THIS IS SPARTA
Team at a glance -
Hi all Smogonites!Team at a glance -
Today I'm going to present a team which has been surprisingly effective- much, much, much more than I expected. After my Ubers rain stall team (which some of you might remember) I decided to come back to the OU tier, which I personally find more challenging than Ubers. Once again, I tried crazy experiments, making teams such as a trapper team (consisting of Dugtrio, Magnezone, Shadow Tag Gothitelle, Wobbuffet and Pursuit Tyranitar), an improved version of my old sandstorm team (which was a fail), and other things . Before I killed myself in frustration, I decided to try out one more thing- Hyper Offense. Since my previous RMTs have been mainly about stall/semi-stall teams, this might be something new for you all. So, let's see how I came up with this team.
Since this is Hyper Offense, I had a few things clear in my mind, which I'll explain in the next few paragraphs. Firstly, I needed someone who can reliably set up Stealth Rocks, which can often help net some important OHKOes and 2HKOes.
Azelf was chosen for this job. Thanks to a blinding base 115 speed and access to Taunt, Azelf seemed a nice choice to set up rocks on the opponent's side while preventing him/her from doing the same.
Next, what I had thought about was that I wanted a long line of powerful wallbreakers. Not any certain core, but 4 Pokes who can continuously deal large amounts of damage to the opponent, so my final sweeper can come in and finish off the remnants. First, I needed a physical wallbreaker. In case you get me wrong, I'll explain- I needed a powerful physical Poke that could break through special walls by targeting their weaker physical defense (mixed walls apart, this is true for walls like Jellicent, Tentacruel, Latias and even the good ol' Blissey).
So, Darmanitan was the next addition to my team. Earlier, I was thinking of Haxorus, which seems to outclass Darmanitan by having marginally higher speed and attack, as well as a powerful STAB move, but I have explained the reason below. As of now, Darmanitan is working fantastically on my team.
Since you have understood exactly what purpose Darmy has on my team, you would have guessed that the second thing I wanted would be a special wallbreaker - to get around physical walls.
I remember Latios from my RSE days, where it worked wonders for me in the Battle Frontier. Nevertheless, base 130 SpAttk along with base 110 speed, as well as a lovely Dragon STAB, suggest that Latios can thrive in the 5th Gen OU tier as well.
Till now, my team was looking pretty good, but I was sure that Darmanitan and Latios alone couldn't get past each and every defensive Poke in all of OU. So, I decided on having a second line of offense- two mixed wall breakers, which could further weaken/KO any Poke lucky enough to survive Darmy and Latios's assaults.
For the first one, I turned to my favourite Poke, Salamence. I've had enough of trying to run a Dragon Dance set, because for me Salamence is simply too frail and vulnerable too priority. However, 135 Attk/110 SpAttk/100 Spe just scream 'Wall Breaker' for me, and seriously, this guy is one of the best wallbreakers I've played with.
Now for my second mixed attacker. For some time, I almost deviated from my original plan and started looking towards random stuff like Terrakion, Metagross, Tyranitar, even Scizor.
After some long thinking, I came up with Infernape. While its stats are pale compared to the rest of my team, it does have two amazing STABs in Fire and Fighting, as well as priority in Mach Punch, so the fiery ape looked good.
Finally, I needed a reliable sweeper, who could sweep up the remnants of the opponent's team, if any (since most of the time, Latios+Darmy+Mence+Infernape is enough to break through the opponent's entire team).
Never mind, I chose Dragonite, which is, IMO, the best Dragon Dance user around. Combine that with Dragon STAB, base 134 Attk, and ExtremeSpeed, Dragonite seems to be the definition of a late game sweeper.
After some test play, I found that the team is working according to plan. The strategy is simple - set up SR with Azelf, Explode, bring in the appropriate wall breaker, then start the carnage until D'Nite comes and finishes it off. Though there were no teams that could totally wall me, but whenever I got beaten, it was because of fast and powerful Pokes, a notable one being Scarf Landorus-T. Another thing I saw was that even though D'Nite was supposed to be my last resort Poke, I brought him out, and often got him KOed early game.
I lacked a proper revenge killer, as even though my team is fast in general (I mean, 4 of my 6 Pokes have base 100 or more Speed) Scarfers posed a big threat. First and most importantly, I was looking to patch up my Landy-T weakness.
Weavile was chosen for this job. Possessing base 120 Attk, STAB Ice Shard and Pursuit, Weavile could be my Landy-T, as well as Dragon and Psychic assassin.
After a few more test runs, this team was back on track, working even better than before. Weavile seemed to get along well with the rest of my team, and honestly, I didn't miss D'Nite too much.
So this is my team. Now I'll talk about them in more detail.
Azelf @Focus Sash
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 Spe/252 HP/ 4 Attk
Nature: Jolly (+Spe, -SpAttk)
Taunt
Stealth Rock
Explosion
Fire Punch
This guy is forced to be a suicide lead most of the time - though he is good at it.
Base 115 speed means he won't be Taunted easily, in fact, he can get his own Taunt off on the other Poke, so they won't be doing any random shit. Fire Punch is specifically for Forretress - a common lead against Azelf. As I mentioned, Azelf isn't supposed to survive for long, so Explosion can be really handy. Though I have to be careful about Ghost, Rock and Steel types, but more often than not, unsuspecting enemies will take massive damage. Also, since Explosion will mostly go first thanks to Azelf's speed, and it gets you killed, it can also be used to pseudo-spinblock for one turn, allowing another Poke to come in and KO the spinner. This is, IMO, a quite effective method to lure out and KO the opponent's spinner.
Darmanitan @Life Orb
Ability: Sheer Force
EVs: 252 Attk/252 Spe/4 HP
Nature: Jolly (+Spe, -SpAttk)
Flare Blitz
Earthquake
Rock Slide
Superpower
The reason I chose this thing over Haxorus is because of one move- Outrage. It simply locks you into it, making Haxorus a sitting duck for fast revenge killers/priority users/Weavile/Mamoswine (if the opponent doesn't have any of these, Haxorus is a monster, but that's quite unlikely). Nevertheless, Darmanitan has been working wonders on my team. Just to tell you how powerful Flare Blitz is- I remember 2HKOing a Suicune with it. Not sure if it was physically defensive, specially defensive, or mixed, but 2HKOing a bulky water type like that is something most Fire types can only dream of. Earthquake and Rock Slide, along with Flare Blitz, have perfect coverage, and Fighting moves have good coverage as well, most notably against stuff like Air Balloon Heatran. One thing I want to ask is - does Sheer Force negate Life Orb recoil? I believe I read it somewhere, but not sure about it. This is because I am using Life Orb+ Sheer Force, and I do lose 10% each turn.
Latios @White Herb
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SpAttk/252 Spe/4 Def
Nature: Modest (+SpAttk, - Attk)
Draco Meteor
Hidden Power Fire
Surf
Psyshock
The first thing some of you would have noted here is White Herb over Life Orb/ Expert Belt/anything else. The reason for that is one move - Draco Meteor. That move is insanely powerful, but I can't spam it thanks to the Special Attack drop it comes with. White Herb remedies this problem. With it, Latios can fire off two full power Draco Meteors without switching out. Also, to make up for the absence of Life Orb, I decided to run a Modest nature instead of Timid. Though I'm not really sure about it, so tell me if a Timid nature would be better. The moves offer perfect coverage - no Poke is resistant to Dragon and Fire, with the exception of Heatran, which can be taken out with Surf. Psychock is a reliable STAB move and also a good way to get past Special Walls, including Blissey, who would otherwise laugh at this set.
Salamence @Life Orb
Ability: Moxie
EVs: 64 Attk/192 SpAttk/252 Spe
Nature: Hasty (+Spe, -Def)
Outrage
Draco Meteor
Fire Blast
Brick Break
IMO, Salamence is the textbook definition of a wallbreaker. For starters, the moves offer perfect coverage- even Heatran, including Air Balloon variants, aren't safe. Not only that, Salamence, with it's two STAB moves, Outrage and Draco Meteor, can easily get past most things that try to wall it. It can even sweep late game with Outrage after faster threats have been removed. Moxie is an amazing ability on this set as it makes Salamence's Attk jump up to phenomenal levels even after just one boost. The EVs are taken from the Smogon page, and with them, Salamence does what it is supposed to do more than satisfactorily, so not much to say there.
Infernape @Life Orb
Ability: Iron Fist
EVs: 252 Attk/252 Spe/4 SpAttk
Nature: Hasty (+Spe, -Def)
Overheat
Close Combat
Grass Knot
Mach Punch
After using this guy, I feel I underestimated it. A LOT. Base 104 attacking stats seem meager compared to Darmy's 140 Attk, Latios's 130 SpAttk, and Salamence's 135 Attk and 110 SpAttk. Still, this thing hits surprisingly hard. Overheat, even without significant investment, in more then powerful enough to KO things weak to it, and even those neutral to it. Close Combat can severely dent most things not resistant to it, and Mach Punch to finish off random stuff that may have survived Infernape's other moves. Grass Knot is another good move to get coverage on stuff like Slowbro and Jellicent, two common switch-ins to Infernape. Still, I need some help with the EV spread. The current spread works nicely, however if there is any more specially offensive EV spread possible (just like that of Salamence) I would like to know about it. Also, since things like Politoed are able to survive a Grass Knot, tell me if there is any other good move for coverage on Water types.
Weavile @Expert Belt
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 Attk/216 Spe/40 HP
Nature: Jolly (+Spe,-SpAttk)
Ice Shard
Pursuit
Low Kick
Night Slash
Weavile, the Dragon assassin. I wanted to have some decent power, but I didn't want to lock myself into one move, nor did I want to have Life Orb recoil on this thing, so Expert Belt seemed like the perfect option. Even with it, Weavile has the power to OHKO most Landy-T, which is exactly what I want it to do. Earlier, I was thinking of Mamoswine, for it's better Attack Stat, as well as Ground STAB. However, Weavile was chosen for being able to Pursuit-trap random Psychics, including Latias, Latios and Reuniclus, so I gave it a spot on my team. There are still certain things that even Weavile can't cover, including Scarf Terrakion, but until I find some other good Poke, Weavile is working perfectly fine.
THREATS -
As far as team threats go, I can't name any specific threats. I'm not bragging or anything, but I haven't played THAT many matches with this team. Also, considering that rain teams are all over PS, I find pretty much the same Pokes over and over again. Even in theory, I can't think of much - Blissey is taken care of by Mence, Darmy, or even Psyshock Latios, if need be. Ferrothorn won't stick around for long with Infernape and Darmanitan on my team, even Mence and Latios have Fire Blast and HP Fire respectively, and the same goes for stuff like Forretress and Amoonguss . Slowbro and Hippowdon can be overpowered by Special attacks, not to mention I have Azelf with Explosion to weaken these Pokes if the opponent sends them in early on. Specially defensive Jirachi gets demolished by Darmanitan's Flare Blitz, and it still has Earthquake to hit Jirachi if rain is up. If getting rid of Latias is the thing, I don't mind locking Salamence into Outrage. Gastrodon is one Poke that, I believe can be quite problematic. The best I can hit it with is Ape's Grass Knot, which is miles away from OHKOing it, while it can demolish Ape with either of it's STABs. Actually, since I have no Scarf user, I feel my team is more vulnerable to teams with fast, powerful Scarf users. The most notable Poke is Scarf Genesect, especially the Genesect+Dugtrio core, which is a real pain to deal with. If suggesting anything, I would highly appreciate if someone can help me in getting around Scarf Genesect by tweaking my team a bit.
Still, this team has done what it means to do - demolish everything in sight - with high effectiveness. This team has given me the best win rate till date, maybe not exactly, but I cant recall having won so many matches in so less time with any other team. Though I do run into skilled players who can still deal with this team. I believe there has to be a certain combination of Pokes that might be able to wall my team (because it's practically impossible a single Poke is gonna stop my entire team, that's what I think), but I've covered most threats that have screwed me over in the past, so tell me if there is still any common Poke I left out.
All suggestions are welcome.
- Salamence97
