D/P/Pt RMT: Pretty plain team

All right. Just revamped my team and I need some tips.

Infernape @ Focus Sash
Blaze / Jolly
EVs: 6 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
~ Swords Dance
~ Blaze Kick
~ Close Combat
~ Mach Punch
My main lead. The Focus Sash ensures that, unless there's a weather effect (I'm looking at you, TTar and Hippowdon), I get off at least one Swords Dance. Then, I take into account whether or not the opponent is faster or slower than me, as well as the possibility of priority moves and weaknesses, and act accordingly.

Heracross @ Wide Lens
Guts / Adamant
EVs: 6 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
~ Swords Dance
~ Close Combat
~ Megahorn
~ Stone Edge
Another Swords Dance set. This one has Wide Lens to make up for Megahorn and Stone Edge's inaccuracy problems. The problem I see here is his low speed, but once he gets a shot in, there's not a lot that can stop him.

Mamoswine @ Icicle Plate
Oblivious / Adamant
EVs: 124 HP / 252 Atk / 64 Def / 68 Sp. Def
~ Curse
~ Ice Shard
~ Avalanche
~ Earthquake
The average Curse set. This one can be somewhat bulky, and Curse adds on to that, as well as boosting his power. Ice Shard bypasses the speed loss, while Avalanche does some pretty huge damage after a Curse or two. EQ is there to fill the Ground STAB.
By the way, I'm aware the Icicle Plate isn't a great idea. I'm holding out for getting some extra Leftovers somewhere.

Gyarados @ Leftovers
Intimidate / Adamant
EVs: 6 HP / 252 Atk / Spe
~ Dragon Dance
~ Waterfall
~ Ice Fang
~ Earthquake
The good ol' DDdos set. It's also shiny :D The power of this guy with a Dragon Dance or two is immense. And he has an alternative purpose: Electric bait. All I need to do is throw this guy out, wait until there's a Pokemon that may know an Electric move, and switch out...

Electivire @ Expert Belt
Motor Drive / Adamant
EVs: 6 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
~ Ice Punch
~ Thunderpunch
~ Cross Chop
~ Earthquake
... to this guy. This is the PBR Electivire, which is always a good addition to a team. After switching my Gyarados out for this guy and eating up a Motor Drive, there's not much that can avoid this guy's brutality. The Expert Belt works because this set hits 13 out of 17 types for super-effective damage, so he can use it very effectively.

Skarmory @ Shed Shell
Sturdy / Impish
EVs: 252 HP / 64 Atk / 176 Def / 16 Spe
~ Aerial Ace
~ Stealth Rock
~ Whirlwind
~ Roost
This guy is my good old physical wall. He used to have Brave Bird, but I became a retard and got tired of the recoil. So I added Toxic, which turned into an even worse move. So finally, I went for Aerial Ace, since it's the closest I could get. Yes, I am too lazy to breed a new one. It's a massive pain. D: The Shed Shell is to get the hell away from Magnezone.

I don't usually do this because no one likes my input, but looks like no one is helping you anyway, so you're stuck with me. ,xP

J.T. said:

All right. Just revamped my team and I need some tips.

Infernape @ Focus Sash
Blaze / Jolly
EVs: 6 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
~ Swords Dance
~ Blaze Kick
~ Close Combat
~ Mach Punch
My main lead. The Focus Sash ensures that, unless there's a weather effect (I'm looking at you, TTar and Hippowdon), I get off at least one Swords Dance. Then, I take into account whether or not the opponent is faster or slower than me, as well as the possibility of priority moves and weaknesses, and act accordingly.

Exercise caution with this one; despite obvious weather effects, they'll pull moves like extremespeed/quick attack/sucker punch, (namely that last one) -- and you won't even see it coming (unless you're really good). Opponents can surprise you with speed, particularly now that there's choice scarf.

Is this for single or double battles? I'm assuming 1:1.
For 2:2 i'd give it fakeout. - For 1:1 It looks fine as is.

Heracross @ Choice Scarf
Guts / Adamant
EVs: 6 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
~ Pursuit
~ Close Combat
~ Megahorn
~ Stone Edge
Another Swords Dance set. This one has Wide Lens to make up for Megahorn and Stone Edge's inaccuracy problems. The problem I see here is his low speed, but once he gets a shot in, there's not a lot that can stop him.

To be honest, there's not much that can stop him even without a SD.
I just edited it to look the same as mine, (which works wonders btw). If you want to keep it as a sword dancer, that's fine, but i'm not sure how effective it will be; it's pretty much built for single attack switch-ins.

Mamoswine @ Icicle Plate
Oblivious / Adamant
EVs: 124 HP / 252 Atk / 64 Def / 68 Sp. Def
~ Curse
~ Ice Shard
~ Avalanche
~ Earthquake
The average Curse set. This one can be somewhat bulky, and Curse adds on to that, as well as boosting his power. Ice Shard bypasses the speed loss, while Avalanche does some pretty huge damage after a Curse or two. EQ is there to fill the Ground STAB.
By the way, I'm aware the Icicle Plate isn't a great idea. I'm holding out for getting some extra Leftovers somewhere.

Looks the same as my Lapras and one of my Umbreons. I don't know the base stats so I won't touch on the EV's, but i'd personally get the Def/Atk to a level, where multiplying it by 2 gets it close or above 400; then i'd load EV's into the weaker areas, (such as 200 HP/Sp.Def, which get no boost). Also, I normally include a healing move in there somewhere, Moonlight/Rest/Wish, ect.

You don't have a healing move, and i've never tried without it, so all I can say is try it out and see if you like it. And yeah, leftovers would be the prime choice for something bulky like this.

Gyarados @ Muscle Band/Expert Belt
Intimidate / Jolly
EVs: 6 HP / 252 Atk / Spe
~ Dragon Dance
~ Aqua Tail (Up to you if you want to risk a 90% accuracy move)
~ Ice Fang
~ Earthquake
The good ol' DDdos set. It's also shiny :D The power of this guy with a Dragon Dance or two is immense. And he has an alternative purpose: Electric bait. All I need to do is throw this guy out, wait until there's a Pokemon that may know an Electric move, and switch out...

I always give my Gyarados' Musle band, and they are a surprisingly slow pokemon; Adamant with max spd, = 1xDD gets him to 391 speed. Jolly with max spd, = 1xDD gets him to 430 speed.

If Jolteon comes out with 394 speed, in the first case youd you'd have to switch out, but my one would be fast enough for a 1-shot-EQ, so i'd nail the thing. (Assuming it doesn't have Focus Sash like the majority of all flimsy pokemon).

I realize you can't change the nature, being shiny and all. My advice is to try out Aqua Tail, replace @Leftovers with @Muscle Band or @Expert Belt, and give Leftovers to your mammoth.

Electivire @ Expert Belt
Motor Drive / Adamant
EVs: 6 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
~ Ice Punch
~ Thunderpunch
~ Cross Chop
~ Earthquake
... to this guy. This is the PBR Electivire, which is always a good addition to a team. After switching my Gyarados out for this guy and eating up a Motor Drive, there's not much that can avoid this guy's brutality. The Expert Belt works because this set hits 13 out of 17 types for super-effective damage, so he can use it very effectively.

I don't like this pokemon for obvious reasons, i've never used one before either. It looks fine to me.

Skarmory @ Shed Shell
Sturdy / Impish
EVs: 252 HP / 64 Atk / 176 Def / 16 Spe
~ Drill Peck
~ Spikes
~ Whirlwind
~ Roost
This guy is my good old physical wall. He used to have Brave Bird, but I became a retard and got tired of the recoil. So I added Toxic, which turned into an even worse move. So finally, I went for Aerial Ace, since it's the closest I could get. Yes, I am too lazy to breed a new one. It's a massive pain. D: The Shed Shell is to get the hell away from Magnezone.

I'd have replaced Brave Bird with Drill Peck, despite how much I disliked using this pokemon, mine always had Drill Peck. I'd also replace @Shed Shell with @Leftovers and sacrifice a few EV's to bring up it's speed a little.

