well, it's been a (relatively) long time since my last rmt, and this latest team has been a tad interesting. A little while ago, in Iggybot's last warstory, he talked about how he used an all choiced team of pokemon in an attempt to better his skills and get out of a playing slump. I have precious little time on shoddy and very unreliable access at this point, but once summer starts I should be able to have much better access to shoddy. well, I thought that maybe I should use my precious little time in preparation for the summer by bettering myself as much as I can. so I created a team of all choiced pokemon. whats more, I created a team with guys I've never used before, like scarfgross, specs vappy, and suicide chomp. so I had this team of all choiced pokemon, and it was doing fairly well. actually, it was very, very successful. astonishingly so. so I decided that maybe, just possibly, I could "competitivify" the team. so I took a deeper look and started making small tweaks here and there. I thought that the team had a chance, but it could still be improved, as there are still some problems. and what better way to improve the team than showing it to the community? so I made some more small, minor tweaks and now, I present to you, the team of MEN.
The Manly Crew
The Metal Man
a.k.a. Metagross
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Metagross @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Clear Body
Nature: Jolly
Ev's: 252 attack, 232 speed, 24 hp
~ Ice Punch
~ Meteor Mash
~ Earthquake
~ Stealth Rock
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Comments: Scarf metagross makes a pretty nice lead. This spread hits 369 attack and 385 speed, outspeeding the standard aerodactyl, jolteon, and any scarfers who hit just enough to outspeed weavile. the rest was dumped into hp, but I may put them in defense to better take physical hits for the team, as I am not the strongest in that area. This guy is a pretty fast lead and can hit quite hard. While not receiving stab, he boasts the dreaded ground/ice combo and can hit menacingly hard and fast with both ice punch and earthquake. this guy often takes out a pokemon from the get-go off of sheer surprise. You'd be surprised how much damage and unboosted attack stat can do. Besides amazing offense, this guy packs a very sturdy 130 base defense and 80 base hp. this is quite high above average, and metagross can use this defense well with his superb typing and the immunity to crap like screech. The last slot is a toughie, however. Pursuit gives me the edge against ghosts and shit, but usually gengar and azelf leads will try to stay in to hypnosis or flamethrower, and starmies usually end up trying to switch in on a choiced meteor mash rather than switch out of something else. So right now, I'm going with explosion, which provides me with insurance against any crap that may come up. Right now, I'm going with explosion, for these reasons. I've tested both and found explosion to be of more use. Feedback on this decision would be nice.
Edit: Now Going with Stealth Rock as suggested by MoP, kinda like the scarftran on gorm's latest team. it has been working pretty well, and it gets the rocks down.
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The Suicidal Man
a.k.a. Garchomp
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Garchomp @ Salac Berry
Ability: Sand Veil
Nature: Adamant
Ev's: 252 speed, 180 special defense, 76 attack
~ Swords Dance
~ Dragon Claw
~ Earthquake
~ Fire Fang
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Comments: Hell yes, suicide garchomp. This thing is such a beast and much better than sd yache chomp. I had a cb chomp over this before, but when I competitivified the team, I came across this and decided that he'd be an appropriate set up sweeper / wallbreaker and would serve his purpose better than cb chomp. Man, was I right. I've swept many a team with this guy before, and even when I lose him to something like scarfgar, often, the team is completely left blind to get punched in the balls (sucker punch?) by cb honchkrow, leaving a hit that they can't get back up from. In fact, one time I switched this guy in on a +2 raikou's thunderbolt in the late game, feigning a scarfchomp, swords danced on their switch to slowbro, and then 2hko'd him with earthquake while he put me into salac range and left me to sweep his team. It was freakin beautiful man. You should've seen it. I would've surely died to raikou (snorlax was gone, metagross had blown up his sub cause I was actually out of eq, and honchkrow was going to die to the next stealth rock) but this guy, with the help of some ballsy prediction and mindgames, saved the day. I fell in love with suicide chomp whenever I met him, and I've finally gotten around to using him on a competitive team. He does a nice job of clearing the field of physical walls (if he doesn't just right out sweep) for my many physically based pokemon to run through teams with. Garchomp is my main sweeper, and he's all the more dangerous if sand veil hax occurs.
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The Dead Man
a.k.a. Gengar
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Gengar @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Levitate
Nature: Timid
Ev's: 252 special attack, 52 hp, 204 speed
~ Shadow Ball
~ Focus Blast
~ Hypnosis
~ Hidden Power: Ice / Thunderbolt
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Comments: Ahh, timid scarfgar. We seem to see him on just about every single one of my teams. Funny, eh? Well, the thing is, deoxys-s is the absolute bane of every super-offensive team, and while snorlax can pursuit the hell out of those who've already superpowered or don't pack the move, it's safe to have a pokemon who outspeeds all (non-scarf) variations and kill with its stab, especially now that the honch is gone. Which brings me to the ev's. 204 speed with a scarf hits 506 speed, which is a very potent amount of speed, outspeeding jolly scarfchomp as well. With scarfgar, I've just never seemed to see the reason for modest, as it doesn't have any significant 2HKO's and OHKO's that could be 3HKO's and 2HKO's respectively if I had timid. Timid, on the other hand, gives me a way to stop double dd'd gyarados in his tracks and pick off weakened jolly scarfchomps. The last move slot depends on which I fear more. To be honest, I fear both of them a lot, which is why you see both hp electric and ice beam on vappy. I'm going with HP ice for now, just for the superior type coverage as a revenge killer. I really want feedback on this choice, as I really do fear both gyarados and garchomp, though scarfchomps locked into outrage do face a lovely ice punch in the nuts without the option of switching away. HP ice still offers superior type coverage, however. But I don't have too many electric attacks on this team...
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The Lard Man
a.k.a. Snorlax
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Snorlax @ Leftovers
Ability: Thick Fat
Nature: Adamant
Ev's: 232 hp, 252 special defense, 24 attack
~ Body Slam
~ Rest
~ Pursuit
~ Sleep Talk
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Comments: I've completely given up on going with cb snorlax, and replaced him with resttalk snorlax. It's freaking awesome when a +6 cressy thinks he can sweep my team and then does like 10% to snorlax with ice beam. I've actually stalled out a resttalk cressy before. it was amazing. I've opted to make snorlax my sleep absorber rather than another cber, because without the honch, I've got no answer to sleep. Resttlalk lax is an amazing beast generally, so I shouldn't have problems. At this point, I've opted for body slam and pursuit as the attacks, and this does a nice job at neutering gengars that have used up their sleep or are locked into a bad move. It's just lovely to pursuit a gengar, just absolutely the best feeling. Luckily, I play carefully enough that I haven't lost gengar without meaning to (as in, a sacrifice). Snorlax brings a fire and ice resist to the team, which I kinda need, but the team now feels overloaded with fighting weaks. I've considered resttalk gyarados over lax, but then I lose a huge amount of special defense from the team. It should be known that I've completely given up trying to keep this as a choice team, btw.
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The Lizard Man
a.k.a. Vaporeon
------------
Vaporeon @ Choice Specs
Ability: Water Absorb
Nature: Modest
Ev's: 52 special attack, 252 defense, 204 hp
~ Surf
~ Ice Beam
~ Wish
~ Hidden Power: Electric
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Comments: Specs vappy is an interesting pokemon. Many people play vaporeon as a primarily defensive bulky water. But what they fail to see is that pretty darn high base 110 special attack, the same as salamence's. What's nice about this is that, like snorlax, I can keep some bulkiness but still hit fairly hard. That's why the ev's are the way they are. I've hit 300 special attack, which in turn becomes 450 with specs, hitting for decent damage. In the meantime, I've pumped defense and hp to make this guy rather bulky. Specs wish sounds kinda crazy, but vappy can switch into a ton of crap that doesn't threaten it and will want to switch out. Well, rather than rely on prediction, sometimes I'm better off just wishing and then switching in the appropriate pokemon to get in some healing. The whole idea relies a bit on prediction, but it's quite rewarding. Vappy is my physical "wall" pokemon, though her special defense is higher than her physical defense. You could call this pokemon a mixed tank or bulky sweeper. I've opted for surf over hydro pump not because of accuracy, but because surf has much more pp, which is kinda important here. This can serve as my gyara "counter" and my chomp "counter," being able to hit for pretty decent damage through both wacan and yache berries and surviving fairly well against even chainchomp draco meteors. I have yet to face a specs chomp, but I'm sure she can hold her own against them as well.
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The Dino Man
a.k.a. Tyranitar
-----------
Tyranitar @ Choice Band
Ability: Sand Stream
Nature: Jolly
Ev's: 252 attack, 252 speed, 4 hp
~ Crunch
~ Stone Edge
~ Pursuit
~ Earthquake
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Comments: I've opted to replace my favorite pokemon, honchkrow, with a cb tyranitar, to further help break walls. Tyranitar sets up the all important sandstorm for garchomp, which only makes the opponent want to tear out their hair even more. It's funny when I dance on a wall's switch, dance, dance again as they miss with ice beam, and then dance a third time as they finally hit, before proceeding to sweep the team. It's really great fun. Choice band tyranitar hits devilishly hard, but I'm thinking of making him into the defensive spread, I'll be testing both out. This team doesn't really mind sandstorm per se, but it should not be treated as a sandstorm team. Sandstorm helps me to serve as a quasi "counter" to weather teams, which is always nice. It's lovely to see that kingdra's surf do piddly damage to tyranitar rather than massive damage to someone else. Tyranitar makes this team a tad fighting weak, with two weaknesses and only one resist, but I can deal with it just fine. I didn't rely too much on honchkrow to counter stuff other than sleep anyways, so it's not like it matters too much. CB tar is a great pursuiter, hitting with the hardest pursuit in the game. I've gone for jolly based on MoP's suggestion, just cuz. Other than incredibly hard pursuiting, tyranitar forces the opponent to predict perfectly if they don't want to lose a few pokemon. I'm thinking of making him mixed with ice beam to bring down his bulky ground counters, but the rest of the team does a decent enough job of this already.
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So that's the team.
Heres' the ....
Threat List!
Garchomp:
--- Initial Switchin: Vappy. I can take most of what he throws out and hit back for a kill.
---SD Garchomp: Vappy is the answer again, though if I can get metagross in on outrage, it's bye bye birdie (sharkie?)
---Choiced Garchomp: if he's already locked into eq, I go to gengar. if he's already locked into outrage, gross. fairly easy to kill. I often have to sacrifice or predict very carefully.
---Sub Garchomp: usually they can't do much with only two moves. the moment he outrages, in comes metagross. vappy takes him out fine.
---Chain Chomp: vappy
Gengar:
---Initial Switchin: snorlax comes in almost immediately to absorb sleep
---Life Orb Gengar: snorlax can take a hit and then fire punch the bitch into hell. metagross can kinda absorb sleep. whatever is in will hit him hard.
---Scarf Gengar: Much easier to handle. he'll die to anything and therefore can't switch in on anything. he hits for not too much damage and I can get anyone in depending on what I think he'll use. if scarfgar's locked into something, t-tar comes in and kills with pursuit
---Subbing Gengar: metagross can take these on pretty well, breaking its sub every time with every move and outspeeding it.
Blissey:
---Initial Switchin: any physical attacker will do, I'm finding that she only switches into vappy or gengar, and I'm using wish and usually going to t-tar, though once it was a guys last pokemon and my gengar walled it. pretty lol.
---CMBliss: she can't do shit to snorlax who just repeatedly whacks at her.
Gyarados:
---Initial switchin: I'll go right to vappy who can take whatever crap he throws at me.
---Bulky Gyarados: bulky or not, he's not taking a specs electric move.
---STalk Gyarados: vappadilio
---Choiced Gyarados: vappy can take some damage from this guy, but if I come in on waterfall, he just heals me back up.
---Life Orb Sweeper Gyarados: guess who
Tyranitar:
---Initial switchin: vappy can take most stuff from him until I find out his set and then work from there.
---BOAH:if he has no thunderbolt, vappy just repeatedly hits with surf.
---DDTar: if he doesn't carry earthquake, then metagross can kill him just fine. if he does, I sacrifice to get either gross or gengar in.
---Choiced Tyranitar: I can get stuff in depending on what he's locked into.
Lucario:
---Initial Switchin: generally I switch in metagross, who can take hits from both pysical and special lukes.
---SDLuke: if I get metagross in on the dance, I just surprise and kill with eq or take a resisted espeed or bullet punch. no problem. if he's already danced, I can't switch into close combat and have to get in gengar while praying for no bullet punch.
---SpecsLuke: metagross can take a few hits while killing in one and outspeeding.
---Agili/MixLuke: I have yet to see one of these, but I'm sure that metagross can take it. just fine, as it lacks power compared to the more common variants.
Heatran:
---Initial Switchin: vappy takes just about everything except LO hp grass, which I switch gengar into after he does it once.
---SpecsTran: depending on what he's locked into, I can get either vappy or gengar in and kill him.
---Life Orb Heatran: just about same with specs, but I have to be more careful with my prediction.
---ScarfTran/ResTalk Tran: scarftran is just like watered down specs tran. resttalkers just about always carry lava plume / earth power, both of which vappy takes just fine.
Bronzong:
---Initial Switchin: this thing is a pain to bring down, but they usually explode. generally, I bring in vappy to take the gyro balls.
---CMZong:snorlax can take barely anything while hitting back with well aimed fire pounches.
Salamence:
---Initial Switchin: vappy can scout decently well before killing it.
---SpecsMence: prediction doesn't hurt, but generally, if I get metagross or vappy in (pretty much my best switches), he dies. he can't do too much to snorlax.
---MixMence: mixmence is more like watered down specsmence. brick break doesn't hurt anyone except lax, so I'll just be switching in gross or vappy.
---DDMence: gengar outspeeds this if I come in on the dd, so I can kill him fairly easily.
---CBMence: once again, I need to predict in gengar (eq), gross (dragon claw), or vappy (fire fang / blast). all of them can kill him.
Metagross:
---Initial Switchin: a pain to bring down. generally, vappy can switch in and not take too much while scouting the set.
---CBGross: metagross can come in on the resists and bring it down. I sometimes have to sleep it with gengar.
---ScarfGross: this thing is kinda a nuisance, but generally vappy can take thiem.
---Life Orb Pure Physical Gross: no thunder punch? vappy. thunderpunch? well, generally, if I get bronzong in, gross dies to his STAB eq.
---AgiliGross: same thing as LO gross, though vappy can usually wall this even more easily.
---MixGross: vappy completely walls this.
Infernape:
---Initial Switchin: vappy is light and can take everything else, usually
---SDNape: Garchomp is the best answer for now. this guy is a pain.
---MixNape: vappy takes whatever he can throw and hits back for a kill.
---ScarfNape: vappy takes this just fine no problem.
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Weavile: metagross can counter it easily.
Swampert: he can't do much to vappy and doesn't like repeated surfs.
Skarmory: he doesn't like any special attacks, and won't take repeated fire fangs from garchomp, who can set up on the roosts if I predict well
Gliscor: vappy can take everything and threaten a OHKO with ice beam or surf. gengar comes in on earthquakes aimed at metagross and tyranitar.
Starmie: tyranitar can take a hit, though usually snorlax is a better switch, even though body slam can't paralyse.
Celebi: snorlax doesn't enjoy leech seed, but this guy enjoys neither fire punch nore pursuit.
Forretress: lax's fire punch and garchomp's fang can kill it. it's fun to bring gengar in on predicted explosions.
Cresselia: cressy is a pain, but garchomp can set up and hit her hard. snorlax can outstall a cm cressy, even if it has resttalk. it has moonlight, sandstorm will have fun with it
Togekiss: snorlax doesn't enjoy repeated aura spheres. often, I have to bring metagross in to try and ice punch the bitch.
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Heracross: Thanks to Gliscor's overuse I generally hope not to see this used/used well. 
---Initial Switchin: Depends what it is facing. I can try to bring in gengar on his stabs, but if he stone edges, that kinda sucks.
---CBCross: I can bring in anyone to kill it. I have to rely on skillful prediction, just like every other team that lacks gliscor.
---ScarfCross: easier to handle. vappy takes watered down hits and dishes big ones back. this guy doesn't enjoy hits from anyone and can't dish too many back.
---Setup Cross: I haven't faced this yet. luckily. I guess I just have to break his sub and blow up or fire attack on him before he sweeps me.
Jirachi: Jirachi without ice punch means setup for garchomp. otherwise, metagross takes just about everything and hits back for supereffective damage.
Breloom: without honchkrow, I don't have a super-reliable switch into breloom, though metagross can bring him down once his sleep is used up, and gengar makes a good switch against the ones that only pack focus punch / seed bomb.
Vaporeon: set up fodder for garchomp, except the incredibly rare and useful specs versions :naughty:
Electivire: this guy is a problem, and I really have to rely on prediction to get him dead. if I get chomp in on anything not named ice punch, I'm good. even hp ice is fine. otherwise, I can try to switch in metagross on something not named EQ or hp fire and quake the bitch. basically, this guy does lots of damage to me but can't switch in very well.
Hippowdon: vappy takes any and every thing while surfing back for huge damage.
Azelf: scarfzelfs can be dealt with by snorlax. basically, non-exploding zelfs can be handled by snorlax. otherwise, I have to try to get gengar in on a np or explosion.
Snorlax: this guy doesn't enjoy the numerous amount of physical attacks strewn all over my team.
Mamoswine: vappy is the best answer, not weak to anything and able to dish out a supereffective STAB surf.
Scizor: garchomp can take a big hit and deal back a kill. this kinda sucks for me though.
Porygon-z: snorlax does big damage to this while not taking too much in return.
Magnezone: snorlax takes everything but explosion. gengar can come in on explosion or magnet rise and focus blast the blighter away.
Yanmega: if I can get metagross in, I'm good. otherwise, I have to let something like snorlax take the sleep and then get in gross.
Zapdos: I can get gross in and ice punch or explode. otherwise, snorlax walls this to some extent.
Suicune: I can use it as set up fodder for garchomp normally.
Machamp: the resttalk variation dies against vappy. the scarf and band versions are best answered by prediction and going to gengar (dynamicpunch) and metagross (anything else). this guy is big problems for me!
Ninjask: I just kinda break his subs until he passes speed to some guy who then I predict around, usually getting gross out and then back in to blow up.
Gallade: metagross takes just about everything not named status (snorlax comes in on hypnosis and I have to tread very carefully, garchomp on twave, and I guess gengar on WoW) and kills his low defense.
Mismagius: Hopefully metagross can break its subs and then someoen else can kill it. luckily snorlax is a physically based special wall unlike blissey and fares much better than said fat whore.
Kingdra: hoping that vappy can take the water hits and do more damage back. the best way to stop this is to keep the weather dry.
Abomasnow: just about anyone on my team can hit it for hard damage. but snorlax feels kinda threatened and has to switch out.
Umbreon: he doesn't like repeated hits from anybody, but the best switch in is gengar, as usually umbreon doesn't pack any attacks and will die to focus blast.
Alakazam: snorlax can kinda take him down with powerful physical attacks.
Charizard: special attacking zard loses to vappy. physical attacking zard kinda sucks, but gengar still outspeeds him and is able to take out 25% of his health with any manner of attacks.
Aerodactyl: vappy can switch in fairly well and pose an immediate threat.
Raikou: metagross breaks his subs and kills him. if gross dies, I can bring in snorlax, who also happens to break his subs. you've all read the garchomp story, but usually I don't have to go to such extremes.
So basically, the goal of this team is to set up stealth rock whenever given the oppertunity and hit the opponent hard and fast while maintaining a decent(ish) defense using immunities, resistances, and general bulkiness. When the oppertunity presents itself, suicide chomp comes in and kills off the team, or at least comes damn close enough for metagross and gengar to clean up.
Otherwise, it's a pretty decent team in my opinion, and it definitely has upped my skills, as it relies a lot on prediction to be successful.
So, constructive critisism is always appreciated! Give me your opinion guys!!!
~ Stathakis
The Manly Crew
The Metal Man
a.k.a. Metagross
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Metagross @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Clear Body
Nature: Jolly
Ev's: 252 attack, 232 speed, 24 hp
~ Ice Punch
~ Meteor Mash
~ Earthquake
~ Stealth Rock
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Comments: Scarf metagross makes a pretty nice lead. This spread hits 369 attack and 385 speed, outspeeding the standard aerodactyl, jolteon, and any scarfers who hit just enough to outspeed weavile. the rest was dumped into hp, but I may put them in defense to better take physical hits for the team, as I am not the strongest in that area. This guy is a pretty fast lead and can hit quite hard. While not receiving stab, he boasts the dreaded ground/ice combo and can hit menacingly hard and fast with both ice punch and earthquake. this guy often takes out a pokemon from the get-go off of sheer surprise. You'd be surprised how much damage and unboosted attack stat can do. Besides amazing offense, this guy packs a very sturdy 130 base defense and 80 base hp. this is quite high above average, and metagross can use this defense well with his superb typing and the immunity to crap like screech. The last slot is a toughie, however. Pursuit gives me the edge against ghosts and shit, but usually gengar and azelf leads will try to stay in to hypnosis or flamethrower, and starmies usually end up trying to switch in on a choiced meteor mash rather than switch out of something else. So right now, I'm going with explosion, which provides me with insurance against any crap that may come up. Right now, I'm going with explosion, for these reasons. I've tested both and found explosion to be of more use. Feedback on this decision would be nice.
Edit: Now Going with Stealth Rock as suggested by MoP, kinda like the scarftran on gorm's latest team. it has been working pretty well, and it gets the rocks down.
