Time to RMT that which has [some] people frustrated

[Shanco]

Alright here we go. This time could be better in the League, but otherwise it just plain wrecks the poor people it comes across.

[Mashew]

...wat team o.o

[Shanco]

This one.

Espeon (F) @ Light Clay

Trait: Magic Bounce

EVs: 252 SAtk / 212 Spd

Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)

- Psychic

- Hidden Power [Grass]

- Reflect

- Baton Pass

This Espeon is a multipurpose lead, its main purpose being to bounce back annoying garbage like Stealth Rock and Toxic. Originally, it had HP Fighting instead of HP Grass, but Grass works better vs. Hippowdon, Politoed, and some other common leads while still hitting Tyranitar for super-effective damage, though not as hard as Fighting would. Psychic...you know. Reflect covers up Espeon's and Jolteon's poor Defense, as well as helps protect Mamoswine from those pain-in-the-ass Drain Punches. And finally, Baton Pass prevents Espeon from being taken out by a doubled-up Pursuit.

Mamoswine (M) @ Focus Sash

Trait: Thick Fat

EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spd

Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk)

- Stone Edge

- Earthquake

- Ice Shard

- Endeavor

This Mamoswine is about as angry as its cry implies it to be. This set was more or less built around its Focus Sash, which is probably my favorite item right now. Ice Shard allows it to be a viable switch in. Stone Edge takes out a bunch of things, including Bug, and making Mamoswine the ultimate revenge killer of Volcarona and Yanmega and whatnot. Earthquake is just a hard-hitting STAB move, but it also covers a wide array of things that could possibly wreck Mamoswine, such as Steel. Endeavor teams up beautifully with that Sash to bring a faster pokemon down to 1HP, and force a switch or take it out with Ice Shard. Finally, Mamoswine has its Hidden Ability (Thick Fat) to eliminate its Fire weakness.

Jolteon (F) @ Life Orb

Trait: Volt Absorb

EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd

Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)

- Magnet Rise

- Thunderbolt

- Shadow Ball

- Hidden Power [ice]

Jolteon is the "meh" Pokemon of the team. It's there to kill, but can't take too many attacks due to its Life Orb. At least it has Magnet Rise to eliminate its only weakness, seeing as all Ground pokemon are slower than it without being bolstered by an ability or Choice Scarf. Thunderbolt is the reliable heavy-hitting STAB. Shadow Ball is a grab-bag move to help JSC take out those pesky Psychics and Ghosts (again, not too fast, those types), and Hidden Power [ice] works with Magnet Rise as a one-two punch against Ground-types.

JSC (Heracross) (F) @ Choice Scarf

Trait: Moxie

EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd

Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk)

- Megahorn

- Close Combat

- Stone Edge

- Night Slash

Mid-game sweeper, comes out of the box Poke Ball with all the essentials. Megahorn and Close Combat hit hard and hit fast thanks to the Choice Scarf, but if changes are necessary, I can switch out with something else and send JSC right back out. Stone Edge provides something to tank Volcarona with if it just appeared for the first time in the battle, and I chose Night Slash over Earthquake because I need someone who has a high attack who can exploit the often-terrible physical bulk of Psychics and Ghosts. Moxie is the ability that makes some people cringe. This is my preferred Pokemon if I'm gonna sweep through a team.

Tentacruel (F) @ Black Sludge

Trait: Liquid Ooze

EVs: 252 HP / 240 Def / 16 Spd

Calm Nature (+SDef, -Atk)

- Toxic Spikes

- Rapid Spin

- Scald

- Ice Beam

The bulky water is here. Tentacruel's purpose is to take hits while rapid spinning away Stealth Rock and Spikes (it absorbs Toxic Spikes) so Mamoswine and Salamence can rock and roll. Not a whole lot OHKO's it without being boosted. It doesn't do bad on the offensive front, either; it can still take out Garchomp and other Salamence without much of a problem with Ice Beam, while using Scald as its main STAB move and using rain that is set up by some Politoed loser to my advantage, doing considerable damage even when not very effective. Toxic Spikes force other trainers to think twice about their pokemon shifts.

Salamence (M) @ Focus Sash

Trait: Moxie

EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spd

Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk)

- Outrage

- Dragon Dance

- Earthquake

- Fire Blast

Hello powerhouse. The favorite item of mine shows up once again to show what it can do. Strategy is simple: Send it in with a teammate being KOed or with a late Baton Pass, then get ready to roll. Step 1: Prepare for the worst with Dragon Dance. If weather is in effect, skip to step 2. Step 2. Destroy everything! Step 3: Wipe out survivors with Earthquake or Fire Blast, hoping the dragon doesn't hurt itself in its confusion. Step 4: Stand in awe at the carnage. Provided weather is not in play, only three moves will stop this beast: Ice Shard, Icicle Spear, and Rock Blast. Aside from that it's incredible what I can wreck with him. It should also be noted that Dragon Dance helps me (kinda) work around burns and paralysis.

How many of my pokemon can land super effective moves against these types?

Normal: 1 / Fighting: 1 / Fire: 4 / Water: 2 / Grass: 5 / Ice: 3 / Rock: 5 / Steel: 3 / Ground: 4 / Bug: 3 / Poison: 3 / Psychic: 2 / Ghost: 2 / Dark: 1 / Dragon: 4 / Electric: 2 / Flying: 4

Go crazy.

Edited August 29, 2012 by rc52

[Zen]

Does espeon learn Grass Knot? Might be better than HP Grass if killing hippowdon or tyranitar is your aim.

Hmm, how'd you fare in rain against Swift Swimmers? Or excadrill in sand, for the matter? While your team does have utility on its side, fast opponents who hit hard may give you problems.

[Shanco]

Grass Knot:

As far as I know, it does. But really, I'd rather use Hidden Power. Grass Knot sucks when using it on Pokemon like Manaphy or Sandslash, who I will see later on in League for sure. To use Grass Knot is to rely on your opponent being heavy. This move can backfire just as easily as it can improve upon Hidden Power. I'd much rather go with something more consistently reliable to be able to flexibly adapt should Espeon make it past the first pokemon.

Swift Swimmers in rain:

I'd have to have someone take the fall and use the Endeavor-Ice Shard combo. Not too worried, though, since in most competitive battling Drizzle and Swift Swim can not be on the same team (which discourages use of it elsewhere).

Excadrill:

Chances are one of my Pokemon are dead before I even blink. One of my sashers (preferably Mamoswine) will take it out with Earthquake after absorbing a hit.

Pokemon with ridiculous speed were factors in building this team - heavily offensive, as you can tell. And pokemon with Chlorophyll usually won't do much to Salamence or JSC.

Edited August 30, 2012 by rc52

[Kamina]

hmm team needs quite some improvement. First, Espeon should either be an all out attacker or an all setter. Making it half of both reduces its effectiveness a lot. Also making it have baton pass solely for the purpose of escaping pursuit is quite absurd. i recommend changing baton pass for either light screen or changing baton pass for grass knot then changing hidden power to fighting type and then changing reflect to Shadow ball and giving it a life orb or something other than light clay. That way Espeon can specialize in doing damage or protecting your team. Now for mamoswine, you should get rid of its focus sash and endeavor since it is bulky enough to not get one hit KOed especially with thick fat. maybe give it an expert belt or an life orb and change endeavor to icicle crash or icicle spear giving it a more powerful ice move than ice shard. Also rapid spinner and a magic bouncer on same team O_O. Herocross seems fine and Salamace should be given a lum berry to stop it from confusion or if opponent tries to burn or paralyze it making it borderline useless. Best of luck with team~

[Shanco]

Espeon:

I admit this pokemon wasn't thought through very well. I tried to make it as much of a jack of all trades as possible. Baton Pass makes a fair amount of sense considering how common Tyranitar with Pursuit is on the other servers, most notably TBT and my domain, Icterine Pyramid.

Mamoswine:

Never survived vs Scrafty, Machamp, Conkeldurr, GB Forretress. It does now with the Sash. I needed Ice Shard since i don't have any other priority moves. I would look into Mach Punch for JSC if it didn't have the Choice Scarf.

Salamence:

I guess I'm a little too risky with this guy. However, I'm not too worried about burns because it will outspeed most pokemon using Will-O-Wisp and same goes for Glare. (The only fast threat with Glare is Serperior, but what the heck is it gonna do?) I have the option to keep boosting up with Dragon Dance when they throw status at me, anyway. Burns don't do so much in one turn that I should be worried about its health because of a potential Ice attack. Thunder Wave is my biggest threat, but it kinda has an upside: Paralysis can sometimes stop it from Outrage-induced confusion, and I'd rather have it subject to 25% likelihood of not doing anything than a 50% likelihood of blowing itself up. Plus Baton Pass guarantees I have Espeon to switch into to bounce status moves back at them!

Thanks for the advice

Edited August 30, 2012 by rc52