I don't see very many magnezones in serious battles, (actually i've yet to see even one).

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Anyway it looks like a good team, i'll battle it if you want to test it out.

MixMence eats this team alive. I'd suggest defensive Porygon2 over Skarmory, as there's not much Skarm walls that Pory doesn't. (Explanation of the strategy: come in on a physical move and laugh as Trace leaves him at -1 Atk then proceed to Paralyze the switch-in or Ice Beam the Salamence.) It also handles Heatran, who your team also has trouble with.

It looks like a good team. I'm looking at you, Infernape. My teams usually have only attack moves, and the only bad thing about your team is that it has other moves.

kidpixkid said:

It looks like a good team. I'm looking at you, Infernape. My teams usually have only attack moves, and the only bad thing about your team is that it has other moves.

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wtf; do you actually battle competitively?

kidpixkid said:

It looks like a good team. I'm looking at you, Infernape. My teams usually have only attack moves, and the only bad thing about your team is that it has other moves.

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please don't rate my team unless you know what you're talking about

MOVING ON I upgraded my team a bit.

Infernape, Mamoswine, and Gyarados are the same. Everything else has been replaced as follows:


Scizor @ Life Orb
Technician / Adamant
EVs: 252 Atk / 224 Spe / 32 HP
~ Bullet Punch
~ Quick Attack
~ Brick Break
~ Swords Dance
Thanks Spaekle for helping me with this beaut. I don't have Platinum, so I needed someone else to teach her Bullet Punch. Anyway, this is a pretty basic Scizor set. Bullet Punch is her main move, because 40 base power + Technician boost + STAB + Life Orb + (possible) SD boost = serious pain. Brick Break is for coverage, and Quick Attack is so that I don't get sodomized by Gyarados, although if it's really important I could toss something like X-Scissor on there.


Alakazam @ Choice Specs
Inner Focus / Timid
EVs: 252 Sp. Atk / 252 Spe / 4 HP
~ Psychic
~ Shadow Ball
~ Focus Blast
~ Trick
I hate Focus Blast. So much. Damn accuracy. Lost too many battles because of it. D: But it's all I got, so. Anyway, Alakazam swaps with Infernape every once in a while to become my lead, so I can Trick his Choice Specs onto some poor, unsuspecting lead who decides to set up (and maybe get a Focus Sash out of it too). If I don't have a need for Trick, then the Choice Specs can give a huge boost to him. Psychic makes for good STAB, Shadow Ball handles Ghosts, and Focus Blast is there because I can't get Signal Beam. I'm aware Inner Focus isn't a great ability, but it has its uses, like sucking up Fake Outs - I've won a few battles because of it.


Dusknoir @ Leftovers
Pressure / Impish
EVs: 252 Def / 252 HP / 4 Sp.Def
~ Pain Split
~ Will-O-Wisp
~ Fire Punch / Drain Punch
~ Ice Punch / Shadow Sneak
I'm... actually not done training this guy up (EDIT: Now I am). Walker said MixMence eats my team, so I hope Dusknoir here can suck up a good Draco Meteor and hit back with Ice Punch - however, if Shadow Sneak's a better option, I can go with that. I also want to experiment with Drain Punch as another form of healing, because Pain Split can be pretty unreliable at times. (EDIT: I looked it up, and apparently Dusknoir can't learn Drain Punch, which is dumb.)

I'm still kinda lame at this, so I'd still like suggestions.

J.T. said:

and Quick Attack is so that I don't get sodomized by Gyarados, although if it's really important I could toss something like X-Scissor on there.

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I'd suggest doing that. No potential counter is worth putting a crusty move like Quick Attack on your sweeper. Both Bullet Punch and Quick Attack are at 60 Base Power from Technician, Bullet punch deals 0.5 due to weakness, but gets a STAB boost which brings it back to 0.75.

With Swords Dance + such a massive attack stat + gyarados' shitty defense, who cares about the 0.25% damage loss? - At least that's how I think about it.

