Six Pillars of Pain 4th Gen OU Team

[Evanspec]

This is one of the first teams I have made and I have tried using it on Pokemon Online Battle Simulator... with dismal results. Here it is and hopefully you can provide some insight on how to improve my team as well as my standing in online battles.

Skarmory @ Leftovers
Nature: Impish (+Def, -SAtk)

Moves: EV: 252 HP, 252 Def, 4 SDef
Brave Bird
Roost
Whirlwind
Spikes

I use this as my lead. Place down up to three spikes and then move him over to one of my sweepers and keep him in the reserves for a specialized scout with Whirlwind. Roost for survivability and restoration from Brave Bird which is purely offensive.

Gyarados @ Life Orb
Nature: Jolly (+Spe, -SAtk)

Moves: EV: 252 Atk, 4 Def, 252 Spe
Dragon Dance
Waterfall
Stone Edge
Earthquake

He's one of my two physical sweepers. If I'm up against a tank or a stall team I'll use my Dragon Dance to power me up then pull off one of my offensive moves to take down what's in the way. I don't rely on survivability for this, hence the life orb and lack of defensive moves. It's like a suicide sweeper. Come out, do it's damage, die, move on. Earthquake is to cover the 4x weakness to electric. With the high speed of Gyarados, can usually be pulled off.

Blissey @ Leftovers
Nature: Bold (+Def, -Atk)

Moves: EV: 252 HP, 252 Def, 4 Spd

Stealth Rock
Softboiled
Toxic
Seismic Toss

My special wall. Heavy emphasis on survivability with Wish and Softboiled. Toxic to wear away at the opposing HP then to switch in a sweeper to finish it off. Seismic Toss as an offense for special situations.

Gengar @ Leftovers
Nature: Timid (+Spd, -Atk)

Moves: EV: 4 HP, 252 SAtk, 252 Spd

Shadow Ball
Hidden Power (Ice)
Focus Blast
Substitute

Special sweeper #1. Shadow Ball and Focus Blast for regular use. Hidden Power is a secret use for things like Dragonite, Flygon, and such. Substitute is for annoyance purposes as well as survivability.

Heatran @ Life Orb
Nature: Naive (+Spd, -SDef)

Moves: EV: 252 SAtk, 4 SDef, 252 Spd

Fire Blast
Earth Power
Hidden Power (Electric)
Taunt

Special sweeper #2. Fire Blast takes down reserve Skarmories and Metagross. Earth Power and Fire Blast are primary sweeping moves. Hidden Power covers weakness to Water. Taunt prevents things like Substitute and Swords Dance to stop annoyance and stat bulking.

Metagross @ Choice Band
Nature: Adamant (+Atk, -SAtk)

Moves: EV: 252 Atk, 4 Def, 252 Spd

Meteor Mash
Earthquake
Zen Headbutt
Explosion

Purely offensive physical sweeper #2. Meteor Mash and Earthquake take out most anything. Zen Headbutt good for things like Infernape and Gengar which are commonly used as sweepers. It's a plus if confusion takes effect. Worst-case scenario is that he takes one for the team with Explosion taking out basically everything and allowing everyone else to clean up.



So please give some suggestions and critique my team. I really want to get some wins.

Thanks in advance,
Evanspec

****I'M AIMING FOR A SWEEPING TYPE TEAM****

 

[Shining_Latios]

On Gyarados change the nature to Jolly and change Surf to Waterfall.

 

[Woodchuck]

On Blissey, you should change Softboiled to Protect. Protect + Wish does the same thing as Softboiled while still allowing you to pass Wishes, stall for lefties recovery, and PP stall moves with low amounts of PP like Specstran Fire Blast.

 

[2sly4u]

For Skarmory, I would use Stealth Rock over Spikes. Stealth Rocks damage everything and only take one turn of set up, while Spikes only hit grounded poke's and need three turns to become fully effective. Also for Skarm, I'd take a few of his defense EVs and put them into Speed. It helps you against a few threats such as bulky Machamps, and can let your Whirlwind go first against slower pseudo-hazers. I'd also consider giving Skarmory a Lum Berry over lefties. With a Lum Berry, you'll always get your Rocks down against Sleep leads, and will beat Machamp 100% of the time.

I honestly can't believe I'm saying this, but you have a huge Electivire weakness. With and Expert Belt, he can KO your entire team with ease. Only Gengar can outspeed him, and is incapable of a OHKO. If he obtains a Motor Drive boost from Heatran, its game over. To remedy this, I'd give your Heatran a Choice Scarf. This team really needs more speed, which Scarftran can provide. Here's the set:

Heatran@Choice Scarf
Hasty Nature, 252SpA,4SpD,252Spe
Fire Blast
Earth Power
Explosion
HP Electric/HP Grass/Dragon Pulse

Fire Blast is STAB, while Earth Power is for coverage. Explosion allows you to sacrifice Heatran to take out a pokemon that's severely hindering you. The last move depends on what you need to cover. HP Electric is for Waters, most notably Gyarados, while HP Grass gives up the effectiveness on Gyara in exchange for nailing Swampert. Dragon Pulse is another option, and has great neutral coverage.

I have a few other things, but I'm short on time. I'll add them a bit later.

 

[WoOoShoOo!!]

On Gyarados change the nature to Jolly and change Surf to Waterfall.

I agree on the Waterfall > Surf. What are you trying to do with DD? Boost you Attack and Speed. Surf is a special move. Not to mention, your nature is -SpA( Adamant ).

Btw, Shining Latios, the last time I saw your post, they were only 96 and now it's almost 150. lol.

 

[Smith]

Sorry for the late reply but here I am! First off, I agree that you should follow the advice of all the previous raters, but with a few changes. I think that you should keep Spikes on Skarmory, because it's a move nearly exclusive to him in OU and several other members of your team can learn SR. You also have a natural spin blocker so really "why not". I think Blissey should use Softboiled and Stealth Rock over Wish and Protect- not many members of your team would benefit from Blissey wish support, and few can switch into the kind of Pokemon that Blissey lures out.

With the scarf Heatran change, not too many sweepers give you trouble so I'll list some small changes that you might find helpful. On Blissey, try using Flamethrower over Seismic Toss. You really don't want to have to deal with SubSplit Gengar with this team, so you'll want some way of breaking his subs. The reason this might be better over Ice Beam or Thunderbolt is to hit things like Scizor or Lucario on the switch- in general, steel types that can't be toxiced. On Gengar, Hidden Power Ice isn't going to be very useful- dragons are already hit plenty hard by STAB Shadow Ball, and you outspeed them both anyway. You might consider Hidden Power Fire instead, which can damage things that Gengar will lure in, like Scizor, Metagross or Jirachi. Finally, on Metagross, try Trick over Zen Headbutt. Trick is very useful if in the lategame you want more freedom to select attacks, and is a great way to neuter most Metagross switch ins (IE Skarmory, Rotom-a, etc.) You'll find it quite useful against stall teams.

That's all I have, good team and good luck! I hope this helps.

 

[Shining_Latios]

I agree on the Waterfall > Surf. What are you trying to do with DD? Boost you Attack and Speed. Surf is a special move. Not to mention, your nature is -SpA( Adamant ).

Btw, Shining Latios, the last time I saw your post, they were only 96 and now it's almost 150. lol.

:p

Also, you are going to have troubles against water types, especially bulky ones, so you should change Substitute on Gengar to thunderbolt.

 

[BKC]

This has the potential to be a very solid team but the movesets will need some fixing. First off, Skarmory definitely wants a specially defensive spread. This will allow him to set up on a wider variety of Pokemon, such as Vaporeon, Celebi, and even Flamethrower Blissey.

Next, try running a ResTalk Gyarados over your current set - Impish @ Leftovers, 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SpD, Waterfall / Roar / Rest / Sleep Talk. This gives you one of the best physical walls in the game that functions immensely well on a team like this that utilizes multiple entry hazards. This will work better than your current set because this team is rather defensive but the DD LO set you're using kills itself rather quickly. The ResTalker is also an extremely reliable Infernape counter, meaning you don't have to use Gengar as your sole (shaky as well) check.

Speaking of Gengar, its SubSplit set can really mess you up because your counter, Blissey, has no way of touching it whatsoever. I'd drop Seismic Toss for Ice Beam, not Flamethrower - Smith mentioned that FT hit steels but with a Skarmory, Gyarados, and Heatran, you don't need to hit steels. IB will help against Taunt+Toxic Gliscor and Dragonite.

Since you're running multiple hazards, you definitely need a spinblocker, but Gengar is not a good candidate for this job. His frailty means that he cannot take on common Rapid Spinners such as Starmie and Forretress without being KO'd - they will take him out with Hydro Pump and Payback, respectively. I recommend using a Scarf Rotom-W in his place. It is extremely bulky and provides a great late-game cleaner provided all your hazards are set up. He can also use Trick to cripple an annoying wall.

Rotom-W @ Choice Scarf | Timid | EVs: 252 HP / 40 SpA / 216 Spe
Thunderbolt | Shadow Ball | Hydro Pump | Trick

Max HP on a scarfer may seem odd but it's necessary in order to tank anti-ghost hits from Rapid Spinners. With multiple hazards, the lack of power isn't too big a deal. 216 Speed EVs outrun +1 Jolly Gyarados and the remaining EVs go into special attack.

You're lacking Stealth Rock, which is the absolute best move in the game, hands down; it's been calced to do over 200% damage in the average battle, not bad for a move with one turn of setup. Since you're also very weak to SubRoost Zapdos, I'd opt for a specially defensive Heatran over your current set. LO is great, no doubt about it, but it's not suited for this team, which focuses more on bulk than power. SpD Tran gives you an extremely solid SR setter and Zapdos counter; Calm @ Leftovers, 252 HP / 4 SpA / 252 SpD, Stealth Rock / Lava Plume / Protect / Roar is the ideal moveset.

suggested changes in short

SpD Skarm
ResTalk Gyara
Ice Beam Blissey
Scarf Rotom-W > Gengar
SpD Heatran

Good luck!