Previous team.
Team-Building Process
Three Pokemon that nonstop went off without a hitch were Haxorus, Jirachi and Gyarados. Not only are the three of them a solid defensive core, they also work offensively, eliminating each others' hard counters and checks.
I added Lucario to this team because it completely destroys everything and gives me a very devastating plan B if Haxorus fails to sweep up. Lucario has worked so well, in-fact, that I actually added the next team member to compliment it.
Claydol may seem like an odd choice, but I needed Rocks and a Spinner. Claydol does both of these things almost better than anything else thanks to it's ability and excellent defensive typing, and it also sets up Screens, which I deemed necessary with the addition of Lucario.
I added Latios to this team because I wanted a really hard-hitting special attacking threat to a good majority of the metagame. With Lucario, Gyarados and Jirachi all complimenting it defensively and offensively, it seemed like pretty much a shoe-in.
After extensive testing with Claydol, it just didn't cut it. Even with Wish support and Screens, it wasn't taking the hits that I needed it to take. The only other Pokemon I could think of with similar offensive and defensive capabilities was Cresselia. Dual Screen Cresselia has always been good to me, so I decided to use it. And with Forretress coming in on Dark and Bug-type attacks and setting up hazards, I felt pretty comfortable with this version...
Until I discovered Donphan. My lack of powerful priority moves and really solid counters to Landorus/Terrakion influenced the decision to add this monster to the team and I haven't looked back.
Elephander (M) @ Ice Gem
Trait: Sturdy
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Def
Impish Nature (+Def, -SAtk)
The item choice on Donphan is unconventional, but it plays a special role in maintaining power AND bulk simultaneously. If I play smart and don't fire off blind Ice Shards early in the game, I can lure and OHKO some major threats to this team like Mence/Nite/Landorus. Donphan has proven to be an excellent Physical wall in OU and provides some important immunities and takes some really hard hits and fires back with amazing power, especially for having zero offensive investment.
- Ice Shard . Ice Shard is incredibly important to this team. While expected on all Donphan sets, that doesn't mean that it won't scare off threats like Landorus or even KO them if they overpredict. This also serves as vital priority against faster sweepers like Haxorus, Salamence and DDNite after a Dance or two.
- Earthquake . Earthquake is the obvious STAB move and hits incredibly hard, even with no ATK EVs. This is pretty self-explanatory and is my main go-to for Steel-type Pokemon.
- Stealth Rock . Stealth Rock is obvious, and is a 100% necessary staple on every team that is attempting to be competitive. There are far too many threats that rely on abilities and items that are just completely thrown off by Stealth Rock for one not to use this particular hazard.
- Rapid Spin . Rapid Spin is here for Gyarados and Toxic Spikes. Gyarados hates Stealth Rock, and since it just so happens to be one of my main defensive pivots, I decided I needed a Spinner. Also, Haxorus hates Toxic Spikes, so I had to have an out to them somewhere on this team even if they're not too often seen in OU.
- Ice Shard . Ice Shard is incredibly important to this team. While expected on all Donphan sets, that doesn't mean that it won't scare off threats like Landorus or even KO them if they overpredict. This also serves as vital priority against faster sweepers like Haxorus, Salamence and DDNite after a Dance or two.
- Earthquake . Earthquake is the obvious STAB move and hits incredibly hard, even with no ATK EVs. This is pretty self-explanatory and is my main go-to for Steel-type Pokemon.
- Stealth Rock . Stealth Rock is obvious, and is a 100% necessary staple on every team that is attempting to be competitive. There are far too many threats that rely on abilities and items that are just completely thrown off by Stealth Rock for one not to use this particular hazard.
- Rapid Spin . Rapid Spin is here for Gyarados and Toxic Spikes. Gyarados hates Stealth Rock, and since it just so happens to be one of my main defensive pivots, I decided I needed a Spinner. Also, Haxorus hates Toxic Spikes, so I had to have an out to them somewhere on this team even if they're not too often seen in OU.
