We're All Buddies (Reborn League Team)

[The Fush]

Hello here, Roo, your average monkey, stopping by for another RMT. My previous one was my hipster team in the UU tier.

After brushing through 6 badges of the Reborn League, I realized how my current team had 4 fighting weaknesses and therefore could be destroyed by Samson. I knew I would never make it through the League this way. So I decided to make a new Reborn League team.

During it's testing phase, this team got on decently well, winning more than half of my battles, both in Singles, Doubles, and Triples. I modified it a bit, and now I am presenting it to you. Please note that this team is partly influenced by personal choice, so feel free to see if there are better pokemon that can cover my team.

Building Process

I tend to like offensive power in my leads. Since Azelf can't be used in the Reborn League, I decided to opt for the next best thing, Archeops (it's a dodo).

Deciding on an offensive core with defensive bulk, I first added on Darmanitan; good coverage and monstrous attacking power (and it looks hilarious).

I knew I would also need a powerful Special Attacker to combat in lead, but I was worried about the result of using two scarfers. Because of this, I decided on Gengar, who can Trick his scarf away to shut down stallers if needed.

To help out my offense, I now searched for another powerhouse who also had impressive bulk, and helps out the previous members of my team. Conkeldurr fitted this role very well.

I lacked in special defense, and Cradily perfectly makes up for that (and is also a great special attacker too!).

With my basic needs covered, I looked for something that could cover my weaknesses. Zoroark was capable of this role, and was a trickster aswell!

A Closer Peek Look

Die To Live (Archeops) (M) @ Flying Gem

Trait: Defeatist (A Bitch)

EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd

Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk)

- Stone Edge

- U-turn

- Taunt

- Acrobatics

This is a very underestimated lead. It can Taunt, U-turn out and deal very significant damage. Flying Gem + Acrobatics is a good combo, and can deal great damage even when under the chain of Defeatist. Stone Edge is there for another STAB (here's hoping Game Freak will give Archeops Unbranded...).

Why Archeops in particular?: Simply because it can deal great damage and shut down other leads at the same time. It fills the Azelf role decently too, and this team focuses on offense.

Funky Kong (Darmanitan) (M) @ Choice Scarf

Trait: Sheer Force

EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd

Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)

- Flare Blitz

- Earthquake

- Stone Edge

- U-turn

While normally better under sun, this beast is a powerhouse no matter what. It has great coverage, and outspeeds some very notable enemies under the power of a Scarf. There's not much to say about this beast apart from the fact that it can also U-turn!

Why Stone Edge rather than Superpower?: I felt that Superpower heavily diminished Darmanitan's sweeping capabilities. Later pokemon on the team will cover up for the lack of this move.

Trollery (Gengar) (M) @ Choice Scarf

Trait: Levitate

EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd

Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk)

- Energy Ball

- Shadow Ball

- Trick

- Focus Blast

Gengar is one tricky fella. It's fast as hell and just as strong, and can use this power in more ways than one. Trick can ruin any stalls (though it has to be used carefully) that try to stop this monster, and it's amazing speed, combined with a Scarf, will decimate many (counters included) opponents. Focus Blast makes the Dark types run for their mommys, while Energy ball stops the opposing nature in it's tracks.

WHY THE HELL ARE YOU USING TWO SCARFERS?: Without speed, Gengar lacks the surprise factor it needs. Trick will substitute to get another item if needed.

Why Modest nature?: Gengar needs the power if it's running Scarf, and I was worried if it's battling capability would be diminished if it was both slow and not as powerful without Scarf.

Granny (Conkeldurr) (F) @ Expert Belt

Trait: Iron Fist

EVs: 172 HP / 252 Atk / 84 Def

Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)

- Bulk Up

- Drain Punch

- ThunderPunch

- Mach Punch

At first I was considering Guts, but I didn't want to ruin this titan's amazing bulk. Iron Fist makes Punches look like Nuclear Warheads, and Bulk Up fits in with the EVs for this monster. Drain Punch only further increases Conkerldurr's tank power, and Mach Punch makes up for it's low speed... speaking of which, the low speed on this thing makes it a good Trick Room stopper.

Why an Expert Belt?: This item gives the same bonus power as a Life Orb when an attack is super effective, without a HP loss. This increases the tanking capability.

Why Thunderpunch in particular?: I felt it gave the most coverage this thing had that the rest of the team lacked.

Kefka (Zoroark) (M) @ Expert Belt

Trait: Illusion

EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd

Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)

- Substitute

- Nasty Plot

- Dark Pulse

- Flamethrower

This decision was made late into the team, where I was looking for something that covered my weaknesses. Zoroark has Dark Pulse to destroy the ghosts that troubled my team, and Flamethrower was a seller considering only Darmanitan had a fire move. Substitute and Nasty Plot were to be used under the disguise of Illusion, and to upset the enemy stalls.

