POST MY "DRAFT" TIME NOW. :D
The Crippling Massacre
Introduction
Ever since I created my very successful UGS Battle Tower Team, which was utilizing Yawn to render the opponent useless 'n' allow my sweepers to go to town like a lil' kid with $500 to spend, I've been thinking endlessly of other teams. Even getting some other people, like Archer, to try the strategy out. And I'm assuming he's been doing well with it, now that I'm back from my Leave of Absence. I've also got another team up my sleeve, and plenty of other Yawn leads I'm just watering at the mouth to try, but I prefer to keep my cards faced down. And ahaha, Archer is using Umbreon. XD I guess great minds think alike, goes to show how one can mold a Pocket Monster to their style & team, interesting how vastly different yet similar ours are, to say the least. And thanks for keeping this thread alive guys, I was afraid it'd be swept by the wave of RMT threads.
And by the way, this strategy isn't mine. And if there's anyone that has mastered it, it's FastHippo. Basically everything in the tower about the Yawn Strategy I've learned from him, be it indirectly or directly. Helped me after I lost the first time and others. He's like a teacher to me, and I should definitely credit him much more, apparently. So again, this isn't my strategy or anything like that, I've learned how to use it from him.
- Corona :: Umbreon
- a disk of light surrounding the sun or moon; this is a result of the diffraction of light by small water droplets.
- Item: Focus Sash
- Ability: Synchronize
- Nature: Calm (+ Special Defense, - Attack)
- EVs: 252 HP | 252 Special Defense | 6 Defense
- Move Set ;
- Yawn: The staple of the strategy, a two-turn never-miss sleep status move. Very important! Reason being because you can't usually afford to miss in the incredibly common hax Battle Tower. Once rendered useless by the sleep, Umbreon can cripple their attack with Charm, or dash flash in their face to lower their accuracy. By the time they wake up, they can barely touch Corona or my sweepers, and then I'm free to release the flood gates for Garchomp or Gyarados to sweep.
- Wish / Substitute / Something else: Providing even more team support and recovery to Umbreon. Can prolong the toying around with the opponent when I go Umbreon 'n' Gyarados while switching forever, haha. Substitute to avoid Sand-Attackers that will continuously hit me with it after the sub is up. I dunno about this slot, eh.
- Charm: Uxie provided defense buffers in the forms of screens; Umbreon, on the other hand, cripples the opponent 'n' gives my sweepers more opportunity to set up. Lowering the opponent's attack by two stages is just as cold as a slap to the face. Charm also basically picks up the slack on the defense stat. (And the reason why I EVd it the way I did) Umbreon's HP at Lv. 50 is damn good, at 202, so it can take a hit on the physical spectrum and Charm them into submission. Really nothing can touch me at 2/8 attack. And Clear Bodies? Well, Garchomp rampages through 4 of them with Earthquake, and Regice really isn't a "problem."
- Flash: Umbreon can't exactly cripple like Charm on the special side, but really, it doesn't have to with 202 HP & 200 Special Defense. Flash is also key in making inaccurate moves like Focus Blast miss even more. Depleting the chances of hitting me down to 3/9 accuracy is plenty to properly set up sweepers.
Description: Talk about an incredible sponge, with 202 HP & 200 Special Defense coupled with an intimidating Gyarados to tickle off the weaknesses, the two are perfectly fit for each other. Also being the one Pocket Monster that isn't Psychic that can have the ability, Synchronize. Synchronize is awesome because it's a basic "screw you" to opposing Pocket Monsters that try to paralyze or burn Umbreon, so I just pass it back. :D And if it's before Yawn, I'm okay with that, because I'll still sweep a crippled opponent paralyzed. Sure, Yawn would be better than burn, but in the situation of facing a status-giving Lum Berry Pocket Monster, this ability can flick the berry off for Yawn to activate the next turn, which is great; however that's very circumstantial.
One of the problem Pocket Monsters for this team is Starmie, specifically Starmie 3 which has Ice Beam 'n' Thunderbolt. Well, my previous team would struggle, but Umbreon?
5HKO. That's the best Starmie 3 can muster with STAB Surf, yup, you heard right, 5HKO. (Regice's Ice Beam also takes a 5HKO to put Corona to sleep - 20.79% - 24.26%) More than enough time to cripple the hell out of it. Even Max Special Attack Lucario (which needs a 16% chance for the + nature) only has a 71% chance to 2HKO, 47.52% - 56.44%, and I'd say that's impressive. If I give Umbreon leftovers, it'll be a 16% chance, wow. And every other Lucario does seriously LOL damage to Umbreon. By that I mean, Luke 3 only does 25.25% - 30.20% with Stone Edge. (best attack in it's moveset) and that's just begging for Garchomp to sweep. And if it's Charmed? Well, 13% damage as an average, and 28% for a crit is quite poor. And Lucario 2 has less than a 50% chance to 2HKO with Force Palm, and even then, if it paralyzes me, I pass that status to it. Another Garchomp ready-to-sweep moment. :D Max Attack Metagross' Meteor Mash only has a 7% chance (43.56% - 51.98%) to 2HKO me, outside of crit or attack increase, and even then, Garchomp says hi. =D If it's Metagross 3, Hammer Arm averages 63% damage, 2HKO, but I get off Yawn for Jet Stream.
Machamp 4's Dynamic Punch (has a choice scarf, along with a 50% chance of having the wrong nature) does murderous damage, but I can Yawn thanks to Focus Sash. And even then, if it doesn't have the proper ability, I can have fun setting up. Plus, Gyarados can laugh at it later. All the other Machamp are outsped and completely shut down by Charm, not even funny really. None carry Close Combat, either. (4 has Dynamic, 3 has Brick Break, 2 has... Rock Smash, ahaha, and 1 has Revenge) Heracross 4 is another murder damage "problem" but Gyarados can buffer it with Intimidate. (Megahorn, Revenge, EQ) Max Atk Megahorn to BulkyGara 20.53% - 24.21%, neutral nature does 18.95% - 22.11% to Gyarados.
Heracross 3 is a problem though, because it has Stone Edge. The gameplan vs. that is Yawn, survive with Sash, die, it sleeps, set up and sweep. Which is perfectly fine with me. And basically that's how I play other Fighters that cause problems, Yawn with a Sash-save, die to sleep, then sweep. Pretty darn easy. Weavile's Brick Break only does 38.61% - 45.54%.
How about Lapras 4? Which has a Rain Dance Thunder to use 'n' Dragon Pulse? Well, Hydro Pump can't even 2HKO Umbreon in Rain, and without Rain... well, 4HKO isn't saying much. What about Latios / Latias? I got a feeling people might ask this, seeing as it's one of the rare dragon-types that can outspeed me. Well, Max Special Attack Latios' Draco Meteor (which, again, needs a 16% for a plus nature) does 42.08% on average, with the drop doing around 21%. So, I'd definitely Yawn, because one has a White Herb, but still, hahaha. And using that up while also getting it asleep means... that's right! SWEEP! 8D; As for Latias, neutral nature (68%) Draco Meteor doesn't even 3HKO, lawl. And Max Latias 3 only musters 22.77% - 27.23% with Dragon Pulse. :) And as for Bug-type weakness, well, the sweepers can handle that, also bashing Scizor 'n' friends.
Here's another stat for ya, Max Pory-Z 4 Tri-Attack does 23.76% - 28. Want an even funnier special attack calc? Specs Max Gardevoir 4 Thunderbolt does 25.74% - 30.69%. Not even a 3HKO. Not impressed yet? Neutral nature (68%) Gengar 3's Focus Blast only does 41.58% - 49.50%, not even a 2HKO. And even Max Alakazam 4 only has a 66% chance to 2HKO with Focus Blast. Neutral nature Typhlosion 4 (White Herb - Eruption) only does 34.16% - 40.59%. So in short, Umbreon is a fantastic special sponge, and Gyarados can pick up on the physical end.
- Jet Stream :: Garchomp
- Strong winds concentrated within a narrow band in the upper atmosphere. It normally refers to horizontal, high-altitude winds. The jet stream often "steers" surface features such as front and low pressure systems.
- Item: Lum Berry
- Ability: Sand Veil
- Nature: Jolly (+ Speed, - Special Attack)
- EVs: 252 Attack | 252 Speed | 6 HP
- Move Set ;
- Swords Dance: Skyrocketing Garchomp's attack by two stages, allowing it to sweep til' the female Snorlax sings.
- Substitute: Screw Fire Fang when I can avoid a lot of troublesome situations. Substitute avoids pesky status, stat-drops like annoying sand-attack users; helps when facing Focus Sash, Brightpowder, and Quick Claw attackers. Substitute and set up even more, avoid disasters like exploding Pocket Monsters as well. Substitute also releases that supposed "stress" of Outraging.
- Outrage: 120 Base power STAB move coming off of 182 Attack? Deadly, not a lot can take hits from this.
- Earthquake: Outside of 15 Tier Four steel-type Pocket Monsters that can appear, 12 can be hit super-effective by Earthquake. And yeah, I'm not afraid of Skarmory, Scizor, & Forretress THAT much either, whom can carry fire-type-resistant berries. (As for Bronzong, he's got 50% chance to be hit by EQ, and an 87% chance to be 2HKOd by Outrage) Outside of steel-typing, Garchomp absolutely destroys everything else, honestly.
Description: The best Battle Tower Garchomp set. Period. Fire Fang? Sorry, no, I'm not scared of steel-type Pocket Monsters at all. :) When Outrage 2HKOs Bronzong and numerous other steel-types, I'll "take my chances." Substitute can ease so many problems 'n' allow Garchomp the peace of mind that it can attack another turn, like Umbreon's Focus Sash... sorta. Garchomp's speed hits 169, which is pretty fast in the tower, nothing too insane though, but it gets the job done. But if you want to talk about insane, think of a Garchomp able to set up three swords dances against a crippled opponent that can't even break a sub, yes, that my friend... is insane.[FONT="]
Lum berry helps to ensure four turns of Outrage, which, in my experiences with the tower, have proven very useful. But again, not much can take repeated Outrages, and if so, they'll be so banged up by the time Garchomp dies that Gyarados can finish them off. :D The power of the Yawn + Garchomp is absolutely ridiculous, learning that from FastHippo, who's had extreme success with it at 314.
Everything else is pretty self-explanatory for this Jet Shark.[/FONT]
- Flood :: Gyarados
- A condition that occurs when water overflows the natural or artificial confines of a stream or river; the water also may accumulate by drainage over low-lying areas.
- Item: Leftovers
- Ability: Intimidate
- Nature: Adamant (+ Attack, - Special Attack)
- EVs: 156 HP | 108 Atk | 100 Def | 144 Spe
- Move Set ;
- Dragon Dance: Helping Gyarados sweep with plus one in attack & speed. Able to outspeed everything in the Battle Tower after two DDs. (If I did my math correctly)
- Taunt: Shutting down Pocket Monsters like Skarmory is a valuable asset to this team.
- Waterfall: The main attack that's obviously here for STAB, and possible flinch rate.
- Stone Edge: I'm really going to hate missing in the Battle Tower, but water/rock is superb coverage. Earthquake could be an option though, I suppose.
Description: Gyarados was placed here for two main reasons: its resistances, and its ability. In my previous team, switching didn't exactly do anything, but on this team, it very well can be a factor. Toying around with Thunderbolts directed at this leviathan and switching to Chomp, switching back to Dos when the Crunch comes, etc. Effectively rendering the opponent useless until one of the sweepers can sweep. Resists Fighting ½×, and Bug-type attacks ½×. (Umbreon's weaknesses) Along with Garchomp helping out by being immune to its 4× weakness, Electric, and resisting its weakness to Rock. This slot 'n' set really is up in the air though. D:
You can tell I get tired of writing, so this is where I'll stop. :x Questions, concerns, suggestions? I'd be glad to reply.