Stratosphere: Where Weather Is Scarce

[Cleezy]

Welcome to my RMT!,


In light of the new voice challenges, laddering suddenly became interesting to me; The current challenge, UU, was a tier I had never played before. I went through the usual turn of events when joining a tier; I made a team. It sucked. I changed the team. It got better. I read some RMTs; so on and so forth. I came across a very nice looking team, PK Gaming's Big Scale Magic Show. I love the team. It was amazing and it really fit my play style. Now, being of OU heritage, it brought me great pain not being to use this balanced play style to the fullest in OU. So that is what I set out to do. I wouldn't say I've done it very well, but I wouldn't write a RMT for a team that's bad either. It's hard to break to mold in OU, but I tried. The Pokemon may not be that unique, but I find that the balanced defensive-offensive play style to be very unique in OU. Here we go!
(Just a side note, I'm trying to format this to be easy to read. Read the Short-hand version to just get the gist of the team and read the normal version under it if you'd like to know a little bit more about why I chose these Pokemon. That way anyone who enjoys a good RMT can enjoy this one and anyone looking to steal a team can enjoy it as well.)

STRATOSPHERE

(Changes will be shown in red)
(Short-hand will be shown in brown)

The Bulk:

Landorus-Therian (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Intimidate
EVs: 200 HP / 244 Def / 64 Atk
Adamant Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- U-turn

Heatran @ Leftovers
Trait: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SDef / 4 SAtk
Calm Nature
- Lava Plume
- Toxic
- Roar
- Protect

Short-hand: Lando-T is a great physical wall, Base 89 HP and 90 Def coupled with an Intimidate debuff can slow down a number of physical threats, and with Edge-Quake coverage and SR laying capabilities you can't go wrong. Don't forget U-turn to keep that momentum. Heatran is the other end of the spectrum, grass Pokemon can ruin this team and Heatran scares them. Roar can phase any number of threats, notably boosted dragons that don't have EQ. Toxic/Protect/Leftovers can be used to stall any numbers of things that choose to stay in, notably Kyurem-B. Lava Plume kills rival steel types that choose to stay in.

While making an OU team, I found it very hard to find a physical and a special wall that had good synergy together without becoming a posterboard of OU usage statistics; What I came up with was a Bulky Intimidating Landorus-Therian & Specially Defensive Heatran wall core. PK Gaming's physical Qwilfish wall really opened my eyes. I tried to do it with Tentacruel, but those stats just weren't the same. Landorus-Therian does a much better job. His awesome bulk (89 HP), great physical defense (90 Def) and bonus physically-deterrent ability (Intimidate) make him a great physical wall; And with Edge-Quake, as well as Stealth Rock, I couldn't ask for more from a physical wall. Finding a special defense wall to take care of grass Pokemon, that could potentially BULLDOZE through this team, was hard. Tentacruel, again, couldn't cut it. He just doesn't have the right bulk to wall a smart player, all he really did was cause switches. Heatran on the other hand, can wall all day. One of my favorite things to wall with Heatran is Kyurem-Black. It may require some luck, skill, or what have you but it does work. A phaser is always nice to have and Heatran does that well being able to tank Outrages from those pesky boosted dragons and Roaring them off the battlefield is always satisfying. Protect can win matches. It may seem dumb, or petty, or noobish or what have you, but it's true. That extra Leftover regain or Toxic damage boost will kill that other Pokemon trying to outlast you, I promise you that.

The Ninja-star:

Starmie @ Life Orb
Trait: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 SAtk / 4 SDef
Timid Nature
- Rapid Spin
- Recover
- Thunderbolt
- Ice Beam

Short-hand:With Recover, Starmie can survive a bit better than any other spinner. TBolt and IBeam are both great answers to dragon and water Pokemon, respectively. As well as giving an easy way to deal with opposing spinners such as Donphan and opposing Starmie. Rapid Spin is self-explanatory.

Oh Starmie, my Starmie. Starmie is one of my favorite Rapid Spin users. Mainly because it's one of the only ones that can pack a wallop before and after spinning and with Recover, it'll be around for a little bit. With Ice Beam and Thunderbolt Starmie becomes half of, both, my answers to water and dragon type Pokemon. Blazing base 115 Speed with a Timid nature outspeeds ton's of things and still manages to hit like a truck. There's a 62.5% chance to OHKO Donphan after Stealth Rock with Ice Beam and Thunderbolt is a guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock on Starmie (though most of them also run Timid so you may need to watch for the speed tie), all you need to do is predict the spinner switch; Which isn't too hard.

The Clean-Up Crew:

Terrakion @ Life Orb
Trait: Justified
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature
- Rock Polish
- Swords Dance
- Close Combat
- Stone Edge

Keldeo @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Justified
EVs: 252 Spd / 4 SDef / 252 SAtk
Modest Nature
- Surf
- Hydro Pump
- Secret Sword
- Hidden Power [Ice]

Alakazam @ Life Orb
Trait: Magic Guard
EVs: 252 SAtk / 252 Spd / 4 HP
Timid Nature
- Psyshock
- Shadow Ball
- Energy Ball
- Hidden Power [Fire]

Short-hand: This is where rates are wanted most. Double Dance Terra doesn't feel completely right. Considering dumping LO for Lefties. When he does end up getting a RP in he can run through 1 or 2 Pokemon as long as there isn't a scarfer in front of it. Close Combat and Stone Edge make a nice coverage combo and the defensive drop from CC doesn't matter much at all after a Rock Polish with Base 108 Speed. Scarf Keldeo is my second answer to dragons. Most think it's a CM Keldeo and expect to KO on the setup while catching an OHKO HP Ice to the face. Surf+Hydro is a nice choice to have for accuracy or power decisions in tight spots. Secret Sword can murder a tone of non-Poison special walls that would otherwise wall Keldeo. Alakazam runs LO over Focus Sash because I don't make a habit of sending in Alakazan to things that are going to kill him anyways, and with Magic Guard, it's a free boost. Psyshock won't kill Blissey, but it's better than psychic. Shadow Ball for opposing Psychics such as Starmie and Energy ball is my second answer to bulky water types that would otherwise wall the team. HP Fire over HP Ice because Keldeo runs HP Ice, which would be redundant, and HP Fire has a much better usage in OHKOing the likes of Scizor, Forretress and Ferrothorn and generally hindering grass, ice and steel types which can give this team trouble.

This is where I feel the team needs the most work, Double Dance Terrakion doesn't feel as if it's pulling it's weight. The synergy looks nice on paper, but honestly I might just not be used to using Terrakion enough yet. He always seems to die. But other than that, when he does get a Rock Polish or Sword Dance in he can wreck at least 1 or 2 Pokemon before he dies. I've thought about dropping Life Orb for Leftovers to maybe sustain a little life, but I think some more thinking needs to be done. Close Combat and Stone Edge give a nice bit of coverage and the defensive drop of Close combat doesn't really matter after Terrakion gets a hold of a Rock Polish. As long as you don't run into anything scarfed. Speaking of scarfs, Scarf Keldeo is great. It's my second answer to a dragon rampage, and with Choice Scarf it does a damn good job. For some reason, everyone thinks it's a Calm Mind Keldeo so they stay in thinking they're smart and predicting that I'll be Calm Minding and then catching an OHKO HP Ice to the face. Always satisfactory. Surf+Hydro Pump gives me a nice option of choosing between higher power or a definitive hit, which is nice. Secret Sword is good for dealing with Non-Poison Specialy Defense Walls that would otherwise wall Keldeo such as Blissey and the rare Snorlax. Alakazam is awesome, it's honestly one of my favorite Pokemon. It looks cool, it's fast, it's strong, it's just awesome. Alakazam got a great ability in the form of Magic Guard. Coupled with Life Orb he become a powerful force. Personally, I see the benefits of Focus Sash with Magic Guard, but I don't normally switch Alakazam into things that are going to just kill it anyways. I find much more joy in Life Orb with Magic Guard and getting that extra damage boost for free. Psyshock doesn't kill Blissey but it's better than psychic and it kills the like of Gengar and Tentacruel. Shadow Ball can take care of Starmie and the Lati twins and Energy Ball is my second answer to bulky waters that can stall this team out. I chose HP Fire over HP Ice because with HP Ice on Scarf Keldeo, it's a little redundant. HP Fire can take care of Scizor and other steel types as well. I run Timid over Modest because Alakazam outspeeding things is much better than the few OHKOs he gets from running modest. After Stealth Rock, it doesn't really matter.

