Team Crashland - Gen 6 OU - Balanced Offensive

[Alien]

Hey guys, I've been battling since gen 3, but I always end up taking long breaks halfway through a gen, only to come back to it every time a new game is released. I've been fiddling around with teams that fit my playstyle of bulky offense and have finally made a team that is doing decent on the ladder, but I would like to see what other people have to say about it in terms of weaknesses.


At a Glance:

Through the Microscope:

Nidoqueen (F) @ Black Sludge
Ability: Sheer Force
EVs: 248 HP / 252 SDef / 8 Def
Calm Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Earth Power
- Sludge Wave
- Roar

The current lead I'm using. I'm pretty fond of using defensive leads that can setup SR, and my favorite in my old teams was Jirachi. However, I gave Skarmory a try and liked the phazing element it brought to the team, but didn't enjoy how hindered I was offensively. After that, I tried Heatran, and it ended up filling a similar role, but for some reason I started doing a lot better when I switched to Nidoqueen. Nidoqueen seems odd when an option like Heatran is available, but I like the added Fairy resistance, and being able to resist rock and fighting is definitely welcome. Stealth Rock because my team needs the accumulated damage, Earth Power and Sludge Wave for coverage, and Roar to stop any scary setup threats before they get too big.

EV's are setup to be more specially defensive, although I've considered switching them to physically defensive, as I find myself wanting to switch in Nidoqueen on more physical threats than special ones. As for synergy, a lot of pokemon that wreck Nidoqueen like Excadrill, Dragonite and various psychic types are easily setup on by the likes of Scrafty or can be taken out with one of my two revenge killers, usually resulting in a favorable situation for me if someone puts too much effort into taking this poke out.

Scrafty @ Leftovers
Ability: Moxie
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature
- Dragon Dance
- High Jump Kick
- Crunch
- Ice Punch

This is the offensive pokemon that my team is centered around. Originally, I just used Mega Heracross with four attacking moves, but I found that I needed spin support too much on the team I had, meaning I had to find a sweeper that could replace the power of Mega Heracross. I considered Lucario, but then I remembered about the forgotten sweeper Scrafty. With a respectable base attack and two very strong offensive STABs, this set really only needs 1 DD and a tiny bit of accumulated damage to end a battle on its own.

High Jump Kick is the preferred fighting move, as I usually only have time for 1 DD before I have to start attacking, so the extra damage is definitely a need. Crunch is for STAB and coverage, and Ice Punch is my choice to deal with the popular switchins Gliscor and Dragonite. Gliscor is cleanly 2HKO'd while unable to do anything back, and Dragonite is OHKO'd after 1 DD and SR.

EV spread is pretty self explanatory. Scrafty has an easy time setting up on things that look like trouble for other members of the team. After a burn, Excadrill is setup fodder no matter what set it runs, and usually any defensive wall such as Ferrothorn or Rotom is also fairly easy to set up on. The lack of recovery can sometimes be a problem, but I choose to run leftovers instead of life orb in order to give this set some more longevity, seeing as how it's the most important pokemon on my team. Talonflame, Togekiss, Sylveon and Clefable can give Scrafty trouble, but the former two are handled by Rotom and Nidoqueen respectively, while the latter can be handled by Nidoqueen or Talonflame.

Blastoise (F) @ Blastoisinite
Ability: Rain Dish
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SAtk / 4 SDef
Modest Nature
- Rapid Spin
- Scald
- Dark Pulse
- Aura Sphere

I feel weird about using this pokemon. Sometimes, it's a great boon with Rapid Spin support and the extent to which it can dent an opposing team. Other times, it ends up being setup fodder without even a chance to use Rapid Spin or even attack. That being said, I feel like when it ends up dying doing little, the rest of my team will breathe easy, because the things that bring down Blastoise are usually pokemon I have no trouble dealing with. Blastoise does a surprisingly large amount of damage, which I'm still trying to get used to. I never really expect a whole lot of damage when it's unboosted, so it's always great seeing OHKO's with Scald.

