Hazardous Battlefield

[Aximil]

Where to start, where to start...

I guess the idea for this team started when I saw that Kyurem-B is now in OU, along with seeing that he got Roost. It made me want to create a Hazard Shuffling team. Without further ado, here we go. Honestly, this is my first shot at a team for the BW2 metagame so I'm not sure how well it's put together.

Kyurem-B
Item: Leftovers
Ability: Terravolt
EVs: 252 Hit Points / 252 Defense / 4 Speed
Nature: Impish
~ Dragon Tail
~ Hone Claws
~ Roost
~ Substitute

Seeing as I wanted to start the team because of Kyurem-B it's a no-brainer that he'll be where I start the team from. He may not have the best typing due to his Ice half, but he has quite a lot of bulk. 125/100/90 to be exact. That's plenty of reason to make him stally, so he can set up some pretty big Substitutes that the Seismic Tosses and Night Shades I've seen a lot of lately can't get through. Roost is there to keep him full of health since he'll be Subbing down. I wanted him to have a phasing move to go with what I have planned for the team, and since I only see 1 in his movelist, it's Dragon Tail. Hone Claws is there to raise his already sky-high Attack and make it so that Dragon Tail won't be missing.

Forretress
Item: Leftovers
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 252 Hit Points / 252 Defense / 4 Special Defense
Nature: Relaxed
~ Rapid Spin
~ Volt Switch
~ Spikes
~ Toxic Spikes

When someone think of hazards, the first Pokémon that comes to mind is Forretress as he has access to all of them. The 2 most important ones for hazard shuffling are of course Spikes and a single layer of Toxic Spikes, so let's start there. Rapid Spin is here because the main member of the team happens to be part Ice and Stealth Rocks will do a pretty penny to him. It'll also get rid of Toxic Spikes and Spikes as those will quickly wear down my defensive core. Volt Switch is here for utility, allowing me to get in and out of the fray easier and making my opponent switch when I bring in a check, wracking up more hazard damage.

Landorus-T
Item: Leftovers
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 Hit Points / 4 Attack / 252 Defense
Nature: Relaxed
~ Earthquake
~ U-Turn
~ Hidden Power (Ice)
~ Stealth Rocks

I've really been wanting to use this defensive set for a long time, but it hasn't fit anywhere onto my other teams thus far. He's an amazing physical wall thanks to intimidate and can even set up the final form of entry hazard with Stealth Rocks. Earthquake for generic STAB, and U-Turn for switch advantage which is so very important with a hazard team. I was juggling around the fourth slot til I found out I have a huge problem with Gliscors, so here's Hidden Power Ice for you. It doesn't hurt that he resists Fighting, which my main member is weak to, along with providing a vital immunity to Electric and Ground.

Snorlax
Item: Leftovers
Ability: Thick Fat
EVs: 252 Hit Points / 4 Attack / 252 Special Defense
Nature: Careful
~ Body Slam
~ Sleep Talk
~ Whirlwind
~ Rest

So far I only have 1 phaser which is pathetic for a hazard team, and Snorlax couples nicely with Landorus-T, resisting the Ice moves thanks to Thick Fat while Landorus-T can handle the Fighting moves. First off is Body Slam for STAB, although I'm thinking about switching it out for Return since the opponent can't get Poisoned from Toxic Spikes if it Paralyzes them. Whirlwind is for phasing since, as I said, I only had 1 phaser up til now. Rest is his only form of recovery since Metronome will most likely never get any, Recycle on a Sitrus Berry would be pretty inifitiant, and Stockpile + Swallow is just downright terrible. Sleep Talk so he won't be a giant target while napping.

Jellicent
Item: Leftovers
Ability: Water Absorb
EVs: 252 Hit Points / 4 Special Attack / 252 Special Defense
Nature: Calm
~ Scald
~ Shadow Ball
~ Recover
~ Hail

It's at this point that I realized I forgot to pick a Ghost-type to act as a Spin Blocker since I have all 3 forms of hazards on this team. I decided to go with Jellicent because he can do that along with taking on the powerful Water moves coming from Rain teams thanks to Water Absorb. I'm aware that not everything is going to be able to be Poisoned so I gave it Scald for STAB and to burn things. I know it can learn Will-O-Wisp, but I don't like it here as most of the time things will be Poisoned. Shadow Ball is for obligatory STAB. Recover is around for exactly what the name says. Then finally I have Hail on this set because I despise all the permanent Rain and Sand that's running around. Even Sun hurts me pretty bad.

Tangela
Item: Eviolite
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 Hit Points / 252 Defense / 4 Special Attack
Nature: Bold
~ Giga Drain
~ Hidden Power (Fire)
~ Leech Seed
~ Protect

As the final member of the team, and since I couldn't think of another phaser off the top of my head, I decided to use someone that compliment Jellicent perfectly. It can take the Grass and Electric moves while it's partner can handle the Ice and Fire moves. I decided to use a pseudo form of phasing here and went with Leech Seed so they'll have to switch out at some point. Protect to couple with Leech Seed and Toxic Spikes, and some much needed scouting. Giga Drain for STAB and some recovery, especially against the Water-types I don't have much of a check for. Hidden Power Fire is around because of the Ferrothorns that keep trying to come in on me predicting a Leech Seed.



I'd just like to say that I like the 4 Pokémon defensive core consisting of Landorus-T, Snorlax, Jellicent, and Tangela. Mainly for the fact that it's made up of 2 seperate mini-cores that can function just fine without the other half of the main core, along with the fact that Landorus-T and Forretress have Volt-Turn making it even easier to manage the attacks coming at me.

Feel free to be as harsh as you'd like in the rating, honesty can never hurt me as I know I'm nowhere near the best there is and am always looking for ways to improve.

 

[Arcticblast]

Hello Amaxil!

This looks like a pretty good team. I only have one problem with it, to be honest... You're using a dual-hazard Forretress. This set is perhaps the most overrated set in the OU metagame. I have a suggestion that can fix that, however, that also helps against some of OU's most prominent threats - Dragon-types. Forretress is your only check to them, but it's far too vital to your team to lose. I suggest swapping out Tangela for a Ferrothorn. Ferrothorn provides Leech Seed like Tangela, and also has Spikes and Thunder Wave, the latter of which will allow Kyurem-B to clean up the opposing team with little to no effort late in the match.

With this change, you can run an attacking move over Spikes on Forretress. You actually have multiple options for Forretress now.
- Run Gyro Ball or Bug Bite: These moves allow Forretress to smack Xatu and Blissey as they switch in. Gyro Ball is incredibly useful for fast opponents as well, while Bug Bite hits Reuniclus harder than anything else you can muster. If using this set, run an EV spread of 252 HP / 176 Def / 80 SDef with a Relaxed nature.
- Run Hidden Power Ice: While this seems like a dumb idea on something as weak as Forretress, with 54 EVs in Special Attack it can actually help take out some pretty threatening Pokemon in OU, such as Landorus and Salamence. If using this set, run an EV spread of 252 HP / 54 SAtk / 204 Def with a Bold or Relaxed nature.

Alternate option: You can run Skarmory instead of Ferrothorn. While you lose Leech Seed and Thunder Wave, you gain Whirlwind, which will allow you to replace Snorlax with a revenge killer in case the opponent sets up on you. You keep Spikes too!

Also, there is no move called Stealth Rocks. It's just Stealth Rock.

Good luck with the team!

 

[Electrolyte]

Hi,

Cool team! The weak link I see here is a weakness to fighting types, particularly Breloom. He can put your whole team to sleep, set up once or twice, and then KO everyone. It doesn't even need any priority except for Kyurem-B, since it already outspeeds much of your team. Keldeo could also be problematic if it has HP Ghost to hit Jellicent, and Terrakion can hit your whole team fairly hard. Another problem is your lack of a cleaner- a member to take the role of sweeping once your opponent's pokemon are weakened. For all these reasons, and more, I think switching Forretress with Starmie is a good idea. Starmie has a bunch of quality traits over Forretress. It's great speed and coverage allow it to revenge kill many hazard weakened threats. It's typing lets it wall most fighting types pretty easily- and with Psyshock, taking them down shouldn't be hard at all. It can also spin, just like Forretress, and act as a status sponge, with it's cool ability. Standard BoltBeam is there for coverage.

With Forretress, gone, you lose your hazard setter, so I think replacing Tangela with Ferrothorn is a good idea. You always want a steel type so handling Dragons isn't as tough, and Ferrothorn keeps it's great synergy with the rest of your team. Its access to useful hazards and leech seed will make it an even greater supporter of the team than Tangela or Forretress- and an even better wall, too. Gyro Ball helps force switches- and hits a lot harder than Forretress's. Thunder Wave is an interesting idea but one I think you should try nonetheless- it helps Kyurem shuffle, as well as letting the rest of your team outpace some foes once and a while. Although it does make Gyro Ball weaker, it's worth it because of the switches it causes and the crippling support it does.

Cool team! I hope I helped!

sets

Starmie @ Leftovers
Timid / 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Rapid Spin / Psyshock / Ice Beam / Thunderbolt

Ferrothorn @ Leftovers
Relaxed / 252 HP / 88 Def / 168 SpD
Spikes / Leech Seed / Thunder Wave / Gyro Ball

 

[tehy]

A few things:

Electrolyte's changes are good, but alternately, consider getting yourself an amoonguss, specially or physically defensive. CM keldeo with HP ghost can do quite a number on you-you can switch in tangela and leechtect, but that only heals off 25%, and +1 Hp Ghost does quite a bit to you. In addition, you're already running landorus-T, forretress, and even roost max defense kyurem-B, so it's not like you'll be screwed against physical attackers. If you do this, you probably want to lose t-spikes on forry for gyro ball. I used to run t-spikes, and TBH it seems pretty lame in today's metagame-toxic spikes absorbers are pretty damn popular nowadays. You can roll with just landorus-T for terrakion, but it's not much to give up to have two checks. As for the hail on jellicent... if you want it there, that's your call, and not a bad one at that, but it looks like last pokemon Cmclus sweeps you 6-0. You can decide to leave that wide open on account of it being a rare threat, but if you do feel like covering it, taunt gives you at least the hope of taunting it before it can CM at all. Finally, if you're going to be leechtecting, why not tangrowth? I believe it's actually about as bulky as tangela is physically, and while tangela does have an advantage on the specially based end, leechtecting means leftovers recovery will be even more welcome than before. The extra Spatk is also nice.

Overall, nice team.

 

[undisputed]

Hey!

Interesting team, and interesting concept. I like what you've done so far, but I think you could use a couple touch-ups to make the team even better.

First, Snorlax is kind of the odd man out. It doesn't really fill any niche in the metagame right now, and I can't recommend it for you. Instead, I think you should try Specially Defensive Jirachi. It essentially serves the same role as Snorlax currently, but it will cover a lot more threats for your team. Wish has the extra perk of keeping your entire team healthy. Since Forretress is a little pressed between Spikes, Toxic Spikes, and Rapid Spin, hazards could take a toll.

The rest of my suggestions are all EV changes.

First, definitely go with Special Defense over Defense on Kyurem B. The set you currently have is best utilized against weak special moves (like Politoed using Scald, for example). You'll get many more Substitutes and opportunities on Special Attacks than you will Physical.

Second, use Special Defense on Forretress. It needs to be able to set up against a lot of different Pokemon. Physical pokemon can't OHKO Forretress anyway, so you minds as well give yourself the opportunity to set up on Special Attackers as well.

Third, I'd recommend a Defensive spread on Jellicent. It's special defense is already pretty good without investment. The main way to kill Jellicent is either through hazard damage or with a strong Thunderbolt. Physically defensive Jellicent gets the job done against more Pokemon. Spinners can't touch Physically Defensive Jellicent either. Really no downside to going Physically defensive in my opinion.

Finally, use Tangrowth over Tangela. I know Tangela is an interesting idea, but Tangrowth is way better. The importance of Leftovers on your primary physical wall cannot be understated, and Tangrowth has superior stats anyway.

Good luck with your team!

 

[Aximil]

First of all, everyone, thank you for commenting. As for the weird Pokémon choices, I tend to try to use weird things. But using cookie cutter Pokémon would probably be better so I guess I'll do some team tweaking.

@Arcticblast I'd love to run Ferrothorn or Skarmory but the main idea is to have a single layer of Toxic Spikes (better damage than both sets) and Spikes. If I replaced Forretress with either of those I'd lose out on the Toxic Spikes, which is a huge part of what I wanted to do with this team. I will keep these options in mind though.

@Electrolyte I like the idea of a Starmie no the team since I'm so fighting weak and have nothing to clean up, but as for the Thunder Wave on Ferrothorn, I do not want anything status'd unless it's Burn or Poison, as I want the main goal of this team to be shuffling.

@tehy I haven't been around the BW2 metagame so I wasn't even aware HP Ghost was viable right now. Although I guess it would be perfect coverage on Keldeo. As for getting rid of the Toxic Spikes, sorry, no can do.

@undisputed Snorlax was there for being a great core with Landorus-T and for phasing, not much else.


So far, the changes to my team you peoples want will make it end up looking like this:

Specially Defensive Kyurem-B
Physically Defensive Landorus-T
Glass Cannon/Spinner Starmie
LeechWaving Ferrothorn
Physically Defensive Jellicent
And then pretty much anything other than my Tangela.

I really would like to be able to keep Toxic Spikes on the team, as that's the main reason I made this, so would would you peoples think about using something with Roserade instead?

 

[tehy]

I've heard that phys. def roserade works well, and TBH your team sort of needs it-all you can do to poison heal breloom is hit it with u-turn or EQ from landorus-T, which wouldn't be a big deal except it can easily switch into jellicent or ferrothorn. And keldeo still does pretty nicely against you, it'd be nice to have a second check. Something like Giga drain, HP fire, toxic spikes, and then sleep powder/rest, depending on which you feel suits you. It'll also be a nice check against sun, which IMO takes you apart a little-venusaur can do plenty to kyu-B, get tailed, and if the switch-in forces out Kyu-b, venu can probably sweep you.

I'm going to be honest here-i went through a phase where i ran spdef roserade and was reluctant to get rid of it because i felt like i needed t-spikes, but after i replaced it with celebi, then regenerator amoonguss when it came out, i didn't feel that much of a difference. I know you said giving up on a tspikes is a no can do, but you might want to think about just saying no. Keep in mind i found them unnecessary BEFORE amoonguss came out, and before rain got tornadus-T and keldeo, thus causing tentacruel to be used much more often.

Edit: Also, consider just replacing Kyurem-B with stockpile hippowdon. Stockpile hippo has a good deal of problems in today's metagame, but it's an excellent phazing-style sweeper in spite of them, and gives you weather control. You could then take hail off of jellicent. Kyu-B doesn't really need to check rain/water-types, since Ferrocent does it rather well, and if starmie can deal with bulky waters if you really want to avoid status. It doesn't really need to check sun either, as hippo can almost always win you the weather war.


Double edit: Yeah, that's kind of what i was trying to say. But the team itself is still not bad, don't give up on it!

 

[Arcticblast]

I never said to replace Forretress, I even said it was a vital component of your team that you couldn't lose, and suggested replacing Tangela with Ferrothorn because they perform similar roles and Ferrothorn has Spikes to make Forretress's life easier. It also makes winning easier to not stack hazards on one Pokemon - if your current Forretress goes down and the opponent manages to get in Rapid Spin, you're stuck.

 

[Aximil]

After quite a bit of playtesting, I've learned that the BW2 metagame has like 6 times the amount of Poison types that were running around in the BW metagame, so the entire point of this team seems to be moot now.

Think I'm going to wait quite a while and make another team when I get a better grasp on this metagame. Thank you all for the advice though, I really appreciated it. ^_^