It's been a looong time since I last posted here, but I've recently become interested in pokemon again and this is a team I've been using that I'd like some advice on.
Team at a glance
Garchomp @ Rocky Helmet
Trait: Rough Skin
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 Speed
Jolly Nature
-Rest
-Sleep Talk
-Roar
-Dragon Tail
This is the set that got me interested in making this team. The basic premise is that Sleep Talk bypasses the negative priority of Roar and Dragon Tail, allowing Garchomp to phaze slower threats (of which there are many) before they get a chance to move, 67% of the time. I chose Rocky Helmet over Leftovers to really hammer physical attackers with residual damage, and because Leftovers recovery is somewhat unnecessary with Rest. However, I have found that Rocky Helmet doesn't really seem to come into play particularly often (perhaps because I tend to go to Skarmory to deal with most physical attackers early on, so it doesn't really get a chance to work), so Leftovers would be an option here.
While Chomp is relatively bulky and his Electric immunity is useful to absorb attacks aimed at Skarmory, due to the prevalence of HP Ice on lots of things I tend not to keep him in for very long early game until I've scouted my opponent's moves a bit.
Skarmory @ Leftovers
Trait: Sturdy
EVs: 244 HP / 252 Def / 32 SpD
Impish Nature
-Brave Bird
-Spikes
-Roost
-Whirlwind
Standard Physically Defensive Skarmory. Since his two weaknesses are very rarely used physically outside of weak un-STAB'd Fire Punches, he can more or less come in on any physical attacker and phaze them out. Especially useful against Swords Dance users. However, Skarm is rather frail on the special side, and must run in fear at almost any powerful special attack. This can make it difficult to set up Spikes in the early game if my opponent has a Heatran or Rotom-W to annoy me with. Once hazards are up Skarmory is useful for spamming Whirlwind and racking up damage.
Forretress @ Leftovers
Trait: Sturdy
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Relaxed Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
Trait: Sturdy
-Toxic Spikes
-Stealth Rock
-Volt Switch
-Rapid Spin
Forretress sets up Stealth Rock & Toxic Spikes while removing hazards from my side of the field. I often lead with Forretress as if my opponent's lead is physical I can usually set up SR while taking minimal damage. Again though, Forretress is rather specially frail so I'll rarely keep it in against special attackers. I find Toxic Spikes to be rather situational; often the opposing team has only one or two grounded non-Steel/Poison pokemon, making it not really worth the effort. However, when it does activate it can be extremely useful to quickly wear down threats that are difficult to phaze out.
Jellicent @ Leftovers
Trait: Water Absorb
EVs: 248 HP / 216 Def / 44 Spe
Bold Nature
Trait: Sturdy
-Scald
-Will-O-Wisp
-Recover
-Taunt
Jellicent is my spinblocker. He can stand up to opposing Forretress and Tentacruel all day long, burning them with Will-O-Wisp and crippling them with Taunt (although Tenta's high speed can mean it gets a Toxic in before I Taunt). Outside of Toxic neither can do much damage to Jellicent so he can stall them out with Recover. Jellicent can work similarly to prevent Ferrothorn setting up, crippling it with Taunt and wearing it down (and weakening its Power Whip) with Will-O-Wisp. I also love catching Gliscor on the switch-in with Will-O-Wisp as it screws over Poison Heal and basically makes it useless. Even outwith spinblocking, Jellicent is very very useful.
Chansey @ Eviolite
Trait: Serene Grace
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Impish Nature
-Wish
-Softboiled
-Body Slam
-Heal Bell
This is a rather unconventional Chansey. I knew I needed Wish and Heal Bell support, plus I needed Softboiled to keep Chansey herself alive, leaving one moveslot. The logic behind Body Slam is similar to on Jirachi; with Serene Grace it has a 60% paralysis rate, works under Taunt and it can paralyse Ground-types. While paralysis is generally not as useful as Toxic or Burn to the rest of my team, paralysing opposing Alakazam and other pokemon who outspeed Latias can allow her to set up more easily and sweep in the lategame. However, I'm open to changing this as it's definitely the least useful status move on the team. Heal Bell, on the other hand, is absolutely vital as I'd otherwise be totally crippled by status, especially Toxic.
I'll often bring Chansey in on special Attackers, Wish on the switch, then switch out to an appropriate counter, with Wish healing any damage taken on the switch-in. This helps to keep the momentum on my side.
Latias @ Leftovers
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
-Calm Mind
-Dragon Pulse
-Psyshock
-Recover
CM Latias. She is very useful to get around Magic Guard users and generally clean up in the lategame. Dragon Pulse and Psyshock have poor coverage, but they get STAB, let her go effectively mixed and with enough CM boosts behind her she can bypass resistant pokemon. She is next to useless while opposing Scizor or Tyranitar are in play, as they wall her and trap with Pursuit. Thankfully Scizor is worn down quickly by hazards due to his frequent switching, and Tyranitar can often be burned by Jellicent or generally played around. In any case, Latias usually comes in once the opposing team has been severely weakened and she can sweep through with relative ease.
So that's the team. I don't have time to do a whole threatlist now, but the pokemon that give the team the most trouble are:
1. Rotom-W. He's an absolute nightmare as he can easily KO both Skarmory and Forretress, while scouting switch-ins with Volt Switch. Garchomp can absorb his Electric moves but almost all carry HP Ice as well, making him extremely difficult to deal with. Even once hazards are up, he's immune to Spikes and takes neutral SR damage, making him very difficult to wear down. Chansey can take anything he has but can do almost nothing in return.
2. Magnezone. Cleanly OHKOs both Forretress and Skarmory (except for Sturdy, but then they can't do anything in return). Forretress can escape with Volt Switch and Skarmory with Whirlwind, but both will be brought down to Sturdy in the meantime, unless they do it on the switch-in, which still prevents hazards being set up. Latias can set up on it but while it's still a threat the opponent's Latias counter is probably still alive.
3. Espeon. Once again makes it very difficult to set up the hazards I need. My usual strategy when seeing an Espeon on the opposing team is to start attacking immediately instead of setting up, so I can hit it on the switch and wear it down. While it's still alive it's extremely difficult to reliably get hazards up, though, so it can be irritating.
4. Starmie. Jellicent finds it difficult to handle repeated Thunderbolts, especially if he gets caught on the switch-in, which makes it block Rapid Spin. I tend to try to weaken Starmie considerably before setting up to avoid having my hazards removed.
In addition to the above pokemon, I have a lot of trouble with SR-neutral levitators and flyers, especially those carrying Leftovers. It can be very difficult to wear them down without much hazard damage and no poison.
I feel like a Toxic user or two would help hugely against a lot of these threats, but I'm not sure where to fit it in - I could swap Will-O-Wisp for Toxic on Jellicent, but then I'd lose out on burning physical threats and wearing down Steel-types. Changing Body Slam to Toxic on Chansey is probably the best way to go, but I'll see what Smogon thinks first.
Thanks for any help you can give me.
Team at a glance
What prompted me to build this team was a Garchomp set abusing his speed and access to Roar, Dragon Tail and ResTalk to phase things at normal priority (thus making use of his high speed). Therefore, he was the first team member.
Next, I needed some entry-hazard users to best abuse Garchomp's phazing abilities. I decided to go for Ferrothorn because I've found him to be wonderfully annoying in the past.
I had my Spiker, but I also needed a Stealth Rock user, and a spinner. Not wanting to have two double fire weaknesses, I chose Donphan to fulfil both roles over Forretress
Next I needed a spinblocker, and the obvious option was Jellicent for its bulk and access to recovery
Now, my team so far was horrifically weak to Toxic, so I needed a cleric. I decided to go for Chansey for her ridiculous special bulk and ability to further support the team by using Wish.
Finally, I decided to add a late-game bulky sweeper in case I lost my hazards or whatever. For this role I chose Latias.
