WALL OF TEXT ALERT: You may notice off the bat that this RMT is extremely long. If you dont feel like reading, here's a video that goes in detail on this team (with some of the suggested changes), its probably far more entertaining than this post n_n (still long tho)
Team Analysis / Intro to Team Building:
Hey everyone! This is my first team that I've submitted to this forum and in fact I'm quite new to the forum. So please let me know of any better or alternate options as this team is certainly not perfect as I will explain. It's a UU team starring Mega Aerodactyl as a late game sweeper. The idea is to get up as many hazards as possible and pretty much go to town with my offensive threats.
Here's how I went about constructing the team:
Mega Aerodactyl @ Areodactlyite
Ability: Pressure/Tough Claws
Nature: Jolly
EV's: 252 Atk / 252 Spe / 4 SpD
- Hone Claws / EQ*
- Aerial Ace / EQ*
- Stone Edge
- Aqua Tail
I've been building quite a few UU teams with Mega Aerodactyl recently because I think its one of the best late game sweepers in the tier. So I guess you could say this team is like a 4th or 5th draft of my original idea: a team built around Aerodactyl, aided by stacked hazards. Aerodactyl is a great sweeper because it outspeeds most everything aside from a handful of scarfers such as Mienshao, Hydreigon and Darmanitan. I chose to go with a Hone Claws set so it could potentially set up and become even more powerful and gain that precious accuracy for Stone Edge and Aqua Tail. I'm running max speed to ensure that at the very least, I speed-tie opposing Mega Aerodactyls (though I'd rather it not come to that). Aerial Ace and Stone Edge are obvious STAB choices and Aqua tail is mainly for hitting bulkier ground types after they've been weakened. Of course, Aerodactly doesn't stand a chance against bulky water types and can't do much to physical walls, so I needed something that could handle threats like Suicune and Vaporeon and weaken fat ground types like Donphan and Hippowdon.
Roserade @ Black Sludge
Ability: Natural Cure
Nature: Calm
EV's: 240 HP / 252 SpD / 16 Spe
- Spikes
- Giga Drain
- Sludge Bomb
- Synthesis
Roserade has kinda been my go-to partner for Aerodactyl. It covers Aerodactyl's water weakness and can do significant damage to bulky water types. It's also just a special wall in general and can even take many non-STAB ice hits and just heal them off with synthesis. Natural cure also helps it shrug off burns from Scalds and status in general. Another reason why I love to pair it with Aerodactyl is because of Spikes. From what I've noticed, one of Aerodactyl's best friends is hazards, lots of hazards. If I can manage to get 2 or 3 layers of spikes up it makes the late game much easier for Aerodactyl and helps overall against stallier teams that I might otherwise have some trouble with. I chose to run Sludge Bomb over Toxic Spikes because I was planning on putting a Stealth Rocker on the team and felt that was enough hazards. I also needed a way to handle that other tanky flower, Florges. Sludge Bomb can do a number on Florges after a bit of hazard stacking, not to mention Florges serves as a perfect Pokemon to set up spikes on and/or force a switch. Synthesis is for more sustain to put up layers of Spikes. It also helps the team's longevity as a whole. This team is pretty offensive and relies on sacrificing Pokemon often so having Roserade able to switch in as much as possible is very helpful. I'm running 16 speed to outspeed base 60 Pokemon with full speed investment and a non speed-boosting nature. As I said earlier I wanted a Stealth Rocker, but not only a Stealth Rocker but also a Spinner. And this is where the building process became a bit stifled.
Forretress @ Leftovers
Ability: Sturdy
Nature: Relaxed
EV's: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
0 Spe IV's
- Stealth Rock
- Rapid Spid
- Gyro Ball
- Volt Switch
Ok, While testing this team on Showdown I had a couple people question me running Volt Switch and Gyro Ball. Honestly, it was due to lack of options that I chose this set (or rather, lack of needing to use those options) I started using an Explosion / Custap Berry set, but I didn't like how suicidal it was; it just didn't seem that great. It wasn't horrible but I thought I'd go for something a bit more defensive for this team. The only thing was that this team turned out much more offensive than I was originally going for, so I didn't want a super defensive set either. I didn't need Spikes on Forretress so I decided to go with Gyro Ball so I could wall things like Salamence and Crobat and deal back a lot of damage. Gyro Ball also comes in handy with Magic Bounce and Taunt leads like Espeon, Absol, and Azelf as they can't do much to Forretress and get hit hard with Gyro Ball. I chose Volt Switch to keep up momentum and switch without harming my frail sweepers and wall-breakers. Overall I'm not so sure about Forretress on this team, I used it mainly because I didn't like all the water weaknesses I had if I chose other Spinners like Donphan. Gyro Ball and Volt Switch does seem odd, but it works fairly well especially since I can use a negative speed nature and not have to sacrifice any offensive or defensive stats. Of course now I have a bit of a fire weakness so I decided I needed to do something about that.
Chandelure @ Leftovers
Ability: Flash Fire
Nature: Timid
EV's 112 HP* / 144 SpA* / 252 Spe
- Calm Mind
- Substitute
- Flamethrower
- Shadowball
At this point I spent some time going over my options for this slot and brainstorming future teammates to go along with this one. I eventually decided to run Chandelure as my much needed fire immunity. And it also served as a Spin Blocker to help keep up all of those tasty hazards. It was also at this point that I decided this team was going to be offensive rather than the balanced team I was originally going for. I went with Sub/CM because I thought It would be good to have as many potential win conditions as possible. Substitute works well on predicted hard switches and U-turns. At the very least it can grant Chandelure a chance to land a good hit on a Pokemon that would otherwise take it out, and in many scenarios it grants Chandelure the chance to set-up a Calm Mind or two or even a late-game sweep. Chandelure generally just tends to just break up the opposing team a bit and make it easier for my other sweepers to clean up though. Flamethrower was chosen over Fire Blast because of the accuracy and the increased power from CM makes up for Flamethrower's lower BP. All variations of Hydreigon wall and threaten Chandelure and in turn, Hydreigon is one of the threats to this team. I have ways to handle it but it often involves a member taking significant damage or fainting. This is another Pokemon that I wouldn't mind swapping for something else. Possibly something with bulk to make this team a bit more balanced and less offensive. At this point, many major holes had been patched and I felt I could tack on my last two members as long as they didn't add to any existing weaknesses.
Mienshao @ Life Orb
Ability: Regenerator
Nature: Jolly
EV's: 252 Atk / 252 Spe / 4 SpD
- Fake Out
- U-Turn / Posion Jab
- High Jump Kick
- Knock Off
Anyone who plays UU knows there's that one annoying Pokemon that's on almost any bulky or stall team: Blissey. So, I decided not to beat around the bush and just added this beast to the team. Not to mention, a HJK outta this thing smacks just about anything that isn't bulky and resists it. Mienshao also has great speed which is always good on an offensive team. I'm running Regenerator over Reckless because the hazards make up for the damage and once again, health recovery is much appreciated on this team. Fake Out is nice for free damage and hits surprisingly hard with a Life Orb. I was running Posion Jab over U-Turn, because it easily kills Florges after a good amount of hazard damage. I wouldn't even mind running it again, but U-Turn helps me recover health while keeping momentum as well as making a nice little Volt-Turn core with Forretress. So its a toss up between the two (though I'm leaning more towards U-Turn). Knock Off is just one of the best moves in the game for obvious reasons. Mienshao is immediatly threatened by Crobat and Mega Aerodactyl, but Forretress handles both pretty well and Mega Aerodactyl beats Crobat too. Scarfers also threaten Minshao as it's very frail; I still needed a Scarfer myself so I decided to just go with one of my favorite Mons in the tier.
Salamence @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Moxie / Intimidate*
Nature: Hasty
EV's: 252 Attack/ 252 Speed / 4 SpA*
- Outrage
- Dragon Claw
- Earthquake
- Fire Blast / Iron Tail *
This guy is my man. He is such a beast in this tier. I pretty much just threw caution to the wind with this one and put ScarfMence on here because I love using it so much. The main issue is that this brings my total rock weaknesses to 3 and my rock resists are non-existent aside from Mienshao which hardly counts. This has proven to be less of a problem than I initially thought, I guess due to how offensive my team is and because Forretress can still take rock hits pretty well. Of course it still is an issue and I'll explain why later. Anyway, The combination of Choice Scarf and Moxie is great with Salamence, it's one of the fastest Scarfers in the tier and outspeeds huge speed threats like Mega Aerodactyl, Mega Beedrill, and Mega Sceptile. He also serves as a great option as a late game Sweeper if Aerodactyl can't get the job done. In fact they both compliment each other well as either one can come in mid-game and break down the team for the other one to finish later. Outrage is a very strong STAB option and serves to score one or two KO's at a time, multiple times throughout the battle. Dragon Claw is another STAB option that is better suited for late-game sweeping when the team is broken down a bit more. Earthquake and Fire Balst are honestly not used very often as this particular set doesn't do much unless Physical walls and Florges are either gone or weakened. However EQ and Fire Blast do come in handy when you need to revenge kill that one particular Pokemon, such as Forretress or Empoleon.
* Edits suggested by DemonEyesJoker
* Edits suggested by OG_Wanka
CONCLUSION
I tested this team for a couple hours last night and so far I have concluded that it obviously functions as an offensive team. It can be very strong and overwhelm a team quite easily, but it relies heavily on making proper predictions, and I am admittedly not amazing at doing that. The main strategy is to get as many hazards up as fast as possible, but I have enough type synergy and sustain that I don't need to sacrifice my lead in order to do so. However eventually I may need to sacrifice Roserade or Forretress in order to get up hazards and maintain momentum, as those are two of the most important components behind this team. Often times it seems like this team won't be able to win, but usually as long as I get up a good amount of hazards, I can come back in the late-game. In fact, this team seems to function in that way quite often. Rapid Spinning is also not as important as getting up rocks if it comes down to it. With enough hazards up, Aerodactyl can easily sweep the majority of a team late-game without needing to switch in and out. However, I still do have a strong rock weakness so spinning hazards away is always a good idea when I have the opportunity. Overall this team did pretty decent. I steadily rose in rank as I used it and I seemed to win much more games than I lost. Still, there are some issues with the team that don't sit well with me and possibly more that I haven't noticed yet.
Here's a replay demonstrating how even after a few (quite frankly stupid) misplays, this team can still come back in the end.
http://pokemonshowdown.com/replay/uu-220329444
WEAKNESSES
First of all let's talk about the A number one most annoying threat to my team: Darmanitan. This is really the only Pokemon that I would consider a major threat, as a well played Darmanitan can take out a good chunk of my team. The issue being that it always leads to a 50/50 prediction no matter what. I'll either have to choose between Chandy, Forretress, or one of my flyers. Forretress can come in on anything but a Flare Blitz, Chandy can only come in on a Flare Blitz or U-Turn, and my flyers can only really come in on an EQ as they are both frail and Rockslide and Flare Blitz do substantial damage that I'd rather not see them take. A good Darmanitan user however, will just weaken my Forretress to the point where he/she can just spam Rockslide and then I can't do anything but hope for a miss. Its also a pretty major threat because its on about every other team. It's not unstoppable by any means, and hazards help take care of it a lot, but its still a pain to play around.
The other much more minor threats that I noticed was Scarf/Moxie Salamence and Hydreigon in general. I have Forretress for Salamence but sometimes he is too weak to be able to do anything and then Salamence can become a problem. I also have my own ScarfMence but I hate speed-ties. Hydreigon is the least worrisome of the three, but I still lack any good switch ins for it and it sometimes leads to me sacrificing someone. I have Mienshao, Salamence and Aerodactyl that can all revenge kill it though so its generally not too much of a threat.
And that's the team. I am open to any and all critiques, and don't be afraid to offer major changes if you see fit. There's not too many Pokemon on this team that I am extremely attached to, however I do like the concept of stacking hazards for an Aerodactyl sweep as that's what this team was built around. I also don't mind making the team less offensive, but balance is probably the farthest you could take it as making it any more defensive than that would require rebuilding most of the team.
Thanks a lot guys! I look forward to your responses! :]
EXPORT (WITH SOME EDITS)
Forretress @ Leftovers
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Relaxed Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Stealth Rock
- Rapid Spin
- Volt Switch
- Gyro Ball
Aerodactyl @ Aerodactylite
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Aerial Ace
- Roost
- Stone Edge
Roserade @ Black Sludge
Ability: Natural Cure
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 240 HP / 252 SpD / 16 Spe
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Spikes
- Giga Drain
- Synthesis
- Sludge Bomb
Mienshao @ Life Orb
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Fake Out
- High Jump Kick
- U-turn
- Knock Off
Chandelure @ Leftovers
Ability: Flash Fire
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 112 HP / 140 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Flamethrower
- Shadow Ball
- Substitute
- Calm Mind
Salamence @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Moxie
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Hasty Nature
- Outrage
- Earthquake
- Dragon Claw
- Iron Tail
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