Team Twilight Link

TwilightLink

Hello I am Twilight Link. Some of you may know me because I've been battling on shoddybattle under the same alias for a long time. The team I'm posting now is probably the best team I've come up with by myself. I've tried many other teams, combinations, pokemon and moves but I always seem to come back to this team as this team always seems to perform the best. I've been using this team for a long time and it has brought me lots of success. Currently it is 1186-477. I'm always looking to get better though and I have hit the point where I can't think of much that will improve this team. That's why I am here, to continue getting better.

Without further adeu here's my team

At a glance:

467_magmortar_1_m.png
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Magmortar.jpg

Magmortar-Choice Scarf
Modest
EV Spread: 252 Special Attack/252 Speed/6 Defense
Fire Blast
Focus Blast
Hidden Power Dragon
Thunderbolt

This is my lead and has been my lead ever since this team was developed. It deals with Jirachi leads, Heatran leads, Gyrados leads, Tyranitar leads, Metagross leads, Bronzong leads, the list goes on. Now you may be thinking "hidden power dragon? WTF?". Hidden power dragon is no joke. It 2HKOs Kingdra meaning I can catch it on the switch without it annilating me. The dragon type means I can still retain super effective damage on Salamence and Latias. This Magmortar also functions as a great revenge-killer in the late game as well as a fantastic lead. It's ability, Flame Body has also crippled many Scizor, Flygon and Jirachi u-turning away so that has helped me out also. This guy stays.

Tangrowth.png

Tangrowth-Leftovers
Impish
EV Spread: 252 HP/228 Defense/30 Speed
Power Whip
Earthquake
Leech Seed
Sleep Powder

After Porygon2, probably the best Gyrados counter in the game. Tangrowth is unique because in addition to being a great Gyrados counter, it can hold its own against Tyranitar, Swampert, Kingdra and any other bulky ground that rears its ugly head my way. Earthquake is there to nail any incoming Heatran and also makes Tangrowth a sorta reliable Lucario check.
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Swampert-Leftovers
Bold
EV Spread: 240 HP/178 Defense/54 Special Attack/38 Special Defense
Ice Beam
Toxic
Earth Power
Stealth Rock

Good ol' Swampert. He gets stealth rock down reliably and is my main switch-in against the dangerous Salamence. This is a rather unusual set but it has been effective for me. I used to have hydro pump over toxic but then I thought to myself "what exactly is hydro pump helping me beat that ice beam and toxic can't take down anyway?". The answer was nothing. So I scrapped hydro pump and put in toxic. Toxic helps me deal with bulky waters, blissey and latias. Earth power is there over earthquake because it helps me deal with skarmory better as well as hitting many pokemon harder than earthquake would because most pokemon that it would hit for super effective (Metegross, Jirachi) generally invest in defense instead of special defense.

tyranitar.png

Tyranitar-Lum Berry
Adamant
EV Spread: 252 Attack/252 Speed/6 HP
Crunch
Stone Edge
Fire Blast
Dragon Dance

DDTar is one of the most deadly fearsome sweepers in the game. Pretty standard moveset except for Fire Blast over Fire Punch. I found that fire punch wasn't doing as much to Skarmory as I would have liked so I switched in Fire Blast. Lum Berry helps me sweep as I can set up on status and then proceed to seep from there.

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Scizor-Life Orb
Adamant
EV Spread: 252 Attack/248 HP/8 Speed
Swords Dance
Bullet Punch
X-Scissor
Superpower

Much like DDTar, SDZor is one of the most fearsome sweepers in the game. This set also has some surpise factor because so many people expect CBZor. Superpower is for catching incoming Heatran and the other two moves are really self-explanatory.

200px-Medicham.png

Medicham-Choice Scarf
Jolly
EV Spread: 252 Attack/252 Speed/6 HP
Hi Jump Kick
Thunderpunch
Ice Punch
Zen Headbutt

My all-time favorite pokemon and a damn good revenge-killer at that.
Without setup, he hits 438 attack and 426 speed. Those stats will make anyone be worried. He's killed me many Gyrados as he still outspeeds after one DD. Hi Jump Kick+Thunderpunch+Ice Punch+Zen Headbutt gives me great coverage which means I can revenge kill a lot of stuff. I use Zen Headbutt over Psycho Cutt because of the higher power and the flinch rate.

Well there's my team. It's done very well for me but maybe it could use some tweaking.
 
