Suggestions for my team

[kostaras]

So, having completed the main story of EP17 (and some of the sidequests) I want to focus on making a good team to prepare for EP18. Any suggestions about movesets and/or different pokemon are appreciated.

Here is the comp as it stands now:

 

Blaziken: Jolly @ Expert Belt (or Blazikenite Ame pls)

      Ability: Speed Boost

      EVs: 252 Atk, 252 Spe, 4 HP

• Bulk Up
• Hi Jump Kick
• Flare Blitz
• Shadow Claw

 

My starter. Can be a force to be reckoned with after setting up 1 or 2 Bulk Ups with Speed Boost. Even if it falls in battle, it will usually take 1 or 2 enemy Pokemon with it.

 

 

Amoonguss: Calm @ Black Sludge

      Ability: Regenerator

      EVs: 252 HP, 40 Def, 216 Sp.Def

• Spore
• Giga Drain
• Synthesis
• Clear Smog

Spore is the best move in the game. I can't tell you how many times I've had Amoonguss switch in on a threat, Spore it and then safely go out to something else to beat it.

 

 

Alomomola: Bold @ Leftovers

      Ability: Regenerator

      EVs; 40 HP, 252 Def, 216 Sp.Def

• Scald
• Toxic
• Wish
• Protect

I had Milotic in this slot, but the healing from Wish and the ability to stall against some Pokemon brings a lot of utility.

 

 

Garchomp: Jolly @ Dragonium-Z

      Ability: Rough Skin

      EVs: 252 Atk, 252 Spe, 4 Sp.Def

• Stealth Rocks
• Stomping Tantrum (Soon to be Earthquake... soon)
• Outrage
• Stone Edge

A very solid Pokemon. I can start with it up front on almost every battle and either set up Rocks or kill something if it feels like a big enough threat.

 

 

Metagross: Adamant @ Assault Vest

      Ability: Clear Body

      EVs: 252 HP, 160 Atk, 98 Sp.Def

• Meteor Mash
• Bullet Punch
• Pursuit
• Thunder Punch

 

This pokemon took so long to train that I'm sweating at the thought. Whenever I see a Psychic or Fairy type, Metagross will most likely be there to beat them to the ground. I hope. Thunder Punch could be swapped out for Ice Punch, I haven't decided yet.

 

 

Alakazam: Timid @ Life Orb

      Ability: Magic Guard

      EVs: 252 Sp.Atk, 252 Spe, 4 HP

• Psychic
• Dazzling Gleam
• Shadow Ball
• Recover

 

Last but not least, we have Alakazam. Thank God we got Dazzling Gleam because Alakazam's movepool is absolute trash, only saved by how powerful a STAB LO Psychic can be.

 

 

And that's it. This is my main team. I was hesitant at first having 2 Psychic types on the same team and one of my main thoughts is whether or not I could (and should) swap Metagross out for say an Aegislash.

Feel free to suggest things, and I hope the formatting isn't too bad.

Thanks in advance.

[Tamamonomae]

It is a good looking team I was going to  say if you could switch Alomomola for vapreon, but the are essentially the say difference being the switch in instead a physical bulk it would be special bulk with vapreon, and for amoonguss it could be replaced by breloom if you would like bu that would give you a second fighting type like with the psychics, but other than that it feels like a solid team.

Edited June 28, 2018 by tamamonomae0

[LBP2]

I would suggest you to add a Ground Immunity/resistance in this team, otherwise you wouldn't have any solid switch on Earthquakes etc. For the story it should be fine I guess, Momo can take hits, just watch out for Diggersby/Exca/Mamo. Maybe Skarm can do the job, it's easy to find and you can create a nice Hazard Stacking strat that works really good with Kazam.

[Trufa]

I think your team lacks against Ghost types. You have two moves against it, one from a psychic pokemon. As it not STAB and most of Ghost mons have good Sp. Def, the first turn will be hit (because of Alakazam great speed) but it is most likely to be taken out on the next turn, because of its weakness to Ghost. Shadow Claw may work fine for Blaziken with Bulk Up set, but I'll get into it.

 

Now some personal preferences:

Blaziken would be better with Adamant (highest offensive possible) because it will gain speed through Speed Boost, and it usually outspeed most of its foes. I don't like Flare Blitz because of recoil. I woudl go with High Jump Kick and Blaze Kick, than change Expert Belt for Wide Lens, so it will never miss any of those moves. I would also change Shadow Claw for Thunder Punch. Gives coverage and I think it'll work better than Shadow Claw.

 

I can't tell much about Amoonguss. I don't like Slow mons, it compensates with bulkiness, but lacks in fire power, and I'm all about power. I would suggest Roserade, same typing, fast and stronger. The problem is that it won't have a lot of reliable options to Spore and Clear Smog, only Toxic Spikes. If you like it, keep it, I wouldn't know how to use it myself. I like the idea of Breelom too.

 

I wouldn't use Alomomola, I just don't like it. I can argue about design and Speed. I also like the idea of Vaporeon, same speed, but way more powerful. Both, I think that lack in versatile movepool. I would go with Starmie Psychic, Scald and Power Gem, you could also use Recover with the same intention as Wish. Slowking would be nice too, still bulkier but with best movepool. Other good options would be Kingdra, Gyarados, Azumarill and Empoleon.

 

Garchomp. Pseudolegendary, not much to tell. I have a question though: does Devastating Drake with Dragonium Z + Outrage leaves the mon confused? 

 

Metagross. Another Pseudolegendary.  I would change it's Thunder Punch for STAB Zen Headbutt + Wide Lens and you'd never miss it and Meteor Mash.

 

Now, all suggestions I made was to take Alakazam out of your team. Alakazam is a great mon, but lacks in movepool, as you have already stated. Thunder Punch goes to Blaziken, so you can change it on Metagross. Using Zen Headbut on Metagross, makes Gyarados, Azumarill and Empoleon more atractive to the team. After all that, I'd suggest using a Dark Pokemon. You'll have something more solid against Ghost and Psychic. Also something with double typing just to have more coverage on your team. I'd suggest Weavile, Alolan Muk, Drapion or Pangoro.

 

Also, as LBP2 suggested, try to use something with Earthquake while Garchomp can't learn it. Along with his suggestions, I'd say Krookodile. Using this one, you can keep Alakazam on your team (because of Dark typing) although I think it will be outclassed easily. If with Krooko, A-Ninetales and Gardevoir would be of better use on the team.

 

I always try to build a team that is strong against every single Type. I tried to not change it too much. Keep in mind that all my suggestions are based on my preferences for pokemon. You may note that all of them have great Attack and Speed stats. It's the way I like to play. I hope it helps. Good luck

 

 

Edited June 29, 2018 by Trufa

[rerorero59]

Welp , i would recommend you to switch Metagross. He is not that fast and another ground weakness and ground types seems like a thread to rest of your team since alamomola and amoongus are not special attackers.Staraptor might be a good choice , maybe Pinsir Mega ?

[kostaras]

13 hours ago, tamamonomae0 said:

you could switch Alomomola for vaporeon and for amoonguss it could be replaced by breloom

The main reason I have Alomomola instead of any other Water with good Def is the fact that it gets that juicy protect. I haven't really had a chance to see it perform against many pokemon, but the theory behind it is I can always have it as an option

 

About Amoonguss, I really like Clear Smog, it's helped me way too much against set up pokemon and unlike Breloom it will 100% live a hit to fire off Spore, whereas Breloom could easily fall to a super effective move, especially flying type.

 

Besides that, I have thought about switching up the defenses. For example have a physically defensive Grass type (ex. Ferrothorn, Tangrowth) and then a specially defensive Water type (ex. Tentacruel)

 

12 hours ago, LBP2 said:

I would suggest you to add a Ground Immunity/resistance in this team, otherwise you wouldn't have any solid switch on Earthquakes etc. For the story it should be fine I guess, Momo can take hits, just watch out for Diggersby/Exca/Mamo. Maybe Skarm can do the job, it's easy to find and you can create a nice Hazard Stacking strat that works really good with Kazam.

