Complex Clarity [Gen 5 OU]

[CyroWolf]

I can't think of anything to start off with, other than that I have only slight experience in competitive battling. This team has been doing fairly decent, winning about 2/3 of my games. Although there is definitely a few things that could be altered. Constructive criticism is greatly appreciated. Well, let's get to business, here's the team:

Changes in bold italics.

Latios @ Choice Specs
Nature: Timid
Ability: Levitate
4 HP/252 Special Attack/252 Speed
- Draco Meteor
- Surf
- HP Fire
- Trick

Latios came in over the Galvantula that I had before due to a suggestion from LK. He is used in Galv's place and definitely has surpassed him in the usefulness department. Draco Meteor for excessively powerful STAB. Surf takes care of the random fires, rocks, and grounds that tended to get quite annoying at times, and is a good move to use if planning to stay in for more than one turn. HP Fire is nice at taking care of things like Scizor, Forretress, Ferrothorn, and Skarmory, plus gets perfect neutral coverage with Draco Meteor. Trick is for crippling walls and setup pokemon, I'm looking at you Blissey.

Garchomp @ Choice Scarf
Nature: Jolly
Ability: Sand Veil
4 HP/252 Attack/252 Speed
-Outrage
-Earthquake
-Stone Edge
-Fire Blast

After getting a special sweeper, I figured that I needed a physical counterpart. Garchomp resisted both of Galvantula’s weaknesses and he has amazing attack and speed, so I figured he fit the part well. There are a few things that I wanted to outspeed, namely Starmies, Salamences, the Lati@ses, Gengar, etc., so I went with a choice scarf. Outrage seemed better in my opinion than Dragon Claw, since he would only be in for a few turns anyways with a scarf on him. Earthquake is for STAB and coverage. Stone Edge is for coverage in combination with Earthquake. Fire Blast is for Scizors, Ferrothorns, and Forretresses.

Skarmory @ Leftovers
Nature: Careful
Ability: Sturdy
252 HP/200 Def /56 Special Defense
-Spikes
-Stealth Rock
-Roost
-Whirlwind

Skarmory took over for Ferrothorn due to another suggestion from LK. Skarmory definitely does a better job at the same role in my experience, plus isn't setup fodder for things like Conkeldurr and Gyarados. Spikes and Stealth Rock are for entry hazard setup, Roost is to maintain his stay as a wall, and Whirlwind gets rid of enemy entry hazards, phazes, and makes good use of those entry hazards.

Blaziken @ Life Orb
Nature: Adamant
Ability: Speed Boost
4 HP/252 Attack/252 Speed
-Protect
-Blaze Kick
-Hi Jump Kick
-Stone Edge

After a suggestion by evan1o1, I tested out Blaziken and he definitely worked out better than Conkeldurr. He keeps up a faster pace on the team, and doesn't need any essential evs split off into special defense. Protect is to take advantage of Speed Boost and to avoid attacks like an Excadrill's Earthquake then getting an extra +1 speed and kicking it the next turn. Blaze Kick and Hi Jump Kick are for STAB and coverage, and Stone Edge is to round off the coverage.

Starmie @ Life Orb
Nature: Timid
Ability: Natural Cure
4 HP/252 Special Attack/252 Speed
-Hydro Pump
-Thunderbolt
-Ice Beam
-PsyShock

I still needed another special attacker considering I only had one special sweeper. Starmie’s 115 base speed was nice, yet still had good power to back it up, so it stood out quite nicely. Hydro Pump and PsyShock are for STAB and coverage, and Thunderbolt & Ice Beam are for perfect coverage and I’ve found them both to be quite useful in different scenarios.

Terrakion @ Life Orb
Nature: Naïve
Ability: Justified
252 Attack/4 Special Attack/252 Speed
-Close Combat
-Stone Edge
-HP Ice
-Rock Polish


I saw a couple of these guys hovering around in a few of the teams I saw in some forum lurking. He has his uses; however, they don’t seem to come around often enough to justify him. I couldn’t really figure out a replacement. Anyways, Close Combat and Stone Edge have STAB and nice coverage, HP Ice guarantees a 2HKO on Gliscor, and Rock Polish is a nice move to use to take advantage of switches.




I have noticed that I seem to have an issue mainly with Reuniclus and Volcarona. Any suggestions on how I can go about dealing with them?

 

[evan1o1]

the team looks solid. one change you need to make is to switch Gyro Ball on ferrothorn to t-wave. that'll come in handy. you also may wanna think about switching conkeldurr with blaziken. it works very well with starmie. they cover each other.

Blaziken @ Leftovers/Life Orb (whichever you prefer)
Speed Boost
Adamant
4 Hp, 252 Atk, 252 Spe
Hi Jump Kick
Blaze Kick
Stone Edge
Protect/Swords Dance (i favour protect, but to each his own)

 

[afterburn]

Threats

1. 
   Rock Polish Landorus
2. 
   Calm Mind Virizion
3. 
   Calm Mind Reuniclus
4. 
   Bulk Up Conkeldurr
5. 
   Swords Dance Scizor
6. 
   Lack of Ground- type resist

Hey, this seems to be a cool team, however there are a couple of threats that need to be addressed.

