The Team
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The idea for this came from my love of SDVictreebel. I had used it with moderate success in the past, but I wanted to build a team around it that allowed for it to have a successful sweep. This entails ensured Stealth Rock being down and taking out any Pokemon that may hinder its sweep. This team is far from defensive. It's meant to hit hard and hit fast, much like the rest of the metagame. This is far from stall. It's had what I consider a great amount of success on the Smogon ladder (I'd say around a 50-15 record so far). It's not perfect though and that's why I want your input.
The idea for this came from my love of SDVictreebel. I had used it with moderate success in the past, but I wanted to build a team around it that allowed for it to have a successful sweep. This entails ensured Stealth Rock being down and taking out any Pokemon that may hinder its sweep. This team is far from defensive. It's meant to hit hard and hit fast, much like the rest of the metagame. This is far from stall. It's had what I consider a great amount of success on the Smogon ladder (I'd say around a 50-15 record so far). It's not perfect though and that's why I want your input.
The Pokemon Themselves
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Pinsir (M) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Mold Breaker
EVs: 252 Atk/6 Def/252 Speed
Adamant nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- X-Scissor
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- Stealth Rock
An surprisingly effective set and lead. I was looking for an out of ordinary Stealth Rock user and Pinsir jumped off the page. As Dark_Azelf pointed out, my team lacked Speed. Most of the Pokemon that plagued me were faster and could hit my team hard. Scarfing Pinsir allows me to get off a fast Stealth Rock and to revenge them with X-Scissor. Bug+Ground+Rock has excellent coverages and hits a great deal for neutral damage. And Stealth Rock is still here to allow Victreebel to get its KOs without worrying about Focus Sash ruining the day.
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Magneton @ Life Orb
Ability: Magnet Pull
EVs: 72 HP/186 Spd/252 SAtk
Modest nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Metal Sound
- Magnet Rise
Like its evolution, Magneton's main purpose here to clear out Steel-types for my sweepers who are unable to (specifically Victreebel). It outruns all Steel-types in UU and uses Magnet Rise before they can annihilate Magneton with Earthquake. Then I blast away with either Thunderbolt or HP Fire. Aggron could cause a few problems, but Victreebel can 2HKO Aggron with a +2 Leaf Blade if it comes down to it. Metal Sound has allowed me to take on Chansey 1 on 1 at the end of a match. If you have a better move to go in its place, I'm open to suggestions though. If anyone's spot is up for debate, it's Magneton's.
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Victreebel (F) @ Life Orb
Ability: Chlorophyll
EVs: 252 Atk/6 Def/252 Spd
Adamant nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Leaf Blade
- Sucker Punch
- Sleep Powder
- Swords Dance
The star of my team and in my opinion, one of the best late-to-mid-game sweepers in the game. First I switch it in on set-up fodder like Chansey or Claydol. They usually will switch to a counter, so I let Sleep Powder fly. If it hits, I get a free turn to Swords Dance. If I don't, I hope I'm still faster and try Sleep Powder again. If it misses again, that usually spells the end of Victreebel. But if it does hit, that usually spells the end of the match for my opponent. With a Swords Dance under its belt, Victreebel has the ability to 2HKO physical behemoths like Steelix with Leaf Blade. Pokemon who resist Grass-types can be a problem, especially the more defensive variants. Victreebel can still 2HKO Pokemon like Blaziken and Toxicroak with Leaf Blade. Pokemon like Shaymin and Vileplume are the problem. Sucker Punch makes up for its less-than-stellar Speed and managed to get quite a few KOs itself.
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Golduck (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Cloud Nine
EVs: 6 HP/252 Spd/252 SAtk
Modest nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Surf
- Ice Beam
- Hidden Power [Grass] / Psychic
- Calm Mind
I originally had Phione in this slot. At first it did alright, but as I used this team more, Phione managed to disappoint me time and time again. So, I went to the wise sage Azelf and asked for his opinion. After numerous suggestions of Poliwrath (which I declined), he brought up CMduck. I had had previous success with the blue duck, so I decided to give it a try. After one Calm Mind, Golduck does respectable damage. If I can get two in, I may be open to a sweep. Currently, I'm running Hidden Power [Grass] to hit Water-types for super effective damage. However, I'm considering Psychic in its place. After a CM or two, Psychic will still do the damage needed to take out Water-types, but will also let me hit Toxicroak. HP [Grass] allows me to be more of an immediate threat to them though, so I'll probably just stick to it in the end.
