Team Nestor
Introduction
This is my team that uses synergy, teamwork, and messing with the opponent’s head all while setting up for an Empoleon sweep. Each team member has it’s own specific role that helps my Empoleon (who with my originality is nickname-less :P) As a whole, I’ve had somewhere in between good and great success with this team. I didn’t keep track of my rating before I play tested this team and I’ve used many different teams on this account, so you’ll just have to trust me that I’ve won a majority of my games played.
As for me, I started competitive battling right about the time when Platinum was released in Japan, so unfortunately I’ve yet to see the day where BP Scizor doesn’t reign all over pokemon-land. My lack of experience does show at times, mainly when I rush through battles without thoroughly making decisions, but I don’t consider myself to be a ZOMGWTFn00b!!
I’ve tried lots of different battling techniques, from Skarm-Bliss stall to Hyper offensive Hail (lol). But whenever I make a team, I try to use a solid sweeper that can wreck unprepared teams, and use my other poke’s to take care of it’s threats. My first RMT here was based on a Scarf-Eruption Typhlosion, and while it was successful, it was high risk and it ended up being too hard to sweep with a Choice pokemon. Now that I’ve spilled my heart out, let’s get to my team!
Team Building Process
To start off my team, I was looking for a set-up sweeper that can rip through almost any team. After being inspired by several RMT’s and a fabulous WarStory, I picked Empoleon and his Sub-Petaya set.
Next, I spotted out Empoleon’s two biggest counters: Latias and Blissey. Both have massive HP and Special Defense, and Latias resists Surf to make it worse. Latias’ biggest threat is also the metagame’s biggest threat: Scizor. The Choice Band variant can lay massive damage to Latias, with Pursuit and U-Turn being used in their appropriate situations.
The problem with Scizor is that there’s a chance of a Latias HP Fire, and almost no Blissey stays in on Scizor. My prediction skills aren’t the best, so I decided to use another strategy: Lure. I thought of someone that lures in Blissey and can defeat the fat bitch (:D) Sub-Punch Gengar anyone? Truthfully I thought of the Gengar-Scizor combo at the same time, since Gengar can somewhat deal with Latias with Shadowball while Scizor can somewhat deal with Blissey through the correct usage or Pursuit/Superpower.
Along with Latias and Blissey, bulky waters such as Suicune, Vaporeon, and to an extent Gyarados can rain on my penguin parade (though rain would be helpful…) I needed a hard hitting solution to not only eliminate these threats but make them wary of switching in. Although Sub-CM Raikou was tempting, I didn’t need another set-up sweeper, so Specs-Jolt felt the bill very, very well.
Remember how I used the concept of lure earlier with Gengar? I wanted a surefire way to get rid of those pesky bulky waters, so I thought, why not use someone whose counter is also a bulky water? This way they can be scouted before Empoleon arises, and they can be damaged/taken care of. I realized I didn’t have another set-up sweeper (which I wanted) so DD Gyarados found a spot on my team. He can sweep a team if needed to.
So what else do I need? A lead! I need a lead! All rhyming aside, my lead of choice is almost always Swampert. He’s bulky, always gets up rocks and isn’t suicidal so he can be used later on. That’s what I want in a lead. But, I have too many water types on my team already. So I need someone to start the game off with rocks, and has bulk for later on…how about Metagross!
Now onto the team!
Metagross @ Occa Berra
Ability: Clear Body
EVs: 252 HP, 236 Attack, 4 Defense, 16 Speed
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SpA)
-Stealth Rock
-Earthquake
-Bullet Punch
-Explosion
I’ve never used a lead Metagross before, so I came up with a set that I thought would be most useful. Unfortunatley, Smogon came up with the same set before I did :/ But that’s ok! I mixed up my EV’s just a bit so I can out speed other lead Metagross. I’ll use a top-10 lead list to show how I use this guy, and how he fares against others:
Compared to the Top 10 Leads
- Lead threat list -
Green names are leads easily dealt with,
orange names are a nuisance, and
red names spell disaster:
- Lead threat list -
Green names are leads easily dealt with,
orange names are a nuisance, and
red names spell disaster:
1. Metagross: SR first, just so it’s up there. Then it’s really just an EQ battle, with me out speeding. If they run MM/BP, they’re screwed.
2. Azelf: SR, if they Taunt then whatever, Bullet Punch 2HKO’s with me going first.
3. Jirachi: Once again, SR first turn. Unless they have Fire Punch, then they can’t hurt me. If they trick a scarf on me then WOO-HOO! Scarfed-Meta using explosion? That’ll take someone out fo’ sho’.
4. Swampert: Eh, I lose. We usually both get SR up, but after that I gotta switch since he’ll eventually kill me with EQ. That’s why I love Swampert :(
5. Aerodactyl: SR whether it’s useless or not, BP, BP. Bye bye birdie.
6. Infernape: He uses Fakeout/SR, SR/fire move. I EQ/BP and he’s gone. NEXT
7. Hippowdon: K I shouldn’t have been so cocky with that next…I cant touch him, but I get SR up so it’s not a total loss. I usually try to get Gyra in and Waterfall. As long as ‘Gross doesn’t get Roar’d back he’ll get hurt a lot.
8. Bronzong: I get SR up, then use him as set-up bait for Gyarados. I cam’t kill him but whatever, I get my job done.
9. Ninjask: Haven’t faced it, but I’ll just BP until he dies. Hopefully he’ll screw up. Worst case scenario, he brings in a stinky sweeper at +1/+2 that Metagross can handle.
