Turn Off The Lights I'm Watching Back To The Future

[Evisu]

This is my first team since the release of Platinum and ban of Garchomp. I decided to take a very offensive approach and was more than eager to try out Skymin. So after about five minutes I came up with this team and immediately started laddering played about 10 games, didn't lose any but got bored so I stopped there. I can't believe just how damn good Skymin is that fucker sweeps, it's brutal to say the least. Anyways I'm sure there is plenty of room for improvement so I figured I'd get some advice from people who have been playing this new metagame longer than I.

Team At A Glance:

Azelf @ Focus Sash
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 6 Atk/252 Spd/252 SAtk
Naive nature (+Spd, -SDef)
- Explosion
- Thunderbolt
- Psychic
- Stealth Rock

Comments: Standard suicide lead, didn't see any real need for Taunt so I went with Thunderbolt instead. I'm beginning to think that Fire Blast could be a better alternative to Thunderbolt to nail any Steel types trying to take my Explosion. Psychic easily takes care of Gengar leads, but that's about it set up rocks and blow up.

Heatran (M) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 6 HP/252 Spd/252 SAtk
Hasty nature (+Spd, -Def)
- Fire Blast
- Earth Power
- Explosion
- Hidden Power [Grass]

Comments: My Skymin counter and Skymin accomplice. He works great when used in tandem with Skymin and just as good at taking out opposing Skymin. Temporarily trying out HP-Grass, so far it hasn't been that beneficial to me at all. I like the coverage it gives but it just isn't powerful enough to really damage incoming bulky waters. Not sure what to put in it's place I'm open for suggestions. Explosion is here because it's my favorite move in the game and Heatran really doesn't have that many other options.

Shaymin-s @ Leftovers
Ability: Serene Grace
EVs: 6 HP/252 Spd/252 SAtk
Modest nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Earth Power
- Air Slash
- Seed Flare
- Substitute

Comments: Wow, this pokemon is absolutely amazing. I found myself winning every single game off of her alone, scoring herself two 6-0 sweeps in the few games I played. Once I bring it out in a situation that would force my opponent to switch and put up a sub, after that it's going to be hell stopping this thing. Between the Seed Flare drops and Air Slash flinches this thing is damn near unstoppable. To make it even more overkill it has effin Earth Power to take out Heatran. I love this fucker what else can I say.

Salamence (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 6 HP/252 Atk/252 Spd
Jolly nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Dragon Dance
- Outrage
- Earthquake
- Fire Fang

Comments: So Salamence got a pretty bad ass new toy in Outrage and I couldn't be more pleased. After a single Dragon Dance I can easily wreak havoc on an opponents team, once all the steels are long gone nothing will like taking a +1 Outrage off this guy. Then you have your run of the mill Earthquake and Fire Fang to hit Steels so you can proceed to sweep.

Metagross @ Lum Berry
Ability: Clear Body
EVs: 252 HP/44 Atk/214 SDef
Adamant nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Bullet Punch
- Pursuit
- Explosion
- Earthquake

Comments: Standard trap Metagross to deal with annoyances like Gengar and Deoxys-E. He is also my third user of Explosion, once I clear out the filth I just blow right up. Bullet Punch also helps out against Mammo who could otherwise cause me a little trouble. I decided to go with Earthquake rather than Meteor Mash so I could hit grounded electrics like Magnezone.

Deoxys-e @ Expert Belt
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 6 Atk/252 Spd/252 SAtk
Naive nature (+Spd, -SDef)
- Thunderbolt
- Superpower
- Shadow Ball
- Ice Beam

Comments: Deoxys-E the revenge killer to wrap it all up. I find him a lot less useful now as Skymin pretty much dominates every game. He shouldn't be a stranger to any of you so nothing to explain here.

Now turn off those god damn lights I'm watching Back to the Future!

 

[gec]

Solid team man :). If you've won those matches and haven't lost it has to work. Just a few minor things:

Azelf - Use Fire Blast definitely > Thunderbolt. Bronzong gets 2HKOed so it can't completely wall you.

Heatran - Go with HP Electric > Grass on this. You seem to be weak to any offensive DD Gyara and your only bet is to revenge kill with Deoxys. So if that is weakened, it's over really.

Metagross - I would run a lot more Speed. Something like 112 HP/184 Atk/212 Spd with Jolly works. That way you can EQ Magnezone before it Magnet Rises and get a faster Explosion off.

You have a bit of a LO Gyarados Weakness. You could have something like ScarfZapdos over Azelf as your lead. With U Turn/HEatwave/TBolt/Sleep talk. That way you have a good sleep absorber which you currently lack and of course a good Gyarados Revenge killer.

 

[Evisu]

Solid team man :). If you've won those matches and haven't lost it has to work. Just a few minor things:

Azelf - Use Fire Blast definitely > Thunderbolt. Bronzong gets 2HKOed so it can't completely wall you.

Heatran - Go with HP Electric > Grass on this. You seem to be weak to any offensive DD Gyara and your only bet is to revenge kill with Deoxys. So if that is weakened, it's over really.

Metagross - I would run a lot more Speed. Something like 112 HP/184 Atk/212 Spd with Jolly works. That way you can EQ Magnezone before it Magnet Rises and get a faster Explosion off.

