The Lati-Zone (Bulky Offensive OU RMT)

[Blue_Tornado]

Hi all, and welcome to my RMT! Though I've been here at Smogon for a long while, this is only my second RMT, and I was quite a long time off the RMT sub-forum. Now, while planning to be active again in RMT, I have decided to post one of my recent and most succesfull teams.

The Lati-Zone
(a bulky offensive OU team)​

Team Building:​

After a long era of stall team building, I missed the good ol' days with offensive teams, where the battles where quick and enjoyable. With that thought, I decided to make a team, doing my best to remove any intrest in stall. I wanted a bulky offensive team.​

To start off, I wanted a solid core, that not only could keep the team in balance, but could also keep the momentum at my side. For this cause, I decided to start forming my core with the Stallbreaking Gliscor.​

I wanted something that can take Ice and Water attacks and have good synergy with Gliscor. My ideas were Vaporeon, Starmie and Suicune. I wanted something swift and quick to keep up the momentum, so I went with Starmie.​

Looking at my team, I lacked a Normal, Grass, Rock, Flying, Ghost, Dragon and Dark resistance, so it was pretty ovbious that a Steel type was coming in. My closest options were Heatran and Magnezone. I wanted my core to cover every type, so with Heatran being neutral against Rock, he was out. So with that, in came Magnezone.​

So there was my core. With that in place, what I was looking for was a pokemon that the team would be centralizing - the star of the show. For that, I examined the team closely. Gliscor was covering Tyranitar. Starmie was covering Gyarados and Heatran. Magnezone was covering Scizor as well as other steel types. That's when I found it. "Tyranitar.. Scizor.. Steel types... of course, Latias!". And Latias was born for the part.​

With that done, I examined the team once more. I noticed that I have an increasing weakness to Bug, Ghost and Dark, which is asking for trouble. I was looking for another Steel type. When I took a glance again, I noticed that I have a weakness to Latias herself, as well as a lack of priority moves. You can guess that I wasn't lookinghard enough. Scizor was on the team.​

As for the last pokemon, I looked for a couple of things. I needed a reliable pokemon to set up SR, another resist to Rock and Flying type moves and another pokemon that can help handle Latias. Metagross came to mind quickly.​

So there it was. My first bulky offensive team after a long while of stall battling. I didn't have high expectations, but this team was actually very successful and had a 4:1 win ratio. Overall I am very pleased with this team.​

Strategy​

Most of the strategy is reliant upon the opponents Pokemon. I usually try to bring in Starmie when both Starmie and Latias can come in (Swampert, Heatran, ect), and with that I lure in their Scizor. Then I switch to Gliscor. If they U-Turn, Gliscor absorbs that, but if they Pursuit and KO Starmie, I make an easy revenge kill with Magnezone, and thus eliminating one of their Latias checks. The Starmie-Scizor trrade-off is fine by me, as it gets me one step closer to a Latias sweep. If a Bronzong or any other bulky steel appears, I usually switch to Gliscor to make them *not* Earthquake if they have it, and then switch to Magnezone on the likely Gyro Ball (or anything else resisted really). I then set up a sub to scout for an Explosion, and if they EQ, I Magnet Rise, Substitute and Thunderbolt, repeating this if the Magnet Rise wears off or subbing up again if the sub is broken. In the end, with the Steel type defeated, I've eliminated yet another counter to Latias.​

You may be asking where is my Blissey counter. Well, the truth is - Latias is my Blissey counter! CM Refresh Latias can beat any Blissey (barring a Psych Up or CM variant) one on one with ease. The only roadblock is Wish+Protect Blissey, as the extra Leftovers recovery ruins the chance of a 2HKO almost completely. Usually they carry Flamethrower and Toxic, so I can Taunt her with Gliscor and EQ away, winning easily.​

Tyranitar is usually the toughest pokemon to eliminate. If it's a Curse variant, Gliscor can halt it with Taunt, but if it's a CB Tar, I nedd to be careful. The best way to slowly KO it is to Sub with Magnezone when it switches in, then Toxic it. That, along with SR damage, will bring it down eventually. Against the DD Tar, it's actually not that hard. I usually bring in Metagross on a DD or SE, and Bullet Punch from there. If it's a Babiri Tar, Scizor can then revenge kill. I don't mind sacrificing Metagross to stop a sweep. Infact, I do it a lot, as he is the most "filler" pokemon in the team and is less needed than anyone else.​

After the common counters are eliminated, Latias can easily set up on Blissey and Swampert, and even on Heatran's Dragon Pulses and Rotom-A's Shadow Balls! From there, the win is secure. Unless I get some annoying crits of freezes though... >_<​

In depth...​

Changes will be in BOLD, along with the standard color.

Metagross @ Occa Berry
Nature: Adamant
EVs: 252 HP / 224 Atk / 12 Def / 20 Spe
~Stealth Rock
~Earthquake
~Bullet Punch
~Explosion​

You can't go wrong with a Metagross lead, can you? Metagross is the Uxie of OU, capable of laying SR on almost anything. Bullet Punch is for priority overall and EQ is for putting the hurt on other leads. Explosion is good for mid game as an "oh shit" button, as I've used it a lot to take down enemy Latias, Swampert, Gyarados and more.​

The spread is the standard one, only with 224 Atk and 20 Spe to pass 16 Spe lead Metagross.​

Against Top 10 Leads:​

Azelf: It's probably the thougher of th e 10 leads to face, but it's still not a problem. Since it outruns all of my team, I usually BP on turn one to scout for Taunt, then SR on turn two. If it SR'd and then Fire Blasted me, I can BP on turn three, sacrificing metagross and bringing in Scizor for the kill. Can't risk it Exploding. If I have a turn four for some reason, I can hope to KO with the third BP. If I do, I stay with a dying 5% metagross. Yay!​

Metagross: It's usually SR, then EQ twice for the KO. Since I moved 12 EVs from Attack to Speed, I can outrun even 16 Spe Metagross, ensuring the 1 on 1 victory.​

Jirachi: They usually strait-off Trick. I can switch to Scizor to absorb it, but I don't mind staying with a Scarfed Metagross with Explosion for later. =3 I usually SR and then switch out to Gliscor to threaten it as it lays down SR as well.​

Swampert: I usually come on top with this, though it sounds unusual. I SR as it SR's too. Then, I EQ to scout for a Ghost or a Protect. The best scenario is the Protect Pert, since that pretty much tells me that they don't have a Ghost (Rotom-A), so I can Explode and take down the Swampert. If it switches to a Gengar, wekk, I'm screwed. That never happened though...​

Aerodactyl: Easy. I BP twice. If it Taunts, the opponent loses his only SR Pokemon. If he SR's, I always have Starmie for backup.​

Infernape: Metagross can lay down SR after both Fake Out and Fire Blast, but I don't do that usually. I just switch Starmie on the Fake Out, Surf on the SR and Rapid Spin to finish off the 1 HP Infernape and it's SR.​

Hippowdon: I don't see it much, but it's almost the same as Swampert. I SR, scout and act accordingly. Explosion is not likely to KO here though.​

Ninjask: Again, seldom seen, but if it does get some usage, I can't deal wit it that good. SR is a priority, as it sets up a Substitute. I switch to Gliscor, hoping for a Protect. Then, I hope that the opponent gets greedy and stays in, as I try to Taunt it. It's usually to late though...​

Bronzong: As I said in the Strategy section, I usually try to switch Magnezone into it and KO it. For that, though, I need to predict my way to the UFO. I usually SR as it uses SR / Trick / Hypnosis, then switch to Gliscor as it uses EQ / SR / Hypnosis. Then it usually Gyro Balls as I switch in to Magnezone. If it explodes, it does about 35% to Magnezone, so it's all good. On the first turn after the switch-in, I scout for an Explosion using Substitute, then if it used EQ I Magnet Rise, set up a Sub again and get rid of him. After that scenario, I usually am up 6-5 with Magnezone at about 50% health and behind a sub. Success.​

Roserade: What can I say? I lose in this scenario. I BP for about 48% as it puts me to sleep, then switch in Gliscor as it Toxic Spikes. Then I usually get to KO it with EQ. One layer is still annoying for Starmie to face afterwards. >_> And more importantly - I didn't set up SR. I likely need help here.​

PS: Kudos for Roserade for reaching the top 10! 0.o​

Gliscor @ Leftovers
Nature: Jolly
EVs: 252 HP / 40 Def / 216 Spe
Ability: Sand Veil
~Earthquake
~Taunt
~U-Turn
~Roost​

