Hyper-Offense! My first offense oriented team.

[Bossgodora]

Introduction

Hi this is my first thread and also my very first team that is offensive. I'm not completely new to competitive battling, but I have always had issues finding a team that suits me and actually works. I decided to try out a hyper-offense team, since I already tried a lot of other teams that were mainly defensive. Why not try something new? So I did some research and put together a team I felt could hold its ground in the OU. After many battles on showdown I determined that this team was average. Although it did have some matches that it destroyed teams completely, it also had matches where it was in a tough spot. Well, that's why I'm here. To improve my team.

My Team at a Glance

I actually had a hard time finding the final member for this team. The 6th member was supposed to be Dragonite, but I would need rapid spin support to even make using him worthwhile, and so the idea was scrapped. I decided to switch his spot with Garchomp, and coincidently have caused the demise of many opposing Dragonites using him.

My Team:

Garchomp @ Focus sash
Ability: Rough skin
Nature: Jolly
Evs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Stealth rock
Dragon claw
Earthquake
Swords dance

Garchomp got the crucial (and often unlucky) role as my team's dedicated lead. Almost every single battle I start off getting stealth rock up on the field. It really depends on what I'm up against that determines what I do with him after that. I sometimes predict switches and get a SD in and attempt a sweep. Often times though he gets killed pretty fast, either by a faster sweeper like starmie, or revenge killed. I'm kind of unsure as to if I should switch him with another pokemon or not, as I don't have any spin blockers, and once he's down his main niche is wasted. Otherwise, garchomp's typing allows him to switch into and take care such threats like hydreigon.

Lucario @ Life orb
Ability: Justified
Nature: Adamant
Evs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Swords dance
Close combat
Extremespeed
Bullet punch

Lucario is a very helpful member of this team. His typing allows him to resist attacks other members like garchomp can't take, and his ability takes advantage of Latios and Cresselia's psychic typing. While he isn't the fastest pokemon in OU, he makes up for this with extremespeed and bullet punch, which after a SD or justified boost, could KO weakened opponents late-game. I usually use him as a late-game sweeper, and he does an alright job at it too. Maybe there's a pokemon that does his job better?

Cresselia @ Light clay
Ability: Levitate
Nature: Bold
Evs: 248 HP / 112 Def / 12 SpD / 136 Spe
Reflect
Light screen
Lunar dance
Ice beam

Cresselia is the most important member of this team. Although in some matchups her screen support isn't mandatory, it's always appreciated by other members of my team. Since everyone else really has to setup to go for a sweep, dual screen support helps make it possible. She is a very sturdy wall with and without screens up. Once her job is done and she is near death I'll just sacrifice her with lunar dance. Ice beam is there to ensure she isn't complete taunt bait, and despite her awful special attack she does decent damage to dragon types, especially Dragonite.

Latios @ Life orb
Ability: Levitate
Nature: Timid
Evs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Calm mind
Dragon pulse
Surf
Psyshock

I know what you're thinking. This Latios isn't holding either a scarf or specs. It's holding a life orb. But I can explain. Since I almost always clear the field of physical threats and get screens up before I send him in, this set is perfect. After just a calm mind dragon pulse comes just short of a OHKO after stealth rock damage to a forretress (92%). Plus the bulk granted by those screens is complemented by calm mind (Special-wise). In those worst-case scenarios where pretty much every is down, Latios is toast because it's using a life orb, and because they're usually physical threats, like gyarados.

Terrakion @ Salac berry
Ability: Justified
Nature: Jolly
Evs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Substitute
Swords dance
Close combat
Stone edge

Let me start off by saying he is one of the most destructive pokemon I've used so far. When I send him in, I usually get a free sub in, which means a free SD. This is because everyone is used to seeing the usual scarfed variant, or even a banded one. Once he gets a SD in there really is no stopping him. Salac berry complements this setup well since substitutes wear his health down and that speed boost in the end extends his life a little.

Rotom-W @ Choice scarf
Ability: Levitate
Nature: Modest
Evs: 252 SpA / 252 Spe / 4 HP
Volt switch
Hidden power (Fire)
Hydro pump
Trick

Rotom-W gets the special job as "clean-up" (Get it?) . Pun aside, Rotom is very helpful, especially later in the match. Rotom is most devastating to opposing rain teams, of course and is the only pokemon here capable of scaring away a Gyarados. I run scarf because as a revenge killer, I obviously want as much investment in speed I can get, while also investing in it's special attack, of course. Trick is there to ruin the lives of walls, especially ferrothorn, who could be a pain for this team.

Threats

Pokémon listed in red are pokemon that I actually got destroyed by in battle. Ones listed in black are ones I haven't yet faced but could experience issues with. Unfortunately, I don't know all of this teams threats.

Venusaur: I actually never thought of Venusaur being such an issue for this team... but it swept all of my pokemon in a match! Venusaur is most dangerous in the sun, with chlorophyll activated. After it gets a growth boost I'm finished, as it's attacks hit everyone except for Lucario with neutral or super-effective damage. Still deciding what I could do to fix this issue.

