Team at a glance
Hi all, I finally got around to making my transition from 4th gen to 5th gen, but knew next to nothing about the metagame, bar that weather wars ran rampant. So I figured I'd stick with what I know, which is why half my team is comprised of 4th gen sets. So far the team has worked out pretty well for me, but I'd love some feedback on the team as to how it can be improved, as a more solid team will get me better acquainted with the terror that is 5th gen. So let's get started...
Teambuilding Process
I'd used Salamence an awful lot during it's brief stint in 4th gen OU, so I figured he would be as good a starting point as any. Whilst 5th gen has turned the tables on him, putting Dragonite in his place as #1 dragon, I felt the current environment suited him down to the ground, but I'll get into that later.
Upon receiving advice from pretty much anyone who had a brain, I decided to add a weather starter to help against other weather teams. Hail and sandstorm were out, they would only quicken Salamence's demise and with rain putting a damper on his fire attacks, Ous pretty little fox was the clear choice.
Now, with 2 pokes weak to rock and, by extension, Stealth Rocks, I needed a spinner, preferably with a decent rock resistance and Donphan slotted into that spot almost perfectly.
Now for a team based around a dragon, Magnezone was a pretty obvious choice. The ability to eliminate steels for Salamence was a trait that couldn't be overvalued and he could punch holes in teams by himself by trapping defensive steels and charge beaming them to death, usually resulting in a second KO to anything not fat, pink and blobby.
Speaking of synergy, I had Drought Ninetales on my team, I figured I would abuse it. Venusaur is an absolute monster in sun and has served as a safety net, or a crutch depending on your perspective, if I had made some mistakes early in the battle, allowing me to grap victory from the jaws of defeat. Plus the combination of Salamence + Venusaur was pretty hard for most team to deal with.
Finally, the filler, the buffer, the myth, the legend. Rotom-w's brand spanking new typing meant he came onto the team to help against rain teams. The addition of Volt switch to maintain offensive pressure only sweetened the deal and with a choice scarf, he became a formidable revenge killer, just like his gen4 counterpart.
After playing a few games with the team, I noticed a glaring weakness to the lati@s twins and with magnezone as my only steel resist, he would quickly get worn down, so I switched it out for an old favourite: Sp.def Rachi, this not only gave me a more reliable steel resist, but provided wish support for the other members of my team
After a while, I realised Rotom-W wasn't the superstar I'd made him out to be. Against rain he did his job fine, against sandstorm he could catch the odd poke or two with Hydropump, but if I managed to keep sun up, all I found myself doing was spamming Volt turn, giving Gliscor, Landorus and a few other notable pokes a free switch in. So eventually I swapped him out for CMrefresh Latias. She still provided me with a way to hurt most rain teams but more importantly, gave me a more reliable switch in to Heatran, as even defensive versions in sunlight could put large dents in my team
After playing a few games with the team, I noticed a glaring weakness to the lati@s twins and with magnezone as my only steel resist, he would quickly get worn down, so I switched it out for an old favourite: Sp.def Rachi, this not only gave me a more reliable steel resist, but provided wish support for the other members of my team
Choice scarf Terrakion comes into the team over Latias, as suggested by BTzz, and has worked well so far. He can check a multitude of threats with his powerful STABs, such as Dragonite who was always a pain, as well as act as a late game sweeper.
The team was working pretty well, but it wasn't winning the weather wars as consistently as I would have liked it to. I was able to force the opponents weather inducer out multiple times in the game, but wasn't really punishing them for the constant switches. Forretress came in over Donphan, with the addition of spikes support, opposing Politoed, Tyranitar and especially Abomasnow would struggle to win the weather war.
With the addition of yet another Fire weakness, Heatran became a major problem to the team, so I needed a poke that could beat it and prefereably set up stealth rock. I considered Blissey for a while, but she wasn't really en keeping with the teams offensive nature, so I thought I'd fight fire with fire and add a Balloon Heatran of my own.