What made you choose Zoroark in particular?: The coverage and utility. I originally had Exploud here, but it didn't have enough speed to compensate.

Thardus (Cradily) (M) @ Leftovers

Trait: Storm Drain

EVs: 120 Def / 136 SAtk / 252 SDef

Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk)

- Barrier

- Recover

- Giga Drain

- Earth Power

The special bulk of this team, it is a favorite of mine, and has surprising special attacking power too. Storm Drain is amazing for a free boost, and Giga Drain is another way to increase the tanking power. Barrier is there for the lack of good physical defense, and Earth Power is there for coverage. Recover only further cement's Cradily's spot in this team.

why not a Toxic stalling set?: Stall isn't really my thing, and this team is offensive-based. Also, the Reborn League involves double and triple battles aswell, where the power of stall is reduced.

Wynaut HP EVs?: Cradily has plenty of HP, and not much defense. I felt Defense was the more important thing to cover.

Synergy-Kun

This team is based on covering each other's weaknesses with offensive power. However, there is a technique on my double and triple battling that I call "Trollquake".

Darmanitan has earthquake, Gengar has Levitate and Archeops is a flying type. Touché.

Thank You For Reading This RMT.

Please keep in mind when looking at my team that this is a team for the Reborn League, where I face leaders wielding monotype teams. Also, I am allowed to change my EVs and IVs during the league for specific situations, so keep this in mind when rating.

Thank you for your time.

[diana]

I've personally faced this... well, I've been the main test subject. There's onyly one thing I can think of, and that's Ice Punch>ThunderPunch on Conkeldurr. Overall though, I really like it, so 9/10.

[The Fush]

I've personally faced this... well, I've been the main test subject. There's onyly one thing I can think of, and that's Ice Punch>ThunderPunch on Conkeldurr. Overall though, I really like it, so 9/10.

Thunderpunch was mainly to cover Water types, which I noticed I didn't have much power against, apart from Cradily. It covered flying aswell, and ground hasn't been much of a problem to me, so Ice Punch isn't really something I care to use.

I'm aware it destroys dragon types, but I've noticed dragon types don't have any dirt on me either, so the contest is equal that way.

[Eternal Edge]

Kefka <3

[The Fush]

Kefka <3

My favorite final fantasy villain.

Who doesn't like a psychotic powerful jester who's more powerful than the gods and has a heavily symbolic piece of music and background?

[Kamina]

pretty good for doubles! But why list evs and items if you can change them whenever you want to

[The Fush]

pretty good for doubles! But why list evs and items if you can change them whenever you want to

Because they're the base EVs and items, the unedited version. They're what I'll use, because it's rare to change that stuff throughout the league. It's only really changed when it comes to Trick Room.

[Dakkokki]

Shroomish

[Joker]

Looks great to me, only thing that could potentially be a problem is Archeops. It's gonna be hard to keep that thing healthy enough to do decent damage. I'd still try it out, anyway. If Archeops doesn't work out, give Crobat, or Aerodactyl a shot.

[The Fush]

Looks great to me, only thing that could potentially be a problem is Archeops. It's gonna be hard to keep that thing healthy enough to do decent damage. I'd still try it out, anyway. If Archeops doesn't work out, give Crobat, or Aerodactyl a shot.

It's surprised enemy leads quite well, due to Taunt. I was actually considering Aerodactyl earlier, but I couldn't resist the acrogem combo.

I'll take a look at Crobat, though.

The only thing that seems too threatening to Archeops for me is Stealth Rocks, which isn't all that common in League.

EDIT: Probably won't use Crobat, leaves a big Psychic weakness in my team.

[Summer]

I forgot to point this out to you before. For synergy, it's cool you can have two floating Pokemon to avoid EQ, but when one of them falls, your combo is ruined. I would suggest another flyer/Ground Resist to pull off the combo. Also, Life Orb is a great surprise factor for Darmanitian. Zoroark is cool non-preview, but leaders can see it on your team. This means once you used a move, you've revealed yourself. Better to get Zoroark to share one of its moves (ie Sub on Zoroark and Cradily). Or replace it with Starmie. Thus enabling the Surf+Storm Drain Combo. It's also fast and resists fightning, in case Gengar dies.

[Ringabel]

I would go with stealth rock over earth over on Thardus. It kills Old Benny Boy. And any leader who uses a type weak to rock type moves. And stealth rock is good at most if not all times.

[The Fush]

I forgot to point this out to you before. For synergy, it's cool you can have two floating Pokemon to avoid EQ, but when one of them falls, your combo is ruined. I would suggest another flyer/Ground Resist to pull off the combo. Also, Life Orb is a great surprise factor for Darmanitian. Zoroark is cool non-preview, but leaders can see it on your team. This means once you used a move, you've revealed yourself. Better to get Zoroark to share one of its moves (ie Sub on Zoroark and Cradily). Or replace it with Starmie. Thus enabling the Surf+Storm Drain Combo. It's also fast and resists fightning, in case Gengar dies.

The combo isn't vital to use throughout the whole battle (heck, it's no use against Ciel), and in double battles it will last longer. Earthquake still retains it's original purpose in battle of being coverage, and finding another thing immune to it risks ruining my synergy. That, and Conkeldurr can tank it rather well too.

The problem with getting Starmie and giving it surf is that only Cradily can make use of it/not be affected. This makes it the most useful in double battles, which are rather uncommon in the league, and any other member will not enjoy the surf. I have no reason to use Starmie other than this, because all it'll do is stop me from using the dark type moves which I desire to stop ghost types.

Darmanitan may have surprise factor with life orb, but without speed it won't matter anyways; the gym leaders care more about setting up their own strategies then countering mine, meaning that whatever they're doing will make Darmanitan fall quickly. HOWEVER, in the case of facing a Trick Room team like Noel's, where my speed will be redundant, I will definetely keep Life Orb on Damy here as an option (since items are changeable throughout league).

Oh, and if you're worried about fighting types, my team is more suited to countering enemies with offense than defense. I'll use conkeldurr if I need to take a hit, Acrobatics will DECIMATE them, and fighting types have a tendency to have another type that gives them a weakness (e.g Lucario).

Zoroark is rather frail, meaning that I'll tend to use it for a quick bombing rather than a drawn out war. This means that I don't really plan to use Substitute if it's impersonating Conkeldurr or Archeops, per say. That, and Zoroark is more here to cover my team's weaknesses rather than be it's core, because Illusion can be a little bit shaky to rely on at times.

I would go with stealth rock over earth over on Thardus. It kills Old Benny Boy. And any leader who uses a type weak to rock type moves. And stealth rock is good at most if not all times.

The problem with using stealth rocks in league is that:

• Every team is monotype, so while Stealth Rocks will decimate some, it'll do nothing to others.
  
• In triple battles, switch ins are not as common, and rocks are harder to set up.
  

Also, Earth Power is needed because it's a ground attack that, unlike Earthquake, won't run the risk of ruining my team (that, and it also covers the special side).

[FraRPetO]

But Stealth Rock makes Focus Sash useless, and many leaders use it

[Vex]

Archeops would be such a great Pokemon if not for Defeatist.. Otherwise from him it's a nice team and good luck in the League.

[The Fush]

But Stealth Rock makes Focus Sash useless, and many leaders use it

Something I usually have trouble with when setting up Stealth rocks is the risk of letting the enemy set up, e.g Bennett's Volcarona and Yanmega, Titania's Scizor. Putting it on Cradily would mean running the risk of putting it in later in the fight, and therefore being useless, and if I make Archeops use it, Defeatist is bound to haunt me many times. That, and Cradily doesn't make a very good lead.

It's not a bad a idea, using rocks in league, but it's something that has trouble fitting into my team. I prefer a more direct way of defeating the enemy, and when facing a monotype team, there's usually a common weakness that could be the bane of them (except for Sigmund QQ).

Archeops would be such a great Pokemon if not for Defeatist.. Otherwise from him it's a nice team and good luck in the League.

People underestimate Archeops because of Defeatist. It's main role in my team is to shut down set-ups on the enemy's side (something that it has no trouble doing, even when Defeatist is active), and to wreck as much as it can before dying out. It has the speed and power to do this.

[diana]

Both of you, it's a really nice thought, except one key thing.

-It's really a hyper offense team, besides Cradily. Entry hazards don't really fit in at all here, unless you want Stealth Rocks>Taunt on Archeops, therefor reducing effectiveness since it won't be able to shut down things like Volcarona and Scizor that could otherwise wreck everything

[Iolite]

Maybe Aerodactyl > Archeops? It's the same typing. Aero is faster, so you can band it / run Adamant. You can take out the pokes that set up TR.

[The Fush]

Maybe Aerodactyl > Archeops? It's the same typing. Aero is faster, so you can band it / run Adamant. You can take out the pokes that set up TR.

Conkeldurr and Cradily were on this team especially to stop Trick Room users (btw Conkeldurr>Noel), and banding Aerodactyl would ruin the chance of using stealth rocks on this team, ever. Also, getting another choice item would make my team have nightmares against stallers and Cursed Body. Archeops has a far higher attack stat to make up for the slightly lower speed (with a jolly nature to substitute), and even has better coverage (in reconsideration, Archeops also has Crunch). As said before, Aerodactyl was tested before, but I ultimately preffered Archeops.

Both of you, it's a really nice thought, except one key thing.

-It's really a hyper offense team, besides Cradily. Entry hazards don't really fit in at all here, unless you want Stealth Rocks>Taunt on Archeops, therefor reducing effectiveness since it won't be able to shut down things like Volcarona and Scizor that could otherwise wreck everything

...Are you saying my Cradily isn't offensive? D:<