Team Draco Superat

[polelover44]

Team Draco Superat

This team may seem bog-standard and oh-so-boring at first glance, and it probably is. I created the team as a nice balanced team, based around a Dragon Dance Salamence sweep - hence the name, which is Latin for "The Dragon Pwns". It's a basic balanced team, removing Mence's checks to set up and sweep with DDMence. Since I am not at all a fan of Stall, Semi-stall, and other defensive playstyles, finding them too slow for my liking, I decided to use revenge killers and Life Orb sweepers to prepare for Salamence's entrance. This team got me to a CRE of 1506 at its peak.

Perks of this team:
Only one SR weakness
Only one TSpikes weak Pokemon - this same Pokemon has Natural Cure.
Resists every type twice except Ghost.
Is only weak to 4 types more than once - Fire, Ice, Dark, Ghost.

With out further ado, the team:

Jirachi @ Leftovers
Jolly Nature (+ Spe, - Atk)
80 HP/252 Atk/176 Spe
- Iron Head
- Stealth Rock
- Thunder Wave
- U-Turn
Jirachi is such an amazing asset to any team, in any role. It's extremely versatile, with a huge movepool and "perfect" 100-all stats. In this case, it's a TrickScarf lead. It defeats all Azelf leads that aren't carrying Fire Blast, providing a resist to Explosion and taking .25% damage from Psychic. It also resists Grass, Rock, Ice, and Dragon, amongst other types. Often considered one of the most annoying Pokemon in the game, Jirachi's Serene Grace ability is used to the advantage of many battlers. For those of you kept in the dark, Serene Grace doubles the chance of secondary effects taking place. For example; Iron head has a 30% flinch rate. With Serene Grace, that rate is doubled, and becomes 60%.

Jirachi's role here is simple - set up Rocks, preferably while crippling and/or taking out an opponent. While Jirachi's speed is often considered mediocre, I can change that with a single move. Thunder Wave is extremely helpful for this set in crippling leads and sweepers belonging to my opponent. After a single Thunder Wave, Jirachi outspeeds you, no matter who you are. The FlinchHax that Jirachi is known for is also made much easier by Thunder Wave paralyzing my opponent. Stealth Rock is practically a must for any team, and this one is no different. It allows me to break sashes, and it really does damage to flyers like Gyarados and Salamence, who can really screw up a team if not dealt with earlier. Iron Head provides solid STAB, and can murder an opponent with flinches, which is always very annoying. U-Turn gets me out of sticky situations, and can be used to scout, and to keep the momentum going with me.

Breloom (M) @ Toxic Orb
Ability: Poison Heal
EVs: 48 HP/252 Atk/208 Spd
Adamant nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Focus Punch
- Seed Bomb
- Spore
- Substitute
Breloom. The single most annoying Pokemon in the entire metagame. With his unique ability, Poison Heal, which heals 12.5% of his health when he's poisoned, instead of taking away his health, he can make a great Physical Sweeper. He also has a great move, Spore, that only Smeargle (and, of course, Shroomish) can learn. Spore is a sleep move that has 100% accuracy. This move is broken. Combine that with Breloom's great attack stat and offensive typing, and he can be not only hard to take down, but hard to counter as well.

This is the most commonly used Breloom set, and with good reason. When Breloom is brought into something that it scares - say, a Swampert, or something I know I can outspeed, the first thing I do is use Spore. This allows me to set up my substitute on the next turn, and get in at least one Focus Punch or Seed Bomb before losing the substitute, and possibly being forced out. However, once its checks are removed, Breloom has a great time. Unaffected by Leech Seed, Breloom restores twice the health of Leftovers every turn. Why does it do this? It does this because it is poisoned. Breloom's ability, Poison Heal, allows it to restore 12.5% of its health each turn when Poisoned - luckily, the Toxic Orb poisons me instantly. This allows me to, in only two turns, regain any health I lost from a Substitute. Now I come to the attacking moves. Focus Punch and Seed Bomb use Breloom's STABs. Seed Bomb is an 80 base power Grass move. Water-types, most notably Swampert, and Ghost-types or Psychic-types will fall to the might of the Bomb of Seeds. Last but not least, meet Focus Punch! Focus Punch is a great fighting-type move. With an amazing 150 base power, coming from Breloom it'll do as much as Rock Wrecker from Rhydon. However, Breloom doesn't have to recharge. And he has triple the PP. When behind the substitute, Breloom does not lose his focus and therefore is able to move. Breloom used Focus Punch! Opponent fainted!

