Graviteam! [My First OU Team]

[furbolgy]

Intro:

I've been lurking around these forums for a while now and trying to pick up the game in my spare time. This is the first team I have ever made for competitive battling and it has brought me varied success after trying it out on Shoddy. I wanted to make a team that could perform well without Gravity, but better with. I believe that this is what has caused this field effect to become so elusive. It should still be able to do something in the event that Gravity cannot be set up in time. The team has dramatically changed since its first inception and I was hoping to be able to improve it even further. It started as a team with a Weavile anti-lead, two Gravity users, and a physical, mixed, and special sweeper - just to get an idea of how much change has occured. Here goes!

EDITS IN RED! ADDED A "TEAM BUILDING PROCESS SECTION!"

THE GRAVITEAM AT A GLANCE:

IN DEPTH:

Metagross @ Lum Berry
Ability: Clear Body
Nature: Adamant
EVs: 252 HP/236 Atk/12 Def/8 Spe

- Stealth Rock
- Meteor Mash
- Bullet Punch
- Explosion

I used to use a LO Mixed Metagross on this team. It worked, but it was tough to find a proper time to switch it in. Stealth Rock is needed to help Mamoswine sweep later, and it's overall one of the better moves to lead with. I put a Lum berry for sleeping leads like Roserade and Smeargle who die to a Meteor Mash + Bullet Punch. Other than that, this just serves to set up Stealth Rocks as quickly as possible, and possibly come in at a later time or Explode on a threatening Pokemon.

Jirachi @ Leftovers
Ability: Serene Grace
Nature: Timid
EVs: 252 HP/80 SpA/ 176 Spe (Thanks ThePowerWithin for catching this!)

- Gravity
- Wish
- Thunder
- U-Turn

Jirachi is my first Gravity user. This is one of the few Pokemon that can set up Gravity, and in my opinion, does so better than the rest. U-Turn allows it to switch to a counter. If Gravity is not needed, Jirachi can instead be used for Wish support. Thunder is helpful because of its 60% paralysis chance with Serene Grace. I used to have Body Slam in its place, but Gravity increases accuracy of Thunder, allowing for a stronger paralyzing move than Body Slam. When playing, I try to reveal Gravity as late as possible so they don't suspect anything.

Salamence @ Life Orb
Ability: Intimidate
Nature: Naive
Evs: 232 Atk/24 SpA/252 Spe

- Dragon Dance
- Dragon Rush
- Crunch
- Fire Blast

Credits to Friar for this Salamence! Dragon Rush's accuracy dramatically increases under the effects of Gravity and gives the sweeper power of Outrage without the negative side effects. If I can get Gravity and a single Dragon Dance, this thing can easily sweep as well as my Mamoswine. Fire Blast is strong and powerful without gravity - under the effects of Gravity, Fire Blast's accuracy is as high as Flamethrower's. Crunch is here for helping against Rotom forms and Cresselia - major threats to the wellbeing of this team.

Mamoswine @ Life Orb
Ability: Snow Cloak
Nature: Jolly
EVs: 40 HP/252 Atk/216 Spe

- Earthquake
- Ice Shard
- Stone Edge /Blizzard
- Superpower /Blizzard

Mamoswine is my favorite sweeper, with immunity to both Sandstorm and Hail. It's longevity isn't lost due to this residual damage. This set hits nearly everything relatively hard, and with gravity support, can be a real pain to get rid of. Mamoswine is the Pokemon that inspired me to create this Gravity team. Blizzard was suggested to me to use over Superpower as it's only really useful against Bronzong. Blizzard also can OHKO Gliscor and can 2HKO Skarmory with no SpD Ev's. I still like Superpower and it's helped me out of tight situations, though. Should I put Blizzard over Stone Edge - I have rarely ever had to use it. Suggestions appreciated!

Starmie @ Life Orb
Ability: Natural Cure
Nature: Timid
EVs: 4 HP/252 SpA/252 Spe

- Blizzard
- Hydro Pump
- Thunder
- Recover

Okay so the "standard" LO starmie uses the following moveset: Hydro Pump, Thunderbolt, Ice Beam, and Recover. Now imagine that Starmie with attacks that hit less but with more power. And then take out the "hit less" part. That's what this Starmie does under the effects of Gravity and it's and absolute terror on the field. The three effective turns Starmie has under Gravity are surely not wasted (three because Gravity has to be set up and then Starmie must be put into play). This Starmie took Swampert's spot as the Water-type of the team and I can say it's done better than the Gengar that was also suggested to me. Though Gengar hits harder, it has no Instant Recover. However, Starmie doesn't have the ability to put a pokemon to sleep. Starmie is more durable than Gengar another plus for Starmie and can switch into not very effective Water and Fire attacks with ease. Though this may seem like a ridiculous request, is there a Pokemon that is fast, easy to switch in, and can sweep under the three turns of Gravity?

