Buck's Battlespot Team

I've come to like the quick-paced feel of the Battlespot meta, although its convenience on the physical carts is also attractive. However, since it's under Nintendo's jurisdiction, it lacks many bans which keep the meta balanced. The feeling is very different, but if prepared, a team can take on the threats that aren't found in standard OU.

This is a team I've been toying with for the past week or so, and I've found I'm able to win most matches. The strategy is simple: lead with Espeon to keep hazards and status out of the way, set up screens, and either let Espeon die or switch to something that can set up. Other mons are there for support to help against certain threats to make sweeping easier.

Keep in mind that in Battlespot, you can only pick three Pokemon to take with you. Here's the team:



Espeon @ Light Clay
Ability: Magic Bounce
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Spd / 4 SAtk
Timid Nature
- Reflect
- Light Screen
- Psychic
- Hidden Power [Fire]

Espeon is typically the lead. I'll usually set up one or two screens and either switch or let Espeon die since, by then, it will almost always be in the red. Magic Bounce helps prevent status effects from messing up my screen setup and reflects any hazards the enemy may try to use, which helps with my teammates who are weak to SR. The EVs let me live as long as possible and, combined with Timid, allow me to set up screens as quickly as the game will let me. Psychic is for STAB and can lead to some nice damage before death. HP Fire lets me take out Pokemon that are quad weak to fire, most notably Scizor/Mega Scizor who are both 2HKO'd (don't forget, Genesect is banned in Battlespot since it's an event).

Depending on what I'm facing, I may choose to only set up one wall, or just switch to keep Espeon for later. Greninja has an easy time OHKO'ing and outspeeding me before I can set up a Light Screen, so I always switch if I see it. MVenusaur is enough of a threat that I may consider switching or leading with something else if I see it in the team preview.



Charizard @ Charizardite X
Ability: Blaze/Tough Claws
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 Atk / 4 HP
Adamant Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Earthquake
- Dragon Claw
- Flare Blitz

This is usually my first choice to switch to after successfully leading with Espeon. MCharizard X's decent defensive typing aided with screens almost always guarantees an easy Dragon Dance, and from there it isn't hard to sweep. After one DD, I outspeed all positive natured base 86 and lower scarf mons, and all neutral natured base 99 and lower scarf mons. With Reflect up, +1 Flare Blitz with Tough Claws allows me to OHKO the most common Mega Kangaskhan and survive, even taking Parental Bond Sucker Punch and recoil into account. The EVs are for maximum sweeping potential, and Adamant nature is for more raw power. EQ lets me get past Heatran, one of MCharizard X's most common switch-ins.

To sum it up, MCharizard X is an incredibly powerful Pokemon and is a great partner with dual screens Espeon.



Excadrill @ Air Balloon
Ability: Mold Breaker
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 Spd / 4 HP
Adamant Nature
- Earthquake
- Iron Head
- Rapid Spin
- Rock Slide

This guy gives me an out in case I don't feel comfortable picking Espeon for the match. Rapid Spin lets me get rid of pesky hazards, and pseudo StoneQuake gives excellent coverage. Iron Head is for the extra STAB and can take out bothersome fairies. Air Balloon lets me avoid being instakilled by EQ, Mold Breaker lets me get past Levitate, and the EVs let me kill as hard and quickly as possible.

Unfortunately, I don't find this guy contributing a whole lot. Defensive Rotom-W easily takes the EQ and OHKOs back with Hydro Pump, and his less than stellar speed can be underwhelming at times. I've considered running Choice Scarf instead to get the jump on MGengar and MLucario, but Choice Pokemon don't seem to go well with this team. If anyone has ideas for what could replace this, it would be much appreciated.



Thundurus (M) @ Expert Belt
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 SAtk / 4 HP
Timid Nature
- Thunder Wave
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Focus Blast

Thundurus is great support for this team. It can save lives with priority Thunder Wave, crippling setup Pokemon and most of the popular choices for the Battlespot meta that is tilted more towards Hyper Offense. Expert Belt goes well with the pseudo BoltBeam + Focus Blast coverage. The EVs are self explanatory. Timid makes sure I outspeed as much as possible. HP Ice lets me OHKO Garchomp 87.5% of the time with the help of Expert Belt, Tbolt is reliable STAB, and Focus Blast lets me not be useless against Excadrill and Tyranitar. I sometimes lead with him in case I see a team full of setup sweepers, or if I see Garchomp in team preview since it seems to be a popular lead in BS, although this is slightly reckless.

I've tried Taunt before over Focus Blast, but it doesn't seem to be as good of a pick in a meta where there are 3 Pokemon matches, and Twave does a good enough job of hurting setup Pokemon. Espeon makes my team less afraid of status conditions as well since it can bounce those attacks back.



Clefable @ Leftovers
Ability: Unaware
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SDef
Bold Nature
- Cosmic Power
- Moonlight
- Stored Power
- Minimize

I'm probably going to get some hate for using this set, but in a meta where ubers already exist, this guy is sometimes my last line of defense. It's another good choice to go to after Espeon has done its job. Leftovers keeps me alive as long as possible. Unaware makes anything trying to simultaneously set up on me pointless. The best part is that sometimes the opponent will predict that I've got Magic Guard instead, and mindlessly get to +6 on what they want, then attack and realize what they've got themselves into while I'm sitting with bonuses of my own. The EVs aid my defenses along with Bold nature. Cosmic Power is for boosting my defenses to ridiculous levels. Moonlight lets me stay healthy throughout the set up and recover from any unexpected crits. Stored Power's BP grows with every boost I get, and can sweep on its own. Minimize is perfectly legal on BS, and on top of being a really rage-inducing move, technically gives me 2 boosts for Stored Power since it raises Evasion by two stages.

I ran Charge Beam for the extra coverage and highly potential SpA boost over Minimize until I realized that evasion boosting was legal for BS. The only things that can reliably stop the set now are MGengar with Perish Song/Disable and Dark types, so if I see either of those on the opponent's team, I'm much more cautious with picking Clefable. Toxic is another check but many times the opponent won't use it due to thinking I'm Magic Guard, and if I've already got Evasion boosts then they'll need really good luck to even inflict Toxic on me in the first place.

Overall Clefable has saved many games for me, and I won't deny that this is one of the scummiest sets around. However, its effectiveness in a meta with non-event ubers helps balance the scales.



Azumarill @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Huge Power
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 HP / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Aqua Jet
- Belly Drum
- Play Rough
- Return

The last member of the team. While I would agree that BD Azumarill was largely overhyped at the very beginning of Gen VI, its existence on this team is somewhat more justified in the sense that I'm being aided by screens. It's fairly simple in use: put it in on something that it threatens, BD on the switch, and sweep away. Sitrus Berry gives me a higher chance of survival after BD. I've invested in speed to outpriority Scizor. It also lets me outspeed the three most common Mega Venusaur sets to OHKO with Return after +6, something that the more commonly picked Superpower won't let me do.

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That's the team! A few things to keep in mind when rating/changing for those who aren't savvy with Battlespot:

Item Clause is active, meaning none of my Pokemon can be holding the same item.

Battle Spot banlist by generation:

Mewtwo
Mew
Lugia
Ho-Oh
Celebi
Kyogre
Groudon
Rayquaza
Jirachi
Deoxys
Dialga
Palkia
Giratina
Phione
Manaphy
Darkrai
Shaymin
Arceus
Victini
Reshiram
Zekrom
Kyurem
Keldeo
Meloetta
Genesect
Xerneas
Yveltal
Zygarde