Traditions Mission Statement
At it's heart beats a core forged over the generations. This team is centered around a traditional Kanto FWG (Fire, Water, Grass) core. Venusaur, Arcanine, and Gyarados put slow deliberate pressure on the board, and force your opponent to play on your terms, and at your pace. Their abilities and typings encourage you to rotate and ensure that your always gaining momentum when others would stall.
Traditions
Team Building
First - Arcanine
When I started constructing the team I had two very specific Pokemon in mind. Arcanine and Gyarados. I have run this duo a number of times and always to great success. They provide fantastic defensive synergy with each other. Both pokemon also have intimidate which helps to mitigate the immense damage present in today's modern formats. Arcanine, being pure fire type, is also easy to balance against when looking at partners. Gyarados resists Water and is Immune to ground leaving only a mutual weakness to Rock. However, with no real special rock attacks, the stat drop from intimidate goes a long way.
Second - Gyarados
As mentioned above Gyarados was the second half of my Arcanine/Gyarados team. I liked the coverage they provided for each other, as well as the double intimidate. Gyarados is great since you can build him any number of ways. They have a very flexible set of base stats, and access to a broad move pool, giving you access to a wide variety of support moves as well as offensive potential. Gyarados mirrors Arcanine very well since it is immune to Ground, resists water, and threatens out most rock types.
Third - Venusaur
With two members in place I was now looking to round out the 3 man FWG core. I wanted a support tank who could take a few hits but also lob large damage at the opponent's health. I considered Amoongus for the role, but eventually settled on M-Venusaur. Venusaur has a much stronger SpA and provides a better pacing for the team. He also gets thick fat which lets him remove two of his biggest weaknesses making him that much more capable of switching in for his partners.
Fourth - Hippowdon
After deciding on my traditional core I started looking for alternates. My past experience with Arcanine/Gyarados has taught me that it is easy to get caught off guard by Defiant/Competitive Pokemon when half of your team will boost them on switch-in. I wanted to make sure that the Pokemon could provide a lot of support for the team as well as bring steady damage. Since slot four was going to an alternate I had to make sure it would pair well with any other set of trio's typing. Hippowdon seemed to be a good choice and also came with the benefit of neutral counter weather to sun or rain teams.
Fifth - Politoed
In my fifth slot, I wanted to have an option for swapping Gyarados out for rain while also being providing the same utilitie/support style. Politoed also served the purpose of resetting weather in the event I have to bring both Politoed and Hippowdon. Choosing Politoed was also great because it dropped one of my rock weaknesses, and gave to burn on two Pokemon. Additionally, rain further weakens fire type attacks giving 4/6 Pokemon an effective 4x resistance. If the opponent doesn't benefit from the rain it is a nice weather condition to bring.
Last - Sylveon
With the core established and the alternates slotted in I was ready to pick my win condition. For the last slot I chose Sylveon, Modest, Pixilate, Choice Specs, Sylveon. The three man core is great at wearing the opponent down to the halfway mark or lower. It also does a great job of crippling speed and reducing damage coming in. Once you are in the endgame you just need something that can easily clear a board without much though and that is just what Sylveon does. Hyper Voice is a OHKO on some of the most prominant threats in the game such as M-Salamence, Garchomp, Hydreigon, M-Kanga, and just about anything that isn't an Aegislash.
The Team
Hayashi (Venusaur) (M) @ Venusaurite
Ability: Chlorophyll
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 124 Def / 76 SpA / 52 SpD / 4 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 30 SpA / 30 Spe
- Leech Seed
- Sludge Bomb
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Protect
Purpose:
This Mega Venusaur is based off of Aaron Zehng's VGC 2015 Variant, but with just a bit more focus on support in the move pool. The set is pretty standard with the exception of leech seed over Giga Drain. This lets me out stall opposing walls by applying chip damage and recovery, it also partners well with the chip damage from my other defenders. For example. when I find both Venusaur and Hippowdon fielded together I am able to seed and Sand Tomb both opponents. This is then compounded by sandstorm chip damage, and potentially burn support from Arcanine/Politoed. The biggest threat to Venusaur is Talonflame. Priority Brave Bird is a guaranteed OHKO from any health unless it has been reduced through intimidate. In a similar vain he is also OHKO'ed by M-Salamence , Gardevoir, and Takes big damage from Cresselia. On the offensive Venusaur is walled completely by Heatran although can reliably set up seeds if Heatran isn't running substitute. Sludge bomb is the go to attack for reliable damage and hits hard against everything that isn't part steel which bar the aforementioned Heatran are covered by Hidden Power Fire.
Threats:
Junichi (Arcanine) (F) @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Intimidate
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 124 Atk / 68 Def / 64 SpD
Careful Nature
- Snarl
- Will-O-Wisp
- Extreme Speed
- Protect
Purpose:
Arcanine serves as one of the primary core members and acts as one of my hard damage controls. Intimidate + Will-O-Wisp means that physical attackers will have a difficult time remaining potent throughout a prolonged battle, and Snarl allows me to manage the special attackers as well. I opted to take E-speed over something like Flare Blitz or Overheat since it gives me access to a priority move for revenge killing low health targets under disadvantageous circumstances such as Trick Room. Arcanine is threatened out by a good portion of the metagame's most common threats under normal circumstances due to his Rock/Ground/Water weakness'. However, thanks to her support moves, she can usually tank the super effective hits and continue to break down your opponent's pressure. If your opponent gets out any of these threats and you don't get to set your damage mitigation on them before they hit you, it is lights out. The EV's are far from perfect but do allow you to live through a surprising amount of abuse and prevent OHKOs on Adamant 252 Kanga Double Edge before intimidate drop 100% of the time.
Threats:
Ryuu (Gyarados) (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Intimidate
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 148 Atk / 108 Def
Careful Nature
- Waterfall
- Iron Head
- Thunder Wave
- Protect
Purpose:
Gyarados is meant to be more aggressive than his fiery counterpart while still providing support against damage. Through his partnered Intimidate you will often be able to -2 your opponent's attack consistently, and further cripple them by applying para through Thunder Wave. Waterfall is capable as a STAB attack, and Iron Head lets you pick off any unsuspecting Fairies. With Gyarados the biggest threats in the game are probably Zapdos, Landorus, Thunderous, Garchomp, and Tyranitar who all have the ability to OHKO him if their damage is not reduced. Zapdos/Thunderous are guaranteed a OHKO with Thunderbolt even at -1 from snarl. As a support Gyarados' first and most important role is providing speed control for my end game sweeps with Sylveon. If any of her threats are faster than her I try to make sure a paralysis sticks so that there is not an uphill battle later.
Threats:
Hiromi (Hippowdon) (F) @ Binding Band
Ability: Sand Stream
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 132 Def / 124 SpD
Impish Nature
- Sand Tomb
- Yawn
- Slack Off
- Protect
Purpose:
Hippowdon serves as the pivotal alternate for my team if bringing any one of the three main core members doesn't provide a good match up. She fills a unique role in the game by acting as a trapper with Sand Tomb. Her natural bulk paired with Slack Off means that she can tank comfortably without having to rely on a healing item and this frees the slot up for an interesting tool. Binding band brings the chip damage from Sand Tomb up to 1/6, after stacking the 1/8 damage from burn, 1/8 from leech seed, and 1/16 from sandstorm you can secure a 2-3 turn KO for your team against the opponent's bulky support monsters and they are unable to pull out before they are worn down. However even if all you get up is the Sand Tomb it still provides consistent pressure for turns after using it and frees you up to manage your health. Trapping also allows you to force sleep through yawn. Hippowdon is threatened by some obvious things like politoed, Ludicolo, Mamoswine, and some less obvious mons like Cresselia thanks to her access to Ice Beam.
Threats:
Koizumi (Politoed) (M) @ Lum Berry
Ability: Drizzle
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 116 Def / 60 SpA / 68 SpD / 12 Spe
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Scald
- Icy Wind
- Focus Blast
- Protect
Purpose:
Politoed serves as an alternate almost exclusively for Gyarados I bring him against teams that gain no benefit from the rain or against teams using competitive/defiant. He is also my first answer to Dark Void Smeargle breaking the sash on turn one with scald and potentially securing the KO with burn. Since he alternates for Gyarados he needed to fill the same role. This meant speed control, aggressive damage, damage control, and the ability to shift momentum on switch in. Politoed is probably the only Pokemon who was up for the task. On switch you gain weather control, he has Icy Wind for spread speed control, Burn on a high proc rate for damage control, and while in rain 4 of your Pokemon are 4x resistant to fire. This gives you a ton of damage mitigation and just another option for the rate of play during a battle. On the defensive side of things he does well but is threatened by Thunderous and Zapdos. Mega-Kangaskhan can also OHKO if you don't have it burned or at -1.
Threats:
Masumi (Sylveon) (F) @ Choice Specs
Ability: Pixilate
Level: 50
EVs: 188 HP / 56 Def / 252 SpA / 12 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 1 Atk / 30 SpA / 30 SpD
- Hyper Voice
- Moonblast
- Hidden Power [Ground]
- Shadow Ball
Purpose:
Sylveon is Traditions end game win condition. With her EV's she can outspeed Adamant Bisharp, and OHKO non Sash variants. Hyper Voice Is the go to STAB, however if you are up against a wide guard user, or need to single target something down, you do have a few options. With this being your late game you want to make sure most Fire and Steel threats have been removed from the board before you drop Sylveon. Fortunately this is supported by your front end with Hippowdon/Venusaur for Steel, and Gyarados/Politoed for fire. On the offensive it easily OHKO's top threats such as Megamence, Garchomp, Tyranitar, Landorus, Conkeldur, and Kangaskhan. It does often lack the speed, but with the support of t-wave and icy wind this becomes much less problem.
Threats:
Team in Review
Notes
Thank you again,
-TheOSC
Special Thanks To
ManOfDoom771
-TheOSC
Special Thanks To
ManOfDoom771
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