Fear The Brainfreeze: Hackmons Cup RMT

« Previous Article

Home

Next Article »

Introduction

Hello everyone, Kalalokki here. I'm an avid Hackmons Cup player and my favorite playstyle is usually HO with a mix of bulky offense, balance, and stall. After destroying the ladder for as long as I have, I decided to change things up a bit and release the RMT for one of my most successful teams. I'm currently undefeated with it, 1-0. "But Kalalokki, Hackmons Cup is a randomized metagame, you can't build your own teams in it!" Well my friend, with the right amount of skill, you can put together something with amazing synergy, power, and coverage with no problems. But enough about me, let's get in to the team.

Team Overview

Detailed Analysis

Anorith is one of the bulky attackers of the team, and with Marvel Scale it becomes very hard to take down if it's statused. It helps you deal with Hammer Arm Whimsicott, Vacuum Wave Goldeen, and Thief Primeape, getting 4HKOed at best by any of their attacks, bar Whimsicott's Rollout, while being able to OHKO them in return with a Self-Destruct after some prior damage. Attract is great at forcing switches on the opposite gender should they not try to stay in and risk the chance of getting immobilized. Hydro Pump provides good coverage with solid Base Power, dealing hefty amounts of damage to any Graveler brave enough to stay in. Horn Attack deals consistent damage and helps secure some of the KOs from Self-Destruct. The EVs are pretty self explanatory: maximum Attack investment with a lot of Defense to help with the overall bulk. Sassy nature helps patch up the subpar Special Defense stat while keeping its attacks as strong as possible.

---

Kabuto is another one of my bulky attackers that also serves as this team's phazer. Ghost Gem-boosted Shadow Force hits like an absolute truck, doing 50.2 - 59.4% to the bulkiest of Goldeen and 77.1 - 90.7% to a 252/0 Slowking. Fell Stinger can help you grab a quick +2 in Attack from a weakened foe, and Whirlwind phazes any Slowking trying to set up Tail Glow on Kabuto or Rollout Whimsicott trying to boost up its Base Power. Nature Power turns in to Tri Attack under normal conditions, giving you a 20% chance to either burn, freeze, or paralyze your opponent's Pokémon, effectively crippling or immobilizing them. Cheek Pouch is the preferred ability, letting Kabuto recover some health if an opposing Pokémon Tricks it a Rowap Berry as you allow Kabuto to get hit by Bubble. The defensive EVs help Kabuto avoid a 2HKO from Emboar's 3-hit Arm Thrust, and the Speed EVs, combined with a Naive nature, let it outspeed Emboar and Goldeen. The rest is put into Attack, powering up its attacks even further.

---

Vanillish is the wallbreaker and star of the team; with Huge Power, its Attack stat gets boosted to a massive 248, which is capable of decimating any foe trying to stand in its way. Lovely Kiss sends the enemy into a deep slumber, and with the absence of Sleep Clause, nothing is stopping you from doing the same to the rest of their team. Flare Blitz 2HKOes anything that doesn't resist it, and Cross Poison does consistent damage with a higher chance to crit, bypassing any Defense boosts. Sucker Punch completes the set by providing Vanillish with some much-needed priority against faster threats. The EVs might seem confusing at first, but investing in Special Attack, along with a Mild nature, helps you in case a stronger opponent uses Power Split or if you're transported to an alternate universe where the physical/special split never happened. The rest of the EVs are dumped into HP and Special Defense, allowing it to take on the likes of boosted Slowking and Technician Alomomola's Mud Shot. Timer Ball is the item of choice for its ability to start the timer in the battle simply by throwing it in the opposing trainer's face, causing slight confusion and hindering their ability to make rational decisions for a short while.

---

All good teams need a trapper, and the one I chose was Horsea. With Shadow Tag it is able to trap a plethora of threats and flinch them with Extrasensory. After You is useful if the conditions of the battle change and it suddenly turns in to a Double Battle, helping with speeding up your slower teammates if targeted. Natural Gift can be turned into a powerful coverage option assuming you're holding a Berry and not a Destiny Knot. Slam rounds the set off with some reliable neutral coverage that Extrasensory can't hit. EVs and IVs are pretty self explanatory, with a lot of investment in to HP and Defense to be able to reliably trap those strong physical users like Goldeen and Whimsicott but to not get too bold, you lower the Defense IV to 1 so that you're not too overpowered. Destiny Knot is the item of choice so that you can reliably trap all of those Attract users that are running around, sending both you and your opponent in a never-ending love spiral where the only outcome is a broken heart.

---

Lunatone was chosen to patch up my weakness against Tail Glow Slowking, being able to take boosted Acid for days and retaliating with a strong Bug Buzz. Iron Defense boosts Lunatone's Defense stat to great heights, being able to wall any physical attacker under the moon sun. Fairy Lock lets you temporarily trap any target while you unleash a full force Hyper Beam upon them, decimating even the most bulky foes. Unburden while in conjunction with Douse Drive gives you a strong edge agai... I'm sorry, I can't justify the choice of these two together, so just go along with it. With these specific IVs and EVs, you'll be able to induce the confusion status on anyone who happens to find the importable of this team.

---

To finish the team off, Surskit is the dedicated lead of the team, and with Transform it is able to scout the opponent's Pokémon and their movesets, giving you crucial information to give you the upper edge. If you just want to have the same typing as your opponent, Reflect Type is the better choice, allowing Surskit to use the rest of its movepool to its fullest potential. The Endure + Cell Battery combination can help you nab a +1 in Attack by any Electric-type attack and gives you the option to unleash a boosted Night Shade to utterly destroy any opposition. Effect Spore helps spread a variety of status effects against anyone brave enough to make contact with this mighty Surskit. EVs are put into Speed and Special Defense to give it an edge against other leads, outspeeding most of them and being able to shrug off most special attacks that come its way. The remaining EVs are placed into Attack to power up Struggle when you've run out of PP on Surskit's Transformed moves.

---

Threats

Emboar is able to punch holes through a large part of my team with its STAB Arm Thrust and inflict chip damage against faster Pokémon. Heal Order and Reflect further help increase its longevity and making it a nuisance for my team.

With its great bulk, Alomomola is able to sponge off most of my physical attackers, leaving me stuck to rely on Lunatone's Hyper Beam to take it down. With its Technician-boosted Aerial Ace and Mud Shot, it has unresisted coverage against my entire team, and Brine is able to finish off any of my weaker Pokémon with its STAB and 110 Base Power.

Whimsicott is a real hassle to handle; with its high Speed it can flinch my team down with its King's Rock-imbued attacks, and Rollout can be devastating once fully powered up. It is also immune to Lunatone's Bug Buzz thanks to its Soundproof ability, leaving me to rely on Hyper Beam to take it down.

Shoutouts

Huge shoutout to Zarel for creating Pokémon, great game. This guy helped me with the inspiration for the team, can't forget my man RNGesus. Last but not least, who can forget this great fella, supported me for all these years and look at where I'm at now.

Replays

Proof of this team's excellency

Importable

« Previous Article

Home

Next Article »

All guides and strategy information are © 2004 Smogon.com and its contributors. Pokémon is © 1995 Nintendo. Privacy Policy