OU Leads

[DarkBlazeR]

Scolipede @ Focus Sash / Bug Gem
Trait: Swarm
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature
- Spikes
- Megahorn
- Earthquake
- Rock Slide/Toxic Spikes

Although a very rare sight in OU, Scolipede is an underrated lead that deserves more love. I believe it was featured in a Smog article back in the BW1 days, but it has become more effective in the BW2 metagame in my opinion. Whilst it seems outclassed by Deoxys-D as a spiker lead, it has advantages in high speed and the offensive presence to threaten many things in OU, including weather starters, Espeon and ironically Deoxys-D. I personally prefer Rock Slide over Toxic Spikes to hit Volcarona/Thundurus-T hard, and Toxic Spikes are less effective than before due to the popularity of grounded Poison types such as Venusaur and Tentacruel. However, they are still useful vs Stall teams lacking Tentacruel. Focus Sash guarantees you'll set up at least 1 layer of Spikes, but Bug Gem is required for Megahorn to OHKO 252/4 Deoxys-D and standard SDef Tyranitar.

[Ithilanor]

I don't think you need the Bug Gem against Deoxys-D. Just Megahorn, take a HP Fire, live with your sash, and get the 2HKO. Also, how well does it fare against Politoed?

[VictorVonDoom]

Straight up stole this. However for my few battle forays into OU, this guy has been great for my niche team.

Hippowdon @ Leftovers
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 HP/4 Atk/252 Def
Impish Nature
Slack Off/Roar/Earthquake/Stealth Rock

[KurashiDragon]

Alright It's official. I'm pissed at those statistics. Where's ditto? Ditto is the ultimate lead because it's capable of checking all other leads and acting accordingly. It makes it easy to judge an opponents team when your unsure of what they might be running.

[jaderichard]

http://pokemondb.net/pokedex/dragonite
Dragonite@ dragon gem
Trait: marvel scale
Thunder
Hurricane
Draco meteor
Protect

Modest nature

EVs:SpAt/252 SpDef/152 Def/4 HP/100

This is a great lead when rain is already up as it can take care of alot of pokemon and also take a few hits also. It does struggle with faster dragon or ice type pokemon but with its abilitie it is almost always garanteed to deal some damage back. This was a great addition to my rain team

[Azaleaf]

Originally Posted by Fat jaderichard

http://pokemondb.net/pokedex/dragonite
Dragonite@ dragon gem
Trait: marvel scale
Thunder
Hurricane
Draco meteor
Protect

Modest nature

EVs:SpAt/252 SpDef/152 Def/4 HP/100

This is a great lead when rain is already up as it can take care of alot of pokemon and also take a few hits also. It does struggle with faster dragon or ice type pokemon but with its abilitie it is almost always garanteed to deal some damage back. This was a great addition to my rain team

I'm not completely sure whether you understood the definition for word "lead" in this case or not.

[jaderichard]

Dragonite opening with politoed in doubles is a gd lead. Its gd at dealing massive damage

[DudeOfTheCentury]

I love to lead with Zoroark disguised as Toxicroak. A lot of people in 5th gen love to lead with Reuniclus when they see a Toxicroak in the team preview. Dark Pulse to the face from a max Sp.A Zoroark is nothing to play around with.

[Boondocker]

Originally Posted by Fat DarkBlazeR

Scolipede @ Focus Sash / Bug Gem
Trait: Swarm
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature
- Spikes
- Megahorn
- Earthquake
- Rock Slide/Toxic Spikes

Whilst it seems outclassed by Deoxys-D as a spiker lead, it has advantages in high speed and the offensive presence to threaten many things in OU, including weather starters, Espeon and ironically Deoxys-D.

Not having SR sucks, as does not being to do anything against Skarm/Fortress. Everything about it is solid though. Endeavor and Superpower should both get slashes too. Superpower is probably better then EQ nowadays.

Originally Posted by Fat KurashiDragon

Alright It's official. I'm pissed at those statistics. Where's ditto? Ditto is the ultimate lead because it's capable of checking all other leads and acting accordingly. It makes it easy to judge an opponents team when your unsure of what they might be running.

I completely agree. I have a friend who uses a team i gave her and she always leads with Sash Ditto. Its hard for teams to get an upper hand against it because its...well Ditto. Coppying Voltturners and hazzard users is what it does best.

