Mind No Stones, Mind No Storm

[fryfrey]

Mind No Stones, Mind No Storm

Intro

Hey there. I was fiddling around with teams a few weeks ago, and happened to form this gem. The team shares little common ground, and that is what makes it so wonderful. Little teamwork but loose common ground of indifference to weather and rocks is a formula I have found to work wonderfully, but it is far from perfect. Perhaps you can help.

The Team

The Sweep-Stop Clam

Cloyster @ Focus Sash
Trait: Skill Link
EVs: 200 Spd / 56 Atk / 252 Def
Serious Nature
- Icicle Spear
- Rock Blast
- Shell Smash
- Hydro Pump

Cloyster fulfills a huge role on the team: shutting down sweepers. However, not by walling, but by meeting them in battle with a greater offensive force. It demolishes common sweepers like Alakazam, Heatran, Gengar, Celebi, and Garchomp, just to name a few. Stealth Rocks are no problem because Cloyster usually sets up on physical titans like Garchomp, and and a Swords Dance boosted Stone Edge from him I survive. However, there is one gigantic issue. That which survives my assault usually kills me. There are a few that stand out: Conkeldurr (Mach Punch), Scizor (Bullet Punch), Metagross (Bullet Punch), Cloyster (High Defense), and Blissey/Chansey (Monumental HP and Special Defense).

Premature Death Risk

Reuniclus @ Life Orb
Trait: Magic Guard
EVs: 192 HP / 64 Def / 252 SAtk
Quiet Nature
IVs: 0 Spd
- Psychic
- Shadow Ball
- Focus Blast
- Trick Room

Reuniclus here is risky. VERY risky. If he dies after I set up Trick Room and before I can sweep, the rest of my team is left in the dust, securing victory for the other team. But if I do sweep, ohh man! Are you in trouble! Shuttind down pokemon like Tyrannitar, Celebi, Jellicent, Infernape, Lucario, The Musketeer Quartet, and The Lati Twins is a destructive force invaluable to the team. If it wasn't for Magic Guard, Main issues are Blissey and Chansey walling me and practically forcing a switch, leaving Trick Room to their advantage. On the offensive spectrum, Scizor is big due to powerful Bug moves boosted by Technician.

Similar Attraction

Magnezone @ Air Balloon
Trait: Magnet Pull
EVs: 220 Spd / 36 HP / 252 SAtk
Timid Nature
- Thunderbolt
- Flash Cannon
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Substitute

Zone here is great for shutting down Skarmory and Fortetress, dropping in a good amount of damage on them with HP Fire and Perhaps throw up a Sub on Fort, because Skarm has Whrilwind. TBolt and Flash Cannon are for scattered threats like Cloyster, Abomasnow, and Gyarados. As before, SR is no problem due to the steel type, and the only weather it has trouble with is Sun, because of boosted fire moves. Problems are Blissey/Chansey for walling me, Fire types, for sweeping me if i cant get a Sub up, and Fighting types for the same reason.

Rockfall Rampage

Terrakion @ Focus Sash
Trait: Justified
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 Atk / 4 HP
Jolly Nature
- Stone Edge
- Close Combat
- X-Scissor
- Swords Dance

FINALLY! Someone who puts Blissey in her place! X-Scissor after boosting is wonderful for combating the Psychic and Grass forces that would otherwise overpower me. Stone Edge and Close Combat are the bread and butter of this set, both being powerful STAB move and taking care of threats to the rest of the team like Cloyster, Dragonite, Salamence, Blissey, and Chansey. The biggest issue with Terrakion is Alakazam DESTROYS it. Sure, I have X-Scissor, But Alakazam is far too fast.

The Blue Bullet

Salamence @ Focus Sash
Trait: Moxie
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature
- Dragon Claw
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- Dragon Dance

The MVP of the team, Salamence obliterates all that the team has been softening up, and getting stronger with each KO is VERY helpful and a 1.5% speed boost is enough to outspeed the rest of the metagame. Getting a DD off is sometimes hard, if there are rocks up, but at that point, most threats to Salamence are usually taken care of. It is exellent in taling care of other steel types like Jirachi, and Types like Dragon, Flying, and Ice. Regardless, Cloyster is a HUGE issue due to high defense, and Shell Smash, which when followed up by something else kills me.

A Quick Reuni

Gengar @ Leftovers
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 252 SAtk / 252 Spd / 4 HP
Timid Nature
- Shadow Ball
- Thunderbolt
- Focus Blast
- Substitute

Gengar here is great for starting or ending a battle due to one thing: Substitute. It allows for a great scouting opportunity, and helps comfortably end a battle so I have a free hit to take while I deal damage. Hes no slouch outside of a sub with great special attack and speed, able to deal a big blow onto the opponent. The only real problems are Pokemon who are faster than me, because they usually have an offensive stat to match. Some may argue it is too simiar to Reuniclus, but I find they are wholly different and work just great.

Thanks for taking the time to read this RMT, and I will try to take in some of your suggestions.! :)

EDITED TEAM!!

Cloyster @ White Herb
Trait: Skill Link
EVs: 200 Spd / 56 Atk / 252 Def
Serious Nature
- Icicle Spear
- Rock Blast
- Shell Smash
- Hydro Pump

Reuniclus @ Life Orb
Trait: Magic Guard
EVs: 192 HP / 64 Def / 252 SAtk
Quiet Nature
IVs: 0 Spd
- Psychic
- Shadow Ball
- Focus Blast
- Trick Room

Magnezone @ Air Balloon
Trait: Magnet Pull
EVs: 220 Spd / 36 HP / 252 SAtk
Timid Nature
- Thunderbolt
- Flash Cannon
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Substitute

Terrakion @ Focus Sash
Trait: Justified
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 Atk / 4 HP
Jolly Nature
- Stone Edge
- Close Combat
- Stealth Rock
- Taunt

Salamence @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Moxie
EVs: 252 Atk / 158 SAtk / 98 Spd
Naive Nature
- Outrage
- Earthquake
- Fire Blast
- Dragon Claw

Gengar @ Leftovers
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 252 SAtk / 252 Spd / 4 HP
Timid Nature
- Shadow Ball
- Thunderbolt
- Focus Blast
- Protect

 

[KDhasrisen]

HI,
Lets get straight to it.You have 3 Focus Sash users in a team and no spinner in a metagame where Stealth Rock is part and parcel of every team. Also Terrakion and Salamence don't need a focus sash. Salamence will immediately make your opponents priority to get SR on the field and Focus Sash is a waste of Terrakion's potential.

Also your team is royally raped by Trick Room reuniclus. I dont have any suggestions to give at the moment thats what the raters are for. im just pointing out the obvious facts which i feel you should do something about.

 

[fryfrey]

Well, I feel comfortable in having sashes in order to set up, Just so I can practically guarantee a boosting move up. I have plenty of counters to a Psychic type like Shadow Ball and X-Scissor so Trick Room Reuni is no problem at all, and you didn't even pay attention to the description of this team did you? This team is indifferent to Stealth Rock and weather, so a spinner IS NOT REQUIRED.

 

[Eranu]

Hey,

First of all, you lack Stealth Rocks. Every competitive team in this OU metagame should carry Stealth Rocks. I suggest changing X-scissor for Stealth Rocks on Terrakion. As KDhasrisen said, you have three pokes with Focus Sash on your team. In this metagame where hazards are everywhere and sand is not uncommon, having Focus Sash on anything but a lead doesn't really work. Therefore I'd suggest changing items on both Cloyster as on Salamence and using Terrakion as a lead since Focus Sash always allows him to always live a turn (even with sand thanks to its part stone type), which allows you to always get up Stealth Rocks. You might want to consider replacing Sword Dance with Taunt too. You have a pretty big weakness to Deoxys-D offense since you lack a spinner. Having lead Terrakion with Taunt prevents Deoxys-D from setting up hazards. Taunt also helps Terrakion beat Skarmory. Now for the item on Cloyster. Using White Herb > Focus Sash is probably the best option. This allows it to set a Shell Smash without losing defense and special defense. This makes the weakness for priority moves less as well. Also, a serious nature is a bad nature for any poke. Running a Naive nature with max Speed evs allows you to outspeed a lot of scarfed threats (Latios, Landorus, even Modest Venusaur) allowing you to sweep more easily. I don't think you need the defense investment as much with White Herb. Therefore spread the evs between Atk and Spe in an ev spread like this : 252 Atk / 4 SpAtk / 252 Spe. Now for the item on your Salamence. I think a scarfed set would suit your team better. You don't have anything for revenge killing yet and dealing with fast threats is hard for your team since you have to set up first before you can outspeed. Scarf Salamence is a great revenge killer as well as a good late game sweeper. With Magnezone taking care of most Steel types, your opponent will have a hard time switching anything in on Outrage. Getting a +1 attack boost for every KO after all the opponents resists are taken care of is usually gg. It also has the ability to outspeed scarfed Genesect and KOing with Fire Blast, which can come in really handy. Now for Gengar. Using Substitute on Gengar can be usefull, however most of Gengar's switch ins completely wall it or threaten to outspeed and KO it (Jirachi, Scizor, etc). so running Substitute doesn't really look efficient. I'd advise using Protect > Substitute. This will still let you scout your opponent but you don't have to outspeed and don't lose 25% health every time you use it. Protect can be really useful against the likes of Scizor, threatening you with Bullet Punch or Specs Tornadus-T, seeing if it goes for U-turn or Hurricane. Protect has, as you can see, great synergy with your Magnezone. That's all. Hope I helped.
Good Luck.



~Sets:

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Salamence (F) @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Moxie
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SAtk / 252 Spd
Naive Nature (+Spd, -SDef)
- Fire Blast
- Outrage
- Earthquake
- Dragon Claw