Shock Value - RMT

[Geckoboy]

So, after messing around with a somewhat boring team featuring many overused OU's, I decided to completely re-invent my team, and this is what I came up with.

Step I: Team Building​

Jirachi, with the moveset outlined below, is probably one the most effective pokemon I've ever used, saving me in many battles.

Bulky Swampert, great partner to Jirachi, and I've found it to be overall a very sound pokemon for OU. Now, I'm thinking I need a good lead, and because I put SR on Swampert, I was looking for an Anti-Lead, and this is what I came up with

Lucario, with a unique moveset that catches many people off guard, as I will outline below. So I now have my Jirachi, Bulky swampert, and Anti-Lead, I'm thinking about power so I added

Machamp as a physical attacker. I also added PorygonZ as a special attacker but google failed me and I couldn't find a 64x64 sprite for it :P So now I need a final and I decided to add

PorygonZ

Step II: In-depth Analysis

Lucario@Focus Sash
Inner Focus
4Hp/252 Atk/252 Spe
Adamant (+Atk, -SpA)
Close Combat
Crunch
Counter
Extremespeed

Pretty straight forward. Close Combat for STAB, Crunch for ghosts and Azelf, Counter as outlined in McLuvdisc comment, Extremespeed for priority. Focus Sash will save me from a OHKO, which I can often return with a 2HKO since I can outrun most threats. I chose Lucario over other Anti-Leads due to it's "Shock Value," as I've never seen another Lucario lead. It's move set, and the fact that it's even being used against them, throw alot of people off balance. Also, its Steel/Fighting typing only offer two major weakness that leads exploit, Ground and Fire. Overall, I found Lucario to be a very welcome Anti-Lead, deserving of a spot on this team.

Swampert@Leftovers
Torrent
252 Hp/252 Def/4 SpD
Relaxed (+Def,-Spe)
Earthquake
Ice Beam
Surf
Stealth rock

Bulky to take switch in hits. SR for entry hazards, Earthquake, Ice Beam, and Surf for great type coverage and double STAB. Ev's allow it to take pretty much any un-boosted attack without being OHKO, with the exception of a very powerful Grass Knot. Thinking about switching out either Ice Beam or Surf for Roar, as Bulky Swampert makes a great scout since this team lacks a U-turner. Mainly, I'll switch in Swampert on a Fire type trying to take out either Jirachi or Lucario, Set up SR on their switch, and react accordingly. Another idea I had earlier was too take either Ice Beam or Surf off and add Rest, and switch Leftovers for a Chesto Berry for a one time full health recovery.

Porygon-Z@Choice Specs
Adaptability
4 Hp/252 Spe/252 SpA
Timid (+Spe,-Def)
Ice Beam
Thunderbolt
Tri-Attack
Hidden Power [Fighting]

Special sweeper. Ev's and Specs bring SpA to 552. "BoltBeam" for coverage, Tri-attack for excellent STAB, and HP Fighting for type coverage. This set is amazing. No set up turn, almost perfect type coverage. Thunderbolt will usually OHKO Suicune if it hasn't calm minded, one of the major threats to this team. I never really thought of Porygon-Z as a good Poke, but after getting swept by this set with an earlier team, and then trying it for myself, I realized the awesome power within this Poke. The only real drawback is the speed, and I don't know if it's really worth losing the power boost to put a Scarf on it. Comments on that, please.

Kingdra@Leftovers
Sniper
4 Hp/252 Atk/252 Spe
Adamant (+Atk,-SpA)
Dragon Dance
Waterfall
Outrage
Hidden Power Grass

Replaced Starmie with this powerhouse, basically I switch in on something waterfall skittish, DD on the switch, then sweep. With only one weakness, Dragon, and most importantly, a fire resistance, this Kingdra is a valuable asset to my team.

