So I'm breeding up a team on my cart of Pokemon X, and I'd like some opinions on it. At a glance, it's pretty heavily offensive with enough defense and support to thwart any would-be revenge killers.
This team isn't actually entirely bred yet (The first three being the only ones I've finished breeding), so now would be the time to make some changes.
Diggersby @ Choice Scarf
Nickname: DiggersbyTho
Ability: Huge Power
EVs: 252 Spe / 252 Att / 4 HP
Adamant Nature
- Return
- Earthquake
- U-Turn
- Wild Charge
The Energizer Bunny as I like to call him (Stupid 12-letter nickname restriction...) is a monster of a lead who can dish out one of the strongest U-Turns in the game while maintaining enough speed to beat Timid Greninja and Noivern. As an added bonus, he makes an excellent revenge killer with some ridiculously powerful STABs on his side. He won't be OHKOing anything but the squishest of the opponent's team, but when you need a cleanup man, he'll be ready.
Metagross @ Assault Vest
Nickname: Dr. Loveless
Ability: Clear Body
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Att / 4 Def
Adamant Nature
- Rock Silde
- Bullet Punch
- Zen Headbutt
- Hammer Arm
The big blue monster himself for whom this team was named, Metagross may have received a heavy nerf this gen, but I find he's still a tanky monster who can tussle with the best of them. The moveset may raise an eyebrow, but given what I have on the rest of my team, these moves provided the best team-wide coverage. Plus, those expecting an easy setup with Talonflame have a nasty surprise in store for them. The Assault vest makes his a fantastic tank on both ends of the spectrum, and his natural Attack will make any of his attacks sting.
Charizard @ Charizardite X
Nickname: Natsu
Ability: Blaze/Tough Claws
EVs: 252 Att / 252 Spe / 4 HP
Jolly Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Flare Blitz
- Dragon Claw
- Roost
And here's the main sweeper for this team. Originally it was Mega Lucario, but I dropped him for a number of reasons. Firstly, it gave me a bad fighting weakness. Secondly, Mega Lucario is probably going to be banned after this suspect test. Thirdly, Charizard gives me much better coverage across the team. I'm struggling on Charizard's last move. I've had Earthquake suggested to me, but I don't like having Charizard Flare Blitz the world without some way of recovering (Especially with all the Sucker Punchers out there) and Earthquake misses the Tough Claws boost.
Greninja @ Life Orb
Nickname: Ezio
Ability: Protean
EVs: 252 SpA / 252 Spe / 4 HP
Timid Nature
- Ice Beam
- Grass Knot
- Dark Pulse
- Hydro Pump
Diggersby's counterpart in crime, Greninja is a great revenge killer, and does a good job of forcing switches. Protean is a beautiful ability, and with this moveset it's very tricky to land an effective attack on Greninja. My main issue I'm having is that Grass Knot won't hit certain targets (Looking at you Rotom-W) nearly as hard as I need it to. I'll check once I've finished breeding it to see if it might have a favorable Hidden Power, but given that my last bred Greninja gave me Hidden Power Ice, I won't hold my breath. Additionally, I'm debating on the final move. Hydro Pump is tempting, being Greninja's strongest viable move (GTFO Hydro Cannon), but I've always hated moves with less than 90% accuracy and am considering Surf or a similarly powered and viable alternative (such as Extrasensory).
Gengar Black Sludge
Nickname: Ghost Nappa
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SpA / 252 Spe / 4 HP
- Disable
- Substitute
- Shadow Ball
- Focus Blast
My trickster on the team, Gengar just loves to force switches and cause havoc with Disable+Sub. As I mentioned, I hate having to run moves like Focus Blast, but it's Gengar's best coverage move, so I really have little choice. Having a levitate user on the team is a big plus with Mega Char and Metagross sharing that nasty Ground weakness, but I'm troubled by the idea of the Mold Breaker users, which could really cripple my team. Maybe a good flying type? More on that later.
Rotom-Wash @ Choice Specs
Nickname: Sock Thief
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SpD / 252 HP / 4 SpA
- Trick
- Volt Switch
- Will-o-Wisp
- Hydro Pump
Yes, the obligatory Rotom. As great as this guy is, he's currently the one I'm most considering dropping. While his support and utility is nice, and I could pull some fun Volt-Turning with him and Diggersby, he adds little to the team especially when I still need a solution to my obvious issue with Stealth Rocks and hazards in general. My current idea is to run a Defog/Knock-Off/Roost/Foul Play (or Whirlwind) Mandibuzz. That would solve the hazards issue, but if I built him physically defensive, I could have some issues with powerful special sweepers. I'm considering testing how viable a Specially Defensive Mandibuzz would be (Given that his Special Defense is only 10 points lower than his physical), but this is still all speculation.
I've already run this team through on Showdown, and I went 9-1 from a fresh account. Despite the newbies, it also had some pretty tough fights that it managed to pull through and Charizard and Metagross seemed to just be ripping apart anything that dared to stand in their way. That being said, I know this team is far from perfect and would like a bit of feedback. Thanks, all.
