Weatherless Balance: A Daring Attempt

[Arkian]

Hi everyone, welcome to my first RMt. To be honest, this team didn't get very high on the ladder (rough estimate = low 90s) because I played with it on my main alt (Rohail17), the alt that I used to battle with many other team (most of which weren't successful lol). So here I have a weatherless balance team, I was inspired to make this team after having my Sand team's backside (yeah I don't swear..) handed to me by an opposing weatherless balance team. Although I'm using completely different Pokemon from the team my opponent used on me, I was still very successful countering opposing weather and achieving my goal of sweeping (or sometimes late-game cleaning). This team heavily depends on the typing synergy of my teammates, and it also has a bit of surprise factor. I had a lot of fun with this team, so much fun that I didn't play with any other team afterwards, so I'm posting my team here for you to critisize and enjoy using on your own :)

Team Building Process

I started out with Sash lead Cloyster just because it capable of single handedly winning 6-0, the surprise factor of this set helps me to achieve that.

The classic Heatran+Skarmory core never gets old, it also doesn't hurt to have them lay SR and Spikes, respectively.

Since a lot of people have been talking about a celebi+Heatran core resisting every type (bar Rock), I thought I'd try it out myself; although there's a twist, this is Scarfbi, another one of my Pokemon that has a great surprise factor yet stays effective.

I needed priority, and I wanted a boosting sweeper, I thought I'd give Lucario a shot since it was effective in SSBB, so why won't it be effective in Pokemon. Turns out, I was right!

To make sure the hazards Skarmory and Heatran set up don't go to waste, I looked for a spinblocker, since my team was defensive enough and I wanted some sort of trolling offensive prowess, I chose SubSplit Gengar. And my team was made. :D​

A Closer Look

Cloyster
Cloyster @ Focus Sash
Trait: Skill Link
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 SAtk / 4 Atk
Rash Nature
- Shell Smash
- Icicle Spear
- Surf
- Hidden Power [Electric]

The way to use this monster of a Pokemon is simple: Lead with it, use SS as they try to attack, if they set up hazards or screens, then continue boosting (unless you spot the team has priority), after that, choose the appropriate move and attack till' the opponent's team is no more. However, there are a few things that hamper this, such things are Sand, Priority and random multi-hit leads (seriously people stop leading with Cinccinno -.-). Don't worry though, as even with those around, you will still be able to take out/dent at least one Pokemon. HP Electric is almost never seen on Cloyster, so it's a nasy surprise for Politoed an Gyarados :P. The beauty of this set is that it can almost always take something out, potentially a Pokemon that may prevent Lucario from sweeping, opposing sweepers, scarfers, walls, etc.

Skarmory
Skarmory @ Leftovers
Trait: Sturdy
EVs: 232 Def / 252 HP / 24 Spd
Impish Nature
- Spikes
- Roost
- Whirlwind
- Drill Peck

Physically defensive Skarmory is my counter to Sand teams as most of everything on them have trouble getting past the BirdODeath. Spikes are amazing for residual damage, and since my team is rather good at forcing switches, it will quickly rack up. Roost provides Skarm with a reliable recovery move, also making sure that slower (lol) Electric-type attacks do neutral damage. Roost is just a trolly move in general, especially when faced with poor Terrakion and Breloom. Whirlwind is another trolly move on Skarmory, as a surprisingly large amount of people don't bother getting their hazards up before they send in their boosting sweeper. When this is the case Sturdy+WW combo temporarily saves me, although it does leave a dent in Skarmory :(. I use Drill Peck in place of Brave Bird because I really don't like the recoil it provides, besides, Drill Peck still OHKOes Breloom and does around 1/4 to LO or Status Orb Conkeldurr and Scarfed Terrakion.

