XY OU Please rate my OU singles team

[Atiris]

Umbreon's Stall Team

Umbreon @ Leftovers
Ability: Synchronize
EV's: 252 HP/ 252 SpDef / 4 Def
Calm Nature
- Foul Play
- Wish
- Heal Bell
- Protect

My favorite Pokemon and the captain of this team. Call it favoritism, but despite knowing that Sylveon is the better cleric of the two due to typing, I am still going with Umbreon as my cleric. With his massive Special Defense and his ability to take physical hits while challenging physical attackers with Foul Play, he is a good switch-in against the likes of Ghost and Psychic Pokemon that check Mega Venusaur and Trevenant. Though he might have some offense with Foul Play, his primary purpose is to support the team via Heal Bell and Wish.

Skarmory @ Leftovers
Ability: Sturdy
EV's: 252 HP/ 252 Def / 4 SpDef
Impish Nature
- Brave Bird
- Spikes
- Whirlwind
- Roost

The physical half of Umbreon's core used to counter the likes of fairy, fighting, and bug Pokemon. Brave Bird is used to check fighting and bug, spikes are used to setup hazards, aiding my team in wearing down the opponent's health via forcing them to switch out or using Skarmory's next ability, Whirlwind. Roost is used for some much needed recovery. Out of all the options of Pokemon who can be defensively paired with Umbreon, I chose Skarmory due to typing, self recovery, and its astounding physical defense.

Venusaur @ Venusaurite
Ability: Clorophyll/ Thick Fat
EV's: 252 HP/ 240 Def / 16 SpDef
Bold Nature
- Leech Seed
- Toxic
- Synthesis
- Sludge Bomb

One of my favorite Pokemon to use when it comes to building a stall team. With Thick Fat's nice ability to neutralize Ice and Fire damage and Mega Venusaur's incredible bulk, it's not hard to put Venusaur in a position that can dominate the course of the battle. Leech seed is used for some self recovery, but also to wear down the opposing Pokemon's health in combination with Toxic and other hazards that have been previous set up. Venusaur is a nice switch in for Ferrothorn or opposing Venusaurs who like to place leech seed on my own Pokemon, while taking advantage of the matchup to restore his health with Synthesis. Lastly, Sludge Bomb is used to check fairy type Pokemon like Clefable and Sylveon.

Heatran @ Air Balloon
Ability: Flash Fire
EV's: 252 HP/ 252 SpDef / 4 Def
Calm Nature
- Lava Plume
- Earth Power
- Roar
- Stealth Rocks

Heatran has perfect synergy with Mega Venusaur. It can absorb fire attacks via Flash Fire and Air Balloon allows him to avoid Earthquake or Earth Power until the balloon pops. Lava Plume is used to check the likes of Scizor, Ferrothorn, and Skarmory. Earth Power is to counter opposing Heatrans while taking advantage of Air Balloon. Roar is used to phaze Pokemon and taking advantage of Skarmory's Spikes, Heatran's Stealth Rocks, and Tentacruel's Toxic Spikes.

Trevenant @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Harvest
EV's: 252 HP/ 252 SpDef / 4 Def
Calm Nature
- Curse
- Leech Seed/ Will 'o' wisp
- Protect
- Subsitute

Trevenant is a unique, but very important member of his team. Not only can he be a pivot against fighting types and a spin blocker, but he is also perfectly capable of stalling out the opponents with the likes of Curse. Curse is an interesting about that sacrifices half of Trevenant's total health in order to do some pretty nice consistant damage against the opponent, which either causes them to hard switch or take the damage in hopes of being able to knock out Trevenant. I'm a little torn by the 2nd move; where leech seed helps with self recovery, allowing Trevenant to stay alive longer, the team needs will-o-wisp to help deal with physical attacks, not to mention will-o-wisp's risidual damage. The combination of Subsitute and Protect can be used to help stall in hopes of harvesting more sitrus berries for self-heal.

Tentacruel @ Black Sludge
Ability: Clear Body
EV's: 252 HP/ 252 Def / 4 SpDef
Calm Nature
- Scald
- Toxic Spikes
- Sludge Bomb
- Rapid Spin

The last member of Umbreon's team and the primary Rapid Spin. Now this is where it gets a little tricky. Although Tentacruel is bulky, I don't know if he is bulky enough to be on a stall team. He makes up for it by laying toxic spikes down and being able to rapid spin. Scald provides coverage against fire pokemon while also a decent percentage to burn the target. Sludge Bomb is Tentacruel's other STAB move of choice that could deal nice damage to fairy type Pokemon.