Well, that's my team. Please, please, please criticize. I love getting particular EV spreads such as Leftover numbers and little speed jumps so those are greatly appreciated. Item and nature changes are always appreciated as well. If you think something would fit better than Double Dance Terrakion, please put your suggestion out there but don't forgot to offer evidence. The only thing I don't really want to change is my defensive core. Other than that, thanks for reading and bring on the suggestions!

Importable:
(Changes will be shown in red)

Hide

Landorus-Therian (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Intimidate
EVs: 200 HP / 244 Def / 64 Atk
Adamant Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- U-turn

Heatran @ Leftovers
Trait: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SDef / 4 SAtk
Calm Nature
- Lava Plume
- Toxic
- Roar
- Protect

Starmie @ Life Orb
Trait: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 SAtk / 4 SDef
Timid Nature
- Rapid Spin
- Recover
- Thunderbolt
- Ice Beam

Terrakion @ Life Orb
Trait: Justified
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature
- Rock Polish
- Swords Dance
- Close Combat
- Stone Edge

Keldeo @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Justified
EVs: 252 Spd / 4 SDef / 252 SAtk
Modest Nature
- Surf
- Hydro Pump
- Secret Sword
- Hidden Power [Ice]

Alakazam @ Life Orb
Trait: Magic Guard
EVs: 252 SAtk / 252 Spd / 4 HP
Timid Nature
- Psyshock
- Shadow Ball
- Energy Ball
- Hidden Power [Fire]

​

-Cleezy
​

 

[Cleezy]

*Reserved for threat list* May or may not happen, I don't find them too important.

 

[Mewderator Y]

I don't know if this was intentional, but you seem to be missing 2 moves on Keldeo.

As for Terrakion, running a Choice Band works, as Terrakion becomes an excellent wallbreaker, and it is a great offensive core paired with Keldeo's Scarf.

 

[Cleezy]

Oh dear, they got deleted! I'll fix immediately. Thanks for pointing that out. As for CB Terra, I find having two choice users makes the team jumpy, but I'll definitely test, thank you for the suggestions.

 

[Dr Ciel]

Hey Cleezy, nice team.​

It's nice to see some good old weatherless balance instead of the bog standard weather teams, so kudos for that. Anyways, this looks like a real well put together team, but I see some flaws that can be fixed, and hopefully my rate will do exactly that. With that said, let's get onto the rate now. First up, I would suggest slightly changing your Heatrans EV spread to one of 248 HP / 252 SpD / 8 Spe over your current EV spread. The 8 Speed EV's are for speed creeping a few threats in the OU metagame today. Up next, I recommend using a Salac Berry on your Terrakion in place of your current item choice of Life Orb and Substitute over Rock Polish. SubSalac Terrakion is a great sweeping partner along with Choice Scarf Keldeo, so that's a huge plus. Also on Terrakion, you should throw those HP EV's into the Defense department. Now while it may seem odd to put those EV's into Defense, they allow Terrakion to make 4 Substitutes, activating Salac Berry, which can set you up for an easy sweep. Finally, I would suggest running Focus Blast on your Alakazam in place of your current choice of Energy Ball. Focus Blast helps you KO Alakazams worst enemy, Tyranitar, also there aren't many bulky waters in the OU metagame outside of Slowbro, which is 2HKOD by Shadow Ball and Gastrodon, which isn't seen much at all. Well, that's all I have to say for now. I hope my advice helped. Have fun and good luck in your future endeavours!

​

TL;DR

• Heatran

  

  : 252 HP / 252 SDef / 4 SAtk -> 248 HP / 252 SpD / 8 Spe ​
• Terrakion

  

  :​
• Life Orb -> Salac Berry​
• 4 HP EV's -> 4 Defense EV's​
• Rock Polish -> Substitute​

• Alakazam

  

  : Energy Ball -> Focus Blast​

~Dr Ciel~ (The doctor is OUT)​

 

[Seth Vilo]

On the above Heatran spread change, 248 HP EV's also make Heatran hit a great Leftovers number, granting you an additional point of recovery per turn with those food scraps.

