This is probably one of my favorite teams I’ve ever made. It just works so well for me. Initially I started as a more balance team but I began to tweak things here and there and well, arrived at this. I’ll go over everything as best I can.
The members
Pokepaste - https://pokepast.es/6a32fb9983ceff7f
Hippowdon - honestly nothing is special about this set, it’s just a standard physically defensive spread that sets up rocks and annoys the opponent as much as possible before dying. Yawn and Whirlwind are great utility for stopping setup sweepers, and Earthquke is a great move to have in general for doing damage if you need to. Sitrus berry is again, very standard, and just allows a bit of extra safety so Hippowdon can get his job done.
Fini - I would say Fini is probably the star of the team at the moment. Scarf fini has incredible surprise factor, being able to punish the opponent for trying to take advantage of the more standard, passive set. Moonblast and Surf are taken for consistent damage via her STABs, and ice beam is used to punish Lando, Garchomp, Zapdos, and Dragonite if they decide to stay in against her. Timid scarfed Fini can actually outspeed adamant Landorus-Therian after a max airstream, making her a good emergency revenge killer for a decent portion of Landorus sets. Finally, Trick is used to punish more defensive approaches, such as porygon2 or calm mind fini.
Zapdos - again, not too much to say here. Very standard life orb dynamax sweeper set. The only real difference is the use of pressure, feigning a defensive set and potentially lending a false sense of security, and discharge, as it’s close to thunderbolt in power, and the paralysis chance outside of dynamax can change the tide of a game, other than that though, very standard stuff.
Cinderace - I shouldn’t really have to explain what this thing does. The bunny just kinda unga-bungas at any team without a solid switch in/intimidate user. I chose Assault Vest as the item, since Zapdos is already holding the life orb, and the extra bulk also makes it a little easier to get Ace on the field to start dishing out damage. I also chose Gunk Shot over Sucker Punch as my fourth move, allowing Cinderace to come in on, and punish Calm Mind Tapu Fini if it decides to stay in. This can be key as outside of Garchomp, the other offensive threats on this team are specially oriented, so calm minders tend to give them issues should they get going. Cinderace is able to potentially switch into a hit with assault vest, and force the more common calm minders out with the threat of big damage, which can open the doors for a sweep if played correctly.
Celesteela - again, very standard defensive set. Initially I did consider offensive Steela, but the benefits of having a sturdy backbone largely outweigh the pressure another offensive threat would provide in my opinion, especially considering Zapdos does what offensive Steela would do on this squad, but with more consistency and doesn’t mind being tricked as much, since it doesn’t entirely rely on its item to sweep. Leech + Protect are pretty mandatory on defensive celesteela, heavy slam is chosen to be more of a threat to things like chansey and to be able to threaten tapu fini with a good hit as well, and Flamethrower is useful in Steela dittos or against threats like Kartana that Steela checks very nicely. Leftovers as the item to really maximize longevity, and that’s about it.
Garchomp - by far one of my favorite Pokémon, and this set is honestly super fun. Swords Dance and Lum berry are an obvious pair, allowing Garchomp to set up basically whenever he wants. Outrage is chosen for more consistent damage outside of dynamax, and Earthquake is mandatory ground STAB as always. The real surprise here is Iron Head as the last move. This allows Garchomp to potentially beat Pokémon usually sent in to deal with him, such as Mimikyu, as Max Steelspike will boost his defense, and allow him to eat a play rough, and 2 steelspikes allow Chomp to potentially swallow a Max Starfall, and KO with iron head. The rest of the team packing methods of dealing with other chomp checks like Ferrothorn, P2, and Celesteela opens up room for experimentation with the last move, and Iron Head I’ve found to be a good surprise move, as well as pairing nicely with max quake in dynamax to make Garchomp absurdly difficult to take down, and potentially open the doors for a sweep.
Thank you for taking the time to read this! This is my first RMT so hopefully I did ok. c:
The members
Pokepaste - https://pokepast.es/6a32fb9983ceff7f
Hippowdon - honestly nothing is special about this set, it’s just a standard physically defensive spread that sets up rocks and annoys the opponent as much as possible before dying. Yawn and Whirlwind are great utility for stopping setup sweepers, and Earthquke is a great move to have in general for doing damage if you need to. Sitrus berry is again, very standard, and just allows a bit of extra safety so Hippowdon can get his job done.
Fini - I would say Fini is probably the star of the team at the moment. Scarf fini has incredible surprise factor, being able to punish the opponent for trying to take advantage of the more standard, passive set. Moonblast and Surf are taken for consistent damage via her STABs, and ice beam is used to punish Lando, Garchomp, Zapdos, and Dragonite if they decide to stay in against her. Timid scarfed Fini can actually outspeed adamant Landorus-Therian after a max airstream, making her a good emergency revenge killer for a decent portion of Landorus sets. Finally, Trick is used to punish more defensive approaches, such as porygon2 or calm mind fini.
Zapdos - again, not too much to say here. Very standard life orb dynamax sweeper set. The only real difference is the use of pressure, feigning a defensive set and potentially lending a false sense of security, and discharge, as it’s close to thunderbolt in power, and the paralysis chance outside of dynamax can change the tide of a game, other than that though, very standard stuff.
Cinderace - I shouldn’t really have to explain what this thing does. The bunny just kinda unga-bungas at any team without a solid switch in/intimidate user. I chose Assault Vest as the item, since Zapdos is already holding the life orb, and the extra bulk also makes it a little easier to get Ace on the field to start dishing out damage. I also chose Gunk Shot over Sucker Punch as my fourth move, allowing Cinderace to come in on, and punish Calm Mind Tapu Fini if it decides to stay in. This can be key as outside of Garchomp, the other offensive threats on this team are specially oriented, so calm minders tend to give them issues should they get going. Cinderace is able to potentially switch into a hit with assault vest, and force the more common calm minders out with the threat of big damage, which can open the doors for a sweep if played correctly.
Celesteela - again, very standard defensive set. Initially I did consider offensive Steela, but the benefits of having a sturdy backbone largely outweigh the pressure another offensive threat would provide in my opinion, especially considering Zapdos does what offensive Steela would do on this squad, but with more consistency and doesn’t mind being tricked as much, since it doesn’t entirely rely on its item to sweep. Leech + Protect are pretty mandatory on defensive celesteela, heavy slam is chosen to be more of a threat to things like chansey and to be able to threaten tapu fini with a good hit as well, and Flamethrower is useful in Steela dittos or against threats like Kartana that Steela checks very nicely. Leftovers as the item to really maximize longevity, and that’s about it.
Garchomp - by far one of my favorite Pokémon, and this set is honestly super fun. Swords Dance and Lum berry are an obvious pair, allowing Garchomp to set up basically whenever he wants. Outrage is chosen for more consistent damage outside of dynamax, and Earthquake is mandatory ground STAB as always. The real surprise here is Iron Head as the last move. This allows Garchomp to potentially beat Pokémon usually sent in to deal with him, such as Mimikyu, as Max Steelspike will boost his defense, and allow him to eat a play rough, and 2 steelspikes allow Chomp to potentially swallow a Max Starfall, and KO with iron head. The rest of the team packing methods of dealing with other chomp checks like Ferrothorn, P2, and Celesteela opens up room for experimentation with the last move, and Iron Head I’ve found to be a good surprise move, as well as pairing nicely with max quake in dynamax to make Garchomp absurdly difficult to take down, and potentially open the doors for a sweep.
Thank you for taking the time to read this! This is my first RMT so hopefully I did ok. c:
