Welcome Home
The DoctorDonna -- the inspiration of the team.
Introduction
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OK guys, I have another Rate my team to throw at you! It's funny, since I started competitive battling in late 2008, I have never posted a Rate my team based on the offensive genre even though I am really an offensive player at heart, regardless of all the stall-based balanced teams indications with regards to my play-style. I find offensive teams to be the most easiest genre of team to utilize due to their hard-hitting nature and ability to finish games faster than if I was to use any other form of play; defenses aren't all that make a team successful, but resistances and other methods of synergical movements allow offense to be at its best as it then creates its own defense from this. Offensive teams, such as most balanced teams, consists of some sort of core that work together to open wholes for other Pokémon or a Pokémon in the core... usually a set-up sweeper.
The following team that I will present is as you may have already noticed, based upon the concept of the "offensive" play; the purpose being to demonstrate the full synergical potential of a team that would usually fall to teams that are of a more "bulkier" nature, such as stall through residual damage, but, however, do not share this common trait as it shuts down stall -- you could call this team "anti-stall", though that wasn't its initial intention when it was created. The team itself is based around the concept of absolutely shutting down stall teams's purpose that is setting up entry hazards easily and, from that, obliterate these teams and overwhelm all foes in general with a mixture of wall-breaking and all-out, hard-hitting attacks; attacking each side of the attacking spectrum equally to even out the possibility of encountering certain biased teams. This team is based around enabling the successful sweep of the Pokémon, Lucario as it is possibly the best late-game sweeper in Pokémon history, but, the highlight of the team, and probably the team player of this team is Heatran -- you'll see why later in this Rate my team topic.
I hope one enjoys this Rate my team, but, as it is far from being the best team, I hope one can possibly suggest help for this team to increase its potential. Note that the core of this team is: Salamence, Heatran, and Lucario, and this is not subject to change unless I am given a pretty good reason why it can or should for the best results. I have only used this team properly for the past couple of days; anyone you've seen who isn't "Vashta", "rose tyler", "Vashta Nerada", "white sparrows" or "welcome home" is someone I've let us the team, not myself. I've only used the team at this stage in its development on the latter alt.
For those interested in numbers, this team got me to a CRE of 1620~ and rank of #7 on the Smogon University Leaderboard. Now, onto the team...!
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Through the Microscope
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Gliscor (M) @ Leftovers *** 1983
Ability: Sand Veil
EVs: 208 HP | 80 Atk | 220 Spe
Jolly Nature [+Speed, -Special Attack]
- Earthquake
- Roost
- U-turn
- Stealth Rock
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Set Analysis:
Gliscor is probably one of the best leads in Pokémon existence due to the fact that it has very good Speed, decent Attack (meaning it can retailiate against other common leads and in late-game) and access to Stealth Rock. Gliscor works as my primary check to threats such as Swords Dance Lucario, Tyranitar and non-Ice Punch Machamp; Heracross and non-Ice Punch Metagross fall under the list to an extent, also. Having a Jolly Nature allows me to outpace all positive-natured base 90 Pokémon such as Jolly Ice Punch Lucario, etcetera. I chose Sand Veil over Hyper Cutter simply because the evasion increase is much more reliable and helpful to me on so many levels, especially when I encounter stall teams with Hippowdon / Tyranitar, etcetera -- with Sand Veil, Gliscor can laugh head on at most Scizors locked into a move that isn't Bullet Punch and spam Earthquake at it as if it was nothing. Obviously, Roost gives me a reliable recovery for stalling out Pokémon such as Tyranitar if I switch in on Stone Edge and can't afford to hit it back with Earthquake.