The Stallbreaker set for Gliscor is an amazing thing to have, and is also a great way to build up momentum. With U-Turn, I can cycle around the opponents team with Scizor and Gliscor, dealing more and more damage in the long run. It's also my main Lucario and Tyranitar counter, so it's very valuable to me overall. It can also dead with Metagross, but a LO AgiliGross can 2HKO me with Meteor Mash, so my best bet is weakening it with EQ and then predicting my way out of danger. Taunt is a very valuable move, shutting down Smeargle, Skarmory, Forretress, Wish Blissey and many more, as it isn't called a stallbreaker for nothing. One of the most important pokemon in the team, hands down.​

Jolly and 216 speed EVs allow me to hit the lovable 308 speed mark, outspeeding any Lucario, Roserade, Moltres and other base 90 Pokemon. This is extra important here, as this means that I can U-Turn out on those pokemon if I'm unsure if he's switching out as well. 252 HP EVs are obvious and 40 Def EVs are the leftover EVs for additional bulk.​

Starmie @ Leftovers
Nature: Timid
EVs: 136 HP / 156 Def / 216 Spe
Ability: Natural Cure
~Surf
~Thunderbolt
~Rapid Spin
~Recover​

Though it can't "U-Turn out", Starmie is a great pokemon for putting pressure on the opponent's Fire, Ground and Water type pokemon, thus getting some momentum on my side. The standard starmie makes for a decent Rapid Spinner, and if you predict well, you can predict a Rotom-A switch-in and double-switch to Scizor, hopefully pursuiting them to death. It is also very effective to double-switch to Gliscor if you know that the opponent will switch and don't know to who, since it's usually to a Scizor or a Tyraniter. Then you can U-Turn once more to keep playing the prediction game and never losing momentum 8-). It's though, but extremely effective once you get used to it. Starmie is also my only (but effective) Gyarados and Empoleon counter, and it worth it's weight in gold for that reason.​

Surf is for reliable STAB while Thunderbolt is for countering Gyarados and hitting Vaporeon hard. Rapid Spin is a blessing for every team, and is one of the main reasons that I choosed Starmie over Suicune in the first place. Recover is, well, reliable recovery, and lets you switch multiple times on Gyarados and Empoleon.​

The EVs are completely standard - 216 Speed EVs and Timid once more to get to a speed mark - this time being 352. The HP and Def EVs are proven to give you the best hit taking ability on the Physical side (checked it myself ;p), Surviving a +1 LO Gyarados' EQ or SE after SR damage.​

Magnezone @ Leftovers
Nature: Timid
EVs: 40 HP / 252 SpA / 216 Spe
Ability: Magnet Pull
~Substitute
~Magnet Rise
~Thunderbolt
~Toxic​

Though it doesn't look like much, Magnezone is usually the MVP of most matches, scoring about two kills on average each match, be it by Thunderbolt, Toxic damage or a steel type exploding on it. ;p​

Thunderbolt is for reliable STAB, dealing with the many Steel-types trapped by him, be it Scizor, Bronzong, Forretress, Metagross, Skarmory and others. Substitute is a wonderful move, giving it a safety net against trapped Steel-types. Scizor's BP and Pursuit only break a Substitute after two hits, which means that you are sure to get out of the encounter with a Substitute intact. The same goes with Bronzong, just that Gyro Ball takes three hits to break the same Substitute, giving you even more time to electrify the metal bell. ScarfTran stuck on Dragon Pulse (or HP Ice, Grass and Electric), Scarfed Jirachi stuck on Iron Head and CB Metagross stuck on any attack besides EQ are more examples of easy targets, and you can still get out of there with a Sub intact as well. Magnet Rise lets you preform the same against non-choice item Metagross (or slower CB Gross locked on EQ), Bronzong and many more. It also helps against pokemon using the Ice-Ground combination as their offensive force (take that, Swampert). Magnezone can also easily set up a Substitute against Bolt-Beam users like Porygon2, as T-Wave is blocked by the Sub. After all of this, you can surely see why I love that electric UFO so much.​

