Flying Monotype ~ An Uncommon Build
Oct 17, 2015 9:06:36 GMT
Neo Soul, Starfox, and 2 more like this
Post by Erica*07 on Oct 17, 2015 9:06:36 GMT
The Team:
Gyarados @ Gyaradosite
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 240 HP / 96 Def / 72 SpD / 100 Spe
Careful Nature
- Waterfall / Crunch
- Dragon Dance
- Sleep Talk
- Rest
One of the central pieces of the team, Gyarados is more commonly used as a Dragon Dance attacker. This set is more of a unique spin on Gyarados, being a mixed defensive RestTalk Mega Gyarados. This Gyarados, despite being limited to one attack, is amazingly flexible defensively. It can absorb unwanted status, set up on many things with amazing reliability, and threaten to turn around entire games. Waterfall is selected as the primary STAB, beating Fire, Rock, and Ground types. Crunch could also be used to beat Psychic, but is otherwise not ideal in terms of coverage. Dragon Dance is obligatory in making this set into a 'CroDos,' allowing Gyarados to pull many surprise sweeps. Rest is selected as Gyarados's most reliable form of recovery, fully restoring its Hp and removing any paralysis, poisoning, or burns. Sleep Talk allows Gyarados to still be a threat even when asleep, and can lead to many bad situations for the opponent with its unpredictability.
The EVs are very Carefully built. 100 Spe allows Gyarados to out-speed max speed Garchomp at +1 while remaining one point slower than Scarf Rotom at +2. This is important because it means that Rest can be used after Volt Switch, allowing Gyarados to be at full health to take on whatever follows. 240 Hp minimizes hazard and status damage, which is important because of Gyarados's lack of passive recovery. 96 Def allows Gyarados to avoid the 2hko from Earthquake + Stone Edge from 252 Atk Mega Garchomp. 72 SpD allows Gyarados to only be 3hko'd by most Zapdos, and helps it to take special moves for the team. The EVs from this set are slightly adjusted from the set made by the user Arifeen, so kudos to him for making such a unique spread.
Skarmory @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 224 HP / 252 Def / 32 Spe
Impish Nature
- Brave Bird / Iron Head
- Stealth Rock / Defog
- Whirlwind
- Roost
Skarmory is an obligatory member of Flying, acting as the type's best physical wall. Its Steel/Flying typing does it many favors, offering a neutrality to Rock and Ice moves. Brave Bird is chosen as obligatory STAB and the team's best way of beating Conkeldurr, which otherwise can actually threaten most of the team when played well. Iron Head is slashed as a way to be more effective against Fairy, particularly Mega Diancie. The obligatory Stealth Rock setter of the team is Skarmory, unless it is preferred as a Defog-user. In that case I would recommend setting Articuno to Toxic and Gliscor to Stealth Rock. Whirlwind is the team's required Phasing, allowing Skarmory to force certain threats out. Roost is obligatory as reliable recovery.
The EVs are used primarily to out-speed other Skarmory while maintaining the highest possible physical defense. Skarmory needs to out-speed other Skarmory to Whirlwind them before it can be Whirlwind-ed. This can matter immensely in some Flying mirrors. It also has the added benefit of out-speeding anything EVed to only out-speed the generic Skarmory spread in the teambuilder by one point. 224 Hp/252+ Def minimizes hazard damage while maintaining maximum defense, which is why these EVs are utilized.
Gliscor @ Toxic Orb
Ability: Poison Heal
EVs: 248 HP / 184 SpD / 76 Spe
Careful Nature
- Earthquake
- Toxic / Stealth Rock
- Taunt
- Roost
Gliscor is, contrary to its natural stats, specially defensive. This is done primarily to act as a check to Mega Diancie. Specially defensive Gliscor is capable of beating Mega Diancie when played right, but it must be played Carefully. It does not swap in on Moonblast and avoid the 2hko if it is not already poisoned. However, it avoids the 2hko if it is poisoned already and can beat Mega Diancie with Earthquake. This Gliscor can also eat weaker Ice Beams, being capable of using Roost to avoid the 2hko from things like Tyranitar Ice Beam. The Hp stat is a technical 'Leftovers' number, being one point greater than a number divisible by eight. The speed EVs out-speed the generic teambuilder Gliscor spread, allowing Gliscor to make optimal use of its Taunt against other Gliscor. The rest of the EVs are put into special defense to help Gliscor take special hits and allow it to do its job as a Mega Diancie check.
Zapdos @ Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 248 HP / 240 Def / 20 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Discharge
- Heat Wave
- Defog
- Roost
Zapdos has a fairly standard moveset. Discharge is the primary STAB and also offers a chance of Para-hax. Heat Wave deals with Ferrothorn and Scizor while also allowing Zapdos to threaten steel teams. Zapdos is generally considered the best user of Defog that Flying has, and therefore Defog was an immediate choice. Roost was chosen for recovery.
Contrary to common Zapdos on Flying, this one ended up physically defensive to offset Gliscor's specially defensive build. I learned that Zapdos is actually surprisingly good as a physical wall from playing Electric, and ended up bringing it to this team. It also has the benefit of helping to beat Steel teams and removing some of Gyarados's counters. 248 Hp minimizes Stealth Rock damage in case Zapdos gets hit by Knock Off. 20 Spe out-speeds 252 Spe Adamant Bisharp by two points, speed creeping other Pokemon that also do this. The rest of the EVs are put into defense.
Articuno @ Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 248 HP / 244 SpD / 16 Spe
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Freeze-Dry
- Defog / Toxic
- Heal Bell
- Roost
Articuno's speed EVs may be the first question that someone asks when looking at this set. There is a very good reason for them in that this spread allows it to outspeed Adamant 252 Spe Golurk. Golurk may be rare, only appearing on Ghost, but it's certainly capable of getting Rocks up against Flying and annoying Defog users with Dynamic Punch. 16 Spe also has the added benefit of out-speeding 4 Spe Rotom-Wash. 248 Hp maximizes Hp while minimizing Stealth Rock damage, and the rest of the EVs are put into special defense.
Thundurus-Therian @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Volt Absorb
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 30 Def
- Volt Switch
- Focus Blast / Flash Cannon
- Grass Knot
- Hidden Power [Ice]
A standard EV spread was selected for Thundurs-Therian because there was truly no other spread that fit the bill, and Timid was selected as the nature in order to out-speed Scarf base 100 Pokemon such as Victini and to ensure that Thundurus-Therian out-speeds Scarf Kyurem-Black.
Overall:
Although the Articuno/Gliscor core is a bit outdated, it is still competitive. This team was made to make the greatest use possible out of this duo. Gyarados was selected as a partner for its creativity and the unorthodox threat it presents. Skarmory and Zapdos were selected as an obligatory members of Flying. Thundurus-Therian was selected for the last slot because of its unique speed and good power.
This team does have its share of weaknesses. Powerful users of Bolt/Beam coverage, such as Kyurem-Black, would be the primary offenders. This team also lacks checks for Psychic teams and sometimes can struggle against Fairy. Overall, it's a fun team to use that has a lot of untapped potential.
