Over Before it Began

[Chou Toshio]

With a kickoff to Smogon’s brand new server (woo hoo!) I would like to celebrate by sharing a team I will now retire-- because it is now irrelevant! This is the team I laddered with largely on both Wifi and Dreamworld ladders on the Beta Server. With Darkrai and co. thrown in the mix though, I'm redrawing the board, and would like to share the team I made. That said, I still think it's fairly usable, and has some good thought put into it.

Please have a look:

My aim was to, like in 4th Gen, make a semi-stall team combining the concepts of organized stall and my favorite full-offense team that could beat the enemies with no setup sweepers. I have always disliked setup sweepers because of the time they take to . . . well setup, often with no gain at all. Pokemon like Wall Breakers and Entry Hazard users though, are much more guaranteed to accomplish something each turn, which is what I love about this style of play.

Team Building Process

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Need I say more? From a personal preference, I cannot think of any reason not to use Garchomp, and that's why he's here. In last Gen, Scarfgon was my wingman on pretty much every team, and with Garchomp available, not including it seemed pretty much impossible for me.

Garchomp is pretty much the focus of this team, and the vast majority of my matches were decided by Garchomp's speed and power. Like Scarf Flygon, it's a valuable pivot/wall breaker in the early game, with terrific endurance that constantly threatens to sweep with no setup at all! With Spikes and SR weakening the enemy, and powerful Wall-Breakers forcing Switches, Garchomp's plan is to take the whole enemy team down-- without ever me having to take a turn going for a risky Dragon Dance or Swords Dance.

So with Garchomp in the mix, Tyranitar seems like a natural inclusion. Tyranitar is one of my favorite pokemon anyway-- packing base stats that are more accurately estimated above 650 including the special defense boost, it is a total beast. Its pursuit is also always a welcome addition, and it has a way of taking down Gengar and Lati@s, the only scarfers faster than Garchomp.

SkarmTar is the more offensive *cough*less gay*cough* Skarm-Bliss. The two easily suck in eachother's favorite targets, giving skarm lots of turns to rack of Spikes and lending TTar many a free Shanderaa kill. Skarm is a natural inclusion, especially on a team whose whole early game plan is based on entry hazards.

With entry hazards, one needs to have means of protecting them. Burungeru is frankly . . . the best spin-blocker in the game right now (which is sad). It's not as good as 4th Gen Rotoms were . . . but it does come in handy against enemy bulky waters and Heatran (as if this team is weak to heatran) and blaziken.

Kerudio is a pokemon I have been dying to use, even before I knew about it. I have always loved Mixnape as a premier Wall-Breaker, especially for this type of team. However, I have always believed Water to be a superior STAB than fire, and believed Mix-Ape would have been 50% better had it been born a water type. Kerudio is even better. I needed a mixsweeper to force switches and break down walls for the late game Garchomp sweep-- Kerudio fit the bill perfectly.

At one point I had Machamp in this slot, and had a lot of success, but Roobushin's access to terrific priority (giving me a better Doryuuzu check) was too good to pass up. I made the switch, and never regretted it!

Early Game
When building a team, especially offensive or semi-stall, I like to think of my Pokemon as existing in certain time frames. I have a game plan from A-Z that I follow, and the Pokemon each have roles pertinent to what act they are cast in, if you will.

Act 1 : “Stall, sorta”
Skarmory and Tyranitar abuse each other’s synergy to lure in enemy’s for easy setup and/or pursuits. This is where I look to setup Sand, Spikes, SR and eliminate enemy ghosts (especially Shanderaa).

Generally speaking, both can be seen as expendable after Act 1 and used as fodder should they live, but if facing an enemy Rain/Sun team, I am always sure to preserve Tyranitar (even if at low health).

Jolly
4HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
@Choice Scarf
-Stealth Rock
-Crunch
-Pursuit
-Superpower / Earthquake

While this might seem odd, I have always loved leads (like Tyranitar) that have abilities that setup or cripple. With no-preview battles, it is inevitable that your lead will face enemies that they cannot handle. There will always be good and bad matchups. Against everything but slower weather users though, this Tyranitar will always setup sand at the very least. When using an offensive team with no setup sweepers, sand is critical, because beating certain enemies, most notably bulky water types, with Leftovers in tact can be a nightmare.

Crunch and Pursuit make terrific work of leads like Deoxys S and Azelf.

Superpower has netted me many an insta-win against enemy Tyranitar, and also destroys Heatran. I switched from Earthquake to Superpower largely due to the huge increase in Balloon pokemon. Aqua Tail is another nice option if your team has excessive trouble with Infernape or Blaziken (though the latter often has protect, making this Tyranitar useless against Blaziken anyway). I handled many enemies with Burungeru, while Sand breaks sashes.

By the way, against Deoxys A: Switch to Burungeru, to avoid Superpower, switch to Garchomp to avoid Thunderbolt, and nab the kill with Scarf Dragon Claw + Sand damage. Yeah, it’s risky and not great, but you can’t win all lead matchups perfectly . . .

Scarf Stealth Rock is surprisingly useful. Just try it (FU Taunt). Damn Mischievous Heart . . .

Impish
@Shed Shell
252 HP / 240 Ded / 16 Spe
-Spikes
-Brave Bird
-Roost
-Whirlwind

SkarmTar is the new SkarmBliss for offensive teams. While popular even if 4th Gen, this combo has never been better than it is in 5th Gen Dream World, thanks to the popularity of Shanderaa. Tyranitar and Skarmory cover physical/special and weaknesses with awesome synergy, netting in tons of switch-ins and free turns for each other. Seriously, watching these two setup sand / spikes / SR and net Pursuits together in the early game is something incredible to behold. Essentially, they set the field of the match, and define this team as “Semi-Stall”.

Calm
@Leftovers
240 HP / 252 Def / 16 SpA
-Boil Over
-Ice Beam
-Toxic
-Recover
Generally just here to make sure that Skarm and TTar can do their thing undisturbed by spinners, but it does check some important enemies, most notably enemy Bulky Waters (Toxic). Mostly used as a meat shield.


Mid-Game

Act 2: “Break Down the Walls”
With entry hazards set, I send in the offensive Pokemon to break down the enemy team, “Wall Breaking” perse. Powerful wall breakers force plenty of switches, racking up the hazard damage and causing Chaos for the enemy team. This is also the point where I try to get Burungeru to come in and Toxic all the enemy bulky waters, breaking the down as well. Kerudio leads the charge, and the enemy finds itself caught between a rock and a hard place running between the awesome power of Kerudio’s Mixed sweeping, Roobushin’s Drain Punches and Garchomp’s Dragon Claw.

Timid
@Life Orb
4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
-Hydro Pump
-Mystery Sword
-Hidden Power Ice
-Calm Mind

Remember Infernape? Remember what an amazingly powerful Wall Breaker it was? Kerudio is ever better. I’ve said it before, but almost every Fire Pokemon in the game would be superior if it had its Fire Type switched for Water. Kerudio is living proof. I have always theorymoned that a mixed-offensive water type would be bloody brilliant, and it’s even better in practice than it was in theory!

With Resistances to SR, Pursuit and U-Turn, it comes in and out of the field with ease, and blasts everything with STAB water attacks that even alone are almost unresisted, arguably even harder to deal with than Dragon attacks. Mystery Sword brings reliable STAB and lets Kerudio destroy Blissey and Snorlax with ease. I can’t really put into words how awesome this thing is.

For my own team, I personally like HP Ice, but it it’s up to preference really.