The biggest reason I opted for a physically defensive Water type is so that I could have some sort of answer for Exca because it base outspeeds Blaziken so that answer is out of the equation. I have it with Scald specifically to deal with those types of mons. I do agree tho that EQ as a move is the bane of my team. Skarm is a good option. Would it go in place of Metagross?

 

10 hours ago, Trufa said:

I think your team lacks against Ghost types. You have two moves against it, one from a psychic pokemon. As it not STAB and most of Ghost mons have good Sp. Def, the first turn will be hit (because of Alakazam great speed) but it is most likely to be taken out on the next turn, because of its weakness to Ghost. Shadow Claw may work fine for Blaziken with Bulk Up set, but I'll get into it

Pure Ghost types could be a problem yeah. My biggest answer to them is Metagross' Pursuit and zam's Shadow Ball. Shadow Claw is that last resort option, which I hope to some day replace with Knock Off, because a +1 Knock Off that knocks an item will probably 1-2 hit any pure Ghost types. But I usually target Ghost types on their secondary type. I do agree though that my options against Ghost types are a bit limited.

Quote

Blaziken would be better with Adamant (highest offensive possible) because it will gain speed through Speed Boost, and it usually outspeed most of its foes. I don't like Flare Blitz because of recoil. I woudl go with High Jump Kick and Blaze Kick, than change Expert Belt for Wide Lens, so it will never miss any of those moves.

To be honest, I had Blaziken with Jolly because it was the first out of the 2 natures to pop up at the nature change building. I spent over 30-40 Heart Scales (had to reset a few times) to get it there.

Flare Blitz does have a nasty recoil, but realistically Blaziken's job is to outspeed stuff and kill it. Rarely will it survive a hit, so in the grand scheme of things the raw power it adds helps a lot, especially against stuff that Blaze Kick couldn't hope to KO. A change I was debating was removing the 2 recoil moves in HJK and Flare Blitz by getting Low Kick instead. I'm guessing a lot of mons in the end game will be on the heavier side and I know a Low Kick will destroy Hydreigon's life when we get there (if we get there)

Quote

I can't tell much about Amoonguss. I don't like Slow mons, it compensates with bulkiness, but lacks in fire power, and I'm all about power. I would suggest Roserade, same typing, fast and stronger. The problem is that it won't have a lot of reliable options to Spore and Clear Smog, only Toxic Spikes. If you like it, keep it, I wouldn't know how to use it myself. I like the idea of Breelom too.

Amoonguss is one of those mons that doesn't look appealling until you use it. I like having the ability to simply switch to it any time some water type shows up. The only issue is it doesn't get Leech Seed. Roserade I have actually never used, so I might give it a go.

Quote

I wouldn't use Alomomola, I just don't like it. I can argue about design and Speed. I also like the idea of Vaporeon, same speed, but way more powerful. Both, I think that lack in versatile movepool. I would go with Starmie Psychic, Scald and Power Gem, you could also use Recover with the same intention as Wish. Slowking would be nice too, still bulkier but with best movepool. Other good options would be Kingdra, Gyarados, Azumarill and Empoleon.

While Alomomola isn't the most exciting mon ever, it's not bad. Its main advantages over Vaporeon is that Wish can be used to allow something else to switch in and get fully healed (because at base 165 hp it WILL heal whatever I switch in to full) and the physical defense lets me deal with ground types a lot better. Slowking is one of my other options, as is Starmie. Out of the rest, I can see Gyarados working. Immunity to Ground types and Intimidate are both things my team could use.

Quote

Garchomp. Pseudolegendary, not much to tell. I have a question though: does Devastating Drake with Dragonium Z + Outrage leaves the mon confused? 

 

Metagross. Another Pseudolegendary.  I would change it's Thunder Punch for STAB Zen Headbutt + Wide Lens and you'd never miss it and Meteor Mash.

No, since the move gets "overwritten" by Devastating Drake.

 

I actually didn't consider Wide Lens MM (and Zen Headbutt). I will lose the bulk of AV but it might be just fine.

Quote

Now, all suggestions I made was to take Alakazam out of your team. Alakazam is a great mon, but lacks in movepool, as you have already stated. Thunder Punch goes to Blaziken, so you can change it on Metagross. Using Zen Headbut on Metagross, makes Gyarados, Azumarill and Empoleon more atractive to the team. After all that, I'd suggest using a Dark Pokemon. You'll have something more solid against Ghost and Psychic. Also something with double typing just to have more coverage on your team. I'd suggest Weavile, Alolan Muk, Drapion or Pangoro.

It's a funny thing. I used to have Zam and Gengar on the team some time ago, but Gengar couldn't pull its own weight anymore, especially since Levitate was removed. I couldn't agree more on Zam's atrocious movepool, combined with the fact that we don't get a lot of the good TMs you could slap on it. But its main role on the team is to be a very very strong special attacker, just like Garchomp is a very strong physical attacker (esp with that Z-move). With that in mind, I would swap it out for another strong special attacker, so that I have a way to deal with high Def low Sp.Def pokemon. Unfortunately Dark types have been heavily shafted in the strong Sp.Atk department (unless it's a legendary or Hydreigon). Still, I am quite open to getting rid of it, since as a type Psychic is really underwhelming.

Quote

Also, as LBP2 suggested, try to use something with Earthquake while Garchomp can't learn it. Along with his suggestions, I'd say Krookodile. Using this one, you can keep Alakazam on your team (because of Dark typing) although I think it will be outclassed easily. If with Krooko, A-Ninetales and Gardevoir would be of better use on the team.

If I'm not mistaken, LBP2's suggestion was to add a Levitate or Flying mon to be able to deal with EQ easier. I really liked your Gyarados suggestion and I'm really fond of Garchomp and the ability to open up with it every single battle and either set up Rocks or kill something. The 25 power I lose from not having EQ is a lot, but I think it's worth the sacrifice. 

 

Thanks for the feedback, I will mess around with some of the options before E18 hits!

 

7 hours ago, rerore1234 said:

Welp , i would recommend you to switch Metagross. He is not that fast and another ground weakness and ground types seems like a thread to rest of your team since alamomola and amoongus are not special attackers.Staraptor might be a good choice , maybe Pinsir Mega ?

I was thinking about Mega Pinsir, but the issue is that Blaziken becomes better at what MP does after 1-2 turns. I will give it a shot though, since MP is a very powerful mon

[Arys]

I have no idea why people loves recovery moves when they are not playing competitive. Aromatheraphy is another thing, but we've got items to save that last slot for better moves. And using items is always prioritized.

 

If your pokemon is set to be glass canon build (atk / sp atk + spd) then it's better to have coverage moves rather than stat changes. Since E18 will contains USUM (I think), change that bulk up into thunder punch.

 

I think Alomomola is better with Wide Guard to help in double battle. Your alomomola has a lot of hp and build def + sp def with leftover. Why not adding aqua ring? Since I think you use scald to get that burn, you should change that wish into wide guard or aqua ring.

[Trufa]

As I said, those are just personal choices. You should use what fits you better  

Pursuit will do damage when the pokemon is running away in the turn.  I don't know if there is a way to make it sure it'll do it though, that's why I don't like pursuit.

HJK only have recoil if you miss, that's why I suggested Wide Lens, than you would go with Blaze Kick (BK) to also make use of the item, and Adamant will give more power to BK so you can OHKO without the need of Flare Blitz.

Roserade does not learn a lot of good moves through lvl up. Mind breeding one with Extrasensory and if you like, Leaf Storm and Hidden Power (I would go with Fire). It would be extremely useful that way.

4 hours ago, kostaras said:

It's a funny thing. I used to have Zam and Gengar on the team some time ago, but Gengar couldn't pull its own weight anymore, especially since Levitate was removed.

Yeah, Gengar was one of the best mons on Reborn, but since we don't have access to most of it's best TM moves anymore , and Levitate removal, it's not that better. I used to have one, but it served me only to set up Destiny Bond. I had to change him after all.

[Genderist]

56 minutes ago, Trufa said:

Pursuit will do damage when the pokemon is running away in the turn.  I don't know if there is a way to make it sure it'll do it though, that's why I don't like pursuit.

