Team Empoleon

[pakmon]

This team is based around an Empoleon sweep with team mates covering it's weaknesses. Sorry I keep changing things.

Chandelure (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Flash Fire
EVs: 68 HP / 252 SAtk / 4 SDef / 184 Spd
Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Substitute
- Will-O-Wisp
- Fire Blast
- Shadow Ball

Chandelure is here to absorb Fire and Fighting attacks which Empoleon isn't very good at taking, while having good synergy with Empoleon which can take Rock and Dark attacks. I love to switch this into Sable Eye who gives me a Flash Fire WoW boost, this sometimes even lets me sweep with Fire Blast. I alternate between this and gligar depending on if I need an offensive lead or a taunt/setup lead. This used to be Rotom-H's job, but Modest Fire Blast hits almost as hard as Choice Specs Rotom-H anyway. I replaced Energy Ball with WoW, I can no longer OHKO swampert but now I can deal with Snorlax and have something to hurt Porygon2.

Empoleon (M) @ Petaya Berry
Trait: Torrent
EVs: 252 SAtk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Substitute
- Agility
- Surf
- Ice Beam

Empoleon is the main sweeper of the team and I usually save him for mid to late game depending on what the opponent has. I chose Ice Beam over Grass Knot because Grass Knot can be unreliable. The set is self explanatory but I will explain it anyway: switch in to a resisted attack such as Gyro Ball, Stone Edge or Surf, Agility up and sweep behind a substitute. This means I must get rid of things it can't beat in two hits or things with priority. The treat list is at the end of the post which outlines Empoleon's counters and how the rest of my team works to remove them. With a timid nature, Empoleon can outspeed up to +1 positive nature 95s, now it doesn't get screwed over by Timid/Jolly Darmaritan, Rotom and Heracross.

Snorlax (M) @ Choice Band
Trait: Thick Fat
EVs: 80 HP / 252 Atk / 176 SDef
Brave Nature (+Atk, -Spd)
- Crunch
- Earthquake
- Body Slam
- Pursuit

I decided I needed a proper special wall which can take anything. Snorlax fits nicely and can even take special fighting attacks. I choose the offensive since Snorlax wasn't taking anything from special attacks anyway, allowing it to switch in many times even without leftovers or rest, Burn is annoying though. CB Body Slam also hits very hard, doing alot of damage or even KOing sweepers who try to check Snorlax. CB Crunch can also 2HKO bulky ghosts most of the time.

Gligar (M) @ Eviolite
Trait: Immunity
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 Spd
Impish Nature (+Def, -SAtk)
- Roost
- Stealth Rock
- Toxic
- Taunt

Gligar is my setup lead and stop to physical tank. Gligar is a solid switch in to all fighting types and completely walls Flygon. It is also good switch in to electric types that gives Empoleon trouble. My team is quite weak to entry hazards and lacks a spinner so Taunt stops slower pokemon that try to setup, 85 base speed outspeeds alot of setup pokemon. I removed any attacks since gligar wasn't doing any damage anyway and replace with toxic, only problem now is taunt Crobat.

Poliwrath (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: Water Absorb
EVs: 132 HP / 252 Atk / 124 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Substitute
- Bulk Up
- Focus Punch
- Waterfall

Poliwrath helps me counter Scald users which I shouldn't be switching Snorlax into. This works surprisingly well as many bulky waters only have Scald and Toxic and sometimes Ice Beam which it resists. Substitute blocks toxic and other status, with speed EVs to outspeed base 85s. Poliwrath is also a good counter to special walls like Snorlax and Umbreon, as well as resisting foul play which helps sometimes. Poliwrath also works well with gligar as it can check Weavile which is one of the few physical attackers that Gligar can't tank, as well as checking some steel attackers which are immune to toxic.

Mienshao (F) @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Regenerator
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Hi Jump Kick
- U-turn
- Stone Edge
- Aerial Ace

I replace Heracross with Mienshao since it can U-turn and also outspeed alot more of the metagame. It is my one and only scarfer, cleaning up if Empoleon fails to setup or is dead. This set is pretty standard. My teams only other fighting attack is Focus Punch which can be unreliable. Since my other sweepers are Special, 's powerful fighting attacks are much needed to destroy the usual special walls (Snorlax, Porygon2, Umbreon). Aerial Ace is a sure-fire way to destroy Heracross and Virizion who are huge threats to my team.


Treat List
First off, things that will probably stop Empoleon:
- Bulky waters.
- Fast Scarfed pokemon that won't be outsped at +2.
- Bulky pokemon with earthquake also hurt Empoleon, but if I'm feeling lucky i'll just take the - earthquake while using agility and hopefully Empoleon will live and start sweeping.
- Priority.

Blastoise / Milotic / Slow King: Blastoise can phaze out Empoleon behind a sub. Milotic / Slow King has recovery so they can stall out Empoleon. Stopped by Poliwrath/Snorlax.

Raikou: Fast and has bolt-beam which my team hates. Calm Mind variants can give me alot of problems, since Chandelure/Rotom won't hurt it much. Stopped by Snorlax.

Snorlax / Porygon2: Both pokemon can spunge Empoleon's attacks and threaten with Earthquake / Discharge. Stopped by Poliwrath/Snorlax.

Heracross / Hitmontop: Powerful fighting attacks can OHKO Empoleon. Stopped by Gligar.

Flygon: Fast and can be annoying with earthquake. However if it locks itself into outrage it's free setup and sweep for Empoleon. Stopped by Gligar.

Chandelure: non-choice variants can be dangerous if it has energy ball. I have no good switch-in to this and generally I must switch-in my own Chandelure to take the fire attack but they can predict and destroy me with shadow ball, this could cost me the game. Stopped by Snorlax.




Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed this RMT.

 

[shiranai]

Overall your team have a nice offensive core with Empoleon and Chandelure. But your team have some problems, and most problems can be done with a few changes:

First of all is Crobat. Special Crobat is quite rare, and get a lot of people unaware, but your team carries weakness to the strong fighting that rans rampant in the tier. Crobat is, by far, one of the best fighting counter around, but not your actual build. Changing Crobat to a physical build will get rid of the surprise factor, but will let you deal with both plants and fightings with a strong Brave Bird and braking stall with a fast Taunt. Also, keep Inner Focus because Fake Out, even not being a great move, still is common, specially in Mienshao.

Another point is Abomasnow. Unless you're using a Hail team (and you're not running one) you shouldn't run it. Either Roserade or Rotom-C could do a better work here. While Abomasnow hates burns, Roserade will laugh to any kind of status problems, while Rotom-C can hit bulky waters with both Leaf Storm and Thunderbolt/Volt Switch, while packing nice physical and special bulk.

Also, I would try testing Gligar in place of Swampert. Even though this will give your team two Ice weakness this will also means that Ice moves will be used more often against you. And Empoleon would love being hit by an Ice move while taking 1/4 of the damage, giving you the chance to setup. Also, different of both Crobat and Chandelure, Gligar is a more reliable way to take hits from both Mienshao and Herracross, fearing only Hidden Power Ice from the kung-fu master. Gligar can also be a nice counter to Flygon, being immune to Earthquake and taking something about 40% from CB Flygon's Outrage.

About your issue with Porygon2 and Snorlax you can do two changes: the first is changingChandelure's moveset, swaping Hidden Power Fight for Trick. Even being quite easy to your opponent to predict this move, if it works you will get rid of either of them forever; but you must be cautious with CB Snorlax though. Another way to fight both walls is running a stronger fighting pokemon, most named Mienshao or Heracross, instead of Hitmontop; unless you're running as spinner, Hitmontop will always be outclassed by both of them. Also, Scarf Mienshao and Heracross can outspeed Scarf Timid Chandelure and land a OHKO most of the times without Stealth Rock.

Now, another way to counter Scarf Chandelure, even not being the best option if you run either fighter above, is changing Modest to Timid and getting rid of HP Fight. HP Fight lowers speed, making you lose the speed tie.

Changing Empoleon nature from Modest to Timid can help it outspeed some important Scarfers, one named Heracross.

So far, this is what I have to say about your team. Best wishes for you and the team.

tl;dr

Crobat: Change to this set:
Crobat @ Black Sludge
Trait: Inner Focus
Nature: Jolly
176 HP / 196 SAtk / 136 Spe
Roost
Brave Bird
Taunt
U-Turn

Abomasnow: Swap for either Roserade or Rotom-C

Roserade @ Black Sludge
Trait: Natural Cure
Nature: Calm
252 HP / 240 SDef / 16 Spe
Spikes
Giga Drain
Sludge Bomb
Rest

Rotom-C @ Leftovers
Trait: Levitate
Nature: Calm
252 HP / 252 SDef / 4 Def
Leaf Storm
Discharge
Will-O-Wisp
Pain Split

Swampert: Swap for Gligar

Gligar @ Eviolite
Trait: Immunity
Nature: Impish
252 HP / 252 Def / 4 Atk
Stealth Rock
Roost
Toxic
Aerial Ace / Eathquake

Chandelure: Swap Hidden Power Fight => Trick

Hitmontop: Swap for Heracross or Mienshao

Heracross @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Guts
Nature: Jolly
252 Atk / 252 Spe / 4 SDef
Megahorn
Close Combat
Stone Edge
Sleep Talk

Mienshao @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Regenerator
Nature: Naive
252 Atk / 252 Spe / 4 SAtk
Hi Jump Kick
Stone Edge
Hidden Power Ice / Aerial Ace
U-Turn

 

[pakmon]

This has be very helpful! I've reverted Crobat to the standard set and put trick on Chandelure.
After some testing with the other grass types, I realised that Roserade is now banned from UU. Also Rotom-C lacked the raw power to break through Refresh Milotic but that was only one match-up.
I was using Gligar for a while but it lacked any sort of offensive presence. I'm now testing nidoqueen/king with stealth rock.

 

[silenced]

Ah, to explain that roserade ban, it's banned from UU on Pokemon Online. In Pokemon Showdown, it is still available in UU.

 

[ss234]

Nidoqueen / Crobat / Porygon2 / Chandelure / Hitmontop / Empoleon

Hi there. This looks like a pretty solid team, however there are a few weaknesses.

The most obvious weakness is to powerful fire types, as well as electric types such as Zapdos, and some bulky water types. Darmanitan is the most fearsome fire type to face for your team, and it can quite easily shred some major holes, since your only resist is Chandelure and that is your main scarfer and cleaner, and is also weak to Earthquake / Rock Slide.

Therefore, I recommend that you run Blastoise over Hitmontop. Hitmontop is an incredibly terrible spinner in this metagame, and can't get past any ghost type, whereas Blastoise can scald it's way through all of them easily. Blastoise also provides a much more solid switch in to Darmanitan, Victini and Arcanine as well, and can spin away stealth rock that Crobat and Chandelure hate so much.

You still have a large weakness to electric types however. Raikou and Zapdos can quite easily smash their way through nearly everything on your team apart from Porygon2 in Zapdos's case, and Raikou simply uses Porygon2 to set-up. From there, they can quite easily destroy everything on your team with a +1 HP Ice, and since Nidoqueen doesn't carry Earth Power for some reason, Raikou can set-up on that as well.

Therefore, I recommend that you run Rhyperior over Nidoqueen. Rhyperior is a much more solid switch in to the electric types of the tier, and because crobat already stops fighting types cold in combination with Chandelure and Blastoise, there is no need for Nidoqueen really. Rhyperior's ability to stop Froslass cold is also greatly appreciated, as you would have large troubles with it otherwise.

Here are the sets:

Hide

Rhyperior @ Leftovers
Trait: Solid Rock
EVs: 248 HP / 16 Atk / 244 SDef
Adamant Nature
- Earthquake
- Rock Blast
- Stealth Rock
- Roar

Blastoise @ Leftovers
Trait: Rain Dish
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SDef
Bold Nature
- Scald
- Toxic
- Rapid Spin
- Roar

Hope I helped and GL with the team.