With generation five coming to a close, we begin to welcome in the next generation. Not that there's much to look forward to after the damage this generation caused. Anyways, I decided it would be neat to do a RMT to give generation five the proper goodbye. I never really bother with RMTs because they take up too much of my time preparing, plus the teams I usually make are not creative and / or are thrown away after use. Might as well make an exception just for the hell of it, right?TPO3 said:
This team was used a lot during the BW2 period. I never really bothered using it on ladder too much due to personal time constraints. Despite that, I did use it in a few tournament battles, vs friends, or on ladder when I was bored, all of which really proved to me that this is a solid team. The playstyle of the team is hyper offense, which is my personal favorite style of play due to the fast-paced approach and freedom to be creative in teambuilding. I feel when I'm messing around with other playstyles, like rain and sun, the freedom to be creative is severely hampered. My usual build for hyper offense is lead / two wallbreakers / two sweepers / cleaner. This team follows close to that build, although it deviates a tad.
I decided to start out with a combo of Swords Dance Lucario and Choice Specs Gothitelle. I first decided to go with Bullet Punch to remove Gengar, Terrakion, and Choice Scarf Tyranitar, all of which Gothitelle can never remove no matter what. Gothitelle then removes all of the counters (ha) and checks my moveset doesn't handle, thus allowing Lucario to prep up the rape train for undisturbed demolition. Chooooo Chooooo!
I picked Garchomp as my lead due to its ability to reliably set hazards while also dealing with some spinners. Garchomp's power also lets it punch a few holes before going out, which Lucario really appreciates. Jirachi was looking like a major problem until I added Garchomp.Uhhhh what more do I need to say lol?
Next, I went with Latios with a few goals in mind. The first was to help against sun and rain teams, which are a problem for any weatherless teams. The second was to check or counter a few pesky Pokemon that might be troublesome, such as Breloom, Keldeo, and Thundurus-T. The final reason was to assist in weakening physical walls. After Latios does a bit of damage, it should make Lucario's job a little easier to sweep. Likewise, Lucario can remove any special walls that might be a problem to Latios. Another cool thing about Latios and Gothitelle is that they're both Pursuit / Crunch weak. If either of them gets trapped in that situation, I ain't got no worries as it is easy setup bait for Lucario.
Despite what I last said, the Pursuit weakness is a terribad problem. Scizor helps alleviate that by bringing a little balance to the team's weaknesses. The main reason I picked Scizor was for its Choice Band set to U-Turn out of its usual counters to Gothitelle. Later, I went with the LO Swords Dance set to punch holes for Lucario to clean up. Most recently, this changed to Swords Dance Acrobatics to still accomplish that goal while also luring Jellicent, who was a major nuisance to this team.
Finally, I needed a cleaner and revenge killer. Choice Scarf Keldeo was an obvious choice, as it can revenge kill a wide variety of threats with its high power and speed. During the lategame, Surf (especially in rain) and Secret Sword can clean up the damage cause by the rest of the team with relative ease.
Garchomp /// Jolly Nature /// Rough Skin Ability
Focus Sash /// 4 SAtk / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Stealth Rock / Outrage / Fire Blast / Earthquake
"For the Arab mind, the self is an obstacle, an
impediment, in humanity's quest for real progress.”
After Garchomp got unbanned, one of the sets I really wanted to use was the suicide lead. Unfortunately for Garchomp, Deoxys-D was the goto hyperoffense lead during that time. Even after Deo-D got the banhammer, I was using other offensive hazard setters, such as Azelf, Smeargle, Custap Skarmory, etc. Eventually, I tried out Stealth Rock Garchomp and I fell in love. Garchomp makes an excellent hazard setter with its ability to force switches and deal with most spinners (seriously, I've only run into problems with Ice Beam Starmie). Garchomp has its cons (ex: can't Taunt like Skarmory, Terrakion, Azelf), but its ability to be a dominant offensive force while providing Stealth Rock is too good.
Stealth Rock is obviously the crux of the set. With Garchomp's raw power, most anything will be hard-pressed to stay in on it. Garchomp can use this to setup Stealth Rock fairly easy and efficiently. Focus Sash further guarantees the hazards get set; the only thing stopping you is fast Taunt users. Outrage is to cause as much damage as humanely possible, however I have to refrain from using it if I know a Steel is sitting in the wings waiting to absorb it. Earthquake is one of my main reasons for picking Garchomp, as it allows me to deal with pesky threats like Jirachi, who would otherwise be rather troublesome to this team.
