|=Joy is our destination!=|
Hi there and welcome to my RMT thread. I've just started with Showdown and I made this team to play some OU games. I've had some favorable matches and some less favorable ones. This is the team that I'm using:
Hi there and welcome to my RMT thread. I've just started with Showdown and I made this team to play some OU games. I've had some favorable matches and some less favorable ones. This is the team that I'm using:
-=Building the team=-
To keep it short, I wanted to create a team around
Mega Altaria. Since she's a Mega I wanted to keep as much threats as possible from her. This meant that I needed a sweeper that would take the most focus. I chose for
Talonflame because I felt that unlike Mega Altaria he didn't need much setup to be a threat. But this meant that I would attract bulky water types. In order to deal with them, I brought
Manaphy. But I still needed an answer to faeries and dragons. Not to mention that I needed some form of hazard and hazard removal. I had a hard time deciding who I would bring on the team to set up stealth rocks. Ultimately I had two choices:
Clefable and
Excadrill. To try things out a bit I decided that I would have Clefable play a supportive role and have Excadrill be a spinner. Later on I decided on having Hippowdon on as a stealth rock setter due to his bulk and how he synergizes well with Excadrill. The result is this team.
To keep it short, I wanted to create a team around
-=THE TEAM =-
Betsy (Hippowdon) (F) @ Smooth Rock
Ability: Sand S
EVs: 252 HP / 144 Def / 112 SpD
Impish Nature
- Earthquake
- Stealth Rock
- Slack Off
- Toxic
I like to lead with Betsy. The idea is to set up Stealth Rocks as soon as I can. I could have added Stone Edge for more coverage next to Earthquake, but I chose for Toxic for the utility it has. Bringing Hippowdon in tends to force switches, so I tend to put use Toxic on the switch in. Hippowdon's greatest strengths are his bulk and under sandstorm I can go mixed wall with more ease. The smooth rock is mainly for allowing Excadrill more turns.
Trill (Excadrill) (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Sand Rush
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Iron Head
- Rapid Spin
- Rock Slide
Like I said earlier I was thinking of using Excadrill as both the stealth rock setter and the spinner. But losing both roles at the same time would put me at a disadvantage, so I prefer to have the roles split. What I generally do with this guy is getting him in a sandstorm and proceed to sweep and keep their Hazard setters from being comfortable. I've been pleasantly surprised by how much damage it can run teams through. I prefer a Jolly nature over an Adamant nature because I want to outspeed as much things as possible while the sandstorm is still on. I could have gone for a more defensive set with Mold Breaker (that would allow me to hit pesky levitators), but the sweeping power of Sand Rush has been very pleasant to me so far.
Spitfire (Talonflame) (M)
Ability: Gale Wings
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Acrobatics
- Roost
- Swords Dance
- Taunt
My kamikaze sweeper. I have often swept through teams without needing Mega Altaria thanks to this guy. Gale Wings allow me to deal as much damage as possible with the added bonus of priority. Because I bring him in on sandstorm turns sometimes, I prefer to run Acrobatics as opposed to Brave bird. This also cuts the damage a random knock off would do on me. I don't notice the drop in power that often and I do get free setup turns by switching into fire types or grass types Manaphy lured, and Earthquakes/Earth Powers meant for Excadrill. The EV investment allows me to setup a Swords Dance, and brace for impact before hitting back. Taunt may seem like a novelty when Talonflame only has like 8 EV's invested in speed, but it has been quite useful against bulky and slower pokemon. At the same time taunt allows Talonflame to setup as the switch occurs.
Thetis (Manaphy) @ Leftovers
Ability: Hydration
EVs: 92 HP / 252 SpA / 164 Spe
Modest Nature
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Tail Glow
- Scald
- Energy Ball
Manaphy is there to threaten Grass, Water and Fire types. Hydration is quite nice in the rain and after a Tail Glow, Scald can be quite scary. Mega Venusaur doesn't like being hit with a burn on the switch in. At the same time, Manaphy benefits from the water types Talonflame lures in while Talonflame takes care of the bulkier Grass types.
Fae (Clefable) (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SpD
Bold Nature
- Moonblast
- Thunder Wave
- Knock Off
- Soft-Boiled
With Clefable I was aiming for a support that could give dragons a run for their money. She primarily shuffles paralysis on sweepers that could prove to be a problem and hits item reliant switch ins. I could have put Knock off away for Healing Wish, but my sweepers are more there to soften up the team in order to let Mega Altaria do her work (and there are moments where Excadrill and Talonflame make quick work of the enemy team).
Joyeuse (Altaria-Mega) (F) @ Altarianite
Ability: Cloud Nine
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 60 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Def / 192 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Earthquake
- Roost
- Return
The star of this team. I prefer a set that allows it to get to threatening levels instead of outright sweeping and risking a revengekill. This also means that I can't really put Refresh/Heal Bell on her. So far her bulk has allowed me to a Dragon Dance in. I really appreciate the coverage between Earthquake and Return. I thought that Double-Edge would give her that oumph, but apparently it's illegal.
-=Threats =-
Though Manaphy can check them, I still have quite some trouble with
Landorus-T,
Gliscor and
Rotom-W. It's always a gamble to let Talonflame set up on Gliscor and Rotom, so Manaphy is the only one on my team who can really handle them with ease. Excadrill doesn't like all three of them, especially Landorus-T. I've also run into my fair share of trouble with variants of
/
Mega-Garchomp/Garchomp and
Jirachi, as they're tough to break. So if Excadrill and Manaphy (subsequently Clefable) don't win key matchups, the game gets a bit harder.
Then there's also the issue with status. Even if my sweepers are just meant to sweep before they're sweeped, status can be quite threatening at times.
Though Manaphy can check them, I still have quite some trouble with
Then there's also the issue with status. Even if my sweepers are just meant to sweep before they're sweeped, status can be quite threatening at times.
