so after all the things going on in gen 5 that are just generally annoying, i decided to take a trip back to gen 4. i think after all my experience from gen 5 battling i actually got better at the gen 4 scene.
here's a look at my team as a whole
so thats what they'd look like if they were going to gang up on you all at once, but let's take a closer look and see what they do 1 on 1.
In-Depth look:
Azelf @ focus sash
levitate
4 hp 252 sp atk 252 spd
timid
-taunt
-stealth rock
-fire blast
-psychic
one of the more reliable leads in the game. i dont choose explosion as i feel its become too predictable and with those two attacks i chose any ghost can try to come in and get smacked by psychic, namely gengar for the ohko and rotom-a will take a big chunk as well depending on the set. 40 ish if defensive, 60-70 if scarf or specs. any steel that wants to come in can take a lot of damage from fire blast, list scizor forretress skarm or metagross are the more common ones that will be punished. heatran and tyranitar both wall this but equally as much as they would if i had explosion so im fine with it. blissey will probably never switch into azelf being able to assume i have explosion.
main threats at the lead spot are:
metagross- usually carries occa berry as a lead so fire blast wont ohko. if i choose to taunt i could take a meteor mash to my sash but then i always switch to scizor or swampert right after for the bullet punch. if i set up rocks first move i could take a meteor mash and then on a predicted switch he could put up his rocks as i switch.
tyranitar- i just put up my rocks and die. no matter the set im not too threatened by it. if it goes first as it pursuits i obviously know its scarfed and can go to scizor to u-turn whatever he switches too.
heatran- cant attack it really. i always taunt first turn and if i take a fire blast instead, so be it. heatran has no priority and i'll get my rocks up and he wont.
infernape- i always choose psychic the first move. if it uses fake out i switch to starmie after for the fire blast. if it doesnt then we probably both go to our sashes and i go back to starmie again for the mach punch. scarf leads are a problem because ill choose psychic and hit sometihng with psychic that i dont want to
aerodactyl- faster and can taunt. psychic 2hko's but so does its own crunch or rockslide. genereally just psyhic for the 2hko as most will taunt then put up rocks.
Starmie @ life-orb
Natural cure
4 hp 252 sp atk 252 spd
timid
-hydro pump
-thunderbolt
-ice beam
-recover
hydro pump for the extra power mainly when its neutral. ohko's scizor so long as its not in sand or running some weird ev's. the sets self explanitory but i replaced rapid spin with recover recently because i found azelf does his job extremely well and recover is much more useful in the last spot to keep starmie healthy. scarfed flygon's u-turn does about 59% and if im in a position where i can take that and recover off the damage i will and they'll send something in perhaps they dont want to. only thing left to say about this is, blissey is a bitch, but not so much so with recover. also when i find out if it has t wave or toxic its easier to deal with as i can freely switch to swampert or scizor with relative impunity.
Swampert @ choice band
Torrent
252 hp 252 atk 4 spd
adamant
-waterfall
-earthquake
-stone edge
-avalanche
every team i make i like to take a couple steps out of the ordinary standard stuff and this is one of mine. this can take a lot of things off guard. a lot of things will normally expect a utility swampert and taunt or even try to set up on my if they think i cant do much to them but can then be ohkod shortly after finding theyre wrong. one of the most annoying things though is when skamory is in 2hko range with waterfall and its able to roost off the damage instead of dieing to the second hit after switching in (it does about 35-45%). idk if it'd be worth it to lose the extra bulk in order to outspeed skamory but tell me what you think about that. the 4 speed i already have is to get the jump on utilityperts and smack em with earthquake. the most unfortunate things about this guy is that he's total breloom fodder and i have nothing with lum berry/sleep talk or immune to sleep.
