I'm a lowly 1500's player who was historically a hyper offense junkie. More recently I've been trying to learn how to build balance teams as I seek to broaden my horizons. Talonflame seemed like a pretty cool mon to build around and I wanted to get away from the more standard Ting-Lu or Corviknight cores. So here is my attempt! I'm still learning how to team build, so I'd greatly appreciate any suggestions on how this could be improved. Also, yes this was inspired by another Talonflame team I saw that used wish-pass. Here is the pokepaste.
THE MEMBERS
Talonflame (F) @ Choice Band
Ability: Gale Wings
Tera Type: Ghost
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- U-turn
- Dual Wingbeat
- Brave Bird
- Flare Blitz
Talonflame is responsible for being the teams primary form of speed control via strong priority brave bird and naturally good speed. Most fast threats in the tier are weak or neutral to flying and very few commonly use teras that resist. I use tera ghost as a backup against Dragonite extreme speed as certain sets can be scary. I'm running adamant nature because Talonflame needs all the power it can get. Importantly, he is still faster than Ogerpon by 1 point and can force her out. Talonflame also serves as a surprisingly good second breaker because most teams don't have a mon that resists the fire/flying combo and both are hard hitting 120bp stab.
Alomomola (F) @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Regenerator
Tera Type: Grass
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Relaxed Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Flip Turn
- Scald
- Wish
- Protect
The heart of the team that makes everything here work. Alomomola is a great physical wall that can switch in on many mons and wish + flip turn into it's team members. Most of the mons here LOVE receiving wishes. You can even pivot into Talonflame with stealth rock on the field because wish brings it back to full. Goodra is an incredible special wall that resists Alomomola's weaknesses and in exchange receives the recovery it desperetly needs through wish. Weezing of course also becomes much more annoying when it wishes back to full. Tera grass has two functions: first as a backup ground/electric resist, and second to resist Waterpon. You may notice that Alomomola can't touch Waterpon, and you would be right. The idea is that you can wish and hard switch into Goodra to avoid her getting chipped down from strong ivy cudgels.
Keldeo-Resolute @ Choice Specs
Ability: Justified
Tera Type: Fighting
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
- Flip Turn
- Surf
- Secret Sword
- Vacuum Wave
The teams primary breaker that puts your opponent into a 50/50 everytime it comes out. While mons that resist water/fighting aren't exactly rare, the fact that Keldeo can hit either defense makes it capable of breaking any team over time. The common AV Primarina set takes 45% minimum from secret sword because we are modest. Tera fighting is a nasty power boost and serves as second strong priority option that covers the types that resist flying. I used to run hydro pump over surf for the massive power, but I kept losing games to misses (shoutout to that guy who dodged four hydro pumps in a row with his Ting-Lu). Tera water is also valid as it helps immensely in taking down Glowking.
Goodra-Hisui @ Assault Vest
Ability: Sap Sipper
Tera Type: Ground
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Def
Adamant Nature
- Heavy Slam
- Earthquake
- Knock Off
- Dragon Tail
If you have played AAA you will have no problem finding regenerator Goodras in your games. Goodra-H is among the best blanket special walls in the game with its incredible steel/dragon typing and massive base 150 SpDef. This mon is unfortunately crippled by its complete lack of recovery options. With the blessing of wish support, you can wall most special attackers indefintely. With physical coverage, there is no threat of being beaten by calm mind sweepers. Dragon Tail and Knock Off are effective progress makers that are supplemented by stab Heavy Slam (to hit the fairys that are immune to dragon) and earthquake (to hit important steel types like Iron Crown). Corviknight is the most common switch in but I have had little problem managing it. Tera ground gives stab to Earthquake and gives you an immunity to Volt Switch against teams that rely on it for momentum.
Weezing-Galar (F) @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Neutralizing Gas
Tera Type: Grass
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Strange Steam
- Will-O-Wisp
- Pain Split
- Defog
Weezings primary purpose on this team is very straightforward; give Talonflame an unstoppable Defog so that Gale Wings can go to work. However, Weezing is still impactful in other ways. Mainly by spreading wisp to physical threats and opposing walls as chip damage. It lives +2 Ivy Cudgel from Waterpon after Stealth Rock and can shut her down with wisp. You can tera grass to counter Waterpon better (best on the team) and to once again resist ground which this team is somewhat weak to.
Garganacl (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Purifying Salt
Tera Type: Fairy
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Salt Cure
- Protect
- Recover
Garganacl does a good job of rounding out this team defensively and absorbs status moves. I went with max special defense so that this team wouldn't become overly reliant on Goodra against special attackers. Garganacl is very hard to deal with as it has great mixed defenses, can salt cure any mon on the switch, and can stealth rock against any of its bad matchups. Tera fairy is a great neutral typing that can only be dealt with by steel and poison. Steel types are weak to salt cure meaning only the uncommon poison type has a chance. Most common poison mons aren't attack invested and don't deal enough damage without poison procs to break you. Dragapult is also completely invalidated by you. Protect stalls turns for salt cure + leftovers and can scout choiced mons. Salt cure also synergizes well with protect on Alomomola for an extreme form of trolling.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Although I have done limited testing so far, I am pretty happy with the team. Most lost games I am able to point out what I should have done differently as opposed to attributing it as a shortcoming of the team. That being said, I think this team could use some tweaks that more experienced players will understand better than I. The greatest weakness that I have identified so far is the lack of pivot options to bring in my breakers. My breakers usually only get to come in safely through Alomomola which my opponent can use against me. I have noted my weakness to ground as well, given that Talonflame does not function as a switch-in except on hard reads. However, I've found this to be not that big of a deal as I have enough bulk on my team that I don't really care. Regardless, I have debated giving Weezing levitate for this reason.
If you've made it this far, thank you for reading! This is my first time making an rmt and I appreciate anyone who is willing to give my team a look. I may not have the track record of a highly skilled vet, but I find building a lot of fun and it's something I want to improve on. Thanks again!
THE MEMBERS
Talonflame (F) @ Choice Band
Ability: Gale Wings
Tera Type: Ghost
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- U-turn
- Dual Wingbeat
- Brave Bird
- Flare Blitz
Talonflame is responsible for being the teams primary form of speed control via strong priority brave bird and naturally good speed. Most fast threats in the tier are weak or neutral to flying and very few commonly use teras that resist. I use tera ghost as a backup against Dragonite extreme speed as certain sets can be scary. I'm running adamant nature because Talonflame needs all the power it can get. Importantly, he is still faster than Ogerpon by 1 point and can force her out. Talonflame also serves as a surprisingly good second breaker because most teams don't have a mon that resists the fire/flying combo and both are hard hitting 120bp stab.
Alomomola (F) @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Regenerator
Tera Type: Grass
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Relaxed Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Flip Turn
- Scald
- Wish
- Protect
The heart of the team that makes everything here work. Alomomola is a great physical wall that can switch in on many mons and wish + flip turn into it's team members. Most of the mons here LOVE receiving wishes. You can even pivot into Talonflame with stealth rock on the field because wish brings it back to full. Goodra is an incredible special wall that resists Alomomola's weaknesses and in exchange receives the recovery it desperetly needs through wish. Weezing of course also becomes much more annoying when it wishes back to full. Tera grass has two functions: first as a backup ground/electric resist, and second to resist Waterpon. You may notice that Alomomola can't touch Waterpon, and you would be right. The idea is that you can wish and hard switch into Goodra to avoid her getting chipped down from strong ivy cudgels.
Keldeo-Resolute @ Choice Specs
Ability: Justified
Tera Type: Fighting
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
- Flip Turn
- Surf
- Secret Sword
- Vacuum Wave
The teams primary breaker that puts your opponent into a 50/50 everytime it comes out. While mons that resist water/fighting aren't exactly rare, the fact that Keldeo can hit either defense makes it capable of breaking any team over time. The common AV Primarina set takes 45% minimum from secret sword because we are modest. Tera fighting is a nasty power boost and serves as second strong priority option that covers the types that resist flying. I used to run hydro pump over surf for the massive power, but I kept losing games to misses (shoutout to that guy who dodged four hydro pumps in a row with his Ting-Lu). Tera water is also valid as it helps immensely in taking down Glowking.
Goodra-Hisui @ Assault Vest
Ability: Sap Sipper
Tera Type: Ground
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Def
Adamant Nature
- Heavy Slam
- Earthquake
- Knock Off
- Dragon Tail
If you have played AAA you will have no problem finding regenerator Goodras in your games. Goodra-H is among the best blanket special walls in the game with its incredible steel/dragon typing and massive base 150 SpDef. This mon is unfortunately crippled by its complete lack of recovery options. With the blessing of wish support, you can wall most special attackers indefintely. With physical coverage, there is no threat of being beaten by calm mind sweepers. Dragon Tail and Knock Off are effective progress makers that are supplemented by stab Heavy Slam (to hit the fairys that are immune to dragon) and earthquake (to hit important steel types like Iron Crown). Corviknight is the most common switch in but I have had little problem managing it. Tera ground gives stab to Earthquake and gives you an immunity to Volt Switch against teams that rely on it for momentum.
Weezing-Galar (F) @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Neutralizing Gas
Tera Type: Grass
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Strange Steam
- Will-O-Wisp
- Pain Split
- Defog
Weezings primary purpose on this team is very straightforward; give Talonflame an unstoppable Defog so that Gale Wings can go to work. However, Weezing is still impactful in other ways. Mainly by spreading wisp to physical threats and opposing walls as chip damage. It lives +2 Ivy Cudgel from Waterpon after Stealth Rock and can shut her down with wisp. You can tera grass to counter Waterpon better (best on the team) and to once again resist ground which this team is somewhat weak to.
Garganacl (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Purifying Salt
Tera Type: Fairy
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Salt Cure
- Protect
- Recover
Garganacl does a good job of rounding out this team defensively and absorbs status moves. I went with max special defense so that this team wouldn't become overly reliant on Goodra against special attackers. Garganacl is very hard to deal with as it has great mixed defenses, can salt cure any mon on the switch, and can stealth rock against any of its bad matchups. Tera fairy is a great neutral typing that can only be dealt with by steel and poison. Steel types are weak to salt cure meaning only the uncommon poison type has a chance. Most common poison mons aren't attack invested and don't deal enough damage without poison procs to break you. Dragapult is also completely invalidated by you. Protect stalls turns for salt cure + leftovers and can scout choiced mons. Salt cure also synergizes well with protect on Alomomola for an extreme form of trolling.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Although I have done limited testing so far, I am pretty happy with the team. Most lost games I am able to point out what I should have done differently as opposed to attributing it as a shortcoming of the team. That being said, I think this team could use some tweaks that more experienced players will understand better than I. The greatest weakness that I have identified so far is the lack of pivot options to bring in my breakers. My breakers usually only get to come in safely through Alomomola which my opponent can use against me. I have noted my weakness to ground as well, given that Talonflame does not function as a switch-in except on hard reads. However, I've found this to be not that big of a deal as I have enough bulk on my team that I don't really care. Regardless, I have debated giving Weezing levitate for this reason.
If you've made it this far, thank you for reading! This is my first time making an rmt and I appreciate anyone who is willing to give my team a look. I may not have the track record of a highly skilled vet, but I find building a lot of fun and it's something I want to improve on. Thanks again!
