The Posse (Honchkrow and Friends)

[RabidChipmunk]

Hey everybody. You probably don't know me because I probably don't know you, but regardless, I've finally decided to stop lurking and actually join the Pokemon metagame. My first team was an OU sun team that has met with moderate success, and here I have my first UU team, which has actually done me very well.

The team is centered around Honchkrow because he's the best Pokemon and if you disagree you're a communist. So, without further ado, here's the posse. EV spreads and movesets are fairly standard Smogon stuff because, like I said, I'm new here.

Daddy-O (Honchkrow) @ Life Orb, Adamant
Moxie
20 HP / 252 ATK / 236 Spe
Roost
Substitute
Sucker Punch
Brave Bird

Honchkrow is the star of the team, which makes it all the more sad that he isn't used much. But when he is, it's usually good game. Honchkrow makes an excellent late-game sweeper, able to come in on a predicted move or a weakened enemy, either sub up or sucker punch, and then use his newly acquired Moxie boost to punch Honchkrow-shaped holes through the opposing team by using Brave Bird, stopping only to roost once recoil wears him out. It's just a shame he isn't any faster, but sucker punch can occasionally patch that up.

Hans (Ambipom) @ Life Orb, Adamant
Technician
252 ATK / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Fake Out
Return
Low Kick
U-Turn

You know, I didn't realize until I started typing up this thing that my Ambipom is adamant, when the standard Smogon set calls for Jolly. Is that an issue? It might explain why my Ambipom's fake outs wrecked so many things.

Ambipom forms the first half of my ever-important Fake Out / U-Turn core with Mienshao, which is great for brutally wearing foes down in preparation for Honchkrow. Low Kick is good for hitting the occasional Pokemon weak to fighting and Return is just sorta there for STAB if I need it after Fake Out, but really, Fake Out / U-Turn is the crux of this set.

RikkiTikki (Mienshao) @ Life Orb, Jolly
Regenerator
4 HP / 252 ATK / 252 Spe
Hi Jump Kick
Stone Edge
Fake Out
U-Turn

Completing the previously alluded to Fake-Out / U-Turn core is Rikki Tikki Tavi, who lacks Ambipom's Technician-boosted raw power, but makes up for it with longevity and more utility. Unlike Ambipom, who basically fakes out the enemy and then scurry's away like he just realized he needs to put more change in the parking meter, Mienshao has the ability to actually wreck some shit after faking out the enemy, and then she can scurry back to safety.

Hi Jump Kick gives Mienshao and excellent stab move, and Stone Edge completes her coverage, demolishing any Pokemon hit super-effectively by it.

Lemonade (Roserade) @ Leftovers, Timid
Natural Cure
4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Sleep Powder
Toxic Spikes
Giga Drain
Sludge Bomb

I nicknamed my Roserade "Lemonade." Bet nobody's done that before.

Roserade is primarily my Toxic Spikes user, helping me wear things down so Honchkrow and pick them off better. It's just a shame that I can never seem to ever get more than one layer of TS down, but hey, that's a problem with my gameplay, not my strategy, and the only way to fix that is to work on it.

Sleep Powder is another great move, as anything that gets put to sleep can basically kiss its ass goodbye. Giga Drain is there for added longevity and Sludge Bomb is for STAB.

For Whom (Bronzong) @Leftovers, Relaxed
Levitate
252 HP / 252 DEF / 4 SpD
Stealth Rock
Toxic
Gyro Ball
Earthquake

I nicknamed my Bronzong "For Whom," as in "For Whom the Bell Tolls." Again, I bet nobody's done that before.

Bronzong is my premier Stealth Rock user, as well as just an overall beast of a wall. Gyro Ball and Earthquake are there so he can fight back, if only just a little bit, and Toxic is there to help wear down anything that needs wearing down, and isn't Toxic'd by Roserade's spikes. Hope that's not too redundant.

Dreidel (Claydol) @ Light Clay, Sassy
Levitate
252 HP / 4 DEF / 252 SpD
Reflect
Light Screen
Earthquake
Rapid Spin

I nicknamed by Claydol "Dreidel." Once again, completely original.

Claydol is my dual-purpose screener / rapid spinner, as well as serving as a relatively bulky wall. His inferior typing means he's not quite as good at it as Bronzong, but he has more SpD investment than Bronzong, so he can still take a hit if he needs too. Earthquake is there for offensive presence, but my Claydol is rarely brought in on an offensive role.


And there you have it, Honchkrow's posse. Any tips, changes or advice are more than welcome.

 

[ss234]

Alright, you've got a pretty solid team here, but it could do with some work.

You really need something to break through Gligar, as he walls all of your physical attackers for days, as well as Bronzong and can Toxic and Earthquake Roserade and Claydol. Therefore, either a lure or a wallbreaker is a great idea. I think the best option is to give Mienshao HP Ice though, since you don't have to swap any pokes out yet, and he can weaknen Gligar enough so that Honchkrwo can sweep late-game.

Also, you have a very big Substitute Chandelure weakness. He comes in on Roserade and Ambipom for free, and can Subsitute on Honchkrow's Sucker Punch then wreck with Fire Blast to take out your team one by one. Now, since this is a very offensive team, you could run either Houndoom or Snorlax over Ambipom-who has any good battler will tell you is pathetic. The Houndoom set would be the standard on site one, and the Snorlax set would be the offensive one-since the RestTalk set would bring your momentum down.

Now, Claydol. What is he doing on your team? Rapid Spin support isn't necessary, and since he can't break through any ghost type is useless against spike stacking teams anyway. Dual Screens aren't really that necessary, and a special attacker would help an awful lot to try and break through physical walls, and Mienshao destroys all of the special walls with ease(Porygon2, Snorlax and Umbreon). Offensive Trick Room Cofagrigus solves all of these problems, and likes to lure in Snorlax for Mienshao to take out. Also, he can break through Gligar with ease.
Just as a last note, change Roserade to a more bulky spread, although you can keep Toxic Spikes if you want to. I'd prefer Spikes but...

So Snorlax/Houndoom over Ambipom, Bulkier spread on Roserade, Offensive TR Cofagrigus over Claydol and HP Ice on Mienshao.

GL

 

[RabidChipmunk]

Alright, you've got a pretty solid team here, but it could do with some work.

You really need something to break through Gligar, as he walls all of your physical attackers for days, as well as Bronzong and can Toxic and Earthquake Roserade and Claydol. Therefore, either a lure or a wallbreaker is a great idea. I think the best option is to give Mienshao HP Ice though, since you don't have to swap any pokes out yet, and he can weaknen Gligar enough so that Honchkrwo can sweep late-game.

Also, you have a very big Substitute Chandelure weakness. He comes in on Roserade and Ambipom for free, and can Subsitute on Honchkrow's Sucker Punch then wreck with Fire Blast to take out your team one by one. Now, since this is a very offensive team, you could run either Houndoom or Snorlax over Ambipom-who has any good battler will tell you is pathetic. The Houndoom set would be the standard on site one, and the Snorlax set would be the offensive one-since the RestTalk set would bring your momentum down.

Now, Claydol. What is he doing on your team? Rapid Spin support isn't necessary, and since he can't break through any ghost type is useless against spike stacking teams anyway. Dual Screens aren't really that necessary, and a special attacker would help an awful lot to try and break through physical walls, and Mienshao destroys all of the special walls with ease(Porygon2, Snorlax and Umbreon). Offensive Trick Room Cofagrigus solves all of these problems, and likes to lure in Snorlax for Mienshao to take out. Also, he can break through Gligar with ease.
Just as a last note, change Roserade to a more bulky spread, although you can keep Toxic Spikes if you want to. I'd prefer Spikes but...

So Snorlax/Houndoom over Ambipom, Bulkier spread on Roserade, Offensive TR Cofagrigus over Claydol and HP Ice on Mienshao.

GL

Thanks for the help. You made a lot of good points and I plan on putting them all into play, but I was hoping to not put HP Ice on Mienshao if I can avoid it. Stone Edge has proven to be hugely useful for OHKO'ing Togekiss after Stealth Rock, and given it's prevalence in the UU metagame, I'd hate to lose it. Is there any other Pokemon I can put an ice-type move on?

I was always a bit iffy on Ambipom anyways, although I wouldn't call him pathetic. STAB, technician-boosted Fake Out can actually really hurt a lot of things that don't resist it.

 

[LUST]

Locking this thread under Rule 4 of the Forum Guidelines. Please try to limit the number of threads you post, even if your teams are different, you should not be posting a thread every few days, wait a minimum of 10 days time period.