The Davis Special: Waddling into the San Jose Top 4

It’s been a while since I’ve actually built a team that suited my playstyle. Going into the Worlds Last Chance Qualifier, I simply took a team that my good friend muffinhead had built prior to his retirement. With him in true retirement, and me coming out of “retirement”, I started building with an idea that I played around with prior to the LCQ but never had the courage to bring.

The Team

Cresselia (F) @ Sitrus Berry
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 220 HP / 108 Def / 180 SAtk
Sassy Nature (+SDef, -Spd)
– Psyshock
– Ice Beam
– Trick Room
– Swagger

Cresselia is without a doubt the best Pokémon in the format. I have been using Cresselia on all of my teams since the 2009 season. I opted for Ray’s set and spread because it obviously worked and because I wanted to play a Trick Room team to see how it is. I never thought that I’d see the day where I would Swagger opposing Pokémon, but it came in handy in my battle against BadIntent.

machamp
Machamp (F) @ Persim Berry
Trait: Guts
EVs: 204 HP / 252 Atk / 52 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
– Low Kick
– Ice Punch
– Rock Slide
– Protect

I’ve always liked Machamp as a Pokémon. I wanted something that would defeat the extremely prevalent Tyranitar in one hit all the time because my previous teams would always have problems dealing with it. Low (Kick) and behold, Machamp had just what I wanted. Most people would run No Guard with DynamicPunch, but that does not always OHKO through Chople Berry, while Low Kick would always KO 252 HP/0 Def Tyranitar. I then opted for Guts because there was no tangible benefit to No Guard without DynamicPunch, and I could always draw in status with Machamp and not have burns ruin my day, which came in handy in some battles (namely the one against Metabou). 52 Speed allowed me to hit 82 speed so it would go after Cresselia in Trick Room and take in a Swagger boost.

Empoleon (F) @ Chople Berry
Trait: Torrent
EVs: 220 HP / 108 Def / 176 SAtk / 4 SDef
Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
– Scald
– Ice Beam
– Hidden Power [Fire]
– Protect

Empoleon was my favorite Pokémon on the team and is the first half of what my friend Stempe and I call the “Davis Special”. Often overlooked to the point where many players asked me “Why Empoleon?”, it has piqued Huy and my interests due to its unique typing and plentiful resistances. It was my hard Scizor counter, walling and one shotting 252 HP/ 0 Sp Def Scizor with Hidden Power Fire. The 108 Defense EVs allow it to survive max Attack Garchomp Earthquakes, and with the Chople Berry it will always survive max Attack, Fight Gem Close Combats from Hitmontop and will survive the same attack 90% of the time coming from a Gallade. In the first round, it was my “safe” switch-in on a Close Combat.

Landorus (M) @ Expert Belt
Trait: Sand Force
EVs: 136 SAtk / 120 SDef / 252 Spd
Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
– Earth Power
– Hidden Power [Flying]
– Grass Knot
– Protect

Landorus is the second half of the Davis Special. It resists all of Empoleon’s weaknesses, and the both of them together create many safe switch-ins for each other. At first, I was thinking of a physical set, but then Stempe and I agreed that a Special set with Expert Belt would be much more useful. We planned on using a Timid spread to outspeed certain threats, but could only find a Modest one (Thanks Biosci!). It was EV’d to OHKO non-Shuca, 252 HP Metagross and also put chunks of damage into Gastrodon and Hitmontop with Grass Knot and Hidden Power Flying respectively.

Hydreigon (F) @ ~~Choice Specs~~ Choice Scarf
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 52 HP / 252 SAtk / 204 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
– Hidden Power [Dark]
– Earth Power
– Draco Meteor
– Fire Blast

This is another rip from Ray Rizzo’s team, however I do not like the usage of Dragon Gem on these Draco Meteor users. As evidenced from Cybertron’s Nationals Semi-Final battle, the usage of the gem made a Draco Meteor from Salamence 3HKO his Thundurus while a Specs set would have been a 2HKO. Since you’re either going to switch or keep firing off Meteors, I saw no point in the gem and opted for continuous power on successive Meteors or to power up the rest of my moves as well. Hidden Power Dark / Earth Power is the only legal combo as of now, and I did not really miss the 10 difference in base power for a way to hit opposing Heatran. With Specs, Hidden Power Dark would still 2HKO a Cresselia with Ray Rizzo’s spread. The speed EVs were different from Ray’s, so I could outspeed other Ray clones.

All of this is well and good, but I was tired the night before and accidentally placed a Choice Scarf on Hydreigon instead of the Choice Specs. I did not realize this until after the tournament, even though all of my opponents were asking me if it was Scarfed. I always insisted that I was Specs’d. Whoops…

Ludicolo (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Rain Dish
EVs: 252 HP / 108 Def / 100 SAtk / 44 SDef / 4 Spd
Calm Nature (+SDef, -Atk)
– Leech Seed
– Giga Drain
– Protect
– Scald

This Ludicolo’s EV spread is a straight rip from Toler Webb (Dim)’s Worlds winning team. Since Regionals are open, I thought there would be a prevalence of Rain. This would stop Rain teams cold. Dim utilized Swift Swim while also running Sunny Day to stop Rain teams. I, however, embraced the Rain with this wall. Leech Seed and Protect, along with Rain Dish and Leftovers, will allow you to heal so much in between turns that Ludicolo stands as the only Pokémon on my team to never be knocked out. Yep. It survived my battle with KingofKongs by 1 HP, and he knew he did not have enough offensive firepower by the time it came out to end my run.

Final Thoughts

Here is where anyone would mention common threats to their team, however, my theory into this team never got to this point. I never practiced with this team, I kind of just built it on PO, showed it around, and then ran with it. I never theory’d how I would deal with common leads and told myself I’d just roll with it. My main strategy was to bring Hydreigon and Cresselia up front, with Empoleon and Machamp in the back. Hydreigon would wreck as much as it could, and then I would switch to my Trick Room mode. The only real threat to this team is not knowing what item is on your most common lead Pokémon…

I ended up taking 4th place at the San Jose Regional. Not a bad finish considering my lack of preparation. Notable players that I was matched up against include a girl in the 2nd round who had “read” about me, BadIntent, Hakemo, KingofKongs, Metabou, and eventually knocked out by the champion himself, Kamz. Looking back, I might have been able to win the whole thing, but I did my best, I have no regrets (except the Choice Scarf). And with that I leave you with a picture of me and my trophy: