XY OU A Tale of Two Dragons. Game of Thrones RMT

[Benghazi Baller]

A little bit of background on this RMT.... I wanted to create a team that could win and be a team that could be bred in my Pokemon X game. Dragonite is hands down my favorite pokemon and Charizard X is one of the best OU sweepers in the tier. Pairing them together is a little redundant, but it has paid off in so many battles. The pure power combined is unmatched, and with a little help, these two monstrosities roll through most of my wins. NOTICE: I have recently been watching Game of Thrones, and I love the characterization and names of the people and creatures in the show. I apologize if the references miss! So without further ado, I present my builds:

Drogon
Charizard (M) @CharizarditeX
Ability: Blaze=>Tough Claws

EVs: 144 HP / 252 Atk / 112 Spe
Adamant ( +Atk / -SpA )
-Dragon Dance
-Dragon Claw
-Flare Blitz
-Roost

The Bulky Dragon Dance set is completely unmatched. After one dragon dance, nearly nothing stands in its way. After two dragon dances, well, it's game ovaries. This set blows through any physical walls, and instantly establishes momentum if I am in need (obviously). Flare Blitz recoil can be roosted off, but only to a certain extent. Common threats like Azumarill struggle to beat this demon one on one. The only pokemon that I struggle with when battling with Charizard are Heatran, Quagsire, and Mandibuzz. However, with support, these threats are easily taken care of. This set also has to be wary of priority users, as they can easily revenge kill a recoil weakened Charizard. Status abusers can also endanger Charizard's sweep.

Viserion
Dragonite (M) WeaKness Policy
Ability: Multiscale

EVS: 252 Atk / 24 Def / 232 Spe
Adamant ( +Atk / -SpA )
-Dragon Dance
-Outrage
-Earthquake
-ExtremeSpeed

With Multiscale active, it is very difficult lose Dragonite without him taking a few down with him. Outside of priority and status abusers, Dragonite can stomp teams after Weakness Policy has been
activated. Common threats like Talonflame and Greninja hate ExtremeSpeed, and this move allows Dragonite to be one of the best revenge killers along with avoiding being revenge killed himself. Earthquake helps compliment Charizard's moveset allowing them both to blow past physical walls.
The EV spread might be slightly unique, but after one Dragon Dance, Dragonite outspeeds everyone below Noivern and Greninja (also including). The 24 in Defense allows Dragonite to take a +1 Choice Band from Azumarill, and clean up with EQ and ES. Outrage is there for nuking endgame or taking out annoying pokemon (Gliscor). I don't mind fairies having a free switch in, so I prefer the extra power.

Ser Jorah Moromont
Breloom (M) Focus sash
Ability: Technician

EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant ( +Atk / -SpA )
-Spore
-Mach Punch
-Bullet Seed
-Rock Tomb

Breloom rounds out my offensive core of pokemon (if you can call it a core...). Breloom works primarily as my Anti-Lead, but only if there is minimal Grass-type pokemon on the opposite side. If there are multiple grass-type or Overcoat users, I save him for late game because he can almost guarantee a kill if at full health. Spore is fantastic, and it really hampers opposing teams and Smeargle leads (poor lil' feller). He doesn't really fill a type coverage or defensive position, but Breloom is superb at establishing momentum and taking out key pokemon i.e any pokemon that doesn't switch out after being spored.

Daenerys 2.0 (Dude.. she got fat)
Quagsire (F) Leftovers
Ability: Unaware

EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Relaxed ( +Def / -Spe )
-Scald
-Earthquake
-Recover
-Toxic

Thanks to Soren27 for suggesting Quagsire. I had it on the back of my mind, but I really needed a push to use the ugly thing. Mega Manectric just put way too much offensive pressure on this team, and the only 2 pokes I could use to take it out were Charizard X (who is OHKOd after Stealth Rocks) and Breloom. With Quagsire, I gain a much needed Electric immunity, and I can force Manectric out and slap a Toxic on someone else. I miss the Special Bulk, but Ferrothorn really covers a lot of threats.

