Hey guys, I've got another team I've been using that's working pretty well, quite a few wins here and there. But obviously, I could just be up against inexperienced players, so here is my team:
At a glance:
The Building Process
At a glance:
The Building Process
Play with your favourites. I've always played pokemon this way, and in truth, its the only right way to play. With a tier for every pokemon to fit into, you can always build a team using your favourites, even if its outclassed by another in a higher tier.
Over the years, Alakazam has always been my favourite. And every generation I have suffered in silence as Gamefreak nerfed it over and over again, until it was nothing more than a trick pony with very selective use. I felt disheartened, that the once great Alakazam had fallen so far, with no crime against his name. But gen 5 brought his saving grace "Wonder Guard". This ability is amazing, and once again, Alakazam can wreak havock against all its old foes once more.
So I started this team with Alakazam, in his traditional role as special sweeper. With a fantastic set of stats, and no longer fearing Blissey and Chansey, Alakazam has real presence in the current metagame. He doesn't fear Reuniclus, his Gen 5 counterpart either, unless it's been well set-up (which I won't let that happen). Still, ol' Zammy is not without limits. He is still quite frail and needs some support to get the KO's that he so richly deserves. I identified two big problems, speed and priority. Many pokemon outspeed Zammy with a speed boost or a scarf. The answer to this? Paralysis. Enter bulky Gyarados.
Gyarados, with intimidate and great typing, has the innate ability to scare off almost any physical threat. But he comes with a great bonus in Thunder Wave. Since ground types don't want to switch into STAB Waterfall, it's almost guarranteed that any switch that they make will cause a paralysis, granting many free turns. However, Gyarados has a glaring special weakness. To compensate, we need a special wall.
Roserade's resistance to electric-type attacks, great special bulk and grass typing make him a great special wall. Combine it with his ability to soak up status and Toxic Spikes, it's really hard to overlook. Healing with Giga Drain, Rest and Black Sludge (which is superior to leftovers because if its taken by trick, it will just hurt the opponent). He'll set up spikes and heal off any damage he is dealt. But I still haven't gotten a lead yet! And I have the perfect one!
Victini is not a traditional lead in any sense, many people favour Azelf, Ferrothorn, Tyranitar, Politoed, etc. And for obvious reasons, they are all great leads. What do they all have in common? None of them can exceed 404 max HP, and aside from priority and prankster, Victini will often get the jump on them. He has served his purpose time and time again. But who rounds out the team? We need a physical sweeper.
Any pokemon out there what to volunteer for a Dynamicpunch to the face? I thought not. With decent bulk, hulking offensive stats and a Dynamicpunch that never misses, its hard to pick against Machamp as your physical sweeper. His access to Ice punch is fantastic as well, and really benefits from paralyzed opponents. Whats left?
By adding the UFO to my team, I effectively shut down steel types completely. I no longer fear Ferrothorn in my side, Forretress can't escape his grasp and Scizor dies when I need it to, which is to say immediately. He doesn't make a bad sweeper either, despite his low speed, and behind a sub he can take down even Dragonite which is fantastic.
Over the years, Alakazam has always been my favourite. And every generation I have suffered in silence as Gamefreak nerfed it over and over again, until it was nothing more than a trick pony with very selective use. I felt disheartened, that the once great Alakazam had fallen so far, with no crime against his name. But gen 5 brought his saving grace "Wonder Guard". This ability is amazing, and once again, Alakazam can wreak havock against all its old foes once more.
So I started this team with Alakazam, in his traditional role as special sweeper. With a fantastic set of stats, and no longer fearing Blissey and Chansey, Alakazam has real presence in the current metagame. He doesn't fear Reuniclus, his Gen 5 counterpart either, unless it's been well set-up (which I won't let that happen). Still, ol' Zammy is not without limits. He is still quite frail and needs some support to get the KO's that he so richly deserves. I identified two big problems, speed and priority. Many pokemon outspeed Zammy with a speed boost or a scarf. The answer to this? Paralysis. Enter bulky Gyarados.
Gyarados, with intimidate and great typing, has the innate ability to scare off almost any physical threat. But he comes with a great bonus in Thunder Wave. Since ground types don't want to switch into STAB Waterfall, it's almost guarranteed that any switch that they make will cause a paralysis, granting many free turns. However, Gyarados has a glaring special weakness. To compensate, we need a special wall.
Roserade's resistance to electric-type attacks, great special bulk and grass typing make him a great special wall. Combine it with his ability to soak up status and Toxic Spikes, it's really hard to overlook. Healing with Giga Drain, Rest and Black Sludge (which is superior to leftovers because if its taken by trick, it will just hurt the opponent). He'll set up spikes and heal off any damage he is dealt. But I still haven't gotten a lead yet! And I have the perfect one!
