Introduction:
Hi guys! It's my first RMT so I'm a bit nervous but I put a lot of time and thought into the team so hopefully it's not too bad. Venusaur is one of the first megas I ever used and my lasting impression was that it's very hard to kill. This team is built to outlast the opposing team by removing some of the major threats to Venusaur which is why I unfortunately have to classify it as semi-stall. I wish I was good enough to play offense but I'm just not good enough yet. I do hope I did the image thing correctly. Moving on!
The Team:
Britney (Venusaur) (M) @ Venusaurite
Ability: Chlorophyll
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 248 HP / 244 Def / 16 Spe
Bold Nature
- Giga Drain
- Sludge Bomb
- Hidden Power Fire
- Synthesis
Starting with Britney the male Venusaur. Almost Max Def is to take on Banded Kartana and Bulu more reliably. It also helps it take Diamond Storms from Diancie. By virtue of its typing and ability, Venusaur is still able to take resisted special hits with no investment. Hidden Power fire is for Kartana and Mawile which otherwise sets up on this.
Agent S. (Spiritomb) (M) @ Assault Vest
Ability: Infiltrator
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 248 HP / 84 Def / 176 SpD
Impish Nature
- Sucker Punch
- Foul Play
- Rock Tomb
- Pursuit
Spiritomb is here to Pursuit Trap Alakazam and Blacephalon, and force out Hoopa-U and Z-Celebrate Victini. The listed EVs + Assault Vest let Spiritomb take 4 Shadow Balls from Alakazam. This set only pursuit traps Scarf Blacephalon, and Sub Calm Mind only if they didn't Calm Mind first. Specs Blaceph knocks out with 2 Fire Blasts, and +1 Ghostium into Flamethrower is also a KO. Foul Play forces Blaceph out as its an OHKO through the sub thanks to infiltrator. For Hoopa-U, Spiritomb takes 1 Banded or Specs anything and Sucker Punch for damage. Banded Hoopa is the hardest to play around, Nasty Plot can be Foul Played, Specs Dark Pulse barely misses out on the 2HKO from full. Sucker Punch does 53% min to -1 Def Banded Hoopa and the rest of the team has to finish it somehow. Spiritomb is also immune to Stored power and Searing shot is a 3HKO. Foul Play forces out a boosted Victini and with an expended Z is much less of a threat to the team. Rock tomb is here because Assault Vest necessitates 4 attacking moves, and Rock tomb was the best option especially since my team is incredibly slow, and it also hits Volcarona if that ever matters. Spiritomb is also my Medicham switch-in.
Red Ribbon (Jirachi) @ Leftovers
Ability: Serene Grace
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 248 HP / 196 SpD / 64 Spe
Careful Nature
- Wish
- Iron Head
- Stealth Rock
- U-turn
Jirachi is my Lele switch-in and my rocker. If rocks are already up, Wish is the option to heal Rotom and Spiritomb who do not have their own reliable recovery, and Tran to give it more opportunities to Break/Sweep. It also alleviates some of the pressure on Venusaur to repeatedly use Synthesis (as suggested by the Smogon strategy pokedex). Iron head is used to hit Magearna, and U-turn is to prevent Jirachi from being trapped by Magnezone. I originally had Hidden Power Fire +Normalium Z on this as a Kart answer. Normalium Z is not to be used, it just lets Rachi live Banded Knock Off as it already lives +2 Breakneck Blitz. But I think U-Turn might be better.
Spook Cycle (Rotom-Wash) @ Zoom Lens
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 200 Def / 56 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Hydro Pump
- Defog
- Volt Switch
- Thunder Wave
Rotom-W is my Flying and Ground Type catch-all as well as my defogger. Hydro Pump is necessary to threaten ground types that might otherwise attempt to setup on Rotom-W like Z-Garchomp or Landorus-T. It's also the only thing I have to annoy Rain teams. Volt switch is to maintain momentum and also brings in Heatran on what will mostly be Grass Types coming in on Rotom. Zoom Lens. I'm half serious about Zoom Lens. A Hydro Pump miss can be huge against things like Zard-X which I'm terrified of. I also don't think Wiki Berry or Leftovers do much but I'd be more than happy to be wrong about that if anyone wants to correct me. I did some testing because I wasn't sure but I believe an opponent's switch out also counts as them moving before you do (like analytic). This makes Thunder Wave accurate on the switch-out, which lets Rachi make use of its Serene Grace. I'm so sorry I have Thunder Wave + Rachi. I'm just not very good.
Salamence (Altaria) (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Natural Cure
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 HP / 148 SpD / 108 Spe
Careful Nature
- Heal Bell
- Roost
- Earthquake
- Haze
Altaria is the cleric for the team. A burned/paralyzed Venusaur is bad news. Altaria switches in on Ash-Gren pre-battle bond relatively comfortably. The main mon this set is for is Heatran. Opposing Heatran being the biggest threat to my own, as well as Venusaur. Uninvested Earthquake is still a comfortable 2HKO on SpD tran. The speed allows this to outrun SpDef Tran and non-Choice Scarf Magnezone. I'm not sure if it's necessary I'd gladly put more points into SpD to take on Gren more reliably. Haze is to 1 v 1 Volcarona. Earthquake takes forever to kill it but Volc also can't threaten this back with much.
4-Legged Toaster (Heatran) (F) @ Firium Z
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Flamethrower
- Sunny Day
- Solar Beam
- Will-O-Wisp
Heatran is the only offensive pressure this team provides. Sunny Day on Heatran allows it to threaten Water types with Solar Beam and OHKO's Gastrodon. Sun also lets Venusaur heal a little bit more with Synthesis and although unlikely, there is 1/1000 chance that a non-mega Chlorophyll Venusaur will matter. Flamethrower is used for the accuracy over Magma Storm and Power over Lava Plume. A Sun or Flash Fire Boosted Inferno Overdrive OHKO's Mega Sableye. I also prefer Toxapex to be paralyzed rather than burned. Taunt is used to hit walls which gives the rest of my team a slightly easier time switching in, and also helps a little against trick room. Heatran on this team has to break for itself and clean for itself which is made possible through it's bulk making it an ideal receiver of Wishes from Jirachi. If the Z was not used the first time Heatran was in, a Z-Sunny Day can let a fast Heatran tidy a weakened team.
Conclusion:
The team has very specific ways to play around mons, some of which involving sacrificing the current mon that's in which means against teams that have multiple threats that are hard for this team to deal with, it may just be an auto-loss. Being the passive team that it is, it's also very predictable so smart midgrounds and the occasional aggressive double may need to be risked in order to win. This team has no Fairy type and no Ground type. No electric immunity is deal with-able but no dragon immunity can be a serious disadvantage against certain teams.
This is the first team I've built (with a lot of help from the Strategy Dex) and I'm just happy to have something. Whatever it is. Keen to improve though so I can't wait to see your thoughts on this mess. For anyone that's not a fan of this kind of defensive team I also have a Primeape team that i'm working on that I have a lot of faith in haha.
Thank you so much for your time. It'd mean the world if you tried my team: https://pokepast.es/5255b97b17384e23
Peace!