First OU Team

[Ranger Blue]

Ok guys, this is my first Gen 5 OU team, after a few changes. After lurking on the forums for a bit, looking at some analysis threads and warstories, I found Pokemon Online and decided to make a team! I decided to go with some of my favourites from Gen 4, as I knew how to play them and so on, they just got some new toys :naughty:. I win most battles, and some I lose are down to hax, inexperience or just plain being outplayed, but others are, I believe, down to the team, so I present it to you guys, for any advice you can give.

Crobat (F) @ Black Sludge Trait: Inner Focus
EVs: 252 HP / 112 Atk / 144 Spd
Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Brave Bird
- U-turn
- Taunt
- Roost


My favourite lead from Gen 4, I brought her along with me and she has performed admirably. Her speed means she can taunt anything aside from Deoxys and Aero before they set-up, while her surprising bulk and power means she can get plenty of Ko's and take many hits other members of my team might struggle with. U-turn also gives plenty of opportunities. I don't want to change her at all.

Porygon2 @ Eviolite
Trait: Trace
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SDef
Bold Nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Ice Beam
- Thunderbolt
- Thunder Wave
- Recover


Eviolite was a godsend for Pory-2. Now a premier physical tank, it is my main check for the popular SD-Gliscor, taking any attack with ease and OHKO'ing with Ice Beam. The same goes for many pokemon. Trace is also handy, stealing Flash Fire and Intimidate to work for me. Again, nothing I want to change here.

Gastrodon (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Storm Drain
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SDef
Bold Nature
- Earth Power
- Scald
- Recover
- Toxic


It wasn't inferior to Swampert last time, and it certainly isn't now. Plenty of bulk with high base Hp, Recover and it's new ability make it invaluable. I am a bit iffy about Toxic thanks to 'Cruel's Toxic Spikes, but Scald is a great new addition.

Excadrill (M) @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Sand Rush
EVs: 8 HP / 252 Atk / 248 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Earthquake
- Rock Slide
- X-Scissor
- Brick Break


The most debatable spot. I used to have Scarf T-tar here, but I kept getting raped by other Excadrills and didn't want to change any other pokes. However it's definitely not been effective against the majority of opponents, so I was going to change back to Tyranitar.
This slot is used for revenge killing or for taking out key opponents I wouldn't otherwise have the firepower to deal with.

Ferrothorn (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Iron Barbs
EVs: 252 HP / 136 Atk / 56 Def / 64 SDef
Careful Nature (+SDef, -SAtk)
- Stealth Rock
- Leech Seed
- Power Whip
- Bulldoze


A very good wall and user of SR and another poke I'm happy with. His two weaknesses aren't too much of a problem, thats to Gastrodon/Tenta/Crobat, while his resistances are very handy. Bulldoze allows him to beat opposing Nattorei 1-on-1 (as it doesn't cause iron barbs recoil) and hits ground weaks such as Heatran who might otherwise come in with impunity. I'm not looking to change him, but if anyone thinks something else might work better, I'm open to suggestions.

Tentacruel (M) @ Black Sludge
Trait: Liquid Ooze
EVs: 252 HP / 16 SAtk / 240 Spd
Calm Nature (+SDef, -Atk)
- Ice Beam
- Surf
- Toxic Spikes
- Knock Off

Toxic spikes is so useful for racking up residual damage, and if I can knock off their lefties even more so. His good special defense lets him take many hits, and he is my main counter to infernape, who might otherwise cause problems. Liquid Ooze is a blessing, in a metagame with lots of Leech Seeders, allowing tentacruel to damage the opponent every turn just by staying in. The 240 Speed Ev's allow it to outspeed Hydreigon, but he is less prevalent than I feared, so I'm considering beefing up his SAtk or SDef.

Excradrills replacement:

Tyranitar (M) @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Sand Stream
EVs: 4 HP/252 Atk/252 Spd
Nature: Jolly (+Spd, -SAtk)
-Crunch
-Earthquake
-Stone Edge
-Fire Blast

Very good revenge killer or just a surprising speedster. My main answer to a few threats I know have to play around, will probably replace Excadrill once more unless a better suggestion is made.