Taunt vs U-turn: I spent weeks trying to figure out how to deal with this dilemna; Taunt helped me deal with the odd Skarmory leads and other leads from setting up, however, once we had switched out our Pokémon, my opponent would end up switching in again and setting up, meaning Taunt is useless unless I need to stall out a Pokémon such as non-Ice Beam Blissey or Breloom; though this may be beneficial to my team to an extent, it is no where as beneficial as U-turn, as the aforementioned scenarios can be worked around albeit a bit dificult, mind you. U-turn is much more useful for this particular team because as a lead, Gliscor may encounter lots of faster leads with Taunt... leads that may not be hit by Earthquake - most notably, Azelf. These leads can Taunt me and I will be forced to switch, in which time, they can hit me with a variety of moves such as Fire Blast, Psychic, or Explosion -- all moves that I can't really afford to be hit by as Scizor is my only check to Azelf otherwise, and it is OHKOed by Fire Blast and takes a massive hit from Explosion -- I need Scizor to play as a team-player; long enough for it to do its job -- it cannot do its job if it is at ~30% health, or not very effectively at least. I eventually turned to using U-turn because I could scout out any lead that my seem a problem, breaking Focus Sashes that could cause problems, and switching to immediate counters; being able to do 50%+ on both Azelf and Celebi is great as I can go straight to Scizor without any problems, and, possibly prevent Stealth Rock from being set-up. U-turn is a great move also because it hits Celebi as I have said before -- it can switch into Thunder Wave because of its immunity to Electric-type attacks and deal hefty amounts of damage as sometimes Scizor nor Heatran can deal with Celebi as some carry Hidden Power Fire and Earth Power for them both, respectively, as Gliscor isn't taking major damage from Grass Knot.
Earthquake is for obvious STAB against foes and Stealth Rock is a necessity to this team in particular because of the need to remove Focus Sash and deal heavy damage to foes such as Gyarados and Salamence, both of which are major threats to this team if my checks are removed beforehand.
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EVs & Nature:
The EVs are a slight variation from the standard EVs: 220 Spe, paired with a Jolly nature allows me to outspeed opposing Gliscors that run 308 Speed, so I am not subject to Taunt and I can deal with most Substitute + Calm Mind Jirachi - the unfortunate thing is, I end up making a revelation in my team, giving my opponent a slight upper-hand, to an extent I guess. The 80 Atk allow me to 2HKO most Metagross and Tyranitar with Earthquake, and 2HKO Celebi and Azelf with U-turn. The rest of the EVs are dumped into HP to compensate for the loss in original Defense that the original EV spread would have created.
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Other Options
Before I ended up settling for Gliscor, I went through testing phases with two other Pokémon: Swampert, then, for a more offensive approach, Mamoswine. To be honest, all I was looking for was an effective lead with an immunity to Electric-type attacks and possibly some way of dealing with Tyranitar and/or Lucario as Salamence couldn't take the latter after a Swords Dance boost + Stealth Rocks + Life Orb, and Scizor isn't exactly the best switch-in to Tyranitar.
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Lead Comparison
This is how Gliscor fairs against the top ten common leads according to the usage statistics; blue indicates little trouble caused, orange indicates that there is a bit of switching to do, and red is problematic:
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Metagross: Metagross is a pretty simple lead to deal with; Earthquake on the first turn to scout its set; it will either be Trick Scarf, in which it is forced to switch out, or it is the standard set which is 2HKOed anyway, so I use Stealth Rock as he switches. Not a problematic Pokémon to deal with as a lead, to be honest.
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Azelf: Azelf isn't really a problematic lead thanks to U-turn as I have already stated; I switch to Scizor to Bullet Punch / U-turn if Azelf has Taunted or if it hasn't, respectively.
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Jirachi: This is in the same boat as Metagross, I guess. I must watch out for possible Ice Punch carriers, though.
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Swampert: Unlike the top three leads, I have real problems with Swampert. I will never stay in; I will always U-turn out to Scizor to take Ice Beam, and then use that to U-turn to Latias, and then back to Scizor - a long-winded situation indeed. =[
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Aerodactyl: Like Azelf but a lot easier to handle: U-turn out on their Taunt, breaking their Focus Sash, and move to Scizor to Bullet Punch or Pursuit.
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Infernape: Thinking I'll switch due to the possibility of being hit by Fire Blast, I usually just Stealth Rock then go to Latias, or just U-turn to break the Focus Sash.... from there it just depends on the set.
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Hippowdon: Not much I can do to it, nor is there much they can do to me; we both setup Stealth Rock with a 100% guarantee, then I'll just U-turn to Scizor, U-turn to Latias or whatever...
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Bronzong: Again, I can't really harm it, nor can it really harm me -- we both setup Stealth Rock. Then I U-turn out to Scizor who U-turns, back and forth.
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Ninjask: Heh, easy. Just Stealth Rock as they Substitute / Protect, then go to Heatran who Fire Blasts as they Protect (to conceil Taunt) and then use Taunt before they Baton Pass -- my team can't handle most recipients.
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Tyranitar: As a lead, Tyranitar can be an absolute threat if it is Mixed; Scizor nor Gliscor can deal with it. U-turn to Scizor, maybe?
Gliscor is named after the lyric in the song "Turn your back", by Billy Talent. It also happens to be Haunter's birth year. =)
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Scizor (M) @ Choice Band *** Tab-batha
Ability: Technician
EVs: 160 HP | 176 Atk | 168 SpD | 4 Spe
Adamant nature [+Attack, -Special Attack]
- Bullet Punch
- Superpower
- U-turn
- Pursuit
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Set Analysis:
Special Defensive Scizor, the best variant of Scizor known to man. To be honest, I really needed something that could switch in to some special-based attacks from Pokémon such as Vaporeon, etcetera, cause some U-turn damage, then go to Latias to finish them off. Without Scizor on this team, and the resistances it brings, I wouldn't have a check to foes such as Blissey, Cresselia, Tyranitar, Gengar, Alakazam and most Salamences. I may have Salamence, Gliscor and Lucario with physical attacks that can do heavy damage to Blissey, but Scizor is the only one who can take potential status attacks and still deal with it and Cresselia. Having a trapper on this team is also welcomed because my team is otherwise really weak to foes such as Life Orb Latias, etcetera. The reason I wanted to go with the bulkier version of Choice Band Scizor is simply because I needed to be able to take the odd physical attack and more special attacks from Salamence and Latias' Draco Meteor.
Bullet Punch allows me to have a useful revenge killer to threats such as Salamence, Tyranitar, Gengar and Alakazam; maybe the odd Flygon, too. A lot of people argue about what move is better: Superpower or Brick Break, first latter has no side effects to its use, but the former is stronger even with its power weakening after its first use; the Defense drop isn't always attractive, too. Anyway, I decided to opt for Superpower because it hits foes much more harder even if the Pokémon walking into it resists. Hitting incoming Scizors for high damage is also favoured because sometimes I will be reluctant to switch straight to Heatran until I have forced my foe into using a resisted move. U-turn is for my second, obvious STAB which allows Scizor to take the role as primary scouter for me team; in tandem with Pursuit, Scizor can easily trap foes and either U-turn on them if they expect a Pursuit or Pursuit if they can't afford to lose the Pokémon later in the game. I will always U-turn on foes such as Blissey and Cresselia first, however, because they usually have a trapper of their own, like Magnezone, to protect them.
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EVs & Nature:
The EVs allow me to switch into Draco Meteor from a Life Orb Latias and Salamence, and KOes the former with either Pursuit on the switch or U-turn; Salamence is hit by Bullet Punch and so are foes such as Tyranitar. The EVs provide physical bulk, to an extent, as I needed to be able to switch into Outrages much more easier and Earthquakes from Hippowdon or even Swampert. The EVs also also allow Scizor to OHKO most Gengar, 2HKO most Latias, and do a minimum of 55% on Salamences for revenge killing purposes. The EVs may seem wierd, but the bulk they provide is invaluable. Bulky Water-types such as Vaporeon and Suicune do about ~30% so they can be switched into easier just in case I am wary about switching to Latias due to trapping.
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Other Options
Scizor
Scizor was the best choice of trapper for this team because it does not share the same Ground-type weakness with Heatran and Lucario, thus I have little more to fear than I would with Metagross. With a trapper, it is always good to have an alternate method of damaging a Pokémon that I want to get rid of - take Celebi, for example: it may carry Reflect and therefore won't need to worry about getting Pursuited, therefore, if it was Metagross, it would have to switch out then in again, but with Scizor, I can use its STAB U-turn to damage Celebi or any Pokémon that may switch in, scouting my foe and giving me the upper-hand; even better if my foe has a Magnezone on their team. Not only this, but Scizor generally has the better use of Bullet Punch and Pursuit as their base damage is much greater due to Technician meaning I can hurt fleeing foes harder and hit foes such as Flygon and Salamence harder without needing a boost to revenge kill them.
Scizor
Tyranitar was my second, and last candidate to act as trapper after Scizor became the dominant choice against Metagross. Now, Tyranitar looks all well and good on paper, but, to be honest, it isn't really the best addition to the team because of its shared Fighting and Ground-type weakness with Heatran and Lucario. It also cannot revenge kill effectively and it is hit hard by Water-type attacks - I only have one Pokémon that can switch into all types of Water-type attacks, and that is Latias - I have to make sure that my opponent's trapper is eliminated before I send it out. Furthermore, Tyranitar would increase my weakness to foes such as Metagross and Mixed Salamence. Scizor can switch into their odd moves and revenge kill the latter. Scizor and Lucario help with my revenge killing scenario between the two against foes such as Infernape who may get left open if I miss play Latias. Mamoswine plays into the same situation, but Scizor can OHKO it straight away with Bullet Punch, while Tyranitar falls.
