An ode to the Quag
Music: Doodoodoodoodoooo
Team at a glance
Introduction
Hi RMT! I’ve been lurking on this thread for several months now and have always been fascinated with the unique teams that pop up here (Pinkacross ) Some of them truly seem like of pieces of art. I was always aware of the competitive scene but because of grad school and other obligations I was not able to play competitive for the first time until 2 weeks ago. I knew that I wanted to build a unique team of my own but also was aware that it takes a lot of experience with the game (which I obviously lack) so initially decided I needed to gain a base level of skill before attempting to do so. However after struggling with sample teams, I decided to skip the skill step and see what I could do.
I wanted the team to meet a few criteria:
1) Be unique;
2) use some competitively viable Pokémon so it wasn’t a complete joke and;
3) have the potential to make my opponent get a teeeny bit mad. (inspired by Mimikyu Stardust ’s Hax Forecast Team)
The team I ended up with is surprisingly good for the self-imposed limitations! I'm at 1400 elo (and still rising), it's kind of anti-stall (thanks to 3 toxic immunities), anti-offense, and is quite adaptable against balance teams. I'm not sure what I would call the build, probably bulk-offense? maybe bulky-balance?
Team building process
After reading up more on basic requirements for teams, (poison/ground/electric immunity, set up sweeper, breaker, walls, role compression, cycling, anti offense, anti stall, speed control, etc.) I started building. I had messed around with a few Quagsire sets in the days prior to building this as it was my favorite Pokémon as a kid and I loved the way it could take down far greater mons than itself with its cold, lifeless, steely eyes, so I decided to build around him. As for the overall Johto theme, I noticed that I kept leaning towards earlier gen pokemon when team building, and would perform better when playing with them on random battles, likely because I was more used to the way they played. Johto also has quite a few viable mons in UU, and of course Ttar and Blissey and OU, so for those reasons, along with it being my favorite generation, I decided that it would check the "uniqueness box" of my team (also how perfect is the theme song?!?!).
As stated, I started with Quagsire, he can stop set up sweepers, walls physical attackers decently, and is the team's electric immunity.
Next had to be Ttar, a lot of people in this thread talk about how good the choice band set is and I have to agree, it punishes so many mons on switch ins, even those that resist its stabs. Tyranitar also acts as a special wall in many cases as it can switch into most neutral special attacks and force a switch itself.
Then I added Skarm, as a more dedicated physical wall, poison resist, defogger, and grass resist.
I wanted another bulky mon, as well as something that could take on fairies, and possibly another toxic immunity as I'm still not great at switches, so I landed on assault vest Scizor. Scizor also acts as a priority, knocker, and pivot.
At this point i started experimenting with several Johto mons I thought could fit, I tried Blissey, but the fighting/physical weakness between her and Ttar allowed mons with coverage like Kart and Rillaboom to tear through a chunk of the team pretty easily. I also tried out Kingdra with its focus energy/scope lens/sniper set. The set is really fun and kind of hilarious, but it doesn't work to well against players who know what theyre doing, Kingdra has poor coverage, and can't really take hits. It also feels too gimmicky (even for an all johto team). I knew the team needed speed control and a set up sweeper, and I remembered reading about how Crobat had been tearing it up in RU with it's nasty plot set, and after some experimenting, I found it fit really well.
Finally, I needed a mon to threaten rain teams. After experimenting with Celebi and Kindgra (again) I felt Raikou fit best with its good coverage, and calm mind.
