The Rotating Mawile

[Zachmac]

Just like everyone else, the first thing I wanted to try in generation 6 was the new mega evolution. Unlike everyone else, however, I also wanted to try rotation battles. Naturally, when I saw Mega Mawile's stats and ability, I knew what it was destined for.

This is a rotation battles team, so if you are unfamiliar with rotation, please be careful about what you suggest. Defog, Rapid Spin, and entry hazards are useless with how little swapping out there will be, so I don't want to see any "your team lacks stealth rocks".

I'll admit, this team is breaking rules 5 & 8. It is for wi-fi battles alone, and I haven't had a chance to test it. However, I do have some excuses for this. Number 8 is simply because Showdown doesn't support rotation battles, and I'm not following number five for a similar reason. Because Showdown doesn't have have rotation battles, it's not nearly as easy to test and edit this team as it would be otherwise. I want to have this team rated before I make it, so that I know breeding and training the pokemon is not just a huge waste of my time. If this thread is locked down, I'd understand, but I'd really like other people to look it over before I put in all the effort into making it. It's just really a lot of work to playtest a wi-fi exclusive team.

I will be playing on battle spot, which uses different rules then Smogon.
The team viewer will only allow me to select 4 pokemon. That means I could potentially have two different mega evolutions on this team.
The item clause will be in effect.

Spoiler: Banlist

Mewtwo
Mew
Lugia
Ho-Oh
Celebi
Kyogre
Groudon
Rayquaza
Jirachi
Deoxys
Dialga
Palkia
Giratina
Phione
Manaphy
Darkrai
Shaymin
Arceus
Victini
Reshiram
Zekrom
Kyurem
Keldeo
Meloetta
Genesect
Xerneas
Yveltal
Zygarde

I also hope to use this team when Pokebank is out, so assume that everything legal with Pokebank is legal here as well.


Now that we've the boring part over with, let's get onto the team.

Slowbro @ Light Clay
Ability: Oblivious
EVs: 252 HP/252 Sp.Def
Nature: Sassy
- Trick Room
- Light Screen
- Scald
- Slack Off

The plan for this team is to set up trick room, get Aegislash and/or Mawile ready, and wreak havoc. And when I was looking for something to set up trick room, Slowbro was the most obvious choice, for one reason other than it's name. Thanks to oblivious's buff, Slowbro is now completely immune to taunt, and since there is almost no swapping out in rotation battles, regenerator isn't missed one bit. It may seem a bit odd to run light screen and light clay without Slowbro learning reflect, but teaching light screen and reflect to the same pokemon will make it more predictable. If one pokemon uses light screen, the opponent will almost always know the same one will use reflect next, and vice versa. Likewise, if Slowbro uses Light Screen, people will expect it to use Reflect on the next turn, as they probably won't remember it learns it.

It may seem odd to run maximum special defense on Slowbro, but in a rotation battle, I can't always be certain if Slowbro will be struck by a physical or special attack.

Aegislash @ Lum Berry
Ability: Stance Change
EVs: 252 HP/252 Att
Nature: Brave
- Swords Dance
- Shadow Claw
- Sacred Sword/Brick Break
- Reflect

Of all of the new options for trick room sweepers in generation 6, Aegislash is the most obvious. However, I don't intend to use this as a sweeper alone. With the move reflect, the defense of my team is doubled, making it easier for supporters to do their jobs and making swords dancing easier. I chose Shadow Claw over Shadow Sneak due to trick room, and Sacred Swords over Iron Head because of my Mawile. However, I am considering Brick Break to remove enemy barriers.

The lum berry was chosen out of Aegislash's fear of being burned.

Umbreon @ Leftovers
Ability: Synchronize
EVs: 252 HP/252 Def
Nature: Relaxed
- Wish
- Heal Bell
- Foul Play
- Protect

As a ghost type and a psychic type, Slowbro and Aegislash don't provide the perfect synergy for each other, being weak to both ghost both dark attacks. Umbreon is here to cover up that problem, and provide some healing support as well. Wish from Umbreon may not be as impressive as Vaporeon's, but it is more then enough to heal Aegislash and Mawile more then half of their HP. Heal Bell is also a great support move, allowing Umbreon to heal Mawile and Aegislash of their burns. Foul Play is Umbreon's best attacking option, as trick room will keep payback from hitting second and Umbreon has a low attack. Protect is finally there for if Umbreon needs to heal itself with wish.

