So I started playing a little OU recently on Showdown. I made a few weather teams but I wasn't really enjoying playing them because, really, I was just using what most other people use. Then I see someone using Meloetta, which I never realised had been released, and thought I would try it.
This team, then, is based around Meloetta. I made it and tested it a little over the course of the past couple of hours but I am not completely happy with it. Most of the pokes are standard but in using Meloetta I'm using something which you don't see often, so I'm happy in that respect.
The Original Team
Team Building Process
In Detail
Rhythmic (Meloetta) @ Life Orb
Trait: Serene Grace
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 Atk / 4 SDef
Jolly Nature
- Relic Song
- Quick Attack
- Close Combat
- Shadow Claw
Meloetta is the Pokemon my entire team is based around. In a sense, it is a set up sweeper, as it requires one turn to set up. However, instead of being afraid of taunt-users walling it, it is completely walled by Ghost types, as long as they switch in before Relic Song is used. If they are fairly weak (eg, Gengar) then Shadow Claw can be used to take them out, but the likes of Jellicent and Eviolite Dusclops are another story. Close Combat is your standard powerful STAB attack, Quick Attack gives some nice STAB priority damage, and Shadow Claw is to give coverage to those pesky aforementioned Ghost Types.
Thundaja (Thundurus-T) @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Volt Absorb
EVs: 252 SAtk / 252 Spd / 4 SDef
Timid Nature
- Focus Blast
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Volt Switch
Thundurus-T was added at the suggestion of Novaray, and I am very pleased with it thus far! It serves the purpose of Hydreigon much more effectively, allowing me to outspeed threats which ruined me before, such as Choice Scarf Salamence.
Note: As I don't have BW2 yet I am currently using a Scarfed Zapdos in this slot on Pokemon White, but Thundurus-T on Pokemon Showdown.
Original Text:
Hydreigon is the Pokemon I am most dubious about on this team. Its annoying 98 base speed makes it a liability in some cases and with the removal of Dark Pulse and addition of Sharpedo it no longer has a use besides a scouting/revenge killing role, the former of which can be done by other Pokemon and the latter Sharpedo can do with little trouble. Because of this, I have been considering replacing it, possibly with a Choiced Scarfed Chandelure. However, this would mean no U-Turn/Volt Switch and also the removal of Magnezone (especially if Shadow Tag is released soon).
Vector (Sharpedo) @ Life Orb
Trait: Speed Boost
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Waterfall
- Crunch
- Ice Fang
- Protect
Sharpedo was originally added to deal with Jellicent. However, that is not all it's good for! After a single protect it outspeeds pretty much everything in the metagame, making it an excellent revenge killer and potent sweeper in it's own right. I chose Ice Fang over Earthquake because I was having trouble with Salamence and Dragonite.
Scar (Skarmory) @ Leftovers
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 252 HP / 232 Def / 24 Spe
Nature: Impish
Moveset:
-Roost
-Spikes
-Whirlwind
-Brave Bird
Skarmory was added at the suggestion of pwnage77 as a check to Landorous-T (which could previously have ruined the team if carrying HP Ice) and Dragonite.
Original Text:
Another Pokemon with the potential for removal, Magnezone is here only for getting rid of the Steel types which could be a pain to my team. A misprediction from Hydreigon gives Ferrothorn, Skarmory, Foretress and SD Scizor time to set up. As I have never even tried to use Magnezone before, the EV spread and moveset was taken directly from the Smogon site, and it seems to work fine so far. edit: I think that if Shadow Tag is released this will probably be replaced with a Calm Mind Chandelure. It can do the same job and has better coverage with Thundurus-T, as well as being immune to the Fighting type moves Sharpedo and Meloetta hate.
Vlad (Gliscor) @ Toxic Orb
Trait: Poison Heal
EVs: 244 HP / 40 Def / 220 Spd
Impish Nature
- Toxic
- Earthquake
- Substitute
- Protect
I'm not really sure about Gliscor. I think it works well in this team - it's immune to electric type attacks directed at Sharpedo (or just generally coming from Thunderus) as well as Ground type attacks hitting Magnezone (after the balloon pops!) It also resists fighting type attacks which the rest of my team is fairly weak to. It is my defensive wall and that's all there is to say, really. The EVs here were taken from Smogon, simply because I know that a lot of Gliscors don't use max defense and some in speed, and I don't really fully understand the speed tiering, or how natures affect stats, etc.
Whichrachi (Jirachi) @ Leftovers
Trait: Serene Grace
EVs: 252 HP / 224 SDef / 32 Def
Careful Nature
- Body Slam
- Iron Head
- Stealth Rock
- Wish
I wasn't really sure what to put in this slot. I wanted a Special Wall. After much deliberation, I realised Jirachi was a great choice. It has great synergy with Gliscor. It also serves as a Stealth Rocker and Wish-passer. Whenever I see Wish without Protect I get a little nervous, but Jirachi has the bulk to handle it. Besides, the Rocks can only help Meloetta and Sharpedo sweep, and the Wishes can heal them of all their Life Orb recoil, and potentially give them a safe switch. It's also pretty much the only Pokemon I have that can take a Hurricane from Tornadus-T, although Superpower and Heat Wave could be problematic. The EV spread was, again, taken from Smogon, for the same reason as Gliscor.
So that's my team, one of the first I've made seriously for OU. I know it isn't perfect, and any criticism and advice you can give would be most appreciated. As I've already said, my main qualms with the team lie with Hydreigon and, by extension, Magnezone.
Also, I would prefer not to remove Meloetta seeing as my entire team is designed around it! But changing it's set or EVs is fine.
This team, then, is based around Meloetta. I made it and tested it a little over the course of the past couple of hours but I am not completely happy with it. Most of the pokes are standard but in using Meloetta I'm using something which you don't see often, so I'm happy in that respect.
The Original Team
Team Building Process
This will be fairly short as I haven't changed out any Pokemon yet!
Obviously, I started with Meloetta. I decided to use a physically attacking Relic Song set (after toying with using a mix set, with replacing one of the physical attacks with Psychic).
The first thing that stuck me here is that my Meloetta has to use Relic Song to set up. As it is a normal-type attack, it cannot hit ghost-types so I would need something (preferably dark-type, as Meloetta is weak to Fighting after Relic Song) to deal with those. I listed all the dark-types in OU and UU and circled Tyranitar, Hydreigon, Krookodile, Scrafty and Sharpedo for consideration. In the end, I went with Hydreigon as it is more of a special attacker, balancing with Meloetta. I also put a Choice Scarf on it, as I like to have something which can scout with U-Turn/Volt Switch on my teams.
After doing this, I looked at the ghost-types in the tier. I very quickly realised that Hydreigon could do very little to Jellicent, it being very specially bulky, so I looked at my list of Dark-types again. The one that stood out to me was Sharpedo, as it is not weak to Jellicent's STAB Scald and can hit fairly hard straight away, as long as it's not predicted and Will-O-Wisped. I did, however, decide to leave Hydreigon where it was, but removed Dark Pulse in favour of Focus Blast.
The next thing I realised was that steel types were going to be a problem. Unless I predicted well with Hydreigon, it would be perfect setup material for them, and I'm pretty sure that Ferrothorn could give Meloetta problems with Iron Barbs, Life Orb and Leech Seed/Attack damage racking up. The obvious choice was Magnezone with Hidden Power Fire.
All through this process I was noticing a disturbing weakness to fighting. In P forme, Meloetta is weak to it, and so are all my other pokemon. So I went for a defensive pokemon that could deal with that - Gliscor. Gliscor has pretty good synergy with Magnezone as it is immune to Earthquake. While Hydreigon has Levitate, there are some pokes with EQ that I don't really want to switch it into. I could have chosen Jellicent here, but to be honest, I didn't think about it at the time. (Also, I'm not sure what I would use for taking physical hits if I had Jellicent as my special wall. Maybe Zapdos?)
For my final pokemon I just wanted something to sponge special hits which had good synergy with Gliscor. I went with Jirachi, although again I suppose Jellicent could fill this role fairly nicely. Again, I didn't think of Jellicent at the time. However, having Wish is very useful, especially with both Meloetta and Sharpedo racking up Life Orb recoil.
Obviously, I started with Meloetta. I decided to use a physically attacking Relic Song set (after toying with using a mix set, with replacing one of the physical attacks with Psychic).
The first thing that stuck me here is that my Meloetta has to use Relic Song to set up. As it is a normal-type attack, it cannot hit ghost-types so I would need something (preferably dark-type, as Meloetta is weak to Fighting after Relic Song) to deal with those. I listed all the dark-types in OU and UU and circled Tyranitar, Hydreigon, Krookodile, Scrafty and Sharpedo for consideration. In the end, I went with Hydreigon as it is more of a special attacker, balancing with Meloetta. I also put a Choice Scarf on it, as I like to have something which can scout with U-Turn/Volt Switch on my teams.
After doing this, I looked at the ghost-types in the tier. I very quickly realised that Hydreigon could do very little to Jellicent, it being very specially bulky, so I looked at my list of Dark-types again. The one that stood out to me was Sharpedo, as it is not weak to Jellicent's STAB Scald and can hit fairly hard straight away, as long as it's not predicted and Will-O-Wisped. I did, however, decide to leave Hydreigon where it was, but removed Dark Pulse in favour of Focus Blast.
The next thing I realised was that steel types were going to be a problem. Unless I predicted well with Hydreigon, it would be perfect setup material for them, and I'm pretty sure that Ferrothorn could give Meloetta problems with Iron Barbs, Life Orb and Leech Seed/Attack damage racking up. The obvious choice was Magnezone with Hidden Power Fire.
All through this process I was noticing a disturbing weakness to fighting. In P forme, Meloetta is weak to it, and so are all my other pokemon. So I went for a defensive pokemon that could deal with that - Gliscor. Gliscor has pretty good synergy with Magnezone as it is immune to Earthquake. While Hydreigon has Levitate, there are some pokes with EQ that I don't really want to switch it into. I could have chosen Jellicent here, but to be honest, I didn't think about it at the time. (Also, I'm not sure what I would use for taking physical hits if I had Jellicent as my special wall. Maybe Zapdos?)
For my final pokemon I just wanted something to sponge special hits which had good synergy with Gliscor. I went with Jirachi, although again I suppose Jellicent could fill this role fairly nicely. Again, I didn't think of Jellicent at the time. However, having Wish is very useful, especially with both Meloetta and Sharpedo racking up Life Orb recoil.
In Detail
Rhythmic (Meloetta) @ Life Orb
Trait: Serene Grace
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 Atk / 4 SDef
Jolly Nature
- Relic Song
- Quick Attack
- Close Combat
- Shadow Claw
Meloetta is the Pokemon my entire team is based around. In a sense, it is a set up sweeper, as it requires one turn to set up. However, instead of being afraid of taunt-users walling it, it is completely walled by Ghost types, as long as they switch in before Relic Song is used. If they are fairly weak (eg, Gengar) then Shadow Claw can be used to take them out, but the likes of Jellicent and Eviolite Dusclops are another story. Close Combat is your standard powerful STAB attack, Quick Attack gives some nice STAB priority damage, and Shadow Claw is to give coverage to those pesky aforementioned Ghost Types.
Thundaja (Thundurus-T) @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Volt Absorb
EVs: 252 SAtk / 252 Spd / 4 SDef
Timid Nature
- Focus Blast
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Volt Switch
Thundurus-T was added at the suggestion of Novaray, and I am very pleased with it thus far! It serves the purpose of Hydreigon much more effectively, allowing me to outspeed threats which ruined me before, such as Choice Scarf Salamence.
Note: As I don't have BW2 yet I am currently using a Scarfed Zapdos in this slot on Pokemon White, but Thundurus-T on Pokemon Showdown.
Original Text:
Hydreigon is the Pokemon I am most dubious about on this team. Its annoying 98 base speed makes it a liability in some cases and with the removal of Dark Pulse and addition of Sharpedo it no longer has a use besides a scouting/revenge killing role, the former of which can be done by other Pokemon and the latter Sharpedo can do with little trouble. Because of this, I have been considering replacing it, possibly with a Choiced Scarfed Chandelure. However, this would mean no U-Turn/Volt Switch and also the removal of Magnezone (especially if Shadow Tag is released soon).
Vector (Sharpedo) @ Life Orb
Trait: Speed Boost
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Waterfall
- Crunch
- Ice Fang
- Protect
Sharpedo was originally added to deal with Jellicent. However, that is not all it's good for! After a single protect it outspeeds pretty much everything in the metagame, making it an excellent revenge killer and potent sweeper in it's own right. I chose Ice Fang over Earthquake because I was having trouble with Salamence and Dragonite.
Scar (Skarmory) @ Leftovers
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 252 HP / 232 Def / 24 Spe
Nature: Impish
Moveset:
-Roost
-Spikes
-Whirlwind
-Brave Bird
Skarmory was added at the suggestion of pwnage77 as a check to Landorous-T (which could previously have ruined the team if carrying HP Ice) and Dragonite.
Original Text:
Another Pokemon with the potential for removal, Magnezone is here only for getting rid of the Steel types which could be a pain to my team. A misprediction from Hydreigon gives Ferrothorn, Skarmory, Foretress and SD Scizor time to set up. As I have never even tried to use Magnezone before, the EV spread and moveset was taken directly from the Smogon site, and it seems to work fine so far. edit: I think that if Shadow Tag is released this will probably be replaced with a Calm Mind Chandelure. It can do the same job and has better coverage with Thundurus-T, as well as being immune to the Fighting type moves Sharpedo and Meloetta hate.
Vlad (Gliscor) @ Toxic Orb
Trait: Poison Heal
EVs: 244 HP / 40 Def / 220 Spd
Impish Nature
- Toxic
- Earthquake
- Substitute
- Protect
I'm not really sure about Gliscor. I think it works well in this team - it's immune to electric type attacks directed at Sharpedo (or just generally coming from Thunderus) as well as Ground type attacks hitting Magnezone (after the balloon pops!) It also resists fighting type attacks which the rest of my team is fairly weak to. It is my defensive wall and that's all there is to say, really. The EVs here were taken from Smogon, simply because I know that a lot of Gliscors don't use max defense and some in speed, and I don't really fully understand the speed tiering, or how natures affect stats, etc.
Whichrachi (Jirachi) @ Leftovers
Trait: Serene Grace
EVs: 252 HP / 224 SDef / 32 Def
Careful Nature
- Body Slam
- Iron Head
- Stealth Rock
- Wish
I wasn't really sure what to put in this slot. I wanted a Special Wall. After much deliberation, I realised Jirachi was a great choice. It has great synergy with Gliscor. It also serves as a Stealth Rocker and Wish-passer. Whenever I see Wish without Protect I get a little nervous, but Jirachi has the bulk to handle it. Besides, the Rocks can only help Meloetta and Sharpedo sweep, and the Wishes can heal them of all their Life Orb recoil, and potentially give them a safe switch. It's also pretty much the only Pokemon I have that can take a Hurricane from Tornadus-T, although Superpower and Heat Wave could be problematic. The EV spread was, again, taken from Smogon, for the same reason as Gliscor.
So that's my team, one of the first I've made seriously for OU. I know it isn't perfect, and any criticism and advice you can give would be most appreciated. As I've already said, my main qualms with the team lie with Hydreigon and, by extension, Magnezone.
Also, I would prefer not to remove Meloetta seeing as my entire team is designed around it! But changing it's set or EVs is fine.
edit: Changes now in bold
