ORAS OU A Midsummertime's Variable-use Team

[veryingbe]

I'm a lower to intermediate level participant in the OU on Showdown. With previously no competitive experience, it has been about a year and I feel now is a good time to receive responses on this particular team.

I find the challenge of OU to be very exciting, it is similar to an unending series of battles against a champion character in the official games.
Rather than to know that this team can win dependably, instead there are often matches that come down to a few to one last move between two remaining Pokemon; which for me is part of what makes it a rewarding game experience; it is like a multidimensional style of chess with hundreds of pieces to choose from and unique ways to combine them.

This team's style is meant to be similar to an RPG party of six characters, leading to the chosen names as being pancultural-medieval series of syllables feeling to complement the team.
I have played with this team for long enough that I am willing to change some of the more untested and flawed elements of this team in favor of what people have learned allows teams to become more dependable.

Team Data

Hynwayod (Zebstrika) (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Sap Sipper
EVs: 55 HP / 5 Atk / 222 SpA / 222 SpD / 4 Spe
Gentle Nature
- Attract
- Flame Charge
- Thunderbolt
- Bounce

Uera (Empoleon) (F) @ Expert Belt
Ability: Defiant
EVs: 44 HP / 146 Atk / 77 Def / 130 SpA / 11 SpD
Brave Nature
- Brine
- Knock Off
- Flash Cannon
- Hidden Power [Electric]

Umthkaou (Volbeat) (**M) @ Expert Belt
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 222 HP / 147 Def / 111 SpD / 28 Spe
Jolly Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Baton Pass
- Tail Glow
- Giga Drain
- Attract

Ealtwylld (Charizard-Mega-X) (F) @ Charizardite X
Ability: Tough Claws
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 65 HP / 177 Atk / 144 Def / 122 SpD
Relaxed Nature
- Ancient Power
- Facade
- Will-O-Wisp
- Overheat

Hinwrilan (Frogadier) (F) @ Eviolite
Ability: Protean
EVs: 33 HP / 200 Atk / 252 SpA / 23 Spe
Mild Nature
- Attract
- Ice Beam
- Low Kick
- Rock Slide

Tyn Mep (Flygon) (F) @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Levitate
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Superpower
- Hone Claws
- Dragon Rush
- Defog

Strategy & Playability Notes

Flygon has been an excellent Defogger; and dependable switch in: I regularly will switch into Flygon due to the Helmet when there is an obvious Fake Out ready to strike, and also to cancel out ground and electric attacks, though I have had to learn which opposing Pokemon tend to have Hidden Power Ice ready to go expecting the switch.
Superpower has been very positive, able to clear out for example Ferrothorn while also clearing out hazards it may have set, and recharge the lowered stats with Hone Claws. Hone Claws + Dragon Rush is a bit of a beginner's combo, but it can bring quick KO's in a match in the right situations. Hone Claws really help whenever facing for example any opposing Pokemon with Sucker Punch and once used, negates the lower accuracy of Dragon Rush. The potential for Dragon Rush to lead an opponent to flinch doesn't happen often but it has helped!

Frogadier with Protean + Eviolite was a very big and helpful change for my team! First I should address that this is one of three Pokemon on the team that has Attract; (About half a year ago, I faced a team that used attract on a few Pokemon and found myself deciding that it was definitely worth trying.)
I use Attract as the hazard for this team. There are some drawbacks, but I prefer that it is an active rather than passive hazard; Paralysis does not dependably cancel out the opposing Pokemon's moves potentially leading the opponent to switch out when they might have stayed in.

With Frogadier specifically, Attract can help with allowing Ice Beam or Low Kick to chip away. Rock Slide can also do this with the potential to flinch meaning an additional chance for the opposing Pokemon to actually not attack for a few turns in a row.
Ice Beam on its own has been very strong and worth keeping, particularly against Landorus, Garchomp, Dragonite, Gliscor, Altaria, Serperior and others; including occasionally when Frogadier is not predicted to have an Ice type attack, it may hit and KO when the opponent switches into it.
Low Kick is fantastic assistance against Tyranitar, Ferrothorn, Lopunny, Excadrill, Bisharp, Heatran, Tyrantrum, sometimes Metagross, and generally isn't necessarily predicted to be coming from Frogadier as long as I have not used it yet in the match. The trio of attacks + Attract can allow some of the elemental type moves to be kept hidden.
Rock Slide is wonderful as wel, being able to potentially quickly cause damage to Charizard types, Talonflame, sometimes Volcanion, Volcarona. Being able to turn Frogadier into Rock type is occasionally very beneficial.