Jirachi@Expert Belt
Serene Grace
4 Hp/252 Atk/252 Spe
Adamant (+Atk,-Spa)
Fire Punch
Ice Punch
Thunder Punch
Iron Head

Physical Jirachi, 252 Spe EV's allow me to bluff Scarfachi, which is oh so common in OU today. Expert for 2x bonus to super effective attacks, which I have great coverage on thanks to the "BoltBeam" Thunder/Ice Punch Combo, Fire Punch for Steel types, and Iron Head for flinch hax. The star of the team, this Jirachi is stellar. Near perfect type coverage, and anything I don't have type on I can just Iron Head and flinch hax to death. Jirachi is definitely my favourite OU pokemon, and can threaten almost every Pokemon in OU and even some commonly brought up from BL and UU. Also, a Scarfachi bluff is a great tactic, as many will assume I'm locked into, say, Fire Punce, bring in Salamence, and get OHKO with Ice Punch.

Machamp@Life Orb
No Guard
12 Hp/252 Atk/244 Spe
Jolly (+Spe, -SpA)
Dynamic Punch
Stone Edge
Ice Punch
Payback

Physical Sweeper. Again, Ice Punch and Stone Edge for coverage Dynamic Punch for STAB, and confusion, and Payback for ghost switch ins. Needed a physical attacker, and, with it's 130 base Atk, this moveset's perfect type coverage, and theLife Orb power boost, this is no set to laugh at. 100% accurate Dynamic Punch coming off 349 Atk is deadly, and the confusion is just kicking them while their down. Machamp is definitely a top three physical sweeper, who carved a great niche on this team.

Step III: Threats and Final Comments​

Leads/Common Pokemon:

Azelf - Lucario 2HKO with Crunch

Metagross - Lucario can 2 or 3HKO with Close Combat depending on Meatgross Ev's

Aerodactyl - Lucario can OHKO with Ice Punch

Swampert - A little troublesome, but Close Combat then Extremespeed can usually 2HKO, occasionally 3HKO with two Extremespeeds needed.

Immediate switch to Starmie/Swampert, No point breaking sash to do around 40% damage with Extremespeed.

Roserade - OHKO with Ice Punch

Ninjask - Lucario can OHKO with Ice Punch

The only common lead Lucario really has trouble with is Infrenape/Heatran. Swampert causes it a little trouble but I can always take it out before it takes out Lucario.

Scizor - Probably the most common OU pokemon, is easily dealt with. Jirachi OHKO with Fire Punch. Machamp 2HKO with Dynamic Punch. Swampert OHKO with Earthquake. Lucario OHKO with Close Combat.

Latias, Salamence, and Dragonite - The three most common dragons. All are OHKO by Jirachi's Ice Punch, Machamp's Ice Punch, and Swampert's Ice Beam.

Trick room teams are a problem for this team. Although rare, my team is speedy, so Trick room hampers. As does Thunder wave users like Blissey.

So, any and all comment swill be appreciated on my second posted RMT, Shock Value.

 

[firecape]

First of all, your descriptions aren't up to standard but i will try to help.

First, you seems to have Either ice or electric attacks on every one of your pokes....its good to have a poke or two that can use BoltBeam for coverage, but every poke doesn't need it.

Another thing is that you have a rapid spin starmie, but you have 4 pokes strong to SR, so what is the point?

A final thing, porygon-z has OK speed, but not good enough to use choice specs really that effectively, so maybe replace it with something like specs Latias?

Hope it helped >_>.

 

[Geckoboy]

First of all, your descriptions aren't up to standard but i will try to help.

First, you seems to have Either ice or electric attacks on every one of your pokes....its good to have a poke or two that can use BoltBeam for coverage, but every poke doesn't need it.

Another thing is that you have a rapid spin starmie, but you have 4 pokes strong to SR, so what is the point?

A final thing, porygon-z has OK speed, but not good enough to use choice specs really that effectively, so maybe replace it with something like specs Latias?

Hope it helped >_>.

So for the BoltBeam, recommended move switches?

Also, I could keep the EV's and switch it to a scarf Porygon-Z. But which is more effective? Specs Latias or Scarf Porygon?

 

[Darkamber8828]

Specs Latias, with better defenses and typing, as well as a better attacking move type.

"Bluffing" scarfrachi doesn't seem to be a good idea, since scarfrachi might actually be a better idea than baitrachi. It can speed tie with +1 mence and stuff like that, yup, and flinchax scarftar.

Stone Edge/Tpunch on Champ, with 100% acc, it's awesome. Ice Punch looks fine. If you do use scarfrachi, you may want to make Tpunch Substitute or Bulk Up.



