Shaded (1800+, Top 100, 60-10)

[Fiddy]

Hello Smogon! My name is Lets get shaded and this is one of my favorite teams that I have created. My highest peak was 1819 which was good for 84th place at the time. After losing three straight (now 60-13) I decided I needed to take a break and make some changes. The team was an improved version of a previous team that I created.

I like this team for many reasons: it is one of the most successful teams that I have created by making it in the top 100 with a great record, winning countless tournaments including Devoted Phoenix three out of the four times I joined. It also happens to use no legendaries, just for when I face those types of kids. I also like it because it plays to my type of style of play, a sort of bulky offense/semi-stall. This team also uses a few underrated threats and is not a typical OU team.

I appreciate all types of criticism and would love it if you all could help me fix some of the problems with this team. Thanks for reading!

The Team

In Depth

Charizard @ CharizarditeY
Ability: Solar Power/Drought
EVs: 252 SpA / 252 Spe / 4 Def
Nature: Timid
-Fire Blast
-Roost
-Earthquake
-Solarbeam​

Not your typical CharY set, but it still destroys a ton of threats. Fire blast is an insanely powerful move under the sun. Roost for when I need the healing and if stealth rocks are in play I can roost off some damage before switching out again. I chose to go with EQ over focus blast for Heatran and TTar because I hate how often focus blast seems to miss and I have had opponents that have managed to PP stall the focus blast away. Solarbeam deals with waters that would otherwise kill Char such as Rotom-W. I like CharY simply because of how much of a nuke this thing is. If I notice in team preview that a team is weak to him (which a surprisingly high amount of teams are) I often lead with him and watch him single handedly win a match, or make it so an opponent has almost an impossible task of coming from behind. He is just an all-around great sweeper because at any time he can come in- early, middle or later game and proceed to spam powerful attacks without the need to set-up. I chose Solar Power over Blaze for one reason- Porygon2. It is a rare poke to encounter but when I do, Porygon2 switches into charizard copying solar power while I use fire blast. Solar Power turns fire blast from a 3HKO to a 2HKO on Porygon2.

Blissey@Leftovers
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpDef
Nature: Bold
-Stealth Rocks
-Toxic
-Softboiled
-Seismic Toss​

Blissey replaced Porygon2 on the team and that was one of the key improvements. Blissey is just straight up a better wall than Porygon2 was and it has access to stealth rocks. Blissey obviously takes care of walling the special attackers that would otherwise destroy this team such as Mega Charizard Y. Just think about this- by adding one pokemon (blissey) you don't have to about pretty half of the pokemon in the game (special attackers). With blisseys insane HP stat, it also acts as a fairly well mixed wall and can even take a few hits from physical attackers. I went with Blissey over Chansey because Knock off is way to common this generation and if chansey ever gets statused and needs to stay in, it takes a lot more damage because the lack of leftovers.

Scrafty@Leftovers
Ability: Shed Skin
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpDef / 4 DEF
Nature: Careful
-Bulk Up
-Rest
-Drain Punch
-Knock Off​

Scrafty replaced Breloom on the team and is one of the most underrated pokes in the game right now. At first I thought this guy would suck because it seemed to get nerfed this gen with the introduction of fairy types. However, it did gain one buff- knock off. Scrafty has always had to be a late game sweeper but now he can play at least some part in the beginning of matches by spamming knock off. This thing has swept so many teams because of its good bulk and ability to set up on numerous things. It's bulk also allows to take some pressure off blissey when needed. For example, it can provide a safe switch in to lati@s or rotom-w without fearing blissey being taken away from the game with trick. Scrafty is also a great status absorber, something that really needs to be checked this generation. Charizard Y and Scrafty make an excellent wall breaking core as well, one able to set up and ignore status the other able to nuke and get rid of the phazers.

