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Team Meat
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Introduction
Hello Smogon again, I haven't posted an RMT in quite a while but I have been lurking/rating on the RMT forums and playing on Shoddy.
I've been playing with this team on and off since the new HGSS moves were added on the Smogon server on Shoddy Battle, and have had some success with it, but not nearly as much as I would have liked. I immediately tried the new LeadNite set, and it has worked pretty nicely, and I wanted to base a team around something more unique than just Latias-Infernape-Gyarados, which I had done before.
So I came up with the idea of an Empoleon based team. Empoleon has nice synergy with my LeadNite also, and the rest of my team I tried to cover many of their weaknesses. On Shoddy I've only been winning about 50/50 of my matches (my rating is still hovering around 1350), so I hope that you'll rate and give me advice on how to make this team better.
Changes will be in this color
In - Depth
Gliscor (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Sand Veil
EVs: 252 HP/40 Def/216 Spd
Jolly nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Earthquake
- Roost
- Stealth Rock
- Taunt
It is a pretty standard Gliscor set, but it also works pretty sweet as a lead, removing common threats and putting up rocks. It allows me to put up my entry hazards that will keep fliers like Salamence and Gyarados from switching in too often. Stealth Rocks are relatively easy to set up and are crucial in helping my Empoleon sweep. Earthquake and a Jolly Nature also make Gliscor one of the best Lucario counters in the game, because Lucario will never outspeed it, and Earthquake OHKOs back. I can roost off weak attacks and help stall, and I can also taunt Baton pass leads or set up leads.
Overall, Gliscor is one of the best partners to Empoleon and provides the Stealth Rock support for this team.
Heres how he functions against many popular leads:
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Metagross: Taunt to prevent Stealth Rock, earthquake it to death.
Azelf: Stealth Rock with it on the first turn, then switch out to rotom-c.
Jirachi: Usually a ScarfRachi lead, so I earthquake it till it dies.
Swampert: Swampert leads give me trouble, because I can't KO with Earthquake or Stone Edge and it can OHKO with Ice Beam. I switch out to Rotom-C to take the Ice Beam and hit it back with Leaf storm, then bring back Gliscor later
Aerodactyl: It'll try taunting probably, so I'll stone edge it to death (a 2HKO I believe)
Infernape: Take the Fake out, Scare it off with EQ, then set up my own rocks.
Hippowdon: Taunt, set up rocks on the switch in.
Bronzong: Taunt first turn, then set up rocks before it tries to Explode or gyro ball.
Ninjask: Taunt so it can't baton pass out, then set up rocks.
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As you can see, Gliscor handles many common threats with ease, and almost always gets up stealth rock.
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Scizor@ Choice Band
Ability: Technician
EVs: 160 HP/ 176 Atk/ 168 SpD/ 4 Spe
Adamant nature (+Attack, -Special Attack)
- Bullet Punch
- Superpower
- U-turn
- Pursuit
Yes, scizor is on about every team in OU nowadays (which is part of the reason why I neglected to use him in the first place, and the main reason I had magnezone in this spot earlier) As Laffy said, Scizor provides my team primarily with revenge killing, especially those annoying Mence/Latias. Not only that, Scizor resists so many attacks it serves as a great check to almost anything. STAB Technician boosted Bullet Punch obviously is the main attack, and Pursuit is nice for taking out scarfed Latias bait and hitting Ghosts or Psychics on the run. U-Turn also functions as a scouter and eases my prediction a bit (also STABbed and quite powerful)
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Rotom-H @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP/168 Def/88 Spd
Bold nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Overheat
- Shadow Ball
- Thunderbolt
- Will-o-wisp
The glue of the team, Rotom-H provides a much needed support role and check to many of the threats my other pokemon would not be able to handle. It also serves as my spin-blocker and Scizor counter (one of the main reasons Rotom-H is so high in usage), which would otherwise cause many problems for my team.
Overheat chases away Scizors that, without Magnezone (replaced by Scizor, see above), could cause a lot of harm to this team. I opted for Thunderbolt because I never seem to get the paralysis effect from Discharge, and Thunderbolt gives me some much needed KOs. Shadow Ball gets rid of annoying pokemon that try to switch in to Rotom-c, such as Cresselia. Will-o-wisp is my status move that cripples many sweepers and physical walls that could stop my sweepers. The EVs were also suggested by Laffy, and these give Rotom more bulk.
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Latias (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 128 HP/252 Spd/128 SAtk
Timid nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Calm Mind
- Dragon Pulse
- Reflect
- Recover
Over the last few months I have become very familiar with Latias, specifically the Offensive CM set and the Choice Scarf set. I'd used the Offensive CM set numerous times in past teams and I've seen an awful lot of Choice Scarfers on teams I face on shoddy. This time, I decided to go with sprinkles' suggestion, Defensive CM Latias, that makes my team more rounded defensively. Latias has above average defenses, and with lightning fast speed, 252 Speed Evs and a lot in SpD and HP, it is not that hard to get off 3 or so CMs on a vulnerable pokemon. While Latias is more commonly used offensively, Latias also has excellent defenses and resistances that cannot be overlooked.
After contemplating, I've decided to go Refresh over reflect as I felt a status absorber was not needed as much as stopping incoming physical attacks like Explosion and helping out my sweepers a ton. Like Laffy said, I already have Gliscor to take T-waves and Empoleon for toxics.
After a few calm minds, STAB dragon pulse hits about as hard as Draco Meteor, without the SpA drop.
I recover off damage to stall and to get more CMs in, and basically to be as annoying as possible.
So far, this Latias set has been working nicely, but I'll be taking more advice on Refresh/Reflect/other
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Salamence (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 84 Atk/208 Spd/216 SAtk
Mild nature (+SAtk, -Def)
- Draco Meteor
- Fire Blast
- Earthquake
- Outrage
Salamence is my secondary sweeper to Empoleon, and I usually bring him out mid-game to get rid of many threats to Empoleon and simply give me an advantage. With stealth rock support, MixMence works well against almost anything, and is an excellent wallbreaker. Draco Meteor is ridiculously high power coming off of 216 Special Attack EVs and a Mild Nature, and whatever I don't finish off with it will fall to the physical combination of Earthquake and Outrage. Fire Blast gives Salamence well rounded coverage, and Earthquake and Outrage don't mind the SpA power drop.
The EVs on Salamence allow him to KO 252 HP / 252 Def Bold Cresselia with Draco Meteor and two Outrages with Stealth Rock damage. The Attack EVs also guarantee that Outrage 2HKOes Bold natured Blissey with Stealth Rocks up. And also, 208 Speed EVs outspeed and kills Gyarados with either of my Dragon-type STABs.
A simple, yet lethal set.
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Empoleon (M) @ Petaya Berry
Ability: Torrent
EVs: 12 HP/12 Def/232 Spd/252 SAtk
Modest nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Agility
- Substitute
- Surf
- Ice Beam
The final member of the team and the main sweeper is the standard Agility SubPetaya Empoleon that still wreaks havoc in the late-game even with all the new moves, pokemon, etc. The set runs fairly simple, and it quite easy to get either an Agility or a Substitute in, because Empoleon resists almost every type except for Electric, Ground, and Fighting (types I have covered with my other pokemon). Empoleon's Special Attack stat reaches an astounding 529 if I play my cards right and get the Torrent and Petaya Berry boost, almost OHKOing everything late game (and literally all weakened pokemon late game) with Stealth Rock damage.
Surf is the primary STAB, because with the Torrent Boost it should kill anything in one hit. I also have Ice beam for type coverage and it outspeeds and eliminates Salamence after an Agility; Ice beam is also ridiculously powerful with a Petaya Berry boost.
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So there is team meat. I hope you can help me out and rate, please!
One Last Glance
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