Team: Tyrant King [OU Heavy Offense]

[Jukain-Arashi]

Hey guys, I'm here with another RMT. As soon as Latias left the OU metagame, I figured I should build a new team that took advantage of its absence. After laddering for a bit the my previous team, I realized that OU became a lot more fun and that I was able to use on of my favorite pokemon in a completely different way. With Latis gone, I no longer have to use Scarf Tar as a check, I can now use DDTar, which is my favorite TTar set. Without further ado, the team!

Team at a Glance:
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Azelf @ Light Clay
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP/4 Atk/252 Spd
Jolly nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Light Screen
- Reflect
- U-turn
- Stealth Rock

The team starts off with Azelf. I set up my Stealth Rocks and Screen then I U-turn the heck outa there. Pretty basic stuff.

Versus top 10 leads:

Azelf: Go to tyranitar and crunch/stone edge, SS breaks the sash and he can't touch you
Swampert: SR then set up screens
Metagross: Reflect first, then SR
Aerodactyl: Run to Jirachi, it's a safe switch in and Iron head 2hko's with a possible flinch
Jirachi: Switch to Gyarados
Infernape: Take the Fake Out, (Light screen first, then SR).
Roserade: Taunt then screens. (light screen before reflect cus roserade is special)
Tyranitar: Switch to Salamence.
Ninjask: Switch to gyrados and taunt, don't let it set up on you!
Heatran: Set up Light Screen so if it Fire Blasts I'm not OHKOed. (then SR, then reflect)

Thanks to george182

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Infernape (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Blaze
EVs: 252 Atk/64 SpA/192 Spe
Naive nature (+Spd, -SDef)
- Close Combat
- Fire Blast
- Stone Edge
- Swords Dance

Swords dance is there for obvious reasons, no need to explain. Fire blasts is the essence of the mix; it allows you to take down such walls as rotom forms and skarmory and even a weakened Gliscor. Close Combat is also there for obvious reasons. Last slot: Stone Edge is there for the flying types like Gyarados, salamence, zapdos.
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Metagross @ Lum Berry
Ability: Clear Body
EVs: 112 HP/252 Atk/12 Def/132 Spd
Adamant nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Agility
- Earthquake
- Explosion
- Meteor Mash

Next up, Metagross. This thing is a beast now that I've used it. After a +2 Spe boost it's not as slow as you might think it is. With its amazing bulk and the ability to withstand an Earthquake really says something about this. Meteor Mash and Earthquake are my main moves that allow me to take out various threats. Explosion in the last slot allows Metagross to explode on the likes of Gliscor that may switch in predicting the popular Thunder Punch.

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Gyarados (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 72 HP/252 Atk/184 Spd
Adamant nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Dragon Dance
- Aqua Tail
- Bounce
- Earthquake

This is the standard bulky Gyarados set with a few alterations. First you may notice that I don't carry Taunt. That's because after a +1 Atk and Spe boost I am able to 2hko Skarmory, which really isn't a problem since the rest of my team maims it. However, after one DD I can OHKO Starmie with Bounce and recover some HP with Leftovers. Earthquake is there to round the set off allowing me to hit slower Electric types (i.e. Electivire) and Steel types for super effective damage.

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Salamence (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 Atk/4 Def/252 Spd
Naive nature (+Spd, -SDef)
- Earthquake
- Outrage
- Dragon Dance
- Fire Blast / Stone Edge

After a bunch of testing, I went back to the standard DD Mence. I can't find a way around this guy, he's just awesome. Most of us already know how this thing works, so I won't explain to much. Outrage allows me to deal raw damage while Earthquake helps clear Steel types out of the way so I can rampage freely. Fire Blast is added so that I have a second check on Skarmory in case Infernape goes down. I may replace it for Stone Edge, I'm not sure, what do you guys think?

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Lucario (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Inner Focus
EVs: 4 HP/252 Atk/252 Spd
Jolly nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Close Combat
- Crunch
- Extremespeed
- Swords Dance

I had to replace the star of the show DD Tyranitar for this thing. Except, I'm not disappointed since SD Lucario really does get the job done. Close Combat is similar to Salamence's Outrage in that it allows me to deal raw damage. Extremespeed the strongest priority out there, so why wouldn't I use it? And finally Crunch allows me to hit ghost types bar Gengar who outspeeds and can OHKO with HP Fire/Focus Blast.
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As you can see by the amount of text in this color, the original team has been altered 100% because of the many rates and opinions. I hope to come to a final consensus on this team eventually.

 

[george182]

Ok first lets sort this plan out:

Azelf: Fire Blast till Focus Sash activates, then SR while it explodes. (what if it taunts?)
Swampert: Hidden Power [Grass} till it dies. (Fine)
Metagross: Set up SR then switch to Gyarados (then it explodes on gyrados and EQ won't OHKO metagross, great plan here lol. I wud fire blast for the 2hko)
Aerodactyl: Set up SR (ok what? have u faced an aerodactyl, the first move it always uses is taunt, just switch out straight away)
Jirachi: Try to KO with Fire Blast + Earth Power (why no SR first? a scarf is not that bad really)
Infernape: Take the Fake Out, then try to predict around it. I go to Gyarados if I predict Close Combat or Earth Power if I predict SR. (Why wudnt infernape just close combat and ko you. Better to just go straight to gyrados, he can take a fake out/close combat)
Roserade: I take the sleep then switch to Jirachi. (fine)
Tyranitar: SR then switch to Celebi. (choice band EQ OHKO's you, but I think it's only me that uses choice band t-tar as a lead)
Ninjask: I set up SR, so if it tries to do a BP chain it's screwed. (Um ... what? stealth rock does not screw over a BP chain lol. I wud fire blast from the off and stealth rock when he protects.)
Heatran: Earth Power till it dies. (if he doesnt have the same idea)

You said predict a bit in there. You can't really predict an oponent before you know there playing style, and the best option from the start is to play the safe move.

Also be careful with scarf raichi as it is magnezone bait.

now 3 dragon dances is generally a flawed stratergy. Unless your useing duel screens and hyper offense. I would suggest turning one of them into a wall breaker. The best wall breaker in the game is probably mix mence. So just change salamence into a mix set and he will help take down problems for your other 2 dragon dancers.

 

[Aeron Ee1]

A DDGyara with Waterfall/Bounce/Stone Edge/Dragon Dance can literally sweep your entire team if its lucky with damage rolls. To rectify this, I would suggest ThunderPunch over Fire Punch on Jirachi. Fire Punch on Jirachi is meant to check Scizor and Lucario and you already have decent checks to both of those.

EDIT: Oh my, you run Life Orb on Gyarados? That's a big no-no. The only thing that separates Gyarados from the the other OU Dragon/Flying is its awesome resistances and bulk, and when you waste that with Life Orb, you're better off using something else. So please use Leftovers.

 

[Afrodisiac]

Hey Jukain, on Heatran you'd might want to change your moveset around a little bit since HP-Grass main intent I'm guessing it for Swampert but it doesn't even OHKO which isn't that impressive at all while if you switch it in for Explosion you can focus on many other different Pokemon. On Celebi you might want to change your moveset around since your current set gets totally walled by many other steel types namely Scizor which usually comes in on Celebi, so that could be a problem so what you might want to resort to is HP-Fire to deal with a much different variety I don't think you might want to use Psychic since you already have a strong Stab move, so no worries about that and your Tinkerbell Celebi will work well.

I don't really have an idea what you rather have on Gyarados, might want to try out a bulkier set.

 

[toshimelonhead]

Good team. I might have an idea to help out.

"Looking back at my team, it doesn't have much trouble with Steel types so I don't see the point in getting rid of Psychic for HP Fire. Plus, Without Psychic to hit Infernape, it can go through my team after Gyarados goes down."

