FORRETRESS DIALGA ARCEUS GHOST LATIAS KYOGRE HIPPOWDON - Poppy     
IntroductionThis team does not have a lot of history, but has beaten many mighty players like donkey, syrim, and trickroom. This team is capable of applying a lot of pressure to standard offense and defensive playstyles. Offensive playstyles often cannot handle the fast hazards from Forretress and the combined pressure of two offensive Calm Mind users. Defensive teams crumble to Choice Specs Dialga in tandem with hazards; 252 HP Arceus is 2HKOed by Dragon Pulse and even those that invest in Special Defense cannot avoid the 2HKO with normal poison damage unless they are Steel Arceus. The Team
Forretress @ Custap Berry This is my lead more often than not. The miracle of Custap Forretress will become apparent when in about 80% of your matchups you can get a layer of Toxic Spikes and a layer of Spikes with no hassle. Your standard Deoxys-S pisses itself in fear after being taken down to its Focus Sash by full-powered Gyro Ball as it uses Taunt. The IVs are so that Fire Punch Deoxys puts you into Custap Berry range, as opposed to doing like 60% and making me furious. Reshiram and Kyurem-W leads beat me outright, but Kyogre absorbs their assaults easily, especially with no hazards. The advantage of having Spikes and Toxic Spikes down immediately are huge, offensive teams are extremely gimped by the constant poison damage, and I have the defensive core to switch around or stall Pokemon out with recovery moves. Against defensive teams the advantage is not as immediately apparent, but when you realise I have four Pokemon which call for a lot of predictable switches the residual damage is vital in getting the upperhand. Funnily enough, I will also lead with this in the face of a likely Mewtwo or Rayquaza lead, eschewing one layer if they choose to attack immediately so I can Gyro Ball them. Should they choose to set up they will be met with a 2HKO. Savvy Rayquazas will know to ExtremeSpeed me after Sturdy has been activated, but it's a 50/50 and you can always switch out to Ghost Arceus to preserve Custap Berry. Sometimes it is wise to preserve Forretress, especially if you can get it into Custap Berry range by switching it into hazards later, it's a great last minute check to stuff like CM Mewtwo and DD Rayquaza which my team occasionally struggles with.
Dialga @ Choice Specs The big Kahuna. Probably my favourite Dialga set of all time, it is probably the most hazard resistant choice user in the tier, and is capable of dishing out massive damage. Fire Blast deals upwards of 80% to specially defensive Ferrothorn in rain, Draco Meteor 2HKOes standard tank Ho-Oh WITHOUT Stealth Rock (more of an illustrative than a practical example, as Regenerator Ho-Oh can still switch into Draco Meteors without Stealth Rock). Not much prediction is really needed with this set, just weigh up what can switch into the move you decide, i.e., don't use a move that could leave you in a situation wherein the team cannot handle a switch in that can take the move. This means that 90% of the time you'll be fine using a Dragon move; Steel Arceus can't handle Kyogre, Ferrothorn is set up bait, Chansey and Blissey are set up bait, Excadrill takes waaaaaaaaay too much damage. Another cool thing to do to preserve hazards is to break opposing Forretress's Sturdy with Ghost Arceus, then switch immediately to Dialga and use Thunder: 66.38 - 78.24%, saving you the trouble of having to engage Toxic Forretress in a painful battle with Ghost Arceus. Choice Specs Dialga usually has no trouble crushing defensive teams, common switch-ins, such as Grass Arceus in rain, Skarmory, Ferrothorn, Specially Defensive Kyogre can either be taken out with the right prediction, or simply keel over to the insane damage output. Standard Ubers Skarmory takes Draco Meteors worse than Close Combats, suffering from a massive 61.97 – 72.75% damage, a clean 2HKO. 144 SpD Timid Arceus Grass takes 45.94 – 54.27% from Dragon Pulse, making it unable to stall out Dialga when inflicted with normal poison. Specially Defensive Kyogre is easily 2HKOed by Thunder and 3HKOed by Dragon Pulse, making it an iffy switch in at best. Ferrothorn is roasted by Fire Blast regardless of weather, and can be set up on by Forretress. The EVs are just speed-creep with bulk, I usually invest a fair amount to beat out Earth Plate and support Groudons (252/0 Groudon is OHKOed by Specs Draco Meteor), tank Ho-Ohs, support Dialgas, etc.
Arceus-Ghost @ Spooky Plate Your standard spinblocking CM Arceus-Ghost with a few EV tweaks. The difference in bulk is quite minimal, whereas the boost in damage output is huge. Specially Defensive Kyogre and standard Ubers Ferrothorn have much more difficulty checking this beast. Aside from spinblocking, Arceus-Ghost is very important in applying pressure to offensive teams, as it is almost impossible for them to check. It is also a semi-reliable check to Latias, outspeeding it and being able to beat it in a CM war most of the time. Arceus-Ghost also somewhat alleviates the pressure of ExtremeKiller from Hippowdon. If I see the opposing team is weak to CM Arceus Ghost I will not hesitate to lead with it and set up.
Latias @ Soul Dew My Kyogre check and second offensive CMer. I was tempted by the all-out attacker set, but needed Latias to reliably beat CM Grass and Electric Arceus. Usually throwing out Thunders early is better to catch over-eager Genesect and fish for paralysis. I only aim to outspeed Garchomp because I like having some bulk and power on my Latias. It is also interesting to note that 4/0 Ho-Oh is 2HKOed by Dragon Pulse + Thunder. Of course, Ferrothorn is a complete stop to this set, but as it is complete set up bait for dual hazard Forretress this doesn't really worry me.
Kyogre @ Leftovers Kyogre serves a lot of roles on this team, beyond simple weather control and 100% accurate Thunders it provides a valuable pivot and status absorber. Most CM Arceus are stopped cold and phazed out, Ferrothorn risks a 51% chance to be burned in two Scalds (which is great to spam), making it much easier to handle. Roar is great to shuffle on obvious switches, and is capable of getting Palkia poisoned on the switch in, only to have it phazed out immediately. Speaking of Palkia, Choice Scarf barely ekes out 50% with Thunder, making staying in on it to Rest a viable option. Overzealous Scarf Palkia using Fire Blast or Spacial Rend will actually find themselves walled and slowly dying to poison damage.
Hippowdon @ Leftovers The first thing that probably jumps out at you is the choice of Sand Stream over Sand Force. There are many reasons for this: Kabutops can no longer 2HKO Hippowdon with Waterfall, Ho-Oh becomes a breeze to handle (although the burn is annoying), and I have a way of slowing down Kingdra, which is actually very threatening. Other than that, Hippowdon serves a very important role on this team, walling Groudon, physical Zekrom, ExtremeKiller, and being the only Electric-type immunity. Hippowdon was chosen over Groudon mainly because Ho-Oh would be too much of an asshole otherwise, but the reliable recovery is also very nice. Being able to switch into Ho-Oh and Groudon to set up Stealth Rock is also a great asset. I will also switch Hippowdon fearlessly into Ferrothorn because Power Whip is only a 3HKO. Using Hippowdon requires you to be aware of the fact that should Hippowdon be caught out by a stray critical hit or surprise mix set it will very rarely have the opportunity to heal itself back up unless it used Slack Off on that turn. Being so slow means that there are very few opposing Pokemon that Hippowdon can heal back in front of when in critical HP. Importable |