After a few games, I found myself wanting another phazer, and since I'd found Ferrothorn to be a bit underwhelming I replaced him with the premier physical wall, Skarmory:
After a bit more playing, I found Donphan to be just not quite bulky enough and he generally seemed to die too quickly. Since I no longer had Ferrothorn's double-fire weakness, I swapped him for Forretress.
Next, I needed some entry-hazard users to best abuse Garchomp's phazing abilities. I decided to go for Ferrothorn because I've found him to be wonderfully annoying in the past.
I had my Spiker, but I also needed a Stealth Rock user, and a spinner. Not wanting to have two double fire weaknesses, I chose Donphan to fulfil both roles over Forretress
Next I needed a spinblocker, and the obvious option was Jellicent for its bulk and access to recovery
Now, my team so far was horrifically weak to Toxic, so I needed a cleric. I decided to go for Chansey for her ridiculous special bulk and ability to further support the team by using Wish.
Finally, I decided to add a late-game bulky sweeper in case I lost my hazards or whatever. For this role I chose Latias.
After a few games, I found myself wanting another phazer, and since I'd found Ferrothorn to be a bit underwhelming I replaced him with the premier physical wall, Skarmory:
After a bit more playing, I found Donphan to be just not quite bulky enough and he generally seemed to die too quickly. Since I no longer had Ferrothorn's double-fire weakness, I swapped him for Forretress.
Garchomp @ Rocky Helmet
Trait: Rough Skin
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 Speed
Jolly Nature
-Rest
-Sleep Talk
-Roar
-Dragon Tail
This is the set that got me interested in making this team. The basic premise is that Sleep Talk bypasses the negative priority of Roar and Dragon Tail, allowing Garchomp to phaze slower threats (of which there are many) before they get a chance to move, 67% of the time. I chose Rocky Helmet over Leftovers to really hammer physical attackers with residual damage, and because Leftovers recovery is somewhat unnecessary with Rest. However, I have found that Rocky Helmet doesn't really seem to come into play particularly often (perhaps because I tend to go to Skarmory to deal with most physical attackers early on, so it doesn't really get a chance to work), so Leftovers would be an option here.
While Chomp is relatively bulky and his Electric immunity is useful to absorb attacks aimed at Skarmory, due to the prevalence of HP Ice on lots of things I tend not to keep him in for very long early game until I've scouted my opponent's moves a bit.
Skarmory @ Leftovers
Trait: Sturdy
EVs: 244 HP / 252 Def / 32 SpD
Impish Nature
-Brave Bird
-Spikes
-Roost
-Whirlwind
Standard Physically Defensive Skarmory. Since his two weaknesses are very rarely used physically outside of weak un-STAB'd Fire Punches, he can more or less come in on any physical attacker and phaze them out. Especially useful against Swords Dance users. However, Skarm is rather frail on the special side, and must run in fear at almost any powerful special attack. This can make it difficult to set up Spikes in the early game if my opponent has a Heatran or Rotom-W to annoy me with. Once hazards are up Skarmory is useful for spamming Whirlwind and racking up damage.
Forretress @ Leftovers
Trait: Sturdy
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Relaxed Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
Trait: Sturdy
-Toxic Spikes
-Stealth Rock
-Volt Switch
-Rapid Spin
Forretress sets up Stealth Rock & Toxic Spikes while removing hazards from my side of the field. I often lead with Forretress as if my opponent's lead is physical I can usually set up SR while taking minimal damage. Again though, Forretress is rather specially frail so I'll rarely keep it in against special attackers. I find Toxic Spikes to be rather situational; often the opposing team has only one or two grounded non-Steel/Poison pokemon, making it not really worth the effort. However, when it does activate it can be extremely useful to quickly wear down threats that are difficult to phaze out.
Jellicent @ Leftovers
Trait: Water Absorb
EVs: 248 HP / 216 Def / 44 Spe
Bold Nature
Trait: Sturdy
-Scald
-Will-O-Wisp
-Recover
-Taunt
Jellicent is my spinblocker. He can stand up to opposing Forretress and Tentacruel all day long, burning them with Will-O-Wisp and crippling them with Taunt (although Tenta's high speed can mean it gets a Toxic in before I Taunt). Outside of Toxic neither can do much damage to Jellicent so he can stall them out with Recover. Jellicent can work similarly to prevent Ferrothorn setting up, crippling it with Taunt and wearing it down (and weakening its Power Whip) with Will-O-Wisp. I also love catching Gliscor on the switch-in with Will-O-Wisp as it screws over Poison Heal and basically makes it useless. Even outwith spinblocking, Jellicent is very very useful.
Chansey @ Eviolite
Trait: Serene Grace
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Impish Nature
-Wish
-Softboiled
-Body Slam
-Heal Bell
This is a rather unconventional Chansey. I knew I needed Wish and Heal Bell support, plus I needed Softboiled to keep Chansey herself alive, leaving one moveslot. The logic behind Body Slam is similar to on Jirachi; with Serene Grace it has a 60% paralysis rate, works under Taunt and it can paralyse Ground-types. While paralysis is generally not as useful as Toxic or Burn to the rest of my team, paralysing opposing Alakazam and other pokemon who outspeed Latias can allow her to set up more easily and sweep in the lategame. However, I'm open to changing this as it's definitely the least useful status move on the team. Heal Bell, on the other hand, is absolutely vital as I'd otherwise be totally crippled by status, especially Toxic.
I'll often bring Chansey in on special Attackers, Wish on the switch, then switch out to an appropriate counter, with Wish healing any damage taken on the switch-in. This helps to keep the momentum on my side.
Latias @ Leftovers
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
-Calm Mind
-Dragon Pulse
-Psyshock
-Recover
CM Latias. She is very useful to get around Magic Guard users and generally clean up in the lategame. Dragon Pulse and Psyshock have poor coverage, but they get STAB, let her go effectively mixed and with enough CM boosts behind her she can bypass resistant pokemon. She is next to useless while opposing Scizor or Tyranitar are in play, as they wall her and trap with Pursuit. Thankfully Scizor is worn down quickly by hazards due to his frequent switching, and Tyranitar can often be burned by Jellicent or generally played around. In any case, Latias usually comes in once the opposing team has been severely weakened and she can sweep through with relative ease.
So that's the team. I don't have time to do a whole threatlist now, but the pokemon that give the team the most trouble are:
1. Rotom-W. He's an absolute nightmare as he can easily KO both Skarmory and Forretress, while scouting switch-ins with Volt Switch. Garchomp can absorb his Electric moves but almost all carry HP Ice as well, making him extremely difficult to deal with. Even once hazards are up, he's immune to Spikes and takes neutral SR damage, making him very difficult to wear down. Chansey can take anything he has but can do almost nothing in return.
2. Magnezone. Cleanly OHKOs both Forretress and Skarmory (except for Sturdy, but then they can't do anything in return). Forretress can escape with Volt Switch and Skarmory with Whirlwind, but both will be brought down to Sturdy in the meantime, unless they do it on the switch-in, which still prevents hazards being set up. Latias can set up on it but while it's still a threat the opponent's Latias counter is probably still alive.
3. Espeon. Once again makes it very difficult to set up the hazards I need. My usual strategy when seeing an Espeon on the opposing team is to start attacking immediately instead of setting up, so I can hit it on the switch and wear it down. While it's still alive it's extremely difficult to reliably get hazards up, though, so it can be irritating.
4. Starmie. Jellicent finds it difficult to handle repeated Thunderbolts, especially if he gets caught on the switch-in, which makes it block Rapid Spin. I tend to try to weaken Starmie considerably before setting up to avoid having my hazards removed.
In addition to the above pokemon, I have a lot of trouble with SR-neutral levitators and flyers, especially those carrying Leftovers. It can be very difficult to wear them down without much hazard damage and no poison.
I feel like a Toxic user or two would help hugely against a lot of these threats, but I'm not sure where to fit it in - I could swap Will-O-Wisp for Toxic on Jellicent, but then I'd lose out on burning physical threats and wearing down Steel-types. Changing Body Slam to Toxic on Chansey is probably the best way to go, but I'll see what Smogon thinks first.
Thanks for any help you can give me.