@Leftovers
Adamant
Guts
120 HP / 212 Atk / 176 SpD
-Mach Punch
-Drain Punch
-Payback
-Bulk Up

Originally I had Machamp in this slot, and while it performed well, I found myself desperate for a strong source of Priority, especially to deal with Doryuuzu. I switched to this thing and never regretted it. Drain Punch makes this thing so hard to take down, that it doesn’t need confusion to cause utter chaos. Roobushin puts a close to act one, and aids Garchomp in late game clean up with its powerful Mach Punch (also picking off the enemy Doryuuzu). The weird EVs are a result of my attempt to imitate my previous Machamp's stats.


End Game

Act 3: “Garchomp Sweep”
Need I say more?

Jolly
@Choice Scarf
252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
-Outrage
-Dragon Claw
-Earthquake
-Fire Blast / Aqua Tail

Scarf Chomp is a fantastic Pokemon. I have always loved Scarf Flygon on my OU teams as well, and Garchomp/Flygon Scarf-Sweep will always be my favorite “Win Condition.” The main reason is because it doesn’t require any Boost setup. What I hate about moves like Swords Dance / Dragon Dance is the chance of ending up getting forced out while accomplishing nothing, wasting your efforts and seeing your sweep opportunity disappear.

No such problem exists here. As long as Garchomp breathes life, even at 10% health (and I have swept from there), there is always still a chance to win the whole game. It just has to be setup right.

While setup sweepers can be forced out without achieving anything, Entry Hazard setups and Powerful Wall Breaking moves are guaranteed to batter the enemy, and leave him weaker than he was. From Acts 1 and 2, my Pokemon have weakened the entirety of the enemy team—laying hazards to eat away at them, battering them with powerful attacks, poisoning bulky waters and forcing switches between those attacks and PHazing.

Without ever taking the time to setup a boosting move, Garchomp is now in position to destroy the entirety of what’s left.

The great thing about Garchomp (or Flygon for that matter) is survivability. Immunity to sand, resistance to SR and defensive stats on par with Swampert, Garchomp will always be in top form in the late game, even if it has taken part in the early game. With Scarf and Dragon Claw, Garchomp, is more than well equipped to aid its team with revenge killing early and mid, while still switching into enemies like Heatran and Tyranitar, and still being ready to wipe out the whole enemy team in late game.

That is what Scarf Chomp is about—providing a win condition that requires no direct setup from boosting moves, while still being of huge value in the early/midgame. Essentially, it is a win condition with minimum risk and costs. That’s what I love about it.

Let the curtains close with Garchomp’s claws.


Rate, comment whatever! I hope you enjoyed this Team Rate, even if this team is being retired!

 

[Plusle]

Hi! Garchomp has low Special Attack so try Fire Fang over Fire Blast. This will give you better hits on Natorei and Foretress who switch in to wall you.

Secondly Kerudio,s Hidden Power, leaves it completely walled by the common Burungeru. Try HP Ghost. This hits Burungeru Super Effective and give Kerudio Perfect Coverage.


Gl with your team.

 

[Chou Toshio]

The difference between Fire Fang's base 65 Power and Fire Blast's 120 base power is much more significant than you give credit for. Against enemies with balanced defensive stats, the damage output will be relatively similar.

Example: Fire Blast and Fire Fang from the same Garchomp against a non-EV'd Bronzong.

Fire Fang: 45.8% - 54.5%

Fire Blast: 41.5% - 49.5%

Keep in mind that this bronzong has 50 more points of Sp.DEF than DEF. In other words, if I EV'd it's Defense to match its SpD, the damage output would be almost the same.

The fact is that most steel types do not have balanced defenses-- they have an extreme bias towards physical defense. Fire Blast without question, hits Skarmory and Forretress much harder than Fire Fang.

Skarmory:

Fire Blast: 51.5% - 61.1%

Fire Fang: 24.6% - 29.3%


So you see, Skarmory can wall Fire Fang Garchomp all day and setup on it, while the same Skarmory would be 2 HKO'd by Fire Blast.

Considering that you will kill Nattorei regardless of which fire attack you're using, and that Nattorei, unlike Skarmory, possesses no recovery move, Fire Blast is 100% the superior option over Fire Fang, regardless of the -SpA nature and lack of investment.



