Preface
I became proficient at battling by utilizing the teams of others. I learned how to use the tools. Now, I'm attempting to get a handle on crafting my own tools to use. This is my first team ever made, and while I have tested it on the PO ladder, I have not made ANY changed from the first draft. You are about to look upon the first draft of the first team I've ever made, feel free to ruthlessly critique. The name comes from how the team operates (or rather, how I'd like it to operate once perfected), each pokemon holding its own surprises, ready to dismantle the opposition with the versatility of a Swiss army knife.
Machamp (F) @ Lum Berry Trait: No Guard
EVs: 240 HP / 248 Atk / 16 SDef / 4 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- DynamicPunch
- Stone Edge
- Payback
- Bullet Punch
My lead of choice, and the only physical attacker on my team. He often gets me off to a good start by abusing general machampery (coined by myself, a term which refers to pokemon such as machamp and jirachi), using BP to nullify sashes, and nailing fliers on the switch with stone edge. He generally hangs around until at least midgame, remaining a sort of safety net for my team against things that don't like to take a dynamic punch (see: most of the metagame).
Heatran (F) @ Balloon
Trait: Flash Fire
EVs: 36 HP / 252 SAtk / 220 Spd
Mild Nature (+SAtk, -Def)
- Flamethrower
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Earth Power
- Stealth Rock
This heatran, another safety net, helps to protect me against things like garchomp, gliscor, and doryuuzu by avoiding their ground attacks and returning a HP ice (or flamethrower). He forces out a number of pokemon, an opportunity he capitalizes on by laying down stealth rocks on their side of the field.
Zapdos @ Life Orb
Trait: Lightningrod
EVs: 32 HP / 252 SAtk / 224 Spd
Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Roost
- Thunderbolt
- Agility
- Hidden Power [Ice]
Ahh, good ole zapdos. This is one of the team members which hasn't been performing as well as I'd like. Though he gives me some useful resistances (notably ground, fighting, and grass), it seems like he doesn't do as much sweeping as he should. The goal is to get him in on an electric attack, which will boost his special attack one stage. He then looks for a interim in the fray so that he can use agility. From there he can KO most pokemon that can KO him, while pausing to roost to nullify life orb damage against pokemon who can't KO him. Together with rankurusu, he helps me against roobushin.
Rankurusu (F) @ Life Orb
Trait: Magic Guard
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SAtk / 4 Spd
Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Psycho Shock
- Focus Blast
- Shadow Ball
- Recover
Rankurusu packs a quite a punch, by means of an item that normally is detrimental to its users. For rankurusu, this is not the case. Psycho shock gives him the ability to handle blissey and other special walls. Focus blast and shadow ball combine for some maniacal recovery. Similar to clefable, he doesn't mind status.
Kerudio @ Leftovers
Trait: Justice Heart
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Calm Mind
- Hydro Pump
- Mystery Sword
- Hidden Power [Electric]/Taunt
Kerudio, another pokemon I added specifically for dealing with special walls, handles many pokemon with his ability to deal damage from both halves of the spectrum while only worrying about one damage stat. I'm currently using HP electric for things like gyarados and the devilish water/ghost jellyfish that is bubungeru. Taunt is being considered, but I find that against walls I would often rather get a calm mind under my belt than risking wasting a turn because of taunting a switch-in.
Genosect @ Life Orb
Trait: Download
EVs: 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Rock Polish
- Bug Buzz
- Thunderbolt
- Ice Beam
Genosect packs a punch, especially if I can get him in on the appropriate pokemon. If he scares something into making a switch, he can rock polish and use his coverage/brute force to do some clean up duty on their team. There is a 10% chance of hax every time he lands an attack (omitting the omnipresent crit hax chance), which means that a fair amount of the time I get lucky and score a kill on something I really shouldn't have.
That's the team thus far. I'm completely open to changes and critiques, as well as inquiries pertaining to my logic used in making a decision. Thanks for reading all of the way through, please include one of the symbols located above the numbers on your keyboard (!@#$%^&*) inserted somewhere randomly in one of your sentences (cleverly disguised as a typo) so that I may identify those of you who actually read for comprehension.