Victini is not a traditional lead in any sense, many people favour Azelf, Ferrothorn, Tyranitar, Politoed, etc. And for obvious reasons, they are all great leads. What do they all have in common? None of them can exceed 404 max HP, and aside from priority and prankster, Victini will often get the jump on them. He has served his purpose time and time again. But who rounds out the team? We need a physical sweeper.
Any pokemon out there what to volunteer for a Dynamicpunch to the face? I thought not. With decent bulk, hulking offensive stats and a Dynamicpunch that never misses, its hard to pick against Machamp as your physical sweeper. His access to Ice punch is fantastic as well, and really benefits from paralyzed opponents. Whats left?
By adding the UFO to my team, I effectively shut down steel types completely. I no longer fear Ferrothorn in my side, Forretress can't escape his grasp and Scizor dies when I need it to, which is to say immediately. He doesn't make a bad sweeper either, despite his low speed, and behind a sub he can take down even Dragonite which is fantastic.
The Team
Victor
Victini @ Choice Scarf
Nature: Jolly
Ability: Victory Star
EVs: HP252. Att4. Spe252
Final Gambit, V-Create, Fusion Bolt, U-turn
Can anyone say "WTF? My lead just died in the first turn without setting up?" Many teams live and die by their lead pokemon, and they often need it to score KOs on their sweepers, to set up hazards, or to establish weather and screens. Victini basically says "F- This, I'm out" and takes out the opponents lead with them. Final Gambit is the move of choice, scoring a KO on any non-ghost type with a HP of 404 or less. Max HP is used to make sure that Max HP Tyranitar is taken down immediately. Max Speed Ev's and a choice scarf make sure that Victor the Victini hammers them before they can act, and since it is an offensive move, it ignores taunt. U-turn is for Azelf and Espeon, tag-teaming with Alakazam to take them out before they do any real harm, they will get 1 turn of set-up tops. Fusion Bolt and V-Create is to attempt a late-game sweep or revenge kill in the case that he didn't Final Gambit in the first turn. This play is what I call the "second phase lead" and all allows me to pick who I want to go first in the 5 on 5 battle.
Bouquet
Roserade @ Black Sludge
Nature: Calm
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: HP252. Def120. SpD136
Spikes, Rest, Hidden Power [Ice], Giga Drain
Essentially my second-phase lead, he sets up his entry hazards, as the opponent tries to recover from the initial Victini hit. He has a lot of great points, such as the ability to absorb Toxic Spikes (although it doesn't worry anyone but Machamp), and the ability to take Thunderbolts and Hydropumps from Rotom-W. He can scare ground-types out with his Giga Drain and hit a dragon or an overconfident Gliscor with HP [Ice]. Soaking up status is also great, as natural cure immediately cures him on switching out. This also makes rest viable without a Lum/Chesto. Black Sludge is the item of choice, as he doesn't mind giving a pokemon some extra residual damage for being overconfident. Black Sludge is definitely superior to leftovers in this instance, and has no drawbacks.
Rage
Gyarados @ Leftovers
Nature: Impish
EV's: Hp248 Def252 Spe8
Ability: Intimidate
Moves: Waterfall, Dragon Tail, Taunt, Thunderwave
Rage the Gyarados is an absolute menace. Nothing likes him, probably because he is so intimidating. Everyone expects him to sweep, however his great typing and considerable bulk allow him to wall like the beast he is. He's a great partner to Roserade and can rack up residual damage with their Dragon Tail/Spikes combination. Ground types won't switch in on him (fearing waterfall), meaning that Thunderwave will often be a success in causing Paralysis. Once it has paralysis, Dragon Tail onto the next victim. Rinse and repeat. With Waterfall's high flinch rate, and the rate of paralysis being quite high, Gyarados can dent pretty much anything on an opposing team, leaving it weak, susceptible and slow. It's influence in a battle can also generate free turns to compensate for the miss rate of Focus Blast and Charge Beam, which other members of this team have.
Kinetica
Alakazam @ Life Orb
Ability: Magic Guard
Nature: Timid
Evs: Def4 SpA252 Spe252
Psyshock, Focus Blast, Shadow Ball, Substitute
The star of the show, Magic Guard is just amazing. He can come in on a Will-o-wisp or Toxic, with stealth rocks up and a sandstorm raging and still scare the neighbors' kids off his lawn. With residual damage wreaking havoc on their side of the field, and no-one fast enough to get the first turn, Alakazam turns into one mean dude. He'll sweep entire teams and get KOs left, right and center. Psyshock is the STAB move of choice to hit anything that isn't Dark or Steel. Focus Blast is for Darks and Steels. Shadow Ball is to make sure Reuniclus knows his place. Interesting to note, if Alakazam and Reuniclus come up against each other 1 on 1, there is no combination of moves Reuniclus can do to KO. If they exchange Shadow Balls, Alakazam will hit him twice and KO, and survive what Reuniclus does. If trick room rears its head, Zam will still take a single Shadow Ball as well (and KO with two). If Reuniclus Calm Minds he still fails to survive the two Shadow Balls. It's not just Reuniclus. Anything with some residual damage will be KO'd in 1-2 hits. Substitute is for scouting and predicted switches, so Zammy can get a second move off to ensure the KO, or compensate for Focus Blast.
Champion
Machamp @ Lum Berry
Ability: No Guard
Nature: Adamant
Evs: HP240 Att248 SpD16 Spe 4
DynamicPunch Ice Punch Payback Bulletpunch
Anyone want to take a Dynamicpunch to the face? How about you Tyranitar? No? Heatran, what about you? Negative? Ok, Lucario, you're a tough guy I'm sure... no, not you either? Well, ok. Nothing is really more fearsome than a STAB DynamicPunch. It's raw power, combined with it's no-miss accuracy with guaranteed confusion means that anything that takes it will hurt in the morning, as well as right now. One thing that has always crippled Machamp was its low speed. Most things that could outspeed it, could kill it. Not everything, but most things. With paralysis guaranteeing that no-one is going first, and sometimes getting a few free turns, DynamicPunch sweeps everything. Payback on this set is for Ghosts, most being too frail to survive it. Bulletpunch is to finish off anything that is on 1 hp, or in killing range. Ice Punch demolishes dragons and makes Gliscor wary of a switch-in. With paralysis support and guaranteed confusion, this set will give Machamp plenty of free turns to do as he pleases.
Ion
Magnezone @ Leftovers
Ability: Magnet Pull
Nature: Timid
Evs: Def4 SpA252 Spe252
Substitute, Charge Beam, Hidden Power Fire, Thunderbolt
Ion the Magnezone roasts Ferrothorn alive, and tears up any Steel type that is slower than it. It's also a great switch-in for Scizor, as it can take anything Scizor throws at it, set up a sub and OHKO. From behind a sub, Ion can sweep many pokemon in a team, being bulky enough to take most of the hits they dish out. The main purpose is to check Scizor, Bronzong, Ferrothorn, Skarmory, Forretress, and to a lesser extent, hurt Metagross. The ideal situation is to come in on a Ferrothorn that does not have Bulldoze, set up a sub (to avoid the Leech Seed), and hit it with Charge Beam to rack up some Special Attack Boosts. Once you have a solid sub up, and are ready to sweep with your boosts, put Ferrothorn out of its misery with HP Fire and then take out anything that opposes you from behind the sub. Magnezone's decent bulk and typing allow for it to resist a great deal of things, although it does fear Fire, Fighting and Ground, but from behind a sub this is often not a problem.
So, thoughts? Opinions? I'll take whatever constructive criticism you hand out :)
Victor
Victini @ Choice Scarf
Nature: Jolly
Ability: Victory Star
EVs: HP252. Att4. Spe252
Final Gambit, V-Create, Fusion Bolt, U-turn
Can anyone say "WTF? My lead just died in the first turn without setting up?" Many teams live and die by their lead pokemon, and they often need it to score KOs on their sweepers, to set up hazards, or to establish weather and screens. Victini basically says "F- This, I'm out" and takes out the opponents lead with them. Final Gambit is the move of choice, scoring a KO on any non-ghost type with a HP of 404 or less. Max HP is used to make sure that Max HP Tyranitar is taken down immediately. Max Speed Ev's and a choice scarf make sure that Victor the Victini hammers them before they can act, and since it is an offensive move, it ignores taunt. U-turn is for Azelf and Espeon, tag-teaming with Alakazam to take them out before they do any real harm, they will get 1 turn of set-up tops. Fusion Bolt and V-Create is to attempt a late-game sweep or revenge kill in the case that he didn't Final Gambit in the first turn. This play is what I call the "second phase lead" and all allows me to pick who I want to go first in the 5 on 5 battle.
Bouquet
Roserade @ Black Sludge
Nature: Calm
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: HP252. Def120. SpD136
Spikes, Rest, Hidden Power [Ice], Giga Drain
Essentially my second-phase lead, he sets up his entry hazards, as the opponent tries to recover from the initial Victini hit. He has a lot of great points, such as the ability to absorb Toxic Spikes (although it doesn't worry anyone but Machamp), and the ability to take Thunderbolts and Hydropumps from Rotom-W. He can scare ground-types out with his Giga Drain and hit a dragon or an overconfident Gliscor with HP [Ice]. Soaking up status is also great, as natural cure immediately cures him on switching out. This also makes rest viable without a Lum/Chesto. Black Sludge is the item of choice, as he doesn't mind giving a pokemon some extra residual damage for being overconfident. Black Sludge is definitely superior to leftovers in this instance, and has no drawbacks.
