Hey all, this is my second attempt at a competitive team but this time it's gone through a lot more experimenting and testing.
General:
I've changed my team up into a very aggressive set-up. Most of these guys are either physical sweepers or special sweepers; there are no entry hazard pokes, no walls, no stallers, just pure brute force. In experimental fights, the type coverage has been fairly decent and the only trouble I've run into is when playing against equally aggressive teams that have stealth rock/spikes setup.
Nevertheless, most of these guys have worked very effectively with their teammates. Metagross is the only one that really sticks out to me; I rarely use him and when I do, it's just to bust out the Explosion.
Strategy:
The strategy for this team is very simple: try to clean up quickly. The longer a match drags on, the more likely that my strategy will collapse. Azelf is the lead of this team and he runs a slightly different set from the typical ZelfLead (suicide entry hazard taunter). Most people believe my first move is to lay down SR and then taunt, so usually their lead sets up too. This gives me a free Nasty Plot, then I have 3 other attacks to choose from.
Flamethrower deals with Metagross, Celebi, Jirachi, Breloom, Weavile, Magnezone, Heracross, Scizor, Lucario and Yanmega.
Grass Knot rips apart Hippowdon, Swampert, Suicune, Starmie, Tyranitar (though this is risky, since a Crunch will cripple me), Mamoswine, Rhyperior, and does a good chunk to Vaporeon,
Psychic gets rid of Infernape, Machamp, Gengar, and with 125 Base Special, STAB, and Nasty Plot +2 I can still really mess up most pokes that are 100% against Psychic type (most Normal-type sweepers get hit hard by it, for instance Togekiss, PZ,
When the going gets rough (usually against Dragons or other Psychics), I toss in Starmie and then either Surf/Tbolt anticipating a switch (it's funny how many Gyarados/Empoleon switchins I've nailed with that Tbolt :D). Of course, the Ice Beam cripples those dragons later on. If they bring in a wall like Blissey, I try to squeeze in a Recover before switching to either Breloom or Scizor.
If I need a clutch, Scizor comes in with the quick Superpower. If I'm in a good position, Breloom switches in instead and executes the usual Spore, FP, Sub, FP etc.
At this point, Mence and Metagross seem a bit useless. However, STAB Outrage is ridiculously powerful especially against those pesky dragons that Starmie can't outlast (he usually takes out one before dying). Though it leaves me confused after 2 or 3 turns, this attack OHKOs most late-game stuff and since I usually only bring in Mence when the opponent is down to 2 pokes or so, he handles nicely. Since the guy isn't choiced either, I can also pull EQ on Heatran and Tyranitar (if Grass Knot, Bullet Punch, Superpower, Surf didn't already kill him…). However, I'm considering putting a Lum Berry on instead of Life Orb to extend Mence's usability.
Metagross has absolutely no function other than to intimidate the opponent with his amazingly sexy silver shininess. I have half a mind to take him out in favour of an entry hazard setup guy. Another pokemon I've also tried to replace him with was Lucario, but I found him to be way too similar to Scizor to be of any huge use.
Breakdown:
Azelf @ Leftovers
- Nature: Timid
- EVs: 252 Sp.Attack / 252 Speed / 4 HP
~ Flamethrower
~ Grass Knot
~ Psychic
~ Nasty Plot
Scizor @ Life Orb
- Nature: Adamant
- Ability: Technician
- EVs: 252 Attack / 224 Speed / 32 HP
~ Swords Dance
~ Bullet Punch
~ Superpower
~ Roost
Breloom @ Toxic Orb
- Nature: Adamant
- EVs: 252 Attack / 208 Speed / 48 HP
~ Spore
~ Focus Punch
~ Seed Bomb
~ Substitute
Starmie @ Life Orb
- Nature: Timid
- EVs: 252 Sp. Attack / 252 Speed / 4 HP
~ Surf
~ Thunderbolt
~ Ice Beam
~ Recover
Salamence @ Life Orb
- Nature: Naive
- EVs: 252 Attack / 232 Speed / 24 Sp.Attack
~ Dragon Dance
~ Earthquake
~ Outrage
~ Fire Blast
Metagross @ Leftovers
- Nature: Adamant
- EVs: 252 Attack / 132 Speed / 112 HP / 12 Defence
~ Earthquake
~ Agility
~ Explosion
~ Meteor Mash
Possible Changes:
- Metagross out
- Spiker/Spinner in
- Lum Berry on Mence
- Breloom/Scizor out in favour of a wall like Blissey/Skarm ?
Thanks in advance for any help and criticism! ^^ Oh, and apologies for the lack of pictures. Does Pokecommunity have sprites available? I can't put up pics from other sites due to the 15 post requirement...