EV's are setup to emphasize bulk and damage output. The name of the game for me is a balanced offensive, and Blastoise can take hits and deal them out as well. Dark Pulse and Aura Sphere along with Scald make sure I'm never at a loss for what move to use, although Azumarill does completely wall this set and can 2HKO with Play Rough. All in all, the Rapid Spin support Blastoise provides this team is invaluable given the amount of switching I like to employ when I battle.

Most of the things Blastoise is really worried about like Venusaur, Azumarill and Jolteon are fairly simple to deal with for my team: Venusaur can't stand up to Talonflame or Nidoqueen, while Azumarill gets burned by Rotom-W, neutering it heavily. Jolteon is a bit trickier to deal with, but most are outsped and OHKO'd by Garchomp.

Garchomp (M) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Rough Skin
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- Outrage
- Poison Jab

The original iteration of this team was working fine until I went up against a Charizard. It swept through my entire team and I had no answers at all. I looked for a counter that could outspeed Charizard after one DD, and I found a perfect fit. Garchomp is a really powerful revenge killer, filling my needs as a Scarfer perfectly. It features the staple EdgeQuake combo, with Outrage for STAB. Poison Jab is chosen as the last slot because Fire Blast wouldn't have nearly enough damage to be worth using and the ability to hit fairy types like Azumarill or Sylveon as the game draws on is appreciated.

Defensively, Garchomp provides a nice Electric immunity, which Talonflame and Blastoise definitely appreciate. I have a tough time switching in Garchomp on moves because I'm worried about losing it to early, but using it as a pure revenge killer always forces some kind of pressure on to the opposing side. The reasoning behind the EV's is obvious. This is a really standard set that performs exactly as advertised: A speedy revenge killer with a lot of offensive coverage and powerful damage output.

Rotom-Wash @ Chesto Berry
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SAtk
Bold Nature
- Hydro Pump
- Volt Switch
- Will-O-Wisp
- Rest

My team's other defensive pivot. Rotom-W gives a lot of control in a battle thanks to Volt Switch. Used properly, the momentum can always be in your hand. I like switching in Rotom very early in a battle, and using it to respond to threats as they come out. I sometimes feel a little underwhelmed by the Rest/Chesto combo because I hardly ever get to use it, as I either need to use a different move or get 2HKO'd regardless. Considering the switch to Leftovers to give myself more passive recovery rather than a free heal. In that case I'd need suggestions for a last moveslot.

There's not a whole lot to say about Rotom's defensive power. It's really good and should be abused as much as possible. Earthquake immunity is great for Nidoqueen, and having good defensive typing in general means I can switch it in on a lot of threats and force them out. I use WoW and a physically defensive EV spread because Rotom functions as a pokemon that shuts down physical sweepers. Usually a shut down physical sweeper can become setup fodder for Scrafty. I don't think a switch to Specially Defensive Rotom would be the best choice because of the way I use it, but if a better option is available, I would like some suggestions. Oftentimes I find myself mainly using Rotom to force enough switches to where they make a mistake and Scrafty is able to set up.

Rotom does its job very well, countering a lot of the things that give the rest of my team trouble like Scizor, Azumarill, Talonflame and Garchomp. When something comes in that can ruin Rotom like a Venusaur or Ferrothorn, it can be ruined by Talonflame. Excadrill, a somewhat common offensive threat to Rotom can be checked by Blastoise, Garchomp and Scrafty.

Talonflame @ Choice Band
Ability: Gale Wings
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 Spd / 4 HP
Adamant Nature
- Brave Bird
- Flare Blitz
- U-turn
- Tailwind

This pokemon is the only one along with Rotom to survive through every iteration of this team, and for good reason. It's an amazing revenge killer with its priority STAB Brave Bird, and I can use it as a pivot if I'm unsure of my next move with U-turn. Flare Blitz is to provide secondary STAB and coverage, but most of the time it's all about spamming priority Brave Bird on whatever doesn't resist it to inflict significant amounts of damage.

