Hey guys, it's me again. I've been studying different pokemon I could use to make a new team, and I made one, meant to climb up the ladder and get me back to where I was, at about 100-200 or something, and if I can get higher, even better.
My last team was designed to counter weather teams without weather of it's own. It did really well when weather teams were many and generic, but when teams started becoming more and more original, my team started it's decay, and ended up being a pathetic one.
I decided I needed to open myself to new things and try with different pokemon, for a more complete team that can help me in any situation.
In competitive play, you don't always use the pokemon you like the most, and I came to accept that, but something I'll never take out of my team is Infernape, since he's my favorite pokemon, so again this team is centered around him.
I had a few choices of pokemon to pair him with, most notably Latios, Gyarados, Starmie, and I wanted to try Sigilyph too. I didn't want to use latios because I'd used him in my last two teams, and after some thinking, I went with Starmie.
Next, I wanted something that resisted Electric moves. I had to choose between Garchomp and Haxorus since I wanted a dragon dancer, and I picked garchomp at first, only to realize he doesn't learn dragon dance... silly me =/. So then, we have Haxorus.
Also, I wanted a bulky lead, and also wanted to try with Stealth Rock, something new to me, and maybe Trick, since it's an annoying move to face. This lead me to choose Metagross.
Since status cripples any member of the team here, I needed someone with Heal Bell or Aromatherapy, again something I haven't used before, and I was between Blissey and Vaporeon. Since for some reason I dislike Blissey (not that I love Vaporeon either, but oh well), I went with Vaporeon, which also adds a water immunity to my team.
Finally, I dediced to choose another defensive pokemon, and I chose Dusclops and Deoxys-D from my list of possible pokemon from the Smogon OU threat list. Both had monstrous defenses and nice little tricks. I went with Dusclops.
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CLOSER LOOK
Heatran (M) @ Power Herb
Trait: Flash Fire
EVs: 168 HP / 120 Def / 100 SAtk / 120 SDef
Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Stealth Rock
- Earth Power
- Heat Wave
- SolarBeam
OK I love this dude. After DownF4ll suggested me to use it, I tried it out, and I like it, really. Solarbeam + Power Herb means this guy's taking out any bulky water lead (most notably swampert) like it's nothing. It even worked against politoed! Since nobody expects this combo, they stay in game and I'm like BAM!, firin' mah lazor. Once their lead's down, I set up the rocks, and leave or maybe stay, depending what my opponent sent out. I can then use it to absorb fire attacks aimed at Ferrothorn, which are rare anyway because everyone already knows I have a Heatran. I tried HP grass later, and it's just not that powerfull and doesn't OHKO Swampert. I'm still unsure wether I should keep this set for surprise or use HP grass + Air Balloon for survivability.
Infernape (M) @ Life Orb
Trait: Blaze
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Mach Punch
- Flare Blitz
- Rock Slide
- Close Combat
This set is the same as I used to run in my AntiWeather team. Hit hard, fast, and as many times as possible, with a set that has a nice coverage and is hard to predict (I love when my opponent predicts a Flare Blitz on a ferrothorn, send a damaged politoed for instance and get KO'd with Close Combat, or send a flying pokemon and get hit with Rock Slide). Also, about the Rock Slide/Stone Edge dilemma, I chose Rock Slide because, considering how frail Infernape is, missing an attack and wasting a turn could mean me getting KOd or lead to a pretty bad situation. I know that not KOing the opposing pokemon could have the same consequences, but at least I damage them, and also that flinch rate is really helpful, saving me on many, many ocassions.
Haxorus (M) @ Yache Berry
Trait: Rivalry
EVs: 152 Atk / 104 Def / 100 SDef / 152 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Dragon Dance
- Dragon Tail
- Earthquake
- Dual Chop/Dragon Claw
This is my Dragon Dancer. Since a confused Haxorus is a real problem, I prefer using Dual Chop which after a +1, STAB, Adamant, Base 148 attack is already devastating enough for non-resisting pokemon, and breaks subs. Earthquake is for Steels and Rocks and I use Dragon Tail in case a Ferrothorn shows up, so that I just fling it out of play so I can deal with it later using Infernape*, since Haxorus doesn't have any fire attacks and no non-STAB 2x attack can bring down that defensive beast, so I just won't bother with it.
