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I ATTAC

8 (15.4%)

I PROTECC

6 (11.5%)

Waiting on the third one

2 (3.8%)

Waiting on the third AND fourth one

1 (1.9%)

GET WELL SOON ZYGARDE

5 (9.6%)

I am a concientous objector and abstain from taking up arms

30 (57.7%)

Total Members Voted: 51

[Mageziya]

After taking your advice into consideration:

The Jirachi is in a really odd spot. The iron head/physical Jirachi is obviously better, and the nature of the current Jirachi hampers its effectiveness, and I actually have the option to set it up due to the spare Jirachi. My reasons for wanting to use it is because there's a stupid joy in using Draco Meteor with a Jirachi (Even if it's not the best move for it), in part because no one, or at least the people I face on the 3DS, expects a Jirachi to have Draco Meteor. The other reason is because I've had the specific Jirachi for 5 odd years, and it was one of the first event Pokemon I ever got, making it sentimental to me. The obvious solution is to use both Jirachis.

The Shaymin feels a little odd due to Shaymin-Sky being ranked in Ubers, though Smogon rankings get a little odd at point, and coupling it with how rankings don't technically matter on the 3DS and how some people would feel the Jirachi and Manaphy are cheating due to their mystical nature, then maybe it could slide.

As for Manaphy, I really don't know of many raindancers, and its an odd thing to search for, so suggestions would be helpful. Alternatively, I could replace ice beam with rain dance and, if I'm going with Shaymin, replace energy ball with psychic.

As for remaining holes on the team, I need walls and a mega. I could try salvaging a mega-Gardevoir or mega-sableye out of the old set, but I want to try something new. I also want to try including a fairy type, as I still commonly encounter dragon types and, in my experience, they're a general good type to have. Part of why I wanted Diancie was because it was a mega fairy mixed attacker, which seems good for the team.

Some form of set-up would also be preferred.

I could try tossing a Togetic in. 3 serene grace flinchers? The rage would be felt around the world. I mean, its not like two of them use the same attack and that variety is key in this game or anything.

Quickly glancing over the lists for OU, BL, and UU, some potential candidates: Heatran (I have a hardy natured one), Tyranitar (Though it would be annoying as hell to train), Mega-Altaria (floof), Galvantula, Metagross (Could re-purpose the shiny event one I've been using for normal gameplay, netural natured.), Landorous (Problem: Don't have one.). Any other suggestions would be very welcomed.

[Neonivek]

Ubers if I remember correctly include all legendary pokemon by default... even when they stink. Though it only strongly affects one pokemon (Some Ice/Dragon type before it got its hybrid forms)

[umiman]

Mageziya:

I've seen some Jirachi's being used as set up before. It can learn Stealth Rock believe it or not. You might want to look into it. I like Jirachi because again, the typing is excellent and it's very versatile. You can do whatever you want with it.

I wouldn't toss ice beam on Manaphy... Ice beam is one of the best moves in the game. Energy ball is not. The standard Manaphy is rest, scald, ice beam, rain dance. If you don't want to waste rain dance on it (perfectly understandable), other good rain dancers include Goodra (hydration + muddy water), Swanna, Vaporeon (hydration again), M-Swampert (swift swim + waterfall), Ludicolo (it's really scary actually), Heliolisk. I'm sure you can find other off-the-wall ones that no one would expect. *HINT HINT* Jirachi can learn it too *cough*. Keep in mind some of the above are a bit redundant when you have a Manaphy.

Almost all the fairies in the games are walls. Specifically special defense walls. Klefki for example is a great all around wall that's pretty amazing in general with prankster. Klefki can also work as a set up if you want it though I think it's scarier as a thunder wave, play rough, foul play monster.

If you don't want M-Gardevoir you can get M-Gallade. The guy is crazy strong. Also he's kinda rivals with Bisharp so maybe you like that sort of thing.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Heatran would work as a set up if you wanted it. Also do some damage before dying. With flash fire he can tank fire moves for the rest of your steel team but you'll sacrifice that for even more weakness to earthquake.

Tyranitar works well with steel teams because they don't take damage from his sandstorm. He's also an incredible special defender. He has a lot of weaknesses but has a lot of strengths as well. I consider him a very difficult Pokemon to understand but amazing in the right hands. My personal one runs protect, thunder wave, stone edge, and crunch along with leftovers.

M-Altaria is alright. Pixilate is strong in general. I normally see people do the return x pixilate thing on it. It's a good all rounder that can do good damage. Has access to great moves like roost, earthquake, dragon dance, etc.

Galvantula is what it is. Always has the same moves. Almost guaranteed thunder. Sticky web. Everybody and their mother knows what it does and has a counter for it already since it's so popular. If you really want sticky web then you can get it. Honestly it'd be pretty useful on your team as sticky web allows Jirachi and co. to outspeed many things.

Metagross is meh. Typing is great but it's so meh. The mega form just amplifies the meh. The problem with it is that it's very limited offensively and it's pretty frigging crap at anything that doesn't involve hitting things. Jirachi is better in almost every way.

T-Landorus is fine. Everyone loves it because it can u-turn and intimidate along with earthquake. Strong in general.

[birdy51]

Mega-Altaria might not be a bad idea. Maybe. I really don't know that much competitively, but it is a Fairy Type and you need a Mega.

[Mageziya]

I'm sort of dragging this out in a lot of posts, but writing it all out helps me think about it.

So after some thought, the team I've decided on so far would be:

Jirachi, Manaphy, Bisharp, Mega-Altaria, Galvantula.

On edge: Heatran, Shaymin, Tyranitar.

The team's a weird combo so far, which is what I like. I'm not going for the most hyper optimal there is, otherwise this group would be some boring standard mix of pure commonly seen OU Pokemon (I am aware that that is a tautology).

Spoiler: Reasons (click to show/hide)

Mega-Altaria: The reason I'm going with this is, while it might not be the best mega or fairy type, to me it's interesting. It's also a partial case of, "Well, screw the competitive players, I just use the pokemon I like" mentality.

Galvantula: You're right on the speed thing. This entire team is slow, to the point where a standard, slightly boring Galvantula's sticky web is almost needed as a crutch. Interestingly, in the not-hyper competitive 3DS multiplayer, Galvantula is rather rare.

Heatran: It's wanted more-so to be a wall, but it's 4x weakness to ground makes me question that when everyone and their mother seems to have at least one Pokemon with earthquake as a move. It's not fun being weak to ground.

Shaymin: Shenanigans.

Tyranitar: Seems good, but I'm not sure if it fills a needed niche or not.

The way I look at it, I tend to try for a team that can balance a focus on the stats of Attack, Sp. Attack, Defense, And Sp. Defense.

The current set-up looks to be: Physical/Special Attacker, Special Attacker, Physical Attacker, Mixed Attacker + Mixed Defense,  and Frail Set-up.

The on edge Pokemon: Dubious Bulk, Annoyance / Special Attack, and good overall and a possible wall but uncertain.

Then there's the need to examine and holes in type coverage, both offensively and defensively. This is something that I'm terrible at and can't really be evaluated until I make move sets for everything.

[umiman]

The way I see it here's how it'll play out with your three edges:

1. You take Heatran so you have some answer to fire types other than hoping M-Altaria and Manaphy don't die every time you switch them in to tank a fire blast or whatever. However, if you do this your team becomes extremely weak to earthquake with the only dude capable of resisting it being Galvantula and your Altaria who hasn't mega evolved. Galvantula resisting earthquake is like a human with a hat resisting a sledgehammer to the face. He'll still die in two hits. If Altaria goes super into defense, then it can tank earthquake a few times.

2. You take Shaymin, hope you never fight fire types because now basically your entire team is weak to it, but be much stronger against the ground / rock types that will surely show up.

3. You take Tyranitar, and have him obliterate fire types. But now you have to be careful with 1/2 your team as the sandstorm can chip damage them. You also regain your "super weak to earthquake" status like option 1.

