Hey there guys, LockedBeast Here.
First of all, I will start this off by making a little introduction. It might seem as though I am pretty new in Smogon, but this is a misconception. In fact, I have been here since early 2014, with different alts of course lol.
Now then, after this unnecessary yet very constructive introduction, let's discuss the main idea behind this team.
Team building Process:
I wanted to build a really solid team with Hatterene, because I love Hatterenes hidden ability magic bounce. Plus, after playing many games in the ladder and in tournaments, I figured that hatterene can be very deadly for a lot of teams to face. This idea also came to mind because Clefable started getting popularity and outshining each and every other fairy type as such. Thus, I decided on the calm mind set, which is really good at breaking bulkier teams that do not have a lot of offensive presence. The coverage Hatterene has is very good, so good in fact that there is currently no mon that can resist all of its moves. Psychic is a fantastic spamable stab move that can dent things such as Toxapex. Draining kiss might be less powerful than dazzling gleam, but I sincerely prefer using it over dazzling gleam, due to the huge amount of health you recover with each hit. Lastly, mystical fire lets Hatterene hit the steel types its double stab can not hit super effectively.
Next, I decided to form a dragon + fairy + steel core. I had some dragons to choose from, but finally I ended up adding Kommo-o. I used the physically defensive set with it, because it gave the team a lot of insurance against most of the physical threats of the metagame. Body press is an incredible stab for this mon, as it takes full advantage of Kommo-os great defensive capabilities to do damage. Earthquake was the coverage move of choice, making it easier for the rest of the team to deal with Aegislash. Stealth rock is a mandatory move which every team should have, and like this team is no exception there you go. Finally, I had some doubts as to what the last move should be, but after thinking about it for a while, I decided to use taunt, which is helpful because it stops hazards or status effects this team did not want to deal with.
To finish the dragon + fairy + steel core, I wanted something that could be fast, could hit somewhat hard and could have momentum if possible. With all these requirements I had in mind, I settled on choice scarf Jirachi. With the choice scarf, Jirachi is faster than most of the metagame without taking into account other choice scarfers such as Dragapult. Furthermore, Jirachis star move, trick, lets it cripple a pokemon in the opposing side, Gaining leftovers recovery in exchange most of the time. Iron head is Jirachis best stab move, having a 60% chance to flinch every turn thanks to its ability serene grace. Fire punch is a nice coverage move, letting it hit the steel types that it would not be able to hit otherwise. Last but not least, u-turn gives Jirachi momentum and a nice spamable move.
After building the first half of the team, I noticed some things that could be added, the first of those being hazard removal. Mandibuzz was the remover of choice, giving the team a safe special Dragapult switch in and a good counter measure to physical threats that could set up such as Excadrill. The item of choice, heavy-duty-boots, lets Mandibuzz come in on hazards without taking damage (this is specially good because it is weak to stealth rocks, getting rid of 25% of its health each time it enters the field). Foul play is the move with which these aforementioned physical threats are dealt with, plus it is a nice stab for Mandibuzz. U-turn as the second move gives Mandibuzz a form of momentum that can be disastrous in tandem with Jirachi. Roost is the best and only recovery move Mandibuzz gets and it is mandatory on a defogger that might want to remove hazards several times throughout the game. Lastly, the most important move, defog. It is used to remove hazards on both sides of the field. It might seem counter intuitive to remove you own hazards, but most of the time it will be more beneficial for the user of the team not to have hazards in any of the sides rather than in both.
As you may have noticed, these four mons that I already have in the team are quite fat, but most of them do not have reliable recovery. So the next step was to add a cleric for the team, and what better cleric to use than the almighty Clefable? So yes, this team is another "Clefable team" as some of you might say. However, this Clefable is a little bit different, as I am not taking advantage of the wish + teleport strategy that is so popular right now. Instead, this Clefable is here to offer healing to its partners, while also healing their status effects if need be. The spread is the standard one, as my team had a lot of problems dealing withh Kyurem. Moonblast is the main stab, and the best fairy move. Wish + protect to heal itself or its partners, and, last but not least, aromatherapy.
For the last slot of the team, I wanted something that could sponge hits, especially water type moves, for which I did not have a resistance bar Kommo-o. Rotom-Heat was also a pokemon that gave this team a lot of issues. So, after considering it, I decided to use Gastrodon. This Gastrodon is a special one, as it can act as a sponge, but also as a deadly heavy hitter thanks to mirror coat. Scald is the most spamable water type move . Clear smog helps this team deal with set up sweepers that can give problems such as Reuniclus. Mirror coat is a nice move that lets Gastrodon take a special hit and hit the opposing mon back with the double of the damage they have dealt. Last but not least, recover is the best way Gastrodon has to recover itself.
Notable threats:
-Sun teams are a big issue for this team to deal with. Venusaur can take on the whole team while it can also outspeed scarf Jirachi even if it is modest.
-Mimikyu: This threat did not even cross my mind until I started laddering with this team. If Mimikyu sets up a swords dance successfully, none of the mons in the team can stop it. The only way this team has to deal with it is busting its disguise previously and then foul playing it with Mandibuzz.
-Feel free to point out more threats that i have not mentioned here.
Conclusion
I hope you all like this team, as it is one of my most successful teams in this current metagame! Feel free to comment your opinions down below, and suggest any changes if you have any! :D
Importable of the team
https://pokepast.es/395d705d1094d507
First of all, I will start this off by making a little introduction. It might seem as though I am pretty new in Smogon, but this is a misconception. In fact, I have been here since early 2014, with different alts of course lol.
