Lostelle Posted July 6, 2015 Share Posted July 6, 2015 Basically my friend and I were bored so I came up with the idea of something new; laddering RU for fun using the exact same team. I've been competitively battling since late Generation 4, and he just started with the release of OR/AS. Because of that, I am obviously more skilled so I am further on the ladder and have had more time to use the team and see what it's weak to. Currently I'm around 1300 in a matter of an hour, and I've only lost about 3 times, and when I did lose, it's mainly because I got swept by scarf Hitmonlee over-predicted, or just got outplayed. So, here's the team: Typhlosion @ Choice Specs Ability: Flash Fire EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe Timid Nature - Eruption - Hidden Power [Grass] - Extrasensory - Fire Blast This is usually what I lead with. Not much in this tier can take a Specs Eruption right off the bat, and usually I can just fire off one unless something obvious comes in, like Jellicent, Hitmonlee, Ambipom, you know, something that can obviously live the move, or has strong priority. If the opponent leads off with Mega Banette, usually Eruption does about 82%, which isn't great but it does alright. I have Fire Blast for the obvious reason just in case I get too weak to make use of Eruption, and the other two moves for coverage. Tyrantrum @ Choice Scarf Ability: Rock Head EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe Jolly Nature - Head Smash - Earthquake - Dragon Claw - Superpower This thing is pretty strong, it's extremely useful, and it's saved me quite a bit of times. It's also the thing that usually helps me kill opposing Typhlosions that are either Specs, or when I can live a move from an opposing Scarf. It's usually just Head Smash spam, but when I need to use other moves I know when to use them. Never had to use Superpower yet, however. Glalie @ Glalitite Ability: Inner Focus EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpA / 252 Spe Naive Nature - Return - Earthquake - Freeze-Dry - Ice Shard I wanted to use a Mega. That's really it. Banette never caught my eye, and then I realized Glalie is in this tier. Let me just say, this thing is fun to use. It's stronger than it looks, and comes in handy quite a bit. Not many people expect Freeze-Dry on their Gastrodon, or Jellicent for that matter, and it's really fast reaching 320 speed I believe, which is quite fast considering most Pokemon in this tier are pretty slow. Hitmontop @ Leftovers Ability: Intimidate EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD Impish Nature - Close Combat - Foresight - Rapid Spin - Toxic At this point I realized I needed some defensive Pokemon, and my friend and I were making this team together, so he suggested Hitmontop. I was thinking at first, nah, I'd rather use Hitmonlee, but I realized I needed something that could take physical moves and spin hazards away at the same time. Hitmontop is my Tyrantrum check / counter (whatever you choose to call it), and it usually takes incoming Head Smashes around ~30% with the Intimidate off as well. It's proven useful, but it's also completely useless when Taunted, especially against Banette's for example or another thing that requires Toxic stalling. WEST SIDE (Gastrodon) @ Leftovers Ability: Storm Drain EVs: 252 HP / 84 Def / 172 SpD Calm Nature - Scald - Toxic - Earth Power - Recover I also needed a Specially Defensive team member, and I figured Gastrodon would do it! It has Recovery, status, and can even dish back Special attacks with Mirror Coat. It's usually helpful for Jellicent. I haven't really needed to use it for anything besides that. It's also really helpful for scouting Jolteon and kills Rhyperior pretty easily as well. Durant @ Life Orb Ability: Hustle EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe Jolly Nature - Iron Head - X-Scissor - Superpower - Hone Claws Since I was out of ideas, my friend also suggested Durant. This thing is no pushover. It's incredibly strong with Hustle, and once I set up a Hone Claws, it takes one or two things down with it. Life Orb on it also boosts it's already strong attacks, and it has proved useful many times already. From my hour or so of laddering, what I've noticed is my team has problems with the following things: Scarfed Hitmonlee, Scrafed Typhlosion, occasionally Meloetta, and sometimes Mega Banette. Hitmonlee completely crushes my team once I lose Hitmontop, and Typhlosion destroys everything once I lose my Tyrantrum or Gastrodon. I'm always looking for improvements, after all this is something I threw together from previous knowledge of playing; I'm completely new to RU but it's much more entertaining than Ubers / OU which is what I used to ladder before (1700 is the highest I've ever reached, if you're curious.) I'm up to changing things to improve in some ways, but I don't want to make drastic changes (as in swapping out 3-4 Pokemon) because I'm quite happy with this team. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shadow Tack Posted July 6, 2015 Share Posted July 6, 2015 first thing i noticed is that Typhlosion is completely outclassed by delphox in everything except sheer power, and RU is a very not bulky tier atm. Delphox @ Choice Scarf / Choice Specs Ability: Blaze EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe Modest Nature - Fire Blast - Psyshock - Grass Knot / Dazzling Gleam - Switcheroo that set should work fairly well for you! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lostelle Posted July 6, 2015 Author Share Posted July 6, 2015 Is that all? Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shadow Tack Posted July 6, 2015 Share Posted July 6, 2015 There's definately more i can go over, but i'm too tired atm. examples would be using top over coba or lee ect also i'd reccomend EP on gastro over Mirror coat, which is only a niche move at best. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lostelle Posted July 6, 2015 Author Share Posted July 6, 2015 Just a question, do I need Switcheroo? I'd rather just have 4 attacking moves unless I absolutely need it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shadow Tack Posted July 6, 2015 Share Posted July 6, 2015 You most certainly do not, ut it's extremely good at crippling jellicents! if you run scarf anyway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lostelle Posted July 6, 2015 Author Share Posted July 6, 2015 I'd rather have specs, only because I have like no special-attackers. I also need a lead, maybe you could suggest something I should lead with? Or I'll just stick to Delphox. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shadow Tack Posted July 6, 2015 Share Posted July 6, 2015 Your team really doesn't have any good leads, a possibility is to give glalie spikes for shard since it ouspeeds most of RU, and loses to the rest anyway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lostelle Posted July 6, 2015 Author Share Posted July 6, 2015 Maybe, I had Ice Shard for scarfed Flygon's, but I'm not sure if that's even standard anymore Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shadow Tack Posted July 6, 2015 Share Posted July 6, 2015 (edited) ...scarf flygon was a thing? also rock slide is better coverage then superpower most of the time for durant Edited July 6, 2015 by blasterman4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pyrromanis Posted July 6, 2015 Share Posted July 6, 2015 Jellicent checks quite well both choiced Typhlosion and Hitmonlee. You might want to try to replace Gastrodon with it and see how it works Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tomas Elliot Posted July 6, 2015 Share Posted July 6, 2015 Give Explosion over Return to Glalie, and use it as a lead. It is absolutely hilarious, I tell you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raindrop Valkyrie Posted July 6, 2015 Share Posted July 6, 2015 ...scarf flygon was a thing? also rock slide is better coverage then superpower most of the time for durant Yes. Scarf is the only relevant set to my knowledge. Typically runs EQ/Outrage/Filler/Defog. It aims to be Hitmonlee-esque and remove hazards via High Offensive Pressure. However... Hitmonlee is typically better off as it can switch moves. Also it's probably better for you to try and predict their lead then to say this is my lead I will always lead with it. It is... no offense a strategy I think is kinda poor form in any tier. Trying to get lead match-up is important and it can really swing momentum one way or the other. Like if you put Delphox into something can't handle... you really won't be having fun as you either die... switch out and take a hit, or give the oppennat space to use status/Set-up hazards or them self. etc. I don't believe that "This is my lead and my only lead." is ever a good thing to lock yourself into. Also on a sidenote for Delphox, the utility in Switchroo is much better than really any other coverage options imo. Psyshock, Fire Blast, Dazzling Gleam and Grass Knot are really the only moves there is a point in running for attacks imo. ((with both Dazzling Gleam and Grass Knot being situational.)) Basically... if you're using Switchroo you can really save your own keister sometimes. Mostly crippling the hell out of walls, but you can sometimes lock set-up mons into set-up or similar things. Just keep it in mind, the move has a load of utility and shouldn't be passed up lightly.