Okay, so I have been playing showdown for about 3 years and I've played pokémon since Blue. I experiment around a lot, but when I get serious, I use a lot of things from my experiments to make a team come together. I usually get up into the 1300s, but lately I've gotten up to the 1400s and 1500s.
So I made a Mega Gyarados team with a few preferences for certain mons that in 10 matches got me into the 1400s with only a few losses.
For proof of where this team got me (using the /rank command during battle):
(OU+L started at 99. OU+W started at 108.)
User: chooseyourcolor
FormatEloGXEGlicko-1COILWLT
uu - 1331 - 66 -1623 ± 53--30160
rususpecttest - 1215 - 60 - 1580 ± 63200821130
battlefactory - 1119 - 60 - 1581 ± 89--830
nu - 1168 - 65 - 1618 ± 91--720
ou - 1408 - 64 - 1611 ± 27--1161010
ounomega - 1371 - 76 - 1722 ± 63--2270
randomdoublesbattle - 1094 - 57 - 1557 ± 97--420
ru - 1179 - 55 - 1534 ± 47--30260
Like I said, I experiment around quite a bit in OU. Most of those experiments go horribly wrong.
This time my experiment was hyper-offense and bulky-offense combined on one team. It turns out that this actually works, but is more specific to individual mons rather than a team orientation. Kind of like Bulky Talonflame versus Banded Talonflame or similar. I wanted to know how I could make this team better. So, without Further ado, here is the team that pushed me to the 1400s with ease.
Gyarados-Mega @ Gyaradosite
Ability: Mold Breaker
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Crunch
- Waterfall
- Earthquake
Pre-Mega Evolution Ability: Intimidate
I wanted to base my team around this powerful beast. Regardless, there is a reason behind the sets. Intimidate before mega-evolution is extremely helpful, as it takes away a bit of power from physical attackers who would normally be able to stop Gyarados from getting an easy boost with dragon-dance. Like Scizor with U-turn. Or Excadrill, Metagross, Tyranitar, Etcetera. Giving it max attack and max speed with an adamant nature just makes it possible to outspeed other common Dragon Dancers and hit insanely hard with an unboosted attack of 449. It has wonderful natural bulk after mega-evolution as well. It is very prone to getting worn down, but there is no path around that. So this is Go Hard or Go Home. I like Mold Breaker as an ability and this works perfectly with this mega.
Earthquake with the mega ability will keep most mons with levitate from switching in. It also adds good coverage, especially to a lot of electric types that aren't scarfed after a D-dance boost.
Waterfall is just a great STAB move with a 20% Chance to flinch. Mold Breaker bypasses water absorb and storm drain which occasionally is helpful, but usually isn't a big deal.
Crunch is a STAB move in the Mega-Evolution that is useful and has a chance to lower defense by 20%.
Dragon Dance is what really makes Gyarados-Mega a tool of destruction. Mold Breaker bypasses unaware and is able to score crits against mons with an ability like shell armor, specifically Slowbro-Mega. One Dragon Dance turns this Gyarados into a monster. Two turn it into a fearsome Sweeper.
Talonflame @ Sky Plate
Ability: Gale Wings
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Brave Bird
- Flare Blitz
- Roost
- Swords Dance
Ah... Good ol' Bessie. I mean Talonflame. Though there are a few sets, it is pretty clear which this one is. I went with an Adamant nature over a Jolly nature because after a swords dance, a bulky max HP, max attack, 8 def Lando-T will lower its attack by one, but I still have a 50% chance to OHKO after stealth rocks with a brave bird. Scarfed Lando-T is OHKOed after rocks and is 75% to OHKO at full health without rocks. Before a boost though, Talonflame is meant to take out fighting types and bisharp/ x4 fire weakness mons. It also kills serperior, Venusaur, and Keldeo with relative ease. It forces a lot of switches too, so it's easy to boost. That being said, there are quite a lot of counters as well. Gyarados deals pretty well with them though, bar electric types and hard switch ins.
