RMT, extremely Naive first OU Team

[Markizzle]

Im primarily an Ubers player, but Im not that good at that either so i figure id give OU a try. Ive been looking around for some pieces of my team, both from the Smogon Platinum updates and metagame anaylsis, as well as some fellow RMTs

Anyways, onto the train wreck!

@ Focus Sash
Naive
64 Atk/ 252 SpAtk/ 196 Speed
-Fake Out
-Close Combat
-Fire Blast
-Stealth Rock

I think realistically this is the best lead because it beats almost all other leads, like Tyranitar, Bronzong, and Weavile. I'm still trying to figure out how a scuffle between this and lead Azelf would turn out, I fake out, then next turn they could either SR, or Psychic, perhaps i should Fire Blast right away, or SR, survive the hit with Sash and then Fire Blast

Anyways I don't get why I have max SpA and only 48 Atk if 2 of my moves are Physical, but perhaps max SpA lets me KO some stuff with Fire Blast?

196 Speed Evs with Naive let me outrun base 100 Pokemon, since Garchomp no longer exists.

@ Life Orb
Naive
252 Atk/ 80 SpAtk/ 176 Speed
-Dragon Dance
-Fire Blast
-Outrage
-Earthquake

One of my physical sweepers, and in my opinion better than the standard MixMence with Draco Meteor. I would actually prefer going Naughty for the extra power, but I need Naive to outrun Jolly Lucario.
As you know, this isnt as broken as Garchomp but can usually deal some severe damage if you allow it to set up at least 1 Dragon Dance. Also beats Scizor 85% of the time.

@ Choice Scarf
Naive
6 Atk/ 252 SpAtk/ 252 Speed
-Fire Blast
-Explosion
-Earth Power
-Dragon Pulse

And another one of my Naive Pokemon! What is a team without ScarfHeatran these-a-days? Max Speed lets me beat those foolish Modest ScarfHeatrans, and also lets me beat Skymin. Dragon Pulse for those Salamences stuck on Outrage, Explosion as a last ditch effort to take out Blissey. Fire Blast for STAB and also my most powerful attack if I don't hit weaknesses.

Surprisingly, I outspeed all Agility Metagross I've ran into, which is strange, but whatever works!

@ Life Orb
Guess what? Naive!
56 Atk/ 236 SpAtk/ 216 Speed
-Fire Blast
-Thunder Punch
-Explosion
-Psychic

Man o Man, doesnt it seem like my entire team is Naive? Also, the amounts of Fire Blasts I have now is.... all of them! I love fire attacks as they are severely underrated and Fire Blast is a powerful base 120 attack that still deals excellent damage to neutral hits.

MixAzelf is almost never used, and I wonder why. In my opinion, this is probably the best Mixed Attacker in OU, i mean 125 in both offenses are no joke. Uturn lets me switch out freely to dangerous threats, Explosion to take it to Blissey and finish off gracefully if I'm low on health. Psychic for STAB, and Fire Blast like explained above.

@ Life Orb/Choice Band
(Naive. No im just kidding its actually Adamant)
Adamant
142 HP/ 252 Atk/ 116 SpDef
-Uturn
-Pursuit
-Bullet Punch
-Superpower

Life Orb Pokemon number 3 now, but at least its not Naive! Anyways, Scizor can take Ice Beams directed at Salamence, Ghost/Dark attacks aimed at Azelf, as well as provide some serious offense! Life Orb gives me the choice of 4 attacks, and all four are useful. Uturn lets me give my teammates free switch ins, Pursuit for Gengar, Superpower if i see Heatrans trying to pull a fast one. Bullet Punch is generally great.

I'm considering axing Infernape for Blissey, for some MAJOR SpDef help, so this might be my lead if i should see fit. But then again, it runs into trouble with the said Infernape. Blissey can also SR for me, so who knows.

@ Life Orb
Modest
224 HP/ 124 SpA/ 160 Speed
-Calm Mind
-Surf
-Ice Beam
-HP Electric

Probably the most important part of my team as far as team synergy goes. It takes Ice attacks for Salamence, Fire attacks for Scizor, and is also a great Heatran switch in.
Ice Beam/HP Electric provide some insurance against Gyarados and Salamence. Surf for STAB
160 Speed EVs outrun Max Speed TTar




Some points of concern for this team is obviously, with everyobe being -SpDef, a Blissey sure can help and could set up SR as well. But then I would be lacking a lead. Also, without rapid spin support, and Life Orb on almost all my members, they could die really fast.

So I guess the theme of the team is to attack first, die afterwards, then let another member do some attacking!

I already explained Fire Attacks, reasonably powerful even if its not powered by STAB. However, one thing that bothers me that Fire Blast could miss every once in a while, costing me games at times. I could replace with Flamethrower, but Amazing Ampharos and Drugged Fox have shown me that Fire Blast is stastistically almost always better, so I'll keep it for now.

anyways, Rate Away!

 

[dr4g0n]

Life Orb Suicune is a weird idea, especially since Suicune is so much better as a tank than as an attacker. I would suggest using Crocune, but that's just because it saved my ass a lot recently.

About the lead thing, just Fake Out first to scout. The opponent can switch, or stay. You get to scout the switch for free, and conserve Sash. If he stays, Fire Blast/set up SR.

 

[Raipooo]

Azelf commonly uses Explosion, and U-turn isn't exactly a sweeping move. It actually seems pretty standard to me, and definately not a mixed sweeper.

 

[Markizzle]

yes it commonly uses Explosion
i was referring to the fact that Azelf is rarely seen for some reason

Suicune may be good as a Tank, but the theme of the team is straightup offense, and Suicune offers an excellent example of an bulky Sweeper

I realize Uturn isnt sweeping anything, so what do you guys suggest replacing it with?

 

[E.A.]

One of the elemental punches (Thunder Punch or Ice Punch) would be the best replacement for U-turn, in my opinion. They provide good type coverage on their own. You could trade in Explosion for the other one, so you get neutral damage on every thing in the game.

I would also suggest you get rid of some of the Life Orbs. I know some of us just take the recoil for granted, but before you know it, your Pokemon is in hot water due to the HP loss.

 

[bojangles]

You helped me out, so now I help you out lol.

Your Leadnape is good, but if you want to primarily counter Azelf, you could run a Endeavor set:
Infernape @ Focus Sash
Timid | 252 Speed, 252 SpAtk, 4 Atk
~Endeavor
~Vacuum Wave
~Overheat
~Stealth Rock

Basically, you endeavor when he hits you with a Psychic, and then use Vacuum Wave to hit him that 1 damage he needs. Or if you know he's going to set up screens or something, you can set up Stealth Rocks. Then you can Overheat the next target, provided they don't outspeed or are named Heatran.

Speaking of Heatran... Your going to want to replace Dragon Pulse with HP [Ice]. Dragon Pulse off a +Speed Naive Heatran probably won't OHKO Salamence, because of the lack of sheer firepower, who will then OHKO with Earthquake. However, with HP [Ice], you can OHKO.

Scizor so wants Swords Dance. Drop either Pursuit or U-Turn to put in Swords Dance. He gets a massive attack boost, letting him OHKO so many more things, and compensates for the Superpower drop.

The only problem I have with this team is that 4/6 of your guys have a Life Orb. This could make big problems when dealing with bulkier or stall teams. Eventually, your going to end up killing yourself, literally. Maybe throw in a Vaporeon for Wish Support.

PS. Your help (and hopefully continual help) is greatly appreciated with my team.

