Predator (peaked #3)

[Groudon ex]

Predator
.::A Heavy Offense Team::.
.::Overused Tier::.

I wasn't actually planning on RMTing this team initially, but seeing as Deoxys-D is probably going to be given the boot from OU sometime soon, I may as well post it, given that it's been pretty successful. Since it seems to be the hot thing right now to share your Deo-D HO teams, I don't see why I shouldn't try to bandwagon on that trend. I may as well retire it anyway, as I'd like to try new things. This pace of this team was a breath of fresh air to me though, especially considering that I'm much more used to running bulkier teams.

Apologies in advance if the team seems a little primitive to you. I somewhat agree with that notion, but it's been fun to use, so who really cares? Essentially, the goal of the team is to get hazards as early as possible, keep them up, remove specific threats and then go to town with a one-two-three punch combo featuring some of OU's most terrifying physical sweepers. They synergise excellently together - I have yet to face a team that could wall all three of them with hazards down. If one can't pull off a full sweep, then another usually can once its teammates have fulfilled their duties.

.::The Team::.

You're going to be bombarded you with large pictures whether you like it or not, deal with it

Deoxys-D @

| Pressure
Timid | 248 HP / 8 Def / 252 Spe | 0 Atk
Spikes | Stealth Rock | Taunt | Magic Coat

No one can deny the fact that Deoxys-D is the king of hazards in OU. Naturally, it was the entry hazard lead of choice for this team. Since very little can OHKO it, it almost always gets at least one layer down; but thanks to its solid base 90 Speed it can usually get two layers down. There's a number of variations to this set I could have used, but in the end I ran with Taunt / Magic Coat simply because it's the most proficient at laying hazards with reliability in my opinion. Red Card can stop certain sweepers from getting a free setup sweep, and may also present the opportunity to set up more hazards.

Gengar @

| Levitate
Timid | 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe | 2 Atk / 30 SpA / 30 Spe
Shadow Ball | Hidden Power Fire | Icy Wind | Destiny Bond

Gengar acts as a decent revenge killer as well as a rather specialised spinblocker. I think virtually all team builds need a Scarfer of some kind, and this team is no exception to that rule. I've tinkered with Focus Sash sets but they were eh at best. Choice Scarf is more useful when it comes to blocking things like Starmie because it outspeeds and OHKO them without necessarily needing to take any damage. HP Fire is pretty much soley for Forretress, though taking out predicted Scizor switch-ins is nice too. Icy Wind does more damage to Dragons/Landorus-I, though other than that it's basically filler. Destiny Bond allows this Gengar to sacrifice itself to take out anything that may be a threat to the team in someway, potentially opening a sweep. Although normally Gengar can be an incredible asset, I still feel as if it's the most replaceable member of this team.

Gothitelle @

| Shadow Tag
Timid | 36 Def / 252 SpA / 220 Spe | 2 Atk / 30 SpA / 30 Spe
Psychic | Thunderbolt | Hidden Power Fire | Trick

Gothitelle may not be the prettiest 'mon around, though it sure does pull its weight for this team. Its ability to remove or heavily cripple a plethora of physically defensive behemoths in the metagame is absolutely fabulous. I ran Magnezone at first, but Gothitelle can trap a much wider range of Pokémon and is still excellent when it comes to removing Steels despite its significantly lower power. Trick helps A METRIC TON versus stall teams, as it effectively disables one of its members with very little backlash. I'd say Gothitelle is in fact the MVP of the team, despite being relatively weak. A typical special sweeper could've easily gone over this spot, but the utility of Shadow Tag was too good to pass up.

Dragonite @

| Multiscale
Adamant | 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Dragon Dance | Outrage | Fire Punch | ExtremeSpeed

The first wave of my troublesome trio. Though Dragonite has fallen out of favour by many players of BW2 OU, it is still incredibly deadly with some hazards down. With its resistances and Multiscale, it normally sets up at least one DD without fail. Dragonite is actually rather great when it comes to taking on weather as it can easily sponge boosted Water/Fire attacks and threatens most of the 'mons that commonly feature on weather-based teams. This set is completely standard, but classic and still functions like a dream. It may be easily revenge killed, but it opens up holes in the opponent's team which my other two sweepers can easily exploit.

