vashta
"It was pretty cool to watch Tim Duncan from afar"
Team Rose Tyler
Introduction:
(warning, this whole RMT is one big block of text. apologise)
The theme of this team is the utilization of Toxic Spikes and the benefits it can bring to any said Pokémon that usually depends on setting up with Substitute, Calm Mind, or Curse. This deadly combination of Toxic Spikes + Substitute / Calm Mind / Curse is, in my opinion, very effective as not only does it cause problems for my opponent's set up, but also weakens my foes, allowing set up to be easier, and too the elimination of threats. As it is one of my favourite Pokémon, I decided to pair Toxic Spikes with the beast that is Calm Mind Jirachi; with its great resistances, Speed, and its resistance to Toxic Spikes itself, it makes the perfect candidate to abuse Toxic Spikes to its fullest. Now, some of you may call this team a bulky offensive team, however, I would like to use another phrase: "pseudo-stall", or "stall-based balanced". I understand that most of you must be thinking "what the fuck is this guy talking about???" well, let me kindly explain. The way I play this team is pretty simple, as I get my Toxic Spikes and Stealth Rock up as soon as possible, so the immediate threat of these two entry hazards is wide-known to my opponent, and thus causing them to tread carefully before making a move. This allows me to switch around to my various resistances, increasing the residual of Toxic Spikes, as well as attacking, and forcing switches, increasing the residual of Stealth Rock. With Rotom-W as my spin blocker, my opponent is more often than not forced to take drastic measures to try and remove these entry hazards -- this usually causes them to overpredict my switches, forcing more damage from the residual of both entry hazards. Though Stall teams in general rely on defenses more than resistances half the time, I am not only using the resistances more than defenses, I rely on resistances and, to an extent, moderate speed to get the best of teams in this current climate where bulky offensive teams have apparently started to increase over offensive teams. The team itself outside the concept of Toxic Spikes + Calm Mind Jirachi, specifically, also utilizes the further abuse of Toxic Spikes. As aforementioned: "This deadly combination of Toxic Spikes + Substitute / Calm Mind / Curse is, in my opinion, very effective as not only does it cause problems for my opponent's set up, but also weakens my foes, allowing set up to be easier, and too the elimination of threats." I am abusing all three possible combinations of Toxic Spikes with members of my team uptaking the role of a Attack + Defense booster, SubBooster, and Substitute + Attack / Defense booster - the latter two combined more or less. This means that if ever I lose Jirachi (or any other of the three Pokémon), I do not directly lose all hopes of abusing Toxic Spikes, and thus have my plan foiled because this in itself shows poor team synergy (in reference to the main concept of the team is to abuse Toxic Spikes in the first place), and the fact that Jirachi itself cannot work in all environments, meaning its companions must try their best to make do of these particular environments until Jirachi can enter and set up.
These three set up required sweepers / stallers all work well with the synergy and cover they each give each other; not only in terms of resistances and immunities, but how each react against each others weaknesses, and allow each other to set up as they each remove one another's counters / threats, etcetera. A good example of this is how Tyranitar without Pursuit may attempt to switch into Rotom-W, and Crunch away, however, I can switch in to Swampert and set up accordingly. This also goes for the fact that I can switch in to Rotom-W or Jirachi if Celebi decides to walk into Swampert - attempting to Grass Knot me. Heatran is a known annoyance to Jirachi, but falls to Swampert who has useful resistances to both its STAB moves, and bulkiness prevents too much damage from being taken from Earth Power, and if it attempts to Explode on the second attempt, Rotom-W can use that as an opportunity to switch in with its immunity to Explosion as a whole. However, with this said, what about the other three Pokémon? Well, they act as brooms -- yes, a funny way to put it, but it brings a picture to mind nontheless -- as they sweep open the playing field by eradicating and weakening threats, setting up the actual entry hazards. They as well show great synergy with resistances, immunities, and covering each other's threatening foes, potentially.
This team has been working very well as it has helped me crack the leaderboard of the Smogon Server many times, however, threats such as Gyarados and Salamence are becoming ever-more threatening, and I have had to resort to desperate measures to deal with them (lol, look at Metagross). I think this team topped at around only 1610, at number 19 on the leaderboard, after a day or two's worth of battling, then I started to suffer hax. You also may have seen my use a variation of this team for the Smogon Tour, along with beating other decent members of the SU Server. -- it got me past many good players, and into the semi finals of my debut Tour, but someone cheated me out of the finals. People have commented in liking the team also. Anyway, please enjoy this Rate My Team, and actually post constructive criticism, or some sort of comment that isn't "you are overrated, and so is the team" or "Gyara weak. Sort it." those are poor comments that cannot even, and will not even be acknowledged. The team's theme is based on my favourite band, Billy Talent, and some of their songs. Credits to TAY and Schaft for introducing the concept of Toxic Spikes + [set up Pokémon] months ago, and to bulbapedia.org / arkies.com for the images.
Through the Microscope:
Roserade *** Fallen Leaves
@ Focus Sash
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature (+Spe, -Atk)
- Leaf Storm
- Sleep Powder
- Toxic Spikes
- Hidden Power [Ground]
Roserade, aside from Swampert, is probably the best lead I have come across in all my time in competitive battling. With its moderate Speed + Focus Sash, it easily allows me to set up the most vital segment of my team: Toxic Spikes. Not only does it allow the set up of Toxic Spikes, it also induces Sleep upon those that may be opposing leads or immune to Toxic Spikes itself. Focus Sash has saved my ass a lot, especially when it comes to needing a last-resort counter to Pokémon that may cause problems. With Natural Cure, I have a pseudo-status absorber if I cannot for whatever reason switch to my Swampert. Since Roserade can generally switch into any status inducer that Swampert cannot, I find this another boost also. Leaf Storm provides me with a valuable STAB move for bulky Water-types such as Suicune and Vaporeon that could otherwise prove annoying if I lack boosts from Rotom-W, or lose Jirachi early somehow or another; therefore, I do not use this Roserade as a suicide lead as such, as it has its great points at mid-game as well. Sleep Powder in conjunction with Roserade's other moves allows me to set up easier, or eliminate foes quicker without the annoyances that could occur without its Sleep inducing qualities; it also aids my other Pokémon with setting up or killing a said threat themselves. Now, some of you might be looking at this particular Roserade, and think "who the fuck does he think he is using Hidden Power Ground???" well, you would be surprised to see the amount of people who think Heatran wall Roserade to death as most appear to carry Leaf Storm + Hidden Power Fire, however, they greatly regret this as Hidden Power Ground easily scores an OHKO on Heatran, and removes LeadHeatran's Shuca Berry. It is also good for hitting Lead Infernape, Metagross, and Heatran all together in one Hidden Power, as Hidden Power Fire fails to hit the former and latter. Besides, Hidden Power Fire only more or less hits opposing Grass-types and Scizor, who are both dealt by other team members with next-to-no problems.
The EVs are pretty basic for this set... standard also. They allow me to outspeed all neutral base 100s, and achieve a Speed tie with other base +Speed 90 Pokémon such as Jolly Lucario. The Special Attack EVs are also maximized as per standard to hit a clean OHKO on all 4 HP / 0 SpD Heatran that may be foolish enough to switch in. Other than that, there is nothing specific about these given EVs.
When looking at team support, Roserade is an invaluable member of this team with its unique characteristics as the Pokémon with access to both Toxic Spikes and a Sleep inducing move, Sleep Power; and its usefulness with absorbing opposing Toxic Spiker; however the latter isn't obligatory as only Swampert is affected by Toxic Spikes, and it has access to RestTalk, anyway. This dual statusing ability is great for this team in particular as it is the best method to setting up and potentially winning as soon as possible. As I mentioned, Roserade's moderate Speed, pseudo-dual statusing ability, and access to Leaf Storm as a strong STAB move allows it perform as my perfect lead.
Roserade is named after the song, by Billy Talent, "Fallen Leaves"; you know; being a Grass-type and all... and I am sure Roserade loses quite a few leaves after using Leaf Storm, and in winter. The song "Fallen Leaves" is an interesting and fun song to listen to as it appears to portray a story about friendship and general hardships in life.
