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AM
Mega Aerodactyl normally runs 216 Speed Jolly to outspeed Mega Sceptile and Mega Lopunny, so did you choose max speed to tie other Mega Aerodactyl or Mega Alakazam? Also, what do the defense EVs on Gyarados do?
Just wondering.
No point in getting swept by M-Alakazam and other M-Aerodactyl so yeah speed ties. Never liked the idea of adding arbitrary HP EVs for the sake of just hitting min speed benchmarks, seems silly to me. Gyarados spread is just from analysis nothing specific however Agent Gibbs recommendation here is something to consider for whoever plans on using it.
Other version I have had Agility M-Altaria, Hippo, Speedy Chesnaught, 2 attacks offensive recover Starmie but didn't test that one and this version seemed to work pretty well so I guess you can give that a shot if you want but for the sake of consistency I just stuck with some standards and basics that worked in practice. I needed rocks and the only real place to put it was on Landorus so I can afford to run some hazard removal and a pursuit trapper to help the cores issues with general bulky Psychic types. AV Bisharp I felt was a really good choice on this team for the sake of Pursuit purposes and not getting completely donked by M-Diancie. Enough speed to hit Cresselia before it recovers the rest into bulk. Latios is basic hazard removal so not too much to say I guess if Torn-T is a pain you can opt to use a bulkier replacement like Latias to help with that a bit. I beefed up the special defense on Victini for the sake of having a more reliable switch-in for Clefable and M-Gardevoir. Speed is enough to outrun Jolly max speed M-Scizors. Manaphy is the normal Tail Glow + 3 attacks set, Psychic to alleviate the issue of M-Venusaur and Amoonguss pivoting around you and Signal Beam for Celebi, Lati switch ins, Slowbro, Starmie, all in one package. I think I got the idea from Tokyo Tom, lure thread, or creative threads set I don't remember but whoever and wherever should be getting credit for making me aware of that cool set. Change w/e around like bumping Victinis speed for Mamoswine and M-Altaria which are problems for the team and going with the Starmie idea I had over Latios as an extra cleaner and hazard removal to combat the "crowded" base 110 speed tier mons. Enjoy.
AM looks cool but mind at least posting a rough version of the other team? That one also sounds p interesting esp seeing as how fast Chesnaught shuts down Rotom-W completely! n.n
AM Edit: Yeah that's there now. Could run Wood Hammer > Seed Bomb on Ches if you want.
When the majority of cores has been worked on it'll be back up. It's going to be quite around this time for the sake of being closed and everyone having obligations outside of smogon as well.
I made this team a while back and it fits your core so here you go n_n. I wanted to pair Zard X with SD Gliscor, which sets up on Pokemon that wall Zard X like Hippowdon and Landorus-T. Latias supports the team by being a Water switch-in with Defog, but also Healing Wish to give my sweepers a second chance to do their job. Gyarados pairs well with Zard and Gliscor, checking Keldeo and Landorus, meaning I can use a physically defensive spread on Gliscor. It also has Taunt to help against stall teams and wear down stuff like Mega Slowbro (Healing Wish means I won't have to worry about getting burned). Scizor serves as a Fairy check and Lati switch-in. SD can be used if you want something more consistent, but I wanted the power from Banded BP more than the ability to set up. Pursuit trapping is also nice. Finally, I needed Stealth Rock, a secondary lati/fairy switch-in, and a Gyarados check, so Ferrothorn fit the bill. Problems with the team include a weakness to special Mega Altaria, which gives the team big problems unless you get a free switch into Scizor, which still only does like 70%, so you need to wear it down first. Mega Manectric can be problematic as well if you don't Mega Evolve Charizard soon, since Latias without Roost is easy to wear down.
Togekiss @ Leftovers
Ability: Serene Grace
EVs: 248 HP / 84 SpA / 176 Spe
Timid Nature
- Air Slash
- Roost
- Nasty Plot
- Heal Bell
Changed some stuff around with the core such as using Scarf Gothitelle which is going to have better match-ups against a lot of the tier than Specs would. Needed some priority and a Fairy check along with something that can grab momentum to get Gatr and Gothitelle in so went with bulky SD U-Turn M-Scizor. Needed a rock setter and I needed one to check the physical attackers in the tier so bulky chomp with Rest fit like a glove. Starmie for hazard removal, status absorber and Keldeo check and I needed a ground and secondary dragon immunity in one setting so Togekiss fit the bill. Chose Heal Bell Togekiss for the sake of the team being prone to status along with supplementing RestChomp. Team is weak to Char-X and M-Manectric primarily so you have the option of using Hippowdon over Garchomp for rock setting but may make the match-up with Char-Y a bit more difficult. Rotom-W is annoying as well but is beaten with just consistent playing and utilizing Gothitelle + Heal Bell support by Togekiss. Enjoy.
Togekiss @ Leftovers
Ability: Serene Grace
EVs: 248 HP / 84 SpA / 176 Spe
Timid Nature
- Air Slash
- Roost
- Nasty Plot
- Heal Bell
Changed some stuff around with the core such as using Scarf Gothitelle which is going to have better match-ups against a lot of the tier than Specs would. Needed some priority and a Fairy check along with something that can grab momentum to get Gatr and Gothitelle in so went with bulky SD U-Turn M-Scizor. Needed a rock setter and I needed one to check the physical attackers in the tier so bulky chomp with Rest fit like a glove. Starmie for hazard removal, status absorber and Keldeo check and I needed a ground and secondary dragon immunity in one setting so Togekiss fit the bill. Chose Heal Bell Togekiss for the sake of the team being prone to status along with supplementing RestChomp. Team is weak to Char-X and M-Manectric primarily so you have the option of using Hippowdon over Garchomp for rock setting but may make the match-up with Char-Y a bit more difficult. Rotom-W is annoying as well but is beaten with just consistent playing and utilizing Gothitelle + Heal Bell support by Togekiss. Enjoy.
Oh man thanks for the team!. I'm a little busy right now but I'll put this squad on the road asap, maybe coming back for possibles fixes and adjustments later but w.e. One thing I could ask right off the bat is why SD on Scizor?, I mean you just established that his main role was a fairy check and a pivot in order to bring something safely, but I didn't get the point of wasting a turn to set up SD (witch isn't an easy thing to do in the first place) and then throw it by the window when U-turn out. Wouldn't Superpower or KO be better ?
Oh man thanks for the team!. I'm a little busy right now but I'll put this squad on the road asap, maybe coming back for possibles fixes and adjustments later but w.e. One thing I could ask right off the bat is why SD on Scizor?, I mean you just established that his main role was a fairy check and a pivot in order to bring something safely, but I didn't get the point of wasting a turn to set up SD (witch isn't an easy thing to do in the first place) and then throw it by the window when U-turn out. Wouldn't Superpower or KO be better ?
Late game win condition. You would pivot and pick off damage early mid game and when checks are out of the way or the opportunity arrives you would set up and clean with SD + Bullet Punch. That's the premise of the set basically and U-Turn is to supplement getting in everything else much easier, so like removing hazards with starmie, heal bell with togekiss, trapping with gothitelle, going to your secondary set up sweeper in Gatr. That was my thought process and what I was thinking of when building and testing. Hope that clarifies it.
Late game win condition. You would pivot and pick off damage early mid game and when checks are out of the way or the opportunity arrives you would set up and clean with SD + Bullet Punch. That's the premise of the set basically and U-Turn is to supplement getting in everything else much easier, so like removing hazards with starmie, heal bell with togekiss, trapping with gothitelle, going to your secondary set up sweeper in Gatr. That was my thought process and what I was thinking of when building and testing. Hope that clarifies it.
