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Speed of Darkness (Pokebank OU balanced offense featuring Houndoom)

Divine Retribution

Conquistador de pan
Heya, welcome to my RMT. This isn't the first Generation 6 team I've created, but it's the most fun to play. I decided to step out of the box a little bit and use some underrated and/or forgotten threats to check Pokemon that usually give me trouble, and support my main sweeper, Kangaskhan. I honestly don't know what to call this team. I guess balanced offense comes as close as anything but it's not really. Sort of a mix between bulky offense, stall, and hyper offense.

Anyways, to the team.

[video=youtube;-3d_KtGW9gI]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-3d_KtGW9gI[/video]


213.png

Shuckle @ Custap Berry
Calm - Sturdy
252 HP, Sp. Def, 4 Defence
-Sticky Web
-Stealth Rock
-Encore
-Toxic

One of the first moves to pique my interest in the 6th Generation was Sticky Web. If you thought Stealth Rock was broke, how would an entry hazard that makes fast, frail Pokemon who lack Flying typing or levitate nearly useles? Even Pokemon like Starmie have a hard time spinning it away when they're outsped by threats that normally can't beat them. Of course, good Sticky Web users are in a shortage. Literally the only remotely viable ones are Galvantula, Smeargle, and this guy. For 5 generations now, Shuckle has been damned to the depths of NU because of his literal inability to pose even the remotest offensive threat to just about anything. With the lowest combined Attack and Special Attack of just about any Pokemon in existance, Shuckle has been forced to resort to niche support roles that are mostly outclassed by more viable alternatives. Well, the addition of Sticky Web to his movepool changes that. Bar Smeargle, he is the only Pokemon known to get both Sticky Web and Stealth Rock, and with titanic Defence and Special Defense he has absolutely no problem setting up both. Encore and Toxic prevent him from being total set-up bait. A Custap Berry lets him slap down that extra set of hazards or throw a Toxic on an opponent before dying.

73.png

Tentacruel @ Black Sludge
Bold - Liquid Ooze
252 HP, 240 Defence, 16 Speed
-Scald
-Rapid Spin
-Knock Off
-Ice Beam

Tentacruel comes to my team as a Spinner and a back-up Fighting resist who can spread burns around with Scald and cripple opposing walls and Scarf users with Knock Off. He's EV'd to outspeed max Speed neutral Breloom and get the jump on it with Ice Beam, and the rest is dumbed into Defence and HP. Scald is mainstay on defensive Water types and Tentacruel is no exception. A 30% chance to burn (or 100% if you're using it against me) helps him shut down physical attackers like its his job (which I guess it is). Rapid Spin clears away hazards that the rest of my team doesn't enjoy. Knock Off was mostly filler when I first added it, but I've come to like the move a lot. Removing a Choice Scarf or a Life Orb from a problematic sweeper is usually far more valuable than anything else he can carry. Ice Beam and Liquid Ooze lets him beat the Grass type spinblockers by turning their own Leech Seeds and Horn Leeches against them while cutting into their health with Ice Beam. Even Aegislash won't stay in if he knows what's good for him, unless he enjoys being burned.

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Kangaskhan @ Kangaskhanite
Jolly - Scrappy
252 Speed, 252 Attack, 4 HP
-Power-Up Punch
-Sucker Punch
-Return
-Earthquake

My primary win condition and hands down the most overpowered Mega in the game. Forget Gengar, you let this thing get even the least bit of momentum and it's going to sweep your whole team like nothing. Power-Up Punch is how he gets that momentum usually. Dealing a bit of chip damage and essentially gaining a Sword's Dance boost sets him up for the rest of the match. After that very little can withstand his barrage of Returns and Earthquakes. Even most dedicated physical walls are 2HKO'd by a boosted Return. Earthquake lets him get past Aegislash and Chandelure. Sucker Punch lets him beat slower priority users as well as Pokemon who are naturally faster, although he does have the bulk to take a hit or two if he has to. I chose Scrappy over Inner Focus because Fake Out users have never troubled me much, and being able to nullify prediction by firing off a Return before Mega Evolving on a predicted Gengar switch is more valuable to me. With Sticky Web active, very little can hope to stop this monster's rampage.

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Genesect @ Choice Scarf
Naive - Download
24 HP, 252 Attack, 8 Sp. Atk, 224 Speed
-U-Turn
-Iron Head
-Shadow Claw
-Ice Beam

This is my custom physically biased Scarf set for Genesect. The EV spread is courtesy of Eaglehawk. Anyways, we all know more or less how Genesect works because of his infamous spree in 5th Generation OU. This time around I modified him a little to be physically biased instead of Specially. This lets him hit harder with U-Turn as well as as buffing Iron Head (which gains new usefulness this generation as it hits Fairies super-effectively). Shadow Claw is filler and coverage, but hits Mega Gengar and Aegislash that lack King's Shield hard. Ice Beam lets him make use of Special Attack boosts to beat physical walls such as Gliscor and Hippowdon.

gourgeist.png

Gourgeist-Super @ Leftovers
Bold - Frisk
252 HP, 248 Defence, 8 Attack
-Shadow Sneak
-Leech Seed
-Will O' Wisp
-Substitute

Gourgeist is an amazing spinblocker. With things like Starmie and Donphan coming in to spin away my Sticky Web, I need something to block and remove them while still maintaining some sort of pressure against my opponent. Gourgeist is great at that. Leech Seed and Will O' Wisp let him neuter physical attackers and slowly drain away his opponent's health, while Substitute keeps him safe and completes the SubSeed combo. Shadow Sneak is to prevent him from being Taunt bait and also picks off weakened Starmie and Sword Form Aegislash and the likes. Mostly his job is to block Rapid Spin and neuter Fighting types that give Kangaskhan problems.

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Houndoom @ Salac Berry
Timid - Flash Fire
252 Speed, 252 Sp. Atk, 4 HP
-Fire Blast
-Dark Pulse
-Nasty Plot
-Endure

Now, at this point in time I found myself with an extra team slot to do with as I please. I already have an effective 5 player team, and there's really not much I needed to cover. Well, except there was. Mega Gengar still works me over if it carries Substitute and ghost types in general annoyed the crap out of me. One solution would have been to put Crunch on Kangaskhan, but that would have left him without priority. So instead I got creative and turned to one of my favourite Pokemon design-wise. Houndoom is a great answer to spinblockers in general, fearing nothing from the likes of Trevenant and Gourgeist and using them as setup bait. I took that a step farther and added Endure+Salac to help with Gengar. Fire Blast and Dark Pulse are his chosen STAB attacks which get pretty decent coverage together and hurt a lot, especially if he nets a Flash Fire boost. Nasty Plot lets him set up on the likes of Gourgeist and gives him a chance to sweep if opposing priority users are gone. Endure lets him live through powerful attacks like Gengar's Focus Blast or Greninja's Hydro Pump, then boost his Speed with Salac Berry and KO the next turn.

Anyways, that's it. Feel free to comment/rate/suggest/criticize or whatever you want. I'd like to hear any thoughts or recommendations you've got to offer.​
 

McDanger

Well-Known Member
OK, I really fail to see the use of shuckle, yes sticky web is cool, but its inferior to forretress who can also remove hazards, doing the job of both shuckle and forretress, while unlike tentacruel, doesn't kill momentum as it has volt switch. While you probably lose sticky web, defog is more common than rapid spin which removes it, making suicide leads fairly bad now as nothing can block defog outside of taunting the user, and such can't just be switched in to stop it like rapid spin. Due to the offensive tempo of your team i suggest dropping shuckle and tentacruel in favor of excadrill who sets up rocks, spins, and puts on offensive pressure with its decent speed, high attack, and good coverage.

Despite mega kanga being your main win condition, you cover it poorly. You stop fighings yes, but beat them no as they can keep switching out while your walls get worn down, until they can muscle through them. Skarmory is only really checked by houndoom, who doesn't want to take a brave bird with its terrible defenses, while you poorly cover gengar. You basically have to sac someone to stop it if its behind a substitute with either gourgeist, houndoom, or genesect. I suggest adding Mixed Tyranitar as it not only checks skamory, it baits in fightings, steels, ground walls, namely gliscor and landorus therian, while somewhat checking gengar. He also synergizes with excadrill as it gives you a second win condition to say with sand rush, as well as a way to handle mega gengar and gengar, especially as neither will want to set up a sub. This also helps with talonflame, who really just steamrolls your team with some prior damage.

I dont understand the use of gourgeist when trevenant does the same thing, but more offensively, like the rest of your team, and doesn't crap on your momentum, while having a better recovery with rest, as well as will o wisp, while baiting in heatran who mega kanga can set up on. I really dont think i need to explain more as trevenant will pivot on the same crap as gourgeist, while not completely loosing your momentum.

Houndoom is laughable. With priorities everywhere, weither its talonflame, scizor, lucario, or dragonite, houndoom is screwed once it sets up, plus its crappy 95 base speed makes it outspeed by any common scarfer, namely genesect. Mandibuzz literally does the same thing but better, as well as stop aegislash with no problem and pivot with ease to gengar, being 3hkoed iirc, allowing it to stall with roost of come in and force gengar out. It can also spread toxic and u turn to maintain momentum, which is better then houndoom tbh as its fairly easy to check and functions as a solo sweeper.

tl;dr
shuckle--->excadrill
tentacruel ----> tyranitar
gourgeist----> Trevenant
houndoom----> mandibuzz
shadow claw----> flamethrower on genesect
 

Eaglehawk

Banned
I think his Genesect is fine, but I would much rather have Explosion on it. It allows it to revenge kill frail sweepers that gives this team trouble (as long as the rest of the team can hold its ground against the rest of the team).
 

epicdrill

Well-Known Member
OK, I really fail to see the use of shuckle, yes sticky web is cool, but its inferior to forretress who can also remove hazards, doing the job of both shuckle and forretress, while unlike tentacruel, doesn't kill momentum as it has volt switch. While you probably lose sticky web, defog is more common than rapid spin which removes it, making suicide leads fairly bad now as nothing can block defog outside of taunting the user, and such can't just be switched in to stop it like rapid spin. Due to the offensive tempo of your team i suggest dropping shuckle and tentacruel in favor of excadrill who sets up rocks, spins, and puts on offensive pressure with its decent speed, high attack, and good coverage.

I have used Shuckle before, and it isn't a suicide lead. Not if you play it well. Also, Gourgeist completely walls any MKangaskhan without Crunch, which is most of them.

I would, however, replace Toxic with Power Trick. This really helps it not just be a suicide lead, as it can now come in, force something out by giving it what is, effectively, a free -2 to both offensive stats, and Knock Off the switch-in's item or set up hazards. You are very Fighting weak, but nothing really jumps out at me to fix that.
 

McDanger

Well-Known Member
I think his Genesect is fine, but I would much rather have Explosion on it. It allows it to revenge kill frail sweepers that gives this team trouble (as long as the rest of the team can hold its ground against the rest of the team).

He lacks the speed to use explosion, otherwise i would have suggested it. And no its bad, aegislash is the only one that will stay in on genesect, seeing as iron head hits for close to the same power to gengar so it`ll switch, in which cause flamethrower is superior as it can't be nerfed by king's shield.

I have used Shuckle before, and it isn't a suicide lead. Not if you play it well. Also, Gourgeist completely walls any MKangaskhan without Crunch, which is most of them.

I would, however, replace Toxic with Power Trick. This really helps it not just be a suicide lead, as it can now come in, force something out by giving it what is, effectively, a free -2 to both offensive stats, and Knock Off the switch-in's item or set up hazards. You are very Fighting weak, but nothing really jumps out at me to fix that.

Except it serves no purpose on the team. Shuckle has no place in OU as its got bad typing and no redeeming qualities. Yes it has high def and low attack, but its a gimmack at best, weak to common threats like scizor, aegislash, and keldeo, taking neutral from most of the rest of OU. Its outclassed as a hazard stacker by forretress as i previously said, while a prankster user is a better status spreading pokemon. Theres a reason shuckle was NU last generation.
 

MetalSonic

Orderan' Defendan'
Ahh nice outside the meta thinking, Divine!

Firstly, Bold on Superboo? Shouldn't it be Impish or somethin? Also, I usually run about 252 HP/ 156 Def / 100 Spe on him to effectively outpace 8 spe Adamant normal Scizor and burn it. It'd be cool in case you felt like dropping Tent. The speeds pretty cool as well for surprise outspeeds, and I prefer Phantom Force for the added pressure of more Wisp/Seed damage over Shadow Sneak and forcing a switch if they're not up to takin more damage, this parts just me though.

Dig the creativity. -w-
 

Moonclawz

Aura Trainer
Hi Devine Retribution,

I like your use of creative sets, but I agree with mcdanger that most of your Pokemon just don't work well in helping Mega-Kangaskan sweep.

First off, due to the prevalence of Defog, suicide leads like Shuckle aren't as effective. In addition, Shuckle is completely useless after being taunted as it has no attacking moves. Although Encore prevents it from being complete set-up bait and Sticky Web is useful against teams without Defog/Rapid Spin, there are far better options such as Forretress and Skamory. Since you already have a spinner in Tentacruel, I'd recommend a bulky Garchomp with Rocky Helmet and Iron Head. Garchomp can set up Rocks, maintains offensive pressure, and also checks Aegislash with Earthquake. Iron Head helps against Fairies but can switched out with Fire Blast for Forretress/Skamory if you like.

To help Kangaskhan sweep, you need a Pokemon that can help remove the fighting-type Pokemon that can easily outspeed and KO it (Terrakion, Keldeo, Lucario). For that, I recommend you change Houndoom for Talonflame. Talonflame gives you a fighting resistance, ground immunity, and can KO many fighting-types with a Flying-gem boosted Acrobatics. In addition, due to Gale Wings, Talonflames gives your team another strong priority move, as well as another possible win condition.

On Genesect, Flamethrower is better than Shadow Claw, since Flamethrower hits Forretress, Ferrothorn, Skarmory, and Aegislash for super-effective damage. Genesect can simply use Iron Head to check Mega-Gengar. Also, most Aegislash carry King's Shield, which would cause a -2 Atk drop for Genesect.

On Tentacruel, I feel like Toxic would be more useful than Ice Beam, since Toxic hits Pokemon like Rotom-W and Latias/Latios, while you already have Gourgeist (and maybe Talonflame) to check Breloom. I'd also like to point out that Tentacruel is going to have a very hard time spinning against Pokemon like Gourgeist, Trevenant, and Aegislash, so you could consider a Defog user like Latias in its place.

Hope this helps!

Sets:
Garchomp (M) @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Rough Skin
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 HP / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Dragon Claw
- Iron Head
- Stealth Rocks

Talonflame @ Flying Gem
Ability: Gale Wings
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 Atk / 4 HP
Adamant Nature
- Acrobatics
- Flare Blitz
- Roost
- Swords Dance
 
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