
Jukain
Guest
This is a repost of my team “Going Ape”. I decided to do this for three reasons. One, my title sucked (This one isn’t good either, I know). Secondly, I made a few big changes. Last and most importantly though, is that Latias and Salamence are gone. From the moment Latias was allowed into OU, it sent Infernape running back to its cage, where it could do very little in terms of sweeping, or even staying alive for that matter. The ban of Latias (not so much Salamence; I just didn’t want to leave him out) leaves Infernape (almost) free to sweep, hence the new name of the post.
At a Glance
Here is how I made the team.
I wanted a fast lead that can set up Stealth Rock and dish out a lot of damage. I settled on Infernape:
Next, I needed an anti-spinner. Rotom seemed nice because of its ground resist and its ability to take out Gyarados and Swampert:
Next I wanted a revenge killer and my own spinner. I had always wanted to use Scizor on a team, and Starmie had nice synergy with it and Infernape.
I wanted to choose a sweeper, but I couldn’t, so I chose a Dual Screener to help my sweeper set up. Uxie fit the bill nicely:
After looking at sweepers again, I saw Heatran, which had nice synergy with the team, but was slow and didn’t have any boosting moves. I also wanted to have a U-Turn Chain, but I didn’t want Flygon, because it also didn’t have boosting moves. Then an idea hit me. I made Heatran my lead, and Infernape my Sweeper.
So I play-tested for a while and it worked. At first I thought Uxie really made the team by allowing Starmie and Infernape to switch in. However, after playing higher ranked players on the ladder, I quickly found out that whenever I pulled off dual screens one of three things happened. My opponent had a Pokémon out that was not worth using memento on, he/she had set up in the meantime, or he/she had a Pokemon out that Infernape simply didn’t match up with. My screens eventually ran out, Infernape took heavy damage on the switch, and I found out that this just was not working in my favor. So, after a great recommendation from Fuzznip (first post), I switched Uxie to Jirachi, who is an all around solid Pokémon. So, my revised team at a glance is:
Under the Microscope
Heatran @ Shuca Berry
Flash Fire
6 HP/252 SpA/252 Spe
Naïve Nature (+Spe, -SpD)
~Stealth Rock
~Explosion
~Earth Power
~Fire Blast
Heatran is an all-around solid lead. It is able to set up Stealth Rock very easily and usually lives until late game when it can dish out a lot of damage and explode, which is always nice. Because of its Dark and Ghost resistances, it works well with Rotom, and his resistance to Poison has been more helpful than I first anticipated. It also compliments Scizor well with Flash Fire.
Rotom–C @ Life Orb
Levitate
252 SpA/6 SpD/252 Spe
Modest Nature (+SpA, -Atk)
~Will-o-Wisp
~Shadow Ball
~Thunderbolt
~Leaf Storm
Rotom is my anti-spinner, but it is also a team player. Because of its resistances to fighting and ground, and its ability to take out Swampert and Gyarados, it works really well with Heatran and Infernape. Shadow Ball comes in handy from time to time and Will-o-Wisp makes physical attackers think twice before switching in. I find myself switching to Rotom a lot because of its useful resistances. I changed Rotom from the standard Defensive set to an all offensive set and I really like the increase in power. The only problem I have is whether to change the nature to Modest or Timid.
Jirachi @ Choice Scarf
Serene Grace
6 HP/252 SpA/252 Spe
Jolly Nature (+Spe, -SpA)
~Fire Punch
~Ice Punch
~ThunderPunch
~Iron Head
Jirachi is a great addition to this team. It does a simple job but it does it extremely well. It can revenge kill Lucario, Gyarados, and sometimes even Dragonite. Every game it gets one or two KO’s. Infernape and Starmie can cover Heatran while Rotom covers Swampert and other Rotom-A. Suicune, who is lured out by Jirachi, is also handled by Rotom. As of now, I can’t think of anything else to say about Jirachi.
Infernape @ Life Orb
Blaze
6 HP/252 SpA/252 Spe
Jolly Nature (+Spe, -Atk)
~Nasty Plot
~Vacuum Wave
~Focus Blast
~Fire Blast
Another major change I made was changing this set from being physical to being special because I wanted a more powerful Fire type move than Fire Punch and don’t like recoil damage. Infernape is my main sweeper on this team. All I usually do is Nasty Plot on the switch and then attack with the best move. I personally hate Focus blast’s horrible accuracy, and find that close Combat does not pack enough power on specially based sets. Therefore, I attached a wide lens as a compromise and run two Base 120 power moves. After a Nasty Plot, Focus Blast can KO Vaporeon, Suicune, two common counters to Infernape only if they have taken previous damage (The loss of Life Orb hurts in that case), and the now 93% accurate Fire Blast takes care of everything that doesn’t resist it. Vacuum Wave is there for Heatran, Lucario, and Tyranitar, who all threaten to stop my sweep.
Scizor @ Choice Band
Technician
252 HP/252 Atk/8 Def
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SpA)
~Bullet Punch
~Pursuit
~Superpower
~U-Turn
There honestly isn’t anything special about this Scizor. Bullet Punch is a great STAB move that I use for damage. Pursuit is mainly for Starmie who can stop Infernape in its tracks. Superpower is there for the Blissey that somehow avoided Heatran’s explosion, and U-Turn is there to have another STAB move as well as to scout. As you can see, I ditched my U-Turn chain, as it was overall a bad idea and did not fit with my playing style at all. The only special thing I did was max out HP and put the rest of the EVs into Defense, so that Scizor gains an edge on faster Scizor who use Superpower on it. All in all, this is an average Choice Band Scizor.
Starmie @ Life Orb
Natural Cure
Timid Nature (+Spe, -Atk)
6 HP/252 SpA/252 Spe
~Rapid Spin
~Thunderbolt
~Ice Beam
~Hydro Pump
Starmie is my icing on the cake, and I simply love this thing. It has excellent synergy with the rest of my team and can be a legitimate threat on its own. Starmie can absorb status, spin, and recover off damage. Secondly, it is my Dragon Counter. I needed a way to counter Flygon, and Dragonite who can sweep my team if I make a bad prediction. Because I have Thunderbolt on Rotom, I chose Ice Beam over Thunderbolt on Starmie, and boy am I happy I did that. Ice Beam has won me the game via freeze hax so many times. Since I got rid of my dual screener though, I have to play a prediction game in order to get Starmie into the game, but I found out that Starmie is fairly easy to switch in, so I am not worried there. When I’m feeling particularly lucky, I bluff Thunderbolt on Starmie and it gives me a great advantage against Gyarados. However, I have been considering switching Recover to Thunderbolt and giving Starmie a Life Orb instead of Leftovers. I had a 6/252/252 spread on Starmie from the beginning, so it isn’t the bulkiest, but it is able to use recover effectively. This is where opinions would be nice.
Thanks in advance for taking the time to rate my team. Any comments are appreciated as long as they are constructive.
Edits in Red, although I didn't change the descriptions yet.
At a Glance
Here is how I made the team.
I wanted a fast lead that can set up Stealth Rock and dish out a lot of damage. I settled on Infernape:

