Hi, funny title isn't it ? (It's not)
So some days ago a friend of mine wanted to create a RU team based around Swellow, Drampa and Bronzong and he needed some help to complete it. Since he recently started playing Pokemon competitively, he often asks me some tips on teambuilding. I'm not very good at it myself, but I at least know the basics. Anyway, here's the team I built with this strange trio. I tested it, and so far, works pretty fine, though I don't know if it could work higher on the ladder.
Swellow @ Flame Orb
Ability: Guts
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Facade
- Brave Bird
- U-turn
- Protect
Classic Guts Swellow. I know the Choice Specs Boomburst set is more popular nowadays, but this one still works, at least in RU. Otherwise, it's really just here to clean up late game and force switches for other mons. I've been considering Quick-Attack over Protect for fast priority, but with Swellow's already great speed, I don't think it's needed. Heat Wave might be a viable option to consider for threats like Bronzong or Doublade that walls Guts Swellow pretty hard.
Drampa @ Leftovers
Ability: Berserk
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SpA
Bold Nature
- Hyper Voice
- Dragon Pulse
- Roost
- Calm Mind
Surprisingly very effective, catching opponents off-guard pretty well. This set allows Drampa to set up on threats that Bronzong can't handle properly, mainly fire types, while providing a decent physical sponge that can heal up easily with Roost. Drampa allowed me to sweep unprepared teams quite easily, but like Swellow, it does suffer from its lack of fire moves to check Bronzong and Doublade. Still, on its own, pretty effective set.
Emboar @ Expert Belt
Ability: Reckless
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Flare Blitz
- Superpower
- Wild Charge
- Sucker Punch
Emboar acts as my second late game sweeper, threatening slower teams with its great power. I was considering using Choice Band over Expert Belt, but since my friend isn't a big fan of choice items, I decided to put Expert Belt that still gave Emboar great power while still allowing it switch moves and have more longevity. It works fine, but the lack of power from Choice Band still hurts a little. Expert Belt is a neat trick though, surprising many opponents who thought could switch in their defensive mons, thinking I was locked in Sucker Punch or Flare Blitz.
Espeon @ Choice Specs
Ability: Magic Bounce
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Psychic
- Dazzling Gleam
- Shadow Ball
- Trick
I needed some hazard control, thus I decided to pick Espeon for its speed, power and interresting ability. While it is powerful and can still "check" threats like Bronzong who could try set up Stealth Rock on me, it is still very frail and actually quite easy to predict. I thought Choice Specs was needed here for some extra power, but maybe something else could work.
Bronzong @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 72 Def / 184 SpD
Sassy Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Stealth Rock
- Gyro Ball
- Toxic
- Earthquake
Bronzong is everywhere in RU Alpha, and I can't deny its usefulness. Bronzong walls lots of threats that could sweep me easily, such as Kyurem or Dragalge, and checks some physical threats like Slurpuff or unboosted Lucario. Without Bronzong, this team wouldn't be able to stand I think.
Florges @ Leftovers
Ability: Flower Veil
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Wish
- Synthesis
- Moonblast
- Aromatherapy
Florges is a decent sponge that can take both physical and special hits Bronzong couldn't tank well. It also provides Wish support and functions as a cleric, wich might sound dumb with Swellow and Espeon in the team, but still needed for mons like Drampa or Bronzong who don't appreciate status moves (Toxic and Burn respectively). It is overall a very solid mon' that, while not appearing as much as Bronzong, is still very useful, providing my team some durability.
Threat List :
Here's a list of threats that I've experienced and can still remember. There might be other threats that I've either forgotten about or just didn't know.
Lucario : This thing should have stayed in UU in my opinion, and it probably will come back there. While I do have checks to it, Lucario is still very damaging to my team. Once it SDs up, it can go to town on my team and starts creating holes in my team, such as my very important Bronzong (+2 Crunch destorys it).
Doublade : Same goes for Doublade. I have things to beat it, but it can still bring heavy damage to my team once it sets up. Emboar can still check it of course, but even then, the KO on it isn't guaranteed, and it would leave my Emboar badly hurt, wich is bad if something more threatening is in the back.
Donphan : Is it really a threat ? Yes and no. It is beatable, but the fact that it can tank a hit from Espeon and KO it back with Knock Off means my only way of dealing with hazards is gone. Ice Shard is also a threat for Swellow and Drampa that I don't like having.
Set-Up mons : Since I have no way to deal with those, it is very hard for me to deal with them. My only hope is I can cripple it down with a Toxic from Bronzong or just send my mons to die and hopefully deal enough damage to kill it. So in short, my ways of dealing with mons that can set up aren't reliable.
Hazard : My hazard control is very limited. Espeon cannot take lots of hits and it really becomes a gamble to know if the opponent will either go for its rocks or predict it and attack. Once Espeon's gone, I have no hazard control, putting Swellow in danger.