Brave Bird will deal out quick damage and give me priority. It's useful to hit subs if I have to scrap something. It helps when someone else has set something up too.
Flare Blitz is just coverage for steel types that have been weakened a little bit already or anything that flying type moves have problems hitting hard, like slower electric types (mons<351 speed). Though I don't recommend it for that purpose in most cases.
Roost provides HP recover and increases longevity.
Swords Dance can turn Talonflame into a sweeper very quickly if an opponent isn't careful or just doesn't have a counter left for it Talonflame.
Starmie @ Life Orb
Ability: Analytic
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Recover
- Rapid Spin
- Scald
- Psyshock
When there is a hazard, there is a Star who wants to remove them. That's my Starmie. Having access to rapid spin is one of the main reasons for having starmie on the team. Excadrill is not fast enough and is not needed because of its lower speed tier. I have analytic to deal with switch ins to ghost types, especially gengar or something with shadow sneak. Life orb helps maximize damage dealt without locking it into a move. I have 0 IV on the attack to guarantee that I survive a foul play whenever that would happen. It also helps minimize the damage I would take from confusion. I have max speed and max special attack to make this a nice mon to dish out high damage and sit in a pretty great speed tier with base 115. Scald is useful to get burns on occasion to physical attackers, especially when they switch in. Psyshock can help deal with chansey and murders non scarfed Gengar. I preferred having a mon with rapid spin over defog just for the fact that I wanted a better speed tier than Latios/Latias and I wanted to be able to keep my own hazards on the field. If I had Natural cure, Starmie would work pretty well anyway. It just wouldn't hit hard switches as powerfully with a 1.3x damage boost from Analytic. Though paralysis and toxic/burn would be less of an issue for it. It just depends on your own style which ability you give Starmie.
Recover is a useful way to regain HP and increase longevity.
Rapid Spin clears away rocks and other hazards. Very important on this team.
Scald is a wonderful water type STAB move with a chance to burn by 30%.
Psyshock is very useful as a STAB move and gives physical damage to mons where special damage would do jack.
Serperior @ Assault Vest
Ability: Contrary
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 32 HP / 224 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Leaf Storm
- Dragon Pulse
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Mirror Coat
Haters Gonna Hate. That is the slogan of Serperior. With contrary as an ability, this thing can very quickly make itself a threat, even to some switch ins thanks to leaf storm which boosts its special attack by 2 stages instead of lowering it by 2 stages. If you predict a defog, you can switch in serperior and boost your evasion for free as well. It may be a grass type, which is lack-luster offensively, but it has just the right amount of coverage to keep itself a menacing foe. Because serperior is a grass type though, spore, leech seed, and grass type powder moves fail against it, which is useful when you see the occasional Breloom or Amoongus or something. Assault vest is possibly one of the best items Serperior could ask for. Be honest, Giga drain isn't going to give us much hp, especially when your opponent wants Serperior gone for good. Leftovers just doesn't cut it enough. Life orb, though great because it adds damage, will wear down serperior far too quickly for it to be effective. Sure, Assault Vest makes glare leave the moveset, but it also boosts its special defense through the roof. This is the reason that mirror coat becomes incredibly effective. A heatran that does not have overheat does not always OHKO after stealth rock damage. A non-modest heatran without overheat or magma storm does not OHKO Serperior with Assault Vest after rocks even if it is max special attack. And magma storm is an 18.8% chance to KO after rocks. Overheat will always OHKO after rocks unless there isn't any special attack investment. That's how effective Assault vest is. Mirror coat will OHKO back given the hit wasn't critical. Zapdos isn't ohkoed after a heat wave, but dragon pulse usually seals its doom without a boost after that. Mirror coat makes Serperior a nightmare for it's counters who can't respond with a physical hit, which really increases how effective Serperior is. Life orb Gengar however, is still a revenge killer. 32 HP investment increases survival and makes mirror coat dish out slightly more damage. 224 special attack still hits pretty hard and after a boost or two, it doesn't matter too much, which is incredibly easy to do with serperior. The speed it sits at with timid max speed and hidden power fire is 356, which is very comfortable to sit at for a hyper offense team in the OU where a 110 base speed is more common than anything above it (latios/latias).
