The game.
By Red Striker
~Introduction~
Tired of the same constant crap used in the metagame? Feel the need to play in an unorthodox fashion that still does the same as - if not better than - the standard? If you answered yes to any of that, you feel like me at the time I created and perfected this team just to weeks before Nats. Man, nothing describes the feeling of being in Top Cut (#23 in Swiss, Seniors) with a team in which fits the second sentence of this intro perfectly. Since I have no plans to go to Worlds, and Nats. is long passed, I figured it wouldn't hurt to post the team that at least got me Top Cut in my first year of VGC.
~At A Glance~
Trolling aside for the moment, when I say this team was created in 5 minutes and tweeked once or twice in two weeks time to the final product, I mean it. I decided that my team should be versatile in and out of Trick Room. In terms of "in Trick Room," the one Mon that came to mind for setup was Cresselia. She ended up being on every other team idea in the VGC '12 meta. With high bulk, it would last long enough to even reverse the dimensions if it came to be. Now, I needed something with abysmal Speed and high power, but I knew if there was a chance to put something unexpected on the team, this was one of them. Rhyperior is a beast with Cress. Seems how the meta already had gaurdrails for common stuff, most people didn't know what to expect from this gargantuan giant. During testing, I became more and more intrigued as to why Rhyperior wasn't used more often.
Staraptor was actually my final bump on the team, suggested by my friend Stormfront (of SkarmBliss and Smogon), and replacing the once-was Salamence. Intimidate does wonders for me, and being Scarfed, abusing this Ability became all the more fun. This bundle of joy is one of the main reasons Top/Moth leads hated this team. Leading with Cress/Raptor would oftentimes lead the opponent into deceit as to wheather or not I was using Trick Room (since you don't typically lead with something with a Base 100 Speed if your using Trick Room). But a switch into Rhyperior soon taught a thing or two.
Now if I felt like it, I could run in/out of both Trick Room and Rain. Scizor was chosen due to the fact that it resists every type that Cresselia otherwise loathes, foms a somewhat solid "core" with Rhyperior, and easily takes advantage of having Intimidate support. Scizor also preforms well under Trick Room. Almost every team in VGC needs some sort of Priority user, and I hadn't yet fulfilled that yet... Until it came onto the team. Knowing that Politoed was a common partner with Scizor, and everything else that seemed viable in terms of a great Water-type (which this team needed) didn't do the job well enough to my standards. Sand being a common force, Politoed became my next best option. Hail also became a problem, as Abomasnow may try to threaten Toed, but Scizor will be right there waiting.
When it came down to my last slot, Raikou was one of the last things that I anticipated using at the beginning of this year's format. The idea came to mind when I was browsing through my PC Storage system (inspiration can come from just about anywhere) when I came past a few of my old event Raikous, which reminded me of a peticular move it received as a promotion: Weather Ball. Politoed in sight, this would be the ultimate way to catch my foes off guard, as Weather Ball Raikou? Most people had forgotten about its existence. Besides, Zapdos being a common partner with Tyranitar, Weather Ball would be the last thing to expect. So, a Thunder Spammer with a high-powered Water move, DrizzleToed, Scizor, and one other member. This all spells one thing: Rain is a definite option to run if it needs to be.
~A Closer Look~
I'd like to note that all visible images used in this section of my RMT are all credit to Xous
Cresselia @ Mental Herb
Nature: Bold
Ability: Levitate
EVs: *Hidden due to specific reasons*
Moveset:
- Trick Room
- Psychic
- Helping Hand
- Light Screen
Why Cresselia?
Where do I begin. There's a reason Cresselia ranges from about #1-5 in terms of top used. The sheer bulk ensures she'll survive long enough to twist around with the dimensions in the coliseum, and possibly put them back in order if it needs to be. But Trick Room isn't the only support Cresselia offers for the team. She can also boost the amount of time her allies last, bolstering their SDef via Light Screen, or turn 2-3HKOs into 2-1HKOs with Helping Hand, a simple move, yes, but it's all I need sometimes to turn a game around in my favor. Playing in an unexpectable manner is a key goal for this team, and though Cress is one of the most heavily used Pokemon out there, it's wide variety of support options leaves opponent's guessing with every move.
More In-Depth
Taunt. The one move that can screw up an entire battle in my favor for good. Solution? The Mental Herb. Though it is a one-time use, it may be all I need to be sailing on smooth tides for the rest of the match. One Trick Room set up. A Light Screen production. All of that thanks to that one Item. Luckily, it isn't used often, so an opposing Thundurus or Tornadus will Taunt Cresseila the first time around without the thought of such use.
On to the moves. I've gone over many times as to Trick Room's reason on the set, like the fact that it adds on to the team's versatility in terms of what archtype to run for a certain match, not to mention a way to counter other TR teams. Light Screen is another one of my ways of countering Rain. If some of you have noticed, Rain's specialty is in the many devastating Special Attacks launched out. Devastating? Pfft, not with Light Screen. Now the Scalds and Surfs that 1-2HKO'd Raikou take what seems like forever in Doubles standards to KO, meaning I can smite my foes with Thunder all day long (and some Parahax if I'm lucky
). Hail teams also fail to stand up against me, with their only possible way of getting around this team is to be lucky enough to freeze one of my Mons in a dire situation. Helping Hand is scary at times. Have a problem with a peticular Pokemon of the opponent's side a problem, and your firepower just isn't enough to take it out? Helping Hand makes it to where an upper advantage can be just a few claps away. I guess I haven't really gone over just why Cresselia and Rhyperior go well together, aside from the whole TR setup and destroy anything in my path. With Cresselia's Levitate, Perior is free to spam Earthquake as much as it pleases. So that's seems alright. Go ahead and combine that with Helping Hand and a Ground Gem on the first use. A huge portion of the metagme that merely resists the immense power is completely wiped out in an instant. I know that this is not the only major use, but I wanted to point the fact out as a simple example of how Helping Hand changes a game. It does have other uses, like assisting Staraptor in - uhh... SPOLIER ALERT - Brave Birding everything, or making one of the highest powered priority moves from Scizor even deadlier, and all before the opponent can respond. So all in all, every one of Cress' moves plays a high role for the team, but what about Cress herself? I mentioned an importance in the Mental Herb, but it won't always be there. Psychic prevents being Taunt locked and forced to switch out (if I can), and also for finishing off weakened Mons when Cresselia's ally must deal with another.
Rhyperior (R.Y.N.O) @ Ground Gem
Nature: Brave
Ability: Solid Rock
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Att / 4 SDef
IVs: 0 Spe.
Moveset:
- Protect
- Earthquake
- Rock Slide
- Megahorn
Nickname Origin
I'm sure some of you understand the reference, and if you do, you know it's a play on words (kind of).
Why Rhyperior?
Yep. It's that uncommon in this year's metagame. When choosing a TR attacker, Rhyperior is oftentimes overlooked because of the gaping weaknesses and poor Base 55 SDef. Call me blind, but in my eyes, Rhyperior is absolutely perfect. Once it get's going, the only way to stop it is to revert the dimensions back to normal. If there was a such thing as a pinnacle of offense in TR, Rhyperior would be the true king of the mountain. By the time the opponent figures out a way to get around Perior, it's too late to stop it. So, you want to try and reverse the dimensions, do ya'? Great, I can just 1-2HKO the most common TR setters (Chandy, Cress, Jellicent etc.), and if you do happen to revert them back, I'll just make them the way they should be. Indeed, Rhyperior would exceed the queen's capabilities if it was a chess piece.VGC Usage Stats from Smogon said:
More In-Depth
The creators of the Pokedex claim that Tyranitar can clear mountains when enraged (it could have been another Pokemon I'm thinking of). Okay, that's great and all, but apparently none of them have had to deal with a Rhyperior's Earthquake with a Ground Gem. The thing, added with Helping Hand most of the time, will be destroying mountains... And perhaps a huge portion of a metagame and then some >:} Or at least the portion that doesn't resist EQ anyways.
Continuing onto more of the moves. With the Rock / Ground typing, Rhyperior gains a STAB in a couple of VGC's most highly used spread moves: Rock Slide and Earthquake. With that being said, those two moves make up the backbone to the set, granting me two options to deal widespread damage. Since I constantly see Metagross and Tyranitar on the same team out on the field at the same time, Rhyperior teaches them a valuable lesson on why you never leave two Mons out at the same time with the same weaknesses. Megahorn completely destroys Cresselia (2HKO w/o Helping Hand, OHKO on some variants w/ Helping Hand), as well as OHKOing the common Latios, Hydreigon, and Ludicolo in Trick Room (with or without Helping Hand). This move adds onto the element of surprise, as most people don't really know what to look out for in Rhyperior. Okay, I'm only saying this once: Protect is a vital move in VGC. It gives Pokemon the ability to scout dangerous moves, or chillax and avoid everything life throws at it while the ally switches out or deals with another threat.