You may be wondering - Why Toxic? Why not Flash Cannon, Hidden Power or even Explosion? To be honest, I underestimated Toxic in the begining too. Since I had trouble with Swampert, I originally started out with HP Grass. It worked out well, as everyone was predicting a HP Ice. That was, though, until I found out that it does about 85% on average to standard Pert. That didn't satisfy me at all, as I lost Magnezone a few times just because of that. I was also tired of me having nothing to do against Flygon, Rotom-A and other pokemon that were switching in all the time. With that, I was looking for something that can hit all of them: Swampert, Rotom-H, Hippowdon, Slalmence, Flygon, Gliscor, Porygon2 and an abundance of other walls. Then it hit me: Toxic. There was also another reason for picking Toxic: usually, my Zapdos counter was Latias, but when Latias was down, I couldn't touch the electric bird at all. With Magnezone though, I cound Toxic it behind a Sub and then flee. I was rather optimistic about my choice, but when testing, it worked incredibly well, breaking many stall members and common switch-ins to Magnezone. Is that enough for a reason?​

The EVs satisfy my needs. One again, a speed boosting nature and 216 EVs bring me to yet another speed mark - 231. This let's you outspeed max Spe Adamant Scizor, as well as the 0 Spe defensive Rotom-A running about. Outspeeding Rotom-A gives me two things: the ability to avoid WoW and the ability to hit it with Toxic before Substitute variants Sub up. Everything below that - including max Spe Adamant Tyranitar and pokemon aiming for 222 Speed to counter Tyranitar - is outsped as well, letting you Toxic many walls before they can act. 252 SpA gives you a lot of power behind your STAB Thunderbolts as 40 EVs in HP is for more bulk.​

Latias @ Leftovers
Nature: Timid
EVs: 148 HP / 108 SpA / 252 Spe
~Calm Mind
~Refresh
~Dragon Pulse
~Recover​

Refresh Latias is an incredibly underrated pokemon. Most teams pack a Blissey with Toxic to "Counter" CM Latias, while Scizor and Tyranitar are meant for "checking" Latias. This "counter" is not actually a counter to this set, while the other two checks are eliminated. This is often my goal - to eliminate the likes of Scizor, Tyranitar and Steel-types and let my Latias sweep. Most stal teams are a bit unprepared for Latias, as many let you set up 6 CMs against Blissey, making Latias ridiculously powerful. Others switch to phazers, and it's often only after I have 3 CMs under my belt. As a result, the likes of Roar Swampert and Suisune take about 75% damage, so if they were hurt beforehand, they won't be able to survive. This is often translated into a clean win.​

Refresh is obviously key to this set, allowing you to set-up and beat Blissey one on one. Calm Mind and Recover form the "set up" part mentioned earlier, allowing you to cycle through Refresh, Calm Mind and Recover to beat any Protect-less-Blissey.​

Dragon Pulse is your only attack, but a reliable one at that. The only problem with it is its low PP. 16 might sound like a lot, but in a CM vs CM (or CM vs Blissey) stall war, Latias will be the first to run out of attacks, especially against Pressure Pokemon like CM Raikou and Suicune. That is why Suicune is such a problem to this team. Against recovery-less-opponents though (like Sub CM Jirachi and others), Latias will eventually win, but with most of her PP gone to waste.​

In the end, I decided to go with the defensive thread as everyone said. It gives her more bulk while retaining speed.

Scizor @ Choice Band
Nature: Adamant
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 Def
Ability: Technician
~Bullet Punch
~Superpower
~U-Turn
~Pursuit​

Scizor is an important member of my team. It revenge kills weakened Tyranitar, as well as below 20% health LO AgiliGross. It also kills off opposing Latias with Pursuit and is important for getting rid of both DD and Mixed Salamence and Dragonite. The two are very dangerous for my team, so I usually switch-in Scizor on the Draco Meteor (or Dragon attack), and after they're at 65% health thanks to SR and LO, I can net myself a safe KO with BP. We all know how U-Turn works, do we? Use it, wear down the counter with it, switch in your counter simultaneously and scare it off. Rinse and repeat. Superpower is obvious as well.​

No surprise in the EVs at all. 248 HP for bulk and a number not divisible by 8. 252 Atk and Adamant for maximum power and 8 Def to be (hopefully) slower than other Scizors.​

Currently Testing:​

~Scarfed Starmie over standard Starmie
~Defensive Latias spread
~Defensive Scizor spread​

Finishing Words:​

Before I end this, I want to thank you, the reader, for reading this very long RMT. I've been working hours upon hours on this, so I hope it all turns out well. Cheers, and happy rating!​

Rape
My
Teacher..​

wait.​

Eh, who cares! ^_^​

 

[Blue_Tornado]

Threat List:​

Key:

Pokemon which are easy to deal with will be in Green.
Pokemon who are manegable, but can cause trouble will be in Orange.
Pokemon who pose a threat to this team will be in Red.