One of the main problems I see with this team is that nobody resists earthquake. On most teams, you should at least have a levitator or a flier to take away the threat that is Earthquake. Granted, Tangrowth can take them very well so it's not that big of a deal, but you could consider using a levitator or flier. Honestly, Moltres can do the same thing Magmortar can do as a lead, if not better, but the Stealth Rock weakness prevents her from coming in very often.

Your team really likes Physical Attackers. After Magmortar is gone, your only real way of killing Scizor or Forretress is with Tyranitar's Fire Blast, and no Tyranitar can survive a Bullet Punch without Babiri, so that's not an option. How do you deal with Scizor?

Honestly, Swampert seems like the weak link here. It just doesn't look like he can do much. Honestly, I would replace Swampert for an Azelf running Flamethrower/Stealth Rock/Grass Knot/Explosion. He gives you a resist to ground with levitate, kills Scizor and Swampert and most waters, still gets up Stealth Rock, and can Explode if needed.
 
the only thing that hydro pump has over ice beam or toxic or earth power is a heavy hit on Skarmory--possibly a 2HKO. But your magmortar can probably handle skaremory quite easily.

Your lead trumps a lot of pokemon but can't handle leading swampert. I suggest a grass move over HP dragon.
 
Xephyr said:
One of the main problems I see with this team is that nobody resists earthquake. On most teams, you should at least have a levitator or a flier to take away the threat that is Earthquake. Granted, Tangrowth can take them very well so it's not that big of a deal, but you could consider using a levitator or flier. Honestly, Moltres can do the same thing Magmortar can do as a lead, if not better, but the Stealth Rock weakness prevents her from coming in very often.

Your team really likes Physical Attackers. After Magmortar is gone, your only real way of killing Scizor or Forretress is with Tyranitar's Fire Blast, and no Tyranitar can survive a Bullet Punch without Babiri, so that's not an option. How do you deal with Scizor?

Honestly, Swampert seems like the weak link here. It just doesn't look like he can do much. Honestly, I would replace Swampert for an Azelf running Flamethrower/Stealth Rock/Grass Knot/Explosion. He gives you a resist to ground with levitate, kills Scizor and Swampert and most waters, still gets up Stealth Rock, and can Explode if needed.
Click to expand...

Earthquakes aren't a problem.

"If pokemon x dies, pokemon y rapes your team"

Why the hell would you use azelf over swampert, lol

Sorry, but barely anything you said makes sense, heh

-

But anyways, the biggest problem that I see is that you have a mixape weakness. :)

Mixape can flamethrower tangrowth and scizor, close combat t-tar, and grass knot swampert. I'm pretty sure any mixape can take out magmortar with close combat. Medicham will lose if the mixape has a sash.

Now, you can always send out your t-tar to get weather up and break the sash...but you'd be pretty much wasting him, especially if the mixape doesn't even have a sash in the first place.

Have you come across a Breloom? How have you done against it?

T-tar has lum, but loses to STAB grass / fighting attacks easily.

Oh, and I would test a scarf-phlosion.

Just a few suggestions, hopefully you can make some sense of it all.

Props for using Tangrowth, he's a beast

gl with your team

edit: oh crap, your magmortor has a scarf. That makes infernape less dangerous, but you still need to be careful.

edit2: btw, if another swampert has ice beam, tangrowth can't really "hold its own", lol. Same with t-tar, if it has fire blast or something.
 
just a suggestion but when dd'ing why not try a salamance instead of the ttar. it covers all the weaknesses that others have mentioned throughout.
 
Xephyr-I mainly deal with Scizor by first switching to Magmortar when I see him come out as he will probably use Bullet Punch or U-Turn. If Flame Body doesn't burn him, he'll probably switch as he doesn't want to risk being burned, thus wearing him down the next time he comes in with stealth rock. If it does burn, Scizor is no threat to me anymore. Swampert can also take his attacks decently well and surprisingly, Scizor can take on Scizor really well as it resists both U-turn and Bullet Punch.

If Scizor uses superpower that also lets me handle it easier as its attack is lowered, thus making it less deadly. If its banded, Medicham can also come in, take the weakened NVE hit and threaten to OHKO it with Hi Jump Kick with its lowered defenses.

Overall my general strategy is to force Scizor to switch often, thus wearing it down with stealth rock, a feat that it helps out with as it constantly U-Turns.

SmokingBomber465-Tangrowth and Swampert have dealt with Swampert very well so I can have Magmortar focus on dealing with other things.

Cost-Most Infernape I have seen are the lead variety. Those Infernape are promptly 2HKOd by thunderbolt leaving my opponent with nothing more than getting down stealth rock. Also if I face a non-lead Infernape, either me or my opponent will probably have sandstorm up by then so focus sash isn't really a problem.

In reguards to Breloom. I normally switch to either Swampert or Tangrowth to absorb the spore and then switch to Scizor. Scizor causes a real dent in Breloom's side with bullet punch ruining its plans. Medicham and Magmortar can also outspeed and OHKO with Zen Headbutt and Fire Blast respectively if I get a free switch in.

I have thought about using Typhlosion but the thing that really makes me stick with Magmortar is the fact that he gets thunderbolt. Thunderbolt is just so damn useful as it annihlates Gyrados and 2HKOs Vaporeon switch ins. While Typhlosion is faster and has Eruption, the lack of thunderbolt really turns me off to him. Also Magmortar has flame body which has come in handy numerous times.

silverlight-Salamence is intriguing however if I get rid of Tyranitar, I have nothing that can beat the Rotom formes.
 
Hey, I like the team, but there could be a few changes that could make it a lot better.

First off, though it seems you are adamant about keeping Magmortar as your starter, I would recommend replacing it with your Swampert, and giving it a set like this...

Swampert @ Leftovers
Relaxed
Torrent
EVs: 240 HP, 216 Def, 52 SpA
-Hydro Pump/Surf
-Earthquake
-Stealth Rock
-Roar

I personally prefer Hydro Pump to get a stronger hit on leads like Shuca Heatran, Bronzong, and opposing Swampert leads. The reason I dislike Magmortar on this team is that his slot can be filled by many more capable pokemon. Roar is on this set to help you execute a strategy that I will explain as I go along.

Before I get to Magmortar's substitute, I would also like to suggest that you replace Medicham with a Choice Scarf Flygon. First off, Medicham's Huge Power does not outweigh its inability to consistently switch in and pose a threat due to its mediocre defenses. Choice Scarf Flygon on the other hand has fantastic synergy with the rest of your team, and U-turn allows you to scout--a vital tactic for this team.

Next, Scizor. Now from the looks of it you dislike CB Scizor, but I would urge you to consider its implications. CB U-turn, along with Flygon's U-turn and Swampert's Roar, will be excellent tools with which to scout the opposing team and rack up Stealth Rock damage. I think this team should focus around this sort of "weakening" of the opponent's team in order to mop up with DDtar (to which I would give Babiri Berry) and the next poke....

Infernape @ Fist Plate
Jolly
Blaze
EVs: 4 HP, 252 Atk, 252 Speed
-Swords Dance
-Fire Punch
-Close Combat
-Mach Punch

This is want I think you should replace Magmortar with. At the moment, your team is easily vanquished by practically any stall team, which Infernape helps out with immensely. SD Nape also gives you another viable winning condition along with Tyranitar, especially since a potential CB Scizor on the team can trap Infernape's #1 enemy--Latias. In addition, I think Mach Punch will be more beneficial particularly for Lucario, who can easily sweep this team as it is. With Scizor, Flygon, and Swampert forcing so many switches and racking up Stealth Rock damage, I think you will have an easy time sweeping with just Fire and Fighting. Fist Plate is there to avoid 16% damage every attacking turn due to Sandstorm and Life Orb.

Finally, Celebi would be much more beneficial for your team than Tangrowth. The ability to shrug off weak Ice Beams allow it to better counter bulky waters, and the instant recovery Celebi can utilize greatly outweighs the benefits of Sleep Powder on Tangrowth. I recommend this Celebi set.

Celebi @ Leftovers
Bold
Natural Cure
EVs: 252 HP, 220 Def, 36 Spe
-Grass Knot
-Reflect/Thunder Wave
-Recover
-HP (Fire)

Personally I prefer Reflect to prevent being pursuited, as well as being able to help out the rest of the team (particularly your sweepers) more than the very common and predictable T-wave.

With my changes, you should be a lot more successful. To recap, here is how my suggested changes would look.

Lead Swampert, Support Celebi, CB Scizor, DDtar @ Babiri berry, CS Flygon, and Swords Dance Infernape.

I hope you consider these suggestions. Good luck to you!
 
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