Hello there, smogonites. I've been a fan of smogon for a long time and I've been getting into the world of competitive battling for a while now. However, this is my first time posting a team on this site. I used to post them on serebii's forums, but most times I only got a few replies, most of which weren't the least bit helpful. As a result, I've given up posting there and decided to ask the experts. So, here it goes.
Crobat @ Leftovers
Ability: Inner Focus
Nature: Jolly
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Spe
Taunt
Roost
Super Fang
U-Turn
Although the team is built around Feraligatr's new toy from HGSS, a number of other lower-tiered pokemon received great attacks through HGSS that makes them much more useful in higher tiers. Crobat is in that number. This is my twist on the old standard lead Crobat, and I hope this set becomes more popular thanks to its crippling abilities. Although it often can't KO anything on its own, Super Fang can easily knock opponents into an easy KO range for Crobat's teammates. Since Crobat isn't used much for doing direct damage, it trades its Attack EVs for more bulk. Taunt prevents slow leads like Bronzong from statusing or setting up rocks, and basically shuts down leadape completely, which can't do much to Crobat (it can't even flinch thanks to Inner Focus). From there, Crobat can Roost off damage from a taunt prediction attack, or U-Turn out. With Azelf leads, I always U-Turn out first, since my opponent always expects the taunt and goes for an attacking move. I'll switch in to Heatran from there, which I'll explain when I discuss Heatran in detail. For some reason, a lot of people like to switch in Starmie for Crobat, in which case I U-Turn into Jirachi (doing about 45% to all the Starmies I've faced on shoddy so far), and then U-Turn again for a clean KO. The only leads I tend to have trouble with are Aerodactyl and the annoying-as-hell-and-incredibly-popular Machamps that carry Ice Punch. Aerodactyls always win the speed tie if I stay in, and get a KO with Stone Edge. Machamps don't usually like my Jirachi, which people assume is a Calm Minder with Psychic at first, so it doesn't pose too much of an immediate threat early-game. As I said before, Crobat's job is to cripple the opponent's lead sufficiently enough to get the ball rolling on my terms.
Heatran @ Shuca Berry
Ability: Flash Fire
Nature: Naive
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Stealth Rock
Fire Blast
Earth Power
Explosion
So here is my more standard lead hiding in the shadow of my actual leading pokemon. Since I don't actually lead with him, most people are convinced that Heatran is scarfed on its first appearance. Therefore, I usually have no problem getting rocks set up on his first turn in battle. Standard leadtran is standard, with a straightforward EV spread, Shuca Berry, and attacks. Fire Blast is for STAB (Flamethrower is for sissies!), and Earth Power lets me get the upper hand on other Heatrans. As I said, most people expect me to be scarfed, so they switch in their own scarftran to hopefully get a free switch-in on FB. Earth Power owns them the next turn, as I survive their Earth Power and get the KO with my own. Heatran can do a good job of countering Celebi, which, when it isn't the usual bulky variant, can wreak havoc on my team and stop Feraligatr dead in its tracks. He also makes for a good bulky Rotom-A counter, getting a FF boost from Will-o-Wisp and getting a clean 2HKO with FB. Getting rid of anything that might try to burn Feraligatr and cut his attack is a danger to my ultimate goal with this team, and no one loves to eat fire like Heatran. If I'm still alive mid- or late-game, after Ghosts are gone, I can Explode on something slower.