Please rate this team and help me finalize my decision so that I can start building this team on my X game. Any suggestion or advice is appreciated! :)

 

[Rafael J. Feliciano]

Hey Atiris, nice team you have here.

Though this might seem counter-intuitive but stall teams tend to have difficulty with M-Heracross, M-Gardevoir & M-Medicham.

To amend this have you considered the following:

Stallmon

Victini @ Leftovers
EV: 148 HP / 252 Atk / 108 Spe
Ability: Victory Star
Adamant Nature
- V-Create
- Bolt Strike
- Taunt
- Will-o-Wisp

StallTini has excellent synergy with Mega Venusaur while also not being susceptible to Fighting types like Medicham and Heracross. She also holds down Mega Garde while giving opposing stall teams hell to pay. Prolly should consider it.

Let me know what you think.

 

[Rustyy]

stall team without 6 toxics? 0/10

 

[Rafael J. Feliciano]

stall team without 6 toxics? 0/10

1. This post adds absolutely no depth to the RMT.

2. Why should he run Toxic on every mon?

3. Did you look at the whole composition of his team before posting this? If you did you would see the following:

Umbreon: Special Wall & Cleric
Skarmory: Physical Wall & Spikes / Phazer
M-Venusaur: Physical Wall & Leech Seed / Toxic User
Heatran: SR User & Phazer -> Though I suggested Victini in his place; switching Stealth Rock > Spikes on Skarmory.
Trevenant: WoW & Curse User
Tentacruel: Special Wall, Rapid Spin & Toxic Spikes User

Has most of the parts for a stall team in place; though in Gen 6, stall has had alot go against it.

This is a combination of many things, in no particular order:

1. Megas being introduced: So much power introduced this gen that our traditional walls can no longer hold up as well as they used to.
2. Fairy Typing giving rise to Magic Guard Clefable: MG Clefable has always been around, but Fairy typing made it so that Fighting types can slap it around anymore, which was and is a prominent typing throughout the Gens V & VI.
3. Landorus-I and Thundurus-I being able to grace OU: These guys don't belong in OU, yet they are around and CM Lando and Prankster Taunt Thundurus make stalls life miserable.

So please, when posting please add some depth to the conversation.

 

[Rustyy]

I just think rating stall teams is silly.

 

[MosImba]

I just think rating stall teams is silly.

I just think your silly.

 

[Atiris]

Thanks for the depth Rafael. I'm still new to competitive play in Pokemon, but I've always had the defensive/ wearing down the opponent mentality when it does come to aspects of building a character and team. I know a lot of people have suggested building a balanced team first, but stall teams come more naturally to me. With that said, I'm also trying to build this team to be what is realistically possible for me to build on my x and y games. I don't have access to Victini (though he sounds awesome), and I can get Heatran from my B2. I was thinking of trading out a couple pokemon on that list to slip a fairy pokemon in there, but I'm just not sure where to go with that.

 

[bbg]

Artiris, your team looks annoying as all fuck. Nice work :]

I think there's nothing at all wrong with the first four members of your team. VenuTran is a very solid core and synchrobell Umbreon is one of my least favorite pokemon to face, as is standard Skarmory. Great teambuilding there. However, your use of the Trevenant and Tentacruel kind of confuses me. They're outclassed mons both in stall and in the OU metagame in general.

If you really have your heart set on using Trevenant, I'd recommend you get rid of Curse and Protect in favor of Will-O-Wisp and Horn Leech, respectively. Curse isnt really worth a moveslot, and Protect isnt especially useful on Trev seeing as how it would rather get into Sitrus Berry range with substitute, and having extra Leech Seed recovery is in general less helpful than avoiding being Taunt bait and draining more of your opponents' HP turn-per-turn.

