Checkmate: An OU weatherless RMT (peak #1!)

[slant]

TEAM AT A GLANCE:

INTRODUCTION/TEAM BUILDING:

Hi everyone, I'm back to present another team! This one hit #1 on the ladder waaaaay back (unfortunately I didn't think to take screenshots but oh well). Anyways the team building process is pretty simple. The team is based around two offensive powerhouses: Breloom and Chandelure. What is awesome about these two is that if the opponent gives them just a single opportunity to switch in for free, then they will fuck some shit up. Chandelure's ability and ridiculous special attack almost guarantee that I will take out an enemy pokemon every time I switch in, while Breloom can incapacitate a slower foe, set up substitute, and proceed to be a pain in the ass. OK, great. Well...how do I switch them in for free? Answer: VOLT TURN. Once I had this stroke of inspiration, the rest of the team members were almost obvious and the team fell into place easily.

This RMT is presented with a chess theme (hence the title), since playing with this team requires you to think several steps ahead. Also, the whole volt-turn thing has a whole 'checkmate' vibe, i.e. "I don't care what you do, I'm u-turning and you'll be behind no matter what."

TEAM IN DETAIL

Dragon Variation (Chandelure) (M) @ Choice Scarf

Trait: Shadow Tag

EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd

Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)

- Overheat

- Shadow Ball

- Hidden Power [ice]

- Energy Ball

Nothing much to say, everyone on the ladder is familiar with this guy. Basically nothing is safe from Chandelure besides pink blobs, as STAB overheat takes a big chunk out of everything, and the other moves provide coverage that is only resisted by a handful of pokemon. This guy nets me multiple kills each match unless I do something stupid. Occasionally Chandelure will double as a spin blocker for me, but usually I will let the opponent spin away hazards since if I mispredict and let Chandy die, half of my offensive presence is gone. HP Ice is invaluable as it gives me a good answer to dragon types, and also kicks Gliscor's ass, who would otherwise walk all over this team. Energy ball is for coverage (sup Gastrodon), while Shadow ball is a nice spammable attack late game.

King's Gambit (Breloom) (M) @ Leftovers

Trait: Technician

EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd

Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk)

- Substitute

- Spore

- Mach Punch

- Bullet Seed

I was kind of on the fence about technician Breloom, but boy was I wrong. Yeah, poison heal is awesome and protects from status yadda yadda, but technician just turns Breloom into an absolute offensive killer. Give it one turn to set up (hi walls!) and it will go on a fucking rampage. Its mediocre speed is kind of a letdown, but usually in matches Breloom will be behind a sub if it's against something that outspeeds it. Breloom's bullet seed decimates most pokemon on rain teams, while on sand teams, Breloom's mach punch checks Tyranitar and Excadrill. Leftovers on this guy to give it more survivability - the extra power from life orb is not needed as I want to keep it alive as long as possible.

Four Knights (Scizor) (F) @ Choice Band

Trait: Technician

EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 SDef

Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)

- Bullet Punch

- U-turn

- Superpower

- Pursuit

Your basic CB Scizor and the first part of my volt-turn core, unchanged from diamond/pearl. What can I say about him that hasn't been said before? It makes for a fantastic pivot, boasting resistances to 10 of the 17 types. In particular, it is invaluable in tanking outrages, and in a pinch it can also take a draco meteor too if its at full health. Most of the time I am either U-turning or bullet punching - I only use Superpower or pursuit on rare occasions (to trap fleeing Latios/latias/choice scarfed chandelure, or if Blissey is the last pokemon for example). Scizor and Breloom make a fantastic late-game cleaning duo, with technician boosted bullet punch and mach punch doing ridiculous amounts of damage.

Sicilian Defence (Chansey) (F) @ Eviolite

Trait: Natural Cure

EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 Spd

Bold Nature (+Def, -Atk)

- Stealth Rock

- Seismic Toss

- Softboiled

- Wish

The glue to my team, whenever I think a high-powered attack is coming my way 90% of the time I switch to Chansey. It is my wall for both physical and special attacks, barring fighting moves which are taken with ease by both Xatu and Chandelure. With its beastly bulkiness, it is almost guaranteed to have a chance at some point during the game to set up stealth rocks for me, which are important since my volt turn strategy causes lots of switches. Softboiled and seismic toss are self-explanatory, while wish gives me a chance to keep the rest of my team members healthy. I am too lazy to do damage calcs, but eviolite chansey is roughly 100000000x bulkier than its evolution Blissey (scientifically speaking, a metric shit ton bulkier), and if played properly, just does not die. I wish I could fit in toxic somewhere to increase its offensive presence and maybe deal with last pokemon stat uppers though. One last thing - Chansey is usually my #1 switch in to Chandelure. If its choice scarfed, fine, but if its the calm mind variant then I am completely fucked.

