Like the title says, I haven't touched competitive Pokemon in several months.
Lot of things had changed, so I didn't want to try anything too "special" for this one. Standard bulky offense, or heavy offense seem a bit dry for me despite their effectiveness, and stall needs to be set up perfectly to the metagame which I simply don't fully understand yet.
So my answer was a basic set up and sweep team, using a dual screen lead to make things more interesting.
Jolly Azelf @ Light Clay
EV's:
252 HP
252 Speed
4 Defense
Moveset:
Reflect
Light Screen
Explosion
Stealth Rock
On this team:
Should be obvious. Depending on what the opponent is leading off with I either set up Light Screen or Reflect first. Next I set up the next screen, and if I can still take a hit I either set up rocks or just explode away.
Adamant Dragonite @ Leftovers
EV's:
224 HP
84 Attack
200 Speed
Moveset:
Dragon Dance
Dragon Claw
Earthquake
Roost
On this team:
First off, I dislike Salamence. Even if he could do better on the team, I always try to use Dragonite instead if possible. Salamence is usually chosen over Dragonite because its key speed advantage. Dragonite on the other hand has by far more bulk and a much more diverse movepool. This set uses the bulk to show why I prefer him over Salamence. Under dual screens, an already bulky set becomes very hard for anything to take down. Bulky waters that hope to take it down with Ice Beam are going to find that not happening with Light Screen and Roost, so Dragonite will set up freely and hope to sweep.
Jolly Gyarados @ Life Orb
EV's:
252 Attack
252 Speed
4 Defense
Moveset:
Dragon Dance
Waterfall
Stone Edge
Ice Fang
On this team:
A standard sweeper. Dragon Dance is easy under screens, and he has great coverage. I hate Stone Edge, and to a lesser extent Ice Fang but I don't see what else there really is for the coverage. Not having perfect accuracy can stop a sweep faster than anything, but at the same time they take out a lot of threats to Gyradose when they do hit.
Jolly Lucario @ Life Orb
EV's:
252 Attack
252 Speed
4 Defense
Moveset:
Close Combat
Extreme Speed
Swords Dance
Crunch
On this team:
Scary to take down after a setup. With screens up he can powerup to levels a normal Lucario couldn't hit, and then he tears through the team. The thing he brings most to this team is probably his priority if anything. It allows him to revenge kill anything that doesn't resist it, and everything that does resist gets hit by Close Combat or Crunch. Close Combat goes very well with the screens, making using it a much safer option with the defense reductions.
Timid Latias @ Choice Specs
EV's:
252 Special Attack
252 Speed
4 HP
Moveset:
Trick
Draco Meteor
Dragon Pulse
Surf
On this team:
He can potentially sweep a team if its counters are already killed with no setup which is nice. Trick support can cripple their walls and support Pokemon, and give their Scarf and Band sweepers a harder time doing their job. Trick is probably the key thing on Latias, and taking down an opposing Pokemon is always good.
Bold Cresselia @ Light Clay
EV's:
252 HP
148 Def
40 Special Defense
68 Speed
Moveset:
Reflect
Light Screen
Ice Beam
Lunar Dance
On this team:
Honestly I'm not too sure if I like Cresselia on the team. It offers late game screens, a wall, and one of the most annoying moves out there with Lunar Dance. Nothing sucks more than almost killing a sweeper, seeing Cresselia come in, set up screens and putting that sweeper back to 100% when its counter is spent. I was considering something like Bronzong here for a walling dual screener but Lunar Dance was too tempting. The thing that makes me unsure of Cresselia is whether my team would benefit from another threat, named Scizor to be exact. Scizor is the best scout in the game, and hits like a truck with a Choice Band. For now I'm going to keep this as a "dual screen" team and use Cresselia though.
There's bound to be threats I'm not prepared for, but I can only hope to be prepared enough, or at least given some suggestions to help cover some weaknesses
Lot of things had changed, so I didn't want to try anything too "special" for this one. Standard bulky offense, or heavy offense seem a bit dry for me despite their effectiveness, and stall needs to be set up perfectly to the metagame which I simply don't fully understand yet.
So my answer was a basic set up and sweep team, using a dual screen lead to make things more interesting.
Jolly Azelf @ Light Clay
EV's:
252 HP
252 Speed
4 Defense
Moveset:
Reflect
Light Screen
Explosion
Stealth Rock
On this team:
Should be obvious. Depending on what the opponent is leading off with I either set up Light Screen or Reflect first. Next I set up the next screen, and if I can still take a hit I either set up rocks or just explode away.
Adamant Dragonite @ Leftovers
EV's:
224 HP
84 Attack
200 Speed
Moveset:
Dragon Dance
Dragon Claw
Earthquake
Roost
On this team:
First off, I dislike Salamence. Even if he could do better on the team, I always try to use Dragonite instead if possible. Salamence is usually chosen over Dragonite because its key speed advantage. Dragonite on the other hand has by far more bulk and a much more diverse movepool. This set uses the bulk to show why I prefer him over Salamence. Under dual screens, an already bulky set becomes very hard for anything to take down. Bulky waters that hope to take it down with Ice Beam are going to find that not happening with Light Screen and Roost, so Dragonite will set up freely and hope to sweep.
Jolly Gyarados @ Life Orb
EV's:
252 Attack
252 Speed
4 Defense
Moveset:
Dragon Dance
Waterfall
Stone Edge
Ice Fang
On this team:
A standard sweeper. Dragon Dance is easy under screens, and he has great coverage. I hate Stone Edge, and to a lesser extent Ice Fang but I don't see what else there really is for the coverage. Not having perfect accuracy can stop a sweep faster than anything, but at the same time they take out a lot of threats to Gyradose when they do hit.
Jolly Lucario @ Life Orb
EV's:
252 Attack
252 Speed
4 Defense
Moveset:
Close Combat
Extreme Speed
Swords Dance
Crunch
On this team:
Scary to take down after a setup. With screens up he can powerup to levels a normal Lucario couldn't hit, and then he tears through the team. The thing he brings most to this team is probably his priority if anything. It allows him to revenge kill anything that doesn't resist it, and everything that does resist gets hit by Close Combat or Crunch. Close Combat goes very well with the screens, making using it a much safer option with the defense reductions.
Timid Latias @ Choice Specs
EV's:
252 Special Attack
252 Speed
4 HP
Moveset:
Trick
Draco Meteor
Dragon Pulse
Surf
On this team:
He can potentially sweep a team if its counters are already killed with no setup which is nice. Trick support can cripple their walls and support Pokemon, and give their Scarf and Band sweepers a harder time doing their job. Trick is probably the key thing on Latias, and taking down an opposing Pokemon is always good.
Bold Cresselia @ Light Clay
EV's:
252 HP
148 Def
40 Special Defense
68 Speed
Moveset:
Reflect
Light Screen
Ice Beam
Lunar Dance
On this team:
Honestly I'm not too sure if I like Cresselia on the team. It offers late game screens, a wall, and one of the most annoying moves out there with Lunar Dance. Nothing sucks more than almost killing a sweeper, seeing Cresselia come in, set up screens and putting that sweeper back to 100% when its counter is spent. I was considering something like Bronzong here for a walling dual screener but Lunar Dance was too tempting. The thing that makes me unsure of Cresselia is whether my team would benefit from another threat, named Scizor to be exact. Scizor is the best scout in the game, and hits like a truck with a Choice Band. For now I'm going to keep this as a "dual screen" team and use Cresselia though.
There's bound to be threats I'm not prepared for, but I can only hope to be prepared enough, or at least given some suggestions to help cover some weaknesses
