The concept I had while building the team was a simple one... speed. I wanted to always get the first attack, and I wanted to have enough variety in my attacks to be able to do a decent amount of damage regardless of what I'm against. To help with the speed portion of that, every member of the team is 19+ speed. When I assembled my team, I realized that they could resemble a rainbow when properly lined up, so I capitalized because who doesn't like a rainbow?
Red (Voltorb) - Life Orb - Static
64HP / 248 SpA / 196 Speed / Timid
Thunderbolt /Signal Beam/ HP:Grass/ Explosion
Originally I had HP Ice, but I changed to HP: Grass as it does a huge amount of damage to things they'll try to switch in, most of the time with an OHKO or 2HKO, and Voltorb's superior speed will let him get the kill in the latter case. He ties for speed with diglett, and I'm not sure how speed ties work, but whoever wins it gets an OHKO. The main reason for this switch, however, is RestTalk Chinchou, letting me kill it while its sleeping via HP:Grass into Explosion. The biggest threat to him that I've encountered is Phanpy who can take anything you throw at him while he only needs one attack to kill you.
Orange (Shiny Shellder) - Choice Scarf - Skill Link
76HP / 236 Atk / 196 Speed / Jolly
Icicle Spear / Rock Blast / Ice Shard / Razor Shell
With his scarf his normally low speed is boosted to be the fastest on my team. The majority of my battles are spent whittling down the enemy team until I can throw this guy out so he can sweep. Razor Shell helps round out who he can attack (I don't like Hydro Blast because of its low accuracy). Most of the time, however, Rock Blast or Icicle Spear are the better choices to use. I have Ice Shard because otherwise he is outsped by a scraggy with dragon dance and other scarf-users.
Yellow (Abra) - Focus Sash - Magic Guard
252 SpA / 252 Speed / Timid
Psychic / Shadow Ball / HP: Fighting / Protect
His high speed and special attack made him a great fit for the team, especially because the sash/magic guard combo makes him pseudo-tanky, giving me something to help stop setup sweepers who boost their speed past anything on my team. He can OHKO or 2HKO a majority of enemies, but Misdreavus and Murkrow both take 2 hits to kill, and they kill him in two attacks (Sash) while having the same speed, so, again, I don't know how speed ties work, but whoever wins it gets the kill.
Blue (Shiny Ponyta) - Life Orb - Flash Fire
72HP / 240 Atk / 196 Speed / Jolly
Flare Blitz / Wild Charge / Return / HP: Grass
Flare Blitz hits like a truck and OHKOs anything that doesn't resist it. I picked HP:Grass over Flame Charge because the recoil damage on Flare Blitz doesn't bother me and I wanted more coverage, especially for Chinchou. A quick note is that water attacks are fairly predictable and if you're afraid of a scarf or not taking them out before they get to attack you can get a free switch to poliwag with his Water Absorb.
Indigo (Poliwag) - Oran Berry - Water Absorb
196 Atk / 36 Def / 36 SpD / 240 Speed / Jolly
Hypnosis / Belly Drum / Waterfall / Return
I always start with this guy. I hypnosis the enemy which gives me a free turn to slap my stomache and eat my berry, leaving me at full HP and x4 Atk. Most of the time this fails, however, because either A) Hypnosis misses, B) They don't swap out and wake up immediately, C) they swap in someone who is faster than I am, or D) They swap in Frillish or Ferroseed or something else that can ignore everything that I throw out. If none of these things happen, poliwag will take out a large chunk of the opponents team, sometimes even clearing their entire team out. If C or D happens you can either sacrifice him, since he's already put someone to sleep and proved his worth, or swap him out to save for later. If A or B happens, he is pretty much dead.
Misfit (Diglett) - Life Orb - Arena Trap
252 Atk. / 252 Speed / Jolly
Earthquake / Rock Slide / Sucker Punch / Aerial Ace
Super fast and has the "Arena Trap" ability allowing him to revenge kill a lot of things and has the potential to sweep.Sucker Punch gives me another priority attack on the team. Aerial Ace has two purposes, firstly it does a huge amount of damage to Grass types. Secondly, it has one of the greatest "what just happened" moments in the game as a ground-bound creature flys across the screen, complete with his dirt home. (Please note that your opponents will commonly support this phrase with an expletive).
The entirety of the team is somewhat frail, relying on speed instead of bulkiness to survive, but Flashfire Water Absorb and Diglett being ground type lets you switch without taking any damage, so as to preserve them.
The biggest weakness I've noticed in my team is against things that set up and gain speed in the process because after the boost they simply outspeed everything on your team and, since everything on the team relies on speed rather than bulkyness, its easy for them to sweep. You'll get an attack of while they're setting up, however, and Sucker Punch and Ice Shard help can whittle down so that Abra can clean up (by surviving via his sash) unless its a skill-link shellder. Dragon dance scraggy is a notable weakness due to this, since he resists sucker punch.
