Okay, well, hello everybody. My name's Elementer and I'm a certified lurker of these forums, but just joined yesterday. So, what better thing to kick off my Smogon profile than a full fledged RMT, huh? So, I decided to do just that. On to my team. The influx of weather teams had inspired me to make a team on each type of weather: A sun team, a sandstorm team, a rain team...but eventually, I discovered that the best team i made was NOT a weather team at all. This is that team - I call it the Fantastic Core, because of the four cores synergizing perfectly with each other.
Overview:
Team Building:
I started off with Hydreigon, and I decided he would be one of the cores and one of the foremost, main players in my team. He was extremely powerful, with respectable bulk, and with his help I had demolished many past opponents in other teams.
I needed another Pokemon to fit in with Hydreigon, having good synergy with him. The obvious choice was Jellicent. He took the Fighting attacks and could cripple them with WoW, while Hydreigon took the Dark, Ghost, Grass, and even Electric type attacks aimed at Jellicent.
However, I realized that I was counting on Hydreigon too much to cover up Jellicent's weaknesses. He was a sweeper, not a wall! Plus, Hydreigon still had that Ice and Dragon weakness. No, I needed a Steel type to perfectly synergize with this duo. It was this need that made me search for such a Steel type. Eventually, I found the star of the 4th generation, Heatran. His weaknesses - Ground, Fighting, and Water - each had an immunity in his fellow teammates Hydreigon and Jellicent. Furthermore, he resisted the Dragon and Ice types aimed at Hydreigon, while soaking up any Dark, Grass, or Ghost attacks aimed at Jellicent.
Now, I needed a lead - in the loosest term of the word, that is. I mean that I need a Pokemon that could reliably set entry hazards, switch out, and could still be relied on for later in the match. For this job, I chose Gliscor - opting for the standard DPP lead. Though this Gliscor had the advantage of surprise, it wasn't reliable. What does that mean? It could set up only SR, and it added another crippling Ice weakness to my team, and because I usually lead with him, I had to reveal my only Ice resist, Heatran, much too early. I found it hard to bring in him for late to mid game, and he ended up being too much deadweight on my team.
After the Gliscor lead failure, I researched to find a lead that could set both Spikes AND Stealth Rock, as well as phaze the opponent if they got to many boosts. For this job, Skarmory seemed perfect - he could set up both hazards and phaze out the opponents with Whirlwind. Skarmory worked well enough, usually setting up Stealth Rock and 1 layer of spikes. He could come back mid-game, and if predicted well enough, could Whirlwind all a Pokemon's boosts away.
To cover up for those two Electric weaknesses in Jellicent and Skarmory, I called Gliscor out of the PC. However, instead of using him how he was used as a lead in DPP, I opted to use him as a physical wall. Poison Heal worked very well, allowing him to be a sturdy wall with a slow but reliable way of recovering (though I missed Roost). With Gliscor, I finally found my synergy cores- Gliscor, Heatran, Jellicent, and Hydreigon. Between them, they all were immune or resisted the others weaknesses and could adapt to practically any threat.
After only 2 or 3 matches, I discovered another crippling weakness - Bulky Waters. Yup, Pokemon such as Vaporeon and Suicune could come in and set up on most of my Pokemon. Two cores - Heatran and Gliscor - were weak to their water attacks, and I had to resort to Jellicent to soak them up. It was extremely hard to get rid of them. Thus, I went researching once again only to discover a great Grass Pokemon in Tangrowth. He was apparently a sturdy physical wall with Regenrator, and could hit Bulky Waters hard with Power Whip. I quickly added the vine monster into my team.
So...what was the problem? The problem was that Tangrowth couldn't do much other than stopping bulky waters. He eventually became too much of a deadweight on my team, and couldn't contribute as much as the other players. I was once again forced to search for another Grass type that was both bulky and could have more uses than the vine. I finally decided on Ferrothorn. Yes, I wasn't happy to use the same Pokemon that has stayed as #1 in the most used chart for three consecutive months, but it was there for a REASON. This guy could set up Stealth Rock, Spikes, cripple with T-Wave, destroy with Power Whip or Gyro Ball, and was bulky on both sides - special AND physical- he was a monster. Infact he was SO good he made another Pokemon useless...
the metal bird, Skarmory. Now that Ferrothorn could do everything Skarmory could do, I decided I needed a physical sweeper. Without really thinking, and still fairly new with BW, I chose the premier Fighting type in the past generation - Lucario. Lucario would do just fine, I figured. It worked well enough in the past generation.
