Weavile is my favorite Pokemon and I would love to use him on a competitive team. I've played with this team multiple times, and I've gotten mixed results. I did about 21 rounds and recorded my wins and losses, and I ended up with 11 wins and 11 loses. I definitely need a few changes, however, I'm not sure what I can fix. Can you guys help me?
I am playing in Gen 7 Singles OU on Pokemon Showdown.
The Team
Weavile @ Choice Band
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Icicle Crash
- Knock Off
- Ice Shard
- Pursuit
As I've said, Weavile is my favorite Pokemon, and I really want to make a competitive team based around him. After doing some research, I figured out that he works best as a late game sweeper/cleaner. I decided to Choice Band him because I don't like Life Orb recoil, even though I do not like to be locked into one move. As a late game sweeper, his EVs must be maxed out in both physical attack (since he's a physical attacker) and in speed. The Special Defense EV allows for extra bulk, especially since Weavile is a glass canon. His Jolly nature allows for him to be even faster, allowing him to outspeed a lot of opponents. Icicle Crash and Ice Shard are for STAB, and it may seem strange to have two Ice attacks, but there's a reason for it: Icicle Crash has a chance to flinch, and is a more powerful attack. On the other hand, Ice Shard is a priority move, allowing Weavile to attack threats that may outspeed it. It's especially useful on low HP. Knock Off is a strong Dark type move that also lets him knock the items off opponents, which is great for dealing with walls that rely on items like Assault Vest, Eviolites, Leftovers (or Black Sludge in Toxapex's case), Rocky Helmet, etc. Pursuit allows me to trap Pokemon that may try to switch out of Weavile, such as Psychic types. When used correctly, Weavile can be a real beast and I've had a lot of success with him!
Excadrill @ Focus Sash
Ability: Mold Breaker
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Rock Slide
- Earthquake
- Iron Head
Excadrill is my lead. He is an entry hazard setter. The Focus Sash helps him survive a strong hit that would usually kill him and lets him set up Stealth Rock. The Mold Breaker ability helps me a lot because it helps me deal with threats like Mimikyu and Rotom-Wash. It also allows it to set up Stealth Rock in front of Magic Bounce Pokemon, like Mega Sableye, Diancie, and Espeon. Rock Slide helps with coverage and dealing with Charizard or Flying types. Earthquake is for Ground STAB, since Ground is a very useful type, and for Fire types that may pressure Excadrill. Iron Head deals with Fairy types, something my team is weak to. Max Speed and a Jolly nature helps make the most of Excadrill's speed and outspeed a lot of threats. Max Attack lets it hit as hard as possible and 4 Defense gives it a bit of bulk.
Tapu Koko @ Shuca Berry
Ability: Electric Surge
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 1 Atk
- Thunderbolt
- Defog
- Volt Switch
- Hidden Power [Ice]
Tapu Koko is my pivot on this team. Shuca Berry helps it survive Ground types, making it easier for me to kill them with HP Ice. . Also, if a Ground type switches in on a Volt Switch or Thunderbolt turn, they may have a false sense of security that Tapu Koko is Choice Speced (Choice Specsed?), only to be surprised by HP Ice. The SpD EV also helps give a bit of bulk when dealing with Ground type moves, which usually lets them live a Ground move. The Special Attack and Speed EVs help maximize their potential, taking advantage of both their Special Attack and their Speed. I know that Tapu Koko is more of a Physical Attacker, but their Special Attack is almost as good as their Attack, and there aren't a lot of really good physical Electric moves. Tapu Koko also works best under Electric Terrain, and it has actually helped me in a couple of situations, where it prevented my Pokemon from being put to sleep with Spore or interrupting the opponent from using Rest. Volt Switch also helps them work as a pivot, and helps deal chip damage. Thunderbolt is for when I don't want to switch out, or if I want to paralyze. Timid Nature also helps me outspeed opponents. Defog is to remove entry hazards. I tried Rapid Spin on Excadrill, but it didn't work out as well because I would often have trouble finding an opportunity to Rapid Spin entry hazards or he faints before I could get rid of them. Besides, Rapid Spin can easily be countered by spinblockers, Substitute, Protect, etc or if he's using Rapid Spin on a Pokemon with Rocky Helmet, Rough Skin, Iron Barbs, etc. and ends up fainting, it won't get rid of the entry hazards. (I know that from experience and Bulbapedia).
Gyarados @ Flyinium Z
Ability: Moxie
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Bounce
- Waterfall
- Earthquake
This is my set-up sweeper. I've actually wrecked a few teams by sweeping them with DD+Moxie. Flyinium Z helps break down bulkier Grass types, such as Tangrowth, Amoonguss, and Mega Venusaur, and it gives a 1 turn, stronger alternative to Bounce. It also increases the chance of a KO, and that works really well with Moxie! The given EV spread maximizes Attack and Speed, making it a strong, effective sweeper. That combined with the Jolly nature helps it to outspeed a lot of threats. Supersonic Skystrike gives coverage on Grass types and really hurts other Pokemon. Bounce, while it isn't the most reliable move, does come in handy sometimes when I don't want to use my only Z move yet, and it does have a chance to paralyze opponents. Waterfall is also good against Ground types like Lando-T, and Earthquake really helps me out by hitting Pokemon like Toxapex, Magnezone, Mega Mawile, and Magearna. However, it doesn't take burns from Scald very well at all.
Alakazam-Mega @ Alakazite
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 1 Atk
- Psychic
- Focus Blast
- Shadow Ball
- Hidden Power [Fire]
Mega Alakazam is an absolute monster. It functions as both a special sweeper and wallbreaker, and it's extremely fast. He helps deal with the Fighting weakness Weavile has. Magic Guard has come in handy multiple times, such as when entry hazards are set up. Magic Guard has also helped me when I end up battling a Pokemon with Leech Seed, like Celesteela or Ferrothorn. I simply don't Mega evolve it and use HP Fire. HP Fire also helps deal with Mega Scizor, which can wall Alakazam. The EVs in Speed and the Timid nature make sure that Alakazam is as fast as possible, and the EV investment in SpA also ensures that it's a powerful glass canon. Psychic is Alakazam's strongest STAB move, capable of hitting anything that doesn't resist Psychic too much. It has allowed me to defeat opponents when I didn't have an answer to them. Focus Miss has also helped me deal with Steel and Dark types, and allows for excellent coverage when it hits. Shadow Ball also helps me hit Ghost types and other Psychic types that could wall it, such as Tapu Lele, Mew, and Jirachi. The slight investment in Defense allows for some slight bulk and longevity.
Hawlucha @ Electric Seed
Ability: Unburden
EVs: 96 HP / 252 Atk / 36 SpD / 124 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Acrobatics
- Swords Dance
- High Jump Kick
- Roost
Tapu Koko and Hawlucha go hand-hand together. Tapu Koko summons Electric Terrain, and Hawlucha can use its Electric Seed to boost both its Defense and Speed from Unburden. Swords Dancing helps me sweep/wallbreak. Its Adamant nature and maxed out Attack allows it to hit as hard as possible. 96 HP and 36 SpD helps it have extra bulk. The investment into Special Defense helps it survive a Moonblast from Clefable and 2HKO it with Acrobatics. 124 Speed helps it outspeed everything up to a Jolly Sand Rush Excadrill. Acrobatics is important since the damage doubles from no item, and we will be consuming our Electric Seed here. High Jump Kick is for a powerful Fighting STAB move, and Roost is to heal myself when necessary.
Team Replays
(I'm NylaTheWolf)
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ou-771795489
In this replay, I assumed he would go into Landorus and set up Stealth Rock, so I went with Tapu Koko to pivot around him and, because I can survive an Earthquake if he was Choice Scarfed, use HP Ice on him. I guess he thought I'd go for Excadrill. I wanted to test out Choice Scarfed Excadrill, and I wasn't sure if killing Mimikyu or setting up Stealth Rock was more important. Because his entire team would take neutral damage from Stealth Rock and I would be locked into Stealth Rock, I decided killing Mimikyu would be more important.
I know it ended because he ran out of time but I probably would've killed that Kartana anyway.
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ou-771798688
I thought he would go into Garchomp, so I decided to use Tapu Koko. Swords Dancing Hawlucha actually benefitted me a couple of times, so I decided to use that. The reason I kept him in when I was facing Klefki is because I thought I could outspeed him and I thought it would die from a neutral damage High Jump Kick. Not the smartest move on my part, heh.
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ou-771809684
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ou-771895210
Threats
- Fairy types - Magearna and Tapu Lele have caused me some issues, and I have only one Fairy type check.
- Electric types - Magearna's Volt Switch and the new Zeraora have caused a few problems for me.
- Fire types - I only have 2 Fire type counters: Gyarados and Excadrill. The latter is weak to Fire itself, being part Steel, so that is a bit of a risky move.
- The Charizards - Mega Charizard X and Mega Charizard Y have caused some issues for me in the past. Dragon types, especially Charizard X, really mess me up. Charizard Y also weakens Gyarados damage.
- Kartana - Screw this thing to be honest. Kartana is ridiculously annoying, and a lot of my teammates are too frail to correctly deal with it.
- Sweepers - As I said, my team is very frail and has trouble dealing with sweepers.]
- Mega Mawile
