Partly Cloudy with a 100% Chance of Berries! (First RMT)

[Approxie]

Hey guys, this is my first RMT post. I have been out of the competitive Pokemon scene since Platinum, which I used to play all the time, and having skipped over the Black and White series, I was very intrigued with all the new features for X and Y. Even with the weather nerfs, some sort of team that can abuse weather easily is what I was interested in playing, but I also didn't want my team to solely rely on if weather was up or not. So when it came down to it, I had to decide between running a Hail team or a Sun based one. So, I chose sun. The last two spots on this team are what I am very confused about running, since I don't wont to be locked into weather by choosing a select few pokemon that benefit from it. So without further ado here is the team that I have been messing around with.


Charizard Y

Ability: Drought
Nature: Timid
EV Spread: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Item: Charizardite Y
- Fire Blast
- Solar Beam
- Focus Blast
- Dragon Pulse

The first of my FWG core and the Pokemon that I definitely want to have on my team. He is my main sweeper. The above moveset I believe to be his best, as it covers alot of potential pokemon that will switch into me. Dragon Pulse is the move I am not quite too sure about, I don't find myself using it too often over SB and FB, but the only other moves I found to be viable is Roost or Air Slash. I originally had this Charizard as a Modest nature, then after looking at some other builds and watching some battles, I realized he does not need to be Modest, because that is simply overkill for this already powerful pokemon. The EV spread is pretty standard to get the job done.

This Pokémon’s role on this team:
- This or Smeargle tend to be my main leads. Charizard sets up the Sun for himself and Trevenant.
- Wreak as much havoc as possible. With his huge SpA, I am able to easily make this guy take down 2 mons with him.


Azumarill

Ability: Huge Power
Nature: Adamant
EV Spread: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD
Item: Choice Band
- Aqua Jet
- Superpower
- Waterfall
- Play Rough

Part two of the FWG core. My god, Azumarill is a monster this gen, Play Rough wins games. For the rest of his moves I kept it pretty basic. I did try out BellyJet Azumarill, but I find it just too risky to run. So I decided to keep it safe and run his standard set, along with his standard EV spread. Huge Power, Choice Band, and Adamant Nature seemed like a no brainer to run on him, as he is able to abuse it so easily.

This Pokémon’s role on this team:
- He helps support Charizards weaknesses, and is able to cover just about anything someone will try to throw at him
- Say goodbye to Dragon types, Play Rough just destroys anyone that does not switch out.


Trevenant

Ability: Harvest
Nature: Impish
EV Spread: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Item: Sitrus Berry
- Leech Seed
- Protect
- Shadow Claw / Substitute ?
- Will-O-Wisp

The finale of my FWG. Well, whats the point in not running this guy when I can easily abuse his Harvest ability with the sun from my Charizard. Also works as a spinblocker for all the hazards that my Smeargle sets up. Decided to make him Impish and a defensive EV spread as I needed to someone to wall Physical types that try to setup up on me, hence the Will-O-Wisp. Also chose to ran Leech Seed / Protect for a little bit of a stall. Shadow Claw is the move I am not sure on, as I ran into a Trevenant with the same set, except he had Substitute to easily abuse his Harvest ability, after running into that, I became very intrigued with the idea.

This Pokémon’s role on this team:
- He shuts down a bunch of physical types by either just stalling them out and forcing them to switch, or by just simply applying a burn.
- Also serves as my spinblocker since Smeargle sets up so many hazards.


Excadrill

Ability: Mold Breaker
Nature: Adamant
EV Spread: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Spe
Item: Leftovers
- Earthquake
- Rapid Spin
- Iron Head
- Rock Slide

Excadrill is so important to this team as Entry Hazards annihilate my Charizard so the Rapid Spin is much needed in this team. The other Rapid Spinner I almost threw on this team was Cloyster, but it just didn't feel like it would fit too well. Also gave him Iron Head for Fairies and Rock Slide for my Flying type coverage. Gave him a little bit of a more Bulky EV Spread instead of Speed so I can make sure to keep him alive if I need him to spin more than once.

This Pokémon’s role on this team:
- Rapin Spinner. Cannot be more important on this team when I have a Charizard.
- Also gives me great checks to most Fairy type pokemon for a free Rapid Spin.


