Explosion Based Team

[Kira]

Azelf @ Focus Sash
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 36 Atk/252 Spd/220 SAtk
Naive nature (+Spd, -SDef)
- Explosion
- Stealth Rock
- Taunt
- Shadow Ball

The first member of my explosion based team. The standard taunt/Sr Azelf that helps me deal with annoying focus sashes. Shadow Ball is there to deal with other increasingly common lead azelfs who might try and taunt me first.
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Qwilfish (F) @ Focus Sash
Ability: Swift Swim
EVs: 4 HP/252 Atk/252 Spd
Adamant nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Waterfall
- Rain Dance
- Explosion
- Destiny Bond

My last ditch Pokemon for threats that can't be dealt with normally. Focus Sash ensures I get rain off and then I have a few options. Waterfall destroys weakened Pokemon, while explosion/destiny bond together mean I wont lose the "you are using destiny bond so I will not attack" game. This means that I am almost guaranteed a kill once rain is up.
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Metagross @ Life Orb
Ability: Clear Body
EVs: 48 HP/252 Atk/208 Spd
Adamant nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Earthquake
- Explosion
- Meteor Mash
- Agility

Standard agiligross. Plenty of oppurtunities to agility open up mid-late game which allows me to sweep. Life Orb boosts my power, but I may try Shuca Berry out since it will allow me to survive an Earthquake. When I feel like my sweep is over I can finish of a final pokemon with Explosion.
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Heatran (M) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 20 HP/236 Spd/252 SAtk
Modest nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Dragon Pulse
- Earth Power
- Explosion
- Overheat

Scarfed to deal with faster threats who would normally KO him before he could KO them. I am unsure of the IV's needed to get HP ICE so help on that would be appreciated greatly. Dragon Pulse is still useful for finishing weakened dragons and is in place of HP ICE for now. Overheat is great for KO'ing Pokemon much like Explosion however it does not require me to sacrifice Heatran's life in exchange.

* I know I also have a rain dance user on my team. However the rain rarely conflicts with Heatran.
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Gengar (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 136 Atk/216 Spd/156 SAtk
Hasty nature (+Spd, -Def)
- Explosion
- Shadow Ball
- Focus Punch
- Substitute

A combination between the Sub-Punch, and Life Orb Gengars. The amount of Pokemon that "run" from Gengar is astonishing which means that I have ample oppurtunities to set up a sub. From there I can wreak havok and then explode once my sub breaks, or when I can no longer make subs.
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Snorlax (M) @ Choice Band
Ability: Thick Fat
EVs: 4 HP/252 Atk/252 SDef
Adamant nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Pursuit
- Earthquake
- Return
- Brick Break

Obviously ghost Pokemon are my teams greatest enemy. CB Lax traps and kills all common ghost pokemon except for Spiritomb. Earthquake for a powerful ground move, Return for Stab. Crunch is there for lack of a better move but I may use Brick Break for Tyranitar.

* Please note that Selfdestruct and Pursuit are illegal together
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Considering- In place of Qwilfish for the moment
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Dugtrio (M) @ Choice Band
Ability: Arena Trap
EVs: 252 Atk/252 Spd/4 SDef
Jolly nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Earthquake
- Aerial Ace
- Sucker Punch
- Rock Slide
Traps most Steel types and other troublesome Pokemon. Great for finishing off weakened pokemon crippled by explosion. Does not trap Skarmory.

OR

Magnezone @ Leftovers
Ability: Magnet Pull
EVs: 172 HP/84 Spd/252 SAtk
Modest nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Magnet Rise
- Substitute
- Thunderbolt

Traps all Steel types. Opens up another Ground/Fighting weak Pokemon. Does not outspeed most Metagross.
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[MetaNite]

Cool team. Despite being all about blowing up, its really thought out and varied.

I'm not sure about Qwilfish. Against a faster threat he's pretty much dead, if you rain dance first. In a sandstorm, any faster threat garuntees his death so you'd have to explode right away.

I'd say brick break over crunch, and Life Orb over shuca berry on metagross.

I love that Gengar... I've used a sub punch gengar so many times, and it owns. People immediatley switch to blissey, you sub, and then focus punch!

Hmm... your only Gyarados counter is a well timed explosion. A bulky gyara will survive heatrans and Gengars I believe. Therefore, I'd definately put thunderpunch over EQ on Metagross to compensate. That way, you don't have to blow up to stop it effectively, as it resists Meteor Mash and is immune to EQ.

 

[Kira]

First off thank you for the compliment.

Qwilfish is strange but he gets the job done more often then not. I have dealt with the SS problem before. It isnt too troublesome. Plus even without the sash Qwilfish can sort of take a hit which will allow me to set up rain.

I would add ThunderPunch, however without EQ my team will have trouble defeating Tyranitar who gives me some problems. Plus with Qwilfish and SR I am sure I could find a way to defeat Bulkydos.

 

[MetaNite]

Actually, Meteor Mash on Metagross is super effective just like EQ only has STAB so basically Metagross has two moves to kill Tyranitar.

It's really your preference.

 

[Kira]

Good point. I will try Thunderpunch for awhile.

 

[boltscore]

Qwilfish (F) @ Focus Sash
Ability: Swift Swim
EVs: 4 HP/252 Atk/252 Spd
Adamant nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Waterfall
- Rain Dance
- Explosion
- Destiny Bond

Woah...I love this. Probably because it reminds me of something I did one of my weirder UU teams. Take a look:

Drifblim@Salac Berry
Unburden
252 SpA/252 Spe
Timid/Hasty/Naive - I don't remember
-Endure
-Explosion
-Destiny Bond
-Shadow Ball

This thing was so much fun. Those three resistances are awesome, and with max speed doubled and a Salac there isn't crap that outspeeds you. I gave it 0 in every defensive IV, and did the best I could to make sure it should be OHKOed by nearly everything. I could spam Destiny Bond, or, if they were being gay and kept using some random thing that did nothing I could Explode.

 

[Kira]

That actually looks really cool. If Qwilfish stops working I might try that out. Thank you

 

[Pyong]

Let's see...

Why use taunt on your azelf? Bronzong don't hypnosis zelf leads anymore, he just uses gyro ball, so, taunt is almost useless. I think you should use thunderbolt, to kill that gyarados and aerodactyls. He don't need Satk, really don't, i think you should focus on Atk (REALLY big explosion) and a little satk leftovers, just to make sure that bulkydos are OHKO'ed.

Qwilfish is good, but why don't you run a magnezone? He traps steel types (you know, skarmory and forretress walling your explosions) and he explodes too.

On gengar...wait, what? Gengar should outspeed infernape D:

Really cool team, hope this helps!

 

[Kira]

That was almost scary. I was literally just thinking of adding a Magnezone after I got killed by several steel types.

I am really adverse to getting rid of Qwilfish but I will have to in order to add Magnezone.

Anyway Taunt isn't useless on Azelf, end of story. I could add some more ev's into Atk though. Thanks for the suggestion.

Edit: Would I be able to replace anyone else instead of Qwilfish?

Edit 2: Skarmory isnt too much of a problem while all other Steel types are grounded. Perhaps I could use Dugtrio who would also outspeed Metagross. I feel Magnezone is risky seeing as I have a heavy ground weakness already and Azelf is usually dead right off the bat.

 

[Very]

I was going to say Dugtrio but you have enough Ground attacks, though Dugtrio can trap the Ghost types so that your Explosions won't miss. Again, a few Ghost/Dark moves already to cover. If Quilfish works, keep it then.
Arial Ace looks like if would help against fighting, if you can get HP Fly over Snorlax's Brick Break or Earthquake, since they both work on Tyranitar and neither would hit Gengar.

 

[Kira]

Gengar is hit by Pursuit which is a 2HKO if it stays in. Meanwhile Focus Blast is not a 2hko on Snorlax and has a very low chance of hitting 2 times in a row. HP Fly is also special which is a bad idea on a banded pokemon with low special attack.

Meanwhile you seem to miss the point of me having so many ground attacks. Steel types ruin this team. Dugtrio would be added to gurantee their demise.

I have tested Dugtrio and he works well, but so does Qwilfish. I will have to do a bit more testing.

 

[Venetian Masque]

Just felt like throwing this in: Have you considered Lickilicky over Snorlax? It can work as a nice utility Pokemon with Knock Off, Wish, and Heal Bell. It also packs Swords Dance, Gyro Ball (with its paltry base 50 Spe), and the strongest Explosion in the game to go along with your theme.

 

[Kira]

Yes I have considered Licklicky, but not in place of Snorlax. Snorlax is my ghost trapper. Licklicky cannot replace that.

 

[Articanus]

tbh, just give Metagross a lum berry and it can kill ghosts. you'd also need 216 Speed EVs and a Jolly nature to beat ScarfGars.

 

[Aeroblacktyl]

What I really really dislike is how you would probably get swept by an opposing Agility Metagross. Off the bat alone it'll OHKO pretty much everything sans your Focus Sashes, unless of course, they use a SR lead as well.

You can pretty easily prevent this problem though. They're both exploders as well. We have Weezing, who can come directly on the Agility, or predict an EQ, and scare it with WoW, preventing a switch. Next time it comes in, you have a prediction game going on. They might just want to MM the Weezing but then you go to Heatran and so on.

Another option would be to try Bronzong, the most popular lead as it is, however I probably wouldn't use it as a lead here. Extra Garchomp/Mamoswine coverage never hurts. You can just run full support with like Hypnosis/Explosion/Earthquake/Gyro Ball or something.

 

[Kira]

Which pokemon should I remove in exchange for Bronzong/Weezing?

 

[Articanus]

Quilfish in my opinion.

But then it would be exactly like my explosion team(as you know).