Hello! This will be my very first Rate My Team and a way of introducing myself to Smogon. Please bare with me if I don't seem very good at this... I'm also terrible at titles, but it is necessary.
I started building this team after playing many an ubers battle against countless rain stall teams and hyper offensive teams. The objective of this team was to break away from the common teams and build something a little more unorthodox. I had also always had an interest in Ho-oh though never using it myself, so I built this team around it, well kind of.
Team at a Glance
The Team
Terra (Groudon) @ Leftovers
Trait: Drought
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 Spd
Impish Nature (+Def, -SAtk)
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- Roar
- Stealth Rocks
As the only viable option for sun in ubers he is an obligatory member of the team. Without his sun Ho-oh doesn't get that lovely little sacred fire boost and keeps its water weakness, so Groudon is very important to the team. Though despite Ho-oh relying on the sun, I'm never one to sacrifice my others in a weather war to keep Groudon alive since 5/6 of my team can work well without the sun. It's just a nice little bonus I take when I can get. The set itself gives me a physical wall and a way to stop Baton Pass teams and Substitute pokemon while still being able to hit hard with the edgequake combination.
-Changed the set from paradancer to a rock polish + swords dance set. This was then changed to defensive stealth rocks.-
Luceat (Ho-Oh) @ Leftovers
Trait: Pressure
EVs: 208 HP / 240 Atk / 60 SDef
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Brave Bird
- Sacred Fire
- Substitute
- Recover
Ah Ho-oh. The sole reason for this teams existence.
The set itself is pretty standard: substitute to avoid dragon tail phazing and status conditions and brave bird and sacred fire to put heavy damage on a vast majority of ubers. The 50% burn rate on sacred fire and the immense damage it brings makes it very dangerous to switch into if the sun's up to stay and you're not called Giratina or Palkia. Of course there is the ever prominent threat of stealth rocks which makes me really want a spinner on the team, but it seems like that would just be a liability. It just takes some skillful predictions with Xatu to keep them off my side of the field, even if the opponent does get stealth rocks up I can still win the game without major problems. There's only a few times that I've had stealth rocks be a major problem to my team, so that makes a spinner seem even more useless. The EVs give me 101hp substitutes to allow me to set up on the fat pink blobs and allow me 2 Stealth Rock switch-ins should the opponent manage to get them up.
Umbra (Arceus-Ghost) @ Spooky Plate
Trait: Multitype
EVs: 252 HP / 96 Def / 160 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Judgment
- Perish Song
- Recover
- Will-O-Wisp
My extreme-killer, Giratina and Mewtwo check. Though extreme-killer can be handled other ways. When I made the team I realized that if I was going to have a magic bouncer on my team, I might as well have a spin blocker. I thought about Giratina first, but then realized that something which could abuse the sun too was a better choice, so here it is. Will-O-Wisp everything that's physical on the predicted switch (or just do it as they try to set up), judgement everything that's ghost or psychic and perish song to stop last mon sweepers and Baton Pass teams in their tracks. This makes Arceus more of a utility pokemon, but why not? It does have the bulk to pull it off and the typing leaves it with only two weaknesses.
Ferrum (Ferrothorn) (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: Iron Barbs
EVs: 252 HP / 48 Atk / 208 SDef
Sassy Nature (+SDef, -Spd)
- Spikes
- Leech Seed
- Power Whip
- Thunder Wave
My main Kyogre check and Palkia if rain's up. This thing tanks the water spouts and cripples the scarfed variants with t-wave, or hits the specs ones with a power whip if they're foolish enough to stay in to let me do that. Though more times than not I'll just t-wave to give Groudon or Ho-oh a field day in later turns. Leech seed all the pink blobs and Giratinas for some nice recovery and find a way to get some stealth rocks up at some point. Not much need for a Ferrothorn analysis here, everyone's used one or at least come against one many a time.
Iocus (Xatu) (F) @ Light Clay
Trait: Magic Bounce
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 Spd
Bold Nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Reflect
- Light Screen
- Roost
- U-turn
The joker of the team and possibly my favourite member. This crazy thing trolls all over stall teams and just sets up screens in their face as they attempt to switch to something to hit it with only to find their 'counter' will now do half damage thanks to some nice predictions with the screens. Roost for reliable recovery and HP Fire to take out Ferrothorns and Forretress. Xatu over Espeon for the reliable recovery due to my main use for Xatu being to annoy stall teams, which are often rain varieties.
