Only changed the last two installments in this team. Review.
- Crobat -
Infiltrator
Modest
Salac Berry
EV's: 252 Spd, 252 SpAtk, 6 HP
- Heat Wave
- Giga Drain
- Sludge Bomb
- Tailwind
Bleh. Bleh I say.
- Gyarados -
Intimidate
Adamant
Leftovers
EV's: 252 Def, 252 HP, 6 SpDef
- Waterfall
- Earthquake
- Thunder Wave
- Dragon Tail
- Serperior -
Contrary
Modest
Light Clay
EV's: 252 SpAtk, 252 HP, 6 Spd
- Leaf Storm
- Reflect
- Light Screen
- Dragon Tail
- Scrafty -
Intimidate
Adamant
Leftovers
EV's: 252 Atk, 252 HP, 6 Def
- Fake Out
- Drain Punch
- Ice Punch
- Crunch
- Cofagrigus -
Mummy
Modest
Red Card
EV's: HP 252, SpDef 252, SpAtk 6
- Will O Wisp
- Shadow Ball
- Energy Ball
- Power Split/ Destiny Bond/ ???
Wall. A ghost wall. Tis awesome. I didnt care too much for Golurk, but still wanted something with a fighting type immunity. Why not make use of this magnificent Ghost-wall? Meant to phase, stop sweepers, and cause a switch via Red Card. Phase and Burn. Cant decide on the last if I would rather force a switch with destiny bond, or ruin a banded sweeper with Power Split... Still contemplating.
Cofagrigus (I still can't get the spelling right without looking it up...) is a great wall, there's no doubt about it. Fighting and Normal immunity, a petty Dark and Ghost weakness, and some lesser but possibly useful Bug and Poison resists. All the while, Dusknoir is painted green with envy over it's huge defense stat, and good HP. Poor 'noir... he's got a case of the ol' inferiority complex, just like Braviary.
But I'm incredibly sad Golurk is gone.Offensive > Everything else. =P
Regardless of my own irks, while I believe Golurk offered some great things for the team, Cofagrigus offers some great balanced capabilities to stabilize the team. But, this set is all wrong. First of all, the EVs. You want all that in Defense, not Sp.D. You might miss with Will-o-Wisp, or they may predict Cofagrigus coming in and hit you hard with a non-fighting move. 295 Def is the HIGHEST you'll get with neutral Def, and no EVs. That doesn't bode well with 320 HP, and not enough speed to outrun EVERY ****in' fighting type. Nothing can effectively sponge both special, and physical moves in this game. Wall breakers and pokes that simply hit too hard will ruin such a set. Pour those EVs into HP and Defense, and grab a Bold nature. Otherwise, you're shooting yourself in the foot with a shotgun. And that hurts, bro.
Also, the moveset. I'll say it again; this pokemon is a wall, and needs all the defense it can get to make use of Will-O-Wisp. I suggested a Red Card for Golurk since it's not going to take 10 hits like this thing will (immunities don't activate the Red Card, I believe). Since Cofagrigus has staying power, you'll want to throw on lefties as one should 99% of the time for a wall, 'less it needs an item to counter a specific threat. Like wall/lead Metagross with a Occa or Shuca from Gen 4.
And onto to actual moves, you don't want Energy Ball. Without investment, it's Sp.A is pitiful. You could smash a Golem with it, and it would probably survive, lol. Only an Onix could be OHKO'd, if even. Replace it with something useful; namely, Pain Split. Even with HP investment, it's still Cofagrigus' only useful recovery, and few pokemon will have less than or as much as 320, even without investment. It's situational of course, but better to have a situational life-saving move, than one that OHKOs Onix.
I've yet to see any builds with Power Split, so props for originality. However, Will-o-Wisp is already screwing banded pokemon entirely, and while Power Split does average both attack stats, the average will NOT include stat boosts. That means a Band or Swords Dance is absent when averaging the stats, and once the move changes stats around, their boosts are retained, and you won't get them. Power Split is not a Psych Up on steroids, in other words. The average of Sp. Atk won't do you any good, either. They could still have around 300 Sp. A, and since you're slower, something like Gengar boosted with Specs could still do massive damage. Power Split definitely has some use I'm unsure of, since I never use walls, but it's tricky and possibly the most situational move in Cofagrigus' moveset, which barely makes it better than outright-useless moves. There're better ways to make use of that last slot, IMO.
For example, if you wanted a back-up sweeper, Calm Mind Cofagrigus is entirely viable. With massive defense, still-good Sp.D which after two boosts, can be around a frightening 400 Sp.D, alongside it's 400+ Def. The only problem is normal types and 4x Shadow Ball resists obviously, since Cofagrigus is no hard hitter without investment, but CM is meant to sweep late game via bulk. Getting rid of the few pokemon viably used with such qualities should be easy. A single CM on the switch could also allow Cofagrigus to counter dangerous Psychics like Alakazam and Reuiniclus much more safely if your opponent is desperate enough to switch them in for an offensive counter via Shadow Ball. So, boost your Sp.A and Sp.D, and hit back with a STAB Shadow Ball of your own.
You could also throw on Trick Room so it'd out speed anything switching in, which lets it get of a Will-O-Wisp all the easier, or simply give you an advantage such as Pain Splitting before you can get KO'd. Aside from Crobat, your ENTIRE team benefits from Trick Room, too. And Crobat won't be sticking around too long regardless, IMO.
One last option I could sort of recommend is Thief. With your Red Card, you're forcing a switch, then giving yourself free-reign to steal away an item. You just need to be careful with what you steal, since you don't want to take a Choice item or anything. Lefties is obviously the prime target. This could be a very nasty suprise, and while it's obviously not as good as knock-off, it's a douche bag move. Precisely the kind that could be game winning. I'd say the other two moves I recommended are better, but hey. If you're set on using a Red Card, it'd be interesting to use this; you get the benefit of a forced switch, AND you can potentially **** up an opposing pokemon set, if something relies on lefties to survive. Like a pokemon abusing Substitute or somethin', or the ever-terrifying Breloom (not that it'd switch into a Will-o-wisp, lol).
But yeah, point being, the EVs need change, and feel free to give my recommended moves a thought. Especially over Energy Ball, lol. Pain Split is just-plain important.
I only have a single problem with Cofagrigus, though; Gyarados is already your physical wall. Cofagrigus is definitely a better stopper to fighting types, lacking a Rock weakness, having superior defenses, and the permanent drop in the foe's attack in Will-o-Wisp. So you've got two pokemon doing the same role, and while they're both great pokemon with great sets (once you fix this one, anyways
- Empoleon -
Defiant/ Torrent
Adamant
Life Orb/ Choice Band/ Water Plate
EV's: 252 Atk, 252 Def, 6 HP
- Swords Dance
- Aqua Jet
- Avalanche
- Drill Peck/ Brick Break/ Earthquake/ Shadow Claw
The Penguin. I found my lack of a Steel type and counterfor both Dragons, and my Ice Weakness. All I gotta do is decide on that final move... Leaning towards Brick Break on account of all the Dark and Steel types runnning rampant in this Gen. See... If I go with the Torrent ability, then I will go with Mystic Water for the item. Why? Swords Dance twice, thats +4 to attack, then factor in Water Plate, which i think is a 20% move boost, plus factoring in having planned to take hits while using Swords Dance means Torrent activates, so times 1.5, then factor in STAB for priority Aqua Jet which calculated out will.... Well, really hurt. Alot.
SD Empoleon can be very scary, sure. But with plenty of enemy priority Mach Punchs out there, as well as ever-common fighting types that EASILY OHKO Empoleon if you try your second Swords Dance, it's a very risky poke to use. The potential, scary. Put into the fray when trying to realize that potential, is a huge problem. It won't get far unless Aqua Jet OHKOs everything, and with 600~ attack and your Torrent & Splash Plate boost, sure, it can OHKO a lot of offensive threats. But Arceus' E-speed set in ubers is faaaaar more dangerous, and it's set was stoppable enough. Likewise, there're OU threats that will shut down this penguin; notably, Ferrothorn. And if you run Brick Break to stop it, the veritable Fighting threats (except Terrakion) will threaten it horribly. Take off Avalanche, and Dragon types not named Hydreigon will ruin your day. In short, there're some counters to this, and it could work, but... I don't feel like it has a good place on the team.
That, and the Dragon types it intends to counter have two shots at it; Mence's EQ is doing massive damage, and while I don't feel like doing calcs for it, would probably OHKO after any other move, including just D-claw I'd imagine. Empoleon's HP is pretty low without investment, actually. 302 Max Def and a + nature is nothing special, either. Your main/substitute sweeper should almost-never be used to counter threats to the team. It'l probably end up sacrificing itself, and may not even get the job done fully since you oriented it to sweep, and not stop those threats. Empoleon isn't a pokemon with the raw stats to multitask like that. It's typing isn't that beneficial to the team, either; your electric weakness is up to three, with your lead, sweeper, and an important wall at risk. You're also adding a Ground weakness, even if it's the only one, as well as a second Fighting weakness. It's typing has ups and downs and there're Steels that would benefit your team a lot better, both through stats to stop potent threats like dragons, and better typing synergy with the team as well.
Thus, I can't recommend Empoleon for the team. One of the reasons I said no to Swampert was because it filled a similar role to Gyarados; type wise, so does Empoleon, both the good and the bad. It's not a reliable counter to this team's biggest threat, dragons, either. So it's point of existence on your roster is a bit moot. So yeah, I personally say you should find a better Steel wall with better synergy.
So, redid a few things here and their. Took some of your suggestions CK, but made some of my own as well. Plz re-review.
Ok, I need help deciding on something. I manged to get my hands on a Japanese event Hydreigon (long story). It's SHINY!
