Balanced OU team. Just getting back into the Meta

sausageCR

So I was big into competitive battling in 4th gen, but lost interest for a bit. Getting back into it again and starting to work out the new meta. But sticking with what I know with this team, hence mostly 4th gen and below pokes. It's been pretty successful on Showdown so far with 10/11 wins.

Changes in bold

Mega-Scizor @ Scizorite
Technician
252HP 240 Atk 16 Spd
Adamant
Swords Dance
Roost
Bullet Punch
Bug Bite

The main basis of the team, Mega Scizor has received a real boost, with a boost in both defences he has an even better opportunity to set up some dances, with roost to allow him to last longer. Bullet punch and bug bite for coverage. Acts as a late game sweeper once it's checks have been removed.

Gliscor @ Toxic Orb
Poison Heal
244 HP 224 Speed 40 Def
Impish
Toxic
Substitute
Protect
Earthquake

First part of my defensive core, staller and physical wall. With its massive bulk and above-average speed, this set sits at the pinnacle of OU stall. Between Substitute and Toxic, Gliscor kills time while Toxic slowly wears down the opposing HP. Earthquake prevents taunt and protect emphasises stalling.

Skarmory @ Rocky Helmet
Sturdy
252 HP 252 Def 4 Sp Def
Impish
Stealth Rock
Roost
Whirlwind
Brave Bird

Second part of defensive core and the main physical wall. Classic set lasting all the way from gen 4, because it works so well. Got everything, from entry hazard to phasing, reliable healing and a powerful attack. Has great synergy with Jellicent.

Jellicent @ Leftovers
Water Absorb
252 Atk 252 Sp Def
Calm
Scald
Will O Wisp
Recover
Shadow Ball

Final part of the defensive core. Sp Defensive wall with a huge number of resistances, most importantly fire types which threaten Scizor and Skarmory. Will O Wisp over toxic to deal better with physical threats which are super effective against Skarm and Gliscor. This defensive trio deals with almost anything, with very few pokes which can deal with all 3.

Terrakion @ choice scarf
252 Atk 252 Spd 4 HP
Adamant
Close Combat
X-Scissor
Stone Edge
Sacred Sword

My revenge Killer, with a scarf, can outspend anything without a scarf and deal huge damage to whatever needs revenge killing. Very hard to switch into due to it's large coverage and huge attack, so is a threat to any team. Particularly useful against Gengar which would otherwise be a threat to this team, as well as Thunderous T and Latios.

Celebi @ Life Orb
Natural Cure
252 Sp Atk 220 HP 36 Spd
Modest
Leaf Storm
Psychic
U-turn
Recover

My final member of the team, and my bulky special attacker. Chosen due to his good bulky stats as well coverage which works well with the rest of this team. With Stab Psychic and Leaf Storm can deal with Bulky Waters which this team would otherwise struggle with as well as Rotom- W.

Thanks for looking over my team, and any feedback would be appreciated. Also let me know if there are any glaring weaknesses that I've overlooked, the only major ones I've noticed so far are talonflame and to a lesser extent mega charizard.

Ps. Sorry no pictures :( Doing this on my phone.
 
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Some ideas:Knock off instead of bug bite.Steel+Dark has way better coverage than steel+bug and you don't need to invest much in speed imo.More bulk will be better.

Gliscor and skarm is ok but skarm needs to have SR over spikes.

You don't really need ice beam for jellicent,what r u going to hit?

Great Team otherwise!
 
Oops EVs on Scizor were wrong way round, corrected. Will test out knock off, but even with super effective damage it only gets 5 more power than neutral bug bite, and I don't see it's secondary effect being that useful as Scizor is meant to sweep.

Bug Bite 60 x 1.5(technician) x1.5(STAB) = 115

Knock Off 40 x 1.5(technician) x 2(SE) = 120

Totally agree with SR over spikes, my bad. Also helps deal with charizard and talonflame more easily.

Replaced Ice Beam with Shadow Ball for better coverage (e.g Gengar Latios celebi alakazam etc.)
 
The problem is that you are completely walled by steels if you choose bug bite.And knock off has 65 power :O,97.5 power with the foe's item attached.
 
Hm... okay, going to go through things by-Pokemon, because lists!

