Shiny Arcanine Trainer
Well-Known Member
I've been playing Pokemon since Red & Blue first came out all those years ago but it's not been until now that I've decided to get into competitive battling (I was more of a collector). I'm still pretty new to the competitive battle scene so I'm still learning all the metagame tactics & whatnot but I decided to come up with my own personal team based on what I've learnt so far. Because it's my first attempt at a proper team I'm going to assume I've made a few schoolboy errors so constructive criticism is more than welcome but do bear in mind I'm still new to this. Here's my team;
@ Life Orb
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Nature: Adamant (+Atk, -SpA)
- Flare Blitz
- Close Combat
- ExtremeSpeed
- Wild Charge
Attacking Lead/Physical Sweeper - Adamant Nature to boost Atk, Life Orb to further boost attack power. Maxed out the Speed EVs to give it the first hit against a lot of Pokes. Flare Blitz for STAB, Close Combat because it's powerful & the drop in both defences doesn't matter because he's all-out attack. ExtremeSpeed just incase my opponent had a Focus Sash or Focus Band so I can get rid of that final Hit Point before he can do anything & Wild Charge to cover the weakness to Water. Arcanine is my favourite Poke so I HAD to include him in my team. I like to go in all guns blazing so hopefully he can KO at least 1 Poke before he succumbs to all the HP draining from his item & moves. Only big weakness would be Ground, he's got nothing to cover but I'd rather switch out if I really needed to. So far he's been a very effective lead, sometimes even taking down 3 Pokes before he KOs.
@ Iron Ball
Ability: Iron Barbs
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD
Nature: Brave (+Atk, -Spe)
- Curse
- Iron Head
- Power Whip
- Gyro Ball
Bulky Physical Sweeper - The main focus here is to get him as slow as possible but with enough defensive power to hit back with Gyro Ball. With his base Speed stat at only 20, with the Speed-hindering Nature combined with the Iron Ball & STAB bonus, Gyro Ball should be immensely powerful after a Curse. I gave him some defensive power with the maxed out HP EVs so he can take some hits before unleashing a Cursed Gyro Ball & with his Iron Barbs Ability, he can hopefully knock off some bonus HP before the Gyro Ball hits. Iron Head for STAB, same with Power Whip. I know Ferrothorn can use Spikes & Stealth Rock but using them would change the tactics completely & frankly I think it's a bit predictable with how common those moves are. Fire is obviously a HUGE weakness though but there's not much I can do about that. Also thinking whether I could give him a different EV spread (maybe take a few off HP, give him 100+ on both defences & the rest on Atk) to turn him more into an attacking Tank but this set has worked pretty well so far, Curse + Gyro Ball has devastated a couple opponents. Thoughts?
@ Leftovers
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 252 HP / 200 Def / 56 SpD
Nature: Impish (+Def, -SpA)
- Recover
- Will-o-wisp
- Confuse Ray
- Shadow Claw
Annoyer - I saw a version of this set posted by someone on the forum (credit goes to fschulze47 for the original set) & really loved it, but gave it some modifications to try to further make it a nuisance. Sableye's new Prankster Ability can cause havoc to opponents by burning them straight away with Will-o-wisp & Recover when needed, Leftovers can add to the HP restoration & frankly, because of Sableye's low BST, he's going to need it. Confuse Ray can further frustrate opponents & the last move I decided to put a STAB attack just for the option, but Sableye's stats aren't powerful enough especially with this defensive setup for it to be properly formidable. Shadow Ball is a little more powerful than Shadow Claw but Shadow Claw has a higher critical-hit ratio so I went with that instead. This Sableye set really does live up to the name Annoyer, it's wreaked havoc on some opponents & I've been glad I wasn't on the receiving end!
@ Soft Sand
Ability: Rock Head
EVs: 200 HP / 180 Def / 128 SpD
Nature: Impish (+Def, -SpA)
- Stealth Rock
- Double-edge / Explosion
- Curse
- Earthquake
Attacking Tank - The EV spread gives Steelix a hell of a lot of defensive power so it should be hard to take down. The Rock Head Ability will negate Double-edge's recoil. I put Explosion as a possible replacement for Double-edge but only because I don't know if Rock Head would negate the damage taken from an Explosion. I'm guessing it wouldn't because it's basically a suicidal move rather just taking recoil damage & it would seem extremely unbalanced considering Explosion has a base power of 250. If someone could clear that up for me it would be appreciated. Stealth Rock is pretty self-explanatory, Earthquake for the STAB bonus. Curse is for boosting my Atk & Def stats & considering Steelix has a Speed base stat of 30 it's going to attack second anyway so it wouldn't really matter about the Speed stat lowering. Soft Sand is just to boost Earthquake's power. I think he could do with some defensive improvement, he's not been the Tank I was quite hoping for.
@ Choice Specs
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Nature: Modest (+SpA, -Atk)
- Draco Meteor
- Fire Blast
- Flash Cannon
- Surf
Special Sweeper - I think this is such a beast of a Poke that I'd be mad to not have him somewhere in my team. I've decided to use him as my main Special Sweeper, he's got a SpA base stat of 125, then factor in the EVs, beneficial Nature & Choice Specs & you've got one hell of a powerful attacker. All of his moves are powerful specials. Draco Meteor will give me a STAB bonus on top of all the SpA boosts for devastating effect, Fire Blast will cover my Ice & Bug weakness, Flash Cannon can lower the target's SpD which is good for Tanks who can take a few hits & Surf is more or less filler but it's an attack that I've always liked & it's definitely come in handy on more than one occasion. Hydreigon hasn't been as effective as I'd hoped but I think that's more a case of who I put him up against, I made a couple bad choices (putting him up against other Dragons like Dragonite & Haxorus seemed to backfire, I think I just wasn't fast enough to hit them with Draco Meteor before they could hit me, maybe change the Nature to Timid? (+Spe, -Atk))but he has come in very handy oddly enough with Surf more than anything else.
@ Eviolite
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 HP / 128 Def / 128 SpD
Nature: Bold (+Def, -Atk)
- Confuse Ray
- Will-o-wisp
- Pain Split
- Night Shade
Annoying Tank - I've decided to go with Dusclops instead of Dusknoir because the Eviolite gives it a much stronger Def & SpD so you'd be losing a lot of defensive potential by fully evolving. Dusclops has a pretty weak HP base stat so I've had to max out it's EV there. The rest I've split between the two defences so they're equally as strong. It's moves are all about frustrating the opponent for the longest possible time. Will-o-wisp to inflict burns, Confuse Ray to further add to their woes. Because of my poor attacking stats, Night Shade will give me that guaranteed damage if & when I need it. Pain Split for when I need some HP recovery. Simple, but he's been relatively effective.
I've tried it out on Pokemon Online & so far I've got 9 wins & 11 losses, first loss came after 5 wins weirdly enough, which I must admit surprised me a hell of a lot but it surely means I've done something right! Main weaknesses I've seen so far have been Ground & Psychic, I had a Reuniclus destroy me. Also a Poison Heal Breloom completely killed me off. So yeah, thats my team. How's that for a first try at a competitive team? It's seemed to do well but any improvements would be appreciated!
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Nature: Adamant (+Atk, -SpA)
- Flare Blitz
- Close Combat
- ExtremeSpeed
- Wild Charge
Attacking Lead/Physical Sweeper - Adamant Nature to boost Atk, Life Orb to further boost attack power. Maxed out the Speed EVs to give it the first hit against a lot of Pokes. Flare Blitz for STAB, Close Combat because it's powerful & the drop in both defences doesn't matter because he's all-out attack. ExtremeSpeed just incase my opponent had a Focus Sash or Focus Band so I can get rid of that final Hit Point before he can do anything & Wild Charge to cover the weakness to Water. Arcanine is my favourite Poke so I HAD to include him in my team. I like to go in all guns blazing so hopefully he can KO at least 1 Poke before he succumbs to all the HP draining from his item & moves. Only big weakness would be Ground, he's got nothing to cover but I'd rather switch out if I really needed to. So far he's been a very effective lead, sometimes even taking down 3 Pokes before he KOs.
Ability: Iron Barbs
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD
Nature: Brave (+Atk, -Spe)
- Curse
- Iron Head
- Power Whip
- Gyro Ball
Bulky Physical Sweeper - The main focus here is to get him as slow as possible but with enough defensive power to hit back with Gyro Ball. With his base Speed stat at only 20, with the Speed-hindering Nature combined with the Iron Ball & STAB bonus, Gyro Ball should be immensely powerful after a Curse. I gave him some defensive power with the maxed out HP EVs so he can take some hits before unleashing a Cursed Gyro Ball & with his Iron Barbs Ability, he can hopefully knock off some bonus HP before the Gyro Ball hits. Iron Head for STAB, same with Power Whip. I know Ferrothorn can use Spikes & Stealth Rock but using them would change the tactics completely & frankly I think it's a bit predictable with how common those moves are. Fire is obviously a HUGE weakness though but there's not much I can do about that. Also thinking whether I could give him a different EV spread (maybe take a few off HP, give him 100+ on both defences & the rest on Atk) to turn him more into an attacking Tank but this set has worked pretty well so far, Curse + Gyro Ball has devastated a couple opponents. Thoughts?
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 252 HP / 200 Def / 56 SpD
Nature: Impish (+Def, -SpA)
- Recover
- Will-o-wisp
- Confuse Ray
- Shadow Claw
Annoyer - I saw a version of this set posted by someone on the forum (credit goes to fschulze47 for the original set) & really loved it, but gave it some modifications to try to further make it a nuisance. Sableye's new Prankster Ability can cause havoc to opponents by burning them straight away with Will-o-wisp & Recover when needed, Leftovers can add to the HP restoration & frankly, because of Sableye's low BST, he's going to need it. Confuse Ray can further frustrate opponents & the last move I decided to put a STAB attack just for the option, but Sableye's stats aren't powerful enough especially with this defensive setup for it to be properly formidable. Shadow Ball is a little more powerful than Shadow Claw but Shadow Claw has a higher critical-hit ratio so I went with that instead. This Sableye set really does live up to the name Annoyer, it's wreaked havoc on some opponents & I've been glad I wasn't on the receiving end!
Ability: Rock Head
EVs: 200 HP / 180 Def / 128 SpD
Nature: Impish (+Def, -SpA)
- Stealth Rock
- Double-edge / Explosion
- Curse
- Earthquake
Attacking Tank - The EV spread gives Steelix a hell of a lot of defensive power so it should be hard to take down. The Rock Head Ability will negate Double-edge's recoil. I put Explosion as a possible replacement for Double-edge but only because I don't know if Rock Head would negate the damage taken from an Explosion. I'm guessing it wouldn't because it's basically a suicidal move rather just taking recoil damage & it would seem extremely unbalanced considering Explosion has a base power of 250. If someone could clear that up for me it would be appreciated. Stealth Rock is pretty self-explanatory, Earthquake for the STAB bonus. Curse is for boosting my Atk & Def stats & considering Steelix has a Speed base stat of 30 it's going to attack second anyway so it wouldn't really matter about the Speed stat lowering. Soft Sand is just to boost Earthquake's power. I think he could do with some defensive improvement, he's not been the Tank I was quite hoping for.
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Nature: Modest (+SpA, -Atk)
- Draco Meteor
- Fire Blast
- Flash Cannon
- Surf
Special Sweeper - I think this is such a beast of a Poke that I'd be mad to not have him somewhere in my team. I've decided to use him as my main Special Sweeper, he's got a SpA base stat of 125, then factor in the EVs, beneficial Nature & Choice Specs & you've got one hell of a powerful attacker. All of his moves are powerful specials. Draco Meteor will give me a STAB bonus on top of all the SpA boosts for devastating effect, Fire Blast will cover my Ice & Bug weakness, Flash Cannon can lower the target's SpD which is good for Tanks who can take a few hits & Surf is more or less filler but it's an attack that I've always liked & it's definitely come in handy on more than one occasion. Hydreigon hasn't been as effective as I'd hoped but I think that's more a case of who I put him up against, I made a couple bad choices (putting him up against other Dragons like Dragonite & Haxorus seemed to backfire, I think I just wasn't fast enough to hit them with Draco Meteor before they could hit me, maybe change the Nature to Timid? (+Spe, -Atk))but he has come in very handy oddly enough with Surf more than anything else.
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 HP / 128 Def / 128 SpD
Nature: Bold (+Def, -Atk)
- Confuse Ray
- Will-o-wisp
- Pain Split
- Night Shade
Annoying Tank - I've decided to go with Dusclops instead of Dusknoir because the Eviolite gives it a much stronger Def & SpD so you'd be losing a lot of defensive potential by fully evolving. Dusclops has a pretty weak HP base stat so I've had to max out it's EV there. The rest I've split between the two defences so they're equally as strong. It's moves are all about frustrating the opponent for the longest possible time. Will-o-wisp to inflict burns, Confuse Ray to further add to their woes. Because of my poor attacking stats, Night Shade will give me that guaranteed damage if & when I need it. Pain Split for when I need some HP recovery. Simple, but he's been relatively effective.
I've tried it out on Pokemon Online & so far I've got 9 wins & 11 losses, first loss came after 5 wins weirdly enough, which I must admit surprised me a hell of a lot but it surely means I've done something right! Main weaknesses I've seen so far have been Ground & Psychic, I had a Reuniclus destroy me. Also a Poison Heal Breloom completely killed me off. So yeah, thats my team. How's that for a first try at a competitive team? It's seemed to do well but any improvements would be appreciated!
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but again, Im no expert.