What is up Smogon? So I've been very bored lately, and I was thinking of Blaziken. It's one of my favorite Pokemon and I really wanted to use it, but I face some "using it" problems: It's banned in 5th gen, I don't like 3rd gen, and its performance just seems lackluster in 4th gen. Then I came up with an idea - Baton Pass! I also wanted to use a Baton Pass team anyway, just for something I hadn't really done before, but I quickly realized that using Baton Pass in 4th gen is actually more difficult than the people on YouTube make it look. I went through many strategies, including Mean Look Baton Passing with Umbreon alongside dual screens + SubPassing with Espeon, but no that wasn't working. Blaziken was getting easily revenge killed by priority. After many tweaks, I finally settled on a strategy to make Blaziken "broken" in 4th gen.
So, here's the team!
Ninjask (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Speed Boost
EVs: 176 HP / 252 Atk / 80 Spd
Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Substitute
- Baton Pass
- X-Scissor
- Protect
I just need Ninjask to pull this off. Period. I need those Speed Boosts to ensure a Choice Scarfer doesn't come in to revenge kill Blaziken.
I tried the set on site, and found that it wasn't working properly for my team. Firstly, Smeargle (you'll see later) has Belly Drum anyway, so Swords Dance never ends up being useful. Secondly, I. NEED. MORE. SPEED BOOSTS! A lot of the Pokemon I use in the Baton Pass chain are quite frankly really slow, and need as many speed boosts as possible to effectively get the chain going. I mostly put in X-Scissor as a filler move, but I figured it would help out against some Pokemon who might try to Taunt.
Scizor (M) @ Occa Berry
Trait: Technician
EVs: 248 HP / 88 SDef / 172 Spd
Careful Nature (+SDef, -SAtk)
- Substitute
- Iron Defense
- Roost
- Baton Pass
I go to Smogon again. Find A Baton Pass Scizor set. I was all, "Hey, this might actually work!" Trying the set on-site, it just seemed "meh", especially since I was already boosting both Speed and Attack in the chain. I also found it was unable to have just that little bit of Special Defense to also be able to take Special hits.
I took the Baton Passing Scizor set, moved the Attack EVs into Special Defense, and changed Swords Dance to Iron Defense. This helps to make sure that Blaziken doesn't get revenged killed by, let's say for example, Lucario's ExtremeSpeed. Roost helps me to make sure that Scizor doesn't just die, because then, well, shit I'm screwed. Occa Berry helps against possible Fire-type attacks. Substitute is for blocking status to make sure I don't get parahax when trying to Baton Pass out, and it's always nice to pass a sub.
Gorebyss (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Swift Swim
EVs: 252 HP / 56 SDef / 200 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Substitute
- Amnesia
- Surf
- Baton Pass
Step 3: Let's grab some Special Defense boosts! I kept on hunting and hunting for a Pokemon with Amnesia and Baton Pass, and eventually found it: Gorebyss.
Substitute is there for the same reason as before: Blocking status. Don't you hate that time when you need to use your move through paralysis, and you don't? Substitute prevents that. Amnesia boosts Special Defense by 2 stages to ensure that nothing falls over and dies when I'm trying to get boosts to Blaziken. I mostly put in Surf as filler, but in the same case as Ninjask, I put it there because it could help against Taunt users.
Smeargle (M) @ Salac Berry
Trait: Own Tempo
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Def / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Belly Drum
- Spore
- Substitute
- Baton Pass
Smeargle can learn every move in the game. Gotta use it. Spore? Hell yes.
Now, this is another case where those defense and special defense boosts are an absolute necessity: Smeargle is really, really frail. Yet the problem is, I wanna be at +6 Attack on Blaziken, and I gotta use Belly Drum to do that effectively. Those defense boosts ensure that Smeargle's substitute doesn't just break when I'm trying to Belly Drum. After Sub + Belly Drum, Salac Berry activates which I'm using because you can never, EVER have enough speed. Spore lets me put a possible threat (i.e. a Whirlwind user) to sleep.
Blaziken (M) @ Lum Berry
Trait: Blaze
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Low Kick
- Fire Punch
- Shadow Claw
- Rock Slide
Once that whole Baton Pass chain is complete, Blaziken is now fast, bulky, really, REALLY powerful, and ready to destroy your team.
I figured that Life Orb wouldn't be particularly useful since I'd be at +6 Attack anyway. What kind of OHKO would it guarantee me in OU? I was originally running Leftovers, but I changed that to Lum Berry when I was so close to 6-0ing an ubers team, but status ended up crippling Blaziken and I couldn't sweep the team.
Since I'm stat boosting with a Baton Pass chain, I'm free to use four coverage moves. Low Kick and Fire Punch are the STAB moves of choice, and even though they may seem low in base power, well, I'm at +6 Attack anyway, Blaziken doesn't get Hi Jump Kick in 4th gen, Sky Uppercut sucks in general, and Flare Blitz doesn't just have that recoil, it's also not guaranteeing any specific KOs. Shadow Claw is to get past Pokemon like Starmie who resist both Low Kick and Fire Punch, and Rock Slide is better than Stone Edge (See: +6 Attack) and gets past those Pokemon like Dragonite who resist both Low Kick and Fire Punch.
Dragonite (M) @ Lum Berry
Trait: Inner Focus
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Dragon Dance
- Outrage
- Fire Punch
- Earthquake
As for a last Pokemon.... If Blaziken somehow manages to die, then I want a Pokemon that can sweep - without Baton Pass support. Dragonite just seemed to me to fit that role well. A Dragon with Dragon Dance. If there was a Weavile or Mamoswine somewhere, it's pretty likely that Blaziken killed it.
I decided that, as much as I hate Outrage, to man up and use it. To remedy that annoying confusion from Outrage, I used Lum Berry, which can potentially also let Dragonite avoid status for a turn. Fire Punch + Earthquake is so I can hit both Skarmory and Heatran.
Well, hope you enjoyed this team! Rate, hate (yeah I'll probably get a lot of this for using a Baton Pass team), whatever floats your boat.
So, here's the team!
Ninjask (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Speed Boost
EVs: 176 HP / 252 Atk / 80 Spd
Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Substitute
- Baton Pass
- X-Scissor
- Protect
I just need Ninjask to pull this off. Period. I need those Speed Boosts to ensure a Choice Scarfer doesn't come in to revenge kill Blaziken.
I tried the set on site, and found that it wasn't working properly for my team. Firstly, Smeargle (you'll see later) has Belly Drum anyway, so Swords Dance never ends up being useful. Secondly, I. NEED. MORE. SPEED BOOSTS! A lot of the Pokemon I use in the Baton Pass chain are quite frankly really slow, and need as many speed boosts as possible to effectively get the chain going. I mostly put in X-Scissor as a filler move, but I figured it would help out against some Pokemon who might try to Taunt.
Scizor (M) @ Occa Berry
Trait: Technician
EVs: 248 HP / 88 SDef / 172 Spd
Careful Nature (+SDef, -SAtk)
- Substitute
- Iron Defense
- Roost
- Baton Pass
I go to Smogon again. Find A Baton Pass Scizor set. I was all, "Hey, this might actually work!" Trying the set on-site, it just seemed "meh", especially since I was already boosting both Speed and Attack in the chain. I also found it was unable to have just that little bit of Special Defense to also be able to take Special hits.
I took the Baton Passing Scizor set, moved the Attack EVs into Special Defense, and changed Swords Dance to Iron Defense. This helps to make sure that Blaziken doesn't get revenged killed by, let's say for example, Lucario's ExtremeSpeed. Roost helps me to make sure that Scizor doesn't just die, because then, well, shit I'm screwed. Occa Berry helps against possible Fire-type attacks. Substitute is for blocking status to make sure I don't get parahax when trying to Baton Pass out, and it's always nice to pass a sub.
Gorebyss (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Swift Swim
EVs: 252 HP / 56 SDef / 200 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Substitute
- Amnesia
- Surf
- Baton Pass
Step 3: Let's grab some Special Defense boosts! I kept on hunting and hunting for a Pokemon with Amnesia and Baton Pass, and eventually found it: Gorebyss.
Substitute is there for the same reason as before: Blocking status. Don't you hate that time when you need to use your move through paralysis, and you don't? Substitute prevents that. Amnesia boosts Special Defense by 2 stages to ensure that nothing falls over and dies when I'm trying to get boosts to Blaziken. I mostly put in Surf as filler, but in the same case as Ninjask, I put it there because it could help against Taunt users.
Smeargle (M) @ Salac Berry
Trait: Own Tempo
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Def / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Belly Drum
- Spore
- Substitute
- Baton Pass
Smeargle can learn every move in the game. Gotta use it. Spore? Hell yes.
Now, this is another case where those defense and special defense boosts are an absolute necessity: Smeargle is really, really frail. Yet the problem is, I wanna be at +6 Attack on Blaziken, and I gotta use Belly Drum to do that effectively. Those defense boosts ensure that Smeargle's substitute doesn't just break when I'm trying to Belly Drum. After Sub + Belly Drum, Salac Berry activates which I'm using because you can never, EVER have enough speed. Spore lets me put a possible threat (i.e. a Whirlwind user) to sleep.
Blaziken (M) @ Lum Berry
Trait: Blaze
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Low Kick
- Fire Punch
- Shadow Claw
- Rock Slide
Once that whole Baton Pass chain is complete, Blaziken is now fast, bulky, really, REALLY powerful, and ready to destroy your team.
I figured that Life Orb wouldn't be particularly useful since I'd be at +6 Attack anyway. What kind of OHKO would it guarantee me in OU? I was originally running Leftovers, but I changed that to Lum Berry when I was so close to 6-0ing an ubers team, but status ended up crippling Blaziken and I couldn't sweep the team.
Since I'm stat boosting with a Baton Pass chain, I'm free to use four coverage moves. Low Kick and Fire Punch are the STAB moves of choice, and even though they may seem low in base power, well, I'm at +6 Attack anyway, Blaziken doesn't get Hi Jump Kick in 4th gen, Sky Uppercut sucks in general, and Flare Blitz doesn't just have that recoil, it's also not guaranteeing any specific KOs. Shadow Claw is to get past Pokemon like Starmie who resist both Low Kick and Fire Punch, and Rock Slide is better than Stone Edge (See: +6 Attack) and gets past those Pokemon like Dragonite who resist both Low Kick and Fire Punch.
Dragonite (M) @ Lum Berry
Trait: Inner Focus
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Dragon Dance
- Outrage
- Fire Punch
- Earthquake
As for a last Pokemon.... If Blaziken somehow manages to die, then I want a Pokemon that can sweep - without Baton Pass support. Dragonite just seemed to me to fit that role well. A Dragon with Dragon Dance. If there was a Weavile or Mamoswine somewhere, it's pretty likely that Blaziken killed it.
I decided that, as much as I hate Outrage, to man up and use it. To remedy that annoying confusion from Outrage, I used Lum Berry, which can potentially also let Dragonite avoid status for a turn. Fire Punch + Earthquake is so I can hit both Skarmory and Heatran.
Well, hope you enjoyed this team! Rate, hate (yeah I'll probably get a lot of this for using a Baton Pass team), whatever floats your boat.
