Dark Horse RMT - The First UberStrong Division in the OU Metagame

[/B/utterfree]

TEAMBUILDING PROCESS

...

---

Parasect is Uber strong. In Gen IV, I started using Parasect in Ubers ever since Gen. Empoleon, now known as Matthew, made the set. I use a more offensive take on it, since it holds merit on its own as a Physical sweeper. Its usage is disappointing, thus the point of using it for the Dark Horse Project.

Of course, the reason Parasect was functional in Ubers was because of Dry Skin, its new (at the time) ability. Dry Skin is one of the most complex abilities because it provides many advantages and weaknesses one has to play around. Of course, with that many of each, playing with Parasect and putting him in a dedicated team should be easy. Politoed is one of the simplest teammates, as its Dream World ability, Drizzle, systematically benefits many a Pokemon in the tier.

When looking for other partners, I slowly realized that Skarmory and Blissey were still popular Pokemon. Fearing the dreaded SkarmBliss combo, I brought with me one of the greatest Pokemon for the job of trouncing the defensive combination (which still lingers in the form of SkarmChans, as well): Magnezone. It benefits from Rain in being able to send off STAB Thunders which hurt switch-ins that aren't Landorus and Gliscor.


Another common Pokemon sight to behold in OU is the attribute of Dragon Pokemon. Gen V brought a couple more Dragons into the fray who need to be dealt with. Latias does this by tanking Special attackers. Latias himself serves as a cheque to Blissey, even if a tenuous one which simply makes it setup fodder.


Fighting-types are also a common sight in OU nowadays. Poison/Fighting is a good defensive typing, save for those pesky Psychics (who simply get Sucker Punched). I wanted to use Scrafty, in order to prevent it from dropping to UU. However, Toxicroak provides a more advantageous BulkUp set while also being helpful to the team.


Last but not least is Tornadus. I wanted to use Heatran (for Flash Fire goodness), but it reinforced a Ground weakness for nearly the whole team which would simply not do. Furthermore, Heatran also provided an advantage for Fighting-types which I could not bear to allow my team to do.


Updated the team by replacing Magnezone with Bronzong. Ultimately, I ended up mistakenly pulling off something cookie-cutter in OU by doing what people refer to as "DragMag". In order to avert this travesty, Magnezone had to depart my team. He's still part of my UberStrong coalition, but as a sideliner and someone who is simply a counterpick Pokemon.

THE CREW


Politoed @ Leftovers
Ability: Drizzle
Nature: Bold
EV spread: 252 HP, 252 Def, 4 SpDef
Moves:
1. Scald
2. Toxic
3. Protect
4. Ice Beam

The standard set for Politoed on Smogon's website. Politoed's endless rain is one of the heaviest contributors to the overall balance of the OU metagame. It helps Ferrothorn, Scizor, Forretress, and other x4 Fire weak Pokemon (or x5 Fire weak, in the case of Parasect) deal with their weaknesses more effectively. However, on its own it is a force to be reckoned with.

Your choice of affliction can either be burn (via Scald), freeze (via Ice Beam) or poison (via Toxic), and then you may stall out the option, scouting the lead. If I see a Baton Pass chain, I simply lock on to one of the main aggressive moves in order to stop the chain from working, or ensure the marginal error of said chain to be nil.


Parasect @ Leftovers
Ability: Dry Skin
Nature: Adamant
EV Spread: 84 HP, 252 Atk, 172 Def
Moves:
1. Spore
2. Seed Bomb
3. X-Scissor / Brick Break
4. Swords Dance

I bring Parasect down from its pedestal in Ubers to use in OU, for its niche has expanded to being usable in the OU metagame. Offensively, this badass serves as one of the best counters to Ferrothorn in my party (it laughs at Leech Seed and doesn't afraid of anything), as well as a solid counter to many of the Bulky Waters that make their home in OU. Still, other weather changers can prove a nuisance for the Grass/Bug mushroom. However, Parasect can hold its own against a Tyranitar or Abomasnow; it must watch out for Ninetales (even while using Spore on the respective weather abuser).

Between X-Scissor and Brick Break, both serve well to counter the many opposing threats Parasect has. Brick Break has the added bonus of hitting Ferrothorn and Heatran harder. Hitting Heatran on the switch is the only option, though, and Parasect still 2HKOs Ferrothorn with +2 X-Scissor. The reason it's only slashed is because being able to one-shot Latios is an absolute must, thereby X-Scissor stays on him. Grass / Bug is a fairly solid dual-STAB offensively. Defensively, it lends itself to being helped by many, many partners (as stated earlier).

Parasect is the Hannibal Smith of the team. He loves it when a good plan comes together, and is often one of the Pokemon who provokes victory.


Bronzong @ Macho Brace
Ability: Levitate (I sure as hell prefer Heatproof, but the Rain weather already acts as a pseudo-Heatproof, which allows me to essentially have two abilities in one 'mon)
Nature: Brave
IVs: 0 Speed
EVs: 252 HP, 252 Atk, 4 SpAtk
Moves:
1. Trick Room
2. Gyro Ball
3. Earthquake
4. Payback / Hidden Power Electric

Replacing Magnezone in order to avert a travesty known as "DragMag" from being present on my team while, in the process, improving my team per the suggestions of many people. I use an offensive set as I doesn't afraid of being So Zetta Slow. Mind, this doesn't quite counter Skarmory, although I am considering Hidden Power Electric to fix that. However, Offensive Trick Room as it is will be absurdly powerful against anything that isn't Skarmory.

Defensively, Bronzong is capable of pulling an Offensive Trick Room. Not only will it get kills itself, it essentially nets Parasect a free Spore against Heatrans and other Steel-types, and lets it smack them silly with +2 Brick Breaks (although unboosted Brick Breaks also hurt Heatran rather hard, albeit not to the level of 2HKOing).



Latias @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
Nature: Timid
EV Spread: 252 SpAtk, 4 SpDef, 252 Spe
Moves:
1. Calm Mind
2. Recover
3. Dragon Pulse
4. Surf

Latias is my other anti-SkarmBliss/anti-SkarmChans Pokemon, as well as a great teammate for Magnezone. Since Magnezone is x4 weak to Ground, the ideal scenario is to switch to this Pokemon against a predicted Earthquake/Earth Power. To better get the gist of better IVs and being able to counter Scizor better, I switched Hidden Power Fire as suggested by DEMo_Gorgon47.

I've tried Dragonite for a Rain tank set, but this proved to be more efficient a partner. Overall, a Special wall was more along the lines of what I needed for the team. Latias has amazing Special stats, and a decent Speed to boot. Only his Attack and HP are average, and my EVs would go into HP if I were running a defensive set. Given his current movepool, Latias is capable of still being good at both being defensive and offensive in terms of role.


Toxicroak @ Life Orb
Ability: Dry Skin
Nature: Adamant
EV spread: 4 HP, 252 Atk, 252 Spe
Moves:
1. Swords Dance
2. Cross Chop
3. Sucker Punch
4. Ice Punch

Toxicroak is my other Physical sweeper, and yet another counter/check to Blissey/Chansey. The defensive combination of Poison/Fighting only has one true flaw to it: a x4 weakness to Psychic. However, such is not to be worried about, as Psychics are one of the least of Toxicroak's worries. Sucker Punch usually OHKOs its hated enemies. As suggested by skidilidy, I changed the set to be more offensively oriented. Instead of a BulkUp Drain Punch set, the set being used is a Swords Dance set.



Nevertheless, Toxicroak is a solid Pokemon on my team. The only other Fighting-type I'd use for this team would be Scrafty.


Tornadus @ Choice Specs
Ability: Prankster
Nature: Timid
EVs: 4 Atk, 252 SpAtk, 252 Spe
Moves:
1. Hurricane
2. Focus Blast
3. Hidden Power [Ice]
4. U-turn

The mono-Flying Genie Pokemon whose only flaw at the current moment is not being voiced by Robin Williams (that might also be a mixed blessing: I hate all the Pokemon movies, such that not even Robin Williams' voice would help any of them).

Most of the time, I will be firing off STAB Hurricanes that OHKO nearly everything it will face against. If I'm coming across a Ground-type who has a partial resistance to Flying, then I switch over to HP Ice and kill it without hesitation.

Again, the only problem with Tornadus is that it's not voiced by Robin Williams. I ain't never had a friend like it! :D

FORMER TEAMMATES:

...

---

Magnezone @ Leftovers
Ability: Magnet Pull
Nature: Timid
EV Spread: 36 HP, 252 SpAtk, 220 Spe
Moves:
1. Substitute
2. Thunder
3. Flash Cannon
4. Hidden Power [Ice]

Magnezone is my Skarmory counter. With Magnet Pull, Skarmory cannot escape from its fate! Once Magnezone has called down the Thunder, it proceeds to contribute in sweeping the opponent's team. Provided, that is, when it's properly played. At its worst, it ends up healing a Fighting-type attacker. At its best, said Fighting-type doesn't stand a chance. Magnezone is also one of the few Pokemon to be blessed with a x4 resistance against Flying-type attacks, which is something Parasect wishes it had.

