Introduction
I'd first like to explain what the following team is about (and indirectly also explain the name of the team that way). Just like Fire > Grass > Water > Fire, there is another, less obvious circle like that, Dark > Ghost > Psychic > Fighting > Dark. This is a little more complicated than the Fire/Grass/Water concept, because of more overlapping weaknesses, but it's somewhat along those lines.
I don't like obvious gimmick teams like mono-type teams, however, I do like building teams around a certain theme and try to achieve as much competitive prowess within the theme boundaries and see if I can pull a good team of with the theme I thought of.
The team I'm about to present is no different and I decided to have a team where at least one of the typings of each pokemon is Dark/Psychic/Ghost/Fighting/Bug. (as bug fits decently in that row)
Without further ado, let me present my team.
Version 1
General overview
When building teams, my biggest support in which pokemon to choose, but perhaps also my biggest downfall is that I feel like I always should adhere to having all 6 classic roles filled on my team. A lead, a wall, spec/phys/mix sweepers, etc. Because of it, I always end up with jack-of-all-trade teams, but master of none. If I try to steer away from that, I usually end up with teams with even less synergy, so again, this team is build around the same concept of trying to fill all classic roles. The the team is mostly offensive paced though.
The lead
Armaldo @ Leftovers
Ability: Battle Armor
EV's: 252 Atk, 252 HP, 4 Def
Nature: Adamant
- X-scissor
- Stone Edge
- Earthquake
- Stealth Rock
Armaldo is my home made lead, I thought of this set quite some time ago and I've been using it with a lot of fun ever since. It has one major benefit, the "wth is that?" factor. If I'm up against a taunter like Aerodactyl, I'm almost always taunted, because people probably expect a rock/bug pokemon to be a SR/Spiker. Stone Edge OHKO's nicely (Focus Sash mostly stops that though). X-scissor OHKO's a very large deal of psychic leads. Even Jirachi and Bronzong do not particularly enjoy it. Considering my moveset, I also actually enjoy a Choice scarf from a trick lead, since the attack stat and flexible movepool allow me to come back later on and score some decent damage.
All in all, it's a mighty fine addition to my team and with SS support (look one pokemon down), it's SpD also rises turning it into a very nice all-round bulky attacker
The revenge killer/pursuiter
Tyranitar @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 4 HP, 252 Atk, 252 Spe
Nature: Jolly
- Stone Edge
- Pursuit
- Earthquake
- Crunch
There is not much to be said about scarf Ttar. It's a stable choice on almost any team, and it works just as well on my team, without question. if a team has pursuit bait out, or if it's sufficiently weakened after one of my sweepers partied on their turf, it can clean up rather well. However, I feel like I could use a little more coverage and I'm thinking of something to replace Crunch with as I'm finding I'm barely giving it any usage.
Physical sweeper
Lucario @ Life Orb
Ability: Inner Focus
EVs: 252 Atk, 4 Def, 252 Spd
Nature: Jolly
- Swords Dance
- Close Combat
- ExtremeSpeed
- Ice Punch
Again a rather standard set. Ice Punch to counter dragons and Gliscor with. I get walled by ghosts, but they in turn get pursuit killed by my Tyranitar. I had a Weavile in this spot first though, a revenge killing Weavile with Ttar being the CB variant. It didn't function well and left a rather big fighting and fire weakness on my team. However, Lucario seems to be creating the same problem. I'm also thinking of a Machamp or Hariyama, but that's where I'm in need of advice.
Special sweeper
Starmie @ Choice Specs
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 4 HP, 252 SpA, 252 Spe
Nature: Timid
- Surf
- Ice Beam
- Thunderbolt
- Grass Knot
Now, I want to say right of the bat that this is most likely my weakest link. It dies, uhm, what else, o yeah, it dies. O, and did I mention it dies? I'm fully aware that Starnie is a frail but fast sweeper and should be treated as such, however, with special walls like Blissey stopping me in the tracks, or with pursuiters like Scizor who come in on my choice locked.. anything, I find that Starmie is often not pulling it's weight on the team, which is a problem, of course. However, there is one major problem. At the moment, she is the only one providing me with some major coverage that my team completely lacks, BoltBeam and a Stab Water attack which can be found nowhere else on my entire team. And I've been having some major trouble looking for a replacement. Help is greatly appreciated.
