"Into the Dragons' Den" - An Offensive Dragon Team (Peak #1)
Hello guys, Chompy here!
Welcome to my first RMT! Since it is my first, I wanted to make it special, using this post to show off the team I used to peak top of the ladder. Today, I have a team I created the day MegaCham was created, playing around with some of the mons here and there but eventually settling down into this beautiful team. Let's wrap this introduction up and get into the teambuilder.
Teambuilding Process
With the Dragon type, I figured I'd grab one of the best dragons around, if we're comparing them side by side. Dragonite has the ability Multiscale, allowing it to live almost any hit provided it's not stupidly strong. Finally, it has some of the best priority in the game along with one of the best priority moves in the game: Extreme Speed. I knew this combination would come in handy later.
Since Dragonite is 4x weak to Ice, I figured I'd grab the only mon that Dragon has that's neutral to Ice attacks. Kyurem-Black is also a great wallbreaker, weakening opposing teams for Dragonite to tear down later.
With these two mons, I figured that I need Stealth Rock, a defensive wall, and an answer to all the Steel running around. Garchomp is a great pokemon for all of those things.
I tried regular Chomp, the TankChomp set from OU, and it didn't work well enough to take care of Ground as I would've liked it to. This led to MegaChomp being used.
Obviously Dragon is very weak to Fairy, Assault Vest Goodra working to help patch this. The team didn't have a switch to special attacks so Goodra was there to help out with that.
Hydreigon was the check for Psychic back when MegaCham was being spammed, Choice Scarf working out as another form of dealing with faster threats.
Before, this was a Dragalge, but Dragalge failed to help with the Fairy matchup and made me weaker to Psychic. This made Hydreigon a much more viable option for me.
Finally, the team lacked hazard control with Dragonite needing Scale, Kyurem needing to double to drag out certain mons or to catch others on the switch, and Goodra needing all the health it can get for the constant pressure from special attacks. This mon also helped with the Dragon mirror, outspeeding most of the mons that Dragon has to fight back.
The Team
Ability: Multiscale
EVs: 252 Attack / 4 Special Defense / 252 Speed
Adamant Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Outrage
- Fire Punch
- Extreme Speed
Weakness Policy and Dragon Dance is the set I chose for my Dragonite. Although it could make use of things like Lum Berry, there's not enough burns to go around to warrant the use in my mind. The things that know Wisp are common, so it's easy to predict and play around it. +3 Attack and Adamant allows this to 2HKO things like Azumarill with neutral E Speed into +2. It also gets rid of Tapu Koko, being able to OHKO at +3, etc. etc. Fire Punch was the chosen move, since Garchomp and Goodra can help get rid of Heatran. Fire Punch allows Dragonite to save Multiscale and help get rid of Mega Scizor since offensive can easily take down this team with a bit of chip damage.
Ability: Teravolt
EVs: 240 Attack / 16 Special Attack / 252 Speed
Lonely Nature
- Freeze Shock
- Ice Beam
- Fusion Bolt
- Outrage
This Kyurem is the wallbreaker, getting rid of things like Zapdos and Venusaur as well as getting one free kill against Flying, Poison, and Ground most of the time. Icium Z-Freeze Shock is a one turn nuke to eliminate the Stealth Rocker of most teams. If rocks don't go up, Dragonite has a much easier time and Latios isn't pressured to Draco. Icium-Z can OHKO Clefable, Tyranitar, Seismotoad on Water or Ground, does 75-OHKO to a Ferrothorn depending on the EVs. Ice Beam is to make sure that you can't get walled by ground types once you use your Z move, also being used to get the Freeze on a mon if you are in a rough place. Fusion Bolt takes out Toxapex and really helps against the Water matchup. Goodra tanks two Kingdra dracos and -4 Kingdra can't get rid of Kyurem, allowing you to click Fusion Bolt and get a kill, for example. Finally, Outrage is there for the Poison and Normal matchups, especially for the Toxapex and Venusaur mindgames, doing 40-50 to either mon. -Def instead of -Sp. Def because Kyurem can actually live a few hits like a Koko Dazzling at full, which is essential some games.