Najdorf Variation (Xatu) (F) @ Leftovers

Trait: Magic Bounce

EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SAtk

Bold Nature (+Def, -Atk)

- Reflect

- Roost

- U-turn

- Psychic

Dopeyness aside, Xatu counters a whole slew of random pokemon, including (but not limited to), Breloom, Ferrothorn, Forretress, etc. In addition, its 4x fighting resistance makes it a perfect switch in to fighting attacks aimed at Chansey. A bit about how I play with Xatu: My first priority is to keep hazards off my side - if I deem it necessary, I will sacrifice Xatu to achieve that. This means for example, that against lead Tyranitar, I will always switch in Xatu to reflect back stealth rock. If Tyranitar uses crunch instead and KOs Xatu, I can switch in Scizor and nab momentum.

If I play correctly, Xatu will keep hazards off my side of the team and still be in commission during midgame. Once that happens, its u-turn works in tandem with Scizor and Rotom, slowly chipping off my enemies health or giving Breloom or Chandelure a free switch in. In particular, u-turn also allows me to escape enemy Chandelure that think they can trap Xatu and nab a quick KO off shadow ball. Reflect is indispensable for Xatu, enhancing its survivability and allowing it to wall tons of physical pokemon (it even does fine against lead Tyranitar behind a reflect!). Psychic is purely to deal damage and takes a chunk out of some random pokemon. I primarily use it to deal with enemy Conkeldurr.

I have tried using a rapid spinner in Xatu's place, but it did not meet my expectations and did not fit into the overall offensive playstyle of the team. First, I need u-turn to keep momentum, which all rapid spinners lack, and second I don't have a turn to waste rapid spinning when I could be doing something else.

Ruy Lopez (Rotom-W) @ Choice Scarf

Trait: Levitate

EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd

Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)

- Volt Switch

- Hydro Pump

- Trick

- Sunny Day

My ace in the hole. Nobody expects this moveset, and to be honest maybe its because its a little dumb, but I think the surprise factor more than makes up for it. Volt switch is obvious and completes my volt-turn core. Hydro miss I barely ever use, usually only when I predict that a electric immunity is switching in to take my volt switch. Trick is indispensable, and helps me take out threats that would otherwise kick my ass (stat uppers such as CM Keldeo come to mind). Finally, sunny day is what makes this set unique. Usually my opponent will see that I don't have a weather inducer and sacrifice their own, only for me to take away their weather with sunny day afterwards. With rotom's fantastic set of resistances and (sometimes) blazing speed thanks to his scarf, it can usually find an opportunity to change the weather. Unfortunately against sunny day teams this trick doesn't work, but the upper echelons of the ladder usually run sandstorm and rain. This guy is ALWAYS my lead.

THREATS:

DD Dragonite: In order to counter this badass, I have to a) break its multiscale, either with U-turn, volt switch, or SR, switch in Chandelure and hope it's not a CB variant, and c) risk the speed tie to take it out with HP ice (however most dnites are adamant, not jolly, meaning that chandelure outspeeds). Sometimes HP ice doesn't KO bulkier versions, meaning I have to revenge with Scizor's bullet punch. I can also trick scarf onto him, although if it runs substitute I am boned.

Chandelure: Breloom, Scizor, and Xatu are easily taken out by this guy, while Chansey is taken out by CM versions. Luckily CS versions are worn down by stealth rock, which Chansey sets up easily and 90% of all the Chandelures I've seen run scarf.

Keldeo: CM versions are "countered" by tricking Rotom's scarf onto them. If that doesn't work I am fucked since water/fighting takes a big chunk out of everything. If I am backed up against a wall, I can take it out with a combination of Rotom's volt switch, chandelure's energy ball, and mach punch Breloom, but obviously if I'm sacrificing 2 or 3 pokemon to KO this guy, it does not fit under the definition of "counter".

Morning sun volcarona: Usually I bring in Chansey against Volcarona. Without morning sun, Chansey narrowly beats it. If it does carry morning sun though, it can easily continue boosting and by the time I figure out it is a morning sun variant it is too late to disable it by tricking a scarf onto it.

CONCLUSION

I think the premise behind this team is very powerful. This team is played very offensively with the exception of Xatu and Chansey. Roughly, the gameplan is as follows: In the early stages of the match, I try to set up Stealth rock and keep enemy hazards off my side of the field. In mid game, I volt turn to slowly whittle down my opponent's pokemon, although if there is a chance to switch in Breloom or Chandelure, I usually go for it as usually it means that I can take out a pokemon or two and put my opponent too far behind to catch up. Finally in late game, I attempt to sweep, depending on who is left. This is not a problem, as 4 of my 6 pokemon can function as late-game cleaners. CS Rotom and Chandelure naturally have high speed and spatk, while Breloom and Scizor can put severe hurt on the opponent with their technician boosted STAB priority moves.

Finally as a side note, it is usually not the end of the world if the opponent manages to get a few entry hazards up: 3 of my pokemon are immune to toxic spikes, 2 are immune to spikes, and stealth rock is super effective on 2 of my pokemon. However I would like to disregard Chandelure in these calculations. Yeah its opportunities to switch in become more limited, but the way I play it, I only switch in Chandelure if it is for free and if it is guaranteed to take out the opposing pokemon. If I really get the opportunity to only switch in 3-4 times, that's ok because it means that I'm taking out 3-4 of the opponent's pokemon putting me in the lead anyways.

I am retiring this team since it has been proven already on the ladder. I will not be tinkering with it any further, but I just wanted to share with the Reborn community. Please feel free to try it out and let me know what you think.

Export:

Rotom-W @ Choice Scarf

Trait: Levitate

EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd

Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)

- Volt Switch

- Hydro Pump

- Trick

- Sunny Day

Xatu (F) @ Leftovers

Trait: Magic Bounce

EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SAtk

Bold Nature (+Def, -Atk)

- Reflect

- Roost

- U-turn

- Psychic

Chandelure (M) @ Choice Scarf

Trait: Shadow Tag

EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd

Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)

- Overheat

- Shadow Ball

- Hidden Power [ice]

- Energy Ball

Scizor (F) @ Choice Band

Trait: Technician

EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 SDef

Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)

- Bullet Punch

- U-turn

- Superpower

- Pursuit

Breloom (M) @ Leftovers

Trait: Technician

EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd

Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk)

- Substitute

- Spore

- Mach Punch

- Bullet Seed

Chansey (F) @ Eviolite

Trait: Natural Cure

EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 Spd

Bold Nature (+Def, -Atk)

- Stealth Rock

- Seismic Toss

- Softboiled

- Wish

Edited August 29, 2012 by slant

[Skwayz]

Ohai dude.

The team is my kind of team; gain the momentum with rotom/zor and you got a free switch-in for chandy. So y'know, it's pro, cuz you're pro n everything.

On a 'classical' server, I would suggest you to get rid of Xatu because of the team preview; but it work just fine on reborn. Chansey is probably the most remplaceable member of the team, break the whole volt-turn thing, and as you said on the threat list, it's really set-up bait without T-wave.

Then you're really weak to all those SS abusers, who just come and dang your team badly, sunny say on rotom can't stop them.

Because you got Xatu; why don't switch Blissey with Choice scarf latios. C.scarf latios allow you to outspeed kingdra, if he doesn't run a jolly/timid version, same for ludicolo. Chlorophyls users such as HP fire venusaur beat you under sun (chansey can't do a shit), another reason to use scarf latios who OHKO venu/victribeel. You're now weak to liligant, but heh, liligant on reborn.It also check your Dnite lil problem.

Latios (M) @ Choice Scarf

Trait: Levitate

EVs: 252 SAtk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd

Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)

- Draco Meteor

- Trick

- Surf

- Psychic

Psychic>Psyshock cuz it's guarranted OHKO on venu.

If I could luvdisc'd it, I would dude. Niway, cya :3.

[Lil' Baby Rupe]

Hey man, I remember a long time ago getting constantly 6-0'd by this team on the ladder, and it truly is a well-made team, especially considering the lack of weather.

There are only a few changes I would make, and those are only small things.

1. Xatu moveset: I think a different moveset would be greatly beneficial to your team. Switching your Leftovers to a Light Clay would extend the duration of your screens, protecting your volt turn core for a longer duration of time.

On to the moveset: Run Light Clay > Roost/Psychic/U-turn (preferable roost), while this takes away from a reliable recovery move, it'll protect your entire team from special attacks, completing the dual screens and helping retain both your attackers' health as well as your volt turn core.

2. Rotom-W: The only change I would make to rotom-W is Hidden Power[ice] > Sunny day. I do see where you're coming from with sunny day, and it has probably done you well, but HP[ice] allows you to beat dnite if it chooses to set up, or if it has already lost its multiscale.

[Kamina]

Woah it is quite superb. i have tried the team and i got pretty high in ladder (top twenty). the pokes have quite a nice synergy. The only thing i might fix is what rupe had stated earlier which is giving rotom hp instead of sunny day especially since you scarfed it. Being stuck on Sunny day most likely gives your opponent a free switch in or to set up. other than that nice team!!!!!

[Dark Desire]

Nice team slant c: hope you make more RTM's in the future !

[Jelly]

I love the chess theme slant!

[Yakumo Yukari]

Superb analysis.

[is reading to learn up on competitive Pokemon like a noob should]

Might I ask: Is Sunny Day truly necessary? I can see your reasons for using it, though I'm on the fence about it. You might /really/ want to get something that counters Keldeo in full if he just decimates your team as you say he does.

[slant]

A lot of people have been asking me about hp ice vs sunny day on Rotom-w. It boils down to personal preference, there have been MANY times when hp ice would have saved my ass against dragonite, and MANY times when the surprise sunny day screwed my opponent over.

As for Chansey, yes it does kill my momentum but on the other hand I desperately need a tank to switch into those high powered rain boosted surfs, sun boosted fire blasts, etc. All the other team members cannot really take a hit.

Another possible option would be a bulky latias with wish/roar/dragon pulse/protect. This would fill a similar role to Chansey and as a bonus resists both of Keldeo's stabs. The drawback is that I'd lose stealth rock, and also a bit of bulk.

Thanks for the rates everyone!