Offensive:

Azelf: As a lead, it can outspeed me and Explode on my team, so I usually need to sacrifice Metagross and bring Scizor early just because it's there and ready to blow. As an attacker though, Latias and Starmie wall it very well. Explosion is still to be feared though.​

Breloom: First off, I let one of my pokemon fall asleep. Then I'm free to go to Gliscor or Latias to counter it easily.​

Celebi: The Tinkerbell set is stopped by Latias easily. Gliscor can Taunt a CM version, but it'll take a hefty blow in the meantime. To be honest, I didn't face a CM Celebi yet, but I think it would mean trouble.​

Dugtrio: If it makes an appearance in OU, the only thing it can reliably trap on my team is Metagross (BP will KO weakened ones though) and Starmie. Latias can switch out, Gliscor walls it and Scizor has BP to OHKO it and Pursuit to do the same thing against fleeing ones.​

Electivire: Gliscor can come in on an Electric attack, take 75% damage from an Ice Punch (if it's even slower) and KO with EQ. Latias can outspeed and dent weakened ones, and I'm not sure that Ice Punch will KO Latias anyway.​

Empoleon: It usually carries only Surf and Ice Beam, so Starmir can counter it. If it's weakened enough, Scizor revenge kill it. Latias can slowly set up on Empoleon if it's faster, and KO it in the end.​

Flygon: Gliscor is 3HKO'd by the Scarf set's Outrage. Scizor can come in on Outrage and 2HKO with Bullet Punch. Latias can revenge kill non-scarf versions.​

Gengar: Metagross is 2HKO'd by LO Focus Blast, but can badly hurt it with his Bullet Punches. Scizor can KO with BP as well as KO with Pursuit, if he switched out or not.​

Gliscor: Latias can come in on EQ and threaten it's weak SpD. Starmie can KO. The Baton Pass versions can be 2HKO'd by Scizors BP after SR and no Leftovers recovery. Gliscor can Taunt Baton Passers as well.​

Gyarados: Starmie takes 73.90% - 87.12% from max attack +1 LO EQ (or SE), so it survives even after SR is up and KO's back with Thunderbolt. Latias can revenge kill Gyarados' without a DD up, as it does about 40% to them. Scizor can KO extremely weakened ones with BP. If Starmie is hurt though, and a LO Gyarados appears out of nowhere, I'm in trouble.​

Heatran: Both Starmie and Latias can wall him, as both can even cure their status problems from Sub Heatran. Latias can set up on Dragon Pulse. Magnezone kills Hetaran that are stuck on Dragon Pulse or Hidden Power (Ice, Grass or Electric). If Explosion is comming, I can switch in Magnezone or Metagross.​

Heracross: Gliscor is a sure-fire counter to it, though it can't hurt it much. Latias and Starmie can come in on choiced CC, and Scizor and Magnezone can come in on choiced Megahorn.​

Infernape: Starmie and Latias can both get rid of him easily, both resisting its STAB attacks, and Latias is only afraid of HP Ice and Starmie of GK. Overall though, it's easy to deal with.​

Jirachi: First off, you need to discover the set. Gliscor can counter Scarfed sets (phisical scarf wit Iron Head, ect..). The Sub CM set can be Taunted by Gliscor, followed up by a switch to Latias or Magnezone. Magnezone can trap most sets, and resists all attacks on the CM set. Latias can open up a stall war between them, where Latias will eventually win.​

Kingdra: Unboosted Kingdra can be dealt with by Latias. Metagross can explode and Scizor can U-Turn. Starmie can take a hit and T-Bolt back. Aside from that, though, I don't have much.​

Latias: Scizor can Pursuit, U-Turn and BP. Metagross can BP and Explode on it. If those two are weakened or down, though, it will be troublesome.​

Lucario: Gliscor again does his job as a Physical wall. Scizor can survive an unboosted LO CC and KO back with Superpower. Starmie does a decent job at walling it too, only falling to a +2 Crunch.​

Machamp: Gliscor can wall it unless it gets lucky with D-Punch too much. Metagross can always explode on it after Gliscor faints.​

