kk, because everyone says Sub Petaya Empoleon sucks, I decided to make a Sub Petaya Empoleon team a while back. Type synergy wise, it resists every type twice except fire and rock, and in general it seems solid. It also covers most threats really well, so please post suggestions to make it better!
Roserade (M) @ Focus Sash
Trait: Natural Cure
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Sleep Powder
- Leaf Storm
- Toxic Spikes
- Hidden Power [Fire]
Knowing that I was going to build the team around Sub Petaya Empoleon, I knew I was going to need Toxic Spikes to stall out some common counters to it such as Blissey, Suicune, and Vaporeon. I also know Roserade makes a pretty cool suicide lead, so I decided to use it. Sleep Powder disables slower leads, but I wouldn't use it against Metagross or Machamp since they usually pack Lum Berry. Leaf Storm is strong STAB which hits Azelf, and most pokemon which don't resist it hard. It also deals with lead Starmie, which has become a bit more common. Hidden Power Fire deals with Forretress who would try to spin my Toxic Spikes, and it hits Skarmory or Scizor who would otherwise take advantage of me and Spike or Swords Dance. A Focus Sash negates any need for any defensive EV's, so I just run the standard sweeper spread. I didn't use Hidden Power Ice, since I feel Hidden Power Fire is more useful overall since steels trouble this set alot more than Dragonite does. I run Scizor. If Roserade somehow lives past turn two, it can absorb Toxic Spikes which can give Tyraniboah some life span issues.
Tyranitar (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 HP / 56 Atk / 176 SAtk / 24 Spd
Quiet Nature (+SAtk, -Spd)
- Dark Pulse
- Ice Beam
- Substitute
- Focus Punch
I felt like sand would be useful for the team, and I needed a reliable switch into Heatran/Rotom in general so I decided to run Tyranitar. I also knew I was pretty weak to stall, so Tyraniboah was rather fitting. The cool thing about Tyranitar, is that Empoleon resists water, bug, steel, so Empoleon can get a free turn with more ease. While most modern stall has adapted to Tyraniboah, he is still a very strong threat to it with Toxic Spikes since he can stall things out. It is also able to hold its own against faster teams with all the switches he can cause. I also like Tyraniboah since even if you get burned, you still aren't dead weight because you can still attack from the special side. It is also useful if you fight a random dual screen offense team that utilizes Uxie, because Tyraniboah makes an excellent switch into such teams. I chose to run Ice Beam to 2HKO physically defensive Hippowdon/Zapdos, and to OHKO Gliscor who is a *** to this team. Ice Beam also hits physically defensive Breloom hard. Focus Punch lets you beat Blissey, and hits most things relatively hard. Machamp in particular doesn't like taking Focus Punches to the face. It is strong as a STAB'd neutral Stone Edge. Dark Pulse lets you hit Rotom, is STAB, and lets you hit pokemon like Swampert pretty hard. If Toxic Spikes are down, and you flinch Swampert with Dark Pulse, you can actually easily overcome a major obstable for most Tyranitar. The EV's allow you to make 101HP Substitutes so Blissey can never break them with Seismic Toss, hit a jump point in SpA, and help power up Focus Punch a bit. They also allow you to outrun 4Spe Blissey.
Empoleon (M) @ Petaya Berry
Trait: Torrent
EVs: 12 HP / 4 Def / 252 SAtk / 240 Spd
Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Ice Beam
- Surf
- Agility
- Substitute
Sub Petaya Empoleon is quite a rare threat in the current metagame, and its not hard to see why. The ever so common F/W/G cores do Empoleon no favors since his counters become a bit more relavent, and Scarfed Flygon or Scarfed Rotom is on pretty much every team. Nonetheless, Sub Petaya Empoleon can absolutely run through a team with proper support. It can get a turn to set-up really easily with his awesome typing. Toxic Spikes allows you to outstall your grounded counters, while Ice Beam is usually enough for Dragonite who can take a Petaya Torrent boosted Surf easily. The idea of this set is to get a free turn on a choiced pokemon or something similar, Agility, then Sub until you get a Petaya boost, a Torrent boost, and just sweep. Luckily Empoleon resists most priority, so if your opponent depends on something like CB Scizor to glue up most of his weaknesses, Empoleon can easily take advantage and sweep them clean. I also find myself using Sub before Agility alot of the time to hit Flygon as it comes in expecting an Agility. Oh, and it turns SpD Forretress into setup bait. That alone is very satisfying.
