To start off this is the first time I have tried competitive battling. I know you're probably tired of hearing that, and putting up with the people who have no knowledge of the meta so I have tried to bring myself up to speed as fast as possible. I like to think of myself as a pretty intelligent guy and I think I've been learning more and more by myself, but I need some outside input from people who know what they're talking about. So without further to do, here it is.
Infernape @ Focus Sash
Ability: Blaze
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 Spd / 4 SAtk
Naive Nature
- Overheat
- Close Combat
- Fake Out
- Stealth Rock
The classic Anti lead Infernape. It stops a lot of things from setting up, most notably Smeargle. Fake out will break it's sash and a close combat will finish it off. It also easily out speeds it. It speed ties with galvantula, so there is a %50 chance of it not getting Sticky Web off. A tyranitar will also get blown up by a close combat, but weather will break the sash. A lot of the time (thanks to team preview) opponents will not lead with their usual choice. From my experience it is also incredibly resilient. Many many games it will survive till late game to get kills on things susceptible to fire/fighting like Ferrothorn etc. Having rocks be almost guaranteed is nice too.
Assault Vest Excadrill. A Rapid Spinner/ Bulky Attacker/ and Special wall all in one. It can OHKO Gengar, Magnezone, and Rotom-W easily thanks to it's bulk and Mold Breaker Earthquake. Thanks to Shadow Claw I've been able to take a Focus Blast from an Alakazam and kill it with a Shadow Claw (and more than a few times get 2 off on an Alakazam running Sash because of Focus Blasts low accuracy). Iron head puts a dent into fairies, but sometimes I wish I had Rock Slide over it.
The EV's are probably not optimal. I opted for this set, as a whole, because with the weather nerf his other sets aren't as viable IMO. His speed is lackluster, so if I'm going to get hit first most of the time I might as well get some bulk.
Garchomp @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Rough Skin
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 Spd / 4 SDef
Jolly Nature
- Outrage
- Fire Fang
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
Good ol' Scarf'd Garchomp. Easily out speeds and 1or2HKO's most things. I've won many a game by killing his threats and then Outraging their last 2 or 3 pokemon. One very important use for this Garchomp is to take care of Genesect. Pretty much every team I have run into that uses Genesect will run him as a lead, so I will start off with Garchomp and outspeed it while OHKOing it with fire fang. Stone Edge is hit or miss both figuratively and literally. It's useful when I don't have rocks up, but it is not reliable. I found that keeping Garchomp in reserve is a more viable strategy than running Poison Jab to deal with Fairies.
Slowbro @ Leftovers
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SDef
Bold Nature
- Scald
- Ice Beam
- Thunder Wave
- Slack Off
My physical wall, Slowbro. Regenerator is an awesome ability which really prolongs his survival. Ice beam is great coverage move and has saved me countless times by scoring some surprising kills. Scald is great damage with a burn chance. Thunder Wave is what I've settled on over Psychic. The added utility is great. Slack Off of course is a standard Recovery move. Not too much to say here besides his great utility and survival. I've thought about Toxic over Thunder Wave as well. I think that might be better.
Breloom @ Life Orb
Ability: Technician
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature
- Mach Punch
- Bullet Seed
- Drain Punch
- Spore
Breloom, the last Pokemon to round out a F/W/G core, and the first pokemon I've spotted problems in. Honestly, the only use this guy seems to get is Spore-ing and Bullet Seeding. Infernape takes care of a lot of things with Close Combat, so Mach Punch is mainly used for ensuring a KO on a weakened foe. My team is very Physicaly based, so I'm thinking of replacing him with a Special Attacker, but I'm not sure what I can replace this with that keeps the Sleep utility and a powerful grass move. I tried Venusaur with poor results.
Big threats to my team that I've noticed:
1. Mega Kangaskhan
2. Deoxys-D
3. Set up Sweepers.
4. Same as #2 except most Ghost/Psychic types.
5. Lack of a dedicated special attacker and a set-up sweeper.
6. Showdown's Servers.
Infernape @ Focus Sash
Ability: Blaze
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 Spd / 4 SAtk
Naive Nature
- Overheat
- Close Combat
- Fake Out
- Stealth Rock
The classic Anti lead Infernape. It stops a lot of things from setting up, most notably Smeargle. Fake out will break it's sash and a close combat will finish it off. It also easily out speeds it. It speed ties with galvantula, so there is a %50 chance of it not getting Sticky Web off. A tyranitar will also get blown up by a close combat, but weather will break the sash. A lot of the time (thanks to team preview) opponents will not lead with their usual choice. From my experience it is also incredibly resilient. Many many games it will survive till late game to get kills on things susceptible to fire/fighting like Ferrothorn etc. Having rocks be almost guaranteed is nice too.
Excadrill @ Assault Vest
Ability: Mold Breaker
EVs: 128 HP / 128 Atk / 252 SDef
Adamant Nature
- Earthquake
- Iron Head
- Shadow Claw
- Rapid Spin
Ability: Mold Breaker
EVs: 128 HP / 128 Atk / 252 SDef
Adamant Nature
- Earthquake
- Iron Head
- Shadow Claw
- Rapid Spin
Assault Vest Excadrill. A Rapid Spinner/ Bulky Attacker/ and Special wall all in one. It can OHKO Gengar, Magnezone, and Rotom-W easily thanks to it's bulk and Mold Breaker Earthquake. Thanks to Shadow Claw I've been able to take a Focus Blast from an Alakazam and kill it with a Shadow Claw (and more than a few times get 2 off on an Alakazam running Sash because of Focus Blasts low accuracy). Iron head puts a dent into fairies, but sometimes I wish I had Rock Slide over it.
The EV's are probably not optimal. I opted for this set, as a whole, because with the weather nerf his other sets aren't as viable IMO. His speed is lackluster, so if I'm going to get hit first most of the time I might as well get some bulk.
Garchomp @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Rough Skin
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 Spd / 4 SDef
Jolly Nature
- Outrage
- Fire Fang
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
Good ol' Scarf'd Garchomp. Easily out speeds and 1or2HKO's most things. I've won many a game by killing his threats and then Outraging their last 2 or 3 pokemon. One very important use for this Garchomp is to take care of Genesect. Pretty much every team I have run into that uses Genesect will run him as a lead, so I will start off with Garchomp and outspeed it while OHKOing it with fire fang. Stone Edge is hit or miss both figuratively and literally. It's useful when I don't have rocks up, but it is not reliable. I found that keeping Garchomp in reserve is a more viable strategy than running Poison Jab to deal with Fairies.
Slowbro @ Leftovers
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SDef
Bold Nature
- Scald
- Ice Beam
- Thunder Wave
- Slack Off
My physical wall, Slowbro. Regenerator is an awesome ability which really prolongs his survival. Ice beam is great coverage move and has saved me countless times by scoring some surprising kills. Scald is great damage with a burn chance. Thunder Wave is what I've settled on over Psychic. The added utility is great. Slack Off of course is a standard Recovery move. Not too much to say here besides his great utility and survival. I've thought about Toxic over Thunder Wave as well. I think that might be better.
Breloom @ Life Orb
Ability: Technician
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature
- Mach Punch
- Bullet Seed
- Drain Punch
- Spore
Rotom-Wash @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 220 Spd / 232 HP / 56 SAtk
Modest Nature
- Volt Switch
- Hydro Pump
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Will-O-Wisp
To round off the team I have the completely original Rotom-W. Why? Because you can basically slap it on any team, and I needed something to take care of threats such as Gyarados, Gliscor, Physical Pokemon that can be burned, and Talonflame. As much as I love Slowbro, Slowbro might be a little redundant with this guy.Ability: Levitate
EVs: 220 Spd / 232 HP / 56 SAtk
Modest Nature
- Volt Switch
- Hydro Pump
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Will-O-Wisp
Big threats to my team that I've noticed:
1. Mega Kangaskhan
Most likely it's getting banned, so whatever.
2. Deoxys-D
Same as above. As it is now it basically sets up for free.
3. Set up Sweepers.
Most of my losses come from things getting off multiple Swords Dance, Quiver Dance,Dragon Dance, etc.
I'm not sure whether this is my teams fault or my lack of experience on how to deal with them.
I think a Skarmory with Roost/Whirlwind/Roar/Brave Bird could help me out in this regard, and would replace Slowbro.
I'm not sure whether this is my teams fault or my lack of experience on how to deal with them.
I think a Skarmory with Roost/Whirlwind/Roar/Brave Bird could help me out in this regard, and would replace Slowbro.
4. Same as #2 except most Ghost/Psychic types.
5. Lack of a dedicated special attacker and a set-up sweeper.
As I said earlier Breloom probably needs to get replaced with one of these. The problem is that I need some more utility I get from Spore and the Grass coverage.
6. Showdown's Servers.
A lot of my losses come from me making bad plays, but not being able to change them because Showdown will always pick my first move even if I try to re-select.
7. Status.
Being Burned basically cripples all of my team. Having Heal Bell would be nice. Maybe Blissey or Chansey over Slowbro?
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