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Adam lambert your team seems like it's awesome to use, especially when you're feeling good about your predictions, but there are too many spots where if you don't play considerably better than your opponent, you can be set up on and swept.
It looks like TheFenderStory has won this week, congratulations to him! Thanks to everyone who posted a team.
This week, instead of a core, the teams will be built around a single mon...
Riolu has a very interesting niche in Prankster + Copycat, allowing it to actually sweep with priority moves. It can also keep momentum on VoltTurn teams by coming in off a slow pivoting move and copying it with priority, spread status moves with priority, and revenge kill many sweepers. Its also super cute. Have fun!
Team is a rather self-explanatory balance, double bird + double steel core works very well in punishing drain punches, as vullaby tanks them like a boss, and archen can obtain a full power acro if it reaches 50% or lower. In return you get two mons easily capable of handling electric and ice type attacks, despite ferros neutrality to the latter. Ferro and vullaby spread the knock off and set up hazards/keep momentum as extremely durable pivots. Leech seed helps with switches. Staryu was slapped on to handle fire types that can spread major pain to the team so far. Also the 19 speed is incredibly useful. Scarf mag does a shitton of damage late game combined with the star of the show, who if you were keen enough to notice was placed as the first mon, is benefited by all the mons, knock off support, SR, abra/gastly/fletchling answers, and a team easily capable of handling mons normally fighting types would be used to slay.
I started building on a SD Copycat set because i think that's the set that could be more dangerous. After i added Magnemite because it covers all the Riolu's weakness (Flying, Psychic and Fairy) and Archen for a secondary Fletch check and for setting up rocks, very important to rack up residual damage for letting Riolu clean in late game. After this i see that the team was weak to Chinchou so i added Scarf Snover. Than i needed a spinner so I opted for SD Drilbur. The last spot is for Gothita because i really needed something that could kill Foo because it was a pain :[
The "core" was Riolu, and I'm p sure no one is going to use defensive Riolu since SD Copycat Sweeper is the best set, so that is what I chose to use. Swords Dance boosts Riolu's attack to a respectable 34, and with a STAB High Jump Kick, not much is going to enjoy taking hits. Crunch is used for tagging Ghost types that want to get cheeky (no pun intended), while a Prankster Copycat allows Riolu to spam priority HJK's. Due to his typing and decent bulk with Eviolite, it can take the Knock Offs aimed for Gastly with relative ease.
Riolu has trouble breaking through Fairies and some Poison types, so Gastly was added as a reliable wallbreaker right off the bat. Shadow Ball is a hard hitting STAB that busts through many Pokemon, while Sludge Bomb brings down the rest that resist Ghost. Hidden Power (Fighting) allows Gastly to force a 50/50 with Pawn in a Sub vs Attack game and gets a clean OHKO. Since Gastly hits like a grown man, Substitute is used in the last spot, as it can force many switches and allows me to reliably beat Pawn if played right. Do note that Riolu can also beat Pawn fairly easily, but this is in the case where Riolu hasn't been brought out yet or has already been downed. Being a Ghost type, it can take on Fighting types which threaten Amaura. One must be wary of the everpresent Knock Off, of course.
Snow Warning Amaura is a new toy that came out that reliably beats two threats to the team so far: Fletchling and Sun. With Snow Warning, Amaura has the ability to switch into Bellsprout 100% of the time. Should it have used Solar Beam, it will be locked in and will be outsped and OHKO'd by a Blizzard from Amaura. It also eats up Sludge Bomb and Weather Ball (which will become an Ice type move on switch) with ease. Earth Power hits Steel types that try to absorb the powerful Blizzard Amaura has. Ancient Power is a secondary STAB that won't see much use, but it's good if Hail has ended and you need the kill on something like Archen or Fletchling. Thunder Wave is a good option for the fourth move, as Amaura's Blizzard forces a good amount of switches, allowing you to reliably slow down incoming threats for Gastly or Riolu. It also takes Flying attacks aimed at Riolu.
Prankster number 2. Cottonee was added as a disruptor, and it does this quite well. Between a priority Encore and Stun Spore, Cottonee has the ability to shuffle around Pokemon while spreading status, which opens up a window for either Riolu to sweep, or for Gastly/Amaura to come in and hit hard. Giga Drain and Dazzling Gleam are good STAB moves. The former also provides the only healing for Cottonee, while the latter is a good way to stop Fighting types from getting out of hand. Also serves as a Baton Pass "check" I suppose (Gastly hits a lot of passers hard af, Riolu and Fletch can set up p well and hurt the opposition)
I'm sure as you've noticed, a good chunk of the team gets bopped by Croagunk and Abra, two common pokemon that hit this entire team super effectively without being able to do much back. Enter Stunky. The skunk serves as the team's Abra counter and hazard remover. The EV spread may look a little weird, but this allows Stunky to comfortably take on Abra's Hidden Power (Fighting) and Dazzling Gleam while always OHKO'ing with Pursuit, regardless of a switch. Sucker Punch is solid STAB priority that allows Stunky to whittle down threats or secure an OHKO on Pokemon trying to get a little extra damage off. Defog, as stated, gets rid of hazards, namely Stealth Rock, which is a hindrance to Amaura and Fletch. Fire Blast, even with a Careful Nature, has the ability to 2HKO Pawniard and Ferroseed.
Fletchling is the second sweeper, running a p standard Swords Dance set (was gonna try out Flailtchling later) that sweeps well after resistances have been removed. Swords Dance boosts Fletchling's Attack to a level where his strong STAB Acrobatics can sweep with priority (I like me priority :^) U-Turn grabs momentum and gets the bird out of situations where he cannot 2HKO or OHKO the opponent. Roost provides some longevity for the bird to keep on hitting.