Heatran
Heatran @ Leftovers
Trait: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 SDef / 252 HP / 4 SAtk
Calm Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Roar
- Toxic
- Lava Plume

Heatran is the second part of my somewhat (Scarfbi) defensive core, it comes in on Skarmory's Fire-type weakness while Skarmory takes care of Heatran's Ground- and Fighting-type weaknesses. Heatran is an excellent special wall that is also capable of dishing out major damage back with a potential Flash Fire boosted Lava Plume (with a nice 30% burn rate;)). It is also the SR setter and sun counter for my team. Roar is another phasing move as I believe we can never have enough of those, since I'm most scared of boosting sweepers when it comes to this team. Toxic cripples walls that love switching in on Heatran, such as Jellicent and Blissey. Heatran is the one Pokemon that can deal with Volcarona (granted it lacks HP Ground) on my team, so its essential to keep it alive if I spot one.

Celebi
Celebi @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 SAtk / 252 Spd / 4 Atk
Hasty Nature
- Leaf Storm
- Earth Power
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- U-turn

ScarfBi really keeps my team together as it can come in on Electric- and Water-type attacks (the two attacks that when combined give my walls trouble). It also has a great surprise factor stored for it to rid the field of any Starmie, Rotom-W, or unboosted Dragon-types. It accomplishes this task with Leaf Storm, its main STAB that hits for a truckload of damage and follows well with its hit-and-run playstyle. HP Ice is for troublesome Dragon-types and Landorus-T, somethings that give my team a little trouble thanks to their bulk, coverage, and abilities. Earth Power keeps opposing Heatran at bay (granted the Air Balloon has popped) while also denting incoming Fire-types. U-turn is a safe getaway for when I suspect my opponent to go into their Scizor or T-tar, its just a great move to gain momentum (albeit a weak one :(). If it wasn't implied, Celebi is my rain check.

Lucario
Lucario @ Life Orb
Trait: Justified
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 Atk / 4 SDef
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Close Combat
- ExtremeSpeed
- Ice Punch

I never used Lucario before this (aside from Brawl lol), and I have to say, I'm REALLY impressed. Its excellent typing somewhat makes up for its lackluster bulk, while its ability allows me to check obvious dark moves from the likes of t-tar and Scizor (its overall a great check to Scizor locked into anything but Superpower). It forces switches easily as well (just switch in on Ferro), allowing setup opportunities with SD, it has CC and Ice Punch for overage (missing out on Jellicent, but that can be handled by Celebi or gengar granted I don't switch them in on a Shadow Ball). It even has priority in the form of E-Speed. Lucario is the perfect late-game cleaner for this team as it offers great synergy with the other members. It is also the only Pokemon on my team that easily gets past the blobs (Gengar needs prediction...I guess).

Gengar
Gengar @ Life Orb
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 SAtk / 4 HP
Timid Nature
- Substitute
- Pain Split
- Shadow Ball
- Focus Blast

Gengar really never appealed to me, and it still hasn't because it is the first thing that comes to my mind when I need to sac a Pokemon. However, this team needed a reliable spinblocker and a failsafe check to the blobs, Gengar fit perfectly. Other than that I really don't have much to say except the fact that its a trolly offensive Pokemon whose STAB Shadow Ball SERIOUSLY hurts any Pokemon that isn't a dedicated special wall. I'm strongly considering changing this set to the SubDisable set, but I want your input on it first as the SubSplit set is a better check to the blobs.

So there you have it, my team. I can't really think of threats to this team (hail really isn't a problem, and neither are EH [Spikes is annoying though -.-]) except Pokemon such as Jellicent, and even then it could be played around through the use of smart prediction. So I would really appreciate your input on this, thanks in advance to any raters ^_^

Importable

Cloyster @ Focus Sash
Trait: Skill Link
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 SAtk / 4 Atk
Rash Nature
- Shell Smash
- Icicle Spear
- Surf
- Hidden Power [Electric]

Skarmory @ Leftovers
Trait: Sturdy
EVs: 232 Def / 252 HP / 24 Spd
Impish Nature
- Spikes
- Roost
- Whirlwind
- Drill Peck

Heatran @ Leftovers
Trait: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 SDef / 252 HP / 4 SAtk
Calm Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Roar
- Toxic
- Lava Plume

Celebi @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 SAtk / 252 Spd / 4 Atk
Hasty Nature
- Leaf Storm
- Earth Power
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- U-turn

Lucario @ Life Orb
Trait: Justified
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 Atk / 4 SDef
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Close Combat
- ExtremeSpeed
- Ice Punch

Gengar @ Life Orb
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 SAtk / 4 HP
Timid Nature
- Substitute
- Pain Split
- Shadow Ball
- Focus Blast

 

[Arkian]

Bump, noone seems to want to rate this :(
Just saying "This team is great, it doesn't need rating Rohail!" is still helpful ^_^

 

[pokelegend]

first of all hello rohail17, going to the rate: it is a cool team, nice, but I see some fatal flaws with opposing steel types, like taunt skarmory, scizor and co. If heatran get killed you cannot do much for stop them. Even scarftios is a nice problem cuz if cloy is out he can spam STAB DM all day (even if lucario and heatran resist, they cannot stay in forever. So I suggest to use a bulky offensive celebi over your current one, cuz a bad predict can be a free-setup bait. Try this set:
Celebi @ leftovers
Natural cure
252 hp/252 sp atk/4 def
Nature modest
Hidden power (fire/ice)
Giga drain
Thunderwave
Recover/u-turn
I use for much time this set and it wall stuff like pursuit scizor with hp fire (or dragons with ice one), giga is the main recover stab (less powerful than leafstorm but you no switch after and you have no drops, twave work really well on celeby, you can twave almost everything, cuz no ground type are so courageous (or so stupid) to stay in with celebi. Recover a recovering move, but you can replace it with u-turn if you want. This set wall latios, he no get killed by 2/3 DM of latios so you can twave him or simply stall him. Scizor did not kill it with Bpunch or pursuit, but you can kill him with hp fire.
i think you should use a stealth rock setter, so replace spikes on skar for SR, it is better with multi switch like scarftios, and hi everything, and i suggest brave bird over drill peck. Skar has a low attack stat. He need bravebird for some kills sometimes. You really too weak to fire moves. If heatran die, you are in serious troubles with fire moves. I suggest jellicent over gengar. Yea you lose some power, but you can get one of the best special wall in the game, and an anti-spinner too.
Jellicent @ leftovers
trait water absorb
252 hp/72 speed/rest sp def (i can be wrong with Evs but is ok xD you can put some from hp to sp def)
Nature calm
Scald
Toxic
Taunt
Recover
This is good. Scald stab that can burn, toxic for stall, taunt for some puppers or entry hazard setter and recover an extreme important move. (note : put jelly should be a good idea, but this is only a personal preference that can help you a bit) , also rotom-w seems much problematic for you. He can easily sweep/stall your team with W-O-W and vswitch and hydro pump and pain split. Celebi is a good option, but he never will stay in. So I suggest to remove cloy (ye he can sweep much, but with the omnypresent sand + SR + scizor he will have short life. I suggest replace him with MAGIKARP, nono I am joking xD try to put.. Ehm.. Oh god count rotom-w is pretty hard xD , exept jokes, for deal better with him even scarftios can work. Rotom get hurt so much by Draco meteor. Or you can use a CM LO/lefty latias. They can work, latias no like burn, but latios can take it and spam! Try
latios @ choice scarf
252 sp atk/252 speed/4 hp
Trait : levitate
nature : modest
Draco meteor
Psyshock
surf/ice beam
thunderbolt
I think it can work. Psyshock a stab that hit harder rakion under sand, DM base stab move, tbolt for bulky water like jelly, vaporeon, politoed, surf or ice beam for coverage. If you no wanna be locked and be a setup bait or a free switch for pursuit scizor, try an expert belt instead of choice scarf, with a jolly nature and hp fire over tbolt or surf. It will bluff an scarf variant, and troll scizors with hp fire, still strong enought to kill him even after the drop (i think , it work with me..) so, i no have other things to say... Is nice to see an old extremekiller lucario i like him, he is one of my favourite poke, this is all. Good bye and good luck :)
Woops! I forgive heatran has SR xD but I think skar can do it better, give heatran protect or a tormentran set.
Torment
Protect
Lavaplume
Toxic
If you know how use him, is over, no explayns, switch to someone that cannot hurt him, or will escape and use torment, your opponent switch and you torment the next one. After protect, tocix/lava and you ready to stall, this set beat my back MUUUCH times xD , but gl and bye ;)