Leaf Storm will be the main attacking move and only way of boosting your special attack. It hits hard and keeps hitting harder thanks to contrary.
Dragon Pulse is your 100% accurate coverage move that deals a nice amount of damage and hits without STAB, which is a problem, but after a boost or two, it can hit very hard.
Hidden Power Fire is a wonderful coverage move that wrecks ferrothorn and can really make scizor regret its life. It is useful as a super effective coverage move. If it isn't super effective, use dragon pulse or leaf storm. Be careful using this move if a heatran is present (or any flash fire user).
Mirror Coat will act as a pseudo destiny bond for special attacking counters such as most heatran, most zapdos, most Venusaur, Magnezone, hidden power fire users, Sylveon with specs and something like clefable that has one calm mind up.
Landorus-Therian @ Leftovers
Ability: Intimidate
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 72 HP / 252 Atk / 184 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Earthquake
- Knock Off
- U-turn
- Stealth Rock
The prideful tiger of the skies: Landorus Therian. Yes, this an extremely common mon used in OU. It has wonderful stats and bulk and coverage. It sits at a decent speed tier and can set hazards. It has U-turn and intimidate which increase its value to many teams. I run knock off because that deters switch ins and still hits really hard. The 72 EVs in HP just add to leftovers recovery and make sure that I survive hits that are not ice moves with more than 55 power and have no boost. Hidden power ice from a Raikou that is not specs or life orb variant becomes a roll to OHKO at full health. 184 EVs in speed just make sure that I outspeed max invested base speed 70 mons and below. This makes it easier to set up and keeps Breloom from using spore as effectively if it is the focus sash+spore lead that I see on occasion. Adamant max attack just means that I hit hard.
Earthquake is the primary STAB move and is just an overall great move to have.
Knock Off gets rid of items and hits pretty hard. It gives a pretty decent coverage even after it has been used to knock off an item already. But you usually don't need it to cover something if earthquake can cover it.
U-Turn is a nice way of switching out after doing damage. It gives this team a nice Volt-Turn Core with Jolteon.
Stealth Rock is the team's way of setting hazards. It is important as half the team needs the rock damage to be more effective.
Jolteon @ Choice Specs
Ability: Volt Absorb
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Shadow Ball
- Volt Switch
I chose Jolteon solely because of its similarity to Raikou, but better ability and much greater speed tier. Jolteon's base special attack is 110 whereas Raikou's base is 115. That isn't too much of a difference. Jolteon can also come in on electric type moves and recover HP which is wonderful since many teams have a volt-turn core that this can disrupt. Jolteon does however have less hp and defenses than Raikou does, which makes it easier to kill, even with bullet punch on the right occasion. Jolteon does however have base 130 speed. It outspeeds nearly everything in OU, even a few megas. That is a wonderful trait. It makes me question why Jolteon is sitting in RU when its stats and specs/life orb movesets are similar to Raikou's. Jolteon is also a nice end game sweeper from time to time just because of its speed and pretty nice fire power with that base 110. Specs makes it more powerful than a life orb would. It also doesn't lose precious HP from a life orb with the choice specs either.
Thunderbolt is your strongest STAB move. This is what you want to use when there are no ground types or mons immune to electric moves left on the opponent's team.
Hidden Power Ice is going to cover Landorus-Therian without Assault Vest and hit most dragon types very hard.
Shadow Ball is the go-to move when you know your opponent will switch, but you have no idea what they will switch out to or there is a pesky psychic type you need to get rid of, like Alakazam (non-mega via volt switch and then revenge kill if needed or as needed.)
Volt Switch is useful to deal damage and switch out. Predict ground type switches when you could use this move though, otherwise you'll have to hard switch from your Jolteon or scrap it. Volt Switch on this team will create a nice Volt-Turn Core with Landorus-Therian.