Individual Team Member Break Down:
Tyranitar @ Choice Band
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Rock Blast
- Crunch
- Fire Punch
- Ice Punch
We'll start with Tyranitar. Ttar is the backbone of this team, it can wall, disrupt weather, surprise switch ins with its coverage, and blow huge holes in the opponent's team. Obviously I'm working with a very small pool of pokemon so Ttar is asked to fill a lot of different roles. Rock blast was chosen over stone edge for its accuracy, potential, to hit higher, and its ability to break subs, crunch is stab and coverage, fire punch always KOs Ferrothorn,and ice punch threatens Lando-T. The EVs are a standard bulky CB set. Ttar needs to be kept alive against rain teams until Pelipper is taken care of, sand stream is vital to disrupt their flow and forces mons to switch into rock blast. I've found Ttar can act as a surprise counter to many mons, if late game, it can survive one eq from lando and KO with ice punch if it's chipped, and it also threatens Heatran despite its steel weakness.
Skarmory @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Defog
- Iron Defense
- Body Press
- Roost
Next is Skarmory. although Skarm dropped to UU it can still hold its own against many of OUs top attackers. It's the team's main ground and poison immunity and has the ability to surprise certain mons with body press. The build is a pretty standard set and helps chip kart and other physical attackers as well as clear hazards. Skarm is vital against grassy terrain teams and hazard stack teams, and is a default switch if I'm playing conservatively. The rocky helmet is extremely useful for wearing down Rillaboom and other attackers over the course of a match.
Quagsire @ Binding Band
Ability: Unaware
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Impish Nature
- Whirlpool
- Earthquake
- Stockpile
- Recover
Here he is, the boy, the star of the show. Quagsire deserves some sort of Smogon life time achievement award for its work in every tier despite its meager stats. Besides electric immunity and set up stopper, its hard to say exactly what Quagsire does, but he beats many stronger mons head to head. He wins against Garchomp and Weavile every time and can provide good chip damage with whirlpool switch ins. Binding band was chosen here as a way to add extra damage while he stacks stockpiles and recovers as well as trapping whoever has the misfortune of trying to take down this god. Quagsire's biggest advantage is that he's underestimated. It's always surprising how few people realize that its futile trying to set up against him or how many people simply assume a physical attacker can take him down. +4 Garchomp or Weavile? Doesn't matter! Quagsire lacks the social awareness to see them as a threat. Quagsire is often a win-con if there are only physical attackers left or it has stacked up stockpiles, as long as the team is out of grass coverage, he wins. It's insane how many forfeits he's caused when the team still has 3 or 4 mons left after the opponent realized he's untouchable. Quag is best saved for late game, It's tempting to send him in against Lando early, but he's extremely allergic to toxic and its better to wait until you've sussed out your opponents moves a bit. Its also best to keep in mind that this guy is weird, despite being a physically defensive pokemon, he also can't switch into super hard hitters that well, for example, an unboosted close combat from Terrkion can take out about 2/3s of his HP.
Scizor @ Assault Vest
Ability: Technician
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Bullet Punch
- U-turn
- Knock Off
- Dual Wingbeat
Scizor acts as a vague special wall, secondary, Kartana switch, knocker, secondary toxic immunity, and fairy counter. AV allows Scizor to take hits from the Tapu's and hit back with bullet punch. knock off is self-explanatory, stab u-turn hits hard and allows Scizor to pivot, and dual-wingbeat is a great hard hitting coverage move. Evs are for adding AV bulk and hitting hard.
Crobat @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Infiltrator
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Heat Wave
- Sludge Bomb
- Air Slash
- Nasty Plot
Crobat is the team's main set up sweeper, speed control, a tertiary toxic immunity, and another ground immunity. Despite Crobat's rise to UU, I find that a lot of team's don't know how to play against it, I've seen a few Ferrothorn switches, which it easily takes out with heat wave. Sludgebomb is great for taking down Tapu fini and Clefable, air slash is good coverage and the flinch chance is appreciated. I belive the standard set calls for the last 4 EVs in SpD but I moved them over to defense so it can switch into Kartana if necessary since Quagsire appreciates extra grass switch ins.
