I was lazy and decided to make a team with the #1 most used lead pokemon and the top 5 most used pokemon in standard ladder. Since this is a lame team it needs a lame name. It ended up playing decently well and I liked the offensive core of Salamence/Gyarados a lot so that's going to be the main goal here.
Team Popularos
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Azelf @ Focus Sash
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 4 Atk/252 Spd/252 SAtk
Naive nature (+Spd, -SDef)
- Stealth Rock
- Explosion
- Taunt
- Fire Blast
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Designed for suiciding. Flamethrower over psychic because it covers what explosion doesn't. Always use flamethrower instead of explosion whenever possible because people like to switch in Rotom-A and when they do I put a serious dent in it with flamethrower sometimes killing it straight away or if it's scarfed it'll shadow ball and give me an opportunity to set up a sweep at the very beginning of the game. Taunt is an obvious choice because my team has two stealth rock weaknesses. The rest is standard.
Fire blast over flamethrower to do more damage to Metagross and other steel types. Typically Metagross usually beats Azelf leads with Meteor Mash + Bullet Punch so I'm not all too sure of this choice but I'm going to give it a try. It's better statistical power anyways.
Scizor (F) @ Choice Band
Ability: Technician
EVs: 72 HP/252 Atk/8 Spd/176 SDef
Careful nature (+SDef, -SAtk)
- U-turn
- Bullet Punch
- Superpower
- Pursuit
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Scizor is just overall useful on the team and it's actually kind of odd using him considering I hardly ever ever put him on my teams. U-turn is definitely the most important move here especially early in the game because Magnezone is all over the place. Once I know their team better I can use superpower and pursuit more. Bullet punch is good for revenge killing and is probably my main check to Salamence. He lures fire attacks for Heatran and helps deal with Latias among others.
Changed to specially bulky version to better deal with Latias which can give this team trouble if it is a CM / Offensive variation.
Heatran (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 56 HP/200 Spd/252 SAtk
Timid nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Fire Blast
- Earth Power
- Substitute
- Toxic
---
It's been a while since I've used this Heatran set. Heatran goes with the team pretty well he can intercept fire attacks aimed at Scizor and bait ground attacks so I can switch to either Gyarados or Salamence. Fire blast is the VIP move here but usually not a good one to use early in the game. Explosion for sacrificing later on and dragon pulse for neutral coverage.
Changed to subtran because Rotom-W already covered a lot of the same things and subtran is good anyways I've used it a lot before and it works nicely. Can help give me a set-up too.
Rotom-w @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 4 Def/252 Spd/252 SAtk
Timid nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Thunderbolt
- Hydro Pump
- Shadow Ball
- Trick
---
I go with Rotom-W over Rotom-H because I have Heatran on my team already producing lots of fire attacks. Rotom-W is a good Gyarados check and can do a surprisingly good job of sweeping and dishing out damage with hydro pump. Trick is an annoying move if used on a predicted switch but sometimes is a little risky to use unless I know my opponent's team well. Shadow ball helps with Latias and other Rotom forms.
Gyarados (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 156 HP/108 Atk/100 Def/144 Spd
Adamant nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Waterfall
- Dragon Dance
- Stone Edge
- Taunt
---
Stone edge is a hideous move so I went with the ice fang and earthquake combo, which allows me to tear through steel types a lot easier such as Metagross and Empoleon. Leftovers has proven to be very useful because Gyarados can tank quite well and sometimes has the opportunity to get a second DD. Can switch in on a lot of ground attacks as well as Scizor's bullet punch and fighting moves.
My team had trouble with stall so this bulky taunt Gyarados helps amend that problem while still giving me a powerful sweeper. Stone Edge is needed for better coverage between two moves.
Salamence (F) @ Life Orb
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 232 Atk/252 Spd/24 SAtk
Naive nature (+Spd, -SDef)
- Dragon Dance
- Outrage
- Earthquake
- Fire Blast
---
The other sweeper, with a life orb. Salamence and Gyarados seem to work nicely together. I don't know all this amazing pokemon theory stuff but in my games as soon as one's sweep ends it seems to either open the doors for an immediate sweep by the next or kill the counter for the next. Outrage allows me to take out one or two pokemon usually and is actually the move I usually use right away as it does some good damage even to steel types.
Changed to +speed nature to help fight against revenge pokemon like scarfed Jirachi and Flygon better, among others.
This team seems to work by first preventing and setting rocks, and then by countering my opponent's moves until an opportunity to set up a sweep arises. Stall might be an issue along with Porygon2 since it can just keep switching around never allowing me to do a sweep. If I could cover threads and add in SD Lucario that might result in a better team since Lucario could help a lot with stall (and other matchups as well).
So the goal, once again, this is a Gyarados/Salamence team. Any advice would be great!
Team Popularos
---
Azelf @ Focus Sash
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 4 Atk/252 Spd/252 SAtk
Naive nature (+Spd, -SDef)
- Stealth Rock
- Explosion
- Taunt
- Fire Blast
---
Designed for suiciding. Flamethrower over psychic because it covers what explosion doesn't. Always use flamethrower instead of explosion whenever possible because people like to switch in Rotom-A and when they do I put a serious dent in it with flamethrower sometimes killing it straight away or if it's scarfed it'll shadow ball and give me an opportunity to set up a sweep at the very beginning of the game. Taunt is an obvious choice because my team has two stealth rock weaknesses. The rest is standard.
Fire blast over flamethrower to do more damage to Metagross and other steel types. Typically Metagross usually beats Azelf leads with Meteor Mash + Bullet Punch so I'm not all too sure of this choice but I'm going to give it a try. It's better statistical power anyways.
Scizor (F) @ Choice Band
Ability: Technician
EVs: 72 HP/252 Atk/8 Spd/176 SDef
Careful nature (+SDef, -SAtk)
- U-turn
- Bullet Punch
- Superpower
- Pursuit
---
Scizor is just overall useful on the team and it's actually kind of odd using him considering I hardly ever ever put him on my teams. U-turn is definitely the most important move here especially early in the game because Magnezone is all over the place. Once I know their team better I can use superpower and pursuit more. Bullet punch is good for revenge killing and is probably my main check to Salamence. He lures fire attacks for Heatran and helps deal with Latias among others.
Changed to specially bulky version to better deal with Latias which can give this team trouble if it is a CM / Offensive variation.
Heatran (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 56 HP/200 Spd/252 SAtk
Timid nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Fire Blast
- Earth Power
- Substitute
- Toxic
---
It's been a while since I've used this Heatran set. Heatran goes with the team pretty well he can intercept fire attacks aimed at Scizor and bait ground attacks so I can switch to either Gyarados or Salamence. Fire blast is the VIP move here but usually not a good one to use early in the game. Explosion for sacrificing later on and dragon pulse for neutral coverage.
Changed to subtran because Rotom-W already covered a lot of the same things and subtran is good anyways I've used it a lot before and it works nicely. Can help give me a set-up too.
Rotom-w @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 4 Def/252 Spd/252 SAtk
Timid nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Thunderbolt
- Hydro Pump
- Shadow Ball
- Trick
---
I go with Rotom-W over Rotom-H because I have Heatran on my team already producing lots of fire attacks. Rotom-W is a good Gyarados check and can do a surprisingly good job of sweeping and dishing out damage with hydro pump. Trick is an annoying move if used on a predicted switch but sometimes is a little risky to use unless I know my opponent's team well. Shadow ball helps with Latias and other Rotom forms.
Gyarados (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 156 HP/108 Atk/100 Def/144 Spd
Adamant nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Waterfall
- Dragon Dance
- Stone Edge
- Taunt
---
Stone edge is a hideous move so I went with the ice fang and earthquake combo, which allows me to tear through steel types a lot easier such as Metagross and Empoleon. Leftovers has proven to be very useful because Gyarados can tank quite well and sometimes has the opportunity to get a second DD. Can switch in on a lot of ground attacks as well as Scizor's bullet punch and fighting moves.
My team had trouble with stall so this bulky taunt Gyarados helps amend that problem while still giving me a powerful sweeper. Stone Edge is needed for better coverage between two moves.
Salamence (F) @ Life Orb
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 232 Atk/252 Spd/24 SAtk
Naive nature (+Spd, -SDef)
- Dragon Dance
- Outrage
- Earthquake
- Fire Blast
---
The other sweeper, with a life orb. Salamence and Gyarados seem to work nicely together. I don't know all this amazing pokemon theory stuff but in my games as soon as one's sweep ends it seems to either open the doors for an immediate sweep by the next or kill the counter for the next. Outrage allows me to take out one or two pokemon usually and is actually the move I usually use right away as it does some good damage even to steel types.
Changed to +speed nature to help fight against revenge pokemon like scarfed Jirachi and Flygon better, among others.
This team seems to work by first preventing and setting rocks, and then by countering my opponent's moves until an opportunity to set up a sweep arises. Stall might be an issue along with Porygon2 since it can just keep switching around never allowing me to do a sweep. If I could cover threads and add in SD Lucario that might result in a better team since Lucario could help a lot with stall (and other matchups as well).
So the goal, once again, this is a Gyarados/Salamence team. Any advice would be great!