D/P/Pt Battle Frontier Team

[Thorne]

So yeah, I was planning on raising a team especially for the Battle Frontier, and watched a video about how to EV train and such, but that's beyond the point, the point is that I've designed a team for it, and now I'd like to see if there are any improvements to be made, which I most likely suppose.

Anyway, the team is the following:


Wobbuffet @ leftovers
Bold Nature
Shadow Tag
4 HP / 252 Def / 252 SDef
-Mirror Coat
-Counter
-Encore
-Safeguard

Whoop-de-doo, this guy is supposed to do what Wobbuffet's does best, this time around being the psychical wall of the team, I don't know what to say more, Safeguard was preferred over Destiny Bond to save it from eventual status effects.


Magmortar @ Choice Specs
Modest nature
Flame Body
4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
-Heat Wave
-Thunderbolt
-Will-O-Wisp
-Focus Blast

Special Sweeper, really, Heat Wave is usefull for massive damage + STAB and hits both enemies in double battle, Thunderbolt and Focus Blast takes out water and rock types, who'd otherwise have the upper hand, and Will-O-Wisp is there for inflicting burn, which is a true hell for most of the time.


Weavile @ Choice Band/Expert Belt
Jolly Nature
Pressure
4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
-Aerial Ace
-Brick Break
-Night Slash
-Ice punch

Psychical Sweeper, Aerial Ace takes out fighting types, Brick Break breaks Steel Types and what-not, Night Slash and Ice Punch is there for the STAB and things like that, I can't decide what item to use, really, I have some good choices.


Probopass @ Leftovers
Calm Nature
Magnet Pull
4 HP / 252 Def / 252 SDef
-Rock Slide
-thunder Wave
-Block
-Stealth Rock/Rest

Special Wall, pretty straight-forward. Magnet Pull is an ability superior to Sturdy for most of the time, let me get one thing straight, Block + Thunder Wave + Rock Slide = hell. I wasn't sure what do to with the last spot, thought.


Gliscor @ Leftovers
Adamant Nature
Hyper Cutter
4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
-Earthquake
-Stone Edge/Ice Fang
-Swords Dance
-Roost

Pretty self-explanatory, Earthquake is a very powerful move indeed, I haven't decided between Stone Edge or Ice Fang yet, so it'd be appreciated if someone told me the preferred one, Swords Dance raises sweeping capabilities and lastly Roost saves me when HP is low.


Mismagius @ Leftovers
Modest nature
Levitate
108 HP / 180 SAtk / 220 Spd
-Shadow Ball
-Substitute
-Thunderbolt
-Calm Mind

So yeah, that's it, feel free to comment and suggest better moves, but don't be rude. ^_^

 

[Flareth]

I don't think Shaymin will be allowed in. It is a legendary....But I like your team. I'm not a real competitive player though

 

[Thorne]

oh yeah, I kind of didn't think of that. :/
I'll remove Shaymin for now, and replace it with something else later.

 

[Jetx]

Aren't you only meant to have 3 Pokémon in the battle frontier?

 

[Thorne]

Aren't you only meant to have 3 Pokémon in the battle frontier?

Then I simply choose three of them, right? I might also use it for competitive if I ever decide to do that.

 

[Jetx]

The competitive environment and the battle frontier environment are two very different things; it's unlikely you'll find a team that'll do a truly good job of both.

As a competitive team, I guess this could work with a little work (such as removing Wobbuffet, who's an uber). As for the Battle Frontier... you're shooting for streaks of 49 in most things, right? That's how you get the symbols. If you want to go above that you have do things a little differently, and it all ends up being about doing everything you can to stop yourself being haxed by the AI player. It's rarely a good idea to bother with defensive Pokémon like Probopass because it's just begging to be torn up by OHKO moves, critical hits and other nasties. You've got the right idea with Pokémon like Weavile.

Pain Split on a Choice Specs Pokémon... isn't really going to work. Use Gengar instead, better movepool, can Explode on problem Pokémon. What are hoping to achieve in the frontier, exactly? If you want streaks going over 100 you're going to need some anti-luck strategies and that's a whole new kettle of fish. If you just want to get as many symbols as possible you're on the right track, but you'll get lucked out eventually. Nothing's perfect.

 

[Thorne]

Well, as said, I'm not competitive player really, since I've only played against my younger brother otherwise.

I'm not really aiming for anything, what I wanted was more to make a team which I could use for something.. bigger, then the main quest. It was honestly making a team especially for that which appealed me. That said, I want to try competitive sooner or later, but I suppose I'll wait with that. ^^

And besides, I want do replace as few Pokémon as possible, so do you know a better item instead? If this team works well I'm going to try a UU or BL team and see how it works out.

 

[Jetx]

if you don't want to replace anything, I would really advise that you ditch Probopass and Wobbuffet. Probopass, as I said, is not a great choice. I'm admittedly not hugely familiar with the frontier anyway, having only seen it on Pokémon website and not actually owning the game, but I know a fair amount about battle tower strategies and most of the frontier's facilities are just spin-offs of that.

Wobbuffet is way too vulnerable to status to be good, and its speed isn't high enough to make use of Safeguard. Aside from that, it's too reliant on prediction to work, and it's also too prone to One-hit KO moves. Wobbuffet is a god in competitive battling because things can't switch out of it, but in the Frontier Pokémon don't usually switch anyway.

It's better just to stick to three Pokémon that can cover a lot of bases. You need things that can keep fighting until they die, and always have some use to you, which is why I suggested Gengar - Gengar's one of those Pokémon that will never go down without doing some form of damage.

Sticking to offensive Pokémon is a good idea. Magmortar will always be walled by Blissey and the Lati twins, Mismagius can't break Blissey and Weavile can't beat things like Forretress, Metagross or Bronzong. If a Metagross came out on your Weavile, you would basically be doomed. Magmortar, Weavile and Mismagius are your best three Pokémon - I'd just stick to those three, if I were you, rather than wasting effort.

Give Mismagius the set of Calm Mind, Substitute, Shadow Ball and Thunderbolt. EVs in Speed and HP, and then a few in Special Attack too. Substitute is absolutely the best move in the Battle Tower, and by extension all the other things. It protects against OHKO moves, critical hits and unfortunate status (think Ice Beam), and provides you a little extra protection against new Pokémon if you've still got one up when you defeat the previous Pokémon. If a Pokémon fails to break your substitute, use Calm Mind, then it will have an even harder time breaking your sub if it's a special attacker. When you've got enough boosts, sweep with Shadow Ball and Thunderbolt... they provide good coverage. Substitute can also help you to stall things out of PP. I've used the set to a lot of success in competitive battling too, so it's a good choice. Gengar is still better though, as much as I hate it. :D

 

[Thorne]

How many EV's do you suggest in each stat then? And what item should I use?

 

[Jetx]

A variant of the set is on Smogon, and they recommend 108 HP / 180 SpA / 220 Spe, which sounds good to me. Might want to put in more speed and less special attack, though.

Use Leftovers, so you can use more Substitutes.

To be honest I'm not sure what you should do with Weavile and Magmortar, but those are definitely the best Pokémon to use. Gliscor could work, but then Water Pokémon would just tear you up.

 

[Thorne]

Any Pokémon with Ice moves would tear me up, for the matter.