Current Peak:
(21:09:17) *** Your rank in Standard OU is 15/46867 [1472 points / 706 battles]!
Team Preview:
Introduction:
October 9th, 2011 was the day that the Black & White OU meta-game had its two most notable threats sent away to Ubers. Thundurus and Excadrill ran the meta-game under an iron fist, teams that were not using them made sure to pack at least 1 or 2 counters just in case their opponent brought one, which was not a rare sight in the slightest. It even got to a point where an RU Pokemon rose up the ranks to OU just because it handled Thundurus semi-well (along with rain teams in general).
You could say these were simpler times, teams became predictable based on the fact that the majority of them would either be using Excadrill or Thundurus, or they had checks and counters for the two. But the meta-game changes quickly, as bulky offense, in my opinion, is much harder to be successful with. I say this because now that people are no longer worried about their sweepers being out-sped by the mole, a lot more are going to show their face. I am not saying that bulky offense is dead, what I am saying is it will be much harder to be successful with. Again, this is my opinion.
When I originally started this team, Hyper Offense teams were rare so I decided to try them out. After much testing and team building on the ladder I noticed a large increase in similar HO teams, which required me to change up my play-style a bit. When I was mentioning bulky offense teams above and how they might not work as well anymore is because of the large amount I faced while “perfecting” this team. They were just too slow to be a threat and nothing could take repetitive hits, once the opponent lost their steel(s), games normally ended in a Haxorus sweep.
Now that introductions are out of the way, lets get into my thought process when using this team.
How I use this team:
Building Process:
Originally this team started off with two screen supporters, Deoxys-S for the quickest screens in the game and Espeon to keep hazards off my side of the field while also setting up screens of its own. The reason I wanted 2 screeners was because I was new to the whole HO playstyle, so I needed some leniency if I made any mistakes with one of my screeners.
My next goal was to create a 4 Pokemon offensive core, things I needed this core to accomplish was weaken each others counters and have somewhat decent defensive synergy (under screens!) too. I wanted the defensive synergy because if opposing dragons found a time to set up, once they locked themselves into Outrage I needed a switch in that wouldn't get taken out in a hit. Introducing, Lucario and Scizor. Both have a form of strong priority and they can both ease the stress off each other when sweeping, Lucario can weaken/ take out Skarmory making a Scizor sweep more likely. The next two pokemon I added were Haxorus and Dragonite. Dragonite makes an appearance because he was a receiving a lot of attention during the first week of the ThunduDrill ban. Many teams were not prepared for it, so I took advantage of this and used him myself. Haxorus and Dragonite did great at breaking down the opponent's steels and sweeping through their team. With these 6, I peaked around the high 1300s, nothing special but I was getting somewhere.
After becoming comfortable with the team, I decided that Espeon was no longer needed and that I should add another sweeper. The previous version of my team did very well, however rain stall gave it such a hard time and there was really not much I could do about it. I decided it was time to change up the team and add some tried and true checks to rain stall, one of which being Virizion. Instead of the expected Calm Mind set I decided to use the lesser seen Swords Dance set, it could rip open holes in rain stall and still support the rest of the team offensively. Along with Virizion, Volcarona made an appearance. You might be thinking to yourself: “Why Volcarona if your having trouble with rain?” Well I will answer your question. Most rain teams lead off with Politoed when they see that I have no weather inducer, so I counter by leading off with Deoxys-S. Light screen reduces the power of the opponent's special moves (water type attacks in particular), so this is normally how I open. I then preceded to set up my stealth rocks, reflect, and then finally I taunt the toed. After all of this is done Deoxys should be KO'd and I can safety send in my Volcarona. Most Politoeds are slow which means I can set up a Quiver dance, taking even less damage from their scald. Once I am set up to +2 I am ready to sweep and the opponent can normally do nothing about it. Terrakion was the last addition, he was used to help out Lucario and Virizion in breaking down physical walls. My ranking didn't change too much, even with the new additions. I needed to figure out what my team was lacking, so I tried one more time at doing just that.
What you are looking at now is the final version of my team. I have been working on it since the most recent bans and so far I am VERY proud of it. I will not get too deep into each Pokemon's purpose and moveset just yet, in due time. However you should know that each of these sweepers have been carefully chosen to aid each other in a potential sweep. No single Pokemon “walls” each sweeper because a wall cannot take a beating from all 5 members. The only Pokemon that comes to mind would be maybe a Sableye in rain but I wouldn't expect that unless someone is counter teaming. At the time of writing this I am ranked 25 on the OU Smogon ladder and I am planning on getting even higher, my goal is somewhere in the top 5.
