Handy Chandy
I quit Pokemon a while ago because it only made me angry. People would hax me constantly and I never seemed to get any luck of my own. But for some reason I kept returning to it, and I realised recently that I do still enjoy one aspect a lot - teambuilding. This one is a team around Chandelure that is doing very well - well enough for me to come back and do an RMT for it.
Someone asked me if Chandelure was any good. It got me thinking, and I realised that a Sub CM Chandelure set could almost single-handedly 6-0 the ABR Weavile Stall running around at the moment. It sets up on what most people would consider a counter in Chansey, and if played correctly can never get Pursuited, being behind a Sub. It also very importantly can outspeed and Sub on the common Taunt/Toxic Heatran. I decided to try it out.
Chandelure was obviously not a perfect Pokemon. My initial worry was against the likes of Keldeo, Volcanion, and others, as well as rocks. I initially tried bulky Starmie, but I wanted something more suited against Manaphy. Latias's bulk is important over Latios, much more important, for this team, than the extra damage output.
I was pretty weak to opposing Dragons, Ghosts and Darks. Banded Tyranitar dealt with these(ish) and provides a pretty handy secondary Stallbreaker which I don't mind. It's also a nice Bird check and a very handy way to steamroll a hole in a team.
Fairies, Weavile, Metagross, Kyurem, Alakazam, Gengar, Hippowdon, Landorus-T, Tyranitar and a few others looked pretty good against the team. With one Pokemon, I get a wall, a setup sweeper, a pivot, a momentum grabber, a priority user and more in a neat package.
I noticed a weakness to physical attackers, such as Sand Rush Drill, Lando, Dragonite, Jirachi, Lopunny, and a fair few others. Solution is to use this underrated gem. Not many people use Lando-T but it's fairly good at checking most of the meta and also gives me Rocks.
Lastly, Amoonguss. I wasn't too sure what to put here, but then I realised Amoonguss fits in pretty well. After using the team, I've realised Amoonguss is probably the most useful Mon in it. It's just pretty damn good. Think Serperior, Azumarill, Gyarados, Breloom.
The Team
Chandelure @ Leftovers
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Nature: Timid
Leftovers are vital for its role as a Substitute sweeper, and Flash Fire is of course very important, letting it take on things that would otherwise destroy it such as Volcarona and Zard Y. Max Speed is important to outspeed things like Heatran and the rest of the EVs are to maximise damage output.
- Substitute
Subs on Scizor, Heatran, Chansey, Clefable, Amoonguss, Venusaur, Zard Y, SpDef Jirachi, and others. Gives me the ability to not have to protect
- Calm Mind
Lets it become a potent setup sweeper that can take stall on
- Shadow Ball
Obvious STAB
- Flamethrower
Pretty powerful, and good PP and accuracy over Fire Blast
Other Options:
Fire Blast > Flamethrower
Could be very useful in damage but is much less consistent than Flamethrower. This is a team with 2 Stone Edges, Draco Meteor and Stun Spore. If you're willing to risk it, then that's up to you.
Latias @ Life Orb
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Nature: Timid
Life Orb boosts Latias's damage so that it can actually punch holes in the things it wants to check, including, particularly for this team, Manaphy. I wanted to use bulky Latias but I guaranteed needed to outspeed Manaphy, from there I wanted to outspeed Pinsir, and from there, Keldeo, so I figured I'd just go max speed. The rest goes in Special Attack so that, once again, I can damage Manaphy.
- Defog
Actually not as important as I first thought. However, against the odd Spikes Stacking, Sticky Web Toxic Spikes teams that come up this becomes absolutely vital
- Thunderbolt
Since this is my only existing Manaphy check, I wanted to ensure it was capable of breaking it without leaving myself open for setup. Thunderbolt provides that without letting the likes of Bisharp and Heatran outright wall me
- Draco Meteor
130 Base Power STAB. There's a reason it's common
- Recover
This was a tough one, but I chose Recover over Roost because of the superior Normal typing
Other Options:
Surf > Thunderbolt
Better suited for Excadrill, Tyranitar and Heatran. Worse suited for everyone's pal Manaphy.
Tyranitar @ Choice Band
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 100 HP / 252 Atk / 156 Spe
Nature: Adamant
Band is great for a lot of things. Most of the team doesn't mind the sand, and the EVs are just standard Band Tar spread.
- Crunch
When they don't switch
- Pursuit
When they do switch
- Superpower
If it's Chansey
- Stone Edge
252+ Atk Choice Band Tyranitar Stone Edge vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Suicune: (44.5 - 52.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock, sandstorm damage, and Leftovers recovery
Other Options:
Choice Scarf > Choice Band
This is interesting. It seems like Choice Scarf is better in theory, but in practice Band is just so much better. Scarf would make me so much better suited for the likes of Pinsir, Gengar and Bisharp but I've found Band to come in handy more times. On paper, you should 100% run Scarf, but in practice Band gets the job done.