Now then, after this unnecessary yet very constructive introduction, let's discuss the main idea behind this team.
Team building Process:
I wanted to build a really solid team with Hatterene, because I love Hatterenes hidden ability magic bounce. Plus, after playing many games in the ladder and in tournaments, I figured that hatterene can be very deadly for a lot of teams to face. This idea also came to mind because Clefable started getting popularity and outshining each and every other fairy type as such. Thus, I decided on the calm mind set, which is really good at breaking bulkier teams that do not have a lot of offensive presence. The coverage Hatterene has is very good, so good in fact that there is currently no mon that can resist all of its moves. Psychic is a fantastic spamable stab move that can dent things such as Toxapex. Draining kiss might be less powerful than dazzling gleam, but I sincerely prefer using it over dazzling gleam, due to the huge amount of health you recover with each hit. Lastly, mystical fire lets Hatterene hit the steel types its double stab can not hit super effectively.
Next, I decided to form a dragon + fairy + steel core. I had some dragons to choose from, but finally I ended up adding Kommo-o. I used the physically defensive set with it, because it gave the team a lot of insurance against most of the physical threats of the metagame. Body press is an incredible stab for this mon, as it takes full advantage of Kommo-os great defensive capabilities to do damage. Earthquake was the coverage move of choice, making it easier for the rest of the team to deal with Aegislash. Stealth rock is a mandatory move which every team should have, and like this team is no exception there you go. Finally, I had some doubts as to what the last move should be, but after thinking about it for a while, I decided to use taunt, which is helpful because it stops hazards or status effects this team did not want to deal with.
To finish the dragon + fairy + steel core, I wanted something that could be fast, could hit somewhat hard and could have momentum if possible. With all these requirements I had in mind, I settled on choice scarf Jirachi. With the choice scarf, Jirachi is faster than most of the metagame without taking into account other choice scarfers such as Dragapult. Furthermore, Jirachis star move, trick, lets it cripple a pokemon in the opposing side, Gaining leftovers recovery in exchange most of the time. Iron head is Jirachis best stab move, having a 60% chance to flinch every turn thanks to its ability serene grace. Fire punch is a nice coverage move, letting it hit the steel types that it would not be able to hit otherwise. Last but not least, u-turn gives Jirachi momentum and a nice spamable move.
After building the first half of the team, I noticed some things that could be added, the first of those being hazard removal. Mandibuzz was the remover of choice, giving the team a safe special Dragapult switch in and a good counter measure to physical threats that could set up such as Excadrill. The item of choice, heavy-duty-boots, lets Mandibuzz come in on hazards without taking damage (this is specially good because it is weak to stealth rocks, getting rid of 25% of its health each time it enters the field). Foul play is the move with which these aforementioned physical threats are dealt with, plus it is a nice stab for Mandibuzz. U-turn as the second move gives Mandibuzz a form of momentum that can be disastrous in tandem with Jirachi. Roost is the best and only recovery move Mandibuzz gets and it is mandatory on a defogger that might want to remove hazards several times throughout the game. Lastly, the most important move, defog. It is used to remove hazards on both sides of the field. It might seem counter intuitive to remove you own hazards, but most of the time it will be more beneficial for the user of the team not to have hazards in any of the sides rather than in both.
As you may have noticed, these four mons that I already have in the team are quite fat, but most of them do not have reliable recovery. So the next step was to add a cleric for the team, and what better cleric to use than the almighty Clefable? So yes, this team is another "Clefable team" as some of you might say. However, this Clefable is a little bit different, as I am not taking advantage of the wish + teleport strategy that is so popular right now. Instead, this Clefable is here to offer healing to its partners, while also healing their status effects if need be. The spread is the standard one, as my team had a lot of problems dealing withh Kyurem. Moonblast is the main stab, and the best fairy move. Wish + protect to heal itself or its partners, and, last but not least, aromatherapy.
For the last slot of the team, I wanted something that could sponge hits, especially water type moves, for which I did not have a resistance bar Kommo-o. Rotom-Heat was also a pokemon that gave this team a lot of issues. So, after considering it, I decided to use Gastrodon. This Gastrodon is a special one, as it can act as a sponge, but also as a deadly heavy hitter thanks to mirror coat. Scald is the most spamable water type move . Clear smog helps this team deal with set up sweepers that can give problems such as Reuniclus. Mirror coat is a nice move that lets Gastrodon take a special hit and hit the opposing mon back with the double of the damage they have dealt. Last but not least, recover is the best way Gastrodon has to recover itself.
Notable threats:
-Sun teams are a big issue for this team to deal with. Venusaur can take on the whole team while it can also outspeed scarf Jirachi even if it is modest.
-Mimikyu: This threat did not even cross my mind until I started laddering with this team. If Mimikyu sets up a swords dance successfully, none of the mons in the team can stop it. The only way this team has to deal with it is busting its disguise previously and then foul playing it with Mandibuzz.
-Feel free to point out more threats that i have not mentioned here.
Conclusion
I hope you all like this team, as it is one of my most successful teams in this current metagame! Feel free to comment your opinions down below, and suggest any changes if you have any! :D
Importable of the team
https://pokepast.es/395d705d1094d507
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