ORAS OU First Team ~1450 elo

[loinjeless]

Hey everyone! Just got into competitive cause of Pokemon Go. I've played and tweaked on PS! a bit already. I'm currently 1400-1450 elo. Any constructive criticism is welcome.

Galvantula @ Focus Sash
Ability: Unnerve
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 30 Def
- Sticky Web
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Thunderbolt
- Giga Drain
Galvantuala is my lead. Normally I try to set a sticky web, but if there's a magic bounce it has a pretty decent move pool to counter. Giga drain for Diance and Swampert leads. Tbolt for Skarmories, Talonflames, and the occasional magic bounce Xatu. HP ice for those trying to set a fast DD sweep and Gliscors. The large move pool let's me counter most unexpected stuff too.

Manaphy @ Leftovers
Ability: Hydration
EVs: 252 Def / 252 SpA
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Tail Glow
- Ice Beam
- Energy Ball
- Surf
Manaphy was mostly for trying to get a max SpA with tglow and sweep (worked better if there's sticky web set up). As I climbed the ladder, tglow sweeps became more difficult to pull off. Now it's mostly just trying to get one tglow off and being a hard spa hitter. Max ev in def to fill the void left by Gardevoir's weak Def. Max Def allows me to survive the switch in and next hit from a physical pokemon. The good move pool allows it to be pretty versatile.

Gardevoir @ Gardevoirite
Ability: Trace
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 SpD
IVs: 0 Atk
- Calm Mind
- Psyshock
- Hyper Voice
- Focus Blast
Mega Gardevoir is my wall breaker. Psyshock for attacking low Def and Hyper Voice for low SpD. Max SpD since it already has high SpD and further increases its chances of surviving two SpA hits. Like I said before, Manaphy counters physical attacks while Gardevoir counters special attacks.

Magnezone @ Choice Specs
Ability: Analytic
EVs: 248 HP / 252 SpA / 8 SpD
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 30 SpA / 30 Spe
- Thunderbolt
- Flash Cannon
- Signal Beam
- Hidden Power [Fire]
Magnezone can OHKO most pokes. Specs + Max SpA give it 590 SpA. Analytic multiplies damage by 1.3x. Coupled with a good move pool, it can one shot most pokes. Max HP to (maybe) survive a switch in hit. I rarely have it switch in since it'll have to take the attack and then another since it's quite slow. I use it mostly after getting a free switch and hitting hard.

Sableye @ Leftovers
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 252 Atk / 116 Def / 140 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Will-O-Wisp
- Taunt
- Fake Out
- Knock Off
Good support. Will-O-Wisp for high attack or attack boosted pokemon. Taunt and Knock Off are for walls/stallers. Knock off can be used in general for annoying items. Def and SpD are spread evenly to make it versatile for any pokes that it may face.

Garchomp @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Rough Skin
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Outrage
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- Fire Fang
Scarf Garchomp is for fast hits. It has the highest speed out of the all the dragons, making it a great dragon counter. Usually, I use it to scare something off. If they switch, a good move pool allows for a free hit on the switch and high speed allows for another hit on the following turn, so a 2HKO. If they stay, I can probably land a super effective and one shot. If I predicted a switch, hopefully they use a move that doesn't take it out and I can get a 2HKO with faster speed. It's a pretty good revenge killer.

Thanks in advance for any responses!

 

[Jajoken]

Honestly Galvantula is pretty bad in OU with any set, but if you have to run it, run Compound Eyes + Thunder over Unnerve + Thunderbolt. You'll definitely appreciate the extra damage and paralysis chance ahead of screwing over the occasional Yache Berry Landorus.

 

[loinjeless]

Honestly Galvantula is pretty bad in OU with any set, but if you have to run it, run Compound Eyes + Thunder over Unnerve + Thunderbolt. You'll definitely appreciate the extra damage and paralysis chance ahead of screwing over the occasional Yache Berry Landorus.

Unnerve was mostly for Unburden Bellydrum Slurpuffs... I got swept by a few lower on the ladder, but I'm assuming they're aren't as many higher up...

If Galvantula is bad with anything, what would work well in its place?

 

[Jajoken]

Slurpuff isn't especially common in OU, no. The major berry user in OU is BD Azu, which dies to Electric attacks anyway. Since you're running Sash instead of LO, the power boost from Thunder is definitely needed, especially since Galvantula doesn't have the highest Special Attack.

