A Standard OU RMT

Sui89

Sui's Shuffling Shoddy Team (an OU RMT adventure!)

So I've been lurking here in order to learn more about the Pokemon metagame and never really posted. But after starting to play on Shoddy again a couple of weeks ago, I wanted to see what people's opinions here were about a team I've been using for the last couple weeks, since you guys are the experts on these things and such. I have a couple of concerns specifically I'd be grateful if you could help me with. So here it is:

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Aerodactyl @ Focus Sash
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 6 HP, 252 attack, 252 speed
Jolly nature
Earthquake
Stone Edge
Stealth Rock
Taunt
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Aerodactyl's purpose as the lead for my team is basically to set up Stealth Rock, which is he guaranteed to do because of Focus Sash. Taunt helps against things I think will also try to set up Stealth Rock, as well doing things like trying to boost stats, and so on. Earthquake and Stone Edge are for coverage if Aerodactyl makes it past the first couple of rounds (depending on if they attack me the first turn, activate Focus Sash, etc).


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Foretress @ Leftovers
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 252 HP, 162 attack, 96 defense
Relaxed nature
Spikes
Rapid Spin
Payback
Explosion
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Foretress' purpose is to come out Aerodactyl sets up Stealth Rock, set up Toxic Spikes, blow away other spike-like things if I've got any, and that's basically it. If it looks like Toxic Spikes won't do me a lot of good (Tentacruel or other absorbers making them useless, for example), Foretress returns and is saved for suiciding with Explosion against something that I would have trouble with otherwise.


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Zapdos @ Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 HP, 220 defense, 36 speed
Bold nature
Thunderbolt
HP Grass
Roost
Heat Wave
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Zapdos is mainly here for coverage and forcing switches on certain bulky water types. Thunderbolt provides coverage for that. And then I can switch into some Earthquakes and quickly counter with HP Ice, though there is usually the threat of Stone Edge from those Pokemon. Roost helps stall for time when Toxic is in effect against things that Zapdos can't handle with the attacks by themselves.


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Suicune @ Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 HP, 252 defense, 6 special attack
Bold nature
Surf
Ice Beam
Calm Mind
Roar
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Suicune's purpose is to switch into that something that doesn't like Suicune, forcing a switch, then proceeding to get a free Calm Mind. Assuming something comes in that Suicune can't handle, Roar comes into play. Stealth Rock and Toxic Spikes have been set up by this point, so Suicune can freely shuffle around the team, scouting while poisoning and damaging everything they have. If something pops out I know they'll have to switch for anyway, I use another Calm Mind. Since Suicune can take QUITE a bit of abuse before he finally faints, he's good for absorbing attacks, even some that are super effective against him, and then sweeping with Calm Mind in effect.


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Machamp @ Leftovers
Ability: No Guard
EVs: 252 HP, 252 attack, 6 speed
Adamant nature
Dynamic Punch
Stone Edge
Rest
Sleep Talk
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Dynamic Punch is absolutely fantastic for forcing switches, and Rest + Sleep Talk keeps Machamp alive for far longer than he should be able to stay alive a lot of the time. He's not hard to switch in on things, and since Fighting is super effective against a lot of important walls, he forces switches even before a Dynamic Punch. Rest makes him good for a status absorber too, which helps a bunch against things that commonly have Hypnosis or Sleep Powder.


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Infernape @ Life Orb
Ability: Blaze
EVs: 64 attack, 192 speed, 252 special attack
Naive nature
Nasty Plot
Fire Blast
Close Combat
Grass Knot
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Infernape has pretty good coverage with this set, and thanks to his good speed, he can take out a bunch of bulky waters that he'd have problems with otherwise. Switch on something that doesn't like Infernape, Nasty Plot, then sweep. He's also secondary support for Machamp in taking out things like Blissey.
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Basically how battles go is something like this: Aerodactyl comes out, sets up Stealth Rock, or Taunts to prevent other things from setting up. After Stealth Rock is out, Foretress comes out and sets up Toxic Spikes. Depending on circumstances, what comes next chances, but eventually, Suicune comes out and shuffles around the other team, poisoning and damaging them in the process. Calm Mind makes him pretty immune to quite a few special attacks, so he can stay out for a while, usually. If something like Blissey or Snorlax comes out, I'll switch to either Infernape or Machamp. Zapdos provides immunity to Earthquake and helps in the instance of Toxic Spikes being blown away, stalling for more time. Overall, I think I have each other's weaknesses covered decently, and Suicune seems to do a decent job as the primary wall here.


Concerns: Lack of a priority move makes things like Reversal Lucario hard to take out in a late game sweep. My team also lacks anything ghost or dark type, meaning that things like Fridge!Rotom are an EXTREME pain, since they are also immune to explosion (Cresselia is also a concern, though less so than the ghosts). So if possible, I'd like to try to fit in a dark/ghost move somewhere on the team, thought I'm unsure where.

Metagross is also a concern, since Infernape is the only thing that can reliably take that down. And if it's an Agility variety Metagross, he Agilities on the switch, outspeeds me, and proceeds to kill Infernape, meaning he can essentially sweep the rest of my team without a terrible amount of trouble (though Suicune slows him down some).

Lastly, Sky Form Shaymin has repeatedly been an issue, since Seed Flare doesn't have any problems ripping Suicune to shreds, and it 2HKO's Foretress, meaning I would have to first let someone die in order to use Explosion to kill him. It's been problematic.


Questions: I've been contemplating replacing Toxic on Zapdos with Heat Wave since Toxic seems excessive with Toxic Spikes a lot of the time, and Heat Wave would give me a secondary way to take out Metagross, but I can't decide if this is a good idea or not because then Zapdos is walled by certain things and is forced to switch out.

