Team Bitter Rose
Overview
========================== Team Bitter Rose is the team I have been using and developing for 5 months, and I consider it to be the best team I have ever made. It consistently stays around 1400-1500 CRE, and while many of the offensive teams I have used over these months have lost their effectiveness after a while, Team Bitter Rose has soldiered on, surviving many drastic metagame changes. Recently, however, Team Bitter Rose has encountered some issues vs. some common things, and so I need to either retire it, or change it, and thus I came here.
If you know any of my past teams, you will know that I am usually an extremely offensive player who will more often that not have a team of 5 wall breakers and a lead. However, through Team Bitter Rose, I have discovered the Stall battle-style, and it has become the style that I like best.
The basic premise of Team Bitter Rose is to utilize Toxic Spikes to the max by using pokemon on the team that benefit from it being on the field and hurting the opponent. This is accomplished by having Cursers, CMers, Dual Screen Support, and a fast Mixed Wall breaker, all of which allow the Toxic Spikes to take their toll, while inflicting major damage on the opponent.
Often, switching around often is necessary to maximize the effectiveness of this team, so:
5 Pokemon are immune to Toxic Spikes.
0 Pokemon are weak to Stealth Rock.
All but 2 of the 17 types are covered, so there is always a safe switch in to an attack.
0 Pokemon are weak to Stealth Rock.
All but 2 of the 17 types are covered, so there is always a safe switch in to an attack.
These factors make it significantly easier to switch around when it is necessary to.
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Up Close
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Toxic Spike Lead
Roserade (F) @ Focus Sash
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 Spd/252 SAtk
Timid nature (+Spd, -Atk)
~ Sleep Powder
~ Toxic Spikes
~ Protect
~ Grass Knot
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Roserade is, in my opinion, one of the best leads, especially for any team that utilizes Toxic Spikes. The combination of Focus Sash and the fact that it is one of the fastest sleepers makes her a force to be reckoned with. Against almost every lead common to the metagame, Roserade comes out on top, and will set up at least one layer of Toxic Spikes.
Her moveset is rather different from the standard Roserade's. Sleep Powder & Toxic Spikes are the main parts of the set, and then there is my own addition: Protect. Protect allows me to come out on top against Fake Out leads such as Ambipom, Infernape, and Weavile, because when the Fake Out comes, I protect and then Sleep them the next turn. I chose Grass Knot over Leaf Storm due to the fact that Grass Knot achieves the same 2HKOs on things such as Gyarados & Aerodactyl without the power drop. Of course, this means I don't strike as hard against Azelf leads, but if I need Roserade late game, that power drop will often be my death.
I tend to play Roserade rather conservatively. I'll generally go for Sleep Powder + 1 Layer of Toxic Spikes, and then switch out to something else. This is because 1 Layer of Toxic Spikes deals more damage to teams that switch around a lot on the first 2 turns, so by forcing teams to move around, they accumulate more damage. There are exceptions to this of course. If I see a Hippowdon, I immediately know that the enemy is playing stall (Hippowdon has little use as a lead beyond Stall), and so I Sleep Hippow, and go for 2 Layers off the bat to screw with their team more effectively.
Roserade vs. Top 10 OU Leads
Roserade is the most important member of the team, so until two layers of Toxic Spikes are up, I try to keep her alive.
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CroCune
Suicune @ Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 HP/252 Def/4 SAtk
Bold nature (+Def, -Atk)
~ Rest
~ Sleep Talk
~ Calm Mind
~ Surf
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This.Thing.OWNS. It is nearly unbeatable once it has 2 Calm Minds: With its sky high HP & Defense Stat & a boosted base 115 SDef Stat & Rest + Sleep Talk, it literally doesn't die. Also, its two weaknesses (Electric + Grass) are both dominantly Special types, especially in OU, so by Calm Minding, she is essentially freeing herself of her weaknesses.
Suicune is a beneficiary of Toxic Spikes: OU's sole Water Absorber is ripped apart by Toxic Spikes, and Toxic Spikes allow her to better deal with Blissey (who she 2HKOs anyway with +6 Surf). In short, once she gets a few Calm Minds up & TS support is down, there is not much you can do but watch in horror.
Suicune has great synergy with the rest of the team. It covers Roserade's most common weaknesses (Fire + Ice), Scizor's only weakness (Fire), while Roserade resists both of Suicune's weaknesss, Scizor is all over the Grass weakness, and Infernape can take a Grass Knot for Suicune if need be. Also, Suicune benefits hugely from the Dual Screen Support that Cresselia provides, as it cussions the first few blows while Suicune sets up.