Next, I needed an anti-spinner. Rotom seemed nice because of its ground resist and its ability to take out Gyarados and Swampert:


Next I wanted a revenge killer and my own spinner. I had always wanted to use Scizor on a team, and Starmie had nice synergy with it and Infernape.




I wanted to choose a sweeper, but I couldn’t, so I chose a Dual Screener to help my sweeper set up. Uxie fit the bill nicely:





After looking at sweepers again, I saw Heatran, which had nice synergy with the team, but was slow and didn’t have any boosting moves. I also wanted to have a U-Turn Chain, but I didn’t want Flygon, because it also didn’t have boosting moves. Then an idea hit me. I made Heatran my lead, and Infernape my Sweeper.






So I play-tested for a while and it worked. At first I thought Uxie really made the team by allowing Starmie and Infernape to switch in. However, after playing higher ranked players on the ladder, I quickly found out that whenever I pulled off dual screens one of three things happened. My opponent had a Pokémon out that was not worth using memento on, he/she had set up in the meantime, or he/she had a Pokemon out that Infernape simply didn’t match up with. My screens eventually ran out, Infernape took heavy damage on the switch, and I found out that this just was not working in my favor. So, after a great recommendation from Fuzznip (first post), I switched Uxie to Jirachi, who is an all around solid Pokémon. So, my revised team at a glance is:






Under the Microscope

Heatran @ Shuca Berry
Flash Fire
6 HP/252 SpA/252 Spe
Naïve Nature (+Spe, -SpD)
~Stealth Rock
~Explosion
~Earth Power
~Fire Blast
Heatran is an all-around solid lead. It is able to set up Stealth Rock very easily and usually lives until late game when it can dish out a lot of damage and explode, which is always nice. Because of its Dark and Ghost resistances, it works well with Rotom, and his resistance to Poison has been more helpful than I first anticipated. It also compliments Scizor well with Flash Fire.

Rotom–C @ Life Orb
Levitate
252 SpA/6 SpD/252 Spe
Modest Nature (+SpA, -Atk)
~Will-o-Wisp
~Shadow Ball
~Thunderbolt
~Leaf Storm
Rotom is my anti-spinner, but it is also a team player. Because of its resistances to fighting and ground, and its ability to take out Swampert and Gyarados, it works really well with Heatran and Infernape. Shadow Ball comes in handy from time to time and Will-o-Wisp makes physical attackers think twice before switching in. I find myself switching to Rotom a lot because of its useful resistances. I changed Rotom from the standard Defensive set to an all offensive set and I really like the increase in power. The only problem I have is whether to change the nature to Modest or Timid.

Jirachi @ Choice Scarf
Serene Grace
6 HP/252 SpA/252 Spe
Jolly Nature (+Spe, -SpA)
~Fire Punch
~Ice Punch
~ThunderPunch
~Iron Head
Jirachi is a great addition to this team. It does a simple job but it does it extremely well. It can revenge kill Lucario, Gyarados, and sometimes even Dragonite. Every game it gets one or two KO’s. Infernape and Starmie can cover Heatran while Rotom covers Swampert and other Rotom-A. Suicune, who is lured out by Jirachi, is also handled by Rotom. As of now, I can’t think of anything else to say about Jirachi.

Infernape @ Life Orb
Blaze
6 HP/252 SpA/252 Spe
Jolly Nature (+Spe, -Atk)
~Nasty Plot
~Vacuum Wave
~Focus Blast
~Fire Blast
Another major change I made was changing this set from being physical to being special because I wanted a more powerful Fire type move than Fire Punch and don’t like recoil damage. Infernape is my main sweeper on this team. All I usually do is Nasty Plot on the switch and then attack with the best move. I personally hate Focus blast’s horrible accuracy, and find that close Combat does not pack enough power on specially based sets. Therefore, I attached a wide lens as a compromise and run two Base 120 power moves. After a Nasty Plot, Focus Blast can KO Vaporeon, Suicune, two common counters to Infernape only if they have taken previous damage (The loss of Life Orb hurts in that case), and the now 93% accurate Fire Blast takes care of everything that doesn’t resist it. Vacuum Wave is there for Heatran, Lucario, and Tyranitar, who all threaten to stop my sweep.

Scizor @ Choice Band
Technician
252 HP/252 Atk/8 Def
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SpA)
~Bullet Punch
~Pursuit
~Superpower
~U-Turn
There honestly isn’t anything special about this Scizor. Bullet Punch is a great STAB move that I use for damage. Pursuit is mainly for Starmie who can stop Infernape in its tracks. Superpower is there for the Blissey that somehow avoided Heatran’s explosion, and U-Turn is there to have another STAB move as well as to scout. As you can see, I ditched my U-Turn chain, as it was overall a bad idea and did not fit with my playing style at all. The only special thing I did was max out HP and put the rest of the EVs into Defense, so that Scizor gains an edge on faster Scizor who use Superpower on it. All in all, this is an average Choice Band Scizor.

Starmie @ Life Orb
Natural Cure
Timid Nature (+Spe, -Atk)
6 HP/252 SpA/252 Spe
~Rapid Spin
~Thunderbolt
~Ice Beam
~Hydro Pump
Starmie is my icing on the cake, and I simply love this thing. It has excellent synergy with the rest of my team and can be a legitimate threat on its own. Starmie can absorb status, spin, and recover off damage. Secondly, it is my Dragon Counter. I needed a way to counter Flygon, and Dragonite who can sweep my team if I make a bad prediction. Because I have Thunderbolt on Rotom, I chose Ice Beam over Thunderbolt on Starmie, and boy am I happy I did that. Ice Beam has won me the game via freeze hax so many times. Since I got rid of my dual screener though, I have to play a prediction game in order to get Starmie into the game, but I found out that Starmie is fairly easy to switch in, so I am not worried there. When I’m feeling particularly lucky, I bluff Thunderbolt on Starmie and it gives me a great advantage against Gyarados. However, I have been considering switching Recover to Thunderbolt and giving Starmie a Life Orb instead of Leftovers. I had a 6/252/252 spread on Starmie from the beginning, so it isn’t the bulkiest, but it is able to use recover effectively. This is where opinions would be nice.
Thanks in advance for taking the time to rate my team. Any comments are appreciated as long as they are constructive.
Edits in Red, although I didn't change the descriptions yet.