One of the hardest things about using this pokemon in the past, especially given my style of play with heavy switching, was my inability to get rid of Stealth Rocks. Now, with Blastoise added to my team, Talonflame can function as a secondary sweeper, able to annihilate large portions of the metagame, or just wear down threats that the rest of my team has a bit of trouble dealing with. EV's are pretty obvious like the rest of my team, Choice Band is there as well for a pretty obvious reason.

The odd thing in this set is obviously Tailwind. It's mainly a relic from when I used Mega Heracross as my sweeper, because I could sacrifice the life of Talonflame to give Heracross 3 turns with doubled speed to do its thing. Now that Scrafty uses up a turn of its own to setup, I don't know if it's the best option anymore. In theory, Scrafty could sweep with Moxie and Tailwind, but it doesn't seem as strong as the synergy with Heracross was. Tailwind was never a large part of the movepool, as the other 3 moves already give me more than I could ever ask for with this pokemon.

The synergy with Talonflame and the rest of my team is pretty apparent. Scrafty and Blastoise don't like Breloom, Breloom hates Talonflame. Sometimes I'm troubled by Ferrothorn or Scizor, and Talonflame handles them great. Many sweepers can be cleaned up by Talonflame if they're using a Life Orb or have been taking damage over the course of the battle due to just how much sheer damage Talonflame has. Defensively, Rotom-W can be handled by Scrafty, although WoW can pose a problem at times. Hippowdon, Slowbro and Tyranitar are all handled by Rotom-W, and if Talonflame is low enough to be taken out by ExtremeSpeed, Lucario can be checked by Scrafty, Nidoqueen and Garchomp.





Thanks for taking a look at my team and please feel free to give me your thoughts on how I could improve the team, as well as any glaring oversights I may have made while building the team. I appreciate any and all rates (:

-Alien

 

[neooo]

I didn't read all of your reasoning, I just glanced at sets and items, but a few things caught my eye. I like your Nidoqueen set, I'm going to try something similar myself! Pretty neat. Also, I'm glad to see another person using Mega Blastoise, I've used him with a lot of success after a friend showed me how strong he can really be.

The other thing is something you may want to consider changing. Scrafty is very vulnerable to burns, and since we're going to see a lot of them flying around in this meta you may want to consider using Lum Berry over Leftovers OR using Shed Skin over Moxie. You aren't running a cleric, and if he gets burned, he's might as well be dead.

Also, have you given any consideration to running Knock Off over Crunch on Scrafty? Knock off is a 97.5 damage STAB on the initial hit that removes the item. Even if the move is resisted, no one likes losing their item save for stuff like the uncommon Unburden 'mon.

Anyway, the rest looks really solid.

 

[Alien]

I've thought about Lum Berry and it could definitely help out, and I forgot about Knock Off and how annoying it can be. I think the Lum Berry/Leftovers is a tossup where both are good in certain situations. I think that for my team Leftovers is better in general because I like to do a lot of switching, but I'll test out Lum Berry and see how I like it.

I'm glad you like the Nidoqueen set! I'm still trying to figure out whether or not to switch it to Modest with some SpA investment to OHKO Heatran and Lucario with Earth Power.

One thing I've found is that most special attackers this gen aren't very sturdy and can get taken out by Talonflame or Garchomp revenge kills, so maybe I don't need to be as worried about having a special tank.

 

[Seiterman]

Okay then, I've given your team a good look. It definitely looks like you have a pretty solid set-up here. Glancing through, none of your sets have any glaring flaws, nor does your team as a whole have gaping holes. Still, all teams have some weaknesses and changes can usually be made, so I'll do my best to recommend what I can.

Since I don't see crazy weaknesses anywhere, I'll start by looking at each Pokemon individually. By doing so weaknesses in the team may become more apparent.

