When Pigs Flame (Peaked 4)

[Roger Fox]

When Pigs Flame​

Max rank on Pokemon Onlines Smogon dream world server:4 ​

Hi this is my first RMT I have read loads of them and rated some. Recently I have been trying to find a team which could get me to the top 50. I was failing miserably I came up with like 15 teams none of which won consistently. Finally a light bulb went on what is the metagame centered on? Some might say weather or dragons or the annoying poke known as Ferrothorn. You are wrong the metagame is centered on speed. Pokes run choice scarfs to outspeed their counters dragon dance and rock polish can be found on almost every team. (the exception is of course stall but I have not seen that many stall teams this gen.) So what beats speed? The answer is simple Trick Room. Some of you might think making a trick room team is easy throw 2 or 3 pokes with trick room and some slow powerful pokes together and your done. That is so wrong. A trick room team has to be able to function in and out of trick room, be able to counter the same things other teams do. Also half of your team must have the move trick room. So without further ado the team building process!

I needed someone with trick room and who packs a punch as I didn’t want to have to waste turns switching out every time I set up trick room so I went with life orb Reuniclus.

Next I wanted something which could wreck almost everything under trick room, something slow with great coverage and a high attack stat. Resisting bug and dark would be nice too. Enter Embuoo.

Enbuoo could kill just about everyone except gliscor. I needed someone who could take him on and another trickroomer would be nice. Slowbro seemed like a good fit, he walls gliscor (as long as slowbro is not poisoned) sets up trick room nicely provides a dory check and can get some surprise kills though he is weak with no investment.

Gliscor could still be a problem so I wanted someone who could get some surprise kills with ice moves while still having good coverage. Tangrowth has done amazingly well he kills bulky waters and surprises things with earthquake and hp ice. Sleep powder rounds out his set.

I wanted a third trick roomer one who could function as a lead and preferably physically based. Gallade joined the team.

Finally I wanted someone who could deal with bulky ghosts, screw dragonites multi scale and be a good mixed attacking lure. Tyranitar fit the
bill perfectly.

Tangrowth was working well but his synergy was not good at all. I tried out SD scizor and he did a great job patching up my weaknesses to bug and ghost as well as providing me with a secondary check to Jarooda. However I found that he was easily walled by things like gyarados, skarmory, heatran and gliscor and no matter how I played it more often then not he would get trapped by shadow tag shandy. Also I lost my ability to destroy bulky waters, wish vaporeon in particular became troublesome as the only super effective move I have now that tangrowth is gone is Emboar's wild bolt. I am going to test a mixed elektross set with thunderbolt, flamethrower, hp ice, and brick break as he can kill off bulky waters and is difficult to wall as well as sporting the advantage of having a whopping 0 weaknesses! He dosnt add much synergy wise but he dosnt detract from the synergy either and the ability to kill bulky waters will, I think prove invaluable. Elektross was bad. So I was back to needing a steel type which could kill bulky waters. First I thought of Magnezone as his thunderbolts annihilate bulky waters but he is walled effortlessly by either ground types or nattorei depending on whether he has Hp ice or fire. Blissey also annihilates him. So I finally realized that nattorei was the perfect fit.


Now on to the good stuff, the in depth descriptions!


Note: all pokes have 0 speed IVs

Tyranitar@life orb
Ability: Sand Stream
Nature: Brave (+attack -speed)
252 attack 252 special attack 4 defence
Crunch
Stone edge
Fire blast
Ice beam


Analysis: Tyranitar is my fake lead, he is a big enough threat that sometimes they change their lead to counter him and most of his hard counters are dealt with fairly well by gallade. He also almost insures that they will not lead with a ghost type, expecially shandera, making gallades job easier. I like to bring in tyranitar on choice locked shanderas, weak special attackers, when his sandstorm is needed( like if I see multi scale dragonite in team preview) or to wreck shit under trick room. These moves allow him to utilize his nice dark rock stab while checking his counter like skarmory, nattorei and gliscor with fire blast and ice beam. He hits very hard with max/max offensive stats backed up by life orb. The pokes which really stop him are fighting types as they can dish out quad effective moves while resisting his dual stabs. Good synergy with reuniclus and tangrowth.

