PAX Pokemon League

So, during my battles at PAX this past weekend, I was brainstorming some ways to improve my team for the next PPL event I will be challenging. I already posted my team [url=http://paxpokemonleague.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=405&p=5742#p5742nkr]here[/urlnkr], but to paraphrase, here's what I wanted to address:

1) Deoxys-A and Gallade shared the Psychic type. As such, they were both weak to Bug and Dark, both of which were used to great effect.
2) Magnezone and Skarmory were both Steels. See above.
3) Magnezone wasn't actually doing a whole lot - he didn't have good type coverage, compared to my other sweepers, and his main saving grace was that I can stall with him, not that I managed to do so.
4) The Pokemon were not bred properly, EV trained properly, or given proper items.
5) I needed more Pokemon that could come into play, set up, and sweep.
6) I needed more varied type coverage, especially regarding Grass and Flying.

Keeping the above in mind, I designed the current draft of my team, v1.1:

Deoxys-A @ Focus Sash
Trait: Pressure
EVs: 220 Atk / 36 SAtk / 252 Spd
Lonely Nature (+Atk, -Def)
- ExtremeSpeed
- Superpower
- Shadow Ball
- Ice Beam

Nothing has changed here. Deoxys-A is still one of my main sweepers, although now he has a Focus Sash so that he can actually take a hit and pay back twofold. ExtremeSpeed is intended to outspeed other priority. Superpower breaks Chansey/Blissey, as well as bulky Steels/Rocks. Shadow Ball is for taking care of Ghosts and Psychics like Jellicent, and Ice Beam is for taking out Dragons and Flying-types.

Thundurus (M) @ Life Orb
Trait: Prankster
EVs: 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Thunderbolt
- Grass Knot
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Nasty Plot

This is my replacement for Magnezone. Thundurus is just barely off the restricted list, at a total base stat of 580, and I intend to abuse this. My strategy for using Thundurus will be to set up using Nasty Plot then sweep with attacks boosted by Life Orb. Thunderbolt gives me the ability to threaten fliers and water-types. Grass Knot takes care of Jellicent, who is 2x weak and will be taking 100 base power from the attack. It also helps remove annoying Excadrills and other Ground types who would negate Thunderbolt (see Swampert). HP Ice allows me to take care of dragons and fliers.

Scizor (M) @ Choice Band
Trait: Technician
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Bullet Punch
- Pursuit
- Wing Attack
- U-turn

This is my replacement for Gallade. Technician, being the awesome ability that it is, boosts all the attacks on this set save U-turn by 50%. Add Choice Band and you've got a recipe for priority pain. Bullet Punch is the main attack: STAB, +1 priority, its 40 power being raised to 60, and super-effective against Rock and Ice. Pursuit takes care of Psychics and Ghosts wanting to switch out to something with Fire Punch. Wing Attack helps take care of Fighting-types who might otherwise be tempted to take advantage of Steel's weakness, but no priority. U-turn punches Psychics in the face, and allows me to predict a proper switch for the opponent's current Pokemon.

Infernape (M) @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Blaze
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Flare Blitz
- Close Combat
- Stone Edge
- U-turn

Nothing's changed here, either, save Infernape now being given a Choice Scarf to outspeed other Scarfers. As usual with Infernape, we've got the standard Flare Blitz and Close Combat combo, as well as Stone Edge for hitting fliers. U-turn allows me to switch out of a dangerous face-off.

Swampert (M) @ Sitrus Berry
Trait: Torrent
EVs: 252 Atk / 128 Def / 128 SDef
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Waterfall
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- Avalanche

Not much different here. Swampert's now carrying a Sitrus Berry so that he can stay on the field a bit longer for his sweeping. He's also got a bit more defense than my other sweepers for this same reason.

Vaporeon (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Hydration
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SDef
Calm Nature (+SDef, -Atk)
- Scald
- Acid Armor
- Rain Dance
- Toxic

I'm playing around with this idea. The main strategy here would be that Vaporeon switches in, uses Rain Dance, begins to set up Acid Armor, and from there acts as a wall. Grass and Electric attacks would effectively say "Hasta la vista, baby" to Vaporeon if they got in before he was able to set up his defense. Other than that, he'd effectively stall most teams unable to outright OHKO him. Unfortunately, not having Drizzle on the team means one slot gets tossed out for Rain Dance.

That's how the team currently stands. Any thoughts?

Id change Thunderus to your lead, with taunt instead of HP ice.

Be wary of Dexyos-A, it is under consideration for league use, and hopnestly, there are better sweepers.

Run super power on Scizor instead of wing attack.


And I see a Swampert and vapo.

So, with those two, go back to the drawign board. Same poke, different builds. Vapo can REALLY REALLY USE wish. So I'd breed one to get it. It's pretty handy. Espically instead of rain dance.

And for swampert, I would advise a Stealth rock, curse, EQ, Waterfall lead build, and use him as a follow up to Thunderus.

I'm hardly the most experienced player ever but I've noticed you seem to enjoy weeping. If there's one thing I can tell you about anything, it's that sweeping takes meticulous setup. This is why my Gallade was so great, because he paved the way for my other Pokemon to shine. I won;t go into detail about your team just yet, but I'd suggest keeping the sweepers down to 2 or 3 and the rest serving to pave the way for their glory.

@Kirogata: To be honest, I'm not surprised Deoxys-A is under review. Smogon's got him at Uber after all, and I was actually more surprised he was on restricted with all forms. Right now, Deoxys-A is currently off the team for this reason. Also, I was playing around with Vaporeon, but he needs someone with Drizzle on the team to allow him to do his work properly. I don't feel like doing that, so I guess I'm back to Skarmory.

@Ktywf: I do prefer running offensive teams. It's more fun for me to actually KO my opponents properly as opposed to simply waiting for Toxic to do its work. Sadly, the problem with that is that my teams are generally paper-thin on defensive bulk.

Here's what the team currently looks like:

[spoilerr57]Thundurus (M) @ Life Orb
Trait: Prankster
EVs: 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Thunderbolt
- Grass Knot
- Nasty Plot
- Taunt

Infernape (M) @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Blaze
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Flare Blitz
- Close Combat
- Stone Edge
- U-turn

Swampert (M) @ Sitrus Berry
Trait: Torrent
EVs: 252 Atk / 128 Def / 128 SDef
Hardy Nature
- Waterfall
- Earthquake
- Avalanche
- Toxic

Skarmory (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Sturdy
EVs: 248 HP / 216 Def / 44 Spd
Impish Nature (+Def, -SAtk)
- Brave Bird
- Roost
- Stealth Rock
- Whirlwind

Following Ktywf's and Hirogata's suggestions, Scizor, Deoxys-A and Vaporeon were dropped, and Skarmory was reinstated as the physical wall. Thundurus lost Hidden Power for Taunt and Swampert lost Stone Edge for Toxic.[/spoilerr57]

UPDATE: I recently came across the idea to add a Chandelure to the team with Will-O-Wisp and Toxic for additional status support, but I'm still deciding what EVs and item it would have. As such, it is not yet listed above in the spoiler.

Skar vs Vapo: I'd still go Vapo tbh, because fo water absorb, the not DW abality. If you can predict, you save taking damage on a swap.

Plus Vaporion can easily start a sweep itself

I was playing around with PO's team builder recently, and I've been considering how to fill out the team's empty slots given the current suggestions I've been given. I decided to put Vaporeon back onto the team, and I decided I needed my priority attacks back, plus I needed someone who knew Ice Beam for the obvious reasons (Hint: Ice Beam is very useful). Here's draft v1.3, complete with what I expect to be able to do with each Pokemon:

Thundurus (M) @ Life Orb
[spoilerrqf]Trait: Prankster
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Thunderbolt
- Grass Knot
- Nasty Plot
- Taunt

With him being at 352 speed, he should be able to get in a Taunt on anything that's not carrying a scarf. After that, the idea is to set up Nasty Plot as high as I deem safe and then start sweeping with Thunderbolt and Grass Knot. I chose Grass Knot because Focus Blast never hits when you want it to (in fact I had 3 consecutive misses with no accuracy penalty or evasion bonuses one time) and I needed something that could remove Jellicent and Ground-types.[/spoilerrqf]
Swampert (M) @ Sitrus Berry
[spoilerrqf]Trait: Torrent
EVs: 252 Atk / 128 Def / 128 SDef
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Waterfall
- Earthquake
- Curse
- Stealth Rock

Swampert would be my go-to switch for if I predict a Rock- or Ice-type attack on Thundurus. Ideally, Swampert would be able to set up Stealth Rock and then start putting out some damage with Waterfall and Earthquake after some Curses. The Curses would also help him act as a physical staller if they were allowed to stack high enough. The Sitrus Berry is intended to allow him to stay on the field a bit longer, forbidding any Roars/Whirlwinds coming from the opposing team.[/spoilerrqf]
Infernape (M) @ Choice Scarf
[spoilerrqf]Trait: Blaze
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Flare Blitz
- Close Combat
- Stone Edge
- U-turn

Infernape is intended to get in a couple quick hits and take down some of the less bulkier Pokemon on the opposing team. He's carrying a Choice Scarf for this. As usual, Flare Blitz and Close Combat fill out STAB (I don't like using Overheat without being EV trained for mixed sweeping), Stone Edge takes out enemy fliers, and U-turn allows an easy switch while still punching Darks and Psychics in the face, assuming I didn't lock myself into another move earlier.

I have been considering Focus Sash instead of the Scarf.[/spoilerrqf]
Scizor (M) @ Choice Band
[spoilerrqf]Trait: Technician
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Bullet Punch
- Pursuit
- Superpower
- U-turn

Scizor is essentially the same build from the v1.1 draft, except now carrying Superpower since Deoxys-A is off the team. He allows me some priority attacks in the form of Bullet Punch and Pursuit, and Choice Band would allow them to put some hurt on anything with 2x weaknesses. Superpower is the main brute-force attack of the build, except the lack of priority means that Scizor will likely take some damage if he tries to use it on anything except a predicted switch. As for U-turn, see above.[/spoilerrqf]
Porygon2 @ Eviolite
[spoilerrqf]Trait: Trace
EVs: 252 HP / 184 Def / 72 SDef
Bold Nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Ice Beam
- Shadow Ball
- Recover
- Thunder Wave

Porygon2 helps me fill in some gaping holes in my type coverage: Ice and Ghost. He's also bulky, and being pure Normal he's only weak to attacks that are mainly hitting his highest defense stat, physical. Thunder Wave allows me to try para-haxing an enemy sweeper, and Recover allows self-healing.[/spoilerrqf]
Vaporeon (M) @ Leftovers
[spoilerrqf]Trait: Water Absorb
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SAtk
Bold Nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Scald
- Protect
- Wish
- Toxic

I switched Vaporeon's ability to Water Absorb, since I was no longer able to count on rain being present, and the moveset was altered slightly. Acid Armor and Rain Dance have been dropped for Protect and Wish, which allow Vaporeon to do more effective stalling. Wish is also handy for switching in one of my sweepers who was forced out of battle.[/spoilerrqf]

Fair enough! XD

I don't really care for that one place, but I dare say the general meta-game consensus is that Deoxys-A is uber, hence my surprise (and that of a few of our gym leaders this past PAX) that he was on restricted.

I've been doing some test matches of my current team build (v1.3), and it seems to be doing fairly well, but it seems I could use something else that gets Grass coverage. Any ideas?