This is my 2nd RMT, and it's been serving me pretty well so far--I'm in the 1200-1300 CRE level right now under my alt "andhow," which isn't great, but isn't terrible either.
It's got its holes, though. I am open to any and all changes you may suggest. This team is unique in that I didn't create it with any specified purpose--there's no "star." I just picked pokemon who were reliable. No surprises here, no gimmicks, just pokemon I feel comfortable using. Since I don't have an emotional attachment to any pokemon here, be brutal with your comments please.
At a glance:
This team's strategy is vaguer than most of my other teams: I set up rocks, then I usually use scizor and flygon's u-turns to annoy the other team to maintain an offense tempo and wear down the other team. Late game, I attempt a sweep with either gyrados or jirachi. If scizor or flygon is left late-game, I might use them to clean up. Blissey is a deadweight right now--he replaced Choice Specs Latias, which I bagged due to the fact that I don't want half my team to be choiced.
Let's get to the details.
The Lead:
Aerodactyl @ Focus Sash
Pressure
Jolly, 4 HP 252 Atk 252 Spe
-Taunt
-Stealth Rock
-Earthquake
-Whirlwind
This is a standard Aero taunt lead. Aero reliable outspeeds the vast majority of non-scarfed leads, and is a beast at getting up rocks. Stealth rock is obvious, as is taunt. EQ and Whirlwind are filler, since Aero's job is simply to set up rocks, then die. Poor guy. The EVs are self-explanitory. Atk doesn't even matter that much--all I need is 252 Spe.
I'll take any suggestions for how Aero can fill those last two moveslots as to be more useful--it feels like kind of a waste now. Maybe another lead? I value taunt, however, and Aero is a good taunt user.
The Choiced Scouts
Scizor @ Choice Band
Technician
Adamant, 246 HP 252 Atk 10 Spe
-Bullet Punch
-Superpower
-U-turn
-Pursuit
This is a worn-out set, but it serves its purpose. It has three functions: First, it scouts the opponents team through U-turn. Second, it slowly wears down the opponent's health and maintains an offense tempo, always keeping the opponent on his feet. Third, it cleans up with Tech + STAB + CB bullet punch late-game. I'm not breaking any new ground with this one, but damn it if he ain't reliable. Bullet Punch provides some nice priority. He has standard CBScizor Evs, except I dropped 2 points from HP to Speed to outspeed other Scizors being run by noobs who just copied the Smogon Guide EVs.
Flygon @ Choice Scarf
Levitate
Jolly, 6 HP 252 Atk 252 Spe
-Outrage
-Earthquake
-U-turn
-Stone Edge
Flygon is scizor's scouting partner. He resists fire, and scizor resists dragon and ice. Their dual U-turns screw majorly with my opponents tempo, as I can simply keep on switching between the two until I decide it's time to make my next major move.
Late game, Flygon cleans up like a beast. He's a fabulous revenge killer for Salamence, Latias (minus Scarf Latias), Tyranitar (even scarf-Tar), Gyrados (He outspeeds after 1 DD and kills it with Stone Edge) and anything that doesn't resist his superfast Outrage. My lategame strategy with Flygon turns him into an Outrage machine, spamming with the epic STAB, then switching out. Flygon might lack the power of another dragon, but its speed makes up for it, and Outrage coming off of 100 Atk is still beastly enough to do some damage, especially after Stealth Rock.
The.... Sigh
Blissey @ Leftovers
Natural Cure
Calm, 24 HP 252 Def 232 Spd
-Aromatherapy
-Softboiled
-Seismic Toss
-Thunder Wave
Blissey serves as a cleric, healing status, especially PRZ, which my team doesn't like, being a fairly speed-based offense team. I'm having my doubts about Blissey, though, as it seems like she's a bit too defensive for my team. Switching her in slows the tempo of the game, which doesn't work in my favor, and though status annoys me, I feel like there could be better options out there for dealing with that. I try to win before she even sees the light of day.
