The adventures of Choice Scarf Darmanitan

Con Artist

this is my in-game and post-game team, i never had to battle anyone twice in-game, even Ghetsis with his underlevelled near full-coverage Hydreigon .-.
anyway, ever since i got Daramuka i knew it was worth something, so i evolved it to Darmanitan, got the choice scarf from Nimbasa which was right ahead of the sandstorm route where i got Daramuka, and it has been my second favourite pokemon since. got deino from somewhere i can't remember, and my zweilous owned Ghetsis' Hydreigon somehow :')
anyway, i then used the poke transfer to get my rotom wash over to black, and i was like "OMG TROLOLO ITS TURNED FROM GHOST TO WATER" but yeah, its turned out a bloody good pokemon. i originally got ferroseed from chargestone cave just because it span like at the speed of light, and its evolution looked even more amazing. my mate wanted a gurdurr because he needed a fighting type early on, so he traded his second evolved snivy and then he saw gurdurr evolving into conkeldurr and i was like "GIVE IT BACKKKKK" ever since then its pwned anything. transferred my cresselia over from platinum and fell in love with it.

TEAM AT A GLANCE:
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Mild Hydreigon @Life Orb
Trait - Levitate
4 Speed/252 SpA/252 Atk​

-Flamethrower
-Focus Blast
-Dark Pulse
-Outrage​

hydreigon is a beast. the dark/dragon pseudo-legendary is the only pokemon that has this typing, and has great stats and type coverage. focus blast deals with that bloody tyranitar, other ice-types that hydreigon can manage to outspeed, and other dark-types like umbreon. flamethrower also takes care of ice-types, lilligant which i'm seeing more, some grass types that are on sun teams, ferrothorn, scizor and the other bug/steel wall that i can't remember its name. dark pulse takes down reuniclus, is a counter to gengar, jellicent and the other multiple ghost-types that are in this gen. outrage is a counter to all the other draconics, and hits extremely hard. its neutral to nearly everything else, and with 120 + STAB + 252 EV ATK + Life Orb, its an overwhelmingly strong move. i beat the whole of the single train just using this pokemon, and it never fainted in the whole 21 battles.​

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Modest Rotom Wash @Leftovers
Trait - Levitate
112 HP/252 SpA/144 Speed​

-Thunderbolt
-Hydro Pump
-Will-o-Wisp
-Pain Split​

just using rotom wash is refreshing, its fun and can take a good amount of hits. also a luck-based haxorus counter. if he survives a haxorus hit, which he sometimes can if they hold choice scarf, but if they're having choice band, rotom could outspeed it and will-o-wisp it so its attack takes a considerable hit. only against haxorus and over monstrous physical attackers he would WoW and switch. if he's against something around his own league, he can take it down with relative ease. aside from its spasticated sprite where it has a jumping fit non-stop, its a great pokemon, with great coverage and only one weakness, grass. pain split is an amazing move, and can make dusknoir's eat their heart out. an amazing wall counter, rotom is an odd mix between physical+special semi-wall and a special attacker. i love this thing.​


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Relaxed Ferrothorn @Rocky Helmet
Trait - Iron Barbs
52 HP/252 SpD/204 Def​

-Thunder Wave
-Leech Seed
-Power Whip
-Spikes​

my own, unique ferrothorn. rockybarbs combo is actually amazing, if a pokemon uses fake out on ferrothorn, it takes about a third of the opponent's HP. i usually set up with thunder wave, that way i'm free to do what i want by going first, and with all the speed pokemon running around this meta, it feels great to put them to a stop. if you can get down 3 layers of spikes, which i have only managed to do like twice when i am up against another wall. 3 layers of spikes practically kills any fire type that comes in, and is well worth the risk. not sure if it should be trained in HP or attack though, maybe one of you could help with that :')
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Bold Cresselia @Leftovers
Trait - Levitate
252 HP/252 Def/4 SpA​

-Thunder Wave
-Moonlight
-Ice Beam
-Reflect​

cresselia has been the hardest pokemon to craft, because for most of its usage in my team i've always used 135 STAB Psychic, and that worked great. but i definetely needed recovery, so moonlight came along and replaced Psychic, leaving me with no STAB options. but not all was bleak because of that, it worked even better than before. moonlight made it amazingly good, and all i needed to do was one reflect at the start and crunch and co. couldn't OHKO or even 2HKO me. cresselia is a beast and i had always neglected it before, mainly because of its appearance and legendary status, but i looked into it and fell in love with it, and it became the only female pokemon on the team.​

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Adamant Conkeldurr @Flame Orb
Trait - Guts
4 HP/252 Atk/252 Def​

-Drain Punch
-Mach Punch
-Stone Edge
-Payback​

orb'd conkeldurr is actually one of my personal favourites. beats bulk up conkeldurr by a long shot. and for anyone unfamiliar with orb conkeldurr, after taking a hit it gets burned, but because of guts the attack loss from the burn is lost, and the attack boost from guts takes priority. drain punch for STAB massive attack recovery, mach punch can deal massive dents/kill tyranitar. stone edge is a great move and it takes care of common ice or flying types. and payback is a great counter to gengar, and that has been proved on the battle subway. also deals with psychic types like reuniclus, and is a counter to trick room, where if used conkeldurr is an advanced sweeper.​

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Naive Darmanitan @Choice Scarf
Trait - Sheer Force
4 HP/252 Atk/252 Speed​

-Hammer Arm
-Stone Edge
-Earthquake
-Fire Punch​

choice scarf darmanitan. in my opinion, the all-time best fire type, and my second favourite pokemon to squirtle. so overall, my favourite competitive pokemon. this thing is a living legend, and fire punch can OHKO so easily. it outspeeds nearly everything, and virtually every other choice scarf user. sheer force + 252 Atk EVs + massive attack stat + STAB = outrageous fire punch which kills nearly anything even on a neutral hit. in-game it would take out golducks full health with one fire punch if they were about the same level. my physical sweeper of the team, and one of the ugliest and beastiest pokemon i've ever seen. its so unrealistic it just makes it so amazing :')​

TL;DR: GOOD TEAM NEEDS RATE AND IMPROVEMENT​
 
Hammer Arm and Earthquake have redundant coverage on Darmanitan, mostly hitting the same things hard. I would keep Hammer Arm, and replace Earthquake with something like U-Turn, since Choiced Ground attacks let a lot of pokemon set up on you, not to mention the increasing popularity of Air Balloons. Also, Flare Blitz is one of Darmanitan's major selling points with Sheer Force, so I'd highly recommend using it unless the recoil turns you off.
 
Firstly, Darmanitan needs a Jolly Nature. The dropped defense doesn't help at all. Also, running Flare Blitz would be better due to the power.

Next, Conkeldurr should have a 252HP/252Atk/4Def EV spread. The reason for this is even with max defense, taking hits will be hard without Hp investment. Also, The HP investment allows you to take special hits better.

That is all.
Have a good day! :)
 
hey con artist,

cool team. however, if darmanitan is the focus of the team, then it seems like youre going to be having a somewhat tough time dealing with stealth rock. stealth rock can be a real thorn in this teams side, as it lacks a way to prevent it from being set up or removing it, and darmanitan is weak to it, so every time he switches in, 25% of his HP will be stripped off. this is especially annoying considering the fact that hes a choice scarf user, so he is more than likely going to be switching in and out an awful lot. in order to remedy this problem, i think that you should try using a forretress in place of ferrothorn. forretress can still set up spikes, as well as provide your team with key resistances. however, forretress can also use rapid spin to get rid of stealth rock, making it much, much easier to switch darmanitan in and prolong its longevity. your team also lacks stealth rock, a vital hazard; forretress can set this up for you. here's the set i think you should test out:

forretress @ leftovers (ability: sturdy)
relaxed nature | 252 HP | 176 Def | 80 SpD
spikes | stealth rock | rapid spin | earthquake

i think that a physically defensive variant would be more beneficial for you due to the fact that forretress is the best pokemon on your team for taking an outrage from an opposing dragon-type. however, you can go with a specially defensive spread if you want. also, you can use gyro ball or volt switch in the final slot if earthquake doesnt tickle your fancy.

as far as more minor changes go, look into utilizing fire blast instead of flamethrower on hydreigon. while you may prefer the accuracy of flamethrower, the extra power that fire blast provides allows you to to put a little more oomph into your attack, and could make the difference between a OHKO and a 2HKO; i think its worth testing. also, you should probably be using a jolly nature on darmanitan, as the defense drop from using a naive nature isnt doing you any favors at the moment, especially considering how frail darmanitan is to begin with. you can also try out an adamant nature if you want more power, but if youre more concerned with outspeeding stuff, then jolly is the better choice.

finally, it may be worth your while to test out a reuniclus in place of cresselia, as reuniclus has more reliable recovery in recover (compared to the inconsistent moonlight), hits harder off a much higher special attack stat, and is still quite bulky. however, cresselia is a good check to dangerous dragon-types, so you might want to consider keeping her on. i encourage you to test reuniclus out, but if you dont like it much, then by all means keep using cresselia. you might also want to try out flare blitz over fire punch, as darmanitan hits like an absolute truck when using it. however, seeing as darmanitan is the focus of your team, it might also be beneficial to stay conservative with fire punch; the choice is yours.

hope i helped, and good luck! :)
 
sorry if i'm reffering to you as "first poster", etc, i'm on my phone so names don't come up.

@first poster: why have u-turn on darmanitan? if i'm using choice scarf then i can't use u-turn anyway, and earthquake hits electric types, which hammer arm can't do. its just a versatile set, and i'm not even sure if it learns u-turn...granted, it learns psychic by tm so it might be messed up enough :s

@second poster: doesn't flare blitz come with recoil? if it does as i remember, i'm choice scarfed so using blitz over and over could put me as a major disadvantage. and yeah, that's the sort of ev spread i was going for, thankyou :)

@thirdposter: it's not the main cog in the machine, just i needed a good title :')
anyway, i always wanted to run a foretress but i just preffered ferrothorn's tankiness. but yeah i'll give it a shot, thanks.
 
yeah i didn't think so, and i can't get the internet working on my dsi so i guess i'm fucked :L
i only play competitive with some mates over connect so yeah...
 
You send out darmanitan and predict a switch and take a chunk out of his counter and send out ferro. You also need hazard support
 
rock slide > stone edge on darmanitan, not using flare blitz is insane, even if the recoil turns you off, theres no need for hammer arm or earthquake over flare blitz, also it needs u-turn
 
got a foretress up to level 70 ev trained with spikes, stealth rock rapid spin and earthquake, but i sorta prefer ferrothorn :L
 
I would make some changes :

Darmatian :
Run flare blitz over fire punch , run U-Turn over earthquake, run superpower over hammer arm. (Superpower over hammer arm simply because both make your pokemon useless (kinda) but losing seed will put you in a worse disadvantage then becomming -1 attack. because you will still be faster and can uturn out then)

Conkeldurr:
Run Bulk up over stone edge , simply for more dammage but also to be able to take hits yourself. Priority moves would kill off your current set a bit too easy if you dont have bulk up. Also run another ev spread , the common one from smogon pokedex works well (its like 252 attack , 125 hp , 131 special defence) . This will result in a better special bulk while still having 220 phys defence , after 1 bulk up 330;

Cresselia:
I see why you got rid of psychic , but i would bring it back in , and loose thunderwave or reflect.

Hydreigon:

The set you use is totally not gonna benefit you in any way. Sure its nice to have a mixed attacker, and sure dark dragon is a unique typing. Dont forget that with this typing , you create several weaknesses you normally wouldnt have beeing a dragon.
But the worst thing about the current set is : you have no speed, also no bulk.
This will result in any sweeper beeig faster as you AND beeing able to OHKO you probably too. There for it would be best to either go with a wallbreaker Salamence set , or try a fully special offensive hydreigon + earthquake .
The sets would be :
Salamence @ Life orb
Abiltiy: Intimidate
Nature: Naive
EV's: 116 attack , 216 SP;Attack , 178 speed
Moves: Draco meteor , Fire Blast/flamethrower, Earthquake , Roost

This will result in a set that is faster then all walls , can kill off them all in one hit too normally. Earthquake is there so you dont HAVE to switch after a draco meteor. This can be very unexpected for the opponent. And roost is to heal off any LO dammage when you get the chance.

Hyreigon @ life orb
Ability : Levitate
Nature: Naive works as well
EVs: 252 Speed , 252 Sp.Attack (can aso run a bit less speed and Sp.Attack to boost attack , just like wallbreakingmence)
Moves: Dark Pulse , Draco Meteor , Flamethrower , Earthquake(not sure if he learns this tho)

Hope i helped.
 
darmanitan could make use of flare blitz over fire punch also cause of his weakness to SR mayby you could run tentacruel over cress? and mayby use a rachi to pass wishes rather than conkeldurr? all in all a tidy team
 
thanks for the help, its been taken into serious consideration.

darmanitan:
fire punch will be replaced by flare blitz
hammer arm will be replaced by superpower
earthquake will be replaced by u-turn
will be given a jolly nature

hydreigon:
outrage will be replaced by draco meteor

conkeldurr:
ev's will be changed

sound good?
 
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