The Current Team:
________________________________________________________________________________________________________
I wanted to address some of the more pressing issues of my previous team. This is the current iteration of my team. Although I've made it quite a bit farther with them, I'm still inexperienced and there's always room for improvement. Please help me improve. Thank you.________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Previous Team: https://www.smogon.com/forums/threa...-1205-elo-how-can-i-improve-the-team.3628097/
________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Conkeldurr (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Sheer Force
EVs: 252 Atk / 8 Def / 248 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Fire Punch
- Thunder Punch
- Ice Punch
- Mach Punch
Conkeldurr (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Sheer Force
EVs: 252 Atk / 8 Def / 248 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Fire Punch
- Thunder Punch
- Ice Punch
- Mach Punch
Conkeldurr is my current Lead, and my main Physical Sweeper. He replaced Kartana from the previous team. I realized that Kartana's main job on my previous team was to switch into a physical non-supereffective hit, then take out as many enemies as he could before going down. I decided "Why not just do that from the start?" and set about looking for a tankier Pokemon that could also hit harder and provide more coverage.
Conkeldurr is very slow, but he can take both Physical and Special attacks far better than Kartana could. Furthermore, Sheer Force + Life Orb + 252 Atk + Adamant makes Conkeldurr hit VERY hard, enough to OHKO a lot of common enemies like Landorus-T, Greninja-Ash, Ferrothorn, Tyranitar-Mega, Garchomp, etc.. Fire Punch deals with Bug, Grass, Ice, and Steel types. Thunder Punch deals with Flying and Water types. Ice Punch deals with Dragon, Grass, and Ground types, as well as Flying types who resist Thunder Punch. Mach Punch is mainly there in case Conkeldurr doesn't outright OHKO the enemy and needs to hit first on the next turn.
Fairy, Flying, and Psychic attacks utterly destroy Conkeldurr though, so that's where Ferrothorn comes in.
____________________________________________________
Ferrothorn (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Iron Barbs
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 248 HP / 52 Def / 208 SpD
Careful Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Leech Seed
- Protect
- Stealth Rock
- Toxic (Replace with Thunder Wave/Knock-Off?)
Ferrothorn is still one of my Walls against most Pokemon because of his fantastic Grass Steel typing. Unlike in my previous team, I've forgone any semblance of attacking and dedicated Ferrothorn to completely annoying enemy Pokemon. Leech Seed + Leftovers + Protect keeps Ferrothorn very healthy. Stealth Rock is my Entry Hazard of choice to deal with Fire-type Sweepers like Heatran, Charizard, and Volcarona. I put Toxic in there after noticing just how many times I found myself wanting to switch to Toxapex but couldn't because of the threat of Ground, Electric, and Psychic attacks. I'm thinking of replacing Toxic with Thunder Wave to hit Steel and Poison types. I'm also considering putting Knock-Off back in to hit Psychic types for super-effective damage and to piss off enemy Pokemon who rely on their items to set up.
Fire and Fighting attacks demolish Ferrothorn, so Toxapex comes in against those.
____________________________________________________
Toxapex (F) @ Black Sludge
Ability: Regenerator
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 248 HP / 140 Def / 120 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Toxic
- Haze
- Scald
- Recover
Toxapex (F) @ Black Sludge
Ability: Regenerator
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 248 HP / 140 Def / 120 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Toxic
- Haze
- Scald
- Recover
Toxapex is still the tankiest, most annoying Pokemon I could find, and really hasn't changed much from my previous team. Water Poison is fantastic against a lot of attack types. The main changes are that I've been experimenting with her EVs, and I've exchanged Rocky Helmet for Black Sludge because I wanted her to remain healthier.
Recover + Toxic even without Rocky Helmet still means that most Pokemon basically kill themselves against Toxapex. Scald is for Fire, Ground, and Rock types, as well as for Steel and Poison types who can't be poisoned. Haze deals with enemy Pokemon who want to set up against Toxapex.
As long as I don't switch Toxapex into Electric, Ground, or Psychic attacks, I can alternate Toxapex with Ferrothorn to halve most attack types. Between the two of them, I can also get rid of Toxic Spikes completely, although those aren't as common.
____________________________________________________
Latias-Mega @ Latiasite
Ability: Levitate
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Def / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Ice Beam
- Psychic
- Roost
- Defog
As for her other moves, I initially had Draco Meteor as one of them, but decided that Ice Beam could do the same job while providing better coverage and not lowering Latias-Mega's Sp Atk. Ice Beam deals with Dragon, Grass, Ground, and Flying types. Psychic deals with Fighting and Poison types. Roost is there so that Latias-Mega can recover HP after switching into a hit.
Compared to Landorus-T from my previous team, I lose some momentum due to not having a pivot move like U-Turn, but I feel like the trade-off was very worth it for what I needed on the team. Unfortunately, for all her strengths, Latias-Mega also has lots of weaknesses. Bug, Dark, Fairy, Dragon, Ice, and Ghost type attacks hit her hard, so I have to be careful when I'm switching her into Pokemon who typically run those attack types.
____________________________________________________
Tapu Lele @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Psychic Surge
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Psychic
- Psyshock
- Moonblast
- Thunderbolt (Replace with Focus Blast/Hidden Power Fire?)
Tapu Lele @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Psychic Surge
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Psychic
- Psyshock
- Moonblast
- Thunderbolt (Replace with Focus Blast/Hidden Power Fire?)
I retained Tapu Lele as my main Special Sweeper. The main difference from my previous team is the use of Choice Scarf instead of Fightinium Z. I found myself being outsped a lot, and Choice Scarf felt like the logical Choice item to use, since Tapu Lele's Sp Atk is high enough to OHKO a lot of faster threats like Greninja-Ash, Tapu Koko, and Mega-Alakazam after Stealth Rock damage.
Psychic deals with Fighting and Poison types, as well as generally Physically Defensive Pokemon, and Psyshock is for Specially Defensive Pokemon. Moonblast usually OHKOs any Dark and Dragon types. Thunderbolt came on as a result of my encountering what I feel is an unusual amount of Water and Flying types in the metagame recently. I'm considering putting Focus Blast back on to deal with Steel types who want to check Tapu Lele. Hidden Power Fire is also an option I want to try specifically for dealing with Magearna.
The main thing to watch out for when Tapu Lele is active is Steel types like Magearna, Heatran, Celesteela, Ferrothorn, Kartana, and even Jirachi sometimes. Their Steel STAB attacks like Flash Cannon or Iron Head outright OHKOs Tapu Lele. Poison and Ghost type attacks aren't as common, but occasionally a surprise Shadow Ball also OHKOs Tapu Lele, and so do powerful STAB moves like Earthquake because of Tapu Lele's weak Defense.
____________________________________________________
Zygarde @ Leftovers
Ability: Aura Break
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Substitute
- Dragon Dance
- Thousand Arrows
- Protect
Zygarde @ Leftovers
Ability: Aura Break
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Substitute
- Dragon Dance
- Thousand Arrows
- Protect
Zygarde rounds out the current team and replaces Heatran as one of my Sweepers. Since Latias also functioned as a second Special Attacker, I really wanted a second Physical Sweeper for after Conkeldurr goes down. I was just so fed up with Heatran, and even Heatran's first replacement Volcarona getting utterly smeared by every Ground type attack and Stealth Rock. I also needed a Pokemon that had access to a Ground type move that could also smack down Flying types, as well as Levitate and Air Balloon users after I decided to remove Landorus-T from the team. Zygrade seemed like the most logical choice due to his access to Thousand Arrows.
Substitute + Dragon Dance + Protect + Leftovers not only makes Zygarde completely amazing as a Set-up Sweeper, they also make him function as a great Wall against actual Wall Pokemon like Ferrothorn and Celesteela. 248 HP EVs gives Zygarde massive Substitutes that can withstand a lot of punishment, including Chancey's Seismic Tosses with HP to spare. After 2-3 Dragon Dances, Zygarde can cleanly Sweep entire teams because there is no Pokemon immune to Zygarde's STAB move, Thousand Arrows.
Dragon, Fairy, and especially Ice type attacks wreck Zygrade though, so my other Pokemon have to handle those threats first before Zygarde can truly Sweep.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Obvious Strengths (that even a noob like me can see):
1. Conkeldurr, Zygarde, Latias-Mega, and Tapu Lele can all sometimes Sweep.
2. Forces a lot of Switches for free damage, and Stealth Rock adds even more free damage.
3. Ferrothorn + Toxapex are super-annoying Walls that make enemy pokemon hurt themselves.
4. My team has access to lots of HP recovery.
5. Defog means my team isn't as vulnerable to Entry Hazards as before.
Obvious Weaknesses (that even a noob like me can see):
1. No Knock Off - I really enjoy removing items, especially on Pokemon that rely on them to really function like Heatran.
2. No U-Turn/Volt Switch - Switching requires a lot more prediction now without Landorus-T's U-Turn.
3. Still can't really deal well with huge Wall teams like Chansey + Clefable + Sableye-mega + Tangrowth.
4. Magearna is a dangerous threat against all four of my Sweeper Pokemon. I'm contemplating bringing back Landorus-T just to deal with Magearna, but I can't decide which Sweeper Pokemon to replace.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________
User Look Up: https://pokemonshowdown.com/users/fayari
Images: http://play.pokemonshowdown.com/sprites/xyani/
Last edited: