Build Suggestions

feeling lazy (what else is new) so i think i'll just copypaste from a similar write-up i did ages ago. the site i posted on had a weird taboo on anything related to Showdown and it'll take a year to put them all in that format so screw it.

Author's note, almost all (if not all) of these rely on the surprise factor, in other words your opponent having never seen one before and not knowing what to do with it rather than actually being good. Except for Cresselia, who's just a Cresselia.

author's second note, my writing style has changed a lot in recent months so have fun plogging through all this, if you feel like it.

March 13, 2014

Spoiler!

I started seeing this a bit more towards the tail end of Gen V, but this was one that I used as soon as I started battling competitively. The one thing I can pretend to have done right:

Emboar - Leftovers - Adamant nature
HP and Attack
- Flame Charge
- Bulk Up
- Earthquake
- Superpower/Brick Break

If you get a turn or two to set up, use Flame Charge and Bulk Up. Congratulations, you now have a fast Emboar who hits like a truck. It probably won't do many 6-0 sweeps because the coverage isn't the best - Flame Charge is useful but has less than half the base power of Flare Blitz - but I've surprised quite a few higher tiered teams with this thing (and inspired a couple others to start using it themselves).

Sent many Ubers to the grave with this . . . and then weather was nerfed.

March 18, 2014

Spoiler!

Here's another one I used to use a lot. So far I've never seen anyone else use it. In any case, it utterly destroys anyone who isn't carrying a Heatran or a Skarmory.

Leafeon - Leftovers - Adamant - Chlorophyll
Attack and Speed
- Substitute
- Swords Dance
- Leaf Blade
- Last Resort

Use it on a Sun team. Might not do a 6-0 every time but it can usually take care of a few opponents before dying.

March 24, 2014

Spoiler!

*Looks through my PC*

Castform @ Choice Scarf
Modest nature
252 Special Atk/252 Speed/4 idc
Forecast
- Weather Ball/SolarBeam/Fire Blast, choose 2
- Thunder
- Blizzard

This isn't "good" by any means, but if you're bored of battling like a normal person give this a shot. It actually wasn't half bad in BW OU when everyone and their grandmas ran either rain, sun or sand. Maximum SpA of 262 is not good by any means, but potential STAB + potential super effectiveness + like thirty layers of entry hazards just might be enough to revenge kill some things with lower defenses.

More importantly, it's absolutely hilarious when your opponent has a big, scary Raikou or Scizor or something and you go and send in Castform.

Rampardos @ Choice Scarf
Jolly nature
252 Atk/252 Speed/4 idc
Sheer Force
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- Fire Punch, Zen Headbutt, Crunch, choose 2

I think this may be fairly common in NU, but I don't battle there so I wouldn't know. Lots of people like to run Life Orb on this and maybe a Rock Polish, and I can see why (Stone Edge + Life Orb + STAB = fun).

However, Rampardos defends a little better than a Jigglypuff and unless something's Choice-locked into Fire Rampardos is probably going to die before you get the Rock Polish off. Zen Headbutt hits a base power of 104 with Sheer Force, and on top of 420-ish Attack and maybe a bit of prior damage anything weak to Psychic is probably going to take massive damage. Likewise, Fire Punch is almost as powerful as Earthquake and, after STAB, Stone Edge hits nearly twice as hard as Earthquake. Assuming it hits, that'll be killing even things that resist it in two turns.

Victini @ Life Orb/Choice Band
Jolly
252 Atk/252 Speed/4 idc
Victory Star
- V-Create
- Bolt Strike/Brick Break/Wild Charge
- Zen Headbutt
- U-Turn

While we're on the subject of high power levels, there's this thing. Firstly, Victini has the Victory Star ability, so moves like V-Create and Zen Headbutt will have higher accuracy than normal. Second, while LO Victini's no Rampardos, its Attack still tops out at 389 with a Jolly nature and Life Orb which isn't too shabby at all. V-Create utterly destroys everything, and the other three are good for coverage (particularly U-Turn, since it lets you switch out at the same time). Only problem is that I believe Bolt Strike was a particular event move, so if you didn't get the specific event or already deleted it I think you may be out of luck. Wild Charge has less power and recoil and ThunderPunch has a little more than half the power of BS, so I might recommend Brick Break instead for coverage or just Thunder to surprise physical walls.

I like mine Life Orb'd because it doesn't lock a move and Victini isn't as reliant on any particular stat like the above Rampardos is. However, if you want still more firepower (sorry) you can stick a Choice Band on it (449-ish Attack with a Jolly nature) and use it mainly to revenge kill or something. You'll be switching in and out, though, so beware the Stealth Rocks.