[DudeOfTheCentury]

Originally Posted by Fat jaderichard

http://pokemondb.net/pokedex/dragonite
Dragonite@ dragon gem
Trait: marvel scale
Thunder
Hurricane
Draco meteor
Protect

Modest nature

EVs:SpAt/252 SpDef/152 Def/4 HP/100

This is a great lead when rain is already up as it can take care of alot of pokemon and also take a few hits also. It does struggle with faster dragon or ice type pokemon but with its abilitie it is almost always garanteed to deal some damage back. This was a great addition to my rain team

I would replace Protect with Surf. It might sound weird but, but I used a rain team with it in a local tournament, and it destroyed. I also like to use a Expert Belt just because I think Pokemon with good coverage need to hit harder.

[Antihaxxer]

Type coverage : Ground, Rock, Fire, Water, Flying, Grass, Bug, Fighting, Dragon

-> Expert Belt is a must =)

Maybe Waterfall instead of Surf/Protect, to hit hard Chansey/Blissey on Physical side (134 attack + Rain with minimum investment could be cool), and it gives also a physical attack when DM reduces your Sp.Att

[The Silent Storm]

Very interesting thread here, it's nice to see that the concept of Lead isn't truly dead with Team preview.

So...

Terrakion @ Focus Sash Trait: Justified
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Close Combat
- Stone Edge
- Stealth Rock
- Taunt


Quite unexpected, fast SR User who at the same times scares off the opponent, we all know how scary is the fight+rock coverage as of now, Terrakion is truly an amazing sr user, since he causes many switchs, most of the time he can also weaken the opposing team, gold examples here would be Breloom and Scizor, who will take a good blow against Focus Sash Terrakion.

[Jukain]

Originally Posted by Fat KurashiDragon

Alright It's official. I'm pissed at those statistics. Where's ditto? Ditto is the ultimate lead because it's capable of checking all other leads and acting accordingly. It makes it easy to judge an opponents team when your unsure of what they might be running.

Originally Posted by Fat KurashiDragon

Alright It's official. I'm pissed at those statistics. Where's ditto? Ditto is the ultimate lead because it's capable of checking all other leads and acting accordingly. It makes it easy to judge an opponents team when your unsure of what they might be running.

Yeah but you have to take into account that it also denies you momentum that you get from hazards and U-turn/Volt Switch users.

@jaderichard: huh that's a neat set alright, I would never use that because I personally think that it's a waste of a Dragonite, but to each their own.

Anyway, I figured I would bring up Dugtrio for sun teams as a lead. The fact is, so many people lead with their weather inducers, so if you predict that and lead with Duggy, you get an immediate advantage. Plus you get up free rocks.

[Alexander.]

I would post this here...


Aerodactyl (M) @ Focus Sash
Trait: Rock Head
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Stealth Rock
- Taunt
- Earthquake
- Fire Blast / Stone Edge

Aerodactyl suicide-lead can work also in BW. Stealth Rock and Taunt are mainstream, EQ hits something, and Fire Blast is mainly for Forretress, Ferrothorn and Skarmory. Ah, Stone Edge hits hard dragons and Rotom-W but honestly I think Fire Blast is better than Stone Edge in the current metagame. I suggest you to try this beast for hyper offense teams.

[celever]

Not exactly surprising, but, who cares!

With:
Spikes
Stealth rock
Power whip
Leech seed.

The great thing is, is that this thing's power whip takes down Starmies and Politoeds, no boost needed! I once took down 3 pokemon in a row with this thing and it's power whip, and one was a salamence! (Who seemed adamant on using fire blast, it never did hit ferrothorn.) Pretty self-explanatory here, isn't it.

[StairFall]

Aren't spikes/rocks/seeds not possible to have all on the same set? Or did B/W2 change that?

[voodoo pimp]

Originally Posted by Fat StairFall

Aren't spikes/rocks/seeds not possible to have all on the same set? Or did B/W2 change that?

Spikes/Leech Seed is possible through Cacturne, and SR is a tutor now.

[Tabuu]

Choice Scarf Genesect.
Offensive Volcarona.
SR Terrakion.
Shell Smash Cloyster.
Rotom-Heat.