Despite how beastly Suicune is, there are of course some things that can make her cry. Latias can set up on Suicune if Suicune only has 2 or 3 Calm Minds, and when she's +6, she'll be able to 3HKO Suicune with Thunderbolt, beating the Rest + Sleep Talk cycle. Slowbro can raise some hell if only 1 layer of Toxic Spikes is down by alternating between Calm Mind, Slack Off, and finally Grass Knot, but generally 2 Layers of Toxic Spikes will be down by the time Suicune hits the scene, so he doesn't have much hope. When Latias or Slowbro show their faces, I switch to Snorlax, who neither can dent without a significant amount of CMs, and he can take out with just 2 Curses.
Side Note 1: Suicune's moves are Standard because they best allow her to achieve the goals she needs to.
Side Note 2: The 252 HP/252 Def with a Bold Nature makes her as physically bulky as possible, so that when she has a few Calm Minds under her belt, she won't take too much Physical damage.
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CurseLax
Snorlax (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Thick Fat
EVs: 168 HP/120 Def/220 SDef
Careful nature (+SDef, -SAtk)
~ Curse
~ Body Slam
~ Fire Punch
~ Rest
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Snorlax is in a very similar boat as Suicune except hes is on the Physical side of things. With a few Curses under its belt, it walls nearly everything, taking laughable damage from even Fighting attacks. With Toxic Spikes support, Curse, and Rest, many of its bulkier counters will fall, simply because they can't do enough damage to it within the Rest cycle.
When choosing Snorlax's moves, I came up with a few problems. Curse was obvious on the set, and because I'm playing Stall, Rest was a clear choice too. I chose Body Slam over Return because, despite Return's better power, when testing them both, I found the paralysis rate to be indispensable against things such as Latias that I would often switch into. The choice between Earthquake, Crunch, and Fire Punch was much harder, as each have their merits. Earthquake covered a great many Steels and had decent coverage with Body Slam. However, being walled by Levitate Ghosts was not particularly fun. Crunch did better against Ghosts, however it was walled by more Steels. Fire Punch was the compromise option, hitting both, but being walled by Rock types. In my oppinion, this compromise was worth it, due to the fact that the majority of Rock types are outstalled with Toxic Spikes.
Snorlax has great synergy with the rest of the team. Thick Fat gives it a resistence to Fire and Ice, meaning it can take attacks for Roserade and Scizor, and it has an immunity to Ghost type attacks, which Cresselia loves. In return, Roserade & Cresselia both cover its sole weakness to fighting. Like Suicune, Snorlax also benefits from the Dual Screens provided by Cresselia so that it can set up while taking minimal damage.
Snorlax is actually very hard to counter with Toxic Spikes, because Body Slam + Fire Punch provide great coverage, and the things that wall it (Rock Types), get screwed over by Toxic Spikes for the most part, or, in the case of Aerodactyl, are so frail that their resistences don't matter. Breloom comes to mind as a difficult cookie to crack. If she comes in on a Rest, she can Substitute, Leech Seed, then when Fire Punch breaks the sub, she Spores, and then proceeds to spam Focus Punch. Countering Breloom generally requires a sacrifice strategy: use Scizor to break the Sub while dying to Focus Punch, then take out Breloom with Infernape. Lucario can come in on an unboosted Snorlax and Swords Dance, but when Snorlax is behind a Reflect, he can't take him out, and will be disposed of via Fire Punch.
Side Note 1: Thick Fat was used over Immunity because by using Rest, he becomes effectively immune to Toxic & Toxic Spikes.
Side Note 2: I tested both CurseTar and CurseLax in this spot, and had better success with CurseLax, though found that CurseLax was more easily walled.
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Dual Screen Support
Cresselia (F) @ Light Clay
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP/60 Def/152 Spd/44 SDef
Bold nature (+Def, -Atk)
~ Reflect
~ Light Screen
~ Ice Beam
~ Thunder Wave
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Cresselia is the ultimate team player. With some of the best defences in the game and a fantastic Support movepool, I find her a staple on any Stall or Bulky Offense team of mine. On this particular team, I chose the Dual Screen Cresselia, because bulky set up sweepers such as Suicune, Snorlax, and to an extent, Scizor, benefit hugely from them. Her defenses are such that not unboosted attack can OHKO Cresselia when she is behind the appropriate Screen, meaning that she will have time to either put up both Screens, Thunder Wave, or Ice Beam, depending on the target.
