Basically, with the advent of gen 5, something really good happened :
Flygon dropped to UU.
Finally, a chance for the dragon to show its power in the tier where it really belongs, I thought. What better way to have a glimpse of its capabilities than to build a team around it?
But wait! Somehow I got reminded of the other dragon of Hoenn. No, not the fatass that is Salamence, but Altaria. Poor fluffpudge has been stuck in UU for so long, and I didn't even think of it right from the start! Feeling sorry for fluffykins here, I decided that Flygon shall have a dragon partner, and thus the main idea for the team was created.
The team itself has been experiencing limited success, with a win ratio at about 50% on various POL servers including Smogon. I belief that this team can be optimized further, and therefore I am asking you team raters to help me patch up holes in the team~
Without further ado, team building process :
The two less-than-OU-material dragons of Hoenn region are the core of the team. Can't do without them.
Both are quadruply weak to ice, so I added Milotic, who can tank ice attacks aimed at my precious dragons.
Since Milotic already functions as a general special attack sponge outside of blocking ice moves, I added Donphan for general physical walling purposes. The reason why I chose Donphan was because it's ability to set up SR and spin hazards rolled into one.
My team lacked a pokemon that can reliably function as a general lead outside of specific situations, so I turned to the age-old tested lead Ambipom to fill in that function.
Right now the team is very physically oriented, so I added another special attacker in Jolteon, who is now down in UU as well.
Since then the team members have not changed, but their sets have.
Now let's go in-depth, shall we?
THE LEAD
Jolly / Technician @ Life Orb
4HP/ 252Atk/ 252Spe
Fake Out
U-Turn
Low Sweep / Low Kick
Pursuit
More or less the same old Ambipom from last gen. Is fast, hits decently hard, and has a form of priority for free damage. Usually used to scout early game when the opposing team does not immediately show a tendency to follow a certain strategy, such as the lack of a weather inducer. Near late game, Ambipom is usually used as death fodder. I usually use Low Sweep because it's boosted by Technician and slows the opponent down to allow my slower mons to take care of it, but Low Kick appears to be somewhat better at dealing damage, especially to heavy walls like Registeel so I use that every once in a while.
THE DRAGON CORE
Jolly / Levitate @ Life Orb
4HP/ 252Atk/ 252Spe
Dragon Claw
Earthquake
U-Turn
Roost
This Flygon set aims for damage and longevity. Flygon's defenses are not the best, but it can take NVE hits every now and then. That is helped by Flygon's excellent list of resistances. Roost also helps mitigate Life Orb damage, allowing Flygon to attack without needing to worry of killing itself with recoil. Dragon Claw is chosen over Outrage because of this set's goal. Locking oneself into outrage does not bode well for the dragon's longevity. Earthquake is a very nice STAB with high power, and U-Turn is a staple on all Flygon sets, allowing me to scout effectively by continuously U-Turn/VoltSwitching between Ambipom, Flygon, and Jolteon.
Natural Cure / Impish @ Leftovers
244HP/ 136Def/ 116SpDef
Dragon Dance
Roost
Heal Bell
Dragon Claw
This is the bulky cleric mono-attacking set, whose set up is nigh unstoppable because of roost and heal bell. Once the opponent's offensive threat has been neutralized, Altaria becomes the end-game cleaner, setting up with impunity in the face of defensive and support mons, and even quite a few offensive ones too. Nothing is immune nor 4x resist dragon-type, so Dragon Claw as its mono attack is logical. At +6 Altaria can topple any defensive pokemon with brute force combined with Roost and Heal Bell. Either it one-shots them or it outlasts them, in the end it will usually win.
THE REST OF THE TEAM
Marvel Scale / Modest @ Leftovers
212HP/ 44Def/ 252SpAtk
Hydro Pump
HP Grass
Recover
Dragon Tail
Offensive Milotic, something that is rarely used for a reason : Milotic is more capable defensively, which gives this Milotic a surprise value. Stuff switching in expecting a Scald and perhaps a burn will be greeted with the much more powerful Hydro Pump. HP Grass takes care of the annoying Quagsire, which I very much hate. Recover is there to take advantage of Milotic's natural bulk, and Dragon Tail to remove stuff that sets up. It has enough natural SpDef to survive quite a lot of things and just enough Def to not die at the slightest touch of a powerful physical move.
Sturdy / Adamant @ Leftovers
252HP / 252Atk/ 4Def
Rapid Spin
Stealth Rock
Earthquake
Ice Shard
Mainly a physical attacker and sponge, packing a priority for revenge killing a few things such as other Flygons, Donphan also sets up Stealth Rock to help nab KOs and keeps the hazards away from my side of the field. Not much to say here. Toot toot, moving on~
Volt Absorb/ Modest @ Choice Specs
4HP/ 252SpAtk/ 252Spe
Thunderbolt
Volt Switch
Shadow Ball
HP Ice
The cleaner once all heavily specially defensive pokemon and resists have been weakened sufficiently and all ground types are eliminated. Thunderbolt spamming shall commence, and with modest nature and specs, this fella hits hard. When Jolteon isn't doing the wipe-up though, his task is to scout with Volt Switch along with Flygon and Ambipom, although I have to be more careful about using Jolteon since Ground types mess up his scouting. The other two moves are for just in case, as in when predicting a switch to dragons.
