The Bro Squad

[Clone™]

The Bro Squad

Hi peeps, you probably know who I am by this point, but if not, I'm Cloneblazer. I'm coming at you with my third Serebii RMT, this time with the Bro Squad, which was my main tournament team during the Two Life Tournament, and also my ladder team for a while. This team utilizes a UU Pokémon, known as Cofagrigus, mainly because I was originally planning on doing the Lost Heroes Challenge, but I kinda forgot :/

Anyways, heres the team at a glance:

So yeah, there it is. Onto the individual sets:

Brochacho (Landorus-Therian) (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 248 HP / 172 Def / 88 Spd
Jolly Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Stone Edge/Knock Off
- Earthquake
- U-turn

So this is my lead. I really like Lando because he is able to not only set up Rocks, but U-Turn out for some chip damage to provide momentum. Along with intimidate, I am often able to find myself in a favorable position against most non ice or water physical attackers. The moveset is standard for pivot lando, and the EVs allow me to survive Thundurus’s HP Ice. I've been testing Stone Edge over Lando’s own HP Ice, but I'm getting mixed results, since Gliscor walls me otherwise.

Broseph (Pinsir) @ Pinsirite
Ability: Mold Breaker
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature
- Quick Attack
- Earthquake
- Swords Dance
- Return

My mega, Pinsir. This guy is a beast, even when not mega evolved. There have been many times where I have been able to successfully lure in Rotom W and cripple it with Earthquake, which 2HKOs with Mold Breaker. Aside from that, I usually mega evolve him right away, as Aerialate Return 2HKOs most things that don’t resist it. Even when my opponent sends in Talonflame, I am able to survive a Brave Bird from full health and KO with Return, which shows how reliable this guy is. Quick Attack gives me priority, which allows me to hit things that are faster than me, such as Lati@s. Swords Dance is for when I am able to get him in safely with Lando, and boost on the switch.

Brofagrigus (Cofagrigus) @ Leftovers
Ability: Mummy
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SAtk / 252 SDef
Calm Nature
- Will-O-Wisp
- Shadow Ball
- Pain Split
- Haze

The star of the team, Cofagrigus. Hit unigue ability, Mummy, allows me to handle many physical threats that rely on their abilities, such as Xard, Azumarill, and Talonflame. I went with a specially bulky spread to allow me to absorb those hits better, as a base 145 defense stat is godly. His HP stat is severely underwhelming, but that can somewhat be a plus if I can use Pain Split at the right time, which happens to be his only recovery. Will o Wisp allows me to burn the switch in, as smart players will want to have their Pokémon preserve their ability. Haze is here for when people try to get cheeky and set up on me, as well as acting as a stop to Baton Pass.

Brochacho (Thundurus) (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 252 SAtk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
- Taunt
- Thunder Wave
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power [Ice]

I originally had a bulky Volcarona here, but after a suggestion and testing, I found that Thundurus works wonders for this team. He check or counters the birds that give this team trouble, which really helps me out. Prankster Thunder Wave allows me to cripple many faster threats that are not Electric or Ground types, which can allow my slower Pokemon to outspeed things they normally couldnt.

Brotein Shake (Conkeldurr) @ Assault Vest
Ability: Guts
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 SDef
Adamant Nature
- Drain Punch
- Mach Punch
- Knock Off
- Ice Punch

Conkeldurr serves two purposes to this team. One, to absorb status bar sleep, and two, defeat special attackers. The set is as standard as it gets, with the special defense EVs allowing me to hit a pseudo SpDef stat in the mid 300 with Assault Vest. Mach Punch is priority, while Drain Punch recovers HP. Knock Off cripples switch ins, as well as walls, allowing me to pseudo break stall. Ice punch is the best move for the third slot, as it hits most dragons for 4x damage, and KOs Lando and Gliscor.

Brotato Chip (Excadrill) @ Air Balloon
Ability: Mold Breaker
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Earthquake
- Rapid Spin
- Iron Head
- Rock Slide

Finally, my spinner, Excadrill. Since defoggers really didn’t seem to fit with my team, I went for a spinner. Excadrill was my go to choice not only because hes a great offensive asset, but because he can beat all spinblockers 1 on 1 bar Gourgeist, who isn’t even common enough. Mold Breaker is key, as it allows me to hit Gengar on the switch, as well as Check Rotom W since I outspeed him. Rapid Spin is necessary, while Iron Head is STAB and allows me to hit fairies hard. Earthquake is mandatory and quite spammable since only true flying types are immune.

So there it is, The Bro Squad. I peaked at 1500 ELO on the ladder, and did quite well in Two Life. Criticism is appreciated, but please no flaming.

Changes are in Bold.