The only Pokemon I could think to replace Magnezone with is Volt Absorb Raikou. However, that would pit me in Dream World OU, which is a whole 'nother ball game to prepare for.

SEE:
http://www.smogon.com/forums/showthread.php?p=1726291 - (4th Gen) Warstory: We are Uber strong

This warstory was the first thing I was shown before I started using Parasect in Ubers. Immediately, I was intrigued. I did not know Parasect could survive a Stone Edge from Garchomp! However, I've deviated a bit from the build Gen. Empoleon birthed into the metagame. It is she who I must thank with immense gratitude for inspiring me to use Parasect in Ubers to begin with!

ONE MORE THING!
The overall purpose of the team is to partake in the Dark Horse Project. If I wanted to remove Parasect from this team, I would have done so and have kept it for the Ubers metagame. Parasect's not broken, but instead a very underrated Pokemon. It has a niche here.

ONE MORE THING! x2
I refer to Latias as a "he" as a joke that I kept from when I was younger and watched the Pokemon movie he was in. I lament that the only good thing about that movie was that it allowed me to ship LatiasxAsh, and only in order to troll the most close-minded of PokeShippers. I dislike Ash (and a majority of the Pokemon anime in general) for a myriad of reasons irrelevant to the OU metagame of competitive battling.

ONE MORE THING! x3
I hope you enjoyed this RMT. If not, that is fine. If I didn't think the team was good enough for OU, I would not have created it in the first place. Ergo, complaining about it being a Rain team is completely missing the point of the teambuilding process entirely: I'm trying to be creative with the OU metagame, and participating in the Dark Horse Project is how I go about accomplishing this.

ONE MORE THING! x4
Pay attention to the edits when I make them. I will update them once I've playtested various suggestions already being given.

EDIT I: Changes to sets are in bold. I switched the Toxicroak set to be more offensively-oriented, while otherwise my team composition is the same. This is mostly to get a more grand idea of what I'm doing with each of my team members before I replace any of them (barring Parasect; Parasect is non-negotiable to due to the conditions of Dark Horse). People have suggested replacing Magnezone, and I might just do that.

EDIT II: I replaced Magnezone with Offensive Trick Room Bronzong. While I'll miss free OHKOs/2HKOs with STAB Thunder, other than that my Bronzong seems to be particularly efficient at helping my team while getting in on some of the action itself. Considering I loathe uncreativity, and noticed that I had DragMag in my team, I proceeded to take the suggestion already provided and did the imminent replacing. I also wanted to wait for until after April Fool's so people don't get confused as to what I'm doing for my Dark Horse team.

EDIT III: Not really much to do other than switch Life Orb with Macho Brace on Bronzong. I tried to use Kyurem instead of Latias, but then realized the error of that decision quickly.

[tikidude]

This is a very good team! :D Just a couple of things. Parasect is painfully slow. In order to help him sweep, I suggest adding a Bronzong to your team. Bronzong can set up Stealth Rock, screens, and Trick Room, all of which will aid Parasect in destroying his enemies. Bronzong also benefits from having zero weaknesses thanks to Politoed's Drizzle. You could also add Hypnosis to Politoed. The more pokes that you put to sleep, the more opportunities you have to set up a sweeper. YOU ARE AWESOME FOR USING PARASECT!!! He's always been one of my favorites! ^_^ I hope this helps!

[godbaka]

Maybe replace parasect with breloom? Breloom stops volturn and it learns spore, plus its not weak to rocks since you have no rapid spinner

[Lady Alex]

The point of his team is to use parasect as his dark horse pokemon. I doubt that spot on his team is negotiable. That said, this team may benefit from getting rid of toxicroak for tentacruel. This team really hates hazards, and tentacruel is amazingly effective in the rain, and has good defensive synergy with parasect.

[DEMo_Gorgon47]

I recommend removing HP Fire and changing it to either Surf or Substitute on Latias. In the rain HP Fire loses its super effectiveness on regular steel-types, meanwhile Surf becomes super effective. Also, a super effective Surf in the rain does more damage to Scizor than a super effective HP Fire in the rain. Granted, Ferrothorn may be more of a pain, but that is why you have Magenzone correct?

Substitute on the other hand allows Latias and easier time at setting up. It really all comes down to preference. Either you take coverage or setting up.

Finding a spot for Bronzong would be difficult, but with Trick Room set up Parasect becomes MUCH more threatening. Unfortunately Bug & Grass STAB's have pretty bad coverage. Maybe switch one to either Brick Break or Return? (Just a suggestion, as Parasect's movepool is pretty barren)

Other than that I cant think of much more, nice team!

[skidilidy]

From my standpoint your team seems to be weak to some very common pokemon. LumDDnite and SubRoostDDnite can set up on Toxicroak and Parasect, and nothing on your team adequately stops him at +1. SubCMRachi can't be stopped well because the only 'mons on your team which are physically based are 'Sect and Toxicroak. Toxicroak fails to break Jirachi's Subs unboosted. In return, Jirachi deals 39% - 47% to Toxicroak with Thunder, or 59% - 70% at +1. Parasect can break Jirachi's Subs, but Jirachi outdamages it with Psyshock (45% - 53% at +1 while unboosted Parasect deals 28% - 34% with X-Scissor). At that point, I suppose you could play mind games with Spore if you haven't activated Sleep Clause already, but it's a shaky affair at best. You don't have any good switches to Specs or Life Orb Latios, because your only steel takes 64% - 76% (56% - 66% for LO) by Draco Meteor on the switch, leaving him crippled and unable to take that attack again. Nothing on your team can stop DD Haxorus at +1. SubDDGyarados is scary at +1. Politoed can't break Gyara's Subs with Scald (17% - 20%) or Ice Beam (18% - 21%), so you can't Toxic him. Parasect gets Subbed on and killed with Bounce. Magnezone takes 96% - 113% from +1 Waterfall in Rain, which is a 77% chance to OHKO or 100% with Rocks. Latias takes 80% - 95% from +1 Bounce (nearly 100% OHKO with Rocks) and deals 38% - 45% back with Dragon Pulse. Gyarados deals 137% - 161% with +1 Bounce to +1 Toxicroak (who Bulks Up on Gyara's turn in the air). Toxicroak does 29% - 34% with +1 Sucker Punch before that (I don't actually know when Sucker Punch hits with Bounce, so someone help me out), and the Gyarados user can just Sub in your face anyway, or if they are running Earthquake you're out of luck. Tornadus dies.

Suggestions:
Replace Toxicroak with SDCroak

Toxicroak @ Life Orb
Ability: Dry Skin
Nature: Adamant
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
- Swords Dance
- Sucker Punch
- Cross Chop
- Ice Punch

This thing is awesome once it gets up, kills its faster checks with a devestating +2 LO Sucker Punch and annihilates things with +2 Cross Chop (Drain Punch is illegal). Ice Punch is for that bitch Gliscor. Dry Skin heals off LO damage so that's no problem. Cross Chop missing sucks, though. 85 Speed is pretty quick though Max Speed Gliscor beats you but who runs that anyway.

tikidude did good by suggesting Bronzong. 'Zong will help you out with most Dragons. TBH you don't really need Magnezone on your team because Parasect shouldn't be sweeping by itself, so the only thing that needs that help is Toxicroak. That's what your other 5 team members are for, though.

Rain Volcarona might be neat over Latias, since it's faily uncommon but really screws over a lot of threats to Rain.

Volcarona @ Lefties / Life Orb
Ability: Flame Body
Nature: Modest / Timid
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpAtk / 252 Spe
- Quiver Dance
- Bug Buzz
- Hurricane
- Fire Blast / Substitute / HP Water / Ground

Feeling lazy right now so I'm not gonna do calcs, but it's stupid powerful.

Since you'll need a Spinner then, Lady Alex's suggestion of Tentacruel is excellent. You also really need Stealth Rock to have a hope of dealing with DNite, so something that can set that up (maybe your own Jirachi) would be very beneficial.

Nice team, and Parasect is really cool to use!