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Scizor is named after Tab-batha; the male-woman. He was a contributor with the construction of this team, and without his cheerleading spirit, I wouldn't be writing this - thanks tab. =]
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Latias (F) @ Choice Scarf *** Saint Veronika
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 4 Def | 252 SpA | 252 Spe
Timid Nature [+Speed, -Attack]
- Draco Meteor
- Surf
- Thunderbolt
- Trick
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Set Analysis
Latias acts as my Choice Scarfed Pokémon and therefore, it acts as my revenge killer to a myriad of threats such as Life Orb Starmie, Zapdos, Heatran, and so on. Without Latias useful resistances, awesome Special Defense, and thus the ability to deal with foes such as Rotom-A, who Gliscor cannot touch, I very much doubt this team could function as effectively as it does without even more problems with certain threats such as the aforementioned threats. Thanks to Latias' awesome Speed and defenses, it serves as my main answer to various themed-teams such as Rain Dance teams and Sunny Day teams -- these teams usually fall short of outspeeding Latias unless, for the former, they have a positive natured Pokémon with a base Speed that is higher than Latias', or they have a Pokémon with an ability that doubles Speed in weather changing conditions (such as Jolly Kingdra in the Rain thanks to Swift Swim). Again, without Latias being able to switch into these types of teams, I would almost certainly fall without much effort on the part of my opponent. You may also notice that my team is weak to Gyarados with Dragon Dance -- Latias is my only answer to it -- as Latias can outspeed neutral natured Gyarados' who (somehow) reach +2, Latias is a reliable counter; however, I must be very wary of opponents who may carry a potential trapper, so I must play around this somehow or another. As I have already briefly mentioned, Latias is very susceptible to Pursuit users, because of this, it means that when Latias has done its job and my opponent's team has been weakened, I can sacrifice Latias, allowing Lucario to have an open path to set up and sweep. That is the beauty of Pursuit-bait.
When I initially thought up of the idea of using Choice Scarf Latias, I immediately wanted to use the following set: Draco Meteor / Surf / Thunderbolt / Dragon Pulse - the reasoning for this was quite simple: I didn't like taking risks with Draco Meteor when it came to finishing a game with Latias vs Salamence, etc. This was soon found to put me at a disadvantage because Pokémon such as CurseLax and CroCune used this as the opportunity to set up on me and sweep me after two or so Curses / Calm Minds, respectively. Being able to lock them into one move allowed me to use that as an opportunity to set up or force my opponents into a predictable switch, putting me in the driver's seat of the match. Thunderbolt was an obligatory move to his Pokémon such as Suicune, Vaporeon, Gyarados, and Starmie for super effective. In the same vein, Draco Meteor was deemed the superior choice of STAB move compared to any other Dragon-type move because of the fact that Latias lacks the required power to allow Dragon Pulse to hit those crucial OHKOes and 2HKOes, both of which I require at crucial times, especially on Pokémon such as Zapdos. I just wish that the accuracy was better, and therefore I have a better check to Bulky Dragon Dancers such as Dragonite and Salamence -- bulky variants of Salamence / Dragonite are not usually 2HKOed by Scizor's Bullet Punch, meaning relying on revenge killing is not an option. Surf is probably the best move when it comes to hitting weakened Tyranitars, Gliscors under Sand Veil, Rotom-A (as I don't want to waste Draco Meteor's PP), and Choice Scarf Heatran, another Pokémon that can cause a bit of trouble and cause for concern when strategising any move.
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Other Options
Though it seems that Latias was a natural choice for this team, it is not exactly the truth; a lot of other options were tested during the time in which I had to create this team. All had their individual traits that benefited the team in various ways in terms of resistances, offensive traits, and ability to ease Lucario's potential set up. Here were the difference situations I had to confront when looking for a revenge killer. The following was my minimal criteria in which a Pokémon should make at least 75% of the criteria:
- A Pokémon should be able to outspeed the standard Adamant / Modest Rain Dancing Kingdra, possibly resisting one of its STAB moves.
