My First RMT: Super Synergy Of DOOM

[LafondaOnFire]

Thanks for coming to my RMT thread! Before I start my spiel, here's an overview of my team:

This is my first post on Smogon, and I joined Smogon to have people help me improve upon it. I’ve been playing Pokemon for years, addicted to competitive battling. I’ve been using one main team mostly (For at least the past year), and I’ve been tweaking it here and there when it needs tweaking. I’d appreciate any advice people can provide to help me improve upon my team! So here we go…

THE LEAD:
Breloom @ Choice Scarf
Toxic Heal
EVs: 6 Hp/ 252 Attack/ 252 Speed
Jolly Nature (+Speed/-Special Attack)

-Seed Bomb
-Spore
-Stone Edge
-Superpower
I am a really big fan of using Breloom as a lead. With a Choice Scarf, it outspeeds all other non-scarfed leads in OU (Minus Aerodactyl and Ninjask). It fairs very well against the most common leads of today (Details below). Breloom can come back later in the game to net revenge kills, and while packing a powerful punch. Apart from Superpower and Seed Bomb being there for great STAB, Stone Edge is there to hit Gyarados and other flying types capable of walling this set. And Spore, the real reason Breloom is my lead! As Breloom outspeeds the vast majority of leads, it either puts them to sleep, crippling their attempts to set up, or results in a switch, resulting in a random team member being put to sleep.
Here is how Breloom fairs against the top 10 leads of January:
Azelf: As it is slower, it gets put to sleep before it Taunts or uses SR
Metagross: Breloom either takes a Bullet Punch, or puts it to sleep
Swampert: If it has the guts to stay in, it’s asleep
Jirachi: It either Tricks a scarf onto me, or I survive its attack
Aerodactyl: This guy won’t let me put him to sleep, as he outspeeds me by one point. He’ll taunt, and I’ll use Seed Bomb, as is has 100% accuracy and nets the 2HKO. I don’t use Stone Edge because of the accuracy, and lead Aerodactyl generally carries a Focus Sash anyways.
Infernape: He takes the Fake Out, or puts him to sleep
Roserade: Outspeeds, and it put to sleep
Heatran: Same as Roserade, and there’s no priority for him
Tyranitar: Upon waking up from the Chesto Berry (If it has one) I survive the hit, and put him to sleep again
Gliscor: If it carries a Lum Berry and uses Taunt, that’s a problem… so I switch out to Swampert
Synergy:
Fire: Swampert, Heatran, Latias
Flying: Heatran
Ice: Scizor, Heatran
Poison: Swampert, Scizor, Heatran, Gengar
Psychic: Scizor, Heatran, Latias

Swampert @ Leftovers
Torrent
EVs: 240 Hp/ 54 Attack/ 216 Defense
Nature: Impish

-Earthquake
-Stealth Rock
-Roar
-Waterfall
Swampert is my most common switch in after Breloom uses Spore on the opponent’s lead. He uses Stealth Rock immediately, and stays in if the opponent starts to set up, using Roar, or uses EQ or Waterfall if I don’t predict that the opponent is a special attacker or knows a grass move. He has great tanking capabilities, and with Roar, he lasts even longer. I originally ran Avalanche over the recommended Ice Beam, because it worked much better for me. After testing with Waterfall, I now prefer it, as Swampert can get the Torrent boost and become even more powerful. Earthquake gets great power due to stab, and adds to the great coverage. Swampert has amazing synergy with the team as well.
Synergy:
Grass: Breloom, Scizor, Heatran, Gengar, Latias