----------------Threat list on next post--------------------------
Flygon dropped to UU.
Finally, a chance for the dragon to show its power in the tier where it really belongs, I thought. What better way to have a glimpse of its capabilities than to build a team around it?
But wait! Somehow I got reminded of the other dragon of Hoenn. No, not the fatass that is Salamence, but Altaria. Poor fluffpudge has been stuck in UU for so long, and I didn't even think of it right from the start! Feeling sorry for fluffykins here, I decided that Flygon shall have a dragon partner, and thus the main idea for the team was created.
The team itself has been experiencing limited success, with a win ratio at about 50% on various POL servers including Smogon. I belief that this team can be optimized further, and therefore I am asking you team raters to help me patch up holes in the team~
Without further ado, team building process :
The two less-than-OU-material dragons of Hoenn region are the core of the team. Can't do without them.
Both are quadruply weak to ice, so I added Milotic, who can tank ice attacks aimed at my precious dragons.
Since Milotic already functions as a general special attack sponge outside of blocking ice moves, I added Donphan for general physical walling purposes. The reason why I chose Donphan was because it's ability to set up SR and spin hazards rolled into one.
My team lacked a pokemon that can reliably function as a general lead outside of specific situations, so I turned to the age-old tested lead Ambipom to fill in that function.
Right now the team is very physically oriented, so I added another special attacker in Jolteon, who is now down in UU as well.
Since then the team members have not changed, but their sets have.
Now let's go in-depth, shall we?
THE LEAD
Jolly / Technician @ Life Orb
4HP/ 252Atk/ 252Spe
Fake Out
U-Turn
Low Sweep / Low Kick
Pursuit
More or less the same old Ambipom from last gen. Is fast, hits decently hard, and has a form of priority for free damage. Usually used to scout early game when the opposing team does not immediately show a tendency to follow a certain strategy, such as the lack of a weather inducer. Near late game, Ambipom is usually used as death fodder. I usually use Low Sweep because it's boosted by Technician and slows the opponent down to allow my slower mons to take care of it, but Low Kick appears to be somewhat better at dealing damage, especially to heavy walls like Registeel so I use that every once in a while.
THE DRAGON CORE
Jolly / Levitate @ Life Orb
4HP/ 252Atk/ 252Spe
Dragon Claw
Earthquake
U-Turn
Roost
This Flygon set aims for damage and longevity. Flygon's defenses are not the best, but it can take NVE hits every now and then. That is helped by Flygon's excellent list of resistances. Roost also helps mitigate Life Orb damage, allowing Flygon to attack without needing to worry of killing itself with recoil. Dragon Claw is chosen over Outrage because of this set's goal. Locking oneself into outrage does not bode well for the dragon's longevity. Earthquake is a very nice STAB with high power, and U-Turn is a staple on all Flygon sets, allowing me to scout effectively by continuously U-Turn/VoltSwitching between Ambipom, Flygon, and Jolteon.
Natural Cure / Impish @ Leftovers
244HP/ 136Def/ 116SpDef
Dragon Dance
Roost
Heal Bell
Dragon Claw
This is the bulky cleric mono-attacking set, whose set up is nigh unstoppable because of roost and heal bell. Once the opponent's offensive threat has been neutralized, Altaria becomes the end-game cleaner, setting up with impunity in the face of defensive and support mons, and even quite a few offensive ones too. Nothing is immune nor 4x resist dragon-type, so Dragon Claw as its mono attack is logical. At +6 Altaria can topple any defensive pokemon with brute force combined with Roost and Heal Bell. Either it one-shots them or it outlasts them, in the end it will usually win.
THE REST OF THE TEAM
Marvel Scale / Modest @ Leftovers
212HP/ 44Def/ 252SpAtk
Hydro Pump
HP Grass
Recover
Dragon Tail
Offensive Milotic, something that is rarely used for a reason : Milotic is more capable defensively, which gives this Milotic a surprise value. Stuff switching in expecting a Scald and perhaps a burn will be greeted with the much more powerful Hydro Pump. HP Grass takes care of the annoying Quagsire, which I very much hate. Recover is there to take advantage of Milotic's natural bulk, and Dragon Tail to remove stuff that sets up. It has enough natural SpDef to survive quite a lot of things and just enough Def to not die at the slightest touch of a powerful physical move.
Sturdy / Adamant @ Leftovers
252HP / 252Atk/ 4Def
Rapid Spin
Stealth Rock
Earthquake
Ice Shard
Mainly a physical attacker and sponge, packing a priority for revenge killing a few things such as other Flygons, Donphan also sets up Stealth Rock to help nab KOs and keeps the hazards away from my side of the field. Not much to say here. Toot toot, moving on~
Volt Absorb/ Modest @ Choice Specs
4HP/ 252SpAtk/ 252Spe
Thunderbolt
Volt Switch
Shadow Ball
HP Ice
The cleaner once all heavily specially defensive pokemon and resists have been weakened sufficiently and all ground types are eliminated. Thunderbolt spamming shall commence, and with modest nature and specs, this fella hits hard. When Jolteon isn't doing the wipe-up though, his task is to scout with Volt Switch along with Flygon and Ambipom, although I have to be more careful about using Jolteon since Ground types mess up his scouting. The other two moves are for just in case, as in when predicting a switch to dragons.
----------------Threat list on next post--------------------------
