my first RMT: Hyper offensive team

[von Fehringer]

Hi guys, this is my new team and i'd be happy to get some ideas to improve :)

General strategy: Get out as many hazards as possible during the game with Deoxys-D, while maintaining constant pressure with ambiguous sets (Greninja/Thundurus) or sheer power (Mega Pinsir). Also speed is extremely important for my team, as i picked only pokemon with base speed 88+ and/or priority attacks. So whenever facing a difficult pokemon for my team, such as Mandibuzz, Quagsire, Clefable, Slowbro or Rotom-W, i always try to cripple/inflict damage and then revenge kill with something powerful. Here's a quick insight on the pokemon i use:

Lakitu (Thundurus) @ Life Orb
Ability: Prankster
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 SAtk / 4 Atk
Naive Nature
- Superpower
- Thunder Wave
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power [Ice]

Mostly leads my team. I love the unpredictability with the mixed set, as it ohkos big threats such as Gliscor, Garchomp, Excadrill, Bisharp, (Mega) Tyranitar, which otherwise would be great switch-ins on him. Thunderbolt for raw damage. Prankster Thunderwave stops DD Gyarados, mega Tyranitar, Charizard, Dragonite and scarfers. Thought of trying defiant Thundurus, any set recommendations?

Auryn (Deoxys-Defense) @ Red Card
Ability: Pressure
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def /252 Spd
Jolly Nature
- Knock Off
- Taunt
- Stealth Rock
- Spikes

Jump in, bulk hits, taunt, throw out hazards and cripple foes. As long as the match is running. The basic idea of this set. While Knock off takes good care of Espeon or Substitute Gengar, Taunt is absolutely necessary to prevent setups/hazards. I try not to start with Deoxys-D if i see direct threats like Bisharp in the opponents team. Recently saw Superpower on Deoxys-D, have to put 252evs in atk for save kill though so not sure if it is worth the bisharp surprise effect...

Master Sword (Aegislash) @ Spooky Plate
Ability: Stance Change
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SAtk / 4 Atk
Quiet Nature
- Shadow Sneak
- Sacred Sword
- King's Shield
- Shadow Ball

Spinblocking, tanking, revenge killing, taking out ghosts that molest Deoxys and king's shielding physical attackers that have set up already (e.g. Mega Charizard X). Switched to the mixed set for Wallbreaking/Surprise effect. Spooky plate to get max damage potential out of the shadow ball/shadow sneak combo and to guarantee revenge kills.

Silent Bob (Excadrill) @ Air Balloon
Ability: Mold Breaker
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Iron Head
- Rock Slide
- Rapid Spin

Spin, kill Rotom, Sylveon, Togekiss & Clefable and absorb Poison, Ground, Electro attacks. Helps a lot against many threats and usually gets the RS job done (especially thanks to Air balloon). Have seen people use Scarf sets lately, don't think it's necessary to check the pokemon it has to. Any ideas on that?

Grannynja (Greninja) @ Expert Belt
Ability: Protean
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 SAtk / 4 HP
Timid Nature
- Surf
- Ice Beam
- Grass Knot
- Hidden Power [Fire]

A utility master. Replaced Spikes for Surf, to ensure more firepower/coverage. Grass Knot for Azumarril, Tyranitar, Mega Blastoise, Rotom-W (Great to sponge volt switches for surprise effects). Ice beam is for killing Dragons, Flying pokemon, hidden power fire to catch a lot of foes ((Mega) Scizor, Ferrothorn, Forretress) by surprise. Thought of trying the shadow sneak/dark pulse combo for mindgames but am not sure which attacks to drop.

Kindershreck (Pinsir) @ Pinsirite
Ability: Moxie
EVs: 252 Atk / 232 Spd / 24 HP
Jolly Nature
- Quick Attack
- Return
- Earthquake
- Swords Dance

The pure essence of a late-game sweeper. I try to bring in Pinsir as late as possible during the game, letting the other pokemon pave it's way by getting rid of major threats (e.g. talonflame). When it comes in and gets a swords dance it's extremely hard to stop, especially with other pokemon crippled (deoxys knockoff, thundurus thunderwave) and hazards out. Sometimes manages to completely erase opposite teams.

