A very, very old member returns asking y'all to rate his Battle Subway Team Garden!!

Woo! I'll get right down to it then.

Masquerain
Timid
Intimidate
Lum Berry
255 SpD 255 Spd (I really don't care about that extra 4 EVs...)
~Quiver Dance
~Bug Buzz
~Double Team
~Baton Pass

Nidoking
Docile (his IVs were through the roof I had to go with this one - plus breeding DW NidoranFemale for a male Nidoran with the same ability and appropriate IVs and natures is VERY DIFFICULT and ANNOYING haha)
Sheer Force
Life Orb
255 SpA 255 Spd
~Thunderbolt
~Flamethrower
~Earthpower
~Ice Beam

Ferrothorn
Sassy
256 SpD 123 Def 123HP
Iron Barbs
Rock Helmet
~Iron Head
~Power Whip
~Leech Seed
~Ariel Ace (replaced thudnerwave for it today...a little unsure, might want to switch with curse)


Basically, my strategy is to throw Masquerain out, Intimidate whoever my opponent is - and if it's some Psychic, Dark, ,or Grass loser I'll Quiv. and then beat it up. If it's a rock pokemon, I'll quickly use a double team to avoid low accuracy rock moves like rock slide and the notorious stone edge. (Yes, it relies a bit on luck but I'm usually very content with my baby :) )
If bad boys want to stop my setting up with paralysis, confusion, or sleep my lum berry will swiftly take care of that and then I baton pass to either Nidoking or Ferrothorn.

If I'm up against a bulky normal, dark, or ghost type I switch on over to Ferrothorn to leech it away, hoping for physical attacks for Iron Head and Rocky Helmet. A few Quiv. dances can even help his Iron Head to potentially flinch an opponent.

If some nasty elemental type pops out on my Masquerain I send some boosts to my already SF'd Life Orb beast Nidoking to sweep their remains under the rug.

An added bonus with Masquerain is getting powerful pokemon to excitedly prep a Thunderbolt, RockSlide, or Flame Thrower toward it - only to have him BP his butt out of there to Nidoking who absorbs all those hits. This allows Intimidate to work its magic too, giving me a little headstart in the battle regardless.


I'm pretty proud of my little soldiers. Based on my Battle Subway adventures though I've had real issues with Fighting and Ice pokemon, naturally. Also, Masquerain really does need a bit of luck in setting up against tough leads - I'm thinking that perhaps there would be a better move to use besides Double Team.


Anyway, thanks to all those who reply! All feedback is GREATLY appreciated!

First of all, you can only have 255 EVs in any one stat.

Second, Nidoking's Nature should be Modest or Timid, considering you are using Special Attacks. Not sure oon Ferrothorn, but here is a set from smogon's analysis:

move 1: Gyro Ball
move 2: Power Whip
move 3: Bulldoze
move 4: Spikes / Explosion
nature: Brave
item: Choice Band
evs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 SpD
ivs: 0 Spe

Choice Band set to give decent attacking power. It doesn't need Speed, so a Brave nature is best here.

What I don't like about Gyro Ball is that it is low in PP and not always effective enough

Bulldoze, while helpful against fire pokemon - is moot because with a 4x weakness to fire and base 20 speed, you're nothing short of foolish to not switch out.

Spikes: I have to say Ive been thinking about it, but with 3 on 3 fights (which this team specializes hin), people won't be switching in enough to make it useful, especially not in the battle subway (though I plan to elevate them to wireless battles if they can beat the Super Single)

Explosion: As a rule of thumb, I'd only use Explosion if the pokemon had a base 100 attack power at laest. Ferrothron has only 94, and works much better as a long-lasting pokemon in my opinion.

I'm surprised Smogon didn't advocate for Leech Seed with Ferrothorn. It's the only steel pokemon that can use it! With Iron barbs+Rocky Helmet, that's 1/8 + 7/24. That's 5/12 their health. Cowabunga, amirite?

Even though Intimidate is one thing Masquerain has over Venomoth, Venomoth is still a better Quiver Dance passer than Masquerain because of Sleep Powder, Tinted Lens (if it's forced to attack for some reason) and better initial Special Attack and Speed:
-Sleep Powder
-Quiver Dance
-Baton Pass
-Bug Buzz/Roost
Nature: Timid
EVs: 252 HP/4 SAtk/252 Spe
Item: Leftovers
Ability: Tinted Lens

Also, use Gyro Ball over Iron Head on Ferrothorn because it's way too slow to use the flinch chance and Gyro Ball benefits from Ferrothorn's bad Speed.

So I caved in and gave Ferrothorn his Gyro Head - I added Curse as well, of course, instead of Ariel Ace.

I'm pretty attached to my Masquerain - though it is clear now how inferior he is.
Though, immunity to spikes+toxic spikes, (granted, x4 to stealth rock) and not fearing the common earthquakers is good.

Throwing Masq out first gives him a 92 defense base with.

1/4th to fighting and grass shouldn't be overlooked either.

However, I did a little work and I have to say - one MAJOR move that Masq has over Veno is SCALD, which happily covers its fire and rock weaknesses, while also potentially burning and opponent - making Ferrothorn's IronBarbs/RockyHelmet/LeechSeed combo super crazy awesome.


After a QD or so, I can Scald 'em or Buzz 'em or flee from potential carnage with Nidoking. What do you all think? Is Scald not worthy of keeping Masq around?