However, this generation, Lucario is good, but not as good as some other Fighting types. It has a lot more competition now, and leading the pack is our own Conkeldurr. A friend suggested him to me, and he is much better than Lucario. He's infinitely more bulky, has a nice priority and boosting attack, as well as great Attack. So, I chose him as my final team member.
Analysis:
Gorthorn (Ferrothorn) (M) @ Rocky Helmet
Trait: Iron Barbs
EVs: 252 HP / 48 Def / 208 SDef
Relaxed Nature (+Def, -Spd)
- Spikes
- Stealth Rock
- Thunder Wave
- Power Whip
Trait: Iron Barbs
EVs: 252 HP / 48 Def / 208 SDef
Relaxed Nature (+Def, -Spd)
- Spikes
- Stealth Rock
- Thunder Wave
- Power Whip
What, in the loosest and most contemporary meaning of the word, is my 'lead'. Of course, I don't lead with 'thorn every single match - that would be pure suicide with the new Team Preview mechanics - but if I don't find any threat to him, I prefer to lead with him. His impressive bulk on both sides of the spectrum let him survive most attacks. If played correctly, he can set up Stealth Rock and two layers of Spikes. After this, I usually switch him out for later use. Ferrothorn is also a sturdy wall, and I can switch him into many attacks to cripple potential sweepers with Thunder Wave. He is also my answer to bulky Water types like Vaporeon, with a STAB Power Whip and enough bulk to take any attacks they might throw at him. Ferrothorn is also the Pokemon I use to counter Outraging Salamences and Haxorus, who when unchecked, can ruin a large portion of my team. Taking their Outrages like the beast he is, Ferrothorn can cripple Dragons with Thunder Wave or set up any remaining layer of Spikes. Finally, he is great bait for Fire types. I can leave him out there for a turn, drawing Fire types like magnets, only to switch to Heatran to soak up any Flamethrower/Fire Blasts and threaten with an Earth Power or Toxic. From wall to lead to potential bait, Ferrothorn is an all-use utility Pokemon that can fulfill a lot of roles in my team.
Synergy-wise, Ferrothorn has many key resistances to make it play an important role in my team. It has the always important Dragon resist, covering for Hydreigon's weakness in that area. It sports a resistance to all of Jellicent's weaknesses - Ghost, Dark, Electric, Grass - so it works perfectly with him. It covers Conkeldurr's annoying Psychic weakness, and the most annoying counter to 'durr - Reuniclus - can do practically nothing to Ferrothorn unless it carries Focus Blast, which has a shaky accuracy anyways. Finally, it synergies with Heatran due to resisting its Water weakness and posing an immediate threat to any Water type with Power Whip.
Serqet (Gliscor) (M) @ Toxic Orb
Trait: Poison Heal
EVs: 252 HP / 184 Def / 72 Spd
Impish Nature (+Def, -SAtk)
- Earthquake
- Ice Fang
- Swords Dance
- Protect
Ah...Gliscor, my first core. Gliscor was initially rejected due to it not being the best lead. However, this scorpion bat had much more surprises in store for me - he returned to my team, this time because of his awe-inspiring defensive prowess. Foregoing the standard Swords Dance Gliscor has used as his flagship set this generation, I opted to use the defensive set instead. Though it may not have the immediate offense power his brother SD set carries, he more than makes it up. Swords Dance is there for setting up when the time is ready, forcing walls to switch out. SD is also a good choice for Gliscor because of the many times - especially in stall wars - where he could easily set up to a potentially game-breaking +6 Attack. Earthquake is an obvious choice for STAB- and with Ice Fang, he gets near unresisted coverage in the entire metagame. Protect is there for Toxic Orb's amazing healing process when combined with Poison Heal. Gliscor is able to function as both an offensive threat, especially with Swords Dance raising his Attack, and a defensive threat with Poison Heal healing him every turn as well as taking damage only every other turn, as well as an amazing typing and great Defense stats.
Gliscor is a core member in my team for a reason - it synergies perfectly with his teammates, providing a very useful Electric immunity due to him being part Ground, and a Ground immunity due to also being part Flying type. He covers Jellicent's Electric weakness by easily switching into any Thunder/Thunderbolt aimed at Jellicent and threatening almost immediately with Earthquake. He is also immune to the Ground type moves - mainly Earthquake - always aimed at Heatran, and threatens with Ice Fang. He's also good for taking Bug and Fighting attacks commonly thrown at Hydreigon. Finally, he's my reliable status sponge. If any status - Will-o-wisp, Toxic, Thunder Wave, Spore - is aimed at a Pokemon, I can quickly switch Gliscor in, who takes the status attack.
Hurrcules - Conkeldurr (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Guts
EVs: 120 HP / 252 Atk / 136 SDef
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Bulk Up
- Drain Punch
- Mach Punch
- Rock Slide
My favorite fighting-type this gen (Sorry Lucario), Conkeldurr steals the spotlight as one of the best, most reliable physical sweepers around. I opted for the Bulk Up set instead of the Choice Band and Sub set because of the awesome boost it gives to Conkeldurr. 'Durr's impressive bulk allows it to get in atleast 2 Bulk-Ups if properly predicted. Once this absolute monster gets those boosts, he punches holes CLEAN through teams. I usually take away anything that can prevent his sweep - namely Reuniclus - and switch him when it's safe (usually on a Blissey) and proceed to Bulk up and then sweep. Drain Punch for the only healing 'durr gets, as well as being a great STAB move overall and producing blistering damage which almost always heals 'durr back to green. God forbid if he gets a full health Blissey. Mach Punch has saved my behind on more occasions then I care to count, and more than makes up for his absurdly low speed. Finally, Rock Slide. While this might surprise some, I've found Rock Slide to be much, much more effective than Payback. Rock Slide still hurts Ghost and Psychic types like Gengar and Alakazam respectively hard due to their frailty.Reuniclus has a lower speed than even 'durr, and no one would keep Conkeldurr in such a match up anyways.. Whereas Rock Slide is able to hit much more Pokemon - Fire, Flying, Bug - as well as still doing damage to Ghosts and Psychic. I chose Rock Slide over Stone Edge because of the superior accuracy, but if someone convinces me Stone Edge's damage output is much greater than Rock Slide, then I'll be happy to switch.
Conkeldurr was implemented more as a physical sweeper with less emphasis on its synergy, so it does not have the same synergy as my other Pokemon have. Still, it has some synergy. Conkeldurr takes Dark attacks aimed at Jellicent - namely Crunch from Tyranitar - and immediately threaten. Furthermore, it can set up Bulk Up on the predicted switch, so Jellicent makes a perfect teammate as it helps him set up and potentially sweep.
Pr. Ingles (Jellicent) (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Water Absorb
EVs: 248 HP / 216 Def / 44 Spd
Bold Nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Scald
- Ice Beam
- Recover
- Taunt
My second core and bulky water supreme, Jellicent. Jellicent is really an exceptional and unique Pokemon, with 100/105 HP and Sp. Defense. Obviously, he serves as my answer to many threats - Dragons such as Salamence and Dragonite are hurt intensely by Ice Beam while they don't do anything major back to Jellicent, Fighting types are snuffed by his Ghost typing, and fellow walls are crippled by Taunt. He is also my answer to Fire types, sporting a handy resistance and hits back hard with Scald, even off of that average Special Attack. Scald was suggested and is now being used over Surf because of the additional burn chance. Finally, he is my one and only spinblocker on the team. Recover is for reliable healing, something always appreciated in a wall. Though each attack has its uses, I have had some problems. I've replaced Will-o-Wisp for Taunt, to further combat Bulky waters/leads. If there are any other options, please let me know. Also, though Ice Beam and Surf are pretty good, I do not know if 2 attacking moves are worth it on a wall. Once again, any alternatives would be great.
It's synergy where Jellicent REALLY shines. He is the single most important Pokemon synergy-wise, covering a wide variety of attacks and weaknesses. Most importantly, he sports a Water immunity - in fact, he actually HEALS himself with his ability, Water Absorb. That means 2 of my other cores - Heatran and Gliscor - are covered by Jellicent, and can be used as bait to help heal Jelly. The second most important reason is because of his invaluable Fighting immunity. Considering both Hydreigon and Heatran have a weakness to one of the main attacking types in this generation, the immunity is amazing to have, and helps both of my cores live longer with a potentially fatal weakness out of the way. There are other resistances too, of course - he takes Bug and Ice attacks aimed at Hydreigon (as well as Gliscor) well, and Fire attacks aimed at Ferrothorn (though Heatran takes those much better).