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Heatran *** Burn the Evidence
@ Choice Scarf
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Naive Nature (+Spe, -SpD)
- Fire Blast
- Earth Power
- Explosion
- Stealth Rock
Heatran acts as my check to various threats, and the Pokémon that sets up Stealth Rock for me. This thing is a beast with its massive Special Attack stat, and reasonable Speed. With Choice Scarf, Heatran gives me a fighting chance in revenge killing foes such as weakened Rotom-A, Celebi, and Life Orb Heatran. What makes this Pokémon stand out the most is its myriad of immunities and resistances, and how it works with eliminating certain Pokémon such as Swords Dance Lucario, and my primary Scizor counter. With Choice Scarf, Heatran hits a total Speed stat of 417, outspeeding other common Scarved Pokémon such as Modest Rotom-A, Breloom, and Metagross. Without a check to these Pokémon, and other fast Pokémon such as Jolteon with Hidden Power Grass and Infernape with Grass Knot, for Swampert, I would more often than not have to sacrifice Pokémon unnecessarily (compared to now) just to kills these Pokémon; you may think that this should be a plus, in some respects, but this is not the case; opening up holes is something that should not happen, and cannot happen. I know it is unusual to see Stealth Rock on any Scarved Pokémon as it seems like it completely defeats the purpose of Choice Scarf's main role of allowing Heatran to outspeed certain Pokémon, and attacking them, negating any initial "stupid lock in" scenarios, but for this team, Heatran had to be the Pokémon to carry Stealth Rock, as I couldn't find any other way to fit it in to the team without opening a huge gap in my team; well, at least it appears to be that way to me... Fire Blast is my primary move, as it is Heatran's strongest STAB move giving me an OHKO on certain Pokémon such as Celebi, Metagross, and opposing Jirachi. Unfortunately, due to its unreliable accuracy at times, I am currently contemplating the replacement of Fire Blast for the less powerful, more accurate Flamethrower; the downside to this is that I lose the power necessary to achieve certain OHKOs... any thoughts on this? Earth Power complements Fire Blast by hitting opposing Fire-types / Fire-type resistant Pokémon, Heatran that may be slower, or locked into Fire Blast, and for revenge killing Infernape, Jolteon, and co. Explosion is for end-game for Heatran, when it can do no more, or the obligatory kill on foes such as Salamence that resist both Fire Blast and Earth Power (this is assuming the defeat of Metagross).
The EVs are, again, quite simple; maximizing Special Attack is an absolute necessity to achieve the aforementioned OHKOs, while maxing outspeed allows me to hit Speed ties with opposing Heatran that may carry Choice Scarf, and outspeeding all positive base 76s with Choice Scarf, and all neutral base 80 Choice Scarfers; it goes without saying that this also goes for Choice Scarfless scenarios; notably from Trickers that may remove Choice Scarf. I chose a Naive nature over Hasty as I primarily wanted to be able to switch into Scizor's Bullet Punches better.
In conjunction with Swampert, Heatran covers its weaknesses -- most notably Celebi, while Swampert removes the annoyance of Tyranitar for Heatran. Heatran pairs well with Roserade also, as another common switch in to Roserade is Scizor, and with Heatran's outstanding resistance to all of Scizor's STAB moves, he can force the switch, set up, or kill on sight. With threats such as Vaporeon, Swampert, and Suicune removed thanks to Roserade and her STAB Leaf Storm, Heatran has another opening to sweep.
Heatran is named after the song "Burn the Evidence". The song itself somewhat relates to Heatran's ability to set things alight, leaving no trace; the song talks about a person in a coma, and, as it appears to indicates, wants to 'start a new life'. Unfortunately for opponents, they won't be getting back up from Heatran's STAB Fire Blast.
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Metagross *** Turn your Back
@ Shuca Berry
Ability: Clear Body
EVs: 240 HP / 80 Atk / 188 SpD
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SpA)
- Meteor Mash
- Bullet Punch
- Earthquake
- ThunderPunch
This is probably the most gimmick-looking Metagross you have ever seen, right? Good, it shows some form of originality then. Metagross is basically a 2-in-1 Pokémon; with its highly impressive defensive capabilities, I am not only given a decent check to Gengar and the likes, but to both Gyarados and Salamence (lol). Let me explain how this works. Basically, the given EVs prevent any Timid Gengar's Focus Blast from getting a 2HKO without any prior damge if ever Heatran walks into a overpredicted Focus Blast, and falls. With a combination of Meteor Mash + Bullet Punch, Gengar is easily taken down, and so is Salamence. Salamence's nowadays will most likely Earthquake against Metagross, especially Dragon Dance variants that believe the boost will do a lot more damage than Flamethrower. However, this is where Shuca Berry shows its uses, thanks to Twash's original idea in a RMT he previewed to me but never posted. Shuca Berry prevents any form of knock out, while I can strike it into the stars with Meteor Mash, and clean it up with Bullet Punch. Unforunately, those Fire Blast Salamences do a hell of a lot of damage, leaving Metagross almost unable to do much else after killing Salamence, and as Metagross is a major asset to this team, I absolutely need to prevent that, so I am currently contemplating using Occa Berry for that reason. Shuca Berry + ThunderPunch gives me a clean shot against Gyarados also, who attempt to try and do more damage with Earthquake, but suffer a horrible surprise when Shuca Berry activates and thus I ThunderPunch it; a clean OHKO is scored. Metagross is yet another great Pokémon that boats great resistances, and therefore, allows me to switch it in on Pokémon that could prove troublesome such as Blissey (otherwise I would have to go boom with Heatran, or set up early game with Swampert - neither of which help my initial game plan), and beast them out of play with his already enormous Attack stat. Meteor Mash + Bullet Punch gives Metagross strong STAB attacks and will, most of the time when unresisted, cause frailer foes to fall with only one move made. Earthquake hits those opposing Metagross, but this isn't 100% needed as I have reliable checks in the form of Rotom-W, and potentially, Swampert. ThunderPunch hits Skarmory and Gyarados for super effective; if the former is somehow slower, that is.
The given EVs have already been briefly explained; the HP + SpD EVs render Gengar incapable of 2HKOing Metagross with Focus Blast, and allows me to take more hits from other Special attackers such as Starmie, Latias, and friends. The Attack EVs enable me to get the OHKO on Gyarados with ThunderPunch, and guarantee a simple 2HKO with Meteor Mash + Bullet Punch, and the certain OHKO on Gengar and friends.
In terms of initial team support, Metagross serves many needed roles with being my initial answer to Gyarados, Salamence, Gengar, and general Ghost-types / frailer foes. Metagross is a great Pokémon in ensuring the removal of some of the most annoying Pokémon that may come across Jirachi / Rotom-W's paths: i.e Blissey, Latias, Celebi (to an extent). As this team lacks the physical aspect of the metagame, bar Swampert that almost requires set up to beat Blissey 1-on-1, Metagross' addition to the team is much needed.
Metagross is named after the song "Turn your Back"... well, you can't really turn your back on Metagross as he will hurt you one way or another... so the name kinda has an opposite outcome to the actual Pokémon itself.
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Rotom-W *** Standing in the Rain
@ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 108 HP / 192 SpA / 210 Spe
Timid Nature (+Spe, -Atk)
- Substitute
- Will-O-Wisp
- Shadow Ball
- Charge Beam
Finally, onto one of my first of the three Toxic Spikes set up abusers, and my spin blocker. In my original team I lacked a spin blocker which was a typical school boy error - Zapdos was once in Rotom-W's place. However, Zapdos eventually got replaced after I stumbled across this set in the Peer Edit archieve. The main reason Zapdos was here first was because I needed a strong Pokémon that could outspeed Lucario, and take advantage of the Toxic Spikes through Substitute. However, thanks to this new set I can do that and block any spinning attempts from stall teams. This Rotom-W relies on the ability to switch into something that can do little or no damage, Substitute and either Will-O-Wisp a switch in, or Charge Beam accordingly. So, how does Rotom-W abuse Toxic Spikes? Pretty simple really, as it can easily get a Substitute in and begin to set up more Substitutes if necessary to ware down opponents, or Will-O-Wisp the likes of Lucario and Scizor who may be immune to Toxic Spikes, crippling them and, thanks to Rotom-W's great defenses paired with its great resistances, he can take further crippled hits from these Pokémon and stall them out with Will-O-Wisp damage, or take that as the opportunity to use Charge Beam and hopefully gain boosts and therefore cause a potential sweep with the combination of Shadow Ball + Charge Beam. If Rotom-W can take damage from Pokémon that are hit by Toxic Spikes however without losing its initial Substitute, it will also use that as an advantage to set up accordingly to build up residual damage from the poison. So just another run through of Rotom-W's moveset, Substitute + moderate Speed in conjunction with Toxic Spikes applies the build up of Toxic Spikes and possibly forces switches, allows me to set up and gain boosts from Charge Beam, or build up potential Will-O-Wisp residual. Will-O-Wisp itself is a great move as it allows me to cripple those Steel-types such as Lucario and Agility Metagross who are immune to Toxic Spikes, and thus renders them unable to cause any further nuisance in the future; this helps Rotom-W and his friends to set up easier without having to rely on the negated effects of the residual Toxic Spikes would have given to ware down foes enough to knock them out. Shadow Ball and Charge Beam prove as great STAB moves, and the latter in particular is also another great with Shadow Ball as it boosts Shadow Ball(/Charge Beam)'s power... enough so that I can achieve knock-outs on certain Pokémon such as Metagross, Zapdos, and Scizor with heavy SpD investment. Rotom-W gives me a reliable check to Mamoswine also.. especially Choice Band Mamoswine who could cause problems to the team otherwise. Rotom-W supports the other two setup relying Pokémon by weakening and eliminating a selection of foes; for Swampert, Celebi is an annoyance. With Rotom-W's great resistances, he can easily switch into Grass Knot, Substitute up, and Shadow Ball or Charge Beam (for boosts) accordingly; for Jirachi, Tyranitar is an annoyance. Though Rotom-W does not directly deal with Tyranitar in combat, it does a hell of a great job with crippling it if ever Toxic Spikes is absent (opposing Toxic Spikes absorber).