In Depth
Ninetales @ Leftovers
Modest Nature
144 HP/ 252 Sp.atk/ 112 Spe
- Fire Blast
- SolarBeam
- Sunny Day
- Will-o-wisp
Ninetales is my weather started, which is pretty crucial for disrupting Sand Rush/ Sand Power sweepers, as well as putting pressure on rain stall teams. The EVs allow me to outspeed all non-scarfed versions of Tyranitar and Politoed, with max special attack and a modest nature to hit as hard as possible. Lefties was chose over life orb as longevity is key for a weather starter and it works well with protect, though the loss of power is noticeable against defensive versions of the rival weather starters. The moveset is fairly standard, Sunndy day is for predicting direct switches to Politoed/Tyranitar/Hippo (I've yet to encounter an Abomasnow brave enough to switch in), but I must be honest I've been out-predicted with this, but when it works it's amazing, SolarBeam is to force the aforementioned pokes out and Fire Blast is for a nice high powered STAB. I chose protect in the last slot to scout out scarf Tyranitar, but as it seems to be a lot less common this gen, I'm considering switching it to HP fighting, which may also help against my Balloon Heatran weakness, thoughts? Switched Protect to Will-o-wisp as suggested by Emeral, additional damage on opposing weather inducers is always nice, crippling Tyranitar is even better and not being setup fodder for Dragonite is the icing on the cake
Forretress @ Leftovers
252 HP/ 176 Def/ 80 Sp.def
Relaxed nature
- Gyro Ball
- Rapid Spin
- Spikes
- Volt Switch
Forretress replaced Donphan as my spinner, mainly to provide additional spikes support to the team. With both Venusaur and Ninetales running Sunny day, opposing weather inducers are forced into a tough choice: stay in and risk getting smacked by a super effective SolarBeam/Fire Blast or switch out and let entry hazards rack up. The spikes support also push Salamence from threat to gamebreaker, as team cannot simply pivot between pokes to resist attacks and wait for Life Orb to take it's toll. The moves are fairly self explanatory, Spikes and Rapid Spin are the crux of the set, with Gyro Ball as a decent STAB attack, hitting pokes like DDHax and Landorus for decent damage, as well as beating HP Fire-less Gengar 1v1. I chose Volt switch as the final move for a number of reasons. The lack of a spinblocker on this team is somewhat problematic, but with Volt Switch I can just use Forry as a defensive Pivot and use Volt switch to maintain offensive momentum for the team, as well as provide essentially free switch ins for Ninetales, Salamence and Venusaur, who are all somewhat frail. Plus escaping from Magnezone without losing Leftovers recovery is a pretty good buff from Gen4. The EVs are so that Forretress can still wall a large portion of physical threats, whilst still being able to set up on weaker special attacks. The addition of sunlight makes it a lot easier for Forretress to set up on Bulky waters, as it grants him a pseudo resist, although burns from Scald are really annoying.
Salamence @ Life Orb
100 Atk/ 176 Sp.atk/ 232 Spe
Rash nature
- Brick Break
- Draco Meteor
- Fire Blast
- Roost
This set is what arguable pushed Salamence into the Uber territory during 4th gen and to be honest even know I think the current conditions make him just as deadly: less spinblockers means it's alot easier to keep hazards off the field, with more pokes focusing on bulky rather than speed, Salamence can outspeed a lot of pokes which eases prediction and finally mixed walls seem to be far less common, with more pokes such as Skarmory/Hippowdon focusing on their superior defense stats. All these mean that with the combination of Draco Meteor, Fire Blast and Brick Break, very few pokes can switch in safely, and even less can withstand 2 hits from him. Roost allows Salamence to retain some of his defensive merits, as intimidate and a good set of resistances allow him to sponge a fair amount of attacks and force pokes out, allowing him to put pressure on the opponent. The EVs are to outpace Adamant Haxorus, I opted against the 252 speed Naive spread at the loss in power was a pain and outspeeding Hydreigion and Timid Rotom-A seems a little redundant, as they are both dealth with fairly well by a combination of Jirachi and Latias. Now using Brick Break over Earthquake, as both Mixmence and Venusaur lure Ballon Heatran to no end, so the combination of Brick Break and Hidden Power Ground let me overcome this threat better
Heatran @ Air Balloon
4 HP/ 252 Sp.atk/ 252 Spe
Modest nature
- Earth Power
- Fire Blast
- Hidden Power Ice
- Stealth Rock
Heatran joins the team in place of Jirachi and this was the change that altered the team the most, in my opinion. With Jirachi, I could use it's Wish and paralysis support to slowly wear down the opposing team, as well as having a solid devensive poke, capable of walling a large amount of special threats. Heatran just likes to kill things. Fire Blast in sun is ridiculously powerful and if it's paired with a flash fire boost, something will mot likely be burnt to a crisp next turn, even 2hko'ing eviolite Chansey after SR. Balloon was my item of choicefor two reasons: forcing more witches is always great and several pokes find themselves unable to severely harm Balloon Heatran without themselves taking massive damage. Secondly, this team is pretty weak to ground types :( Forretress can tank the odd Earthquake or two and Salamence can Intimidate pokes such as Landorus and Gliscor, but neither are reliable. I'm not saying Balloon Heatran is either, far from it, but between the 3 of them, they can usually get the job done. Modest nature was chosen over Timid because outspeeding Gliscor seemed redundant with Balloon and the power a Modest nature provides is really welcome, especially as it can weaken some of Venusaurs common checks. HP Ice was chosen as the 3rd move to act as a pseudo check to Landorus if Forretress is at low health, it also hits common Dragon switch ins looking to set up on it (although Fire Blast still does a decent chunk). I'm not entirely sure he's the best choice defensively, but offensively he's a monster, so I'm pretty happy with his inclusion
Venusaur @ Leftovers
4 HP/ 252 Sp.atk/ 252 Spe
Modest nature
- Growth
- Hidden Power Fire
- Solar Beam
- Sunny Day
Ok, if I had a penny for every time this guy has either closed a game out or just plain saved my hide, I'd be just a little bit richer. In sunlight, this guy is an absolute monster. Whilst growth give +2 to both attacking stats, I felt Venusaur had the superior choice in sleep powder to warrant going for a mixed set. Sleep powder is key both offensively and defensively: it allows me to put a counter to sleep, give me a free turn of setup to guarantee a sweep or just use Venusaur as an emergency check to pretty much anything in sunlight. SolarBeam is for raw power, Energy Ball seemed a little redundant as I'm rarely using him outside of Sun. The EVs are pretty basic, max speed in sun means Venusaur can outspeed everything up to base 110 speed pokes holding a Choice scarf, which is fast enough. Changed Sleep Powder to Sunny Day, this gave me an easier time sweeping against opposing weather teams if Ninetales has taken too much damage and with Choice Scarf Terrakion, the emerygency checking ability with Venusaur was redundant. Leftovers also allows me to switch into Bulky waters such as Gastrodon and Vaporeon more easily throughout the game
Terrakion @ Choice scarf
4 HP/ 252 Atk/ 252 Spe
Jolly nature
- Close Combat
- Rock Slide
- Stone Edge
- X-Scissor
Terrakion is the latest addition to the team, and has been working well so far. With decent power and coverage, amazing speed and some useful resistances, he has no problem switching into threats and forcing them out. The moveset is fairly simple, Stone Edge and Close Combat as powerful STABs, with X-Scissor to hit bulky psychic types such as the Lati@s twins and Reuniclus, with rock slide as filler, just in case I run out of PP. He also provides me, more importantly, with a great fighting type, which is especially useful in threatening Balloon Heatran, which can plague this team. Rock Slide is mainly just used as filler, or when I don't want to miss the infamous crucial Stone Edge miss (which has happened all too often).
Mini-Threat List
Gliscor is a slight problem, as it's Ground/ Ice coverage is pretty good against this team. The best I can hope for is to do some careful switching around it, between Intimidating it with Salamence and then getting either Venusaur or Ninetales in safely so they can KO it, but this is much easier said than done. Timid nature on Heatran may be beneficial for this reason.
Ok, this guy is public enemy #1 at the moment. Forretress handles most of his sets relatively well, as he's my closest thing to an EdgeQuake resist. My main aim is to keep him out of sand, which isn't too tall an order for this team. But the threat of him in sand is massive, especially with either a substitute or a rock polish under his belt, which most of the time leads to a GG.
So that's my team and it is in no way perfect. I've probably missed some major threats in the small list I made, but those were the 2 that stuck out for me. I'm pretty flexible with team changes, although if at all possible I'd like to keep Salamence the way he is, as he was the premise for this team. Looking forward to hearing some feedback.
Peace
