Underused VoltTurn

[Eatthepear]

Hi everyone! This is my second RMT, although this one is an UU team. This team is a VoltTurn team based on generating momentum then sweeping late game with Substitute Calm Mind Jirachi.


Amphy (Ampharos) (F) @ Ampharosite

Ability: Static

EVs: 252 SAtk / 252 HP / 4 SDef

Quiet Nature

- Volt Switch

- Focus Blast

- Heal Bell

- Hidden Power [Ice]


This is the Mega Evolution of my team. Amphy hits hard and takes hits like a champ. Volt Switch generates momentum and is my Electric-Type STAB. Focus Blast and Hidden Power Ice are decent coverage moves. Heal Bell is rarely used, but whenever I change it I end up losing a match because I couldn’t use it. The EVs make Amphy as bulky and as strong as possible. The Quiet nature is for Volt Switching after another Mega Ampharos. Anyone know the IVs for a low speed IV HP Ice?


Celebi @ Choice Specs

Ability: Natural Cure

EVs: 216 Spd / 252 SAtk / 40 Atk

Hasty Nature

- Leaf Storm

- Psychic

- U-turn

- Healing Wish


All right, I know no one actually uses Choice Specs Celebi, but it is very useful. I needed the synergy of Celebi for my team but also wanted Celebi to have an actual offensive presence, so a Choice Specs set it is. Leaf Storm slams anything that doesn’t resist it hard, and Psychic is a decent secondary STAB move. U-Turn is for, of course, generating momentum. Healing Wish is a filler move for healing up my Jirachi in case it gets crippled by status or something.


Cobalion @ Leftovers

Ability: Justified

EVs: 252 Spd / 252 HP / 4 Atk

Naive Nature

- Volt Switch

- Close Combat

- Stealth Rock

- Thunder Wave

Ah, Cobalion, you have a terrible case of four-moveslot syndrome. Volt-Switch and Close Combat are mandatory, but the rest are changeable. The possibilities I have for moves right now are Stealth Rock, Thunder Wave, Roar and Taunt. Personally I think Stealth Rock and Thunder Wave serve him best, but I sometimes sorely miss the other two.


Flygon @ Leftovers

Ability: Levitate

EVs: 252 SDef / 252 HP / 4 Atk

Careful Nature

- U-turn

- Earthquake

- Defog

- Roost


I never thought I would say this, but I like Flygon. Nice synergy, decent stats, access to Defog and reliable recovery, what else can I ask for? U-Turn is for momentum, as always, and Earthquake is my STAB. Defog clears the field of hazards, which is always useful to VoltTurn teams. Roost is for recovery. The EVs keep changing, as I don’t know to play Flygon as a tank, a wall, or a physical attacker. Any suggestions?


Samurai (Mienshao) (M) @ Choice Scarf

Ability: Regenerator

EVs: 252 Spd / 252 Atk / 4 SAtk

Hasty Nature

- High Jump Kick

- Hidden Power [Ice]

- Knock Off

- U-turn


SAMURAI! This is my revenge killer for the team. Samurai is pretty fast already, but with a Choice Scarf he is able to outpace a ton of threats. High Jump Kick is for mandatory STAB, although the accuracy stinks. Hidden Power Ice is for Dragons and such, and Knock Off is both for coverage and utility. U-Turn and the Choice Scarf compliment Regenerator, keeping Samurai in high health.


Jirachi @ Leftovers

Ability: Serene Grace

EVs: 252 HP / 148 Spd / 108 Def

Timid Nature

- Substitute

- Calm Mind

- Flash Cannon

- Thunderbolt


I love Substitute Calm Mind Jirachi. It’s decently fast, it hits hard, and it can set up over a ton of Pokémon. Unfortunately, the attacking moves aren’t very affected by Serene Grace, but that’s not really a problem. Flash Cannon and Thunderbolt together maintain decent coverage, while the Speed EVs allow me to outpace neutral natured Base 100 Speed Pokémon. I don’t know if I should invest the remaining 108 EVs (after HP and Speed investment) in Defense or Special Attack. On one hand I get more bulk but on the other I don’t have to set up as many Calm Minds.

Please feel free to give any suggestions or comments!

