The Ghost of Froslass

[Zesty]

The Ghost of Froslass

Introduction
(Please note that this is my first time posting a team on Smogon so give me some critque)​

I like stall teams and utilizing spikes, but I am mostly a offensive player utilizing volt-turning to gain momentum. With this team I planned to create the best of both worlds by ulilizing my favorite spiker Froslass to start things off. My plan for this team is to be able to whiddle the opponent down with spikes and rocks and then take them out with the momentum gained from volt-turning (or with the state that my team is at now, volt-volting). Now lets introduce our star!

Froslass

Froslass (F) @ Focus Sash
Trait: Cursed Body
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Spd / 252 SAtk
Timid Nature
IVs: 30 Atk / 30 SAtk / 30 Spd
- Spikes
- Ice Beam
- Destiny Bond
- Taunt

I think, that Froslass is what makes any good spike team. It may be a suicide role, but it always takes someone out with it, it always gets at least a layer of spikes, it always prevents Rapid Spins (without foresight), and it always prevents other pokemon from setting up (if played correctly). It may die early, but it will haunt the rest of the game if rapid spinners are dealt with accordingly. To properly utilize my frosty friend, first I have to decide whether I should taunt or go straight for spikes, after I'm knocked down to my sash (which is around 80% of the time) I decide whether I need to save my friend to spinblock and take down threats or whether I need to take out the opponent's lead. If I have to save her for later, I have to make sure my opponent has no rocks up, I assure this with my next pokemon.

Forretress

Forretress (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: Sturdy
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 SDef
Sassy Nature
IVs: 0 Spd
- Gyro Ball
- Volt Switch
- Stealth Rock
- Rapid Spin

Forretress' main goal is to reliably set up a layer of stealth rocks and then spin away hazards in case Froslass needs to make it's final Destiny Bond. In addition it knows Volt Switch for the purpose of gaining some momentum and Gyro Ball so it can hit scarfers that it switches into to preserve other pokemon. The only move that doesn't do much for me in Gyro Ball but even that has gotten a few kills. I've considered swaping it for Earthquake but that never seems to do enough. Overall, I like this guy more than Starmie because I feel like he can take hits better and does a good job of setting up rocks.

Rotom-Wash

Rotom-Wash @ Leftovers
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Def / 252 SDef
Calm Nature
- Volt Switch
- Pain Split
- Will-O-Wisp
- Hydro Pump

This guy is used for the threats that Forretress can't handle. Though painfully standard in OU, he does a good job as a technician of the battle. He can survive +4 Scizor Bug Bites after burning Scizor, and he can gain more momentum for the team with a Volt Switch. In addition to all of these tactical moves, Hydro Pump does a good job of clearing out Spike and Rock weakened Pokemon. He's expendable but does his job well. I recently replaced Trick with Pain Split and gave him Leftovers and SDef EVs as suggested by
A l e x an d e r

Latias​

Latias (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 142 SAtk / 114 HP / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
- Roar
- Dragon Pulse
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Recover


Latias was the missing link on my team, it's replaces Snorlax, Vaporeon, and Zapdos and I can see why. It can phaze as Snorlax and Vaporeon were intended too, it can still take hits, and it can fire off hits and recover like Zapdos. It's EVs may seem strange though. 142 Special Attack is the magic number for killing a Starmie with max Special Defence EVs after Stealth Rocks. The HP Fire is to take care of Forretress and Ferrothorn, and Donphan isn't even a threat. The only spinner that outspeeds it is a max Speed Starmie with a Speed boosting nature. This makes all spinners no threat if this thing is played properly. Thank you to Electrolyte for recommending this amazing guy!

Landorus-T

Landorus-Therian (M) @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Intimidate
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 Spd / 4 HP
Adamant Nature
- U-turn
- Superpower
- Stone Edge
- Earthquake

This replaced a Banded Weavile. The purpose of the Weavile was mainly to trap in Phychics and Ghosts and later cleaning up for my team. I never really found myself using Pursuit on Weavile except for on Starmie and it couldn't really do too much damage even with Choice Band. Landorus-T on the other hand is a really threat and I'm not lion, hehe. He keeps up momentum with U-turn, Makes Scizor useless with Intimidate and resistances, and can still clean up as effectively as Weavile with even more speed.