I have mostly been wrapped in other things that have kept me from playing on PS, but 4 weeks have passed and I have not heard anything about my request. Was my request for a M-Lopunny + Gengar HO forgotten? Here is the link to the request if desired: http://www.smogon.com/forums/thread...s-no-requests-atm.3523084/page-9#post-6077530
★AM: ok
★AM: this is the team
★AM: I should've made
★AM: 5 hours ago
★Starmei: lol
★AM: rip my life
★Starmei: wait what happened
★Starmei: 5 hrs ago
★AM: I used m-bro, kyurem, mag on balance
★AM: that's what happened
As you can see I had to change some stuff around to make it more suitable to the offensive nature I was trying to go for. I felt CM M-Bro can be a solid win condition late-game when the offensive pressure is applied but creating a more offensive Mega Slowbro not only capitalizes on a fat mon with its defensive aspects but makes it a sweet bulky attacker with few solid switch ins barring specially defensive mons, providing some more momentum to me. Scarf Kyurem-B is what I went with cause the team had issues with mostly Dragon Dance sweepers and certain set up sweepers like Volcarona so I needed a jump on those. I slashed Earth Power on Kyurem-B last slot for the sake of not getting into these situations where +2 Bisharp could clean you. Guess it came from paranoia for the specific match that convinced me to slash it as an option. Scarf Magnezone I don't think needs an explanation lol. Azelf is the lead to this team as I really just needed a solid lead to get the team going and I felt it was the most suitable one for the nature of the team. Double Genie although isn't exactly original proved to be consistent and had extremely solid synergy with M-Slowbro in general along with providing two ground immunities for the team. I went Defiant Attacker Thundurus to punish Defog and a Grass Knot variant to beat Hippowdon switch ins along with the off chance that stuff like Seismitoad and Gastrodon. Knocking Off Scarf Lando-T on the switch in and finishing it off with Grass Knot is pretty nice as well. Landorus is your typical Rock Polish set with Sludge Wave to get past fairies primarily and HP Ice for Garchomp, Gliscor, the usual really. Enjoy.
★AM: ok
★AM: this is the team
★AM: I should've made
★AM: 5 hours ago
★Starmei: lol
★AM: rip my life
★Starmei: wait what happened
★Starmei: 5 hrs ago
★AM: I used m-bro, kyurem, mag on balance
★AM: that's what happened
As you can see I had to change some stuff around to make it more suitable to the offensive nature I was trying to go for. I felt CM M-Bro can be a solid win condition late-game when the offensive pressure is applied but creating a more offensive Mega Slowbro not only capitalizes on a fat mon with its defensive aspects but makes it a sweet bulky attacker with few solid switch ins barring specially defensive mons, providing some more momentum to me. Scarf Kyurem-B is what I went with cause the team had issues with mostly Dragon Dance sweepers and certain set up sweepers like Volcarona so I needed a jump on those. I slashed Earth Power on Kyurem-B last slot for the sake of not getting into these situations where +2 Bisharp could clean you. Guess it came from paranoia for the specific match that convinced me to slash it as an option. Scarf Magnezone I don't think needs an explanation lol. Azelf is the lead to this team as I really just needed a solid lead to get the team going and I felt it was the most suitable one for the nature of the team. Double Genie although isn't exactly original proved to be consistent and had extremely solid synergy with M-Slowbro in general along with providing two ground immunities for the team. I went Defiant Attacker Thundurus to punish Defog and a Grass Knot variant to beat Hippowdon switch ins along with the off chance that stuff like Seismitoad and Gastrodon. Knocking Off Scarf Lando-T on the switch in and finishing it off with Grass Knot is pretty nice as well. Landorus is your typical Rock Polish set with Sludge Wave to get past fairies primarily and HP Ice for Garchomp, Gliscor, the usual really. Enjoy.
I'd recommend a few SpD evs on that Slowbro to take 2 hydros from Specs Keldeo after rocks and consider slashing skill swap on azelf for MSab which isn't exactly a massive issue for your team but nothing appreciates a wisp/knock off/filler and not a lot can stop it if it gets up a CM or two bar slowbro scald burns + lando EPower and skill swap pressures Sab a little more. Solid team tho m8
le lenny face (Lopunny) (F) @ Lopunnite
Ability: Limber
Shiny: Yes
Happiness: 0
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- High Jump Kick
- Frustration
- Healing Wish
- Fake Out
OW THE EDGE (Bisharp) (F) @ Dread Plate
Ability: Defiant
EVs: 192 HP / 220 Atk / 96 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Sucker Punch
- Knock Off
- Pursuit
- Iron Head
overused memes (Landorus) (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Sheer Force
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Rash Nature
- Rock Polish
- Earth Power
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Rock Slide
GET NOSCOPED (Raikou) @ Assault Vest
Ability: Pressure
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 SpA / 32 SpD / 224 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 30 Def
- Volt Switch
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Shadow Ball
this is a pretty basic hyper offense team. i started this off by combining alfalfa's core of lopunny + genger and boxedoccaberrys's landorus + bisharp core since they worked well together; i also made changes to bisharp's evs that make it even better at pursuit trapping the pokemon that would normally stop landorus and lopunny cold. since this team didn't already have a sweeper, i changed the landorus set from the sr setter originally posted to a rock polish variant. i also updated the moves a bit to cover a few threats that would otherwise switch in for free and have a field day w/ the rest of the team. after that was established, i wanted a pivot that could come in, tank hits from the likes of talonflame, mega metagross, and mega lopunny, and get rocks up. garchomp fit the aforementioned criteria, and since the team had two reliable answers to mega sableye, i could afford to use the bulkier rocky helmet set, which makes switching between team members and retaining momentum much easier. raikou covers up a weakness to several threats, including but not limited to non-scarfed landorus (don't let it rock polish or else you will cry), thundurus, talonflame, keldeo, and mega manectric. to answer any incoming questions about lopunny's nature, lopunny is jolly because it (and bisharp's sucker punch) is this team's best answer to opposing offense.
