Introduction
I've been out of competitive battling for a while (Brawl and Mario Kart have been taking up all my time), and I'd become pretty bored with the whole thing anyway; My team (based on Encore Wobb) would either 6-0 an opponent or be 6-0'd itself, and I was pretty sick of playing like that but didn't have the motivation to build a new, coherent team. Now I've had a month or so off I've decided to try my hand at some serious team building, and this is what I've come up with.The Team
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EVs: 252 HP / 8 Def / 246 SpD / 4 Spe
Nature: Sassy
IVs: 0 Spe
Ability: Levitate
- Hypnosis
- Stealth Rock
- Hidden Power Ice
- Gyro Ball
Bronzong has been on almost every DP team I've ever made, and for good reason. His wide movepool, general durability and ability to fit many roles on a team mean that there will always be a place in my heart for the big bell.
Hypnosis and Stealth Rock form the one-two punch that I will more often than not start each game with. One opponent sleeping and Rocks up puts me in an advantageous position right from the start, and sets the pace for the whole battle. For this purpose, I'm considering Lum Berry instead of Leftovers; It would let me get the jump on lead Scarfgars and Crobats, but Leftovers is better for Bronzong in the long run. Feedback would be appreciated.
Hidden Power Ice because I don't want to waste his ability to just flat-out tank against any Dragon that doesn't carry Fire Blast/Flamethrower just for him. HP Ice 2HKO's the OU Dragons without significant investment in HP and Defenses.
Gyro Ball is Bronzong's best STAB move by far and gets included on the set on those merits alone. It also helps prevent a weakness to Mamoswine and means Weavile will never touch this team.
EVs are shoveled into SpD instead of Def - like most Bronzongs - because the team lacks Blissey and so the job of "special wall" has to spread out across multiple Pokemon to compensate. Bronzong, with his wealth of resistances, fills the role brilliantly. And he's not too shabby at taking the odd physical hit, either.
EVs: 252 HP / 186 Def / 40 SpD / 32 Spe
Nature: Calm
- Leech Seed
- Recover
- Grass Knot
- Psychic
Celebi is the second makeshift special sponge on the team, hence the shift of EVs from Def to SpD. He partners Bronzong very well, with only Fire a shared weakness between them: That is taken care of elsewhere.
Celebi's bulk is capitalized on with Leech Seed and Recover, which make him one of the most annoying Pokemon in the game. You can't kill him if you're slowly dieing and he's recovering 50%+ of his health every turn.
Psychic and Grass Knot are the basic STABs necessary to make a Celebi with no SpA EVs hit hard enough to cause a dent in the things it needs to. Grass is a particularly useful STAB in itself, cutting out any threat of being walled by Swampert and making Celebi a decent switch-in to Gyarados. Psychic provides more stable damage, but is let down by being a poor attacking type.
EVs: 90 HP / 252 SpA / 168 Spe
Nature: Modest
- Fire Blast
- Earth Power
- Hidden Power Ice
- Dragon Pulse
The set is standard and shouldn't need too much explaining: He has a Fire Blast too good to waste, hits everything except other Heatrans for neutral by partnering FB with Dragon Pulse, can hit his kin for x4 damage with Earth Power, and slaughters Dragons with HP Ice. Its your basic Heatran attacking set.
But yeah, the EVs are different. Heatran, despite being my most heavy special hitter, also forms part of my defensive core. I didn't want to waste EVs in SpA or Spe that could go in to HP and make him more durable, so I only pumped him as much as was necessary to do what he needs to do. 220 Spe is enough to outrun Tyranitar, Breloom, Skarmory and Metagross. 148 SpA is enough to switch in on a Salamence Fire Blast/Flamethrower and OHKO it back with Fire Blast if Salamence has taken Stealth Rock damage (partly why I run Bronzong in the lead; Its important to get these up early). The rest is dumped in HP, and I mean that in the best way; More HP coupled with a multitude of resistances makes him a prime candidate for tanking hits that his teammates don't really want to take.
EVs: 252 HP / 186 Def / 72 Spe
Nature: Impish
- Roost
- Ice Fang
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
Gliscor's ability to stop any Heracross dead in its tracks is usually enough to get him into most of my teams. The fact he's a defensive beast with a good overall typing doesn't hurt his cause, either.
Roost and Knock Off keep Gliscor alive against heavy-hitting threats, Roost recovering his health and Knock Off getting rid of Choice Bands that could run through him. EdgeQuake is a decent combo and makes use of Gliscor's modest attack stat; It also has the added benefit of dealing with a lot of things Gliscor is expected to wall.
EVs: 6 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Nature: Adamant
Ability: Guts
- Megahorn
- Close Combat
- Stone Edge
- Sleep Talk
Speaking of Heracross, holy shit he hits hard. He's also my favorite user of Sleep Talk in the game. A Choice'd Heracross' biggest hurdle in the competitive game is being outpredicted ("Damn, he did switch to Skarmory, I should've used CC"), which is why I love STHera so much: When he's sleeping, not even I know what crazy shit he's going to pull, and prediction goes right out the window. And yes, I know the limitations of Choice Band/Sleep Talk, but while he's asleep I don't think he'll be staying in for more than one turn at a time anyway (and Guts, +nature/252, CB, 120 BP STAB attacks are just too good for words).
The attacks are standard, you can't have Heracross with Megahorn and Close Combat. Stone Edge is a solid choice as well, but I'm thinking about putting Facade on there instead. Guts Facade is indeed a mighty attack, but the higher coverage of Stone Edge is currently swaying me in its direction. The Flame Orb set in the analysis says big things of Facade, but is it worth it without Swords Dance?
EVs: 216 HP / 16 Atk / 100 Def / 176 Spe
Nature: Adamant
- Dragon Dance
- Waterfall
- Ice Fang
- Stone Edge
I basically took BulkyGyara, switched some Def EVs over to Spe to outrun the likes of Starmie and Azelf after one DD, and took away Taunt because this Gyarados is meant to be a late-game sweeper rather than an early-game Taunter.
The EVs provide a nice mix of attack, defense and speed, but I can't help but feel that maybe I could get away with shoveling some more EVs into attack. I don't particularly want to cost him his defensive prowess (which he owes in part to Intimidate) but hey, its always good to hit harder.
The Strategy
The idea behind the team isn't really all that complex, but I'll lay it out anyway. Celebi, Heatran, Gliscor and Bronzong make for one hell of a defensive core, with every weakness each Pokemon has completely covered by something else. The idea is to play it cool until my opponent gives me an opening to bring in one of my heavy hitters (Heatran, Heracross or Gyarados) and then have some fun with high-powered attacks.
While Heatran and Heracross are leaving a dent in something every time they come in, I have to be a bit more careful with Gyarados. The ultimate goal is to get him in late-game, DD up and then sweep whatever's left of my opponent's team. Until its his turn to sweep, he also functions as a useful defensive aid, so balacing his two uses and making sure he's there to clean up at the end is going to be the most taxing part of the team.
Threat List
* Changes have been made to some of the spreads, some calcs may now be off.
No good RMT is complete without a threat list. It should be noted that for the first half of the list, I had Dugtrio in place of Heracross in the team. Rather than go back and do calculations all over again, I've just removed Dugtrio's name from any of the threat entries and added "+ Heracross" at the end where I think he'll be useful in taking down certain threats. I also tended to do these calculations in large chunks (usually ten or so at a time), so if the quality or accuracy of my calculations fluctuates at all, then that's just me getting lazy and you'd be doing me a favor by pointing them out. I'm sure some of the calcs are probably a bit wrong, since switching spreads, moves and species back and forth on metalkids calculator can get confusing at times. Anyway, without further ado:
Tyranitar
Stopped by Gliscor. In case of Boah:
Gyarados takes 28.31% - 33.51% from +nature Boah Dark Pulse
22.60% - 26.49% from +nature Focus Punch
36.36% - 42.86% from +nature Crunch
18.44% - 21.82% from +nature Crunch after Intimidate
Thunderbolt OHKO's Gyarados, but Ttar is unlikely to carry both it and Ice Beam in which case either Gliscor or Gyara still stop it. If it does carry both, then it is likely forgoing Crunch or Dark Pulse and Celebi has a chance.
+ Heracross
Gyarados
Gyarados can switch in against it all the time thanks to Intimidate:
Stone Edge from BulkyGyara after Intimidate: 27.79% - 32.73%
If my Gyara is unavailable (or already out), Celebi can take Gyarados:
Stone Edge from BulkyGyara: 24.26% - 28.71%
Waterfall from BulkyGyara: 14.60% - 17.33%
Earthquake from BulkyGyara: 12.13% - 14.36%
Ice Fang from BulkyGyara: 31.93% - 37.62%
Grass Knot can 3HKO.