This team is centered around 14 Speed SD Riolu. I used this set because I felt the one man core should not be a supporter, but should be one of, if not the main wincon. So if I wanted to build the team around it, I decided to build a stall team to go with it. I went with Slowpoke for the paralysis support and burn chance and its amazing ability to wall things when late game comes. With Slowpoke weak to Knock Off, I decided to go with Spritzee. Spritzee is perfect for the team because it has fantastic synergy with Slowpoke that I believe is underused/untapped. I later went back to make this a CM Spirtzee because I liked having the idea of a secondary wincon that could also support my team. I really like Ponyta in general as of recently; so I decided to run SunnyBeam Ponyta. SunnyBeam Ponyta removes a lot of potential weaknesses I might have had and is a general surprise factor. Pumpkaboo-Super was next because I truly believe this thing has officially ran it's course for being flavor of the month. While it might be outshined in some aspects, I absolutely love it on this team because it beats Abra and plenty of physical attackers. With its Will-O-Wisp it really does check a lot of Fighters that think it can switch in and think it can Knock Off. (See Spritzee.) I finally decided to go with Archen as my last mon so I would not be bird weak. Archen is a Defensive with Eviolite set. I went with a Defensive set because it seemed to fit with the team perfectly and beats the moderate bird problem that I might have.
A couple of final thoughts before I let this team go. IT IS A STALL TEAM BASED AROUND A SWEEPER. This means that you should not play this team like a Bulky Offense Team and you should most certainly not play it like a Hyper Offensive team. I'd also really like to stress how important Riolu is on this team. The point of a core is to be the most important part of the team; so I beg you to use the blue jackal correctly and don't even think about using it as a lead. As for the other teams, what makes your "core" the most important part? How much more difficult is it to win without your core?
K so I built a team a while back that used Dragon Dance Scraggy, and Riolu and Scraggy both face the same threats in Fletchling and fairies so I tweaked it a little and came up with this. Riolu is using the bread and butter Swords Dance HJK Crunch set, which cleans up nicely late game. Gastly is an excellent wallbreaker that destroys fairy types and loads of other mons too. Sub and HP Fite let it beat Pawn sometimes, which is good because this team has no reliable Pawn switch-in. Magnemite deals with Fletch, kills fairies, is a nice pivot, and stops set up sweepers in their tracks. Drilbur was added to control hazards. Fletch does its typical revenge killing job while also using Overheat to fry Pawn and Mag on the switch, as this team has no real counters to them. Lastly, Snubbull was added as a Fighting type switchin and it gives convenient para support.
in that case: KM.
Double bird is uber good, especially coupled with Scarf Magnemite. It has nice pressure and enables Riolu to have fun. It's a little weak to BU Timburr if rocks are up, but generally Timburr gets few opportunities to set up. Bulky Offensive is cool man.
I'm sorry for my inactivity and not being clear. Voting is now officially open and will be open until the 10th. If you already voted, it counted dw.
You can vote for: Omastar42 DatCoconut Cheek Pouch scampia kingmidas
Have fun voting, I'll be more organized about this in the future!
Congratulations to Cheek Pouch for winning this week's competition! Since Nineage has gotten super busy i'll be coming on to help run this thing.
So with that in mind, our next core is...
Tyrunt is a powerful wallbreaker and sweeper with wide range of coverage options and two stabs that are only resisted steel completely. It runs into some trouble with fairies, fighters, and steel types, which Gunk can tackle quite nicely. I'm excited to see how y'all do this week.
Remember, you can only use two of the following pokemon on your team: Mienfoo, Chinchou, Pawniard, and Archen. Have fun!
Submissions end the 20th.
I built around Dragon Dance Tyrunt because it's strong and capable of cleaning up after its checks are worn down, and Gunk covers all checks except Ground types. I use Eviolite and Strong Jaw because I think it sets up easier on resistances thanks to greater bulk than Sturdy (and hazards can be up), while Strong Jaw Fire Fang lets it beat Steel types like Ferro easier. Outrage is used over Dragon Claw because D Claw is weak and doesn't OHKO anything. Croagunk is using the standard mixed utility set, which lets it clear out Steel types, Fighters, and Fairies for Tyrunt. I realized Runt and Gunk both have issues with Snubbull, which outspeeds Gunk and can hit it with EQ. I decided the best way to beat Snub and Spritz was not to counter them, but to lure them. Axew was the perfect mon for the job because it matches my avatar has insane wallbreaking power and lures out and beats checks to Tyrunt. Pop off a Swords Dance on a switch and watch the Dragon checks disappear. Steels die to Superpower, and even the "Dragon Check" Spritzee dies to +2 Iron Tail after SR. If they have no Dragon resists left, Outrage hits for insane damage and OHKOs like everything after a Swords Dance. Cotton was added to patch a Ground weakness and to give set-up opportunities to the dragons. I decided to use Thunder Wave Pawniard to slow down Mienfoo and other switch-ins to Pawn, either Paraflinching them or giving Axew a chance to sweep easier. Pawn also forms a Fairy/Dragon/Steel core with Cotton and the dragons which is neat. Dril provides the Stealth Rock support needed for KO power and spins away hazards while hitting hard. Dragon Spam is p hax weak with confusion and Iron Tail and Stone Edge missing a lot but that's mons.
Tyrunt @ Eviolite
Ability: Strong Jaw
Level: 5
EVs: 52 HP / 204 Atk / 212 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Stone Edge
- Outrage
- Fire Fang