for what it's worth, there are a few more options that could work over the given options already. if you think landorus (and whatever other changes you make) can cover stall well enough, then you can use choice scarf keldeo over genger for some more speed. alternatively, if you think stall is a bitch even with landorus, then you can use choice scarf gothitelle over raikou or a faster swords dance set over the bulky pursuit trapper set that already is there. some mons that could work in place of raikou in the last slot include klefki (can be used to lay spikes, get some speed control in w/ priority thunder wave, and check most of the threats that garchomp already checks [allowing garchomp to use a more offensive set]), rotom-w (checks talonflame even better than garchomp, but leaves the team much weaker to keldeo, mega manectric, thundurus, and manaphy), and wobbuffet (traps things that the team doesn't like and gives lando set-up opportunities). the match-up against rain offense sucks, but hey, you can't win them all, and hyper offense in general doesn't like facing down rain offense. of course, there is a ton more that you could change about this team, so don't feel limited by what i have suggested in this paragraph of potential changes.
the first set of nicks (the good ones) come from the ten years of shogun audio compilation.
the second set of nicks are there only because boxedoccaberrys requested funny nicks, and nothing on the internet is funnier than dank memes /s
le lenny face (Lopunny) (F) @ Lopunnite
Ability: Limber
Shiny: Yes
Happiness: 0
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- High Jump Kick
- Frustration
- Healing Wish
- Fake Out
OW THE EDGE (Bisharp) (F) @ Dread Plate
Ability: Defiant
EVs: 192 HP / 220 Atk / 96 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Sucker Punch
- Knock Off
- Pursuit
- Iron Head
overused memes (Landorus) (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Sheer Force
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Rash Nature
- Rock Polish
- Earth Power
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Rock Slide
GET NOSCOPED (Raikou) @ Assault Vest
Ability: Pressure
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 SpA / 32 SpD / 224 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 30 Def
- Volt Switch
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Shadow Ball
Other version I have had Agility M-Altaria, Hippo, Speedy Chesnaught, 2 attacks offensive recover Starmie but didn't test that one and this version seemed to work pretty well so I guess you can give that a shot if you want but for the sake of consistency I just stuck with some standards and basics that worked in practice. I needed rocks and the only real place to put it was on Landorus so I can afford to run some hazard removal and a pursuit trapper to help the cores issues with general bulky Psychic types. AV Bisharp I felt was a really good choice on this team for the sake of Pursuit purposes and not getting completely donked by M-Diancie. Enough speed to hit Cresselia before it recovers the rest into bulk. Latios is basic hazard removal so not too much to say I guess if Torn-T is a pain you can opt to use a bulkier replacement like Latias to help with that a bit. I beefed up the special defense on Victini for the sake of having a more reliable switch-in for Clefable and M-Gardevoir. Speed is enough to outrun Jolly max speed M-Scizors. Manaphy is the normal Tail Glow + 3 attacks set, Psychic to alleviate the issue of M-Venusaur and Amoonguss pivoting around you and Signal Beam for Celebi, Lati switch ins, Slowbro, Starmie, all in one package. I think I got the idea from Tokyo Tom, lure thread, or creative threads set I don't remember but whoever and wherever should be getting credit for making me aware of that cool set. Change w/e around like bumping Victinis speed for Mamoswine and M-Altaria which are problems for the team and going with the Starmie idea I had over Latios as an extra cleaner and hazard removal to combat the "crowded" base 110 speed tier mons. Enjoy.
Another EV spread for the Victini set is 248 HP / 152 Atk / 104 Spe with a Jolly Nature, which I use on one of my BW teams. It's nice for outspeeding Jolly Mamoswine and Adamant Gyarados while surviving a +1 Bug Buzz from LO Volcarona and OHKOing it with V-Create. Probably not the most relevant spread from an ORAS perspective but certainly another option for testing purposes.
