Black Hawk Down - An Assualt Vest Team

[Genesis]

Ok, so firstly I am very new to the whole competitive pokemon play. Before pokemon reborn I was the kind of player who stacked 3 fire moves on his Cyndaquil... With that in mind I have been playing on pokemon showdown for just over a month. And I will be bluntly honest. My team building skills suck. I can do pretty well in the random battles and it actually helps teach a lot of strategy, but when it comes to building my own teams, I always seem to end up missing vital things that wanna make me rage quit.

Now the basics of building a team as I have read is to have a goal in mind. So I decided to try with a few basic ideas. The first being a team full of walls and annoying pokemon. A lot of the time I would see battles going in to 100+ turns. I would win a few (mostly from people rage quitting) but that really isn't my style of playing. Especially if you are facing an opponent who likes to take their time every single turn to make a move.

Now I actually prefer playing in UU as opposed to OU, but with the team I have in mind I can unfortunately only play in OU. An item I have become very fond of recently is the assault vest. Having an item that boosts sp def so nicely and helps pokemon that is normally good become godly. Now I know that due to its restrictions having a team of 6 assault vest users is impractical. Who's gonna set up hazards, who's gonna support etc. So that's where you come in. So far the most annoying pokemon for me would be by far Clefable and Heatran. Clefable usually sets up too quickly for me to take it out and with its damn ability poisoning/ leach seed/ burn etc it doesn't help. Heatran usually just has too much bulk and I usually have nothing to take it out faster than it can heal. On the one team I had I used an assault vest Dragonite that could usually 2 shot with iron head (bonus if flinch) clefable and tank hits and had EQ for Heatran's. A lot of people would send in their fairies against Dragonite because they expected a different setup and that usually works nicely for me. However on the team I had if Dragonite was taken out by something early on the rest of the team gets knocked down by either a Clefable or Heatran.

My aim is to have a team capable of taking hits day in and day out but still being able to dish out the damage. I also want to have reliable checks for the most annoying pokemon (Clefable, Heatran, and weirdly setup Probopass)

So what I would like is some help building a team with 3 to 4 assualt vest users, a reliable hazards user and anything else that could support/ cover any weakness the Assault Vest users don' cover.

For Assault Vest User's I had the following in mind:

Dragonite @ Assault Vest

Multiscale

252 HP 252 SpD 4 Atk

Outrage (fullout power STAB)

Earthquake (deals with fire, rock stee;l types good damage)

Iron head (for fairies, the added flinch is always nice)

Extreme Speed (for when priority is needed)

Amoonguss @ Assault Vest
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Def / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
- Giga Drain
- Clear Smog
- Foul Play
- Hidden Power Fire / Hidden Power Ice

While it doesn't have spore it's still capable of sponging hits, an has built in recovery with regenarator and giga drain. Clear smog also helps with annoying setups if used in time. Foul play helps with the lack of attack.

Scizor @ Assault Vest

Ability: Technician
EVs: 248 HP / 112 Atk / 148 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Bullet Punch
- U-turn
- Pursuit
- Superpower

People usually see Scizor as all out offense and may expect it to be a Mega as well. I like U turn as it damages and brings in a switch. I just don't like the x4 fire weakness

The last one I was considering was:

Tyranitar @ Assault Vest

Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Atk / 252 SpD
Careful / Sassy Nature
- Crunch
- Pursuit
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge / Fire Blast

With sandstream and assault vest and investment in spd he becomes quite a monster.

Ok now the remaining is where I have trouble deciding. I could go the route of having no hazards, but 50% damage to Charizard and many other flying/ bug types comes in real handy when the whole team is mostly capable of only 2/3 shotting something. I am also missing toxic/ willow wisp which would help take out tanks/ physical attackers and since the team is all about spd, a physical attacker could do a number.