Mawile @ Mega Stone
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 HP/252 Att
Nature: Brave
- Play Rough
- Iron Head
- Crunch
- Swords Dance

Upon mega evolution, Mawile's attack stat is bumped up from 85 to 105....and then it gets huge power as well, doubling the damage of all physical attacks. Then use Swords Dance, and, well, I'll just show you some examples.

+2 252+ Atk Huge Power Mega Mawile Play Rough vs. 252 HP / 32 Def Eviolite Porygon2: 390-460 (104.2 - 122.9%)
+2 252+ Atk Huge Power Mega Mawile Crunch vs. 252 HP / 80 Def Eviolite Dusclops: 328-388 (115.4 - 136.6%)

Still not enough for you? Try Mega Aggron.
+2 252+ Atk Huge Power Mawile Crunch vs. 252 HP / 0 Def (custom): 157-185 (45.63 - 53.77%) -- 42.19% chance to 2HKO

Crunch is used instead of Sucker Punch due to trick room. Mawile will probably hit first anyway, and Sucker Punch relies on prediction, which you want to minimize in rotation battles.

Sableye @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 252 HP/252 Sp.Def
Nature: Sassy
- Taunt
- Recover
- Will-O-Wisp
- Night Shade

In rotation battles, setting up weather and trick room becomes much easier. Naturally, more skilled opponents may have plans to face these teams. Imprison's buff means that Chandelure can now ensure that trick room isn't set up....if it isn't taunted first. If I see a team with Chandelure, Jellicent, or something else that may attempt to stop trick room, Sableye will take the place of Umbreon or Aegislash to stop them. Recover is a no-brainer, and Will-o-Wisp can cripple physical attackers. Night Shade can be used if I make a mistake and sableye is taunted, or I need to get a little of damage in somewhere.

Reuniclus @ Life Orb
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: 192 HP/64 Def/252 Sp.Att
Nature: Quiet
- Trick Room
- Psychic
- Focus Blast
- Shadow Ball

Reuniclus is chosen as the last pokemon in this team due to it's offensive capabilities and it's ability to serve as a back up for trick room. It's three attacks serve for excellent coverage.

In fights where Aegislash is used, Mawile will take the 4th position, coming in for a sweep a bit later in the match. However, in matches without Aegislash, Mawile will be one of the three leading pokemon, and Reuniclus will wait in the 4th position as back up. This way, if either Slowbro or Mawile faints, Reuniclus could take on either of their roles, and set up trick room and/or sweep the remainder of the opposing team.

Edits: Calculation error with Mawile/Aggron. Fixed it.
Decided I didn't want Pain Split on Gourgeist.
Removed Gourgeist for Reuniclus.
Due to the Aggron error, I decided to double check Porygon2/Dusclops calculations. Something definitely went wrong with my calcs...

 

[Darkherochao]

you know the fun of this?
its mostly the type ghost, among with 3 other typed pokemon.
thats to much of the haunt, isnt it?
naw, to my opinion, replace Gourgeist with trevenant, as trevenant ha shigher ATK and better speed, but slightly lower defence/sp. def.
give trevenant a big root and learn it horn leach, among with phantom force, shadow claw and X-Scissor, which are all psycical attacks with phantom force trolling scouts and horn leach draining the health of the opponent and shadow claw and X-Scissor having high critical hit ratio.
here you gave a pretty solid trevenant, just Super Train it in both (sp)defence and attack, as well as some HP.
all other pokemon: dont change it.

 

[Zachmac]

naw, to my opinion, replace Gourgeist with trevenant, as trevenant ha shigher ATK and better speed, but slightly lower defence/sp. def.
give trevenant a big root and learn it horn leach, among with phantom force, shadow claw and X-Scissor, which are all psycical attacks with phantom force trolling scouts and horn leach draining the health of the opponent and shadow claw and X-Scissor having high critical hit ratio.
here you gave a pretty solid trevenant, just Super Train it in both (sp)defence and attack, as well as some HP.
all other pokemon: dont change it.

Actually, the difference in defense is significant, though I will admit HP/Sp.def don't see much difference. Seeing as Gourgeist plays a support role, I see the defense as more important then attack.

Also, in rotation battles, Phantom Force, Fly, and other similar moves aren't a very good idea. After vanishing, the pokemon using said move will have to appear in the next turn as well, giving the opponent the upper hand in rotation. The only two turn move that should even be considered is sky drop, because it forces the target to stay in as well.

 

[ModelT]

The one thing that might worry you: If you have Mawile, Slowbro, and Aegislash in the rotation together, Earthquake is a solid choice to either SE hit your two heavy hitters, or neutrally hit your support. With two sweepers that are afraid of Ground moves, you might want to pack something with levitate or a Flying type. Other than that, Rotation Battle format is kind of a crazy format. It's NUTS with prediction, and a great deal of luck in that respect. Not to invalidate your team or anything, but you need to be ready to deal with a whole lot more, all at once. In that respect, you've got a team built on what is normally a clunky gimmik, but is way more effecient at utilizing its effects. I could see stall worrying you though. Anything w/ Protect able to switch back and forth could hamper you if you don't have Sableye out. At the same time, I can't really say a whole lot on the subject of Rotation Battles. I'm hardly used to it, and there isn't exactly a wealth of competitive data on the subject. I wouldn't mind battling you with my current team (Link in my sig) once I get them bred and ready to go (I'm half done as of this post). Though I may switch out Starmi, as Hazards, and subsequently Rapid Spin, are less useful in Rotation.

 

[Zachmac]

I was actually considering dumping this thread, but since someone posted, I may as well.

1. With three pokemon immune to toxic, one with heal bell, and not one caring for paralysis, and two carrying swords dance, stall is by no means a threat.

Not to invalidate your team or anything, but you need to be ready to deal with a whole lot more, all at once. In that respect, you've got a team built on what is normally a clunky gimmik, but is way more effecient at utilizing its effects.

The catch is that in rotation battles, Trick Room is not at all a gimmick. It's usual downsides are made up for by the lack of switching.

Not to invalidate your team or anything, but you need to be ready to deal with a whole lot more, all at once.

Mega Mawile hits so massively hard, that's actually my plan to deal with everything. Get up a swords dance or two, set up trick room, and once that is done, almost nothing can withstand even a not-very-effective attack.

...You do make a very good point about EQ, however. Slowbro can usually tank it no problem, but it would be to my advantage to carry a pokemon that resist ground. That will at least discourage my opponent from using earthquake, making setting up swords dance safer.

With that said, I think I could make the easy change of giving Aegislash Air Balloons. Chances are the air balloons will break at some point, but it'll at least give me more of a chance to set up early on in the fight.

....I've actually made some adjustments to this team as well. Aegislash, for example, has Kings Shield and Gyro Ball, as I found those moves to be more useful for this team's purpose. Sableye has Snarl > Night Shade to soften up special attacks. But that's about it. I would update it, but I guess I just don't feel any current motivation to change to edit my first post right now.

 

[PR0F3550R_B055]

I admit, despite being working on trick room teams for over a year, heavily over the past few months, and being very knowledgeable in singles and doubles, I don't know anything about rotation battles. I know how they work and all, but have never got to really test them out. I have, however, noticed a few little things that could be tweaked in your team.
-Because you're using oblivious on your slowbro instead of regenerator (which I understand), you may want to consider switching scald with reflect. Because of all the physical attackers running around and earthquake being in nearly all teams, it's very important. No point in trying to get a burn with scald either, chances are you won't and you don't have much time to waste on it. Send him in, setup screens and trick room, rotate and start sweeping, then switch back when needed.
-Reflect on aegislash? I see where you're coming from, but don't think it's a very good idea. While you may not need kings shield due to the fast that you can switch him in and attack the same turn (you can do that in rotation battles right), try replacing it with Gyro Ball. One of the slowest pokemon in it's tier, along with STAB and a massive attack, along with it's x2 damage to all the fairies and dragons around makes it a great attack on aegislash.
-While I don't run into them very often, slow, bulky pokemon (usually grass and/or steel) like ferrothorn and trevenant are a huge pain. Try putting a fire attack on one of your pokemon, even one will do. Maybe a fire fang on Mawile?
-If you decide to put a fire attack on a pokemon other than mawile, try using sucker punch on him instead of crunch. Because they can rotate and attack the same turn, sucker punch becomes even more reliable. Also helps against the ghost types that can cause trouble.

Just a few small tweaks that could make your team run better. Good luck!