I've finally decided to get around to designing a team for competitive use, albeit it is likely only for Shoddy Battle. While I'm mostly satisfied with what I have so far, I'm unsure about my last pokemon, Clefable :-/
That being said, I've made a UU team, which is currently sitting on most Smogon standards, so don't expect any great surprises from the movesets. Once I receive some suggestions and do some retooling, I'll be using this team until I make a new one.
I'm hoping I've kept type-match synergy and proper team balancing throughout. Here's what I've got:
Arcanine - Anti-lead
Ability - Intimidate
Nature - Adamant
EV's - 192 HP / 252 Atk / 64 Spe
Item - Lum Berry
Moves -
~ Flare Blitz
~ ExtremeSpeed
~ Roar
~ Hidden Power Grass
As I've been waiting around for the Jolly and Brave Dittos I need for a breeding project, I've started looking into other mons I can easily breed, and Arcanine is one of them. After doing some reading on Smogon, and a personal want to include him in my team, I've decided to use Arcanine's Flare Blitz/Extremespeed combo to outspeed and overpower the opponent's lead and batter them (hence Adamant over Jolly) before they have any real time to set up. Roar lets me remove a threat/poke I cannot handle if I'm faster, avoiding even minimal damage from switch-ins, and HP Grass to help against my Water-type weakness. If people appear to enjoy using Arcanine for the same reason (or any other fire-type in the lead position), I can change his ability to Flash Fire as needed.
Azumarill - Physical Powerhouse
Ability - Huge Power
Nature - Adamant
EV's - 240 HP / 252 Atk / 16 Spe
Item - Choice Band
Moves -
~ Superpower
~ Aqua Jet
~ Return
~ Ice Punch
Azumarill is a Pokemon I'm rather fond of, and I thought it'd be a waste not to use it's ample attack capabilities seeing as it was in UU. I didn't stick with Smogon's exact moveset here for a few reasons. Firstly, I chose to replace Waterfall with Superpower, as with the stat decrease and Choice band lock, I'd use it as more of a "hit-and-run" tactic, specifically to get the KO by either a supereffective or sheer power. Return over Double-Edge to avoid recoil to keep Azumarill for as long as I can. Aqua Jet provides a STAB priority move, and Ice Punch rounds off the set allowing me to hit Grass, Ground, Dragon and Flying types hard. I'm hoping I can get some good sweeps with him.
Venusaur - Specialist
Nature - Modest
EV's - 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Item - Choice Specs
Moves -
~ Leaf Storm
~ Sludge Bomb
~ Hidden Power Ground
~ Sleep Powder
Venusaur is Azumarill's counterpart in usage. Here, I use a modest nature and choice specs to maximize SpA, much like an Adamant nature and choice band for Azumarill's Attack. Leaf Storm and Sludge Bomb provide powerful STAB attacks, HP Ground to cover my Fire-type weakness and prevent Steel-type walling, and Sleep Powder to give me another chance to slow down the opponent's attacks.
Registeel - The Tank
Nature - Careful
EV's - 252 HP / 100 Atk / 156 SpD
Item - Leftovers
Moves -
~ Stealth Rock
~ Thunder Wave
~ Earthquake
~ Iron Head
Registeel, aside from his Ground, Fire and Fighting weaknesses, proves a most effective wall, and an equally good status-spreader. He's meant to either take the hard hits on a switch-in, and then status the opponent, or bludgeon the opponent with STAB Iron Head (which also provides a nice chance of flinching) and EQ. Leftovers is to help cushion the effects of weather, or depending on the opponent's strength, their attacks which I switch into.
Slowbro - Threat Checker/ SpA Absorber
Ability - Own Tempo
Nature - Bold
EV's - 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Item - Leftovers
Moves -
~ Slack Off
~ Surf
~ Psychic
~ Calm Mind
Slowbro makes for a wonderful check on my team. Easily able to handle a good number of UU's Water, Fire and Fighting type threats, it'd be a waste not to use him. Thanks to his bulk, I plan to use him with the Calm Mind set. I can use a switch in to set up a calm mind or two, heal with Slack Off if needed, then proceed to sweep with powered up STAB Surf and Psychic. This can work especially well, I presume, as when combined with Venusaur, because they cover each other's weaknesses well. The only thing I forsee that can be a problem is having two water types, as that might be leaving me unnecessarily open to Electric-based attacks.
Clefable - Support
Ability - Magic Guard
Nature - Calm
EV's - 252 HP / 152 Def / 100 SpD / 4 Spe
Item - Flame Orb
Moves -
~ Encore
~ Wish
~ Seismic Toss
~ Heal Bell
I need a support pokemon, and that is purely what Clefable is for. Wish support and Healbell to assist the team, Encore to cripple set-up pokemon, and Seismic Toss for *hopefully* removing walls. Flame Orb over Leftovers to avoid statuses. I wonder if this is the best choice as a Support though...
Known Problems:
My largest issues are: a decided leaning towards physical attacks, substitute wallers are killing me, ground types are anathema, and the need of a durable wish support provider. I need help remedying these problems.
I'm currently testing these two pokemon in place of Clefable and Azumaril, respectively:
Umbreon - Wish Support
Nature - Careful
Ev's - 252 HP / 92 SpD / 164 Spe
Item - Leftovers
Moves -
~ Wish
~ Payback
~ Baton Pass
~ Yawn / Curse
Umbreon provides me with the wish support I desparately need, and uses baton pass to maximize effectiveness and ensure I give the Wish to whoever needs it without risking Umbreon. I use a standard setup mostly, and need to do some testing to see whether Yawn or Curse works best. Yawn can stop sweepers and other Baton Passers; assuming I can set up Curse, I can then Wish, and BP the bolstered stats and the wish to whoever's waiting. Curse can ain both defending the hit I take before Wish heals me (assuming it's a physical attack), and has me primed for a sweep as well. Umbreon also works well with Slowbro, able to take the Dark and Ghost moves aimed at him, and Slowbro the same for Fighting moves directed to Umbreon.
Donphan - Rapid Spinner
Nature - Adamannt
Ev's - 52 HP / 252 Atk / 204 Def
Item - Leftovers
Moves -
~ Rapid Spin
~ Earthquake
~ Assurance
~ Ice Shard
Here I use Donphan to cover my Ground weakness, and provides me with Rapid Spin Sspport if I'm faced with an opponent you like to spam entry hazards. EQ gives me a powerful STAB move, Assurance for general damage/hitting pesky Ghost and Psychic types/stacking damage off Registeel's SR, and Ice Shard for a priority move that hits Grass types and other Ground types hard, hopefully holding some surprise value too.
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