Starmie @ Life Orb
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 4 HP/252 Spe/252 SAtk
Timid nature (+Spe, -Atk)
- Surf
- Ice Beam
- Thunderbolt
- Rapid Spin
Starmie! Popular since RBY, Starmie gained more popularity as a rapid spinner when the move Spikes was created in Generation III. When Generation IV came out, Starmie had even more to spin away, with Stealth Rock and Toxic Spikes really helping out Stall. Starmie is also great as a sweeper. Its ability, Natural Cure, cures all status upon switching out of the battle, allowing me to remove from it any status which it may have gained while in the battle. It also has decent defenses of 85/85, but is let down by its mere base 60 HP. However, it finds its other niche in Special Attacking. With 115 base Speed allowing it to outrun Gengar and Latias, as well as a decent 100 Special Attack, Starmie is one of the premier Special Attackers of early Diamond and Pearl. Now I bring it back.

Starmie can easily be a great sweeper with Recover and Rapid Spin, but it would then have to drop one of its three primary attacking moves. Seeing as Salamence partially relies on the removal of Stealth Rock for a better sweep, I decided to use Rapid Spin, really helping my team out. On the sweeping side, Starmie's STAB Surf hits for great neutral coverage, and takes good care of Fire-types, which can really screw over my team if I'm not prepared. Ice Beam hits Dragon-types, as well as Grass-types like Celebi who like to come in and harass me. Thunderbolt in the last slot deals with Water-types and Gyarados, pretty much, and Starmie opens up some pretty big holes in my opponent's team.

Rotom @ Choice Scarf
Timid Nature (+ Spe, - Atk)
EVs: 4 HP/252 Spe/252 SAtk
- Shadow Ball
- Overheat
- Thunderbolt
- Trick
Rotom has great defensive typing. Ghost/Electric allow him to have resistances to key types, including Steel and Bug, the two STAB types of Scizor, the biggest offensive threat in the game. It also takes no damage whatsoever from Fighting and Normal, because of its typing. It's ability, Levitate, is one of the best defensive abilities in the game. It allows Rotom to be immune to Ground moves, a type that would cause trouble otherwise. In its Heat Forme, Rotom provides the ultimate Scizor Counter. It gets access to an amazing Fire move in Overheat, which can fry Scizor easily. Its base Defenses, at 107 each, more than make up for its mere 50 HP, allowing the Scarf set even to be reasonably Bulky.

The EVs are sexy. Timid nature gives me max speed without reducing a necessary stat. I also give him 252 EVs in said Speed stat, so he has very high speed, which is good. With the Scarf included, Rotom-h hits an amazing 447 Speed, enough to outspeed lesser Scarfers such as Heracross with Rotom's unique 86 Base Speed. 252 EVs in Rotom's excellent 105 base Special Attack allow it to reach a total of 309, which is very good. The last four lonely EVs go to HP. Rotom-h has a good movepool, and two great offensive STABs. Shadow Ball hits Celebi, Cresselia, Azelf, Gengar, and other Psychic and Ghost type Pokémon that annoy a lot of people a lot. The next sexy STAB move for 'Tom is Thunderbolt. Thunderbolt hits all non-ground Water-types, and all non-ground Flying types for at least neutral, if not super effective, damage. Overheat hits Steel, Grass, and Bug types very hard, allowing me to truly counter Scizor and Heracross, along with Metagross and many other powerful metagame threats.

Magnezone @ Leftovers
Ability: Magnet Pull
EVs: 40 HP/216 Spd/252 SAtk
Modest nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Magnet Rise
- Substitute
- Thunderbolt
Magnezone is an absolute beast. With 115 Base Defense to go with 70 base HP, as well as the not-altogether-horrible 90 Base Special Defense, he can be extremely bulky. Magnezone's single worst stat is hit speed, which has a base of 60. He has a good secondary typing in Electric, allowing him to net himself some powerful super effectivenesses in Water and Flying. He is amazingly powerful, with the scary prospect of his 130 base Special Attack looming over all those who would see him removed from the battlefield.

Zone here appears in the standard "Steel Killer" set, with a few changes. I'm running Modest > Timid, and therefore I want a better EV spread, someone please give me one. I'm also running Hidden Power Ice instead of the recommended Grass/Fire. Thanks to Snorlaxe for this stuff. Magnezone comes in and can easily trap and destroy a Steel-type like Scizor, even setting up my Substitute on him. With a Substitute up, I can use Magnet Rise, enabling me to not be weak to Ground moves. As soon as this has happened, I go ahead and sweep. With the impressive BoltBeam combo, i can defeat my Steel-type, then remove Salamence or Flygon or whoever comes in to revenge kill me, because I'm still behind the sub. It's awesome.

Salamence @ Life Orb
Ability: Intimidate
Naive Nature (+ Spe, - Sdef)
EVs: 232 Atk/24 SpA/252 Spe
- Dragon Dance
- Earthquake
- Fire Blast
- Outrage
Ever since it came along in Generation III, Salamence has been a huge driving force behind every single team in the metagame, as they all have to consider Salamence, they all have to reckon with Salamence, they all have to find a way to deal with Salamence. Salamence has been considered for Uber in the past, and I can assure you, it will be in the future. Remarkably bulky as well for something so fast and powerful, Mence boasts 95/80/80 defensive stats. It's 100 base Speed is respectable, and allows it to outspeed much, including its rival Dragonite. 110 base Special Attack is equal to that of Latias, and makes Salamence a force to be reckoned with already. Add in that 135 base Special Attack, and I do not want to face this in a battle.

Salamence's best set has always been the Dragon Dance set. This set is so overwhelmingly powerful that it hardly requires an entire team to remove its counters - a single Pokémon will usually suffice. As such, my team based on Salamence can and will devastate the current metagame. A +1 Outrage from Mence will OHKO or 2HKO every Pokémon in the metagame, with the exception of certain Steel-types. Those Steel-types, which include Metagross, Heatran, and Skarmory, are dealt with using Mence's two other moves. Earthquake removes the Steel-types that are ground-weak, such as Metagross and Heatran, while Fire Blast gets rid of 252/0 Impish Skarmory, as well as Forretress, Scizor, and more. Naive allows me to tie with other base 100s, but sacrifices the ability to have a 20% chance of OHKOing standard MixPert after SR.

 

[polelover44]

Threat list


Defensive Threats

Blissey – Mence, Breloom, Rachi

Umbreon - Breloom

Bronzong – Rotom, Mence

Celebi – Starmie, Rotom

Cresselia - Rotom

Forretress – Mence, Rotom, Starmie

Gliscor – Rotom, Mence, Starmie

Tentacruel – Mence, Breloom, Magnezone

Dusknoir - Rotom

Gyarados - Starmie, Magnezone

Hippowdon – Starmie, Rotom, Breloom, Magnezone

Jirachi – Salamence, Rotom

Rotom-A – Rotom can switch in on T-Bolt.

Skarmory – Rotom, Starmie, Salamence, Magnezone

Snorlax - Breloom

Suicune – Breloom, Starmie, Rotom, Magnezone

Swampert - Breloom

Tyranitar – Breloom

Vaporeon – Starmie, Breloom, Magnezone

Zapdos - Starmie

Offensive Threats

Azelf - Rotom

Breloom – no true counter, Rotom can beat it post-spore

Gengar - Rotom beats it one-on-one. Rare.

Gyarados – Rotom, Starmie, Magnezone if behind Sub

Heatran – trouble. Starmie can beat non-scarfed variants. Rotom can hit it hard. Mence can revenge kill.

Dragonite – Salamence can revenge kill. Starmie. Magnezone if behind Sub

Aerodactyl - Starmie, Magnezone if behind Sub

Infernape – More trouble. Starmie can beat it.

Jolteon – Troubling. Breloom can come in on TBolt

Ninjask – Rachi, Zone

Porygon-z – Rachi/Magnezone come in on Tri Attack and beat it

Rhyperior – Zone, Rachi, Breloom, Starmie

Smeargle - Breloom, Magnezone

Heracross – Rachi, Rotom

Latias – Starmie, Rotom, Magnezone, Rachi can cripple with T-Wave.

