FerrishTheFish

Yeah, I had to leave before the tournament was over. Unexpected turn of events and whatnot. I dunno about Smeargle being slow, because with the EV spread and Scarf he has 396 Spd, whereas non-Scarfed Aerodactyl reaches 394 at most (with boosting nature, 252 Spd EVs). I've never run into anything that outsped my Smeargle (including other Smeargle leads), and if whatever they have will destroy him, I use U-turn. I do admit that playing with Smeargle is like playing with 5 pokemon, but when I spend like 20 turns alternately phazing with RestTalk Snorlax, flinching with Serene Grace Togekiss, Status-healing with Aromatherapy Blissey, etc., people tend to forget to prepare against a Smeargle switch-in 8D In my opinion, catching your opponent off-guard is just as much skill as prediction so as to not be caught off-guard yourself.

Thanks for the info on the pokes! Actually, I have been experimenting on PO, and have already put a Tentacruel on my team ' I was considering both Miltank and Porygon2 as candidates for Normal-types, and I was desperately trying to figure out how to turn my Rotom into Rotom-H, but my final lineup was: Smeargle, Snorlax, Togekiss, Blissey, Swampert, and Tentacruel. As you might have guessed from all the past tense, the tournament happened today (well, yesterday). I couldn't stay through all of it, but I won round 1 and my unfinished round 2 game was ruled in my favor (my 5 full-HP pokemon vs. his 1 paralyzed + low-HP, 1 low-HP, and 1 full-HP pokemon). I have actually become somewhat addicted to Pokemon Online, and will probably continue to experiment with my favorite type online. My current team has so far won more online games vs. regular OU teams than it has lost. I disagree with your opinion on Smeargle leads, but you're probably more knowledgeable about these matters than I -.- He has his downsides, but after the initial Spore -> switch, I make sure not to switch him back in until I know exactly what I'm up against: I only switched him back in once out of both my tournament matches (and they were loooooooong matches, phazing vs. Toxic stall in round 1, phazing vs. Wish support in round 2). I had Stealth Rocks on my Swampert, so phazing was still working even without Spikes. I agree 100% with your Tentacruel ruling, and seriously, NOTHING beats setting up Rocks, phazing while the other guy scrambles to set up three layers of Toxic Spikes, and then finally switching in Tentacruel to om nom nom all that hard work up without even spending a turn 8D EDIT: Dang, first impressions of that Miltank are impressive. Had a guy forfeit to me after 3 layers of Spikes and 3 Curses even though he had 4 pokemon left. Mental images of bovines Body Slamming the guy from Sixth Sense 8D MOOOOOO!!!

So I actually played a couple games with the bro himself. I lost the first game, but won the second, and in doing so realized that actually, I find it more fun to set up entry hazards and phaze than to set up for a sweep. I lost the first game because I inexpertly tried to sweep, and I won the second because I managed to get three layers of spikes down, phaze out his Forretress so it had to switch in twice and lose 50%, then managed to KO it with Blissey's Flamethrower before it could Rapid Spin. I didn't even use my Porygon-Z at all. It came down to his Shuckle and his 50% Heatran vs. my Zapdos, Togekiss, and Porygon-Z: I Tricked my Choice Scarf onto his Shuckle, locking it into Rest, then brought my Zapdos in to Pressure its Rest away, and he ran. I think in general that Normal-Types are better at stalling than sweeping anyways. I set up a new team based on that. Please tell me what you guys think: Smeargle @ Choice Scarf Nature: Jolly Ability: Own Tempo EVs: 252 HP / 40 Def / 216 Spd Role: Scarfed Lead -Spore -Trick -Spikes / Stealth Rock -Encore Scarfed Jolly Smeargle hits 396 Speed. For perspective, non-Scarfed Jolly Aerodactyl only hits 394. Sporing a non-Scarfed lead is practically guaranteed, and the extra bulk makes this Smeargle more likely to survive a hit if he is switched in later for Spikes, Trick, or Encore. ------------------------- Snorlax @ Leftovers Nature: Impish Ability: Thick Fat EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpDef Role: RestTalk ParaPhazer -Rest -Sleep Talk -Body Slam -Whirlwind Snorlax performs his task admirably. Get in, do some damage, maybe spread some status, force switches, then Rest and Sleep Talk to do it all over again. -------------------------- Togekiss @ Choice Scarf Nature: Timid Ability: Serene Grace EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpAtk / 252 Spd Role: Flinchy Trickster -Air Slash -Aura Sphere -Thunder Wave -Trick Togekiss is the closest I come to a sweeper on this team. She has powerful moves against pokemon that give my team trouble, but her real purpose is to annoy with Trick, paralysis, and flinchiness, the latter of which add up to a 70% chance that the other pokemon will just lose a turn. -------------------------- Blissey @ Leftovers Nature: Bold Ability: Natural Cure EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 Spd Role: Aromatherapist -Aromatherapy -Softboiled -Flamethrower -Toxic / Thunder Wave Now that I have a Rapid Spinner on my team (Donphan), I can focus more on Walling. Status-healing with Aromatherapy is a big help to sleeping Snorlaxes and poisoned Donphans, but I'll probably test out the effectiveness of Wish and Protect on this team, too. Toxic and Thunder Wave both have their pros and cons: poison + entry hazards can stop someone setting up on Blissey, but poison also overrides paralysis, which is more useful to the team overall. -------------------------- Froslass @ Choice Scarf Nature: Modest Ability: Snow Cloak EVs: 128 HP / 252 SpAtk / 128 SpDef Role: Spin Blocker -Spikes -Thunder Wave -Hidden Power Fire / Thunderbolt / Shadow Ball -Trick My own custom set (for once). This Froslass OHKOs with Hidden Power Fire 252 HP / 252 SpDef Careful Forretress after 25% Spikes damage as well as 252 HP / 0 SpDef Scizor with neutral nature and no entry damage. Thunderbolt 2HKOs 252 HP / 136 SpDef Calm Tentacruel (after 25% Spikes damage) and 2HKOs any Starmie that isn't 252 HP / 252 SpDef with boosting nature without entry damage and any Starmie period with entry damage. Froslass also outspeeds all of these unless they are scarfed, which is uncommon except on Starmie. Froslass is designed to come in on predicted Rapid Spins, prevent Rapid Spin with Ghostly ease, then either cripple the Spinner with Trick, lay down more Spikes, spread status, or go for the KO. I chose the EV spread for survivability against the less-predictable Starmie and Tentacruel, because no amount of HP and Def is going to protect against something like min Spd Forretress Gyro Ball or Choice Band Scizor Pursuit, and these two pokemon can be dealt with in other ways anyways. --------------------------- Donphan @ Leftovers Nature: Adamant Ability: Sturdy EVs: 252 HP / 188 Atk / 68 Def Role: Rapid Spinner -Rapid Spin -Earthquake -Assurance / Stealth Rock -Roar Donphan gets the honor of replacing Swampert on my team: He's more powerful and not too much slower, has access to STAB Earthquake and Roar, but can use Rapid Spin. Assurance is for dealing with Spin Blockers, though if the player is confident enough in Roar, Stealth Rock can be used instead. I put Froslass in red because her frailty means I need a ton of prediction to use her properly. Rotom-H is better in almost every way, with powerful STAB/super-effective moves vs. Forretress, Tentacruel, and Starmie, but Froslass can lay down Spikes and I'd rather not place the sole burden of that task on Smeargle. To be honest, I'm not completely satisfied with Donphan either, but despite his issues I think he is the best Rapid Spinner for this team, especially due to his resilience vs. Rotom-H. In any case, this team still needs some testing before it can be finalized. EDIT: I just played a bunch of matches with this team on Pokemon Online against regular 4th Gen OU teams on the Beta server. Only ONE guy managed to beat me on his first try; everyone else needed two tries but eventually got the job done ' So far, my best pokemon are (not surprisingly) Blissey and Snorlax. On first impression Froslass was actually a stronger addition than Donphan on account of him being too darn slow to do anything without taking serious damage. I used his Stealth Rock set--I'll have to try again with Assurance instead, and if that doesn't work, think about a Tentacruel Rapid Spinner. I'll probably fix up my Froslass's set to give her some more speed, so she can outspeed more than just Rapid Spinners and maybe have a chance at keeping up after Tricking away her Choice Scarf (maybe a Timid nature?). Oh, and randomspot? You were right about Hidden Power being useless 90% of the time: In general, STAB Shadow Ball or something is more useful, and I am definitely making that change before going back into the field.