Scizor @

| Technician
Jolly | 32 HP / 252 Atk / 224 Spe
Swords Dance | Bullet Punch | Bug Bite | Superpower

Scizor is an absolute boss, 'nuff said. The power behind a +2 LO Bullet Punch can be rather unexpected, and can still deal great damage to even some things that resist it. Anything that doesn't resist one of Scizor's moves gets absolutely slaughtered by it - even Hippowdon struggles to withstand a boosted Bug Bite, and bulky Steels like Skarmory/Forretress take over 55% damage from +2 Superpower. Scizor is just incredible at both cleaning up weakened teams and tearing down walls. Note that I'm using Jolly as opposed to Adamant - the power difference hasn't been too noticeable, yet being able outspeed things like Timid Magnezone, Adamant Breloom and min-Speed Jirachi can occasionally be game-changing.

Sharpedo @

| Speed Boost
Adamant | 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe | 29 HP
Protect | Waterfall | Crunch | Zen Headbutt

Finally, we arive at the namesake of the team - the "predator", if you will. Criminally underrated, Sharpedo will tear your team (and your masculinity) apart in the lategame. See how terrifying he looks: I'd be shit-scared if I was a Pokémon on the other team! Haven taken a punishing from the rest of the team, the mess remaining is simply fish food for Sharpedo. Although priority is obviously an issue, my opponent is screwed once they've lost their priority users. Sharpedo hits incredibly hard off the LO boost and its base 120 Attack alone. I've found having rain on my team wasn't necessary for Sharpedo to sweep, as often my opponent would bring it for me anyway, and its STABs are still getting those KOs with Spikes down, which quickly turn many 2HKOs into OHKOs and so on. I disliked the mixed set because I found that comprising its Attack power wasn't a great idea when Sharpedo has to kill or be killed. Zen Headbutt is an overlooked move option, which is odd considering it can KO would-be checks such as Keldeo and Toxicroak - the former of which is especially ubiquitous.

Importable

Deoxys-Defense @ Red Card
Trait: Pressure
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Def / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Spikes
- Stealth Rock
- Taunt
- Magic Coat

Gengar @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 252 SAtk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
IVs: 2 Atk / 30 SAtk / 30 Spd
- Shadow Ball
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Icy Wind
- Destiny Bond

Gothitelle @ Choice Specs
Trait: Shadow Tag
EVs: 36 Def / 252 SAtk / 220 Spd
Timid Nature
IVs: 2 Atk / 30 SAtk / 30 Spd
- Psychic
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Trick

Dragonite @ Lum Berry
Trait: Multiscale
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Outrage
- Fire Punch
- ExtremeSpeed

Scizor @ Life Orb
Trait: Technician
EVs: 32 HP / 252 Atk / 224 Spd
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Bullet Punch
- Bug Bite
- Superpower

Sharpedo @ Life Orb
Trait: Speed Boost
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature
IVs: 29 HP
- Protect
- Waterfall
- Crunch
- Zen Headbutt

​

 

[Basileus]

This is a GREAT hyper offense team. I suggest only a few things.

1. Thunderbolt over icy wind on Gengar to take out bulky waters. With the amount of rain teams in OU these days, it is one of gengar's most viable moves you will need an ice move for dragon defense however which leads me to change #2

2. HP ice over HP fire on gothitelle for dragon defense. HP fire really won't help in this situation, you already have a lot of protection from steels with the various mix of moves on other Pokemon (i.e. HP fire on G-gar and superpower on scizor). However, too much steel protection can't hurt which brings me to the final suggestion.

3. Earthquake over zen headbutt on sharpedo for extra steel type defense. Now I know you probably put on Z-headbutt to protect against fighting types but lets be honest, the amount of mach punches and low defenses on sharpedo makes zen head rather useless. Sorry but it is the truth. With Eq you will get a better type coverage because steel types are so common nowadays. Also, another suggestion that may benifit would be aqua jet over waterfall to take out the huge threat of mach punch infernape. I haven't really tested sharpedo in OU so idk if this is a major problem but it might help. Sharpedos biggest fear is priority moves and scarfs, so watch out and be cautious when using him in OU. I just thought that giving sharpedo his own priority might help but this is up to you. :)

last look: GREAT team, I am really impressed. If you take my few suggestions then I think it will be EVEN BETTER. Other options could be ferrothorn over deo-D for extra rain coverage but I think you can handle it with gengar's T-bolt/massive attack power of dragonite,and latios over golithette but I love the idea of Borderline in OU. I personally love Staraptor. ;)

IF you do want ferrothorn though for the great rain team coverage I suggest this set:

ferrothorn

Ferrothorn @ Leftovers
Trait: Iron Barbs
EVs: 252 HP / 88 Def / 168 SDef
Impish Nature
IVs: 0 Spd
- Leech Seed
- Power Whip
- Spikes
- Gyro Ball/stealth rocks (and 31 speed IVs)

Best of luck! :D

 

[CedOmega]

I'd just like to point out that you have an excess 29 EVs in Hp. May want to take some out of Spd to make it work, and/or remove the Hp investment altogether.

 

[DarkBlazeR]

I'd just like to point out that you have an excess 29 EVs in Hp. May want to take some out of Spd to make it work, and/or remove the Hp investment altogether.

I think that's 29 HP IVs(?)

Anyway this is a pretty cool team, glad to see the shark getting some love in OU. Landorus-T looks like it could be pretty annoying for this team though, because it can tank hits from pretty much everything and retaliate hard back. Whilst you can beat it simply by overwhelming it as it lacks recovery, given how common it is in the metagame right now, it's worth trying to address. I'd advise you try to fit another Ice move somewhere, probably on Sharpedo because Toxicroak gets beaten by the other team members, and Keldeo can be worn down with hazards into ExtremeSpeed + Bullet Punch range or simply removed using Gengar's Destiny Bond. Keldeo may also be easier to deal with if you replace Lum Berry with Yache Berry on Dragonite so the Scarf set can't revenge kill you.

I think Gothitelle is probably the weakest link of the team overall. Yeah it helps trap things physical walls and things like Breloom, but you already do a decent job of breaking through most of them anyway. I think RP Landorus-I is a good replacement because it provides you with some much needed special attacking power, gives you something to absorb Electric attacks and has excellent offensive synergy with the rest of the team, as your three physical sweepers beat everything that can check it.

 

[Kendrick Lamar]

I would replace Icy Wind on Gengar with T-bolt and maybe take out HP fire because you already have two pokes with the fire moves and you can maybe replace it for Focus Blast to take down T-tars and such. Other than that this is a great team. Luvdisc'd :]

 

[Gimmick]

Hey there!

I'm a pretty big fan of Sharpedo so I just had to comment on your team. Since it's HO, there really doesn't have to be too much defensive synergy, but I can still see some things being problematic. First and foremost is Dragons in general, but DD Dragonite is the most problematic. It's quite possible that Gengar can go down when switching into Starmie or other Rapid Spinners, and then you only have a Jolly Scizor's BP (and your Dnite's ESpeed) to revenge kill Dnite after it gets some boosts. Sharpedo can protect, but it's too dangerous and even a +1 ExtremeSpeed OHKOs 100% of the time without hazards. A large defensive threat to your team is definitely Heatran. Even 252 Modest Heatran outspeeds Scizor and 2HKOs/OHKOs everything on your team after SR. It only fears Waterfall from Sharpedo, but they can clearly just switch out once you send it in.