Team Analysis:
Trait: Pressure
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- I used this EV spread in order to maximize overall bulk and to speed tie with opposing Deoxys-S that are also running max speed Timid
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Trait: Blaze
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SAtk / 252 Spd
Naive Nature (+Spd, -Sdef)
- This spread was used so that Infernape could do what it does best: Wall breaking. Since the majority of his attacks are physical I maxed out his attack stat along with giving him 252 speed as well (Making Infernape the fastest member on my team, unboosted of course). Sometimes you have to rely on luck and since most Terrakion and Virizion use max speed with a speed boosting nature, I had to do the same. The 4 special attacking Evs are to give HP Ice a bit more power, while it may be insignificant, there really wasn't anywhere else to put them
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Trait: Inner Focus
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -Satk)
- I decided to use a physically based Lucario as I find it much more threatening than the specially based one mainly because of priority moves. I chose Inner Focus over his other abilities because now Lucario does not have to worry about being flinch hax'd by Jirachi
Trait: Flame Body
EVs: 108 Def / 252 SAtk / 148 Spd
Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Since Volcarona doesn't have the best defensive stat in the world, 108 EVs were put in to allow Volcarona to take hits better. Since 148 Speed is enough to let me outspeed max speed Modest Rotoms, the rest can safety be put in Special attack and defense.
Trait: Technician
EVs: 40 HP / 252 Atk / 216 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -Satk)
- For the EV spread I wanted the SD Scizor set as a base and then I would make personal changes. The 40 HP EVs give me some bulk while the 216 speed EVs allow me to outspeed common Defensive Roserades and anything below that.
Trait: Mold Breaker
EVs: 88 HP / 252 Atk / 168 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -Satk)
- Haxorus is probably my new favorite Dragon type in the game, competitively speaking. It has all the right moves, monstrous attack, and a solid base speed to boot. Plus he isn't too frail which is great for setting up under screens, wonderful. His speed EVs put him at 272 speed, just enough to outspeed Modest max speed Rotoms. Since I had 88 extra EVs to use, I decided to put them into HP to give Haxorus some extra bulk to abuse. A bane to rain stall, and one of the hardest hitters in the game. <3 u Haxxy.
Conclusion:
My main goal for posting up this RMT is to see what people think of this team and if there are any improvements that could be made, as I know for a fact I am not a perfect team builder. Along with that, I suppose showing off my accomplishments is also a reason. Reaching such a high rank has never happened to me before, I have always been around the 1200s and I now feel confident in the higher ranks. For all I know, I could start laddering right now and drop a significant amount, sure it will get disheartening but the thing is, I have already made it noticeably high so there is a large chance that I can do it again.
People who inspired this RMT:
Nubagator - When I saw your most recent RMT "Her Smile", you instantly made me want to make another one. After my previous RMT had little success (imo) I got discouraged and decided to stop making them as they are very time consuming. So thank you so much for indirectly inspiring me!
M Dragon - What a great RMT you made M Dragon, the inner descriptions of why you chose each move was so cool. I always had problems describing why I chose each move that I just skipped over it and hoped people would figure it out, but you showed me an easy yet effective way of doing this, so I thank you!
Trollmonchan - For showing me how deadly Hyper Offense is, if it were not for you I would still be playing Bulky Offense. Thanks man!
CheckerKnight - Same thing as Trollmonchan, you guys are great.
Faladran - For creating an amazing website and being so helpful on it, I wouldn't be nearly as good at Pokemon if it were not for you. Thank you!
(21:09:17) *** Your rank in Standard OU is 15/46867 [1472 points / 706 battles]!
Team Preview:






Introduction:
October 9th, 2011 was the day that the Black & White OU meta-game had its two most notable threats sent away to Ubers. Thundurus and Excadrill ran the meta-game under an iron fist, teams that were not using them made sure to pack at least 1 or 2 counters just in case their opponent brought one, which was not a rare sight in the slightest. It even got to a point where an RU Pokemon rose up the ranks to OU just because it handled Thundurus semi-well (along with rain teams in general).
You could say these were simpler times, teams became predictable based on the fact that the majority of them would either be using Excadrill or Thundurus, or they had checks and counters for the two. But the meta-game changes quickly, as bulky offense, in my opinion, is much harder to be successful with. I say this because now that people are no longer worried about their sweepers being out-sped by the mole, a lot more are going to show their face. I am not saying that bulky offense is dead, what I am saying is it will be much harder to be successful with. Again, this is my opinion.
When I originally started this team, Hyper Offense teams were rare so I decided to try them out. After much testing and team building on the ladder I noticed a large increase in similar HO teams, which required me to change up my play-style a bit. When I was mentioning bulky offense teams above and how they might not work as well anymore is because of the large amount I faced while “perfecting” this team. They were just too slow to be a threat and nothing could take repetitive hits, once the opponent lost their steel(s), games normally ended in a Haxorus sweep.
Now that introductions are out of the way, lets get into my thought process when using this team.
How I use this team:
- First of all, because Pokemon that can set up stat boosts are very dangerous to this team, I normally will stay in on these threats this and do as much damage as possible. This is because I have 2 forms of priority in the form of Scizor's Bullet Punch and Lucario's ExtremeSpeed. If one of my sweepers end up going down in the process than that is fine, that is the beauty of Hyper Offense; your team members can go down if it means your opponents walls are crippled.
- Since Deoxys-S is the only screener on this team, make sure you are correctly using its moves to maximize its effectiveness. What I mean by this, is that Deoxys-S will more often than not be the first Pokemon down on your team. Now this is fine, as long as you have set up properly. Such as setting up specific screens (you do not always need both up depending on the situation), make sure you have Stealth Rocks up if your opponent has Sturdy/ Focus Sash users, Dragonite, Volcarona, Tornadus, etc. Making sure your opponent does not set up his own hazards while still conserving Deoxys-S (This is normally done by applying offensive pressure on the opponent forcing them to attack or switch around).
- Remember! Setting up an Swords Dance or whatever else is irrelevant unless you can out-speed! If you know your opponent can just switch out to a faster Pokemon right after you set up don't bother. Each one of these sweeper have enough power to still pack a punch unboosted, do not forget this. This can obviously be ignored if you are using Dragon Dance or Quiver Dance, otherwise keep it in mind. Conserving health is of utmost importance; the more health you have, the less of a chance your opponent has to pick you off with priority (when you are under screens of course).
- Without further adieu, the final thing you need to remember is that prediction is key. With “normal” teams, mid to late game prediction happens a lot. With this team, plan out your moves early on, this way you can set up your sweep as soon as possible and end the game in less than 20 turns. If the game is dragged out for too long your screener is most likely KO'd and your sweepers are probably low on health meaning the game is most likely lost.
Building Process:






Originally this team started off with two screen supporters, Deoxys-S for the quickest screens in the game and Espeon to keep hazards off my side of the field while also setting up screens of its own. The reason I wanted 2 screeners was because I was new to the whole HO playstyle, so I needed some leniency if I made any mistakes with one of my screeners.
My next goal was to create a 4 Pokemon offensive core, things I needed this core to accomplish was weaken each others counters and have somewhat decent defensive synergy (under screens!) too. I wanted the defensive synergy because if opposing dragons found a time to set up, once they locked themselves into Outrage I needed a switch in that wouldn't get taken out in a hit. Introducing, Lucario and Scizor. Both have a form of strong priority and they can both ease the stress off each other when sweeping, Lucario can weaken/ take out Skarmory making a Scizor sweep more likely. The next two pokemon I added were Haxorus and Dragonite. Dragonite makes an appearance because he was a receiving a lot of attention during the first week of the ThunduDrill ban. Many teams were not prepared for it, so I took advantage of this and used him myself. Haxorus and Dragonite did great at breaking down the opponent's steels and sweeping through their team. With these 6, I peaked around the high 1300s, nothing special but I was getting somewhere.






After becoming comfortable with the team, I decided that Espeon was no longer needed and that I should add another sweeper. The previous version of my team did very well, however rain stall gave it such a hard time and there was really not much I could do about it. I decided it was time to change up the team and add some tried and true checks to rain stall, one of which being Virizion. Instead of the expected Calm Mind set I decided to use the lesser seen Swords Dance set, it could rip open holes in rain stall and still support the rest of the team offensively. Along with Virizion, Volcarona made an appearance. You might be thinking to yourself: “Why Volcarona if your having trouble with rain?” Well I will answer your question. Most rain teams lead off with Politoed when they see that I have no weather inducer, so I counter by leading off with Deoxys-S. Light screen reduces the power of the opponent's special moves (water type attacks in particular), so this is normally how I open. I then preceded to set up my stealth rocks, reflect, and then finally I taunt the toed. After all of this is done Deoxys should be KO'd and I can safety send in my Volcarona. Most Politoeds are slow which means I can set up a Quiver dance, taking even less damage from their scald. Once I am set up to +2 I am ready to sweep and the opponent can normally do nothing about it. Terrakion was the last addition, he was used to help out Lucario and Virizion in breaking down physical walls. My ranking didn't change too much, even with the new additions. I needed to figure out what my team was lacking, so I tried one more time at doing just that.