I'd recommend a few SpD evs on that Slowbro to take 2 hydros from Specs Keldeo after rocks and consider slashing skill swap on azelf for MSab which isn't exactly a massive issue for your team but nothing appreciates a wisp/knock off/filler and not a lot can stop it if it gets up a CM or two bar slowbro scald burns + lando EPower and skill swap pressures Sab a little more. Solid team tho m8
Kind of a late response, but I usually run an over-complicated ADV-esque spread of 252 HP / 36 Def / 136 SpA / 80 SpD / 4 Spe Modest on my offensive Mega Slowbro. Like you suggested, this spread allows you to take 2 Specs Keldeo Hydro Pumps after Stealth Rock, and the physical defense investment is just enough to prevent +1 Adamant Charizard-X from 2HKOing with Dragon Claw while you easily 2HKO back with Psychic. Plus, there's those extra 4 Spe EVs to beat uninvested Slowbro/Mega Slowbro (which is mainly just useful if you're running Grass Knot, but whatever) and a few other things like Amoonguss. You only lose about 6% of your special power as opposed to the 216 SpA spread and are still a little stronger than a Timid Latios minus the Life Orb, so you still hit pretty hard. Certainly a cool option, especially on that team in particular seeing as how the only other Water resist on the team is crushed by Keldeo's Secret Sword.
So yeah, just another random idea from the wonderful and somewhat terrifying world that is my mind. Love this thread, by the way. Lots of fun teams here to play with, keep up the good work!
Alright I just finished adding the two suggestions I got so if anything else from you guys keep it coming, much thanks to those who take the time to help out. To the guys that ask "where's my team" I'll just say it again they're all a WIP and there is not a specific order as to which are done along with everyone just dealing with whatever else they've been doing on the side or irl so I know it's a bit of a challenge but have some patience we're not robots. With that said I encourage people to find improvements or things that can be fixed with the teams that are put here. If you see a problem try to invest some time to analyze it and how to fix it for the sake of not really the builder but yourself because that's how you're gonna obtain an aspect of knowledge. I know I talked with trc (didn't tag cause maybe he didn't want to be tagged idk) about it a bit in how the learning aspect can be moot at times so I want people to actually learn something from this which I'm sure Tnt can agree with as well. Just thought I would say that as an update of sorts so people can reflect, think about it, w/e really. As always thanks for the support.
After mixing and matching different mons with the core (M-Chomp+TTar) and some testing, this team before you is what worked. I paired the core with DD Gatr seeing as they had great offensive synergy: Chomp makes a big ol' mess of the opponent's team and Gatr cleans it up (I guess Ttar holds the dustpan .-.) Hippo was a late addition to the team because a certain bunny kept hopping all over me ;_; .Originally, Ferro was the setter of rocks but after Hippo rolled in, I replaced rocks with Knock Off to halt the recovery of walls (mainly opposing Ferro). Chople Berry lets it stay in on Keldeo and take out M-Gardevoir. Latios covers Zard Y, Keldeo and Brokedurus for the team; went TrickScarf to incapacitate fat stuff switching in and to cripple CM Clefable + Revenge Kill. Ice Punch>Low Kick on Gatr because Cotton Puffs and Tank Chomps.
Enjoy n_n
Edit: I've noticed a Mega Scizor weakness so I gave Fire Fang to Hippowdon to alleviate that a bit (Hippo 2HKOs 248 HP variants after rocks). You could run EdgeQuake + Fire Fang and give rocks to Ferro or alternatively drop Stone Edge for Fire Fang. So between Gatr, Hippo, and Chomp, you should be a-okay ;]
Below is the set n_n
Hippowdon @ Leftovers
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 236 HP / 152 Def / 120 SpD
Impish Nature
- Stealth Rock / Stone Edge
- Earthquake
- Slack Off
- Fire Fang
yo BlacklightTressed, i have a team ready for you. since i had never built a team with mega houndoom before taking on this request, this was a learning experience for me as well.
also, since we get so many cores from all of you each time we open up, AM and i have taken it upon ourselves to recruit ArchPhantom and scotti to help answer teambuilding requests. the shop is still closed until we finish up the previous requests.
an important note: please do not pm me or anyone else currently on the teambuilding shop squad (rob., TheEnder, AM, Halcyon., Bluwing, ArchPhantom, scotti, Vertex, brokenwings, m00n's blanket) to request being added to the team unless you're already well-known or i personally know that you're good at this game. i'll approach the users who i feel are quailfied to help, but if you pm me requesting to be added to the squad, i'll probably ignore you. alternatively, depending on my mood, i might give you two different cores to build around. if you can impress me with your end results, then i'll consider adding you to the team.
