Team "Crippler"

[dws93rd]

Hey, thanks for reading. This is my second competitive team and has not had as much success as my first one thus far. So, Hopefully you guys can help.
Changes in Bold Red

This team thrives on “crippling” my opponent with T-waves coming out the a**, or moves that can cause paralysis. I got the idea RMT where it abused paralysis also, and after a lot of testing I accomplished my form of a paralysis abusing team. So after a long trial and error process, here’s the building process…
Building Process:
To lead things off I knew what I wanted. A fast lead that can set up SR and T-wave the opposing lead. After running through some things I realized Azelf would be perfect. As, with him, I consistently get up rocks and maybe get an extra T-wave right off the bat.

Next, I needed another Pokemon that can support by setting up some more paralysis. I looked at Jirachi and the SubT-wave set was awesome and just what I needed.

Now, I need a Pokemon that can help my team offensively and defesively. Zapdos.

Now, a Sweeper, a bulky, strong physical attacker. Who can take full abuse of paralyzed Pokemon. Machamp.

Next, I wanted either a Special Sweeper or a Choice Band Pokemon. After testing some things out, I decided on a CB Tyranitar as he gets rid of any ghosts that I may come across, while also severely damaging many Pokemon. As an added bonus he can take full advantage of paralyzed Pokemon thanks to his low speed.

Now, I needed a pokemon who could further abuse of paralysis. So a slow set up sweeper was needed here. Lucario.

Theres the team now a more in-depth look.

Azelf @ Focus Sash
Ability:Levitate
Evs:4Hp/252SpA/252Spe
Nature:Timid
~T-wave
~Stealth Rocks
~Psychic
~Grass Knot

How much better can the beginning of the game get than getting up Stealth Rocks after paralyzing something? Not much better if you ask me. This little fella out speeds many opposing leads which may nullify the T-wave, but he is not intended to be around long so first turn:T-wave, second turn:SR usually followed by fainting. In the rare case I do get taunted, I just switch out to something that can counter the opposing Pokemon. If I do, by chance, get to KO the opposing lead, well that just swings the momentum more in my favor right from the get-go.

Swampert @ Leftovers
Ability:Torrent
Evs:252Hp/244Def/8Spe
Nature:Impish
~Protect
~Earthquake
~Roar
~Ice Beam

He has better synergy defensively with my team then Jirachi did. Plus with Zapdos losing Roar he can fill the role of the Phazer. He has Ice Beam to hit Dragons and Gliscors harder. Earthquake is for the STAB. As much as I did not want to get rid of Jirachi, he has been better thus far. So, I will keep him>Jirachi.

Machamp @ leftovers
Ability: No Guard
Evs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 Spe
Nature: Adamant
~Substitute
~Dynamic Punch
~Payback
~Ice Punch

This Machamp has replaced Gyarados and serves as a counter to many threats. He can't be OHKO'd by a Close combat from Infernape, but he can fire back and OHKO both with Dynamic Punch. He also loves to take advantage of the paralysis being spread across the opposing team, seeing as he isn't the fastest kid on the block. Thanks to Ranigad for this suggestion also.

Zapdos @ Leftovers
Ability:Pressure
Evs:248 HP / 228 SpD / 32 Spe
Nature:Calm
~Discharge
~Roost
~Hidden Power Grass
~Heat Wave


Zapdos gave my team that little umph it needed. With Zapdos>Celebi I have racked up many more wins( more rage quits then actually going the whole battle) he covers mixape pretty well too, which only helps. Also gives my team that ground immunity I lost with the removal of Gyarados. Discharge> Thunderbolt because I only lose 15 base power, but can spread more paralysis. Heat Wave provides better coverage and allows Zapdos to do more for the team.

Tyranitar @ Choice Band
Ability:Sandstream
Evs:160 HP / 252 Atk / 96 Spe
Nature:Adamant
~Crunch
~Pursuit
~Stone Edge
~Earthquake

Tyranitar takes full advantage of the paralysis set up by 2/3 of my team. He is not the fastest guy, so the paralysis greatly helps him in keeping him from taking too many hits on the switch or just in general. Not to mention he traps those pesky Ghost and Psychic Pokemon, as not many of them can take a CB STAB Pursuit even when they don’t switch. With Earthquake he can deal with many Steel type Pokemon who other members of my team may have trouble with.

Lucario @ Life Orb
Ability:Inner Focus
Evs:252Atk/4Spd/252Spe
Nature:Adamant
~Swords Dance
~Close Combat
~Crunch
~Extreme Speed

Lucario abuses paralysis better than the Pokemon who filled this spot prior to him and hits A LOT hard, with or without a SD up. Plus he can still revenge kill with Extreme Speed. Just testing a few battles and he has already provided a much better sweep then either Infernape or Scizor have(with this team) so, I think he'll be staying.

UPDATE:
Another problem, just by running into a few, is teams that feed off entry hazards, mainly stall teams to semi-stall. Especially since the majority of them have Skarm and he can rack up a ton of damage on my Pokemon by just spamming whirlwind, as I can't effectively get rid of him.
These are the main threats as of now.

Former Teammates:

Hide

Infernape @ Life Orb
Ability:Blaze
Evs:172Atk/144SpA/192Spe
Nature:Naive
~Close Combat
~Mach Punch
~Grass Knot
~Overheat
Replaced by Scizor.

Gyarados @ Leftovers
Ability:Intimidate
Evs156Hp/88Atk96Def/168Spe
Nature:Adamant
~Dragon Dance
~Taunt
~Bounce
~Waterfall
Replaced by Machamp.

Celebi @ Leftovers
Ability:Natural Cure
Evs:4Hp/252SpA/252Spe
Nature:Timid
~Leech Seed
~T-wave
~Leaf Storm/Energy Ball
~Earth Power

Replaced by Zapdos

Jirachi @ Leftovers
Ability:Serene Grace
Evs:164Hp/168Atk/176Spe
Nature:Jolly
~Substitute
~Iron Head
~Fire Punch
~Body Slam

Replaced By Swampert

Scizor @ Leftovers
Ability: Technician
Evs: 4 Hp / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Nature: Adamant
~ Swords Dance
~ Roost
~ Bullet Punch
~ Brick Break

Replaced by Lucario

Possible Teammates:

 

[dws93rd]

bump

 

[technomancer]

A combination of Gliscor and Rotom give your team serious problems. Ground types like Swampert and Flygon, as well as their electric-immune counterparts jolteon, Electivire, and Lanturn also do a number on this team, setting up for free on Thunder Wave. I don't agree with DD Gyara as your primary setup sweeper either; a more powerful swords dancer with Recovery and priority like Scizor would likely be preferable, able to stall for roosts against opponents that don't hit supereffectively. Nasty Plot Togekiss might also be more effective for the slot as well.

 

[dws93rd]

@technomancer
Yea Gyarados hasn't been getting the job done that well so I'll test out what you suggested and see what helps most. I haven't really ran into too many Pokemon who can resist T-wave(oddly...) other that Flygon, who I have other ways to take care of. But I'm considering running Hp Ice on Infernape to take care of Gliscor and Dragons.
So gonna test out some more things and update the team when I'm done.
Thanks for the suggestions.

 

[Ranigad]

I have to say that this is an interesting idea. I'd have to agree with techno on the fact that ground types can easily come in and set up, either on a t-wave or on a weakness (since half your team is weak to ground, then add gyarados since most ground types also run a rock type move).
- A phazer would be nice, especially one that can spread t-waves. Maybe a zapdos that runs roar and t-wave? The SubCM Suicune set would give you a great sweeper that takes advantage of T-wave and can phaze opponents at the same time. The phazer would help you counter any set up attempts.
- Addressing the ground issue, perhaps you could run a serene grace pokemon with body slam to spread paralysis further?
- I feel like your sweepers should be able to take advantage of the T-waves, which means they either like the fact that your opponent can't attack all of the time, or that they're much slower than normal. Set-up pokemon or slow, powerful sweepers would be on the list. However, I don't feel that the pokemon you chose have great synergy and make the best use of t-wave.
To make my point, I'd like to present a scenario.

