I haven't played Pokemon competitively since DPPt but I've been getting back into it with XY, so this is my attempt for an OU team.
Garchomp @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Rough Skin
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SDef
Impish Nature
- Earthquake
- Dragon Tail
- Stealth Rock
- Toxic
Lead Pokemon. I usually set up Stealth Rock unless it's going to be imminently killed. Then I use one of the other moves based on situation. Earthquake deals with stuff that is weak to it or is frail in general, and works against Steel types. Dragon Tail is the most useful, racking up Stealth Rock damage and hopefully dragging in Talonflame or Charizard before the opponent can get rid of Stealth Rock. Toxic isn't used very often but helps against things that don't really threaten Garchomp but don't suffer against Earthquake or Dragon Tail. The EVs are for bulk and come in very handy, since Chomp is often a 3HKO against unboosted stuff, which gives me an opening for Dragon Tail.
Chansey (F) @ Eviolite
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Def / 252 SDef
Bold Nature
- Soft-Boiled
- Heal Bell
- Thunder Wave
- Seismic Toss
I've experimented with Toxic and Wish on this set, but I liked this set best. Basically an average Chansey, walls special attackers or weak physical attackers while providing team support. I've actually found Chansey is best in two situations; cleaning up status/halting an attacker, and in late-game when I've KOd all of the opponent's physical attackers. I've won a few games just by letting Chansey wear down special attackers in the end. Soft-boiled for reliable healing, Heal Bell for team support, Thunder Wave for occasionally hurting sweepers like Greninja and Seismic Toss for some damage.
Wish was useful, but I found that Heal Bell was more useful, but Toxic clashed with Garchomp a bit and I found it better to have Thunder Wave in case of a Steel heavy team.
Mawile @ Mawilite
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 132 HP / 252 Atk / 124 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Play Rough
- Sucker Punch
- Iron Head
- Swords Dance
Physical sweeper role. The idea is to come in on something that either fears it or can't really hurt it, then get a Sword Dance boost. Often the counter is Talonflame or another frail sweeper, which can be killed with Sucker Punch, cleaning the road for a sweep. Play Rough is good STAB, Iron Head equally. The only problem I've found is that it can be hard to keep Mawile's HP up and it suffers from status, particularly burns. It can still get KOs with a burn, but the HP losses really add up.
In general I find that if Mawile can get set up, it can get 2-3 KOs reliably before attrition gets the better of it, but with luck it goes the distance.
Intimidate can often allow Mawile to survive a hit or, better, force a switch.
Tyranitar @ Assault Vest
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SDef
Sassy Nature
- Fire Blast
- Pursuit
- Crunch
- Rock Slide
Bulky on the special side, plus Sandstorm helps most of the team (+SpDef for Omastar, doesn't affect Mawile or Garchomp. Chansey can heal the damage and Staraptor doesn't live long enough to care). Usually I use this to check stuff like Charizard and Talonflame. Fire Blast is a nice surprise for Scizor and Ferrothorn should I have to face them, plus it has other occasional uses against Mega Venusaur and others. Crunch and Rock Slide are for STAB. I'm not convinced about Pursuit. I added it to catch sweepers on the way out, but I've found though testing that I hardly use it and I wondered about replacing it with Earthquake, which would find occasional benefit against Electric types.
Omastar @ White Herb
Ability: Swift Swim
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Modest Nature
- Shell Smash
- Hydro Pump
- Ice Beam
- Hidden Power [Grass]
Special sweeper. I don't usually have to resort to Omastar, which I use as a late-game sweeper. White Herb for Shell Smash, since in a Sandstorm especially Omastar can actually sponge a hit to get off Shell Smash, and losing defences off the bat would hinder this. Swift Swim is essentially useless, but I don't think any of the other abilities are better.
After a Shell Smash, the moves are just coverage. Hydro Pump has the power to KO some Heatrans unboosted (epsecially with Stealth Rock damage). HP Grass is possibly the best move because it surprises bulky waters (Vaporeon, Mega Blastoise) and often picks up a useful KO. Ice Beam deals with the usual threats plus Gliscor.
Staraptor @ Choice Band
Ability: Reckless
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature
- Brave Bird
- Double-Edge
- Close Combat
- Final Gambit
The final position is something of a wild card. Staraptor's main role is as a fighting-type deterrent and revenge killer, but it can also break annoying walls and shut down sweeps. I use Brave Bird 90% of the time and Close Combat 8%, with Final Gambit only used to kill really annoying stuff that would otherwise sweep the remains of my team. I've never actually needed to use Double-Edge in testing, but I can't think of any moves that would work better. EVs for Speed let it get in the punch before bulky tanks can reply, and Choice Band for power.
Through testing, the Pokemon I've had most difficulty with are Gliscor (Poison Heal, substitute protect etc.), Conkeldurr (usually if Staraptor can't kill it) and in general bulky things that I can't directly counter. There's a definite fighting weakness through the team which means that, should Staraptor go down, the team doesn't offer much resistance to Conkeldurr etc.
My win/loss record with the team (until this morning) was somewhere around 70% wins on the PS ladder, but the reason I made this RMT thread is because when battling this morning I lost six times consecutively (my previous worst was 3 successive losses), so I think the time has come for some advice on making improvements.
Thanks for your time.
Garchomp @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Rough Skin
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SDef
Impish Nature
- Earthquake
- Dragon Tail
- Stealth Rock
- Toxic
Lead Pokemon. I usually set up Stealth Rock unless it's going to be imminently killed. Then I use one of the other moves based on situation. Earthquake deals with stuff that is weak to it or is frail in general, and works against Steel types. Dragon Tail is the most useful, racking up Stealth Rock damage and hopefully dragging in Talonflame or Charizard before the opponent can get rid of Stealth Rock. Toxic isn't used very often but helps against things that don't really threaten Garchomp but don't suffer against Earthquake or Dragon Tail. The EVs are for bulk and come in very handy, since Chomp is often a 3HKO against unboosted stuff, which gives me an opening for Dragon Tail.
Chansey (F) @ Eviolite
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Def / 252 SDef
Bold Nature
- Soft-Boiled
- Heal Bell
- Thunder Wave
- Seismic Toss
I've experimented with Toxic and Wish on this set, but I liked this set best. Basically an average Chansey, walls special attackers or weak physical attackers while providing team support. I've actually found Chansey is best in two situations; cleaning up status/halting an attacker, and in late-game when I've KOd all of the opponent's physical attackers. I've won a few games just by letting Chansey wear down special attackers in the end. Soft-boiled for reliable healing, Heal Bell for team support, Thunder Wave for occasionally hurting sweepers like Greninja and Seismic Toss for some damage.
Wish was useful, but I found that Heal Bell was more useful, but Toxic clashed with Garchomp a bit and I found it better to have Thunder Wave in case of a Steel heavy team.
Mawile @ Mawilite
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 132 HP / 252 Atk / 124 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Play Rough
- Sucker Punch
- Iron Head
- Swords Dance
Physical sweeper role. The idea is to come in on something that either fears it or can't really hurt it, then get a Sword Dance boost. Often the counter is Talonflame or another frail sweeper, which can be killed with Sucker Punch, cleaning the road for a sweep. Play Rough is good STAB, Iron Head equally. The only problem I've found is that it can be hard to keep Mawile's HP up and it suffers from status, particularly burns. It can still get KOs with a burn, but the HP losses really add up.
In general I find that if Mawile can get set up, it can get 2-3 KOs reliably before attrition gets the better of it, but with luck it goes the distance.
Intimidate can often allow Mawile to survive a hit or, better, force a switch.
Tyranitar @ Assault Vest
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SDef
Sassy Nature
- Fire Blast
- Pursuit
- Crunch
- Rock Slide
Bulky on the special side, plus Sandstorm helps most of the team (+SpDef for Omastar, doesn't affect Mawile or Garchomp. Chansey can heal the damage and Staraptor doesn't live long enough to care). Usually I use this to check stuff like Charizard and Talonflame. Fire Blast is a nice surprise for Scizor and Ferrothorn should I have to face them, plus it has other occasional uses against Mega Venusaur and others. Crunch and Rock Slide are for STAB. I'm not convinced about Pursuit. I added it to catch sweepers on the way out, but I've found though testing that I hardly use it and I wondered about replacing it with Earthquake, which would find occasional benefit against Electric types.
Omastar @ White Herb
Ability: Swift Swim
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Modest Nature
- Shell Smash
- Hydro Pump
- Ice Beam
- Hidden Power [Grass]
Special sweeper. I don't usually have to resort to Omastar, which I use as a late-game sweeper. White Herb for Shell Smash, since in a Sandstorm especially Omastar can actually sponge a hit to get off Shell Smash, and losing defences off the bat would hinder this. Swift Swim is essentially useless, but I don't think any of the other abilities are better.
After a Shell Smash, the moves are just coverage. Hydro Pump has the power to KO some Heatrans unboosted (epsecially with Stealth Rock damage). HP Grass is possibly the best move because it surprises bulky waters (Vaporeon, Mega Blastoise) and often picks up a useful KO. Ice Beam deals with the usual threats plus Gliscor.
Staraptor @ Choice Band
Ability: Reckless
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature
- Brave Bird
- Double-Edge
- Close Combat
- Final Gambit
The final position is something of a wild card. Staraptor's main role is as a fighting-type deterrent and revenge killer, but it can also break annoying walls and shut down sweeps. I use Brave Bird 90% of the time and Close Combat 8%, with Final Gambit only used to kill really annoying stuff that would otherwise sweep the remains of my team. I've never actually needed to use Double-Edge in testing, but I can't think of any moves that would work better. EVs for Speed let it get in the punch before bulky tanks can reply, and Choice Band for power.
Through testing, the Pokemon I've had most difficulty with are Gliscor (Poison Heal, substitute protect etc.), Conkeldurr (usually if Staraptor can't kill it) and in general bulky things that I can't directly counter. There's a definite fighting weakness through the team which means that, should Staraptor go down, the team doesn't offer much resistance to Conkeldurr etc.
My win/loss record with the team (until this morning) was somewhere around 70% wins on the PS ladder, but the reason I made this RMT thread is because when battling this morning I lost six times consecutively (my previous worst was 3 successive losses), so I think the time has come for some advice on making improvements.
Thanks for your time.
