Dunsparce Can Be Useful

[baldoctopus]

I didn't set out to make a Dunsparce team but thats what it ended up being like. The team doesn't completely revolve around Dunsparce but it could definitely be looked at that way. I initially wanted to make it all about Kingler but it ended up just being a part of the team. This team is about damage and power but if the game is going my way then Gardevoir is Thunder Waving to help Dunsparce and Sawsbuck set up. I know i had to test the team before i posted so i did and i went 12-2 today, so without anymore rambling here is my team.

Torkoal @ Leftovers
Ability: White Smoke
EVs: 248 HP / 252 DEF / 8 SPDEF
Nature: Bold
- Rapid Spin
- Lava Plume
- Stealth Rock
- Yawn
This Torkoal sets up rocks if it looks like the other team will be weak to them, and takes away rocks and spikes from my team because i don't need entry hazards taking out my already not so bullky pokemon. Also this Torkoal works great for people that think its for Stealth Rocks and use Taunt and i get a free Lava Plume and potential burn. This is also the physical wall for my team and it can take hits from a lot of things. Torkoal hasn't really won me any games but it definitely fulfilled its role most battles.

Kingler @ Choice Band
Ability: Sheer Force
EVs: 252 ATK / 4 SPDEF / 252 SPEED
Nature: Jolly
- Crab Hammer
- X Scissor
- Rock Slide
- Super Power
Kingler on my team really just comes, takes one out, and switches out. I use it to switch in on water types. Sometimes if the game plays out right i can sweep with him but if not he usually will take out the biggest threat from the other team. This was the first time ive used a choice item and it seemed to work out. Kingler isnt really an integral part of my team but it does way more good than it has bad.

Eelektross @ Expert Belt
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SPATK / 252 SPDEF
Nature: Modest
- Flamethrower
- Thunderbolt
- Roar
- Drain Punch
Eelektross was recommended to me because i noticed teams that carried Amoongus and Alamomola ruined me. Eelektross is like a special wall and is also what i will switch into earthquakes with. Eelektross is definitely my special attacker but im not really sure of its place on my team, its not that it has done but, but im just now sure how good it is. I liked it because it can carry roar which i use to stop people from setting up..ive been seeing a lot of ninjasks baton passing recently and it really helps.

Gardevoir @ Leftovers
Ability: Synchronize
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SPATK / 252 SPDEF
Nature: Calm
- Thunder Wave
- Wish
- Psychic
- Shadow Ball
Gardevoir will help set up Dunsparce and Sawsbuck but it is attacker and special wall 1st. Its great because psychics will switch into you thinking you cant do anything and then it has shadow ball...or atleast thats what happened with me sometimes. It has wish because it is a good staller in certain situations and can help heal a team mate if it can.

Dunsparce @ Leftovers
Ability: Serene Grace
EVs: 252 HP / 252 ATK / 4 SPDEF
Nature: Adamant
- Body Slam
- Coil
- Headbutt
- Roost
Obvious ParaFlinch is obvious , i know, but it really does work. After a few coils i can take out atleast 2 or 3 pokemon before Dunsparce faints, if not the whole team. if the other team looks right i will lead off with this and it works most of the time. Even if i dont start ParaFlinching i can still Paralyze and let Sawsbuck set up later.

Sawsbuck @ Leftovers
Ability: Serene Grace
EVs: 252 HP / 252 ATK / 4 SPEED
Nature: Adamant
- Return
- Swords Dance
- Horn Leach
- Rock Smash
I swear, after 1 swords dance, a Return from Sawsbuck really can take out most things. Also with Serene Grace i get the time to set up however many swords dances i want and then i can start Returning. Horn Leech is there for water types and extra health, but rock smash is where it gets real gimmicky. Basically i noticed that with serene grace rock smash will lower the defense 100% of the time, so i figure, if its some kind of physical wall i can break it down a little to kill it quicker. Either way this Sawsbuck has saved me many times and is a pretty good sweeper on my team.

THREATS All in all i havent really seen any consistent threats. Amoongus and Alomomola were big threats but eelektross takes care of it. I think things that are faster and can OHKO are threats to this team. I posted here because im not sure if im massively overlooking something or if there are better options.. i was thinking about adding miltank or cinccino, or something that can carry heal bell.
Hopefully i posted this right, thanks for the help.

 

[WhiteDMist]

Welcome to Smogon! I applaud your creativity in using so many underused NU Pokemon like Dunsparce and Kingler. Some of your descriptions should be expanded because I really need to understand why you chose some specific moves and abilities though. I'll give you a full rate once you help raters understand just what this team should do. I will list some things to help you get started though.

You have a weakness to powerful Normal types, especially the likes of Cinccino, Swellow, and Tauros (Zangoose, Kangaskhan and Braviary say hi as well). Swellow and Zangoose can also avoid being paralyzed and flinch haxed to death, completely ruining your strategy. SubDisable Haunter can also clean up your team easily with just a little prior damage. It sets up without opposition against Dunsparce and can Disable Horn Leech on Sawsbuck.

These two weaknesses are the main threats to your team that you can't ignore, so I'll do what I can to address that. I feel that Shed Shell Amoonguss could be an excellent option over Sawsbuck. It has the bulk to handle everything except the birds. It also has the option to use Stun Spore, which also helps with the goal of slowing down your opponent's team (and actually affects Ground-types that you don't want to stay in against, like Camerupt). Its Sludge Bomb and Giga Drain just barely break Haunter's Subs, but that at least lets you deal with Disable better. As for the birds, you'll have to let Eelektross and Torkoal try and handle them, unless you are willing to give up Rapid Spin or Kingler for a better option in Carracosta. I think it would be an excellent replacement for Kingler since it has: powerful offenses and defenses, good typing, priority, and the ability to carry Rocky Helmet for extra residual damage.