Reuniclus

​

Reuniclus @ Life Orb
Trait: Magic Guard
EVs: 4 Def / 252 HP / 252 SAtk
Quiet Nature
IVs: 0 Spd
- Trick Room
- Psychic
- Focus Blast
- Shadow Ball

Reuniclus is my best special hitter and can pack quite a punch. He's good and provoking switches while the opponent struggles to find a way to get past his tankiness amd abillity to recover all damage taken. With a few Calm Minds he does a great job of sweeping an entire enemy team weakened by hazards. Magic Guard is great aswell, it makes him a good switch into status-inducing moves, allows him to hit hard with his Life Orb without taking damage, and prevents all hazard damage. As long as the opponent has no phazing moves, Spiritomb, or Sableye, they are somewhat defenseless against this guy. The only thing between an other pokemon and Reuniclus is the 30% chance for Focus Blast to miss. Changed it to a Trickroom set with Shadow Ball, Thanks A l e x a n d e r!

Threats​

I'd say that the biggest threats for this team are Jirachi and Rotom-Wash. Since most of my team is pretty slow, a physical Jirachi does a great job or haxing them to shreds. Rotom-Wash also hinders this team, Volt Switch makes it unpredicatable and nothing on my team wants to take a Trick except for my own Rotom-Wash. Sableye is also annoying but can't really do much except burn everything, but the only thing that really doesn't want to take a burn is Weavile.

Forretress (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: Sturdy
EVs: 248 HP / 200 Def / 60 SDef
Relaxed Nature
IVs: 0 Spd
- Gyro Ball
- Volt Switch
- Stealth Rock
- Rapid Spin

Rotom-Wash @ Leftovers
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Def / 252 SDef
Calm Nature
- Volt Switch
- Pain Split
- Will-O-Wisp
- Hydro Pump

Froslass (F) @ Focus Sash
Trait: Cursed Body
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
IVs: 30 Atk / 30 SAtk / 30 Spd
- Spikes
- Ice Beam
- Destiny Bond
- Taunt

Landorus-Therian (M) @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Intimidate
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 Spd / 4 HP
Adamant Nature
- U-turn
- Superpower
- Stone Edge
- Earthquake

Reuniclus @ Life Orb
Trait: Magic Guard
EVs: 252 SAtk / 252 HP / 4 SDef
Quiet Nature
IVs: 0 Spd
- Trick Room
- Psychic
- Focus Blast
- Shadow Ball

Latias (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 142 SAtk / 114 HP / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
- Roar
- Dragon Pulse
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Recover

 

[Prinz]

Hey there,

Your team has a big weakness to rain team, your only water resistor is Rotom-W which is running an offensive EV Spread so it can't tank Tornadus-T and Keldeo's attacks, for example. To solve this weakness, I suggest you to change Rotom-W's set into a Special Defensive one to tank better Hydro Pumps and Hurricanes. I will post its set later in this rate. Then, I think that your Snorlax needs a recovery move to do its job better, therefore I suggest you to use Rest and Sleep Talk, replacing Toxic and Protect. Arrangement between Rest and Sleep Talk allows Snorlax to stay alive long and use more Whirlwind to damage opponents' team with the entry hazards. Finally, I suggest you to change Recover into Shadow Ball on Reuniclus. Trick Room Reuniclus is an offensive set so it doesn't need a recovery move, Shadow Ball otherwise can be useful to hit Latwins and other pokèmons which resist Psychic and Focus Blast.

Hope I helped with this rate, good luck!

Rotom-W's set:

Hide

Rotom-W @ Leftovers
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SDef
Calm Nature (+SDef, -Atk)
- Volt Switch
- Pain Split
- Will-O-Wisp
- Hydro Pump

 

[Zesty]

Hey there,

Your team has a big weakness to rain team, your only water resistor is Rotom-W which is running an offensive EV Spread so it can't tank Tornadus-T and Keldeo's attacks, for example. To solve this weakness, I suggest you to change Rotom-W's set into a Special Defensive one to tank better Hydro Pumps and Hurricanes. I will post its set later in this rate. Then, I think that your Snorlax needs a recovery move to do its job better, therefore I suggest you to use Rest and Sleep Talk, replacing Toxic and Protect. Arrangement between Rest and Sleep Talk allows Snorlax to stay alive long and use more Whirlwind to damage opponents' team with the entry hazards. Finally, I suggest you to change Recover into Shadow Ball on Reuniclus. Trick Room Reuniclus is an offensive set so it doesn't need a recovery move, Shadow Ball otherwise can be useful to hit Latwins and other pokèmons which resist Psychic and Focus Blast.

Hope I helped with this rate, good luck!

Rotom-W's set:

Hide

Rotom-W @ Leftovers
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SDef
Calm Nature (+SDef, -Atk)
- Volt Switch
- Pain Split
- Will-O-Wisp
- Hydro Pump

Thanks for the reply, I like the Rotom-W set and that fills the gap in my special defensive wall so I decided to replace Snorlax with a Vaporeon since it fills both of the roles I intended for Snorlax: phasing and toxicing. I do think, however, that Reuniclus is too squishy without recover? I'm not entirely sure but I'm reluctant to do it.

 

[Electrolyte]

Hey

Nice team! I think you might find some special sweepers in Sun hard to deal with; Giga Drain Volc totally destroys your team, as well as Heatran with the right support. A bit rarer is Victini, which can also tear wide holes in your team early on. Venasaur as well could be a huge problem for you. I think your mean weakness is the fact that you have 2 Ice types along with 2 water types- which, Sun teams with their Fire / Grass combo, can easily exploit. To help with this, there are a few changes I think would be beneficial to your team.

First off, I see a weak link in Vaporeon. It's role as a tank is fulfilled by Rotom-W, so having another water type is redundant and could add up to some ugly weaknesses. To help you combat sun, I suggest you replace Vaporeon with LO Latias.

Latias @ Life Orb
Timid / 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Recover / Draco Meteor / Psyshock / Hidden Power Fire

Latias is just what your team needs- fast, powerful, bulky, with a good typing. Its special bulk and typing as well as Recover give you a needed Sun counter- since it doesn't mind taking SolarBeams or even Sun boosted Fire Blasts. In return, it can fire off fast, powerful Draco Meteors / Psyshocks, which will quickly destroy opposing Fighting / Dragon types for you. LO Latias can also function as a rain counter, since Rain teams don't like taking Psyshocks either. Latias helps you fight Tornadus-T and Keldeo, as well as many other threats such as Venasaur, Banded Victini, Heatran, Ninetales, and more. Latias has decent synergy with your team, too. Its Psychic typing works well with Weavile, and its Dragon typing let's it take hits for Rotom / Forretress.

Now, with Latias, your team becomes even weaker to Volcarona, whose Bug Buzz can hit Latias hard. Also, because your team is largely special, you'll need some more physical firepower. In my opinion, Frosslass is another weak link. Its ice typing drags you behind, making you weak to all weather (besides Hail of course) and is redundant offensively with Weavile. I think a good replacement would be Choice Scarf Terrakion.

Terrakion @ Choice Scarf
Jolly / 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Close Combat / Stone Edge / Earthquake / X-Scissor

Terrakion adds physical power to your team, as well as a wide variety of Pokemon that can be checked / countered / revenged. It's Speed lets you come in on Volc as it sets up and force it out with Stone Edge. It also lets you revenge kill bulkier Dragons after DDance. Its fighting / rock STAB helps break down steel type walls and Tyranitar who would otherwise cause trouble. Close Combat nails Steels / Rocks / Ice types really hard, and clears the way for Reuniclus / Latias. Stone Edge is extra protection against Sun / Sand, and can hit many Rain fliers quite hard too. Bug types can also be hit hard. Earthquake and X Scissor are for coverage; one hits Jirachi like a truck and the other Celebi, both who can sit their fat butts down and wall your special sweepers.

Here are some things to be careful of with these additions, as no team is perfect:

Scizor. U-Turn and BP can get half your team. Luckily, you've got Forretress, who is more than good enough at handling it.
Spinners. You don't have a spinblocker anymore, so it might be hard to keep your hazards on the field. Latias can KO most spinners though, so once they're gone you are free to set up.
Breloom. Latias is your best answer here, so just make sure it doesn't get put to sleep. With LO Looms, you could stall it down to OHKO range from Weavile's Ice Shard.
Bulky Waters. Rotom-W could be an ass, since you might have some trouble getting past it. I'd use Reuniclus to manage that one, as it doesn't care about status.

Now, with Froslass gone, you lose your Spikes, but thankfully you have Forretress, who can take the job for you. I'd just use Spikes over Volt Switch, as Magnezone is far from a threat to you now and being able to pivot does not exactly benefit you as much as hitting sweepers hard, spinning, or setting hazards. I'd also give it a spread of 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpDef Relaxed, and let it act as a physical wall. You'll need it to deal with Mamoswine, Scizor, Terrakion, and the like, as well as Dragons.

Good luck!

 

[Zesty]

Hey

Nice team! I think you might find some special sweepers in Sun hard to deal with; Giga Drain Volc totally destroys your team, as well as Heatran with the right support. A bit rarer is Victini, which can also tear wide holes in your team early on. Venasaur as well could be a huge problem for you. I think your mean weakness is the fact that you have 2 Ice types along with 2 water types- which, Sun teams with their Fire / Grass combo, can easily exploit. To help with this, there are a few changes I think would be beneficial to your team.

First off, I see a weak link in Vaporeon. It's role as a tank is fulfilled by Rotom-W, so having another water type is redundant and could add up to some ugly weaknesses. To help you combat sun, I suggest you replace Vaporeon with LO Latias.

Latias @ Life Orb
Timid / 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Recover / Draco Meteor / Psyshock / Hidden Power Fire

Latias is just what your team needs- fast, powerful, bulky, with a good typing. Its special bulk and typing as well as Recover give you a needed Sun counter- since it doesn't mind taking SolarBeams or even Sun boosted Fire Blasts. In return, it can fire off fast, powerful Draco Meteors / Psyshocks, which will quickly destroy opposing Fighting / Dragon types for you. LO Latias can also function as a rain counter, since Rain teams don't like taking Psyshocks either. Latias helps you fight Tornadus-T and Keldeo, as well as many other threats such as Venasaur, Banded Victini, Heatran, Ninetales, and more. Latias has decent synergy with your team, too. Its Psychic typing works well with Weavile, and its Dragon typing let's it take hits for Rotom / Forretress.

Now, with Latias, your team becomes even weaker to Volcarona, whose Bug Buzz can hit Latias hard. Also, because your team is largely special, you'll need some more physical firepower. In my opinion, Frosslass is another weak link. Its ice typing drags you behind, making you weak to all weather (besides Hail of course) and is redundant offensively with Weavile. I think a good replacement would be Choice Scarf Terrakion.

Terrakion @ Choice Scarf
Jolly / 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Close Combat / Stone Edge / Earthquake / X-Scissor

Terrakion adds physical power to your team, as well as a wide variety of Pokemon that can be checked / countered / revenged. It's Speed lets you come in on Volc as it sets up and force it out with Stone Edge. It also lets you revenge kill bulkier Dragons after DDance. Its fighting / rock STAB helps break down steel type walls and Tyranitar who would otherwise cause trouble. Close Combat nails Steels / Rocks / Ice types really hard, and clears the way for Reuniclus / Latias. Stone Edge is extra protection against Sun / Sand, and can hit many Rain fliers quite hard too. Bug types can also be hit hard. Earthquake and X Scissor are for coverage; one hits Jirachi like a truck and the other Celebi, both who can sit their fat butts down and wall your special sweepers.

Here are some things to be careful of with these additions, as no team is perfect:

Scizor. U-Turn and BP can get half your team. Luckily, you've got Forretress, who is more than good enough at handling it.
Spinners. You don't have a spinblocker anymore, so it might be hard to keep your hazards on the field. Latias can KO most spinners though, so once they're gone you are free to set up.
Breloom. Latias is your best answer here, so just make sure it doesn't get put to sleep. With LO Looms, you could stall it down to OHKO range from Weavile's Ice Shard.
Bulky Waters. Rotom-W could be an ass, since you might have some trouble getting past it. I'd use Reuniclus to manage that one, as it doesn't care about status.

Now, with Froslass gone, you lose your Spikes, but thankfully you have Forretress, who can take the job for you. I'd just use Spikes over Volt Switch, as Magnezone is far from a threat to you now and being able to pivot does not exactly benefit you as much as hitting sweepers hard, spinning, or setting hazards. I'd also give it a spread of 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpDef Relaxed, and let it act as a physical wall. You'll need it to deal with Mamoswine, Scizor, Terrakion, and the like, as well as Dragons.

Good luck!

Hey, thanks for the response.
In terms of Latias, I think it would be a good substitute for Vaporeon, but I want something to be able to phaze. I was thinking a Roar / Dragon Pulse / HP Fire / Recover set may be useful. I'll probably try switching between both sets and see which is better but I would prefer to phaze and get rid of the Swords Dance Scizor you were warning about.

In terms of Terrakion, would a scarfed Landorous-T be a good substitute? It helps provide nice momentum with U-turn, stops Scizor with Intimidate as well as resisting it, and can provide all the coverage Terrakion can with a bit less power but more utility.

Since my Rotom-W is now Specially defensive I think that Forretress EV set would work great, but I'm not giving up Froslass, it's what I based this whole team on and with a Destiny Bond and a layer of Spikes I consider it to be efficient for the team.