Okay, so with a lot [and I mean a LOT] of help from the excellent
DawnBringer and a bit from the sagely Bentendo13 as well, this team was successfully created and tested. It works well enough, however it does have numerous problems and needs a good deal of streamlining.
Objectives:
Bronzong
Item: Lum Berry
Nature: Relaxed
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP/152 Attack/10 Defense/96 Special Defense
Techniques: Hypnosis | Gyro Ball | Earthquake | Stealth Rock
Analysis:
Bronzong is an amazing lead, and works incredibly well on this team. It has immunity to Sandstorm, so leftovers aren't a priority. Lum Berry is, though as it allows me to take a Hypnosis to the face and OHKO a Gengar lead with Gyro Ball. Hypnosis allows me to put one Pokemon to sleep (it usually ends up being a Vaporeon or something), which instantly puts something out of action. Stealth Rock nets me a good deal of passive damage, along with Sand Stream and can effectively put many dangerous Pokemon out of play, such as Gyarados and Zapdos -two Pokemon that carry attacks that will eat Salamence alive. Earthquake is pretty much a filler. It'll hurt Pokemon such as Metagross and Jirachi, but serves no real purpose, so I may swap it out for something else like light screen. I'm also not too sure about the EV Spread. I like this one better than the 252/126/126 one, but there may be better options so I'm open to suggestions here. Bronzong is also there just to sponge hits that no one else could sponge otherwise. It's incredibly useful in the early game, but can be dead weight in the late game making it good for taking powerful hits that may be devastating for other members of the team.
Tyranitar
Item: Choice Band
Nature: Careful
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 HP/42 Attack/216 Special Defense
Techniques: Crunch | Pursuit | Stone Edge | Earthquake
Analysis:
The more perfect form of CBTar, this monstrous dinosaur serves many purposes on this team. Sandstorm nullifies most opposing leftovers recovery, and boosts the already impressive Special Defense up to a whopping 468.5. Tyranitar is there mostly for killing fast, frail Pokemon especially Choice Gengar, Azelf, Starmie and Celebi. Stone Edge and Crunch are there just to hurt things, Crunch being able to break a standard Magnezone substitute while it Magnet Rises. Earthquake helps with coverage and can be awesome for hurting slow, bulky things or just hammering a switch in such as Tentacruel. Wish support from Vaporeon keeps him healthy most of the time, and it's a nice surprise when CounterStar surf only 3HKOs, while Crunch will always kill it. Tyranitar is an invaluable member to this team, usually either netting me 1-2 kills or just scaring off some big threats to my Salamence sweep.
Heatran
Item: Choice Scarf
Nature: Modest
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 Special Attack/232 Speed/20 HP (252/244/14 on Wifi due to IVs)
Techniques: Fire Blast | Overheat | Hidden Power Ice | Earth Power
Analysis:
My team is greatly lacking in speed, but this infernal arachnid makes up for that for the most part. Hidden Power Ice is there for a nice revenge kill on any SD Chomp, especially those giving me a free switch in when they get locked on to Outrage (Wish nullifies the damage taken, which is about 39ish percent from an Adamant ScarfChomp). Earth Power is used for coverage, usually only for other fire types or opposing Heatran. Overheat is when I have no idea what's going to come in, or I just need some extra power to kill something (such as Gliscor which Fire Blast doesn't OHKO), and Fire Blast is there for when I can't take the drop in power and need to sweep through a few Pokemon or deliver consecutive hits. Heatran is benefited by being immune to Sandstorm as well as Toxic Spikes, and being able to absorb Will-o-wisps from enemy Weezing, Gengar and Dusknoir. Heatran is usually used midgame when I need to get rid of Gliscor, Garchomp, Salamence, or Physical Walls that stand in the way of the Salamence sweep. It also covers very nicely for Bronzong and hits most everything very hard with it's insane Special Attack.
Vaporeon
Item: Leftovers
Nature: Bold
Ability: Water Absorb
EVs: 188 HP/252 Defense/70 Special Attack
Techniques: Surf | Ice Beam | Hidden Power Electric | Wish
Analysis:
Vaporeon is the Pokemon that holds the whole team together. Without any true walls, wish support and water immunity is essential. Vaporeon covers for Heatran when a water or ground attack threatens to kill it, and removes troublesome Pokemon such as Gyarados and Garchomp from the opposing position. Vaporeon also has the distinct job of getting rid of a SD Chomp Yache Berry so Heatran can revenge kill it without dying horribly in the process. If there is no Yache Berry, then it's an automatic OHKO. Wish is essential to everyone. It keeps Bronzong from dying over and over again, it makes sure CBTar can keep killing those pesky Starmie, and gets Heatran to live through repeated Dragon attacks. Vaporeon is again, the metaphoric keystone to the arch that is this team, and does an excellent job of doing what I need it to do. **On a side note, I didn't put in Protect because being able to hurt Gyarados is a lot more important, and Vaporeon stays at good health for the most part to Wish itself back up.
