Please, rate my cool OU team!

[twistedsinews]

This team is by far, my favorite. It's pretty bad ass, but gets owned due to a few uncommon weaknesses and a few members who don't really gel with the remainder of the team.

I'd like to just SWEEP the other team...
Any help?

This team works together pretty, well, I'd say.

Lead

Renita the Roserade @ Focus Sash
Ability: Natural Cure
Nature: Timid (+Spe,-Atk)
EVs: 252 SpA/252SpD
Leaf Storm
Toxic Spikes
Sleep Powder
HP Fire

Renita is an amazing lead. She's normally unexpected, so people switch out, and if I predict correctly, I get a free Toxic Spikes. Leaf Storm OHKOS a lot of things. A LOT, and Sleep Powder Cripples walls that can't absorb status. Natural Cure lets be bring Renita in after whatever my opponent tries to do to her.

Celeste the Celebi @ Leftovers
Ability: Natural Cure
Nature: Bold (+Def,-Atk)
EVs: 196HP/252Def/48Spe
Grass Knot
Recover
Earth Power
HP Fire

My team's pride and joy. She takes any attack you throw at her well, which means I can bring her in on ice types. She's so wonderful. <3.

Gary the Gallade @ Leftovers. (This item should totally be changed. Maybe Life Orb?)
Ability: Steadfast
Nature: Adamant (+Atk,-SpA)
EVs: 96HP/196Atk/56Def/158Spe
Stone Edge
Night Slash
Psycho Cut
Confuse Ray

Testing Confuse Ray. My theory is that it MAY force switches, allowing me to bring in Lillian a hell of a lot earlier.

Lillian the Lucario @ Life Orb
Ability: Inner Focus
Nature: Adamant (+Atk,-SpA)
EVs: 252Atk/252Spe
Close Combat
ExtremeSpeed
Ice Punch
Crunch

Type coverage on the punches. Ice for slow grounds. ExtremeSpeed to kill anything with low HP before it revenge kills me, and Aura Sphere because it is magical. Still, Lillian isn't a magical force on my team. She normally gets in a few hits or KOs something half-dead and then dies. Or get OHKOed. Silly Lilly.

Shelley the Starmie
Ability: Natural Cure
Nature: Timid (+Spe,-Atk)
EVs: 136HP/122Def/252Spe
Ice Beam
Rapid Spin
Surf
Thunderbolt

Standard Starmie. Kills a lot, and Natural Cure helps a million. Ice Beam kills Dragons, thank goodness. I HATE Salamence. And if it doesn't OHKO, I'll hit it again with Thunderbolt, in case of a switch to something resistant to Ice.

Seth the Swampert @ Leftovers
Ability: Torrent
EVs: 252 HP/252 Def/6 Atk
Impish nature (+Def, -SAtk)
Stealth Rock
Avalanche
Earthquake
Protect

Earthquake because Starmie already covers water attacks. This seems to be working well. I'll report any other problems with my team in a reply.



This team has effective type coverage, from my experience. Or at least it does attack wise. Can anyone hand me substitutions or tell me of the weaknesses I've got. Any criticism is great. <3.

Twisted.
​

 

[mtr]

Starmie is missing an item. I'm guessing you meant Leftovers.

At first glance, it looks like you would have some problems with stall, as you don't have any mixed sweepers (splashing Aura Sphere on Lucario gets you nothing, and Close Combat is superior) or any hate (stuff like Taunt and Trick that screws over stallers) besides Dugtrio and Leech Seed. The Toxic Spikes can be Rapid Spinned as you don't have a spin blocker, and aren't nearly enough to help this team out.

The point is that you shouldn'y be trying to outstall stall. It's easier to shut it down, build up an assault, and punch your way through.

Dugtrio is frail enough as it is, and Stealth Rock is better left to bulkier dudes or suicide leads.

You can keep your Roserade lead, but get a Stealth Rocking Physical Swampert in there somewhere. I suggest over Starmie or Dugtrio. You really don't need a Rapid Spinner, and you're wasting the time that you could be using to press hard on the attack.

Swampert (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Torrent
EVs: 252 HP/252 Def/6 Atk
Impish nature (+Def, -SAtk)
- Stealth Rock
- Avalanche
- Earthquake/Waterfall
- Protect/Earthquake/Rest

This guy can beat Salamence and Tyranitar as well. He's very reliable and is an asset to whatever team he's on.

Get a set-up sweeper. This needs to happen. I suggest Bulky Gyarados from the smogon analysis. Put him over Dugtrio. Taunt will add up to some nice anti-stall hate.

Do you need Heal Bell on Celebi? A lot of players take it "just in case" when they should really just damn the torpedoes and charge ahead. Think about the opportunity cost of the move: you could have Thunder Wave, which hurts and annoys everybody and permits an easier setup against aggressive teams. I like Grass Knot over Psychic for Swampert and Gyarados.

Hmmm...Gallade...I'm not too experienced with him, but I think an NP Mixape may be superior. The balls in your court now, as I hate making too many changes at once. I'm not the kind of guy who does complete overhauls, as I like to try to stay true to the founder's original conception of the team.

 

[Sharpteeth]

Scarf-Tran punches through the team. Change Celebi or Roserade for something that resists Fire, like Latias or Gyarados.

Editing more change right now.

Aerial Ace is really meh on Gallade, Close Combat deals more damage than AA on Fighting types, and Psycho Cut covers Grass/Poison and Heracross already. Switch Aerial Ace for Close Combat.

Close Combat on Lucario (again -.-) over Aura Sphere. Your nature and EVs all tend towards a physical set, so why give it a Special move? Swords Dance would work great over Thunderpunch.

Dugtrio is shit. The standard set is

Duggy @ Life Orb/CB

Earthquake
Stone Edge
Sucker Punch
Aerial Ace/ Pursuit, heck, even Substitute.

The main reason your Dugtrio gets killed is because it doesn't have time to use Toxic or SR. It gets in, revenges, then gets the crap out.


One of those two is getting replaced, but:

Celebi needs Recover over Leech Seed and Grass Knot over Psychic, since Grass Knot is a better STAB.

Roserade is "ok".

Overall, the whole team looks like a bunch of favorite Pokemon thrown together. It lacks any central strategy, you're not trying to do anything. Your reasoning is "If the opponent uses X, I'll counter it with Y." That doesn't work. With all those different threats in DPP, you can't possibly counter everything. Instead, you should force the opponent into having to counter you through having a main goal, like setting up a Lucario sweep by baiting with Gallade, then revenging with Dugtrio.

 

[SixthGrayX]

Okay, first off. Some of your EV sets are a little bit unneccessary. All EVs become a single stat boost in groups of 4, so EVs not divisible by 4 either have too many or too few EVs invested. Turn the 150s and 130s to something like 132 or 152.

Now onto the team. First off, Roserade. The best EVs for the role you're aiming for is 4HP / 252SpA / 252Spe. This allows Roserade to retain the usefullness of the sash and still have speed and power. That said, remove Aromatherapy for Hidden Power Ground or Fire depending on if you wanna beat Heatran or Scizor.

Celebi. Your set is pretty decent, but once again the EVs are totally wrong. Take the Defense to 132, the Speed to 48, and the SDefense to 128. You'll keep your desired set and retain your bulkiness evenly without wasting EVs. But if you want the best results, use one of the EV sets from the Strategy Guide on the main site.

Same goes for Gallade. Change the EVs to something divisible by 4 and take off Will-o-Wisp. You can beat Intimidaters with Swords Dance. Trying Stone Edge would be good, too, because the most common Intimidaters (Gyarados and Salamence) are both weak to Rock.

Lucario is a little bit odd. Try the SD Luke off of the Strategy Guide like with Gallade. When all of your EVs are invested in Attack, a special attack doesn't fit in. Close Combat / Swords Dance / Extremespeed / Crunch will serve you better.

Shelly the Starmie needs an item. With Life Orb, you'll get what you want. Good enough Starmie. :D

And now Dugtrio. With how frail Duggy is, take off Stealth Rock. If you're worried about getting killed quickly, that's not the way to go. Use Night Slash so you don't have to worry about a sweeper coming in to smash you on a banded Sucker Punch.

 

[Bloo]

Hello!​

Celebi is one of the best walls in OU since it is capable of dealing with threats such as Gyarados, however, what makes Celebi so great is its ability to instantly heal itself with Recover. You do not have Recover on Celebi so I suggest using Recover over Heal Bell. elebi needs Recover to heal itself from any damage it will be taking from the Pokemon that it is supposed to be counetring such as Gyarados. Leech Seed does not provide Celebi with enough recovery while Recover does. Secondly, Grass Knot is better than Pychic in OU. Grass Knot allows Celebi to take on Bulky Waters much better while allowing Celebi to hurt Gyarados and Tyranitar much more effectively. Now, use Thunder Wave, in place of Earth Power. Thunder Wave allows you to cripple Pokemon such as Infernape and Scizor who love switching into Celebi. Thunder Wave cuts Infernape's and any other Pokemon that switches in on Celebi in half. Earth Power is mainly used to hit Infernape and Heatran. You have Starmie for those Fire types so its not much of a concern. Now for the fourth move, it is a choice between Hidden Power Fire and Leech Seed. Since your team is pretty vulnerable to Scizor's U-Turn and Scizor overall, I suggest using Hidden Power Fire over Leech Seed. Hidden Power Fire allows Celebi to take care of one of Celebi's worst enemy's, Scizor! HP Fire will hit Scizor for hard damage, allowing one of your other Pokemon to finish it off. Now it is time for Celebi's EV spread! Use 252 HP / 220 Def / 36 Spe with a Bold Nature. The EVs give Celebi the best overall tanking ability it can get while still outrunning Jolly Tyranitar, which means you can Grass Knot it before it hits you with Crunch. Bold lets Celebi take Physical hits more effectively as well since Bold boost Celebi's Defense stat. Your EV spread is pretty messy. Celebi does not need Special defense EV's because the only Special Attacks Celebi should be taking are Special Attacks that it resists such as Surf and weak Ice Beams coming from Vaporeon, Starmie, and Vaporeon. Even with Special Defense EV's, Celebi will lose to Heatran and Infernape, one of the most common Pokemon that switch-in on Celebi and attack with with their Fire attacks which are Specially based.​

Okay, Lucario is one of the most dangerous Pokemon currently in OU. As of right now, you are not using Lucario to its fullest potential. What makes Lucario so dangerous is its ability to destroy a myriad of Pokemon after a Swords Dance. The set I suggest you use is Swords Dance, Close Combat, Crunch, ExtremeSpeed, 252 Attack/ 252 Speed/ 6 HP, Adamant. Getting getting a Swords Dance with Lucario is extremely easy. Thanks to Lucario's Steel typing and amazing resistances, Lucario has many chances to set up a Swords Dance and sweep. Close Combat is for STAB and for hitting many threats for amazing damage, with or without a Swords Dance. Crunch is for Ghost types such as Rotom-A, who can ruin your sweep otherwise. Crunch also allows you to take care of Celebi and Cresselia. ExtremeSpeed is for priority and to allow Lucario to finish of frail and faster threats such as Dugtrio and Azelf. Just to show you Lucario's power, I will show you some damage calculations to demonstrate what Lucario can do after a Swords Dance. After a Swords Dance, Close Combat does 84.4% - 99.7% to Skarmory. Crunch does 100% to any Rotom and does 78.7% - 93.1% to Max HP/ Def Celebi!

On Roserade, use Hidden Power Fire over Aromatherpahy. With Hidden Power Fire, you can take care of Scizor while hitting Lucario, Celebi, Magnezone, and Skarmory for super effective damage. An alternative to Hidden Power Fire is Hidden Power Ground. This allows Roserade to OHKO Heatranit if you can predict a Heatran switch-in. Aromatherpahy is not really needed on your team since you have three users of Naturall Cure to take status for your team.. Roserade can use the extra type-coverage given by the moves I suggested.

Now, Gallade and Lucario are pretty much the same Pokemon. Your team could benefit from a Pokemon that can aid Lucario in its sweep by taking care of common Lucario counters/checks. What threatens Lucario? Choice Scarf Heatran, Hippowdon, Gyarados, Salamence, etc. This Pokemon should be able to 1) help Lucario sweep, 2) Add some synergy to your team and help your team as a whole. A Pokemon that can help weaken walls for you while helping you face stall can help you as well. Salamence sounds like a good candidate for your team. Salamence can weaken the Pokemon that stop Lucario or are not OHKOed by its attacks. With Draco Meteor, Earthquake, Fire Blast, Outrage, Salamence can take down/weaken Hippowdon, Skarmory, Celebi, Gyarados, allowing Lucario to have an easier time sweeping. Salamemce also has great synergy with Lucario as they both resist each others weaknesses perfectly. Use the moveset I listed and use an EV spread of 84 Atk / 216 SpA / 208 Spe with a Naive Nature. With that EV spread, Salamence can 2HKO Blissey with Outrage. 208 Speed EVs assure that Salamence outruns all Gyarados before to a Dragon Dance, allowing you to hit it hard with Draco Meteor. The max Special Attack allow Salamence to fire Draco Meteor's as hard as it can. As for the moves, Fire Blast takes care of Steel types such as Skarmory and Forretress. Outareg is for STAB and to take down Special Walls such as Blissey. Draco Meteor takes out the Physical Walls such as Hippowdon and Swampert that switch-in to Salamence. So basically. Salamence helps Lucario sweep by weakening walls that can stop a Lucario sweep. Salamence also adds to the synergy of your team while giivng your team an important Fire resist. You also have Starmie to get rid of Stealth Rock for Salamence, meaning Salamence will have an easier time sweeping.

Good Luck!

 

[Sharpteeth]

I disagree with SixthGrayX

Two Fighting typed sword dancers is overkill. Will-o-Wisp is the only reason to use Gallade over, say, Medicham. A burned Salamence or Dusknoir is a lot less dangerous for both Gallade and Lucario.

Sucker Punch on Dugtrio is almost needed now. Dugtrio isn't lightning fast, so any Scarfed sweeper will outspeed it. Sucker Punch is the best way to revenge faster sweepers like Scarf Flygon, Gengar or Azelf.

 

[SixthGrayX]

I disagree with SixthGrayX

Two Fighting typed sword dancers is overkill. Will-o-Wisp is the only reason to use Gallade over, say, Medicham. A burned Salamence or Dusknoir is a lot less dangerous for both Gallade and Lucario.

Well, not necessarily. Gallade is much bulkier than Medicham, and is therefore easier to switch in than Medicham. However, if you use Medicham with a Scarf as a revenge killer, I'd agree with you. That, and by the time they switch it that Pokemon, the Lucario or Gallade would already have used SD, and would be running on +1 Power or +2 against a non-intimidater.

Sucker Punch on Dugtrio is almost needed now. Dugtrio isn't lightning fast, so any Scarfed sweeper will outspeed it. Sucker Punch is the best way to revenge faster sweepers like Scarf Flygon, Gengar or Azelf.

 

[twistedsinews]

Okay, so I'm going to trade in some of My EVs and what not, but the reasoning for some of my sets is TYPE coverage. Without Thunderpunch on Lucario, I get raped by Guts Swellow. Heal Bell on Celebi saves me turns. I'll totally drop Doug for Swampert any day. Edits are a coming.

 

[Steel.Storm]

Swellow is UU... ya shouldn't really be running onto many of those. run SD, Extremespeed, CC, and Ice Punch (for Dragons... and what do ya know! Flying types too :O) / Crunch (for Ghosts who'd otherwise have a pretty easy time setting up on him

EDIT: at the very least give him CC > Aura Sphere and Crunch > T-Punch (like i said, Ice is SE on Flyers... thus T-Punch is useless for Swellow)

 

[mc2094]

I would consider every single thing mentioned by Bloo. Lucario needs to be SD with crunch. You provided NO reason for galade so I'm assuming it's just a filler. Why not run Scizor.

Scizor@CB
Adamant
200 HP/ 252 Atk/ 56 SDef
-Bullet Punch
-U-Turn
-Superpower
-Pursuit

Scizor and Lucario share common counters so by using u-turn you can bait those poke and try taking them down. You also lacked a bulky steel so he fits that role. If you do this then consider changing a few poke with ones that can assist with Lucario sweeping. Sorry if it seems I'm changing the theme of this team but I realy don't see one and every team needs a goal.
Starmie is supposed to sweep right? If so, giv it 4 HP/ 252 SAtk/ 252 Spd with timid. I trully don't see why Starmie is in here. RS is unneeded since no one minds the SR damage.

This team seems very random. You thought about synergy(sort of) but not about ways to handle threats. You say your lead works well but it loses to all of the common leads. I'd fix it up more.

 

[Legacy Raider]

This thread is being locked under rule 3:

3. Have some actual words in your post beyond your six Pokemon and their moves. Not following this makes your post quite boring to read and rate. All Pokemon should have a good reason for being in your team anyway, so why not post that reason? If you are having trouble with this one, start by giving an explanation for each team member. Why are they there? What role do they serve? How do you get them in? Then, give an explanation of how you would open with the team and how you would go about using it. All of these things help people rate your team and allow us to offer more helpful advice.

This does not mean add one sentence saying "Standard x" or "all-around awesome" after each Pokemon. If you put thought into making the team, you can put thought into posting it.

You need a bit more than a single sentence for your Pokemon. Your descriptions are lacking, particularly those for Gallade and Celebi. Fix them up and PM me the changes, and I'll unlock your thread.