Pursuit does 40 damage no matter what. Doubles in power if the opposing pokemon switches that turn.

 

57 minutes ago, Trufa said:

HJK only have recoil if you miss, that's why I suggested Wide Lens, than you would go with Blaze Kick (BK) to also make use of the item, and Adamant will give more power to BK so you can OHKO without the need of Flare Blitz.

If you miss HJK, just hit F12. If you take too much recoil from flare blitz. Just hyper potion.

 

Are you tryna build a competitive team for online play or for use in game? If ingame, stop stressing and start spamming potions/battle items. If online play, i'd recommend a few changes.

 

1. Switch out Garchomp for Nidoking. Garchomp is one of the best pokemon in the game in certain niche roles. For the role you have it in here (Moderately fast, bulky SR setter that can beat any lead pokemon in a 1v1) Nidoking far outclasses chomp(especially one without EQ). No 4 times weakness, able to one shot literally any lead pokemon with the right coverage. Fast enough to outspeed most pokemon you need to outspeed in that role. 

 

2. Your team seems to be mad reliant on speed control. I'd recommend getting a good sticky web pokemon up in there to fully take advantage of this. Given the wide variety of viable webbers available in the game right now, Go for araquanid to replace Alomomola, gives you power, resistance to ground, nice pocket mirror coat to fuck with their status spreaders and such. - Though i'm not 100% sure if they've imported Araquanid's USUM movepool yet or if this will only be viable in EP18

 

Beyond all of that, figure out what kinda team you wanna build. Hyper-Offense, Offense, Balanced, Stall, Balanced offense, "Hyper-Stall" and mould your team according to that. Cause right now your team looks like it's of the Offense archetype, but instead of being proper offense, it has some pieces here and there afflicting its optimization.

[Trufa]

9 minutes ago, Genderist said:

Pursuit does 40 damage no matter what. Doubles in power if the opposing pokemon switches that turn.

I know, but any mon with Crunch will do more damage every turn without having to rely on the possibility of the pokemon running away.

 

Anyway, I like your suggestions. Nidoking and Araquanid are not my type of mons, but with the right movepool they'll become great assets to this team.

[Candy]

For metagross, I'd choose Hammer Arm and Ice Punch instead of Pursuit and Thunder Punch because you can counter Dark and Ground types which metagross is weak against.

[Genderist]

2 minutes ago, Trufa said:

I know, but any mon with Crunch will do more damage every turn without having to rely on the possibility of the pokemon running away.

 

Yea pursuit is more of a thing in 6v6 competitive battles, where switching en masse is commonplace. Pursuit locking can guarantee some severe damage/even a kill on the pokemon that's switching out(Which is generally the more important piece of the opponent's team). As opposed to a Crunch which would either get resisted or tanked with ease. 

[N1Dude]

On 6/29/2018 at 3:52 AM, Trufa said:

I think your team lacks against Ghost types. You have two moves against it, one from a psychic pokemon. As it not STAB and most of Ghost mons have good Sp. Def, the first turn will be hit (because of Alakazam great speed) but it is most likely to be taken out on the next turn, because of its weakness to Ghost. Shadow Claw may work fine for Blaziken with Bulk Up set, but I'll get into it.

 

Now some personal preferences:

Blaziken would be better with Adamant (highest offensive possible) because it will gain speed through Speed Boost, and it usually outspeed most of its foes. I don't like Flare Blitz because of recoil. I woudl go with High Jump Kick and Blaze Kick, than change Expert Belt for Wide Lens, so it will never miss any of those moves. I would also change Shadow Claw for Thunder Punch. Gives coverage and I think it'll work better than Shadow Claw.

 

I can't tell much about Amoonguss. I don't like Slow mons, it compensates with bulkiness, but lacks in fire power, and I'm all about power. I would suggest Roserade, same typing, fast and stronger. The problem is that it won't have a lot of reliable options to Spore and Clear Smog, only Toxic Spikes. If you like it, keep it, I wouldn't know how to use it myself. I like the idea of Breelom too.

