All Rock-type Team

drillkid31

Alright, the purpose when making this team was simple. Try and create an all Rock-type team that wouldn't suck. After how Rock-type usually ended up as the first gym, and thus was never that good, I wanted to see whether or not it was possible to make a good Rock-type team.

Keep in mind that this team is designed to follow all of the Standard clauses plus the Item Clause.

This is the result:

Meet the Rockies
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Alright, now that you see the whole team, I'll break them up into a bit more detail.



Rockin' The Stealth

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Aerodactyl (M) @ Liechi Berry
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 HP/4 Atk/252 Spd
Jolly nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Stealth Rock
- Stone Edge
- Ice Fang
- Taunt

The point of Aerodactyl is the typical suicide lead. He comes out and can taunt the opponent if it seems like they might try to SR and he can SR himself, which helps out once I get Rampardos out. The rest of his lifespan is dedicated to dealing as much damage as he can. Ice Fang is there for the dragons and Stone Edge is just a good STAB move. Lieche provides a nice attack boost since I've noticed that Aero normally lives with just enough HP to have it kick in after it's attacked once.

Trick Room Support
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Solrock @ Focus Sash
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 6 HP/252 Atk/252 SAtk
Brave nature (+Atk, -Spd)
- Earthquake
- Explosion
- Trick Room
- Zen Headbutt

Note: It's running a 0 IV in speed.

Solrock is the first part of my set-up for Rampardos. I'll be honest, EQ and ZH is filler. His only purpose is to come out, pull off a TR (which the Focus Sash is there to guarantee) and then clear the room with Explosion. The Explosion can be useful to take out foes trying to setup, such as Gyarados. The Focus Sash is made effective thanks to the next Pokemon...

The Spinner
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Armaldo (M) @ Hard Stone
Ability: Battle Armor
EVs: 252 HP/128 Def/128 SDef
Careful nature (+SDef, -SAtk)
- Rapid Spin
- X-Scissor
- Stone Edge
- Aerial Ace

Armaldo is needed just in case the foe pulls off SR. He can come in before Solrock and spin them away, letting the FS still be effective. Aside from clearing the area for my team, he can deal some nice damage to certain Pokemon. He's better at dealing with Fighting types thanks to Aerial Ace and his Bug-typing and X-Scissor can harm Psychics. I went with a bulkier Armaldo to compensate for his lack of speed and make it more likely for him to pull off a RS.

The Main Sweeper
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Rampardos (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Mold Breaker
EVs: 252 HP/252 Atk/6 Def
Brave nature (+Atk, -Spd)
- Earthquake
- Thunderpunch
- Hammer Arm
- Fire Punch

Note: Is running a 0 IV in speed.

Bam. This is the main cannon of the team. The crushing Attack power of Rampardos is used to full effect. The Trick Room setup of Solrock is followed by him and it turns one of his greatest weaknesses, his Speed, into a strength. The fact he can't take many hits (or ANY hit) doesn't matter when the Life Orb boost and SR help him OHKO just about everything that doesn't resist him. Life Orb's HP drain is rather irrelevant when you consider he's done once TR wears off and I like how it doesn't lock me into a move. TP is for Bulky Waters, Fire Punch for Grass and Steels. EQ is just all around good and Mold Breaker means Pokemon like Gengar and Bronzong are in for a surprise. I'm trying Hammer Arm over Head Smash since I find myself normally using HS on Normal types anyways.

Sandstorm Setup/Backup Sweeper
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Tyranitar (M) @ Choice Specs
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 180 HP/252 SAtk/76 Spd
Modest nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Ice Beam
- Dark Pulse
- Thunderbolt
- Flamethrower

What Rock team would be complete without T-tar? His very existance provides an endless Sandstorm unless the foe does something about it, which is essential for my Cradily. I changed it from a DD T-tar to the Choice Spec variant. Ice Beam is for any of the Dragons that show up. Dark Pulse is STAB. Thunderbolt is for Waters and Flamethrower is for Steels.
ToxiStall
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Cradily (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Suction Cups
EVs: 252 HP/128 Def/128 SDef
Relaxed nature (+Def, -Spd)
- Recover
- Protect
- Toxic
- Grass Knot

Cradily first appeared in the team as just another Rock-type. Then I used him and he ended up being an amazing wall. He's won me matches. Anyhow, his main purpose is simple. Toxic the foe, then repeat Protect and Recover to stay alive and healthy while Toxic (and possibly Sand Stream) wear(s) the foe down. Grass Knot lets him be a possible Swampert counter. The only bad thing with Cradily is that Steel-types can safely pound the heck out of him...

