if you don't really care for opening paragraphs, you can skip all of this jargon. here's the team so you can think it over a bit.
Suicide
Well guys, as some of you may have learned, I only got reliable access to shoddybattle a few months ago. In those few months, all of the theory crap that I had learned (because I only was able to play shoddy occasionally to test a team or two before that) was pretty much turned upside down, flipped sideways, thrown around a bit, then placed not to gently on the floor in front of me. I realized why certain strategies didn't work. I figured out what my playstyle was, and I wondered why the hell I couldn't build a team to conform to it. Well, I think I may have remedied that, but I can't be sure. Here's the deal. Those of you who have played me before may know this, but for everyone else (most of you guys), an interesting thing about me is that I am a very, very suicidal player. Before pokemon, the strategy game I enjoyed most was chess, and even then, I often sacrificed many of my pieces just to get an attack on the opponent's king. While this is fine and dandy, often times it required heavy calculations 9 or 10 moves into the game. But when you do these tricky calculations, you can often miss variations, in-between-moves, bigger threats, etc. And when you're sacrificing, there is very little room for error, because a slip up means that you face a massive material disadvantage, usually more than enough to cost you the game. Because of this, most of my games ended relatively quickly, and with few draws, unlike most high-level chess play. From chess I came to pokemon, and quickly made the change. I adapted decently well to the changes, and though the extra bit of luck in pokemon is rather frustrating, the much more fast-paced nature of the game quickly sucked me in. Anyways, back on track, I often sacrifice a whole lot of stuff. Well, in pokemon, that's not always a very good thing to do. Since I tend to sacrifice so much, pretty much every stall team I've tried to play has ended miserably. In fact, pretty much every type of team has failed miserably for me. No, for me, a team of heavy offense is the only way to go. But when you're sacrificing pokemon, the same as with chess pieces, there is not much room for error. And the stuff you don't sacrifice, it has to be enough to break through the enemy team, once you've crippled or killed its counters. Most of your team has to be able to function on its own and deal heavy damage quickly. Otherwise, the opponent catches their footing and all of those sacrifices were in vain. Obviously lots of prediction is needed for teams like these to work, as to make the most of each sacrifice. But contrary to what many people may think, a team where you sacrifice pretty much everything requires a lot more long-term thinking. You have to effectively scout most or all of the enemy team and make sure you bring down what you have to bring down. Anyways, this team is kinda interesting, and in all its history, it has been the most successful team I've ever built, losing only to hax pretty much in the later stages, unless of course I play a battle without thinking, which is extra important in these battles. Unfortunately for me, consistency is something I lack, so while this team has won its fair share of battles against top-ranked players, it has also lost its fair share of battles to people that you may call "n00bs." I'm pretty sure not a single pokemon on the team now was on the team originally, which is kinda cool, and in the process of making this team, I came up with a few cool new sets of my own. Anyways, shoddy is currently not working on my computer again, and I don't think that I'll use this team again whenever it does, so I don't really mind posting it, though a lot relies on surprise and mindgames. This rmt is also a friendly reminder to everyone that beachboy's rmt format >> pretty much everything else, so keep that in mind. Anyways, without further rambling......
Note: This aint a new way to play, so I won't pretend it is. I'm just throwing sacrifices out there as well as resistances when playing an offensive team.
Surprise, surprise
a.k.a. Azelf
----------------------------
Azelf @ Focus Sash
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 36 Atk/220 SpA/252 Spd
Naive nature (+Spd, -SDef)
- Stealth Rock
- U-turn
- Explosion
- Fire Blast
______________________________________________________________
Comments / Thoughts: Suicide lead azelf. I never really found myself using taunt or psychic, so I did away with them both for fire blast and u-turn. I don't know why people don't use u-turn on suicide azelf; I've found it so useful it's not even funny. Oftentimes, I set up sr as people attack expecting a taunt, and then uturn away from their explosion-taker, giving me a very favourable scenario. U-turn is great for scouting this guy's potential counters and switching out to do something useful with a different guy. I don't like hail teams, and I REALLY don't like obamasnow (goddamn democrats), so I usually fire blast off the bat, as they often protect or switch or something. At this point, obama is scared shitless and has no idea what to do, so they switch, and I get my free sr. If it's a tentacruel that I can boom on off the bat, better yet. Bug and fire get decent coverage, but I find this guy hardly ever exploding anymore. Usually he u-turns out for scouting and then comes in later as death fodder. Though the extra explosion has come in very, very handy in the past. Against gayass tyranitar leads, I just sr and then die, then I bring heracross in to do some big damage and even more scouting, and I don't really care if azelf dies early on. You guys pretty much know what this guy does.