So I have the following ideas, but I am happy to take more

• Ferrothorn with rocky helmet - really good physical wall that makes physical attackers cry
• Parahax Jirachi which is just plain annoying
• Prankster Klefki - Is great for support in screens and spikes but has no stealth rock
• Mega Diancie - Magic bounce is always nice to bounce back hazards etc, but timing eh. Also it can do stealth rock, but with its stats it is seen to be more offensive and I have used it a few times only to see it get one shot before it can do anything at all.
• Really if there was something that had prankster and access to both Spikes and Stealth Rock that would be awesome.
• A heatran of my own for Hazards and annoyance, but I just really dont like this thing. I like clefable even less which is why I won't consider it
• Landorus Therain with a spiky helmet and intimidate makes it a pretty decent physcial wall as well. It also has access to moves like u turn and hazards

If you have any better ideas, better setups, or if you just think my idea in general is crap. Tell me. Like I said I suck at building TEAMS.

Edited March 31, 2016 by Genesis

[Exalted]

now sorry if i sounded like i thought you team before was all assault vest i did my bad i missed a line or 2 there a bad move the thing is tyranitar imo is the best assault vest user in there now a team pair up try this:

landorus T scarfed :u turn knock off earthquake and superpower

diancie:Protect moonblast psyshock and earthpower

klefki:thunder wave playrough reflect and light screen

Garchomp earthquake stealthrock fire blast dragon tail

excadrill sand rush:rapid spin earthquake rock slide ironhead

rotom:Volt switch hydro pump wilowisp and pain split

please feel free to alter the team i made was generally around sand

Edited March 31, 2016 by NovaKnight

[Ironbound]

Everyone makes a beginning. I suggest you spend some time researching movesets and strategies on Smogon.com. Be thorough with its Dex and all the viable (and non-viable) moves on the prominent Pokémon there, follow the Forums and try and grasp the basis of team building.

Why tell you stuff when someone else has already done it better? There are certain textbook terms and concepts that an aspiring competitive battler needs to know, and Smogon is the best place to start learning.

As for now, I can only say that AV is something you can simply slap on every Mon. I would be happy to elaborate, but I feel that it is not appropriate at this point of time; know however that team synergy is a must when building a team, and that you ought to decide what to use to win, why to use it and what it's flaws are, how to compensate for them with team members and what way to do so. These come with experience, don't worry, but only after a very solid theoretical understanding.

Edited March 31, 2016 by Viridescent

[Tomas Elliot]

Assault Vest is my fav item alongside Choice Band... But I would advice against using it on all 6 Pokemon. See, the problem is that a Pokemon that carries Assault Vest is completely exposed to status and has no recovery. To offset this, you need support from a cleric... But if all 6 Pokemon carry AV, none of them can play as a cleric.

So yeah, if you are still adamant on making a team with 6 AV users, here are some tips to play around this glaring problem:

1) Use Pokemon that have Regenerator.

2) Use Pokemon whose typing makes them immune to certain kinds of status.

3) Use Rapid Spin.

4) Use draining moves (Giga Drain, Drain Punch etc).

Some Pokemon that are useful with the above in mind:

1) Tornadus-T (has U-turn and Regen)

2) Raikou (forms a Volt-Turn core with the above, can switch into electric attacks aimed at the above, is immune to t-wave)

3) Amoonguss (has Regen AND Giga Drain, is immune to poison AND to powder moves)

4) Excadrill (immune to poison and to t-wave, has Rapid Spin)

5) Slowbro or Slowking (Regen, offensive and defensive synergy with Amoonguss)

6) Scrafty (bulky on both sides thanks to Intimidate, has Drain Punch)

7) Tangrowth (basically the same as Amoonguss, you are losing the immunity to poisoning to gain more offensive presence)

8) Heatran (immune to poisoning AND to WoW, in fact, it is the only Fire-type that is viable in OU with AV)

9) Tyranitar (doesn't have any of the mentioned perks, but between sand and AV, its SpDef reaches ridiculous levels)

There are probably more. Hope this helps.

[Genesis]

Thanks for all the advice guys and I don't mind any criticism. I welcome it since as I said I have no vision at the moment. I can see which pokemon are singularly good, but for me the hardest part is finding that synergy. I have been on Smogon a few times, but I will definitely do a lot more research. It just blows my mind with some of the ideas people come up with sometimes.