Could putting Zen Headbutt over U-Turn be more beneficial? That would give better type coverage. The problem here is that Scarfrachi suffers from 4MSS picking from a movepool of 5-7 moves:

Iron Head
Thunderbolt (does more damage to Gyara even before Intimidate)
Ice Punch
Fire Punch
Zen Headbutt
Trick
U-Turn

Now on this list, Iron Head must be kept as it is your go to move. Seeing that Celebi takes care of DDGyara, Thunderbolt is crossed off. I don't like U-Turn on Scarfrachi to be honest, especially with Latias gone. Everything else hits harder. Trick is decent but as a revenge killer Jirachi has much more utility with other moves. Here's the set I'd test out:

Jirachi@Choice Scarf
Jolly Nature (+Spe, -SAtk)
EVs: 4 HP, 252 Atk, 252 Spe
Iron Head
Ice Punch
Fire Punch
Zen Headbutt

Fire Punch should be your main revenge killing move early game on because it keeps Magnezone at bay for the time being. Ice Punch is to check DDMence. Iron Head is the main move you use once Magnezone is gone, as flinchhax has saved me on many many battles. I have not tested Zen Headbutt myself but it will OHKO the standard Infernape set almost 75 percent of the time at full health. This also will provide a check to Jolteon, which can be a problem for this team when played correctly.

Good luck with the team. Let me know how the new test does.

 

[Jukain-Arashi]

Putting Zen Headbutt on Jirachi would definitely free up a slot for Celebi. However, that means in order to KO Infernape I'd have to make a sacrifice and then send Jirachi in, woudnl't that make it seem obvious?

 

[toshimelonhead]

Perhaps, but normally once you send Jirachi out for a revenge kill people will suspect something. Gyarados already counters nape, so Jirachi should only be used as a stopgap situation anyways.


EDIT: response to below post

hmmm...that is a huge problem that I have with Scarfrachi too. But what else can be used instead to counter it? Putting a move like HP Ground on there would be pointless because once your opponent knows they will switch to the Salamence or whatever flying-type they use with Magnezone.

I tend to use Fire Punch first just for this very reason, but even then that isn't always enough.

Would putting Earthquake on DDTar/Mence help? Magnezone is tough to individually counter but a second check other than Heatran would help revenge it here.

 

[Jukain-Arashi]

I'll test that out later today. So that would mean HP Fire on Celebi?

Alright, well I just tried Zen Headbutt on Jirachi, it hasnt been helping me that much. I get trapped by Magnezone which is a huge problem.

 

[TheAmazingFlygon]

Heavy offence teams needs to be able to set up in one way or another to work properly. To do that they must either have a free set up on a pokemon that cannot touch them or have good enough defenses and HP too live one attack or two. How to do that? Dual Screen and prohibiting your opponent from setting up spikes. One perfect lead to accomplish that job would be Azelf. Therefore I would consider switching your heatran which doesn't help your team much, in my opinion, for a Azelf (Jolly Max Speed/Max HP with Light Screen/Reflect/Stealth Rock/Taunt or Explosion). Also, I would consider switching your Salamence to a standard DD or Bulky DD depending on whether you prefer longevity or power. For your Tyranitar I think earthquake would be more suitable than Aqua Tail for sweeping, but again that is simply my opinion. Finally, I would try a MixedPhys based Infernape over your Celebi because with Latias out of the way, it can seriously wreak some havoc.

I hope I helped you a little with your team. Good luck and have fun. =)

 

[Jukain-Arashi]

Heavy offence teams needs to be able to set up in one way or another to work properly. To do that they must either have a free set up on a pokemon that cannot touch them or have good enough defenses and HP too live one attack or two. How to do that? Dual Screen and prohibiting your opponent from setting up spikes. One perfect lead to accomplish that job would be Azelf. Therefore I would consider switching your heatran which doesn't help your team much, in my opinion, for a Azelf (Jolly Max Speed/Max HP with Light Screen/Reflect/Stealth Rock/Taunt or Explosion). Also, I would consider switching your Salamence to a standard DD or Bulky DD depending on whether you prefer longevity or power. For your Tyranitar I think earthquake would be more suitable than Aqua Tail for sweeping, but again that is simply my opinion. Finally, I would try a MixedPhys based Infernape over your Celebi because with Latias out of the way, it can seriously wreak some havoc.

I hope I helped you a little with your team. Good luck and have fun. =)

Thanks for the suggestions. The reason why Celebi is in there is to provide T-wave support for my team. I originally had Mence with the standard DD set. And Aqua Tail on Ttar prevents me from being walled by bulky ground types.

 

[TheAmazingFlygon]

Thanks for the suggestions. The reason why Celebi is in there is to provide T-wave support for my team. I originally had Mence with the standard DD set. And Aqua Tail on Ttar prevents me from being walled by bulky ground types.

Thunder Wave is almost unnecessary support for your team; In a Heavy Offense (Physically based one) most Pokémons are either Swords Dance with priority move (Scizor,Infernape) or DD. In both cases they only need the Paralysis support on extremely rare occasions. For Aqua Tail it depends on the situation, sometimes it helps, sometimes it doesn't. Anyway, I'll have to agree with Comp: your team is not a real HO because an HO only has one side of attacking (either Physical or Special with a Mixed Pokémon such as Infernape or Salamence) and it does not have any choiced Pokémon for the fact that an HO is based on stat boosting and sweeping (your opponent's team, in theory and if your played right, will not be able to take on all your sweepers and eventually one will pierce through his team).

EDIT: response to below post

Well if your winning many matches with that team, then I don't see why you would radically change the team. Anyway I think it's a pretty decent team and there's no real major changes as long as it works fine for you except maybe trying out some new sets (Like DD Mence). Therefore there are no real need to convert it to a real HO, unless you absolutely want an HO team. =p

 

[Jukain-Arashi]

Well in that case, I've failed at my first attempt to HO :P
However, what do you think would be some good changes? I'm a bit reluctant to try out your changes since I'm able to win some battles with this as of now. I'd like to get a streak going though.

 

[Congratulations]

This team is not HO. I will rate later because at the moment im working on a new HO team as well.

Ok I can rate the team now. The whole point of HO is to put a bunch of sweepers with common walls so they can take the out so them in the end the last or last sweeper can come in and finish the game, HO also depends greatly on dual screens so your sweepers can come in and set up. Now for the edits for the team so It can truely be a HO team

The best HO lead is azelf because he can set up rocks and screens.
So use azelf over heatran.
Azelf @ Light Clay
Jolly 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 Spe
~ Reflect
~ Light Screen
~ Explosion / Stealth Rock
~ Taunt / Stealth Rock

Now, celebi dose not belong in HO what so ever. So switch it for and SD ape who is one of the best wall breakers when running HO and with out latias he can go ape shit all over teams that are not prepared.
Infernape @ Black Belt
~ Swords Dance
~ Close Combat
~ Fire Punch
~ Mach Punch

Run Black Belt over Life Orb on this set because you have Sandstorm and LO with SandStorm your ape wont last long, that is also why you should run Fire Punch over Flare Blitz.

Other than that It looks pretty good I dont really know about jirachi but you
can check alot of things and scout wich comes in handy with HO becasue it lets you scout so you can see who you will send to set up next.

 

[Jukain-Arashi]

Ok I can rate the team now. The whole point of HO is to put a bunch of sweepers with common walls so they can take the out so them in the end the last or last sweeper can come in and finish the game, HO also depends greatly on dual screens so your sweepers can come in and set up. Now for the edits for the team so It can truely be a HO team

The best HO lead is azelf because he can set up rocks and screens.
So use azelf over heatran.
Azelf @ Light Clay
Jolly 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 Spe
~ Reflect
~ Light Screen
~ Explosion / Stealth Rock
~ Taunt / Stealth Rock

Now, celebi dose not belong in HO what so ever. So switch it for and SD ape who is one of the best wall breakers when running HO and with out latias he can go ape shit all over teams that are not prepared.
Infernape @ Black Belt
~ Swords Dance
~ Close Combat
~ Fire Punch
~ Mach Punch

Run Black Belt over Life Orb on this set because you have Sandstorm and LO with SandStorm your ape wont last long, that is also why you should run Fire Punch over Flare Blitz.

Other than that It looks pretty good I dont really know about jirachi but you
can check alot of things and scout wich comes in handy with HO becasue it lets you scout so you can see who you will send to set up next.

I'll definitely try out Infernape > Celebi. I'm not sure I want to use a Azelf lead, is it possible to use Ape > Celebi without going all out HO?

 

[TheAmazingFlygon]

Infernape cannot simply set up like a Gyarados for example; Infernape does not have the handy intimidate nor the awesome defenses. Like I said, he must set up on a Pokémon that cannot hurt him/ on a switch or using the defensive boost provided by the screens. In short, I DO NOT say you must use the dual screen support, but I would HIGHLY recommend it. However if you do not want to convert to an HO, you can use the Phys or Spe Mixed Ape. It works perfectly fine without screen support (although he needs some teams members to drawback on) and he works even better now that Latias is gone.

 

[Jukain-Arashi]

Alright, I'll test out lead Azelf. Would I Taunt first then Dual Screen? Then explode?

 

[TheAmazingFlygon]

Alright, I'll test out lead Azelf. Would I Taunt first then Dual Screen? Then explode?

The set you should use is this one:

Azelf @ Light Clay
Jolly 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 Spe
~ Reflect
~ Light Screen
~ Stealth Rock
~ Taunt / Explosion

Each time I used it it worked perfectly fine. Most of the times I taunt or set up reflect/light screen (depending of the enemy lead). Then I set up rocks and switch or explode (depending if I had taunt or not). Most of the times, if not all you will set up your screens, however it's not all the time you will be able to prevent your opponent from putting rocks or setting them up yourself.

 

[Jebus McAzn]

You've got a HO team; there's an apparent lack of Stealth Rock that screams out to me. Azelf would be better off replacing Explosion or Taunt with Stealth Rock tbh; Explosion being the less useful option. SR is an immense help to an offensive team.

None of your Pokemon have Earthquake. None at all. This is a problem. I understand your concern against bulky Ground types, but that's why Jirachi has Ice Punch and Gyarados has Waterfall. Name one Ground type that'd dare to stay in on a Gyarados.

 

[Jukain-Arashi]

I'll try out both Dragonite sets in a bit and let you know which performs better.

Also, I don't think that rock weakness will be a major issue, unless someone has a recommendation.

 

[TheAmazingFlygon]

Like I said, keep using Mence until he goes to Ubers (if he ever does go); something I want to point out is that jirachi scarfed defies the purpose of HO. In fact, the goal of HO is too set up and sweep, however jirachi cannot set up anything while being scarfed. I would suggest you switch jirachi to a agility Metagross. Here's the set:

Metagross @ Lum Berry/ Life Orb
Ability: Clear Body
Evs: 112 HP / 252 Atk / 12 Def / 132 Spe
-Agility
-Meteor Mash
-Earthquake
-Explosion/ Thunder Punch (I suggest you use explosion over T-Punch because most people will expect the T-punch and therefore won't switch in gyarados but they will go instead to something like a gliscor and surprise explosion.)


Hope you have luck with this. =p

 

[Jukain-Arashi]

Just noticed something with AgiliGross. Since it doesn't have Ice Punch or Thunder Punch I can't really KO Gyarados/Salamence once it comes in and gets a DD up. I'm not sure if thi will be a major problem for my team since Mence and Gyarados can handle them pretty well with Intimidate drops. What do you guys think?

