This Team is (supposed to be) a Balance-type Team created for the [Gen 8 BDSP OU] format on Pokémon Showdown!, applying the rules and mechanics of Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl and is played at lvl. 100.
I'm no expert at competitive teambuilding, but I gave it a go in the first format I feel I have a good grasp on. Thus, I tried creating a Balance-type Team. I would love to have some feedback on it to improve at making more teams in the future.
The Team:
Blissey @ Leftovers
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpA
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Ice Beam
- Fire Blast
- Soft-Boiled
- Thunder Wave
The special wall of the team. Blissey lost a lot of viability in BDSP due to losing Toxic, but it can still be a wall for the many strong Special Attackers in the tier like the lati twins, Alakazam, Shaymin, Starmie and Togekiss while crippling them hard with Thunder Wave. To not make Blissey overly passive, I decided to give it Ice Beam and Fire Blast to also pack a decent punch against some of the aforementioned Pokémon as well as Forretress, Skarmory and specially defensive Scizor. It packs Soft-Boiled in its last moveslot to stay healthy with reliable recovery.
Heatran @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Flamethrower
- Flash Cannon
- Earth Power
- Dark Pulse
Easily one of my favourite sets to use in competitive Pokémon and quite the threat mainly due to surprise factor, we have Scarf Heatran. Its moveset is focussed on hitting as many threats super effectively as possible to be an effective revenge-killer and bulky answer with good defensive typing to offensive threats. Its STABs speak for themselves, though I have considered swapping Flamethrower for Overheat to be a bit more of an immediate threat against something it can't hit for super effective damage. Earth Power is mainly for the likes of Infernape while also doing a good chuck against Empoleon and opposing Heatran. Dark Pulse rounds out the set to hit the many Psychic types in the tier that Heatran can grab a surprise revenge-kill against, like Alakazam, Starmie, the lati twins and Azelf.
Tyranitar @ Chople Berry
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Crunch
- Earthquake
- Dragon Dance
- Stealth Rock
The offensive Stealth Rock setter of the team, with the potential to be a late-game cleaner with Dragon Dance. Crunch and Earthquake were chosen for its moves because of the lack of targets Tyranitar can hit in BDSP OU with Stone Edge, so Crunch was picked over it due to its better neutral coverage. Earthquake was put in the last slot to deal with Heatran, opposing Tyranitar, Infernape and Lucario. I also gave it a Chople Berry to live a potential Mach Punch from Infernape or Breloom in a pinch if needed. I'm down for a better item suggestion though.
Breloom @ Toxic Orb
Ability: Poison Heal
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Seed Bomb
- Mach Punch
- Swords Dance
- Substitute
This team so far is really weak to the likes of Donphan, Hippowdon and Azumarill. This is where Breloom comes in. With just its STABs it answers a lot of weaknesses to the team and is a good defensive pivot that heals automatically with Poison Heal. Substitute and Swords Dance were chosen to ease prediction and threaten a sweep once its checks have been dealt with (mainly the Psychic types that the other three mons answer pretty well). Stone Edge was considered to not get stonewalled by Togekiss or be setup bait for Dragonite, but the team already answers these mons relatively well. Let me know what you think, though.
Starmie @ Life Orb
Ability: Analytic
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Hydro Pump
- Ice Beam
- Thunderbolt
- Recover
Unironically the star of the team, Starmie rounds out the Fire-Water-Grass Core of the team. This Pokémon is incredibly slept on in the metagame in my opinion and rounds out the team beautifully. It's quite common for it to be the lead because of how well it answers the many Stealth Rock setters in the tier like Hippowdon, Garchomp, Donphan, Mamoswine, Jirachi, Tyranitar and Gliscor. It's also a solid offensive check to Togekiss, and can threaten opposing Water-types like Azumarill, Feraligatr and Crawdaunt with Thunderbolt. Ice Beam is used in the last slot for a hard hit against Tangrowth and opposing Breloom, while Recover gives it a good option to offset Life Orb recoil while easing prediction.
Scizor @ Choice Band
Ability: Technician
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 SpD
Adamant Nature
- X-Scissor
- Bullet Punch
- Brick Break
- U-turn
To end the team off, we have Scizor, acting as an offensive Pivot and a fierce wallbreaker with its Choice Band set and powerful STAB U-turn. X-Scissor was added to give it a stronger Bug STAB to spam if it doesn't desire switching out immediately against a target it threatens. Bullet Punch I think should be pretty obvious. Brick Break was put in the last slot to give Scizor coverage to handle Lucario and opposing Blissey.
Threats and Counters
After a bit of testing and grinding on the ladder of Pokémon Showdown! I quickly came to realise there's a few threats this team struggles with, and I'd love to hear some feedback on how to handle these more effectively.
Rotom-Wash
Threatens the majority of the team with just its STABs, brings momentum with Volt Switch that can't be blocked, and is only really answered by Breloom who needs to be careful of getting Burned prior to Toxic Orb activation.
Feraligatr
Weak to Breloom and Starmie at first, but sweeps pretty much the whole team if it manages to get in safely and pull off a Dragon Dance or two.
Clefable
With Magic Guard and Calm Mind, it quickly becomes tough to break with Heatran's Flash Cannon alone, and can easily threaten the setup sweepers of the team in Breloom and Tyranitar with Moonblast.
And that's it! Please go wild with suggestions, I'd love to take your feedback for further improvements on teambuilding. Suggestion different Pokémon is fine, as long as they serve a somewhat similar purpose to the one they're replacing.
Much thanks in advance!
