Since the Gen V changes came to the metagame, OU's been something of a challenge for me to get into. No matter where I go, all I see are DragonSpam teams, or Rain/Sun/Sand offensive. Now, admittedly, I understand why these teams are everywhere: they work spectacularly in the right hands. Yet even so, I longed for a change of pace, if even a small one.
Enter Nidoking, a fairly decent Pokemon through Gens I-IV who gained a fantastic Dream World ability to finally allow it to break into OU (and break down its walls). I've always admired the Pokemon for its wide movepool, cool typing, and fearsome appearance, and now I finally have a valid reason to use him in the big leagues. With him in mind, I decided to form a team around him to see just how viable he could be in this heavily offensive meta.
Obvious Nidoking is obvious. It'd be kinda weird to base a team around him without including him :P
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With Nidoking chosen, I needed something that had decent type synergy with him. I quickly latched onto the idea of Hydreigon, being an under appreciated force in OU in addition to his natural cool factor.
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I now had two somewhat bulky heavy hitters on my team, but their slow speed (by OU standards) left something to be desired. I chose Jirachi for its ability to spread paralysis, lay down Stealth Rocks, and the multitude of resistances it brings to the table.
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My team was leaning a little too heavily towards special attackers, so I needed someone with a little more brute force. Scizor provided me with a second Dragon resistance in addition to ridiculously powerful attacks, so in it went.
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@ Life Orb
Trait: Sheer Force
EVs: 4 Def, 252 SpAtk, 252 Spe
Nature: Timid
~Earth Power
~Thunderbolt
~Ice Beam
~Fire Blast
One of my favorite Pokemon throughout the years, Nidoking finally gets a chance to prove itself in the OU ring. Its multitude of special attacks, in addition to the boost from its new toy Sheer Force, it shatters standard walls such as Ferrothorn, Heatran, and Landorus-T.
I went with the standard set on Smogon's strategy dex, as it really is his most powerful option. Earth Power is self explanatory, hitting anything that doesn't resist it hard. Thunderbolt and Ice Beam give me the legendary BoltBeam combo, which hits almost all of OU for neutral damage. I chose Fire Blast over Flamethrower to net the 2HKO on Ferrothorn in the rain, who is generally a nuisance to the rest of my team.
@ Choice Scarf
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 4 HP, 252 SpAtk, 252 Spe
Nature: Timid
~Draco Meteor
~Psyshock
~Surf
~Trick
Latios is here for insurance against fast threats such as Venusaur and the other Dragon-types that litter OU. Again, the bog standard set applies here: Draco Meteor to obliterate the enemy Pokemon, Psyshock to defeat specially tanky opponents such as Blissey, as well as score the KO on the aforementioned Venusaur; Surf to round out my coverage, hitting Heatran and Tyranitar hard; and Trick, to screw over any walls that foolishly try to switch in on a resisted or weak attack.
@ Choice Scarf
Trait: Justified
EVs: 4 HP, 252 Atk, 252 Spe
Nature: Jolly
~Stone Edge
~Close Combat
~Earthquake
~X-Scissor
Before I included Terrakion on my team, I had a real problem with popular sweepers, with Volcarona being a particular worry. Terrakion solved that problem, and then some. The sheer power he brings to the table is unreal, much more so than the Keldeo I replaced him with. Stone Edge and Close Combat provide nearly unresisted coverage, Earthquake to help round it out, and Rock Slide, for when I can't afford to miss the enemy. Choice Scarf is the chosen item to outspeed threats such as +1 Volcarona and Tornadus-T.
@ Leftovers
Trait: Serene Grace
EVs: 252 HP, 224 SpDef, 32 Spe
Nature: Careful
~Body Slam
~Iron Head
~Stealth Rock
~Wish
Jirachi provides needed support and vital resistances for my team, being able to freely switch into threats such as Tornadus-T and Latios without fear. I chose Thunder Wave over Body Slam as my team fears the likes of Gengar more than Garchomp, though I'm willing to change it if anyone can give me a convincing argument for it. Iron head for rage-quit inducing hax in conjunction with the paralysis chance; Stealth Rock to help my team net those OHKO's the normally wouldn't get; and Wish, to keep my heavy hitters healthy while the manhandle the enemy team.
