Introduction:
I hate entry hazards. I picked my first two Pokemon specifically to counter them, and just built off the team from there. I also made an effort to stay away from the more popular movesets. I try to be unpredictable as part of my playing style, and by the time many people figure out that you are using an uncommon move set, it can be too late for them to counter. I also very much dislike statuses, and I tried to minimize their effectiveness as much as possible. Part of how half of my Pokemon made it onto my team was their ability to keep from being statused.
Team at a Glance:
The Players:
Genesect @ Silver Powder
Trait: Download
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature (+Spe, -SAtk)
- U-turn
- X-Scissor
- Protect
- Explosion
Genesect, I've found, makes for a great scout. U-turn is used when my opponent starts out with an obvious entry-hazard user. A quick switch into Espeon, and they're either going to be wasting time trying to rapid-spin it away, or be stuck with it. Against many other leads, I'll use Protect first to scout out their moves, and then make the proper switch with U-turn, or hit them hard with X-Scissor. Protect also breaks annoying fake-out leads. Explosion is there as a last resort. So long as it isn't a defense EV'd pokemon I'm using it against, I can usually count on a neutral 1 for 1 out of using it.
Espeon (F) @ Life Orb
Trait: Magic Mirror
EVs: 40 HP / 252 SpA / 216 Spe
Modest Nature (+SpA, -Atk)
- Calm Mind
- Psychic
- Hidden Power [Ground]
- Baton Pass
I picked Espeon solely for its Magic Mirror ability, which is in my humble opinion, one of the best in the game. Predicting obvious paralyze, sleep, burn, poisen, and entry-hazards is not that hard. Usually I'm able to get at least one reversed for free. After the first one, if they have a brain they'll predict the switch and you have to play like a Sicilian in a bet for his life involving a cup containing iocane powder. Calm Mind coupled with Baton Pass not only gives Espeon the ability to boost itself, but support its team as well. As for going with HP Ground, I did that because some guide on Smogon told me to.
Empoleon (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: Torrent
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Spe
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SpA)
- Swords Dance
- Aqua Jet
- Earthquake
- Drill Peck
When it came to picking a physical sweepr, there could be only one; Empoleon. This set used to be listed under the Empoleon Analysis but has been deleted for quite some time now. It can be a little risky to use this set, but when pulled off it's a game-winner. Basically, you switch Empoleon on in on one of its thirteen resistances. Then, grab a Sword Dance when they will most likely switch out. Depending on who's switched in, you will have some options. For example, if it's a fighting type, I generally use Drill Peck. Usually (but not always) Empoleon can survive one supereffective hit. This will get it down below the 1/3 HP needed to activate Torrent. From there, I have the added attack of one or two Sword Dances, along with a boosted priority move. This thing is beast. And if I'm lucky enough to get three Sword Dances off, then it's a god. 1192 Attack stats with a Torrent boosts and bar my opponent having something with Mach Punch, it's game over.
Ditto @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Eccentric
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Naive Nature (+Spe, -SpD)
- Transform
- ***IV's set for HP Rock***
Choice Scarf Ditto is easily the best revenge killer in the game. I use a Shiny Ditto, so people who don't closely watch the readerboard may not realize what I've done. A common strategy for me is to let people boost their [Insert Dragon Dance User Here] and then sacrifice one pokemon when they use Outrage so I can switch Ditto in. After that, they're locked in to a speed race they cannot win, and I just stole all their boosts. I also set the IV's to give my Ditto HP Rock. I did this because I find that Zapdos is a giant pain-in-the-ass for my team, and this greatly helps with knocking him out of the sky.
Shaymin @ Leftovers
Trait: Natural Cure
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Modest Nature (+SpA, -Atk)
- Seed Flare
- Earth Power
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Rest
Gliscor (M) @ Toxic Orb
Trait: Poison Heal
EVs: 252 HP / 236 Def / 20 Spe
Impish Nature (+Def, -SpA)
- Fling
- Taunt
- Earthquake
- Acrobat
Gliscor just seems to tie the team together. And this set has worked out really well for me. Remember when I said I hate entry hazards? Well, Taunt helps to prevent that problem if I've lost Espeon. Fling is used after Gliscor's Toxic Orb activates as it's a free one-time toxic and brings doubles Acrobat's power. I commonly use him when I run into the likes of Blissy. Many Blissy sets run with either Thunder Wave or Toxic. Even if Gliscor hasn't had a turn to activate his Toxic Orb, he can eat both of those. Then, using fling he can status the other Pokemon. Also Taunt prevents Blissy from healing itself and teammates, which is very frustrating for opponents. Especially when you've poisoned them with the Toxic Orb. The Toxic Orb also allows me to inflict poison on Magic Mirror users as well as denting with a super effective attack.
Known Weakness's
Ferrothorn is a huge pain in the ass for me. Usually I can stall it similarly to how I stall Blissy, but it's much more difficult. I'm thinking it may help if I switch HP Ground on my Espeon to HP Fighting it could help. It would also allow Espeon to better counter Dark types that may switch into it.
Empoleon being burned is another big problem. It undermines my entire strategy, and I have to have two Sword Dances just to get Empoleon back in the range of its normal attack stats. I want to fit a team healer in, but just don't see where I can do it.
I hate entry hazards. I picked my first two Pokemon specifically to counter them, and just built off the team from there. I also made an effort to stay away from the more popular movesets. I try to be unpredictable as part of my playing style, and by the time many people figure out that you are using an uncommon move set, it can be too late for them to counter. I also very much dislike statuses, and I tried to minimize their effectiveness as much as possible. Part of how half of my Pokemon made it onto my team was their ability to keep from being statused.