Scizor @ Life Orb
Technician
EVs: 32 Hp/ 246 Atk/ 232 Spe
Nature: Adamant

-Brick Break
-Bug Bite
-Bullet Punch
-Swords Dance
Yes, Scizor has made it onto yet ANOTHER team. He fits very nicely too! With the team synergy, I find LOADS of opportunities to switch into him and set up, as he resists so much that the team is weak to. I’m not a huge fan of CB Scizor, as Magnezone traps and kills him if stuck in Bullet Punch, and with months of fiddling with this team, I’ve realized that I’m not amazing at controlling 3 choice Pokes on one team. Besides, with one Swords Dance, Scizor reaches enormous power, while still having the ability to use any move. All it takes to set this beast up is to switch into something that Scizor walls, or something stuck in a move Scizor resists, due to choice. I then proceed to Swords Dance, and attack accordingly from there. As everyone knows, Bullet Punch reaches base power 90 with priority, making it, well, awesome. Brick Break is used for coverage and breaking screens. Bug Bite reaches enormous power from Technician and STAB, making it a great move for added coverage. I originally ran Roost over Bug Bite, however, with testing, Bug Bite helps net more KO’s then roosting and attacking more. I’m running 232 Speed instead of the usual 224 so that Scizor outspeeds all other SD Scizors, as people add 4 EVs to outrun others, I added 8 to outrun normal ones and those that add 4. xD
Synergy:
Fire: HEATRAN, Swampert, Latias

Heatran @ Choice Scarf
Flash Fire
EVs: 6 Hp/ 252 Special Attack/ 252 Speed
Nature: Naïve

-Earth Power
-Explosion
-Fire Blast
-Hidden Power (Ice)
Scizor gives a great reason to put Heatran on this team. Because Scizor’s only weakness is to fire, and because of all of its resistances, Scizor might as well have a target on him that says “WARNING: EXTREMELY FLAMMABLE!” Heatran absorbs those Fire Attacks aimed at Scizor (And Breloom too!), gaining him a major boost to his Fire Blast. It tears through everything that doesn’t resist it, and even does respectable damage to Pokes who do resist it. I have easily swept teams after the Flash Fire boost. The Choice Scarf gives him a great speed stat, which with testing, lacked without it. If I am aware of a Heatran on the opponent’s team, I generally use Earth Power to destroy it. HP Ice is for Dragons, particularly Salamence, who resists the other two attacks. Explosion nails Blissey and anything else annoying me. I originally ran Dragon Pulse over HP Ice, and Dark Pulse over Explosion, but they were holding me back.
Synergy:
Fighting: Gengar, Latias
Ground: Gengar, Latias
Water: Breloom, Latias

Gengar @ Life Orb
Levitate
EVs: 6 Hp/ 252 Special Attack/ 252 Speed
Nature: Timid

-Energy Ball
-Focus Blast
-Shadow Ball
-Thunderbolt
Gengar provides the role of a revenge killer. Without a Choice item, I can freely switch to whatever move I like once Gengar faints the opponent. With a high speed and special attack stat, Gengar can easily get at least one KO each battle, if I predict everything correctly. Shadow Ball is his STAB move, Focus Blast nabs ghost-resisting normal types, Thunderbolt gets water and flying types, and Energy Ball is here for Swampert, as Breloom commonly scares him off. Gengar provides great coverage with his moves, and fills the spot of a special attacker very nicely.
Synergy:
Dark: Breloom, Scizor, Heatran
Ghost: Scizor Heatran
Psychic: Scizor, Heatran, Latias

Latias @ Leftovers
Levitate
EVs: 6 Hp/ 252 Special Attack/ 252 Speed
Nature: Timid

-Calm Mind
-Dragon Pulse
-Recover
-Surf
Very recently, I switched over to Latias, from SpecsMence. Under far too many situations, I found myself with my remaining 3 Pokes being my 3 Choice Pokes, resulting in my downfall from there. Latias provides great special defenses for the team, even without an EV investment. Calm Mind increases the specials, and I recover when HP drops. This continues until I feel is comfortable, then I use Dragon Pulse or Surf accordingly. After a few CMs, the only real threat to Latias is fast physical attackers, but the team’s good synergy absorbs those hits if I fear a KO. I’m not sure if I should replace Surf for Psychic, as I have nothing to combat fighting types with, and Swampert runs Waterfall currently. She hasn’t got as much testing as the rest of my team has (As I’ve been playing with it for over a year) but she fits very nicely so far.
Synergy:
Bug: Scizor, Heatran, Gengar
Dark: Breloom, Scizor, Heatran (Unless fearing a Pursuit)
Dragon: Scizor, Heatran
Ghost: Scizor, Heatran
Ice: Scizor, Heatran

Here’s my threat list, worries are in red

Offensive Threats:
Aerodactyl
Azelf
Breloom
Dragonite
Electivire
Empoleon
Flygon
Gengar
Gyarados - This guy can set up on one of Heatran's choiced attacks, and sweep from there
Heatran
Heracross
Infernape
Jirachi
Jolteon
Kingdra
Latias
Lucario
Machamp - I don’t have anything super effective against him, but he’s easy to KO…
Magnezone
Mamoswine
Metagross
Ninjask - Nothing outspeeds him, getting a successful pass can be worrisome
Roserade
Salamence
Scizor
Smeargle
Starmie
Togekiss - Paraflinch hax… >.< If Swampert isn’t alive to resist those Thunder Waves, it can sweep
Tyranitar
Weavile

Defensive Threats:
Blissey
Bronzong
Celebi
Dusknoir
Forretress
Gliscor
Hippowdon
Rotom-A - I don’t own Platinum, and I quite honestly have battled one maybe a dozen times on Shoddy, and it hasn’t been nice…
Skarmory
Snorlax
Suicune
Swampert
Tentacruel
Vaporeon
Zapdos

So there’s my team! Before I finish, I’d like to say a few things…
This team laughs at toxic spikes, as the only two Pokes it hits are Breloom and Swampert. Breloom gains HP from them, and Swampert doesn’t like them. Most teams generally have more than 1 weakness to them, through testing.
Stealth Rock doesn’t particularly harm my team very much either! So it’s all good.
The team covers two of the biggest walls in the game, Blissey and Skarmory. Heatran and Gengar's T-bolt destroy Skarm, Breloom and Scizor destroy Blissey. Easy peasy!
I really like the way I made the synergy work on this team, it took lots of hard work!

Please provide any criticism you can! I’m open to testing out all reasonable suggestions!
Thanks for reading! :D

 

[beastatpokemon]

I don't see anything wrong with your team....Though I'm not a big fan of the Breloom lead..But you do seem to like it......The only thing I could really suggest is I'm not too big of a fan of the Skarftran because if you go fire blast or earth power a Gyrados or another dragon can get an easy switch in and set up a dragon dance...Which would be threatening to your team. You might try a subOrbTran.

 

[LafondaOnFire]

I don't see anything wrong with your team....Though I'm not a big fan of the Breloom lead..But you do seem to like it......The only thing I could really suggest is I'm not too big of a fan of the Skarftran because if you go fire blast or earth power a Gyrados or another dragon can get an easy switch in and set up a dragon dance...Which would be threatening to your team. You might try a subOrbTran.

Thanks for the suggestion! While I see Heatran without a Choice Scarf too slow to net important KO's, (It's probably the way I was introduced to him xD) I'll definitely test out your suggestion and see how it does in comparison to my current set. You do make a good point, as (Using the calculator to figure this out) a boosted Fire Blast does 45 to 53% to an Offensive DD Gyarados, and only 40 to 47% to a Bulky DD Gyarados. And Swampert is KO'd from a +2 Waterfall, which is what he'll take from an offensive Gyara when he tries to use Roar. Hmm... to testing!

 

[Snorlaxe]

Hello!

Cool team, but there may be some issues. First off, I'm not at all a fan of your Breloom lead. I know you like it, but it seems pretty redundant when used as Scarfer alongside Heatran. I'm actually thinking that your team really doesn't need a Choice Scarf user, as your Pokemon can cover a lot of major threats relatively easily. You may want to consider changing your lead to Heatran, and then changing Brelooms set. For Heatran use a set of Stealth Rock | Fire Blast | Earth Power | Explosion, an EV spread of 4 Atk | 252 SpA | 252 Spe, and a Naive nature with the item Shuca Berry. For Breloom, use a spread of 48 HP | 252 Atk | 208 Spe, a set of Spore | Substitute | Focus Punch | Seed Bomb, and an Adamant nature with the ability Toxic Heal and the item Toxic Orb. I know that Swampert already has Stealth Rock, so why would you put it on Heatran? I'll explain all in the next paragraph...

I'm not seeing Swampert doing a lot for your team. It kinda just takes hits from Tyranitar and sets up Stealth Rock for your team...that's about it. You also mentioned that you have a large problem with Gyarados, and this is true. Removing your two Choice Scarf users does help in that it limits the places where Gyarados can set up, but if it gets a boost its a huge problem as nothing can switch in on its powerful Waterfalls and then it can deal huge damage to every Pokemon on your team. I think that a Vaporeon could work well over Swampert. Use a set of Surf | Hidden Power Electric | Wish | Protect, an EV spread of 188 HP | 252 Def | 68 Spe, and a Bold nature with the item Leftovers. Vaporeon is a near perfect counter to Gyarados, and its Wish support will really help keep your Pokemon healthy, especially Heatran and Scizor who will die very quickly with no good recovery of their own.

You may want to go for Leftovers on Scizor as opposed to Life Orb. Leftovers is very helpful on Scizor because it allows it to stay around longer; when combined with the Wish support that you'll be getting from Vaporeon, Scizor's survivability increases by a lot. Life Orb doesn't let Scizor do a lot more damage than it already would be able to, and it really chips away at its health more than you may realize. When combined with Stealth Rock and Spikes, you'll have trouble keeping Scizor as healthy as you would want it to be.

Another thing that you may want to look to is Substitute on Gengar over Energy Ball. The only thing that Energy Ball really helps with is hitting Swampert, but Swampert can't switch in on Gengar at all as it stands, as Shadow Ball is an easy 2HKO. Substitute is a cool move though as Gengar causes a lot of switches, meaning that it will have many ample opportunities to set up a Substitute when they switch out. From there its a pretty huge problem for your opponent as it has to try and keep up with Gengar's assaults while juggling breaking Gengar's Substitutes.

Hope I helped, and PM me if you have any suggestions! ;)

 

[_Carbon_]

If Gyarados is problematic, Heatran could run HP Electric over HP Ice to cover it, and Dragon Pulse could be used over Explosion to still hit Salamence, but I probably have no
idea what I'm talking about.

 

[LafondaOnFire]

Hello!

Cool team, but there may be some issues. First off, I'm not at all a fan of your Breloom lead. I know you like it, but it seems pretty redundant when used as Scarfer alongside Heatran. I'm actually thinking that your team really doesn't need a Choice Scarf user, as your Pokemon can cover a lot of major threats relatively easily. You may want to consider changing your lead to Heatran, and then changing Brelooms set. For Heatran use a set of Stealth Rock | Fire Blast | Earth Power | Explosion, an EV spread of 4 Atk | 252 SpA | 252 Spe, and a Naive nature with the item Shuca Berry. For Breloom, use a spread of 48 HP | 252 Atk | 208 Spe, a set of Spore | Substitute | Focus Punch | Seed Bomb, and an Adamant nature with the ability Toxic Heal and the item Toxic Orb. I know that Swampert already has Stealth Rock, so why would you put it on Heatran? I'll explain all in the next paragraph...

I'm not seeing Swampert doing a lot for your team. It kinda just takes hits from Tyranitar and sets up Stealth Rock for your team...that's about it. You also mentioned that you have a large problem with Gyarados, and this is true. Removing your two Choice Scarf users does help in that it limits the places where Gyarados can set up, but if it gets a boost its a huge problem as nothing can switch in on its powerful Waterfalls and then it can deal huge damage to every Pokemon on your team. I think that a Vaporeon could work well over Swampert. Use a set of Surf | Hidden Power Electric | Wish | Protect, an EV spread of 188 HP | 252 Def | 68 Spe, and a Bold nature with the item Leftovers. Vaporeon is a near perfect counter to Gyarados, and its Wish support will really help keep your Pokemon healthy, especially Heatran and Scizor who will die very quickly with no good recovery of their own.

