Dark Fallen Angel
FIDDLESTICKS IS ALSO GOOD ON MID!
Introduction (please read)
This is not the first team that I post here in RMT, it's also a sand team but is pretty different from the Twilight Sand Team (that you can see here). As this team is different and the other thread is old, I think that it's necessary to create another thread.
I am having lots of sucess with this team. I am playing this team on the PO Brazilian server, where the lack of teams with entry hazard setters let me build a much more diverse team, and I could use options that I wanted to use instead of options that I was forced to use to cover a weakness. I could even run a pokémon with a Stealth Rock weakness, without worrying about Rapid Spin support, because as I said above, the brazilian metagame lacks teams with pokémons that setup entry hazards.
The only pokémon that is weak to Stealth Rock on my team is Salamence. 2 of them, Conkeldurr and Ferrothorn, are resistant. Toxic Spikes is not also a threat since 3 pokémon on my team (Landorus, Salamence and Ferrothorn) are immune to Toxic Spikes, and one of them (Conkeldurr) actually enjoys being poisoned; one of them (Tyranitar) doesn't care much about Toxic Spikes because of it's role, so the only pokémon that really hate Toxic Spikes is Jellicent. Spikes is not much of a problem, also.
Unfortunately this team is obsolete because of the new B2W2 metagame. The brazilian server is still only acessible at the old Pokémon Online version, where there are no Therian forms to genies, Keldeo or the new tutor moves. Combined with the lack of any spinner, I feel that this team is not prepared to face the new standard B2W2 metagame. I want some help to adapt this team, in a way that it can compete with the new threats introduced, such as the new Genie's forms and Keldeo, and the fact that rain teams now dominate the metagame.
The team
Conkeldurr (M) @ Flame Orb
Trait: Guts
EVs: 224 HP / 252 Atk / 32 SDef
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Drain Punch
- Mach Punch
- Payback
- Facade
Roles: Lead, weaken the opponent's team at the beginning of battle
Conkeldurr is my lead most of times. That's because of the fact that with it's sheer power, Conkeldurr can, at the beginning of battle, kill one or two enemy pokémon before dying himself. This opens good opportunities to my team to destroy the rest of the opponent's team, since it will be weakened. Also, Conkeldurr is the lead instead of Tyranitar because sandstorm damage would kill Conkeldurr faster, and I need him to weaken the opponent's team first, to facilitate the battle afterwards.
Conkeldurr also often serves as a revenge killer because of Mach Punch. With Mach Punch, I can revenge kill (or check, depending of the situation) threats that otherwise could outspeed most of my team.
Tyranitar (F) @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Sand Stream
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Pursuit
- Crunch
- Stone Edge
- Superpower
Roles: Invoke a sandstorm, sweep late-game, revenge kill
This is the center of my team. It has a sheer power, with alow him to be an amazing sweeper, that's why Choice Scarf is used. She can also revenge kill many unboosted threats. Pursuit allows me to dent some damage on the opponent when it is going to switch because it can't hurt Tyranitar; it can also OHKO Psychics and Ghosts, sometimes even when they decide to stay, but if they are not OHKOed, the opponent soons realise that I have Pursuit, and they choose to stay to not be OHKOed, but they'll be soon OHKOed anyways.
Lucas (Jellicent) (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Water Absorb
EVs: 252 HP / 60 Def / 196 SDef
Calm Nature (+SDef, -Atk)
- Scald
- Recover
- Will-O-Wisp
- Shadow Ball
Roles: Countering Water-types, Fighting-types and spreading burn around the opponent's team.