Rotom-W @ Chesto Berry
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 44 Spe / 212 Def
Nature: Bold
-Rest
-Will-o-Wisp
-Volt Switch
-Hydro Pump​

Rotom-W is such a good poke this gen that I don't think I've made a team without one. Will-o-wisp can single handedly make a physical attacker useless. And when used on a mixed attacker, such as aegislash, it makes Blisseys's job a lot easier. Volt Switch is great scouting and can dismantle the flying or water pokes that this thing walls. Hydro Pump is its other great STAB as it OHKOs talonflame and other common pokes. Chesto Rest is IMO much better than Pain Split because it doesn't fear toxic or WoW, using it for full HP is much better than relying on the opponents HP and it is so bulky that it can survive long enough to wake up for when Chesto berry is gone. It is my main counter to a number of threats that would otherwise set-up and proceed to crush this team such as talonflame and pinsir, and it is also a great mandibuzz switch in. 44 speed allows Rotom-W to outspeed all forms of Azumarill except scarf versions (lol)

Mandibuzz @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Overcoat
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Spe / 252 Def
Nature: Bold
-Foul Play
-Defog
-Taunt
-Roost​

Mandibuzz seems to be very useful this gen. It is one of the best defog users in the entire game, something this team needs with CharY and all the switching it does. It can switch into some of the most common SR users such as ferrothorn, mamoswine and excadrill. Foul Play is an excellent move because it laughs at everyone that decides to set-up on it (which is why I opt to not run Whirlwind on this set). Taunt is great because it hates to be statused and it makes it one of the best switch ins to ferrothorn this team has. I once ran into a rocky helmet Mandibuzz early in this generation and loved it. One common example of why I love it is what it does to dragonite. At +1 from a DD, dragonite 2-3HKOs it. If multiscale is still intact, rocky helmet breaks it and foul play OHKOs it on the same turn it uses dragon claw or outrage. Mandibuzz is also arguably the best switch in to the common aegislash and can also laugh at most sets of breloom. Together Rotom-W and Mandibuzz can counter most of the physical metagame while Blissey can counter most of the special metagame.

Aegislash @ Leftovers
Ability: Stance Change
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 SpA
Nature: Quiet
-Kings Shield
-Shadow Sneak
-Iron Head
-Shadow Ball​

Aegislash is arguably the best poke added this gen and arguably the best poke in the entire game because of its versatility. It compliments the Rotom-W/Mandibuzz/Blissey core almost perfectly. One physical attacker that core has a problem with is azumarril, which Aegislash is a great counter. Blissey fears a lot of fighting type moves, so if I predict right I can switch aegi in. From there, aegi is very bulky and not many pokes like to take a shadow ball. Kings shield can be predictable, but I still feel it is very useful. There have been plenty of times where I needed more bulk so I use king shield then fire off another shadow ball. I run Iron head over sacred sword for some fairies this team would otherwise have a hard time with such as clefable while still retaining a lot of the same damage for other pokes such as TTar. Shadow sneak is useful because it is the only priority on my team. I realized that using more bulk on aegislash was more important than 252 Atk evs because I hardly used iron head (or sarcred sword at the time).

Threats (In order from biggest)
​

Crocune
Calm mind suicune is the biggest threat. My only chance is solar beam with Char Y but even then its hopeless. Luckily this thing isn't very popular so I'm not too worried about countering it.

SD Terrakion
Swords Dance Terrakion is impossible to beat if the opponent carries EQ over Sub. If it gets a SD up it can OHKO my entire team and my only chance of winning is hoping that Stone Edge misses.

Charizard X
Charizard X is easily the most broken poke in the game right now so I'm not too worried about countering it because I think it will be banned soon. It's broken because every counter it has (which is VERY few) gets destroyed by Charizard Y, so you really don't know who to expect when switching. Predict wrong and you are finished. IMO if Char X gets banned then Char Y won't be ban worthy because you know which charizard it is.

Cosmic Power Clefable
This clefable is the one clefable that Aegislash cannot take care of. I must rely on Charizard Y for him and even that is pretty inconsistent.

Conkeldurr
To be honest this is actually the threat I'm most worried about because of how common it has become. I can still beat it but it is hard to do. Conkeldurr is too slow and powerful for Mandibuzz to beat so I must rely on Charizard Y to beat conkeldurr. If SR are in play it can easily beat charizard. This poke was the reason why I lost three in a row.

and

These pokes will not be sweeping my team any time soon, but there is a reason why they are very annoying. They are the only two common pokemon that can set up stealth rocks and mandibuzz does not like to switch into. Therefore, they can easily get a stealth rock off.

