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My last team was completely offensive and it turns out that I REALLY like the offensive style of play. Not only do I like it, but I'm pretty good at it to. A lot better then with stall teams or balanced teams. So let's take a look at a glance:
Key Points
- 5 Resistances to Toxic Spikes and 1 that benefits from them
- 2 Resistances to Spikes (this causes me problems if they get 3 layers up)
- 1 weakness to Stealth Rock
As you can see there are a few similarities to my other team. The biggest problem I had with my old team was the inability to absorb status. I've fixed that with this team so continue on for a closer look and an explanation of my team.
Breloom @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Poison Heal
4 HP | 252 Atk | 252 Spe
Jolly nature (+Spe, -SpA)
- Spore
- Stone Edge
- Superpower
- Seed Bomb
When I came up with this lead I was looking for something that could counter the most common leads that I've seen: Heatran, Infernape, and Metagross. At first I was thinking that I would use a Gyarados but I knew that I wanted to use him as my late game sweeper. So then I was pretty muched stumped but I thought to myself "Why not just put them to sleep??" Then I knew that I wanted to be able to put them so sleep immediately and my options were either Breloom or Smeargle. Smeargle was instantly out because there wasn't really much he can do in the mid to late game so I went with Breloom and wow what a great choice that was. Not only does scarf Breloom sleep pretty much every lead out there but he is a massive threat in the late game. Breloom outspeeds Gyarados after a DD and OHKO's all but the bulkiest with Stone Edge. Seed Bomb hits any Poke hard that doesn't resist it and scares LeadPert away. Superpower is my secondary STAB move and hits normals, steels, and darks. It doesn't end there though lol. Breloom can switch in to Toxic and then has a nice chuckle at my opponent and thanks him for helping out. Once Breloom has switched into a Toxic it gets healed up nicely and acts as a status absorber which is always nice.
Fire goes to Heatran, Latias, Gyarados
Ice goes to Heatran, Scizor, Magnezone
Poison goes to Heatran, Scizor, Magnezone
Flying goes to Magnezone, Heatran
Psychic goes to Heatran, Latias, Scizor, Magnezone
Heatran @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Flash Fire
4 HP| 252 SpA | 252 Spe
Timid nature (+Spe, -Atk)
- Stealth Rock
- Fire Blast
- Earth Power
- Hidden Power [Ice]
With Breloom being scarfed I knew that I needed something that could scout the switch in. I was orginally going with a Scarfed Flygon. I would U-turn out and switch to a counter for whatever they brought in. The only problem is that I didn't have anybody to set up Stealth Rock so I decided to run Heatran in this spot instead. Heatran scares away so many threats that it isn't even funny. It also resists every single on of Breloom's weaknesses so he makes a great switch in. Heatran forces a lot of switches so he's a great candidate to set up Stealth Rock. Once he has set up Stealth Rock he acts as a standard Scarftran for the rest of the game. Hidden Power Ice takes down Mence which is something I had problems with on my old team.
Water goes to Latias, Gyarados, Breloom
Fighting goes to Latias, Gyarados
Ground goes to Latias, Gyarados, Breloom
Magnezone @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Magnet Pull
EVs: 6 HP/252 Spd/252 SAtk
Timid nature (+Spe, -Atk)
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Flash Cannon
- Explosion
Putting a Choice Scarf on Magnezone solves the Speed issues that it has; with a Choice Scarf and the given EVs, Magnezone reaches a 360 Speed. This isn't exactly the best, but it allows me to outspeed all steel pokemon not holding a choice scarf which then lets me take them down with either STAB Thunderbolt (which does a lot working off of a 359 attack stat) or HP Fire. Magnezone is my main switch in to Scizor. Zone takes all of Scizors attacks with ease and OHKOs all but the bulkiest Scizors with HP Fire. Zone also covers Gyara's Electric weakness and it can take Dark, Ghost, and Bug attacks that are aimed at Latias.
Fire goes to Heatran, Latias, Gyarados
Fighting goes to Latias, Gyarados
Ground goes to Latias, Gyarados, Breloom
Scizor @ Choice Band
Ability: Technician
246 HP | 252 Atk | 12 Spe
Adamant nature (+Atk, -SpA)
- Bullet Punch
- U-turn
- Superpower
- Pursuit
Pretty much just a standard CB set. Scizor is just such a great pokemon. Once I have eliminated the opposing Zapdos / Magnezone / Rotom, scizor can plow through a team with bullet punch alone. Scizor makes a great check to Mamoswine, Weavile and Metagross. The move that really makes this set is U-turn. I almost always U-turn out as soon as I switch Scizor in so I can scout for potential counters and bring in a counter for their counter. Bullet Punch is thhe move that made Scizor such as beast and is the main reason for everybody using him. Technician + STAB + Priority is godly. Bullet Punch is the main move I use and has won me many battles with Bullet Punch alone. Once things have been significantly weakened in the late game Scizor can sweep with Bullet Punch. Scizor adds some much needed power in priority. Scizors U-turn allows me to keep myself in control of the battle, while wearing down Scizors counter on the switch. Scizor is also one of my switch in for Thunder-Waves. He doesnt mind being paralyzed and then functions as a status absorber once Paralyzed.
Fire goes to Heatran, Latias, Gyarados
Latias @ Life Orb
Ability: Levitate
156 HP | 252 SpA | 100 Spe
Modest nature (+SpA, -Atk)
- Draco Meteor
- Surf
- Roost
- Psycho Shift
Latias combos well with Gyarados, beating most of its counters as well as resisting the main type of attack used to defeat it. Latias acts as my status absorber. With Psycho Shift she can continuously switch in to status moves and Psycho Shift them back to the opponent. If she takes any damage in the process then she Roosts the damage away. Latias is also useful because it is a great bulky water counter (Vaporeon’s Ice Beam doesn’t 2HKO), Infernape counter, Magnezone counter. She's just a great switch-in to a lot of special attacking threats in general and really helps my team out a lot. The bulk of Latias is really nice and the ability to outstall teams is nice as well especially since she can hit so hard with Surf and Draco Meteor. Draco Meteor hits insanely hard with 350 SpA.
Ice goes to Heatran, Scizor, Magnezone
Bug goes to Heatran, Scizor, Magnezone, Gyarados
Ghost goes to Scizor, Magnezone, Heatran
Dragon goes to Scizor, Magnezone, Heatran
Dark goes to Scizor, Magnezone, Heatran, Breloom
Gyarados @ Leftovers
Ability: Intimidate
74 HP | 252 Atk | 184 Spe
Adamant nature (+Atk, -SpA)
- Dragon Dance
- Waterfall
- Stone Edge
- Bounce
This is your standard Life Orb Gyarados. I opted to run Lefties instead of Life Orb because in testing, Life Orb didnt push many 2HKO's into OHKO's so the extra recovery is welcome and allows me to say in the game longer. Once Gyara gets a DD it's pretty much game over. He just absolutely rips through teams. Bounce is a great move to abuse. It allows me to gain lefties recovery on weakened foes and is a secondary STAB move. Here are a few damage calcs for bounce:
Bold 252 HP / 220 Def Celebi: 81.68-96.53%
Timid 136 HP / 156 Def Starmie: 72.54-85.76%
Max Attack here is fairly obvious and is to deal as much damage as possible. 184 Speed EVs allow me to outspeed base 115s after a DD, notably Starmie. The rest is thrown into HP for extra survivability. Gyarados deals massive damage to most pokemon. Many teams have to rely on a Scarfer to take down Gyara which allows me to chip away at counters and switch ins. Often times Gyarados takes down entire teams for me.
Electric goes to Latias, Magnezone, Breloom
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Linear Mode