• Nidoqueen- The first thing I notice right off the bat is that this set is walled 100% by Skarmory, who can even use Taunt to shut down Nidoqueen's support options and force a switch. Ground/Poison coverage leaves you with a few other weaknesses, such as Gengar (amazingly 4x resists Poison and can either smack back hard with Shadow Ball or start setting up SubDisable on you,) Ferrothorn (a common lead that can set up SR or Leech Seed,) Crobat (who can utilize fast Taunts and U-Turn to keep you from phazing a set-up sweeper,) Gliscor (again, fast Taunt, but this time with Earthquake as a very real, very deadly possibility,) and Landorus/Landorus-T (Earthquake/Stone Edge coverage threatens Nidoqueen and your most likely switch-ins.) The simplest way to remedy this is by replacing Sludge Wave, which doesn't OHKO (and in some cases misses the 2HKO on,) Fairies like Azumarill, Sylveon and Togekiss anyway. Luckily for you, Nidoqueen has a great movepool with options like Thunderbolt, Flamethrower and Ice Beam. What you choose depends on what you want to cover most; Skarmory is 2HKO'd by Thunderbolt or Flamethrower, Gengar will take moderate damage from any option, Ferrothorn is roasted by Flamethrower, Crobat takes the most from Ice Beam and Thunderbolt, and you can easily dispatch Gliscor and Landorus with an Ice Beam. You also have the option to run Fire Blast or Thunder if you want to trade accuracy for power. I also noticed you were thinking about playing with Nidoqueen's stats a bit. She'd probably make a better defensive pivot on the physical end of the spectrum, since, as you pointed out, a lot of special attackers aren't super sturdy and can be dealt with via revenge kills. A lot of the most threatening special attackers also prey on Nidoqueen's weaknesses anyway, like Alakazam, Reuniclus, Lati@s, Greninja and Espeon. If you still want a special pivot (which is totally reasonable and a good idea,) we can actually modify Rotom-W to do that. You also have the option of replacing Black Sludge with Life Orb since it lacks recoil and makes Nidoqueen hit decently harder, and it'll let you potentially forgo extra SpA investment. Do keep in mind that this makes her more susceptible to Trick (mostly from Rotom-W,) and it does cut into her longevity a bit, so Black Sludge is still a perfectly valid item choice.
• Scrafty- This guy is definitely reason enough to run stuff like Poison coverage on your other mons, considering his incredible Fairy weakness. However, most Fairies have other exploitable weaknesses, and oftentimes it's for the best to take advantage of those instead. We will look more into that when we get to your other mons though. For now, the main thing to discuss here is your item choice. Scrafty's ample weaknesses make him less of a Pokemon that's built to last this generation, and while your team is, as a whole, pretty good at absorbing different types of status, the extra chance of Lum Berry is likely more valuable than Leftovers recovery on a mon that's meant to do his thing at the end of the game. Like Neooo said, Knock Off is a very viable option, and it will outdamage Crunch ever so slightly then both are used twice on a mon that held an item. The main opponents that Crunch damages more are opposing Mega Pokemon, but a lot of them will either take Crunches well due to bulk (Venusaur, Blastoise,) or otherwise are hit harder by your other moves (Garchomp, Lucario.)
  
