OU Offensive Attempt

Pikadooder

Pikadooder

I'm new to Smogon and don't have a lot of experience with online communities in general. I'm sorry in advance that this isn't the prettiest RMT post you've ever seen, but I'd love some help if you can suffer through anyway. The purpose I had in mind when building this team is to craft an offensive Pokémon team with some shock value to force some misplays through the use of an unconventional sweeping set. Which brings me to my first Pokémon:

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InfernapeLife Orb
Blaze, Timid, 252SpA/4SpD/252Spe

Fire Blast
Focus Blast
Vacuum Wave
Nasty Plot

When I see Infernape on an opposing team, I usually assume it will be a mixed-attacker set or a physical set. MAYBE it is a throwback "lead" set with Stealth Rock or something. Rarely do you see an Infernape run Nasty Plot and attempt a purely Special Attacking set. Maybe that is for a good reason, but it was my hope that with high team synergy and smart play, I could use Infernape's reputation as a fierce mixed attacker to my advantage. The most obvious example of something Infernape can switch in on is Blissey. Blissey fears Close Combat and will almost always switch out or scout while you Nasty Plot. Less-obvious is Greninja who fears the common Mach Punch priority and will also frequently switch out. This allows you to pick up a Nasty Plot and hopefully go for a sweep.

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AzumarillChoice Band
Huge Power, Adamant, 228HP/252Att/28Spe
Waterfall
Play Rough
Superpower
Aqua Jet

Azumarill was picked to add some solid immediate power to the team. I also wanted a Pokémon that could make a solid dent in the many Pokémon who stop Infernape in his tracks. Dragonite is very afraid of Choice Band Azumarill's Play Rough, and any (dragon-type) Pokémon locked into Outrage is going to take massive damage if not be outright KO-ed by this guy's huge physical attack stat.

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Porygon2@Eviolite
Download, Modest, 252HP/252SpA/4SpD
Tri Attack
Ice Beam
Discharge
Recover

Porygon2 is admittedly an unconventional Pokémon by OU's standards, but he can dish out lots of damage while still tanky a wide variety of hits. There is no reason to run any item besides Eviolite as it allows him to survive most unboosted attacks. A good Download boost allows him to do massive damage with STAB Tri Attack. Porygon2 is meant to function as a defensive pivot who adds utility by paralyzing with Discharge and can switch in multiple times thanks to Recover.

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SkarmoryLeftovers
Sturdy, Impish, 252HP/232Def/24Spe
Brave Bird
Roost
Stealth Rock
Whirlwind

This is admittedly a very generic Stealth Rock Skarmory set. I know that Skarmory is a great Spikes user, but this team is heavily offensive and therefore doesn't want to spend three turns setting up layer upon layer of Spikes. Tyranitar is my go-to Stealth Rocker, but he had no synergy with anyone else on the team, so I admit that not as much thought went into Skarmory as some of the other Pokémon that are present. However, Skarmory became a staple for a reason, and it doesn't need too much thought to be effective. Also, Porygon2 and Skarmory offer the same set of resistances as Blissey/Skarmory despite Porygon2 having a different team function.

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CrobatBlack Sludge
Jolly, Infiltrator, 168HP/140Att/200Spe
Brave Bird
Defog
Whirlwind
Taunt

Hazard control is an essential part of the current metagame, and as such it would be foolish not to have a Pokémon who can remove entry hazards on your team. Crobat fits that role on this team specifically because he can do respectable damage with Brave Bird, allowing the team to withhold momentum even in situations where you want to come in to use Defog.

alakazam-mega.png

Alakazam@Alakazite
Modest, Trace(Magic Guard), 4HP/252SpA/252Spe
Psyshock
Focus Blast
Shadow Ball
Dazzling Gleam

Alakazam gets ridiculous type coverage now, and with his base 150 speed he is able to revenge kill with a fair degree of success. By playing Mega-Zam I'm forcing my opponent to choose between staying in and getting revenge killed and potentially getting 2HKOed due to the behemoth special attack stat and type coverage the pentaspoon wielding mega-evolution brings to the table. I run Modest because Alakazam is unable to outspeed Greninja before Mega-Evolving even with max speed investment and a timid nature, but will outspeed even timid Greninja after the mega-evolution.


In posting this thread to RMT, I hope to receive constructive criticisms that will improve this team and its synergy while maintaining the concept of using unconventional sets like Nasty Plot Infernape and Porygon2 outside of the UU environment. Playtesting has shown that the team fairs relatively well in my skill level, but can have problems with very well put together stall teams. Thanks so much for taking the time to read my post. It is the first one I've ever posted to RMT, so hopefully I can make the next one a little bit prettier. I'm totally open to tips just on the aesthetics and layout of this post as well. Happy rating!
 