I've been thinking about switching out Jirachi with Ferrothorn, as it does a lot of the same things Jirachi does, but has Leech Seed to further weaken my opponents. I'm just not sure adding a Fighting-type weakness, a Ground-type neutrality, and losing an Ice- and Flying-type resistance is worth the change. Bronzong is also a candidate for its immunity to Ground-type attacks, though I would miss the paralysis Jirachi gives me.
@ Choice Band
Trait: Technician
EVs: 248 HP, 252 Atk, 8 Spe
Nature: Adamant
~Bullet Punch
~Pursuit
~Superpower
~U-Turn
Scizor is here to weaken the enemy team with strong, repeated U-Turns so Latios and Terrakion can clean up with their powerful moves, all the while picking off weakened enemies with one of its other moves. Bullet Punch's strong damage and priority is also appreciated. Pursuit traps problem Pokemon such as Gengar and Latios, while Superpower is pretty much there to hit Steel-type switch-ins for heavy damage.
@ Leftovers
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP, 24 SpAtk, 232 SpDef
Nature: Modest
~Volt Switch
~Hydro Pump
~Thunder Wave
~Pain Split
The other half of my VoltTurn core, Rotom-W's excellent utility and synergy with my key players cemented its spot on the team. Volt Switch is the core move for this set, hitting the enemy and allowing me to switch out to the appropriate counter. Hydro Pump discourages Ground-types from switching in. Will-O-Wisp ends sweeps from the likes of Dragonite and opposing Scizor early, as well as breaking things like Focus Sashes and Sturdy. Hidden Power [Ice] is there to hit Dragon-types and Breloom hard, though I'm thinking about switching it out for Pain Split to help keep Rotom-W alive.
And so, that's my team. Any criticism is welcome. Thank you for reading!
Enter Nidoking, a fairly decent Pokemon through Gens I-IV who gained a fantastic Dream World ability to finally allow it to break into OU (and break down its walls). I've always admired the Pokemon for its wide movepool, cool typing, and fearsome appearance, and now I finally have a valid reason to use him in the big leagues. With him in mind, I decided to form a team around him to see just how viable he could be in this heavily offensive meta.
I now had two somewhat bulky heavy hitters on my team, but their slow speed (by OU standards) left something to be desired. I chose Jirachi for its ability to spread paralysis, lay down Stealth Rocks, and the multitude of resistances it brings to the table.
My team was leaning a little too heavily towards special attackers, so I needed someone with a little more brute force. Scizor provided me with a second Dragon resistance in addition to ridiculously powerful attacks, so in it went.
I had the idea, early on that, since weather was such a prevalent threat, I would need some way to change it. Physically defensive Politoed would have decent synergy with Jirachi, as well as allow it and Nidoking to run Thunder on their own sets.
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With the fury of a storm on my side, I now needed a steed that would gallop through the enemy team. Keldeo was thrown in for its semi-unique ability to take on Chansey and Blissey without needing to go mixed, which earned its spot on the team.
Without a way to change the weather, my team suddenly became very weak to popular sun sweepers such as Venusaur. I needed something both powerful and able to outspeed such threats in the sun. It was with a heavy heart that I replaced Hydreigon with the weaker, but speedier Latios.
In-Depth Explanations:
Trait: Sheer Force
EVs: 4 Def, 252 SpAtk, 252 Spe
Nature: Timid
~Earth Power
~Thunderbolt
~Ice Beam
~Fire Blast
One of my favorite Pokemon throughout the years, Nidoking finally gets a chance to prove itself in the OU ring. Its multitude of special attacks, in addition to the boost from its new toy Sheer Force, it shatters standard walls such as Ferrothorn, Heatran, and Landorus-T.
I went with the standard set on Smogon's strategy dex, as it really is his most powerful option. Earth Power is self explanatory, hitting anything that doesn't resist it hard. Thunderbolt and Ice Beam give me the legendary BoltBeam combo, which hits almost all of OU for neutral damage. I chose Fire Blast over Flamethrower to net the 2HKO on Ferrothorn in the rain, who is generally a nuisance to the rest of my team.
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 4 HP, 252 SpAtk, 252 Spe
Nature: Timid
~Draco Meteor
~Psyshock
~Surf
~Trick
Latios is here for insurance against fast threats such as Venusaur and the other Dragon-types that litter OU. Again, the bog standard set applies here: Draco Meteor to obliterate the enemy Pokemon, Psyshock to defeat specially tanky opponents such as Blissey, as well as score the KO on the aforementioned Venusaur; Surf to round out my coverage, hitting Heatran and Tyranitar hard; and Trick, to screw over any walls that foolishly try to switch in on a resisted or weak attack.
Trait: Justified
EVs: 4 HP, 252 Atk, 252 Spe
Nature: Jolly
~Stone Edge
~Close Combat
~Earthquake
~X-Scissor
Before I included Terrakion on my team, I had a real problem with popular sweepers, with Volcarona being a particular worry. Terrakion solved that problem, and then some. The sheer power he brings to the table is unreal, much more so than the Keldeo I replaced him with. Stone Edge and Close Combat provide nearly unresisted coverage, Earthquake to help round it out, and Rock Slide, for when I can't afford to miss the enemy. Choice Scarf is the chosen item to outspeed threats such as +1 Volcarona and Tornadus-T.
Trait: Serene Grace
EVs: 252 HP, 224 SpDef, 32 Spe
Nature: Careful
~Body Slam
~Iron Head
~Stealth Rock
~Wish
Jirachi provides needed support and vital resistances for my team, being able to freely switch into threats such as Tornadus-T and Latios without fear. I chose Thunder Wave over Body Slam as my team fears the likes of Gengar more than Garchomp, though I'm willing to change it if anyone can give me a convincing argument for it. Iron head for rage-quit inducing hax in conjunction with the paralysis chance; Stealth Rock to help my team net those OHKO's the normally wouldn't get; and Wish, to keep my heavy hitters healthy while the manhandle the enemy team.
I've been thinking about switching out Jirachi with Ferrothorn, as it does a lot of the same things Jirachi does, but has Leech Seed to further weaken my opponents. I'm just not sure adding a Fighting-type weakness, a Ground-type neutrality, and losing an Ice- and Flying-type resistance is worth the change. Bronzong is also a candidate for its immunity to Ground-type attacks, though I would miss the paralysis Jirachi gives me.
Trait: Technician
EVs: 248 HP, 252 Atk, 8 Spe
Nature: Adamant
~Bullet Punch
~Pursuit
~Superpower
~U-Turn
Scizor is here to weaken the enemy team with strong, repeated U-Turns so Latios and Terrakion can clean up with their powerful moves, all the while picking off weakened enemies with one of its other moves. Bullet Punch's strong damage and priority is also appreciated. Pursuit traps problem Pokemon such as Gengar and Latios, while Superpower is pretty much there to hit Steel-type switch-ins for heavy damage.
@ Leftovers
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP, 24 SpAtk, 232 SpDef
Nature: Modest
~Volt Switch
~Hydro Pump
~Thunder Wave
~Pain Split
The other half of my VoltTurn core, Rotom-W's excellent utility and synergy with my key players cemented its spot on the team. Volt Switch is the core move for this set, hitting the enemy and allowing me to switch out to the appropriate counter. Hydro Pump discourages Ground-types from switching in. Will-O-Wisp ends sweeps from the likes of Dragonite and opposing Scizor early, as well as breaking things like Focus Sashes and Sturdy. Hidden Power [Ice] is there to hit Dragon-types and Breloom hard, though I'm thinking about switching it out for Pain Split to help keep Rotom-W alive.
And so, that's my team. Any criticism is welcome. Thank you for reading!