Hi guys :)
Last year I didn't do great in Seniors (Top 128 :/) but I've retried this year by first making tweaks on my original 2012 Season Team. Right now, I'm getting about a 50% win, but I'm trying to improve. First, I'll show the teambuilding of the team.
So I decided in 2012 on some sort of weather team. Being quite popular in VGC, it was quite easy to get started. With sandstorm raising its Sp. Def to defend against strong Special Attackers, Tyranitar was my first choice.
Tyranitar (F) @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Sand Stream
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Crunch
- Ice Punch
- Rock Slide
- Brick Break
The major Sandstorm starter of Gen 2-5 still lives up to his name, taking down anything in his sight. With 252 EV Speed Investment, a Choice Scarf and a Jolly Nature, this thing can take down Base 115s and tie with 116s (specifically Whimsicott), stopping them from setting up, or sweeping the remnants of the team. The full 252 Attack Investment, is so Tyranitar can also show off his full attacking potential, as well as speed, and to make full use of his wide moveset. No defensive EVs here though, due to Tyranitar's already quite large HP and Defence, plus his Special Defensive boost from the Sandstorm.
The wide typing variety in the moveset is so holes can be covered in the teams weaknesses: Crunch is for taking down 3 particularly common threats, Latios, Latias and Cresselia, as these 3 give me quite big problems in late game. Second is Ice Punch, to take down the big dragons of the metagame: Garchomp, Dragonite, the Genies and the aforementioned Latios and Latias. Third is Rock Slide, to tie in with the rest of team, hoping for some flinches, and for slowly withering down the last few pokemon. Brick Break, the fourth and final, is also used in conjunction with Rock Slide, for taking down hail teams. Tyranitar can switch in on the second turn and win the weather, then can proceed to take down each ice member individually. :naughty:
As we now have our lead, a weather starter, it's time for more sandstorm sweeping. Who better than Excadrill!
Excadrill (M) @ Life Orb
Trait: Sand Rush
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Earthquake
- Protect
- Rock Slide
- X-Scissor
Excadrill, known for getting 604 speed in sandstorm then killing all with high attack... Usually. This set focuses more on Excadrill's sweeping capabilities more than anything but still hits a good 550 Speed with Sand Veil, enough to outspeed base 116s with a Choice Scarf, base 70s with an opponents Tailwind and any pokemon with just max speed investment. But like I said, this concentrates more on sweeping, thus the 252 Attack and Life Orb. Exacadrill's main use on the team is to get rid of anything quite quickly with the help of Tyranitar, such as ice types and bulky tanks (Cresselia, Bronzong). Because of this, Excadrill also has Earthquake and Rock Slide for Ice Types and X-Scissor for Bulky Tanks. X-Scissor can also one shot a Latios at max Attack, which as I have stressed, is quite a big sweeper in this metagame. Protect finally, is on most VGC Pokémon, for surviving an extra turn.
Two Physical Sweepers so far so we need a Special Attacker. I have said before that we needed to get rid of Ice Attacks/Types for Ground Types, but also because of this:
Latios (M) @ Dragon Gem
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Protect
- Draco Meteor
- Psychic
- Energy Ball
Whilst we need to get rid of them, we need to have them as well. Latios is an amazing sweeper in any tier due to its good Special Attack, Speed and movepool. This set tries to get rid of small threats with STAB Psychic and Energy Ball, and also getting rid of bigger threats with Dragon Gem STAB Draco Meteor at 210BP. Special Attack has been maxed out again here to try and do serious or more hopefully, fatal damage, and max speed and a timid nature will help get the kills in quickly.
Going a bit more in depth on the 'small threats,' Psychic is the normal move for Latios to use on the team, before getting rid of them with Draco Meteor, but it can also be used to stop key Fake Out Users like Hitmontop, Toxicroak, Hariyama and Mienshao. Energy Ball is on the moveset for rain teams and water-ground types (Politoed, Gastrodon etc), which I was having a bit of difficulty before with. Lastly, like before, Protect is normal.
The next spot actually changed a few times, starting with Hitmontop, going to Zapdos, then finally to Thundurus-T. What started as a Fake Out user turned into a Choice Spec Thunder Genie B)
Thundurus (Thundurus-T) (M) @ Choice Specs
Trait: Volt Absorb
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Volt Switch
- Dark Pulse
- Discharge
- Psychic
Thundurus-T is new to this metagame, only being released in October, but it is still a great sweeper none-the-less. Special Attack stat after all the boosts hits 389, then x1.5 for the Specs totalling 583.5 (583). Some sweet numbers there for sweeping with! As about a third of the team is part ground, we can take Discharges without any fear of taking damage, whilst doing significant amounts of damage to rain teams. Volt Switch on a Choice Set without Trick seems strange, but it's able to switch out quickly if you can predict what the opponent is going to do. Psychic is also Thundurus for the same reason it's on Latios, taking down Fighting types and Fake Out users. Lastly, Dark Pulse is finally for taking out psychic and ghost types on Trick Room teams like Chandelure, Bronzong, Dusknoir, Dusclops you name it. Also, if I'm willing to take the risk, it can be used on my Terrakion (coming up in a second) to get the Justified bonus if I want to take around 25-30% damage.
Next like I just said, is Terrakion.
Terrakion @ Leftovers
Trait: Justified
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Protect
- Close Combat
- Earthquake
- Taunt
Terrakion is a pretty awesome all around to be honest, and in a Sandstorm team, he's even better. Due to his partial Rock typing, he's got 1.5x Special Defence in Special Defence, and can hold his ground against Sun teams and Hail Teams. His Speed Bonuses get him to the max of 333, beating base 110s to sweep them with Close Combat or Earthquake. As I was having issues with Trick Room teams, I put Taunt on there to protect against that, and other status moves from Breloom, Whimsicott etc.
On the attacking side, Terrakion has a great Attack Base, and a STAB move with over 120 BP, bringing terror onto Ice Pokémon like Weavile like nothing happened B) Finally, his item. He carries Leftovers just to keep recovering health whilst sweeping all.
Lastly, I chose the most awesome pokemon of all time from 4th Gen. Garchomp :)
Garchomp (F) @ Yache Berry
Trait: Sand Veil
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Earthquake
- Dragon Claw
- Rock Slide
- Protect
Garchomp is the last Pokémon on the team, useful for taking out the last few things the others can't beat. However, I'm not completely sure about Having Garchomp on the team, as Latios outspeeds him and Excadrill can do everything Chomp does better. Any suggestions for better Pokes?
Anyway to Garchomp. Earthquake and Rock Slide are still for the same purpose as always, whilst Dragon Claw is good for taking out the likes of Dragonite (actually now that I think about it Multiscale Dragonite might be a good idea :) ) and Latios and Latias. Speed also hits 333, like Terrakion, pretty much outspeeding everyone he does. Garchomp's Yache Berry is for getting hit by scarfed Ice Types and Weavile whilst trying to take out the opponents Hail Team but also can be used for taking out rain teams (if I was insane).
Conclusion:
I had some good ideas but like I said at the start, a few things just need a bit of ironing out, like Garchomp and some of the EV spreads. I'm open to any changes quite quickly though as I need to start testing and obtaining before UK Seniors on June 2nd
Thanks in advance :)
EDIT 29/3: Thundurus-T was a last minute decision over Zapdos, but now I'm getting about 75-80% win. Still looking for improvements though on pretty much anything really though :)
Last year I didn't do great in Seniors (Top 128 :/) but I've retried this year by first making tweaks on my original 2012 Season Team. Right now, I'm getting about a 50% win, but I'm trying to improve. First, I'll show the teambuilding of the team.
So I decided in 2012 on some sort of weather team. Being quite popular in VGC, it was quite easy to get started. With sandstorm raising its Sp. Def to defend against strong Special Attackers, Tyranitar was my first choice.
Tyranitar (F) @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Sand Stream
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Crunch
- Ice Punch
- Rock Slide
- Brick Break
The major Sandstorm starter of Gen 2-5 still lives up to his name, taking down anything in his sight. With 252 EV Speed Investment, a Choice Scarf and a Jolly Nature, this thing can take down Base 115s and tie with 116s (specifically Whimsicott), stopping them from setting up, or sweeping the remnants of the team. The full 252 Attack Investment, is so Tyranitar can also show off his full attacking potential, as well as speed, and to make full use of his wide moveset. No defensive EVs here though, due to Tyranitar's already quite large HP and Defence, plus his Special Defensive boost from the Sandstorm.
The wide typing variety in the moveset is so holes can be covered in the teams weaknesses: Crunch is for taking down 3 particularly common threats, Latios, Latias and Cresselia, as these 3 give me quite big problems in late game. Second is Ice Punch, to take down the big dragons of the metagame: Garchomp, Dragonite, the Genies and the aforementioned Latios and Latias. Third is Rock Slide, to tie in with the rest of team, hoping for some flinches, and for slowly withering down the last few pokemon. Brick Break, the fourth and final, is also used in conjunction with Rock Slide, for taking down hail teams. Tyranitar can switch in on the second turn and win the weather, then can proceed to take down each ice member individually. :naughty:
As we now have our lead, a weather starter, it's time for more sandstorm sweeping. Who better than Excadrill!
Excadrill (M) @ Life Orb
Trait: Sand Rush
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Earthquake
- Protect
- Rock Slide
- X-Scissor
Excadrill, known for getting 604 speed in sandstorm then killing all with high attack... Usually. This set focuses more on Excadrill's sweeping capabilities more than anything but still hits a good 550 Speed with Sand Veil, enough to outspeed base 116s with a Choice Scarf, base 70s with an opponents Tailwind and any pokemon with just max speed investment. But like I said, this concentrates more on sweeping, thus the 252 Attack and Life Orb. Exacadrill's main use on the team is to get rid of anything quite quickly with the help of Tyranitar, such as ice types and bulky tanks (Cresselia, Bronzong). Because of this, Excadrill also has Earthquake and Rock Slide for Ice Types and X-Scissor for Bulky Tanks. X-Scissor can also one shot a Latios at max Attack, which as I have stressed, is quite a big sweeper in this metagame. Protect finally, is on most VGC Pokémon, for surviving an extra turn.
Two Physical Sweepers so far so we need a Special Attacker. I have said before that we needed to get rid of Ice Attacks/Types for Ground Types, but also because of this:
Latios (M) @ Dragon Gem
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Protect
- Draco Meteor
- Psychic
- Energy Ball
Whilst we need to get rid of them, we need to have them as well. Latios is an amazing sweeper in any tier due to its good Special Attack, Speed and movepool. This set tries to get rid of small threats with STAB Psychic and Energy Ball, and also getting rid of bigger threats with Dragon Gem STAB Draco Meteor at 210BP. Special Attack has been maxed out again here to try and do serious or more hopefully, fatal damage, and max speed and a timid nature will help get the kills in quickly.
Going a bit more in depth on the 'small threats,' Psychic is the normal move for Latios to use on the team, before getting rid of them with Draco Meteor, but it can also be used to stop key Fake Out Users like Hitmontop, Toxicroak, Hariyama and Mienshao. Energy Ball is on the moveset for rain teams and water-ground types (Politoed, Gastrodon etc), which I was having a bit of difficulty before with. Lastly, like before, Protect is normal.
The next spot actually changed a few times, starting with Hitmontop, going to Zapdos, then finally to Thundurus-T. What started as a Fake Out user turned into a Choice Spec Thunder Genie B)
Thundurus (Thundurus-T) (M) @ Choice Specs
Trait: Volt Absorb
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Volt Switch
- Dark Pulse
- Discharge
- Psychic
Thundurus-T is new to this metagame, only being released in October, but it is still a great sweeper none-the-less. Special Attack stat after all the boosts hits 389, then x1.5 for the Specs totalling 583.5 (583). Some sweet numbers there for sweeping with! As about a third of the team is part ground, we can take Discharges without any fear of taking damage, whilst doing significant amounts of damage to rain teams. Volt Switch on a Choice Set without Trick seems strange, but it's able to switch out quickly if you can predict what the opponent is going to do. Psychic is also Thundurus for the same reason it's on Latios, taking down Fighting types and Fake Out users. Lastly, Dark Pulse is finally for taking out psychic and ghost types on Trick Room teams like Chandelure, Bronzong, Dusknoir, Dusclops you name it. Also, if I'm willing to take the risk, it can be used on my Terrakion (coming up in a second) to get the Justified bonus if I want to take around 25-30% damage.
Next like I just said, is Terrakion.
Terrakion @ Leftovers
Trait: Justified
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Protect
- Close Combat
- Earthquake
- Taunt
Terrakion is a pretty awesome all around to be honest, and in a Sandstorm team, he's even better. Due to his partial Rock typing, he's got 1.5x Special Defence in Special Defence, and can hold his ground against Sun teams and Hail Teams. His Speed Bonuses get him to the max of 333, beating base 110s to sweep them with Close Combat or Earthquake. As I was having issues with Trick Room teams, I put Taunt on there to protect against that, and other status moves from Breloom, Whimsicott etc.
On the attacking side, Terrakion has a great Attack Base, and a STAB move with over 120 BP, bringing terror onto Ice Pokémon like Weavile like nothing happened B) Finally, his item. He carries Leftovers just to keep recovering health whilst sweeping all.
Lastly, I chose the most awesome pokemon of all time from 4th Gen. Garchomp :)
Garchomp (F) @ Yache Berry
Trait: Sand Veil
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Earthquake
- Dragon Claw
- Rock Slide
- Protect
Garchomp is the last Pokémon on the team, useful for taking out the last few things the others can't beat. However, I'm not completely sure about Having Garchomp on the team, as Latios outspeeds him and Excadrill can do everything Chomp does better. Any suggestions for better Pokes?
Anyway to Garchomp. Earthquake and Rock Slide are still for the same purpose as always, whilst Dragon Claw is good for taking out the likes of Dragonite (actually now that I think about it Multiscale Dragonite might be a good idea :) ) and Latios and Latias. Speed also hits 333, like Terrakion, pretty much outspeeding everyone he does. Garchomp's Yache Berry is for getting hit by scarfed Ice Types and Weavile whilst trying to take out the opponents Hail Team but also can be used for taking out rain teams (if I was insane).
Conclusion:
I had some good ideas but like I said at the start, a few things just need a bit of ironing out, like Garchomp and some of the EV spreads. I'm open to any changes quite quickly though as I need to start testing and obtaining before UK Seniors on June 2nd
Thanks in advance :)
EDIT 29/3: Thundurus-T was a last minute decision over Zapdos, but now I'm getting about 75-80% win. Still looking for improvements though on pretty much anything really though :)
