Hey guys, this is my first good Gen 6 OU team. It's based on a Grass-Water-Fire Defensive Core, with two revenge killers/volt-turners, and a late game setup sweeper. I've had modest success with this team, and since I've learned how to play it well I've been on quite a win streak getting up into the mid 1550s and continuing to win most of my games. The team does have a couple of pokemon that it really has trouble with. First of all Conkeldurr can be really tough for this team. If Venusaur is down he has the ability to 2HKO everyone on my team (though it doesn't happen often with Quagsire), and even if venusaur is up I can't do much except try to stall him out. Other team's Mega Venusaurs also present a problem for me. Mostly I try to handle these pokemon by stalling them out, but if my opponent plays smart then they can leave venusaur in on anything I throw at it save dragonite, and if rocks are up I can have a lot of trouble getting dragonite set up. Rapid spin or defog would help my team a lot, but I lean against including a defogger just because having rocks set up is so crucial for this team to function, and there just aren't any rapid spinners I want to include on this team. I appreciate any help you can give me!
Venusaur-Mega @ Venusaurite
Ability: Thick Fat
EVs: 252 Def / 252 HP / 4 SAtk
Bold Nature
- Giga Drain
- Leech Seed
- Synthesis
- Hidden Power [Fire]
Mega Venusaur is just a beast. Thick fat is an amazing ability on him allowing him to tank almost anything but the most powerful of STAB attacks and psychic and flying attacks. I've contemplating using sleep powder, but the way I see it, every one of the listed moves is crucial to Venusaur's success. This guy makes a great switch in on bulky water types, and thanks to hp fire it can threaten some important threats like ferrothorn and scizor. When Venusaur comes in, I seed on the switch to give my team the edge in battle. If the other team tries to bring venusaur down I can stall them out more often than not, but if this doesn't look like an option I can always switch to another member of my defensive core that can deal with the threat more readily.
Quagsire @ Leftovers
Ability: Unaware
EVs: 244 Def / 252 HP / 12 SDef
Relaxed Nature
- Scald
- Earthquake
- Toxic
- Recover
Quagsire is extremely useful on this team for his ability to stall out setup sweepers. Unaware is an incredible ability and while Quagsire isn't the most tanky, he's usually tanky enough to avoid the 2HKO. The problem that I have with quagsire is that he can't switch into water attacks very well, taking significant damage from the water-type attacks of pokemon like swampert and rotom-w. While I do like Quagsire's ability to bail me out if I let a setup sweeper get out of control, he is the pokemon that I would be most willing to replace on this team.
Heatran @ Leftovers
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 SDef / 252 HP / 4 SAtk
Calm Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Lava Plume
- Roar
- Protect
Heatran is one of the more common pokemon in OU and for good reason. He has such good utility and great typing, making him a mainstay of my defensive core. I switch heatran in when I get the opportunity and put rocks down. I use protect to ease prediction, and also to help stall out poisoned pokes. Lava plume is to threaten anything that doesn't like fire or burns and roar is used primarily offensively, forcing out whatever my opponent switches into heatran and racking up stealth rock damage. I used to run Air Balloon Heatran, but I find that I'd rather have the recovery provided by leftovers, as I have lots of pokemon that can switch in to ground type moves without thinking about it.
Dragonite @ Lum Berry
Ability: Multiscale
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 Atk / 4 HP
Adamant Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Extreme Speed
- Outrage
- Fire Punch
Dragonite is one of my favorite pokemon and serves as the only setup sweeper on the team. If I get off a dragon dance, outrage will tear through opposing teams whose fairies have already been put to rest. I only use outrage if I think it can win me the game, or if things are so dire that it's my only option. Extreme speed is very useful for picking off anything fast that is worn down enough to be picked off (with a dragon dance, anything faster than dragonite is going to have very a hard time taking an extremespeed). Fire punch is for steel types that would otherwise wall dragonite, but I've wondered if there might be a better option here? Let me know what you think.
Landorus-Therian (M) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 Atk / 4 HP
Jolly Nature
- U-turn
- Earthquake
- Knock Off
- Stone Edge
Landorus-T with a choice scarf outspeeds almost everything you'll see in OU. U-turn is for scouting purposes, while earthquake and stone edge are typical choice fair for landorus. Knock off is the only unconventional choice here, but I like it for it's ability to cripple pokemon that are reliant on items that landorus would otherwise be relatively ineffective against. Also, seeing as my team is weak against psychic types, I thought knock off would be a good option. Knock off is another thing that I'm unsure about, so let me know if you have any ideas that might be more successful. I've used superpower in the past, and having a powerful fighting type move would be really useful, however, I hate locking in to superpower as it gives opponents a setup opportunity on the switch.
Jolteon @ Choice Specs
Ability: Volt Absorb
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 SAtk / 4 HP
Timid Nature
- Volt Switch
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Signal Beam
Specs Jolteon is extremely powerful and still has the ability to outspeed most of the unboosted metagame. Voltswitch and thunderbolt are obvious choices, and hidden power ice is to threaten pokemon that my team might otherwise have a hard time dealing with. Signal beam is just because jolteon's movepool isn't great and signal beam is pretty much the best option, giving me another way to hit psychic and dark types hard.
Thanks for taking a look at my team! Any feedback you have would be greatly appreciated!
Venusaur-Mega @ Venusaurite
Ability: Thick Fat
EVs: 252 Def / 252 HP / 4 SAtk
Bold Nature
- Giga Drain
- Leech Seed
- Synthesis
- Hidden Power [Fire]
Mega Venusaur is just a beast. Thick fat is an amazing ability on him allowing him to tank almost anything but the most powerful of STAB attacks and psychic and flying attacks. I've contemplating using sleep powder, but the way I see it, every one of the listed moves is crucial to Venusaur's success. This guy makes a great switch in on bulky water types, and thanks to hp fire it can threaten some important threats like ferrothorn and scizor. When Venusaur comes in, I seed on the switch to give my team the edge in battle. If the other team tries to bring venusaur down I can stall them out more often than not, but if this doesn't look like an option I can always switch to another member of my defensive core that can deal with the threat more readily.
Quagsire @ Leftovers
Ability: Unaware
EVs: 244 Def / 252 HP / 12 SDef
Relaxed Nature
- Scald
- Earthquake
- Toxic
- Recover
Quagsire is extremely useful on this team for his ability to stall out setup sweepers. Unaware is an incredible ability and while Quagsire isn't the most tanky, he's usually tanky enough to avoid the 2HKO. The problem that I have with quagsire is that he can't switch into water attacks very well, taking significant damage from the water-type attacks of pokemon like swampert and rotom-w. While I do like Quagsire's ability to bail me out if I let a setup sweeper get out of control, he is the pokemon that I would be most willing to replace on this team.
Heatran @ Leftovers
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 SDef / 252 HP / 4 SAtk
Calm Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Lava Plume
- Roar
- Protect
Heatran is one of the more common pokemon in OU and for good reason. He has such good utility and great typing, making him a mainstay of my defensive core. I switch heatran in when I get the opportunity and put rocks down. I use protect to ease prediction, and also to help stall out poisoned pokes. Lava plume is to threaten anything that doesn't like fire or burns and roar is used primarily offensively, forcing out whatever my opponent switches into heatran and racking up stealth rock damage. I used to run Air Balloon Heatran, but I find that I'd rather have the recovery provided by leftovers, as I have lots of pokemon that can switch in to ground type moves without thinking about it.
Dragonite @ Lum Berry
Ability: Multiscale
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 Atk / 4 HP
Adamant Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Extreme Speed
- Outrage
- Fire Punch
Dragonite is one of my favorite pokemon and serves as the only setup sweeper on the team. If I get off a dragon dance, outrage will tear through opposing teams whose fairies have already been put to rest. I only use outrage if I think it can win me the game, or if things are so dire that it's my only option. Extreme speed is very useful for picking off anything fast that is worn down enough to be picked off (with a dragon dance, anything faster than dragonite is going to have very a hard time taking an extremespeed). Fire punch is for steel types that would otherwise wall dragonite, but I've wondered if there might be a better option here? Let me know what you think.
Landorus-Therian (M) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 Atk / 4 HP
Jolly Nature
- U-turn
- Earthquake
- Knock Off
- Stone Edge
Landorus-T with a choice scarf outspeeds almost everything you'll see in OU. U-turn is for scouting purposes, while earthquake and stone edge are typical choice fair for landorus. Knock off is the only unconventional choice here, but I like it for it's ability to cripple pokemon that are reliant on items that landorus would otherwise be relatively ineffective against. Also, seeing as my team is weak against psychic types, I thought knock off would be a good option. Knock off is another thing that I'm unsure about, so let me know if you have any ideas that might be more successful. I've used superpower in the past, and having a powerful fighting type move would be really useful, however, I hate locking in to superpower as it gives opponents a setup opportunity on the switch.
Jolteon @ Choice Specs
Ability: Volt Absorb
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 SAtk / 4 HP
Timid Nature
- Volt Switch
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Signal Beam
Specs Jolteon is extremely powerful and still has the ability to outspeed most of the unboosted metagame. Voltswitch and thunderbolt are obvious choices, and hidden power ice is to threaten pokemon that my team might otherwise have a hard time dealing with. Signal beam is just because jolteon's movepool isn't great and signal beam is pretty much the best option, giving me another way to hit psychic and dark types hard.
Thanks for taking a look at my team! Any feedback you have would be greatly appreciated!