Conclusion :
To me, this team is very interresting, and that strange core of Swellow, Drampa and Bronzong surprisingly can work. But I feel that something can really be added/changed to improve it. I know we're dealing with an Alpha metagame here, but I'd really appreciate some help to make this team better. Please test it and tell me what to improve.
Thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed, and thanks in advance !
So some days ago a friend of mine wanted to create a RU team based around Swellow, Drampa and Bronzong and he needed some help to complete it. Since he recently started playing Pokemon competitively, he often asks me some tips on teambuilding. I'm not very good at it myself, but I at least know the basics. Anyway, here's the team I built with this strange trio. I tested it, and so far, works pretty fine, though I don't know if it could work higher on the ladder.
The team :
Swellow @ Flame Orb
Ability: Guts
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Facade
- Brave Bird
- U-turn
- Protect
Classic Guts Swellow. I know the Choice Specs Boomburst set is more popular nowadays, but this one still works, at least in RU. Otherwise, it's really just here to clean up late game and force switches for other mons. I've been considering Quick-Attack over Protect for fast priority, but with Swellow's already great speed, I don't think it's needed. Heat Wave might be a viable option to consider for threats like Bronzong or Doublade that walls Guts Swellow pretty hard.
Drampa @ Leftovers
Ability: Berserk
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SpA
Bold Nature
- Hyper Voice
- Dragon Pulse
- Roost
- Calm Mind
Surprisingly very effective, catching opponents off-guard pretty well. This set allows Drampa to set up on threats that Bronzong can't handle properly, mainly fire types, while providing a decent physical sponge that can heal up easily with Roost. Drampa allowed me to sweep unprepared teams quite easily, but like Swellow, it does suffer from its lack of fire moves to check Bronzong and Doublade. Still, on its own, pretty effective set.
Emboar @ Expert Belt
Ability: Reckless
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Flare Blitz
- Superpower
- Wild Charge
- Sucker Punch
Emboar acts as my second late game sweeper, threatening slower teams with its great power. I was considering using Choice Band over Expert Belt, but since my friend isn't a big fan of choice items, I decided to put Expert Belt that still gave Emboar great power while still allowing it switch moves and have more longevity. It works fine, but the lack of power from Choice Band still hurts a little. Expert Belt is a neat trick though, surprising many opponents who thought could switch in their defensive mons, thinking I was locked in Sucker Punch or Flare Blitz.
Espeon @ Choice Specs
Ability: Magic Bounce
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Psychic
- Dazzling Gleam
- Shadow Ball
- Trick
I needed some hazard control, thus I decided to pick Espeon for its speed, power and interresting ability. While it is powerful and can still "check" threats like Bronzong who could try set up Stealth Rock on me, it is still very frail and actually quite easy to predict. I thought Choice Specs was needed here for some extra power, but maybe something else could work.
Bronzong @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 72 Def / 184 SpD
Sassy Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Stealth Rock
- Gyro Ball
- Toxic
- Earthquake
Bronzong is everywhere in RU Alpha, and I can't deny its usefulness. Bronzong walls lots of threats that could sweep me easily, such as Kyurem or Dragalge, and checks some physical threats like Slurpuff or unboosted Lucario. Without Bronzong, this team wouldn't be able to stand I think.
Florges @ Leftovers
Ability: Flower Veil
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Wish
- Synthesis
- Moonblast
- Aromatherapy
Florges is a decent sponge that can take both physical and special hits Bronzong couldn't tank well. It also provides Wish support and functions as a cleric, wich might sound dumb with Swellow and Espeon in the team, but still needed for mons like Drampa or Bronzong who don't appreciate status moves (Toxic and Burn respectively). It is overall a very solid mon' that, while not appearing as much as Bronzong, is still very useful, providing my team some durability.
Threat List :
Here's a list of threats that I've experienced and can still remember. There might be other threats that I've either forgotten about or just didn't know.
Set-Up mons : Since I have no way to deal with those, it is very hard for me to deal with them. My only hope is I can cripple it down with a Toxic from Bronzong or just send my mons to die and hopefully deal enough damage to kill it. So in short, my ways of dealing with mons that can set up aren't reliable.
Hazard : My hazard control is very limited. Espeon cannot take lots of hits and it really becomes a gamble to know if the opponent will either go for its rocks or predict it and attack. Once Espeon's gone, I have no hazard control, putting Swellow in danger.
Conclusion :
To me, this team is very interresting, and that strange core of Swellow, Drampa and Bronzong surprisingly can work. But I feel that something can really be added/changed to improve it. I know we're dealing with an Alpha metagame here, but I'd really appreciate some help to make this team better. Please test it and tell me what to improve.
Thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed, and thanks in advance !