As you can tell from the title, I'm absolutely terrible at coming up with creative names, so here's pretty much the focus of my team. For years now, Heracross has been one of my favorite pokemon hands down. When I first found out he was getting a new Mega form, I was ecstatic. I couldn't believe one of my top fives was getting a buff. When I saw his stats, I noticed that while everything else was great, the speed was pretty mediocre, so I never really plopped him down on any of my teams. The ability was there and he has decent bulk, so all I needed now was a way to get him fast enough. While thinking of different ideas for a Heracross team, I went online and I got a few ideas.
The team:
Heracross (M) @ Heracronite
Trait: Moxie
EVs: 164 HP / 252 Atk / 92 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Pin Missile
- Swords Dance
- Close Combat
- Rock Blast
Obviously the first choice of my list. To take advantage of the fact that Mega Heracross gets skill link, I plopped Rock Blast and Pin Missile on him. Close Combat for the pokemon that neither move will work, or in the few instances that normal Heracross will be more beneficial for me based on his base speed, and Swords Dance for the attack. As for the last move, I'm not sure what to replace it with, due to its redundancy with the pokemon up next
Scolipede (F) @ Black Sludge
Trait: Speed Boost
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Baton Pass
- Substitute
- Protect
- Swords Dance
While thinking of what a good compliment for Mega Heracross would be, I thought of either Ninjask or Scolipede. I ended up going with Scolipede due to merely me flipping a coin since I figured either would be fine for the job I wanted it to do. I figured that since Scolipede can baton pass its speed and maybe an SD if I can fit it in there, then it would be the best choice to aid in Mega Heracross's abysmal speed. Its moveset is pretty much self explanatory. Not much to explain here. I might end up going with Ninjask anyways because of its immunity to ground, which Scolipede has trouble dealing with
Goodra (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Hydration
EVs: 240 HP / 252 SDef / 16 Spd
Calm Nature (+SDef, -Atk)
- Infestation
- Rest
- Rain Dance
- Sludge Bomb
This is the part where I express my shame. While trying to think of ideas of maybe another pokemon to compliment the last two guys, I found a team online that had Goodra on it. I ended up going with it because it was late last night and I was tired, and because I honestly didn't know what to go with next to build off defenses. It seemed right, because of the fire weakness my team has so far as well as its absurdly great ability to shrug off special attacks like a champ. I kept it on the team and decided to go with pure stall with rain dance, hydration, rest, and leftovers. Infestation takes care of the rest and sludge bomb is there for more attack power as well as a possible poisoning
Gliscor (M) @ Toxic Orb
Trait: Poison Heal
EVs: 244 HP / 40 Def / 224 Spd
Hardy Nature
- Substitute
- Toxic
- Protect
- Earthquake
While thinking of a physical wall that I could use to compliment Goodra, I thought why not Gliscor? He's an amazing physical wall and his SubToxic set hasn't failed me yet so far. I can wall off pretty much anything that hasn't been boosted yet like a champ. This set too is self explanatory with the function that SubToxic Gliscor is supposed to serve
Slowbro (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: Regenerator
EVs: 248 HP / 244 Def / 16 SAtk
Bold Nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Calm Mind
- Scald
- Slack Off
- Psyshock
At first, I had put choice scarf Starmie in this spot. My reasoning was was that I should probably have a pure special attacker here now, with me going off the old formula I usually went with of 1 special wall, 1 physical wall, 2 special sweepers, 2 physical sweepers. Unfortunately, Starmie ended up serving very little use on this team. After I decided on what the final slot of my team should be and going into testing, Starmie simply just did not make the cut. It just did not synergize very well with the rest of its team mates and it did not accomplish much on my team. While thinking of pokemon with more bulk that I could use to replace it as a special tank, my thoughts immediately went to Suicune and Slowbro. In the end, I went with Slowbro due to his access to a more reliable healing method than Suicune, as well as the utilization of Calm Mind. After making this change, Slowbro has done eons more for my team than Starmie.
