Thunder strikes only Once!

[XxJohny2haixX]

Hello everyone.

As a brief overview, I will explain the team you will hopfully read!

This team relies heavily on the concept of lures, and suprises. All, in a effort to allow a sweep of a Agility Zapdos.

Which may spell out the demise of the team, or the ultimate win.

Parts Inspection
.............

​

Zapdos has two predominate counters; Blissey and by extention Snorlax, and Tyranitar, umong others. As explained previously, this team relies heavily on the concept of lures, and suprishes. For this reason, the Gas pokemon has been added; Gengar. One can read the Gengar set down below, if one wishes to choose to know it.​

​

Another pokemon that still can not be handled is; Latias. Then I searched for a poke that Latias loves to come into, Infernape, the Flame pokemon. Infernape can lure Latias out, then hits her with a U-Turn, causing more then 50%! And able to also be able to handle Blissey, and Tyranitar is things go wrong.​

I also wanted a poke that can handle Latias, and among other troubling weak pokes, and a interesting item choice. Tyranitar, with the bulky spread can come in on almost any Heatran, Latias, and other weaker special attackers, which makes him very appealing. However, his ability, Sand Stream does hurt every other member of my team, I still think he is a welcome addition to the team.​

After this point choosing member became really hard. I choose to have a reliable revenge killer, therefore, a Scarfed Latias was chosen able to take down a Salamence, or a Gyarados. A added effect could be tricking a Scarf onto a Blissey. And adds further protiction against Infernape.​

At this point, there are many choices and only one spot, which becomes hard to count it down. I looked Metagross, and Heatran, however with the addition of those two, my ground weakness becomes more pronouced. Therefore, Swampert was picked, mainly because I wanted a bulky lead, and can take hits and dish them out.​

A Quick Glance:

Interesting Facts:
~Pokemon weak to SR
~3 pokes immune to spikes / toxic spikes
~No form of recovery
~Lacks a spinner​

Now without further ado:​

Through the Microscope
........................​

{Swampert}
Famfrit@Leftovers{

}
Relaxed
EV: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Def
~Earthquake {

}
~Ice Punch {

}
~Stealth Rock {

}
~Protect {

}​

Swampert, is a very nice lead, able to take many hits and return the hits. The 4x grass weakness isn't that big of a problem. Swampert also serves as a go to poke if I'm hesitant about a opposing poke, such a Salamence. ​

Earthquake is a obvious choice, nice base power, alongside good coverage and STAB. Instead of Ice Beam, I have chosen Ice Punch, which better enables 'Pert to 2KO a standard Latias. Which Ice beam cannot dream to do, also I don;t see a significant difference besides being able to hurt Latias. Protect enables me to obtain several things. More leftover recovery, and the ability to scout the opponent.​

Swampert one weakness, Grass is covered by most of the team, barring Tyranitar.

{Latias}
Ultima@Choice Scarf {

}
Timid
EV: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
~Draco Meteor {

}
~Surf {

}
~Thunderbolt {

}
~Trick {

}

Latias, being as fast as she is can revenge kill almost anything. Most notabably, DD Salamence, Gyarados, and to a lesser extent Tyranitar.
Since I saw I had a large weakness to Infernape, I needed something to check him, while still revenge killing, two pokes came up; Latias, and Starmie. I choose Latias due to her bulk and decent typing. Draco Meteor is here for the sheer power. Surf allows to provide better coverage, thunderbolt allowsher to effectivily maim Gyarados. Meanwhile, Trick can cripple a Blissey or any incoming wall.

{Tyranitar}
Broly@Expert Belt{

}
Sassy
EV: 252 HP / 40 Atk / 216 SpD
~Crunch {

}
~Pursuit {

}
~Earthquake {

}
~HP

Tyranitar is mix of good and bad. First off, the item Expert Belt feigns the idea of a Choice Band, and still power up the moves it needs to. Crunch, and Pursuit allow Tyranitar to deal with Latias. Earthquake allows Tyranitar to do two predominatly actions. One, to effectivly deal with Heatran, which with a bulky EVs cannot to much. And second, it also allows me to easily dispatch of a Lucario, or any ground weak pokes from getting greedy and setting up. One may ask, why does this person have HP Grass on a Tyranitar, even though he doesn't even have any SpA EVs?
Well, its there for one major reason, to weaken Swampert. Even without SpA investment, does a minimum of, 62%. As one may know, Swampert easily walls any Zapdos that lacks HP Grass. A added plus is that even with a -Spe nature Tyranitar is able to outspeed the standard Swampert by 2 points! Meanwhile, Swampert fails to OHKO with a Earthquake, however it does deal a minimum of 64%, which seems to be a fair trade off.

