Bell
- Toxic
- Seismic Toss

Miltank is my physical and special wall, and it helps wear down opponents with Toxic and Seismic toss, heal bell gives a crippled pokemon like a burned samurott or sawk another chance to sweep, as well as clearing status. Milk drink is for recovery, blah blah blah. (Not sure if I should choose thick fat or Sap sipper, so please help me on this. Thick fat is for other jynx or charizard, but Sap sipper is for tangela, who would continually annoy my team with sleep or poson.) 0 atk IVs are for that random foul play, since Miltank relies on seismic toss and toxic to do damage anyways.

Jynx (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Dry Skin
EVs: 148 HP / 252 SAtk / 108 Spd
Modest Nature
- Substitute
- Nasty Plot
- Ice Beam
- Lovely Kiss

Most people judge Jynx at first sight. But their thoughts change once they get swept with a +4 ice beam. The way it works is to lovely kiss, sub, nasty plot, then sweep with ice beam. I've won a lot of matches like that. Jynx's ability Dry skin gives it an immunity to water types, and heals it in rain and whenever Jynx is hit by a water-type move. This makes Jynx easily switchable, as it can always recover SR damage from a predicted aqua jet or waterfall. Jynx is also my main rain team counter, along with Armaldo.

Sawk (M) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Mold Breaker
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 Atk / 4 SDef
Jolly Nature
- Close Combat
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- Ice Punch

Scarfed Sawk is seen less than his brother, banded sawk, but he plays a the very important role of revenge killer. Even though he may lack the power that banded Sawk may have, most pokemon he is trying revenge kill have already taken prior damage, so that does not matter much.

Samurott (M) @ Life orb
Ability: Torrent
EVs: 252 Atk / 202 HP / 54 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Megahorn
- Aqua Jet
- Razor Shell
- Swords Dance

This is your basic samurott. Switch into something it scares out, set up SD, then attempt to sweep. Aqua Jet is for priority, Waterfall for STAB, and Megahorn for coverage. (Yeah, basic Samurott.) The only thing holding back samurott is its speed, but aqua jet takes care of that.

Charizard (M) @ Choice Specs
Ability: Blaze
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 Atk / 4 HP
Jolly Nature
- HP rock
- Fire Blast
- Air Slash
- Dragon Pulse

I agree with all those Charizard fanboys out there, mainly because of Charizard's amazing offensive capabilities. Now down to the set. Switch in onto something that it scares out, set up SD, then sweep with flare blitz and acrobatics. Flying gem is to get a one-time base 165 attack, and flare blitz it for stab. Recoil and SR hurt though, so I put in roost to heal off damage.


(I may consider an electric type to revenge kill swellow or just attacking, so please leave suggestions.)
(I may also consider a ghost type to spin-block, so I'm open to suggestions, I just don't know who to replace.)


So that's my team. Please rate it, and thanks for reading!


P.S. This is my first post, so don't be too harsh. Thanks.

 

[Royalty]

Pretty neat team you got going on here but I'd like to make a few suggestions.

Change armaldo to a defensive spread with 248hp/252def/8atk Impish with lefties and replace superpower with x scissor.

Make miltank specially defensive as it will be able to take hits from the more common special attackers in the tier while all fighting types are going to be hitting it from the physical side anyway in which it won't be living too long. 252hp/252SpDef/4atk Careful with lefties and the same move set.

Jynx is fine I guess but I don't see why you wouldn't want to run max speed as it really isn't going to be living too many hits anyways while it can outspeed unscarfed 295s and tie the 317s.

Samurott can change razor shell for waterfall if you care about accuracy. You can also change life orb for splash plate to reduce the amount of wear and tear on its HP.

Sawk is standard sawk although running dual chop is pretty unnecessary as if you want to hit altaria ice punch does it better so I recommend changing this to ice punch or toxic to hit incoming walls such as misdreavus.

While it is cool using a physical charizard, most of the pokes that wall it are physically defensive and in most cases the specs set is much more powerful. 252sp atk/252 speed/timid w/ fire blast/air slash/hp grass/flamethrower.

 

[Brawlfest]

Pretty neat team you got going on here but I'd like to make a few suggestions.

Change armaldo to a defensive spread with 248hp/252def/8atk Impish with lefties and replace superpower with x scissor.

