Week 5
In week 5 I brought shuckle. I credit this team to Innisfree2, who brought it to some ladder games, and I straight up stole it. I didn’t know the EVs so I just went for standard stuff, and it worked fine. The idea here is to setup spikes and stall for half or three quarters of the match, and then win with shuckle. Hopefully by this time you have stalled out the opponents' phasers.
Note that shuckle has such high base defences, that some critical hits which bypass the boosts may not KO it from full. Your opponent could need two of them in a row if you manage your HP correctly. Also remember that the chance of two happening is reduced when your evasion is increased. So this can be a very crit proof mon if you position it well.
Shuckle @ Leftovers
Ability: Gluttony
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Impish Nature
- Acupressure
- Rest
- Rollout
- Sleep Talk
I also brought zap cannon on forretress. This is a very hard set to pilot so it’s not recommended for beginners, but if you bear in mind that only half your zap cannons will hit and never rely on just one hitting, then it can be a good move to use. Just remember to plan well in advance before you click it, in case the opponent can capitalise eventually on the miss.
Forretress @ Shed Shell
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 252 HP / 112 Atk / 144 Def
Impish Nature
- Spikes
- Rapid Spin
- Zap Cannon
- Earthquake
In the second team I brought head smash, seed bomb donphan, double edge gyarados, and metronome jirachi. The first two are sets already in use by the community, but not documented anywhere permanent. The last is my own creation.
Donphan @ Leftovers
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 248 HP / 96 Atk / 56 Def / 12 SpD / 96 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Rapid Spin
- Earthquake
- Head Smash
- Seed Bomb
Gyarados @ Leftovers
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 88 HP / 208 Atk / 8 Def / 8 SpD / 196 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Waterfall
- Thunder Wave
- Double-Edge
- Dragon Dance
Jirachi
@ Metronome
Ability: Serene Grace
EVs: 232 HP / 128 Atk / 148 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Iron Head
- Cosmic Power
- Rest
- Snore
The idea behind jirachi is that you boost up with cosmic, but then you need healing since there are no leftovers, so you use rest. Snore is preferable over ST because you know what it will do, and on a fast rachi is has the chance to skip the sleep turn by flinching the opponent.
Metronome slowly increases the power of consecutive iron heads. It can be compared to iron plate or metal coat; however, I believe that that linearly increasing damage is more desirable, because opponents will calculate the power of the first hit only to be surprised, or think they are getting unlucky with the later hits. In practice I think this works better. Also, the ceiling is higher if it comes to that.