maddog
is a master debater
So this would be my 3rd RMT here, and this one I actually need rated to help me wrtie my article. And before you bitch about BP teams, you have to realize how hard they are to play, espically in Platinum with Trick running around everywhere. Trick is one of the main reasons I had to revaluate Baton Pass this generation, because Trick is such a good way to stop my lead. And this team is hard as hell to play; its no longer ADV anymore. Team design is everything, which is what I need opinions on.
Lopunny (M) @ Flame Orb
Ability: Klutz
EVs: 252 HP/36 Def/216 Spd/6 SDef
Bold nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Agility
- Baton Pass
- Magic Coat
- Switcheroo
---
Lopunny is an extremely good lead in this metagame. Because of Klutz, Lopunny doesn't care about items being Tricked on him. In fact, Lopunny can use Switcheroo to give threats like Tyranitar or Salamence a Flame Orb, which will slowly kill them and severly reduce the damage that they can do, even after several Dragon Dances. Magic Coat is one of the best options on a Baton Passer. With Magic Coat, Lopunny can deal with status users and Taunt users by hitting them with their own condition. Ultimately though, the goal is to get off an Agility and Baton Pass out of there.
Hypno (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Insomnia
EVs: 252 HP/112 Spd/146 SDef
Calm nature (+SDef, -Atk)
- Calm Mind
- Substitute
- Baton Pass
- Psychic
---
Hypno is used as a Special wall in UU, and on this team he tanks Special hits with Calm Mind and Substitute. Hypno is my answer to Zapdos, Porygon-Z and Suicune; Calm Minding until I can set up a Substitute they cannot break. I can then Baton Pass out for another day. Psychic is used in the fourth slot as a STAB move that can break Substitutes on my opponents.
Some may want to use Mr. Mime in this spot as an addition protection to Roar users. Mr. Mime takes Special hits significantly worse though, which is why Hypno has this spot on my team.
Vaporeon (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Water Absorb
EVs: 252 HP/130 Def/128 Spd
Bold nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Acid Armor
- Baton Pass
- Wish
- Substitute
---
Vaporeon serves several important functions for this team. Having a Wishpasser is extremely important on a team that cannot recover on their own, and Vaporeon is one of the only Pokemon that can do this well in OU, aside from Togekiss. Vaporeon also provides Defense Boosts to my team and it is my solution to Scizor and other strong physical sweepers. Additionally, after an Acid Armor, Machamp will struggle to break Vaporeon's Substitutes, effectively dealing with an otherwise extremely threatening Pokemon to my entire chain. If you use another Pokemon as a Defense Passer, feel free to use Surf or Ice Beam off of Vaporeon's great base 110 Special Attack.
Smeargle (M) @ Shed Shell
Ability: Own Tempo
EVs: 92 HP / 120 Def / 40 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Baton Pass
- Ingrain
- Spore
- Substitute
---
Stops phazing, and puts threats to sleep when I need it to. Nice and easy.
Gliscor (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Sand Veil
EVs: 252 HP/98 Def/160 SDef
Impish nature (+Def, -SAtk)
- Swords Dance
- Substitute
- Taunt
- Baton Pass
---
Gliscor rounds off the team by passing Swords Dances to Lucario. Gliscor carries Taunt to stop phazers that like to switch into him, like Skarmory. Sub is the least necessary on Gliscor, but unlike Vaporeon and Hypno, Gliscor really needs to get in three boosts, and Substitute is invauble in this process. I recently added Sand Veil in order to abuse Substitute more, and to try and get a gab at Tyranitar.
Lucario (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Inner Focus
EVs: 34 HP/252 Atk/224 Spd
Adamant nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Crunch
- Bullet Punch
- Ice Punch
- Brick Break
---
And here comes the boom. Lucario is the only thing that can KO everything with +6 in just one attacking stat... incredible. Ice Punch takes care of Hippo, Brick Break takes care of screens so they don't get in my way, and hits everything, Crunch to round it off. Bullet Punch is to hate Gengar, Weavile and anything else that tries to outspeed me. As a note, if I fail for some reason to get +6 attack and only get +4, I still win anyways, as Hippo is KOed by Ice Punch still.
So there it is. BP: verison 18 (it took awhile). Please rate and suggest better EV spreads, different moves, and more importantly different Pokemon that would work in order to handle the threats of today. Thanks, maddog :naughty:
Old team members
(This is for my reference only, you don't have to pay attention to it if you don't want):
Ninjask replaced by Lopunny, Hypno replaced Gorebyss, and Vaporeon replaced Scizor.
Lopunny (M) @ Flame Orb
Ability: Klutz
EVs: 252 HP/36 Def/216 Spd/6 SDef
Bold nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Agility
- Baton Pass
- Magic Coat
- Switcheroo
---
Lopunny is an extremely good lead in this metagame. Because of Klutz, Lopunny doesn't care about items being Tricked on him. In fact, Lopunny can use Switcheroo to give threats like Tyranitar or Salamence a Flame Orb, which will slowly kill them and severly reduce the damage that they can do, even after several Dragon Dances. Magic Coat is one of the best options on a Baton Passer. With Magic Coat, Lopunny can deal with status users and Taunt users by hitting them with their own condition. Ultimately though, the goal is to get off an Agility and Baton Pass out of there.