Gliscor (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Sand Veil
EVs: 252 HP / 6 Def / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Earthquake
- Roost
- Taunt
- Stealth Rock
I knew I had a gaping weakness to fighting moves, and Stealth Rock was a no brainer, so I decided to use Britscor. I had to drop Toxic from the moveslot since I needed to use Stealth Rock, but it isn't a HUGE deal since I run Toxic Spikes. Taunt messes with Blissey and other pokemon who would try to heal off any damage Gliscor or the Toxic Spikes would do to it. Roost keeps Gliscor healthy, while Earthquake is arguably one of the best attacking moves in the game. An even better STAB at that. I considered more defensive EV's since I don't run Toxic on my Gliscor, so I don't really need to speed tie it for the Toxic. However, I am not completely sold on it yet. Sand Veil makes Gliscor very annoying to take down, especially if they depend on hitting me with Stone Edge in Tyranitar's case. Talking about Tyranitar, Gliscor actually makes a great Tyranitar check. It is also a great switch into Scarfed Flygon who can mess with Empoleon.
Rotom-W @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Trick
- Hydro Pump
- Thunderbolt
- Shadow Ball
Rotom W can spinblock, Trick to mess with stall or give Empoleon or Tyranitar a turn to set up, and is a reliable revenge killer for such threats as Empoleon, Gyarados, Lucario, Scizor, Kingdra, slower versions of Agility Metagross, and many others. With such an exclusive typing, great STABs, and an awesome movepool considering Hydro Pump and Overheat; it is hard to see why Rotom wouldn't be a standard choice on most teams. While I do like bulky Scarfed Rotom, I decided to make this variant offensive to really wear down Tyranitar assuming I hit it with Hydro Pump on the switch. I also would like to hit Suicune, Gliscor, and Heatran harder in general who can really annoy this team. It is a great fighting resist, taking into account that I run Empoleon and Tyranitar. It also cleans up weakened teams late game, and helps with my slight Breloom issue. It is also one of the best Infernape checks you can get really.
Scizor (M) @ Choice Band
Trait: Technician
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 SDef
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- U-turn
- Superpower
- Bullet Punch
- Quick Attack
CB Scizor is cool because U-Turn helps you wear down counters to Empoleon and Tyranitar while at the same time giving them free switch ins. It provides awesome resistences to the team with that coveted steel/bug typing. It also provides priority which is very useful for Shaymin, Dragonite, Life Orb Aerodactyl, Gengar, Mamoswine, and Starmie which can really give this team grief. Quick Attack can hit Infernape and Tentacruel hard. Toxic Spikes, Life Orb, and Sand pretty much guarantee Infernape won't be getting all too much done. It also hits Gyarados, Zapdos, and Jolteon. Scizor also helps me against weakened Agility Lucario and DD Shuca Tyranitar who were previously huge threats to the team. My EV's are standard, except I don't use speed and put the 8 in SpD. I like to pair Scizor up with Scarfed Rotom since Scizor is kinda Magnezone bait, and Scarfed Rotom can end up tricking his Scarf. The utility of having two glue pokemon which work together is really cool. Without Scizor, I would be Weavile weak which is really sad. It is my first switch into Kingdra as well, as it can Quick Attack twice since it can easily live a +1 Waterfall. It also does well against Bronzong since Banded U-Turn carves a good amount into it for something like Rotom to handle it with a bit more ease.
Notes:Roserade/Rotom W/Scizor/Empoleon/Dragonite/Swampert. More Starmie/Tar/Loom weak, but less Gengar weak.
Roserade (M) @ Focus Sash
Trait: Natural Cure
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Sleep Powder
- Leaf Storm
- Toxic Spikes
- Hidden Power [Fire]
Knowing that I was going to build the team around Sub Petaya Empoleon, I knew I was going to need Toxic Spikes to stall out some common counters to it such as Blissey, Suicune, and Vaporeon. I also know Roserade makes a pretty cool suicide lead, so I decided to use it. Sleep Powder disables slower leads, but I wouldn't use it against Metagross or Machamp since they usually pack Lum Berry. Leaf Storm is strong STAB which hits Azelf, and most pokemon which don't resist it hard. It also deals with lead Starmie, which has become a bit more common. Hidden Power Fire deals with Forretress who would try to spin my Toxic Spikes, and it hits Skarmory or Scizor who would otherwise take advantage of me and Spike or Swords Dance. A Focus Sash negates any need for any defensive EV's, so I just run the standard sweeper spread. I didn't use Hidden Power Ice, since I feel Hidden Power Fire is more useful overall since steels trouble this set alot more than Dragonite does. I run Scizor. If Roserade somehow lives past turn two, it can absorb Toxic Spikes which can give Tyraniboah some life span issues.
Tyranitar (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 HP / 56 Atk / 176 SAtk / 24 Spd
Quiet Nature (+SAtk, -Spd)
- Dark Pulse
- Ice Beam
- Substitute
- Focus Punch
I felt like sand would be useful for the team, and I needed a reliable switch into Heatran/Rotom in general so I decided to run Tyranitar. I also knew I was pretty weak to stall, so Tyraniboah was rather fitting. The cool thing about Tyranitar, is that Empoleon resists water, bug, steel, so Empoleon can get a free turn with more ease. While most modern stall has adapted to Tyraniboah, he is still a very strong threat to it with Toxic Spikes since he can stall things out. It is also able to hold its own against faster teams with all the switches he can cause. I also like Tyraniboah since even if you get burned, you still aren't dead weight because you can still attack from the special side. It is also useful if you fight a random dual screen offense team that utilizes Uxie, because Tyraniboah makes an excellent switch into such teams. I chose to run Ice Beam to 2HKO physically defensive Hippowdon/Zapdos, and to OHKO Gliscor who is a *** to this team. Ice Beam also hits physically defensive Breloom hard. Focus Punch lets you beat Blissey, and hits most things relatively hard. Machamp in particular doesn't like taking Focus Punches to the face. It is strong as a STAB'd neutral Stone Edge. Dark Pulse lets you hit Rotom, is STAB, and lets you hit pokemon like Swampert pretty hard. If Toxic Spikes are down, and you flinch Swampert with Dark Pulse, you can actually easily overcome a major obstable for most Tyranitar. The EV's allow you to make 101HP Substitutes so Blissey can never break them with Seismic Toss, hit a jump point in SpA, and help power up Focus Punch a bit. They also allow you to outrun 4Spe Blissey.
Empoleon (M) @ Petaya Berry
Trait: Torrent
EVs: 12 HP / 4 Def / 252 SAtk / 240 Spd
Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Ice Beam
- Surf
- Agility
- Substitute
Sub Petaya Empoleon is quite a rare threat in the current metagame, and its not hard to see why. The ever so common F/W/G cores do Empoleon no favors since his counters become a bit more relavent, and Scarfed Flygon or Scarfed Rotom is on pretty much every team. Nonetheless, Sub Petaya Empoleon can absolutely run through a team with proper support. It can get a turn to set-up really easily with his awesome typing. Toxic Spikes allows you to outstall your grounded counters, while Ice Beam is usually enough for Dragonite who can take a Petaya Torrent boosted Surf easily. The idea of this set is to get a free turn on a choiced pokemon or something similar, Agility, then Sub until you get a Petaya boost, a Torrent boost, and just sweep. Luckily Empoleon resists most priority, so if your opponent depends on something like CB Scizor to glue up most of his weaknesses, Empoleon can easily take advantage and sweep them clean. I also find myself using Sub before Agility alot of the time to hit Flygon as it comes in expecting an Agility. Oh, and it turns SpD Forretress into setup bait. That alone is very satisfying.