Infernape
Purely physical Infernape is stopped by Gliscor. The same Infernape is stopped by a Gyarados switch-in, Stone Edge after Intimidate doing 35.06% - 41.04% from a 252/neutral Life Orb Infernape.
Gyarados also handles MixApe, resisting HP Ice, Fire Blast and Close Combat and 'Ape needing to Nasty Plot before GK is even a 2HKO; It doesn't have time to do this before Gyarados OHKO's it.
Azelf
Heatran and Bronzong together take any kind of Azelf remarkably well. Flamethrower is the only move Bronzong fears, while Heatran uses Flamethrower to its own advantage and is scared of nothing else Azelf offers unless it carries HP Fighting.
Electivire
Bronzong is most effected by Thunderbolt, which manages a paltry 24.85% - 29.28%, giving Bronzong time to hypnotize it. Unfortunately, the best Bronzong can do in return is 26.46% - 31.27% with Gyro Ball on an Adamant 'Vire.
Mixed Electivire generally doesn't have Ice Punch, in which case Celebi only has to worry about Flamethrower, which is a 3HKO with Leftovers (which means Celebi can stall with Recover while Electivire kills itself with Life Orb).
Heracross
Gliscor completely walls any form of Heracross. As well as Gliscor, Gyarados can switch in on any version locked into a move other than Stone Edge and scare it away with Intimidate and Waterfall.
Salamence
Salamence's many forms all have different counters. SpecsMence only worries Bronzong with Flamethrower, rarely the first move it will use when revealing its set. If it does try to get smart, Heatran can come in on the Flamethrower and scare it away with the prospect of HP Ice, only fearing Hydro Pump itself.
Bronzong walls CBMence, taking only 26.03% - 30.76% from its un-boosted Flamethrower. He has the same effect on the standard DDMence, only more so due to lack of Flamethrower.
MixMence is the trickiest, not being locked into a move and being able to deal 50.88% - 60.35% to Bronzong with Flamethrower. Luckily, if Heatran can switch in on Flamethrower, he only stands to take 48.04% - 56.98% from Brick Break, giving him time to OHKO with HP Ice (or even Fire Blast, if Salamence has taken Stealth Rock damage or taken recoil from Life Orb twice).
Salamence is a tough nut to crack, but switching in Bronzong straight up is my best bet.
Togekiss
Gliscor is both immune to Thunder Wave, however it isn't especially good at taking special attacks. He resists both Air Slash and Aura Sphere, taking 45.76% - 54.23% from the former (only a 2HKO if max damage is hit both times) and only 18.36% - 21.46% from the latter. Gliscor outspeeds, and so is in no danger of flinching.
Outside of him two, nothing can easily risk switching in on Thunder Wave except Bronzong, who doesn't do much in return. Togekiss is a potentially troublesome Pokemon.
Gengar
Nothing but Hypnosis threatens Bronzong. Heatran is only worried if it has Focus Blast (and it hits). He can also occasionally boost off of Will-O-Wisp. Gengar is a problem no matter how well I prepare for it, but with these two in the team the threat it poses in minimized.
Garchomp
A purely physical Adamant, Life Orb Garchomp can hope to 3HKO Bronzong with Outrage at best. Gliscor can come in on anything but Outrage, sometimes being 2HKO'd by it. Heatran can take Fire Fang's/Blasts and is only 3HKO'd by Outrage, though Earthquake makes it a risky switch. This is all fairly impressive considering Adamant Chomp is rarely un-Scarf'd; Jolly Chomps with the same sort of moveset don't take too kindly to Gyarados.
The standard Chain Chomp is floored by Gyarados, not even 2HKOing with Draco Meteor. If it has Dragon Claw instead of Earthquake, it needs to Swords Dance on the switch if it wants to 2HKO; Unfortunately, Gyara can spend one turn Dragon Dancing and then not only outspeed, but also OHKO with Ice Fang.
Of course, there is no sure-fire counter to Garchomp on the team - largely because no such thing exists.
Lucario
SpecsLuke fails to 2HKO Bronzong with Aura Sphere thanks to Leftovers (it does 50.88% max). Its only other attack that hits Bronzong for neutral is Dark Pulse/Shadow Ball, which do 30.17% max (ie. a 4HKO). Of course, while all this is happening, Bronzong can only really put it to sleep.Thankfully, physical Lucario is much more easily handled by Gliscor, who resists Close Combat (25.14% - 29.66%) and isn't immediately threatened by any of its other moves.
