Hey guys, I noticed a lot of beginner players are on the forum with my teambuilding lab, and I thought it would be a great idea to give people one of the most common teams in of this metagame: the birdspam team from xtra$hine! It's a really common team on the Showdown ladder, and for a good reason: it's easy to use, and really efficient! Hope you guys like it :]

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The team:




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Analysis:

This is an hyper offense team based on the Taloflame and Pinsir combo; the strategy is to spam flying moves repeatedly to weaken the checks to these attacks, to the point were they are too weak to counter them. As you can see, there is absolutely no defensive synergy with this team; but when playing hyper offense, you do not care about defenses, you really just want to overwhelm your opponent with all of the offense. Azelf is a suicide lead, who's purpose is pretty self-explanatory; you set up rocks, and then you go boom! Dragonite, Manaphy and Pinsir are all excellent set up sweepers that are very hard to stop once they have a boost. Talonflame and Excadrill are fast choiced-attackers; while they probably won't sweep, they can punch holes through teams, and can sometimes clean up weakened teams. Excadrill also has a good move in Rapid Spin, who keeps the birds safe from hazards. This is one of the most simple team to use, and it's a really good team to start with if you are just getting into competitive battles because of the fact that you can use it without thinking as much as you would with another team archetype.

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Tips:

When you use this team, you'll come to realize that Pokémon like Tyranitar and others Rock and Steel type Pokémon are a huge problem because you have three Flying types. A good way to both remove them and weaken the opponent's team is, when you have a Flying type out, you can switch to your Manaphy predicting the opponent's switch to a Rock/Steel type. In this situation, the opponents will have to switch, which essentially gives you a free opportunity to Tail Glow. Other than that, the team is really simple to use, like a lot of hyper offense teams.

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The sets:

Azelf @ Focus Sash
The Lead
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 128 HP / 128 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
Moveset
- Stealth Rock
- Taunt
- Hidden Power Steel
- Explosion

Hidden Power Steel kills Mega-Diancie, who would otherwise bounce back your Stealth Rock.

Pinsir @ Pinsirite
Bird #1
Ability: Hyper Cutter
Happiness: 0
EVs: 252 Atk / 6 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
Moveset
- Swords Dance
- Frustration
- Close Combat
- Quick Attack


Excadrill @ Choice Scarf
Scarfer/Spinner
Ability: Mold Breaker
EVs: 252 Atk / 6 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
Moveset
- Earthquake
- Iron Head
- Rock Slide
- Rapid Spin


Talonflame @ Choice Band
Bird #2
Ability: Gale Wings
EVs: 252 Atk / 6 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
Moveset
- Brave Bird
- Flare Blitz
- Steel Wing
- U-turn


Manaphy @ Leftovers
The Rock check
Ability: Hydration
EVs: 6 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
Moveset
IVs: 0 Atk
- Tail Glow
- Surf
- Ice Beam
- Energy Ball


Dragonite @ Lum Berry/Weakness Policy
THE FINAL BIRD
Ability: Multiscale
EVs: 252 Atk / 6 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
Moveset
- Dragon Dance
- Dragon Claw
- Earthquake
- Extreme Speed

Both Lum Berry or Weakness Policy are usable, but I prefer Lum to set up safely. Weakness Policy is mostly to eat up stuff like weak Hidden Power Ice to get the boost, but I find it unreliable.

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Replays: Coming soon, I'm busy :/


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If you enjoyed this team analysis, let me know as there are more to come in the near future :] Stay sharp my boys!