[Zimbabwe Jones]

#unclefromjackiechanadventures

[/B/utterfree]

Originally Posted by Fat skidilidy

From my standpoint your team seems to be weak to some very common pokemon. LumDDnite and SubRoostDDnite can set up on Toxicroak and Parasect, and nothing on your team adequately stops him at +1. SubCMRachi can't be stopped well because the only 'mons on your team which are physically based are 'Sect and Toxicroak. Toxicroak fails to break Jirachi's Subs unboosted. In return, Jirachi deals 39% - 47% to Toxicroak with Thunder, or 59% - 70% at +1. Parasect can break Jirachi's Subs, but Jirachi outdamages it with Psyshock (45% - 53% at +1 while unboosted Parasect deals 28% - 34% with X-Scissor). At that point, I suppose you could play mind games with Spore if you haven't activated Sleep Clause already, but it's a shaky affair at best. You don't have any good switches to Specs or Life Orb Latios, because your only steel takes 64% - 76% (56% - 66% for LO) by Draco Meteor on the switch, leaving him crippled and unable to take that attack again. Nothing on your team can stop DD Haxorus at +1. SubDDGyarados is scary at +1. Politoed can't break Gyara's Subs with Scald (17% - 20%) or Ice Beam (18% - 21%), so you can't Toxic him. Parasect gets Subbed on and killed with Bounce. Magnezone takes 96% - 113% from +1 Waterfall in Rain, which is a 77% chance to OHKO or 100% with Rocks. Latias takes 80% - 95% from +1 Bounce (nearly 100% OHKO with Rocks) and deals 38% - 45% back with Dragon Pulse. Gyarados deals 137% - 161% with +1 Bounce to +1 Toxicroak (who Bulks Up on Gyara's turn in the air). Toxicroak does 29% - 34% with +1 Sucker Punch before that (I don't actually know when Sucker Punch hits with Bounce, so someone help me out), and the Gyarados user can just Sub in your face anyway, or if they are running Earthquake you're out of luck. Tornadus dies.

Suggestions:
Replace Toxicroak with SDCroak

Toxicroak @ Life Orb
Ability: Dry Skin
Nature: Adamant
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
- Swords Dance
- Sucker Punch
- Cross Chop
- Ice Punch

This thing is awesome once it gets up, kills its faster checks with a devestating +2 LO Sucker Punch and annihilates things with +2 Cross Chop (Drain Punch is illegal). Ice Punch is for that bitch Gliscor. Dry Skin heals off LO damage so that's no problem. Cross Chop missing sucks, though. 85 Speed is pretty quick though Max Speed Gliscor beats you but who runs that anyway.

tikidude did good by suggesting Bronzong. 'Zong will help you out with most Dragons. TBH you don't really need Magnezone on your team because Parasect shouldn't be sweeping by itself, so the only thing that needs that help is Toxicroak. That's what your other 5 team members are for, though.

Rain Volcarona might be neat over Latias, since it's faily uncommon but really screws over a lot of threats to Rain.

Volcarona @ Lefties / Life Orb
Ability: Flame Body
Nature: Modest / Timid
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpAtk / 252 Spe
- Quiver Dance
- Bug Buzz
- Hurricane
- Fire Blast / Substitute / HP Water / Ground

Feeling lazy right now so I'm not gonna do calcs, but it's stupid powerful.

Since you'll need a Spinner then, Lady Alex's suggestion of Tentacruel is excellent. You also really need Stealth Rock to have a hope of dealing with DNite, so something that can set that up (maybe your own Jirachi) would be very beneficial.

Nice team, and Parasect is really cool to use!

1. I will gladly change the Toxicroak set and see what happens. I don't really comprehend why Drain Punch is illegal, unless you mean alongside Ice Punch. That is fine. I will still change the Toxicroak set to see the outcome.

2. Replacing Magnezone is also bearable, I guess. It's one of the few Electric types I legitimately like, and one of the best SkarmBliss counters (...In Gen III I had nightmares involving SkarmBliss...) I might consider Bronzong or Jirachi. For setting Parasect up, I've also thought about using a Tailwind set on Tornadus. Still, the only problem I find with my Tornadus set is that Robin Williams isn't voicing it.

3. Other than that, I might change Latias' coverage move from HP Fire to Surf as suggested by DEmo_Gorgon47. Just to see if he fares better against Scizor.

[/B/utterfree]

Followed everyone's suggestions save for replacing Latias, for he is still too useful to replace. However, I do have an Offensive Trick Room Bronzong which replaces Magnezone to avoid having "DragMag" on my team, and thusly have a more creative team.

[/B/utterfree]

I tried replacing Latias with Kyurem and then realized how foolish the idea was. Other than that and replacing Life Orb with Macho Brace on Bronzong, I haven't really changed my team much.

My main reasoning for considering Kyurem as a replacement for Latias is how badly Hail stops me otherwise. Abomasnow is one of the best anti-weather Pokemon in the entire metagame, and I'm surprised it isn't around more. When it is around, my entire team seems to be shut down cold - I can't say the same about Sun or Sand, though.