Well, here goes nothing I suppose. My first team of Generation V. I haven't played since Platinum, so I'm a bit rusty, but this team is currently at 1190 on Smogon's Pokemon Online Server. I've never been all that good at introductions, so without further ado, I'll get into the team, and my team building process.
Creative process:
Firstly, I decided I wanted Ferrothorn on my team, being a pretty beast wall.
Next, I decided to add Chandelure. They have great synergy.
Then I went with Vaporeon for even more support, which I'll get into later.
Next up was Excadrill, for some Rapid Spin support in conjunction with Vaporeon.
Now this is where the team gets a little shaky. I added Tyranitar for Sandstorm support for Excadrill and Garchomp for a Sandstorm sweeper.
Next, I noticed a glaring Fighting weakness, and replaced Chandelure with Reuniclus:
Now, to get into detail.
First up is Tyranitar
Tyranitar
Item: Leftovers
Ability: Sand Stream
Nature: Sassy
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Special Attack / 252 Special Defense
-Stealth Rock
-Fire Blast
-Crunch
-Superpower
I must admit, I am pretty fond of this thing, albeit I'm not sure if it belongs on this team. Tyranitar as a lead does two things for me: 1) Set up Stealth Rock and 2) Set up Sandstorm. After that, it does a fine job at eating Special Attacks thanks to 328 Special Defense plus a 50% boost in Sandstorm. Sassy Natures boosts its Special Defense while sacrificing some Speed, which Tyranitar already lacks to begin with, so its a minor loss. Fire Blast gets those damnable Steels, Crunch gives me STAB, and Superpower gets enemy Tyranitar. In addition to its general spot on my team, I must say I'm quite shaky of its EV spread. I'm not sure if going for pure bulk is a good thing or a bad thing.
Next, the shark of the sand, Garchomp
Garchomp
Item: Salac Berry
Ability: Sand Veil
Nature: Adamant
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Attack / 252 Speed
-Substitute
-Earthquake
-Outrage
-Swords Dance
If I'm uncertain of his position on the team, you must imagine my uncertainty of his moveset. SubSalac Swords Dance Chomp. My main strategy is to set up a Substitute, and between that and the now 80% accuracy all normally 100% accuracy moves are packing, get in as many Swords Dances as possible, try to trigger the Salac for a Speed boost, and put a dent in my enemy's team. I try to save this for later in the match, where Steel-Types are out of the picture. An Adamant Nature gives me more power which I feel I'd need more than Speed, since I'm already carrying a Salac Berry. Outrage and Earthquake are two powerful attacks, needless to say, that provide dual-STAB. I'm wondering if I should stick with Outrage, which has the drawback of confusion and taking a chunk out of my own HP as a result, or Dragon Claw, which looses power in exchange for the absences of such a fear.
Now for the vanishing, liquefying, Vaporeon
Vaporeon
Item: Leftovers
Ability: Water Absorb
Nature: Bold
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Defense / 8 Special Defense
-Wish
-Scald
-Roar
-Protect
Ahh, Vaporeon has always been a long time favorite of mine. Massive HP, Wish support, respectable Special Attack, being a lightweight Water-Type. What's not to like? Vaporeon gives some synergy to Ferrothorn and Chandelure, who I mentioned I began with as a basis for my team, by being capable of eating Fire-Type, Ice-Type, and Water-Type attacks. However, Vaporeon's real selling point, is Wish. Ferrothorn is a great defensive Pokemon, and Tyranitar, as I mentioned, has been serving well at that job as well, however, both of these Pokemon lack a recovery move. (Although Ferrothorn does have Leech Seed.) With some Wish support and 248 HP EVs, Vaporeon creates 231 HP recoveries to be passed along. Protect allows Vaporeon to scout, stall, and get that recovery for itself as well, with Scald packing a STAB move with a nice 30% chance to burn the enemy. Roar switches out my opponent's Pokemon that may be trying to stat-up, or just shuffles their team in general for some nice residual damage from entry hazards. The EV spread gives Vaporeon a hefty amount of HP for Wish in addition to some durability.
REMOVED:
Now, for the fiery possessed chandelier, Chandelure.
Chandelure
Item: Choice Scarf
Ability: Shadow Tag
Nature: Timid
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Special Attack / 252 Speed
-Overheat
-Energy Ball
-Shadow Ball
-Hidden Power Fighting
I'm honestly just sitting around, twiddling my thumbs waiting for this thing to be banned. Good ol' Shadow Tag trapping + 150 base Special Attack + respectable Speed + respectable movepool + Choice Scarf = Great revenge killer. Chandelure's job is to come in on something that has been lured out by Ferrothorn or Vaporeon, and kill it. With 140 base power STAB for a heavy hit, or a base 80 STAB that threatens to lower the foe's Special Defense, in addition to covering some Water-Types with Energy Ball and Dark-Types with Hidden Power Fighting, it gets the job done. Granted, Chandelure can't switch in on everything, it is more useful coming in after something else on my team suffered an untimely death, but occasionally it is switched in during the heat of battle. I must admit, there is some indecisiveness in my selection of this set. I'm wondering if it would be more effective to switch in and trap something and boost up with Calm Mind.
REPLACED WITH:
The homunculus nucleus, Reuniclus.
Reuniclus
Item: Leftovers
Ability: Magic Guard
Nature: Bold
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 Special Defense
-Psychic
-Focus Blast
-Calm Mind
-Recover
I must admit, I've been using this thing to some great success. I love his ability, I love his bulk, I love his Special Attack, the only thing not to like about this guy is his Speed. He can take a good hit or two like a champ, and heal back 212 HP with Recover. Once he starts using Calm Mind, he can proceed to rip things to shreds while tanking attacks like no one's business. Magic Guard is great, as it makes him immune to the Sandstorm without even having to be a Steel-Type, Rock-Type, or Ground-Type, and it can even take a status like Poison or Burn, or eat a Leech Seed without having to worrying about losing one point of health to it.
Now we have the basis for my team, the thorn in the sides, Ferrothorn.
Ferrothorn
Item: Leftovers
Ability: Iron Barbs
Nature: Relaxed
EVs: 252 HP / 84 Defense / 172 Special Defense
-Power Whip
-Leech Seed
-Spikes
-Thunder Wave
Oh Ferrothorn. Good mixed wall stats, fair typing, a respectable ability, great movepool, what's not to like? Ferrothorn is annoying, simply put. It's one of the few Pokemon that can utilize Spikes, and I'm doing just that while Tyranitar utilizes Stealth Rocks for double entry hazards. Thunder Wave is grand for crippling my opponents since some of my Pokemon's Speed is mediocre on their own. Leech Seed sucks away my opponents HP, which between that, entry hazards, Sandstorm, and Iron Barbs can really build up over time, and Power Whip for some nice 120 base power STAB. I will say that I'm not really sure on its EV spread. I'm more inclined towards being more physically oriented because I kind of have Tyranitar to eat some Special Attacks already, although I'm not sure if I should just go all out physical wall or what to do. At any rate, I haven't really experienced many issues here, other than being occasionally trapped by a Chandelure, so I'm seriously considering a Shed Shell.
Now, last but not least, the steel drill mole, Excadrill
Excadrill
Item: Air Ballon
Ability: Sand Rush
Nature: Adamant
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Attack / 252 Speed
-Swords Dance
-Rock Slide
-Earthquake
-Rapid Spin
This guy is a monster. Nuff' said. Packing a good enough typing, 405 Attack, and doubled Speed in a Sandstorm, this thing isn't something to mess around with. After even just one Swords Dance, this guy outspeeds and rips apart just about everything that comes before it. Earthquake has good coverage, and even better, STAB, while Rock Slide helps deal with Flying-Types and what not. Even Rapid Spin hurts after a Swords Dance, but it's main purpose is to do away with entry hazards. I'm wondering if I'm using Excadrill for the wrong reasons. I think I want him to be more of a spinner while he's really more of a sweeper. He can come in a threatening Electric attack aimed at Vaporeon and Spin away hazards that most of my Pokemon don't like, but I'm not really sure if he's fitting for this role that I picked him out for. Once Excadrill is in, he needs to set-up. If I waste a turn using Rapid Spin, there's a chance he could be killed due to frailty, although his typing has saved me multiple times, but once he's gone, he's gone, obviously.
Problems / Issues: Issues with Fighting-Types are answered with Reuniclus, though I still find Gyarados to be moderately annoying. I also don't take status well (But I guess not many Pokemon do, right?), my best bet is to get Reuniclus inflicted with Poison or Burn and then try to block Paralysis and Sleep. I've also been experimenting with Jolly Swords Dance Yache Berry Garchomp, but I'm still not really sure if this is the way to go.
Well, I'm not very good at conclusions, so I'll just say go to town on ripping this thing to shreds. I appreciate your advice, assistance, and input, and thank you for your time.
Team at a glance.
New team at a glance:
New team at a glance:
Creative process:
Firstly, I decided I wanted Ferrothorn on my team, being a pretty beast wall.
Next, I decided to add Chandelure. They have great synergy.
Then I went with Vaporeon for even more support, which I'll get into later.
Next up was Excadrill, for some Rapid Spin support in conjunction with Vaporeon.
Now this is where the team gets a little shaky. I added Tyranitar for Sandstorm support for Excadrill and Garchomp for a Sandstorm sweeper.
Next, I noticed a glaring Fighting weakness, and replaced Chandelure with Reuniclus:
Now, to get into detail.
First up is Tyranitar
Tyranitar
Item: Leftovers
Ability: Sand Stream
Nature: Sassy
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Special Attack / 252 Special Defense
-Stealth Rock
-Fire Blast
-Crunch
-Superpower
I must admit, I am pretty fond of this thing, albeit I'm not sure if it belongs on this team. Tyranitar as a lead does two things for me: 1) Set up Stealth Rock and 2) Set up Sandstorm. After that, it does a fine job at eating Special Attacks thanks to 328 Special Defense plus a 50% boost in Sandstorm. Sassy Natures boosts its Special Defense while sacrificing some Speed, which Tyranitar already lacks to begin with, so its a minor loss. Fire Blast gets those damnable Steels, Crunch gives me STAB, and Superpower gets enemy Tyranitar. In addition to its general spot on my team, I must say I'm quite shaky of its EV spread. I'm not sure if going for pure bulk is a good thing or a bad thing.
Next, the shark of the sand, Garchomp
Garchomp
Item: Salac Berry
Ability: Sand Veil
Nature: Adamant
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Attack / 252 Speed
-Substitute
-Earthquake
-Outrage
-Swords Dance
If I'm uncertain of his position on the team, you must imagine my uncertainty of his moveset. SubSalac Swords Dance Chomp. My main strategy is to set up a Substitute, and between that and the now 80% accuracy all normally 100% accuracy moves are packing, get in as many Swords Dances as possible, try to trigger the Salac for a Speed boost, and put a dent in my enemy's team. I try to save this for later in the match, where Steel-Types are out of the picture. An Adamant Nature gives me more power which I feel I'd need more than Speed, since I'm already carrying a Salac Berry. Outrage and Earthquake are two powerful attacks, needless to say, that provide dual-STAB. I'm wondering if I should stick with Outrage, which has the drawback of confusion and taking a chunk out of my own HP as a result, or Dragon Claw, which looses power in exchange for the absences of such a fear.
Now for the vanishing, liquefying, Vaporeon
Vaporeon
Item: Leftovers
Ability: Water Absorb
Nature: Bold
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Defense / 8 Special Defense
-Wish
-Scald
-Roar
-Protect
Ahh, Vaporeon has always been a long time favorite of mine. Massive HP, Wish support, respectable Special Attack, being a lightweight Water-Type. What's not to like? Vaporeon gives some synergy to Ferrothorn and Chandelure, who I mentioned I began with as a basis for my team, by being capable of eating Fire-Type, Ice-Type, and Water-Type attacks. However, Vaporeon's real selling point, is Wish. Ferrothorn is a great defensive Pokemon, and Tyranitar, as I mentioned, has been serving well at that job as well, however, both of these Pokemon lack a recovery move. (Although Ferrothorn does have Leech Seed.) With some Wish support and 248 HP EVs, Vaporeon creates 231 HP recoveries to be passed along. Protect allows Vaporeon to scout, stall, and get that recovery for itself as well, with Scald packing a STAB move with a nice 30% chance to burn the enemy. Roar switches out my opponent's Pokemon that may be trying to stat-up, or just shuffles their team in general for some nice residual damage from entry hazards. The EV spread gives Vaporeon a hefty amount of HP for Wish in addition to some durability.
REMOVED:
Now, for the fiery possessed chandelier, Chandelure.
Chandelure
Item: Choice Scarf
Ability: Shadow Tag
Nature: Timid
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Special Attack / 252 Speed
-Overheat
-Energy Ball
-Shadow Ball
-Hidden Power Fighting
I'm honestly just sitting around, twiddling my thumbs waiting for this thing to be banned. Good ol' Shadow Tag trapping + 150 base Special Attack + respectable Speed + respectable movepool + Choice Scarf = Great revenge killer. Chandelure's job is to come in on something that has been lured out by Ferrothorn or Vaporeon, and kill it. With 140 base power STAB for a heavy hit, or a base 80 STAB that threatens to lower the foe's Special Defense, in addition to covering some Water-Types with Energy Ball and Dark-Types with Hidden Power Fighting, it gets the job done. Granted, Chandelure can't switch in on everything, it is more useful coming in after something else on my team suffered an untimely death, but occasionally it is switched in during the heat of battle. I must admit, there is some indecisiveness in my selection of this set. I'm wondering if it would be more effective to switch in and trap something and boost up with Calm Mind.
REPLACED WITH:
The homunculus nucleus, Reuniclus.
Reuniclus
Item: Leftovers
Ability: Magic Guard
Nature: Bold
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 Special Defense
-Psychic
-Focus Blast
-Calm Mind
-Recover
I must admit, I've been using this thing to some great success. I love his ability, I love his bulk, I love his Special Attack, the only thing not to like about this guy is his Speed. He can take a good hit or two like a champ, and heal back 212 HP with Recover. Once he starts using Calm Mind, he can proceed to rip things to shreds while tanking attacks like no one's business. Magic Guard is great, as it makes him immune to the Sandstorm without even having to be a Steel-Type, Rock-Type, or Ground-Type, and it can even take a status like Poison or Burn, or eat a Leech Seed without having to worrying about losing one point of health to it.
Now we have the basis for my team, the thorn in the sides, Ferrothorn.
Ferrothorn
Item: Leftovers
Ability: Iron Barbs
Nature: Relaxed
EVs: 252 HP / 84 Defense / 172 Special Defense
-Power Whip
-Leech Seed
-Spikes
-Thunder Wave
Oh Ferrothorn. Good mixed wall stats, fair typing, a respectable ability, great movepool, what's not to like? Ferrothorn is annoying, simply put. It's one of the few Pokemon that can utilize Spikes, and I'm doing just that while Tyranitar utilizes Stealth Rocks for double entry hazards. Thunder Wave is grand for crippling my opponents since some of my Pokemon's Speed is mediocre on their own. Leech Seed sucks away my opponents HP, which between that, entry hazards, Sandstorm, and Iron Barbs can really build up over time, and Power Whip for some nice 120 base power STAB. I will say that I'm not really sure on its EV spread. I'm more inclined towards being more physically oriented because I kind of have Tyranitar to eat some Special Attacks already, although I'm not sure if I should just go all out physical wall or what to do. At any rate, I haven't really experienced many issues here, other than being occasionally trapped by a Chandelure, so I'm seriously considering a Shed Shell.
Now, last but not least, the steel drill mole, Excadrill
Excadrill
Item: Air Ballon
Ability: Sand Rush
Nature: Adamant
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Attack / 252 Speed
-Swords Dance
-Rock Slide
-Earthquake
-Rapid Spin
This guy is a monster. Nuff' said. Packing a good enough typing, 405 Attack, and doubled Speed in a Sandstorm, this thing isn't something to mess around with. After even just one Swords Dance, this guy outspeeds and rips apart just about everything that comes before it. Earthquake has good coverage, and even better, STAB, while Rock Slide helps deal with Flying-Types and what not. Even Rapid Spin hurts after a Swords Dance, but it's main purpose is to do away with entry hazards. I'm wondering if I'm using Excadrill for the wrong reasons. I think I want him to be more of a spinner while he's really more of a sweeper. He can come in a threatening Electric attack aimed at Vaporeon and Spin away hazards that most of my Pokemon don't like, but I'm not really sure if he's fitting for this role that I picked him out for. Once Excadrill is in, he needs to set-up. If I waste a turn using Rapid Spin, there's a chance he could be killed due to frailty, although his typing has saved me multiple times, but once he's gone, he's gone, obviously.
Problems / Issues: Issues with Fighting-Types are answered with Reuniclus, though I still find Gyarados to be moderately annoying. I also don't take status well (But I guess not many Pokemon do, right?), my best bet is to get Reuniclus inflicted with Poison or Burn and then try to block Paralysis and Sleep. I've also been experimenting with Jolly Swords Dance Yache Berry Garchomp, but I'm still not really sure if this is the way to go.
Well, I'm not very good at conclusions, so I'll just say go to town on ripping this thing to shreds. I appreciate your advice, assistance, and input, and thank you for your time.