1. Since your Azelf doesn't run Taunt, your opponent will most likely also be able to set up Rocks. You could try T-wave first, however you then have to get lucky on the paralysis. Swampert and other ground types are able to set up rocks freely so maybe switch fireblast to grass knot?
2. With rocks up and no spinner, you're going to receive rock damage. Since two out of three of your sweepers are weak to rock, you're going to be taking 25% each time you switch one of them in. At least you chose a bulky gyarados, because infernape is extremely frail.
3. Tyranitar's sand stream has absolutely no place on your team in my opinion. It hits 4 of your pokemon and since your sweepers have no recovery move (as techno mentioned), they're going to be knocked down. Infernape now loses 25% on the switch in, 1/16 of its health from sand storm, 10% of its health from life orb and its grass knot is no longer as effective on rock types.
4. Jolteon or Electivire can easily switch in on a t-wave and gain a boost. Since they can't be paralyzed through t-wave, your gyarados might be a bit in danger.


I agree with techno once again. Your sweepers should take advantage of your t-wave users. They also need to be prepared for the Stealth Rocks and, if you keep tyranitar, the sandstorm. This means you're looking for sweepers that are durable, that can recover, and that have great synergy with each other. Ability to set up and not needing to be fast are just pluses.

Scizor is an option. I'd recommend the swords dance/roost variety. It can set up, and it has recovery. Scizor's amazing resistances (only has one weakness, fire) compensate for it's already defenses.

Scizor @ Leftovers (or Life Orb)
Ability: Technician
Evs: 4 Hp / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Nature: Adamant
- Swords Dance
- Roost
- Bullet Punch
- Brick Break

You could also try replacing Choice Band Tyranitar with the Choice Band Scizor variety, then you're more prone to a magnezone switch in but you'll still get the ghosts.

Togekiss is another option. I'd recommend the flinch. It can flinch opponents and take advantage of the paralysis or spread it further with body slam. The Nasty Plot set can also work as suggested by techno (great suggestions in his post by the way).

Togekiss @ Leftovers
Ability: Serene Grace
Evs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Nature: Calm
- Body Slam
- Roost
- Air Slash
- Aura Sphere / Extrasensory (if you want to cover the ghosts at the expense of power)

Finally, I wouldn't mind seeing Machamp being tried. It's slow speed is no longer an issue with T-wave everywhere and it can take advantage of... PARAFUSION =o. I would recommend the Substitute set but you could also run the rest talk set for some healing. With his dynamic punch, he deals high damage and gives automatic confusion to all except ghosts.

""Parafusion" is a strategy that includes inducing both paralysis and confusion on the opponent. This means that for 5 turns out of 8, the notion of "stop hitting yourself" will be quite valid for the opponent." - Quoted from the OU Lanturn set.

Machamp @ leftovers
Ability: No Guard
Evs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 Spe
Nature: Adamant
- Substitute
- Dynamic Punch
- Payback
- Stone Edge


Also, I run the sub-wave jirachi set and I'd like to say that Drain Punch works pretty well instead of fire punch. Gives healing from behind the sub =). Only thing is its low pp.
Just some ideas xD Not really good at this team rater stuff =P

 

[dws93rd]

@Ranigad
Well first that really gave me some excellent advice and things I overlooked when making this team. So, thank you very much, especially for the detail.

Now I do think I'm going to keep Tyranitar just because he packs one hell of a punch. I've already started testing the exact Scizor set you listed and it has greatly helped the team, so that SD Scizor>Infernape.

I have ran into some problem with ground leads and I will be switching Fire Blast to Grass Knot on Azelf.

I'll test out running Machamp and Togekiss>Gyarados and see if which one helps more.

So once again I'll update the team after some more testing.
Thanks :)

 

[dws93rd]

Made some changes to the team, but something still seems to be missing. Any help guys?

 

[Piccolo]

I don't really see Scizor taking advantage of the paralysis (speaking of which, just having Jirachi doesn't add much focus to paralysis) because it only has two moves: one that ignores Speed anyway, and one that is only a mere Base 75. :/ The typings of these two moves also aren't the best of combinations. If you removed Roost for another attack, the typings would still be poor and you would lose a nice recovery move.

Adamant Lucario, on the other hand, really does take advantage of low Speeds. Close Combat actually hurts a lot, with or without a Swords Dance. Crunch covers what Close Combat doesn't hit well. A priority move in ExtremeSpeed can still get you revenge kills much like Scizor's Bullet Punch.

With Lucario on your team, Machamp should have Ice Punch over Fire Punch to hit Dragonite and Gliscor, two of Lucario's counters. There's no point in having Fire Punch to hit Heracross when you already have Zapdos anyway. >_>;

Speaking of Zapdos, it is the one that should have a Fire-type move. Replace Roar with Heat Wave. Getting beat by Celebi is pretty sad. :/ A bigger issue now that Fire/Water/Grass cores are common.

You must be thinking about the increased weakness to Earthquake with Lucario on the team. This can be easily solved by replacing Jirachi (hear me out) with Swampert. I realize Jirachi is good at hax. However, it does nearly nothing to support the rest of your team in terms of weaknesses and resistances (in fact, it adds to your weakness of Earthquake users and Heatran) and is not enough to paralyze the majority of enemy team members by itself. In stark contrast, Swampert easily deals with Earthquake users like Tyranitar and Metagross, and Fire-types like some Heatran as well. Additionally Swampert provides an immunity to Electric-type moves such as crippling Thunder Waves from the enemy. Celebi will likely Thunder Wave when they enter, allowing Swampert to freely switch in. When Celebi Leaf Storms, Zapdos covers Swampert and retaliates with Heat Wave. Also, Jolteon, which easily deals heavy damage to the majority of your team, is beaten by Swampert.

 

[dws93rd]

I don't really see Scizor taking advantage of the paralysis (speaking of which, just having Jirachi doesn't add much focus to paralysis) because it only has two moves: one that ignores Speed anyway, and one that is only a mere Base 75. :/ The typings of these two moves also aren't the best of combinations. If you removed Roost for another attack, the typings would still be poor and you would lose a nice recovery move.

Adamant Lucario, on the other hand, really does take advantage of low Speeds. Close Combat actually hurts a lot, with or without a Swords Dance. Crunch covers what Close Combat doesn't hit well. A priority move in ExtremeSpeed can still get you revenge kills much like Scizor's Bullet Punch.

With Lucario on your team, Machamp should have Ice Punch over Fire Punch to hit Dragonite and Gliscor, two of Lucario's counters. There's no point in having Fire Punch to hit Heracross when you already have Zapdos anyway. >_>;

Speaking of Zapdos, it is the one that should have a Fire-type move. Replace Roar with Heat Wave. Getting beat by Celebi is pretty sad. :/ A bigger issue now that Fire/Water/Grass cores are common.

You must be thinking about the increased weakness to Earthquake with Lucario on the team. This can be easily solved by replacing Jirachi (hear me out) with Swampert. I realize Jirachi is good at hax. However, it does nearly nothing to support the rest of your team in terms of weaknesses and resistances (in fact, it adds to your weakness of Earthquake users and Heatran) and is not enough to paralyze the majority of enemy team members by itself. In stark contrast, Swampert easily deals with Earthquake users like Tyranitar and Metagross, and Fire-types like some Heatran as well. Additionally Swampert provides an immunity to Electric-type moves such as crippling Thunder Waves from the enemy. Celebi will likely Thunder Wave when they enter, allowing Swampert to freely switch in. When Celebi Leaf Storms, Zapdos covers Swampert and retaliates with Heat Wave. Also, Jolteon, which easily deals heavy damage to the majority of your team, is beaten by Swampert.

Well first, I see what you're saying about Scizor and it's bad coverage plus lack of power. It has kind of messed me up a bit if I'm stuck against a Pokemon that resists Bullet Punch, but has priority that can KO me when I'm at low health. So, I'll test out a SD Luke and see how that goes for me.

Roar on Zapdos was really there to phaze, but I am going to replace it with Heat Wave so he can do more for my team.

If I do stick with Luke, I'll replace Fire Punch for Ice Punch on Machamp to get those pesky Gliscors and Dragons.

Now, the Swampert>Jirachi. I'm going to test out Swampert because you do bring up a valid point. But I'm going to test him at both the lead(instead of Azelf) and in Jirachi's spot. Depending on how he fairs in both will determine which spot he will go in.

So thank you for the great advice :)

 

[Maketsu]

If you replace Jirachi with Swampert i thinks you should try using SD Lucario over Scizor with SD/Crunch/CC/Ice Punch. Lucario abuses way more better paralysis than Scizor. Last slot is your own decide, Ice Punch take care off Dragons and Gliscor.

