Weatherless Balance!

AznGamer405 · Feb 10th, 2013, 1:58:59 AM

I started Competitive Battling around late Gen IV OU, and transferred to Early BW shortly after. However, I only battled on a periodic basis, and never truly got to experience what those metagames were really like.

After coming back from a two year hiatus, I've decided to take on the Gen V metagame, and with the release of BW2, it seems that the metagame has shifted gears into offensive weather.

Despite this, I have maintained my philosophy for balance when making a team, as shown in my team making process. There is no weather involved, as I wanted to create a team that could possibly have an answer to everything. In addition to this, I try my best to not change my team's roster out of compulsion:

Team Building (Brief History and Such)

...

Starting from my Gen IV OU days, I was always thinking of ways on how to counteract most opposing teams, and I started off with a team that I thought could deal with anything. ...Unfortunately, as a beginner, I wasn't aware of the major threats in the metagame, and consistently found myself losing. The team just didn't really have a central focus at the time. That and unfortunately, a Torterra lead in Gen IV OU was basically sending out the poor turtle to the guillotine.

Once BW1 begins, I decided to improve myself as a trainer and switch out Torterra for Ninjask. By then, I finally had a decent team with some synergy, and strategy, although it was basically set up rocks, and then Ninjask Baton Pass into Speed Boost Mix-Blaziken or Salamence. I won quite a bit with this as I can recall, most likely because people were into experimenting with new Pokemon at the time, such as Whimsicott.

After this, I took my two year hiatus like I mentioned. When I returned to the Competitive Scene in BW2, I decided to try Pokemon Showdown with my old team from Pokemon Online. The more I played though, the more I felt how dated my old team was, so I decided to give it some restructuring, as you will now see below. (The descriptions are somewhat brief, as my main commentary about my Pokemon are at the end of this):

Metagross again takes up the lead, and I played it like I did in back then. However, once I learned of the Explosion nerf, I decided to turn my Metagross into a bulky dual-screener, which would allow the likes of my frail Pokemon to survive hits, and proceed to set-up/sweep. However, I found the strategy to be a bit slow, so I changed it. (See my Metagross's current movepool below)

Starmie has always been my go to Rapid Spinner within Pokemon, and it does its job fantastically. I'm very surprised on how a Pokemon with base 100 Special Attack, could net me some KOs against the likes of stronger Pokemon out there.

Unlike the all the Pokemon I've described at this point, I have not had much history with Galvantula. However, the electric tarantula's prowess in the Gen 5 games gave me some incentive to use it within Showdown, and it does so effectively, especially while Drizzle teams are running amok.

Togekiss was my Special Wall back then, and she continues to do her job. Her overall bulk allows me to absorb any special attack, while firing back with her own moves. She's surprisingly bulky on the physical end as well, taking strong hits from STAB moves and surviving them.

Salamence returning should be no surprise to anyone, as his monstrous attack stat provides the physical force needed for me to get rid of any Pokemon lacking in defensive aspects, as well as a way to deal with the other dragon Pokemon in the OU tier currently.

The team rounds itself off with Infernape, another Pokemon whom I've had no history with. It was meant to replace Blaziken after discovering it was banished from OU. Despite this, Infernape does his job as well as Blaziken did in the past, and his Mixed Wallbreaking skills are a force to be reckoned with.

Currently, I am laddering with this team right now. I'm currently at 1404 in Showdown, and I hope to improve that number!

My Replay List (includes Wins AND Losses):
http://www.pokemonshowdown.com/repla...er=azngamer405

The Team

Metagross @ Leftovers
Trait: Clear Body
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SDef
Adamant Nature
- Bullet Punch
- Ice Punch
- Earthquake
- Agility

My Metagross's current set, and it hits pretty hard in my opinion. Someone awhile ago suggested this set, but with Stealth Rock instead (Metagross was a dual screener at the time). So I went with that. After a multitude of battles, I came to the conclusion that I honestly don't need to set up entry hazards to get my team going. That, and I found Metagross to be too slow to do anything around middle to late game. As a result, I placed Agility on this set, and to my surprise, he actually has the ability to sweep teams at +2 speed. It's especially hilarious when switch to their Magic Bounce Pokemon, only for my Metagross to gain a free agility from their switch.