Jirachi: Slightly more annoying to face than Venusaur in the sun. If Jirachi is scarfed I might as well forfeit the match. Seriously. This guy can flinch hax my whole team to death and this wouldn't be as severe of an issue if I had a pokemon to reliably counter it. The closest thing I got is Rotom-W and its hidden power fire, but if he's down I'm pretty much done.

Ferrothorn: Although I haven't yet faced one with this team yet, he has the potential to ruin this team. Only half my team has moves that could dent him, and he could just as easily stall with leech seed. He really isn't as much of a threat as the other pokemon, but could be in some situations.

Lucario: Ironically, one of the biggest threats to my team is a pokemon in it. While the situation that made him dangerous only happened once, it's still worth noting. If he has screens up and gets even just gets one SD, I'm pretty much finished. But as much as a threat he is, such occasions are rare.

Conclusion

So yeah, this is my awesome hyper-offense team I use on showdown. I actually moved up the ladder quite a bit using it (I think I got from around 1200 to around 1700 with it). Feel free it use it yourselves. Thanks for reading this! How is this team? How did I do for a first timer?

 

[Shurtugal]

So no one has rated this team yet? :(

At a glance, this team looked pretty bad. However, upon further inspection, I feel that this team can be a true gem if we can get the tarnish off, if you know what I mean. There are a few things that this team looks like it struggles to face -- Scizor and offensive Dragons seem to be pretty high on that list -- as well as entry hazards. The team also has problems with a lack of raw power as well, since everything needs to use a turn of set up before it can break teams (like those stall teams).

However, I see a few fixes that could easily make this team a solid team to face in the metagame! So let's see if I can't patch things up, shall we?

1. First, Cresselia seems like a horrible user of Dual-Screens. It makes you TTar weak and Scizor weak and it's a pretty slow Pokemon too, which usually means it can get Taunted or set up on and it's really just not the type of Pokemon you want to use on an Heavy Offensive team such as this. Instead, I'd recommend replacing Cresselia with Dual Screens Espeon. With Espeon, by reverting to the standard screening set of Light Screen / Reflect / Psychic / Hidden Power [Fire], you should be able to lure in Scizor and OHKO with an HP Fire. I'd keep Light Clay as the item of choice, and Espeon is a viable supplement to Cresselia. For starters, it can outspeed and speed tie with things like Terrakion, Keldeo, Lati@s, and a bunch of other Pokemon of noteworthy. It's incredible speeds combined with it's ability, Magic Bounce, allow you to prevent hazard set up in the form of Skarmory, Smeargle, Forretress, Mew, Aerodactyl, and other such anti-leads. What's more is that Espeon can set up screens faster and it's ability to lure Scizor is much more useful than before.

2. With all of that said, you need to realize that SD Lucario and SubSD Terrakion are pretty redundant paired together. Alongside SD Garchomp and a CM Latios, this team lacks immediate power, which is a huge issue since Lucario is generally a late game sweeper and wants things broken enough as to where +2 Extreme Speeds can pick it off. Generally, Latios will set up on Lucario's counters and often it will also sweep late or mid game. However, Terrakion is pretty much performing a moot role with both Lucario and Latios functioning together.

Needless to say, Terrakion is the most expendable member on the team. I'd say this team lacks raw power to break teams, and that is a pretty huge issue. However, Choice Band Dragonite patches this up quite nicely, as well as give you an overall better answer to Sun Stall (common Sun Stall has Bronzong, which pretty much breaks Lucario + Latios cores). CB Dragonite can break things for both Latios and Lucario, which is why I feel it fits so well -- breaking things like Jellicent, Ammongus, Skarmory and Hippodown for Lucario while breaking Jirachi, Ferrothorn, Bronzong, and Scizor for Latios. Note that the immediate power is essential for breaking these Pokemon so that either Lucario or Latios can late sweep or even mid sweep later in the game.

3. Having said all that, offensive Dragons are still a tough fix to patch. However, I think I have a found a quick solution to this problem as well -- replace Choice Scarf Rotom-W for Choice Scarf Scizor instead. I feel that the addition of CB Dragonite alongside CM Latios is more than enough to break rain teams -- and so leaves us with quite a Lati@s weakness (as well as a Starmie weakness). I feel that Scizor can be used to lure in and KO Lati@s and Starmie alike, while also being able to switch into Dragonite / Salamence and chip their health into KO range for either CB Dragonite or Lucario so that Dragon types become manageable.

4. Finally, for all my nitpicks -- I want you to replace Dragon Claw for Outrage on Garchomp for better overall use. I'd normally tell you to use Fire Blast over SD to hit Skarmory, but the addition of Espeon helps counter Skarmory and so you can afford to go on the offensive. On Lucario, I'd switch his nature to Inner Focus to beat Scarf Jirachi (as well as put 4 evs into SpD over HP). Latios is going to want Roost over Psyshock if only to be more aggressive and last a bit longer in the match -- especially with Keldeo and rain teams the healing is important. CB Dragonite / Espeon break Ammongus and Keldeo is going to be getting hit hard with DPulse and CB Dragonite so I feel the loss of Psyshock isn't nearly as bad as not having Roost.


I hope I helped! Good Luck and welcome to Smogon! :)

(Also, how are you weak to Ferrothorn; Ferrothorn is huge set up bait for Lucario unless it's CB Bulldoze lol which is about as common as Milotic when you're playing OU so you shouldn't be weak to Ferrothorn at all).

 

[Bossgodora]

So no one has rated this team yet? :(

At a glance, this team looked pretty bad. However, upon further inspection, I feel that this team can be a true gem if we can get the tarnish off, if you know what I mean. There are a few things that this team looks like it struggles to face -- Scizor and offensive Dragons seem to be pretty high on that list -- as well as entry hazards. The team also has problems with a lack of raw power as well, since everything needs to use a turn of set up before it can break teams (like those stall teams).

However, I see a few fixes that could easily make this team a solid team to face in the metagame! So let's see if I can't patch things up, shall we?

1. First, Cresselia seems like a horrible user of Dual-Screens. It makes you TTar weak and Scizor weak and it's a pretty slow Pokemon too, which usually means it can get Taunted or set up on and it's really just not the type of Pokemon you want to use on an Heavy Offensive team such as this. Instead, I'd recommend replacing Cresselia with Dual Screens Espeon. With Espeon, by reverting to the standard screening set of Light Screen / Reflect / Psychic / Hidden Power [Fire], you should be able to lure in Scizor and OHKO with an HP Fire. I'd keep Light Clay as the item of choice, and Espeon is a viable supplement to Cresselia. For starters, it can outspeed and speed tie with things like Terrakion, Keldeo, Lati@s, and a bunch of other Pokemon of noteworthy. It's incredible speeds combined with it's ability, Magic Bounce, allow you to prevent hazard set up in the form of Skarmory, Smeargle, Forretress, Mew, Aerodactyl, and other such anti-leads. What's more is that Espeon can set up screens faster and it's ability to lure Scizor is much more useful than before.

2. With all of that said, you need to realize that SD Lucario and SubSD Terrakion are pretty redundant paired together. Alongside SD Garchomp and a CM Latios, this team lacks immediate power, which is a huge issue since Lucario is generally a late game sweeper and wants things broken enough as to where +2 Extreme Speeds can pick it off. Generally, Latios will set up on Lucario's counters and often it will also sweep late or mid game. However, Terrakion is pretty much performing a moot role with both Lucario and Latios functioning together.

Needless to say, Terrakion is the most expendable member on the team. I'd say this team lacks raw power to break teams, and that is a pretty huge issue. However, Choice Band Dragonite patches this up quite nicely, as well as give you an overall better answer to Sun Stall (common Sun Stall has Bronzong, which pretty much breaks Lucario + Latios cores). CB Dragonite can break things for both Latios and Lucario, which is why I feel it fits so well -- breaking things like Jellicent, Ammongus, Skarmory and Hippodown for Lucario while breaking Jirachi, Ferrothorn, Bronzong, and Scizor for Latios. Note that the immediate power is essential for breaking these Pokemon so that either Lucario or Latios can late sweep or even mid sweep later in the game.

3. Having said all that, offensive Dragons are still a tough fix to patch. However, I think I have a found a quick solution to this problem as well -- replace Choice Scarf Rotom-W for Choice Scarf Scizor instead. I feel that the addition of CB Dragonite alongside CM Latios is more than enough to break rain teams -- and so leaves us with quite a Lati@s weakness (as well as a Starmie weakness). I feel that Scizor can be used to lure in and KO Lati@s and Starmie alike, while also being able to switch into Dragonite / Salamence and chip their health into KO range for either CB Dragonite or Lucario so that Dragon types become manageable.

4. Finally, for all my nitpicks -- I want you to replace Dragon Claw for Outrage on Garchomp for better overall use. I'd normally tell you to use Fire Blast over SD to hit Skarmory, but the addition of Espeon helps counter Skarmory and so you can afford to go on the offensive. On Lucario, I'd switch his nature to Inner Focus to beat Scarf Jirachi (as well as put 4 evs into SpD over HP). Latios is going to want Roost over Psyshock if only to be more aggressive and last a bit longer in the match -- especially with Keldeo and rain teams the healing is important. CB Dragonite / Espeon break Ammongus and Keldeo is going to be getting hit hard with DPulse and CB Dragonite so I feel the loss of Psyshock isn't nearly as bad as not having Roost.


I hope I helped! Good Luck and welcome to Smogon! :)

(Also, how are you weak to Ferrothorn; Ferrothorn is huge set up bait for Lucario unless it's CB Bulldoze lol which is about as common as Milotic when you're playing OU so you shouldn't be weak to Ferrothorn at all).

Yay someone posted something. ^_^

I'll take all of your recommendations into consideration and see how well my team does now that some of its holes have been patched. Once I get a feel for it I'll add the edited team to the thread.

Thanks for being honest. :)