Scizor-Mega @ Scizorite
Ability: Technician
EVs: 248 HP / 40 Atk / 16 Def / 200 SpD / 4 Spe
Nature: Impish
Very standard spread but believe it or not it's actually pretty good.
- Bullet Punch
Standard
- Swords Dance
Still standard
- Roost
Standard is fun
- U-turn
Still mostly standard, but I've found U-Turn is much more useful in this team than Bug Bite
Landorus-Therian @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 HP / 240 Def / 16 Spe
Nature: Impish
I have a Latias, a Tyranitar and I guess an Amoonguss for Manectric, I figured I wouldn't bother to prepare for the weird scenario I've never actually seen happen. Rocky Helmet is very nice for punishing opponents. 16 Speed is to Speed Creep Pokemon that Speed Creep 8 Speed Lando-T, and to usually outspeed other Landos so I can HP Ice them.
- Earthquake
Did I mention standard?
- U-Turn
I think I said it at some point
- Stealth Rock
I'll have to go back and check
- Hidden Power [Ice]
Taunt Gliscor literally 6-0es me otherwise, and I've got a Thunderbolt Latias and a Banded Tyranitar for Talonflame. At least this means I'm not standard. It's also fairly handy to weaken Garchomps and Landos for my Tyranitar.
Other Options:
Stone Edge > Hidden Power [Ice]
It's a better move basically every time that my opponent doesn't have a Taunt Gliscor, so if you're willing to take that risk, it's not an awful option.
Leftovers > Rocky Helmet
Another on paper vs. in practice argument. The more I think about it, the more I think that Lefties would be better, but in practice, it just seems like Helmet is so much more useful.
Amoonguss @ Black Sludge
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 248 HP / 168 Def / 92 SpD
Nature: Bold
Again, just the standard spread. Not 2HKOed by Keldeo Icy Wind and the rest in Defense to take on Azumarill and Gyarados.
- Spore
100% accurate Sleep. You'd be insane not to run this.
- Giga Drain
Obligatory STAB
- Clear Smog
Handy for Clefable and a lot of other setup sweepers.
- Stun Spore
Very, very handy move. I've taken to Stun Sporing before Sporing, since most people will go to their Pokemon walled by Amoonguss as a sleep fodder. That way, I paralyze it and get to keep the Spore option alive.
Threats
Pretty threatening with no Ghost resist, it walls Amoonguss with Taunt and Scizor is not really a switchin. Like I said, Scarf on Tyranitar would be better. I also came up against a Sub Wisp Disable Gengar that beat me. Who the hell runs that?
Both of these are pretty damn annoying, but definitely deal-with-able. Basically every single team ever is weak to these guys.
Once again, ScarfTar would probably be good in this situation. Scizor can do alright against it.
From this list, you would probably assume ScarfTar is better than Band for this team. And you'd be right. But once again, I still prefer Band. I guess it's up to you if you're using this team.
Well, that's the team. It's probably been a year or something since I last went on these forums, so this was a nice refresher. Let me know what you think!
parsons (Chandelure) @ Leftovers
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Substitute
- Calm Mind
- Shadow Ball
- Flamethrower
thicc (Latias) @ Life Orb
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Defog
- Thunderbolt
- Draco Meteor
- Recover
suit and die (Tyranitar) @ Choice Band
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 100 HP / 252 Atk / 156 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Crunch
- Pursuit
- Superpower
- Stone Edge
drank (Scizor-Mega) @ Scizorite
Ability: Technician
EVs: 248 HP / 40 Atk / 16 Def / 200 SpD / 4 Spe
Impish Nature
- Bullet Punch
- Swords Dance
- Roost
- U-turn
crank that (Landorus-Therian) @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 HP / 240 Def / 16 Spe
Impish Nature
- Earthquake
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Stealth Rock
- U-turn
ew (Amoonguss) @ Black Sludge
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 248 HP / 168 Def / 92 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Spore
- Giga Drain
- Clear Smog
- Stun Spore
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Substitute
- Calm Mind
- Shadow Ball
- Flamethrower
thicc (Latias) @ Life Orb
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Defog
- Thunderbolt
- Draco Meteor
- Recover
suit and die (Tyranitar) @ Choice Band
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 100 HP / 252 Atk / 156 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Crunch
- Pursuit
- Superpower
- Stone Edge
drank (Scizor-Mega) @ Scizorite
Ability: Technician
EVs: 248 HP / 40 Atk / 16 Def / 200 SpD / 4 Spe
Impish Nature
- Bullet Punch
- Swords Dance
- Roost
- U-turn
crank that (Landorus-Therian) @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 HP / 240 Def / 16 Spe
Impish Nature
- Earthquake
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Stealth Rock
- U-turn
ew (Amoonguss) @ Black Sludge
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 248 HP / 168 Def / 92 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Spore
- Giga Drain
- Clear Smog
- Stun Spore
