Team at a glance:
This team did very well for me in May when we had a PU ladder, and it's been very fun, but given the current lack of a ladder, I think it's time to retire this and put it up for rate.
The main philosophy behind this team is summed up in the title. With a team that the opponent is generally incapable of doing much of anything to, I'm largely free to start chipping away at their health, and the chip damage adds up so much faster on their side than it does on mine. It's not exactly full stall, but just enough to make it extremely frustrating to face.
So, for the team in detail:
Golbat @ Eviolite
Trait: Inner Focus
EVs: 248 HP / 164 Def / 96 Spd
Impish Nature
- Brave Bird
- Taunt
- Roost
- U-turn
Golbat more or less sets the tone for the entire team - ridiculously hard to KO, surprisingly strong, very versatile, and has a fantastic set of resistances. Can't wear it down because of Roost, can't status it because of Taunt, and can't even gain momentum against it because of U-turn. Golbat is one of those Pokemon where you can never understand how terrifying it can be to face until you actually do and realize how utterly incapable you are of breaking the thing while it steadily eats away at your health with its surprisingly powerful Brave Birds.
Duosion @ Eviolite
Trait: Magic Guard
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SAtk
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 0 Spd
- Calm Mind
- Psyshock
- Signal Beam
- Recover
Duosion is my late-game cleaner. Once the opponent's team has been cleared of any obstacles to its sweep, I'm free to bring it in on something that can't really do anything to it and start setting up. Duosion makes for a wonderful Pokemon in this role because Magic Guard, instant recovery, and amazing bulk on par with my defensive mons go a very long way to reducing the number of opposing mons capable of stopping its sweep.
Linoone @ Choice Band
Trait: Pickup
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature
- ExtremeSpeed
- Seed Bomb
- Shadow Claw
- Switcheroo
The revenge killer. This Linoone set is one of the most subtly evil parts of this team. When people see Linoone, they try extremely hard to keep their Belly Drum Linoone counters alive, which means they play more cautiously, which means they're more vulnerable to the rest of the team. It also keeps people from looking at Duosion as the late-game cleaner and being less cautious with their answers to it. And the best part is that no one ever switches out of Linoone, because they really can't afford to - and this means Linoone just about always gets the revenge kill it was really after from the beginning.
Mawile @ Chesto Berry
Trait: Intimidate
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 Def / 4 Spd
Impish Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Taunt
- Iron Head
- Rest
Ah, Mawile. My own original Mawile set, designed as the team's primary lead. 50 base Speed seems really slow for a lead Taunter at first glance, but then you realize how many opposing hazard setters (and leads in general) are slower than it. Gigalith? Wormadam-S? Lairon? Pineco? Omanyte? All slower than base 50. And that 4 Spd isn't random, either - it ensures the jump on opposing Mawile. 252 Atk gives its Iron Heads a very surprising amount of power, enough to (usually) 2HKO opposing Gigalith and break the Sub of almost any opponent that tries that tactic. And then there's the ChestoRest strategy, which isn't just for recovery - it trolls the hell out of sleep leads like Butterfree, too.
Lickitung @ Eviolite
Trait: Own Tempo
EVs: 252 SDef / 252 HP / 4 Atk
Careful Nature
IVs: 22 Spd
- Wish
- Protect
- Dragon Tail
- Return
The main brunt of this team's special defenses, Lickitung is damn near unbreakable on the special side. Even physical attackers struggle to do much of anything a lot of the time. To really hammer in how defensive Lickitung is, a -1 Quick Feet Ursaring (a common scenario given Mawile's Intimidate) Close Combat is a 3HKO. The IVs seem really random at first, but there's a reason for them: they ensure that Lickitung will always outspeed 0 Speed Gigalith while also ensuring that HP Fighting Beheeyem will always outspeed Lickitung and thus be denied Analytic. Return is generally just barely strong enough to break most Substitutes, while Lickitung's ability to phaze and pass Wishes goes a very long way towards supporting the team in general.
Chinchou @ Eviolite
Trait: Volt Absorb
EVs: 252 SAtk / 252 SDef / 4 Def
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Scald
- Discharge
- Volt Switch
- Heal Bell
Chinchou's set of resistances goes incredibly far for this team. Having the ability to take Fire, Water, Electric, and Ice all at once is just about unheard of outside of Chinchou, and with Eviolite supporting it, it has the special bulk to make good use of it. Scald and Discharge bring about lots of status hax, while Volt Switch means its weaknesses are not easily taken advantage of. It does wish it had recovery to some extent, but often Lickitung takes care of that for it, and it promptly returns the favor with its Heal Bell.
All pictures (except the sprites at the top) are from Deviantart from a Google Image search, property of their owners, et cetera.
So, your thoughts on this team?