Final Comments...

So there you have it. The basic strategy is to have Aero set-up SR and Armaldo spin SR affecting me away. Solrock is TR set-up and then Explodes to make room for Rampardos, who can then sweep unless met with something too bulky. It can hammer the foe enough to let the rest of my Pokemon take care of whatever is left. T-tar can Sand Stream it up and Cradily can stall until the end.

Keep in mind when suggesting changes, it's supposed to an All Rock Team. Please don't suggest switching a Pokemon out unless the replacement is a Rock-type and please don't give the advice, "Just don't use an all Rock-type team."

I've noticed some of the problems with the team are...

1. Scizor. T-tar is a rather iffy counter. Bullet Punch can OHKO any of my Pokemon that would be able to do anything to it before they can attack and the rest just can't handle it.

2. Steel. Steel-types in general can cause major problems. Metagross can be Bulky enough that is might beat my sweepers. Scizor has already been mentioned. Skarmory can live through ThunderPunch as long as it's not the first to come out and face Rampardos. The only hope on beating a Lucario is to hit it hard and fast and PRAY that it doesn't have Bullet Punch.

3. Breloom and Machamp. The poor Speed of my Rock-types lets these two walk right in without any threat. Breloom can Spore everything before it can move and by the time I break the Sub, it can pull up a new one or destroys my team with Focus Punch. DynamicPunch Machamp can just walk in and kill everything with it's 100% accuracy ability.

4. Swampert. If it's packing Hammer Arm, it can possibly kill Cradily. With Cradily gone, it can Surf my whole team.

So, that's the team. Any suggestions?
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Can I suggest a Specs Tar. It may sound counter productive to lose 30 base stats for going special, but It can counter Steel Types with both their weaknesses and scizor.


Wow First post (I mean this is drillkid's first post)

A question, does Lucario counter you, how do you get past it?
 
Sir-half said:
A question, does Lucario counter you, how do you get past it?
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To be honest, it's mostly just a matter of how not all of my guys are able to kill it before it does a Swords Dance or so. After that, Close Combat is just able to take out my guys... I'll admit though, it's not usually out til late game when I'm down to just Cradily and possibly Armaldo... That might just need me to play smarter. As for Choice Specs T-tar, I think I'll give that a shot. T-tar has felt more like a dead leg than an asset to the team aside from Sand Stream.
 
I like this themed team, especially since rock is a pretty sucky type defensively. I think the underlying problem is that your main strategy is either nonexistant, or too much of a blend of little substrategies. You've got 3 'glass cannon' pokemon, 1 bulky offense (Ttar), and 2 walls. I suggest you either go completely Trick Room (yay for most rocks being as slow as Bowser!) or completely stall.

btw; Why does Solrock have SAtk EVs?
 
Yeah, rock isn't the best type defensive wise as it will be getting swept by both Lucario and Scizor's Bullet Punch. Mono defense doesn't work well as almost all of the pokemon are going to be weak to a specific type. If you want to play mono then try water or steel as they offer better pokemon and better typing coverage.Gl
 
I've been trying out the ChoiceSpecs T-tar for a bit. It's going okay so far. As for the SAtk EVs it's really just for the heck of it. I suppose I'll move them into HP but honestly, since his whole point is to set up TR and Explode, and since Focus Sash lets him live, all stats aside from his Atk being high and his Spd being low are pretty much irrelevant.

