Event Horizon: RMT (OU)

[Yousername]

Event Horizon

Hi Smogon, I got a new team here. This team started off around Latias because it has always been one of my favorite Pokemon to use in competitive battles. I have been winning the majority of my battles, but I have been noticing that the reasons for all of my losses were because my opponent out-pressured me. I haven't really noticed a specific Pokemon causing me issues, but rather momentum shifts either making me or breaking me. Also, hail teams have actually been causing me issues due to all of the dragons that I use on this team. Sun teams are not my favorite to fight either. Each Pokemon on my team has really been pulling its weight and there hasn't been an obvious weak link. Anyway, let's get on with the team.

Lead:

The Pandemic (Scizor) @ Choice Band
Trait: Technician
EVs: 64 HP / 252 Atk / 192 SDef
Adamant Nature
- U-turn
- Bullet Punch
- Superpower
- Pursuit

Scizor has been a staple on all of my teams, bar the Genesect era. Although there is no real lead in fifth generation battles, I almost always send out Scizor first in order to cause immediate damage to my opponent and try to gain momentum. The EV set up looks a little weird, but it is really useful for taking hits such as Ice Beam or Psychic. U-Turn is a necessary move on all Banded Scizors in order to be one step ahead of my opponent. Bullet Punch is a very power move that has priority which my team would otherwise lack. Superpower is here for coverage to nail things like Tyranitar and Ferrothorn which will be wiped out in the spot reducing the amount of threats I have to face. Pursuit is a great move to trap Pokemon such as Latios or Gengar and take them out with ease.

Early-Mid Game:

The Vines (Ferrothorn) @ Rocky Helmet
Trait: Iron Barbs
EVs: 252 HP / 88 Def / 168 SDef
Impish Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Leech Seed
- Thunder Wave
- Power Whip

Ferrothorn is a Pokemon that I never really got into using. Until now. Ferrothorn is my hazard setter and my general wall for things that the rest of my team can't really take on their own. The only real downside about using Ferrothorn is that he shares a similar typing to Scizor. The EVs are here to balance out his physical defense and special defense to take both types of shots equally. Rocky Helmet has saved me many times such as when I switched into a Garchomp outraging and Garchomp was taken out due to the large amount of residual damage. Stealth Rock is here to weaken any Pokemon that decide to switch in and to pressure my opponent. Leech Seed is here to slowly pick away at my opponent's health as well as heal my own Pokemon since Ferrothorn lacks leftovers. Thunder Wave is a great move to cripple any SD Scizors or CM Keldeos that I encounter. Power Whip is here to damage Pokemon like Politoed and Rotom-W and to avoid being taunt bait.

The Intermission (Tentacruel) @ Black Sludge
Trait: Liquid Ooze
EVs: 252 HP / 236 Def / 20 Spd
Bold Nature
- Rapid Spin
- Toxic
- Scald
- Hail

I've always hated going up against Tentacruel, so I decided to try out its annoyingness and see how effectively I can utilize it. Tentacruel is a great Pokemon due to its defensive capabilities. I chose Liquid Ooze as his ability punish Leech Seeders. Black Sludge is here because Tentacruel does not have any form of reliable recovery and this item is a great way to restore health such as leftovers. The main reason I chose to use Tentacruel is because I needed a Rapid Spinner. Obviously, Rapid Spin is here to blow away any hazards that would otherwise harm my team. I chose toxic over toxic spikes because I do not have a spin blocker and also toxic is more immediate and does not take time to set up like toxic spikes. Scald is here to do decent damage as well as hopefully cripple any physical attackers I happen to come across. Lastly, Hail is here to say goodbye to any other opposing weather, aside from hail of course. This move is probably my best counter to Venusaur if he is not weakened down already.

The Wither (Hydreigon) @ Expert Belt
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Mild Nature
- Draco Meteor
- Superpower
- Earth Power
- Flamethrower

Hydreigon is a bigger part of this team than he looks. I originally started off as a Choice Banded set, but I found him to be inconsistent with the rest of my team. And I couldn't make him scarfed because I already have a scarfed dragon on this team. I then moved on to a Life Orb variant, but he was dying way too quickly. So I immediately moved on to Expert Belt, and this was the perfect item for him. He never leaves the battle without surprise killing at least one Pokemon on the adversary's team. Draco Meteor is here for instant damage and to break walls as well as destroy frail Pokemon. Superpower is here for those such as Blissey and Tyranitar who otherwise laugh at this peculiar looking creature. Earth Power is here because I don't have any other ground type moves on this team aside from Salamence, which isn't even STAB. Finally, I have Flamethrower on here because I really don't like opposing Ferrothorn and Forretress. Hydreigon is easily the glue of this team.

Late Game:

The Inquisition (Salamence) @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Moxie
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SAtk / 252 Spd
Lonely Nature
- Dragon Claw
- Earthquake
- Fire Blast
- Outrage

Ironically, Salamence is probably the most underwhelming Pokemon on my team for me. The problem with him is that I always get the urge to use him early and it always comes to bite me in the rear. Anyway, he is very powerful and speedy, so when I do save him and there are no steel types left on the other team, I can safely cause massive destruction to my opponent. I am currently debating between a Lonely or Naughty nature, help with this would be appreciated. Dragon Claw is here to safely revenge kill something that is already at low health, but not necessarily used if there is a clear physical wall capable of walling him. Earthquake is here to take out those such as Infernape or Heatran that are annoying to face. Fire Blast is here for those steel types such as Ferrothorn or Skarmory that can easily take any other hit that Salamence has packed. Lastly, Outrage is here to simply sweep any remaining Pokemon that my opponent has at the very end of the game.

The Sporadic (Latias) (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
- Substitute
- Calm Mind
- Dragon Pulse
- Recover

Finally, we have Latias, the MVP of this team. This is the Pokemon that I always save towards the end in order to simply end the game along with Salamence and whoever else I have remaining at this point. The SubCM variant of Latias just completely annihilates my opponent when I can find a safe opening to get her started up. If she does not successfully end the game, she brings the game close to an end. The given EVs are here in order to maximize speed and survivability while she slowly sets up her power and defense. She hides behind a Substitute in order to block any statuses coming her way and to use as protection while she Calm Minds. As implied, Calm Mind obviously bulks her up on the special side of the spectrum, while getting healed with her leftovers. Dragon Pulse is her single move, which is also a powerful STAB even without much SAtk investment in her EVs. Recover is here to stall and heal herself up when she reaches low health. She is able to successfully perform this due to her immense speed.


Well, that's the team. If you have actually read all of this, I sincerely thank you. I would appreciate it even more if you were to tell me how this team is and how I could improve it.​

 

[SmashBrosBrawl]

Hi there. This team looks pretty solid and is able to check several threats in tier. However theres some move and item suggestions that i feel would be useful. First tentacruel should not use liquid ooze. Rain dish is always the superior option because it allows you to take advantage of the opponent rain. Also hail is a terrible to move to have. It hurts your entire team and doesnt really do much to prevent the opponent from sending their weather starter back and change the weather again. Knock off should replace it as it can cripple any pokemon that tries to switch in by making them lose their items. Finally hydreigon should use life orb. It gives a power boost to your moves even if they hit neutrally which is crucial since draco meteor is going to be hitting a lot of things for neutral damage. Also earth power should be replaced with earthquake as it allows you to beat jirachi in rain. Fire blast should go over flamethrower as the higher power is usually preferred over accuracy. Other than that the team seems pretty good.

 

[Yousername]

Hi there. This team looks pretty solid and is able to check several threats in tier. However theres some move and item suggestions that i feel would be useful. First tentacruel should not use liquid ooze. Rain dish is always the superior option because it allows you to take advantage of the opponent rain. Also hail is a terrible to move to have. It hurts your entire team and doesnt really do much to prevent the opponent from sending their weather starter back and change the weather again. Knock off should replace it as it can cripple any pokemon that tries to switch in by making them lose their items. Finally hydreigon should use life orb. It gives a power boost to your moves even if they hit neutrally which is crucial since draco meteor is going to be hitting a lot of things for neutral damage. Also earth power should be replaced with earthquake as it allows you to beat jirachi in rain. Fire blast should go over flamethrower as the higher power is usually preferred over accuracy. Other than that the team seems pretty good.

Hi, thanks for the detailed response. The only thing I don't personally agree with you on is that Hail is a very helpful move. I always knockout weather starters very early in the game since my opponent would not see a weather starter in my own team. Scizor 2HKOs Politoed on turn one with U-Turn and leaves me with something else to finish it off. Tyranitar: simple OHKO with Superpower. Ninetales, one of the few occasions I do not lead with and I would just lead off with Hydreigon and either kill it off or scare it off to kill later. However, I will still consider Rain Dish. I will highly consider Earthquake over Earth Power because I completely forgot about Jirachi.

I opted for Flamethrower originally because Expert Belt adds on additional damage while always hitting the opponent. I will test out Fire Blast due to the extra raw power though. Lastly, I have to disagree with the changing Expert Belt to Life Orb because the whole reason Hydreigon is netting kills is not because of his raw power, but rather the surprise factor. The expert belt bluffs a choice set, so I could go for Draco to dent something, and then when they switch out into something such as Blissey or Ferrothorn to take the Draco, I go for Superpower instead and KO a wall that would have been an annoyance.

 

[SmashBrosBrawl]

Hi, thanks for the detailed response. The only thing I don't personally agree with you on is that Hail is a very helpful move. I always knockout weather starters very early in the game since my opponent would not see a weather starter in my own team. Scizor 2HKOs Politoed on turn one with U-Turn and leaves me with something else to finish it off. Tyranitar: simple OHKO with Superpower. Ninetales, one of the few occasions I do not lead with and I would just lead off with Hydreigon and either kill it off or scare it off to kill later. However, I will still consider Rain Dish. I will highly consider Earthquake over Earth Power because I completely forgot about Jirachi.

I opted for Flamethrower originally because Expert Belt adds on additional damage while always hitting the opponent. I will test out Fire Blast due to the extra raw power though. Lastly, I have to disagree with the changing Expert Belt to Life Orb because the whole reason Hydreigon is netting kills is not because of his raw power, but rather the surprise factor. The expert belt bluffs a choice set, so I could go for Draco to dent something, and then when they switch out into something such as Blissey or Ferrothorn to take the Draco, I go for Superpower instead and KO a wall that would have been an annoyance.

The problem with hail is that while it will remove the opponent weather its a very situational move and a double-edged sword. Keep in mind that hail will hurt your team too. But if you're having success with it then keep it.