Counter/IPunch on Luke gets a kill on swampert, while magic coat wrecks smeargle and roserade. I suggest counter, since you have 0 grass attacks.

Starmie could be replaced for a Bulky DD Gyara, who has intimidate and a fighting resistance (and ground immunity).

Finally, Roar/Surf on Pert.

Good job on this. Beware, my rates suck.

 

[McLuvdisc]

Hello,

This is a cool team, but it definitely has some problems. First off, the reason you've never seen that kind of Lucario as a lead is because it’s just not good at being one. Let's go through a few common leads and see how your Luke fares against them:

Metagross - You're dead meat if you come against this guy. He can Earthquake to break your Sash and Bullet Punch for the KO. What's more, your Luke will only do 41-49% Max to him with Close Combat, and 9-11% with Extremespeed. This means that, even if your opponent goes totally brain dead for a moment and uses Stealth Rock first, they still have a decent chance of killing you. This is not a happy ending for your team.

Machamp - You can handle Lead Champs (even those with Bullet Punch) with a Close Combat and Extremespeed combo, but since DynamicPunch will Confuse you, you have a 50% chance of not getting that Extremespeed off and KOing yourself. That's embarrasing...

After writing out these two, I noticed you actually had your own little section on how to handle leads, so I'll focus on that instead. I find your descriptions a little troubling, since you seem to not be aware of what sets these Pokemon will likely be running.

"Aerodactyl - OHKO with Ice Punch"

Yes, but all lead Aerodactly carry Focus Sash, so they'll be able to hang on. You've got Extremspeed to take off that last chunk of health, but the opponent can always switch Aerodactyl out and use him as a sacrifice later in the game. At the end of the day, Aerodactyl will either have set up rocks or taken you down to 1% with Earthquake. At best, this is a draw.

"Roserade - OHKO with Ice Punch"

Lead Roserade will likely be carrying Sleep Powder to take your Lucario out of the game. Also, it's faster than you, so you better pray Sleep Powder misses if you leave Luke in. If you do leave him in, use Extremespeed, although it won't OHKO even if it crits, since Lead Roserade run Focus Sash too.

"Ninjask - OHKO with Ice Punch"

Dude, you like that Ice Punch a little too much. If you use Ice Punch, Ninjask will just throw up Subs and use Protect to get Leftover's recovery. You should use Extremespeed, but you still don't do so great. Even the frailest Ninjask (the Focus Sash kind) only takes 71% max from ES, so he'll throw up a Sub and Baton Pass out as you break it. Still, he'll only get one Speed Boost in, and won't be able to Swords Dance. Pure Speed Passing Ninjask is more annoying, since he runs more Defense EVs, Leftovers, and has Sub + Protect. ES will only do 45% max to him, so he'll be able to Sub, Protect, Sub again, Protect again, and Baton Pass out as you break that final sub. Whatever comes in next, it's going to be freakin' fast.

"Metagross - Lucario can 2 or 3HKO with Close Combat depending on Metagross' EVs"

Metagross has a specifically built Lead set, so unless your opponent is running weird EVs just to be stupid, Close Combat will never 2HKO, as I pointed out above.

“Infernape – switch out immediately”
No, stay in! Infernape’s Fake Out won’t make Lucario flinch due to his ability, Inner Focus. A combination of Close Combat and Extremespeed will kill LeadApe dead, since Fake Out can only be used on the first turn of battle.


There are some other minor issues with this team. Grass Knot might be better on Starmie than Rapid Spin, and I don't know why you put Bolt-Beam (or some equivalent) on three of your guys. But really, the first thing you need to fix is that glaring flaw. I can't sugarcoat it - your Lucario is not an anti-lead. He fails against some of the most popular leads in the game, or is forced to switch out.

Notice I say “your Lucario”, because Lucario actually can run a very good anti-lead set if you give him Counter instead of Ice Punch. Here’s the link to his Smogon Strategy Dex, which discusses that in detail. You still lose to Roserade and Smeargle leads, but you’ll surprise a lot of other things. Lead Metagross gets taken down to very low health by Countered Earthquakes, and will probably be in Extremespeed's KO range. Machamp will be KOd straightaway, although you do risk the confusion from Dynamicpunch. You mentioned you had trouble with Swampert? Yeah, Counter completely wrecks him. Honestly, Ice Punch does you no good. Everything it hits Super-effectively is faster than you, and a neutral Close Combat actually does more damage than a 2X Super-Effective Ice Punch.

http://www.smogon.com/dp/pokemon/lucario

Hope this helps. Good luck!