And maybe I should spell out the plan a bit more...
Aero is simple SR setup. It helps add on some damage to make sweeps a bit easier.
Armaldo is for Rapid Spinning away anything my foe used. This lets Solrock come in without breaking it's FS.
Solrock TR's then normally explodes. I've been finding it works somewhat well if it doesn't get hit upon using TR to switch to something like T-tar and then pull Solrock back out later.
Rampy sweeps after TR is setup and Solrock explodes. It can't just switch in normally since it's too weak.
T-tar is to clean up whatever is left after Rampy and to get a Sand Stream going.
Cradily is there to stall for the win. Hopefully, Rampy and T-tar have taken out any real threats to Cradily (or have won with sweeping) so that Cradily can ToxiStall until the opponent loses.

I'll admit, the plan is rather loose. I'm not pouring EVERYTHING into one cannon really. It's more like a main plan, and then a clean-up for anything Rampy DOESN'T murder.

However with Rampy's moveset, I'm sorta questioning Head Smash. Base 150 is great but the recoil throws off the Life Orb. Maybe Stone Edge can get the job done better. I'm also wondering about maybe Zen Headbutt for Fighting-types or for Hammer Arm to take out normal types while having better accuracy than Stone Edge/Head Smash.
 
Atheist Cult said:
Aerodactyl is extremly frail. He NEEDS a Focus Sash or many leads are going to OHKO him.
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Alright, Aero isn't a MUST and I find not many Leads are able to outspeed him (Scarf Users aside). I can't give him a Focus Sash because of Item Clause and Solrock needs it more since he MUST pull of TR.

I'm gonna try switching out Rampy's Head Smash for Hammer Arm... just see how it works out.
 
It doesn't really matter that Aerodactyl is faster. Bulky leads such as Metagross and Swampert expect to be taunted so they usually just attack straight away, without Focus Sash you have to make a choice - either lay down your own rocks, or prevent them from laying down rocks, which isn't really very helpful since they will probably get a chance to lay down rocks later anyway. Even with a Focus Sash, Aerodactyl loses to pretty much anything that has a priority move. I'm not saying he's not useful, but he's unable to prevent other leads from setting up rocks some of the time.

I'd recommend giving the Focus Sash to Aerodactyl and give Solrock Leftovers, he's more bulkly (though that's not saying much) than Aerodactyl and shouldn't need a Sash most of the time.
 
Atheist Cult said:
It doesn't really matter that Aerodactyl is faster. Bulky leads such as Metagross and Swampert expect to be taunted so they usually just attack straight away, without Focus Sash you have to make a choice - either lay down your own rocks, or prevent them from laying down rocks, which isn't really very helpful since they will probably get a chance to lay down rocks later anyway. Even with a Focus Sash, Aerodactyl loses to pretty much anything that has a priority move. I'm not saying he's not useful, but he's unable to prevent other leads from setting up rocks some of the time.

I'd recommend giving the Focus Sash to Aerodactyl and give Solrock Leftovers, he's more bulkly (though that's not saying much) than Aerodactyl and shouldn't need a Sash most of the time.
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I see where you're coming from but you're completely ignoring the big idea as you focus on only Aero. First of all, I've noticed that my Aero can seem to take about one hit before going down. Another part is good prediction. If I think the foe will just attack, I just set the rocks.

But by giving Aero Focus Sash, you take it from Solrock. If Solrock dies before pulling off Trick Room, Rampardos isn't set up to sweep. PLUS, giving Solrock Leftovers lowers how effective a wall Cradily is.

I understand where you are coming from but you have to see the big picture. Aero is just a bonus. Solrock and Rampardos are the main plan of the team. And what you're suggesting would destroy my sweeping strategy for just getting to set up SR. Not a good trade-off.
 
I'm going to be the third one to say that your missing the big picture, as you only focus on Solrock.

If your opponent sets up stealthrock after easily OHKO'ing Aerodactyl due to the fact it has no focus sash, Solrock will lose his. Even if they don't OHKO him, without any attack investment, you won't be hurting anyone.

Also what item clause are you talking about exactly? Many teams run leftovers/life orb/popular item here on multiple pokemon.
 
