Team Improvement Challenge

[DittoCrow]

Team by complete legitimacy. Credit to him for helping with the project as well!

Team (Exportable)

Medicham @ Life Orb
Trait: Pure Power
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 Spd / 4 Def
Adamant Nature
IVs: 29 HP
- Hi Jump Kick
- Psycho Cut
- ThunderPunch
- Recover

Escavalier @ Choice Band
Trait: Overcoat
EVs: 172 HP / 252 Atk / 84 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Megahorn
- Iron Head
- Pursuit
- Sleep Talk

Slowking @ Leftovers
Trait: Regenerator
EVs: 248 HP / 144 Def / 116 SDef
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Scald
- Thunder Wave
- Psychic
- Slack Off

Rhydon @ Eviolite
Trait: Rock Head
EVs: 248 HP / 200 Def / 60 Atk
Impish Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Rock Blast
- Megahorn

Tangrowth @ Leftovers
Trait: Regenerator
EVs: 248 HP / 12 Atk / 248 Def
Relaxed Nature
- Stun Spore
- Power Whip
- Hidden Power [Fighting]
- Synthesis

Cryogonal @ Leftovers
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 248 HP / 168 Def / 92 SDef
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Rapid Spin
- Recover
- Haze
- Ice Beam

Improving the Team:

Take a look at the team and make some suggestions for improvements, just like an RMT. Discuss some possible changes or even get on the ladder and test the team yourself. The goal is to create the best possible version of the team posted in this thread. You can make as many changes as you want as long as you post your updates here; please try to say why you changed what you did!

Ladder Challenge:

The person who achieves the highest rating and a deviation of at least 80 before the deadline will win the ladder challenge and get halfops (%) in #rarelyused.

Deadline: April 29th

How to enter: Submit your final version of the team and an alt you will be using. You CAN NOT change your submitted team in any way (no changing moves, items, natures, etc.), but you can switch alts if necessary. You cannot make any more edits to your team for the remainder of the challenge once you have submitted it. You will be disqualified if you change the team enough so that it is unrecognizable to the original (ie. changing the entire playstyle, just posting a team that you made and say you changed the original into that).

If you don't want to ladder, then just rate the team! At the end, we will vote on who created the best version of the team based on the edits, discussion, and ladder rankings.

 

[Molk]

Cool idea d_c! :>


So, here are some of my initial thoughts on the team posted.

1) It seems like its a defensive balance team, built around using a strong defensive core and Pursuit support from Escavalier to get a late game sweep with Life Orb Medicham.

2) At first glance it looks like the team struggles with Moltres, Durant, and HP Fire Lilligant, as well as other things i might not've identified yet, i think i could fix all 3 of these quite easily without changing the team's playstyle overall, but things might be a bit more complicated if i find more holes in the defensive synergy. Escavalier seems like a potential threat as well, but its easier to deal with than the other 3 because of its low Speed stat.


Heres my first attempt at improving the team without opening up weaknesses to anything out (i'll probably be making some changes later).

Draft #1

Medicham @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Pure Power
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature
IVs: 29 HP
- Hi Jump Kick
- Psycho Cut
- ThunderPunch
- Trick

Escavalier @ Occa Berry
Trait: Overcoat
EVs: 172 HP / 252 Atk / 84 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Megahorn
- Iron Head
- Pursuit
- Sleep Talk

Slowking @ Leftovers
Trait: Regenerator
EVs: 244 HP / 144 Def / 112 SDef / 8 Spd
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Scald
- Toxic
- Fire Blast
- Slack Off

Regirock @ Leftovers
Trait: Clear Body
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SDef
Careful Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Rock Slide
- Thunder Wave
- Earthquake

Tangrowth @ Leftovers
Trait: Regenerator
EVs: 248 HP / 12 Atk / 248 Def
Relaxed Nature
- Sleep Powder
- Power Whip
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Stun Spore

Cryogonal @ Leftovers
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 248 HP / 168 Def / 92 SDef
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Rapid Spin
- Recover
- Haze
- Ice Beam

1) Put Regirock over Rhydon to provide a better check to Moltres while still checking most of the Pokemon Rhydon's meant to check, while sacrificing some offensive presence in the process. Thunder Wave also deters things like Lilligant and Durant from switching in attempting to get a free boost

2) Put Occa Berry on Escavalier to give it the one time ability to survive a +1 Life Orb Hidden Power Fire from Lilligant, meaning that between Escav and Haze Cryogonal Lilligant should be much easier to handle than before. Using Occa Berry also allows Escavalier to switch moves and take a bunch of other unstabbed Fire-type moves such as uninvested Slowking's Fire Blast, making it easier to eliminate Slowking from the match and giving Medicham the chance to clean up.

3) Changed Medicham to a Scarf Set, this gives c_l's team some more insurance against Faster Pokemon such as Durant (who poses a significant threat otherwise), while simultaneously making Medicham a better cleaner. Even without the Life Orb boost Medicham's still perfectly capable of breaking down most walls that dont resist HJK on its own, still 2HKOing Tangrowth with HJK after Stealth Rock.

4) Changed Tangrowth's moveset a little bit, i decided to keep Stun Spore for now because it allows Tangrowth to cripple potential threats such as Durant and Entei that might want to switch in on it. But i also added Sleep Powder to give Tangrowth a way to basically eliminate a Pokemon from the match when played well, i also replaced Hp Fighting with Hp fire to help out with the Durant/Escavalier problem, although hitting Bouffalant's pretty cool, i think the rest of c_l's team handles Afrobull well enough to make Hp Fighting replaceable, correct me if i'm wrong though. I dont really think Synthesis is needed on Tangrowth on this particular team as Regenerator's still a great way to recover hp over time and its usually enough to keep Tangrowth healthy anyway, plus, Hail nerf's Synthesis's recovery, which is pretty common in higher level play, once again, correct me if i'm wrong though.

5) Put Fire Blast and Toxic on Slowking and added some speed creep, this helps against opposing Escavalier and gives c_l a more reliable way to get rid of Ferroseed, it also further deters Durant and Lilligant from switching in. Toxic makes Slowking vs Slowking matchups much more bearable, but thats personal preference.

 

[mkizzy]

Nice idea DittoCrow, this is a pretty interesting concept for a thread. Anyways, when I first saw the team I kinda wanted to make it into a Trick Room team but I decided against it. I tried making the team have the same idea and structure, but also while eliminating threats previously mentioned by Molk. However, came along the problem of removing Pokemon which left weakness. Eventually I overcame this, yadda yadda, here's the team.

Hide

Emboar @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Blaze
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 Atk / 4 SDef
Jolly Nature
- Flare Blitz
- Wild Charge
- Superpower
- Scald

Escavalier @ Choice Band
Trait: Overcoat
EVs: 172 HP / 252 Atk / 84 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Megahorn
- Iron Head
- Pursuit
- Sleep Talk

Slowking @ Leftovers
Trait: Regenerator
EVs: 248 HP / 144 Def / 116 SDef
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Scald
- Toxic
- Psyshock
- Slack Off

Rhydon @ Eviolite
Trait: Rock Head
EVs: 248 HP / 252 SDef / 8 Spd
Careful Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Rock Blast
- Megahorn

Amoonguss @ Black Sludge
Trait: Regenerator
EVs: 16 Spd / 200 Def / 248 HP / 44 SDef
Bold Nature
- Spore
- Giga Drain
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Clear Smog

Cryogonal @ Leftovers
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 248 HP / 168 Def / 92 SDef
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Rapid Spin
- Recover
- Haze
- Ice Beam

1) Emboar > Medicham : I found that Emboar fit this team a bit more fitting to this team than Medicham, although both serve similar roles. Emboar however deals with Hail a bit better, especially Jynx.

2) Nothing changes.

3) Psyshock > Psychic : Psyshock is to hit special walls such as Clefable and Cryogonal. Toxic > Thunder Wave : To hit other Slowking, along with just a general preference. Also to make Mola cry. Not big changes really.

4) Sp. Def Rhydon is bulkier than Regirock, and also stops Moltres. It also hits harder than fully defensive Regirock, and I just generally think it's superior. Again, not a big change at all.

5) Amoonguss > Tangrowth : Fuck Lillligant, because HP Fire Lilligant kind of wrecked this team before. Amoonguss can also whip out it's own HP Fire against the likes of Escavalier and Ferroseed.

6) No changes here.

Alt: MLG SMASHER

have fun everyone :)

 

[ss234]

Hide

Emboar @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Blaze
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature
- Superpower
- Flare Blitz
- Wild Charge
- Sleep Talk

Escavalier @ Occa Berry
Trait: Overcoat
EVs: 172 HP / 252 Atk / 84 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Megahorn
- Iron Head
- Pursuit
- Sleep Talk

Slowking @ Leftovers
Trait: Regenerator
EVs: 248 HP / 144 Def / 116 SDef
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Scald
- Thunder Wave
- Psychic
- Slack Off

Regirock @ Leftovers
Trait: Clear Body
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SDef / 4 Spd
Careful Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Rock Slide
- Thunder Wave

Tangrowth @ Leftovers
Trait: Regenerator
EVs: 248 HP / 12 Atk / 248 Def
Relaxed Nature
- Stun Spore
- Power Whip
- Hidden Power [Fighting]
- Synthesis

Cryogonal @ Leftovers
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 248 HP / 168 Def / 92 SDef
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Rapid Spin
- Recover
- Haze
- Ice Beam

Changes:

Scarf Emboar > LO Medicham: I feel as though scarf emboar gives the team a great weapon against blizzspammers, and also a reliable revenge killer. Between Escavalier and Emboar, all variants of Lilligant are also covered quite nicely, but the main reason emboar is used over medicham is because of durant and escavalier. ATM, neither give a damn about cryogonal and Durant sets up on it ez, and since durant threatens to 1HKO the whole team at +1 this is not good. Emboar is capable of switching in on the x-scissor / iron head quite comfortably, and checks durant nicely. Likewise, escavalier is checked by emboar as well due to boar's 4x resist to megahorn.

Occa Berry > Choice Band on esca: I feel that Occa makes esca a much better answer to mesprit and subcm uxie, which depending on the last slot will cause immense headaches if psyshock > psychic. Occa also makes esca a much better switch in to lilligant and sceptile as well.

Regirock > Rhydon: HP Grass Moltres is a huge pain for this team to face atm, and regirock covers this brilliantly. Regi still handles flying types and most normal types as well, and has twave to create a potent paralysis core when combined with slowking and tangrowth.

Alt: hmmmmmmmmmmm

 

[col49]

Cool stuff, I'm basically the most incosistent ladder challenge participant ever, but I'll see what I can do '~'

I guess I'll just start with the primary draft and explain my reasoning from thereon in.

Draft #1

Medicham @ Life Orb
Trait: Pure Power
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature
IVs: 29 HP
- Hi Jump Kick
- Psycho Cut
- ThunderPunch
- Recover

Escavalier @ Choice Band
Trait: Overcoat
EVs: 172 HP / 252 Atk / 84 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Megahorn
- Iron Head
- Pursuit
- Sleep Talk

Slowking @ Leftovers
Trait: Regenerator
EVs: 248 HP / 152 Def / 96 SDef / 12 Spd
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Scald
- Psychic
- Slack Off
- Fire Blast

Regirock @ Leftovers
Trait: Clear Body
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SDef
Careful Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Rock Slide
- Thunder Wave
- Drain Punch

Amoonguss @ Black Sludge
Trait: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 12 Spd / 72 SAtk / 128 Def / 44 SDef
Calm Nature
- Spore
- Stun Spore
- Giga Drain
- Hidden Power [Fire]

Cryogonal @ Leftovers
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 248 HP / 168 Def / 92 SDef
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Rapid Spin
- Recover
- Haze
- Ice Beam

I like complex EVs :>

• I decided that as a whole, Fire Blast was more valuable on Slowking than Thunder Wave. While losing a paralysis platform is somewhat unfortunate considering it really helps pave the way for a Medicham sweep late-game, the immediate payoff of Fire Blast is much more valuable imo, starkly reducing the opportunities threats such as Escavalier and Lilligant (much more Lum variants than anything else) have to come in on. This also smashes the occasional Ferroseed, and while it is true the team packs a spinner, forcing said spinner to switch in often quickly becomes exploitable. With this move choice the slight Speed is justified in that now Slowking has a better match-up with Escavalier, and is thus worth staying in on and potentially outspeeding.
• As others have mentioned, I feel as though Regirock>Rhydon would benefit this team in particular more. The ability to check Moltres while still handling various other Normal- and Flying-types is very useful overall, considering the current teams offers somewhat noteworthy opportunities for it to switch in. The added para platform is also nice, especially when it can catch a Gallade switching in (at the very least burning its Lum). However, I feel Drain Punch is important to Regirock for cementing its ability to check Normal-types (since they are otherwise somewhat of a headache to deal with), and the recovery it offers really helps in the long run
• The change of Amoonguss>Tangrowth puts much less strain on Cryogonal to handle Electric-types (who initially could just freely Volt Switch around w/SR up and either wear down Cryo or force Tangrowth into an unfavourable situation), as well as more comfortable checking Lilligant. The drop in overall physical bulk in the team is a bit lame, but overall the problem only seems to manifest itself in 'mons like Gallade, which the current team already seems to struggle with

I'm somewhat against changing Medicham by matter of principle, since it appears to be the centerpiece of the team, and I feel as though the build of the team does seem to work towards that anyway (para support allowing either Medicham or Esca to bust through teams, with Esca doubling as Pursuit support), so meh. Expecting some issues with Gallade and Durant, but its a first draft and with some clever play they can be played around, so I'll leave it as is and report back after some laddering when I get around to it ^_^

alt: fresh junes

edit: 1975 ± 144 in a couple quick runs, so decent enough start I guess. I forgot how much fun smashing stuff with LO 'Cham was ^_^