Bulky Offense team that needs help

[Pharaoh]

This team peaked at a meagre 1280 and while I'm still using it, It needs help and I don't want it to drop too much.

Team Building Process:

I wanted to build a bulky offense team around Machamp, and so I needed Machamp

I saw Rotom and Starmie as massive threats to machamp as well as gengar. so I decided to use Scizor and Tyranitar for Pursuiting them.

Slowbro was another logical pokemon to wall fires that like to kill scizor, and it has an overall wonderful bulk that made it attractive. it also uses thunder wave since my team is extremely slow(even timid starmie outspeeds my entire team). It's amazing with its bulk

I needed a steel trapper, just for Skarmory and it also helps against Lucario and Scizor and Heatran, so it's all good. Heatran always fucking survives its thunderbolt with 1% health though.

I wanted a lead to put it all together, and I went with an unorthodox Azelf since I didn't want stealth rock too much. and Azelf has been MVP too many times, it's just silly.


In Depth:

Azelf @ Life Orb
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 4 HP/252 Spd/252 SAtk
Modest nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Grass Knot
- Psychic
- Flamethrower
- Thunderbolt

Strategy:

This Azelf starts the game on a high. It can beat a lot of leads, and then a huge amount of pokemon, It does have trouble against Heatran and faster leads though.

Psychic is useful STAB and great for Machamp who thinks I will SR or Infernape.
Grass Knot is great for Swampert and Hippowdon and Tyranitar, catching them off guard.
Flamethrower is wonderful for Scizor and Metagross and such, and it gives decent neutral coverage
Thunderbolt is wonderful for unsuspecting Gyarados and a lot of bulky waters that get dented/OHKOed by it.

Top 20 leads of July

Azelf: Usually I Flamethrower twice(to keep thunderbolt as an element of surprise), but I have trouble against the uncommon but lethal Choice Band sets
Machamp: Psychic OHKOes it while it thinks I will SR first.
Aerodactyl: Thunderbolt 2hkoes it.
Metagross: Flamethrower, and I hope he has no Occa. Sometimes I think I should switch to slowbro against it, but I fear Explosion killing my main wall
Swampert: Grass Knot is unexpected and AWESOME here.
Jirachi: I flamethrower, and if it tricks me its scarf, I have a revenge killer I can use lategame
Infernape: I psychic and it usually fake outs/SRs, it still kills me, but I can revenge it with Scizor. Slowbro can be switched to, but I fear U-Turn.
Roserade: A threat definitely, I psychic it while it sleeps me, if it misses I kill it, if not I switch to Scizor to revenge kill it, hoping I don't meet a HP Fire. if it retreats from Scizor, Tyranitar's Sandstream kills it later.
Heatran: The biggest bitch, I think I can use HP Ground just for this, but no move is too expendable honestly.
Ninjask: I just keep Flamethrowering it, and what comes in I react accordingly.
Hippowdon: Grass Knot... nuff said
Tyranitar: see above
Starmie: Thunderbolt takes it by surprise.
Uxie: Another asshole, I switch to Magnezone, if it Stealth Rocks I thunderbolt. but hopefully it uses Trick to be walled by my Magnezone.
Dragonite: Switch to Slowbro.
Smeargle: Psychic it, when it spores, I switch to TTar/Scizor so Sandstream/Bullet Punch kill it.
Bronzong: Flamethrower, it hurts it bad.
Crobat: I've never seen one, but I guess Psychic would be enough... Sash could be useless if it taunts me.
Gliscor: Psychic it.
Also Ambipom is a huge (BAN ME PLEASE) to battle. any suggestions?

Azelf beasting

Rules: Ladder Match, Sleep Clause, Freeze Clause, OHKO Clause, Evasion Clause, Species Clause, Strict Damage Clause
Pharaoh sent out Azelf (lvl 100 Azelf).
SpartasFinest sent out Machamp (lvl 100 Machamp ?).
Azelf used Psychic.
It's super effective!
Machamp lost 100% of its health.
SpartasFinest's Machamp fainted.
Azelf lost 10% of its health.

SpartasFinest switched in Gyarados (lvl 100 Gyarados ?).
Gyarados's Intimidate cut Azelf's attack!
Azelf used Thunderbolt.
It's super effective!
Gyarados lost 100% of its health.
SpartasFinest's Gyarados fainted.
Azelf lost 10% of its health.

SpartasFinest switched in Swampert (lvl 100 Swampert ?).
Azelf used Grass Knot.
It's super effective!
Swampert lost 94% of its health.
Azelf lost 10% of its health.
Swampert used Ice Punch.
Azelf lost 29% of its health.
Swampert's leftovers restored its health a little!
Swampert restored 6% of its health.

SpartasFinest has left the room.
Pharaoh wins!

Magnezone @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Magnet Pull
EVs: 24 HP/232 Spd/252 SAtk
Naive nature (+Spd, -SDef)
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Signal Beam
- Explosion

Strategy:

Magnezone is in the team primarily to beat Skarmory, but it beats other Steels as well. I went with scarf magnezone for some decent revenge killing prowess.

Thunderbolt: It kills Skarmory and does the most damage to Lucario and Heatran and it's great STAB for bulky waters too.
Hidden Power: For Scizor and Forry
Signal Beam: Mostly filler but I figure it can kill Celebi.
Explosion: To go out with a bang. and fuck Blissey over.


Testing: Shuca Stealth Rock Heatran

Slowbro (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Own Tempo
EVs: 252 HP/100 Def/58 SAtk/100 SDef
Bold nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Slack Off
- Surf
- Ice Beam
- Thunder Wave

Strategy:

Slowbro is my wall, killing threats like Heatran and Non crunch SDLuke like a pro. The EV spread attempts to give it bulk and some firepower. I could use another one though. This slowbro is also wonderful against DD Gyarados, and can Thunder Wave it, making it easy for anything to pick off, in fact it just won me a battle earlier.

Moves:

Slack Off: for bulk and healing, wonderful move and it gives Slowbro a lot more time to wall shit.
Surf: STAB and it gives Heatran some good damage, and also beats things like Infernape as long as it lacks grass knot
Ice beam: Dragonite just got owned, also does halfway decent damage to Gyarados, Celebi and Shaymin.
Thunder Wave: Paralyzing the common speedy threats and giving my very slow team a great advantage.

Tyranitar (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 214 HP/252 Atk/44 Spd
Adamant nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Stone Edge
- Pursuit
- Crunch
- Earthquake

Strategy:

Tyranitar is here to pursuit Rotom-A and Starmie. It can dent a lot of shit as well, but I'm not entirely happy with it and it's changeable.

Moves:
Stone Edge: Great STAB and hurts a lot of shit, especially Zapdos.
Pursuit: Great for Rotom-A and Starmie
Crunch: For when I predict they'll stay in. and it's also reliable High Power STAB. Defense drop can be good sometimes too.
Earthquake: Great for Heatran and Lucario switch ins. and it's pretty good coverage with Stone Edge.


Testing: Scarf Roserade

Scizor (M) @ Choice Band
Ability: Technician
EVs: 248 HP/252 Atk/8 Spd
Adamant nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- U-turn
- Superpower
- Pursuit
- Bullet Punch

Strategy:

A standard CB Scizor, Great for scouting and pursuiting stuff. also my revenge killer.

Moves:

U-turn: Scouting purposes and hurts the switch in pretty badly.
Superpower: Other Scizor and predicted Heatran switch ins get hammered by this.
Pursuit: For Pursuiting Starmie and Gengar. It also helps against weakened celebis and slowbros too.
Bullet Punch: Revenge Killing and amazing damage thanks to Technician. Great STAB priority.

Machamp (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: No Guard
EVs: 248 HP/252 Atk/8 Spd
Adamant nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Dynamicpunch
- Substitute
- Ice Punch
- Stone Edge

Strategy:

Machamp, The star of the team, and He's incredible. He has great bulk and awesome power, when paired with Dynamic Punch and confusion, damage really adds up. Sub is to reduce need for prediciton.

Moves:

Dynamicpunch: For great STAB and the awesome confusion. great for raw damage.
Substitute: Reduces need for prediction and blocks status.
Ice Punch: Beats Dragonite and Gliscor well.
Stone Edge: Great Damage on flyers such as Gyarados and Zapdos, and Starmie gets dented well by it as well.


Want changed:

Tyranitar
Natures and EVs all around

Tops:

Azelf
Slowbro
Machamp


Flop:

Tyranitar



Thank you for rating my team, I hope you liked it and please, any constructive criticism is welcome.

 

[Davy Jones]

First off, if this is focused on a Machamp sweep, you would really benefit from using Heatran. Machamp with No Guard absolutely hates being burned or hit with Toxic. Heatran gets a boost from Will-o-wisp with Flash Fire and is immune to Toxic. Heatran also has great synergy with Scizor, since Scizor attracts Fire-type attacks for Heatran to switch in on. I'd recommend Heatran instead of Magnezone, which doesn't seem to be doing much for your team. Heatran can take care of Skarmory just as well. Use this set:

Heatran (M) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 Spd/252 SAtk/4 SDef
Naive nature (+Spd, -SDef)
- Fire Blast / Flamethrower
- Earth Power
- Explosion
- Dragon Pulse


Also, Slowbro doesn't seem to be all that helpful. I'd recommend replacing it with Rotom-A, which has much better typing and provides a much better check to Lucario since it can switch in for free on Close Combat or Extremespeed. It can also check Dragon Dance Gyarados more effectively and helps with your team's weakness to Fighting-type attacks. If you still want to retain a Water-type attack, use this set:

Rotom-w @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP/168 Def/88 Spd
Bold nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Discharge
- Will-o-wisp
- Hydro Pump
- Shadow Ball / Light Screen


Finally, I think you should change your Tyranitar to Choice Band Tyranitar. It can 2HKO Skarmory with Stone Edge and can take down Rotom-A and Celebi with Pursuit, both of whom can inflict status upon Machamp. Here's the Choice Band Tyranitar set:

Tyranitar (M) @ Choice Band
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 160 HP/252 Atk/96 Spd
Adamant nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Stone Edge
- Crunch
- Pursuit
- Aqua Tail / Earthquake

 

[Pharaoh]

I'll try Heatran though I'm skeptical, since Magnezone traps Skarmory to kill it, so you saying it kills skarmory just as well is absolutely false. But I'll still try it

Also, Slowbro is one of my most influential and important members, I WILL test it, but I highly doubt Rotom will be able to do its job. as Dragonite with 1 DD will rape the entire team unopposed that way.

CB Tyranitar? not so much, due to the fact that it allows shit to set up and 1 CB user is enough. Either I change TTar altogether or it gets an item that doesn't make it a burden on the team.

 

[Smith]

Hey I got your message.

I'm going to agree that you should use Heatran over Magnezone here. If Magnezone's sole purpose is Skarmory, those of whom with shed shells he doesn't even kill, then why dedicate a team slot to an otherwise mediocre Pokemon? Heatran just works better.

I'd also run Scarftar over your current set, it will give him a purpose now that you're aren't running magnezone as your scarfer.

I can't believe I didn't notice you don't have Stealth Rock. Um, what? Run an azelf set with it, try colbur or focus sash.

That's all I got, hope it helps.

 

[Pharaoh]

I'll try the suggestions but about Azelf, the main reason I'm using it is to use a set that puts me in a very good position 9/10 of the time, and it has cause ragequits(see log in Azelf's set). If I do run a SR lead I will probably use something else.

I do agree with Scarftar but I'm scared it can let things like SDLuke set up on it. Heatran is pretty good, and though I've never met Shed Shell Skarmory, I'll try it.

 

[Davy Jones]

The reason you're weak to DD Dragonite is because you don't have Stealth Rock. With your Slowbro spread, you won't OHKO standard DDNite, which will 2HKO you if it runs Outrage. However, you can win if it uses Dragon Claw instead of Outrage. Your other check to DDNite is Scizor, which can 2HKO with Bullet Punch only after Stealth Rock unless your opponent is using an offensive variant, which can still survive a Bullet Punch and OHKO with Fire Punch. With Stealth Rock, however, your Slowbro can take an Outrage and OHKO in return with Ice Beam. It still can't switch in safely, so be aware of that.

If you use ScarfTar, you can go with the Lead Heatran set so you can keep your Azelf and still have Stealth Rock.

Heatran (M) @ Shuca Berry
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 Spd/252 SAtk/4 SDef
Naive nature (+Spd, -SDef)
- Fire Blast
- Earth Power
- Explosion
- Stealth Rock

 

[Pharaoh]

DO you mean that I should put Azelf as a lead and add that heatran? or should Heatran be a lead?

 

[doominic77]

I suggest replacing your Slowbro with a Trick Room Dusknoir to keep with your bulky slow thing. If you use Dusknoir over Slowbro your team can sweep.

Also I agree that you should use Heatran replace Tyranitar with him.

 

[BlazeMurder]

Hello,

I think you have a nice bulky team here, but it could use a bit of work. Slowbro is not a good fit for this team. Slowbro allows your opponent to take advantage of you. You should replace him with Bulky Gyarados or Chesto Rest Kingdra. Bulky Gyarados allows you to switch in take a couple of hits, set up and possible sweep, where as Kingdra comes in set up, rest off a couple of hits and then sweeps. With either poke you have good synergy, but the only problem with Gyarados is that you will need a rapid spinner.

I like your Azelf lead. I see how it benefits your team into getting a good start, but if you tweak the moveset on it a little it could work in your favor. You should try this set out and see how it works:

Azelf @life Orb
Timid (speed purposes)
4hp/252SpAtk/252Spe
Flamethrower
Psychic
Shadow Ball
Grass knot

Basically what I did was replace Thunderbolt with Shadow ball, because with Shadow ball it will do the same amount of damage to Starmie while allowing you to hit Uxie and opposing Azelfs. I switched the nature to Timid so you can outspeed Starmie and other leads.

 

[KidX]

Hello!

I'm glad that someone else has found out what a powerful anti lead zelf is (i thought I was the only one) The only suggestion is to try fire blast over flamethrower for more power, but thats not much of a problem.

On to the actual team, since you are building a team around Machamp, you need entry hazards, which help machamp sweep, I would suggest a shucca berry heatran over t-tar to setup the ever important SR, also if you change to heatran, it can do magnezone's job as well, so you can free up a slot for I don't know a scarf roserade with: Sleep Powder | Toxic Spikes | Leaf Storm | Hidden Power [Fire] or any other hp. Roserade will help you get up t-spikes and helps gain kills on certain pokes, especially with sub champ.

You could also switch out slowbro for suicune or vappy, but its up to you

Good Luck!

 

[Pharaoh]

Hmm I'll try those suggestions, I'll test Shuca Tran and Roserade. Roserade can also revenge kill which I need for my team, So I'll see how it pans out.

As for the Shadow Ball on Azelf, the Problem with that is that it makes my azelf walled by heatran. so I'd rather be able to hurt it while killing gyarados and starmie and being able to damage vaporeon more powerfully.