Alakazam @ Choice Specs
Inner Focus / Timid
EVs: 252 Sp. Atk / 252 Spe / 4 HP
~ Psychic
~ Shadow Ball
~ Focus Blast
~ Trick
I hate Focus Blast. So much. Damn accuracy. Lost too many battles because of it. D: But it's all I got, so. -- I'm aware Inner Focus isn't a great ability, but it has its uses, like sucking up Fake Outs - I've won a few battles because of it.

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It's remarkably similar to mine, just mine has Energy Ball instead of Trick, it's modest instead of timid, and it has Choice scarf instead of Choice specs. Works really well, and no flinching first turn from our crappy ability. Also nails things like crobat on the very first turn (who thinks he can U-Turn us, but gets nailed by Psychic instead. <3

Focus Blast screws me over more times than it saves me, but it's still the best thing to have there, I used it just the other night, took out a steelix with it and won the game. You really can't use Alakazam without it.

Dusknoir @ Leftovers
Pressure / Impish
EVs: 252 Def / 252 HP / 4 Sp.Def
~ Pain Split
~ Will-O-Wisp
~ Fire Punch / Drain Punch
~ Ice Punch / Shadow Sneak
I'm... actually not done training this guy up (EDIT: Now I am). Walker said MixMence eats my team, so I hope Dusknoir here can suck up a good Draco Meteor and hit back with Ice Punch - however, if Shadow Sneak's a better option, I can go with that. I also want to experiment with Drain Punch as another form of healing, because Pain Split can be pretty unreliable at times. (EDIT: I looked it up, and apparently Dusknoir can't learn Drain Punch, which is dumb.)

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I'll go look at mine.. Ok, mine has:
-Confuse Ray
-Pain Split
-Will-O-Wisp
-Shadow Sneak

That would probably mess around with a few pokemon, particularly physicals.

If it's MixMence you want to counter with it, I think it would achieve it's purpose very well. Draco Meteor on the first turn would drop the Dragon's S.atk by -2; Will-O-Wisp foils it's Non-STAB Crunch, and Pain Split handles the damage from the first (or both) moves. <- But you'll have to test that one. ,xD

Confuse ray is just a good way to mess with their strategy, and Shadow Sneak finishes them off (After the Pain Split & any luck with confused pokemon hitting themselves).

Another tricky method (which I only just randomly thought of now). Would be to Curse their pokemon, maybe protect on the next turn, and by then they'll probably want to switch that pokemon out, so you just use Pain Split. - A quick sweeper finishes off both pokemon later.

I'd carry Focus Band for the 30% chance to piss them off, an then protect on the 4th turn (assuming they didn't switch out) -- Which means that they just effectively killed their own pokemon. ,xD

405 S.Def -and- 366 Def should be more than capable of taking a hit from Sraco Meteor, and half damage from a Non-STAB crunch, though.

And hey, you know, you could always just lure out a Salamence to Fire Blast @ your Scizor, then just switch in a Nintetales, eat Flash Fire, then use hypnosis + Nasty Plot + Flamethrower. Sounds like something i'd do. (but I have a ninetales in my team). ,xD
Just goes to show though, your counters don't have to be all too elaborate, even not-very-effective moves can get the job done.


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kidpixkid said:

It looks like a good team. I'm looking at you, Infernape. My teams usually have only attack moves, and the only bad thing about your team is that it has other moves.

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I made a boo boo, yeeah~

Scizor comment noted.

Felidire said:

It's remarkably similar to mine, just mine has Energy Ball instead of Trick, it's modest instead of timid, and it has Choice scarf instead of Choice specs. Works really well, and no flinching first turn from our crappy ability. Also nails things like crobat on the very first turn (who thinks he can U-Turn us, but gets nailed by Psychic instead. <3

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The problem I see with that Alakazam is Energy Ball doesn't hit a lot of counters. I'd much rather be able to screw the opponent into a switch than have a move that only helps in maybe one out of twenty situations. As for the Choice Scarf, it could actually end up helping something if I have crappy prediction; at least with Choice Specs if I switch it onto a physical sweeper and I guess wrong, they're still not getting any benefit out of it.