Ability: Rough Skin (Normal) / Sand Force (Mega)
EVs: 248 HP / 124 Defense / 136 Speed
Timid / Jolly Nature
- Dragon Tail
- Earthquake
- Fire Blast
- Stealth Rock
This is an odd Garchomp set that I didn't actually know I was using. I clicked suggested spread when I changed to MegaChomp and got Timid on accident and without paying attention. Throughout my entire run on ladder, I used Timid which allows for the easier KO on Mega Scizor and more damage on Ferrothorn/Celesteela. Once I realized, I changed and found that it didn't really matter which way you went. One allows more damage from EQ, one allows more damage against the Steel threats. Depends on what you need.
Now this spread allows you to outspeed max speed Heatran since they seem to be running Hidden Power [Ice]. The rest goes into bulk to allow yourself to take hits from Mega Scizor and Excadrill, those two mons being pretty big threats on Steel and Ground, respectively.
Dragon Tail allows you to phase mons in and out to get chip damage with Rocks along with setup sweepers. It's good damage on things like Dragonite in the mirror, Heatran to get rid of the balloon, and Mandibuzz which loves to come in on EQ and Defog. Earthquake is there to get consistent damage on whatever wants to come in, working things like Magearna and Excadrill to get the chip that you need for the other mons. Fire Blast is there to hit Mega Sciz and Ferrothorn, using it to get rid of the ScizoTran core for Steel. Fire + Ground does a lot of damage to steel teams as a whole. Finally, there is Stealth Rock to break sashes and to get damage on whatever you need for one of the scarfers or Dragonite to clean in the end.
Ability: Sap Sipper
EVs: 248 HP / 200 Special Attack / 56 Speed
Modest Nature
- Dragon Pulse
- Ice Beam
- Thunderbolt
- Earthquake
Goodra works as a blanket check to special attackers, as well as a counter to most Flying, Grass, Fire, Water, and Electric teams and the check for Fairy ones. BoltBeam allows Goodra to hit Gliscor and Charizard, for example, on Flying. It also baits in Zapdos when you show that you have Thunderbolt. Earthquake is meant to bait in the Heatran on Steel teams, working to get rid of it so you can spam one of the four Fire moves this team happens to carry. It also works to get around 30% off on Magearna, this being important to get rid of it later. Finally, Dragon Pulse is a move that allows Goodra to hit things for neutral, getting rid of Dragon mons its meant to switch into like Hydreigon from Dark and Latios from Psychic. It also helps to hit mons that you don't have supereffective coverage on.
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 Special Attack / 4 Special Defense / 252 Speed
Timid Nature
- Draco Meteor
- Dark Pulse
- Flamethrower
- U-turn
Hydreigon works to provide a check to things like Bisharp and Mega Sciz if Chomp gets too weakened, actually being able to take a +2 Bullet Punch from Mega Scizor if it isn't max attack Adamant. It gives me a way to get rid of Psychic types and a way to revenge things that are slower than it. Flamethrower works to tear down Steel once Tran goes down and U-turn is there when you predict a Tran coming in. It also works for things like Azumarill or Togekiss on Water and Flying, respectively. Dark Pulse is there to revenge 100% when available and then Draco is there to revenge with the cost of having to switch out after you do. Of course, this is 90% of the time.
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 Special Attack / 4 Special Defense / 252 Speed
Timid Nature
- Draco Meteor
- Psychic
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Defog
After toying with Soul Dew and Life Orb, I came out with a Choice Scarf set. In the Ice matchup, Scarf can outspeed Alolan-Sandslash and get rid of it with HP Fire. In the Fairy matchup, Scarf Latios outspeeds +2 Magearna so you can revenge with HP Fire after getting a bit of chip damage off. In the Dragon matchup, Scarf Latios can come in and get a kill 90% of the time. Of course, if you miss, you do lose automatically. Choice Scarf can also be used to demolish Fighting once you get rid of the Cobalion and identify the pokemon with Assault Vest, usually Conkeldurr if they even have an AV. Finally, there is Defog since it doesn't matter that it's scarf, I still need a Defogger for my Dragonite to win with Multiscale. It is nice since nothing ever really outspeeds Latios so you will always be able to get a Defog off.
Conclusion
Thank you all for reading my RMT, I do appreciate that after I put so much work into it. Dragon is a hard type to get to know and is very very matchup oriented, but once you get the hang out it and know what to watch out for, what to double into, the rolls you need to watch out for, you will be able to play this team or any team perfectly.
I wish you the best of luck in your battles.