Make miltank specially defensive as it will be able to take hits from the more common special attackers in the tier while all fighting types are going to be hitting it from the physical side anyway in which it won't be living too long. 252hp/252SpDef/4atk Careful with lefties and the same move set.

Jynx is fine I guess but I don't see why you wouldn't want to run max speed as it really isn't going to be living too many hits anyways while it can outspeed unscarfed 295s and tie the 317s.

Samurott can change razor shell for waterfall if you care about accuracy. You can also change life orb for splash plate to reduce the amount of wear and tear on its HP.

Sawk is standard sawk although running dual chop is pretty unnecessary as if you want to hit altaria ice punch does it better so I recommend changing this to ice punch or toxic to hit incoming walls such as misdreavus.

While it is cool using a physical charizard, most of the pokes that wall it are physically defensive and in most cases the specs set is much more powerful. 252sp atk/252 speed/timid w/ fire blast/air slash/hp grass/flamethrower.

Totally agree with Royalty, but would like to add 2 very small points.

Miltank: Body Slam over Seismic Toss in order for Paralysis chance, as well as after STAB, it will do more than 100 Dmg to most of the NU tier, making in superior.

Samurott: I agree about Splash Plate, but Expert Belt or Lum Berries are in general preferred to deter status as well as occasionally boosting, although Splash Plate is far more consistent.

 

[Chessmanlo]

OK, thanks, but I prefer superpower over x-scissor because my samurott already has megahorn. superpower is mainly used to hit bastiodon, since I see it quite often. It might be replaced with earthquake (need to test that out.) superpower with those EVs usually bring Bastiodon down to sturdy, where I can outspeed with rapid spin and KO it while clearing my hazards.

I use razor shell over waterfall on Samurott because flinch isn't really useful (too slow to get the flinch anyways), but the defense drop is useful, especially if i get it on the switch. I'll use the expert belt though, thanks for the advice.

I'll take the advice on Sawk and Jynx, but what should I replace the EVs to on Jynx?

I prefer lefties on Charizard over Choice specs because of the usefulness. with specs, they can easily switch in something w/ flash fire or a resist, making me switch out while they set up or get in a free attack. (The only reason that I use a choice item on Sawk is for the revenge killing). I may change Charizard it to a special set, though. Thanks for the advice though. Also, with choice specs Charizard cannot heal, thus reducing its livespan.

 

[Pen Ink]

OK, thanks, but I prefer superpower over x-scissor because my samurott already has megahorn. superpower is mainly used to hit bastiodon, since I see it quite often. It might be replaced with earthquake (need to test that out.) superpower with those EVs usually bring Bastiodon down to sturdy, where I can outspeed with rapid spin and KO it while clearing my hazards.

I use razor shell over waterfall on Samurott because flinch isn't really useful (too slow to get the flinch anyways), but the defense drop is useful, especially if i get it on the switch. I'll use the expert belt though, thanks for the advice.
ich is
I'll take the advice on Sawk and Jynx, but what should I replace the EVs to on Jynx?

I prefer lefties on Charizard over Choice specs because of the usefulness. with specs, they can easily switch in something w/ flash fire or a resist, making me switch out while they set up or get in a free attack. (The only reason that I use a choice item on Sawk is for the revenge killing). I may change Charizard it to a special set, though. Thanks for the advice though. Also, with choice specs Charizard cannot heal, thus reducing its livespan.

I'd like to clarify some suggestions:

• X-Scissor is really useful for hitting the stuff that Rock Blast doesn't hit as hard, like Ground types or Grass types. I actually do agree with your reasoning, though, and like Superpower.
• Waterfall is suggested because Razor Shell has shaky accuracy, which can really screw you over if you're attempting a sweep, it's not used for flinch hax.
• The Specs set actually hits tremendously hard; in any case, using it does require a decent amount of prediction, but I agree with the change.

This might be a long rate, because I have a lot to say about this team (mostly minor nitpicks, don't worry!) Anyways, this is a cool team, very strong offensive core! If you'd like to keep all the team members in place, I just have a few nitpicks that I'd like to point. For starters, your Jynx set is really weird. The EV's seem kind of random, mono-ice isn't very good, and Modest nature is a no go. I'd suggest switch Modest -> Timid to use Jynx's good speed and the fact that you have Nasty Plot, 148 HP / 252 SAtk / 108 Spd -> 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd which is just a more solid EV spread (Jynx isn't gaining much from bulk because it's frail already), and I'd switch out Substitute -> Psychic, which hits things like Alomomola and Fire types that Ice Beam doesn't. You could also try Leftovers -> Life Orb, or perhaps even something like Icicle Plate or Mind Plate. Leftovers won't really do as much without Substitute, and since you have a Rapid Spinner Jynx won't always be losing a chunk of her health when you send her out.

Charizard's EV's need a slight tweak. I'd run 4 HP -> 4 Def or 4 SDef. The reason for this is so Charizard can survive two switches into Stealth Rocks, since Armaldo might not always get a chance to spin. Samurott could be running something over Life Orb, like Lum Berry to keep a sweep going or Mystic Water, but you might enjoy the extra power from Life Orb, so it's your call. The EV's are also a bit messed up, Samurott should have 200 HP / 56 Spd. Charizard's moveset is a bit odd; Dragon Pulse is pretty useless with about two Dragons running around in the tier (both unpopular), and Hidden Power Rock is just bad. I'd run Hidden Power Grass and Flamethrower / Focus Blast. Flamethrower is useful as a substitute for Fire Blast when you can't rely on Fire Blast's accuracy, but Focus Blast is nice coverage. Also, I think this is a mistake, but you have Jolly nature on Charizard; it should be Timid. You could even run Roost for switches into Earthquakes from banded Pokemon like Golurk and Sawk, but I wouldn't recommend it. Sawk's nature should be Jolly -> Adamant, since Jolly nature only outruns Scarfed Base 80 Pokemon (you never see those anymore) and Modest +2 Gorebyss, but Gorebyss generally runs Timid Nature. Lastly, Armaldo only needs a spread of 248 HP / 124 Atk / 136 Def to OHKO Bastiodon (if you decide you like Earthquake, you'll need a different spread), while Battle Armor is extremely more useful than Swift Swim.

Jynx (F) @ Leftovers / Life Orb / Icicle Plate / Mind Plate
Ability: Dry Skin
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
- Psychic
- Nasty Plot
- Ice Beam
- Lovely Kiss

Charizard (M) @ Choice Specs
Ability: Blaze
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 Atk / 4 Def
Timid Nature
- Hidden Power Grass
- Fire Blast
- Air Slash
- Flamethrower / Focus Blast

Samurott (M) @ Life Orb / Lum Berry / Mystic Water
Ability: Torrent
EVs: 252 Atk / 200 HP / 56 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Megahorn
- Aqua Jet
- Waterfall
- Swords Dance

Sawk (M) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Mold Breaker
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 Atk / 4 SDef
Adamant Nature
- Close Combat
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- Ice Punch

Armaldo (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Battle Armor
EVs: 248 HP / 124 Atk / 136 Def
Adamant Nature
- Superpower
- Rock Blast
- Rapid Spin
- Stealth Rock

If you are willing to change some Pokemon around, however, I'd recommend switching Armaldo -> Offensive Roselia. It might be a little out of your comfort zone to ditch a Rapid Spinner with two Pokemon weak to Stealth Rocks on your team, but Roselia actually fits well on this team and provides you with another form of entry hazards in Spikes, who your sweepers really appreciate. Roselia also creates the fabled FWG core with Samurott and Chariard and synergizes well with Miltank. If you do decide to test out Roselia, on Miltank I'd suggest Toxic -> Stealth Rocks and Seismic Toss -> Body Slam. This keeps Stealth Rocks on your team, while I feel that the paralysis from Body Slam will help this team a lot more poison because this team has no extremely fast revenge killer and might have problems with Scarf Electabuzz or something of the sort. Spikes and Stealth Rocks can also wear down those revenge killers that like to pivot a lot with Volt Switch and U-Turn.

Roslia @ Eviolite
Ability: Natural Cure
EV's: 160 HP / 252 SpA / 96 Spd
Modest Nature
- Spikes
- Sludge Bomb
- Giga Drain
- Synthesis

Miltank (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Thick Fat
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 SDef
Impish Nature
- Milk Drink
- Heal Bell
- Stealth Rock
- Body Slam

There you go! You can pick and choose these suggestions at your leisure since this team functions pretty well as it is, but I'd really recommend trying them out. Good luck!