______________________________________________________________
Buggernaut
a.k.a. Heracross
-------------------------------
Heracross @ Flame Orb
Ability: Guts
EVs: 80 HP/252 Atk/176 Spd
Adamant nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Close Combat
- Swords Dance
- Facade
- Night Slash
______________________________________________________________
Comments / Thoughts: Swords dance flame orb heracross. I dunno why people don't use this more often. This guy usually comes in after azelf u-turns / dies. If I get him in on a pursuit / other dark attack I can usually sd the switch and then beat the usual counters that come in (a.k.a. gliscor, bulkygyara, defensive zapdos, weezing, etc). What's interesting is that this guy lures in and KO's all of sdluke's big problems, and if I can surprise kill gliscor early game I can usually win as long as I don't play like a total idiot. Chances are, if gliscor doesn't come in immediately the opponent doesn't have one. And basically what the guy brings into this guy is gonna be what he brings into azelf. If it's gyara / zapdos, then suddenly he's taken sr damage. On the switch to luke, he takes another round of it. So basically if I weaken the counter even a tiny bit the opponent could very well be screwed. This guy comes out early game to scout the counters for sdluke, and he does an amazing job of it. Because even if he doesn't lure in and kill the counter, I can usually get a good idea of what's going to come in on lucario and how to deal with it. Aside from a lure / killer of lucario's threats, this guy can come in on status with his flame orb and all, and he's my best (possibly only) answer to heavy stall. And though he takes 12.5% a pop, usually I know if I should keep him around to break stall. I can often wish him back up and bring him in on toxics aimed at vaporeon, which is cool. Now, the evs may seem kinda funny, but the idea is that I hit 250 speed, which is more than most celebi are willing to run, and then the rest goes in hp to help me survive a light hit and get that extra attack in (before I've used close combat). Usually after the first time this guy comes in he becomes death fodder, unless the opponent is using a team of heavy stall, in which case I try to wish him back up and do insane damage to everyone. I've got night slash over megarhorn because this way, every pokemon in the game (except spiritomb, who can't do shit back) gets hit with an attack of at least 140 power, which is awesome from hera's insane attack stat.
______________________________________________________________
Flyfishin
a.k.a. Salamence
------------------------------------
Salamence @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 184 Atk/252 SAtk/44 Spe
Rash nature (+SAtk, -SDef)
- Draco Meteor
- Earthquake
- Fire Blast
- Stone edge / Crunch
______________________________________________________________
Comments / Thoughts: Aight, what the fuck is that? Well, erm, ah, it's, ehe, the, uh...... salamence. Holding a choice scarf. Alright, here's the deal. Scarfmence makes a great pokemon midgame, switching in on random shit and punishing stuff with draco meteor. What's cool about him is that he's not one of the pokemon you'd expect to hold a scarf, so he can usually get a kill based solely on surprise factor. Now, the spread looks kinda odd, as I've bot barely any speed thrown practically all my ev's into the offenses. Well here's the reasoning behind that. Once mence outspeeds something he shouldn't, the cat's out of the bag. They know he's scarfed; they know he's fast. But they don't know how fast. As far as the opponent knows, this guy is naive and has 492 speed. I've packed enough to hit 380, outspeeding modest max speed scarftran, incase he tries any funny business, though usually he's switching either into a resist or eq, meaning either he's dead or I switch anyways. The sr weak kinda puts me off a bit on this guy, but wish support kinda remedies that. In the midgame I rely a lot on this guy to get kills, and I don't really like sacrificing him that much, but I kinda have to sometimes. He usually gets a few kills per game, though. I'm torn between stone edge and crunch, though stone edge seems like it will pay off more in the end, getting good coverage and whatnot, hitting random crap hard when I don't wanna get my special attack dropped. I've got this guy on this team based on another idea: the use of two scarfers or very fast pokemon, one which hits blistering speed, the other moderately fast and often not holding a scarf, is a great substitute for a defensive core. The surprise kills as well as outspeeding and killing random shit pogeys is cool, and this guy makes up part 1 of my 'core.' So yea, I had tar in this spot, nite in this spot, rampardos in this spot, even gyara. But I've found mence to work the best. Especially with the opponent trying to guess his speed, though I guess that won't really help now.
