Hello,
I'm assuming most people around here don't really know me, so I'll introduce myself. I'm a long-time Pokemon enthusiast and I do a lot of RNG abuse, breeding, and battling. I took a hiatus from Pokemon during the summer months, but I'm back for Black and White 2 with some revised moves for some fellow battlers to look over.
First, let me go over my overall team goal. I used a team very similar to the one below (with Gengar instead of Ditto and Jirachi instead of Ferrothorn) and I had quite a bit of success with it throughout most of Black and White. I like to play a balanced style leaning slightly to the offensive side of things, as it is what I'm most comfortable with and because I loathe using weather. Also, I try to color-coordinate my teams for fun and because I'm a little OCD, though I welcome suggestions of all colors of Pokemon. Also, when designing the team I tried to avoid violating the item clause and tried to avoid legendary Pokemon because of the friends I usually play with, but that is another trivial issue since this team is intended for standard OU matches.
Edits are in bold:
Anyway, without further ado, here is what I have so far:
Celestine - Starmie @ Leftovers
Timid - 252 HP, 252 Speed, 4 SpAtk
Natural Cure
-Ice Beam
-Thunderbolt
-Recover
-Rapid Spin
I edited my team as per Superpowerdude's suggestion and it has been working wonderfully for me. I love the survivability that recover grants. However, I've decided to use the boltbeam combo instead of the suggested scald/psyshock because I found that opposing water types and dragons/therians were giving me the most trouble. Boltbeam assures that I hit both those groups for supereffective damage while still having unparalleled type coverage, though I gain this at the expense of a STAB move.
Ditto - Nickname TBA @ Choice Scarf
Imposter - Sassy (0 Speed IV)- 252 HP - 252 Def - 4 SpDef
- Transform
This is a pretty basic imposter Ditto. With previous teams I found that not having a taunter could really cripple me, because if I allowed my opponents to build it momentum it became very difficult to stop them. Ditto, being the ultimate revenge-killer will hopefully alleviate that problem, as well as provide utility in clutch situations such as a heal bell or rapid spin if I play my cards right. The EVs are designed to give Ditto maximum health whilst ensuring it will win a struggle battle against other Ditto in a worst-case scenario.
Sushi - Cloyster @ White Herb
Adamant - Skill Link- 252 Atk, 252 Speed, 4 HP
-Shell Smash
-Rock Blast
-Razor Shell
-Icicle Spear
Again, another standard moveset, albeit an effective one. I fell in love with shell smash Cloyster at the beginning of the Gen and I find that it fits solidly onto this team. After just one shell smash it has the potential to completely sweep an opponent's team. I like White Herb as a held item because it ensures that Cloyster can still take Bullet Punches and Mach Punches fairly easily after one shell smash.
Mary - Gliscor @ Toxic Orb
Poison Heal - Impish - 252 HP, 252 Def, 4 SpDef
-Swords Dance
-Earthquake
-Protect
-Ice Fang
I like to run a very defensive Gliscor in order to completely wall physical threats like Terrakion, Breloom, and others which would otherwise have a field day with my team. Despite low speed and attack, after a couple swords dances, Gliscor can become a powerful offensive machine. Running ice fang allows me to have better type coverage and also helps me deal with some of those pesky dragons.
Nickname TBA - Ferrothorn @ Leftovers
Iron Barbs - Careful - 252 HP, Def 88 SpDef 168
-Toxic
-Power Whip
-Stealth Rock
-Leech Seed
My goal is for this Ferrothorn to be a specially bulky wall which can also do a fair amount of damage to the opponent. My biggest challenge with Ferrothorn is choosing the proper balance of Def and SpDef EVs. If I have too much SpDef I end up getting pummeled by Superpower from the Therians. If I have too much Def, Hurricane tears me to pieces. I'm running damage calcs to determine where a good midpoint is, but any help in this area would be especially appreciated. As for the moveset, I had to go with stealth rock because it's really my only place to fit it on the team and leech seed because I need some form of recovery. Finally, Power Whip is there to deliver raw damage and prevent Ferrothorn from becoming taunt bait. I ended up exchanging Thunder Wave for Toxic just because I found that I was getting walled by a lot of bulky Pokemon. Also, I have so many Pokemon who are either fast or who can become very fast with a stat boosting move that Thunder Wave seemed unnecessary. I also picked a preliminary EV spread, but I wouldn't mind getting some feedback on it, given my goal of a specially bulky Ferrothorn who can absorb a couple physical hits.
