Blue metal

[lucariomaster2]

This team was named for the fact that many of the members of my team are blue/purple, and/or are Steel-types.

This team consists mainly of offensive Pokemon. It has worked the best out of any OU team I have created, having "peaked" at around 1220 so far (I put peaked in quotes because I don't actively ladder, so the rating may be a bit innacurate) using an offensive core of Lucario and Latios and otherwise consisting mainly of bulky attackers. I suppose I should also mention that this is my first RMT, but enough talk; let's get to the team.

At a glance:

In-depth:

Heatran @ Air Balloon
Nature: Modest (+SpA, -Atk)
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 HP/252 SpA/4 SpD
-Stealth Rock
-Earth Power
-Lava Plume
-Flash Cannon

Roles: SR setter, Special attacker

Heatran has two jobs: One, to set up rocks, and Two, to provide much-needed Fire and Ground coverage to the team. Normally I lead with this guy, since I like to have rocks up ASAP. If the opponent leads with Magic Bounce Espeon, I usually switch out to Aegislash to threaten it with SE Shadow Claw. (More on that later.)

I was originally running Skarmory instead of Heatran, but then I saw that my team was pretty unbalanced, having no Fire or Ground moves. Furthermore, pretty much the only advantage Skarmory had over Heatran was Whirlwind, and since Goodra has Dragon Tail, that is not as much of an issue.

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Aegislash @ Weakness Policy Leftovers
Nature: Brave (+Atk, -Spe)
Ability: Stance Change
IVs: 0 Spe
EVs: 252 HP, 252 Atk, 4 SpD
-King's Shield
-Shadow Sneak
-Shadow Claw
-Iron Head

Roles: Wallbreaker, Spinblocker

This. Guy. Hits. So. Hard. Seriously, it's insane. The first thing you might notice is that I'm not running Sacred Sword; this is because its STABs have good coverage on their own, and Shadow Sneak is important to finish off a weakened foe.

I'm running minimum speed because it's important that Aegislash takes a hit in Shield Forme, and then can retaliate in Blade Forme. I used to be running Weakness Policy, but then chad1996 pointed out how Leftovers was better. I tested it a bit, and sure enough, it was. I do miss the surprise factor of the Weakness Policy, but Leftovers helps Aegis stay alive, which is always good.

Aegislash also functions as a spinblocker, and helps ensure that I keep my rocks up. This is very important, especially with the prevalence of Charizard and Talonflame. Although Defog was buffed, Rapid Spin, in my experience, is still pretty common and quite predictable.

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Lucario @ Life Orb (Lucarionite previously, but it was banned)
Nature: Jolly (+Spe, -SpA)
Ability: Justified
EVs: 252 Atk, 252 Spe, 4 SpD
-Close Combat
-Swords Dance
-Bullet Punch
-Crunch

Roles: Physical sweeper, core with Latios

Lucario is part 1 of my offensive core. It pairs well with Latios, being able to hit the Steels and Fairies that Latios struggles with. Furthermore, Lucario functions well on its own: If I can switch it into a Dark attack (Latios is a good lure for them btw), I can use Close Combat to do massive amounts of damage. Otherwise, my strategy is usually to get it in safely against something it scares out, set up on the switch, and then lay waste.

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Latios @ Life Orb
Nature: Timid (+Spe, -Atk)
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SpA, 252 Spe, 4 HP
-Draco Meteor
-Psyshock
-Surf
-Roost

Roles: Special sweeper, core with Lucario

Part 2 of the offensive core, Latios hits just as hard specially as Lucario does physically. (Maybe even harder). Just like Lucario hits the Steels and Fairies hard, Latios is a good counter to things such as Talonflame and Gliscor which Lucario struggles against. As I said above, Latios is also a good lure for Dark-type attacks, which I can switch Lucario into to get a Justified boost. Latios also works well on its own, OHKOing or 2HKOing a vast majority of things bar Aegislash-Shield.

Originally I was running HP Fire over Roost, but I found that having 4 attacking moves + LO severely limited Latios's longevity, and often it was too weak to counter things. So I switched HP Fire for Roost, which I find works a lot better.

And I'm sure it's just a coincidence that Latios and Lucario are both blue and both have names that start with L.