As for Kerudio, the thing is that I really don't care about it being walled by Burungeru-- the thing is that Burungeru is not a big enough threat to the team to really worry about, while the coverage from HP Ice is invaluable. It might seem weird looking at it with two water types, but Gliscor is a huge threat for this team and I have been single-handedly beaten by Gliscor even from a 4-1 advantage. I am not about to remove any features of the team that act as a "check" to gliscor-- especially not a 100% accurate ice move.

 

[Jaroda]

Besides, he has a Roopushin with Guts, he doesn't fear Burungeru in the least.

Your team is awesome. Looks downright fearsome to face. A problem I see though is Perversity Jaroda. With Substitute and HP Fire it has the means to plow through your whole team. Garchomp would have to be lucky and revenge it when it's sub is down. Still, seems very threatening.

And you know I'm going to say this, as I say it to everybody that uses Roopushin but sack the Payback! Roopushin wants Stone Edge/Rock Slide so much more for the coverage, as a neutral +1 is all it really needs to take on most Ghosts, outside of Burungeru and Dusclops, who are setup fodder anyway.

As for Tyranitar, isn't Crunch and Pursuit rendundant? Why not use Choice Band instead with Pursuit and substitute Crunch for Stone Edge or something?

Oh, and fixe the EVs on your Roopushin. You can:t put 405 EVs in attack. :p

And of course, outside of Garchomp, be wary of Electric attacks. Borotorosu can come in on an Earthquake and threated your whole team with HP Ice and Thunderbolt. They're not super common though.

Otherwise your team is really good, I would fear facing it. 9/10!

 

[TubaPride]

If you want to run Fire Blast on Garchomp, change its nature to make sure its doing the max damage and maybe put those 4 def evs into sp att. Just a small nit pick.

 

[HART4FLOON]

^
Unnecessary, Garchomp will get all the KOs it needs even with a SpA reducing nature

 

[Chou Toshio]

Yeah, Fire Blast is so weak (naive or jolly) that it's not worth using except against specific targets-- which it already kills in the same number of hits, regardless of Naive/Jolly.

Therefore, Jolly is superior, especially since Garchomp wants to retain its bulk far more than it wants to inkle out a bit more damage with one of its filler moves.

 

[MyLifeIsAverage]

Well I would add latias over your seahorse, it has a better type and also has calm mind, I would use a bulkier set with 194 hp ev's and max speed the rest in special attack, calm mind, dragon pulse, recover, roar/ hidden power fire, this way latias can draw out steel types and rape them, this would make the outrage spam sweep from garchomp easyer

 

[syrim]

Nitpick, but in the intro you defame the role of set-up sweepers, but include two as an integral part of your team.

 

[RedMeowth]

Nitpick, but in the intro you defame the role of set-up sweepers, but include two as an integral part of your team.

I think he's saying that he dislikes set-up sweepers that use Swords Dance or Nasty Plot / Tail Glow, since they can be defeated before they get the chance to do anything. When Lucario doesn't get the chance to dance, even if I win, the victory can seem a bit hollow. Bulk Up and Calm Mind, on the other hand, at least give the user the chance to reduce the damage of your enemy's attacks. And the way he seems to use Roopushin and Keldio, they aren't primarily end-game sweepers; they're here to smash the enemy's defenses with powerful attacks. Garchomp is the boss here, while Keldio and Roopushin are keys to unlock his door.

Isnt Garchomp Uber?

In 5th-gen? Not right now. A lot of former Ubers are being put through the ringer right now to see if they are still broken. Garchomp, Wobbuffet, Sky Shaymin, Manaphy, Darkrai, Speed Deoxys, Latios, and Latias are the ones I can recall right now.

 

[Gehenna]

I have noticed that your team is weak to any fast, potent Electric user. Kerudio, Burungeru, Skarmory are all weak to Electric, while the only resist you have is Garchomp, and a Pokemon like Jolteon will just use HP ICE for a 0HKO on Garchomp. Just a friendly tip.

