OU Volt Turn

This is my first post ever on this forum. I love the site and I love what I've read so far here. I'm pretty new to the metagame, and maybe can't give as much of an in depth look on things as more experienced players, so please be gentle :).

Intense Volt

Like I stated earlier, I'm pretty new. I used to play when HG and SS came out, but never on an online simulator like Showdown where I had instant access to all the pokemon. It was overwhelming, but after a week or so of playing I've found a nice combination that seems to work pretty often. My goal with this team is to put as much pressure as possible on the opponent, forcing them to switch often into predictable pokemon.


Dragonite (M) @ Lum Berry
Trait: Multiscale
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Outrage
- Fire Punch
- ExtremeSpeed

It should be obvious why he's here, I need a hard hitter. If I can get a good switch in on Forretress, Ferrothorn, Blissey or another less offensive pokemon, I can get in a Dragon Dance, maybe two if the opportunity is there. This guy can have a field day against a lot of Pokemon, and I try to use him mid-game at the earliest, after I've eliminated or weakened his threats. He's even better if his Lum Berry is still available after an Outrage. To be quite honest, I only added him on a whim to try to put more offensive power on this team, but so far he works out pretty well.


Landorus (M) @ Life Orb
Trait: Sand Force
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spd
Naive Nature
- Earthquake
- U-turn
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Stone Edge

One of my less favorite choices on this team, honestly. He does well with opposing Sandstorm and Sunny Day teams, but I mainly use him to stop predictable electric attacks or force the opponent to switch, while I switch and try to predict what's coming in. However, late game, once all of his checks are gone, he can do some lethal damage. I thought about trying an expert belt, and the option is still very much open to me as I type this, so if you guys think it would be a better option please let me know.


Rotom-Wash @ Chesto Berry
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 248 HP / 28 SAtk / 228 SDef / 4 Spd
Calm Nature
- Hydro Pump
- Volt Switch
- Thunder Wave
- Rest

Ah, Rotom, probably my main guy here. If I see a rain team, he's going out first. I usually see someone switch in with a Thunderus or Jolteon to try and stop or absorb the Volt Switch, so I just take the chance and Hydro Pump. Whatever it hits it does decently well with in the rain. However, if I see a Gastrodon, I switch immediately so I can keep pressure on. He's not just good facing opposing Rain teams, this guy can cause all kinds of situations to force the opponent to think. I chose Thunder Wave over Will-o-Wisp to give my team the chance at attacking first. This helps Scizor a great deal especially. Also, Rest with the Chesto Berry gets rid of any status ailments and is a more reliable form of healing. Pain Split seemed like a great option, but I never needed to heal more than once if I'm playing correctly with this team.


Jirachi @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Serene Grace
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Iron Head
- Fire Punch
- Ice Punch
- U-turn

This is sort of my "jack of all trades" guy. I lead with him about 70% of the time. If it's a bad matchup, I can beat them to the punch with U-turn and check the opponent's pokemon. He does pretty well mid-game with taking out weakened dragons, Landorus and Gliscor, and most importantly, Scizor. He's a great switch in for Dragons overall, and starts my process of countering them if not KO'ing them


Scizor (M) @ Choice Band
Trait: Technician
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 SDef
Adamant Nature
- U-turn
- Bullet Punch
- Superpower
- Quick Attack

Scizor and Rotom work so well together, especially with Rotom having Thunder Wave to slow down opposing pokemon. He's my main Psychic killer, especially if I can get them paralyzed first. If I'm unsure about the opponent's decisions, I can U-turn out of there and be conservative, or use Bullet Punch or Quick Attack if there are no pokemon left on his/her team that I feel could switch into it easily. All around, Scizor adds a lot to this team. Sometimes I hate that he's choiced, but I believe it's necessary due to the large power boost.


Latias (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 252 SAtk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
- Dragon Pulse
- Psyshock
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Energy Ball

Alright, I believe this is my weakest link here (at least I feel like it when I switch into her). I wanted something to counter grass and ground types, so I took Recover off and added Energy Ball. Yeah, not so great for anything other than Grass/Ground types in my experience, but it has gotten the job done when called upon at the right time. Then there's Hidden Power Fire, it deals with Scizor and any other Grass and/or Steel type that may switch in due to fear of a Dragon type attack except Heatran. Next up is Psyshock, which has saved my butt quite a few times, since my team cannot effectively deal with Conkeldurr and other prominent Fighting types. Lastly, Dragon Pulse is a nice choice to deal with weakened pokemon, since Latias is so quick.




