[14:35] +ACakeWearingAHat: have you tried just like a people name
[14:35] +ACakeWearingAHat: like jeff or kevin
May 16, 2017
About six months ago, I put up a RMT called Kevin. It was pretty much a meme team that actually had a surprising bit of potential behind it. It wasn't ever going to be a super influential team, it was probably never gonna break 1300 on any given ladder in the state it was in. Six months ago, the meta had a lot of threats, and the meta has shifted drastically. Voltturn is everywhere, low ladder noobs will be noobs, and I'm still here.
And with me, Kevin is still around. Updated and tweaked since Keldeo's rise a long-ass time ago, this is pretty much the definition of ORAS-flavored offense. Lacking such things as Scarf Crobat, this team is pretty flexible when it comes to just about anything. It doesn't excel at any one thing, and there's some games where you just get outclassed and unable to keep up, which happens sometimes. Some matchups will suck, but you can make it work. There's no fancy tricks, no surprise gimmicks, no sets that are too far gone to be of use when something shifts half a percentage point in usage. All this team demands is a little bit of skill and a knowledge of the meta, and you can adapt to everything.
Krookodile @ Choice Band
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
Reprising a role as a hard-hitting Ground-type, Krookodile comes back into the spotlight. Not IV'd to live any specific hits, not there to sponge hits at all really, it just provides a really damn strong Knock Off and Earthquake. This time around, though, I took a page out of LilOu's Cold War (which was in itself one of the best teams of the then-meta) and ran with Band Rocks Krookodile. It's a bit of a game to figure out when to set hazards and when to attack, but utility is good all-around and can actually help stop Voltturn if played well enough to take out key players early in.
Celebi @ Colbur Berry
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
One of only two Pokemon to be completely unchanged, Celebi sits in a weird place. It has great natural bulk, a decent typing both offensively and defensively, and complements Krookodile quite well. This set itself is about as straightforward as they can be: if you have a chance to dole out some decent damage, you can just about freely use Nasty Plot and be able to break a ton of walls that Krookodile couldn't. Swampert, Blastoise, and Gliscor come to mind immediately, and with Colbur Berry you have a one-time buffer against all Dark-type moves. This can easily let you set up against opposing Krookodile, which like to spam Knock Off. Hidden Power Fire also allows you to decimate Scizor trying to gain momentum by denying them the chance to U-Turn in the first place. Or live.
Crobat @ Sky Plate
Ability: Infiltrator
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
The second of two Pokemon to remain the same, Crobat is generally never useless. There's always Hazards to remove or a fighting-type to check or a thing to pivot on. Crobat does a lot of it pretty well, while still boasting decent power due to Sky Plate-boosted Brave Birds. Also having a nice speed tier with some of the new additions around, the bat will likely be able to prove some worth against a lot of some otherwise very scary Pokemon before they get a chance to get moving, thanks to a great set of resistances and immunities.
Suicune @ Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 HP / 40 SpD / 216 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
Vincune only really rose to prominence this generation, where such things as Crocune and Roar + Rest were more commonplace in the past, but it is a force to be reckoned with in the current metagame. Granted, many things can set up alongside it and beat it, but once those are removed Suicune more often than not can live any hit thrown at it. For those who aren't in the loop about Cune, these particular EVS allow it to maintain a Substitute against an Amoonguss Giga Drain at +1, while outrunning positive-natured Base 80 Speed Pokemon such as Mamoswine and Chandelure. Normally, I've run Roar over Protect to handle opponents trying to set up alongside me, but here I've decided to run Protect for the sheer amount of stalling that can be done and ability to gain free recovery through Leftovers, which can make or break this set.
Cobalion @ Steelium Z
Ability: Justified
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
Joining us once again as a Swords Dance Sweeper, Cobalion remains a decent Dark-type check in the Metagame, especially since Keldeo is no longer around to bash them around and grind them into dust. However, with Krookodile taking over the duties as the team's provider of Hazards, it has a spot open, which I've filled with Rock Polish to turn Cobalion into an effective cleaner. And with the rise of Mega Altaria as one of the better Megas in UU, I'm faced with a need to dispose of it quickly and effectively, before it can cause any major damage to my team. So I've elected to fuffill the slot of a Z-move user with Cobalion's Corkscrew Clash, which deals immense damage to even the bulkiest of sets. This also gives it a fighting chance to take out such Pokemon as Gliscor and Togekiss with minimal damage in return, making it a capable way of handling some more annoying Pokemon to offense.
Latias @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 4 SpD / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
For the last slot, I was playing around with such things as Scarf Crobat and Mega Latias as a combination to try and generate momentum, but fortunately Mega Latias was banned. Since Scarfbat isn't really the best Pokemon for general use, I decided on filling this last slot with some form of Speed Control to handle Scarf users such as Infernape and Terrakion, as well as the three fast megas in Mega Beedrill, Sceptile, and Mega Aerodactyl as they played hell with my team. Though adverse to taking many hits from them, Latias does effectively revenge kill all of the above, while also checking the Scarfers that play hell in my team's ranks fairly well. This also gives me a way to really just make sure Gliscor goes down if it gets a Swords Dance up and isn't Agility, because a +2 Gliscor also causes some issues.
So this is Generation two of Kevin. It's not a perfect team, but it is polished a little bit and the most glaring flaws were picked apart so now it's time to put it up again, and see how it'll perform in the coming USUM metagame.
Krookodile @ Choice Band
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Knock Off
- Stealth Rock
- Pursuit
Celebi @ Colbur Berry
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Nasty Plot
- Giga Drain
- Psychic
- Hidden Power [Fire]
Crobat @ Sky Plate
Ability: Infiltrator
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Brave Bird
- Defog
- Roost
- U-turn
Suicune @ Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 HP / 40 SpD / 216 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Substitute
- Calm Mind
- Scald
- Protect
Cobalion @ Steelium Z
Ability: Justified
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Rock Polish
- Close Combat
- Iron Head
Latias @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Thunderbolt
- Draco Meteor
- Psychic
- Ice Beam
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Knock Off
- Stealth Rock
- Pursuit
Celebi @ Colbur Berry
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Nasty Plot
- Giga Drain
- Psychic
- Hidden Power [Fire]
Crobat @ Sky Plate
Ability: Infiltrator
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Brave Bird
- Defog
- Roost
- U-turn
Suicune @ Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 HP / 40 SpD / 216 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Substitute
- Calm Mind
- Scald
- Protect
Cobalion @ Steelium Z
Ability: Justified
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Rock Polish
- Close Combat
- Iron Head
Latias @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Thunderbolt
- Draco Meteor
- Psychic
- Ice Beam