• Blastoise- I don't really have anything to suggest for this guy. He looks really solid. Like the rest of your team he looks like he doesn't enjoy Fairies that much, but there isn't much that you can change on M-Blastoise to fix that.
• Garchomp- I'm a little bit torn on this one. Garchomp isn't a bad revenge killer by any means, he's just kind of outclassed for the most part by Talonflame. Garchomp does outspeed the unboosted metagame with a Scarf, but he lacks the raw power of other Garchomp sets, and as a result a lot of this targets need prior damage. Still, as long as you get prior damage done, Garchomp does his job as well as ever. One thing to note is that Poison Jab, despite hitting Fairies pretty hard, doesn't turn any 2HKO's into OHKO's. Azumarill is still only 2HKO'd and OHKO's back with Play Rough even without a boosting item. Togekiss takes more from Stone Edge, Sylveon is 2HKO'd by both Poison Jab and Earthquake and Klefki/Mawile are outright immune to Poison Jab. You may want to consider switching to another move. Dragon Claw can be used as another STAB option that doesn't lock you into Outrage. Fire Fang hits some Pokemon like Skarmory and Ferrothorn harder, and Fire Blast hits harder than that. If you use Fire Blast use a Naive nature, since it's not like Garchomp has any business switching into special attacks anyway.
• Rotom-W- I think the SpDef set is pretty underrated, and can vouch for its usefulness. It still takes a pittance from Talonflame's STABs (though U-Turn leaves a sizable dent,) and Rotom-W's typing lends it more to special defense than Nidoqueen's. ChestoRest is nice, but if you find yourself often playing longer games Leftovers may be a better option. It depends more on how your games run though and your playstyle.
  
• Talonflame- Not much to say about this guy that hasn't been said before. He's Talonflame. Some of those Speed EV's may be better placed in HP for bulk, as Talonflame outspeeds so much already (and Brave Bird priority helps too.) You can use 208 Speed to outspeed Jolly Mega Pinsir, which is probably the fastest thing you'd really need to outspeed. As for what to do about Tailwind, it's not like Talonflame has many other options. Will-O-Wisp is the primary option for that slot, as the burn is often the most useful thing he can do before he bites the dust, and can be helpful against stuff like Tyranitar. His physical movepool is really poor, with the best option other than what he has being Steel Wing. Ew.

Now that the team has been addressed per individual I feel I can talk about the weaknesses a bit better. In it's current form, Fairies, while not necessarily common, are a threat to watch for. Azumarill is probably the scariest one, as you lack any sufficient way to OHKO it, and it'll hit something like a truck before it goes down. Barring Talonflame, your team doesn't care for Grass-type attacks. This means Ferrothorn can potentially dent things with Power Whip and you may not enjoy taking Bullet Seed from Breloom or Mega Heracross. Status can mess up your team a good bit, though you have options for absorbing any status but Sleep. Finally, this team doesn't care for mons with BoltBeam coverage, as the two moves can potentially deal super-effective damage to everyone but Scrafty, who is hit neutrally either way.

Overall, the team is well thought-out, and I think it utilizes uncommon threats like Nidoqueen and Scrafty nicely. There is some room for improvement, but it looks like a pretty great team nonetheless. I hope I was helpful!

 

[iliekmudkipz123456789]

Since Blastoise is the most expendable member on your team, it's worth considering to change it to Excadrill. Excadrill can carry Mold Breaker Earthquake which destroys Rotom-Wash, and your team looks pretty vulnerable to it. Also, if you end up using Excadrill, I would change Garchomp to mix mega chomp so you don't miss out on powerful special attacks. Here are the sets.

Excadrill @ Air Balloon
Mold Breaker
Jolly
252spe/252atk/4hp
-Earthquake
-Rapid Spin
-Rock Slide
-Iron Head/Swords Dance


Garchomp @ Garchompite
Rough Skin------->Sand Force
Rash
252hp/144spa/112atk or a better spread if you can come up with one lol
-Earthquake
-Draco Meteor
-Fire Blast
-Stone Edge

Don't mind the change from Scarf Garchomp to Mega Garchomp because Talonflame is a really good revenge killer as it is. Hope I helped! :]

 

[Seiterman]

Since Blastoise is the most expendable member on your team, it's worth considering to change it to Excadrill. Excadrill can carry Mold Breaker Earthquake which destroys Rotom-Wash, and your team looks pretty vulnerable to it. Also, if you end up using Excadrill, I would change Garchomp to mix mega chomp so you don't miss out on powerful special attacks. Here are the sets.

Excadrill @ Air Balloon
Mold Breaker
Jolly
252spe/252atk/4hp
-Earthquake
-Rapid Spin
-Rock Slide
-Iron Head/Swords Dance


Garchomp @ Garchompite
Rough Skin------->Sand Force
Rash
252hp/144spa/112atk or a better spread if you can come up with one lol
-Earthquake
-Draco Meteor
-Fire Blast
-Stone Edge

Don't mind the change from Scarf Garchomp to Mega Garchomp because Talonflame is a really good revenge killer as it is. Hope I helped! :]

Excadrill isn't really a reliable counter though. Standard Excadrill OHKO's standard Rotom-W, but the reverse also applies. Add in that it's not uncommon to see ScarfTrick Rotom (which will outspeed and, likely, OHKO regardless,) and Excadrill isn't really a good answer to Rotom-W. Rather, he has a way to get past him, but it's heavily reliant on prediction and who switches into who.

Meanwhile, M-Blastoise potentially 2HKO's physically defensive Rotom-W with Dark Pulse or Aura Sphere, and Rotom-W cannot boast the same without SpA investment or Thunderbolt. With SpA investment Volt Switch can be a potential 2HKO, but relying on a Volt Switch to KO something isn't the best idea for obvious reasons. Thunderbolt is pretty uncommon, and few people run it as a whole. Still, switching M-Blastoise in on a Rotom-W will probably end in tragedy.

Neither Excadrill nor M-Blastoise have particularly good matchups vs. Rotom-W is the main point I'm trying to make. Also I don't know that I'd want to run that many Ground-types.

 

[reale]

how come m.blastoise ended up as a setup fodder? it has good offense stat.

blastoise and rotom kinda redundant, excadrill might be a good replacement.
my personal opinion is to replace nidoqueen with gliscor
and garchomp with kyurem

 

[Alien]

Since Blastoise is the most expendable member on your team, it's worth considering to change it to Excadrill. Excadrill can carry Mold Breaker Earthquake which destroys Rotom-Wash, and your team looks pretty vulnerable to it. Also, if you end up using Excadrill, I would change Garchomp to mix mega chomp so you don't miss out on powerful special attacks. Here are the sets.

Excadrill @ Air Balloon
Mold Breaker
Jolly
252spe/252atk/4hp
-Earthquake
-Rapid Spin
-Rock Slide
-Iron Head/Swords Dance


Garchomp @ Garchompite
Rough Skin------->Sand Force
Rash
252hp/144spa/112atk or a better spread if you can come up with one lol
-Earthquake
-Draco Meteor
-Fire Blast
-Stone Edge

Don't mind the change from Scarf Garchomp to Mega Garchomp because Talonflame is a really good revenge killer as it is. Hope I helped! :]

Blastoise is not the most expendable member of my team by far. It has good special bulk and is used as a bulky rapid spinner who can also deal out a lot of damage with special attacks to setup sweepers as long as it's at full health and isn't getting hit for SE damage. Excadrill is too frail to use as a rapid spinner on my team. I've considered using it before but felt that the 65/65 defenses were too low for me to rely on switching it in. Besides, Excadrill doesn't check anything that I'm worried about, and definitely does not check Rotom-W. Earthquake is the obvious move to use, but if he knows he's slower, he switches out, and if he knows he's faster, he OHKO's with Hydro Pump. I deal with Rotom-W either through residual damage over the course of the match, or I can guarantee 2HKO it with Scrafty, while Rotom-W fails to 2HKO with Hydro Pump.

Garchomp needs to be scarfed to outspeed +1 Mega Charizard X and OHKO with outrage, it's the entire reason I have it on my team. Removing the scarf would remove the purpose behind Garchomp. Just because Talonflame is a good revenge killer doesn't mean I can always rely on it. It fails to OHKO Mega Charizard X without SR and gets OHKO'd after Brave Bird recoil. It's also weak to SR, meaning that I have to be really careful about how I use it if Blastoise is gone or if rocks are on the field and I don't have any openings to Rapid Spin. Garchomp gives me room to revenge kill even if SR is on the field.