Nope, no Walrein on this team, sorry. I finally managed to get into BW after being stuck in DPP mode and convincing myself that this metagame would be lame and uncompetitive. However, I was wrong and I actually find myself enjoying it at this point and doing rather well at it. So here's a team I've been using for a while now. I wanted to build a team around Spiking Skarmory and CM Roar Latias because together the two check a majority of BW's top threats. I just built around that and it turned out with pretty good results. I've gotten 2 alts with the voting requirement of 1450 at the time of this post with Foxxy Lady at 1593. With this round of testing coming to a close I figured now would be a good time to post it. Anyway enough about that.
Skarmory (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Sturdy
EVs: 252 HP / 240 Def / 16 Spd
Impish Nature (+Def, -SAtk)
- Brave Bird
- Roost
- Spikes
- Whirlwind
Skarmory sets up the Spikes that make Latias that much more threatening. I'm able to bring Skarmory in a wide range of physical attackers while forcing them out giving me a free turn to Spike. The best thing about Skarmory, however, is having a hard stop to the most threatening Sand sweepers in the metagame: Excadrill, Garchomp, and Landorus. Thanks to a huge investment in defense with an impish nature none of these threats are able to do more than 50% even at +2! There's always a tough choice in deciding between Brave Bird and Taunt, but I really hate facing a last mon Excadrill, since Heatran won't always have his Air Balloon intact. 16 Speed EVs have actually helped a lot when facing Pokemon that aim to reach the 177 spe mark. Pokemon such as bulky Breloom, Jellicent, and CB Tyranitar. I've thought about Shed Shell multiple times but I'm usually able to play around Magnezone teams anyway as they're so intent upon trapping Skarmory that Terrakion can often come in and spam Close Combat/Stone Edge.
Latias (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Calm Mind
- Roar
- Roost
- Dragon Pulse
This set is amazing. Latias usually cleans up late in the battle as constant Roaring keeps Jirachi and Tyranitar wary of switching in and they are generally weakened at this point anyway. I generally bring Latias in on a slower special attacker such as Celebi, Rotom-W, or Jellicent and proceed to Calm Mind. From there the opponent is froced to decide whether to switch and take Spikes + Stealth Rock damage or stay in and risk letting me set up even more. Latias is one of very few good Reuniclus checks. Though it does have trouble with OTR variants, it can at least Roar them out. With max HP Latias even has some nice physical bulk. The standard Stealth Rock Tyranitar can't OHKO with Crunch, which means even if I guess wrong and they Pursuit, Latias can come back in later. Gyarados also can't KO with Bounce giving me a check outside of Skarmory which is always nice due to Taunt/Dragon Tail on Gyarados.
Terrakion @ Choice Band
Trait: Justified
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Close Combat
- Stone Edge
- X-Scissor
- Quick Attack
I wanted a Rock resist pretty badly since even Skarm has trouble with CB Tyranitar's Stone Edges if they run the right amount of speed. I tried Sub/SD Chomp in this slot originally but it was actually kind of redundant along side Latias. I eventually got to this set which has just been amazing. even though Latias is what I built the team around, Terrakion is often my MVP. Stone Edge does upwards of 40% to Gliscor while Close Combat does around 50% to most Skarmory. Once those two are out of the way, I can usually just click Close Combat or Stone Edge until I win. ScarfTar works excellently alongside this set being able to trap the psychics that can take a Close Combat, while also baiting Thundurus and Tornadus who can take one hit while forcing me out. Quick Attack is weak as hell but it has saved me a number of times. I've probably used X-Scissor all of 2 times but it is nice for hitting Reuniclus without relying on Stone Miss.
Tyranitar (M) @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Sand Stream
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Stone Edge
- Crunch
- Pursuit
- Superpower
ScarfTar is really underrated in this metagame. It's able to check some of the top special attackers such as Lati@s, Starmie, and the genies, all common on Drizzle teams. ScarfTar also gives me an early advantage against DS Shell Smash teams as they'll usually lead with Espeon in the hopes of getting screens up only to be outsped and OHKOd. Sun basically has no chance unless they run the rare Sub Chandelure to lure me in. Superpower is chosen over Ice Beam or something in order to hit Ferrothorn as well as Terrakion and other Tyranitar.
Heatran (M) @ Air Balloon
Trait: Flash Fire
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Fire Blast
- Earth Power
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Stealth Rock
There are only so many viable Stealth Rock users in BW, and since I was running Tyranitar with a Choice Scarf set the other one's such as Bronzong, and Ferrothorn were horribly redundant with Skarmory. I also wanted some offensive presence and a way to make Forretress think twice about switching in and spinning my hazards away.Air Balloon is nice as it gives me another check to the sand sweepers in case they run Magnezone or something. Hidden Power Ice is so great for catching Garchomp on the switch or checking Gliscor if it managed to grab a SD. Also a great switchin to Taunt + WoW Mew which is sooooo annoying.
Celebi @ Leftovers
Trait: Natural Cure
EVs: 220 HP / 252 SAtk / 36 Spd
Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Nasty Plot
- Giga Drain
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Recover
omg bulky water switch-in that doesn't mind a scald burn?? Yeah that was basically why Celebi was put on the team at first. It does work well with the rest of my team though with Tyranitar taking care of the Latis which prevent a sweep, and forming the infamous Celetran combo that was popular during 4th gen. Anyway this is a set that's been gaining in popularity recently and with good reason; It comes in on a bulky water, grabs a NP and can severely damage a team from there. I know some people prefer to run max speed but I've always preferred the bulk since it makes Celebi much more of a threat once it gets a NP boost. This set is walled by Haxorus and Hydreigon anyway so the Speed wouldn't help there and very few base 100s max spe anyway so I just threw enough speed in there to beat Jolly Tyranitar however rare they may be. Celebi helps Latias to an extent to since it lures and weakens/KOs Ferrothorn, Jirachi, Scizor, Tyranitar, etc.
So that's the team. I'm not gonna make a full threatlist instead I'll just mention the big problems.
1) Swords Dance Lucario with Bullet Punch - what a nightmare. I have to attack it with whatever I have in then force it to Close combat a couple times until Latias can KO with DPulse.
2) Omastar - yeah ****ing Omastar. If it can grab a Shell Smash while Tar's locked into a move I have to sac something to get Skarmory in and hope it's at full hp to WW. Sometimes Latias can take an Ice Beam and Roar it out as well.
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