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The Suicidal Man
a.k.a. Garchomp
--------------
Garchomp @ Salac Berry
Ability: Sand Veil
Nature: Adamant
Ev's: 252 speed, 180 special defense, 76 attack
~ Swords Dance
~ Dragon Claw
~ Earthquake
~ Fire Fang
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Comments: Hell yes, suicide garchomp. This thing is such a beast and much better than sd yache chomp. I had a cb chomp over this before, but when I competitivified the team, I came across this and decided that he'd be an appropriate set up sweeper / wallbreaker and would serve his purpose better than cb chomp. Man, was I right. I've swept many a team with this guy before, and even when I lose him to something like scarfgar, often, the team is completely left blind to get punched in the balls (sucker punch?) by cb honchkrow, leaving a hit that they can't get back up from. In fact, one time I switched this guy in on a +2 raikou's thunderbolt in the late game, feigning a scarfchomp, swords danced on their switch to slowbro, and then 2hko'd him with earthquake while he put me into salac range and left me to sweep his team. It was freakin beautiful man. You should've seen it. I would've surely died to raikou (snorlax was gone, metagross had blown up his sub cause I was actually out of eq, and honchkrow was going to die to the next stealth rock) but this guy, with the help of some ballsy prediction and mindgames, saved the day. I fell in love with suicide chomp whenever I met him, and I've finally gotten around to using him on a competitive team. He does a nice job of clearing the field of physical walls (if he doesn't just right out sweep) for my many physically based pokemon to run through teams with. Garchomp is my main sweeper, and he's all the more dangerous if sand veil hax occurs.
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The Dead Man
a.k.a. Gengar
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Gengar @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Levitate
Nature: Timid
Ev's: 252 special attack, 52 hp, 204 speed
~ Shadow Ball
~ Focus Blast
~ Hypnosis
~ Hidden Power: Ice / Thunderbolt
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Comments: Ahh, timid scarfgar. We seem to see him on just about every single one of my teams. Funny, eh? Well, the thing is, deoxys-s is the absolute bane of every super-offensive team, and while snorlax can pursuit the hell out of those who've already superpowered or don't pack the move, it's safe to have a pokemon who outspeeds all (non-scarf) variations and kill with its stab, especially now that the honch is gone. Which brings me to the ev's. 204 speed with a scarf hits 506 speed, which is a very potent amount of speed, outspeeding jolly scarfchomp as well. With scarfgar, I've just never seemed to see the reason for modest, as it doesn't have any significant 2HKO's and OHKO's that could be 3HKO's and 2HKO's respectively if I had timid. Timid, on the other hand, gives me a way to stop double dd'd gyarados in his tracks and pick off weakened jolly scarfchomps. The last move slot depends on which I fear more. To be honest, I fear both of them a lot, which is why you see both hp electric and ice beam on vappy. I'm going with HP ice for now, just for the superior type coverage as a revenge killer. I really want feedback on this choice, as I really do fear both gyarados and garchomp, though scarfchomps locked into outrage do face a lovely ice punch in the nuts without the option of switching away. HP ice still offers superior type coverage, however. But I don't have too many electric attacks on this team...
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The Lard Man
a.k.a. Snorlax
-------------
Snorlax @ Leftovers
Ability: Thick Fat
Nature: Adamant
Ev's: 232 hp, 252 special defense, 24 attack
~ Body Slam
~ Rest
~ Pursuit
~ Sleep Talk
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Comments: I've completely given up on going with cb snorlax, and replaced him with resttalk snorlax. It's freaking awesome when a +6 cressy thinks he can sweep my team and then does like 10% to snorlax with ice beam. I've actually stalled out a resttalk cressy before. it was amazing. I've opted to make snorlax my sleep absorber rather than another cber, because without the honch, I've got no answer to sleep. Resttlalk lax is an amazing beast generally, so I shouldn't have problems. At this point, I've opted for body slam and pursuit as the attacks, and this does a nice job at neutering gengars that have used up their sleep or are locked into a bad move. It's just lovely to pursuit a gengar, just absolutely the best feeling. Luckily, I play carefully enough that I haven't lost gengar without meaning to (as in, a sacrifice). Snorlax brings a fire and ice resist to the team, which I kinda need, but the team now feels overloaded with fighting weaks. I've considered resttalk gyarados over lax, but then I lose a huge amount of special defense from the team. It should be known that I've completely given up trying to keep this as a choice team, btw.
