This is my usual OU competitive team, it's pretty solid against most teams except Sunny Day based ones due to Venusaurs...and the fact Sleep Power never seems to miss on me, but that's besides the point. Lately i've been wondering if I need to upgrade this team or leave it as is, Scizor being the biggest target as i'll explain more below, as for the team, It might seem odd, but the shceme is simple, the steels protect the dragons from Ice, and the Dragons in turn protect them back while Infernape and Starmie offer all around support, overall my policy is to get in, hit the enemy fast and hard or die trying to do it, it's my battling style and I like my team to reflect that.
Leader.
Infernape@Life Orb
Ability: Blaze
Naive Nature(+Spe,-SpDef)
EVs:252 Spe, 252 Atk, 4 SpAtk
-Stealth Rock
-Close Combat
-Stone Edge
-Overheat
Infernape is my teams general leader, to set up Stealth Rock if able, but if not then it's crunch time, Close Combat and Overheat are for STAB, Stone Edge helps deal with most oppsing fire and flying pokemon and offers nice coverage, Stealth Rock is there for obvious reasons and the Life Orb is to give his moves some extra power, especially Overheat. Infernape is a great overall pokemon, who helps with most of the killing, I used to run Mach Punch over Stealth Rock due to the overusage of Excadrill, but with it banned I felt it was time to use SR again.
Spinner
Starmie@Expert Belt
Ability: Natural Cure.
Timid nature(+Spe,-Atk)
Evs: 252 Spe, 252 SpA, 4 Hp
-Hydro Pump
-Thunderbolt
-Ice Beam
-Rapid Spin
Standard spinning Starmie, all of the moves offer extensive type coverage as well as STAB on HP, Rapid Spin is there for getting rid of opposing obsticle threats like spikes and rocks, covers Infernape well and helps cover the steel types as well.
Offensive Force 1
Lucario@ Life Orb
Ability: Inner Focus
Adamant Nature(+Atk,-SpA)
Evs: 252 Spe. 252 Atk, 4 hp
-Swords Dance
-Close Combat
-Ice Punch
-Extremespeed
Lucario is one of my favorite pokemon and it fits right at home here, even with out swords dance boost it can use it's other moves effectively for clean up duty as well as catching opponents in a switch and inflicting pain on them with STAB Close Combat, Extremespeed helps pick off weakened threats, and Ice Punch is there since I run into ground and dragons more often than Ghosts, which is why I don't run Crunch. Lucario along with Scizor help Protect Dragonite and Hydreigon from threats and vice versa.
Offense Force 2
Hydreigon@ White Herb/Expert Belt
Ability: Levitate
Modest nature(+SpAtk,-Atk)
Evs: 252 Spe, 252 SpAtk, 4 Hp
-Draco Meteor
-Earth Power
-Fire Blast
-Dark Pulse
My team's main special attacking force, I generally have a hard time deciding which Item to run on him, while I do mostly use the Expert Belt (i'm not using two choice items or three life orbs) Draco Meteor is the harderst hitting move on there, and with a white herb i can suprise the enemy and blast them twice with his already high special attack score backing the STAB, Fire Blast is there for a reliable fire move as I don't have a more powerful boosting item to trade off for Flamethrower, Dark Pulse is also there for Stab against ghost pokemon and has a nice flinching effect as well now as for the last move, I choose Earth Power due to the fact that it offers support against fire pokemon and steel pokemon, and to me is more useful than Focus Blast which is basically to me too risky to use in battle due to it's low accuracy.
Hardest Hitter
Scizor@Choice Band
Ability: Technician
Adamant Nature (+Atk,-Spe)
Evs: 252 Atk, 252 Hp, 4 Def
-Superpower
-U-Turn
-Bullet Punch
-Pursuit
Pretty standard Scizor set, comes in and breaks down about anything with Bullet Punch, but sometimes U-Turn is used instead in case a switch to something bad is coming, both moves are backed by STAB making them more effective, Superpower is a nice way of countering Heatran or Magnezone should they be predicted to enter (although Sturdy Magnezones can be a pain) and Pursuit is to trap kill psychic's and ghosts before they can run away, right now Scizor seems like the one who should be replaced as most of the others can still get thier jobs done against Sunny Day teams, but he has the most problems against them.
LGS (Late Game Sweeper)
Dragonite@Lum Berry
Ability:Multiscale
Adamant Nature (+Atk,-SpAtk)
Evs: 252 Atk, 252 Spe, 4 Hp
-Extremespeed
-Dragon Dance
-Fire Punch
-Outrage
Generally comes in last, but there are times I won't hesistate to send him out first if the opposing team presents a problem to his ability, Dragon Dance is there for boosting which is generally followed by Outrage to rip through most of his opposition, Fire Punch helps deal with most steel types (outside of Heatran) and Extremespeed helps pick off weakened opponents like Lucario who he helps protect.
Final thoughts:
I know most of you will probably see this team as a joke, but I can assure it's not but I won't stop you from laughing, I've gotten used to this team and I generally do win more often than lose when it comes to any team that is not a sunny day one carrying Venusaur on it.
I've been considering swapping out Scizor, but i'm not sure if I should or not, since he is reliable but against Sunny Day team's he's useless, I was considering Haxorus, but I don't know if Mold Breaker can break Venusaurs Dream world ability (or if the beast can kill it) but then I would have too much of a weakness to dragons and ice, I just don't know what to do, people have told me to use counter weather but I don't feel like it's the right thing to do as it feels like i'm "stuping" to the level of the enemy, nor do I want to use legendary pokemon because I prefer not to, using Marrliand's Team Builder program i've noticed that implimenting a ghost pokemon would help improve balance issues (in place of Scizor) but I am not sure if that's really the best idea.
