Hey Smogon. I come to you in need of a team rating. During this round, I've tried everything: stall, rain, sand, hyper offense: you name it; I've tried it. however, after failing at so many different styles (the only one I had any real success with was stall, but it was so dull that I almost fell asleep during one match). So I decided to go back to my roots, and choose the style that fitted me like a second skin all the way through the fourth generation: bulky offense. It's fun, you don't spend endless hours setting up hazards, recovering HP, phazing, bla bla bla. You hit, and you hit hard, while having the defenses to survive most hits as well. This team got me up to 83 on the Smogon PO server, which I consider quite good, since I don't spend a lot of time laddering (screw the rating system lol). And you know what they say: "nothing is perfect". Well, I can get closer to perfect if I have some people rate this team and help me improve it, so yeah... Thanks in advance!
Heatran (M) @ Air Balloon
Trait: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 HP / 244 SAtk / 12 Spd
Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Fire Blast
- Earth Power
- Hidden Power [Rock]
- Stealth Rock
Because of Team Preview, I don't have a lead per se, so I just throw Heatran out there first, since it seems like the most "leadable" Pokemon on my team, and switch him when I forsee a bad lead matchup.
Heatran is an incredibly bulky, and powerful Pokemon. He has the most 4x resistances of all Pokemon, not to mention 3 immunities with the Air Balloon. Very nice defensive stats also let him survive most super effective hits. But defense isn't the reason Heatran is well known and respected. It's his incredible Special Attack that everyone fears, and he has the moves to make the most of it. First and foremost, Heatran is the guy he sets up the crucial Stealth Rock. He has multiple opportunities to do so, for the reasons stated above. He's also an excellent counter to some top threats, like Ferrothorn, Volcarona, and Excadrill. Obviously Excadrill is only countered when Heatran still has his Balloon intact.
Fire Blast is the ever important STAB move, and deals massive damage to everything that doesn't resist it. It also burns off around a third of stuff like Gyarados/Garchomp/Salamence's HP. Earth Power lets him mainly hit other Heatran, and I can dodge their Earth Powers while breaking their Balloon with HP Rock. HP Rock lets me counter Volcarona, who can't even touch Heatran. It also deals solid damage to Flying types like the Genies, if I don't want to risk a miss with Fire Blast, although sometimes I use HP Ice, since it lets me OHKO the Dragons, and Heatran is THE guy to OHKO them, since he resists their STAB and is immune to the common Fire/Ground coverage moves.
Maximum HP investment lets him take all sorts of hits, and 12 Speed EVs let me always outspeed other Heatran who are running a similar set to mine. The rest are dumped into Special Attack for an extra oomph.
Rotom-W @ Leftovers
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 124 HP / 252 SAtk / 132 Spd
Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Thunderbolt
- Hydro Pump
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Pain Split
The generation shift was a strange one for Rotom-A. Out of all the formes, I think that this one was the only one that really benefited, since the others have unreliable special moves. Not so Rotom-W. His good bulk and good coverage net him a place in my team, since he does really well against Rain teams and counters the ever-annoying Gliscor. He also has some incredible resistances, notably Flying/Ground/Fire/Water and Ice. while having only a very easy to cover weakness in Grass. I use him as solid special attacker who can also heal, but I'm considering running a Life Orb on him, in order to let his moves deal more damage (105 base SpA is good, but not incredible) and to generally abuse Pain Split.
Thunderbolt is the most used move, and it gains STAB, while hitting many key threats like Gyarados and other bulky Water-types for excellent damage. Hydro Pump is his most powerful move, and it lets me easily OHKO things like Heatran, Hippowdon and Gliscor. This last one can be really annoying, since he walls the mighty Conkeldurr to heaven and back again if he's gotten hid of his Toxic Orb. Speaking of which, I have to be very careful not to get hit by it, since a poisoned Rotom-W is next to useless. HP Fire deals with Ferrothorn and other 4x weaknesses like Scizor and Forretress, while Pain Split works well with his naturally low HP and lets me restore it.
I just stole the EVs off the analysis. Maximum special attack for damage output, while I added an extra 4 EVs in speed to make up for the loss HP Fire requests. the rest is in HP to take hits.
Blaziken (M) @ Life Orb
Trait: Speed Boost
EVs: 80 Atk / 200 SAtk / 228 Spd
Rash Nature (+SAtk, -SDef)
- Fire Blast
- Hi Jump Kick
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Protect
Ah yes, Blaziken. The Blazin' Kickin' Chicken. The only starter Pokemon ever to be nominated for uber. This fowl rocks. I chose to go with the mixed version, since I don't like how the SD one has trouble setting up, and I also don't enjoy to much recoil. Besides, this kind is a very efficient wallbreaker in its own way.
Blaziken is easily the frailest member on my team, but he's also the one that doesn't really need to take heavy hits; he just dishes them out. I thought it would be redundant having two fire types and two fighting types on the team, but boy I was wrong. They perform entirely different roles, and I have got to get it into my head that it's the Pokemon that matters, not it's typing.
Fire Blast is his most "reliable" move. I mean that in the way that it has a chance to miss, but doesn't completely cripple him like a miss with Hi Jump Kick. I only ever use the latter when I'm sure the opposing Ghost has been eliminated, which is helped by Team Preview. I also don't like switching this guy in on Chansey/Blissey. This may seem strange, given that he can easily OHKO them, but if they Protect on the turn I use HJK, I'm screwed. Better leave the blobs to Conkeldurr, who can set up on them with impunity. Only is the Big Man's gone do I use Blaziken to deal with them. Call it a Plan B if you like. HP Ice lets me crush the Dragons. Oh yeah, and Gliscor. If I've only shown HJK, he can be a great lure for the bat, in order to eliminate Conkeldurr's greatest counter. Protect lets me nab Speed Boosts, and I guess it also helps with scouting.
The speed EVs let me outspeed Deoxys-S and everything below it after two boost. not really sure what the attacking EVs do, but I trust the analysis.
Hydreigon (M) @ Choice Specs
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 64 HP / 248 SAtk / 196 Spd
Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Draco Meteor
- Dark Pulse
- Flamethrower
- Focus Blast
Ohoho. Here he is, the Puppet Master. No, I'm serious. Have you seen his hands? Anyway, Hydreigon is on my team for one reason, and one reason only. To OHKO the metagame. Yeah. Hydreigon, at least in practice, has the most powerful Draco Meteor in the game (Latios always runs Timid). It's also not shabby defensively, with solid defenses and many key resistances.
Draco Meteor is the spammable, primary STAB move of choice. A very wise person, me, once said: "When in doubt, use Draco Meteor". I apply that philosophy to Hydreigon as well. Dark Pulse is his secondary STAB move, and lets me crush Ghost/Psychic types, specifically Reuniclus and Jellicent, with ease. Unfortunately, the former can live through a Dark Pulse after a CM, but with any previous damage it's going down. I can also always count on his (actually mine too) Focus Blast to miss. The final two moves really set Hydreigon apart from Latios. Flamethrower is an excellent attack that will always OHKO Ferrothorn, not to mention the other steels that resist his STAB moves. Focus Blast lets me OHKO Tyranitar and Heatran, although the accuracy is a letdown. Surf is more reliable, but it also doesn't have the same crushing power of Focus Blast, and practically never OHKOs Tyranitar. Sometimes I switch them around though, since the tyrant is quite easily handled by other members on my team.
Jirachi @ Leftovers
Trait: Serene Grace
EVs: 240 HP / 236 SDef / 32 Spd
Careful Nature (+SDef, -SAtk)
- Iron Head
- Thunder Wave
- Wish
- Ice Punch
Oh Jirachi. Sweet, cute Jirachi. She's not nice though. Never make that mistake. I suppose you could call Jirachi my support/utility Pokemon that also has 100 base attack.
This support mainly comes through Thunder Wave, which is a godsend to my team, which really isn't winning any speed awards. Wish is also incredibly useful, since Heatran, Rotom-W and Hydreigon all resist or are immune to both of Jirachi's weaknesses, and can use the extra 200 HP to keep plodding along. Iron Head is seen on every physical Jirachi for good reason. It, combined with Serene Grace and Thunder Wave, practically guarantees that the opponent won't be doing anything. Ice Punch nails Outraging and incoming Dragons, which can be seen from a mile off. It also has a very haxy 20% chance to freeze the opponent, which is simply awesome.
The EVs mainly focus on Special Defense, since Jirachi is one of the few counters to the dreaded Latios and his Draco Meteor. I can then proceed to paralyze the switch in, or abuse a moment to use Wish. The Speed EVs always let me outspeed Jolly Tyranitar, so I can flinchax it to death with a super effective Iron Head.
Conkeldurr (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Guts
EVs: 120 HP / 212 Atk / 176 SDef
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Bulk Up
- Drain Punch
- Stone Edge
- Mach Punch
And here he is, the Big Man. Truly my favorite Pokemon to use in OU at the moment. The reason? Reliability. Oh yeah, and Mach Punch. Can't forget that. Not only is Conkeldurr powerful, it's bulky too. The letdown? Poor Special Defense and Speed, which are neutered by investment in his SpDef and MACH PUNCH. He also has the incredible ability to get past his number one counter. I've lost count of the number of Gliscor users who don't respect Conkeldurr's massive base 140 Att, the highest of all Fighting Pokemon, the power boost that comes from Guts, and the fact that Stone Edge has a high chance of a critical hit. If that weren't enough, Blaziken and Jirachi can lure GLiscor out and use their Ice moves to dispose of him, while Rotom-W can completely counter it. Conkeldurr is also the go-to-guy when the pink blobs enter the fray. They're nothing but set up bait. Speaking of set up moves, i strongly believe that a team shouldn't have more than two setup sweepers. While you spend a turn doing nothing (OK, nothing that harms the opponent), your sweeper can get crippled by status or a powerful attack. The only new Pokemon that this theory of mine don't apply to are Conkeldurr and Reuniclus, since they have the defenses to take all kinds of hits, while their ability turns status into a gift. Just because Conkeldurr's at the end of my RMT in no way implies that he's an endgame sweeper. Midgame is where he's most effective.
Bulk Up boosts Attack and Defense, making Conkeldurr nigh unstoppable. Drain Punch, his most powerful move, reliably heals him and deals good damage to most things, while I chose Stone Edge because it has remarkable coverage with this STAB, and also that most things I'd hit with Payback (Dusclops and Reuniclus) are slower than Conkeldurr. It also lets him deal with pesky fliers like Thundurus. However, Conkeldurrs entire existance revolves around his last move: Mach Punch. The amount of sweepers in this metagame dealth with by Mach Punch is insane. It also bypasses his low speed, and is THE reason to use him over Machamp.
I stole the HP EVs off the analysis, but I invested a little more into his Special Defense in order to take moves like Jellicent's Scald a little better.
Anyway people, that was my team. Thanks for taking your time to read it.
Heatran (M) @ Air Balloon
Trait: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 HP / 244 SAtk / 12 Spd
Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Fire Blast
- Earth Power
- Hidden Power [Rock]
- Stealth Rock
Because of Team Preview, I don't have a lead per se, so I just throw Heatran out there first, since it seems like the most "leadable" Pokemon on my team, and switch him when I forsee a bad lead matchup.
Heatran is an incredibly bulky, and powerful Pokemon. He has the most 4x resistances of all Pokemon, not to mention 3 immunities with the Air Balloon. Very nice defensive stats also let him survive most super effective hits. But defense isn't the reason Heatran is well known and respected. It's his incredible Special Attack that everyone fears, and he has the moves to make the most of it. First and foremost, Heatran is the guy he sets up the crucial Stealth Rock. He has multiple opportunities to do so, for the reasons stated above. He's also an excellent counter to some top threats, like Ferrothorn, Volcarona, and Excadrill. Obviously Excadrill is only countered when Heatran still has his Balloon intact.
Fire Blast is the ever important STAB move, and deals massive damage to everything that doesn't resist it. It also burns off around a third of stuff like Gyarados/Garchomp/Salamence's HP. Earth Power lets him mainly hit other Heatran, and I can dodge their Earth Powers while breaking their Balloon with HP Rock. HP Rock lets me counter Volcarona, who can't even touch Heatran. It also deals solid damage to Flying types like the Genies, if I don't want to risk a miss with Fire Blast, although sometimes I use HP Ice, since it lets me OHKO the Dragons, and Heatran is THE guy to OHKO them, since he resists their STAB and is immune to the common Fire/Ground coverage moves.
Maximum HP investment lets him take all sorts of hits, and 12 Speed EVs let me always outspeed other Heatran who are running a similar set to mine. The rest are dumped into Special Attack for an extra oomph.
Rotom-W @ Leftovers
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 124 HP / 252 SAtk / 132 Spd
Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Thunderbolt
- Hydro Pump
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Pain Split
The generation shift was a strange one for Rotom-A. Out of all the formes, I think that this one was the only one that really benefited, since the others have unreliable special moves. Not so Rotom-W. His good bulk and good coverage net him a place in my team, since he does really well against Rain teams and counters the ever-annoying Gliscor. He also has some incredible resistances, notably Flying/Ground/Fire/Water and Ice. while having only a very easy to cover weakness in Grass. I use him as solid special attacker who can also heal, but I'm considering running a Life Orb on him, in order to let his moves deal more damage (105 base SpA is good, but not incredible) and to generally abuse Pain Split.
Thunderbolt is the most used move, and it gains STAB, while hitting many key threats like Gyarados and other bulky Water-types for excellent damage. Hydro Pump is his most powerful move, and it lets me easily OHKO things like Heatran, Hippowdon and Gliscor. This last one can be really annoying, since he walls the mighty Conkeldurr to heaven and back again if he's gotten hid of his Toxic Orb. Speaking of which, I have to be very careful not to get hit by it, since a poisoned Rotom-W is next to useless. HP Fire deals with Ferrothorn and other 4x weaknesses like Scizor and Forretress, while Pain Split works well with his naturally low HP and lets me restore it.
I just stole the EVs off the analysis. Maximum special attack for damage output, while I added an extra 4 EVs in speed to make up for the loss HP Fire requests. the rest is in HP to take hits.
Blaziken (M) @ Life Orb
Trait: Speed Boost
EVs: 80 Atk / 200 SAtk / 228 Spd
Rash Nature (+SAtk, -SDef)
- Fire Blast
- Hi Jump Kick
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Protect
Ah yes, Blaziken. The Blazin' Kickin' Chicken. The only starter Pokemon ever to be nominated for uber. This fowl rocks. I chose to go with the mixed version, since I don't like how the SD one has trouble setting up, and I also don't enjoy to much recoil. Besides, this kind is a very efficient wallbreaker in its own way.
Blaziken is easily the frailest member on my team, but he's also the one that doesn't really need to take heavy hits; he just dishes them out. I thought it would be redundant having two fire types and two fighting types on the team, but boy I was wrong. They perform entirely different roles, and I have got to get it into my head that it's the Pokemon that matters, not it's typing.
Fire Blast is his most "reliable" move. I mean that in the way that it has a chance to miss, but doesn't completely cripple him like a miss with Hi Jump Kick. I only ever use the latter when I'm sure the opposing Ghost has been eliminated, which is helped by Team Preview. I also don't like switching this guy in on Chansey/Blissey. This may seem strange, given that he can easily OHKO them, but if they Protect on the turn I use HJK, I'm screwed. Better leave the blobs to Conkeldurr, who can set up on them with impunity. Only is the Big Man's gone do I use Blaziken to deal with them. Call it a Plan B if you like. HP Ice lets me crush the Dragons. Oh yeah, and Gliscor. If I've only shown HJK, he can be a great lure for the bat, in order to eliminate Conkeldurr's greatest counter. Protect lets me nab Speed Boosts, and I guess it also helps with scouting.
The speed EVs let me outspeed Deoxys-S and everything below it after two boost. not really sure what the attacking EVs do, but I trust the analysis.
Hydreigon (M) @ Choice Specs
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 64 HP / 248 SAtk / 196 Spd
Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Draco Meteor
- Dark Pulse
- Flamethrower
- Focus Blast
Ohoho. Here he is, the Puppet Master. No, I'm serious. Have you seen his hands? Anyway, Hydreigon is on my team for one reason, and one reason only. To OHKO the metagame. Yeah. Hydreigon, at least in practice, has the most powerful Draco Meteor in the game (Latios always runs Timid). It's also not shabby defensively, with solid defenses and many key resistances.
Draco Meteor is the spammable, primary STAB move of choice. A very wise person, me, once said: "When in doubt, use Draco Meteor". I apply that philosophy to Hydreigon as well. Dark Pulse is his secondary STAB move, and lets me crush Ghost/Psychic types, specifically Reuniclus and Jellicent, with ease. Unfortunately, the former can live through a Dark Pulse after a CM, but with any previous damage it's going down. I can also always count on his (actually mine too) Focus Blast to miss. The final two moves really set Hydreigon apart from Latios. Flamethrower is an excellent attack that will always OHKO Ferrothorn, not to mention the other steels that resist his STAB moves. Focus Blast lets me OHKO Tyranitar and Heatran, although the accuracy is a letdown. Surf is more reliable, but it also doesn't have the same crushing power of Focus Blast, and practically never OHKOs Tyranitar. Sometimes I switch them around though, since the tyrant is quite easily handled by other members on my team.
Jirachi @ Leftovers
Trait: Serene Grace
EVs: 240 HP / 236 SDef / 32 Spd
Careful Nature (+SDef, -SAtk)
- Iron Head
- Thunder Wave
- Wish
- Ice Punch
Oh Jirachi. Sweet, cute Jirachi. She's not nice though. Never make that mistake. I suppose you could call Jirachi my support/utility Pokemon that also has 100 base attack.
This support mainly comes through Thunder Wave, which is a godsend to my team, which really isn't winning any speed awards. Wish is also incredibly useful, since Heatran, Rotom-W and Hydreigon all resist or are immune to both of Jirachi's weaknesses, and can use the extra 200 HP to keep plodding along. Iron Head is seen on every physical Jirachi for good reason. It, combined with Serene Grace and Thunder Wave, practically guarantees that the opponent won't be doing anything. Ice Punch nails Outraging and incoming Dragons, which can be seen from a mile off. It also has a very haxy 20% chance to freeze the opponent, which is simply awesome.
The EVs mainly focus on Special Defense, since Jirachi is one of the few counters to the dreaded Latios and his Draco Meteor. I can then proceed to paralyze the switch in, or abuse a moment to use Wish. The Speed EVs always let me outspeed Jolly Tyranitar, so I can flinchax it to death with a super effective Iron Head.
Conkeldurr (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Guts
EVs: 120 HP / 212 Atk / 176 SDef
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Bulk Up
- Drain Punch
- Stone Edge
- Mach Punch
And here he is, the Big Man. Truly my favorite Pokemon to use in OU at the moment. The reason? Reliability. Oh yeah, and Mach Punch. Can't forget that. Not only is Conkeldurr powerful, it's bulky too. The letdown? Poor Special Defense and Speed, which are neutered by investment in his SpDef and MACH PUNCH. He also has the incredible ability to get past his number one counter. I've lost count of the number of Gliscor users who don't respect Conkeldurr's massive base 140 Att, the highest of all Fighting Pokemon, the power boost that comes from Guts, and the fact that Stone Edge has a high chance of a critical hit. If that weren't enough, Blaziken and Jirachi can lure GLiscor out and use their Ice moves to dispose of him, while Rotom-W can completely counter it. Conkeldurr is also the go-to-guy when the pink blobs enter the fray. They're nothing but set up bait. Speaking of set up moves, i strongly believe that a team shouldn't have more than two setup sweepers. While you spend a turn doing nothing (OK, nothing that harms the opponent), your sweeper can get crippled by status or a powerful attack. The only new Pokemon that this theory of mine don't apply to are Conkeldurr and Reuniclus, since they have the defenses to take all kinds of hits, while their ability turns status into a gift. Just because Conkeldurr's at the end of my RMT in no way implies that he's an endgame sweeper. Midgame is where he's most effective.
Bulk Up boosts Attack and Defense, making Conkeldurr nigh unstoppable. Drain Punch, his most powerful move, reliably heals him and deals good damage to most things, while I chose Stone Edge because it has remarkable coverage with this STAB, and also that most things I'd hit with Payback (Dusclops and Reuniclus) are slower than Conkeldurr. It also lets him deal with pesky fliers like Thundurus. However, Conkeldurrs entire existance revolves around his last move: Mach Punch. The amount of sweepers in this metagame dealth with by Mach Punch is insane. It also bypasses his low speed, and is THE reason to use him over Machamp.
I stole the HP EVs off the analysis, but I invested a little more into his Special Defense in order to take moves like Jellicent's Scald a little better.
Anyway people, that was my team. Thanks for taking your time to read it.