Ok that's it from me now, i'd be happy to get some feedback. If there are any further questions please ask :)

Quick note: All sets of my team's pokemon are designed to be 100% reliable. I don't use any attack with an accuracy lower than 100. This ensures that no matter what situation i am in, i can always count for my decisions to be put in practice and e.g. not miss a hydro pump/stone edge.

 

[Ronch]

I would run a different set on DeoD
Deoxys-D @Tanga Berry/Red Card
Timid Nature
252 HP/252 Spe/4SpD
-Taunt
-Magic Coat/Thunder Wave
-Stealth Rock
-Spikes
This set does the same thing your Thundurus does as a lead, by spreading Taunt on others lead setters, bouncing taunts back to senders with magic coat. This guy is really bulky. The only things you must fear are Magic Bounce users such as Espeon, M-Absol and Xatu (really uncommon in Ou) and Bisharp that forces you to play a mindgame. Tanga Berry helps against U-turners, a STAB U-turn will just deal a 50/40 %. If you prefer a straightforward hazard setter, without playing annoying mindgames run a red card to prevent your opponent to set up on your face. I prefer Tanga Berry anyway, because of Taunt prevents setups. Another thing i noticed is that you lack of a rapid spinner. Even thought that you can taunt them with Deo, he's a suicide lead so you will have problems if you dont take care of your opponent setter. Since you have Talon and M-Pinsir a RSpinner is a must imo. You should try replacing Thundurus, whose role as lead has been already given to Deo. Since you're counting on hazards you should play an offensive team, so i would go for Hydropump/Surf> Spikes on Greninja, as well as Grass Knot>U-Turn to grant him a huge fire power thanks to protean.
Talonflame MUST run Gale Wings imo.
Aegi works better as special attacker, Shadow Sneak is pretty weak even with a +2 boost and Aegi's typing calls in for
Earthquakes. Too many pokemon resist ShadowSneak even at +2.
Aegislash spooky Plate
252Hp/252sp.atk/4Sp.d
Quiet Nature
Shadow Ball powerful stab
Shadow Sneak revenge killing
King's Shield standard
Sacred Sword sends to hell Bisharps
I'm still thinking about a good rapid spinner that can provide also some help to your sweepers, by crippling opponent and maybe dealing some knock offs. I'll update as soon as i can. Hope this reply helped.

 

[von Fehringer]

Thank you for the feedback Ronch, i really appreciate it!!

Already started breeding a quiet Aegislash, the mixed set sounds really appealing and i think it will fit better in my team than having another swords dancer. Great idea, i really loved that! Do you think spooky plate is the best choice or would you consider air balloon/leftovers as an option?

For Greninja's movepool: I thought about switching Spikes to Surf, but i really love the free damage of U-turn, especially on psychics/darks such as Tyranitar, Starmie, Absol and Slowbro. Also it gives you a lot of momentum and possible Setup Opportunities for Pinsir/Talonflame. I am not a big fan of Grass Knot, since it is so useless against Rotom-W (~20%), against which you would need it the most.

Talonflame has Gale Wings, of course. Already corrected it.

For Deoxys-D, i am running the Bulky Pivot set. Generally, i don't use it as a lead, but to bulk attacks and then throw out hazards during the course of the game. Knock off deals with ghosts while crippling other pokemon. As most people expect it to lead i use other pokemon like Thundurus or Greninja, to taunt/scout. I really don't want to drop Thundurus, since the mixed set proved to be so extremely powerful. Though i see that the lack of a spinner may hurt a lot, when the opponent manages to get up stealth rocks.
I'd love to hear your thoughts which spinner could fit in the team, though i managed to get along surprisingly well without spinner so far.

 

[Ronch]

I'm not a great fan of Air Balloon ^^" anyway that's an option. I usually run spooky plate, because Aegi is a good switch in due to its tanking ability and typing. I've seen so many people running Balloon but most of times it gets popped immediatly. I think it's an option, but EQ is easily predictable so you can simply switch to thundurus or Talon if needed. Lefties is another viable item, but i used it only once on Aegi and that was a stall team. So i would go for power instead of longevity on your team. I've seen also tons of weakness policy Aegis, but the only viable set for such an item is the one with autotomize. Otherwise WP would be wasted, simply because Aegi is forced out 90% of times he gets a kill due to its low speed, losing stats boosts and most importantly momentum.

 

[von Fehringer]

I'm not a great fan of Air Balloon ^^" anyway that's an option. I usually run spooky plate, because Aegi is a good switch in due to its tanking ability and typing. I've seen so many people running Balloon but most of times it gets popped immediatly. I think it's an option, but EQ is easily predictable so you can simply switch to thundurus or Talon if needed. Lefties is another viable item, but i used it only once on Aegi and that was a stall team. So i would go for power instead of longevity on your team. I've seen also tons of weakness policy Aegis, but the only viable set for such an item is the one with autotomize. Otherwise WP would be wasted, simply because Aegi is forced out 90% of times he gets a kill due to its low speed, losing stats boosts and most importantly momentum.

just finished my Quiet Aegi, will try spooky plate first :) Also i did put surf on greninja instead of spikes. Another question: I always struggle between Scald & Surf, because i like the burn chance so much. Do you think that 10% damage is worth giving up the burn chance? Still thinking about that Spinner... ;)

 

[Ronch]

I would go for Hydropump/Surf because Greninja is meant to sweep away everything on his path in late-game :)

 

[von Fehringer]

I would go for Hydropump/Surf because Greninja is meant to sweep away everything on his path in late-game :)

Ok thanks for the advice, i also think the damage is more important. Will choose Surf though, because i hate to miss in critical situations.

 

[von Fehringer]

Hey Ronch, just wanted to give you a short feedback after testing the team. You gave me real good advices, i ended up playing Greninja with Surf/Ice Beam/Grass Knot/HP Fire, put spooky plate on Aegislash and now run Deoxys-D with Knock off (amazing against magic bouncers and in rapid spin wars), Taunt, SR & Spikes.

After a little bit of testing i decided to drop Talonflame, since he doesn't add something unique to the team and leaves me overly weak to SR. Instead i included Excadrill with this set:

Silent Bob (Excadrill) @ Air Balloon
Ability: Mold Breaker
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Iron Head
- Rock Slide
- Rapid Spin

He really manages to either Spin or put great pressure on the opponents as well as giving me a handy tool against those fairies (esp. Clefable). Thanks again for all your input, it took me to #232 in the showdown OU ladder. Still thinking about little adjustments (like shadow sneak on Greninja for amazing mind games) but am overall really content with the team. What team do you run Ronch? Are you on Showdown?

 

[Noisy Noivern]

You should add Bisharp and Kyurem-B. Replace Greninja and Thundurus/Talonflame. You need Rapid Spin/Defog Support.
[Why Bisharp?] When your Opponent tries to Defog Deoxys-D's Hazards, switch in Bisharp.
[Why Kyurem-B?] Kyurem-B is highly underrated. He easily Checks Rotom and Smashes Zapdos 1v1, both of those are Mega Pinsir Counters. You can usually get a free sub if you get a free switch in on Rotom and while behind that sub, you're guaranteed at least one kill, lol.

So let me think...
- Deoxys-D
>Red Card instead of Leftovers, and add T-Wave somewhere in there. Maybe replace Knock Off with Taunt or Magic Coat.
- Bisharp
>Yeah, standard Bisharp set. Find one and use it.
- Aegislash
>You're good on this one, although I'd add less Sp.Atk and a bit more Atk for more Sacred Sword and Shadow Sneak Power.
- Pinsir
>You're good on this one. I'd give Pinsir Mold Breaker instead of Moxie so you can at least try and kill Rotom with Earthquake before you Mega Evolve, but you don't have to.
- Kyurem-B
>Find a Rash Nature Substitute set with Ice Beam, Fusion Bolt and Earth Power.

