5 Offense and a Claydol

[Kawaii Kyouko]

Hi! I'm Gennosuke Fujiki and I'm here to bring you my new team "5 Offense and a Claydol", a little spin-of off NBZ's name for his quite famous 5GAAG. As the name suggests, it's a fairly offensive team, although Claydol isn't really that important. Anyways, let's head into my thought-process for the team, shall we?

At first I thought "Hey, what if I make a team with Physical Zoroark and a Special Attacking Honchkrow? That could be cool. Mind Twisting and shit." As such I did.

Now, what could help for such a team? Claydol, I guess. Can handle some CCs from a Heracross fairly well, which notably gave my Zoroark some problems and Honchkrow's lack of bulk, so a Claydol appeared. Alongside a SR-Azelf Lead.

Now, what else should I add? Oh right, Scrafty went down to UU. I'll give the Bulk Up set a go. But then I need something to absolutely resist the fighting type moves... Chandelure could work. Scarf or Specs? Hm... Scarf. Let's try that.

So, now I had the raw scratch... And let me tell you, it's horrible. So I spent a week or so testing forward and back, and I ended up with this team:

Not much more to say, I guess. So, let's head into the sets, shawwie?

Chandler the Chandelure @ Choice Specs
Trait: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 SAtk / 252 Spd / 4 SDef
Modest Nature
- Energy Ball
- Overheat
- Shadow Ball
- Trick

Set Explaination

Name: Named after a High School named Chandler. It is rumoured that a ghost haunts the hallways, apparently an old worker who died in an accident.
Moves: Choice Specs Overheat. Nuff said. No seriously, if there is nothing to resist it nor a Snowlax on the opposing team, this truly means an OHKO or 2HKO on anything. Anything. Shadow Ball is there for a secondary STAB and also to hit opposing Chandelures and Arcanines on the switches. Energy Ball is there for the occasional Swamperts/Quagsires. And finally, Trick is there to decrease the viability on Snorlaxes if they dare to switch in. Choice Specs Snorlax is best Snorlax, eh?
Item: Choice Specs is there to fully utilize the terrifying power in an Overheat, especially when it's STAB. One almost always have to sacrifice something to get a free switch in on this.
Evs: To fully utilize the astounding 140 Base Special Attack to the very maximum. Speed is there to outspeed random stuff, basically.
Role: Kill, kill, kill! Not only that, but also to wall the STABs from Heracross, and it works very well in synergy with Flygon or any of the other Levitators. He sets a pressure on his opponents, which also grants me some switch advantages (Snorlax? Hah, here comes Scrafty!)
Summary: Well. This thing is in my opinion the greatest threat in UU combined with Heracross. Seriously. Don't ever, ever underestimate Chandelure, no less the Specs variant.​

Vanguard the Azelf @ Life Orb
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 SAtk / 4 Atk
Hasty Nature
- Flamethrower
- U-turn
- Psychic
- Taunt

Set Explaination

Name: He is the Vanguard. The first into the battle. He may be the first to die, or he may be the victor in the end. Either way, he is the lead.
Moves: Taunt is possibly the main move on the set, enjoying to Taunt lock things like Registeel, Sableye (if he gets the chance), and other set-uppers like Scrafty. U-Turn is there for the Voltturn combo I have going for on this team, and also to scout possible Scarfers like Victini. Psychic is there for the early Crobat KOs, as they have a love for Taunt-locking Azelfs. Flamethrower is there for... I've yet to figure that one out, but it's there!
Item: Well, obviously Azelf does have nice offensive stats, but without the set-up Nasty Plot, he won't be able to dish that much damage. A Life Orb may fix that problem. Decreased longevity for power.
Evs: Obviously to utilize Azelf's high offensive stats. It's quite obvious, seeing that this is indeed a Hyper Offensive team.
Role: As mentioned, he is both the Lead for either Taunt-locking, Scarf-checking or Crobat killing right off the bat. He doesn't really have that much else going for him, which usually means that he is my prime sacrifice in need of one.
Summary: A lead with some momentum possibilities or just suicide-leading. Yeah. He can dish out some damage, but he generally is weaker than his team-mates at this.​

Arahabaki the Claydol @ Leftovers
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 252 SDef / 252 HP / 4 Def
Calm Nature
- Rapid Spin
- Stealth Rock
- Toxic
- Reflect

Set Explaination

Name: This name is based of a Japanese God, which there also is a chance for being his inspiration. So, yeah. He is the God we all need, but do not deserve.
Moves: Rapid Spin is there for obvious reasons, spinning away rocks which threaten Chandelure and is generally an annoyance. Spikes and T-spikes isn't as much of a threat, but can be annoying as well. Stealth Rocks is there to decrease the switches from my opponent, a perfect thing for a Hyper Offensive team. They usually force many, many switches, and the Rocks-Voltturn combo will slowly kill them off. Toxic is there for set-uppers and when I'm bored and have nothing else to do, really, and finally Reflect is there for the turn he dies he can give a final support to his allies.
Item: Increased longevity, even though he usually dies very early on. Alongside Azelf.
Evs: 110 Base SpD is very nice, indeed. Why not use it's full potential? Backed up by max HP shouldn't that be a problem, no.
Role: Suicide defense? Is that a role? If so, he's the one. He is there to take the damage, get up some shit and then just die. Yeah.
Summary: A very odd-looking Pokemon with a nice niche in his SpD and typing, but nothing else is going for him, really.​

R. Kelly the Flygon @ Choice Band
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 Atk / 4 SDef
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Fire Punch
- Outrage
- U-turn

Set Explaination

Name: You know the song "I believe I can fly"? It was written by a dude called R. Kelly. Flygon, although his name suggests it, is not a flying type. Levitating, yes, but Mold Breaker kills that niche. Though, I dunno about Mold Breaker in UU.
Moves: A very standard Flygon set, both Scarf and Banded-wise. EQ for the Ground type action, which so very often hits hard. Fire Punch for... stuff like Bronzong, I guess. I rarely use it anyways, as Outrage usually outclass Fire Punch's usability. U-turn for the Voltturn combination. Yeah.
Item: Choice Band for the extra power. One can easily hoax a Choice Scarf, but not hoax a Choice Band. so, yeah. The power, THE POWER!
Evs: Basically a Fast Sweeper EV setup. Jolly nature for outspeeding the occasionally Adamant Banded Flygon and stuff that could outspeed an Adamant Banded Flygon.
Role: Another addition to the Voltturn combo all Hyper Offenses need. He fakes the Choice Scarf by doing risks like switching in on Life Orb Raikous and the likes, forcing them out just so they take even more Rocks damage.
Summary: Flygon has always been a great pokemon, and is, from how I see it, very balanced and people do not underestimate it. Good. Good.... for them. I mean, I can't abuse their underestimation at all that way.​

Raijū the Raikou @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Pressure
EVs: 252 SAtk / 252 Spd / 4 HP
Rash Nature
- Aura Sphere
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Volt Switch
- Thunderbolt

Set Explaination

Name: Yet another Japanese God, eh? Yeah. Gotta love them Japanese, 'nd specially Ken Sugimori, for them references. Alright? Yeah.
Moves: Well. Aura Sphere? Yeah, it's the Rash nature one. Ah well. Atleast it's useful, eh? HP Ice for the annoying opposing Flygons and Gligars, and... yeah. Basically those two, really. Volt Switch for the Voltturn combo, and Thunderbolt for the "late-game" sweep or just a quick kill.
Item: Choice scarf. Basically so that it can outspeed opposing Scarfers and strike them down before they do much damage. Like Heracross. My Scrafty hates Heracross. HATES!
Evs: Well, what'd you expect? Max Defense, Max Special Defense, 4 HP with Rash? Lolno. A very, very generic EV setup, eh?
Role: The team's scarfer and revenge-killer, also addition to the Voltturn combo and stuff. Basically outspeed and kill, or lure in Flygons/Gligars and nab them down with HP Ice.
Summary: Always been a threat, can easily hoax different sets like, oh, Sub CM? Yeah. Stuff like that. A big threat. And usually the one I end up late-game sweeping with, unless my Scrafty is busy with his damn DDs.​

Mah NiggaScrafty @ Leftovers
Trait: Shed Skin
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 Atk / 4 SDef
Adamant Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Drain Punch
- Crunch
- Rest

Set Explaination

Name: C'mon. He really looks like a Ghetto dude. Don't lie. He does. And he's MAH NIGGA! He ain't givin' two shits 'bout dem burns and toxics, cuz he mah nigga and he ain't givin' no fucks.
Moves: A standard DD set, when set-up he is deadly as fuck. Oh, he hates Heracross. Specifically scarf-cross. +2 Speed ain't helpin' against dem niggas. Ait? Nor does his moves, really.
Item: Increased longevity. He doesn't really carry the bulk he should carry, however dis nigga can take on a lot more with the leftovers recovery.
Evs: Well. A very offensive set, like very, so nothing more to say. He, eh, hmm... Likes, uh.... Killing stuff, I guess? He's quite adamant about it.
Role: Ey, yo nigga. Yo' gotta watch out for dem DDs and dat late-game sweep. Dis nigga be trippin' on yo' bawlz.
Summary: Well, I absolutely fantasticly love this nigga, as he be dat badass from OU who now kills shit in UU. Yeah, he be fuckin' shit up, maaan.​

 

[Gengan]

Fire Blast > Overheat and Scarf > Specs on Chandy. It doesn't appreciate the drop is SpAtk, and it loves the major Speed boost since it's not only slow, but frail.

 

[Kawaii Kyouko]

I did use that set all the way to the final set, but it didn't do what I wanted it to. I want it to stay in for two turns; T1 Throw Overheat, T2 switch to suitable counter.

 

[Gengan]

Chandelure isn't a pokemon very fit for switching in-and-out because of SR, even with a spinner.

 

[Kawaii Kyouko]

Oh, I'm aware. I conserve his destructive power if my Claydol is down to times when I need him. I've been testing the two against eachothers, and I prefer the Specs variant. As I said, if those that wall him are down, then an Overheat will bring something down, no matter what.

 

[destinyunknown]

Hey Gennosuke Fujiki,

Your team it's pretty cool, but it has some glaring weaknesses that need to be fixed. First off, your team has a lot of problems dealing with Kingdra, as well as with offensive Fire-type pokemon like Life Orb Darmanitan or Victini, since Chandelure isn't a very reliable check. Claydol doesn't seem to be doing much for your team, as it can't really hurt anything (you aren't even using attacking moves), it's very bad at rapid spinning, and can't even really counter the threats it's supposed to (as it loses to Raikou and Fighting-type pokemon). You could use Blastoise instead of Claydol, as it provides you with a check to Kingdra and the already mentioned Fire-types, while being a more reliable Rapid Spin user. Here's the set:

Blastoise@Leftovers | Torrent
Bold Nature | 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Scald / Ice Beam / Rapid Spin / Roar

Of course, with Blastoise you now lack a Stealth Rock settler, but that can be simply fixed by using Stealth Rock instead of Taunt on Azelf (honestly, Taunt isn't that useful).

The other problem your team has is the weakness to Fighting-type pokemon like Scrafty or Mienshao, as well as the inability to deal with some fast special sweepers like Shaymin or Raikou (which you don't have any way to stop after it sets up). Something you could do to alleviate the problem is using Choice Scarf Heracross instead of Raikou. Heracross doesn't just act as a check to pokemon like Scrafty or Shaymin, but it's also a ''catch-all'' revenge killer thanks to its high powered STAB moves, which let it check a large portion of the metagame. It also has a great ability in Moxie, which allows Heracross to act as a cleaner in the endgame.

Heracross@Choice Scarf | Moxie
Jolly Nature | 4 Def / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Close Combat / Megahorn / Stone Edge / Earthquake

I would also like to suggest using Ice Punch instead of Rest on Scrafty, because Rest is fairly unreliable and doesn't work well on a offensive set (because Scrafty won't find time to use Rest), while Ice Punch lets it hit Gligar and other Flying type pokemon.

 

[Kawaii Kyouko]

Hey Gennosuke Fujiki,

Your team it's pretty cool, but it has some glaring weaknesses that need to be fixed. First off, your team has a lot of problems dealing with Kingdra, as well as with offensive Fire-type pokemon like Life Orb Darmanitan or Victini, since Chandelure isn't a very reliable check. Claydol doesn't seem to be doing much for your team, as it can't really hurt anything (you aren't even using attacking moves), it's very bad at rapid spinning, and can't even really counter the threats it's supposed to (as it loses to Raikou and Fighting-type pokemon). You could use Blastoise instead of Claydol, as it provides you with a check to Kingdra and the already mentioned Fire-types, while being a more reliable Rapid Spin user. Here's the set:

Blastoise@Leftovers | Torrent
Bold Nature | 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Scald / Ice Beam / Rapid Spin / Roar

Of course, with Blastoise you now lack a Stealth Rock settler, but that can be simply fixed by using Stealth Rock instead of Taunt on Azelf (honestly, Taunt isn't that useful).

The other problem your team has is the weakness to Fighting-type pokemon like Scrafty or Mienshao, as well as the inability to deal with some fast special sweepers like Shaymin or Raikou (which you don't have any way to stop after it sets up). Something you could do to alleviate the problem is using Choice Scarf Heracross instead of Raikou. Heracross doesn't just act as a check to pokemon like Scrafty or Shaymin, but it's also a ''catch-all'' revenge killer thanks to its high powered STAB moves, which let it check a large portion of the metagame. It also has a great ability in Moxie, which allows Heracross to act as a cleaner in the endgame.

Heracross@Choice Scarf | Moxie
Jolly Nature | 4 Def / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Close Combat / Megahorn / Stone Edge / Earthquake

I would also like to suggest using Ice Punch instead of Rest on Scrafty, because Rest is fairly unreliable and doesn't work well on a offensive set (because Scrafty won't find time to use Rest), while Ice Punch lets it hit Gligar and other Flying type pokemon.

Thanks for the answer.

Yeah, Claydol was there for the lulz, mostly. And he was the first to die. All the time. Heh. I'll try out the Blastoise set to see if it does a better job.

Scarfed Heracrosses does give me a bad time, but Scraftys have never been too much a problem. Mienshaos... well, they are a pretty unreliable sweeper imo, so I've never considered them too hard. Besides, my Raikou usually OHKO the Mienshao with T-bolt.

The only time I've ever had use of rest was against a stalling Tangrowth, but I agree that Ice Punch would be the better option. I'll try that as well.

When it comes to Heracross > Raikou, I'm not sure how to play around with Heracross. Never used one. And Raikou is also my Gligar check (ironically enough). But I'll try it out.