Daenerys Targaryen aka Mother of Dragons, aka yadda yadda yadda...
Vaporeon (F) Leftovers
Ability: Water Absorb

EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold ( +Def / -Atk )
-Wish
-Protect
-Scald
-Toxic

Vaporeon begins my defensive trio. Most importantly, she protects her two Dragon buddies. I have been debating about using Heal Bell, but if one of my Dragons is statused, I usually just ride or die, so I
chose Toxic to help cripple opposing teams. Vaporeon carries useful Ice and Fire-type resistances, and she really is a great Wish passer. Paired with Ferrothorn and Mandibuzz, my defensive core can set up hazards, cripple walls, and keep the field clean.

Arya Stark
Mandibuzz (F) Leftovers
Ability: Overcoat

EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SpD
Bold ( +Def / -Atk )
-Foul Play
-Roost
-Taunt
-Defog

Mandibuzz is a really scrappy pokemon. A lot faster than most people realize and it can really take a hit. Mandibuzz is great at clearing hazards and keeping them off the field. She also is great at taking care of walls and boosting physical attackers. I really don't like playing stall teams, or stalling myself, but it is a necessary evil sometimes, and Mandibuzz is great at starting and stopping stall. Along with Ferrothorn, Mandibuzz was a large part of the metagame. Special Attackers who carry Thunderbolt and Flamethrower / HP Ice or Fire are a real burden to this core, but these pokemon (Manectric, Thundurus, and others are easily taken care of by my offensive pokemon).

Needle
Ferrothorn (M) Leftovers
Ability: Iron Barbs

EVs: 252 HP / 48 Def / 208 SpD
Relaxed ( +Def / -Spe )
0 Spe IVs
-Stealth Rock
-Leech Seed
-Gyro Ball
-Protect

Specially Defensive Ferrothorn is very important to my success. He is my go to pokemon for most offensive threats, and SR support makes my life so much easier at the end of a battle. Ferrothorn also has great Resistances i.e Ice, Fairy, Rock, and Dragon, and its weaknesses are easily accounted for. Protect sometimes causes a wasted turn, but I think it is almost absolutely necessary for maximum Leech Seed healing and move scouting. Gyro Ball keeps Togekiss and Clefable at bay while it demolishes Speed boosters.

That's it for this team!

I really hope you enjoyed the Game of Thrones references, and I would love feedback on this team. It does very well in the beginning of the ladder (8+ and 0). At about 1400 I start to lose a little more often. I lost a lot of my replays after closing out my Word Doc, but I will make sure to have some from the higher part of the ladder.

Feel free to test this team also. My main goal was to be able to breed it in game, and I would like to get started on that. Thanks for reading!

 

[Soren27]

Hey man, really nice team you have there! I really like your defensive core and the use of Dragonite and Charizard X together. They form a surprisingly synergetic core, since they don't actually share that many weaknesses. That also creates a lot of offensive pressure, since the opponent has to deal with two potential late-game sweepers.

Your defensive core is also nice, and covers a lot of weaknesses of your sweepers. They don't have a lot of common weaknesses either, which is always helpful.

You said you ran into some problems with Manectric and other fast Electric types. Did you maybe consider running something like Quagsire over Vaporeon? Maybe a set with Scald, Toxic, Earthquake, Recover? You lose the Wish support but retain your stalling capabilities and gain a really useful Electric immunity and a Pokemon that can take those threats' coverage moves pretty well. I don't have any experience running Quagsire, but maybe it's worth a shot!

 

[Benghazi Baller]

Thanks so much for the rate! I originally had Gengar in the Vaporeon spot for a little more offensive pressure, but I decided I lacked some solid resistances. When choosing Vaporeon, I did consider Quagsire, but I liked Vap a lot better. After a couple of matches though and losing to Mega Manectric twice, I have given into Quagsire. I do miss the special bulk, but I've already done better against threats like Heatran, Scizor, and Manectric, so thanks again for the suggestion!

 

[SomeKidFromJohto]

Well, the first thing I have to point out is, if you're planning on playing in any official battles in X/Y, then you can't have multiple items, so you'll have to choose one leftovers holder. The next thing that jumps out is that you have not one, not two, but THREE overlapping types. you've got double dragons in char-X and dragonite, double grass in breloom and ferrothorn, and double flying in mandibuzz and dragonite (triple if you count char before evolving). And even though you don't have too many overlapping weaknesses between them, you DO have overlapping offenses, which can leave you struggling against opposing defensive cores. Your only real offensive threats are charizard and dragonite, and with char running dragon and fire as his only attacks, and 'nite running normal, dragon, and ground, you really have to clear out the opponent's defenses before having a real chance to sweep, which is easier said than done. Overall, I'd say the lack of a cohesive offensive presence is your biggest problem. Here are a few ways to solve it without using anything too crazy:

Vaporeon is probably the biggest power vacuum on your team. Toxic stalling is it's only real way of dealing damage, and that comes at a severe loss of momentum for your team. If you NEED another wish passer, go with Unaware/Magic Guard Clefable:

Clefable @ Leftovers
Ability: Unaware/Magic Guard
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpA
Bold Nature
- Wish
- Protect
- Moonblast
- Toxic

This functions in much the same way as your vaporeon, but with the distinction of having a better coverage move in moonblast, and better defensive typing in fairy. It also has better abilites, either being able to troll setup sweepers, which puts extra pressure behind it's toxic stalls, as setup sweepers will be forced to switch out, or being able to ignore extra damage, be it from hazards, status, or whatever. Either of these give you options for pressuring your opponent into making a wrong move, instead of always being pressured yourself.

The other option I can think of to switch out vaporeon to is an underestimated pokemon, rapid spin starmie:

Starmie @ Assault Vest
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Scald
- Thunderbolt
- Ice Beam
- Rapid Spin

This starmie set provides great offensive synergy to any team, having base 115 speed puts it ahead of many faster threats, which combined with the assault vest for more durability on special attacks, helps to guarantee you can rapid spin away hazards from your side of the field. After spinning, you usually wind up with the chance to either attack something for decent damage with starmie's good coverage, or switch out to another pokemon; which is why you run natural cure: to nullify status when starmie comes back.

Next up is breloom. I can see what you were trying to go for with him, and it's a good breloom set, but i'm not sure breloom fits on this team. It doubles up grass types with ferrothorn, which isn't usually a good thing, unless you're really afraid of opposing spores, and doesn't add quite enough offensive presence between bullet seed, mach punch, and rock tomb, even with the technician boosts. A different option which i think will help your team better is Mamoswine:

Mamoswine @ Focus Sash
Ability: Thick Fat
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Ice Shard
- Icicle Spear
- Stealth Rock/Knock Off/Stone Edge

This fills a similar role in your team as breloom would: it carries a sash for guaranteed survival against most moves, and has priority to pick off weakened threats. The main difference is the coverage mamoswine gives you which breloom lacked. 'Swine covers you against almost ANY opposing dragons, the genies, and incoming electric moves or thunder waves, which all can give you problems. The last slot is your choice, between extra coverage with stone edge, or support with stealh rock or knock off. Another plus, is that this can beat opposing brelooms. Running jolly ensures you outspeed, and your ice shards will 2HKO 'loom before his mach punches 2HKO you; you watch out for bullet seed and spore, but in that case you can icicle spear, which will kill in 3 hits. One more thing is that thick fat nullifies your fire weakness, which breloom shared with ferrothorn, and you no longer have a flying weakness, which is a ridiculously common attacking type.

So, after Vaporeon and Breloom, you don't have any other pokemon that are all that out of place, but you could still adjust some things here and there.
One thing you should consider is swapping something out for scarfed gardevoir:

Gardevoir @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Trace
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Moonblast
- Psyshock
- Energy Ball
- Healing Wish

This gardevoir is an absolute terror in the right hands. You have three powerful attacking options in moonblast, psyshock, and energy ball, which are capable of taking out many common walls, such as quagsire and rotom-W with energy ball, chansey/blissey and mega-venusaur with psyshock, or any dragons with moonblast. Healing wish allows you to bring one of your other pokes back to full health with restored status as a suicide option, which can heavily swing momentum back in your favor. The pokemon I would suggest switching out for it are either mandibuzz or ferrothorn: Mandibuzz if you go with my spinner starmie idea, or ferro if you run the stealth rock mamoswine i suggested.

Sorry if this is a lot to look at, but don't take it the wrong way: I like your team, and these changes are mostly minor switches to help with overall balance. Definitely try them out though, I think they'd really help you out.

 

[Benghazi Baller]

Hey SomeKidFromJohto, Thanks a lot for all the effort, and your insight has been a lot of help.
The overall overlapping typing has not been to much of a problem.
I find that Rock type moves are not a big deal because Dragonite welcomes a Rock- move (as long as Multiscale is active) and with Rock- moves being mostly physical, Mandibuzz and Ferrothorn easily absorb those attacks.