Yeah, make Zapdos your Defogger, or use Latias with Healing Wish if you wanna keep the Hyper Offensive Gimmick.

Latias
>Should be Timid with Healing Wish, Draco Meteor (or Dragon Pulse), Psyshock, and Defog. Give it Leftovers or Life Orb.

 

[Vxy]

Like Noisy Noivern said, change Moxie to Mold Breaker on Pinsir. Also, give Pinsir 232 Speed EVs with a Jolly nature. Putting 252 is a waste as there is nothing else really worth outspeeding. 232 and Jolly will allow you to outspeed Jolly Garchomp.

Also, try Life Orb over Expert Belt on Greninja. Greninja is frail enough as it is, so I don't think losing 10% of your health will make much of a difference. I normally run Choice Specs, but it is just a matter of preference.

 

[von Fehringer]

Thanks Noisy Noivern and Vxy, i just updated the team to the actual version, changed some attacks/evs on my pokemon and exchanged Talonflame for Excadrill. Right now, i really have a problem with Talonflame. Any idea what i could do about that?

Like Noisy Noivern said, change Moxie to Mold Breaker on Pinsir. Also, give Pinsir 232 Speed EVs with a Jolly nature. Putting 252 is a waste as there is nothing else really worth outspeeding. 232 and Jolly will allow you to outspeed Jolly Garchomp.

Also, try Life Orb over Expert Belt on Greninja. Greninja is frail enough as it is, so I don't think losing 10% of your health will make much of a difference. I normally run Choice Specs, but it is just a matter of preference.

Thanks for the EV hint on Mega Pinsir, updated it. I tried Life orb with Greninja but it survives many attacks with 20-30% life so i hated it when i died after using two attacks. Also didn't notice any difference in ohko/2hko potential with expert belt. Do you know any specific numbers Vxy? What experiences did you make with choice specs?

You should add Bisharp and Kyurem-B. Replace Greninja and Thundurus/Talonflame. You need Rapid Spin/Defog Support.
[Why Bisharp?] When your Opponent tries to Defog Deoxys-D's Hazards, switch in Bisharp.
[Why Kyurem-B?] Kyurem-B is highly underrated. He easily Checks Rotom and Smashes Zapdos 1v1, both of those are Mega Pinsir Counters. You can usually get a free sub if you get a free switch in on Rotom and while behind that sub, you're guaranteed at least one kill, lol.

So let me think...
- Deoxys-D
>Red Card instead of Leftovers, and add T-Wave somewhere in there. Maybe replace Knock Off with Taunt or Magic Coat.
- Bisharp
>Yeah, standard Bisharp set. Find one and use it.
- Aegislash
>You're good on this one, although I'd add less Sp.Atk and a bit more Atk for more Sacred Sword and Shadow Sneak Power.
- Pinsir
>You're good on this one. I'd give Pinsir Mold Breaker instead of Moxie so you can at least try and kill Rotom with Earthquake before you Mega Evolve, but you don't have to.
- Kyurem-B
>Find a Rash Nature Substitute set with Ice Beam, Fusion Bolt and Earth Power.

Yeah, make Zapdos your Defogger, or use Latias with Healing Wish if you wanna keep the Hyper Offensive Gimmick.

Latias
>Should be Timid with Healing Wish, Draco Meteor (or Dragon Pulse), Psyshock, and Defog. Give it Leftovers or Life Orb.

Thanks a lot for the input Noisy Noivern! I know about the Bisharp/Deoxys-D combo, fought a few. It's pretty good. I also love Kyurem-B, would you use it over Greninja? Which EVs do you run on it? I really don't like to drop Thundurus, since the mixed set is so amazing and paved way for a lot of wins. For Greninja i'd be ready to try an alternative.

I also like the Latias Healing wish idea, do you think it works better than the excadrill set for my team? don't want to get an ice weakness problem in my team though.