The fun old Tornadus + Mamoswine lead will be leaving you crying a lot. :sI've had all sorts of success with multiple team archtypes, as well as goodsuffs teams, weather, etc. One thing I noticed is that using Tyranitar on a non-dedicated weather team or goodstuffs team is probably the best way to run it. While a lot of teams will opt to run Excadrill or Landorus, you aren't completely limited to JUsT running Sand every match, and can even use it merely as a check to SwiftSwim teams if you want.
Some other things I've had a lot of success with:
Thundurus-I: This is a no brainer, but Thundy has been on 90% of the teams I've built lately. Bulky Thundurus is such a champ and counters so many playstyles, while being bulky as crap and powerful without a lot of investment.
Suicune+Breloom Core/Lead: I know this is a weird one but I can't get over how good this core works (Thanks Laga!). With Water/Ice/Grass coverage, you hit a ton of things hard, and with access to Tailwind, Roar, Spore and Priority between them, you check about half the metagame easily, from Trick Room to Weather. Roar especially destroys Trick Room handily, which is a huge bonus for any Tailwind team.
Fast Top: I've recently tried using the 252 Jolly Hitmontop and I find it actually pretty good. It doesn't hit quite as hard as Adamant Bulky Top, but it will almost always win that "Speed Tie" everyone freaks about, and it now ties with Jolly Breloom, who gets easily OHKO'd by Gem CC. It also completely stomps the vast majority of Bisharp spreads (most run a lot of bulk) and also OHKOs. Additionally, it never gets outsped by the random Fast TTar unless Scarfed. Overall, I find Fast Top to be great on the right team.
I'll just introduce a team of mine that has a few unorthodox sets, but has worked out to heavy success, peaking at 2069 on the ladder, which isn't something amazing, but shows it can handle itself against the higher level players.
Cresselia @ Sitrus Berry
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 60 Def / 96 SpD / 96 SpD
Bold Nature
- Psyshock
- Icy Wind
- Sunny Day
- Skill Swap
Cresselia is amazing. There isn't much to be said, it is bulky and just great at supporting the team. On this particular team, Cresselia is actually my main Anti-Rain lead along with Breloom, as it can steal Swift Swim or Storm Drain from something, and then spam Sunny Day while they struggle to stop me. Skill Swap was actually not my original choice, which if I remember correctly was Light Screen. I added it as an afterthought, and never looked back.
Tornadus @ Flying Gem
Trait: Defiant
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Acrobatics
- Superpower
- Taunt
- Protect
The more I use Tornadus, the more I like it. Capable of OHKOing a Latios with Acrobatics, it hits hard and fast, while keeping common leads like Hitmontop at bay. Superpower is pretty obvious, so I won't say much about it, other than how great it is at hitting things like Tyranitar. Taunt was originally Tailwind, but the lack of Taunt on anything else led me to put it on Tornadus, who can be dangerous against Scrafty leads.
Breloom @ Focus Sash
Trait: Technician
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Bullet Seed
- Mach Punch
- Spore
- Protect
This set is more or less standard, but it performed the jobs it needed to. Spore proved effective against Trick Room teams, and along with Tornadus, it made most Trick Room teams fall over before they could even start. Even Amoonguss leads failed; Amoonguss would get screwed over by Acrobatics, then Breloom would just put the setter to sleep. It also took care of Sand, and Rain somewhat. While the Sash meant it lost the KO on Excadrill, Cresselia could easily cripple Excadrill, either with Skill Swap or Sunny Day, while Breloom dished out damage. Rain was more or less spamming Bullet Seed while Cresselia ruined everyone with Sunny Day. Still, it was probably my most common lead, proving just how versatile it was.
Heatran @ Chople Berry
Trait: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpA
Modest Nature
- Heat Wave
- Earth Power
- Substitute
- Protect
This was the last member I added to the team, while it seemed very counter-intuitive to add a second Steel type to the team, Heatran patched up the teams' weaknesses very nicely, handling both Sun and Hail teams, and I assured myself the Ground weakness would not be a problem, as 3 other members of my team were immune and the last one resisted. I decided to add in Skill Swap after adding in Heatran, as passing Levitate to it could still be helpful, and I later stuck to it, since it was an amazing utility for shutting down weather abusers, Gliscor, and more. The set itself is mostly standard, except for Substitute, though in honesty a lot of people are starting to use it. Chople Berry was useful for tanking Fighting attacks like a Fighting Gem Close Combat from Hitmontop, and Shuca was pretty redundant even if I didn't have Levitate, as I had 4 possible switch ins to tank Earthquake and the likes.
Hydreigon @ Dragon Gem
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 52 HP / 252 SpA / 204 Spe
Timid Nature
- Draco Meteor
- Dark Pulse
- Flamethrower
- Protect
This is basically my "raw offensive power" set. It can nab a lot of KOs. The spread allows it to get the jump on max speed Jolly Landorus-Therian and below, which is usual all I need, bar the rare max speed Kyurem sets. The rest is put into bulk. Dark Pulse and Flamethrower are typical, not much to say.
Metagross @ Steel Gem
Trait: Clear Body
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Meteor Mash
- Earthquake
- Bullet Punch
- Protect
A standard Metagross, except with Steel Gem for more power, and it is Shiny
Some replays of the team:
- A 3-0 vs Laga in Game 1 of Doubles Dash finals (Some hax involved)
- A Trick Room team that is easily dismantled by Breloom
- A very odd RainRoom team gets dismantled by a Storm Drain Heatran
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