- It can outpace Adamant Salamence and has resistances / immunity to one of its commonly used moves.
- The Pokémon should be able to resist or have an immunity to Electric-type attacks to better switch into certain hits, especially from Zapdos.
- It can walk into one, or preferably more, attacks from most variatants of Heatran -- notably Choice Scarf Heatran.
- The Pokémon isn't fragile; it can take a hit from a multitude of foes regardless of type-pairings.
My initial thoughts when I was creating this team were "Flygon makes a good revenge killer", and this is certainly true indeed. With average Speed and Attack, Flygon could deal with most foes -- access to STAB Outrage was a bonus, too, being on the physical side of the attacking spectrum. Flygon had decent resistances and it had an immunity to Electric-type attacks, meaning it had an immunity to Thunder Wave (if you haven't noticed already, I have no proper status absorber). Though Flygon had these traits, it really lacked the defenses to take certain super effective hits as it was that I really could have benefited from due to my team's lack of "proper" defense. One other thing that turned me off from selecting Flygon was the fact that it couldn't actually switch into foes like Kingdra / Ludicolo in Rain, Agility + SubPetaya Empoleon, and it lacked the Speed to outpace them -- this really turned me off as it made me instantly weak to Rain Dance teams, and as they are common, this was not acceptable. Flygon also added to the 4x weakness to Ice-type moves, shared by Gliscor and Salamence alike. Latias could do all these things that I needed, and, as an added bonus, it could outspeed Adamant Salamence and Gyarados up to +2 boosts. Aside from this, Latias also proved useful to benefit Lucario in late game as it acted as Pursuit-bait to Pokémon like Tyranitar and Scizor. Flygon also lacked the ability to stop Calm Mind Suicune (etc) from setting up, whereas Latias can cripple them severely with Trick, therefore Flygon was rulled out over Latias.
Latias
This lead me to my second possible choice of revenge killer to compare against Latias: Rotom-W. The reason I highlighted Rotom-W out of all the other Rotom-Appliances was because it was the only Pokémon I had that could possibly switch into Infernape's Close Combat and revenge kill it, though this was unreliable because Rotom-W was unable to work well after being hit by Infernape's Fire Blast. Both Pokémon were very similar when it came to jobs, resistances, and immunities: both could act as Pursuit-bait, they both resist Electric-type attacks, they both have decent attacking stats and good Speed. Unfortunately, Rotom-W lacked the ability to deal with Life Orb Zapdos effectively and also Infernape, it also didn't hit a reliable enough Speed stat to outpace those threats that were aforementioned in the required elements of my "revenge killer". Though Rotom-W did have access to Trick, it would be unable to stay in on those foes such as Suicune and Snorlax once they each have a Calm Mind or Curse, respectively. Latias' Fire-type resistance is also a great asset to the team because of the fact that I would otherwise still have trouble with Pokémon such as Choice Scarf Heatran, especially because it is an unreliable strategy to switch in my own, slower Heatran into these opposing ones because any good opposing player could potentially "predict" that nature of switch and remove Heatran from the game. Because of Salamence's lack of sufficient Special Defense, and its weakness to Stealth Rock, it is not a reliable switch / counter to Heatran.
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EVs & Nature:
The EVs are your bog standard EVs for an offensive Pokémon: by maximizing Special Attack, Latias can hit as hard as possible given its nature, Timid. The random Defense EVs were put there because it was the only other useful stat I could find it suitable for as its Special Defense is already very high compared to its Defense stat. A Timid Nature + 252 Spe EVs means that Latias can outspeed most Adamant Gyarados and Salamence at +2 maximum -- it generally outpaces all other Choice Scarfed Pokémon that fail to reach a base Speed of 110. Thanks to Latias' Speed, I can also revenge kill those Agility SubPetaya Empoleons that may set up on Scizor's Bullet Punch. As aforementioned, I outspeed most common Pokémon that run a neutral nature on Rain Dance and Sunny Day teams, meaning I am most completely swept -- Latias' typing and defenses only makes this a more favoured factor. Not using a Modest nature, however, makes Latias incapable of hitting foes so much harder, especially because it lacks the boosts that Choice Specs and/or Life Orb present to it.
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Latias is named after the song, by Billy Talent, "Saint Veronika" -- this is one of my favourite songs from their most recent album, and in general, also. As Latias is a life-saver to this team at many stages throughout a match, the title "Saint" only seems fitting.
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Heatran (F) @ Life Orb *** Mint Royale
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 4 Def | 252 SpA | 252 Spe
Timid Nature [+Speed, -Attack]
- Fire Blast
- Earth Power
- Hidden Power Grass
- Taunt
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Set Analysis
Heatran; well, to be more specific, Taunt Life Orb Heatran – the ultimate stall-breaker – the most important member of this team, in its own right, of course. The destructive force that Heatran imposes upon foes is mind-boggling. Before I had written the analysis, I would never had imagine using a set that wasn’t carrying Choice Scarf due to its revenge killing qualities – fantastic, yes, though Life Orb Heatran surpasses this with its strength and its efficiency was definitely promising during the testing phase. People often question the ability Heatran has to destroy opponents because of its slow Speed stat, but the fact of the matter is that there is no Pokémon, bar Blissey, that can switch-in on Heatran without getting 2HKOed from its Fire Blast which is remarkable, and one would think that it is of “Uber proportions” – its STAB Fire Blast is certainly a danger to most.
Heatran acts as my check to Pokémon such as Will-O-Wisp Dusknoir/Spiritomb, Defensive Rotom-A, Scizor, and other Pokémon that I cannot be bothered to list. Hidden Power Grass hits Swampert for the OHKO, as well as hitting other bulky Water-types for the same damage as Hidden Power Electric. One may ask, however, ‘Why use Hidden Power Grass over Hidden Power Electric just for Swampert?’ – simple: though Gyarados is a more prominent threat, most common variants such as the offensive Gyarados are taking approximately 37% from Fire Blast on the switch, meaning, with Stealth Rock factored, I can hit it again, thus removing it from the game. Earth Power, naturally, complements Fire Blast as it removes opposing Fire-types and Heatrans who otherwise attempt to ‘cushion’ the hit, as it were.
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Taunt
Taunt, however, is the definition of this set; it is what makes Heatran so threatening towards the opposition. Especially stall teams. Taunt absolutely shuts down Blissey that don’t carry Seismic Toss.
- It shuts down stall RestTalkers
- Most spikers cannot switch into Heatran and get shut down anyway.
- Taunt prevents recovery, meaning no stall; the use of stats moves and stat modifiers / screens are also negated.
- Trick is rendered useless.
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EVs & Nature:
The EVs are very generic; maximizing Heatran’s strong attacking power and allowing it to outpace all Pokémon that do not yield more than 278 Speed; Pokémon such as Breloom and Kingdra – both annoying Pokémon – OHKOing with Fire Blast and Taunting both Pokémon respectively.
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Damage Calculations:
For those who are picky about damage calculations that can attest for Heatran’s strong attacking power, here are the top ten calculations that are currently relevant to Heatran’s common switch-ins.
Life Orb Fire Blast vs 252 HP / 252 Def Bold Blissey: 27.73% - 32.77%
Life Orb Fire Blast vs 0 HP / 0 SpD Adamant Gyarados: 38.37% - 45.32%
Life Orb Fire Blast vs 0 HP / 0 SpD Naive Salamence: 51.66% - 60.73%
Life Orb Fire Blast vs 4 HP / 0 SpD Jolly/Adamant Flygon: 50.66% - 59.60%
Life Orb Fire Blast vs 0 HP / 4 SpD Timid Starmie: 55.17% - 65.52%
Life Orb Fire Blast vs 136 HP / 0 SpD Timid Starmie: 49.49% - 58.31%
Life Orb Fire Blast vs 252 HP / 136 SpD Bold Rotom-A: 69.41% - 82.24%
Life Orb Fire Blast vs 252 HP / 0 SpD Bold Rotom-A: 87.27% - 102.91%
Life Orb Hidden Power Grass vs 252 HP / 0 SpD Bold Vaporeon: 44.83% - 53.02%
Life Orb Hidden Power Grass vs 252 HP / 0 SpD Bold Suicune: 44.06% - 51.98%
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Salamence (M) @ Life Orb *** House
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 16 Atk | 240 SpA | 252 Spe
Naive Nature [+Speed, -Special Defense]
- Draco Meteor
- Fire Blast
- Brick Break
- Roost
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Set Analysis
Old MixMence is the most dangerous variant of Salamence in the current metagame and one of the most dangerous Pokémon of all time. I originally ran the Mixed Dragon Dancer set consisting of Dragon Dance / Draco Meteor / Earthquake / Outrage, but I just couldn’t use Salamence when it still had to fight against hits Stealth Rock weakness – I originally had a Rapid Spinner, however, in Starmie > Gliscor, but the Stealth Rock weakness and the weakness to Lucario / Tyranitar was just unbelievable, so, thanks to a suggestion for Joshe / Schaft, I decided to test out the Old MixMence as it carried Roost. It worked like a charm even though I was originally reluctant to use it. Thanks to Roost, I could reinstate Gliscor without the need of a Rapid Spinner. I could also pose an even bigger threat to stall teams, who would rely on Stealth Rock + other forms of residual damage in the form of Life Orb and sandstorm, as this was no longer a problem for Salamence in particular.