Jellicent is running an defensive support set, he also serves as an special wall. Not as powerful as Blissey, but Jellicent is chosen because of his tipying and ability. His main role, as stated above, is to counter Fighting-types and Water-types. Jellicent is my main weapon against rain-teams, because of it's ability to absorb Water attacks. He can then proceed to burn the opponent, then Shadow Ball him to death (or Scald, when Shadow Ball depletes PP or the opponent is resistant to it). He also counters Fighting-types, mainly those that are choice-locked on a Fighting-type attack. When the opponent is foolish enough to use Close Combat from a Terrakion, I switch and absorb Close Combat. This gives me a perfect opportunity to burn an opponent's pokémon and cripple him, either because of the attack reduction, or because of residual damage. Jellicent is my burning machine that also comes with no fear against Water-types and Fighting-types.
He can also spinblock, of course. But Rapid Spin is an uncommon move in the Brazilian server, so it's not Jellicent's main role.
Landorus (M) @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Sand Power
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SAtk / 252 Spd
Naive Nature (+Spd, -SDef)
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- U-turn
Roles: Revenge kill, sweep (once all Flying-types and Levitaters are removed) and checking Gliscor.
This Landorus is identic to the Landorus of my other sand team. So, those that have read the previous thread don't need an explanation that this is my revenge killer. I already have Tyranitar, but Landorus is also used this way because Tyranitar can only revenge kill unboosted threats, while Landorus can often revenge kill or check some +1 threats. Landorus also serves as a late-game sweeper; once all Flying-types and Levitaters are removed, there are a few things that are safe to take massive damage from Landorus' Earthquake. Even Flying-types can be taken with Stone Edge. Hidden Power Ice is mainly for Gliscor and opposing Landorus, because I don't have an effective check/counter for them.
Ferrothorn (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: Iron Barbs
EVs: 252 HP / 88 Def / 168 SDef
Relaxed Nature (+Def, -Spd)
- Spikes
- Stealth Rock
- Gyro Ball
- Power Whip
Roles: Setup entry hazards, counter Water-types, kill fast threats that think they can come safely and wall Dragon-types (mainly those locked on Outrage).
This Ferrothorn is also identical to the Ferrothorn of previous team, although initially the other Ferrothorn was using Leech Seed instead of Stealth Rock. This Ferrothorn always used Stealth Rock since I created this team. It setups entry hazards that facilitate my OHKOs and 2HKOs.
It's also the only thing on my team that resists Dragon-type attacks, although the only effective weapon that Ferrothorn has against them is Gyro Ball. Gyro Ball is also Ferrothorn's weapon against fast threats such as Gengar, although I need to hit them on switch because they can threat Ferrothorn with attacks like Focus Blast in case of Gengar. That's why I use Gyro Ball instead of Thunder Wave.
Ferrothorn also counters Water-types; the difference that although Ferrothorn doesn't absorb Water-type attacks like Jellicent, Ferrothorn has a super-effective attack against them, unlike Jellicent that is forced to resort to STAB Shadow Ball, that without investiment in SpA, cannot even 2HKO opposing Water-types without help of burn residual damage.
Trait: Intimidate
EVs: 100 Atk / 176 SAtk / 232 Spd
Naive Nature (+Spd, -SDef)
- Draco Meteor
- Fire Blast
- Brick Break
- Roost
Roles: Destroy walls, take care of problem pokémon and check Dragon-types
Initially, my team didn't had Salamence. Then, I found that my team was having problems with stall teams. When I searched for a good stallbreaker, I found that Salamence was what I was wanting.
I can often surprise the opponent with this set, as most of them think that I am using a Dragon Dance set. Then, when they switch to a check/counter, they are surprised to see their Pokémon being OHKOed by Draco Meteor, although I have problems afterwards because of the Special Attack drop, and Brick Break is rather weak when it isn't super-effective. Nevertheless, Salamence destroys walls, and those Steel-types that think that can wall Salamence are destroyed by Fire Blast (or Brick Break, in case of Heatran or the pink blobs). Brick Break is chosen instead of Earthquake because many Heatrans and Magnezones use Air Ballon, and Fire Blast already hurts Jirachi and many other Steel-types super-effectively, also Brick Break is necessary to get past Blissey and Chansey. I tried to use Earthquake, but I had problems. Brick Break is my move.