 

[sora13]

Quick, thought, change Dragon Claw on Chomp to Double Chop. It break break subs if chomps needs to and has the same base power. Little bit less accuracy, but other than that there is no reason not to change to it.

 

[Chou Toshio]

@syrim-- I almost never use Calm Mind with Kerudio. In all my battles I only recall using it once or twice-- it's just there because Kerudio's special attacking movepool is too shallow. Roobushin has coverage in just 2 moves, so he may as well use Bulk Up. Plus, from what I've found, Bulk Up Roobushin has a more lower risk level than many setup sweepers. More often than not though, I'll be spamming Drain Punch and abusing Mach Punch rather than trying to sweep with Bulk Up.

@Shokwave-- all the Electric Pokemon are special abusers, meaning that Tyranitar can switch freely into anything except Borutorusu's Focus Blast (which isn't even that common). Jolteon, Zapdos, and Raikou are all easy switch ins for TTar.

Eh, I kind of like accuracy. If I start running into a lot of Sub Gengar / Sub Jolteon, I'll think about it maybe.

 

[Engineer Pikachu]

Quick, thought, change Dragon Claw on Chomp to Double Chop. It break break subs if chomps needs to and has the same base power. Little bit less accuracy, but other than that there is no reason not to change to it.

I personally wouldn't. If Garchomp is needed in anytime that's not end-game, something like Nattorei could come in, and everybody knows what happens when Nattorei comes in on Outrage.

 

[Darkamber8828]

Roobushin is holding an Adamant. Are you running Lefties, Life Orb, or an orb? I think I read Doryuuzu doesn't die to an unboosted max attack Mach Punch, and you're not running max attack.

 

[Jaroda]

It doesn't. But +0 EQ does not OHKO Roopushin, who can Drain Punch off the damage and most likely OHKO back. If it doesn't, THEN he can Mach Punch. +1 Roopushin will always beat Doryuzuu. If Doryuzuu already has the +2 Roopushin can only beat it with Mach Punch if it was damaged prior. A very situational fight.

 

[rickheg]

Since the ability is Guts, I assume the item is either Toxic Orb or Flame Orb. I'm not a fan of self-status and boosting with moves like Bulk Up, even if you don't use it often. Also, do the SpD EV's help you survive anything in particular? If it were me, I'd pump enough into Atk to OHKO 4/0 Dory with Mach Punch, because I doubt you'd get as much health back with Drain Punch as you'd lose taking an EQ. I guess it comes down to personal preference, though.
Anyway, great team!

 

[Chou Toshio]

The Item is leftovers. Guts is just Roobushin's best ability regardless, since Boil Over, Toxic Spikes etc. are just way too popular. Even Gliscor often flings Roob its Toxic Orb because it can't use boosted Acrobat until it gets rid of it.

I almost always find means of damaging Doryuuzu before having it take out Dory. Survivability is just too important to Roob's game, and LO would be suicide frankly.

 

[Jaroda]

Since the ability is Guts, I assume the item is either Toxic Orb or Flame Orb. I'm not a fan of self-status and boosting with moves like Bulk Up, even if you don't use it often. Also, do the SpD EV's help you survive anything in particular? If it were me, I'd pump enough into Atk to OHKO 4/0 Dory with Mach Punch, because I doubt you'd get as much health back with Drain Punch as you'd lose taking an EQ. I guess it comes down to personal preference, though.
Anyway, great team!

Because Roopushin can't OHKO fresh Doryuzuu at +0 with Mach Punch unless you crit, but it can't OHKO you either, it's better to heal while you damage with Drain Punch, even if it isn't all of it. It's by far his best option. Not to mention a major threat is eliminated in the process. SpD EV's let you survive any of Timid Scarf Shandera's attacks and KO back with Payback or Stone Edge. You can also set up easier on Suicune without Roar as he'll never ouit Surf you as you +1 Darin Punch.