1 vs 1 OU (Driving myself crazy lately, 4th Gen)

[Ginormous76]

I've been driving myself crazy lately putting together my team. This is a 4th Generation team, and I really need a fresh set of eyes.

Forretress @ Iron Ball (Sturdy)
Relaxed ___ 252 HP/112 Attack/144 Defense
~Stealth Rock
~Gyro Ball
~Rapid Spin
~Earthquake?

I love this little guy. I prefer Stealth Rock to either Spikes and Toxic Spikes, and this guy completely won me over when he one-shot my friend's Ninjask with Gyro Ball. I'm having some difficulty deciding what to put in the fourth slot. I've tinkered with Pain Split (to help deal with Blissey & Snorlax), considered Earthquake and Toxic Spikes. Rapid Spin helps me prevent the opponent from setting up.

Scizor @ Insect Plate? (Technician)
Relaxed ___ 248 HP/252 Attack/8 Speed
~Bullet Punch
~X-Scissor
~Pursuit
~Superpower?

My Scizor has essentially been with me since I first picked up Pokemon Red about 12 years ago and I rolled with Scyther. This is my Psychic and Ghost destroyer. I'm not entirely sure about Superpower, but I never know when to use U-Turn. Technician is an amazing ability to team with Bullet Punch. Currently using Insect Plate to boost X-Scissor.

Metagross @ Wide Lens (Clear Body)
Jolly ___ 252 Attack/252 Speed/4 Special Defense
~Earthquake
~Zen Headbutt
~Meteor Mash
~Ice Punch?

Metagross is my main sweeper. Going with Jolly and a speed boost lets it outpace a lot of pokemon, because it is rarely expected that Metagross will have priority without Bullet Punch. I'm not 100% on Ice Punch, and have been considering ThunderPunch (or maybe there is something I'm missing). It may also be that I've been looking too much at my team lately.

Dragonite @ Leftovers (Inner Focus)
Jolly ___ 252 Attack/252 Speed/4 Special Defense
~Outrage
~Waterfall
~Fire Punch
~ExtremeSpeed

This is my switch in for Metagross when I'm predicting my opponent to use either a ground or fire attack, then speed in with a Waterfall. This is one of the two pokemon that I'm struggling with. I've considered making Dragonite a Special Attacker and using Flamethrower, Draco Meteor, Surf, and ExtremeSpeed. Metagross and Scizor allow me to switch Dragonite out of Ice attacks.

Machamp @ Muscle Band (No Guard)
Adamant ___ 252 Attack/252 HP/4 Speed
~DynamicPunch
~ThunderPunch
~IcePunch
~Payback

I love my Machamp. No Guard + DynamicPunch is a wonderful combination. I've been considering using Bullet Punch over ThunderPunch, but I feel that I have enough Steel moves on my team. I've been considering if I need to drop Machamp from my team.

Empoleon? @ Wise Glasses (Torrent)
Modest ___ 252 HP/252 Special Attack/4 Speed
~Grass Knot
~Ice Beam
~Surf
~Aqua Jet

This is the second pokemon that I've been struggling with. Not necessarily it's build, but the pokemon in general. I've liked Empoleon, but I've toyed with Gengar and Togekiss in this slot.

Until I started toying around with my team in the last couple of weeks, I was running Togekiss over Dragonite, but decided that if Metagross is my main sweeper, it needs something that can absorb the hits intended to KO him (not to mention that my lead and Scizor are also both weak to fire). With an attack based Dragonite, I only have one special attacker (Empoleon who lacks speed). I don't like the Choice items, but maybe that's because I haven't learned how to maximize their potential. I've been driving myself crazy over the last two weeks trying to get my team just right, and am really looking forward to having a second set of eyes look at it.

 

[Ginormous76]

Did I screw something up in my presentation that no one has made a single comment after a day?

 

[ShinyAzelf]

Hey there,

Nice team. I usually don't go rating, but I guess I'll make an exception.

First, I suggest either Leftovers or Shed Shell on Forretress. Forretress is already slow enough to make good use of Gyro Ball, and Iron Ball does not help a lot more. Leftovers allows Forretress more bulk to set up Stealth Rock, as well as Spikes (though you don't have it at the moment, but I'll get to that later), while Shed Shell allows you to escape from Magnezone, who may come in to eliminate you with a Hidden Power Fire. Now with the item issue gone, I'd suggest Spikes over Earthquake. Earthquake doesn't hit many leads for super effective, and the ones you do (for example Heatran and Infernape), they'll OHKO you anyways, so no point in using it. Spikes allows other members to have an easier time with the opposing team, making it easier for you to take the lead.

Now, I suggest Choice Band on Scizor. With Choice Band, you can check many more threats with the stupidly powerful Bullet Punch, and the boost in all attacks are welcome. I suggest you use U-turn over X-Scissor, allowing you to gain momentum, eases prediction, and allows you to rack up entry hazard damage.

Even with Waterfall, you're not getting any more particular coverage, so I suggest Dragon Dance over Waterfall, allowing you to set up, and hurt the opponent's team. Late game, Dragonite can even sweep with a Dragon Dance under its belt.

I'd suggest Rotom-a over Metagross, acting as a spin blocker. It can be the Choice Scarf variant, which allows you to revenge kill, or the RestTalk variant, which can burn physical threats, and stay in to spin block for pretty much the entire game.

Substitute can be used on Machamp over Thunderpunch, easing prediction, and preventing status which could be annoying.

Finally, SubPetaya Empoleon would seem like a nice way to end the game.

The set I'm suggesting is:

Empoleon @ Petaya Berry
Torrent
30 HP IV
24 Def / 252 SpA / 232 Spe
-Surf
-Ice Beam
-Substitute
-Agility

With it's multiple resistances, it can easily set up an Agility, and begin using Substitute, until it activates it's Petaya Berry. From there, you can pound your opponent down with Petaya + Torrent + STAB boosted Surfs. Its extremely hard to counter, as even Blissey takes around 40% from it.

Hope I helped!

Good luck!

 

[Fantom0]

Machamp is pretty redundant on a team that is right-off offensive anyway. Personally, I would recommend Hippowdon/Tyranitar due to your team's position being based around steel types. As such, I would say Tyranitar, who sucks up your fire weakness quite well, and can run a Scarfed set to properly deal with other threats. A set should look like this:

Tyranitar @ Choice Scarf
Jolly: 252 Atk/252 Spd/4 Def
-Stone Edge
-Pursuit
-Crunch
-Earthquake/Superpower
This set packs one hell of a punch. As such, it's important to predict carefully. This is the standard smogon set, and is pretty effective. It can check so many would-be threats to your team: anything with 115 base down, even with maxed speed plus positive nature.

 

[Ginormous76]

Thanks for the suggestions. They really helped. On my Forretress, I changed EQ for spikes. Replaced Dragonite with a Special Attacker Dragonite with ExtremeSpeed, Flamethrower, Draco Meteor, Surf. Replaced Empoleon with Rotom-C with Leaf Storm, HP Fire, Thunderbolt, Thunder Wave. Replaced Machamp with Tyranitar with Dragon Dance, Crunch, Stone Edge and Superpower. Gave Scizor the Choice Band.

The team is running a lot smoother and I'm having fun with it (which is just as important). I'm still learning how to play it some though.

 

[Eggbert]

If you decide to run spikes/SR on Forry, you will need to have a ghost to stop things from just spinning them away. Also having a choice scarfer will help deal with things that can sweep you, like Gyarados. I would try a Scarf Rotom-w with Thunderbolt/Shadow Ball/ Hydro Pump/Trick over Empoleon. It checks tons of threats, spinblocks, stops walls with trick, really useful.

After that you just need to patch up the sets a bit:

-Scizor should run Adamant, a choice band, and u-turn over x-scissor for scouting and massive chip damage.

-Try Substitute/Dynamic Punch/Stone Edge/Payback on Machamp. Sub lets you hit stuff for free (taking out Rotom and Gyarados who supposedly counter it) and is a complete pain for teams to deal with.

-Run dragon dance over waterfall. You can pick up a DD or two and clean through teams.

-Run agility and a life orb on metagross. Most people try and use Flygon to check you, but with jolly and agility to can easily beat them.