Gothitelle /// Modest Nature /// Shadow Tag Ability
Choice Specs /// 252 SAtk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Thunderbolt / Psychic / Hidden Power [Ice] / Trick
"Wealth was essential to happiness, as without it
no one could be independent."
Take notes Wobufett, this is how Shadow Tag is really done. Gothitelle holds true to the reason Shadow Tag is such a great supportive ability: it can be used to trap almost any threat your set is tailored to remove, thus allowing a Pokemon to take advantage of the foe(s) absence. Need to remove Skarmory? Gothitelle can do that. Need to remove Gliscor? Gothitelle. Tired of Tentacuel? God. Damn. Gothitelle.
This moveset is designed to remove counters that Lucario may face, namely Gliscor, Hippodown, some Landorus-T, Slowbro, and various others. Along with that, Gothitelle can also Trick its Choice Scarf away, giving Lucario an opportunity to setup on something locked into an unfavorable move. Thunderbolt hits Slowbro, Starmie, and Jellicent, however Specially Defensive Jellicent can stall out Thunderbolt if it gets lucky rolls / no para. HP Ice for Dragons and Ground/Ice-types, however Dragon-Types will probably kill me first due to their raw power haha. Psychic handles Tentacruel, which is very helpful for Garchomp also as it prevents Rapid Spin.
I've often times considered dropping Gothitelle since the rest of the team can eliminate the threats to Lucario with a little bit more work needed, however Gothitelle is guranteed to remove them, making it a huge part of the team. If I did remove it however, it would be for something like Kyurem-B to help check rain better while punching (GIANT) holes. Fighting- and Dragon-types would then be pains in the ass, but I'd get over it.
Fun fact: all Shadow Tag Gothitelle must be male. It's a trap in more ways than one. ;)
Latios /// Timid Nature /// Levitate Ability
Expert Belt /// 252 SAtk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Draco Meteor / Surf / Psyshock / Roost
"By Allah, life is naught but one great wrong."
Latios works in a few ways. First, it softens physical walls to give Lucario an easier time sweeping. Secondly, it baits Choiced Pursuit and Crunch (Tyranitar) for Lucario to setup on. Third and final, it serves as my rain, sun, and Keldeo check, so it's kind of a big deal.
Draco Meteor isn't as powerful as its Specs counterpart. That doesn't mean it's not going to hurt, because it's totally going to pillage you village and burn your crops. Surf hits Heatran and Tyranitar hard, the latter of which will probably take the hit like a champ while he Pursuit locks himself. Baaaaaka! Psyshock is for Keldeo, Terrakion, Venusaur, Tentacruel, all of which are huge threats to the team overall. The final option varies from time to time. Sometimes I'll run HP Fire to hit Ferrothorn, Scizor, Jirachi, and Skarmory hard, though most of the time I will run Roost because Latios is too improtant to the team to die fast.
Scizor /// Jolly Nature /// Technician Ability
Flying Gem /// 252 Atk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Swords Dance / Acrobatics / Superpower / Bullet Punch
"What we wish,whether it be good or evil, will not always
happen according to our desire."
Good god I love this set. Choice Band (which is just as effective in this spot over Acrozor) and later LO Swords Dance was originally here, but I eventually met this set and fell head over heels. Not only does it assist Gothitelle by removing Lucario's counters, Scizor usually punches holes throughout the opposing team for Lucario to seep through. I realize it's redundant with Gothitelle, which is why I run Choice Band half the time as well, but no other set can compare to how much damage this thing can create.
Swords Dance + Flying Gem + Acrobatics is the main attraction here. It handles all of Scizor's counters, which just so happen to be some of Lucario's as well. The main two are Tentacruel and Jellicent, who are normally usual switchins to Scizor. Welp, not any more as Acrobotics at +2 will certainly by a clean kill. It's rather easy to get a Swords Dance in if you bluff Choice Band throughout the game, or if you force something weak out, like a Latias using Dragon Pulse. Superpower OHKOs Magnezone and Defensive Heatran, both of which are usual Scizor checks. Finally, Bullet Punch is Bullet Punch. It's Scizor's best move, why would it /not/ be here?
