Ok, my last RMT was a team that was very successful but definitely had its fair share or problems. With Slowbro being the only def wall and not having any steel mons to absorb choiced dragon atttacks, there were, like in many teams, many holes to exploit. This team is one of my newer teams that I had to plug pokes in and run many trial and error sessions before I settled on the pokes and the movesets. Its alot more defensive and standard than my first team, but still uses the element of surprise in some of the sets to catch my opponent off gaurd. Here it is:
THE TEAM
The Sahara (Hippowdon) (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: Sand Stream
EVs: 192 HP / 236 Def / 82 SDef
Impish Nature (+Def, -SAtk)
- Earthquake
- Stealth Rock
- Roar
- Slack Off
Dont think this poke needs to much of an introduction. I dont like to use pokes and sets that are highly overused, but I made an exception for this team b/c Hippo was the perfect fit. He can counter so many things, its not even funny. He was an easy pick over swampert as my main multipurpose Jirachi counter. And of course afer rocks are up he can switch into offensive threats like DD Nite and Durr and Excadrill and just spam Roar and Slack off untill its safe for a team mate to take the opposing poke out. We all know the drill. But with Sand stream, Hippo also boosts my efforts in countering other weathers. I gave him enough sp. def. evs to comfortably take a variety of attacks from threats like Ninetails or Gengar, etc.
SKIN CANCER (Heatran) (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: Flash Fire
EVs: 212 HP / 16 SAtk / 80 SDef / 200 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Magma Storm
- Toxic
- Taunt
- Substitute
Yes, this is another of my "what the fuck" sets. But you would be surprised at how effective it is. I developed it just to foil Blisseys and Chanseys that dont carry Seismic Toss, which most rain Stall Bliss/Chansey dont. As you can see, I like to counter-team alot. But can you blame me? If I can bait an opposing Chansey with the usual Wish,Softboiled, Toxic, Heal Bell set to switch into this Heatran, things can get ugly for it in a hurry. After Magma Storm hits it, I follow up with a taunt, then a toxic. The residual dmg from both of these moves will add up by the time its not longer trapped by Magma Storm. If it so happens to have Seismic Toss and I want to save my Heatran I can go straight to Gengar who also runs Taunt or a my designated attacker in Metagross. And dont think this set is only designed for Blisseys, With Sub, Toxic, and Taunt and great speed, Heatran can be a very successfull toxic staller if you can toxic an incoming switch in. It completely shuts down Porygon2 who cant break its sub with thunderbolt and taunting if it attempts to recover. This Heatran can do a number to sun teams, when behind substitute, he can toxic threats he cant dmg with Magma Storm. And while Magma Storm has not-so perfect accuracy, Heatrans nice defenses and substitute allow him not to be punished too severely if a Magma Storm were to miss.
C.E.S.S. (Tangrowth) (F) @ Wide Lens
Trait: Regenerator
EVs: 68 HP / 252 SAtk / 188 Spd
Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Sleep Powder
- Knock Off/Stun Spore
- Leaf Storm
- Hidden Power [Fire]
My pride and joy. One of the most underrated and versatile mons in the game. Ive been using Wide Lens Tangrowth to troll the metagame since 5th gen started. This set was created solely to punish the Rotom/Scizor scout combination that has taken over the metagame. With Wide Lens the accuracy of Sleep Powder and Stun Spore is boosted from 75% to right around 83% which is alot more respectable. LeafStorm has its accuracy boosted from 90% to 99%. I only remember missing Leafstorm a total of 6-8 times out of maybe 1,000 or so attempts after I started using this set, so yes the item most definitely works. When I see Rotom/scizor in the team preview I look and my Tangrowth and smile, bc I know he will wreck havoc on that strategy. What I always do is feint like I will lead with Hippo or Heatran and then bam lead with Tangrowth which 9 times of of 10 causes my opponent to lead with Rotom. With Tangrowth in its face, Rotom is forced to trick his item onto me or voltswitch into a mon who will be either statused or have his item removed with knock off. If he tries to block status with Espeon, I can always predict the switch and smack it with a very powerfull LeafStorm. By deciding to pack lots of speed onto Tangrowth, an opposing Scizor would have to pack on 68 speed EV's to outspeed me, which most simply not wanting to make that sacrifice. That with the fact that this set runs HP fire means bad news for Scizor. If a Natural Cure poke switches in and I sleep it, its comes down to prediction. I can switch in a threat like Heatran or Gengar to capitalize, or I can read the likely switch and just sleep powder again or even decide to Knock off, say Celebi's lefties or Chanseys Eviolote, or Latios's Specs. Tangrowth has been crippling opposing threats for me for as long as I can remember.
CYBER BULLY (Metagross) @ Choice Band
Trait: Clear Body
EVs: 196 HP / 224 Atk / 36 Def / 32 SDef / 20 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Meteor Mash
- Zen Headbutt
- Trick
- Hammer Arm
A pretty common and useable set for Metgross. He primarily serves as my Reuniclus counter of choice. With banded Meteor Mash inflicting around 58-63% dmg to Bold Max HP/max Def Reuniclus. That with the fact that focusblast only has 70% accuracy and can only do around 50% dmg to this Metagross after a Calm Mind. I use to run very nice Sp def on this set, but had to give more evs to Attack when ZenHeadbutt kept getting walled by Quagsire. With his current EV spread, Zen Headbutt inficts 51-54% dmg to Relaxed max HP/Max Def Quagsire. With nice bulk and HP, Metagross can also serve as a Def. Wall/ Heavy attacker to mons like DD Nite or Haxorus. Metagross can comfortably take Excadrills Earthquake if it hasnt set up and ko with Hammer Arm and take a +1 Earthquake from Dnite and ko with Meteor Mash, assuming that is has taken rocks dmg. already and also that neither poke is running Life Orb. Metagross also offers another line of defense to Conkeldurr, inflicting 78-83% dmg with Zen Headbutt after Durr bulks up and taking a Drain Punch quite nicely with his bulk. Metagross can always trick his Band onto a poke that you want to silence like Cosmic Power Sigilyph or a Stockpiling Hippo or Quagsire.
Da Boogeyman (Gengar) (F) @ Black Sludge
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Shadow Ball
- Focus Blast
- Taunt
- Substitute
Another one of my old school sets that I brought back to shine on this particular team. With No Phazing Sashed Ttar, Taunt Gengars main purpose on this team is to completely derail common Baton Pass teams with Ninjask leads. When I see the my opponent will be running conventional baton pass in the team preview I immediately lead with Gengar. I begin by shadowballing, making sure not to reveal that i carry taunt right away. Once Ninjask subs and I taunt thats when the wheels of Baton Pass start to fall off. If he protects on the taunt and sees thats what my plan is, he will have to fight the urge to try and pass to Espeon to attempt to bounce my taunt. I can always read this and shadow ball or get in sub to see if it goes to Smeargle. One thing is for sure. He will not want to leave Ninjask in and risk being taunted once he knows that I carry it. It of course is better to get off the taunt once Ninjask gets in his sub forcing the switch and allowing Gengar to be the fastest mon on the floor. This Set also allows Gengar to render most Blisseys/Chanseys useless, forcing switches and racking up rocks dmg and attacking. I can also use the Taunt and Run strategy to a poke that I absolutely know will try and set up on me or recover like Gorebyss, Dnite, Porygon2, Gastrodon, Wish- Jirachi and many more mons that Gengar would have a hard time killing.
OBESITY (Snorlax) (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: Thick Fat
EVs: 232 HP / 56 Def / 220 SDef
Careful Nature (+SDef, -SAtk)
- Body Slam
- Rest
- Sleep Talk
- Whirlwind
Well yeah, I introduced this poke in my last RMT. To sum it up this guy is my sp def. Wall. Once rocks are up his job is to spam whirlwind, try and rack up para's, Rest when he needs to and repeat the process. Nothing more need be said. This guy is one of the best anti-weather pokes around.
I built this team to counter pretty much every single threat the metagame has to offer. Baton pass if covered, Excadrill is covered if I can keep Hippo around at close to full health, Volcarona and most Sun threats are useless against the core of Snorlax/Heatran. It isnt as strong as my other teams to rain stall, but with Heatrans ability to Taunt and check many threats, and Tangrowths Knock off making it easier for me, not even Rain Stall can easily beat this team. Choiced Dragons cant spam their powerful attacks with my two steel mons and Snorlax walling most special attacks. Life Orb Gengar can really do a number to my team if I dont watch it. The biggest threat to this team is HAZARDS. With me choosing not to run a spinner and focus more on countering threats, hazards can really be counterproductive to this team. My game plan against Heavy Stall Users is to put Ferro, Forry and Skarm to sleep as quickly as possible before hazards get out of hands, with me electing to not even bring out my Tangrowth untill I see my opponent bring out his hazard spreader.
This team has also seen great success on the PO Ladder. I havent been using if for very long, but being very high on the ladder already has allowed me to test it against the best battlers and it has already compiled a very good record against various playstyles. Many of you will argue that there is a big talent gap in the battlers at PO vs. Smogon, but this simply isnt true. Ive spent much time battling on both servers. Now that PO is starting to ban all the same stuff Smogon is banning, ppl are being forced to adopt the same playstyles. That being said, I will be battling at Smogon a little more often now.
