Been working on a competitive team for a while now, one that I like, and I'm lost on a couple of choices.
Charizard X and Greninja make up the offensive core of the team, combined their coverage can kill almost everything. Ferrothorn serves as my physical tank, and Gardevoir serves as my special tank. Excadrill is there for coverage and spinning and Jolteon is something I want to test out.
Any nonsensical IVs you see listed are there because those are the IVs on my IRL pokemon in my game.
Charzilla (Charizard-Mega-X) (M) @ Charizardite X
Ability: Tough Claws
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
IVs: 20 SpA
- Dragon Dance
- Dragon Claw
- Flame Charge
- Brick Break
Charizard is going to have a hard time when the newer meta rolls around because 100 Speed is starting to look kind of weak for OU (shocking I know). DD serves as his booster move, and Flame Charge gives chip damage on enemies and gives an additional boost. On top of that, Flame Charge gets the Tough Claws boost, which makes Char X one of the best Flame Charge users in the game. Usually, Flame Charge does enough damage to kill whatever you needed fire coverage for, like Ferrothorn and Scizor. Getting to +2 Speed is important because it makes you faster than a revenge killing Scarfchomp, which this mon fears more than anything. Setting up DD then Flame Charge for damage to get to +2 is amazing set up. It also is a great counter to Speed Boost Baton Pass setups that use Scoliopede because you can match speed and get a kill off making their setup worthless. Dragon Claw is there because Outrage is garbage thanks to fairy type existing. Last move on the list is Brick Break which rocks an awesome 97.5 BP thanks to Tough Claws which is very close to what his alternate choices are for that last move slot, namely EQ. Brick Break offers the same coverage (Heatran) while also breaking screens and hitting Chansey and Snorlax. It also instantly explodes TTar regardless of stat array, which is something EQ cannot say making Brick Break the clear superior choice in my book.
Armor (Ferrothorn) (M) @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Iron Barbs
EVs: 252 HP / 12 Atk / 244 Def
Relaxed Nature
IVs: 9 SpA / 0 Spe
- Stealth Rock
- Leech Seed
- Power Whip
- Gyro Ball
I really had to decide whether or not I wanted Leftovers on this guy vs. the Rocky Helmet. Ultimately, because I am not running Curse to boost, I decided I needed to get extra damage from somewhere, and I run him more physically defensive than most. Stealth Rock is great on Ferrothorn because very few things can OHKO him which makes him a great lead. Leech Seed gives him some sustain and chip damage to go along with Rocky Helmet. Power Whip and Gyro Ball are there to be power STAB moves and to give good coverage for fairy and big water/ground types.
Bowie (Gardevoir) (M) @ Lum Berry
Ability: Synchronize
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpA / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 28 Atk
- Calm Mind
- Moonblast
- Psyshock
- Wish
I have played with the item on this mon more than any other, but I finally settled on Lum Berry because testing proved it to be stupid good. Predicting a T-Wave, Will-O-Wisp, or Toxic, or just playing into one gives this pokemon a free 5th move slot. It's a wonderful feeling when you see someone Toxic their own Umbreon because they didn't know what you were running. I played around with Leftovers and Safety Goggles before because I wanted outs to Spore/Sleep Powder and I didn't have a Lefties user yet, but Lumsynchro took my heart. This mon is my Special Wall, and gets in some mixed attacking as well with Moonblast and Psyshock. Calm Mind makes this mon really strong, as it can withstand Sludge Bombs from Mega Venusaur, and Shadow Balls from other special attackers. The last move could be anything, and may change with ORAS, but I'm a fan of Wish for some minor staying power and cleric-ing. Realistically, Wil-O-Wisp may end up being the better choice overall.
Gueren (Excadrill) @ Focus Sash/Air Balloon
Ability: Mold Breaker
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Rapid Spin
- Earthquake
- Rock Slide
-Metal Claw
Mold Breaker Excadrill is a great pokemon because it can hit things like Gengar, Bonzong, and that Rotom guy that people seem to like. He is here to be my spinner, and at one point I considered him as my SR setter, but I decided that Ferrothorn is much better at it because then I can focus on attacking and/or spinning. Item Choice is a toss up, I really like the Air Balloon because it forces your opponent to make a move they don't wanna make giving you a free turn, and it isn't broken by Rocks. Considering he is my spinner, switching in to rocks makes Sash a really bad choice, but it's still a very good item. Rock Slide is there because Rock coverage is super important in this meta. This guy is designed to Sash out a Flare Blitz from Talonflame and then Rock Slide it to death. He is a Kalos bred mon so his best steel STAB atm is Metal Claw. I fully plan on buying ORAS and tutoring him into having Iron Head for awesome STAB and flinch hax.