Charizard; Mega Charizard X
This team member has an odd moveset that I have still found to be valuable.
Ancient Power is usually my choice to counter opposing Fire types to start, whereas Empoleon cannot usually begin that process without taking heat. The occasional five stat boost to me has that RPG feel that is very worth having, especially with the already high stats for the Mega form, though not depending on it to happen each match.
Facade has been one of the better choices of moves across this whole team due to the number of times the opposing Pokemon will use Toxic to try and wear down what at least appears to be the key member of this team, then combined with Tough Claws and occasional additional stat boost from Ancient Power, it can become excellently strong; Often this is more of the team's main support Pokemon hidden as an ace type.
Will O Wisp must seem like an odd choice in favor of Roost but there have been many times when it really helps including to cancel out Gliscor's Toxic Orb/Poison Heal on the first turn! Enough OU teams are based on dealing high damage and continuing to do so that for me, being able to weaken the opposing Pokemon's attack stat and wear down the HP has helped more than being able to recover its own HP.
Overheat set up by one or two Tail Glow boosts, or otherwise used as a last chance move, has been helpful so far.
Sometimes the opponent's team necessitates a some turns with regular Charizard, before activating Mega Evolution.

Volbeat is a recent addition to the team replacing a Chansey that had Healing Wish; It first counters some of this team's major weaknesses: Swampert and Quagsire primarily, then also Azumarrill, Keldeo, Slowbro, and sometimes Starmie, able to take damage long enough to change up at least one 2.5x Giga Drain which with the Expert Belt tends to be quite a good response to those opposing Pokemon that would otherwise clear out my team! Attract in general and enacted dependably via Prankster is helpful in, when the genders match, allowing Tail Glow to be charged up with potentially very limited interference, and Baton Pass is also usualy going to work to preserve the SpA stat boost when the opponent brings in any Pokemon that would be able to KO or significantly damage Volbeat.
I have found each of the team's Pokemon except Flygon benefits from the SpA boost when Volbeat is not being countered by the opponent, but particularly Frogadier and Zebstrika.

Empoleon has been key to this team! It is one of the main switch choices on this team, being able to switch in to Poison attacks. Flash Cannon with Expert Belt has had dependably strong countering ability against Clefable and Klekfi among others. Brine is an odd choice for competitive OU but I find the added attack power when the opposing Pokemon is under half HP means Empoleon can be brought out to unexpectedly KO most Pokemon without that necessarily being realized by the opponent! Hidden Power Electric has been exactly what was needed in some circumstances though not often. Knock Off on the other hand has proven to tremendously help this team against Gengar, Starmie, Latios and Latias, Alakazam and others. It has the added power with Expert Belt as well as potentially having been boosted by Defiant, and Empoleon is not always predicted to have that attack.

Zebstrika is this team's ace disguised as a support Pokemon! Some stat boosts are of course needed but are available either via Volbeat, Flame Charge, and Sap Sipper. I have been able to counter Serperior, Venusaur, Breloom, Ferrothorn, Chesnaught, Amoongus and others by the combined presence of Flame Charge, Bounce, Sap Sipper, and, often Attract. The Speed boost from Flame Charge helps turn Bounce into an essential stalling move, similarly allowing Attract to become almost as dependable as Volbeat's priority certain Attract. The Paralysis effect from Bounce has helped me much more than expected even against for example Garchomp which is often switched in against Zebstrika. Using this Pokemon in general came about due to suggestions that there could one day be a Mega Evolution, though perhaps not just yet in Sun & Moon; I thought, is it possible to use stat boosts to make this closer than not to being a second Mega Pokemon on this team, particularly where Charizard is easy to counter and predict?

Thank you for choosing to learn about this team! I am excited to discover some of the many possibilities that could be here by mixing this very novice style with the team design wisdom of people here!!

Here is a selection of match replays that may help in understanding how this team could possibly work in OU:

Losses by this team:

http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/ou-385068020
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/ou-397378056
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/ou-401753496
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/ou-404783962

Victories by this team:

http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/ou-385178439
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/ou-385264289
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/ou-398470217
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/ou-402665162
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/ou-406363108
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/ou-412147186


Forfeitures that show some of the team's dynamics differently than above
mainly situations of stronger leads

http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/ou-398289955
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/ou-399832873
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/ou-405435969

 

[Cenamazing]

I've been sitting here for five minutes straight, trying to figure out how to rate this team. The best I can say is that you REALLY need someone to teach you how to play pokemon, so I'll try to help you out best I can.

1. Tiers: Considering you made it this far, I assume you know how these work. In reality, no one person is born better than another. This is not the truth in pokemon. Using one of these normally useless pokemon in OU can work, I've seen people use Frogadier pretty effectively. But those people were pokemon experts, and it would make it much easier if you used actual OU pokemon on your OU Team. When only one pokemon on your team is actually In OU, then we have a problem. Also, never use Vulbeat. If a pokemon isn't even good in PU, it won't be good in OU.

2. Special and Physical Moves: You know how these work too, right? Some pokemon are physical attackers, some are special attackers, and a few very rare pokemon use both physical and special moves. These are called mixed attackers. NONE OF THE POKEMON ON YOUR TEAM ARE MIXED ATTACKERS. And yet, you're running physical and special moves on all your pokemon. When a pokemon like Charizard X has so much better physical attack then special attack AND has tough claws, THEN WHY ARE YOU USING ANCIENT POWER. You are almost always supposed to put 252 EVS in two stats when making sweepers: ONE offensive stat and speed (same general idea for defensive pokemon except the EVs go in different stats). Mega Charizard X should run max speed and max attack, and yet youre EVs are all over the place. You should never normally make a pokemon a mixed attacker, it should be one or the other.

3. STAB: Did you know that when a pokemon uses a move the same type of the pokemon, it does more damage? This is called STAB, or Same Type Attack Bonus, and it's basically the entire reason the ability protean is so good. For example, a fire move with a BP of 80 would do more damage than a rock move with a BP of 80 coming from Mega Charizard X, because of STAB. That's why people use moves like Flare Blitz and Dragon Claw on Mega Charizard X instead of Facade: They're stronger. Using Facade gives you no extra coverage, and is pointless.

4. Luck: Sometimes, luck is fun in pokemon. Jirachi's 60% flinch chance Iron Head is good, because it has a good chance of working and it still does damage either way. Focus Blast has a 30% chance to miss, but the odds are still in your favor, and it's fun to use. However, you should never, ever, EVER use Attract or Confuse Ray in pokemon. They're cheap tactics with only a 50% chance to work. If it fails, you wasted a move. If it works, people hate you for winning in such a cheap way. It's a lose lose situation, and you should never use it due to the high chance of failure. It's why no one uses moves like Hypnosis or Dynamic Punch without No Guard. It's just too luck based.

The best way to find sets to use in pokemon is here: http://www.smogon.com/dex/xy/pokemon/
I reccomend you click the link, click the magnifying glass, and search OU. They're you'll find all the OU pokemon. Click on them to find sets you can copy right into showdown, and use those sets. And make a team that can actually work in the tier. There's plenty I didn't have the time to tell you, like entry hazards, status, choice items, ect. If you make another team that actually functions in OU, I promise I'll give it an actual rating and not this mini lesson crud. Either way, good luck.

 

[veryingbe]

Thank you!! This is really helpful! I very much understand where you are coming from as you explain it really well. :) :)

Much of my experience has been in OU between 1000 and 1200 which actually includes about half normal OU teams, and then half custom teams using all types of Pokemon and strategies.

As a result I wasn't sure what the actual expectations for the OU tier really are. I do think many people play in OU as a challenge, and also because it is one of the tiers on Showdown that tends to have matches available at any time.

My main learning about the mechanics of Pokemon is both fortunately and unfortunately playing and replaying Gold/Silver over the years! I really did not understand EVs until now. I did understand STAB, but not completely, including how it is usually applied in sets!

I will come back with an altered version of the team in a few days or so. :)

 

[Cenamazing]

Thank you!! This is really helpful! I very much understand where you are coming from as you explain it really well. :) :)

Much of my experience has been in OU between 1000 and 1200 which actually includes about half normal OU teams, and then half custom teams using all types of Pokemon and strategies.

As a result I wasn't sure what the actual expectations for the OU tier really are. I do think many people play in OU as a challenge, and also because it is one of the tiers on Showdown that tends to have matches available at any time.

My main learning about the mechanics of Pokemon is both fortunately and unfortunately playing and replaying Gold/Silver over the years! I really did not understand EVs until now. I did understand STAB, but not completely, including how it is usually applied in sets!

I will come back with an altered version of the team in a few days or so. :)

Thank you for being so flexible. I know there are some pretty strange sets in the lowerror ladder, but you'll notice they become much more standard the higher you get.

When you do make a new team though, be sure to post it in a new RMT