Staraptor (MileyCyrus) @ Choice Scarf
Nature: Adamant
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 Att / 252 Spe / 4 HP
Moveset:
- Brave Bird
- Return
- U-Turn
- Close Combat
Nickname Origin
R.I.P headphone users.
Why Staraptor
Like Raikou, I never anticipated using Staraptor. Despite the order of the team, Staraptor actually ended up being my final tweek to the team, and proved to be a great one at that. A common lead partner with Raikou, the two would devastate teams, whether it be just them or at the assistance of the two back allies. Oftentimes, due to this unusual lead pairing, opponents wouldn't know what to expect, since, like stated with Rhyperior, they didn't expect to find Staraptor and Raikou being used, hence no knowledge on how the two run and what to encounter. By leading out with Staraptor, opponent's can never figure out if whether or not I'm using Trick Room.
More In-Depth
I decided to use ScarfRaptor due to, like I said, my friend's advice. Being locked into a move because of a Choice Item, we both knew there would be a lot of switching with this Pokemon to begin with. Intimidate is needed for this team to run effectively (since as you can see, a lot of them are either frail, or become tanks otherwise), so combined with that and constant switching, a Scarf was perfect to add onto its already-great Base 100 Speed. Brave Bird stands as Staraptor's best STAB move. Combined with Helping Hand, Brave Bird will OHKO Neutral 4 HP/0 Def Latios. Even at -1 Attack, Staraptor still has a 68.75% chance to OHKO Neutral 252 HP/4Def Hitmontop without Helping Hand. Once ZapChomp leads figure out the true power of friendship via Staraptor's Return, they're going to wish they never encountered the bird to begin with. Remember what I said about my Cress/Raptor lead? It will completely destroy teams that lead like that with ease. How? A Helping Handed Return with max friendship completely OHKO's the standard Zapdos, and Garchomp can't OHKO Staraptor with Rock Slide as a result of Intimidate. In general, Return is my alternative to Double Edge, hitting for high power without the high recoil Double Edge gives.
U-Turn is great for Staraptor. Assuming the target doesn't Protect, Staraptor has a free switch while leaving the Pokemon with a small amount of damage which can come in handy later. U-Turn adds on the the abuse of Intimidate, and making sure it goes a little further. Last but not least, Close Combat. Staraptor's defenses are already pitiful to an extent that doesn't matter it they're lowered. Being the Fighting move it is, coverage given by it is just what Staraptor needs in order to remain un-walled by as little as possible, as Steel types (as well as various others) do a good job at it otherwise.
Politoed (Deluge) @ Water Gem
Nature: Modest
Ability: Drizzle
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SAtt / 4 Def
Moveset:
- Protect
- Scald
- Ice Beam
- Hidden Power [Grass]
Nickname Origin
Politoed creates a Rainstorm. Rainstorms can lead to a deluge. Get where I'm going with this?
Why Politoed?
For this metagame, you needed some sort of weather control in your grasp. Tyranitar wasn't an option due to duplicate typing with Rhyperior. Ninetales was simeply outclassed by a lot of things and gave me no edge on Sand or Rain whatsoever. What About Abomasnow? Too much duplicate weakness with other teammates. Singling out all those, Politoed was the one that remained in the end, and turned out to be a great choice after all. I find that this team overall benefited from having the mobility of running either inside or outside of Rain. I don't typically like running full-blown Weather teams, but the option to use a semi - Rain team at times without constantly being doomed if I don't eased this a bit. This team's diversity made it hard to know what I was going to use in terms of my opponents in team preview, and the fact I now had another completely different archtype at my disposal threw everything off for them.
More In-Depth
You know what's fun with this guy? While being in the Rain, your opponent switches out their Latios or Garchomp because they're afraid of Ice Beam and go into Metagross. Now Striker, why is that so fun? Simple: all that time I had a Scald aimed at them instead, and it takes Metagross clear down. If I manage to get a Burn, it's practically an OHKO. Yeah, the Water Gem is that handy, packing the power of 270 once STAB, Rain, and the Water Gem have been factored in. Quite a few other things that were merely 2HKO's now turn into complete OHKO's. And those that are left with a sliver of HP can be cut down later for another ally to take care of.
Scald is the only powerful single-target STAB attack out of Politoed's entire movepool. Surf didn't seem like a great option due to the only any of my allies have a way to dodge it is via Protect or just take it. In other words, it was too risky. In all honesty, I prefer a more focused damage output with Politoed's average SAtt. Even with the Water Gem used up, Scald leaves noticeable dents is anything that's hit by neutral damage from it, as well as a chance to cripple Physical attackers and prevent the need for Cresselia to run Reflect. The coverage provided by Ice Beam is so great to the extent where only opposing Water-types wall Politoed. Dragons are a real threat in this metagame, so Ice Beam is already a necessary move on the set for other than reducing how many walls there are. Do you know the difference between a Gastrodon in OU and a Gastrodon in VGC when looking at how irritating they are for Politoed? Oh wait. There isn't a difference. Let's go ahead and add Hidden Power Grass to the blend. Now Gastrodon has a bit of a problem. Not only Gastrodon, but the many other Water-types that walled Politoed. For now, we'll just look at Gastrodon. Before HP Grass, it was a problem. Scald does jack to it because of Storm Drain, and Ice Beam's pitiful 95 BP without any other Power boosts is about as useless as Scald. HP Grass on the other hand 2HKO's Rindo Berry Gastrodon, solving my problems.
Scizor (RedStriker) @ Flying Gem
Nature: Adamant
Ability: Technician
EVs: 252 Att / 252 HP / 4 Spe
Moveset:
- Protect
- Bullet Punch
- Acrobatics
- Bug Bite
Nickname Origin
Looking at the NN and the Pokemon, you have one guess as to how my Username came to be.
Why Scizor?
Looking at the team I already had (back when Mence was around), Scizor was absolutely perfect. With Rain to cover its back and many things on the team to resists its Fire-type adversaries' STABs, Scizor played its part with the help of its Steel typing. Being the best Defensive typing in the game, Scizor resists at least one of every ally's weakness, turning it into a great switch-in on many attacks. Remember what I said about running Rain in my team of four in a battle? Well, looking at commonly used Rain teams, Scizor is on almost every one of them. Even if Politoed wasn't on the team, I'd still be using Scizor thanks to the fact that its name isn't Metagross. If its name was Metagross, any chance of it resisting every one of Cresselia's weaknesses are gone because it would be part Psychic instead of part Bug. It would also be weak to Ground, which this team doesn't need any more of.
More In-Depth
Though Flying Gem + Acrobatics may seem like a standard thing to play, even the most unusual of teams have one or two notes of standardization with them, and Scizor is no different. Even at -1 Att. from Intimidate, Hitmontop still has a 50% cahnce to be OHKO'd from such an attack. If I outspeed Latios (likely to be from Trick Room), people anticipate Bug Bite and immediately switch out into something like Chandelure or Hitmontop to resist it. That's just fine, because with a Flying Gem-boosted Acrobatics, all I really needed from there was a Bullet Punch to finish the job if another attack wasn't already aimed at Latios.
Bullet Punch is the prime of Scizor's use to begin with. Technician alongside STAB makes it the second most powerful priority move in the game (second to STAB Sucker Punch / ExtremeSpeed). In the brief planning stages, I had yet to put a Priority user, since every team needs at least one to finish off weakened foes without hassle. Pokemon like Terrakion and Weavile are switched out ASAP in light of the fact that none in which can stand up to the power of Bullet Punch. Coming up as Scizor's best STAB move, Bug Bite is a handy move to keep around. Nothing beats the feeling of KOing a Cresselia with ease, which is exactly what Bug Bite does in two hits. Other Pokes such as Latios, Ludicolo, and Tyranitar must play with caution if switching isn't the first action in mind.
Raikou @ Life Orb
Nature: Rash
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 SAtt / 252 Spe / 4 HP
Moveset:
- Weather Ball
- Thunder
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power [Ice]
Why Raikou?
I began to ask myself the same question at first. Further testing, and it's worth had been proven. Weather Ball was the one main reason opponent's hated this team. Nobody expected it and everyone had long but forgotten about the promotional distribution. Those of you who do probably only remember Aura Sphere as the only notable move. I thought to myself: if I need more Weather control, why not use the opponent's weather against them. Zapdos and Tar on the same team? They're so going to regret that....
But Raikou had its other purposes. My Raikou / Raptor lead left many dumbfounded by the end of the match with it's powerful, but unprepared-for style, more-so like this entire team in general. Truth be told, Raikou is probably one of the huge reasons for the team's success to begin with.
More In-Depth
What Red, y u no Protect? Protect simply didn't fit in the set. Yes, I have Thunder for a STAB, but I dislike using it outside of Rain, and I don't always have Politoed with me in my four Mon group. At the same time, I still need a STAB move, so Thunderbolt needed a spot. Weather Ball is the crown of the set, and HP Ice makes Raikou unresisted in coverage.
Anyways, the Life Orb is perfect for Raikou in this case. At first I thought about giving it the Electric Gem, since T-Bolt could be doing tons of damage, but I quickly reconsidered. A one-time use vs. spread-out damage among my moves. I was convinced to use the Life Orb after I learned how ridiculously powerful Thunder and Weather Ball become, and in this case, I'm referring to WB under Sun and - most importantly - Rain. Thunder from Raikou could usually deal around 90-95% damage (or about a 19% chance to OHKO) to Neutral 4 HP / 0 SDef Ludicolo. Another reason to Life Orb Raikou.
Do I really need to go into detail on how predictable Rain teams are in Team Preview? There are times when Raikou is all I really need to get through the archtype of a team (provided I have Light Screen). I mentioned this team could utilize Rain, but up until now, I haven't given way to just how I counter those types of teams. Other than just Weather Ball, Raikou was designated for one other reason: I was sick of Rain. Team idea after idea went throughout the year, and one common flaw always happened: Rain teams were ridiculously hard to beat and I usually ended up being stomped flat. But alas. Rain's common specialty is in it's Special Attacks, not to mention being fried by anything with STAB Thunder and hating just about anything under Light Screen. In short, Raikou's intention is to be a Rain counter. I've been waiting to say this all year, but... DIE RAIN, DIE! NOW YOU GO TO RAIN PRISON!
Erm, getting back on track to the set, Thunderbolt is my primary STAB move outside of Thunder, and still does moderate damage to foes like Zapdos, Suicune, and Rotom-W. Weather Ball is almost-absolute weather control. As easy way to take out an opponent's Tyranitar or Ninetales is this: keep Raikou in with a Weather Ball aimed at any of the two listed. Have Raikou's ally switch out for Politoed, making it so where Weather Ball will OHKO either Ninetales or Tyranitar (with the exception to Sashes). Now Rain is the PermaWeather on the field. There are many other examples of its use, but I'll leave it at that. Hidden Power Ice hits common Dragons such as Salamence and Garchomp hard, and at times, unsuspectingly. Most people who know about Hidden Power on Raikou typically expect Hidden Power Grass with Gastrodon and whatnot. Not here.
~Threat List of the Team~
Luckily the list is short here, but it's what's on the list...
Ferrothorn
This thing. I'm just fortunate enough that it wasn't used a whole lot. Cresselia is obviously walled, Rhyperior can't OHKO it even with a Helping Handed EQ assault, and is cut down in no time by Power Whip. Staraptor is a good bet, considering Close Combat, but after one Defense drop, Gyro Ball is all it takes to sweep it off the field. Politoed is walled and usually 2HKO'd by Power Whip. Scizor's Acrobatics may not seem like much, but after a while, Ferrothorn won't be able to last if it's being ganged up on as the opponent's last Pokemon. Finally, Raikou is... yep. Walled. Unless by some miracle Ferrothorn is used in a Sun team (lol). If that's the case, Weather Ball all day. Weather Ball in Hail also does a decent amount.
~Final Notes~
Please ask for permission to use this team on PO and/or Random Matchop via PM. Chances are, unless I know you're experienced, I will need you to prove to me you're skilled enough to use it (on PO or on WiFi, I don't care). Basically, you must prove your worth to me (note that I'm still on PO V1).