Trevenant

Trevenant @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Harvest
252 HP / 252 SDef / 4 Def
Careful Nature (+SDef, -SAtk)
- Will-O-Wisp
- Leech Seed
- Horn Leech
- Subsitute

However, what I'd really recommend you do is replace Trevenant. Trevenant is generally outclassed in stall by Mega Venusaur, a mon that you already have on your team. I'd really like to see you use something with a bit more utility in that slot. What I'd recommend is a set I got from a friend that I've been using a lot on stall recently: TrickScarf Cresselia.

Cresselia

Cresselia @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Levitate
252 HP / 172 Def / 84 SDef
Calm Nature (+SDef, -Atk)
-Trick
-Moonlight
-Psychic/Moonblast
-Toxic/Thunder Wave

Cress' main benefit to your team is that it allows you to cripple opposing walls or setup sweepers by surprising them with a Trick to give them your Choice Scarf and proceeding to Toxic stall. A Choice Scarf Cresselia with 0 speed investment is able to outspeed the entire base 110 Speed tier, allowing you to cripple threats that are significantly faster than you before they can lock themselves into a different move of their choice. EVs allow you to avoid a 2hko from max attack Bisharp's Knock Off, as well as improving your mixed bulk overall.

Replacing Tentacruel is another change I'd like to see made, however, this would require you to tweak some of your other sets. For example, you'd no longer have Toxic Spikes or Rapid Spin, so you'd need to forego Earth Power for Toxic on Heatran and replace Whirlwind with Defog on Skarmory. The Pokemon I'd really recommend for that slot is Quagsire:

Quagsire

Quagsire @ Leftovers
Ability: Unaware
252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SDef --OR-- 252 HP / 104 Def / 152 SDef
Bold Nature (+Def, -Atk)
-Scald
-Toxic
-Recover
-Haze

This Quagsire is fantastic at stopping setup sweepers in their tracks. Toxic is for stalling those sweepers as they try and fail to 2hko Quagsire. Haze is for sweepers which Quag is 2hkoed by, as a last resort to make them easier for the rest of the team to deal with. It also stops Baton Pass, a now rarely-seen but still somewhat used strategy. The first EV spread is semi-standard, and the second is my own spread designed to avoid a 2hko from max spA Kyurem-B's Ice Beam. A ton of the metagame is afraid of this thing because it's so hard to break. Obviously, watch out for grass moves.

I'd love to see you make these changes. This has the beginnings of an excellent stall team. Welcome to competitive battling and best of luck to you!

 

[Rafael J. Feliciano]

Thanks for the depth Rafael. I'm still new to competitive play in Pokemon, but I've always had the defensive/ wearing down the opponent mentality when it does come to aspects of building a character and team. I know a lot of people have suggested building a balanced team first, but stall teams come more naturally to me. With that said, I'm also trying to build this team to be what is realistically possible for me to build on my x and y games. I don't have access to Victini (though he sounds awesome), and I can get Heatran from my B2. I was thinking of trading out a couple pokemon on that list to slip a fairy pokemon in there, but I'm just not sure where to go with that.

No Problem Atiris.... if this is an XY team I can still offer advice...

Curse isnt really doing any favors for you apart from increasing your defense

Curse on Ghosts cuts the opponents HP by 1/4 at the end of turn.

Replacing Tentacruel is another change I'd like to see made, however, this would require you to tweak some of your other sets. For example, you'd no longer have Toxic Spikes or Rapid Spin, so you'd need to forego Earth Power for Toxic on Heatran and replace Whirlwind with Defog on Skarmory. The Pokemon I'd really recommend for that slot is Quagsire:

Quagsire

Quagsire @ Leftovers
Ability: Unaware
252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SDef --OR-- 252 HP / 104 Def / 152 SDef
Bold Nature (+Def, -Atk)
-Scald
-Toxic
-Recover
-Haze

This Quagsire is fantastic at stopping setup sweepers in their tracks. Toxic is for stalling those sweepers as they try and fail to 2hko Quagsire. Haze is for sweepers which Quag is 2hkoed by, as a last resort to make them easier for the rest of the team to deal with. It also stops Baton Pass, a now rarely-seen but still somewhat used strategy. The first EV spread is semi-standard, and the second is my own spread designed to avoid a 2hko from max spA Kyurem-B's Ice Beam. A ton of the metagame is afraid of this thing because it's so hard to break. Obviously, watch out for grass moves.

I'd love to see you make these changes. This has the beginnings of an excellent stall team. Welcome to competitive battling and best of luck to you!

I really agree with Unaware Quagsire but would go with the following:

Quagsire

Quagsire @ Leftovers
248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SpD
Ability: Unaware
Relaxed Nature (+Def, -Spe)
- Scald
- Toxic
- Recover
- Earthquake

BP teams don't really exist anymore on PS, and even less so on XY, but if you want to prepare for BP anyway its up to you.

So... since this an XY team... I don't suppose Defog Skarmory is available to you.

If not, perhaps a Physically Defensive Mandibuzz should be considered:

Vulture

Mandibuzz @ Leftovers
EV: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 Atk
Ability: Overcoat
Impish Nature (+Def,-SpA)
- Defog
- Roost
- Foul Play
- Whirlwind

Standard Mandi set with Defog. Roost and Leftovers provides reliable recovery; whirlwind phazes and FP deals copious amounts of damage.

However, since you have 2 Dark types, Fairy Types like Clefable can really run roughshod on your team even with Mega Venusaur on it; so I suggest the following:

Heavy Metal

Metagross @ Assault Vest
EV: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 SpD
Ability: Clear Body
Adamant Nature (+Atk,-SpA)
- Bullet Punch
- Zen Headbutt
- Earthquake
- Meteor Mash

A more flavorful choice, could work out since we lack other options like Victini and Defog Zapdos / Skarmory.

Hope these suggestions are helpful.

 

[bbg]

Curse on Ghosts cuts the opponents HP by 1/4 at the end of turn.

^.^

 

[Atiris]

Thank you guys for your advice. I haven't considered using metacross or cressalia yet, so it's interesting to see them being suggested for this team. I do have a couple follow-up questions. Rafael is correct in the fact that getting defog on Skarmory isn't going to be easy, but what I am curious about with your suggestion is who to replace for Metacross? I really don't want to get rid of Umbreon since one of my primary goals is to make a OU team work with him, but having two dark types can be problematic.

The second question I have is how to use Umbreon properly. I know his primary purpose is for wish passing, but I don't think I'm switching him in at the right time nor do I feel like I am using him the way he should be.

 

[Atiris]

Also, in relation to my umbreon.. how are its EV spread? I was thinking full special defense to maximize his walling capabilities against special attacks, but I am considering going 252 def/ 252 hp/ 4 spdef with bold nature

 

[bbg]

Lemme reevaluate my rate

No, it doesn't stop, you should learn that Smeargle learns Taunt and Espeon OHKOs Quaggy with Stored Power.

While it's true that your post-secondary-ban BP team has a lot more flaws than previous teams and is much easier to break, I guess this convinces me that Haze shouldn't be used on Quag's set. Personally I think it has more utility than eq -- on one hand, it's more situational, but on the other, it's likely to be something you'll regret not having more than you regret not having eq.

Second, I'd like to voice support for denis' suggestion that you replace umbreon with chansey and trevenant with gliscor.

th-that is all

 

[Alpha Ninja]

I reccomand toxic tran for stalling and toxic damage ofcourse

Heatran (F) @ Air Balloon
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Def / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
- Lava Plume
- Stealth Rock
- Toxic
- Protect

This Venusaur:

Venusaur @ Venusaurite
Ability: Chlorophyll
EVs: 200 HP / 112 Def / 100 SpD / 96 Spe
Bold Nature
- Giga Drain
- Sludge Bomb
- Synthesis
- Earthquake

I recomand this spread

Skarmory @ Leftovers
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 252 HP / 232 Def / 24 Spe
Impish Nature
- Brave Bird
- Spikes
- Roost
- Whirlwind

 

[Atiris]

I like that moveset for heatran.. Problem is, I'm limited to my access of Heatran in-game and I'm unsure if I can teach it Stealth Rocks or not. Does anyone know how to get Stealth Rocks on Heatran?

 

[Rafael J. Feliciano]

I like that moveset for heatran.. Problem is, I'm limited to my access of Heatran in-game and I'm unsure if I can teach it Stealth Rocks or not. Does anyone know how to get Stealth Rocks on Heatran?

Only through the move tutor in BW2. Hope you aint trade your BW2 in yet... :-/

 

[Vinc608]

Stealth Rock was a CT in DPP, isn' it ?