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Hi there! You only have 5 members, and in the future, please try to make your team format look something similar to this:

Pokemon @ Item
Ability: x / y / z
EVs: x / y / z
x / y / z Nature
- move1
- move2
- move3
- move4

It would be helpful for team raters as we can view your team easily and can recommend better sets, EV spreads, and more!
 
Hi there! You only have 5 members, and in the future, please try to make your team format look something similar to this: ...
Click to expand...

I accidentally posted it before I was done, I'm really sorry about that! I think that it is closer to the correct format now, though I can see there are still a few things to touch up on. I'll continue to edit so that it makes more sense.
 
Hello there. Pretty solid team here. Attack Order made some good points about cleaning up the formatting to make it easier to rate. Anyway, I do have a few suggestions that may help:
  • I suggest running Sp Def Porygon 2 in place of your original set. As of now, your team has no switch in to Zard Y which I feel is quite important in todays meta. Your resist, Azumarill does a good number to it with Aqua Jet (~49% min) but is OHKOed by Solarbeam. Sp Def Porygon 2 can take a hit, Recover off the damage (~50% max) and threaten to 3HKO or Paralyze with Discharge
  • I suggest replacing Dazzling Gleam with Energy Ball on Alakazam. Energy Ball allows you to nail Rotom-W and gives you the coverage to nail common Stall cores (Venusaur + Heatran + Quagsire = Psyshock + Focus Blast + Energy Ball) for super effective damage. It also has the novelty of 2HKOing SpDef Rotom-W.
  • I do think Electric types / attacks give you trouble as they hit 3 pokes super effectively. Repeated Fighting attacks could also whittle your defensive core (Skarm & P2) down. I've also found Crobat to have a bad case of 4MSS. I suggest replacing Crobat with Latias. Latias has a good mix of bulk and attack and resists Electric. And like Crobat, she too can use Defog.
  • If you do wish to keep Crobat, I suggest replacing Whirlwind with U-turn. A well timed U-turn gives you switch advantage.
Porygon2 @ Eviolite
Ability: Trace / Download
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SDef / 4 SAtk
Calm Nature
- Discharge / Thunderbolt
- Ice Beam
- Recover
- Toxic
Set is pretty standard. BoltBeam coverage hits a lot of stuff. Recover for well, recovering health and Toxic to stall out pokes BoltBeam can't really touch. I do suggest giving Trace a spin. Being able to Trace stuff like Multiscale, Water Absorb, Protean, Poison Heal and Flash Fire is awesome. Download is a pretty good ability in its own right as well.

Latias @ Life Orb
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SAtk / 252 Spd / 4 HP
Timid Nature
- Draco Meteor
- Psyshock
- Defog
- Roost / Healing Wish
Latias proves to be a great user of Defog thanks to her bulk and access to reliable recovery. Roosts lengthens her life span while Healing Wish provides a sweeper (like Infernape or Alakazam) a second attempt a sweeping the opponent.
Hope I helped and good luck with your team!
 
Hello Pikadooder, nice team you have here... love to see a Special Attack Infernape. ^_^

Here are some suggestions:

1. Porygon2 - Even though he does have a solid 105 Base SpA, your team is already sporting two Special Attackers in Infernape and Mega Alakazam. I would suggest going with the Defensive Duck variant:

Porygon2 @ Eviolite
EV: 252 HP / 176 Def / 80 SpD
Ability: Trace
Bold Nature
IV: 0 Atk
- Toxic
- Ice Beam
- Thunderbolt
- Recover

This set optimizes DD's bulk while providing stall options with Toxic and the always appreciative BoltBeam coverage. 0 IV Atk reduces confusion damage, though Swagger did get Ban, but just in case. Trace is an awesome ability for stealing things like Levitate and Poison Heal. ^_^

2. Skarmory - This is a classic case of "its not you, its me." Though Skarmory does its job effectively, I feel that we have better candidate at setting up Stealth Rock that can also present better options for your team:

Landorus-T @ Leftovers
EV: 252 HP / 76 Atk / 180 Def
Ability: Intimidate
Impish Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- U-Turn
- Stone Edge / Knock Off

OR

Garchomp @ Focus Sash
EV: 252 Atk / 252 Spe / 4 HP
Ability: Rough Skin
Naive Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Draco Meteor
- Outrage

Both of these sets offer more then just hazards as both mons sport insane Atk stats, thus, being able to wreak havoc on the battlefield after their job is done. This is especially true of Landorus-T, who offers pivoting potential, as well as, a check to physical attackers thanks to Intimidate.

