
The Original OU
Hello Folks, and welcome to another RMT. This one is a little tricky as the rules are changed from most standard games here or anywhere else!
Basically, my local game shop likes to run Pokemon Tournaments from time to time. Usually, they just do 3v3 Singles, but this time, they've decided to try running a 6v6 with the same rule set! This means the usual ban on Legendary/Event mons and Item Clause, but in a much larger 6 on 6 spread, which potentially changes a lot of things. They are also doing Double Elimination.
I decided to go with a pretty stand Rain team, but I predict there will be a lot of Sand as well, given what I know about my opponents from previous tournaments. Also expecting some Weatherless, so there's that, but I'm mainly looking to win this thing flat-out, so here we go with the team!
Team Preview:






In-Depth Look:





Trait: Drizzle
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SAtk / 252 Def
Bold Nature
- Toxic

- Scald

- Protect

- Perish Song

Just standard Defensive Toed here, but with a Calm nature. It was originally intended to be a Specially Defensive Toed, and at the moment I am too lazy to get another off of Pokecheck and redo EVs and levelling. Anyhow, Politoed is here to setup rain, possibly Toxic Stall a bit, and Perish Song is for setup sweepers to catch them early on. But mainly, it's just here to set rain and stay alive so the rest of my Rain Abusers can run through the opposing team. Not much else to say here.





Trait: Swift Swim
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 SAtk / 4 SDef
Modest Nature
- Hydro Pump

- Surf

- Dragon Pulse

- Ice Beam

Specs Kingdra. One of the main reasons Drizzle and Swift Swim are now banned in OU. This guy is a monster, and whatever resists his dual STAB will be severely dented, which is pretty much just Ferrothorn I believe. And I can take care of him with either Thundy or even Excadrill if need be. I could also change Politoed to a Scarf set as a lure, but I'm iffy on that right now. I like the semi-stall action Defensive Toed brings to kill momentum.





Trait: Levitate
EVs: 252 SAtk / 252 Spd / 4 HP
Timid Nature
- Draco Meteor

- Psyshock

- Surf

- Trick

TrickScarf Latios shits on almost everything, but especially on Sun, which has very few answers to it. This set allows me Dual STAB, psuedo-STAB from RainSurf, and Trick the scarf onto Walls like The Blobs. Draco Meteor brings a very fast Small Tactical Nuke to my team. Psyshock lets me hit Terrakion. Surf is Pseudo-STAB under rain, giving me a third very powerful attack to spam, and trick let's me cripple things. Timid to outspeed Jolly Scarfed Terrakion, as well as take advantage of its base 110 speed, even after the Scarf is gone.





Trait: Iron Barbs
EVs: 88 Def / 252 HP / 168 SpDef
Relaxed Nature
- Leech Seed

- Power Whip

- Stealth Rock

- Thunder Wave

Ferrobawse. I can't describe how much I love Ferrothorn. And in the rain, it becomes a nightmare to any team lacking a Fighting type or Focus Blast, which you can almost always see coming. TWave to cripple other fast Rain Sweepers, Seed to gain Recovery, something I lose due to the Item Clause of the GBU ruleset, and Stealth Rock, because 6v6 means lost of switching around, leaving opponents a bit more battered than usual. I'm not expecting a ton of hazard layers in this tour, as most are used to either VGC or 3mon battles, where anything more than SR is considered a wasted turn, but we will see. I might use Spikes on Ferro and put Rocks on Excadrill instead over Swords Dance. PWhip is my only attacking move, but it hits nice and hard when it doesn't decide to be a pain and miss its target. I could also use Gyro Ball, as with this spread, I hit a Maximum of 40 total Speed. There are level 15 mons that can outspeed me at 100. The only problem is that Steel isn't a great attacking move on a Grass Type who already hits Rock Types for SE damage, but the miss factor bothers me a bit.





Trait: Sand Rush
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 Atk / 4 HP
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake

- Swords Dance

- Rock Slide

- Rapid Spin

My ace-in-the-hole for Sand Teams. I felt that, should I lose the weather war somehow to a Sand Team, I'd most definitely need a backup plan. And here it is! Jolly Sand Rush Excadrill with a Life Orb and SD. It's also my Spinner, and possibly my Stealth Rock Setter depending on how I feel at the Tournament. Rock Slide over Stone Edge because lol StoneMiss. I hate missing, and in a Tournamnet setting, one miss could lose me the game. Jolly to troll the Adamant Excadrills, as well as retain some semblance of speed under Rain. I'm sure I could use something better here, but knowing I'll be facing sand means I should probably pack something to help. Kabutops could be an answer here as well, getting Water/Rock STAB, Swift Swim, Rapid Spin and Stealth Rock as well, but I will wait to see if Sand is going to be prevalent or not.





Trait: Prankster
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 SAtk / 4 HP
Timid Nature
IVs: 30 Atk / 30 Def
- Focus Blast

- Thunder Wave

- Thunderbolt

- Hidden Power (Ice)

Thundy-I is one of those mons that I don't get why it got banned in the first place while its brother Tornadus is in UU. It's a great check to a lot of thing, like Rain Ferrothorn, with Pseudo BoltBeam coverage and Prankster TWave to cripple any sort of threat to the team speed-wise so that Kingdra can clean house. It has great speed all by itself as well, and If I need to I can even run an Agility Set with Focus Sash or something silly like that to troll would-be threats.
Ideas and Possible Changes:
I'm having trouble deciding things on my last 3 slots at the moment. I'll give the original Sets I have and the possible combinations.
Original Sets:



Ferrothorn @ Rocky Helmet
Trait: Iron Barbs
EVs: 88 Def / 252 HP / 168 SpDef
Relaxed Nature
- Leech Seed
- Power Whip
- Stealth Rock
- Thunder Wave
Excadrill @ Life Orb
Trait: Sand Rush
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 Atk / 4 HP
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Swords Dance
- Rock Slide
- Rapid Spin
Thundurus @ Yache Berry
Trait: Prankster
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 SAtk / 4 HP
Timid Nature
IVs: 30 Atk / 30 Def
- Focus Blast
- Thunder Wave
- Thunder
- Hidden Power [Ice]
Trait: Iron Barbs
EVs: 88 Def / 252 HP / 168 SpDef
Relaxed Nature
- Leech Seed
- Power Whip
- Stealth Rock
- Thunder Wave
Excadrill @ Life Orb
Trait: Sand Rush
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 Atk / 4 HP
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Swords Dance
- Rock Slide
- Rapid Spin
Thundurus @ Yache Berry
Trait: Prankster
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 SAtk / 4 HP
Timid Nature
IVs: 30 Atk / 30 Def
- Focus Blast
- Thunder Wave
- Thunder
- Hidden Power [Ice]
Now from here I have several options I could take. The first one would be to trade Excadrill for the more Rain-Friendly Kabutops.


This swap is mainly in case I feel that I don't need the backup plan against Sand and just want to throw in another Swift Swim Abuser on the physical side, or if my opponents also go Rain Heavy instead of Sand Heavy.
Here are some possible sets I could run with Kabutops.
Kabutops @ Life Orb
Trait: Swift Swim
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 Spe / 4 HP
Adamant Nature
-Waterfall/Aqua Jet
-Swords Dance
-Protect/Stealth Rock
-Rapid Spin/Rock Slide
Basically, with Kabutops, I have a variety of choices. I could go for an offensive Spinner/Rocker like I already have with Excadrill, and still maintain a bit of pressure against Sand Teams, as Water STAB, whether it be Priority Aqua Jet or more powerful Waterfall, works wonders against everything accept Gastrodon, whom Ferrothorn cleans up anyhow. Now, I can also go for a Setup Sweeper type with Waterfall/Rock Slide/SD/Protect and play around with the last slot, making it either Protect, Rapid Spin, or Rocks. This opens up a few things for me here and there, but also open a few weaknesses, one being to enemy Thunder Spammers, as well as losing a Spinner, or losing Spikes, as if I lose Rocks on this slot, I'll be putting it on Ferrothorn instead. Any ideas here would be great, as I have a ton of options available here.
Trait: Swift Swim
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 Spe / 4 HP
Adamant Nature
-Waterfall/Aqua Jet
-Swords Dance
-Protect/Stealth Rock
-Rapid Spin/Rock Slide
Basically, with Kabutops, I have a variety of choices. I could go for an offensive Spinner/Rocker like I already have with Excadrill, and still maintain a bit of pressure against Sand Teams, as Water STAB, whether it be Priority Aqua Jet or more powerful Waterfall, works wonders against everything accept Gastrodon, whom Ferrothorn cleans up anyhow. Now, I can also go for a Setup Sweeper type with Waterfall/Rock Slide/SD/Protect and play around with the last slot, making it either Protect, Rapid Spin, or Rocks. This opens up a few things for me here and there, but also open a few weaknesses, one being to enemy Thunder Spammers, as well as losing a Spinner, or losing Spikes, as if I lose Rocks on this slot, I'll be putting it on Ferrothorn instead. Any ideas here would be great, as I have a ton of options available here.
My second option would be trading out Thundy-I for Thundy-T.


The set here would remain the same as far as moves and EVs are concerned. This would lose me Prankster TWave, but gains me more SpA for harder hits, as well as covering up the Electric Weakness I would gain by swapping Excadrill for Kabutops.
My final Switch option would be trading out Scarf Latios for Bulky Quiver Dance Rain Volcarona.


Bulky QD Volcarona is a solid check to Sun Teams, even more so than Scarf Latios. Doing this would free up my Choice Scarf to be used on something like Thundurus-T, but would lose me Leftovers on Politoed, which I'm sure I could find a replacement for item-wise. With 240 HP/252 Defense EVs, it can take a savage beating, and with a Timid Nature with 16 Speed EVs, it will still be nice and fast after a single QD. A set with QD/Roost/Hurricane/Fiery Dance will wreck just about any team without Heatran, who gets shit on by Kingdra even out of Sun, and by Politoed in it. This set is a Hybrid of the Bulk QD set and the Hurricane set, giving me a strong bulky bug with a lot of powerful STABs under Rain and Sun. As I'm looking at Sand too, I could pack Giga Drain or Bug Buzz over Hurricane and wreck Tyranitar as it tries to come in on me with Rock Slide or something related, as well as catching Terrakion off-guard. While this set needs a boost to get itself up to speed, keep in mind that even with no Speed investment, at +1, a Base 100 will outspeed Max Speed Base 110's, like Lati@s, and after 2, with this spread, will catch Base 110 Scarfers and beat them, so it's not a terrible waste of speed by any means.
But it would be much easier to not change the team up, as I like the ease of setup already, but by changing some Pokemon around, and moving some items, I might stand to gain something.
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That's basically it. I'm more confident going into this tournament than the last few, since it's a familiar format and I know some of the opponents styles already, but I'd still love any tips or advice you all have to offer.
I'm feeling like it will be reminiscent of very early BW1 OU, but with an Item Clause and no Sleep Clause, but we will see how it all plays out in the end.
Thanks for stopping by!