Conkeldurr (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Iron Fist
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Def
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Bulk Up
- Drain Punch
- Mach Punch
- Ice Punch
After first having come up with Starmie, I thought it was finally time to find my physical sweeper. After looking online for some ideas, because I have a hard time with thinking of every pokemon off the top of my head, I was intrigued when I found Conkeldurr on the list of pokemon. I knew he had reliable defensive stats and he just seems to synergize well with the rest of my team that seems to specialize in bulk, so I stuck him in. Either I use Conkeldurr as a switch in target for Scolipede, or Heracross. Depending on what threat is out, I find that either one of these pokemon are a perfect set up for sweeping. One or two SD's from Scolipede is usually enough for me to just plow through a team for the rest of the match
My Observations:
I've found that my team on a whole performs decently enough. I DO have a few problems with some troublemakers though. Pokemon like Sableye that carry taunt, anything with infiltrator, anything with whirlwind, and Banette all give me trouble. That, though, is to be expected with a team that relies heavily on Baton Pass to succeed. As a result, those problems are problems that I believe I have to learn to adapt to as a trainer who wants to become better at the game. I don't blame my opponent for it, because those ARE flaws that they are exploiting that I should learn to deal with in a team like this.
Pros:
-Mega Heracross: He is one of the two star players on my team when I do manage to pull off at least one SD and a few speed boosts with Scolipede. He can absolutely tear a hole in just about every team. Half the time, I manage to go 6-0 with just Heracross because nobody knows how to deal with him at that level of power.
-Conkeldurr: He is the other star player on my team. As with Heracross, he has more than enough bulk to be able to take a hit on a switch in and retaliate with Drain Punch or Ice Punch depending on what is out. I'm glad I chose him to be on a team because so far he has been nothing but an asset.
Cons:
- Everything I stated above previously. All those things give me trouble and unfortunately I'm still in the process of learning how I can fix that hole in my team
- A lack of an electric type move: with starmie out of the picture, I lost somebody I could use Tbolt on. It means I usually have a very hard time against other bulky waters. It always ends up in a war of attrition between me and the opponent because I have nothing that can reliably kill them half the time.
- Scolipede. He's extremely frail and gets wrecked by a lot of things. I'm considering maybe putting a Ninjask with the same moveset on instead or maybe a Smeargle with Spore, BP, and a few stat boosting moves. I'm still not really sure what to do with him.
Any criticisms you'd have with my team would be fantastic. After years of trying, I think I'm finally starting to get the whole teambuilding thing down. I've been battling competitively since Gen IV when I was 13 and now is when I'm finally starting to understand what creates a good team.
The team:
Heracross (M) @ Heracronite
Trait: Moxie
EVs: 164 HP / 252 Atk / 92 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Pin Missile
- Swords Dance
- Close Combat
- Rock Blast
Obviously the first choice of my list. To take advantage of the fact that Mega Heracross gets skill link, I plopped Rock Blast and Pin Missile on him. Close Combat for the pokemon that neither move will work, or in the few instances that normal Heracross will be more beneficial for me based on his base speed, and Swords Dance for the attack. As for the last move, I'm not sure what to replace it with, due to its redundancy with the pokemon up next
Scolipede (F) @ Black Sludge
Trait: Speed Boost
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Baton Pass
- Substitute
- Protect
- Swords Dance
While thinking of what a good compliment for Mega Heracross would be, I thought of either Ninjask or Scolipede. I ended up going with Scolipede due to merely me flipping a coin since I figured either would be fine for the job I wanted it to do. I figured that since Scolipede can baton pass its speed and maybe an SD if I can fit it in there, then it would be the best choice to aid in Mega Heracross's abysmal speed. Its moveset is pretty much self explanatory. Not much to explain here. I might end up going with Ninjask anyways because of its immunity to ground, which Scolipede has trouble dealing with
Goodra (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Hydration
EVs: 240 HP / 252 SDef / 16 Spd
Calm Nature (+SDef, -Atk)
- Infestation
- Rest
- Rain Dance
- Sludge Bomb
This is the part where I express my shame. While trying to think of ideas of maybe another pokemon to compliment the last two guys, I found a team online that had Goodra on it. I ended up going with it because it was late last night and I was tired, and because I honestly didn't know what to go with next to build off defenses. It seemed right, because of the fire weakness my team has so far as well as its absurdly great ability to shrug off special attacks like a champ. I kept it on the team and decided to go with pure stall with rain dance, hydration, rest, and leftovers. Infestation takes care of the rest and sludge bomb is there for more attack power as well as a possible poisoning
