SM OU SM OU Competitive Team | Constructive Criticism Wanted

[underwatchh]

Hey everyone, I've recently been getting into competitive battling in Pokemon Sun and Moon and made a team. I have played and won a few rounds with this team on Pokemon Showdown in Gen7 OU, but thought the team could still be better. Please give me a few suggestions, including items, movesets, or Pokemon in general. Thank you in advance.

Greninja-Ash @ Life Orb
Ability: Battle Bond
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Mild Nature
- Hydro Pump
- Dark Pulse
- U-turn
- Water Shuriken

Ash-Greninja is a great Pokemon, and I wanted it to be the base of my team. The Life Orb gives it even more power than it has, along with moves to dish out damage. I was debating to get Surf over Hydro Pump, because with my luck, I miss the Hydro Pump a lot, along with the fact that Surf has way more PP than Hydro Pump.

Shuckle @ Wiki Berry
Ability: Gluttony
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Def / 252 SpD
Sassy Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Knock Off
- Toxic
- Sticky Web

Shuckle is a main wall for my team. Originally Excadrill, Shuckle has some of the best defense in the game, and I don't usually see him be KO'd. Shuckle seems fine with my team, although, not only Shuckle, but my entire team may not withstand a Mega Charizard-X.

Heatran @ Grassium Z
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Solar Beam
- Magma Storm
- Earth Power
- Flamethrower

I chose Heatran because of his Grassium Z and Solar Beam combo. If a ground type is put into play while my Heatran is battling, I can usually KO the ground type with Bloom Doom.

Tyranitar @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpA
Relaxed Nature
- Earthquake
- Stealth Rock
- Thunderbolt
- Toxic

Tyranitar is my second wall, originally Landorous-Therian. My walls have a large weakness against fire, and when I see a fire type put into play, Tyranitar will usually be KO'd. I can't find many other walls that can withstand a fire type, so I am sticking with him for now. Thunderbolt is for any water types that come in Tyranitar's way, which usually takes care of them.

Tapu Koko @ Choice Specs
Ability: Electric Surge
EVs: 4 HP / 248 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Discharge
- Volt Switch
- Thunderbolt
- Dazzling Gleam

Tapu Koko is a good sweeper to me. I don't have much against him and he does fine in battle, although I am unsure on a better item for him, because I will need to use Volt Switch from time to time, but find myself being forced into Thunderbolt or Dazzling Gleam. I also find myself never using Discharge, which I know can be replaced with a better move.

Venusaur-Mega @ Venusaurite
Ability: Overgrow
EVs: 252 HP / 128 Atk / 128 SpA
Mild Nature
- Giga Drain
- Leech Seed
- Earthquake
- Sludge Bomb

Mega Venusaur is a good bulky sweaper, and I think his moveset is fine for OU. If somebody brings out a fire type on me, Mega Venusaur's defense usually won't let it faint, and I can Earthquake the fire type easily.



Thank you to anybody who helps me with this team. Every word helps.
~underwatchh

 

[Hylander]

Everything seems decent but the greninja is a semi-problem IMO. I like protean much better than battle bond but as you said you want it to be the main focus of your team so I'm not going to tell you to change it. But if you keep ash greninja I would drop the life orb. Life orb is good but he's just too frail to use it. After life orb, there's a high chance that a neutral move will 1HKO it. I would use a choice spec instead. Sure you're limited to one move but you're going to be using water shuriken anyway and if not switch to a tank. That's my opinion and I wish you the best of luck with your team in the future.

 

[bludz]

Hey dude. I think the makeup of your team looks pretty cool, especially the Ash Greninja + Bloom Doom Heatran core. But I have some suggestions which I think can improve it, moreso in terms of your sets than team members.

Let me start by noting weaknesses to the team, so that the changes I offer make sense as I explain my thought process. Firstly, I noticed you do not have a Ground resist. This can be problematic as it becomes very difficult for you to switch into threats like Swords Dance Garchomp, Landorus-T, or Excadrill who your Tyranitar grants a speed boost to. Mega Metagross and Tapu Lele also seem to be rather large threats, as they outspeed most of your team and threaten to OHKO or 2HKO many of the members. I would also worry about Salamence, as it basically sweeps after a Dragon Dance with some prior damage on Shuckle and Tyranitar.

As for a few choices I believe to be sub optimal:

While your team isn't particularly fast, I don't think you take advantage of Sticky Webs well. You don't have a way to discourage Defog or Rapid Spin, and no threatening setup sweepers that really appreciate Webs (Greninja is already fast and uses priority). You also have 2 Stealth Rock users, which is redundant.

First things first I would opt to change your Ash Greninja to a Timid Nature. Being outsped by other Greninjas and even mons like Mega Metagross really sucks. You become powerful enough after achieving Battle Bond anyway. I would also recommend Choice Specs, as it helps Greninjas power pre-Bond, and puts more pressure on the opponent.

Next up I would change Tapu Koko's item. I think being choice locked is not so good for electric types, and Tapu Koko is reliant less on power than the ability to change up moves and pivot around. I find U-turn to be extremely good on Tapu Koko, since it allows you to pivot without worrying about being trapped by Sash Dugtrio or blocked by bulky Ground types when you use Volt Switch. I think a set of Thunderbolt / Volt Switch / U-turn / Hidden Power Ice with a Magnet or Life Orb would be ideal here.

For Venusaur, I think Synthesis should be used to provide longevity. The standard set with Giga Drain / Sludge Bomb / Hidden Power Fire seems appropriate to me.

Now, I don't think Shuckle or Tyranitar are doing a lot of great things for you to be honest. I'm going to suggest swapping both of them out. But first, I'll recommend running Stealth Rock on Heatran over Flamethrower, so you still have a Stealth Rock setter.

Ok so I think it's about time to add a ground immunity. Skarmory is an excellent one and can also remove hazards with Defog. This makes it harder for opponents to stack Spikes and such to wear down your team. Skarmory also checks Mega Metagross pretty well, and can deal with choiced Tapu Lele in a pinch.

For the last mon, I would suggest Choice Scarf Garchomp. This gives you some true speed control -- outspeeding threats like Scarf Tapu Lele, and setup sweepers like Charizard, Salamence, and Volcarona at +1. Furthermore, it gives you a ground type to prevent opposing mons like Tapu Koko from spamming Volt Switch.

sets

Greninja @ Choice Specs
Ability: Battle Bond
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Water Shuriken
- Dark Pulse
- Hydro Pump
- U-turn

Heatran @ Grassium Z
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Magma Storm
- Earth Power
- Solar Beam
- Stealth Rock

Tapu Koko @ Magnet / Life Orb
Ability: Electric Surge
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Thunderbolt
- Volt Switch
- Hidden Power Ice
- U-turn

Venusaur @ Venusaurite
Ability: Chlorophyll
EVs: 232 HP / 180 Def / 80 SpD / 16 Spe
Calm Nature
- Synthesis
- Giga Drain
- Sludge Bomb
- Hidden Power Fire

Skarmory @ Rocky Helmet / Leftovers
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Impish Nature
- Roost
- Defog
- Whirlwind
- Brave Bird

Garchomp @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Rough Skin
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Dragon Claw
- Stone Edge / Rock Slide
- Outrage / Poison Jab

Also a friendly reminder to run 0 Atk IVs on pure special attackers like your Heatran and Venusaur. This serves to reduce damage from Foul Play and hitting yourself in confusion.

You can try Celesteela or Bronzing over Skarm if you don't care about hazard removal.

I know I made a lot of changes, but I tried to keep most of your original team members because I liked some of the synergy you already had. I hope you try out my suggestions and that this was helpful to you.