This is Halloween (TyraniGeist Core)

[Darkerones]

This is Halloween​

This is a team I've been working on for quite some time on Showdown, ironing out every last detail with battle testing and now that I've pretty much gotten a variation that I like, I am starting to make it on cartridge.

Team Building:


The team's conception was first born on a post I made in Uncharted Territory about Tyranitar and Gourgeist as a defensive core, so naturally I started out with those two.

I didnt quite know it at the time, but Gourgeist was to become my favorite Gen.6 Pokemon, so really this is a team centered around making Gourgeist successful in its role.

After getting a reply in to my post on the New Cores thread, I decided to go with the suggestion of adding a Gyarados, and I went with the bulky Sub Dragon Dance set

Afterwards I decided I needed a good special attacker on my team and decided to try out Specs Noivern on the team.

Even with my Tyranitar on the team, I felt vulnerable to Talonflame and to status moves, plus I needed a revenge killer that could put a full stop to Scizor, so I added Rotom-H to the posse.

And to top it off, since I did pack 3 SR weaknesses I needed a reliable Rapid Spinner, and bulky Mold Breaker Excadrill fit the bill perfectly.

So it seems I had the ideal balanced offense team in my hands right? Wrong.

(If I were to try and describe step by step all of the alterations this team went through I'd hit a character limit for sure.
I tried all sorts of things to improve the team, from Greninja to Gastrodon to Mega Aerodactyl, from Forretress to Mega Pinsir to Weakness Policy Dragonite. And most of these little experiments had only mild success at best.

However, they did lead to some of the more constructive observations I made about the team.)

First of all, I quickly figured out that Defensive Rotom-W was the way to go after all, as Rotom-H was too hampered by SR and the side effect of Overheat, in addition to compounding my Azumarril weakness.

Gyarados and Noivern were also just not pulling their weight. Gyarados lacked the coverage, and speed to pull of very many sweeps, and lacked the immediate power to do anything significant to the things it switched into. Even with Specs, I found Noivern to be disappointingly weak, and often took away momentum from the team instead of adding to it.

After going through several of the modifications described earlier, I eventually settled on Mixed Moxie Salamence and Sylveon, marking the conversion of my team from balanced to a more BO or even semi-stall style. With the addition of a WishPasser I also decided to try MegaTyranitar.

Further testing showed I had a massive weakness to status moves, I was getting Wisp-ed and Toxic-ed left and right, and since Sylveon doesn't get access to Heal Bell yet, I decided to settle for an Aromatherapy Florges. Even with Life Orb I found Mixed Salamence a bit underwhelming, mostly due to his over reliance on his Dragon STABs and then having no access to Outrage yet, and getting outsped was also a constant issue. Tyranitar's Mega also really didn't contribute anything that normal Tyranitar couldn't already do.
So I decided to add the all-mighty Charizard X as my late game sweeper, eventually deciding on a Mixed Dragon Dance set.

This rendition of the team worked very well for a while, and although I never did any serious laddering on Showdown with the team, it was cool for Wifi matches.

Then at the advice from a rater on Serebii, I decided to steer the team into the direction of a more traditional stall style (goodness how far have we come). Goodra would replace Charizard X as the Dragon type on the squad and Skarmory would cover Excadrill's spot on the team, completing the transition from bulky offense to full blown stall.

The completed team can be viewed below.


Closer Look:

Tyranitar@Tyranitarite
Sassy
252 HP/252 SDef/4 SAtk
Sand Stream

- Stealth Rock
- Fire Blast
- Stone Edge
- Pursuit
​

Tyranitar is essentially my main special wall, with full investment even super effective special blows do not faze him as he reliably sets up Stealth Rock and proceeds to trap and dispose of any interfering Espeon, Gengar or Starmie in his way.
Stone Edge is Tyranitar's main STAB and is necessary to exterminate Talonflame and also prevents him from being set up on by common Dragon/Flying types weak to it.
Finally, Fire Blast destroys Scizor and stops Ferrothorn's Spike stacking cold while giving Tyranitar an option to hit Breloom with.
Although his main purpose is really to just set up Stealth Rock, he can be preserved for later due to his great synergy with the MVP, Gourgeist, as well as being the only team member capable of repeatedly switching in and tanking some of the enormous special attacks in the OU tier, such as from Gengar, Volcarona and Reuniclus.
Having Florges as a Wish passer on the team influenced me to opt for Tyranitar's Mega Form in order to have access to that huge Attack and Defense boost to help secure KOs on bulkier enemies such as Mega Gengar, as well as a little more immediate Special Defense. Having an XY team without a Mega is also just lame.

Gourgeist-Super@Leftovers
252 HP/152 Def/104 SDef
Impish
Frisk

- Will o Wisp
- Seed Bomb
- Shadow Sneak
-Leech Seed
​

The Halloween is here! The behemoth that is Gourgeist is one of my physically oriented walls with some SDef EVs to better take special Water-type moves and still have enough physical bulk to avoid the 2HKO by M-Kangaskhan's Crunch.
Gourgeist also plays the important role of being, in my humble opinion, the best spinblocker in Standard right now, it truly doesn't give a damn about Excadrill or Starmie, the premier spinners in the tier and also doesn't rely on gimmicky Harvest shenanigans like its competitor Trevenant (thought it does suck to not have Natural Cure like Trevenant, though Frisk does have its uses) as well as having better overall bulk and STAB priority over it.
Shadow Sneak and Seed Bomb are mandatory STABs, one granting invaluable STAB priority off of a decent base 100 Atk, the other nails Rotom-W, Blastoise, and Donphan.
Leech Seed is very important for stalling out a more defensive opponent or predicting a switch then using the move to heal a teammate.
And finally Will o Wisp cripples physical attackers looking to set up on Gourgeist and checks massive physical threats.

Goodra@Binding Band
252 HP/252 SDef/4 Def
Careful
Gooey

-Infestation
-Toxic
-Rest
-Sleep Talk
​

The main "annoyance" Pokemon on the team akin to Sableye or Gliscor on other teams, Goodra supports the team as a special wall that can come in on attacks Tyranitar would be more reluctant to, namely STAB Water and Grass attacks, and proceed to Toxic something or Infestation trap more stubborn opponents thinking they can off Goodra with weak-sauce HP Ices or non-STAB Fairy moves.
With the mechanics of Sleep being reverted to the Gen. IV mechanics, Goodra can make effective use of Rest + Sleep Talk in order to sponge pretty much any special attack that the opposition throws at it while they lose 1/6 of their health per turn courtesy of Binding Band Infestation and even more through Toxic if they are not a Steel type (though I am considering Earthquake to deal with Heatran and the like in Pokebank OU, Outrage also seems like an appealing option).

Binding Band is chosen over Leftovers to do as much damage as possible to Goodra's switch ins with Infestation. Assuming full entry hazards are in play, a Pokemon hoping to switch in and threaten Goodra will be dissapointed to find themselves losing all of their health over 4-5 turns as I switch out into an appropriate physical wall. Having Rest + Sleep Talk and Florges' Wish mitigates the need for Leftovers as Goodra will only stay in to use Rest against opponents that cannot really harm it, plus the fact that I only have two Leftovers in-game.

The EVs and Nature maximize Goodra's amazing special bulk, and Gooey punishes opposing physical attackers with a drop in speed, making Goodra the perfect death fodder. In addition, this Goodra has little use for its other two abilities, Hydration and Sap Sipper.

Florges@Leftovers
252 HP/252 Def/4 SDef
Bold
Flowery Veil

-Moonblast
-Protect
-Wish
-Aromatherapy
​

While I do like to claim that Gourgeist is the MVP of this team, in reality Florges is what holds this team together. At first I was slightly concerned about the drop in bulk compared to Sylveon, but the utility it offers in the form of Aromatherapy is absolutely invaluable to a team that otherwise hates the Toxic. Wishes coming off of 78 base HP sounds mediocre but considering two of my main walls have average HP at best themselves, it still gets the job done. In addition, Florges pulls its weight just fine in the defensive department just like Sylveon but with a slightly higher SAtk to work those STAB Moonblasts.
Also unlike Sylveon, Moonblast will always be Florges' main STAB (courtesy of her piece of **** abilities), and because of its secondary effect, Florges can afford to focus on maximizing its physical bulk to take on the likes of Garchomp and Dragonite better (and uninvested base 154 SDef is still insane). Despite getting access to Recover, Wish + Protect is fantastic on Florges in order to not only pass Wishes and heal itself, but also to scout sets and disrupt the opponent's momentum.

Rotom-W@Chesto Berry
252 HP/252 Def/4 SDef
Bold
Levitate

-Hydro Pump
-Thunderbolt
-Will o Wisp
-Rest
​

Rotom-W is yet another bulky Pokemon and a great team player, this time in the form of a reliable bulky Water-type that can completely stop Talonflame and provide additional insurance against an overwhelmingly physical metagame in case Gourgeist goes down, as well as still having very decent natural special bulk. Hydro Pump is the obligatory STAB with very high base power to wear down the opponent in addition to Will o Wisp, Stealth Rocks and possibly Leech Seed.
Thunderbolt over Volt Switch provides a stronger Electric STAB to make up for the lack of SAtk investment and provides a more accurate or more powerful attack to fire at the likes of Skarmory and Azumarril respectively without being forced to switch out. Bulky Rotom generally likes to stay in on threats and cripple them with Will o Wisp or its high powered STAB attacks anyway. And just when the opponent thinks they have Rotom on the ropes, bam, ChestoResto, curing Rotom of status and completely replenishing its HP for free. Access to Aromatherapy (courtesy of Florges) to compliment Rest after using the Chesto Berry is just icing on the cake.

Skarmory@Shed Shell
224 HP/252 Def/32 SDef
Impish
Sturdy

-Whirlwind
-Brave Bird
-Spikes
-Roost
​

Skarmory may just look like another physical wall on the team (which is justified anyway due to the priority-drunk physical metagame we currently have) but Skarmory fills the role of setting up Spikes on the opponent's defensive Pokemon to rack up residual damage from forcing switches. Skarmory is also my go to Pokemon for set up physical sweepers such as Lucario and Kangaskhan, as he is the only team member capable of phazing them out with a timely Whirlwind.
Whirlwind is also very useful for brushing off annoying threats with Substitute that used to give this team hell (as well as forcing them to eat hazard damage), most notably Gliscor and Trevenant. Roost is obviously for reliable recovery and losing that Flying typing to take slower Volt Switches from the likes of Forretress and the rare Ampharos (also anyone stupid enough to not run Speed on Magnezone).

Brave Bird gives me a reliable and high BP STAB option to nail Breloom and other frail attackers, as well as giving me something to do if I risk getting Taunted.
Shed Shell is chosen over Leftovers mainly for in-game purposes and to escape from Magnezone, which can be crucial to not getting swept by -insert threatening standard mon here-, plus the fact that he is immune to Sandstorm damage and has Roost for recovery. However, in case I do decide to run Lefties I have chosen last gen's standard EV spread to regain Sturdy after two turns of Leftovers should I switch in on Stealth Rocks (and obviously to optimize physical bulk).

Speaking of entry hazards, the loss of Excadrill has not hurt the team too terribly considering most teams only choose to run SR anyway, and now none of my team is particularly weak to hazards and most of them have some method of recovery in addition to having access to a cleric. Opposing stall could give me issues if they decide to Spike stack alongside me also but not wasting a teamslot on a spinner like most teams gives me a sufficient edge given Gourgeist's spinblocking prowess.

Thanks for giving the team a look and please either rate or leave a like!

​

And Sorry for some of the issues with the Coding on Serebii's editor, it worked fine on Smogon.

If you want to see this RMT as it was originally intended, heres the link: http://www.smogon.com/forums/threads/this-is-halloween-tyranigeist.3493151/

 

[Naoto Shirogane]

Overall the team looks good and well thought about but there are a few threats such as gyrados who can come in on gourge, then it can use sub and set up dd and sweep your entire team since it can mega evo if you bring rotom out it can eq that and charizard x.

i would replace excadrill for mandbuzz when poke bank is out. it has high defence which can stop gyra with foul play even if gyra is mega mand can recover and gyra won't be able to do anything, mand also learns defog which will clear stealth rocks etc to help charizard, it's abilty stops spore and sand hitting it so this works will with ttar. it has roost so it can heal and toxic to cripple stall pokes.

for charizard i prefer fire punch you can have all evds on attack which helps it sweep better and it's ability boosts it since it's a contact move.

thats all i can write for now .

 

[CedOmega]

i would replace excadrill for mandbuzz when poke bank is out. it has high defence which can stop gyra with foul play even if gyra is mega mand can recover and gyra won't be able to do anything, mand also learns defog which will clear stealth rocks etc to help charizard, it's abilty stops spore and sand hitting it so this works will with ttar. it has roost so it can heal and toxic to cripple stall pokes.

Mandibuzz is available now through Friend Safari and Overcoat doesn't stop Spore.

That aside, you have a cool team here. The only concerns I can see for it are opposing Excadrill. If able to come in on Florges and set up a Swords Dance, it could do a lot of damage to your team respectively. This ofcourse means that Gourgeist has to have taken a bit of damage from either an attack from a previous bout or hazards like Stealth Rock and Sandstorm recoil. The ever rare, yet existent Aerial Ace Excadrill pose the largest threat should your own Excadrill have had its balloon popped. In addition to this, should Rotom's shaky accuracy in both Hydro Pump and Will-o-wisp fail you, Excadrill becomes an exceedingly sufficient threat to your team.

A way to avoid this would be to replace something on the team(although I'm not exactly sure which one would be replaceable for you at the moment) with a Defensive Skarmory. The most replaceable appears to be Excadrill, but that may be debatable seeing as it means the loss of Rapid Spin support.

At any rate, I hope this helps and I wish you luck with the team.

Spoiler: Excadrill<Skarmory

Skarmory @ Leftovers
Trait: Sturdy
EVs: 220 Hp/ 252 Def/ 36 SDef
- Brave Bird
- Spikes
- Roost
- Whirlwind

 

[Naoto Shirogane]

Mandibuzz is available now through Friend Safari and Overcoat doesn't stop Spore.

That aside, you have a cool team here. The only concerns I can see for it are opposing Excadrill. If able to come in on Florges and set up a Swords Dance, it could do a lot of damage to your team respectively. This ofcourse means that Gourgeist has to have taken a bit of damage from either an attack from a previous bout or hazards like Stealth Rock and Sandstorm recoil. The ever rare, yet existent Aerial Ace Excadrill pose the largest threat should your own Excadrill have had its balloon popped. In addition to this, should Rotom's shaky accuracy in both Hydro Pump and Will-o-wisp fail you, Excadrill becomes an exceedingly sufficient threat to your team.

A way to avoid this would be to replace something on the team(although I'm not exactly sure which one would be replaceable for you at the moment) with a Defensive Skarmory. The most replaceable appears to be Excadrill, but that may be debatable seeing as it means the loss of Rapid Spin support.

At any rate, I hope this helps and I wish you luck with the team.

Spoiler: Excadrill<Skarmory

Skarmory @ Leftovers
Trait: Sturdy
EVs: 220 Hp/ 252 Def/ 36 SDef
- Brave Bird
- Spikes
- Roost
- Whirlwind

overcoat does protect from powder and spore moves. but yeah skarm is another good poke will stop gyra so i agree with this too

 

[Darkerones]

Very good points guys. But I'm afraid Excadrill is too valuable to replace for Defogger simply because Defog removes my own hazards as well and Charizard does like to have SR in his favor for a late game sweep.

 

[Klaus™]

Finally, a good team. However, well thought out as it may be, there are multiple threats that are reaalllly troublesome. Charizard x is onr such threat, able to set up on florges, rotom-w, and gorgeist, and after one boost really does numbers to your team. Mega gengar also puts some holes in your team.since both of those can be easily fixed by a few move and ability changes. Simply switch excadrill to Stealth Rock>Toxic and give it Sand Rush>Mold Breaker. Since this frees up a slot for tyranitar, give it an Assault Vest and Crunch>Stealth rock. I understand rotom-w needs taken out, but mold breaker exca is honestly a poor lure in my opinion, simply because it needs only a little prior damage and hydro pump koes, or WoW cripples it temporarily. Sand rish gives you a secondary sweeper and also a neat revenge killer to things like +1 gyarados, or +1 charizard x. Assault vest ttars lack of leftovers is negate by wish florges, and it helps get rid of mega gengar. Besides whih, rotom w isnt a problem anyway, as charizard sets up easily on it! Its also easily wondown by stealth rocks, sandstorm, and walled by florges, gorgeist, and rotom to an extent. Good luck on your team

As to cedomega, in no way is excadrill a threat to his team. Air balloon exca stops it cold, its relatively slow outside sand, and rotom w wrecks it greatly. Not to mention gorgeist. Saying x threat takes out your team when this this and this happens is a relatively poor argument to make, especially when the change you suggested kills any momentum he generates to set up a charizard sweep.

 

[Sparkbeat]

Really solid team here, and it's a plus it's using my favorite core so far this generation. First team I made was a stall team featuring the same Tyranitar/Gourgeist/Florges wish-passing core. They handle so many threats and all provide some sort of utility, and together form a really solid base for any team. First I'll just go over some nitpicky/personal preferences. On Gourgeist, I prefer using Protect>STAB Move mainly because Gourgeist makes a great scout against Pokemon that are choiced and want to be in and out, since most set-up sweepers don't want to be burnt or seeded. This also lets you milk the Leech Seed and maybe nab a KO between it and Shadow Sneak. You can also just run Seed Bomb if you want something with more power. Like TCR said, I also thing you should try Stealth Rocks>Toxic on Excadrill and an Assault Vest on Tyranitar to deal better with Mega Gengar. Ice Beam is a nice choice, since Gliscor is one of the most annoying Pokemon at the moment, and looks like a difficult thing for your team to handle. Pretty much stuff that's been said before, but from looking at it this is a really solid team. If you wanted to go more stalling you could try Assault Vest Goodra over Charizard-X, which gives you a switch in to Choice Specs Keldeo, which 2HKO's everything (As usual.) Though then you lose your main win condition, so if you made that change you'd probably need to add Skarmory over Excadrill for Spikes while retaining Defog. Just an idea if you wanted to take a more stall oriented approach. Really nice team, good job with it!

 

[Darkerones]

Really solid team here, and it's a plus it's using my favorite core so far this generation. First team I made was a stall team featuring the same Tyranitar/Gourgeist/Florges wish-passing core. They handle so many threats and all provide some sort of utility, and together form a really solid base for any team. First I'll just go over some nitpicky/personal preferences. On Gourgeist, I prefer using Protect>STAB Move mainly because Gourgeist makes a great scout against Pokemon that are choiced and want to be in and out, since most set-up sweepers don't want to be burnt or seeded. This also lets you milk the Leech Seed and maybe nab a KO between it and Shadow Sneak. You can also just run Seed Bomb if you want something with more power. Like TCR said, I also thing you should try Stealth Rocks>Toxic on Excadrill and an Assault Vest on Tyranitar to deal better with Mega Gengar. Ice Beam is a nice choice, since Gliscor is one of the most annoying Pokemon at the moment, and looks like a difficult thing for your team to handle. Pretty much stuff that's been said before, but from looking at it this is a really solid team. If you wanted to go more stalling you could try Assault Vest Goodra over Charizard-X, which gives you a switch in to Choice Specs Keldeo, which 2HKO's everything (As usual.) Though then you lose your main win condition, so if you made that change you'd probably need to add Skarmory over Excadrill for Spikes while retaining Defog. Just an idea if you wanted to take a more stall oriented approach. Really nice team, good job with it!

Decided to update the team with some of your suggestions. Thanks!