ORAS OU Rate my OU Offensive Team

[klawehtgod]

Two things to start off:

1. I made this team because I wanted to play with Charizard Y. Please do not suggest replacing him.
2. I am open to all other criticism. Please do not hold back.

Okay so this team is my first attempt at an ORAS OU squad. I brushed up a bit from my XY knowledge and pretty just went for it. I've played 50 OU matches on Pokemon Showdown and my record is decent a 29-21. Time for some outside Feedback.

Without further Ado:

THE TEAM:

I couldn't find moving versions of Excadrill and Sylveon. It bothers me.

What I like about this team:

The firepower. Everyone hits hard. It's definitely heavy on physical attackers (4 to 2) but with the abundance of Special Walls and Specially Defensive sets out there, this isn't as bad as it looks. Breloom, Charizard and Excadrill all have real sweeping potential.

Dual weather. Although I don't need the weather to win, the ability to take weather away from my opponent can't be underestimated if they're running a dedicated weather team. And I've been seeing good returns from it so far.

What I don't like about this team:

Offensive and Defensive coverage. It's happened several times where I look at opponent's switch-in and I think "Everyone left is weak to that" or "I don't have a single attack on the whole team that will hit super effectively".

No Entry Hazard removal. It forces me to not play Charizard as frequently because he just can't switch in many times against Stealth Rock. I know I could just give Excadrill Rapid Spin, but then what do I take away?. More on that later.

No dedicated lead. I pretty much play it by ear. I see what they've got, and if they have an obvious lead I try to counter it. I have led Breloom, Charizard, and Tyranitar. Any ideas for a more clear-cut lead would be appreciated.

Squad UP!:

Breloom
@ Life Orb
Ability: Technician
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Spore
- Bullet Seed
- Mach Punch
- Swords Dance

Breloom. The closest thing I have to a dedicated lead. I'm a big fan of Spore. Getting a Sleep out is a major plus. And if I do get it out, I like to follow it up with a Swords Dance. Only a 20% chance they wake up right away, so that's an 80% chance I have boosted Breloom ready to lay down the law. But I also don't mind switching out Breloom after the boost if the need arises. What I like about this set is that it isn't just a lead. I can bring it in to counter some water types, and even sweep late game if I get a boost.

Breloom has been very frail. If you think I should move EV's around, I'd like to hear it.

Charizard
@ Charizardite Y
Ability: Blaze
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Fire Blast
- Solar Beam
- Air Slash
- Roost

The name's Zard, Charizard. My boy. The man of the hour. Obviously my first starter way back in 2nd grade. And I think that Charizard Y has the look that Charizard was always meant to have, minus the dumb arm wings. One good thing about running Charizard-Y is that people seem to be expecting Charizard-X. I've taken numerous Dragon Pulses with Charizard on the turn he mega-evolves. I love his coverage. I had to run Timid to prevent losing some precious speed battles, but man those first few games with Modest were exciting. This set is pretty popular so I don't really have to go into it much. Fire Blast is the main STAB. Solar Beam is the coverage move, which I have to remember not to use when a Politoed is switching in. Air Slash for that 2nd STAB and coverage/accuracy. I tried using a 4th attack instead of Roost, but there didn't seem to any great coverage to be obtained, and on obvious switches it's nice to get some HP back and maybe allow a switch-in to Stealth Rock. Twice now I roosted and then got hit by Thunderbolt. Let me tell you, that is that most fun prediction I've made so far.

I have led Charizard a few times when the Team Preview didn't show an obvious lead, or it showed a Magic Bounce lead. Nothing better than blasting away a team's lead while they put down one layer of spikes.

Playing with Charizard has taught me the meaning of the phrase WallBreaker. Despite probably too many hours on Pokemon Showdown, the concept never really clicked for me before this. Now I've got it down and Charizard is a boss.

Tyranitar
@ Smooth Rock
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Stone Edge
- Stealth Rock
- Pursuit
- Crunch

Tyranitar. Part 1 of my Sand Duo. Here's where I stuck my stealth rock. If I lead Tyranitar and their lead isn't a Magic Bounce user, I throw Stealth Rock. Stone Edge/Crunch is the obvious STAB combo. Pursuit is great, but it actually has me a little confused as I think people are double bluffing me, or stupid. In cases where Crunch could get a KO, they stay in and I end up hitting them with pursuit for not a KO. I need to learn to time that better.

I'm not 100% on the EV spread here. I like the 252 on Atk, but I don't know if I need the speed or not. Same question for the nature. Should Tyranitar be Bulky? What match-ups can Tyranitar win with 252HP that he can't win like this?

Excadrill
@ Life Orb
Ability: Sand Rush
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Earthquake
- Brick Break
- Iron Head
- Rock Slide

Excadrill. Tyranitar's partner in crime. 2x Speed Excadrill is no joke. Easily the best sweeper on the squad. Right now he's got 4 attacks. It WORKS. Earthquake and Iron head for 100% accurate STAB. Rock Slide for that EdgeQuake coverage, and Brick Break for those pesky Dark- and Normal-types who don't see it coming. It remains to be seen whether or not I will ever actually remove and Light Screens or Barriers with it. Overall the 4 attack set has worked really well.

But it's not everytime that Excadrill comes out in a sandstorm. And I feel that Rapid Spin support is something that my team would benefit from. Where does it go? In Brick Break's slot? It is the only fighting move on the team ever since I replaced Azumarill's Superpower with Ice Punch. One loss to a blissey and you won't be without a fighting-type move again. If I take Brick Break away, would I also then take some of the speed EVs and add bulk, since I'm already planning on doubling his speed more often than not? Who knows? Well, you, hopefully.

Azumarill
@ Choice Band
Ability: Huge Power
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Aqua Jet
- Aqua Tail
- Play Rough
- Ice Punch

Azumarill. The one that, I don't really know why it's here. I was just like, "Shoot I need a water-type, and Huge Power sounds fun." Aqua Jet is one of two priority moves on the team, so it sees fair usage. Ice Punch has been marvelous, as it turns Azumarill into a hard Dragon counter. Aqua Jet over Waterfall for extra power. I don't mind the slightly lower accuracy. I'm willing to accept having "only" a 90% chance to succeed. Plus then it matches Play Rough, which means I don't have to decide between Power & Accuracy when each will do neutral damage.

If I was going to replace one Pokemon on this team, it would be Azumarill.

Sylveon
@ Leftovers
Ability: Pixilate
EVs: 252 HP / 248 Def / 8 SpA
Bold Nature
- Wish
- Hyper Voice
- Toxic
- Heal Bell

Sylveon. My pseudo-Cleric. I say pseudo becaus 50% of the time she just turns into a wall and I end up firing off at least one Hyper Voice. Hyper Voice bypassing substitutes has been amazing. I've almost nailed the timing for wish. Still working on Heal Bell, although to be honest I don't get that much status. Almost never put to sleep or paralyzed. But Charizard is the only team member who can recover on his own, so something of a Cleric is required. And spreading Toxic is always a bonus.


So that's what I got for you. As I said at the top, very open to criticism. Fire away.

 

[Alkov]

Hi there, really nice Charizard Y team you have there. It's a really under rated threat recently! I do have a few suggestions for the team so here it goes

As mentioned in your post, Excadrill is running Brick Break for the fighting-type coverage it provides but in fact it is basically useless because Brick Break is only 75BP meaning that a super-effective hit is technically a 150BP move while a STAB Earthquake is also 150BP. The only difference here is 75BP x 2 = 150 and 100BP x 1.5 = 150BP. In the process of the STAB multiplier, Pokemon tend to round down the damage roll if there's any decimals thus it's just insignificantly weaker.

calcs

252+ Atk Life Orb Excadrill Brick Break vs. 4 HP / 252+ Def Eviolite Chansey: 320-377 (49.8 - 58.7%) -- 99.6% chance to 2HKO

252+ Atk Life Orb Excadrill Earthquake vs. 4 HP / 252+ Def Eviolite Chansey: 320-376 (49.8 - 58.5%) -- 98.8% chance to 2HKO

So, instead of running Brick Break, I'll recommend you to use Rapid Spin to support Charizard Y. Also, with an effective hazard remover, you can bring in Breloom at full HP to trick your opponent into fearing a Focus Sash Breloom which will provide invaluable help to the team.

I'll suggest swapping out your Azumarill to a Keldeo as it is able to help your team deal with opposing Weavile, Bisharp and Scizor. A Mega Scizor that manages to get up to +4 or even +2 can basically just sweep your team if Stealth Rocks are on your side of the field. Keldeo resists most of Scizor's move and is able to hit it hard with Scald and potentially get a burn to prevent the sweep. A particular set that I'm really fond of recently will be the Life Orb variant with Sleep Talk, Rest, Scald and Secret Sword. It gives the team a really solid counter against Bisharp and Weavile while still hitting really hard and being able to switch around my moves. The fact that Sylveon has Heal Bell makes this set exceptionally effective.

The last suggestion is to change Tyranitar's EV to a bulky variant since its main role is to come in, take a hit and Pursuit trap things or get up Stealth Rocks so a defensive version will be a lot more useful. Regarding the move set, you can also try swapping out Crunch for either Thunder Wave or Ice Beam to screw common switch ins like Keldeo, Garchomp and Landorus-T.

That's all I have for now. Hope it helps

 

[klawehtgod]

Hi there, really nice Charizard Y team you have there. It's a really under rated threat recently! I do have a few suggestions for the team so here it goes

As mentioned in your post, Excadrill is running Brick Break for the fighting-type coverage it provides but in fact it is basically useless because Brick Break is only 75BP meaning that a super-effective hit is technically a 150BP move while a STAB Earthquake is also 150BP. The only difference here is 75BP x 2 = 150 and 100BP x 1.5 = 150BP. In the process of the STAB multiplier, Pokemon tend to round down the damage roll if there's any decimals thus it's just insignificantly weaker.

calcs

252+ Atk Life Orb Excadrill Brick Break vs. 4 HP / 252+ Def Eviolite Chansey: 320-377 (49.8 - 58.7%) -- 99.6% chance to 2HKO

252+ Atk Life Orb Excadrill Earthquake vs. 4 HP / 252+ Def Eviolite Chansey: 320-376 (49.8 - 58.5%) -- 98.8% chance to 2HKO

So, instead of running Brick Break, I'll recommend you to use Rapid Spin to support Charizard Y. Also, with an effective hazard remover, you can bring in Breloom at full HP to trick your opponent into fearing a Focus Sash Breloom which will provide invaluable help to the team.

I'll suggest swapping out your Azumarill to a Keldeo as it is able to help your team deal with opposing Weavile, Bisharp and Scizor. A Mega Scizor that manages to get up to +4 or even +2 can basically just sweep your team if Stealth Rocks are on your side of the field. Keldeo resists most of Scizor's move and is able to hit it hard with Scald and potentially get a burn to prevent the sweep. A particular set that I'm really fond of recently will be the Life Orb variant with Sleep Talk, Rest, Scald and Secret Sword. It gives the team a really solid counter against Bisharp and Weavile while still hitting really hard and being able to switch around my moves. The fact that Sylveon has Heal Bell makes this set exceptionally effective.

The last suggestion is to change Tyranitar's EV to a bulky variant since its main role is to come in, take a hit and Pursuit trap things or get up Stealth Rocks so a defensive version will be a lot more useful. Regarding the move set, you can also try swapping out Crunch for either Thunder Wave or Ice Beam to screw common switch ins like Keldeo, Garchomp and Landorus-T.

That's all I have for now. Hope it helps

First, thank you for the response.

Your calcs are exactly the kind of evidence I was looking for. I will definitely switch out Brick Break for Rapid Spin.

Keldeo seems like a decent choice. I've been running into problems with Breloom's and Azumarill's resistances being almost perfectly opposite, and the lack overlap meant I couldn't bring one in after the other. I like that Keldeo matches Breloom better. I figure I'll start with a 4-Attack Life Orb set and go from there.

Bulky T-tar seems like a fine a idea. I can't think of anything specific it was outspeeding. I'm going to need to do some calcs and see what hits it can survive now.

I never thought of replacing crunch. I really like this idea. I will most likely use Thunder Wave, as I was lacking ways to spread status. This is a great idea, and makes Tyranitar way more useful when coupled with the new bulk.

Overall, this seems to be great advice. I really appreciate it.