Scarf Scizor is better then you think

Hey everyone, this is Berserker Lord with my first RMT. as you look through it, you'll notice that it's quite offensive, what with 2 Life Orbers, 2 Choice users, a resist berry, and 1 Leftovers user ( who is still quite offensive). Now, I had wanted to take advantage of the Lead Metagame revolving around Machamp, so I use a lead that ensures that Machamp dies and does well against other leads

That lead is Gallade. I also use one set which will make you think that I mixed up the pokes item, but it works so much better for me then the standard varient.

heres the analysis of it for anyone curious:http://www.smogon.com/dp/pokemon/gallade

Team building process:




Gallade@ Lfe Orb
Abilty: Steadfast
Nature: Jolly
EVs: 252 Attack, 252 Speed, 4 HP
Moves:
Close Combat
Shadow Sneak
Zen Headbutt
Stone Edge

Now, the most commonly seen Fighting-type Pokemon in the lead position is Machamp and with good reason: the opponent is forced to either get up Stealth Rock and let Machamp live, or attack and don't get SR up. With how good Machamp is, why am I chosing to use Gallade instead? Well, Machamp has the lead Metagame centered on countering it and that lowers Machamp's effectiveness. With Gallade, I can KO a high number of Leads and no one prepares for it because they're more afraid of Machamp, and trying to stop Gallade gets them destroyed by Machamp. ( Before anyone tells me " OMG, why are you using Gallade when you could use Machamp," actually read my reasons why i'm using it, and don't assume that Gallade is inferior)

Move Choice:
Close Combat is the obvious STAB Fighting move, 2HKOing and OHKOing quite a few leads and other pokes midgame. Zen Headbutt is Gallades second STAB. Now you may think that I should replace it but it's essential to allow me to OHKO all Lead Machamps, OHKO Breloom, Tentecruel, and give me good coverage. Stone Edge lets me OHKO Lead Dragonite most of the time, 2HKO all Zapdos sets with SR, and takes a large chunk out of Gyarados who Dragon Dance, thinking i'll switch out. Finally, Shadow Sneak is great priority, allowing me to 2HKO Lead Azelf, assuring all they do is SR or Taunt ( some actually do) and die next turn, pick off weakened Aerodactyl and Infernape, and lets me hit Gengar and Starmie for a good chunk before they kill me.

lead stackup:



Starmie@ Life Orb
Nature: Timid
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 Speed, 252 Special Attack, 4 Def
Moves:
Hydro Pump
Ice Beam
Thunderbolt
Rapid Spin

Starmie was suggested to me by Snorlaxe, who noticed that I had a problem with Spikestacking teams since I gave them lots of switch ins and they could easily set up Spikes. Starmie is great because it allows me to use Rapid Spin while still being offensive to help me keep up the momentum, which is very important considering the nature of my team.

Move Choices:
Hydro Pump is the choice over Surf because of the power to get me some crucial OHKOs that Surf couldn't. Ice Beam lets me OHKO Dragonite, Flygon, while also 2HKOing all Celebi who don't invest in Special Defence and all Shaymin sets. Thunderbolt lets me OHKO Gyarados and Starmie if I have to. It also lets me damage Empoleon enough to stop it from setting up a Sub with SR, 2HKO all Skarmory, Suicune without a Calm Mind boost, and Vaporeon. Rapid Spin is for spinning away any Entry Hazards that my opponent sets up. You may not think I need it, but my team would be murdered with 3 Layers of Spikes and SR.




Shaymin@ Leftovers
Nature: Timid
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 HP, 68 Special Attack, 188 Speed
Moves:
Leech Seed
Protect
Seed Flare
Hidden Power Fire
This Shaymin set may seem to be an oddball on my team, what with a moveset and EV distrubition that suggests stalling, but Faladran suggesten for me to use this set to handle Stall was a great one. With Life Orb being the most common set, lots of times, you'll get a Heatran coming in and stopping you from killing that bulky Water and be forced out. This set is made to take adavantage of that and help me against Stall.

Move Choice:
Leech Seed is the defining move, letting me heal myself without having to resort to Rest and switching out. I can also switch out when I predict I can get something in safely and give them Leech Seed recovery. Protect is for extra stalling and to scout what move the opponent will use and act accordingly. Seed Flare is nescessary STAB that every Shaymin should carry. It's secondary effect is amazing, allowing me to threaten Steel Types who love to switch in with HP Fire much easier. Hidden Power Fire rounds out the set by letting me destroy Scizor switch ins and Steels in general.


Heatran@ Passho Berry
Nature: Naive
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 Special Attack, 252 Speed, 4 Def
Moves:
Fire Blast
Earth Power
Explosion
Stealth Rock

While Scarf Heatran is a good set for the lava monster, it's so predictable that many teams can easily predict what it's going to do and take advantage of him. Heatran is much better with getting up Stealth Rock considering he already forces alot of switches and can easily find time to set them up. Another advantage of not Scarfing Heatran is being able to use a resist berry, which allows him to get up Stealth Rock on Waters expecting to KO him, the main one being Starmie.


Move Choice:
Fire Blast is the nesscessary Fire type STAB, hitting pokes quite hard and
having a nice chance to burn. It`s used over Flamethrower because I like the extra power it brings. Earth Power Is mainly for KOing other Heatrans,
but it also lets me hit Infernape who think they can switch into Fire Blast and force me out and for coverage. Explosion is for when Heatran isin`t going to be doing anything else and theres something walling my other sweepers. Stealth Rock is pretty much a staple on every OU team: It`s easy to set up, and it keeps certian threats from steam rolling alot more teams.


Flygon@ Choice Scarf
Nature: Adamant
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 Attack, 252 Speed, 4 HP
Moves:
Outrage
Earthquake
Thunderpunch
U-Turn

Although Band Flygon was quite fun to use, 2HKOing alot of things Scarf can't, I was quite vulnerable to faster sweepers even with Shaymin and Choice Scarf Scizor, the main two being Infernape and Starmie, so Aerrow told me to switch back to Scarf Flygon and it's been a mixed bag for me. On one hand, the speed has saved me countless times against those fast sweepers. On the other hand, I can't muscle through bulky pokes anymore since I have much less power, but in the end, Scarf Flygon is the better choice for my team. ( For anyone who tries to suggest Jolly instead of Adamant on Flygon, don't. I don't outspeed anything important with Jolly and the extra power is welcome)

Move Choices:
Outrage is Dragon STAB that every Flygon carries and for good reason: it allows him to clean up greatly late game. Earthquake is Flygons other STAB, and gives him great coverage with Outrage. Thunderpunch lets me revenge/force out Gyarados, and the accuracy over Stone Edge is quite welcome. U-Turn is for early game scouting, and Scarf Flygon works quite well with Scarf Scizor, better then Band Scizor IMO since you have a much less chance of getting hurt.







Scizor@ Choice Scarf
Nature: Jolly
Ability: Technician
EVs: 252 Attack, 244 Speed, 12 HP
Moves:
U-Turn
Pursuit
Superpower
Iron Head

Now you may think that with Choice Scarf Flygon on my team, why would I ever need another Choice Scarfer, let alone making Scizor that Scarfer when he is mostly used for his Choice Band Bullet Punch and U-Turns? The reasons are that Scarf Scizor can scout much better then a Band Scizor, not taking hits all the time if you predict wrong. The second is that I don't have to relie on Bullet Punch to KO dangerous sweepers, such as 1+ Tyranitar and Starmie, and can Superpower Tyranitar ( sometimes catching a Magnezone switch in) or U-Turn Starmie, OHKOing both of them.

U-Turn is the main move of the set. With Choice Scarf, it's much easier to scout since I don't need to predict a switch in to make sure I don't take damage. Pursuit is for any Ghosts or Psychics who think they can just switch out and take no damage. Superpower is mainly for predicted Magnezone switch ins, but is also for destroying Blissey since I don't have Band. Iron Head is used over Bullet Punch since the increase of Speed allows me to use it effectively and it's 30 Points more powerful. The chance of a Flinch is also good.

There isin't going to be a threat list so thats all I have to say about my team. Now get rating.

scarf-tran rapes you after flygon's gone, my suggestion is to change your lead to lead machamp, but then again i don't normally rate, and nve bullet punch does about the same as QA, and pursuit is way more usefull since rotom [specially scarf rotom(or ghost in general)] is kinda of trouble for this team.

Ludicolul said:

1 thing i notice is no SR
most fully offensive teams need 1 poke to lay down sr or atleast screens. its like the glue of the team imo.
ill reccommend a trick scarf lead. (since this team has alot of scarfer's / life orb's)
maybe azelf can move to lead and be trick u-turn sr explosion or something similar
im not good at rating but thats what i would do.

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My Jirachi is the one who lays down Stealth Rock.

cayr@ Ghosts generally don't give me much trouble, but I do see the merit of Pursuit, I'll test it out

I'm not sure what the speed is doing for your Gallade. In true anti-lead style it may be worth testing with pretty much all the speed invested into HP. Sorry about the quick rate.

SmileZ said:

I'm not sure what the speed is doing for your Gallade. In true anti-lead style it may be worth testing with pretty much all the speed invested into HP. Sorry about the quick rate.

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Gallade is quite slow, so speed helps it lot since it can stay alive through out the match and remain a threat.

Why would you get 2 revenge killers with very similar jobs together? And on top of that, why is it that your 3rd choice user is ALSO a revenge killer, judging from the set? You should probably replace Scizor with physical Mixape, who can revenge kill in a similar fashion with mach punch (which also deals with Tyranitar better) and is not prepetually choice locked, and is able to deal with Magnezone.

And if you really want 2 revenge killers, than at least don't get them to use stealth rock--try thunderpunch over stealth rock to deal with Gyarados, and possibly ice punch over U-turn if you want to deal with Gliscor/Hippowdon/Dragonite, unless if you really want 2 scouts with very similar purposes.

And with that, stealth rock would really go better on Azelf, as it doesn't revenge kill as well, and can resort to utility since your Gallade cannot accomplish such task.

As someone who has used Anti-lead Gallade for a while now, I need to tell you something. STOP USING CLOSE COMBAT! Why are you using Close Combat on Azelf a Psychic? You shoud use Shadow Sneak two times for the kill and save yourself from being killed by anything after your defence and special defence getting raped by your own stupidity. And rather than using cc on Aerodactyl and Infernape use Zen Headbutt and shadow sneak. It will kill them. And to kill Metagross just use shadow sneak and if he attacks you will have about 8-12% HP left and then you kill with cc. Just my personal opinoin on your anti-lead Gallade.

hi beserker lord,

pretty cool team, and definitely not a bad first attempt at OU. onto the rate, i really don't see the need for running both choice scarf flygon and choice scarf jirachi. choice scarf flygon is a great revenge killer, but when you have jirachi waiting in the wings you see that flygon's potential is somewhat wasted. then you have choice band scizor, who offers even further protection against dangerous sweepers. between flygon and scizor, you have a lot of potential threats covered to the point where its somewhat redundant. in order to fix this, i would suggest that you run a choice band flygon instead of choice scarf; this gives you loads more power, and still allows flygon to act as a good u-turning scout. if you choose to run choice band flygon, go with an adamant nature over a jolly one, as this allows you to get several otherwise impossible 2HKOs.

another thing that i'm kinda concerned about is teams that abuse spikes; you give common spikes users like skarmory plenty of opportunities to set up on jirachi locked into iron head / scizor locked into bullet punch. tbh, most smart spikes users should have no problem getting up 3 layers on you. this is an issue, as you rely heavily on pokemon like scizor and jirachi; however, if these pokemon lose 25% health every time they switch in due to spikes, they'll die much sooner than you would like. my advice would be to ditch azelf; while yeah he's powerful, any smart player should be able to get around it unless they have no defensive backbone to their team. in azelf's slot, consider rapid spin starmie, more specifically life orb rapid spin starmie. this still gives you a powerful special attacker, but also lets you spin to get rid of spikes. here's the set:

starmie @ life orb | natural cure
timid nature | 4 HP | 252 SpA | 252 Spe
rapid spin | hydro pump | thunderbolt | ice beam

as far as more minor changes go, definitely try thunderpunch in place of u-turn on jirachi. your team affords dd gyarados a lot of opportunities to set up, but you dont have a very reliable means of checking it. scarfed thunderpunch jirachi is a pretty solid gyarados check, however, so thunderpunch definitely benefits you.

i've never used that gallade set so i can't really comment on it; it looks cool, though. good luck!

SmileZ said:

I'm not sure what the speed is doing for your Gallade. In true anti-lead style it may be worth testing with pretty much all the speed invested into HP. Sorry about the quick rate.

