ORAS OU Feel the wrath of my Scepter (Sceptile HO)

[streams]

So on my last posting in the RMT forum, i put up a poll (as there will be one on this one so vote please), and it was decided that my next team will be built around Mega-Sceptile (I was hoping Mega Absol, but i now love Mega Sceptile). So after lots of testing this is the final team. P.S. I hope you enjoy my home-made sprites ☺

Sceptile-Mega @ Sceptilite
Ability: Lightning Rod
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Hasty Nature
- Leaf Storm
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Earthquake
- Dragon Pulse
So originally I had the substitute Sceptile set, but I found this to be much more successful. The set is fairly basic. I considered low kick to be used in place of earthquake, but I found low kick to only be to hit tyranitar harder, but hitting heatran is much more important. Sceptile beats bulky waters (minus a calm minded manaphy), it also beats tank chomp (ohko'ing with pulse) as well as other defensive walls. This usage of sceptile, as well as its high speed tier sets up for the rest of the team. Sceptile also beats klefki, given it does not have play rough, as well as an azumarill as after a belly drum, aqua jet does not even do 50%.

Feraligatr @ Life Orb
Ability: Sheer Force
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Waterfall
- Aqua Jet
- Crunch
I really like gatr, even though it has a relatively small niche. I see Sceptile and gatr as great teammates, as they cover each other, as well as baiting something that gives lots of momentum (sceptile could bait chansey for gatr to dd, or gatr baits an electric move for lighting rod). Gatr also helps the team as it is a reliable source of priority. Jolly nature is chosen over an adamant one, as it allows to out speed 405 speed mons after 1 dragon dance.

Kyurem-Black @ Life Orb
Ability: Teravolt
EVs: 20 Atk / 252 SpA / 236 Spe
Mild Nature
- Ice Beam
- Earth Power
- Fusion Bolt
- Roost
I know I use kyurem-B a lot, but it is just very good! Kyurem black is used to beat mons like talonflame and skarmory, which give an issue to the team at this point. Although not a reliable way to beat it, kyurem black can also threaten bisharp, as sucker punch cannot ohko (even at +2), and earth power being a guaranteed ohko. Ice beam is also very spammable, as well as not being threatened by switch-ins, as kyum-b has great coverage.

Heatran @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 28 HP / 252 SpA / 228 Spe
Timid Nature
- Overheat
- Flash Cannon
- Earth Power
- Stone Edge
Fairy was seen as an immediate problem, and my first decision was how to beat it offensively (next will be defensively). Although heatran scarfed is uncommon, it should not be underestimated. Firstly 228 speed is ran to guarantee the out speed with 405 mons (226 is a speed tie). Heatran gives highly needed fire stab, as well as steel for mons like diancie. Earth power is for other heatrans and stone edge is chosen over ancient power, as it hits bulky talonflames harder, which normally wall heatran. Heatran, although dangerous, is used to beat common problems such as mega pinsir, and tornadus. Although tornadus does carry superpower which will kill heatran, if life orb, overheat has a chance to ohko. Many people sleep on scarf heatran, but it has saved me many times due to surprise. Heatran also is complimented by sceptile, as sceptile beats chomp, hippowdown, as well as resisting ground moves.

Scizor @ Leftovers
Ability: Technician
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Atk / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
- Defog
- Roost
- Bullet Punch
- U-turn
Despite having a heatran, I needed a bulky switch in to fairy. I chose scizor, as I also needed a defogger as spikes hurt my team. I chose the defog mega scizor set, but maxed the spdef, and ran leftovers instead.

Alakazam @ Life Orb
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Psychic
- Shadow Ball
- Focus Blast
- Encore
Mega Venusaur was a huge issue against this team. LO alakazam is my go to answer for mega venu, as not only is it hard to switch into, but it doesnt mind hazards. Encore was chosen so a set up mon (clef) can be switched into and encored so that I can either scare it out, or kill it with a different mon.


Issues:
Tornadus-T can be a huge problem
Azumarill sweeps if my sceptile dies or is injured
U-turn in general sucks (scep beats volt)

Thank-you for reading my RMT, and I will appreciate any suggestions given. Also do not forget to vote for my next team!!! And don't know if you would want to, but just in case so no one has to ask, you have permission to use my masterpieces of sprites XD.

 

[Albacore]

This team looks solid enough overall, however, there are a couple of Pokemon that seem pretty annoying for your team to deal with. One of the most notable is Keldeo, since you don't really have an answer to it : Sceptile and Alakazam can both check it, but the former takes a ton of damage from Secret Sword and the latter can't really take a Hydro Pump, heck even Secret Sword does a lot to Alakazam due to its bad defense. The fatct hat Heatran and Scizor both let it come in completely for free means that it can easily cause huge problems for you, especially if running Substitute since then it doesn't even eed to predict. The easiest way I can think of to deal with this is by running Latios over Alakazam, which also fills the role of a Psychic-type special attacker. Latios seems like a pretty solid pick for your team in general, since it's a much better defogger than Scizor, which means you can afford to run something else on it.

And speaking of which, you have a pretty big weakness to Bisharp, which you really have no answer to, as well as Sand Rush Ewcadrill which you rely exclusively on Feraligatr to check. Running Superpower on Scizor instead of Defog kinda helps on both these fronts, Scizor isn't a good answer to either of the Pokemon, but at least with Superpower it's not setup fodder for them and can handle them 1v1. Speaking of Bisharp, the lack of a Dark resist on your team is a real problem since it means that Knock Off users and stuff like Hoopa-U can cause you massive pain, this is something I'll adres a bit later though.

One of the most obvious problems with your team is the lack of a SR setter. This is something that's needed on pretty much every team, otherwise it's far too difficult to wear down checks to your offensive Pokemon and break through defensive teams in general. You could change Heatran's set to be more defensive, but I doubt you want to do that since it mkaesy ou weaker to Torn-T, YZard and Weavile, all of which can otherwise be really tricky for your team to handle. A better option would be using either Garchomp or Landorus-T on your team. Both of them are good SR setters which gare able to deal with physical attackers like Mega Lopunny and Mega Metagross, which can otherwise be really tricky for you to handle. The choice between these two ultimately depends on whether you'd rather be weak to Bisharp, Azumarill and U-turn users (which Garchomp can punish with Rough Skin), or Sand Rush Excadrill and Mega Charizard X. As for how to fit these on your team, I think it makes most sense to use it over Kyurem-B, since it doesn't seem too necessary for your team if you use Latios (since that already gives you an extra Water and Electric resist), and replacing it removes your only SR weak Pokemon, which means you don't even need a Defogger and free up a moveslot on Latios/Scizor.

The problem with that is that you lose a wallbreaker, so you need something else that can help you handle defensive teams. Fortunately, Crawdaunt is able to do this, and fits over Feraligatr very easily, so I would reccoemnd it. As nice as Feraligatr is, I feel like Crawdaunt fits better on your team for three reasons : firstly, it gives you a Dark resist, and thus, something which can switch into Bisharp and Weavile decently well; and secondly, because Aqua Jet makes much more sense on an SD user than a DD user for obvious reasons, and Crawdaunt's access to STAB Knock Off and higher damage output makes it a better SDer than Feraligatr. It's also a better check to Excadrill and freinds since it has a much stronger Aqua Jet :

252 Atk Life Orb Feraligatr Aqua Jet vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Excadrill: 221-265 (61.2 - 73.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock
252 Atk Life Orb Adaptability Crawdaunt Aqua Jet vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Excadrill: 322-385 (89.1 - 106.6%) -- 56.3% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock (100% after Life Orb damage)

and you can even go Adamant to guarantee the KO, though you do miss out on outspeeding Rotom.

sets

Latios (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Draco Meteor
- Psyshock
- Roost
- Defog / Hidden Power [Fire]

Scizor @ Leftovers
Ability: Technician
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Atk / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
- Roost
- Bullet Punch
- U-turn
- Superpower

Landorus-Therian (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 Spe
Impish Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- U-turn
- Knock Off

Garchomp @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Rough Skin
EVs: 252 HP / 164 Def / 92 Spe
Impish Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Dragon Tail
- Fire Blast / Toxic / Endeavor

Crawdaunt @ Life Orb
Ability: Adaptability
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature / Adamant nature
- Knock Off
- Aqua Jet
- Crabhammer
- Swords Dance

 

[streams]

This team looks solid enough overall, however, there are a couple of Pokemon that seem pretty annoying for your team to deal with. One of the most notable is Keldeo, since you don't really have an answer to it : Sceptile and Alakazam can both check it, but the former takes a ton of damage from Secret Sword and the latter can't really take a Hydro Pump, heck even Secret Sword does a lot to Alakazam due to its bad defense. The fatct hat Heatran and Scizor both let it come in completely for free means that it can easily cause huge problems for you, especially if running Substitute since then it doesn't even eed to predict. The easiest way I can think of to deal with this is by running Latios over Alakazam, which also fills the role of a Psychic-type special attacker. Latios seems like a pretty solid pick for your team in general, since it's a much better defogger than Scizor, which means you can afford to run something else on it.

And speaking of which, you have a pretty big weakness to Bisharp, which you really have no answer to, as well as Sand Rush Ewcadrill which you rely exclusively on Feraligatr to check. Running Superpower on Scizor instead of Defog kinda helps on both these fronts, Scizor isn't a good answer to either of the Pokemon, but at least with Superpower it's not setup fodder for them and can handle them 1v1. Speaking of Bisharp, the lack of a Dark resist on your team is a real problem since it means that Knock Off users and stuff like Hoopa-U can cause you massive pain, this is something I'll adres a bit later though.

One of the most obvious problems with your team is the lack of a SR setter. This is something that's needed on pretty much every team, otherwise it's far too difficult to wear down checks to your offensive Pokemon and break through defensive teams in general. You could change Heatran's set to be more defensive, but I doubt you want to do that since it mkaesy ou weaker to Torn-T, YZard and Weavile, all of which can otherwise be really tricky for your team to handle. A better option would be using either Garchomp or Landorus-T on your team. Both of them are good SR setters which gare able to deal with physical attackers like Mega Lopunny and Mega Metagross, which can otherwise be really tricky for you to handle. The choice between these two ultimately depends on whether you'd rather be weak to Bisharp, Azumarill and U-turn users (which Garchomp can punish with Rough Skin), or Sand Rush Excadrill and Mega Charizard X. As for how to fit these on your team, I think it makes most sense to use it over Kyurem-B, since it doesn't seem too necessary for your team if you use Latios (since that already gives you an extra Water and Electric resist), and replacing it removes your only SR weak Pokemon, which means you don't even need a Defogger and free up a moveslot on Latios/Scizor.

The problem with that is that you lose a wallbreaker, so you need something else that can help you handle defensive teams. Fortunately, Crawdaunt is able to do this, and fits over Feraligatr very easily, so I would reccoemnd it. As nice as Feraligatr is, I feel like Crawdaunt fits better on your team for three reasons : firstly, it gives you a Dark resist, and thus, something which can switch into Bisharp and Weavile decently well; and secondly, because Aqua Jet makes much more sense on an SD user than a DD user for obvious reasons, and Crawdaunt's access to STAB Knock Off and higher damage output makes it a better SDer than Feraligatr. It's also a better check to Excadrill and freinds since it has a much stronger Aqua Jet :

252 Atk Life Orb Feraligatr Aqua Jet vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Excadrill: 221-265 (61.2 - 73.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock
252 Atk Life Orb Adaptability Crawdaunt Aqua Jet vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Excadrill: 322-385 (89.1 - 106.6%) -- 56.3% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock (100% after Life Orb damage)

and you can even go Adamant to guarantee the KO, though you do miss out on outspeeding Rotom.

sets

Latios (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Draco Meteor
- Psyshock
- Roost
- Defog / Hidden Power [Fire]

Scizor @ Leftovers
Ability: Technician
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Atk / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
- Roost
- Bullet Punch
- U-turn
- Superpower

Landorus-Therian (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 Spe
Impish Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- U-turn
- Knock Off

Garchomp @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Rough Skin
EVs: 252 HP / 164 Def / 92 Spe
Impish Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Dragon Tail
- Fire Blast / Toxic / Endeavor

Crawdaunt @ Life Orb
Ability: Adaptability
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature / Adamant nature
- Knock Off
- Aqua Jet
- Crabhammer
- Swords Dance

Thanks a lot for the suggestions! So I will be changing kyurem-B to garchomp, since it is a better against bisharp (no defiant boost), as well as pressuring u-turners which were an issue for me. I definitely did not think of crawdaunt when i made the team, but it is a lot better than gatr (i wanted to change it anyway). I did think of latios during the team building, but I was against having yet another fairy weakness despite my scizor. So tell me what you think about this, as it still pressures keldeo in conjunction. I was just thinking about using the defensive calm mind reuniclus. This would lose me a defogger, but as you said i do not really need it that much now that I do not have an sr weakness. Thank-you again!