Goodra

Ability: Gooey
Nature: Modest
EV Spread: 252 HP / 252 SpD / 4 SpA
Item: Assault Vest
- Dragon Tail / Ice Beam
- Draco Meteor
- Thunderbolt
- Fire Blast / Flamethrower

Now we get to the part of the team that I am not sure about. I chose Goodra to serve as my Special Tank, which does work pretty well with his EV Spread and Assault Vest as his item. But something about him just feels... off? Most of his moveset is pretty standard, except for Dragon Tail. I don't recall seeing any Goodra's running this, but I grabbed the move just in case there was something setting up on me that I just had to get rid of. Ice Beam or Sludge Bomb were other moves I was considering. Possible switch of a Pokemon I was thinking of was a SpD Conkeldurr.

This Pokémon’s role on this team:
- He is my Special Tank and just keeps absorbing hits for days.
- Can also be used as a Phazer, not 100% of the viability of this.


Smeargle

Ability: Own Tempo
Nature: Jolly
EV Spread: 252 HP / 252 Spe / 4 SpD
Item: Focus Sash
- Spore
- Stealth Rocks
- Spikes
- Sticky Web

Now to the last slot of this team. Smeargle is picked as my lead just about every battle, unless I see a Magic Bounce Pokemon. And when I do not see a Magic Bouncer, Smeargle puts in work. He easily gets his Spore up for some free Hazards. Had to give it a Focus Sash to make sure I get something off. Went with a Jolly nature with 252 Spe to make sure I can outspeed most other leads. Possible Pokemon that I was thinking of switching with Smeargle was perhaps a Stall Gliscor as they put in alot of work, or a Prankster Sableye.

This Pokémon’s role on this team:
- He sets up Hazards for my team to make Charizard's and Azumarill's job that much easier.

Conclusion:

Well, there is my first team for Gen 6. I feel it does perform quite well if I can get most things going my way, such as Trevenant stalling, Excadrill getting Hazards away, and Smeargle getting his up. Just not quite sure about my last two slots. Dual weather was another idea I was dabbling with, with using a Tyranitar for sand to pair with my Excadrill. Any feedback is much appreciated! Go easy on me, I've been gone for awhile xD

 

[CyclicCompound]

Upon the topic of Trevenant's moveset, I can give you a bit of advice. Leech Seed / Substitute / Phantom Force / WoW is a great subseeding set, especially with Mega Charizard Y's sun support. By replacing Protect and Shadow Claw, you're both gaining a shield for status moves (Substitute) and pseudo-Protect that lets you attack as well (Phantom Force). That way, you can stall for Leech Seed healing and/or berry harvesting, protect yourself from Toxic, and deal out respectable damage all within two moveslots, so no longer do you have to worry about fitting in 3 moves. :)

Also, since you have Will-O-Wisp on that set, why not change the EVs to 252 HP / 180 Def / 76 Spe? Although you lose some of your bulk, you can outspeed and burn uninvested Tyranitar and/or Scizor.

Hope this helps!

 

[Wyzra]

Since I haven't tested this team myself, it would be helpful if you played some games and told us what Pokemon give you trouble. However, I don't see any glaring weaknesses.

A Trevenant moveset that has worked well for me is Substitute/Leech Seed/WoW/Curse. This allows you to not become setup bait. Make sure that you EV so that your HP is divisible by 4.

On Smeargle I prefer Taunt over Spikes...it just helps so much.

Finally, I really think that Goodra set isn't very effective. Try out the Conkeldurr and let us know how it is.

 

[Adamant Zoroark]

Goodra really needs to be using an EV spread of 252 HP / 252 SAtk / 4 SDef. You don't need to invest in SpD anyway since Assault Vest is making Goodra tank any special hits like a champ regardless, while investing fully in Special Attack lets you dish out more damage in return. In other words, using a more offensive EV spread makes Assault Vest Goodra a much more effective tank.

I'm not really certain running all three hazards on Smeargle is a good idea, seeing as it won't have time to set up all three. I'd consider replacing Stealth Rock with another move like Magic Coat, which can help Smeargle block Taunts and/or opposing hazards since it's slow as balls, and moving Stealth Rock onto Excadrill over either Iron Head or Rock Slide. That is, if you really do want all three hazards. If you don't feel you absolutely need all three hazards, replace Spikes with Magic Coat.

Anyway, moving on from minor moveset issues, this team is deathly weak to Talonflame. It's immune to Sticky Web and outspeeds and OHKOes your entire team with little prior damage, except for Azumarill which takes 70 - 82.6%, which is still unacceptable, especially considering Talonflame's Gale Wings Brave Bird out-prioritizes Azumarill's Aqua Jet due to Speed. To me, Azumarill seems like the weakest link, especially considering it's going to seriously struggle should Sun still be active. I would add some kind of Tyranitar set somewhere; Tyranitar easily handles Talonflame barring random Will-O-Wisps and also helps you handle the Lati twins, who you could also use some insurance against. In addition, running Tyranitar would let you run a Sand Rush set on Excadrill if you wanted to. The set you run is up to you; use what you think would be best for your team, whether it be Smooth Rock, AV, Scarf, Band, etc.

All I've got for now. Good luck!

 

[Approxie]

Upon the topic of Trevenant's moveset, I can give you a bit of advice. Leech Seed / Substitute / Phantom Force / WoW is a great subseeding set, especially with Mega Charizard Y's sun support. By replacing Protect and Shadow Claw, you're both gaining a shield for status moves (Substitute) and pseudo-Protect that lets you attack as well (Phantom Force). That way, you can stall for Leech Seed healing and/or berry harvesting, protect yourself from Toxic, and deal out respectable damage all within two moveslots, so no longer do you have to worry about fitting in 3 moves. :)

Also, since you have Will-O-Wisp on that set, why not change the EVs to 252 HP / 180 Def / 76 Spe? Although you lose some of your bulk, you can outspeed and burn uninvested Tyranitar and/or Scizor.

Hope this helps!

I tried these changes to Trevenant and man, it worked awesome. I knew as soon as I saw sub Trev I was like, I gotta try that. Gotta get used to playing the set correctly, but if done correctly it's very annoying. Thanks.

Since I haven't tested this team myself, it would be helpful if you played some games and told us what Pokemon give you trouble. However, I don't see any glaring weaknesses.

A Trevenant moveset that has worked well for me is Substitute/Leech Seed/WoW/Curse. This allows you to not become setup bait. Make sure that you EV so that your HP is divisible by 4.

On Smeargle I prefer Taunt over Spikes...it just helps so much.

Finally, I really think that Goodra set isn't very effective. Try out the Conkeldurr and let us know how it is.

I tested the following Conkeldurr,

Adamant Nature w/ Guts
Item: Assault Vest
252 Atk / 244 SpD / 12 Def
- Drain Punch
- Mach Punch
- Ice Punch
- Knock Off

Man this guy won me a couple of games, as soon as I started testing him, more than Goodra has ever done. I think Conkeldurr may just become a permanent spot.

I did also swap Taunt onto Smeargle, although I didn't get a chance to use it, I will keep on testing it.

Goodra really needs to be using an EV spread of 252 HP / 252 SAtk / 4 SDef. You don't need to invest in SpD anyway since Assault Vest is making Goodra tank any special hits like a champ regardless, while investing fully in Special Attack lets you dish out more damage in return. In other words, using a more offensive EV spread makes Assault Vest Goodra a much more effective tank.

I'm not really certain running all three hazards on Smeargle is a good idea, seeing as it won't have time to set up all three. I'd consider replacing Stealth Rock with another move like Magic Coat, which can help Smeargle block Taunts and/or opposing hazards since it's slow as balls, and moving Stealth Rock onto Excadrill over either Iron Head or Rock Slide. That is, if you really do want all three hazards. If you don't feel you absolutely need all three hazards, replace Spikes with Magic Coat.

Anyway, moving on from minor moveset issues, this team is deathly weak to Talonflame. It's immune to Sticky Web and outspeeds and OHKOes your entire team with little prior damage, except for Azumarill which takes 70 - 82.6%, which is still unacceptable, especially considering Talonflame's Gale Wings Brave Bird out-prioritizes Azumarill's Aqua Jet due to Speed. To me, Azumarill seems like the weakest link, especially considering it's going to seriously struggle should Sun still be active. I would add some kind of Tyranitar set somewhere; Tyranitar easily handles Talonflame barring random Will-O-Wisps and also helps you handle the Lati twins, who you could also use some insurance against. In addition, running Tyranitar would let you run a Sand Rush set on Excadrill if you wanted to. The set you run is up to you; use what you think would be best for your team, whether it be Smooth Rock, AV, Scarf, Band, etc.

All I've got for now. Good luck!

I will try a Tyranitar setup tomorrow. And I do think the triple hazard Smeargle is a little overkill. I will try out Magic Coat later as I wanna see how Taunt works out. I'm still not convinced that I want to keep Smeargle as my lead, but we'll see.