Team Bulky Threats
I have a love hate relationship with Smogon. I love how it is a consistent place on the internet where competitive pokemon can be discussed. I love how hard the staff works to keep everything high quality.
But I don't love everything. I think at a point, people take the site a bit too seriously. The mods work hard, but sometimes a bit too hard. I've recieved quite a few warnings on my old user, which is now deleted, for posting RMT's that don't fit one specification or another. This is a totally reasonable defense mechanism against, for example, people who say Moltres is the best special wall ever (yes, I've seen that in a RMT) but it can hurt when misdirected. I want to contribute to this great community, and have my opinions heard. So this time, I'm gonna put a lot of effort into making this an enjoyable read, that is aesthetic and informative. I hope you pay me back by giving me some suggestions.
This team is simply an attempt to overwhelm the opponent with multiple high powered sweeps. This is quite weak to stall, but it destroys hyper offense and semi-stall
Team Building Process
I've noticed that people don't treat lead Azelf with nearly as much respect as they used to as far as switching out. I aim to change that, or at least take advantage of it.
I am usually a semi-staller, who relies on powerful Scarfers such as Chandelure for most of my KO's and stalls the rest of the time. This team is the exact opposite. I have no scarfers and no pure walls. Instead I want to poke holes in the opponent and then clean up with a different Poke. The best thing I know to poke holes is banded Haxorus.
Scarfed Tyranitar is my favorite pokemon, but as the metagame has changed, its effectiveness has decreased slightly. Couple that with the fact that I want more bulk, and I decide to go with a bulky Dragon dance set.
Yeah, most people who play the B/W metagame saw this one coming from a mile away. Reuniclus is truly the epitome of slow, bulky, sweeper. I chose this mainly for its excellent chemistry with Tyranitar.
Although I am certainly not an expert on team-building, I would suggest anyone making a competitive team to stop and look after deciding on four. You often catch dangerous weaknesses this way. Often on my teams, I have the first four pokes running one strategy, and the last two either running a seperate strategy or supporting the others. This is an example of support. So far, I notice that except for my lead azelf I am dangerously slow. I need a revenge killer. Now, my usual revenge killer is choice band bullet punch scizor, but I wanted something with more natural speed, useful resistances, and most importantly, the ability to run a mixed set. Lucario fits the bill perfectly.
When I first started playing the 5th gen, with scizor and ferrothorn everywhere, zapdos and its powerful heat wave was on almost everyone of my teams. Now, although that is still useful, zapdos is my counter to rain teams and another bulky sweeper.
Closer Look
Azelf @ Life Orb
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Stealth Rock
- U-turn
- Zen Headbutt
- Fire Punch
For some reason, Forretress, and Scizor switch into this ALL THE TIME. I'm not quite sure why that ism but either way, I firepunch it for the ohko. U-Turn can one hit knock out latias, even with my jolly nature, which is really useful. Azelf tries to set up rocks, do damage if possible, and then u-turn out. I occasionally will use team preview and switch out to something else, but Azelf has great use lategame as well. Zen headbutt is especially nice to hit conkelldur with, as an unboosted mach punch does very little damage.
That said, Azelf has not handled the generation leap well. I use this set mainly for shock factor, but once the opponent realizes what it is, it is quite easy to play around. I like Azelf a lot, but if anybody has suggestions for a new "lead" I will be open.
Haxorus (M) @ Choice Band
Trait: Mold Breaker
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Outrage
- Brick Break
- Earthquake
- X-Scissor
This terrifying monster bug dragon thing needs more love. Sure, it misses a helluva lot of speed tiers. Sure, it is walled by several prominent tanks. But, come on. A Outrage that hits as hard as Rayquaza, in OU? This thing is a very good wallbreaker, with surprisingly good coverage. I can either sacrifice Haxorus early on and just go for the Outrage to dent just about anything the opponent cares to take it before dying, or I can wait until late game to clean up. Having 97 base speed doesn't matter when facing slow Pokes left at low health, and in some cases Haxorus can be just as good as it initially looked.
That said, Haxorus does have some problems. Although not having a 4x Ice weakness helps, Haxorus is not gonna be winning any prizes for survivability. Furthermore, if I'm locked into Outrage I become set up bait for steel types. If, however, I predict the steel type switch and use Brick Break I can dent everything except Skarmory.
Surprisingly, team preview benefits Haxorus a lot. In the 4th gen, using Outrage early on would be even more dangerous then it is now, because I have no idea what might take advantage of me being locked in. Now, I can eliminate enemy counters, or at least be aware of them.
Haxorus will most likely never crack the top 10 in usage, at least this generation, I cannot imagine replacing him for another Choice Bander. I could replace him for a different pokemon if truly necessary, but Hax does his job very well.
