SM OU RMT New player, wondering how I did! Serperior centered mixed team

[FullMetalBallsack]

Introduction​

Hey Smogen! How's it hanging? I have really only just gotten into competitive Pokemon around a month ago and still don't know much about it. I became addicted after I found pokemonshowdown.come because of a youtuber I stumbled upon and am determined to learn as much as I can about the game. I've played every pokemon game extensively from gens 1-5 but haven't touched it since, so I'm a little out of the loop. This is my first time putting together my own team and I really just picked mons that gave me trouble while I was playing with a borrowed team. I played a few games and I am 3 and 2 with this team. After that, I thought I would post here to see what you guys thought about the team. Let's get started:

Teambuilding Process​

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**Zapdos is an incredible special wall that has great coverage and can dish out lots of damage under the right circumstances. Discharge, Heat Wave and HP Ice are great options for hitting lots of different mons hard and covering lots of different bases. Roost allows for lots of recovery and combined with leftovers makes for a great wall and switcher.**

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**Celesteela is my go to wall for a lot of reasons. 1. Its not Ferrothorn. 2. It can use Flamethrower. 3. its a steel type that resists fighting and ground type moves. I think this much is obvious, and that he fits great with the other team members. Its move set is typical, and doesn't need much explaining.**

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The Team​

Contra (Serperior) @ Leftovers
Ability: Contrary
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Leaf Storm
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Leech Seed
- Substitute
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I chose Serperior after getting swept by one while using a team I got from another player on RMT. Contrary is an incredible ability and is amazing when paired with leaf storm. Substitute allows Serperior to avoid status effects and set up easily, leech seed provides health recovery and can force a switch out, and hidden power fire lets Serperior break walls like Scizor-Mega and Ferrothorn. I think its a very underrated mon, and is definitely the center of my team.

Zabuza (Greninja) @ Expert Belt
Ability: Protean
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Ice Beam
- Dark Pulse
- Hydro Pump
- Spikes
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Greninja is a staple in OU. It provides great type coverage and is a great hazard setter. I don't think I really need to explain why I chose him, we all know how OP he is lol.

Wall (Zapdos) @ Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
EVs: No EVs
No Nature Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Discharge
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Heat Wave
- Roost
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Zapdos is an incredible special wall that has great coverage and can dish out lots of damage under the right circumstances. Discharge, Heat Wave and HP Ice are great options for hitting lots of different mons hard and covering lots of different bases. Roost allows for lots of recovery and combined with leftovers makes for a great wall and switcher.

Lizard (Zygarde) @ Dragonium Z
Ability: Aura Break
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Thousand Arrows
- Dragon Dance
- Outrage
- Extreme Speed
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Not really sure about Zygarde on the team, seems like a decent fit. I started with Mamoswine and quickly realized more than half my team lost to fire types. So, I switched over to zygarde as a physical attacker for some good ground type moves. Do you think Landorus T would be a better fit? maybe Terrakion? I'd appreciate the input!

Sorry (Celesteela) @ Leftovers
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpA
Relaxed Nature
- Leech Seed
- Protect
- Flamethrower
- Heavy Slam
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Celesteela is my go to wall for a lot of reasons. 1. Its not Ferrothorn. 2. It can use Flamethrower. 3. its a steel type that resists fighting and ground type moves. I think this much is obvious, and that he fits great with the other team members. Its move set is typical, and doesn't need much explaining.

Edgelord (Scizor-Mega) @ Scizorite
Ability: Technician
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Atk / 252 Def
Serious Nature
- Bullet Punch
- Roost
- Defog
- U-turn
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I chose Scizor-Mega because scizor has been one of my favorite mons since he was introduced in gen 2. I needed a fogger and a strong steel type for fairies. Bug type also lets me hit/resist psychic and dark type mons well. My main concern here is if I could have picked something else like Magearna. Thoughts?

Conclusion​

Anyway, my main reason for posting is because I am not sure if I have any synergy here. I feel like I could certainly improve. I know I am missing Stealth Rock which really sucks because of how popular flying types are these days, but I am not sure how important that is. So far fire types still hurt like hell, specifically Volcarona and Victini, but otherwise I think I did a pretty decent job. I'd love to hear what you guys think. Thanks!

Importable

Contra (Serperior) @ Leftovers
Ability: Contrary
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Leaf Storm
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Leech Seed
- Substitute

Zabuza (Greninja) @ Expert Belt
Ability: Protean
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Ice Beam
- Dark Pulse
- Hydro Pump
- Spikes

Wallie (Zapdos) @ Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
IVs: 0 Atk
- Discharge
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Heat Wave
- Roost

Snake @ Dragonium Z
Ability: Aura Break
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Thousand Arrows
- Dragon Dance
- Outrage
- Extreme Speed

Sorry (Celesteela) @ Leftovers
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpA
Relaxed Nature
- Leech Seed
- Protect
- Flamethrower
- Heavy Slam

Edgelord (Scizor-Mega) @ Scizorite
Ability: Technician
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Atk / 252 Def
Serious Nature
- Bullet Punch
- Roost
- Defog
- U-turn

 

[stuuful12]

You have a good team, but there are some things that hold this team back

Changes
1. There is no reason to not give Zapdos EVs or a nature. I put the set that you might want to use in the importable

2. Same thing with Serperior

2. You really don't need both Celesteela and Mega Scizor, and you are in need of a Stealth Rocker, so I would recommend Heatran as it helps deal with the pesky fire types that annoy Serperior while also providing rocks and a check to Toxapex

3. Similar to Zapdos, there is no reason why you're Scizor doesn't have a nature

3. Your team lacks any form of speed-control which can be a problem. I would recommend converting the Greninja into a Scarf Greninja to solve this problem

Team with all of the changes

Contra (Serperior) @ Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Leaf Storm
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Leech Seed
- Substitute

Lizard (Zygarde) @ Dragonium Z
Ability: Aura Break
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Thousand Arrows
- Dragon Dance
- Outrage
- Extreme Speed

Edgelord (Scizor-Mega) @ Scizorite
Ability: Technician
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SpD
Impish Nature
- Bullet Punch
- Roost
- Defog
- U-turn

Heatran @ Leftovers
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Magma Storm
- Earth Power
- Stealth Rock
- Taunt

Greninja @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Protean
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
Hasty Nature
- Rock Slide
- Ice Beam
- U-turn
- Spikes

Zapdos @ Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Thunderbolt
- Heat Wave
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Roost

 

[FullMetalBallsack]

You have a good team, but there are some things that hold this team back

Changes
1. There is no reason to not give Zapdos EVs or a nature. I put the set that you might want to use in the importable

2. Same thing with Serperior

2. You really don't need both Celesteela and Mega Scizor, and you are in need of a Stealth Rocker, so I would recommend Heatran as it helps deal with the pesky fire types that annoy Serperior while also providing rocks and a check to Toxapex

3. Similar to Zapdos, there is no reason why you're Scizor doesn't have a nature

3. Your team lacks any form of speed-control which can be a problem. I would recommend converting the Greninja into a Scarf Greninja to solve this problem

Team with all of the changes

Contra (Serperior) @ Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Leaf Storm
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Leech Seed
- Substitute

Lizard (Zygarde) @ Dragonium Z
Ability: Aura Break
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Thousand Arrows
- Dragon Dance
- Outrage
- Extreme Speed

Edgelord (Scizor-Mega) @ Scizorite
Ability: Technician
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SpD
Impish Nature
- Bullet Punch
- Roost
- Defog
- U-turn

Heatran @ Leftovers
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Magma Storm
- Earth Power
- Stealth Rock
- Taunt

Greninja @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Protean
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
Hasty Nature
- Rock Slide
- Ice Beam
- U-turn
- Spikes

Zapdos @ Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Thunderbolt
- Heat Wave
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Roost

Holy cow! I didn't notice I didn't put EVs on half of my pokemon. Thanks for pointing that out. I thought I did, but I made it on my phone so maybe something got screwed up. Thanks for the tips, I'll try heatran now :)

 

[gaasaa]

Hey!

I always love seeing people using my favourite mon, Serp (shameless plug: see my RMTs). One thing I can recommend is to always run Timid > Modest on Serp. It has such a great speed stat that it's a shame to run modest. Running Modest, you get outrun by + Speed nature Base 100 Speed mons. Timid lets out you outrun Jolly Medicham, Chomp, Keldeo, Kartana, Lati, Diancie etc. Serp doesn't really need the boost from running modest, seeing as Leaf Storm gives it boosts.

 

[FullMetalBallsack]

Hey!

I always love seeing people using my favourite mon, Serp (shameless plug: see my RMTs). One thing I can recommend is to always run Timid > Modest on Serp. It has such a great speed stat that it's a shame to run modest. Running Modest, you get outrun by + Speed nature Base 100 Speed mons. Timid lets out you outrun Jolly Medicham, Chomp, Keldeo, Kartana, Lati, Diancie etc. Serp doesn't really need the boost from running modest, seeing as Leaf Storm gives it boosts.

Good idea! i guess since Serp is boosting its spA already it doesn't really need it. Makes sense :)

 

[Simia]

Hey, I've notified a lot of threats to your team so I'll rate it to give you my opinion on this. First, Dragon-Types such as Zygarde and Mega Charizard X are particularly threatening. Both can setup against easily against like Celesteela and then there's nothing to stop them. Water-Types such as Ash-Greninja and Keldeo are very scary too. Ash-Gren is able to put in a lot of pressure against your team with its STABS Dark Pulse and HPump (everything is barely 2HKOing). Keldeo can also put in a lot pressure, with CM and its STABs, Serperior being your only check to it. Electric-Types such as Tapu Koko can be hard to deal with. Basically, Koko is really breaks through your team with TBolt/HP Ice. Lastly, I also have to say you lack a way to revenge kill threats, so a choice scarfer. I'll change many Pokemon of your team but that's worth it because the actual one isn't that good.

>

First change I want to make is AV Tangrowth over Serperior. It would improve your matchup against a lot of threats I brought up before. Zygarde is pretty much countered by Tangrowth, unless it runs Toxic. It is a great check to Water-Types such as Ash-Greninja and Keldeo, being able to eat all of their moves. That Tangrowth is also a great check to Tapu Koko, taking less than 30% on U-Turn and HP Ice. Lastly, the AV set can take on two hits from Tapu Lele, so it's like a soft check. Standars set here.

>

Ok so now, your team is slow, and struggles revenge killing things like Magearna, while things like Char X are still very threatening. That's why I'd suggest the best Pokemon of the tier, (Defensive) Scarf Lando-T. Not much to say excepted that it is able to revenge kill a lot of stuff, provides you a check to Char-X, momentum with U-Turn with M-Scizor, etc. It also frees the last slot of M-Scizor since that Lando-T runs defog. Defensive spread with 3Atk here.

>

At this point, you lack the fantastic Stealth Rock. You also have hard time with M-Medicham. So, I'd suggest running Clefable over Zapdos. From the beginning of the rate, I knew I'd change Zapdos because of how unnecessary it seems to be. While it would help vs Kartana, you have M-Scizor. Celesteela is also managed well with Tangrowth + Zygarde now. On the other hand, Clefable provides you SR as well as a check to M-Cham and other things like Hawlucha. Standard max HP max Def here to maximise the bulk.

I'd just change the moveset. Running Gunk Shot over Dark Pulse and Low Kick over HPump. The first change is cool because it lets you hit both Clefable and Tapu Fini, which are two Zygarde's checks while DPulse is only for Mew. The second change lets you hit TTar (OHKOing, something HPump can't) and Heatran without risking miss, as well as doing pretty good damages to Magnezone, Ferrothorn, Celesteela,Hoopa-U, etc.

Now, you have now Scarf Defog Lando-T, I'd like to transform your M-Scizor into another win condition with SD.

team

Contra (Tangrowth) @ Assault Vest
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 28 Def / 228 SpD
Sassy Nature
- Giga Drain
- Knock Off
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Earthquake

Zabuza (Greninja) @ Expert Belt
Ability: Protean
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- Spikes
- Low Kick
- Gunk Shot
- Ice Beam

Wallie (Clefable) @ Leftovers
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
- Moonblast
- Soft-Boiled
- Stealth Rock
- Knock Off

Snake (Zygarde) @ Dragonium Z
Ability: Aura Break
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Thousand Arrows
- Dragon Dance
- Outrage
- Extreme Speed

Sorry (Landorus-Therian) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- U-turn
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Defog

Edgelord (Scizor-Mega) @ Scizorite
Ability: Light Metal
EVs: 248 HP / 64 Atk / 124 Def / 16 SpD / 56 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Bullet Punch
- Knock Off
- Roost

You can lmk what you think of the changes and good luck.

 

[Chokepic]

I agree with stuuful12 changes (scarf gren over the set you had before and heatran over teela) but with those changes, you should change serperior imo.

Bulu > Serperior: Ok, zygarde is really problematic as someone said before, and without celesteela, you become really weak to other ground types and to gash, so bulu fits perfectly and have perfect synergy with heatran weakening eq and counting zygarde.