Another added effect is that Expert Belt feigns the idea of a Choice band, and after a pursuit, many people choose to go to a stat up, such as a Lucario, who recives a EQ to the face, dealing a minimum of 90%.

The EV is set is the standard specially defensive set, which can take a awesome amount of torment before going down.

{Infernape}
Goku@Life Orb {

}
Naive
EV: 248 Atk / 64 SpA / 196 Spe
~Close Combat {

}
~Overheat {

}
~U-Turn {

}
~Mach Punch {

}

Infernape always ends up on the team, somehow. This preticular set is the more physically offensive set. U-Turn being a major crux of the set, able to hit, but not only; Latias, who loses more then 50% when getting hit.

Close Combat is obvious, and helps with dealing with stall, and Blissey and Tyranitar. Overheat, addes that punch on the special side of the spectrum if needed, the power is less then 2% then Fire Blast's power on the special offensive set. U-Turn as explained not only helps keep the momentum in by side, it also helps to deal with; Cresseila, Latias. Mach Punch is extra protection against Agility Empoleon, and Swords Dance Lucario, should they find an opening.

I took 4 EVs and placed them in speed, to almost insure that I am by chance faster then a opposing Infernape.

{Gengar}
Zodiac@Expert Belt {

}
Hasty
EV: 100 Atk / 156 SpA / 252 Spe
~Substuite {

}
~Shadow Ball {

}
~Focus Punch {

}
~Hidden Power {

}

Once again, another lure. When many people see a Gengar they want to send out Tyranitar, or Scizor, or Blissey to either, kill it, or wall it. 2 of the 3 pokes just named make Zapdos' sweep a little bit harder to achieve.

Substuite is to do a multitude of things; to make revenge killing much harder, and to provide protection form status'. Also, allows to fire off un-flinced Focus Punches. Shadow ball is obvious STAB, and helps for decent damage. Focus punch allows Gengar to hit; Blissey, Tyranitar, and Snorlax for super effective damage. Although, Bold Blissey can avoid a 2KO with the use of protect. Hidden Power Fire is for steels, namly, Scizor. Which can't touch Gengar is hes behind the Substute.

Expert belt is so Gengar doesn't need to split EVs in order to gain the proper 2KOs and OHKOs he needs.

{Zapdos}
Adrameelich@Life Orb {

}
Modest
EV: 136 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpA / 116 Spe
~Agility {

}
~Thunderbolt {

}
~Heat Wave {

}
~Hidden Power {

}

The star of the show. Many view Zapdos to be slower, and not as hard hitting, this set will prove other wise. After a agility only base 125s can dream to outspeed Zapdos, albeit with a Choice Scarf. And Zapdos resists most of the priority attacks now a days, espiecially Bullet Punch, and Mach Punch {Vacum Wave}. However, Zapdos is neutruel to Extremespeed, ans weak to Ice Shard balance things out.

Thunderbolt is a nice powerful STAB coming off of 383 SpA backed by LO is a scary thought, however the specially defensive behemoth Tyranitar takes a poltry 25%, which means the has to be taken out previously. Heat Wave is a nice move to complement Thunderbolt, type-wish. The last spot is the hardest, like always. I had 3 chooses; HP [Ice], [Grass], and Roost. Each move has their merits, however I in the end choose [Ice] or else Gliscor and Flygon would have a field day, however that leaves me open to Swampert. That's where Tyranitar comes in, hopfully weaking the Frog man severly or simply taking it out. Since this is a offensive team I didn't really valuse Roost until I saw how much Dos wa losing each turn, with SR, SS, and LO his HP whittles away quickly.