This team did very well for me in May when we had a PU ladder, and it's been very fun, but given the current lack of a ladder, I think it's time to retire this and put it up for rate.
The main philosophy behind this team is summed up in the title. With a team that the opponent is generally incapable of doing much of anything to, I'm largely free to start chipping away at their health, and the chip damage adds up so much faster on their side than it does on mine. It's not exactly full stall, but just enough to make it extremely frustrating to face.
So, for the team in detail:
Golbat @ Eviolite
Trait: Inner Focus
EVs: 248 HP / 164 Def / 96 Spd
Impish Nature
- Brave Bird
- Taunt
- Roost
- U-turn
Golbat more or less sets the tone for the entire team - ridiculously hard to KO, surprisingly strong, very versatile, and has a fantastic set of resistances. Can't wear it down because of Roost, can't status it because of Taunt, and can't even gain momentum against it because of U-turn. Golbat is one of those Pokemon where you can never understand how terrifying it can be to face until you actually do and realize how utterly incapable you are of breaking the thing while it steadily eats away at your health with its surprisingly powerful Brave Birds.
Duosion @ Eviolite
Trait: Magic Guard
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SAtk
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 0 Spd
- Calm Mind
- Psyshock
- Signal Beam
- Recover
Duosion is my late-game cleaner. Once the opponent's team has been cleared of any obstacles to its sweep, I'm free to bring it in on something that can't really do anything to it and start setting up. Duosion makes for a wonderful Pokemon in this role because Magic Guard, instant recovery, and amazing bulk on par with my defensive mons go a very long way to reducing the number of opposing mons capable of stopping its sweep.
Linoone @ Choice Band
Trait: Pickup
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature
- ExtremeSpeed
- Seed Bomb
- Shadow Claw
- Switcheroo
The revenge killer. This Linoone set is one of the most subtly evil parts of this team. When people see Linoone, they try extremely hard to keep their Belly Drum Linoone counters alive, which means they play more cautiously, which means they're more vulnerable to the rest of the team. It also keeps people from looking at Duosion as the late-game cleaner and being less cautious with their answers to it. And the best part is that no one ever switches out of Linoone, because they really can't afford to - and this means Linoone just about always gets the revenge kill it was really after from the beginning.
Mawile @ Chesto Berry
Trait: Intimidate
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 Def / 4 Spd
Impish Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Taunt
- Iron Head
- Rest
Ah, Mawile. My own original Mawile set, designed as the team's primary lead. 50 base Speed seems really slow for a lead Taunter at first glance, but then you realize how many opposing hazard setters (and leads in general) are slower than it. Gigalith? Wormadam-S? Lairon? Pineco? Omanyte? All slower than base 50. And that 4 Spd isn't random, either - it ensures the jump on opposing Mawile. 252 Atk gives its Iron Heads a very surprising amount of power, enough to (usually) 2HKO opposing Gigalith and break the Sub of almost any opponent that tries that tactic. And then there's the ChestoRest strategy, which isn't just for recovery - it trolls the hell out of sleep leads like Butterfree, too.
Lickitung @ Eviolite
Trait: Own Tempo
EVs: 252 SDef / 252 HP / 4 Atk
Careful Nature
IVs: 22 Spd
- Wish
- Protect
- Dragon Tail
- Return
The main brunt of this team's special defenses, Lickitung is damn near unbreakable on the special side. Even physical attackers struggle to do much of anything a lot of the time. To really hammer in how defensive Lickitung is, a -1 Quick Feet Ursaring (a common scenario given Mawile's Intimidate) Close Combat is a 3HKO. The IVs seem really random at first, but there's a reason for them: they ensure that Lickitung will always outspeed 0 Speed Gigalith while also ensuring that HP Fighting Beheeyem will always outspeed Lickitung and thus be denied Analytic. Return is generally just barely strong enough to break most Substitutes, while Lickitung's ability to phaze and pass Wishes goes a very long way towards supporting the team in general.
Chinchou @ Eviolite
Trait: Volt Absorb
EVs: 252 SAtk / 252 SDef / 4 Def
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Scald
- Discharge
- Volt Switch
- Heal Bell
Chinchou's set of resistances goes incredibly far for this team. Having the ability to take Fire, Water, Electric, and Ice all at once is just about unheard of outside of Chinchou, and with Eviolite supporting it, it has the special bulk to make good use of it. Scald and Discharge bring about lots of status hax, while Volt Switch means its weaknesses are not easily taken advantage of. It does wish it had recovery to some extent, but often Lickitung takes care of that for it, and it promptly returns the favor with its Heal Bell.
All pictures (except the sprites at the top) are from Deviantart from a Google Image search, property of their owners, et cetera.
So, your thoughts on this team?