General annoyer
Rotom-S @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP, 40 SpA, 216 Spe
Nature: Modest
- Thunder Wave
- Confuse Ray
- Air Slash
- Thunderbolt
First off, I couldn't find a proper Rotom-S pic, so I chose a standard Rotom picture. It's in fact a Rotom-S though. Sorry for any possible confusion. I use this Rotom as a standard annoying wall/attacker. EQ for one can do quite a bit of damage to many of my pokemon, giving easy switch ins for Rotom as well as keeping my others safe from said EQ harm. ThunderWave/Confusion/Air Slash for parafusionflinching and Tbolt for coverage, since I don't need Shadow Ball coverage on this team anyway.
Mixed sweeper
Infernape @ Life Orb
Ability: Blaze
EVs: 64 Atk, 252 SpA, 192 Spe
Nature: Naive
- Nasty Plot
- Fire Blast
- Grass Knot
- Close Combat
O look, yet another set copied directly from Smogon. However, they just work well and Infernape works well within the theme as well as this team. It breaks quite some Steels with boosted fire attacks that my team would otherwise struggle with quite some bit. (Skarmory/Levitating Steels) And it gives me some greatly need Fire/grass coverage since most of my teams coverage falls under QuakeEdge or Dark/Fighting.
General overview
When building teams, my biggest support in which pokemon to choose, but perhaps also my biggest downfall is that I feel like I always should adhere to having all 6 classic roles filled on my team. A lead, a wall, spec/phys/mix sweepers, etc. Because of it, I always end up with jack-of-all-trade teams, but master of none. If I try to steer away from that, I usually end up with teams with even less synergy, so again, this team is build around the same concept of trying to fill all classic roles. The the team is mostly offensive paced though.
The lead
Metagross @ Leftovers
Ability: Clear Body
EVs: 252 HP, 236 Atk, 12 Def, 8 Spe
Nature: Jolly
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Bullet Punch
- Pursuit
I had to replace my previous lead due to it matching up bad with my team after Yanmega was added. I'm still not 100% sure about whether I like Metagross as my lead, however, I don't think there are any decent leads that fit my theme so it's more of a "the lesser of evils" decision. It adds a fire weakness to my team though, that is already predominant on my team already. The ground weakness is bad too, however, I at least have 2 pokemon immune to ground to alleviate that somewhat.
Physical sweeper
Lucario @ Life Orb
Ability: Inner Focus
EVs: 252 Atk, 4 Def, 252 Spd
Nature: Jolly
- Swords Dance
- Close Combat
- ExtremeSpeed
- Ice Punch
Again a rather standard set. Ice Punch to counter dragons and Gliscor with. I get walled by ghosts, but they in turn get pursuit killed by my Tyranitar. I had a Weavile in this spot first though, a revenge killing Weavile with Ttar being the CB variant. It didn't function well and left a rather big fighting and fire weakness on my team. However, Lucario seems to be creating the same problem. I'm also thinking of a Machamp or Hariyama, but that's where I'm in need of advice.
Special sweeper
Starmie @ Expert Belt
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 4 HP, 252 SpA, 252 Spe
Nature: Timid
- Rapid Sping
- Ice Beam
- Thunderbolt
- Grass Knot
Has not been playtested yet, but it's my Rapid Spin supporter (which is absolutely crucial for my late game sweeper Yanmega). Since this is a custom set, not the standard Rapid Spinner set from the site, the EV's are probably messed up. Basically, Swampert is a problem to my team, so I absolutely want Grass Knot to OHKO as well as a OHKO on Gyarados, Salamence, Flygon and Gliscor with the other two moves.
Late game special sweeper
Yanmega @ Life Orb
Ability: Speed Boost
EVs: 252 Spatk, 252 Spe, 4 Def
Nature: Timid
- Bug Buzz
- Air Slash
- Hidden Power Ground
- Protect
Yanmega is here to clean up after the most common walls have been broken by either Lucario or Infernape. Protect once to get a free speed boost and scout moves, then proceed to sweep of a fairly high special attack stat.
Offensive wall
Rotom-C @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP, 168 Def, 88 Spe
Nature: Bold
- Thunderbolt
- Shadow Ball
- Leaf Storm
- Will-O-Wisp
I use this Rotom as a standard wall/attacker. EQ for one can do quite a bit of damage to many of my pokemon, giving easy switch ins for Rotom as well as keeping my others safe from said EQ harm. Leaf Storm is to counter Swampert which is threat to my team, and Tyranitar, who might come in to pursuit me, but who then takes a Leaf Storm or Will-O-Wisp to the face instead.
Mixed sweeper
Infernape @ Life Orb
Ability: Blaze
EVs: 64 Atk, 252 SpA, 192 Spe
Nature: Naive
- Nasty Plot
- Fire Blast
- Grass Knot
- Close Combat
O look, yet another set copied directly from Smogon. However, they just work well and Infernape works well within the theme as well as this team. It breaks quite some Steels with boosted fire attacks that my team would otherwise struggle with quite some bit. (Skarmory/Levitating Steels) And it gives me some greatly need Fire/grass coverage since most of my teams coverage falls under QuakeEdge or Dark/Fighting.
Type synergy chart
Threat List
I'm really bad at composing threat lists. However, Zapdos with Heat Wave and fire moves in general are a threat to my team.
Swampert can also cause quite a bit of a problem.
Also, because of the Jack-of-all-trades kind of team, I generally seem to lose to more specialized teams or teams with just better synergy. I can't keep up with full out offensive teams, and I struggle quite badly with stallwars too, breaking through 1 or 2 stalltanks, but badly losing my sweepers in the process.
I hope you can help me with my team and I look forward to any and all reply's.
I'd first like to explain what the following team is about (and indirectly also explain the name of the team that way). Just like Fire > Grass > Water > Fire, there is another, less obvious circle like that, Dark > Ghost > Psychic > Fighting > Dark. This is a little more complicated than the Fire/Grass/Water concept, because of more overlapping weaknesses, but it's somewhat along those lines.
I don't like obvious gimmick teams like mono-type teams, however, I do like building teams around a certain theme and try to achieve as much competitive prowess within the theme boundaries and see if I can pull a good team of with the theme I thought of.
The team I'm about to present is no different and I decided to have a team where at least one of the typings of each pokemon is Dark/Psychic/Ghost/Fighting/Bug. (as bug fits decently in that row)
Without further ado, let me present my team.
Version 1
Team rock-paper-scissor
General overview
When building teams, my biggest support in which pokemon to choose, but perhaps also my biggest downfall is that I feel like I always should adhere to having all 6 classic roles filled on my team. A lead, a wall, spec/phys/mix sweepers, etc. Because of it, I always end up with jack-of-all-trade teams, but master of none. If I try to steer away from that, I usually end up with teams with even less synergy, so again, this team is build around the same concept of trying to fill all classic roles. The the team is mostly offensive paced though.
The lead
Armaldo @ Leftovers
Ability: Battle Armor
EV's: 252 Atk, 252 HP, 4 Def
Nature: Adamant
- X-scissor
- Stone Edge
- Earthquake
- Stealth Rock
Armaldo is my home made lead, I thought of this set quite some time ago and I've been using it with a lot of fun ever since. It has one major benefit, the "wth is that?" factor. If I'm up against a taunter like Aerodactyl, I'm almost always taunted, because people probably expect a rock/bug pokemon to be a SR/Spiker. Stone Edge OHKO's nicely (Focus Sash mostly stops that though). X-scissor OHKO's a very large deal of psychic leads. Even Jirachi and Bronzong do not particularly enjoy it. Considering my moveset, I also actually enjoy a Choice scarf from a trick lead, since the attack stat and flexible movepool allow me to come back later on and score some decent damage.