No, this tourney is not for simulators. We're doing local wireless battles. It's just that, if I have a team, I can transfer it to a sim to test out very easily (again, I don't have access to Wi-Fi T.T). I assume basic battling strategy is not greatly different in simulators? I wasn't trying to issue a challenge, I think I just misunderstood your earlier post: In the context it was in, I thought that "it" was referring to my Skarmory, and so I thought you meant you would try to replicate my brother's mono Bug team and see how well my Skarmory stood up to it ... Sorry for any confusion. I will make my team and PM you a monotype challenge afterward, then. EDIT: I edited out the offending lines in my previous post. Sorry about that!

@randomspot555 I don't have access to Wi-Fi, unfortunately ... Thanks for the offer, though! @wraith89 I just asked my brother, and he says he has Heracross, Tyranitar, Shuckle, Heatran, Scizor, and Forretress. So, basically a Sandstorm team. I've never heard of Pokemon Online, but I'll look it up when I get a chance. You guys have been making a lot of good points that have really got me thinking ... Four Normal-types with their wide movepools are are fine and dandy, but my "real" coverage comes from those other two pokemon and their potential STAB and resistances. That being said, wasting one of my coverage pokemon on a Lead slot when I have a perfectly viable Normal Lead (Smeargle) is kind of a waste. I can't win against a full team with two pokemon. Why force my coverage pokemon to do all the work? For the same reason, I'm still going to stick with a Normal Sweeper (Porygon-Z). I think I'm going to scrap both Magnezone and Skarmory until I come up with sets for Togekiss and Snorlax that better support Porygon-Z. Then I will have an easier time picking two pokemon to work off of these four to counter the Fighting-types they are weak to and Steel-types who resist them. I'll edit this post when I come up with something. EDIT: As of this moment, I have Porygon-Z, Smeargle, Swampert, Togekiss, Blissey, and Zapdos, but I won't bother posting the details right now since they will almost certainly change ... EDIT 2: Ok, fine, here it is. Porygon-Z @ Choice Specs Nature: Timid Ability: Adaptability EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpAtk / 252 Spd Role: Main Special Sweeper -Tri Attack -Ice Beam -Dark Pulse -Hidden Power Fighting Coverage, coverage, coverage. My goal here is to create a team that can phaze through my opponent's team to scout it out, aggressively removing what threats I can and Walling/Paralyzing/damaging/somehow crippling any others that could give Porygon-Z trouble (i.e. Togekiss taking out Fighting-types, Blissey Walling and paralyzing faster or more powerful Sweepers, Swampert and Smeargle weakening Special Walls and Steel-/other resistant-types with entry hazard damage, etc.), then at the last hour, put in Zapdos, Baton Pass Porygon-Z a Sub and an Agility, then proceed with a late-game sweep. Please note that I only expect this strategy to work because this is a monotype tourney, so I will likely only have to deal with 2~3 pokemon to pull off a sweep. My brother's team will be the hardest to deal with because Porygon-Z doesn't have super-effective on Bug/Steel-types. Smeargle @ Focus Sash Nature: Jolly Ability: Own Tempo EVs: 4 HP / 252 Def / 252 Spd Role: Lead -Spore -Spikes -U-turn -Counter The thing about Choice Specs Porygon-Z is that he's fragile and not super-effective against the whole world. This Smeargle provides entry hazards with Spikes that complement Swampert's Stealth Rock, team scouting with U-turn, and the combination of Own Tempo, Focus Sash, and Counter should let it drastically weaken Machamp Leads. Swampert @ Leftovers Nature: Relaxed Ability: Torrent EVs: 248 HP / 216 Def / 44 SpDef Role: Stealth Rock Phazer -Stealth Rock -Earthquake -Ice Beam -Roar Swampert can handle most of Porygon-Z's counters, ensure Stealth Rocks are kept up to aid his not-always-super-effective friend's sweeps, and finally phaze through the enemy lineup with Roar, racking up entry hazard damage as he goes. STAB Earthquake is super-effective on Steel- and Electric-types. Togekiss @ Choice Scarf Nature: Timid Ability: Serene Grace EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpAtk / 252 Spd Role: Flinchy Trickster -Air Slash -Aura Sphere -Fire Blast -Trick Team scouting is going to be very, very valuable to Porygon-Z because he needs to know in advance what move to commit to, whom he needs to switch out on, and in rare (read: miraculous) cases whom he can even switch IN on. While Togekiss doesn't directly phaze, she can take out several of the pokemon that give Porygon-Z trouble and possibly force switches with Trick, which can cripple Blissey (a Porygon-Z counter), and maximized speed + Air Slash + Serene Grace, which can flinch to death or at least severely damage Fighting- or Bug-types, especially with Paralysis going around. Blissey @ Leftovers Nature: Bold Ability: Natural Cure EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 Spd Role: Wishing Wall -Wish -Protect -Flamethrower -Thunder Wave Everybody knows Blissey is the best Special Wall. On this team, due to the likelihood of weather conditions and the lack of Rapid Spinner, healing is going to be important and paralysis even more so. Paralysis is essential to Togekiss being able to do her job, as well as in aiding any early sweep attempt. Zapdos @ Leftovers Nature: Timid Ability: Pressure EVs: 248 HP / 140 Def / 88 SpAtk / 32 Spd Role: Baton Passer -Baton Pass -Agility -Substitute -Thunderbolt Zapdos is a massive help to Porygon-Z because it can Baton Pass Substitute and Agility, giving Porygon-Z survivability and speed at once. Thunderbolt adds coverage over Water-types, although this Zapdos doesn't have a whole lot to offer offensively to begin with.

Yeah, well casual tourney + late notice (everyone else had their teams when they asked me to join) = they said I could hack 8P Most of the other guys have hacked as well, but some haven't, so I'm not hacking for Max IVs in more than two stats (which is the most I've legitimately bred for) and I'm randomizing the rest. Like randomspot says, since it's a monotype tourney, I'll just have to live with a few weaknesses. I like Skarmory too darn much to switch it out for a Spiritomb, and if my choice is between minimal Fighting-type immunity/coverage in Spiritomb and increased Bug/Steel-type resistance/coverage in Magnezone, I'll take Steel-type because my brother is the best player there and beating him is more important to me There'll probably be only one mono Fighting team out of the other 7 teams, and I doubt my current line-up and type would be able to prevail over a mono Fighting team even with Spiritomb, so I might as well increase my chances in other areas, ya know? BTW if anyone is willing to take the (somewhat unreasonable, I admit) time, pains, and labor to set up a Shoddy Battle mono Bug team with Scizor, Forretress, Heracross, Heatran, and Shuckle (which I think is my brother's fourth Bug-type) to help teach me how to play competitively, that would be awesome!

Thank you very much! Your help is very much appreciated. Wow, good point. I knew that but somehow I didn't put 2 and 2 together on that one ... Yeah, I was hoping I could fool people into thinking I was going for the 1 HP Endeavor/Quick Attack strategy while I would actually be going for Trick Room -> Spore -> 12 HP Endeavor -> Dragon Rage which always deals 40 damage for a gimp KO, but auto-level screws that strategy over ... So I think I will borrow your ideas, but switch out Smeargle for Blissey because of the auto-leveling thing I forgot about -.-' Hopefully, that doesn't open up any gaping holes in my lineup. Changes are in blue. My new team looks like this: Blissey @ Leftovers Nature: Bold Ability: Natural Cure EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 Spd Role: Support -Wish -Protect -Ice Beam -Toxic A classic Stall/Wall/Wish Blissey. Auto-Level is to 50, so Seismic Toss only deals 50 damage. Instead, Ice Beam is for coverage and anti-Taunt. ---------------------------------------- Snorlax @ Leftovers Nature: Careful Ability: Thick Fat EVs: 188 HP / 104 Def / 216 SpDef Role: Curse/Wall -Curse -Body Slam -Fire Punch -ThunderPunch Snorlax is here as both a wall and, to some extent, a wall-breaker. Curse is a good set-up move for the Lax. Fire Punch and ThunderPunch for coverage. Body Slam for paralysis, as slowing down opponent's pokemon can only help Porygon-Z. -------------------------------------------- Porygon-Z @ Choice Specs Nature: Timid Ability: Adaptability EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpAtk / 252 Spd Role: Main Special Sweeper -Tri Attack -Ice Beam -Dark Pulse -Trick My team is basically built around this guy. He also has some surprise value because he is not listed on the Smogon OU Tier. Ice Beam because my team is weak to Dragons, and I dearly hope there isn't a mono Dragon team ... Trick is for a sacrifice play if, for example, a Steel-type shows up that Porygon-Z can't take out but Magnezone can. ------------------------------------------- Togekiss @ Leftovers Nature: Bold Ability: Serene Grace EVs: 252 HP / 188 Def / 68 SpDef Role: Paralyzer and Flincher -Aura Sphere -Roost -Air Slash -Thunder Wave A Togekiss whose main purpose is to stall while making it easier for my Porgon-Z to sweep by slowing down or even taking out the competition (i.e. Fighting-types or Bug-types weak to Air Slash). Aura Sphere is a counter for a potential Heatran. ---------------------------------------------- Skarmory @ Leftovers Nature: Impish Ability: Keen Eye EVs: 252 HP / 164 Def / 92 Spd Role: Taunt Lead/Wall -Taunt -Spikes -Whirlwind -Roost Skarmory and Togekiss are my answer to Fighting-types with this team. Skarmory should be able to fend off strong physical attackers with Spikes, Whirlwind, and Roost. Taunt is there to prevent entry hazards--I don't have a Rapid Spinner on my team, so the only way to avoid entry hazards is to prevent them. This is a Lead that I can hopefully switch in multiple times to maintain a few layers of Spikes and screw over a team by forcing switches. This Skarmory can switch in after my Togekiss/Snorlax paralyzes something that poses little to no threat to it, get off a Roost to heal any damage, and set up Taunt (on a wall) or Spikes/Whirlwind on predicted switch-ins. Also works well as Wish Receiver on a predicted Physical Attacker switch-in vs. Blissey. --------------------------------------- Magnezone @ Salac Berry Nature: Timid Ability: Magnet Pull EVs: 28 HP / 252 SpAtk / 228 Spd Role: Secondary Special Sweeper -Substitute -Thunder Wave -Thunderbolt -Hidden Power Fire (70 base) If Togekiss and Skarmory are my answers to Fighting-types, then Magnezone is my answer to Steel-types. Substitute should protect him from most attacks, while Thunder Wave and Hidden Power Fire are there to cripple and/or KO trapped Steel-types (like Scizor and Forretress). Salac Berry works well with