Tyranitar (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 Atk, 252 Speed, 4 HP
Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Dragon Dance
- Stone Edge
- Earthquake
- Crunch
The flat out best Pokemon on this team. I come out after one of my pokes has been KOed by something that Ttar threatens. The opponent switches, and I get a free DD. Because of the Jolly nature, Ttar at plus one speed outspeeds a whole bunch of stuff. I then pick a SE or STAB move and hit the incoming check with plus one attack. If I manage to get up two DD's somehow, and nothing with Mach Punch or Vacuum Wave is left on the opponent's team, I win 95 percent of the time.
The EV's don't look defensive. I'm actually considering changing them. I call this set defensive because I run leftovers opposed to life orb, and also because I play Ttar very conservatively on this team.
Ttar functions well with what I said about Haxorus as well. Team preview is hugely beneficial to Pokemon with dangerous weaknesses. As a rule of thumb, I never will attempt a DD sweep unless the opponent has no Fighting types left. There are a few exceptions to this, but very few.
This team was really built around this Pokemon, so I won't dump it, but EV and movepool suggestions would be appreciated.
Reuniclus (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Magic Guard
EVs: 252 Def / 252 SAtk / 4 Spd
Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Calm Mind
- Psychic
- Focus Blast
- Shadow Ball
Reuniclus is just excellent, especially when paired with Ttar. This set actually functions similarly to Ttar, except I rely purely on bulk as opposed to a mix of bulk and speed. Reuniclus's Special Attack stat is threatening even to dedicated special walls after a few Calm Minds. After two Calm Minds, even Blissey has to watch out for my Focus Blast. Psychic is for STAB, and Shadow Ball for important coverage on Lati@s, Gengar, Jellicent, and opposing Reuniclus.
That said, this set has problems. Because this is not a trick room team, Reuniclus is very vulnerable to fast physical sweepers. Furthermore, I lack any kind of recovery outside of leftovers. I am considering making 2 changes, please tell me if they are advisable
1. Changing Leftovers to Life Orb, as magic guard nullifies the extra damage anyway.
2.Changing Shadow Ball to Recover.
Lucario (M) @ Life Orb
Trait: Steadfast
EVs: 188 Atk / 204 SAtk / 116 Spd
Naughty Nature (+Atk, -SDef)
- Vacuum Wave
- ExtremeSpeed
- Earthquake
- Dragon Pulse
The only team member who I am truly dissatisfied with. I included Lucario for priority revenge kills, as well as to be the only steel type on this team. I also wanted to explore revenge killers outside of my regulars (Scarfed Chandelure and Banded Bullet Punch Scizor). I hoped that this mixed set would aid Haxorus's "opening chinks in the armor" technique.
It fails. It just isn't good. I have gotten a few good kills with Extreme speed, but that's about it. The thing about this set is that it is just thoroughly outclassed by the rest of my team. Earthquake is done better by Hax, Ttar mauling is done better by a well predicted Focus Blast from Reuniclus, and Dragon Pulse is outclassed by Ttar's Stone Edge as far as taking out Mence and Dragonite. The only move I find myself using effectively is ExtremeSpeed.
Plus, it is too frail to make good use of its Steel typing. While it can help with switching in, it just isn't enough to keep it in.
Please give me suggestions for a replacement revenge killer.
Zapdos @ Leftovers
Trait: Pressure
EVs: 108 HP / 108 Def / 108 SAtk / 72 SDef / 112 Spd
Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Thunderbolt
- Roost
- Roar
- Heat Wave
The last addition to this team is pure support. While its moveset (with the possible exception of Roar) does not suggest support, you have to look deeper than that. My team has dangerous weaknesses to Scizor, Ferrothorn, Rain Teams, Skarmory, and Gyarados. Zapdos handles these all perfectly, letting my sweepers do their job and sweep. Tbolt and Heat Wave provides quite good coverage for what this set does. Tbolt covers the rain teams that otherwise threaten the rest of my team, and Heatwave covers steels. Zapdos and Haxorus have great synergy, as Zapdos can maul the steel types that wall Haxorus, and Haxorus can weaken, if not eliminate, many Zapdos stops.
I use Roar over Hidden Power Ice because I need something on this team to phaze, plus stat buffers and sub users are often found on rain teams that Zapdos counters.
Zappy does have problems. It has a rather unfortunate ice weakness, which means it is not a perfect pokemon to sweep rain teams. Instead, I use it like a sniper, to pointedly pick off certain weather abusers one at a time while using Reuniclus and Tyranitar to keep the game under control. Ttar also is a good stop to rain teams, but only in some situations. In general, when facing rain teams, I don't try to go for a DD sweep until Zapdos has electrocuted the hell out of cute little Politoed. This means that if I misplay, and Zapdos goes down too early, I can get rain swept. Luckily, roost, my recovery move, removes my ice weakness for one turn which is absolutely crucial when facing politoed/vaporeon/suicune on low health.
