Can't let ya do that (OU RMT)

[stud]

Intro

Hello. This is my first RMT, and my first successful team ever since Salamence got banned. It's a balanced team that focuses on setting up entries and U-turning to appropriate counters/phazing threatening Pokemon away. With 5th gen looming over the 4th gen, I'd thought I'd give this team a shot for my first RMT. Without further ado, onto the team.


The Team

Tyranitar @ Lum Berry
Nature: Brave (-Spe,+Atk)
EVs: 252 HP/252 Atk/6 SAtk
-Stealth Rock
-Crunch
-Superpower
-Fire Blast

Tyranitar fits well into my team as a reliable lead that can beat many common leads (Azelf, Aerodactyl, and Heatran). I chose Tyranitar over other leads just because it can usually get Stealth Rock at some point in the game and for its Sand Stream which prevents some pokes from walling my team. The Brave nature is to ensure that Tyranitar gets the Sand Stream in versus Abomasnow. Standard Leads that Tyranitar doesn't fare well will be dealt with by my other Pokemon:
-Infernape: switch to Vaporeon on the Fake Out/Close Combat
-Machamp: switch to Rotom-h on the DP, then Skarmory on the Payback
-Metagross/Jirachi: switch to Skarmory

Besides being a pretty good lead, Tyranitar also functions as sort of a mini-Blissey (which I don't include because it's too defensive for me) to pair up with Skarmory. It's able to take Thunderbolts from threatening Special Attackers who would otherwise run through my team (Zapdos, Jolteon) and retaliate with Crunches. Fire Blast and Superpower are there to give Tyranitar and my team an edge, although small, against stall teams as well as OHKOing Brelooms that switch into Tyranitar.

Skarmory @ Leftovers/Shed Shell
Nature: Adamant (-SAtk, +Atk)
EVs: 252 HP/120 Atk/136 Def
-Spikes
-Roost
-Whirlwind
-Brave Bird

Skarmory is awesome for laying down spikes and taking hits from most physical attackers well. It's my primary switch into tankish Pokemon like Swampert and Hippowdon, and it's speed allows it to Whirlwind those guys out before they go Roar-berserk. The first thing you may notice is the odd EV arrangement but it is there for one reason only: Machamp. I hate Lead Machamps with a passion because they always force me to reveal like my whole team, and even then I'd lose some Pokemon. The EV's allow Brave Bird to OHKO Standard Machamp Lead after two Sand Stream turns, and the rest are allocated for maximum defense potential. I usually pick Leftovers as my item of choice when laddering since this Skarmory is less bulkier than other Skarmory's, but if I somehow know that my opponent has a Magnezone on their team, I'll opt for Shed Shell. Skarmory is also one of my two phazers that is used to phaze Steel/Bug/Ground pokemon.

Rotom-h @ Choice Scarf
Nature: Timid (-Atk,+SAtk)
EVs: 4 HP/252 SAtk/252 Spd
-Trick
-Thunderbolt
-Shadow Ball
-Overheat

My invaluable spin blocker and the fail-safe of my team. I try to avoid using it as much as possible. Really it's my only Fighting/Normal Immunity and my only Lucario check. It's useful just being there. If my opponent decides to switch in their Lucario or have their Starmie spin, I'd switch this guy in, then switch immediately to Flygon just because I'm deathly afraid of Tyranitar. Rotom-h also leaves a huge dent to stall teams when a successful Trick is executed. Rotom-H is my tertiary revenge killer which I'd only use in extreme conditions when Flygon and Scizor are both down. To give an idea of how important Rotom-h is, if Rotom-h is down and my opponent has a Fighting pokemon on the other team, I'm screwed :(

Vaporeon @ Leftovers
Nature: Bold (-Atk,+Def)
EVs: 252 HP/228 Def/28 SDef
-Wish
-Protect
-Roar
-Surf

Another important member of the team with its Water Absorb, although a little more expendable than Rotom-h. Vaporeon is there to patch up trouble my other Pokemon are having. I used to have HP Electric on Vaporeon, but people kept setting up on me and that pissed me off. So now I run Roar over it since Protect was too awesome with its mind games to pass up. Empoleon, Gyarados (bulky variants will necessitate a Rotom-h switch), Suicune, Jirachi, and Kingdra are all phazed effortlessly. People also LOVE to set up a sub on Vaporeon. Roar + residual damage ought to teach them a lesson next time they think about subbing. The invaluable Wish is a big asset to my team, especially since half my team is Choiced. I usually use Vaporeon to absorb sleep, just because the other members of my team need to be more "active", and also because of the chance that I can wall Choiced Heatrans and mono-attacking Suicunes to get free sleep turns.

Flygon @ Choice Scarf
Nature: Jolly (-SAtk, +Atk)
EVs: 4 HP/252 Atk/252 Spd
-U-turn
-Earthquake
-Outrage
-Toxic

Flygon is great for forcing switches and racking up residual damage. It absorbs resisted attacks and Thunderbolts from sweepers like Starmie and Heatran and threatens both with Earthquake/Outrage. Or I can just U-turn to a countercounter and force even more residual damage. The mind games are endless. Flygon also tends to counter most of the switch-ins to Rotom-h, so I usually immediately switch Flygon in after I switch in a Rotom-h. Toxic is there to assassinate Gliscor, Hippowdon, and Zapdos (if it doesn't have HP Ice), all of whom are extremely annoying. My main revenge killer although I try to avoid using Outrage.

Scizor @ Choice Band
Nature: Adamant (-SAtk, +Atk)
EVs: 252 HP/252 Atk/6 SDef
-U-turn
-Bullet Punch
-Superpower
-Pursuit

Good old Scizor. Never failed me in any of my teams since the Garchomp era. Anyways, Scizor's role is to scout and force residual damage, revenge kill, and break subs. Breloom is taken care of by switching Scizor into the sub and U-turning to Rotom-h. Lucario at 40% is taken care of by Bullet Punch. Teams can be taken care of if they've taken enough residual damage by a Bullet Punch frenzy . Scizor serves as a very effective partner with Flygon, resisting boltbeam and dragon/fire combinations. I tend to use Scizor to revenge kill if the situation would be more suitable than revenge killing with Flygon (i.e. killing a Gengar with Bullet Punch instead of Outrage).

Conclusion:
That's all for my team. Sucks that I made this team right before 4th gen's departure, but I'm sure 5th gen will bring more interesting Pokemon. Anyways, feel free to criticize my team to your heart's content, any feedback is appreciated. Thank you for reading this RMT.
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[ShinyAzelf]

If Skarmory's job is to lay up Spikes, try a Impish nature because bulk is important, and Adamant only boosts the damage output of Brave Bird, which is not as useful.

How about replacing Fire Blast with Stone Edge or Rock Slide? The only common leads it hits for super effective are Metagross, Ninjask, Jirachi and Roserade. You wouldn't stay in on Metagross' Meteor Mash. Jirachi's Iron Head 2HKOes you with the added bonus of a flinch. Doesn't make a difference with Ninjask, as its just going to use Substitue. Roserade probably loses more to a Stone Edge than a Fire Blast, because its Defense stat is very low. Rock Slide can be used if you want more accuracy, but the power drop is noticeable.

Good luck!

 

[stud]

If Skarmory's job is to lay up Spikes, try a Impish nature because bulk is important, and Adamant only boosts the damage output of Brave Bird, which is not as useful.

How about replacing Fire Blast with Stone Edge or Rock Slide? The only common leads it hits for super effective are Metagross, Ninjask, Jirachi and Roserade. You wouldn't stay in on Metagross' Meteor Mash. Jirachi's Iron Head 2HKOes you with the added bonus of a flinch. Doesn't make a difference with Ninjask, as its just going to use Substitue. Roserade probably loses more to a Stone Edge than a Fire Blast, because its Defense stat is very low. Rock Slide can be used if you want more accuracy, but the power drop is noticeable.

Good luck!

Thanks for the rate, mate. I've been contemplating a bulkier Skarmory a lot but I'll stick to Adamant unless someone suggests a way to deal with Lead Machamp more efficiently. OHKOing Machamp is, imo, a worthwhile trade for a little bit of bulk. Yes, I know I'm overreacting to something that's only on like 10% of all teams :(

As for Tyranitar, I used to have Stone Edge over Fire Blast, but I just don't see what Stone Edge can handle that Crunch can't. Zapdos takes ~45-50% with Crunch, but it'll lose out to Crunch if it keeps roosting and gets a Def drop. Gyarados owns Tyranitar either way. Fire Blast on the other hand lets me threaten Skarmory and OHKO Breloom switch-ins.

 

[ShinyAzelf]

Lead Machamp causing you problems?

Try Life Orb Azelf!

Azelf @ Life Orb
Naive nature
4 Atk/252 Sp. Atk/252 Spe
-Psychic
-Fire Blast
-Stealth Rock
-Explosion/U-turn

Psychic OHKOes all lead Machamp, while also setting up Stealth Rock the next turn before it dies. Since Tyranitar's main job is to set up Stealth Rock, Azelf does the same but also deals with your lead Machamp problem.

Good luck!

 

[Tater Tot]

Lead Machamp isn't your only problem. SubChamp with 3 attacks(Dynamic Punch, Payback, and Stone Edge) does a great deal of damage to your team and you don't have much that can stop it. Skarmory barely lives through one dynamic punch (without getting hit on the switch) and is forced to whirlwind Champ out if he has a sub up, and is left very vulnerable.

Lead aerodactyl cares not about your Ttar. He can set up rocks and still land an earthquake for a good deal of damage, or just KO you if it's not a suicide lead. Metagross lead and Gallade antilead also laugh at Ttar. Also, your team places too much emphasis on residual damage to have just one spinblocker which is also responsible as a check for some major threats.

 

[stud]

Lead Machamp isn't your only problem. SubChamp with 3 attacks(Dynamic Punch, Payback, and Stone Edge) does a great deal of damage to your team and you don't have much that can stop it. Skarmory barely lives through one dynamic punch (without getting hit on the switch) and is forced to whirlwind Champ out if he has a sub up, and is left very vulnerable.