Ho-oh @ Leftovers
Careful nature
248 HP/252 Special Defense/8 idc
Regenerator
- Sacred Fire
- Substitute
- Brave Bird
- Flame Charge

I swear, nobody ever remembers Ho-oh has base-154 SpD. Is it really all because of that 4X weakness to Stone Edge or something? Urgh. Do you like Uber battling? Do you remember how there's like three Geomancy Xerneas on any given team? This thing eats Xerneas for breakfast. For no apparent reason Fire resists Fairy, which nobody ever seems to remember until the use a +2 Moonblast on Ho-oh and watch it take like five damage. Even a +2 or (probably) +3 Thunderbolt won't kill it. With Sacred Fire's 50% burn rate, this one can even be decently physically defensive with no investment (a burn is essentially a 432 numerical defense, with perfect IVs). Substitute is so you can dodge status and Flame Charge is so that you can go first in battle sometimes. Brave Bird doesn't hit fantastically hard but it's good for finishing things off.

September 30, 2014

Spoiler!

I fell in love with Cresselia today. I don't remember what exact EVs I gave it but it goes something like:

Cresselia @ leftovers
Calm nature
Levitate, obviously
EVs in HP and (I'm guessing) Special Defense.
Reflect, Light Screen, Thunder Wave, Moonlight

Core of my triples team. It's essentially centered around dismantling teams with Thunder Wave and then chipping away at them, setting up screens, etc. If it can do one of the Thunder Wave/screens operations, this thing is near immortal as you can get for a Pokémon without being hacked. Moonlight even lets it sponge things like Burn and Poison pretty well, and since paralysis is only 25% immobilization it doesn't really care about that, either. Crunch, Shadow Ball don't do a whole lot, with Light Screen or Reflect up. Surf, Fire Blast, Brave Bird? Forget it.

Galvantula @ Life Orb
Modest nature
Compoundeyes
EVs in SpA and Speed
Thunder, Volt Switch, Bug Buzz, Sucker Punch

Long time ago in the days of Black and White I sort of forgot Sucker Punch was part of this set and forgot about it. Then when I transferred it to X Ifigured I'd either replace it with some new TM or chuck an Everstone on it and breed a new one, but again I forgot about it until I threw it out into battle. As it turns out, Galvantula is actually not too fast with a Modest nature, and even with the Modest nature Sucker Punch can still do enough to take things down at low health. (Okay by that I mean things with Focus Sashes but still.) Compoundeyes brings the accuracy of Thunder up to 91%, and the live orb + STAB brings the power up to a blistering 214. (That would be a better pun if the attack was Fire type.) And then you naturally have Bug Buzz for strong coverage (effectively 156 power) and Volt Switch if you need to get out in a hurry.

Gardevoir @ Gardevoirite
Timid nature
Trace (before going Mega), Pixilate (after)
EVs in SpA and Speed
Psychic, Shadow Ball, Thunderbolt and Hyper Beam

I searched the Internet before running Hyper Beam and couldn't find a single word in favor of it, even after Pixilate was introduced. Hyper Voice is safer, no recharge turn, powerful enough, people said. As it turns out, Hyper Beam's probably the most valuable move on this set. Most situations where I'd want to avoid a recharge turn can be covered with one of the other three moves, which are no joke in front of a Mega Gardevoir. Meanwhile, Pixilate turns Hyper Beam into a Fairy attack, giving it a 30% boost as well as STAB, a good 292 points of power. OHKOs any dragon except Dialga, and Neutral Hyper Beam actually does more damage than super effective Thunderbolts and Shadow Balls should the situation call for it.

November 29, 2014

Spoiler!

Yanmega @ Sky Plate
Modest nature
Speed Boost
Guess the EVs
- Protect
- Substitute
- Bug Buzz
- Air Slash

Okay, okay, this is basically the only set Yanmega could run. And I would probably have a Life Orb over Sky Plate, except my Life Orb is already being used by Galvantula and in any case Battle Spot doesn't let you carry multiple items. Maybe a Focus Sash would work, but I do prefer the added power to Air Slash, considering it's the move I use most often. This thing isn't really a powerhouse of any sort, but when paired with Cresselia it can do some really fun paraflinching. Especially because Air Slash can hit any opponent on the field in Triples.

Gallade @ Assault Vest
Adamant nature
Steadfast
252 Attack/4 Special Defense/252 Speed
- Shadow Sneak
- Drain Punch
- Leaf Blade
- Psycho Cut

Note: I have not used Mega Gallade yet, but I probably will soon.

It's not the most amazing physical attacker in the world. Or even in Sinnoh. But it gets the job done. Shadow Sneak, Leaf Blade and Psycho Cut all do okay damage to things (most importantly, Psycho Cut one-shots any species of Gengar) and Drain Punch gives me HP back, but it isn't a physical sweeper by any means. However, it eats special attacks for breakfast. Assault Vest raises the special defense up to roundabout 400, and even if the opponent resists Drain Punch they still won't be able to do much to me without a physical attack. It's awesome. Gallade as a wall, who thought.

