First OU RMT - Starmie Sweeper

Hi everyone. I've only been playing competitively for a few days, and only lurking for a week or two, so I could really use some help. While the team may be unsuccessful because I'm new, I'd like to work out as many kinks in the team as I can. From testing, my Pokemon seem to be quite fragile and can't handle Substitutes well. All criticism is greatly appreciated. The sprites are from PE2K and the bigger pictures are from Arkeis. Props to TFC for being my mentor!

At a glance:





In-Depth:



Aerodactyl @ Focus Sash
Pressure
4 HP / 252 ATK / 252 SPE
Jolly
-Earthquake
-Rock Slide
-Stealth Rock
-Taunt

With access to Taunt and Stealth Rock, Aerodactyl can prevent opposing Pokemon from setting up, giving you time to put up your own Stealth Rock. Aerodactyl can rarely take more than a hit or two with no EV investment in its defenses, turning Focus Sash into the only viable item. It not only gives Aerodactyl a second chance if Taunt is misused, but it allows Aerodactyl to survive hits from faster Pokemon.

Water -> Starmie
Electric -> stay in if you're faster / Rotom-H
Ice -> Starmie / Lucario
Steel -> anyone except Tyranitar


Tyranitar @ Choice Scarf
Sand Stream
120 ATK / 252 SPE / 136 SPA
Hasty
-Crunch
-Stone Edge
-Fire Blast
-Ice Beam

While most players expect Tyranitar to be slow and hard hitting, this set attempts give it a much needed boost in Speed at the cost of some of its attacking power. With a Choice Scarf and the natures and EVs listed above, Tyranitar edges out many dangerous OU threats such Starmie, Azelf, Infernape, Gengar, Salamence, and Lucario.

Water -> Starmie / Gyarados
Grass -> stay in / Gyarados
Ice -> Starmie / Lucario
Fighting -> Starmie / Gyarados / Rotom
Ground -> Gyarados / Aerodactyl / Rotom
Bug -> Aerodactyl / Gyarados / Lucario
Steel -> anyone except Tyranitar


Starmie @ Life Orb
Natural Cure
4 HP / 252 SPE / 252 SPA
Timid
-Ice Beam
-Recover
-Hydro Pump
-Thunderbolt

The team’s star and Special sweeper, LO Starmie. Ice Beam smacks Salamence and Flygon, Hydro Pump STABS the oh-so-popular Heatran, and Thunderbolt quickly dispatches of opposing Gyarados. Recover serves as a way to come back from stacked LO damage.

Electric -> Latias / Rotom
Grass -> Lucario
Bug -> Aerodactyl / Gyarados / Lucario
Ghost -> Tyranitar / Lucario
Dark -> Tyranitar


Rotom-h @ Choice Scarf
Levitate
248 HP / 252 SPE / 8 SPA
Timid
-Hidden Power (fighting)
-Shadow Ball
-Thunderbolt
-Trick

The team's switch-in if I anticipate Earthquake or Rapid Spin. HP Fighting gives Rotom choices when facing Tyranitar and Heatran. Trick cripples Special walls such as Snorlax and Blissey. It can also prevent Pokemon like DDGyara or DDmence from setting up. Shadow Ball and Thunderbolt are for STAB and, since this Rotom is scarf'd, can be used against fast threats like Gengar and Gyarados.

Ghost -> Tyranitar / Lucario / stay in
Dark -> Tyranitar / Lucario


Lucario @ Life Orb
Inner Focus
252 ATK / 4 DEF / 252 SPE
Adamant
-Close Combat
-Extremespeed
-Crunch
-Swords Dance

With a 1-turn setup, a 120 base power STAB attack, and one of the strongest priority moves available, Swords Dance Lucario is arguably the best late-game sweeper in OU. Excellent typing, well-distributed stats, and a versatile movepool only make Lucario even more difficult to face down. After a Swords Dance, even Skarmory and Bronzong are easily exterminated with one Close Combat, assuming Stealth Rock damage and an Adamant nature. ExtremeSpeed is just as vital to Lucario's sweeping prowess as Close Combat, as most of the Pokémon faster than Lucario are frail enough to be OHKOed by ExtremeSpeed after a Swords Dance.

Fire -> Aerodactyl / Tyranitar / Starmie / Gyarados
Fighting -> Starmie / Rotom / Gyarados



Gyarados @ Life Orb
Intimidate
252 ATK / 4 DEF / 252 SPE
Jolly
-Dragon Dance
-Earthquake
-Ice Fang
-Waterfall

The team’s Physical sweeper. Dragon Dance allows it to out-speed a lot of stuff and have more frequent OHKOs. Waterfall STABS stuff like Heatran and occasionally even Tyranitar. Ice Fang allows me to switch into Dragons. Earthquake is the team’s super-effective out to Electrics, which Gyarados can easily outpace after a D-Dance.

Electric -> Rotom / stay in
Rock -> stay in, plenty of outs

Thanks for looking everyone, please comment! ^_^ One last glance:

Hello.


You lead has considerable trouble with Lead Azelfs. Since many have Fire Blast and can taunt you to prevent you from setting down your entry hazards. In order to safely take down Azelf is the use of a Scarf Tyranitar.

@Choice Scarf
Hasty / Naive
EV: 120 Atk / 136 SpA / 252 Spe
~Fire Blast
~Ice Beam
~Pursuit / Crunch / Stone Edge
~Earthquake / Stone Edge

Since this version is mixed you'll obtain similar results to your set now, although obviously it won't work as well. Once you come against a Azelf switch to Tyranitar to take the Taunt or Fire Blast, either won't do too much other then the unfortunate burn hax. With pursuit this versio can easily take down Azelf's and Latias' easily. Since you outspeed even max speed Base 110s.

Hope this helps.


A scarfed Latias can be changed to the LO variation, in order to create greater choas.

EDIT: Adding a Scarfed Ttar allows to have a easier time dealing with Latias' and Gengars since you outspeed them. And can't get Pursuited like Scarfed Latias.

Hi. I really like this team, but I think some changes can be made. The first thing I see is that you lack a spin-blocker, which isn't good with a team that has Spikes and Stealth Rock. Also, I notice that your only two answers to Gyarados are Forretress who can explode, and Latias. Latias is Pursuit bait, so if you reveal it too early, it could be game over. Forretress is also your lead, meaning it won't be along very along after performing its duties. To help fix your problem with Gyarados, as well as providing a Rapid Spin Blocker, I suggest changing your Latias to a Choice Scarf Rotom. Rotom isn't as Pursuit bait as Latias, because it can utilize HP Fighting for Tyranitar, and Thunderbolt hits Scizor hard. Here's the set I want you to use:

Rotom-H @ Choice Scarf
Timid Nature
248 HP/ 252 Spd/ 8 SpA
HP Fighting/ Shadow Ball/ Thunderbolt/ Trick

The EVs allow you to 2HKO offensive Latias with Shadow Ball, and provide greater bulk. Another thing I want you to do is change Payback to Gyro Ball to Forretress, and Explosion to Rapid Spin. This will allow you to have a decent check to DDSalamence, as well as a spinner, for Stealth Rock and other hazards. Another thing I notice, is how you have SpA EVs on your Tyranitar, with all physical moves. Go with Flamethrower>Fire Punch, to hit the threats you mentioned in your RMT harder. The final change is Hydro Pump>Surf on Starmie. This will allow you to OHKO Tyranitar's that go light on SpD after SR, as well as Scizor and Rotom. I hope I helped, and good luck with the team!

Okay, cool team but I definitely see some things I want to incorporate into this team. My first suggestion is to drop Pursuit for Ice Beam on Tyranitar. Just lead with Crunch to dent most things, and to lure Gliscor or Hippowdon in and OHKO them with Ice Beam. It also helps you hit Salamence, who can't OHKO you with Earthquake if Stealth Rock isn't down, which isn't important, but it can come in handy. The main reason for using Ice Beam on Tyranitar is because I also want you to use Lucario, which I will go in depth on later, and Tyranitar can remove Gliscor and Hippowdon from play, allowing him to sweep.

So Lucario fits amazingly on this team. You have EB MixTar to lure out and kill his counters, and you have Pursuit bait Latias to allow him to get a free Swords Dance on a choice locked Pursuit. Sandstorm and Stealth Rock is really helpful in wearing down things that can take a +2 Extremespeed. I would like to replace Breloom with Lucario. Both perform the same job, more or less. Strong Fighting type who powers through the opposition, except Lucario does it a lot better on this team. He has perfect synergy with Latias as well, and provides some priority to revenge some stuff it it gets out of hand with the boosting.

Forretress doesn't fit on your team at all. A slow wall on a team of fast paced sweepers? You don't even have a spin blocker, and not to mention Forretress is a horrible lead. My main concern isn't that he is a bad lead, since I often use Skarmory as a lead since nothing else on my team is a better lead, and that seems to be the case here, but I think there is still a better fit. Since you really need to set up rocks to OHKO stuff with Gyarados and Lucario, a suicide lead seems like the best fit, and if all you want is a fast SR nothing does the job like Aerodactyl. Taunt means you will be playing a lot of games without having to deal with Stealth Rock. A big reason to use it over Infernape or Azelf is the speed, which guarantees either a Taunt or Stealth Rock. Also, use Rock Slide for the flinch rate and improved accuracy. That's all I have to say, good luck!

Thanks for your suggestions, everyone! I incorporated many of them into the team.

Your Lucario, Tyranitar, and Aerodactyl descriptions are copied parts of their analysis'.

Here is a snip from Lucario's analysis.

Lucario analysis] With a 1-turn setup said:

With a 1-turn setup, a 120 base power STAB attack, and one of the strongest priority moves available, Swords Dance Lucario is arguably the best late-game sweeper in OU. Excellent typing, well-distributed stats, and a versatile movepool only make Lucario even more difficult to face down. After a Swords Dance, even Skarmory and Bronzong are easily exterminated with one Close Combat, assuming Stealth Rock damage and an Adamant nature. ExtremeSpeed is just as vital to Lucario's sweeping prowess as Close Combat, as most of the Pokémon faster than Lucario are frail enough to be OHKOed by ExtremeSpeed after a Swords Dance.

Click to expand...

Here is a snip from Aerodactyl's analysis.

Aerodactyl's analysis] With access to Taunt and Stealth Rock said:

With access to Taunt and Stealth Rock, Aerodactyl can prevent opposing Pokemon from setting up, giving you time to put up your own Stealth Rock. Aerodactyl can rarely take more than a hit or two with no EV investment in its defenses, turning Focus Sash into the only viable item. It not only gives Aerodactyl a second chance if Taunt is misused, but it allows Aerodactyl to survive hits from faster Pokemon.

Click to expand...

You did the same thing for Tyranitar—took a little piece of its analysis and copied it into your thread. If you're interested in having this thread re-opened, PM me your own descriptions and I'll unlock this for you.