First Post At Smogon

[Mithril]

Here is my OU team, rate/criticize/change, do whatever you can to make this team better. I am open to all suggestions. However, this is a Wi-Fi team so Hidden Powers may be hard to come by, but they will be taken into account.

Swampert
Relaxed @ Leftovers
240 HP/216 Def/52 SpA
-Stealth Rock
-Earthquake
-Surf
-Ice Beam
Here is one of the most consistent leads out there. He throws up stealth rock which is a must, then either proceeds to attack or I switch out to the correct team member. I am considering using protet somewhere in the set. Grass weakness covered by Zapdos, Gengar, Metagross, and to a lesser extent Porygon2.

Zapdos
Timid @ Leftovers
252 HP/80 Def/176 Spe
-Thunderbolt
-Heat Wave
-Roost
-Thunder Wave
Zapdos is my counter to the ever popular Scizor and Lucario. He is also helpful for taking out Breloom by resisting both stab moves. Thunderbolt for STAB, Heat Wave for coverage, T-Wave for parahax and roost to heal off damage. Timid nature and evs to outrun Lucario. Ice weakness covered by Swampert and Metagross. Rock by Gengar, Metagross, and Swampert.

Porygon2
Bold @ Leftovers
228 HP/188 Def/96 SpA
-Thunderbolt
-Ice Beam
-Recover
-Toxic
Porygon2 is my DDMence and DDGyrados counter. He also counters Heatran and Jolteon with Trace. Thunderbolt to toke out Gyra, Ice Beam for Mence, Recover to heal off the damage and Toxic to spread status. His fighting weakness is covered by Gengar.

Starmie
Timid @ Leftovers.
136 HP/156 Def/216 Spe
-Rapid Spin
-Surf
-Thunderbolt
-Grass Knot
This used to be a Gengar, but then I realized that I needed a rapid spinner. I also changed the standard spinner set a little, and went with Grass Knot over Recover because I have never really been able to use it while using the spinner. Surf is for STAB and Thunderbolt is to handle the likes of Gyrados.

Gyarados @ Leftovers
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 156 Hp / 108 Hp / 100 Def / 144 Spe
Adamant nature (+Attack, -Special Attack)
~ Dragon Dance
~ Waterfall
~ Stone Edge
~ Taunt
Gyrados is a beast after he gets a Dragon Dance up. Waterfall for power physical STAB. Earthquake and Stone Edge to hit those who resist for more coverage. Went with Life Orb for power just to give him that extra boost in power. Eletric is taken care of by Swampert and Metagross, Rock by Gengar, Swampert, Metagross, and himself if they switch into him.

Edit: Changed Gyrados to a Bulkydos.

Metagross
Adament @ Leftovers
252 HP/236 Atk/12 Def/8 Spe
-Meteor Mash
-Earthquake
-Thunderpunch
-Ice Punch
Metagross is a very potent threat, but this is a little different because it is not choice. I went with Leftovers to give him more longevity, and also because I wanted to be able to switch between moves while still getting a boost, but help is needed on his item. Meteor Mash for STAB, Earthquake for steels, Thunderpunch for bulky waters, and Ice Punch for dragons locked on outrage. Ground and Fire are both resisted by Gyrados.

Credit for the images goes to www.arkeis.com.

So that is my team, and any help would be very much appreciated. Also, please keep in mind that this is a Wi-Fi team, so Hidden Powers may be hard to come by. Thanks for your time in reading and rating my team.
-Dukefan5

 

[E.A.]

First off, welcome to smogon.

Secondly, I would like to point at that your team has a rather significant weakness to Infernape, especially Nasty Plot variants. Another Pokemon that could give you trouble is Swampert, especially Rest-Talk variants that can negated P2's Toxic. A nice counter for these two is Starmie. Place Starmie over Gengar, with the following set:

Starmie @ Life Orb
-Hydro Pump / Surf
-Ice Beam
-Grass Knot
-Recover
Nature: Timid
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 SAtk / 4 HP
Ability: Natural Cure

Surf / Hydro Pump is really just a matter of preference; Surf is more reliable (accurate with more PPs,) but Hydro Pump does a lot more damage. Grass Knot is for Swampert, and Ice Beam is to prevent the ever dangerous Salamence from setting up on you (As well as for Grass types trying to suck up your feeble Grass Knots.)

Hope this helps.

 

[Imran]

I'd change Gyarados to a ResTalk (possibly shuffle) version. Metagross isn't really doing much for you, so perhaps you could change him to Forretress to get some hazards in and turn this into the stall team it really looks like it wants to be. Replacing Porygon 2 with Blisey might also be a good idea. Gengar might still work in such a team, it provides a check to Infernape (but Bulky Gyara should be able to handle him well anyway) and can clean up at the end. If you find yourself having trouble with DDGyara / Mence though, consider changing Gengar to either a scarf version, or a defensive (Thunderwave) Celebi.

Just a few changes will turn this team from "the team that sits there and doesn't do very much," to one that has at least a small semblance of a plan =)

 

[Snorlaxe]

Hello, and welcome to Smogon! =)

I think that your team would greatly benifit from changing your Gyarados set to a BulkyDos. Bulky Gyarados can still sweep magnificently with Dragon Dance, but has a lot more longevity than other sets. Here is the according set:

Gyarados @ Leftovers
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 156 Hp / 108 Hp / 100 Def / 144 Spe
Adamant nature (+Attack, -Special Attack)
~ Dragon Dance
~ Waterfall
~ Stone Edge
~ Taunt

Bulky Gyarados is an extremely underrated threat in today's OU metagame, easily capable of getting at least two Dragon Dances under its belt (provided your opponent's electric type is out of commision). The trick is to do something like switching in on a Choice-locked Earthquake (thankfully there are loads of these thanks to Flygon), and set up a Dragon Dance on the switch. Depending on who switches in, you can either attack or Dragon Dance again. Waterfall is strong, consistent STAB, Stone Edge is your primary weapon against flyers and dragons (except for Latias), and Taunt is a fantastic move for preventing the opponent from crippling you with Will-O-Wisp or Hypnosis.

Bulky Gyarados (like all Gyarados sets) greatly benifits from having Stealth Rock cleared, and for that reason, which is why I agree that you should add a Starmie to your team. However, replace one of the moves (probably Grass Knot) with Rapid Spin, and if you would like, add some Hp EVs. However, if you arent interested in getting rid of Gengar, by all means, you dont need to.

Hope I helped, and good luck! =)

 

[Witnessed]

With two Pokemon weak to Stealth Rock, I think you will benefit from a Rapid Spinner. I think Forretress is your best option. Slap him in Metagross's postion.

Forretress@ Shed Shell
Sturdy
Careful
252 HP/252 Sp. Defense/4 Defense

Payback
Spikes/Toxic Spikes
Earthquake/Explosion
Rapid Spin

There you go. This EV spread allows you too take Special hits better, like Shadow Ball, Draco Meteor. Forry will help Gyarados and Zapdos out. Payback works well if the opponent's against OU's most common Rapid Spinner, Starmie.

Hope I helped, and Good Luck.

 

[Mithril]

Ok, first of all thank you for all the rates. Secondly, I think I will change gyrados to the bulky dos. I also was considering a spinner but was not sure where to put one. However I think using rapid spin starmie makes some sense to me over gengar. Does this seem like it would help the team out? And thank you for all the rates.

 

[Mithril]

Bump, I was wondering if anybody had any ideas about the thought of changing gengar into a rapid spin starmie, as two of my six are weak to stealth rock. Thanks for the rates once again.

 

[Snorlaxe]

I defintely would change Gengar to Rapid Spin Starmie, as you retain the ability to be a powerful special attacker, but you can Spin away Rocks too. Am I correct in guessing that Gyarados is dying sooner than you would like thanks to Rocks? Starmie would fix that.

Good luck =)

 

[Mithril]

Yeah, Gyrados is just not surviving long enough when I am forced to switch him in and out. Also, Zapdos is struggling to constantly switch when I need to counter Scizor or Lucario. So I think I am going to go with Starmie:
Timid @ Leftovers
136 HP/156 Def/216 Spe
-Rapid Spin
-Grass Knot
-Surf
-Thunderbolt