I tested the Starmie first over Mandibuzz, and Gengar instantly gave me problems. I also struggled to remove hazards from a SR Tyranitar, and I feel that Tyranitar/Excadrill combo is nearly on every team at the top of the ladder. Bulky hazard setters are very common, so I expect to use a defog/spin move multiple times in a game. Even with AV, Starmie was pretty difficult to keep healthy.

The next change I made was Clefable>Quagsire and Mamoswine>Breloom. Clefable is for sure a better option over Quagsire because of the Fairy type, and a lot better bulk. I had trouble deciding between Magic Guard and Unaware. I used Unaware, and first game I played I got poisoned. The Clefable and Ferrothorn defensive synergy is very strong, and it keeps fairies at bay. I didn't see a difference in Mamoswine and Breloom at first (both died pretty quickly). Breloom takes care of a lot of threats and he guarantees a couple of kills. Now when it came to higher in the ladder though, a lot of opponents know how to handle Breloom. Mamoswine was great at keeping Dragons, Genies, and BirdSpam away (all very key parts to a lot of teams).

I will definitely continue to test this team with Mamoswine and Clefable, and decide the best possible set for them. Hopefully I will have the same success I did with Breloom and Quagsire.

But... with Mamoswine and Scizor.. I instantly become weak to Scizor... and that's not fun.
And without Clefable, Foul Play Sableye has become a pretty huge pain..
So I think that I will keep Breloom, and I will use Clefable. I also might test out an AV Azumarill in place of Clefable.

 

[Benghazi Baller]

The Quagsire/ Vaporeon slot is really hurting me right now. Quagsires SpD bulk is really undesirable, and can leave me dry when a strong Special Attacker carries a fire type move. (Charizard Y)

I have been testing out Chansey in the spot for Quagsire/Vaporeon and I am really liking it.

 

[SomeKidFromJohto]

Hey SomeKidFromJohto, Thanks a lot for all the effort, and your insight has been a lot of help.
The overall overlapping typing has not been to much of a problem.
I find that Rock type moves are not a big deal because Dragonite welcomes a Rock- move (as long as Multiscale is active) and with Rock- moves being mostly physical, Mandibuzz and Ferrothorn easily absorb those attacks.

I tested the Starmie first over Mandibuzz, and Gengar instantly gave me problems. I also struggled to remove hazards from a SR Tyranitar, and I feel that Tyranitar/Excadrill combo is nearly on every team at the top of the ladder. Bulky hazard setters are very common, so I expect to use a defog/spin move multiple times in a game. Even with AV, Starmie was pretty difficult to keep healthy.

The next change I made was Clefable>Quagsire and Mamoswine>Breloom. Clefable is for sure a better option over Quagsire because of the Fairy type, and a lot better bulk. I had trouble deciding between Magic Guard and Unaware. I used Unaware, and first game I played I got poisoned. The Clefable and Ferrothorn defensive synergy is very strong, and it keeps fairies at bay. I didn't see a difference in Mamoswine and Breloom at first (both died pretty quickly). Breloom takes care of a lot of threats and he guarantees a couple of kills. Now when it came to higher in the ladder though, a lot of opponents know how to handle Breloom. Mamoswine was great at keeping Dragons, Genies, and BirdSpam away (all very key parts to a lot of teams).

I will definitely continue to test this team with Mamoswine and Clefable, and decide the best possible set for them. Hopefully I will have the same success I did with Breloom and Quagsire.

But... with Mamoswine and Scizor.. I instantly become weak to Scizor... and that's not fun.
And without Clefable, Foul Play Sableye has become a pretty huge pain..
So I think that I will keep Breloom, and I will use Clefable. I also might test out an AV Azumarill in place of Clefable.

I'm glad I could offer you some valuable advice, and thanks for giving it serious thought. The main thing is to find what works for YOU, which requires trial and error, so you're well on your way. One thing I want to restate though, is that when I was talking about your overlapping types, I didn't mean you were weak defensively against opposing coverage, but rather offensively, sometimes struggling to break through opposing defensive cores. It's an often missed subtlety when teambuilding to forget that even though you don't share common weaknesses, sharing common offenses can lead you to struggle against anything that walls certain types.

I'm really glad you're trying out new things, and good luck finishing off your team! If I think of anything else, I'll let you know, but I want to give you a little more time to test, and get comfortable with some of the changes you've already made first.

 

[Benghazi]

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