An OU Team that wins sometimes

[monster]

Changes in Bold

Hi. I created this team after Drizzle + Swift Swim teams became illegal, so it's pretty old. But, when I use it, it tends to be effective even after the metagame has changed significantly without all the DW abilities and Excadrill and Thunderus. Be that as it may, it feels a little... clunky. But I still can't really do much in the BW OU environment simply because of all the choices available to me. So, with no further ado, here's the team:

I built this team, to be honest, around what seemed like good Pokemon from ADV times. I remembered Snorlax, Vaporeon, Metagross, and Venusaur able to do some work on times if they were put together. So I simply replaced Snorlax with Hippowdon, Vaporeon with Starmie, and Venusaur with Ferrothorn. The other two simply fell into place. Also: I like having three Special attackers, and three physical attackers, and at least one wall. Is this a good strategy? Anyway, here they each are:

Starimie@lefties
Trait: Natural Cure
Nature: Timid
EVS: 6 HP/252 Sp. Atk/252 Spe
-Scald
-Psyshock/T-Bolt/Grass Knot
-Ice Beam
-Rapid Spin

I typically lead with this one, though I really think all my Pokes are lead-able. Scald for burning (obv.), Ice Beam for dragons, and I opted for Psyshock against Fighting types and STAB. Actually, I find Psychic to be a more useful type to attack with in this Gen, surprisingly. I'll cover more of that on Metagross. Actually, Psyshock is useful against Rotom-W, as all the other attacks are lacking to take him on. Same with Metagross.

Hydreigon@Choice Specs/Scarf
Nature: Rash
EVs: 6 HP/252 Sp. Atk/252 Spe
-Draco Meteor
-Surf
-U-Turn
-Flamethrower

I really like Hydreigon; while Latios is faster and stronger, Hydreigon trades those for Flamethrower and more bulk. Really, I don't know if I have good reasons for not switching him with Latios... only that I think he looks cooler. Anyway, he can definitely pull off a late game sweep, even if Latios can do it better. Also: he's less susceptible to Pursuit trappers. That's always a plus.

Gengar@Life Orb
Ability: Timid
EV's: 6 HP/252 Sp. Atk./252 Spe
-Shadow Ball
-Focus Blast
-Substitute
-Disable

I think Gengar will always be on my main team. It's so fast, and so powerful. I trade Disable for Pain Split sometimes because I can't really decide which I like more (Blissey is KO'd if I choose Pain Split, while Disable handles a variety of threats).

Ferrothorn@Rocky Helmet
Trait: Iron Barbs
Nature: Sassy
EV's: 252 HP/76 Def/180 Sp. Def
-Power Whip
-Gyro Ball
-Spikes
-Stealth Rock

My aforementioned Special wall. This thing can take un-STAB'd flamethrowers and HP Fires. I think once it took a Latios's HP Fire, and proceeded to KO it with Gyro Ball (or at least maim it). Is Rocky Helmet a good item? If I manage to get Spikes laid out and Stealth Rock, it's great, but often that isn't the case, as Ferrothorn must take a powder when those Infernape comes in to ruin its day.

Hippowdon@Lefties
Trait: Sand Stream
Nature: Careful
EVs: HP 248/Atk 16/Def 84/160 Sp.Def
-Earthquake
-Ice Fang
-Roar
-Slack Off

And, my physical wall... sort of. I made it be able to take special hits. Good idea? Well, it can take Latios Scarf'd Draco Meteors, if that's any good. I dunno though. Probably I go physical wall. He's just meant to sit there and laugh at my opponents as they try to harm him. And laugh he does.

Metagross@Choice Band
Trait: Clear Body
Nature: Adamant
EV's: 124 HP/252 Atk/134 Spe
-Hammer Arm
-Ice Punch/Bullet Punch/Zen Headbutt
-Meteor Mash
-Pursuit

And, my trapper. He takes care of Latios like no one's business. But Zen Headbutt? Really? Well, it actually three hits most Skarms with SR, and it can take care of a great variety of things that Meteor Mash cannot. I'm still on the fritz with Zen Headbutt. There are so many bulky Water types that pose a threat to my team. But Ice Punch or Bullet Punch may yet be the way to go. I guess I could give Grass Knot to Starmie...

Threat List (too lazy to post sprites, so bear with me):
-Infernape: Very bad for this team. STAB FB and CC will rip it to shreds.
-Reuniclus: With STAB Focus Blast and Psychic/Psyshock, it can rend my team to pieces. Most of my Pokes are vulnerable to him. Of course, I can hope for a Dark Pulse flinch or Shadow Ball crit...
-Dragonite: What team isn't threatened by my favorite Pokemon these days? Obv., he will Dragon Claw or Outrage his way through my team until there's nothing left but ribbons. Only Metagross and Hydreigon can stop him, really. Even with Ice Fang, Hippowdon does not stand up to Dragonite. with Multiscale, Dragonite can easily PP stall him with Subroost (what, does Ice Fang have like 24 PP after the boost?).
-Terrakion: Very bad for my team. Only Hippowdon can stand up to him, or Metagross at full HP.
-Conkeldur: He's definitely a threat, with STAB Hammer Arms and Mach Punches, he'll make short work of many of my guys. Hardly anyone can stop him save Starmie or Hippowdon.
-Lati twins: With STAB Draco Meteor, they are a threat. Metagross can Pursuit them out though.
-Scrafty: Last but not least, my hated enemy. There's very little to stand in his way except Gengar's Focus Blast and Starmie's Scald, seeing if I can score a lucky burn with Scald.
-Rotom-W: I think this one will cause the most trouble if I don't give Zen Headbutt or Psyshock to Metagross and Starmie, respectively.
-Cloyster: I just thought of this one. Without priority on Metagross, he could cause some trouble.
-Volcarona: Another problem. The only real counter is Starmie, which isn't a counter per se.
-Bulky water types pose a legitimate threat because only Starmie can take them with Grass Knots/Thunderbolts, or Ferrothorn, who is limited to Power Whip.

So what are your thoughts? Revisions? Weird EV spreads too weird? Should
Hydreigon respectfully decline in lieu of Latios? More potential threats? Does this team suck at everything? Discuss.

 

[Nova]

I would replace Hydreigon with Latios. Latios is faster, hits harder, and still has decent bulk with base 110 SpDef. If you really do opt to keep Hydreigon though I would replace Surf with U-turn as the scouting power is one advatange it has over Latios. Also could you explain your reasoning for the speed evs on Metagross?

 

[monster]

Also could you explain your reasoning for the speed evs on Metagross?

Yes. I want to outspeed Skarmory, like I said, Zen Headbutt 3HKOs it. I suppose I could opt for 252 Speed, but that just seems like a waste. I'd rather put some in HP.

 

[dws93rd]

After actually testing this team out, I don't see a threat from Lati's that don't run hp fire.

Hippowdon needs to have a 252hp/252def/4spd ev spread with an Impish nature. Why? It's what he was meant to do. All of those threats you have listed are no longer threats. He can wall every physical attacker and phaze them out if they try to set up on him. Not to mention, Sandstorm will already boost his SpD. Also, I'd advise running Ice Fang>Stealth Rock. That gives you the ability to not only wall, but severely damage the likes of Dragonite, Gliscor, Mence, etc. It also gives you a way to take the balloon off of a pokemon that you need to hit with EQ, let's say Heatran for instance.

Now for Starmie, I'd suggest running this set

@Life Orb
4hp/252SpA/252Spe
-Scald/Surf
-Tbolt
-recover
-Rapid Spin

Tbolt gives you the ability to take out Gyara, Life orb adds more offensive power, and even taking damage from Life Orb and Sandstorm you'll be fine with Recover. If you can't think of a situation where you would get a free recover, think of how many switches Starmie can cause.

I would suggest keeping Hydreigon, but running U-turn also as it gives you the opportunity to scout. Also, possibly running the Choice Scarf variant as this gives you the ability to outspeed any non-scarfed Pokemon(Except Deoxys-s, which you'll never see anyhow), a timid nature will make sure you outpace any Scarfed Haxorus, which is very important.

Now, if you follow my prior advice and take SR off Hippowdon, I would say replace them on Ferrothorn in place of twave/leech seed. The only thing that would be a drawback on this is losing the ability to paralyze opposing scarfers and the likes of DD users.

One last thing, zen headbutt on Metagross, imo should be replaced with bullet punch. This gives you a powerful banded and STAB priority move, which would help dramatically if any poke should get up a DD or speed boost. Also, Skarm shouldn't be a problem, so running Spe ev's on Meta is useless imo.

Hopefully you test out my suggestions and like them :)

 

[monster]

dws, I like most of your suggestions except LO on Starmie. I'm against putting LO on a Pokemon who has Rapid Spin, because of how counter-intuitive it is. Everything else is sound, though. I'll try it out...

EDIT: Actually, I've never seen Gyara or Mence in my entire time playing BW, interestingly enough. But I'll take your recommendation of T-Bolt over Psyshock at face value. It seems logical enough.

 

[tikidude]

Change Hydreigon's nature to modest for more power. Don't use Black Sludge or Pain Split on Genger. His defences are just too poor for those to be worth using IMO. Physical Hippowdon is better. Give Metagross Ice Punch over Zen Headbutt to kill Dragonite. Also give him Trick over Pursuit to ruin Skarmory, Blissey, etc. I like this team a lot. Hope this helps!

 

[Olympus]

Why are you using 32HP Evs on Starmie, are they signinficant in any way? A simple 4HP / 252Spa / 252Spe with timid makes the most of Starmie. If your looking for more bulk, you can replace one of your moves with recover althought you will lose coverage.

 

[Thetwiggy13]

I find running Expertbelt on Gengar lets it live longer. That lets it get more hits in and thus is more powerful than Life Orb~~

 

[HanPyol]

I don't see the need for the Hippowdon. None of your team members benefit from the sand whatsoever. If you want to keep the sand, add in Landorus.

 

[monster]

I don't see the need for the Hippowdon. None of your team members benefit from the sand whatsoever. If you want to keep the sand, add in Landorus.

I see your point. I replaced Hippowdon with Dragonite, and Starmie with Vaporeon for added bulk. I figured I could use the advantages of Wish passing over Rapid Spinning. Let's see how this works...