Need advice with OU team

[Gilgameth]

Hello guys. I'd like some help with an OU team i'm making.
I'm still new to the game and would like some advice.

1. I started by Choosing Tyranitar, as i really like the poke; besides it is a very strong one. I wanted to make good use of Sandstorm but not having the whole team revolving around it. As a matter of personal preference i opted for DDtar.
2. Weezing is a good cover up for tyranitar, since it can switch in into Fighting pokes and almost always cripple it. Also, for having Levitate I could also switch into ground attacks against Tyranitar. [Decided to change to Rotom, since it has Fighting immunity and Electrical resistance while having levitate. Also blocks eventual Explosion]
3. I wanted a sweeper which wouldn't be damaged by Sanstorm, Lucario. I prefer Choice Specs for unpredictability, plus, vacuum wave is awesome!
4. Then Vaporeon was a handy addition, since it could cover fire attacks directed towards Lucario, as well as water attacks directed towards Tyranitar. Also, by having Wish, it would certainly help the team.
5. For the next two pokemon I should have a good lead that could set up Stealth Rock, provide coverage against Electric and possibly another Ground resistance/immunity. For the lead role I choose Swampert (Electric immunity) and I wanted another sweeper so I got a Flygon (Levitate).
6. So by the end I have a 2 threatening sweepers who can switch in against many pokemon, 2 defensive pokemon to cover for their weakness and support the team, a lead who can almost always setup Stealth Rock and a last utility sweeper to provide additional defensive and offensive coverage.

Edits are bolded:

Swampert (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Torrent
EVs: 248 HP/216 Def/44 SpDef
Relaxed nature (+Def,-Spd)
- Earthquake
- Ice Beam
- Roar
- Stealth Rock
---

Tyranitar (M) @ Babiri Berry
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 6 HP/252 Atk/252 Spd
Jolly nature (+Spd,-SpAtk)
- Crunch
- Dragon Dance
- Fire Punch
- Stone Edge
---

[Previously Weezing]
Rotom-W @ Choice Scarf Trait: Levitate
EVs: 252 SAtk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Hydro Pump
- Shadow Ball
- Thunderbolt
- Trick

Vaporeon (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Water Absorb
EVs: 248 HP/224 Def/38 SpDef
Bold nature (+Def,-Atk)
- Yawn > Ice Beam
- Surf
- Wish
- Protect
---

Lucario(M) @ Choice Specs
Ability: Inner Focus
EVs: 252 Spd/252 SpAtk/4 SpDef
Timid nature (+Spd,-Atk)
- Aura Sphere
- Dragon Pulse
- Shadow Ball
- Vacuum Wave
---

Flygon (F) @ Life Orb
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 80 Atk/176 Spd/252 SpAtk
Naive nature (+Spd,-SpDef)
- Draco Meteor > Dragon Claw
- Earthquake
- Fire Blast
- Roost

I'd like some advice to improve my team. I don't mind changing a few movesets or even a few pokemon, with some considerations:

I plan making this team to play on Wifi (I have SoulSilver, btw), so i'm avoiding Hidden Power, Legendary Pokemon and Max IVs on more than 3 stats, as I can breed 2 or 3 top stats relatively easily.

Thanks!

Edit: I made some of the recomended changes on Lucario and Flygon. I'm holding back on the other suggestions because I have little feedback so far. I am hoping to get more feedback before making big changes.
Edit 2: I decided to try that Vaporeon set and substitute Weezing for Rotom.
Edit 3: Opted for Choiced Rotom-W, since Tyranitar and gengar are most a threat to me than Scizor. Hydro-Pump totally wrecks Scizor anyway.

 

[B-Zard]

Hey Gilgameth I just want to give advice to change a few movesets of your pokes.

Firstly if you want DD Ttar you're almost forced going for Babiri Berry since otherwise Scizor is going to be a problem. You already have Fire punch to deal with it, but since Bullet Punch is a priority move it will strike first, no matter how many DD's you have. Babiri Berry let's you survie a Choice Banded Bullet Punch from Scizor so you can Ko back with Fire Punch. Stone Edge and Crunch are fine.

Something about Vaporeon. The set is okay, but personally I would go for Hidden Power Electric > Ice Beam to deal with Gyarados who otherwise could be a major thread to your team, only Weezing an deal with it decenlty since it has Tbolt, but is since Waterfall has the chance to flinch besided Weezing you don't have save switches. Most Gyara carry taunt, meaning Swampert can't roar it away. You might also want to try Heal Bell > Protect so your team doesn't have to worry about random status hax.

Lastlty there's Flygon. Some small changes are Draco Meteor > Dragon Claw and change the ev spread to 80 att, 252 spatt, 176 speed.

Hope I helped you, good luck with your team!

 

[Gilgameth]

Wow, I didn't expect to get answered so fast. Thank you for the fast reply.

I think Heal Bell would be interesting in Vaporeon, since i have nothing to deal with status effects. But as much as i would like to use HP Electric, it would be inviable for Wifi play. Hidden Power of the correct type with good power is very hard to breed. Do you have a different solution?

 

[B-Zard]

Wow, I didn't expect to get answered so fast. Thank you for the fast reply.

I think Heal Bell would be interesting in Vaporeon, since i have nothing to deal with status effects. But as much as i would like to use HP Electric, it would be inviable for Wifi play. Hidden Power of the correct type with good power is very hard to breed. Do you have a different solution?

1: Buy action replay
2: Download Pokemon Online
3: Ask in ask thread if people have your Vaporeon set

 

[Braseg257]

hi gilgameth
the advices of B-zard are very good but i want to make some details:
for flygon, i agree with b zard but if you chose that moveset run the naive/hasty nature over jolly to not low the sp atk, similarly lucario doesn't have phisical attacks so change his nature with a modest or timid. if you choose to use hiddn power, hp ice is a good alternative over dragon pulse.
to check gyarados you can also try to run stone edge over roar on swampert; and i suggest to change ice beam with ice punch. i've fought against lots of swampert (i hate him but is an excellent pkmn) and for personal experience i suggest to change leftovers with rindo berry, it's really better: for example, alakazam can hit very well your team except for flygon with stab pshychic and energy ball but swampert can take one eergy ball with rindo berry and ohkoing alakazam with earthquake.
if you don't want to use hp electric with vaporeon you can also try a baton pass set
-baton pass
-wish
-surf
-yawn
i've never tried this set so i can't tell you if it's good or bad but you can try it.
i hope this helps, good luck :)

 

[B-Zard]

hi gilgameth
the advices of B-zard are very good but i want to make some details:
for flygon, i agree with b zard but if you chose that moveset run the naive/hasty nature over jolly to not low the sp atk, similarly lucario doesn't have phisical attacks so change his nature with a modest or timid. if you choose to use hiddn power, hp ice is a good alternative over dragon pulse.
to check gyarados you can also try to run stone edge over roar on swampert; and i suggest to change ice beam with ice punch. i've fought against lots of swampert (i hate him but is an excellent pkmn) and for personal experience i suggest to change leftovers with rindo berry, it's really better: for example, alakazam can hit very well your team except for flygon with stab pshychic and energy ball but swampert can take one eergy ball with rindo berry and ohkoing alakazam with earthquake.

I agree with the nature and stuff (didn't even notice Lucario has Lonely nature XD) and Rindo Berry is something to try since there are leads that randomly carry a grass type attack, such as Azelf leads with Grass Knot or Tran Leads with Hp Grass. Now you can survive it and lay up rocks safely, meaning you are sure to have rocks up if you're not facing a taunt lead. Hp Ice seems a solid choice > Dragon Pulse on Lucario.

Stone Edge might be an option on Swampert but after intimidate Stone Edge surprisingly doesn't do that much as you would expect it to do. With Stealth Rocks I think is a 2hko but without I guess is a 3hko which kinda sucks and also since Stone Edge has 80% accuracy you're basically letting Gyara setting up in front of you. Waterfall can flinch Swampert so I wouldn't count on Swampert of taking on Gyara. Stone Edge has only 8 pp so you run out of it fast. If you're facing a resTalk Gyara he's just going to stall you out off pp and waiting for one to miss before it going to rest up all the hp back. I don't have other suggestions of beating Gyara than running Hp Electric > Ice Beam on Vaporeon since it can come in on Waterfall and 2hko with Hp Electic.

 

[Gilgameth]

Ty for the feedback, Braserg and B-Zard they are very helpful.

@B-Zard
I really don't want to get AR, because I feel it's like cheating. Nothing against whoever uses it, I just don't feel any personal satisfaction from creating a perfect pokemon with little effort. I like raising it. If I choose to run HP, I'll do it old school. ;D

@Braserg
I made the changes on Flygon and Lucario. As for Lucario, I simply forgot to change the default nature, also, I forgot to distribute EVs! I was planning on making it Timid all along.
I liked the Vaporeon set, it is kind of a Vaporeon-Umbreon hybrid. Dunno if it would work, but it is worth the shot!
The Rindo Berry stuff, I think I'll miss the regeneration provided by leftovers... It works really well in the long run and i don't plan on switching Swampert into possible grass attacks.

Also, what do you guys thinking about replacing Weezing by Rotom?

 

[B-Zard]

Rotom is possible over Weezing. But if you do it I would go for a defensive set since both Ttar and Luke are fighting weak, meaning your only save switch is Rotom/Weezing. You can go for a Choice Scarf set meaning you have a revenge killer (it is a really good one), but is affected by sandstorm and is pretty vulnerable to attacks since it has low base hp.

These are sets you can try out:

Rotom-W/H/C @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
Bold Nature, 252 hp, 168 def, 88 speed
- Thunderbolt/ Discharge
- Shadow Ball
- Will-O-Wisp
- Pain Split

This looks similar to your Weezing set, besides it has Tbolt STAB. It is just the smogon set so I am not going to explain more about it. The W/H/C depends on you. Rotom-H might work here since Ttar love to switch in on it and trap it with Pursuit. With this moveset you can surprise it with Will-O-Wisp.

Rotom-W @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
Calm Nature, 252 hp, 136 def, 120 spdef
- Rest
- Sleep Talk
- Discharge
- Hydro Pump/ Will-O-Wisp

Discharge is to hope to get Parahax, whereas Will-O-Wisp induces burn. Again smogon set so nothing special.

 

[Shame That]

This is a solid team man, Congrats!

Well, yes, Tyranitar most definitely does need a Babiri berry, otherwise you will die to it by default. Huh, interesting EV's on Weezing; might I ask what KOs you gain from it? I would highly reccomend moving the EVs from SpA to SpD, as.even with a Calm nature Weezing will be slaughtered by any special move, so he needs all of the reinforcement he can get.

I see absolutely no pressing weaknesses, bar 2. Swampert can be a pain, as it takes out Ttar, Lucario and Flygon with EQ or Ice Beam. This can normally be walled by Weezing or Vaporeon though.

The other one is a bit more frightening; Jolteon. Standard Specs Jolteon can breeze through anything in your team bar maybe Flygon, but I'm sure Flygon can take it down, and Jolteon is really rare anyways. Good choice with Vaporeon as well; seals a gaping Infernape weakness.

Solid team; keep it up!

 

[B-Zard]

This is a solid team man, Congrats!

I see absolutely no pressing weaknesses, bar 2. Swampert can be a pain, as it takes out Ttar, Lucario and Flygon with EQ or Ice Beam. This can normally be walled by Weezing or Vaporeon though.

The other one is a bit more frightening; Jolteon. Standard Specs Jolteon can breeze through anything in your team bar maybe Flygon, but I'm sure Flygon can take it down, and Jolteon is really rare anyways. Good choice with Vaporeon as well; seals a gaping Infernape weakness.

Solid team; keep it up!

I don't think Swampert is that threatening since Vappy can wall is all day long with Wish + Surf and Rotom can burn it meaning it only can Ice Beam which doesn't do a lot to Rotom. His own Swampert can take on opposing Swampert decently since it can Roar it out. Also Swampert doesn't like taking a LO Draco Meteor from Flygon since you can just switch into Vaporeon to take the Ice Beam.

Jolteon seems a problem especially the LO set since it can rip through your team. If it has hp ice your Flygon if screwed but if it has hp grass swampert is screwed and you don't really have a safe switch-in for it. If you go for Rotom > Weezing you have a resistance to electric type
attacks and two immunities.

 

[Gilgameth]

Thanks for the feedback, guys. I appreciate a lot!

I decided to try that Vaporeon set, let's see how it performs. Also, decided to replace Weezing for Rotom, although I'm not completely satisfied with that Rotom set. I was kinda hoping i could use Rotom-C's Leaf Storm for additional offensive coverage against Water types, specially Swampert.

BTW, is there a tag to place pokemon images on posts?

 

[B-Zard]

Thanks for the feedback, guys. I appreciate a lot!

I decided to try that Vaporeon set, let's see how it performs. Also, decided to replace Weezing for Rotom, although I'm not completely satisfied with that Rotom set. I was kinda hoping i could use Rotom-C's Leaf Storm for additional offensive coverage against Water types, specially Swampert.

BTW, is there a tag to place pokemon images on posts?

You can try Leaf Storm on Rotom for coverage against water types. Thunderbolt usually is better to hit water types, since with Leaf Storm you get the spatt drop. If you hit Swampert with Will-O-Wisp the only thing he can do is Ice Beam or Roar, meaning if he Roars his EQs won't do as much since it is burned. Rotom is a pretty good check to Swamperts so I wouldn't recommend using Leaf Storm over something else. You can always choose the Rotom-C form and making people believe you have Leaf Storm.

You can just go to the Smogon strategy pokedex to place pokemon images on posts: http://www.smogon.com/dp/pokemon/

 

[Gilgameth]

As always, ty a lot for the feedback. I think I have a very solid team on my hands. I've been playing for a while and the results are quite good.
Of course, I'm far from having the ultimate team of all times, but I think the overall result is good.

One thing I've noticed is that I have some problems with Gengar and I kinda have a solution, but I'm afraid it could bring me some problems with other Pokemon.

I see 2 problems against Gengar:
1 - I have no safe switch-in against it.
2 - No pokemon in my team is a menace against it.

Tyranitar has STAB Crunch against it, but Gengar almost always has Focus Blast.
Rotom has STAB Shadow Ball against it, but Gengar is faster.
Lucario has Choice Spec'd Shadow Ball, but Gengar is faster AND has Focus Blast.

Basically what i'm doing is either:
A) Roaring it with Swampert.
B) Relying on luck, hoping for Focus Blast to miss.

I'm considering adding a Choice Scarf on Rotom. That way he can revenge kill 95% of the Gengar (except choice scarf Gengar). What do you guys think of this change?

 

[B-Zard]

You can run a Choice Scarf on Ttar if you want. DD Tar most of the times has trouble setting up DD since Scizor (Bullet Punch) and Infernape (Mach Punch and Vacuum Wave) are pretty common. If you run a Scarf, which to me is better than a DD set since you have enough speed to outrun + base 115 speed, you can trap things like Gengar and Azelf with Pursuit before they attack you. If Gengar is Scarfed and locked into Shadow Ball you can go into Ttar and trap it with Pursuit. If it is locked into Focus Blast you can go into Rotom meaning a free Will-O-Wisp or other attack on the switch. This is the set I meant:

Ttar Scarf set

- Stone Edge
- Crunch/Superpower
- Pursuit
- Earthquake / Superpower

Stone Edge is just to hit things like Gyara, Nite and Zapdos for super-effective damage. Crunch is a strong STAB move which has the chance to lower defense. Pursuit is good to trap things like Gengar, Azelf and Rotom. Earthquake and Superpower are for coverage. Superpower is mainly for Bliss and steel types which your STAB moves have trouble with. EQ the same but this attack doesn't lower your attack and defense.

I don't know how your Ttar did in battles but maybe you can try this set before using another Rotom set. I hope this makes your team better!

 

[Braseg257]

for a scarfed tyranitar i personally use this set:
Crunch
Stone edge
Fire fang
Superpower/pursuit

like b zard saw stone edge and crunch are good STABs, i like fire fang to kill scizor, that can be a problem. superpower over earthquake for pkmns like umbreon and steel types like steelix that resists fire fang, pursuit is also a good idea but it's rarely to see a scarfed tyranitar because the most part of players use Tar with chople berry or a defensive set expecially in sand teams so your opponent can say:- my gengar is faster than tyranitar so, why change when i can ohkoing him with energyball (i don't know if gengar carries it) or focus blast- and then he can look at his gengar be defeated with cruch

 

[B-Zard]

for a scarfed tyranitar i personally use this set:
Crunch
Stone edge
Fire fang
Superpower/pursuit

like b zard saw stone edge and crunch are good STABs, i like fire fang to kill scizor, that can be a problem. superpower over earthquake for pkmns like umbreon and steel types like steelix that resists fire fang, pursuit is also a good idea but it's rarely to see a scarfed tyranitar because the most part of players use Tar with chople berry or a defensive set expecially in sand teams so your opponent can say:- my gengar is faster than tyranitar so, why change when i can ohkoing him with energyball (i don't know if gengar carries it) or focus blast- and then he can look at his gengar be defeated with cruch

I have a few things to note. Firstly Pursuit is crucial in this case since Gilgameth can trap Gengar which is a problem to his team so you def want to run this on the Scarf set. Fire Fang might be good but Ttar's job is not getting in on Scizor's attacks since they demolish Ttar and Bp gets priority so even with a Scarf Bp goes first before Fire Fang. I have never seen a Ttar with Chople Berry to be sure, most carry Scarf/Band/Lum Berry/Babiri Berry and I think Scarf is most common. Gengar isn't faster than Scarf Ttar unless it has a Scarf himself, meaning if it is locked into Shadow Ball, Ttar can trap it with Pursuit. Energy Ball doesn't Ohko since Ttar's spdef is boosted in Sandstorm and btw most Gengar's don't carry is lol. Oh yea something else tbh Steelix doesn't resist Fire Fang, only steel type that does is Heatran.

@ Gilgameth: Superpower might be good on the set since it gives you a strong psysical Fighting type move which none of your team members have (Lucario has special Aura Sphere). Swampert and Flygon already have STAB EQ so I wouldn't go for another EQer in your team. I would just go for Superpower/Crunch/Pursuit/Stone Edge then.

 

[Gilgameth]

My DDTar is doing great! I really don't plan on switching his build. Only trouble I had with my DDTar (which i probably will have with any build) is:
Tyranitar uses Dragon Dance!
Opponent withdrew X. Go MACHAMP!

... ¬¬
This sucks. And while carrying payback most of the time, sucks even worse, because Rotom is NOT a safe switch-in.

Despite all that I manage to kill Machamp in some crazy way, but i usually get many pokes hurt and maybe lose some pokemons to get rid of Machamp.

 

[shnen]

Unless this is for gen 4, rotom-A is not a ghost type, so I would advise you either to switch back to wheezing over him, as he is your only method of taking fighting type moves, or change him for a different poke altogether, preferably another ghost. If you still want a Pokemon with levitate, either gengar or mismagius would make a good fit. I suggest you go with scarf gar, as your team lacks a dedicated revenges, and a scarcer always helps. The set is:
Gengar:
252 sp Atk, 252 spd
Timid(+spd,-Atk)
Item:choice scarf
Focus blast
Shadow ball
Trick
Hidden power(Ice)
Although rarely seen this gen, Scarfgar is still quite a potent threat, having perfect neutral coverage, high special attack and speed, and access to trick.Shadow ball and focus blast provides that perfect neutral coverage,as well as letting you hurt tyranitat(with focus miss of course), trick cripples walls, and hidden power ice is mainly for dragonite, who is all over the ladder ATM, as well as significantly hurting many other pokes, with numerous pokemon 4x weak to it. If you want, you could use destiny bond over hidden power ice, to gain a near guaranteed revenge kill on most pokes who you can't take out immediately, but I do not recommend this. You could also run a standard subNP mismagius set if you want, take it from here:
http://www.smogon.com/bw/pokemon/mismagius or you could run sub disable/sub split gengar, it's your choice. Good luck!
EDIT: also, on your lucario, I suggest you swap dragon pulse out for hidden power ice, as it lets you get more damage on those 4x weak to it, although this is not crucial, again, it's up to you.

