So I thought it was about time for me to get into the XY metagame. This is my first OU team, so there's bound to be some holes in it. After some brief testing though, it seems to be able to hold its own most of the time. Anyways, this team is based around sweeping with Mega-Gyarados, which is awesome and definitely one of my favorite Megas this generation. Everything else is designed to let it do well. I'm up for replacement suggestions if there are other Pokemon that can help out my team more, but I'd like to keep Mega-Gyarados.
At a Glance
So at a glance, this team plays pretty stally. Most of the team is very defensive, and I'm mainly looking to slowly wear down the opponent's team, as well as for safe opportunities to sneak Gothitelle in and pick something off. Late game, when everything is sufficiently worn down, and his counters are removed, I can sweep with Mega-Gyarados.
Gyarados @ Gyaradosite
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Waterfall
- Earthquake
- Substitute
The star of the show, and usually how I win most of my games. I try not to bring Gyarados in too frequently, trying to preserve him for a late game sweep, but sometimes he needs to come in to check something with Intimidate. If I need him to check something the opponent has, I try to refrain from megavolving him until I really want to try for the sweep, since regular Gyarados has a better defensive ability and typing, and I try to pass him Wishes with Clefable to keep him healthy when he tries to sweep.
Anyways, onto the moveset. Dragon Dance, Waterfall, and Earthquake are all pretty standard. For the last slot, I use Substitute over Ice Fang because I don't really see a need for Ice Fang with this team. The two main things that Ice Fang deals with, in my mind, are Dragonite and Mega-Venusaur. Gothitelle traps and kills Mega-Venusaur pretty reliably, so I don't have to worry about him too much, and Clefable can come in against most Dragonite sets repeatedly, which means I don't really have to rely on Gyarados to kill him. Using Substitute instead lets me set up against bulky waters who can't really touch Gyarados and usually rely on Scald to burn it, as well as other weak status-mons who can't really do anything back. If I manage to set up a sub on the switch, I also don't get my sweep neutered by Prankster Thundurus.
The EVs are pretty standard. I just stole them from the Analysis page. Since I don't really need to be outrunning and beating Dragonite, maybe I can cut some speed and invest in HP? That would probably be helpful, but I honestly have no idea what spread to run.
Gothitelle @ Choice Specs
Ability: Shadow Tag
EVs: 32 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpA / 220 Spe
Modest Nature
- Psyshock
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Thunderbolt
- Trick
Gothitelle was the second pokemon I added to my team. Mainly because I looked in the Good Cores thread and saw, "hey Mega-Dos + Gothitelle is strong". She's been doing pretty decently for me so far, but she's very swingy. In some matchups she's basically vital to victory, eliminating a key enemy mon such as Ferrothorn or Venusaur. Other matchups though, she just sits around uselessly or dies without getting anything done.
Anyways, moveset and EV wise she's pretty standard. Psyshock hits Venusaur hard, and Conkeldurr if I really need him gone. HP Fire kills Ferro (and Scizor, if I need to). Thunderbolt is good coverage and nails waters hard. And Trick is for crippling Chansey. I don't really need Energy Ball for killing Quagsire, since I have sub on Gyarados. Gyarados can just set up in Quagsire's face behind a sub, and then mega-evolve to get around Unaware and wreck him. EVs were just stolen from the Analysis.
Ferrothorn @ Leftovers
Ability: Iron Barbs
EVs: 252 HP / 88 Def / 168 SpD
Relaxed Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Leech Seed
- Stealth Rock
- Power Whip
- Gyro Ball
The third pokemon I added to my team. Ferrothorn synergizes very well with regular Gyarados defensively, checks a few stuff that are annoying to deal with, and sets up rocks. That's basically mostly what he's good for.
His moveset is pretty standard. Rocks are a must, since they're basically the best move in the game. Leech Seed is annoying and gives extra recovery. Power Whip hits waters that he loves switching into hard, and Gyro Ball nails fast threats. I considered running Rocky Helmet over Leftovers, but I don't know about giving up the extra recovery from Leftovers. It really helps him be more self sufficient. EV's are standard, although I've been tempted to run a more defensive spread instead of specially defensive.
Clefable @ Leftovers
Ability: Unaware
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpA
Bold Nature
- Moonblast
- Aromatherapy
- Wish
- Protect
I added Clefable on my team since I felt like I needed a cleric, as well as something to handle all the setup sweepers that are running around.
In a lot of my battles stuff like Ferrothorn and Rotom-W randomly eat burns switching in on stuff like Scald, so Aromatherapy really helps with their longevity. Wish is really good as well, again keeping my primary defensive mons, Ferrothorn and Rotom-W, alive. It also helps in case I need to use Gyarados early. I can Wish him back up to a decent HP and sweep with him later in the game, and it lets Scizor live longer to continue his defogging duties. Unaware and maximum defensive investment are used because I really need something to deal with setup sweepers like Dragonite and Zard-X (my team is still a little Zard-X weak even with Clefable).
Scizor @ Iron Plate
Ability: Technician
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 SpD
Adamant Nature
- U-turn
- Bullet Punch
- Knock Off
- Defog
So, Scizor brings a couple of things to the table that I don't have. First, he removes rocks and stuff with Defog, which is great. Secondly, he brings priority to the team in case I really need to kill something, and lastly he's a great pivot with U-turn, allowing me to bring in Gothitelle safely and wreck something.
The EV spread is the standard Scizor spread, maximizing bulk while still being able to hit hard. Moveset-wise, U-turn and Bullet Punch are pretty obvious, and on basically every Scizor set. Defog because I really need something to remove hazards. For the last slot I decided to go with Knock Off. It's a great move, and often times when I don't know what to do (and I don't want to use U-turn) I just find myself spamming Knock Off. I also toyed around with the idea of Pursuit instead, but I felt that without a Band, I don't hit hard enough to warrant using it. I decided to go with Iron Plate on Scizor because it helps Bullet Punch hit harder, so I can still check the fast threats that I need to deal with. Also, unlike Choice Band, it doesn't lock me into Defog, and unlike Life Orb it doesn't damage me randomly (which I think is pretty detrimental considering Scizor will be coming in on rocks and stuff a lot to remove them).
Rotom-Wash @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 248 HP / 4 SpA / 212 SpD / 44 Spe
Calm Nature
- Volt Switch
- Hydro Pump
- Will-O-Wisp
- Pain Split
The last member of my team. He forms a VoltTurn core with Scizor, helping me bring in Gothitelle safely (he works really well because Grass types that stop Gyarados love switching in on him, letting me Volt Switch to Gothitelle and kill them). He also helps check a couple of threats that need to be dealt with. He's basically an all-around solid player, and definitely one of the more useful members of the team.
Anyways, Rotom-W's moveset is pretty bog standard. Volt Switch provides momentum, Hydro Pump is a great water STAB, and Will-O-Wisp burns things so that I can take less physical damage (which is nice because I'm running a specially defensive set). Pain Split is there because I can think of nothing more important to run, though I really am considering running something else. I find myself rarely actually using Pain Split, and with Wish on Clefable, healing is a little less important on Rotom-W. Maybe Thunder Wave to deal with Zard-X, or Thunderbolt for stronger STAB? (Or even HP Ice for Dragons. I noticed I don't really have very many good things to do to the Lati Twins).
EV wise, I chose a specially defensive spread over a physically defensive one because I felt like my team lacked good checks to certain fast special attackers (mainly stuff like Lando, Thundurus, and Mega-Manectric). He's also a pretty decent answer to most Greninja, so I don't have to rely on Gyarados as my only real check to the type changing frog. Investing in special defense instead of defense does leave me a little weak to Talonflame if Rotom is weakened, since he can't take a Brave Bird as well, so I have to play a bit carefully if I see one on the enemy team. If Rotom-W is too weak to deal with Talonflame, I guess as a last resort I can use Gyarados to scare it away. Though that will leave him horribly weakened if he eats a Brave Bird.
Problems?
I haven't ran into that much that can't be played around, but the biggest thing that makes my team sad, that I noticed, is this fool, which is sort of an issue because he's everywhere.
The least annoying set, in my opinion, is the bulky DD set, since it usually doesn't run anything stronger than Fire Punch/EQ, so I can sort of stall it out with Clefable. It's still a huge pain in the ass though. The offensive DD set tears huge holes in my team, since Flare Blitz 2HKOs Clefable, but is worn down easily, so it usually doesn't wreck more than 2 pokemon, give or take. The defensive WoW set is probably the worst one for me. My team doesn't really handle it very well at all, and Will-O-Wisp has more PP than Aromatherapy.
I'm relatively inexperienced, so I can't think of any great ways to handle Charizard X off the top of my head without opening up other holes in my team though. So for now, that's just one of the problems that I have.
At a Glance
So at a glance, this team plays pretty stally. Most of the team is very defensive, and I'm mainly looking to slowly wear down the opponent's team, as well as for safe opportunities to sneak Gothitelle in and pick something off. Late game, when everything is sufficiently worn down, and his counters are removed, I can sweep with Mega-Gyarados.
Gyarados @ Gyaradosite
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Waterfall
- Earthquake
- Substitute
The star of the show, and usually how I win most of my games. I try not to bring Gyarados in too frequently, trying to preserve him for a late game sweep, but sometimes he needs to come in to check something with Intimidate. If I need him to check something the opponent has, I try to refrain from megavolving him until I really want to try for the sweep, since regular Gyarados has a better defensive ability and typing, and I try to pass him Wishes with Clefable to keep him healthy when he tries to sweep.
Anyways, onto the moveset. Dragon Dance, Waterfall, and Earthquake are all pretty standard. For the last slot, I use Substitute over Ice Fang because I don't really see a need for Ice Fang with this team. The two main things that Ice Fang deals with, in my mind, are Dragonite and Mega-Venusaur. Gothitelle traps and kills Mega-Venusaur pretty reliably, so I don't have to worry about him too much, and Clefable can come in against most Dragonite sets repeatedly, which means I don't really have to rely on Gyarados to kill him. Using Substitute instead lets me set up against bulky waters who can't really touch Gyarados and usually rely on Scald to burn it, as well as other weak status-mons who can't really do anything back. If I manage to set up a sub on the switch, I also don't get my sweep neutered by Prankster Thundurus.
The EVs are pretty standard. I just stole them from the Analysis page. Since I don't really need to be outrunning and beating Dragonite, maybe I can cut some speed and invest in HP? That would probably be helpful, but I honestly have no idea what spread to run.
Gothitelle @ Choice Specs
Ability: Shadow Tag
EVs: 32 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpA / 220 Spe
Modest Nature
- Psyshock
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Thunderbolt
- Trick
Gothitelle was the second pokemon I added to my team. Mainly because I looked in the Good Cores thread and saw, "hey Mega-Dos + Gothitelle is strong". She's been doing pretty decently for me so far, but she's very swingy. In some matchups she's basically vital to victory, eliminating a key enemy mon such as Ferrothorn or Venusaur. Other matchups though, she just sits around uselessly or dies without getting anything done.
Anyways, moveset and EV wise she's pretty standard. Psyshock hits Venusaur hard, and Conkeldurr if I really need him gone. HP Fire kills Ferro (and Scizor, if I need to). Thunderbolt is good coverage and nails waters hard. And Trick is for crippling Chansey. I don't really need Energy Ball for killing Quagsire, since I have sub on Gyarados. Gyarados can just set up in Quagsire's face behind a sub, and then mega-evolve to get around Unaware and wreck him. EVs were just stolen from the Analysis.
Ferrothorn @ Leftovers
Ability: Iron Barbs
EVs: 252 HP / 88 Def / 168 SpD
Relaxed Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Leech Seed
- Stealth Rock
- Power Whip
- Gyro Ball
The third pokemon I added to my team. Ferrothorn synergizes very well with regular Gyarados defensively, checks a few stuff that are annoying to deal with, and sets up rocks. That's basically mostly what he's good for.
His moveset is pretty standard. Rocks are a must, since they're basically the best move in the game. Leech Seed is annoying and gives extra recovery. Power Whip hits waters that he loves switching into hard, and Gyro Ball nails fast threats. I considered running Rocky Helmet over Leftovers, but I don't know about giving up the extra recovery from Leftovers. It really helps him be more self sufficient. EV's are standard, although I've been tempted to run a more defensive spread instead of specially defensive.
Clefable @ Leftovers
Ability: Unaware
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpA
Bold Nature
- Moonblast
- Aromatherapy
- Wish
- Protect
I added Clefable on my team since I felt like I needed a cleric, as well as something to handle all the setup sweepers that are running around.
In a lot of my battles stuff like Ferrothorn and Rotom-W randomly eat burns switching in on stuff like Scald, so Aromatherapy really helps with their longevity. Wish is really good as well, again keeping my primary defensive mons, Ferrothorn and Rotom-W, alive. It also helps in case I need to use Gyarados early. I can Wish him back up to a decent HP and sweep with him later in the game, and it lets Scizor live longer to continue his defogging duties. Unaware and maximum defensive investment are used because I really need something to deal with setup sweepers like Dragonite and Zard-X (my team is still a little Zard-X weak even with Clefable).
Scizor @ Iron Plate
Ability: Technician
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 SpD
Adamant Nature
- U-turn
- Bullet Punch
- Knock Off
- Defog
So, Scizor brings a couple of things to the table that I don't have. First, he removes rocks and stuff with Defog, which is great. Secondly, he brings priority to the team in case I really need to kill something, and lastly he's a great pivot with U-turn, allowing me to bring in Gothitelle safely and wreck something.
The EV spread is the standard Scizor spread, maximizing bulk while still being able to hit hard. Moveset-wise, U-turn and Bullet Punch are pretty obvious, and on basically every Scizor set. Defog because I really need something to remove hazards. For the last slot I decided to go with Knock Off. It's a great move, and often times when I don't know what to do (and I don't want to use U-turn) I just find myself spamming Knock Off. I also toyed around with the idea of Pursuit instead, but I felt that without a Band, I don't hit hard enough to warrant using it. I decided to go with Iron Plate on Scizor because it helps Bullet Punch hit harder, so I can still check the fast threats that I need to deal with. Also, unlike Choice Band, it doesn't lock me into Defog, and unlike Life Orb it doesn't damage me randomly (which I think is pretty detrimental considering Scizor will be coming in on rocks and stuff a lot to remove them).
Rotom-Wash @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 248 HP / 4 SpA / 212 SpD / 44 Spe
Calm Nature
- Volt Switch
- Hydro Pump
- Will-O-Wisp
- Pain Split
The last member of my team. He forms a VoltTurn core with Scizor, helping me bring in Gothitelle safely (he works really well because Grass types that stop Gyarados love switching in on him, letting me Volt Switch to Gothitelle and kill them). He also helps check a couple of threats that need to be dealt with. He's basically an all-around solid player, and definitely one of the more useful members of the team.
Anyways, Rotom-W's moveset is pretty bog standard. Volt Switch provides momentum, Hydro Pump is a great water STAB, and Will-O-Wisp burns things so that I can take less physical damage (which is nice because I'm running a specially defensive set). Pain Split is there because I can think of nothing more important to run, though I really am considering running something else. I find myself rarely actually using Pain Split, and with Wish on Clefable, healing is a little less important on Rotom-W. Maybe Thunder Wave to deal with Zard-X, or Thunderbolt for stronger STAB? (Or even HP Ice for Dragons. I noticed I don't really have very many good things to do to the Lati Twins).
EV wise, I chose a specially defensive spread over a physically defensive one because I felt like my team lacked good checks to certain fast special attackers (mainly stuff like Lando, Thundurus, and Mega-Manectric). He's also a pretty decent answer to most Greninja, so I don't have to rely on Gyarados as my only real check to the type changing frog. Investing in special defense instead of defense does leave me a little weak to Talonflame if Rotom is weakened, since he can't take a Brave Bird as well, so I have to play a bit carefully if I see one on the enemy team. If Rotom-W is too weak to deal with Talonflame, I guess as a last resort I can use Gyarados to scare it away. Though that will leave him horribly weakened if he eats a Brave Bird.
Problems?
I haven't ran into that much that can't be played around, but the biggest thing that makes my team sad, that I noticed, is this fool, which is sort of an issue because he's everywhere.
The least annoying set, in my opinion, is the bulky DD set, since it usually doesn't run anything stronger than Fire Punch/EQ, so I can sort of stall it out with Clefable. It's still a huge pain in the ass though. The offensive DD set tears huge holes in my team, since Flare Blitz 2HKOs Clefable, but is worn down easily, so it usually doesn't wreck more than 2 pokemon, give or take. The defensive WoW set is probably the worst one for me. My team doesn't really handle it very well at all, and Will-O-Wisp has more PP than Aromatherapy.
I'm relatively inexperienced, so I can't think of any great ways to handle Charizard X off the top of my head without opening up other holes in my team though. So for now, that's just one of the problems that I have.