I have a love hate relationship with Smogon. I love how it is a consistent place on the internet where competitive pokemon can be discussed. I love how hard the staff works to keep everything high quality.
But I don't love everything. I think at a point, people take the site a bit too seriously. The mods work hard, but sometimes a bit too hard. I've recieved quite a few warnings on my old user, which is now deleted, for posting RMT's that don't fit one specification or another. This is a totally reasonable defense mechanism against, for example, people who say Moltres is the best special wall ever (yes, I've seen that in a RMT) but it can hurt when misdirected. I want to contribute to this great community, and have my opinions heard. So this time, I'm gonna put a lot of effort into making this an enjoyable read, that is aesthetic and informative. I hope you pay me back by giving me some suggestions.
This team is simply an attempt to overwhelm the opponent with multiple high powered sweeps. This is quite weak to stall, but it destroys hyper offense and semi-stall
Team Building Process
I've noticed that people don't treat lead Azelf with nearly as much respect as they used to as far as switching out. I aim to change that, or at least take advantage of it.
I am usually a semi-staller, who relies on powerful Scarfers such as Chandelure for most of my KO's and stalls the rest of the time. This team is the exact opposite. I have no scarfers and no pure walls. Instead I want to poke holes in the opponent and then clean up with a different Poke. The best thing I know to poke holes is banded Haxorus.
Scarfed Tyranitar is my favorite pokemon, but as the metagame has changed, its effectiveness has decreased slightly. Couple that with the fact that I want more bulk, and I decide to go with a bulky Dragon dance set.
Yeah, most people who play the B/W metagame saw this one coming from a mile away. Reuniclus is truly the epitome of slow, bulky, sweeper. I chose this mainly for its excellent chemistry with Tyranitar.
Although I am certainly not an expert on team-building, I would suggest anyone making a competitive team to stop and look after deciding on four. You often catch dangerous weaknesses this way. Often on my teams, I have the first four pokes running one strategy, and the last two either running a seperate strategy or supporting the others. This is an example of support. So far, I notice that except for my lead azelf I am dangerously slow. I need a revenge killer. Now, my usual revenge killer is choice band bullet punch scizor, but I wanted something with more natural speed, useful resistances, and most importantly, the ability to run a mixed set. Lucario fits the bill perfectly.
When I first started playing the 5th gen, with scizor and ferrothorn everywhere, zapdos and its powerful heat wave was on almost everyone of my teams. Now, although that is still useful, zapdos is my counter to rain teams and another bulky sweeper.
Closer Look
Azelf @ Life Orb
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Stealth Rock
- U-turn
- Zen Headbutt
- Fire Punch
For some reason, Forretress, and Scizor switch into this ALL THE TIME. I'm not quite sure why that ism but either way, I firepunch it for the ohko. U-Turn can one hit knock out latias, even with my jolly nature, which is really useful. Azelf tries to set up rocks, do damage if possible, and then u-turn out. I occasionally will use team preview and switch out to something else, but Azelf has great use lategame as well. Zen headbutt is especially nice to hit conkelldur with, as an unboosted mach punch does very little damage.
That said, Azelf has not handled the generation leap well. I use this set mainly for shock factor, but once the opponent realizes what it is, it is quite easy to play around. I like Azelf a lot, but if anybody has suggestions for a new "lead" I will be open.
Haxorus (M) @ Choice Band
Trait: Mold Breaker
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Outrage
- Brick Break
- Earthquake
- X-Scissor
This terrifying monster bug dragon thing needs more love. Sure, it misses a helluva lot of speed tiers. Sure, it is walled by several prominent tanks. But, come on. A Outrage that hits as hard as Rayquaza, in OU? This thing is a very good wallbreaker, with surprisingly good coverage. I can either sacrifice Haxorus early on and just go for the Outrage to dent just about anything the opponent cares to take it before dying, or I can wait until late game to clean up. Having 97 base speed doesn't matter when facing slow Pokes left at low health, and in some cases Haxorus can be just as good as it initially looked.
That said, Haxorus does have some problems. Although not having a 4x Ice weakness helps, Haxorus is not gonna be winning any prizes for survivability. Furthermore, if I'm locked into Outrage I become set up bait for steel types. If, however, I predict the steel type switch and use Brick Break I can dent everything except Skarmory.
Surprisingly, team preview benefits Haxorus a lot. In the 4th gen, using Outrage early on would be even more dangerous then it is now, because I have no idea what might take advantage of me being locked in. Now, I can eliminate enemy counters, or at least be aware of them.
Haxorus will most likely never crack the top 10 in usage, at least this generation, I cannot imagine replacing him for another Choice Bander. I could replace him for a different pokemon if truly necessary, but Hax does his job very well.