10. Tyranitar: Unless he’s some weird anti-lead set, I SR, EQ and BP for a KO while he gets rocks up and damages me. I win, so it’s all good.
As you can see, Metagross has little to no trouble with today’s common leads.
Scizor @ Choice Band
Ability: Technician
EVs: 248 HP, 252 Atk, 8 SpDef
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SpA)
-Bullet Punch
-U-Turn
-Pursuit
-Superpower
With this pick, I was looking for something original, like when he came the opponent would be dumbfounded and be like wtf is this? Yeah, I’m a funny guy. Scizor really holds my team together. He traps serious threats like Gengar and the Rotom forms, revenge kills hard hitting threats such as Salamence and Tyranitar, and gives me a solid check for Latias as well. I hardly ever find myself using Superpower, but it’s there for coverage. Scizor is EVERYWHERE, so most of the time my opponent knows what I’m going to do. I usually play it safe and U-Turn until I find a serious opportunity for one of my other moves. He’s great, and I abuse him to his fullest, by firing off his high powered moves all game.
Gengar @ Expert Belt
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 100 Atk, 252 Spe, 156 SpA
Hasty Nature (+Spe, -Def)
-Shadow Ball
-Substitute
-Focus Punch
-HP Fire
Sub-Punch Gengar is such an unexpected threat and can really hurt key members of the opponents team. With Shadow Ball, I have a move that doesn’t rely on Substitute to be used correctly, although it sometimes it does help. It helps me put a dent in Latias, while taking around 40%-50% to neutral threats. Focus Punch 2HKO’s Blissey, which I think is kind of redundant with a move like Focus Punch, but it damages her greatly and makes her wary or switching back in. When under a substitute, Gengar can fire off a HP Fire to kill off any cocky Scizor’s that switch in and OHKO with only Sub damage. All in all, Gengar get’s his job done of luring in Blissey, doing a butt-load of damage, and severely hurting other threats.
Jolteon @ Choice Specs
Ability: Volt Absorb
EVs: 4 HP, 252 Speed, 252 SpA,
Timid Nature (+Spe, -Atk)
-Thunderbolt
-Shadow Ball
-HP Ice
-Baton Pass
Jolteon does a great job of keeping bulky waters at bay. Unless you’re a ground type, you won’t enjoy STAB Specs Thunderbolts coming your way, either. At first I ran Signal Beam for the surprise factor, but I’ve came to realize Shadow Ball helps much more, keeping the Rotom forms, who I otherwise could not touch, from switching in on me, and once again helps weaken Latias. HP Ice is awesome against the likes of Salamence, Flygon, Gliscor and other 4x weak pokes. Unfortunately, I have to hit Scarf-gon on the switch in and Salamence before he dances. Baton-Pass is like U-Turn, without the damage like Scizor deals. It’s great for scouting, because if they switch I can bring in a counter and if they don’t, I can predict what move they will use. Jolteon adds great success to my team.
Gyarados @ Life Orb
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 4 HP, 252 Atk, 252 Spe
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -Spe)
-Dragon Dance
-Waterfall
-Stone Edge
-Earthquake
I wanted someone that could scout the counters of Empoleon and deal damage to them, and Gyarados does just that. I can send him in on someone to force a switch, DD up, and start the hurtin’. I truly did consider using a Bulky Dos, since he provides a good fire resist, and I also ran a Jolly nature for a bit. Now I use the 252 252 spread with Adamant because I realized his goal is to deal as much damage as possible. Gyarados can pull off somewhat of a mini-sweep against unprepared teams. And even the ones that are prepared get swept away by my main Penguin man. I must say, Gyarados is indispensable to this team. He has a very important job, and does it perfectly.
Empoleon @ Petaya Berry
Ability: Torrent
EVs: 12 HP, 12 Def, 232 Spe, 252 Atk
Modest Nature (+Spa, -Atk)
-Agility
-Substitute
-Surf
-Ice Beam/Grass Knot
Woooooo-eeeeeeee. Empoleon is the best late game sweeper out there, bar none. He always comes in late game, after this threats are eliminated and he destroys teams. As you can see, I’m in a dilemma with my last move. I have used them both, and I truly can’t decide. When I use Grass Knot, I always net a surprise kill on a cocky water-type, but when a dragon switches in I have to rely on Surf (which still has 102 power when resisted [STAB, Petaya, Torrent]) But when I run Ice Beam, I kill off Dragons that try to stand in my way, and Latias becomes much less of a problem. But that aside, you know how his set works. I like to come in on a Scizor Bullet Punch, when I know he’s Banded, then use agility. They send in something bulky, while I sub down. As long as they don’t set up on me, I’m usually able to get down to ~20% and say Bye-Bye to the opponents team. It’s dangerous how good this guy is.
Well, that’s my team. As you can see, the one part that I’m specifically asking you to fix is the Ice Beam/Grass Knot ordeal on Empoleon. Don’t just say “Ice beam is better, trust me.” I’ve used both to success, but luck was on my side. When I had Ice Beam, dragons always came in on me. When I had GK, guys like Suicune would try to wall me. So like Chicka Chicka Yeah, that’s my team, rate away! Thanks! (Btw, Nestor is the main character in Happy Feet, I believe)