Forretress @ leftovers
sturdy
252 hp 112 atk 144 def
bold
-spikes
-rapid spin
-earthquake
-explosion
recently completely replaced scizor with this. both the band and swords dance variants were the weakest parts of my team and when starmie got rapin spin replaced by recover i still wanted a reliable spinner to have if someones midgame pokes start putting hazards up or ive faced an aerodactyl lead. spikes are also something this team needed really softening up threats like jolteon and raikou for staraptors return to ohko. heatran was a huge threat to scizor anyway and a predicted earthquake will do away with that problem just as superpower did before. explosion is obvious and i find its better in the midgame after azelf has possibly lured a ghost with the threat of its explosion and it's been taken care of. overall i feel this is a more reliable dragon counter and defensive force than scizor sort of was when he was on the team. gonna test this out for a while and see how it goes
Infernape @ life-orb
blaze
64 atk 252 sp atk 192 spd
naive
-fire blast
-close combat
-hp electric
-grass knot
my one wall breaker that is a real bitch to stall. can't be will o wisped, ohko's blissey, skarmory, forretress, gyarados, swampert and many more. suicune dies to the combination of switching into rocks/fire blast and then grass knot as does slowbro. tentacruel does wall unfortunately but has no recovery and swampy will take him out. i know standard mixape usually carries hp ice but here's why i nixed that. dragonite can't ohko swampert after a dragon dance and stone edge or avalanche will. infernape with hp ice cant revenge dragonite but i realize prevents it from setting up at all. flygon is almost always choice scarfed and i cant stay in and take an earthquake will trying to hp ice. also i found gyarados ALWAYS tried to switch into me and my only hope used to be for starmie to survive something and kill it or swampert to hopefully actually hit with stone edge and not flinch. instead i now prevent gyardos from setting up at all and actually bait him in pretty well. gliscor isnt really a threat to the team at all and take A LOT from fire blast.
Staraptor @ choice scarf
intimidate
4 hp 252 atk 252 spd
adamant
-brave bird
-return
-close combat
-u-turn
my favorite pokemon in the game =D ! choice scarf staraptor is an excellent scarf pokemon. flying is resisted by rock and steel, which close combat is for. electric resists as well but jolteon electivire raikou and zapdos take a big chunk from return. u-turn is great for scouting once again and can make a lot of things switch between its great coverage, speed, and intimidate. main threats to this are defensive zapdos, rotom-a who entirely utterly walls, and any steel/psychic.
so i'm open to any and all advice, thanks a lot in advance!
here's a look at my team as a whole
so thats what they'd look like if they were going to gang up on you all at once, but let's take a closer look and see what they do 1 on 1.
In-Depth look:
Azelf @ focus sash
levitate
4 hp 252 sp atk 252 spd
timid
-taunt
-stealth rock
-fire blast
-psychic
one of the more reliable leads in the game. i dont choose explosion as i feel its become too predictable and with those two attacks i chose any ghost can try to come in and get smacked by psychic, namely gengar for the ohko and rotom-a will take a big chunk as well depending on the set. 40 ish if defensive, 60-70 if scarf or specs. any steel that wants to come in can take a lot of damage from fire blast, list scizor forretress skarm or metagross are the more common ones that will be punished. heatran and tyranitar both wall this but equally as much as they would if i had explosion so im fine with it. blissey will probably never switch into azelf being able to assume i have explosion.
main threats at the lead spot are:
metagross- usually carries occa berry as a lead so fire blast wont ohko. if i choose to taunt i could take a meteor mash to my sash but then i always switch to scizor or swampert right after for the bullet punch. if i set up rocks first move i could take a meteor mash and then on a predicted switch he could put up his rocks as i switch.
tyranitar- i just put up my rocks and die. no matter the set im not too threatened by it. if it goes first as it pursuits i obviously know its scarfed and can go to scizor to u-turn whatever he switches too.
heatran- cant attack it really. i always taunt first turn and if i take a fire blast instead, so be it. heatran has no priority and i'll get my rocks up and he wont.
infernape- i always choose psychic the first move. if it uses fake out i switch to starmie after for the fire blast. if it doesnt then we probably both go to our sashes and i go back to starmie again for the mach punch. scarf leads are a problem because ill choose psychic and hit sometihng with psychic that i dont want to
aerodactyl- faster and can taunt. psychic 2hko's but so does its own crunch or rockslide. genereally just psyhic for the 2hko as most will taunt then put up rocks.
Starmie @ life-orb
Natural cure
4 hp 252 sp atk 252 spd
timid
-hydro pump
-thunderbolt
-ice beam
-recover
hydro pump for the extra power mainly when its neutral. ohko's scizor so long as its not in sand or running some weird ev's. the sets self explanitory but i replaced rapid spin with recover recently because i found azelf does his job extremely well and recover is much more useful in the last spot to keep starmie healthy. scarfed flygon's u-turn does about 59% and if im in a position where i can take that and recover off the damage i will and they'll send something in perhaps they dont want to. only thing left to say about this is, blissey is a bitch, but not so much so with recover. also when i find out if it has t wave or toxic its easier to deal with as i can freely switch to swampert or scizor with relative impunity.
Swampert @ choice band
Torrent
252 hp 252 atk 4 spd
adamant
-waterfall
-earthquake
-stone edge
-avalanche
every team i make i like to take a couple steps out of the ordinary standard stuff and this is one of mine. this can take a lot of things off guard. a lot of things will normally expect a utility swampert and taunt or even try to set up on my if they think i cant do much to them but can then be ohkod shortly after finding theyre wrong. one of the most annoying things though is when skamory is in 2hko range with waterfall and its able to roost off the damage instead of dieing to the second hit after switching in (it does about 35-45%). idk if it'd be worth it to lose the extra bulk in order to outspeed skamory but tell me what you think about that. the 4 speed i already have is to get the jump on utilityperts and smack em with earthquake. the most unfortunate things about this guy is that he's total breloom fodder and i have nothing with lum berry/sleep talk or immune to sleep.
Forretress @ leftovers
sturdy
252 hp 112 atk 144 def
bold
-spikes
-rapid spin
-earthquake
-explosion
recently completely replaced scizor with this. both the band and swords dance variants were the weakest parts of my team and when starmie got rapin spin replaced by recover i still wanted a reliable spinner to have if someones midgame pokes start putting hazards up or ive faced an aerodactyl lead. spikes are also something this team needed really softening up threats like jolteon and raikou for staraptors return to ohko. heatran was a huge threat to scizor anyway and a predicted earthquake will do away with that problem just as superpower did before. explosion is obvious and i find its better in the midgame after azelf has possibly lured a ghost with the threat of its explosion and it's been taken care of. overall i feel this is a more reliable dragon counter and defensive force than scizor sort of was when he was on the team. gonna test this out for a while and see how it goes
Infernape @ life-orb
blaze
64 atk 252 sp atk 192 spd
naive
-fire blast
-close combat
-hp electric
-grass knot
my one wall breaker that is a real bitch to stall. can't be will o wisped, ohko's blissey, skarmory, forretress, gyarados, swampert and many more. suicune dies to the combination of switching into rocks/fire blast and then grass knot as does slowbro. tentacruel does wall unfortunately but has no recovery and swampy will take him out. i know standard mixape usually carries hp ice but here's why i nixed that. dragonite can't ohko swampert after a dragon dance and stone edge or avalanche will. infernape with hp ice cant revenge dragonite but i realize prevents it from setting up at all. flygon is almost always choice scarfed and i cant stay in and take an earthquake will trying to hp ice. also i found gyarados ALWAYS tried to switch into me and my only hope used to be for starmie to survive something and kill it or swampert to hopefully actually hit with stone edge and not flinch. instead i now prevent gyardos from setting up at all and actually bait him in pretty well. gliscor isnt really a threat to the team at all and take A LOT from fire blast.
Staraptor @ choice scarf
intimidate
4 hp 252 atk 252 spd
adamant
-brave bird
-return
-close combat
-u-turn
my favorite pokemon in the game =D ! choice scarf staraptor is an excellent scarf pokemon. flying is resisted by rock and steel, which close combat is for. electric resists as well but jolteon electivire raikou and zapdos take a big chunk from return. u-turn is great for scouting once again and can make a lot of things switch between its great coverage, speed, and intimidate. main threats to this are defensive zapdos, rotom-a who entirely utterly walls, and any steel/psychic.
so i'm open to any and all advice, thanks a lot in advance!
