Rotom-Wash
#10009
Top Meta Teams
Novacane
Posted by M1dnight00
Analysis
Mega Latias was the initial idea of the build, as I had gotten a bit tired of building fast paced offenses and wanted to try some bulkier stuff, and CM Mega Latias was a Pokemon I always found very fun if you played it right. I chose the Sub + SPower set since with Weavile so popular, feel Substitute forcing Triple Axel alongside a Rocky Helmet Pokemon would be really really fun, alongside potentially Hazard Stack letting me quickly wear down Weavile so Mega Latias could win.
+
With the idea ingrained in my head of HStack + Helmet + Sub Mega Latias, I immediately jumped to Ferrothorn since that's a Pokemon which I thought was incredible in the current metagame, and after seeing a lot of Ferrothorn + Mega Latias builds in both NDPL and old SM replays, I was convinced to use it over the obvious other contender in Skarmory. Initially I had used a Rocky Helmet on it to go with my initial idea, but as ill detail later on I eventually swapped it to Leftovers and moved the Helmet to a different Pokemon.
+
+
Clefable was a quick pick for the next slot, it let me slot in Stealth Rocks, a secondary Win Condition, as well as a Dark Resist to help with the likes of Ash Greninja, Weavile, and Hydreigon. I’ve always been a big Clefable advocate, and know how dumb its Calm Mind sets can be, but after playing around with the CM Rocks set for a bit, I realised in meta where Corv is uncommon, and so many Steel types like Mega Scizor, Melmetal, and Heatran so popular, not being able to punish them is horrible. I then decided to make Clefable Rocky Helmet instead as with Clef having actual consistent recovery, it could abuse the Helmet better, as well as opt for Thunder Wave over Stealth Rocks where I got inspiration from a common ORAS Clefable set which seemed demonic.
+
+
+
Okay, here came the issue of both slotting Stealth Rocks, having some Volcarona and Serperior counterplay, and having a way to pressure Mega Mawile and Ferrothorn comfortably. Heatran was the fairly obvious answer here, and I just opted for a relatively standard SpDef set with Toxic to deal with Volc, and put a timer on Mega Charizard Y, which is a major threat since they are almost always paired with Weavile.
+
+
+
+
At this point I realised breaking Toxapex would be annoying since I was SPower MTias, and the likes of CM Tapu Fini, offensive Grounds such as SD Gliscor and Garchomp would be hard to break through. Rotom-W was a choice suggested by a friend, and not something I would think to use on a balance build like this. My skepticism quickly faded as I found out how useful this Pokemon was in battle. Pain Split was a tremendous asset against a lot of teams, and the defensive utility it in itself brought was extremely useful in tight situations.
+
+
+
+
+
Ah yes, I forgot the number one thing all ND teams should have (for the most part). A Ground type. The team also felt quite slow, and with MTias being SubSPower, it meant SD Kartana and the Offensive Grounds were annoying. Scarf Lando T was the clear choice here, filling in all the holes I needed, and completed the team :).
A New Era Of Zard Y! A Year of Team Builds (1/13) [1700 ELO]
Posted by M1dnight00
Analysis
Welcome to the next era of Charizard Y! This Bulky offense team utilizes a max special bulk Yard in order to turn the table on would be checks and trade blow for blow with pretty much every special attacker in the tier, even the electric ones. This is enabled by the team's excellent hazard control and supporting cast. Each of which pose a unique threat in their own right and work together to annihilate the metagame through absurd damage dealers that seemingly cannot be brought down. A combination of Tusk, Kingambit and bulky Zard form a core that very little can break through quickly, all while each of those mons are exceptionally threatening on the offensive side making all attempts at doing so costly. With the added threat of SD Ogerpon-Cornerstone and the pivoting glue that Hatterene and Rotom provide, you have a remarkably powerful team with a strong matchup into all playstyles, especially stall.
In my journey to learn high level team building I’ve committed to a method that ensures each idea gets the exploration and testing it deserves. I start with a rough concept of a team, typically the core members with unoptimized movesets, spreads and supporting cast. I then create a new alt and ladder for 100 games, making any changes deemed necessary and honing the team over the course of those games until it emerges on the other side polished and prepared against the metagame. The win loss ratio and final Elo of each team will be recorded and compared against each other in order to both gauge the success of the individual team and also my skill and journey as a teambuilder. I believe that as these threads continue the progress in my building will be seen by how quickly the final form will be achieved. It is my goal to become one of the top team builders in this tier. In order to pursue that I will be repeating this teambuilding process with a new team concept every month next year. Be on the lookout for these threads at the end of each month to see how I get along.
I do not intend to compete myself, however I would love to make teams for competitors one day. Please let me know if you have any team idea suggestions or would like more info on any of the teams I have put together. I also greatly welcome any feedback on the teams and my process, the only way to get better is through practice and criticism and I invite both.