 

I wouldn't use Alomomola, I just don't like it. I can argue about design and Speed. I also like the idea of Vaporeon, same speed, but way more powerful. Both, I think that lack in versatile movepool. I would go with Starmie Psychic, Scald and Power Gem, you could also use Recover with the same intention as Wish. Slowking would be nice too, still bulkier but with best movepool. Other good options would be Kingdra, Gyarados, Azumarill and Empoleon.

 

Garchomp. Pseudolegendary, not much to tell. I have a question though: does Devastating Drake with Dragonium Z + Outrage leaves the mon confused? 

 

Metagross. Another Pseudolegendary.  I would change it's Thunder Punch for STAB Zen Headbutt + Wide Lens and you'd never miss it and Meteor Mash.

 

Now, all suggestions I made was to take Alakazam out of your team. Alakazam is a great mon, but lacks in movepool, as you have already stated. Thunder Punch goes to Blaziken, so you can change it on Metagross. Using Zen Headbut on Metagross, makes Gyarados, Azumarill and Empoleon more atractive to the team. After all that, I'd suggest using a Dark Pokemon. You'll have something more solid against Ghost and Psychic. Also something with double typing just to have more coverage on your team. I'd suggest Weavile, Alolan Muk, Drapion or Pangoro.

 

Also, as LBP2 suggested, try to use something with Earthquake while Garchomp can't learn it. Along with his suggestions, I'd say Krookodile. Using this one, you can keep Alakazam on your team (because of Dark typing) although I think it will be outclassed easily. If with Krooko, A-Ninetales and Gardevoir would be of better use on the team.

 

I always try to build a team that is strong against every single Type. I tried to not change it too much. Keep in mind that all my suggestions are based on my preferences for pokemon. You may note that all of them have great Attack and Speed stats. It's the way I like to play. I hope it helps. Good luck

 

 

How can you say that you're all about power while you don't want to use flare blitz cause of recoil and use wide lenses to never miss? No risk no fun right 

[N1Dude]

19 hours ago, Arys said:

I have no idea why people loves recovery moves when they are not playing competitive. Aromatheraphy is another thing, but we've got items to save that last slot for better moves. And using items is always prioritized.

 

17 hours ago, Genderist said:

If you miss HJK, just hit F12. If you take too much recoil from flare blitz. Just hyper potion.

 

Are you tryna build a competitive team for online play or for use in game? If ingame, stop stressing and start spamming potions/battle items. If online play, i'd recommend a few changes.

You guys ever thought of people wanting to make the game a bit more challenging for themselves to allow them to use the same amount (or none) of potions and items the oppenent uses? This makes it that Reborn is like the only pokemon game where your competitive site, knowledge and thoughts is needed ingame to complete the game. You should try it, the challenge is fun.

[Genderist]

36 minutes ago, N1Dude said:

You guys ever thought of people wanting to make the game a bit more challenging for themselves to allow them to use the same amount (or none) of potions and items the oppenent uses?

Then 1. Be specific when asking for help with the team, state that "I'm trying a challenge of etc x y and z." 

 

2. That isn't a tangible approach to reborn with a fixed party of 6. You wanna do that kinda challenge runs on reborn, you're gonna need close to 10-15 mons that can be rotated in and out of your team.

[N1Dude]

1 minute ago, Genderist said:

Then 1. Be specific when asking for help with the team, state that "I'm trying a challenge of etc x y and z." 

 

2. That isn't a tangible approach to reborn with a fixed party of 6. You wanna do that kinda challenge runs on reborn, you're gonna need close to 10-15 mons that can be rotated in and out of your team.

1. I think it's kinda unfair to the person who's asking for suggestions to just say to him to get rit of recover and use items. He knows he can use items and stuff but with him having recover and other moves like that on his team kinda tells you that he doesn't like to use items that much doesn't it? So i think you're not helping him when you say to him to just use items.

 

2. Totally agree with you on that one.

[Trufa]

@N1Dude I'm all about power, that does not mean that I like power against me hahaha

[N1Dude]

9 hours ago, Trufa said:

@N1Dude I'm all about power, that does not mean that I like power against me hahaha

Good point good point