Black Ice
[XV]
- 610
- Posts
- 18
- Years
- Seen Oct 4, 2023
"I don't always win, but when I do, I do it with swag."
Ladies and gentlemen (but mostly the ladies), I am here today to present to you the culmination of my research, playtesting, and swag. What this team represents transcends the mere conventions of battling. Swag is an art. Swag is a style. Swag requires more than just winning; it requires winning without relent, without fear, without mercy.
This team aims to reach the highest echelon of swagdom. As I stated earlier, it doesn't always win. That is why I'm posting here. Duh.
Deoxys-Swag (Deoxys-S) @ Life Orb
Pressure
48 Atk / 252 SpA / 208 Spe
Rash (+SpA, -SpD)
-
- Psycho Boost
- Thunder
- Superpower
One of the greatest leads from DPPt makes a return. Nothing significant was added to its moveset, but that doesn't matter, it still kicks ass. The addition of weather to the OU metagame makes Politoed and Tyranitar so much more common, so I knew what I wanted to accomplish with this set. Life Orb has always brought great joy to me, so I decided to just slap it onto an offensive Deoxys-S and see where it takes me. So far it has not disappointed.
I replaced Stealth Rock with Knock Off for its sheer usefulness. I never really got the chance to set up Stealth Rock consistently with this guy because I was too busy attacking everything, so I shifted that job over to Jirachi. Now Deoxys-S can function as my revenge sweeper, although it still works wonders as a lead. Obviously it can't be both, but if the opponent's team looks pretty frail (Salamence/Tyranitar/Politoed/Gliscor/Rotom-W/Cloud trio/Ninetales are common targets), I'll use this thing right away. Quickly getting rid of Choice Specs on Latios, Leftovers on Blissey/Vaporeon/Reuniclus, etc. is a massive boon.
Psycho Boost is for the quick kill on Gliscor, the Kami trio, Salamence, Donphan, anything that isn't properly invested in defenses. It can even OHKO a Rotom-W carrying under 100 HP EVs, and 448 Speed EVs gives it 1 point more than Scarf Rotom-W. Superpower is pretty much exclusively for Tyranitar , which switches in against this far too often for reasons which I cannot comprehend. So it's a pretty useful move. Unfortunately it's too weak to even 2HKO Chansey, but I have a fine counter to that anyway. Last is Thunder, which is for Politoed leads. It doesn't take care of them all like I thought it would, but non-specially defensive ones are still cleanly OHKO'd.
Conkelswag (Conkeldurr) (F) @ Leftovers
Guts
120 HP / 252 Atk / 136 SpD
Brave (+Atk, -Spe)
- Bulk Up
- Mach Punch
- Drain Punch
- Payback
This guy takes status like a boss. Blissey, Gyarados, and Tyranitar are my best switch-ins, and I also enjoy taking advantage of a Tentacruel setting up Toxic Spikes. After one layer is down, I'll just switch this thing in to earn the Guts boost and avoid bad poisoning. After 1 Bulk Up and a status infliction, I'm at over 800 Attack. That's enough to 2HKO pretty much anything that doesn't resist Drain Punch. And I'll be healing myself all the while. Skarmory and Gliscor are not really problematic at all. Drain Punch on Skarmory, set up on Gliscor until I have 3 Attack boosts, then 2HKO with Payback. They can't do anything back to me. Latios, Celebi, and Reuniclus with Psyshock over Psychic aren't threats either.
Swagamence (Salamence) (F) @ Expert Belt
Intimidate
4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Naive (+Spe, -SpD)
- Draco Meteor
- Earthquake
- Hydro Pump
- Fire Blast
My main offensive threat and probably my most consistent member. EVs are straightforward, and it's used exactly as a Specsmence would be used. Except it doesn't have Specs, and the opponent will often get faked by the lack of either Leftovers recovery or Life Orb damage. This guy can switch into a lot of common things and scare them away. After I use Hydro Pump against a Gliscor or whatever and I don't take Life Orb damage, my opponent thinks I have a Specs and will switch to a Grass or Dragon or something and I can make the proper move. Hydro Pump takes advantage of the common Rain Dance teams and seems to be a solid backup move to save from Draco Meteor's hindering side effect. If rain is not a factor, Fire Blast easily handles all the typical steels and Tangrowth, which can be a major prick to this team. Earthquake is mainly filler but it's more reliable than Hydro Pump and Fire Blast for taking out Heatran and Magnezone, respectively.
Swagtran (Heatran) (F) @ Leftovers
Flash Fire
Calm (+SpD, -Atk)
- Toxic
- Lava Plume
- Earth Power
- Dragon Pulse
This guy is here mainly for his resistances to Fire, Grass, and most importantly, Toxic. Aside from throwing around Toxic and absorbing attacks, his purpose is limited, though. Once I get this guy in, I'll just spam Toxic and get out unless I've already got all the defensive threats under control. Then this thing just becomes a suicide mission. I've run a few different variants of the thing and they don't seem to have significantly different results. I'll end up with one or two poisoned foes and this thing is done. Earth Power, Dragon Pulse, Roar, Substitute, Protect, whatever, they all didn't see much use so I decided to stick with offense, "just in case." I'm probably going to switch this out eventually, maybe Bronzong or Jirachi or something.
Swagpedo (Sharpedo) (F) @ Life Orb
Trait: Speed Boost
EVs:
Rash (+SpA, -SpD)
- Protect
-
-
- Crunch
Secondary offensive threat and is usually saved for lategame. Once the field is clear from bulky waters and Ferrothorn, this thing doesn't have much to worry about. Its EVs allow maximum damage and great speed potential. There's not much this guy can't handle. Reuniclus and Jellicent are easily OHKO'd. After two Speed Boosts, Excadrill is no longer a problem (or 1 if I get rid of Sand Throw). I don't even know what else to say about this. It's just beautiful.
Coswagrigus (Cofagrigus) (F) @ Leftovers
Mummy
248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SpD
Bold (+Def, -Atk)
- Will-O-Wisp
- Haze
- Shadow Ball
-
Swag. That's all there is to it. Mummy on Scizor, Mummy on Conkeldurr, Mummy on Gyarados, Mummy on Jirachi, Mummy on everything. This ability is so underappreciated. The only problem is when it backfires on my physical attackers, but it's not even that big of a deal since Guts is situational and at least one Speed Boost is already guaranteed through Protect. And that's a pretty light trade-off for being able to completely nullify Jirachi and Scrafty, two very dangerous threats to my team (or any team, really).
Will-O-Wisp is pretty obvious. If Mummy isn't enough to cripple the enemy, I'll burn it too. Just to see how it feels. Haze shuts down those Baton Pass teams and random Curse Pokemon. Shadow Ball isn't very powerful but there isn't much I can do other than that. Hidden Power [Fighting] is for perfect coverage along with Shadow Ball.
Testing:
Swagrachi (Jirachi) @ Leftovers
Serene Grace
252 HP / 4 Atk / 100 Def / 152 SpD
Impish (+Def, -SpA)
- Stealth Rock
- Toxic
- Iron Head
- Wish
This guy replaces Heatran. The resistances are still there, Toxic is still there, but now it can put hazards down and provide Wish support. Iron Head as my only attack is fine because I have Conkeldurr for every other Steel-type that thinks about walling Jirachi. This is a great way to lure in set-up bait, actually. The only Steel-type not handled by Conkeldurr is Jirachi, and that is shut down by Cofagrigus. Dragonite can rip it apart if it has a chance to set up, too. Which brings me to my next testing subject...
Swagonite (Dragonite) (M) @ Lum Berry
Trait: Multiscale
EVs: 52 HP / 252 Atk / 204 Spe
Adamant (+Atk, -SpA)
- Dragon Dance
- Outrage
- Fire Punch
- Roost
Just seeing how this works over Salamence. Scizor and Gliscor are a bit more problematic now, but they are both handled by Conkeldurr and Cofagrigus as well. And Sharpedo. EVs are pretty basic. I went with 252 HP / 152 Atk / 56 Def / 48 SpD for a few matches before I realized I didn't have enough speed or attacking power. I feel that Dragonite benefits more from being able to go all-out, and Roost gives Multiscale plenty of use. Lum Berry can protect me from status, or from Outrage's confusion if the opponent doesn't try burning or paralyzing me. All in all, a solid Pokemon that might replace Salamence. Or maybe not. The name is a nice bonus, though.
Threat List:
Main problem Pokemon are Toxicroak in Rain, DD Scraggy, Ferrothorn, Mienshao, Machamp, Chansey, DD Salamence, and Gastrodon. I have pretty much nothing on these guys. Cofagrigus can't take beatings all day without recovery.
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