Are there any suggestions to this team that would make it even better?
Hope you guys enjoy using this team.
-Complicating
So I made a Mega Gyarados team with a few preferences for certain mons that in 10 matches got me into the 1400s with only a few losses.
For proof of where this team got me (using the /rank command during battle):
(OU+L started at 99. OU+W started at 108.)
User: chooseyourcolor
FormatEloGXEGlicko-1COILWLT
uu - 1331 - 66 -1623 ± 53--30160
rususpecttest - 1215 - 60 - 1580 ± 63200821130
battlefactory - 1119 - 60 - 1581 ± 89--830
nu - 1168 - 65 - 1618 ± 91--720
ou - 1408 - 64 - 1611 ± 27--1161010
ounomega - 1371 - 76 - 1722 ± 63--2270
randomdoublesbattle - 1094 - 57 - 1557 ± 97--420
ru - 1179 - 55 - 1534 ± 47--30260
Like I said, I experiment around quite a bit in OU. Most of those experiments go horribly wrong.
This time my experiment was hyper-offense and bulky-offense combined on one team. It turns out that this actually works, but is more specific to individual mons rather than a team orientation. Kind of like Bulky Talonflame versus Banded Talonflame or similar. I wanted to know how I could make this team better. So, without Further ado, here is the team that pushed me to the 1400s with ease.
Gyarados-Mega @ Gyaradosite
Ability: Mold Breaker
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Crunch
- Waterfall
- Earthquake
Pre-Mega Evolution Ability: Intimidate
I wanted to base my team around this powerful beast. Regardless, there is a reason behind the sets. Intimidate before mega-evolution is extremely helpful, as it takes away a bit of power from physical attackers who would normally be able to stop Gyarados from getting an easy boost with dragon-dance. Like Scizor with U-turn. Or Excadrill, Metagross, Tyranitar, Etcetera. Giving it max attack and max speed with an adamant nature just makes it possible to outspeed other common Dragon Dancers and hit insanely hard with an unboosted attack of 449. It has wonderful natural bulk after mega-evolution as well. It is very prone to getting worn down, but there is no path around that. So this is Go Hard or Go Home. I like Mold Breaker as an ability and this works perfectly with this mega.
Earthquake with the mega ability will keep most mons with levitate from switching in. It also adds good coverage, especially to a lot of electric types that aren't scarfed after a D-dance boost.
Waterfall is just a great STAB move with a 20% Chance to flinch. Mold Breaker bypasses water absorb and storm drain which occasionally is helpful, but usually isn't a big deal.
Crunch is a STAB move in the Mega-Evolution that is useful and has a chance to lower defense by 20%.
Dragon Dance is what really makes Gyarados-Mega a tool of destruction. Mold Breaker bypasses unaware and is able to score crits against mons with an ability like shell armor, specifically Slowbro-Mega. One Dragon Dance turns this Gyarados into a monster. Two turn it into a fearsome Sweeper.
Talonflame @ Sky Plate
Ability: Gale Wings
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Brave Bird
- Flare Blitz
- Roost
- Swords Dance
Ah... Good ol' Bessie. I mean Talonflame. Though there are a few sets, it is pretty clear which this one is. I went with an Adamant nature over a Jolly nature because after a swords dance, a bulky max HP, max attack, 8 def Lando-T will lower its attack by one, but I still have a 50% chance to OHKO after stealth rocks with a brave bird. Scarfed Lando-T is OHKOed after rocks and is 75% to OHKO at full health without rocks. Before a boost though, Talonflame is meant to take out fighting types and bisharp/ x4 fire weakness mons. It also kills serperior, Venusaur, and Keldeo with relative ease. It forces a lot of switches too, so it's easy to boost. That being said, there are quite a lot of counters as well. Gyarados deals pretty well with them though, bar electric types and hard switch ins.
Brave Bird will deal out quick damage and give me priority. It's useful to hit subs if I have to scrap something. It helps when someone else has set something up too.
Flare Blitz is just coverage for steel types that have been weakened a little bit already or anything that flying type moves have problems hitting hard, like slower electric types (mons<351 speed). Though I don't recommend it for that purpose in most cases.
Roost provides HP recover and increases longevity.
Swords Dance can turn Talonflame into a sweeper very quickly if an opponent isn't careful or just doesn't have a counter left for it Talonflame.
Starmie @ Life Orb
Ability: Analytic
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Recover
- Rapid Spin
- Scald
- Psyshock
When there is a hazard, there is a Star who wants to remove them. That's my Starmie. Having access to rapid spin is one of the main reasons for having starmie on the team. Excadrill is not fast enough and is not needed because of its lower speed tier. I have analytic to deal with switch ins to ghost types, especially gengar or something with shadow sneak. Life orb helps maximize damage dealt without locking it into a move. I have 0 IV on the attack to guarantee that I survive a foul play whenever that would happen. It also helps minimize the damage I would take from confusion. I have max speed and max special attack to make this a nice mon to dish out high damage and sit in a pretty great speed tier with base 115. Scald is useful to get burns on occasion to physical attackers, especially when they switch in. Psyshock can help deal with chansey and murders non scarfed Gengar. I preferred having a mon with rapid spin over defog just for the fact that I wanted a better speed tier than Latios/Latias and I wanted to be able to keep my own hazards on the field. If I had Natural cure, Starmie would work pretty well anyway. It just wouldn't hit hard switches as powerfully with a 1.3x damage boost from Analytic. Though paralysis and toxic/burn would be less of an issue for it. It just depends on your own style which ability you give Starmie.
Recover is a useful way to regain HP and increase longevity.
Rapid Spin clears away rocks and other hazards. Very important on this team.
Scald is a wonderful water type STAB move with a chance to burn by 30%.
Psyshock is very useful as a STAB move and gives physical damage to mons where special damage would do jack.
Serperior @ Assault Vest
Ability: Contrary
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 32 HP / 224 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Leaf Storm
- Dragon Pulse
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Mirror Coat
Haters Gonna Hate. That is the slogan of Serperior. With contrary as an ability, this thing can very quickly make itself a threat, even to some switch ins thanks to leaf storm which boosts its special attack by 2 stages instead of lowering it by 2 stages. If you predict a defog, you can switch in serperior and boost your evasion for free as well. It may be a grass type, which is lack-luster offensively, but it has just the right amount of coverage to keep itself a menacing foe. Because serperior is a grass type though, spore, leech seed, and grass type powder moves fail against it, which is useful when you see the occasional Breloom or Amoongus or something. Assault vest is possibly one of the best items Serperior could ask for. Be honest, Giga drain isn't going to give us much hp, especially when your opponent wants Serperior gone for good. Leftovers just doesn't cut it enough. Life orb, though great because it adds damage, will wear down serperior far too quickly for it to be effective. Sure, Assault Vest makes glare leave the moveset, but it also boosts its special defense through the roof. This is the reason that mirror coat becomes incredibly effective. A heatran that does not have overheat does not always OHKO after stealth rock damage. A non-modest heatran without overheat or magma storm does not OHKO Serperior with Assault Vest after rocks even if it is max special attack. And magma storm is an 18.8% chance to KO after rocks. Overheat will always OHKO after rocks unless there isn't any special attack investment. That's how effective Assault vest is. Mirror coat will OHKO back given the hit wasn't critical. Zapdos isn't ohkoed after a heat wave, but dragon pulse usually seals its doom without a boost after that. Mirror coat makes Serperior a nightmare for it's counters who can't respond with a physical hit, which really increases how effective Serperior is. Life orb Gengar however, is still a revenge killer. 32 HP investment increases survival and makes mirror coat dish out slightly more damage. 224 special attack still hits pretty hard and after a boost or two, it doesn't matter too much, which is incredibly easy to do with serperior. The speed it sits at with timid max speed and hidden power fire is 356, which is very comfortable to sit at for a hyper offense team in the OU where a 110 base speed is more common than anything above it (latios/latias).