 

[Brawlfest]

Solid Bulky Offensive Voltturn team! That being said, I do spot a few weaknesses. All variants of Heracross are major threats to your team, as Flygon, Cobalion and Mienshao can do nothing back, and the rest of your mons cannot switch in as long as the user predicts correctly, between Knock Off (Jirachi + Celebi), Megahorn (Celebi), or Earthquake / Main STABS (Ampharos). That being said, it isn't all bad. If it is locked into Close Combat, you can pivot Celebi in for the kill, and if in Megahorn or Knock Off you can paralyze it with Cobalion, and then revenge kill with Celebi. Overall, this team deals with a array of threats quite well.

For starters, I highly reccomend running Dragon Pulse over Hidden Power Ice. A super effective Hidden Power Ice is 120 Base Power, while a STAB Dragon Pulse is 135, meaning it is more powerful, even against Ground and Grass types. It is also more spammable in general. I don't see your team being particularily Status weak either, because Celebi can utilize natural cure to pivot in and out of status, while Jirachi, your primary sweeper carry substitute. For this reason, I would also recommend Thunderbolt over Heal Bell. I would definitely run 88 Speed EVs to get a jump on neutral base 55's such as Crawdaunt, Gourgeist, Bouffalant, Machamp and below.

I get that you want Celebi as your wallbreaker, but it honestly is best used as an Offensive Pivot. This does not at all take away from your wallbreaking capabilities, but your ability to spread status, pivot into status better, utilize recover, and still pivot is what makes this set the better option, offering more support that makes celebi unique (and lets you get use out of her great bulk), and yet still pressure the opponent insanely with your offensive prowess.

I honestly do not understand your Flygon set. It really just doesn't do much. Flygon has horrific defensive stats, with only 80/80/80, which is all below average. If you absolutely need defog, I would run Life Orb Three Attacks, but if not, I highly recommend you just run standard Banded Flygon. This is because it has great offensive synergy with Jirachi, helping you break down it's checks and counters, but it will not lose momentum for you like your previous set, which achieved nothing other than lose offensive pressure against your opponent, allowing setup opportunities, and occasionally defogging.

My final suggestion would be to run Aerial Ace or Stone Edge, since with Hidden Power Ice's new nerf it is quite useless on Scarf Mienshao now, who would much rather either Revenge kill Heracross, or hit Flying types much much harder with Stone Edge!

Cool team! Hope this helped!
___________________________________

Ampharos @ Ampharosite
Ability: Static
EVs: 252 SAtk / 88 Spd / 168 HP
Modest Nature
- Thunderbolt / Heal Bell
- Volt Switch
- Focus Blast
- Dragon Pulse

Celebi @ Life Orb / Leftovers
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 60 HP / 252 SAtk / 196 Spd
Modest Nature
- Leaf Storm
- Psychic / Earth Power
- Recover
- U-turn / Thunder Wave

Flygon @ Choice Band / Life Orb
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 Atk / 4 SDef
Jolly Nature
- Outrage
- Earthquake
- Fire Punch / Defog
- U-turn

Mienshao @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 Atk / 4 SDef
Jolly Nature
- High Jump Kick
- Knock Off
- Stone Edge / Aerial Ace
- U-turn

 

[Eatthepear]

Thanks for the advice! For each pokemon's individual advice I'll address them below.
Amphy: I'll take those changes, thanks. HP Ice is kinda weak compared to Dragon Pulse.
Celebi: Hmmm... I think I'll try it out, though I feel like using an offensive pivot Celebi is kinda weak, because Celebi can't hit that hard.
Flygon: Yeah I don't know what I was thinking for Flygon. Although I kinda do need something to get rid of hazards, seeing as this is a VoltTurn team after all.
Mienshao: Mmmhmmm... I'll switch HP Ice for Aerial Ace. Never trusted Stone Edge's accuracy, never will.
By the way, how did you make your text bold?

 

[Brawlfest]

Thanks for the advice! For each pokemon's individual advice I'll address them below.
Amphy: I'll take those changes, thanks. HP Ice is kinda weak compared to Dragon Pulse.
Celebi: Hmmm... I think I'll try it out, though I feel like using an offensive pivot Celebi is kinda weak, because Celebi can't hit that hard.
Flygon: Yeah I don't know what I was thinking for Flygon. Although I kinda do need something to get rid of hazards, seeing as this is a VoltTurn team after all.
Mienshao: Mmmhmmm... I'll switch HP Ice for Aerial Ace. Never trusted Stone Edge's accuracy, never will.
By the way, how did you make your text bold?