DD Mega Gyarados with Stone Edge over Ice Fang
If MGyara has Stone Edge over Ice Fang then mandibuzz cant really beat it. Not much I can do to it.

MixNape
Mixed Infernape is an excellent wall breaker and it is evident by what it can do to this team. I dont really have a safe switch in.

Mega Mawile can sweep my team but I've learned to beat it through a combination of Rotom-W and Charizard. It's still a a huge threat because I HAVE to keep Rotom and Charizard alive until it is dead.



As you can see this team has a lot of threats. Luckily for me, most of the threats are hardly ever used. The threats that are common I can still beat though.




Thanks for reading! I really appreciate all feedback!

 

[Ogami]

I would consider running a defog Skarmory over your mandibuzz. It has better typing synergy with Char Y, being able to take the rock type attacks that are aimed at it much better than mandibuzz, and not being weak to sr itself is a real boon for a team that wants to use CharY. It can even run Stealth Rock itself, which is still good with defog on the same set. This would leave you weak to mixed aegislash and fire type attacks. I would consider changing your own aegislash to something that alleviates that. It can be hard to really understand what you're changing when you make more than one change, but I don't think Mandibuzz is the main physical wall this team wants, when rock attacks are so threatening to your big gun.

 

[Alejandro36]

I don't think rock attacks are common enough to justify making such big changes to the team. TTar is the most powerfull user, but breloom, rotom and aegislash can handle him well. Plus many people dont carry stone edge on him these days because he can use so many other good moves. And mandibuzz is actually quite bulky.

The biggest thing I notice is your complete lack of stealth rock. I'm not saying that every team absolutely needs to carry SR, but it is still the best move in the game. Volt turn is going to have a very easy battle against a team with no hazards. Also, without breloom, this team is never going to be able to get past chansey.

 

[Fiddy]

Thanks for the reply guys!

I would consider running a defog Skarmory over your mandibuzz. It has better typing synergy with Char Y, being able to take the rock type attacks that are aimed at it much better than mandibuzz, and not being weak to sr itself is a real boon for a team that wants to use CharY. It can even run Stealth Rock itself, which is still good with defog on the same set. This would leave you weak to mixed aegislash and fire type attacks. I would consider changing your own aegislash to something that alleviates that. It can be hard to really understand what you're changing when you make more than one change, but I don't think Mandibuzz is the main physical wall this team wants, when rock attacks are so threatening to your big gun.

hmm in theory I do like this. The only problem is I would have to change more around with team than just that, which you stated. I have no problems doing that, I'm just not sure where to go from there. Adding skarm and taking mand away would mean I have more of a problem with physical set-up sweepers such as lum berry dnite and really any dragon for that matter as foul play dealt with them quite nice. I could throw whirlwind in his movepool but I don't like the idea of using Roost, Defog, SR, WW because obviously no attacking moves and very taunt weak. Ill try to think of some ideas though.

I don't think rock attacks are common enough to justify making such big changes to the team. TTar is the most powerfull user, but breloom, rotom and aegislash can handle him well. Plus many people dont carry stone edge on him these days because he can use so many other good moves. And mandibuzz is actually quite bulky.

The biggest thing I notice is your complete lack of stealth rock. I'm not saying that every team absolutely needs to carry SR, but it is still the best move in the game. Volt turn is going to have a very easy battle against a team with no hazards. Also, without breloom, this team is never going to be able to get past chansey.

TTar isn't really a threat but it can be pretty annoying. For example, if I predict that it is a supporter and switch in mandibuzz, when it is a really a DDtar I can have a hard time. This is why I usually switch rotom-w in first to WoW it then switch to mand to defog.
I have often tried to add a SR user to this team but I couldn't think of any. I could replace Charizard with mega DDtar. DDtar could lay SR down and later in the game come in an attempt to sweep.