______________________________________________________________
Doggy Style!
a.k.a. Vaporeon
-------------------------------------
Vaporeon @ Leftovers
Ability: Water Absorb
EVs: 188 Hp/252 Def/68 SAtk
Bold nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Wish
- Protect
- Surf
- Ice Beam
______________________________________________________________
Comments / Thoughts: Wishing vappy, pretty standard fare. I really tend to overtax this, though, which can be a problem at times. Other than mence, this is the other guy I have qualms about saccing, namely since scarftran walks all over this team once vap's dead. I mean, dx-s's superpower does ~70%, which is just a tad too little. Luckily for me, I know usually off the bat if people have scarftrans, as they either lead or try to switch into azelf. So all is not lost, I just gotta tread carefully and keep this guy alive until scarftran aint. I often sac this guy just to soften up garchomp (so that extremespeed will kill after a sd), so I don't really have any qualms about yachechomp. Basically, what this guy does for the team is keeps two very important members alive before I'm willing to sacrifice them, and they are heracross and salamence. With salamence taking 25% per switchin and being choiced and all, I really need the wish support to keep him around, though roost kinda solves that. As far as heracross, he's my best answer to stall, so keeping him alive against those kinda teams is great. Aside from that, the threat of healing hera up to do even more insane damage forces my opponent to try and stop me, so I guess this thing puts pressure on the opponent. Surf over hydro pump because though hydro pump does more off the bat to sdluke, a guy this team hates, surf is important to be able to efficiently stall out explosionless agiligross, something my team hates even more than sdluke, against whom I at least have somewhat of a chance. Vaporeon is my favorite pokemon, and he's beginning to find his way on all of my teams as a great utility guy that can deal a decent hit as well.
______________________________________________________________
I Play with Knives
a.k.a. Lucario
-------------------------------
Lucario @ Life Orb
Ability: Inner Focus
EVs: 4 Hp/252 Atk/252 Spe
Adamant nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Swords Dance
- Close Combat
- Extremespeed
- Bullet punch
______________________________________________________________
Comments / Thoughts: Sdluke is a monster in the lategame, especially after hera has lured in and killed all his counters. Well, actually, I often clean up with this guy without a swords dance. He still does pretty massive damage to lots of shit without it, and once all the bulky pokemon are weakened / killed by my other guys, this guy can rampage through a team. You all pretty much know how he works, so yea. I've got bullet punch and extremespeed here because I almost never have trouble with cressy but always with gengar. I dunno why, cressy gives most of this team more trouble than gengar. Most of the time, once hera struts his stuff, people kinda just give up hope and sac cressy, thinking this team can walk all over it, which is cool. I often sac every guy on my team just to weaken garchomp and kill of all the bulky fliers. Though oftentimes I sac this guy to take out a certain steel type that may give deoxys-s trouble. Basically, I decide which guy can sweep more easily and work towards that. Usually I keep this guy hidden until the lategame, so that maybe the opponent doesn't think I have one or something. Standard fare lategame sweeper, not much else to say.
