[X] My Assistant

[Hodou Masaka]

NOTE: This is for HG/SS, hence moves like Superpower on Absol and Pain Split on Gardevoir.

Weavile. Is not on this team. Anywhere. I was just talking about Weavile for some unspecified reason. Let's go with that.

The Team:



This is an OU team -- despite that, I'm using Absol and Gardevoir. Though they fall into UU and NU respectively (Gardevoir is BL on GTS+?) and fill roles that are often taken by other OU Pokemon, I've chosen them for specific reasons that I'll explain when I get to them. I originally made this team as a rebellion against the repetitive and boring battlers of Smogon -- I made the team with my favorites, and I tried to make it all work. At times the team has included Slowbro and Shedinja, the former of which I scrapped in favor of Kingdra, and the latter which I've completely given up on as of late. Certainly, Kingdra and Tyranitar don't really rebel against typical tactics anymore, but the team still feels like my creation for once.

That was all I needed, at the time. But now, I'm looking for advice on how I can improve it.



Darken (Gengar @ Choice Scarf)
Levitate
Timid
4 HP / 252 Spd / 252 SAtk
- Shadow Ball
- Thunderbolt
- Will-o-Wisp
- Trick

Unlike most Gengars, this one is NOT designed to keep coming back as a revenge killer throughout the match. Instead, it just attempts to neutralize as much of the other team as it can in one sitting. On most leads (Swampert being my favorite to see) it will Trick away its Choice Scarf. From there Gengar essentially becomes a scout, because if there's a Scizor, Weavile, or Tyranitar anywhere on the other team, you know they're coming out next. Cue Will-o-Wisp, which attempts to hit them on the switch-in and slice their attack in half. In fact, if Gengar hits a Pursuit-user with Will-o-Wisp, he will actually be able to survive Pursuit on the switch-out, allowing him to return to cause mayhem like a normal Gengar. If he didn't, he still gets a second chance to burn them before dying.

If the other lead is weak to Shadow Ball or Thunderbolt, obviously Gengar can just go ahead and kill the lead instead, though he risks getting removed by Pursuit afterwards.


Embrace (Togekiss @ Leftovers)
Serene Grace
Timid
4 HP / 252 Spe / 252 SpA
- Air Slash
- Aura Sphere
- Roost
- Thunder Wave

Togekiss... my all-time favorite Pokemon. I'm finding it hard NOT to use Togekiss on a team lately. Even without defensive EV investment, she's quite resilient. I've tried a bunch of different types of Togekiss in the past, but for this team I stuck with the tried-and-true paraflinch set. She Thunder Waves anything that doesn't resist her Air Slash and proceeds to flinch the hell out of them. Aura Sphere allows her to OHKO Tyranitar and deal serious damage to anything with the right weaknesses (it's excellent for dealing with Heatran and Magnezone, but Jirachi can take it too well.) Togekiss is an incredible catch-all solution to a lot of scenarios -- she can stare down even some of the beastliest OUs, including Scizor, Salamence, and even some Zapdos sets. Gliscor and Jirachi are her biggest weaknesses.



Soothe (Gardevoir @ Leftovers) *still testing*
Synchronize
Calm
252 HP / 252 SpD / 4 Spe
- Psychic
- Encore
- Heal Bell
- Pain Split

Gardevoir is another multi-purpose Pokemon I'm quite fond of. She's playing a support role here, as a cleric, a status absorber, a stall-breaker, and even a wall in certain scenarios. She'll typically come in on anything that I expect to use a status effect -- especially stuff like Blissey and Vaporeon. Thanks to Synchronize, she reflects these back at the opponent, and then she can Heal Bell the status off of herself (healing teammates in the process.) Encore will disable the wall, either forcing a switch or giving Absol and Kingdra opportunities to set up. Pain Split, combined with her wonderful Special Defense, allows her to take several hits at the expense of the enemy. Her biggest enemies are obviously Pursuit-users like Tyranitar and Scizor, who conveniently have often been burned by Gengar and/or removed by the time she comes out.

Why not Blissey?

