Introduction
So, I've spent some time familiarizing myself with the ladder and team, trying out about 1/2 of the fully evolved Gen 1 population trying to best figure out the flaws with my team, and this is the result. Again, since it lacks the Big 4, psychics, or any sort of sustained gimmick (I use partial trapping only to bring teammates in, not as an agonizing sweeping mechanism) it's certainly not better than a standard OU team. But in my experience it does pretty well in such a centralized metagame, and is a lot more offensive, fast-paced and (to me at least) fun than the average Gen 1 OU team. It's a very offensive based team that requires a very aggressive play-style, with lots of switching, and that obviously can be taken advantage of by savvier players, but it's a nice feeling playing with a team that is entirely my own. I doubt I'll ever win a tournament with it, but it can put up a much better fight than the tiering would suggest. If you're putting in the effort to read all of this thank you! This team has taken a lot of tinkering but there's always room for improvement, so I'm all ears for any suggestions that don't radically alter the point of this team. I do intend to use this team in tournaments just to see but so far all my experience has been on the ladder (my rating has bounced around 1200-1300 with this team, though I often mess around with jokey teams that bring my rating down.) Although it may seem like it at first, this is not a haphazard collection of Pokemon I like and just threw together. Every move has been carefully considered in the context of the team, and lots of experimentation was used to get to this product.
The Team (All EVs/DVs are Maxed)
Has Good lead match-ups across the board, can be preserved as good revenge killer/status late game, Explodes when no longer useful.
Physically Bulky SD Sweeper, can decimate slower teams, and monster late game, especially if Tauros is neutralized. Synergizes very well with Zapdos, and its ability to beat Eggy Switch-ins makes it invaluable. Often loses to Tauros but paves the way for Zapdos.
Fast dual powder user, good switch-in/ revenge killer for bulky waters + RhyGol. Fast sleep, Good attack, and Body Slam spam makes it hard to truly counter, only check.
Probably has the most favorable 1v1 match-ups in the tier due to amazing special, good mixed attack, good speed (crit rate), and status ability along with good overall bulk. Unfortunately hard-countered by Rhy/Gol, but this team has several ways of eliminating them, and once that is a case can decimate entire other teams.
Decently fast fire type to switch into paralyzed sleep-leads that manage to sleep Electrode, Fire Spin is a great way to maintain momentum, while slash and Earthquake allow it to function as a decent mixed attacker. Probably the least-essential Pokemon, but has a role and usually pulls its weight. Has a good Tauros matchup.
Pretty much the only primarily defensive Pokemon, sponges Ice type attacks that this team is otherwise decimated by, powerful STAB blizzard hurts most things and makes it a great Tauros switch in. Clamp keeps up momentum, and can explode when no longer useful. Drawing in Electric types can be good to set-up Sandslash, and people foolish enough to switch-in Chansey will see it blown to smithereens.
The Homewreckers
Unabomber (Electrode)
Role: Paralyzing/Annoyer lead + Fast, Exploding Revenge Killer
- Thunder Wave
- Thunderbolt
- Explosion
- Flash
My previous team had a serious lead problem, where most matches I would essentially be playing 5 on 6. Electrode was my favorite solution to it. I love being able to guarantee paralysis against the other fast paralysis leads, as it ensures that even if the lead match up goes awry the Alakazam/Starmie won't simply rip through my team. I also prefer sleep mid-late game as a way to shut down a prominent threat. It can be infuriating against the likes of Jynx and Gengar, paralyzing them, then dropping their accuracy with Flash, essentially giving them 50% accuracy on all their moves. In addition, Thunderbolt is a great move in general, not super powerful coming off of Electrodes 80 special but with the high crit rate can do a great chunk of damage. Now obviously, those are all things that Jolteon does much better, but there is one thing that sets electrode apart: Explosion. If Electrode can survive unparalyzed, it makes a great revenge killing move. Additionally, if Chansey switches in to sponge my special attacks, exploding on it will at the very least allow any teammate barring Cloyster to revenge-kill it, and will KO with a crit. Now obviously most people will switch Rhydon/Golem as soon as they see Electrode. Allowing a free switch is never ideal, but Cloyster takes their attacks like a champ, and has Clamp to prevent Rhydon from effectively substituing and wrecking havoc. Again if preserved late game (and especially if the rock type is removed), a fast Thunderbolt and explosion are nice things to have. Overall I find Electrode, despite being somewhat outclassed by Jolteon, to be a vastly underrated lead in RBY and a great catalyst for this teams success. I like its role and moveset, Flash is probably the move I'm the most iffy on, so if someone knows of a better alternative to it I'd strongly consider it. Unabomber (Electrode)
Role: Paralyzing/Annoyer lead + Fast, Exploding Revenge Killer
- Thunder Wave
- Thunderbolt
- Explosion
- Flash
K. Dot (Sandslash)
Role: Late-game Swords Dance Sweeper + Moderately Bulky Electric Type Counter
- Swords Dance
- Earthquake
- Body Slam
- Hyper Beam
Important Weak Matchups (Counters, can switch in on boosted Slash and win):
1. Bulky Ice Types + Razor Leaf users : Cloyster, Articuno- Outspeed Sandslash and OHKO with Blizzard, even when paralyzed can survive a boosted attack and OHKO. Lapras is outsped but otherwise does the same thing. The rare Venusaur/ VIctreebell operate similarly. STAB Hydro Pump works similarly but is rare and inaccurate. Ultimately not the most common pokemon but if they are identified MUST be eliminated for Sandslash to function.
2. Fast Special Attackers: Starmie, Tauros, Dragonite outspeed and 2HKO with Blizzard/Surf (Starmie rarely runs Hydro Pump.) If paralyzed will lose to +2 Sandslash but not before dealing heavy damage, and of course win with a crit. The most common impediments due to their ubiquity.
Checks (Situation Dependent):
3. Fast sleepers: Gengar and Jynx both handily outspeed and can put Sandslash to sleep (Jynx will straight up KO with a blizzard.) They can be very threatening but are often played as leads, and as a result are paralyzed. In that case, a +2 Sandslash OHKOs both with Earthquake (Gengar is OHKOd without a boost.) Can be impediments but ultimately not especially common and often paralyzed.
4. Psychics: Alakazam can revenge kill Sandslash below 70%, though is OHKOd by +2 Earthquake, and loses more than 50% to unboosted. It should lose switching into a +2 Slash, but often crits through and wins. If paralyzed it is rarely a threat. Exeggutor resists Earthquake, and can either sleep or paralyze with powders, while also 2HKOing with Psychic (but not Mega Drain) and possibly exploding as a final resort. However, if switching into a +2 Sandslash is 2HKO'd by BS+Hyper Beam, and often either misses a powder or gets paralyzed. If sleep has already been used often only damages Sandslash while falling to it. Its tendency to take damage early game means it is often injured when switching in, in that case any Eggy under 60% is OHKO'd by Hyper Beam all the time.
5. MIscellanous Flying Type Attackers: Without Rock Slide, matchups against pokemon like Moltres, Charizard, and Paralyzed Articuno shift away from Sandslash's favor, while Zapdos goes to a pokemon that is hard countered by Sandslash to only being checked. Those weaker matchups can change a game, however exeggutor is more common in OU than all of those pokemon combined so it is the more important matchup. Strange pokemon like Sycther and Aerodactyl also end up with much less comfortable matchups, but they are generally very ineffective so it's not a big worry. An important thing to keep in mind is Super Effective Non-STAB Rock Slide (150 BP) = Regular Effective STAB Quake (150)= Non-Stab Hyper Beam (150 BP), and the same follows for a neutral RS and not effective Quake, so aside from maybe Parasect(?) Rock slide would only be for flying types.
NSFW (Victreebel)
Fast Status-inducer + Strong Special Attacker
- Razor Leaf
- Sleep Powder
- Stun Spore
- Body Slam
Sparky (Zapdos)
Strong Mixed Attacker / Special Tank + Paralysis Spreader
- Thunder Wave
- Thunder
- Drill Peck
- Light Screen
Coolmander (Charizard)
Fast Mixed Attacker/Pivot
- Fire Spin
- Fire Blast
- Earthquake
- Slash
Boisterous Oyster (Cloyster)
Physical Sponge, Blizzard Spammer, Exploder and Pivot
- Clamp
- Blizzard
- Explosion
- Toxic
Weaknesses
As I alluded to before, this team is far from perfect. Like any other team, it has some bad matchups, both in teambuilding and playstyle. I am going to lay out the biggest flaws with this team in the hopes that someone smarter than I am can help figure out ways to mitigate them as much possible. Just a quick note that obviously unbreakable setup mons can obviously pose a threat when set up. However, I feel this team has more answers to those than most, with powerful guaranteed crit attacks in Razor Leaf and Slash to break through Amnesia to KO and pressure Reflect Chansey respectively, not to mention a fast boom, partial trapping and boosting to pressure Rest. Tauros is always a threat, especially without one of your own, but Cloyster has among the best bull matchups in the game (barring weird T-Bolt), Charizard can revenge kill, Electrode can status or boom, and Bell can status and chunk away with Razor Leaf, not to mention its matchup with Zapdos probably leaning towards the Thunderbird. Because of all of that, I'd say this team is not abnormally weak to Tauros. It is something to be wary of, for sure, but the team has quite a few answers. Partial trapping can overwhelm any team, but recognizing trap teams early on and applying offensive pressure is effective.This team struggles against the rare, but viable Freeze team archetype. This is not due to any particular weakness to the condition per se (this team is not completely obliterated by a member being frozen, unlike some other unconventional teams) but simply due to its major weakness to Ice type attacks. 4/6 mons are weak to Ice, with only one resist, who is very vulnerable to T-bolt coverage on Ice attacking mons. This means, although revenge killing them is not ususally a huge deal, I cannot switch very much in to almost any ice type attacker. This is probably the most glaring weakness of the team, and if it could be alleviated in some way would drastically improve its viability. In particular, this team struggles with Lapras, as it is quite bulky, and can absorb a Thunder/Razor Leaf and deal heavy damage to whoever lets that attack go. Unparalyzed Jynx leads can also rip the team apart, especially if Charizard is low health, as Psychic usually messes Cloyster up. The rare Agility Articuno obliterates this team Sans Cloyster, and explosion or a healthy Electrode are my only ways of preventing it. Fortunately, OU is generally very hostile to Articuno, and it therefore is very rare.
A well-played defensive core of Starmie and Rhydon can be very difficult for this team to maneuver around. Rhydon hard walls Zapdos unless it is very low health (~20 %) and all of my Rhydon switch ins (Sandslash, Cloyster, Victreebel) are at high risk of getting hurt by Starmie switching in. Getting Victreebell in can help but it cannot switch in to Starmie, and loses its ability to combat Starmie if it eats an Earthquake. Thankfully, many players have recently left ~70% Starmie in on Victreebell, and traded Starmie's life for paralysis on Bel, which is a trade I will take any time. Otherwise, I just have to get lucky on a switch in (crit or para or something).
This team also has a bit of an electric type problem if Sandslash is weakened. It walls Jolteon a bit better than RhyGol but in exchange it doesn't quite wall Zapdos. Once Slash is out of the picture, they can wreak havoc, as Cloyster and Charizard get decimated, Zapdos has a kind of bad matchup against other electrics (especially relying on Thunder) and most electric types have ways of annihilating Victreebel. It's not a huge problem, as I keep Sandslash healthy as long as possible and it can setup on any non-Raichu electric, but it's something to keep in mind.
Lastly, unexpected and aggressive play can also turn the tide of any battle. Things like T-Bolt Tauros/Snorlax, people booming Eggy, Lax, or Gengar on Sandslash, Sing Chansey, or switching into a predicted Hyper Beam can really hurt my momentum and turn the tide in the opponents favor.
Conclusion
If you've made it this far congratulations and Thank you. I understand this team is unorthodox and mainly low tier, but I think I've shown a pretty good understanding of its flaws and how to use it, so please do not discount it solely on the basis of "It doesn't have any members of the Big 4". As I said before I'm not trying all out to win tournaments with this team, but I'm still trying to improve it and I will probably try it out in tournaments to see how it fairs against higher level competition. For me, it is a diverse and refreshing change of pace from the normally very centralized Gen 1 OU metagame that can really be a slog. It is not especially weak to any particular type of gimmick (except perhaps freeze teams), and typically does very well against other non-standard teams, while having ways to deal with the major threats in the metagame. I am open to suggestions on improving it, especially in the ways that I specifically mention, but not in scrapping half the team for Tauros, Chansey, and Exeggutor.
Here are a few ladder replays to show you the team in action. I am aware relatively low ladder matches are not the only thing that determines a teams viability, but this just shows the strategies I reference against real opponents. It also demonstrates the ability for this team to function even when there are misplays/ bad luck. Enjoy!
*****DISCLAIMER***** Some of the replays (and one of my Pokemon's names) have NSFW language, and I understand that may offend people. So I apologize but if you are someone who that would upset, please do not watch them, or if you do, you've at least been warned.
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen1ou-987123545
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen1ou-983707610
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen1ou-978446915
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen1ou-978231293
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen1ou-989826636
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen1ou-987779793
*EDIT 12/1/2019* Added some more replays, cleaned up the Sandslash section a little bit, added RB sprites, and weaknesses section.
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen1ou-983707610
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen1ou-978446915
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen1ou-978231293
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen1ou-989826636
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen1ou-987779793
*EDIT 12/1/2019* Added some more replays, cleaned up the Sandslash section a little bit, added RB sprites, and weaknesses section.
Unabomber (Electrode)
Ability: none
- Thunder Wave
- Thunderbolt
- Explosion
- Flash
K. Dot (Sandslash)
Ability: none
- Swords Dance
- Earthquake
- Body Slam
- Hyper Beam
NSFW (Victreebel)
Ability: none
- Razor Leaf
- Sleep Powder
- Stun Spore
- Body Slam
Sparky (Zapdos)
Ability: none
- Thunder Wave
- Thunder
- Drill Peck
- Light Screen
Coolmander (Charizard)
Ability: none
- Fire Spin
- Fire Blast
- Earthquake
- Slash
Boisterous Oyster (Cloyster)
Ability: none
- Clamp
- Blizzard
- Explosion
- Toxic
Ability: none
- Thunder Wave
- Thunderbolt
- Explosion
- Flash
K. Dot (Sandslash)
Ability: none
- Swords Dance
- Earthquake
- Body Slam
- Hyper Beam
NSFW (Victreebel)
Ability: none
- Razor Leaf
- Sleep Powder
- Stun Spore
- Body Slam
Sparky (Zapdos)
Ability: none
- Thunder Wave
- Thunder
- Drill Peck
- Light Screen
Coolmander (Charizard)
Ability: none
- Fire Spin
- Fire Blast
- Earthquake
- Slash
Boisterous Oyster (Cloyster)
Ability: none
- Clamp
- Blizzard
- Explosion
- Toxic
Attachments
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