Justecobirdego

[Fusxfaranto]

Hey everyone. I'm Fusxfaranto. I spend a lot of time on IRC, and I've become fairly proficient at battling and teambuilding (largely due to some very helpful discussions with MMF), and I've finally made a team that I would consider successful. With this (and earlier on, its various previous iterations), I laddered to the #2 spot on the NU ladder a few weeks ago, until I choked against kupo. Since then, I've let it sit and tried to figure out how to improve it, but come up blank, so I figured here would be the best place to turn.

The name is a word in Esperanto that I agglutinated together (like my name) meaning "great bird of justice." Kinda fitting for Braviary, if you ask me.

Teambuilding:

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I don't remember the exact order everything came in, and there may be a few missing steps, but this is as much as I can reconstruct of the history of this team.

I started this team off with DD Fraxure. I wanted to explore Dragon types in NU, and Fraxure stood out to me with that lovely 117 base attack. I'm pretty sure that Low Kick and Superpower were out when I made this, so I'm not sure why I chose to go with only Outrage and Dragon Claw as attacking moves, but I did, and thus needed something to take care of Steel types.

For this, I settled on Magnet Pull Probopass. I opted to use Choice Specs, allowing me to deal heavy damage to quite a few physically defensive pokemon that would give Fraxire trouble. I realized at the time that this was objectively terrible, but I must have been feeling masochistic because I opted to use it anyways.

Since this was going down the dragmag route, I decided to go all out and use Choice Specs Altaria. Altaria actually has less Special Attack than Probopass, so it's not surprising that it ended up dissapointing later on.

After Altaria, I decided to add Gurdurr, as a generall bulky pivot, and Regirock, to set SR and check birds. Both very solid pokemon for many teams, they certainly performed their roles well. Gurdurr didn't deviate from the standard at all, but I decided to use Rocky Helmet on Regirock to punish Cinccino and U-Turn spammers.

After this, I figured that I could use a revenge killer, and Choice Scarf Rotom-S fit the bill nicely. At this point I first tested the team, and the most glaring flaw was its weakness to weather, so I set out to remedy this.

Choice Scarf Zebstrika seemed like the perfect fit for the team. An Electric-type scarfer that could outspeed every important weather mon, and even deal with sun with Overheat.

At this point, I had a funtional team. Not a very good one, mind you, but it felt ready for deployment. However, it didn't take too long to see that Altaria was the weakest link in the team, so I decided to swap it out with Zweilous (I tried both Choice Scarf and bulky Eviolite sets).

Zweilous, like many other members of this team, was not doing that great, so I decided to try something new and replaced it with a Sub + 3 attacks Kadabra, which proved to be very useful. I really appreciated the ability to beat absol always on the switch-in, and sometimes even 1-on-1. Around this time, I also changed Fraxure to a Choice Scarf set, which worked decently, but not as well as I had hoped.

Here's where the final form of the team really began to take shape. I just could not get Fraxure to work effectively, so I decided to go with a different hard-hitting choiced attacker in the form of Choice Band Braviary. Along with this, Probopass's novelty had long worn off, so I swapped it for the much more useful Skuntank.

The team was really starting to come together around here, but I was having a few troubles. The main issue I was having was that outside of being a great answer to weather, Zebstrika was just too weak to revenge kill quite a few things. I decided to use Choice Scarf Gardevoir instead, since it carries much greater power. However, this seemed too redundant with Kadabra, so I decided to swap that out with specially defensive Amoongus, to provide status and a good switch-in to special attackers.

Amoongus, despite providing nice bulk and reliable sleep support, was awfully lacking in offensive pressure compared to the rest of the team. Additionally, as I no longer had Sap Sipper Zebstrika to absorb sleep, my team had serious issues with that as well. It sure was a good thing that I knew the perfect pokemon to fit the bill! Lum Rest Exeggutor is really great, and it brings the team up to the highest point I can take it myself.

