Hey everyone, it has been a while since I did an RMT, as I took a break from playing competitively to focus on other things, however I came back to try some stuff out again/make a new team, and after a few hours of frustration to find the right team combo, I finally settled on this team:
(I didn't mean for this team to be so Gen1 heavy, but it has worked out really well so far)
Without further ado, here are all my stats and team choice reasoning:
Greninja @ Assault Vest
Ability: Protean
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
- Hydro Pump
- Dark Pulse
- Ice Beam
- Hidden Power [Fire]
Vaporeon (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Water Absorb
EVs: 248 HP / 252 SDef / 8 Spd
Calm Nature
- Wish
- Protect
- Scald
- Roar
Dragonite @ Choice Band
Ability: Multiscale
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Outrage
- Earthquake
- Extreme Speed
- Aqua Jet(?)
Alakazam (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
- Psyshock
- Focus Blast
- Signal Beam
- Hidden Power [Fire]
Gliscor (M) @ Toxic Orb
Ability: Poison Heal
EVs: 252 HP / 184 Def / 72 Spd
Impish Nature
- Toxic
- Protect
- Roost
- Knock Off
Venusaur (M) @ Venusaurite
Ability: Chlorophyll
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SAtk / 252 SDef
Calm Nature
- Sleep Powder
- Leech Seed
- Giga Drain
- Sludge Bomb
Greninja: Greninja is one of my favorite Gen 6 pokemon, however I tried to go without him as much as possible to test out other mons. Regardless, Greninja slipped his way into this team with this standard set for a number of reasons. Primarily, Greninja's speed is really high, so switching in isn't a problem since he outspeeds most of the competition. On the other hand, I decided to make the ninja a special attacker due to the fact that readily available (and reasonable) moves like Hydro Pump, Dark Pulse, etc. are special attacks. Because he doesn't boast the best defense stats, I went with Assault Vest since all he does is just attack. Moves: Hydro Pump and Dark Pulse, two moves I feel are a no brainer for a special sweeping Greninja. Despite the accuracy lose for H-Pump, I prefer the power that the attack boasts. Ice Beam is around for Dragon Coverage if I can't get a good switch with Dragonite, and HP Fire helps to hit walls like Ferrothorn and Forrestress since Protean gives Greninja a STAB boost
Vaporeon: My Vaporeon started out as a defensive wall but after a number of ugly let downs and losses, I decided he would be more effective as a SpD. variant. I got the idea for this from an old BlameTruth pokemon battle, and so far, it's worked out pretty well. Max Special Defense and a decent HP investment ensures that Vaporeon can tank a hit, and set up Wish + Protect (Leftovers helps when Protect stalling) or Wish pass with little problem. Scald does decent damage and ensures I'm not screwed with a Taunt, while Roar allows me to predict switches and get rid of pokemon who can really threaten Vaporeon.
Dragonite: Choice Band Dragonite, another standard set, but if it's not broken, why fix it? Dragonite is my premiere revenge killer/Physical Sweeper. Multiscale is always helpful for Dragonite, especially with the max HP investment, I wanted to make him a bulks sweeper. Anyway, I decided to go with Choice Band over Life Orb because even though I maxed HP investment, I didn't want to break my own Multiscale with recoil, and Choice Banded Dragonite can switch in and hit really hard before switching out. Moves: Outrage is pretty standard on any Dragonite set, and that's no difference here. Choice Band Outrage lets Dragonite pack a huge punch, and he can always switch out afterwards if there's a Fairy/Steel switch in. Earthquake, also pretty standard on a Dragonite set, allows Dragonite more coverage and good power. Extremespeed felt pretty obvious here, pretty much allowing Dragonite to KO weakened pokemon. Finally Aqua Jet, definitely my worst choice. I liked the priority coverage over fire, however since I have coverage in the form of EQ, I've contemplated chancing this to either Fire Punch or Superpower. Superpower would allow me to hit user favorites like Tyrannitar hard, while Fire Punch offers coverage for all those Steel Walls.
Alakazam: I LOVE this set I settled on for Alakazam. When I decided on a second sweeper, I wanted to have another Special, but it took me a while to decide how I wanted to use him. I know a lot of players running Alakazam keep a Focus Sash, but I decided early on that I wanted Alakazam to be able to function as a revenge killer too. So dumping the Focus Sash I went with Life Orb, boosting my attack, but without the penalty of recoil damage due to the Magic Guard ability (didn't I tell you I loved this set?). Max Speed and SpAtt EV investment plays to Alakazams strong suit of already high Base Speed and Special Attack. Moves: I chose Psyshock over Psychic to deal with walls like Chancey or Blissey (I've already run into a few of those and Alakazam has just absolutely decimated them). Focus Blast helps to deal with Pokemon that wall Alakazam (like those annoying Tyrannitars), since Alakazam outspeeds a majority of those threats with the max Speed investment. Signal Beam goes around for more coverage against other Psychic types, while HP Fire helps with Steel types who resist Focus Blast, however since I haven't had much of a need for HP Fire, I'm considering using that slot for something else (suggestions please).
Gliscor: Definitely my favorite Physical wall with Skarms, Gliscor won this place over the metal bird simply due to the fact that fire-types have been running through my teams like crazy and Skarmory couldn't handle it. Gliscor not only resists Fire, but it can switch into predicted T-Bolts,Waves,etc with no penalty. It can be argued that Skarms has far less weaknesses that it could be considered in favor of Gliscor, but I haven't seen those weaknesses like I have with Fire and Electric. EV's, Moves, and Item choice: Standard max HP investment, I didn't max out Defense on this set simply to add a little more speed to for Gliscor to switch in and set up a Toxic before taking a hit and Protect/Roost stalling with Toxic Orb and Poison Heal to steadily regain health. Knock Off is a decent move that I went with since I haven't seen a lot of people keeping that as their anti-taunt bait. (This set does an incredible job with walling, however I would appreciate any input into keeping the defense but becoming a little more offensive threat too.
Venusaur(Mega): Judge me how you will, I always loved Venusaur, and I always chose Bulbasuar when I played Blue and Red. Anyway, this set is something I have used on past teams and I haven't had any problems with it before. I contemplated making Venusaur Fast Special Wall, but eventually decided against it in favor of more Bulk to tank hits, and it has worked incredibly well. Moves: Venusaur usually switches in and MegaEvolves and Sleep Powder a mon of my choosing. Usually enough to force a switch, I follow up with Leech Seed since it's probably one of the most annoying moves ever. Giga Drain allows Venusaur to stay in and (like I said) tank hits and regain health with the aid of Leech Seed, while Sludge bomb provides a much needed (if predictable) counter to the new fairy types.
My main reason for this RMT (besides getting feedback) is that I need help with countering hazards, but I can't figure out who to drop from the team. Recently someone set up rocks and spikes against me, and I could not press anything offensively, and I barely managed to KO 3 of his mon before I finally lost. My first choice would be Dragonite since he hasn't seen as much action recently, but he is too much of a threat and his loss would force me to reorganize my team even further to to add on a new Physical Sweeper which is why I'm reluctant to change him. Anyway, any advice/opinions would be appreciated!
(I didn't mean for this team to be so Gen1 heavy, but it has worked out really well so far)
Without further ado, here are all my stats and team choice reasoning:
Greninja @ Assault Vest
Ability: Protean
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
- Hydro Pump
- Dark Pulse
- Ice Beam
- Hidden Power [Fire]
Vaporeon (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Water Absorb
EVs: 248 HP / 252 SDef / 8 Spd
Calm Nature
- Wish
- Protect
- Scald
- Roar
Dragonite @ Choice Band
Ability: Multiscale
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Outrage
- Earthquake
- Extreme Speed
- Aqua Jet(?)
Alakazam (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
- Psyshock
- Focus Blast
- Signal Beam
- Hidden Power [Fire]
Gliscor (M) @ Toxic Orb
Ability: Poison Heal
EVs: 252 HP / 184 Def / 72 Spd
Impish Nature
- Toxic
- Protect
- Roost
- Knock Off
Venusaur (M) @ Venusaurite
Ability: Chlorophyll
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SAtk / 252 SDef
Calm Nature
- Sleep Powder
- Leech Seed
- Giga Drain
- Sludge Bomb
Greninja: Greninja is one of my favorite Gen 6 pokemon, however I tried to go without him as much as possible to test out other mons. Regardless, Greninja slipped his way into this team with this standard set for a number of reasons. Primarily, Greninja's speed is really high, so switching in isn't a problem since he outspeeds most of the competition. On the other hand, I decided to make the ninja a special attacker due to the fact that readily available (and reasonable) moves like Hydro Pump, Dark Pulse, etc. are special attacks. Because he doesn't boast the best defense stats, I went with Assault Vest since all he does is just attack. Moves: Hydro Pump and Dark Pulse, two moves I feel are a no brainer for a special sweeping Greninja. Despite the accuracy lose for H-Pump, I prefer the power that the attack boasts. Ice Beam is around for Dragon Coverage if I can't get a good switch with Dragonite, and HP Fire helps to hit walls like Ferrothorn and Forrestress since Protean gives Greninja a STAB boost
Vaporeon: My Vaporeon started out as a defensive wall but after a number of ugly let downs and losses, I decided he would be more effective as a SpD. variant. I got the idea for this from an old BlameTruth pokemon battle, and so far, it's worked out pretty well. Max Special Defense and a decent HP investment ensures that Vaporeon can tank a hit, and set up Wish + Protect (Leftovers helps when Protect stalling) or Wish pass with little problem. Scald does decent damage and ensures I'm not screwed with a Taunt, while Roar allows me to predict switches and get rid of pokemon who can really threaten Vaporeon.