Tyranitar (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 Atk, 252 Speed, 4 HP
Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Dragon Dance
- Stone Edge
- Earthquake
- Crunch
The flat out best Pokemon on this team. I come out after one of my pokes has been KOed by something that Ttar threatens. The opponent switches, and I get a free DD. Because of the Jolly nature, Ttar at plus one speed outspeeds a whole bunch of stuff. I then pick a SE or STAB move and hit the incoming check with plus one attack. If I manage to get up two DD's somehow, and nothing with Mach Punch or Vacuum Wave is left on the opponent's team, I win 95 percent of the time.
The EV's don't look defensive. I'm actually considering changing them. I call this set defensive because I run leftovers opposed to life orb, and also because I play Ttar very conservatively on this team.
Ttar functions well with what I said about Haxorus as well. Team preview is hugely beneficial to Pokemon with dangerous weaknesses. As a rule of thumb, I never will attempt a DD sweep unless the opponent has no Fighting types left. There are a few exceptions to this, but very few.
This team was really built around this Pokemon, so I won't dump it, but EV and movepool suggestions would be appreciated.
Reuniclus (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Magic Guard
EVs: 252 Def / 252 SAtk / 4 Spd
Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Calm Mind
- Psychic
- Focus Blast
- Shadow Ball
Reuniclus is just excellent, especially when paired with Ttar. This set actually functions similarly to Ttar, except I rely purely on bulk as opposed to a mix of bulk and speed. Reuniclus's Special Attack stat is threatening even to dedicated special walls after a few Calm Minds. After two Calm Minds, even Blissey has to watch out for my Focus Blast. Psychic is for STAB, and Shadow Ball for important coverage on Lati@s, Gengar, Jellicent, and opposing Reuniclus.
That said, this set has problems. Because this is not a trick room team, Reuniclus is very vulnerable to fast physical sweepers. Furthermore, I lack any kind of recovery outside of leftovers. I am considering making 2 changes, please tell me if they are advisable
1. Changing Leftovers to Life Orb, as magic guard nullifies the extra damage anyway.
2.Changing Shadow Ball to Recover.
Lucario (M) @ Life Orb
Trait: Steadfast
EVs: 188 Atk / 204 SAtk / 116 Spd
Naughty Nature (+Atk, -SDef)
- Vacuum Wave
- ExtremeSpeed
- Earthquake
- Dragon Pulse
The only team member who I am truly dissatisfied with. I included Lucario for priority revenge kills, as well as to be the only steel type on this team. I also wanted to explore revenge killers outside of my regulars (Scarfed Chandelure and Banded Bullet Punch Scizor). I hoped that this mixed set would aid Haxorus's "opening chinks in the armor" technique.
It fails. It just isn't good. I have gotten a few good kills with Extreme speed, but that's about it. The thing about this set is that it is just thoroughly outclassed by the rest of my team. Earthquake is done better by Hax, Ttar mauling is done better by a well predicted Focus Blast from Reuniclus, and Dragon Pulse is outclassed by Ttar's Stone Edge as far as taking out Mence and Dragonite. The only move I find myself using effectively is ExtremeSpeed.
Plus, it is too frail to make good use of its Steel typing. While it can help with switching in, it just isn't enough to keep it in.
Please give me suggestions for a replacement revenge killer.
Zapdos @ Leftovers
Trait: Pressure
EVs: 108 HP / 108 Def / 108 SAtk / 72 SDef / 112 Spd
Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Thunderbolt
- Roost
- Roar
- Heat Wave
The last addition to this team is pure support. While its moveset (with the possible exception of Roar) does not suggest support, you have to look deeper than that. My team has dangerous weaknesses to Scizor, Ferrothorn, Rain Teams, Skarmory, and Gyarados. Zapdos handles these all perfectly, letting my sweepers do their job and sweep. Tbolt and Heat Wave provides quite good coverage for what this set does. Tbolt covers the rain teams that otherwise threaten the rest of my team, and Heatwave covers steels. Zapdos and Haxorus have great synergy, as Zapdos can maul the steel types that wall Haxorus, and Haxorus can weaken, if not eliminate, many Zapdos stops.
I use Roar over Hidden Power Ice because I need something on this team to phaze, plus stat buffers and sub users are often found on rain teams that Zapdos counters.
Zappy does have problems. It has a rather unfortunate ice weakness, which means it is not a perfect pokemon to sweep rain teams. Instead, I use it like a sniper, to pointedly pick off certain weather abusers one at a time while using Reuniclus and Tyranitar to keep the game under control. Ttar also is a good stop to rain teams, but only in some situations. In general, when facing rain teams, I don't try to go for a DD sweep until Zapdos has electrocuted the hell out of cute little Politoed. This means that if I misplay, and Zapdos goes down too early, I can get rain swept. Luckily, roost, my recovery move, removes my ice weakness for one turn which is absolutely crucial when facing politoed/vaporeon/suicune on low health.