Vulcan (Heatran) (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SDef
Calm Nature (+SDef, -Atk)
- Lava Plume
- Earth Power
- Toxic
- Roar
Oh...how the mighty have fallen. The third core, Heatran, might not be the epitome of power she was once back in DPP, but she's still extremely powerful in BW. And thus she joins my ranks, this time sporting an unusual albeit powerful set. In this fast-paced metagame, many people choose Heatran's cousin sets more focused on offense - the Scarfed and Specs sets usually. However, Heatran's amazing 91/106/106 defenses should be ignored at your own peril, as they allow her to become a Special Wall capable of dishing large amounts of damage while still standing strong with her steel-hard defenses. Lava Plume is chosen over Flamethrower because of the burn rate - 30% burn rate is worth that small dip in power you get with Flamethrower. Plus, Heatran usually burns 1 or 2 Pokemon as she lives very long. Earth Power is for coverage and to avoid being walled by opposing Heatran. Toxic is essential for the wall and, when combined with Roar, helps spread Poison throughout the opposition's team. Roar is also useful when faced with bad matchups and also helps avoid Pokemon setting up on Heatran.
Heatran, once again, synergizes with her fellow teammates very well. She takes harsh Ice attacks aimed at Gliscor and Hydreigon very nicely with her handy 4x Ice resistance. She also excels at taking Grass, Dark, and Ghost attacks that might otherwise bother Jellicent.
Again, handy resistances to Dragon and Bug help out Hydreigon. Finally, Psychic attacks and to a lesser extent, Flying attacks, aimed at Conkeldurr are easily soaked up by this lava behemoth. Ditto with annoying Toxic attacks. Heatran is also unique not only because of her numerous resistances and Toxic immunity - its also because my team sports an immunity to every single weakness Heatran owns. Surf of Hydro Pump coming your way? Heal yourself with Jellicent soaking up the water. Earthquake or Earth Power user greedily sending their earth attack to your un-ballooned Heatran? Watch the earth rip with Flying Gliscor or Levitate Hydreigon. Or fearing that Hi Jump Kick or Drain Punch? Simply switch to Jellicent to watch the attack pass through you. Heatran is a key core player, packing a punch with his 130 offenses and holding his own with sturdy defenses.
Lernaean (Hydreigon) (F) @ Life Orb
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 188 Atk / 156 SpA/ 164 Spd
Naive Nature (+Spd, -SDef)
- Draco Meteor
- Outrage
- Crunch
- Flamethrower
Now, finally, on to the last Pokemon and the last core; Hydreigon. This Hydra is the newcomer in one of the most prestigious groups in the game, the pseudo-legends, which includes game changers like Tyranitar and Garchomp. With such a big name to live up to, I was sure that the Hydra would not disappoint. It did not. Hydreigon has consistently proven itself in fight, netting an average of 2 or 3 KO's a battle. This set is pretty unorthodox - not even included on the analysis - but that's actually a good thing. The element of surprise on her side, opponents usually start to set up after Hydreigon uses Draco Meteor - after all, why would the average Hydra stay in with -2 Special Attack? And they're right. But I'm using a mixed set. Using EQ and Outrage, she can wreak havoc on a surprised opposing Pokemon, and they are immediately killed. Prediction can avoid her from being revenge killed, and allows her to come in later. I had previously chosen Crunch for secondary STAB, but it appears the main threat I was using it for, Blissey, is hurt much more by Outrage. As Steeli kindly calculated: "A LO Outrage deals 45.1% - 53.4% to Blissey, which is a 2HKO, while Crunch damages for a rather pathetic 23.2% - 27.5% to her". Thus, I changed Crunch to Outrage to wreak havoc even after unleashing Draco Meteor and threatening Blissey greatly. Earthquake and Flamethrower allows Hydreigon to almost always have a super effective attack waiting in the wings. The EV spread was changed for a reason - 188 Atk is still sufficent enough to 2HKO Blissey, and 164 speed outruns positive base 100's, as kindly calculated by Charge, which is a major bonus as I can outrun Pokemon like Salamence and Ninetails. Hydreigon can also pose an immediate threat to common counter Blissey. Hydreigon's play style matches Conkeldurr - remove all threats that can stop potential sweep, switch when possible, and proceed to kill.
In terms of synergy, Hydreigon is great. Resisting key and common attacks in Water, Fire, Electric, Grass, Dark, and Ghost, she can be a great teammate. Water type resistance for Gliscor and Heatran, Fire resistance for Ferrothorn, and is great with Jellicent because she resists all Jelly's weaknesses - Electric, Grass, Dark, and Ghost. Furthermore, she forms an effective pair with Heatran as she is immune to Heatran's crippling Ground weakness while Heatran has 2x and 4x resistance to Hydreigon's Dragon and Ice weakness respectively. Finally, she is even more compatible with Jellicent because of the Jelly's Fighting immunity. All in all, Hydreigon is an underrated sweeper with special and physical prowess who can kill and sweep through entire teams, leaving only ruins and cinders in her wake.
Synergy-wise, Ferrothorn has many key resistances to make it play an important role in my team. It has the always important Dragon resist, covering for Hydreigon's weakness in that area. It sports a resistance to all of Jellicent's weaknesses - Ghost, Dark, Electric, Grass - so it works perfectly with him. It covers Conkeldurr's annoying Psychic weakness, and the most annoying counter to 'durr - Reuniclus - can do practically nothing to Ferrothorn unless it carries Focus Blast, which has a shaky accuracy anyways. Finally, it synergies with Heatran due to resisting its Water weakness and posing an immediate threat to any Water type with Power Whip.
Serqet (Gliscor) (M) @ Toxic Orb
Trait: Poison Heal
EVs: 252 HP / 184 Def / 72 Spd
Impish Nature (+Def, -SAtk)
- Earthquake
- Ice Fang
- Swords Dance
- Protect
Ah...Gliscor, my first core. Gliscor was initially rejected due to it not being the best lead. However, this scorpion bat had much more surprises in store for me - he returned to my team, this time because of his awe-inspiring defensive prowess. Foregoing the standard Swords Dance Gliscor has used as his flagship set this generation, I opted to use the defensive set instead. Though it may not have the immediate offense power his brother SD set carries, he more than makes it up. Swords Dance is there for setting up when the time is ready, forcing walls to switch out. SD is also a good choice for Gliscor because of the many times - especially in stall wars - where he could easily set up to a potentially game-breaking +6 Attack. Earthquake is an obvious choice for STAB- and with Ice Fang, he gets near unresisted coverage in the entire metagame. Protect is there for Toxic Orb's amazing healing process when combined with Poison Heal. Gliscor is able to function as both an offensive threat, especially with Swords Dance raising his Attack, and a defensive threat with Poison Heal healing him every turn as well as taking damage only every other turn, as well as an amazing typing and great Defense stats.
Gliscor is a core member in my team for a reason - it synergies perfectly with his teammates, providing a very useful Electric immunity due to him being part Ground, and a Ground immunity due to also being part Flying type. He covers Jellicent's Electric weakness by easily switching into any Thunder/Thunderbolt aimed at Jellicent and threatening almost immediately with Earthquake. He is also immune to the Ground type moves - mainly Earthquake - always aimed at Heatran, and threatens with Ice Fang. He's also good for taking Bug and Fighting attacks commonly thrown at Hydreigon. Finally, he's my reliable status sponge. If any status - Will-o-wisp, Toxic, Thunder Wave, Spore - is aimed at a Pokemon, I can quickly switch Gliscor in, who takes the status attack.
Hurrcules - Conkeldurr (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Guts
EVs: 120 HP / 252 Atk / 136 SDef
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Bulk Up
- Drain Punch
- Mach Punch
- Rock Slide
My favorite fighting-type this gen (Sorry Lucario), Conkeldurr steals the spotlight as one of the best, most reliable physical sweepers around. I opted for the Bulk Up set instead of the Choice Band and Sub set because of the awesome boost it gives to Conkeldurr. 'Durr's impressive bulk allows it to get in atleast 2 Bulk-Ups if properly predicted. Once this absolute monster gets those boosts, he punches holes CLEAN through teams. I usually take away anything that can prevent his sweep - namely Reuniclus - and switch him when it's safe (usually on a Blissey) and proceed to Bulk up and then sweep. Drain Punch for the only healing 'durr gets, as well as being a great STAB move overall and producing blistering damage which almost always heals 'durr back to green. God forbid if he gets a full health Blissey. Mach Punch has saved my behind on more occasions then I care to count, and more than makes up for his absurdly low speed. Finally, Rock Slide. While this might surprise some, I've found Rock Slide to be much, much more effective than Payback. Rock Slide still hurts Ghost and Psychic types like Gengar and Alakazam respectively hard due to their frailty.Reuniclus has a lower speed than even 'durr, and no one would keep Conkeldurr in such a match up anyways.. Whereas Rock Slide is able to hit much more Pokemon - Fire, Flying, Bug - as well as still doing damage to Ghosts and Psychic. I chose Rock Slide over Stone Edge because of the superior accuracy, but if someone convinces me Stone Edge's damage output is much greater than Rock Slide, then I'll be happy to switch.
Conkeldurr was implemented more as a physical sweeper with less emphasis on its synergy, so it does not have the same synergy as my other Pokemon have. Still, it has some synergy. Conkeldurr takes Dark attacks aimed at Jellicent - namely Crunch from Tyranitar - and immediately threaten. Furthermore, it can set up Bulk Up on the predicted switch, so Jellicent makes a perfect teammate as it helps him set up and potentially sweep.
Pr. Ingles (Jellicent) (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Water Absorb
EVs: 248 HP / 216 Def / 44 Spd
Bold Nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Scald
- Ice Beam
- Recover
- Taunt
My second core and bulky water supreme, Jellicent. Jellicent is really an exceptional and unique Pokemon, with 100/105 HP and Sp. Defense. Obviously, he serves as my answer to many threats - Dragons such as Salamence and Dragonite are hurt intensely by Ice Beam while they don't do anything major back to Jellicent, Fighting types are snuffed by his Ghost typing, and fellow walls are crippled by Taunt. He is also my answer to Fire types, sporting a handy resistance and hits back hard with Scald, even off of that average Special Attack. Scald was suggested and is now being used over Surf because of the additional burn chance. Finally, he is my one and only spinblocker on the team. Recover is for reliable healing, something always appreciated in a wall. Though each attack has its uses, I have had some problems. I've replaced Will-o-Wisp for Taunt, to further combat Bulky waters/leads. If there are any other options, please let me know. Also, though Ice Beam and Surf are pretty good, I do not know if 2 attacking moves are worth it on a wall. Once again, any alternatives would be great.
It's synergy where Jellicent REALLY shines. He is the single most important Pokemon synergy-wise, covering a wide variety of attacks and weaknesses. Most importantly, he sports a Water immunity - in fact, he actually HEALS himself with his ability, Water Absorb. That means 2 of my other cores - Heatran and Gliscor - are covered by Jellicent, and can be used as bait to help heal Jelly. The second most important reason is because of his invaluable Fighting immunity. Considering both Hydreigon and Heatran have a weakness to one of the main attacking types in this generation, the immunity is amazing to have, and helps both of my cores live longer with a potentially fatal weakness out of the way. There are other resistances too, of course - he takes Bug and Ice attacks aimed at Hydreigon (as well as Gliscor) well, and Fire attacks aimed at Ferrothorn (though Heatran takes those much better).
Vulcan (Heatran) (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SDef
Calm Nature (+SDef, -Atk)
- Lava Plume
- Earth Power
- Toxic
- Roar
Oh...how the mighty have fallen. The third core, Heatran, might not be the epitome of power she was once back in DPP, but she's still extremely powerful in BW. And thus she joins my ranks, this time sporting an unusual albeit powerful set. In this fast-paced metagame, many people choose Heatran's cousin sets more focused on offense - the Scarfed and Specs sets usually. However, Heatran's amazing 91/106/106 defenses should be ignored at your own peril, as they allow her to become a Special Wall capable of dishing large amounts of damage while still standing strong with her steel-hard defenses. Lava Plume is chosen over Flamethrower because of the burn rate - 30% burn rate is worth that small dip in power you get with Flamethrower. Plus, Heatran usually burns 1 or 2 Pokemon as she lives very long. Earth Power is for coverage and to avoid being walled by opposing Heatran. Toxic is essential for the wall and, when combined with Roar, helps spread Poison throughout the opposition's team. Roar is also useful when faced with bad matchups and also helps avoid Pokemon setting up on Heatran.