Her moves are slightly off the Standard Dual Screen Cresselia. Reflect + Light Screen are obviously the staples, and then, instead of using Lunar Dance, I chose Ice Beam. The reason for this is that Salamence can threaten a good portion of this team, but can't take out Cresselia, while she has time to Paralyze him and then Ice Beam him to hell. I rarely found Lunar Dance helpful, because generally when Cresselia is out, the rest of the team hasn't been revealed yet, and therefore has max health. Also, the use of Thunder Wave and Ice Beam gives her more support options, and she isn't destroyed by Taunters such as Gliscor.
Cresselia also has synergy with the rest of the team. Being a pure Psychic type works in her favor, only having weaknesses to Bug, Dark, and Ghost, all of which are covered by Scizor, and two of which are covered by Infernape. Snorlax covers her Ghost weakness, and makes a good defensive combination with her, as he is specially bulky, and benefits from Screens, and she is physically bulky, and can provide him from screens and cover his only weakness. Cresselia covers Infernape's & Roserade's weakness to Psychic, and can take most neutral Physical attacks for anyone on the team.
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The Bulky Scout
Scizor (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Technician
EVs: 244 HP/20 Atk/76 Def/168 SDef
Careful nature (+SDef, -SAtk)
~ Roost
~ U-turn
~ Bullet Punch
~ Brick Break
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This is my teams MVP. With its incredible typing, above average defenses, and a kick ass attack stat, this Scizor is a force to be reckoned with. I credit much of its success due to the mass use of Choice Band Scizor; people have no clue what to expect when they see leftovers coming from this guy. I find him considerably more dangerous because he can survive extremely powerful blows and survive to deal an insane amount of damage back. To illustrate this I'll provide an example:
Timid 252 SAtk Latias uses Hidden Power [Fire]: (67.84% - 80.70%) It never OHKOs.
Scizor uses U-Turn: (69.77% - 82.39%)
After that, Scizor can bring in Snorlax to set up on Latias and take it out.
The abilities and EVs are standard for the Bulky Uber Scizor: Roost allows it to heal and take more attacks later on. Scizor can utilize U-Turn even more effectively then the Choice Band set, due to its ability to survive powerful hits such as that. Bullet Punch allows Scizor to revenge kill anything that doesn't resist it, provided they have around 20-30% health. Finally, Brick Break is used to take out opposing Steel & Rock types, and is used over Superpower because the attack drop is deadly to this Scizor.
Due to this Scizor being far more bulk oriented than the most common Scizor sets, he makes for a much better switch in then they do, as he can make better use of his incredible typing. With a sole weakness to Fire which is covered by Snorlax, Infernape, and Suicune, he resists all of Cresselia's weaknesses, takes laughable damage from Grass attacks for Suicune (and most Electric attacks too), and takes Psychic attacks for Roserade and Infernape easily. In short, this Scizor set is the perfect partner for everyone on my team.
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The Late Game Sweeper
Infernape (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Blaze
EVs: 64 Atk/200 Spd/244 SAtk
Naive nature (+Spd, -SDef)
~ Flamethrower
~ Close Combat
~ Grass Knot
~ Hidden Power [Ice]
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Specially Based Mixed Infernape is the final, and most unconventional member of my Semi-Stall team. Up until now, every team member has been a bulky pokemon who sweeps after a setup and benefits from Toxic Spikes by stalling the damage. Infernape takes it in a totally different direction.
Infernape benefits from Toxic Spikes because it makes his job of cleaning up at the end much easier. He gets perfect coverage with his attacks, and has the power and speed to back himself up. Infernape is always the last pokemon I send in: once everything threatening to him has been eliminated or is in a position where they will be quickly KOd.
His moveset, as I mentioned, gets perfect coverage, and is carefully chosen based on what comes in on him the most. Flamethrower was chosen over Fire Blast because I hate the 85% accuracy, it fails when you need it most, and ever since switching, I have never looked back. Close Combat is his strongest STAB move and deals 40% to a Latias switch in (who are extremely common). Grass Knot OHKOs Swampert and deals around 70% to Hippowdon and similarly bulky pokemon. Hidden Power [Ice] is the move that, for some reason, no one sees coming. People tend to assume that after they see Grass Knot, it is 100% safe to switch in: they think I'm running Nasty Plot Mix, so I could only have 3 Attacks. That is when they switch in Salamence to get OHKOd by Hidden Power [Ice].