Unlike most Agiligross though, my EV spread is retrofitted for bulk as if it were a Lead Metagross. This allows me to tank Earthquakes and Fire Punches with ease (when not facing a Drought team of course). As for the moveset, it offers coverage to common threats in the OU Metagame, and does decent damage to the likes of Ferrothorn in case I am in a position where I can't switch out of it.

Starmie @ Leftovers
Trait: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 SAtk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
- Rapid Spin
- Thunderbolt
- Hydro Pump
- Ice Beam

Rapid Spin Starmie also doubles as a Special Attacker for me, and has served well in his role. BoltBeam offers great coverage, especially Ice Beam as certain threats (discussed below) die rather quickly to it. In regards to Ice Beam, I have been notoriously lucky with the Freeze Chance it offers. I've managed to slay a Ferrothorn, and Blissey out of sheer Ice Beam spamming when my physical sweepers were lost earlier in the match. In addition to all of this, Hydro Pump rounds out Starmie's moveset, and offers excellent STAB to the move. However, I am sometimes unlucky with Hydro Pump, as it sometimes misses when I needed the move to hit. I noticed that this usually happens when I'm on the losing end of a match, but it's most likely sheer coincidence that it misses, similarly to how Ice Beam manages to Freeze with only a 10% chance.

Galvantula (M) @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Compoundeyes
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Modest Nature
- Bug Buzz
- Giga Drain
- Thunder
- Volt Switch

Essentially, Galvantula is my premiere revenge killer. The Choice Scarf works wonders against other Scarfed users thanks to Galvantula's excellent Base Speed. It has slain the likes of many threats including the Eon Twins (after they were slightly softened), Scarf Keldo, Tyranitar, and more. Being locked into one move always results Galvantula in being switched out, so there's never really any time for him to make a presence in the battle field, besides just hitting and running. That, and he's rather frail as well, as even resisted hits could possibly be a KO for the spider.

Togekiss (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: Serene Grace
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SAtk / 252 SDef
Calm Nature
- Thunder Wave
- Roost
- Air Slash
- Aura Sphere

Togekiss is my premere special wall, and causes havoc among teams who do not have ground types, clerics, or people just unfamiliar with the flinchax strategy. I also mentioned earlier on how it can also take physical hits rather well, so that's a plus for her. Unfortunately, I am forced to switch whenever I see a Stone Edge incoming, as that's usually an OKHO on her. Roost is there to regain health from sponging up hits, or general status conditions, such as poison and burn.

Salamence (M) @ Life Orb
Trait: Moxie
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Hasty Nature
- Outrage
- Dragon Dance
- Earthquake
- Aqua Tail

Salamence can be rather tricky to set up, but once he does, it's absolutely a nightmare to go up against, especially when Moxie starts accumulating. Despite his power, Salamence dies rather easily in BW2 OU's metagame thanks to the prevalence of Ice Moves, and Stone Edge, and his Life Orb does not help in that regard. However, the extra power from the orb is needed to net me KO's that I normally would not receive without it.

Earthquake and Fire Blast are for general coverage, and Outrage is for my STAB. I often take chances on whether or not to keep attacking with Mence after he's confused, but most of the time he does. When he doesn't, he usually faints on the incoming move from my opponent anyways. Overall, he performs his role excellently.

Infernape (M) @ Life Orb
Trait: Blaze
EVs: 200 Atk / 80 SAtk / 228 Spd
Naive Nature
- Fire Blast
- Close Combat
- Stone Edge
- Mach Punch

Infernape is the Mixed Wall Breaker on my team, and can cause serious trouble on my opponent if they are not prepared. Close Combat is it's main STAB, while Stone Edge hits many of the Dragons in OU, and other threats. Fire Blast is used on this set over Overheat, as I detest the Special Attack Drop caused by that move. As a result, I placed some Special Attack EVs on Infernape to compensate. Lastly, Mach Punch is a STAB priority move that has often saved me from ridiculously fast Pokemon with low health.

Problematic Pokemon

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My Team at a Glance (Importable)

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Special Thanks To:

...

