I often get bored of seeing the same Pokemons over and over again in OU, so when I tried out a weird NeverUsed Pokemon which quickly showed to have fantastic potential, I decided to build an OU Team around it, with a few of his fellows from the lower tiers.
Here is my star :
Parasect is possibly the single most underrated pokemon in the entire game. With proper support, I am NOT exaggerating when I state that it is one of the most difficult defensive threats to counter. It is not unusual for me to have Parasect beat 2 or 3 opponents in a single match.
Parasect @ Leftovers
Ability : Dry Skin
Nature : Careful
252 HP / 252 SpD / 4 Spe
- Substitute
- Leech Seed
- Spore
- X-Scissors
The mushroom’s fantastic typing coupled with the amazing recovery provided by Dry Skin + Leftovers makes it incredibly easy to set up and stall, and even hard counter a huge number of threats in the metagame. This includes every single Bulky Water, Breloom, CM Reuniclus, Keldeo, Ferrothorn, and many more.
The EV spread maximizes Parasect’s special bulk to take on said threats with ease, and 4 Speed EVs guarantees that random Reuniclus, Slowbro and Snorlax are outsped. The resistance to Fighting and x4 resistance to Ground also lessen the need for Defense EVs. The moveset is self-explanatory, and X-Scissors is especially useful since it reasonably powerful, and hits super effectively pretty much everything that is immune to Leech Seed ( Reuniclus, Alamazam, Espeon, Grass-types…).
Before I start wreaking havoc with my star, however, it needs proper support. The most obvious way to help it is to set up rain so Politoed is a given.
I might desperately need Drizzle, but I have always thought that, outside of its ability, Politoed was a fairly useless Pokemon. How can I get it to achieve something for the team? Well, since this is a stall team, most of my pokemons will be very slow, so a little bit of speed will be welcome. The set follows naturally :
Politoed @ Choice Scarf
Ability : Drizzle
Nature : Timid
4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
- Hydro Pump
- Ice Beam
- Perish Song
- Rest
This classic set makes Politoed a handy revenge killer, thanks to the good power of Hydro Pump. In particular, this beats Tornadus-T (provided I have Stealth Rock up) who could potentially be dangerous because of the rain.
The two last moveslots are seldom used anyway so I used very situational but potentially lifesaving moves. Perish songs ruins Baton Pass as well as bulky setup sweepers, which is very useful in a pinch. Finally , that random scarfed Rest makes more sense when you realize that Politoed does not need to be awake to perform his duty, namely setting up the rain. Since it is rather frail and has no recovery, my frog risks being worn down too much before I have managed to kill the opposing weather inducer, which would make Parasect’s life much harder ; however, Rest allows me to completely turn the tables by pretty much giving Politoed a second life. Not needed very often, but when you do use it, it trolls your opponent big time.
Now that the rain is set up, what else could be helpful to my mushroom? A Rapid Spinner of course! I generally don’t like lacking one, and since Parasect is weak to Stealth Rock, and Politoed might need to switch in and out repeatedly, it is very much needed. But Starmie is too frail and I just don’t like Forretress because of how easy it is to set up on it ; since Rapid Spin gets scarce distribution, I will need to use a solid OU Pokemon if I want this essential duty performed effectively.
Tentacruel @ Leftovers
Ability : Rain Dish
Nature : Bold
252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
- Rapid Spin
- Toxic
- Protect
- Hydro Pump
Tentacruel loves the rain, and makes a great switch-in for Fighting-types, which provides an explanation for the EV Spread focused on physical Defense. I decided not to use Toxic Spikes because they usually only affect one or two opposing Pokemons, take two turns to set up and are rendered useless by opposing Tentacruels running around. Toxic, on the other hand is much more straightforward when you really need to poison something, which is why it is used. One other unusual thing about this moveset is the presence of Hydro Pump, but it is a great asset to Tentacruel. It allows it to surprise the opponent by hitting very hard for a wall thanks to the rain. It does a huge amount to Lucario and 2HKOes both Scizor and Conkeldurr. It also allows me to reliably beat Volcarona despite Quiver Dance.
As far as his Rapid Spinning job goes, Tentacruel does great. Hydro Pump OHKOes Chandelure and Gengar after Stealth Rock, and Toxic destroys Jellicent. I used to carry Substitute to guarantee the removal of hazards against the latter, but I found that I did not use it very often, and that the additional recovery and scouting gained by Protect were too good to pass up. Tentacruel is definitely one of the most crucial members of the team for his ability to counter so many things and recover very fast.
Now that the rain is up and the Rocks are spun away, let’s focus on hurting the opposition with entry hazards : Parasect makes great use of them with its ability to force switches with Leech Seed and Spore.
With so many Dragon-Types in the metagame, I will definitely need Steel-types to tank Outrage and Draco Meteor. Which will I pick? Time for another UU outsider :
Bronzong @ Leftovers
Ability : Levitate
Nature : Sassy
252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD with 0 Speed IVs
- Stealth Rock
- Protect
- Gyro Ball
- Earthquake
Ferrothorn @ Leftovers
Ability : Iron Barbs
Nature : Relaxed
252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
- Spikes
- Power Whip
- Leech Seed
- Protect
This double Steel defensive core walls an incredible number of threats and set up both Spikes and Stealth Rock, while the rain helps them considerably by reducing their weakness to Fire.
One the one hand, there is Bronzong. No weakness under rain is simply fantastic, and his fabulous typing lets it troll a huge number of opponents. In particular, he happily laughs at Latios and Tornadus – who are otherwise extremely dangerous - but he also goes to town on Gliscor, Dragonite ( as long as it’s not CB), Landorus, Mamoswine, and beats SubCM Jirachi with Earthquake.
Next, you get what is probably the best wall under rain, Ferrothorn. Since I have Bronzong in the wings for special hits, I might as well focus on defense to be safe from Outrages and come in very easily against a wide range of physical attackers. I am not going to ramble on about its qualities : any competitive player knows how effective Ferrothorn is.
Well, looks like we are all set! Except that I would hate having my precious spiky anti personal devices spun away… And I wouldn’t want my Parasect to accidentally get Toxic’ed because it completely ruins him… This is where the team’s third UU star kicks in :
Mismagius @ Leftovers
Ability : Levitate
Nature : Calm
252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
- Taunt
- Will-O-Wisp
- Thunder
- Heal Bell
Surprisingly enough, Mismagius is one of the best spinblockers I’ve tried. I used to run Eviolite Misdreavus, but despite its significantly better bulk, having absolutely no recovery (not even lefties) was too painful in the long run. Mismagius’s ability to outspeed Tentacruel and stronger Thunder are also more useful in practice.
The EV spread provides huge Special bulk for my ghost star, which lets it perform its primary job – spinblocking – very effectively. Tentacruel gets stomped by Thunder while Scald does very little to Mismagius. It also easily survives a Rain-boosted LO Hydro Pump from Starmie and OHKOes back with Thunder after a bit of prior damage from the hazards Starmie is attempting to spin away while Donphan and Forestress are completely neutralized by Taunt + Will-O-Wisp. Speaking of this combo, it lets it be a decent stallbreaker in appropriate situations, and lets it burn Scizors attempting to Pursuit it to death. Heal Bell rounds off the moveset and is extraordinarily useful since it basically lets the team ignore statuses, which is especially useful for Toxic on Parasect and Burn on Ferrothorn.
I like how this team only features three OU members, which makes it a lot of fun to play with. Despite this, it is surprisingly effective and no OU Pokemon easily breaks through it.
Here is a threat list to explore the team’s viability in OU. ( I only include weather and offensive Pokemons because walls can’t touch me and Tentacruel spins their hazards).
Weather threats :
- Abomasnow is annoying purely because it takes away the rain, but it is weak to both Spikes and Stealth Rock, so it is easily worn down overtime. Bronzong walls it completely and forces it out.
- Tyranitar is more threatening but I deal with it in the same way. Tentacruel is a safe switch-in, and Toxics it, while Politoed can switch into defensive sets and scare him out, forcing him to take more entry hazards damage.
- Ninetales is once again handled the same way, which is made easier by its Water and Stealth Rock weaknesses.
- Hippowdon is probably the most annoying weather-inducer because it has recovery, but its lack of power makes it underwhelming, and its Spikes bait for Ferrothorn. Once it’s hit by Toxic or Will-o-Wisp, it’s only a matter of time.
- Politoed is not really a threat , more of a big welcome hug for Parasect and Ferrothorn to set up.
Offensive threats :
- Alakazam : Bronzong walls it to death and kills it with Gyro Ball. Politoed revenges.
- Breloom : Parasect completely walls it with 4x resistance to Grass and resistance to Fighting, and beats it with Spore or X-Scissors.
- Celebi : Parasect OHKOes offensive sets and survives LO HP Fire. If it has a Nasty Plot, it is tricky, but if I can get it to low health, politoed revenges with Ice Beam.
- Cloyster : unless I’m stupid enough to lock Politoed into Ice Beam knowing the opponent has a Cloyster, it’s not setting up on anything really. If it manages to do so, Bronzong, Tentacruel and Ferrothorn all survive any hit and strike back.
- Conkeldurr : Tentacruel easily beats him.
- Dragonite : Leech Seed from Ferrothorn in case it’s CB, then switch to Bronzong, and Gyro Ball. Bronzong for the Hurricane spammer.
- Genesect : Protect on three Pokemons makes it easy to outpredict, and it gets worn out by hazards pretty fast.
- Gengar : Bronzong and Tentacruel do a fairly good job with Gyro Ball and Hydro Pump.
- Gyarados : There’s no way it’s getting past Ferrothorn.
- Haxorus : I need to be wary of CB Superpower (easier with Protect), but otherwise Ferrothorn beats it.
- Hydreigon : Bronzong isn’t weak to fire under Rain, takes everything and retaliate with Gyro Ball.
- Infernape : Tentacruel laughs at it.
- Jirachi ( CM ) : Bronzong handles it with Earthquake.
- Jolteon : Ferrothorn and Parasect easily set up on it.
- Keldeo : Parasect takes everything, sleeps it and sets up.
- Landorus : Bronzong and Ferrothorn take nothing from his attacks and can set up or attack it.
- Latios : Bronzong walls and uses Gyro Ball.
-Latias : Same as Latios, but I will Toxic it first.
-Lucario : Tentacruel takes everything and Hydro Pumps his face.
- Magnezone : I simply need to play carefully with Ferrothorn, and make sure I Leech Seed on every switch. Otherwise, no real threat thanks to Bronzong and Parasect.
- Mamoswine : Bronzong walls it and Ferrothorn also tanks his attacks and Power Whips it.
- Meloetta : Bronzong and Parasect do a good job.
- Metagross : Ferrothorn has a field day with him.
- Reuniclus : Parasect beats it with Spore and Leech Seed.
- Rotom – W : usually choiced, so easy handling with Protect. Parasect and Ferrothorn wall it in any case.
- Salamence : It can’t get past Bronzong and Ferrothorn under the rain.
- Scizor : CB variants are easy to outpredict and wear down, while SD sets are beaten by Tentacruel.
- Starmie : Mismagius spinblocks and kills.
- Terrakion : Tentacruel takes Close Combat fairly well and a choice locked stone edge is easy setup for my Steels. Is worst comes to worst, Politoed can revenge kill SD sets.
- Tornadus : Bronzong laughs at it.
- Toxicroak : pretty rare these days, the SubBulkUp variant is troublesome but without a sub, Mismagius can burn it on an expected Sucker Punch.
- Venusaur : lol outside of sun.
- Virizion: Parasect sleeps it and hits it with X-Scissors.
- Volcarona: Stealth Rock and Tentacruel .
Here is my star :
Parasect is possibly the single most underrated pokemon in the entire game. With proper support, I am NOT exaggerating when I state that it is one of the most difficult defensive threats to counter. It is not unusual for me to have Parasect beat 2 or 3 opponents in a single match.
Parasect @ Leftovers
Ability : Dry Skin
Nature : Careful
252 HP / 252 SpD / 4 Spe
- Substitute
- Leech Seed
- Spore
- X-Scissors
The mushroom’s fantastic typing coupled with the amazing recovery provided by Dry Skin + Leftovers makes it incredibly easy to set up and stall, and even hard counter a huge number of threats in the metagame. This includes every single Bulky Water, Breloom, CM Reuniclus, Keldeo, Ferrothorn, and many more.
The EV spread maximizes Parasect’s special bulk to take on said threats with ease, and 4 Speed EVs guarantees that random Reuniclus, Slowbro and Snorlax are outsped. The resistance to Fighting and x4 resistance to Ground also lessen the need for Defense EVs. The moveset is self-explanatory, and X-Scissors is especially useful since it reasonably powerful, and hits super effectively pretty much everything that is immune to Leech Seed ( Reuniclus, Alamazam, Espeon, Grass-types…).
Before I start wreaking havoc with my star, however, it needs proper support. The most obvious way to help it is to set up rain so Politoed is a given.
I might desperately need Drizzle, but I have always thought that, outside of its ability, Politoed was a fairly useless Pokemon. How can I get it to achieve something for the team? Well, since this is a stall team, most of my pokemons will be very slow, so a little bit of speed will be welcome. The set follows naturally :
Politoed @ Choice Scarf
Ability : Drizzle
Nature : Timid
4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
- Hydro Pump
- Ice Beam
- Perish Song
- Rest
This classic set makes Politoed a handy revenge killer, thanks to the good power of Hydro Pump. In particular, this beats Tornadus-T (provided I have Stealth Rock up) who could potentially be dangerous because of the rain.
The two last moveslots are seldom used anyway so I used very situational but potentially lifesaving moves. Perish songs ruins Baton Pass as well as bulky setup sweepers, which is very useful in a pinch. Finally , that random scarfed Rest makes more sense when you realize that Politoed does not need to be awake to perform his duty, namely setting up the rain. Since it is rather frail and has no recovery, my frog risks being worn down too much before I have managed to kill the opposing weather inducer, which would make Parasect’s life much harder ; however, Rest allows me to completely turn the tables by pretty much giving Politoed a second life. Not needed very often, but when you do use it, it trolls your opponent big time.
Now that the rain is set up, what else could be helpful to my mushroom? A Rapid Spinner of course! I generally don’t like lacking one, and since Parasect is weak to Stealth Rock, and Politoed might need to switch in and out repeatedly, it is very much needed. But Starmie is too frail and I just don’t like Forretress because of how easy it is to set up on it ; since Rapid Spin gets scarce distribution, I will need to use a solid OU Pokemon if I want this essential duty performed effectively.
Tentacruel @ Leftovers
Ability : Rain Dish
Nature : Bold
252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
- Rapid Spin
- Toxic
- Protect
- Hydro Pump
Tentacruel loves the rain, and makes a great switch-in for Fighting-types, which provides an explanation for the EV Spread focused on physical Defense. I decided not to use Toxic Spikes because they usually only affect one or two opposing Pokemons, take two turns to set up and are rendered useless by opposing Tentacruels running around. Toxic, on the other hand is much more straightforward when you really need to poison something, which is why it is used. One other unusual thing about this moveset is the presence of Hydro Pump, but it is a great asset to Tentacruel. It allows it to surprise the opponent by hitting very hard for a wall thanks to the rain. It does a huge amount to Lucario and 2HKOes both Scizor and Conkeldurr. It also allows me to reliably beat Volcarona despite Quiver Dance.
As far as his Rapid Spinning job goes, Tentacruel does great. Hydro Pump OHKOes Chandelure and Gengar after Stealth Rock, and Toxic destroys Jellicent. I used to carry Substitute to guarantee the removal of hazards against the latter, but I found that I did not use it very often, and that the additional recovery and scouting gained by Protect were too good to pass up. Tentacruel is definitely one of the most crucial members of the team for his ability to counter so many things and recover very fast.
Now that the rain is up and the Rocks are spun away, let’s focus on hurting the opposition with entry hazards : Parasect makes great use of them with its ability to force switches with Leech Seed and Spore.
With so many Dragon-Types in the metagame, I will definitely need Steel-types to tank Outrage and Draco Meteor. Which will I pick? Time for another UU outsider :
Bronzong @ Leftovers
Ability : Levitate
Nature : Sassy
252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD with 0 Speed IVs
- Stealth Rock
- Protect
- Gyro Ball
- Earthquake
Ferrothorn @ Leftovers
Ability : Iron Barbs
Nature : Relaxed
252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
- Spikes
- Power Whip
- Leech Seed
- Protect
This double Steel defensive core walls an incredible number of threats and set up both Spikes and Stealth Rock, while the rain helps them considerably by reducing their weakness to Fire.
One the one hand, there is Bronzong. No weakness under rain is simply fantastic, and his fabulous typing lets it troll a huge number of opponents. In particular, he happily laughs at Latios and Tornadus – who are otherwise extremely dangerous - but he also goes to town on Gliscor, Dragonite ( as long as it’s not CB), Landorus, Mamoswine, and beats SubCM Jirachi with Earthquake.
Next, you get what is probably the best wall under rain, Ferrothorn. Since I have Bronzong in the wings for special hits, I might as well focus on defense to be safe from Outrages and come in very easily against a wide range of physical attackers. I am not going to ramble on about its qualities : any competitive player knows how effective Ferrothorn is.
Well, looks like we are all set! Except that I would hate having my precious spiky anti personal devices spun away… And I wouldn’t want my Parasect to accidentally get Toxic’ed because it completely ruins him… This is where the team’s third UU star kicks in :
Mismagius @ Leftovers
Ability : Levitate
Nature : Calm
252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
- Taunt
- Will-O-Wisp
- Thunder
- Heal Bell
Surprisingly enough, Mismagius is one of the best spinblockers I’ve tried. I used to run Eviolite Misdreavus, but despite its significantly better bulk, having absolutely no recovery (not even lefties) was too painful in the long run. Mismagius’s ability to outspeed Tentacruel and stronger Thunder are also more useful in practice.
The EV spread provides huge Special bulk for my ghost star, which lets it perform its primary job – spinblocking – very effectively. Tentacruel gets stomped by Thunder while Scald does very little to Mismagius. It also easily survives a Rain-boosted LO Hydro Pump from Starmie and OHKOes back with Thunder after a bit of prior damage from the hazards Starmie is attempting to spin away while Donphan and Forestress are completely neutralized by Taunt + Will-O-Wisp. Speaking of this combo, it lets it be a decent stallbreaker in appropriate situations, and lets it burn Scizors attempting to Pursuit it to death. Heal Bell rounds off the moveset and is extraordinarily useful since it basically lets the team ignore statuses, which is especially useful for Toxic on Parasect and Burn on Ferrothorn.
I like how this team only features three OU members, which makes it a lot of fun to play with. Despite this, it is surprisingly effective and no OU Pokemon easily breaks through it.
Here is a threat list to explore the team’s viability in OU. ( I only include weather and offensive Pokemons because walls can’t touch me and Tentacruel spins their hazards).
Weather threats :
- Abomasnow is annoying purely because it takes away the rain, but it is weak to both Spikes and Stealth Rock, so it is easily worn down overtime. Bronzong walls it completely and forces it out.
- Tyranitar is more threatening but I deal with it in the same way. Tentacruel is a safe switch-in, and Toxics it, while Politoed can switch into defensive sets and scare him out, forcing him to take more entry hazards damage.
- Ninetales is once again handled the same way, which is made easier by its Water and Stealth Rock weaknesses.
- Hippowdon is probably the most annoying weather-inducer because it has recovery, but its lack of power makes it underwhelming, and its Spikes bait for Ferrothorn. Once it’s hit by Toxic or Will-o-Wisp, it’s only a matter of time.
- Politoed is not really a threat , more of a big welcome hug for Parasect and Ferrothorn to set up.
Offensive threats :
- Alakazam : Bronzong walls it to death and kills it with Gyro Ball. Politoed revenges.
- Breloom : Parasect completely walls it with 4x resistance to Grass and resistance to Fighting, and beats it with Spore or X-Scissors.
- Celebi : Parasect OHKOes offensive sets and survives LO HP Fire. If it has a Nasty Plot, it is tricky, but if I can get it to low health, politoed revenges with Ice Beam.
- Cloyster : unless I’m stupid enough to lock Politoed into Ice Beam knowing the opponent has a Cloyster, it’s not setting up on anything really. If it manages to do so, Bronzong, Tentacruel and Ferrothorn all survive any hit and strike back.
- Conkeldurr : Tentacruel easily beats him.
- Dragonite : Leech Seed from Ferrothorn in case it’s CB, then switch to Bronzong, and Gyro Ball. Bronzong for the Hurricane spammer.
- Genesect : Protect on three Pokemons makes it easy to outpredict, and it gets worn out by hazards pretty fast.
- Gengar : Bronzong and Tentacruel do a fairly good job with Gyro Ball and Hydro Pump.
- Gyarados : There’s no way it’s getting past Ferrothorn.
- Haxorus : I need to be wary of CB Superpower (easier with Protect), but otherwise Ferrothorn beats it.
- Hydreigon : Bronzong isn’t weak to fire under Rain, takes everything and retaliate with Gyro Ball.
- Infernape : Tentacruel laughs at it.
- Jirachi ( CM ) : Bronzong handles it with Earthquake.
- Jolteon : Ferrothorn and Parasect easily set up on it.
- Keldeo : Parasect takes everything, sleeps it and sets up.
- Landorus : Bronzong and Ferrothorn take nothing from his attacks and can set up or attack it.
- Latios : Bronzong walls and uses Gyro Ball.
-Latias : Same as Latios, but I will Toxic it first.
-Lucario : Tentacruel takes everything and Hydro Pumps his face.
- Magnezone : I simply need to play carefully with Ferrothorn, and make sure I Leech Seed on every switch. Otherwise, no real threat thanks to Bronzong and Parasect.
- Mamoswine : Bronzong walls it and Ferrothorn also tanks his attacks and Power Whips it.
- Meloetta : Bronzong and Parasect do a good job.
- Metagross : Ferrothorn has a field day with him.
- Reuniclus : Parasect beats it with Spore and Leech Seed.
- Rotom – W : usually choiced, so easy handling with Protect. Parasect and Ferrothorn wall it in any case.
- Salamence : It can’t get past Bronzong and Ferrothorn under the rain.
- Scizor : CB variants are easy to outpredict and wear down, while SD sets are beaten by Tentacruel.
- Starmie : Mismagius spinblocks and kills.
- Terrakion : Tentacruel takes Close Combat fairly well and a choice locked stone edge is easy setup for my Steels. Is worst comes to worst, Politoed can revenge kill SD sets.
- Tornadus : Bronzong laughs at it.
- Toxicroak : pretty rare these days, the SubBulkUp variant is troublesome but without a sub, Mismagius can burn it on an expected Sucker Punch.
- Venusaur : lol outside of sun.
- Virizion: Parasect sleeps it and hits it with X-Scissors.
- Volcarona: Stealth Rock and Tentacruel .
