I've had a decent amount of succes with this team and I'm hoping with the help of you guys I could improve it, since Platinum is still all very new to me.
This team's strategy is basically to chip away the opposing team's HP and let the two dragons finish it off late game. It's not exactly a stall team, but it has an amazing amount of resilience. This is due to the fact that they all complement each other's weaknesses very well. Bronzong is weak to fire, Gyarados to Electric, Salamence to Ice, Swampert to Grass and Blissey to Fighting which makes prediction not overly difficult. Starmie is the odd one out, but it's probably one of the cornerstones of this team which I'll detail below.
At first glance, the team has problems against Outrage. I mostly have to do some smart predicting and bait them into using Outrage which doesn't always work. A solution to this would be helpful.
Any help and advice would be appreciated!
Bronzong @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP/60 Atk/104 Def/92 SDef
Sassy nature (+SDef, -Spd)
- Earthquake
- Hypnosis
- Gyro Ball
- Stealth Rock
Basically SR and get out of there. I try not to switch it directly into a Salamence/Dragonite because they can often see it a mile away, but usually I don't have much choice. Still the best Outrage taker I have. Hypnosis is mostly filler, though it is useful when it hits. Still probably too shaky which is why I'm considering Trick + whatever item.
---
Gyarados (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 216 HP/16 Atk/180 Def/96 Spd
Adamant nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Earthquake
- Ice Fang
- Dragon Dance
- Taunt
My main Lucario/Scizor/bulky water counter. This is not intended for sweeping, though it can with a DD under its belt. It only has to fear +2 Extreme Speed from Lucario and multiple SDs from Scizor which is what Taunt is for. Then I either EQ or switch to Salamence effectively nullifying their SD.
---
Salamence (M) @ Choice Specs
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 4 HP/252 Spd/252 SAtk
Modest nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Draco Meteor
- Flamethrower
- Dragon Pulse
- Hydro Pump
Nothing original here. Just deals massive damage without the need to stat up, moreso since everyone expects DDMence nowadays. Blissey is an obvious problem. MixMence perhaps?
---
Starmie @ Leftovers
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 HP/40 Def/216 Spd
Timid nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Surf
- Reflect
- Recover
- Rapid Spin
My spinner, revenge killer and general great supporter. Reflect is an awesome move which lets it survive CB'd Pursuits and make it possible for the dragons to do some damage. I switch it into Gyarados every time, bluff with Thunderbolt and get a free Reflect. If they do stay in, which rarely happens, it'll always survive +1 LO EQ even with SR damage thanks to the small investment in Defense and Leftovers. Life Orb is an option to 2HKO the Rotom appliances who block Rapid Spin. Not sure about that.
---
Swampert (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Torrent
EVs: 252 HP/252 Def/4 Spd
Impish nature (+Def, -SAtk)
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- Waterfall
- Roar
Counters Metagross like a pro, Tyranitar somewhat and bulky grounds with Stone Edge who'd otherwise hurt Gyarados. Stone Edge gets my preference over Avalanche because it's my only way to deal with Gyarados once they find out Starmie doesn't have Tbolt. Plus, 60 BP Avalanche doesn't OHKO dragons which makes it easy for them to DD a 2nd time and OHKO Swampert. Roar is good to pile up SR damage and is useful against things like Curselax.
---
Blissey (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 Def/80 SAtk/176 SDef
Calm nature (+SDef, -Atk)
- Flamethrower
- Toxic
- Protect
- Wish
Special wall extraordinair. Flamethrower and Toxic is an awesome combo but you probably already know that. It can't touch Heatran but neither can it. Protect helps to scout, rack Toxic and heal with Wish. The latter also helps to keep the other members in good shape. Not much else to say.
---