Teemo · Feb 10th, 2013, 2:30:47 AM

Hey there nice team! I like you use of Galvantula! Anyway if you Forretress/Gliscor are giving you trouble I would highly recommend switching Aqua Tail for Fire Blast on Salamence. That also allows you to check Skarmory who would trouble you as much as Fortress. Your suggestion of removing Grass Knot is right. Gastrodon is probably the only OU that is afraid of a Grass Knot, Swampert sees less use this Gen, Hippowdon is probably the other one afraid. For this reason I would recommend HP Ice over Grass Knot as it allows for Gliscor shutdown and Fortress shutdown when in tandem with Fire Blast. Also I recommend Overheat over Fire Blast on Infernapes.

I assume you dont want to get rid of Galvantula as a novelty, so I reallywould suggest either Choice Scarf Galvantula or Eelektross (another UU Electric). Galvantula is frail and his base speed wihout scarf isn't impressive, it would be hard for him to accomplish much. Eelektross is bulkier and is harder to shutdown. Your Galvantula is walled by Gliscor and Blissey, but Eelektross high Attack and Special Attack he can be a shutdown to Foretress/Blissey/Gliscor as he knows Flamethrower, has STAB Electric, and has Brick Break, so putting HP Ice would be strong.

MewTheDestroyer · Feb 10th, 2013, 9:48:30 AM

Switch Grass Knot for Mach Punch On Infernape, Switch Aqua Tail to Fire Blast on Salamence, and you could give Metagross Stealth Rocks, but I don't know what you would switch for it :L

AznGamer405 · Feb 10th, 2013, 1:34:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fat Teemo

Hey there nice team! I like you use of Galvantula! Anyway if you Forretress/Gliscor are giving you trouble I would highly recommend switching Aqua Tail for Fire Blast on Salamence. That also allows you to check Skarmory who would trouble you as much as Fortress. Your suggestion of removing Grass Knot is right. Gastrodon is probably the only OU that is afraid of a Grass Knot, Swampert sees less use this Gen, Hippowdon is probably the other one afraid. For this reason I would recommend HP Ice over Grass Knot as it allows for Gliscor shutdown and Fortress shutdown when in tandem with Fire Blast. Also I recommend Overheat over Fire Blast on Infernapes.

I assume you dont want to get rid of Galvantula as a novelty, so I really would suggest either Choice Scarf Galvantula or Eelektross (another UU Electric). Galvantula is frail and his base speed wihout scarf isn't impressive, it would be hard for him to accomplish much. Eelektross is bulkier and is harder to shutdown. Your Galvantula is walled by Gliscor and Blissey, but Eelektross high Attack and Special Attack he can be a shutdown to Foretress/Blissey/Gliscor as he knows Flamethrower, has STAB Electric, and has Brick Break, so putting HP Ice would be strong.

http://www.smogon.com/bw/pokemon/galvantula

Galvantula's base speed is 107, which is higher than Salamence's lol. In contrast, Eelektross's 50 base speed is just too slow in my opinion.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fat MewTheDestroyer

Switch Grass Knot for Mach Punch On Infernape, Switch Aqua Tail to Fire Blast on Salamence, and you could give Metagross Stealth Rocks, but I don't know what you would switch for it :L

Alright. Mach Punch it is then. The Priority is very appealing.

As for Fire Blast on Salamence, is it really worth putting in? My Salamence has 0 Special Attack EVs, unless I should Adjust them, however, that would mean eliminating my only Physical Sweeper.

Pokemasta77 · Feb 10th, 2013, 1:42:55 PM

I like that you use these pokemon. I hate it when everyone uses the same thing. Ok so I can see a few things that may be changed. I personally would not use Metagross like that. Possibly a set like this:

Metagross @ Leftovers
252 HP/ Atk, 4 SpDef
-Ice Punch
-Earthquake
-Bullet Punch
-Stealth Rock
This is the set I have used with a lot of success. It gets of Rocks and proceeds by tearing the opposing team apart. Earthquake can help take care of Forretress and Ice Punch for Gliscor. Not really sure if this is how you would like to use Metagross, but I have had a lot of success with it. Also love the fact that you are using Togekiss, one of my favorite pokemon. Good Luck with the team and I hope I helped a little!

P.S. Forgot to mention that doing this would allow you to replace Earthquake with Fire Blast on Salamence.