Infernape's synergy isn't defensive so much as offensive. Infernape isn't the bulkiest thing around (gasp), and so he can't make the best of his typing (though he can switch into Grass Knots). However, with Dual Screens, the story changes. He still isn't extremely bulky or anything, but he can find many more opportunities to switch in and sweep, and can even take a hit while in. Also, as mentioned, the Toxic Spike support is a huge plus for him, as it allows him to take down many things which otherwise may be challenging. He makes a great offensive partner with Scizor, as many of Scizor's counters are weak to one of his four attacks, and he can switch into one or two Fire Attacks, even without aid from Light Screen.
Note 1: I run 8 extra Speed EVs to outspeed anyone using any Standard Mixed Infernape, and anyone EVing to outspeed said Infernape by one point, at the cost of 8 Special Attack EVs.
Note 2: I originally ran Agility Lucario here who also gets perfect coverage through his combination of attacks, but found that having three pokemon weak to Fire was not a good idea.
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Team Building
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The following is the process through which this team was conceived.
The Lead
I start this team off knowing that I want to try something different. I have always done straight offense teams, so I wanted to take this in the opposite direction: Stall. I had played Heavy stall with Spikes, SR, Sandstorm, and Toxic Spikes before, and hadn't enjoyed it, so I'm thinking that Toxic Spike stall is the way to go. I have seen Roserade in action a few times, and know it to be a very efficient lead, and so at the start of my line up, we have Roserade.
The Calm Mind Sweeper
Something I always associate with Toxic Spikes is Suicune. In almost every single one of Suicune's movesets, it says that Toxic Spikes is strongly reccommended so that she can be used to the best of her abilities. Suicune has great synergy with Roserade, and on top of that is a well respected and feared sweeper and tank, so she makes a great and bulky addition to the team.
The Curser
If I'm going for Semi-Stall, any secondary damage is put to good use. Also, along with a Calm Minder, I also want a Curser, as they make use of Toxic Spikes just as well. So I turn to a beast I am familiar with: CurseTar. It is literally one of the strongest and most underused Tyranitar sets, and I believe it will be put to good use with Toxic Spike support.
Dual Screen
With these two set up sweepers, I needed some support to allow them to set up. Dual Screens allow them to take hits from either side of the spectrum, so while they set up, they don't have to worry about taking too much damage. Latias has excellent synergy with everyone on the team thus far, can set up Dual Screens, and can Phaze with Roar, so it makes an excellent canidate for a spot on the team.
The Transition Pokemon
So I have my defensive core down solidly, now I need a transition pokemon who I can repeatedly switch into that has good typing. Of all the transition pokemon in OU, Bronzong is probably the best; great bulk, incredible typing & abilities, and a well rounded movepool. Also, it adds Stealth Rock to my team, so Latias has even more reason to Roar.
The Late Game Sweeper
After all the secondary damage effects, I need my prime sweeper to take advantage of all the weakened foes. My team lacks a fast wall breaker so far, so something that is fast/can make itself fast is what I'm looking for. I also want unresisted coverage with this sweeper so that few things can stop it after they are weakened. And so I turn to: Agility Lucario.
In retrospect, this team was awesome for the metagame it faced. It had no Toxic Spikes weaknesses (Suicune + Tyranitar are both Sleep Talkers), and had more defensive pokemon than what it evolved into. As the metagame progressed and became increasingly more Offensive, it became clear that I needed to adapt.
Team Changes Round 1
The first changes were that of Tyranitar to Snorlax and Latias to Cresselia. Tyranitar's Sand Stream was hurting my team more than helping it, because it canceled out their Leftover recovery. Also, the 4x Fighting weakness prevented it from being as bulky as possible, even at +6 Defense. Therefore, a logical choice was to replace it with a Curser that only had one weakness: Snorlax. With the change of Tyranitar to Snorlax, the need for Latias' many resistences wasn't needed as much as a bulkier pokemon in general. Cresselia covered Snorlax's only weakness, and gave me a switch in to a +1 DDmence after it had taken out something, something that Latias did not have the ability to do, and something Bronzong could only do if it was willing to explode.
Team Changes Round 2
This was the final round of change for Team Bitter Rose, and it took place in early September. With the release of HG/SS, the metagame grew even more offensive to counter new threats, and so two new fundamental changes had to be made. At the cost of Stealth Rock, I traded Bronzong in for a much more offensive Transition pokemon: Scizor, who could also act as my team's revenge killer and bulky wall breaker. Also, I found that Agility Lucario was losing its effectiveness: the time it took to set up could have been put to better use. I still had the same requirements for my Late Game Sweeper: Speed, Power, and Unresisted Coverage, and now more than ever I needed a Fire resistence, and Specially Based Mixed Infernape was able to provide this.
The Evolution of Team Bitter Rose
June 2009 - August 2009
September 2009 - October 2009
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Threat List Coming...
