Big Beluga
u r a fatty
Can you teach me how to Duggy? .-. :3
-------
-------
So I finally decided to stray away from my Stallish ways and try and build a fairly successful offensive team just to give my storage of teams some diversity. I honestly didn't expect much as I rarely play offense, but this team has served me very well and is one of my favorite's to use atm. It utilizes some uncommon yet very effective Pokemon such as Dugtrio, who the team was based around, and Raikou, which is great for catching people off guard. On top of that, it has a pretty stable 'defensive' backbone that doesn't give up the offensive pressure in Celebi, Heatran, and Zapdos. Because of the offensive nature of the team though, I'm pretty weak to opposing offensive threats such as DD Dragonite if I don't keep the momentum on my side or play stupidly. This is why I've tailored every Pokemon so that it has the least chance possible of letting opposing Mons set up, but I still think the team isn't perfect and could use a tiny bit of adjusting, even if it's just movesets and EVs. So yea please give me any advice you guys can muster up. When rating though, think not only about what I'm weak to on paper, but how a match would really play out. For example, it may seem that I'm SD Lucario weak, as my best actual check to it is Sub Roost Zappy, but honestly where can it set up? The only thing I can think of is choice locked Stone Edge or Pursuit on Dugtrio, when really I'm almost never locked into anything but EQ, making the weakness extremely situational. Just some food for thought.
Starmie @ Life Orb
Trait: Natural Cure
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Hydro Pump
- Thunderbolt
- Ice Beam
- Rapid Spin
Probably the best lead for an offensive team, and mine is no exception. The way Starmie puts the opponent on their heels early on with it's coverage, powerful attacks, and ability to keep hazards off the field is invaluable. It's starting to become more common, but surprisingly people don't seem to any more checks to it than they used to, so it's not a big deal. I'm sure you guys know how the set works, so I'll just explain how I personally utilize Starmie. Basically, it's a suicide lead. I stay in on pretty much every lead there is and just try firing off as many attacks as possible, hopefully thoroughly weakening the opponents team or luring in the counters that I need out of the picture for the team to be successful. I do sometimes save Starmie for later in the match as it's amazingly good against Stall when Blissey is trapped and is always good for a late / mid game spin, but this only under certain circumstances.
Dugtrio (M) @ Choice Band
Trait: Arena Trap
EVs: 252 Atk / 32 SDef / 224 Spd
Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Earthquake
- Pursuit
- Stone Edge
- Aerial Ace
Oh how I wish Gamefreak would of given Dugtrio a bit more attack, that way I wouldn't have to run ****ing Choice Band, the ultimate momentum killing item. Due to it's inevitably average Attack stat though, CB is a must for always allowing me to KO Shuca Tran and deal as much damage to Tar and Blissey as possible. Anyways, like I said earlier, this team was based around Dugtrio. I've always been fascinated in Duggy's trapping ability and it seemed like a great Mon to abuse in a Tar, Jirachi, and Heatran infested metagame. After choosing Dugtrio, I built the rest of the team around thriving in an environment without those said Mons as well as other easily trapped Pokemon such as Blissey. For the set, it's pretty standard other than Pursuit. I like Pursuit > Sucker Punch for the sole reason of being able to trap fleeing Gengar, who's always a pain no matter what.
Celebi @ Life Orb
Trait: Natural Cure
EVs: 192 HP / 216 SAtk / 100 Spd
Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- U-turn
- Recover
- Energy Ball
- Psychic
When I chose Dugtrio I knew that it's terrible defensive stats wouldn't allow it to switch into many of the threats I was intending to trap. Due to this, I almost certainly needed a lure + U-turn user, to give Duggy some safe switch-ins. Celebi seemed like the perfect choice as it lures in Blissey and Heatran every time, allowing me to U-turn out on the switch and get a free kill with Duggy. I opted for a variation on the LO set because I wanted to stay true to the offensive theme. I toyed around with the EVs and moveset a lot and this is what I eventually came up with. First of all, I put 100 Spe EVs to ensure that I outspeed Breloom, because if it gets a spore off on me and I'm forced to switch out of my main Celebi counter, things could get bad. After that, I wanted to bolster it's damage output so I used Modest + 216 SpA EVs to get to the jump point. Then I just put the rest of the EVs in HP to make Celebi sort of a bulky sweeper. As for the moveset, U-turn is a given. I originally had Leaf Storm > Energy Ball but I hated how so many things could set up on me after a SpA drop, so EB was chosen to give me a reliable STAB (**** vappy). I've always had good success with Psychic on Celebi so I then just slapped it on and it fits perfectly by not letting Dragonite set up, providing fairly good coverage, catching some common Celebi 'counters' like Nape and Gar off guard, and giving me a second STAB to abuse.
Heatran (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Flash Fire
EVs: 248 HP / 48 SAtk / 208 SDef / 4 Spd
Mild Nature (+SAtk, -Def)
- Stealth Rock
- Fire Blast
- Earth Power
- Explosion
Main defensive pivot for the team and it also happens to be the team's SR user, which is always welcome. This, along with Zapdos and Celebi, allows me to actually fall back and soak up some hits in case I lose momentum some how. Because it sort of acts as a utility counter for the team, the spread is kinda weird. I use Mild + 48 SpA to make sure Fire Blast always KOs Gengar after LO recoil as well as give Heatran more of an offensive presense overall. The 248 HP + 208 SpD lets me tank a Focus Blast from the previously mentioned Gengar even after SR on top of making Tran the pivot / utility counter that I mentioned before. A random 4 EVs were thrown into Speed to outrun other zero speed Heatran's to the EP. Fire Blast, Earth Power, and Stealth Rock are as standard as it gets for Heatran, so I won't bother explaining those. Explosion has been extremely useful by making it very hard for opposing Mons like Dragonite to set up on me. It also gives me yet another free switch-in for Starmie, Dugtrio and Celebi. I have been considering Shuca + WoW > Lefties + Explosion, but I think that'd make me terribly Lum Dragonite weak.
Zapdos @ Leftovers
Trait: Pressure
EVs: 248 HP / 44 Def / 216 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Substitute
- Roost
- Toxic
- Thunderbolt
Meant to be the perfect offensive partner for Raikou, who I chose to abuse the absence of Tar, Bliss and Heatran. Due to both Zappy and Raikou sharing the same STAB, they often times lure in the same counters / checks. I like to use this to my advantage by having Zappy lure in Swampert, Tyranitar, and Blissey, all who I can severely cripple by stalling them out with Toxic, Sub and Roost. Not to mention that Zapdos easily switches into the Ground moves aimed at Raikou. With Zappy's ability to continually spread Toxic, Raikou can spend it's time boosting and subbing while opposing counters slowly whither away from Toxic damage. Not much else I can say about this guy, Sub Roost Zapdos has been one of my favorite sets for a while becuase it absolutely dismantles teams that aren't prepared for it. Best Mon to use against noobs who don't know what they're doing as they're usually never prepared for it and Sub / Roost allow you to by pass untimely hax that they seem to always get.
Raikou @ Leftovers
Trait: Pressure
EVs: 128 HP / 68 Def / 60 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Substitute
- Calm Mind
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power [Ice]
And here's the Pokemon that the team is trying to set up. Most teams that utilize Sub Kou try to support it with Toxic Spikes, and although they do work really when abusing Substitute, I can't think of any possible way to fit them onto the team and with Duggy trapping everything in sight, there's really no need for them. Like I said before, once Zapdos and Dugtrio have done their job, not many teams are geared for taking this thing on. Subsitute protects it from status and allows me to scout the numerous switches that Raikou forces. From there, I can start boosting my SpA and SpD with Calm Mind, making me increasingly more powerful and eventually making by Subs unbreakable to special attackers. Thunderbolt + HP ice provide the best possible coverage for 2 attacking slots and they're really all I need taking into account that this is team is a total dick to Swampert. Although the process of using Raikou is fairly simple, the EVs that I use to make Raikou a threat are anything but simple. 128 HP means that after a CM, Bulky Celebi can never break my Sub with Grass Knot. 68 Def combined with those EVs make my Subs bulky enough to always withstand a Jolly Choice Scarf Flygon's U-turn. Max Speed so that I can tie with Starmie, Azelf and other Raikou and the last EVs were thrown into SpA to give Raikou a bit of offensive presence right off the bat.
Overall, an extremely fun team to use. I thoroughly enjoyed making it and urge all of you guys to try it out, as when played right, it can dismantle even some of the most well built teams. Thanks for reading, and remember, I can use all the help I can get, so please rate!
Last edited: