Resource ORAS OU Simple Questions, Simple Answers (Read the OP First!)

[D_what]

I'm theorymonning a team right now, but I'm waaaaay more of a breeder or a lurker than I am an actual battler so I'm prone to missing things. The aim is to build a team with a Mega Sharpedo once ORAS comes out, but I'm limited to what I can get ingame (sorry, everybody probably hates hearing that!) which really just equates to almost no gen 4 tutor moves and some event legends. I want to see how far I can get with an initial team build before having to properly test/change it, just for fun. Thoughts/Suggestions? Everything's pretty open at the moment.

Hide

MShark @ sharpedite
Ability: Speed Boost
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe ((not really sure if max speed is necessary))
Adamant Nature
- Waterfall
- Protect
- Crunch
- [Probably Double Edge - I really don't like Keldeo and Azumarill]

Talonflame @ Lefties ((Stallbreaker set, ctrl-c/vd from cores thread))
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Def / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
- Taunt
- Will-O-Wisp
- Roost
- Brave Bird

Clefable @ Lefties ((nearly went for the Rest Talk set as another win condition, but heal bell and wish is just too useful.))
Ability: Unaware
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
- Moonblast
- Wish
- Protect
- Heal Bell

Garchomp @ Rocky Helmet ((great MegaSharpedo partner. Double shark :D))
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Impish Nature
- EQ
- Toxic
- Fireblast (or protect, but Ferro and Skarmory are a pain without Fire STAB from Talon, Impish still does decent damage)
- Stealth Rock

Latios @ Life Orb ((I'm stuck with this set at the moment, got it from the FB page giveaways. Great Pokemon, but no HP Fighting or Earthquake. If it were up to me I'd use Earthquake and Hasty, or swap it out for a Healing Wish Latias.))
EVs: 4 HP/252 SpA /252 Spd
Timid Nature
- Defog
- Draco Meteor
- Psyshock (maybe Psychic depending on team needs)
- something???

*Something* @ *Something*
EVs: god knows!
I feel like I should add a steel type, teams don't really feel complete without one. But I'm spoiled for choice. Ferrothorn gives me a FWG and Fairy/Steel/Dragon core all in one go, and gives Spikes which MShark loves. That's about it, though. I guess I can punish physical attackers with a 2x Rough Skin combo...
Scarf Excadrill can take out Rotom-W in a pinch, provides spinning, and a decent Earthquake to hit electric types - which would probably be fine only most of them have Ice coverage. Plus it removes fairies sometimes, which look like they'll be a problem. But I'm not sold on it and it gives me a few type redundancies.
Magnezone is a boss and I love it <3 But scarf or specs? Special attacking is a pro, as is a drag mag core, but it's not really much of a defensive steel type.
I could use Heatran? I forgot my reasons why if I'm honest :/ And then there's Scizor and Skarmory and all the rest of them. Or maybe I shouldn't use a steel type at all! #clueless

Once ORAS is out I'm gonna SR for a boatload of legends. I stopped catching them once XY came out and we found out about the 3 31s thing - I wasn't going to bother SRing for iffy gen 5 legends when great gen 6 ones would be around the corner. :| (P.S. this currently would be a balanced team, right? For a while I thought I was verging on Stall + Sharpedo.)

 

[Pyritie]

I'm theorymonning a team right now, but I'm waaaaay more of a breeder or a lurker than I am an actual battler so I'm prone to missing things. The aim is to build a team with a Mega Sharpedo once ORAS comes out, but I'm limited to what I can get ingame (sorry, everybody probably hates hearing that!) which really just equates to almost no gen 4 tutor moves and some event legends. I want to see how far I can get with an initial team build before having to properly test/change it, just for fun. Thoughts/Suggestions? Everything's pretty open at the moment.

Hide

MShark @ sharpedite
Ability: Speed Boost
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe ((not really sure if max speed is necessary))
Adamant Nature
- Waterfall
- Protect
- Crunch
- [Probably Double Edge - I really don't like Keldeo and Azumarill]

Talonflame @ Lefties ((Stallbreaker set, ctrl-c/vd from cores thread))
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Def / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
- Taunt
- Will-O-Wisp
- Roost
- Brave Bird

Clefable @ Lefties ((nearly went for the Rest Talk set as another win condition, but heal bell and wish is just too useful.))
Ability: Unaware
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
- Moonblast
- Wish
- Protect
- Heal Bell

Garchomp @ Rocky Helmet ((great MegaSharpedo partner. Double shark :D))
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Impish Nature
- EQ
- Toxic
- Fireblast (or protect, but Ferro and Skarmory are a pain without Fire STAB from Talon, Impish still does decent damage)
- Stealth Rock

Latios @ Life Orb ((I'm stuck with this set at the moment, got it from the FB page giveaways. Great Pokemon, but no HP Fighting or Earthquake. If it were up to me I'd use Earthquake and Hasty, or swap it out for a Healing Wish Latias.))
EVs: 4 HP/252 SpA /252 Spd
Timid Nature
- Defog
- Draco Meteor
- Psyshock (maybe Psychic depending on team needs)
- something???

*Something* @ *Something*
EVs: god knows!
I feel like I should add a steel type, teams don't really feel complete without one. But I'm spoiled for choice. Ferrothorn gives me a FWG and Fairy/Steel/Dragon core all in one go, and gives Spikes which MShark loves. That's about it, though. I guess I can punish physical attackers with a 2x Rough Skin combo...
Scarf Excadrill can take out Rotom-W in a pinch, provides spinning, and a decent Earthquake to hit electric types - which would probably be fine only most of them have Ice coverage. Plus it removes fairies sometimes, which look like they'll be a problem. But I'm not sold on it and it gives me a few type redundancies.
Magnezone is a boss and I love it <3 But scarf or specs? Special attacking is a pro, as is a drag mag core, but it's not really much of a defensive steel type.
I could use Heatran? I forgot my reasons why if I'm honest :/ And then there's Scizor and Skarmory and all the rest of them. Or maybe I shouldn't use a steel type at all! #clueless

Once ORAS is out I'm gonna SR for a boatload of legends. I stopped catching them once XY came out and we found out about the 3 31s thing - I wasn't going to bother SRing for iffy gen 5 legends when great gen 6 ones would be around the corner. :| (P.S. this currently would be a balanced team, right? For a while I thought I was verging on Stall + Sharpedo.)

Are you planning on using this for battle spot or for 6v6 battles?

 

[D_what]

That is an excellent question :o 6v6 really. My heart will always belong to level 100 6v6. It's just a pain doing it ingame :/ I'll probably have to live with the fact that for random PSS battles or a lot of the casual stuff I do is going to be using level 100 EVs at level 50, but ideally it'll be between friends at level 100, or at conventions, but really just on the simulator. I just feel really weird using Pokemon on a sim that I know I can't get in reality. It's a stupid restriction on teambuilding but I don't think I could really enjoy a team with Softboiled Clefable/Defog Latias/some obscure Hidden Power legendary/Metal Sound Zapdos. ((Terrible examples but w/e))

So for now, assume 6v6!

 

[TheEnder]

I Have a real problem that i saw in a battle and in smogon calculator too, why Extreme Speed does exactly same damages with Normal Gem or with Life Orb ???

Both Gems and Life Orb boosts the damage output of moves with 30 %, so there is onthing wierd with Extremespeed doing the same damage with Normal Gem as with Life Orb.

 

[WideTomato]

I was just wondering how/where/if it was possible to see when/how/if the banned XY megas would be suspect tested in the new metagame ^^

 

[Norne]

I was just wondering how/where/if it was possible to see when/how/if the banned XY megas would be suspect tested in the new metagame ^^

I don't really see this happening, a broken over centralized pokemon doesn't make another pokemon less overcentralizing and broken, people discussed that back and forth with aegislash.

 

[craymond727]

What's the optimal nature for Kyurem-B's Assault Vest set?

 

[boltsandbombers]

What's the optimal nature for Kyurem-B's Assault Vest set?

Adamant. I'm pretty sure even with a negative nature Ice Beam deals enough damage to the targets that its supposed to cover, but you could definitely go with a -def nature like Lonely as Kyurem-B's typing has much better special resistances than physical ones.

 

[Enki]

What's the optimal nature for Kyurem-B's Assault Vest set?

Since you're using avest lonely is the correct one since you might be going for earth power and ice beam, this way you don't waste any speed, special bulk, or attack stats.

 

[eggman62]

Is choice scarf crawdaunt a viable pokemon in ou

 

[Albacore]

Is choice scarf crawdaunt a viable pokemon in ou

No, since even with a Choice Scarf, most offensive Pokemon are still able to outspeed Crawdaunt. The same applies to Dragon Dance. You're better off running Choice Band or Life Orb with Swords Dance.

 

[MTKEEGAN]

Is shadowtag banned in OU? If so can you link the thread?

 

[boltsandbombers]

Is shadowtag banned in OU? If so can you link the thread?

Nope, it's not banned in OU. If you're talking about the Ubers suspect test for shadow tag, the decision was reversed and shadow tag is not banned from Ubers.

 

[Empress]

If you vote "Abstain" in a suspect test, does the vote still count towards Tiering Contributor?
Additionally, if multiple suspects are being tested at once (like Deoxys-D and Deoxys-S), would that count as 2 votes or just 1?

