Team Elements

[Pokedra]

Team Elements
​

Introduction

This is the newest team I spun up since I only had like three teams that were actually well-thought out. I did some testing on the Smogon Server and it's done okay. I focused on getting a strong defensive core and covering most threats. I still need some help making it better so I present to you Team Elements.

At A Glance

In-Depth Look

*image removed*
Swampert @ Leftovers
Nature : Relaxed
EV : 240 HP / 212 Def / 52 SpAtk
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Ice Beam
- Roar

Team Role: Swampert leads the team, he sets-up the rocks and tries to take down the other lead as well. After that he serves as a check to various Pokemon like Tyranitar who would otherwise plow through this team and also shuffles the opponent's team around with Roar.

Opinion : Swampert has always been one of my favourites lead as it has great bulk and rarely fails to get the rocks up.

*image removed*
Heatran @ Choice Scarf
Nature : Naive
EV : 4 HP / 252 SpAtk / 252 Spe
- Explosion
- Fire Blast
- Earth Power
- Dragon Pulse

Team Role : Heatran is here as a revenge-killer, I picked him mainly for the wide variety of threats he can revenge-kill and his nice immunities and resistances as well as providing me with something that can switch into Fire-attacks fearlessly.

Opinion : Heatran is a solid Pokemon that usually gets the kills he should, his handful of resistances make a good addition to this team.

*image removed*
Vaporeon @ Leftovers
Nature : Bold
EV : 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
- Wish
- Protect
- Surf
- Hidden Power Electric

Team Role : Vaporeon gives Wish support to the team and provides a counter for stuff like Infernape and Gyarados. He makes a fantastic partner for Heatran and gladly takes Water-attacks aimed at Mamo and Ice-attacks aimed at Mence.

Opinion : Vaporeon is great support for the team, countering Pokemon and providing Wish support for Mamo and Heatran. Protect is great for scouting and all-in-all he does great in this team.

*image removed*
Salamence @ Life Orb
Nature : Rash
EV : 80 Atk / 252 SpA / 176 Spe
- Draco Meteor
- Roost
- Brick Break
- Fire Blast

Team Role : MixMence is great for dealing out some heavy damage, I usually bring him in after something has died and dish out some damage and soften the opponent's team. He's also great for breaking stall, if he can eliminate the opponent's counter/check for Jirachi as well as wrecking some havoc then he's done his job well.

Opinion : This has always been one of my favourite Mence sets, he has both versatility and power and he always does a ton of damage before he dies.

*image removed*
Gengar @ Life Orb
Nature : Timid
EV : 40 Atk / 212 SpAtk / 252 Spe
- Explosion
- Shadow Ball
- Hidden Power Fire
- Focus Blast

Team Role: Gengar is useful for his ability to land some powerful blows as well as burning powerful physical threats for the team. His aim is also to try and soften up the opponent's team and help Jirachi prepare for it's final sweep.

Opinion : Gengar works pretty well, he has a bunch of resistances and immunties which enable him to cover some of my other Pokemon and burning physical threats a huge plus as burnt Scizor or burnt Tyranitar are pretty much screwed.

*image removed*
Jirachi @ Leftovers
Nature : Timid
EV : 252 HP / 80 SpAtk / 176 Spe
- Substitute
- Calm Mind
- Thunderbolt
- Flash Cannon

Team Role : Jirachi is my clean-up sweeper, in the late-game when Salamence/Mamoswine have left dents in the opponent's team and Heatran has revenge-killed stuff that threaten Jirachi then I bring it in and setup a Sub on something that can't hurt it much and proceed to CM and wipe out his weakened team members.

Opinion : I love this thing, it has cleaned up heaps of teams for me. Thunderbolt/Psychic offer good coverage and after 2-3 CM''s it is pretty hard to stop.

Credit

-The art was done by Blue Ace from Serebii.

