Even Flow (OU RMT)

[E.A.]

Introduction

Not really much to say In the intro here. I wasnt doing so well about two weeks ago, so I decided to make a new team and try it out. Initially, this team was phenomenal, capable of easy 5-0s and 4-0s. Unfortunately, it's performance has slipped a bit, and I know this team can do more than what it has done thus far. Without further ado, the team at a glance:

Team Building Process:

I wanted to start the team with a reliable and easy to use combination. Tyranitar and Gyarados were listed as a combo in the OU combination thread, and they happen to be two Pokemon I like to use, and hence the team begins.

Great. I have this combination. The only issue is that bulky waters will stop me dead without something to weaken them. On top of that, a extra Lucario counter and a reliable Infernape counter was also in order. ScarfTran was the first Pokemon that came to mind.

Okay, we're pretty much set in the Gyara sweep department. I have two weaknesses that stick out like a sore thumb- the infamous Gyarados and Salamence. I personally have liked Jirachi as a Salamence counter, and with Thunderpunch to cover Gyara, Jirachi fit the bill nicely.

Awesome. There are only two things that really stick out: SR and a stall-breaker. Salamence is a nice stallbreaker, and he adds a Dragon STAb, something this team is lacking. The other thing was SR. Azelf is a reliable SR lead, and it can stand up to Gross, so it makes a nice fit.

Haunter then pointed out that Starmie could keep entry hazards off the field, as well as semi-patch my status issue, so I went with him over Azelf

And there you have it!

I figure I'll also explain the title here. 1) The song is okay I guess 2) the reason the team is called so is because of how the team just flows, especially with all these well-known and productive combos found in this team, namely:

GyaraMence
SalaRachi
TarTran
GyaraTar

Not really much of a reason why this team work, but it makes the team look better

To the details:

The Team (In-Depth):

@ Life Orb
Hydro Pump
Grass Knot
Ice Beam
Rapid Spin
Nature: Timid
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 SAtk / 4 Atk

Alright, after reading Haunter's Post, I decided this would make a welcome addition to my team. Rapid Spin keeps SR and Spikes off the ground, Natural Cure helps with my status woes, and the set helps deal with opposing leads in general.

@ Life Orb
Draco Meteor
Fire Blast
Brick Break
Roost
Nature: Naive
EVs: 252 SAtk / 178 Spd / 80 Atk

Good ol' MixMence; a reliable stall-breaker and general powerhouse. The only twist is that I run this guy Naive instead of Rash. I personally like it when I see people expect their Lucarios to OHKO me with Ice Punch / Stone Edge, only to get a Fire Blast to the face. Salamence also begins one of the many combinations in this team, namely the SalaRachi combo.

@ Choice Scarf
Iron Head
Thunderpunch
Ice Punch
Fire Punch
Nature: Jolly
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 Spd / 4 HP

I think JabbaTheGriffin said it best in his RMT. Got a Gyarados that came out of nowhere and DD'd? Send in Rachi. Got Tyranitar on the loose? Send in Jirachi. Got a pissed of Salamence Outraging? Send it Jirachi and pray he's Adamant, or that you win the Speed Tie! Honestly, this guy is like the dunes to a landmass- he prevents the land from being eroded away. I once ran Trick over Fire Punch to stop stuff like Suicune from raping my whole team, but more often than not I can just explode in his face and problem solved. Besides, Scizor can be a huge issue when he's going for a late game sweep, so this much appeciated.

@ Choice Scarf
Flamethrower
Earth Power
Hidden Power Grass
Explosion
Nature: Naive
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 SAtk / 4 Atk

Arguably the best Lucario counter out there. He not just stops Luke, but also Infernape, Latias, and can explode on Gyara / Mence in a pinch! His main job however is begin what I call "counterm meltdown," which is when you try to break down counters of one Pokemon so that they can sweep easier (I believe lures is a proper term, I just think meltdown sounds cooler :D) Heatran weakens stuff like Vaporeon and Swampert foolish enough to come in and stop him.

A new set is coming, let me figure out which one

@ Expert Belt
Pursuit
Crunch
Stone Edge
Earthquake
Nature: Adamant
EVs: 252 Atk / 176 HP / 80 SDef

Me and my funky Ttar. His job is to take out stuff like Starmie, Zapdos, Celebi, and Rotom from stopping a Gyarados sweep. The only issue with pursuiting the ghosts / psychics is that a Lucario or Infernape all to often lies in the shadows, waiting to strike. Hence why Expert Belt is run over CB. I laugh every time someone expects a quick sweep, only to take an EQ to the face.

@ Leftovers
Dragon Dance
Waterfall
Earthquake
Bounce
Nature: Jolly
EVs: 252 Atk / 168 Spd / 90 HP

The end-game sweeper. The best way to describe Gyarados. He sets up on everything and takes everything down. With Heatran and Tyranitar to help him with his counters, Gyarados is just outright dangerous. Waterfall and EQ are standard. Bounce is fun for finishing off bulky waters that Heatran weakened, and the 30% paralysis chance is nothing to scoff at either.

The EV Spread is a copy of one I saw in PurpleWeezing's RMT. 252 Atk for max power, Jolly 168 Spd for outrunning Jolteon, and 90 HP for a little bulk.

Special concerns:

Status Moves: Yes, this is a huge issue. I never know if Blissey is going to poison or paralyze, or whether Rotom will paralyze or burn. Heatran deals with WoW, Jirachi / Heatran for Toxic, but nobody on my team likes paralysis. If I ever have to deal with it, I often send in Ttar to take it, then use him to rake further TWaves, which aren't terribly hard to predict for. Help here is much appreciated.

Starmie is helping with this at the moment, if anyone has any additional ideas, post them!

Gyarados- Even with Jirachi, Gyara is still a threat. I suppose Heatran can outrun and Explode, but I then lose a critical member of my team. Suggestion welcome.

Those are just my concerns; if anyone has a anything they'd like to point out, let me know!

I would normally type up a threat list, but I'm typing this up on an iTouch, so I'd rather wait until I get to a real computer to type that up.

Note: Changes in Blue.

Alright, rate away!

 

[MrIndigo]

I think you can deal with less than max speed on your Jirachi, given you're running Scarf; 176 EVs is a common number. You can dump the rest into HP to tank hits a bit better.

 

[Witnessed]

Hmm, Nice team here. You have a serious problem here though. You have nothing to sponge the electric attacks aimed at Gyarados. Tyranitar can take random Thunderbolts and stuff. For this reason, maybe you could consider Swampert as your lead. The grass attacks aimed at him will easily be taken by Heatran, Jirachi or Salamence.

Swampert@ Leftovers
Torrent
Relaxed nature (+Defense, -Speed)
240 HP, 216 Defense, 52 Attack

Ice Beam
Earthquake
Roar
Stealth Rock

There you go. Its incredibly bulky, and can live through boosted Outrages and live to tell the tale.

Hope I helped, and Good Luck!

 

[ThePatriot]

i second the electric type weakness. I, also agree that swampert is good for your team. Another thing is change pursuit on tyrantatar to dragon dance and held item to babiri berry. This makes t-tar a very potent sweeper that can sweep entire teams if given the chance.

Well i have no other suggestions for now so Good luck :)

 

[haunter]

Hello,

this team is really solid and I'm sure it works nicely as it is. Talking about it with fellows team raters, we ended up that it would highly benefit from a rapid spinner, to keep the field clean of SR which highly limit Gyarados and Salamence potential. So, you may try to replace your lead with an anti lead Starmie:

Starmie@life orb
nature: timid
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
-hydro pump
-ice beam
-rapid spin
-thunderbolt

this way you'll usually prevent your opponent from setting up SR early in the game, meaning that Mence and Gyara will have less problems switching in. Anyway, if you decide to keep Azelf be sure to use taunt over fire blast, and an EV spread of: 200 Atk / 56 SpA / 252 Spe, to power up your explosion while having enough SpA to 2hko Aerodactyl.

Secondly, having already a reliable revenge killer in Jirachi, you may try a different set for Heatran:

Heatran@shuca berry
nature: naive
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
-fire blast
-stealth rock
-earth power
-explosion

this set is an excellent lure for things like Vaporeon and other bulky waters, which usually counter Gyarados too, so exploding on them after setting up SR, will make it easier to sweep with Gyara later.

Finally, you may try a different EV spread for TTar, like: 176 HP / 252 Atk / 80 SpD to take hits slightly better from both the sides of the attacking spectrum.

Good luck!

 

[Ancien Régime]

I disagree; I say keep Azelf. Taunt keeps SR off the field just as well as that Starmie, seeing that Aerodactyl still 2hkoes that Starmie with Stone Edge. Drop Explosion; it draws out the steel/rock/ghost EVERY time; it's so predictable. Adopt MoP's suggestion of maxing Defense on Azelf (allowing it to survive Meteor Mash + Bullet Punch from Metagross), and punish Metagross leads with Fire Blast. I'd also put Grass Knot to take down Swampert SR leads easily as well.

I'd keep that Heatran, but add in HP Grass > SR, and give it a Life Orb. Just give it 270 speed, put the rest in Atk.

Your strategy with Tyranitar sounds innovative. However, it's simply not worth the loss of power in general. At the same time, you say you struggle with status. Maybe draw half of it's Atk to HP, make it Careful, and make it a Restalker. 128 HP / 128 Atk / 252 SDef, Stone Edge/Crunch/Rest/Sleep Talk.

I like Specs Latias over Mixmence for this team - it takes advantage of Heatran drawing in Blissey and can wreak havoc after it is dead/weakened. It also does a lot better against bulky waters as well.

 

[E.A.]

Alright, I'll try to address points methodically here.

I think you can deal with less than max speed on your Jirachi, given you're running Scarf; 176 EVs is a common number. You can dump the rest into HP to tank hits a bit better.

I initially ran 176 Spe EVs, but most DDMence run 252 Spe EVs (regardless of nature,) and I'd rather be safe than sorry.

Hmm, Nice team here. You have a serious problem here though. You have nothing to sponge the electric attacks aimed at Gyarados. Tyranitar can take random Thunderbolts and stuff. For this reason, maybe you could consider Swampert as your lead. The grass attacks aimed at him will easily be taken by Heatran, Jirachi or Salamence.

Swampert@ Leftovers
Torrent
Relaxed nature (+Defense, -Speed)
240 HP, 216 Defense, 52 Attack

Ice Beam
Earthquake
Roar
Stealth Rock

There you go. Its incredibly bulky, and can live through boosted Outrages and live to tell the tale.

Hope I helped, and Good Luck!

Well, Tyranitar with his extra SDef EVs will have no issues sucking up relatively feeble Thunderbolts from Gyarados counters. However, the ground to take in paralysis is handy. I'll try it out.

i second the electric type weakness. I, also agree that swampert is good for your team. Another thing is change pursuit on tyrantatar to dragon dance and held item to babiri berry. This makes t-tar a very potent sweeper that can sweep entire teams if given the chance.

Well i have no other suggestions for now so Good luck :)

First off, go Pats!

Secondly, I do not think changing T-tar to DDTar would be the best idead. I really like DDTar and how it roars through whole teams (pair it with Magnezone for Scizor / Metagross and gg,) but Tyranitar's job isn't as much sweeping as it is making it easier for Gyara to sweep. Good intent though :)

Hello,

this team is really solid and I'm sure it works nicely as it is. Talking about it with fellows team raters, we ended up that it would highly benefit from a rapid spinner, to keep the field clean of SR which highly limit Gyarados and Salamence potential. So, you may try to replace your lead with an anti lead Starmie:

Starmie@life orb
nature: timid
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
-hydro pump
-ice beam
-rapid spin
-thunderbolt

this way you'll usually prevent your opponent from setting up SR early in the game, meaning that Mence and Gyara will have less problems switching in. Anyway, if you decide to keep Azelf be sure to use taunt over fire blast, and an EV spread of: 200 Atk / 56 SpA / 252 Spe, to power up your explosion while having enough SpA to 2hko Aerodactyl.

YES. To be honest, this looks like it's just what this team needs. Natural Cure creates a way to deal with status (to an extent of course,) a way of getting SR and entry hazards off the field (handy for stall too.) Awesome suggestion. It will also help vs. Infernape, who could very well cause issues when relieving Heatran of his revenge-killing duties.

Secondly, having already a reliable revenge killer in Jirachi, you may try a different set for Heatran:

Heatran@shuca berry
nature: naive
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
-fire blast
-stealth rock
-earth power
-explosion

this set is an excellent lure for things like Vaporeon and other bulky waters, which usually counter Gyarados too, so exploding on them after setting up SR, will make it easier to sweep with Gyara later.

Finally, you may try a different EV spread for TTar, like: 176 HP / 252 Atk / 80 SpD to take hits slightly better from both the sides of the attacking spectrum.

Good luck!

I think I'll take a slower variant of Heatran, not necessarily that set, but something of the like.

I also realized I screwed up my calcs and I'll get 2HKOed by Celebi unless I have a Careful nature. Yeah, I think I'll take that EV spread.

I disagree; I say keep Azelf. Taunt keeps SR off the field just as well as that Starmie, seeing that Aerodactyl still 2hkoes that Starmie with Stone Edge. Drop Explosion; it draws out the steel/rock/ghost EVERY time; it's so predictable. Adopt MoP's suggestion of maxing Defense on Azelf (allowing it to survive Meteor Mash + Bullet Punch from Metagross), and punish Metagross leads with Fire Blast. I'd also put Grass Knot to take down Swampert SR leads easily as well.

I'd keep that Heatran, but add in HP Grass > SR, and give it a Life Orb. Just give it 270 speed, put the rest in Atk.

Your strategy with Tyranitar sounds innovative. However, it's simply not worth the loss of power in general. At the same time, you say you struggle with status. Maybe draw half of it's Atk to HP, make it Careful, and make it a Restalker. 128 HP / 128 Atk / 252 SDef, Stone Edge/Crunch/Rest/Sleep Talk.

I like Specs Latias over Mixmence for this team - it takes advantage of Heatran drawing in Blissey and can wreak havoc after it is dead/weakened. It also does a lot better against bulky waters as well.

Like I said before, having Starmie would help deal with status to a certain extent, which is enough to convince me to try it out.

The only issue I see with the Rest-Talk set is that I lose Pursuit and the overall element of surprise, which is part of my key to success. I do think that I will give the new Azelf set in union with the Rest-Talk TTar set a test on shoddy.

Latias is a Pokemon I have used and have liked, but having another pursuit-weak Pokemon can't help this team much (the first one being Starmie / Azelf.) Again, it's another thing I will test out.

Thanks to those that have commented thus far.