No more messin' around

[Flushed]

Made a couple Team Help threads in the recent past, but even after relatively little testing, I was finding that it wasn't working out all that well. This team has been in the works for awhile. I've tested it on Showdown extensively, and I'm going to try to start breeding some of these guys in-game for some Wifi battles, so I want to work out all the kinks before then.

The team has trouble with hazards, as I have no spinners or Defoggers. The wild card essentially is Politoed, I have him as rain support for Meloetta, and he's a decent Specs user with Drizzle. The way I see my options, I can go for manual rain support, which I tried in Tentacruel, but I found it wasn't working as well as Toed, and in the grand scheme of things, Toed was more valuable than getting rid of possible hazards. Tentacruel often wasn't able to set up the rain, which isn't mandatory, but even then, he couldn't put a dent in much.

Other thing I was uncertain about is Garchomp. Choice Band comes in handy, but I don't like being locked in all the time, and Life Orbs recoil can be a bit annoying, but I have tried that with SD in the past.

And I did consider PlatinumDude's EV spread on Meloetta, but I gave it more Speed to outrun Greninja, I didn't blatantly try to ignore.


Mawile @ Mawilite
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 HP / 4 SDef
Adamant Nature
- Fire Fang
- Play Rough
- Swords Dance
- Sucker Punch

Darmanitan @ Life Orb
Ability: Sheer Force
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 Atk / 4 HP
Adamant Nature
- Flare Blitz
- U-turn
- Superpower
- Rock Slide

Garchomp @ Choice Band
Ability: Rough Skin
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 Spd / 4 HP
Adamant Nature
- Dragon Claw
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- Iron Head

Exploud @ Choice Specs
Ability: Scrappy
EVs: 252 SAtk / 252 HP / 4 Spd
Modest Nature
- Boomburst
- Fire Blast
- Focus Blast
- Ice Beam

Meloetta @ Assault Vest
Ability: Serene Grace
EVs: 252 SAtk / 48 Atk / 208 Spd
Hasty Nature
- Close Combat
- Psychic
- Thunder
- Relic Song

Politoed @ Choice Specs
Ability: Drizzle
EVs: 240 Def / 252 HP / 16 Spd
Bold Nature
- Hydro Pump
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Focus Blast
- Ice Beam

 

[PlatinumDude]

Mawile generally uses enough Speed EVs to outspeed Azumarill, Scizor and Aegislash; the EV spread in that case should be 132 HP/252 Atk/124 Spe.

While Iron Head does let Garchomp hit Fairies super effectively, it's not that good in practice. See, Earthquake hits non-Togekiss Fairies hard enough already:
neutral STAB Earthquake: 100 x 1.5 = 150
unSTABed super effective Iron Head: 80 x 2 = 160

So just use this set:
-Outrage
-Earthquake
-Stone Edge/Fire Fang/Fire Blast
-Dragon Claw/Dual Chop
Nature: Jolly/Naive
EVs: 4 HP/252 Atk/252 Spe
Item: Choice Band/Choice Scarf

Exploud's Boomburst is really the only move you should be spamming unless Rock and Steel Pokemon are in the way. Overheat, Flamethrower and Focus Blast can take care of these types, so there's no need for Ice Beam:
-Boomburst
-Overheat
-Flamethrower
-Focus Blast
Nature: Modest
EVs: 252 SAtk/108 SDef/148 Spe
Item: Choice Specs
Ability: Scrappy

A Bold nature is better suited for defensive Politoed, which Specs Politoed isn't; it's supposed to hit as hard as it can with its rain-boosted Water STAB moves. HP Fire is weakened in rain; Specs Politoed should look like this:
-Hydro Pump
-Psychic
-Ice Beam
-Focus Blast/Scald/Surf
Nature: Modest
EVs: 252 HP/252 SAtk/4 SDef
Item: Choice Specs
Ability: Drizzle

I really think you should put Tentacruel back. You need the Rapid Spin support, considering that you have a Pokemon weak to all entry hazards in Darmanitan:
-Scald
-Sludge Bomb
-Rapid Spin
-Toxic/Knock Off
Nature: Bold
EVs: 252 HP/224 Def/32 Spe
Item: Black Sludge
Ability: Liquid Ooze

 

[Flushed]

While Iron Head does let Garchomp hit Fairies super effectively, it's not that good in practice. See, Earthquake hits non-Togekiss Fairies hard enough already:
neutral STAB Earthquake: 100 x 1.5 = 150
unSTABed super effective Iron Head: 80 x 2 = 160

Good point, honestly it was filler for SD, and it did help a couple times with flinch, but I see your point.

Exploud's Boomburst is really the only move you should be spamming unless Rock and Steel Pokemon are in the way. Overheat, Flamethrower and Focus Blast can take care of these types, so there's no need for Ice Beam:
-Boomburst
-Overheat
-Flamethrower
-Focus Blast
Nature: Modest
EVs: 252 SAtk/108 SDef/148 Spe
Item: Choice Specs
Ability: Scrappy

Haven't run the calcs or anything (compared w/Boomburst), but Ice Beam has helped with Gliscor and the rarer D-Nite/Salamence. Why two Fire moves though? Usually whatever I'm hitting with Fire goes down pretty easily (or to Focus Blast) so Overheat with the Sp.ATK drop seems less necessary.

A Bold nature is better suited for defensive Politoed, which Specs Politoed isn't; it's supposed to hit as hard as it can with its rain-boosted Water STAB moves. HP Fire is weakened in rain; Specs Politoed should look like this:
-Hydro Pump
-Psychic
-Ice Beam
-Focus Blast/Scald/Surf
Nature: Modest
EVs: 252 HP/252 SAtk/4 SDef
Item: Choice Specs
Ability: Drizzle

I'm pretty sure I had Modest at one point, no clue where I got the Bold spread from. And good point, every time I battle I realize HP Fire's kinda stupid, but forget to swap it for something. Also wasn't aware Politoed got Psychic.

I really think you should put Tentacruel back. You need the Rapid Spin support, considering that you have a Pokemon weak to all entry hazards in Darmanitan:
-Scald
-Sludge Bomb
-Rapid Spin
-Toxic/Knock Off
Nature: Bold
EVs: 252 HP/224 Def/32 Spe
Item: Black Sludge
Ability: Liquid Ooze

Alright I'll definitely consider it. Rain is hindering Darmanitan and Mawile, but those Thunder misses w/Meloetta are pretty crippling.

Thanks again for the input.

 

[PlatinumDude]

Good point, honestly it was filler for SD, and it did help a couple times with flinch, but I see your point.


Haven't run the calcs or anything (compared w/Boomburst), but Ice Beam has helped with Gliscor and the rarer D-Nite/Salamence. Why two Fire moves though? Usually whatever I'm hitting with Fire goes down pretty easily (or to Focus Blast) so Overheat with the Sp.ATK drop seems less necessary.



I'm pretty sure I had Modest at one point, no clue where I got the Bold spread from. And good point, every time I battle I realize HP Fire's kinda stupid, but forget to swap it for something. Also wasn't aware Politoed got Psychic.


Alright I'll definitely consider it. Rain is hindering Darmanitan and Mawile, but those Thunder misses w/Meloetta are pretty crippling.

Thanks again for the input.

Boomburst hits Gliscor hard enough already, so there's no need for Ice Beam. Overheat lets Exploud hit Aegislash and friends; Flamethrower is there as filler because as I mentioned, Boomburst is the move Exploud should be spamming, using its other three moves only when necessary.

 

[Nah]

I don't see any reason to change Exploud's movset. It's going to be using Boomburst 90% of the time, and Overheat's Sp.Attack drop is a bit detrimental to Exploud. Fire blast should serve your needs just fine.


Like Platinum was saying, Politoed isn't really great for this team, and you really could use a spinner (it doesn't have to be Tentacruel, but you need a spinner/defogger nonetheless). IMO, if you're gonna do weather in Gen 6, you need to make a dedicated rain/sun/sand/hail team, or don't bother with it.


And Meloetta can learn Thunderbolt, so you could swap that with Thunder for a more accurate option.


If you don't like a Choice item on Garchomp, you can run it with Swords Dance and a Haban/Roseli/Yache Berry.

 

[Flushed]

I don't see any reason to change Exploud's movset. It's going to be using Boomburst 90% of the time, and Overheat's Sp.Attack drop is a bit detrimental to Exploud. Fire blast should serve your needs just fine.

Yeah those were my sentiments. Fire Blast could be swapped for Flamethrower since anything that's getting hit is usually x4, but I guess we'll see.

Like Platinum was saying, Politoed isn't really great for this team, and you really could use a spinner (it doesn't have to be Tentacruel, but you need a spinner/defogger nonetheless). IMO, if you're gonna do weather in Gen 6, you need to make a dedicated rain/sun/sand/hail team, or don't bother with it.

And Meloetta can learn Thunderbolt, so you could swap that with Thunder for a more accurate option.

The weather thing ties in with Thunder/Thunderbolt. With Serene Grace paralysis is 60% with Thunder as opposed to 20% with bolt. Still on the fence with this, but I'll probably end up fitting in a spinner, as I like the Water coverage.

If you don't like a Choice item on Garchomp, you can run it with Swords Dance and a Haban/Roseli/Yache Berry.

Any berry besides Yache is kind of hit or miss imo, but even then I usually find myself switching out on Ice attacks. And Garchomp appreciates the extra power, so I might just have to stick with Band.

Thanks.

 

[PlatinumDude]

I don't see any reason to change Exploud's movset. It's going to be using Boomburst 90% of the time, and Overheat's Sp.Attack drop is a bit detrimental to Exploud. Fire blast should serve your needs just fine.


Like Platinum was saying, Politoed isn't really great for this team, and you really could use a spinner (it doesn't have to be Tentacruel, but you need a spinner/defogger nonetheless). IMO, if you're gonna do weather in Gen 6, you need to make a dedicated rain/sun/sand/hail team, or don't bother with it.


And Meloetta can learn Thunderbolt, so you could swap that with Thunder for a more accurate option.


If you don't like a Choice item on Garchomp, you can run it with Swords Dance and a Haban/Roseli/Yache Berry.

The point of a Choice Pokemon is to stay in, inflict damage on the switch-in and get out. This makes Overheat's Special Attack drop a non-issue.