Instead of Lum Berry+Outrage i just kept Yache because of all the Ice Shards and Ice Beams around. Less offensive, but more reliable, that's usually my philosophy. Same with Timid/Jolly instead of Modest/Adamant.
*This my most reliable way to save the ape for later. I used to send Infernape in in my other team, but that only means ferrothorn is switching out and I never get to hit it with Infernape, which also means he gets exposed to other pokemon's attacks and could get KO'd which could mean I may lose just because of Ferrothorn since nothing else can KO it effectively.
Sigilyph (M) @ Flame Orb
Trait: Magic Guard
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Cosmic Power
- Psycho Shift
- Stored Power
- Roost
I haven't played PO for a while and I forgot why Starmie wasn't helping me much anymore, so I dumped it over Sigilyph. This one's good: cripples physical sweepers with Psycho Shift, survives anything with Cosmic Power and Roost, and then tears everything apart with Stored Power. You can't ask more than that. Also flying type adds a much needed ground immunity. Having this as a last-man is almost a garanteed win, since I can't be phazed and I srvive everything. Even dark pokemon. I just pass the burn with psycho shift, and start boosting and roosting. Even tyranitar can't deal with this, unless he gets a crit. It can easily destroy an entire team when used properly! (and it did, a couple times)
Ferrothorn (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Iron Barbs
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Def / 252 SDef
Careful Nature (+SDef, -SAtk)
- Leech Seed
- Thunder Wave
- Spikes
- Power Whip
Every time I saw a ferrothorn I found it impossible to KO it with anything but fire, so I decided to try it myself, since I can cripple non-ground sweepers with Thunder Wave, use Spikes to further boost the amount of passive damage the opponent takes, and once fire pokemon are out of play, just win by stalling. But no, that doesn't happen actually. STAB fighting attacks destroy me like it's nothing, and many +1 attacks do the same. Any suggestions? I need this thing to be more survivable.
Vaporeon (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Water Absorb
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def
Calm Nature (+SDef, -Atk)
- Wish
- Heal Bell
- Scald
- Toxic
This is my team healer. Wish and Heal Bell, especially the latter, are incredibly useful on the rest of my team, which is severely crippled by status (paralysis and burn for sweepers, and bad poison on Dusclops and Vaporeon itself), and at some point need healing so that they can still destroy things rather than being considered "dead" to me at that point of the game or just as priority users. Scald is my attacking move (and burns ^^) and Toxic deals status, particularily against other walls.
OTHER OPTIONS:
Deoxys-D: A pokemon with base 160 defenses, that has Recover, Psyco Shift and Cosmic Power? Yes please! It was my second choice to Dusclops, and I picked him because he wasn't a legendary, but I might change my mind about it.
EDIT: Replaced Starmie with Sigilyph, and Dusclops with Ferrothorn. Also changed Dragon Claw for Dual Chop.
Conclussions so far
These are mostly about the new things I tried and my opinion on them. They don't gie any new information about the team, but I just like to share them anyway. Read them if you want, it's not necessary.
- Stealth Rock is quite useful really. It means no severely hurt pokemon can survive a switch, and most of the time they can't survive when they come back into play after a team mate was KO'd. Also disables Charizard, Volcarona, Ninjask and Yanmega, which can be dealt with Rock Slide anyway, but that can be troublesome, especially the latter two which spam Protect to get Speed Boost and either Batton Pass or wreack havoc. Those who haven't tried it yet should really do.
- Wish and Heall Bell are really a bliss to any team, but even more for offensive teams like this one (it has two defensive pokemon but it's mostly offensive-oriented), since you get statused all the time, and paralysis and burn really make our pokemon useless most of the time, no matter wether they're healthy or low on HP. Healing and De-Statusing recycles your pokemon, allowing you to stay in play for longer instead of just "losing" a pokemon whenever it gets paralysed or burnt if it is a physical sweeper. I'm having some trouble with handling Wish, but that will improve with experience I guess. My problem is that I send in a damaged pokemon to get healed, but then it just dies, be it because it gets hurt or because of Stealth Rock.