Scizor @ Leftovers
Ability: Technician
Nature: Adamant
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Spe
Swords Dance
Bug Bite
Bullet Punch
Brick Break
This is my slightly bulkier variant on the way-too-popular Swords Dance Scizor. When I was originally planning my team, I had planned to use Scizor as bait for Fire attacks for Heatran, but after I finalized the team and realized Heatran's role, I figured that using Scizor as bait won't work on intelligent players. Heatran almost always makes an appearance before Scizor, so Fire attacks aimed at Scizor when it does show up are rare. Nonetheless, after one SD on a forced switch Scizor can do some serious damage to the bulky waters and faster priority users that can give Feraligatr problems. I've had some very anticlimactic 6-0 sweeps with Scizor KOing all 6 of the opponent's (usually pretty weakened) pokemon before Feraligatr even makes it onto the field once. With the event of HGSS giving Scizor his strongest STAB to date in Bug Bite, he has become even more potent of a threat in the OU metagame. This Scizor tends to be pretty unexpected though, since almost every player expects SD Scizors holding Leftovers to be running Roost over Bug Bite. As a result I've netted some surprise KOs on Celebis and the like. Naturally, Bullet Punch is Scizor's primary attacking move, with Brick Break as a way to hurt Heatrans on the switch as well as prevents dual screen setup from being very useful. I've considered switching Scizor with something a little less broken like Swampert, to draw out counters it shares with Feraligatr, or some other purpose I haven't thought of yet. I've also considered going for a Choice Band set, but I can't make up my mind on the most helpful change. Advice on this would help a lot.
Jirachi @ Leftovers
Ability: Serene Grace
Nature: Impish
EVs: 240 HP / 160 Def / 76 SpD / 32 Spe
Thunder Wave
Wish
Iron Head
U-Turn
In a perfect world, Feraligatr would sweep teams with just Aqua Jet, without having to resort to non-priority attacks to take down certain counters. However, since this world is not by any means perfect, Feraligatr appreciates paralysis support before he begins to sweep. Jirachi provides this helpful support, and acts as a general tank. With Wish, Jirachi can heal up weakened teammates, which was another reason I opted for Bug Bite over Roost on Scizor. Iron Head lets me paraflinch hax the opponent to death if I need to (although I'm not big on doing it if I can avoid it), and U-Turn lets Jirachi take a hit from the opponent before switching out so I can switch in a weakened pokemon free of charge to receive Wish support. If I remember correctly, the speed EVs allow Jirachi to switch out with U-Turn before most Magnezone can KO with HP [Fire]. All in all, this is just standard Wish Support Jirachi, and it gets its job done. I've been trying out using Body Slam over Thunder Wave, but I prefer the 100% accuracy. Besides, most Ground types don't pose too much of a threat to me. for example, after Scarfed Flygon locks itself into a move (assuming it doesn't choose U-Turn), I have a pretty reliable switch-in for any attack that makes paralyzing it somewhat unnecessary. Most other Ground types are easily countered by other members of the team.
Mismagius @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
Nature: Timid
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Substitute
Nasty Plot
Shadow Ball
Energy Ball
I'm sure people will find this choice for my team controversial, but Mismagius actually gets its job done very well if not only thanks to the surprise factor. Most raters will surely try to lecture me on how Gengar is an all-around better choice due to its higher speed and special attack stats as well as its same access to Substitute, Shadow Ball, and Energy Ball, but Mismagius has one thing Gengar does not: access to stat-boosting moves. Once again, the advent of HGSS has brought about a powerful teammate. Mismagius' new access to Nasty Plot has made it a gruesome counter to bulky Water-types, even if most people wouldn't see it that way. The main idea of this set is to set up a Substitute on something that doesn't want to be Shadow Ball-ed, then get off as many Nasty Plots as I can. Shadow Ball is clearly for STAB and power, but the fourth move slot is somewhat unconventional. Please don't post to tell me that HP [Fighting] is better to counter Blissey at +6 SpA, because every teammate other than Mismagius has a way to take down the pink blob. The point of Energy Ball is to make Mismagius a perfect counter to Swampert, Suicune, and Vaporeon. After one Nasty Plot, Mismagius can, at worst, 2HKO any of these threats to Feraligatr's sweep. It helps that, for some reason, many people like to switch in Swampert to break Mismagius' Substitutes, only to be OHKO'ed before Swampert can move. The only problem with this Mismagius is that it is slower than threats like Gengar and Scarftar, and thus is susceptible to easy revenge kills. As a result, I'm considering replacing Leftovers with Salac Berry to get the speed boost and prevent dying to most attacks outside of priority moves.
Feraligatr @ Leftovers
Ability: Torrent
Nature: Adamant
EVs: 40 HP / 252 Atk / 216 Spe
Swords Dance
Aqua Jet
Ice Punch
Earthquake
And now we come to the main attraction. This is my own twist on the standard SD Feraligatr, incorporating Aqua Jet. I opted for Leftovers over Life Orb to increase survivability; I would rather heal myself out of Torrent range and have weaker attacks than only get one or two hits in before dying to Life Orb recoil. Besides, with +6 Attack and STAB off 105 base Attack, Life Orb isn't even necessary. Like I mentioned in Jirachi's explanation, this is not a perfect world, and sometimes Feraligatr has to settle for non-priority attacks over a resisted Aqua Jet. As a result, I created my own EV spread that works to this effect. With 216 Spe EVs I reach a speed stat of 249, which outspeeds neutral speed natured 32 Spe bulky Celebis, Zapdoses, and Jirachis. Here is an example of this EV spread's benefits: if Feraligatr is at +2 Attack when bulky Celebi switches in, I can easily 2HKO with Ice Punch after surviving a Grass Knot. Earthquake allows me to take care of bulky Waters that could try and stop me. After a Crobat Taunt, Feraligatr can set up on Suicunes without HP [Electric] and 2HKO at +4 Attack. Feraligatr almost always gets the job done, and I can name plenty of instances where Feraligatr has taken down 4 or 5 of the opponent's pokemon before he or she ragequits.
A Quick Team Summary
This team is developed around preparing Swords Dance Aqua Jet Feraligatr for a sweep. After Feraligatr got Aqua Jet with the release of HGSS, I have begun to feel like it has become an underrated yet powerful threat for the OU metagame. After a SD (although it often gets of 2 or all 3 with little trouble), it has no trouble demolishing unprepared teams. The team has been met with more success than most of my other teams, and is all around the most fun to play, but I feel it still hasn't reached its full potential. Now I'll get into the specs of the team:
In-Depth Time
Crobat @ Leftovers
Ability: Inner Focus
Nature: Jolly
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Spe
Taunt
Roost
Super Fang
U-Turn
Although the team is built around Feraligatr's new toy from HGSS, a number of other lower-tiered pokemon received great attacks through HGSS that makes them much more useful in higher tiers. Crobat is in that number. This is my twist on the old standard lead Crobat, and I hope this set becomes more popular thanks to its crippling abilities. Although it often can't KO anything on its own, Super Fang can easily knock opponents into an easy KO range for Crobat's teammates. Since Crobat isn't used much for doing direct damage, it trades its Attack EVs for more bulk. Taunt prevents slow leads like Bronzong from statusing or setting up rocks, and basically shuts down leadape completely, which can't do much to Crobat (it can't even flinch thanks to Inner Focus). From there, Crobat can Roost off damage from a taunt prediction attack, or U-Turn out. With Azelf leads, I always U-Turn out first, since my opponent always expects the taunt and goes for an attacking move. I'll switch in to Heatran from there, which I'll explain when I discuss Heatran in detail. For some reason, a lot of people like to switch in Starmie for Crobat, in which case I U-Turn into Jirachi (doing about 45% to all the Starmies I've faced on shoddy so far), and then U-Turn again for a clean KO. The only leads I tend to have trouble with are Aerodactyl and the annoying-as-hell-and-incredibly-popular Machamps that carry Ice Punch. Aerodactyls always win the speed tie if I stay in, and get a KO with Stone Edge. Machamps don't usually like my Jirachi, which people assume is a Calm Minder with Psychic at first, so it doesn't pose too much of an immediate threat early-game. As I said before, Crobat's job is to cripple the opponent's lead sufficiently enough to get the ball rolling on my terms.