I would love some recommendations. I honestly feel like this team has some potential if I continue to play it very smartly (something I've gotten MUCH better at this first week being back). Keep in mind that with only a week's worth of play, I couldn't give the best descriptions in the world. I'm sure there are other things these pokemon are great at doing, but I'm still very much in the learning process of it all. A good spinner and/or steal rock user would probably go great with this team since I switch and constantly force my opponent to, so any advice on who to use would be great as well.

Lastly, it's great to be a part of this forum :).
 

Electrolyte

Wouldn't Wanna Know
is a Top Contributor Alumnusis a Smogon Media Contributor Alumnusis a Battle Simulator Moderator Alumnus
Hi, and welcome to Smogon!

VoltTurn is a very simple yet effective strategy to play with, so it's good that you have a framework to build your team upon. The problem with your team is that you don't mainteam control of hazards- as you neither spin nor set Stealth Rock or Spikes, despite having a Dragonite and VoltTurn, two things that like opposing hazards. Being that Latias does seem out of place on your team, I suggest you switch it with a pokemon that will help you control hazards better- and this pokemon is Forretress over Jirachi.

Forretress @ Leftovers
Relaxed / 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpDef
Rapid Spin / Stealth Rock / Volt Switch / Spikes

The reason why I think Forretress would do better than Jirachi is because it gives you more control over hazards. Your team looks as if it would get mowed down by DeoD HO because you lack a spinner to get rid of hazards which Scizor and Dnite hate. Forretress can also help by supplying you with your own hazards. Be it just Stealth Rock or a layer or two of Spikes, it will all contribute to the war effort, since you'll be able to weaken the opponent even more with passive damage. With both Spikes and SR, Forretress gives you the flexibility to stack pain. Volt Switch lets you pivot and keep momentum going, as well as escape Magnezone. It can also be used to bring in a team member safely, I'm sure you know the benefits of VoltTurn. If beating spinblockers such as Gengar is important, you can run Gyro Ball over Spikes / VSwitch, as it 2HKO's Gengar and does a fair bit to Lati@s too. The reason why I feel as if Jirachi is replaceable is because it's a jack of all trades that has its roles covered elsewhere. Its Ice Punch and ability to defeat Dragons is covered by Dragonite / Lando / Zor, Fire Punch is covered by Dnite / Latias, and Iron Head is covered by Zor. Its ability to sponge hits is a trait your whole team has, and Forretressis an even better wall than Jirachi, so I feel as if Forretress is something you should try.

Now, for some minor adjustments, mainly to Latias. I would use Surf over energy ball as it has much better coverage and can hit Heatran fairly hard. Since Latias is weak, you'll need Draco Meteor over Dragon Pulse; it's a fast way to dispose of annyoing threats or heavily dent opponents. I would also use a Life Orb on Latias for even more power, but if you prefer Lefties to help beat Sun that's cool too.

Lastly, if you don't like Life Orb on Landorus, you can try Expert Belt- as against Steels / Grounds / Flyers it gives you the same boost.

Nice team. I hope I helped!
 
Thank you for your suggestions, I'm going to try them out right now. I don't know why I didn't see that Jirachi could be replaced that way. I'll see how it works out,
 

Nova

snitches get stitches
is a Site Content Manager Alumnusis a Team Rater Alumnusis a Tiering Contributor Alumnusis a Contributor Alumnus
Hi Nezdude87

Welcome to Smogon! This is a solid Voltturn team and it's quite nice to see someone using this strategy which is not as common nowadays with the influx of rain offense teams. The objective of this team of team is to constantly apply pressure on your opponent such as by U-turning with Scizor against opposing Skarmory and going to your Rotom-W. To maximize the effectiveness of this strategy, it really helps to have entry hazards so that when you are forcing switches with your Voltturners, your opponents take residual damage every time they switch in. It also helps greatly to carry a Rapid Spinner so that your own Pokemon aren't being worn down quickly by entry hazards your opponent sets up. To fill this role, I suggest replacing Latias with a Forretress with a moveset of Stealth Rock / Spikes / Rapid Spin / Volt Switch. Forretress is one of the best utility Pokemon in OU due to his ability to set up entry hazards while also being able to spin away entry hazards on your side of the field. Packing Forretress helps with your weakness against Deoxys-D Hyper Offense teams which is a common teambuild in the current metagame. Volt Switch in the last moveslot helps Forretress escape Magnezone and also continue to build momentum for your team.

If you are unsatisfied with your current Landorus set, I suggest trying a Special Attacker Landorus with a moveset of Earth Power / Focus Blast / Hidden Power Ice / U-turn. Special Attacker Landorus is one of the strongest Pokemon in the meta with its boosts from Sheer Force and Life Orb. Earth Power and Focus Blast are extremely powerful and have great coverage while taking advantage of Sheer Force and Landorus will not be hit with Life Orb recoil while using these attacks. Hidden Power Ice hits some things such as opposing Landorus, Gliscor, and Dragonite. Usually these Landorus sets run Rock Polish in the final slot but I think U-turn would be more useful on your team as it hits common switch ins to the Special Attacker Landorus set such as Celebi and Latias hard while also allowing you to maintain momentum. On Jirachi, change her nature from Adamant to Jolly. Jolly nature is needed so that she can speedtie with other base 100 Speed Scarf users such as Salamence and opposing Jirachi. Lastly, I run suggest Pursuit over Quick Attack on Scizor. One of the great perks of using Scizor is that he can trap Pursuit weak Pokemon such as Latias, Latios, and Gengar. Quick Attack is not really needed as Bullet Punch is usually sufficient and you usually won't be staying in on things such as Rotom-W or other bulky Waters anyways which is what Quick Attack is usually for.

Hope I helped and good luck with your team!


Sets:
Forretress (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Sturdy
EVs: 252 HP / 176 Def / 80 SDef
Relaxed Nature (+Def, -Spd)
-Stealth Rock
-Spikes
-Rapid Spin
-Volt Switch

Landorus @ Life Orb
Trait: Sheer Force
EVs: 252 SAtk / 4 Def / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
-Earth Power
-Focus Blast
-Hidden Power Ice
-U-turn



tl;dr
Latias ----> Forretress
Landorus Set ----> Earth Power / Focus Blast / Hidden Power Ice / U-turn
Naive Nature on Landorus ----> Timid Nature
Adamant Nature on Jirachi ----> Jolly Nature
Quick Attack on Scizor ----> Pursuit
 
Hey there, welcome to Smogon :) your team looks like a pretty good starting point but I have a few suggestions that could improve it. The sets are at the bottom.

My first suggestions are to make a couple of minor changes to Latias. These include changing two moves, the item and the EV spread. Latias is often used as a check to sun teams but without investment in bulk, Venusaur 2HKOes with +2 Sludge Bomb. To solve this, simply move 72 EVs from SpA to Spe. Latias seems to be an using an offensive moveset so maybe try Life Orb over Leftovers to give a boost in power. Finally, try Draco Meteor over Dragon Pulse and switch back to Recover over Energy Ball. Draco Meteor does plenty of damage to ground types, reducing the need for Energy Ball and allowing Latias to use Recover to increase its longevity. This should make Latias much more efficient and fit into the team better.

There are a few more nitpicks to make before I get onto the real big changes. Both are in the post above; I suggest changing Pursuit to Quick Attack on Scizor and changing Landorus to the standard special attacker. Pursuit stops the psychic types you use Scizor to beat from escaping and also traps ghosts, this is important for one of the changes I will get to below. With Sheer Force, Landorus becomes a lethal special attacker and an incredibly effective sweeper. I suggest that you use Rock Polish over U-Turn on Landorus though, it will rarely be used early-game.

Finally, onto the big changes. A VoltTurn team without entry hazards or a spinner will simply wear itself out before it does the opponent. To remedy this, I second the above suggestions to use Forretress over Jirachi. Forretress will provide your team with Stealth Rock and Rapid Spin support, while you don't miss out on all the resistances Jirachi packs because it has a similar typing. Also, I suggest the use of Choice Scarf Garchomp over Dragonite. Choice Scarf Garchomp is a dedicated revenge killer, it outspeeds every Dragon Dance user in the game and KOes with its STAB moves (or Stone Edge in the case of Gyarados). He is bulky, fast and powerful, with great dual STAB. What more do you need on an offensive pokemon?

Forretress (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Sturdy
EVs: 252 HP / 16 Def / 240 SDef
Bold Nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Spikes
- Rapid Spin
- Volt Switch
- Stealth Rock

Garchomp (M) @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Rough Skin
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Outrage
- Dual Chop
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
 
I agree with Forretress over Jirachi, I just can't get a handle on using it at the right time. That will come with experience I'm sure. As for switching up Latias and Landorus, I fully agree and see your reasoning, nmitchell890, and I also see the benefit of having Scarf 'Chomp over Dragonite.

Thank you all for your input. I hate Forretress, I really do, I can never seem to get him out at the right time and I feel like it just gives the opponent a chance to set up no matter how hard I try to avoid it. But, I knew this was coming and I'll just have to get better with him, just like I learned to get better with the original setup of this team. I'll try all of the suggestions some more later tonight if I have time. Again, thanks, I know I'm a half noob right now, but I'm determined to get better :).
 

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