Hyperion - Volcarona @ Leftovers
Timid - Flame Body - 252 SpAtk, 252 Speed, 4 HP
-Quiver Dance
-Fiery Dance
-HP Rock
-Bug Buzz
Finally, we have Volcarona, my other setup sweeper. Volcarona and Cloyster make up the offensive core of my team. An ideal situation is one or the other getting set up and sweeping. The set is pretty standard, but there were a few details I'd like some advice with. First, which item would be better in the context of my team? Life orb provides more raw damage, but also means that Volcarona can get worn down quickly, prematurely ending the possibility of a sweep. If you take sandstorm, hazards, poison, and priority moves into account, a life orb volcarona can quickly go down to accumulated damage. Leftovers helps compensate for this, but at the cost of a significant amount of Volcarona's offensive potential. Also, I have yet another case where I can't decide on the final move. I've been using Bug Buzz thus far, but given the increase in rain teams, would Giga Drain be better to help combat water types? Giga drain also provides more survivability and would make life orb a less depleting choice. However, if I do choose giga drain, I would lack the power to deal with Tyranitar and Latios/Latias.
Edit: Thanks to Superpowerdude for some advice with Volcarona's moveset and item choice, he answered most of my above questions.
That is a basic summary of all my team's issues and potential problems. Overall, the Pokemon I'm most doubtful about are Ferrothorn and Ditto. Cloyster, Starmie, Volcarona, and Gliscor have all proven themselves to be wonderful Pokemon, but I've always had these two slots on my team which I didn't know how to properly fill. One thought is that maybe I should be using Jirachi over Ferrothorn; I would be less susceptible to flying and fighting, but I would simultaneously be more affected by ground, water, and electric. The problem is that all five of those types are fairly common, especially on the ubiquitous rain dance teams that seem to be popping up and causing trouble.
Anyway, that is everything I have to say on the matter. I now hope that all of you are able to provide some valuable feedback for me to consider. Thank you in advance for your help!
I'm assuming most people around here don't really know me, so I'll introduce myself. I'm a long-time Pokemon enthusiast and I do a lot of RNG abuse, breeding, and battling. I took a hiatus from Pokemon during the summer months, but I'm back for Black and White 2 with some revised moves for some fellow battlers to look over.
First, let me go over my overall team goal. I used a team very similar to the one below (with Gengar instead of Ditto and Jirachi instead of Ferrothorn) and I had quite a bit of success with it throughout most of Black and White. I like to play a balanced style leaning slightly to the offensive side of things, as it is what I'm most comfortable with and because I loathe using weather. Also, I try to color-coordinate my teams for fun and because I'm a little OCD, though I welcome suggestions of all colors of Pokemon. Also, when designing the team I tried to avoid violating the item clause and tried to avoid legendary Pokemon because of the friends I usually play with, but that is another trivial issue since this team is intended for standard OU matches.
Edits are in bold:
Anyway, without further ado, here is what I have so far:
Celestine - Starmie @ Leftovers
Timid - 252 HP, 252 Speed, 4 SpAtk
Natural Cure
-Ice Beam
-Thunderbolt
-Recover
-Rapid Spin
I edited my team as per Superpowerdude's suggestion and it has been working wonderfully for me. I love the survivability that recover grants. However, I've decided to use the boltbeam combo instead of the suggested scald/psyshock because I found that opposing water types and dragons/therians were giving me the most trouble. Boltbeam assures that I hit both those groups for supereffective damage while still having unparalleled type coverage, though I gain this at the expense of a STAB move.
Ditto - Nickname TBA @ Choice Scarf
Imposter - Sassy (0 Speed IV)- 252 HP - 252 Def - 4 SpDef
- Transform
This is a pretty basic imposter Ditto. With previous teams I found that not having a taunter could really cripple me, because if I allowed my opponents to build it momentum it became very difficult to stop them. Ditto, being the ultimate revenge-killer will hopefully alleviate that problem, as well as provide utility in clutch situations such as a heal bell or rapid spin if I play my cards right. The EVs are designed to give Ditto maximum health whilst ensuring it will win a struggle battle against other Ditto in a worst-case scenario.
Sushi - Cloyster @ White Herb
Adamant - Skill Link- 252 Atk, 252 Speed, 4 HP
-Shell Smash
-Rock Blast
-Razor Shell
-Icicle Spear
Again, another standard moveset, albeit an effective one. I fell in love with shell smash Cloyster at the beginning of the Gen and I find that it fits solidly onto this team. After just one shell smash it has the potential to completely sweep an opponent's team. I like White Herb as a held item because it ensures that Cloyster can still take Bullet Punches and Mach Punches fairly easily after one shell smash.
Mary - Gliscor @ Toxic Orb
Poison Heal - Impish - 252 HP, 252 Def, 4 SpDef
-Swords Dance
-Earthquake
-Protect
-Ice Fang
I like to run a very defensive Gliscor in order to completely wall physical threats like Terrakion, Breloom, and others which would otherwise have a field day with my team. Despite low speed and attack, after a couple swords dances, Gliscor can become a powerful offensive machine. Running ice fang allows me to have better type coverage and also helps me deal with some of those pesky dragons.
Nickname TBA - Ferrothorn @ Leftovers
Iron Barbs - Careful - 252 HP, Def 88 SpDef 168
-Toxic
-Power Whip
-Stealth Rock
-Leech Seed
My goal is for this Ferrothorn to be a specially bulky wall which can also do a fair amount of damage to the opponent. My biggest challenge with Ferrothorn is choosing the proper balance of Def and SpDef EVs. If I have too much SpDef I end up getting pummeled by Superpower from the Therians. If I have too much Def, Hurricane tears me to pieces. I'm running damage calcs to determine where a good midpoint is, but any help in this area would be especially appreciated. As for the moveset, I had to go with stealth rock because it's really my only place to fit it on the team and leech seed because I need some form of recovery. Finally, Power Whip is there to deliver raw damage and prevent Ferrothorn from becoming taunt bait. I ended up exchanging Thunder Wave for Toxic just because I found that I was getting walled by a lot of bulky Pokemon. Also, I have so many Pokemon who are either fast or who can become very fast with a stat boosting move that Thunder Wave seemed unnecessary. I also picked a preliminary EV spread, but I wouldn't mind getting some feedback on it, given my goal of a specially bulky Ferrothorn who can absorb a couple physical hits.
Hyperion - Volcarona @ Leftovers
Timid - Flame Body - 252 SpAtk, 252 Speed, 4 HP
-Quiver Dance
-Fiery Dance
-HP Rock
-Bug Buzz
Finally, we have Volcarona, my other setup sweeper. Volcarona and Cloyster make up the offensive core of my team. An ideal situation is one or the other getting set up and sweeping. The set is pretty standard, but there were a few details I'd like some advice with. First, which item would be better in the context of my team? Life orb provides more raw damage, but also means that Volcarona can get worn down quickly, prematurely ending the possibility of a sweep. If you take sandstorm, hazards, poison, and priority moves into account, a life orb volcarona can quickly go down to accumulated damage. Leftovers helps compensate for this, but at the cost of a significant amount of Volcarona's offensive potential. Also, I have yet another case where I can't decide on the final move. I've been using Bug Buzz thus far, but given the increase in rain teams, would Giga Drain be better to help combat water types? Giga drain also provides more survivability and would make life orb a less depleting choice. However, if I do choose giga drain, I would lack the power to deal with Tyranitar and Latios/Latias.
Edit: Thanks to Superpowerdude for some advice with Volcarona's moveset and item choice, he answered most of my above questions.
That is a basic summary of all my team's issues and potential problems. Overall, the Pokemon I'm most doubtful about are Ferrothorn and Ditto. Cloyster, Starmie, Volcarona, and Gliscor have all proven themselves to be wonderful Pokemon, but I've always had these two slots on my team which I didn't know how to properly fill. One thought is that maybe I should be using Jirachi over Ferrothorn; I would be less susceptible to flying and fighting, but I would simultaneously be more affected by ground, water, and electric. The problem is that all five of those types are fairly common, especially on the ubiquitous rain dance teams that seem to be popping up and causing trouble.
Anyway, that is everything I have to say on the matter. I now hope that all of you are able to provide some valuable feedback for me to consider. Thank you in advance for your help!