This team isn't actually entirely bred yet (The first three being the only ones I've finished breeding), so now would be the time to make some changes.
Diggersby @ Choice Scarf
Nickname: DiggersbyTho
Ability: Huge Power
EVs: 252 Spe / 252 Att / 4 HP
Adamant Nature
- Return
- Earthquake
- U-Turn
- Wild Charge
The Energizer Bunny as I like to call him (Stupid 12-letter nickname restriction...) is a monster of a lead who can dish out one of the strongest U-Turns in the game while maintaining enough speed to beat Timid Greninja and Noivern. As an added bonus, he makes an excellent revenge killer with some ridiculously powerful STABs on his side. He won't be OHKOing anything but the squishest of the opponent's team, but when you need a cleanup man, he'll be ready.
Metagross @ Assault Vest
Nickname: Dr. Loveless
Ability: Clear Body
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Att / 4 Def
Adamant Nature
- Rock Silde
- Bullet Punch
- Zen Headbutt
- Hammer Arm
The big blue monster himself for whom this team was named, Metagross may have received a heavy nerf this gen, but I find he's still a tanky monster who can tussle with the best of them. The moveset may raise an eyebrow, but given what I have on the rest of my team, these moves provided the best team-wide coverage. Plus, those expecting an easy setup with Talonflame have a nasty surprise in store for them. The Assault vest makes his a fantastic tank on both ends of the spectrum, and his natural Attack will make any of his attacks sting.
Charizard @ Charizardite X
Nickname: Natsu
Ability: Blaze/Tough Claws
EVs: 252 Att / 252 Spe / 4 HP
Jolly Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Flare Blitz
- Dragon Claw
- Roost
And here's the main sweeper for this team. Originally it was Mega Lucario, but I dropped him for a number of reasons. Firstly, it gave me a bad fighting weakness. Secondly, Mega Lucario is probably going to be banned after this suspect test. Thirdly, Charizard gives me much better coverage across the team. I'm struggling on Charizard's last move. I've had Earthquake suggested to me, but I don't like having Charizard Flare Blitz the world without some way of recovering (Especially with all the Sucker Punchers out there) and Earthquake misses the Tough Claws boost.
Greninja @ Life Orb
Nickname: Ezio
Ability: Protean
EVs: 252 SpA / 252 Spe / 4 HP
Timid Nature
- Ice Beam
- Grass Knot
- Dark Pulse
- Hydro Pump
Diggersby's counterpart in crime, Greninja is a great revenge killer, and does a good job of forcing switches. Protean is a beautiful ability, and with this moveset it's very tricky to land an effective attack on Greninja. My main issue I'm having is that Grass Knot won't hit certain targets (Looking at you Rotom-W) nearly as hard as I need it to. I'll check once I've finished breeding it to see if it might have a favorable Hidden Power, but given that my last bred Greninja gave me Hidden Power Ice, I won't hold my breath. Additionally, I'm debating on the final move. Hydro Pump is tempting, being Greninja's strongest viable move (GTFO Hydro Cannon), but I've always hated moves with less than 90% accuracy and am considering Surf or a similarly powered and viable alternative (such as Extrasensory).
Gengar Black Sludge
Nickname: Ghost Nappa
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SpA / 252 Spe / 4 HP
- Disable
- Substitute
- Shadow Ball
- Focus Blast
My trickster on the team, Gengar just loves to force switches and cause havoc with Disable+Sub. As I mentioned, I hate having to run moves like Focus Blast, but it's Gengar's best coverage move, so I really have little choice. Having a levitate user on the team is a big plus with Mega Char and Metagross sharing that nasty Ground weakness, but I'm troubled by the idea of the Mold Breaker users, which could really cripple my team. Maybe a good flying type? More on that later.
Rotom-Wash @ Choice Specs
Nickname: Sock Thief
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SpD / 252 HP / 4 SpA
- Trick
- Volt Switch
- Will-o-Wisp
- Hydro Pump
Yes, the obligatory Rotom. As great as this guy is, he's currently the one I'm most considering dropping. While his support and utility is nice, and I could pull some fun Volt-Turning with him and Diggersby, he adds little to the team especially when I still need a solution to my obvious issue with Stealth Rocks and hazards in general. My current idea is to run a Defog/Knock-Off/Roost/Foul Play (or Whirlwind) Mandibuzz. That would solve the hazards issue, but if I built him physically defensive, I could have some issues with powerful special sweepers. I'm considering testing how viable a Specially Defensive Mandibuzz would be (Given that his Special Defense is only 10 points lower than his physical), but this is still all speculation.
I've already run this team through on Showdown, and I went 9-1 from a fresh account. Despite the newbies, it also had some pretty tough fights that it managed to pull through and Charizard and Metagross seemed to just be ripping apart anything that dared to stand in their way. That being said, I know this team is far from perfect and would like a bit of feedback. Thanks, all.
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