Alright, so considering the possibilities and team dynamic, I have few yet effective changes in mind. Firstly, I'd definitely like to see Focus Blast on Gengar to avoid getting Pursuit trapped by obvious TTar switch-ins. HP Fire on Gengar, like you said, is specific to one Pokemon Forretress that can be easily dealt with by Gothitelle by switching into the Gyro Ball and proceeding to HP Fire. Basically, replace HP Fire. Focus Blast hits steels too. Anyway, now that you have a free HP slot, definitely replace Icy Wind with HP Ice to OHKO Salamence, Dragonite, and Landorus-T 100% of the time. It also does more damage to various ground types like Donphan and Hippowdon. Here's what it should look like:

Gengar

(M) @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Shadow Ball
- Focus Blast
- Destiny Bond
- Hidden Power [Ice]

IVs: 31/2/30/31/31/31

Focus Blast also hits Heatran for really good damage, which definitely alleviates the problem even more.

More on Heatran: replace Fire Punch with Superpower on Dragonite. You still hit Ferrothorn (Sharpedo's #1 enemy) along with the more important target of Heatran. Superpower is actually stronger than Fire Punch against Ferrothorn and Skarmory in Rain, so there really isn't a big loss. You definitely need another way to take Heatran out that isn't Sharpedo's Waterfall, so I strongly endorse this change. You handle Forretress just fine with Gothitelle while Scizor still doesn't enjoy a +1 Superpower.

There really isn't much you change to help against opposing DD Dragonite without replacing a team member, but I definitely think you can still play around it by forcing it to lock into Outrage and then going into Scizor. You could try out an Adamant nature on Scizor to be able to 2HKO Dragonite with Bullet Punch since Jolly can't, but I also think it's important to outspeed Magnezone (since you don't have a single electric resist and it can just spam Thunderbolt). Honestly, if you think Jolly comes in handy more than 2HKOing Dragonite, by all means stick with it. It's one of those personal choices.

And that's all I got! Great team! Good luck~

 

[doughboy]

Seeing as successful this team was, I am pretty sure most of its flaws were ironed out.

The Problem

From looking at the top, I would guess that you have trouble against most CB Tyranitar Sand Teams. As of now 3 of your 6 Pokemon can be cleanly KO'ed by CB Ttar with little trouble, while 2 can be cleanly trapped. It was wise of you to pack a counter trapping measure in SD Scizor, but ultimately I don't think that is going to be enough, since many Sand teams come prepared for SD Scizor, especially Skarmory. In addition, the Sand provided by TTar can break the multi-scale on your Dragonite. Speaking of Skarmory, if it carries Shed Shell, your team can be a huge amount of trouble. While Shed Shell is not necessarily the most popular option on Skarmory, it would probably be a good idea to carry a plan for it outside of relying on SD Scizor's Superpower.

The Solution

I think a good fit for this team would be the Mixed Attacker lure Jirachi. Personally I would put it over Sharpedo to make Scizor or Gengar the main late game cleaner.

Jirachi @ Expert Belt
Trait: Serene Grace
EVs: 152 Atk / 204 SAtk / 152 Spd
Naive Nature (+Spd, -SDef)
- Iron Head
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Fire Punch

On an HO team such as your, Jirachi can easily feign a Choice Scarf set in order to attract Skarmory in like a moth to a candle. Thunderbolt is the main move that will catch your opponent of guard because it is able to KO Skarmory, but the great thing about this Jirachi is that it is not the only thing it can lure in. Gliscor is another prime target for you to get, considering how annoying it can be to your SD Scizor. Jirachi can come in after one of your Pokemon has been Pursuited, go for the Iron Head, and precede to OHKO the relevant Pokemon it lures in (usually Skarmory). In addition, Jirachi acts as an important check to Tornadus and opposing SD Scizor, who might otherwise clean through your entire team with SR down (Sharpedo's defense is garbage).

This is my first rate in awhile so sorry if it might be crappy. Good luck!