ORAS OU Balanced team with potential for stall

[MikaDo]

Hey guys, I'm back from the grave! It's been a long, long, loooooooooooooong time since I was active here, but I've been active on the simulator nonetheless. Anyway, second opinions are always great, so I thought let's ask for them! I've put together a balanced team long ago, and with constant tweaks here and there, this is what I ended up with. The team consists of 3 immovable objects in Cradily, Rotom-W and Chansey, a double offense core consisting of Serperior and Talonflame, and a psychic starfish to tie it all together. Enjoy! Any feedback is incredibly appreciated!

Cradily @ Leftovers
Ability: Storm Drain
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
- Recover
- Giga Drain
- Stealth Rock
- Toxic

Let's start off with Cradily, the least 'Meta' Poke on my team. I decided to use it since I needed a Stealth Rock setter that can be a safe switch into any hard hitting attack that Chansey can't stomach when Rotom-W is hurt (which is a lot of times). With a physical defense-oriented spread and 3 forms of recovery, it lives up to that role quite well. Toxic is there in case any setup sweeper/Wish user tries to get a free turn. Though it's a NU Pokemon, I dare to say that Cradily has won me many games. One should not underestimate its walling capabilities. Also, even though my team has little problems with Water Pokemon, Storm Drain is an incredible ability which allow's Crad to stay in EVEN longer thanks to empowered Giga Drains.

Rotom-Wash @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpA / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
- Volt Switch
- Thunderbolt
- Hydro Pump
- Will-O-Wisp

A newer asset to the team, and a replacement for my former Galvantula. It's definitely pulling its weight. I've found Galvantula's electric coverage to be incredibly useful, but the Sticky Web seemed kind of unnecessary since half my team doesn't care about speed. Enter Rotom-W, who can take more hits, spread burns (Hi Bisharp!) and hits decently hard. A nice counter if Skarmory tries to get any hazards up, and a safe switch-in to Talonflame and Mega-Zard Y.

Chansey @ Eviolite
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
- Wish
- Protect
- Heal Bell
- Seismic Toss

Chansey is here to take any special hit and cure the team of status. Talonflame and Rotom-W get low pretty easily, so Wish is very appreciated on that front. Protect helps her stall any poisoned or burned opponents later in the game, which she usually gets to.

Starmie @ Life Orb
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Rapid Spin
- Scald
- Psychic
- Recover

Starmie ties the entire team together pretty well. It can safely switch into Keldeo and Landorus-T and (barely, but guaranteed) OHKO with Psychic and Scald, respectively, after Stealth Rock. Recover really pays off in case the enemy has both Pokemon, which happens more than you would think. Rapid Spin helps Talonflame stay clear of Stealth Rock, which completely screws it over. I've been experimenting the item and moves, I would love some advice here.

Serperior @ Leftovers
Ability: Contrary
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Leaf Storm
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Glare
- Substitute

Serperior punches holes in entire teams. A fast wallbreaker who sets up automatically, Serperior can utilize both Glare and Substitute to safely set up and dish out damage for as long as it can. I've used the Life orb set before, but I really prefer safely setting up with Substitute first and healing off with Leftovers, especially since it's one of my only hard-hitting Poke's.

Talonflame @ Choice Band
Ability: Gale Wings
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Brave Bird
- Flare Blitz
- U-turn
- Steel Wing

Talonflame is there for brute force and revenge killing. If there's anything Serperior can't break, Talonflame can break it. This thing is incredibly fragile, thanks to Stealth Rock existing and it killing itself with it's STAB's. Luckily for Talonflame, Chansey and Starmie happily take care of it and Cradily happily tanks literally anything thrown at it. I actually rarely get Talonflame in, but its sheer power is definitely needed. It also threatens Bisharp, though it really dislikes that Knock-Off.


Known threats

Breloom: The spore machine dies to Talonflame and gets walled completely by Serperior, but can really mess with the other four. Starmie at least has Psychic, but gets hit incredibly hard by Bullet Seed/Seed Bomb. Predicting is key here, with 2 Spore immunities and resistances to its STAB's present.

Mega-Zard X: Serperior can't touch this thing and Talonflame is setup bait. I usually Glare it and whittle it down with Starmie and Rotom, or poison it and stall it out with Cradily. I can't stop it once it's got those Dragon dances down. Maybe replace Serperiors sub with Dragon Pulse? Advice appreciated.

Clefable (magic guard): Tanks usually face off and die to Cradily, but Clefable refuses to get poisoned. If Serperior is dead, this thing poses a major threat. Unaware variants get eaten alive though by Cradily, which is good. I usually bait it out with Serperior and see if it's Unaware or not.

Kyurem-Black: Talonflame destroys it and Rotom-W loves burning it, but even my tankiest Poke's have trouble stomaching its hits. Poison stalling with Crad worked decently, but it still threatens namely Chansey, Starmie and Serperior

Latios (scarf): I can't really touch it. I've considered getting Starmie Ice beam instead of recover, but it really puts a lot of pressure on it to cover so many hard hitting threats, which it can't without recovery. Probably my biggest problem.

Defoggers/Rapid Spinners: Most defoggers I've faced like Skarmory, Mandibuzz and Empoleon die hard to my team, but notably Starmie's guaranteed OHKO's, and Talonflame's Steel wing on Diancie, are Stealth rock reliant. Latios especially is dangerous, since nobody on my team hard-counters it (though without a scarf, it can't really hurt my team either)

 

[Indigo Plateau]

Hey man,
Your team is cool but it could use a lot of changes. I'm not really seeing what Cradily contributes to the team over a much needed steel type for the team (like Ferrothorn) since your fairy switch in is nonexistent, especially with more physical Diancies running around now. You have no ground type so electric mons have a field day vs your team. SpDef Rotom isn't necessarily good especially when you have TBolt > Pain Split for Recovery, so it's definitely not checking/outspeeding Bisharp w/o speed (+2 Knock ohkoes lol). Your team has no way of beating stall and is extremely rocks weak, especially since your form of hazards removal is a LO Starmie (life orb + scald + natural cure?). Your team loses to basically every fairy since Talon is CB (CB Talon is bad imo), and with Rotom being your only sand answer + Keld switch in (non bulky Starmie is not a switch in lol) you suffer a lot from Ttar, Bisharp, etc. I don't want to change your team a lot, but it seems inevitable w/o changing 3 members atm :c

First, I would opt to replace Talon's set with a SpDef stallbreaker one over CB. CB Talon isn't very good in the current meta and this would def help you with fairies (bar Diancie) and just looks like it synergizes much better with your team. Also helps with stall.

I'm not sure what Chansey brings to the team as it's a complete momentum sapper so I would go for Lando-T > Chansey. This is also a better check for Sand and stuff like TTar as well as fighting types that merk the team. Go with the standard defensive rocks set for a voltturn core with Rotom.

Next up, offensive Starmie isn't a reliable spinner on these builds especially since it's complete pursuit bait. I would go Latias > Starmie as it's bulkier, can switch into Keld and electrics reliably, and also has access to Defog + Roost or even Healing Wish.

To help deal with stall, change Serp's set into the SubSeed one.

Lastly, you have no Mega and no steel typing, so this is a perfect fit for Mega Metagross > Cradily. Mega Metagross beats fairies (especially Diancie) and just offers a much needed offensive presence for the team. It also has good synergy with Serp. You can make it BoltBeam or forego TPunch for Bullet Punch since you have Serp for waters. BP also helps with Weavile, Diancie, and helps you revenge faster threats like Torn and Lop in a pinch.

You gotta try the team out, but I'm confident it'll be much better than the current version. gl

Serperior
Mega Metagross
Rotom-W
Talonflame
Lando-T
Latias

 

[MikaDo]

Thank you for the very in depth explanation!! I've noticed the problems you noted, but I guess I didn't really think much of it at the time. Now realizing, you're absolutely right in that Mega Meta fits the team perfectly, as a mega+steel type. It also nicely covers the ice weakness that Lando-T and Latias bring with them. Will definitely try him out. The reason I didn't have a mega is because I simply didn't think any of them really fit the team. Mega Meta would only add to the fire weakness that Crad and Serperior pose, but considering it replaces Crad it kind of makes up for that. Sad to see Cradily go, but I guess there are other teams more suited for it.
I've considered defog Lati@s before, but I feared it would only add to the Lati@s weakness that my team had and put my team at an even bigger disadvantage to Keldeo and Lando-T. Now with Mega Meta in that won't really be a problem. I guess I should definitely run BoltBeam on it indeed to replace Starmie's Lando-T and Keldeo checks. Also, I haven't really seen Pursuit all that much so I haven't experienced Starmie's weakness to it at all really. The occasional Bisharp maybe, but not really anything else. Luck? I guess.

As for Chansey being a momentum sipper, I'm kind of sad to see her go too. It sipped momentum sure, but it's wishes were always very helpful. I will try out the team you suggested, and if the lack of wishes really bothers me I guess I could fit it back in, maybe even a Clefable or Sylveon to get some better typing and another dragon switch. Especially since the 'new' team has trouble with Draco Meteor spam.

As for Rotom, I think I'll change it to physically defensive to rid Lando-T of some defensive pressure, especially with the volt-turn combination. It opens up to special hits sure, but it also checks opposing Lando's and helps against physical Kyurem-Black and Mega-Zard X. Mega Zard Y will be a little more threatening, but Latias should be able to deal with it. Maybe. I'll see.

All in all, thanks for the incredible feedback! I'll try the entirely changed team out for a bit and see what I like and what I don't. The logic behind it at least makes more sense than my 'current' team. Cheers