Substitute to maybe pull a late-game sweep. I put Skarmory in red because I'm still considering changing my Skarmory Lead to the Azelf Lead I mentioned in the first post: (guess I'll go green 8D) Azelf @ Colbur Berry Nature: Jolly Ability: Levitate EVs: 8 HP / 140 Atk / 144 SpDef / 216 Spd Role: (Anti-Machamp) Lead -Stealth Rock -Taunt -U-turn -Explosion A set that Smogon swears will beat out Machamp Leads, which makes it preferable over Smeargle vs. a mono Fighting team. It can also prevent entry hazards, which is again useful due to the lack of a Rapid Spinner on my team. I'm leaning toward Skarmory on this one because although U-turn and resistance to/coverage over Fighting are quite nifty, this Azelf won't be winning any awards vs. the inevitable STAB Megahorn. Also, Spikes and Stealth Rock are equal vs. most of my brother's team, but Spikes are better vs. Fighting- and Steel-types, and U-turn is less useful because it's a monotype tourney where there is little need to scout. However, the fact that my main sweeper is so slow and and fragile makes it difficult to switch in except after one of my pokemon has been KO'd, and Azelf accomplishes that with Explosion. Do you have any opinion on Azelf vs. Skarmory?

I'm trying to make a monotype Normal team to compete in a casual monotype tourney. I know of at least one mono Bug team for certain (some of which are also Steel-type) and I strongly suspect at least one mono Fighting (which is obviously problematic). I'm mainly picking Normal for its surprise value, and because Normal-types only have one weakness but can learn many different types of moves. My problem pokemon is Magnezone, but I am willing to switch strategies/pokemon with my Magnezone, Porygon-Z, and Skarmory if need be. Not sure if these are official rules, but we are required to have four pokemon with the same type and are playing with the option to switch out if you KO something and it says, "[Trainer] is about to send out [Pokemon]. Do you want to switch?" I've never played pokemon competitively before. Not that I won't have fun, but I got roped into this entire deal because my brother was in the tourney already and they needed an eighth player -.-' So, this is my absolute, first attempt at team-building, and any advice from anybody would be great! Smeargle @ Focus Sash Nature: Jolly Ability: Own Tempo EVs: 0 HP / 252 Spd Role: Lv. 1 (Suicide) Lead -Spore -Endeavor -Trick Room -Dragon Rage Well, what else was I gonna have him do? Smeargle is out here as a suicide lead. He should at least be able to take out or severely weaken the opposing lead, which should hopefully discourage entry hazards or weather conditions, since Normal-types are damaged by all of them (three of my pokemon are holding Leftovers just in case, though). ----------------------------- Snorlax @ Leftovers Nature: Careful Ability: Thick Fat EVs: 188 HP / 104 Def / 216 SpDef Role: Curse/Wall -Curse -Body Slam -Fire Punch -Rest Snorlax is here as both a wall and, to some extent, a wall-breaker. Curse is used here in case my Smeargle gets off a Trick Room and I have an extra turn to set up. Fire Punch + Max Atk IVs should hopefully handle any unwary Bug/Steel-types. ------------------------------ Porygon-Z @ Choice Specs Nature: Timid Ability: Adaptability EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpAtk / 252 Spd Role: Main Special Sweeper -Tri Attack -Hidden Power Fighting (69 base) -Dark Pulse -Trick My team is basically built around this guy. He also has some surprise value because he is not listed on the Smogon OU Tier. Hidden Power Fighting is super-effective on Rock- and Steel-types that resist Normal and double super-effective on Tyranitar (of which I know for a fact there is at least one). Trick is for a sacrifice play if, for example, a Steel-type shows up that Porygon-Z can't take out but Magnezone can. ------------------------------ Togekiss @ Leftovers Nature: Timid Ability: Serene Grace EVs: 252 HP / 20 Def / 236 Spd Role: Support -Encore -Wish -Air Slash -Thunder Wave By the time I get Togekiss out, odds are the other guy will have figured out that my team is mono Normal and will be expecting a Support/Wall/Stall Blissey instead. Togekiss is not as good as Blissey in many ways, but won't be taken down so easily by Fighting-types because of its typing and its super-effective, flinchy Air Slash. I'm considering nicknaming her, "BLISSEY." ------------------------------ Skarmory @ Leftovers Nature: Impish Ability: Keen Eye EVs: 252 HP / 164 Def / 92 Spd Role: Taunt Lead/Wall -Taunt -Spikes -Whirlwind -Roost Skarmory and Togekiss are my answer to Fighting-types with this team. Skarmory should be able to fend off strong physical attackers with Spikes, Whirlwind, and Roost. Taunt is there to prevent entry hazards--I don't have a Rapid Spinner on my team, so the only way to avoid entry hazards is to prevent them. ------------------------------ Magnezone @ Salac Berry Nature: Nature Ability: Magnet Pull EVs: 28 HP / 252 SpAtk / 228 Spd Role: Secondary Special Sweeper -Substitute -Charge Beam -Thunderbolt -Hidden Power Ice (70 base) Definitely my problem pokemon. Magnezone is my counter to Steel-types and a back-up sweeper in case Porygon-Z is taken out, but he doesn't have all that much else going for him. Getting rid of him, though, would also reduce the usefulness of my Porygon-Z. I'm really having problems with Fighting-types. Machamp still basically destroys my Smeargle, and even though I have my Skarmory (my best bet) with Spikes and Whirlwind, I still have nothing resistant to Fighting. I'll be honest here: What I really wanted was a team that could beat my brother's mono Bug team. I know he has a Scizor, a Heracross, and a Forretress, and possibly a Heatran as well. So, I wanted A) A team built around Porygon-Z, whom I believe is underrated, B) A team that can beat my brother's team in round 2, C) A team with enough coverage to survive round 1, and D) A team without Blissey, because I just don't like her for some reason. However, I'm perfectly willing to swallow my pride and switch out my Porygon-Z for a Blissey if the people here think that is really my best option (although if my team desperately needs a Blissey, I would really prefer to switch out my gimmicky Smeargle for one). Either way, I'll probably end up with a Blissey like: Blissey @ Leftovers Nature: Bold Ability: Natural Cure EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 Spd Role: Support -Wish -Protect -Seismic Toss -Toxic This would effectively replace my current Togekiss's role, so if replacing Porygon-Z, I would need to make Togekiss a sweeper, maybe something like: Togekiss @ Life Orb Nature: Timid Ability: Serene Grace EVs: 192 HP / 80 SpAtk / 236 Spd Role: Special Sweeper -Nasty Plot -Air Slash -Fire Blast -Aura Sphere This sweeper has similar coverage as the Porygon-Z it is replacing, and is significantly bulkier to boot. If switching out my Smeargle, I wouldn't necessarily need a Togekiss Sweeper, so I'd go with: Togekiss @ Leftovers Nature: Bold Ability: Serene Grace EVs: 252 HP / 188 Def / 68 SpDef Role: Paralyzer and Flincher -Air Slash -Thunder Wave -Aura Sphere -Roost A Togekiss whose main purpose is to stall while making it easier for my Porgon-Z to sweep by slowing down or even taking out the competition (i.e. Fighting-types or Bug-types weak to Air Slash). I'd then probably need like an Azelf Lead more than a Skarmory: Azelf @ Colbur Berry Nature: Jolly Ability: Levitate EVs: 8 HP / 140 Atk / 144 SpDef / 216 Spd Role: (Anti-Machamp) Lead -Stealth Rock -Taunt -U-turn -Explosion A set that Smogon swears will beat out Machamp Leads, which makes it preferable over Smeargle vs. a mono Fighting team. It can also prevent entry hazards, which is again useful due to the lack of a Rapid Spinner on my team.