Teemo · Feb 10th, 2013, 2:22:54 PM

Salamence has slower Speed than Galvantula, but most Salamence either has Scarf or Dragon Dance to make up for it. It also has raw natural bulk as well. Think about t this way, Keldeo has the exact same speed as Galvantula but it you check every RMT with Keldeo on the team it will always be a Scarfed set. An yes Fire Blast is extremely powerful on Salamence, it can OHKO or 2HKO Ferrothorn/Skarmory/Foretress all of which can wall Salemence 100% without Fire Blast

AznGamer405 · Feb 11th, 2013, 4:30:55 AM

Alright. Changes have been made and done. The first post has been changed to reflect upon this.

I probably need to improve my battling style though as demonstrated here:

http://www.pokemonshowdown.com/replay/ou9580934

I wasn't expecting Trick Room in OU at all lol.

Teemo · Feb 11th, 2013, 10:19:50 AM

Now your team looks better. If trick room does give you trouble i would switch grass knot for Mach Punch on Infernapes. As well as Fire Blast on Mence Also one major advice on Gen V: dedicated leads are not used as much. Team preview is now available so their use has fallen as it is possible to counter any suspected lead. While the Metagross set you have is good, you don't need to lead with it.

AznGamer405 · Feb 11th, 2013, 2:32:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fat Teemo

Now your team looks better. If trick room does give you trouble i would switch grass knot for Mach Punch on Infernapes. As well as Fire Blast on Mence Also one major advice on Gen V: dedicated leads are not used as much. Team preview is now available so their use has fallen as it is possible to counter any suspected lead. While the Metagross set you have is good, you don't need to lead with it.

Hm... how should I chose my lead then, when it comes to team preview?

I don't think any of my Pokemon barring Metagross can properly survive early game, without taking a decent chunk out of their lives. >.>

fire r a g e · Feb 11th, 2013, 2:41:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fat AznGamer405

Hm... how should I chose my lead then, when it comes to team preview?

I don't think any of my Pokemon barring Metagross can properly survive early game, without taking a decent chunk out of their lives. >.>

I personally choose a Pokemon that has the best chance of standing up against a majority of the opponent's team. Recently, those have been my wallbreakers.

Teemo · Feb 11th, 2013, 3:00:00 PM

What the guy said above me is correct. If you aren't familiar with today's meta game.check out the OU tier on Smogon and see which are OU me see RMT. While the dedicated leads are gone, weather teams will usually have Politoed lead, Hippowdon/T-Tar lead Sandstorm teams etc. Adjust to thier team, and use whichever you think can counter their suspected lead, Heatran Cloyster and even Metagross again are candidates for leads, so research sets. If you can't suspect a lead go whichever has the best type coverage of their team. For example if you see their teams highest weakness being Ice as well as little Psychic resist, Starmie would lead.

AznGamer405 · Feb 11th, 2013, 8:01:14 PM

Alright. I will keep note of that on further matches.

Here's a recent victory of mine:
http://www.pokemonshowdown.com/replay/ou9621873

The opponent forfeits as he thought he couldn't stop my Salamence's rampage.

Any thoughts on how I handled the battle? Any way I could possibly improve my style?

Natnias · Feb 11th, 2013, 8:47:54 PM

Jolteon is better than galvantula in almost every way: It has crazy speed, great Special Attack, isn't weak to rocks, and can use signal beam for nearly identical coverage.

AznGamer405 · Feb 11th, 2013, 9:30:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fat Natnias

Jolteon is better than galvantula in almost every way: It has crazy speed, great Special Attack, isn't weak to rocks, and can use signal beam for nearly identical coverage.

I'll look into Jolteon, but Galvantula hasn't really let me down! lol.

The 90% accuracy Thunder abuse is what I love about it aha!

Anyways, here's another win, I got:

http://www.pokemonshowdown.com/replay/ou9626326

I lead with Infernape instead of Metagross, as I saw that most of his team had a weakness to my Infernape's moveset. However, he opens with Gengar, and I proceed to switch to Togekiss.

Now then, the reason why I'm hesitant using Thunder Wave early on, is that my opponent had a Jolteon, and I was predicting my opponent to switch to him, when he saw my Togekiss. However, he didn't, and didn't do so for quite awhile, so I proceeded to attack with my Togekiss. I was a taken aback when he finally switched into Jolteon though, as Metagross couldn't handle the incoming Thunder, leaving him to just Bullet Punch Jolteon once, before he faints.

Salamence, revenge kills Jolteon after a Dragon Dance, but faints as well due to Life Orb.

Infernape proceeded to clean up afterwards.

Any thoughts on this?