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As MCnutty said, Max Speed allows me to outspeed more then Machamp can, and since Gallade isin't as good efensively, I need the spped to outspeed the slwoer leads and kill them.

HistoryofStone said:

Why would you get 2 revenge killers with very similar jobs together? And on top of that, why is it that your 3rd choice user is ALSO a revenge killer, judging from the set? You should probably replace Scizor with physical Mixape, who can revenge kill in a similar fashion with mach punch (which also deals with Tyranitar better) and is not prepetually choice locked, and is able to deal with Magnezone.

And if you really want 2 revenge killers, than at least don't get them to use stealth rock--try thunderpunch over stealth rock to deal with Gyarados, and possibly ice punch over U-turn if you want to deal with Gliscor/Hippowdon/Dragonite, unless if you really want 2 scouts with very similar purposes.

And with that, stealth rock would really go better on Azelf, as it doesn't revenge kill as well, and can resort to utility since your Gallade cannot accomplish such task.

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Yeah, I was planing on replacing either Jirachi or Flygon for something else, so i'll try Infernape. I'm reluctent to replace Scizor since his priorty has saved me a good amount of times, but i'll try something else in his slot. As for Azelf, I'll tyry out a Trick Scarf utilty set since I don't think I really needs Screens on this team at all and amy other item choice is usless

GengarSwitch said:

As someone who has used Anti-lead Gallade for a while now, I need to tell you something. STOP USING CLOSE COMBAT! Why are you using Close Combat on Azelf a Psychic? You shoud use Shadow Sneak two times for the kill and save yourself from being killed by anything after your defence and special defence getting raped by your own stupidity. And rather than using cc on Aerodactyl and Infernape use Zen Headbutt and shadow sneak. It will kill them. And to kill Metagross just use shadow sneak and if he attacks you will have about 8-12% HP left and then you kill with cc. Just my personal opinoin on your anti-lead Gallade.

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Yeah, I know I can use those moves on thwem, but the main reason I do is accuracy issues bar Azelf, but I do see why it's a dumb idea.

QUOTE=Snorlaxe;3064313]hi beserker lord,

pretty cool team, and definitely not a bad first attempt at OU. onto the rate, i really don't see the need for running both choice scarf flygon and choice scarf jirachi. choice scarf flygon is a great revenge killer, but when you have jirachi waiting in the wings you see that flygon's potential is somewhat wasted. then you have choice band scizor, who offers even further protection against dangerous sweepers. between flygon and scizor, you have a lot of potential threats covered to the point where its somewhat redundant. in order to fix this, i would suggest that you run a choice band flygon instead of choice scarf; this gives you loads more power, and still allows flygon to act as a good u-turning scout. if you choose to run choice band flygon, go with an adamant nature over a jolly one, as this allows you to get several otherwise impossible 2HKOs.

another thing that i'm kinda concerned about is teams that abuse spikes; you give common spikes users like skarmory plenty of opportunities to set up on jirachi locked into iron head / scizor locked into bullet punch. tbh, most smart spikes users should have no problem getting up 3 layers on you. this is an issue, as you rely heavily on pokemon like scizor and jirachi; however, if these pokemon lose 25% health every time they switch in due to spikes, they'll die much sooner than you would like. my advice would be to ditch azelf; while yeah he's powerful, any smart player should be able to get around it unless they have no defensive backbone to their team. in azelf's slot, consider rapid spin starmie, more specifically life orb rapid spin starmie. this still gives you a powerful special attacker, but also lets you spin to get rid of spikes. here's the set:

starmie @ life orb | natural cure
timid nature | 4 HP | 252 SpA | 252 Spe
rapid spin | hydro pump | thunderbolt | ice beam

as far as more minor changes go, definitely try thunderpunch in place of u-turn on jirachi. your team affords dd gyarados a lot of opportunities to set up, but you dont have a very reliable means of checking it. scarfed thunderpunch jirachi is a pretty solid gyarados check, however, so thunderpunch definitely benefits you.

i've never used that gallade set so i can't really comment on it; it looks cool, though. good luck![/QUOTE]

Yeah, I was planning on changing Flygon or Jirachi since this much spped on this team is redundent as everyone has shown me. And yes, my checks to Gyarados were quite shaky os Thunder Punch seems a great option.

trying out the suggestions right now.

ok, i run a similiar setup to this.
Firstly, i believe the best spread for gallade is something close to 244 hp/252 att/ 12 spe.
Giving him the extra speed will NOT make much, if any difference when coming up against every other lead.

Also, I would suggest throwing an expert belt on flygon with a jolly nature, this will bluff a choice scarf, possibly netting you a surprise KO.

I can see this team is very offensive, but i would consider placing Crocune on your team instead of azelf. As I say, Crocune makes EVERY team better, and beats nearly every poke in the game.

Thats about it. Good Luck

An Finsceal

MacG said:

ok, i run a similiar setup to this.
Firstly, i believe the best spread for gallade is something close to 244 hp/252 att/ 12 spe.
Giving him the extra speed will NOT make much, if any difference when coming up against every other lead.

Also, I would suggest throwing an expert belt on flygon with a jolly nature, this will bluff a choice scarf, possibly netting you a surprise KO.

I can see this team is very offensive, but i would consider placing Crocune on your team instead of azelf. As I say, Crocune makes EVERY team better, and beats nearly every poke in the game.

Thats about it. Good Luck

An Finsceal

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The speed is nescessary to outspeed all the non-Choice Scarf Heatran sets and to beat some random shit I can't remember, so Max Speed stays on Gallade. Also, My teams goal is to not set up a sweep for one poke, Nearly any poke on my team can sweep lategame. Plus, I suck at using set up sweepers.

Keep the max speed on gallade. It helps a lot. Also, why HP EVs? You want to limit LO recoil.

Bumping this: went through and revised everything to give more detail and whats changed on the team.

This team looks quite good at a glance. You do have some issues with stall, so I'd like to suggest a change that could help fix up this problem somewhat. LO Shaymin is a good set, but it tends to be very predictable and can be played around quite easily with careful switching. Therefore, I would recommend trying out the Leech Seed + Protect set, which is great at maintaining offensive momentum and supporting the rest of your team with Leech Seed's recovery:

[box]
Shaymin @ Leftovers
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 HP / 68 SpA / 188 Spe
Timid nature (+Spe, -Atk)
- Leech Seed
- Protect
- Seed Flare
- Hidden Power Fire[/box]
One of the biggest advantages that this set has over the LO variant is its ability to switch into and set up on bulky Water-types, regardless of whether they switch out or not. Leech Seed is very useful with Leftovers, and in conjunction with Protect, can cause problems for Heatran and Choiced U-turn users. Seed Flare is, as you have stated, the ideal choice for a STAB attack due to its high base power and outstanding secondary effect. HP Fire prevents Steel-types from walling you, and can OHKO Scizor switch-ins. This is quite a difficult set to beat if it is played correctly; offensive teams will be worn down by Leech Seed and Shaymin's powerful moves, while stall teams often don't have methods of taking Shaymin down. Overall, I feel that this set functions even better than the LO variant, as it is able to damage opponents while preserving the longevity of your other Pokemon.

Good luck with your team!

Faladran said:

This team looks quite good at a glance. You do have some issues with stall, so I'd like to suggest a change that could help fix up this problem somewhat. LO Shaymin is a good set, but it tends to be very predictable and can be played around quite easily with careful switching. Therefore, I would recommend trying out the Leech Seed + Protect set, which is great at maintaining offensive momentum and supporting the rest of your team with Leech Seed's recovery:

[box]

Shaymin@ Leftovers
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 HP / 68 SpA / 188 Spe
Timid nature (+Spe, -Atk)
- Leech Seed
- Protect
- Seed Flare
- Hidden Power Fire[/box]
One of the biggest advantages that this set has over the LO variant is its ability to switch into and set up on bulky Water-types, regardless of whether they switch out or not. Leech Seed is very useful with Leftovers, and in conjunction with Protect, can cause problems for Heatran and Choiced U-turn users. Seed Flare is, as you have stated, the ideal choice for a STAB attack due to its high base power and outstanding secondary effect. HP Fire prevents Steel-types from walling you, and can OHKO Scizor switch-ins. This is quite a difficult set to beat if it is played correctly; offensive teams will be worn down by Leech Seed and Shaymin's powerful moves, while stall teams often don't have methods of taking Shaymin down. Overall, I feel that this set functions even better than the LO variant, as it is able to damage opponents while preserving the longevity of your other Pokemon.

