Team Jihad

[Rolf]

Team Jihad (OU RMT)

My last team, The New Wave, was based around the idea of a pokemon countering its counters for its standard sets. I was trying to get around this by using weird sets that probably didn't work the best. It was when I first saw the idea that I realized that Explosion was the ultimate move for that exact purpose: A 250 base power move that halves the opponents defense, easily bringing down a pokemons regular counters.

With that in mind, I give you: Team Jihad

The Lead:

Hariyama@Leftovers, Careful
112HP/140Def/252SpD - Thick Fat

~Bulk Up
~Force Palm
~Payback
~Ice Punch

Hariyama is a beast. While the opponent Stealth Rocks, I am able to get a free Bulk Up. I then can either proceed to get more power ups or start whacking on things with these three moves, which give near if not perfect coverage. Force Palm also comes with a nice 30% paralysis rate.

10 top leads:
Metagross: Bulk Up on the SR, and get lots of free Bulk Ups as he struggles to do any damage. After 2 or 3 BUs, usually they explode and it does ~50% damage, and I'm free to take out a couple more from there. A very good matchup for me.

Azelf: Fire Blast is easily shrugged off, especially with Thick Fat. Explosion beats me, but that's irrelevent as the whole point of this team is to do 1 for 1 trades. If I get in a BU then Payback OHKOs, if not it's a 2HKO. I'm considering changing the EVs so I can score a OHKO 100% of the time with Payback.

Jirachi: If he tricks a scarf theres a small problem, otherwise just BU and proceed to do the same thing as Metagross.

Swampert: Switch to Snorlax and go boom.

Aerodactyl: Free BUs for anyone not running Whirlwind, otherwise I'll get a sweep going.

Infernape: More free BUs, and then just FP and hope for para, although I think I beat without as CC drops defenses. Fire Blast does pitiful damage.

Hippowdon: Switch to Snorlax and go boom.

Bronzong: Free BUs and Force Palms. Same situation as Metagross.

Ninjask: Ice Punch down to BP range, Bulk Up on the BP and own the incoming slow physical sweeper, since I have +1 defense.

Tyranitar: BU first just in case of switch, then Force Palm. Anything Tyranitar runs does pitiful damage.

The Easy Switch:

Snorlax@Leftovers, Adamant
252HP/252Att/4SpD - Thick Fat

~Crunch
~Earthquake
~Ice Punch
~Selfdestruct

Very simple. Anything I can't counter, Selfdestruct on. This is my wildcard. He also takes special hits like a champ and can OHKO many of those special threats back with respective moves.

Makes an especially easy Heatran switch in with Thick Fat.

The Second Easy Switch:

Lickilicky@Leftovers, Impish
252HP/116Att/140Def - Own Tempo

~Counter
~Explosion
~Aqua Tail
~Return

Come in on physical attackers. He can take anything not named STAB Close Combat and KO back with counter. Explode as a second option. Aqua Tail is to hit ghosts, Return is for weakened guys if Counter doesn't KO. Basically a second Snorlax without violating the Species Clause :P

The Standard One:

Heatran@Choice Scarf, Naive
252Spe/252SpA/4Att - Flash Fire

~Fire Blast
~Earth Power
~Hidden Power [Elc]/Some other type
~Explosion

Standard Scarfer. Makes a great cleanup for if Explosion doesn't get a clean KO. He is also my only special attacker other than Blim, who doesn't really count, so yeah. I take good care of this guy. Takes out bulky waters that might hinder Metagross' sweep with either HPE or BOOM.

The Fighting Counter:

Drifblim@Leichi Berry, Timid
12HP/80Def/216SpA/200Spe - Unburden

~Baton Pass
~Substitute
~Thunderbolt
~Hypnosis

Yes, it's a pokemon that could learn explosion but I didn't put it on. I found that I needed my main cleanup sweeper needed a little bit more power to finish up the game. This is where Blim comes in. When they have two or three pokes left, and the one out is slower then Blim, I'll just Explode on it so that Blim can have a free switchin. Stealth Rocks actually help, as they make it so I have to sub once less. I can then proceed to sub once (49.9%HP) and then the other poke breaks my sub. I then Hypnosis them to put them to sleep, which puts them out of commission for a turn or two. I can then Sub again (24.9%HP) and activate my pinch berry, then the next turn baton pass my enormous sub to Metagross, usually giving him enough time to agility.

Blim also serves as my counter to fighting and ground type moves, which otherwise will run through pretty much my whole team.

The Cleanup:

Metagross@Life Orb, Adamant
112HP/252Att/12Def/132Spe - Clear Body

~Agility
~Earthquake
~Meteor Mash
~Ice Punch/Explosion (Need input)

Explosions from Snorlax, Lickilily and Heatran leave large gaps in the opponents team. Heatran also has a tendency to draw in those nasty bulky waters that tend to ruin Metagross' parties, so Heatran exploding leaves a place for Gross to sweep through things.

AgiliGross is a beast on its own, but with a +1 from Drifblim and maybe even another +1 from Meteor Mash, he becomes nigh unstoppable, especially when he can't be intimidated by things like Salamence. (Gyarados tends to come in quite early in my experience, and I am able to safely get in Snorlax and explode on it.)

Ice Punch or Explosion: Ice Punch is mainly for the OU Dragons, but I feel like a +1 Meteor Mash would take care of them just fine. Explosion allows for pretty much a free kill when I'm done, so I'm considering replacing Ice Punch for Explosion. Need input.

That's it. Rate, Comment, Suggestions, you get the idea.

 

[Futility]

If you're trying to save Drifblim for late game, you're going to want a pokemon that can take ground attacks, since you don't want to ruin the surprise. You're going to want Azelf on this team, and who it replaces is of little significance, but I would recommend Lickilicky, since Azelf and Snorlax have good teamwork, especially against Heatran. The Life Orb set is guaranteed to knock out a few pokemon, and it works really well with Scarftran, as one of them can simply blow up Blissey and the other one can rip through any pokemon that isn't a wall.

Azelf @ Life Orb
Nature: Naive
EV's: 36 HP / 252 SpA / 216 Spe
Moves:
-Psychic
-Flamethrower
-Grass Knot
-Explosion

Drifblim definately wants Shadow Ball so it can actually damage the ground Pokemoon that it switches into and so it can beat Rotom, who can easily cripple Metagross with Will-o-Wisp and ruin your entire strategy. Even with Snorlax's Crunch, most defensive Ghosts can easily burn you and just recover off the damage with Pain Split or Rest.

 

[Rolf]

If you're trying to save Drifblim for late game, you're going to want a pokemon that can take ground attacks, since you don't want to ruin the surprise. You're going to want Azelf on this team, and who it replaces is of little significance, but I would recommend Lickilicky, since Azelf and Snorlax have good teamwork, especially against Heatran. The Life Orb set is guaranteed to knock out a few pokemon, and it works really well with Scarftran, as one of them can simply blow up Blissey and the other one can rip through any pokemon that isn't a wall.

Azelf @ Life Orb
Nature: Naive
EV's: 36 HP / 252 SpA / 216 Spe
Moves:
-Psychic
-Flamethrower
-Grass Knot
-Explosion

Drifblim definately wants Shadow Ball so it can actually damage the ground Pokemoon that it switches into and so it can beat Rotom, who can easily cripple Metagross with Will-o-Wisp and ruin your entire strategy. Even with Snorlax's Crunch, most defensive Ghosts can easily burn you and just recover off the damage with Pain Split or Rest.

I tried an Azelf before, but I Banded it and gave it the punches + explosion. I can see this one working a lot better though. I'll test it out over Licky, and if I like it I'll edit it in.

Ground attacks don't give me as much of a problem as you think though. Licky can take any EQs quite easily (usually taking under 50%) and KO back with either Counter or Aqua Tail or Explosion :P

Ghosts do give me a large problem, although I can usually get around it by getting in Tran (hopefully on a WoW) and KOing most ghosts with Fire Blast. The only ghosts that are commonly used really are Gengar and Rotom though.

Gengar is absolutely pummeled by Snorlax, who usually switches in on a Shadow Ball and easily takes the Focus Blast and KOs back with Crunch.

Rotom is a whole new problem. Usually I can get Heatran in to take a WoW and KO back with a FF'd Fire Blast, but otherwise I have lots of problems. I really don't see how sticking Shadow Ball on Loon would make anything much better as it does (I think) pretty pitiful damage with the minimal investment I have, and Rotom can easily do lots of damage with a STAB Shadow Ball of its own or even a STAB Thunderbolt.

I've even considered adding Dark Pulse over something on Heatran's set for Rotom only, but meh. It has very little use other than that and Tran is struggling for moveslots already.

tl;dr: I like the Azelf idea but Thunderbolt has proven to be more useful then Shadow Ball in my mind.

EDIT: Loon doesn't have to be saved for endgame. I occasionally will pull out Loon in the middle of a battle if I see an opportunity and will get Metagross in quite early. It is then up to the Exploders to finish things up instead, as most of them are bulky and can get in an explosion quite easily. Heatran also can finish things, so I don't fret too much about saving Loon+Meta for later, especially if I take out a Suicune/Swampert/Starmie/Gyara early in the game.

 

[Futility]

Ghosts do give me a large problem, although I can usually get around it by getting in Tran (hopefully on a WoW) and KOing most ghosts with Fire Blast. The only ghosts that are commonly used really are Gengar and Rotom though.

Gengar is absolutely pummeled by Snorlax, who usually switches in on a Shadow Ball and easily takes the Focus Blast and KOs back with Crunch.

Rotom is a whole new problem. Usually I can get Heatran in to take a WoW and KO back with a FF'd Fire Blast, but otherwise I have lots of problems. I really don't see how sticking Shadow Ball on Loon would make anything much better as it does (I think) pretty pitiful damage with the minimal investment I have, and Rotom can easily do lots of damage with a STAB Shadow Ball of its own or even a STAB Thunderbolt.

I've even considered adding Dark Pulse over something on Heatran's set for Rotom only, but meh. It has very little use other than that and Tran is struggling for moveslots already.

tl;dr: I like the Azelf idea but Thunderbolt has proven to be more useful then Shadow Ball in my mind.

EDIT: Loon doesn't have to be saved for endgame. I occasionally will pull out Loon in the middle of a battle if I see an opportunity and will get Metagross in quite early. It is then up to the Exploders to finish things up instead, as most of them are bulky and can get in an explosion quite easily. Heatran also can finish things, so I don't fret too much about saving Loon+Meta for later, especially if I take out a Suicune/Swampert/Starmie/Gyara early in the game.

Rotom is a huge problem for any Explosion team. I know because I used one of my own (and unlike yours, all of my Pokemon used Explosion). I realized after the fact that Rotom is going to beat Drifblim no matter what it uses, and that's a huge problem because Rotom walls Metagross hugely.

Although it's not commonly seen, Dusknoir is very defensive and often throws around Will-o-Wisp to ruin physical attackers. It also beats Snorlax 1-on-1 because of Pain Split and its gift of leeching Snorlax's enourmous HP.

As I said, Ghosts are a huge problem to any Explosion-themed team. Don't think you're alone by any means.

As for Drifblim, what do you do to any Ground pokemon that realizes that you can't hurt it at all and stat-up along with it? If it can beat Metagross 1-on-1 (and with Earthquake, I wouldn't be surprised if it did), then your team is done for. It's even worse if the ground pokemon can phaze you. That's the reason I suggested Shadow Ball, but it seems that you don't run across this problem.

 

[Orcelot005]

I think you should change your Hariyama for a Poliwrath, he can use Bulk Up just like Hariyama, but he also has the ability Damp, which stops things exploding on him, people often forget that he has this ability because Water Absorb is generally the better ability and if your opponent makes the mistake of trying to explode on you, you've just netted yourself a free turn which you can use to get an extra Bulk Up.

Poliwrath@Leftovers/Lum Berry
Ability: Damp
Nature: Adamant
Evs: 252 Hp 152 Attack, 88 Defence, 16 Speed
-Bulk Up
-Substitute
-Focus Punch
-Waterfall/Ice Punch

Leftovers is probably the better item to use, but Lum Berry can work well against things like Scarfed Breloom and Butterfree leads, if you sub on turn one they'll be forced to switch, so you get a free Bulk Up.

Waterfall is probably the best option in the last slot but Ice punch can be usefull because people will usually expect you to have Waterfall beause it's a powerfull STAB move so they might switch something like Salamence in.

16 Speed Evs to outspeed the standard LeadGross the rest of the Evs are put into Attack, Defence and Hp to give Poliwrath a balance of power and bulk.

The only thing this set struggles against is Azelf, but suicide leads aren't as common anymore so it should be fine.

By the way, incase you're interested this set was made by Shizzle.

 

[Rolf]

Rotom is a huge problem for any Explosion team. I know because I used one of my own (and unlike yours, all of my Pokemon used Explosion). I realized after the fact that Rotom is going to beat Drifblim no matter what it uses, and that's a huge problem because Rotom walls Metagross hugely.

Although it's not commonly seen, Dusknoir is very defensive and often throws around Will-o-Wisp to ruin physical attackers. It also beats Snorlax 1-on-1 because of Pain Split and its gift of leeching Snorlax's enourmous HP.

As I said, Ghosts are a huge problem to any Explosion-themed team. Don't think you're alone by any means.

As for Drifblim, what do you do to any Ground pokemon that realizes that you can't hurt it at all and stat-up along with it? If it can beat Metagross 1-on-1 (and with Earthquake, I wouldn't be surprised if it did), then your team is done for. It's even worse if the ground pokemon can phaze you. That's the reason I suggested Shadow Ball, but it seems that you don't run across this problem.

Ghost types of course are going to be a large problem to any explosion team.

One thing you're forgetting is that I can just hypnosis any ground type that I don't like and incapacitate it. I can also hypnosis Rotom, heck anything else if I have a sub up.

Overall, the Rotom forms aren't giving me that much trouble, I can work around them quite easily most of the time. Dusknoir, like Rotom, is also slower then Loon and can get hypnotized, and both are either KOed or extremely weakened by a Fire Blast from Heatran.

I'm still testing Azelf, although I'll probably edit him in soon.

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As for Poliwrath, he just doesn't have the same bulk that I like about Hariyama. I think I will take a second look at some Curse and Bulk Up users though and see if I can't find something that can take hits just as well but not be weak to Azelf's Psychic.