You may want to go for Leftovers on Scizor as opposed to Life Orb. Leftovers is very helpful on Scizor because it allows it to stay around longer; when combined with the Wish support that you'll be getting from Vaporeon, Scizor's survivability increases by a lot. Life Orb doesn't let Scizor do a lot more damage than it already would be able to, and it really chips away at its health more than you may realize. When combined with Stealth Rock and Spikes, you'll have trouble keeping Scizor as healthy as you would want it to be.

Another thing that you may want to look to is Substitute on Gengar over Energy Ball. The only thing that Energy Ball really helps with is hitting Swampert, but Swampert can't switch in on Gengar at all as it stands, as Shadow Ball is an easy 2HKO. Substitute is a cool move though as Gengar causes a lot of switches, meaning that it will have many ample opportunities to set up a Substitute when they switch out. From there its a pretty huge problem for your opponent as it has to try and keep up with Gengar's assaults while juggling breaking Gengar's Substitutes.

Hope I helped, and PM me if you have any suggestions! ;)

Thanks for your suggestions! I'll definitely test them all out and see how it does on my team (Because they sound well-thought-over and good!) however, I do have a few things that stand out at me at first glance. (I'm not saying I won't take this criticism, I definitely will test it- I'm just speaking my mind to see if others agree with my point or not)

Personally, I can't see Heatran surviving for terribly long as the lead of my team. Considering that he's my switch in whenever I fear a super effective move directed towards any of my Pokes, losing him definitely hurts my team, a lot. However without a Choice Scarf, he can switch freely to whatever move, but I am not sure whether or not the speed he runs is good enough for him to last...

The Breloom suggestion sounds quite good! I've encountered a good number of Brelooms with that set, and they can be destructive if played properly. Just a question though, how long can this guy last? With his not-amazing-anymore speed, I assume that quite a number of Pokes have the capability to outspeed him and take him down before he can set up another sub.

Vaporeon sounds like a great way to cover Gyarados, and I really do like it, but now I'll have only 2 physical attackers on the team, and 4 special attackers, and that concerns me...

The suggestion with Gengar is really good, I'm sure I'll change it! But with testing should come how long I can have him last for, with the life orb after all...

And lefties on Scizor should improve his survivability, so I'll make that change. He does die sooner than I suppose I'd like him to.

 

[Snorlaxe]

Well...Heatran can survive for a very long time if you choose to go with Vaporeon, as her Wish support goes a long way towards helping your Pokemon survive. As for Breloom, all that you have to do is send him in against a slower Pokemon like Blissey and then use Spore. Then simply throw up a Substitute as they switch and wreck havoc with Focus Punch. The 4 special attackers thing shouldnt really concern you as the only "too many special attackers" threat that you have to worry about is Blissey, but Breloom is literally one of the best ways to deal with Blissey. For Gengar its not really a survivability type of Pokemon, and I think you'll find that Substitute actually HELPS it survive.

Yeah hope I helped!

 

[Nas]

Hey, nice team but I have some suggestions.

First off, I agree with Snorlaxe about switching Swampert for Vaporeon, you definately need the Gyarados counter. Right now Gyarados can sweep your whole team without breaking a sweat if it manages to set up a Dragon Dance, but Hp Electric Vaporeon serves as a near 100% counter and provides Wish support for your team. Unfortunately, with Swampert gone you might have trouble taking hits from CB Tyranitar, as every pokemon on your team is at risk of being 2HKO'd.

I suggest you use a bulkier Scizor spread, which will make switching in on those CB Crunches easier, as well as giving you an opportunity to set up a Swords Dance. Use a set of Swords Dance/Bullet Punch/Superpower/Roost with 240 Hp/252 Atk/16 Spe and Leftovers. You're not losing anything by dropping those speed EVs, seeing as the majority of your KO's are going to be coming from Bullet Punch anyways. The HP EVs and Leftovers will greatly benefit you, seeing as you lack a reliable switch-in to Latias and Gengar. Scizor without recovery and Hp EVs will not be able to switch into either of them more than once, but this one can tank their attacks and set up each time. The 16 speed EVs are to allow you to outrun opposing Scizor and KO them with a +2 Superpower, something that Brick Break cannot achieve. Superpower also nails Heatran and Magnezone switch-ins for KOs, while Brick Break will only deal around half.

