HBK
Subtlety is my middle name
Introduction
So I have never posted an RMT in the three years since I joined smogon,partly out of sheer laziness and partly because I didn't want to reveal my teams.But in gen 5,team preview reveals your team to your opponent before the battle and,having laddered extensively with this team,a lot of people probably know it so why not post an RMT in order to fix it's weakness through TR advice?
I can't for the life of me recall when I built this team but it was about 3 months ago.My team building style is basically a series of trial and error tests.I decide what poke I want to base my team around,add pokes to support it while attempting to check the various threats that this metagame has to offer.Then I ladder till I lose to something,open my teambuilder and try to fix that weakness.This cycle continues till I feel that I have everything covered and the team gets me a good rating although hax can be a bitch :(
That being said,If you're expecting a team building process,I'm sorry but you're going to be disappointed.This team has gone through so many changes that it's impossible for me list them(or remember them :P).
As I said,I always attempt to cover as many threats as possible when i build teams so most of my teams are Bulky offense.I despise stall with a passion and I don't like the risk that comes with HO teams.I like being in control and setting up on my opponent when I can.The team is based around a SD Lucario sweep but it can also win me games without him setting up whether it is wearing the opposition down with hazards or stalling them with Mew or a combination of both.
The team peaked at #7 on the Smogon leaderboard with a rating of 1510 before I got shitloads of hax and lost 100 points.It was one of the four teams i sent for Second Chances and helped me reach round 4 undefeated.I had planned to post it after the tournament.Then I got coin flipped in R4 and luckfucked by Mcmeghan in R5 so here it is.
The name of this RMT comes from my favorite ex WWE wrestler Shawn Michaels(aka HBK) signature move :)
In detail:
Tyranitar (F) @ Lum berry
Trait: Sand Stream
EVs:252 HP / 60 Atk / 64 SAtk / 132 SDef
Brave Nature (+Atk, -Spd)
Crunch
Fire Blast
Pursuit
Stealth Rock
Tyranitar plays a very important role on this team and is easily the hardest member to replace.The team does not require sand to win but sand is necessary in order to beat Sun,Rain and,to a lesser extent,Hail.Tyranitar also helps Luke sweep by eliminating the likes of Jellicent,Dusclops(lol),etc.
The moves are self explanatory:Crunch is her main STAB and is required to slay ghosts and psychic types.I run Pursuit as well to ensure that it is much harder for ghosts and psychic types to escape him.It also helps her kill weakened weather starters among other troublesome pokemon.I also use her to get rid of Tenta on rain teams by predicting the switch in,Crunch/Pursuiting them(they usually carry protect so it involves mind games) and repeat the process till it's weakened enough for me to Pursuit it to death.This enables Forry to set up hazards and spin them with ease.It was a toss up between Fire Blast and Ice Beam and I decided to go with the former so opposing Luke,Scizor,etc.can't set up on me and so I can prevent Ferro and opposing Forry from setting up hazards.Stealth Rock is a must have for any team so that Dragonite and Volcarona can't switch in and out as they please. and is also a good hazard in general in tandem with Spikes.
I'm in a dilemma with regard to the EVspread i should use;I want special bulk but I also need power to beat the likes of Reuniclus.Help would be appreciated.
Lum berry was chosen to give Tyranitar the ability to beat Jellicent,Dusclops,Cofag,etc. and also helps against Tentacruel.Gotta love that sprite :)
Mew @ Leftovers
Trait: Synchronize
EVs:252 HP / 236 Def / 16 Spd
Bold Nature (+Def, -Atk)
Psychic
Will-O-Wisp
Taunt
Recover
Mew is here to deal with the powerful Fighting type pokemon that dominate this metagame and is a good physical wall and stall breaker in general.Terrakion is a bit tricky to deal with but Mew never goes down without burning him bar hax.Rock jewel Tera OHKO's but I can burn it if I predict the first Stone Edge correctly and sack someone(usually Forry as he's the least important team member).
Psychic is it's only attacking move on this set and helps it check Fighting types.Taunt helps break stall and prevents pokemon from setting up boosts/hazards.WOW cripples physically inclined pokemon and Fighting types and helps wear other pokemon down along with SS damage.Recover necessary to keep it in good shape so it can constantly wall opposing pokemon.Synchronize is a decent ability to have but I often wish it got Magic Guard :(
252 HP and 216 in Defence to help it effectively wall Fighting types.I used to run 252 Def but SJCrew advised me to run 236 and put the rest in Spd and it has worked pretty well.
Landorus (M) @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Sand Force
EVs:252 Atk / 252 Spd / 4 Spa
Naive Nature (+Spd, -SDef)
Earthquake
Stone Edge
Hidden Power Ice
U-turn
Landorus is without a doubt one of the best,if not the best,revenge killer in this generation.It's ability only enhances it's revenge killing abilities.He can scout,sweep late game,revenge kill-Scarflandorus can do anything you need him to.
Earthquake is his most important move as it is,not only his only STAB move on this set,but also what makes him a good counter to Terakion,CMrachi,etc.Stone Edge is the second most important move as it stops DDnite,Volcarona and Gyara from sweeping.U-turn is great for scouting and gaining the upper hand while Hidden Power Ice is useful against Gliscor and when I want to kill a dragon without risking a Stone Edge miss.His unique speed stat is another reason why he's so good at what he does.
Standard spread for Scarflandorus with 4 EVs in Spa to power up HP Ice.
Forretress (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: Sturdy
EVs:252 HP / 252 Def / 4 Atk
Relaxed Nature (+ Def, -Spd)
Spikes
Volt Switch
Gyro Ball
Rapid Spin
Almost every team needs a spinner,with the exception of HO teams and some uncommon ones,and a steel type to tank Outrages.Forry functions as both a spinner and a physical wall on this team while setting up Spikes to weaken the opposition for a Luke sweep.80% of the times that I get SR+Spikes up I don't even need to set up with Luke to sweep.Even with all her advantages,she is the first pokemon that comes to mind when I need to put something to sleep or sacrifice something.
Spikes help wear down opposing pokemon to soften them up for Lucario to sweep.Volt Switch is useful to escape from the clutches of non HP Fire Magnezone and also helps me kill opposing spinblockers and Tentacruel with Tyranitar.It also helps scout and turn the momentum in my favour.Gyro Ball prevents it from being set up fodder for Terakion and gives her a way of hitting the dragons she will often come in to wall(although I'll usually set up Spikes for the first two turns or so of Outrage and then Gyro Ball as they get confused or Volt Switch if i think they're gonna switch).Sturdy is a much better ability than it used to be and guarantees that Forry will get one layer of Spikes up atleast before she gets KO'd which is cool.Also helps when it comes to spinning hazards.
The EVs are standard stuff;I don't need it to absorb DM's so 252 EVs are put in Defence and the remaining 4 EVs are put in Attack to make Gyro Ball stronger.
Gastrodon (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: Storm Drain
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SDef
Sassy Nature (+SDef, -Spd)
Earthquake
Scald
Toxic
Recover
Gastrodon is my rain and Rotom-W check.She was an original member of the team and I never felt the need to change her as she was very good at what she does.I obviously need to watch out for Hidden Power Grass so I will always start with her vs rain teams(assuming they'll lead with Politoed) and then switch to Forry the next turn.This tells me whether the opposing Politoed carries HP Grass or not as they will either HP Grass Gastro or Toxic it.It's funny how some players think they can cripple her by burning her.All they do is nullify Leftys recovery and make her immune to poison.That being said,If for some reason Forry goes down early and my opponent sets Tspikes up,I make it a point to switch Gastro in before he sets up a second layer to keep her alive.Chesto/Ebelt Rotom-W with HP Grass is a bitch :(
Scald is her main STAB and it's 30% burn rate can be very useful.Earth Power is her secondary STAB and grants it useful coverage;it ensures that Toxicroak cannot set up on her and also gives her a means of hurting Jirachi and Tentacruel.Skarm takes a shitload if I predict the Roost accurately.Toxic helps it stall opposing pokemon and works well with Recover.
Again,I don't need Gastrodon to absorb DM's so I decided to go for a physically defensive spread and it has saved my ass more times then I can remember.The EVs also ensure that she is never 2HKO'ed by Bandzor's U-turn so I just click Recover when i think they're gonna U-turn(she takes 45% max from a CB U-turn).The remainder of the EVs are dumped in SDef to give it some special bulk which is further boosted by the nature.Oh and did I mention that she's extremely horny? ;)
Lucario (M) @ Life Orb
Trait: Steadfast
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 Spd / 4 HP
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
Swords Dance
Close Combat
ExtremeSpeed
Ice Punch
And here's the boss! Just as HBK beats the shit out of other wrestlers Luke wrecks the majority of the metagame with it's good Attack stat and high BP STAB.Tyranitar allows me to run Ice Punch on Luke as ghosts are already taken care of.CC,Espeed and Ice Punch give him good coverage and he's very dangerous with Spikes and SR up and his counters gone.
Close Combat is the move I'll be spamming 90% of the times I bring him in due to it's high BP and STAB boost.ExtremeSpeed is the next best move he has considering his horrible(atleast by OU standards)speed stat.Swords Dance is my weapon vs defensive teams although I rarely need to use it with all the HO teams that you see around these days.Last but not least,Ice Punch helps him OHKO Gliscor,Dragonite,etc. after +2 and provides good coverage alongside his other moves.
Again,nothing special here;252 EVs in attack and Adamant nature to wreck the opposition and 252 Spd as he needs all the speed he can get.The leftover EVs are put in HP to give him some bulk to set up on stuff and so he doesn't get killed by stuff like CBzor's BP :(
Conclusion
While this team has been very successful for me it still has it's flaws and that is why I have come to you for help.Opposing Stall breaker Mews are hard to deal with without any WOW misses to help me.Bulky CM Reuniclus is another pokemon that's troublesome for this team.I can deal with both these pokemon but it requires luck and precision on my part and it's even harder if the opponent is a good player so any suggestions to make dealing with them easier are more than welcome.Pardon me if I've made any mistakes as this is my first RMT.
I'm also very thankful to shrang for helping me write this RMT.Rate away!
I'm also very thankful to shrang for helping me write this RMT.Rate away!