Gen 4 100

[Fortune]

100

|

|

|

|

|

Sup, dudes. It's been a solid year since I've made one of these (mainly because I don't build often) but I have this really fun DPP team I felt like sharing. It's a relatively new team, so I haven't had too much tournament experience with it, but it's solid nonetheless. It helped me grab a win in RoAPL. Feel free to use it in Tour or whatever. I'm going to try to keep this as simple as possible, so let's get right into it.

Teambuilding Process

- I was inspired by a friend to use a suicide lead Smeargle. I think it's a fairly underrated lead in DPP, and it has a lot of notoriety. It tends to be kinda hit-or-miss, but under the right circumstances, you can get a lot of value out of this thing.

- Smeargle is completely shut down by faster taunters; namely Sash Aerodactyl and Azelf. Jirachi's role is to eliminate these leads while preventing Stealth Rock, so that Smeargle's sash is not broken. You can U-turn with Smeargle turn 1 on their taunt, go into this Scarf Rachi, and either flinch them or kill them, allowing you to lay up hazards at a later time. Obviously, this plan is not perfect 100% of the time, but Jirachi is just a good mon in general. It has the amazing Steel typing and is a very good revenge killer. Also, with Trick, it helps against a well played stall.

- The bane of Jirachi's existence are Fire types and other bulky steels. Offensive Suicune takes advantage of both of these things and greatly appreciates the spike support. It's overall bulk makes it a valuable member, doing well vs most archetypes, barring hard stall.

- When one thinks of wallbreakers in DPP, it is hard to not mention Mixed Dragonite. It is for this reason, along with it's good bulk and typing, and usefulness in tandem with spike support, that it finds it's place as the fourth member of the team. It does an excellent job of punching holes in the opposing team so that other team members can succeed.

- When using a suicide lead with spikes, it is often a good idea to run a spin-blocker. This is why I chose Scarf Rotom. Rotom helps vs both stall and hyper offense, making it a valuable member. It is also good at revenge killing certain things that the team is weak to.

- To round off the team, I was looking for a member that would alleviate weaknesses, benefit from spikes support, and offer some kind of support towards the team. Healing Wish Shaymin fit the description perfectly. Healing Wish mechanics in DPP are both a gift and a curse. Usually the latter, but it is just a good filler move that allows me to play a bit more recklessly with my other members. Anyone that knows me knows that I am a big fan of Healing Wish.

Onto a more in-depth look at the members . . .

​

Smeargle @ Focus Sash
Ability: Own Tempo
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Spikes
- Spore
- U-turn​

As mentioned above, Smeargle is rather hit-or-miss. When it does its job, it does it really well. This includes sleeping a mon (effectively making it a 6-5 game), as well as laying up rocks and a spike. However, against faster taunters, it is completely shut down. This is where U-turn comes in. When facing Aerodactyl and Azelf leads, you will usually want to U-turn predicting their taunt. You can safely bring in Scarf Rachi and hopefully prevent rocks, while trying to get up yours at a later time. Unfortunately, vs skilled opponents, this is quite difficult, but possible.

---​

Jirachi @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Serene Grace
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Trick
- Iron Head
- Fire Punch
- U-turn

Jirachi is one of my favorite mons in Gen 4. It's so versatile and provides limitless utility. The scarf variant is no exception to this. Preventing rocks vs suicide leads is just one of the many assets this mon brings to the team. There are so many fearsome set-up sweepers in the metagame, and Jirachi does an excellent job of keeping them in check. It's decent speed paired with the Choice Scarf makes it able to outpace almost everything in the tier. As for the moveset, Trick offers usefulness vs bulky teams, Iron Head is a given, Fire Punch is very useful for revenge killing Scizor and Lucario (problems for most offensive teams), and U-turn is to keep up momentum; an extremely useful tool on these types of HO teams.

---
​

​

Suicune @ Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Calm Mind
- Hydro Pump
- Ice Beam
- Hidden Power [Electric]
​

Suicune is another one of my favorite mons in DPP. It's just extremely well-rounded stat-wise and can often wipe out entire teams if they are unprepared. It's typing and bulk works wonders for this team, allowing it to set up on things like Heatran and various bulky steels/grounds that would normally give Jirachi/Shaymin trouble. This mon does really well with Spike support, making it an excellent candidate for the team.

---
​

Dragonite @ Life Orb
Ability: Inner Focus
EVs: 72 Atk / 184 SpA / 252 Spe
Mild Nature
- Draco Meteor
- Fire Blast
- Extreme Speed
- Superpower

Everything that there is to be said about Dragonite has already been mentioned in the Teambuilding Process section, but I might as well go into more detail. Wallbreaking is extremely valuable for hyper offensive teams, and it often allows for the other team members to succeed. This moveset is fairly well known and it is basically the optimal set for breaking full stall. Draco Meteor is it's main STAB move, and is extremely powerful after factoring in Life Orb and +SpAtk nature. Superpower and Fire Blast are there to tear apart any Steel that dares to come in on this monster. Extreme Speed is useful for picking off threats. One might argue that priority is a necessity on offensive teams.

---
​

Rotom-Heat @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Trick
- Thunderbolt
- Shadow Ball
- Overheat
​

A spin-blocker is pretty much a requirement on hazard stacking teams. It's really just a matter of choosing between Rotom and Gengar. I was actually using Gengar for a while, but it's frailness and lack of a good defensive typing made it difficult for the team to function properly. Rotom works better, I would argue. I chose the Heat form to help check stuff like Scizor that might give the other team members trouble under certain circumstances. Trick is useful for crippling members of the opposing team that might otherwise give me issues. Having two TrickScarf users on the team really helps in breaking down fat teams.

---
​

Shaymin @ Life Orb
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Seed Flare
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Earth Power
- Healing Wish

Lastly, we have Shaymin. This thing does an excellent job of breaking stall and forcing switches; a really useful asset on a hazard stacking team like this. Shaymin just seemed to glue the team together perfectly. It's type has synergy with the other members and since it has access to Healing Wish, it allows me to play recklessly with some members given the right circumstances. I said before that Healing Wish mechanics in this gen are both a gift and a curse. I suppose I will elaborate. When you press Healing Wish and are faster, Shaymin will faint, and you will choose a mon. This mon then comes in, takes hazard damage, and is healed up to full. Then the opposing mon will attack on the same turn. This makes it difficult to come in safely, but if Shaymin is slower than the opposing mon and can live a hit, Healing Wish will be very useful.

---

Importable

Smeargle @ Focus Sash
Ability: Own Tempo
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Spikes
- Spore
- U-turn

Jirachi @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Serene Grace
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Trick
- Iron Head
- Fire Punch
- U-turn

Suicune @ Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Calm Mind
- Hydro Pump
- Ice Beam
- Hidden Power [Electric]

Dragonite @ Life Orb
Ability: Inner Focus
EVs: 72 Atk / 184 SpA / 252 Spe
Mild Nature
- Draco Meteor
- Fire Blast
- Extreme Speed
- Superpower

Rotom-Heat @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Trick
- Thunderbolt
- Shadow Ball
- Overheat

Shaymin @ Life Orb
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Seed Flare
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Earth Power
- Healing Wish

So yeah, that's the team. Hope you enjoyed. Threatlist + Replays coming soon! :D


shoutouts: my friends you know who you are
​

 

[Fortune]

Threatlist

- A well played Zapdos is easily the biggest threat to this team. In the lead position, it can U-turn out to break my Smeargle's sash. In the back, it is a potent offensive threat. The main way to deal with it is by crippling it with either of my TrickScarfers. It will commonly come in on a Scarf Jirachi, so this is very doable. Outside of my Trick users, I can try and cripple it with Stealth Rock or try to win some speed ties. If worse comes to worse, it possible for me to 1v1 Zapdos with my Suicune after a CM boost- or at least put it in range for a faster team member to finish it off.

--

Will update this post later with more threats + replays :)

 

[BKC]

I quite like the use of the two scarfers that mean Starmie's almost never spinning if you play Smeargle right and they can stay useful against stall teams since they both have Trick (plus, Rotom can double out of an incoming Tar into Jira so you can rack up hazards on it before threatening U-turn for even more). Defensive shit is also gonna be super hard pressed to deal with MixNite who usually doesn't have Spikes backing it up so SDef Hippowdon isn't a counter anymore. Max out the SAtk though, all you need is 244 Speed on Nite for non scarfed Tar. I like to go even slower, so if you want some more benchmarks: 220 Spe beats Empoleon / Magnezone, 209 beats Restalk Rotom, 199 beats Restalk Gyarados and almost all Venusaur, but if you want more power/bulk you can even run Quiet and you'll still generally do your job. It lands you at 176 aka Skarm's starting speed so you can run up to 16 EVs if you'd like.

However, despite these measures, you're still going to struggle with SDef Jirachi. Once it's in, it beats pretty much your whole team; the only way you can really threaten it is Trick, and Protect is going to make that strategy not a lot of fun. Without changing the team too much, I think Earthquake on Dragonite would do fine. I would also advocate Roost to stay alive against Tran/Skarm semistalls that try to switch around it. This means dropping Superpower and ExtremeSpeed; the latter isn't really a big deal since you have two Scarfers. Blissey might be more of a bitch but it's still almost never switching into Dragonite until the jig is up, plus it still gets hit really hard on the switch, especially if sand is up. However, it will be a prick to face. How about trying TSpikes > Spikes on Smeargle? I've found the residual poison damage is a lot more helpful in the fast-paced games this team tends to play and it wears away at a lot of key defensive dudes as well.

Also, since you have waters covered well, I think Substitute > HP Electric on Cune would be really good (max HP for 101 Subs, you can drop Speed to beat Jolly Mamo and then max SAtk). This dunks on Blissey, lets you turn SDef Jira into setup fodder and abuses the hell out of Toxic Spikes. Hell you can run Roar > IB since you don't exactly struggle with Dragonite and this makes SDef Skarm your bitch (as well as the rare Vaporeon and desperate SDef Heatran), especially since if you expect Taunt on the second try you can pound it with boosted Surfs. Cune's biggest issue is dying too quickly in Sandstorm, and as great as it is in theory I've never found HW Shay very good in practice, so how about Sunny Day? You wear down Tar quickly with this team, especially with TS, and then can get rid of its SS to make Cune absolutely terrifying. Tran is warded off by EP. It'll also help bluff HP Fire which I think'll help you lure in quite a few Nite especially if you attacked a grass earlier.

Now that I think about it, Nidoqueen over Smeargle would keep SR/TS, be a much more solid overall poke, and help with your absolute biggest issue - a complete inability to deal with two leads Smeargle is helpless against, Roserade and Machamp. The former takes out a poke to sleep and cripples Suicune/Shaymin (which'll make it really hard to deal with their Swampert/Heatran and will probably end in you getting swept by Rotom or CM Rachi/Cune). The former is killing a poke and has momentum if you forgo hazards early on, and kills two pokes if you use SR. SDef Nidoqueen helps with both these leads and also against the Zapdos you're weak to while meaning you're not usually playing a 5v6 game. You can lead with ScarfRachi if you're Azelf/Aero paranoid but Queen is a fine lead in her own right.

Ice Punch > Fire Punch on Rachi or HP Ice > Overheat on Rotom imo, you have more than enough Luc/SDzor coverage and currently you lose if Nite can DD again (you're not going to Trick it unless it's bulky).

To reiterate:
- SDef SR/TS/EQ/IB Nidoqueen > Smeargle, lead either it or Rachi
- EQ/Roost max SAtk less Spe Dragonite
- Max HP/40 SAtk/216 Spe Sub/CM/Surf/Roar Suicune
- Ice move on one of the Scarfers

gl

 

[Jirachee]

hmm

I think that if you take most of BKC's suggestions you'll be really weak to Superachi. In fact, I think you're actually pretty weak to it as it is now, because in a late game situation it'll really hard to stop it. I think your team would really benefit from replacing Shaymin with some kind of Tyranitar (I was thinking DD.) Tyranitar gives you a few things that are really useful for this team:

a) a way to check any non-specs Zapdos, which is better than what you have now, and specs is the easiest to wear down anyway
b) a check to most Superachis
c) Sand Stream, which not only adds more passive damage but also allows you to fuck with RD Kingdra, a threat to any offense
d) a great offensive partner for Dragonite as they both tend to lure in bulky Ground types and with Spikes they can break through it

Also, I think Roar > HP Electric on Suicune would be a really good change for your team. It takes full advantage of Spikes and allows you to win CM wars against other cunes. You don't need the Gyarados coverage and Roar forces it to take more SR damage if you really need to switch cune into it. Roar also allows you to scout the opponent's squad early game which is always nice on such an aggressive team

Lastly, I agree that you could probably use an Ice move on a Scarfer but I wouldn't drop the Fire moves as Scizor is very dangerous for your team late game. I think that HP Ice > Shadow Ball on Rotom is the best way to go. SBall doesn't hit that many things regardless (Celebi gets hammered by HP Ice and Overheat too, Gengar doesn't like Thunderbolt, etc.)

 

[Apollo.]

Hey, really nice team here i do have some suggestion for it :


The main threat for the team is Zapdos, the lead variant is a pain to deal with it since it break sash of your Smeargle and can back latter to do huge damage for your team.

• My main change would be to use Nidoqueen over Smeargle; Nidoqueen is a very underrated mon which can set both of Stealth Rocks and Toxic-Spikes (which is a plus for your team since Suicune love them), it can be used as decent check to Zapdos and to other threat i forgot.
• I do have an personal spread for Suicune which can be very cool on the team since it give you more bulk and enough special attack to handle Dragonite and speed for like Lucario/Heatran (which aren't huge threat but its cool to outpace them), the spread allow you to OHKO Dragonite (4 HP/SpeDef) after LO recoil and to outspeed Adamant Lucario/Timid Heatran, rest in HP to have more bulk.
• Since you are already using an fast Scarfer which is Rotom-A, i'm not finding an huge utility for Choice Scarf on Jirachi outspeed of revenge killing DD Tyranitar and spamming U-turn, i can suggest to use Scizor, Scizor have a decent synergy with like Dragonite, it will still be used as steel types and as an revenge killer to DD Tyranitar, it can be used as secondary win condition since like Heatran which is his main counter will be overhelmed by the rest of the team due to its concept.
• Earthquake over Superpower on Dragonite would be cool since you have a lot of problem with SpeDef Jirachi, since you don't have a spinner, maybe Roost over Extreme Speed can be cool.
• I'd recommend to use Hidden Power Ice on Rotom-A, it will allow you to work as decent revenge killer to DD Dragonite which can be threating for your team if Suicune is weaken.
• Tyranitar, with Scizor can help you against Superrachi, maybe using it over Shaymin could be an cool idea.

Hide

after lol

 

[Aerodactyl Legend]

The setup is currently notoriously weak to hazard stacking teams and Toxic Spikes defense. With no spinner and/or Toxic Spikes absorber, every member will fall if you haven't gotten your offense in gear quickly.

I feel that Nidoqueen, Roserade, or Tentacruel would be a much better fit for the team than Smeargle. All have Toxic Spikes utility. Roserade is faster than Smeargle and can also sleep, while Nidoqueen can squeeze in Stealth Rock if you don't have room on someone else. Tentacruel can spin and is very fast (nice to Hydro Pump or Ice Beam some threats). You need good support for it to deal with Ghosts though.

If you want to not drop too much offense, LO Starmie with Rapin Spin is always solid, just watch for ScarfTar.