Psyduck (F) @ Light Clay
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SAtk
Bold Nature (+Def, -Atk)
I just don't understand how the FUCK this thing was UU. Cresselia has got to be the best mixed wall I've ever used in any generation, period. Ferrothorn doesn't have the weaknesses or the immunities this thing does, and honestly I believe that Cresselia straight up tanks hits more efficiently than Ferro could ever hope to. Cresselia counters far more things than Ferro does, and can still swing on threats with powerful special attacks. Definitely the rock of the team.
- Light Screen . Light Screen provides an out to all Special attackers and helps my team set up. It also lets Cress tank an incredible amount of hits from both sides of the attacking spectrum with the use of just one turn.
- Reflect . Reflect nullifies 99% of revenge killers and set-up sweepers in OU and lets certain members of my team set up on a large number of their respective hard counters and checks with ease.
- Ice Beam . Ice Beam is here over Psychic because Gyarados answers Fighting-types more efficiently than Cresselia and this lets Cress serve as ANOTHER counter to bulky Dragons. Cress can come in, comfortably set up her Screens as they DD up, and then dispose of ANY Dragon with this move. Cresselia behind a Reflect tanks a +5 Outrage from 252 Atk Haxorus with ~40% HP to spare.
- Lunar Dance . Lunar Dance is the most unconventional move on this set, but it's probably the most important. 99% of the time, due to Cresselia's bulk, she comes in 2-3 times and sets up Screens, and my sweepers do their work. However if, during this, my sweepers are injured, Lunar Dance means I basically have another entire sweep with X Pokemon.
- Light Screen . Light Screen provides an out to all Special attackers and helps my team set up. It also lets Cress tank an incredible amount of hits from both sides of the attacking spectrum with the use of just one turn.
- Reflect . Reflect nullifies 99% of revenge killers and set-up sweepers in OU and lets certain members of my team set up on a large number of their respective hard counters and checks with ease.
- Ice Beam . Ice Beam is here over Psychic because Gyarados answers Fighting-types more efficiently than Cresselia and this lets Cress serve as ANOTHER counter to bulky Dragons. Cress can come in, comfortably set up her Screens as they DD up, and then dispose of ANY Dragon with this move. Cresselia behind a Reflect tanks a +5 Outrage from 252 Atk Haxorus with ~40% HP to spare.
- Lunar Dance . Lunar Dance is the most unconventional move on this set, but it's probably the most important. 99% of the time, due to Cresselia's bulk, she comes in 2-3 times and sets up Screens, and my sweepers do their work. However if, during this, my sweepers are injured, Lunar Dance means I basically have another entire sweep with X Pokemon.
Wishing @ Leftovers
Trait: Serene Grace
EVs: 252 HP / 220 SDef / 36 Spd
Careful Nature (+SDef, -SAtk)
Jirachi is the premier ragequit Pokemon. She sort of serves as a Special Wall and really does a LOT for me against Rain teams due to her bulk and her ability to tank and cripple their faster sweepers. Also helps a lot against Sandstorm teams because Iron Head and Fire Punch are amazing against Rocks like Tyranitar and the many Steels that they tend to play. Jirachi is Haxorus' main defensive pivot, and loves to eat Toxics and Ice Beams. Jirachi has probably been the best Pokemon I've used this generation overall, regardless of the set.
- Body Slam . I chose Body Slam over Thunder Wave for the simple fact that it can potentially Paralyze Ground-types. I can blindly throw Body Slams at an opposing team and pretty much guarantee crippling something.
- Fire Punch . Fire Punch was chosen over Protect because things like Ferrothorn and Scizor like to come in on Jirachi and attempt to set up/dent her. This is a rude awakening to Steels that think Jirachi is set-up bait. Also, the added % to Burn has been really helpful in testing.
- Iron Head . Iron Head is by far Jirachi's best available attack due to it's trait. Flinching non-Paralyzed Pokemon happens WAY more than it should, and if I can Paralyze a Pokemon on the switch, it's as good as dead or set-up on.