 

[Imran]

I'm tempted to agree with what people have said about Suicune. If you run a bulkier set you will al least have a chance to stall out things if you get a couple of calm minds in. I always found that Blissey stopped LO Cune dead, and it never really accomplished much. Getting a couple of CMs on Cune will help with your - Def Natures, but on the whole I don't think that is too big a problem. The amount of special priority attacks limit themselves to Vacuum Wave which won't do much to Azelf or Salamence, you have Scarftran to out speed other special threats and Stuff. If you really think it is an issue go with Hasty on Salamence, simply because with intimidate its physical bulk is slightly greater, but you will be leaving your self a lot more open to Scizors Bullet Punch if you do it that way:

+2 LO Bullet Punch - Naive: 102-120 Hasty: 113-134
+1 LO Bullet Punch (Intimidate) - Naive: 76-90 Hasty: 85-101
+1 Bullet Punch (CB) - Naive: 59-69 Hasty: 66-77
0 LO Bullet Punch (Revenge Kill) - Naive: 51-60 Hasty: 57-67
0 Bullet Punch (CB Intimidate) - Naive: 39-47 Hasty: 44-52
-1 LO Bullet Punch - Naive: 34-40 Hasty: 38-45

Seeing as this is the most common priority move you will meet, it makes sense to try to survive it more than other Attacks. Sure Ice Beams on the special side are going to hit you harder but I don't think that really matters. There are some cases in there when Hasty will provide a OHKO or 2HKO after Stealth Rock, where as Naive can't. I don't think you should be too scared of Jolly Luke seeing as you have Scarf Tran running around, so you could probably try Naughty, but it's up to you really.

I know it sounds a bit boring and generic but sticking Swords Dance over Pursuit on Scizor might be a good idea, as well as also sticking X-Scizzor over U-Turn, this will give you a chance to sweep at the end. I can tell you a +2 LOL Bullet Punch, X-Scizzor... will sweep through a lot of your opponants team if you have played it well enough, and it will give you an end to work to in your battles, eliminate counter (which I will come to in a minute) and then proceed to sweep.

Lastyly, you lack a real way to get rid of Bulky Waters. If you're preapred to take a few risks you could go with Zapdos > Azelf (with HP Grass for Swampert obviously) or maybe Calm Mind Celebi. I know you lose the Mix-i sweepage but it will allow to stall throughout the middle game and keep Bulky waters off the scene or at least put them in KO range, something that will be greatly appreciated by Scizor and or Suicune if it comes down to it. You could also run Grass knot / Thunderbolt on Azelf to hit them hard, but his inability to repeatedtly switch in and recover off damage could be a liability. Hope some of this helped =D

 

[Markizzle]

well azelf can scare off gengar, but i guess CM Celebi could work for a slightly bulkier pokemon, as well as a Celetran combo. Also, does Scizor even have time to SD, with Flamethrowers, Fire Blasts and HP Fires breathing on it?

 

[Zephiel]

Just dropping by to say that Infernape has no problem with Azelf, just use Fake Out and then use Fire Blast. It'll die in a hit.

Life Orb Suicune is a weird idea, especially since Suicune is so much better as a tank than as an attacker. I would suggest using Crocune, but that's just because it saved my ass a lot recently.

Have you even tried it? LO Suicune is amazing.

 

[reachzero]

Nothing on your team except for Heatran can switch into Skymin, which could be a serious problem since your lead will always have to switch out against Skymin, letting it get a sub up. Perhaps include Zapdos over Azelf? Incidentally, I completely disagree with the commentators above regarding Scizor. I like the moveset, but it really should use a Choice Band rather than a Life Orb, especially since you have so many LO's already.

 

[Markizzle]

This team is way too Naive. >.>


xP

Yes i believe I already addressed that in the title

As for Choice Band Scizor, I generally dislike Choice Items, as Life Orb permits me to Pursuit something, then Bullet Punch the next guy. But yea, I'll try out CB Scizor

Bojangles' Endeavor Infernape sounds pretty cool, except for the fact I dont't know how that set could take on Tyranitar, which was one of the reasons I chose Close Combat Infernape

And for Goldfan's Scizor worries, I suppose Zapdos could help, as well as adding some more defensive bulk but I dont know what set I should run.
I think Salamence and Suicune already take it on pretty well, but I suppose Zapdos could really help with my Skymin troubles, at least until it gets banned(hoping)

Is Life Orb MixAzelf really that bad? I thought it would be pretty beast late game when Scizor is dead, (hopefully Lucario too) and I have taken care of all their Scarfers, leading up to an Azelf cleanup. (I have replaced Uturn with Thunder Punch)