I don`t like how your Gengar and Latias are both easily Pursuited to death by Scizor, so I`m going to suggest you run a slightly different Latias spread that baits it in and then KOes it with Hp Fire. The set is Dragon Pulse/Surf/HP Fire/Roost with an Expert Belt, and max SpAtk/Speed. Once your opponent see`s that you lack Leftovers or Life Orb they will assume that you are either a Specs or Scarf variant, and they will send in their Scizor/Forretress confident that you`ll have to switch. That`s when you nail them with Hp Fire for a OHKO. I`ve used this set before, and it works wonders. You can also use Thunderbolt or Draco Meteor in the last slot over Roost, but I personally prefer the recovery.

Hope this rate helped, feel free to ask any questions regarding my suggestions :)

 

[LafondaOnFire]

Well...Heatran can survive for a very long time if you choose to go with Vaporeon, as her Wish support goes a long way towards helping your Pokemon survive. As for Breloom, all that you have to do is send him in against a slower Pokemon like Blissey and then use Spore. Then simply throw up a Substitute as they switch and wreck havoc with Focus Punch. The 4 special attackers thing shouldnt really concern you as the only "too many special attackers" threat that you have to worry about is Blissey, but Breloom is literally one of the best ways to deal with Blissey. For Gengar its not really a survivability type of Pokemon, and I think you'll find that Substitute actually HELPS it survive.

Yeah hope I helped!

Thank you very much for your help! I understand everything now, and the suggestions sound great! :D I'll be sure to test all that out, and see how much better it will be.

Hey, nice team but I have some suggestions.

First off, I agree with Snorlaxe about switching Swampert for Vaporeon, you definately need the Gyarados counter. Right now Gyarados can sweep your whole team without breaking a sweat if it manages to set up a Dragon Dance, but Hp Electric Vaporeon serves as a near 100% counter and provides Wish support for your team. Unfortunately, with Swampert gone you might have trouble taking hits from CB Tyranitar, as every pokemon on your team is at risk of being 2HKO'd.

I suggest you use a bulkier Scizor spread, which will make switching in on those CB Crunches easier, as well as giving you an opportunity to set up a Swords Dance. Use a set of Swords Dance/Bullet Punch/Superpower/Roost with 240 Hp/252 Atk/16 Spe and Leftovers. You're not losing anything by dropping those speed EVs, seeing as the majority of your KO's are going to be coming from Bullet Punch anyways. The HP EVs and Leftovers will greatly benefit you, seeing as you lack a reliable switch-in to Latias and Gengar. Scizor without recovery and Hp EVs will not be able to switch into either of them more than once, but this one can tank their attacks and set up each time. The 16 speed EVs are to allow you to outrun opposing Scizor and KO them with a +2 Superpower, something that Brick Break cannot achieve. Superpower also nails Heatran and Magnezone switch-ins for KOs, while Brick Break will only deal around half.

I don`t like how your Gengar and Latias are both easily Pursuited to death by Scizor, so I`m going to suggest you run a slightly different Latias spread that baits it in and then KOes it with Hp Fire. The set is Dragon Pulse/Surf/HP Fire/Roost with an Expert Belt, and max SpAtk/Speed. Once your opponent see`s that you lack Leftovers or Life Orb they will assume that you are either a Specs or Scarf variant, and they will send in their Scizor/Forretress confident that you`ll have to switch. That`s when you nail them with Hp Fire for a OHKO. I`ve used this set before, and it works wonders. You can also use Thunderbolt or Draco Meteor in the last slot over Roost, but I personally prefer the recovery.

Hope this rate helped, feel free to ask any questions regarding my suggestions :)

Thanks for helping with my team! It seems like Vaporeon is a real benefit to my team! I'll be sure to replace him for Swampert. And you do prove a good point with Scizor, and as I think about it, I'd really like him to be able to survive for longer that he does. I'll be sure to test that out! And with Latias, that sounds pretty good, as I have not been using Latias as long as the other members of my team, there's still some kinks to work out. Even though I don't encounter pursuiters very often, when they do arise, they would cause a problem to my team. Thanks very much to you too!