Raikou @ Leftovers
Ability: Inner Focus
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Thunderbolt
- Aura Sphere
- Scald
- Calm Mind
While Raikou is very appreciated for threatening rain teams and stopping bulky-waters, I'm still a bit unsure about it. It's sort of fragile so it doesn't always have great set up opportunities, and there are quite a few switch ins that stop it. However, it REALLY punishes rain teams. Scald KOs Seismitoad in the rain and despite swift swim because people usually click weather ball expecting a switch, it also threatens Corviknight and set up on walls like Slobro. Leftovers are there for passive recovery and can be surprisingly clutch. Base 115 speed is also useful for extra speed control.
Threat List
Kartana
- Skarmory can relatively wall Kart, but it loses the ability to chip it after losing its rocky helmet to knockoff. It also hits Quagsire and Tyranitar very hard.
Rain
- If Ttar goes down, there's very little hope for this team against rain. You have to constantly cycle Ttar in and out to annoy Pelipper and also watch out for a close combat from Barraskewda. Scizor is very useful during these games since these teams are unlikely to run fire coverage.
Heatran
- Ttar can take a hit or two from tran, but it can't really switch into it with all the coverage it has so it usually ends up being a 1-1 trade. Scizor and Skarm obviously can't take a fire type move, and Quagsire isn't built for special mons without a boost. The best option is to try and set up a calm mind with Raikou and click aurasphere.
Gastrodon
-Yo this thing fucking SUCKS. The biggest hole in this team offensively is that we lack grass coverage. It's very difficult to take down gastro. The best option is to switch Crobat into a toxic and try setting up on it or forcing a switch.
My own lack of skill
- I'm still not great at the game. I still switch into the wrong mon, struggle to avoid being chipped at times, and will accidentally lose mons early. I also don't have a super in-depth knowledge of competitive pokemon, for example I was shocked to find out that skarmory could wall kartana (lol)
Conclusion
I know 1400 is a pretty mediocre ranking, but I was proud of it with how new I am and how I limited myself. I would appreciate any advice as to Johto pokemon that could make this team better, or non-Johto pokemon that could be swapped to make this a more realistically viable OU team!
Music: Doodoodoodoodoooo
Team at a glance
Introduction
Hi RMT! I’ve been lurking on this thread for several months now and have always been fascinated with the unique teams that pop up here (Pinkacross ) Some of them truly seem like of pieces of art. I was always aware of the competitive scene but because of grad school and other obligations I was not able to play competitive for the first time until 2 weeks ago. I knew that I wanted to build a unique team of my own but also was aware that it takes a lot of experience with the game (which I obviously lack) so initially decided I needed to gain a base level of skill before attempting to do so. However after struggling with sample teams, I decided to skip the skill step and see what I could do.
I wanted the team to meet a few criteria:
1) Be unique;
2) use some competitively viable Pokémon so it wasn’t a complete joke and;
3) have the potential to make my opponent get a teeeny bit mad. (inspired by Mimikyu Stardust ’s Hax Forecast Team)
The team I ended up with is surprisingly good for the self-imposed limitations! I'm at 1400 elo (and still rising), it's kind of anti-stall (thanks to 3 toxic immunities), anti-offense, and is quite adaptable against balance teams. I'm not sure what I would call the build, probably bulk-offense? maybe bulky-balance?
Team building process
After reading up more on basic requirements for teams, (poison/ground/electric immunity, set up sweeper, breaker, walls, role compression, cycling, anti offense, anti stall, speed control, etc.) I started building. I had messed around with a few Quagsire sets in the days prior to building this as it was my favorite Pokémon as a kid and I loved the way it could take down far greater mons than itself with its cold, lifeless, steely eyes, so I decided to build around him. As for the overall Johto theme, I noticed that I kept leaning towards earlier gen pokemon when team building, and would perform better when playing with them on random battles, likely because I was more used to the way they played. Johto also has quite a few viable mons in UU, and of course Ttar and Blissey and OU, so for those reasons, along with it being my favorite generation, I decided that it would check the "uniqueness box" of my team (also how perfect is the theme song?!?!).