 

[B-Zard]

My DDTar is doing great! I really don't plan on switching his build. Only trouble I had with my DDTar (which i probably will have with any build) is:
Tyranitar uses Dragon Dance!
Opponent withdrew X. Go MACHAMP!

... ¬¬
This sucks. And while carrying payback most of the time, sucks even worse, because Rotom is NOT a safe switch-in.

Despite all that I manage to kill Machamp in some crazy way, but i usually get many pokes hurt and maybe lose some pokemons to get rid of Machamp.

You might also want to try out Scarf Rotom, since Rotom gives the Ground and most important Fighting immunity (and Electric resistance). I have used it in my first team and it was extremele useful!! It was able to revenge kill a lot of stuff and scaring out Scizor and Grass types with Overheat. This is the set:

Rotom-H @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 4 hp, 252 spatt, 252 speed
Timid Nature (+Speed, -Att)
- Thunderbolt
- Shadow Ball
- Overheat
- Trick

You have to be careful of Ttar since it can Pursuit you. Your Swampert and Lucario (with Vacuum Wave) can take care of this threat.

 

[Chruxl4]

Just a thought, but Rotom reverts to its original form when entering the Wi-Fi Club.. If that's what you'll be playing on, you'll have to either go with the original form, or something else entirely. Of course, that's just in the Wi-Fi Club and such! If you're using PBR, it shouldn't be a problem

 

[Braseg257]

i think you should try alakazam, with an higher speed than gengar and also an higher sp attack. i use this in my team and is really good:
alakazam @focus sash
timid
252 spa 252 spe 4 spd
pshychic
shadow ball
focus blast
energy ball

with tyranitar and sandstream the sash is useless so choice specs and trick over energy ball are good. give it a try

 

[B-Zard]

Gilgameth just try the three suggestions people made of changing Rotom to another set: Scarf Gengar, Scarf Rotom-H and Specs Alakazam and see which one fits best in your team. Personally I would go for Rotom since it gives you another check to Scizor and can take on your Gengar problem. It also has electric + ghost type STAB and Gengar only has Ghost STAB so Thunderbolt on Rotom actually is pretty damn strong. You can also go for Rotom-W to scare out opposing Ttar from trapping you with Pursuit since you can hit them with Hydro Pump.

 

[Braseg257]

maybe rotom-w is better for the simple reasono to chec tyranitar with hydro pump, rotom-w doesnt check scizor but you can always withdrew but you can't with pursuit

 

[B-Zard]

maybe rotom-w is better for the simple reasono to chec tyranitar with hydro pump, rotom-w doesnt check scizor but you can always withdrew but you can't with pursuit

Thats why I use Rotom-H; to scare out Scizor since it is pretty damn common on nowadays OU teams. You have to be sure first your opponent doesn't have a Ttar, if they don't Rotom-H can attack safely. If you use it correcly it can be a good late game sweeper, although you have to lock yourself into one move if you still have your Scarf. I can't tell you how many times Rotom-H won the battle for me (I use it in my first team: http://www.smogon.com/forums/showthread.php?t=3452223), it is fast, powerful and has good STAB moves combined with a strong Overheat. Only downside of Rotom-H is that ScarfTtar is a huge problem. Even if you lock yourself into Tbolt it is still like a 3 or 4 hit ko. I was able to manage it a few times; that was when I had Rocks + Toxic Spikes up. I used Tbolt on the Ttar switch in and 2 more killed it (I stayed in so Pursuit didn't kill lol). If you're going to use Scarf Rotom ALWAYS go for Timid Nature since speed can def win you the battle.

 

[Gilgameth]

Thank you for the feedback, guys. My team is kicking ass!
My only problem is Machamp, but i don't think i'm going to change the team anymore. Even though i have some problems with Machamp they are all manageable. I'm destroying most Gengar and TTar too since i choose Choice Scarfed Rotom-W instead of defensive Rotom-H.

Again, thanks for the feedback and thanks for the help!