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lostelle Posted July 6, 2015 Author Share Posted July 6, 2015 ...scarf flygon was a thing? also rock slide is better coverage then superpower most of the time for Durant Yeah, it was standard since Gen 4 but I haven't played since B/W 1 so I didn't know if it changed. Jellicent checks quite well both choiced Typhlosion and Hitmonlee. You might want to try to replace Gastrodon with it and see how it works Alright, done. Give Explosion over Return to Glalie, and use it as a lead. It is absolutely hilarious, I tell you. I was doing that originally, actually. I'm not really a fan of just going in and Exploding, but it has it's usefulness. Yes. Scarf is the only relevant set to my knowledge. Typically runs EQ/Outrage/Filler/Defog. It aims to be Hitmonlee-esque and remove hazards via High Offensive Pressure. However... Hitmonlee is typically better off as it can switch moves. Also it's probably better for you to try and predict their lead then to say this is my lead I will always lead with it. It is... no offense a strategy I think is kinda poor form in any tier. Trying to get lead match-up is important and it can really swing momentum one way or the other. Like if you put Delphox into something can't handle... you really won't be having fun as you either die... switch out and take a hit, or give the oppennat space to use status/Set-up hazards or them self. etc. I don't believe that "This is my lead and my only lead." is ever a good thing to lock yourself into. Also on a sidenote for Delphox, the utility in Switchroo is much better than really any other coverage options imo. Psyshock, Fire Blast, Dazzling Gleam and Grass Knot are really the only moves there is a point in running for attacks imo. ((with both Dazzling Gleam and Grass Knot being situational.)) Basically... if you're using Switchroo you can really save your own keister sometimes. Mostly crippling the hell out of walls, but you can sometimes lock set-up mons into set-up or similar things. Just keep it in mind, the move has a load of utility and shouldn't be passed up lightly.. Agreed, honestly, I was only doing this because I was low on the ladder. It worked most of the times however I'm getting smarter opponents now in the 1300's. I also picked up on yesterday that Scarf Jellicent does work. I've never seen one lead before and that's exactly what it did. Water Spout crushed my lead, but Gastrodon stopped it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chase Posted July 6, 2015 Share Posted July 6, 2015 Hitmonlee is a VERY scary Pokemon in RU. Scarf Reckless is one way to go about things - and the easiest way to deal with it is to get it locked into HJK on a Ghost type Pokemon - HOWEVER, Unburden Hitmonlee is particularly scary as well, especially if Liechi Berry or Normal Gem. Typhlosion is prone to getting it's Eruption damage lowered by priority attacks like Sucker Punch. If you're having a problem with Typhlosion -OR- Delphox for that matter, find something with Sucker Punch. This will also take care of offensive minded Mega-Banette - Utility MBannette will need to be played around Regular Meloetta ALSO doesn't like Sucker Punch - and a great check/counter for it is the seldom used Spiritomb - which carries the move. --- Don't let people tell you Glalie is only good for going boom. Not the case. Return is just fine - as Glalie is a fast Pokemon that will cause lots of damage even without being spent on the turn. --- Your team has a stark weakness to Fighting type attacks - and Durant's biggest use in RU was to counter fairy types that are no longer in the tier. Durant would be a good thing to swap out for Spiritomb - and Delphox outclasses Typhlosion imo. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lostelle Posted July 6, 2015 Author Share Posted July 6, 2015 I've made the changes, thanks a lot guys. I'll have to get used to them, as I have never used a Spiritomb or Delphox before. But these changes are looking great. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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