Now, I'll also give you a list of smaller changes that should help improve your team overall, with or without replacing anything. On Eelektross, I would remove Drain Punch for Giga Drain or Volt Switch. Giga Drain is probably more useful overall, but Volt Switch's momentum boost could be really beneficial for you. Drain Punch is rather worthless since you are using a Modest nature and have no EV investment. It will barely dent Lickilicky at all, who is the only thing you should be trying to hit with it. Giga Drain would greatly improve your coverage and still heal your HP.

On Gardevoir, I would recommend replacing Shadow Ball with Signal Beam. It's not the opposing Psychic types you should be worried about; it's the Dark types that are basically unopposed (though my replacement ideas will help greatly). It has better coverage against Dark and Psychic types, and Psychic is better for Ghost types anyways. On Dunsparce, Thunder Wave is far more reliable than Body Slam. You need as many free turns as possible, and relying on Serene Grace isn't enough. You also would be able to paralyze most Ghost-types, which is helpful. Finally, replace Rock Smash on Sawsbuck with Nature Power and give it Sap Sipper instead. A single move that is affected by Serene Grace (that doesn't flinch) is not worth giving up an immunity to Grass moves and the power to avoid Absol's Sucker Punch. Even if you ignore me completely on Amoonguss, this change is very important.

Here are the changes and sets:

Changes

Eelektross: Giga Drain>Drain Punch
Gardevoir: Signal Beam>Shadow Ball
Dunsparce: Thunder Wave>Body Slam

Sawsbuck: Sap Sipper>Serene Grace; Nature Power>Rock Smash
-OR-
Amoonguss>Sawsbuck

Carracosta>Kingler

Amoonguss @ Shed Shell
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SAtk
Nature: Bold
- Spore
- Stun Spore
- Giga Drain
- Sludge Bomb

Carracosta @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Def
Nature: Adamant
- Waterfall
- Stone Edge
- Aqua Jet
- Toxic

I would test the team some more as well. 14 battles isn't exactly enough to judge how effective the team is, especially since the ladder itself hasn't been that great lately. I've given you all I can think of currently to help your team hold its own against the higher ranking players, despite not knowing your mindset with the team (other than Dunsparce shenanigans). Once you increase your descriptions to the point where everything is clear, I'll be able to help you more! Good luck with your team!

 

[jake]

hey bud,

i played you a few times on the ladder over the last day or so and like whitedmist already pointed out, you're incredibly weak to normal-types of all kinds. zangoose in particular outspeeds and ohkoes literally everything on your team after sr damage. i recall setting up stealth rock and then going to town with cinccino - you don't even have anything that can revenge kill it or swellow even, let alone tank their hits. whitedmist already covered a ton of the small changes you can make to your team to fix this and i strongly agree with all of them, so i won't waste our time essentially saying all the same things that he already did.

in my opinion, the primary issue with your team is that you don't actually have a clear focus or goal for your team - without one, you can't ever expect to reliably win against a decent or better player. right now, your team basically looks like a jumble of random pokemon, which is definitely not a good thing. when teambuilding, you should be aiming for a team that works together and systematically sets up your win condition (what you're building the team around) so that you win every battle you're in. i mean, that's what we're building teams for, right?

if you're building this team around, say, dunsparce, you should be picking teammates that help to achieve its goal. thinking very simply, dunsparce is weak to fighting-type moves and can't really set up on any of common fighting-type pokemon (sawk, gurdurr) even when paralyzed. so, you should be investing a teamslot on pokemon that can reliably eliminate these fighting-type threats for you (it'll also help out sawsbuck). you do already have gardevoir, but i think it might be worthwhile to look into resttalk gothitelle in lieu of gardevoir on your team. it traps and sets up on amoonguss + alomomola which you mentioned you were having trouble with earlier in the rmt, and it also easily traps and kills sawk + gurdurr thanks to shadow tag. gothitelle is a teammate that helps dunsparce in more ways than one; it traps and kills fighting-types, removes troublesome walls like amoonguss and alomomola, and can take random toxics if need be. on the other hand, dunsparce helps gothitelle as well, by luring these pokemon that goth can set up on or by spreading paralysis, allowing gothitelle to sweep late-game. this is the very basis of synergy, and thinking about how your team works together should always be one of the most important parts of teambuilding. try thinking about synergy and how your pokemon will cooperate when testing out some of the suggestions from whitedmist or myself.

a few small ev spread / nature / move changes: you want to be running enough speed on eelektross to outpace alomomola and at least speed tie golurk. you should also be investing most of the special defense evs into hp, as that allows it to take hits much better both physically and specially. a spread of 132 hp / 252 spa / 124 spe should be what you're using on eelektross. sawsbuck is also much too frail to attempt to run a bulky spread and you're not taking advantage of its excellent speed - you should be using 4 hp / 252 atk / 252 spe and a jolly nature on it, as well as the other move and ability changes that whitedmist already talked about.

lastly, i also want to echo what whitedmist said about testing your team more. fourteen battles is really nowhere near enough testing for you to be able to thoroughly understand how your team works and what it is meant to do. the more testing you do with your teams, the better they can become.

summary

resttalk gothitelle > gardevoir

gothitelle @ leftovers | shadow tag
bold nature (+def, -atk) | 252 hp / 252 def / 4 spd
rest / sleep talk / calm mind / psychic

132 hp / 252 spa / 124 spe > current spread on eel

4 hp / 252 atk / 252 spe and a jolly nature > current spread on sawsbuck

also please do wdm's suggestions, or at least test them out

hope i helped a bit, and gl with your team in the future