Heatran @ Shuca Berry
Ability: Flash Fire
Nature: Naive
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Stealth Rock
Fire Blast
Earth Power
Explosion
So here is my more standard lead hiding in the shadow of my actual leading pokemon. Since I don't actually lead with him, most people are convinced that Heatran is scarfed on its first appearance. Therefore, I usually have no problem getting rocks set up on his first turn in battle. Standard leadtran is standard, with a straightforward EV spread, Shuca Berry, and attacks. Fire Blast is for STAB (Flamethrower is for sissies!), and Earth Power lets me get the upper hand on other Heatrans. As I said, most people expect me to be scarfed, so they switch in their own scarftran to hopefully get a free switch-in on FB. Earth Power owns them the next turn, as I survive their Earth Power and get the KO with my own. Heatran can do a good job of countering Celebi, which, when it isn't the usual bulky variant, can wreak havoc on my team and stop Feraligatr dead in its tracks. He also makes for a good bulky Rotom-A counter, getting a FF boost from Will-o-Wisp and getting a clean 2HKO with FB. Getting rid of anything that might try to burn Feraligatr and cut his attack is a danger to my ultimate goal with this team, and no one loves to eat fire like Heatran. If I'm still alive mid- or late-game, after Ghosts are gone, I can Explode on something slower.
Scizor @ Leftovers
Ability: Technician
Nature: Adamant
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Spe
Swords Dance
Bug Bite
Bullet Punch
Brick Break
This is my slightly bulkier variant on the way-too-popular Swords Dance Scizor. When I was originally planning my team, I had planned to use Scizor as bait for Fire attacks for Heatran, but after I finalized the team and realized Heatran's role, I figured that using Scizor as bait won't work on intelligent players. Heatran almost always makes an appearance before Scizor, so Fire attacks aimed at Scizor when it does show up are rare. Nonetheless, after one SD on a forced switch Scizor can do some serious damage to the bulky waters and faster priority users that can give Feraligatr problems. I've had some very anticlimactic 6-0 sweeps with Scizor KOing all 6 of the opponent's (usually pretty weakened) pokemon before Feraligatr even makes it onto the field once. With the event of HGSS giving Scizor his strongest STAB to date in Bug Bite, he has become even more potent of a threat in the OU metagame. This Scizor tends to be pretty unexpected though, since almost every player expects SD Scizors holding Leftovers to be running Roost over Bug Bite. As a result I've netted some surprise KOs on Celebis and the like. Naturally, Bullet Punch is Scizor's primary attacking move, with Brick Break as a way to hurt Heatrans on the switch as well as prevents dual screen setup from being very useful. I've considered switching Scizor with something a little less broken like Swampert, to draw out counters it shares with Feraligatr, or some other purpose I haven't thought of yet. I've also considered going for a Choice Band set, but I can't make up my mind on the most helpful change. Advice on this would help a lot.
Jirachi @ Leftovers
Ability: Serene Grace
Nature: Impish
EVs: 240 HP / 160 Def / 76 SpD / 32 Spe
Thunder Wave
Wish
Iron Head
U-Turn
In a perfect world, Feraligatr would sweep teams with just Aqua Jet, without having to resort to non-priority attacks to take down certain counters. However, since this world is not by any means perfect, Feraligatr appreciates paralysis support before he begins to sweep. Jirachi provides this helpful support, and acts as a general tank. With Wish, Jirachi can heal up weakened teammates, which was another reason I opted for Bug Bite over Roost on Scizor. Iron Head lets me paraflinch hax the opponent to death if I need to (although I'm not big on doing it if I can avoid it), and U-Turn lets Jirachi take a hit from the opponent before switching out so I can switch in a weakened pokemon free of charge to receive Wish support. If I remember correctly, the speed EVs allow Jirachi to switch out with U-Turn before most Magnezone can KO with HP [Fire]. All in all, this is just standard Wish Support Jirachi, and it gets its job done. I've been trying out using Body Slam over Thunder Wave, but I prefer the 100% accuracy. Besides, most Ground types don't pose too much of a threat to me. for example, after Scarfed Flygon locks itself into a move (assuming it doesn't choose U-Turn), I have a pretty reliable switch-in for any attack that makes paralyzing it somewhat unnecessary. Most other Ground types are easily countered by other members of the team.