All in all, it's a mighty fine addition to my team and with SS support (look one pokemon down), it's SpD also rises turning it into a very nice all-round bulky attacker
The revenge killer/pursuiter
Tyranitar @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 4 HP, 252 Atk, 252 Spe
Nature: Jolly
- Stone Edge
- Pursuit
- Earthquake
- Crunch
There is not much to be said about scarf Ttar. It's a stable choice on almost any team, and it works just as well on my team, without question. if a team has pursuit bait out, or if it's sufficiently weakened after one of my sweepers partied on their turf, it can clean up rather well. However, I feel like I could use a little more coverage and I'm thinking of something to replace Crunch with as I'm finding I'm barely giving it any usage.
Physical sweeper
Lucario @ Life Orb
Ability: Inner Focus
EVs: 252 Atk, 4 Def, 252 Spd
Nature: Jolly
- Swords Dance
- Close Combat
- ExtremeSpeed
- Ice Punch
Again a rather standard set. Ice Punch to counter dragons and Gliscor with. I get walled by ghosts, but they in turn get pursuit killed by my Tyranitar. I had a Weavile in this spot first though, a revenge killing Weavile with Ttar being the CB variant. It didn't function well and left a rather big fighting and fire weakness on my team. However, Lucario seems to be creating the same problem. I'm also thinking of a Machamp or Hariyama, but that's where I'm in need of advice.
Special sweeper
Starmie @ Choice Specs
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 4 HP, 252 SpA, 252 Spe
Nature: Timid
- Surf
- Ice Beam
- Thunderbolt
- Grass Knot
Now, I want to say right of the bat that this is most likely my weakest link. It dies, uhm, what else, o yeah, it dies. O, and did I mention it dies? I'm fully aware that Starnie is a frail but fast sweeper and should be treated as such, however, with special walls like Blissey stopping me in the tracks, or with pursuiters like Scizor who come in on my choice locked.. anything, I find that Starmie is often not pulling it's weight on the team, which is a problem, of course. However, there is one major problem. At the moment, she is the only one providing me with some major coverage that my team completely lacks, BoltBeam and a Stab Water attack which can be found nowhere else on my entire team. And I've been having some major trouble looking for a replacement. Help is greatly appreciated.
General annoyer
Rotom-S @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP, 40 SpA, 216 Spe
Nature: Modest
- Thunder Wave
- Confuse Ray
- Air Slash
- Thunderbolt
First off, I couldn't find a proper Rotom-S pic, so I chose a standard Rotom picture. It's in fact a Rotom-S though. Sorry for any possible confusion. I use this Rotom as a standard annoying wall/attacker. EQ for one can do quite a bit of damage to many of my pokemon, giving easy switch ins for Rotom as well as keeping my others safe from said EQ harm. ThunderWave/Confusion/Air Slash for parafusionflinching and Tbolt for coverage, since I don't need Shadow Ball coverage on this team anyway.
Mixed sweeper
Infernape @ Life Orb
Ability: Blaze
EVs: 64 Atk, 252 SpA, 192 Spe
Nature: Naive
- Nasty Plot
- Fire Blast
- Grass Knot
- Close Combat
O look, yet another set copied directly from Smogon. However, they just work well and Infernape works well within the theme as well as this team. It breaks quite some Steels with boosted fire attacks that my team would otherwise struggle with quite some bit. (Skarmory/Levitating Steels) And it gives me some greatly need Fire/grass coverage since most of my teams coverage falls under QuakeEdge or Dark/Fighting.
Team rock-paper-scissor
General overview
When building teams, my biggest support in which pokemon to choose, but perhaps also my biggest downfall is that I feel like I always should adhere to having all 6 classic roles filled on my team. A lead, a wall, spec/phys/mix sweepers, etc. Because of it, I always end up with jack-of-all-trade teams, but master of none. If I try to steer away from that, I usually end up with teams with even less synergy, so again, this team is build around the same concept of trying to fill all classic roles. The the team is mostly offensive paced though.