Gamaballa (Greninja) (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Protean
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Hydro Pump
- Dark Pulse
- Extrasensory
- Ice Beam
In his current form, Greninja serves as a great special sweeper. Ferrothorn gives me grass coverage already so I didn't see the need for Grass Knot, and I am not a fan of U-Turn when I could be killing something with an Ice Beam or an Extra Sensory. In game he actually has Scald, but I've recently been sold on the idea of running Hydro Pump so I'm going to convert that. Ice coverage is super important to the meta because dragons so I'm probably sticking with Ice Beam, which means when ORAS comes out I have to consider rebreeding to get 6IVs and access to Gunk Shot over Dark Pulse. That said, Dark Pulse will have its uses against strong ghost and psychic types, namely that Mega Slowbro guy, so I may not worry about losing Dark Pulse for it. Plus, Gunk Shot only hits fairy types because I already have Ice Beam for grass coverage, and I have fairy pretty well covered with two steel type attacks on the team already. Life Orb = damage. I considered a lot of different items, including an Assault Vest at one point because it meant he could stay in longer in the mirror match, but mo' damage = less time wasted to die.
Not yet bred (Jolteon) @ Flame Orb/Toxic Orb
Ability: Quick Feet
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
- Thunderbolt (Flame Orb)/ Volt Switch (Toxic Orb)
- Signal Beam
- Hidden Power [Ground]
- Protect
I don't know about you, but I always feel I have to have at least one non-OU/gimmick mon on my team, and not using an Eeveloution seemed wrong. I was thinking about what kind of coverage I needed, and the main thing that gets me is Azumarill, because his typing is ridiculous. I had the Gunk Shot option above, but because I would need to rebreed to use it, I was considering something else. I am a big fan of Pikachu, because he's awesome and does great with mixed coverage (and I may end up using a Cosplay one for Flying Press or Steel Coverage) but it's soooooo slow and I can't ever plan on getting an Extremespeed one. Then I looked at Jolteon, because I really like electric types, and it covers that Azumarill asshole like no other. Quick Feet is a very interesting ability because when combined with either a Flame or Toxic Orb, you essentially get a Choice Scarf without being locked into one move. It requires Protect to set up (which I don't like), but it gives you something like 538 speed at lvl 100, which is fast enough to hit most things in the meta, even the Scarfers. It also means I can invest my nature into Special Attack, giving me a much needed boost to 350 attack. Flame Orb does damage, which sucks, but so does Life Orb, so I considered it an even trade for the bossest speed. Toxic Orb works best with Volt Switch so you can minimize the damage taken, but Flame Orb lets Jolteon stay in and use Thunderbolt better. Next is figuring out the best coverage moves to use, and considering Signal Beam and Shadow Ball have redundant coverage in Psychic/Dark, I had to decide what was more important to hit, grass or ghost. Grass resists electricity, and is typically more tanky in the meta because of things like Mega Venusaur, so I ended up with Signal Beam. Last move has to go to Hidden Power, and that's an entire chapter on it's own. Here I have HP Ground listed because it gives Jolteon the most amount of coverage possible. Heatran? Dead. Thing that sucks is, with only 60 BP, it can't kill anything really that isn't 4x effective, and looking at the meta only leaves you with so many differnt types that matter for doing 4x effective moves. Ice and Fire are also good candidates considering the meta because of things like Garchomp, Gliscor, Landorus, Mega Sceptile, Dragonite, Salamance (and mega), Ferrothorn, Scizor, and others. Rock is also an okay choice, but this thing has no chance against a Talonflame unless it plans on using Flare Blitz and I outspeed it. Or I could skip HP all together and run T-Wave since I'm so fast anyway, then Volt Switch out into something slower giving me a small form of setup. Point is, I need help figuring out the best move set to put on Jolteon, or if I should use something else, like a bulky Rotom variant with Leftovers.
Honorable mention:
Pikachu (M) @ Light Ball
Ability: Lightning Rod
EVs: 20 Atk / 236 SpA / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- Fake Out
- Volt Switch
- Grass Knot
- Agility
Originally I had the desire to make this Pikachu idea work, but it is very matchup specific. It makes a great switch in against Rotom, because it can absorb that Volt Switch, then fake out for chip damage, then Volt Switch back out into something else, and if you want to stay in, force a switch against something slow and weak to electricity, and hit that agility to be awesomely fast. Only problem is that without being a Physical variant rocking Extremespeed, he can't do jack against Talon Flame. I very much prefer to run one that has more coverage also, he gets access to awesome moves like Brick Break and Iron tail, so running a Fake Out, Volt Tackle, Brick Break, Iron Tail variant might be fun when ORAS comes out, but I wouldn't call it OU worthy.
Charizard X and Greninja make up the offensive core of the team, combined their coverage can kill almost everything. Ferrothorn serves as my physical tank, and Gardevoir serves as my special tank. Excadrill is there for coverage and spinning and Jolteon is something I want to test out.
Any nonsensical IVs you see listed are there because those are the IVs on my IRL pokemon in my game.
Ability: Tough Claws
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
IVs: 20 SpA
- Dragon Dance
- Dragon Claw
- Flame Charge
- Brick Break
Charizard is going to have a hard time when the newer meta rolls around because 100 Speed is starting to look kind of weak for OU (shocking I know). DD serves as his booster move, and Flame Charge gives chip damage on enemies and gives an additional boost. On top of that, Flame Charge gets the Tough Claws boost, which makes Char X one of the best Flame Charge users in the game. Usually, Flame Charge does enough damage to kill whatever you needed fire coverage for, like Ferrothorn and Scizor. Getting to +2 Speed is important because it makes you faster than a revenge killing Scarfchomp, which this mon fears more than anything. Setting up DD then Flame Charge for damage to get to +2 is amazing set up. It also is a great counter to Speed Boost Baton Pass setups that use Scoliopede because you can match speed and get a kill off making their setup worthless. Dragon Claw is there because Outrage is garbage thanks to fairy type existing. Last move on the list is Brick Break which rocks an awesome 97.5 BP thanks to Tough Claws which is very close to what his alternate choices are for that last move slot, namely EQ. Brick Break offers the same coverage (Heatran) while also breaking screens and hitting Chansey and Snorlax. It also instantly explodes TTar regardless of stat array, which is something EQ cannot say making Brick Break the clear superior choice in my book.
Ability: Iron Barbs
EVs: 252 HP / 12 Atk / 244 Def
Relaxed Nature
IVs: 9 SpA / 0 Spe
- Stealth Rock
- Leech Seed
- Power Whip
- Gyro Ball
I really had to decide whether or not I wanted Leftovers on this guy vs. the Rocky Helmet. Ultimately, because I am not running Curse to boost, I decided I needed to get extra damage from somewhere, and I run him more physically defensive than most. Stealth Rock is great on Ferrothorn because very few things can OHKO him which makes him a great lead. Leech Seed gives him some sustain and chip damage to go along with Rocky Helmet. Power Whip and Gyro Ball are there to be power STAB moves and to give good coverage for fairy and big water/ground types.
Ability: Synchronize
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpA / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 28 Atk
- Calm Mind
- Moonblast
- Psyshock
- Wish
I have played with the item on this mon more than any other, but I finally settled on Lum Berry because testing proved it to be stupid good. Predicting a T-Wave, Will-O-Wisp, or Toxic, or just playing into one gives this pokemon a free 5th move slot. It's a wonderful feeling when you see someone Toxic their own Umbreon because they didn't know what you were running. I played around with Leftovers and Safety Goggles before because I wanted outs to Spore/Sleep Powder and I didn't have a Lefties user yet, but Lumsynchro took my heart. This mon is my Special Wall, and gets in some mixed attacking as well with Moonblast and Psyshock. Calm Mind makes this mon really strong, as it can withstand Sludge Bombs from Mega Venusaur, and Shadow Balls from other special attackers. The last move could be anything, and may change with ORAS, but I'm a fan of Wish for some minor staying power and cleric-ing. Realistically, Wil-O-Wisp may end up being the better choice overall.
Ability: Mold Breaker
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Rapid Spin
- Earthquake
- Rock Slide
-
Mold Breaker Excadrill is a great pokemon because it can hit things like Gengar, Bonzong, and that Rotom guy that people seem to like. He is here to be my spinner, and at one point I considered him as my SR setter, but I decided that Ferrothorn is much better at it because then I can focus on attacking and/or spinning. Item Choice is a toss up, I really like the Air Balloon because it forces your opponent to make a move they don't wanna make giving you a free turn, and it isn't broken by Rocks. Considering he is my spinner, switching in to rocks makes Sash a really bad choice, but it's still a very good item. Rock Slide is there because Rock coverage is super important in this meta. This guy is designed to Sash out a Flare Blitz from Talonflame and then Rock Slide it to death. He is a Kalos bred mon so his best steel STAB atm is Metal Claw. I fully plan on buying ORAS and tutoring him into having Iron Head for awesome STAB and flinch hax.
Ability: Protean
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Hydro Pump
- Dark Pulse
- Extrasensory
- Ice Beam
In his current form, Greninja serves as a great special sweeper. Ferrothorn gives me grass coverage already so I didn't see the need for Grass Knot, and I am not a fan of U-Turn when I could be killing something with an Ice Beam or an Extra Sensory. In game he actually has Scald, but I've recently been sold on the idea of running Hydro Pump so I'm going to convert that. Ice coverage is super important to the meta because dragons so I'm probably sticking with Ice Beam, which means when ORAS comes out I have to consider rebreeding to get 6IVs and access to Gunk Shot over Dark Pulse. That said, Dark Pulse will have its uses against strong ghost and psychic types, namely that Mega Slowbro guy, so I may not worry about losing Dark Pulse for it. Plus, Gunk Shot only hits fairy types because I already have Ice Beam for grass coverage, and I have fairy pretty well covered with two steel type attacks on the team already. Life Orb = damage. I considered a lot of different items, including an Assault Vest at one point because it meant he could stay in longer in the mirror match, but mo' damage = less time wasted to die.
Ability: Quick Feet
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
- Thunderbolt (Flame Orb)/ Volt Switch (Toxic Orb)
- Signal Beam
- Hidden Power [Ground]
- Protect
I don't know about you, but I always feel I have to have at least one non-OU/gimmick mon on my team, and not using an Eeveloution seemed wrong. I was thinking about what kind of coverage I needed, and the main thing that gets me is Azumarill, because his typing is ridiculous. I had the Gunk Shot option above, but because I would need to rebreed to use it, I was considering something else. I am a big fan of Pikachu, because he's awesome and does great with mixed coverage (and I may end up using a Cosplay one for Flying Press or Steel Coverage) but it's soooooo slow and I can't ever plan on getting an Extremespeed one. Then I looked at Jolteon, because I really like electric types, and it covers that Azumarill asshole like no other. Quick Feet is a very interesting ability because when combined with either a Flame or Toxic Orb, you essentially get a Choice Scarf without being locked into one move. It requires Protect to set up (which I don't like), but it gives you something like 538 speed at lvl 100, which is fast enough to hit most things in the meta, even the Scarfers. It also means I can invest my nature into Special Attack, giving me a much needed boost to 350 attack. Flame Orb does damage, which sucks, but so does Life Orb, so I considered it an even trade for the bossest speed. Toxic Orb works best with Volt Switch so you can minimize the damage taken, but Flame Orb lets Jolteon stay in and use Thunderbolt better. Next is figuring out the best coverage moves to use, and considering Signal Beam and Shadow Ball have redundant coverage in Psychic/Dark, I had to decide what was more important to hit, grass or ghost. Grass resists electricity, and is typically more tanky in the meta because of things like Mega Venusaur, so I ended up with Signal Beam. Last move has to go to Hidden Power, and that's an entire chapter on it's own. Here I have HP Ground listed because it gives Jolteon the most amount of coverage possible. Heatran? Dead. Thing that sucks is, with only 60 BP, it can't kill anything really that isn't 4x effective, and looking at the meta only leaves you with so many differnt types that matter for doing 4x effective moves. Ice and Fire are also good candidates considering the meta because of things like Garchomp, Gliscor, Landorus, Mega Sceptile, Dragonite, Salamance (and mega), Ferrothorn, Scizor, and others. Rock is also an okay choice, but this thing has no chance against a Talonflame unless it plans on using Flare Blitz and I outspeed it. Or I could skip HP all together and run T-Wave since I'm so fast anyway, then Volt Switch out into something slower giving me a small form of setup. Point is, I need help figuring out the best move set to put on Jolteon, or if I should use something else, like a bulky Rotom variant with Leftovers.
Honorable mention:
Ability: Lightning Rod
EVs: 20 Atk / 236 SpA / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- Fake Out
- Volt Switch
- Grass Knot
- Agility
Originally I had the desire to make this Pikachu idea work, but it is very matchup specific. It makes a great switch in against Rotom, because it can absorb that Volt Switch, then fake out for chip damage, then Volt Switch back out into something else, and if you want to stay in, force a switch against something slow and weak to electricity, and hit that agility to be awesomely fast. Only problem is that without being a Physical variant rocking Extremespeed, he can't do jack against Talon Flame. I very much prefer to run one that has more coverage also, he gets access to awesome moves like Brick Break and Iron tail, so running a Fake Out, Volt Tackle, Brick Break, Iron Tail variant might be fun when ORAS comes out, but I wouldn't call it OU worthy.