The team is designed to fit in the Item Clause since the forum I go to uses it in it's battles. And perhaps you're right, I understand what you're saying now about the SR. I noticed that problem happening alot back when I used Ryhperior so I replaced him with Armaldo. Armaldo has Rapid Spin to clear the entry for Solrock and is Bulky enough to pull it off unless the foe has buffed a Pokemon up to sweep.

Also, if Aero does get OHKO'd, I normally pull out Solrock anyways. I mean, I understand what you're saying, but not completely sure about the changes expressed. Could you elaborate a bit on them?
 
Your entire team is based on a certain order of pokemon. Don't you think that people who like to PHaze you would be a big problem (especially Skarmory who could easily take down Cradily which is your only way to block PHazeing)? I have a suggestion below but regardless of whether or not you take it I strongly suggest you do something about it that other than Cradily.

I would also like to note that your only real Sp.Atk weapon is Tyranitar. Maybe you should switch Solrock out for Lunatone with the following set

Lunatone @ Macho Brace
Nature: Relaxed
EV: 252 HP/252 Def/6 Sp.Def
-Trick Room
-HP Fire
-Phychic
-Grass Knot

With this you should be able to alow him to survive a couple modestly powered attacks and repeatedly use Trick Room. Grass Knot will also be able to take down a couple water ground and oposing rock types effectively. HP Fire will eliminate your problems with Skarmory and Maybe you can catch Scizor on the switch. With the Macho Brace you can become really fast under the Trick Room and use Lunatones semi-modest Sp.Atk stat to do some countering. Phychic is just filler and for Machamp, so you can switch that for anything you like. Also you will note that I did not use Focus Sash. Now your Areodactyl will finally be complete, too. Also I could recommend that you switch Cradily for this. I know that you like your Cradily so it is a bit iffy. But lets look at the good things and drawbacks.

Good Things
-you now have two Trick Room users
-Your team will get more of a central Stratagy
-It won't be all up to Tyranitar if Solrock Faints
-Skarmory, Breloom, Swampert, and Machamp all get hit by his attacks without sacraficing your main user of Trick Room
-You wont be walled by things such as Gliscor and Swampert as easily

Drawbacks
-you lose Cradily which is argueably one of the best Rock Typed walls in the game
-you lose something with unique typing and in return gain something with a typing identical to your other Trick Room user
-your walling options become even more limited

I really can't decide what you should do so I wil leave that uncommented and up to you

Another thing I recommend is switching out Rampardos for Rhyperior. It certainly fits the rock type theme you require and is far mor bulky than the incredibly frail Rampardos. This is what I think the set should look like

Rhyperior @ Life Orb
Nature: Brave
Ability: Solid Rock
EV's: 252 Atk/252 Sp.Def/6 HP
-Earthquake
-Aqua Tail
-Fire Punch
-Hammer Arm

This is pretty much a complete duplicate of your Rampardos set. I switched Thunder Punch for aqua tail because I seriously think you could use a water type move some where on your team. This set is basicly a Rampardos that ate the defence stat of a Lugia. I think it would function much better than your Rampardos set does. This thing is slow as crap is and it can easily sweep under a Trick Room. If you have Sandstream up this thing is a Sp. Defensive freak, too. I really can't think of a better pokemon than this on this team. I mean seriously under the right conditions (which with your team are easy to set up) this thing is super strong, untra bulky, and lightningh quick while crippiling the completely speed based metagame all at once. I probably sugarcoated that but you get my point.

And MY WORD I wanted to say so bad that you could use some serious wish support (unfortunately there is no rock pokemon with such a capability).