I'm considering a variety of options for this slot: Perhaps a Rest-talker could alleviate my status issues by absorbing status, although that would slow my tempo a bit as well. I don't want another physical attacker here, as I only have one specially based poke and don't want to skew my balance too much towards the physical.
The Sweepers
Jirachi @ Leftovers
Serene Grace
Timid, 252 HP 80 SpA 176 Spe
-Substitute
-Calm Mind
-Flash Cannon
-Thunderbolt
Jirachi comes out late to mid game on a resist, or really any weak special move, sets up a sub, CMs, then either sweeps or keeps setting up, depending on whether his sub is still active. Jirachi loves it when people counter it with a Bulky Water, or any special user, since after 2 or 3 CMs most special attacks won't break his sub. By then, he's become a dangerous sweeper. He even beats Blissey for the most part, since Seismic Toss takes 2 turns to break his subs and Flash Cannon's SpD drop probabilty gets double by Serene Grace, which means that he can usually beat Blissey with subs and Flash Cannon, since he can set up a sub while Blissey has to heal itself.
Gyrados @ Life Orb
Intimidate
Jolly, 4 HP 252 Atk 252 Spe
-Dragon Dance
-Waterfall
-Earthquake
-Stone Edge
Gyrados completes my team's theme of reliability. One DD and he outspeeds a large portion of the metagame, and his remaining three moves provide excellent coverage. Waterfall is for STAB, EQ is just great reliable move, and along with Stone Edge provides perfect coverage. Stone Edge nicely KOs other Gyrados, Salamence, and practically all other flying-types after SR and 1 DD.
He gets along well with the other members of the team, taking fire, fighting and ice moves aimed at Scizor and Flygon, and Flygon can take electric attacks aimed at Gyrados.
Final Thoughts
This team doesn't need much explanation or analysis, because it doesn't take any major risks. It's a simple combination of some standard sets, like CB Scizor, DD Gyrados, CM Jirachi, etc. It's got a solid record at this point, but I'm looking for feedback as to how to make it more solid. Any and all criticism is absolutely positively welcome!
It's got its holes, though. I am open to any and all changes you may suggest. This team is unique in that I didn't create it with any specified purpose--there's no "star." I just picked pokemon who were reliable. No surprises here, no gimmicks, just pokemon I feel comfortable using. Since I don't have an emotional attachment to any pokemon here, be brutal with your comments please.
At a glance:
This team's strategy is vaguer than most of my other teams: I set up rocks, then I usually use scizor and flygon's u-turns to annoy the other team to maintain an offense tempo and wear down the other team. Late game, I attempt a sweep with either gyrados or jirachi. If scizor or flygon is left late-game, I might use them to clean up. Blissey is a deadweight right now--he replaced Choice Specs Latias, which I bagged due to the fact that I don't want half my team to be choiced.
Let's get to the details.
The Lead:
Aerodactyl @ Focus Sash
Pressure
Jolly, 4 HP 252 Atk 252 Spe
-Taunt
-Stealth Rock
-Earthquake
-Whirlwind
This is a standard Aero taunt lead. Aero reliable outspeeds the vast majority of non-scarfed leads, and is a beast at getting up rocks. Stealth rock is obvious, as is taunt. EQ and Whirlwind are filler, since Aero's job is simply to set up rocks, then die. Poor guy. The EVs are self-explanitory. Atk doesn't even matter that much--all I need is 252 Spe.
I'll take any suggestions for how Aero can fill those last two moveslots as to be more useful--it feels like kind of a waste now. Maybe another lead? I value taunt, however, and Aero is a good taunt user.
The Choiced Scouts
Scizor @ Choice Band
Technician
Adamant, 246 HP 252 Atk 10 Spe
-Bullet Punch
-Superpower
-U-turn
-Pursuit
This is a worn-out set, but it serves its purpose. It has three functions: First, it scouts the opponents team through U-turn. Second, it slowly wears down the opponent's health and maintains an offense tempo, always keeping the opponent on his feet. Third, it cleans up with Tech + STAB + CB bullet punch late-game. I'm not breaking any new ground with this one, but damn it if he ain't reliable. Bullet Punch provides some nice priority. He has standard CBScizor Evs, except I dropped 2 points from HP to Speed to outspeed other Scizors being run by noobs who just copied the Smogon Guide EVs.
Flygon @ Choice Scarf
Levitate
Jolly, 6 HP 252 Atk 252 Spe
-Outrage
-Earthquake
-U-turn
-Stone Edge
Flygon is scizor's scouting partner. He resists fire, and scizor resists dragon and ice. Their dual U-turns screw majorly with my opponents tempo, as I can simply keep on switching between the two until I decide it's time to make my next major move.
Late game, Flygon cleans up like a beast. He's a fabulous revenge killer for Salamence, Latias (minus Scarf Latias), Tyranitar (even scarf-Tar), Gyrados (He outspeeds after 1 DD and kills it with Stone Edge) and anything that doesn't resist his superfast Outrage. My lategame strategy with Flygon turns him into an Outrage machine, spamming with the epic STAB, then switching out. Flygon might lack the power of another dragon, but its speed makes up for it, and Outrage coming off of 100 Atk is still beastly enough to do some damage, especially after Stealth Rock.
The.... Sigh
Blissey @ Leftovers
Natural Cure
Calm, 24 HP 252 Def 232 Spd
-Aromatherapy
-Softboiled
-Seismic Toss
-Thunder Wave
Blissey serves as a cleric, healing status, especially PRZ, which my team doesn't like, being a fairly speed-based offense team. I'm having my doubts about Blissey, though, as it seems like she's a bit too defensive for my team. Switching her in slows the tempo of the game, which doesn't work in my favor, and though status annoys me, I feel like there could be better options out there for dealing with that. I try to win before she even sees the light of day.
I'm considering a variety of options for this slot: Perhaps a Rest-talker could alleviate my status issues by absorbing status, although that would slow my tempo a bit as well. I don't want another physical attacker here, as I only have one specially based poke and don't want to skew my balance too much towards the physical.
The Sweepers
Jirachi @ Leftovers
Serene Grace
Timid, 252 HP 80 SpA 176 Spe
-Substitute
-Calm Mind
-Flash Cannon
-Thunderbolt
Jirachi comes out late to mid game on a resist, or really any weak special move, sets up a sub, CMs, then either sweeps or keeps setting up, depending on whether his sub is still active. Jirachi loves it when people counter it with a Bulky Water, or any special user, since after 2 or 3 CMs most special attacks won't break his sub. By then, he's become a dangerous sweeper. He even beats Blissey for the most part, since Seismic Toss takes 2 turns to break his subs and Flash Cannon's SpD drop probabilty gets double by Serene Grace, which means that he can usually beat Blissey with subs and Flash Cannon, since he can set up a sub while Blissey has to heal itself.
Gyrados @ Life Orb
Intimidate
Jolly, 4 HP 252 Atk 252 Spe
-Dragon Dance
-Waterfall
-Earthquake
-Stone Edge
Gyrados completes my team's theme of reliability. One DD and he outspeeds a large portion of the metagame, and his remaining three moves provide excellent coverage. Waterfall is for STAB, EQ is just great reliable move, and along with Stone Edge provides perfect coverage. Stone Edge nicely KOs other Gyrados, Salamence, and practically all other flying-types after SR and 1 DD.
He gets along well with the other members of the team, taking fire, fighting and ice moves aimed at Scizor and Flygon, and Flygon can take electric attacks aimed at Gyrados.
Final Thoughts
This team doesn't need much explanation or analysis, because it doesn't take any major risks. It's a simple combination of some standard sets, like CB Scizor, DD Gyrados, CM Jirachi, etc. It's got a solid record at this point, but I'm looking for feedback as to how to make it more solid. Any and all criticism is absolutely positively welcome!
