Team Nostalgia
I'm an average battler. I'm not great, but I'm not bad either. I've also never been great at building teams. For a few months I've been making teams that lacked originality and were really not very effective. However, I think I've finally found something good. It's not perfect, not even great, but good. Better than what I've been making lately. The goal of this team is to set up a SubCM Jirachi sweep. SubCM Jirachi is probably my favorite sweeper, and also one of the most effective. It can bluff many sets, and set up on so many Pokemon. It is also one of the few special attackers that can beat Blissey one on one, even without toxic spikes support (although they do help greatly). However, the team is set up so that even if Jirachi is defeated early on in the match, the rest of the team can often still defeat the opponent. However, it still has many flaws and weaknesses. I was hoping smogon could help me fix these weaknesses, which is why I posted it here. And now, I present, Team Euphoria!
Btw, it's called Team Nostalgia because they're all Pokemon I've used a lot before. The Pokemon are named after bands I like.
At a glance:
I'm an average battler. I'm not great, but I'm not bad either. I've also never been great at building teams. For a few months I've been making teams that lacked originality and were really not very effective. However, I think I've finally found something good. It's not perfect, not even great, but good. Better than what I've been making lately. The goal of this team is to set up a SubCM Jirachi sweep. SubCM Jirachi is probably my favorite sweeper, and also one of the most effective. It can bluff many sets, and set up on so many Pokemon. It is also one of the few special attackers that can beat Blissey one on one, even without toxic spikes support (although they do help greatly). However, the team is set up so that even if Jirachi is defeated early on in the match, the rest of the team can often still defeat the opponent. However, it still has many flaws and weaknesses. I was hoping smogon could help me fix these weaknesses, which is why I posted it here. And now, I present, Team Euphoria!
Btw, it's called Team Nostalgia because they're all Pokemon I've used a lot before. The Pokemon are named after bands I like.
At a glance:
Roserade (F) @ Focus Sash***Drop Dead, Gorgeous
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 4 HP/252 Spd/252 SAtk
Timid nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Toxic Spikes
- Sleep Powder
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Leaf Storm
Roserade is definitely my favorite lead. Sleep Powder, despite having only 75% accuracy seems to almost always hit. I chose Leaf Storm over Grass Knot because of its higher damage potential. The choice between HP Fire and HP Ground was hard. I had HP Ground for a while, but it seemed I rarely used it. I then tried HP Fire and got much more use out of it. It's surprising how many Scizors switch in expecting to get the quick KO with Bullet Punch only for me to hang on with my Focus Sash and OHKO them with HP Fire. Toxic Spikes is the most important move on the set. It lets Jirachi set up on and defeat special walls like Blissey, without having to rely on a 20% special defense drop or a crit. It also lets me beat CM Bliss who can otherwise set up on me as I set up on it, and procede to defeat me once we're both +6, due to instant recovery and the fact that most carry flamethrower. Toxic Spikes also makes it much easier to defeat Pokemon such as Swampert and Hippowdon. Perhaps most importantly, it makes it MUCH easier to defeat rain dance teams since Life Orb + Toxic damage means they'll be dying quick. The EVs and nature are to maximize speed, so that I can outrun as many leads as possible and put them to sleep. The remaining EVs were put in SpA to maximize power, since Roserade has little bulk anyways. The Focus Sash lets me beat leads such as Azelf, by taking their attack and putting them to sleep.
Here is what I do against the top 10 leads as of August:
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Scizor (F) @ Choice Band***brokeNCYDE
Ability: Technician
EVs: 160 HP/176 Atk/4 Spd/168 SDef
Adamant nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Bullet Punch
- U-turn
- Superpower
- Pursuit
Scizor is the number one used Pokemon for a reason. He just fits so many different niches on a team. He's a great revenge killer, can trap frail ghosts and psychics, and has STAB U-turn to spam while your opponent switches to their counter. He also has great typing, with only one weaknesses and a ton of resistances. The main reason I chose him for this team is because I was in desperate need of a revenge killer. I also wanted something that could counter Latias, who walls my Jirachi. Bullet Punch is the main move used for revenge killing: STAB+Technician= 90 base power, and it's priority. Pursuit works great alongside Bullet Punch- things like Gengar don't know whether to switch and get pursuited, or stay in and get bullet punched. Superpower is great for getting a surprise KO on many common switch-ins, such as Heatran and Magnezone. U-turn is possibly the best move on the set. Scizor is one of the few competitively viable Pokemon with a STAB U-turn, and it works extremely well to scout/damage counters. The EVs are more specially defensive than most and let me counter things such as Latias and Gengar better, at the cost of a little less offensive power.