Hypno (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Insomnia
EVs: 252 HP/112 Spd/146 SDef
Calm nature (+SDef, -Atk)
- Calm Mind
- Substitute
- Baton Pass
- Psychic
---
Hypno is used as a Special wall in UU, and on this team he tanks Special hits with Calm Mind and Substitute. Hypno is my answer to Zapdos, Porygon-Z and Suicune; Calm Minding until I can set up a Substitute they cannot break. I can then Baton Pass out for another day. Psychic is used in the fourth slot as a STAB move that can break Substitutes on my opponents.
Some may want to use Mr. Mime in this spot as an addition protection to Roar users. Mr. Mime takes Special hits significantly worse though, which is why Hypno has this spot on my team.
Vaporeon (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Water Absorb
EVs: 252 HP/130 Def/128 Spd
Bold nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Acid Armor
- Baton Pass
- Wish
- Substitute
---
Vaporeon serves several important functions for this team. Having a Wishpasser is extremely important on a team that cannot recover on their own, and Vaporeon is one of the only Pokemon that can do this well in OU, aside from Togekiss. Vaporeon also provides Defense Boosts to my team and it is my solution to Scizor and other strong physical sweepers. Additionally, after an Acid Armor, Machamp will struggle to break Vaporeon's Substitutes, effectively dealing with an otherwise extremely threatening Pokemon to my entire chain. If you use another Pokemon as a Defense Passer, feel free to use Surf or Ice Beam off of Vaporeon's great base 110 Special Attack.
Smeargle (M) @ Shed Shell
Ability: Own Tempo
EVs: 92 HP / 120 Def / 40 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Baton Pass
- Ingrain
- Spore
- Substitute
---
Stops phazing, and puts threats to sleep when I need it to. Nice and easy.
Gliscor (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Sand Veil
EVs: 252 HP/98 Def/160 SDef
Impish nature (+Def, -SAtk)
- Swords Dance
- Substitute
- Taunt
- Baton Pass
---
Gliscor rounds off the team by passing Swords Dances to Lucario. Gliscor carries Taunt to stop phazers that like to switch into him, like Skarmory. Sub is the least necessary on Gliscor, but unlike Vaporeon and Hypno, Gliscor really needs to get in three boosts, and Substitute is invauble in this process. I recently added Sand Veil in order to abuse Substitute more, and to try and get a gab at Tyranitar.
Lucario (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Inner Focus
EVs: 34 HP/252 Atk/224 Spd
Adamant nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Crunch
- Bullet Punch
- Ice Punch
- Brick Break
---
And here comes the boom. Lucario is the only thing that can KO everything with +6 in just one attacking stat... incredible. Ice Punch takes care of Hippo, Brick Break takes care of screens so they don't get in my way, and hits everything, Crunch to round it off. Bullet Punch is to hate Gengar, Weavile and anything else that tries to outspeed me. As a note, if I fail for some reason to get +6 attack and only get +4, I still win anyways, as Hippo is KOed by Ice Punch still.
So there it is. BP: verison 18 (it took awhile). Please rate and suggest better EV spreads, different moves, and more importantly different Pokemon that would work in order to handle the threats of today. Thanks, maddog :naughty:
Old team members
(This is for my reference only, you don't have to pay attention to it if you don't want):
Ninjask replaced by Lopunny, Hypno replaced Gorebyss, and Vaporeon replaced Scizor.
Ninjask (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Speed Boost
EVs: 252 HP/60 Atk/182 Def/16 Spd
Adamant nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Baton Pass
- Substitute
- Protect
- X-Scissor
-----
Old lead. The first thing I wanted in my team was a lead that was virtually immune to Trick. And in the BP world, there are only two pokes that can accomplish this: Ninjask and Lopunny. Lopunny isn't actually a joke: Magic Coat stops Taunt and Status, Switcherooing Flame Orb stops DD leads I have so much trouble with, and it has good defensive stats (better than Starmie). But for this team, its the super bug, modified for my puporses. The EV spread helps me against those silly pritory attacks, and only takes around 75% from a Weavile's Ice Shard. Protect is actually key on this set: it makes sure I'm faster than all Trick users, so I can put up a Sub to stop Trick. And while Ninjask is much more vunerable to Taunt than Lopunny, at least it has X-Scizzor, which takes care of Azelf. Using Ninjask means I can reduce the speed EVs on the rest of my team, since I will have more than an Agility's worth.
Gorebyss (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Swift Swim
EVs: 150 HP/108 Spd/252 SDef
Calm nature (+SDef, -Atk)
- Amnesia
- Baton Pass
- Substitute
- Surf
---
What. Is. This.
Gorebyss is something I added onto my team after I tried my chain in Ubers. Amnesia passing (which is what my Mew does) is so nice for stopping those Special threats. Gorebyss is the best at doing that outside of Ubers. Its a perfect Heatran counter, and much like I did against Garchomp in D/P, it helps the rest of my team counter those Special threats that hit in such diverse ways. Gorebyss is what I pass to against Aerodatcyl leads, and it the Sub that I pass it doesn't break on the switch, your in for a world of (not) hurt.
Scizor (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Technician
EVs: 252 HP/130 Def/128 Spd
Impish nature (+Def, -SAtk)
- Iron Defense
- Substitute
- Baton Pass
- Bullet Punch
---
Same old Scizor, different puporse. Of course, Scizor is the best at defense passing (tied with Vaporeon). But Scizor is unique, because... it is my Scizor counter. After Amnesia comes into play, I can bring it in on Boltbeamers and make them switch. Bullet Punch is great to have some pritiory and because not having Bullet Punch on Scizor is illegal in my state.