Going Ape - OU Team

[Jukain]

I have been a Smogonite for a while now, but I had never used Shoddy Battle. I have always been a double battler. In fact it took me about two weeks after I discovered Smogon to realize that all the analyses were for single battles. So, here is my foray into the (much simpler) world of single battles.



At a Glance

Here is how I made the team.

I wanted a fast lead that can set up Stealth Rock and dish out a lot of damage. I settled on Infernape:

Next, I needed an anti-spinner. Rotom seemed nice because of its ground resist and its ability to take out Gyarados and Swampert:

Next I wanted a revenge killer and my own spinner. I had always wanted to use Scizor on a team, and Starmie had nice synergy with it and Infernape.

I wanted to choose a sweeper, but I couldn’t, so I chose a Dual Screener to help my sweeper set up. Uxie fit the bill nicely:

After looking at sweepers again, I saw Heatran, which had nice synergy with the team, but was slow and didn’t have any boosting moves. I also wanted to have a U-Turn Chain, but I didn’t want Flygon, because it also didn’t have boosting moves. Then an idea hit me. I made Heatran my lead, and Infernape my Sweeper. So my team at a glance is:

Under the Microscope

Heatran @ Shuca Berry
Flash Fire
6 HP/252 SpA/252 Spe
Naïve Nature (+Spe, -SpD)
~Stealth Rock
~Explosion
~Earth Power
~Fire Blast

Heatran is an all-around solid lead. It is able to set up Stealth Rock very easily and usually lives until late game when it can dish out a lot of damage and explode, which is always nice. Because of its Dark and Ghost resistances, he works well with Rotom, and his resistance to Poison has been more helpful than I first anticipated. He also compliments Scizor well with Flash Fire.

Rotom–C @ Leftovers
Levitate
252 HP/168 Def/90 Spe
Bold Nature (+Def, -Atk)
~Will-o-Wisp
~Shadow Ball
~Thunderbolt
~Leaf Storm

Rotom is my anti-spinner, but it is also a team player. Because of its resistances to fighting and ground and its ability to take out Swampert and Gyarados, it works really well with Heatran and Infernape. Shadow Ball comes in handy from time to time and Will-o-Wisp makes physical attackers think twice.

Uxie @ Light Clay
Levitate
252 HP/252 Def/6 Spe
Impish Nature (+Def, -SpA)
~Light Screen
~Reflect
~Memento
~U-Turn

Uxie is in a way the crux of this team. Once it can come out safely (after Heatran explodes), I can easily set up screens because of Uxie’s bulk, and then Memento so that Infernape can come in safely as well. Many times, I would send in Infernape even though there is a type disadvantage, but still pull of a Swords Dance and sweep because of Uxie. This team really doesn’t function well without it. U-Turn is there so that I have another way to safely send in another Pokemon. Because Uxie is bulky and slower than most other Pokémon, it can take a hit and then U-Turn out

Infernape @ Life Orb
Blaze
6 HP/252 Atk/252 Spe
Jolly Nature
~Swords Dance
~U-Turn
~Fire Punch
~Close Combat

Infernape is my main sweeper. I Swords Dance when possible and then simply attack with the best move. After seeing the Swords Dance, most players sent in Latias thinking they can’t be touched. In actuality, Surf can’t pull of a OHKO because of Light Screen and Latias is OHKO’d by U-Turn. However, if I can’t pull of a Swords Dance in time, I U-Turn to Scizor and it can finish Latias off. The only thing I don’t like is the Life Orb recoil. (Why is it called a LIFE orb if it just hurts the Pokémon)

Scizor @ Choice Band
Technician
252 HP/252 Atk/6 Def
Adamant Nature
~Bullet Punch
~Pursuit
~Superpower
~U-Turn

Scizor serves two purposes. First of all, it is my revenge killer. Secondly, it completes my U-Turn chain along with Uxie and Infernape. Repetitive U-Turns allow me to counter many other Pokémon effectively as well as send out Uxie to set up screens again or to Memento if it didn’t already. I have the extra 6 EVs in Defense rather than Speed so that when facing other Scizor who use Superpower, my Superpower goes second and does more damage.

Starmie @ Leftovers
Natural Cure
Timid Nature
6 HP/252 SpA/252 Spe
~Rapid Spin
~Recover
~Ice Beam
~Surf

Starmie is my icing on the cake. It has excellent synergy with the rest of my team and can be a legitimate threat on its own. Because of the U-Turn chain, my Pokemon switch out a lot, so I need a reliable Rapid Spinner. Starmie is a perfect match. It can absorb status, spin, and recover off damage. Secondly, it my Dragon Counter. Because I chose U-Turn over Stone Edge on Infernape, I needed a way to counter Salamence, Flygon, and Dragonite. Because I have Thunderbolt on Rotom, I chose Ice Beam over Thunderbolt on Starmie. With Dual Screens up, Starmie can survive a +1 Dragon Attack, pull of a OHKO with Ice Beam, and then Recover off any damage.

Thanks in advance for taking the time to rate my team. Any comments would be appreciated as long as they are constructive.

 

[Jukain]

Reserved for threat list.

 

[Fuzznip]

Hello Jukain. I have some suggestions you may want to consider.

The first thing that stands out to me is that your team is quite Gyarados weak once Rotom-C is out of battle, which will likely happen in common battle conditions because you aren't using a RestTalk set to replenish the lost HP from switching into moves like U-turn from Scizor or Meteor Mash from Metagross. Additionally, you have problems with Dragon Dance Tyranitar, especially Babiri Berry versions, as it can potentially sweep your entire team. With that said, I'm going to suggest the addition of Jirachi on your team to handle the aforementioned threats. The only thing Uxie is giving your team is dual screen support for Infernape; however, because Infernape is incredibly weak defensively, even the screens won't help it bypass powerful attacks. So really, Uxie is pretty much dead weight. The advantages Choice Scarf Jirachi give you are the immediate Speed which your team could benefit from, ability to check both Dragon Dance Gyarados and Tyranitar, as well as Dragon Dance Salamence and Swords Dance Lucario (two huge threats to your team), and provides you with a decent late-game sweeper. You should probably use this set:

Jirachi @ Choice Scarf | Jolly
4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
~Iron Head
~Fire Punch
~ThunderPunch
~U-turn / Trick

As I said, this Jirachi will revenge kill Tyranitar, Gyarados, Lucario, and Salamence if it can win the Speed tie (max Speed Dragon Dance versions Speed tie with Jirachi), all of whom can rip your team apart.

The last thing I would like to suggest is an alternative set to your Infernape which I believe is more successful than Swords Dance Infernape (SDApe's success will decrease should you go with my Jirachi suggestion). Your team lacks a decent mixed attacker, meaning you are susceptible to well-built stall teams, which is clearly not good. In that case, you could run a mixed Infernape set that can be troublesome to stall teams. Here's what I ran with my past Infernape:

Infernape @ Life Orb | Naive
252 Atk / 24 SpA / 232 Spe
~Overheat
~Close Combat
~Stone Edge
~Mach Punch

The moveset focuses on dishing out tons of damage with Infernape's physical attacks and harm the physically defensive threats, such as Celebi and Skarmory, with a powerful Overheat. A good thing to note with this Infernape is that it's not completely set-up bait to Gyarados and Salamence due to the presence of Stone Edge, and Choice Scarf/Dragon Dance Tyranitar and Swords Dance Lucario can be further dealt with via Mach Punch.

I hope my suggestions help you with your team. Good luck and have fun!

 

[Team Perfect]

Hello!

First off U-Turn on nape is not a good idea especially since it has SD, if you want to use U-turn use a CB, LO, or Choice scarf set, but if you want something new you can use a specially based mix ape which helps against one of team's greatest problem CroCune. CroCune will 6-0 your team because of its bulk, rest and surf which htis your entire team, i would suggest using a Electivire using this spread:

EV's: 36Atk 220Spe 252SpA
Item: Expert Belt
Nature: Mild
Moves:

Taunt
Thunderbolt
Hidden Power[Grass]/Hidden Power[Ice]
Cross Chop

This set allows you to shut down suicune from using rest, and the choice of which hidden power depends on what you want to kill hp grass rapes pert and ground types, but hp ice destroys gliscor and flygon.