So, I always like Machamp. Happen to think hes a great poke that is sorely underused in OU. That being said, I have made Machamp teams in the past for OU and never got very far. However, this time around I made a team (earlier this morning actually), that seems to work well. I've already gotten up to around 1630 and I'm still climbing. This is not to say that my lineup is set in stone--in fact there are some problems that need addressing and I was hoping to get some feedback (hence 'rate my team').
Machamp (F) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: No Guard
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Knock Off
- Ice Punch
- Stone Edge
- Dynamic Punch
Now this is the crux of the set. It's shocking just how many people don't realize that Machamp can successfully run a choice scarf set. With good bulk, good typing, and a hefty attack stat, Machamp can perform one of two very vital roles. He can, 1) punch holes early in the game (and this is true for both Talonflame and Gardevoir depending on the opposing team), or act as late game cleanup. I am hesitant to say he's a mid game sort of guy, but I've seen him get a few revenge kills. With good backup from Donphan, Ferrothorn, and Rotom, you can pull him out without much worry. Jolly nature is preferred because it lets you out speed any poke under 105 base speed (barring boosts or scarfs). I've been able to snare a few mega pinsir's with stone edge because they went straight for the return instead of the quick attack. Also, few people expect a fast machamp when they have a charizard Y out on the field. So, Stone edge is a must, especially with no guard. Dynamic punch is the next mandatory move as it can punch holes in an opposing team. So many times I've found teams with no, or few fighting resistances where i could punch serious holes through multiple pokes before going down. Knock off is required for ghosts and eviolite. The last move slot is a personal choice of Ice punch. Otherwise I would be killed by gliscor. This can easily be made into a fire punch for skarmory and ferrothorn. Bullet Punch I have found to be completely useless against clefable as most of them run defense calm mind. So you have a choice with the last slot, but it really has to do with what your team needs to get rid of. My team is pretty balanced and I hate gliscor (it sets up rocks and sub toxics).
Talonflame (F) @ Choice Band
Ability: Gale Wings
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- U-turn
- Flare Blitz
- Brave Bird
- Will-O-Wisp
Similar to Machamp, Talonflame is used to punch some big holes in opposing teams, or clean up. Its so versatile it can revenge kill and come right out. Keeping Talonflame alive is very important. If you are expecting to finish with Talonflame you can keep opposing rocks up, but try to get rid of them (hence donphan). The threat of Talonflame is so great that it causes easy switches via u-turn. And its always nice to have a sturdy Volt-Turn Core (with rotom in this instance).
Donphan @ Assault Vest
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 216 HP / 84 Atk / 208 SpD
Careful Nature
- Ice Shard
- Rapid Spin
- Rock Slide
- Earthquake
This is a weird set for donphan. I haven't seen many employed in OU, so most people expect to kill it with ease from their ubiquitous life orb greninja. I've seen it tank a serious hit. It can even tank a hydro from a non choice spec'd Keldeo when it is near full health. And the main reason for this is just to keep talonflame healthy. More and more people are using garchomp starters for rocks, and donphan is perfect with ice shard and rapid spins. Ghosts are a horrible concern, and give this team some trouble. Knock off Machamp helps get rid of gengar, but bulky ghosts (when and if you come across them) are troublesome.
Ferrothorn @ Leftovers
Ability: Iron Barbs
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpD
Sassy Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Protect
- Gyro Ball
- Leech Seed
- Stealth Rock
Another unusual set, a spec defensive ferrothorn. It's worth mentioning that special defensive ferrothorn is amazing in Ubers, but has a good place in OU. Especially when you know a choiced keldeo may hydro pump your donphan. This is a straightforward set meant to keep ferrothorn alive. This takes around 50% from a garchomp fire blast. Most people expect the KO, but get KOed back with gyro ball or a nice leech protect stall. It's worth it to note thought that a straight physical hyper offensive team will be able to break through the defenses. Talonflame can help with will o wisp on a predicted switch. Since donphan is plently bulky you can get away with using talonflame as a utility if need be. I played against one such hyper offensive physical team and the only thing that kept me alive was multiple burns by that talonflame. Also, its worth it to note that focus sashes really bother this team (one guy ran 3). It is imperative that you keep rocks up. Talonflame also gives me some trouble, so rocks will need to be up to help with this.
Rotom-Wash @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def
Bold Nature
- Pain Split
- Volt Switch
- Hydro Pump
- Thunder Wave
This is a dedicated talonflame counter. Since you can't burn talonflame I choose the defensive rather than spec defensive variety. And since I have will o wisp on talonflame, I choose thunderwave--it gets latios and latias on the switch every single time. Its also great on anyone who wants a quick dragon dance. use pain split to keep alive, because Rotom is my only counter to talonflame with otherwise does real damage to this team. Played right, you should be able to get rid of talonflame. Most times i use my own talonflame as a sacrifice since machamp is very important to this team.
Gardevoir @ Gardevoirite
Ability: Trace
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Psyshock
- Focus Blast
- Hyper Voice
- Taunt
Gardevoir is another hole maker. With talonflame, machamp, and Gardevoir, you can simply pick an choose which ones to put massive holes in the other team and which ones to come up for cleanup (of course this depends on the opposing team). Gardevoir is especially good at getting rid of annoying bulky pokes. You just slap a taunt and work with hyper voice for weak special defenses or psyshock for weak defenses. Be care to use taunt, because some bulky pokes will still attack you, and gardevoir is very fragile.
So, that's my team so far. Any thoughts, suggestions, improvements, etc., they are all welcome. I have yet to encounter a poke that outright beats me. If you can think of one, please feel free to post it and help me try and account for it.
Machamp (F) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: No Guard
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Knock Off
- Ice Punch
- Stone Edge
- Dynamic Punch
Now this is the crux of the set. It's shocking just how many people don't realize that Machamp can successfully run a choice scarf set. With good bulk, good typing, and a hefty attack stat, Machamp can perform one of two very vital roles. He can, 1) punch holes early in the game (and this is true for both Talonflame and Gardevoir depending on the opposing team), or act as late game cleanup. I am hesitant to say he's a mid game sort of guy, but I've seen him get a few revenge kills. With good backup from Donphan, Ferrothorn, and Rotom, you can pull him out without much worry. Jolly nature is preferred because it lets you out speed any poke under 105 base speed (barring boosts or scarfs). I've been able to snare a few mega pinsir's with stone edge because they went straight for the return instead of the quick attack. Also, few people expect a fast machamp when they have a charizard Y out on the field. So, Stone edge is a must, especially with no guard. Dynamic punch is the next mandatory move as it can punch holes in an opposing team. So many times I've found teams with no, or few fighting resistances where i could punch serious holes through multiple pokes before going down. Knock off is required for ghosts and eviolite. The last move slot is a personal choice of Ice punch. Otherwise I would be killed by gliscor. This can easily be made into a fire punch for skarmory and ferrothorn. Bullet Punch I have found to be completely useless against clefable as most of them run defense calm mind. So you have a choice with the last slot, but it really has to do with what your team needs to get rid of. My team is pretty balanced and I hate gliscor (it sets up rocks and sub toxics).
Talonflame (F) @ Choice Band
Ability: Gale Wings
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- U-turn
- Flare Blitz
- Brave Bird
- Will-O-Wisp
Similar to Machamp, Talonflame is used to punch some big holes in opposing teams, or clean up. Its so versatile it can revenge kill and come right out. Keeping Talonflame alive is very important. If you are expecting to finish with Talonflame you can keep opposing rocks up, but try to get rid of them (hence donphan). The threat of Talonflame is so great that it causes easy switches via u-turn. And its always nice to have a sturdy Volt-Turn Core (with rotom in this instance).
Donphan @ Assault Vest
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 216 HP / 84 Atk / 208 SpD
Careful Nature
- Ice Shard
- Rapid Spin
- Rock Slide
- Earthquake
This is a weird set for donphan. I haven't seen many employed in OU, so most people expect to kill it with ease from their ubiquitous life orb greninja. I've seen it tank a serious hit. It can even tank a hydro from a non choice spec'd Keldeo when it is near full health. And the main reason for this is just to keep talonflame healthy. More and more people are using garchomp starters for rocks, and donphan is perfect with ice shard and rapid spins. Ghosts are a horrible concern, and give this team some trouble. Knock off Machamp helps get rid of gengar, but bulky ghosts (when and if you come across them) are troublesome.
Ferrothorn @ Leftovers
Ability: Iron Barbs
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpD
Sassy Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Protect
- Gyro Ball
- Leech Seed
- Stealth Rock
Another unusual set, a spec defensive ferrothorn. It's worth mentioning that special defensive ferrothorn is amazing in Ubers, but has a good place in OU. Especially when you know a choiced keldeo may hydro pump your donphan. This is a straightforward set meant to keep ferrothorn alive. This takes around 50% from a garchomp fire blast. Most people expect the KO, but get KOed back with gyro ball or a nice leech protect stall. It's worth it to note thought that a straight physical hyper offensive team will be able to break through the defenses. Talonflame can help with will o wisp on a predicted switch. Since donphan is plently bulky you can get away with using talonflame as a utility if need be. I played against one such hyper offensive physical team and the only thing that kept me alive was multiple burns by that talonflame. Also, its worth it to note that focus sashes really bother this team (one guy ran 3). It is imperative that you keep rocks up. Talonflame also gives me some trouble, so rocks will need to be up to help with this.
Rotom-Wash @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def
Bold Nature
- Pain Split
- Volt Switch
- Hydro Pump
- Thunder Wave
This is a dedicated talonflame counter. Since you can't burn talonflame I choose the defensive rather than spec defensive variety. And since I have will o wisp on talonflame, I choose thunderwave--it gets latios and latias on the switch every single time. Its also great on anyone who wants a quick dragon dance. use pain split to keep alive, because Rotom is my only counter to talonflame with otherwise does real damage to this team. Played right, you should be able to get rid of talonflame. Most times i use my own talonflame as a sacrifice since machamp is very important to this team.
Gardevoir @ Gardevoirite
Ability: Trace
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Psyshock
- Focus Blast
- Hyper Voice
- Taunt
Gardevoir is another hole maker. With talonflame, machamp, and Gardevoir, you can simply pick an choose which ones to put massive holes in the other team and which ones to come up for cleanup (of course this depends on the opposing team). Gardevoir is especially good at getting rid of annoying bulky pokes. You just slap a taunt and work with hyper voice for weak special defenses or psyshock for weak defenses. Be care to use taunt, because some bulky pokes will still attack you, and gardevoir is very fragile.
So, that's my team so far. Any thoughts, suggestions, improvements, etc., they are all welcome. I have yet to encounter a poke that outright beats me. If you can think of one, please feel free to post it and help me try and account for it.