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The Ides of March (Heracross's Revenge)

Darkerones

SlowpokeHunter
The Ides of March

Alright so its certainly been a while since ive made a rmt or really a serious team in general,but I finally took the time to get off my butt and update myself on the BW2 metagame and make the most competitive team I can muster,even it that does mean using a couple "top ten" OUs which I usually tend to shy away from,being the Pokemon hipster I am.

So the idea to this team is to utilize Heracross,who in my opinion is a badass,as an effective revenge killer and late game sweeper in OU(with plenty of team support) through the use of the recently released Moxie ability.
The team is named The Ides of March because the whole purpose of the team is to be able to switch in Choice Scarf Heracross as many times as possible and stab our adversaries in the back with a mighty Megahorn.

Without further ado here is the team:


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Ferrothorn@Leftovers (M)
Iron Barbs
Impish
252 HP 124 Def 132 SDef

Power Whip
Thunder Wave
Spikes
Leech Seed

This set is pretty bread and butter for Ferro with some minor EV changes to take physical assaults from the likes of Dragonite better. Power Whip is the STAB of choice over Gyro Ball for its more useful SE coverage on the bulky water types that infest OU as well as Hippowdon,Tyranitar and the occasional Donphan. Thunder Wave is a great way to effectively neuter some of OU's top threats (such as Volcarona and Terrakion) that may switch into Ferrothorn hoping to use it as setup fodder,and it also allows Ferrothorn to outspeed slower threats such as Bronzong and Blissey. Theres barely any need to explain why Spikes is on Ferrothorn other than its very useful to Heracross and Gengar to perform late game sweeps. Leech Seed allows Ferrothorn to wear down the opponent and provides a method of recovery.

With a truckload of awesome resistances,Ferrothorn is a real team player. Ferro is my main Dragon resist,and can also take Rock type attacks for Salamence. He also resists Heracross and Gengar's weakness to Psychic and Starmie's Dark,Ghost,Grass,and Electric weaknesses,sharing two of those weaknesses with Gengar. Heatran also appreciates Ferrothorns ability to take Water type attacks.

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Gengar@Life Orb (M)
Levitate
Timid
4 SDef 252 SAtk 252 Spd
0 HP IVs
Substitute
Pain Split
Shadow Ball
Focus Blast

Gengar just oozes an aura of mischief,and this set demonstrates just how badly Gengar can mess a team up. Sub Pain Split is a cool strategy that can be used to bully Pokemon with high HP,most notably Blissey,who just loves to switch into any special attack it can. After using Pain Split at 50% health theres a good chance Blissey will be Koed by the following Focus Blast. Amoonguss,Bulky Dragonite,Defensive Tyranitar,Hippowdon,Kyurem,Conkeldurr,Gastrodon and Jirachi are all Pokemon that can be pushed around using Pain Split,plus Gengar is just an awesome special attacker than can hit hard and fast with Life Orb and a reliable STAB thats useful for deterring common threats to this team such as Reuniclus,Latios and Jellicent. 0 HP IVs are used to inflict as much damage with Pain Split as possible,Gengar cant take hits anyway.

Gengar has a few useful immunities/resists that go a long way in making the team successful. Gengar's Ground immunity helps it switch in on Ground attacks aimed at Heatran and his Fighting immunity is appreciated by both Heatran and Ferrothorn. Gengar also boasts a nifty 4x Bug resistance to switch into moves such as U-turn usually aimed at Starmie. Gengar also happens to completely wall variants of Venusaur,Virizion and Breloom,Pokemon this team have a bone to pick with. The best the former two can do is fire weak Hidden Powers at Gengar and the latter is helpless without Stone Edge,making Gengar a decent check to them.

HERACROSS_by_PhelixX.png


Heracross@Choice Scarf (F)
Moxie
Adamant
4 Def 252 Atk 252 Spd

Close Combat
Megahorn
Stone Edge
Night Slash

Revenge is what Heracross does best.
I've been just dying to try out Moxie Heracross since I think Moxie was almost tailor made for Hera. This thing is the star of my team,and is great at revenge killing and pulling off sweeps late game,boosting its already kickass Attack to amazing levels. Close Combat is a very powerful and reliable STAB that allow to smash through the likes of Magnezone,Jirachi,Hydreigon and Heatran all of which can give the team a headache. However,Heracross has another powerful STAB complementing the first one nicely,hitting Psychic type such as Slowbro that resist Close Combat super effectively and is also nice for not lowering Heracross's defensive stats. Stone Edge nails Flying types that otherwise crap on Heracross,and also Night Slash hits Gengar and Jellicent very hard.

Heracross's typing allow plenty of opportunities to switch in. Its resistance to Fighting type moves is critical to this team's success,I'm sure Heatran and Ferrothorn would agree. Heracross resists Ground,a common attacking type that threatens Heatran and can also take Dark type assaults meant for Starmie and Gengar.

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Starmie@Leftovers
Natural Cure
Timid
248 HP 32 Def 228 Speed

Rapid Spin
Psyshock
Scald
Recover

Bulky Rapid Spin Starmie is one of my favorite sets of all time,and I never hesitate to use it because its so darn effective. The alternate EV spread allows me to take advantage of Starmie's resistances better and make Rapid Spinning against offensive threats easier. Rapid Spin is the crux of the set,as Salamence hates taking a Stealth Rock to the wings,and the rest of the team can do without Spikes damage. Scald is the STAB of choice to potentially burn physical attackers and emphasize Starmie's bulk,even with that EV spread Scald does respectable damage under rain and is of a great offensive typing. Keldeo has been somewhat of an issue so Psyshock is there to cleanly 2hko it and bypass CM boosts. Recover goes a long way in maximizing both Starmie and the rest of my team's survival,keeping Starmie alive to spin hazards away more times and making sure that entry hazard casualties are kept to a minimum.
With Natural Cure,Starmie can act as a status absorber,taking a burn or paralysis in the stead of Salamence or Heracross,therefore saving them from becoming useless and then switching out.

Starmie's resistances to Ice,Water and Fire benefit Salamence,Heatran and Heracross respectively. Starmie is can also take Psychic attacks aimed at Heracross and Gengar and the omnipresent Fighting attacks for Heatran and Ferrothorn. Starmie is good at switching into Steel type attacks from the likes of Scizor,a Pokemon that can bully just about half this team with Bullet Punch,Starmie threatens it greatly with the burn chance of Scald. Starmie also acts as an excellent check to Terrakion,outspeeding and threatening it with a SE Scald that could also burn it.

adv_salamence.jpg


Salamence@Life Orb (F)
Intimidate
Naive
64 Atk 192 SAtk 252 Spd

Draco Meteor
Outrage
Earthquake
Fire Blast

Say hi to OU's most feared wallbreaker.
The role of MixMence is to break down defensive cores that the rest of this team may have trouble taking on. SkarmBliss,FerroCent,and Jirachi-Gliscor are all effectively eradicated with this set, Even the AmoongBro + Heatran core will feel quite a bit of pressure from the MixMence. The Evs are spread to balance offenses while still maximizing Speed in order to outrun Haxorus and Hydreigon as well as keep up with other base 100s. Life Orb is used to make up for the power lost in splitting EVs. Draco Meteor is a great STAB to be used on physically inclined Pokemon such as Conkeldurr,Slowbro and Gliscor while Outrage then hits Special walls like Blissey and Gastron hard. Earthquake hits specially defensive steels(Jirachi,Heatran,Registeel) and Tentacruel for a good chunk while Fire Blast eliminates defensive steels (Skarmory,Metagross) and the usual array of Pokemon that are x4 weak to it (Scizor,Forretress,etc.). Fire Blast is also great to abuse when facing Sun teams and to torch the occassional Tangrowth.

Salamence has plenty of resistances to abuse. Despite having a -SDef nature,Mence can still take its fair share of Fire,Water and Grass attacks that Heracross,Heatran and Starmie (respectfully) are weak to. With the help of Intimidate,Salamence can water down the powerful Fighting types of OU,much to Ferrothorn's benefit. A resistance to Bug also helps Salamence switch in on Escavalier and Scizor for Starmie,plus he completely walls off some variants of Volcarona and Venusaur,both huge threats.

Heatran_Sets_Things_on_Fire_by_MichaelBeckett.jpg


Heatran@Air Balloon(M)
Flash Fire
Calm
252 HP 252 SDef 4 Def

Lava Plume
Stealth Rock
Roar
HP Ice

Heatran is certainly the glue to the team,providing a phazing effort in the form of Roar to sweep aside pesky setup sweepers and providing SR support to aid the attackers of the team. The EV spread is designed to take various Special Attacks with ease. Lava Plume has a good chance to burn physical attackers and also discourages Jirachi and Skarmory from staying in. HP Ice makes sure Heatran can put a significant dent in the likes of Salamence and Gliscor.

Thanks to Flash Fire,Heatran is my main switch in to Fire type attacks aimed at Ferrothorn or Heracross. He is also my only Flying resist,a type that Heracross is 4x weak to. Heatran is more than happy to take Ice and Dragon type moves for Salamence and sponge Grass type attacks for Starmie. Heatran also boasts a resistance to Psychic attacks that Gengar and Heracross despise while also resisting Dark and Ghost type attacks that haunt Gengar and Starmie. Heatran continues to be the only Steel type in OU that can stand up to Magnezone,doing so for Ferrothorn's sake.
With the aid of Air balloon,Heatran walls the crap out of Sun teams and makes it a reliable check to Dragonite.





ADDITIONAL COMMENTS/QUESTIONS:

So far the team has been working well,but Sun teams can be a bit bothersome. Any recommendations for further checking Sun sweepers?

Dragonite is also a huge threat,if i dont get rocks up he has a good chance of putting me in a tight spot. Multiscale is extremely bothersome to deal with when I lack priority,Multihit SE moves and Mold Breaker. Any ideas?

Any other threats that stand out as extremely threatening to this team? Any gaping holes?
Would the team be benefit greatly from Wish support or is it fine without it?

My usual playstyle is HO so I couldnt help but notice that I have not a single setup sweeper on my team. Will this hurt my team?


Thanks for reading. Rates are appreciated.
 
Last edited:

Darkerones

SlowpokeHunter
BUMP.
Cmon not even one rate? :C
 

Klaus™

Banned
well, the one thing i can see atm, is to possibly try a subhera set. this gives it the revenge killing capabilities, along with scouting. used like a slower, buggier terrakion.

heracross @leftovers/expert belt
-moxie-
adamant/hasty
4 hp/ 252 atk/ 252 speed
- substitute
- stone edge
- close combat
- megahorn

sooo....yeah. that subterrakion set.....converted to duh bug ^_^.←thats a dimple....

simply switch in on something safe, something hera generally counters, and sub up. you earn a predict, a guaranteed hit, and if you play your cards right, a moxie sweep from behind a sub.

'pologies if the set doesnt work. completely made up from the top of my head.

the team looks really good. cant come up with any die-hard counters off the top of my head right now ^_^
 
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