Team March of the Penguins

[UmbreonLord]

Team March of the Penguins


Hey. this isn't my first RMT here, but its one of my first ones that I've found to work. I can get to 1000 CRE with ease, but anything higher than that is a problem. I've worked on it for a while and made changes, but it still doesn't seem to run perfectly. Here's how I built it.



I'd seen SubPetaya Empoleon's ripping their way through many members of a team in battles on Shoddy and YouTube. I decided that I would try him out on a team.
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I then added Latias for her great defences and Special Attack. She covered Empoleon's weaknesses with ease, and Empoleon covered her weaknesses.
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After Latias, I added Roserade. I added her due to a Sleep move and her rare ability to set up Toxic Spikes. I needed entry hazards to assist with wearing down the opponents team for Empoleon sweeping.
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I then noticed that I had no defence except from Latias, and I lacked Stealth Rock. I added Gliscor for Stealth Rock, his superb ability to stop every fighting type and his great defence stat.
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I saw a huge weakness to Ice in my team, and everything except Empoleon would fall to an Ice attack. I added Heatran for some attacking power and the ability to outspeed the likes of Weavile that could easily rip through the team without Heatran's support.
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I was stuck on what to include for my final member of the team. I had little to no physical attacking force. I was deciding between Breloom and Machamp as Latias can take their weaknesses easily. I saw a good set on smogon for Machamp, and used it in this team.
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Now, for a look at their movesets and such.



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Roserade@ Focus Sash
Ability: Natural Cure
Timid
4HP/252 S.Atk/252 Spd

Hidden Power-Fire
Toxic Spikes
Leaf Storm
Sleep Powder

I love Roserade. Its one of my favourite leads. The general strategy for her is like any other. Normally I sleep the lead, then proceed to set up Toxic Spikes, although with different leads requires a different plan. Here are what I do against some leads.

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Latias@Life Orb
Ability: Levitate
Timid
4 Def/252 S. Atk/ 252 Spd

Draco Meteor
Surf
Thunderbolt
Recover

Latias is normally what I go to once Roserade has done her job. Originally, Latias had a Choice Scarf and Heatran had a Life Orb. I switched the items around as I found they'd work better that way. I have Draco Meteor because it cuts through anything that isn't a Steel type like butter. Surf is for some good coverage. Thunderbolt is for use against any flying types and if I'm unsure about what's going to switch in. Dragon Pulse is if I want to kill a non-steel without getting a special attack drop.


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Heatran@Choice Scarf
Ability: Flash Fire
Timid
4HP/252 S.Atk252 Spd

Fire Blast
Dragon Pulse
Explosion
Earth Power

Heatran is one of the two steel types on this team, but he plays a vital role. He's the glue that holds the team together by taking hits that he resists, which is most of the types. I use Fire Blast over Flamethrower because Flamethrower just doesn't have the power thats needed to KO a lot of pokemon. Dragon Pulse is to help deal with Dragons like Salamence and non-scarfed Latias. Hidden Power Grass for some extra coverage, I haven't really had a use for it yet. Earth Power is here to deal with opposing Heatran and Jolteon.


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Machamp@Leftovers
Ability: No Guard
Adamant
216HP/252 Atk/40 Spd

Dynamicpunch
Stone Edge
Payback
Substitute

Machamp is a beast. Whenever Machamp comes into something like Tyranitar and sets up a sub, something is going to get hurt. He doesn't do a lot in the way of walling, but he packs a hell of a lot of power. Dynamicpunch is there for a certain confusion and STAB. Stone Edge is here for things like Gyarados and Salamence who jump in when he's behind a sub. Payback is there to deal with the ghosts like Gengar and the Rotom appliances. Substitute is there to give him something to hide behind so he can deal with the Pokemon that outspeed him.


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Gliscor@ Leftovers
Ability: Sand Veil
Impish
252HP/32 Def/224 Spd

Earthquake
Taunt
Roost
Stealth Rock

Gliscor is part of the defensive group of the team. He stops fighting types dead in their tracks and forces them out. He also lays the vital Stealth Rock to help Empoleon clear away the opponents team. Earthquake is there for its great coverage that kills off so many Steel and Electric types with very little effort. Taunt is there to stop things like skarmory setting up Spikes. Roost is there for recovery and to allowing Gliscor to be a constant annoyance to the opponents force.

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Empoleon@ Petaya Berry
Ability: Torrent
Modest
12 HP/12 Def/252 SpA/232 Spd

Agility
Substitute
Surf
Grass Knot

Empoleon is the star of the team. He comes in late game and often defeats the opposing team. He is the core of the team and when his Petaya berry activates along with Torrent, good luck stopping him late game. Agility gives him vital speed to outrun pokemon like Salamence who could easily KO him with an Earthquake. Substitute is there to deplete his HP enough to get Torrent and the Petaya Berry to take effect. Surf is there to make his ability of use, Grass Knot is there to kill any heavy Pokemon and for another move if I need it.

That's the team.

 

[Squirtleismyhomeboy]

i'm not an official rater, but this team looks pretty solid

 

[CreepacisT]

Replace HP grass for explosion on heatran so that if there is a poke on the opponents team you can't deal with you can have a final solution. (not being racist.)
also, taunt over stone edge on gliscor because otherwise stall teams generally beat you.

 

[Noctourniquet]

Have you ever considered using HP Electric on heatran? As it is Gyrabait, it can make for a really nasty surprise on switch-ins.

i'm not an official rater, but this team looks pretty solid

You don't have to be an official rater. You just have to rate.

 

[zapper22001]

^Additionally, you should run an EV Spread of 252 HP/ 4 Def/ 252 Spd.This allows you to Taunt any opposing Gliscors before they do so to you.

Also, Run Recover over Dragon Pulse. Dragon Pulse as a secondary STAB just doesn't do anything usefull. Dragon/ Water already gets perfect coverage on everything in Ou except Shedninja nad Empoloen(iirc) so Thunderbolt and Surf should suffice for sweeping. Plus, Dragon Pulse, although is consistent, is too weak to be used on the LO set unless boosted with a CM. The benefits of using Recover allow you to shrug off any resisdual damage like Sandstorm and Life Orb recoil which greatly boosts Latias' surivablitity so it is a better choice.

 

[palingensia]

Hidden Power Ice over Hidden Power Fire on Roserade, since that ensures you have max speed and any Dragons looking to set up on you get frozen in their tracks.

I agree with Recover > Dragon Pulse on Latias.

You should really only need 220 Spd EVs on Gliscor to outrun other Gliscor, so 252 HP/36 Def/220 Spd would do. Taunt > Stone Edge, yes.

Hidden Power Ice and Explosion need to go on Heatran rather than Hidden Power Grass and Dragon Pulse. Explosion is good for killing stuff you desperately need to kill, and Hidden Power Ice lets you beat Gliscor and most Dragons. You don't need to worry about hitting Kingdra with Dragon Pulse, as it rips through you already.

 

[zapper22001]

You should really only need 220 Spd EVs on Gliscor to outrun other Gliscor, so 252 HP/36 Def/220 Spd would do. Taunt > Stone Edge, yes.

I disagree as StallBreaking Gliscor's are common enough that there is a good chance that someone else will run 220 Spd EV's. Now the same could be said about 252 Spd Ev's, but it at least gives you a better chance to outrun. Plus, it also outruns many Base 100's that don't invest much in Spd which is always useful given the fact that there are so many Base 100's.

 

[Shock Trooper]

You shouldn't be running Dragon Pulse and HP Grass on the same ScarfTran set. Since this team is built around SubPetaya Empoleon, I would drop HP Grass since Empoleon has it and replace it with BOOM to lure out bulky waters and Blissey that ruin Empoleon's sweep. Then if you wanted you could run HP Ice over Dragon Pulse to get that extra oomph against Mence.

I would run Taunt over Stone Edge on Gliscor so stall doesn't use you as set up fodder because Gliscor's attack on defensive sets is meh.

There's a couple of random weaks here or there like NP Porygon-Z (UU much lol?) or Offensive LO Azelf (not used much thanks to Tyranitar) but really solid otherwise.

I'll come back if I spot anything else.

 

[UmbreonLord]

Thanks for the help everyone. With the 220 Spd needed to outrun and taunt other Gliscor, shouldn't I run 224 Spd to outrun those faster than normal?

 

[Shock Trooper]

Eh, everybody runs different amounts of Speed on Gliscor, so I would just run Max Speed to be safe to Taunt with.

Also like everybody else said running DM and Dragon Pulse on the LO set really isn't a good idea. Latias wants the Recover support>> Dragon Pulse.

 

[AlCario]

Just a nitpick: Heatran should be Naive or Hasty so that you don't hinder Explosion's power.

 

[calze6]

Since you have wall breakers, gliscor can have u-turn for coverage.

 

[Master_of_grass]

looks pretty solid 2 me. explosions on Heatran though

 

[Indragon]

As good as Dragon Pulse is on Heatran, you should try out HP Grass or Ice over it, since unSTABed Dragon Pulse is quite weak with neutral coverage.

As for Gliscor, you should either go fully defensive (+ outrunning Luke) as you've done here or max speed w/ Jolly, but if you try to have the best of both world, you'll lose bulk, while still losing out to speed ties with other Gliscor. And, you've left in the part about Stone Edge for Gyara in your description, maybe you'd want to edit that out.

For Empoleon, Ice Beam > Grass Knot, since it's better coverage and Roserade can deal with most bulky waters or you can lure and BOOM with Heatran.

Other than that, there aren't really any major Offensive threats to this team, so good job on that. However, Agiligross with Ice Punch will sweep you if it sets up on Latias at -2, Heatran locked into Dragon Pulse, etc. if Machamp is weakened enough. SubRoost Zapdos w/ HP Ice also gives you trouble unless you can Explode on it first. But you can't do anything about this without hurting your ability to counter other threats.

 

[Faster.]

Why is everyone arguing over tiny spreads and sets, when you should all be trying to fix the Gyarados weakness?

252 Speed on Gliscor. 220 Spe is far too unreliable.

 

[imperfectluck.]

Why when he can maximize the potential of the spread. Gliscor vs. gliscor will rarely ever happen and it when it does it will not be game changing. seriously, so many nooby comments

 

[Indragon]

Why is everyone arguing over tiny spreads and sets, when you should all be trying to fix the Gyarados weakness?

252 Speed on Gliscor. 220 Spe is far too unreliable.

Because "tiny spreads and sets" matter when you're trying to optimize the team's performance. Secondly, how is there a Gyarados weakness? Latias destroys it and it can't set up on most of the team (Sleep/powerful Leaf Storm from Roserade, SE or DynamicPunch hax from Machamp/Taunt from Gliscor at least prevents it from setting up DD). Latias and Heatran (with explosion) can revenge kill Gyara and most probably it won't set up on Empoleon coz he's supposed to be sweeping only lategame.
252 Speed on Gliscor is not necessary.

 

[Faster.]

Because "tiny spreads and sets" matter when you're trying to optimize the team's performance. Secondly, how is there a Gyarados weakness? Latias destroys it and it can't set up on most of the team (Sleep/powerful Leaf Storm from Roserade, SE or DynamicPunch hax from Machamp/Taunt from Gliscor at least prevents it from setting up DD). Latias and Heatran (with explosion) can revenge kill Gyara and most probably it won't set up on Empoleon coz he's supposed to be sweeping only lategame.
252 Speed on Gliscor is not necessary.

Oh god, not another one of those arrogant know it all pricks. There is a few at every forum it seems.

Lets say Gyarados comes into a Roserade at -2 or a Heatran locked into any attack, bar Explosion [which Gyara will only take 60% or so from]. Gyarados can actually even set up on Empoleon too.

Gyarados has this move called Dragon Dance which boosts its attack by 1.5 and speed by 1.5 after one turn of set up. This means it can outrun all of the OPs team after a Dragon Dance. Now lets see, Roserade dies to a +1 Stone Edge / Ice Fang / Bounce / Earthquake / Return, no matter what. Latias falls to a LO Stone Edge and a Leftovers Ice Fang. Heatran is outrun and KOed by Waterfall or Earthquake. I really dont think I need to explain this.

Whilst Adamant Gyara will be stopped, due to Heatran, you will have to sacrifice at least two pokemon to bring it down. Something to get Tran in for free, and then Tran itself. Jolly LO Gyara sweeps this team easily. Now call me crazy, but that is a Gyarados weakness.

There are a number of things you could do to fix this weakness, such as running a bulkier Latias / Vaporeon / Starmie over your LO Latias, or replacing ScarfTran for ScarfRachi.

ScarfRachi helps against Mence, as DDMence sweeps your team and provided they predict right, something will die everytime MixMence attacks.

EDIT: Just noticed the OP cant get past 1000.

Seriously this team is going to need a huge overhaul if it wants to get higher, and restarting probably seems the best idea

 

[Ludi-Cola]

B/c you have no pokemon setting up a Sandstream may I suggest Hyper Cutter instead on Gliscor? (his offensive power is not that strong w/ no EV training, so it wld be good to have something to prevent Intimidate etc. Or else teach it Sword Dance/U-Turn if you just want hit-and-run). If you keep Sand Veil Gliscor, then TTar should join yr lineup. Faster mentioned swapping it for Latias and I am inclined to agree. I'm no battle expert, as my wi-fi record prooves but on the whole I like this. The team name is full-of win anyway. ^^;

 

[Bulldogs]

No reason for Hyper Cutter, when the Intimidators, Gyara and Salamence, cannot be hit by EQ anyway.