The EVs are simple. 252 in SpA to have the biggest punch possible. 116 Spe so after a Agiliy, only base positive 125s can revenge kill it, with a Choice Scarf. the rest go in HP, however 140 HP makes Zapdos' health divisable by 4 so it was dropped to 136, and 4 was added to Defense.



I would like to thank anyone who bothered to read this, and to anyone who can help!?


Threat should be under this...

 

[XxJohny2haixX]

Threat List

Offensive Threats​

Quote:
Black: is very easily handled.
Green: Can be a problem, but can be handled
Red: Very problematic, can cause big problems if handled wrong.

{Azelf}: Lead Azelf can cause come problems, however Swampert isn't a sitting duck. He can hit Azelf with an Ice punch, then hopfully go to Tyranitar. However if he explodes that really weakens him. Not very easy to deal with.​

{Breloom}: Another big problem, since 98% of Breloom carry Spore, that is one thing that always hurts. If possible I try to go to Swampert to take the Sleep. Then when Breloom gets a Sub up go to Infernape, and U-Turn, hopfully that Focus Punch allowing Gengar a free switch in. Other then that Im hard pressed to continually fight it off.​

{Celebi}: I would normally go to either Tyranitar, Infernape, or Gengar. I would normally go to Tyranitar since he can really place Celebi in a check mate position. If Infernape can get in unscathed, then its a field day with either; U-Turn, Overheat, it gonna go down either way.​

{Dugtrio}: Since Dugtrio always gets at least one kill, It always difficult when one loses an important memebr of the team, if Scarfed of banded simply play with reistances. If LOed, then also play with resistances, Exmaple: if Tyranitar dies to EQ, and 'Trio is LOed, go to Gengar, they will obviously know an attack is comingm however since they are faster it a dangrous game, I can set a sub up while they sucker punch.​

{Electivire}: Since I only have one electric attack I dont have to worry about him out speeding me. I can simply go to Swampert if hes alive, or 'Vire lacks HP Grass. Infernape, Gengar, Latias all can use thei STABs to take him down.​

{Empoleon}: Empoleon can cause me hell, especially the AgilitySub petaya set. I will usually need a sacrifice a poke, to get rid of the sub, then hopfully have Infernape around to use mach punch.​

{Flygon}: Another so-so porblem. Swampert is again a initail swicth in. If chioced and stuck on a resisted attack I take advantage of that. exmaple, EQ with Gengar. If LOed hope that swampert can survive or revenge kill with either Infernpae or Latias.​

{Gengar}: My main counter being Tyranitar. I prefer to sacrifice a weakened poke then bring in Tyranitar to KO. I can also revenge kill with Latias, although I prefer not to. It will almost always take something down to saftly get Tyranitar in.​

{Gliscor}: It all depends if Swampert is still healthy.If not I would need to out predict and hopfully it will succub to my attacks. Exmaple Infernape's Overheat deals an average of 75%. ​

{Gyarados}: Can be very dangrous. Since my team is heavily weak to DDers. If Latias is still breathing then, I can out speed and KO with thunderbolt.​

{Heatran}: Does have the possibly to cause some major porblems. If it lacks Hidden Power Grass Swampert can come in, however since many Heatran are paired with Celebi that isn't a practical idea. Tyranitar being the nest best pokemon, able to OHKO with EQ, and take on Celebi with its STABs.​

{Heracross}: Very hard to take down, period. If its scarfed I can only hope that Latias' STABs can KO it. Or if it Banded revenge kill it with Infernape's fire STAB. If in a pinch Zapdos can take it down.​

{Infernape}: He can cause me many problems, Since the only thing that can even come in is Latias, and if it has U-Turn then I would have to hopfully out speed with my own Infernape, or KO it with Gengar, Note: no poke can come in safely.

{Jirachi}: The special set can be handled my Tyranitar, if it gets a crit, or the sp.def drop then Im in trouble. The lead set does cause Swampert some headache. However EQ takes care of him.