Mismagius @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
Nature: Timid
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Substitute
Nasty Plot
Shadow Ball
Energy Ball
I'm sure people will find this choice for my team controversial, but Mismagius actually gets its job done very well if not only thanks to the surprise factor. Most raters will surely try to lecture me on how Gengar is an all-around better choice due to its higher speed and special attack stats as well as its same access to Substitute, Shadow Ball, and Energy Ball, but Mismagius has one thing Gengar does not: access to stat-boosting moves. Once again, the advent of HGSS has brought about a powerful teammate. Mismagius' new access to Nasty Plot has made it a gruesome counter to bulky Water-types, even if most people wouldn't see it that way. The main idea of this set is to set up a Substitute on something that doesn't want to be Shadow Ball-ed, then get off as many Nasty Plots as I can. Shadow Ball is clearly for STAB and power, but the fourth move slot is somewhat unconventional. Please don't post to tell me that HP [Fighting] is better to counter Blissey at +6 SpA, because every teammate other than Mismagius has a way to take down the pink blob. The point of Energy Ball is to make Mismagius a perfect counter to Swampert, Suicune, and Vaporeon. After one Nasty Plot, Mismagius can, at worst, 2HKO any of these threats to Feraligatr's sweep. It helps that, for some reason, many people like to switch in Swampert to break Mismagius' Substitutes, only to be OHKO'ed before Swampert can move. The only problem with this Mismagius is that it is slower than threats like Gengar and Scarftar, and thus is susceptible to easy revenge kills. As a result, I'm considering replacing Leftovers with Salac Berry to get the speed boost and prevent dying to most attacks outside of priority moves.
Feraligatr @ Leftovers
Ability: Torrent
Nature: Adamant
EVs: 40 HP / 252 Atk / 216 Spe
Swords Dance
Aqua Jet
Ice Punch
Earthquake
And now we come to the main attraction. This is my own twist on the standard SD Feraligatr, incorporating Aqua Jet. I opted for Leftovers over Life Orb to increase survivability; I would rather heal myself out of Torrent range and have weaker attacks than only get one or two hits in before dying to Life Orb recoil. Besides, with +6 Attack and STAB off 105 base Attack, Life Orb isn't even necessary. Like I mentioned in Jirachi's explanation, this is not a perfect world, and sometimes Feraligatr has to settle for non-priority attacks over a resisted Aqua Jet. As a result, I created my own EV spread that works to this effect. With 216 Spe EVs I reach a speed stat of 249, which outspeeds neutral speed natured 32 Spe bulky Celebis, Zapdoses, and Jirachis. Here is an example of this EV spread's benefits: if Feraligatr is at +2 Attack when bulky Celebi switches in, I can easily 2HKO with Ice Punch after surviving a Grass Knot. Earthquake allows me to take care of bulky Waters that could try and stop me. After a Crobat Taunt, Feraligatr can set up on Suicunes without HP [Electric] and 2HKO at +4 Attack. Feraligatr almost always gets the job done, and I can name plenty of instances where Feraligatr has taken down 4 or 5 of the opponent's pokemon before he or she ragequits.
Conclusion
Like I said at the beginning of this post, this team has done really well and is fun to use, but has its flaws. It bothers me a bit that 5 of them hold Leftovers, but I always have a defensively-leaning mindset when creating teams and prefer to opt for survivability over power and speed. I'd really love to hear some constructive criticism from you seasoned raters, and hope to bring this team to its full potential.