Conclusion

I'm pretty satisfied with this team and it's doing pretty good while I'm laddering but it isn't perfect so I could use some help in making it better. It does lean towards special offense and there isn't that much physical power and I really hope I covered most threats.

 

[Anti]

Like I said with your battle log, if the conclusion and intro aren't saying anything (they aren't), then there isn't really any point in putting them in. They aren't required or anything, so don't feel like you have to put something there if you have nothing to say.

The biggest weakness I see is probably Tyranitar. Metagross is the only thing that can take its hits at all, but that's hardly reliable. On that same note, Rhyperior does all kinds of damage with either Substitute or Choice Band sets, and it will likely be used with Tyranitar for the SS support. In general, QuakeSlide (well, QuakeEdge this generation I guess) is a big problem, but I suppose that's true of most teams so I wouldn't sweat it.

Magnezone is another problem. It wipes out half of your team if it's Scarfed, and that's only including what is trapped. Gengar, Salamence, and Vaporean are also vulnerable. A solution to this and your Tyranitar issues (to an extent) would be Scarf Dugtrio, which traps and kills Magnezone, opposing ScarfTran (which also wall your Jirachi, and nothing lures it out very well), and a weakened Tyranitar. Still, replacing anything on your team would mess it up entirely, so I can't offer much advice.

That stuff aside, the team isn't too bad. I feel like any changes I make would disrupt the synergy of the team, so I don't really know what to say. Perhaps Swampert >>> Metagross could help, I don't know.

 

[Pokedra]

Like I said with your battle log, if the conclusion and intro aren't saying anything (they aren't), then there isn't really any point in putting them in. They aren't required or anything, so don't feel like you have to put something there if you have nothing to say.

I suppose.

The biggest weakness I see is probably Tyranitar. Metagross is the only thing that can take its hits at all, but that's hardly reliable. On that same note, Rhyperior does all kinds of damage with either Substitute or Choice Band sets, and it will likely be used with Tyranitar for the SS support. In general, QuakeSlide (well, QuakeEdge this generation I guess) is a big problem, but I suppose that's true of most teams so I wouldn't sweat it.

Tyranitar has always been a problem(especially DDTar), CBTar is easier as I can predict round it. If DDTar does get a DD in, I have to rely on Metagross Bullet Punching it(50-55%~) and hopefully with SR and LO recoil bring him in Tran's Earth Power range or Vappy's Surf range but it is a shaky method so yeah I agree. With Rhyperior, I find that not as threatening, with CB sets I can predict around them, like using Tran as bait and bring Mence in. Subperior is a little troublesome but I try not to give it a chance to setup =]

Magnezone is another problem. It wipes out half of your team if it's Scarfed, and that's only including what is trapped. Gengar, Salamence, and Vaporean are also vulnerable. A solution to this and your Tyranitar issues (to an extent) would be Scarf Dugtrio, which traps and kills Magnezone, opposing ScarfTran (which also wall your Jirachi, and nothing lures it out very well), and a weakened Tyranitar. Still, replacing anything on your team would mess it up entirely, so I can't offer much advice.

I'm not going to use Scarf Duggy sorry, it ruins the synergy as you said and I find it a pretty shabby revenge-killer =P

Well, Scarf Magenzone can be a bit of a problem..hmmm..

That stuff aside, the team isn't too bad. I feel like any changes I make would disrupt the synergy of the team, so I don't really know what to say. Perhaps Swampert >>> Metagross could help, I don't know.

Yeah I was considering Pert, I might try him and see how it goes =]

 

[Malevolent Mismagius]

I use an alternate spread when I use lead Metagross.

204 HP/80 Atk/224 Def
Adamant

Also consider Tpunch/EQ>>Explosion depending on whether or not you want it to function late game (I find with the above ev spread it becomes a good check to TTar/Gyara late game so I like to keep it around). Use tpunch if gyara gives you trouble or EQ if meta gives you problems. Everything else is handled by MM.