There is a button up in the toolbox that says "B" (second button). Highlight the desired text and click it.

 

[Blast]

Fighting-types like Mienshao and Hawlucha are the biggest problems to your team as they can pretty much OHKO / 2HKO your entire team with their STABs alone, and you're only resist (Celebi) gets destroyed by U-turn and Acrobatics, respectively. Physical atttackers in general can give you a tough time since your two main phys. def. pivots (Cobalion and Jirachi) are easy to wear down and share weaknesses. You should probably consider using Calm Mind Slowbro over Jirachi--not only can it cover the Fighting weakness relatively well but it can fulfill a similar role to Rachi as a Calm Mind booster. It can also serve as a reliable physically defensive pivot early- to mid-game thanks to its great bulk and Regenerator.

Specially defensive Mew is also a pretty big problem for your team as your special attackers can't break through it and your physical attackers get burned. Probably the best way to fix this is to use Life Orb Hydreigon over Celebi--it can accomplish a similar role as a special attacker (even gets U-turn if you want that) but gives you some insurance against Mew because it can take it out with Dark Pulse and not mind burns too much.

Also Flygon doesn't really fit all that well on this team tbh, specially defensive Flygon is particular is weak as fuck and setup bait for a lot of stuff. If you really want Defog I think Crobat would be a more reliable user of it since it gets tools like Taunt and is a lot better in general. Also it gives you some extra insurance vs. Fighting-types and gives you another Fairy resist after the loss of Jirachi.

edit: Oh yeah and I second Brawlfest's suggestions for Amphy and Mienshao, they're much better move choices in general.

Suggested changes

Slowbro @ Leftovers
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SDef
Bold Nature
- Calm Mind
- Scald
- Psyshock / Ice Beam
- Slack Off

Hydreigon @ Life Orb
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Hasty Nature
- Draco Meteor
- Dark Pulse
- U-turn
- Roost

Crobat @ Black Sludge
Ability: Infiltrator
EVs: 176 HP / 192 Atk / 4 SpD / 136 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Defog
- Brave Bird
- Roost
- Taunt / U-turn

 

[Eatthepear]

Hmmmm..... I think I'll swap flygon for crobat, as you're right, I do need another fighting resist. I'm going to keep Jirachi as my CM sweeper because it works amazingly with its decent speed. As such, I can't switch celebi to hydreigon because I don't have another fighting resist. Thanks for the help!

 

[Eatthepear]

Ah why not, I'll use my bump now. Any who, I did make some changes for the team, here is the new team:

Amphy (Ampharos) (F) @ Ampharosite
Ability: Static
EVs: 164 HP / 252 SAtk / 4 SDef / 88 Spd
Modest Nature
IVs: 30 Atk / 30 Def
- Volt Switch
- Focus Blast
- Heal Bell
- Dragon Pulse

Celebi @ Life Orb
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 60 HP / 252 SAtk / 196 Spd
Modest Nature
- Leaf Storm
- Psychic
- U-turn
- Recover

Cobalion @ Leftovers
Ability: Justified
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Spd
Naive Nature
- Volt Switch
- Close Combat
- Stealth Rock
- Taunt

Salamence @ Choice Band
Ability: Moxie
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 Atk / 4 SDef
Jolly Nature
- Dragon Claw
- Earthquake
- Outrage
- Fire Fang

Samurai (Mienshao) (M) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature
- High Jump Kick
- Aerial Ace
- Stone Edge
- U-turn

Jirachi @ Leftovers
Ability: Serene Grace
EVs: 252 HP / 108 Def / 148 Spd
Timid Nature
- Substitute
- Calm Mind
- Flash Cannon
- Thunderbolt

As Dat Blast mentioned, I have a significant weakness to fighting types, so I swapped out Choice Band Flygon for Choice Band Salamence. Not sure if its better to use it with a Life Orb or not. I also lost a game because I got destroyed by Specs Chandelure, because my Flygon had already gone down (I was still using Flygon at this point), Ampharos had not Mega Evolved, and Mienshao missed with Stone Edge. Any suggestions?