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Hitmontop (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Technician
EVs: 240 HP/252 Atk/16 Spd
Adamant nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Mach Punch
- Fake Out
- Close Combat
- Sucker Punch / Bullet Punch
The famous Technitop. This set can do damage to any non-Ghost-type Pokemon. Fake Out + Mach Punch alone KO many frail Pokemon before they even manage to get in an attack. If a frail, fast sweeper comes into take out Magneton, Camerupt, or Victreebel, Hitmontop can usually switch in and take them out. Close Combat gives me that huge power boost when the lower power of priority moves isn't cutting it. The Defense drop is a pain, but a simple switch takes care of that. I've been running Sucker Punch in that last slot, but unlike Victreebel, it hasn't been that effective. Most Ghost-types don't outright attack Hitmontop at first. They'll usually throw out a status move instead and incapacitate him. Bullet Punch won't do much damage either, especially to Rotom, but it would allow me to finish off weakened Ghosts.
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Camerupt (F) @ Choice Band
Ability: Solid Rock
EVs: 252 HP/252 Atk/6 SAtk
Brave nature (+Atk, -Spd)
- Earthquake
- Overheat
- Stone Edge
- Sleep Talk
This has been a surprisingly effective set. For starters, most people expect a Special-based Ground-type move from Camerupt. So in comes their Honchkrow or Altaria, who proceed to hit a Stone Edge to the face. It's immunity to Thunder Wave and Will-o-Wisp helps protect my other sweepers from a debilitating status. Overheat is here because it lacks a Physical Fire-type move. Its inclusion is the reasoning for the Brave nature, allowing it to hit with more power and lowering its already painfully low Speed. Sleep Talk allows me to absorb Sleep Powder / Hypnosis, which really hindered my team before. I was originally going to go with Rock Polish MixRupt as Vance suggested, but I already had three Pokemon that required set up on my team. I wanted Camerupt to hit hard immediately while being able to switch in on attacks it resists and survive, hence the Choice item instead of Life Orb.
Threats
"image removed" Roserade- She's been the bane of this team from the first time I've faced one. Nothing on my team resists its common combination of Grass Type Move + Hidden Power Fire. I also have nothing that can effectively take a Sleep Powder. I usually can eventually take it out, but not without my team taking a great deal of damage. I'm considering ScarfKrow or changing my Camerupt to a Sleep Talk variation.*pokemonelite2000 image removed* Honchkrow- This broken bird has caused me quite a few problems as well. It will usually switch in on Pinsir to smack it around with Drill Peck. I then switch to Magneton to absorb the hit. This is usually followed by a Superpower if I see Life Orb recoil. If not, it usually means Magneton is safe and I can set up a Magnet Rise. However, if I see a Superpower coming, I know that Pinsir can absorb it like a champ. From that point on, it's all about prediction. Honchkrow can usually take out at least one of my Pokemon though before it goes down.
*pokemonelite2000 image removed* Shaymin- Variants with Seed Flare / Air Slash / Earth Power absolutely massacre me. Almost everyone is Shaymin weak though since its very broken in UU so there's not much I can do to solve this. Usually I just have to outpredict it and try to wear it down from LO recoil. If I get it low enough, I might be able to take it out with a Fake Out+Mach Punch from Hitmontop.
"image removed" Nidoking- It's versatility and unpredictability make it a huge threat. Not knowing what its running means I take a huge risk with every prediction. Golduck is in the same Speed Tier as it, so I can hope that I at least get a Speed Tie with it and KO it with Surf. Otherwise, it has the ability to take out my whole team.
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