Two Birds, No Stones Allowed

[An_Old_Lady]

Hello everyone. I'm no stranger to competitive battling but this will be my first post on Smogon. This is my take on the totally viable Two Bird team with Talonflame and Staraptor. I've had some success while I was testing this team and would love any feedback.
Changes in red.


First up is Talonflame.

BanPLs (Talonflame) @ Choice Band
Ability: Gale Wings
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 Atk / 4 HP
Adamant Nature
- Brave Bird
- Flare Blitz
- Tailwind
- U-turn

This set is standard Choice Band Talonflame. Brave Bird is just crazy amazing 2HKOing most of the Pokemon that are currently OU. Flare Blitz is there for coverage mostly taking out steel types. U-turn to do some quick damage and pivot out. Tailwind is there because it is very usefull if I can set it up knowing Talonflame is dead.


Next up is Staraptor

EdgyBird (Staraptor) @ Choice Band
Ability: Reckless
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 Atk / 4 HP
Jolly Nature
- Brave Bird
- Double-Edge
- Close Combat
- U-turn

The next Pokemon in a Two Bird Stategy is another bird. Same as Talonflame, spam Brave Bird till you win or die. Brave Bird coming from a max atk reckless Staraptor is just power. Most teams only have one counter to Talonflame but Staraptors Brave Bird is something to be feared as well. Double Edge is a great attack coming off reckless hitting Rotom-W if need be. Close Combat deals with those pesky steel types like Heatran and Bisharp. U-Turn to scope out threats.

Up Next Is:

Still Ou (Starmie) @ Life Orb
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 SAtk / 4 SDef
Timid Nature
- Rapid Spin
- Surf
- Thunderbolt
- Ice Beam

Standard Starmie set. One of the issues with a 2 bird team is Stealth Rocks. Starmie although weakened by the advent of gen 6 still has its roles it needs to fill. I needed a Pokemon that could rapid spin but still fight back. STAB surfs coming off this thing is strong enough for it to earn a spot on my team. It also has a undeniable position in scaring off Charizard X and Y which are big issues for my team. The problem is Starmie is too frail to switch in directly and a pokemon must be sacrificed in order for it to scare off MegaChar.

Then There is

Scrotom-Wash (Rotom-Wash) @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SDef / 252 HP / 4 SAtk
Calm Nature
- Hydro Pump
- Volt Switch
- Pain Split
- Will-O-Wisp

Special Defensive Rotom is a necessary component on my team. It being able to switch into many of the special attackers without any problem is a huge plus. It spreads burn around and helps whittle away the health of many opponents. Pain Split is helpful in keeping it alive. I usually lead with Rotom-W and volt switch out to the most appropriate counters.

This Behemoth

FatPlantDino (Venusaur) @ Venusaurite
Ability: Chlorophyll
EVs: 184 SDef / 252 HP / 72 Def
Calm Nature
- Giga Drain
- Leech Seed
- Sludge Bomb
- Synthesis

Ahh, When MegaVenusaur was announced everyone hated on the design saying the only difference was the flower on its head. It showed them when it decided to tank every single thing with its massive bulk. YOU CANT HANDLE MEGASAURS GIRTH!

This thing is such a clutch tank. Leech Seed to set up pseudo leftovers. Synthesis provides a more reliable recovery. Giga Drain and Sludge Bomb make a good offensive pair making sure Venusaur isn't taunt bait.

With theses ev's MegaSuar gets a pretty even defensive spread.

Lastly,

BatMan (Gliscor) (M) @ Toxic Orb
Ability: Poison Heal
EVs: 184 Def / 252 HP / 72 Spd
Impish Nature
- Earthquake
- Roost
- Stealth Rock
- Toxic

Mega Venusaur being the tanky behemoth he is needs a partner that can set up rocks and is immune to earthquake. These two have great synergy, MegaSuar eats the ice and water moves aimed at gliscor and gliscor checks any would be Talonflame Assassins. It can also set up stealth rock which is needed to break multiscale and cripple Charizard before he has a chance to mega evolve. Both saur and scor don't mind a knock off and Gliscor can switch in and block status moves.


I tried using non choice Talonflame and Scarf Staraptor and I found that they were pretty underwhelming. Dual Band is great and if I can take out important counters like Gyarados, Heatran, Garchomp and other Rotom-W. Talonflame and Staraptor can clean up.

KNOWN THREATS:
Charizard-When Charizard shows up in team preview I honestly get a little pissed off. I know that either Rotom or Starmie is going to die trying to get rid of it. If i manage to keep stealth rocks up then Talonflame or Staraptor can K.O it with Brave Bird.

Mandibuzz- If you are able to keep Mandibuzz alive after Rotom and Starmie are down then not much can hit it. It becomes an all out stall war between Gliscor and Mandibuzz.

 

[RelievedAtom]

If you run defog gliscor with lefties, you get a poke that benefits from toxic from pokes like heatran and chansey, and keeps rock off the field, allowing you to run a full counter for zard or any other poke you still have trouble with. Zard-y has a 25% chance to be ohkod by jolly band tflame, and with rocks it's guaranteed. Also try running scarf staraptor instead of band, it makes it a better lead that scouts easily and threatens out a couple OU leads like assault vest conkeldurr.

 

[Robot_3]

Unless I am mistaken you can't run defog on gliscor with poison heal at the same time

 

[Easer93]

You can't have that gliscor like said above,
arent you supposed to test the team?

 

[RelievedAtom]

You can't have that gliscor like said above,
arent you supposed to test the team?

yeah I realized after saying it. Leftovers is still viable though and defog gliscor frees up a slot on the team.

 

[Easer93]

yeah

 

[An_Old_Lady]

I tried defog leftovers gliscor and its just not that great. Status block is something that Ive enjoyed having It also stops knock off

 

[JWoodhead18]

For the Mega Venusaur have Chlorophyll as its ability as weather is still common despite the nerf and it would appreciate a sun boost. Also Earthquake from a Venusaur isn't doing much at all so I suggest putting sludge bomb in instead of Earthquake. Venusaur doesn't need so many evs in sp.def as it takes fire and ice type damage like it's nothing anyway with its mega evo ability thick fat. I suggest putting evs into defence and speed. Giga drain is alright though but you need to test your team out thoroughly.
If you're running a Choice Band set with Talonflame then don't have Tailwind as a move because you'll be locked in with that move and you'll have to switch out which is bad for momentum. I suggest you put a life orb on Talonflame or even leftovers. Replace tailwind with roost as it gets priority from gale wings and you need recovery.
As for Gliscor you might want to replace ice fang with something else such as toxic so you can toxic stall the opponent. There are better stealth rock setters than Gliscor so maybe instead of Gliscor you use Excadrill or Skarmory.
Other than that I think it's a decent team.

 

[da gold sun]

I'm actually running a similar team to this right now (3/6 pokemon are the same), and I'll say that if you are running Rapid Spin Starmie, you really don't need a Defog Gliscor. You do, however, want something that can absorb Electric/Rock attacks, and Venusaur can't take rock hits. Try Excadrill, as suggested, as he 4x resists rock hits, can set up Stealth Rock, and can kill Rotom-W with a Mold Breaker Earthquake that your offensive core might struggle with. Just don't go switching him into Rotom unless you're certain Volt Switch is coming---most people predict this and Hydro Pump. If you choose Excadrill to be your spinner, you are more open to replace Starmie with something else, or make it a more offensive Starmie.

The main focus of a double-bird core is to hit hard and and crush any counters before sending Talonflame in last for a clean up. I personally run this core with hyper offense (Deoxys-D, Bisharp) to get up as many hazards as possible. This way, you can break down walls faster. However, your approach works too, especially with Mega Venusaur. For now, try a Relaxed nature if you are going to use Earthquake. You need someway to take out Heatran, and Starmie can't always reliable switch in unless its a defensive set. These are just all things to consider.

 

[An_Old_Lady]

For the Mega Venusaur have Chlorophyll as its ability as weather is still common despite the nerf and it would appreciate a sun boost. Also Earthquake from a Venusaur isn't doing much at all so I suggest putting sludge bomb in instead of Earthquake. Venusaur doesn't need so many evs in sp.def as it takes fire and ice type damage like it's nothing anyway with its mega evo ability thick fat. I suggest putting evs into defence and speed.

Chlorophyll is a great change and I changed to sludge bomb as well.

 

[megacyber]

As it is, your team is really weak to sub kyurem b. It can easily set up a sub on rotom or starmie, and can ohko every pokemon on your team, maybe venusaur can take one ice beam from full health, but only one