- Chompy
Sargon Of Akkad (Dragonite) @ Weakness Policy
Ability: Multiscale
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Outrage
- Fire Punch
- Extreme Speed
- Dragon Dance
BBK (Kyurem-Black) @ Icium Z
Ability: Teravolt
EVs: 240 Atk / 16 SpA / 252 Spe
Lonely Nature
- Freeze Shock
- Ice Beam
- Fusion Bolt
- Outrage
Chompo-Mega (Garchomp-Mega) @ Garchompite
Ability: Rough Skin
EVs: 248 HP / 124 Def / 136 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Dragon Tail
- Earthquake
- Fire Blast
- Stealth Rock
T H I C C (Goodra) @ Assault Vest
Ability: Sap Sipper
EVs: 248 HP / 200 SpA / 60 Spe
Modest Nature
- Dragon Pulse
- Thunderbolt
- Ice Beam
- Earthquake
Triple Threat (Hydreigon) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Draco Meteor
- Dark Pulse
- Flamethrower
- U-turn
JetBlue (Latios) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Draco Meteor
- Psychic
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Defog
Ability: Multiscale
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Outrage
- Fire Punch
- Extreme Speed
- Dragon Dance
BBK (Kyurem-Black) @ Icium Z
Ability: Teravolt
EVs: 240 Atk / 16 SpA / 252 Spe
Lonely Nature
- Freeze Shock
- Ice Beam
- Fusion Bolt
- Outrage
Chompo-Mega (Garchomp-Mega) @ Garchompite
Ability: Rough Skin
EVs: 248 HP / 124 Def / 136 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Dragon Tail
- Earthquake
- Fire Blast
- Stealth Rock
T H I C C (Goodra) @ Assault Vest
Ability: Sap Sipper
EVs: 248 HP / 200 SpA / 60 Spe
Modest Nature
- Dragon Pulse
- Thunderbolt
- Ice Beam
- Earthquake
Triple Threat (Hydreigon) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Draco Meteor
- Dark Pulse
- Flamethrower
- U-turn
JetBlue (Latios) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Draco Meteor
- Psychic
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Defog
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7monotype-587060138 - How to play against Excadrill + Mamo Ground.
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7monotype-586948143 - Playing against Kingdra rain and Kenny.
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7monotype-586537101 - MonoGrass is a threat.
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7monotype-583651980 - Normal is a rough matchup + another game vs. Kenny
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7monotype-584481102 - Drag v. Drag against Soma.
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7monotype-583109446 - Gren is the biggest threat most of the time.
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7monotype-581480032 - Stall water is a bad matchup..
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7monotype-583485448 - Trick Room Magearna hax.
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7monotype-586948143 - Playing against Kingdra rain and Kenny.
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7monotype-586537101 - MonoGrass is a threat.
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7monotype-583651980 - Normal is a rough matchup + another game vs. Kenny
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7monotype-584481102 - Drag v. Drag against Soma.
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7monotype-583109446 - Gren is the biggest threat most of the time.
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7monotype-581480032 - Stall water is a bad matchup..
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7monotype-583485448 - Trick Room Magearna hax.
BankaiGenius - The dude I always go to when I get on PS. Thanks for hanging out.
Lotus Wincon - The other dude I go to when Genius isn't around and I wanna get competitive
Jo'Z - Played so many games against me and helped me learn a whole bunch of matchups. Also kind of copied format from his Dark Stall RMT, make sure to check that out -http://www.smogon.com/forums/threads/dark-lives-matter-a-dark-stall-team.3605954/
Alliance Dethroner - Always stood there and offered to help me out, giving me people to play against and telling me I could just do it.
Soma - Taught me the Dragon type and showed me the light of MegaChomp.
Ladder Kenny - A really ass player who gave me a bunch of laughs and a bunch of L's.
Lotus Wincon - The other dude I go to when Genius isn't around and I wanna get competitive
Jo'Z - Played so many games against me and helped me learn a whole bunch of matchups. Also kind of copied format from his Dark Stall RMT, make sure to check that out -http://www.smogon.com/forums/threads/dark-lives-matter-a-dark-stall-team.3605954/
Alliance Dethroner - Always stood there and offered to help me out, giving me people to play against and telling me I could just do it.
Soma - Taught me the Dragon type and showed me the light of MegaChomp.
Ladder Kenny - A really ass player who gave me a bunch of laughs and a bunch of L's.