Welcome to Smogon! Take a moment to read the Introduction to Smogon for a run-down on everything Smogon, and make sure you take some time to read the global rules.
Welcome to RMT's 1st ever Team Rater Competition! In this tour, we'll start off with 32 participants (or however many sign up), and instead of battling each other, we, the hosts, will provide a team to be rated each round. For each round, participants will rate the given team, and then submit it to the Team Raters they are assigned. When each round is over, the people who submit the best/better rates will move on to the next round. This time around, it will be for OU Team Raters.
Some key points of interest:
The rates in the final 3 rounds will count towards the Team Rater
badge
The winner will be given voice in the RMT room on PS! (If you are currently an active voice and win, you may be promoted to driver)
Each round will last one week, meaning you have to submit your rate to your designated Team Raters within that time period.
If you are eliminated and would like some feedback on your rate, including why you weren't able to move on, you are more than welcome to ask the Team Raters you were assigned to submit your team to.
Failure to provide a rate or a valid reason within the time period allotted will result in a disqualification.
I started building this team from one of the most powerful megas in the OU environment. Bullet Punch is the powerful STAB, U-Turn allows Scizor to gain momentum and the combination of Swords Dance and Roost is useful to set a late-game sweep. Roost also allows Scizor to check effectively powerful attackers such as Mega Gardevoir, Mega Diancie, and latwins lacking Hidden Power Fire.
Suicune @ Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Calm Mind
- Scald
- Rest
- Sleep Talk
Then I added Suicune which is a cool wincon and also an effective check for Fire-types that threaten Scizor. The set is standard with Resttalk because I don't want to lose turns after using Rest by adding Roar. Scald is the main STAB which allows it to cripple common switch-ins with a burn, and to break through fat cores in tandem with Calm Mind.
Tangrowth (M) @ Assault Vest
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Def / 252 SpD
Sassy Nature
- Leaf Storm
- Knock Off
- Earthquake
- Hidden Power [Fire]
Tangrowth was added because I was kinda weak to Manaphy and Tangrowth manages to resist a boosted Ice Beam - which is kinda rare nowadays - and KOes back with Leaf Storm. Gyarados-Mega is annoying as well for the rest of my team, so I wanted a Pokemon able to force it out. I liked Tangrowth because of its capability of removing items and, unlike Venusaur, it doesn't waste the mega slot. Knock Off punishes switch-ins allowing my wincons to sweep more easily. Earthquake deals with Heatran, Excadrill, and Bisharp. Finally, Hidden Power Fire is the move of choice to deal with Ferrothorn and Scizor. It is also cool to check Manectric.
Clefable is my status absorber of choice as I can't totally rely on Suicune and Tangrowth to get Scald burns and deal with status in general. Clefable also provides speed control thanks to Thunder Wave considering that my team is very slow and setup sweepers greatly appreciate speed control. IVs in Speed are specifically given to setup in front of Ferrothorn even if it has Gyro Ball. Moonblast, Calm Mind, and Soft-Boiled are all standard and self-explanatory. Clefable helps with Manectric and Diancie, too.
Tornadus (Tornadus-Therian) @ Assault Vest
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 120 HP / 136 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Hurricane
- Heat Wave
- Knock Off
- U-turn
Tornadus-Therian was added to check and revenge-kill Gengar and Serperior which otherwise could sweep my whole team. Heat Wave is given to have a further check for Scizor because I might risk a sweep if well-played and I'm unlucky with Scald burns. It's also cool against the likes of Metagross, Skarmory and Ferrothorn. U-turn is given to gain momentum and synergizes very well with Scizor. Hurricane and Knock Off are self-explanatory. Torn-t revenge-kills Hoopa-U as well which might be very annoying for my team.
Finally, since my team is very weak to Charizard Y and Volcarona, I felt like adding a sort of check. I needed also Stealth Rock support, so that's why I had chosen Garchomp. It checks Bisharp, Excadrill, opposing Scizor, and it's also immune to Electric-type moves which is useful when I need to block voltturn cores, although I must play aggressively risking super-effective coverage moves. Earthquake and Dragon Tail are self-explanatory, and I put Fire Blast because I feel like last-mon Scizor is way more threatening to this team than Slowbro or Hippowdon are, so Toxic is kinda pointless.
The rate with the highest mark from Round 1 was made by Miridy. Her rate was excellent as it analyzed essentially every threat to the team and provided great ways to cover those threats. First of all she started listing some threats, such as Keldeo and Thundurus, explaining how Thundurus can outspeed every member of the team but Tornadus, being able to KO it anyway, and immune to Klefki's Thunder Wave. Then talked about how Mega Diancie is a threat to the team, especially the Hidden Power Fire version, which doesn't have a switch in, considering Klefki doesn't have Flash Cannon, Landorus either, since it gets 2HKOed by Moon Blast. Mega Scizor is another problem she discussed, since the team has only Keldeo to check it, and can just put the game on a 30% chance, since +2 Superpower 2HKO how she said, and Bug Bite + Bullet Punch after a Swords Dance has nice chance to KO either; Heatwave and Fire Punch doesn't help that much since it KO Mega Tyranitar and Tornadus-T with Bullet Punch.
Last threat she mentioned was Belly Drum Azumarill, being able to set up on Keldeo and Klefki, and since the team has only Keldeo as a water resist, it couldn't deal pretty well with Azumarill. Then she started making the changes, without destroying the team's structure, which is a good thing, and something not all the participants understood. First off, she suggested changing Landorus-T with Hippowdon, making it the new Stealth Rocker. A good thing is how she explained pretty well both the positive and negative sides of that change, such as losing the flying type and intimidate, but gaining a great Thundurus, Mega Diancie and Mega Lopunny check. Then she explained why Sand Stream instead of Sand Force pretty well, and Hippowdon has recovery as well.
For the Scizor weakness, she suggested to change Thunderbolt for Hidden Power Fire, which is a good change and bait, since Thunderbolt hits only regular Gyarados, risks a speed tie with Mega Charizard Y and Jirachi is still able to defeat Skarmory with Hidden Power Fire. Hidden Power Fire easily OHKO's offensive Mega Scizor with Stealth Rock up, and can 2HKO Ferrothorn, which is a good bait. The last change was considering Nasty Plot Baton Pass Celebi over Klefki, while losing Spikes, the team is not able to be solid without a nice water check, being the second water resistance, and also has great synergy with the other team members. This also includes the ability to pass the Nasty Plot boost to Keldeo or Tornadus-T, so they can destroy any kind of balanced / stall team, and making it easier for Mega Tyranitar to sweep. Thanks to this great rate and for the nice analysis before, Miridy was able to advance to Round 2 with flying colors.