Kingdra – Breloom, Rotom, Magnezone

Lucario – Rotom

Machamp – Rotom

Magnezone – a problem. Scizor Superpower on the switch can get it, Rotom, Salamence beats non-scarfed variants.

Mamoswine – Starmie, Rotom

Metagross – Rotom, Salamence, Magnezone if behing Sub

Salamence – Magnezone if behind Sub, Rachi can cripple, Starmie if it hasn't DD'd yet

Electivire - Salamence

Flygon – Starmie beats non-scarfed variants, Magnezone if behind Sub

Togekiss – Starmie, Jirachi out-haxes, Rotom, Magnezone

Weavile – Jirachi, Scizor

Scizor - Rotom, Magnezone

Starmie – Rotom, Starmie, Magnezone

Tyranitar - Breloom

Zapdos - Starmie

Alakazam - Rotom

 

[Snorlaxe]

Hello! This is a very good team, and it has a lot of the metagame's major threats checked in some way, shape, or form. A lot of the Pokemon that this team is "weak to" can be played around relatively easily, and a lot of the Pokemon that you are worried about don't have many opportunities to switch in. This team's synergy is also very comendable, and while Ghost is a pretty common attacking type with two Choice Scarf users and Scizor its nothing that your team isn't capable of handling.

I do see some problems, however. The fact that you have three Pokemon utilizing Choice items in an issue; it gives set up sweepers some windows to get boosts up. Most notably, Dragon Dance Babiri Berry Tyranitar can come in on any of Rotom-H's moves barring Trick very easily and then proceed to set up and sweep. If Jirachi already Tricked away its Choice Scarf then you are in for some problems, as Tyranitar can take Scizor's Bullet Punch like a star and then pretty much rape your entire team outright. I also feel like Salamence isn't being supported enough in that you have no reliable way to remove Steel types. In fact, your team almost seems to promote Steel types setting up; Pokemon like Swords Dance Scizor, Calm Mind Jirachi, and SubPetaya Empoleon can come in all day and stat up against Rotom-H's Shadow Ball, Scizor's Bullet Punch, and Jirachi's Iron Head. If any of these Pokemon find a window to set up then it will not be fun for your team, as nothing will want to take hits from something like a +2 attack Scizor or a Jirachi with two Calm Minds under its belt and a Wish on the way. Stall teams can also be a pretty big bitch for this team to take on as four of your Pokemon take damage from Spikes upon the switchin. While Rotom-H and Salamence may be immune to Spikes damage, Salamence does take 25% damage from Stealth Rock on the switch. Stall teams also won't let Salamence set up thanks to constant phazing and status moves, so thats another problem. Really when three of your Pokemon utilize Choice items and two of them take damage from Spikes and Stealth Rock you are running a pretty big risk against stall teams; Rotom-H on the other hand will die to semistall teams as some of them carry a Pursuit user, while the ones that do not always have multiple ways to deal with Rotom-H simply because SubCharge Rotom is such a threat to semi-stall. In fact once Rotom-H gets Pursuited your team is in for a lot of trouble, as Rotom is basically one of your best answers to a bunch of threats that could otherwise be pains for your team to take on, namely Swords Dance Lucario.


Just looking at all this, I can see what to do. The first move I would make would be to replace one of your Choice users. When you have three Choice users that is definitely part of the problem. At first I was thinking about Rotom-H just because Scarf Rotom is such easy Pursuit bait and is probably the most disposable of your Choicers, but then I looked at your teams weaknesses and resistances. Rotom provides way too many valuable resistances for your team (not to mention immunities) and as such removing it wouldn't be the best move. So then I looked at Scizor, and I think that out of all your Choice users he can probably go. The main thing that he does for your team is check Dragon Dance Salamence as well as Flygon, but after I finish with this rate your team will be able to take on Dragon Dance Salamence so much more easily just by not letting it set up that it isn't really a huge concern. So anyway, I would replace Scizor with a Steel Killer Magnezone set. A simple set of Thunderbolt | Magnet Rise | Hidden Power Ice | Substitute will do the trick. The main thing that Magnezone does for your team is trap and remove Steel type Pokemon, which is hugely helpful for Salamence. Seeing as your team is centered around a Salamence sweep this is pretty important. Magnezone is also a good team member in that with this set it really limits the opportunities for opposing Dragon Dance Salamence to set up, as well as other notable Pokemon. If Salamence tries to come in on Magnezone it will only be after it kills a Pokemon and after it is behind a Substitute. From there you can just chill out while it tries to Earthquake you (or if your opponent is really a moron, use Dragon Dance), and then OHKO it with Hidden Power Ice. While you do loose the ability to Pursuit Ghosts with Magnezone as well as priority, I think you'll find it really helps your team, especially in taking out Choice Scarf Jirachi or Choice Band Scizor that would otherwise end Mence's sweep prematurely. Ok another thing I would try is a different Jirachi lead with the same moves and EV spread, and just two small differences: Thunder Wave over Trick, and using Leftovers as the item over Choice Scarf. As I've mentioned before the influx of Choicers is a problem, and while eliminating one is good I really feel like there is no need for Jirachi to be Scarfed on your team. This Jirachi set is cool though as it can spread paralysis around to your opponents Pokemon. This helps your team as it not only makes setting up Salamence's sweep easier but it makes it a lot more easy for Breloom to do damage. Breloom isn't exactly a fast Pokemon, and paralysis support makes it even more terrifying than it already is...the only downside is that it can't use Spore on paralyzed opponents, but it can still hit switchins which is cool. Another way to help your problem with stall teams while barely changing anything is to stack Rapid Spin on Starmie over Recover. Recover to be honest is kinda retarded on LO Starmie as you're rarely going to get a chance to use it; Starmie is so mega frail that the one turn it decides to use Recover will give the opposing Pokemon a free turn to hit Starmie, or even worse, set up. Rapid Spin may give opponents a turn to hit Starmie as well, but it allows Starmie to support the team much more effectively as it can actually do something aside from drag the match out another turn. Noww Scarf Rotom definitely needs to stay on your team I realize as it is basically your only answer to Lucario and Gyarados, and while that is a problem because of Rotom's Pursuit problems there is basically no way to fix your weakness to these Pokemon without literally re-working your entire team, and thats the last thing I would want to do as this is really a very good team.

Hope I helped and good luck, PM me if you have any questions! ;)

 

[tlb31m]

I would go with some other item with jirachi because I dont know if its safe to be locked into SR when in battle that could cost you the game.You might wanna reconsider another moveset maybe if your thinking scarf it seems its to much of a risk.Just a suggestion though.

 

[polelover44]

@Snorlaxe: Thanks for the help! After a bit of testing, I've agreed to everything you said, and I'll update the Threat List/team asap.

 

[J-Gao]

Choice Scarf seems to be the standard on lead Jirachi. It pretty much will always get rid of Choice Scarf with Trick in the beginning anyway, so being locked in isn't a huge issue. Trick will give that issue to an opposing set-up lead. The real fun is when two Lead Scarfrachis go at it.

 

[Bad Ass]

Uh yea, snorlaxe, i don't see how he's weak to ddtar when he has scarf rotom. turn one: tyranitar uses dragon dance, go rotom. Rotom used trick, tyranitar is stuck into dragon dance or crunch, and is easily revenged. Empoleon gets knocked out by scarf thunderbolt too, so yea. The main thing i'm worried about is the fact that he can't power through (semi) stall, and any offensive team with scarftar will likely get two kils per match. The best thing you can do is setting up a sub with breloom, which is easily beaten by gliscor / rotom / wish jirachi / whatever. So to help you a) power through stall and b) beat scarfers and frail mons, try a swords dance breloom. A set of swords dance / mach punch / stone edge / spore with the spread of 252 atk / 252 speed / 4 hp jolly @ toxic orb. It handily destroys semi stall once the bulky water is weakened, as well as jirachi. Jolly beats adamant max speed gyarados by a point, which is sexy, and it can ohko after a swords dance. You have to be faster than jirachi, have an attack to ohko, and resist mach punch to come out uninjured. With tyranitar being #2, he has ample opportunities to set up.

meh, just my two cents. try it out and tell me how it goes.