  • Mega Scizor: To start with, Knock Off is BP 65 now, and it gets a boost of 50% if the enemy has an item (i.e. any non-mega). That buff is why it is considered almost mandatory on nearly any Pokemon that can afford to take it, as it punishes switching in counters that rely on an item to fulfill their role. So it gets 5 BP higher than if it were technician boosted, base, but quite a bit more for that first hit on an item-holding Pokemon-- hell, Bisharp now /sweeps/ with Knock Off on anything slow enough to not outspeed or that otherwise doesn't threaten! Also, for Mega Scizor, an EV spread of 248 HP/136 Def/104 SpDef/20 Speed might work better. The speed is to outspeed minimum speed Heatran (for surprise Knock Off KOs when they expect a switch, if you know it's defensive), and the Def and SpDef let it prevent the 2HKO from anything weaker than Excadrill's EQ and Aegislash's Shadow Ball. Bug, as a type, will very rarely find a chance to hit SEly, and, worse yet, those will all be primarily threats weak to dark anyway. The buff to dark as an attacking type against steel and fairy's new resistance to bug makes it the far better choice. Also, change the ability pre-mega-evo to Light Metal, to more easily switch into things like Deoxys-S's Low Kick-- not like you /wouldn't/ mega evolve immediately, after all. Also, keep in mind that old gen 4 sets still work with regular Scizor (notably the choice band set), and that there are also new options that help it to fulfill some interesting new niches-- like Assault Vest Scizor, which can Pursuit trap Latios/as, Gengar, and Alakazam without fearing even Hidden Power Fire.
  • Gliscor: The moves are very straightforward, but bump that speed up to 232 to outspeed mega Garchomps that lack a speed+ nature (many are adamant/naughty/etc, since if you want speed, base Garchomp does it better). Only loses 8 Def, so, while a fringe benefit, you may as well go for it.
  • Skarmory: Defog tends to be extremely important in the current meta-- as much as Rapid Spin was in 4th gen, given that there are more viable defoggers than spinners. Defog plus Stealth Rock lets you remove the foe's hazards than reset your own, and may be preferable, but Brave Bird is still an option (it just isn't quite as mandatory). If looking for a bird-wall with a better typing for use with Scizor, Mandibuzz gets the same moves bar Stealth Rock/Spikes, but the excellent Foul Play as an attacking option. Its defenses are similar, with a bit smaller defense, but higher HP and actually competent SpDef. Skarmory is no longer the premier wall it used to be, given that fire attacks are common on the likes of mega zards and Talonflames, so that neutrality to it may help. Alternatively, Zapdos could be used to help shore up your team's Talonflame weakness, as it resists Brave Bird and can OHKO with Thunderbolt, but keep in mind that, while another handy Defog-bird, it lacks a bit of Mandibuzz or Skarmory's bulk. But yeah, especially with Rocky Helmet, you can afford to drop Brave Bird and rely on recoil to kill, barring Taunt. Especially since Skarmory shouldn't be taking any real special attacks anyways.
  • Jellicent: Definitely not as useful as it used to be, between the abundance of dark and ghost moves being thrown around, new threats like Mega Venusaur, and the dropping need for spinblockers. In fact, a spinblocker when you aren't stacking hazards or spinning as your own way of eliminating them is a bit unnecessary, as you end up needing to remove them yourself with Defog anyway. Also... your EVs must be some form of mistake. Chansey, Blissey, Sylveon, Heatran, and Assault Vest users (Scizor, Conkeldurr, Azumarill, and others) are popular special walls, with Azumarill standing out in its water typing and resistances to dark and fighting. It has decent power for taking out those fire types with waterfall or aqua jet, as well, outside of sun (so zard Y is problematic). It also provides priority, which the current metagame almost revolves around, given the quantity of hyperspeed threats like Greninja. An Adamant Azumarill with an AV, max Atk, 16 HP, and the rest in SpDef should do nicely, with Aqua Jet, Waterfall, Play Rough, and Knock Off. Knock Off is this gen's will-o-wisp, as far as crippling switch-ins goes (though will-o-wisp is still quite nice to have-- just mentioning that it lets Azumarill still weaken a foe's damage output). It works rather like some Heatran sets, in that it's bulky specially, but tends to focus on attacking rather than support moves (given how AV works).
  • Terrakion: Revenge-killers this gen are a bit more hard-pressed to earn their keep, particularly without momentum-grabbing switch-moves. While still as strong as ever, priority users tend to take on the usual revenge-killer role, like choice band Talonflame. Thunderus-I is now OU, by the by, and is more important to check than the now oft-outclassed T (so Terrakion can be crippled by Prankster T-wave for its troubles). My specific example of Talonflame doesn't very well handle Thundurus, but it at least retains its priority to largely ignore the speed drop from T-wave, in addition to packing u-turn, handy resists like fire, and access to quirks like tailwind. Other priority users might help, but it's hard to handle Thundurus this gen without something like scarfed Landorus-T or scarfed Thundurus-T for their T-wave immunities... if you want to revenge kill Thundurus specifically, try something else (Mega Manectric works, and packs Volt Switch along with its faster-than-Mewtwo level of speed). Either way, something that either doesn't mind, or is immune to, that Prankster T-wave would be ideal. Mega Venusaur tends not to care as much as others might, and it takes minimal from t-wave or HP Ice, given its ability, but that's at best a check.
  • Celebi: I'm no sure that Celebi is particularly viable, presently, between the massive amount of fire being thrown around and the newly abundant dark and ghost type attacks. Add to that the extremely limited coverage of grass+psychic STABs, and you're far better off using Mega Venusaur-- one of the best (and only) bulky grass types for this gen. Sludge Bomb, Giga Drain, Sleep Powder, and Synthesis is a decent example set, with plenty of options like Leech Seed available as well (or hidden power fire, to screw with Scizor and Ferrothorn). Just lobbing a bunch in its HP and SpAtk tends to work, especially since it only has two weaknesses in its mega form (flying and psychic).
In any case, a quick threatlist of what's viable in OU can be found here: http://www.smogon.com/forums/threads/xy-ou-viability-ranking-thread-re-ranking.3502268/

It's a good resource to consult when building teams, both to check that you can handle the top-tier 'mons and to see the new standards for sets. Whatever information isn't from my own experience has mostly been from there. Hope this is helpful-- though I'm a bit perplexed at being PMed for an RMT-- I'm only in, like, 1700, and I've really not played gen 6 OU for long at all. >//<
 
Wow, you can tell I've been away for a long time! Alright thank you, you've given me a lot to think about. I'll come back and make some changes once I've tested things out, or may well scrap this altogether. PMed you because I'd seen you'd given good feedback to a few others, and I was right! Very helpful.
 
sausageCR said:
Wow, you can tell I've been away for a long time! Alright thank you, you've given me a lot to think about. I'll come back and make some changes once I've tested things out, or may well scrap this altogether. PMed you because I'd seen you'd given good feedback to a few others, and I was right! Very helpful.
Click to expand...
I last played mostly in 4th gen myself, so I get where your coming from. Take what advice I've got with a grain of salt-- keep in mind that I'm a complete idiot. (Bad day doesn't even begin to describe...)

In any case, a quick list of pseudo-requirements for a team to work out. You don't need all of them, but each are fairly helpful guidelines to keep in mind:

The format is: Requirement: Example (Why) [What you Have]

Requirements:
  • Entry Hazards: Stealth Rock (Between securing KOs on offensive teams, denting important threats for balanced teams, and acting as residual damage for stall, SR is as nice to have as ever... but it's harder to keep around, and so can still be skipped if one's team really finds no benefit from SR) [Skarmory]
  • Hazard Removal: Rapid Spin/Defog (Removing hazards on one's own terms is a requirement for all but the most aggressive of teams, and even those tend to use Taunt heavily to prevent the hazards going up to begin with, when possible. The only time you can eschew removal is when you're stacking more than just SR yourself and have a spinblocker (and possibly defog 'blocker'), as you can force your opponent to defog 'for you' by making their field more treacherous. Defog tends to have better distribution for both offensive and defensive teams, and so sees far more use, given its very few checks. [Potentially Skarmory]
  • Quick Revenge Killer: Priority/Scarf (Hyper-fast Pokemon run amok in this metagame, from Greninja to Thundurus to Deoxys-S. Being able to revenge kill threats that're faster than your team's average speed is immensely helpful, and so old standards like scarfchomp, scarfrachi, scarfed land/thundurus-Ts, or so on. Choice banded revenge killers with priority are more abundant, with Talonflame overtaking Scizor as some of the highest-damage priority in the tier.) [Scizor]
  • Flyspam Check: Zapdos/Tyranitar (A flying resistance that can switch into Brave Bird or Aerialate Quick Attack is a must, particularly one that can dent Talonflame and Mega Pinsir and/or that doesn't fear their coverage moves. As such, electric tends to be the easiest type to accomplish this with.) [Skarmory... somewhat. But the fire weakness especially causes problems with tflame]
  • Paralysis Absorber: Electric/Ground Types (Thundurus alone merits the inclusion of some T-wave absorber, but other 'mons like Nuzzle Smeargle, some Deoxys-D, and Chansey will carry it as well. A general-purpose status absorber can help, but be careful not to try and cover more than two status with one absorber. Prankster makes substitute an inferior method of absorbing, but it can help.) [Gliscor]
  • Burn Absorber: Fire Types/Guts Ability (Rotom-W, defensive Charizard X, Sableye, Gengar... many pokemon have started packing Will-O-Wisp and prankster means that Taunt is rarely enough to stop them. A fire type like zard or tflame can absorb it, a normal status absorber can ignore it, or you can even benefit from it with Guts Conkeldurr or the like. Prankster makes substitute an inferior method of absorbing, but it can help.) [Celebi, somewhat...]
  • Sleep Absorber: Grass Types/Overcoat Ability/Substitute (Mega Venusaur, Breloom, and Smeargle, among others, have made sleep fairly common. While not as debilitating as last gen, it's still handy to have a 'powder' immunity from a grass type or overcoat user like Mandibuzz. If you have a quicker substitute user, like Gengar, then this is the easiest status to dodge with speedsubs, as the most prominent users tend to be on the slower side. Non-powder sleep moves are far less common, especially with the hypnosis accuracy nerf, bar the odd dark void smeargle.)
  • Wallbreaker/Stallbreaker: Specs/Band User/Taunt User (A wallbreaker like zard Y or keldeo specs might be preferable for offensive teams, or a taunt user for defensive teams, but honestly, quite a many teams opt for both. Makes the likes of Gliscor and Chansey and Mandibuzz easier to manage. [Gliscor carries Toxic, but that's about it.]
  • Defog/Spin Blocker: Bisharp/Aegislash (Bisharp's Defiant ability lets you benefit from defog attempts, while Aegislash is such a strong spinblocker that only Excadrill has a chance of breaking it. Blocking rapid spin is generally only useful on more defensive teams, who need hazards to stay up for the chip damage, but blocking defog is an offensive move that gives opponents an ultimatum: Boost Bisharp and risk a sweep, or endure the hazards. As such, defog blocking tends to work well with suicide hazard leads and stacked hazards, to pressure foes into defogging despite Bisharp's presence on your team. Both can be used at once, but this tends to be suboptimal, given that you will almost never be against a team that has both rapid spin and defog.) [Jellicent spinblocks, at least.]
  • Ghost/Dark Resist: Chansey/Conkeldurr (Ghost and Dark have gained massive buffs at offensive types. As a result, they tend to be spammed-- especially Knock Off. A Pokemon to resist each type will help immensely, although Dark is more important than Ghost.) [Terrakion resists dark, and benefits with Justified.]
  • Rock Resist: Keldeo/Aegislash (Excluding SR, rock is still a very common attacking type, as many threats this gen are 4x weak to it, let alone 2x weak.) [Terrakion]
  • Mega Evolution: Zards, Venusaur, etc. (Knock Off and Trick alone make grabbing a mega immensely beneficial. While not a requirement, eschewing a mega in this meta is rather like eschewing hazards or hazard removal-- plausible, but potentially problematic.) [Mega Scizor]
  • Steel or Poison+Fairy Type: It may seem weird to require a type, but between its resistance to fairy, its natural ability to wall most mega venusaur, its resistance to flying and dragon as well as the immunity to toxic, it's very difficult to replace the utility of having a steel type, as that would take a poison and fairy type to accomplish. The flying resist isn't the key aspect, however, as most are vulnerable to the fire or fighting coverage moves that would follow.
  • Fire Attack: Hidden Power Fire; Fire Types (Ferrothorn and Scizor, among others, are problematic pokemon that require that specific type to beat, more often than not. Will-O-Wisp counts, in this case, as it cripples the former's attack and the latter's staying power. [Jellicent's Will-O-Wisp]
  • Rock/Ground+Electric/Water+Ice Attacks: (Attacks to hit a combination of Charizard, Talonflame, and Mega Pinsir, among others, is invaluable. Users should, ideally, be able to survive flyspam and/or outspeed/tank Charizard. Rock, as always, is a fantastic attacking type, although it's oft best paired with either water or ice to hit flying/ground types like Gliscor and Landorus). [Terrakion]
  • Fighting Attack: Keldeo (Often used for the rock resistance requirement, especially if lacking a steel type-- fighting types are of course the most common users of such attacks. Chansey, in particular, makes this a necessity, but Ferrothorn, Tyranitar, Bisharp, and other key threats make it very helpful to have.) [Terrakion]
Just a few things that occurred to me as stuff that goes through my mind when making teams-- some of it may be bunk, some may be helpful, and I'm sure that some of it's missing altogether, as I know that there must be other guidelines I use... still, hope it helps give you some ideas.
 
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