Magnezone:Magnezone walls my own Magnezone, but Latias can set up on it, Starmie can come in on a HP Fire, Gliscor on a T-Bolt, and if Magnezone isn't scarfed, Gliscor can outspeed and KO with EQ. Metagross can EQ on non-Magnet sire versions. Otherwise, it can alwats explode on it.​

Mamoswine: Scizor can BP it, forcing it to Ice Shard. Gliscor can survive an unboosted Ice Shard and EQ, latias can to the same can so can Starmie against EQ. They will all lose a big chunck of health though.​

Metagross: Gliscor can outrun and 2HKO with EQ. Starmie can outrun and Surf, but has to be wary of Thunderpunch. Magnezone can trap Choiced Metagross locked on any nove besides EQ. If it gets an Agility up though, it can 2HKO Gliscor with LO Meteor Mash. Then I'll have to wear it down with LO and revenge kill ones with about 20% health with CB BP from Scizor.​

Ninjask: Gliscor and Taunt shuts it down. Both Metagross and Scizor have priority, so it'll be going down quickly.​

Porygon-Z: Latias can set up if it's slower than her. Scizor and Metagross resist it's STAB and can BP.​

Rhyperior: Gliscor is on it. whatch for +2 Avalanche though. Starmie takes care of it with Surf too.​

Roserade: As described in the lead section, let it sleep something, and then send in Latias to wall it.​

Rotom-A: Scizor can Pursuit it after Gliscor Taunted it, so WoW won't be a problem. Latias can set up on it's Shadow Balls.​

Salamence: Problem. Gliscor can take a hit and U-Turn out to Scizor, putting it in BP rane after LO, U-Turn and possibly SR. If I predict wrong against it, I can probably lose two pokemon.​

Scizor: Gliscor can wall it completley. Magnezone can trap CB Scizor locked on BP or Pursuit.​

Snorlax: Scizor can OHKO with Superpower against unboosted ones. Metagross can explode and Gliscor can Taunt and attack. If not stopped immeadiatley, though, I'm in trouble.​

Starmie: Scizor can trap and kill it with Pursuit. Latias can set up on Ice Beam-less variants.​

Suicune: Another big problem. This is probably the biggest one too. It outstalls Latias with CM and destroys my team eventually. A combination of Explosion + Thunderbolt is usually needed.​

Togekiss: Latias can cure status and set up. Hax screws it over though. Scizor can BP, Metagross can Explode and Magnezone can Toxic and Thunderbolt it. Haxis always a factor, though. >_>​

Tyranitar: Gliscor can come in on CB variants and EQ, Scizor can revenge kill weakened / babiri less ones. Metagross has BP and EQ to hurt it with.​

Weavile: Scizor. And Metagross too. Magnezone can take a Brick Break and Thunderbolt back.​

Yanmega: Scizor can come in on Bug Buzz and Metagross can come in on Air Slash. Magnezone can come in on both and Thunderbolt. Watch out for Hypnosis and HP Ground though.​

Zapdos: Latias can set up on it. If she is KO'd though, you're in trouble.​

Defensive list coming soon...​

 

[Friar]

Great team so far Blue Tornado I think just one thing can be changed.

Starmie is not really helping you that much. Not only does SR not hurt your team very much, but it isnt packing the amount of offense or checking ability you really need. For instance, a LO Gyarados does a minimum of 73% to your starmie with Earthquake. With prior damage, Starmie is going to faint, leaving you quite exposed. For that reason, I think it is best to make Starmie a scarf user. This checks a ridiculous amount of speed boosters in the OU tier, as well as having a crippling Trick for pokemon like Blissey. Best of all, Scizor still loves to come in and pursuit Starmie away, leaving you with a free magnezone kill, opening up for a Latias sweep. This set also hits much harder than your current set, keeping the pressure on the opponent at all times.

Starmie @ Choice Scarf
Timid
Natural Cure
4 HP/252 Sp. Attack/252 Speed

Surf
Thunderbolt
Ice Beam
Trick

Otherwise its a great team, congratulations!

 

[Blue_Tornado]

Great team so far Blue Tornado I think just a few things can be changed.

Starmie is not really helping you that much. Not only does SR not hurt your team very much, but it isnt packing the amount of offense or checking ability you really need. For instance, a LO Gyarados does a minimum of 73% to your starmie with Earthquake. For that reason, I think it is best to make Starmie a scarf user. This checks a ridiculous amount of speed boosters in the OU tier, as well as having a crippling Trick for pokemon like Blissey. Best of all, Scizor still loves to come in and pursuit Starmie away, leaving you with a free magnzone kill, opening up for a Latias sweep.

