Alpha Strike (OU RMT)

[Teh_1337ness]

Hi everyone. I’m relatively new to the competitive scene and I feel I have made a pretty solid team. This is my first RMT, and as such will probably not be the best one you’ve ever read.

I will probably not have a good threats list (if any at all), but I’ll try my best to make one.

Without further ado, I present

Alpha Strike

The name comes from the fact that this is my first solid team, and that I’ve struck my first mark into the competitive scene with this team.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A quick preview

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

-------------------------------------

Let’s just get to why you’re all here.

-----------------------------------------

Grape (Swampert) (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Torrent
EVs: 240 HP/52 Atk/216 Def
Impish nature (+Def, -SAtk)
- Earthquake
- Stealth Rock
- Stone Edge/Avalanche
- Waterfall

A bulky lead swampert, with a few more EVs into attack for that extra “whoomp.” I’m not a big fan of frail leads (and mostly, frail pokemon in general), and Swampert was just what I wanted, bulky enough to take a few hits while still able to dish out some damage.
I’m considering changing this to an anti lead (probably Roserade or a fast anti lead) because I don’t like it when my opponent has stealth rock up. More like Mence doesn’t like stealth rock >_>
I hate Swampert’s design. I never played with him in R/S/E because Sceptile was way cooler. Yet another reason for me to change to a different lead.

Hippo (Salamence) (M) @ Choice Specs
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 4 HP/252 Spd/252 SAtk
Modest nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Draco Meteor
- Dragon Pulse
- Flamethrower
- Hydro Pump

My special sweeper. Yes, I know it’s not original, but it fit the bill pretty well. Anyway, if I’m having trouble with that one pokemon, I bring in this baby and kill it. Like the analysis says about this set, Specsmence is stopped cold by Blissey, which is why I’m considering changing this to a Mixmence (and in the process, I could get rid of electivire).
If I turn this into a Mixmence to replace 'Vire, Gengar will probably take its spot.
Salamence has always been one of my favorite pokemon. Except in 3rd gen I never could find him. But he was still cool.
------

Mother (Latias) (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 204 HP/128 Def/176 Spd
Timid nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Calm Mind
- Dragon Pulse
- Refresh
- Recover

Ah, my favorite pokemon. Not only does this pokemon looks amazing, it walls amazingly too. The bulky set I’m using lets Latias be kind of a double tank that can absorb physical and special hits. After a calm mind or two, Latias takes very little damage from any attack that’s not super effective on her. Even super effective hits will likely not kill this pokemon unless the attack is boosted.
Refresh and Recover are there to keep me tanking, and they allow me to absorb status conditions.

Latias became my favorite pokemon ever since I started with this set. Nothing could take her down, and STAB’d Dragon Pulse did respectable damage. I could outspeed a lot of pokemon with those speed EV’s, which allowed Latias to stay alive even longer.
I even have an amazing Shiny Latias in game that’s just like this :P
------

Birdy (Skarmory) (M) @ Shed Shell
Ability: Keen Eye
EVs: 252 HP/4 Atk/252 Def
Impish nature (+Def, -SAtk)
- Brave Bird
- Roost
- Spikes
- Whirlwind

Just your standardish Spiker. Now, I put so many EVs into defense because I thought my previous skarmory was dying to fast from physical attacks. Now it can survive for while :P The strategy here is the usual thing, set up as many layers of spikes as I can and then whirlwinding the opponent out of there.
IMO Skarmory isn't doing much for this team right now. Gliscor seems to be a better option to me, especially the Defensive and Dancing Tank w/ Baton pass sets. Vaporeon/Suicune are also candidates for this spot, especially Vaporeon which counters Gyarados.
------

Thriller (Electivire) (M) @ Expert Belt
Ability: Motor Drive
EVs: 244 Atk/176 Spd/88 SAtk
Lonely nature (+Atk, -Def)
- Cross Chop
- Earthquake
- Ice Punch
- Thunderbolt

Supposed to be my wall breaker. I really don’t like him, because he’s hard to get in at times and he usually dies after getting off 1 or 2 attacks. Since none of my pokemon really draw electric attacks, his ability is near useless, and Electivire really needs a Motor Drive boost to get going. I will readily try suggestions for this guy.
Mixmence will probably replace this.
Electivire looks amazing, and hitting 13 out of 17 types for super effective damage is nothing to sneeze at. In my experience though, Electivire is too frail.
I do, however, use an Electivire in game because of his type coverage.
------

Pinky (Heracross) (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Guts
EVs: 252 HP/152 Spd/104 SDef
Adamant nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Bulk Up
- Megahorn
- Rest
- Sleep Talk

Ah yes, my best status absorber, because he can take sleep, while Latias can’t. I usually switch him in against Smeargle and once he spores me, I sleep talk and kill him. Really, any pokemon that inflicts status I switch this guy into. After guts this thing can sweep like a monster :P
Bulk up makes this guy ridiculously strong, and Megahorn is the all important STAB move.
I'm considering a change to Scizor/Lucario/CB Heracross because this set isn't doing so well. Lucario can do well against DD Mence (which my team is destroyed by), SD Scizor has an extremely good priority move (something my team lacks), and CB Heracross sweeps ridiculously well without Bulking Up. Lucario IMO is the best option here.
Heracross always struck me as........to small to be in OU. I mean, look at all the highly used OU pokemon. They’re huge. Despite Heracross’ size, it's his sweeping power that’s huge. They say good things come in small packages, right?
​

 

[Teh_1337ness]

Threat List:

Green = No problem.
Orange = Could pose a threat if I don't take it out.
Red = Very bad. I have few options and it can overpower my team.
Black = Not enough data. I'll guess here.

I'll update later as I'm too lazy to do it right now.

Defensive Threats

Blissey:​

Bronzong:​

Celebi:​

Cresselia:​

Donphan:​

Dusknoir:​

Forretress:​

Gliscor:​

Gyarados:​

Hippowdon:​

Jirachi:​

Rotom-A:​

Skarmory:​

Snorlax:​

Suicune:​

Swampert: I usually bring in Latias. Even if it has Ice Beam, it's a 2-3HKO on her. Then I just calm mind (and recover when necessary) and kill it, then I usually go on to sweep the rest of my opponent's team with +6 Dragon Pulse. Gengar's able to stop this though.

Tentacruel:​

Tyranitar:​

Vaporeon: I do the same thing I do with Swampert, except Ice Beam poses a thread because of her high Special Attack.

Zapdos:​

Offensive Threats:​

Azelf​

Breloom​

Dragonite​

Dugtrio​

Electivire: I'll predict an electric type move from him, switch in my 'vire, and EQ. Otherwise I can use Heracross.

Gallade​

Gengar​

Gyarados: DD Gyarados will 6-0 my team if I don't kill it before it DDs. Otherwise Mence can take it out.

Heatran: I switch into Latias and calm mind. Then I can dragon pulse him to death. If Latias is not there, then there's very little I can do. If it's a non scarfed variant I can use Mence and Hyrdo Pump.
​

Heracross​

Infernape: Latias usually takes care of him. Otherwise he can do a number on my team.

Jolteon​

Kingdra​

Lucario​

Machamp​

Magnezone: I don't see many, but since Skarmory is the only one on this team who's a steel type (although he is holding a shed shell), I sacrifice her but set up 2 layers of spikes while I'm at it. Then Mence/Vire/Swamper can kill it.

Mamoswine​

Metagross​

Porygon-Z​

Salamence: I use my Mence. If I win the speed tie, the other Mence dies. If I don't, Mence will likely be taken and then I switch in Latias and hope for the best.

Scizor​

Starmie​

Suicune​

Togekiss​

Tyranitar​

Weavile: I can take him out with Lucario's extremespeed if I manage to get him in. Swampert can also deal with him if he's still alive. Otherwise, he's pretty hard to stop.

Yanmega​

Zapdos​

------------------​

Team Building Process:​

I started with a bulkier lead, Swampert.

Then I chose a physical wall.

Then I took a physical sweeper that could take status.

I had to choose a special sweeper next, as no team would survive without one.

Afterwards I chose a wall breaker with good type coverage.

And finally, I put Latias into the team.

------------------

You can post now.​

 

[Teh_1337ness]

C'mon, somebody gimme some criticism already.

Heracross is probably going to be replaced with CB Hera/Scizor/Lucario, and Skarmory is probably going to be replaced with Suicune/Vaporeon.

I'm definitely changing my lead to something faster, I've tested out Infernape and he's worked pretty well, now for Roserade and a few others.

EDIT: I have decided that Mixmence>Electivire, so 'Vire is gone and Mixmence will take his place after some more testing. As such, Scarf Gengar will take the special sweeper spot, and since he acts as a Gyara counter, I've decided that Suicune or Gliscor will take Skarmory's spot.

 

[XxBlueCleric.xX]

Alright, so this team could use a little reconstruction (I'm going to ignore the EDIT for now as I don't think you should put in ScarfGar; I'll explain later on in this rate):

First off, you have a Gyarados weakness as shown on your threat list. The easiest way to fix this is to change Stone Edge on Swampert to Hidden Power [Electric]. It's an easy way to destroy Gyarados. You'd want to change your Swampert's nature to Relaxed so you don't lose SAtk.

On a side note, your threat list states Infernape is a major threat. In actuality, Latias is among the best counters to Infernape.

Electivire isn't the greatest Wall-breaker around, and so changing Specsmence to MixMence is definitely more fruitful. I think you should get a poke that covers your SD Lucario weakness in that spot. For that reason, you should probably go with Zapdos. It also gives you an electric type and has excellent synergy with Swampert. Not to mention, it also handles SD Scizor who Skarmory doesn't take on too easily. +2 Superpower hurts. (These are things ScarfGar doesn't help you with. Actually it's a free switch for Scizor most of the time.)

If you want to change Skarmory, I'd change to a Scizor. Preferably the Choice band varient. It works well in these kinds of teams and helps against several pokes Skarmory helped against (for instance Salamence or Tyranitar) If you wish to keep it then use Brave Bird over Drill Peck on Skarmory. Since Skarmory is your defensive Steel, you'd need it take an opposing Salamence's Outrage and KO it before it gets to Fire Blast. Brave Bird has the potential to deal that kind of damage.

Heracross should probably be changed to something else. It doesn't benefit your team too much. I'm thinking a Swords Dance Lucario will fit that position well. I'd go with Crunch as the auxiliary move. If the opponent leaves in their Gyarados in against Swampert and loses it to a surprise HP Electric, then Lucario may just get a sweep in. It's also got nice synergy with Salamence.

The only problem if you made all those changes seems to be Ice moves since you would have a trip weak. But with two resists and the fact that Latias can set up against most bulky waters who use ice beam, it shouldn't be too major. Other than that, this seems like a decent team. Good luck with it!

- XxBlueCleric.xX

 

[Teh_1337ness]

I hadn't consider HP Electric on Swampert, that saves a lot of hassle with Skarmory's spot. Thanks.

Offensive Zapdos looks good so far, and I'll try CB Scizor and Brave Bird Skarmory. SD Lucario pretty much has his spot, I've found him very useful.

Thanks for the criticism :D

EDIT: I've decided Skarmory will keep his spot for now, as spikes helps Lucario kill with extremespeed.