- Wish . Wish transforms Jirachi from a standalone sweeper/wall into an actual teammate. It heals half of Jirachi's max HP, which is insanely useful for getting more umph out of guys like Cresselia and Lucario, who wears himself down with Life Orb. I've often considered just replacing this with Healing Wish because Leftovers recovery does a LOT for Jirachi as-is.
Considering
- Body Slam . I chose Body Slam over Thunder Wave for the simple fact that it can potentially Paralyze Ground-types. I can blindly throw Body Slams at an opposing team and pretty much guarantee crippling something.
- Fire Punch . Fire Punch was chosen over Protect because things like Ferrothorn and Scizor like to come in on Jirachi and attempt to set up/dent her. This is a rude awakening to Steels that think Jirachi is set-up bait. Also, the added % to Burn has been really helpful in testing.
- Iron Head . Iron Head is by far Jirachi's best available attack due to it's trait. Flinching non-Paralyzed Pokemon happens WAY more than it should, and if I can Paralyze a Pokemon on the switch, it's as good as dead or set-up on.
- Wish . Wish transforms Jirachi from a standalone sweeper/wall into an actual teammate. It heals half of Jirachi's max HP, which is insanely useful for getting more umph out of guys like Cresselia and Lucario, who wears himself down with Life Orb. I've often considered just replacing this with Healing Wish because Leftovers recovery does a LOT for Jirachi as-is.
Considering
Jirachi @ Expert Belt
Trait: Serene Grace
EVs: 252 Atk / 180 SAtk / 76 Spd
Hasty Nature (+Spd, -Def)
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Ice Punch
- Iron Head
- Wish / Substitute / Psychic / Thunderbolt
Trait: Serene Grace
EVs: 252 Atk / 180 SAtk / 76 Spd
Hasty Nature (+Spd, -Def)
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Ice Punch
- Iron Head
- Wish / Substitute / Psychic / Thunderbolt
- Donphan/Cresselia/GyaradosLeviathan (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: Intimidate
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 Spd
Impish Nature (+Def, -SAtk)
Trait: Intimidate
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 Spd
Impish Nature (+Def, -SAtk)
Gyarados is a super bulky water dragon. My thought process for choosing Gyarados was this; "Gee, I've looked at a good portion of the absolute best teams in the Smogon RMT archive and probably 75% of them run Gyarados. Better use it!" It was really easy to fit Gyarados into this team because of the huge list of things it walls, and it just so happens that it walls a good portion of my two sweepers' hard checks and counters AND cripples them. While Gyarados has done unlimited work, I did replace it with a Rotom-W just because the lack of Special attackers on the team was a bit ridiculous, but I switched back almost immediately because nothing can do what this thing does as efficiently. Although I do miss Rotom's attacking capabilities. If anyone could recommend a capable Phazer to replace Gyarados, I'll use Rotom here.
- Thunder Wave . Thunder Wave has been incredibly useful on Gyarados because people don't see it coming. Her EV spread allows her to take a shitload of hits and cripple 99% of Physical sweepers before they faint my Gyarados. This contributes a lot to this team, both directly and indirectly. The Parahax is always nice, and my slower guys can get in there and get KOs without any boosts.
- Roar . This is disruption tactic #2. My team has issues with Specially-oriented set-up sweepers without Gyarados (to a certain extent.) and this move really bolsters that weakness. Also my go-to for BP teams because they have a hard time playing around Gyara.
- Waterfall . Waterfall coupled with Thunder Wave sticks to the Paraflinch theme introduced by Jirachi, and also hits hard as fuck due to STAB. Being the only Water-type move on my team, it also allows Gyara to act as a hard counter to things like Hippowdon and Heatran, among other things.
- Stone Edge . This particular moveslot has changed probably more than anything else on the team because Gyarados is so versatile and trying to fit as much coverage onto as few Pokemon as I can has been a major strong point of the team thus far. This was Rest at first, and then Toxic, however Stone Edge capitalizes on Gyarados' offensive prowess without detracting from the major defensive nature of the set. This lets Gyarados do something to threats like Dragonite and Salamence at the cost of losing to Gastrodon, but that's a pretty even trade in my opinion. It also lets Gyarados be a hard counter to other Gyarados which is proving to be incredibly valuable in testing.
