(4th Gen OU/Wifi) Solid Attempt to Compete on Wifi

[Brightside]

What's going on guys? I've always wanted to take part in competitive battling but the learning curve always seemed to be too steep for me. Team building is even harder when you have no experience to base it on. This attempt is the result of hours of article and analysis reading and hopefully you (the community) can fill in the gaps that I'm sure to have missed. Take a look:

Skarmory (M) @ Lum Berry
Trait: Keen Eye
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 Spd
Impish Nature (+Def, -SAtk)
- Spikes
- Whirlwind
- Roost
- Brave Bird---->Taunt

Skarmory is now in the lead position to Taunt statusers and immediately begin setting spikes up.

Swampert (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Torrent
EVs: 240 HP / 216 Def / 52 SDef
Relaxed Nature (+Def, -Spd)
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Ice Beam
- Protect----->Roar

Swampert leads off with the intent of setting up Stealth Rock by any means necessary, as my ability to sweep effectively depends upon it. Protect helps scout and Ice Beam to deal with dragons if necessary. I chose Swamert particularly because of his synergy with Skarmory, being able to absorb fire and electric attacks aimed at him as well.

Edit: Swampert has been removed from the lead spot so I'm not crippled by status inducing leads and immediately forced to play defense. Thanks Faladran.

Spiritomb (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: Pressure
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SDef / 4 Spd
Careful Nature (+SDef, -SAtk)
- Rest
- Sleep Talk
- Pursuit
- Will-O-Wisp

Sprititomb serves as my new and improved spinblocker as suggested by Smith. Overall, he takes special hits much better then Dusknoir and pursuit will prove to invaluable at stopping Starmie and checking Gengar.

Scizor (M) @ Choice Band
Trait: Technician
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- U-turn
- Bullet Punch
- Superpower
- Pursuit

Yeah, I cheesed out and went with Scizor. Oh well. He's too good a revenge killer and scout it's hard to pass him up. He also takes care of my Celbi/Shaymin problem. I paired him with Starmie bacause it resists fire and to clear any hazards because Scizor hates stealth rocks.

Starmie @ Life Orb
Trait: Natural Cure
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Hydro Pump
- Ice Beam
- Thunderbolt
- Rapid Spin

While Starmie is initially meant to Rapid Spin to keep Togekiss and Scizor from eating rocks, it can actually sweep as well if I can remove pursuit threats (ScarfTar) with Scizor.

Togekiss (F) @ Life Orb
Trait: Serene Grace
EVs: 192 HP / 80 SAtk / 236 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Nasty Plot
- Air Slash
- Fire Blast
- Roost

Togekiss is awesome in just about every single way. My special sweeper of choice has a huge problem with rocks on the field which is why Starmie is so important. I chose Roost to heal damage taken from using Nasty Plot. Flinch hax is cool and fire blast for coverage.

The Verdict? Well hopefully you guys can provide insight before I finalize the team and make it a reality on my HG cartridge. Please keep in mind I am relatively new so i didn't try to improvise on any of the EV spreads or movesets, and instead I stuck with the tried and true. I'm open to any and all constructive criticism, as long as it is just that, contructive.

 

[WoOoShoOo!!]

Avalanche > Ice Beam.. Avalanche FTW!! OHKO's Anti-Lead Dragonite!!

 

[Faladran]

Definitely a solid first attempt. Have you ever considered switching your lead? Swampert matches up poorly with sleep-inducing leads such as Roserade or Smeargle, who can put you on the defensive right from the start of the game. I would recommend moving Skarmory to the lead spot with a Lum Berry set, while replacing Protect with Roar on Swampert to help force switches and build up entry hazard damage. This is the Skarmory set I had in mind:

[box]

Skarmory @ Lum Berry
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SDef / 4 Spd
Impish nature (+Def, -SAtk)
- Taunt
- Spikes
- Roost
- Whirlwind
[/box]
With this set, sleep leads are no longer a problem to deal with. Simply use Taunt as Lum Berry cures you of any status, and proceed to stack up some Spikes. Other than that, Skarmory performs admirably as a physical wall and additional phazer. The extra SDef EVs help to balance Skarmory's defenses and allow it to set up on weaker special attacks. The loss of Brave Bird does open you up more to Taunt Gyarados, so you can add in Thunderpunch on Dusknoir to help out a bit.

Good luck!

 

[Smith]

Hey cool team, Brightside. I have been regrettably ninja'd by Faladran, so including those suggestions, the team looks pretty good. You've made some team member choices that I think, inadvertently, are both unusual and effective- for example, a lot of people thrash Togekiss, but he makes an excellent counter to Gengar, which is helpful on a team like this. However, I think I have a simple change that'll help you out.

Firstly, you say that Dusknoir is the only real viable spin-blocker in the wifi metagame. This statement, in my opinion, is false for two reasons. Firstly, Dusknoir is honestly not that good of a spin blocker, being easy to set up on, generally nonthreatening and mostly, useless. Secondly, there are many spin blockers you can still use! While the lack of Rotom-a sucks, I think you ought to consider using Spiritomb! Great defenses and no weaknesses makes him a superb spin blocker, and he definitely serves a useful utility- fighting types like Machamp and Lucario struggle to get around him, whereas he can burn them. He's also one of the only spin blockers that doesn't fear Starmie, and also serves as a useful counter to Gengar. Try running this set:

@ Leftovers
252 HP / 252 SpDef / 4 Spe
Careful
-Rest
-Sleep Talk
-Pursuit
-Will-o-wisp

Overall Spiritomb gets bad press, and this set definitely works. Resttalk is his only useful recovery, and also makes him a good status absorber, which is key on a team such as this. Pursuit makes sure that Starmie only gets one opportunity to spin against you, and can trap annoying Gengars. Will-o-wisp hits a myraid of annoying physical attackers, effectively neutering them for the rest of the team.

Anyways, that's all the advice I have, cool team! I hope this helps.

 

[Brightside]

Definitely a solid first attempt. Have you ever considered switching your lead? Swampert matches up poorly with sleep-inducing leads such as Roserade or Smeargle, who can put you on the defensive right from the start of the game. I would recommend moving Skarmory to the lead spot with a Lum Berry set, while replacing Protect with Roar on Swampert to help force switches and build up entry hazard damage. This is the Skarmory set I had in mind:

[box]

Skarmory @ Lum Berry
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SDef / 4 Spd
Impish nature (+Def, -SAtk)
- Taunt
- Spikes
- Roost
- Whirlwind
[/box]
With this set, sleep leads are no longer a problem to deal with. Simply use Taunt as Lum Berry cures you of any status, and proceed to stack up some Spikes. Other than that, Skarmory performs admirably as a physical wall and additional phazer. The extra SDef EVs help to balance Skarmory's defenses and allow it to set up on weaker special attacks. The loss of Brave Bird does open you up more to Taunt Gyarados, so you can add in Thunderpunch on Dusknoir to help out a bit.

Good luck!

Yeah, I usually relied on protect to save me from status inducing leads, but as you said I'm immediately on the defensive from the get go. I never thought about switching leads but this makes a ton of sense. Thanks a ton, Faladran.

 

[Brightside]

Hey cool team, Brightside. I have been regrettably ninja'd by Faladran, so including those suggestions, the team looks pretty good. You've made some team member choices that I think, inadvertently, are both unusual and effective- for example, a lot of people thrash Togekiss, but he makes an excellent counter to Gengar, which is helpful on a team like this. However, I think I have a simple change that'll help you out.

Firstly, you say that Dusknoir is the only real viable spin-blocker in the wifi metagame. This statement, in my opinion, is false for two reasons. Firstly, Dusknoir is honestly not that good of a spin blocker, being easy to set up on, generally nonthreatening and mostly, useless. Secondly, there are many spin blockers you can still use! While the lack of Rotom-a sucks, I think you ought to consider using Spiritomb! Great defenses and no weaknesses makes him a superb spin blocker, and he definitely serves a useful utility- fighting types like Machamp and Lucario struggle to get around him, whereas he can burn them. He's also one of the only spin blockers that doesn't fear Starmie, and also serves as a useful counter to Gengar. Try running this set:

@ Leftovers
252 HP / 252 SpDef / 4 Spe
Careful
-Rest
-Sleep Talk
-Pursuit
-Will-o-wisp

Overall Spiritomb gets bad press, and this set definitely works. Resttalk is his only useful recovery, and also makes him a good status absorber, which is key on a team such as this. Pursuit makes sure that Starmie only gets one opportunity to spin against you, and can trap annoying Gengars. Will-o-wisp hits a myraid of annoying physical attackers, effectively neutering them for the rest of the team.

Anyways, that's all the advice I have, cool team! I hope this helps.

I will admit that I certainly got ahead of myself saying that Dusknoir was the ONLY viable spinblocker. In fact, Dusknoir has been underperforming and I have been looking at other options. The resttalk spiritomb set looks awesome and I really like how it lols at Starmie/Gengar with pursuit. Defintaley a worthwhile change. Thanks Smith!