Team at a Glance:
The Players:
Genesect @ Silver Powder
Trait: Download
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature (+Spe, -SAtk)
- U-turn
- X-Scissor
- Protect
- Explosion
Genesect, I've found, makes for a great scout. U-turn is used when my opponent starts out with an obvious entry-hazard user. A quick switch into Espeon, and they're either going to be wasting time trying to rapid-spin it away, or be stuck with it. Against many other leads, I'll use Protect first to scout out their moves, and then make the proper switch with U-turn, or hit them hard with X-Scissor. Protect also breaks annoying fake-out leads. Explosion is there as a last resort. So long as it isn't a defense EV'd pokemon I'm using it against, I can usually count on a neutral 1 for 1 out of using it.
Espeon (F) @ Life Orb
Trait: Magic Mirror
EVs: 40 HP / 252 SpA / 216 Spe
Modest Nature (+SpA, -Atk)
- Calm Mind
- Psychic
- Hidden Power [Ground]
- Baton Pass
I picked Espeon solely for its Magic Mirror ability, which is in my humble opinion, one of the best in the game. Predicting obvious paralyze, sleep, burn, poisen, and entry-hazards is not that hard. Usually I'm able to get at least one reversed for free. After the first one, if they have a brain they'll predict the switch and you have to play like a Sicilian in a bet for his life involving a cup containing iocane powder. Calm Mind coupled with Baton Pass not only gives Espeon the ability to boost itself, but support its team as well. As for going with HP Ground, I did that because some guide on Smogon told me to.
Empoleon (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: Torrent
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Spe
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SpA)
- Swords Dance
- Aqua Jet
- Earthquake
- Drill Peck
When it came to picking a physical sweepr, there could be only one; Empoleon. This set used to be listed under the Empoleon Analysis but has been deleted for quite some time now. It can be a little risky to use this set, but when pulled off it's a game-winner. Basically, you switch Empoleon on in on one of its thirteen resistances. Then, grab a Sword Dance when they will most likely switch out. Depending on who's switched in, you will have some options. For example, if it's a fighting type, I generally use Drill Peck. Usually (but not always) Empoleon can survive one supereffective hit. This will get it down below the 1/3 HP needed to activate Torrent. From there, I have the added attack of one or two Sword Dances, along with a boosted priority move. This thing is beast. And if I'm lucky enough to get three Sword Dances off, then it's a god. 1192 Attack stats with a Torrent boosts and bar my opponent having something with Mach Punch, it's game over.
Ditto @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Eccentric
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Naive Nature (+Spe, -SpD)
- Transform
- ***IV's set for HP Rock***
Choice Scarf Ditto is easily the best revenge killer in the game. I use a Shiny Ditto, so people who don't closely watch the readerboard may not realize what I've done. A common strategy for me is to let people boost their [Insert Dragon Dance User Here] and then sacrifice one pokemon when they use Outrage so I can switch Ditto in. After that, they're locked in to a speed race they cannot win, and I just stole all their boosts. I also set the IV's to give my Ditto HP Rock. I did this because I find that Zapdos is a giant pain-in-the-ass for my team, and this greatly helps with knocking him out of the sky.
Shaymin @ Leftovers
Trait: Natural Cure
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Modest Nature (+SpA, -Atk)
- Seed Flare
- Earth Power
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Rest
I love Shaymin, and it's my special sweeper of choice; especially if I can get some calm mind boosts passed into it from Empoleon. And with full speed EV's, it will outspeed both Scizzor and Heatran which seem to be the most common counters. In fact, it's not uncommon for me to purposely switch in Shaymin to one of those as a revenge kill. Usually I'll bluff in the chat with a, "$%&#!!! Misclick!" to keep them from switching out. Then I'll fire off an HP Fire or Earth Power depending on who I'm up against. Seed Flare is a great STAB attack, but at 85% Acc it can be a little unreliable. It hits bulky water types hard though, which is much needed in today's metagame where half the teams seem to be based around drizzle Politoed. Rest is obviously used for healing, and is easy to pull off with Natural Cure.
Gliscor (M) @ Toxic Orb
Trait: Poison Heal
EVs: 252 HP / 236 Def / 20 Spe
Impish Nature (+Def, -SpA)
- Fling
- Taunt
- Earthquake
- Acrobat
Gliscor just seems to tie the team together. And this set has worked out really well for me. Remember when I said I hate entry hazards? Well, Taunt helps to prevent that problem if I've lost Espeon. Fling is used after Gliscor's Toxic Orb activates as it's a free one-time toxic and brings doubles Acrobat's power. I commonly use him when I run into the likes of Blissy. Many Blissy sets run with either Thunder Wave or Toxic. Even if Gliscor hasn't had a turn to activate his Toxic Orb, he can eat both of those. Then, using fling he can status the other Pokemon. Also Taunt prevents Blissy from healing itself and teammates, which is very frustrating for opponents. Especially when you've poisoned them with the Toxic Orb. The Toxic Orb also allows me to inflict poison on Magic Mirror users as well as denting with a super effective attack.
Known Weakness's
Ferrothorn is a huge pain in the ass for me. Usually I can stall it similarly to how I stall Blissy, but it's much more difficult. I'm thinking it may help if I switch HP Ground on my Espeon to HP Fighting it could help. It would also allow Espeon to better counter Dark types that may switch into it.
Empoleon being burned is another big problem. It undermines my entire strategy, and I have to have two Sword Dances just to get Empoleon back in the range of its normal attack stats. I want to fit a team healer in, but just don't see where I can do it.