- Thunder Wave . Thunder Wave has been incredibly useful on Gyarados because people don't see it coming. Her EV spread allows her to take a shitload of hits and cripple 99% of Physical sweepers before they faint my Gyarados. This contributes a lot to this team, both directly and indirectly. The Parahax is always nice, and my slower guys can get in there and get KOs without any boosts.
- Roar . This is disruption tactic #2. My team has issues with Specially-oriented set-up sweepers without Gyarados (to a certain extent.) and this move really bolsters that weakness. Also my go-to for BP teams because they have a hard time playing around Gyara.
- Waterfall . Waterfall coupled with Thunder Wave sticks to the Paraflinch theme introduced by Jirachi, and also hits hard as fuck due to STAB. Being the only Water-type move on my team, it also allows Gyara to act as a hard counter to things like Hippowdon and Heatran, among other things.
- Stone Edge . This particular moveslot has changed probably more than anything else on the team because Gyarados is so versatile and trying to fit as much coverage onto as few Pokemon as I can has been a major strong point of the team thus far. This was Rest at first, and then Toxic, however Stone Edge capitalizes on Gyarados' offensive prowess without detracting from the major defensive nature of the set. This lets Gyarados do something to threats like Dragonite and Salamence at the cost of losing to Gastrodon, but that's a pretty even trade in my opinion. It also lets Gyarados be a hard counter to other Gyarados which is proving to be incredibly valuable in testing.
Anubis (M) @ Life Orb
Trait: Steadfast
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
Lucario is one of the better set-up sweepers available in B/W due to it one-shotting a majority of the metagame with just one turn dedicated to stat boosting. The only problem I have with Lucario is that without Screens, it's SO fragile that I feel a Jolly Nature is necessary. Adamant, however, provides me with some pretty integral OHKOs like Starmie and Gengar, and it also allows me to hit things like Skarmory a lot harder than Jolly. Not really a whole lot to say here other than Lucario compliments my other sweeper very well both offensively and defensively, and adds a lot of important elements to my team.
- ExtremeSpeed . Extremespeed coupled with Close Combat is hitting most things for neutral damage. This is my main answer to things like Starmie and Landorus who think switching in on Lucario is safe. IIRC +2 ESpeed OHKOs Starmie 100% of the time and OHKOs Landorus something like 60% of the time without Rocks. Not to mention other frail sweepers like Zam, Azelf and Haxorus.
- Bullet Punch . Bullet Punch is an awesome STAB priority move that OHKOs Terrakion at +2, as well as Gengar, and dents other Ghosts pretty well. That's pretty much all there is to say about BP. Ice Punch is normally in this slot, but Bullet Punch + Stealth Rock disposes of Dragonite, and Gliscor just straight up causes me to switch.
- Close Combat . Close Combat is the hardest hitting move on this team, and after +2, it's OHKOing just about everything that's not a Ghost or has Sturdy obviously. The DEF drops make Lucario vulnerable to priority attacks like Scizor Bullet Punch, but with a Reflect up, Lucario can usually just shrug these attacks off and continue his sweep.
- Swords Dance . Swords Dance is obviously here to stat-up. Lucario at +2 is one of the most potent Physical sweepers to ever grace the Pokemon franchise. Being able to pretty much break any wall at +2 is a huge plus for any sweeper, but Lucario is one of the only sweepers that can actually pull it off.
- ExtremeSpeed . Extremespeed coupled with Close Combat is hitting most things for neutral damage. This is my main answer to things like Starmie and Landorus who think switching in on Lucario is safe. IIRC +2 ESpeed OHKOs Starmie 100% of the time and OHKOs Landorus something like 60% of the time without Rocks. Not to mention other frail sweepers like Zam, Azelf and Haxorus.
- Bullet Punch . Bullet Punch is an awesome STAB priority move that OHKOs Terrakion at +2, as well as Gengar, and dents other Ghosts pretty well. That's pretty much all there is to say about BP. Ice Punch is normally in this slot, but Bullet Punch + Stealth Rock disposes of Dragonite, and Gliscor just straight up causes me to switch.
- Close Combat . Close Combat is the hardest hitting move on this team, and after +2, it's OHKOing just about everything that's not a Ghost or has Sturdy obviously. The DEF drops make Lucario vulnerable to priority attacks like Scizor Bullet Punch, but with a Reflect up, Lucario can usually just shrug these attacks off and continue his sweep.
- Swords Dance . Swords Dance is obviously here to stat-up. Lucario at +2 is one of the most potent Physical sweepers to ever grace the Pokemon franchise. Being able to pretty much break any wall at +2 is a huge plus for any sweeper, but Lucario is one of the only sweepers that can actually pull it off.
- Donphan/Cresselia/Gyarados/Haxorus
SixOh (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Mold Breaker
EVs: 252 HP / 180 Def / 76 Spd
Impish Nature (+Def, -SAtk)
Okay, this is the Pokemon that this entire team is centered around. The EV spread is my own, and it's caused a lot of "what the fuck?"s and ragequits due to people just not being able to kill it. Oftentimes my opponents will pretty much freely let me set up, thinking that their attacks are going to do substantial enough damage to prevent a sweep, when in reality they don't do a damn thing. Haxorus' movepool might be really shallow, but it's got the makings of a pretty ridiculous physical threat. I chose Haxorus over other Dragons, namely Dragonite, because it's fucking awesome and it's base ATK is so enormous that the investment in HP and DEF don't hurt it's sweeping capabilities a bit. Without Reflect, this thing isn't 2HKO'd by CB Scizor Bullet Punch, and with Reflect it's something like a 6HKO. Ferrothorn Gyro Ball doesn't break it's Subs at +0, and Power Whip doesn't break them either making Ferro setup fodder. Basically once Skarmory has been eliminated, this thing is free to destroy my opponent's team.
- Dragon Claw . Dragon Claw is my STAB move of choice because Outrage's confusion makes it an unreliable attack and Dual Chop misses WAY too much for my taste. This my obviously my main damaging move, and it works efficiently enough, landing the hits that I need it to when I need it to. I really don't miss the power from Outrage.
- Earthquake . Earthquake is my coverage move, and hits things that Dragon Claw doesn't, often for super-effective damage. This is my main attack against things like Ferrothorn and Scizor, and scores a 2HKO on the latter at +1 and a 3HKO on the former at +1, although Ferrothorn is 100% set-up fodder.
- Dragon Dance . Dragon Dance is the stat-up move of choice over Swords Dance because of the speed boost. After a Dragon Dance, I outspeed base 125's with a positive nature. This means that Starmie, Weavile and Alakazam are all outsped and OHKOd. After 2 DD's I outspeed Scarf Terrakion and OHKO it.
- Substitute . Sub is here over Swords Dance because everything wants to come in and status Haxorus. Subbing pretty much gives me a free turn to DD a 2nd time and begin my sweep. It also protects Haxorus from powerful priority moves from Scizor/Mamo/Lucario, even though they don't really damage him much.
- Earthquake . Earthquake is my coverage move, and hits things that Dragon Claw doesn't, often for super-effective damage. This is my main attack against things like Ferrothorn and Scizor, and scores a 2HKO on the latter at +1 and a 3HKO on the former at +1, although Ferrothorn is 100% set-up fodder.
- Dragon Dance . Dragon Dance is the stat-up move of choice over Swords Dance because of the speed boost. After a Dragon Dance, I outspeed base 125's with a positive nature. This means that Starmie, Weavile and Alakazam are all outsped and OHKOd. After 2 DD's I outspeed Scarf Terrakion and OHKO it.
- Substitute . Sub is here over Swords Dance because everything wants to come in and status Haxorus. Subbing pretty much gives me a free turn to DD a 2nd time and begin my sweep. It also protects Haxorus from powerful priority moves from Scizor/Mamo/Lucario, even though they don't really damage him much.
