Offense Is The Best Defense

[Rocket Boss Giovanni]

Please note: You don't have to explain technicalities to me. I know most of them, but if I don't I know where to go to look them up. Thank you =)

I HAVE USED THIS TEAM ON THE SHODDY SERVERS MANY TIMES. I AM SEEING IF I CAN MAKE ANY IMPROVEMENTS BEFORE I BRING IT TO MY CARTRIDGE. THANK YOU.

CHANGES NOT WARRANTING A TEAM HISTORY EDIT ARE IN BLUE.
​

A quick look:

In-Depth Strategy

- AERODACTYL
Hold Item: Focus Sash
Nature: Jolly
Ability: Pressure
HP 4 | ATK 252 | DEF - | SATK - | SDEF - | SPEED 252
- Taunt
- Stealth Rock
- Stone Edge
- Earthquake

Strategy:
Ahh, Aerodactyl. Arguably the best suicide lead in the game. It is very hard to outspeed it, and therefore allows the taunt to defend from incoming Stealth Rocks. After that I set up my own SR and 90% of the time, Focus Sash has kicked in by this point and I am pressed to stay alive. Stone Edge is nice for a default attacking move (unless the current lead resists it) and EQ provides very good neutral coverage on the OU metagame. Most of the time, unless I'm up against a lead weak to Stone Edge, I'd probably go with EQ just because of the accuracy issue. I would never enter any competitive battle without Aerodactyl as my lead, because it is really good for what I need it to do.

- STARMIE
Hold Item: Leftovers
Nature: Timid
Ability: Natural Cure
HP 136 | ATK - | DEF 156 | SATK - | SDEF - | SPEED 216
- Rapid Spin
- Surf
- Thunderbolt
- Recover

Strategy:
Starmie usually comes in after Scizor's U-Turn (unless that would be a dumb move) but before Salamence/Gyarados to alleviate the anxiety caused by entry hazards. Surf provides a great STAB move, while getting a OHKO (or very close) on Infernape/Mamoswine. Thunderbolt will take out opposing Gyarados, assuming it hasn't gotten a dance in yet. Also, with Starmie's outstanding speed stat, 95% of the time it can Recover before more damage is dealt to it. Only thing it has to watch out for is pursuit users (because Pursuit is pure evil for Starmie) but other than that, it handles most other threats reasonably well.

- SCIZOR
Hold Item: Choice Band
Nature: Adamant
Ability: Technician
HP 248 | ATK 252 | DEF - | SATK - | SDEF - | SPEED 8
- U-Turn
- Superpower
- Bullet Punch
- Pursuit

Strategy:
Scizor provides some needed bulk to my team, as pointed out by 3v3rnoob, and works in tandem with Starmie. The usual plan is to sent in Scizor, U-Turn to Starmie, spin away the entry hazards, and then either switch back to Scizor or to another sweeper. Scizor provides an excellent opportunity to scout the opposing team, and if it gets lucky to survive long enough for a Gyarados sweep, then force the switch for Gyara, allowing a free DDance =D

- SALAMENCE
Hold Item: Life Orb
Nature: Timid
Ability: Intimidate
HP 4 | ATK - | DEF - | SATK 252 | SDEF - | SPEED 252
- Draco Meteor
- Dragon Pulse
- Flamethrower
- Hydro Pump

Strategy:
Ahh, Salamence. THE dragon to have on any H.O. team. Most people assume that Salamence will be either mixed or physical, and usually by the time they figure it out it's too late. Draco Meteor is saved for late in the game, when Salamence can risk halving its SAttack, or for revenge killing. Dragon Pulse will either OHKO, or near enough, on other Salamences, Kingdras, or Dragonites, and otherwise leave a pretty good dent on types its neutral against. Flamethrower provides a good kick-back attack for when Dragon Pulse/Draco Meteor is resisted *coughMetagrosscough* or for handling Scizor, getting OHKO's on 'gross after SR damage. Hydro Pump will decimate opposing Pokemon who try to wall a Draco Meteor (I'm looking at you Jirachi!) Overall, of the six Pokemon on my team, this one will probably see the most use, and end up fainting due to Life Orb recoil.

- GYARADOS
Hold Item: Life Orb
Nature: Jolly
Ability: Intimidate
HP 4 | ATK 252 | DEF - | SATK - | SDEF - | SPEED 252
- Waterfall
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- Dragon Dance

Strategy:
DDdos can be a devastating threat late in the game, and that's what I plan to save it for. If I can get a chance for a free dance (like if I predict a switch) then that will put me right where I want to be. Waterfall is the primary attacking move (with getting STAB and all) and that 10% flinch is really nice too! Earthquake and Stone Edge provide nice coverage as well, with a +1 Stone Edge being able to take out Zapdos, while a neutral EQ can counter Jolteon. There's not much that falls into the category of "Resists-Ground-threat-to-Gyarados" category, but for those rare few, either Waterfall or Stone Edge should be able to handle them =)

- INFERNAPE
Hold Item: Life Orb
Nature: Jolly
Ability: Blaze
HP 4 | ATK 252 | DEF - | SATK - | SDEF - | SPEED 252
- Fire Punch
- Close Combat
- Swords Dance
- Mach Punch

Strategy:
Infernape, one of the fastest physical sweepers in the game. Hopefully, when I send this juggernaut in, it will force the switch from my opponent, allowing me a free turn of SD. After that, the +2 Fire Punch will OHKO almost anything that it comes up against. +2 Close Combat OHKO's Vaporeon and a SDef Tentacruel, as long as Aerodactyl was able to get Stealth Rock up and it hasn't been spun away yet. I chose Mach Punch over the more-popular Stone Edge because it allows me to clean up Pokemon who are weaker and/or have been out before and happened to survive, while still allowing me to outspeed SD Lucario. It makes Heatran think twice about switching in and will ALWAYS OHKO Dugtrio after a Swords Dance. Overall, expect Infernape to be seen early in the game, and take out 2-3 Pokemon before it succumbs to defeat (if it even faints, that is).



​

Team History and Strategies:
This team started off as a Sandstorm team, but after having battled a friend with a H.O. team, I realized that it was more of my fighting style.

V1.0

I originally had Empoleon as a Special Wall, Swampert as a special sweeper, and Gliscor as a Physical wall. This left my team WIDE OPEN to status attacks, with no way to repel them. greenstreet suggested the first changes to this team, which you'll see below here.

V1.1

Upon suggestions from greenstreet, I canned Gliscor and replaced him with a scarfed Flygon. Flygon makes an excellent scout (U-Turn) as well as a revenge killer. Empoleon became an Agility sweeper, while Swampert became the RestTalker of the team.

V2.0

After having battled my friend Josh, who uses a H.O. team that I just couldn't match against, I realized that H.O. was more my style and that my team should revolve around it. Salamence was a Special Sweeper, to throw off the counters who tried to wall it (most notable Bronzong/Skarmory). Aerodactyl still remains my suicide lead, while Gyarados would hopefully be saved till later in the match so it can get a Dance or two up, and then blow everyone away.

V2.1

As pointed out by 3v3rnoob, I lacked bulk. The combination of Starmie/Scizor seemed to remedy this. Starmie is a great staller, almost requiring a OHKO move to take it down due to its speed combined with Recover. It functions excellently as a Rapid Spinner and allows Gyarados/Salamence to switch in without fear. While I don't particularly like being forced into using the CB Scizor, it does provide an excellent scout after Starmie's done its job. In the words of everyone's favorite cat, Puss in Boots, "Fear me, if you dare!"


Credit to Rosstein for the layout... I kinda borrowed it =)

 

[a silver lugia]

hey sora its dalek.
im not much of a team rater or anything but:
your aerodactyl is very similar to mine, except i chose rock slide and earthquake, over stone edge and ice fang, because earthquake is good for dealing with choice scarfed jirachi or metagross. and rock slide is decent against over flying type leads and such, and also has a chance of flinching the opponent as a little bonus.

 

[Rocket Boss Giovanni]

Oh, I was mistaken because of you said that you only bread Aerodactyl so far... my bad.

