It might be.
Hey I generally come in here every few weeks with a flavor-of-the-week team that's had modest success on the ladder (i.e. it sucks). It has been playtested and its premise is pretty simple, so this is more for your reading pleasure than for me seeking rates.
This time I actually went and made an Explosion-based team. Almost everything can Explode, with the exception of my Pursuiter who will help wear down most Ghosts to the point where my other Pokemon can handle them. Explosion will handle most everything else. This has actually had a decent time vs. Stall teams because of a few changes I made, although if it really gets set up I have a hard time dislodging it. I also have problems with a few specific Pokemon:
Heatran: This ***** is really annoying, as there are no bulky waters that can Explode. Closest thing is a Qwilfish. >_> I have a couple ways to deal with it but it's really annoying to deal with otherwise.
Breloom: This thing is also really annoying, simply because I don't really have good resists for it. Exeggutor is the best option here, but if he's gone then I have problems with it.
Machamp (non-lead): If Azelf is gone then we have problems. That simple. Flygon can scare him off but I generally wind up locked into a move I shouldn't be locked in on. Heracross acts the same way but can also get locked into Close Combat vs. a bad matchup.
Jolteon/Starmie/Azelf/Infernape: They're all very fast Special sweepers. They can easily take out my checks on the switch, so they also generally involve a sacrifice, although if it's something like Infernape switching in vs. a Metagross then it'll take a big sacrifice to get rid of it. Generally it's safer to speed boost then Explode vs. threats like these as they will come in on something that is guaranteed to be slower than them, but they can still be dealt with via Explosion from any of my Pokemon.
Anyway, here's my team.
Azelf @ Life Orb
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 200 Atk/216 Spd/92 SDef
Jolly nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- U-turn
- Zen Headbutt
- Explosion
- Ice Punch/Taunt
This is a pretty simple anti-lead set. It handily deals with a few annoying things like leadNite, packs enough power to dent steel/psychics with U-turn, always KOs leadChamp, and has a nice neutral STAB move to deal with things. Ice Punch deals with things like Gliscor and Dragonite as well as Roserades when I feel lucky and don't U-turn out right away. I'm debating taunt in the last slot but it doesn't really suit my style, since U-turn is a safe move vs. most of the leads who would give this problems. The SpDef EVs give it a bit of an easier time vs. some leads, and it has enough attack to likely KO leadTran with Explosion.
Exeggutor (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Chlorophyll
EVs: 4 Atk/252 Spd/252 SAtk
Mild nature (+SAtk, -Def)
- Sleep Powder
- Explosion
- HP Ground
- Grass Knot
This thing is my bulky ground switch-in. It's fast enough to put them all to sleep and has quite a lot of power to fire off a STAB move. HP Ground is there to catch all the dumb Heatran who would love to come in on this guy otherwise, as this team has no real check for him once he's in other than Flygon, who would only scare him off. LO Grass Knot has a decent chance at 1hkoing most Ttar and wrecks Vaporeon whose Wish/Protect annoyances would cause a lot of problems otherwise. Generally I use HP Ground first to catch whatever comes in, and 9/10 times vs. an offensive team I catch a scarfed Heatran, which is a nice bonus for me.
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Lickilicky (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Own Tempo
EVs: 172 HP/252 Atk/84 Spd
Adamant nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Substitute
- Explosion/Return
- Swords Dance
- Aqua Tail
This is mostly here to help a bit vs. stall. 101 HP Subs let me beat down Blissey (who I outspeed) and Aqua Tail gives me decent neutral coverage. Explosion is the icing on the cake as it does great damage on pretty much everything except Skarmory. As long as I don't bring him in on a status move he helps out a lot vs. a lot of standard stall pokemon, as he can explode on almost all of them and has decently bulky subs. Sub+stat boost is in general a very underrated strategy when it isn't a defensive boost like Calm Mind, but in this case it forces stall teams into a very difficult decision to get rid of it. Also, even though this guy has the most powerful Explosion in the game, I'm debating Return just because this guy could use some STAB that doesn't involve blowing himself up, but he loses quite a bit of his stallbreaking power (especially vs. skarm!).