Astrum (Palkia) @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Pressure
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Hasty Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Thunder
- Spacial Rend
- Outrage
- Fire Blast
Originally Terrakion was placed here, but that left me with a gaping Specsogre weakness as was noted by just about anyone that saw the team. Furai suggested this Palkia instead of Terrakion and it's worked perfectly. It's power and speed patch up a minor weakness in Darkrai by OHKO'ing it with Draco Meteor and also covers my Kyogre weakness as long as I don't play obvious and switch it into a Thunder or Ice Beam. With the Choice Scarf equipped Palkia can revenge any unboosted dragons and life orb Mewtwo with a Draco Meteor. This pokemon fits perfectly where Terrakion was doing a mediocre job.
As I said this is my first RMT and I'm very open to any changes within the team. I mentioned above that stealth rocks rarely give me problems if they get up, so I'll link to a match where they did against someone using a team he claimed Donkey gave him, which I can believe since the team was a challenge to beat. Other than that thanks very much for reading this and I look forward to your rates!
The match I mentioned earlier if you want to watch it. Under one of my alts 'Glore'. I was using double dance Groudon in this one, then changed back right after this to paradancer:
Export to text:
Any changes to the team will be done in bold.
I started building this team after playing many an ubers battle against countless rain stall teams and hyper offensive teams. The objective of this team was to break away from the common teams and build something a little more unorthodox. I had also always had an interest in Ho-oh though never using it myself, so I built this team around it, well kind of.
Team at a Glance
The Team
Terra (Groudon) @ Leftovers
Trait: Drought
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 Spd
Impish Nature (+Def, -SAtk)
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- Roar
- Stealth Rocks
As the only viable option for sun in ubers he is an obligatory member of the team. Without his sun Ho-oh doesn't get that lovely little sacred fire boost and keeps its water weakness, so Groudon is very important to the team. Though despite Ho-oh relying on the sun, I'm never one to sacrifice my others in a weather war to keep Groudon alive since 5/6 of my team can work well without the sun. It's just a nice little bonus I take when I can get. The set itself gives me a physical wall and a way to stop Baton Pass teams and Substitute pokemon while still being able to hit hard with the edgequake combination.
-Changed the set from paradancer to a rock polish + swords dance set. This was then changed to defensive stealth rocks.-
Luceat (Ho-Oh) @ Leftovers
Trait: Pressure
EVs: 208 HP / 240 Atk / 60 SDef
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Brave Bird
- Sacred Fire
- Substitute
- Recover
Ah Ho-oh. The sole reason for this teams existence.
The set itself is pretty standard: substitute to avoid dragon tail phazing and status conditions and brave bird and sacred fire to put heavy damage on a vast majority of ubers. The 50% burn rate on sacred fire and the immense damage it brings makes it very dangerous to switch into if the sun's up to stay and you're not called Giratina or Palkia. Of course there is the ever prominent threat of stealth rocks which makes me really want a spinner on the team, but it seems like that would just be a liability. It just takes some skillful predictions with Xatu to keep them off my side of the field, even if the opponent does get stealth rocks up I can still win the game without major problems. There's only a few times that I've had stealth rocks be a major problem to my team, so that makes a spinner seem even more useless. The EVs give me 101hp substitutes to allow me to set up on the fat pink blobs and allow me 2 Stealth Rock switch-ins should the opponent manage to get them up.
Umbra (Arceus-Ghost) @ Spooky Plate
Trait: Multitype
EVs: 252 HP / 96 Def / 160 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Judgment
- Perish Song
- Recover
- Will-O-Wisp
My extreme-killer, Giratina and Mewtwo check. Though extreme-killer can be handled other ways. When I made the team I realized that if I was going to have a magic bouncer on my team, I might as well have a spin blocker. I thought about Giratina first, but then realized that something which could abuse the sun too was a better choice, so here it is. Will-O-Wisp everything that's physical on the predicted switch (or just do it as they try to set up), judgement everything that's ghost or psychic and perish song to stop last mon sweepers and Baton Pass teams in their tracks. This makes Arceus more of a utility pokemon, but why not? It does have the bulk to pull it off and the typing leaves it with only two weaknesses.
Ferrum (Ferrothorn) (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: Iron Barbs
EVs: 252 HP / 48 Atk / 208 SDef
Sassy Nature (+SDef, -Spd)
- Spikes
- Leech Seed
- Power Whip
- Thunder Wave
My main Kyogre check and Palkia if rain's up. This thing tanks the water spouts and cripples the scarfed variants with t-wave, or hits the specs ones with a power whip if they're foolish enough to stay in to let me do that. Though more times than not I'll just t-wave to give Groudon or Ho-oh a field day in later turns. Leech seed all the pink blobs and Giratinas for some nice recovery and find a way to get some stealth rocks up at some point. Not much need for a Ferrothorn analysis here, everyone's used one or at least come against one many a time.
Iocus (Xatu) (F) @ Light Clay
Trait: Magic Bounce
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 Spd
Bold Nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Reflect
- Light Screen
- Roost
- U-turn
The joker of the team and possibly my favourite member. This crazy thing trolls all over stall teams and just sets up screens in their face as they attempt to switch to something to hit it with only to find their 'counter' will now do half damage thanks to some nice predictions with the screens. Roost for reliable recovery and HP Fire to take out Ferrothorns and Forretress. Xatu over Espeon for the reliable recovery due to my main use for Xatu being to annoy stall teams, which are often rain varieties.
Astrum (Palkia) @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Pressure
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Hasty Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Thunder
- Spacial Rend
- Outrage
- Fire Blast
Originally Terrakion was placed here, but that left me with a gaping Specsogre weakness as was noted by just about anyone that saw the team. Furai suggested this Palkia instead of Terrakion and it's worked perfectly. It's power and speed patch up a minor weakness in Darkrai by OHKO'ing it with Draco Meteor and also covers my Kyogre weakness as long as I don't play obvious and switch it into a Thunder or Ice Beam. With the Choice Scarf equipped Palkia can revenge any unboosted dragons and life orb Mewtwo with a Draco Meteor. This pokemon fits perfectly where Terrakion was doing a mediocre job.
As I said this is my first RMT and I'm very open to any changes within the team. I mentioned above that stealth rocks rarely give me problems if they get up, so I'll link to a match where they did against someone using a team he claimed Donkey gave him, which I can believe since the team was a challenge to beat. Other than that thanks very much for reading this and I look forward to your rates!
The match I mentioned earlier if you want to watch it. Under one of my alts 'Glore'. I was using double dance Groudon in this one, then changed back right after this to paradancer:
Export to text:
Terra (Groudon) @ Leftovers
Trait: Drought
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 Spd
Impish Nature (+Def, -SAtk)
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- Roar
- Stealth Rock
Ferrum (Ferrothorn) (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: Iron Barbs
EVs: 252 HP / 48 Atk / 208 SDef
Sassy Nature (+SDef, -Spd)
- Spikes
- Leech Seed
- Power Whip
- Thunder Wave
Umbra (Arceus-Ghost) @ Spooky Plate
Trait: Multitype
EVs: 252 HP / 96 Def / 160 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Judgment
- Perish Song
- Recover
- Will-O-Wisp
Iocus (Xatu) (F) @ Light Clay
Trait: Magic Bounce
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 Spd
Bold Nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Reflect
- Light Screen
- Roost
- U-turn
Luceat (Ho-Oh) @ Leftovers
Trait: Pressure
EVs: 208 HP / 240 Atk / 60 SDef
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Brave Bird
- Sacred Fire
- Substitute
- Recover
Astrum (Palkia) @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Pressure
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Hasty Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Thunder
- Spacial Rend
- Outrage
- Fire Blast
Trait: Drought
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 Spd
Impish Nature (+Def, -SAtk)
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- Roar
- Stealth Rock
Ferrum (Ferrothorn) (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: Iron Barbs
EVs: 252 HP / 48 Atk / 208 SDef
Sassy Nature (+SDef, -Spd)
- Spikes
- Leech Seed
- Power Whip
- Thunder Wave
Umbra (Arceus-Ghost) @ Spooky Plate
Trait: Multitype
EVs: 252 HP / 96 Def / 160 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Judgment
- Perish Song
- Recover
- Will-O-Wisp
Iocus (Xatu) (F) @ Light Clay
Trait: Magic Bounce
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 Spd
Bold Nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Reflect
- Light Screen
- Roost
- U-turn
Luceat (Ho-Oh) @ Leftovers
Trait: Pressure
EVs: 208 HP / 240 Atk / 60 SDef
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Brave Bird
- Sacred Fire
- Substitute
- Recover
Astrum (Palkia) @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Pressure
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Hasty Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Thunder
- Spacial Rend
- Outrage
- Fire Blast
Any changes to the team will be done in bold.