What you are looking at now is the final version of my team. I have been working on it since the most recent bans and so far I am VERY proud of it. I will not get too deep into each Pokemon's purpose and moveset just yet, in due time. However you should know that each of these sweepers have been carefully chosen to aid each other in a potential sweep. No single Pokemon “walls” each sweeper because a wall cannot take a beating from all 5 members. The only Pokemon that comes to mind would be maybe a Sableye in rain but I wouldn't expect that unless someone is counter teaming. At the time of writing this I am ranked 25 on the OU Smogon ladder and I am planning on getting even higher, my goal is somewhere in the top 5.
Team Analysis:
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Deoxys-S @ Light Clay
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Trait: Pressure
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- I used this EV spread in order to maximize overall bulk and to speed tie with opposing Deoxys-S that are also running max speed Timid
- Stealth Rock
- Stealth Rocks are here to break the foe's Sturdy/ Focus Sashes and also weaken opposing Dragonite, Volcarona, Tornadus, basically anything that could be threatening that is hindered by SR
- Light Screen
- Used to weaken attacks coming from the special spectrum - Reflect
- Used to weaken attacks coming from the physical spectrum - Taunt
- Taunt is used to prevent the opponent from either getting Stealth Rocks on my side of the field (which would completely neuter Volcarona) and to stop opposing Pokemon from setting up stat boosts
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Trait: Blaze
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SAtk / 252 Spd
Naive Nature (+Spd, -Sdef)
- This spread was used so that Infernape could do what it does best: Wall breaking. Since the majority of his attacks are physical I maxed out his attack stat along with giving him 252 speed as well (Making Infernape the fastest member on my team, unboosted of course). Sometimes you have to rely on luck and since most Terrakion and Virizion use max speed with a speed boosting nature, I had to do the same. The 4 special attacking Evs are to give HP Ice a bit more power, while it may be insignificant, there really wasn't anywhere else to put them
- Close Combat
- 120 Base power STAB. Since Infernape is not using a Life Orb, CC will not be doing much to things that it is not Super Effective against. But this is fine since the ability to fake a choice item is very rewarding - U-turn
- Part 2 in my ploy of faking a choice item. Since U-turn is so commonly seen on choiced users, I thought it would make a nice fit on this set - Flare Blitz
- Same reasons as Close Combat. With a 307 attack stat Infernape needs to make use of moves with high base power. Flare Blitz is especially effective when using it with the ability Blaze, as recoil slowly whittles away at your life, Infernape slowly but surely reaches Blaze range, making sure he goes out strong - Hidden Power [Ice]
- HP Ice is mainly used for catching Gliscor and non Scarf Landorus off guard when they expect me to be choiced. The only real problem is when opposing Landorus use Expert Belt as well, if this happens I first need to scout if it is in fact choiced or Ebelt (unless I see leftovers recovery).
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Trait: Inner Focus
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -Satk)
- I decided to use a physically based Lucario as I find it much more threatening than the specially based one mainly because of priority moves. I chose Inner Focus over his other abilities because now Lucario does not have to worry about being flinch hax'd by Jirachi
- Swords Dance
- A move that boosts the users Physical attacking stat by 2 stages, great for sweeping - Close Combat
- Even unboosted, CC still manages to do a little under half to most Skarmorys. Stealth Rocks are so crucial to Lucario sweeps as they guarantee all Pokemon (with the exception of physically defensive monsters) will be OHKO'd. If I manage to get up to +4 the game is normally won from there... - Crunch
- Crunch is there mainly for Jellicent as I find it more of a threat to this team than Gliscor is, it also allow me to have near perfect attacking coverage - ExtremeSpeed
- One of the best priority moves in the game. Depending on how many SDs Lucario has up/ what Pokemon the opponent has left an E-speed sweep is highly likely.
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Volcarona (F) @ Leftovers
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Trait: Flame Body
EVs: 108 Def / 252 SAtk / 148 Spd
Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Since Volcarona doesn't have the best defensive stat in the world, 108 EVs were put in to allow Volcarona to take hits better. Since 148 Speed is enough to let me outspeed max speed Modest Rotoms, the rest can safety be put in Special attack and defense.