Hope I helped
 
With only one trick room user it will be impossible to win the match. Here is what you are trying to do. Get out Solrock with no sr in play. Get hit by a move and then activate trick room. Use explosion( one turn of tr used up). Both you and your opponent send out another pokemon( assuming explosion OHKO their poke though most players will send out a ghost due to how predictable that is. You will prob. send out Rampardos. With four turns of tr left you have to OHKO every single pokemon your opponent has assuming you were able to beat both their lead and their second switch(though aero isn't going to be beating any common leads.) If your opponent has a single counter you will have to resort to Tyranitar and Armaldo to sweep. Out of these two only Ttar can actually dish out much damage and even he won't be hard to stop due to the choice item. This is all assuming you beat their lead, got rid of their switch, and they have only one counter to your two sweepers. If they send out a phazer, get down sr, etc. it won't work. Cradily seem really random as you are meant to use tr and cradily only stalls which wastes the turns of tr. There isn't anything wrong with rock types but I think the main problem here is trick room. You will probably have more success by just focusing on dishing out damage.

lead options-aerodactyl, bastiodon, regirock

these are all great options for leads. The best imo would be regirock since he can be an excellent wall and is best with leftovers.

Sweepers-Rampardos, Ttar, Kabutops, Rhyperior

Rampardos is just too slow and isn't worth wasting a choice scarf on. Kabutops makes a great sweeper due to swords dance and access to priority. It also gives you a water type which helps with coverage. Rhyperior is another option though he is much slower. You will probably have Ttar on this team so Rhyperior can also act as a wall.

Choice users-The best one would obviously be CBTyranitar. He is the most solid rock type pokemon out there and has very powerful moves and is best with CB.

Next you need someone with levitate or immunity to ground. Your options are aerodactyl, solrock, and lunatone. Aero can fit the role of a excellent revenge killer with choice scarf and has good coverage. If your facing a mono steel team then you can start spamming fire fang if you expect scizor to switch-in. Psychics such as starmie are going to have trouble as are other fast pokemon such as jolteon and scarftran.

Now you can add in walls. Bastiodon is probably the best one when you factor in the boost in SDef. He can fit the support role also with moves like toxic and roar or be used offensivley with metal burst.

The team lacks a special attacker and your best option would be omastar.

This will hopefully give you some ideas of how to better ustilize rock type pokemon. Gl
 
With Scizor being the most used pokemon, what can your team do against it? The answer is this; nothing.

If you're really set in making an all rock team, then I would advise breaking the theme and adding a Magnezone in place of one Pokemon, so that your team has a chance at being competitive. Also, get rid of the SAtk EVs on Solrock, as they literally do NOTHING.
 
Thanks for the idea. I attempted trying out the Lunatone idea. The idea itself SEEMS good but it's execution is lacking.

Aero usually survived one attack anyways. Focus Sash has been irrelevant.
Solrock and Lunatone can't always pull off the the Trick Room setup. A Surf from a Swampert is enough to OHKO them before they can pull it off.

Lacking Cradily as a wall is painful since it places ALL of the hopes of victory on Rampy and T-tar, who are rather fragile against certain attacks, and with Trick Room becoming iffy, they are FAR less effective.

All in all, I think having Cradily was better and letting Solrock hold Focus Sash was more useful. It for the most part assured me at least one Trick Room would be pulled off. Also, Lunatone doesn't pack enough power to use TR effectively. He really just wasted valuable TR turns that Rampy could've been using. I'll admit Explosion makes Sol a One-Trick Pony but at least it gets him the hell out and lets Rampy do his thing.

All in all, I think I'll be returning to the Cradily. Also, sorry if I'm being difficult, I don't mean to sound that way... ^_^;;;;
 
If you bact to Cradily, you should use Amnesia and Barrier instead of Protect and Grass Knot. It becomes near impenetrable with them and can easily stall out the opponent, either with Toxic or the High defense. Use this set if you think you can at least boost up one of your defenses before an opponent can use taunt, if they have a taunter left.
 
I have to make a suggestion on your Cradily.

Use stockpile if you want to wall, or, like I use on my gimmick mono-rock team,

Stockpile
Swords Dance
Recover
Rock Slide

If you save him as your last poke, (or once you know he has no toxic users left on the other team) you will demolish most people, as even a +2 stockpiled Cradily can survive virtually anything.

I suggest stockpile because it ups Def and Sdef at the same time, instead of needing two separate moves.
 
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