Gallade@lum berry
Ability: Justified
Nature: Brave (+attack -speed)
252 attack 96 HP 80 special defence 80 defence
Trick Room
Close Combat
Psycho Cut
Destiny Bond


Analysis: Gallade is my true “lead” (A 100% lead doesn’t really exist this gen due to team preview). I try to set up trick room with him and then either fire off a powerful close combat or switch to an appropriate counter. Psycho shock is there to hit the omnipresent fighting types this gen has brought us. The lum berry obviously stops him fom being sleeped by the likes of roserade and smeargle but also prevents unwanted burns from the ghost types who love to switch in on him. Destiny bond is a nice panic button and can be quite useful with trick room up if they have an attacking lead as they attack on turn 1 gallade almost always survives and sets up trick room then uses destiny bond as he is kod. Gallade can also be useful midgame as a fighting type check and destiny bonder. If anyone knows a better ev spread please tell me, the hp is to survive 3 night shades/seismic tosses. Justified over steadfast as speed boosts wont help me and the occasional attack boost off of a dark move aimed at reuniclus or slowbro is nice.

Reuniclus@life orb
Ability: Magic Guard
Nature: Quiet (+special attack -speed)
252 Special attack 160 HP 96 defence
Trick Room
Psycho Shock
Focus Blast
Shadow Ball


Analysis: Reuniclus is another trick roomer. He is pretty bulky with 401/210/206 defenses. I’m sure all of you know how great magic guard is especially on life orb reuniclus. Psycho shock for stab, blissey and the abundant fighting types. Shadow ball hits ghosts and other psychic types hard and focus blast rounds out the set giving reuniclus an answer to tyranitar, it has a chance to ko even max/max positive spec. def nature in the sand! Focus blast also hits ferrothorn and steel types in general hard. Reuniclus’s job is to get up trick room and hit hard under it. He has great synergy with tyranitar.

Slowbro@leftovers
Ability: Regeneration
Nature: Relaxed (+defence -speed)
252 HP 252 Def. 4 Spec. attack
Trick Room
Scald
Ice Beam
Flamethrower


Analysis: Slowbro is my final trick roomer. He is extremely physically bulky, as an example Slowbro has only a slight chance to be ohkod by a +2 outrage from jolly life orb garchomp . I picked slowbro over dusknoir and cresselia, the 2 other main trick room physical walls for a few reasons. First off is regeneration which heals about a third of his hp each time he switches out. The other nice thing about slowbro is that he can actually ko physical threats like excadrill, garchomp, landorus, salamence, and scizor with the appropriate while cresselia and dusknoir have to burn and stall them out. Ice beam for dragons, flamethrower for scizor, genesekuto and nattorei, scald for stab and excadrill. He is also a great gliscor check after they have flung their toxic orb.

Enbuoo@life orb
Ability: Reckless
Nature: Brave (+attack -speed)
252 Att. 232 hp 24 def.
Flare Blitz
Hammer Arm
Head Smash
Wild Charge


Analysis: This is probably the most important member of my team. It is my check to scizor and volcarona out of trick room who other wise dominate my team with trick room down. Flare blitz is amazingly strong with stab reckless and life orb it is effectively a base 280 power move! Hammer arm provides a secondary stab, head smash is a good move for flying types and shandera as well as my move of choice if I expect a switch but I am not sure what It will be. Head smash ohkos 4/0 latios with life orb. Wild charge is for bulky waters not named swampert. Enbuoo dies pretty quickly with life orb sandstorm and recoil but he wrecks havoc while he is alive under trick room. He is my one and only bug resist. I generally save emboar as long as possible unless I am playing with team preview and see that they don’t have any threatening bug types. Evs give him high hp for surviving residual damage while putting him right under a life orb number the exta evs are pumped into defence.

Ferrothorn@life orb
Ability: Iron Barbs
Nature: Brave (+attack -speed)
252 Att. 80 Hp 178 spec. def.
Power whip
Bulldoze
Gyro Ball
Swords dance


Analysis: This spot was occupied first by Tangrowth then Scizor and now Ferrothorn who combines their roles. Tangrowth was great at eliminating bulky waters but added unwanted weaknesses to the team. Scizor was great typewise but was walled too easily. Ferrothorn combines their roles, eliminating bulky while providing important resistances and high defences for my team. With this set he scores kos on bulky waters like vaporeon and all but the most defensive suicunes. Gyro ball hits anything with semidecent (base 60 ish and up) speed very hard and bulldoze kills fires (especially chandelure) after a swords dance as well as koing non balloon heatran. With the given evs he is never 2hkod by specs draco meteors from timid latios before the special attack drop. So I have something which can switch in safely to powerful dragon attacks.

Aerodactyl - usually only seen as a lead, I will lead with gallade and I usually psycho cut first on the off chance it taunts then either set up trick room or kill with close combat depending on what it does. If it is used later in the game nattorei will come in and kill with gyro ball as they usually try to taunt.

Archeops -

Azelf -

Bisharp -

Breloom -

Chandelure -

Cobalion -

Conkeldurr -

Darmanitan -

Deoxys-S -

Dragonite -

Druddigon -

Eelektross -

Electivire -

Emboar -

Empoleon -

Espeon -

Escavalier -

Excadrill -

Garchomp -

Genesect -

Gengar -

Golurk -

Gyarados -

Haxorus -

Heatran -

Heracross -

Hydreigon -

Infernape -

Jirachi -

Jolteon -

Keldeo -

Kingdra -

Krookodile -

Kyurem -

Landorus -

Latios -

Lilligant -

Lucario -

Machamp -

Magnezone -

Mamoswine -

Meloetta-S -

Meloetta-V -

Metagross -

Mienshao -

Reuniclus -

Roserade -

Salamence -

Sawsbuck -

Scizor -

Scrafty-

Seismitoad -

Serperior -

Shaymin -

Sigilyph -

Smeargle -

Starmie -

Terakion -

Thundurus -

Togekiss -

Tornadus -

Tyranitar -

Venusaur -

Victini -

Virizion -

Volcarona -

Weavile -

Zoroark -



Please rate away!

 

[Roger Fox]

Someone please post something!

 

[Miracle Man0]

I think I faced this team once. Props for the Gallade set, I remember being pissed off when it d-bonded me.

I think Darmanitan might be useful over Emboar. I don't know exactly what the speed stat is for it but it's flare blitz hits VERY hard and you can get moves like U-turn for scouting.

Also, you might want to consider Conkledurr over Emboar since it also hits very hard, has drain punch for healing, can set up a sweep with bulk up, and has mach punch for use outside of trick room.

Also, you have only one grass resist, so Serperior is a major threat to your team. It may not be albe to 6-0 your team from the lead position, but if trick room is down and it comes in somethign other than Tangrowth or Emboar, it basically gets a free +2 and your switch in takes damage. Tangrowth can't exactly take Leaf storm and then +2 SE Hidden power (ice or fire). Emboar might be able to take leaf storm then +2 leaf storm, but my guess is he'd have to be at above 75%.

To stop Serperior you're going to want a 4x grass resist (or 2x with some special bulk) or I would suggest strong priority (Conkledurr, Scizor, etc.)

Maybe I'm wrong and he's not such a huge threat to your team, but he annoys the hell out of me when he gets a free +2.

 

[Taj]

I have gotten a TR team to top 10 in OU. So I have a bit of experience with teams like this.

It makes me wonder how this team was able to peak at 4- The team has 4 weaknesses to bug, 3 to ghost, and 3 to flying. Your synergy could and should be better.

The main weakness of this team might be Toxic Spikes. Half of your team(not counting Gallade because it's suicidal and has a Lum) can be stalled out to it; especially in Sandstorm. This team seems rather week to stall in general. You should try to fit a Spinner somewhere in your team.

IMO you should replace Slowbro. Possibly with a Porygon2 w/ Evo Stone. 252 HP/252 SpA/4 SpD Trickroom, Boltbeam, and recover.

P2 offers a lot of bulk, like Slowbro, it's faster-paced and can also check Gliscor. It dishes out more damage which could help you out since your team foregoes the setup of SR and starts off hitting hard. This may be something you'd want to consider trying out because it helps keep your momentum going(and gets rid of some unwanted weaknesses).

You shouldn't have to worry about Serperior because it's fast and frail as hell. The majority of your team can one hit it.

 

[OMGTFBBQQ]

I too find it really impossible to see how this team got to #4. There is actually no plausuble way you got that high, unless everyone on the ladder was playing like dog shit. You have a Tangrowth, which although has good bulk, can't wall well with no EV investment. It also won't hit anything unless it is 4x weak hard without Swords Dance. You have an Emboar who will die with it's own recoil + common weaknesses e.g. Water, Ground. He takes 25% just from Stealth Rock's alone. You also have one suicide Pokemon meaning that you will usually only have 5 Pokemon to work with.

The most important thing that really makes me wonder how this team peaked at #4 is that you clearly lack a Dragon resist. Having no Steel Pokemon means that you also don't have a smogasbord of resistances, and a shit load of weaknesses. A team with Dual U-Turn will wreck this team. And don't say that Emboar can take hits all day, because he can't. Recoil + Life Orb = Dead Pig.

 

[Joeyboy]

I would recommend you run Yawn on Slowbro. It helps to ensure you get a TR sweeper in for free. After setting up TR you use yawn and then the opponent has to make the decision to either switch(letting you double switch in a sweeper) or let their pokemon fall asleep. Other than that I really enjoy your team and props for peaking at #4 with TR, it's one of my fav play-styles :)

 

[Benlisted]

@ Joeyboy: Surely using Yawn, then TR after on the turn when the opponent either switches or falls asleep is preferable - giving you more TR turns and still letting you switchin for free.

Anyway, the team looks quite good - but like other have said the compounded weaknesses make me wonder how this does if the opponet stops TR. Better synergy seems to be all it needs, since you can clearly play well and design good sets for indivudal mons. Give Dusknoir and Porygon2 a think about again.

 

[Roger Fox]

Reply to Miracle Man

I thought about darmanitan early on but his base 95 speed is frankly too high. Also he cannot learn wild bolt which means he is walled pretty well by gyarados and other bulky waters. Roopushin seems good at first but then I would have no grass resists which means if they have serperior I basically lose. Scizor however seems like a good idea he gives me a 4 times grass resist scouting and prioritay as well as a steel typing. I think replacing tangrowth with scozor sounds like a good idea. Then I have only 3 bug weaks with 2 resists 2 flying weaks and another ghost resist.
Thanks for your suggestions!

 

[Roger Fox]

Reply to Taj:

First off flying type moves are not much of a problem as they are quite rare. I don't think I have ever seen a team with 2 pokemon with flying type moves. Ghost types are more dangerous as they are much more common and all 3 of my trick roomers are weak to them. Tyranitar can usually handle ghost types though. Bug however are a major threat. (I actually beat a bug monotype team though my opponent played badly). I am replacing tangrowth with scizor so that takes it down to 3 bug weaks with 2 resists. That is a bit more manageable, scizor also gives me a dragon resist, a ghost resist and a toxic spikes immunity. You are right toxic spikes are a big threat too, especially to emboar, who already takes quite a bit of residual damage, and slowbro who I like healthy in the end game for taking on garchomp and excadrill. I considered porygon 2 when making this team but I picked slowbro instead for a few reasons. 1: regeneration+ leftovers means I do not have to take up a move slot with healing. The water resist is quite nice. Also Slowbro can lure in and kill genosect and scizor with flamethrower, both are big threats to my team. Porygon 2's pros are better defences and synergy however he leaves me weaker to sand especially escadrill and cannot deal with steel types.
Thank you for your suggestions!

 

[Roger Fox]

Reply to OMGTFBBQQ:
First of all tangrowth is not meant to wall I just meant that he is not going to be knocked over by a slight breeze. To give you an idea of his power tangrowth 2hkos non bulky gyarados 100% of the time with power whip after an intimidate with lefties factored in. Next Emboar is not weak to stealth rocks his fighting type makes him neutral to it. I know he dies quickly I never said anything about him taking hits all day in fact i said he dies pretty quickly. I am testing scizor in place of tangrowths even though I was very pleased with Tangrowths performance. Scizor gives me a metal type and extra bug resist. Actually the only dragon type I really fear is specs latios as he can ohko everyone of my team except Tyranitar and trick his specs on to one of my teammembers. Physical dragons are handled well by Slowbro. Hydregon is also easier to counter as he has a scarf most of the time. Also my team functions fine with gallade down. His job is to get down trick room then hit hard with close combat and take something down with destiny bond.
Thank you for your post please suggest some specific pokes next time instead of just stating weaknesses!

 

[Roger Fox]

I like the yawn suggestion but what move should I give up? If I lose Scald I lose the nice 30% chance and my move of choice against excadrill and blaziken. If I give up ice beam I cant check salamence, dragonite or garchomp nearly as effectively. If I give up flamethrower Slowbro becomes u-turn/setup fodder for dangerous threats like scizor and genesect. I want to try yawn out I think it is a great suggestioin but I'm just not sure how to fit it in.
Thanks for your suggestion!

 

[Zebstrika]

Give Emboar Leftovers. It hits really hard for so much longer (I know this from the number of Scarf Staraptor sweeps), with its high base HP letting you throw 4-5 attacks instead of about 3.

Wish support for it would be even better. Emboar has weaknesses to Flying, Psychic, Water and Ground.

Gallade: Well, first it can't be a suicide lead. Second, you lose Justified. Third, even with max HP, it only can pass 170 HP Wishes.

Gardevoir: Trace gives it opportunities to switch in, and it actually repels one of Emboar's weaknesses. However, it still has low HP.

Jirachi: One who can set up Trick Room, passing 202HP Wishes. It hits 184 speed which is below 0 EV base 75 pokemon. It could set up Doom Desire as a way to attract types like Fire and Steel that resist it. The steel typing is something your team needs (maybe not as much with Scizor), as it brings a resistance to Flying and no weakness to Bug or Ghost. For Emboar, it resists Flying and Psychic while sharing the Ground weakness.

Xatu: Another Pokemon who can set up Trick Room. It is slightly slower (175 speed is just barely lower than 0 EV base 70 pokemon like Skarmory). It is immune to Ground and resistant to Psychic, and shares no weaknesses. It gets Magic Bounce to switch into many attacks like Jirachi, and also works excellently against stall, which Taj said you would have trouble with. However, it is much frailer than Jirachi, and its Wishes are only 167 HP max.

Espeon: Similar to Xatu, but much better on the special side. It also lacks a Ground immunity. It passes 167 HP Wishes and has Magic Bounce to threaten stall and switch in. But while it is much stronger, it is also much faster. Under the Trick Room it can set up, it ties with 0 EV base 83 pokemon and outspeeds 252 EV base 52 pokemon. This may make it better as a pokemon that functions outside of Trick Room, as it will not combat stall as effectively.

Mew: Damn, I thought it could actually learn Wish.

Latias: Despite her Psychic typing, alas, she does not learn Trick Room. She has the same speed issues that Espeon does, anyways. But she can switch into Ground, Psychic and Water attacks all in one pokemon! 182 HP Wishes are decent, not the best, but good. She can threaten many pokemon with good special attack.

Alomomola: Giant HP stat, that can give out 267 HP Wishes. It has a resistance to Water. Its base 65 speed, at the very minimum, outspeeds 0 EV base 43s. As if that isn't enough, it even gets Aqua Jet.

Vaporeon: Similar to Alomomola, but the main differences are: Higher defenses, but with lower HP (232 HP Wishes), MUCH better offenses, and its way of healing off Water typed attacks. The healing may actually discourage the opponent from using Water attacks at all! Baton Passing Work Up or Aqua Ring would be pretty nice, too. It has the same speed as Alomomola, by the way.

Chansey/Blissey: First thing that stands out is the 352 HP (Chansey)/357 HP (Blissey) Wishes they pass. Then, they are both very slow and defensive. Finally, they can switch into any special attack bar Secret Sword and possibly Psybreak. However, they have a Ghost type immunity to take advantage of, and their lone Fighting weakness is covered by the Psychics on your team.

Now for some other stuff:

Whimsicott: No, it doesn't learn Wish. But it can pass a Leech Seed, which either gives you free HP or a switch-in. It also learns Trick Room, and either Memento to get to a sweeper quickly, or a "slow" U-turn to get to another sweeper quickly but also possibly survive.

Jellicent: I guess I just find it cool how it gets Trick Room+Water Spout+Recover.

 

[Roger Fox]

Reply to Zebstrika:
I have thought about replacing Emboars item for quite a while, I need him to check many things and he dies quite fast right now. However with scizor on the team now I am more secure against bug and grass types so Emboar surviving is now not quite as important. His job is to check bugs, steels, serperior etc. and lefties would help him but with life orb his power is so much better. Life orb gives me a 100% of ohkoing 4/0 latias with headsmash with no prior damage! Overall I dont think wish passing would really fit on a trick room team. it takes 2 turns and 2 turns is a lot just to keep one poke alive on a trick room team. I kind of like the idea of Xatu's magic bounce thought as that would help me handle my vulnerability to toxic spikes. However its offensive stats are rather lacking and his defenses arnt great either. Im sorry but I just dont think I can fit in a wish passer even if it was viable on a trick room team. Thanks for the idea though!

 

[Zebstrika]

Your title implies Emboar is the star of the team. About the other stuff: I think Whimsicott would be better as a suicide lead. While you could argue Gallade has a strong Close Combat, you have your flaming pig. Reuniclus has a hard hitting Psyshock, too. Whimsicott makes sure you die and get something else in with Memento or a "slow" U-turn. However, the thing it really has is the ability to still be an effective anti-lead also. Taunt stops hazards from getting up, because once they are up there is nothing you can do about it (except pray for Defog). It also blocks status, allowing you to possibly run a Focus Sash. Encore punishes the opponent for setting up, giving you a free turn to set up Trick Room or switch to a sweeper. Of course, it will have much more trouble killing the opponent.

Edit: I nearly forgot again. I find it much easier to read the normal font size.

 

[Taj]

My Suggestions:

Since you're running Scizor now you should have something to beat Gyarados and Heatran so that you can sweep. I've personally tried out Heatproof Bronzong as a lead and it works amazing at taking out Heatran because people usually bring it in only to be OHKO's by an Earhquake. I've played over 60 matches with it as a lead and it hasn't even lost to a Heatran carrying a balloon.

Bronzong @ Lum Berry
252 HP/84 Atk/80 Def/92 SpD
Stealth Rock, Trick Room, Gyro Ball and Earthquake

I'm a stickler for Synergy and for me that TTar set hasn't been working(but then again I don't play DW) so I went for Eelektross and it's been working out quite well. It works as an excellent wallbreaker and covers Bronzong's ground weakness(If anyone were to figure it out).

Eelektross @ Life Orb
48 HP/252 Atk(So it can 2HKO Blissey with Wild Bolt)/208 SpA
Wild Bolt, Flamethrower, Grass Knot and HP Ice

 

[Roger Fox]

Reply to Zebstrika:
I like the Whimsicott idea, I have a problem with hazards and mischievous heart taunt is always nice on a lead. I think I will try a set with taunt, trick room, encore and memento/u-turn. Sorry about the font size.

 

[Roger Fox]

Reply to Taj:
The elektross idea sounds good, after replacing tangrowth I have had some trouble with bulky waters the set looks good I'm just trying to think of who I should replace. Emboar and Scizor provide my team with necessary resistances, I need all three trick roomers, And tyranitars sandstream is my only way of breaking dragonites multi scale, he is also my hard counter to chandelure. I will try it out thanks!

 

[Roger Fox]

Testing mixed elektross thanks Taj :)

 

[Roger Fox]

I'm going back to using tangrowth even though it dosnt help my weaknesses at all scizor was getting walled to easily and I was having trouble with bulky waters.

 

[Roger Fox]

Ferrothorn is here to stay in tangrowths spot!