Help A Girl Out? (RMT, Interesting Sets?)

[Natalya]

I read that you’re supposed to make the art interesting, so I added the held items to some of the Pokémon art or altered it in some way.


Overview

Now For The Team
My Lead:

Ruby (Gyarados) (F) @ Charti Berry/Wacan Berry
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 156 HP/72 Atk/96 Def/184 Spd
Adamant nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Dragon Dance
- Thunder Wave
- Waterfall
- Stone Edge

I deiced to do a different take on the standard ‘bulky’ Gyarados. Generally I either lead with Thunder Wave or Dragon Dance. I’ve found that this set surprises a lot of people which I generally like to do as a rule. Being predicable is a good way to get you walled or stopped when the opponent guesses the set right off the back. Most people think it’s a standard DD Gyarados when Dragon Dance is used first which normally leads to a surprise when their Pokémon is paralyzed the next turn. I added the Berry over a normal item to protect Gyarados (ensuring nearly no OHKO on the first attack) so that it –will- live after being using DD or T-Wave. T-Wave (even against nature cure, which I don’t worry about right off the back) often forced a switch which then also often gives me a free turn to Dragon Dance up without worry. Keeping her alive really isn’t a priority for me but this Pokémon does serve as a great annoyance to my opponent when their lead Attacker’s speed (which is often so crucial for most heavy hitters is cut in half). I really don’t think this Gyara needs any help. She also acts as mini team support, setting up T-wave so that a slower, more powerful Pokémon can switch in with ease after she’s KO’D. Lead Pokémon enough said.

Shadow (Gengar) (F) @ Life Orb
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 4 Def/252 Spd/252 SAtk
Timid nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Substitute
- Pain Split
- Shadow Ball
- Focus Blast


When I first read about the Pain Split Gengar I loved the idea and rushed to try it out. I find this Pokémon does a VERY good job of not only being offensively strong but can stall a good bit of the time as well. Easily countering Blissey and Snorlax this Pokémon also serves to weaken Pokémon that switch in and can even OHKO when it needs to. On this team it really is a team player. Though fragile I find the countering it is capable of to be very note worthy in itself. Gengar serves as a mixed Staller/Special Sleeper.

Drakna (Tyranitar) (F) @ Choice Band
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 160 HP/252 Atk/96 Spd
Adamant nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Pursuit
- Aqua Tail
- Stone Edge
- Crunch

This beast normally follows or switches in (depending on the situation) after one of my two paralyzing Pokémon had largely done their job. With a monstrous attack and being able to counter many of the Pokémon my team would largely have weaknesses to, and it gets the job done. CB Tyran isn’t something I come up facing too often, given the popularity of CS Tyran most players aren’t expecting and older set to be used. While the Pokémon is a tad bit on the slow side most Pokémon cannot OHKO Tyran, less so if supported by one of her teammates. CB Tyran serves as my main physical attacker.

Anubis (Lucario) (M) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Inner Focus
EVs: 4 HP/252 Atk/252 Spd
Adamant nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Close Combat/ Sky Upper Cut
- Ice Punch
- Earthquake
- Thunderpunch

OR

Anubis (Lucario) (M) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Inner Focus
EVs: 4 HP/252 SAtk/252 Spd
Modest nature (-Atk, +SAtk)
- Aura Sphere
- Dragon Pulse
- Hidden Power [Grass]/Hidden Power [Ice]
- Shadow Ball


Now, I know most people would go ‘what in the world are you thinking?!’ but this set (be it Physical or Special) surprises people the most of all because of how many Pokémon it out speeds while still packing one heck of a punch. With a 90 base speed Lucario on Choice scarf can counter many things, I’ve found that can counter it. Gliscor (without Choice Scarf/ Yache Berry attached) often gets an OHKO from Ice Punch. Gyarados (Possibly +1 Adamant) is OHKO with Stone Edge. Celebi takes a good bit of damage from this set as well, though Lucario often doesn’t survive that match up. Salamance is an OKHO even after intimidate most of the time from Ice Punch. Choice Scarf Tyranitar falls to Earthquake as does in Infernape (without Focus Slash, Mach Punch can be a problem, however) most of the time. With Gengar to cover Blissey, she really isn’t a threat to Lucario. And it out speeds non Choice Scarf Zapdos which take a good heavy hit from Stone Edge. I sometimes opt for Sky Uppercut over Close Combat because of the drawbacks of lowered defense/special defense which seems to let Lucario last longer but it doesn’t pack as much of a punch. While it is somewhat fragile, scanning the team and knowing what’s coming or taking a gamble really let this Pokémon shine.

While he is a bit risky to use, I normally don’t send in my wild card until a good bit of my opponent’s team has been revealed or I’m really hoping for that much needed OHKO. My main problem with Lucario is listed below. I do NOT want to use priority moves on either set, given the use of speed is already a factor and most Pokémon I’ve faced it wouldn’t make a difference. I’d much rather have the faster, stronger moves.

Andromeda (Jirachi) @ Leftovers
Ability: Serene Grace
EVs: 240 HP/160 Def/32 Spd/76 SDef
Impish nature (+Def, -SAtk)
- Wish
- U-turn -> Change?
- Thunder Wave
- Iron Head

Jirachi acts in a similar fashion to Gyrados with a second possible thunder wave but generally it’s used more for wish support and Iron Head. I don’t find much use for U-turn, despite the idea of type coverage so I would hopefully like an effective substitute for that move? Jirachi also stalls a good bit of the time and can chip away rather easily at most Pokémon, even with a resistance, thanks to its special ability. Support Pokémon and a Staller.

Zues (Zapdos) @ Choice Specs
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 80 HP/176 Spd/252 SAtk
Modest nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- U-turn -> Change to Signal Beam?
- Hidden Power [Ice] -> Change to Grass?
- Heat Wave
- Thunderbolt/Discharge

Again I return to the usefulness of U-Turn on a set, given it forces me to switch out. I’ve thought about changing it out for Air Cutter but understand without it the Pokémon is very weak to Latias. Signal Beam might also be an option for me. With its massive Special Attack, Zapdos can OHKO or 2HKO most Pokémon (I find) it comes up against as long as there isn’t s resistance. If Scizor lacks Stone Edge, I find it’s a good counter and easily punishes the choice bander with ease. Zapdos is my main Special Attacker.


Overall:

I really do think this team hits hard and fast with a good kick of high risk high return. While I am pleased with the team I am still wondering if there is something I overlooked. One of my greatest headaches is what to run on Lucario being Physical or Special attacks given each deals with a different set of its counters and the team is usually stopped by not having the right move set present on him. But I fear the idea of running a Mix Choice Scarf Lucario given it might not pack the power of before. The team has also been proven to be able to stall a good many teams I’ve come up against in OU which surprises me, given I hadn’t designed the team in mind to draw out a match like it can do at times.



Team Problems

Swampert - Unless I’m running the Special Move Set (With HP Grass) on Lucario he oddly seems to give my team a lot of trouble being immune to T-wave and resisting most of my attacks. I had contemplated changing Zapdos’ HP to maybe counteract this problem, given I don’t get much usage out of HP Ice.


Final Words

Care to help a girl out on this? I’ve been playing Pokémon for a while but at the same time feel that there is always something to learn about it. This is my first RMT (ever) and hope that some of my thinking is good or at least on the right track?

 

[moussrfacekilla]

First of all: really cool art.

Second: your team is very similar to mine (I just use Scizor, kingdra, and Gliscor instead of zapdos, lucario and tyranitar) and it does pretty well. I use thunderbolt on Jirachi instead of wave since it does dmg to bulky waters. Also my Gyaradoes runs stone edge, waterfall, dragon dance and earthquake. I also find that most teams expect tyranitar and are ready to counter it asap. I always recommend using another physical sweeper just because people are always ready. However, this is personal preference and even though there might be a counter, he still smashes people.

good luck with your team, and really well done post.

cheers.

 

[forestflamerunner]

you might want to have something packing stealth rock. you could add it to jirachi in place of iron head. in all honesty, stealth rock could prevent stall teams from freely switching through your team without a care in the world since you lack taunt.

 

[Natalya]

Hmm, I'll take those into consideration.
I've swapped out U-Turn for Signal Beam and HP Ice for HP Grass. I've also switched out U-turn on Jirachi for Fire Punch and T-wave for Thunder Bolt and Iron Head for Stealth Rock. I'll give this a whirl and see how it does.

 

[3v3rnoob]

If swampert is giving you that much trouble, I'd recommend grass knot on Jirachi. If you add the move purely to lure in and kill swampert, I don't think that you require any sp attack EV investment for the OHKO. Basically, they see the Twave, then switch in a swampert to it's doom.

I would keep HP ice on zapdos; it works as a good dragon killing move, and if you take the grass knot on Jirachi, you no longer have anything to fear from swampert. About U-turn, definitely get rid of it. You have no attack investment, so better type coverage is the way to go. I think you want to go with Air cutter, because I can't think of what Signal Beam will hit that HP Ice doesn't already cover.

The Gyarados lead is pretty interesting, but I can't help but think that you'll be beaten by some of the more common leads and anti-leads. I'm very sure that Aerodactyl is going to taunt and then hit you with some stab super effective rock moves, killing Gyara before you can para anything. Sleep leads will just destroy you right off the bat, and I think that the ever popular Machamp lead will confuse/stone edge or ice punch you for the kill. Even azelf, though paralyzed will manage to get off rocks and then explode while you DD or Twave and then break the sash. Long story short, I don't see it working too well and recommend that you change it.

 

[Natalya]

Hmm, Grassknot sounds like a plan. I honestly thought Jirachi didn't get it. And that means I can put HP Ice back on Zapy. And as for Gara as a lead, when it comes to Areo I don't try to t-wave it because there is no point. Waterfall takes care of it and SR isn't something I worry about. Taunt only lasts so long and after Areo is dead I normally switch or Gara anyway and as for Machmp, thanks to Intimidate Gara isn't 1 OHKO'd (more so if Stone edge is used thanks to the berry) and his attack is lowered if it leads which leave me free to t-wave, weaken it and revenge kill with another pokemon. Machamp really doesn't give me too many problems given the pokemon is rather slow and switching in Gengar to a Dynamic punch is easy to do as well. Thank you though!

 

[mc2094]

I really think lefties should be on Gyara. Using T-wave on scarf Rotom, Latias etc. is deadly and being able to regain some health helps in between the turns that pass, especially with sand stream up. Someone already mentioned adding sr and I would have to agree. I'd probably give it to Rachi. You could give MixRachi a shot as I don't see too much reason for wish support. Grass Knot-T-Bolt-SR-Iron Head might get some results. Maybe even giving U-Turn a shot over T-Bolt to bring Luke in since you aren't hitting too much with it. Stall seems like it can be a pain since you miss out on a lot of power with Luke, letting Hippowdon, Swamert, etc. have an easy time with him. Zapdos seems like the most skeptical mon here. I'd prob. go Specs Latias for a few reasons. Better STAB, more resists, no SR weakness and Trick. Zapdos does get U-Turn but it doesn't seem too useful with sr and ss picking its health away. Gl

 

[Phantom_IV]

Don't take Iron Head off of Jirachi lol. Drop anything else but that, as Iron Head is so useful and pretty much makes Jirachi.

 

[Natalya]

Grass Knot on Jirachi really helped out. And I'll give Latias a try and see how that goes.

Grass Knot
Fire Punch
T-Wave
Iron Head/Stealth Rock

This seems to be a pretty solid set for Jirachi and Wish really wasn't helping me too much.

And I understand your thinking with Latias but I'm a bit reserved about using it. If my team gets use to having that pokemon and it moves to Ubers (which is rumored) it could then, really hurt my team so I'll have to play around and see which pokemon I like using better.

 

[Yoz]

I'd have to disagree with Iron Head on Jirachi, sure it's useful, but you could surprise your opponent. Besides, ST normally makes up for any Flinching/Damage Iron Head could do simply by making the opponent think twice by switching into a counter. Besides, Steel doesn't have great type coverage anyway. Finally, if they do switch into a Magnezone (for eg.) you can just fire punch it, provided you are fast enough

 

[Phantom_IV]

You need Iron Head on Jirachi, you need SR. The last two moves are a toss-up, but Twave Wish could work nicely, giving pokemon like Ttar wish support and slowing opponents down so that Ttar can get the jump on them.
Twave+Grass Knot is also acceptable, as your team has a massive swampert weakness.

Ah, and Zeus is spelled wrong.

 

[Nosferalto]

Your team lacks Stealth Rock which has become a necessity on every team these days as it turns 3HKOs into 2HKOs and 2HKOs into OHKOs. In addition, it makes Flying types such as Salamence much less of a threat as they loose 25% every time they attempt to switch-in, so it will limit their effectiveness. In fact, DD Salamence and DD Gyarados are huge threats to your team. Salamence can switch-in on Tyranitar locked onto Aqua Tail, Lucario locked onto it's Fighting move and Zapdos locked onto Heat Wave. After coming in on a resisted move, it will a set-up a Dragon Dance and proceed to devistate your team without any retaliation. Similarly, Gyarados sets-up in a similar manner and sweeps your team clean. Another issue with your team is the lack of an Electric resist which makes Jolteon an instant threat.
Gyarados is not an effective lead at all since it doesn't perform well enough against the most commonly used leads. Your lead is supposed to be able to beat most of the top leads and set-up Stealth Rock prefferably from the beggining of the match. Since you already have a fighting resist and immunity in the form of Zapdos and Gengar, Swampert will work wonderfully instead of Gyarados. Swampert provides an Electric resist and a Salamence check thanks to it's ability to take a +1 Outrage at full health and retaliate with x4 SE Ice Beam. Additionally, it sets up Stealth Rock early in the match, which will alleviate your Salamence and Gyarados weakness significantly. Here's the set:

Swampert @ Leftovers
Relaxed | 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Spe
Ice Beam | Surf | Earthquake | Stealth Rock

The 4 Speed EVs allow you to outspeed opposing Swampert who don't run Speed EVs at all.

Now, I noticed that Swords Dance Lucario fits your team perfectly well. With Choice Band Tyranitar on the team, Lucario's checks such as Celebi, Magnezone, Zapdos, Rotom-A are already taken out late game so that Lucario can sweep. You don't need Crunch since you have TTar, Bullet Punch will work greatly in the current metagame as Scarf Tyranitar is commonly used as a SD Lucario check and Bullet Punch will change that. Tyranitar are mostly used as Scarf revenge killers so Physical walls such as Gliscor will not hesitate to switch-in only to be 2HKOed.

Lucario @ Life Orb
Adamant | 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Swords Dance | Close Combat | Bullet Punch | Extreme Speed

My next suggestion would be using a Choice Scarf Jirachi. Choice Scarf Jirachi will remedy your glaring Gengar weakness as well as your Gyarados issues since it is able to outspeed it after a DD and OHKO with Thunder Punch. It can also tie with Salamence after a DD and dispose of it using Ice Punch. This is why Jirach is a better Choice Scarf revenge killer than Lucario; elemental Punches + the extra Speed makes all the difference. Here's the Jirachi set:

Jirachi @ Choice Scarf
Jolly | 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Iron Head | Thunder Punch | Ice Punch | Trick

Making Zapdos more bulky is definitely beneficial as it allows you to take on common threats such as Scizor, Agil-Gross and Lucario much more effectively. Go for Thunderbolt, Roost, Heat Wave and HP Grass (which allows you to effectively lure in Swampert, a threat you mentioned, and OHKO it with HP Grass) with Leftovers and an EV Spread of 248 HP / 252 Def / 36 Spe. This will make switching into Scizor's U-Turn a much easier task and Metagross as well as SD Lucario are kept at bay.

Test these changes out and see if they work out for you. Good Luck.

 

[Natalya]

-Hugs- Thanks Nos, I'll do another team variant and see how it fairs. And Yes, I will admit, Scizor is VERY annoying for me.