Hey Smogon,
I've been having a lot of trouble getting into gen 7 competitive play, but I finally made a team I feel excited about. Check it out:
They're all red!! Except for Rotom and Landorus, but we'll chock that one up to poetic license. Anyway, into the team:
Blackstar (Toxapex) (M) @ Black Sludge
Ability: Regenerator
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 HP / 232 Def / 24 SpD
Bold Nature
- Scald
- Recover
- Toxic
- Haze
Standard Smogon set, but it does the job. This is the first Pokemon I knew I wanted to use. When I'm bored on my phone, sometimes I read Smogon sets instead of scroll through Facebook, and when I happened upon this guy, I thought damn! Maybe he IS worth using! So I took his standard set, threw it onto teambuilder, and went from there.
Anyway, this guy is a fantastic pivot. Regenerator works wonders for longevity and he can take hits from most offensive Pokemon. Pheromosa in particular is a non-issue as long as this guy's alive. He can even stall out Mega Metagross's Zen Headbutt if the Scald burn procs on the switch, although that's pretty situational. However, he gets a lot of chances to switch in due to Regenerator, which makes the chance to burn at some point in the match pretty high. What's more, he doesn't really care about Magearna's Volt Switch, which is awesome.
Common weaknesses to Electric and Ground are unfortunate, but that's where my next Pokemon comes in:
the Lemon of Pink (Rotom-Wash) @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpA / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Volt Switch
- Pain Split
- Hydro Pump
- Will-O-Wisp
I always like when two Pokemon of the same type cover each others' weaknesses, which is why I went with this guy. While Rotom doesn't resist Electric, his special bulk allows him to tank hits from most Electric-type attackers in a pinch. I often switch this guy rather than Landorus into Electric attackers for fear of HP Ice.
He also function as an EQ absorber. He threatens Landorus with a Hydro Pump OHKO, and avoids the OHKO from a Landorus's Stone Edge even at +2. He also threatens a large part of the tier with Will-O-Wisp. Pretty standard Rotom, really. Anyway, moving on:
Separation Sunday (Tapu Bulu) @ Leftovers
Ability: Grassy Surge
EVs: 160 HP / 252 Atk / 96 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Leech Seed
- Protect
- Horn Leech
- Substitute
Tapu Bulu is great at annoying the opposing team, and Horn Leech hits really hard under Grassy Terrain, dealing respectable damage even to resists. Grassy Terrain is also really useful, as both Toxapex and Heatran are weak to EQ. But mostly, this guy is my scout--I often use Protect on my first turn to see what my opponent is going to do (this is great at determining whether or not opposing Garchomps run Poison Jab, for example). From there, it's usually safe to set up Leech Seed, creating pressure on the opponent's switch-in and providing support for my counter-switch. He can also beat Tapu Koko lacking Brave Bird in a 1v1 scenario, which is a Pokemon my team sometimes struggles with.
Twin Cinema (Heatran) (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpA / 4 SpD
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Stealth Rock
- Lava Plume
- Roar
- Flash Cannon
This lady is my team's SR setter. She also provides a number of specific resistances, and Roar is a handy phazing tool when I don't want to switch into Toxapex. Lava Plume is great for wearing the opposing team down while also discouraging physical attackers from switching in, and Flash Cannon puts pressure on Tapu Lele. Because Lele is almost always choiced, Heatran can force Lele out pretty much all of the time as long as it doesn't use Focus Blast. It takes a bit of predicting, but between Heatran and Scizor, this scenario plays out in my favor most of the time.
A lot of people like to switch Tapu Fini into Heatran so they can force me out and Defog. But Flash Cannon does around 30-35%, and Fini can't do much to Heatran unless it runs Surf (which I find to be fairly uncommon). Sure, Nature's Madness can hurt, but only once, and from there, Heatran wins the matchup.
Born to Run (Landorus-Therian) @ Flyinium Z
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- U-turn
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- Fly
And here's everyone's favorite Pokemon, Landorus. Intimidate is great, and Supersonic Skystrike works wonders. It's there to beat opposing Grass types, but it's a nuke of such insane power than it works in pretty much any tight scenario. I run max Speed because he usually wants to hit first. EdgeQuake coverage is a must, although Stone Edge sometimes underperforms.
I'm not totally sold on using U-Turn here. When I built the team, I had a Volt-Turn core with Rotom in mind, but I very rarely find myself clicking U-Turn. Without passive recovery, I guess I end up using this guy more often in the lategame. I'm thinking about switch U-Turn out for SD or even Roost. Thoughts?
Skeletal Lampings (Scizor) (M) @ Scizorite
Ability: Technician
EVs: 248 HP / 116 Def / 128 SpD / 16 Spe
Impish Nature
- Swords Dance
- Roost
- Bullet Punch
- Bug Bite
I originally had Scarf Lele here, but my team was having a serious Mega Metagross problem, which led me to switch to this guy. My team's synergy works better now, and Scizor forms a nice core with Heatran. I run Bug Bite over U-Turn so I can hit Mega Megagross hard, but also because I don't really run this guy as a pivot. I already have enough of those.
Because my team is pretty slow on average, Bullet Punch is the most important move on this set. It also picks off weakened or frail threats like Life Orb Greninja or Tapu Koko. As long as Lele isn't choiced into Focus Blast, Scizor can usually beat it (another reason I went with Bug Bite over U-Turn).
---
Anyway, I guess that's the team. I don't have a hazard remover, but nobody's weak to SR, two of my Pokemon avoid Spikes, and Toxapex eats Toxic Spikes. Anyone notice any major holes? Definitely looking for help here.
I've been having a lot of trouble getting into gen 7 competitive play, but I finally made a team I feel excited about. Check it out:
They're all red!! Except for Rotom and Landorus, but we'll chock that one up to poetic license. Anyway, into the team:
Blackstar (Toxapex) (M) @ Black Sludge
Ability: Regenerator
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 HP / 232 Def / 24 SpD
Bold Nature
- Scald
- Recover
- Toxic
- Haze
Standard Smogon set, but it does the job. This is the first Pokemon I knew I wanted to use. When I'm bored on my phone, sometimes I read Smogon sets instead of scroll through Facebook, and when I happened upon this guy, I thought damn! Maybe he IS worth using! So I took his standard set, threw it onto teambuilder, and went from there.
Anyway, this guy is a fantastic pivot. Regenerator works wonders for longevity and he can take hits from most offensive Pokemon. Pheromosa in particular is a non-issue as long as this guy's alive. He can even stall out Mega Metagross's Zen Headbutt if the Scald burn procs on the switch, although that's pretty situational. However, he gets a lot of chances to switch in due to Regenerator, which makes the chance to burn at some point in the match pretty high. What's more, he doesn't really care about Magearna's Volt Switch, which is awesome.
Common weaknesses to Electric and Ground are unfortunate, but that's where my next Pokemon comes in:
the Lemon of Pink (Rotom-Wash) @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpA / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Volt Switch
- Pain Split
- Hydro Pump
- Will-O-Wisp
I always like when two Pokemon of the same type cover each others' weaknesses, which is why I went with this guy. While Rotom doesn't resist Electric, his special bulk allows him to tank hits from most Electric-type attackers in a pinch. I often switch this guy rather than Landorus into Electric attackers for fear of HP Ice.
He also function as an EQ absorber. He threatens Landorus with a Hydro Pump OHKO, and avoids the OHKO from a Landorus's Stone Edge even at +2. He also threatens a large part of the tier with Will-O-Wisp. Pretty standard Rotom, really. Anyway, moving on:
Separation Sunday (Tapu Bulu) @ Leftovers
Ability: Grassy Surge
EVs: 160 HP / 252 Atk / 96 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Leech Seed
- Protect
- Horn Leech
- Substitute
Tapu Bulu is great at annoying the opposing team, and Horn Leech hits really hard under Grassy Terrain, dealing respectable damage even to resists. Grassy Terrain is also really useful, as both Toxapex and Heatran are weak to EQ. But mostly, this guy is my scout--I often use Protect on my first turn to see what my opponent is going to do (this is great at determining whether or not opposing Garchomps run Poison Jab, for example). From there, it's usually safe to set up Leech Seed, creating pressure on the opponent's switch-in and providing support for my counter-switch. He can also beat Tapu Koko lacking Brave Bird in a 1v1 scenario, which is a Pokemon my team sometimes struggles with.
Twin Cinema (Heatran) (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpA / 4 SpD
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Stealth Rock
- Lava Plume
- Roar
- Flash Cannon
This lady is my team's SR setter. She also provides a number of specific resistances, and Roar is a handy phazing tool when I don't want to switch into Toxapex. Lava Plume is great for wearing the opposing team down while also discouraging physical attackers from switching in, and Flash Cannon puts pressure on Tapu Lele. Because Lele is almost always choiced, Heatran can force Lele out pretty much all of the time as long as it doesn't use Focus Blast. It takes a bit of predicting, but between Heatran and Scizor, this scenario plays out in my favor most of the time.
A lot of people like to switch Tapu Fini into Heatran so they can force me out and Defog. But Flash Cannon does around 30-35%, and Fini can't do much to Heatran unless it runs Surf (which I find to be fairly uncommon). Sure, Nature's Madness can hurt, but only once, and from there, Heatran wins the matchup.
Born to Run (Landorus-Therian) @ Flyinium Z
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- U-turn
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- Fly
And here's everyone's favorite Pokemon, Landorus. Intimidate is great, and Supersonic Skystrike works wonders. It's there to beat opposing Grass types, but it's a nuke of such insane power than it works in pretty much any tight scenario. I run max Speed because he usually wants to hit first. EdgeQuake coverage is a must, although Stone Edge sometimes underperforms.
I'm not totally sold on using U-Turn here. When I built the team, I had a Volt-Turn core with Rotom in mind, but I very rarely find myself clicking U-Turn. Without passive recovery, I guess I end up using this guy more often in the lategame. I'm thinking about switch U-Turn out for SD or even Roost. Thoughts?
Skeletal Lampings (Scizor) (M) @ Scizorite
Ability: Technician
EVs: 248 HP / 116 Def / 128 SpD / 16 Spe
Impish Nature
- Swords Dance
- Roost
- Bullet Punch
- Bug Bite
I originally had Scarf Lele here, but my team was having a serious Mega Metagross problem, which led me to switch to this guy. My team's synergy works better now, and Scizor forms a nice core with Heatran. I run Bug Bite over U-Turn so I can hit Mega Megagross hard, but also because I don't really run this guy as a pivot. I already have enough of those.
Because my team is pretty slow on average, Bullet Punch is the most important move on this set. It also picks off weakened or frail threats like Life Orb Greninja or Tapu Koko. As long as Lele isn't choiced into Focus Blast, Scizor can usually beat it (another reason I went with Bug Bite over U-Turn).
---
Anyway, I guess that's the team. I don't have a hazard remover, but nobody's weak to SR, two of my Pokemon avoid Spikes, and Toxapex eats Toxic Spikes. Anyone notice any major holes? Definitely looking for help here.