Roost is in the last slot, but I have very few opportunities to use it, and Salamence often dies quickly because of Life Orb recoil and sandstorm damage, plus the hits that it take. So, I am thinking of replacing Roost with another coverage move or Outrage.
Weakness
*Gliscor: He has been an annonying problem to my team. With only Landorus using an Ice-type attack, my only hope is to either hit Gliscor on the switch, hope that the opponent doesn't setup Substitute and instead uses the wrong attack, or pray that Gliscor is using an AcroBat set. Or I must sacrifice an Pokémon, and if I have luck and break Gliscor's substitutes when I am OHKOed, Gliscor is weakened and I can revenge kill him before it can setup another Substitute. Even so, Gliscor is annonying, and I am having serious problems to take him down.
As of now Gliscor is my only major problem. This team is not recent, but I'll try to test it more to detect more problems. As I said above, entry hazards are not a problem because of their scarcity on the brazilian server, where I play most of my battles with this team.
But I am thinking to adapt this team to the new metagame, since this team is obsolete, because of this I need help. What changes should I do to my team, so I can safely use it on the new B2W2 metagame?
From what I saw, I would need an check to the new rain teams that are dominating the metagame. Is Lanturn a good choice? Also, I am thinking of running Stoutland (because of Superpower), but I don't really want to use him. I will use, however, if needed. Landorus would still be better on it's incarnate form, or should I use it's therian form? Also, I don't know if it's already released, but I am thinking of using Moxie Salamence with Dragon Dance or Choice Scarf. Should I need to use this (if it's released, of course), or I need to stick with it's wallbreaker set? Should I use Forretress instead of Ferrothorn? I am only using Ferrothorn because of it's Grass-type STAB and better set of resistance, and as I am tired of saying, there aren't many entry hazard setters in the Brazilian PO server.
This is not the first team that I post here in RMT, it's also a sand team but is pretty different from the Twilight Sand Team (that you can see here). As this team is different and the other thread is old, I think that it's necessary to create another thread.
I am having lots of sucess with this team. I am playing this team on the PO Brazilian server, where the lack of teams with entry hazard setters let me build a much more diverse team, and I could use options that I wanted to use instead of options that I was forced to use to cover a weakness. I could even run a pokémon with a Stealth Rock weakness, without worrying about Rapid Spin support, because as I said above, the brazilian metagame lacks teams with pokémons that setup entry hazards.
The only pokémon that is weak to Stealth Rock on my team is Salamence. 2 of them, Conkeldurr and Ferrothorn, are resistant. Toxic Spikes is not also a threat since 3 pokémon on my team (Landorus, Salamence and Ferrothorn) are immune to Toxic Spikes, and one of them (Conkeldurr) actually enjoys being poisoned; one of them (Tyranitar) doesn't care much about Toxic Spikes because of it's role, so the only pokémon that really hate Toxic Spikes is Jellicent. Spikes is not much of a problem, also.
Unfortunately this team is obsolete because of the new B2W2 metagame. The brazilian server is still only acessible at the old Pokémon Online version, where there are no Therian forms to genies, Keldeo or the new tutor moves. Combined with the lack of any spinner, I feel that this team is not prepared to face the new standard B2W2 metagame. I want some help to adapt this team, in a way that it can compete with the new threats introduced, such as the new Genie's forms and Keldeo, and the fact that rain teams now dominate the metagame.
The team
Conkeldurr
Conkeldurr (M) @ Flame Orb
Trait: Guts
EVs: 224 HP / 252 Atk / 32 SDef
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Drain Punch
- Mach Punch
- Payback
- Facade
Roles: Lead, weaken the opponent's team at the beginning of battle
Conkeldurr is my lead most of times. That's because of the fact that with it's sheer power, Conkeldurr can, at the beginning of battle, kill one or two enemy pokémon before dying himself. This opens good opportunities to my team to destroy the rest of the opponent's team, since it will be weakened. Also, Conkeldurr is the lead instead of Tyranitar because sandstorm damage would kill Conkeldurr faster, and I need him to weaken the opponent's team first, to facilitate the battle afterwards.