Finally, adding a Blissey/ some other defensive Pokemon can really ease the switching, as Blissey can also Stealth Rock, but I don't really know who to replace

 

[TAY]

I agree with anyone else who has suggested that you change your Infernape lead to an Endeavor user. Suicide leads in general are starting to fade away, so Fake Out isn't anywhere near as useful on average as it used to be. The only times I see it really helping are against Azelf and other Apes, but this team already has somewhat of a handle on offensive and Balanced teams (which are usually wrecked by LO Suicune and will be extremely annoyed by your use of two steel types), so I think it would be wiser to focus your attention on dealing with more defensive leads like Swampert and Zapdos. Endeavor also stops you from being set-up bait for opposing Suicunes, Gyarados, Salamence, etc.

Azelf is a nifty little tool for clearing out Blissey and Snorlax to enable a Suicune sweep, but it should have Grass Knot over thunderbolt in order to deal with TTar (the most common Azelf switch-in after Heatran) and enable you to hit Swampert. It also smacks most of the bulky waters harder than TBolt anyway (and let's face it Azelf isn't countering Gyarados any time soon). Also, is there any reason you are using 56 SpAtk EV's? If it nets you a certain KO that's fine, but Azelf is still primarily a special sweeper, and even with 4 EVs it clears out all the walls it needs to.

(I'll be honest, I laughed at 4/6 members being naive)

 

[Markizzle]

I agree with anyone else who has suggested that you change your Infernape lead to an Endeavor user. Suicide leads in general are starting to fade away, so Fake Out isn't anywhere near as useful on average as it used to be. The only times I see it really helping are against Azelf and other Apes, but this team already has somewhat of a handle on offensive and Balanced teams (which are usually wrecked by LO Suicune and will be extremely annoyed by your use of two steel types), so I think it would be wiser to focus your attention on dealing with more defensive leads like Swampert and Zapdos. Endeavor also stops you from being set-up bait for opposing Suicunes, Gyarados, Salamence, etc.

Azelf is a nifty little tool for clearing out Blissey and Snorlax to enable a Suicune sweep, but it should have Grass Knot over thunderbolt in order to deal with TTar (the most common Azelf switch-in after Heatran) and enable you to hit Swampert. It also smacks most of the bulky waters harder than TBolt anyway (and let's face it Azelf isn't countering Gyarados any time soon). Also, is there any reason you are using 56 SpAtk EV's? If it nets you a certain KO that's fine, but Azelf is still primarily a special sweeper, and even with 4 EVs it clears out all the walls it needs to.

(I'll be honest, I laughed at 4/6 members being naive)

I used 56 Atk Evs to give Uturn/Explosion some more punch, but I suppose having Max Speed/Max SpAtk helps

I suppose Azelf isnt going to counter Gyarados, but without some sort of Electric Move, wouldnt Gyarados gladly set up on me?
Azelf may be a special sweeper at heart, but why can't it be Mixed, I mean it received the 3 elemental punches, as well as sporting 125 Atk.

Also, what do you mean exactly by saying this team has a handle on Offensive and Balanced teams?

 

[XdrubX]

That Suicune doesn't seem right, to tell the truth. I'd drop HP Electric/Ice Beam for Rest or something.

 

[Markizzle]

That Suicune doesn't seem right, to tell the truth. I'd drop HP Electric/Ice Beam for Rest or something.

ugh you guys just dont get it
Suicune could be used for something other than a tank (gasp! What??)
Offensive Suicune with both Ice Beam and HP Electric provides some coverage against Gyarados/Salamence

Suicune is one of the few pokemon that can stand up to a DD LO Outrage, I think.

And if Suicune survives that, Gyarados has no chance with EQ

Suicune also provides Ice Resist, as well as a Water Resist for Scizor/Heatran. Suicune is probably one of the finest Pokemon that can go by the title of bulky Sweeper, and CM with 3 moves gives it complete type coverage. Well except for Lanturn...

As for Suicune getting walled by Blissey, well who doesnt get walled by Blissey?