Justecobirdego

Braviary (M) @ Choice Band
Trait: Defiant
EVs: 80 HP / 252 Atk / 176 Spd
Jolly Nature
Brave Bird / Return / Superpower / U-turn

Braviary is the center of the whole team. With a Choice Band, its ability to simply smash everything to bits is unparalleled. Most of the rest of the team exists to give it support, take out or weaken key threats, or clean up after it's done its dirty work. Exeggutor beats Alomomola handily, Gurdurr fears little from Absol, and both of them destroy the bulky Rock-types that give Braviary issues. The EVs are the same as the onsite spread, which I believe outspeeds positive-nature base 70s.

Skuntank @ Black Sludge
Trait: Aftermath
EVs: 252 Atk / 216 SDef / 40 Spd
Adamant Nature
Sucker Punch / Pursuit / Taunt / Poison Jab

Ever since I put Skuntank on this team, it's managed to sneak its way onto every other team of mine since. It's really an incredible "glue" pokemon that can fit just about anywhere. The ability to single-handedly defeat every psychic type (bar Will-O-Wisp Gardevoir) is very helpful. I decided to go with a bulky EV spread, as the fast spread was not really helping me outspeed anything important that I desperately needed to, but the extra bulk is very helpful. I chose to go with Poison Jab over Crunch, and I think it's better, but I've never really tried Crunch, so I wouldn't really know.
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Exeggutor @ Lum Berry
Trait: Harvest
EVs: 132 HP / 252 SAtk / 124 Spd
Modest Nature
Rest / Sleep Powder / Psychic / Giga Drain

MMF first showed me this set, and I've loved it since. It's really an incredible status absorber, and 1-turn full healing a a great boon. Between Rest and Giga Drain, this thing can heal off most attacks, and with a virtual immunity to status, it can break through many defensive pokemon. Sleep Powder is fantastic for neutering threats that can otherwise give the whole team trouble (namely, Rotom-S and Rotom-F). Exeggutor's ability to force switches makes it even more attractive, since it can easily lure those threats in. I'm a bit unsure about the EV spread; I think it outspeeds uninvested base 70s, but they were just the ones it had when I dug up this set, so I'd love some suggestions there.

Gurdurr @ Eviolite
Trait: Guts
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SDef
Adamant Nature
Bulk Up / Drain Punch / Ice Punch / Mach Punch
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Gurdurr pretty much has one good set, so that's what I used from the start. It's got great bulk with Eviolite, decent recovery with Drain Punch, and Mach Punch is great at taking down a weakened sweeper. Gurdurr easily wrecks Cinccino, who can outspeed and destroy Braviary with rock blast otherwise, and it can take down Absol, who threatens Braviary with its very strong sucker punch. Guts is nice as a secondary status absorber, and a free attack boost never hurts. To be honest, there's not much to say about Gurdurr that hasn't been said by everyone else who's used this set in the past (which I would wager to be just about anyone rating this team).

Regirock @ Rocky Helmet
Trait: Clear Body
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Def
Adamant Nature
Stealth Rock / Earthquake / Stone Edge / Drain Punch
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Here's another great set that MMF introduced me to. Regirock is bulky enough to get up Stealth Rock very reliably, while it also has good offensive presence. Rocky helmet, aside from punishing Cinccino, is really great to rack up chip damage, especially against Swellow and Braviary, since they are already struggling with Stealth Rock damage and Brave Bird recoil. Because of this item choice, Drain Punch is all but necessary to have some form of healing, and it can actually do a pretty decent amount, especially against things weak to fighting.

Gardevoir @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Trace
EVs: 252 SAtk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Modest Nature
Psychic / Focus Blast / Signal Beam / Trick
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Gardevoir is a solid revenge killer for this team. Outside of Gardevoir, there is little in my team to stop weather from rampaging though, but with Trace, outspeeding every weather sweeper is no sweat (barring Choice Scarf Charizard or Sucker Punch Victreebel). Outside of weather, it still functions admirably, able to outspeed and KO many offensive threats. Trick is always handy to cripple walls and Sucker Punch users (as long as I'm not already locked in). Psychic/Fighting/Bug coverage is pretty standard, and Signal Beam gets a little more damage on Ludicolo.
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Threats:
I consistently have issues with a few pokemon. Misdreavus manages to wall most of my team, and so does Alomomola (once Exeggutor is out of the picture). Sawk can really shatter most of my team, especially if I predict poorly. I can often beat Rotom-S with Regirock, but Rotom-F gives me a lot of grief. Articuno can also wreck this team, especially if my opponent manages to keep Stealth Rock off of the field. It's weak to Ice in general, but most other Ice types are not that great (aside from Regice, who is easily beaten by Gurdurr). Emboar and Samurott both manage to muscle their way through this team, though they can be revenged fairly easily by Gardevoir and Braviary respectively. Golurk really fears nothing aside from a Giga Drain from Exeggutor, so it's pretty annoying to face too. Gorebyss can be troublesome if it gets to set up, but there's generally enough offensive presence throughout the team to prevent that. I imagine that Murkrow would give this team trouble but I've never faced it so I don't really know.

Importable:

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Exeggutor @ Lum Berry
Trait: Harvest
EVs: 132 HP / 252 SAtk / 124 Spd
Modest Nature
- Rest
- Sleep Powder
- Psychic
- Giga Drain

Skuntank @ Black Sludge
Trait: Aftermath
EVs: 252 Atk / 216 SDef / 40 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Sucker Punch
- Pursuit
- Taunt
- Poison Jab

Braviary (M) @ Choice Band
Trait: Defiant
EVs: 80 HP / 252 Atk / 176 Spd
Jolly Nature
- Brave Bird
- Return
- Superpower
- U-turn

Gurdurr @ Eviolite
Trait: Guts
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SDef
Adamant Nature
- Bulk Up
- Drain Punch
- Ice Punch
- Mach Punch

Gardevoir @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Trace
EVs: 252 SAtk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Modest Nature
- Psychic
- Focus Blast
- Signal Beam
- Trick

Regirock @ Rocky Helmet
Trait: Clear Body
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Def
Adamant Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- Drain Punch

 

[watashi]

Articuno gives this team a lot of trouble since it can outrun and KO half your team. The only Pokemon that has a decent chance against it is Regirock, which can be stalled out with Pressure. Substitute Gorebyss can also sweep your team if it manages to set up since you cannot revenge it with Sucker Punch.

To fix this, you can run Choice Scarf Rotom-F over Gardevoir. It can hit Articuno hard with Thunderbolt while resisting its attacks. Gorebyss is also outrun after a boost and OHKOed.

 

[Celever]

Rotom-F seems to be like the ubers of NU, he as suggested for my team as well! XD Anyway, in terms of this team:

The thing that screams threat to me, is quick feet ursaring. Braviary is the only check you have to this common threat, and he can OHKO at least half of your team (regirock, gardevoir, exeggutor and skuntank) with Gurdurr only not falling to Ursaring due to mach punch.
I fail to see a huge use for exeggutor by the way. He has rest but not sleep talk, he has sleep powder which is renowned for, and does (trust me) missing and has Giga drain as it's grass STAB. Psychic on it is fine but it seems like there are better options in NU than Exeggutor, and if you do decide to replace it think outside the box. That's how I got my whole team barring Uraring and Gurdurr and they are pretty dang good if I don't say so myself! I think this is a good, soid team though, and is definitely worth one of my infinite luvdiscs!

 

[Fotographic]

celever: Exeggutor doesn't need Sleep Talk, because it uses its Lum Berry to wake up, and with Harvest, it has a 1/2 chance to get it back every turn.

 

[ium]

choice band braviary / sdef skuntank / offensive lum exeggutor / gurdurr / regirock / choice scarf gardevoir

this is more of a nitpick than anything, but your team has a few issues with well-played substitute + bulk up braviary. flcl's rotom-f suggestion is a good way to check braviary better, so i will echo his suggestion there. but if anything, you can also run toxic / psych up over earthquake on regirock as a surefire way to stop it. if you feel that this suggestion is excessive and that you can handle that variant of braviary well enough (considering you have a few hard hitters), then at least use ice punch over earthquake for golurk and torterra switch-ins. earthquake does not really offer much else for regirock.

summary of changes:
choice band braviary / sdef skuntank / offensive lum exeggutor / gurdurr / toxic or psych up or ice punch earthquake regirock / choice scarf gardevoir rotom-f (as per flcl's suggestion)

this is pretty solid as is. :)