Encore, Encore! (OU RMT)

~Introduction~

I made this team to counter todays metagame, and use the pokemon I think is responsible for being the best attacker in the tier, Machamp. I have used every set on site of Machamp and I created my own set with my knowledge of Machamp. So without further ado, here is my team.


I had heard about this set called Anti-Lead Gallade around a month ago, and boy did I fall in love. I tweaked the set to work for my team, and he definitely opens up strong for my team. Using this set I can usually expect to be up 6-5, or maybe even 6-4 depending on how well I predict and my opponent's lack of knowledge about this set.

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Since I had my lead position down, I decided to add Machamp due to he is the reason I made this team. I had tried Choice Band, Scarf and using him as a Lead, but nothing compared to Substitute + 3 attacks. Once Machamp is behind a sub, he blocks status, and eases prediction. I tweaked this set and added my own piece of it.

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Now I knew I needed a Revenge Killer. I thought about ScarfGon, Choice Banded Scizor, ScarfTar, ScarfTran, but nothing worked better than the most underrated Scarfer's, Roserade. With the ability Natural Cure, he acts as a status absorber as well. He can also fire off Speedy Sleep Powders so I knew he was a good addition to this team.

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Well I had heard all of this hype about Porygon2 and his niche in the OU tier. I tested him out, and boy did he impress me. His ability to tank hits from both sides of the spectrum, and access to instant recovery is something to boast about.

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I knew right away that I had a pretty frail team up until this point. Once that thought set in, I knew CroCune was perfect for this team. Once all of his counters are removed ( yeah, I'm looking at you Vaporeon), He can tank hits on both sides of the spectrum and setup.

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My team was hitting mostly from the special spectrum outside of Machamp, and Gallade in the Lead position. Immediately, I knew that I needed a bulky Pokemon that can hit on the physical spectrum. I thought about BulkyDos, but I used one of my favorite pokemon instead, BandPert. If you have never used him before, prepare to be amazed.

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In Depth

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Gallade @ Expert Belt
Ability: Steadfast
EVs: 248 HP/252Atk/12Spe
Adamant nature ( + Atk, - SAtk)
-Zen Headbutt
-Shadow Sneak
-Ice Punch
-Earthquake

Gallade is the definition of Anti-Lead to today's metagame. With the ability to OHKO Machamp, and score 2HKO's on Azelf, Aerodactyl, Infernape, Heatran, Jirachi, Metagross, and Hippodown you will realize how much of a threat he is in the lead position. Zen Headbutt is to STAB and to score KO's on Machamp with perfect accuracy thanks to No Guard, and Infernape ( Earthquake does just as well though). Shadow Sneak is for priority which is obvious on an Anti-Lead. It also scores important 2HKO's on Azelf, Gengar and the occasional Alakazam lead. Ice Punch is for those pesky Dragon types running around the tier, as well as Grass and Ground types. Earthquake hits so many of the common leads Super Effectively it was obvious on this set.

Here is the Lead Matchup for Gallade against the Top 10 leads. Green means easy to handle, Orange means moderate prediction is required, and Red means switch out or lose the Lead matchup.

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Azelf - Azelf is fairly easy lead to handle. If he Taunts on turn one, it is superb because Shadow Sneak is a 2HKO. If he switches after the first Shadow Sneak, I switch to the appropriate counter.

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Machamp - Machamp is the reason this set was made, and is very easy to counter. Most people won't know what to expect, only to leave their Machamp in to get OHKO'd by Zen Headbutt.

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Aerodactyl - Aerodactyl is another easy lead. If he Taunts turn one it is better because I Ice Punch him to his sash, then Shadow Sneak for the KO.

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Metagross - Metagross is a decent challenge depending on the opponent and how well he predicts. Earthquake brings him to like 30%, but not Shadow Sneak KO range. If he Stealth Rocks turn one, I will get the KO or he will Explode.

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Swampert - Swampert is one of those leads I have to switch out of the avoid losing the lead battle. Zen Headbutt is a measly 3HKO, meaning he gets Rocks and can Earthquake me. Usually, I will switch out to Roserade on turn one.

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Infernape - Infernape is another easy Lead due to Fake Out raising my speed, and Zen Headbutt and Earthquake hit him Super Effectively, followed by a Shadow Sneak.

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Heatran - Heatran is another easy lead to deal with, Eathquake him for the 2HKO due to the Shuca Berry. If there is no Shuca Berry, It is still a 2HKO, except Shadow Sneak will due the trick.

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Jirachi - Jirachi is another Lead, who I arguably helps me out. TrickScarf is 2HKO'd by Earthquake, as well as any other varient. Tricking the Scarf onto me helps me out Mid-game to revenge slower threats.

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Roserade - Roserade is a troublesome lead due to Sleep Powder. I usually switch to Suicune turn one to take the Sleep Powder, then switch back to Gallade for the 2HKO with Ice Punch and Shadow Sneak.

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Hippodown - Hippodown is a decently troublesome lead. He starts Sandstorm what my team doesn't like, and gets Rocks up. Sets lacking Slack Off will be 2HKO'd by Ice Punch, but I usually just stall Ice Punch and Slack Off till they switch out, or get freeze Hax.

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Machamp @ Leftovers
Ability: No Guard
EVs: 128 HP/252 Atk/128 Spe
Adamant nature (+ Atk, - SAtk)
-Dynamic Punch
-Payback
-Substitute
-Encore

This moveset tears wholes through teams, and helps my team out a lot. Dynamic Punch is for obvious STAB, as well as 100 Base Power and 100% chance of confusion. Payback is there to ghosts extremely hard. (Yeah that includes you Rotom). Substitute is there to ease predictions, as well as getting an Encore off for a switch to one of my teammates. I use this by coming in on something Machamp scares away. Sub up, and fire off the appropriate move to the incoming pokemon. If I am not sure what they are going to do, I Encore, then switch to a Pokemon that takes the Encored move well.

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Porygon2 @ Leftovers
Ability: Trace
EVs: 252 HP/216 Def/40 SAtk
Bold nature (+ Def, - Atk)
-Recover
-Thunder Wave
-Thunderbolt
-Ice Beam

Can someone please tell me why he is NU? With the ability Trace he can come in on Gyarados, Dragonite, Heatran, Vaporeon, and those are just some of them. My team really appreciates the paralysis, due to them being slow heavy hitters. For example, a Gyarados comes in, on my switch he DD's, I bring in P2 and he Traces Intimidate, causing Gyarados to be +0 Atk and +1 Spe, his Waterfall doesn't K.O me and I can Thunderbolt him. With Heatran, I can come in on a predicted Fire move and get a free switch and then paralyze Heatran. The same thing with Heatran happens with Vaporeon, and no pokemon really enjoys paralysis.

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Roserade @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 Spe/252 SAtk/4HP
Timid Nature (+Spe, - Atk)
-Sleep Powder
-Leaf Storm
-HP Ice
-Shadow Ball

Again I don't understand why people don't use Scarf Roserade. She has access to a 75% accuracy Sleep Move, as well as Leaf Storm which hits things that resist it for half of their HP. Hidden Power Ice is there to counter those pesky Dragons, as well as Zapdos, and Gliscor. Shadow Ball is there to switch in on Gengar and outspeeds him for the KO, unless he is Scarfed as well. With the ability of Natural Cure, she can absorb status as well as take status and switch out and be healed. All in all, she serves as a wonderful check to the pokemon I need her to, and she doesn't disappoint.

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Suicune @ Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 HP/252 Def/6 Spe
Nature: Bold (+Def, - Atk)
-Calm Mind
-Surf
-Rest
-Sleep Talk

Everyone knows about CroCune, and how much of a pain it is to teams lacking a Vaporeon, or who failed to take it down quickly. I find many situations for him to switch in due to his bulk. I use him as a status absorber, a physical wall, a special tank, you name it. This pokemon never seems to fail me, and once its counters are eliminated, he is in free reign to sweep. I have seen that most people have been running offensive variants lately, but good ol' CroCune will always find a place on my team.


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Swampert @ Choice Band
Ability: Torrent
EVs: 172 HP/252 Atk/84 Spe
Adamant nature (+Atk, - SAtk)
-Waterfall
-Earthquake
-Stone Edge
-Ice Punch

BandPert hits like a ton of bricks. Waterfall STABd coming off a 525 Attack Stat hits ridiculously hard. If it is Torrent boosted, it hits 50% harder. Earthquake is STABd as well and hits hard. Stone Edge is there for coverage on Gyarados and to combine to make the infamous EdgeQuake. Ice Punch is there to cover the Dragons that lurk, as well as Zapdos, Gliscor and Hippodown. I really think Swampert is a weak link and I am looking for suggestions.

So that is my team, I am really looking to switch Swampert, which is why I posted this. Once that happens, I will revamp this whole set-up and add defensive combinations and type synergy. Thank you in advance for rating my team.
 
I'd suggest switching EQ to CC to deal with swampert and hippo. Also change expert belt to either LO or lum berry. Lum beats roserade/smeargle, LO beats swampert. Check this thread: http://www.smogon.com/forums/showthread.php?t=77528

If you chose lum, I would switch suicune to an offensive set with 174 HP/112 SpA/224 Spe and CM/Surf/Ice Beam/HP Electric. Checks gyarados, better suited for the offensiveness of the team.

With roserade and suicune, I think p2 isn't as useful. p2 is incredible in OU, but with scarfrade and suicune, there is little need, and it is incredibly stall weak. I would add a subsplit gengar to deal with stall and lure pursuit for machamp to set up on.
 
My Diagnosis

Okay here goes:

Possible Issues:

Lack of SR
You lack the very important move, Stealth Rock. This may not seem troublesome because of your moserate success so far. However, it maay end up being the difference between being a mid tier battler, or a feared OU champion. Also, it may fare well with a Swampert moveset change I suggest.

Nasty Plot Togekiss
This may end up sweeping your team once Porygon2 has been eliminated. You really don't have much that can take it down because your main attackers are weak to Air Slash. CroCune will end up being your only chance to kill it but this can kill CroCune because it can 2HKO Cune if it hasn't gotten CM. Also, you may get flinched and killed on the subsequent turn.

Special Attacking Celebi
Although rare, this can essentiallly kill most of your team with Leaf Storm and Psychic. This has the power to outspeed and OHKO half, if not 2/3s of you team. Watch out for these.

Possible Fixes:

Change Swampert's Set
You may wish to chane CB Swamp for a MixPert. This way you can set up SR and Roar to reveal threats and possibly make Rade or Champ sweeping easier.
Swampert@Leftovers
Torrent
240 HP, 216 Def, 56 SpD
Relaxed
-Earthquake
-Ice Beam
-Stealth Rock
-Roar
This thing takes hits like a boss and can still remove dragon threats, and own anything who doesn't like EQ. Roar shows you their team while racking up SR damage.

Swampert Roar
Togekiss can rip parts of your team open so you can switch in Swamp on the NP and then Roar like a boss. This also may be very effective due to it's weakness to SR.

SubSplit Gengar
Porygon2 is doing nothing. If you replace it with a SubSplit Gengar, you can remove Celebi and many other threats. When Gengar is sitting behind sub, he can deal massive damage without getting hurt.
Gengar@Life Orb
Levitate
4 HP, 252 SpA, 252 Spe
Timid
-Substitute
-Pain Split
-Shadow Ball
-Focus Blast
All that LO recoil takes it's toll. So use Pain Split on a very healthy opponent to bring them low while bringing your HP up.

Well that's it, so don't forget to PM/VM me when you need a team rated!
Good Luck! Very solid team with a few minor changes! Hope to see you on ladder sometime!​
 
Thanks BlisseyofDoom, I am testing out Sub-Split Gengar in place of P2. I am really looking to replace Swampert due to the Grass Weakness, so anything that can pseudo-haze would be good.
 
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