If you keep Scizor use Life Orb, you have Roost so you can heal LO damage off.

 

[dws93rd]

If you replace Jirachi with Swampert i thinks you should try using SD Lucario over Scizor with SD/Crunch/CC/Ice Punch. Lucario abuses way more better paralysis than Scizor. Last slot is your own decide, Ice Punch take care off Dragons and Gliscor.

If you keep Scizor use Life Orb, you have Roost so you can heal LO damage off.

Well, this is the set I was testing only with Extreme Speed>Ice Punch because I can't paralyze Gliscor(without Jirachi) so he will outspeed me. So, I just gave Machamp and Swampert Ice Punch to take care of Dragons and Gliscors.

 

[dws93rd]

Does anyone have any ideas as to how to help this team vs stall teams? Because stall teams pretty much shut this team down...

 

[Piccolo]

:) I'm happy my suggestions proved to be effective.

o_o''' I thought you said you gave Machamp Ice Punch over Fire Punch.

As for your Swampert, a change to 252 HP / 244 DEF / 8 SPE should have it beat any Swampert that may come face to face with it. A moveset consisting of Ice Beam / Earthquake / Protect / Roar would also be best. Water-type attacks will hardly be of much use on Swampert, as an Ice/Ground combo is sufficient for what threats Swampert may counter. The change to mixed attacks allows it to not be at the complete mercy of Gyarados or other physically bulky Pokemon that it may face. Protect is also very useful for gettin' an extra turn of Leftovers while scouting for deadly moves like Hidden Power Grass or Explosion, both of which Heatran may carry. Hidden Power Grass is also something to watch out for on Jolteon, which Swampert usually walls.

D: Speaking of Jolteon, you can't Thunder Wave it. It may be worth it to change Tyranitar to a Scarfed set. This isn't just for Jolteon, either. I'm pretty sure this team won't be able to paralyze all of the threats on the enemy team, since it's really just Azelf (Zapdos can only hope). Specially-based Mixed Infernape is what's on my mind right now. Could mean trouble without a faster Pokemon to end Infernape's onslaught.

And this just hit me: Lucario = WereGarurumon O_O'''

 

[dws93rd]

@ Piccolo

Oh yea, I did put Ice Punch on Machamp, I just forgot to edit that on here.

I will definitely switch Swampert to that set because he has been getting exploded on a lot...which sounds kinda bad...so protect will come in handy and I just had Waterfall there for STAB.

I'll test out ScarfTar, but I love how hard Tyranitar hits things with Band on.

Oddly, I haven't had too many problems with any Infernape I have come across, the main issue is those damn stall teams. All I did vs the last one was just kept in my Pokemon because of soooo many entry hazards I really had no choice if I wanted any chance of winning. Which of course I lost because Lucario could only get off one Extreme Speed vs. Hippowdon which KO'd with EQ.

I have been thinking of adding a spinner, but that seems it would just mess up the synergy of the team.

 

[Piccolo]

@ Piccolo

Oh yea, I did put Ice Punch on Machamp, I just forgot to edit that on here.

I will definitely switch Swampert to that set because he has been getting exploded on a lot...which sounds kinda bad...so protect will come in handy and I just had Waterfall there for STAB.

I'll test out ScarfTar, but I love how hard Tyranitar hits things with Band on.

Oddly, I haven't had too many problems with any Infernape I have come across, the main issue is those damn stall teams. All I did vs the last one was just kept in my Pokemon because of soooo many entry hazards I really had no choice if I wanted any chance of winning. Which of course I lost because Lucario could only get off one Extreme Speed vs. Hippowdon which KO'd with EQ.

I have been thinking of adding a spinner, but that seems it would just mess up the synergy of the team.

:D Oh haha. Just makin' sure.

;o You won't be disappointed.

o_o''' Huh. How do you usually deal with Infernapes? Just wonderin'.

