(Sorry light mode using friends, this is fixed now)
So, I had a surprising number of people request I make a post about a recent team I used so here is the aforementioned post.
I have been having some serious luck with this team for a while now and it's all thanks to the most recent tournament that has been going on. I kept seeing the same mons used over and over again and, wouldn't you know it, those teams kept winning.
For starters, there is no proof of any sort of peak. I gained ~300-400 ELO using this team so far (across a couple of different usernames) and I plan to take it all the way to the top because I know it is peak material. So hopefully you can get some luck with this team as well and destroy all that stand in your way.
Table Of Contents
2. Teambuilding Process
3. Pokemon Description
4. Threats
6. Conclusion
7. Importable
--Any Team/ Post Edits That Have Been Made--
As I said, the ELO was gathered over a couple of different usernames so you'll just have to try out the team for yourself, sorry buck-o's. But I can guarantee that I gained about 300-400 ELO over a couple of days with this team.
2. Teambuilding Process
So this all started with a completely different team that I have been having some pretty good luck with itself: https://pokepast.es/f3e9053043251609
Like I said, it works but I wanted to make it better and, also like I said, kept seeing the same mons in the tourney we are all in now. There had to be a reason for this so I started to take mons that I saw were most common, replacing mons on my team above, and trying to make it all work.
3. Pokemon Description
The Garg (Garganacl) @ Leftovers
Ability: Purifying Salt
Shiny: Yes
Tera Type: Water
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
- Salt Cure
- Iron Defense
- Body Press
- Recover
Garg acts as your sponge number one out of three, specifically defensive with some special defense on the front end. Garg should never come out first, or even second. What I have found that works the best is when you wait until you eliminate the opposing team's special attackers (or most of them). Once that happens it is really easy to set up with a single iron defense and cook with salt cure/ body press. Tera water is there to get rid of potential mons that would stop you (since, you know, you're rock type). But in all honesty, if you can get up one iron defense then there is little that can stop you physical-wise (except for an already cooking mon. But if you let an opposing mon run wild it's really your fault...). You can send Garg in on potential status moves and surprise tera water to start your rain of terror (I have done this numerous times), but I wouldn't tera garg until later in the game if you can help it. Unless it's a weather team. If you are facing a rain or sun team then I have found that sending garg, tera-ing right away, and setting up an iron defense is a good way to ensure a solid win.
The Clod (Clodsire) @ Leftovers
Ability: Unaware
Shiny: Yes
Tera Type: Dark
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
- Earthquake
- Toxic
- Stealth Rock
- Recover
Clod is your special defense sponge and sponge number two out of three. If for some reason you allowed the opposing team to cook then it's clod to the rescue. This is why I would save your tera until you know it's safe because the last thing you'd want to do is have a polteageist or an armor-what-have-you start setting up and stored power killing your entire team. If they send out one of the aforementioned mons then counter with clod right away, tera dark, and prevent that from happening. However, aside from this, clod does a really good job of stopping whatever special mon they might try to throw at you. And since water absorb is so common, they won't expect you're unaware and will probably attempt to set up on you in vain. Why not water absorb? I haven't found it as useful especially since you have tera water garg or hatt which does the job of stopping water moves/ weather teams pretty efficiently.
The King (Kingambit) @ Leftovers
Ability: Supreme Overlord
Shiny: Yes
Tera Type: Flying
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Iron Head
- Kowtow Cleave
- Sucker Punch
- Swords Dance
This is one of your sweepers and a very standard set. Sucker punch is for those quick kills, while iron head and kowtow cleave allow you to do some nasty damage on switch or set-up predictions. The same goes for setting up with swords dance on these predictions too. I have found kingambit to be a fairly prediction-heavy mon so if you don't mind that then you shouldn't have any trouble winning with them.
The Tusk (Great Tusk) @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Protosynthesis
Shiny: Yes
Tera Type: Steel
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Knock Off
- Close Combat
- Rapid Spin
Another fairly standard set. Rapid spin to remove hazards and damage on switch predictions. I went with a more attacking tusk over a defensive tusk because there are already three other good defensive mons on this team, and a quick close combat/ earthquake I have found is more useful than surviving attacks that you could have switched out of to avoid. Plus if you're able to get off an easy rapid spin (assuming you do not want to knock off an item) that allows you to outspeed most opposing mons who might assume you are a more defensive tusk since defensive tusks are becoming all the rage as of late.