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The Lizard Man
a.k.a. Vaporeon
------------
Vaporeon @ Choice Specs
Ability: Water Absorb
Nature: Modest
Ev's: 52 special attack, 252 defense, 204 hp
~ Surf
~ Ice Beam
~ Wish
~ Hidden Power: Electric
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Comments: Specs vappy is an interesting pokemon. Many people play vaporeon as a primarily defensive bulky water. But what they fail to see is that pretty darn high base 110 special attack, the same as salamence's. What's nice about this is that, like snorlax, I can keep some bulkiness but still hit fairly hard. That's why the ev's are the way they are. I've hit 300 special attack, which in turn becomes 450 with specs, hitting for decent damage. In the meantime, I've pumped defense and hp to make this guy rather bulky. Specs wish sounds kinda crazy, but vappy can switch into a ton of crap that doesn't threaten it and will want to switch out. Well, rather than rely on prediction, sometimes I'm better off just wishing and then switching in the appropriate pokemon to get in some healing. The whole idea relies a bit on prediction, but it's quite rewarding. Vappy is my physical "wall" pokemon, though her special defense is higher than her physical defense. You could call this pokemon a mixed tank or bulky sweeper. I've opted for surf over hydro pump not because of accuracy, but because surf has much more pp, which is kinda important here. This can serve as my gyara "counter" and my chomp "counter," being able to hit for pretty decent damage through both wacan and yache berries and surviving fairly well against even chainchomp draco meteors. I have yet to face a specs chomp, but I'm sure she can hold her own against them as well.
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The Dino Man
a.k.a. Tyranitar
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Tyranitar @ Choice Band
Ability: Sand Stream
Nature: Jolly
Ev's: 252 attack, 252 speed, 4 hp
~ Crunch
~ Stone Edge
~ Pursuit
~ Earthquake
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Comments: I've opted to replace my favorite pokemon, honchkrow, with a cb tyranitar, to further help break walls. Tyranitar sets up the all important sandstorm for garchomp, which only makes the opponent want to tear out their hair even more. It's funny when I dance on a wall's switch, dance, dance again as they miss with ice beam, and then dance a third time as they finally hit, before proceeding to sweep the team. It's really great fun. Choice band tyranitar hits devilishly hard, but I'm thinking of making him into the defensive spread, I'll be testing both out. This team doesn't really mind sandstorm per se, but it should not be treated as a sandstorm team. Sandstorm helps me to serve as a quasi "counter" to weather teams, which is always nice. It's lovely to see that kingdra's surf do piddly damage to tyranitar rather than massive damage to someone else. Tyranitar makes this team a tad fighting weak, with two weaknesses and only one resist, but I can deal with it just fine. I didn't rely too much on honchkrow to counter stuff other than sleep anyways, so it's not like it matters too much. CB tar is a great pursuiter, hitting with the hardest pursuit in the game. I've gone for jolly based on MoP's suggestion, just cuz. Other than incredibly hard pursuiting, tyranitar forces the opponent to predict perfectly if they don't want to lose a few pokemon. I'm thinking of making him mixed with ice beam to bring down his bulky ground counters, but the rest of the team does a decent enough job of this already.
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Win/Loss record said:
Pokemon Replaced said:
Honchkrow @ Choice Band
Ability: Insomnia
Nature: Adamant
Ev's: 252 attack, 252 speed
~ Sucker Punch
~ Drill Peck
~ Steel Wing
~ Night Slash
replaced him with cb ttar to set up sandstorm and have another reliable pursuiter. snorlax is now the sleep absorber.
Smaller changes made said:
So that's the team.
Heres' the ....
Threat List!
--- Initial Switchin: Vappy. I can take most of what he throws out and hit back for a kill.
---SD Garchomp: Vappy is the answer again, though if I can get metagross in on outrage, it's bye bye birdie (sharkie?)
---Choiced Garchomp: if he's already locked into eq, I go to gengar. if he's already locked into outrage, gross. fairly easy to kill. I often have to sacrifice or predict very carefully.
---Sub Garchomp: usually they can't do much with only two moves. the moment he outrages, in comes metagross. vappy takes him out fine.
---Chain Chomp: vappy
---Initial Switchin: snorlax comes in almost immediately to absorb sleep
---Life Orb Gengar: snorlax can take a hit and then fire punch the bitch into hell. metagross can kinda absorb sleep. whatever is in will hit him hard.
---Scarf Gengar: Much easier to handle. he'll die to anything and therefore can't switch in on anything. he hits for not too much damage and I can get anyone in depending on what I think he'll use. if scarfgar's locked into something, t-tar comes in and kills with pursuit
---Subbing Gengar: metagross can take these on pretty well, breaking its sub every time with every move and outspeeding it.
---Initial Switchin: any physical attacker will do, I'm finding that she only switches into vappy or gengar, and I'm using wish and usually going to t-tar, though once it was a guys last pokemon and my gengar walled it. pretty lol.