AznGamer405 · Mar 9th, 2013, 3:18:30 PM

With permission from Moderator Jirachi, I'll be bumping this.

I completely redid the opening post with much more insight on movesets, battling and such.

Any thoughts? Questions? Opinions?

Feb 10th, 2013, 1:58:59 AM	#1
AznGamer405 Join Date: Feb 2013 Posts: 8	Weatherless Balance! I started Competitive Battling around late Gen IV OU, and transferred to Early BW shortly after. However, I only battled on a periodic basis, and never truly got to experience what those metagames were really like. After coming back from a two year hiatus, I've decided to take on the Gen V metagame, and with the release of BW2, it seems that the metagame has shifted gears into offensive weather. Despite this, I have maintained my philosophy for balance when making a team, as shown in my team making process. There is no weather involved, as I wanted to create a team that could possibly have an answer to everything. In addition to this, I try my best to not change my team's roster out of compulsion: Team Building (Brief History and Such) ... Starting from my Gen IV OU days, I was always thinking of ways on how to counteract most opposing teams, and I started off with a team that I thought could deal with anything. ...Unfortunately, as a beginner, I wasn't aware of the major threats in the metagame, and consistently found myself losing. The team just didn't really have a central focus at the time. That and unfortunately, a Torterra lead in Gen IV OU was basically sending out the poor turtle to the guillotine. Once BW1 begins, I decided to improve myself as a trainer and switch out Torterra for Ninjask. By then, I finally had a decent team with some synergy, and strategy, although it was basically set up rocks, and then Ninjask Baton Pass into Speed Boost Mix-Blaziken or Salamence. I won quite a bit with this as I can recall, most likely because people were into experimenting with new Pokemon at the time, such as Whimsicott. After this, I took my two year hiatus like I mentioned. When I returned to the Competitive Scene in BW2, I decided to try Pokemon Showdown with my old team from Pokemon Online. The more I played though, the more I felt how dated my old team was, so I decided to give it some restructuring, as you will now see below. (The descriptions are somewhat brief, as my main commentary about my Pokemon are at the end of this): Metagross again takes up the lead, and I played it like I did in back then. However, once I learned of the Explosion nerf, I decided to turn my Metagross into a bulky dual-screener, which would allow the likes of my frail Pokemon to survive hits, and proceed to set-up/sweep. However, I found the strategy to be a bit slow, so I changed it. (See my Metagross's current movepool below) Starmie has always been my go to Rapid Spinner within Pokemon, and it does its job fantastically. I'm very surprised on how a Pokemon with base 100 Special Attack, could net me some KOs against the likes of stronger Pokemon out there. Unlike the all the Pokemon I've described at this point, I have not had much history with Galvantula. However, the electric tarantula's prowess in the Gen 5 games gave me some incentive to use it within Showdown, and it does so effectively, especially while Drizzle teams are running amok. Togekiss was my Special Wall back then, and she continues to do her job. Her overall bulk allows me to absorb any special attack, while firing back with her own moves. She's surprisingly bulky on the physical end as well, taking strong hits from STAB moves and surviving them. Salamence returning should be no surprise to anyone, as his monstrous attack stat provides the physical force needed for me to get rid of any Pokemon lacking in defensive aspects, as well as a way to deal with the other dragon Pokemon in the OU tier currently. The team rounds itself off with Infernape, another Pokemon whom I've had no history with. It was meant to replace Blaziken after discovering it was banished from OU. Despite this, Infernape does his job as well as Blaziken did in the past, and his Mixed Wallbreaking skills are a force to be reckoned with. Currently, I am laddering with this team right now. I'm currently at 1404 in Showdown, and I hope to improve that number! My Replay List (includes Wins AND Losses): http://www.pokemonshowdown.com/repla...er=azngamer405 The Team Metagross @ Leftovers Trait: Clear Body EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SDef Adamant Nature - Bullet Punch - Ice Punch - Earthquake - Agility My Metagross's current set, and it hits pretty hard in my opinion. Someone awhile ago suggested this set, but with Stealth Rock instead (Metagross was a dual screener at the time). So I went with that. After a multitude of battles, I came to the conclusion that I honestly don't need to set up entry hazards to get my team going. That, and I found Metagross to be too slow to do anything around middle to late game. As a result, I placed Agility on this set, and to my surprise, he actually has the ability to sweep teams at +2 speed. It's especially hilarious when switch to their Magic Bounce Pokemon, only for my Metagross to gain a free agility from their switch. Unlike most Agiligross though, my EV spread is retrofitted for bulk as if it were a Lead Metagross. This allows me to tank Earthquakes and Fire Punches with ease (when not facing a Drought team of course). As for the moveset, it offers coverage to common threats in the OU Metagame, and does decent damage to the likes of Ferrothorn in case I am in a position where I can't switch out of it. Starmie @ Leftovers Trait: Natural Cure EVs: 252 SAtk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd Timid Nature - Rapid Spin - Thunderbolt - Hydro Pump - Ice Beam Rapid Spin Starmie also doubles as a Special Attacker for me, and has served well in his role. BoltBeam offers great coverage, especially Ice Beam as certain threats (discussed below) die rather quickly to it. In regards to Ice Beam, I have been notoriously lucky with the Freeze Chance it offers. I've managed to slay a Ferrothorn, and Blissey out of sheer Ice Beam spamming when my physical sweepers were lost earlier in the match. In addition to all of this, Hydro Pump rounds out Starmie's moveset, and offers excellent STAB to the move. However, I am sometimes unlucky with Hydro Pump, as it sometimes misses when I needed the move to hit. I noticed that this usually happens when I'm on the losing end of a match, but it's most likely sheer coincidence that it misses, similarly to how Ice Beam manages to Freeze with only a 10% chance. Galvantula (M) @ Choice Scarf Trait: Compoundeyes EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd Modest Nature - Bug Buzz - Giga Drain - Thunder - Volt Switch Essentially, Galvantula is my premiere revenge killer. The Choice Scarf works wonders against other Scarfed users thanks to Galvantula's excellent Base Speed. It has slain the likes of many threats including the Eon Twins (after they were slightly softened), Scarf Keldo, Tyranitar, and more. Being locked into one move always results Galvantula in being switched out, so there's never really any time for him to make a presence in the battle field, besides just hitting and running. That, and he's rather frail as well, as even resisted hits could possibly be a KO for the spider. Togekiss (F) @ Leftovers Trait: Serene Grace EVs: 252 HP / 4 SAtk / 252 SDef Calm Nature - Thunder Wave - Roost - Air Slash - Aura Sphere Togekiss is my premere special wall, and causes havoc among teams who do not have ground types, clerics, or people just unfamiliar with the flinchax strategy. I also mentioned earlier on how it can also take physical hits rather well, so that's a plus for her. Unfortunately, I am forced to switch whenever I see a Stone Edge incoming, as that's usually an OKHO on her. Roost is there to regain health from sponging up hits, or general status conditions, such as poison and burn. Salamence (M) @ Life Orb Trait: Moxie EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd Hasty Nature - Outrage - Dragon Dance - Earthquake - Aqua Tail Salamence can be rather tricky to set up, but once he does, it's absolutely a nightmare to go up against, especially when Moxie starts accumulating. Despite his power, Salamence dies rather easily in BW2 OU's metagame thanks to the prevalence of Ice Moves, and Stone Edge, and his Life Orb does not help in that regard. However, the extra power from the orb is needed to net me KO's that I normally would not receive without it. Earthquake and Fire Blast are for general coverage, and Outrage is for my STAB. I often take chances on whether or not to keep attacking with Mence after he's confused, but most of the time he does. When he doesn't, he usually faints on the incoming move from my opponent anyways. Overall, he performs his role excellently. Infernape (M) @ Life Orb Trait: Blaze EVs: 200 Atk / 80 SAtk / 228 Spd Naive Nature - Fire Blast - Close Combat - Stone Edge - Mach Punch Infernape is the Mixed Wall Breaker on my team, and can cause serious trouble on my opponent if they are not prepared. Close Combat is it's main STAB, while Stone Edge hits many of the Dragons in OU, and other threats. Fire Blast is used on this set over Overheat, as I detest the Special Attack Drop caused by that move. As a result, I placed some Special Attack EVs on Infernape to compensate. Lastly, Mach Punch is a STAB priority move that has often saved me from ridiculously fast Pokemon with low health. Problematic Pokemon ... Rotom - W is a very annoying threat, as it often bounces around with Volt Switch, whenever I start off with Metagross. Togekiss can paralyze it, but it's a nuisance to face overall, especially considering how bulky it is. Infernape can also Close Combat it to death, if it was slightly weakened before hand, otherwise, it dies to Rotom-W's water moves. It also forces me to switch out Starmie, when I usually need to use it. This thing is aggavating to see on Team Previews as it's lightning fast, and can potentially KO most of my Pokemon within one or two hits. It's also annoying to see on rain teams, as I can't launch Thunders freely with Galvantula, knowing this Pokemon has Volt Absorb. The same issue applies with Togekiss and her Thunder Wave, as I can't paralyze it. This leaves either Starmie or Infernape to attack it with Ice Beam and Close Combat respectively, although neither will OHKO it. Metagross should be able to deal with it through Ice Punch, although it's usually fainted by the time I see this thing on the battlefield. Jolteon is also an annoying Pokemon to deal with because of Volt Absorb, and its blistering speed, but thankfully, Metagross usually KOs it in time. It's still a nuisance on rain teams however, with similar reasons to the Therian Pokemon above. Ferrothorn is only really a thorn in Rain, as I now have to switch into Infernape to deal with it (Close Combat), however, it usually carries Thunder Wave to paralyze me, as well as a Rain Boosted Gyroball, in which, Infernape usually faints to. Togekiss can also decently handle it, provided that the Thunder Wave hits it, and the flinchax begin to work, before I KO it with Aura Sphere. While Gliscor is manageable, it's overall bulk can be annoying to face if I don't have Starmie or Metagross left on my side. My Team at a Glance (Importable) ... Metagross @ Leftovers Trait: Clear Body EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SDef Adamant Nature - Bullet Punch - Ice Punch - Earthquake - Agility Starmie @ Leftovers Trait: Natural Cure EVs: 252 SAtk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd Timid Nature - Rapid Spin - Thunderbolt - Hydro Pump - Ice Beam Galvantula (M) @ Choice Scarf Trait: Compoundeyes EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd Modest Nature - Bug Buzz - Giga Drain - Thunder - Volt Switch Togekiss (F) @ Leftovers Trait: Serene Grace EVs: 252 HP / 4 SAtk / 252 SDef Calm Nature - Thunder Wave - Roost - Air Slash - Aura Sphere Salamence (M) @ Life Orb Trait: Moxie EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd Hasty Nature - Outrage - Dragon Dance - Earthquake - Fire Blast Infernape (M) @ Life Orb Trait: Blaze EVs: 200 Atk / 80 SAtk / 228 Spd Naive Nature - Fire Blast - Close Combat - Stone Edge - Mach Punch Special Thanks To: ... Teemo MewTheDestroyer Lucario77 For giving advice on this team when I posted it a month ago. Last edited by AznGamer405; Mar 11th, 2013 at 3:58:53 PM. Reason: Update On Progress

Feb 10th, 2013, 1:42:55 PM	#5
Pokemasta77 Join Date: Apr 2012 Posts: 406 United States	I like that you use these pokemon. I hate it when everyone uses the same thing. Ok so I can see a few things that may be changed. I personally would not use Metagross like that. Possibly a set like this: Metagross @ Leftovers 252 HP/ Atk, 4 SpDef -Ice Punch -Earthquake -Bullet Punch -Stealth Rock This is the set I have used with a lot of success. It gets of Rocks and proceeds by tearing the opposing team apart. Earthquake can help take care of Forretress and Ice Punch for Gliscor. Not really sure if this is how you would like to use Metagross, but I have had a lot of success with it. Also love the fact that you are using Togekiss, one of my favorite pokemon. Good Luck with the team and I hope I helped a little! P.S. Forgot to mention that doing this would allow you to replace Earthquake with Fire Blast on Salamence. __________________ My Youtube Channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/RaginRiolu?feature=mhee "I'm Gonna Pop Some Tags Only Got Twenty Dollars In My Pocket I-I-I'm Huntin' Looking For A Come Up This Is Fucking Awesome."

Mar 9th, 2013, 3:18:30 PM	#15
AznGamer405 Join Date: Feb 2013 Posts: 8	With permission from Moderator Jirachi, I'll be bumping this. I completely redid the opening post with much more insight on movesets, battling and such. Any thoughts? Questions? Opinions? Last edited by AznGamer405; Mar 9th, 2013 at 5:27:24 PM.