Otherwise its a great team, congratulations!

Ok, note taken. I'll test it when I can.

 

[franky]

Problems:

Sub Gengar
Rotom

How to fix:

Looking at the team, it revolves tightly around Gliscor and Scizor (scouting in general). An easy opening for Gengar is Scizor's locked in SuperPower or Gliscor. Hidden Power Fire versions will beat you for sure. Without any solid resist to Dark / Ghost types as a whole, I think Tyranitar would benefit the team the most.

Tyranitar
@ Choice Band
Adamant Nature (Atk+ / SpA-)
252 HP / 40 Atk / 216 SpD

- Crunch
- Pursuit
- Stone Edge
- Aqua Tail

This would replace Magnezone, who doesn't exactly do much for the team that much. The sandstorm won't hinder that much members because Gliscor benefits from this, Scizor and Metagross won't mind. This thing maintains the bulky offense mindset and a solid check to Gengar. This guy plays a decent tactic with Gliscor. Gliscor taunts Rotom from Will-O-Wisp and U-turns to Tyranitar, trapping it with Pursuit, freeing Scizor the entire match. It also Taunt's Blissey, U-turn's and is capable of trapping Blissey grabbing the KO at low health. Therefore freeing up Latias for the sweep. Overall, you might want to consider this, gl.

 

[Blue_Tornado]

Problems:

Sub Gengar
Rotom

How to fix:

Looking at the team, it revolves tightly around Gliscor and Scizor (scouting in general). An easy opening for Gengar is Scizor's locked in SuperPower or Gliscor. Hidden Power Fire versions will beat you for sure. Without any solid resist to Dark / Ghost types as a whole, I think Tyranitar would benefit the team the most.

Tyranitar
@ Choice Band
Adamant Nature (Atk+ / SpA-)
252 HP / 40 Atk / 216 SpD

- Crunch
- Pursuit
- Stone Edge
- Aqua Tail

This would replace Magnezone, who doesn't exactly do much for the team that much. The sandstorm won't hinder that much members because Gliscor benefits from this, Scizor and Metagross won't mind. This thing maintains the bulky offense mindset and a solid check to Gengar. This guy plays a decent tactic with Gliscor. Gliscor taunts Rotom from Will-O-Wisp and U-turns to Tyranitar, trapping it with Pursuit, freeing Scizor the entire match. It also Taunt's Blissey, U-turn's and is capable of trapping Blissey grabbing the KO at low health. Therefore freeing up Latias for the sweep. Overall, you might want to consider this, gl.

It seems ok, and I see what you mean by the fact that Gliscor and Tyranitar will be great, but I stated a lot in the RMT "how Magnezone is so important", and replacing it with anything else will ruin the team. If you find a better place for Tyranitar, you're always free to edit / post again with the answer.

 

[Flashstorm1]

Hello Blue_Tornado. As a part of my daily rating session, I thought it would be nice to rate your team today. As such, I will try to make the best suggestions I can that will hopefully help your team.

From the looks of your team, it seems that you try to gain an early game momentum by using Metagross to beat other leads and set up your own entry hazards. However, have you ever thought about using Smeargle instead? I realize that you want to have as much defensive synergy on your team, but I feel that Smeargle could easily help out your team more, especially since it can not only set up Stealth Rock and at least one layer of Spikes, but it even has Spore to cripple other slower leads. Namely, I feel that using more early game entry hazard support will help weaken down your opponent faster.

I suggest this set in particular...

Smeargle @ Focus Sash
Trait: Own Tempo
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature (+Spe, -SpA)
- Spore
- Spikes
- Stealth Rock
- ExtremeSpeed

By running this set, you should be able to lay down Stealth Rock along with one layer of Spikes. Of course, here you'd have more difficulty against leads with Taunt, such as Azelf and Aerodactyl. I think what could work is using ExtremeSpeed to break the Focus Sash (as with Metagross's Bullet Punch) and just switch to Scizor like you've been doing.

Also, I am not completely sure why you're running the offensive EV spread on Latias when there is no real reason not to. The defensive EV spread allows you to take hits a lot better, and with Latias having an easy time setting up, I don't think the lowered Special Attack EVs will be an issue in the long run.

