Sort-of Standard OU

tailszero · Apr 14th, 2012, 2:45:27 PM

Introduction:

Hello Smogen, this is my first RMT, even if I have made countless BW teams, because this team actually does well, whereas most of the ones before this would get blasted.

This isn't a really fancy team, with any specialized environment or weather strategies. There are tons of standard teams with a hazard set-up, a dragon, a bulky wall, and a hard hitter, so its hard to think up why this team deserves any special attention. So when I made this team, I tried to make it so I could counter most common Pokemon used in OU, but it still can be harrased by a few Pokemon. I've used it for a while trying to get rid of a few problems I have had, and now this team has no major weakness shared by more than two members.

Anyways, lets take a look at the team.

Forretress @ Air Balloon
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 252 Def 252 SpDef 4 HP
Nature: Bold (+Def -Atk)
- Stealth Rock
- Toxic Spikes
- Rapid-Spin
- Reflect/Spikes

Everyone knows what Forretress is for. Set-up. Recently, Ferrothorn has been taking some of his use away, but Forretress still has several good uses. This one is purely defense and set-up, with Stealth Rock and Toxic Spikes being the most obvious choices. Rapid-spin can help if my opponent also tries for this opening, but if my opponent also knows Rapid-spin, it can get tedious rather quickly, so I have the other option with Reflect, which would give my team some more Defense, but I would rather have Spikes if my opponent doesn't have a Rapid-Spinner. The Air Balloon looks strange on this pokemon, but it helps in that an early Earthquake wont immediately work, and it helps make Ground attacks worthless on the Majority of my team.

Snorlax @ Leftovers
Ability: Thick-fat
EVs: 252 SpDef 188 Def 68 Atk
Nature: Adamant (+Atk -SpAtk)
- Rest
- Sleep Talk
- Curse
- Body Slam

Snorlax has been known for being in OU for five generations, but recently it has been brought down to UU, with many people thinking that with all the fighting moves rampant in this Generation Snorlax was no longer worth his weight, taking it out of OU before the end of this Generation. However, used correctly, Snorlax is still the danger it was back in Gen 2. With the common Curselax setup, Snorlax is very good at walling special hitters, and hitting them back. Rest and Sleep Talk provide free HP recovery without the time loss and the chance for extra chances to use curse. However, with Body Slam being the only Attacking move on this Snorlax, he is worthless against the rare ghost in the tournament scene. With Leftovers as his item, he still remains a large threat to most teams.

Eelektross @ Quick Claw
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 Atk 128 Def 128 SpDef
Nature: Adamant (+Atk -SpAtk)
- Wild Charge
- Dragon Tail
- Crush Claw
- U-Turn

As a heavy hitter without any weakness most of the time, Eelektross is a nice choice for a hard hitter to take out annoying Water-type walls and Flying-type sweepers. Wild Charge is the strongest Physical Electric move, being the main attack on this Moveset. Crush Claw hits hard and lowers Defense, and Dragon Tail helps get rid of Physical tanks and Set-up Pokemon. U-Turn was a hard choice, but will let Eeleketross retreat when nessesary. With Eeleketrosses horrible speed, the Quick Claw will let it hit first occasionally enough to be useful.

Salamence @ Lum berry
Ability: Moxie
EVs: 252 Atk 252 Speed
Nature: Adamant (+Atk -SpAtk)
- Dragon Claw/Outrage
- Earthquake
- Crunch
- Fire Fang/Ice Fang

Salamence was put into the Uber tier near the end of the Gen 4 Metagame, earning it a reputation similar but not as feared as Garchomp, and was the third non-Legendary pokemon to be booted into that tier. However, it seems to have avoided that fate for this Generation, but for some reason is less used than its cousins Dragonite and Hydregion, even with it being just as good. Anyways, Dragon Claw or Outrage are used as the main method of attack, with Outrage doing far move damage, but locking you into the move and confusing you, wasting the Lum berry that could be used to prevent a nesty freeze or burn. Earthquake is an obvious choice, with Rock types doing so well in this Generation. Crunch gets rid of those pesky Psychic and Ghost sweepers, and is an Alternative when fighting Latios or Latias. The two fanged moves are up to personal preference- who do you fear more? Ground or Steel Types?

Gliscor @ Toxic Orb
Ability: Poison Heal
EVs: 252 Def 136 Atk 84 SpDef
Nature: Impish (+Def -SpAtk)
- Toxic
- Earthquake
- Aerial Ace
- Ice Fang

Gliscor is a very potent Defensive pokemon, and it had good use in Sandstorm teams in Gen 4. However, with the new ability of Poison Heal, Gliscor can shine outside of the sand. Armed with his Toxic Orb, Gliscor can do a quick Toxic on his opponent and set up a constant heal at the same time. Earthquake and Aerial Ace get Stab, and are good moves as well, so they can be used as your main offense. Ice Fang is to deal with the ever common Dragons and other ground types.

Espeon @ Focus Sash
Ability: Magic Bounce
EVs: 252 SpAtk 252 Speed
Nature: Modest (+SpAtl -Atk)
- Psychic
- Hidden Power (Fire/Ice)
- Wish
- Shadow ball

Espeon has been used as an alternative to Alakazam, and still is. Magic Bounce maked it so Forretress and Ferrothron are worthless against this pokemon, and Hidden Power can be used on them, or you can change to be effective against dragons. The Focus Sash is meant to suprise opponents, as Espeon has poor Defensive stats, and it will let Espeon use the ever-useful Psychic or Shadow ball on my opponent. Wish takes advantage of Espeon's high speed to set up for the next pokemon I will use, or heal back my near-dead Espeon.

This team is mostly balanced, and I before I settled on these six, I had tried combinations with Dragonite, Serperior, and Tyranitar, but I finally settled upon this match-up. Please leave constructive criticism or any ideas that might help make this team more rounded out. Also, notify me of any mistakes in the EV or Nature set ups.

abyssal7130 · Apr 14th, 2012, 3:59:39 PM

This looks like a pretty good team, but I believe that running Explosion over Reflect/Spikes on Forretress may be a better idea. With all the sun teams and Fire moves in the tier, Forretress likely will not have enough time to set up Stealth Rocks, Spikes, and Toxic Spikes - essentially six turns you are giving the opponent to set up on you or flat out kill you. Explosion lets you harm things like Moxie Salamence and other setup sweepers.

Another problem I see is the Eelektross set. As far as I can tell, the defense and sp. defense EVs don't really serve any specific purpose. I'd suggest replacing it with:

Eelektross (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Levitate
Brave Nature
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 SpA / 4 Def
- Wild Charge
- Flamethrower
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Dragon Tail / Grass Knot / Brick Break

The EVs and nature maximize offensive potential, without forgoing Eelektross's decent defenses. Wild Charge hits really hard to Pokemon such as Starmie and other water types. Flamethrower roasts Scizor, Forretress, and Ferrothorn, as well as hitting other common Steel types. Hidden Power Ice beats Dragonite, Salamence, and Landorus, all of which are quite prominent in the metagame. In the last spot, Dragon Tail can help with phasing and adds hazard damage, but Brick Break can deal with Chansey and Blissey.

On Espeon, definately change the nature to Timid - Espeon needs the extra speed to beat base 100s like Salamence and has the chance to beat Gengar and KO. For the Hidden Power, I would suggest Fighting to deal with Dark types and Tyranitar. Finally, you should change Psychic to Psyshock, which hits Blissey and Chansey, as well as still damaging all that Psychic damages almost as hard.

The QWAZ · Apr 14th, 2012, 4:05:44 PM

Okay nice team but, on forretress swap the defence and hp EV's because of forretres has a low base hp maximising it is very good also change it's nature to impish and turn stealth rocks to GYRO BALL
On elektross give it LEFTOVERS instead of quick claw as the extra bulk is more useful than somtomes goong first, turn crush claw into COIL.
Salamence looks good but turn it to a JOLLY nature
Give gliscor swords dance over ariel ace as the power boost is very nice
Espeon is good but make it TIMID
Hope i helped

puking_rainbows · Apr 14th, 2012, 8:25:49 PM

Hi there. I think I have some interesting tips for you n_n
On Salamence, you could try giving him a Choice Scarf and altering a little bit his moveset.

Salamence @ Choice Scarf
Adamant Nature
4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
- Outrage
- Earthquake
- Fire Blast
- Stone Edge

By making this change, you team can use the speed and attack stat from Salamence, allowing you to face otherwise fast hitters. Fire Blast can hit Skarmory harder than Fire Fang. Outrage is a STAB and Earthquake and Stone Edge give nice coverage.

On the problem you tell about Snorlax, you can use a Chesto - Rest strategy. The moves for this set would be:

Snorlax @ Chesto Berry
Rest | Curse | Body Slam | Crunch

Crunch would allow you now to hit the ghost types you couldn't touch with Body Slam.

Another thing that disturbs me is that Quick Claw on your Eelektross. As it is right now, he would benefit from an Expert Belt.