Gliscor (M) @ Toxic Orb
Trait: Poison Heal
EVs: 244 HP / 40 Def / 224 Spd
Hardy Nature
- Substitute
- Toxic
- Protect
- Earthquake
While thinking of a physical wall that I could use to compliment Goodra, I thought why not Gliscor? He's an amazing physical wall and his SubToxic set hasn't failed me yet so far. I can wall off pretty much anything that hasn't been boosted yet like a champ. This set too is self explanatory with the function that SubToxic Gliscor is supposed to serve
Slowbro (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: Regenerator
EVs: 248 HP / 244 Def / 16 SAtk
Bold Nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Calm Mind
- Scald
- Slack Off
- Psyshock
At first, I had put choice scarf Starmie in this spot. My reasoning was was that I should probably have a pure special attacker here now, with me going off the old formula I usually went with of 1 special wall, 1 physical wall, 2 special sweepers, 2 physical sweepers. Unfortunately, Starmie ended up serving very little use on this team. After I decided on what the final slot of my team should be and going into testing, Starmie simply just did not make the cut. It just did not synergize very well with the rest of its team mates and it did not accomplish much on my team. While thinking of pokemon with more bulk that I could use to replace it as a special tank, my thoughts immediately went to Suicune and Slowbro. In the end, I went with Slowbro due to his access to a more reliable healing method than Suicune, as well as the utilization of Calm Mind. After making this change, Slowbro has done eons more for my team than Starmie.
Conkeldurr (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Iron Fist
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Def
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Bulk Up
- Drain Punch
- Mach Punch
- Ice Punch
After first having come up with Starmie, I thought it was finally time to find my physical sweeper. After looking online for some ideas, because I have a hard time with thinking of every pokemon off the top of my head, I was intrigued when I found Conkeldurr on the list of pokemon. I knew he had reliable defensive stats and he just seems to synergize well with the rest of my team that seems to specialize in bulk, so I stuck him in. Either I use Conkeldurr as a switch in target for Scolipede, or Heracross. Depending on what threat is out, I find that either one of these pokemon are a perfect set up for sweeping. One or two SD's from Scolipede is usually enough for me to just plow through a team for the rest of the match
My Observations:
I've found that my team on a whole performs decently enough. I DO have a few problems with some troublemakers though. Pokemon like Sableye that carry taunt, anything with infiltrator, anything with whirlwind, and Banette all give me trouble. That, though, is to be expected with a team that relies heavily on Baton Pass to succeed. As a result, those problems are problems that I believe I have to learn to adapt to as a trainer who wants to become better at the game. I don't blame my opponent for it, because those ARE flaws that they are exploiting that I should learn to deal with in a team like this.
Pros:
-Mega Heracross: He is one of the two star players on my team when I do manage to pull off at least one SD and a few speed boosts with Scolipede. He can absolutely tear a hole in just about every team. Half the time, I manage to go 6-0 with just Heracross because nobody knows how to deal with him at that level of power.
-Conkeldurr: He is the other star player on my team. As with Heracross, he has more than enough bulk to be able to take a hit on a switch in and retaliate with Drain Punch or Ice Punch depending on what is out. I'm glad I chose him to be on a team because so far he has been nothing but an asset.
Cons:
- Everything I stated above previously. All those things give me trouble and unfortunately I'm still in the process of learning how I can fix that hole in my team
- A lack of an electric type move: with starmie out of the picture, I lost somebody I could use Tbolt on. It means I usually have a very hard time against other bulky waters. It always ends up in a war of attrition between me and the opponent because I have nothing that can reliably kill them half the time.
- Scolipede. He's extremely frail and gets wrecked by a lot of things. I'm considering maybe putting a Ninjask with the same moveset on instead or maybe a Smeargle with Spore, BP, and a few stat boosting moves. I'm still not really sure what to do with him.
Any criticisms you'd have with my team would be fantastic. After years of trying, I think I'm finally starting to get the whole teambuilding thing down. I've been battling competitively since Gen IV when I was 13 and now is when I'm finally starting to understand what creates a good team.