 

[george182]

First let's sort out the new lead plan, as you seem unsure in some situations, my suggestions in bold:

Azelf: Go to tyranitar and crunch/stone edge, SS breaks the sash and he can't touch you
Swampert: SR then set up screens
Metagross: Reflect first, then SR
Aerodactyl: Run to Jirachi, it's a safe switch in and Iron head 2hko's with a possible flinch
Jirachi: Switch to Gyarados
Infernape: Take the Fake Out, (Light screen first, then SR).
Roserade: Taunt then screens. (light screen before reflect cus roserade is special)
Tyranitar: Switch to Salamence.
Ninjask: Switch to gyrados and taunt, don't let it set up on you!
Heatran: Set up Light Screen so if it Fire Blasts I'm not OHKOed. (then SR, then reflect)

You need to prioritise stealth rocks. For a HO team, SR is vital. Idealy setting screens up last is better as they last longer, but not always the case.

From this, I can see that bulk would be better, and I'm not talking about HP ev's. Lead Uxie can achieve the same as azelf, but uxie can come back in a second time and do it again. A set like:

Uxie @ Light clay
Jolly
252 hp/252 speed/4 def
- Reflect
- Light screen
- Stealth rock
- U-turn/yawn/memento

U-turn allows you to break the sash on threats like aerodactyl and bring in a sweeper safely. Uxie has the bulk so that when she is behind duel screens she can take a hit and is also surprisingly fast with base 95 speed, tieing with gliscor.

Next infernape. While an expert belt ape is alright, he really needs a life orb so that after a sword dance he can OHKO vaporeon. But I think it would be much better to use the nasty plot mix ape as grass knot can take down these massive water types that are giving you trouble, I'm talking about bulky suicune. and then focus blast/close combat can be used

The star of the show tyranitar could do with being replaced. While tyranitars bulk is great, you have problems with bulky waters, which is why I suggest lucario. Sword dance lucario can come take a surf from any bulky water and set up a sword dance. After that he OHKO's all of them apart form suicune where you do 80% minimum after an SD. Tyranitar also has sand stream which is not great for the rest of the team.

Aqua tail and life orb on gyrados allow it to OHKO max hp Rotom-h after stealth rocks. But not the ones that invest in defence. It also lets you OHKO defensive starmie with bounce after stealth rocks and also OHKO offensive ones with EQ.

 

[Jukain-Arashi]

Thanks for the review george. I'll test out the Uxie you recommended. I just wanted to make sure a few things for Gyarados:

Gyarados @ Life Orb
Jolly
252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
- Taunt
- Dragon Dance
- Aqua Tail/Waterfall
- Bounce

That would be that set to use, correct?

 

[TheAmazingFlygon]

If you wanna use a gyarados, switch to this set :

Gyarados @ Life Orb
Jolly
252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
- Stone edge
- Dragon Dance
- Waterfall
- Earthquake/Bounce

You really do not need taunt for the fact that you are to fragile to use it... sweeping directly is the easiest way to go. Also I would advice you to switch explosion for taunt on your azelf just to cripple other leads or stalling pokemon that might want to set up on you (SR and spikes hurt HO teams). Therefore, you don't need any attack Evs so invest them in HP. For metagross, Meteor Mash + SR KOs salamence if I remember and T-punch is useless because most likely gyarados will not switch on you and explosion is just the all around better option for agiligross in HO. Anyway just test these new stuff and good luck with them =p

 

[Korali]

If you wanna use a gyarados, switch to this set :

Gyarados @ Life Orb
Jolly
252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
- Stone edge
- Dragon Dance
- Waterfall
- Earthquake/Bounce

You really do not need taunt for the fact that you are to fragile to use it... sweeping directly is the easiest way to go. Also I would advice you to switch explosion for taunt on your azelf just to cripple other leads or stalling pokemon that might want to set up on you (SR and spikes hurt HO teams). Therefore, you don't need any attack Evs so invest them in HP. For metagross, Meteor Mash + SR KOs salamence if I remember and T-punch is useless because most likely gyarados will not switch on you and explosion is just the all around better option for agiligross in HO. Anyway just test these new stuff and good luck with them =p

Incorrect. Bulky Gyarados with Taunt is actually a very common EV spread, and is actually beneficial to his team to prevent set ups and allow Gyarados to get some free Dragon Dances off. He's not fragile at all except to maybe Jolteon, Electivire, or Magnezone,