So I've decided to make a team that takes advantage of switching moves like U-Turn and Volt Switch and I came up with this. The idea of this team is to weaken the opponent by forcing them to switch Pokemon repeatedly by taking advantage of U-Turn and Volt Switch together with entry hazards. After dealing enough damage, I will then send out my main sweeper to finish the job. This is quite a new team so I think it could use a few adjustments with a little help from you guys.
Team at a Glance:
With abusing switching moves as my concept, I thought of two Pokemon that could pull off that strategy effectively. We all know that Rotom-W and Scizor cover each other's weaknesses perfectly, so I chose them as this team's core.
Next, I wanted to really take advantage of switching even more, so I decided to use three switchers instead of just Scizor and Rotom-W. Mienshao quickly came into my mind.
Repeated switching means you should get rid of entry hazards at all cost. Espeon gives that thanks to her ability, Magic Bounce.
With the switchers and a pseudo-spinner all set, all I needed was a sweeper that would pick off the remains of the opponent's team once it suffers great damage with continuous switching. I've had a really good experience using Terrakion as a late game sweeper with my older teams, so I opt to use him once again.
I thought having a layer of entry hazards would be very helpful since the opponent would be forced to switch out most of the time. Espeon can bounce back entry hazards that would be thrown at me, but not everyone use them so I decided to have a dedicated spiker in my team. And so I replaced Espeon with Deoxys-S.
At this point a spinner is all that I needed to keep the entry hazards away from my field. Starmie is one of the best in that job so I decided to use her.
After putting up this team's skeleton I checked for potential flaws and the first thing I saw was the lack of spin-blocker and a bit of weakness to sun teams. Chandelure seemed like the one that I needed, being immune to Rapid Spin and his ability to absorb Fire type attacks with Flash Fire.
After a while I realized that I would have some problems with the team slots if I had to use a separate slot for a spinner and a spiker. Fortunately for me, one Pokemon can do both jobs at the same time, and that's Forretress. At first I was reluctant to use him because he shares a humongous weakness to Fire-type attacks with Scizor. But with Chandelure to sponge Fire type attacks for me, I finally made up my mind, so I replaced Deoxys-S with Forry.
Finally, I just felt like using a sweeper other than Terrakion for a change. When it comes to late-game sweeping, Salamence is one of the most qualified for the job IMO.
The Team In Detail:
Scizor @ Choice Band
Adamant
248 HP/252 Atk/8 Spe
Ability: Swarm
-U-turn
-Bullet Punch
-Superpower
-Pursuit
Scizor is one of the cores of this team. With entry hazards on the opponent's side of the field, his ability to scout opponents with U-turn is really annoying. Add the fact that most of his weakness is covered perfectly by Rotom-W and vice-versa, they could just keep turns on switching with each other until the opponent's team is sufficiently weakened. Bullet Punch is great for revenge killing things and picking off the opponent's team if it's already significantly weakened. Superpower is to get a surprise kill against some of his counters expecting a Bullet Punch or something.
Rotom-W @ Choice Scarf
Timid
4 HP/252 SpA/252 Spe
-Volt Switch
-Hydro Pump
-Hidden Power Ice
-Trick
So this is the team's second part of the core and Scizor's partner in crime. As I've said, he can just switch places with Scizor almost effortlessly with Volt Switch, taking chunks of HP from the opponent's Pokemon. When his Scarf isn't needed that much (like when facing slow stall teams), I will just Trick the item to cripple one of the opponent's Pokemon, so even Blissey and Ferrothorn can't switch on him safely. I chose HP Ice over Fire to check Dragons, which would otherwise be some sort of a problem for my team. And of course Hydro Pump is there for a powerful STAB attack.
Mienshao @ Life Orb
Jolly
252 Atk/4 SpA/252 Spe
Ability: Regenerator
-Fake Out
-Hi Jump Kick
-U-turn
-Hidden Power Ice
Mienshao, the one that I would almost always use as a lead. With his ability to use U-turn, him, together with Scizor and Rotom-W can begin a huge U-Turn spamfest. Hi Jump Kick is a very powerful STAB which can OHKO many Pokemon. Fake Out is for dealing priority damage and flinching the opponent at the same time. HP Ice is there to deal with Gliscor.
Forretress @ Leftovers
Relaxed
252 HP/112 Atk/144 Def
Ability: Sturdy
-Stealth Rock
-Spikes
-Rapid Spin
-Earthquake
When your team requires continuous switching, you need two things: entry hazards on your opponent's field and entry hazards out on your own. Forretress does the job really well, keeping Stealth Rock and Spikes out of my field with Rapin Spin while setting his own entry hazards. Stealth Rocks and Spikes combined with my team's ability to almost always force switches is really deadly and annoying. I really wanted to use Volt Switch on the last slot so he can join the spamfest but I saw that he's my only hope to stop Excadrill so Earthquake is there instead. He shares the same 4x Fire type weakness with Scizor but fortunately, the next Pokemon complements both of them well.
Chandelure @ Leftovers
Modest
4 HP/252 Atk/252 Spe
Ability: Flash Fire
-Substitute
-Fire Blast
-Shadow Ball
-Hidden Power Fighting
So Chandelure does two important things for my team: blocking Rapid Spins and sponging Fire type attacks aimed at Scizor and Forretress. I know that he's not what you can call a legitimate spin blocker, as almost every Rapid Spinner can deal with him. But I've got no choice, as I only had one team slot left and I needed a spin blocker and and a Fire attack sponger especially the ones coming from sun teams. Substitute is really useful, allowing him to deal with some of his counters, most especially Tyranitar. It isn't really hard to pull off as he can always find opportunities to switch in thanks to my team's Fire type weakness. With Substitute up, he can 2HKO most Ttar sets with HP Fighting. Fire Blast and Shadow Ball rounds up the moveset with 2 powerful STAB attacks.
Salamence @ Life Orb
Naive
252 Atk/4 SpA/252 Spe
Ability: Intimidate
-Dragon Dance
-Outrage
-Earthquake
-Fire Blast
The final member of the team, and probably the one with the most important role. What remains when the switching spamfest is over, he's the one who cleans it up. In most late game situations, Salamence is unstoppable. After a Dragon Dance, he's probably gonna finish the game off with Outrage, unless an Ice Shard user or a bulky Steel type is still present. Earthquake is for things Outrage can't hit, Heatran being the perfect example. Lastly, Fire Blast rounds off the coverage, hitting Skarmory, Ferrothorn and friends super effectively.
So there you have it. Comments, suggestions, criticisms, or whatever would be really appreciated. :)
Team at a Glance:
With abusing switching moves as my concept, I thought of two Pokemon that could pull off that strategy effectively. We all know that Rotom-W and Scizor cover each other's weaknesses perfectly, so I chose them as this team's core.
Next, I wanted to really take advantage of switching even more, so I decided to use three switchers instead of just Scizor and Rotom-W. Mienshao quickly came into my mind.
Repeated switching means you should get rid of entry hazards at all cost. Espeon gives that thanks to her ability, Magic Bounce.
With the switchers and a pseudo-spinner all set, all I needed was a sweeper that would pick off the remains of the opponent's team once it suffers great damage with continuous switching. I've had a really good experience using Terrakion as a late game sweeper with my older teams, so I opt to use him once again.
I thought having a layer of entry hazards would be very helpful since the opponent would be forced to switch out most of the time. Espeon can bounce back entry hazards that would be thrown at me, but not everyone use them so I decided to have a dedicated spiker in my team. And so I replaced Espeon with Deoxys-S.
At this point a spinner is all that I needed to keep the entry hazards away from my field. Starmie is one of the best in that job so I decided to use her.
After putting up this team's skeleton I checked for potential flaws and the first thing I saw was the lack of spin-blocker and a bit of weakness to sun teams. Chandelure seemed like the one that I needed, being immune to Rapid Spin and his ability to absorb Fire type attacks with Flash Fire.
After a while I realized that I would have some problems with the team slots if I had to use a separate slot for a spinner and a spiker. Fortunately for me, one Pokemon can do both jobs at the same time, and that's Forretress. At first I was reluctant to use him because he shares a humongous weakness to Fire-type attacks with Scizor. But with Chandelure to sponge Fire type attacks for me, I finally made up my mind, so I replaced Deoxys-S with Forry.
Finally, I just felt like using a sweeper other than Terrakion for a change. When it comes to late-game sweeping, Salamence is one of the most qualified for the job IMO.
The Team In Detail:
Scizor @ Choice Band
Adamant
248 HP/252 Atk/8 Spe
Ability: Swarm
-U-turn
-Bullet Punch
-Superpower
-Pursuit
Scizor is one of the cores of this team. With entry hazards on the opponent's side of the field, his ability to scout opponents with U-turn is really annoying. Add the fact that most of his weakness is covered perfectly by Rotom-W and vice-versa, they could just keep turns on switching with each other until the opponent's team is sufficiently weakened. Bullet Punch is great for revenge killing things and picking off the opponent's team if it's already significantly weakened. Superpower is to get a surprise kill against some of his counters expecting a Bullet Punch or something.
Rotom-W @ Choice Scarf
Timid
4 HP/252 SpA/252 Spe
-Volt Switch
-Hydro Pump
-Hidden Power Ice
-Trick
So this is the team's second part of the core and Scizor's partner in crime. As I've said, he can just switch places with Scizor almost effortlessly with Volt Switch, taking chunks of HP from the opponent's Pokemon. When his Scarf isn't needed that much (like when facing slow stall teams), I will just Trick the item to cripple one of the opponent's Pokemon, so even Blissey and Ferrothorn can't switch on him safely. I chose HP Ice over Fire to check Dragons, which would otherwise be some sort of a problem for my team. And of course Hydro Pump is there for a powerful STAB attack.
Mienshao @ Life Orb
Jolly
252 Atk/4 SpA/252 Spe
Ability: Regenerator
-Fake Out
-Hi Jump Kick
-U-turn
-Hidden Power Ice
Mienshao, the one that I would almost always use as a lead. With his ability to use U-turn, him, together with Scizor and Rotom-W can begin a huge U-Turn spamfest. Hi Jump Kick is a very powerful STAB which can OHKO many Pokemon. Fake Out is for dealing priority damage and flinching the opponent at the same time. HP Ice is there to deal with Gliscor.
Forretress @ Leftovers
Relaxed
252 HP/112 Atk/144 Def
Ability: Sturdy
-Stealth Rock
-Spikes
-Rapid Spin
-Earthquake
When your team requires continuous switching, you need two things: entry hazards on your opponent's field and entry hazards out on your own. Forretress does the job really well, keeping Stealth Rock and Spikes out of my field with Rapin Spin while setting his own entry hazards. Stealth Rocks and Spikes combined with my team's ability to almost always force switches is really deadly and annoying. I really wanted to use Volt Switch on the last slot so he can join the spamfest but I saw that he's my only hope to stop Excadrill so Earthquake is there instead. He shares the same 4x Fire type weakness with Scizor but fortunately, the next Pokemon complements both of them well.
Chandelure @ Leftovers
Modest
4 HP/252 Atk/252 Spe
Ability: Flash Fire
-Substitute
-Fire Blast
-Shadow Ball
-Hidden Power Fighting
So Chandelure does two important things for my team: blocking Rapid Spins and sponging Fire type attacks aimed at Scizor and Forretress. I know that he's not what you can call a legitimate spin blocker, as almost every Rapid Spinner can deal with him. But I've got no choice, as I only had one team slot left and I needed a spin blocker and and a Fire attack sponger especially the ones coming from sun teams. Substitute is really useful, allowing him to deal with some of his counters, most especially Tyranitar. It isn't really hard to pull off as he can always find opportunities to switch in thanks to my team's Fire type weakness. With Substitute up, he can 2HKO most Ttar sets with HP Fighting. Fire Blast and Shadow Ball rounds up the moveset with 2 powerful STAB attacks.
Salamence @ Life Orb
Naive
252 Atk/4 SpA/252 Spe
Ability: Intimidate
-Dragon Dance
-Outrage
-Earthquake
-Fire Blast
The final member of the team, and probably the one with the most important role. What remains when the switching spamfest is over, he's the one who cleans it up. In most late game situations, Salamence is unstoppable. After a Dragon Dance, he's probably gonna finish the game off with Outrage, unless an Ice Shard user or a bulky Steel type is still present. Earthquake is for things Outrage can't hit, Heatran being the perfect example. Lastly, Fire Blast rounds off the coverage, hitting Skarmory, Ferrothorn and friends super effectively.
Coming soon
So there you have it. Comments, suggestions, criticisms, or whatever would be really appreciated. :)