I became proficient at battling by utilizing the teams of others. I learned how to use the tools. Now, I'm attempting to get a handle on crafting my own tools to use. This is my first team ever made, and while I have tested it on the PO ladder, I have not made ANY changed from the first draft. You are about to look upon the first draft of the first team I've ever made, feel free to ruthlessly critique. The name comes from how the team operates (or rather, how I'd like it to operate once perfected), each pokemon holding its own surprises, ready to dismantle the opposition with the versatility of a Swiss army knife.
Machamp (F) @ Lum Berry Trait: No Guard
EVs: 240 HP / 248 Atk / 16 SDef / 4 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- DynamicPunch
- Stone Edge
- Payback
- Bullet Punch
My lead of choice, and the only physical attacker on my team. He often gets me off to a good start by abusing general machampery (coined by myself, a term which refers to pokemon such as machamp and jirachi), using BP to nullify sashes, and nailing fliers on the switch with stone edge. He generally hangs around until at least midgame, remaining a sort of safety net for my team against things that don't like to take a dynamic punch (see: most of the metagame).
Heatran (F) @ Balloon
Trait: Flash Fire
EVs: 36 HP / 252 SAtk / 220 Spd
Mild Nature (+SAtk, -Def)
- Flamethrower
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Earth Power
- Stealth Rock
This heatran, another safety net, helps to protect me against things like garchomp, gliscor, and doryuuzu by avoiding their ground attacks and returning a HP ice (or flamethrower). He forces out a number of pokemon, an opportunity he capitalizes on by laying down stealth rocks on their side of the field.
Zapdos @ Life Orb
Trait: Lightningrod
EVs: 32 HP / 252 SAtk / 224 Spd
Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Roost
- Thunderbolt
- Agility
- Hidden Power [Ice]
Ahh, good ole zapdos. This is one of the team members which hasn't been performing as well as I'd like. Though he gives me some useful resistances (notably ground, fighting, and grass), it seems like he doesn't do as much sweeping as he should. The goal is to get him in on an electric attack, which will boost his special attack one stage. He then looks for a interim in the fray so that he can use agility. From there he can KO most pokemon that can KO him, while pausing to roost to nullify life orb damage against pokemon who can't KO him. Together with rankurusu, he helps me against roobushin.
Rankurusu (F) @ Life Orb
Trait: Magic Guard
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SAtk / 4 Spd
Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Psycho Shock
- Focus Blast
- Shadow Ball
- Recover
Rankurusu packs a quite a punch, by means of an item that normally is detrimental to its users. For rankurusu, this is not the case. Psycho shock gives him the ability to handle blissey and other special walls. Focus blast and shadow ball combine for some maniacal recovery. Similar to clefable, he doesn't mind status.
Kerudio @ Leftovers
Trait: Justice Heart
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Calm Mind
- Hydro Pump
- Mystery Sword
- Hidden Power [Electric]/Taunt
Kerudio, another pokemon I added specifically for dealing with special walls, handles many pokemon with his ability to deal damage from both halves of the spectrum while only worrying about one damage stat. I'm currently using HP electric for things like gyarados and the devilish water/ghost jellyfish that is bubungeru. Taunt is being considered, but I find that against walls I would often rather get a calm mind under my belt than risking wasting a turn because of taunting a switch-in.
Genosect @ Life Orb
Trait: Download
EVs: 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Rock Polish
- Bug Buzz
- Thunderbolt
- Ice Beam
Genosect packs a punch, especially if I can get him in on the appropriate pokemon. If he scares something into making a switch, he can rock polish and use his coverage/brute force to do some clean up duty on their team. There is a 10% chance of hax every time he lands an attack (omitting the omnipresent crit hax chance), which means that a fair amount of the time I get lucky and score a kill on something I really shouldn't have.
That's the team thus far. I'm completely open to changes and critiques, as well as inquiries pertaining to my logic used in making a decision. Thanks for reading all of the way through, please include one of the symbols located above the numbers on your keyboard (!@#$%^&*) inserted somewhere randomly in one of your sentences (cleverly disguised as a typo) so that I may identify those of you who actually read for comprehension.
