[Pre-Bank] MenceWile, ForreLure, Barbaracle, and Drifblim

[TehLaziness]

First off, I'd like to thank whoever is kind enough to help me out with this team. I take a very long time to come up with my teams, and sometimes get lost in the theoretical to the point where I zone out on the actual usage of my team. I've been toying with this team idea for a few days now, trying to get it perfect, and I think it's about time I opened the flood gates and let your comments roll in.

Note: This team is not supposed to adhere to Smogon's rules like Evasion Clause and all that. This is meant for Online battling, so please don't tell me my Drifblim can't have Minimize. It can, and it will.

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Anyways, time for some pre-team analysis. This team is meant to be highly synergistic. I'm running one main core, on top of a secondary core, with a late-game sweeper and a supporter all bunched into one team. Allow me to present the main core:

The MenceWile core of this team is really quite good. Salamence and Mawile cover each other's weaknesses beautifully, and they can both take a few hits before dishing back some massive beatings. Salamence uses his mixed sweeping to brutal effect, and Mega-Mawile can throw a pretty mean punch. They are some serious MVPs of the team. Noting that Salamence would be quite crippled if he had to deal with Stealth Rocks, I decided to add in a Rapid Spinner. I wanted, as well, to condense the role of Rapid Spinner and Hazard Setter into one 'mon, and there was only one guy, in my mind, to do the job.

Forretress is a very good Rapin Spinner, and on top of that he gets access to Spikes and Stealth Rocks. I figure that that's pretty good for condensing the roles of Hazard Control and Hazard Setting into one slot, but how about we step it up a notch? His only weakness is fire, so why not pair him with a Flash Fire Chandelure until Heatran becomes a thing in X and Y. At the same time, Forretress does a great job at covering Chandelure's weaknesses as well. Between the two of them, they can pass a lot to each other, and can even switch into the main core when the time is right. Chandelure also works brilliantly as a Spin Blocker to make Ferrothorn's job easier. The rest of the team is actually the two I started with, because I have a feeling that they'll be the most fun to use.

These two aren't actually a core. They're more of the odd ends of the team. Barbaracle is great for late-game sweeping, and Drifblim is great at helping him (or anyone on the team) prepare for a massive sweep. Barbaracle is pretty standard, with a wide range of moves that lets him hit everything in the game either for Super Effective damage or neutral damage. Drifblim's merit lies in his Minimize + Stockpile + Baton Pass combination. Throw down a Minimize, and when the opponent misses you throw down a Stockpile. Keep going until you're satisfied, or until it's too risky, and Baton Pass out. Anything sweeper on the team (usually Barbaracle) is then an evasive tank sweeping through the opponent's team. On top of that, Drifblim has Destiny Bond so he can take one more opponent down with him. Sure, he's Taunt bait, but with some good prediction that's no big deal.

Well, now that the analysis is out of the way, here's the actual numbers for the team:

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Salamence @ Life Orb
Ability: Intimidate
Nature: Jolly
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 S.Atk / 4 Atk
- Draco Meteor
- Fire Blast
- Earthquake
- Dragon Dance

Mawile @ Mawilite
Ability: Intimidate (Huge Power)
Nature: Adamant
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 S.Def / 4 Def
- Play Rough
- Iron Head
- Swords Dance
- Sucker Punch

Forretress @ Leftovers
Ability: Sturdy
Nature: Relaxed
EVs: 252 Def / 252 S.Def / 4 HP
- Stealth Rock
- Rapid Spin
- Spikes
- Gyro Ball

Chandelure @ Air Balloon
Ability: Flash Fire
Nature: Modest
EVs: 252 S.Atk / 252 Spd / 4 HP
- Fire Blast
- Shadow Ball
- Will-o-Wisp
- Calm Mind

Barbaracle @ White Herb
Ability: Tough Claws
Nature: Adamant
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 HP / 4 Spd
- Razor Shell
- Power-Up Punch
- Poison Jab
- Shell Smash

Drifblim @ Bright Powder
Ability: Aftermath
Nature: Impish
EVs: 240 HP / 136 Def / 132 S.Def
- Minimize
- Stockpile
- Baton Pass
- Destiny Bond

 

[Ballofire]

Minimize bright powder. Come on dude. Seriously?

 

[TehLaziness]

As I stated before, this is meant for WiFi battling. There is nothing wrong with the strategy. I know the people of Smogon may not like it, but I'd still ask for your advice in rating the team. I didn't ask whether you liked the team or not, I just asked whether you thought it would be a strong one.

 

[Ballofire]

Anything that abuses evasion mechanics is strong. If you don't think there's anything wrong with this then you're in the wrong place.

 

[TehLaziness]

Well then, thank you very much for your help.

Is there anyone else who would be willing to let me know if the other parts of my team work well? I'm especially concerned with the application of the MenceWile and the FerroLure cores.

 

[ApathyandToast]

I don't think there's any need for Power Up Punch on Barbaracle - surely the shell smash boost is enough? I get that after BP'ing a couple of minimises to it, you will have the free turns in which to use it, but it still seems excessive especially with Tough Claws. I'd replace it with Cross Chop.

 

[Dashspin]

I don't think there's any need for Power Up Punch on Barbaracle - surely the shell smash boost is enough? I get that after BP'ing a couple of minimises to it, you will have the free turns in which to use it, but it still seems excessive especially with Tough Claws. I'd replace it with Cross Chop.

I'd have to agree here. If you have minimize boosts, you can afford that miss anyway. Also, I'd get rid of Poison Jab and put Stone Edge instead. You aren't going to have problems with fairies anyway with Gyro Ball and Iron Head, and though it isn't boosted by Tough Claws, Stone Edge still has STAB, and with minimize boosts you can afford a miss. Stone Edgebis great offensively anyway. You could also run Night Slash, but since you already have Chandelure, you probably don't nees it. Other than that, very solid team, I can especially see mencewile catching on.

 

[TehLaziness]

The main reason I have Poison Jab on Barbaracle is to negate the possibility of a Grass type ending my sweep, as they resist all of my moves. That, and it makes for a good fairy check while I'm sweeping with Barbaracle. By the time he's out, I've already set up quite a bit. I figure that I don't want to switch out of him, for any reason, by that point. I suppose it is true that I can afford to miss with Minimizes on it, but for some reason I always seem to gravitate towards higher accuracy moves if it's not a big deal. I'll try it out both ways and see if it's better either way.

The other thing I was wondering about is if I should turn Chandelure into a complete offensive Special Sweeper and give it the Assault Vest. I could slap on Energy Ball and maybe Psychic and then go to town. Will-o-Wisp is quite handy, though, so I'm on the fence with this one.

 

[Ballofire]

Most OU grass mons can take a +2 poison jab, pretty sure. Venusaur especially. So you're essentially helping them out.

Assault vest and wil-o-wisp and calm mind are some of the worst options you have for chandelure.. try a sub+3 attacks set or use a scarf set. Gengar is superior at both of these btw.

Edit - why do you have power up punch on a shell smash set? wat? use stone edge

 

[PumpHead]

As previously said, Power-Up-Punch isn't really needed with the already powerful Shell Smash. Stone Edge is better for stab and damage. Chandelure is too frail to set out burns, so it's probably just better to use it for SpATK sweeping.

 

[TehLaziness]

Most OU grass mons can take a +2 poison jab, pretty sure. Venusaur especially. So you're essentially helping them out.

Assault vest and wil-o-wisp and calm mind are some of the worst options you have for chandelure.. try a sub+3 attacks set or use a scarf set. Gengar is superior at both of these btw.

Edit - why do you have power up punch on a shell smash set? wat? use stone edge

Hrm, fair enough. Cross Chop and Stone Edge on Barbaracle it is, then. Also, that Scarf Set sounds kind of nice for Chandelure. I'll probably do that with the moves Fire Blast, Shadow Ball, Energy Ball, and Psychic. And yes, I know Gengar does these better—Chandelure is meant to sponge the fire attacks that Ferrothorn attracts. He's kind of a quick and dirty substitute for Heatran until the Poke Bank is open. Once that happens, Heatran will be replacing Chandelure.

 

[Ballofire]

That's fair enough then, if that is the case then sub 3 attacks is the better option, it will allow you to soak up the fire attack, force the mon out and set up a free sub, do some massive damage then retreat if a 2HKO isn't possible.

Chandelure @ Leftovers
Modest nature
68 HP / 252 Spatk / 184 Spd / 4 Spdef
- Substitute
- Fire Blast
- Shadow Ball
- Energy Ball

 

[TehLaziness]

That's fair enough then, if that is the case then sub 3 attacks is the better option, it will allow you to soak up the fire attack, force the mon out and set up a free sub, do some massive damage then retreat if a 2HKO isn't possible.

Chandelure @ Leftovers
Modest nature
68 HP / 252 Spatk / 184 Spd / 4 Spdef
- Substitute
- Fire Blast
- Shadow Ball
- Energy Ball

That is a compelling argument. I'll try it out both ways as well. Going to be doing a lot of team testing and tweaking, it seems. xD

 

[ApathyandToast]

That's fair enough then, if that is the case then sub 3 attacks is the better option, it will allow you to soak up the fire attack, force the mon out and set up a free sub, do some massive damage then retreat if a 2HKO isn't possible.

Chandelure @ Leftovers
Modest nature
68 HP / 252 Spatk / 184 Spd / 4 Spdef
- Substitute
- Fire Blast
- Shadow Ball
- Energy Ball

What's the reasoning behind those EVs? Keep in mind as he's using this team online, it'll most likely be lv.50

 

[dragonuser]

Hello,

This thread is currently in violation of the RMT rules, as you are required to have 3 lines of description per Pokemon. While you did explain your thought process for each Pokemon, which is very helpful, you really also need to mention why you chose those specific movesets and what they do for your team.

PM me your descriptions and I will unlock this thread for you.