In order to patch up the weakness to Scraggy, I was thinking about taking Poliwag out and putting in something different, but I'm not sure what to put in because he's also currently my lead.
A preemptive thank-you for anyone who rates my team!
Red (Voltorb) - Life Orb - Static
64HP / 248 SpA / 196 Speed / Timid
Thunderbolt /Signal Beam/ HP:Grass/ Explosion
Originally I had HP Ice, but I changed to HP: Grass as it does a huge amount of damage to things they'll try to switch in, most of the time with an OHKO or 2HKO, and Voltorb's superior speed will let him get the kill in the latter case. He ties for speed with diglett, and I'm not sure how speed ties work, but whoever wins it gets an OHKO. The main reason for this switch, however, is RestTalk Chinchou, letting me kill it while its sleeping via HP:Grass into Explosion. The biggest threat to him that I've encountered is Phanpy who can take anything you throw at him while he only needs one attack to kill you.
Orange (Shiny Shellder) - Choice Scarf - Skill Link
76HP / 236 Atk / 196 Speed / Jolly
Icicle Spear / Rock Blast / Ice Shard / Razor Shell
With his scarf his normally low speed is boosted to be the fastest on my team. The majority of my battles are spent whittling down the enemy team until I can throw this guy out so he can sweep. Razor Shell helps round out who he can attack (I don't like Hydro Blast because of its low accuracy). Most of the time, however, Rock Blast or Icicle Spear are the better choices to use. I have Ice Shard because otherwise he is outsped by a scraggy with dragon dance and other scarf-users.
Yellow (Abra) - Focus Sash - Magic Guard
252 SpA / 252 Speed / Timid
Psychic / Shadow Ball / HP: Fighting / Protect
His high speed and special attack made him a great fit for the team, especially because the sash/magic guard combo makes him pseudo-tanky, giving me something to help stop setup sweepers who boost their speed past anything on my team. He can OHKO or 2HKO a majority of enemies, but Misdreavus and Murkrow both take 2 hits to kill, and they kill him in two attacks (Sash) while having the same speed, so, again, I don't know how speed ties work, but whoever wins it gets the kill.
Blue (Shiny Ponyta) - Life Orb - Flash Fire
72HP / 240 Atk / 196 Speed / Jolly
Flare Blitz / Wild Charge / Return / HP: Grass
Flare Blitz hits like a truck and OHKOs anything that doesn't resist it. I picked HP:Grass over Flame Charge because the recoil damage on Flare Blitz doesn't bother me and I wanted more coverage, especially for Chinchou. A quick note is that water attacks are fairly predictable and if you're afraid of a scarf or not taking them out before they get to attack you can get a free switch to poliwag with his Water Absorb.
Indigo (Poliwag) - Oran Berry - Water Absorb
196 Atk / 36 Def / 36 SpD / 240 Speed / Jolly
Hypnosis / Belly Drum / Waterfall / Return
I always start with this guy. I hypnosis the enemy which gives me a free turn to slap my stomache and eat my berry, leaving me at full HP and x4 Atk. Most of the time this fails, however, because either A) Hypnosis misses, B) They don't swap out and wake up immediately, C) they swap in someone who is faster than I am, or D) They swap in Frillish or Ferroseed or something else that can ignore everything that I throw out. If none of these things happen, poliwag will take out a large chunk of the opponents team, sometimes even clearing their entire team out. If C or D happens you can either sacrifice him, since he's already put someone to sleep and proved his worth, or swap him out to save for later. If A or B happens, he is pretty much dead.
Misfit (Diglett) - Life Orb - Arena Trap
252 Atk. / 252 Speed / Jolly
Earthquake / Rock Slide / Sucker Punch / Aerial Ace
Super fast and has the "Arena Trap" ability allowing him to revenge kill a lot of things and has the potential to sweep.Sucker Punch gives me another priority attack on the team. Aerial Ace has two purposes, firstly it does a huge amount of damage to Grass types. Secondly, it has one of the greatest "what just happened" moments in the game as a ground-bound creature flys across the screen, complete with his dirt home. (Please note that your opponents will commonly support this phrase with an expletive).
The entirety of the team is somewhat frail, relying on speed instead of bulkiness to survive, but Flashfire Water Absorb and Diglett being ground type lets you switch without taking any damage, so as to preserve them.
The biggest weakness I've noticed in my team is against things that set up and gain speed in the process because after the boost they simply outspeed everything on your team and, since everything on the team relies on speed rather than bulkyness, its easy for them to sweep. You'll get an attack of while they're setting up, however, and Sucker Punch and Ice Shard help can whittle down so that Abra can clean up (by surviving via his sash) unless its a skill-link shellder. Dragon dance scraggy is a notable weakness due to this, since he resists sucker punch.
In order to patch up the weakness to Scraggy, I was thinking about taking Poliwag out and putting in something different, but I'm not sure what to put in because he's also currently my lead.
A preemptive thank-you for anyone who rates my team!