I would advise you to try your team on PO so that you can see by your own eyes which threats your team has and what flaws you find (:

Apr 14th, 2012, 2:45:27 PM	#1
tailszero Join Date: Apr 2012 Posts: 1	Sort-of Standard OU Introduction: Hello Smogen, this is my first RMT, even if I have made countless BW teams, because this team actually does well, whereas most of the ones before this would get blasted. This isn't a really fancy team, with any specialized environment or weather strategies. There are tons of standard teams with a hazard set-up, a dragon, a bulky wall, and a hard hitter, so its hard to think up why this team deserves any special attention. So when I made this team, I tried to make it so I could counter most common Pokemon used in OU, but it still can be harrased by a few Pokemon. I've used it for a while trying to get rid of a few problems I have had, and now this team has no major weakness shared by more than two members. Anyways, lets take a look at the team. Forretress @ Air Balloon Ability: Sturdy EVs: 252 Def 252 SpDef 4 HP Nature: Bold (+Def -Atk) - Stealth Rock - Toxic Spikes - Rapid-Spin - Reflect/Spikes Everyone knows what Forretress is for. Set-up. Recently, Ferrothorn has been taking some of his use away, but Forretress still has several good uses. This one is purely defense and set-up, with Stealth Rock and Toxic Spikes being the most obvious choices. Rapid-spin can help if my opponent also tries for this opening, but if my opponent also knows Rapid-spin, it can get tedious rather quickly, so I have the other option with Reflect, which would give my team some more Defense, but I would rather have Spikes if my opponent doesn't have a Rapid-Spinner. The Air Balloon looks strange on this pokemon, but it helps in that an early Earthquake wont immediately work, and it helps make Ground attacks worthless on the Majority of my team. Snorlax @ Leftovers Ability: Thick-fat EVs: 252 SpDef 188 Def 68 Atk Nature: Adamant (+Atk -SpAtk) - Rest - Sleep Talk - Curse - Body Slam Snorlax has been known for being in OU for five generations, but recently it has been brought down to UU, with many people thinking that with all the fighting moves rampant in this Generation Snorlax was no longer worth his weight, taking it out of OU before the end of this Generation. However, used correctly, Snorlax is still the danger it was back in Gen 2. With the common Curselax setup, Snorlax is very good at walling special hitters, and hitting them back. Rest and Sleep Talk provide free HP recovery without the time loss and the chance for extra chances to use curse. However, with Body Slam being the only Attacking move on this Snorlax, he is worthless against the rare ghost in the tournament scene. With Leftovers as his item, he still remains a large threat to most teams. Eelektross @ Quick Claw Ability: Levitate EVs: 252 Atk 128 Def 128 SpDef Nature: Adamant (+Atk -SpAtk) - Wild Charge - Dragon Tail - Crush Claw - U-Turn As a heavy hitter without any weakness most of the time, Eelektross is a nice choice for a hard hitter to take out annoying Water-type walls and Flying-type sweepers. Wild Charge is the strongest Physical Electric move, being the main attack on this Moveset. Crush Claw hits hard and lowers Defense, and Dragon Tail helps get rid of Physical tanks and Set-up Pokemon. U-Turn was a hard choice, but will let Eeleketross retreat when nessesary. With Eeleketrosses horrible speed, the Quick Claw will let it hit first occasionally enough to be useful. Salamence @ Lum berry Ability: Moxie EVs: 252 Atk 252 Speed Nature: Adamant (+Atk -SpAtk) - Dragon Claw/Outrage - Earthquake - Crunch - Fire Fang/Ice Fang Salamence was put into the Uber tier near the end of the Gen 4 Metagame, earning it a reputation similar but not as feared as Garchomp, and was the third non-Legendary pokemon to be booted into that tier. However, it seems to have avoided that fate for this Generation, but for some reason is less used than its cousins Dragonite and Hydregion, even with it being just as good. Anyways, Dragon Claw or Outrage are used as the main method of attack, with Outrage doing far move damage, but locking you into the move and confusing you, wasting the Lum berry that could be used to prevent a nesty freeze or burn. Earthquake is an obvious choice, with Rock types doing so well in this Generation. Crunch gets rid of those pesky Psychic and Ghost sweepers, and is an Alternative when fighting Latios or Latias. The two fanged moves are up to personal preference- who do you fear more? Ground or Steel Types? Gliscor @ Toxic Orb Ability: Poison Heal EVs: 252 Def 136 Atk 84 SpDef Nature: Impish (+Def -SpAtk) - Toxic - Earthquake - Aerial Ace - Ice Fang Gliscor is a very potent Defensive pokemon, and it had good use in Sandstorm teams in Gen 4. However, with the new ability of Poison Heal, Gliscor can shine outside of the sand. Armed with his Toxic Orb, Gliscor can do a quick Toxic on his opponent and set up a constant heal at the same time. Earthquake and Aerial Ace get Stab, and are good moves as well, so they can be used as your main offense. Ice Fang is to deal with the ever common Dragons and other ground types. Espeon @ Focus Sash Ability: Magic Bounce EVs: 252 SpAtk 252 Speed Nature: Modest (+SpAtl -Atk) - Psychic - Hidden Power (Fire/Ice) - Wish - Shadow ball Espeon has been used as an alternative to Alakazam, and still is. Magic Bounce maked it so Forretress and Ferrothron are worthless against this pokemon, and Hidden Power can be used on them, or you can change to be effective against dragons. The Focus Sash is meant to suprise opponents, as Espeon has poor Defensive stats, and it will let Espeon use the ever-useful Psychic or Shadow ball on my opponent. Wish takes advantage of Espeon's high speed to set up for the next pokemon I will use, or heal back my near-dead Espeon. This team is mostly balanced, and I before I settled on these six, I had tried combinations with Dragonite, Serperior, and Tyranitar, but I finally settled upon this match-up. Please leave constructive criticism or any ideas that might help make this team more rounded out. Also, notify me of any mistakes in the EV or Nature set ups. __________________ "Fighting Snorlax in Gen 2 is like doing taxes. Half of your stuff is gone before you finally finish it off." -Unknown

Apr 14th, 2012, 3:59:39 PM	#2
abyssal7130 Join Date: Jul 2011 Posts: 2	This looks like a pretty good team, but I believe that running Explosion over Reflect/Spikes on Forretress may be a better idea. With all the sun teams and Fire moves in the tier, Forretress likely will not have enough time to set up Stealth Rocks, Spikes, and Toxic Spikes - essentially six turns you are giving the opponent to set up on you or flat out kill you. Explosion lets you harm things like Moxie Salamence and other setup sweepers. Another problem I see is the Eelektross set. As far as I can tell, the defense and sp. defense EVs don't really serve any specific purpose. I'd suggest replacing it with: Eelektross (M) @ Life Orb Ability: Levitate Brave Nature EVs: 252 Atk / 252 SpA / 4 Def - Wild Charge - Flamethrower - Hidden Power [Ice] - Dragon Tail / Grass Knot / Brick Break The EVs and nature maximize offensive potential, without forgoing Eelektross's decent defenses. Wild Charge hits really hard to Pokemon such as Starmie and other water types. Flamethrower roasts Scizor, Forretress, and Ferrothorn, as well as hitting other common Steel types. Hidden Power Ice beats Dragonite, Salamence, and Landorus, all of which are quite prominent in the metagame. In the last spot, Dragon Tail can help with phasing and adds hazard damage, but Brick Break can deal with Chansey and Blissey. On Espeon, definately change the nature to Timid - Espeon needs the extra speed to beat base 100s like Salamence and has the chance to beat Gengar and KO. For the Hidden Power, I would suggest Fighting to deal with Dark types and Tyranitar. Finally, you should change Psychic to Psyshock, which hits Blissey and Chansey, as well as still damaging all that Psychic damages almost as hard. __________________ - abyssal7130

Apr 14th, 2012, 4:05:44 PM	#3
The QWAZ Join Date: Jan 2012 Posts: 527 Oxford, UK	Okay nice team but, on forretress swap the defence and hp EV's because of forretres has a low base hp maximising it is very good also change it's nature to impish and turn stealth rocks to GYRO BALL On elektross give it LEFTOVERS instead of quick claw as the extra bulk is more useful than somtomes goong first, turn crush claw into COIL. Salamence looks good but turn it to a JOLLY nature Give gliscor swords dance over ariel ace as the power boost is very nice Espeon is good but make it TIMID Hope i helped __________________ VM/PM for an OU or RU rate. <undisputed\afk> who is qwaz

Apr 14th, 2012, 8:25:49 PM	#4
puking_rainbows Join Date: Jul 2010 Posts: 75 Spain	Hi there. I think I have some interesting tips for you n_n On Salamence, you could try giving him a Choice Scarf and altering a little bit his moveset. Salamence @ Choice Scarf Adamant Nature 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe - Outrage - Earthquake - Fire Blast - Stone Edge By making this change, you team can use the speed and attack stat from Salamence, allowing you to face otherwise fast hitters. Fire Blast can hit Skarmory harder than Fire Fang. Outrage is a STAB and Earthquake and Stone Edge give nice coverage. On the problem you tell about Snorlax, you can use a Chesto - Rest strategy. The moves for this set would be: Snorlax @ Chesto Berry Rest \| Curse \| Body Slam \| Crunch Crunch would allow you now to hit the ghost types you couldn't touch with Body Slam. Another thing that disturbs me is that Quick Claw on your Eelektross. As it is right now, he would benefit from an Expert Belt. I would advise you to try your team on PO so that you can see by your own eyes which threats your team has and what flaws you find (: