First RMT Post

[Goldenratt]

Intoroduction:
As this is my first post I feel a need to give myself a short introduction; I'm (the) Goldenratt on everything I play, but recently I've devoted myself to learning competitive Pokemon. As such, I've spent a month or so lurking and watching team rates... quietly compiling information.

Team Building Process (It's a long one):
Draft One:

During my observations I have seen people say that teams are weak to DDMence numerous times, that and having all of my Empoleon teams before this flattened recently pushed me to base a team off of DDMence, but all-and-all maintain an offensive swing.

After selecting a team based of Mence I quickly looked at his options for synergy: Jirachi and Metagross. I wanted to use Metagross as a revenge killer/lead so he ran a "different" set.​

Mence's page also notes clearly that he hates stealth rock, so I gave him a spinner.​

It also said that he didn't like steels and that Magnezone made great support, I put him on the team and found this to be very, very true.​

Again, staying true to the Strategy Dex I opted for some wish support. Because I already had a Steel/Psychic I put Jirachi away and also opted for a bulkier Fire-Resist​

With Metagross laying down spikes for me and Mence <3ing them to such an extent I wanted to keep them around, so I brought in Rotom.​

This version worked pretty well, but needed some reworking: Metagross wasn't doing very well as a lead, Vaporeon and Starmie were running near-identical sets, Rotom was seldom used (because I never got rocks up).

Draft Two:

I kept theese four members as they seemed to be working well, minus Metagross, whom I just had faith in.​

I brought in Heatran because I wanted another Special threat, a reliable SRer and an Anti-Lead. I also changed gross to an Agilligross.​

I decided that my choice against Jirachi earlier was wrong, and with a true fire-resist now lurking around I was free to bring it in as a Wisher.​

After just a little bit of tinkering I found that Metagross was doing very little and that I was constantly being swept with ground attacks. Gyara gives me a fighting resist and another ground immunity that prevents me from revealing my trump card.​

The Team:

Heatran @ Shuca Berry
Nature: Timid
Ability: Flash Fire
4 HP / 252 Spe / 252 S.Atk
Stealth Rock
Fire Blast
Earth Power
Hidden Power (Grass)

For my Leadtran I used a combination of the standard version, as well as the scarf one. I usually sweep as deep as possible into the other team's roster at which point I do my best to drop down rocks before being KO'ed or (prefferably) switching out.

Salamence @ Life Orb
Nature: Naughty
Ability: Intimidate
HP 4 / Atk 252 / Spe 252
Dragon Dance
Fire Blast
Earthquake
Outrage

This is the first team that I've built which uses Salamence to its full potential and I am astounded at its power. This thing has the power to tear through teams and has literally won me games out of 6v1's. I do my best to switch this in late-game on a ground attack after having cleared spikes, and as often as ground attacks are pointed at my team, this isn't to great of a task.

Starmie @ Leftovers
Nature: Timid
Ability: Natural Cure
HP 136 / Def 156 / Spe 216
Rapid Spin
Surf
Thunderbolt
Recover

I usually bring in Starmie directly after Heatran, as clearing spikes early is very important for Gyara and Mence who both lose 25% of their health to it which very seriously limit their sweeping abilities. I do waht I can to get a Spin in, Recover and be able to come back later.

Magnezone @ Leftovers
Nature: Modest
Ability: Magnet Pull
HP 172 / Spe 84 / S.Atk 252
Thunderbolt
Magnet Rise
Substitute
Hidden Power (Ice)

With all of the Steels running around this little bot runs a riot. It's very easy to bring him in on any steel (duh) and begin sweeping until I can draw a Ground move to bring in Mence or Gyara on. Although I use Zone to draw ground attacks I keep Magnet Rise on there in case both are fainted as just runnign BoltBeam has given it plenty of sweeps.

Jirachi @ Leftovers
Nature: Impish
Ability: Serene Grace
HP 240 / Def 160 / Spe 32 / S.Def 76
Wish
U-Turn
Body Slam
Iron Head

If I haven't already cleared SR, but I'm ready to bring in Mence Jirachi does a great job at Wish Passing, but also does a good job spreading Para beforehand. Effectively diabling alot of Mence's threats.

Gyarados @ Leftovers
Nature: Adamant
Ability: Intimidate
HP 4 / Atk 252 / Spe 252
Dragon Dance
Waterfall
Earthquake
Stone Edge

Gyara usually does an outstanding job of coming in and taking out 1 ~ 3 pokemon, therfor allowing me to bring in Jirachi and start preparing for the main event, a Mence sweep. The fact that Gyara sets up on so many different things is what really stands out for me about using it. And I love it.

A Final Glance

 

[Sheshi]

Just a few suggestions.

On Salamence, I suggest you use 232 ATK and 20 SPA EV's. This means Fire Blast can 2HKO Skarmory.

On Jirachi, I suggest using an Adamant Nature to increase the damage, making it that much easier for Salamence to sweep.

Finally, on Gyarados. If you want to use Leftovers, I suggest replacing Earthquake with Bounce and Stone Edge for Taunt. Tauntdos is really lots of fun and can use leftovers better. If you don't want to swing that way, I suggest using a LOdos IE changing Stone Edge for Ice Fang and equipping a Life Orb

 

[Goldenratt]

Okay, I will definitely try out a Tauntdos, as well as changing Mence's EVs around. Thanks.

 

[iShedinja]

Well, Seshi covered most of that. Anyways,

On jirachi, I'd suggest that you change it to the physical choiced set

Jirachi @ Choice scarf
Jolly | 80 HP / 252 Atk / 176 Spe
Iron head , Fire punch , Ice punch , U-turn

This gives you a much needed revenge killer. This little guy also counters Latias, whom counters Gyarados.

On magnezone, I'd like it for you to change the EVs and Nature to:
40 atk / 252 sp.atk / 216 spe @ Naiive | substitute , hidden pwoer ice , t-bolt , explosion
This will allow you to out speed majority of steal pokemon, notable metagross. And, you can use explosion on blissey, who can cause this team some stress.

 

[Snorlaxe]

Hi there

I like this team, but there are a few kinks to work out. First off, I think that you should consider using a Life Orb Rapid Spin Starmie. The current Starmie set, while good, fails to make a lasting impression on the opposing team aside from spinning away Rocks etc. Life Orb Starmie packs quite a bit of power and hits everything switching into it very hard, as well as retaining the ability to spin. Use a set of Rapid Spin, Hydro Pump, Ice Beam, Thunderbolt, a Timid nature, and an EV spread of 4 Hp / 252 SpA / 252 Spe. The main reason to be using Hydro Pump over Surf is for overall higher damage output, as well as being able to hit Rotom-A much harder, a common switchin to all forms of Starmie. Ice Beam hits Pokemon like Salamence, while Thunderbolt handles Gyarados. It would be great to fit in Recover somewhere on this set but sadly there really is no room. :(

Now I think that instead of the current Magnezone set....you might want to try using a Scarf Magnezone. This team is currently very weak to Jolly Stone Edge Lucario. Your only real hope to stopping him is to lower his attack with Gyarados and Salamences' intimidate, but that isn't what one would call a sound "check" to one of the most dangerous Pokemon in OU. Use a spread of 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe, a Naive nature, and a set of Thunderbolt, Flash Cannon, Hidden Power Ice, and Explosion (item obviously Choice Scarf). Scarf Magnezone is effective at taking out the ever-dangerous Lucario while still being able to trap and KO Skarmory, Foretress, Bronzong, Scizor, etc. Hidden Power Ice allows you to also hit Salamence that may be trying to set up a Dragon Dance. A Naive nature is used to raise speed but not lower the power of Explosion, which is a great last-ditch move against powerful threats with a lot of stat boosts.

On Salamence, use a Naive nature over a Naughty one to boost its speed; Speed is generally more important than attack, and Salamence's attack is already so high that the boost is better applied in Speed. Also, move 24 EVs from Atk into SpA so that Salamence can 2HKO Bronzong with Fire Blast. Lastly, use Thunder Wave on Jirachi instead of Body Slam so that you can paralyze Gengar, who is currently a big threat to this team.

Good luck! ;)