 

[Arkian]

Celebi @ leftovers
Natural cure
252 hp/252 sp atk/4 def
Nature modest
Hidden power (fire/ice)
Giga drain
Thunderwave
Recover/u-turn
I use for much time this set and it wall stuff like pursuit scizor with hp fire (or dragons with ice one), giga is the main recover stab (less powerful than leafstorm but you no switch after and you have no drops, twave work really well on celeby, you can twave almost everything, cuz no ground type are so courageous (or so stupid) to stay in with celebi. Recover a recovering move, but you can replace it with u-turn if you want. This set wall latios, he no get killed by 2/3 DM of latios so you can twave him or simply stall him. Scizor did not kill it with Bpunch or pursuit, but you can kill him with hp fire.

Heatran is a perfect counter to Scarf Latios as it can come in on DM, easily tank it, and force it to switch since its locked into a resisted move with -2 SpA. Making Celebi a bulky poke is also going to make my team Scarfless, which is never good for a balanced team, and Celebi will also lose out on its one-time surprise factor.

i think you should use a stealth rock setter, so replace spikes on skar for SR, it is better with multi switch like scarftios, and hi everything, and i suggest brave bird over drill peck. Skar has a low attack stat. He need bravebird for some kills sometimes

I have a SR setter in Heatran. I prefer Drill Peck over BB simply because it doesn't have that nasty recoil, besides the main target of BB, Breloom, is swiftly OHKOed by Drill Peck.

If heatran die, you are in serious troubles with fire moves. I suggest jellicent over gengar. Yea you lose some power, but you can get one of the best special wall in the game, and an anti-spinner too.
Jellicent @ leftovers
trait water absorb
252 hp/72 speed/rest sp def (i can be wrong with Evs but is ok xD you can put some from hp to sp def)
Nature calm
Scald
Toxic
Taunt
Recover
This is good. Scald stab that can burn, toxic for stall, taunt for some puppers or entry hazard setter and recover an extreme important move. (note : put jelly should be a good idea, but this is only a personal preference that can help you a bit)

Fire-types aren't too common in OU, and the ones that are (Volc/Ninetales) are handled by Heatran (no, if I see either one of them, I won't let Heatran die until they're dead). I also need the offensive prowess of Gengar, although I will test your suggestion.

latios @ choice scarf
252 sp atk/252 speed/4 hp
Trait : levitate
nature : modest
Draco meteor
Psyshock
surf/ice beam
thunderbolt

Cloyster is not going to be moving from this team, sorry. Celebi can handle Rotom-W as you said, but forcing it out is the beauty of Celebi since it can retaliate and gain momentum with U-turn, or hit the switch-in hard with STAB Leaf Storm. SR is a non-issue for Cloy since he's my lead. I used Scarfed Latios WAY too much in my previous teams and is predictable, Celebi on the other hand, is not and can come in on more pokes than Latios can (Toxicroak, Terrakion [SE might hurt though]).

Woops! I forgive heatran has SR xD but I think skar can do it better, give heatran protect or a tormentran set.
Torment
Protect
Lavaplume
Toxic
If you know how use him, is over, no explayns, switch to someone that cannot hurt him, or will escape and use torment, your opponent switch and you torment the next one. After protect, tocix/lava and you ready to stall, this set beat my back MUUUCH times xD , but gl and bye ;)

I gave SR to Heatran since Skarmory can setup Spikes, which gives my team multi-hazards (Heatran can't learn Spikes for that one person that thinks he can 0.0). Heatran is also my SpD wall, and having Torment might ruin that for me, plus Roar is essential to stop Volc cold, as it can possibly (maybe) get past Heatran at +6. I will also test this out however.

Thanks for the rate though :)
Anyone else?