A Hero Will Rise

IceKold

OU, a world of weather abuse and neglect of the lower tiers. Pokemon damned to UU and below try to scrape their way to the top, only to be knocked down and have their lunch money taken. I, for one, desperately sought to break the barrier and use the "Under-Used". But, I ended up crawling back to the same OU top-threats just like everyone else. But one day, I vowed to end the tyranny. I vowed to bring a UU threat into the glory of OU; I just needed to find one who could make it. The build below proved to fare well. Sceptile was quite the sweeper, but not enough. The team had to provide it with as much support as possible, leaving it dangerously outmatched if Sceptile failed. But then I dicovered him. Because of a recent film by Christopher Nolan, I realized he was it. He's the hero OU deserves, but not the one it needs right now... And so they'll criticize him, because he can take it. Because he's not a hero. He's a silent guardian, a watchful protector... The Dark Knight.

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Bane (Gliscor) @ Toxic Orb
Trait: Poison Heal
EVs: 244 HP / 12 Def / 252 SDef
Impish (+Def, -SpA) Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Protect
- Earthquake/Acrobatics
- Toxic/Fling

To start things off, here is my usual lead. I have of course used Politoed or Ferrothorn before, but my main man is usually Gliscor. His phenomenal bulk, overpowered Leftovers, immunity to status, and good speed make him one hell of a wall to break through. He does his job very well.

SR is to benefit The Dark Knight and Sceptile. Protect is there to scout if the opponent is playing with any Ice and for grabbing a little extra HP as well as Toxic damage. As for the other two slots, I can't decide between EQ and Toxic or Fling and Acrobatics. The former is better for hitting the numerous Steel types in OU as well as being able to Toxic more than once, but the latter is better for not getting shut down by Pokemon with Levitate and to hit neutrally just a tad harder. However, this option allows Toxic only once. Suggestions?

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Alfred (Politoed) @ Leftovers
Trait: Drizzle
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SDef
Calm Nature
- Toxic
- Ice Beam
- Surf
- Perish Song

Politoed is the Drizzle man. Plain and simple. The rain is quite key in putting The Dark Knight in his best position to win, but is not necessary. To be honest, Politoed is more of a weather-stopper than inducer for the team. He does his job well due to his survivability, and can cripple set-up sweepers by poisoning them/forcing them out with Perish Song. His use of Toxic is what has me pushing towards the second version of Gliscor.

Surf and Ice Beam provide decent coverage, while Toxic and Perish Song are there for utility. It's worth noting that Perish Song makes Baton Pass users straight up rage quit. It's quite hilarious.

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Ivy (Sceptile) (F) @ Flying Gem
Trait: Unburden
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Leaf Blade
- Acrobatics
- Earthquake
This guy (or should I say gal?) is a phenomenal sweeper. She comes in on Water types hoping to abuse the rain and either scares them out or makes them leave. She also plays a key role in luring in physical walls like Ferrothorn or Metagross, allowing The Dark Knight to sweep more effectively. After a Swords Dance, few can withstand her insane speed and power.

Swords Dance is the set-up move that gives Sceptile the strength to bust though a lot of her normal checks. Leaf Blade, along with NIA (No Item Acrobatics), and EQ provide great super-effective coverage.
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BatMo (Ferrothorn) @ Leftovers
Trait: Iron Barbs
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SDef
Impish Nature
- Thunder Wave
- Spikes
- Power Whip
- Leech Seed

Another support man, Ferrothorn is another crucial component to The Dark Knight's sweep. Its ability to weaken, cripple, or wall a number of Pokemon, forces a lot of switches, only allowing entry hazard damage to rack-up even more. In the rain and with the projected spread, only a STAB Flamethrower/Fire Blast can guarantee his demise.

Thunder Wave is great when predicting a switch and for slowing down powerful threats or set-up sweepers. Spikes adds to entry damage, helping my aforementioned sweepers. Leech Seed is great for forcing switches and is in general very powerful. Power Whip is to finish weakened Pokemon and to prevent Ferrorthorn from becoming useless after a Taunt.
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Nightwing (Latios) (M) @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 252 SAtk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Modest Nature
- Draco Meteor
- Psyshock
- Thunder
- Surf
Choice Scarf Latios is one hell of a revenge killer. Few non-Steel types can withstand STAB Draco Meteor coming from a 394 SpA stat. The speed boost also allows him to outrace all non-boosted Pokemon in OU and many others after a Dragon Dance or Choice Scarf boost. However, while powerful and incredibly useful, I have found Latios inability to handle Steel types a serious problem.

Draco Metoer is the main attacking move Seriously, this move is crazy powerful. Only Steel types and Jellicent/Blissey can withstand it. Thunder and Surf in the rain are great where Draco Metoer isn't. Psyshock is there simply for the sake of hitting Special Walls and Toxicroak hard. Though Trick isn't a bad option either.

And now...

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The Dark Knight (Sharpedo) (M) @ Life Orb
Trait: Speed Boost
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Protect
- Waterfall
- Crunch
- Ice Fang

And last, but not least ladies and germs, is The Dark Knight. Yeah. That's right. Sharfreakingpedo. I know you're probably cursing me for making you have read this whole thing just to be told that Sharpedo not only belongs in OU, but is a serious threat. But guess what. Not only has The Dark Knight won countless games after sweeping the remaining few opponents, I have watched a him sweep an entire OU team. Twice. And mind you, this is without Moxie/SwordsDance/etc. The fact of the matter is, Speed Boost Sharpedo flat out beats (no contest) over 90% of whomever he may face. He's that fast and powerful. The other 10% is a shady select few Pokemon with access to priority moves and/or the right typing and bulk. But with the support provided, and with his checks out of the way, The Dark Knight wins. Period.

As for his set, this is the best ones that I've ever used. Protect is self-explanatory. In the rain, Waterfall obliterates anything that doesn't resist it after SR damage. Crunch is there to OHKO any and every non-resistant Psychic/Ghost Pokemon. As for Ice Fang, I really was shifting back and forth between Earthquake/Ice Beam/Ice Fang. In the end, Ice fang was the most beneficial for killing Dragonite, Venesaur, and the likes. If you can convince me otherwise, be my guest.

Strengths: Takes offensive based teams to town. Very potent at shutting down set-up sweepers or Baton Passers.
Weaknesses: Pokemon that can wall Sharpedo and Sceptile are huge problems. Sharpedo struggles with Ferrothorn, Empoleon, Metagross, and obviously anything that with priority. Sceptile has problems with Air Ballon Heatran and Bulky Dragonite.

Anyways, the team has done incredibly well. I love it's ability to shift gears from Walling one turn, to overpowering weakened teams the next. I have seen a solid record manifest from it so far (60%-70% win ratio), but would like to see it become better at beating its weaknesses. Suggestions, comments, and a solid rate would be nice. Thanks!
 
Hey there, nice team and i am glad that someone other than me uses sceptile in OU (the exact same set)

I have however some solutions to a few minor problems.

First I would choose EQ and Toxic or fling and acrobatics, as fling will make gliscor loose its recovery and it is without STAB. That way it can hit anything that cannot be poisoned with EQ (except skarmory)

Secondly, If you do decide to keep Latios, change Draco Meteor to Dragon Pulse, as being locked into a stat reducing move is not ideal.

I also I think Latios has got to go. He opens up a huge weaknesses to Bug types and he might not have the best movepool to take down steel types. Therefore I suggest replacing him with Genesect.

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Nature: Timid
4 Hp/ 252 SpA/ 252 Spe
Item: Expert Belt
Ability: Download

Hidden Power Ground
Thunder
Psychic
U-Turn

Everyone falls for the Expert Belt. Just bluff the choice scarf and then really unleash that awesome move pool. Hidden Power Ground is there to take out steel types as flamethrower would be affected by the rain. In return his weakness to fire will also be covered in the rain. Thunder is there because of power with accuracy in the rain. Psychic is there to taake out pokemon with mach punch that can really threaten the Dark Knight. U-Turn is there to go from sweeping to walling in an instant.

Good Luck!

Also technically bisharp is THE Dark Knight (as you can see from my picture and signiture) so your name was a bit misleading. :P
 
Thanks! And yeah I went with EQ/Toxic Gliscor. Earthquake is so much metter against Tentacruel (a surprising pain). And Ill try the Genesect. Never used him before so I hope he works.

And I think i might switch Ferrothorn to Jellicent. Will-O-Wisp is so necessary for stopping certain Offensive threats.

And Sharpedo is the OU Dark Knight. Didn't you read my speech? :p
 
Actually bisharp is the original Dark Knight. He does fairly good in OU. Ive seen him sweep a whole monotype fighting team twice. I you want to, you could try him over sharpedo. I would recommend this set:

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Nature: Jolly
128 Hp/ 252 Att/ 128 Spe
Item: Leftovers/Chople Berry
Ability: Defiant

Sucker Punch
Subsitute
Sword Dance
Brick Break

This is fairly simple. You switch in on a pokemon that forces him to switch out, then set up a substitute. While the substitute is up just spam sword dances untill it fades. Finally, unleash STAB Sucker Punches or use brick break for those who wont attack or for those pesky steel types.

Good Luck!
 
Hi

Your team will have serious issues with opposing Ferrothorn. It walls a huge part of your team (Latios, Sharpedo, Politoed) and it's not like your other Pokemon could do a lot to it. Sceptile needs a Swords Dance to threaten Ferrothorn a bit with Acrobatics, which makes it easy for the Ferrothorn user to simply switch out to anything that checks Sceptile and simply come back later and continue setting up hazards and wall your stuff with Ferro. I think that you should try a Choice Band Breloom instead of Sceptile. Not only Breloom shares Sceptile's Grass typing, but it's actually able to hit Ferrothorn extremely hard right off the bat with its powerful STAB Super Effective Fighting moves. Breloom doesn't take that much damage from Ferrothorn's attacks either and will be able to hit faster opponents with Mach Punch, so you don't lose all of Sceptile's Speed. To help you further I'd suggest dropping Thunder for Trick on Latios, as it allows you to cripple Ferrothorn on the switch as a Choice Scarfed Ferrothorn is still extremely slow and can't really do a lot. It will also help Latios against threats such as Blissey and Chansey who don't take that much damage from Psyshock anyway seeing as your Latios isn't Choice Specsed.

Speaking of Latios I think that you should be using a Timid nature instead of a Modest one. While a + SpA nature might be appealing since Latios doesn't have any boost in power as it holds Choice Scarf, it's main role is revenge killing stuff, which is done better with a Timid nature. Pokemon such as Dragon Dance Salamence, Choice Scarf Terrakion or Chlorophyll Venusaur will all outspeed Latios if it has a +SpA nature while they will not when it has a +Spe nature, allowing you to revenge kill them, as they can all deal a lot of damage to Latios with a random coverage move (or its main STAB move in Salamence's case.)

Special Defense investment on Gliscor isn't that great considering it will die to pretty much any common Special Attacks, such as Hydro Pump, Ice Beam and Draco Meteor, as they're either too powerful or it's weak to them. Gliscor becomes a much more efficient wall with a bit of Speed investment because that way, it will be able to Toxic them or kill them before they can react. Enough Speed to outspeed Adamant Lucario is optimal as that way you can ensure Lucario doesn't OHKO you with a +2 Ice Punch. 216 Speed allows Gliscor to reach 280, putting it one point over Adamant Lucario. Assuming you have 252 HP, you can throw the rest in Defense to allow it to take more Close Combats etc.

Lastly, you should use a -Spe nature on Ferrothorn, preferably Relaxed considering you're using Impish. While Ferrothorn isn't using any Special Attacks, moving last actually comes in handy against -Spe Forretress who try to Rapid Spin your hazards away because that way, you will be able to lay down Spikes after it Rapid Spin while it takes damage from Iron Barbs, meaning it'll eventually switch out.

Cool team, Sharpedo is awesome n_n. Here's the set you should use:
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Breloom @ Choice Band
Technician
Adamant
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
~Mach Punch
~Low Sweep
~Stone Edge
~Bullet Seed

Good luck!
 
Hey IceKold, nice team!

Sharpedo is a very underrated sweeper that can catch alot of teams off-guard. However, it's underrated for a reason, common pokemon such as Ferrothorn, Scizor, Skarmory etc. can all easily take it out via walling or Priority and prepared teams will have no trouble taking it down. Jirachi made a very good suggestion of Breloom over Sceptile to help stop the treacherous Ferrothorn, but it's very unikely a good player will let Ferrothorn die before Sharpedo is gone. Breloom is under alot of pressure, seeing as it'll be your only answer to ferrothorn and it's very frail, you'll constantly have to bring it in on Ferrothorn and take damage from a Power Whip / Gyro Ball every time as well as spikes, seeing as it's free to stack spikes in front of pretty much anything else on your team, after all that Breloom will die very quickly. To get rid of Ferrothorn permanently I suggest trying a Specs Magnezone over Sceptile. Sceptile was a good electric / water resist but you have those types covered by Ferrothorn, meaning you don't really lose any defensive synergy and Magnezone can just hit those water types with an overpowered Specs Thunder. Magnezone dosen't just trap Ferrothorn, it also traps the likes of Skarmory and scizor which I listed earlier as some of the best counters to Ferrothorn, because of this the core of Magnezone + Sharpedo under the rain is one of the most dangerous cores in all of OU. However, it does still have it's problems, any Priority user (Conkeldurr, Dragonite, Breloom etc.) will still cause problems, but all of those threats are easily checked by Gliscor / Ferrothorn / Latios. Magnezone also provides momentum with Volt Switch and gives you an extra Steel type if you're having trouble switching into Dragon type moves.

I highly suggest you take Jirachi's suggestions of Trick over Thunder on Latios, because if you take my above suggestion you'll already have a powerful electric move on your team. The suggestions of Timid over Modest Latios, Psysically Defensive Gliscor over Specially Defensive Gliscor, and -Spe Ferrothorn are all great and I agree with them 100% for the same reasons Jirachi listed. But on the Ferrothorn I suggest 0 Spd IVs so that you also outspeed the likes of Reuniclus under Trick Room.

Anyway, I hope this rate helped and GL with the team :)

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Magnezone @ Choice Specs
Trait: Magnet Pull
EVs: 148 HP / 252 SAtk / 108 Spe
Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Volt Switch
- Thunder
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Flash Cannon
 
Thanks for the tips Jirachi and Doom! Choice Specs Magnezone is fantastic :), but two Choice users is something I'd like to avoid, so any suggestions for Latios? Keep? Switch itmes?

And as for Gliscor, his special bulk has come in handy numerous times, shrugging off Solarbeams, Draco Metoers, and Fire Blasts like its his job. After two turns of recovery (Protect) he can shut down none Ice Special attackers.
 
Hi there cool team you have here. Like others have already mentioned to you, you look really weak against Ferrothorn, Sceptile can beat it at +4 but getting to +4 and accounting Iron Barbs and all that stuff along with Ferrothorn attacking with Gyro Ball, it just does not seem reliable enough, to fix this weakness I would suggest you replace your current Sceptile with a Swords Dance Virizion, a very underrated sweeper that can take on Ferrothorn much more easy for your team and also give you a fantastic weapon to use against Sand and Weakened sun teams. Now you do look kinda weak to Rain Offense, especially Hurricane Spam which is ever so common at this moment so I would suggest replacing your current Gliscor with a Specially Defensive Jirachi, it still gives you Stealth Rock but also gives your team Wish support and paralysis support which is great. Last nitpick I have is that you should give Scald a shot over Surf, Surf hits slightly harder but the chance to burn switch ins and other physical threats really makes Scald the better move in my opinion.Shapedo is pretty nice so good job on using him.


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Virizion @ Lum Berry | Justified
Jolly| 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Leaf Blade| Stone Edge | Close Combat | Swords Dance

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Jirachi @ Leftovers | Serene Grace
Careful| 252 HP / 224 SpD / 32 Spe
Body Slam | Iron Head | Stealth Rock | Wish

Good Luck!
 
Your team really struggles with opposing steel types. You have toxic on a few of your pokemon and Sharpedo/Sceptile/Latios are all walled by Ferrothorn. If you are intent on using a grass type, you can replace Sceptile with Virizion. It scares ferrothorn out, takes special hits a LOT better, and has better coverage.

Additionally you can make your gliscor a stall breaker or an offensive swords dancer with Taunt to take on Skarmory and Ferrothorn a lot better. Toxic without Taunt is going to allow your opponent to freely bring in their steel type and just start setting up on you. You can give Ferrothorn stealth rock over spikes or Twave. I really dont understand why you have Twave, when a majority of your team is fast enough to deal with the metagame. Especially sharpedo as it has speed boost.

(Gliscor) (M) @ Toxic Orb Trait: Poison Heal

EVs: 244 HP / 192 Def / 72 Spe

Impish Nature (+Def, -SAtk)
- Swords Dance / Toxic
- Ice Fang / Protect
- Taunt
- Earthquake

Basically the slashes represent the different sets. The Taunt/EQ/SD/Ice fang is the offensive one and the toxic/protect/taunt/eq is the stall breaker.

Virizion @ Life Orb Trait: Justified
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Swords Dance
- Leaf Blade
- Close Combat
- Stone Edge
 
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