First up is Landorus who can come in on Garchomp's Earthquake, grab a Rock Polish boost, and outspeed your entire team, and at the very least 2HKOing them with a little prior damage with Sand Force + LO boosted attacks. Virizion can come in on Garchomp's Earthquake or Stone Edge, as well as Ferrothorn (who can't do anything outside of Gyro Ball), get in a Calm Mind and be able to take down your team with boosted Giga Drain / HP Ice / Focus Blast. Reuniclus can come in on Ferrothorn, Garchomp's Fire Blast, and even switch in on Conkeldurr to force out and get in a crucial Calm Mind. Again, it will be able to decimate your entire team with boosted hits, while being able to take anything your team throws at it. Opposing Conkeldurr don't get too many set-up opportunities, but they can set-up on Ferrothorn (or force it out), while not caring much about Leech Seed. After a Bulk Up, the best you can do is get in a "Bulk Up war" with your own Conkeldurr and keep boosting / launching attacks at each other, so basically any of them wil be able to come out on top. However, your own Conkeldurr might lose, and there will be nothing else stopping the opposing Conkeldurr from sweeping. Swords Dance Scizor, especially bulky variants, can come in on Garchomp's Outrage or Ferrothorn, get in a Swords Dance or two, Roost of the damage and proceed to sweep your team. Basically, none of your members will be able to KO a bulky variant while taking heavy amounts of damage from boosted Bullet Punch / Bug Bite or Brick Break. You basically need to have Garchomp at full health to take a +2 Bullet Punch and KO back with Fire Blast, otherwise, there it might be "gg". The lack of a Ground- type resist is also kind of troubling, as it basically means things like CB Terrakion, +2 Excadrill are definitely going to take out something with their boosted Earthquake before going down themselves, as you have no safe switch-in to take heavy Ground- type hits.


Solutions:

• Solution A: Skarmory over Ferrothorn

IMO, Ferrothorn is the Pokemon that allows a lot of Pokemon to switch into it and set-up, such as the aforementioned threats. It can't do significant amounts of damage to most of the aforementioned threats, while they only take a Leech Seed and still get in their boosts to sweep your team. Skarmory on the other hand is able to take on all the aforementioned Physical attackers on the threat list, RP Landorus, BU Conkeldurr and SD Scizor pretty well. None of these are able to take out Skarmory, even when they get their boost, and Skarmory is able to Whirlwind them away, and make them eat more hazards damage the next time they switch in. Skarmory also brings a nice Ground- type immunity which your team wanted badly, so taking attacks from other Physical attackers like Excadrill is easier now. Unlike, Ferrothorn, Skarmory actually has reliable recovery in the form of Roost (Leech Seed isn't that reliable) meaning it will be able to tank hits very will thanks to the durability brought by Roost. The Spikes Skarmory provides is of great aid for your primary sweepers, especially Terrakion, who doesn't have a way of boosting its Attack stat. The Spikes will make it so that you're able to damage bulky grounded 'mons such as Jellicent and Hippowdon switching in harder with your STAB moves of choice.

• Solution B: Choice Specs Latios over Galvantula

I honestly think Galvantula is the weakest link on this team, every other Pokemon has a role and is able to check certain types of threats, while Galvantula doesn't really check many threats, and usually finds it hard to switch in in order to carry out some beating. Latios on the other hand will become a fantastic power house for the team, being able to switch-in due to its numerous resistances, especially Fire- and Electric- which primarily target Skarmory, and can be a great switch-in opportunity for Latios to come in and wreck havoc. Latios is also able to decently check the two Calm Minders that are left unaddressed, Virizion and Reuniclus. Reuniclus is crippled by Trick and is rendered useless as a set-up sweeper, and Virizion is handled in a similar way to an extent (unless you use Psycho Shock, which will beat Virizion). Latios is also able to cripple Stall teams with Trick, catching something like Chansey or Blissey will make it easier for Starmie to dismantle the team, as its primary counters won't be able to wall it all that well.

Optional Changes:
I think you will get more use out of Hydro Pump over Surf on Starmie, sure the accuracy isn't the best, but the power is pretty important, being able to 2HKO Tyranitar easier is a plus. You can test out Psycho Shock on Starmie as well, probably over Rapid Spin, as Trick from Latios might not always be the safest method to handle Virizion, but that's up to you.

Movesets:

Physically Defensive Skarmory

Skarmory (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Sturdy
Nature: Careful (+SDef, -SAtk)
EVs: 252 HP / 200 Def / 56 SDef
- Spikes
- Stealth Rock
- Roost
- Whirlwind

Choice Specs Latios

Latios (M) @ Choice Specs
Ability: Levitate
Nature: Timid (+Spe, -Atk)
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
- Draco Meteor
- Surf
- Hidden Power Fire
- Trick

So to summarize:

• Skarmory > Ferrothorn
• Specs Latios > Galvantula
• (Optional) Hydro Pump > Surf on Starmie and if you want, Psycho Shock over Rapid Spin

GL

 

[CyroWolf]

@evan101: I was a bit reluctant to switch out Conkeldurr at first, but after playing a few games with him, Blaziken definitely seems to do better for me.

@LK: I went and switched around the pokemon that you mentioned, and both definitely overshadow what I had before. Also, I did switch around Starmie's moveset, so he seems a bit more useful, I didn't really use Rapid Spin all that much anyways.

I appreciate both suggestions.