---CMBliss: she can't do shit to snorlax who just repeatedly whacks at her.
---Initial switchin: I'll go right to vappy who can take whatever crap he throws at me.
---Bulky Gyarados: bulky or not, he's not taking a specs electric move.
---STalk Gyarados: vappadilio
---Choiced Gyarados: vappy can take some damage from this guy, but if I come in on waterfall, he just heals me back up.
---Life Orb Sweeper Gyarados: guess who
---Initial switchin: vappy can take most stuff from him until I find out his set and then work from there.
---BOAH:if he has no thunderbolt, vappy just repeatedly hits with surf.
---DDTar: if he doesn't carry earthquake, then metagross can kill him just fine. if he does, I sacrifice to get either gross or gengar in.
---Choiced Tyranitar: I can get stuff in depending on what he's locked into.
---Initial Switchin: generally I switch in metagross, who can take hits from both pysical and special lukes.
---SDLuke: if I get metagross in on the dance, I just surprise and kill with eq or take a resisted espeed or bullet punch. no problem. if he's already danced, I can't switch into close combat and have to get in gengar while praying for no bullet punch.
---SpecsLuke: metagross can take a few hits while killing in one and outspeeding.
---Agili/MixLuke: I have yet to see one of these, but I'm sure that metagross can take it. just fine, as it lacks power compared to the more common variants.
---Initial Switchin: vappy takes just about everything except LO hp grass, which I switch gengar into after he does it once.
---SpecsTran: depending on what he's locked into, I can get either vappy or gengar in and kill him.
---Life Orb Heatran: just about same with specs, but I have to be more careful with my prediction.
---ScarfTran/ResTalk Tran: scarftran is just like watered down specs tran. resttalkers just about always carry lava plume / earth power, both of which vappy takes just fine.
---Initial Switchin: this thing is a pain to bring down, but they usually explode. generally, I bring in vappy to take the gyro balls.
---CMZong:snorlax can take barely anything while hitting back with well aimed fire pounches.
---Initial Switchin: vappy can scout decently well before killing it.
---SpecsMence: prediction doesn't hurt, but generally, if I get metagross or vappy in (pretty much my best switches), he dies. he can't do too much to snorlax.
---MixMence: mixmence is more like watered down specsmence. brick break doesn't hurt anyone except lax, so I'll just be switching in gross or vappy.
---DDMence: gengar outspeeds this if I come in on the dd, so I can kill him fairly easily.
---CBMence: once again, I need to predict in gengar (eq), gross (dragon claw), or vappy (fire fang / blast). all of them can kill him.
---Initial Switchin: a pain to bring down. generally, vappy can switch in and not take too much while scouting the set.
---CBGross: metagross can come in on the resists and bring it down. I sometimes have to sleep it with gengar.
---ScarfGross: this thing is kinda a nuisance, but generally vappy can take thiem.
---Life Orb Pure Physical Gross: no thunder punch? vappy. thunderpunch? well, generally, if I get bronzong in, gross dies to his STAB eq.
---AgiliGross: same thing as LO gross, though vappy can usually wall this even more easily.
---MixGross: vappy completely walls this.
---Initial Switchin: vappy is light and can take everything else, usually
---SDNape: Garchomp is the best answer for now. this guy is a pain.
---MixNape: vappy takes whatever he can throw and hits back for a kill.
---ScarfNape: vappy takes this just fine no problem.
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---Initial Switchin: Depends what it is facing. I can try to bring in gengar on his stabs, but if he stone edges, that kinda sucks.
---CBCross: I can bring in anyone to kill it. I have to rely on skillful prediction, just like every other team that lacks gliscor.
---ScarfCross: easier to handle. vappy takes watered down hits and dishes big ones back. this guy doesn't enjoy hits from anyone and can't dish too many back.
---Setup Cross: I haven't faced this yet. luckily. I guess I just have to break his sub and blow up or fire attack on him before he sweeps me.
So basically, the goal of this team is to set up stealth rock whenever given the oppertunity and hit the opponent hard and fast while maintaining a decent(ish) defense using immunities, resistances, and general bulkiness. When the oppertunity presents itself, suicide chomp comes in and kills off the team, or at least comes damn close enough for metagross and gengar to clean up.
Otherwise, it's a pretty decent team in my opinion, and it definitely has upped my skills, as it relies a lot on prediction to be successful.
So, constructive critisism is always appreciated! Give me your opinion guys!!!
~ Stathakis
