XY OU Rate my OU team

[Sweet Lou]

Hello all, I'm posting this OU RMT, this has been my first team from gen6 that has given me decent results.

Here's the thing, I love playing competitive, but I have a really busy lifestyle, so if I had to classify myself, I'd say I'm a 'casual-competitive' player. So please keep that in mind, and thanks in advance for checking out my team. :)

Donphan @ Leftovers
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Ice Shard
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Rapid Spin

So my team has a dual lead situation going on. My lead changes based upon who I'm battling. If it looks like my opponent is NOT using a leader that will set up stealth rocks, sticky webs, etc, I lead with Donphan. Donphan is tanky, great for setting up rocks and being an annoyance. His tankiness gives the longevity to keep him alive in case he needs to come back in and rapid spin. EQ is a solid move for almost any poke. And Ice shard has gotten me out of MANY pinches. Great +1 priority, and it hits some threats hard (IE dragons, and Landorus.)

Absol @ Absolite
Ability: Super Luck
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Play Rough
- Baton Pass
- Sucker Punch
- Swords Dance

Absol, especially Mega Absol, is awesome. In the event that I can tell my opponent will lead with hazards, I choose Absol and mega evolve turn one. That magic bounce still seems to surprise some people! Play Rough is a solid move all around and scares off dragons. Sucker Punch makes Absol a threat to many of the more frail sweepers. And the Swords Dance/ Baton Pass combo is great if I can pull it off, and get Salamence in (provided rocks aren't on the field.)

Alakazam @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Psychic
- Dazzling Gleam
- Focus Blast
- Shadow Ball

Alakazam is my all-time favorite Pokemon. He's been on pretty much every team I've ever played. He has a fairly typical setup, Psychic is an awesome STAB. Dazzling gleam pummels most dragons, focus black for the dark-type coverage and shadow ball for other psychic-types. Unfortunately, Zam is frail- and choice scarf makes it risky to switch in and out. I really love the speed boost, but I'm open to alternatives.

Manaphy @ Leftovers
Ability: Hydration
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Tail Glow
- Surf
- Ice Beam
- Grass Knot

I love Manaphy. He is a problem if he can get just one Tail Glow off. At that point, I've plowed through entire teams. He has a fair amount of bulk, and I feel his move pool is pretty well varied. Surf makes Talonflame and Charizard run for the hills. Ice Beam levels dragons and grass types. And Grass knot covers water types, and I've had pretty good success against steel types too (considering their weight.)

Salamence @ Lum Berry
Ability: Moxie
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
Hasty Nature
- Outrage
- Fire Blast
- Earthquake
- Dragon Tail

Moxie Salamence is a problem, provided stealth rocks aren't on the field. Despite fairies, I still love outrage. I usually try to time Salamence's entry to coincide with once the enemy's fairy-types are already KO'd. Dragon tail is there to phaze out anyone who has become to buffed up. Fire blast and EQ are there for type coverage, and because they're solid moves. I run a Lum berry to give me back to back outrages, should I need it.

Talonflame @ Sharp Beak
Ability: Gale Wings
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Brave Bird
- U-turn
- Flare Blitz
- Roost

I mean, do I even need to explain? Talonflame is everywhere and for good reason. Gale Wings, brace bird, you get the picture.


So the bottom line is I'm averaging 50/50 in terms of wins and losses. I'm open to any advice at all to improve. Fairy types are still a big problem for this team, especially Azumarill with huge power/play rough. Aegislash is also fairly scary for me.

Thanks again for taking the time to check out my team!

 

[zerowing]

switch out choice scarf for life orb on alakazam you wont be locked into one move and with magic guard you wont get any recoil from life orb. And if your having trouble with fairy's maybe switch out absol for mega scizor and see if that works.

 

[Sweet Lou]

What would you run on Mega Scizor?

 

[zerowing]

Scizor @ Scizorite
Ability: Technician
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Bullet Punch
- Bug Bite
- Superpower

Or you could use an EV spread like this one 200 HP / 252 Atk / 52 Def / 4 SpD i use this spread on mine so he can take some hits better but i have choice band on it. try both and see which one works better for you.

 

[Rafael J. Feliciano]

Interesting team you have here Lou. Here are my reactions to it.

1. Fairy Problem: If things like Azumarill are problematic for your team, especially since Azumarill takes out Talonflame, Salamence, Donphan and Mega Absol, we are essentially forcing ourselves to have to switch out at least one member of this team. My vote would be to drop Donphan. However if we do that then we need to replace a hazard user AND remover. With that being said, I would drop Salamence as well for the following:

For your consideration

Ferrothorn @ Rocky Helmet
EVs: 248 HP / 48 Def / 212 SpD
Ability: Iron Barbs
Relaxed Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Gyro Ball
- Leech Seed
- Stealth Rock
- Power Whip

Set leans more to taking Special Attacks more acceptably (though the possible Aegislash ban might grant reconsideration later). 0 Spe IVs gives you the maximum power behind your Gyro Ball. Stealth Rock and Leech Seed are self-explanatory and Power Whip assists against Azumarill.

Zapdos @ Leftovers
EVs: 248 HP / 168 Def / 68 SpA / 24 Spe
Ability: Pressure
Bold Nature
- Thunderbolt
- Roost
- Defog
- Heat Wave

68 SpA OHKOs Mega Pinsir while still maintaining enough bulk to absorb all that Talonflame and Mega Pinsir have to dish out. Roost and Defog are self explanatory and Heat Wave is to PWN Bisharp who try to fish for the +2 Atk boost.

2. Alakazam DOES NOT need Choice Scarf. He is plenty fast enough without it. Therefore, I would go Focus Sash > Choice Scarf. Also, I would go Psyshock > Psychic so you won't get wall'd by SpD Walls like the Pink Blobs, Sylveon, etc...

3. Talonflame's nature needs to be Adamant > Jolly. He is fast enough to be able to run a +Atk Nature. Also, 48 HP / 252 Atk / 208 Speed is sufficient enough to outspeed Max Speed Jolly Mega Pinsir. Also, consider Choice Band for the extra power as Talonflame is basically going to spam Brave Bird 9 times out of 10. If you do go Choice Band, change Roost < Will-O-Wisp.

4. Manaphy should run BPychic > Grass Knot as you get walled HARD by Mega Venusaur who can Sleep Powder your switch, especially if Ferrothorn is already down.

If you institute these changes, since you don't have a physical sweeper worth Baton Passing Swords Dance to, you can change Mega Absol to the mix attacker version:

Mega Absol Smash!!!

Absol @ Absolite
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
Ability: Magic Bounce
Naïve Nature
- Knock Off
- Play Rough
- Sucker Punch
- Fire Blast

The mixed attacker from hell!!!!

Let me know what you think.

 

[Rafael J. Feliciano]

Scizor @ Scizorite
Ability: Technician
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Bullet Punch
- Bug Bite
- Superpower

Or you could use an EV spread like this one 200 HP / 252 Atk / 52 Def / 4 SpD i use this spread on mine so he can take some hits better but i have choice band on it. try both and see which one works better for you.

The EV spread should be 248 HP / 44 Atk / 116 Def / 100 SpD so that anything short of an Adamant Landorus-T EQ or an Aegislash Shadow Ball would 2HKO Mega Scizor; if you wish to change your Mega.

Also, Knock Off and Roost are needed over Bug Bite and Superpower as this spread allows Scizor to tank like a champ.

 

[zerowing]

The EV spread should be 248 HP / 44 Atk / 116 Def / 100 SpD so that anything short of an Adamant Landorus-T EQ or an Aegislash Shadow Ball would 2HKO Mega Scizor; if you wish to change your Mega.

Also, Knock Off and Roost are needed over Bug Bite and Superpower as this spread allows Scizor to tank like a champ.

That does seem like a better mega set to clean up late game after stuff like heatran are gone otherwise it gets stopped in its tracks by it

 

[Rafael J. Feliciano]

That does seem like a better mega set to clean up late game after stuff like heatran are gone otherwise it gets stopped in its tracks by it

True, though if you predict the Heatran switch, you can switch into Manaphy and get off a Tail Glow and start wrecking shit, so its kind of depends on how the battle unfolds. But that's true for all battles.

In the end though, the Bulky SD set on Mega Scizor definitely has its merits as mentioned earlier in its ability to NOT get 2HKO'd by the majority of the meta outside of weakness and the aforementioned Lando-T EQ and Aegi SB.