- The Status+Hex combo isn't as powerful as it sounds on paper. I tried it with Rotom W and Dusclops, and if your pokemon doesn't have the stats or typing, you just won't get really high damage.
My last team was designed to counter weather teams without weather of it's own. It did really well when weather teams were many and generic, but when teams started becoming more and more original, my team started it's decay, and ended up being a pathetic one.
I decided I needed to open myself to new things and try with different pokemon, for a more complete team that can help me in any situation.
In competitive play, you don't always use the pokemon you like the most, and I came to accept that, but something I'll never take out of my team is Infernape, since he's my favorite pokemon, so again this team is centered around him.
I had a few choices of pokemon to pair him with, most notably Latios, Gyarados, Starmie, and I wanted to try Sigilyph too. I didn't want to use latios because I'd used him in my last two teams, and after some thinking, I went with Starmie.
Next, I wanted something that resisted Electric moves. I had to choose between Garchomp and Haxorus since I wanted a dragon dancer, and I picked garchomp at first, only to realize he doesn't learn dragon dance... silly me =/. So then, we have Haxorus.
Also, I wanted a bulky lead, and also wanted to try with Stealth Rock, something new to me, and maybe Trick, since it's an annoying move to face. This lead me to choose Metagross.
Since status cripples any member of the team here, I needed someone with Heal Bell or Aromatherapy, again something I haven't used before, and I was between Blissey and Vaporeon. Since for some reason I dislike Blissey (not that I love Vaporeon either, but oh well), I went with Vaporeon, which also adds a water immunity to my team.
Finally, I dediced to choose another defensive pokemon, and I chose Dusclops and Deoxys-D from my list of possible pokemon from the Smogon OU threat list. Both had monstrous defenses and nice little tricks. I went with Dusclops.
---------
CLOSER LOOK
Heatran (M) @ Power Herb
Trait: Flash Fire
EVs: 168 HP / 120 Def / 100 SAtk / 120 SDef
Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Stealth Rock
- Earth Power
- Heat Wave
- SolarBeam
OK I love this dude. After DownF4ll suggested me to use it, I tried it out, and I like it, really. Solarbeam + Power Herb means this guy's taking out any bulky water lead (most notably swampert) like it's nothing. It even worked against politoed! Since nobody expects this combo, they stay in game and I'm like BAM!, firin' mah lazor. Once their lead's down, I set up the rocks, and leave or maybe stay, depending what my opponent sent out. I can then use it to absorb fire attacks aimed at Ferrothorn, which are rare anyway because everyone already knows I have a Heatran. I tried HP grass later, and it's just not that powerfull and doesn't OHKO Swampert. I'm still unsure wether I should keep this set for surprise or use HP grass + Air Balloon for survivability.
Infernape (M) @ Life Orb
Trait: Blaze
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Mach Punch
- Flare Blitz
- Rock Slide
- Close Combat
This set is the same as I used to run in my AntiWeather team. Hit hard, fast, and as many times as possible, with a set that has a nice coverage and is hard to predict (I love when my opponent predicts a Flare Blitz on a ferrothorn, send a damaged politoed for instance and get KO'd with Close Combat, or send a flying pokemon and get hit with Rock Slide). Also, about the Rock Slide/Stone Edge dilemma, I chose Rock Slide because, considering how frail Infernape is, missing an attack and wasting a turn could mean me getting KOd or lead to a pretty bad situation. I know that not KOing the opposing pokemon could have the same consequences, but at least I damage them, and also that flinch rate is really helpful, saving me on many, many ocassions.
Haxorus (M) @ Yache Berry
Trait: Rivalry
EVs: 152 Atk / 104 Def / 100 SDef / 152 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Dragon Dance
- Dragon Tail
- Earthquake
- Dual Chop/
This is my Dragon Dancer. Since a confused Haxorus is a real problem, I prefer using Dual Chop which after a +1, STAB, Adamant, Base 148 attack is already devastating enough for non-resisting pokemon, and breaks subs. Earthquake is for Steels and Rocks and I use Dragon Tail in case a Ferrothorn shows up, so that I just fling it out of play so I can deal with it later using Infernape*, since Haxorus doesn't have any fire attacks and no non-STAB 2x attack can bring down that defensive beast, so I just won't bother with it.
Instead of Lum Berry+Outrage i just kept Yache because of all the Ice Shards and Ice Beams around. Less offensive, but more reliable, that's usually my philosophy. Same with Timid/Jolly instead of Modest/Adamant.
*This my most reliable way to save the ape for later. I used to send Infernape in in my other team, but that only means ferrothorn is switching out and I never get to hit it with Infernape, which also means he gets exposed to other pokemon's attacks and could get KO'd which could mean I may lose just because of Ferrothorn since nothing else can KO it effectively.
Sigilyph (M) @ Flame Orb
Trait: Magic Guard
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Cosmic Power
- Psycho Shift
- Stored Power
- Roost
I haven't played PO for a while and I forgot why Starmie wasn't helping me much anymore, so I dumped it over Sigilyph. This one's good: cripples physical sweepers with Psycho Shift, survives anything with Cosmic Power and Roost, and then tears everything apart with Stored Power. You can't ask more than that. Also flying type adds a much needed ground immunity. Having this as a last-man is almost a garanteed win, since I can't be phazed and I srvive everything. Even dark pokemon. I just pass the burn with psycho shift, and start boosting and roosting. Even tyranitar can't deal with this, unless he gets a crit. It can easily destroy an entire team when used properly! (and it did, a couple times)
Ferrothorn (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Iron Barbs
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Def / 252 SDef
Careful Nature (+SDef, -SAtk)
- Leech Seed
- Thunder Wave
- Spikes
- Power Whip
Every time I saw a ferrothorn I found it impossible to KO it with anything but fire, so I decided to try it myself, since I can cripple non-ground sweepers with Thunder Wave, use Spikes to further boost the amount of passive damage the opponent takes, and once fire pokemon are out of play, just win by stalling. But no, that doesn't happen actually. STAB fighting attacks destroy me like it's nothing, and many +1 attacks do the same. Any suggestions? I need this thing to be more survivable.
Vaporeon (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Water Absorb
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def
Calm Nature (+SDef, -Atk)
- Wish
- Heal Bell
- Scald
- Toxic
This is my team healer. Wish and Heal Bell, especially the latter, are incredibly useful on the rest of my team, which is severely crippled by status (paralysis and burn for sweepers, and bad poison on Dusclops and Vaporeon itself), and at some point need healing so that they can still destroy things rather than being considered "dead" to me at that point of the game or just as priority users. Scald is my attacking move (and burns ^^) and Toxic deals status, particularily against other walls.
OTHER OPTIONS:
Deoxys-D: A pokemon with base 160 defenses, that has Recover, Psyco Shift and Cosmic Power? Yes please! It was my second choice to Dusclops, and I picked him because he wasn't a legendary, but I might change my mind about it.
EDIT: Replaced Starmie with Sigilyph, and Dusclops with Ferrothorn. Also changed Dragon Claw for Dual Chop.
Conclussions so far
These are mostly about the new things I tried and my opinion on them. They don't gie any new information about the team, but I just like to share them anyway. Read them if you want, it's not necessary.
- Stealth Rock is quite useful really. It means no severely hurt pokemon can survive a switch, and most of the time they can't survive when they come back into play after a team mate was KO'd. Also disables Charizard, Volcarona, Ninjask and Yanmega, which can be dealt with Rock Slide anyway, but that can be troublesome, especially the latter two which spam Protect to get Speed Boost and either Batton Pass or wreack havoc. Those who haven't tried it yet should really do.
- Wish and Heall Bell are really a bliss to any team, but even more for offensive teams like this one (it has two defensive pokemon but it's mostly offensive-oriented), since you get statused all the time, and paralysis and burn really make our pokemon useless most of the time, no matter wether they're healthy or low on HP. Healing and De-Statusing recycles your pokemon, allowing you to stay in play for longer instead of just "losing" a pokemon whenever it gets paralysed or burnt if it is a physical sweeper. I'm having some trouble with handling Wish, but that will improve with experience I guess. My problem is that I send in a damaged pokemon to get healed, but then it just dies, be it because it gets hurt or because of Stealth Rock.
- The Status+Hex combo isn't as powerful as it sounds on paper. I tried it with Rotom W and Dusclops, and if your pokemon doesn't have the stats or typing, you just won't get really high damage.
