My college's anime convention is having a "gym leader challenge," meaning that during the anime con., certain staff members will have ds's with B&W. Con-goers can challenge the gym-leaders, and get a badge for defeating them. Anyone who collects 8 gym badges gets a special prize and moves on to a tournament to decide who's the Champion (for a grand prize).
http://www.stevens.edu/anime/cgi-bin/cpac/index.php?page=pokemon
So I've been selected as the grass gymleader. Yes, I understand grass is one of the worst monotypes. But I'm going to do my best with what's given to me. All advice is greatly appreciated!
Team Building Process:
Originally, I was going to make a sub-seed stall team with lots of entry hazards to force a lot of switches. But after finding out that I'm not allowed a "wild card," I don't have a spin-blocker nor a good defensive core with ferrothorn.
So I figured since it's pretty much impossible for me to cover myself with some defensive core (being unable to have fire/bug/fly/poison/ice resists), I figured my best strategy would be some all-in'ish hyperoffense. My glaring weaknesses are slightly less problematic if I'm sweeping.
I needed to decide what pokemon to center this around; It was between sunnyday executtor, raindance ludicolo, and breloom. (oh, i probably should have mentioned that I can't use dreamworld pokemon, so perversity serperior is out)
Sunny day's probably a bad idea considering it magnifies my glaring fire weakness (pun intended). And while breloom is certainly strong, I couldn't think of a good way of sweeping with his low speed. Ludicolo seemed like the best choice because raindance both helps my fire weakness while giving ludicolo the speed to sweep, and a boosted stab surf with unique coverage (as a grass type).
So onto the specifics:
Whimsicott (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Prankster
EVs: 252 HP / 168 Def / 88 SDef
Bold Nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Encore
- Substitute (was U-turn)
- Taunt
- Leech Seed
I'm not sure if we're playing with/without team preview, so Whimsicott is my psuedo-lead.
The biggest hindrance to my ludicolo sweep is a weather-inducing pokemon. So my opening strategy is to scout and try to hold-on as long as possible to identify and eliminiate threats for my sweep.
So I will most likely taunt if I expect entryhazards or a setup, followed by uturning to the best "counter."
Encore+leechseed is to encourage as much switching as possible, as well as hopefully preventing any set-ups from happening.
Switching from U-turn to substitute is a subtle but pretty big change. Substitute can let me sacrifice my health as a waiting tool to make things a bit easier to predict, also it turns whimsicott into a much better subseeder, which can work wonders if I'm in a bind.
The main reason why I have him on my team is to prevent offensive/defensive set-ups. It's really nice predicting the dragon dance for an encore.
Ferrothorn (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Iron Barbs
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Def / 252 SDef
Sassy Nature (+SDef, -Spd)
- Stealth Rock
- Leech Seed
- Thunder Wave
- Power Whip
Eventually I want to find an opportunity to set up stealth rock, which isn't too hard to squeeze in. Because I will never be able to provide perfect counters to certain pokemon (because of my terrible weaknesses), I figure my best strategy is to cripple with t. wave and go for a revenge kill with something slower.
Originally I had spikes instead of explosion, but it was hard enough in battles to squeeze in stealth rock.
Explosion was stupid, I admit. Leech seed is much better.
Breloom (M) @ Toxic OrbChoice Scarf
Trait: Poison Heal
EVs: 12 HP / 252 Atk / 244 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Spore
- Stone Edge
- Focus Punch
- Substitute
I've noticed that there are some threats where I'm basically screwed. A scarfed-spore is my emergency escape button to prevent a sweep. Yes, it is a shame that Virizion and Breloom have the exact same typing. But their current roles are completely different.
The one pokemon that absolutely drives me crazy is garchomp. In the few days that I've been trying out this team, garchomp always, always sand-evades the spore. Handling garchomp without screens up is very difficult, and my best strategy right now is to try to catch him using swords dance and encore him with erufuun, which at least temporarily forces him out to let me set up a reflect.
Having a scarfed breloom is nice for the surprise factor. While I'd be nice to have the standard sub-fp setup, that relies on getting a free turn to set up a sub. And, once again, since my team has common weaknesses, switching in on resistances is unlikely.
Having the surprise of a choice scarf Breloom isn't worth sacrificing the spore+focuspunch combo, at least for this team. I decided to give the revenge-killing position to someone else, and switch to what makes Breloom OU. I've noticed that the longer I hold out using breloom the better my team performs. Typically if he sends out the biggest threats first, I can make some sacrifices and get some revenge kills and be in the clear for a sweep.
I'm not positive I have the EVs right; should I be investing speed? It hardly seems like my speed matters if I want to exchange hits with a sub up.
Virizion @ Light Clay
Trait: Justified
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SDef
Impish Nature (+Def, -SAtk)
- Reflect
- Light Screen
- Close Combat
- X-Scissor
Rotom-C @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 112 HP / 252 SAtk / 144 Spd
Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Thunderbolt
- Shadow Ball
- Leaf Storm
- Hidden Power [Ice]
Due to having too similar typing for breloom, I'm giving Virizion's spot to Rotom-C.
Originally, I had thunder on this set, but as I slowly removed the raindance theme, it was becoming more and more of a hindrance. Also, I get really annoyed how many choice pokemon outspeed rotom. Scarf Genosect is a very serious problem for my team, and it's really, really tempting to invest more in speed and give this guy HP fire. But of course HP fire is going to conflict with any raindances I might set up, and having a speedy ice move can help stop some annoying dragon sweeps (specifically garchomp/salamence/dragonite. [This is a digression, but did everyone stop using salamence? I really have no idea why]).
Celebi @Damp Rock LifeOrb
Trait: Natural Cure
EVs: 132 HP / 252 SAtk / 124 Spd
Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Nasty Plot
-Rain Dance Psychic
-Baton Pass Earth Power
-Recover Giga Drain
This set is pretty ridiculous, but I still like it. Originally I had psychic instead of recover, but I really like the ability to use raindance multiple times. Rain Dance is a requirement of the sweep, while getting that nastyplot pass is really just a nice bonus. Ideally, I set up screens- to let my celebi baton-pass, and sweep with ludicolo.
Decided to go for a more offensive set. I figure if I can get a nasty plot off to pass to ludicolo, I might as well save a turn and have celebi give it a shot. I admit the raindance/nasty plot thing really isn't that great of an idea, lol, so I'm counting my losses and changing it around.
Psychic and Earth Power seemed like some necessary coverage that my team is missing otherwise, and I can typically get one nasty plot up if I switch on a fighting move aimed at ferrothorn (yeah I know their synergy isn't really that good considering fire wrecks both of them, but this is what I get for picking grass. And at least ferrothorn can take some dark/ice/bug moves for celebi).
Ludicolo (M) @ Life Orb
Trait: Swift Swim
EVs: 60 HP / 252 SAtk / 196 Spd
Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Hydro Pump
- Ice Beam
- Giga Drain
- Rain Dance
Not having raindance on your raindance sweeper is both good and bad. It really, really sucks when Celebi gets surprised KO'ed and I have no way of raindance sweeping. But if I manage to get a set-up ludicolo out there, having this type-coverage is beautiful.
After taking raindance off celebi, I'm leaving Ludicolo to his own "setting up." Typically when a firetype/something-with-a-firemove revenge kills one of my pokemon, I send out ludicolo and pray I can take a hit. Typically I come out with the skin of my teeth, setup raindance and begin the counter-attack. STAB+raindance hydropump is worth the accuracy hit.
Okay I made some massive changes, so please check it out.
[THREATLIST COMING SOON]
http://www.stevens.edu/anime/cgi-bin/cpac/index.php?page=pokemon
So I've been selected as the grass gymleader. Yes, I understand grass is one of the worst monotypes. But I'm going to do my best with what's given to me. All advice is greatly appreciated!
Team Building Process:
Originally, I was going to make a sub-seed stall team with lots of entry hazards to force a lot of switches. But after finding out that I'm not allowed a "wild card," I don't have a spin-blocker nor a good defensive core with ferrothorn.
So I figured since it's pretty much impossible for me to cover myself with some defensive core (being unable to have fire/bug/fly/poison/ice resists), I figured my best strategy would be some all-in'ish hyperoffense. My glaring weaknesses are slightly less problematic if I'm sweeping.
I needed to decide what pokemon to center this around; It was between sunnyday executtor, raindance ludicolo, and breloom. (oh, i probably should have mentioned that I can't use dreamworld pokemon, so perversity serperior is out)
Sunny day's probably a bad idea considering it magnifies my glaring fire weakness (pun intended). And while breloom is certainly strong, I couldn't think of a good way of sweeping with his low speed. Ludicolo seemed like the best choice because raindance both helps my fire weakness while giving ludicolo the speed to sweep, and a boosted stab surf with unique coverage (as a grass type).
So onto the specifics:
Whimsicott (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Prankster
EVs: 252 HP / 168 Def / 88 SDef
Bold Nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Encore
- Substitute (was U-turn)
- Taunt
- Leech Seed
I'm not sure if we're playing with/without team preview, so Whimsicott is my psuedo-lead.