Celebi
Item: Leftovers
Nature: Bold
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 HP/222 Defense/36 Speed (I don't like this at all)
Techniques: Leech Seed | Recover | Grass Knot | U-Turn
Analysis:
Celebi is a huge asset to this team. It is my primary status absorber, and takes neutral/NVE hits like a true champion. It is primarily in here because of it's excellent defensive stats, and U-Turn. I'll switch it in on things that my other Pokemon can't really do much too, or something that is unpredictable, and I'll U-Turn to the appropriate Pokemon after they [try to] hurt Celebi. Leech Seed also has some good benefits. It works as a secondary form of recovery, especially in a pinch if Vaporeon goes down, and forces those who set up without a recovery move to either have their HP sapped, or switch out. Along with Stealth Rock and Sandstorm, it racks up some very nice passive damage. Grass Knot is arguably the best offensive move Celebi has. It hurts Gyarados A LOT, kills off Swampert, Hippowdon and Donphan (all three of which Salamence has trouble with), and allows Celebi to try and stall people who don't pose a real threat to it out. Celebi is one of the more defensive members of my team, and is very useful when I have to adapt to [usually pp] stall play against some wall such as Milotic. This thing just doesn't die.
Salamence
Item: Leftovers
Nature: Jolly
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 226 HP/12 Attack/196 Defense/76 Speed
Techniques: Dragon Claw | Earthquake | Dragon Dance | Roost
Analysis:
Finally, the Pokemon this whole team revolves around, Salamence finally appears to annihilate the opposition. Bulky DDMence is one of Salamence's most effective sets. It works like a more perfect Bulky Gyarados. The Evs allow it to always survive a Heracross Stone Edge after an Intimidate, and out-speeds max neutral base 90 Pokemon (such as Lucario). Salamence is made to switch in to Pokemon such as Heracross, Lucario, and other non-super effective Physical Attackers. Intimidate makes sure it doesn't take much damage, and if prediction is proper, Roost saves her from rock and electric attacks. It even allows me to DD up in a nice way. Salamence will alternate between the two against something that can't do more than 50% damage to it, and hopefully get enough to bolster its stats up to sweeping range. This set sacrifices Attack for HP, Defense and Speed, and the trade off is definitely worth it. 309 Attack is still nothing to laugh at, and with greater defenses and recovery, Salamence can afford to keep switching in to Heracross and Lucario.
Problems:
DawnBringer and a bit from the sagely Bentendo13 as well, this team was successfully created and tested. It works well enough, however it does have numerous problems and needs a good deal of streamlining.
Objectives:
- Promote a Salamence sweep
- Rely on smart switching and resistances rather than walls to deter threats
- Wear down Pokemon with Sandstorm
- Be able to keep everyone alive through wish support
- Ability to switch between offensive and defensive play
Bronzong
Item: Lum Berry
Nature: Relaxed
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP/152 Attack/10 Defense/96 Special Defense
Techniques: Hypnosis | Gyro Ball | Earthquake | Stealth Rock
Analysis:
Bronzong is an amazing lead, and works incredibly well on this team. It has immunity to Sandstorm, so leftovers aren't a priority. Lum Berry is, though as it allows me to take a Hypnosis to the face and OHKO a Gengar lead with Gyro Ball. Hypnosis allows me to put one Pokemon to sleep (it usually ends up being a Vaporeon or something), which instantly puts something out of action. Stealth Rock nets me a good deal of passive damage, along with Sand Stream and can effectively put many dangerous Pokemon out of play, such as Gyarados and Zapdos -two Pokemon that carry attacks that will eat Salamence alive. Earthquake is pretty much a filler. It'll hurt Pokemon such as Metagross and Jirachi, but serves no real purpose, so I may swap it out for something else like light screen. I'm also not too sure about the EV Spread. I like this one better than the 252/126/126 one, but there may be better options so I'm open to suggestions here. Bronzong is also there just to sponge hits that no one else could sponge otherwise. It's incredibly useful in the early game, but can be dead weight in the late game making it good for taking powerful hits that may be devastating for other members of the team.
Tyranitar
Item: Choice Band
Nature: Careful
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 HP/42 Attack/216 Special Defense
Techniques: Crunch | Pursuit | Stone Edge | Earthquake
Analysis:
The more perfect form of CBTar, this monstrous dinosaur serves many purposes on this team. Sandstorm nullifies most opposing leftovers recovery, and boosts the already impressive Special Defense up to a whopping 468.5. Tyranitar is there mostly for killing fast, frail Pokemon especially Choice Gengar, Azelf, Starmie and Celebi. Stone Edge and Crunch are there just to hurt things, Crunch being able to break a standard Magnezone substitute while it Magnet Rises. Earthquake helps with coverage and can be awesome for hurting slow, bulky things or just hammering a switch in such as Tentacruel. Wish support from Vaporeon keeps him healthy most of the time, and it's a nice surprise when CounterStar surf only 3HKOs, while Crunch will always kill it. Tyranitar is an invaluable member to this team, usually either netting me 1-2 kills or just scaring off some big threats to my Salamence sweep.