Overview:
A very defensive team that isn't quite stall. Every member can do good damage to certain pokemon, the only trouble can be getting them into those certain pokes. Crobat nearly always leads, either taunting if it's a set-up lead or U-turning for some small damage otherwise. I'm not willing to sacrifice nattorei just to set up rocks in most cases, although it depends on the opposing team. If he looks to be useless, I may just SR regardless of his surivival. Toxic Spikes are more important, but still not vital.

Threats:
The main reason I came here. I have great difficulty in dealing with some of the new threats.
Excadrill: In the sand, it can get a dance off against half of my team and then go on to destroy nearly everyone in one hit (Pory/Gastrodon at full hp survive, but only just). Tyranitar couldn't revenge, even with scarf, so I switched to my own Excadrill with scarf. Performs admirably against opposing Excadrills, but does little else.
Reuniclus: Very good bulk, access to calm mind, immune to passive damage and a base 125 Sp.Atk. Can even set up it's own Trick Room. I used to try and whittle it down with the rest of my team, then get TTar in for a Crunch, but I still take alot of damage.

Aside from those two I don't have too much difficulty. Opposing steels can be a nuisance, but Nattorei can take care of opposing Nattorei thanks to bulldoze, and 'Zong is slowly taken down by thunderbolt/scald/surf. Both were somewhat dealt with by TTar, although getting him in could be risky.

So there it is. Say anything you want about it, I won't be offended. Suggest anything you think might help, I may not agree, but I'd still like to hear your opinion. Thanks!

 

[blue cheez]

What I see is a stall team with a lead and a revenge killer. If you're going to have some kind of offensive push, you should really make your defensive core so that it "baits" the threats that would harm your sweeper. I would advise just going full stall. So if I were you, I'd go full stall and switch exadrill for hippodown and grab a spinblocker instead of gastrodon.

If you're going for a kind of bulky offensive, I'd focus less on stall tactics like "toxic" and entry hazards, and give more priority to moves like calm mind.

For specifics:
Why are you using black-sludge instead of leftovers?
You didn't give a good reason why gastrodon is better than swampert IMO. I'd replace for swampert or calm mind suicune.
Your team has a big fighting weakness. If you're going to be offensive, you should use that fighting weakness as an opportunity to set up with a sweeper that's very resistant to it. If your defensive, get a ghost on your team to both be a spinblocker and prevent a fighting sweep.
I think gliscor does a better job as a lead than your crobat. It can still taunt/uturn/roost, but has much better defensive. And if you have sand up, you can get an evasion boost from sand veil.
Also if you're going stall, you should get some roars/switches out there and maybe consider a perish song?


Hope that helps.

 

[Jaxx]

I actually wouldn't recommend a scarfed set on Ttar this gen. It just isn't fast enough and doesn't fit in with your teams playing style. I'd suggest a bulky set such as Bulky DD.

If you're looking for a replacement for Excadrill to counter other Excadrills I would definatly recommend a bulky Hitmontop.

Hitmontop @
Technician Adamant
252 atk 172 hp 84 def
- Mach punch
- Hi jump kick
- Pursuit
- Toxic/Sucker punch

This is the set I've been using to combat Excadrill and it seems quite effective. Hi jump kick is so you don't lose those precise defenses. Pursuit and sucker punch to help with those pesky ghosts while toxic can be useful on a stall team.

Hitmontop will like Ttar to be around to eat up and psychic attacks that come its way

Hope this helped.

 

[Ranger Blue]

That is helpful thanks. I can definitely see where you're going.

First, to answer a couple of questions:
Black sludge does exactly the same as lefties for poison types, and on the off-chance they Trick it, they lose 6.25% every turn, instead of gaining.
Gastrodon is immune to water attacks, which actually give it a SAtk boost, and has access to recover. Yes, it has less in the way of defense/power, but it's ability to heal between taking attacks is priceless.