Feb 10th, 2013, 2:30:47 AM	#2
Teemo Join Date: Feb 2013 Posts: 32	Hey there nice team! I like you use of Galvantula! Anyway if you Forretress/Gliscor are giving you trouble I would highly recommend switching Aqua Tail for Fire Blast on Salamence. That also allows you to check Skarmory who would trouble you as much as Fortress. Your suggestion of removing Grass Knot is right. Gastrodon is probably the only OU that is afraid of a Grass Knot, Swampert sees less use this Gen, Hippowdon is probably the other one afraid. For this reason I would recommend HP Ice over Grass Knot as it allows for Gliscor shutdown and Fortress shutdown when in tandem with Fire Blast. Also I recommend Overheat over Fire Blast on Infernapes. I assume you dont want to get rid of Galvantula as a novelty, so I reallywould suggest either Choice Scarf Galvantula or Eelektross (another UU Electric). Galvantula is frail and his base speed wihout scarf isn't impressive, it would be hard for him to accomplish much. Eelektross is bulkier and is harder to shutdown. Your Galvantula is walled by Gliscor and Blissey, but Eelektross high Attack and Special Attack he can be a shutdown to Foretress/Blissey/Gliscor as he knows Flamethrower, has STAB Electric, and has Brick Break, so putting HP Ice would be strong.

Feb 10th, 2013, 9:48:30 AM	#3
MewTheDestroyer Join Date: Nov 2012 Posts: 27 Florida	Switch Grass Knot for Mach Punch On Infernape, Switch Aqua Tail to Fire Blast on Salamence, and you could give Metagross Stealth Rocks, but I don't know what you would switch for it :L

Feb 10th, 2013, 2:22:54 PM	#6
Teemo Join Date: Feb 2013 Posts: 32	Salamence has slower Speed than Galvantula, but most Salamence either has Scarf or Dragon Dance to make up for it. It also has raw natural bulk as well. Think about t this way, Keldeo has the exact same speed as Galvantula but it you check every RMT with Keldeo on the team it will always be a Scarfed set. An yes Fire Blast is extremely powerful on Salamence, it can OHKO or 2HKO Ferrothorn/Skarmory/Foretress all of which can wall Salemence 100% without Fire Blast

Feb 11th, 2013, 4:30:55 AM	#7
AznGamer405 Join Date: Feb 2013 Posts: 8	Alright. Changes have been made and done. The first post has been changed to reflect upon this. I probably need to improve my battling style though as demonstrated here: http://www.pokemonshowdown.com/replay/ou9580934 I wasn't expecting Trick Room in OU at all lol.

Feb 11th, 2013, 10:19:50 AM	#8
Teemo Join Date: Feb 2013 Posts: 32	Now your team looks better. If trick room does give you trouble i would switch grass knot for Mach Punch on Infernapes. As well as Fire Blast on Mence Also one major advice on Gen V: dedicated leads are not used as much. Team preview is now available so their use has fallen as it is possible to counter any suspected lead. While the Metagross set you have is good, you don't need to lead with it.

Feb 11th, 2013, 3:00:00 PM	#11
Teemo Join Date: Feb 2013 Posts: 32	What the guy said above me is correct. If you aren't familiar with today's meta game.check out the OU tier on Smogon and see which are OU me see RMT. While the dedicated leads are gone, weather teams will usually have Politoed lead, Hippowdon/T-Tar lead Sandstorm teams etc. Adjust to thier team, and use whichever you think can counter their suspected lead, Heatran Cloyster and even Metagross again are candidates for leads, so research sets. If you can't suspect a lead go whichever has the best type coverage of their team. For example if you see their teams highest weakness being Ice as well as little Psychic resist, Starmie would lead.

Feb 11th, 2013, 8:01:14 PM	#12
AznGamer405 Join Date: Feb 2013 Posts: 8	Alright. I will keep note of that on further matches. Here's a recent victory of mine: http://www.pokemonshowdown.com/replay/ou9621873 The opponent forfeits as he thought he couldn't stop my Salamence's rampage. Any thoughts on how I handled the battle? Any way I could possibly improve my style?

Feb 11th, 2013, 8:47:54 PM	#13
Natnias Join Date: Feb 2013 Posts: 3	Jolteon is better than galvantula in almost every way: It has crazy speed, great Special Attack, isn't weak to rocks, and can use signal beam for nearly identical coverage.