Klinklang @ Choice Band
Some useless ability, i forget which one
Adamant nature
- Gear Grind
- Return
- Wild Charge
- there is no 4th move with having

It's not good by any stretch of the imagination, but I've been using it a bit lately. Its main claim to fame is that Diancie recently got released, and Diancie has a 4X weakness to Steel, and Diancie happens to have nothing to touch Klinklang with unless you're weird and like HP Fire or something. It's crazy how many people whip out their Diancie and think it's invincible or something, through the tremendously crappy typing.

If only it had Speed Boost. Then I'd give it a Life Orb, slot Protect as its fourth move and then conquer Battle Spot. I think Clear Body is its Dream World ability, but even that isn't as useful as advertised.

PorygonZ @ Choice Scarf
Adaptibilty
Modest nature
252 Special Attack/252 Speed/4 that you can just throw away
- Tri Attack
- Ice Beam
- Thunderbolt
- Shadow Ball/Psychic/i think it might have a Fairy move now but I'm not sure

This was the first Pokémon I ever trained competitively, way back when I didn't know anything in Black and White and had nothing better to do than grind against the Elite 4 all day. (Forget I said that last part.) Fortunately for me, that particular PorygonZ had some pretty decent specs and I had a Choice Scarf from trolling the Battle Subway and this was like the only semi-usable competitive Pokémon I had for months until I finally discovered Smogon and figured out what I was doing with my time.

Finally dusted the thing off about a week ago for Battle Spot because I need a Scarf user and wanted something with less firepower than Victini because I have no life. Tri Attack hits most things pretty hard, given the 2X multiplier from Adaptibility, and after PorygonZ's Special Attack the other three moves are pretty nice, too. Only real downside is that it's pretty frail and most attacks of any type will do some not-so-nice things to it if I don't have my Screens up.

Whee.

January 31, 2015

Spoiler!

Modest Latios, Weakness Policy, 0/0/0/252/0/252
Draco Meteor, Psyshock, Surf and Thunderbolt

Used it mainly in Triples (okay, exclusively in Triples) but in theory it should work the same in all systems. Or with a Latias, if you prefer that route. Anyway, sponge a super effective Ice Beam or Shadow Ball with that lovely, lovely Special Defense, get the free +2 on Special Attack and proceed to destroy lives. Psyshock's there to torture special walls and most forms of Kyogre/Primal Kyogre.

Speaking of which, I remember being legitimately worried about having to deal with the Primal Duo and Mega Ray without using Ubers myself going into ORAS Battle Spot, but this thing more or less eats them for breakfast. And lunch.

Also when paired with Cresselia and some screens, this thing laughs at almost any SE special attack and most physical ones. That's pretty nice, too, but the Lati@s really don't even need them.

February 5, 2015

Spoiler!

Messed around with these two recently and they're decently good.

Braviary, Choice Scarf, Adamant nature, you have one chance to guess the EVs and if you get it wrong I'm going to be sad.
- U-Turn
- Brave Bird
- Thrash
- Superpower

Brave Bird and Superpower do most of the heavy lifting on this one, U-Turn is to get out in a hurry and Thrash is only there because I don't feel like abusing the infinite cycling thing for long enough to get its happiness up for Return. Hits pretty hard, Brave Bird has indefinite range in Triples and it's not a Smogon OU and I don't think it's ever won Worlds so nobody ever sees it coming.

Also the scarf means I outspeed unscarf'd Darkrai, meaning that my problems with Dark Void in Triples are over.

Tauros, Life Orb, Jolly nature, same stat spread as Braviary.
- Earthquake
- Return
- Zen Headbutt
- Rock Slide

Still not quite sure the logic behind Sheer Force negating Life Orb damage since that seems kind of primary and not secondary, but I'll take it. Anyway here's another low-tier'd Normal Pokémon nobody ever seem so expect that hits decently hard. All four of its moves hit pretty hard, Return's got a base power of near 200 after all the math is done, and the other three aren't any joke, either.

It's not quite as good as the Orb'd Galvantula I replaced with it, but it still does some work and is fun to use. Plus it's not a cookie cutter Smogon OU, either.

March 5, 2015

Spoiler!

I'm officially insane.

Cosplay Pikachu, Light Ball, Timid, Lightning rod, SA/SP
- Protect
- Nuzzle
- Thunderbolt
- Grass Knot

Pairs up nicely with the Cresselia in Triples, who has Thunder Wave, and my fancy new Greninja with Mat Block. Mat Block to protect the entire team for a turn, Thunder Wave anything to activate lightingrod, and see how much you can kill with Thunderbolt or Grass Knot. Currently trying to do an Uber sweep with it. That ought to be fun.