HYENAS (Houndoom) (F) @ Houndoominite
Ability: Flash Fire
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 40 HP / 8 Def / 208 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Nasty Plot
- Fire Blast
- Dark Pulse
- Will-O-Wisp
alright. in an effort to make this thread more of a learning resource than it has been in the past, i am going to try out a new format so people can see my thoughts when i was building this team more clearly than a short paragraph would indicate:
Houndoom @ Houndoominite
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Nasty Plot
- Fire Blast
- Dark Pulse
- Will-O-Wisp
these are the original 3 members of the core that tressed posted. they work well together, both offensively and defensively. still, there are a few problem pokemon for this core. for instance, belly drum azumarill could still be problematic for this core if it manages to set up a belly drum before mega houndoom gets a burn on it. hazards (stealth rock in particular) + bisharp support are also problematic because stealth rock shaves off 1/4th of gyarados's and houndoom's hp every time they switch in, and i can't use defog without risking bisharp coming in on latios, getting a free +2 attack boost, and going to town on the core. gyarados's intimidate worsens the problem, and i can't switch houndoom into a boosted bisharp without sacking a pokemon or taking heavy damage in the process. tyranitar is also problematic if houndoom decides to be a little shit and miss with will-o-wisp on the tyranitar switch-in. specially defensive heatran is another bothersome pokemon because it can come in for free on latios and unboosted houndoom and do a number to the core. yea, gyarados sets up almost for free, but i can't directly switch it in because of the possibility of eating a burn or toxic poison from heatran. the fat pink blobs (clefable, chansey) also do a number to the team because none of the core members can deal significant damage to them without a boost.
Houndoom @ Houndoominite
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 40 HP / 8 Def / 208 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Nasty Plot
- Fire Blast
- Dark Pulse
- Will-O-Wisp
with all these problems out there, it became a bit of a challenge to pick a first member to complement the core and solve its problems. after talking with AM a few days ago about getting started with this core, he suggested using a ground-type to check the aforementioned threats. two pokemon that came to mind when he suggested this idea were hippowdon, a bulky mofo that can set up stealth rock and check most of the listed threats (and then some!) with ease, and dugtrio, which can trap and kill a few of the threats on the list. i didn't include landorus-therian because it exacerbated the bisharp vulnerability and tressed requested that i don't use it on this team. after evaluating the team-in-progress at this point, i didn't like how hippowdon sapped so much momentum from the other 3 core members, in spite of its effectiveness at checking the threats to the core; i also didn't appreciate dugtrio's inability to hit hard without the help of a boosting item.
as a result, i approached this problem from a different angle. to ease the heatran vulnerability, i removed defog from latios (i reasoned that i would cover hazard removal w/ a different team member) and gave earthquake to latios to make it a heatran and tyranitar lure. this partially resolved the bisharp problem by giving latios a means of hitting it hard on the switch. i chose to not use hp fighting because it didn't hit heatran hard enough and forced an imperfect speed iv on latios, which means that i would lose the speed tie against other lati@s and genger every time. in addition to this, i added toxicroak in as the fourth member of the team due to its ability to deal with all of the threats i listed in the previous section and neuter many threats found on rain offense (with the exception of mega swampert, which loses to gyarados without stone edge), a playstyle that typically gives offensive teams problems; i also took the time to optimize houndoom's and gyarados's evs and natures to better suit them for the current metagame.
Houndoom @ Houndoominite
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 40 HP / 8 Def / 208 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Nasty Plot
- Fire Blast
- Dark Pulse
- Will-O-Wisp
at the time, i still needed a choice scarfer on this team to take care of the boosting sweepers and naturally fast pokemon that could clean this team up if i don't play well. i also wanted an answer to opposing thundurus, whose access to prankster thunder wave meant it could slow down the team and turn it into mincemeat. the first pokemon i considered for this slot was garchomp, which was immune to thunder wave and thunderbolt, but since i already used scarf garchomp in who knows how many of my own personal teams (seriously, you can ask AM; i use it a ton), i wanted to use a different pokemon than the usual. taking a page from my bw2 days, i added choice scarf thundurus-therian to the team. it provided the same electric immunity garchomp had, and in addition to this, it also lures out bulky grass-types (read: celebi, amoonguss) and fat pokemon in general, which i can u-turn out of and get a teammate more suited for the situation onto the field. it was also fast enough to fit the needs of the team; the rest of the team could deal with any faster scarfers (keldeo, terrakion, garchomp) quite well. besides, i didn't need to worry as much about choice scarf garchomp and terrakion because the former is not the vogue garchomp set at the moment and the metagame is rather unfriendly to the latter.
Houndoom @ Houndoominite
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 40 HP / 8 Def / 208 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Nasty Plot
- Fire Blast
- Dark Pulse
- Will-O-Wisp
after selecting the previous five pokemon, i remembered that i still needed a means of removing hazards and a pivot. since half the team was sr-weak, i did not consider using a rapid spinner for this team because mega sableye cockblocks every spinner that also gets stealth rock besides mold breaker excadrill, which still fails to spin against mega sableye (unless you run some gimmicky lum berry + swords dance / earthquake / stealth rock / rapid spin set, which is pure garbage that any moderately bulky flying type walls and any moderately skilled pokemon player should not use). as a result, i had to choose from the even smaller list of pokemon that have access to both sr and defog. of this tiny list, the only three ou-viable pokemon that have sr and defog are archeops, empoleon, and gliscor. since archeops has non-existent bulk, bad defensive typing, and defeatist (which screws archeops over every time it even tries to take a hit), it was immediately disregarded for this team. gliscor can only have sr and defog in the same moveset if it gives up poison heal, which may be worth it for certain people. for everyone who wants to test this team, that's an option for you to consider if you don't like the match-up this team has against excadrill and other strong ground-types. just remember that you'll struggle more against strong special attackers, such as the lati twins, diancie, and manaphy. this leaves me with empoleon, the option i personally went with. it has great special bulk and an excellent water- / steel-typing, which makes it a great pivot for the rest of the team. access to scald also means that bisharp cannot switch in for free unless it wants to risk the burn chance, and yawn gives empoleon the ability to force the opponent to either sack a pokemon or keep switching to avoid having a critical team member put to sleep. i initially had leftovers on empoleon, but i changed it to shuca berry to give empoleon the ability to lure out and hit any excadrill or landorus that thinks they can force empoleon out for free. besides, i already have three solid answers for opposing fighting-types in latios, gyarados, and toxicroak.
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to answer tressed's second request, all six pokemon on this team are named after six of my favorite tracks on noisia's ten years of vision recordings compilation. i also hope that this post is helpful to anyone who reads it.
e1: if you want further clarification on any of the steps i took, let me know.
e2: Vertex has been added to the teambuilding squad!
Alright the original core here was Jirachi, Mega Lopunny, and Tyrantrum. Tyrantrum is a powerful mon with a new interesting ability which is why I took this core. It has the power/typing to break pokemon that Lopunny has trouble getting passed such as M-Slowbro, Skarmory, Clefable, and Talonflame. It really gives the team a great weapon against all archetypes because your opponent will be forced to sack a mon every time it gets a free switch in. Tyrantrum does have some problems, which stem from it easily being revenged by common priority moves (bullet punch / mach punch) and common weaknesses. Sadly, Lopunny shared some of the same weaknesses, so this problem had to be addressed. The team was weak to Fighting and Ground at this point so I added T-Wave Clefable & Assault Vest Tornadus. T-Wave is preferred over Calm Mind on Clefable because the team struggled with setup sweepers, especially M Charizard-X. Tornadus-Therian is pretty bulky and it's able to replenish it's own health through Regenerator, which only adds to its longevity/ability to annoy opposing teams. Both mons compliment Jirachi and all three form a formidable core that's able to handle most threats. Jirachi and Tornadus are great pivots and they should make it easier to execute your strategies. When building balanced teams I like to have multiple mons that could handle many different viable mons. This is extremely important, if your team isn't properly balanced than your opponent could just easily weaken your only check to a mon they have and then clean sweep from there. It's hard to prepare for everything in ORAS because of the power creep, the abundance of many different viable mon's, and the 232444343 move tutors. Manaphy was chosen as the last pokemon. For this team it can run two different movesets, CM / Rain Dance / Scald / Rest or Tail Glow / Scald / Hidden Power [Fire] / Energy Ball. The latter helps the team break down opposing teams so M-Lopunny can sweep and the former helps against the plethora of offensive threats. Energy Ball is for bulky water types that may cause some trouble like M-Slowbro, Rotom-W, and Azumarill. Hidden Power [Fire] is the lure for Ferrothorn and Scizor. I usually don't build balance but I like the core, hope you enjoy the team.
Its a pretty weird core, but it was really fun to build around. The ev spread on mega hera is out pace bisharp and kyu-b spread is to outpace the entire non scarf based meta. I noticed your running kyurem-b, so it was necessary to run a spinner. I decided on running starmie, as starmie is pretty much the best offensive spinner in the tier and offers a nice keldeo check. I also decided to run Hp Fire on starmie, because kyu-b hates ferrothorn and mega hera had a difficult time taking it out, since who wants to stay in against mega hera with a ferrothorn. So I decided to run hp fire on starmie to hit the ferrothorn switch ins and to check scizor.. The team lacks any dragon resist and fairy, so I decided on running banded scizor as it offers a nice fairy and dragon check for all HO teams. I then added defensive chomp to check threats such as mega lopunny, mega metagross, talonflame, scizor, and bisharp. I ran fire blast over toxic to hit steel types that bother kyu-b and to check mega scizor. The speed ev's give mega chomp enough speed to out pace jolly bisharp. I added latios, because I needed another ground resist/immunity and a mega man check, lando check, and keldeo check, as starmie lacks recovery and can get weakened fast. I ran a calm mind set, because I wanted something to deal with stall a little bit better. Zard x is also a huge threat to the team. I dealt with it by bring in chomp on flare blitz and then switching to scizor on dclaw and repeated. Or I just got it in range for bullet punch. It was a fun team to build and to use. Enjoy the team :]
Bronzong @ Colbur Berry
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 248 HP / 56 Def / 204 SpD
Sassy Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Gyro Ball
- Earthquake
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Stealth Rock
Tenta + Heatran was pretty solid core and was very fun to build around. I changed the tenta spread to the more standard spread, which allows you to avoid the 2hko from life orb gengar shadow ball and mega charizard y solarbeam or fireblast after rocks. The spread also allows you to outspeed defensive lando-t, neutral nature mega alt, and base 70s. I generally liked knock off on tenta, but because hippo takes on gengar with crunch, I decided to run Sludge Bomb as azumarill was a huge threat to this team. I also ran ancient power over stealth rocks on heatran, because I had the ability to run rocks on something else, and ancient power helped against stall breaker talonflame. I added chesnaught on the team, because the initial core was weak to ground and mega gyarados, so chesnaught was the perfect fit. Chesnaught also got access to spikes, so your team has all 3 types of hazards. I ran wood hammer, so you wouldn't get 6-0d by feraligatr. The next mon I chose was mega alt, because I needed another keldeo check, zard y counter, zard x counter, dragon counter in general, and something to break stall. The spread is one of my own creations I used on a mega alt team in the past. It allows you to setup on a variety of threats such as zard y, lando-t, latios, mega lop, and tyranitar. I then proceeded to add hippo, because mega man was kinda annoying and life orb gengar was a huge threat. Hippo also has access to whirlwind, which works great with spikes, toxic spikes, and stealth rocks. The final mon I added was bronzong. I stole the set from AM ,but I replaced rest with rocks, so heatran could run ancient power to counter tflame better. Bronzong counter lando-i, mega garde, mega alt, and togekiss. It pretty much takes on everything that the rest of the team could not handle. Overall it was fun building and using this team, and it worked pretty well. Enjoy the team :]
EDIT: Because this team gets shit on by manaphy I made some changes. I decided to run CM Clefable over hippowdon, and run knock off back on tenta. CM Clefable is obv for manaphy, but with hippo gone the team becomes weaker to gengar. So I decided to add knock off back on tenta, since gengar loves to come in on tenta to prevent spin, so this will allow you to lure in gengar and knock it out. Overall you become weaker to gengar, but you handle a huge threat. Sorry for inconvenience, when teambuilding I totally forgot about manaphy and never ran into it once while testing. Anyway I hope this helps. quagback2qc
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