TEAM DRACOMOWING
Introduction
Introduction
Hello! I've been a on-off competitive pokemon player since Gen IV and a long time lurker on the forums. A few weeks ago I decided to play some Gen VIII competitive and I've been building a few teams and playing around a little to get used to the new metagame. Unlike most of the other teams I've slapped together so far, this one has done well at the beginning of the ladder and I feel it has the potential to do quite well with some refinining. However, I feel that at this point in time I may still be oblivious to some of the finer nuances of the meta and that my understanding of the threats around is probably a bit incomplete. So I decided to post this to get some suggestions and feedback on how to improve the team. Thank you all very much in advance!
Teambuilding Process
Dracovish is one of the new pokemon added in Gen 8 that I really wanted to take for a spin after playing some battles against it and seeing how powerful it can be.
Almost instantly I decided to go with a Dracovish + Rotom Mow core since Mowtom can deal with a lot of the water absorb or bulky water mons that like to switch into Fishious Rend.
Even though Dracovish can potentially 2HKO Ferrothorn with some luck, I needed a better answer to it. I considered both Hydreigon and Dragapult here, but eventually decided to go with Dragapult and have it act as a speed check as well since my main breakers aren't particularly fast.
Since I doubled down on Dragon types, I decided to add a Dragon resist to the team in Clefable, who can also pass Wishes around to support my other pokemon. I went back and forth between different fairies and sets here, but eventually settled on a Support Clef set.
I wanted to add some hazards to my team and maybe a ground immunity, so I added Seismitoad.
Lastly, Toxic seems really prevalent to me, so I wanted to add a Steel type to have a safe switch in. I decided to go with Aegislash to act as another potential sweeper.
After playing some games with the team, I felt entry hazards were very often screwing me up, so I decided to replace Seismitoad with Corviknight to act as a Defogger for me. And since I was now I already had my immunity to Toxic and was lacking hazards of my own, I replaced Aegislash with a Lead Mew.
The Team
Dracovish @ Choice Band
Ability: Strong Jaw
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Fishious Rend
- Crunch
- Psychic Fangs
- Outrage
Choice Band Dracovish demolished quite a few of my quickly put together teams as I was getting used to the metagame. This is the standard band set for full power.
Rotom-Mow @ Life Orb
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Nasty Plot
- Discharge
- Leaf Storm
- Volt Switch
Rotom-mow to deal with all the bulky waters that seem to be running around in this meta. I tried Substitute in the last slot at first to be able to set up more safely, but I felt I wasn't getting much use out of it since Mowtom isn't supposed to be my main sweeper. I added Volt Switch instead to be able to get other pokemon in more safely instead.
Dragapult @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Infiltrator
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Draco Meteor
- Shadow Ball
- Flamethrower
- U-turn
I'm not sure if Scarf is really needed here given Dragapults high speed, but I'm a little paranoid about being outsped when it really matters. If I can safely ditch the Scarf and still be a speed check to most relevant threats, please do let me know because that's one aspect of the metagame that I'm still getting used to. This is also my main answer to Ferrothorn.
Clefable @ Leftovers
Ability: Cute Charm
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpA / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Dazzling Gleam
- Teleport
- Wish
- Protect
Since I have two Dragons on the team, Clefable acts as my Dragon Resist and all around supports a team that otherwise lacks healing with Wish. I also considered running a more offensive Clef here, but I eventually decided to go with the standard defensive set to add some more bulk to the team. If you think another Clefable set (or even another fairy) would be a better choice here, please let me know because this was one of my biggest doubts on the team.
Corviknight @ Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Def
Impish Nature
- Defog
- Roost
- Body Press
- U-turn
Defensive Corviknight was added to the team to be a Defogger and Steel pivot after I found my original team to suffer quite a bit from entry hazards. I admittedly have not played an awful lot with Corviknight yet, so this is a standard set for now.
Mew @ Red Card
Ability: Synchronize
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Taunt
- Stealth Rock
- Spikes
- Flare Blitz
I added this Mew to set up Stealth Rock and Spikes for me since it seems to be able to do it reliably at the start of the game. Flare Blitz is there to maybe add some surprise pressure to opposing Corviknights, but I'm not too sure it is the best option. I'd really appreciate some suggestions here.
Conclusion
So, this is my team at its current state. Thank you very much once again for taking the time to read and maybe help me with the main doubts I still have about the team.
Dracovish @ Choice Band
Ability: Strong Jaw
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Fishious Rend
- Crunch
- Psychic Fangs
- Outrage
Rotom-Mow @ Life Orb
Ability: Levitate
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Nasty Plot
- Discharge
- Leaf Storm
- Volt Switch
Dragapult @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Infiltrator
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Draco Meteor
- Shadow Ball
- Flamethrower
- U-turn
Clefable @ Leftovers
Ability: Cute Charm
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpA / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Dazzling Gleam
- Teleport
- Wish
- Protect
Corviknight @ Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Def
Impish Nature
- Defog
- Roost
- Body Press
- U-turn
Mew @ Red Card
Ability: Synchronize
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Taunt
- Stealth Rock
- Spikes
- Flare Blitz
Ability: Strong Jaw
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Fishious Rend
- Crunch
- Psychic Fangs
- Outrage
Rotom-Mow @ Life Orb
Ability: Levitate
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Nasty Plot
- Discharge
- Leaf Storm
- Volt Switch
Dragapult @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Infiltrator
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Draco Meteor
- Shadow Ball
- Flamethrower
- U-turn
Clefable @ Leftovers
Ability: Cute Charm
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpA / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Dazzling Gleam
- Teleport
- Wish
- Protect
Corviknight @ Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Def
Impish Nature
- Defog
- Roost
- Body Press
- U-turn
Mew @ Red Card
Ability: Synchronize
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Taunt
- Stealth Rock
- Spikes
- Flare Blitz
