Hello everyone! In honor of the Kyurem suspect test I wanted to build a team centered around dragon dance Kyurem. I've played a good few games with it, and it feels like there's definitely something here, but also like it definitely could still use some tweaking. Any tips or advice on how to improve it is appreciated!
THE TEAM:
Kyurem @ Loaded Dice
Ability: Pressure
Tera Type: Ground
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Icicle Spear
- Scale Shot
- Tera Blast
- Dragon Dance
DD Kyurem is of course who the team is built around, and thus is meant to be the sweeper or breaker. Cleaning up after the opponent has been weakened, or punching holes to open up the other team members.
Zapdos @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Static
Tera Type: Electric
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Hurricane
- Thunderbolt
- Volt Switch
- Roost
When building this team, I looked through what good checks to DD Kyurem would be, and found Zapdos to be an excellent answer for most of them. Physical walls like the steel birds, Dondozo, and Primarina among others are pressured by Zapdos. Static is also very useful to try and catch speedy threats since this team is kind of slow. Zap has proven to be a great member of the team, but I wonder if he could have a better set? Maybe a more defensive spread and maybe even heatwave to help the Drill and Gambit match ups and take some of the defensive pressure off Tusk?
Great Tusk @ Leftovers
Ability: Protosynthesis
Tera Type: Steel
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Def
Impish Nature
- Earthquake
- Ice Spinner
- Rapid Spin
- Bulk Up
Tusk is the defensive backbone of the team. He checks physical threats like Kingambit, Excadrill, and set up dragons like Gouging Fire and Dnite. Tusk is also the hazard remover and if necessary, a handy electric immunity. I realize however, that his set is pretty awkward. Bulk up has proven to be useful to set up along side would be sweepers, but something about it just feels slightly off.
Heatran @ Leftovers
Ability: Flash Fire
Tera Type: Grass
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Magma Storm
- Earth Power
- Taunt
- Stealth Rock
Heatran provides good resistances to the team and is the hazard setter. He is also great at dispaching walls like Clef if the opponent lets it get trapped, and stopping threats like Volcarona.
Meowscarada @ Choice Band
Ability: Protean
Tera Type: Grass
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Flower Trick
- Knock Off
- Sucker Punch
- U-turn
Choice band Meow is super fun to use and quite powerful. It gives the team some much needed speed and priority if a sweeper gets out of hand. Knock off spam and strong U-turns are also of course always useful.
Primarina @ Assault Vest
Ability: Torrent
Tera Type: Fairy
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpA / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
- Moonblast
- Surf
- Psychic Noise
- Flip Turn
AV Prim does a really good job at walling most of the special attackers in the tier. And it can either smack them back with a super effective moonblast or surf, or it can gain momentum with flip turn. However the lack of any recovery and it being more or less the only reliable switch in to special hitters puts a lot of pressure on Prim to last as long as it needs to.
ISSUES:
Gliscor is an absolute menace for this team to handle. It can just toxic everything and the one mon it can't it can just ohko. And it can Tera water to also deal with Kyurem and Tusk very comfortably. A well played defensive core with this and like a Skarmory or something else to wall Kyurem and Tusk feel absolutely impossible to break through. Advice on how to improve this match up would be great. I've also noticed that the synergy doesn't feel super great. I could just not be playing super optimally but it feels rare that the team ever opens up Kyurem for a sweep. And it feels like certain well played defensive cores completely shut it down. It also feels like maybe outside of Kyurem and Meow it's not offensively threatening enough?
CONCLUSION:
This is a really fun team to use and it feels like it has a lot of potential, but I think it definitely needs some improvement. It functions pretty well most of the time, but it seems like certain mons and cores are just too difficult to consistently deal with. Any advice or tips are much appreciated! Thanks for reading!
THE TEAM:
Kyurem @ Loaded Dice
Ability: Pressure
Tera Type: Ground
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Icicle Spear
- Scale Shot
- Tera Blast
- Dragon Dance
DD Kyurem is of course who the team is built around, and thus is meant to be the sweeper or breaker. Cleaning up after the opponent has been weakened, or punching holes to open up the other team members.
Zapdos @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Static
Tera Type: Electric
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Hurricane
- Thunderbolt
- Volt Switch
- Roost
When building this team, I looked through what good checks to DD Kyurem would be, and found Zapdos to be an excellent answer for most of them. Physical walls like the steel birds, Dondozo, and Primarina among others are pressured by Zapdos. Static is also very useful to try and catch speedy threats since this team is kind of slow. Zap has proven to be a great member of the team, but I wonder if he could have a better set? Maybe a more defensive spread and maybe even heatwave to help the Drill and Gambit match ups and take some of the defensive pressure off Tusk?
Great Tusk @ Leftovers
Ability: Protosynthesis
Tera Type: Steel
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Def
Impish Nature
- Earthquake
- Ice Spinner
- Rapid Spin
- Bulk Up
Tusk is the defensive backbone of the team. He checks physical threats like Kingambit, Excadrill, and set up dragons like Gouging Fire and Dnite. Tusk is also the hazard remover and if necessary, a handy electric immunity. I realize however, that his set is pretty awkward. Bulk up has proven to be useful to set up along side would be sweepers, but something about it just feels slightly off.
Heatran @ Leftovers
Ability: Flash Fire
Tera Type: Grass
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Magma Storm
- Earth Power
- Taunt
- Stealth Rock
Heatran provides good resistances to the team and is the hazard setter. He is also great at dispaching walls like Clef if the opponent lets it get trapped, and stopping threats like Volcarona.
Meowscarada @ Choice Band
Ability: Protean
Tera Type: Grass
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Flower Trick
- Knock Off
- Sucker Punch
- U-turn
Choice band Meow is super fun to use and quite powerful. It gives the team some much needed speed and priority if a sweeper gets out of hand. Knock off spam and strong U-turns are also of course always useful.
Primarina @ Assault Vest
Ability: Torrent
Tera Type: Fairy
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpA / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
- Moonblast
- Surf
- Psychic Noise
- Flip Turn
AV Prim does a really good job at walling most of the special attackers in the tier. And it can either smack them back with a super effective moonblast or surf, or it can gain momentum with flip turn. However the lack of any recovery and it being more or less the only reliable switch in to special hitters puts a lot of pressure on Prim to last as long as it needs to.
ISSUES:
Gliscor is an absolute menace for this team to handle. It can just toxic everything and the one mon it can't it can just ohko. And it can Tera water to also deal with Kyurem and Tusk very comfortably. A well played defensive core with this and like a Skarmory or something else to wall Kyurem and Tusk feel absolutely impossible to break through. Advice on how to improve this match up would be great. I've also noticed that the synergy doesn't feel super great. I could just not be playing super optimally but it feels rare that the team ever opens up Kyurem for a sweep. And it feels like certain well played defensive cores completely shut it down. It also feels like maybe outside of Kyurem and Meow it's not offensively threatening enough?
CONCLUSION:
This is a really fun team to use and it feels like it has a lot of potential, but I think it definitely needs some improvement. It functions pretty well most of the time, but it seems like certain mons and cores are just too difficult to consistently deal with. Any advice or tips are much appreciated! Thanks for reading!