Quick Overview:
I haven't played much serious competitive Pokemon lately. Like, at all. For the most part, the few teams I've made lately have been to take advantage of underrated sets or crazy gimmicks, which is what this team was based around. I wanted to use one of my favorite underrated sets that I haven't used in a while: LO Vaporeon. Jynx also got brought up somehow, so I decided to throw that in as well. It just sorta went from there, and it's been surprisingly solid. After playing 5 battles on PS, getting tired of the lag and glitches, and then playing another 15 battles on PO the other day, I only lost 3. One on PO was due to two consecutive Politoed Hydro Pump misses (costing me the weather war), the other on PO was due to two consecutive Vaporeon Hydro Pump misses (causing me to be swept by a Conkeldurr), and ironically, the one on PS was due to me getting swept by an opposing Jynx. I've played a little more since then, but I haven't really payed attention to how many losses. Something like 2 out of 21 battles or so. I'm actually surprised that this team has better than a 1:2 win/loss ratio, so take from that what you will.
Politoed @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Drizzle
EVs: 252 SAtk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
- Hydro Pump
- Ice Beam
- Hidden Power [Grass]
- Focus Blast
Politoed is Politoed, and ScarfToed is ScarfToed. I like this set a lot more now because of its ability to outspeed Tornadus-T, making it a decenty check against the genie. Strangely enough, I've won several weather wars just by leading with this thing and spamming Hydro Pump. Against non-weather teams with Genesect, I almost always just lead with Toed and toss out a Hydro Pump, which usually puts Genesect into SR range. I might lose Toed, but it's worth it. Ice Beam is neat for catching the occasional Dragon and catching random Flying types like Gliscor without having to risk Hydro Pump's accuracy. HP Grass is kinda cool, because people just love leaving in Gastrodon for me to kill. Focus Blast is literally for Ferrothorn and maybe Abomasnow or something, but it's been useful a few times. I might replace it with Perish Song to stop stupid last-Pokemon Reuniclus sweeps.
Vaporeon @ Life Orb
Trait: Hydration
EVs: 212 HP / 252 SAtk / 44 Spd
Modest Nature
- Hydro Pump
- Ice Beam
- Hidden Power [Grass]
- Rest
Definitely one of the most underrated nukes of OU. It's Hydro Pump is hitting about 8.5% harder in the Rain than Specs Latios's Draco Meteor, which is just awesome. Needless to say, most of the time Vaporeon is on the field is spent blasting away with Hydro Pump as much as possible. Ice Beam and HP Grass do have their uses, similar to Politoed in that they hit the occasional Dragon/Flying/Grass type and Gastrodon, respectively. What's really great about Vaporeon is that he's bulky enough to take a ton of neutral attacks, even some powerful ones, and then just heal it all off with Rest. Stall teams often fall prey to Vappy just because they have little else they can do besides status him, while the whole time he's blowing holes in everything with Hydro Pump and Resting off what little damage they can do.
Dragonite @ Choice Band
Trait: Multiscale
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Outrage
- Superpower
- Fire Punch
- Extremespeed
Dragonite is just awesome. Between Multiscale and Extremespeed, the Choice Band set just checks a ton of stuff. Once the key Steels have been weakened or removed, I can just spam Outrage and probably kill at least two Pokemon. Superpower lets me hit stuff like Ferrothorn and BalloonTran, plus hitting most other Steel types a little harder than Earthquake would (besides Jirachi and Metagross, who I haven't had problems with so far). Extremespeed is great for nailing frail Pokemon like Volcarona and Thundurus-T. Fire Punch may seem weird on a Rain team, but it gives me a neat weapon against Sun teams and still hits Scizor, Genesect, and Forretress a little harder than Superpower even in the Rain.
Ferrothorn @ Leftovers
Trait: Iron Barbs
EVs: 252 HP / 88 Def / 168 SDef
Impish Nature
- Power Whip
- Leech Seed
- Stealth Rock
- Protect
Pretty standard Ferrothorn setup, nothing really special here. Stealth Rock > Spikes since I've found a much greater need for wearing down random Volcarona and Tornadus/Thundurus-T than for Spikes. Leech Seed + Protect is cool because just by throwing out Leech Seed on a switch and hitting Protect after, I can shave a quarter off the opponent's health and sometimes get around half of my health back. I like Power Whip > Gyro Ball for the greater PP and the ability to hit Reuniclus for some decent damage. EV spread is standard stuff. I wanted to come up with a spread customized to take a wide variety of Dragon attacks, but this one actually does that pretty well. Don't fix what ain't broken, I guess.
Tentacruel @ Black Sludge
Trait: Rain Dish
EVs: 252 HP / 236 Def / 20 Spd
Bold Nature
- Scald
- Toxic
- Protect
- Rapid Spin
Dragonite loves for Rain to help preserve Multiscale by canceling out Sand and Hail, but he also loves spin support to get rid of Stealth Rock. That's the main reason Tentacruel is here, and this guy just doesn't like to die. With Protect, Tenta is effectively getting 1/4 of his health back every turn, which is pretty nice. You may be wondering if I forgot the word "Spikes" next to "Toxic", but I didn't. I've never really been in a match where I've thought, "Man, I could really use Toxic Spikes right now!" Toxic is pretty good, though, since it royally screws over Jellicent that try to spin block me. Even if I don't predict the switch, I can outspeed and Toxic it before it Taunts me. The EVs are there to beat max speed base 70s, which includes Specs Politoed, some forms of Breloom, and some forms of Cloyster.
Jynx @ Leftovers
Trait: Dry Skin
EVs: 252 SAtk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
- Lovely Kiss
- Substitute
- Nasty Plot
- Ice Beam
Here she is, Mrs. Popo herself. Lemme just say that Jynx is weird. Like, really weird. When I made this team, I honestly just thought I'd get a fun little Jynx sweep every now and then, but I think Jynx just might be the MVP of this team. Base 95 speed is deceptively fast, beating a ton of common Pokemon and letting me get a Sub up with ease. If I don't miss with Lovely Kiss (it only has 10% accuracy, 110% when the opponent is using it), I can usually easily get a Sub and at least one Nasty Plot up before I have to put them to sleep again. Since Jynx is getting 3/16 of her health back every turn, I can actually stall out dangerous moves like Ferrothorn's Power Whip (factoring in misses), random Gyro Balls from Ferro and Forry, and Heatran's Fire Blast. At +6 (not hard to get, actually), Jynx is 2HKOing things like Chansey, Blissey, and even offensive Heatran after Rocks. Simply awesome.
So that's about it. There are still a couple of things that I'm having trouble with.
Genesect is annoying to play around, as usual. I really don't have anything on my team that can't be 1-2HKOd by one of its moves. Thankfully, the opponent usually has to play as much of a mind game as I do, since I can do a lot of damage if they pick the wrong move. Usually I can hit it at the beginning with Politoed's Hydro Pump and put it within Stealth Rock range, mainly if the opponent is running non-weather and I'm not afraid to lose Toed.
Terrakion is really annoying. Tentacruel and Dragonite can take a Close Combat, and Ferrothorn can handle Stone Edge, but the opponent can really do a lot of damage to me if they predict right.
Flying type spam is pretty bad as well. Most of my team can take even a Specs Hurricane from Tornadus-T and do a ton of damage back or flat out KO, but I really hate having no resists. I've been thinking about running Rain SubCM Jirachi to fix this, but I can't decide where it should go.
Ironically, I really don't have a great way of beating opposing Jynx. I can sorta beat it with Vaporeon, since I always break its Subs with HP Grass, but past that those running Sub are probably going to kill something every time they come in.
Ok, that's about it. Rate away! ^_^
I haven't played much serious competitive Pokemon lately. Like, at all. For the most part, the few teams I've made lately have been to take advantage of underrated sets or crazy gimmicks, which is what this team was based around. I wanted to use one of my favorite underrated sets that I haven't used in a while: LO Vaporeon. Jynx also got brought up somehow, so I decided to throw that in as well. It just sorta went from there, and it's been surprisingly solid. After playing 5 battles on PS, getting tired of the lag and glitches, and then playing another 15 battles on PO the other day, I only lost 3. One on PO was due to two consecutive Politoed Hydro Pump misses (costing me the weather war), the other on PO was due to two consecutive Vaporeon Hydro Pump misses (causing me to be swept by a Conkeldurr), and ironically, the one on PS was due to me getting swept by an opposing Jynx. I've played a little more since then, but I haven't really payed attention to how many losses. Something like 2 out of 21 battles or so. I'm actually surprised that this team has better than a 1:2 win/loss ratio, so take from that what you will.
Politoed @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Drizzle
EVs: 252 SAtk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
- Hydro Pump
- Ice Beam
- Hidden Power [Grass]
- Focus Blast
Politoed is Politoed, and ScarfToed is ScarfToed. I like this set a lot more now because of its ability to outspeed Tornadus-T, making it a decenty check against the genie. Strangely enough, I've won several weather wars just by leading with this thing and spamming Hydro Pump. Against non-weather teams with Genesect, I almost always just lead with Toed and toss out a Hydro Pump, which usually puts Genesect into SR range. I might lose Toed, but it's worth it. Ice Beam is neat for catching the occasional Dragon and catching random Flying types like Gliscor without having to risk Hydro Pump's accuracy. HP Grass is kinda cool, because people just love leaving in Gastrodon for me to kill. Focus Blast is literally for Ferrothorn and maybe Abomasnow or something, but it's been useful a few times. I might replace it with Perish Song to stop stupid last-Pokemon Reuniclus sweeps.
Vaporeon @ Life Orb
Trait: Hydration
EVs: 212 HP / 252 SAtk / 44 Spd
Modest Nature
- Hydro Pump
- Ice Beam
- Hidden Power [Grass]
- Rest
Definitely one of the most underrated nukes of OU. It's Hydro Pump is hitting about 8.5% harder in the Rain than Specs Latios's Draco Meteor, which is just awesome. Needless to say, most of the time Vaporeon is on the field is spent blasting away with Hydro Pump as much as possible. Ice Beam and HP Grass do have their uses, similar to Politoed in that they hit the occasional Dragon/Flying/Grass type and Gastrodon, respectively. What's really great about Vaporeon is that he's bulky enough to take a ton of neutral attacks, even some powerful ones, and then just heal it all off with Rest. Stall teams often fall prey to Vappy just because they have little else they can do besides status him, while the whole time he's blowing holes in everything with Hydro Pump and Resting off what little damage they can do.
Dragonite @ Choice Band
Trait: Multiscale
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Outrage
- Superpower
- Fire Punch
- Extremespeed
Dragonite is just awesome. Between Multiscale and Extremespeed, the Choice Band set just checks a ton of stuff. Once the key Steels have been weakened or removed, I can just spam Outrage and probably kill at least two Pokemon. Superpower lets me hit stuff like Ferrothorn and BalloonTran, plus hitting most other Steel types a little harder than Earthquake would (besides Jirachi and Metagross, who I haven't had problems with so far). Extremespeed is great for nailing frail Pokemon like Volcarona and Thundurus-T. Fire Punch may seem weird on a Rain team, but it gives me a neat weapon against Sun teams and still hits Scizor, Genesect, and Forretress a little harder than Superpower even in the Rain.
Ferrothorn @ Leftovers
Trait: Iron Barbs
EVs: 252 HP / 88 Def / 168 SDef
Impish Nature
- Power Whip
- Leech Seed
- Stealth Rock
- Protect
Pretty standard Ferrothorn setup, nothing really special here. Stealth Rock > Spikes since I've found a much greater need for wearing down random Volcarona and Tornadus/Thundurus-T than for Spikes. Leech Seed + Protect is cool because just by throwing out Leech Seed on a switch and hitting Protect after, I can shave a quarter off the opponent's health and sometimes get around half of my health back. I like Power Whip > Gyro Ball for the greater PP and the ability to hit Reuniclus for some decent damage. EV spread is standard stuff. I wanted to come up with a spread customized to take a wide variety of Dragon attacks, but this one actually does that pretty well. Don't fix what ain't broken, I guess.
Tentacruel @ Black Sludge
Trait: Rain Dish
EVs: 252 HP / 236 Def / 20 Spd
Bold Nature
- Scald
- Toxic
- Protect
- Rapid Spin
Dragonite loves for Rain to help preserve Multiscale by canceling out Sand and Hail, but he also loves spin support to get rid of Stealth Rock. That's the main reason Tentacruel is here, and this guy just doesn't like to die. With Protect, Tenta is effectively getting 1/4 of his health back every turn, which is pretty nice. You may be wondering if I forgot the word "Spikes" next to "Toxic", but I didn't. I've never really been in a match where I've thought, "Man, I could really use Toxic Spikes right now!" Toxic is pretty good, though, since it royally screws over Jellicent that try to spin block me. Even if I don't predict the switch, I can outspeed and Toxic it before it Taunts me. The EVs are there to beat max speed base 70s, which includes Specs Politoed, some forms of Breloom, and some forms of Cloyster.
Jynx @ Leftovers
Trait: Dry Skin
EVs: 252 SAtk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
- Lovely Kiss
- Substitute
- Nasty Plot
- Ice Beam
Here she is, Mrs. Popo herself. Lemme just say that Jynx is weird. Like, really weird. When I made this team, I honestly just thought I'd get a fun little Jynx sweep every now and then, but I think Jynx just might be the MVP of this team. Base 95 speed is deceptively fast, beating a ton of common Pokemon and letting me get a Sub up with ease. If I don't miss with Lovely Kiss (it only has 10% accuracy, 110% when the opponent is using it), I can usually easily get a Sub and at least one Nasty Plot up before I have to put them to sleep again. Since Jynx is getting 3/16 of her health back every turn, I can actually stall out dangerous moves like Ferrothorn's Power Whip (factoring in misses), random Gyro Balls from Ferro and Forry, and Heatran's Fire Blast. At +6 (not hard to get, actually), Jynx is 2HKOing things like Chansey, Blissey, and even offensive Heatran after Rocks. Simply awesome.
So that's about it. There are still a couple of things that I'm having trouble with.
Genesect is annoying to play around, as usual. I really don't have anything on my team that can't be 1-2HKOd by one of its moves. Thankfully, the opponent usually has to play as much of a mind game as I do, since I can do a lot of damage if they pick the wrong move. Usually I can hit it at the beginning with Politoed's Hydro Pump and put it within Stealth Rock range, mainly if the opponent is running non-weather and I'm not afraid to lose Toed.
Terrakion is really annoying. Tentacruel and Dragonite can take a Close Combat, and Ferrothorn can handle Stone Edge, but the opponent can really do a lot of damage to me if they predict right.
Flying type spam is pretty bad as well. Most of my team can take even a Specs Hurricane from Tornadus-T and do a ton of damage back or flat out KO, but I really hate having no resists. I've been thinking about running Rain SubCM Jirachi to fix this, but I can't decide where it should go.
Ironically, I really don't have a great way of beating opposing Jynx. I can sorta beat it with Vaporeon, since I always break its Subs with HP Grass, but past that those running Sub are probably going to kill something every time they come in.
Ok, that's about it. Rate away! ^_^