2nd Ever RMT: OU All Stars: Team Scruffy

[Scruffy]

The OU All-Stars: Team Scruffy​

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Introduction:​

I've been browsing RMTs a lot recently and have wanted to build a team myself, but I wasn't sure where to start. The first thing I thought of was who I wanted to to sweep with, and the next was to find a good lead that could get up Stealth Rocks most of the time. This team has actually had quiet a bit of success, but it's lacking in a couple areas and I'm wondering how to fix it. This is only my second RMT, but I'll do my best to explain my reasoning behind everything so you know how this team is supposed to work.

Swampert @ Leftovers
Relaxed - Torrent
252 Hp, 216 Defense, 54 Sp. Atk
~ Stealth Rock
~ Earthquake
~ Ice Beam
~ Protect (roar?)​

Why this set?​

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~ Stealth Rock: An obvious must for lead Swampert. Gets em' up, and gets out of there since he isn't able to hit a whole lot of things hard anyway.​

~ Earthquake: Helps take out lead Metagross and Heatran.​

~ Ice Beam: My secondary-attack of choice. Has more type coverage than Surf, although I lose out on the STAB. ​

~ Protect: I like Protect over Roar for the fact that I can regain HP and Scout the opponents next move at the same time. Although the more I think I about Roar, the more I want to try it out and see if it helps this team more.​

Additional Thoughts:
I tried out tons of leads, but this guy was the most effective at getting rocks down on turn 1. Not even Lead Azelfs Grass Knot only OHKO's half the time. I love this guy, but just wish he could pack more of a punch sometimes =/.​

Gyarados @ Life Orb
Jolly - Intimidate
252 Speed, 252 Attack, 4 Hp
~ Dragon Dance
~ Ice Fang
~ Earthquake
~ Waterfall​

Why this set?​

~ Dragon Dance: Gyarado's most effective way of sweeping is with a speed boost. And that attack boost helps.​

~ Ice Fang: How else is Gyrados going to be taking out the grass types that wall him? At least with Ice Fang Gyarados isn't forced to switch or suicide when a Breloom comes in.​

~ Earthquake: Gyarados really needs Thunder Fang =/. I tell you, the day Gyarados gets Thunder Fang is the day that he gets bumped to the Uber tier. But until then, Earthquake is the only move Gyarados can use to take down all the water types he'll see.​

Waterfall: Why not? It's a STAB'ed water type attack with an nice Flinch rate. ​

Additional Thoughts:
Able to come in on plenty of stuff and force switches. One Dragon Dance sends his speed to a level that only scarfed pokemon can reach, and this occasionally throws off the unsuspecting idiot thinking Jolteon or Infernape can revenge kill him. Starmie also has trouble forcing out +1 Gyarados as 4HP Starmie is OHKO'ed by Earthquake if it comes in on Stealth Rock. Taunt is such a tempting option on this guy though, as my team has trouble with bulky waters that Jirachi can't out-stall.​

Scizor @ Life Orb
Adamant - Technician
252 Attack, 164 speed, 74 Hp, 20 Defense
~ Swords Dance
~ Bullet Punch
~ Superpower
~ U-turn​

Why this set?​

Swords Dance: With all the CB Scizors running around, it makes the Swords Dance variant even better. ​

~ Bullet Punch: Show me a person who doesn't use Bullet Punch on their Scizor and I'll show you a liar =/. Bullet Punch helps finish off the opponents weakened pokemon, and also adds an excellent STAB move to Scizor's repertoire.​

~ Superpower: Blissey. OHKO's without a Swords Dance. Also does upwards of 78% against Skarmory with a Swords Dance under its belt.​

~ U-turn: You don't have to be a CB Scizor to run U-turn. Still an excellent scouting move. ​

Additional Thoughts:
God I love this guy. The HP EVs provide Scizor with the optimal amount for reducing Life Orb recoil, and the speed EVs are enough to let Scizor outspeed 0 speed Cresselia (as to strike hard with U-turn before it tries to status). Like I said previously, helping pick off weakened opponents is what this guy does extremely well. The idea is to Swords Dance and as they switch out to see what counter they have. If it's Suicune, Vaporeon, or Swampert, then they're in trouble, as my U-turn will pack a hell of punch and it will make my decision easier on who to switch in.​

Infernape @ Life Orb
Jolly - Blaze
252 Speed, 252 Attack, 4 hp
~ Swords Dance
~ Stone Edge
~ Flare Blitz
~ Mach Punch​

Why this set?​

~ Swords Dance: Crucial to getting guaranteed OHKOs on things like defensive Zapdos and Gyarados (factoring in Intimidate).​

Stone Edge: Helps clean up the fliers that think I'm going to Close Combat them. ​

Flare Blitz: My all-out attack if I'm going for neutral damage. Life orb recoil helps me get to my ability Blaze faster, so Flare Blitz will hurt even more. ​

Mach Punch: My one-way ticket to rid ScarfTran. I Swords Dance on the switch to Heatran, and then Mach Punch for the near guaranteed OHKO with Stealth Rock up (94% chance). Also helps picking off later pokemon if I decide to save Infernape for later.​

Additional Thoughts:
Basically a great way to get rid of Gyarados and Zapdos. Also helps get rid of that stupid CeleTran combo people still run. Sadly, I have trouble against bulky-waters that switch in, but not even a +2 Close Combat could save me from death against Suicune or Vaporeon.​

Jirachi @ Leftovers
Calm - Serene Grace
252 Hp, 216 Sp. Defense, 52 Sp. Attack
~ Substitute
~ Calm Mind
~ Thunderbolt
~ Psychic (Grass Knot?)​

Why this set?​

~ Substitute: Instead of predicting or using Calm Mind, I usually throw up a sub. Protects me from status and forces the opponent to attack me, or just let me set up.​

~ Calm Mind: Helps boost my respectable sp. attack, which I need if I'm going to be killing anything with Jirachi. ​

~ Thunderbolt: The 20% paralyze rate is real awesome, and also takes care of the bulky waters that I'll be switching this guy into (sans Swampert)​

~ Psychic: STAB Psychic does decent damage, and the 20% sp. defense drop is awesome too. I really, really want to use Grass Knot in this spot though, as it's the only thing I can really do that stops Swampert from walling a lot of my team.​

Additional Thoughts:
Here's my main switch to bulky waters and most special attackers not caring a fire-type move. As long as they don't care roar, I usually come out on top. 252 HP EVs assures that my Substitute does not break against a Blissey Seismic toss, as I'm able to make 101 subs. As already mentioned, Swampert tends to be able to do too much to my team and I don't have any real grass move to keep him in check, so I'm really leaning on using Grass Knot over Psychic in the 4th slot. Thunderbolt is a keeper because of the hax it generates and the higher base power than Grass Knot on some pokes.​

Salamence @ Chioce Scarf
Naughty - Intimidate
252 Speed, 252 Attack, 4 Hp
~ Earthquake
~ Outrage
~ Fire Blast
~ Hydro Pump​

Why this set?​

~ Earthquake: Excellent coverage. Nets surprise kills on many things thinking that they're faster.​

~ Outrage: This is why I love Salamence. 180 Base Power coming off of 405 Attack is simply devastating. It usually spells game-over for many people, especially if they don't know it's scarfed.​

~ Fire Blast: Helps against Bronzong assuming it's still in the game. Fire Blast is also saved for grass types when I don't want to get locked into Outrage.​

~ Hydro Pump: Can't say I use this move all that much. Pretty much for Hippowdon and Gliscor that are still lingering in the game.​

Additional Thoughts:
This is my team MVP. He cleans up what everyone else couldn't with a late-game Outrage. Scores more surprise kills than you would think: I've OHKO'ed Jolteons, Infernapes, Gengars, and an Azelf because they thought they could revenge kill Salamence and instead got slammed with either an Earthquake or an Outrage.​

Final Thoughts/Comments:
So, there's my team. I've had a ton of success with it, but I feel like it can be a bit better. Bulky waters with roar still hurt me, but not enough for me to make any drastic changes. I'll update with a threats list tomorrow when I have more time. I'm looking forward to your comments and suggestions, and thanks for reading up on my team ;)​

 

[haunter]

Hi,

you have a very offensive team here, I like the concept, but I see some flaws:

1) starting from Swampert, it has 522 EVs. Obviously fix that using the standard spread of: 236 HP / 216 Def / 56 SpA. Also, I'd probably keep protect on it: Swampert is crucial to your team - being the only pokemon which can switch into electric attacks - so saving it from an early trick or explosion may be decisive.

2) Now onto Gyarados: I believe that stone edge should replace ice fang, without stone edge you're going to be stopped by opposing Gyarados and will miss the OHKO on Zapdos. Ice fang doesn't OHKO Celebi anyway, and Salamence and Dragonite will be already OHKO'd by stone edge, while Flygon will be KO'd by a +1 life orb'd waterfall.

3) Your team is going to have problems with Latias, especially the CM variant which can 1-2HKO every of your pokemons and can set up on Infernape and Swampert or even Jirachi. That's one of the reasons why I suggest to make your Scizor a CB one. So:

Scizor@choice band
nature: adamant
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 Spe
-bullet punch
-superpower
-u-turn
-pursuit

with pursuit you can eliminate some potential threats like the said Latias and Gengar, or even scarf-Rotom. You'll lose some power when compared to SD, but you'll no longer need to set up, while still keeping the ability to scout your opponent and revenge kill things like DD Salamence. Pursuit may also weaken Celebi enough so that it will be easier for Gyarados to sweep later.

4) Infernape needs close combat, or it will be completely stopped by the likes of Suicune, Swampert and Vaporeon. Though mach punch may be tempting, I believe that you should drop it. By the way, you're quite covered against scarf-Tran, with Salamence and Gyarados which can easily come on the earth powers directed at Infernape.

5) I don't see the point of using a calm nature on Jirachi: you're already boosting your special defence with calm mind, and you need to be a little faster to sweep with it: I'd go with a timid nature and at least 176 Spe EVs to outspeed positive natured base 90 Spe, like Lucario, and below. Also, I'd definitely go with the combo thunderbolt\flash cannon to hit things like perish song Celebi and TTar. With this combo only Swampert has a chance to beat Jirachi.

Hope this helps.

GL!