Draco Meteor is a destructive move. So destructive, that I believe it to be the best attacking move in the entire game – so much damage is caused by the one move, even to Steel-types, the only resistors in the game, struggle to handle its might. Brick Break allows me to hit Blissey for the 2HKO, OHKO Lucario after Stealth Rock, in most situations (as Fire Blast’s accuracy could cost me the game if it was ever to fail me); it also allowed me to break Breloom’s Substitute without relying on Fire Blast’s poor accuracy to hit consecutively. It also OHKOed the most common variants of Tyranitar if they bared Fire Blast and Ice Beam (I would have to switch-in on the Fire Blast, obviously), after Stealth Rock. The inaccurate Fire Blast of Salamence puts Steel-types in further damage without having to worry about Brick Break or Draco Meteor’s awesome power; they would be forced into staying in or dying. I usually run Fire Blast when an obvious Draco Meteor is seen by my opponents, so I can remove their Steel-type ‘cushion’, then enabling Salamence to fire off Draco Meteor to finish off whatever decides to stay in or come in. Roost, again, is what makes this set fantastic – recovering from any incurred residual damage or damage of the sort. – it goes over Outrage – being stuck into one move for 2-3 turns was very unreliable and made Salamence vulnerable to being checked or being set-up upon.
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EVs & Nature:
The EVs allow me to maximize Salamence’s Speed potential and enable me to tie with all other Pokémon that yield a positive base 100 Speed stat (with maximum EV investment, obviously), such as physical-based mixed Jirachi, while outpacing every other Pokémon that cannot hit a 328 Speed stat at minimum, of course. 240 SpA makes Draco Meteor as threatening as I have been saying this whole time. The remaining 16 Attack EVs is what allows Brick Break to break Breloom’s Substitute, 2HKO Heatran and Blissey, and OHKO Tyranitar, after Stealth Rock damage is factored into the equation. The Naive nature is used so I do not lose any stat points in my attacking stats, Speed, or Defense – the latter so I can take hits from Lucario and a Bullet Punch from Scizor after Stealth Rock, in particular. There aren’t many special attacks that Salamence is supposed / able to take anyway, so it would be pointless decreasing another stat for something as useless as that.
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Damage Calculations:
For the benefit of those who like numbers to justify a Pokémon’s power –again- here are some damage calculations against ten Pokémon that Salamence is likely to encounter in battle, mainly its use of Draco Meteor.
Life Orb Draco Meteor vs 252 HP / 0 SpD Impish Hippowdon: 81.67% - 96.43%
Life Orb Draco Meteor vs 252 HP / 0 SpD Impish Gliscor: 93.50% - 110.45%
Life Orb Draco Meteor vs 252 HP / 0 SpD Relaxed Swampert: 71.29% - 83.91%
Life Orb Draco Meteor vs 252 HP / 0 SpD Adamant Scizor (Common Steel-type switch-in): 45.64% - 54.07%
Life Orb Draco Meteor vs 252 HP / 0 SpD Bold Zapdos: 75.00% - 88.28%
Life Orb Draco Meteor vs 252 HP / 0 SpD Bold Suicune: 57.43% - 67.82%
Life Orb Brick Break vs 252 HP / 0 Def Adamant Tyranitar: 84.16% - 100.00%
Life Orb Brick Break vs 252 HP / 252 Def Bold Blissey: 46.78% - 55.18%
Life Orb Fire Blast vs 252 HP / 0 SpD Bold Celebi: 73.76% - 87.13%
Life Orb Fire Blast vs 252 HP / 80 SpD Sassy Bronzong: 66.27% - 78.11%
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Lucario (M) @ Life Orb *** The Doctor
Ability: Inner Focus
EVs: 252 Atk | 4 Def | 252 Spe
Adamant Nature [+Attack, -Special Attack]
- Close Combat
- ExtremeSpeed
- Crunch
- Swords Dance
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Set Analysis
Lucario is my main sweeper on this team, and heck, is it a good one at that! Thanks to its 4x resistance to Pursuit, it can easily set-up after Latias has been sacrificed to either Tyranitar or Scizor, and commence sweeping with its awesome power. Not much can be said about this said, so I'm not going to bother attempting to say much. This is probably the most destructive Pokémon in the game, especially in late-game situations -- it has been established as such, but people still don't prepare for it as much as they should, to be honest -- at their own cost, of course. The whole point of the team was to overwhelm the opponent to a situation in which I would be left able to use Lucario to set-up and sweep the rest of my opponents team. Paired with Salamence in particular, its typing is balanced out excellently, and the attacking power of special attacks and Lucario's physical attacks make enable it to achieve excellent synergy with many-a-Pokémon on this team.
Close Combat is a STRONG move indeed. Even Pokémon that resist the attack have problems with taking it effectively, often causing opponents to carry Ghost-type Pokémon to do so instead. The obligatory STAB is what makes this attack, plus Lucario, special as it has the Base Power equalled to that of Heatran's Fire Blast: 180, and with similar attacking power on both sides of the attacking spectrum, it isn't something to be overlooked after physical foes have been annihilated by Heatran and co. ExtremeSpeed is another obligatory move, allowing me to revenge kill a lot of foes that I could do before with Scizor's Bullet Punch; not only that, I can generally hit faster foes for heavy damage, meaning I don't have to switch-out and attempt tp deal with it separately, ruining that opportunity to surprise my opponent. Now, Crunch vs Ice Punch; well, I have always found Crunch to be better as it OHKOes all major Ghost-type switch-ins that may attempt to shut down Lucario's sweep, but that leaves me open to Gliscor and Salamence -- or does it? Well, Ice Punch is more or less useless (in my opinion) in this metagame because of the abundance of Gliscors and Salamences that actually carry enough Speed that can out-do any attempt Lucario could possibly have of outpacing them and OHKOing with Ice Punch. Besides, I have checks for both Pokémon -- two Pokémon that are the minority compared to the amount of Ghost-types, and Cresselia, that attempt to check Lucario.
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EVs & Nature:
Nothing too complexed here. Adamant nature + 252 Atk EVs means that I can absolutely abuse Lucario's strength to the max without having to rely on obligatory prior damage on all opposing Pokémon. Max Speed outpaces all Pokémon that yield less than 279 Speed -- a Speed stat that Lucario hits currently. The remaining 4 EVs are just dumped into Defense.
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Damage Calculations:
This, again, is for those who like some sort of portrayal of the damage Pokémon can do; like Heatran and Salamence before, here are some damage calculations to do exactly that:
Close Combat vs. max HP / Def Skarmory 84.4% - 99.7%
Close Combat vs. max HP / Def Bronzong: 95.2% - 100% (67% chance to OHKO)
Close Combat vs. max HP / Def Hippowdon: 75.7% - 89.3%
Close Combat vs. max HP / Def Forretress: 79.7% - 93.8%
Close Combat vs. max HP / Def Donphan: 82.0% - 96.9%
Crunch vs. max HP / Def Cresselia: 63.5% - 74.8%
Crunch vs. max HP Cresselia: 85.1% - 100% (2.6% chance to OHKO)
Crunch vs. max HP / Def Dusknoir: 88.4% - 100% (21% chance to OHKO)
Crunch vs. max HP / Def Celebi: 78.7% - 93.1%
Crunch vs. max HP / Def Rotom - Appliance: 100%
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Conclusion
Yeah, so that's it. Though it seems like a glorified team, it actually works well but has a lot of simple problems; I wouldn't be posting this RMT unless I honestly wanted you to Rate my team. I stopped playing this team back in June when I hit my peak and started to get haxed; that's why you don't see it in action anymore, or, for those who have (such as Infinity and pokeboss9), you probably won't rememeber it.
I hope you've enjoyed reading this (though I haven't re-read it since I wrote it, lol). I would just like to say thanks to ReyScarface who did the calculations for Heatran and Salamence for me as I, to be honest, couldn't be bothered to do so. Threat list up next!