The given EVs are specific indeed. The HP EVs allow Rotom-W to hit a total of 268 HP, which is divisible by 4 meaning that there is no HP wasted when making Substitutes. 210 Spe allows Rotom-W to outspeed Adamant Lucario and Jolly Mamoswine so I can hit the former with Will-O-Wisp, and the latter with Shadow Ball. The rest of the EVs are put into Rotom-W's Special Attack so it can hit OHKOs on certain Pokémon with a said amount of Charge Beam boosts accumilated.
In summary, Rotom-W is a great Pokémon and asset to this team as not only does it fulfil the Substitute aspect of the Toxic Spikes abuse, it provides the team with a Rapid Spin blocker and another crippler for those sweepers that may be immune to Toxic Spikes. With its bulk I am able to switch into several threats and annoyances easier; I also have another Pokémon immune to Ground-type attacks; a dominant type that can do huge damage to alot of the members of the team.
Rotom-W is named after the song "Standing in the Rain"... as the concept behind the Pokémon itself is related to the use of water, it is easy to see it standing in the rain, Charge Beaming foes like no tommorow. The song itself is quite an entertaining song as apparant through the lyrics and the instrumental content.
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Swampert *** River Below
@ Leftovers
Ability: Torrent
EVs: 252 HP / 40 Def / 216 SpD
Careful Nature (+SpD, -SpA)
- Waterfall
- Curse
- Rest
- Sleep Talk
The second of the "ToxicTrio", Swampert. Swampert really ties up some -otherwise- irratating loose ends in terms of threats, resistances, and type-attacking power; it is also a useful RestTalker -- status such as sleep is a bitch, and thus a status absorber was an absolute necessity. CroPert is basically a better, yes, I did say better, CroCune; the jobs it does for my team are quite remarkable, and without it, I would have lost over 60% of my games, for sure. Two Pokémon that are removed by Swampert, and are dangers to my team, are Tyranitar and Heatran. Both of these threats can sweep my team without any hesitation; Swampert's useful resistances to Heatran's STAB attacks prevent it from outspeeding all of my team annihilating me in the process (assuming my own Heatran has already been taken out), and resistance to Tyranitar's strongest STAB move, Stone Edge. How does Swampert abuse Toxic Spikes, then? Well, as it sets up Curse, ready to sweep the opponent, it also has access to the combination of RestTalking its way out of tight situations (i.e. recovering and waring down Draco Meteor's power from foes), and generally recovering from any other problems that may arise. Curse is a great move for boosting Swampert's Defense stat, and Attack stat + using Toxic Spikes as it continues to render physical attackers unable to do heavy damage, cause a decrease in damage, enough so it can guarantee a sweep. Curse + Waterfall is a combination: as Swampert's best STAB move (IMO) as is not rendered immune to by a certain type of Pokémon (such as Earthquake to Flying-types); Pokémon that are resistant still take heavy damage after a couple of Curses. The only Pokémon "immune" to Waterfall, Water Absorbers, all more or less fall to Toxic Spikes while Swampert stalls it out silly.
Swampert, as aforementioned, brings alot of things to the table and is a true asset to my team. Jirachi and Rotom-W both more or less fall to the might of Heatran's STAB Fire Blast; Swampert does not tolerate this common weakness, resists it, and destroys most variants completely. Tyranitar isn't hit too hard by Jirachi, and eats Rotom-W alive if Will-O-Wisp misses the awaited Pursuit -- due to Swampert's bulk, it can take these hits from Tyranitar, and hit it back almost ten times harder with its STAB Waterfall. Jolteon is another Pokémon that can cause hassle if I do not play my cards right, especially with its Life Orbed Thunderbolt 2HKOing Heatran; Swampert's immunity to Jolteon's STAB Electric-type attacks allow it to take down or even set up on Jolteon depending on the type of Hidden Power it carries in particular. Zapdos is another Pokémon in this situation, even worse if Heatran is weakened. With these and other non-mentioned Pokémon removed, Swampert makes a great team player thanks to its resistances, immunities, and defenses; not only with the "sub-team", but the setup squad, in particular.
