Okay, so I usually only lurk on Serebii because it's a lot easier rating their somewhat lacking teams and most of them fail at finding any flaws in teams, making me sound uberly good, but the VGC is important and I actually want criticism here. I've been at every single VGC (since 2008), and the farthest I made it was placing 7th in Nationals. Just last year I discovered the beauties of EV training, but got knocked out one round before qualifying for nationals due to BS Heat Wave misses, Rock Slide flinches, and a critical hit that KO'd a full HP Jellicent. Oh by the way, I'm currently in the Senior division, which pairs me with people from the ages 12-15. Well I guess that's really all the backstory you need to know, so here's the team!
~~ELEMENTAL RAGE~~
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Jellicent @ Water Gem
Ability: Water Absorb
Nature: Quiet
EV's: 172 Hp / 252 Sp. Atk / 84 Def
-Water Spout
-Protect
-Shadow Ball
-Trick Room
Okay, so this is one of two Trick Room pokemon that stay on my team regardless of what the opponent uses, and a pretty good one at that. I usually don't lead with Jellicent, because that base 150 STAB is too valuable to just let go. Jellicent can fill the role of a sweeper or TR support, which proves to be very helpful, because if I have the enemy in a weak position, I don't need a flimsy support pokemon to try and do a little bit of damage, I need a heavy hitter. Protect helps me scout and will occasionally help me with Torterra's Earthquake, and Shadow Ball is there for a secondary STAB. Overall, it's a pretty boss pokemon, and the fact it's immune to Fake Out is also pretty helpful, letting me troll Hitmontop and pals. By the way, I love Jellicent. I used him last year under Tailwind and he did amazing.
"I establish My covenant with you; and all flesh shall never again be cut off by the water of the flood, neither shall there again be a flood to destroy the earth."(Genesis 9:11)
Hariyama @ Flame Orb
Ability: Guts
Nature: Brave
EV's: 252 Hp / 252 Atk / 4 Def
-Fake Out
-Protect
-Close Combat
-Rock Slide
This is my lovely sumo wrestler who does amazingly under Trick Room. His gigantic base Hp makes him pretty bulky, which is important with that burn slowly ticking away at his health. Hariyama usually goes out first, along with Bronzong. His role is to make sure that Bronzong isn't knocked out, and make sure he isn't knocked out himself. Fake Out is a huge help, especially now in gen 5, where it has +3 priority. Protect is necessary on Hariyama, as it is on many pokemon, as it disables Hariyama and every pokemon that attacks it for one turn. Close Combat is just insanely overpowered, with that giant attack stat backed up by a 50% boost. Rock Slide is there for coverage, and the fact that it hits two pokemon doesn't hurt either.
And there was war in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back. (Revelation 12:7)
Heatran @ Choice Specs
Ability: Flash Fire
Nature: Quiet
EV's: 252 Hp / 252 Sp. Atk / 4 Def
-Eruption
-Earth Power
-Dragon Pulse
-Heat Wave
Gasp! A pokemon that can actually use Eruption well! I do not recall ever seeing an ErupTran being used by anyone other than myself. During Pokemon Ranger: Shadows of Almia, there was a Wi-Fi event where you could capture a Heatran with the special move Eruption and transfer it to a 4th gen game, and I was really excited about it. I still have that awesome guy, and he makes an appearance on my TR team! Eruption just completely destroys everything, and Choice Specs helps it do that. The other moves are pretty much all filler, because I'm always specs on full blast Eruption, but Heat Wave comes in handy if I took damage already, and Earth Power and Dragon Pulse are helpful too, in rare cases. Overall, it's like taking Typholsion's role and actually using a good pokemon to do it.
And the house of Jacob shall be a fire, and the house of Joseph a flame, and the house of Esau for stubble, and they shall kindle in them, and devour them; and there shall not be any remaining of the house of Esau; for the LORD hath spoken it. (Obadiah 1:18)
Torterra @ Earth Gem
Nature: Brave
Ability: Overgrow
EV's: 192 Hp / 252 Atk / 64 Def
-Wood Hammer
-Earthquake
-Rock Slide
-Protect
Torterra is an odd selection, but my team needed something that resists EdgeQuake and attempt to deal with fighting types. A base 109 attack isn't bad by any means, but it does struggle to take down defensive support pokemon like Cresselia and Reuniclus. Wood Hammer hits like a truck, dealing massive damage anything that doesn't resist it. Earthquake and an Earth Gem together give me pretty much two free KO's on any pokemon that doesn't resist it, along with pokemon that have already been weakened. That only leaves flying types uncovered, and to that Rock Slide objects. Not to mention that Rock Slide does damage to both opponents, which is always welcome. Protect is used if there is a pokemon that I know can KO Torterra, and it allows me to deal with the threat with my other pokemon before being knocked out. Don't knock him 'till you try him, much better than a Rhyperior in my opinion.
"Then the LORD God formed man from the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and the man became a living being." (Genesis 2:7)
Regice @ Life Orb
Ability: Clear Body
Nature: Quiet
EV's: 144 Hp / 252 Sp. Atk / 114 Sp. Def
-Ice Beam
-Thunderbolt
-Focus Blast
-Protect
Regice is a boss. I wanted a BoltBeam user, and Regice filled the role perfectly. Starmie was too fast, and Lanturn lacks the power that I want. Regice has a base 100 Sp. Atk, which is the same as Starmie's, and can run a positive nature to boost it even further, unlike Starmie. Ice Beam just wrecks everything that doesn't resist it, Thunderbolt hits those pesky water types that think they can troll Regice's STAB, and Focus Blast hits any steel types that want to KO it. Also, Regice is insanely bulky with this EV spread. That base 200 Sp. Def with this EV spread ensure that NO unboosted special attack will ever OHKO Regice. Not even my Heatran could KO Regice at full Hp without specs. If you noticed that my description of Regice is the shortest of all my pokemon, it's because I accidentally deleted the entire commentary of the pokemon when adding the nice Bible verse at the end of my post. If you're wondering why I'm putting the Bible verses at the end of each description, it's because I want to. Oh, I do remember mentioning the first time I typed this that I would consider replacing Regice first over all members of my team, so if you want to suggest a pokemon over this guy, go nuts (even though he is a personal favorite).
From whose womb has come the ice? And the frost of heaven, who has given it birth? (Job 38:29)
Bronzong @ Occa Berry
Ability: Levitate
Nature: Brave
EV's: 252 Hp / 4 Atk / 252 Sp. Def
-Trick Room
-Gyro Ball
-Reflect
-Explosion
Bronzong is one of my two Trick Room users, and is always on the team no matter what my opponent uses. I usually lead with Bronzong, as Hariyama can disable any strong physical attackers or Taunt users, and Bronzong can use Trick Room and set up what I need to win. This is by far the most defensive pokemon on the team, and better than Cresselia in my opinion. Anyways, Gyro Ball is there to take advantage of the base 33 speed with a negative nature and 0 IV's, where Reflect is there to help bulk up my teams slight weakness to physical attacks. Explosion is there to help a teammate switch in safely, damage the opponent, and just get rid of this unhelpful piece of metal when I need an attacker instead of a supporter. Occa Berry and Levitate make it very hard to KO Bronzong. Well, this looks like the end of the team, I hope you liked it! I'm open to any and all criticism, anything that could make the team better is appreciated.
The head of the statue was made of pure gold, its chest and arms of silver, its belly and thighs of bronze, its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of baked clay. (Daniel 2:32-33)
~~~FINAL LOOK~~~
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