Good luck with your team!

Click to expand...

Thanks Fala. I'll try this out and see how it does.

Hello,

Nice team, but seems to be stopped cold any decent stall team. To remedy this, I'd suggest trying Lum Berry and Swords Dance instead of Life Orb and Zen Headbutt on Gallade; you may lose the ability to consistently do damage Rotom-A, but most stall teams run RestTalk variants and will just stall you out with Will-o-Wisp anyway. Swords Dance gives Gallade the ability to damage Swampert and Hippowdon to the point where Flygon has no problem finishing them off and still OHKOes Machamp at +2. Making this change won't affect your current lead match ups either, and it gives Gallade a much better time against spikers like Forretress and Smeargle. If you don't want to make that change, then at least consider running Taunt on Heatran so it doesn't become Blissey fodder.

Chillarmy said:

Hello,

Nice team, but seems to be stopped cold any decent stall team. To remedy this, I'd suggest trying Lum Berry and Swords Dance instead of Life Orb and Zen Headbutt on Gallade; you may lose the ability to consistently do damage Rotom-A, but most stall teams run RestTalk variants and will just stall you out with Will-o-Wisp anyway. Swords Dance gives Gallade the ability to damage Swampert and Hippowdon to the point where Flygon has no problem finishing them off and still OHKOes Machamp at +2. Making this change won't affect your current lead match ups either, and it gives Gallade a much better time against spikers like Forretress and Smeargle. If you don't want to make that change, then at least consider running Taunt on Heatran so it doesn't become Blissey fodder.

Click to expand...

I am against this. Swords Dance + Lum Berry does not do anything relevant that the anti-lead set does not; for example, Machamp has a really high chance of getting a KO on Gallade with a combination of Payback and Bullet Punch. Also, the Pokémon that you mentioned are handled pretty well by the rest of the team, anyway! Without Life Orb, Gallade will not be be getting a OHKO on Dragonite, and will hit any other Pokémon for less damage, thus making it an inferior lead. By the way, Smeargle is not really a problem due to how rare it is and because he uses Rapid Spin Starmie.

---

Now on an actual rate, this looks like a pretty solid team! There are just a few minor changes I have to suggest: You should change Flygons nature to Jolly. The power decrease might look like a bad thing, but the ability to outspeed every Suicune and Rotom-A (as well as beating the imperfect Speed HP Fire Shaymin) is a pretty good addition. Not to mention that the most threats you outspeed, it is easier to bluff that you are holding a Choice Scarf.

You are probably aware that beating Gyarados after a Dragon Dance will be tough, but there is no way to fix that perfectly without changing the team too much. My best advice is to play conservatively with Flygon and Scizor, since they are the only room for settup it has. I liked Faladrans suggestion of Leech Seed + Protect Shaymin, because it will help with stall and also against Gyarados, so you should really go with that!

Good Luck with your team, I hope I had helped :)

legendary_07 said:

I am against this. Swords Dance + Lum Berry does not do anything relevant that the anti-lead set does not; for example, Machamp has a really high chance of getting a KO on Gallade with a combination of Payback and Bullet Punch. Also, the Pokémon that you mentioned are handled pretty well by the rest of the team, anyway! Without Life Orb, Gallade will not be be getting a OHKO on Dragonite, and will hit any other Pokémon for less damage, thus making it an inferior lead. By the way, Smeargle is not really a problem due to how rare it is and because he uses Rapid Spin Starmie.

---

Now on an actual rate, this looks like a pretty solid team! There are just a few minor changes I have to suggest: You should change Flygons nature to Jolly. The power decrease might look like a bad thing, but the ability to outspeed every Suicune and Rotom-A (as well as beating the imperfect Speed HP Fire Shaymin) is a pretty good addition. Not to mention that the most threats you outspeed, it is easier to bluff that you are holding a Choice Scarf.

You are probably aware that beating Gyarados after a Dragon Dance will be tough, but there is no way to fix that perfectly without changing the team too much. My best advice is to play conservatively with Flygon and Scizor, since they are the only room for settup it has. I liked Faladrans suggestion of Leech Seed + Protect Shaymin, because it will help with stall and also against Gyarados, so you should really go with that!

Good Luck with your team, I hope I had helped :)

Click to expand...

I'll try out Jolly because it is a bit annoying to not outspeed some pokes I should outspeed. I noticed I had a problem with DD Gyarados after replacing the Scarf Flygon for Band and Scarf Jirachi for Shuca Heatran, so I try not to give him many set up opportunties.

Bump: changed Shaymin to a Leech Seed version and changed Scizors item.

Scarf Scizor is underrated.

There's no point in running 244 Speed EVs: lower it to 224. You'll still outspeed all +speed Base 115's as well as outspeeding Scarftar.

What does Shaymin's speed EVs do? You should either run max speed or just aim to outrun +speed Base 90's

HART4FLOON said:

Scarf Scizor is underrated.

There's no point in running 244 Speed EVs: lower it to 224. You'll still outspeed all +speed Base 115's as well as outspeeding Scarftar.

What does Shaymin's speed EVs do? You should either run max speed or just aim to outrun +speed Base 90's

Click to expand...

With the current spread he can beat base 90 Pokémon. I think you should add a few more Speed EVs on Shaymin to outspeed Gliscor, to hit it with Seed Flare before he can use U-turn or Taunt. The new spread for Shaymin should be 252 HP / 220 Spe / 36 SpAtk. The decrease in power is minimun, yet the ability to outspeed Gliscor may be game-changing.

I recommend Machamp over your Gallade.

"Well, Machamp has the lead Metagame centered on countering it and that lowers Machamp's effectiveness."

this explains it

Belphagor said:

I recommend Machamp over your Gallade.

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Uh, mind giving me a real reason why? If you actually used the Gallade set ( you obviously did not) you should know that since Machamp is centrelizing the lead metagame, people won't ever prepare for Gallade, which only makes him more effective. I'm taking advantage of Machamps presenece


Legendry@ I'll try out the extra Speed EVs.

Cool team.

Threats

• Slight DD User weakness (Dragonite, Gyarados, Tyranitar)
• LO Mixed Flygon
• LO Starmie

First of all, sorry for being so late at giving this rate you requested! Anyways, it seems that at this point in time, your team is looking really great as it can easily counter and check almost all of the threats you're bound to see in this metagame, while also doing magnificently at keeping up its own strategy, indirectly setting up a victory for you. However, I do see some slight problems which can wreak your team if the circumstances are right; first of all, you have a slight dragon dance user weakness as if Dragonite, Gyarados or Tyranitar get to set up, they can easily rip through your team; although you have Scizor to deal with the former and latter Pokemon, Dragonite and Tyranitar are almost always paired up with Magnazone so oftentimes Scizor won't be able to help when the aforementioned threats set up and start to sweep; Gyarados is a larger threat than both of the others as if it sets up, and Scizor is still in the game, even it won't be able to do much to it due to Gyarados' immense bulk. You also have a slight LO Flygon weakness as it falls into the same category of the dragon dance users but is much easier to deal with as it doesn't have access to the aforementioned dragon dance. Finally, LO Starmie can give this team problems if Scizor is out, as it and to an extent, Shaymin are your best bets against an offensive Starmie variant. All in all, it seems that you're depending a little too much on Scizor to take on offensive threats and having only one Pokemon on such a team is almost never a good thing.

Solutions

• Choice Scarf Flygon

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Flygon (M) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 Atk/252 Spd/4 SpDef
Jolly nature (+Spd,-SpAtk)
- Earthquake
- Outrage
- Thunderpunch
- U-turn[/box]
Luckily, I can think of a minor change that will help with all of the threats I mentioned while also lessening the pressure you're putting on Scizor to revenge kill almost every offensive threat you come across. Although this may alter your team's strategy a bit, I recommend changing your choice band Flygon back to the choice scarf variant for a plethora of reasons. Foremost, this change will immensely help you out with your weakness to said dragon dancers as Flygon will be able to outpace each of them even after a dragon dance, and secondly (I think this is the bigger point), Flygon will ease the pressure you're currently putting on Scizor as even if Scizor has been unexpectedly eliminated by a Magnazone or such, leaving you'll still have Flygon to help deal with any threats that your opponent might use after he/she sees that they have eliminated Scizor from the battle. Anyways, that's all I had to offer, and I hope this helps!