As stated, I started with Quagsire, he can stop set up sweepers, walls physical attackers decently, and is the team's electric immunity.
Next had to be Ttar, a lot of people in this thread talk about how good the choice band set is and I have to agree, it punishes so many mons on switch ins, even those that resist its stabs. Tyranitar also acts as a special wall in many cases as it can switch into most neutral special attacks and force a switch itself.
Then I added Skarm, as a more dedicated physical wall, poison resist, defogger, and grass resist.
I wanted another bulky mon, as well as something that could take on fairies, and possibly another toxic immunity as I'm still not great at switches, so I landed on assault vest Scizor. Scizor also acts as a priority, knocker, and pivot.
At this point i started experimenting with several Johto mons I thought could fit, I tried Blissey, but the fighting/physical weakness between her and Ttar allowed mons with coverage like Kart and Rillaboom to tear through a chunk of the team pretty easily. I also tried out Kingdra with its focus energy/scope lens/sniper set. The set is really fun and kind of hilarious, but it doesn't work to well against players who know what theyre doing, Kingdra has poor coverage, and can't really take hits. It also feels too gimmicky (even for an all johto team). I knew the team needed speed control and a set up sweeper, and I remembered reading about how Crobat had been tearing it up in RU with it's nasty plot set, and after some experimenting, I found it fit really well.
Finally, I needed a mon to threaten rain teams. After experimenting with Celebi and Kindgra (again) I felt Raikou fit best with its good coverage, and calm mind.
Individual Team Member Break Down:
Tyranitar @ Choice Band
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Rock Blast
- Crunch
- Fire Punch
- Ice Punch
We'll start with Tyranitar. Ttar is the backbone of this team, it can wall, disrupt weather, surprise switch ins with its coverage, and blow huge holes in the opponent's team. Obviously I'm working with a very small pool of pokemon so Ttar is asked to fill a lot of different roles. Rock blast was chosen over stone edge for its accuracy, potential, to hit higher, and its ability to break subs, crunch is stab and coverage, fire punch always KOs Ferrothorn,and ice punch threatens Lando-T. The EVs are a standard bulky CB set. Ttar needs to be kept alive against rain teams until Pelipper is taken care of, sand stream is vital to disrupt their flow and forces mons to switch into rock blast. I've found Ttar can act as a surprise counter to many mons, if late game, it can survive one eq from lando and KO with ice punch if it's chipped, and it also threatens Heatran despite its steel weakness.
Skarmory @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Defog
- Iron Defense
- Body Press
- Roost
Next is Skarmory. although Skarm dropped to UU it can still hold its own against many of OUs top attackers. It's the team's main ground and poison immunity and has the ability to surprise certain mons with body press. The build is a pretty standard set and helps chip kart and other physical attackers as well as clear hazards. Skarm is vital against grassy terrain teams and hazard stack teams, and is a default switch if I'm playing conservatively. The rocky helmet is extremely useful for wearing down Rillaboom and other attackers over the course of a match.
Quagsire @ Binding Band
Ability: Unaware
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Impish Nature
- Whirlpool
- Earthquake
- Stockpile
- Recover
Here he is, the boy, the star of the show. Quagsire deserves some sort of Smogon life time achievement award for its work in every tier despite its meager stats. Besides electric immunity and set up stopper, its hard to say exactly what Quagsire does, but he beats many stronger mons head to head. He wins against Garchomp and Weavile every time and can provide good chip damage with whirlpool switch ins. Binding band was chosen here as a way to add extra damage while he stacks stockpiles and recovers as well as trapping whoever has the misfortune of trying to take down this god. Quagsire's biggest advantage is that he's underestimated. It's always surprising how few people realize that its futile trying to set up against him or how many people simply assume a physical attacker can take him down. +4 Garchomp or Weavile? Doesn't matter! Quagsire lacks the social awareness to see them as a threat. Quagsire is often a win-con if there are only physical attackers left or it has stacked up stockpiles, as long as the team is out of grass coverage, he wins. It's insane how many forfeits he's caused when the team still has 3 or 4 mons left after the opponent realized he's untouchable. Quag is best saved for late game, It's tempting to send him in against Lando early, but he's extremely allergic to toxic and its better to wait until you've sussed out your opponents moves a bit. Its also best to keep in mind that this guy is weird, despite being a physically defensive pokemon, he also can't switch into super hard hitters that well, for example, an unboosted close combat from Terrkion can take out about 2/3s of his HP.
Scizor @ Assault Vest
Ability: Technician
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Bullet Punch
- U-turn
- Knock Off
- Dual Wingbeat
Scizor acts as a vague special wall, secondary, Kartana switch, knocker, secondary toxic immunity, and fairy counter. AV allows Scizor to take hits from the Tapu's and hit back with bullet punch. knock off is self-explanatory, stab u-turn hits hard and allows Scizor to pivot, and dual-wingbeat is a great hard hitting coverage move. Evs are for adding AV bulk and hitting hard.
Crobat @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Infiltrator
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Heat Wave
- Sludge Bomb
- Air Slash
- Nasty Plot
Crobat is the team's main set up sweeper, speed control, a tertiary toxic immunity, and another ground immunity. Despite Crobat's rise to UU, I find that a lot of team's don't know how to play against it, I've seen a few Ferrothorn switches, which it easily takes out with heat wave. Sludgebomb is great for taking down Tapu fini and Clefable, air slash is good coverage and the flinch chance is appreciated. I belive the standard set calls for the last 4 EVs in SpD but I moved them over to defense so it can switch into Kartana if necessary since Quagsire appreciates extra grass switch ins.
Raikou @ Leftovers
Ability: Inner Focus
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Thunderbolt
- Aura Sphere
- Scald
- Calm Mind
While Raikou is very appreciated for threatening rain teams and stopping bulky-waters, I'm still a bit unsure about it. It's sort of fragile so it doesn't always have great set up opportunities, and there are quite a few switch ins that stop it. However, it REALLY punishes rain teams. Scald KOs Seismitoad in the rain and despite swift swim because people usually click weather ball expecting a switch, it also threatens Corviknight and set up on walls like Slobro. Leftovers are there for passive recovery and can be surprisingly clutch. Base 115 speed is also useful for extra speed control.
Threat List
Kartana
- Skarmory can relatively wall Kart, but it loses the ability to chip it after losing its rocky helmet to knockoff. It also hits Quagsire and Tyranitar very hard.
Rain
- If Ttar goes down, there's very little hope for this team against rain. You have to constantly cycle Ttar in and out to annoy Pelipper and also watch out for a close combat from Barraskewda. Scizor is very useful during these games since these teams are unlikely to run fire coverage.
Heatran
- Ttar can take a hit or two from tran, but it can't really switch into it with all the coverage it has so it usually ends up being a 1-1 trade. Scizor and Skarm obviously can't take a fire type move, and Quagsire isn't built for special mons without a boost. The best option is to try and set up a calm mind with Raikou and click aurasphere.
Gastrodon
-Yo this thing fucking SUCKS. The biggest hole in this team offensively is that we lack grass coverage. It's very difficult to take down gastro. The best option is to switch Crobat into a toxic and try setting up on it or forcing a switch.
My own lack of skill
- I'm still not great at the game. I still switch into the wrong mon, struggle to avoid being chipped at times, and will accidentally lose mons early. I also don't have a super in-depth knowledge of competitive pokemon, for example I was shocked to find out that skarmory could wall kartana (lol)
Conclusion
I know 1400 is a pretty mediocre ranking, but I was proud of it with how new I am and how I limited myself. I would appreciate any advice as to Johto pokemon that could make this team better, or non-Johto pokemon that could be swapped to make this a more realistically viable OU team!
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