Standard 5th gen OU Team

[LordPenguinFan]

I'm relatively new to Black and White but, I've done a lot of 4th gen battling. That being said, I decide to make a 5th gen team that hopefully can survive the rigors. Without further ado my team preview:

My Team in more Detail:

Donphan (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Sturdy
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Def
Impish Nature (+Def, -SAtk)
- Toxic
- Stealth Rock
- Ice Shard
- Rapid Spin

A Donphan lead IMO, is great primarily because sturdy gives it a focus sash without having to carry one and it isn't ruined by sandstorm. Donphan's main job is to get SR up and remove any entry hazards that the opponent might set up himself. This is especially critical because of Volcarona.Toxic seriously affects leads such as bulky Tyranitar or even drastically weakens the other weather leads Politoad and Ninetails which makes it easier for someone else to come and finish the job . Also ice shard over the STAB earthquake because otherwise, my team lacks a priority move and it helps get rid of pesky dragons that so readily reside in the OU metagame. In tandem with Dusclops, these two provide a great defensive backbone. One problem I do run into is magic bounce Espeon which basically makes this a pointless set.

Honchkrow (M) @ Scope Lens
Trait: Super Luck
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Night Slash
- Substitute
- Roost
- Brave Bird

While this set may seem gimmicky it brings Night Slash up to a 50% crit rate and provides my team with a solid physical threat. Brave Bird puts a serious dent into Ferrothorn and is a more reliable STAB move. Roost allows me to recover health from Brave Bird recoil and subs that I can set up by scaring away the aforementioned Espeon as well as others who fear a strong STAB move. Back to the crit rate. With STAB, Night Slash comes to a Base Power of 105 formidable in it's own right. But doubling that puts a serious dent into anything that doesn't have a Defensive EV investment and resists the move.

Dusclops (M) @ Eviolite
Trait: Pressure
EVs: 252 HP / 176 Def / 80 SDef
Bold Nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Will-O-Wisp
- Pain Split
- Night Shade
- Ice Beam

With eviolite, Dusclops does something that perhaps only Chansey has done, and that is outclass its own evolution in terms of defense. Dusclops is a perfect counter to dragons who will be promptly burned and Ice Beamed. Dusclops also does it's spin blocking role very well. Night shade allows for consistent damage. Dusclops is also a great counter to Terrakion, and can switch in on the close combat and burn it or an incoming pokemon.

Vaporeon (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Water Absorb
EVs: 252 HP / 160 Def / 96 SDef
Calm Nature (+SDef, -Atk)
- Wish
- Protect
- Scald
- Roar

Vaporeon is a key player on the team. It's main selling points over other bulky waters is it's access to Wish. Wish support is something that my team desperately needs with the only reliable recovery move being on my Honchkrow and none of my walls (pain split isn't reliable in my book). The EV spread isn't standard and puts a bit more emphasis on on Special Defense allowing Vaporeon to serve as a dedicated special wall, to disrupt other Volcaronas and Gengars. Roar provides my team with the phasing to break apart teams built upon baton passing shell smash or other pokemon that rely on setting up and also cycling stealth rock damage. Scald for the burn chance.

Magnezone @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Magnet Pull
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Thunderbolt
- Flash Cannon
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Volt Switch

Magnezone is my dedicated steel killer. It easily can switch into a Scizor and OHKO with HP Fire. Magnezone does likewise with Skarmories utilizing t-bolt. HP Fire also gets some damage on Ferrothorn albeit minimal. Choice Scarf allows Magnezone to outspeed pokemon and surprise them with it's speed. Can easily draw in the Earthquake from a choiced pokemon, allowing Honchkrow to come in and set up a sub.

Volcarona (F) @ Life Orb
Trait: Flame Body
EVs: 252 SAtk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Quiver Dance
- Hidden Power [Rock]
- Fire Blast
- Bug Buzz

Volcarona is one of the best, if not the best, special sweepers in OU. Playing off of its wonderful offensive stats, once Volcarona gets off a Quiver Dance, which surprisingly is quite often, the game is often decided then and there. Again Donphan is critical in spinning away rocks that decimate Volcarona. Volcarona can also easily take out Umbreons and the Lati twins w/ a stab Bug Buzz.


So that's my team. Suggestions? Please let me know, I know this team is far from being perfect, so I'm happy to listen to suggestions. I have a feeling many of them are going to be about Honchkrow =P.

 

[AeroNightmare]

It's going to be impossible for you to kill ferrothorn especially in rain and if he has bulldoze to take care of your obvious magnezone switch in. Instead of honchcrow try this set instead.

staraptor@choice band/choice scarf
reckless
252 attack 252 speed 6 hp
brave bird
close combat
u turn
double edge

If you go with band then CC is a OHKO on ferro.

 

[worcestershire]

right, lets see here. First off, Donphan needs a power move. even with ice shard, he's serious taunt bait at the moment. I would recommend earthquake over toxic, but the choice is yours. Considering you only have one entry hazard, you seem to put a lot of emphasis on abusing it and keeping it up. since you seem to be running a more defensive team, then you'll want to either spread status or get more hazards up. With that in mind, i would try toxic over roar on vaporeon, just to help wear you opponent down. On your Volcarona, I would recommend fiery dance over fire blast. It is much more accurate, and that boost chance means there is a 50% chance you'll be doing as much damage as blast burn the second time you use it. I see you having issues with weather in general, so you might want to put sand storm or hail or something on one of your mons, just to change it and mess up your opponents strategy.

Aeronightmare has a point, but I don't think your team has that much of an issue with ferrothorn, and very rarely do they have bulldoze. i can only assume he meant staraptor over honchkrow, which is not a terrible suggestion, it does have some nice physical power. These are the things that occured to me. i'm sure there's more, but I'll leave that to others. good luck.

 

[LordPenguinFan]

Thanks for the advice guys. I've been dealing with Ferrothorn reasonably well and surprisingly haven't really seen that many recently.

One pokemon that seems to completely run through my team and cause havoc is a choice scarfed Rotom-W. Trick ruins all my switch ins but Magnezone, but Hydro Pump devastates Magnezone.

I did implement toxic as opposed to roar on my Vaporeon and it's been working out a lot better. Also, for Donphan, I got rid of Stealth Rock all together and put in Earthquake in its place. This easily throws off opponents and I'm able to get a nice hit on any Espeons, which I absolutely detest, that want to bounce anything back. It also works in concert with the removed roar. With two 'toxicers' and a will-o-wisp guy I easily cripple teams with statuses now.

I did implement a Staraptor in place of Honchkrow but I opted for a Life Orb roost variant to help with the damage taken from brave bird and double edge, worsened by reckless.

Staraptor (F) @ Life Orb
Trait: Reckless
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Roost
- Brave Bird
- Double-Edge
- Close Combat

Close combat is definitely useful. One thing I do lose by giving up Honchkrow is effectiveness against the lati twins that have been setting up on me.

With Volcarona I've stuck with Fire Blast as of now. Recently Volcarona hasn't been too big a player in any battles. But although I like the immediacy of power that Fire Blast provides, I get why Fiery Dance might be a better option.