Conkeldurr also often serves as a revenge killer because of Mach Punch. With Mach Punch, I can revenge kill (or check, depending of the situation) threats that otherwise could outspeed most of my team.
Tyranitar
Tyranitar (F) @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Sand Stream
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Pursuit
- Crunch
- Stone Edge
- Superpower
Roles: Invoke a sandstorm, sweep late-game, revenge kill
This is the center of my team. It has a sheer power, with alow him to be an amazing sweeper, that's why Choice Scarf is used. She can also revenge kill many unboosted threats. Pursuit allows me to dent some damage on the opponent when it is going to switch because it can't hurt Tyranitar; it can also OHKO Psychics and Ghosts, sometimes even when they decide to stay, but if they are not OHKOed, the opponent soons realise that I have Pursuit, and they choose to stay to not be OHKOed, but they'll be soon OHKOed anyways.
Jellicent
Lucas (Jellicent) (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Water Absorb
EVs: 252 HP / 60 Def / 196 SDef
Calm Nature (+SDef, -Atk)
- Scald
- Recover
- Will-O-Wisp
- Shadow Ball
Roles: Countering Water-types, Fighting-types and spreading burn around the opponent's team.
Jellicent is running an defensive support set, he also serves as an special wall. Not as powerful as Blissey, but Jellicent is chosen because of his tipying and ability. His main role, as stated above, is to counter Fighting-types and Water-types. Jellicent is my main weapon against rain-teams, because of it's ability to absorb Water attacks. He can then proceed to burn the opponent, then Shadow Ball him to death (or Scald, when Shadow Ball depletes PP or the opponent is resistant to it). He also counters Fighting-types, mainly those that are choice-locked on a Fighting-type attack. When the opponent is foolish enough to use Close Combat from a Terrakion, I switch and absorb Close Combat. This gives me a perfect opportunity to burn an opponent's pokémon and cripple him, either because of the attack reduction, or because of residual damage. Jellicent is my burning machine that also comes with no fear against Water-types and Fighting-types.
He can also spinblock, of course. But Rapid Spin is an uncommon move in the Brazilian server, so it's not Jellicent's main role.
Landorus
Landorus (M) @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Sand Power
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SAtk / 252 Spd
Naive Nature (+Spd, -SDef)
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- U-turn
Roles: Revenge kill, sweep (once all Flying-types and Levitaters are removed) and checking Gliscor.
This Landorus is identic to the Landorus of my other sand team. So, those that have read the previous thread don't need an explanation that this is my revenge killer. I already have Tyranitar, but Landorus is also used this way because Tyranitar can only revenge kill unboosted threats, while Landorus can often revenge kill or check some +1 threats. Landorus also serves as a late-game sweeper; once all Flying-types and Levitaters are removed, there are a few things that are safe to take massive damage from Landorus' Earthquake. Even Flying-types can be taken with Stone Edge. Hidden Power Ice is mainly for Gliscor and opposing Landorus, because I don't have an effective check/counter for them.
Ferrothorn
Ferrothorn (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: Iron Barbs
EVs: 252 HP / 88 Def / 168 SDef
Relaxed Nature (+Def, -Spd)
- Spikes
- Stealth Rock
- Gyro Ball
- Power Whip
Roles: Setup entry hazards, counter Water-types, kill fast threats that think they can come safely and wall Dragon-types (mainly those locked on Outrage).
This Ferrothorn is also identical to the Ferrothorn of previous team, although initially the other Ferrothorn was using Leech Seed instead of Stealth Rock. This Ferrothorn always used Stealth Rock since I created this team. It setups entry hazards that facilitate my OHKOs and 2HKOs.
It's also the only thing on my team that resists Dragon-type attacks, although the only effective weapon that Ferrothorn has against them is Gyro Ball. Gyro Ball is also Ferrothorn's weapon against fast threats such as Gengar, although I need to hit them on switch because they can threat Ferrothorn with attacks like Focus Blast in case of Gengar. That's why I use Gyro Ball instead of Thunder Wave.
Ferrothorn also counters Water-types; the difference that although Ferrothorn doesn't absorb Water-type attacks like Jellicent, Ferrothorn has a super-effective attack against them, unlike Jellicent that is forced to resort to STAB Shadow Ball, that without investiment in SpA, cannot even 2HKO opposing Water-types without help of burn residual damage.
Salamence
Salamence (M) @ Life Orb
Trait: Intimidate
EVs: 100 Atk / 176 SAtk / 232 Spd
Naive Nature (+Spd, -SDef)
- Draco Meteor
- Fire Blast
- Brick Break
- Roost
Roles: Destroy walls, take care of problem pokémon and check Dragon-types
Initially, my team didn't had Salamence. Then, I found that my team was having problems with stall teams. When I searched for a good stallbreaker, I found that Salamence was what I was wanting.
I can often surprise the opponent with this set, as most of them think that I am using a Dragon Dance set. Then, when they switch to a check/counter, they are surprised to see their Pokémon being OHKOed by Draco Meteor, although I have problems afterwards because of the Special Attack drop, and Brick Break is rather weak when it isn't super-effective. Nevertheless, Salamence destroys walls, and those Steel-types that think that can wall Salamence are destroyed by Fire Blast (or Brick Break, in case of Heatran or the pink blobs). Brick Break is chosen instead of Earthquake because many Heatrans and Magnezones use Air Ballon, and Fire Blast already hurts Jirachi and many other Steel-types super-effectively, also Brick Break is necessary to get past Blissey and Chansey. I tried to use Earthquake, but I had problems. Brick Break is my move.
Roost is in the last slot, but I have very few opportunities to use it, and Salamence often dies quickly because of Life Orb recoil and sandstorm damage, plus the hits that it take. So, I am thinking of replacing Roost with another coverage move or Outrage.
Weakness
*Gliscor: He has been an annonying problem to my team. With only Landorus using an Ice-type attack, my only hope is to either hit Gliscor on the switch, hope that the opponent doesn't setup Substitute and instead uses the wrong attack, or pray that Gliscor is using an AcroBat set. Or I must sacrifice an Pokémon, and if I have luck and break Gliscor's substitutes when I am OHKOed, Gliscor is weakened and I can revenge kill him before it can setup another Substitute. Even so, Gliscor is annonying, and I am having serious problems to take him down.
As of now Gliscor is my only major problem. This team is not recent, but I'll try to test it more to detect more problems. As I said above, entry hazards are not a problem because of their scarcity on the brazilian server, where I play most of my battles with this team.
But I am thinking to adapt this team to the new metagame, since this team is obsolete, because of this I need help. What changes should I do to my team, so I can safely use it on the new B2W2 metagame?
From what I saw, I would need an check to the new rain teams that are dominating the metagame. Is Lanturn a good choice? Also, I am thinking of running Stoutland (because of Superpower), but I don't really want to use him. I will use, however, if needed. Landorus would still be better on it's incarnate form, or should I use it's therian form? Also, I don't know if it's already released, but I am thinking of using Moxie Salamence with Dragon Dance or Choice Scarf. Should I need to use this (if it's released, of course), or I need to stick with it's wallbreaker set? Should I use Forretress instead of Ferrothorn? I am only using Ferrothorn because of it's Grass-type STAB and better set of resistance, and as I am tired of saying, there aren't many entry hazard setters in the Brazilian PO server.