Heatran, once again, synergizes with her fellow teammates very well. She takes harsh Ice attacks aimed at Gliscor and Hydreigon very nicely with her handy 4x Ice resistance. She also excels at taking Grass, Dark, and Ghost attacks that might otherwise bother Jellicent.
Again, handy resistances to Dragon and Bug help out Hydreigon. Finally, Psychic attacks and to a lesser extent, Flying attacks, aimed at Conkeldurr are easily soaked up by this lava behemoth. Ditto with annoying Toxic attacks. Heatran is also unique not only because of her numerous resistances and Toxic immunity - its also because my team sports an immunity to every single weakness Heatran owns. Surf of Hydro Pump coming your way? Heal yourself with Jellicent soaking up the water. Earthquake or Earth Power user greedily sending their earth attack to your un-ballooned Heatran? Watch the earth rip with Flying Gliscor or Levitate Hydreigon. Or fearing that Hi Jump Kick or Drain Punch? Simply switch to Jellicent to watch the attack pass through you. Heatran is a key core player, packing a punch with his 130 offenses and holding his own with sturdy defenses.
Lernaean (Hydreigon) (F) @ Life Orb
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 188 Atk / 156 SpA/ 164 Spd
Naive Nature (+Spd, -SDef)
- Draco Meteor
- Outrage
- Crunch
- Flamethrower
Now, finally, on to the last Pokemon and the last core; Hydreigon. This Hydra is the newcomer in one of the most prestigious groups in the game, the pseudo-legends, which includes game changers like Tyranitar and Garchomp. With such a big name to live up to, I was sure that the Hydra would not disappoint. It did not. Hydreigon has consistently proven itself in fight, netting an average of 2 or 3 KO's a battle. This set is pretty unorthodox - not even included on the analysis - but that's actually a good thing. The element of surprise on her side, opponents usually start to set up after Hydreigon uses Draco Meteor - after all, why would the average Hydra stay in with -2 Special Attack? And they're right. But I'm using a mixed set. Using EQ and Outrage, she can wreak havoc on a surprised opposing Pokemon, and they are immediately killed. Prediction can avoid her from being revenge killed, and allows her to come in later. I had previously chosen Crunch for secondary STAB, but it appears the main threat I was using it for, Blissey, is hurt much more by Outrage. As Steeli kindly calculated: "A LO Outrage deals 45.1% - 53.4% to Blissey, which is a 2HKO, while Crunch damages for a rather pathetic 23.2% - 27.5% to her". Thus, I changed Crunch to Outrage to wreak havoc even after unleashing Draco Meteor and threatening Blissey greatly. Earthquake and Flamethrower allows Hydreigon to almost always have a super effective attack waiting in the wings. The EV spread was changed for a reason - 188 Atk is still sufficent enough to 2HKO Blissey, and 164 speed outruns positive base 100's, as kindly calculated by Charge, which is a major bonus as I can outrun Pokemon like Salamence and Ninetails. Hydreigon can also pose an immediate threat to common counter Blissey. Hydreigon's play style matches Conkeldurr - remove all threats that can stop potential sweep, switch when possible, and proceed to kill.
In terms of synergy, Hydreigon is great. Resisting key and common attacks in Water, Fire, Electric, Grass, Dark, and Ghost, she can be a great teammate. Water type resistance for Gliscor and Heatran, Fire resistance for Ferrothorn, and is great with Jellicent because she resists all Jelly's weaknesses - Electric, Grass, Dark, and Ghost. Furthermore, she forms an effective pair with Heatran as she is immune to Heatran's crippling Ground weakness while Heatran has 2x and 4x resistance to Hydreigon's Dragon and Ice weakness respectively. Finally, she is even more compatible with Jellicent because of the Jelly's Fighting immunity. All in all, Hydreigon is an underrated sweeper with special and physical prowess who can kill and sweep through entire teams, leaving only ruins and cinders in her wake.
Conclusion:
Thanks for all your time, folks. I hope you enjoyed reading my RMT and I look forward for you to rating it! Criticize away! (Offensive and Defensive threats will be below).
(Changes will be in red)