- Hessian
Azelf | Scizor | Breloom | Starmie | Salamence | Metagross
General:
I've changed my team up into a very aggressive set-up. Most of these guys are either physical sweepers or special sweepers; there are no entry hazard pokes, no walls, no stallers, just pure brute force. In experimental fights, the type coverage has been fairly decent and the only trouble I've run into is when playing against equally aggressive teams that have stealth rock/spikes setup.
Nevertheless, most of these guys have worked very effectively with their teammates. Metagross is the only one that really sticks out to me; I rarely use him and when I do, it's just to bust out the Explosion.
Strategy:
The strategy for this team is very simple: try to clean up quickly. The longer a match drags on, the more likely that my strategy will collapse. Azelf is the lead of this team and he runs a slightly different set from the typical ZelfLead (suicide entry hazard taunter). Most people believe my first move is to lay down SR and then taunt, so usually their lead sets up too. This gives me a free Nasty Plot, then I have 3 other attacks to choose from.
Flamethrower deals with Metagross, Celebi, Jirachi, Breloom, Weavile, Magnezone, Heracross, Scizor, Lucario and Yanmega.
Grass Knot rips apart Hippowdon, Swampert, Suicune, Starmie, Tyranitar (though this is risky, since a Crunch will cripple me), Mamoswine, Rhyperior, and does a good chunk to Vaporeon,
Psychic gets rid of Infernape, Machamp, Gengar, and with 125 Base Special, STAB, and Nasty Plot +2 I can still really mess up most pokes that are 100% against Psychic type (most Normal-type sweepers get hit hard by it, for instance Togekiss, PZ,
When the going gets rough (usually against Dragons or other Psychics), I toss in Starmie and then either Surf/Tbolt anticipating a switch (it's funny how many Gyarados/Empoleon switchins I've nailed with that Tbolt :D). Of course, the Ice Beam cripples those dragons later on. If they bring in a wall like Blissey, I try to squeeze in a Recover before switching to either Breloom or Scizor.
If I need a clutch, Scizor comes in with the quick Superpower. If I'm in a good position, Breloom switches in instead and executes the usual Spore, FP, Sub, FP etc.
At this point, Mence and Metagross seem a bit useless. However, STAB Outrage is ridiculously powerful especially against those pesky dragons that Starmie can't outlast (he usually takes out one before dying). Though it leaves me confused after 2 or 3 turns, this attack OHKOs most late-game stuff and since I usually only bring in Mence when the opponent is down to 2 pokes or so, he handles nicely. Since the guy isn't choiced either, I can also pull EQ on Heatran and Tyranitar (if Grass Knot, Bullet Punch, Superpower, Surf didn't already kill him…). However, I'm considering putting a Lum Berry on instead of Life Orb to extend Mence's usability.
Metagross has absolutely no function other than to intimidate the opponent with his amazingly sexy silver shininess. I have half a mind to take him out in favour of an entry hazard setup guy. Another pokemon I've also tried to replace him with was Lucario, but I found him to be way too similar to Scizor to be of any huge use.
Breakdown:
Azelf @ Leftovers
- Nature: Timid
- EVs: 252 Sp.Attack / 252 Speed / 4 HP
~ Flamethrower
~ Grass Knot
~ Psychic
~ Nasty Plot
Scizor @ Life Orb
- Nature: Adamant
- Ability: Technician
- EVs: 252 Attack / 224 Speed / 32 HP
~ Swords Dance
~ Bullet Punch
~ Superpower
~ Roost
Breloom @ Toxic Orb
- Nature: Adamant
- EVs: 252 Attack / 208 Speed / 48 HP
~ Spore
~ Focus Punch
~ Seed Bomb
~ Substitute
Starmie @ Life Orb
- Nature: Timid
- EVs: 252 Sp. Attack / 252 Speed / 4 HP
~ Surf
~ Thunderbolt
~ Ice Beam
~ Recover
Salamence @ Life Orb
- Nature: Naive
- EVs: 252 Attack / 232 Speed / 24 Sp.Attack
~ Dragon Dance
~ Earthquake
~ Outrage
~ Fire Blast
Metagross @ Leftovers
- Nature: Adamant
- EVs: 252 Attack / 132 Speed / 112 HP / 12 Defence
~ Earthquake
~ Agility
~ Explosion
~ Meteor Mash
Possible Changes:
- Metagross out
- Spiker/Spinner in
- Lum Berry on Mence
- Breloom/Scizor out in favour of a wall like Blissey/Skarm ?
Thanks in advance for any help and criticism! ^^ Oh, and apologies for the lack of pictures. Does Pokecommunity have sprites available? I can't put up pics from other sites due to the 15 post requirement...
- Hessian