Leader.
Infernape@Life Orb
Ability: Blaze
Naive Nature(+Spe,-SpDef)
EVs:252 Spe, 252 Atk, 4 SpAtk
-Stealth Rock
-Close Combat
-Stone Edge
-Overheat
Infernape is my teams general leader, to set up Stealth Rock if able, but if not then it's crunch time, Close Combat and Overheat are for STAB, Stone Edge helps deal with most oppsing fire and flying pokemon and offers nice coverage, Stealth Rock is there for obvious reasons and the Life Orb is to give his moves some extra power, especially Overheat. Infernape is a great overall pokemon, who helps with most of the killing, I used to run Mach Punch over Stealth Rock due to the overusage of Excadrill, but with it banned I felt it was time to use SR again.
Spinner
Starmie@Expert Belt
Ability: Natural Cure.
Timid nature(+Spe,-Atk)
Evs: 252 Spe, 252 SpA, 4 Hp
-Hydro Pump
-Thunderbolt
-Ice Beam
-Rapid Spin
Standard spinning Starmie, all of the moves offer extensive type coverage as well as STAB on HP, Rapid Spin is there for getting rid of opposing obsticle threats like spikes and rocks, covers Infernape well and helps cover the steel types as well.
Offensive Force 1
Lucario@ Life Orb
Ability: Inner Focus
Adamant Nature(+Atk,-SpA)
Evs: 252 Spe. 252 Atk, 4 hp
-Swords Dance
-Close Combat
-Ice Punch
-Extremespeed
Lucario is one of my favorite pokemon and it fits right at home here, even with out swords dance boost it can use it's other moves effectively for clean up duty as well as catching opponents in a switch and inflicting pain on them with STAB Close Combat, Extremespeed helps pick off weakened threats, and Ice Punch is there since I run into ground and dragons more often than Ghosts, which is why I don't run Crunch. Lucario along with Scizor help Protect Dragonite and Hydreigon from threats and vice versa.
Offense Force 2
Hydreigon@ White Herb/Expert Belt
Ability: Levitate
Modest nature(+SpAtk,-Atk)
Evs: 252 Spe, 252 SpAtk, 4 Hp
-Draco Meteor
-Earth Power
-Fire Blast
-Dark Pulse
My team's main special attacking force, I generally have a hard time deciding which Item to run on him, while I do mostly use the Expert Belt (i'm not using two choice items or three life orbs) Draco Meteor is the harderst hitting move on there, and with a white herb i can suprise the enemy and blast them twice with his already high special attack score backing the STAB, Fire Blast is there for a reliable fire move as I don't have a more powerful boosting item to trade off for Flamethrower, Dark Pulse is also there for Stab against ghost pokemon and has a nice flinching effect as well now as for the last move, I choose Earth Power due to the fact that it offers support against fire pokemon and steel pokemon, and to me is more useful than Focus Blast which is basically to me too risky to use in battle due to it's low accuracy.
Hardest Hitter
Scizor@Choice Band
Ability: Technician
Adamant Nature (+Atk,-Spe)
Evs: 252 Atk, 252 Hp, 4 Def
-Superpower
-U-Turn
-Bullet Punch
-Pursuit
Pretty standard Scizor set, comes in and breaks down about anything with Bullet Punch, but sometimes U-Turn is used instead in case a switch to something bad is coming, both moves are backed by STAB making them more effective, Superpower is a nice way of countering Heatran or Magnezone should they be predicted to enter (although Sturdy Magnezones can be a pain) and Pursuit is to trap kill psychic's and ghosts before they can run away, right now Scizor seems like the one who should be replaced as most of the others can still get thier jobs done against Sunny Day teams, but he has the most problems against them.
LGS (Late Game Sweeper)
Dragonite@Lum Berry
Ability:Multiscale
Adamant Nature (+Atk,-SpAtk)
Evs: 252 Atk, 252 Spe, 4 Hp
-Extremespeed
-Dragon Dance
-Fire Punch
-Outrage
Generally comes in last, but there are times I won't hesistate to send him out first if the opposing team presents a problem to his ability, Dragon Dance is there for boosting which is generally followed by Outrage to rip through most of his opposition, Fire Punch helps deal with most steel types (outside of Heatran) and Extremespeed helps pick off weakened opponents like Lucario who he helps protect.
Final thoughts:
I know most of you will probably see this team as a joke, but I can assure it's not but I won't stop you from laughing, I've gotten used to this team and I generally do win more often than lose when it comes to any team that is not a sunny day one carrying Venusaur on it.
I've been considering swapping out Scizor, but i'm not sure if I should or not, since he is reliable but against Sunny Day team's he's useless, I was considering Haxorus, but I don't know if Mold Breaker can break Venusaurs Dream world ability (or if the beast can kill it) but then I would have too much of a weakness to dragons and ice, I just don't know what to do, people have told me to use counter weather but I don't feel like it's the right thing to do as it feels like i'm "stuping" to the level of the enemy, nor do I want to use legendary pokemon because I prefer not to, using Marrliand's Team Builder program i've noticed that implimenting a ghost pokemon would help improve balance issues (in place of Scizor) but I am not sure if that's really the best idea.