"Say Balance"
a Sableye Balance Team, also known as 'Esper Control'
Context
Hello and welcome to an explanation for this abomination I dare to call my OU team.
(Disclaimer : the presentation of this team is in no way indicative of a final or even decent product... I just like being organized.)
A little background before I begin, so this all makes a little more sense, hopefully. I haven't actually played any of the pokemon games since I beat Ruby back in what, 03? Having recently discovered Pokemon Showdown, and on the market for a new hobby, I dove right in. Played a bunch of random teams with pokemon I never knew existed; found and viewed several videos to learn about building competitive teams and battle tactics/perspectives to add to my own repertoire; and tried my hand at putting together a team based on what seemed interesting to me. The original attempt was horrendous, comprised of Sableye, Scizor, Klefki, Mimikyu, Quagsire, and Porygon-Z. I quickly learned about Z moves and only having one Mega per team, and chose Sableye due to a love of Magic Bounce. I began scouring for pokemon that would synergize well with Sableye's typing and tactics, with my first full team being decidedly "stally". After several rotations including Dragonite, Sylveon, Hoopa-U, Tapu Koko, etc., I ended up with what you see above; quite clearly not stall when compared to a team of Sableye, Ferrothorn, Toxapex, Quagsire, Clefable, and Chansey.
Anyway enough with my blathering, onto the team!
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Sableye-Mega (F) @ Sablenite
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Def / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
- Knock Off
- Will-O-Wisp
- Recover
- Protect
My opener, on most occasions. Getting Magic Bounce up turn 1 is incredible, as it thwarts unaware hazard setters, or otherwise forces a switch. Will-O-Wisp early on a physical attacker is game changing, and Knock Off ruins the day of item-dependent pokemon. Protect is used usually to stall if something is close to KO and has Poison/Burn, or to scout move sets to prepare a switch. Due to Sableye's typing, it has only 1 weakness, 1 resistance, and 3 immunities. It can laughably waltz in front of any Psychic, Fighting, or Normal move and force the switch or cripple the opponent. Making smart switches is primarily the reason I chose not to use Defog on this team, as a well timed switch and a healthy Sableye keeps my field clean.
______________________________________________________
Toxapex (F) @ Black Sludge
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 Spe
Impish Nature
- Gunk Shot
- Toxic
- Recover
- Haze
Toxapex undoubtedly throughout the duration of a match will find itself switching in, throwing a toxic, and switching out to regain health via Regenerator. This thing has immense defense and can take 2-3 earthquakes from a Landorus-T, even more if it's been burned. The main reason I've chosen Gunk Shot over the typical Scaled is primarily to punish Grass/Fairy types that dare to treat the Pex like set-up fodder. Haze is a necessity for this group, due to a weakness to HO teams. Being able to reset the field (or prevent set-up in the case of Gliscor) is vital to this teams success.
______________________________________________________
Gliscor (M) @ Toxic Orb
Ability: Poison Heal
EVs: 252 HP / 184 Def / 72 Spe
Impish Nature
- Earthquake
- Taunt
- Stealth Rock
- Roost
Completing the defensive trio of the team, Gliscor will often switch in against predicted Ground/Electric moves, and to shut down set-up/stall with Taunt. Stealth Rock clearly is there for the insistent tick damage, with Roost ensuring this little bat will be around for the long haul. Rocks are often Defogged, so being able to reapply mid-game is vital. Being essentially immune to Poison, and with enough defense to take a bashing for Toxapex's sake, Gliscor is essential to the core of this team.
______________________________________________________
Greninja (M) @ Fightinium Z
Ability: Protean
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
Hasty Nature
- Low Kick
- Ice Beam
- U-turn
- Waterfall
Greninja is used primarily as a distraction and misdirection tactic, taking advantage of the prevalence of Ash-Greninja in OU. He often will force a switch, and can in turn U-turn to gain momentum if possible. All Out Pummeling is an usually reserved for Normal pokemon like Chansey or Lopunny, being particularly effective versus the latter under Tapu Lele's Psychic Terrain. Waterfall helps tear through the likes of Landorus-T and Heatran, with Ice Beam generally shredding through Dragons with ease. Generally this guy sits in the back until the mid-late game to maintain the psychological factor of Ash, usually coming in with double switches early game to absorb a psychic attack or again, force a switch.