[Mageziya]

After some thought, it seems like the best counter to the problem to the fire-type and earthquake problem would be a ground type.

After looking around, the best ground type options seems to be Garchomp, with the good stats of a pseudo-legendary and good typing. The biggest problem I see with it is, in combination with Altaria, fairy type seems to be a huge threat to the team.

An alternative could be Hippowdon, a good wall with mono-type ground, though Garchomp seems better with stats, speed, and even typing resistances. The benefit of this though is that it evades fairy shenanigans.

[Neonivek]

I am debating with myself if I should get Sun and Moon and basically be banished to using only the current gen...

OR if I should wait for "The good version" that they always release... and have fun with all the gens.

[Mageziya]

The good version always sells way less, which is why they started getting weird with them. Platinum had abysmal sales, just like Emerald and Crystal, so they tried something different by making Black 2 and White 2 instead of a Pokemon Grey. When even those didn't sell, they scrapped the third title system and never made a Pokemon Z. It's likely that there will be no middle game for sun and moon.

Remakes, on the other hand, tend to sell really well, which is why they made ORAS.

[Neonivek]

UUUUGH!

How am I ever going to jump into Pokémon now? xD

[Greiger]

A friend of mine has been harping on me to try to make a dragon only team for triples.  Me and him used to make themed teams all the time but while I wouldn't call it a rut, I have kinda been stuck in a particularly effective team that includes grass/fire pledge, a sunny day, an aerodactyl that only exists for sky drop, wide guard, and taunt, some Zoroark shinanigans, and a rhyperior with an assault vest. 

I haven't used a real dragon type since fairy was introduced.  Pretty much finding them to be far too short lived now.  Have there been any interesting changes to any dragon types I should look into since Black and White that folks are aware of?

EDIT: Also I've been thinking of trying to make another triples team based around Suicune in some way similar to my current team based around Zoroark.  I like cartridge ranked battles.  Anyone know if Suicune is on the ban list for that?  No point to making the team if I can't use it after all.

[Culise]

Ubers if I remember correctly include all legendary pokemon by default... even when they stink. Though it only strongly affects one pokemon (Some Ice/Dragon type before it got its hybrid forms)

Cover legendaries, probably, but even then, base Kyurem (the Ice/Dragon you recall, though to be fair, it wasn't a cover legendary until it received its new forms) isn't Uber.  Of the cute legendaries being mentioned, only one ever made it to Uber (Manaphy, Gen 4-5).  Uber isn't a rarity guide; it's a power rating (along with the BL/Borderline tiers and AG/Anything Goes; typical Smogon tiers are based on usage) by an unofficial group (albeit an influential one in the English meta).  That said, Nintendo's ban lists frequently do extend to all legendaries regardless of ability, so that is likely what you're thinking of. 

Also, come join the dark side.  Buy at release.  We have cookies. :3
^{I miss third-version releases as well.}

A friend of mine has been harping on me to try to make a dragon only team for triples.  Me and him used to make themed teams all the time but while I wouldn't call it a rut, I have kinda been stuck in a particularly effective team that includes grass/fire pledge, a sunny day, an aerodactyl that only exists for sky drop, wide guard, and taunt, some Zoroark shinanigans, and a rhyperior with an assault vest. 

I haven't used a real dragon type since fairy was introduced.  Pretty much finding them to be far too short lived now.  Have there been any interesting changes to any dragon types I should look into since Black and White that folks are aware of?

At any rate, Gen 6 dragons.  Not much has changed move-wise; no new moves were added to the type for the first time...ever, really.  Most notable in their base form are the uniquely-typed Dragalge, Tyrantrum for its design, Noivern for its speed, and Goodra for special bulk.  Dragalge's Poison/Dragon type helps reduce its vulnerability to Fairy attacks and its special bulk compares favorably to most Fairies, but it is quite slow and its offensive ability is mediocre.  Tyrantrum is a T-rex, but the King of Lizards is not quite so regal when it's shackled to a Rock typing and a mediocre speed; Dragon Dance still makes it usable, and Rock does give STAB to some good offensive options.  Noivern is fast and flexible for both support (Tailwind in Doubles, Taunt in general) and offense, and does fairly decently for itself, I believe.  Plus, bat.  Goodra is tanky and has good offensive flexibility, but lacks for recovery, which limits its usefulness as a wall outside of Assault Vest sets. 

Including megas, you have Altaria, Salamence, the Latis, Sceptile, and Ampharos, not to mention Mega-Ray which, since I was just discussing Smogon tiers, inspired the creation of a new "tier" just for it.  For a dragon face-off, Mega-Altaria seems amazing due to Pixilate (turns all Normal moves to Fairy, including Hyper Voice, which hits all opponents in a Double battle and ignores Substitute), its own Fairy typing, and the fact that it could either go Physical, Special, or mixed on the offense due to a decent stat spread and moveset.  M-Sally is more dangerous in general due to its Aerilate (turns all Normal moves to Flying) and extremely dangerous stats, which apparently got it relegated to Ubers sometime after I stopped following Smogon.  The Mega-Latis don't quite measure up to a Soul Dew-using monster attacker base form, but if you use Smogon tiers, neither are banned, and both have some use defensively.  Mega-Sceptile is fun for doubles; Lightning Rod helps cover any electrical weaknesses, but that's less relevant for a Dragon team as Dragon already resists Electric.  Mega-Amphy is best on a Trick Room team, where its low speed turns into an asset that lets it clean up shop with powerful blows, but otherwise is not quite so great.  Mega-Ray almost deserves no mention; it's nasty, nasty tough, cancels out its own Flying weaknesses due to its ability, and it doesn't even need a Mega stone to evolve.  I'm not sure it's quite Gen 1 Mewtwo levels of broken, but it's not for nothing that it was given its own tier.

[Greiger]

Sweet, thanks for the overview.  I wasn't aware Dragalge was dragon type.  I honestly pegged on looks as water/poison.  I'll have to look into it closer then. 

Tyrantrum is one of the few new dragon types I poked a little bit with, and ended up being what caused me to conclude dragons die too fast. The Tyrantrum I tried was built to be a massive wall but dropped way too quickly for my tastes, easily going down in a single turn, often to one attack. It ended up being replaced by my rhyperior, who can pretty much only be one shot when my sun is up, by grass knot or a stab solar beam.  It sounds like I probably should have used Tyrantrum more offensively.

You may have sold me on mega Altaria, though it would probably be easier for me to obtain a Mega Sceptile, since a non-mega'd sceptile is my current's team's grass part of the grass/fire pledge, breeding is pretty much already done.

Thanks for the overview, looks like I have a few more options than I originally expected.  And I suppose it would probably help that the fairy novelty has worn off by now and everybody and their mother is no longer running 3 fairy types per team.

[Culise]

Ah, yeah.  Tyrantrum is a wee bit of a glass cannon, in spite of its nominal stats.  With less special defense than Bibarel, it's not looking at any favors there, and Rock makes it vulnerable to common physical moves like Earthquake and Close Combat on the physical side in spite of a physical defense that looks like it should work almost as well as Donphan or Weezing on paper. 

[Mageziya]

Side note, I finally cracked and started using Smogon's showdown for the first time ever to test out the set I'd been building in this thread. I've gone with Garchomp for the test build.

I'll fully detail the team when I've ironed out the weird bits, but I've given Jirachi Iron Head, Thunder Wave, U-Turn, and Rain Dance, and Manaphy Tail Glow, Scald, Ice Beam, and Rest. Currently, they seem to synergize in an absolutely stupid combo that can wreck, or maybe that's just the Tail Glow. Best tiny lil' buddies of destruction.

Galvantula's sticky web really complements the team, and Mega-Altaria and a nice and effective fluff-ball of doom. Currently, only Bisharp and Garchomp feel fumbly to use.