Heatran
Item: Choice Scarf
Nature: Modest
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 Special Attack/232 Speed/20 HP (252/244/14 on Wifi due to IVs)
Techniques: Fire Blast | Overheat | Hidden Power Ice | Earth Power
Analysis:
My team is greatly lacking in speed, but this infernal arachnid makes up for that for the most part. Hidden Power Ice is there for a nice revenge kill on any SD Chomp, especially those giving me a free switch in when they get locked on to Outrage (Wish nullifies the damage taken, which is about 39ish percent from an Adamant ScarfChomp). Earth Power is used for coverage, usually only for other fire types or opposing Heatran. Overheat is when I have no idea what's going to come in, or I just need some extra power to kill something (such as Gliscor which Fire Blast doesn't OHKO), and Fire Blast is there for when I can't take the drop in power and need to sweep through a few Pokemon or deliver consecutive hits. Heatran is benefited by being immune to Sandstorm as well as Toxic Spikes, and being able to absorb Will-o-wisps from enemy Weezing, Gengar and Dusknoir. Heatran is usually used midgame when I need to get rid of Gliscor, Garchomp, Salamence, or Physical Walls that stand in the way of the Salamence sweep. It also covers very nicely for Bronzong and hits most everything very hard with it's insane Special Attack.
Vaporeon
Item: Leftovers
Nature: Bold
Ability: Water Absorb
EVs: 188 HP/252 Defense/70 Special Attack
Techniques: Surf | Ice Beam | Hidden Power Electric | Wish
Analysis:
Vaporeon is the Pokemon that holds the whole team together. Without any true walls, wish support and water immunity is essential. Vaporeon covers for Heatran when a water or ground attack threatens to kill it, and removes troublesome Pokemon such as Gyarados and Garchomp from the opposing position. Vaporeon also has the distinct job of getting rid of a SD Chomp Yache Berry so Heatran can revenge kill it without dying horribly in the process. If there is no Yache Berry, then it's an automatic OHKO. Wish is essential to everyone. It keeps Bronzong from dying over and over again, it makes sure CBTar can keep killing those pesky Starmie, and gets Heatran to live through repeated Dragon attacks. Vaporeon is again, the metaphoric keystone to the arch that is this team, and does an excellent job of doing what I need it to do. **On a side note, I didn't put in Protect because being able to hurt Gyarados is a lot more important, and Vaporeon stays at good health for the most part to Wish itself back up.
Celebi
Item: Leftovers
Nature: Bold
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 HP/222 Defense/36 Speed (I don't like this at all)
Techniques: Leech Seed | Recover | Grass Knot | U-Turn
Analysis:
Celebi is a huge asset to this team. It is my primary status absorber, and takes neutral/NVE hits like a true champion. It is primarily in here because of it's excellent defensive stats, and U-Turn. I'll switch it in on things that my other Pokemon can't really do much too, or something that is unpredictable, and I'll U-Turn to the appropriate Pokemon after they [try to] hurt Celebi. Leech Seed also has some good benefits. It works as a secondary form of recovery, especially in a pinch if Vaporeon goes down, and forces those who set up without a recovery move to either have their HP sapped, or switch out. Along with Stealth Rock and Sandstorm, it racks up some very nice passive damage. Grass Knot is arguably the best offensive move Celebi has. It hurts Gyarados A LOT, kills off Swampert, Hippowdon and Donphan (all three of which Salamence has trouble with), and allows Celebi to try and stall people who don't pose a real threat to it out. Celebi is one of the more defensive members of my team, and is very useful when I have to adapt to [usually pp] stall play against some wall such as Milotic. This thing just doesn't die.
Salamence
Item: Leftovers
Nature: Jolly
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 226 HP/12 Attack/196 Defense/76 Speed
Techniques: Dragon Claw | Earthquake | Dragon Dance | Roost
Analysis:
Finally, the Pokemon this whole team revolves around, Salamence finally appears to annihilate the opposition. Bulky DDMence is one of Salamence's most effective sets. It works like a more perfect Bulky Gyarados. The Evs allow it to always survive a Heracross Stone Edge after an Intimidate, and out-speeds max neutral base 90 Pokemon (such as Lucario). Salamence is made to switch in to Pokemon such as Heracross, Lucario, and other non-super effective Physical Attackers. Intimidate makes sure it doesn't take much damage, and if prediction is proper, Roost saves her from rock and electric attacks. It even allows me to DD up in a nice way. Salamence will alternate between the two against something that can't do more than 50% damage to it, and hopefully get enough to bolster its stats up to sweeping range. This set sacrifices Attack for HP, Defense and Speed, and the trade off is definitely worth it. 309 Attack is still nothing to laugh at, and with greater defenses and recovery, Salamence can afford to keep switching in to Heracross and Lucario.
Problems:
- Magnezone with Substitute can hurt Bronzong/Heatran a lot
- Swampert/Skarmory combo bests Celebi/Heatran because improper prediction on my part is more dangerous than on their part
- Stall teams give me trouble
- Bronzong and Celebi's EV Spread [?]
- Toxic Spikes cripple Vaporeon and Tyranitar unless I get only regular Poisoning (which Wish support helps to negate)
- No Ground type to take Thunderbolts
- No Swampert :(