You have a bit of a LO Gyarados Weakness. You could have something like ScarfZapdos over Azelf as your lead. With U Turn/HEatwave/TBolt/Sleep talk. That way you have a good sleep absorber which you currently lack and of course a good Gyarados Revenge killer.

I could see why LO Gyarados could cause a little trouble, I just haven't played enough games yet to really know. Like you said Deoxys-E is always lurking around somewhere if something needs to be revenge killed.

I'll give HP-Electric a try, thanks.

With Fire Blast on Azelf, Magnezone would be even less of an issue as the entire team has something to hit him super effective. Could be a little harder to deal with after a Magnet Rise but I don't see it that big of an issue that I would change Metagross, he needs those EVs in Special Defense to take care of what he's here to counter.

I would try out that Zapdos lead but I couldn't imagine not having something to set up rocks in a Skymin, Salamence, Gyarados filled metagame.

Thanks for the advice.

 

[Shur.tugal]

you should keep HP Grass on Heatran so that you can take out Swampert as Curse Pert causes some problems for this team if Skymin is down. I would also recommend a MetalSoundTran:

Heatran@Leftovers
Modest Nature

Fire Blast
Metal Sound
Earth Power
HP [Grass]

EVs: 110 HP / 252 SAtk / 148 Spd

Metal Sound helps KO Bliss and opponents with High Sp Def. But ScarfTran is good.

On Salamence I would also use Roost over Fire Fang for recovery from possible Stealth Rock damage (25%) and Life Orb damage.

Otherwise excellent team!

 

[Evisu]

I don't have time to use Roost. I could really care less if Salamence dies or not he's almost guaranteed to bring something down with him and I'm fine with that as long as he knocks off at least one other pokemon.

I need to revenge kill with Heatran, besides I have explosion for blissey if i really need to kill her that badly.

 

[Basics]

So, you've got the Modest Shaymin, but I highly suggest you switch over to Timid. By running Modest, you're making your Shaymin vulnerable to the entire world of +Nature Base 115+s. Notably, Weavile and Azelf can both cause you problems. Also, if you're like me, you'll find yourself in Azelf vs Azelf situations with some frequency, and having that Speed tie can be useful. I mean, I can see the benefits to Modest; don't get me wrong, but... well, just consider your priorities, I guess.

With Heatran gone, your team faces some SD Scizor problems, but I mean... who doesn't?

All told, it's a nice, if somewhat boring (no offense, just highly standard) team.

 

[gorm]

another offensive team with fast/priority ice

i feel like this is the only kind of team that can exist with skymin still in the metagame tbh!

speaking of her, outspeeding azelf>power so imo go timid (im surpirsed everyone isnt timid just for the speed tie since it so often comes down to skymin vs skymin lol). you're cleaning more than sweeping with sub/lefties I'd say the power (its hard to "sweep" without lo i find)


fb is an option over fire fang since it hits defensive steels alot harder than a dded fire fang

that being said mamo wrneches you open and eats you like a brain. gyarados seems like he would fit right in, maybe even over heatran, but im not sure really. with gross you dont give a shit about deoe so adding another deoe weak doesnt hurt
basics i agree with the first part of your post but..

With Heatran gone, your team faces some SD Scizor problems, but I mean... who doesn't?

silly

All told, it's a nice, if somewhat boring (no offense, just highly standard) team.

silly

love you though

seriosuly

 

[Basics]

Re: Scizor Comment: Mm, yeah. Actually, I looked at the team again, and realized that it's not true at all; I'm not sure what I was thinking. =/

Re: Other comment. I stand by it. Good team; boring team.

love you too
<3<3<3

 

[Evisu]

I was considering replacing Deoxys-E if anything he's the only one I found not doing shit.

Yeah mamo probably could skull fuck this team but I only came up against him twice and was able to take him out before he could really cause any harm.

Gyarados would sound great if that didn't leave me so SR weak. =\

I'll try out timid haven't had a need for the extra speed yet but I'll give it a go.

 

[gorm]

eh just get him in before they can sr. with an offesnive teams (with suicide lead of course) against most others they dont even get a chance

its too bad about everyon eusing them at once xD

 

[Evisu]

I'm still waiting for someone to mention that I'm walled by SkarmBliss if used by someone with half a brain. lols

 

[gorm]

if half a brain means outpredicting 2 explosion users who can fuck up skarm, deoe, draining shyamin's sf pp and using mamo for mence i guess but i am confident if you have "half a brain" you can manage to get past them... the only thing either of them have a safe switch on is skarm on gross really.

skarm takes up to 96% switching into skymin between sr (12%), seed flare(24% max), and sdef dropped air slash(60% max)

 

[Evisu]

if half a brain means outpredicting 2 explosion users who can fuck up skarm, deoe, draining shyamin's sf pp and using mamo for mence i guess but i am confident if you have "half a brain" you can manage to get past them... the only thing either of them have a safe switch on is skarm on gross really.

skarm takes up to 96% switching into skymin between sr (12%), seed flare(24% max), and sdef dropped air slash(60% max)

i occasionally play intoxicated so it's not an impossibility.