______________________________________________________________
Strawberry Licorice
a.k.a. Deoxys-S
----------------------------
Deoxys-s @ Expert Belt
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 Satk/252 Spd/4 Atk
Naive nature (+Spd, -SDef)
- Superpower
- Ice Beam
- Shadow Ball
- Thunderbolt
______________________________________________________________
Comments / Thoughts: Yeap, deoxys-s. revenge kills stuff, though usually I rely on salamence for that until the lategame. In the lategame, once the steels are dead, this thing can be a monster. Another pretty standard fare pogey, lategame monster, etc etc. Expert belt over life orb so that the other guy can't just switch around and wait for LO damage to kill me, and I've never really needed the extra power. Max speed just to have a chance against other lategaming deoxyses, and because a few points in attack don't really make up for that, since the lowest I'd shoot is 500 for jolly scarfchomp anyways. Another pretty standard fare pogey, usually I don't sac this guy too often simply because I don't bring him out early enough to be worth sacrificing. Revenge kills stuff that gets lots of dragon dances and whatnot. You guys know how this guy works too.
______________________________________________________________
So the idea is to scout the enemy team a bit, get a kill or two, and then figure out how to go about destroying the enemy team, while utilizing sacrifices as well as some prediction to make the job easier. What's great about utilizing sacrifices is that long term thinking is always more accurate than prediction, so if you figure out how to win by sacrificing mispredictions happen much less often. Of course that doesn't mean that giving up a pokemon is better than coming in on a resisted hit, I'm just saying that being able to win by sacrifice >> being able to win by resistances, because sacrifices are much more reliable prediction-wise. this is also a demonstration of how good lures can be to achieve a goal (and a question for aldaron, where the hell did your lures thread go?).
Threat List
Tyranitar - generally he only switches in on azelf, who I sacrifice and then get heracross in.
Gyarados - deoxys can revenge kill it, but this guy usually switches in on expected megarhorns or close combats from hera only to die. otherwise, he can't come in on much else, especially with sr up.
Infernape - I go to vaporeon in most cases. if I can get mence in on a grass knot / close combat all the better.
Azelf - lucario can kill it from 50%, though usually I go to vappy and tempt him to explode while I protect.
Rhyperior - really he can only come in on azelf, who is almost always gone from the get-go. I uturn out usually to hera or luke.
Electivire - I've got one electric move, from deoxys-s who is faster after the motor boost. really he can only switch in on vappy, which means I'm either wishing someone back up to health (salamence can come in on a tbolt or tpunch aimed at vap) or he's taking big damage from a surf.
Heracross - scarfcross gets stopped pretty well by vappy. otherwise, predict and get the right guy in. flame orb hera practically doesn't exist, but as long as I get mence in unscathed, he can kill nonscarfed guys.
Salamence - can't really switch in with the sr and whatnot. really only luke and hera feel threatened by him, and i can switch to vap or my own mence. deo can revenge kill.
Togekiss - can't switch into much on this team with the sr hampering him and every guy on the team can do big damage.
Gengar - can't really switch into anybody, though I can get hera in on status and kill. otherwise get the right guy into the right attack. deo can kill nonscarfed ones.
Garchomp - usually I go to vap to soften him up. the moment he outrages (and yache is broken) I can switch to deo to kill.
Raikou - as long as I keep him without a sub up, I can be kinda ok.
usually i sac whoever's in to keep his sub off and then mence can revenge kill.
Lucario - he can't switch in anywhere except on mence's roosts or dracometeors or vappy. usually I try to stall him for lo damage until my espeed can kill. otherwise, it's up to the speed ties.
Tauros - can't really come into anything. well, actually I've never played this, though I imagine that vap can take him on.
Starmie - mmm, can't really come in anywhere. deo can revenge kill while everyone does big damage to him. usually he tries to come in on mence and dies.
Weavile - Lucario can bullet punch him, or deoxys can revenge kill priority-less ones. vap can take non swords dance guys on and heal up a teammate.
Dugtrio - well I actually have this special hacking device called a game dolphin which allows me to hack shoddy and switch around against this guy.
Alakazam - vap can usually come in on stuff and heal up a partner. deo kills as well.
PorygonZ - can't really come in on anything. but usually they're scarfed, so I predict a guy in.
Medicham - these guys are also usually scarfed, so as long as I don't mispredict, mence and vappy can handle him.
Staraptor - usually scarf or band, get the right guy into the right moves. generally mence can come in, though vappy can wishprotect until he dies from recoil damage.