+ Heracross
Starmie
The standard Starmie's best answer to Celebi is an Ice Beam, which manages 33.66 at best. Celebi can reply with a STAB Grass Knot, so Starmie wont be sticking around. Starmie also can't really get around Bronzong (Surf does 22.48% - 26.62%), and albeit Bronzong's Gyro Ball isn't doing much in return, but he can put Starmie to sleep as a temporary solution. Without Thunderbolt, Gyarados doesn't have much to worry about, either.
+ Heracross
Weavile
CB Weavile is blocked by Bronzong, period. Gyro Ball will hammer it into the ground, and its best move to use against Bronzong (Brick Break) is a 4HKO.
+ Heracross
Dugtrio
There's no real counter, but it can't beat Celebi, Bronzong, Gliscor or Gyarados if they're decently healthy before he switches in.
Porygon-Z
Standard PZ's Dark Pulse does 24.85% - 29.58% to Bronzong, and that is its only neutral attack. After a Nasty Plot, it still can't guarantee a 2HKO thanks to Leftovers. Its the same deal with Heatran, who can switch in on the Nasty Plot and force it to retreat immediately, as not even Adapatability Tri Attack w/LO can OHKO.
Machamp
Machamp is unusual. It can't touch Celebi without Fire Blast/Punch, neither of which will 2HKO unless he's Choice Banded. Then again, he also has DynamicPunch, which only does 39.35% max but will always Confuse. Luckily, Celebi is faster than any non-Scarf'd Machamp and threatens it with Psychic (OHKO'ing any Machamp not running max HP and Def).
Snorlax
I'm surprisingly vulnerable to Snorlax. Its best move to use on Celebi, Fire Punch, is a 4HKO with Leftovers. Celebi can't attack it to any degree of success, but can wear it down indefinitely with Leech Seed and Recover. Grass Knot also has usable base power against it but wont be beating it any time soon. With Rest, Snorlax will most likely win this battle. The same goes for Bronzong; Snorlax can't hurt him to any great degree, but the best he can do back is put 'Lax to Sleep.
Gliscor can wall him and hack away with Earthquake and Stone Edge. Gyarados can set up on him. Neither like Body Slam paralysis, however. Curselax provides even more problems to the team, once he starts cursing up I don't have anything that can take him out quickly.
+ Hercross
Zapdos
It isn't getting through Celebi with a NVE Thunderbolt and a weak HP Ice. Equally, it can't do much to Bronzong who uses him to set up Stealth Rocks and puts him to sleep. Heatran isn't scared of him, either.
Suicune
Suicune has nothing that can dent Celebi without Calm Minding up significantly beforehand, while Celebi can hit Suicune for 47.52% - 56.43% right off the bat with Grass Knot. Also, Celebi can Leech Seed/Recover while Suicune must Rest in order to recover.
Breloom
Celebi walks all over Breloom, as does Gliscor. Celebi is also immune to Leech Seed, completely ruining Breloom if its running that set. Not a threat.
+ Heracross
Ninjask
With no p/hazer, I'm dangerously open to Ninjask. I'm considering switching Gliscor for Hippowdon for this reason, but there are pros and cons to that move which I have to consider (and would like some help with). At this stage, all I can really do against him is either get Gyarados in quickly for some free Dragon Dances or bring in Heatran to start blasting away until he Baton Passes.
Metagross
252 Adamant CBGross is dangerous with Meteor Mash, 2HKO'ing Gliscor. Luckily, Gliscor outspeeds and can 2HKO himself with Earthquake. Gyarados doesn't make a bad switch-in either, taking a maximum of 30.38% from an Intimidated Meteor Mash. Although, his best move in return is Waterfall which has roughly a 50% chance of 2HKO'ing even after a Dragon Dance. Finally, Heatran can come in on anything not Earthquake and frighten it off immediately with Fire Blast and Earth Power.
Heatran
My own Heatran switches in well, considering most Heatrans lead with Fire Blast. Gyarados is also a prime candidate, being 3HKO'd by a +nature/252 Specs Fire Blast, 4HKO'd by the same thing but with Scarf, and (for the sake of completeness) 3HKO'd by a neutral/252 Specs FB. Waterfall OHKO's any Heatran not running plenty of HP EVs.
Celebi
Heatran's Fire Blast OHKO's even a +nature 252/252 Celebi. Heatran also resists Grass Knot (x4) and Psychic (x2). Its as much a counter as I could possibly hope for.
Oh, and Heracross has Megahorn, a STAB 120 BP move, boosted by Choice Band and hitting for x4 damage.
Jirachi
Much like Celebi, Heatran can OHKO +nature 252/252 Jirachi and resists both its STABs (x4 and x2). Unfortunately, Jirachi is often packing Earthquake (which always 2HKO's my Heatran) and is likely faster.
Celebi can Leech Seed and outstall a Jirachi without U-Turn. Bronzong resists everything it usually carries, but can't do anything but Hypnosis it.
Gyarados is only worried about Jirachi with Thunderpunch, and can 3HKO the bulkiest Jirachi spread in the analysis (Doom Desire set). The more common Wish/U-Turn Jirachi is 4HKO'd by Waterfall, but unless it has Thunder it just gives Gyarados time to set up.
Heracross has Close Combat, but can't OHKO and doesn't like Zen Headbutt or Psychic too much.
Dragonite
I handle Dragonite much the same way I handle Salamence. DD/Outrage is only threatening Bronzong if he carries Life Orb, otherwise Bronzong can 2HKO with HP Ice. Heatran is in a similar boat, being 2HKO'd by DD Life Orb Outrage but OHKO'ing with his own HP Ice. Generally speaking, a combination of Bronzong, Heatran and - to some extent - Gyarados help keep Dragonite at bay.
Mamoswine
It isn't fond of Bronzong at all, who resists/is immune to both STABs and has a super effective Gyro Ball to work with. Gyarados survives a CB Stone Edge after Intimidate, but I'm assuming Waterfall wouldn't OHKO so it isn't a particularly good switch-in on that move: However on either Earthquake (0%) or Ice Fang (38.44% max), Gyarados' chances are a lot better.
Gallade
Reading the Counters section in Gallade's analysis is almost like reading a role-call for my team. To simply quote:
"Gyarados is a good option, although a critical hit from Psycho Cut followed by another hit will 2HKO. There's always the chance that Gallade may be carrying ThunderPunch, so be wary of that too... A Sleep Talk Heracross is the best switch-in you can get for the Double Status set (if Psycho Cut is absent)... Gliscor easily switches into Gallade without Ice Punch, stalls it with Roost, and takes an occasional chunk of health with Earthquake."
Bronzong really isn't too bad either, outright resisting every attack on the CB set, bar Close Combat.
Yanmega
Heatran stops Yanmega if it doesn't have HP Ground, resisting both STABs and hitting it for super effective with Fire Blast. Similarly, Bronzong is its worst nightmare, setting up Stealth Rock and having Gyro Ball (which benefits from Speed Boost) and an SE HP Ice. Yanmega doesn't have a single move which hits for better than neutral.
Kingdra
OH LORD, Kingdra in the rain rapes teams. Bronzong can take Draco Meteors from Kingdra and thus neuter it thanks to the SpA drop, but with no resistance to Hydro Pump/Surf, it can't switch in on those. Heatran is the same, except it takes those water moves a lot worse.
Gyarados is sometimes 2HKO'd by Draco Meteor (the first does between 62.33% and 73.50%, while the second produces a range of 30.64% to 36.62%).
Roserade
Heatran does fairly well against the most potent attacking set Roserade has, Choice Specs. The most Roserade can do is 25.97% with Leaf Storm (Heatran is x2 resistant to Shadow Ball and immune to Sludge Bomb and HP Fire).
Heracross can come in and take a Sleep Powder on the Status set, will be 3HKO'd by Leaf Storm and 3HKO'd by HP Fire, but doesn't like Sludge Bomb which will 2HKO. Not like it matters for Roserade; No matter which move Sleep Talk picks, Adamant CB 252 GutsCross will OHKO it in return.
Scizor
Heatran is the most obvious counter, resisting every single one of Scizor's moves unless it has Brick Break. If it does have Brick Break, Gyarados can Intimidate it, resist its STAB Bug and Steel moves as well as Brick Break and start Waterfalling it to death. And let's not forget Gliscor, who takes everything but SD Iron Head.
Conclusion
Like I said at the start, I haven't been battling competitively for a little more than a month, so its entirely likely I've missed one or two key points when building this team which need fixing up. I also put a hell of a lot of effort into this RMT, so even if the team turns out to be rubbish I'd still like it if we could try and make it better.