Leaf Storm will be the main attacking move and only way of boosting your special attack. It hits hard and keeps hitting harder thanks to contrary.
Dragon Pulse is your 100% accurate coverage move that deals a nice amount of damage and hits without STAB, which is a problem, but after a boost or two, it can hit very hard.
Hidden Power Fire is a wonderful coverage move that wrecks ferrothorn and can really make scizor regret its life. It is useful as a super effective coverage move. If it isn't super effective, use dragon pulse or leaf storm. Be careful using this move if a heatran is present (or any flash fire user).
Mirror Coat will act as a pseudo destiny bond for special attacking counters such as most heatran, most zapdos, most Venusaur, Magnezone, hidden power fire users, Sylveon with specs and something like clefable that has one calm mind up.
Landorus-Therian @ Leftovers
Ability: Intimidate
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 72 HP / 252 Atk / 184 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Earthquake
- Knock Off
- U-turn
- Stealth Rock
The prideful tiger of the skies: Landorus Therian. Yes, this an extremely common mon used in OU. It has wonderful stats and bulk and coverage. It sits at a decent speed tier and can set hazards. It has U-turn and intimidate which increase its value to many teams. I run knock off because that deters switch ins and still hits really hard. The 72 EVs in HP just add to leftovers recovery and make sure that I survive hits that are not ice moves with more than 55 power and have no boost. Hidden power ice from a Raikou that is not specs or life orb variant becomes a roll to OHKO at full health. 184 EVs in speed just make sure that I outspeed max invested base speed 70 mons and below. This makes it easier to set up and keeps Breloom from using spore as effectively if it is the focus sash+spore lead that I see on occasion. Adamant max attack just means that I hit hard.
Earthquake is the primary STAB move and is just an overall great move to have.
Knock Off gets rid of items and hits pretty hard. It gives a pretty decent coverage even after it has been used to knock off an item already. But you usually don't need it to cover something if earthquake can cover it.
U-Turn is a nice way of switching out after doing damage. It gives this team a nice Volt-Turn Core with Jolteon.
Stealth Rock is the team's way of setting hazards. It is important as half the team needs the rock damage to be more effective.
Jolteon @ Choice Specs
Ability: Volt Absorb
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Shadow Ball
- Volt Switch
I chose Jolteon solely because of its similarity to Raikou, but better ability and much greater speed tier. Jolteon's base special attack is 110 whereas Raikou's base is 115. That isn't too much of a difference. Jolteon can also come in on electric type moves and recover HP which is wonderful since many teams have a volt-turn core that this can disrupt. Jolteon does however have less hp and defenses than Raikou does, which makes it easier to kill, even with bullet punch on the right occasion. Jolteon does however have base 130 speed. It outspeeds nearly everything in OU, even a few megas. That is a wonderful trait. It makes me question why Jolteon is sitting in RU when its stats and specs/life orb movesets are similar to Raikou's. Jolteon is also a nice end game sweeper from time to time just because of its speed and pretty nice fire power with that base 110. Specs makes it more powerful than a life orb would. It also doesn't lose precious HP from a life orb with the choice specs either.
Thunderbolt is your strongest STAB move. This is what you want to use when there are no ground types or mons immune to electric moves left on the opponent's team.
Hidden Power Ice is going to cover Landorus-Therian without Assault Vest and hit most dragon types very hard.
Shadow Ball is the go-to move when you know your opponent will switch, but you have no idea what they will switch out to or there is a pesky psychic type you need to get rid of, like Alakazam (non-mega via volt switch and then revenge kill if needed or as needed.)
Volt Switch is useful to deal damage and switch out. Predict ground type switches when you could use this move though, otherwise you'll have to hard switch from your Jolteon or scrap it. Volt Switch on this team will create a nice Volt-Turn Core with Landorus-Therian.
Are there any suggestions to this team that would make it even better?
Hope you guys enjoy using this team.
-Complicating
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