The lead
Metagross @ Leftovers
Ability: Clear Body
EVs: 252 HP, 236 Atk, 12 Def, 8 Spe
Nature: Jolly
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Bullet Punch
- Pursuit
I had to replace my previous lead due to it matching up bad with my team after Yanmega was added. I'm still not 100% sure about whether I like Metagross as my lead, however, I don't think there are any decent leads that fit my theme so it's more of a "the lesser of evils" decision. It adds a fire weakness to my team though, that is already predominant on my team already. The ground weakness is bad too, however, I at least have 2 pokemon immune to ground to alleviate that somewhat.
Physical sweeper
Lucario @ Life Orb
Ability: Inner Focus
EVs: 252 Atk, 4 Def, 252 Spd
Nature: Jolly
- Swords Dance
- Close Combat
- ExtremeSpeed
- Ice Punch
Again a rather standard set. Ice Punch to counter dragons and Gliscor with. I get walled by ghosts, but they in turn get pursuit killed by my Tyranitar. I had a Weavile in this spot first though, a revenge killing Weavile with Ttar being the CB variant. It didn't function well and left a rather big fighting and fire weakness on my team. However, Lucario seems to be creating the same problem. I'm also thinking of a Machamp or Hariyama, but that's where I'm in need of advice.
Special sweeper
Starmie @ Expert Belt
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 4 HP, 252 SpA, 252 Spe
Nature: Timid
- Rapid Sping
- Ice Beam
- Thunderbolt
- Grass Knot
Has not been playtested yet, but it's my Rapid Spin supporter (which is absolutely crucial for my late game sweeper Yanmega). Since this is a custom set, not the standard Rapid Spinner set from the site, the EV's are probably messed up. Basically, Swampert is a problem to my team, so I absolutely want Grass Knot to OHKO as well as a OHKO on Gyarados, Salamence, Flygon and Gliscor with the other two moves.
Late game special sweeper
Yanmega @ Life Orb
Ability: Speed Boost
EVs: 252 Spatk, 252 Spe, 4 Def
Nature: Timid
- Bug Buzz
- Air Slash
- Hidden Power Ground
- Protect
Yanmega is here to clean up after the most common walls have been broken by either Lucario or Infernape. Protect once to get a free speed boost and scout moves, then proceed to sweep of a fairly high special attack stat.
Offensive wall
Rotom-C @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP, 168 Def, 88 Spe
Nature: Bold
- Thunderbolt
- Shadow Ball
- Leaf Storm
- Will-O-Wisp
I use this Rotom as a standard wall/attacker. EQ for one can do quite a bit of damage to many of my pokemon, giving easy switch ins for Rotom as well as keeping my others safe from said EQ harm. Leaf Storm is to counter Swampert which is threat to my team, and Tyranitar, who might come in to pursuit me, but who then takes a Leaf Storm or Will-O-Wisp to the face instead.
Mixed sweeper
Infernape @ Life Orb
Ability: Blaze
EVs: 64 Atk, 252 SpA, 192 Spe
Nature: Naive
- Nasty Plot
- Fire Blast
- Grass Knot
- Close Combat
O look, yet another set copied directly from Smogon. However, they just work well and Infernape works well within the theme as well as this team. It breaks quite some Steels with boosted fire attacks that my team would otherwise struggle with quite some bit. (Skarmory/Levitating Steels) And it gives me some greatly need Fire/grass coverage since most of my teams coverage falls under QuakeEdge or Dark/Fighting.
Type synergy chart
Threat List
I'm really bad at composing threat lists. However, Zapdos with Heat Wave and fire moves in general are a threat to my team.
Swampert can also cause quite a bit of a problem.
Also, because of the Jack-of-all-trades kind of team, I generally seem to lose to more specialized teams or teams with just better synergy. I can't keep up with full out offensive teams, and I struggle quite badly with stallwars too, breaking through 1 or 2 stalltanks, but badly losing my sweepers in the process.
I hope you can help me with my team and I look forward to any and all reply's.