I've also been contemplating what to do about Foretress. Toxic Spikes are really useful in some battles and useless in others. I want to optimize the destructive power of the Calm Mind Shuffle with Suicune, so I would like to fit Spikes on it if possible. But should I replace Toxic Spikes or should I kick Earthquake out? I haven't used Earthquake a whole lot, but generally speaking using both Toxic Spikes and Spikes is unrealistic, so I couldn't decide.


Anyway, I appreciate any suggestions anyone has in order to improve this team, whether it be move suggestions, EV spreads, whatever. Thanks for reading!

Sui
 
good job on the RMT. it shows the time you put into it.

taunt aero is a great lead. personally, i think that deoxys-e works better though since its faster and does the same thing. it also gets counter and mirror coat so if you manage to save that sash somehow, you can seriously dent something. psycho boost/superpower arent bad choices to consider on it either.you can also put that ghost/dark move you want on it.

toxic spikes on foretress has its perks helpful but you risk guts, marvel scale, etc activation. spikes is better imo since you have a roarer and toxic/normal spikes affect the same pokes and you run less risks. that means more added residual damage for spikes. unless you intend to stall. then by all means, run toxic spikes.

many people might be expecting hp ice on zapdos and so dragons may be wary around it. hp grass works better on most bulky waters and ground pokes in general. though you might want to keep hp ice in hopes of surviving skymin. heatwave on it is a good idea. that way you can run hp grass without worries. im sure some of those pokes that wall you are scared by it too.

the rest of your team works nicely and is pretty standard. it works very nicely. tbh though you might want to run some bulkier pokes. salamence does good and wont be bothered much by skymin (assuming sala gets 1 DD) in that case, i think you can afford to lose machamp.

i hope i was a help. you did a great RMT and i enjoyed giving my thoughts on it. good luck.
 
Namikaze said:
good job on the RMT. it shows the time you put into it.

taunt aero is a great lead. personally, i think that deoxys-e works better though since its faster and does the same thing. it also gets counter and mirror coat so if you manage to save that sash somehow, you can seriously dent something. psycho boost/superpower arent bad choices to consider on it either.you can also put that ghost/dark move you want on it.

toxic spikes on foretress has its perks helpful but you risk guts, marvel scale, etc activation. spikes is better imo since you have a roarer and toxic/normal spikes affect the same pokes and you run less risks. that means more added residual damage for spikes. unless you intend to stall. then by all means, run toxic spikes.

many people might be expecting hp ice on zapdos and so dragons may be wary around it. hp grass works better on most bulky waters and ground pokes in general. though you might want to keep hp ice in hopes of surviving skymin. heatwave on it is a good idea. that way you can run hp grass without worries. im sure some of those pokes that wall you are scared by it too.

the rest of your team works nicely and is pretty standard. it works very nicely. tbh though you might want to run some bulkier pokes. salamence does good and wont be bothered much by skymin (assuming sala gets 1 DD) in that case, i think you can afford to lose machamp.

i hope i was a help. you did a great RMT and i enjoyed giving my thoughts on it. good luck.
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One big flaw in that advice Deoxys all forms are banned from the standard ladder.

Infernape only needs to run 192 speed with Garchomp gone it only needs to outrun all base 100s everything else isnt in OU or used in standard play, throw the rest into Attack or place right to make sure you get optimal uses of Life Orb.
 
oh sorry i wasnt aware that deoxys-e became uber again. well if you want to replace aerodactyl ever, you can run crobat. it still taunts, but it doesnt get SR. nastu plot and heatwave combo are somethings to consider. NP allows the possibility of hidden power and crobat does get some dark attack of its own.
 
Namikaze said:
many people might be expecting hp ice on zapdos and so dragons may be wary around it. hp grass works better on most bulky waters and ground pokes in general. though you might want to keep hp ice in hopes of surviving skymin. heatwave on it is a good idea. that way you can run hp grass without worries. im sure some of those pokes that wall you are scared by it too.
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I ran into this problem just today, in fact, on Swampert, and was forced to switch out, so I was contemplating HP Grass. I'm a little wary of it since switching it means that I am walled by the dragons, but I'll have to see how it plays out with testing. Thanks though. *changed it to that at least for now*

donovantx8 said:
Infernape only needs to run 192 speed with Garchomp gone it only needs to outrun all base 100s everything else isnt in OU or used in standard play, throw the rest into Attack or place right to make sure you get optimal uses of Life Orb.
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This was very helpful, thanks.
 
I dont strongly recommend it, but you could replace Forretres's Earthquake with Payback. With his low speed it hits with the same 100 base power most of the time. While it does sacrifice coverage, it provides that dark attack that you need, as well as hitting a rapid spinning Starmie (though, Im pretty sure it woundnt be a OHKO even with SR and spikes support; someone would have to do some damage calcs.). Its not the most practicle thing in the world, but your Zapdos and Infernape have such good coverage that I think you'd be able to pull it off. Thats the only way I could see you fitting in a move thats effective against Fridgetom too, seeing as you cant explode on it. Otherwise this is a great team. A little standard though. Not the most profound OU team in the world but one that will perform well in most situations, no doubt.
 
I'll try that out and see how it goes. I've got Earthquake on Aero, but I've also got decent coverage elsewhere. I've only really only had Earthquake on Foretress be useful a couple of times. So we'll see.

And today there was some massive influx of Cradily. I faced like four of them in a row, which really held the Shuffling back. O_o
 
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