I don't merely need a wall to absorb ridiculous special damage. Tyranitar and Togekiss are both more than capable of handling that, and anything else on my team will either switch out or ideally be strong enough to kill a special attacker once they enter the battle. Synchronize and Heal Bell are another reason, as my team hates status and I'd rather punish Toxic and Wisp users than simply Natural Cure them away to return later on with the same problems. Also, Gardevoir is actually capable of inflicting serious damage on some Pokemon, unlike Blissey who is forced to resort to Seismic Toss. Encore is the final nail in the Blissey coffin for me, as it's an incredibly useful move, especially when you know the opponent thinks they're forcing you out. Blissey is better for those who don't want to predict. I, on the other hand, love prediction and try to work it in whenever I can. As for why I'm not using Celebi? I simply can't get one, TBH, and I'd rather use Gardevoir than have to scrounge a perfect Celebi through trades or by hacking. (and I don't even like Celebi, lol)



Ensnare (Absol @ Life Orb)
Super Luck
Adamant
4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
- Sucker Punch
- Superpower
- Swords Dance
- Substitute


Absol is one of the two sweepers on the team, though he often fits a more limited revenge killer role instead. He either comes in when I know he can force the other team's Pokemon out, or comes in when his Sucker Punch is needed. In the former scenario, he puts up a Substitute and proceeds to SD and punish the opposing team. The only attack that really even needs the swords dances is Superpower, since it deals negatives to his attack. Absol is especially effective when he comes in on an opponent that's been Encored by Gardevoir, but he can also come in on a majority of Dark and Ghost attackers. Rotom is an especially easy mark -- switch in on Shadow Ball, Substitute before the WoW hits him, and proceed to sweep. His biggest issues generally come in the form of Lucario, Scizor, and any physical wall that resists fighting-type... though the former two often attempt to set up and get smashed by Superpower instead.



Kingdra @ Leftovers
Swift Swim
Adamant
252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Def
- Waterfall
- Outrage
- Yawn
- Dragon Dance


Kingdra in all its glory. There are a ton of Pokemon that Kingdra sets up on without trouble, and once set up it can tear through most of a team. As a Dragon/Water type, it has fewer exploitable weaknesses than anything else that can use Dragon Dance, so it's much harder to take out once it gets going -- originally, I chose Kingdra because I hated Salamence and Dragonite felt inferior, but as time went on I began to realize that in many respects Kingdra surpasses them both. I originally used Rain Dance there, but now I'm using Yawn instead because Kingdra doesn't need the extra Speed after a DD or two, and he often comes out on Scizor so it's helpful to be able to force them out.



Tyranitar @ Choice Scarf
Sand Stream
Lonely
4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
- Stone Edge
- Crunch
- Earthquake
- Fire Blast

The most "Smogony" of all of my Pokemon, it doesn't bother me because I've always really liked Tyranitar and it's tough to deny his incredible power. Like any other Scarftar, it switches in whenever it can survive an oncoming attack (which, with Tyranitar, is often) or whenever another Pokemon dies. With 401 Attack, Stone Edge, Crunch, and Earthquake are enough to 1HKO a large number of OU's threats. The last slot I'm still not really sure of, but I'm currently running Fire Blast to attempt to catch known Scizor, Forretress, and Skarmory off guard when they switch in.

Last Words

Sorry for all the reading!!! Yeah, so if you look at these descriptions it sounds like I'm extremely fond of this team. And while that's true, and it'll make me sad to change stuff around, I came to post an RMT because I want the honest truth. So let loose with all your suggestions, and feel free to tell me to replace absolutely everything if you feel like that's the only option. The competitive world is a harsh one that doesn't look kindly on people that use their favorites, I've learned that firsthand. If I make changes, I'll update them into the main post.

Updates
-Added the games the RMT was for, since I used a lot of HGSS tutor moves
-Added comment that Gardevoir is actually BL here (which is great, GTS+ recognizes her awesomeness.)
-Changed Kingdra's Rain Dance to Yawn, since the SS really isn't that crippling and it's better to have a decent switch forcer.
-Testing both Umbreon and Gardevoir (with Wish)

This post has been edited by Hodou Masaka: Mar 13 2010, 07:18 PM

[Dar Ksereth]

first of all, i congratulate you for actually taking the time to READ before posting, now, a few things: if i remember well, Rotom H is always faster than absol, meaning that to substitute, you'd have to rely on luck, not to mention gardevoir gets ohkoed by anything with one turn of setup, giving it leftovers just isn't gonna save her, she needs the focus sash.

dunno which rules you abide by, but you have 3 pkmn with leftovers, which isn't accepted everywhere (i.e. smogon)

tyranitar looks nice, but i go with fire punch, mostly because i fear scizor more than skarmory, although i dunno if it can OHKO, because i DD while they bring scizor, endure the BP with the babiri berry, and retaliate with a plus 1, OHKO fire punch. gengar seems pretty well, leads like scarf azelf will give him trouble though, since you won't be able to stop the stealth rock, which, for good and bad luck, only hits your togekiss hard, and leaves him within heatran's OHKO range.

i think kingdra is fine, but i have never trained one, so i can't tell, i do know they can be pretty beastly though.

overall your team seems nice, but as much as i know you wont like to hear this, i gotta tell you, gardevoir and absol weaken it, they have very flimsy defenses and HP to tank anything.

my 2 cents, just because you read the rules

[Hodou Masaka]

Thanks for the review. A few points--

"you have 3 pkmn with leftovers, which isn't accepted everywhere (i.e. smogon)"

Smogon allows it. Many of their top teams have multiple Pokemon with Life Orb or Leftovers.

if i remember well, Rotom H is always faster than absol, meaning that to substitute, you'd have to rely on luck

Mmm. I looked it up after you posted. Absol doesn't outrun any Rotom with max Speed and a +Speed nature -- but I had tested the team on Smogon, where Rotoms are rarely max+ speed unless they have a Scarf. Therefore, I outran every burning Rotom I came across. XD

You answered your own point about the Stealth Rocks -- I never really care about stopping Stealth Rocks, Togekiss is the only one that gets hit by it and she has Roost to prevent it from accumulating too much, plus I would never switch her into a Heatran because I have Kingdra and Tyranitar to use instead. :P TBH it's kind of funny that everyone I fight is like "ZOMG HAVE to get Stealth Rocks up or I lose IMMEDIATELY" when I really don't care about it at all.

I'll take what you said into consideration. As much as I hate to admit it, I felt this was more or less going to go in the "remove Gardevoir" direction. I've been considering other options there for a while, usually along the lines of Bronzong and Clefable.

As for Absol, what would you recommend as a replacement? (I'm less confident about replacing him, but if I had some other ideas it would obviously help me make that decision, lol)

P.S. Come to think of it, wouldn't an Umbreon basically fill the same exact role I'm trying to make Gardevoir fill? It learns Heal Bell, has Synchronize and great Special Defense, and then it can add Trap-passes to the lineup to guarantee one of my sweepers gets a setup opportunity.

This post has been edited by Hodou Masaka: Mar 13 2010, 04:38 AM

[Synchronise]

Actually, regarding your latest post speaking about Gardevoir. I see nothing wrong with including her in this team; as a matter of fact, I see her as a superior choice over Celebi, for a number of reasons:

1. Well, for one, Celebi is legendary, and some people get all up in arms over that, so running a team with Celebi among some crowds will get you looks.
2. Celebi has far greater susceptibility due to its typing, even though it has dual typing and therefore two STABs to work off of. But doesn't that overcomplicate? You know, straight up, what Gardevoir is, and opponents know just as well as you do. The opponent isn't going to have two options for a switch-in, type-wise; the opponent has one, and that means you can easily predict what the switch-in will be and respond accordingly.
3. Stat distribution on the pixie legendaries (Mew, Celebi, Jirachi) is more of a curse than a blessing, and Gardevoir's stat distribution is preferable for what you're using her for.

That said, I feel you may be spreading Gardevoir too thin based on what she's supposed to be doing. Psychic, Encore, and Heal Bell, paired off with Synchronize, work wonderfully, but you put her at a danger, I think, with Pain Split, and could perhaps run something more suited to keeping her and the rest of your party alive. A lot of your team seems to rely on being able to take hits, but they're only going to be able to take so many, and running into a team with about the same number of walls as your own might be your downfall. (That said, Wish might be acceptable.)

I do say this: I admire you for being daring enough to use your favorites, and crafting what looks to me to be a solid team with only a few nitpicks here and there. (Also as much as I love Umbreon, I don't recommend it for this team, simply because it could make you more susceptible to an opposing Togekiss or SD/CB Lucario.)

[Hodou Masaka]

Thanks for the advice too Synchronise.

I'm testing both Gardevoir and Umbreon now. Each has their pros and cons, which makes me uncertain. For example, Gardevoir's Encore rips straight through substitutes to foil a lot of would-be fatal setups. On the other hand, Umbreon's Mean Look can trap an enemy wall in play while Toxic destroys them, which is also very useful... It's too bad neither Pokemon can learn both moves.

[Dar Ksereth]

all i'll say is that if you have a team that can stand against an opponent with both scizor and heatran, you got yourself a good team, rather than hearing now or advice based on writings, i reccomend exactly what you are doing, go to shoddy, and fight a good amount of OU battles, after that, come, discuss what you found, what were you good at, which pokemon gave you the hardest time and how often you found them, stats like those, and we'll work from there, whaddy say?

i'd like to fight this team on my own, but that would have to be for a different time, also, i could have sworn smogon enforced the 1-item-rule, guess i've been away from shoddy far too long xD