The Hatt (Hatterene) @ Leftovers
Ability: Magic Bounce
Shiny: Yes
Tera Type: Water
EVs: 252 HP / 204 Def / 52 Spe
Bold Nature
- Calm Mind
- Draining Kiss
- Mystical Fire
- Nuzzle
And last but not least we have our third sponge out of three. Hatt plays the exact same role as garg (more or less) except on the special end, near literally to a T. What I have found that works is, again, waiting until the opposing team runs out of special mons to throw at you and start cooking. Unlike garg, however, hatt is allowed to switch back and forth with other mons, acting as a good physical counterpart to clod. Not to mention magic bounce is super helpful on mons like ting lu or garchop who think they can set up on you. Not to mention that you threaten most setters hard. I went for mystic fire and nuzzle over shadow ball and psyshock because I just think it's more useful. Mystic fire gives me that much-needed fire move while nuzzle is good for predicting switches and crippling. I just didn't find shadow ball and psyshock as useful because mystic fire and draining kiss cover me pretty well already.
The Pult (Dragapult) @ Choice Specs
Ability: Infiltrator
Shiny: Yes
Tera Type: Ghost
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Hasty Nature
- Draco Meteor
- Thunderbolt
- Shadow Ball
- U-turn
I am going to be honest, I miss banded darts but my team needed another special attacker so I swapped dragapult over to a special mon. Dragapult is your designated starter with fast u-turns. What I have found to be most useful with dragapult is its ability. Too many times I have been caught with my pants down facing an orthworm only to have it shed tail and poop all over me. And with king, this mon also can be a little prediction heavy. If you know your opponent is going to set up a sub and start cooking, swap to pult and take it out asap. Tera ghost is for more powerful shadow balls to increase KO potential which I have found to be invaluable while the other moves are for coverage. The reason why I have a +spe nature over +spatk is because of dragonite. Currently, I outspeed a +1 adamant dragonite which I have found can give this team some trouble. If you know dragonite is coming out or if a dragonite is already out and your back is against a wall, swapping right away to dragapult and clicking draco meteor has saved me too many times.
4. Threats
Here are some more notable threats although I may be forgetting some... If you see any more glaringly obvious ones that I may have missed, let me know...
Ground moves, notably banded tusk and moon. The only good switch for this is for tusk or hatt to come in and take some hits. Or for you to sac a mon. If you are able to tera garg/ hatt then you have a good chance of healing back up and retaliating with draining kiss/ salt cure. But if you already wasted your tera then it might be all over. Hatt can survive some hits on their own, but previous chip damage might spell trouble.
Meowscarada. For some reason, I have a tough time with meow, although I don't face them often. I would assume getting off an iron defense on garg would be one of your better bets. Or being able to safely with a non tera hatt/ dragapult. If they are a scarfed meow then hatt would be the better option simply because you can draining kiss and stall. Even banded meow would be stopped by the old draining kiss and stall. So yeah, garg or hatt, maybe pult if you know you can outspeed and they don't have sucker punch.
It has been brought to my attention that wake is a dirty boy. Your best bet for wake is to (since it's going to be on a sun team 9 times out of 10) send out garg right away and tera with an iron defense. When wake inevitably comes out second, recover to stall out one or two draco meteors, and then eat it up with salt cure. You can also safe switch into hatt which'll clean up wake after a single calm mind. Then it's off to the races with draining kiss.
I can't think of any super tough threats besides the ones above so if you can think of any obvious ones then let me know. As I type this post more and more I am leaning toward the previous corv I used. It would help cover these threats, after all. Hmm...
I don't think of it often enough to have replays for you all. Although I could go out and create some now, I don't have time that I want to invest in it currently.
6. Conclusion + Importable
And that just about wraps it up. I would like to point out that I have thought about numerous times swapping back corv with garg and breloom with king. Corv would act as a very solid defense mon that can keep earth moves at bay which I seem to have some slight trouble with and breloom has saved me too many times to count. Plus, king seems a little too predictable/ wall-able at times. And before you mention it, no I don't want to give king tera blast and a coverage tera move. I just don't think it would fit well on this already tera-dependent team.
But let me know what you think. What would you change? Do you think breloom/ corv might work better? And above all else, use this team to get yourself many dubs and tell me how it works for you/ what you may have tweaked with your time playing.
Happy hunting, friend-os.
https://pokepast.es/4c84bd2f92cea120
-- TEAM EDITS -- POST EDITS -- TEAM EDITS -- POST EDITS -- TEAM EDITS --
(TUSK) Leftovers --> Heavy-Duty Boots
Added Walking Wake Contingency Plan
Last edited: