RMT- First Shoddy Team

[randomspot555]

This is, for the most part, my first team I actually put some thought into on Shoddy. I've greatly enjoyed being able to have nearly every legal move available with a few clicks instead of "ah screw it, too much breeding."

Based off of one of the better rater's teams at SPPF. His original team is located here

The Lead of Awesome

sillyhatsonly (Bronzong) @ Flame Orb

Ability: Levitate

EVs: 252 HP/88 Def/168 SDef

Sassy nature (+SDef, -Spd)

- Light Screen

- Gyro Ball/Earthquake

- Confuse Ray

- Trick

This is basically THE lead that works against all the common leads nowadays. People who think they'll be keeping that Metagross or Swampert around so they can wall teams to no end HATE this guy. They set up Stealth Rock, I give them a Flame Orb and take their Leftovers. Against other Bronzong leads, well, they NEVER pack Trick. I usually get a Lum Berry if I'm up against a Trick Room Zong. Sometimes Meta might give me a Occa Berry.

This serves as a pretty decent special wall without having to resort to Blissey. Confuse Ray helps force out some switches (especially if Magnezone comes in, which can be annoying).

Due to Magnezone being a fairly common switch in, I'm thinking of ditching Gyro Ball for Earthquake.

Light Screen is great team support, and since Rotom is packing Reflect and WOW, I think LS works best here.

The leads that give me problems are quick Taunters, which are usually the common suicide leads, or a few of the Fake Outers. With the exception of Weavile, I usually end up switching in the Rotom form. Weavile w/ Pursuit would screw him over, and that usually isn't seen often. Smeargle/Breloom with Spore usually means Tentacruel is gonna go to sleep. Machamp is seriously annoying, but is a fairly rare lead.

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The Physical Sweeper

(pic removed, it was huge)

Infernape (M) @ Choice Band

Ability: Blaze

EVs: 56 HP/252 Atk/200 Spd

Jolly nature (+Spd, -SAtk)

- Close Combat

- Stone Edge

- U-turn

- Fire Punch

Everyone just assumes it'll be some MixApe. But why not just use that ridiculous movepool Ape gets and aim for one stat?

With the additional bulk, it helps Ape comes in on NFE hits and still survive, making him a decent check on Scizor and some of the Rotom forms. Flare Blitz is not favorable due to recoil. Thunder Punch was tested out, but I found it fairly redundant with Rotom around.

After the inevitable Rotom/other ghost is gone, I've had Close Combat just sweep half of a team. Scizor, Heatran, Kingdra, Vaporeon, Skarmory, they all HATE coming in on it. And the only ones with a chance to do anything are those packing priority (ExtremeSpeed, Bullet Punch), and he resists steel!

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The Lead in the Middle

Swag (Swampert) (F) @ Leftovers

Ability: Torrent

EVs: 252 HP/216 Def/40 SDef

Relaxed nature (+Def, -Spd)

- Stealth Rock

- Roar

- Ice Beam

- Earthquake

After I ditch the Flame Orb and maybe set up Confuse Ray, this guy comes in. He's not vital to my strategy, so I'm okay if he dies off after SR is set up. But man, is it great to scout teams with Roar and let them rack up SR damage.

Roar is also a great check on Calm Mind Suicune and other would be sub-abusers.

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Obligatory Rotom Forme

(no horrible image available)

sledgehammer (Rotom-c) @ Leftovers

Ability: Levitate

EVs: 252 HP/160 Def/56 Spd/40 SAtk

Bold nature (+Def, -Atk)

- Will-o-wisp

- Reflect

- Leaf Storm

- Discharge

I've gottena lot of "lol no Shadow Ball?" but it's job isn't to fight ghosts. It's a great check on Gyarados and Swampert. Scizor's Pursuit does lol damage after WOW is on, and even worse with Reflect. This is by far the best thing about Shoddy, Rotom forms, and I can't wait to try the others out.

I haven't had too many problems with Heatran switch ins, which I haven't seen too much of lately. But they take decent enough damage from Discharge anyway. This is also the guy that handles most of the suicide leads, and I usually end up with 50% or more health left over.

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Spinner

shedinja (Tentacruel) (F) @ Leftovers

Ability: Liquid Ooze

EVs: 252 HP/76 Def/160 SDef

Bold nature (+Def, -Atk)

- Knock Off

- Rapid Spin

- Swagger

- Surf

Yeah, no one is particularly SR weak, but that and Spikes, I just don't like the damage racking up. If it comes out early, I can usually predict a Rotom switch in and Knock Off their Leftovers. RS for obvious reasins. Swagger because Confuse Ray is apparently illegal. Surf because Heatran and others were giving me too much trouble without a decent attack.

I originally had Icy Wind to help slow some foes down, but it wasn't worth the move slot.

It does add another grass weakness, but honestly, it hasn't effected me too much. I love Knock Off. It screws up so much stuff.

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Obligatory Scizor

(actually, this picture is pretty good)

gold (Scizor) (M) @ Leftovers

Ability: Technician

EVs: 252 HP/184 Atk/72 Spd

Adamant nature (+Atk, -SAtk)

- Brick Break

- Bullet Punch

- Swords Dance

- Substitute

With the added speed, Scizor is basically my check on status that isn't early game Spore. I sub up, SD, and see what happens. I can at least weaken a Lucario/Heatran switch in before being forced to switch out. But i've often been lucky enough to get +4 to +6.

The only thing is Gyarados rips this d00d apart, so I have to play this for the later part of the game, or at least make sure Rotom is still healthy.

[Goldgross]

The pictures are sweet and the scizor set is also very sweet.

Weaknesses weaknesses.......my specialty. First off, Gyarados and Salamence will give this team a very hard time. Gyarados is only stopped by Rotom who is screwed over by Pursuit and is reliant on Reflect and WoW. Only Swampert stops Salamence and its 4x weakness to grass means a random grass move on the switch will free Sally to sweep the whole team.

Tentacruel wants to stop MixApe and is the only thing that WILL. The rest are gonna get swept.

DD Tar is gonna sweep this team to next week. Swampert can only Roar it out if not being 2hkoed with crunch before that. Scizor is not reliable to finish Tar off without any boost OR max atk. Tar will then proceed to OHKO Rotom, Tentacruel, Ape, 2hko zong while it only fights back with confuse ray. I doubt scizor will even be able to 2hko tar with Bullet punch unless you intend on taking a hit and then using sub or brick break.

SD Lucario will completely run through this team without being stopped or revenge killed. Rotom has no speed EVs which your opponent will find out once he sees the Reflect or WoW. Luke will then ohko with +2 crunch and proceed to sweep.

HP Grass Zapdos will take out FOUR of your pokes. Rotom really cant do anything to it other than getting paralyses while using Discharge. With Zappy having roost and if there isnt any paralyses then Zappy is gonna win against Rotom.

Fortunately, NONE of the pokes are Scizor weak. Actually they all resist bullet punch .

Bronzong likes both atk moves, but its up to personal preference.

Change fire punch on Ape to Flare Blitz. Yes the recoil is a real turn off but with Apes power, and the high power of the move with stab will over power things that resist it even. Tentacruels will take 40-50% damage and has a chance to ko with SR damage. With Fire punch you wont even be ohkoing standard metagross or bronzong. Ohko on Jirachi also has low chances whereas Flare blitz will finish off all of them in one clean hit.

Hopefully, swagger doesnt work against you. Giving your opponent confusion YES but the +2 in atk that comes with it is the reason its not a move people would consider using.

Due to having no revenge killers, critical hits will ruin you completely. Losing one important counter to a crit means your team is swept.

Ill get back to this team and the changes it needs after a while. Pointing out weaknesses for me is a cinch but actually changing pokes is as always hard to decide and time consuming.

[randomspot555]

Weaknesses weaknesses.......my specialty. First off, Gyarados and Salamence will give this team a very hard time.

Salamence gives EVERY team a hard time. But Brongonz is specifically designed to eat Dravo Meteors for breakfast, and Scizor also resists dragon, so there's counters for any Choice sets, and a check for DD-Mence when it goes into Outrage.

Gyarados is only stopped by Rotom who is screwed over by Pursuit and is reliant on Reflect and WoW.

Rotom is a great Gyarados counter, and since when does Gyarados learn Pursuit?

Only Swampert stops Salamence and its 4x weakness to grass means a random grass move on the switch will free Sally to sweep the whole team.

Tentacruel wants to stop MixApe and is the only thing that WILL. The rest are gonna get swept.

Actually, Band Ape works against Mixape very well. Resists Fire/Grass, and neutral to Close Combat. It easily outspeeds most Mixape variants and OHKOs with Close Combat. It also 2HKOs some common switch ins such as Vaporeon, and Skarmory won't enjoy eating a Close Combat either.

DD Tar is gonna sweep this team to next week. Swampert can only Roar it out if not being 2hkoed with crunch before that.

DDtar isn't something I've seen a lot of, but BandApe has been a fairly reliable check on it.

HP Grass Zapdos will take out FOUR of your pokes. Rotom really cant do anything to it other than getting paralyses while using Discharge. With Zappy having roost and if there isnt any paralyses then Zappy is gonna win against Rotom.

Surprisingly, I haven't seen many HP Grass Zapdos around. My usual check on it is SE on Ape. Most of the time, I've been seeing Discharge/Tbolt/ Heatwave/ Roost/Protect or T-Wave, which Swampert has fun roaring around.

Bronzong likes both atk moves, but its up to personal preference.

I think the only real reason to use EQ over anything else is Heatran. And as a lead, I haven't seen him too much, and I think I have enough checks on Heatran to get by. Without HP Grass, Swampert keeps Scarfran and Subran in check, Specsran is kept in line by Ape

I'll test Blitz on Ape, but I don't think it'll work out.

Due to having no revenge killers,

Scizor???

I've mostly moved on to another team by now anyway, but rates are still welcome.