So I will most likely taunt if I expect entryhazards or a setup, followed by uturning to the best "counter."
Encore+leechseed is to encourage as much switching as possible, as well as hopefully preventing any set-ups from happening.
Switching from U-turn to substitute is a subtle but pretty big change. Substitute can let me sacrifice my health as a waiting tool to make things a bit easier to predict, also it turns whimsicott into a much better subseeder, which can work wonders if I'm in a bind.
The main reason why I have him on my team is to prevent offensive/defensive set-ups. It's really nice predicting the dragon dance for an encore.
Ferrothorn (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Iron Barbs
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Def / 252 SDef
Sassy Nature (+SDef, -Spd)
- Stealth Rock
- Leech Seed
- Thunder Wave
- Power Whip
Eventually I want to find an opportunity to set up stealth rock, which isn't too hard to squeeze in. Because I will never be able to provide perfect counters to certain pokemon (because of my terrible weaknesses), I figure my best strategy is to cripple with t. wave and go for a revenge kill with something slower.
Explosion was stupid, I admit. Leech seed is much better.
Breloom (M) @ Toxic Orb
Trait: Poison Heal
EVs: 12 HP / 252 Atk / 244 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Spore
- Stone Edge
- Focus Punch
- Substitute
The one pokemon that absolutely drives me crazy is garchomp. In the few days that I've been trying out this team, garchomp always, always sand-evades the spore. Handling garchomp without screens up is very difficult, and my best strategy right now is to try to catch him using swords dance and encore him with erufuun, which at least temporarily forces him out to let me set up a reflect.
Having a scarfed breloom is nice for the surprise factor. While I'd be nice to have the standard sub-fp setup, that relies on getting a free turn to set up a sub. And, once again, since my team has common weaknesses, switching in on resistances is unlikely.
Having the surprise of a choice scarf Breloom isn't worth sacrificing the spore+focuspunch combo, at least for this team. I decided to give the revenge-killing position to someone else, and switch to what makes Breloom OU. I've noticed that the longer I hold out using breloom the better my team performs. Typically if he sends out the biggest threats first, I can make some sacrifices and get some revenge kills and be in the clear for a sweep.
I'm not positive I have the EVs right; should I be investing speed? It hardly seems like my speed matters if I want to exchange hits with a sub up.
Virizion @ Light Clay
Trait: Justified
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SDef
Impish Nature (+Def, -SAtk)
- Reflect
- Light Screen
- Close Combat
- X-Scissor
Rotom-C @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 112 HP / 252 SAtk / 144 Spd
Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Thunderbolt
- Shadow Ball
- Leaf Storm
- Hidden Power [Ice]
Due to having too similar typing for breloom, I'm giving Virizion's spot to Rotom-C.
Originally, I had thunder on this set, but as I slowly removed the raindance theme, it was becoming more and more of a hindrance. Also, I get really annoyed how many choice pokemon outspeed rotom. Scarf Genosect is a very serious problem for my team, and it's really, really tempting to invest more in speed and give this guy HP fire. But of course HP fire is going to conflict with any raindances I might set up, and having a speedy ice move can help stop some annoying dragon sweeps (specifically garchomp/salamence/dragonite. [This is a digression, but did everyone stop using salamence? I really have no idea why]).
Celebi @
Trait: Natural Cure
EVs: 132 HP / 252 SAtk / 124 Spd
Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Nasty Plot
-
-
-
Decided to go for a more offensive set. I figure if I can get a nasty plot off to pass to ludicolo, I might as well save a turn and have celebi give it a shot. I admit the raindance/nasty plot thing really isn't that great of an idea, lol, so I'm counting my losses and changing it around.
Psychic and Earth Power seemed like some necessary coverage that my team is missing otherwise, and I can typically get one nasty plot up if I switch on a fighting move aimed at ferrothorn (yeah I know their synergy isn't really that good considering fire wrecks both of them, but this is what I get for picking grass. And at least ferrothorn can take some dark/ice/bug moves for celebi).
Ludicolo (M) @ Life Orb
Trait: Swift Swim
EVs: 60 HP / 252 SAtk / 196 Spd
Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Hydro Pump
- Ice Beam
- Giga Drain
- Rain Dance
After taking raindance off celebi, I'm leaving Ludicolo to his own "setting up." Typically when a firetype/something-with-a-firemove revenge kills one of my pokemon, I send out ludicolo and pray I can take a hit. Typically I come out with the skin of my teeth, setup raindance and begin the counter-attack. STAB+raindance hydropump is worth the accuracy hit.
Okay I made some massive changes, so please check it out.
[THREATLIST COMING SOON]