[The Great Mighty Doom]

Kaboom Mew is an amazing lead:

Mew @ Normal Gem
Trait: Synchronize
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Taunt
- Explosion
- Tailwind

This Mew is awesome, I first saw it on the ladder a few times, and then later I saw a variant with Tailwind on Jimbon's RMT: Weird Fish. This Mew is a lead for HO teams, and an effective one at that. This thing can provide Stealth Rocks, and then use Explosion to "spin block" (Rapid Spin only spins away hazards if it hits, as long as the opposing Rapid Spinner is slower than Mew, you can not only prevent hazards, but Mew will likely KO the opponent / bring it into KO range for one something else in your team.) A max attack, Normal Gem boosted Explosion is going to be OHKOing about 95% of pokemon that don't resist it, which is great because people don't usually bring out their steel-types against Mew, fearing more common moves found on Mew, like Fire Blast, so it's very likely Mew will get a kill. Taunt not only prevents opponents getting up their hazards, it also makes a great combination with Explosion, because it can prevent the opponent from using Protect on the Explosion. Tailwind is in the last slot, and although you won't get a chance to set-up a Tailwind in most matches, every now and then you'll be able to Tailwind, Explode, then bring in a sweeper that's particularly dangerous when it can outspeed everything, if this happens you'll likely be in an amazing position from the very start of the match. The 4 Defense EVs are to give Genesect a Special Attack boost rather than an Attack boost, this is because U-Turn is much more common than Bug Buzz, and if they go for Bug Buzz instead of U-Turn; it prevents the opponent from gaining momentum when you switch Mew out. Overall, this Mew is like a very bulky Azelf, with far more suprise factor and access to Tailwind. The suprise factor it provides is often enough to catch the opponent off guard. This suprise factor may even let you KO the opposing team's counter to your sweeper with Explosion, which may even result in a sweep that your opponent couldn't prevent after they'd unexpectantly lost that sweeper's counter. Meaning, this Mew can win you the game in the first 2 turns.

[Sacaen]

I've been using Cresselia as a lead, with Espeon support.


Cresselia @ Light Clay
Ability: Levitate
Nature: Bold
EVs: 252 hp, 148 def, 40 SpD, 68 Spe
Light Screen
Reflect
Thunder Wave
Ice Beam/Lunar Dance

She can set up screens on pretty much every attacking lead in the game and many times have enough health left to come in and do it again later. Thunderwave additionally helps cripple your opponents team making it easier for both her to set up screens and whatever you send in after Cress.

Cresselia as a lead isn't complete without Espeon (or Xatu) to reflect back all the hazards and status aimed at Cresselia, and combined with one of the two magic bouncers and proper prediction makes for a lead combo that can take on essentially everything.

Between Cresselia and Espeon there are only a handful of leads that can give them trouble:
-A set up sweeper that has substitute, volt absorb, or is ground type (preventing cress from paralyzing them).
- Bug Buzz Genesect (it doesn't OHKO, but means cress can only set up 1 screen, but will usually paralyze Genesect in the process, and I consider a paralyzed genesect a win in my book), U turn on the other hand is much more common and only does ~30%.
-An espeon switch can be pretty predictable with team preview, so leads that commonly set up hazards but attack instead can severely hurt Espeon.

[eckae]

Originally Posted by Fat Electrolyte

Espeon @ Leftovers
4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid nature
~Substitute
~Calm Mind
~Stored power
~Shadow Ball

This thing is a great supporter and passer- if it gets behind a Sub, there's no forcing it out (bar Perish Song) It's amazing ability middle fingers a lot of stall and hazard leads, buying switch time to set up and pass. It's great speed and monstrous special attack allow it to even sweep, and it dgaf Pursuit. A real team player.

I also use espeon but i use a different set (shown below)
i screen set and switch to mew who has nasty plot-rock polish-baton pass-thunder

Espeon @ Light Clay
Trait: Magic Bounce
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
- Reflect
- Light Screen
- Psychic
- Baton Pass

light clay extends reflect/screen 3 turns allows me to switch to skarm to lay down spikes/rocks on heavy teams or to mew to bulk up, get fast and baton pass to latia or heatran or speed up and switch to choiceband dragonite.. my team definitely has holes, but i'm doing pretty well for having started a few weeks ago.

I like this new espeon set though, it would allow me to have a pokemon other than mew to bulk up and pass.

[Pan.]

If I see a slow team on the oponnents side, then I usually start with my Gliscor, setup a Substitute, Pass it to Keldeo and start a sweep. The only few pokemon, that resist my Secret Sword / Hydro Pump & Hidden Power Electric-Combo are Jellicent (spdef), Amoonguss & Tentacruel, where latter is usually setup-fodder for CM-Keldeo.

Gliscor @ Toxic-Orb
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def or 252 Def / 176 Def / rest Spe
Impish Nature
~ Substitute
~ Baton Pass
~ Taunt
~ Earthquake

Taunt shuts down Ferrothorn & Skarmory / Forretress and makes it easier for Gliscor to setup a Substitute and pass it to its team members :)

[Dark Fallen Angel]

I have been using this as a lead for my hyper-offensive team:


Deoxys-D @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Pressure
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Trick
- Spikes
- Stealth Rock
- Taunt

What many people are tired of complain is how Deo-D teams are destroyed by things like Double Dance Thundurus-T and Volcarona. This set attempts to fix this problem. Your opponent will never see that coming: Trick a Choice Scarf on the opponent, and they will be instantly locked on their setup move. It is funny to see how the opponent instantly rages when they see their Volcarona locked on Quiver Dance, their Thundurus-T locked on Agility, their Terrakion locked on Rock Polish, etc.

This set isn't useless apart from surprising setup sweepers. It has a lot of utility outside that. For example, you can use Trick against a Rapid Spinner. While this does not prevent them from using Rapid Spin to spin away your hard work, at least this can make them think twice before spinning, as you can take advantage of this to have a free switch to almost anything you want, for example, a setup sweeper of your own.

I have a problem with this set, however. I don't know which would be the best option on the last slot. I have been using Taunt, but sometimes disabling the opponent with Choice Scarf + Trick was sufficient, and being locked on Taunt was never a good idea on the first place. Speaking of which, this is the main problem of this set; it tends to have problems if you don't Trick away the Choice Scarf first. This is alleviated by the fact that Spikes is one of the moves being used, and Deoxys-D can usually afford to be locked on Spikes.

[Anikrahman1995]

@Dark Fallen Angel, that Deoxys-D set should use Thunderwave instead of Stealth Rock. You are overloading its work and there will be times when you will not be able to set up Stealth Rock.

With Thunderwave, you can trick away the scarf on a set-up sweeper on turn 1 and then Thunderwave the switch-in the next turn.

[Jukain]

Oh hey, this thread got revived :o

I've seen that set a couple of times, Dark Fallen Angel, and I must say, it's quite a surprise to face. For that last slot, would a status move be worth a try? For example, you could use Thunder Wave, and since Deoxys-D is pretty fast with a Choice Scarf, it could cripple Pokemon like Latios and Keldeo that don't mind the Choice Scarf as much. Spreading paralysis also helps if you have a slower sweeper or what have you. You could also use Toxic, which gives Deoxys-D a good way to hit Jellicent and Hippowdon, among other bulky annoyances.

In a similar vein, I've been enjoying TrickScarf Jirachi as a lead lately. The set itself is pretty standard:


Jirachi @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Serene Grace
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Trick
- Iron Head
- Ice Punch
- U-turn

A lot of people on the ladder seem to expect Jirachi to sit there and set up Stealth Rock on the first turn. I've been finding this set effective at crippling those opponents on the first turn. Generally, the Pokemon in question gets stuck with a Choice Scarf, and then I go for the U-turn and get a Pokemon in for free, usually something like a Spiker or what have you. This is also insanely helpful against Deoxys-D, as many start the game off with Stealth Rock, only to be unable to set up any Spikes and having to take a super effective U-turn in addition to whatever the next Pokemon I bring out has to offer.

However, I don't have to Trick the Scarf away first turn. If I want to cripple something different, all I have to do is U-turn out and I still get another Pokemon in for free. Unless it's something like a CB tar (which of course has Pursuit), there's not much any opponent can do about it. I get to scout in this scenario too, which helps me out later on in the match.

This set really helps setting up hazards early-game, which is one of the main reasons I like it so much: say I have a Deoxys-D; if this set does its job, then it is in the clear to set up Spikes. For this reason, I've been using it to support a hazard-centric offensive team.