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Viability of a Pure Special Attack Team?

I understand that this is a competitive site and all, but I'm really not sure of the point behind a lot of these suggestions. Special attackers exist which break through the most common special walls by using special moves, so why would you suggest non-special things for what's obviously a theme team and not meant to be competitive at the highest level? It's like you're going into a RMT for a mono-water team for a gym league or something and saying, "I know this team is mono-water but you should really consider Garchomp and Heatran."
 
merubin said:
I understand that this is a competitive site and all, but I'm really not sure of the point behind a lot of these suggestions. Special attackers exist which break through the most common special walls by using special moves, so why would you suggest non-special things for what's obviously a theme team and not meant to be competitive at the highest level? It's like you're going into a RMT for a mono-water team for a gym league or something and saying, "I know this team is mono-water but you should really consider Garchomp and Heatran."
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One word: Blissey. If your only special threat to it is gone (and those are rarities as it is), you are essentially screwed. This kind of team needs a way to get rid of blissey, and if that means having one or two physical attacks, I'd be all for it.

Anyways, this kind of team would benefit a lot from Heatran. A Taunt/Explosion LO set can ruin Blissey and many other special walls.
 
Lawman said:
One word: Blissey. If your only special threat to it is gone (and those are rarities as it is), you are essentially screwed. This kind of team needs a way to get rid of blissey, and if that means having one or two physical attacks, I'd be all for it.

Anyways, this kind of team would benefit a lot from Heatran. A Taunt/Explosion LO set can ruin Blissey and many other special walls.
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or a hpyer beam porygon z maybe?
 
Yes, it is viable. I would suggest using a CMSubMismagius, as that beats out all forms of Blissey (besides CBliss o_O) and is just a great CMer in general. CMJirachi works well too, but for a MonoSpecial Team I would highly advise at least two Mixed attackers.

But once again, yes it is viable.



EDIT: ^^ Easily the best Special answer to Blissey. Mismagius just completely destroys her.
 
My main team is almost all special. It's perfectly viable to run a all special team. In fact, I think my next team is going to have something like a Gengar / Azlef / Yanmega base to it. Gengar Explodes on Blissey, and after that not many teams can stand up to the combined force of Yanmega / Azelf. I may add in something like Infernape or that as well if I find it fits.

For those of you who don't want to run any physical attacks, for fear of making your team not "All special", sticking Focus Blast on Infernape over Close Combat is perfectly viable for you. With a Life Orb and Nasty Plot, Focus Blast will do a minimum of 97% to a 252 HP / 252 Def Bold Blissey. Blaziken can also 2HKO with Focus Blast if it's holding a Life Orb. Lucario is a huge threat to any team with Specs, the only true counter is Tentacruel (who also lacks a recovery move, so the amount of times it can switch in are limited).
 
Having made two of these teams before and working on a third now, I can say that it does indeed work. However, I've found you need to rely on strategy more than raw damage percents to win. Having something like Lucario or Blaziken that can 2HKO is always a good idea, but don't forget to pack some walls that can deal with special walls or some pokes that can't necessarily break down a special wall but can find some way to either kill or incapacitate it. Remember you've always got Toxic, Perish Song, Destiny Bond, Baton Pass, Taunt, and many other things on your side to off the opposing wall.

But as people have said, having some physical moves is usually preferable. Why? Well, it makes killing special walls easier for one, but getting rid of physical moves bars you from some excellent support moves, notably Rapid Spin and Seismic Toss. Without RS, spikes and stealth rock are a real pain, forcing you to kill the offender before they can set it up (and if it's SR Blissey...). Not having Seismic Toss means random CM users can screw you up good. My biggest problem with my current special team isn't any form of Blissey but CM Sub Raikou, which my Blissey can't even touch.

So, yeah, they can work effectively, but don't make the mistake of assuming that you'll get a clean sweep after you kill their special wall. You'll still have many other threats to worry about, along with getting outpredicted.
 
I saw this and made a team just to check. it is entirely viable. Through 5 battles, I have not lost yet.

SubTran with WoW helps take care of opposing phys sweepers, and Fire Blast still does amazing damage.

Azelf/Gengar both with Explosion so they kill Bliss for the other, they also combine for great coverage. SpecsCario is amazing, and CounterZam makes a great lead with a sash. The only thing is watch out for protect on Bliss, I always TBolt the first time with Gar to make sure it doesn't protect
 
I tried making an all special team a while back. Here is what I suggest:

*I think having Celebi is awesome because it punishes Blissey when it stays in too long. Leech Seed plus 101 HP subs is amazing. Celebi can calm mind up on it, and pass the boosts or try and sweep.

*Specs Lucario is a must as it beats Blissey easily. It's really one of the best special sweepers in the game for this reason. Specs Alakazam helps too.

*Azelf's Flamethrower helps you beat Bronzongs. Watch out for Heatran. Consider bringing a Heatran of your own.

*Agility Porygon-Z can sweep after Blissey is not present. Nasty Plot is overkill if there's no special wall left.

*Don't let your opponent get comfortable. Always use majorly powerful special hits so that they are forced to use Blissey to wall them. Don't let them set up or anything, just keep pummeling them.

*Toxic Spikes and Taunt ruin Blissey by forcing it to switch out often.



Any special sweeper that cannot beat Blissey easily is usually a waste of time... EXCEPT for Agility P-Z because it's so dangerous.
 
skiddle said:
*Specs Lucario is a must as it beats Blissey easily. It's really one of the best special sweepers in the game for this reason. Specs Alakazam helps too.
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Not exactly. For one, a Blissey can beat a Specs Lucario if it switches into anything but Aura Sphere and force you out, meaning it's not quite so easy. Choice Specs aren't exactly necessary, as a Life Orb will do, but that requires you to run Focus Blast over Aura Sphere.

I'd also like to point out that Specs Lucario and Specs Alakazam are not the only pokes capable of putting the hurt on Blissey. If I recall correctly, Infernape (especially NP Ape), Blaziken, Gardevoir, Slowking, and Houndoom can all score 2HKOs on Blissey, but it requires prediction.


Any special sweeper that cannot beat Blissey easily is usually a waste of time... EXCEPT for Agility P-Z because it's so dangerous.
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Not necessarily; while killing Blissey is one of your top priorities, an effective special sweeper is still an effective special sweeper. SpecsMence, Azelf, and Gengar cannot "beat Blissey easily," but can still be quite useful; Specs Draco Meteor still hurts like a bitch, NP sweeps are dangerous, and Gengar still has status, Destiny Bond, and Perish Trapping on his side. It's not just killing Blissey, it's killing everything else.
 
i ran a special hail team and it worked great

i had

timid specs abomasnow
modest specs glaceon
mindzong
CM cressy
starmie@ expert belt (with rapid spin)
and i think tentacruel with haze and knock off


it worked good, and glaceon's blizzard hit like a fucking mac truck (it can 2HKO a blissey)

only problem was that it relied an awful lot on mindzong and CM cressy to do well, if they didn't do well, the team failed
 
The only Gengars I've seen to have problems with my Cresselia are ones that sleep me (I usually switch to something else to absorb the sleep though), or Choice Spec'd ones. Otherwise I can normally Calm Mind up barring any stupid crit hax. It is true though that Blissey is the best wall out there, namely because it can do so much more that others can't.
 
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