Intro
Well when I created this team, it surprisingly was not inspired by someone using Empoleon, even though they seem to be a little more popular these days. One day, I just decided that I wanted to create a team that revolved around Empoleon as the late game sweeper. Not too exciting, but I guess it will suffice. This will be explained more thoroughly in the team building process, but I decided on taking the route of toxic spike support to make Empoleon sweep easier. From there it grew into something more; a kind of annoy/stall/balanced team. I believe I’ve been seeing a rise in stall and/or spiking teams, perhaps balanced stall will be the new ‘thing’. Anyway, I really wanted to make this team so that when Empoleon comes in, he does not have to do much except for take control and clean up what's left. After all, you never send the king in first to do the dirty work.
Team Building Process
Since my initial plan was to have a late game Empoleon sweep, I started out with the most obvious option, my favorite flightless bird: Empoleon. In order to make the late game sweep more feasible, I could have gone a possible two ways from here. I could focus the team on powerful special sweepers to try to weaken the opposing team’s special walls or I could go with Toxic Spikes support. I decided on the latter because I prefer a more safe playing style rather than the quick paced, make or break decision style of full out offense. Then came the second fork in the road in which I had to choose between a stall oriented team (with Forretress / Tentacruel as my Toxic Spikes support), or a balanced team (with Roserade as my Toxic Spikes support).
I chose Roserade for my Toxic Spikes support mostly because I had just finished working on a stall team and I wanted to create this team in a balanced manner. Roserade makes a better lead than forrey and tentacruel as well.
Since I was planning on Empoleon being the late game sweeper, I tried to complete the rest of the team without keeping him in mind because I found myself trying to think too much about what would go well with Roserade and Empoleon instead of focusing solely on Roserade. Heatran and many other fire types eat Roserade for breakfast, so I needed a way to deal with this problem. This is where Vaporeon fits into the team.
Once I put Vaporeon on the team, I was instantly reminded of Venom’s Vaporeon/Zapdos/Tyranitar combo which I had used on one of my previous teams with great success and almost simultaneously Rotom-A and Ttar were put on the team. These two help me greatly by countering two of what seems to be the most common switch ins to Vaporeon: Gyarados and Celebi. I chose Rotom over Zapdos because it prevents my Tspikes from being blown away which are crucial to the plan.
So now I have almost every slot filled and as you may have noticed, there is a gaping Tyranitar, Lucario, Heracross, etc. weakness…It’s funny because when I was first creating this team, I was against using Gliscor (even though Empoleon + Gliscor is a great combination) because I wouldn’t be switching Gliscor and Empoleon out continually. However, somehow Gliscor worked his way onto the team.
In Depth
Rosa (Roserade) (F) @ Focus Sash
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 6 HP/252 Spd/252 SAtk
Timid nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Sleep Powder
- Toxic Spikes
- Grass Knot
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The frontman – er, frontwoman Rosa. Roserade is probably the most important team player because without Toxic Spikes, things like Blissey, Celebi, Vaporeon, Snorlax and the like would put Empoelon’s late game sweep to an immediate halt. It also helps when one of the opponent’s team members is completely immobilized by sleep. Roserade makes a great lead because she has an easy time dealing with a lot of other leads by simply putting them to sleep and proceeding to set up at least one layer of Tspikes. The only other leads that could possibly mess her up would be a fast taunter, another sleeper lead, which seem to be a lot less popular since the Pt. release, or perhaps some other type of status lead (which doesn't effect her as much because of Natural Cure). At first, I thought about putting a scarf on her for guaranteed sleep and a nice revenge killer, but I’d rather have tspikes set up right from the start of the match instead. There has definetely been a rise in Roserade as a lead lately, and for a good reason. Since the metagame is so focused on bulky SR leads and less on fast, suicide leads right now, this is a perfect time for Rosa to arrive on the scene. She serves as a psuedo spy for the team by setting up initial hazards on the opposing side and sleeping the other side’s members, thus making the rest of the take over that much easier. The opponent could be completely unaware of how this little spring flower could be the downfall of their team.
Vaporeon (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Water Absorb
EVs: 188 HP/252 Def/68 Spd
Bold nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Ice Beam
- Protect
- Surf
- Wish
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Vaporeon serves as the medic for the team. It provides wish support for the rest of the team members and helps me deal with Heatran and friends. Like I had mentioned earlier, the combination of Vaporeon-Rotom-Tyranitar works well and assists in keeping all the team members connected. Wish really comes in handy because I often find myself switching from Vaporeon to Rotom or Tyranitar who, otherwise, have no other method of recovery.
Overdrive (Rotom-h) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 4 HP/252 Spd/252 SAtk
Modest nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Overheat
- Trick
- Thunderbolt
- Shadow Ball
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When conquering a kingdom, it always good to have someone on the inside, and that’s exactly what this pesky ghost is. When I first thought of Rotom-A for this team, I was thinking it would be the standard bulky set or the subcharge set that I keep seeing in so many teams, but I opted for choice scarf for several reasons. Most importantly with Choice Rotom I can 'trick' the Choice Scarf onto the opponent’s wall(s), therefore making Empoleon’s entrance much easier. I also have a lack of speed or revenge killer on the team without it and that’s always helpful for when something goes wrong and the opponent tries to gain the upper hand. As I use this team more and more, I find that other Rotoms can be a pain which is why I chose Shadow Ball over anything else. Sometimes I worry about the need for bulk to counter Scizor (or other steels) and Gyarados, but it’s usually fine as I have Gliscor who can deal with Scizor and other steels temporarily and I outspeed Gyara regardless of whether they have a DD in or not. Bonus points for those who caught the subtle, yet corny pun.
Tyranitar (M) @ Choice Band
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 HP/40 Atk/216 SDef
Careful nature (+SDef, -SAtk)
- Crunch
- Earthquake
- Pursuit
- Stone Edge
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Tyranitar: Empoleon’s main assassin. Tyranitar is extremely helpful to Empoleon because it can trap and kill some of Empoleon’s biggest counters. Blissey instantly comes to mind, as does Celebi. Tyranitar is undeniably the powerhouse of this team; had he not been put on, I would have a significant lack of power. He completes my somewhat defensive combination of Vaproeon-Rotom-Ttar and with the 252 HP / 40 Atk / 216 SpDef EV spread, I no longer have an issue with Zapdos, Latias, Gengar, Rotom (non-WoW versions), etc. One of Tyranitar’s many distinguished attributes is that it can start a sandstorm, and therefore sets up the proper weather conditions for the King’s arrival. So far, everything seems to be working in his favor…
Gliscor (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Sand Veil
EVs: 252 HP/40 Def/216 Spd
Impish nature (+Def, -SAtk)
- Earthquake
- Aerial Ace
- Stealth Rock
- Roost
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Gliscor provides the extra defense and support for the team. Stealth Rock helps me wear down things that are immune to tpikes, such as levitators and flyers. As I mentioned earlier, Gliscor fills the spot for my Heracross, Tyranitar, Lucario, Breloom, Machamp, etc. weakness. Gliscor works very well with bulky waters like Vaporeon, so wish passing is a plus for the relationship, plus I get to get SR up early if it goes in that order (Roserade->Vaporeon->Gliscor). The evasion boost from Tyranitar’s sandstorm isn’t too shabby either.
DaKing (Empoleon) (M) @ Petaya Berry
Ability: Torrent
EVs: 12 HP/12 Def/232 Spd/252 SAtk
Modest nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Substitute
- Surf
- Agility
- Ice Beam
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Finally, the moment has come for the king to arrive. So far, the following has happened before his entrance (if all went according to plan, in which most cases it does): Toxic Spikes is set up, one the of the opponent’s Pokemon is sleeping, one of the opponent’s walls has a choice item, Blissey / Celebi / Latias have fainted or have dangerously low health due to Tyranitar, there’s a sandstorm going on, stealth rock is set up, and the opponent has probably missed Glicor at least once with a crucial attack. Things seem to be looking up for Empoleon. The only question now is when to make the move. When I initially saw Empoleon’s moveset, I thought it would be very difficult to try to get an agility in on a free turn even though it has so many resistances. However, I am finding it much easier than I thought, probably because of all I have set up prior to his entrance. I must say, Empoleon is awfully underrated. It’s the best late game special sweeper I have ever used, and possibly the best late game sweeper that I have ever used period. Don’t underestimate this polar bird.
Conclusion / Threat List
So now this team has infiltrated the lands and King Empoleon has conquered yet another kingdom (to be honest, I just got the Empoleon historical reference pun as I’m writing this). I've had tremendous success with this team, and I may decide to do a threat list later, but for now I’ll just say a little about some problems I seem to have with the team. Stall teams that involve spikes seem to trip this team up a little. Since I have no RS support, my wish support is affected by spikes, plus there’s not a huge amount of power backing the team, it tends to be a bit of a dilemma. I have no immediate answer to Restalk Suicune (except trying to stall it out with Vaporeon or tricking it with Rotom. Maybe I should go with HP [Electric] instead?) or bulky grounds (esp. Curse Swampert). Thankfully I haven’t run into those either of those yet, so I’ll see how it goes if I ever do.
