It has been a while since I've been battling, let alone testing anything on ShoddyBattle. But I've managed to dig up some free time so here we are again. The point of this team is mainly balance, with hints of offense thrown in. Hope you enjoy!
In-Depth
Ambipom (♀) @ Life Orb
***Monkey Fever***
Technician / Jolly
252 Atk / 252 Spd / 4 HP
~ Fake Out
~ Return
~ Pursuit
~ Low Kick
Analysis - Ambipom has always been a reliable lead, so her position on my team remains. Fake Out (STAB + Technician + Life Orb) = pain and is always a great way to open up a match against anything not named Alakazam, Spiritomb, or Froslass. Return hits like a truck for a powerful secondary STAB, while Pursuit catches Pokemon who plan on fleeing to their Ghost-, Rock-, or Steel-type for rough damage. Low Kick stomps out Registeel, Regirock, and Rhyperior; the three Pokemon who laugh at my other attacks. Ambipom is designed as a suicide lead. I typically use her in all my start-ups unless it's something unfavorable such as Spiritomb or Cresselia, in which case I promptly switch out and save her for a later sweep. U-Turn, while an amazingly helpful scouting move, does not find a place on this set, due to the preferred coverage I get from Low Kick + Pursuit. If Ambipom had say a +10 in every stat Ambipom would make OU.
Synergy
Umbreon (♂) @ Leftovers
***Moonlight***
Synchronize / Sassy
252 HP / 200 Atk / 56 Sp Def
~ Curse
~ Yawn
~ Payback
~ Wish
Analysis - Umbreon holds interesting value on my team. Curse allows him to bulk up (pun intended) at the cost of losing speed, but Payback enjoys the speed drops, powering up to base 150 power when factoring in STAB. Yawn provides more accurate sleep support, as you'll see below. Forcing a switch (or having a sleeping opponent) let's me Curse up with relatively more ease. Wish provides healing for Umbreon or the entire team. Umbreon and Venusaur are my pseudo-healers with Wish and Leech Seed, respectively. I had originally meant to pair him with Weezing instead. Maybe that's still worth checking out?
Synergy
Venusaur (♀) @ Leftovers
***DeathPlant***
Overgrow / Calm
252 HP / 4 Sp Atk / 252 Sp Def
~ Sleep Powder
~ Leech Seed
~ Energy Ball / Leaf Storm
~ Sludge Bomb
Analysis[/b - Venusaur has also been another staple on my teams (as well as climbing to #1 in UU usage), so it's not surprising to see her here. Sleep Powder provides needed but inaccurate status. Leech Seed provides health for the team and itself. Energy Ball and Sludge Bomb serve as well as offensive STAB, but are still horribly walled by Steel-types (read: Registeel). Leaf Storm is also an option, hitting harder. And since Venusaur will be switching out after the Leech Seeding the Sp. Atk drop is ignored. I could consider a physical set of Power Whip / Earthquake (Return), but I'm still iffy.
Synergy
Arcanine (♂) @ Leftovers
***FireStar***
Flash Fire / Adamant
252 Atk / 252 Spd / 4 HP
~ Flare Blitz
~ Extremespeed
~ Will-o-wisp
~ Morning Sun
Analysis[/b - Arcanine provides a powerful physical sweeper for the team whilst maintaining relative bulk against Grass- and Ice-type attacks. The immunity to Fire-types through Flash Fire is also appreciated on Flare Blitz as Venusaur lures opposing Flamethrowers / Fire Blasts. Spiritomb's Will-o-Wisp also provides an easy switch in, scaring it back out by threatening to hit back with a powered up Flare Blitz. As stated before, Flare Blitz is Arcanine's deadliest attack, while Extremespeed picks off the anything with small amounts of HP remaining. Will-o-Wisp helps the team by crippling other sweepers and walls (however inaccurate), while Morning Sun restores fallen HP due to damage and recoil from Flare Blitz. I can also opt for Life Orb, providing more power to Flare Blitz, while Morning Sun recovers lost health anyways.
Synergy
Milotic (♀) @ Leftovers
***SeaQueen***
Marvel Scale / Bold
148 HP / 252 Def / 108 Sp Def
~ Surf
~ Ice Beam
~ Toxic
~ Recover
Analysis[/b - Milotic is the final member of the Grass-Fire-Water combo, and acts as a "glue" to the team. Milotic doesn't mind absorbing some status, since she doesn't really care about the attack and speed drops in being burned and paralyzed, respectively. Marvel Scale will also up her defense by 50%. Surf and Ice Beam provide good but lacking atack moves, leaving her open to opposing Water-types. Bulky-Waters like Slowbro enjoy coming on Milotic, so she'll Toxic them before switching out. Milotic acts as a great lure in to other walls, only to cripple them with Toxic, easing up the opportunity to sweep with the other teammates. Recover is necessary as it provides reliable recovery. I originally had Light Screen in place of Toxic, but found Toxic's helpfulness more appealing than Light Screen's.
Synergy
Nidoking (♂) @ Life Orb
***CrushCard***
Poison Point / Jolly
252 Atk / 252 Spd / 4 HP
~ Super Fang
~ Earthquake
~ Ice Punch
~ Megahorn / Sucker Punch
Analysis[/b - Nidoking has always been a favorite of mine ever since R / B / Y, I mean who doesn't want a raging rabbit on their team? Anyways, Nidoking acts as a great wallbreaker-esque member, being able to absorb any opposing Toxic as well as Electric-, Poison-, Bug- and Fighting-type moves. Super Fang nicks away at 50% of the enemy health, but it somewhat lame when paired with Life Orb. However, Life Orb is there to benefit Nidoking's STAB Earthquake, a powerful move to tear enemies open after Super Fang (if necessary). Ice Punch compliments Earthquake by hitting Flying-types, especially Altaria, who are immune to Earthquake. Ice Punch also has a bonus of hitting Grass-types like Tangrowth for supereffective damage. Stone Edge is probably the more viable option, though. Megahorn makes ripping through Grass-types easier and can also punish Cresselia and other Psychic-types on the switchin. Sucker Punch bypasses Nidoking's mediocre Speed stat for powerful hits. Perhaps a mixed set with Super Fang would be more useful? Similar to Ambipom, I feel if Nidoking has all-around higher stats, Nidoking could make OU.
Synergy
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So please rate / hate / critique / omnomnom. Any help is greatly appreciated. Thanks!
Edit - One thing I would like to get help on is how to make the synergy flow better. I feel that the team relies too much on so-and-so to take such-and-such attack (Ex: Nidoking=Electric-types). Another issue is that I had no safe switchin to the most powerful move in the game: Earthquake as well as other Ground-type moves.
-Terywj