Dragonite: Choice Band Dragonite, another standard set, but if it's not broken, why fix it? Dragonite is my premiere revenge killer/Physical Sweeper. Multiscale is always helpful for Dragonite, especially with the max HP investment, I wanted to make him a bulks sweeper. Anyway, I decided to go with Choice Band over Life Orb because even though I maxed HP investment, I didn't want to break my own Multiscale with recoil, and Choice Banded Dragonite can switch in and hit really hard before switching out. Moves: Outrage is pretty standard on any Dragonite set, and that's no difference here. Choice Band Outrage lets Dragonite pack a huge punch, and he can always switch out afterwards if there's a Fairy/Steel switch in. Earthquake, also pretty standard on a Dragonite set, allows Dragonite more coverage and good power. Extremespeed felt pretty obvious here, pretty much allowing Dragonite to KO weakened pokemon. Finally Aqua Jet, definitely my worst choice. I liked the priority coverage over fire, however since I have coverage in the form of EQ, I've contemplated chancing this to either Fire Punch or Superpower. Superpower would allow me to hit user favorites like Tyrannitar hard, while Fire Punch offers coverage for all those Steel Walls.
Alakazam: I LOVE this set I settled on for Alakazam. When I decided on a second sweeper, I wanted to have another Special, but it took me a while to decide how I wanted to use him. I know a lot of players running Alakazam keep a Focus Sash, but I decided early on that I wanted Alakazam to be able to function as a revenge killer too. So dumping the Focus Sash I went with Life Orb, boosting my attack, but without the penalty of recoil damage due to the Magic Guard ability (didn't I tell you I loved this set?). Max Speed and SpAtt EV investment plays to Alakazams strong suit of already high Base Speed and Special Attack. Moves: I chose Psyshock over Psychic to deal with walls like Chancey or Blissey (I've already run into a few of those and Alakazam has just absolutely decimated them). Focus Blast helps to deal with Pokemon that wall Alakazam (like those annoying Tyrannitars), since Alakazam outspeeds a majority of those threats with the max Speed investment. Signal Beam goes around for more coverage against other Psychic types, while HP Fire helps with Steel types who resist Focus Blast, however since I haven't had much of a need for HP Fire, I'm considering using that slot for something else (suggestions please).
Gliscor: Definitely my favorite Physical wall with Skarms, Gliscor won this place over the metal bird simply due to the fact that fire-types have been running through my teams like crazy and Skarmory couldn't handle it. Gliscor not only resists Fire, but it can switch into predicted T-Bolts,Waves,etc with no penalty. It can be argued that Skarms has far less weaknesses that it could be considered in favor of Gliscor, but I haven't seen those weaknesses like I have with Fire and Electric. EV's, Moves, and Item choice: Standard max HP investment, I didn't max out Defense on this set simply to add a little more speed to for Gliscor to switch in and set up a Toxic before taking a hit and Protect/Roost stalling with Toxic Orb and Poison Heal to steadily regain health. Knock Off is a decent move that I went with since I haven't seen a lot of people keeping that as their anti-taunt bait. (This set does an incredible job with walling, however I would appreciate any input into keeping the defense but becoming a little more offensive threat too.
Venusaur(Mega): Judge me how you will, I always loved Venusaur, and I always chose Bulbasuar when I played Blue and Red. Anyway, this set is something I have used on past teams and I haven't had any problems with it before. I contemplated making Venusaur Fast Special Wall, but eventually decided against it in favor of more Bulk to tank hits, and it has worked incredibly well. Moves: Venusaur usually switches in and MegaEvolves and Sleep Powder a mon of my choosing. Usually enough to force a switch, I follow up with Leech Seed since it's probably one of the most annoying moves ever. Giga Drain allows Venusaur to stay in and (like I said) tank hits and regain health with the aid of Leech Seed, while Sludge bomb provides a much needed (if predictable) counter to the new fairy types.
My main reason for this RMT (besides getting feedback) is that I need help with countering hazards, but I can't figure out who to drop from the team. Recently someone set up rocks and spikes against me, and I could not press anything offensively, and I barely managed to KO 3 of his mon before I finally lost. My first choice would be Dragonite since he hasn't seen as much action recently, but he is too much of a threat and his loss would force me to reorganize my team even further to to add on a new Physical Sweeper which is why I'm reluctant to change him. Anyway, any advice/opinions would be appreciated!