---
Metagross @ Life Orb
Ability: Clear Body
EVs: 32 HP/252 Atk/28 Def/196 Spd
Jolly nature (+Spe, -SAtk)
- Agility
- Gravity
- Earthquake
- Explosion
This is a gimmick set, but I still really like it a lot (I know other people have done this before though). It's a great rotom-A lure, and with Gravity Earthquake will let it muscle through Rotom-A and Skarm as well. Explosion, predictably, takes out something after it's scouted the opponent and hopefully weakened Rotom/Gengar/Skarm enough for Flygon to sweep through them...he really needs Life Orb for the power he gets and Heracross provides some insurance vs. status. The speed ensures it outspeeds +1 +Spe 100s.
---
Heracross (M) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Guts
EVs: 252 Atk/232 Spd/24 SDef
Adamant nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Close Combat
- Megahorn
- Pursuit
- Night Slash
This pairs up nicely with my Metagross gimmick set, as Gravity boosts Will-o-wisp's accuracy to 100% so I'm guaranteed a Guts boost vs. Rotom-A who try to wisp Metagross to end its sweep. Defensive ones will stick around and try to Overheat me, so I carry night slash to 2hko those, as they generally won't 1hko with Overheat. Outspeeds base 130s. Yes this doesn't outspeed Scarfed Rotom and they KO with Overheat but I can generally lure those into using a different attack.
---
Flygon (M) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 Atk/4 Def/252 Spd
Jolly nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- U-turn
- Outrage
- Earthquake
- Thunderpunch
This poor little Garchomp wannabe is my final sweeper, as with a Scarf he is faster than quite a lot of the metagame. The opposing team will be weakened enough to either sweep with Outrage or Earthquake. Thunderpunch is pretty normal for getting rid of DDGyara, as most other walls will be dealt with by a well-timed Explosion so Stone Edge's necessity is a lot lower than it would be otherwise.
---
Hoped you liked reading this. P:
Hey I generally come in here every few weeks with a flavor-of-the-week team that's had modest success on the ladder (i.e. it sucks). It has been playtested and its premise is pretty simple, so this is more for your reading pleasure than for me seeking rates.
This time I actually went and made an Explosion-based team. Almost everything can Explode, with the exception of my Pursuiter who will help wear down most Ghosts to the point where my other Pokemon can handle them. Explosion will handle most everything else. This has actually had a decent time vs. Stall teams because of a few changes I made, although if it really gets set up I have a hard time dislodging it. I also have problems with a few specific Pokemon:
Heatran: This ***** is really annoying, as there are no bulky waters that can Explode. Closest thing is a Qwilfish. >_> I have a couple ways to deal with it but it's really annoying to deal with otherwise.
Breloom: This thing is also really annoying, simply because I don't really have good resists for it. Exeggutor is the best option here, but if he's gone then I have problems with it.
Machamp (non-lead): If Azelf is gone then we have problems. That simple. Flygon can scare him off but I generally wind up locked into a move I shouldn't be locked in on. Heracross acts the same way but can also get locked into Close Combat vs. a bad matchup.
Jolteon/Starmie/Azelf/Infernape: They're all very fast Special sweepers. They can easily take out my checks on the switch, so they also generally involve a sacrifice, although if it's something like Infernape switching in vs. a Metagross then it'll take a big sacrifice to get rid of it. Generally it's safer to speed boost then Explode vs. threats like these as they will come in on something that is guaranteed to be slower than them, but they can still be dealt with via Explosion from any of my Pokemon.
Anyway, here's my team.
Azelf @ Life Orb
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 200 Atk/216 Spd/92 SDef
Jolly nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- U-turn
- Zen Headbutt
- Explosion
- Ice Punch/Taunt
This is a pretty simple anti-lead set. It handily deals with a few annoying things like leadNite, packs enough power to dent steel/psychics with U-turn, always KOs leadChamp, and has a nice neutral STAB move to deal with things. Ice Punch deals with things like Gliscor and Dragonite as well as Roserades when I feel lucky and don't U-turn out right away. I'm debating taunt in the last slot but it doesn't really suit my style, since U-turn is a safe move vs. most of the leads who would give this problems. The SpDef EVs give it a bit of an easier time vs. some leads, and it has enough attack to likely KO leadTran with Explosion.
Exeggutor (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Chlorophyll
EVs: 4 Atk/252 Spd/252 SAtk
Mild nature (+SAtk, -Def)
- Sleep Powder
- Explosion
- HP Ground
- Grass Knot
This thing is my bulky ground switch-in. It's fast enough to put them all to sleep and has quite a lot of power to fire off a STAB move. HP Ground is there to catch all the dumb Heatran who would love to come in on this guy otherwise, as this team has no real check for him once he's in other than Flygon, who would only scare him off. LO Grass Knot has a decent chance at 1hkoing most Ttar and wrecks Vaporeon whose Wish/Protect annoyances would cause a lot of problems otherwise. Generally I use HP Ground first to catch whatever comes in, and 9/10 times vs. an offensive team I catch a scarfed Heatran, which is a nice bonus for me.
---
Lickilicky (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Own Tempo
EVs: 172 HP/252 Atk/84 Spd
Adamant nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Substitute
- Explosion/Return
- Swords Dance
- Aqua Tail
This is mostly here to help a bit vs. stall. 101 HP Subs let me beat down Blissey (who I outspeed) and Aqua Tail gives me decent neutral coverage. Explosion is the icing on the cake as it does great damage on pretty much everything except Skarmory. As long as I don't bring him in on a status move he helps out a lot vs. a lot of standard stall pokemon, as he can explode on almost all of them and has decently bulky subs. Sub+stat boost is in general a very underrated strategy when it isn't a defensive boost like Calm Mind, but in this case it forces stall teams into a very difficult decision to get rid of it. Also, even though this guy has the most powerful Explosion in the game, I'm debating Return just because this guy could use some STAB that doesn't involve blowing himself up, but he loses quite a bit of his stallbreaking power (especially vs. skarm!).
---
Metagross @ Life Orb
Ability: Clear Body
EVs: 32 HP/252 Atk/28 Def/196 Spd
Jolly nature (+Spe, -SAtk)
- Agility
- Gravity
- Earthquake
- Explosion
This is a gimmick set, but I still really like it a lot (I know other people have done this before though). It's a great rotom-A lure, and with Gravity Earthquake will let it muscle through Rotom-A and Skarm as well. Explosion, predictably, takes out something after it's scouted the opponent and hopefully weakened Rotom/Gengar/Skarm enough for Flygon to sweep through them...he really needs Life Orb for the power he gets and Heracross provides some insurance vs. status. The speed ensures it outspeeds +1 +Spe 100s.
---
Heracross (M) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Guts
EVs: 252 Atk/232 Spd/24 SDef
Adamant nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Close Combat
- Megahorn
- Pursuit
- Night Slash
This pairs up nicely with my Metagross gimmick set, as Gravity boosts Will-o-wisp's accuracy to 100% so I'm guaranteed a Guts boost vs. Rotom-A who try to wisp Metagross to end its sweep. Defensive ones will stick around and try to Overheat me, so I carry night slash to 2hko those, as they generally won't 1hko with Overheat. Outspeeds base 130s. Yes this doesn't outspeed Scarfed Rotom and they KO with Overheat but I can generally lure those into using a different attack.
---
Flygon (M) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 Atk/4 Def/252 Spd
Jolly nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- U-turn
- Outrage
- Earthquake
- Thunderpunch
This poor little Garchomp wannabe is my final sweeper, as with a Scarf he is faster than quite a lot of the metagame. The opposing team will be weakened enough to either sweep with Outrage or Earthquake. Thunderpunch is pretty normal for getting rid of DDGyara, as most other walls will be dealt with by a well-timed Explosion so Stone Edge's necessity is a lot lower than it would be otherwise.
---
Hoped you liked reading this. P:
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