Friday, February 25, 2011

Competitive Battling Spotlight #3: Rate my Team One

Hey guys! Here is my first team-related post. I would like viewpoints/opinions on what works and what doesn't work here. This is a team I made a while ago, when 5th Gen was fairly new to everyone, but I was able to use it to pretty decent success, and as such I thought I'd share it here.



So here it is:
[Image: shiburidon.png]
Eelektross @ Leftovers
Type: Electric
Ability: Levitate
Quiet [+spatk, -spe]
252 HP/104 Atk/152 Sp. Atk
- Dragon Tail
- Thunderbolt
- Gastro Acid
- Thunder Wave

Generation V has introduced yet another pokemon with no weaknesses in Eelektross. This electric eel thing is of the Electric type, yet its only would-be weakness is nullified by its ability, Levitate.
Eelektross is actually quite good, and very useful on this team, and with 85/80/80 defenses, it is not unbulky. With max HP it can take hits quite well, and dish out some powerful STAB T-Bolts with its great 105 Special Attack. The slight EV investment in Attack help for Dragon Tail to do a decent amount of damage (coming off an excellent 115 Atk stat) while forcing a switch.
While Eelektross is quite slow (50 base Speed), its main usage is not in quickly dealing damage or setting up. Instead, it is meant to paralyze would-be threats with T-Wave, and then either force them out, kill them, or nullify their own ability (this set shuts down Blaziken and Erufuun leads). Overall, this is a quite effective lead that can force switches while dealing damage, can take hits well, and can negate any annoying abilities like Speed Boost or Mischievous Heart with Gastro Acid. I've found it deals with Blaziken quite nicely.

[Image: wargle.png]
Braviary @ Choice Band
Ability: Sheer Force *(boosts power of attacks that have an extra effect, but remove this extra effect)*
Jolly [+spe, -spatk]
252 Atk/252 Spe/4 HP
- Superpower
- Shadow Claw
- Thrash *(now 120 BP, like Outrage)*
- Brave Bird

Not much to say about this new Normal/Flying addition, except that it is awesome. Cool design, amazing base 123 Attack, and OK Speed and Defences allow this thing to fully utilize the greatness of a Choice Band. Also, with Superpower and Shadow Claw, it nets perfect type coverage. STAB base 120 Brave Bird and now Thrash are also amazing forces to be reckoned with. This thing will be dealing damage.

[Image: Agirudaa.png]
Accelgor @ Life Orb
Type: Bug
Ability: Hydration
Modest [+spatk, -atk]
252 Sp. Atk/252 Spe/4 HP
- Focus Blast
- Energy Ball
- HP Ghost
- Bug Buzz

A decent Special sweeper in this new bug-type. While its standout stat is its unbelievable base 145 Speed, it has enough offence potential (100 base Sp. Atk) to be a good sweeper. Modest nature ensures powerful attacks, with an already well above average speed stat. Again, the Fighting and Ghost-type combo deal perfect offensive coverage, while STAB Bug Buzz is another great asset to the set. Energy Ball is more filler, but can stop Bulky Waters from doin stuff, as well as eliminating Swamperts. I like this set because it differs from the quite common Spikes/Death Gambit leads I've been seeing from this Pokemon.

[Image: Sazandora-1.png]
Hydreigon@ Life Orb
Ability: Levitate
Hasty [+spe, -def]
104 Atk/152 Sp. Atk/252 Spe
- Draco Metero
- Dark Pulse
- Earthquake
- Flamethrower

One of my personal favorites so far from this gen. Sazandora is an amazing offensive threat, and with the ability to attack from both spectrums (as well as a very powerful Draco Meteor) it is a great sweeper/wall-breaker. Not to mention it's a freaking HYDRA!!! This set not only has great coverage, it utilizes two very powerful STAB moves of Hydreigon, ensuring complete destruction. 104 Attack is for Earthquake to do awesome damage off the 105 Atk stat, while a Hasty nature and 252 EVs is to utilize its above-average, yet still-not-up-to-par base 98 Speed. Oh wait, did I mention base 125 Special Attack (highest of all pseudo-legendaries)???!

[Image: Quagsire.png]
Quagsire @ Leftovers
Ability: Unaware
Careful [+spdef, -spatk]
252 HP/252 Def/4 Sp. Def
- Amnesia
- Rest
- Waterfall
- Curse

The would-be Physical Wall turned Sweeper. This set is devastating. Seriously, this set has surprised even me. Unaware was a blessing for Quagsire this gen (who, with Water Absorb, was not a bad Pokemon before). This utilizes the Curse strategy to its greatest potential by switching in on a resisted move or a pokemon attempting to setup for a sweep (Dragon Dancers, etc.) and ignores any boosts they may have made thus far. Quagsire then proceeds to Curse (or Amnesia first, if it is a Calm Mind/Nasty Plot-er) and Rest off any high damage and/or status ailments. Once at +6 Atk, the sweep shall begin. Of course, two great problems with this set are Grass-types and Water Absorbers like Burungeru and Vaporeon. While Burungeru does often times utilize Cursed Body instead, Vaporeon is potentially the major threat. I suppose if Vaporeon is that much of a problem to this set I can switch Amnesia with Return (or Earthquake, for Burungeru and Vaporeon), but either way, this set is very effective and I have swept several teams with it.

[Image: birijion.png]
Virizion @ Leftovers
Ability: Justice Heart *(raises attack stat if hit by a dark-type move)*
Hasty [+spe, -def]
252 HP/156 Sp. Def/100 Spe
- Holy Sword *(90 BP, Physical, Fighting-Type move. Attacks regardless of opponent's defensive boosts)*
- Giga Drain *(now with 75 BP)*
- Taunt
- Toxic

This is my team's Special Wall, and it works very well. Virizion has base 91 HP, complimented with a base 129 Special Defense, allowing for a great wall. With base 108 Speed it's not slow, either. This set utilizes Giga Drain's new power boost to recover off some damage, as well as Taunt to stop stallers/setup-ers. Toxic helps as well.

Well, there is my team. In my opinion this is a great team, and I have won many battles with it. Let me know what you all think, and if I missed something, or need to fix something.

Thanks for your time and help!

~Scarecrow

5 comments:

  1. hey, great team. i was looking for some inspiration for a team myself when i came across you site. i think one more feature you should add is recording & posting your battles on youtube and your site which will get you more noticed and be a great way to showcase strategies. anyways, really looking forward to ur next post....keep it up!

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  2. Thank you! I will definitely begin uploading my battles to youtube very soon, and I may post a warstory or two here in the mean time. Thanks for the support.

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  3. Ok, I'm aware that this post is several months old and you've probably already playtested it thoroughly, but I just started reading through and I noticed that this didn't get mentioned. I would replace Thrash on Braviary with Return. Despite Thrash's power, the fact that you are locked into the move and can't even switch out makes you incredibly vulnerable. The only reason you can get away with that with Outrage is because Dragon is only resisted by one type. Normal has too many possible switch-ins to make it worth it.

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  4. Yea, thank you for pointing that out.

    I'll admit, I did make this team at the VERY beginning of BW, like 6 or so months ago, so at that point I was just looking for what seemed good and not. I was a bit power-hungry so Thrash looked good to me lol

    I'm hoping to post a new RMT soon, hopefully one with a lot more insight.

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  5. Why not give Braviary life orb? His ability negates the recoil effect. Then return would be a totally viable option over thrash. :D

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