 

[TheEnder]

If you vote "Abstain" in a suspect test, does the vote still count towards Tiering Contributor?
Additionally, if multiple suspects are being tested at once (like Deoxys-D and Deoxys-S), would that count as 2 votes or just 1?

Yes, it counts as a vote. For the latter, it counts as 1 voting.

 

[Lolme]

I don't really see this happening, a broken over centralized pokemon doesn't make another pokemon less overcentralizing and broken, people discussed that back and forth with aegislash.

I was wondering about this, has it ever been disscussed the existance of a "gamefreak-rules ladder" on showdown? Something to test if the existance of every banned pokemon and strategy on the same meta could create a new OP OU meta alternative that stays true to Gamefreak rules and limitations.

 

[Sanger Zonvolt]

I was wondering about this, has it ever been disscussed the existance of a "gamefreak-rules latter" on showdown? Something to test if the existance of every banned pokemon and strategy on the same meta could create a new OP OU meta alternative that stays true to Gamefreak rules and limitations.

Honestly, to say that a ladder "stays true to Gamefreak rules and limitations" while having it still be a singles ladder is contradictory since Gamefreak designs most of these Mons with VGC in mind, which is a Doubles format. This is why we banned Blaziken, and yet in Smogon Doubles it's only C-Ranked. Ultimately, we ban broken mons because they cause overcentralization, so what you'd end up with is just a nerfed version of Ubers where every team packs a broken mon and checks to all the other broken mons.

 

[Lolme]

Honestly, to say that a ladder "stays true to Gamefreak rules and limitations" while having it still be a singles ladder is contradictory since Gamefreak designs most of these Mons with VGC in mind, which is a Doubles format. This is why we banned Blaziken, and yet in Smogon Doubles it's only C-Ranked. Ultimately, we ban broken mons because they cause overcentralization, so what you'd end up with is just a nerfed version of Ubers where every team packs a broken mon and checks to all the other broken mons.

I understand the reason of the bans, in fact I have no complains about them, but what I would like to see is a ladder with all these non-legendary pokemon and shenanigans available to see which mons and strategies are truly overused - no bans considered - or a more elaborated discussion about it. I mean in a hypothetical ladder like this, as you mentioned, everyone would go for a broken mon or swagplay or Baton pass, so M-Blaziken might not be as overcentralizing if you can run M-Kanghaskan or M-Gengar in your team instead.

 

[WideTomato]

Will the XY OU ladder continue to exist like to BW and DPP ones did?

 

[pika pal]

Does Starmie ever vary its nature for different sets, or does it always choose Timid? For example, I know even Stall/Bulky Mewtwo sets in Ubers want boosted speed.

 

[kabbes]

Starmie's chief selling point is its speed, so I don't see that you'd ever not go timid.

 

[TheEnder]

Does Starmie ever vary its nature for different sets, or does it always choose Timid? For example, I know even Stall/Bulky Mewtwo sets in Ubers want boosted speed.

Outspeeding key threats such as Garchomp, Terrakion, Keldeo and Thundurus is almost always more important than the added bulk you gain by running a defefnse-boosting nature. The same goes for Mewtwo; it invests in Speed and HP mainly, to outspeed thw Pokemon it needs to, while retaining enough bulk.

 

[Lolme]

Does Starmie ever vary its nature for different sets, or does it always choose Timid? For example, I know even Stall/Bulky Mewtwo sets in Ubers want boosted speed.

You generally want a nature that increases the max stat of a pokemon so that you can invest more EVs on the rest of its stats; since positive nature means a 10% increase on base stats. So in starmie case using a positive nature in speed (highest stat) + def investment is much more efficient than a positive nature on a low base stat and full investment in speed.

As an example:

EVs: 248 HP / 140 Def / 116 Spe / 4 Spa
Timid Nature reaches:
323 HP / 241 Def / 324 Spe

VS

EVs: 248 HP / 24 Def / 232 Spe / 4 Spa
Bold Nature reaches:
323 HP / 233 Def / 324 Spe

Both reach the same speed but timid is much more bulky vs positive def nature (note that these are not optimal EVs)

 

[Dreamox]

Could someone please provide me a link to the top OU team lists or highest ranked teams etc?

 

[JungleB]

Could someone please provide me a link to the top OU team lists or highest ranked teams etc?

While I don't think that such a thing exists, you can find a ton of good teams in these places:

Team Showcase in the RMT subfourms: http://www.smogon.com/forums/forums/team-showcase.314/

ORAS OU Sample Teams: http://www.smogon.com/forums/threads/oras-ou-sample-team-thread.3521695/

Keep in mind that none of these teams will be perfect. However, you should make changes as you feel nessisary in order to improve the team and suit your playstyle... If you're going to be using them of course.