Battle Spot RMT - New to Battle Spot

[duckyone]

​

Hey all! I'm just jumping into online battling on X/Y Battle Spot Singles for the first time to try some rating battles. I sort of adapted the team below from parts of my OU 6v6 team and what I bred for getting a streak in the battle maison - my EV spreads probably don't reflect the singles arena that well because of this.

Dragonite @ Lum Berry
Ability: Multiscale
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Outrage
- Extreme Speed
- Earthquake
- Dragon Dance

Dragonite has great bulk and is an excellent attacker. He can also set up on anything that is a threat to Scizor. Earthquake over fire punch because it hits steels and x-scissor can take care of the plants.

Azumarill @ Choice Band
Ability: Huge Power
EVs: 172 HP / 252 Atk / 84 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Play Rough
- Waterfall
- Aqua Jet
- Superpower

Azumarill can come in at any moment and deliver large damage. Aqua jet is create for revenge killing. The CB set requires a little luck with predicting the opponent, but it packs a large punch and covers some of the weaknesses of my team (Dragonite, Scizor, Charizard).

Scizor @ Scizorite
Ability: Technician
EVs:212 HP / 252 Atk / 44 Spe
-Bullet Punch
-X-Scissor
-Swords Dance
-Roost

Priority attacker #3. A team of DNite/Azu/Scizor sounds good at least to me on paper, as DNite supports Scizor by being able to set up on any fire type that could damage it. I can also use him with the sand part of this team as sandstorm does not damage steel.

Charizard @ Charizardite X
Ability: Blaze
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Flare Blitz
- Dragon Claw
- Roost

I love CharX, and he is the sweeper on my OU team. Exadrill has near perfect synergy works well with a team of Ttar/CharX/Exadrill.

Excadrill @ Air Balloon
Ability: Sand Rush
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Earthquake
- Iron Head
- Rock Slide
- Rapid Spin

Fairy coverage, super fast (in sandstorm), super strong, clears entry hazards for CharX or DNite. When he goes in, I try to get as much damage on the other team as I can to help the sweepers.

Tyranitar @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly / Hasty Nature
- Stone Edge
- Crunch
- Pursuit
- Superpower

I'd use this set to switch in and out for quick hits while keeping the sand going for Exadrill. Pursuit traps psychics and superpower is there for Ferrothorn who will commonly switch in on it.


OR (How important are entry hazards in this game-type?)


Tyranitar @ Expert Belt
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 248 HP / 80 Def / 180 SpD
Relaxed Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Fire Blast
- Pursuit
- Ice Beam

I would lead with this guy and set up stealth rock, before switching to Exadrill (or other). Fireblast to hurt Ferrothorn, and Ice Beam for flying and dragon. Expert Belt ups the damages on the coverage moves. I use Smooth rock on the OU team, but figured I didn't need more than 5 turns at a time of sand, but I can always switch that back if it works better.



Well, hopefully I did this right since this is my first RMT and my first post on SMOGON - I have a few posts on azurriland/GameFaqs/neoseeker/nugget bridge, but this is my first on this site since I've mainly been a lurker learning strategy and pokemon stat/movesets.

Thanks for any input.

 

[PokemonLionKing]

Hi there duckyone!

First off, I can tellyou that it isn't the best idea to have two megas ona team. I know you want different megas fo different situations, but what if you needed both Char AND Scizor at the same time in a match. Char could mega, but Scizor would be left with anitem that it can't get rid of and won't beofany use to it, and vice versa if you were to mega scizor

Oh, and just so you know. Entry hazards, aside from sticky web, really don't do anything in this tier. Battles are too fast paced (with it being 3-on-3 and all) for people to want or need entry hazard. Looking at the team itself....

Dragonite - Outrage is really powerful, but if you knock out a Pokemon with it, opponents can just send in something like a sylveon and OHKO it with Hyper Voice
252+ SpA Choice Specs Pixilate Sylveon Hyper Voice vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Multiscale Dragonite: 279-328 (86.3 - 101.5%) -- 12.5% chance to OHKO
Even most other variants, or any other fairy type could easily come in after an outrage, you'll be locked in because of outrage, and then they get hit you really hard, if not knock you out with a fairy type move
Even though it is weaker, I suggest Outrage---> Dragon Claw
Yes, it will do less damage than Outrage, but you'll be able to switch out against fairy types, especially since most of them are bulky enough to live an earthquake or extremespeed if Nite isn't boosted

Excadrill - Since hazards are so uncommon, I wouldn't use Rapid Spin, I'd use Swords Dance. With your Air Balloon, you're able to dodge an incoming ground type attack, and if the opponent is choiced in any way, they'll be forced to switch out, allowing you to set up, which is even betterift Tar set up the sand before hand, since your speed willbe boosted in the Sandstorm. Other than that, no real complaints here

Azumarill - Choice Band in battlespot generally isn't the right way to go, and it's better to just use ethe Belly Drum+Sitrus Berry set,astha t set can give you opportunities to quickly clean up the team if only 1 and a half pokemon remain.

Scizor - I wouldn't run Mega Scizor, especially if you alreadyrun MegaZardX, a mega that greatly overshadows it, and normal Scizor is just as good (if not better) than Mega Scizor
I'd go with a set that had Bullet Punch, Bug Bite (if you're running Technician, Bug Bite is a million times better than X-Scissor)d, efog (if you're still scared of hazard after getting rid of spin on excadrill, if not go with Swords Dance) and roost, and put Lefties on the Scizor. This way, he'll stay on the field for as longas you need him to keep any of the threats your opponent has

Charizard - Nothing to say, this set is fine

Tyranitar - Stick with the Scaf set. Not only would itbe better, since you don't really need rocks, but also it'd catch people off guard (since most probably aren't expecting scarf TTar) and also give supportf or Excadrill with Sand Stream

Hope I helped!

 

[duckyone]

Hope I helped!

Sweet! Exactly what I was looking for. I will adjust some of my sets and take the bands off. Yeah, I thought that with the whole 3v3 thing, hazards wouldn't be too important and that I was going to be at risk for getting trapped into moves with the bands. One thing though is that I only have Pokemon X, so I can't teach Scizor bug bite, otherwise I would definitely be running that.

 

[NOVED]

I actually prefer a tryranitar with rocks for this team specifically. You have a lot of set up sweepers so rocks damage is going to help a lot to put some pokemon in range of your attacks. I don't think the expert belt mixed set is that necessary on ttar though. Since you're running Exca I think Smooth Rock is the best option. Ice Beam is still cool but i don't think fire blast and pursuit is that necessary. Your team isn't that threatened by gengar imo, and that's probably the best target for pursuit. I think Crunch is way more consistent. Fire Blast i feel is just too situational but if you really struggle with Ferro then I suppose it's fine. If you keep both Ice Beam and Fire blast though, I would replace your dark stab with rock stab, stone edge and rock tomb are both solid. You might also wanna consider running a spread thats somehwat less defensive. Having some speed and attack on ttar is pretty good.

Alternatively, you could scrap ttar all together and try using Hippowdon. Hippo works super well on teams with set up sweepers like you have hear. It sets rocks then starts yawning away to force switches and rack up a lot of hazard damage to make sweeps way easier. And if yawn manages to go off then you can set up vs sleeping pokemon.

hippo set

Hippowdon @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Sand Stream
Level: 50
EVs: 220 HP / 252 Def / 36 Spe
Impish Nature
- Yawn
- Slack Off
- Earthquake
- Stealth Rock

Take spin off excadrill, even though you have zard, hazards aren't common enough to warrant using rapid spin. Plus you can keep zard in the back if you ever think your opponent has a team running stealth rock. Swords Dance or Horn Drill are both good options for Exca. I usually like SD on sand rush exca but you have so many set up sweepers already it might not be necessary. Horn Drill is really nice to deal with stuff like Cresselia and Porygon2 that are usually a pain in the ass for exca.

I think Scizor could probably be replaced. You have a lot of physical set up sweepers between Dnite, Zard, and this Sciz(and potentially Exca if you run SD). And having another physical steel doesnt seem to add much to the table. Btw, I don't think having two megas is bad though. In fact, I think Mega Gengar would help your team more than Scizor. Shadow Tag offers a lot, helps you trap pesky stuff. Mega Gengar also deals with some physical walls fairly well like Slowbro, Cress, P2. All your current pokemon are physical so those guys are going to give you a hard time.

And with azu, I dont think Belly Drum is necessary with the amount of set up mons you have. I think CB is fine if you want to start denting holes in stuff. Or even running CB on nite and BD on azu would be cool. It's just I don't think you need that much of your team dedicated to set up sweepers. It would be too difficult for all your pokemon to get going. Usually just around 2-3 is fine.

 

[duckyone]

That does make sense. I have a Hippowdon that I can use for that set. I'll give it a try as well. Thanks

 

[Omastar68]

Double mega is perfectly viable, but I don't think Scizor should be your other mega. And if you were to use it you'd want Bug Bite cuz that benefits from Technician, making it stronger than other Bug STAB.

I agree with NOVED on Mega Gengar. Gengar is super splash able, and rarely a poor fit. Lots of stuff can't touch it at all, and that fighting immunity is really nice. You also don't seem weak to Aegislash, which can be trouble for Gengar, and Gengar does better against Aegi than your Scizor anyways.

Hazards are quite viable in BSS especially with set up mons. That said Rapid Spin and Defog are completely unviable so you should never run them.

I can see the reasoning PokemonLionKing has for suggesting Dragon Claw over Outrage, but 93% of DNite run Outrage while only 2% are Dragon Claw. That probably means Dragon Claw is a bad idea. Generally that lessened power is worse than getting locked in, and fairies switching in also breaks your Outrage thing, so you will no longer be locked and won't get confused.

That being said I think Dragon Claw over Outrage on Char X is more reasonable. Usage stats reflect this, and the reason Char X runs Dragon Claw more than DNite does is probably due to it being stronger, so Dragon Claw gets more of the same OHKOs and 2HKOs as Outrage.

I'd replace Spin on Exca with SD, tho Horn Drill and Magnet Rise are worth considering. There are few things Exca can't really damage, and SD will allow you to muscle through those, but Horn Drill can also give you a chance against such mons. Magnet Rise synergize said really well with Air Balloon. Something that really wants to hit you with a ground move(say Garchomp) will use a move that probably won't do that much to pop your Balloon, and then you can Magnet Rise to STILL deny them that EQ or whatever.

I think you do have enough set up so Azu shouldn't be BD. Either staying CB or changing to AV is a good idea. That Spe investment is really weird tho. It reaches 81 Spe, which is only really outspeeding uninvested base 60s. I don't think that's really worth it if it loses you a significant amount of bulk. Once again I recommend to run calcs. Also take out 8 EVs from HP and put 4 in each defense if you keep your Spe. That's one point of HP for a point of Def and SpD.

Charizard wants an Adamant nature, and even then it doesn't necessarily need 252 Spe EVs. Just enough for max Spe
base 80s is plenty, and even less than that is reasonable if you don't mind any base 80s that typically go max Spe.

TTar should have SR, but a different spread. First there's moves like NOVED mentioned, but also EVs. Since TTar is pretty powerful and doesn't wanna hang around that long really-it wants to die with a decent amount of sand left for Exca-less bulk andbmorebpower is a good idea. In particular no Def since weaknesses to ground and fighting prevent TTar from really being bulky on the physical side.

Lastly I agree with the Hippo set NOVED proposed. I'm not sure why Def is the stat to get maxed not HP, but the moves are very standard and the Spe is for base 50s, which is smart IMO.

 

[a0161613]

Like Omastar68 has put pretty well, I also disagree with most of your suggestions PokemonLionKing. Dragon Claw over Outrage is a bad call. BellyDrum Azu over CB is a 50/50 at best. Your point about hazards seems somewhat disproportionate to what often happens.

The worst one is about double Megas. That is a more than viable option across every BS format apart from Triples. Whether it works here is irrelevant.

duckyone NOVED has given some great advice but I do believe that you are vulnerable to Suicune among others. Your team is very physically focused and Suicune (as the standout bulky water in BSS) could take most of what you can dish out as everything is hurt by Scald, Ice Beam or finds it incredibly difficult to beat. I'd suggest Mega Venusaur or Thundurus as solutions.

Another bit of advice I would give is to find a way to fit status on your team, even if that is with Hippo or T-tar. Taunt is useful and Knock Off is a key utility move too.

 

[Omastar68]

Like Omastar68 has put pretty well, I also disagree with most of your suggestions PokemonLionKing. Dragon Claw over Outrage is a bad call. BellyDrum Azu over CB is a 50/50 at best. Your point about hazards seems somewhat disproportionate to what often happens.

The worst one is about double Megas. That is a more than viable option across every BS format apart from Triples. Whether it works here is irrelevant.

duckyone NOVED has given some great advice but I do believe that you are vulnerable to Suicune among others. Your team is very physically focused and Suicune (as the standout bulky water in BSS) could take most of what you can dish out as everything is hurt by Scald, Ice Beam or finds it incredibly difficult to beat. I'd suggest Mega Venusaur or Thundurus as solutions.

Another bit of advice I would give is to find a way to fit status on your team, even if that is with Hippo or T-tar. Taunt is useful and Knock Off is a key utility move too.

Not adding much, but having used Venusaur extensively I can say she isn't really an answer to Suicune at all. Cune has an easy enough time setting up CMs on Giga Drain, and can handle Leech Seed's draining with Rest. Only Venu to really take Cune are boosting physical ones, and those are weird.

Given what you suggest mayb Taunt Thund. That stops Suicune from doing CM or Rest shenanigans, and Thund can take it bar lots of boosts. NP can also muscle through CM if Cune hasn't got lots of boosts already, though you're endangered by Ice Beam.

TrickScarf Rotom-W seems to work here, and is prolly the greatest answer to Cune. Scarf won't improve its damage, Rotom-W resists both Suicune's most common attacks, and Rotom-W hits hard with STAB Electric. Weird for me to suggest Rotom tho cuz I hate it. Anyways, if you really REALLY fear Suicune you could add something to your team that can easily take even +6 Scalds, in case Suicube gets that many boosts. It'll Scald Ritom and then be locked into that. Something with Storm Drain or whatever could easily set up on that then, tho I think that's excessive preparation just for Cune.

 

[PokemonLionKing]

my apologies for the less than viable suggestions. My brain was half-turned off because I was tired when I made the rate, so my mind was thinking "BATTLE SPOT SINGLES = 6V6!!!"

Obviously, it isn't. But still, however if you're looking for a fast Pokemon or need another mega, something like Greninja or Mega Kangaskhan could work. Mega Kanga can be a threat to most teams, and Greninja is always good in these kinds of quick battles

 

[duckyone]

UPDATED

Based on the previous helpful comments, I switched out some pokemon and updated the EV spreads:

Kangaskhan @ Kangaskhanite
Ability: Scrappy
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Double-Edge
- Sucker Punch
- Rock Slide
- Fake Out

I got to thinking about how Scizor really wasn't that great of a fit as some of you mentioned, and I decided not to include Dnite (a Scizor supporter) because multiscale is broken by sandstorm. I still wanted a mon with access to a priority move, and that could do big damage without much setup (i.e. technician bullet punch). I decided on Mega Kangaskhan since it fills both roles and serves as a viable alternative Mega if I decide not to use Charizard (and Zard is likewise for Kanga). The EV spread is from SMOGON to prevent Porygon2 from getting a boost from download, but if you guys don't think that it is as much of an issue, then I'll put them in Speed instead. Fake out gets good chip damage, and can bring them into KO range, while also allowing a safe mega evolution. I went with Rock Slide over EQ because I have two other mons with that move already and it will give me a way to hit ground immune rocky helmet users like Cresselia or Zapdos, plus it has a better-than-coin-flip chance of getting a flinch (51%). Gengar or Mega Gengar is another option, but I'll be honest... I didn't want to spend the time breeding and then having someone trade<->trade me. Maybe I will change my mind.

Charizard @ Charizardite X
Ability: Blaze
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Flare Blitz
- Dragon Claw
- Roost

'nough said already.

Excadrill @ Air Balloon
Ability: Sand Rush
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Earthquake
- Iron Head
- Rock Slide
- Swords Dance (instead of OU rapid spin)

Magnet rise sounds like a great alternative to SD, but this guy can be used as another set up sweeper if I need.

Azumarill @ Choice Band
Ability: Huge Power
EVs: 228 HP / 252 Atk / 12 Def / 12 SpD / 4 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Aqua Jet
- Waterfall
- Play Rough
- Superpower

My other priority attacker. CB Azu dents holes.

Hippowdon @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 220 HP / 252 Def / 36 Spe
Relaxed Nature
- Slack Off
- Yawn
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake

I do really like the Hippowdon set as a lead that will give a ton of passive damage and will take hits from common BSS pokes like Mega Kangaskhan and Talonflame. Yawn is a nice switch inducer. EVs are as suggested by NOVED and Omastar68 to outspeed base 50 opponents, and since I don't really have an Aegislash problem, there is no need to limit the speed on this guy.

Thundurus @ Life Orb
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Thunder Wave
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power Ice
- Grass Knot

This will give me some utility and answer some of the checks that were brought up previously. Thundurus is an all-star in the singles format, and I can see why.

 

[NOVED]

I'm not sure why Def is the stat to get maxed not HP, but the moves are very standard and the Spe is for base 50s, which is smart IMO.

Defense is more valuable than HP. Without heavy spdef investment, HP doesnt matter as much. With more defense you take physical hits much better.


I dont really understand this change duckyone. I like adding thund to the team(which i think should have hp ice over knock off) but hippo and ttar together i dont really agree with. Btw, theres nothing wrong with dnite in sand, all you need is multiscale for one turn to DD and sand isnt gonna break it for that turn.

 

[duckyone]

hippo and ttar together i dont really agree with

Yeah, they don't fit really at all, so I'll edit Ttar out. Like I said, just too much love for Ttar. Hp Ice on Thundurus is a good idea, I just have to find one... Not able to breed legendaries limited my selection on that one, and I have a Thundurus with the moveset listed.

 

[NOVED]

Yeah, they don't fit really at all, so I'll edit Ttar out. Like I said, just too much love for Ttar. Hp Ice on Thundurus is a good idea, I just have to find one... Not able to breed legendaries limited my selection on that one, and I have a Thundurus with the moveset listed.

http://www.smogon.com/forums/thread...ubers-episode-iii-revenge-of-the-ivs.3567141/

Try getting one here.

 

[Omastar68]

Well, I ran a few calcs and I think I agree with NOVED on 220 HP/ 252 Def. There are a few things that change from switching them I've found. Mawile has a slightly higher chance to 2HKO, and Mamoswine has a much higher chance to 2HKO. It's lower the chance for Specs Sylveon to OHKOm but that's not really worth it.

 

[PokemonLionKing]

Omastar68 an @NOVED,i don't know if it would work, but do you think earthquake would be better on his Kangaskhan, or should it keep Rock Slide? I was only thinking Earthquake because otherwise it gets walled by bulky steel types, since i lacks Power-Up Punch or any move like that

 

[Omastar68]

Omastar68 an @NOVED,i don't know if it would work, but do you think earthquake would be better on his Kangaskhan, or should it keep Rock Slide? I was only thinking Earthquake because otherwise it gets walled by bulky steel types, since i lacks Power-Up Punch or any move like that

I like Rock Slide. This team already has two strong EQs and other ways past steels, and that flinch chance is really great. Especially with para support from Thund. This team doesn't have problems with the really rock weak stuff, but Rock Slide is just really helpful in general, like softening something to die to DE. EQ also means some stuff is immune to all Kang's stuff once it loses Scrappy, like pre mega Gengar.

 

[duckyone]

I like Rock Slide. This team already has two strong EQs and other ways past steels, and that flinch chance is really great. Especially with para support from Thund. This team doesn't have problems with the really rock weak stuff, but Rock Slide is just really helpful in general, like softening something to die to DE. EQ also means some stuff is immune to all Kang's stuff once it loses Scrappy, like pre mega Gengar.

Exactly my thinking.

EDIT: I changed to a Timid Thundurus with HP Ice. Thank you NOVED for the link to Theorymon 's giveaways. The post above reflects the change. One final question:

What do you think about changing superpower on Azumarill for Knock off and having Focus Blast on Thundurus? I keep the Ferrothorn and Heatran coverage, and move the utility to Azu. Since they might be partnered a lot of the time with Kang, it gives me good coverage on both of it's checks (Waterfall for hippowdon and fighting for ferrothorn), whilst giving me a way to remove rocky helmets.

 

[Omastar68]

Exactly my thinking.

EDIT: I changed to a Timid Thundurus with HP Ice. Thank you NOVED for the link to Theorymon 's giveaways. The post above reflects the change. One final question:

What do you think about changing superpower on Azumarill for Knock off and having Focus Blast on Thundurus? I keep the Ferrothorn and Heatran coverage, and move the utility to Azu. Since they might be partnered a lot of the time with Kang, it gives me good coverage on both of it's checks (Waterfall for hippowdon and fighting for ferrothorn), whilst giving me a way to remove rocky helmets.

Knock Off is bad on CB sets since you'll rarely want to use it more than once on any given target, and CB takes away the option to choose something else once you lock yourself in. Being locked into it also gives Megas an opportunity to set up.

I don't really like Focus Blast on Thund. I guess it's ok, but you'd have no grass coverage for the occasional water/ ground and other 4x weaks you sometimes see like Rhyperior. Focus Blast also has somewhat bad accuracy.

How come ur running max Spe on both Megas? Both of them actually tend to run Adamant, and what max Spe base 100s outspeed that 252 neutral Spe ones don't doesn't usually matter so much. And even with neutral Spe you can do fewer EVs. Like I used to only run 100 Spe on an Adamant Kang to outspeed 252 Spe base 70s before getting the mega Spe, and I dropped that to just 20 Spe to outspeed the aforementioned with mega Spe. That actually might be TOO low, tho I like that bulk. At any rate, you should change the Spe on at least one of them. Zard X in particular has DD so it doesn't mind a little less Spe very much.