Gyarados' time to shine (OU RMT)

[Sora247_2008]

This is a team I created to showcase one of my favourite (and one of the most prominent threats in OU IMO), Gyarados. With decent defenses, and a monstrous attack stat, It can not only take hits, but dish them out amazingly aswell. The whole team (other than the lead and Gyara himself) is based on breaking walls so that Gyarados can peform a late-game sweep completely unrivaled. This is why there are lots of mixed attackers included. Now, on with the team.

First Glance:

(not neccesarilly in this order, except the lead)​

The Lead: Roserade​

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FlowaPowa @Focus Sash
Timid Nature, 252 Sp.Atk, 252 Speed, 6 Hp
Natural Cure ability
Sleep Powder
Leaf Storm
Toxic Spikes
Hidden Power [Fire]​

Summary: I chose Roserade as my lead. Now, there are a few reasons I did this. Firstly, Gyara fears SR, so normally Roserade can keep them away by firing off a Sleep Powder turn 1. Obviously, this lowers the need for a spinner, but I still include one, as it doesnt completely eliminate the need for one. ​

Moves: As I said before, Sleep Powder is to lessen the SR threat by hopefully keeping it off the field entirely. Toxic Spikes is a good entry hazard, and allows me to weaken opponents significantly for Gyara's sweep if I manage to get 2 layers up. Leaf Storm and HP [Fire] are insanely powerful coming off of 125 base special atk, and hit almost every lead decently, other than Heatran.​

EVs: Max Speed to get Sleep Powder off ASAP before the opponent can even move, Max Sp.Atk to fuel that beastly Leaf Storm, and the Hp EVs are just filler.​

The First Mix Sweeper: Salamence​

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RAWR!!! @ Life Orb
Naive, 252 Speed, 200 Atk, 58 Sp.Atk
Intimidate
Outrage
Fire Blast
Earthquake
Draco Meteor​

Summary: As I said in the introduction, I wanted this team to be able to take down walls easily. The easiest way to achieve this is to use powerful mixed attackers. IMO, Salamence is one of the best mixed attackers out there. Unlike most MixMence, Ive made this one more phsycially based, as my other mixed attacker is more specially based.​

Moves: Outrage and Draco Meteor are STAB attacks coming from both sides of the attacking spectrum. Earthquake hits most steels, and Fire Fang atleast lets me touch the others *Points at Bronzong and cries*. Considering replacing Fire Fang with Fire Blast.​

EVs: Obviously, the EVs dont need much explanation. Max Speed for superman speed of craziness. 200 Atk EVs leave him at 356 atk, so even without max Atk, he is still a beast. His Sp.Atk only comes in at 297, but when you look at Draco Meteor's Base Power, its still pretty good.​

Now a Naive nature with Fire Blast rather than Fire Fang.

The Second Mixed Attacker: Electivire​

9000V Motor @Life Orb
Mild Nature, 36 Atk, 222 Speed, 252 Sp.Atk
Motor Drive (YAYness)
Thunderbolt
Cross Chop
Flamethrower
HP [Grass]​

Summary: What Gyara themed team would be complete without the famous GyaraVire combo? Vire takes the electric attacks aimed at Gyara, Gyara takes the ground attacks aimed at Vire. Whats not to like? This guy is the Special themed mixed attacker I talked about earlier in the Salamence summary.​

Moves: As this is my Special based mixed attacker, he runs 3 special attacks complemented by Cross Chop to take on Heatran if needed (Although I will normally just go to Gyara or Mence, as they can both take it on). Thunderbolt is the basic Special STAB, Hidden Power [Grass] hits ground types, actually having a chance to OHKO Swampert, and Flamethrower helps out Mence by hitting Skarm and Zong, and helps Gyara by hitting Celebi.​

EVs: Near Max Speed so that once he has a Motor Drive boost he's damn near unstoppable (in my mind anyway). Im only using 36 Atk EVs because im only running one phsyical attack and it has great base power, and 252 Sp.Atk lets him hit 316 Special Attack before factoring the boost from Life Orb (I think).​

The Spinner: Forretress​

Castle @Leftovers
Impish Nature, 252 Hp, 252 Def, 6 Atk
Sturdy
Payback
Stealth Rock
Rapid Spin
Spikes​

Summary: As with most other flying types, Gyarados fears Stealth Rock, but also loves it on the opponents field. Cue Forretress, a pokemon that can not only set up the seemingly vital SR, but also spin it away, preventing Gyara from harm. If this team had been based on a ground type, Starmie would of been here, but Gyara cant cover Starmie's weaknesses, whereas It can cover Forry's fire weakness.​

Moves: SR and Rapid Spin are the cornerstones of the set. Ideally, when I bring Forry here in, there SR setup dude should be asleep, compliments of Roserade, meaning I'll only have to spin once, making Explosion a viable option. Earthquake gives me decent coverage, but im thinking of replacing it with spikes, to further soften up the opponent for my late-game Gyara sweep.​

EVs: Max Hp and Def for all around bulkiness, and the Atk EVs are filler.

Replaced Explosion with Payback​

The Pure Special Attacker: Gengar​

Big Chill @Choice Specs
Timid Nature, 252 Sp.Atk, 252 Speed, 6 Hp
Levitate
Shadow Ball
Focus Blast
Explosion
Trick​

Summary: For some reason, I dont see many Gengars around these days. I dont think that is completely fair, as this thing is a beast. He again adds to the wallbreaking theme, being able to either cripple walls, or just explode on things like Blissey. This dude is NUTS. And not just normal nuts. He's Macadamia NUTS.​

Moves: Shadow Ball is my STAB, and offers perfect coverage when combined with Focus Blast. Trick cripples walls like Skarmory and Bronzong, and gives me 2 options against Blissey (the other being Explosion). Thunderbolt isnt needed on this set, as im using Electivire to supply the electric attacks.​

EVs: Max Special Attack and Speed because its the basic outline for a choice set, and it lets him hit montrous stats of 350 speed and 359 Special Attack (Before factoring in Choice Specs. With Specs, he hits 538 Sp.Atk).​

The Star of the Show/ Pure Phsyical Attacker: Gyarados​

MVP @ Life Orb
Jolly Nature, 252 Atk, 220 Speed, 38 Def
Intimidate
Waterfall
Dragon Dance
Taunt
Stone Edge​

Summary: DD Gyarados, to me, can still be one of the biggest threats of the metagame if used right. After a couple DDs, he is gonna be outspeeding a heck of alot of stuff, because after 1 DD, he hits a total 417 speed, outspeeding all positive base 140's. Im sure you can see why I based my team on this guy. Thinking of replacing Life Orb with Leftovers for recovery while im dancing.​

Moves: DD is my basic setup move, and without it the set almost crumbles. Waterfall is my STAB, Taunt stops stalling and other stat uppers, and Stone Edge rounds off the coverage by hitting other Gyara's.

EVs: Max Atk because he's a physical sweeper. I dont run max speed as it isnt needed, as I outrun the same pokemon after a DD with max speed as I do with what I have now. The 38 Def EVs are just for a little bit of increased bulk when my big chunky snake is dancing for the public.​

Replaced Earthquake and Ice Fang for Stone Edge and Taunt.

Thanks for reading my (hopefully) very descriptive RMT. Heres one final look:​

Final look

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[MrIndigo]

Looks pretty good. I would run Payback on Forretress over Explosion or EQ, it hits hard the two most common spin-blockers you'll have to deal with, Rotom and Starmie. EQ is worth keeping if you want to hit stuff like Lucario or Heatran who switch in to set-up or threaten respectively.

I'm not entirely sure you need Roserade as your lead; it's not bad, but Taunt seems more effective than Sleep Powder for countering Stealth Rock leads.

Gengar's useage has dropped because people tend to run Rotom-A instead now.

 

[bxchink89]

Indigo is right. But Lucario can be the bane of ur team if ur Forretress is out of the picture. Nothing u have safely switch into Luke. Luke is by far, one of the most unpredictable sweepers around. So having T-Wave or WoW support is kinda good to keep ur offensive team running. Gengar should be changed to a the Rotom-H since he has Shadow Ball, Overheat to scare out Scizor, and WoW which is quite awesome. He can come in on Luke and Rotom-H can take the Crunch and come back with a Overheat OHKO. Roserade also isn't a sensible choice, although Toxic Spikes can add a lot of damage, Spikes/SR can benefit Gyarados more since THEY can't be absorbed. A good choice would be Swampert since it has a lot of useful resistances that can benefit Gyarados like its resistance against Elect. If ur Electivire is out of the picture (it is quite frail) then Gyarados is at the mercy of a possible faster and deadlier opponent like Zapdos who can take the Ice Fang and come back with an OHKO T-Bolt. Ur Gyarados can't switch into Luke either since you don't know if it carries the deadly Stone Edge.

 

[supermarth64]

Hey there. Let's start this off with your lead choice. Toxic Spikes are mainly meant for more defensive and balanced teams, while this one seems to be focused mainly on offense. Therefore, Roserade isn't the greatest choice. Azelf could fit into both your Forretress and Roserade's spots, with Taunt preventing Stealth Rock from being set up and setting up its own Stealth Rock. It can then Explode to finish the job.

Azelf @ Focus Sash
Naive / 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Psychic / Taunt / Stealth Rock / Explosion

Psychic is STAB, although you can use Fire Blast to take care of Metagross. Taunt prevents Stealth Rock from being set up, while Stealth Rock is there because its good. Explosion not only decimates the opposing Pokemon if it's not a Steel- or Ghost-type, but it also provides momentum for the rest of you team.

With the need for Forretress gone, you've freed up a spot. Currently, nothing on your team likes taking a Shadow Ball or a Crunch, which means a Steel-type Pokemon is needed. Also, since Gyarados is a sweeper and Salamence is losing health due to Life Orb, Heatran would be a great choice for this spot. Keeping with the idea of offensive, a Life Orb Heatran would be a good choice for your team.

Heatran @ Life Orb
Timid / 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Fire Blast / Earth Power / HP Grass / Substitute

Fire Blast is STAB, while Earth Power is there to hit opposing Heatrans and any other Pokemon. HP Grass is there for Swampert, although you can switch it for HP Ice or HP Electric because you already have HP Ice on Electivire. Heatran is known for forcing switches, so Substitute is used to ease predictions. However, if you feel that your Heatran is losing HP too quickly, Explosion can be used on it. Just change the nature to Naive should you choose that.

Finally, your team lacks an effective revenge killer. Fortunately, your team already has a great revenge killer in the waiting. By switching your Gengar to a Choice Scarf set, it can revenge kill many of today's metagame's threats, like opposing Salamence and Gyarados.

Gengar @ Choice Scarf
Timid / 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Shadow Ball / Focus Blast / Thunderbolt / HP Ice

Shadow Ball is STAB, while Focus Blast provides perfect coverage with Shadow Ball and deals with Tyranitar. Thunderbolt is there to handle Gyarados while HP Ice cleans up any DD Mences. Be wary about Pursuiters though.

Finally, a change is recommended to your Salamence's moveset and EVs. Draco Meteor is the main reason you're using it, so most of your power should be dedicated to it. Fire Blast is also a lot stronger than Fire Fang will ever be. Also, by not running a Naive nature, you lose to opposing Salamences. Change your moveset and EVs to:

Salamence @ Life Orb
Naive / 24 Atk / 232 SpA / 252 Spe
Draco Meteor / Fire Blast / Brick Break / Roost

Draco Meteor you should be comfortable with, while Fire Blast is a huge jump in power over Fire Fang. Brick Break is there for Blissey and for Heatran, though you can use Earthquake in place of it. Roost is to heal off Life Orb damage and possible SR damage.

Good luck!

Edit: I knew I forgot something. Change your Gyarados's moveset to DD / Waterfall / Stone Edge / Earthquake. With Stone Edge over Ice Fang, you can reliably kill Fliers with more power than Ice Fang. For example, +1 DD Gyarados OHKOes physically defensive Zapdos with Stone Edge but not with Ice Fang.

 

[Makn]

Pretty good team, however i would recommend fire blast over fire fang on mence.

I would also put some more SpA EVs on mence as well.

This is mainly because fire fang is a rather lackluster move on salamence, especially when you have something like Fire Blast going off of his other great stat.

I aslo say that spikes is a superior option on forretress then EQ.

IF you send him out against a physical attacker your almost garunteed at least 1 layer of spikes.

I also agree with weavile in that you should use jolteon over electivire, but that's just my opinion, electivire is also a solid choice to use with gyarados.

I also think that a little bit more bulk on gyara might be a good idea, but i'm not too sure on that one.

Good luck with this team, i hope the best for you.

 

[Matsuda Mihama]

On your Gyarados, I recommend using Taunt instead of Ice Fang, or else Statusers and Trick Roomers will be able to stop Gyarados cold by Trick rooming/Statusing and stalling. Dusknoir will be a huge pain in your ass along with Lucario and the aforementioned counters in others' posts. I also recommend running Stone Edge instead of Earthquake, because other Gyarados and others can dodge Earthquake and easily take hits from Waterfall. Waterfall/Stone Edge is only wallable by Empoleon, so take this advice and kill 'em all.

 

[Makn]

I would also reccomend running Waterfall and Return on Gyara.

It hits virtially everything in OU for at least neutral except for Empoleon.

That's amazing coverage right there.

So my suggestion is

Return/Waterfall/Taunt/Dragon Dance.

I love that move set so much.

if you decide to run this then you might want to give him a bit more bulk however

 

[Sora247_2008]

KK thnaks everyone for the quick replies. supermath, your basically changing my team so im not gonna take alot of that advice. Im gonna give Fire Blast and a Naive nature to Mence though. Main thanks go Makn. The Gyara set will be changed. Thanks everybody. Im keeping Vire though.