Also sorry if I caused any confusion with my first post, when I said I wanted an assault vest team, I didn't mean full team of 6. 3 to 4 users so that I had bulky pokemon that could take stuff down with enough support to cover the weaknesses of the team.

I will take everyone's advice with some team recommendations and give them a try to see what fits my playstyle best.

I think sometimes the hardest part about building a team is being limited to just 6 pokemon when there are so many excellent ones to choose from

[Genesis]

okay so I am trying this out and so far this is my best result:

http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/oususpecttest-352820002

I mainly shared the replay cos the sprites were whack I don't know why it doesn't show in the replay

the team is as follows:

So_Fly (Tornadus-Therian) @ Assault Vest

Ability: Regenerator

Shiny: Yes

EVs: 96 HP / 160 SpA / 252 Spe

Timid Nature

- Hurricane

- U-turn

- Knock Off

- Focus Blast

Grease_Lightning (Raikou) @ Assault Vest

Ability: Pressure

EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe

Timid Nature

- Volt Switch

- Toxic

- Hidden Power [ice]

- Extrasensory

Minaj_Lips (Amoonguss) (F) @ Black Sludge

Ability: Regenerator

Shiny: Yes

EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpA / 252 SpD

Calm Nature

- Spore

- Giga Drain

- Clear Smog

- Foul Play

Yer_A_Dragon_Larry (Dragonite) @ Assault Vest

Ability: Multiscale

EVs: 244 HP / 12 Atk / 252 SpD

- Extreme Speed

- Outrage

- Iron Head

- Earthquake

Am_I_High (Slowbro) @ Leftovers

Ability: Regenerator

Shiny: Yes

EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD

Bold Nature

- Slack Off

- Scald

- Thunder Wave

- Toxic

U_Mad_Bro? (Heatran) @ Leftovers

Ability: Flash Fire

EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpA / 4 SpD

Modest Nature

- Lava Plume

- Stealth Rock

- Taunt

- Earth Power

Some things I have noticed off hand. I need to take toxic off of Raikou (noob error). I am also missing a spikes user and willow wisp (to cripple physical attackers),. DO you see anything or have any recommendations for this team?

[Ironbound]

Buddy, I don't see a MEGA. Granted, you don't need one technically, but why handicap yourself?

Also, noon error of Toxic, as you say, on AV raikou. You'd do better with Thunderbolt as a reliable, powerful STAB to hit things with without switching out, and I guess having Shadow Ball or Signal Beam is better. Extrasensory only helps vs Mega Venusaur, really, for which you have Tornadus-T anyway. Signal Beam hits Celebi, Latias and Latios for more than HP Ice, and more importantly also hits Hoopa-U for x4 damage, helping you get rid of it.

Also, you are still not using AV correctly if you want to have it on Dragonite. AV cripples Dragonite, which is meant to use its already excellent bulk thanks to Multiacale to set up Dragon Dances and sweep. (Also, Iron Head is never really used on any Dragonite.)

You don't have anything to apply offensive pressure. All you can do is switch around weakly with U-turn and Volt Switch, and into a bunch of slow, fat mons which can't deal with things like DD Zard X and SD Sandrill and most set up sweepers once slowbro is gone (which puts huge pressure on it)

You don't need Spikes, rather, you need a way to remove hazards. I notice you don't have a Defogger or Rapid Spinner, which is mandatory on a fat team like this. Considering using a Latias or a bulky Starmie.

I suggest you turn that Dragonite into a Charizard X of your own,and turn Heatran into a full SpDef set (check Smogon for the spread) with Taunt or Roar so you have a way to deal with Bulk Up Tflame, CM Clefable and QD Volc, among other things. Zard X can use a defensive WoW set it you really want it to, though as I said you're best with a DD set.

Hope it helps, and be seeing you.

Edited April 2, 2016 by Viridescent

[Genesis]

Thanks a lot for the suggestions, will definitely be putting them into practise. The iron head on Dragonite was to deal with Clefables, but I get your reasoning. You have already mentioned a lot of ways to deal with a number of the problems I have already experienced