Eternal's Ark (Peaked #6 on Smogon server)

Eternal's Ark

Note: Still trying to paste teams back from what I have in my Word Document.
At a glance:





This is my most successful team by far on any tier. It helped me get to #6 on the Smogon server with 1494 points. I then took this team to Pokemon Online, where I went 31-3 to get to req levels there (after the deadline, sad kitty.) I couldn’t have done it without my tutor, Eternal, who frankly knows his stuff better than anyone else and helped me improve from an above average player into one that can get Suspect requirements (hence why I named the ark after him, it took well over 40 days and nights to get this team to where it is now.) This team is a modification of the first team “we” built together, which I will explain below in the team building process. It’s not totally his team, though, as I provided two of the members later on. Still, I’m pretty sure that most of Smogon has seen this team, so I’ve decided to retire it for now. The suspect testing results might be drastic enough to where I will need a new team to play with.


Team Building Process

[19:21] <Eternal> alright
[19:22] <Eternal> let’s start off from the usage stats
[19:22] <Eternal> we'll go through the list
[19:22] <Eternal> from the most popular used Pokemon
…
(I then spend 10 minutes thinking of what it philosophically means to counter a Ferrothorn)
01[19:32] <toshimelonhead> oh
01[19:32] <toshimelonhead> I'm thinking WAY too hard atm ;)
[19:32] <Eternal> yea
[19:32] <Eternal> I'm trying to make it a simple process
01[19:33] <toshimelonhead> ok
[19:33] <Eternal> so don't think too much
[19:33] <Eternal> just provide to me like the simplest
[19:33] <Eternal> and whatever answer comes to your mind

Version 1 of the team:

The first tutoring session was three and a half hours of torture, and I hated the initial result. It was a decent team, but I remember it giving up a few wins just because I had too much of an offensive mindset. I wanted to throw the team away, but Eternal encouraged me to stick with it and try to find as many threats to the team as possible. When I showed him the list, he replied that my “threats” came due to my play style and not the team’s fault. Frustrated, I tried other teams for a while and let this one settle for a little bit. Eternal gave me similar teams that he let me try out, including a team very similar to Undisputed’s “Rain Man” team, but I could not find the exact combination that I liked the best (nor did I like using teams that I didn't create on the ladder).

Version 2 of the team:

I switched Jellicent for Latios because I thought that Spinblocking wasn’t necessary for this team. After a few weeks, I had a very poor ladder session where I lost around 250 points. Most of these losses were due to taking Toxic off of Chansey, which allowed threats like Volcarona and Thundurus to set up with no problem. Looking at all of the loss logs, I realized what changes I needed to make.

Version 3 of the team:

Hide

This is the final version of the team. Gyarados was added to take care of Volcarona, Thundurus, and Excadrill under the rain. Mamoswine was added because it had the same move coverage as Gliscor but had much more power, especially with a Choice Band. It didn’t immediately get to Suspect worthy, but over time and enough practice I ended up getting reqs.

Thanks for reading :). Rate/hate/steal; I don't really care, seriously. Krack used this team in the finals of the Tournament of Thieves and won. I've had people come up to me on multiple occasions using this team on the ladder reaching as high as 1500+. That speaks more to me than any of my individual success.

try a life orb on mamo, lets u change moves and the power drop isnt tht critical

hi toshi,

this looks like a great team. my suggestions will be minimal but it might help you out. my first suggestion is trying out frustration > stone edge on mamoswine. stone edge has minimal purpose and has such a shitty accuracy. with frustration, you're able to lure in rotom-w more efficiently and deal plenty damage. this will pave the way for gyarados to 'sweep' with one less nuissance to deal with. additionally, the luring allows you to deal with that pesky rotom-w + cb scizor combination, which looks mildly annoying to this team.

as for other options, you can try out black sludge > leftovers on tentacruel for the extra 6% damage to whoever tricks it. overall, gl! this is a really solid team an the mamoswine is such a nice touch! luvisced.

Great team, toshimelonhead, and congrats to your success!

One thing you can try is Encore on Politoed to shut down set-up Sweepers or BP Chains that would naturally view Politoed as set-up bait.

hey man!

Yeah this is a really solid team. FerroCent cores look a bitch to break when combined with something that phases or beats Jirachi but you can always play around this. Agreeing that in this case Black Sludge is prolly a better option than Leftovers. With Protect on Tentacruel, losing Black Sludge is not a HUGE loss as you can stall around with Protect and such like.

Again, not much to say here as it really is a solid team. Well Done

Hey there. This is a really solid team so good job :]

However, a major weakness to your team is an SD Toxicroak, who can outspeed and KO every member of your team (Gyarados takes a minimum of 78% from Toxicroak's +2 Sucker Punch, so if you take even a small amount of prior damage / Stealth Rock damage if you do not have time to Rapid Spin, Gyarados will die). To fix this I suggest that you run Psyshock over Thunder on Jirachi, and also take 28 EVs out of Special Attack and put them into speed in order to outrun Toxicroak. Psyshock also lets Jirachi defeat all non-Roar variants of CM Latias, lets it have a much easier time defeating Blissey, Chansey and CM Reuniclus, and also allows it to destroy Gastrodon. Overall, you do not lose that much coverage, as pokemon like Politoed are still hit pretty hard, whereas Tentacruel is destroyed even more easily.

Again, nice team. Hope I helped, and good luck :]

I'm actually curious as to how you deal with Rotom-W | Scizor switcher teams. The only safe switch-in for Rotom-W is Chansey, who risks getting Tricked. Even the non-choiced Rotom-W can Pain Split health from Chansey on the switch, and then Volt Switch out.

I feel like Gyarados nets a lot of suprise kills on Rotom-W to ease this problem, but maybe not :x

Your team also seems weak to that same Rain Jirachi.

You may perhaps want to try out SpecsGastrodon > CB Mamoswine. Under Rain, and especially with Storm Drain boosts, it hits like a truck. You still retain the Ground + Ice offense, although not as dominant. Most of all, though, it hard counters Rain Jirachi and can put a stop on switcher teams by failing Rotom-W's Volt Switches. It doesn't mind being Tricked either, since it was already choiced to begin with.

Scald / Surf | Ice Beam | Earth Power | Hidden Power [Grass] @ Choice Specs
144 HP | 252 SAtk | 112 SDef | Modest

Yea, a lot less HP than what is recommended on Smogon Dex, but those SDef EVs actually lets it take special attacks quite decently, whereas max HP made it take both physical and special attacks crappily.

I prefer Scald, because it's a great parting gift to those Water resists that switches in. However, Surf is noticeably more powerful. EPower does >40% to Ferrothorn, so it can't take hits forever.

Also seconding ShakeItUp's suggestion of Psyshock > Thunder if you remove Mamoswine for Specs Gastrodon. You don't want half of your team's firepower absorbed by one Gastrodon. Plus, with Mamoswine out, you would have a harder time against CM Latias, for which Psyshock provides a solid answer.

since this is a really solid team, i'll just nitpick

try running superpower > stone edge on mamoswine; it'll help you against random ballooners and it's perfectly legal with icicle spear

secondly, try running perish song > refresh on politoed; i know you said that perish song isn't THAT good, but i think that refresh really serves no purpose - if you don't want to do this, then you could consider rest > refresh.

Pocket said:

I'm actually curious as to how you deal with Rotom-W | Scizor switcher teams. The only safe switch-in for Rotom-W is Chansey, who risks getting Tricked. Even the non-choiced Rotom-W can Pain Split health from Chansey on the switch, and then Volt Switch out.

I feel like Gyarados nets a lot of suprise kills on Rotom-W to ease this problem, but maybe not :x

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Haha, yeah, I was thinking about that too. Tentacruel can probably break the cycle though, as Rotom-W doesn't come close to KO'ing with Volt Switch. It can Protect on the Landorus switch-in if it is an all out switcher team as well, scout it's move, and since they are all scarfed on switcher teams it wouldn't bethat hard to play around. Now if Rotom-W ran Thunder in addition to Volt Switch, then there would be some problems.

f said:

as for other options, you can try out black sludge > leftovers on tentacruel for the extra 6% healing in tandem with rain dish + protect. tentacruel looks like such a crucial member on your team, so the extra health is definitely beneficial. overall, gl! this is a really solid team an the mamoswine is such a nice touch! luvisced.

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Um, black sludge recovers as much as leftovers for poison types, the only advantage is that trick users are a little hurt by it and could trick the sludge back to you.

As mentioned earlier, SD Toxicroak gives you hell, but Psyshock Jirachi isn't the greatest way to fix that problem because you're cutting your own longevity by using Sub, plus switching in on Life Orbed Cross Chops really hurts. To fix this, I suggest using a Jellicent. It beats Toxicroak handily by dodging Sucker Punch with the use of Will-O-Wisp, and it also gives you the edge against other stall teams by keeping your hazards safe [even against Excadrill, if you use max HP + max defense] and breaking down walls with Taunt. To make room, I'd drop Jirachi, because it's there to stall-break, but Jellicent does that as well while providing the benefits listed above.

Minor changes: Black Sludge over Leftovers on Tentacruel, it provides the same recovery but it'll make your opponent regret using Trick with Rotom-W or Latios. You can avoid it being tricked onto one of your other mons by switching Tenta back in when you think it's coming. I'm also an advocate of Life Orb Mamoswine, since its coverage is too good to be restricted by a choice item; with the hazard support and Mamo's already monstrous attack stat, the 20% power drop shouldn't be a problem. Just a few things to consider, great team and gl.

Thanks for the rates everyone :).

try a life orb on mamo, lets u change moves and the power drop isnt tht critical

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This was one of the toughest decisions I had to make with Mamoswine. Choice Band does not net any key OHKOs, but when Excadrill has +2 or Thundurus has a Nasty Plot or Dragonite has a DD up, I need all of the power I can get. Mamo's job really isn't to sweep on this team, but to make sure when I let something set up, I have insurance that I can get rid of them. The 15 percent extra power is worth it for these situations.

this looks like a great team. my suggestions will be minimal but it might help you out. my first suggestion is trying out frustration > stone edge on mamoswine. stone edge has minimal purpose and has such a shitty accuracy.

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Thanks :)

I would agree on Stone Edge on Mamoswine. Perhaps Double-Edge might be worth trying as well? Ditto with Superpower. Thanks for the Luvdisc :D

One thing you can try is Encore on Politoed to shut down set-up Sweepers or BP Chains that would naturally view Politoed as set-up bait.

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Again something definitely worth trying along with Perish Song. I tried digging through all of my logs with this team and realized how poorly it does against BP, so I will have to switch this. Refresh helps Politoed win the weather war, but BP teams are really annoying (except in major finals matches where they lose 6-0) ;).

However, a major weakness to your team is an SD Toxicroak, who can outspeed and KO every member of your team (Gyarados takes a minimum of 78% from Toxicroak's +2 Sucker Punch, so if you take even a small amount of prior damage / Stealth Rock damage if you do not have time to Rapid Spin, Gyarados will die). To fix this I suggest that you run Psyshock over Thunder on Jirachi, and also take 28 EVs out of Special Attack and put them into speed in order to outrun Toxicroak. Psyshock also lets Jirachi defeat all non-Roar variants of CM Latias, lets it have a much easier time defeating Blissey, Chansey and CM Reuniclus, and also allows it to destroy Gastrodon. Overall, you do not lose that much coverage, as pokemon like Politoed are still hit pretty hard, whereas Tentacruel is destroyed even more easily.

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Agreed, Toxicroak is a major problem. Scarf Gyarados helps a little bit, but since everyone knows that I run that, I can't get that surprise kill anymore. I will test this out and tell you how it works out. Thanks :)

You may perhaps want to try out SpecsGastrodon > CB Mamoswine. Under Rain, and especially with Storm Drain boosts, it hits like a truck. You still retain the Ground + Ice offense, although not as dominant. Most of all, though, it hard counters Rain Jirachi and can put a stop on switcher teams by failing Rotom-W's Volt Switches. It doesn't mind being Tricked either, since it was already choiced to begin with.

Scald / Surf | Ice Beam | Earth Power | Hidden Power [Grass] @ Choice Specs
144 HP | 252 SAtk | 112 SDef | Modest

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This will definitely be worth testing. Thanks :). Protect really helps against Rotom-W/Scizor/Landorus U-Turn teams, but that isn't a permanent solution. Tentacruel again is my best bet for stopping the switch. Scald + Protect helps neutralize Scizor, but Rotom-W is a problem since Mamoswine and Chansey aren't worth switching in.

As for Black Sludge > Leftovers, I find this more aesthetic than anything but again worth switching. The Tentacruel that I have in my box has Black Sludge so I can definitely run either one.

As mentioned earlier, SD Toxicroak gives you hell, but Psyshock Jirachi isn't the greatest way to fix that problem because you're cutting your own longevity by using Sub, plus switching in on Life Orbed Cross Chops really hurts. To fix this, I suggest using a Jellicent. It beats Toxicroak handily by dodging Sucker Punch with the use of Will-O-Wisp, and it also gives you the edge against other stall teams by keeping your hazards safe [even against Excadrill, if you use max HP + max defense] and breaking down walls with Taunt. To make room, I'd drop Jirachi, because it's there to stall-break, but Jellicent does that as well while providing the benefits listed above.

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This is possible, but I think Jirachi brings more to the team because Tentacruel and Jellicent cover many of the same threats outside of Toxicroak. Psyshock is worth trying first before a complete change is necessary. Spin blocking does not seem to be all that critical since I don't have Spikes.

Superb team Toshi.All I can suggest is Black Sludge over leftys on Tenta.Maybe max spe on Rachi with Timid? Good job!

This is a pretty cool / unique team. My only suggestion is changing the item choice on Mamoswine. For the love of coriander, the ability to switch moves with Mamo is super important its really, really easy to play around Choice Band Mamo, whereas LO sets are almost impossible to dance around. Your team does a good job at weakening standard teams, and Mamo can easily clean up lategame. If you're worried about missing the guaranteed OHKO on Thundurus after, your team has no problem dealing with Thundurus with smart play. Also seconding using Stone Edge > Frustration, since they both serve the exact same purpose but Frustration has infinitely more accuracy and is actually stronger too.

Toxicroak is a bitch too, you can't do much but hope rocks are off + revenging with Gyara or Jirachi. You can run a Jolly nature on Mamoswine to outspeed most Toxicroaks, but that drop in power might cost you some games. Anyway its up to you, good luck with the team.

Hey toshi,

Love the team, it's unique and uses Gyarados + Mamoswine which imo is a very potent offensive combinatino. The first thing I suggest is definitely going for LO on Mamoswine. You say that Mamoswine doesn't need LO to function but LO makes it almost impossible for defensive teams to work around Mamoswine. Besides, the ability to switch moves lessens the need for prediction. For example, standard Rotom-W is outsped and 2HKOed by Icicle Crash + Frustration but if you're using CB you're either forced to predict or switch out.

Yeah as PK said Toxicroak is a major problem for this team. Something you could try out would be to pump up Jirachi's speed to outspeed Adamant versions unless you already do, and switch out Water Pulse for Psyshock. Psyshock is generally more consistent and easily OHKOs Toxicroak. Although you are at a disadvantage against stuff like Gliscor and Hippowdon without Water Pulse, the rest of your team deals with them so well that it's not really a problem.

I'd actually prefer for Politoed to be slower than Skarmory since you can Scald it after it Roosts, putting more pressure on it, but it's up to preference I guess. Congrats on the team, great job!

After testing, I have made the following changes:

Perish Song over Refresh on Politoed to beat BP.
Psyshock over Thunder to beat Toxicroak (EVs are updated, as well)

When Thundurus gets banned, I'll switch Mamoswine's item. Choice Band is necessary to get that OHKO.

i highly recommend not switching to Black Sludge on tenta

all that getting BS tricked will accomplish is 1-2 turns of damage on the tricker, and it being tricked back to one of the pokes on your team that most definitely do not want the BS (i shouldnt have to mention chansey, should i?)