{Kingdra}: Kingdra can also cause me problems. Once again my go to guy is Swampert, which is by this point very weak due the constant barrage of attacks, If its a stat upper, hopfully revenge kill with Latias. If just a attacker hopfully weaken it through many turns,

{Latias}: I generally need to scarifice a poke, b/c its hard to know if its Choice Specs or not. Unless I see the Leftover recovery. Then I go to Tyranitar, which is my only choice to effectivly take him down.

{Lucario}: Can be porblematic, depeding how it sets up and if Infernape is in the match or not.

{Machamp}: Very annoying, hands down. I have not proper switch in, I can hopfully have Gengar come in on a fighting immunity, and it will hopfully switch out.

{Magnezone}: The big magnet is not really a big threat, mainly b/c I dont have a steel type on the team. Tyranitar can tank hits, and return EQs in his favor. Infernape and Gengar can revenge kill them as well.

{Mamoswine}: Can be a problem, mainly because its STABs nearly hurt everyone. Infernape resists Ice Shard can can KO with either STAB or kill a weakened Mamo with Mach Punch.

{Metagross}: A big pain, since my only safe switch in is Swampert, if it has Grass Knot, then i can only hope to revenge kill with Infernape. If it AGility Gross, then I hope Swampert is alive since it will out speed everything.

{Ninjask}: Can be a problem, since I don;t have a phazer. Although SR doesn whittle him down.

{Porygon-Z}: Can be a problem, Tyranitar can handle Pory, with his excellent sp.def. Gengar can revenge kill all but Scarfed versions with Focus Blast. Infernape can kill him with Close Combat the non-scarfed ones.

{Rhyperior}: Swampert once again is my go to guy, since nothing else can safely swicth in. After that, Infernape, Gengar, Latias, or Zapdos can out speed and hit it super effectivly.

{Roserade}: Roserade can cause many problemes. Gyarados can absorb the Sleep Powder. I have no poke that can directly come in on her. Celebi can, but if they have sludge bomb then that another thing. I can revenge kill scarfed ones with Gengar, nonscarfed with Infernape.

{Salamence}: Can cause many problems. DD versions are handled by Latias. Mixed ones, I have no switch in, except Swampert, which is effectivily death fodder. then Latias can OHKO with its STAB.

{Scizor}: Not that big of a problem, if it does get the chance to kill something with Bullet Punch, or Pursuit I can set up with Zapdos.

{Snorlax}: Can cause problems if luck is against me. Curse ones are handled by Infernape, although not OHKOed if +1 defense. Infernape can live a +1 Body slam, return IDK about. Can cause problems, .

{Starmie}: Can cause problems, Tyranitar can come in on Rapid spin versions, and pursuit it. Latias can revege kill it, provided it stays in.

{Suicune}: A giant pain, I can only hope that Tyranitar uses crunch and get the Defense drop, then take things from there. Tricking a Scarf helps too.

{Togeikiss}: Can be a problem if luck is against me, tyranitar can sponge hits, while hitting with Crunch.

{Tyranitar}: Can be a nuscience if used right. Swampert is my best bet, early on. Latias can revenge kill weakend ones. Infernape can also kill him if needed.

{Weavile}:
Not that big of a problem. Swampert can tank hits. It also helps that they are fragile, so i poke it gently. Infernape also helps to have Mach Punch.

{Yanmega}: Can cause many problems, my best bet is to set down SR. Since Tyranitar is hit super effectivily, I really cant do anything, since it out speeds everything thanks to the speed boost.

{Zapdos}: Tyranitar can sponge hits, thanks to its special bulk. Swampert can wall ones without HP Grass. If I lose Tyranitar and he has HP Grass then Im in trouble.



*Thanks to anyone who bothered to read the whoe thing. It took me a long time to type it. =]

 

[Delko]

Hello

Why are you using a relaxed nature on Swampert when you don't use any specialy based move. You could change Ice Punch to Ice Beam, this will hit the likes of Salamence harder (intimidate cripples Ice punch's power). Also, Swampert isn't a really good counter to Latias because she could be carrying Grass Knot, Draco Meteor also takes a huge chunck of Swampy's health.
Protect doesn't have to much use on Swampert either, you can switch it to Yawn, so you can get a free turn to recover as well (if your opponent doesn't want to fall asleep and switches).

I have my doubts about that tyranitar set. There are better counters for Swampert and Hidden Power grass only takes away other moves more usefull on Tyranitar. I suggest switching Tyranitar into a CB Scizor:

Scizor @ choice band/ adamant/ technician
248 HP, 252 Atk, 8 Spe

- Bullet Punch
- U-turn
- Super Power
- Pursuit

--> This thing hit the same pokemon that Tyranitar must in your team (Gengar, Latias,...), but Scizor does it much better. Bullet Punch also alows you to revenge kill DD-mence who could cause some problems to your team when Latias is dead or lost her Scarf. Besides the loss of SS is a big benefit to your team since it could do a lot of damage to most of them.

When using a Naive nature on Infernape, Mach Punch could easily be replaced by Hidden Power ice so you can do some Damage to the likes of Salamence who resists your other moves.

An Agility sweeping Zapdos isn't really that good. I suggest replacing him with a life orb sweeper:

Zapdos @ life orb/ timid/ Pressure
6 P, 252 Spe 252 SAtk

- Roost
- Thunderbolt
- Heat Wave
- Hidden Power (Grass)

--> Zapdos is a good Lucario counter and with a timid nature you will outspeed him. Thunderbolt is for STAB and deals tons of damage. Hidden Power grass is more in place on Zapdos then it was on Tyranitar, it helps you deal with Swampert,....

Hope this helped!

 

[XxJohny2haixX]

Hello

Why are you using a relaxed nature on Swampert when you don't use any specialy based move. You could change Ice Punch to Ice Beam, this will hit the likes of Salamence harder (intimidate cripples Ice punch's power). Also, Swampert isn't a really good counter to Latias because she could be carrying Grass Knot, Draco Meteor also takes a huge chunck of Swampy's health.
Protect doesn't have to much use on Swampert either, you can switch it to Yawn, so you can get a free turn to recover as well (if your opponent doesn't want to fall asleep and switches).

I have my doubts about that tyranitar set. There are better counters for Swampert and Hidden Power grass only takes away other moves more usefull on Tyranitar. I suggest switching Tyranitar into a CB Scizor:

Scizor @ choice band/ adamant/ technician
248 HP, 252 Atk, 8 Spe

- Bullet Punch
- U-turn
- Super Power
- Pursuit

--> This thing hit the same pokemon that Tyranitar must in your team (Gengar, Latias,...), but Scizor does it much better. Bullet Punch also alows you to revenge kill DD-mence who could cause some problems to your team when Latias is dead or lost her Scarf. Besides the loss of SS is a big benefit to your team since it could do a lot of damage to most of them.

When using a Naive nature on Infernape, Mach Punch could easily be replaced by Hidden Power ice so you can do some Damage to the likes of Salamence who resists your other moves.

An Agility sweeping Zapdos isn't really that good. I suggest replacing him with a life orb sweeper:

Zapdos @ life orb/ timid/ Pressure
6 P, 252 Spe 252 SAtk

- Roost
- Thunderbolt
- Heat Wave
- Hidden Power (Grass)

--> Zapdos is a good Lucario counter and with a timid nature you will outspeed him. Thunderbolt is for STAB and deals tons of damage. Hidden Power grass is more in place on Zapdos then it was on Tyranitar, it helps you deal with Swampert,....

Hope this helped!

First off, I would like to say thanks for being the 1st one the rate ^_^.
I get what your saying about Swampert, I should change the nature =\. an I should change it back to Ice Beam.

About Tyranitar, I get what your saying about him, hes not working as well as I want. I'll test Scizor =].

About Zapdos however, I personally like the agility set, because no one can dream to revenge kill you, barring Priority attacks. However there are down sides, one being that lacks any form of recovery, I'll test the set you gave, thanks.

I don't know if it's just my computer, but your tags are coming up as tags instead of images. It's really annoying to have to keep checking for what pokes your using. Please fix that. Overall I think this team is nice, but I just wanted to state the formatting issues.

I do think its your comp, however I will put the name of the poke next to it. =]