Triple Battle Malamar Team

[Thirdbird]

Note: I have no idea what happened with the white background. I copy/pasted this from a thread I made at a different forum. Sorry for the red font :/

Hey guys, I just came up with a triples team that basically revolves around boosting Malamar to the point where it is basically a fast, hardhitting, unavoidable tank. I'm not sure if this team follows smogon rules, since you can't use evasion boosting moves, but Defog is allowed in Smogon, so whatever. This is going to be used for Battle Spot anyway.

Malamar (M) @ Assault Vest
Ability: Contrary
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 Atk
Impish Nature
- Superpower
- Psycho Cut
- Rock Slide
- Night Slash

Malamar is basically the carry of the team. Maxed out defenses + assault vest basically guarantees it to live a hit or two before it starts to set up with Contrary. 376/302/279 defenses are definitely not too shabby. Night Slash and Psycho Cut are used for STAB and coverage, and Superpower is used to increase attack and defense as the battle goes on.

Crobat (M) @ Focus Sash
Ability: Infiltrator
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 Atk / 4 SDef
Jolly Nature
- Cross Poison
- Brave Bird
- U-turn
- Defog

Now, you may ask yourself, "Defog? Why would you run defog on Crobat?" The reason is simple--Crobat is STUPIDLY fast. With base 130 speed, Crobat can set up a defog first turn, which would lower the evasiveness of two opposing pokemon AND RAISE the evasiveness of Malamar due to Contrary. With Defog, I could minimize the amount of damage Malamar could potentially take first turn. Cross Poison is used to take out Fairies, Brave Bird for Bugs, and U-Turn for Alakazam, three threats that could potentially KO my Malamar.

Vaporeon (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Water Absorb
EVs: 4 SAtk / 252 HP / 252 Def
Modest Nature
- Fake Tears
- Ice Beam
- Muddy Water
- Shadow Ball

Vaporeon is similar to Crobat in that it uses Fake Tears to decrease the opposing Pokemon's Special Defense while RAISING Malamar's. The only drawback is that it's too slow, so I maxed out Def and HP to make sure it will live first turn and get off a Fake Tears. I put only 4 EVs in Special Attack because, well after -2 Fake Tears, it can pretty much destroy anything. Muddy Water goes perfect with Fake Tears; it hits both opposing Pokemon while leaving Malamar untouched, so that's good. Ice Beam is for grass coverage, and Shadow Ball for Alakazam or other Psychics.

Volcarona (M) @ Focus Sash
Ability: Flame Body
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 SAtk / 4 HP
Modest Nature
- String Shot
- Bug Buzz
- Fiery Dance
- Quiver Dance

You guessed it, another weird move. Inevitably, my Crobat will die sooner or later, so I can switch into Volcarona and String Shot my Malamar so that its Speed doubles. Bug Buzz and Fiery Dance are good for STAB and boosting, and the all-important Quiver Dance can be used if somehow my opponent crits Malamar and it dies.

Venusaur @ Venusaurite
Ability: Overgrow

EVs: 252 SAtk / 252 HP / 4 SDef
- Giga Drain
- Sludge Bomb
- Sweet Scent
- Synthesis

This is my mega evolution. If Crobat only gets up one defog, fine. Then Venusaur can come in, mega evolve, tank hits, and sweet scent even more. At that point, Malamar is virtually untouchable. Then it can just stall with Synthesis and Giga Drain. Sludge Bomb can be used to potentially poison things + for coverage.

Electivire (M) @ Expert Belt
Ability: Motor Drive
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 Atk / 4 HP
Adamant Nature
- Earthquake
- Thunder Punch
- Fire Punch
- Thunder Wave

Electivire is basically my glue. It's one more physical attacker to my team, and it gets great coverage in F/T punch and Earthquake. I can use Thunder wave as well to cripple some threats to my Malamar. Also, since T-Wave never misses, I can switch out Malamar and go into Electivire, get the boost, and then switch right back out.

Right now the main weakness I see in my team is thunder wave. Even with switching into Electivire, I lose all of my stat boosts. I'm sure there are other weaknesses as well. This means I have to watch out for Sableye, Mega Banette, Jolteon, etc. Thoughts? I haven't actually assembled this team yet, but on paper it looks like it could wreck most teams.

Edited January 20, 2014 by Thirdbird

[2tousent]

if you think thunderwave is a criple to your team, get heal bell on vaporeon i guess

[AnishinaabeKwe]

That sounds like an amazing Malamar: What about an adamant nature though? I feel like I'd have to see the stats, but Malamar isn't that fast anyway. I wonder how much the impish nature helped its speed and how much of a difference it would make?

[Revman]

I'm thinking you should be watching out for Scarfed bugs like Heracross, perhaps not leading with Malamar to make your intentions less obvious and eliminate any fast Bug threats would help you a lot. As mentioned by another user, consider Heal Bell Vaporeon to stop your Malamar from getting Para'd, Poisoned or Burnt. I just think you should be cautious around bugs, since they have more than enough potential to mess you and your strategy up with Quiver dances and whatever.