Gliscor (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Sand Veil
EVs: 252 HP / 6 Def / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Earthquake
- Roost
- Taunt
- Stealth Rock
I knew I had a gaping weakness to fighting moves, and Stealth Rock was a no brainer, so I decided to use Britscor. I had to drop Toxic from the moveslot since I needed to use Stealth Rock, but it isn't a HUGE deal since I run Toxic Spikes. Taunt messes with Blissey and other pokemon who would try to heal off any damage Gliscor or the Toxic Spikes would do to it. Roost keeps Gliscor healthy, while Earthquake is arguably one of the best attacking moves in the game. An even better STAB at that. I considered more defensive EV's since I don't run Toxic on my Gliscor, so I don't really need to speed tie it for the Toxic. However, I am not completely sold on it yet. Sand Veil makes Gliscor very annoying to take down, especially if they depend on hitting me with Stone Edge in Tyranitar's case. Talking about Tyranitar, Gliscor actually makes a great Tyranitar check. It is also a great switch into Scarfed Flygon who can mess with Empoleon.
Rotom-W @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Trick
- Hydro Pump
- Thunderbolt
- Shadow Ball
Rotom W can spinblock, Trick to mess with stall or give Empoleon or Tyranitar a turn to set up, and is a reliable revenge killer for such threats as Empoleon, Gyarados, Lucario, Scizor, Kingdra, slower versions of Agility Metagross, and many others. With such an exclusive typing, great STABs, and an awesome movepool considering Hydro Pump and Overheat; it is hard to see why Rotom wouldn't be a standard choice on most teams. While I do like bulky Scarfed Rotom, I decided to make this variant offensive to really wear down Tyranitar assuming I hit it with Hydro Pump on the switch. I also would like to hit Suicune, Gliscor, and Heatran harder in general who can really annoy this team. It is a great fighting resist, taking into account that I run Empoleon and Tyranitar. It also cleans up weakened teams late game, and helps with my slight Breloom issue. It is also one of the best Infernape checks you can get really.
Scizor (M) @ Choice Band
Trait: Technician
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 SDef
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- U-turn
- Superpower
- Bullet Punch
- Quick Attack
CB Scizor is cool because U-Turn helps you wear down counters to Empoleon and Tyranitar while at the same time giving them free switch ins. It provides awesome resistences to the team with that coveted steel/bug typing. It also provides priority which is very useful for Shaymin, Dragonite, Life Orb Aerodactyl, Gengar, Mamoswine, and Starmie which can really give this team grief. Quick Attack can hit Infernape and Tentacruel hard. Toxic Spikes, Life Orb, and Sand pretty much guarantee Infernape won't be getting all too much done. It also hits Gyarados, Zapdos, and Jolteon. Scizor also helps me against weakened Agility Lucario and DD Shuca Tyranitar who were previously huge threats to the team. My EV's are standard, except I don't use speed and put the 8 in SpD. I like to pair Scizor up with Scarfed Rotom since Scizor is kinda Magnezone bait, and Scarfed Rotom can end up tricking his Scarf. The utility of having two glue pokemon which work together is really cool. Without Scizor, I would be Weavile weak which is really sad. It is my first switch into Kingdra as well, as it can Quick Attack twice since it can easily live a +1 Waterfall. It also does well against Bronzong since Banded U-Turn carves a good amount into it for something like Rotom to handle it with a bit more ease.
Notes:Roserade/Rotom W/Scizor/Empoleon/Dragonite/Swampert. More Starmie/Tar/Loom weak, but less Gengar weak.
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