Spoiler: Importable

Brochacho (Landorus-Therian) (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 248 HP / 172 Def / 88 Spd
Jolly Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Knock Off
- Earthquake
- U-turn

Broseph (Pinsir) @ Pinsirite
Ability: Mold Breaker
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature
- Quick Attack
- Earthquake
- Swords Dance
- Return

Brofagrigus (Cofagrigus) @ Leftovers
Ability: Mummy
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SAtk / 252 SDef
Calm Nature
- Will-O-Wisp
- Shadow Ball
- Pain Split
- Haze

Bromo Sapien (Thundurus) (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 252 SAtk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
- Nasty Plot
- Thunder Wave
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power [Ice]

Brotein Shake (Conkeldurr) @ Assault Vest
Ability: Guts
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 SDef
Adamant Nature
- Drain Punch
- Mach Punch
- Knock Off
- Ice Punch

Brotato Chip (Excadrill) @ Air Balloon
Ability: Mold Breaker
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Earthquake
- Rapid Spin
- Iron Head
- Rock Slide

 

[Clone™]

Using mah bump

 

[Tonguetyd]

Brotato could use X-Scissor over Iron Head; you can already hit Rock and Ice types with Bro(ck) Slide, so X-Scissor would have more coverage, considering the fact that Fairy is the rarest type at the moment.

 

[Minedreigon]

Brotato could use X-Scissor over Iron Head; you can already hit Rock and Ice types with Bro(ck) Slide, so X-Scissor would have more coverage, considering the fact that Fairy is the rarest type at the moment.

NO. Fairy isnt rare at all bro.

What exaclty does X-Scissor cover? Nothing he cant already hit hard enough, and Iron Head is stab anyway. Keep Iron Head.

I also feel like HP ice is redundant on Lando and should be switched for Knock Off.

 

[Clone™]

NO. Fairy isnt rare at all bro.

What exaclty does X-Scissor cover? Nothing he cant already hit hard enough, and Iron Head is stab anyway. Keep Iron Head.

I also feel like HP ice is redundant on Lando and should be switched for Knock Off.

Keeping Iron Head. That stays. However, like I said, I'm not sure that I want to keep HP Ice. I want something that can beat Gliscor and opposing Landos, but that's not 100% necessary. I'll test Knock Off as well as Stone Edge and see which I like better. Obviously I'd change the nature to Jolly.

 

[CedOmega]

Hello Cloneblazer12, pretty nice team you've got here.

That said, I do notice that you have a strikingly significant weakness to rain teams. Thought rare, Rain teams may be very problematic to your team, especially those that utilize Keldeo and it's massive power under said forecast. Speaking of Keldeo, it presents an overall threat to your team as a whole. Even Conkeldurr & Cofagrigus are 2HKOs when facing Keldeo's Hydro Pump. This being if it is not the CM variant or Specs variants; and barring any previous residual damage from hazards, etc. Your best answer to such a threat is Pinsir, but even he cannot OHKO with an unboosted Quick Attack @ full HP. Beating this threat without having to sack a member(Specs being the most threatening) would be to use Stealth Rock on Excadrill rather than Landorus and make Landorus an offensive set that utilizes Rock Polish. With Rock Polish and Sheer Force ability, Landorus is able to set up and sweep teams unrelentingly. A set of Earth Power, Hidden Power Ice & Sludge Wave/Psychic should suffice.

Changes tested versus what seemed to be a stall offensive team:
http://pokemonshowdown.com/replay/ou-101645636
>Excadrill shows its unpredictable nature in using SR

Not exactly an ideal battle, but Landorus was put to great use:
http://pokemonshowdown.com/replay/ou-101651685
>Spore was shown to be annoying for your team

//Overall, your initial coverage is still in tact. If you desire to retain Landorus' scouting ability, then U-Turn is also an option over Sludge Wave, though you then may struggle against fairies with the given set. All this aside, your current Landorus-I is unable to OHKO Keldeo without Psychic(though Sludge a Wave lowers it to KO range for Pinsir), so it too is an option over Sludge Wave; which doesn't make much difference to be fair.

At any rate, I hope this at least helps and good luck with the team.

 

[The Imposter]

Similarly to what CedOmega pointed out, your team is ravaged by a mid-game Psychic Manaphy. If it is played right, it can be brought out before Pinsir Megas, enabling it to hit Mega Pinsir with a +3 Ice Beam before it can do anything. Everything else is similarly wrecked. Your best answer is Cofagrigus, who gets locked into an undesirable Haze cycle, in which Manaphy can Surf until you give it an opportunity to Tail Glow again. Also, SD Talonflame crushes this team with ease once Landorus is sufficiently weakened.

With this in mind, I'm going to suggest replacing Volcarona with a Nasty Plot+Thunder Wave Thundurus. It's a bit unorthodox, but it serves a few purposes on this team. One, it stops bird spam, which your team is pretty weak to. Second, it checks Manaphy and other rain sweepers, who will utterly annhilate your team. Volcarona is distinctly the weakest link with Mega Pinsir as a Bug sweeper, and replacing it with Thundurus fixes a number of holes in your team.

 

[Clone™]

Thanks guys. I implemented Thundy, and hes been working admirably for the team.

@ CedOmega: While I do like your suggestion, Lando is in the Incarnate forme and not Therian forme, so the SHeer Force Life Orb set wont exactly work. Ill make an importable spoiler to clear up any confusion.