verycoolguy
Smash Journeyman
Intro
I have always been skeptical about set up sweeping because I've been paranoid that on the turn you set up Swords Dance or Nasty Plot, a Pokemon faster than you switches in and threatens a OHKO. After those events occur, a turn is wasted and you're forced to switch out. That really sucks! Everything would have just been better if you started attacking immediately and done some good damage at least. So I thought, I should have use a team with Pokemon who just hit off extremely hard right off the bat without any need to even use boosting moves. This would need Choice items. Choice Scarf isn't exactly needed since why would I need that to revenge kill when I could just use Band boosted priority? I've decided to make this a team of Choice Banders covering threats everywhere, with great synergy.
Team Building
In this generation, Sand gets two great sweepers with abilities to abuse it. They are Landorus and Excadrill. I wanted to pick one of those. Even though Excadrill has the speed, Landorus has the raw, unreal power. He also has Stone Edge, which has a base power of 130 in the Sand. So Landorus goes here.
Knowing how the move Will-o-Wisp is a huge threat to any physical attacker, I wanted a Fire type to absorb it. I was looking at Darmanitan and his extremely powerful Flare Blitz. With a Choice Band behind that, it's ridiculous. I couldn't pass it up.
If I want Landorus to be the menace he is, I'll need Sand. I chose Tyranitar, because his base 134 Attack is a true terror, and serves as a great counter to most special attackers. Sand is also mandatory since I'll need a weather that isn't rain to keep Darmanitan's Flare Blitz safe from getting nerfed.
I wanted a counter for Garchomp, and Cloyster is the best one. Cloyster has access to Ice Shard, which can help pick off weakened enemies, especially those weak to it, like Salamence or Latios. Cloyster also helps with the Gliscor problem. He also has basically a STAB 125 Ice attack to bust down many Pokemon. Cloyster works greatly here.
Since Gen IV, Dragon is practically the best offensive typing, with all Dragons having insane offensive base stats, and with moves of high base power, and the fact that it is only resisted by Steel, so I wanted a Dragon. Garchomp might seem like a good idea, but using it along with Landorus may seem redundant. Salamence... is basically a slower Garchomp without the STAB on Earthquake. Haxorus is too frail, and is even slower than Salamence. While Dragonite is slower, he has Extremespeed, which can serve as extremely useful priority. He also has Fire Punch, which is superior to Fire Fang on Salamence and Garchomp. Dragonite is in.
Now I need my entry hazards. I want both Stealth Rock and Spikes, and a defensive Steel type to switch in on Dragons, so it's narrowed down to Skarmory, Forretress, and Ferrothorn. Skarmory is more of a wall and a phazer, Forretress is a utility Pokemon, and Ferrothorn is a staller. My team isn't built on defensive cores, so Ferrothorn doesn't fit well. I don't really need to shuffle the team around with hazards. Knowing how my team is choiced, I'm going to be switching often, so I'll need hazards out of my field, so I have to choose Forretress.
Changes
Well after testing this team out plenty, I feel as if Darmanitan is the weakest link. Choice Band Adamant Sheer Force Flare Blitz did kill off almost everything that switched into it. Although there's a lot of power here, Darmanitan has been easily forced out by alot of things, and since it's weak to Stealth Rock, he's not exactly reliable. Here I decided to switch him to Infernape, who also shares a Will-o-wisp immunity, and has Fighting STAB. I've always wanted a Fighting type on this team seeing how they are ridiculously good this generation. Infernape also serves well with priority Mach Punch. He's also faster than Garchomp so that shark has to fear Close Combat.
Here's the team in detail:
TyrantSwag
Tyranitar@Choice Band
252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD
Adamant
Sand Stream
Crunch
Pursuit
Stone Edge
Aqua Tail
I lead with this half of the time. Max HP really gives him supreme bulk, especially on the the Special Defense. Crunch is my main move. Pursuit is great as it catches switches. Many people don't expect Tyranitar to use Pursuit if their Pokemon isn't weak to Dark, but when they do switch out,they die. My favorite time to use Pursuit is when I changed the weather, and they don't have anything to break me down in one move, so they switch, and BAM! They lose their weather inducer and favored conditions. Stone Edge is for when really need to use the strongest move I have, or when Rock coverage is necessary. I pick Aqua Tail as my coverage attack for a few reasons. One big reason is Gliscor. Then there is also Balloon Heatran. Hippowdon is another reason, as well as some Donphans. I outspeed those two and 2HKO with Aqua Tail while Tyranitar can survive an Earthquake.
DJ Landlos
Landorus@Choice Band
4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly
Sand Force
Earthquake
Stone Edge
U-Turn
Explosion
Sand Force Earthquake really just crumbles things. Stone Edge is for Flying types and Levitate Pokemon, like Gengar who are all dismantled U-Turn is always a great move on a Choice Bander, and it also gives good coverage along Ground+Rock. It really gets those Latios trying to come in on Earthquake Explosion is mainly filler, but there have been times that it has saved me before. It helped me stop a Virizion that has set up.
ForestSwag
Forretress@Leftovers
252 HP /4 Atk / 252 SpD 0 Spe IV
Sassy
Sturdy
Stealth Rock
Spikes
Rapid Spin
Gyro Ball
This is my buffer against most Dragons tha thave used up a Draco Meteor or are stuck on Outrage. I've made this Forretress a slow as possible to power up the Gyro Ball. I'm not using Payback here since Payback no longer hits with double damage on switch-ins, and the fact that Rotom-A are no longer ghosts. Should Espeon ever switch in, Gyro Ball would put it on the verge of death. Stealth Rock is great as always, and Spikes also helps because since everything is choiced, I'd like if my attacks do OHKO. Rapid Spin is needed as I often switch around a lot. The lower speed also helps me against Ferrothorn since I can Rapid Spin after it uses Spikes or Leech Seed.
JungleSwag
Infernape@Choice Band
252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly
Iron Fist
Close Combat
Flare Blitz
Mach Punch
U-Turn
I lead with this half of the time, since it beats most things one-on-one. Fire and Fighting Coverage is amazing, especially when they are of base 120 Power. Close Combat is used most of the time to sweep late game. Flare Blitz is just as strong, and takes out some Steels. Mach Punch is nice Priority. Iron fist boosts it at a respectable Base 48 Power, and with STAB and a Band, it can OHKO a weakened Excadrill most of the time. U-turn is also great for shifting the momentum as Infernape forces switches. This has worked better than Darmanitan.
Swagster
Cloyster@Choice Band
252 HP /252 Atk / 4 Spe
Adamant
Skill Link
Icicle Spear
Ice Shard
Razor Shell
Rock Blast
Ice coverage is excellent, which Cloyster does greatly. Ice Shard checks all of the Dragons. It also takes care of the Gliscor issue, by forcing it to die to have a partner take a a barrage of Icicle Spears to the face. Everyone with Gliscor expects it to use Shell Smash, which is funny while they end up dying. Another great thing about Icicle Spear is that it breaks Substitutes, so Garchomp and Whimsicott are killed regardless. Razor Shell is just another STAB move. Rock Blast is rarely used, but it's useful against some Waters.
Swagonite
Dragonite@Choice Band
252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Spe
Adamant
Inner Focus
Outrage
Superpower
Fire Punch
Extremespeed
Inner Focus is used, mainly since I'm choiced, there are no leftovers, and there are no Wish passers, and I don't have Roost. Outrage is my STAB move here since it really brings pain. I'm using Superpower here to cover resisters, especially Heatran. I'm also using it instead of Earthquake so it won't be an inferior Garchomp. Fire Punch is used for Steels like Forretress. Extremespeed is the main sell off here. It 2HKOs almost everything faster than Dragonite.
Old Teammates
SheerSwag
Darmanitan@Choice Band
4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Adamant
Sheer Force
Flare Blitz
Superpower
U-Turn
Rock Slide
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Thoughts?