 

[Cleezy]

Great rates, love everything about it. I assume SubSalac runs SD from behind the sub, correct? And Focus Blast on Alakazam will work wonders, I'm used to UU where bulky waters are a problem haha. Thanks for the rates, exactly what I'm looking for :).

 

[Gimmick]

Hey Cleezy!

Your defensive core of choice is very solid, but it is weak to a few common threats--the most problematic being Rock Polish Landorus. Without even setting up, it can break your defensive core with EP / HP Ice, and from then on, just spam Earth Power until your team crumbles. If it grabs a Rock Polish, it pretty much proceeds to 6-0 your whole team (I believe only Keldeo lives a Timid Earth Power). Calm Mind Latias is a wonderful option for dealing with Landorus, and performs quite similar roles to Starmie, so I suggest replacing that. Both resist water and have reliable recovery, but Latias has a ton more staying power and sweeping potential. Honestly, I don't really feel like you absolutely need a spinner for this team. You have 2 Stealth Rock resists, a hazard immunity, and zero Stealth Rock weaknesses. Keldeo 2HKOs Deoxys-D, so they probably won't get Spikes up unless you miss a Hydro Pump + you deal wonderfully with other Spike stackers such as Ferrothorn and Forretress with Heatran. I'd like to recommend the standard CM Latias (either Sub or Psyshock) to add to both your offensive and defensive core. Having a second ground immunity will be very valuable to such a frail and grounded team. Here's the set:

Latias

(F) @ Leftovers
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 248 HP / 8 SDef / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Calm Mind
- Recover
- Dragon Pulse
- Substitute / Psyshock

Psyshock is slashed because I see a slight weakness to Tech Loom. It's also convenient for dealing as much damage as possible to Keldeo or Terrakion in sand.

Next, I want to see Keldeo with a Timid nature. Even though it's Scarf, and extra power can be handy, Timid holds much more merit. It allows you to outspeed Adamant Stoutland and Modest Venusaur (lol Jirachi p.p) in their beneficial weathers along with Scarf Victini, Scarf Jirachi, Scarf Garchomp, Scarf Landorus, and Scarf Thundurus-T (to name a ton of threats you're missing out on otherwise). Speed tying with other Terrakion and Keldeo can be a plus if a game ever turns to force it.

Next, since you don't really like Terrakion as it seems, I'd like to propose a few different options. The problem with Double Dance Terrakion is that it's susceptible to the most common priority moves, Bullet Punch and Mach Punch, and leaving it exposed and Sub-less is asking to be revenge killed. This might be why you feel like it dies right after setting up. First and foremost, you can try Dr. Ciel's suggestion of SubSalac Terrakion, which functions wonderfully with a Substitute to shield it from oncoming priority. Secondly, you could try replacing Life Orb with a resist berry, such as Chople or Babiri. The former will help with Techniloom and Conkeldurr (among others such as Infernape) while the latter really only helps against Scizor. Honestly, I'd try Chople first, since it has a ton more utility and even allows you to set up on weak fighting moves like SDef TTar's Superpower or Leftovers Gengar's Focus Blast. If you find that you're getting revenge killed by more Scizors than anything, switch over to Babiri and see if it makes a difference. I feel like Scizor is better handled by the rest of your team, though (Heatran, Landorus-T).

I love getting particular EV spreads such as Leftover numbers and little speed jumps so those are greatly appreciated.

Okay I have to! If you're paranoid like I am, give Heatran 8 Spe EVs to outspeed those Speed creeping Scizors, which are mostly seen on SD sets lol. Something minor but you said you appreciate it!

Oh and lastly, I'd like to endorse the previous suggestion of Focus Blast over Energy Ball on Alakazam. It gives you perfect Psychic-Ghost-Fighting coverage, and to put it bluntly, Energy Ball is piss weak--and the new addition of Latias should help greatly against Rotom-W.

That's all I got. Good luck on the team!~

Summary of Changes

• 
  • change to CM
    
• 
  • change to a Timid nature!
• 
  • try out a few things listed above
• 
  • EVs: 248 HP / 252 SDef / 8 Spe

EDIT: You're so kind omg lol. Anyway, CTC just pointed out to me that Toxicroak can be a nuisance once it gets an SD up. Unless you have awesome prediction and use Psyshock on Latias, it'll cause some major damage. I'm seconding King's suggestion of Focus Sash on Alakazam. It allows you to save Alakazam until Toxicroak comes out so you have an immediate answer. OR you could try Substitute over HP Fire on Alakazam and keep the Life Orb. This allows you to dodge Sucker Punches and then take it out the next turn (make sure not to expose Substitute before Toxicroak comes out or it turns into a prediction war). HP Fire gives you an imperfect speed IV anyway, meaning you'll always underspeed Dugtrio. And without a Focus Sash, it doesn't really help against Scizor aside from predicting the switch. Each item/moveset has its perks, so it's really up to personal opinion.

 

[King]

Hey man I don't wanna repeat what the kind fellas have said before me, but I would seriously recommend running Alakazam with a Focus Sash instead of LO. Yeah I know the extra power is awesome, but if something sets up on you and gets to the range where keldeo can't outspeed it/kill it, then you don't have many options.

Hope my advice was helpful!~

 

[Cleezy]

Awesome rate Gimmick, definitely greatly appreciated. Calm Mind Latias sounds like a great replacement for Starmie seeing as how SR doesn't do much to my team and I just got wrecked by Rotom-W without Energy Ball haha. I may try those different berry suggestions, I think I just need to spend a little more time with Terrakion to go acclimated to the usage. As for your suggestion King, I may do that. Alakazam hits hard enough as it is and he could probably afford to be a kill button for set up Pokemon. Great reason. I debated Timid on my Keldeo but everyone else told me Modest, thanks for giving a reason behind your decision, I'll definitely be switching. I'll be putting all these changes in tomorrow and giving credit and highlighting them red.

 

[CTC]

Hi Cleezy cool team.
First of all i second gimmick's suggestion of a latias because landorus seems to be a huge threat to this team, able to easily sweep with littel support ie set up on landT/rak/zam.
The team is solid, but offensive latias would suit you better. There are 2 reasons for that, first ttar + lando is a common combo that will destroy your team otherwise, and lo surf will be doing enough to tar w a little bit of prior damage that he can't switch in freely. Secondly the team needs something that switches into the likes of tran and wash and can do immediate damage. With cm latias tran's burn or toxic will mean the end of a possible sweep. Seeing as you have no wallbreaker at the moment i would suggest a band terrak, it also alleviates your immense toxicroak weakness with eq. If you do decide to keep dub dance rak/salac rak (dont use the resist berry rak theyr fuckin terrible) then i would suggest that you use jolly on lando T and bump its speed up to 270 for adamant croak. Last but not least life orb latis look like a pain to handle, esp in rain, so maybe consider spdef jirachi > zam, but if you do decide to keep zam PLEASE use sash zam because zam is only meant to be an oh shit button vs a +2 jolly nite or +2 venusaur or croak etc
So in short:

Alakazam (M) @ Focus Sash
Trait: Magic Guard
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Focus Blast
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Psyshock/Psychic
- Shadow Ball/Thunder wave/Encore >>>>>the last 2 options are for sub cm latis especially last mon

Landorus (Landorus-T) (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Intimidate
EVs: 232 HP / 148 Def / 16 SDef / 112 Spd
Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Earthquake
- Stealth Rock
- Stone Edge/hp ice
- U-turn

Latias (F) @ Life Orb
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 32 HP / 224 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Draco Meteor
- Surf
- Psyshock/Hp fire
- Recover

Terrakion @ Choice Band
Trait: Justified
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Earthquake/Quick attack
- Stone Edge
- Close Combat
- X-Scissor/Quick attack

 

[Cleezy]

So, first of all, thank all of you for the rates. I'm running LO Latias as of now and there's just a few things I have questions about. Surf on her, it seems redundant and another viable move would be appreciated. Second, I'm still completely walled by Jellicent. Nothing on my team can come close to kill the little devil even after stealth rock. I'm thinking of replacing Alakazam with Celebi for those pesky waters that seem to plague the team. I changed Terra to a CB, the synergy with Scarf Keldeo is a lot better. I'm also thinking of replacing Latias with 3Punch+Roost coverage DNite cause I feel it's bulk is practically the same and it might even hit a little harder if it's Adamant.