>_>; I can't think of a Rapid Spinner that fits here. Starmie's the best at it, but your team already has two Grass-type weaknesses. :/

To beat stall, use a Mixed Dragonite in place of Machamp. The Ghosts (and sometimes Psychics) Machamp hurts are already covered by Tyranitar. Dragonite troubles Special walls (much like Machamp) with Superpower. However, Dragonite does more than that. Flamethrower is enough to make Steels run. Thunderbolt frightens bulky Waters. Draco Meteor always wears down whatever switches in (besides Steels) fairly well. All the while with Stealth Rock doin' its thing. :P

A small disadvantage to using Dragonite would be the difficulty in taking down Swampert. If it comes in on Dragonite's Flamethrower/Thunderbolt, it will Ice Beam or Roar. D: Your own Swampert can beat it, and so can your Zapdos (though it takes Stealth Rock damage in addition to Ice Beam). >_>; If Lucario safely gets in, and this Swampert is somewhat low on HP, Close Combat could do it. Stall carries Scarfed Tyranitar often, so I dunno if I'd count Azelf.

o_o''' Now that we're on Azelf... why not change Psychic to Explosion? :o Always a pain to deal with Explosion. Even with Psychic, lead Machamps still kill Azelf, and lead Infernapes are taken care of by Swampert. 8D

Anyway, I'm confident in Dragonite. ;o With a mere base Speed of 80, you could say it takes advantage of paralysis, too.

 

[dws93rd]

Usually Machamp can beat them one on one as long as he is at about full health, but with Protect on Swampert now, I just send him in on an obvious Flamethrower or something then use Protect to see if he has any Grass move and if not then Swampert can deal with them.

I thought about Starmie also, but it would just had to the weaknesses I think plus a spinner isn't necessary, it just helps.

Once again, I had a similar idea with MixNite because I use him on most teams that have problems with stall, I just didn't know who to replace for him. I'll try him>Machamp and see how that goes.

So, again thanks for the good advice.

 

[aVocado]

Having used most of the Tyranitar sets, i say go with the DragonDance Tyranitar (Which i think is the best on Tyranitar), even Lucario can't take down that beast after one single Dragon Dance and just takes it down with one Earthquake. (Unless Vacuum Wave is used, but with Tyranitar's good SpD and an SpD boost from Sandstorm, i doubt that it can take Tyranitar down)

So i suggest using that one, and it also can break walls, if that's what you need help with.

Sure, it's not as powerful as C-Band Tyranitar, but it can do wonder.

 

[dws93rd]

@ Arikado

DDTar does work great, but he isn't the one for this team. Tyranitar's purpose on this team, is to be a Revenge Killer/Pursuit Trapper. If I ran DDTar instead of acting as a Revenge Killer and Pursuit Trapper, I would DD up on the switches I cause, which can still allow him to be Revenge Killed by priority moves and scarf users. Which, in part, would allow many Ghosts and Psychics to go untouched and allow them to come back in and cause the rest of my team problems, mainly Gengar. So, I see what you're saying, but DDTar just isn't for this team.

 

[aVocado]

Ah, i see, i misunderstood the purpose of your Tyranitar.

 

[Piccolo]

Usually Machamp can beat them one on one as long as he is at about full health, but with Protect on Swampert now, I just send him in on an obvious Flamethrower or something then use Protect to see if he has any Grass move and if not then Swampert can deal with them.

I thought about Starmie also, but it would just had to the weaknesses I think plus a spinner isn't necessary, it just helps.

Once again, I had a similar idea with MixNite because I use him on most teams that have problems with stall, I just didn't know who to replace for him. I'll try him>Machamp and see how that goes.

So, again thanks for the good advice.

:/ Lost bulk in addition to low Speed may mean Machamp'll be eliminated quite shortly after. D: Guess it can't be helped though if it comes down to it though.

:P I was expectin' that Swampert answer. Lol

This reminds me: have you tried Scarfed Tyranitar yet? :o Or Explosion on Azelf?

Yup. >_>; Personally, I'd only use a defensive Zapdos with a Spinner because SR cut into Zapdos' capability. But Zapdos does suit this team... ^.^

Great minds think alike. :naughty:

:D You're welcome!

 

[dws93rd]

@ Piccolo

No I haven't had time to test much out, but I;m gonna get started on that now. I still think I'm gonna keep the Band on T-Tar, but I'll test it.

I think I'm gonna make an odd MixNite set to go along with what this team was supposed to do, just so I don't stray from the original idea too much.