Lead aerodactyl cares not about your Ttar. He can set up rocks and still land an earthquake for a good deal of damage, or just KO you if it's not a suicide lead. Metagross lead and Gallade antilead also laugh at Ttar. Also, your team places too much emphasis on residual damage to have just one spinblocker which is also responsible as a check for some major threats.

Thank you for rating.

Sub Machamp is threatening, but it's just not as common as Lead Machamp for me to consider. Also, for future reference, a Skarmory at 93% (factoring in Payback + Leftovers), can survive two Dynamic Punches but it would leave me with a near useless Skarmory.

Skarmory completely walls Metagross, and considering they go for the Meteor Mash first, would let me set up spikes (then maybe Whirlwind if they decide to set up Stealth rock). Gallade is a problem that's even more threatening than Machamp, but like SubChamp, isn't common enough.

I agree on your point that Rotom-h is too frail to serve as a spinblocker + check. I'm thinking of replacing Scizor with Scarf Heatran, Scarf Rotom-h with a bulkier variant.

@ShinyAzelf: I don't really like Azelf since it dies too quickly (especially with LO), but I will consider this set and switch around some members of the team. Tyranitar's job isn't just too set up stealth rock, but also sandstream. Forgot to add that to the RMT heh heh.

 

[PikachuNoRai410]

wussup stu :jump:!! I've battled you before on an alternate. Nice looking team though. Why don't you try a bulkier rotom set? Something like 252 HP/68 SAtk/188 Spe would still outspeed neutral-natured Lucario and Scizor sets.

 

[Nosferalto]

Hi stud,

Looks good overall, you have offensive teams mostly covered but I think your team is too lacking offensively to the point where it can't be ignored. You have Spikes, Roar, a spin-blocker but you really aren't taking advantage of all that support. It appears you are focusing too much on checking threats that you are forgetting your own goal. To improve your team's overall offensive capabilities, I'm going to reccomend giving Skarmory Stealth Rock and moving it to the lead slot and using a DD Tyranitar over your current set. Tyranitar is not an effective lead in the current metagame, Skarmory on the other hand has Taunt or Whirlwind and can set-up entry hazards on its own. Skamory should run the following set: SR | Spikes | Roost | Taunt / Whirlwind with a Lum Berry, an Impish nature and 252 HP / 128 Def / 128 Spe. As for Tyranitar's moveset, go for Stone Edge / DD / Earthquake / Crunch with Lum Berry, Jolly nature and 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe. This will give your team something to abuse entry hazards with and a decent way to get around stall and offensive teams after the foe's team has been weakened by entry hazards and U-turn enough to the point where TTar is able to break through.

As for minor changes, run 248 HP on Scizor. Max HP maximizes the amount of damage taken from SR so 248 HP is definitely the way to go. Finally, a word of caution, Rotom-H is your check to many offensive threats and your only Fighting resist, so I just wanted to tell you to play conservatively with it to avoid getting Pursuited or going down too early in the match. You could perhaps run a bulkier EV spread like 252 HP / 4 SpAtk / 252 Spe to increase Rotom-H's survivability which will help you out significantly on the long run, just something to try out.

Hope this helps and gl!

 

[Snorlaxe]

hey stud,

first, i wanna say that i agree fully with everything that nosferalto pointed out in his team rate. your team could definitely do with some more offensive focus, and dragon dance tyranitar is an excellent way to provide said offensive focus. keep in mind that the below rate is in addition to the stuff that nosferalto suggested, and so the rate is designated toward a team that has the changes he suggested made.

building onto what nos gave you, i think another way to take advantage of your entry hazards would be to test out a swords dance scizor over your current choice band variant. between scarf rotom, scarf flygon, and band scizor, are lot of threats are covered to the point where its almost redundant to have as many "check" pokemon as you do. out of those three members, scizor seems the most expendable; however, your team has excellent defensive synergy and i dont wanna mess that up, so instead of changing the pokemon entirely, a set change to swords dance makes more sense. SD scizor and DD ttar can build off of each other's raw power, and with spikes support, one will be able to sweep eventually if you play intellegently. while you do lose CB scizor's u-turn, you still have u-turn on flygon, so it's not a big loss. try this set:

scizor @ leftovers | technician
adamant nature | 4 HP | 252 Atk | 252 Spe
swords dance | bullet punch | bug bite | brick break

with an offensive ev spread, scizor can outspeed more threats and deal huge damage after a swords dance; SD scizor really benefits from spikes support, so i think its worth testing out.

as far as optional changes go, you could always try out stone edge in place of toxic on flygon if you want to be able to nail flying-type switch-ins like gyarados and togekiss, though your other pokemon seem to have these threats covered pretty well. aside from that, good team, and good luck!

 

[NightShadow]

-Infernape: switch to Vaporeon on the Fake Out/Close Combat

A minor problem. I would switch to Rotom on the Fake Out/Close Combat, THEN switch to Vaporeon on the Flamethrower/Fire Blast/Overheat.