Other than that, your team looks fine. You've addressed your team problems, but I don't think there is much you can do without changing your team dramatically to fix the problem. Namely, I feel a huge issue is that you don't have any Pokémon faster than 350 Speed, meaning Gyarados and Salamence will be troublesome, as you've stated.

Regardless, I wish you the best of luck with the team!

 

[mc2094]

Flashstorm covered the spread which should be 148 HP/ 108 SAtk/ 252 Spe with a Timid nature or if you want some more power then 128 HP/ 128 SAtk/ 252 Spe with Timid. I would also try that Smeargle lead which would work really nice in conjunction with U-Turn.

Occa berry on 'Gross isn't really doing anything. Your switching out against Infernape and loose to Heatran either way and Azelf can't OHKO with Fire Blast so in its place I would suggest Shuca Berry. Shuca will let you have an easier time dealing with Swampert, Hippowdon, and other Metagross leads. I would just move those EVs in Defense to Attack with Shuca Berry. Just some minor suggestions. The team looks really nice overall.

Good Luck.

 

[Bad Ass]

hey, this is a very nice team. mono refresher latias + magnezone is severly underrated, i love how you utilize it to its full potential. magnezone completely rapes the only thing that usually stops a mono latias sweep, steel types. not only this, but they cover each other's weaknesses perfectly; latias resists fighting, fire, and ground, and magnezone eats up dark, ghost, bug, dragon, ice, and every other weakness of latias i may have missed. perfect synergy, it's like they were meant for each other. okay, so your team objective is to end up with latias just cming in the opponents face while they cant do a thing back, which just leads to you totally sweeping them. i'm going to see if i can help you take out latias' counters better than you do already, and provide more places to set up. first of all, i see a large weakness to life orb starmie; not really just life orb starmie, but things like it. rotom, gengar, jolteon, things of that nature. to remedy this, you need some special defense on something that isnt weak to ghost or ice. i suggest adding something that can take these kind of hits, in particular i think replacing starmie for vaporeon would help your team greatly. firstly, every team needs a bulky water to take the onslaught of heatran, salamence, gyarados and co. vaporeon helps this problem, while supporting the team more than rapid spinning away rocks on a team with no sr weaks. it gives you a better gyarados check, and can take lo starmie and the like with wish stalling + hp electric.

vaporeon @ leftovers
bold 252 hp / 240 def / 16 spe

~ surf
~ hidden power [electric]
~ wish
~ protect

next, i think changing scizor's spread is for the better. it helps you take on the threats to your team better- lo starmie, latias, gengar, etc. a bulkier spread ensures you can take on these threats without worry. my suggestion is the standard bulky scizor of 240 hp / 56 atk / 212 spdef. he still retains a lot of the power you expect out of your cb scizor, but he does it while being a lot bulkier. you keep a strong u turn still to keep the momentum going and hit shit hard so thats cool ^_^.

i hope i helped with your team!

 

[Blue_Tornado]

I'll try the defensive spread for now if everyone says so, lol.

@Flashstorm1: That Smeargle looks interesting, I'll try it after I test out Scarfed Starmie.

@mc2094: Occa berry is there for a reason. It lets me not be 2HKO'd by any Azelf Fire Blast, and there's a reason that it's standard. I've actually use it a lot against ScarfTran and others late game rather than early on tbh.

@Bad Ass: My arguement was also Vaporeon vs Starmie, so this won't be easy. I'm currently testing Scerfed Starmie, and it looks good. It can trick a Scarf onto Suicune - the biggest threat to this team, and can revenge kill Gyarados, Metagross and Empoleon, not mentioning Salamence. Starmie in general helps me at sweeping too, since he's my lure to Scizor, and if he Pursuits, he's gone. I've been thinking about a pokemon in that slot that has reliable recovery, the ability to counter Gyarados and phazing options. This has been hard, but I'm considering a Surf/Thunderbolt/Recover/Haze Milotic. What do you think?
I'll also try that EV spread for Scizor, thanks.

Thanks for the rates so far, I appreciate it.

@Edit: I forgot to mention, but the Scarfed Starmie that I'm testing runs 216 speed and Timid to outrun base 110 positive natured Scarfed opponents. Is that ok? I just didn't see why the 252 Spe EVs really. So the spread is 40 / 252 / 216