A moderately successful OU team

[StreetSmartPanda]

This is a team I made today, and I've had some moderate success with it, but I feel it needs a fair bit of work in order to be even more successful, so that's why I'm here.

The Team

Infernape (M) @ Life Orb
Trait: Blaze
EVs: 212 Atk / 80 SAtk / 216 Spd
Naive Nature (+Spd, -SDef)
- Overheat
- Close Combat
- Mach Punch
- Flare Blitz

My main attacker. This physically-based mixed Infernape is very good. Overheat is a powerful attack, even without full EV investment. Close Combat and Flare Blitz make up Infernapes physical STABs, while Mach Punch is there for priority. 212 Attack EVs for physical power, which is what it will rely on moreso than special. 80 SpA EVs to give Overheat power, with the rest of the EVs dumped into Speed

Gyarados (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Intimidate
EVs: 176 HP / 128 Atk / 204 Spd
Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Dragon Dance
- Waterfall
- Earthquake
- Ice Fang

Gyarados is a powerhouse, being able to do large amounts of damage to the opposing team. For this set, I took the EVs from Smogons Bulky Dragon Dance set, but gave it a more offensive moveset. Waterfall is a powerful STAB, Earthquake is to hit Ferrothorn and other things that resist Earthquake, and Ice Fang is to hit Dragons. 176 HP EVs gives Gyarados nice bulk which lets it take hits fairly well, which works well with Intimidate, letting it come in on resisted and neutral physical hits often. 204 Speed lets Gyarados outspeed base 115 Speed foes after a Dragon Dance, and 128 Attack EVs so Gyarados can dish out respectable amounts of damage, even without a Dragon Dance.

Dragonite (M) @ (No Item)
Trait: Multiscale
EVs: 252 HP / 44 Atk / 212 Spd
Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Dragon Claw
- Fire Punch
- Dragon Dance
- Roost

Bulky Dragon Dance Dragonite was my favourite Pokemon to use in OU a few months ago, and I'm sad to say it doesn't hold up quite as well as it used to, but it can still do an alright job when it sets up. Dragon Dance boosts Speed and Attack in one go, Dragon Claw and Fire Punch have neutral coverage on everything except Heatran, and Roost restores health, letting Dragonite last longer. Maximum HP EVs for bulk, 212 Speed EVs lets it outpace several threatening Pokemon after a Dragon Dance, and the rest of the EVs dumped into Attack.

Bronzong @ Leftovers
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 80 Atk / 84 Def / 92 SDef
Sassy Nature (+SDef, -Spd)
- Stealth Rock
- Gyro Ball
- Earthquake
- Toxic

Bronzong is my Stealth Rocker and defensive wall, being able to take physical and special attacks fairly well. Gyro Ball is Bronzong's main attack, which can do lots of damage to anything moderately fast. Earthquake OHKOs most, if not all Magnezone variants, and Toxic is to wear down defensive threats. Max HP, 84 Def, and 92 SpD give Bronzong lots of bulk, while 80 Attack EVs allow Gyro Ball and Earthquake to do more damage.

Starmie @ Leftovers
Trait: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Scald
- Psyshock
- Rapid Spin
- Recover

Defensive Starmie is my Rapid Spinner, helping preserve Dragonite's Multiscale, and letting Gyarados and Dragonite switch in more often. Max HP gives Starmie reasonable bulk, max Speed lets it outspeed a number of threats, such as max base 110 Speed Pokemon like Gengar. Scald is one of Starmie's STAB attacks, which has a chance to burn, crippling physical sweepers. Psyshock is Starmie's other STAB, letting it beat Fighting and Poison types, while also doing nice damage to Pokemon heavily invested in SpD and little physical defence. Rapid Spin is to remove Stealth Rock and other entry hazards, helping my team last longer, and Recover is so Starmie can last longer.

Scizor (F) @ Choice Band
Trait: Technician
EVs: 240 HP / 252 Atk / 16 SDef
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Bullet Punch
- U-turn
- Superpower
- Pursuit

Choice Band Scizor is insanely powerful, and a great revenge killer. Bullet Punch is priority STAB, which also gets boosted by Technician. U-Turn is to deal powerful STAB damage and to scout movesets. Superpower is to beat Tyranitar, and Pursuit is to trap opposing Psychic types. Max Attack with an Adamant nature is to give Scizor maximum power, which 240 HP and 16 SpD EVs are for bulk.


Looking at the team, I've noticed a few key weaknesses offensively. I have no answers to many bulky Water types, other than Bronzong's Toxic. There are a few weak links in the team, namely Dragonite and Starmie. Playing with the team, they didn't do a lot, often not being brought in the entire match.

Thank you in advance for your advice and tips, and sorry if any of this seems nonsensical or I've forgotten something, as it is midnight as I'm typing this and I'm pretty tired.

 

[Skarm™]

why does dnite have no item?

 

[Jirachee]

Hi

That's a cool team, however, like you said, Water types will be very difficult to deal with, especially Rotom-W. Since you have no Electric resistance, it will be able to spam Volt Switch around and severly hurt anything that takes the hit, while having a ton of opportunities to switch in, especially on Gyarados which is completely helpless against it. Without any good answer to it and such a great switch in opportunity, you're asking for trouble. Gyarados will also have a hard time sweeping if you can't remove opposing Water types such as Perish Song Politoed reliably, who can shrug off its attacks pretty easily. The first thing you should do in my opinion is drop Dragonite for Celebi. It is a wonderful answer to most Water types, including Rotom-W, it is perhaps its most solid counter. Versions with Hidden Power Ice won't hit it hard enough anyway and you can OHKO it while healing thanks to Giga Drain. That makes it much more easier for Gyarados to sweep as you will have a tool to remove its main checks quite easily, turning it into a much better sweeper that will have a chance to work against any team. Since you do not like Dragonite, I feel like it's the best thing to drop. Something else you should do is change Starmie's moveset to a more offensive one. With Thunderbolt and a Life Orb, it is able to hit Water types hard which helps Gyarados hard while also being able to spin Stealth Rock away, which is very nice. Your team is pretty offensive anyway so I don't think its bulkier set will serve you pretty well.

Bounce would probably be a superior option over Earthquake on Gyarados. It hits Grass types, such as Celebi, for super effective damage, and the bulkier ones won't find Ice Fang anyway. Earthquake isn't that great of a coverage move for Gyarados anyway since Waterfall hits most things that Earthquake hits for super effective damage hard anyway, such as Steel types, while Bounce also hits Ferrothorn for bigger damage than Earthquake. On top of that, not a lot is really eager to switch into Bounce since it has a 30% chance of causing paralysis, which can really screw up faster, frailer checks.

Anyway, here are the sets you should use:

Celebi and Starmie

Celebi @ Leftovers
Natural Cure
Modest
EVs: 216 HP / 252 SpA / 40 Spe
~Giga Drain
~Hidden Power Fire
~Psychic
~Recover

Starmie @ Life Orb
Natural Cure
Timid
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
~Hydro Pump
~Thunderbolt
~Ice Beam
~Recover

Good luck!