Like I said above, Choice Band works just as well here, if not better. Scizor can still assist Gothitelle by U-Turning out of its usual checks and counters, most of which are Lucario's. I think CB makes the team overall more better by adding momentum, but I really desire the wallbreaking appeal this lure has. I guess it's just a matter of opinions. :Y
Lucario /// Adamant Nature /// Justified Ability
Life Orb /// 252 Atk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Swords Dance / Close Combat / ExtremeSpeed / Bullet Punch
"I hope that Allah will not make me immortal, for death is his
greatest gift to any true believer."
The man, the myth, the legend. The power of this set is only held back by the choice of moves. Other than that, there are no brakes on the rape train. Arabian Nights was built soley for this monster to pull of a sweep. Once the checks and counters to this particular moveset are removed, it's gg no re provided no bullcrap hax.
Swords Dance is what makes the magic happen. Once Lucario gets to +2, the only way of stopping it is through dedicated checks, which should be removed by the time Lucario sets up. If not, only a little bit of prior damage is needed for some of them. For example, Hippodown after 25% of damage is guaranteed to be knocked out regardless of if Stealth Rock is up or not. The Lati@s twins will both fall to ExtremeSpeed after just a few rounds of Stealth Rock.
Bullet Punch is picked over Ice Punch and Crunch because Gothitelle has trouble handling Gengar, Terrakion, and Choice Scarf Tyranitar. Thankfully, Scizor helps handle those threats, however random stuff like MYSTICgar and SubSD Terrakion will throw it off. Another reason I picked it is because it really helps compensate for Lucario's somewhat low Speed for an offensive Pokemon. Having two priority moves makes it seem like you're playing with a fast as balls threat. Revenge killers being able to touch you seems like an impossibility. Speaking of which, ExtremeSpeed and BulletPunch are helpful for revenge killing threats.
Keldeo /// Timid Nature /// Justified Ability
Choice Scarf /// 252 SAtk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Hydro Pump / Surf / Hidden Power [Ice] / Secret Sword
"Speak not when you are angry. He that
keeps silence is out of danger."
Keldeo's job is to clean up any leftovers, act as a fail-safe to any threats that might get out of hand, and act as an addition threat to rain outside of Latios. For its cleaning job, Keldeo handles that better than a swiffer duster on a dusty counter. The power of Surf and Secret Sword, while powerful, are not going to be OHKOing in large amounts without prior damage. Instead, Keldeo can wait until the opposing team is weakened by the barrage of threats to commence a mini-sweep. What's more is that Keldeo's usual checks and counters (Celebi, Jellicent, Gastrodon, Gyarados, Dragonite, Lati@s, etc) should all be removed by Scizor and Gothitelle before Keldeo hits the floor.
As a revenge killer, Keldeo works extremely well. Its moveset allows it to revenge kill a multitude of the metagame's threats, such as Dragonite, Landorus-T, Terrakion, Scizor, etc. My team should be able to prevent such threats from getting out of hand due to the offensive pressure applied, however things might not work out the way I plan depending on the threat and situation (ex: Scizor setsup on Gothitelle locked on Psychic). Overall, Keldeo is the glue that holds the team together if shit starts hitting the fan.
Arabian Nights is a fairly old team dating back to probably early-mid BW2. It's had a few changes over the past few suspect tests, mainly in the lead, and most recently with the addition of Acrobatics Scizor. The team has been fairly consistent for me over that time, however the recent rise of stuff like Analytic Starmie and Keldeo has made it very difficult to find success as of late. With BW2 ending soon, I thought this would be the way to give it the proper burial like I did for Operation Desert Storm. Thanks for reading everyone! ^_^
Code:
Garchomp @ Focus Sash
Trait: Rough Skin
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 Atk / 4 SAtk
Naive Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Outrage
- Earthquake
- Fire Blast
Gothitelle @ Choice Specs
Trait: Shadow Tag
EVs: 252 SAtk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Modest Nature
- Thunderbolt
- Psychic
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Trick
Latios (M) @ Expert Belt
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 252 SAtk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
- Draco Meteor
- Surf
- Psyshock
- Hidden Power [Fire]
Scizor @ Flying Gem
Trait: Technician
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Acrobatics
- Superpower
- Bullet Punch
Lucario @ Life Orb
Trait: Justified
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Close Combat
- ExtremeSpeed
- Bullet Punch
Keldeo-Resolute @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Justified
EVs: 252 SAtk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
- Hydro Pump
- Surf
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Secret Sword