Rage
Gyarados @ Leftovers
Nature: Impish
EV's: Hp248 Def252 Spe8
Ability: Intimidate
Moves: Waterfall, Dragon Tail, Taunt, Thunderwave
Rage the Gyarados is an absolute menace. Nothing likes him, probably because he is so intimidating. Everyone expects him to sweep, however his great typing and considerable bulk allow him to wall like the beast he is. He's a great partner to Roserade and can rack up residual damage with their Dragon Tail/Spikes combination. Ground types won't switch in on him (fearing waterfall), meaning that Thunderwave will often be a success in causing Paralysis. Once it has paralysis, Dragon Tail onto the next victim. Rinse and repeat. With Waterfall's high flinch rate, and the rate of paralysis being quite high, Gyarados can dent pretty much anything on an opposing team, leaving it weak, susceptible and slow. It's influence in a battle can also generate free turns to compensate for the miss rate of Focus Blast and Charge Beam, which other members of this team have.
Kinetica
Alakazam @ Life Orb
Ability: Magic Guard
Nature: Timid
Evs: Def4 SpA252 Spe252
Psyshock, Focus Blast, Shadow Ball, Substitute
The star of the show, Magic Guard is just amazing. He can come in on a Will-o-wisp or Toxic, with stealth rocks up and a sandstorm raging and still scare the neighbors' kids off his lawn. With residual damage wreaking havoc on their side of the field, and no-one fast enough to get the first turn, Alakazam turns into one mean dude. He'll sweep entire teams and get KOs left, right and center. Psyshock is the STAB move of choice to hit anything that isn't Dark or Steel. Focus Blast is for Darks and Steels. Shadow Ball is to make sure Reuniclus knows his place. Interesting to note, if Alakazam and Reuniclus come up against each other 1 on 1, there is no combination of moves Reuniclus can do to KO. If they exchange Shadow Balls, Alakazam will hit him twice and KO, and survive what Reuniclus does. If trick room rears its head, Zam will still take a single Shadow Ball as well (and KO with two). If Reuniclus Calm Minds he still fails to survive the two Shadow Balls. It's not just Reuniclus. Anything with some residual damage will be KO'd in 1-2 hits. Substitute is for scouting and predicted switches, so Zammy can get a second move off to ensure the KO, or compensate for Focus Blast.
Champion
Machamp @ Lum Berry
Ability: No Guard
Nature: Adamant
Evs: HP240 Att248 SpD16 Spe 4
DynamicPunch Ice Punch Payback Bulletpunch
Anyone want to take a Dynamicpunch to the face? How about you Tyranitar? No? Heatran, what about you? Negative? Ok, Lucario, you're a tough guy I'm sure... no, not you either? Well, ok. Nothing is really more fearsome than a STAB DynamicPunch. It's raw power, combined with it's no-miss accuracy with guaranteed confusion means that anything that takes it will hurt in the morning, as well as right now. One thing that has always crippled Machamp was its low speed. Most things that could outspeed it, could kill it. Not everything, but most things. With paralysis guaranteeing that no-one is going first, and sometimes getting a few free turns, DynamicPunch sweeps everything. Payback on this set is for Ghosts, most being too frail to survive it. Bulletpunch is to finish off anything that is on 1 hp, or in killing range. Ice Punch demolishes dragons and makes Gliscor wary of a switch-in. With paralysis support and guaranteed confusion, this set will give Machamp plenty of free turns to do as he pleases.
Ion
Magnezone @ Leftovers
Ability: Magnet Pull
Nature: Timid
Evs: Def4 SpA252 Spe252
Substitute, Charge Beam, Hidden Power Fire, Thunderbolt
Ion the Magnezone roasts Ferrothorn alive, and tears up any Steel type that is slower than it. It's also a great switch-in for Scizor, as it can take anything Scizor throws at it, set up a sub and OHKO. From behind a sub, Ion can sweep many pokemon in a team, being bulky enough to take most of the hits they dish out. The main purpose is to check Scizor, Bronzong, Ferrothorn, Skarmory, Forretress, and to a lesser extent, hurt Metagross. The ideal situation is to come in on a Ferrothorn that does not have Bulldoze, set up a sub (to avoid the Leech Seed), and hit it with Charge Beam to rack up some Special Attack Boosts. Once you have a solid sub up, and are ready to sweep with your boosts, put Ferrothorn out of its misery with HP Fire and then take out anything that opposes you from behind the sub. Magnezone's decent bulk and typing allow for it to resist a great deal of things, although it does fear Fire, Fighting and Ground, but from behind a sub this is often not a problem.
So, thoughts? Opinions? I'll take whatever constructive criticism you hand out :)