Slowbro - well he can only really come in on vappy, and I usually wish up hera to come in and either scare him off or kill him.
Machamp - most annoying fucking pokemon ever. confusion is a bitch, and I'm without ghosts, so I guess I have to get lucky and hit him hard and hit him fast. usually I sac to get mence in.
Jolteon - these guys usually lead off with a substitute, so I just sr and then uturn whoever they baton pass to.
Aerodactyl - vappy can take him on pretty well.
Snorlax - can't really switch in other than on vappy, who enjoys wishing hera up (and hera can't get paralysed either)
Zapdos - usually lured in and killed by hera. otherwise, he only switches in well on vappy after a kill. sr helps me to neuter this guy.
Blissey - um, well, he can only come in on vappy, who will enjoy wishing up hera who cannot get paralysed or toxiced. and nobody's gonna flamethrower a vaporeon.
Suicune - usually azelf explodes on it. if not, my big fighting types can kill it, vappy can wish up and force out crocune. subcm is pretty annoying though.
Sceptile - subseeders are stopped cold by mence, who is faster (yay!). specstile can catch me off guard but mence can revenge kill.
Breloom - can only come in on vappy surfs or wishes. vappy hangs around to take the sleep or break the subs with ice beam and then usually mence comes in.
Slaking - Never seen one but the free turns it gives are appreciated.
Tangrowth - can't really come in on anyone, and is slower than the whole team.
Ninjask - with sr up he doesn't do much after the beginning. usually I just fire blast off the bat. I get sr up after jask is dead.
Metagross - vappy can come in on everything other than explosion and cb thunderpunch. otherwise this is very very scary. luckily it can't switch in on anyone but deoxys
Heatran - usually vap comes in, but scarftran gives this team big problems once vap is gone.
Celebi - an annoying little fuck. luckily, he can't come in on too much other than lucario. generally I go to mence, as nobody's gonna hp ice a luke. though I have to be wary of thunderwave. sometimes I switch to hera instead, who scares celebi shitless.
Jirachi - only usually comes in on deoxys. usually I just attack with whoever's out, unless it's subcm or something. then I usually sac something to break the sub and go to mence to eq.
Deoxys-S - Lucario can take it out from about 70% if it has LO. vap can take a tbolt or two and stall it from there, but usually I just have to predict against this guy. worst comes to worst, I still have my own deo in the wings for a speed tie.
mandatory credits to aragornbird for his awesome pictures, beachboy for his awesome format, to fabbles for being cool and telling me to try and play with my favorites, and, well gamefaqs, you always stay classy.
Gamefaqs team mamo thread
check out the awesome responses to team mamo!
Suicide
Well guys, as some of you may have learned, I only got reliable access to shoddybattle a few months ago. In those few months, all of the theory crap that I had learned (because I only was able to play shoddy occasionally to test a team or two before that) was pretty much turned upside down, flipped sideways, thrown around a bit, then placed not to gently on the floor in front of me. I realized why certain strategies didn't work. I figured out what my playstyle was, and I wondered why the hell I couldn't build a team to conform to it. Well, I think I may have remedied that, but I can't be sure. Here's the deal. Those of you who have played me before may know this, but for everyone else (most of you guys), an interesting thing about me is that I am a very, very suicidal player. Before pokemon, the strategy game I enjoyed most was chess, and even then, I often sacrificed many of my pieces just to get an attack on the opponent's king. While this is fine and dandy, often times it required heavy calculations 9 or 10 moves into the game. But when you do these tricky calculations, you can often miss variations, in-between-moves, bigger threats, etc. And when you're sacrificing, there is very little room for error, because a slip up means that you face a massive material disadvantage, usually more than enough to cost you the game. Because of this, most of my games ended relatively quickly, and with few draws, unlike most high-level chess play. From chess I came to pokemon, and quickly made the change. I adapted decently well to the changes, and though the extra bit of luck in pokemon is rather frustrating, the much more fast-paced nature of the game quickly sucked me in. Anyways, back on track, I often sacrifice a whole lot of stuff. Well, in pokemon, that's not always a very good thing to do. Since I tend to sacrifice so much, pretty much every stall team I've tried to play has ended miserably. In fact, pretty much every type of team has failed miserably for me. No, for me, a team of heavy offense is the only way to go. But when you're sacrificing pokemon, the same as with chess pieces, there is not much room for error. And the stuff you don't sacrifice, it has to be enough to break through the enemy team, once you've crippled or killed its counters. Most of your team has to be able to function on its own and deal heavy damage quickly. Otherwise, the opponent catches their footing and all of those sacrifices were in vain. Obviously lots of prediction is needed for teams like these to work, as to make the most of each sacrifice. But contrary to what many people may think, a team where you sacrifice pretty much everything requires a lot more long-term thinking. You have to effectively scout most or all of the enemy team and make sure you bring down what you have to bring down. Anyways, this team is kinda interesting, and in all its history, it has been the most successful team I've ever built, losing only to hax pretty much in the later stages, unless of course I play a battle without thinking, which is extra important in these battles. Unfortunately for me, consistency is something I lack, so while this team has won its fair share of battles against top-ranked players, it has also lost its fair share of battles to people that you may call "n00bs." I'm pretty sure not a single pokemon on the team now was on the team originally, which is kinda cool, and in the process of making this team, I came up with a few cool new sets of my own. Anyways, shoddy is currently not working on my computer again, and I don't think that I'll use this team again whenever it does, so I don't really mind posting it, though a lot relies on surprise and mindgames. This rmt is also a friendly reminder to everyone that beachboy's rmt format >> pretty much everything else, so keep that in mind. Anyways, without further rambling......
Note: This aint a new way to play, so I won't pretend it is. I'm just throwing sacrifices out there as well as resistances when playing an offensive team.
Surprise, surprise
a.k.a. Azelf
----------------------------
Azelf @ Focus Sash
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 36 Atk/220 SpA/252 Spd
Naive nature (+Spd, -SDef)
- Stealth Rock
- U-turn
- Explosion
- Fire Blast
______________________________________________________________
Comments / Thoughts: Suicide lead azelf. I never really found myself using taunt or psychic, so I did away with them both for fire blast and u-turn. I don't know why people don't use u-turn on suicide azelf; I've found it so useful it's not even funny. Oftentimes, I set up sr as people attack expecting a taunt, and then uturn away from their explosion-taker, giving me a very favourable scenario. U-turn is great for scouting this guy's potential counters and switching out to do something useful with a different guy. I don't like hail teams, and I REALLY don't like obamasnow (goddamn democrats), so I usually fire blast off the bat, as they often protect or switch or something. At this point, obama is scared shitless and has no idea what to do, so they switch, and I get my free sr. If it's a tentacruel that I can boom on off the bat, better yet. Bug and fire get decent coverage, but I find this guy hardly ever exploding anymore. Usually he u-turns out for scouting and then comes in later as death fodder. Though the extra explosion has come in very, very handy in the past. Against gayass tyranitar leads, I just sr and then die, then I bring heracross in to do some big damage and even more scouting, and I don't really care if azelf dies early on. You guys pretty much know what this guy does.
______________________________________________________________
Buggernaut
a.k.a. Heracross
-------------------------------
Heracross @ Flame Orb
Ability: Guts
EVs: 80 HP/252 Atk/176 Spd
Adamant nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Close Combat
- Swords Dance
- Facade
- Night Slash
______________________________________________________________
Comments / Thoughts: Swords dance flame orb heracross. I dunno why people don't use this more often. This guy usually comes in after azelf u-turns / dies. If I get him in on a pursuit / other dark attack I can usually sd the switch and then beat the usual counters that come in (a.k.a. gliscor, bulkygyara, defensive zapdos, weezing, etc). What's interesting is that this guy lures in and KO's all of sdluke's big problems, and if I can surprise kill gliscor early game I can usually win as long as I don't play like a total idiot. Chances are, if gliscor doesn't come in immediately the opponent doesn't have one. And basically what the guy brings into this guy is gonna be what he brings into azelf. If it's gyara / zapdos, then suddenly he's taken sr damage. On the switch to luke, he takes another round of it. So basically if I weaken the counter even a tiny bit the opponent could very well be screwed. This guy comes out early game to scout the counters for sdluke, and he does an amazing job of it. Because even if he doesn't lure in and kill the counter, I can usually get a good idea of what's going to come in on lucario and how to deal with it. Aside from a lure / killer of lucario's threats, this guy can come in on status with his flame orb and all, and he's my best (possibly only) answer to heavy stall. And though he takes 12.5% a pop, usually I know if I should keep him around to break stall. I can often wish him back up and bring him in on toxics aimed at vaporeon, which is cool. Now, the evs may seem kinda funny, but the idea is that I hit 250 speed, which is more than most celebi are willing to run, and then the rest goes in hp to help me survive a light hit and get that extra attack in (before I've used close combat). Usually after the first time this guy comes in he becomes death fodder, unless the opponent is using a team of heavy stall, in which case I try to wish him back up and do insane damage to everyone. I've got night slash over megarhorn because this way, every pokemon in the game (except spiritomb, who can't do shit back) gets hit with an attack of at least 140 power, which is awesome from hera's insane attack stat.
______________________________________________________________
Flyfishin
a.k.a. Salamence
------------------------------------
Salamence @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 184 Atk/252 SAtk/44 Spe
Rash nature (+SAtk, -SDef)
- Draco Meteor
- Earthquake
- Fire Blast
- Stone edge / Crunch
______________________________________________________________
Comments / Thoughts: Aight, what the fuck is that? Well, erm, ah, it's, ehe, the, uh...... salamence. Holding a choice scarf. Alright, here's the deal. Scarfmence makes a great pokemon midgame, switching in on random shit and punishing stuff with draco meteor. What's cool about him is that he's not one of the pokemon you'd expect to hold a scarf, so he can usually get a kill based solely on surprise factor. Now, the spread looks kinda odd, as I've bot barely any speed thrown practically all my ev's into the offenses. Well here's the reasoning behind that. Once mence outspeeds something he shouldn't, the cat's out of the bag. They know he's scarfed; they know he's fast. But they don't know how fast. As far as the opponent knows, this guy is naive and has 492 speed. I've packed enough to hit 380, outspeeding modest max speed scarftran, incase he tries any funny business, though usually he's switching either into a resist or eq, meaning either he's dead or I switch anyways. The sr weak kinda puts me off a bit on this guy, but wish support kinda remedies that. In the midgame I rely a lot on this guy to get kills, and I don't really like sacrificing him that much, but I kinda have to sometimes. He usually gets a few kills per game, though. I'm torn between stone edge and crunch, though stone edge seems like it will pay off more in the end, getting good coverage and whatnot, hitting random crap hard when I don't wanna get my special attack dropped. I've got this guy on this team based on another idea: the use of two scarfers or very fast pokemon, one which hits blistering speed, the other moderately fast and often not holding a scarf, is a great substitute for a defensive core. The surprise kills as well as outspeeding and killing random shit pogeys is cool, and this guy makes up part 1 of my 'core.' So yea, I had tar in this spot, nite in this spot, rampardos in this spot, even gyara. But I've found mence to work the best. Especially with the opponent trying to guess his speed, though I guess that won't really help now.
______________________________________________________________
Doggy Style!
a.k.a. Vaporeon
-------------------------------------
Vaporeon @ Leftovers
Ability: Water Absorb
EVs: 188 Hp/252 Def/68 SAtk
Bold nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Wish
- Protect
- Surf
- Ice Beam
______________________________________________________________
Comments / Thoughts: Wishing vappy, pretty standard fare. I really tend to overtax this, though, which can be a problem at times. Other than mence, this is the other guy I have qualms about saccing, namely since scarftran walks all over this team once vap's dead. I mean, dx-s's superpower does ~70%, which is just a tad too little. Luckily for me, I know usually off the bat if people have scarftrans, as they either lead or try to switch into azelf. So all is not lost, I just gotta tread carefully and keep this guy alive until scarftran aint. I often sac this guy just to soften up garchomp (so that extremespeed will kill after a sd), so I don't really have any qualms about yachechomp. Basically, what this guy does for the team is keeps two very important members alive before I'm willing to sacrifice them, and they are heracross and salamence. With salamence taking 25% per switchin and being choiced and all, I really need the wish support to keep him around, though roost kinda solves that. As far as heracross, he's my best answer to stall, so keeping him alive against those kinda teams is great. Aside from that, the threat of healing hera up to do even more insane damage forces my opponent to try and stop me, so I guess this thing puts pressure on the opponent. Surf over hydro pump because though hydro pump does more off the bat to sdluke, a guy this team hates, surf is important to be able to efficiently stall out explosionless agiligross, something my team hates even more than sdluke, against whom I at least have somewhat of a chance. Vaporeon is my favorite pokemon, and he's beginning to find his way on all of my teams as a great utility guy that can deal a decent hit as well.
