Simple Questions & Simple Answers & General Resources (OU Edition) MK II

[BlankZero]

Where would a person go (other than tutoring or IRC) to gain a good amount of information about OU in general?

Like, learning synergy, cores, effective sets that aren't "standard".

[tintinwong]

You could rip off from the underrated but effective sets thread, rip off from your opponent's team to get quite a lot of information.
You could also look through Pokemon databases( smogon, serebii etc) for certain moves and abilities and look at the list of pokemon for those that are viable in OU. eg.search for speed boost and finding sharpedo.

[alkinesthetase]

ladder/participate in tours. play a shitton. no better way to learn than to go out and get experience

granted this forum is also pretty good for that; there's a lot of stuff lying around in the various megathreads that's rather useful. analyses tend to discuss "synergy", but in practice that's not quite enough to build a team - good place to start though. and we talk a lot in #pokemon so you can always chill out there

[BlankZero]

Originally Posted by Fat alkinesthetase

ladder/participate in tours. play a shitton. no better way to learn than to go out and get experience

granted this forum is also pretty good for that; there's a lot of stuff lying around in the various megathreads that's rather useful. analyses tend to discuss "synergy", but in practice that's not quite enough to build a team - good place to start though. and we talk a lot in #pokemon so you can always chill out there

I've been having trouble connecting to the IRC, even though the instructions are idiot-proof :(

Basically, I'm tired of spending a good hour on building a team and just getting flat out stomped into the ground by the same thing. I don't want to play anti-meta game to win though.

[hotcoldyay]

On my team, i have sdef gastrodon, sdef heatran, and phys skarm. I ended up replacing cm latias with scarf latios and cm reuniclus with cm keldeo. Were these good changes? Who should i add in the final spot? I was thinking of keeping both keldeo and reuniclus, but im not sure if thats a good idea. Im not sure how to round off my team. Thanks for any advice... I would post an rmt, but my team is incomplete btw.

[Lavos Spawn]

Originally Posted by Fat hotcoldyay

On my team, i have sdef gastrodon, sdef heatran, and phys skarm. I ended up replacing cm latias with scarf latios and cm reuniclus with cm keldeo. Were these good changes? Who should i add in the final spot? I was thinking of keeping both keldeo and reuniclus, but im not sure if thats a good idea. Im not sure how to round off my team. Thanks for any advice... I would post an rmt, but my team is incomplete btw.

I'd say instead of the changes you made, keep CM Latias and replace CM Reuniclus with Scarf Keldeo, which gives your team a reliable revenge killer. For the last slot I'd consider having something that can remove status from your team, as any type of status is going to cripple your Gastrodon and Latias severely. Keldeo also can't do its job if it's paralyzed. The only problem is, your team also needs a spinner, as any spike stacking team cripples you severely and easily beats you by forcing you to switch around and eat a ton of hazards damage over time. Problem is, I don't think there's a spinner that can also remove status, so I'd consider changing Gastrodon to a defensive Starmie set instead, and then making your last Pokemon a Heal Bell Celebi or Aromatherapy Roserade. Those are my quick suggestions, don't feel obligated to listen to me!

[2sly4u]

As an old player trying to get back into the swing of OU, how is Kyurem-B performing in the tier? I don't need a long, in-depth response, just a quick overview.

[DrunkDemon]

I know this is a bad idea but I've been wanting to try this recently, so what's a "good" set for Absol in OU, and what would the best teammates for it be?

Originally Posted by Fat 2sly4u

As an old player trying to get back into the swing of OU, how is Kyurem-B performing in the tier? I don't need a long, in-depth response, just a quick overview.

The metagame is very focused on speed right now, and as such is not particularly kind to it. It also lacks a very good physical movepool outside of Outrage and Fusion Bolt. I don't particularly like it, but it can still function well enough; that base 170 attack makes sure of it.

[Manitary]

Also for Kyurem-B you can go for a phazer set (subroost dtail + hone claws) or a special one (ice beam/blizzard, earth power, etc.) thanks to its 120 base SpA and 125/100/90 bulk. He's vulnerable to all type of hazard (also take 25% hp damage from SR), and its type makes him vulnerable to mach/bullet punch but he can still be dangerous, expecially if you are able to put up a substitute.

[tintinwong]

If you are gonna use Absol, honchkrow and weavile are generally better options other than their weakness to SR since Absol's main move sets are sucker punching and boosting, which can be done by honchkrow and weavile respectively. Honchkrow having a better ability and move pool, while weavile having a higher speed.

[malomyotismon]

What would be an ideal set for jiarachi and celebi on an offensive rain team?

[Shurtugal]

sure, why not? jirachi gives you rocks and checks dragons whereas celebi is inssurance in rain. i wouldn't use them as a stall core, but offensively should be fine imo

[malomyotismon]

Originally Posted by Fat Shurtugal

sure, why not? jirachi gives you rocks and checks dragons whereas celebi is inssurance in rain. i wouldn't use them as a stall core, but offensively should be fine imo

I was thinking nasty plot celebi and expert belt or choice rachi

[hotcoldyay]

@Lavos Spawn- thanks for the advice :) I've decided to take your advice on adding keldeo and keeping latias, but i dont think i can get rid of gastrodon. I rely on it way to much to help me counter rain teams and keep pokemon like choice locked Pump politoed in check.



Is this Celebi set viable? Does it have any really bad cons?

Careful Celebi @ Leftovers
252 HP/4 Def/188 SDef/64 Spe
-Heal Bell
-Perish Song
-Recover
-U-Turn

I feel like Giga Drain should be there with a Calm Nature, but Heal Bell is just too good to pass up.

[alkinesthetase]

i have considered running a set like that before and no it is not at all a good idea. you don't have any stab moves which means celebi's typing is essentially useless to you - you can't hurt bulky waters with grass stab nor can you take down breloom with your psychic stab. you send in celebi and now what? you uturn right away? doesn't accomplish anything. having perish song + heal bell is nice but you simply do not have the room for both. if you want to use an sdef celebi the set to go with is probably something like what's on site: giga/psychic/psyshock, perish song/heal bell/twave, recover, uturn/twave/myriad support moves here

moreover you are falling into a typical mindset of "cram every role onto my team if it's at all possible". even stall does not need a cleric anymore - if anything it is the first role to discard simply cause it's so hard to build in. it feels nice when teambuilding to know that "oh i have a cleric i can play more liberally around status users and scalds n such", but you will not have a lot of time to cram in a heal bell and often it will not pan out in practice. most sweepers can get away with packing a lum berry and having that one-time immunity that opens their setup opportunity; heal bell is often not the right solution and it is one that, like wish, is often telegraphed and costly for momentum.

in summary, you should seriously ask yourself whether you want to run heal bell as a psychological crutch, or because your team both benefits greatly from it and can create windows to use it effectively. it is almost always the former.

[Organization Member XIV]

How do you strikethrough? I did it in Word and copy pasted but the strikethrough didn't show up. Just wanted to know because I have seen other people do it.

[Jukain]

Originally Posted by Fat Organization Member XIV

How do you strikethrough? I did it in Word and copy pasted but the strikethrough didn't show up. Just wanted to know because I have seen other people do it.

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which comes out as

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[hotcoldyay]

Originally Posted by Fat alkinesthetase

i have considered running a set like that before and no it is not at all a good idea. you don't have any stab moves which means celebi's typing is essentially useless to you - you can't hurt bulky waters with grass stab nor can you take down breloom with your psychic stab. you send in celebi and now what? you uturn right away? doesn't accomplish anything. having perish song + heal bell is nice but you simply do not have the room for both. if you want to use an sdef celebi the set to go with is probably something like what's on site: giga/psychic/psyshock, perish song/heal bell/twave, recover, uturn/twave/myriad support moves here

moreover you are falling into a typical mindset of "cram every role onto my team if it's at all possible". even stall does not need a cleric anymore - if anything it is the first role to discard simply cause it's so hard to build in. it feels nice when teambuilding to know that "oh i have a cleric i can play more liberally around status users and scalds n such", but you will not have a lot of time to cram in a heal bell and often it will not pan out in practice. most sweepers can get away with packing a lum berry and having that one-time immunity that opens their setup opportunity; heal bell is often not the right solution and it is one that, like wish, is often telegraphed and costly for momentum.

in summary, you should seriously ask yourself whether you want to run heal bell as a psychological crutch, or because your team both benefits greatly from it and can create windows to use it effectively. it is almost always the former.

Whoa O_o thanks! i never really made my mind keep on emphasis on that. You're right, especially when you put it in that perspective. I think ill keep giga drain and change to calm.

The only reason i wanted to use heal bell was to keep my gastrodon from being inflicted with toxic, which makes it useless... Is there any other way to get over this besides handing it a lum berry instead of leftovers? Ive been thinking of doing that... And im not sure if its viable or worth it either (im guessing its not).

[Sciztar]

I have a tough question that I need help with. How do you counter or deal with Focus Sash Breloom who Spores the next turns and then proceeds to Swords Dance. I'm trying to figure out a good strategy to beating that annoying mushroom.

[alkinesthetase]

The only reason i wanted to use heal bell was to keep my gastrodon from being inflicted with toxic, which makes it useless... Is there any other way to get over this besides handing it a lum berry instead of leftovers? Ive been thinking of doing that... And im not sure if its viable or worth it either (im guessing its not).

can't really run lum on gastro; bulkymons need the recovery if it's an option. most of the common users of toxic in OU are obvious; you have to choose on a case by case basis whether or not you want to stay in and attack/inflict toxic of your own. bear in mind that gastro has recover where as, for example, politoed does not, so you have an edge on residual damage taking in the long run. gastro just isn't a great answer to most bulky waters unfortunately since so many carry toxic.

[ThePillsburyDoughBoy]

Originally Posted by Fat Sciztar

I have a tough question that I need help with. How do you counter or deal with Focus Sash Breloom who Spores the next turns and then proceeds to Swords Dance. I'm trying to figure out a good strategy to beating that annoying mushroom.

The best and most common is to use a fast taunt, usually coming from Tornadus-T or Deoxys-D since it shuts down SD and Spore. Next up is a faster dual hitting move, like Dual Chop on Garchomp and Haxorus. Finally you can use a Pokemon with Sleep Talk to absorb the sleep and try to get a surprise KO.

[hotcoldyay]

Originally Posted by Fat alkinesthetase

can't really run lum on gastro; bulkymons need the recovery if it's an option. most of the common users of toxic in OU are obvious; you have to choose on a case by case basis whether or not you want to stay in and attack/inflict toxic of your own. bear in mind that gastro has recover where as, for example, politoed does not, so you have an edge on residual damage taking in the long run. gastro just isn't a great answer to most bulky waters unfortunately since so many carry toxic.

Ah okay. I think ill give it lefties then. And I just realized now that celebi can help counter the bulky waters XD stupid me. Thanks so much for the help!

[The Dark Hero]

Is using Weavile as a Garchomp check a good idea?

[Onicon]

Why not? Weavile is faster and has Ice moves. It even has Ice Shard to check Scarf-Chomp, although the LO one only has a chance of 75% to finish it at full health - unless you have dealt prior or SR damage.

[alkinesthetase]

Is using Weavile as a Garchomp check a good idea?

yes - provided the rest of your team can capitalize on weavile's advantages over other common dragon checks like mamo. weavile has its uses, but there is a reason it's UU (frailty + sr weakness + lots of counters). weavile is an answer to chomp; however it is not the only answer, and on many teams it not be the best answer