Dusknoir @ Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
Nature: Relaxed
EVs: 252 HP/252 Def/4 SpD

- Gravity
- Dynamic Punch
- Will-O-Wisp
- Pain Split

Dusknoir is my secondary Gravity user. I used to have Earthquake on him instead of Dynamic Punch, but changed it after Friar's suggestion. Pain Split makes him durable and allows him to use Gravity multiple times.


PREVIOUS MEMBERS

Magnezone @ Leftovers
Ability: Magnet Pull
Nature: Modest
EVs: 172 HP/252 SpA/84 Spe

- Substitute
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power Fire
- Explosion

noooo my swampert! :(

Swampert @ Leftovers
Ability: Torrent
Nature: Relaxed
EVs: 240 HP/216 Def/52 SpA

- Earthquake
- Hidden Power Electric
- Ice Beam
- Hydro Pump

TEAM BUILDING PROCESS!!
TEAM BUILDING PROCESS

In order for an offensive team to work, you need a sweeper. I chose my favorite - Mamoswine!

Well then, how can I put this Pokemon to better use!? I thought and eventually chose Gravity! Gravity users are very limited and I figured two would be best to run. A team of all Gravity users, in my opinion, would majorly suck and would not be do-able. I looked at the list of available Gravity users and found another favorite of mine - Jirachi!

The next gravity user was a tough one and I was forced to choose between Blissey and Dusknoir - the only two who I felt would be viable. Dusknoir is more "offensive" than Blissey and can take both physical and special hits, absorb Rapid Spins and Explosions, and can take fighting and normal moves that do lots of damage to my other Pokemon. What I found nice about Blissey, however, was its unmatched special walling ability, wishpassing, and the BoltBeam combo for type coverage. However, with Blissey, I'd need to pair it with something to take the physical hits - something like Skarmory and make that infamous SkarmBliss combo. This would drastically slow down my team! Somehting I cannot allow. And this is what happened:

Okay so physical sweeper and two Gravity users were check! Now I needed a lead. I put Weavile here as its strong potential as an anti-lead. However I was suggested to use Metagross instead due to its bulkiness. It also could put down Stealth Rocks to help Mamoswine sweep later. Weavile can't do that! It also ruins other leads with Meteor Mash + Bullet Punch. Weavile can use Fake-Out and Pursuit on the switch. That's just meh. What was I thinking!? So here came Metagross!

Two more to go. Steel types are a problem to Mamoswine. Big problem. Especially Scizor and Skarmory who I can barely dent. The former can KO with a STAB TECHNICIANED BULLET PUNCH ARGHHH! So I added in Magnezone. There went all my Steel problems :D:D:D:D

And lastly, I needed something to get rid of Gyarados. Magnezone could have worked, but what sort of Gyarados stays in on an electric type. Seriously. So I added in Swampert. It tanks water attacks, could use Earthquake under Gravity, and it evolves from mudkipzzzz! And I herd you like Mudkipz.

So at this point, I posted the team up here for criticism. CHANGES WERE MADE! Salamence was the first suggestion. I put it over Magnezone. Although Magnezone DID get those kills for me, if my opponent had no steels, it was basically dead weight. Thank you Friar for this addition to my team!

And then I was told that Swampert was also useless. Especially the Mixpert that I had. :( I was sad, and looked at the two suggestions: Starmie and Gengar. I tried both. Starmie a bit more than Gengar. I missed the overall bulkiness of Swampert and its ability to switch in well, but I noticed my win rate went up after the addition of STARMIE THE POWERHOUSE. So that's what went in. And here is the team as of now! I will update this if any more team members are changed.

CONCLUSION AND THREATS

I'm still working on my defensive and offensive threat lists, but I can easily say that my biggest threats currently is Cresselia. I can't kill it with exploding Metagross and by the time they're in, it's already set up a Reflect. I tried Pursuit on Dusknoir, but it was simply not strong enough. CroCune also tends to wall my team and sets up easily - a major problem. I usually have to sacrifice another team member with Explosion to get rid of it. As for offensive threats, the Rotom appliances, especially Rotom-H, is a huge problem. Overheat and Shadow Ball destroy Jirachi and Dusknoir respectively, losing my ability to use Gravity and take it out through its Ground weakness. I CAN'T EXPLODE ON IT EITHER, my trump card against other threats. Swampert does well, but it usually gets burned and made a whole lot more useless. Rotom-Appliances and Cresselia are my two major threats as of now and I haven't come across anything that has been too much of a problem. Due to Rotom's increasing popularity, I'd like to find a suitable counter that has some synergy with my team. I added CRUNCH on Salamence and it's helped against the Rotom appliances and Cresselia. However, Salamence still doesn't appreciate taking a STAB Thunderbolt from Rotom. Starmie has been added over Swampert!

Pictures from here: http://www.arkeis.com/pokemonfactory.htm and the thumbnails are from http://www.pokemonelite2000.com

 

[Ninjarabian]

Just my opinion on the matter, but if you're going to be throwing around Gravity you should abuse it WAY more. Gravity gives you an accuracy boost on every move. You should be throwing around Blizzard and Thunder everywhere, getting the extra power out of your Gravity use

 

[furbolgy]

Just my opinion on the matter, but if you're going to be throwing around Gravity you should abuse it WAY more. Gravity gives you an accuracy boost on every move. You should be throwing around Blizzard and Thunder everywhere, getting the extra power out of your Gravity use

I will take that in mind. I was hoping not to try and rely on gravity too much, and use it towards the end after Mamoswine counters are sufficiently weakened. Would that affect the use of Thunder and Blizzard in place of Thunderbolt and Ice Beam?

 

[Friar]

Hello there,

You have a very solid Gravity team here, I just have a few things I want to say:

First thing: Magnezone is completely unneeded. Why? Because your Mamoswine set has no trouble with Steel types. Remember, under Gravity, even Pokemon that have the ability Levitate, like Bronzong, are hit by Earthquake. SuperPower's main use on Mamoswine is to hit Bronzong, but Earthquake under Gravity blasts Bronzong. Therefore, I suggest Ice Fang over SuperPower. This gives you a more powerful Ice attack that you can use when Earthquake is not very effective (for instance, Grass types). The one steel type that troubles Mamoswine is Scizor, but you can use his Bullet Punch to get another Pokemon in an a not very effective hit.

So we need to replace Magnezone. I suggest a DD Salamence here. Under Gravity, Dragon Rush hits 100% accuracy, meaning you get Outrage's power without locking yourself into Outrage. Earthquake and Fire Blast round out coverage for Salamence, and Fire Blast will have 100% accuracy.

Salamence @ Life Orb
Naive
232 Attack/24 Special Attack/252 Speed

Dragon Dance
Dragon Rush
Earthquake
Fire Blast

Now, I dont think Swampert is a good choice here. Swampert is a pretty weak special attacker, and its only powerful move you are using is Hydro Pump. You are trying to make a very offensive Gravity team, so I suggest Starmie here. Starmie is a terrifying attacker with Gravity up, because it can use many low accuracy moves very effectively. I suggest the following set:

Starmie @ Life Orb
Timid
4 HP/252 Sp. Attack/252 Speed

Hydro Pump
Blizzard
Thunder
Recover

Finally, I suggest we change Dusknoir's set. Dusknoir is a great Gravity supporter and has a very usable Attack stat. i think we should make him a little more offensive though and use DynamicPunch. This is let Dusknoir induce confusion on his opponents quite often as DynamicPunch is hitting with much improved accuracy (at 82%, it is actually better than Stone Edge). Will O Wisp will always hit as well. Pain Split is the best recovery option Dusknoir has, and allows him to reliably set up Gravity throughout the game.

Dusknoir @ Leftovers
Relaxed
252 HP/252 Def/2 Sp. Def.

Gravity
DynamicPunch
Will O Wisp
Pain Split

Thats all I have, good luck with your team.

 

[New World Order]

Magnezone is unneccessary like Friar stated, however, instead, you can absolutely abuse gravity by tossing in this guy
Skarmory @ Shed Shell
Impish
252Hp/ 64Atk/ 176 Def/ 16 Spe
Spikes
Whirlwind
Roost
Drill Peck/ Brave Bird
Since every pokemon in the game is hit by spikes under gravity, combined with the roost/ whirlwind phaze abuse, skarmory can wreak havoc on every team in the metagame. Shed Shell to run away from those magnezones
also, i would encourage you to abuse the accuracy boost by running thunder on jirachi, and blizzard on swampert. as for a replacement for dusknoir, the answer is... nothing, you need him to come in on close combat. and the other gravity users absolutely fail against fighting.

 

[furbolgy]

Salamence @ Life Orb
Naive
232 Attack/24 Special Attack/252 Speed

Dragon Dance
Dragon Rush
Earthquake
Fire Blast

I just tested this Salamence and it worked very well! I'll give it a position on my team.

Starmie @ Life Orb
Timid
4 HP/252 Sp. Attack/252 Speed

Hydro Pump
Blizzard
Thunder
Recover

I also tried the Starmie, but with more mixed results than the Salamence. It worked, but I somewhat missed the bulkiness that Swampert provided. I will test it out a few more times with Salamence and see how it works out.

I added DynamicPunch on Dusknoir. It was actually somethign I was considering when I first made the team.

Thanks Friar for the suggestions!

Skarmory @ Shed Shell
Impish
252Hp/ 64Atk/ 176 Def/ 16 Spe
Spikes
Whirlwind
Roost
Drill Peck/ Brave Bird

Integral, I also tried running this Skarmory, but I felt that the team's pace dropped dramatically and lost its offensive flair. Thanks for the suggestion though. I'll probably use a Skarmory like this on a more stall-based gravity team.

 

[SlottedPig]

I used to have a long post here, but I accidently clicked back. So I'm going to wrap this up quickly.

Blizzard > Superpower on Mamoswine; Superpower only hits Bronzong. Negative Nature + No SpA EVs still 2HKOs Skarmory, more specially defensive versions get hit much harder by Stone Edge. Also abuses Gravity better and OHKOs Gliscor.

Timid > Jolly on Jirachi. I assume you still have it because from the comments you said you used to have Body Slam, but now you have Thunder. Jirachi's EVs should be:

252 HP l 80 SpA l 176 Spe
(Timid Nature)

With the current moveset. Gravity teams look very fun and I bid you good luck :D

Edit: As for Rotom-A and Cresselia, you can put Crunch over Earthquake. I understand this limits your physical sweeping potential seriously, but after Mamoswine's rampage all Steel types should be fainted.

 

[furbolgy]

Nice and solid team. Have you tried Gengar over Swampert? It also absorbs CC, hit's MUCH harder and is far faster. Try something like this

Gengar
Item: Life Orb
Ability: Levitate
Nature: Timid
EVs: 6 HP, 252 SpA, 252 Spe
-Shadow Ball
-Focus Blast
-Thunder
-Hypnosis

All his moves hit for the same damage (120) which is very good for a fast special sweeper. Hypnosis has it's much improved accuracy, and he has universal coverage. He's only a little slower than Starmie, but hit's even harder.

I will take this into serious consideration after testing it out on my team. I'm afraid that under gravity, however, Earthquake may become a pain as Gengar's Levitate is lost. Also, I have Dusknoir already to absorb CC. The advantage I see that Gengar has, however, is that it also outspeeds any threats and Lucario - who can Crunch Dusknoir. I will try this out on Shoddy and see how it goes. Thanks!

I used to have a long post here, but I accidently clicked back. So I'm going to wrap this up quickly.

Blizzard > Superpower on Mamoswine; Superpower only hits Bronzong. Negative Nature + No SpA EVs still 2HKOs Skarmory, more specially defensive versions get hit much harder by Stone Edge. Also abuses Gravity better and OHKOs Gliscor.

Timid > Jolly on Jirachi. I assume you still have it because from the comments you said you used to have Body Slam, but now you have Thunder. Jirachi's EVs should be:

252 HP l 80 SpA l 176 Spe
(Timid Nature)

With the current moveset. Gravity teams look very fun and I bid you good luck :D

Edit: As for Rotom-A and Cresselia, you can put Crunch over Earthquake. I understand this limits your physical sweeping potential seriously, but after Mamoswine's rampage all Steel types should be fainted.

Thanks for catching the Nature/EV problem on Jirachi. Something just didn't seem right and I must have overlooked it upon changing the moveset. Bronzong was my main concern when putting Superpower on Mamoswine. Gyro Ball hurts a lot considering the speed difference and the super effective hit. I'm not quite sure about Blizzard as a replacement, however as I lose that and I may have to let a Pokemon get put to sleep. I do see your point about Blizzard OHKO'ing Gliscor and being able to 2HKO Skarmory. In that situation, I would think that Blizzard would be better over Stone Edge as the "standard" Skarmory rarely runs SpD Ev's. I'll definitely put Crunch over Earthquake on Salamence as I've never actually had to use Earthquake in a battle. Thanks for the suggestions!