I have been generally successful with this team, but I cannot think of any more ways to tweak this team, so I thought I would take it to you guys 8)
Current Ranking:
The strategy behind this team is simple: Volt-Turn your way into advantageous positions, and pick them off one by one with your Trappers. Simple.
Preview:
Weakness/Resistant Chart:
<==>
Faker (Gengar) (M) @ Gengarite
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
- Shadow Ball
- Protect
- Hidden Power [Fire] / (Sludge Wave?)
- Focus Blast
#1 Trapper and MVP of this team. I've had games where I was down 6-3, but turned back the tables because this guy carries so FREAKING hard. Even if he doesn't sweep the team, he will usually do enough work so that Scizor/Hydreigon/Garchomp can "spam-to-win".
The most important move that leads me to turning games around is Protect, as it lets me do two very important things:
1) Kill Scizor. If Scizor uses Pursuit/U-turn on you, you can proceed to KO it with your HP Fire. If it uses anything else on you, Magnezone comes in for a free Substitute and kill.
**Note that Swords Dance+Superpower Scizor can potentially ruin this strategy, so I usually try to learn the movesets of the Pokemon I plan to trap before I attempt to do so.
Considering Sludge Wave>HP Fire here. Thoughts?
2) Baiting/Dueling. There are a few Pokemon that can outspeed + OHKO regular Gengar. Using Protect as you Mega-Evolve lets you block the would-be Death Shot, and OHKO back next turn (they are trapped). Things that come to mind are Starmie, Greninja, Mega Lucario.
EVs are standard.
Neptune (Magnezone) @ Leftovers
Ability: Magnet Pull
EVs: 40 HP / 252 SAtk / 216 Spd
Modest Nature
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Substitute
- Flash Cannon
- Thunderbolt
Trapper #2. Substitute turns Magnezone from a one-trick pony into a legit offensive threat.
Although Steel-types received a big defensive nerf this generation, I believe that Steel-type attacks have been buffed. This is mostly because Steel and Poison are the only types that hit Fairies for Super-Effective damage. Magnezone can always get a substitute up on Ferrothorn, Forretress, Choice-Locked Scizors/Genesects, and proceed to OHKO them while still behind the Sub. Unless the other team has a Blissey/Chansey, it is unlikely to counter a Subbed Magnezone without taking some damage.
216 Speed@Modest lets you outspeed defensive Rotom-W. I prefer maxing out S-Atk on Magnezone to hit Aegislash as hard as possible. The rest into HP because that little extra sustain from Lefties helps sometimes.
Xoilez (Scizor) @ Choice Band
Ability: Technician
EVs: 248 HP / 176 Atk / 80 SDef / 4 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Pursuit
- Bullet Punch
- Superpower
- U-turn
Trapper #3, Part 1 of Volt-Turn Core/Revenge Killer. There's not much to explain about the classic CB Set, so let's talk EVs. I always use 4/8 speed to out-run opposing Scizors, which is useful when you are both in Superpower KO-range. I invested a bit of S-Def to tank resisted hits better, while still getting in enough Atk to pick off the weak stuff. 248 EVs in HP minimizes Stealth Rock Damage.
Spray Bot (Rotom-Wash) @ Chesto Berry
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 240 HP / 196 SDef / 72 Spd
Calm Nature
- Volt Switch
- Hydro Pump
- Will-O-Wisp/Thunder-Wave
- Rest
Part 2 of my Volt-Turn Core. Rotom-W has excellent synergy with Scizor, and checks many huge threats such as Talonflame and Gyarados.
Chesto Berry on Rotom allows you to fake Choice Scarf, which will score you a lot of surprise-KOs with Hydro Pump on Grounds that think you're locked into Volt-Switch. I have also found that Chesto-Resting to be more reliable than Pain Split for recovery, as Pain Split can be out-played with some simple switching.
***Will-O-Wisp VS T-wave: Both are equally useful with their own tradeoffs, and I tend to go back and forth between them.
T-Wave is usually unexpected and lets you cripple faster switch-ins, thus boosting the sweeping potential of Magnezone and Garchomp. The downside to T-wave is that it will not work on opposing Rotom-W switch-ins.
Will-O-Wisp lets it become sort of a mixed tank if you manage to get it on a Pokemon that needs its ATK stat. The downside with Will-O-Wisp of course is that people expect Rotom to have it. This goes back to my logic of using Chesto Berry. You are more likely to hit someone with Will-O-Wisp while faking a Scarf set, as 99/100 Rotoms @ Leftovers carry Will-O-Wisp, making it unlikely for someone to send in something that can't take a burn.
S-Def oriented EVs because I find Rotom needing to tank Special Attacks more often.
Squirtlin (Hydreigon) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Hasty Nature
- Draco Meteor
- Fire Blast
- Dark Pulse
- U-turn
Revenge Killer #2/The glue of my team. Hydreigon's Dark-typing makes it the only Ghost-resist on my team, and along with the package comes the most niche of tools: Levitate, U-turn, and a nice S-Atk stat to abuse its equally good special movepool.
Fire Blast is a good coverage move on Choice Pokemon in general, and Hydreigon is no exception.
Draco Meteor/U-turn have great synergy. The threat of Draco Meteor KOing random things makes your opponent lean a bit more towards their Fairies/Steels when considering their switch-in options. If you can predict this with the U-turn, you will be able to send Scizor/Magnezone out the same turn their Fairy comes in, which puts you in an advantageous position.
Dark Pulse. At first I didn't expect Dark Pulse to be useful, but with Fire Blast being only 85% acc, this move is more reliable against Aegislash. Furthermore, with Steels no longer resisting Dark moves, you will find yourself in some "Dark Pulse Spam-to-Win" situations XD.
Sharpido (Garchomp) @ Life Orb
Ability: Rough Skin
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Naive Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Fire Blast
- Outrage
Stealth Rock User. With Heatran and Tyranitar being popular, I wanted a SR user that can OHKO the common variants. What I like about Garchomp over most SR users is that it can come back later on in the game to wreak havoc with its painful STAB attacks.
The threat of Outrage pressures the opponent into switching in their Fairies, yet barring Togekiss and Whimsicott, all other Fairies will simply melt in front of Garchomp's STAB Earthquake.
Fire Blast hits Ferrothron/Forretress/Scizor/Whimsicott right off the bat, which makes it a superior choice to Swords Dance in my opnion.
EVs are standard.
==========================================================================================
As I said, this team has been quite successful so far, but don't let that hold you back on telling me what could potentially be improved!! Inputs/Suggestions/Comments always welcome 8)
Edit Log:
#1 Edit: 72 EVs from SAtk to Speed on Rotom-W
Copy & Pasting right here:
Current Ranking:
The strategy behind this team is simple: Volt-Turn your way into advantageous positions, and pick them off one by one with your Trappers. Simple.
Preview:
Weakness/Resistant Chart:
Faker (Gengar) (M) @ Gengarite
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
- Shadow Ball
- Protect
- Hidden Power [Fire] / (Sludge Wave?)
- Focus Blast
#1 Trapper and MVP of this team. I've had games where I was down 6-3, but turned back the tables because this guy carries so FREAKING hard. Even if he doesn't sweep the team, he will usually do enough work so that Scizor/Hydreigon/Garchomp can "spam-to-win".
The most important move that leads me to turning games around is Protect, as it lets me do two very important things:
1) Kill Scizor. If Scizor uses Pursuit/U-turn on you, you can proceed to KO it with your HP Fire. If it uses anything else on you, Magnezone comes in for a free Substitute and kill.
**Note that Swords Dance+Superpower Scizor can potentially ruin this strategy, so I usually try to learn the movesets of the Pokemon I plan to trap before I attempt to do so.
Considering Sludge Wave>HP Fire here. Thoughts?
2) Baiting/Dueling. There are a few Pokemon that can outspeed + OHKO regular Gengar. Using Protect as you Mega-Evolve lets you block the would-be Death Shot, and OHKO back next turn (they are trapped). Things that come to mind are Starmie, Greninja, Mega Lucario.
EVs are standard.
Neptune (Magnezone) @ Leftovers
Ability: Magnet Pull
EVs: 40 HP / 252 SAtk / 216 Spd
Modest Nature
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Substitute
- Flash Cannon
- Thunderbolt
Although Steel-types received a big defensive nerf this generation, I believe that Steel-type attacks have been buffed. This is mostly because Steel and Poison are the only types that hit Fairies for Super-Effective damage. Magnezone can always get a substitute up on Ferrothorn, Forretress, Choice-Locked Scizors/Genesects, and proceed to OHKO them while still behind the Sub. Unless the other team has a Blissey/Chansey, it is unlikely to counter a Subbed Magnezone without taking some damage.
216 Speed@Modest lets you outspeed defensive Rotom-W. I prefer maxing out S-Atk on Magnezone to hit Aegislash as hard as possible. The rest into HP because that little extra sustain from Lefties helps sometimes.
Xoilez (Scizor) @ Choice Band
Ability: Technician
EVs: 248 HP / 176 Atk / 80 SDef / 4 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Pursuit
- Bullet Punch
- Superpower
- U-turn
Trapper #3, Part 1 of Volt-Turn Core/Revenge Killer. There's not much to explain about the classic CB Set, so let's talk EVs. I always use 4/8 speed to out-run opposing Scizors, which is useful when you are both in Superpower KO-range. I invested a bit of S-Def to tank resisted hits better, while still getting in enough Atk to pick off the weak stuff. 248 EVs in HP minimizes Stealth Rock Damage.
Spray Bot (Rotom-Wash) @ Chesto Berry
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 240 HP / 196 SDef / 72 Spd
Calm Nature
- Volt Switch
- Hydro Pump
- Will-O-Wisp/Thunder-Wave
- Rest
Part 2 of my Volt-Turn Core. Rotom-W has excellent synergy with Scizor, and checks many huge threats such as Talonflame and Gyarados.
Chesto Berry on Rotom allows you to fake Choice Scarf, which will score you a lot of surprise-KOs with Hydro Pump on Grounds that think you're locked into Volt-Switch. I have also found that Chesto-Resting to be more reliable than Pain Split for recovery, as Pain Split can be out-played with some simple switching.
***Will-O-Wisp VS T-wave: Both are equally useful with their own tradeoffs, and I tend to go back and forth between them.
T-Wave is usually unexpected and lets you cripple faster switch-ins, thus boosting the sweeping potential of Magnezone and Garchomp. The downside to T-wave is that it will not work on opposing Rotom-W switch-ins.
Will-O-Wisp lets it become sort of a mixed tank if you manage to get it on a Pokemon that needs its ATK stat. The downside with Will-O-Wisp of course is that people expect Rotom to have it. This goes back to my logic of using Chesto Berry. You are more likely to hit someone with Will-O-Wisp while faking a Scarf set, as 99/100 Rotoms @ Leftovers carry Will-O-Wisp, making it unlikely for someone to send in something that can't take a burn.
S-Def oriented EVs because I find Rotom needing to tank Special Attacks more often.
Squirtlin (Hydreigon) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Hasty Nature
- Draco Meteor
- Fire Blast
- Dark Pulse
- U-turn
Revenge Killer #2/The glue of my team. Hydreigon's Dark-typing makes it the only Ghost-resist on my team, and along with the package comes the most niche of tools: Levitate, U-turn, and a nice S-Atk stat to abuse its equally good special movepool.
Fire Blast is a good coverage move on Choice Pokemon in general, and Hydreigon is no exception.
Draco Meteor/U-turn have great synergy. The threat of Draco Meteor KOing random things makes your opponent lean a bit more towards their Fairies/Steels when considering their switch-in options. If you can predict this with the U-turn, you will be able to send Scizor/Magnezone out the same turn their Fairy comes in, which puts you in an advantageous position.
Dark Pulse. At first I didn't expect Dark Pulse to be useful, but with Fire Blast being only 85% acc, this move is more reliable against Aegislash. Furthermore, with Steels no longer resisting Dark moves, you will find yourself in some "Dark Pulse Spam-to-Win" situations XD.
Sharpido (Garchomp) @ Life Orb
Ability: Rough Skin
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Naive Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Fire Blast
- Outrage
Stealth Rock User. With Heatran and Tyranitar being popular, I wanted a SR user that can OHKO the common variants. What I like about Garchomp over most SR users is that it can come back later on in the game to wreak havoc with its painful STAB attacks.
The threat of Outrage pressures the opponent into switching in their Fairies, yet barring Togekiss and Whimsicott, all other Fairies will simply melt in front of Garchomp's STAB Earthquake.
Fire Blast hits Ferrothron/Forretress/Scizor/Whimsicott right off the bat, which makes it a superior choice to Swords Dance in my opnion.
EVs are standard.
==========================================================================================
As I said, this team has been quite successful so far, but don't let that hold you back on telling me what could potentially be improved!! Inputs/Suggestions/Comments always welcome 8)
Edit Log:
#1 Edit: 72 EVs from SAtk to Speed on Rotom-W
Copy & Pasting right here:
Faker (Gengar) (M) @ Gengarite
Ability: Levitate
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
IVs: 6 Atk / 30 SAtk / 30 Spd
- Shadow Ball
- Protect
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Focus Blast
Neptune (Magnezone) @ Leftovers
Ability: Magnet Pull
EVs: 40 HP / 252 SAtk / 216 Spd
Modest Nature
IVs: 6 Atk / 30 SAtk / 30 Spd
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Substitute
- Flash Cannon
- Thunderbolt
Xoilez (Scizor) @ Choice Band
Ability: Technician
EVs: 248 HP / 176 Atk / 80 SDef / 4 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Pursuit
- Bullet Punch
- Superpower
- U-turn
Spray Bot (Rotom-Wash) @ Chesto Berry
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 240 HP / 196 SDef / 72 Spd
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Volt Switch
- Hydro Pump
- Will-O-Wisp
- Rest
Sharpido (Garchomp) @ Life Orb
Ability: Rough Skin
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Naive Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Fire Blast
- Outrage
Squirtlin (Hydreigon) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Hasty Nature
- Draco Meteor
- Fire Blast
- Dark Pulse
- U-turn
Ability: Levitate
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
IVs: 6 Atk / 30 SAtk / 30 Spd
- Shadow Ball
- Protect
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Focus Blast
Neptune (Magnezone) @ Leftovers
Ability: Magnet Pull
EVs: 40 HP / 252 SAtk / 216 Spd
Modest Nature
IVs: 6 Atk / 30 SAtk / 30 Spd
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Substitute
- Flash Cannon
- Thunderbolt
Xoilez (Scizor) @ Choice Band
Ability: Technician
EVs: 248 HP / 176 Atk / 80 SDef / 4 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Pursuit
- Bullet Punch
- Superpower
- U-turn
Spray Bot (Rotom-Wash) @ Chesto Berry
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 240 HP / 196 SDef / 72 Spd
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Volt Switch
- Hydro Pump
- Will-O-Wisp
- Rest
Sharpido (Garchomp) @ Life Orb
Ability: Rough Skin
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Naive Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Fire Blast
- Outrage
Squirtlin (Hydreigon) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Hasty Nature
- Draco Meteor
- Fire Blast
- Dark Pulse
- U-turn
Last edited:
