My First OU Team

[EthanK]

My first ever "OU" team that I made back in December consisted of a Glaceon, Infernape, Forretress, Lapras, Dragonite, and Venusaur. It was pitiful.

Since then I've come along quite a bit if I do say so, because I think I've got a pretty solid team here.

EDIT: Changes are in Bold.

Heatran @Shuca Berry
Ability: Flash Fire
252 Spd / 252 SpA / 4 HP
Modest (+SpA, -Atk)
~ Stealth Rock
~ Overheat
~ Explosion
~ Earth Power

Typical Suicide Lead. Generally gets shut down by the occasional Swampert lead, that's why I'm considering swapping out Toxic for HP Grass. I had Toxic for a while, to maybe snag a badly poison on something that decides to try and wall my Tornado. Then, afterwards, I explode.

Kingdra @Leftovers
Ability: Swift Swim
252 SpA / 252 HP / 4 HP
Modest (+SpA, -Atk)
~ Rain Dance (possibly Draco Meteor)
~ Surf
~ Dragon Pulse
~ Hidden Power Fire

Rain Dance is for the sole purpose of activating Kingdra's Swift Swim, making him an excellent late game sweeper. I haven't been competitive battling for long, but I can tell already that Scizor is very prevalent in today's metagame. That's why I decided on HP Fire, which eliminates those pesky bugs. However, the reason I'm thinking about changing Rain Dance into Something else, perhaps Draco Meteor, is because the rain hinders my fly-swatting capabilities.

Zapdos @Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
248 HP / 228 Def / 32 Spe
Serious (No effect)
~ Thunderbolt
~ Heat Wave
~ Hidden Power Grass
~ Roost

Serious nature? What? Yep, he isn't perfect. Definitely going to change that to a Calm, or a Timid. Zapdos makes an excellent counter to Swampert and Hippwodon, and other things that don't expect a HP Grass coming their way. Maybe I'll swap the EV's around a bit, but I like him, he tends to be a viable Roost staller, as well as a hard hitter.

Scizor @Life Orb
Ability: Technician
4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Adamant (+Atk, -SpA)
~ Bullet Punch
~ X-Scissor
~ Superpower
~ Roost

All teams enjoy something as powerful as Scizor, so why not slap him on my team? I use X-Scissor over U-Turn because I like the extra power, and my Life Orb doesn't like me U-Turning and building up a plethora of residual damage.

Flygon @Choice Scarf
Ability: Levitate
4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Adamant (+Atk, -SpA)
~ Outrage
~ Earthquake
~ Thunderpunch
~ U-Turn

He and Scizor can switch in pretty easily on each other's weaknesses, and a STAB Outrage does nice damage to almost everything but Skarmory. He has saved many battles for me, so I'm thankful he's there to rage.

Gengar @Life Orb
Ability: Levitate
252 SpA / 252 Spd / 4 HP
Modest (+SpA, -Atk)
~ Substitute
~ Explosion
~ Shadow Ball
~ Focus Blast

I have tried this Gengar over my Skarmory, and instead of just bringing in a Heatran, it actually gets some kills for me. Thanks Eggbert, for suggesting this!

Thanks in advance for the feedback!

 

[Eggbert]

The biggest problem this team has are defensive threats like Blissey or Snorlax that can wall most of your team. Infernape and Lucario are a bit troublesome as well. I'd just switch Skarmory out for a LO Gengar with Sub/Shadow Ball/Focus Blast/Explosion. This gets a very surprising KO on Blissey (you can just 2HKO snorlax though) clearing up the path for Kingdra to clean up. It also checks boosting apes (that can KO flygon with priority) and non-bp Lucario.

Other than that, just patch up the sets a bit:
-Run Earth Power on Heatran. If you see Swampert, just bring in Zapdos for free (non LO hp grass won't OHKO pert so you will just lose alot of unneeded health from EQ)

-Run Modest, Life Orb, Dragon Pulse, Surf, Signal Beam, Rain Dance on Kingdra. I've used this set alot, it really kills once Blissey is gone. You outspeed scarfgon in the rain. Surf will OHKO most steels after SR so don't worry about HP fire, which is weakened by the rain anyway. hopefully you've tested that...

-Lefties on Zapdos for walling otherwise run more offensive EVs. Calm nature helps against Starmie and Gengar for defensive sets.

That's it, have fun.

 

[EthanK]

Comments are in Bold.

switch Skarmory out for a LO Gengar with Sub/Shadow Ball/Focus Blast/Explosion.
Ooh, something to experiment with. I'll try it out.

-Run Earth Power on Heatran.
Over Toxic, yeah, good idea.

-Run Modest, Life Orb, Dragon Pulse, Surf, Signal Beam, Rain Dance on Kingdra.
I like the Life Orb idea, but I don't think it will really turn the 2HKOes into OHKOes. I need the extra health as well.

-Lefties on Zapdos
Definitely. I actually think I put Leftovers on him in the past, and it worked better.

Thanks for the feedback though!

 

[Kenpach2]

honestly the team look pretty good lol. but remove the hp-fire on kingdra. go for this for more sweepin possibility hydropump-icebeam-hp.electric-raindance. change the zapdos for maybe a bold zpdos. 252hp 252def 4speed toxic.substitute.roost.thunderbolt

 

[EthanK]

Comments are in bold.

hydropump-icebeam-hp.electric-raindance.
Ice beam is fairly outclassed by my STAB Dragon Pulse, and the only reason I'd use an Ice Beam is when I'm facing a Dragon-type. HP Electric I'll consider, however.

change the zapdos for maybe a bold zpdos. 252hp 252def 4speed toxic.substitute.roost.thunderbolt
Zapdos isn't really there to stall, more to have coverage.

Thanks for the feedback!

 

[Faladran]

Looks pretty good. Heatran doesn't need Overheat unless you use Life Orb to get the OHKO on Machamp and Occa Metagross, so Fire Blast or Flamethrower is more stable over the long run. Zapdos would be better off with a 252 HP / 252 Spd Timid SubRoost Toxic set, which performs well in the current metagame. Scizor could also benefit from Swords Dance for the extra power boost.

 

[Elite_Trainer_U]

Nice team but here are some move suggestions:

Heatran ~ Well you're running a suicide lead, so might as well get some damage done in the process. I would recommend running some type of Hidden power over explosion because Heatran's attack isn't really strong enough to net you KOs over most leads. Perhaps HP grass or ice? And definetely replace overheat with fire blast. It's more reliable in the long run.

Kingdra ~ I would replace rain dance. It doesn't really make sense to run when all of the other pokemon won't gain any benefit. I would replace it with ice beam. Hidden power fire would actually lose power in the rain just to let you know. Might want to consider changing that but I'm not a kingdra expert so I'll leave that at your discretion.

Zapdos ~ From your EV set it looks like your running a physically defensive variant. I would run a bold nature. HP grass provides redundant coverage, and unless swampert and hippowdon provide you trouble, I would switch hidden power for toxic.

Scizor ~ Scizor is rather fragile despite its resistances. I would switch roost for pursuit but that's just a minor nitpick.

Flygon ~ Lol this is almost the exact same set I ran. Perhaps switch the adamant nature for jolly? Other than that nitpick this is great as is.

Gengar ~ You have plenty of options here. From your EV spread this looks like a SP. Attacker. I would change the nature to timid for the extra speed and there isn't a notable drop in attacking power. Focus blast is where I'm concerned. It has very unreliable accuracy and often times a miss can cause you to lose your gengar. I would switch it in favor of thunderbolt or a Hidden power (ice perhaps? It's very unexpected).

 

[EthanK]

Fire Blast or Flamethrower is more stable over the long run.

I gave him Fire Blast over Overheat, thanks for the tip.

Zapdos would be better off with a 252 HP / 252 Spd Timid SubRoost Toxic set

Done, although I lack some coverage now.

Scizor could also benefit from Swords Dance for the extra power boost.

I like Roost on him, as he ends up lasting for a long time with it.

Hidden power over explosion

I guess, but Explosion takes out them pesky Blisseys that switch into it, I ran Hidden Power Grass in the past, and that happened to me countless times.

 

[zapdos=god]

On scizor I would replace x-scissor with Bug Bite because Bug bite is a tad more powerful. (with STAB its something like 135 BP vs. 120 for x-scissor) Really don't like Explosion on your gengar. Change explosion to Pain split because it still beats Blissey. Also change the nature on gengar to Timid because it really need the extra speed. I also really dislike your Kingdra. I would change it to a Life Orb Starmie who is more powerful and way faster. Here's the set:

Starmie @ Life Orb
Timid Evs: 4 Hp/ 252spatk/ 252 speed
Natural Cure
-Hydro Pump / Surf
-Ice Beam
-Thunderbolt
-Rapid Spin/ Recover

LO Starmie is a very powerful asset to your team. First move is your choice of STAB move and it is of course the usual power vs accuracy. I prefer Hydro Pump becausse it secures the 2HKO on many things like Metagross, Swampert, and 252HP Jirachi. It also OHKOs it two biggest counters in Tyranitar and Scizor. Next two slots are the ever so useful bolt beam combo. It hits many pokemon that resist its water STAB such as Dragonite, Gyarados, Zapdos, opposing Starmie, etc for super effective damage. For the last slot, it is a pretty difficult choice. Rapid Spin is to help your team while Recover is for longer longevity. I would use Rapid spin because your zapdos is weak to stealth rock.

 

[bubbly]

Aargh will people please stop posting stuff like this:

Really don't like Explosion on your gengar. Change explosion to Pain split because it still beats Blissey.

This is a matter of opinion only. Explosion is very viable on Gengar, especially since the SubSplit set is so popular.

Second, I would prefer to see a Life Orb Heatran over your current version. ShucaTran is really not great at the moment since it is both expected, and the users of weak Earthquakes and Earth Powers are mostly becoming less common. The exception is opposing Heatran, but with Kingdra and Flygon this is unneeded. Life Orb tran also OHKO's lead Machamp the majority of the time, which is a major threat to your team.

Scizor is the other major thing which needs a change. There are essentially three viable sets for Scizor; Choice Band, Choice Scarf, and Swords Dance (either bulky or offensive).
Your current Scizor is basically inferior, unfortunately. I'd recommend either of the Choiced variants, since they have better synergy with Flygon and U-turn abuse is great. However, since you seem to like keeping your Scizor healthy, you could also try the bulky SD version with SD, Roost, Bullet Punch, and Bug Bite/Brick Break or similar.