______________________________________________________________
I Play with Knives
a.k.a. Lucario
-------------------------------
Lucario @ Life Orb
Ability: Inner Focus
EVs: 4 Hp/252 Atk/252 Spe
Adamant nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Swords Dance
- Close Combat
- Extremespeed
- Bullet punch
______________________________________________________________
Comments / Thoughts: Sdluke is a monster in the lategame, especially after hera has lured in and killed all his counters. Well, actually, I often clean up with this guy without a swords dance. He still does pretty massive damage to lots of shit without it, and once all the bulky pokemon are weakened / killed by my other guys, this guy can rampage through a team. You all pretty much know how he works, so yea. I've got bullet punch and extremespeed here because I almost never have trouble with cressy but always with gengar. I dunno why, cressy gives most of this team more trouble than gengar. Most of the time, once hera struts his stuff, people kinda just give up hope and sac cressy, thinking this team can walk all over it, which is cool. I often sac every guy on my team just to weaken garchomp and kill of all the bulky fliers. Though oftentimes I sac this guy to take out a certain steel type that may give deoxys-s trouble. Basically, I decide which guy can sweep more easily and work towards that. Usually I keep this guy hidden until the lategame, so that maybe the opponent doesn't think I have one or something. Standard fare lategame sweeper, not much else to say.
______________________________________________________________
Strawberry Licorice
a.k.a. Deoxys-S
----------------------------
Deoxys-s @ Expert Belt
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 Satk/252 Spd/4 Atk
Naive nature (+Spd, -SDef)
- Superpower
- Ice Beam
- Shadow Ball
- Thunderbolt
______________________________________________________________
Comments / Thoughts: Yeap, deoxys-s. revenge kills stuff, though usually I rely on salamence for that until the lategame. In the lategame, once the steels are dead, this thing can be a monster. Another pretty standard fare pogey, lategame monster, etc etc. Expert belt over life orb so that the other guy can't just switch around and wait for LO damage to kill me, and I've never really needed the extra power. Max speed just to have a chance against other lategaming deoxyses, and because a few points in attack don't really make up for that, since the lowest I'd shoot is 500 for jolly scarfchomp anyways. Another pretty standard fare pogey, usually I don't sac this guy too often simply because I don't bring him out early enough to be worth sacrificing. Revenge kills stuff that gets lots of dragon dances and whatnot. You guys know how this guy works too.
______________________________________________________________
So the idea is to scout the enemy team a bit, get a kill or two, and then figure out how to go about destroying the enemy team, while utilizing sacrifices as well as some prediction to make the job easier. What's great about utilizing sacrifices is that long term thinking is always more accurate than prediction, so if you figure out how to win by sacrificing mispredictions happen much less often. Of course that doesn't mean that giving up a pokemon is better than coming in on a resisted hit, I'm just saying that being able to win by sacrifice >> being able to win by resistances, because sacrifices are much more reliable prediction-wise. this is also a demonstration of how good lures can be to achieve a goal (and a question for aldaron, where the hell did your lures thread go?).
Threat List
usually i sac whoever's in to keep his sub off and then mence can revenge kill.
mandatory credits to aragornbird for his awesome pictures, beachboy for his awesome format, to fabbles for being cool and telling me to try and play with my favorites, and, well gamefaqs, you always stay classy.
Gamefaqs team mamo thread
check out the awesome responses to team mamo!