Felidire said:

If it's MixMence you want to counter with it, I think it would achieve it's purpose very well. Draco Meteor on the first turn would drop the Dragon's S.atk by -2; Will-O-Wisp foils it's Non-STAB Crunch, and Pain Split handles the damage from the first (or both) moves. <- But you'll have to test that one. ,xD

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Actually, Ice Punch was more a quick toss-in move to endanger a good chunk of Pokemon, and I just kept in mind I have a MixMence weakness. (Hell, I even have a MixMence myself; maybe I'll slide it in somewhere.)

Another tricky method (which I only just randomly thought of now). Would be to Curse their pokemon, maybe protect on the next turn, and by then they'll probably want to switch that pokemon out, so you just use Pain Split. - A quick sweeper finishes off both pokemon later.

Felidire said:

I'd carry Focus Band for the 30% chance to piss them off, an then protect on the 4th turn (assuming they didn't switch out) -- Which means that they just effectively killed their own pokemon. ,xD

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I believe luck (or hax) items like Focus Band are claused out of most battles, due to the fact that you could, if you're lucky, live forever with it. Even if it wasn't claused out, it'd be kind of unreliable (because I have crap luck), and a weather condition from a previously-sent-out Tyranitar or Abomasnow would kill it.

J.T. said:

The problem I see with that Alakazam is Energy Ball doesn't hit a lot of counters. I'd much rather be able to screw the opponent into a switch than have a move that only helps in maybe one out of twenty situations. As for the Choice Scarf, it could actually end up helping something if I have crappy prediction; at least with Choice Specs if I switch it onto a physical sweeper and I guess wrong, they're still not getting any benefit out of it.

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Well trick-passing pretty much entirely falls down to luck and prediction. I don't think the last move really matters that much, as I don't think i've ever had to use it. It doesn't really matter which one you trick-pass, you might throw the scarf to a slow pokemon who's no better for it(you can always switch to counters to take minimal damage), and you might throw specs to a special pokemon. Which ever one works best for you though.

Actually, Ice Punch was more a quick toss-in move to endanger a good chunk of Pokemon, and I just kept in mind I have a MixMence weakness. (Hell, I even have a MixMence myself; maybe I'll slide it in somewhere.)

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Well just makes sure your mence is faster than other standard ones and a meteor should handle it.

You did take into account that their Mence could intimidate your dusknoir right? - and here's how your ice punch sums up.

Minimum Damage: 273
Average Damage: 297.17
Maximum Damage: 321

I don't have time to do the math, but I'm assuming their mence has 300 HP and that you have somewhere around a 45% chance to 1 shot it.

One meteor from their Salamence would deal
between 250 and 295 damage to this particular Dusknoir. -you probably have 294 HP- if you take one of these hits, you have no hope of any form of recovery, regardless of what the damage is. Unless you recall it and pain split on a slow pokemon later. (which I wouldn't really consider an effective mence counter).

I believe luck (or hax) items like Focus Band are claused out of most battles, due to the fact that you could, if you're lucky, live forever with it. Even if it wasn't claused out, it'd be kind of unreliable (because I have crap luck), and a weather condition from a previously-sent-out Tyranitar or Abomasnow would kill it.

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Ah k, so it's a simulation. I think those rules are stupid because they made the game the way it is for a reason, and everything in the game is based on luck, those percentages I just gave you are a good example. You risk things or you don't.

A very good team! For Gyarados, Electivire, and Heracross, they're perfect:D! For Infernape, I'd replace Swords Dance for Stealth Rock because all leads should either set up Spikes or set up Stealth Rock. And follow this EV spread: 252 Atk./60 Def./252 Spe. because most leads need speed unless you're a ultra heavy wall/tank. The Defense is there because I didn't know where to put the remaining Sp.A EV's. For Skarmory, replace him for Latias because it can counter it pretty good and OHKO it with Dragon Pulse/ Draco Meteor if for the latter, with maximum Sp.A EV's. For Mammoswine, replace him with a better Curser like Snorlax.