- Quiver Dance
- Quiver Dance put simply, is a wonderful move. Having something that can raise your speed, special defense and special attack by 1 stage in a single turn is amazing. I've found myself using QD in conjunction with Light Screen to take on Super Effective hits with ease and strike back with RELENTLESS FORCE. (High-five if you know who says that ;] ) - Bug Buzz
- Bug Buzz is great for a solid STAB and it also has a chance for a SpD drop which is just great when it happens - Fiery Dance
- It has been said before but Fiery Dance may be better than Fire Blast simply because of its chance to give +1 to your SpA stat. On a Pokemon like Volcarona this is just too much to pass up - Hidden Power [Rock]
- HP Rock or HP Ground? This is a question I have asked myself a lot but I feel as if Heatran is no huge threat to my team unlike the Pokemon that are weak to HP Rock. I would much rather take out Pokemon like Dragonite than a Heatran any day of the week
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Scizor (F) @ Iron Plate
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Trait: Technician
EVs: 40 HP / 252 Atk / 216 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -Satk)
- For the EV spread I wanted the SD Scizor set as a base and then I would make personal changes. The 40 HP EVs give me some bulk while the 216 speed EVs allow me to outspeed common Defensive Roserades and anything below that.
- Swords Dance
- SD is here for the +2 in attack to allow me a chance at a potential mini sweep - Bullet Punch
- Bullet Punch. Bullet Punch is the main reason why Scizor is the BEST Terrakion check in the game, otherwise Double Dance Terrakion would be much more devastating. Also, having more priority doesn't hurt at all. - Bug Bite
- Because of Technician, Bug Bite is boosted to a respectable Base Power. It allows me to check opposing Reuniclus and gives me a powerful Bug move that doesn't force me to switch out - Superpower
- Superpower is mainly for Heatran to be honest, since most normally will stay in on Siczor. If they think I am choiced and they are not an offensive version than my opponent can say goodbye to tran
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Haxorus (F) @ Lum Berry
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Trait: Mold Breaker
EVs: 88 HP / 252 Atk / 168 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -Satk)
- Haxorus is probably my new favorite Dragon type in the game, competitively speaking. It has all the right moves, monstrous attack, and a solid base speed to boot. Plus he isn't too frail which is great for setting up under screens, wonderful. His speed EVs put him at 272 speed, just enough to outspeed Modest max speed Rotoms. Since I had 88 extra EVs to use, I decided to put them into HP to give Haxorus some extra bulk to abuse. A bane to rain stall, and one of the hardest hitters in the game. <3 u Haxxy.
- Dragon Dance
- +1 in attack and +1 in speed, perfect for a sweeping Pokemon - Swords Dance
- I originally had Taunt in this slot, but after playing with Double Dance I feel as if Swords Dance is better suited. Reason being not maybe teams like taking +1 Outrages coming off of a 147 base attack stat. Well, make that +2, and under screen support so it is highly likely that Haxorus (after two turns) will be at +1 speed and +3 attack. At that point Haxorus has the power to 2HKO standard Skarmory. Yeah. - Outrage
- Outrage is the hardest hitting Dragon move in Haxorus's arsenal which is fine. 2 move coverage is also all Haxorus needs to sweep teams because of his amazing ability Mold Breaker - Earthquake
- Earthquake gives Haxorus a solid move to hit the opponent with if it does not feel like being locked into Outrage. Plus, Mold Breaker nullifies Levitate and Unaware, a god-sent to HO teams
Conclusion:
My main goal for posting up this RMT is to see what people think of this team and if there are any improvements that could be made, as I know for a fact I am not a perfect team builder. Along with that, I suppose showing off my accomplishments is also a reason. Reaching such a high rank has never happened to me before, I have always been around the 1200s and I now feel confident in the higher ranks. For all I know, I could start laddering right now and drop a significant amount, sure it will get disheartening but the thing is, I have already made it noticeably high so there is a large chance that I can do it again.
People who inspired this RMT:
Nubagator - When I saw your most recent RMT "Her Smile", you instantly made me want to make another one. After my previous RMT had little success (imo) I got discouraged and decided to stop making them as they are very time consuming. So thank you so much for indirectly inspiring me!
M Dragon - What a great RMT you made M Dragon, the inner descriptions of why you chose each move was so cool. I always had problems describing why I chose each move that I just skipped over it and hoped people would figure it out, but you showed me an easy yet effective way of doing this, so I thank you!
Trollmonchan - For showing me how deadly Hyper Offense is, if it were not for you I would still be playing Bulky Offense. Thanks man!
CheckerKnight - Same thing as Trollmonchan, you guys are great.
Faladran - For creating an amazing website and being so helpful on it, I wouldn't be nearly as good at Pokemon if it were not for you. Thank you!