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Goodra @ Assault Vest
Nature: Mild (+SpA, -Def)
Ability: Gooey
EVs: 252 SpA, 252 HP, 4 Atk
-Draco Meteor
-Dragon Tail
-Fire Blast
-Power Whip

Roles: Mixed attacker, Special tank

Before you say anything, Mixed Goodra actually works very well. It can use Draco Meteor once, and then use Power Whip or Dragon Tail without worrying about the drop to SpA. It also has a surprise factor, since most people switch their special wall into Goodra, allowing me to hammer them with Power Whip.
Furthermore, Assault Vest Goodra's bulk is absolutely insane. For example...

252 SpA Mega Alakazam Psychic vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Assault Vest Goodra: 87-103 (22.6 - 26.8%) -- 33.9% chance to 4HKO

Still not impressed?

252 SpA Life Orb Protean Greninja Ice Beam vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Assault Vest Goodra: 151-182 (39.3 - 47.3%) -- guaranteed 3HKO

Yeah. Simply put, Goodra's special bulk is insane, and unlike Blissey, it can actually hit back.
Goodra also works as a phazer with Dragon Tail, especially against special attackers for obvious reasons.

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Starmie @ Leftovers
Nature: Timid (+Spe, -Atk)
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 SpA, 252 Spe, 4 SpD
-Rapid Spin
-Thunderbolt
-Hydro Pump
-Recover

Roles: Spinner, Special attacker

Starmie's main role is to get rid of the hazards that this team hates. In particular, Toxic Spikes cripples Goodra and Sticky Web cripples Lucario, so I have to make sure they stay off the field. However, Starmie also works as a special attacker and a switch-in to status moves, since it has Natural Cure. Since it's very important that Starmie outlasts the opponent's hazard setter(s), I'm running Recover over another coverage move.

I'm not sure what else to say about Starmie, quite frankly.

Threats:
This team struggles mainly with Smeargle and Mega-Mawile, mainly. Smeargle is unpredictable, since it's usually a lead, and it's difficult to tell whether it's a Baton Passing set or a Hazard-laying set, and none of my team likes to be hit with Spore. Mega Mawile, if it sets up, can do a huge amount of damage to all of my mons bar Heatran with its STABs, and can hit Heatran hard with Sucker Punch.

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Thanks for reading! I'm still relatively inexperienced in the art of team-building, so constructive criticism is always appreciated. In particular, I want to fit a pivot on to my team, but I'm not quite sure how, so help with that would be greatly appreciated.

Also, if anyone's interested, here's a replay of my first 6-0 ever, using this team: http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/ou-88935364

-lucariomaster2

 

[chad1996]

My first comment is on your Aegislash. In general, I'm not a big fan of weakness policy as an item. Sure Aegislash can take a super effective hit reasonably well in a defensive form and get the boosts, but +2 shadow sneak isn't going to OHKO anything that is not either weak to it or fairly frail. That leaves Aegislash vulnerable to getting revenge killed by a pokemon with a strong supereffective move because Aegislash would have already been reasonably weakened after it took a supereffective hit to activate weakness policy.

Another comment is on your teams weakness to physical attackers in general. For reasons already discussed, your aegislash won't be living particularly long, and this leaves heatran as the only pokemon on your team with moderately respectable physical bulk. Heatran has two common physical weaknesses in fighting and ground. While you have an air balloon, you still can't switch in and take an attack with heatran and then take a ground attack. Additionally, with only HP investment, heatran is by no means the most physically bulky pokemon, and will be worn down by successive neutral hits.

Some specific team weaknesses: Mamoswine has a supereffective stab move on everthing except starmie, and starmie would not want to switch into an earthquake and can be easily pursuit trapped. Though lucario outspeeds, it also would not want to switch into an earthquake. Conkeldurr has supereffective coverage on everthing except Goodra in drain punch and knock off, and goodra doesn't have the physical bulk to take on conkeldurr. Conkeldurr will also not take too much from goodra if it is the assualt vest set.

To fix some of the problems I would recommend replacing lucario with breloom. With than banning of lucarionite, he was due for a replacement anyways, and breloom can spore something like conkeldurr if it is too threatening to your team. I would also replace weakness policy on aegislash with leftovers to help with longevity. You may also want to replace heatran with physically defensive rotom-w to help you deal with mamoswine and other physical threats better. Your offensive presence would not suffer greatly because you would still have latios, starmie, and aegislash.

 

[lucariomaster2]

Thanks for the rate! I'll definitely try Leftovers on Aegislash. I'll also try using Breloom over Lucario, although I like the synergy with Latios that Lucario provides.