Buzzwole is a very underrated Pokemon in Gen 7. It’s typing and amazing physical bull let it stop nearly any physical attacker in its tracks. It is also one of the most offensive walls with its strong attack stat and great movepools. Additionally, it forms solid cores with a number of common OU Pokemon like Heatran with its wide array of resistances, such as to Fighting and Ground. Buzzwole also has a cool design and the potential to be named Mosquito Joe. Considering these factors, I thought building a team around it would pay off, so I did.
The team:
Mosquito Joe (Buzzwole) @ Leftovers
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 252 HP / 144 Def / 112 Spe
Impish Nature
- Drain Punch
- Ice Punch
- Bulk Up
- Roost
Basic Bulk Up Buzzwole. In addition to being a thick wall, Mosquito Joe is an excellent wallbreaker and late-game wincon with Bulk Up. I chose two attacks and Roost because It needed the longevity to switch in on physical attackers throughout the long matches this team can force, and to sustain itself over longer periods of time in battle. Between Roost, Leftovers, and Drain Punch, Joe can recover HP faster than your opponent is usually able to account for. This guy forms a great core with Heatran by absorbing blows from Ground-types and any heavy physical attacker that may threaten it. Ice punch is threatening to bulky Ground types like Gliscor and Garchomp, who might otherwise give him trouble.
It’s Wednesday (Heatran) @ Leftovers
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 HP / 180 SpD / 76 Spe
Calm Nature
- Magma Storm
- Earth Power
- Toxic
- Stealth Rock
BuzzTran is an awesome core. While Mosquito Joe checks stuff like Garchomp and Excadrill for Heatran, Heatran completely halts Flying, Psychic, Fairy, and Fire types, all of whom will kill Joe. Heatran is also capable of trapping and killing such threats with Magma Storm so that it won’t have to repeatedly switch into them. He also serves as a status spreader and the team’s main hazard setter (he finds a lot of free chances to set up rocks given all the things that will be forced out of battle).
Yeehaw (Tapu Bulu) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Grassy Surge
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Horn Leech
- Wood Hammer
- Stone Edge
- Megahorn
Tapu Bulu forms a very tight core with Heatran. It’s main role is as a check to Water types, as their specially offensive nature and type advantage over Heatran can threaten my core. With a Choice Scarf, Yeehaw outspeeds all prominent Water types, and OHKOs most of them easily with its strong attack stat and Grassy Terrain. Despite not outspeeding Mega Alakazam, Bulu does a great job at its role by outpacing and killing Greninja, who is somewhat of a threat to my team. Typically, my opponent’s Greninja is the first thing to go, since Tapu Bulu will never outspeed it, giving them the illusion of safety before… WHAM. Froggo’s gone. No more worrying about being swept. Besides offensively checking Greninja, Yeehaw provides great team support with Grassy Surge, giving his pardners extra passive healing and Ground resistance. I chose the Choice Scarf variant because I needed speed control, and it is harder for something that is weak to Ice and Poison to defensively check Greninja.
Uncle Gary (Gliscor) @ Toxic Orb
Ability: Poison Heal
EVs: 244 HP / 52 Def / 76 SpD / 136 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Defog
- Roost
- Knock Off
With a Flying type teammate, my team becomes truly Ground-proof. A Gliscor was necessary for stopping Electric types and hazard setters, while providing an ounce of Ground type coverage and good utility in Knock Off. I feel as though Uncle Gary is not the most essential team member, and there might be a better hazard cleaner, but I like to use Gliscor for now because of Roost and Poison Heal, letting it act as a great status absorber. I chose Gliscor over Landorus-T because it is basically the same thing, only with recovery, which is necessary for a slow-paced team.
Chumbus (Slowbro) @ Colbur Berry
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpA
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Scald
- Future Sight
- Toxic
- Slack Off
The next thing I needed was a sturdy Water type to block Fighting and Psychic types like Tapu Lele, Mega Medicham, and Mega Lopunny. Slowbro is about the only thing that does this, and makes a great pick for Bulky Offense due to its ability to aid wallbreakers in wallbreaking via Future Sight, while handing out status with Toxic and Scald. My bulky, slow paced teams never feel complete without a Regenerator user, which is just another reason to use Chumbus.
Egg (Clefable) @ Leftovers
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Serious Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Moonblast
- Wish
- Stealth Rock
- Thunder Wave
Clefable was the final choice for the last teamslot, chosen for its potent ability Magic Guard, great defensive Fairy typing that deters Dark and Fighting types, and access to Stealth Rock and Wish. It serves as a soft check to Mega Sableye with STAB Moonblast and capacity to take anything Sableye throws at it. It was also necessary to have a special wall that could tank Focus Blasts from the likes of Tapu Lele and Mega Alakazam. Wish is an essential tool for giving longevity to teammates without good recovery (Heatran and Tapu Bulu).
Checks and Counters
-
Ash Greninja
My team isn’t the worst at handling Greninja. Tapu Bulu provides a hard counter while in battle. However, if Greninja attains it’s advanced form, I have little choice but to hope it hits a vital organ first. It has the speed to kill Bulu and the added power to easily break my team apart.
-
Mega Alakazam and Tapu Lele with Focus Blast
Heatran is the hardest wall for offensive Psychic types. However, with Focus Blast for coverage, Heatran can fall very quickly to the heavy, super-effective hit.
-
Lack of speed control
My team’s only speed control is a Choice Scarf on a base 75. This leaves my team even worse against Mega Alakazam. However, Scarfu Bulu is a necessary counter to Greninja, who also gives my team the most KOs of any member due to its unpredictability. I think my best choice would be a Sucker Punch user, but the team’s cores are very tight, and it is hard to compress roles to make the extra space.
Overall, this team has worked very well, and I think all of its problems would be solved with better speed control. I appreciate any suggestions as to how I can accomplish this while keeping the team’s cores and strategy intact (I think Gliscor and Clefable are the least important ones).
The PokePaste.
Post Note: I ran the damage calculator and found out Choice Scarf Tapu Bulu does outspeed Ash-Greninja. Rest in pieces froggo.
The team:
Mosquito Joe (Buzzwole) @ Leftovers
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 252 HP / 144 Def / 112 Spe
Impish Nature
- Drain Punch
- Ice Punch
- Bulk Up
- Roost
Basic Bulk Up Buzzwole. In addition to being a thick wall, Mosquito Joe is an excellent wallbreaker and late-game wincon with Bulk Up. I chose two attacks and Roost because It needed the longevity to switch in on physical attackers throughout the long matches this team can force, and to sustain itself over longer periods of time in battle. Between Roost, Leftovers, and Drain Punch, Joe can recover HP faster than your opponent is usually able to account for. This guy forms a great core with Heatran by absorbing blows from Ground-types and any heavy physical attacker that may threaten it. Ice punch is threatening to bulky Ground types like Gliscor and Garchomp, who might otherwise give him trouble.
It’s Wednesday (Heatran) @ Leftovers
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 HP / 180 SpD / 76 Spe
Calm Nature
- Magma Storm
- Earth Power
- Toxic
- Stealth Rock
BuzzTran is an awesome core. While Mosquito Joe checks stuff like Garchomp and Excadrill for Heatran, Heatran completely halts Flying, Psychic, Fairy, and Fire types, all of whom will kill Joe. Heatran is also capable of trapping and killing such threats with Magma Storm so that it won’t have to repeatedly switch into them. He also serves as a status spreader and the team’s main hazard setter (he finds a lot of free chances to set up rocks given all the things that will be forced out of battle).
Yeehaw (Tapu Bulu) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Grassy Surge
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Horn Leech
- Wood Hammer
- Stone Edge
- Megahorn
Tapu Bulu forms a very tight core with Heatran. It’s main role is as a check to Water types, as their specially offensive nature and type advantage over Heatran can threaten my core. With a Choice Scarf, Yeehaw outspeeds all prominent Water types, and OHKOs most of them easily with its strong attack stat and Grassy Terrain. Despite not outspeeding Mega Alakazam, Bulu does a great job at its role by outpacing and killing Greninja, who is somewhat of a threat to my team. Typically, my opponent’s Greninja is the first thing to go, since Tapu Bulu will never outspeed it, giving them the illusion of safety before… WHAM. Froggo’s gone. No more worrying about being swept. Besides offensively checking Greninja, Yeehaw provides great team support with Grassy Surge, giving his pardners extra passive healing and Ground resistance. I chose the Choice Scarf variant because I needed speed control, and it is harder for something that is weak to Ice and Poison to defensively check Greninja.
Uncle Gary (Gliscor) @ Toxic Orb
Ability: Poison Heal
EVs: 244 HP / 52 Def / 76 SpD / 136 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Defog
- Roost
- Knock Off
With a Flying type teammate, my team becomes truly Ground-proof. A Gliscor was necessary for stopping Electric types and hazard setters, while providing an ounce of Ground type coverage and good utility in Knock Off. I feel as though Uncle Gary is not the most essential team member, and there might be a better hazard cleaner, but I like to use Gliscor for now because of Roost and Poison Heal, letting it act as a great status absorber. I chose Gliscor over Landorus-T because it is basically the same thing, only with recovery, which is necessary for a slow-paced team.
Chumbus (Slowbro) @ Colbur Berry
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpA
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Scald
- Future Sight
- Toxic
- Slack Off
The next thing I needed was a sturdy Water type to block Fighting and Psychic types like Tapu Lele, Mega Medicham, and Mega Lopunny. Slowbro is about the only thing that does this, and makes a great pick for Bulky Offense due to its ability to aid wallbreakers in wallbreaking via Future Sight, while handing out status with Toxic and Scald. My bulky, slow paced teams never feel complete without a Regenerator user, which is just another reason to use Chumbus.
Egg (Clefable) @ Leftovers
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Serious Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Moonblast
- Wish
- Stealth Rock
- Thunder Wave
Clefable was the final choice for the last teamslot, chosen for its potent ability Magic Guard, great defensive Fairy typing that deters Dark and Fighting types, and access to Stealth Rock and Wish. It serves as a soft check to Mega Sableye with STAB Moonblast and capacity to take anything Sableye throws at it. It was also necessary to have a special wall that could tank Focus Blasts from the likes of Tapu Lele and Mega Alakazam. Wish is an essential tool for giving longevity to teammates without good recovery (Heatran and Tapu Bulu).
Checks and Counters
-
My team isn’t the worst at handling Greninja. Tapu Bulu provides a hard counter while in battle. However, if Greninja attains it’s advanced form, I have little choice but to hope it hits a vital organ first. It has the speed to kill Bulu and the added power to easily break my team apart.
-
Heatran is the hardest wall for offensive Psychic types. However, with Focus Blast for coverage, Heatran can fall very quickly to the heavy, super-effective hit.
-
My team’s only speed control is a Choice Scarf on a base 75. This leaves my team even worse against Mega Alakazam. However, Scarfu Bulu is a necessary counter to Greninja, who also gives my team the most KOs of any member due to its unpredictability. I think my best choice would be a Sucker Punch user, but the team’s cores are very tight, and it is hard to compress roles to make the extra space.
Overall, this team has worked very well, and I think all of its problems would be solved with better speed control. I appreciate any suggestions as to how I can accomplish this while keeping the team’s cores and strategy intact (I think Gliscor and Clefable are the least important ones).
The PokePaste.
Post Note: I ran the damage calculator and found out Choice Scarf Tapu Bulu does outspeed Ash-Greninja. Rest in pieces froggo.
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