Rounded First OU Team

[davidam03]

First OU Team
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After some testing, I've managed to put this team together. It plays pretty solid for a first attempt at competitive battling. There's a lot of room for improvement, but I can't my finger on what I need to do exactly. Help a newb out
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At a glance...
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Machamp @ Lum Berry
Ability: No Guard
Ev's: 252 HP / 252 Atk /
Adamant Nature
- Dynamic Punch
- Stone Edge
- Ice Punch
- Payback
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Machamp functions as a great attacking lead. His wide coverage ensures me almost 2KO'S every match, and that's a great trade off for not setting up Stealth Rock right away. No Guard ensure DynamicPunch hit's everytime and forces switches with it's confuse effect.
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Skarmory @ Leftovers
Ability: Sturdy
Ev's: 252 HP / 252 Def /
Impish Nature
- Roost
- Stealth Rock
- Toxic
- Whirlwind
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Great wall of china. Skarmory blocks most heavy physical attackers. After Machamp run's its course through the opponents team, Skarmory is usually safe to switch in and set up Stealth Rock. Toxic and Roost workout to be a great stalling combo and Whirlwind works as a great utility.
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Vaporeon @ Leftovers
Ability: Water Absorb
Ev's: 252 HP / 136 Def / 120 Speed
Bold Nature
- Scald
- Substitute
- Baton Pass
- Wish
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Vaporeon functions as my main support. She's bulky enough to take a beating, and can dish it back out with a burn inflicting STAB Scald. I use her to set up a Sub/Batonpass for Hydreigon to Sweep my opponent behind. She also provides Wish support for the whole team.
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Hydreigon @ Expert Belt
Ability: Levitate
Ev's: 252 SpA / 252 Spd
Modest Nature
- Dark Pulse
- Draco Meteor
- Fire Blast
- Surf/Focus Blast/Substitute
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I really wanted to build a team around this monster. He can easily rip any team apart, especially if it gets behind a Sub. I'm utilizing a wide coverage move set so I can hit any and everything. I'm having trouble filling in the last slot though.
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Dragonite @ Haban Berry
Ability: Multiscale
Ev's: 200 HP / 252 Atk. / 56 Speed
Adamant Nature
- Extremespeed
- Dragon Claw
- Protect
- Thunderpunch
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I really needed a pokemon that could take a hard hitting Fighting attack, so I put in the bulky Dragonite. He works decently as a Physical Attacker and even as a revenge killer with ExtremeSpeed. But I wonder if a more defensive moveset would make him more valuable to my team?
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Gengar @ Focus Sash
Ability: Levitate
Ev's: 252 SpA / 252 Speed
Timid Nature
- Thunderbolt
- Shadowball
- Focus Blast
- Protect
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One of my favorite pokemon. Gengar's great speed and coverage makes him a reliable and efficient Revenge Killer. Focus Sash saves him from any miscalculation and still gets me my Revenge kill.

I feel like sometimes my main attackers get KO'd easily, or that I need some more U-Turn/Baton pass action going on for more flow. Let me know what you think

 

[Nova]

Hi davidam03

Solid team you have here. Now looking at your team, Choice Specs Tornadus-T, one of the most lethal attackers in the metagame, is a major threat. Every member on your team is outsped by Tornadus-T and at least 2HKO'ed by Specs Hurricane if not OHKO'ed. Skarmory can weather a hit or two, but she struggles against common stalwarts on rain teams such as Starmie and Tentacruel. Thundurus-T is another threat to your team as he outspeeds every member save Gengar and hits hard with the appropriate coverage move. For these reasons I suggest replacing Skarmory with a Specially Defensive Jirachi with a moveset of Stealth Rock / Wish / Body Slam / Iron Head. Jirachi is one of the best counters to Tornadus-T and Thundurus-T due to her massive special defense stat and ability to cripple them with Paralysis from Body Slam. She can also lay up Stealth Rock greatly hindering many top sweepers in the OU metagame including Dragonite, Salamence, Volcarona, and the new Therian formes. Finally, Jirachi benefits your team in being able to provide Wish support, giving your sweepers a form of recovery and potentially providing them with multiple opportunities to sweep. With Wish support from both Jirachi and Vaporeon, your team members will have much improved longevity and gives you a better option of defeating stall teams that rely on passive damage.

Now for Hydreigon I suggest using Substitute as the last move and changing the item to Leftovers. Due to Hydreigon's ability to force switches, he can easily set up a free sub and wreck your opponent's switchin with the appropriate coverage move. Leftovers is used to provide steady recovery and the ability to create more subs. Draco Meteor should be replaced with Dragon Pulse for a more consistent STAB and you don't want to have to switch out and lose your Substitute due to the special attack drop. Dark Pulse should be replaced with Focus Blast in order to hit Heatran and Chansey/Blissey for super effective damage.

Now for some smaller changes. On Dragonite I would replace Protect with Dragon Dance and Thunderpunch with Fire Punch. Dragon Dance turns Dragonite into a formidable boosting sweeper, raising his attack and speed by 1 stage every time he uses DD. Fire Punch provides better coverage alongside Dragon Claw than does Thunderpunch, allowing you to hit Ferrothorn, Forretress, and Skarmory for super effective. Lastly, you are missing 4 EVs on Machamp, Hydreigon, and Gengar so place those 4 missing EVs into Defense to take Scizor's Bullet Punch a bit better.

Hope I helped and good luck with your team!


Sets:

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Jirachi @ Leftovers
Trait: Serene Grace
EVs: 252 HP / 224 SDef / 32 Spd
Careful Nature (+SDef, -Atk)
-Stealth Rock
-Wish
-Body Slam
-Iron Head

Hydreigon (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 252 SAtk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atl)
-Dragon Pulse
-Fire Blast
-Focus Blast
-Substitute

tl;dr

Hide

Skarmory ----> Specially Defensive Jirachi
Hydreigon ----> Substitute Hydreigon
Protect on Dragonite ----> Dragon Dance
Thunderpunch on Dragonite ----> Fire Punch
Add 4 Special Defense EVs on Machamp, Hydreigon, and Gengar

 

[davidam03]

Hey Novaray,

Thanks for taking the time to write that up for me. As a newcomer I appreciate the expert advice. Jirachi sounds like exactly what I need and I dig the changes to Dragonite and Hydreigon. This is definitely going to help me a lot.

Happy Battling,
David

 

[tml]

Hi Just a little Nitpick about your Vaporeon. First of your set seems pretty gimmicky, I suggest you change it to a moveset of Scald | Roar | Wish | Protect you could also use Ice Beam > Roar to hit Dragon's but I always prefer Roar to phaze away troublesome pokes. With Wish and Protect on your side, it allows your Vaporeon to not only heal others, but it can keep itself alive which is obviously a positive. Also, now that you have an assured Special Defensive wall, I recommend that you switch up your EV spread to a fully Physical Defensive Vaporeon. Bold 252 HP 252 Def etc. Hope this rate helped and good luck!

 

[davidam03]

Hey ThatsMyLatios, the new moveset for Vaporeon is working out much better. Good call on that. Thanks and good luck to you too