On to the rest:
I think I'm going to try out moving to a more offensive style first, and if that doesn't work, then try stall if that doesn't work out. I think I should replace Tentacruel at least, as well as one of Gastrodon or Porygon (probably Pory). I'll try a couple of things out and come back.

Thanks again :D

 

[Bloo]

This team is trying to accomplish too much imo. I'll try and help give your team a solid strategy while maintaining the original idea of your team, which I assume is abusing entry hazards.

First thing's first: you're demolished by Fighting-types (Terrakion, for example), and Excadrill, which I see you made note of in your threat list. I recommend using Gliscor in place of Crobat; it's arguably the best Excadrill counter in the game, and is a magnificent switch into Fighting-type attacks. Crobat's cool and all, but at the end of the day, Gliscor does a better job of keeping threats in their place, which your team appreciates greatly. I recommend using the following Gliscor:

Gliscor

Gliscor (M) @ Toxic Orb Trait: Poison Heal
EVs: 252 HP / 224 Def / 80 Spe
Impish Nature (+Def, -SpA)
- Substitute
- Earthquake
- Protect
- Ice Fang

Substitute isn't commonly used on Gliscor, but with it, he's amazingly annoying and can abuse Tentacruel's Toxic Spikes by using Sub + Protect to stall them out. The 80 Spe EVs allow you to outpace some variants of Rotom-W, and makes you faster than Scrafty before a DD. Now, Choice Scarf Excadrill is ineffective, and if you decide to run with my Gliscor suggestion, then it's even more useless. I agree with you: use Tyranitar in its place. It's a great all-around 'mon and can help you with Reuiniclus to an extent. Though, don't use Scarf; try this instead:

Tyranitar

Tyranitar (M) @ Leftovers Trait: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 HP / 180 SpA / 76 SpD
Sassy Nature (+SpD, -Spe)
- Crunch
- Fire Blast
- Ice Beam
- Stealth Rock

Pretty self-explanatory set. Fire Blast is especially good for you since you have some trouble with Ferrothorn. The bulk helps Tyranitar deal with Lati@s more effectively, and allows it to survive a Focus Blast from CM Reuniclus most of the time. With that out of the way, here are some other suggestion that will drastically help your team:

1. If you decide to go with the above Tyranitar set, use Spikes in lieu of SR on Ferrothorn. I'd ditch Bulldoze for Protect, as Protect will allow you to abuse Tentacruel's TS as well. Also helps with scouting for HP Fire from Latios and so on.
2. You could always try a Latias with Calm Mind, Dragon Pulse, HP Fire, Roost @ Leftovers w/ 252 HP, 252 Spe, Timid nature over Porygon2. It'll help you a lot with your Reuniclus problem. Also, you're very weak to Thundurus, and Latias can help ease this problem.
3. Get rid of the 240 Spe EVs on Tentacruel (outpacing Hydreigon isn't worth it; he isn't even that common), and place them into Special Defense instead. Tentacruel needs those SpD EVs to take hits well.

That's all. I know I suggested some pretty big changes, but they're needed if you want this team to work to the best of its ability. Good luck.

 

[Ranger Blue]

Sorry I didn't notice your post earlier Jaxx, you posted it just before me. After looking at both your and Bloo's (and blue cheez's) suggestions, I've replaced Crobat with Gliscor. I originally tried pretty much the same set as my Crobat, but I've since moved to Sub/U-turn/EQ/Ice Fang, and it's working better. I'm currently using Bloo's EV spread, which is working nicely (assuming that you mean less defence).

This has allowed me to use TTar once again, but I'm not sure about it's ability to actually kill things. Sometimes you need someone able to deal heavy damage, but with only Sp. Atk having Ev's invested in, it loses alot of power. Reuniclus is particularly a problem, but I have yet to try Latios, so perhaps that might prove best.

Protect over Bulldoze on Ferrothorn means I have some problems dealing with it outside of Tyranitar, but it's not too big a deal with Gliscor/Tentacruel helping.
I've changed the Speed Ev's the Sp. Defense, and it is helpful.

Thanks for your help guys.