3.
NotBruceWayne said:
Hello there. Pretty solid team here. Attack Order made some good points about cleaning up the formatting to make it easier to rate. Anyway, I do have a few suggestions that may help:
  • I suggest running Sp Def Porygon 2 in place of your original set. As of now, your team has no switch in to Zard Y which I feel is quite important in todays meta. Your resist, Azumarill does a good number to it with Aqua Jet (~49% min) but is OHKOed by Solarbeam. Sp Def Porygon 2 can take a hit, Recover off the damage (~50% max) and threaten to 3HKO or Paralyze with Discharge
  • I suggest replacing Dazzling Gleam with Energy Ball on Alakazam. Energy Ball allows you to nail Rotom-W and gives you the coverage to nail common Stall cores (Venusaur + Heatran + Quagsire = Psyshock + Focus Blast + Energy Ball) for super effective damage. It also has the novelty of 2HKOing SpDef Rotom-W.
  • I do think Electric types / attacks give you trouble as they hit 3 pokes super effectively. Repeated Fighting attacks could also whittle your defensive core (Skarm & P2) down. I've also found Crobat to have a bad case of 4MSS. I suggest replacing Crobat with Latias. Latias has a good mix of bulk and attack and resists Electric. And like Crobat, she too can use Defog.
  • If you do wish to keep Crobat, I suggest replacing Whirlwind with U-turn. A well timed U-turn gives you switch advantage.
Porygon2 @ Eviolite
Ability: Trace / Download
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SDef / 4 SAtk
Calm Nature
- Discharge / Thunderbolt
- Ice Beam
- Recover
- Toxic
Set is pretty standard. BoltBeam coverage hits a lot of stuff. Recover for well, recovering health and Toxic to stall out pokes BoltBeam can't really touch. I do suggest giving Trace a spin. Being able to Trace stuff like Multiscale, Water Absorb, Protean, Poison Heal and Flash Fire is awesome. Download is a pretty good ability in its own right as well.

Latias @ Life Orb
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SAtk / 252 Spd / 4 HP
Timid Nature
- Draco Meteor
- Psyshock
- Defog
- Roost / Healing Wish
Latias proves to be a great user of Defog thanks to her bulk and access to reliable recovery. Roosts lengthens her life span while Healing Wish provides a sweeper (like Infernape or Alakazam) a second attempt a sweeping the opponent.
Hope I helped and good luck with your team!
Click to expand...

Crobat - As mentioned by "NotBatman" Char-Y does give you current team problems. However, whereas he suggested a SpD Porygon2 (and we already provided a set for it in Item #1), I suggest the following to replace Crobat:

Zapdos @ Leftovers
EVs: 248 HP / 252 SpD / 8 SpA
Ability: Pressure
Calm Nature
IV: 0 Atk
- Heat Wave
- Thunderbolt
- Defog
- Roost

Zapdos can literally tank all of Char-Y's hits and still retaliate with Thunderbolt if needed. Roost provides, Longevity, Defog removes hazards and Heat Wave is for Bisharp who try and predict your Defog and want to switch to get the Defiant Boost.

I hope these suggestions were helpful.

Let me know what you think.
 
Rafael J. Feliciano said:
Hello Pikadooder, nice team you have here... love to see a Special Attack Infernape. ^_^

Here are some suggestions:

1. Porygon2 - Even though he does have a solid 105 Base SpA, your team is already sporting two Special Attackers in Infernape and Mega Alakazam. I would suggest going with the Defensive Duck variant:

Porygon2 @ Eviolite
EV: 252 HP / 176 Def / 80 SpD
Ability: Trace
Bold Nature
IV: 0 Atk
- Toxic
- Ice Beam
- Thunderbolt
- Recover

This set optimizes DD's bulk while providing stall options with Toxic and the always appreciative BoltBeam coverage. 0 IV Atk reduces confusion damage, though Swagger did get Ban, but just in case. Trace is an awesome ability for stealing things like Levitate and Poison Heal. ^_^

2. Skarmory - This is a classic case of "its not you, its me." Though Skarmory does its job effectively, I feel that we have better candidate at setting up Stealth Rock that can also present better options for your team:

Landorus-T @ Leftovers
EV: 252 HP / 76 Atk / 180 Def
Ability: Intimidate
Impish Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- U-Turn
- Stone Edge / Knock Off

OR

Garchomp @ Focus Sash
EV: 252 Atk / 252 Spe / 4 HP
Ability: Rough Skin
Naive Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Draco Meteor
- Outrage

Both of these sets offer more then just hazards as both mons sport insane Atk stats, thus, being able to wreak havoc on the battlefield after their job is done. This is especially true of Landorus-T, who offers pivoting potential, as well as, a check to physical attackers thanks to Intimidate.

3.


Crobat - As mentioned by "NotBatman" Char-Y does give you current team problems. However, whereas he suggested a SpD Porygon2 (and we already provided a set for it in Item #1), I suggest the following to replace Crobat:

Zapdos @ Leftovers
EVs: 248 HP / 252 SpD / 8 SpA
Ability: Pressure
Calm Nature
IV: 0 Atk
- Heat Wave
- Thunderbolt
- Defog
- Roost

Zapdos can literally tank all of Char-Y's hits and still retaliate with Thunderbolt if needed. Roost provides, Longevity, Defog removes hazards and Heat Wave is for Bisharp who try and predict your Defog and want to switch to get the Defiant Boost.

I hope these suggestions were helpful.

Let me know what you think.
Click to expand...

You guys were both incredibly on-point about Porygon2. He does his job as a pivot better with a more-defensive set, and his decent base Special Attack maintains his relevance as a Pokémon that has some type of offensive presence as well. I might pick Thunder Wave over Toxic as this team is not tanky enough and doesn't have any type of longevity outside of P2 to take advantage of Toxic's ability to wear down opposing Pokémon. I also like the idea of replacing Skarmory with Landorus-T. Having a Pokémon that can set up Stealth Rocks and still do plenty of damage is definitely an asset to this team. However, Skarmory is half of my defensive core and my only phazer on the team. I think the added momentum that I could grab with Landorus-T might still make it worth replacing him though.

The most difficult decision lies in choosing between Latias and Zapdos as a replacement for Crobat. Both of you suggest replacing him, and I agree that I should. However, picking between the two is proving challenging. I love Latias' amazing Utility. Healing Wish to revitalize a sweeper or even Azumarill is extremely tempting. However, the synergy and coverage offered by Zapdos is phenomenal too. Adding Latias would unfortunately open me up to dark/ghost types which are a bigger threat in the 6th generation metagame it seems. However, the most common ghosts are Aegislash and Gengar, both of whom can't take the type of beating the offensive treats on this team have to offer. Especially Aegislash, who Infernape can go to town on. I'll be testing a combination of all the suggestions that you guys came up with. This team already feels better than ever though. Thanks for the input!
 
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Pikadooder said:
You guys were both incredibly on-point about Porygon2. He does his job as a pivot better with a more-defensive set, and his decent base Special Attack maintains his relevance as a Pokémon that has some type of offensive presence as well. I might pick Thunder Wave over Toxic as this team is not tanky enough and doesn't have any type of longevity outside of P2 to take advantage of Toxic's ability to wear down opposing Pokémon. I also like the idea of replacing Skarmory with Landorus-T. Having a Pokémon that can set up Stealth Rocks and still do plenty of damage is definitely an asset to this team. However, Skarmory is half of my defensive core and my only phazer on the team. I think the added momentum that I could grab with Landorus-T might still make it worth replacing him though.

The most difficult decision lies in choosing between Latias and Zapdos as a replacement for Crobat. Both of you suggest replacing him, and I agree that I should. However, picking between the two is proving challenging. I love Latias' amazing Utility. Healing Wish to revitalize a sweeper or even Azumarill is extremely tempting. However, the synergy and coverage offered by Zapdos is phenomenal too. Adding Latias would unfortunately open me up to dark/ghost types which are a bigger threat in the 6th generation metagame it seems. However, the most common ghosts are Aegislash and Gengar, both of whom can't take the type of beating the offensive treats on this team have to offer. Especially Aegislash, who Infernape can go to town on. I'll be testing a combination of all the suggestions that you guys came up with. This team already feels better than ever though. Thanks for the input!
Click to expand...

No problem Pikedooder... that what we are here for... also if you want... you can pass on Roost/Healing Wish altogether and give Latias HP Fighting for Bisharp. If you add Latias, Bisharp can cause your team some problems, especially if its running Pursuit. HP Fighting amends this as it OHKOs him handily.

252 SpA Latias Hidden Power Fighting vs. 32 HP / 0 SpD Bisharp: 316-372 (113.2 - 133.3%) -- guaranteed OHKO

Let me know what you think ^_^
 
Rafael J. Feliciano said:
No problem Pikedooder... that what we are here for... also if you want... you can pass on Roost/Healing Wish altogether and give Latias HP Fighting for Bisharp. If you add Latias, Bisharp can cause your team some problems, especially if its running Pursuit. HP Fighting amends this as it OHKOs him handily.

252 SpA Latias Hidden Power Fighting vs. 32 HP / 0 SpD Bisharp: 316-372 (113.2 - 133.3%) -- guaranteed OHKO

Let me know what you think ^_^
Click to expand...

I think it is very clever, and it is a great way to catch someone off guard switching in a Pokémon they think won't have any trouble at all taking a hit. It is a shame that it does so little against Tyranitar though.
 
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