ORAS OU Crocodile Dundee

[Eraxxer]

What's up guys, I have yet another team after a brief stint of both having no inspiration and making teams that looked good in theory but were rather awful in practice. I generally aim to build my team around something that's a little bit different and/or unusual just to have more interesting teams, and Feraligatr has low enough usage to be deemed different to me. Feraligatr is definitely my favorite Gen 2 Starter and with Sheer Force recently added I thought it would be nice to design my next team around it.

Teambuilding Process​

Feraligatr was the Pokemon I started the team around. Surprisingly bulky, decently fast, ridiculously powerful and all around good, and with Dragon Dance it can 6-0 unprepared teams surprisingly easy. There are a lot of things that can check/counter it, but luckily, I found something to deal with that.

Seriously, the synergy between these two is unbelievable. I'm running Crunch/Aqua Jet on Gatr, so I have problems with Keldeo, Azumarill, Altaria, Manectric, Raikou, Breloom, Unaware Clef, Ferrothorn, Thundurus, Mega Gyarados, Chesnaught, Quagsire and others. What do these all have in common? They're all easily checked by Mega Venusaur barring Gyara and rare HP Flying Thundurus. Gatr also Aqua Jets Talonflame at +1, and can set up to win on Torn-T, as well as being able to set up at full health on Mega Metagross, Aqua Jets/Waterfalls each and every Sand abuser which of course Venusaur can't beat due to the flaw in Synthesis and others that can wall/beat Mega Venusaur.

I wanted better bulk across the team and a way to punish physical attackers. And hey, it's not an OU team unless it's got RockyChomp. It gets up Rocks well for me, generally takes any physical hit and deals out insane recoil, as well as usually being able to switch in on Heatran which Gatr, as a win con, usually prefers not to do.

Heatran doesn't look like it fits when I've already got a rocker, but this is ScarfTran. Talonflame was still annoying despite having two checks and Zard X and Y were both able to sweep me fairly easily. ScarfTran is usually a surprise to many people and it gives me the speed that I need in an otherwise relatively slow team - things like Mega Lopunny and Manectric are actually outsped by this which is much needed for me.

Looking at the team, you'll be able to quickly notice a weakness to things such as Alakazam, Garchomp, the Latis, Mega Gardevoir, Excadrill, Mega Diancie and others. Skarmory acts as a decent check to these as well as a Spikes stacker to stand a chance against Stall and to force out things like Chansey or Celebi which Skarmory can't really touch, and they can't touch me. With the advantage of Spikes on my team, I also found that having a spinner was largely unnecessary as most of the time hazards were Defogged away for me.

Lastly, I wanted a good way to deal with bulky Poisons, like opposing Mega Venusaur, and an offensive check to a lot of threats in the tier that Heatran couldn't deal with. With near perfect coverage and an amazing speed tier, as well as good utility with Thunder Wave baiting in Torn-T which is otherwise quite a big threat to the team, Zam fits right in on the team.​

Sets In Detail

Feraligatr @ Life Orb
Ability: Sheer Force
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Waterfall
- Dragon Dance
- Crunch
- Ice Punch​

Dragon Dance Feraligatr is pretty frightening. Crunch is great coverage for hitting all the Psychics that are everywhere in OU now, and Waterfall is a must. Aqua Jet has since been replaced with Ice Punch. The amount of times I found myself wanting Ice Punch far outweighed the times I actually used Aqua Jet, so I swapped them over.

Venusaur @ Venusaurite
Ability: Chlorophyll
EVs: 232 HP / 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 20 Spe
Modest Nature
- Giga Drain
- Sludge Bomb
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Synthesis​

This is a pretty standard offensive Mega Venusaur set, with max Special Attack and both STABs, as well as HP Fire because it's meant to be checking Ferrothorn and Chesnaught as well. Synthesis is mandatory, and the speed lets me outpace 252 Speed neutral Azumarill. I chose offensive for many reasons, largely because I wanted to be able to threaten Zard X, which Sludge Bomb OHKOes after Rocks.

Garchomp @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Rough Skin
EVs: 252 HP / 164 Def / 92 Spe
Impish Nature
- Earthquake
- Dragon Tail
- Stealth Rock
- Toxic

Really the only different things about this set are Toxic over Fire Blast, which I chose because most things in the team can usually deal with Ferrothorn and Skarmory, and the speed, which lets me outpace any Bisharp and Metagross before Mega Evolving. The other moves are pretty imperative on RockyChomp.

Heatran @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 28 Atk / 252 SpA / 228 Spe
Timid Nature
- Stone Edge
- Fire Blast
- Flash Cannon
- Earth Power​

The speed investment on this outspeeds Mega Lopunny. The choice between Overheat and Fire Blast was hard, but I like being able to hit multiple times and Fire Blast is good for cleaning up late game. Flash Cannon and Earth Power are required, and Stone Edge with 28- Attack investment OHKOes Charizard Y.

Skarmory @ Leftovers
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
- Spikes
- Iron Head
- Roost
- Whirlwind

SpDef Skarmory checks all the things that I needed to check when I chose it. Spikes is one of its greatest assets, Roost is pretty much needed and Whirlwind was chosen over Taunt because I'm tired of Manaphy. Leftovers is pretty important, too, because even with near maximum investment Skarmory is sort of frail on the Special side.​

Alakazam @ Life Orb
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Thunder Wave
- Psychic
- Shadow Ball
- Focus Blast

Psychic, Shadow Ball and Focus Blast are really important on Alakazam for STAB, then for hitting Psychics, then for hitting Dark types. The last move I chose was Thunder Wave because, even without a Sash, Zam is great at catching things on the switch that hate being Paralyzed - primarily Torn-T, but also things like other SpDef Skarms, and things of that nature. Encore or HP Ice is also an option but at the moment Thunder Wave is my most useful option. Life Orb was chosen over Sash because I initially ran Sash and it never came into use in about 20 games in a row and I decided I would make the switch to Life Orb.

Threats

Heat Wave + Superpower Torn-T is really scary to the team - while it's rare to encounter one with both of these options it's not unheard of and it's pretty hard to work around. I usually can beat it with a combination of Feraligatr and Thunder Wave on Alakazam, but both of these aren't long term Pokemon and they can be damaged/removed pretty easily, especially Zam.

Depending on its moveset Mega Gyarados gives me a few problems. It gets setup opportunities on Heatran, Feraligatr, Skarmory if it's Taunt, and so on. Ice Fang tears me apart and if it flinches or freezes my Venusaur after setting up it pretty much just wins. However, I usually play very cautiously around it and can find ways to win usually by going to Garchomp on predicted Waterfalls.

Rocks, Venusaur, Gatr, Garchomp and Sturdy on Skarmory usually lets me bullshit my way past Zard X but Zard Y is a whole different kettle of fish. Garchomp is a one time check that can't do much other than Toxic or Dragon Tail, and while Heatran is a "reliable" (Thankyou based Stone Edge) check I don't like risking the switch - when I do I usually get predicted and Focus Blasted - and I'm otherwise left to revenge it.
​

Importable

Feraligatr @ Life Orb
Ability: Sheer Force
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Waterfall
- Dragon Dance
- Crunch
- Aqua Jet

Venusaur @ Venusaurite
Ability: Chlorophyll
EVs: 232 HP / 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 20 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 30 SpA / 30 Spe
- Giga Drain
- Sludge Bomb
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Synthesis

Garchomp @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Rough Skin
EVs: 252 HP / 164 Def / 92 Spe
Impish Nature
- Earthquake
- Dragon Tail
- Stealth Rock
- Toxic

Heatran @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 28 Atk / 252 SpA / 228 Spe
Timid Nature
- Stone Edge
- Fire Blast
- Flash Cannon
- Earth Power

Skarmory @ Leftovers
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 252 HP / 236 SpD / 20 Spe
Careful Nature
- Spikes
- Iron Head
- Roost
- Whirlwind

Alakazam @ Life Orb
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Thunder Wave
- Psychic
- Shadow Ball
- Focus Blast

​

Well, that's the team. Hope you guys enjoyed and thanks for any feedback I might get!​

 

[ClocKzyy]

Just by looking at your team, I can see Rotom-W is a bit annoying. It sort've just beats 4/6 of your mons and potentially 5/6 if it's SpDef. I don't know how to really fix this without changing mons but I would change Venu's EV spread to 144 HP/252 Spa/112 Spe to out speed 99% of defensive Rotoms. Only because Rotom usually outspeeds Venu and can do shenanigans with Volt Switch or Burn and start pain splitting. With increased speed you don't give it a safe switch anymore, and you also have the added benefit of outspeeding Crawdaunt and Suicune which are also troublesome if they start setting up, and you outspeed 0 speed Lando-T as a bonus. You lose some bulk but I think it's worth the trade.

TLDR; Change Venu's EV's to 144 HP/252 Spa/112 Spe

 

[Pent]

I feel Garchomp and Heatran could switch purposes. Make Garchomp a fast, scarfer with heavy sweeping capability, while Heatran can relax and throw up rocks while being a special wall. Also, make Skarmory physically defensive, and make it your staller. Maybe even replace it with something else that can be a physical wall, but still able to Defog or Spin. Since this team is weak to Rotom-Wash, why not try Mold Breaker Excadrill? This still gives you a steel type, helps you with Rotom-Wash along with Venusaur, and you still have s spinner.

sets

Excadrill @ Life Orb
Ability: Mold Breaker
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Iron Head
- Rock Slide / Poison Jab (Even though I feel you don't need it because of Venusaur.)
- Rapid Spin

Garchomp @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Rough Skin
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Dragon Claw / Outrage
- Stone Edge / Iron Head
- Filler (Maybe Fire Blast?)

Heatran @ Leftovers
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpD / 4 SpA
IVs: 0 Atk
Calm Nature
- Lava Plume / Magma Storm
- Stealth Rock
- Roar
- Toxic / Protect / Flash Cannon

You might wanna try Focus Sash Alakazam since he has Magic Guard so you're sash won't break from anything other than attacks, but that's your decision. Finally, make sure to run 0 Atk IVs on all your Specially Oriented Pokemon since it reduces Confusion damage and Foul Play.

Hope it helps!

 

[TPP]

Looks like your best team yet! I'll try to help you with threats or walls and try to suggest changes to handle those. Mega Slowbro can be difficult to KO, and for your team it's something to watch out for. Feraligatr can be crippled by a Scald burn, leaving Mega Venusaur and Alakazam as your best options against it, as both of them can 2HKO Mega Slowbro. So make sure those 2 are healthy if your opponent has Mega Slowbro, or a bulky water type like Rotom-W. Tank Garchomp is actually something your team doesn't have an immediate answer for. Kyurem-Black is probably the biggest threat to your team, since it's able to 1HKO Garchomp and Heatran, and 2HKO's everything else. To handle these threats and Torn-T and Keldeo, I suggest running Thundurus > Alakazam. You'll get priority thunder wave and a better check to Torn-T. Thundurus is also able to defeat all of the other threats with Thunderbolt, HP Ice and Focus Blast. The downside to this, is that Mega Venusaur (the only bulky poison in OU besides Amoonguss) will be harder to KO. To help deal with Mega Venusaur, I suggest Brave Bird > Iron Head on Skarmory as you'll be able to 3HKO Venusaur, or you can set up spikes and phase it out. Brave Bird can also 2HKO Keldeo.

Thundurus

Thundurus @ Life Orb / Leftovers (helps Thundurus recover from Stealth Rock damage)
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Thunder Wave
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power Ice
- Focus Blast

Even after changes, Kyurem-Black will still remain as your biggest threat (it's just a threat to every team), and Thundurus will be able to help cripple scarf variants or KO with Focus Blast. The best way to deal with it is probably keep your rocks and spikes up, so you'll be able to prevent it from coming in with losing a chunk of its health. Alternatively, you could run your own Kyurem-Black to deal with all of your threats, and it's also able to 1HKO Mega Venusaur with Rocks. It's a bit slower, but extremely powerful. I'll leave the set in case you wanna look at it. That's it for now, your team is really well built, so I got nothing else. Let me know if my suggestions worked out and if you liked them or not. Hope I helped ^_^

Kyurem-Black

Kyurem-Black @ Life Orb
Ability: Teravolt
EVs: 16 Atk / 240 SpA / 252 Spe (240 special attack does the same damage as 252 special attack)
Mild Nature
- Ice Beam
- Earth Power
- Fusion Bolt
- Roost

 

[Eraxxer]

OK guys I'm getting much more feedback than I've ever got in the past, and thanks a bunch for that! I'll start testing out all the suggestions on the ladder and it might take a while but afterwards I'll get back to you all. Thanks again for all the feedback, and any feedback I might get in the future!


EDIT: OK guys, it's long overdue but I'm posting again to recap on any changes I've made. I've been away pretty frequently and unable to do a whole lot but I've got it done by now. It's probably too late now to make an actual reply to the thread because I'll get an infraction if I do so I'll leave it as an edit. I doubt many people will see this but meh, it's worth sharing.

The major threat people have been mentioning is Rotom-Wash. I tried out different EV spreads but it's strange, I never really have trouble with it. Venu and Zam can break it pretty easily and I never have a whole lot of problems. I guess it just looks a lot more threatening on paper but in practice it's pretty easy to play around.

Also, Aqua Jet on Feraligatr has been replaced with Ice Punch.

I've tried out the other changes. They're all pretty helpful in some areas but lose out in other ways - I've decided to keep the original team in the post for consistency's sake but if anyone is reading this later on read through the comments and pick and choose the changes you want to make, they're all good suggestions.

I'm also editing my threat list to more accurately reflect things that are problematic. Keldeo being there is pretty dumb now that I think of it.

 

[MilkyWay]

Looks like your best team yet! I'll try to help you with threats or walls and try to suggest changes to handle those. Mega Slowbro can be difficult to KO, and for your team it's something to watch out for. Feraligatr can be crippled by a Scald burn, leaving Mega Venusaur and Alakazam as your best options against it, as both of them can 2HKO Mega Slowbro. So make sure those 2 are healthy if your opponent has Mega Slowbro, or a bulky water type like Rotom-W. Tank Garchomp is actually something your team doesn't have an immediate answer for. Kyurem-Black is probably the biggest threat to your team, since it's able to 1HKO Garchomp and Heatran, and 2HKO's everything else. To handle these threats and Torn-T and Keldeo, I suggest running Thundurus > Alakazam. You'll get priority thunder wave and a better check to Torn-T. Thundurus is also able to defeat all of the other threats with Thunderbolt, HP Ice and Focus Blast. The downside to this, is that Mega Venusaur (the only bulky poison in OU besides Amoonguss) will be harder to KO. To help deal with Mega Venusaur, I suggest Brave Bird > Iron Head on Skarmory as you'll be able to 3HKO Venusaur, or you can set up spikes and phase it out. Brave Bird can also 2HKO Keldeo.

Thundurus

Thundurus @ Life Orb / Leftovers (helps Thundurus recover from Stealth Rock damage)
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Thunder Wave
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power Ice
- Focus Blast

Even after changes, Kyurem-Black will still remain as your biggest threat (it's just a threat to every team), and Thundurus will be able to help cripple scarf variants or KO with Focus Blast. The best way to deal with it is probably keep your rocks and spikes up, so you'll be able to prevent it from coming in with losing a chunk of its health. Alternatively, you could run your own Kyurem-Black to deal with all of your threats, and it's also able to 1HKO Mega Venusaur with Rocks. It's a bit slower, but extremely powerful. I'll leave the set in case you wanna look at it. That's it for now, your team is really well built, so I got nothing else. Let me know if my suggestions worked out and if you liked them or not. Hope I helped ^_^

Kyurem-Black

Kyurem-Black @ Life Orb
Ability: Teravolt
EVs: 16 Atk / 240 SpA / 252 Spe (240 special attack does the same damage as 252 special attack)
Mild Nature
- Ice Beam
- Earth Power
- Fusion Bolt
- Roost

Why not replace HP Ice with HP Flying on Thundurus to lure in Mega Venusaur and beat it? Otherwise the entire team is just way too weak against opposing Mega Venusaurs...

 

[Tushar Cool]

Why not replace HP Ice with HP Flying on Thundurus to lure in Mega Venusaur and beat it? Otherwise the entire team is just way too weak against opposing Mega Venusaurs...

Why not replacing HP flying to psychic to deal with mega venu better
And hi n_n,Nice team it looks like your team is already rated by the almighty Team Pokepals :p

So good luck have fun n_n!