Monsters Unleashed! (2013 Winter Battles)

[jstinftw!]

A Wi-Fi Tournament is coming up, the 2013 Winter Friendly, which is an official Wi-Fi Tournament held by TPCi. The main thing in this tournament is that you can use any Pokemon not named Chatot, and it's Rotation Battle.

Playtesting is very difficult, as a lot of Legendaries learn their staple moves at a later level, which means it's difficult to practice with people and you can't play on the GBU. So this is a lot of theorymoning, but I'd love to hear any suggestions. Anyways, here's my team!

|D'atagnan|XJ9|JBeebz|Jupiter|AlphaDog|JackFrost|

D'Artagnan (Keldeo-Resolute) @ Leftovers
Trait: Justified
EVs: 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
- Calm Mind
- Secret Sword
- Hydro Pump
- Icy Wind

The main idea for this team was to use Keldeo. Keldeo is my favorite Legendary, and I don't like to use Legendaries. Also, I primarily play in VGC, where Keldeo is banned. So, I figured I'd make use of it here. I'm running the Calm Mind set, as its bigger weaknesses will be coming from its Special Defense side. My team has somewhat middling speed, so, something I've picked up from VGC Battles, I added Icy Wind as a method of Speed Control. Also, Keldeo doesn't have access to Ice moves, or other usable moves for that matter, so it worked. Hydro Pump because, honestly, Hydro Pump hits like tank when it hits. Helps take care of Pokemon like Groudon, or Ho-Oh. And finally, Secret Sword. For one, Keldeo needs Secret Sword to stay in its Resolute Forme. Second, Secret Sword helps my team deal with Darkrai. I decided to go with Leftovers so that Keldeo could have some health regeneration, especially since he's taking a turn to set up.

XJ9 (Genesect) @ Expert Belt
Trait: Download
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 SAtk / 4 SDef
Naive Nature
- Bug Buzz
- Flamethrower
- Thunderbolt
- Blizzard

Originally, I was going to run Scizor. And then, I remembered Scizor was weak Special Defense-wise. I remembered that Scizor really only had 2 offensive types; Bug and Steel. Maybe Fighting if I want to run Superpower. We can keep quiet about Acrobatics cos no one needs it in Ubers. So I decided I'd pick up my Genesect from the event guy in the Pokemon Center and help myself to its plethora of type coverage. It's really self-explanatory though; Bug Buzz to help deal with Mewtwo and Darkrai, Flamethrower to deal with Steel Types, Ice Types, etc, Thunderbolt to deal with Kyogre, Ho-Oh, Keldeo, etc, and Blizzard to make use of Abomasnow's Snow Warning and help deal with Dragon Types not named Reshiram or (Insert Color Here/Forget This Parenthesis) Kyurem.

JBeebz (Victini) @ White Herb
Trait: Victory Star
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 Atk / 4 SDef
Jolly Nature
- Fusion Bolt
- V-create
- Thunder Wave
- Zen Headbutt

Victini is a cute Pokemon. Victini has great playability. I need a Fire type, and Psychic types are pretty cool too. I only have access to Fusion Bolt Victini, which isn't too bad. V-Create is a great Fire STAB, also helping against Steel Types. I decided to go with Thunder Wave instead of a coverage move because my team has middling Speed. If I can neuter a huge threat's Speed, I greatly help my team out. And finally, Zen Headbutt helps me deal with Fighting types primarily, in case I come across some. White Herb helps Victini stay an offensive threat after V-Create.

Jupiter (Zekrom) @ Life Orb
Trait: Teravolt
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature
- Bolt Strike
- Dragon Claw
- Outrage
- Tailwind

So Rain is obviously the big threat in this metagame. Rain boosted anythings are a big pain, and the fact that Kyogre is more likely going to be the bringer of Rain, I thought I might need some help against those teams. So I brought in Zekrom. I wanted the Electric STAB, which is why I chose it over Black Kyurem. Bolt Strike is my obvious Electric STAB. Dragon Claw would be my Dragon Attack of choice, as in Rotations, I'll never know if someone will rotate in something that can resist Outrage, a situation I don't want to get locked into. I do have Outrage though, in case it's a viable option. And finally, I have Tailwind. This is my final form of Speed Control on this team. If Zekrom has a chance to go ahead and set it up, I no longer have to even worry about my team's Speed.

AlphaDog (Mewtwo) @ Psychic Gem
Trait: Pressure
EVs: 252 SAtk / 252 Spd / 4 HP
Modest Nature
- Aura Sphere
- Psystrike
- Thunderbolt
- Shadow Ball Blizzard

Mewtwo is one of the strongest Pokemon out there. Immediately offensive no matter what he's doing, I decided that it would be perfect to have him on my team. Aura Sphere in case I have to deal with Darkrai, or other Steel types. Psystrike is obviously just the most powerful move Mewtwo will have. Thunderbolt helps deal with Water Pokemon as well. And Shadow Ball helps Mewtwo deal with Ghost types, notably Giratina. Blizzard so that I have another move to hit Dragon types with, as well as Groudon. I ran out of items to use, so I figured I'd go ahead and just buff up Psystrike as much as possible. Net me a surprise KO.

Jack Frost (Abomasnow) (M) @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Snow Warning
EVs: 252 SAtk / 4 HP / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
- Blizzard
- Focus Blast
- Energy Ball
- Sheer Cold Grass Knot

A Pokemon I used on my last VGC Team, who turned into my MVP. I opted in Choice Scarf so that he could hit Dragons really hard, really fast. Blizzard is obvious, Focus Blast in case I have a chance to change attacks and I'm locked against Steel or Dark Types. Energy Ball helps deal with Water Types, or Tyranitar outside of Sand. And Sheer Cold because, really, what else is there? I figured if I can't do something outside of those three moves, I might as well be risky with the last move, since facing a Pokemon that the other three moves won't work on most likely spells doom for Abomasnow anyways. Grass Knot is too do massive damage to the bulkier legendaries that will be seeing play, such as Groudon, Kyogre, etc.
​

And that's my team! If you have any suggestions, I'd gladly listen. Remember, this is Rotation Battles though.

 

[Zachmac]

AlphaDog (Mewtwo) @ Psychic Gem
Trait: Pressure
EVs: 252 SAtk / 252 Spd / 4 HP
Modest Nature
- Aura Sphere
- Psystrike
- Thunderbolt
- Ice Beam/Blizzard

From my understanding, the only ghost types you'll really see in Ubers are Giratina and Arceus-Ghost. However, there are a lot of dragon types, along with Groudon, and Ice Beam is more damaging to Giratina. Arceus ghost is still a problem, but super effective shadow ball reaches 160 power. That's only 10 power more then Psystrike.

252SpAtk Unnerve Mewtwo (+SAtk) Shadow Ball vs 252HP/0SpDef Spooky Plate Multitype Arceus (Neutral): 41% - 49% (186 - 220 HP). Guaranteed 3HKO.
252SpAtk Unnerve Mewtwo (+SAtk) Psystrike vs 252HP/0Def Spooky Plate Multitype Arceus (Neutral): 39% - 46% (175 - 207 HP). Guaranteed 3HKO.
See? It's a 3HKO either way.

As for Jack Frost...I don't really see the point. The slower pokemon will be the one who causes the weather, so with a scarf, unless Kyogre or Groudon are scarfed as well, their weather will be the one that activates. If it's a weather disrupter, you may want it to be slower, but even then, it's not bulky enough to go slow in Ubers. Also, when you have an ability that cause a stat change or weather, but needs to activate first, it only gets to activate for the pokemon in your 1st team slot. So, if you lead with Abomnasnow, Genesect won't be able to get a download boost.

...Unless you intend for it to be in your 4th teamslot? It may work that way...

 

[Caluminousdugtrio]

I think Genesect needs a scarf...a whole lot of pokes in the Uber tier outpeed Genesect with a scarf, OHKOing you, namely Reshiram.

 

[Shreyas]

Scarf Genesect may not be the best idea though. If you are stuck in a move that isn't too reliable for an entire battle, it pretty much becomes dead weight. If speed is really of that much importance, you may want to consider Rock Polish since you can possibly get that off while Ice attacks are being thrown everywhere.

And, since you will be facing off against a whole load of Ubers, I really do suggest running Grass Know > Energy Ball or Grass Know > Sheer Cold. Grass Know can (I beliebe) OHKO Groudon, as well as 2HKO Kyogres, who can't hurt you anyway (for an OHKO that is...).

 

[jstinftw!]

From my understanding, the only ghost types you'll really see in Ubers are Giratina and Arceus-Ghost. However, there are a lot of dragon types, along with Groudon, and Ice Beam is more damaging to Giratina. Arceus ghost is still a problem, but super effective shadow ball reaches 160 power. That's only 10 power more then Psystrike.

252SpAtk Unnerve Mewtwo (+SAtk) Shadow Ball vs 252HP/0SpDef Spooky Plate Multitype Arceus (Neutral): 41% - 49% (186 - 220 HP). Guaranteed 3HKO.
252SpAtk Unnerve Mewtwo (+SAtk) Psystrike vs 252HP/0Def Spooky Plate Multitype Arceus (Neutral): 39% - 46% (175 - 207 HP). Guaranteed 3HKO.
See? It's a 3HKO either way.

As for Jack Frost...I don't really see the point. The slower pokemon will be the one who causes the weather, so with a scarf, unless Kyogre or Groudon are scarfed as well, their weather will be the one that activates. If it's a weather disrupter, you may want it to be slower, but even then, it's not bulky enough to go slow in Ubers. Also, when you have an ability that cause a stat change or weather, but needs to activate first, it only gets to activate for the pokemon in your 1st team slot. So, if you lead with Abomnasnow, Genesect won't be able to get a download boost.

...Unless you intend for it to be in your 4th teamslot? It may work that way...

Thanks! I see merit in dropping Shadow Ball, so off it goes. xD

As for Abomasnow, yeah, I'm not using him in my lead. He'd be the 4th Pokemon, usually, and then I'd just switch him in when I predict/provoke a move that won't bother Abomasnow too much. Hopefully what you said about bulk won't be too much of a problem.

I think Genesect needs a scarf...a whole lot of pokes in the Uber tier outpeed Genesect with a scarf, OHKOing you, namely Reshiram.

Rotate him out then, haha. I obviously wouldn't leave Genesect to face a Reshiram. That's the great thing about Rotation Battles!

Scarf Genesect may not be the best idea though. If you are stuck in a move that isn't too reliable for an entire battle, it pretty much becomes dead weight. If speed is really of that much importance, you may want to consider Rock Polish since you can possibly get that off while Ice attacks are being thrown everywhere.

And, since you will be facing off against a whole load of Ubers, I really do suggest running Grass Know > Energy Ball or Grass Know > Sheer Cold. Grass Know can (I beliebe) OHKO Groudon, as well as 2HKO Kyogres, who can't hurt you anyway (for an OHKO that is...).

Nah, I'm not too worried about Speed. I have Tailwind for that. I will make that change on Abomasnow though, as you do bring up a valid point. Most Legendaries are quite heavy, so having a weight based move could be useful. No more Sheer Cold, as I might need Energy Ball for Gastrodon.

Thanks for the help guys!

 

[Caluminousdugtrio]

RIGHTTT its rotation battles lollll I forgot xDDDDDD