Thadeous Oakley
Guest
Before we start let me introduce myself. My name is Thadeous Oakley, I am relatively new here and mostly lurk around. I have been playing since late 4th gen on a variety of servers and programs.
Now since a week or so I have been venturing into the 5th era. This is my first decent 5th gen team, and my very first RMT. I'm pretty happy with it, but don't let it stop you from tearing this apart if you think its bad. Constructive criticism is appreciated .
Right. With that mind, let's start:
The Team at hand.
Playstyle
The overall purpose of this team is to stall, set-up when given the chance and trying to force as many switches as possible. This achieved by a combination of Sandstorm, Stealth Rocks and Toxic Spikes, together with two niche Pokemon who are not easily countered with support from 3 walls and one special revenger.
Pokemon
Hippowdon @ Leftovers
Sandstream
252 HP / 252 Def / 4 Att
Impish Nature (+ Def / - SpA)
-Earthquake
-Stealth Rock
-Yawn
-Slackoff
The lead and a psychical wall. Is the slowest weather inducer in the game, practically guarantees Sandstorm on switch-in. Main job is to set up rocks and sponge hits. EQ provides strong STAB while Yawn forces switches. Slackoff for recovery, all in all no surprises here.
I'm pretty happy with it. I had a Tyranitar in it's place before, but I wanted more of a wall. I'm thinking about changing it in a SpD version but I'm not sure it fits in the team. Right now it absolutely walls any attacks, but dies horribly to special offense, like an ice beam or a surf. Jirachi provides an easy switch in though.
Drapion @ Leftovers
Battle Armor
252 HP / 124 Def / 132 Att
Jolly (+ Spe / - SpA)
Poison/Dark
-Toxic Spikes
-Fire Fang
-Crunch
-Sword Dance
One of the most important Poke's in my team. I wanted a reliable toxic spiker and this is what I found. In 4th gen, Drapion was a rare UU. In 5th gen, well, I'm probably the only using it one (which is part of it's success). Don't let this fool you, the Scorp has decent stats and an unique typing leaving it with only one weakness known as ground.
The idea is simple, switch into something it can handle, get 2 layers of spikes and try to set-up while my opponent desperately tries to find out what counters it. Seriously, on two separate occasions people tried to use Psychic against it. While smarter opponents will eventually KO it, Drapion almost always gets the job done - 2 layers of toxic spikes. After that, I either switch out, set-up or use it as death fodder depending on the situation. Sword Dance gives it decent power with 90 base Att. Fire Fang is to provide a nasty surprise for Nattorei and other steels while Crunch is a decent neutral STAB attack.
The EV's are a bit weird and open for change. I wanted to give it some bulk with a base defense of 90, plus some speed to get past a few poke's. It has a deceivingly (doesn't look fast on its design) base speed of 95. Keep in mind that the Toxic Spikes are a critical factor in my strategy, which is why the focus lies on getting them up rather then Drapion being an offensive powerhouse. I'm also thinking of using him as an optional alternate lead to Hippowdon.
Abagoora @ Leftovers
Solid Rock
252 HP / 252 SpDef / 4 Att
Careful Nature (+ SpDef / - SpA)
-Aqua Jet
-Stone Edge
-Crunch
-Curse
My only 5th gen Poke in the team, Abagoora hasn't quite made a splash in this generation seeing very limited usage. This does not reflect it's incredible walling abilities however. Having a base Attack of 108 and a whopping 133 Defense coupled with a very specific special spread to combat its lousy 65 SpDef makes him an incredible mixed tank. It's rare usage means counters are rare too.
To reach this goal, the EV's and nature maximizes it's Special Defense. Nothing special (no pun intended) yet but here is where it gets interesting:
Being a rock type (along with water) gives it a +1 SpDef boost in Sandstorm. Couple that with Solid Rock and Curse and you have a very powerful wall. It can quite easily take it's 2x weaknesses from Fighting, Ground and Electric having only one true 4x weakness in Grass and even that usually doesn't OHKO.
This means Abagoora often can get a Curse or 2 up, while the opponent is stumped by it's incredible defenses and sometimes forced to switch. The rest of the movepool is simple. Stone Edge for STAB and power, Aqua jet to bypass it's pathetic Speed by priority. Crunch is there for kicks, Abagoora sadly has quite a limited movepool. It's main weakness is a lack of recovery, repeated beatings will take it down having no options on it's own outside leftovers and chestorest. Status also hurts.
Jirachi @ Leftovers
Serene Grace
252 HP / 176 SpDef / 80 SpAtt
Sassy Nature (+ SpDef / - Spe)
-Doom Desire
-Protect
-Wish
-U-Turn
The special wall. This set isn't my own, though the EV spread is. Jirachi does two things and does it amazingly - Stall the hell out of the opponent and provide support for teammates. Of all the Pokemon on this team, Jirachi has the longest lifespan. Wish and Protect to stay healthy, while toxic and sandstorm shreds apart the opposing Poke. Doom Desire when the opportunity arises (which is very often) and U-turn for leaving with a bang.
All while eating ice beams, surfs, thunderbolts, and sometimes even flamethrowers. This set does die horribly to earthquake but can rely on two immune teammates.
One thing I'm not too fond of is that this is a mixed set. DD is special while U-turn is physical, which is why I'm running a Speed hindering nature. I also rarely see an opportunity to use U-turn and it doesn't very hard either. Would like a different move here, maybe thunderwave or a hiddenpower.
Gliscor @ Toxic Orb
Poison Heal
252 HP / 88 Att / 100 Def / 76 Spe
Adamant (+ Att / - SpA)
-Aerial Ace
-Toxic
-Earthquake
-Protect
The staple of so many teams finds its way on my team as well. Gliscor serves as psychical wall but also capable of dealing a lot of damage. It's also my check against two very prominent Poke's, Doryuuzu and Breloom. Aerial Ace and EQ provides strong STAB's while Protect is for stalling and healing. Toxic is rarely used when spikes are up but handy against certain levitators/flyers. He's a great partner to Jirachi.
The EV spread is my own, though I'm entirely sure if the speed investment is that important, though I do need to outspeed Breloom.
Latios @ Choice Specs
Levitate
252 SpAtt / 252 Spe
Timid (+ Spe / - Att)
-Draco Meteor
-HP Fighting
-Grass Knot
-Trick
I really needed something that was extremely powerful of the bat, especially against dragons. There are certain Pokemon in today's metagame that are just too strong to wall, poke's which need to be handled offensively. Being great at the act of revenge is also handy to regain that precious momentum after a loss. A trump card so to speak.
Here is Latios, forming the Special attacker revenge killer. Roobushin got a bit too much bulk-ups? In comes Latios. Yache Garchomp sweeping my team? Latios again. It basically counters every dragon not scarfed (which can be played around) as well as whole range of others. A Draco Meteor from a maxed out Choiced Spec Latios might as well be strongest attack in the current OU tier.
It's other moves include Grass knot and HP fighting, both of which I'm not too sure about, suggestions regarding these would be helpful. Trick is handy for messing with enemy walls, and gives Latios the opportunity for some late-game sweeping.
I had a Zapdos in it's place before, but it wasn't powerful enough, failing miserly against any dragon faster or caring Yache berry.
Final Comments
I'd say the overall team works well. I know, because I'm winning most of my matches with it so far :) Each Poke has their own role, be it laying down hazards, stalling, setting up or attacking. The general line, however, is stalling.
There is one more thing, and that's this team's weakness to ice, three poke's in total. Having said that, Jirachi eats Ice beams for breakfast, and Abagoora resists it.
That's everything I got to say for now.
Suggestions, comments, any remarks are welcome.
- Thadeous Oakley.
