4th Gen OU Team

[Ifeno]

Hey guys! I'm new to the smogon forums so i'm just gonna apologize for my newbyness ahead of time. Thanks a lot for taking the time to read this RMT and helping me out =D

Relaxed Swampert @ Leftovers
248 HP / 212 Def / 48 SpD
- EQ
- SR
- Roar
- Icebeam

Standard Swampert lead. Lets rocks up early and scouts my opponents team with roar while doing ping damage to everything it drags out. EQ for STAB and to take out Heatran and Metagross leads. Icebeam is for dealing with all the flyers and levitators that try to wall this set. Its a nice way of picking off Gliscor and Flygon early if they get dragged out from Roar. Roar also lets me to stop Baton Passers.

Adamant Lucario @ LO
252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
- Agility
- CC
- Crunch
- Ice Punch

This Lucario is truely magical. Its main purpose is to set up on pursuit users or a flygon/nite locked into outrage and then KO the likes of Gengar, Dusknoir, Blissey, Mamoswine and Snorlax whilst being able to stay in against his common counters such as scarftran and scarfttar and OHKO them. He is very easy to set up and has proven to do his job quite nicely.

Adamant Metagross @ Occa Berrie
60 HP / 252 Atk / 196 Spe
- Explosion
- Meteor Mash
- EQ
- Agility

My main sweeper. After an agility this thing is very difficult to stop. The Occa berrie allows it to set up on scarftran who stays in and expects an easy OHKO. Meteor Mash is for STAB while Explosion allows me to use Metagross as sort of a Joker. Metagross has very respectable defenses and if any opposing sweeper gets out of hand i can simply blow up Metagross to put an end to the threat. Thanks to its 100% accuracy it guarantees a KO on anything thats not a Ghost or a Protect user.

Modest Starmie @ Scarf
4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
- Surf
- Icebeam
- Tbolt
- Psychic

The reason i use a Scarf Starmie as opposed to a LO one is because Scarf allows me to outrun CS Heatran, +1 Gyara, +1 Nite, CSgon, and most Gengar. These pokemon tend to stay in against Starmie expecting to take it down without much trouble but are quickly OHKO'ed by this set. I choose to run Psychic over Trick as it allows me to hit many things with a powerful neutral STAB. Great for revenge killing weakened foes when i know my opponent still has a vaporeon or ground type left to eat my Surf and Tbolt.

Bolt Zapdos @ Leftovers
248 HP / 228 Def / 32 Spe
- Tbolt
- Heatwave
- HP Grass
- Roost

A standard physically defensive Zapdos. Its ment to wall my opponents Physical sweepers and take down many common pokemon that could wall or threaten the rest of my team. Tbolt is to take down bulky waters which are quite difficult for my sweepers to take down. Heatwave is for Scizor and other bulky steel types. HP Grass is solely for eliminating opposing Swamperts while Roost allows my Zapdos additional switch ins even with rocks up. This Zapdos in conjuction with my Gliscor have proven to counter the increasingly popular Lead Machamp (which has previously threatened my team greatly) very well.

Jolly Gliscor @ Leftovers
252 HP / 4 Def / 252 Spe
- EQ
- Stone Edge
- Roost
- Taunt

This Britscor's primary job is to be able to take even a +2 CC from Luke and be able to OHKO it with EQ. Roost allows me to recover its hp after dealing with Luke, or if it takes damage before doing its job. I run Stone Edge instead of Toxic as i dont need this pokemon to stall out my opponents for me but i don't want it to get walled by fliers and levitators. Taunt lets it prevent my opponents from setting up. This especially usefull against Curselax who can not outstall Britscor without curse.

thanks in advance,

~Ifeno~

EDIT: I realize that this RMT is not nearly as structured, detailed, or generally as easy on the eyes as all the other RMTs around here that i've read. I apologize for this. I plan on fixing this as soon as i get around to it (hopefully thisll be sooner rather than later).

 

[Ifeno]

bump

 

[hoiboy]

Is CS Choice Scarf or Choice Specs? Starmie doesn't need Choice Scarf, seeing as it already outruns most of OU, and Choice Specs is a bad option if you're going to stick a full out attacker set and try to hit for at least neutral damage.

If you're going all out on Starmie, run the LO set. It won't lock you into a certain move, meaning you can successfully sweep more than one weakened pokes. It also serves as a very nice backup to Metagross, as it resists Metagross' weaknesses.

If you have Starmie btw, you don't need Gengar. Two many (haha) frail sweepers on a team is not good.

Edit: I'd also like to see the team building process (it helps).

 

[Kisuke]

Um, lets see.

Swampert lead is fine I guess. About you're problem with Champ leads, I assume you just switch into Zappy? Change Starmie to Modest

Modest Starmie @ CS
4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
- Surf/Hydro pump
- Icebeam
- Tbolt
- Trick

You can do with the extra power and you can outrun scarf Jolly gon anyway. I agree with holiboy, if you have Starmie you don't really need Gengar.

You're Meta aint going to be sweeping if a Rotom/Wash form is around as you really have no solid counter for it. I suggest you change Zapdos with

Rotom-C@Leftovers
252hp/64def/192 speed
thunderbolt
will o wisp
sub
pain split

This way you can switch into a scarfed tbolt and set up a free sub, also having fighting coverage is also nice.

 

[Ifeno]

Is CS Choice Scarf or Choice Specs?(it helps).

Its Choice Scarf as this Starmie is ment for revenge killing...sorry for not making that clear im editing that now

Edit: I'd also like to see the team building process (it helps).

TBH this isnt the "original" team. My original team was made without any planning and i essentially simply adjusted the team to cover weaknesses as i encountered them while batteling, i didnt exactly go through the traditional "Base Team around Metagross" -> "Added Gliscor to cover Fire, Ground, and Fighting Weakness" -> etc. >.<

Um, lets see.

Swampert lead is fine I guess. About you're problem with Champ leads, I assume you just switch into Zappy?

Actually, Zappy is currently not on my team...he was just 1 pokemon i was considering putting on my team. My current method of dealing with Machamp is go for SR...hope i get it...next, switch into gar next turn to eat the Dpunch and waist another PP. Then double switch into gliscor to take the Payback and hit Machamp with STAB EQ.

You're Meta aint going to be sweeping if a Rotom/Wash form is around as you really have no solid counter for it. I suggest you change Zapdos with

Rotom-C@Leftovers
252hp/64def/192 speed
thunderbolt
will o wisp
sub
pain split

This way you can switch into a scarfed tbolt and set up a free sub, also having fighting coverage is also nice.

Cool! thanks ill definitely try that out. Is there anyway of getting him without AR?

 

[hoiboy]

Oh, I forgot to mention, run Hydro Pump over Surf.
I did some Theorymonning a while back about Hydro Pump vs. Surf on Starmie (for the Battle Tower; I don't have the calcs anymore) and it turns out that Hydro Pump picks up the OHKO's where Surf does like 80-99 percent damage. It's definitely worth it and it'll help you stop the ever present T-tar.

 

[WoOoShoOo!!]

Hi,

One thing I would like to suggest and I doubt you'll agree with me( a little ). Avalanche > Ice Beam. Why? Ice Beam is surely powerful, yes. But using Ice Beam, in this case, you'll lose to Anti-Lead Dragonites. Dragonite lives an Ice Beam and you die from 2 Draco Meteors( even with -2 ). Avalanche is a sure kill on Dragonite.

2 Scarfers? You can change Gengar into something more useful. I see that you want to use Starmie to kill +1 Salamence and +1 Gyarados and other shit sweepers. Life Orb Starmie is a really, really, really sweet pokemon. Trust me on this one, if you're using Starmie, it's easy to use, if you're battling Starmie, it's hard to battle. With a set of, Hydro Pump | Tbolt | Ice Beam | Recover, you'll be ripping teams in no time. You can use Psychic if you want.

Life Orb Infernape, HP[Ice], good idea, but I have a better one. Try this.

Infernape@Life Orb | Blaze
252 Atk / 64 SpA / 172 Spe | Naive
Overheat | Thunderpunch | U-Turn | Close Combat

lol. What you do here is, you just U-Turn out everytime you switch Infernape in, and if you can get a kill, kill. Maxing out Attack would allow you to do real shit with U-Turn( add in Life Orb ). U-Turning out early-game allows you to scout and sometimes kill the opponents pokemon( through U-Turning out allows you to switch on a pokemon that counters the opposing pokemon ). Overheat is your shit here. Thunderpunch is for Gyarados and other water types. Close Combat is mainly your damaging move.

That's all, sorry if I suck, Good Luck!

 

[Ifeno]

Hi,

One thing I would like to suggest and I doubt you'll agree with me( a little ). Avalanche > Ice Beam. Why?

I personaly rarely run into dragonite leads, however it's not an issue for my team as i'd simply SR on the first drace meteor and the switch in meta or gliscor on the 2nd one. Also, after SR damage nite is OHKOed by Icebeam. Furthermore, Icebeam also allows me to OHKO Flygon and Gliscor.

As for your suggestions on infernape and starmie ill try them out thanks =D

 

[Davy Jones]

Hello, I got your PM, and I'll try to give you input as best I can.

First of all, I'm wondering where you play since you say that you need to revenge-kill Salamence.

Second, I think that replacing a team member with Choice Banded Tyranitar could help you quite a bit. You said that your team's main goal was to achieve a sweep with AgiliGross, and Tyranitar can help you remove Metagross's counters. Rotom-A is the most notable counter, but Zapdos, bulky Ground-types, and airborne Steel-types serve as solid counters as well. This set can weaken or eliminate most of these Pokemon with its powerful attacks:

Tyranitar (M) @ Choice Band
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 156 HP/252 Atk/100 Spd
Adamant nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Stone Edge
- Crunch
- Pursuit
- Aqua Tail

Stone Edge can 2HKO all variants of Skarmory, including Physically Defensive variants, after Stealth Rock, even accounting for Leftovers recovery. It also helps deal with Zapdos. Pursuit and Crunch let you play mind games and remove Rotom-A, as well as helping against Bronzong, since Crunch can 2HKO it as it switches into a predicted Stone Edge. Aqua Tail is a 2HKO on Hippowdon and Gliscor, and may even OHKO 252 HP/0 Def Gliscor after Stealth Rock. The 100 Speed EVs allow it to outrun Skarmory with 16 Speed EVs and anything trying to outrun it by 1 or 2 points. I'd personally recommend replacing Zapdos since it doesn't do that much for you.

With Tyranitar helping to break down Metagross's counters, I think you then have the freedom to remove Lucario. You desperately need another Pokemon that resists Water-type moves, so I'd recommend using Chesto Rest Kingdra. This set can set up on the bulky Water-types most of your team hates and threaten to sweep:

Kingdra (M) @ Chesto Berry
Ability: Swift Swim
EVs: 144 HP/160 Atk/164 Spd/40 SDef
Adamant nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Dragon Dance
- Rest
- Waterfall
- Outrage

Finally, you have a massive weakness to lead Machamp. As much as I hate to suggest so many changes, I don't believe that I can fix your problems with any less. I'd recommend that you use a lead capable of OHKOing Machamp so that the rest of your team doesn't have to deal with it. I think you should use the following Life Orb Heatran set:

Heatran (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 40 HP/216 Spd/252 SAtk
Modest nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Overheat
- Hidden Power [Grass]
- Stealth Rock
- Explosion / Earth Power

Overheat does 96.1% - 113.4% damage to lead Machamp and dents anything that doesn't resist it and isn't Blissey. Hidden Power Grass allows you to OHKO Swampert and Stealth Rock is there so that you can set up your entry hazard quickly. What you put in the last slot is kind of a toss-up: Explosion lets you muscle your way through Blissey or some other troublesome Pokemon, while Earth Power allows you to hit opposing Heatran seeking a Flash Fire boost. If you opt for Explosion, I think you should exchange Metagross's Explosion for Thunderpunch, which improves your coverage. You really don't want your sweeper blowing itself up immediately.

Last, I just have a few small things to note. First, I'd normally note that Scarfed Starmie is weak to Pursuit, but for this team it's actually a good thing since it draws Pursuits for Metagross to set up on. Second, I agree with changing Starmie's nature to Modest and switching Surf for Hydro Pump, since the increase in power is noticeable. Again, I apologize for recommending so many changes, but I really think that such a large overhaul is essential to the success of this team.

Just as an aside, I think that expanded descriptions and a threat list would really help future raters.

 

[Ifeno]

First of all, I'm wondering where you play since you say that you need to revenge-kill Salamence. Again, I apologize for recommending so many changes, but I really think that such a large overhaul is essential to the success of this team.

First off, dont apologize for recommending changes. After all, thats why this thread was created. Sorry for not having a threat list...i wasnt aware of RMT ettiquette and standards when i made this thread...ill try to update it accordingly once i get the time (kind of busy irl right now sorry)

lastly, i play all over the place. i personaly dont care whether my opponents use mence or not as ive never had trouble with him so on occasion i do encounter him

Thanks a lot for taking a look at my mess of a thread and writting such a detailed reply...ill definitely get right on testing out your recommended changes =)

 

[hoiboy]

Salamence is Uber now.

 

[Ifeno]

Salamence is Uber now.

on smogon's tier list it is...on serebii's it isnt...if my opponent asks to play using serebii's tier list i generally agree to it ^^

 

[Smith]

Okay hey, I got your message! Interesting team. I think the best fix you could make currently would be to fix some redundancies. You're rather weak to Machamp leads- Gliscor doesn't KO with Earthquake and then you eat an Ice Punch in the face, effectively weakening your defensive ore, which is the main purpose of Machamp anyway. I'd also comment that Swampert is a very ineffective Pokemon in today's metagame, at least in the lead slot.

First up, I think that you should change Starmie's set. Starmie actually works fantastically as a lead, so rotate Swampert back and replace with him the following Starmie:

@ Life Orb
252 SpAtk / 252 Spe / 4HP
Timid
-Hydro Pump
-Thunderbolt
-Psychic
-Rapid Spin

This set works marvelously for a number of reasons. Firstly, you're presently very weak to stall, so this provides some insurance against that. Secondly, you're now much better off against Machamp leads, as Psychic kills ~50% of the time (you can run modest if you want the guarenteed KO, but the speed is useful for Gengar or Infernape, etc.) Thirdly, Starmie is great for suicide leads, knocking them down to their sash effortlessly and spinning away their rocks to finish them off. It often puts your opponent on the defensive before the battle even starts, and is a truly underrated set.

The other change I'd use would be to change Lucario to standard SD (I won't bother posting that one). Your metagross with Explosion actually works very nicely as a cleaner, as well as a Pokemon to lure and kill Lucario's main counters like Gliscor or something. You'll also find priority helpful, and it at least gives you a method to deal with Jolteon now, which you previously lacked (you can go to Gliscor/Swampert on Thunderbolt and Lucario on hidden Power, if they aren't specs).

That's all I got, I hope this helps.

 

[Ifeno]

You're rather weak to Machamp leads- Gliscor doesn't KO with Earthquake and then you eat an Ice Punch in the face, effectively weakening your defensive ore, which is the main purpose of Machamp anyway.

First up, I think that you should change Starmie's set. Starmie actually works fantastically as a lead, so rotate Swampert back and replace with him the following Starmie:

@ Life Orb
252 SpAtk / 252 Spe / 4HP
Timid
-Hydro Pump
-Thunderbolt
-Psychic
-Rapid Spin

This set works marvelously for a number of reasons. Firstly, you're presently very weak to stall, so this provides some insurance against that. Secondly, you're now much better off against Machamp leads, as Psychic kills ~50% of the time (you can run modest if you want the guarenteed KO, but the speed is useful for Gengar or Infernape, etc.) Thirdly, Starmie is great for suicide leads, knocking them down to their sash effortlessly and spinning away their rocks to finish them off. It often puts your opponent on the defensive before the battle even starts, and is a truly underrated set.

The other change I'd use would be to change Lucario to standard SD (I won't bother posting that one).

That's all I got, I hope this helps.

I feel like scarf flygon and dd nite could do quite a bit of damage to this team if i change starmie to be my lead and give it rapid spin instead of ice beam. Also, if i change to SD luke i wont be able to outspeed gengar who can in turn ohko luke with focus blast. Gengar can do quite some damage to the rest of my team with shadow ball. Any advice on how to deal with those things?

Also, my general method of dealing with machamp is switching in Zapdos on the D-punch and then roosting on the first turn to scout for stone edge/ice punch which fill fail to ohko after i lose my flying type. Then stay in if its ice punch or go into gliscor if its stone edge. Not the best strategy i know, just wanted to clarify that ;)

Thanks for the suggestions =D

 

[WoOoShoOo!!]

I personaly rarely run into dragonite leads, however it's not an issue for my team as i'd simply SR on the first drace meteor and the switch in meta or gliscor on the 2nd one. Also, after SR damage nite is OHKOed by Icebeam.

And even in -2, Dragonites Draco Meteor does 23.7% - 27.8% to Meta, and follow it up with EQ which does 73.4% - 86.7%. You just lost your main sweeper. -2 Draco Meteor does 48.6% - 57.6% to your Gliscor and you can't OHKO with Stone Edge. lol. Follow it up with another Draco Meteor(-4) and ES. You just lost your counter to Scizor and Luke.

I feel like scarf flygon and dd nite could do quite a bit of damage to this team if i change starmie to be my lead and give it rapid spin instead of ice beam.

Well, then you can try the oh so famous, ScarfTran. Gives you enough coverage and resists. ScarfGon locked in Outrage, revenging your pokemon, Tran comes in, Flygon eats Dragon Pulse. You also said that you need a Ghost resist, well then, here it is.

 

[Ifeno]

Draco Meteor does 48.6% - 57.6% to your Gliscor and you can't OHKO with Stone Edge. lol. Follow it up with another Draco Meteor(-4) and ES. You just lost your counter to Scizor and Luke.

Roost after the -2 Draco Meteor and i'm A-OK. However i likely will follow Davy Jones's recommendation after that past few test matches. i only lost 2 out of like...15 battles but my wins didnt go nearly as smoothely as id like them to