 

[fatsnorlax]

I'd change timid to naive on Charizard. Thanks to Stealth Rock, it isn't notable durable anyway, and your earthquakes will be stronger (unless they OHKO bulky tran already).

 

[Fiddy]

I'd change timid to naive on Charizard. Thanks to Stealth Rock, it isn't notable durable anyway, and your earthquakes will be stronger (unless they OHKO bulky tran already).

I've thought about this however EQ is still a 2hko on tran, same as a neutral nature. I'm not going to sacrifice bulk for slightly more damage on heatran only. I can't remember about ttar though

 

[Ogami]

Yeah the skarmory switch definitely brings about a whole bag of extra questions when it comes to what else needs to be changed. I brought up skarmory, because the team looks like it really wants something to take edgequake that isn't frail as fuck breloom. Mandibuzz can do it when it's already on the field roosting, but what happens when a garchomp threatens a stone edge with rocks up? You could do a dance, switching from aegi, to mandi on the eq and then do your thing, but that stacks rock damage, and leaves yourself really open to a set up, or being out predicted. There are definitely other ways you can fortify the team against common edgequake users without ditching Mandibuzz for Skarm, but the switch was an easy one for my head to wrap around because of its many similarities to Mandibuzz and its access to SR which the team should have.

 

[Theriddler]

I don't want to sound like the many people I've seen here but honestly if lucario sets up one SD on you. Which he on a few of your pokemon, you will probably lose a few things. Other than that, I like your team a lot. You definitely have some threats.

 

[Fiddy]

Yeah the skarmory switch definitely brings about a whole bag of extra questions when it comes to what else needs to be changed. I brought up skarmory, because the team looks like it really wants something to take edgequake that isn't frail as fuck breloom. Mandibuzz can do it when it's already on the field roosting, but what happens when a garchomp threatens a stone edge with rocks up? You could do a dance, switching from aegi, to mandi on the eq and then do your thing, but that stacks rock damage, and leaves yourself really open to a set up, or being out predicted. There are definitely other ways you can fortify the team against common edgequake users without ditching Mandibuzz for Skarm, but the switch was an easy one for my head to wrap around because of its many similarities to Mandibuzz and its access to SR which the team should have.

Yeah you are absolutely right, which is why sr can destroy this team and one reason why I've considered gliscor.

And theriddler you are correct, lucario destroys this team. Hopefully it gets the boot soon.

 

[Scorpiopt]

Been using this team and omg best team i have used so far , with correct predictions this team wrecks shit
You have my congratulations
Mega lucario is a problem , but it hopefully will get the boot together with gensect
Rotom can manage the edge quake combo just fine , garchomp can be dealt with if you do the proper predictions, mandibuzz can take a stone edge( non crit ) from garchomp and deal massive damage with foul play , and then get out

 

[Robqq]

This is a decent team it's no surprise you achieved a 2000+ acre. I have a minor suggestion that will help Mandibuzz.

Mandibuzz @ Leftovers
Ability: Overcoat
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 224 HP / 228 Def / 56 Spd
Bold Nature
- Foul Play
- Defog
- Roost
- Taunt

The evs enable Mandibuzz to tank hits just as well as your 252-252 split and there's a little twist. The 56 speed evs creep Rotom-W so you can Roost before volt turn and it also helps when taunting. Again nice team.

 

[Fiddy]

Thanks Scorpiopt and Robqq for the rate!

Yeah when/if lucario gets banned this team will feel soo much better. Genesect ban would help too, however p2 deals with him easily. The hardest thing about genesect is I absolutely need to switch p2 in to be safe, which allows the opponent to choose a favorable match up.

I like the idea of that mandibuzz set, however I'm not sure I would keep mand in at all. With Breloom on the team I love when an opponent uses rotom and mandibuzz still fears will o wisp. Ill definitely try it out though.

Anyways changed a few things. Changed spooky plate to lefties on aegi and got up to 2300 with one of my testing accounts. I've tried every stealth rock user in the game but can't find one. Clefable came the closest.

 

[Fiddy]

Alright guys I made a few changes that have been VERY successful.

Changed:

Porygon2 for Blissey
Breloom for Scrafty
Rotom-Ws EVs