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Gyarados (F) @ Leftovers***Sky Eats Airplane
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 156 HP/108 Atk/100 Def/144 Spd
Adamant nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Dragon Dance
- Waterfall
- Stone Edge
- Taunt
BulkyGyara is an extremely effective sweeper, be it late game or early game. With Intimidate it's extremely easy to get that first DD. After that, I play depending on what they bring out. If they bring out something like a Skarmory and attempt to phaze me, I taunt them, and get another DD, at which point I'm almost unstoppable. Waterfall and Stone Edge give pretty good coverage, resisted only be a few common Pokemon in OU. The EVs give me good bulk, and I can sometimes survive weak, non-stab electric attacks, such as Jirachi's Thunder Punch (I think). The best part about Gyarados is its near perfect synergy with the team- I badly needed a fire a second fire/water resist. Gyarados resisted both. I also needed a second ground immunity. Gyarados is immune to ground. Also, a lot of it's counters- Celebi, Scarfgar, Scarf Latias, Scarf Rotom- Jirachi can set up on all of these. The reason I have Gyarados over Salamence is mainly because of Taunt- it is extremely important. Gyarados is also a little bulkier, and Jirachi has an easier time setting up on its counters.
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Heatran (F) @ Shuca Berry***I Set my Friends on Fire
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 4 HP/252 Spd/252 SAtk
Naive nature (+Spd, -SDef)
- Fire Blast
- Earth Power
- Stealth Rock
- Explosion
Heatran is my Stealth Rock user. Stealth Rock is extremely important, because it makes pokemon like salamence and gyarados easier to handle, punishes teams that like to switch a lot, and disables focus sashes. Fire Blast + Earth Power gives great coverage. Often I'll Fire Blast something, and a Heatran'll come in. Then they'll Earth Power, my Shuca Berry will save me, and I'll Earth Power them for the KO (unless they're Shucatran too :/). This is actually pretty important, because unless Jirachi has a few Calm Minds, Heatran will counter it. The EVs maximize speed and SpA. The speed makes it easier to bluff being scarftran and lure out counters, whereas the SpA is important to let me hit as hard as possible. Explosion is always a useful move, and can often KO things that have gotten a bit out of hand, or things that switch in expecting to set up on me (such as Latias).
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Rotom-h @ Choice Scarf***Dot Dot Curve :)
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 4 HP/252 Satk/252 Spd
Timid nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Thunderbolt
- Trick
- Shadow Ball
- Reflect
This is the set scofield recommended, and it's been working well. I originally had a restalker with Will-o-Wisp and Discharge, but they were largely useless with T-spikes support. This set covers up my Gyarados weakness, as well as functioning as a great revenge killer. Trick is extremely helpful, as it can disable walls and sweepers like Crocune. Reflect mnimizes Pursuit damage and makes it easier for Jirachi to set up. The EVs I just ripped from the analysis, Max speed and SAtk. If anyone has a better suggestion, tell me. Timid makes it the best revenge killer possible, because of the extra speed.
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Jirachi @ Leftovers***Bring me the Horizon
Ability: Serene Grace
EVs: 252 HP/176 Spd/80 SAtk
Timid nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Calm Mind
- Substitute
- Thunderbolt
- Psychic
Jirachi is the sta- never mind. Seriously though, this thing is amazing. I've swept so many teams with it. This thing can set up on like half the metagame. Unlike most special attackers, Blissey is just set up fodder, although switching into T-waves sucks. It's flamethrowers won't even break my subs at +0 iirc, so I can set up on it easily. Calm Mind + Substitute really is an amazing combination, if I've got a few CMs and most of your physical attackers are WoW'd you won't even be able to touch me, while Leftovers restores HP. Thunderbolt and Psychic give far from perfect coverage, but it's the best Jirachi could offer, and it still deals enough damage after a few Calm Minds. The EVs allow for some extra bulk, and it means Blissey's seismic tosses won't break my subs. The speed is pretty high with Timid + 176 speed EVs, too. With Serene Grace I can often paralyze the opponent, or lower their special defense.
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So that's my team. Critique would be greatly appreciated, and thanks for reading. :D