______________________________________________________
Kartana @ Life Orb
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Leaf Blade
- Sacred Sword
- Swords Dance
- Smart Strike
The newest addition to the team, replacing Ferrothorn. Chosen due to the same typing in pursuit of maintaining the resistance-balance, while also adding some much needed power and speed to the team. Essentially acting as a possible "win-condition", a single Swords Dance and 1 Beast Boost puts the attack around 1200, making this little paper plane quite the threat (as it is well known to be). Also acts as a wall-breaker against things like Ferrothorn, Gastorodon, and Chansey. Overall a very pleasant addition to the team, despite my resistance due to distaste for its design.
______________________________________________________
Tapu Lele @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Psychic Surge
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Moonblast
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Psychic
- Thunderbolt
Scarf gives this pink coconut (iirc) 476 speed, outspeeding many things without boost. Primarily my revenge killer due to its coverage and speed tier, secondarily protects my team against opposing revenge killers by nullifying priority moves - a feature which can also allow Tapu Lele to make great predictive switches if certainty is high. My group here tends to have a particular issue with Mega-Scizor piloted by a skilled player, and Tapu Lele is my out to that sheeny bug. Thunderbolt is great versus things like Skarmory, Tornadus, and Toxapex. Lastly, a STAB Psychic + Psychic Terrain boost is fantastic.
______________________________________________________
Conclusion
All in all, after two months of play-testing and investigation, I still feel like I have no idea what I'm doing. I'm looking for any and all comments, questions, and suggestions. I'm sure there are things I have tried that people will suggest, and I'm certain there are far more things I've never considered. If my explanations are lax or further information is needed, I will do my best to do just that.
Thank you very much for looking at my team, and I expect it in shreds when I come back.
Replays
(will be updated as interesting games happen...)
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ou-943051047 <-- The one that got me to the 1200's...a Sableye Balance Team, also known as 'Esper Control'
Context
Hello and welcome to an explanation for this abomination I dare to call my OU team.
(Disclaimer : the presentation of this team is in no way indicative of a final or even decent product... I just like being organized.)
A little background before I begin, so this all makes a little more sense, hopefully. I haven't actually played any of the pokemon games since I beat Ruby back in what, 03? Having recently discovered Pokemon Showdown, and on the market for a new hobby, I dove right in. Played a bunch of random teams with pokemon I never knew existed; found and viewed several videos to learn about building competitive teams and battle tactics/perspectives to add to my own repertoire; and tried my hand at putting together a team based on what seemed interesting to me. The original attempt was horrendous, comprised of Sableye, Scizor, Klefki, Mimikyu, Quagsire, and Porygon-Z. I quickly learned about Z moves and only having one Mega per team, and chose Sableye due to a love of Magic Bounce. I began scouring for pokemon that would synergize well with Sableye's typing and tactics, with my first full team being decidedly "stally". After several rotations including Dragonite, Sylveon, Hoopa-U, Tapu Koko, etc., I ended up with what you see above; quite clearly not stall when compared to a team of Sableye, Ferrothorn, Toxapex, Quagsire, Clefable, and Chansey.
Anyway enough with my blathering, onto the team!
______________________________________________________
Sableye-Mega (F) @ Sablenite
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Def / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
- Knock Off
- Will-O-Wisp
- Recover
- Protect
My opener, on most occasions. Getting Magic Bounce up turn 1 is incredible, as it thwarts unaware hazard setters, or otherwise forces a switch. Will-O-Wisp early on a physical attacker is game changing, and Knock Off ruins the day of item-dependent pokemon. Protect is used usually to stall if something is close to KO and has Poison/Burn, or to scout move sets to prepare a switch. Due to Sableye's typing, it has only 1 weakness, 1 resistance, and 3 immunities. It can laughably waltz in front of any Psychic, Fighting, or Normal move and force the switch or cripple the opponent. Making smart switches is primarily the reason I chose not to use Defog on this team, as a well timed switch and a healthy Sableye keeps my field clean.
______________________________________________________
Toxapex (F) @ Black Sludge
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 Spe
Impish Nature
- Gunk Shot
- Toxic
- Recover
- Haze
Toxapex undoubtedly throughout the duration of a match will find itself switching in, throwing a toxic, and switching out to regain health via Regenerator. This thing has immense defense and can take 2-3 earthquakes from a Landorus-T, even more if it's been burned. The main reason I've chosen Gunk Shot over the typical Scaled is primarily to punish Grass/Fairy types that dare to treat the Pex like set-up fodder. Haze is a necessity for this group, due to a weakness to HO teams. Being able to reset the field (or prevent set-up in the case of Gliscor) is vital to this teams success.
______________________________________________________
Gliscor (M) @ Toxic Orb
Ability: Poison Heal
EVs: 252 HP / 184 Def / 72 Spe
Impish Nature
- Earthquake
- Taunt
- Stealth Rock
- Roost
Completing the defensive trio of the team, Gliscor will often switch in against predicted Ground/Electric moves, and to shut down set-up/stall with Taunt. Stealth Rock clearly is there for the insistent tick damage, with Roost ensuring this little bat will be around for the long haul. Rocks are often Defogged, so being able to reapply mid-game is vital. Being essentially immune to Poison, and with enough defense to take a bashing for Toxapex's sake, Gliscor is essential to the core of this team.
______________________________________________________
Greninja (M) @ Fightinium Z
Ability: Protean
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
Hasty Nature
- Low Kick
- Ice Beam
- U-turn
- Waterfall
Greninja is used primarily as a distraction and misdirection tactic, taking advantage of the prevalence of Ash-Greninja in OU. He often will force a switch, and can in turn U-turn to gain momentum if possible. All Out Pummeling is an usually reserved for Normal pokemon like Chansey or Lopunny, being particularly effective versus the latter under Tapu Lele's Psychic Terrain. Waterfall helps tear through the likes of Landorus-T and Heatran, with Ice Beam generally shredding through Dragons with ease. Generally this guy sits in the back until the mid-late game to maintain the psychological factor of Ash, usually coming in with double switches early game to absorb a psychic attack or again, force a switch.
______________________________________________________
Kartana @ Life Orb
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Leaf Blade
- Sacred Sword
- Swords Dance
- Smart Strike
The newest addition to the team, replacing Ferrothorn. Chosen due to the same typing in pursuit of maintaining the resistance-balance, while also adding some much needed power and speed to the team. Essentially acting as a possible "win-condition", a single Swords Dance and 1 Beast Boost puts the attack around 1200, making this little paper plane quite the threat (as it is well known to be). Also acts as a wall-breaker against things like Ferrothorn, Gastorodon, and Chansey. Overall a very pleasant addition to the team, despite my resistance due to distaste for its design.
______________________________________________________
Tapu Lele @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Psychic Surge
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Moonblast
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Psychic
- Thunderbolt
Scarf gives this pink coconut (iirc) 476 speed, outspeeding many things without boost. Primarily my revenge killer due to its coverage and speed tier, secondarily protects my team against opposing revenge killers by nullifying priority moves - a feature which can also allow Tapu Lele to make great predictive switches if certainty is high. My group here tends to have a particular issue with Mega-Scizor piloted by a skilled player, and Tapu Lele is my out to that sheeny bug. Thunderbolt is great versus things like Skarmory, Tornadus, and Toxapex. Lastly, a STAB Psychic + Psychic Terrain boost is fantastic.
______________________________________________________
Conclusion
All in all, after two months of play-testing and investigation, I still feel like I have no idea what I'm doing. I'm looking for any and all comments, questions, and suggestions. I'm sure there are things I have tried that people will suggest, and I'm certain there are far more things I've never considered. If my explanations are lax or further information is needed, I will do my best to do just that.
Thank you very much for looking at my team, and I expect it in shreds when I come back.
Replays
(will be updated as interesting games happen...)
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ou-943263657 <— Made a few mistakes, but I changed up the move sets slightly, for the better I think...
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ou-943529310 <— Showcases a big weakness of the team, as well as several examples of double switching and mistakes on my part, still resulting in a forfeit.
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ou-943890585 <— Scarfed Kartana is a big trouble for us, especially when thinking it’s not scarfed, but was a great game nonetheless.
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ou-944055478 <-- Clean 6-0, featuring an explosion in vain and Greninja sweep.
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ou-944056767 <-- Just a great game versus a Sandstorm team.
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ou-944512383 <-- For your viewing pleasure. Still working towards 1300's...
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ou-944516817 <-- Double-switch into Tapu Lele for the 3 poke clean-up.
(I will be adding to and updating this thread continuously.)
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