First 4th Gen OU Team

[T J]

Completely new to the 'real' competitive scene. I've played with friends before and am at least somewhat familiar with the way the metagame works.

Therefore, this is my first 'real' team ever, so I suppose I can use all the help I can get! ;) If it's really terrible, please tell me because that means I probably really need to get some more insight into this whole thing.

Aerodactyl @ Focus Sash
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Nature: Jolly (+Spe, -SpA)
- Taunt
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge

Standard Lead Aerodactyl. Taunt to prevent others from setting up, survive with Focus Sash, then set up Stealth Rocks. If Aerodactyl survives, attempt to beat the opponent up with EdgeQuake. There's not a whole lot more to eat.

Metagross @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Clear Body
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 Spe / 4 Def
Nature: Jolly (+Spe, -SpA)
- Earthquake
- Meteor Mash
- Ice Punch
- Zen Headbutt

Meteor Mash for obvious STAB, Earthquake for all-round great damage. Ice Punch really as a bit of a filler move, but possibly for taking care of things like Gliscor, Dragonite and Flygon, which could prove to be a bit of a nuisance. Zen Headbutt is filler for STAB. Choice Scarf to be able to outrun things without needing to set up with Agility first.

Metagross is really the meat of the team, being able to hit many things with its great coverage. The rest of the team (except Aerodactyl and Heatran) is based on getting rid of anything Metagross might not be able to handle.

Dragonite @ Life Orb
Ability: Inner Focus
EVs: 56 Atk / 252 SpA / 200 Spe
Nature: Mild/Lonely (+SpA, -Def / +Atk, -Def)
- Draco Meteor
- Fire Blast
- Superpower
- Extremespeed

Pairs up with Metagross to resist incoming Fire and Ground attacks. Draco Meteor is simply for great STAB. Fire Blast is to make up for the loss in SpA after a Draco Meteor. Superpower is just for general power against things like Blissey and Extremespeed to make up for what Dragonite lacks in Spe might it be required. The thing I'm worried about most right now is PP, because they are all 5 PP moves.

I think I may need to experiment with the nature a bit here, because I'm not sure what will work best. I suppose Mild will work to sort of balance Atk and SpA and Mild simply emphasizes on Dragonite's impressive base Atk. Ideas?

Additionally, I was unsure about a good EV spread so I just took it straight from Smogon's analysis for Dragonite as a mixed sweeper, which I suppose is tested and works. Again, ideas?

Mismagius @ Salac Berry
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 108 HP / 148 SpA / 252 Spe
Nature: Timid
- Nasty Plot
- Substitute
- Shadow Ball
- Thunderbolt

Mismagius as a special sweeper. Just wanted to try it out and see how well it could work. Used Thunderbolt here to be able to actually hit waters nicely. Substitute is used to be able to set up with Nasty Plot, after which Mismagius can be quite devastating.

Should I consider using HP Fighting over Thunderbolt? I think I have reasonable enough coverage to get rid of things like Blissey on the rest of the team, and I feel that, if I do get rid of Thunderbolt here I have a lack of moves to hit waters. Thoughts?

Lucario @ Life Orb
Ability: Inner Focus
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 Spe / 4 SpD
Nature: Jolly
- Swords Dance
- Extremespeed
- Close Combat
- Crunch

Fairly standard Swords Dance Lucario to work with Mismagius. I chose Crunch over other options to deal with Rotom, which I think can be quite a nuisance to my team. In order to get rid of Rotom and other potential troublemakers for my team, I also added Heatran to the team, as can be seen below.

Heatran @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 SpA / 252 Spe / 4 SpD
Nature: Naive
- Fire Blast
- Earth Power
- Explosion
- Hidden Power Grass

Pretty standard Scarftran I guess. Went with HP Grass for some water coverage. I chose Heatran as a last filler of sorts mostly just so it would be a bit easier to deal with Rotom and the like. I went with a Naive nature to make sure Heatran would be able to outspeed certain other Pokemon. Heatran has the power, but not being able to outspeed some things could potentially shut it down, which I obviously don't want.