I honestly believe that new mixmence is better than old mixmence. It just has more options. I consider roost a waste, it gives you more survivability but mence is pretty frail anyway.

EDIT: old mixmence is better for your tar weak.

Just a few thoughts.

 

[Pokedra]

I use an alternate spread when I use lead Metagross.

204 HP/80 Atk/224 Def
Adamant

Also consider Tpunch/EQ>>Explosion depending on whether or not you want it to function late game (I find with the above ev spread it becomes a good check to TTar/Gyara late game so I like to keep it around). Use tpunch if gyara gives you trouble or EQ if meta gives you problems. Everything else is handled by MM.

I honestly believe that new mixmence is better than old mixmence. It just has more options. I consider roost a waste, it gives you more survivability but mence is pretty frail anyway.

Just a few thoughts.

That Metagross spreads look pretty good, I'll give it a shot =)

Nah, I'll keep Explosion. Gyarados is handled by Vappy anyways.

I use Old over New since I don't like being locked in Outrage. I feel that MixMence is used for the ability to use his wide movepool, Outrage locking me in just screwes him if something can come in and take advantage of Mence rampaging.

Roost isn't a waste, you just have to find the right moment to use it.

 

[Sebastien Loeb]

This team I see a lot it in difficulty against Jolly-DDTar, perhaps it would be opportune to change the moveset of Jirachi in a ScarfChi Revenge-Killer.

 

[Dark Azelf]

Im not really sold on that meta ev spread (aka the 204 hp / 224 def one)

| Tyranitar | Move | Earthquake | 43.0 |
| Tyranitar | Move | Dragon Dance | 33.9 |

| Gyarados | Move | Earthquake | 41.7 |
| Gyarados | Move | Dragon Dance | 89.1 |

Jolly Tyranitar +1 LO EQ on your Meta spread : 83.81% - 98.58%. Even if it uses Bibari Berry, you still lose.

Adamant Gyarados +1 LO EQ on your Meta spread : 87.22% - 102.84% (Not that this is of concern thanks to him having vappy, but yeah)

CB Tyranitars Crunch can also do up to 50% to the same Meta spread which means with SR up it has a good chance to 2hko and you can switch in on CB Tar once (outspeeds and hits you twice on the next switch in), which is not good for a team THIS Tar weak. Since it gets pretty much free switch ins on Jira and tran each time.

Vaporeon likes the extra HP >> SP.DEF, helps with Gyarados more.

New Mixmence is also a poor stall breaker, just that you HAVE to outrage to beat blissey gives forry, skarm etc a free switch ins to lay more spikes down. ~_~

Flash Cannon >> Psychic on Jirachi, helps with Tar and so you arent utterly Pursuit bait. :/

Standard Blissey walls you pretty badly. Nothing bar Meta can do anything to it and if it has T-Wave/Flamethrower/S-Toss/S-Boiled...yeah.

Machamp would solve both the Tar and Bliss problems...but its hard to suggest what to replace tbh. Gengar would prolly be the most easily replaced, but eh.

This team would also benefit from Toxic Spikes imo, helps both Tran and Jira sweep better but thats up to you.

Just some general thoughts here.

 

[Syaoran]

Metagross seems like the weakest link in the bunch. Sure it's a great lead, but it doesn't fit the team so much. I agree with D_A about Toxic Spikes really helping you out here, so I suggest using Nidoqueen as your lead. It can set up SR, Toxic Spikes, maybe even both - depends on you. If you don't like that, then just use Swampert as your lead for a more reliable TTar counter.

 

[Pokedra]

This team I see a lot it in difficulty against Jolly-DDTar, perhaps it would be opportune to change the moveset of Jirachi in a ScarfChi Revenge-Killer.

Yeah I do have some problems =(

Im not really sold on that meta ev spread (aka the 204 hp / 224 def one)



Jolly Tyranitar +1 LO EQ on your Meta spread : 83.81% - 98.58%. Even if it uses Bibari Berry, you still lose.

Adamant Gyarados +1 LO EQ on your Meta spread : 87.22% - 102.84% (Not that this is of concern thanks to him having vappy, but yeah)

CB Tyranitars Crunch can also do up to 50% to the same Meta spread which means with SR up it has a good chance to 2hko and you can switch in on CB Tar once (outspeeds and hits you twice on the next switch in), which is not good for a team THIS Tar weak. Since it gets pretty much free switch ins on Jira and tran each time.

Vaporeon likes the extra HP >> SP.DEF, helps with Gyarados more.

New Mixmence is also a poor stall breaker, just that you HAVE to outrage to beat blissey gives forry, skarm etc a free switch ins to lay more spikes down. ~_~

Flash Cannon >> Psychic on Jirachi, helps with Tar and so you arent utterly Pursuit bait. :/

Standard Blissey walls you pretty badly. Nothing bar Meta can do anything to it and if it has T-Wave/Flamethrower/S-Toss/S-Boiled...yeah.

Machamp would solve both the Tar and Bliss problems...but its hard to suggest what to replace tbh. Gengar would prolly be the most easily replaced, but eh.

This team would also benefit from Toxic Spikes imo, helps both Tran and Jira sweep better but thats up to you.

Just some general thoughts here.

Hmm...nah I like the SpD EV's, it allows him to narrowly escape some KO's from special attacks and Gyarados usually run when I bring Vappy in anyway :P

Sure I'll use Flash Cannon over Psychic, the only thing it's been useful for is Ape really :/

I don't really think Champ would work that well in the team and Gengar has Levitate which makes covering Metagross/Tran/Jirachi's Ground weak easier.

TSpikes would help, hmm...would Roserade work over Metagross?

Metagross seems like the weakest link in the bunch. Sure it's a great lead, but it doesn't fit the team so much. I agree with D_A about Toxic Spikes really helping you out here, so I suggest using Nidoqueen as your lead. It can set up SR, Toxic Spikes, maybe even both - depends on you. If you don't like that, then just use Swampert as your lead for a more reliable TTar counter.

Nidoqueen works but I'm also considering Roserade or yeah I could just use Swampy. I'll give it a few tests and see what I like ;D

 

[Dark Azelf]

Hmm...nah I like the SpD EV's, it allows him to narrowly escape some KO's from special attacks and Gyarados usually run when I bring Vappy in anyway :P

Like ?

I don't really think Champ would work that well in the team and Gengar has Levitate which makes covering Metagross/Tran/Jirachi's Ground weak easier.

You have mence though lol and its not like Machamp adds another ground weakness, soo~ And that rock resist and the ability to absorb status is nice. Heck if you dont wanna use suck rest talk slap a CB on the guy with guts, it can still check tar decently. It can also lure in the Rotoms (heat especially) and help Jirachi sweep.

Or a better idea, USE.BRELOOM! He isnt ground weak (resists it) and can do a number of sets and fill niches in your team. Mach Punch also wasted DDTar and Poison Heal helps with your Bliss weak.



TSpikes would help, hmm...would Roserade work over Metagross?

How does this help with your Tar and Blissey problem ?

Oh and btw you overshot the damage calc of Bullet Punch vs 0 hp/0 def standard DDTar, you said it does "50-55%", when it does 46% max.

And about vappy;

+ 1 LO Stone Edge/EQ vs Max hp/max def vappy : 47.84% - 56.47% (2HKO with leftovers 25.44% of the time)

+ 1 LO Stone Edge/EQ Vs 188 hp / 252 def bold vappy : 49.55% - 58.48% (2HKO 64.76% of the time with leftovers. :/)

Conclusion, vappy needs max/max to counter Gyarados.

 

[Malevolent Mismagius]

Im not really sold on that meta ev spread (aka the 204 hp / 224 def one)

Jolly Tyranitar +1 LO EQ on your Meta spread : 83.81% - 98.58%. Even if it uses Bibari Berry, you still lose.

Adamant Gyarados +1 LO EQ on your Meta spread : 87.22% - 102.84% (Not that this is of concern thanks to him having vappy, but yeah)

CB Tyranitars Crunch can also do up to 50% to the same Meta spread which means with SR up it has a good chance to 2hko and you can switch in on CB Tar once (outspeeds and hits you twice on the next switch in), which is not good for a team THIS Tar weak. Since it gets pretty much free switch ins on Jira and tran each time.

With lefties crunch is never a 2HKO (the last time I checked anyway). Meteor Mash+Bullet punch is always a KO too (last time I checked again). Meaning you switch in, they crunch, you mm while they crunch, you bp for the ko. It never failed me but maybe I should do those damage calcs again just to be sure.

Thunderpunch is mainly for gyara who switch into you, believing they can wall you, but yeah, EQ is generally a better option as meta/jirachi leads are far more popular, and as you pointed out he does have vappy.

 

[Malicious Metang]

Okay, this team seems to focus on special offense moreso than physical offense, which isn't bad, however, you seem to have forgotten the number one threat to all special attackers: Blissey. Currently, nothing bar Metagross can beat Blissey 1 vs. 1, which is bad considering Thunder Wave really ruins this team bar Vaporeon. There are quite a few suggestions I can see being put into place, but in doing so, you'll have to actually take this advice and not ignore it like you have done for the past few. I'm saying this to be blunt, not to be offensive.

First of all, remove Will O Wisp on Gengar. I can understand you think it's cool and that because D_A's used it to success that you can too, but honestly, it's not doing anything for this team in the slightest. Nobody switches Tyranitar into Gengar unless it's Scarfed, in which case you're pretty much screwed either way. I don't understand why you'd want to burn a Tyranitar when you can just OHKO it with Focus Blast. Change WoW to either Protect or (more preferably) Explosion. A Life Orb Gengar needs to be doing damage, not burning threats and still getting pretty much OHKOed by even -2 Attacks. Take 40 EVs from Special Attack (and some from Speed if you want to just outpace Infernape, you have an imperfect Speed IV anyway) and add them to Attack. This'll ensure an OHKO on Blissey, removing a big threat to this team and giving it a lot more wiggle room.

Substitute Gengar absolutely rips a hole into this team, with nothing being able to outspeed it barring Scarftran (who eats a Focus Blast with a Substitute up. No Pursuit user means you will have a hard time...doing anything to it, and little is stopping it from coming back again, and again, and again. The worst part of this is that Tyranitar and Gengar actually have excellent synergy together, meaning they can likely be on the same team which doubles the pain for you, as Tyranitar can Pursuit things like Jirachi making it unable to stop Gengar at all. To sort of remedy this problem, Flash Cannon > Psychic on Jirachi will let you win 1 vs. 1 against most Tyranitar, and lets you beat Latias who is another massive problem this team seems to have.

Remove the 68 Special Defense EVs on Vaporeon and add them to HP. D_A already provided enough reasoning. I don't see what Vaporeon is accomplishing other than making you completely unable to stop CM Latias from killing you, but whatever floats your boat. This lets you actually beat Gyarados and Infernape (although it's not always guaranteed).

If you want an even more TTar-resiliant team, then a Swampert over Metagross would work wonders, as it provides an Electric resistence and a way to comfortably stop Specs Jolteon (as of now, it 2HKOs this entire team and is only outrun by Scarftran). You can play the "bait a HP Grass and go to Heatran" if you like. Roar always helps a ton with things lie Baton Pass chains, and generally Swampert does better against Tyranitar than Metagross can. Beware though, as Latias becomes an even bigger problem =(...

...Which is why you should run Dragon Pulse > HP Ice. It still hits Salamence and Dragonite hard enough, and it will actually hit Kingdra for super effective damage (DD Kingdra really does a number on this team currently).

To sum it up...

*Explosion > WoW on Gengar
*Flash Cannon > Psychic on Jirachi
*HP EVs > SpD EVs on Vaporeon
*Swampert > Metagross
*Dragon Pulse > HP Ice

Oh yeah, I know it's not really important, but why do you bother with Introductions and Conclusions? If you're going to make one, at least give us something to read =(

 

[Pokedra]

Okay, this team seems to focus on special offense moreso than physical offense, which isn't bad, however, you seem to have forgotten the number one threat to all special attackers: Blissey. Currently, nothing bar Metagross can beat Blissey 1 vs. 1, which is bad considering Thunder Wave really ruins this team bar Vaporeon. There are quite a few suggestions I can see being put into place, but in doing so, you'll have to actually take this advice and not ignore it like you have done for the past few. I'm saying this to be blunt, not to be offensive.

I haven't ignored the past few, the last post was an argument against DA and I thought I answered to DAs post but I must've forgot Dx

First of all, remove Will O Wisp on Gengar. I can understand you think it's cool and that because D_A's used it to success that you can too, but honestly, it's not doing anything for this team in the slightest. Nobody switches Tyranitar into Gengar unless it's Scarfed, in which case you're pretty much screwed either way. I don't understand why you'd want to burn a Tyranitar when you can just OHKO it with Focus Blast. Change WoW to either Protect or (more preferably) Explosion. A Life Orb Gengar needs to be doing damage, not burning threats and still getting pretty much OHKOed by even -2 Attacks. Take 40 EVs from Special Attack (and some from Speed if you want to just outpace Infernape, you have an imperfect Speed IV anyway) and add them to Attack. This'll ensure an OHKO on Blissey, removing a big threat to this team and giving it a lot more wiggle room.

Yeah I did that =)

Substitute Gengar absolutely rips a hole into this team, with nothing being able to outspeed it barring Scarftran (who eats a Focus Blast with a Substitute up. No Pursuit user means you will have a hard time...doing anything to it, and little is stopping it from coming back again, and again, and again. The worst part of this is that Tyranitar and Gengar actually have excellent synergy together, meaning they can likely be on the same team which doubles the pain for you, as Tyranitar can Pursuit things like Jirachi making it unable to stop Gengar at all. To sort of remedy this problem, Flash Cannon > Psychic on Jirachi will let you win 1 vs. 1 against most Tyranitar, and lets you beat Latias who is another massive problem this team seems to have.

k.

Remove the 68 Special Defense EVs on Vaporeon and add them to HP. D_A already provided enough reasoning. I don't see what Vaporeon is accomplishing other than making you completely unable to stop CM Latias from killing you, but whatever floats your boat. This lets you actually beat Gyarados and Infernape (although it's not always guaranteed).

I thought I did that earlier but it turns out I forgot =(

If you want an even more TTar-resiliant team, then a Swampert over Metagross would work wonders, as it provides an Electric resistence and a way to comfortably stop Specs Jolteon (as of now, it 2HKOs this entire team and is only outrun by Scarftran). You can play the "bait a HP Grass and go to Heatran" if you like. Roar always helps a ton with things lie Baton Pass chains, and generally Swampert does better against Tyranitar than Metagross can. Beware though, as Latias becomes an even bigger problem =(...

I usually try blow up on Latias with ScarfTran to get rid of her but it's a shaky answer =(

...Which is why you should run Dragon Pulse > HP Ice. It still hits Salamence and Dragonite hard enough, and it will actually hit Kingdra for super effective damage (DD Kingdra really does a number on this team currently).

To sum it up...

*Explosion > WoW on Gengar
*Flash Cannon > Psychic on Jirachi
*HP EVs > SpD EVs on Vaporeon
*Swampert > Metagross
*Dragon Pulse > HP Ice

Oh yeah, I know it's not really important, but why do you bother with Introductions and Conclusions? If you're going to make one, at least give us something to read =(

Anyways I made the changes. Thanks =D