The EVs are quite generic it seems; the HP and SpD EVs provide bulk and render a lot of Special moves such as Shadow Ball, Earth Power, etcetera from doing so much damage; the plus to this EV spread is the fact that the standard Life Orb Infernape's Grass Knot cannot score an OHKO on Swampert, allowing me to hit it back with Waterfall if it comes down to a 1-on-1 showdown - assuming max health.
Swampert is named after the song "River Below". Why? Because a lot of people reject Swampert and its offensive values and opt to uptake its solely defensive purposes. The song River Below, in my opinion, personifies rejection as a person, not just an opinionized status. Also, there usually is a River running below a Waterfall.
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Jirachi *** Midnight Mass
@ Leftovers
Ability: Serene Grace
EVs: 252 HP / 76 SpA / 180 Spe
Timid Nature (+Spe, -Atk)
- Flash Cannon
- Calm Mind
- Thunderbolt
- Substitute
Jirachi... the highlight... the star of this team, pun intended. When all threats are eliminated, Jirachi can switch in, set up a Substitute, and sweep. With Jirachi's moderate Speed, great HP, resistances, and other defensive properties, including a moderate Special Attack stat, Jirachi makes a perfect Pokémon to utilize Substitute + [stat-upper] + Toxic Spikes, even better than the commonly used Kingdra who is, on the other hand, affected and affected badly by Toxic Spikes as it limits the timescale for it to eventually sweep in. How does Jirachi abuse Toxic Spikes? The same concept as the rest of the ToxicAbusers, really. Substitute + Setup weakens foes, in particular special attackers and their attacks, and wares them down health-wise, also, before I find it fit to eventually attack back. These special attackers would normally go and attack Swampert who isn't receiving any Special Defensive boosts, however, there comes in Jirachi to deal otherwise. The bane of Swampert's existence, Celebi, is rendered useless after Jirachi switches into its Grass Knot, Substitutes, and Calm Minds accordingly. Flash Cannonis a useful STAB move, and is great for 1-on-1s against other Pokémon that may have a high Special Defense stat such as Blissey, and, with a bit of Serene-Luck, I can score a Special Defense drop and cause even more havok; 1-on-1s with Latias are also made redundant through this useful factor. Thunderbolt is for those Electric-type Pokémon and for Pokémon that aren't hit / hit hard by Jirachi's Psychic. Again, with Serene Grace, I may get lucky and get a few paralyses on Pokémon unaffected by Toxic Spikes, such as Choice Scarf Heatran switch-ins, etcetera. Calm Mind is the reason this set is so great, in conjunction with Substitute; the two together render most moves weak and unable to hit Jirachi while it is protected by Substitute's status-blocking ability. Super effective special attacks are sometimes also rendered useless after one or two Calm Minds. This stat-up move with Substitute almost guarantees me a clean setup without any status problems. Out of the two stat-up Toxic Spike abusers, this is also the special-hitting Pokémon of the attacking spectrum, this gives me a solid way to hit both sides of attacking spectrum without focusing on one side which could unfortunately have me walled by Pokémon X without a way to get around it (assuming set up is required to do so, of course). Poison-types, and Hail teams are rendered useless more or less to Jirachi as it is immune to a major factor in these two said situational encounters; the former is destroyed by Jirachi's STAB Psychic, meaning Pokémon such as Gengar, Roserade, and Tentacruel won't be alive for too long, and the latter is usually seen as a special-based move; Calm Mind + Jirachi's resistance to Ice-type attacks, the dominant type of attack on Hail teams, will soon have users leaving matches before they know they cannot hit Jirachi.
The EVs given to Jirachi are just a small change to the standard 252 HP / 80 SpA / 176 Spe Jirachi. Reason for this is quite obvious to be honest. I want to outspeed most variants of Gliscor who usually run 308 Speed, and other Jirachi that run a similar sort of Speed. The total Speed stat hits 309 Speed, which is good enough for me; outspeeding some standard MixMences, also. I am thinking of just maximizing Speed and HP, with only 4 left in SpA, any comments on this possible change -- I am merely contemplating this to prevent speed ties against Salamence that run 232 Spe, as I have been seeing a lot of them lately. Thanks to Tab for inventing this set.
Jirachi is named after the song "[Devil in a] midnight mass" because the song is awesome; otherwise, I honestly do not know why I named it that why... but that is just my personal preference, haha.
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