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Personally I think I have way too many Pokemon weak to EQ (and other ground moves, for that matter), even though half my team is completely immune to it as well.

So, thoughts?

 

[2sly4u]

I'd recommend against Mismagius. She's too frail, and is easily revenge killed the the ever-present Scizor. Gengar, although he doesn't have access to Nasty Plot, is better in alomst every respect. I'd try out the Substitute+ three attack variant

Gengar@Leftovers
Substitute
Shadow Ball
Focus Blast
HP Fire/Thunderbolt

Substitute when you predict a switch, and deal with the incoming threat accordingly. Focus Blast maims Tyranitar, and HP Fire OHKOs Scizor, two pokemon who love switching in on Ghost-types.

I'd also strongly recommend using a Life Orb/Lum Bery on Metagross, and finding a slot for Agility. Even with a Chocie Scarf, he's easily outsped by other revenge killers. Plus, if your plan is to sweep with him, you need the freedom to switch moves. You already have a revenger in Heatran, anyways.

 

[T J]

Thanks for the reply!

I changed it around a bit, following your suggestions. I got rid of Zen Headbutt for Metagross and gave it Agility and a Life Orb instead. I also switched Mismagius with Gengar.

Metagross @ Life Orb
Trait: Clear Body
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Meteor Mash
- Earthquake
- Ice Punch
- Agility


Gengar (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Focus Blast
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Substitute
- Shadow Ball


Again, thanks, and if there's anything else that could be improved on I'd love to hear! :)

 

[Chris Pepps]

Nice balanced team defensively

My only problem would be that you have a slight weakness to Water types. It is not very significant but make sure you keep Hidden Power Grass on Heatran and make sure you have a way of disposing of common Waters (eg. Gyarados, Vaporeon, Swampert, etc.)
You may want to add a move super effective to waters on Aerodactyl to combat Gyarados leads, Although all 4 of the moves he already has are useful.

Aerodactyl tends to have particular troubl against Breloom so it is probably worth switching out instantly if you see one. Less common leads such as Flygon are also a major problem. Try to avoid using him against Bronzong and Torterra also.

I really like your original Metagross set as his moves cover every pokemon in OU for decent damage except Bronzong and Shedinja. However, your new set also covers well and Agility is a definite advantage (the only pokemon you lose the ability to cover is Rotom Appliance)

Little at all wrong with your new gengar. A fighting and Ghost move is like BoltBeam but better because it covers every pokemon in existance. I personally do not like Focus Blast due to the low accuracy (increased Hax) The trouble is that Gengar's attack stat is so low that Brick Break and Drain Punch are next to useless so you should probably keep what youve got.

Lucario is perfect. I need say no more.

Heatran is such a beast that he can normally be competent against foes who he cannot damage all that well. However, I will list the main OU pokemon he will have trouble with. Altaria, Charizard, Dragonite, Moltres and Rotom-H
All of these are either Flying or Fire type. Solution??? Give him a Rock move!

I'd advise replacing Explosion with Stone Edge. However Stone Edge is only 80% accurate. You may want to try using Ancient power because when it does give you a stat boost (boosts all stats by 1 10% of the time) Heatran basically becomes invincible!

Please rate my team at http://www.smogon.com/forums/showthread.php?t=3451411

 

[B-Zard]

Your team looks good, although I still have a few tips.

For Aerodactyl you could go for Rock Slide > Stone Edge. I know it is weaker, but the flinch can help with the high speed.

Your Metagross set with life orb is okay, although I use Thunderpunch > Ice Punch for Gyarados and other bulky waters, you could also go for Lum Berry over Life Orb since your sweep cannot be ruined by some status form.

Why not running Steadfast > Inner Focus for Lucario. if you get flinched your speed stat becomes + 1 so you can sweep better. Inner Focus only means you cannot flinch although you still get hit by the attack so in my opinion Steadfast is better. Also I run Adamant > Jolly to get some more KOs or turning 3 hit KOs into 2 hit KOs.

For Heatran I would just go for Explosion since a rock move combined with its mediocre attack is not very powerful even Ancientpower with 60 base power only is strong if it is 4x effective. Also pokes like Altaria, Charizard and Moltres are hardly seen in OU and if you see them they will take heavy stealth rock damage and will not switch in on Tran, only if they have EQ. If you really want to beat these flying pokes you could go for Hp Electric> HP Grass which hits them super effectively and bulky waters too. Rotom-H isn't a fire type in 4th gen and isn't a problem since Heatran can come in on either Overheat or Will-o-wisp to activate Flash Fire and hit it with a STABed Flash Fire Fire Blast.

Hope I helped you with your team, good luck!

 

[Zephyr]

Hey man, looks like you got yourself a pretty decent team going here, but you have quite a few huge weaknesses you may not be aware of. First off your team is very weak to Hyper offensive teams (specifically rain and sun) once Rain dance goes up, sweepers like Kingdra eat your team alive as they're all slower and most are ohko'd in a single hit. Outside of that, you also have a little trouble with Starmie who can come in and out and deal mass amounts of damage to your team, as it OHKO's virtually everything but Metagross; who can't even KO it in return. For this I recommend the following Scarf Tyranitar set: Not only does it do all the aforementioned things, It pairs great with Lucario and can capture Rotom with Pursuit, easing Lucario's sweeping chances greatly, while also enabling you to vouch for Ice Punch if you'd like. Tyranitar can also carefully switch into Starmie, outspeed and/or capture it with Pursuit and removing it from being very harmful for your team. Here it is:

Tyranitar @ Choice Scarf
Nature @ Jolly
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 spdef / 252 Speed
-Superpower
-Pursuit
-Crunch
-Stone edge

This can go over Heatran as in addition to what was said above, he can still fill most of the purposes that your Heatran did. Good luck! I hope this helps solidify your team.

 

[Eternal]

I agree with Zeph's suggestion about replacing Scarf Heatran for Scarf Tyranitar. Since you already have Choice Scarf Metagross (more surprising than Scarf Heatran) to revenge many common threats that Scarf Heatran does, like Infernape, Lucario, Azelf, Gengar, etc. While your team is really weak to Choice Scarf Rotom-H or W, Starmie, and Gengar, that even Choice Scarf Metagross and Heatran would have a hard time against. Choice Scarf Tyranitar relieves all of those weaknesses as well as provide the team with Sandstorm so it doesn't get swept by something like Swift Swim Kingdra with Rain up.

Next, I would like to suggest replacing your Sub NP Mismagius sweep with a SubCharge Rotom-H. SubCharge Rotom-w carries both STAB for Charge Beam and Shadow Ball, whereas Mismagius only gives you STAB for Shadow Ball. Not only that, having Hidden Power Fighting is a very integral part of Mismagius to beat Tyranitar, which is lacks in your Sub NP. Luckily the SubCharge Rotom-H set can also attain HP Fighting as one of its moves. Since your team is also very weak to Dragon Dance Gyarados, having Rotom-H on your team will also relieve that weakness. Here's the set:

Rotom @ Leftovers -- Levitate
Nature: Timid - EVs: 64 HP / 252 SAtk / 192 Spd
- Substitute
- Hidden Power [Fighting]
- Shadow Ball
- Charge Beam

I would also like to suggest replacing Zen Headbutt on your Choice Scarf Metagross for Explosion. Explosion on your Choice Scarf Metagross is a very crucial move to be able to destroy physical walls like Hippowdon and Gliscor. Lessening your weakness to stall and allowing your other physical attackers (especially the added Choice Scarf Tyranitar) to sweep.

Try it out. Good luck!