Can someone delete my first post?

It's cool, I re-edited it so that its more clear. Thanks for pointing it out =)
Anyways, could I have your thoughts on this team?

hey sora its dalek.
im not much of a team rater or anything but:
your aerodactyl is very similar to mine, except i chose rock slide and earthquake, over stone edge and ice fang, because earthquake is good for dealing with choice scarfed jirachi or metagross. and rock slide is decent against over flying type leads and such, and also has a chance of flinching the opponent as a little bonus.

Thanks for your input Joe. I chose Stone Edge over Rock Slide because that 30% chance for a Critical hit is nice... And Ice Fang was to deal with other Pokemons (because the odds of a Metagross leading are low)... I might replace it with Earthquake tho, that's not a huge fix.

 

[greenstreet]

Hey there a decent sandstorm team you have but I think we can make it better. I'll try as much as I can to help you improve it.

Aerodactyl's fine seeing that this is an offensive sandstorm team.

Tyranitar's okay but may I suggest running a babiri berry? Scizor can revenge this guy pretty quickly with a CB bullet punch. Nothing else for tyranitar except for the odd ev's what are you trying to accomplish with those 12 ev's?

Empoleon and Swampert looks kinda misplaced with one another. Sure you can catch your opponents off guard with the surprise factor but I really suggest that you make your empoleon the LO agility set and your swampert a rest talk set seeing that this team needs a status absorber.

Scizor looks better as a late game SD scizor and I suggest you set this set: 4HP/252Atk/252Spe with an adamant nature and a life orb or if you want some bul replace the life orb with leftovers and run this set: 252Hp/56Atk/176SpD, this allows you to set-up on troublesome bulky walls like vaporeon or swampert not running HP fire.

Now you need a revenge killer and seeing that if you replace swampert with the curse talk set I suggest running scarf flygon over gliscor seeing that DDmence and Dddos can run through this team if manages to set up.

Hope my suggestions helped :D

 

[Rocket Boss Giovanni]

Hey there a decent sandstorm team you have but I think we can make it better. I'll try as much as I can to help you improve it.

Aerodactyl's fine seeing that this is an offensive sandstorm team.

Tyranitar's okay but may I suggest running a babiri berry? Scizor can revenge this guy pretty quickly with a CB bullet punch. Nothing else for tyranitar except for the odd ev's what are you trying to accomplish with those 12 ev's?

Empoleon and Swampert looks kinda misplaced with one another. Sure you can catch your opponents off guard with the surprise factor but I really suggest that you make your empoleon the LO agility set and your swampert a rest talk set seeing that this team needs a status absorber.

Scizor looks better as a late game SD scizor and I suggest you set this set: 4HP/252Atk/252Spe with an adamant nature and a life orb or if you want some bul replace the life orb with leftovers and run this set: 252Hp/56Atk/176SpD, this allows you to set-up on troublesome bulky walls like vaporeon or swampert not running HP fire.

Now you need a revenge killer and seeing that if you replace swampert with the curse talk set I suggest running scarf flygon over gliscor seeing that DDmence and Dddos can run through this team if manages to set up.

Hope my suggestions helped :D

Thanks for your suggestions. I changed the ones in the main post. Changes will be in BLUE

 

[Dexodon]

Anyways, could I have your thoughts on this team?

I would really love to, but I can't because:
1) I'm still a noob myself.
2) Don't play in OU/Ubers only in UU/NU
3) I am not an official team rater, not even close!
4) Don't know anything about a sandstorm team.

I'm sorry.

 

[Korali]

Not every Pokemon in a SS team has to benefit from it. In fact, most SS teams are stall teams, and you have only one suicide lead SR user, and it looks like you've made a primarily offensive SS stall team, which in the end is lackluster.

Your team is horribly Mixape weak. A switch to another bulky water besides Swampert should help remedy that. If you want to take a swing at the stalling portion of the game, try Tentacruel. He's an ultimate Infernape check, and allows you to Rapid Spin away other entry hazards whilst laying down some Toxic Spikes of your own. If you want healing support for your sweepers, use Vaporeon.

Also, for a primarily offensive team, all of your sweepers seem to be dreadfully slow, and can all be outpaced and potentially 2HKO'D by something like a Starmie or Mixmence. LO Scizor without SD is incredibly unorthodox and borderline suicide :P. If you want a Sandstorm reliable sweeper, give Agiligross a try.

There's also a reason people use Outrage over Dragon Claw. The whole point of Scarfgon is to get him in there, expect the opponent to switch into a counter, and U-Turn away instantly, now you've brought his counter out, you can now handle it. Once all of Flygon's counters are down, this gives you full permission to Outrage. Dragon Claw simply just won't cut it on a Jolly Scarfgon. It barely even 3HKO's Salamence, not that you'd even live that long out there with him. With Latias gone, there's even less need to run Dragon Claw. Give Outrage a shot.

 

[donbosco]

Great team, I can see this team causeing a lot of problems for unprepared teams. Just two things involving Salamence. First I would change the Modest nature to Timid, because you can't risk being outsped by +Speed base 90's. Second I would use Hydro Pump over Hyper Beam, because there is the turm of recharge with Hyper Beam, and Hydro Pump provides good neutral coverage, and along with a Dragon attack is unresisted in OU.

 

[greenstreet]

Looks like you've revamped your team to an H.O.

May I suggest running an SD Infernape in place of the choice band one? H.O does'nt benefit from reveng killers or banders. They focus on one set-up after the other quickly putting pressure after pressure on your opponent. Maybe you could also run another set-up sweeper in place of azelf or gengar or a physical life orb pokemon.

Hope I helped

 

[a silver lugia]

hey sora, i got advized to have stone edge on aerodactyl, instead of rock slide, as yea rock slides 30% chance to flinch is good but stone edge has more power, so i think i may switch to stone edge, like you originally had. im going to keep earthquake over ice fang because im not to sure what ice fang would be good for on aerodactyl :P

 

[Rocket Boss Giovanni]

I'm actually considering putting Aerial Ace on Aerodactyl over EQ to try and force a switch on the ever-common Machamp leads... That is also assuming I am still alive at the time that I want to start attacking a Machamp lead... Tho if it is a Machamp lead I would probably skip the taunt and just use SR because a Machamp lead is gonna try to Dpunch me -.-

 

[Delko]

Aerial Ace won't outdamage Earthquake much and Eartquake is a very useful attack, throughout the entire match.

I got a couple of suggestions:

For Salamence you could go with the Choice Specs variant. Or to let people believe you are in fact one, you could hold Expert Belt instead.

I suggest Substitute on Gengar, with Scarftar being oh so common these days a Substitute version can help you defeat him. I would run it over Hidden Power (fire) as with a Substitute up you can still you can still 2HKO Scizor with Focus Blast and if he uses Bullet Punch you can go to Gyarado to get a free set up turn. The loss of Hidden Power (fire) will also let you outspeed opposing Gengar who do have it since Hidden Power (fire) will give a an IV stat of 30 in speed (31 being maximum).

 

[a silver lugia]

i got recommended to give my gengar explosion or pain split instead of hypnosis , sora, you could maybe try them out on yours too, instead of thunderbolt

 

[Rocket Boss Giovanni]

Aerial Ace won't outdamage Earthquake much and Eartquake is a very useful attack, throughout the entire match.

I got a couple of suggestions:

For Salamence you could go with the Choice Specs variant. Or to let people believe you are in fact one, you could hold Expert Belt instead.

I suggest Substitute on Gengar, with Scarftar being oh so common these days a Substitute version can help you defeat him. I would run it over Hidden Power (fire) as with a Substitute up you can still you can still 2HKO Scizor with Focus Blast and if he uses Bullet Punch you can go to Gyarado to get a free set up turn. The loss of Hidden Power (fire) will also let you outspeed opposing Gengar who do have it since Hidden Power (fire) will give a an IV stat of 30 in speed (31 being maximum).

The whole point of my team is to rack up the damage as much as possible, while still not forcing me to switch. This is why I really want to avoid choice items, and as such favor Life Orb. As for your Gengar suggestion, normally I would agree with you, but on a ScarfTar I would either risk the Focus Blast, or switch in Infernape (who resists dark type attacks), but that's also risking a pursuit. 90% of the time I'd fire off the Focus Blast tho, because I tend to get pretty lucky with it... Along with the fact that I hate Substitute with a burning passion because a lot of the time it just wastes health and a turn that could have been spent attacking.

H.O. teams are all about power. Stall tactics are NOT what I'm going for with this.

 

[3v3rnoob]

Your current team get absolutely arnal raped by agiligross, as it'll be prone to coming in on Special mence to absorb the draco meteor, get his agility up, then proceed to take apart the rest of your team. You have nothing here that can take more than one attack from him or else status him to stop the impending sweep. Long story short, you need a wall. Even Hyper offense teams have them. It's a fact of life. Another thing, Scarftar has it's way with your team. It hits gengar and azelf with crunch and then the rest of your team with stone edge. The fact that you have nothing faster than it will be your downfall. I would then recommend either Gliscor (it can be an attacking set if you must) or a Jirachi with decent defense investment or a choice scarf. YOU NEED BULK. Not a lot of it, but without it, YOU WILL GET SWEPT.

 

[Piccolo]

I'd just go with standard New MixMence. Why be limited to only one side of the attacking spectrum when you could easily have nice, strong (and possibly STAB'd) attacks comin' off of either Attack or Special Attack?

If you're going to use Dragon Pulse and all those other Special moves, then you're better off with SpecsMence, whose Draco Meteors deal heavy damage to anything that doesn't resist it... but I don't find that necessary when you already have 2 other special attackers.

>_>; Speaking of which, those Pokemon are pretty frail... that may be this team's undoing. I don't see why you don't use Scizor anyway. One special attacker is all you really need. Choice Band Scizor hits frickin' strong and U-Turns into easy match-ups - highly beneficial in such an offensive team.

 

[Rocket Boss Giovanni]

I'd just go with standard New MixMence. Why be limited to only one side of the attacking spectrum when you could easily have nice, strong (and possibly STAB'd) attacks comin' off of either Attack or Special Attack?

If you're going to use Dragon Pulse and all those other Special moves, then you're better off with SpecsMence, whose Draco Meteors deal heavy damage to anything that doesn't resist it... but I don't find that necessary when you already have 2 other special attackers.

>_>; Speaking of which, those Pokemon are pretty frail... that may be this team's undoing. I don't see why you don't use Scizor anyway. One special attacker is all you really need. Choice Band Scizor hits frickin' strong and U-Turns into easy match-ups - highly beneficial in such an offensive team.

I really want to avoid Choice items as much as humanly possible because the whole point of H.O. is to eliminate prediction... Choice items RELY on prediction. Only thing I'm keeping choice'd is Scizor for banded U-Turns.

 

[greenstreet]

Instead of running CB scizor why not run an SD one? Sure it lacks the immediate power but when it gets an SD up only the likes of heatran or gyarados can fight back and those things can be used as set-up bait. Another is I agree about running Lucario in place os Ape since Lucario has a frigging ExtremeSpeed and Ape is stuck with what? a mach punch lol. Run the Mixmence too since this is H.O or better yet run a DD mence. Starmie should also run the L.O set too since it dents faster, sure your mons get worn down by rocks and spikes but H.O can set-up on shit that kills starmie like scizor or a scarf tar. Hope I helped

 

[Congratulations]

Please note: You don't have to explain technicalities to me. I know most of them, but if I don't I know where to go to look them up. Thank you =)

I HAVE USED THIS TEAM ON THE SHODDY SERVERS MANY TIMES. I AM SEEING IF I CAN MAKE ANY IMPROVEMENTS BEFORE I BRING IT TO MY CARTRIDGE. THANK YOU.

CHANGES NOT WARRANTING A TEAM HISTORY EDIT ARE IN BLUE.
​

A quick look:

In-Depth Strategy

- AERODACTYL
Hold Item: Focus Sash
Nature: Jolly
Ability: Pressure
HP 4 | ATK 252 | DEF - | SATK - | SDEF - | SPEED 252
- Taunt
- Stealth Rock
- Stone Edge
- Earthquake

Strategy:
Ahh, Aerodactyl. Arguably the best suicide lead in the game. It is very hard to outspeed it, and therefore allows the taunt to defend from incoming Stealth Rocks. After that I set up my own SR and 90% of the time, Focus Sash has kicked in by this point and I am pressed to stay alive. Stone Edge is nice for a default attacking move (unless the current lead resists it) and EQ provides very good neutral coverage on the OU metagame. Most of the time, unless I'm up against a lead weak to Stone Edge, I'd probably go with EQ just because of the accuracy issue. I would never enter any competitive battle without Aerodactyl as my lead, because it is really good for what I need it to do.

- STARMIE
Hold Item: Leftovers
Nature: Timid
Ability: Natural Cure
HP 136 | ATK - | DEF 156 | SATK - | SDEF - | SPEED 216
- Rapid Spin
- Surf
- Thunderbolt
- Recover

Strategy:
Starmie usually comes in after Scizor's U-Turn (unless that would be a dumb move) but before Salamence/Gyarados to alleviate the anxiety caused by entry hazards. Surf provides a great STAB move, while getting a OHKO (or very close) on Infernape/Mamoswine. Thunderbolt will take out opposing Gyarados, assuming it hasn't gotten a dance in yet. Also, with Starmie's outstanding speed stat, 95% of the time it can Recover before more damage is dealt to it. Only thing it has to watch out for is pursuit users (because Pursuit is pure evil for Starmie) but other than that, it handles most other threats reasonably well.

- SCIZOR
Hold Item: Choice Band
Nature: Adamant
Ability: Technician
HP 248 | ATK 252 | DEF - | SATK - | SDEF - | SPEED 8
- U-Turn
- Superpower
- Bullet Punch
- Pursuit

Strategy:
Scizor provides some needed bulk to my team, as pointed out by 3v3rnoob, and works in tandem with Starmie. The usual plan is to sent in Scizor, U-Turn to Starmie, spin away the entry hazards, and then either switch back to Scizor or to another sweeper. Scizor provides an excellent opportunity to scout the opposing team, and if it gets lucky to survive long enough for a Gyarados sweep, then force the switch for Gyara, allowing a free DDance =D

- SALAMENCE
Hold Item: Life Orb
Nature: Timid
Ability: Intimidate
HP 4 | ATK - | DEF - | SATK 252 | SDEF - | SPEED 252
- Draco Meteor
- Dragon Pulse
- Flamethrower
- Hydro Pump

Strategy:
Ahh, Salamence. THE dragon to have on any H.O. team. Most people assume that Salamence will be either mixed or physical, and usually by the time they figure it out it's too late. Draco Meteor is saved for late in the game, when Salamence can risk halving its SAttack, or for revenge killing. Dragon Pulse will either OHKO, or near enough, on other Salamences, Kingdras, or Dragonites, and otherwise leave a pretty good dent on types its neutral against. Flamethrower provides a good kick-back attack for when Dragon Pulse/Draco Meteor is resisted *coughMetagrosscough* or for handling Scizor, getting OHKO's on 'gross after SR damage. Hydro Pump will decimate opposing Pokemon who try to wall a Draco Meteor (I'm looking at you Jirachi!) Overall, of the six Pokemon on my team, this one will probably see the most use, and end up fainting due to Life Orb recoil.

- GYARADOS
Hold Item: Life Orb
Nature: Jolly
Ability: Intimidate
HP 4 | ATK 252 | DEF - | SATK - | SDEF - | SPEED 252
- Waterfall
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- Dragon Dance

Strategy:
DDdos can be a devastating threat late in the game, and that's what I plan to save it for. If I can get a chance for a free dance (like if I predict a switch) then that will put me right where I want to be. Waterfall is the primary attacking move (with getting STAB and all) and that 10% flinch is really nice too! Earthquake and Stone Edge provide nice coverage as well, with a +1 Stone Edge being able to take out Zapdos, while a neutral EQ can counter Jolteon. There's not much that falls into the category of "Resists-Ground-threat-to-Gyarados" category, but for those rare few, either Waterfall or Stone Edge should be able to handle them =)

- INFERNAPE
Hold Item: Life Orb
Nature: Jolly
Ability: Blaze
HP 4 | ATK 252 | DEF - | SATK - | SDEF - | SPEED 252
- Fire Punch
- Close Combat
- Swords Dance
- Mach Punch

Strategy:
Infernape, one of the fastest physical sweepers in the game. Hopefully, when I send this juggernaut in, it will force the switch from my opponent, allowing me a free turn of SD. After that, the +2 Fire Punch will OHKO almost anything that it comes up against. +2 Close Combat OHKO's Vaporeon and a SDef Tentacruel, as long as Aerodactyl was able to get Stealth Rock up and it hasn't been spun away yet. I chose Mach Punch over the more-popular Stone Edge because it allows me to clean up Pokemon who are weaker and/or have been out before and happened to survive, while still allowing me to outspeed SD Lucario. It makes Heatran think twice about switching in and will ALWAYS OHKO Dugtrio after a Swords Dance. Overall, expect Infernape to be seen early in the game, and take out 2-3 Pokemon before it succumbs to defeat (if it even faints, that is).



​

Team History and Strategies:
This team started off as a Sandstorm team, but after having battled a friend with a H.O. team, I realized that it was more of my fighting style.

V1.0

I originally had Empoleon as a Special Wall, Swampert as a special sweeper, and Gliscor as a Physical wall. This left my team WIDE OPEN to status attacks, with no way to repel them. greenstreet suggested the first changes to this team, which you'll see below here.

V1.1

Upon suggestions from greenstreet, I canned Gliscor and replaced him with a scarfed Flygon. Flygon makes an excellent scout (U-Turn) as well as a revenge killer. Empoleon became an Agility sweeper, while Swampert became the RestTalker of the team.

V2.0

After having battled my friend Josh, who uses a H.O. team that I just couldn't match against, I realized that H.O. was more my style and that my team should revolve around it. Salamence was a Special Sweeper, to throw off the counters who tried to wall it (most notable Bronzong/Skarmory). Aerodactyl still remains my suicide lead, while Gyarados would hopefully be saved till later in the match so it can get a Dance or two up, and then blow everyone away.

V2.1

As pointed out by 3v3rnoob, I lacked bulk. The combination of Starmie/Scizor seemed to remedy this. Starmie is a great staller, almost requiring a OHKO move to take it down due to its speed combined with Recover. It functions excellently as a Rapid Spinner and allows Gyarados/Salamence to switch in without fear. While I don't particularly like being forced into using the CB Scizor, it does provide an excellent scout after Starmie's done its job. In the words of everyone's favorite cat, Puss in Boots, "Fear me, if you dare!"


Credit to Rosstein for the layout... I kinda borrowed it =)

Ok if your running H.O you need dual screens so azelf > aero

Run this set:
Azelf @ Light Clay 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 Spe Jolly nature
~ Reflect
~ Light Screen
~ Explosion / Stealth Rock
~ Taunt / Stealth Rock
Now another thing you've obviously never ran H.O before so, with H.O its just a bunch of physical sweepers or special sweepers so change Starmie for Gyrados for the standar DD set, and also change mence to the DD set. Another thing change Infernape for the standar DD Kingdra, and the scizor for SD scizor. I know what your thinking right now "OMG YOUR SUCH A N00B THEY ARE WALLED BY THE SAME THING", but the point of H.O is putting a bunch of sweepers that are walled by the same thing in one team so they can
take out all their walls, when playing H.O there should be no switching just setting up only switch if they send in a definite counter not a wall. I hoped I helped, but that is how you're supposed to run H.O not with mixed sweepers and a mix of special sweepers and physical sweepers.

 

[Rocket Boss Giovanni]

I'll experiment with that today on Shoddy. Thanks! I really want to get this near perfected before moving it all to my cartridge.