I think the major problem with running Galvantula on your team is that it doesn't really need Sticky Web: most of your Pokemon (except Sableye, which has Prankster anyway) are already decently fast. The spreads you're running make you a lot slower than you need to be, but if you just ran 252 Speed, then Webs wouldn't be necessary at all. If you had something like Mega Heracross I could see it, but not with the current build. In that case, Shuckle is usually the preferred setter because it also sets Stealth Rock, something your team lacks entirely. Sticky Web can actually hurt your team more than it helps, as it allows Serperior to roll over you harder than it already does.

Someone will probably come along and give a more concrete rate, but as far as what's better than Galvantula, Thundurus and Raikou are both better at the whole "fast Electric" thing, as they have higher damage, better coverage and the potential for setup (Nasty Plot, Calm Mind). Thundurus might be an especially good pick for your play style as Prankster + Thunder Wave provides a more reliable form of Speed control than Sticky Web.

While I'm at it, regular Sableye is also considered outclassed in OU and the spread/set you're using (except the Adamant nature, which doesn't make a whole lot of sense) is designed for Mega Sableye so it's much less effective at what it does. Fake Out, for instance, is on the set so that you can Mega Evolve safely, which is obviously irrelevant in this case. If you like having a Will o' Wisp user that can take on Mega Medicham, I'd try Mew instead. If you run the Defog set (with enough Defense investment for Medi), that also solves your weakness to hazards.

Also, never run Defense or Special Defense investment while ignoring HP.

 

[ErcaPerca]

I agree with Jajoken that Galvantula really is not necessary at all with this team. I understand while setting up Sticky Webs sounds appetizing, at the end of the day, using Sticky Webs is very gimmicky and situational, and simply put this team is not built that way.

I would recommend completely scrapping Galvantula and replace it with something that can either set up Stealth Rock, or conversely, remove hazards due to your team lacking both those roles.

Truthfully you could throw almost any pokemon that does either of those over Galvantula just because of how minimal of a impact Galvantula truly has on your team.. Though, you do not have a dark resist, so perhaps you would want to look into a rocker like Terrakion. Or perhaps, change your Garchomp's set to defensive Garchomp and add a new Scarf Mon. These are all ideas I'm just throwing around.

It's hard for me to truly give you a sincere rating or criticism/suggestions without completely rearranging your team(which is not what RMT's are for) so I won't.

I do encourage you to experiment around with the meta game though and am excited that we are gaining new players like yourself! Because you are new don't take our comments too harshly, we're just doing our best to help!

If you need any help with anything, testing or building or advice generally speaking you can always find me on here :]

 

[loinjeless]

Thanks for the feedback!

I've scrapped the Galvantula and Sableye and replaced them with Thundurus and Sableye.

Thundurus @ Focus Sash
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 4 HP / 0 Atk / 30 Def
- Thunder Wave
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Nasty Plot

Thundurus kind of takes on Galvantua's role for slowing pokes down. Not sure if I should be running focus sash on it though. It's currently my lead, but there are probably better options. Open for suggestions on better leads or modifications to this Thundurus.

Gengar
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Knock Off
- Will-O-Wisp
- Sludge Bomb
- Shadow Ball

Gengar takes the place of Sableye. Even though it doesn't have prankster, it can outspeed most pokemon and burn them. Knock off for Chancys and annoying items. The other two are good STABs with typing not represented by the rest of the team.

I would recommend completely scrapping Galvantula and replace it with something that can either set up Stealth Rock, or conversely, remove hazards due to your team lacking both those roles.

From my limited experience, Stealth Rock seems pretty situational. Unless my opponent is running Charizard, Talonflame, flying pokes, etc., the damage seems pretty negligable (6-12%). I feel like if that 12% really made the difference, the game really could have gone either way just based on uncontrollable factors such as damage variance or para hax. Also, when you are setting up Steatlh Rocks, Spikes, etc. you use a turn where your opponent could easily be setting up stat boosting moves and take out one or two pokes as a result. But I see a lot of people running it so I must be missing something. If I am, please educate me.
I guess my lack of understanding about Stealth Rock also deters me from running a poke to remove hazards. I feel like if damage does become significant, then I've already given up too many turns and am unlikely to turn the situation around.

 

[SovereignC2]

Thanks for the feedback!

I've scrapped the Galvantula and Sableye and replaced them with Thundurus and Sableye.

Thundurus @ Focus Sash
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 4 HP / 0 Atk / 30 Def
- Thunder Wave
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Nasty Plot

Thundurus kind of takes on Galvantua's role for slowing pokes down. Not sure if I should be running focus sash on it though. It's currently my lead, but there are probably better options. Open for suggestions on better leads or modifications to this Thundurus.

Gengar
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Knock Off
- Will-O-Wisp
- Sludge Bomb
- Shadow Ball

Gengar takes the place of Sableye. Even though it doesn't have prankster, it can outspeed most pokemon and burn them. Knock off for Chancys and annoying items. The other two are good STABs with typing not represented by the rest of the team.

Thundy really should be running lifeorb>sash, and you're missing 4 evs on it.


From my limited experience, Stealth Rock seems pretty situational. Unless my opponent is running Charizard, Talonflame, flying pokes, etc., the damage seems pretty negligable (6-12%). I feel like if that 12% really made the difference, the game really could have gone either way just based on uncontrollable factors such as damage variance or para hax. Also, when you are setting up Steatlh Rocks, Spikes, etc. you use a turn where your opponent could easily be setting up stat boosting moves and take out one or two pokes as a result. But I see a lot of people running it so I must be missing something. If I am, please educate me.
I guess my lack of understanding about Stealth Rock also deters me from running a poke to remove hazards. I feel like if damage does become significant, then I've already given up too many turns and am unlikely to turn the situation around.

Stealth Rocks is a really important part of the game. Stealth rock damage is invaluable for turning certain 2HKOes into OHKOes and 3HKOes into 2HKOes.

Manaphy's spread should be 4 Def/252 SpA/252 Spe with a timid nature.

Analytical Mangezone is decent on paper but rather horrid in practice. The only reason you should be running it in OU is for trapping steels, which would help this teams wallbreaker gardevoir. This is why I would run Magnet Pull>Analytical.

I would also run wilo/taunt>calm mind on Gard.

I would try running standard tank chomp > your current chomp set or even go lando > chomp.

 

[loinjeless]

Thanks again for the responses! Just hit 1509 with the suggested modifications!

Galvantula was a really big problem. I scraped and replaced it with Thundurus as my lead. It's noticeably easier to get the first kill and a paralysis or two off with it.

Manaphy's spread should be 4 Def/252 SpA/252 Spe with a timid nature.

Implemented this suggestion. Manaphy is much better now. It had decent bulk before, so i guess didn't really need the Def boost. Now it can actually land hits!

Analytical Mangezone is decent on paper but rather horrid in practice. The only reason you should be running it in OU is for trapping steels, which would help this teams wallbreaker gardevoir. This is why I would run Magnet Pull>Analytical.

For the most part, I don't really think trapping other steel types works out well. The main steel threats are Mega Scizor, Excadrill, and Heatran. A lot of the Scizor's I've encountered run Superpower. Excadrill's virtually always run earthquake. And Heatrans have Lava Plume. All of these one shot Magnezone. Jirachi is the only one where this might come in handy, but I don't see those nearly as much as I do the other three.

I would also run wilo/taunt>calm mind on Gard

I feel like a willo Gard wouldn't be able to take out special walls like Chancy and Mega-Venasaur (need that SpA boost). Taunt might work better... though I haven't been having too much trouble with walls currently. I might try that out.

 

[SovereignC2]

Thanks again for the responses! Just hit 1509 with the suggested modifications!

Galvantula was a really big problem. I scraped and replaced it with Thundurus as my lead. It's noticeably easier to get the first kill and a paralysis or two off with it.


Implemented this suggestion. Manaphy is much better now. It had decent bulk before, so i guess didn't really need the Def boost. Now it can actually land hits!


For the most part, I don't really think trapping other steel types works out well. The main steel threats are Mega Scizor, Excadrill, and Heatran. A lot of the Scizor's I've encountered run Superpower. Excadrill's virtually always run earthquake. And Heatrans have Lava Plume. All of these one shot Magnezone. Jirachi is the only one where this might come in handy, but I don't see those nearly as much as I do the other three.



I feel like a willo Gard wouldn't be able to take out special walls like Chancy and Mega-Venasaur (need that SpA boost). Taunt might work better... though I haven't been having too much trouble with walls currently. I might try that out.

Magnezone is usually used for removing skarm, rachi and ferry, but yea can otherwise prove situational. willo Gard forfeits some of it's ability to body stall, however it allows Gard catch common switch ins off guard ( such as rachi and scizor). taunt really helps stall break tho. Gard should have no problem beating venu (although it cant switch in cos of sludgebomb).

Also the standard gard spread is 16 HP / 8 Def / 232 SpA / 252 Spe, which guarantees you avoid the 2HKO for LO Latios's Psyshock.

I feel u could try running heatran > magnezone for steels