 

[Geckoboy]

Thanks so much for your input. After reading the McLuvdisc comment, I changed my Lucario, and highlighted the changes in red in my Original post.

Also, I swapped out Starmie for Kingdra, to keep the fire immunity and add some serious dragon power to my team.

 

[McLuvdisc]

No problem. If you want to maximize the damage Counter does though, you should switch Lucario's nature to Lonely (+Attack, -Defense) and set his Defense IV to 0. It's all in his analysis in the Strategydex.

I also think you should switch to Scarf on that Jirachi. Bluffing is nice and may get you a few surprise kills, but more often you will lose because the lack of Scarf makes you slower than so many Speed Boosting threats. After a Dragon Dance, Salamence can OHKO your whole team with Earthquake and Dragon Claw. Swampert can stop him if he's at full health, but Dragon Claw takes a 50-60% chunk off his health. Luckily, DDmence is pretty hard to switch in on your team, since he's pretty frail. But if he does manage to set up, you're in trouble without ScarfRachi.

Offensive Dragon Dance Gyarados is even worse. Unlike Salamence, he can easily switch in on your Swampert, Lucario, or Porygon-Z locked on HP-Fighting, boost up, and potentially OHKO five of your Pokemon with Waterfall, Earthquake, and Bounce. Life Orb Recoil and Stealth Rock will take a big chunk off his health and eventually bring him down, but if your opponent has a Rapid Spinner or gave Gyarados Wish support on the switch, that might be GG right there.

Giving Jirachi Choice Scarf will help a lot towards countering both these Pokemon. I also think you should give her Trick instead of Fire Punch, since your team can already handle most Steels. Trick is just great for annoying stall teams, as well as Heatran, who often thinks he can switch in on Jirachi for free and set up a Sub. Heatran behind a Sub is a real pain to this team as well, and Trick goes a long way toward stopping him. One more thing - just in case Jirachi is down and you need a backup Pokemon to KO Gyarados, you should also give Swampert Stone Edge over Surf. Pert's Special Attacks are pretty pathetic unless you're hitting a 4X weakness. Plus, you've already got Kingdra carrying water moves.

Speaking of Kingdra, I think you should switch her back to Starmie. Your team is all hit by Spikes and you don't have any Wish support, so you'll need Rapid Spin. Yeah, I know I was the one who suggested taking Rapid Spin off Starmie in the first place. I had a senior moment and only considered Stealth Rock weaknesses while forgetting Spikes.

OK, enough about Kingdra. Let's talk Porygon-Z. Sorry, but he's got to go. The Rotom forms are on so many teams today, so throwing around Choice locked Normal attacks is like wearing a big sign around your neck saying "Set up on me". If you want a powerful Special Attacker, there are plenty of other great options, with Latias (as I think another poster mentioned) probably being the best. Heatran would also be good though, since Machamp is often a target of Will'o'Wisp and Swampert is often a target of Toxic, both of which Tran is immune to. In fact, he actually loves Will'o'Wisp, since it boosts the power of his Fire Attacks! If you do choose Heatran though, you should put at least one Flyer or Levitator on your team to absorb the Earthquakes that will surely be coming your way, since nothing on your team likes taking an Earthquake.

And that brings me to your Machamp. Take that Life Orb off him. He hates the recoil from it and doesn't need the extra power. Thing is, now that you've got a Scarf on Jirachi, I don't think you need another Scarfer. You could try running a Substitute or Restalker said, the builds for which can be found here:

http://www.smogon.com/dp/pokemon/machamp

What was supposed to be a short bit of advice is now turning into another wall of text, so I'll wrap it up. Good luck!

 

[Squirrel.]

Get rid of the Luke lead and run an anti lead like Specs Tran or Machamp or even Mix Ape. You're not using rocks on your 1st poke so make your opponent get rocks or lose his 1st poke. Those 3 I named can do a good job at that.