[RATE MY TEAM] En Guard

[Pokeventurer]

Hi guys this is my first RMT post on this site. this team was originally build in may, yesterday i got a glimpse at it and decided to upgrade it to its full potential and adjust it according to the meta. this team's past meowstic, lapras and diggersby got replaced by nowadays terrakion, thundurus and swampert. after going for practising i felt the team was good, but i still was loosing some games, i hope you guys will find out any left out flaws in the team and help me make it a much better one.

i started with the idea of a themed team. for this specific team i wanted to run a sun theme, definitely starting with charizard y and then accompanied it with the usual venusaur to abuse the effects of the weather.


Charizard @ Charizardite Y
Ability: Blaze
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
- Flamethrower
- Solar Beam
- Protect
- Focus Blast

i choose a simple 252/252/4 spread for my charizard because i didn't have anything in mind to build for it. ichoose flamethrower over heatwave to land more damage than a spread move lke heatwave ad late more accurately, in addition not activate any switch in flash fire in VGC. solar beam and protect are obvious, whereas focus blast was used to hunt down heatrans not expecting it, and just did that because today got left against a heatran 3 times loosing the game.


Venusaur @ Life Orb
Ability: Chlorophyll
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
- Energy Ball
- Sludge Bomb
- Protect
- Hidden Power [Ice]

Many people go for the venusaurite on their venusaurs. i didn't do that because i didin't had any strats for mega venusaur after i completed the team, in addition life orb to land more damamge on pokemons and also energy ball i prefered over giga drain to deal more damage. sludge bomb was a slot filler whereas HP ice behind chlorophyll OHKO'es any dragons except  and lando-t. i am still working on the EV spread and request for help. plz suggest a bulky venusaur set.

Next I wanted to put something on the team that would cover up the weaknesses of my sun room mode, after some thinking it came to mind that t-flame and rock slides were gonna give me trouble, so the moves quick guard and wide guard were both needed to keep up charizard and venusaur on the field longer. My next goal was to keep pokemons who can use these moves. And basically this is the concept where the team’s name came from, oh yes and it’s cool.


Terrakion @ Focus Sash
Ability: Justified
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Close Combat
- Quick Guard
- Rock Slide
- Protect

Terrakion can do much more than just quick guard, it counters the likes of m-kang, t-flame and opposing charizards. It is such an awesome pokemon, there weren’t many games in which it wasn’t brought. I just love playing it on the team. Focus sash was chosen to survive most attacks and make it safer to play and attack. Terrakion paired up on a team with charizard acts as a decent counter to sand too!. I chose the 252/252/4 spread because nothing else could have been done better with it.


Aegislash @ Lum Berry
Ability: Stance Change
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD
Brave Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Shadow Claw
- Iron Head
- King's Shield
- Wide Guard

Up next is my special, well…. Not special physical aegislash, and why? Aegislash is a decent pokemon to deal damage. I thought of this idea a long long time ago. Well a physical aegislash can surely take out any fairies like sylveon in OH and also deal more damage to the usual specially defensive psychic type pokemons. Wide guard was there for obvious reasons mentioned above. The item choice was selected for the reasons that burn and swagger are the things gonna give physical aegislash the most problem which it can’t block. With lum berry swagger turns to advantage and burn is removed.


Thundurus (M) @ Mental Herb
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 252 HP / 84 Def / 4 SpA / 100 SpD / 68 Spe
Bold Nature
- Thunder Wave
- Taunt
- Thunderbolt
- Swagger

Thundurus is basically a chunk of luck that I need to defeat players better than me. Thunder wave and swagger hax others out and swagger over HP ice as two pokemons on the field already have the ice moves to deal with pokemons, in addition I also many times swaggered into my own aegislash to make it +2 at no cost as it recovered back from the lum berry. Now for the item I choose white herb as my item choice, as faster priorities like liepard, whimsicott and even opposing faster thundurus were taunting me before I move. To avoid where speed mattered the most I gave mine white herb to keep its supportive potential going and taunt others back too. I needed suggestion on that if I am running white herb  should I run 0 speed investments and opt for more physical bulk?


Swampert @ Rindo Berry
Ability: Damp
EVs: 100 HP / 244 Atk / 164 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Waterfall
- Avalanche
- Earthquake
- Protect

I chose swampert to add the F/W/G core to the team, basically a slot filler it was but paying off in tons of games. It’s EV’ed just right to survive a char-y’s solarbeam and ofcourse ludi’s giga drain with the help of rindo berry. Protect over the usual wide guard had me many misplays from opponents who decided to double up on it. It can also OHKO back a lando-t with avalanche at -1, I avoided using rock slide as it got me this really important one-shot and terrakion already packed the move.

Conclusion:
Before you guys rate the team and leave suggestion I feel like predicting that many people would think that I am an amateur at the game and not a good player. However using uncommon strats is a part of my playstyle and all meta doesn’t works for me all the time, I like to have some sort of surprise factor like physical aegi and protect swampert in the team, so plz don’t get angry or rude after reading the post. If someone wants other information on the team and in probably more detail pr want to see battle videos I would add them. Hope you guys enjoyed reading thanks in advance for any advice you may give, Bye for now!

[GiMYz]

I wouldn't rely on the accuracy of Focus Blast to deal with Heatran. Yes, Heatran wins a 1on1 situation but this is exactly what you should avoid: a Heatran vs M-CharY situation. If you see Heatran in Team Preview, don't reveal your M-CharY on first turn, otherwise your opponent will play safe with  Heatran.

A sun boosted Heatwave is so powerful, you should always run it on M-CharY, along with Solar Beam and Flamethrower/Overheat. I can suggest you a bulky spread to survive a Rock Slide from Garchomp, because you don't have Intimidate support to help Charizard for its lack of physical bulk.

Charizard-Mega-Y @ Charizardite Y
Ability: Drought
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 20 SpA / 44 SpD / 188 Spe
Modest Nature
- Heat Wave
- SolarBeam
- Overheat
- Protect

Basically, it outspeeds a non-scarfed Landorus-T by one point, it survives a Rock Slide from Garchomp, it survives a Choice Specs Draco Meteor from Hydreigon but it can still deal a lot of damage with Heat Wave and Overheat thanks to its fantastic SpA base stat.

Venusaur and Terrakion are fine.

Lum Berry Aegislash + Swagger Thundurus is an interesting momentum switcher and i'm really curious about this. I will test for sure. You are right when you say a bulkier spread on Mental Herb Thundurus would work better and i know that Whimsicott is faster but usually a Sitrus Berry Thundurus can stay on the field for a bit longer to support your team and you won't face a Whimsicott every match, while Thundurus can perform well in most of the matches thanks to its abilities.

For the last slot i would try to use a Modest Swampert with the same EV spreads but in Special Attack.

244+ SpA Swampert Earth Power vs. 52 HP / 0 SpD Heatran: 240-288 (138.7 - 166.4%) -- guaranteed OHKO
244+ SpA Swampert Ice Beam vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Landorus-T: 204-244 (123.6 - 147.8%) -- guaranteed OHKO
244+ SpA Swampert Ice Beam vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Mega Salamence: 184-220 (107.6 - 128.6%) -- guaranteed OHKO

You won't suffer from opposing Intimidates and you will still get the necessary OHKOs on these threats.

[Pokeventurer]

(Jul 2, 2015, 08:25 AM)GMX Wrote: I wouldn't rely on the accuracy of Focus Blast to deal with Heatran. Yes, Heatran wins a 1on1 situation but this is exactly what you should avoid: a Heatran vs M-CharY situation. If you see Heatran in Team Preview, don't reveal your M-CharY on first turn, otherwise your opponent will play safe with  Heatran.

A sun boosted Heatwave is so powerful, you should always run it on M-CharY, along with Solar Beam and Flamethrower/Overheat. I can suggest you a bulky spread to survive a Rock Slide from Garchomp, because you don't have Intimidate support to help Charizard for its lack of physical bulk.

Charizard-Mega-Y @ Charizardite Y
Ability: Drought
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 20 SpA / 44 SpD / 188 Spe
Modest Nature
- Heat Wave
- SolarBeam
- Overheat
- Protect

Basically, it outspeeds a non-scarfed Landorus-T by one point, it survives a Rock Slide from Garchomp, it survives a Choice Specs Draco Meteor from Hydreigon but it can still deal a lot of damage with Heat Wave and Overheat thanks to its fantastic SpA base stat.

Venusaur and Terrakion are fine.

Lum Berry Aegislash + Swagger Thundurus is an interesting momentum switcher and i'm really curious about this. I will test for sure. You are right when you say a bulkier spread on Mental Herb Thundurus would work better and i know that Whimsicott is faster but usually a Sitrus Berry Thundurus can stay on the field for a bit longer to support your team and you won't face a Whimsicott every match, while Thundurus can perform well in most of the matches thanks to its abilities.

For the last slot i would try to use a Modest Swampert with the same EV spreads but in Special Attack.

244+ SpA Swampert Earth Power vs. 52 HP / 0 SpD Heatran: 240-288 (138.7 - 166.4%) -- guaranteed OHKO
244+ SpA Swampert Ice Beam vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Landorus-T: 204-244 (123.6 - 147.8%) -- guaranteed OHKO
244+ SpA Swampert Ice Beam vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Mega Salamence: 184-220 (107.6 - 128.6%) -- guaranteed OHKO

You won't suffer from opposing Intimidates and you will still get the necessary OHKOs on these threats.

First of all thanks alot for everything. Also for hooking me up with the awesome charizard spread, hope it works great. you mentioned a whimsicott, i also notice alot of thundurus-i mirror-matches in almost every other game, investing alot to win the speed tie can be costly, hence just as for safety i chose mental herb. you again said for heatwave, another reason is to not bring luck into the game as accuracy of also varies and alot of times costs me the game, however i would put h-wave as a test. i would try playing char-y the way you suggested and will hope it helps. the last thing is swampert that i don't understand. is there a reason that special swampert is considered over a physical one? i mean i do have avalanche getting me OHKO'es on lando-t, but choosing to invest in a base 85 offense variant over a base 110 seems quite foolish to me, also i wanted the criteria on the team t balance out the attack variants which are 3x special attackers and 3x physical attackers.

[GiMYz]

(Jul 2, 2015, 09:51 AM)Pokeventurer Wrote: First of all thanks alot for everything. Also for hooking me up with the awesome charizard spread, hope it works great. you mentioned a whimsicott, i also notice alot of thundurus-i mirror-matches in almost every other game, investing alot to win the speed tie can be costly, hence just as for safety i chose mental herb. you again said for heatwave, another reason is to not bring luck into the game as accuracy of also varies and alot of times costs me the game, however i would put h-wave as a test. i would try playing char-y the way you suggested and will hope it helps. the last thing is swampert that i don't understand. is there a reason that special swampert is considered over a physical one? i mean i do have avalanche getting me OHKO'es on lando-t, but choosing to invest in a base 85 offense variant over a base 110 seems quite foolish to me, also i wanted the criteria on the team t balance out the attack variants which are 3x special attackers and 3x physical attackers.

Yeah the Thundurus mirror matches are much more common than facing Whimsicott. Usually if you run Sitrus Berry you can scout for who has the faster Thundurus by simply attacking the opposing Thundurus with TBolt. If you are slower, than you can also expect the Taunt and you can play accordingly by switching into something else or just go for another TBolt if you want to KO it.

Regarding the Special Swampert set: a physical set is affected by Intimidates, potential Scald burns and so on. A -1 Attack Swampert can't do much. The special set has access to Scald (which is the best Water type move for its 30% chance to burn the target) a single target Ground move which is Earth Power (to bypass opposing Wide Guard) and Ice Beam gets the necessary OHKOs anyway as you see from the damage calculations.

[Pokeventurer]

(Jul 2, 2015, 10:20 AM)GMX Wrote:

(Jul 2, 2015, 09:51 AM)Pokeventurer Wrote: First of all thanks alot for everything. Also for hooking me up with the awesome charizard spread, hope it works great. you mentioned a whimsicott, i also notice alot of thundurus-i mirror-matches in almost every other game, investing alot to win the speed tie can be costly, hence just as for safety i chose mental herb. you again said for heatwave, another reason is to not bring luck into the game as accuracy of also varies and alot of times costs me the game, however i would put h-wave as a test. i would try playing char-y the way you suggested and will hope it helps. the last thing is swampert that i don't understand. is there a reason that special swampert is considered over a physical one? i mean i do have avalanche getting me OHKO'es on lando-t, but choosing to invest in a base 85 offense variant over a base 110 seems quite foolish to me, also i wanted the criteria on the team t balance out the attack variants which are 3x special attackers and 3x physical attackers.

Yeah the Thundurus mirror matches are much more common than facing Whimsicott. Usually if you run Sitrus Berry you can scout for who has the faster Thundurus by simply attacking the opposing Thundurus with TBolt. If you are slower, than you can also expect the Taunt and you can play accordingly by switching into something else or just go for another TBolt if you want to KO it.

Regarding the Special Swampert set: a physical set is affected by Intimidates, potential Scald burns and so on. A -1 Attack Swampert can't do much. The special set has access to Scald (which is the best Water type move for its 30% chance to burn the target) a single target Ground move which is Earth Power (to bypass opposing Wide Guard) and Ice Beam gets the necessary OHKOs anyway as you see from the damage calculations.

thnx alot for clearing my confusion with special swampert and your points on thundurus are right as i just observed while practicing. i was just practicing with the team and noticed some of the problems:
. Not good enough counter against rain.
. Needed flying coverage for scrafty and other bulky fighting types.

Now i am currently thinking this mon over swampert
Articuno @ Charti Berry
Ability: Pressure
- Freeze-Dry
- Hurricane
- Sunny Day
- Protect

i haven't decided a spread yet, but hope this works. this also adds 3x fire weaknesses to the team and hurricane sounds terrible for a flying move requirred. sunny day i needed more than anything after char-y's drought fades. can you plz suggest a better mon for this slot for the issues mentioned above.

[GiMYz]

Yes i can see that problem. AV Conkeldurr and weather wars are problems for your team. One pokemon that might fit Swampert role could be Cresselia. It has access to Psyshock to check Fighting types and opposing M-Venusaur, but it can also run Ice Beam to get the OHKO on Lando and Salamence.. a special wall set could help you also against Rain teams if you run Thunder Wave as your third move to slow down things such as Ludicolo and Kingdra. For the last move, i'd use Moonlight or Calm Mind or, if possible, Hidden Power Ground to improve your matchup against Heatran even more.

If you are testing your team on Showdown you can try HP Ground Cresselia without problems. If you need a HP Ground Cresselia for Battle Spot, you can ask in the Trading / Breeding section for one.