Wassup Browski's got another RMT for you. Enough of the introduction lets get it in...
The Team At A Glance:
Mixed Attacking Tyranitar With Stealth Rocks.
Specially Defensive Jirachi.
Poison Heal Gliscor With Extra Attack EV's.
RestoChesto Gyarados. A Bulky Motherfucker.
Nasty Plot Celebi.
Choice Banded Scizor.
So that's the team. Now for a brief look in to how I constructed the team:
With the OU metagame being full of weather I decided I needed to hop on the bandwagon. The decision here was pretty much "who is the best weather inducer?" The answer seemed obvious...
In my opinion, the two best defensive Pokemon to come out of this generation are Gliscor and Jirachi. Gliscor stops most physical attackers such as Conkeldurr and Terrakion dead. Jirachi serves as a solid check to the new special attackers on the block in this generation, as it can EASILY take a Psyshock. It also shuts down sweepers such as Thundurus and Lati@s with a Body Slam that will cause paralysis more often than not. Both of these Pokemon do not get buffeted by Sandstorm so with Leftovers and Poison Heal the gap between my HP and the opponent's is ever increasing without me having to do anything...
I needed something to take those physical water and special fire attacks that Jirachi and Gliscor can't handle between them, as well as huge threats such as Volcarona but i really wanted something that could sweep teams as well as being bulky. Gyarados immediately came to mind, so I looked at the sets on smogon. But just after sweeping teams in UU with a RestoChesto Kingdra, I suddenly had a brilliant idea...
The next spot on my team was a tough one, it needed to be a special attacker to break down the physical walls Gyarados can't handle. It also needed to destroy bulky waters like Rotom W and Jellicent that Gyarados couldn't handle. It also needed to stand up to the sheer amount of Scalds and Will-O-Wisps that these bulky waters have. Celebi does this well with it's ability, Natural Cure. I LOVE bulky Nasty Plot Celebi with Giga Drain>Recover. It also packs HP fire for Ferrothorn and Scizor who would stop him dead and cripple with T-Wave or OHKO with Bug Bite/U-Turn respectively...
I needed a Revenge killer as well as a check to Reuniclus (as they all carry Focus Blast, rendering T-Tar insufficient). CB Scizor seemed perfect. It feels weird how much Bullet Punch does, as it seems built in me back from when i played Ruby as a little kid that when i see a 40BP move I just cringe, expecting it to do a smidgen, when in reality Scizor can clean up weakened teams like it's his day job.
Now lets look at an in-depth analysis.
Tyraniturd (Tyranitar) (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 HP / 180 SAtk / 76 SDef
Sassy Nature (+SDef, -Spd)
- Stealth Rock
- Ice Beam
- Fire Blast
- Crunch
Tyranitar, he gets all the bitches. He looks fucking cool and is generally awesome. His amazing attack stat is amazing without investment, with Crunch seriously denting ghost and psychic types such as Jellicent and Lati@s . Fire blast deals with Ferrothorn, Forretress and if I can predict the Scizor switch in, but I am unwilling to stay in on any of Scizor's moves, regardless of the set. Ice beam deals with dragon types such as lead Dragonite, who rarely pack Superpower, Ice Beam is a clean 2HKO on Dragonite, or an OHKO if it switches in with Stealth Rock up as this breaks its Multiscale. It also deals with Gliscor who would wall the crap out of me otherwise. I love predicting the protect on Gliscor, going for Crunch, persuading it to stay in then BAM! Ice Beam motherfucker! Get Outa here! What you doing son? Stealth Rocks are mandatory on any team, breaking Focus Sashes and Multiscale as well as turning 2HKO's in to OHKO's. When SR is up, Pokemon like Salamence and Volcarona are hurt rather badly on the switch in. Fire Blast also complements Stealth Rocks as it OHKO's Forretress (a common user of Rapid Spin) once Sturdy is broken. The EV's are to take advantage of Tyranitar's 1.5x Special Defense boost in the sand, as well as giving that extra bit of punch to Fire Blast and Ice Beam as Tyranitar's Special Attack is quite a bit lower than his Physical Attack. It has a Sassy nature as speed is the only stat I can afford to lower, and T-Tar is pretty damn slow anyways. The only reason you would not run a -Speed nature is to beat other Tyranitar's, but this one lacks Superpower, so it won't be able to do that anyway. The choice between Chopple Berry, Leftovers and Lum Berry was a tough one, but with the amount of "weather wars" that go on means that I need to save Tyranitar for the mid-game, and have maximum survivability, Leftovers being the superior option for the mid-game. Chopple Berry seemed redundant as I have 3 fighting resists on this team, so I always have a safe switch to fighting type hits. Lum Berry seemed like a good option, but I have Gliscor as a status absorber, and if his poison heal is yet to activate, then Tyranitar doesn't mind being statused as he is mixed (and I have Scizor to compensate for the nerfed Crunch) therefore burn isn't too much of an issue, I am also pretty slow so inflicting T-Tar with Paralysis is a rather futile pursuit.
Moves of Fire Blast, Ice Beam and Crunch Resisted By:
-Houndoom
-Poliwrath
-Sharpedo
-Crawdaunt
-Infernape
-Heatran
-Emboar
Jenna Haze (Jirachi) @ Leftovers
Trait: Serene Grace
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SDef
Careful Nature (+SDef, -SAtk)
- Wish
- U-turn
- Body Slam
- Iron Head
Oh My Arceus! I never knew Jirachi could be so good! Granted, she looks pathetic, but she is so bulky! Her typing is common but nevertheless good, as it makes up for her Steel typing's fighting type weakness. She provides wish support to the team in a very interesting way. Let me explain, the way Wish passing works normally is to recover up an injured Pokemon, you must Wish up, switch out and the injured Pokemon must survive hazard damage AND take an incoming hit. If this injured Pokemon is a frail sweeper at low health, this can be a troublesome task. Now, with Jirachi's incredible bulk, she can come in on a special attacker faster than her (as she has no speed investment this shouldn't be too tricky) and Wish up, take the hit and U-turn out, meaning the Pokemon needing to be healed must only survive hazard damage, and with only one of my Pokemon being weak to Stealth Rocks, that isn't too difficult. U-turn also gives me switch initiative, eases prediction, as well as allowing me to deal with those pesky Magnezone's which seem to be getting more and more popular nowadays (As Magnezone + Haxorus/Mence can really mess teams up). Body Slam and Iron Head work together with Jirachi's ability Serene Grace to annoy the fuck out of walls and cripple sweepers. I chose body slam over T-Wave as hitting ground types seemed more useful than hitting ghosts, as there are simply more ground types in the current metagame such as Excadrill that don't appreciate paralysis. Ghosts are generally less common, the prominent 2 being Jellicent (dealt with by Celebi) and Gengar, kinda dented by Iron Head on Jirachi anyway, and can't do much thanks to my special bulk. Also, Gengar often carries Substitute nowadays, which would block the Paralysis anyway. Paraflinching also compensates for the lack of Protect on my Jirachi, as an Iron Head on a Paralyzed Pokemon will most likely grant me my Wish recovery. Leftovers is pretty much the only option on a special wall. I don't need any speed investment as I can outspeed a jolly scarfed Deoxys-S if I paralyze it :D so it's the straight 252/4/252 EV investment. With the 4 being in Defense for a little extra bulk, which helps with taking those Psyschocks and Physical Dragon-Type moves as base 100 Defense is nothing to scoff at even if is pretty much uninvested.
Moves of Iron Head and Body Slam Resisted by:
-ALL STEEL TYPES (Bar Aggron, Bastiodon, Probopass)
-Shedinja
-Rotom Regular
-Jellicent
-Chandelure
CountVonCunt (Gliscor) (M) @ Toxic Orb
Trait: Poison Heal
EVs: 252 HP / 112 Atk / 144 Def
Impish Nature (+Def, -SAtk)
- Swords Dance
- Earthquake
- Ice Fang
- Protect
Aaaah Gliscor. What a beast. It is gobsmacking how a Pokemon, seemingly outclassed by Skarmory in terms of base stats can check and effectively counter SUCH a large amount of the metagame's top top physical threats from this generation and previous generations. Gliscor scoffs as Scizor, Terrakion, Conkeldurr and Excadrill. It is ridiculous. The reason for this? Well Gliscor does have decent base 125 defense, but pretty lackluster base 75 HP for the hard hitters of today's metagame. Why is he so good then? Well unlike Skarmory, he actually resists fighting, but there's more to it. With his new ability, Poison Heal, he turns from a humble stallbreaker, sandveil-haxing people on sand teams to one of the best physical tanks in the game. He can tank hits as well as sweep with multiple Swords Dance boosts. With Poison Heal, 2HKO's turn in to 3HKO's and then Gliscor puts up a protect and the opponents lucky if he gets the kill before Gliscor strikes back with a surprisingly painful (Base 95 Attack) Earthquake. Although most people tend to invest heavily in Defense, or split the EV's between Defense and Speed for more of a sweeper, I've given mine a bit less Defense and invested rather generously in Attack. I find that 252 defense is simply unnecessary with Poison Heal + Protect, as switches are forced more often than not, so I rarely need to take multiple hits in succession, meaning there is plenty of time for poison heal recovery. The speed was even less useful to me as with the fast paced metagame of today, Gliscor didn't need to/couldn't outspeed anything crucial. So I beefed up his attack stat, making it get those easy 2HKO's, as well as helping me tremendously in those Ice Fang wars vs. other Gliscors as long as the other Gliscor doesn't have an SD up already. The Item is pretty obvious. Toxic Orb gives me guaranteed Poison Heal regarding I don't switch in on a status move. Swords dance is there so i can set up and sweep on a physical attacker doing nothing with its attacks. Earthquake is the main STAB attack, hitting, most notably steel types such as Jirachi, super effectively. This is especially effective against said Jirachi as long as my Poison Heal is active, Rachi cannot paralyze me, meaning paraflinching shenanigans won't happen, and I'll have a 40% chance of breaking through and getting off a super effective EQ. Ice Fang hits Grass types and Flying types that resist and are immune to EQ respectively.
Moves of Earthquake and Ice Fang Resisted by:
-Bronzong
-Rotom-W
-Rotom-H
-Shedinja
-Cryogonal
Double D's (Gyarados) (M) @ Chesto Berry
Trait: Intimidate
EVs: 156 HP / 72 Atk / 96 Def / 184 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Dragon Dance
- Waterfall
- Rest
- Bounce
Oh WOW. Just OMG what a beast. Everyone has a Gyarados when they play through the single player. They teach it stuff like Hydro Pump and Dragon Rage but still think it's awesome. That's just exactly what mine is. Awesome. I have a theory right, about custom movesets. Custom movesets (i.e. ones that aren't on smogon) are good in lower tiers, for example offensive Vileplume can really catch you off guard and reck shop in NU, but in OU, custom movesets are far less viable. The reason for this is that certain Pokemon are used a lot (and therefore OU) because of a particular trait. Take Breloom for example. 3rd lowest BST in 4th gen OU, but still an absolute monster. The reason for this? 100% accurate sleep move + poison heal screams free subs at you, making it one of the best SubPunchers/SubSeeders in the game. Now imagine a Breloom without Spore? It's ridiculous who would run that? Now imagine Scizor without bullet punch? Also ridiculous. Magnezone without Magnet Pull, the list goes on. However this Gyarados is different. The simple reason is that I haven't really taken away what Gyarados does, I've just tweaked the model to the fifth generation a bit. I haven't messed with the EV's or anything, I've simply changed the move Taunt to Rest. Why? The answer is Scald. The reason taunt is on the Bulky DD set is as a protection from status moves, but this generation brought with it the move scald, which has become standard on nearly all bulky waters. This means that taunting the opponent is no longer sufficient as Gyarados can still be crippled and ruined by pretty much all bulky waters. So I decided to replace Taunt with Rest and a Chesto Berry. This solves the scald crisis as it allows me to keep DD'ing until they get the burn, at which point they will almost always predict a switch, giving me a scald-free turn to rest up, recover ALL DAT HELF. H. E. L. F. HELF. And sweep from there. Alternatively I could setup a couple of DD's on the switch, start sweeping, then when i get down in the red from SS damage, Rest up, let my Chesto berry wake me up, then continue to sweep. If i go with the first option, i.e. using my "trump card" to get a free set up, then Sandstorm damage does surprisingly hurt quite a bit, but by then they will have huge gaping holes in their team by the time I'm finished off for Celebi and Scizor to clean up. Dragon Dance is the crux of this set, as Attack and Speed boosts allow me to outspeed and sweep unprepared teams who struggle to get a hit in before they are OHKO'd. Dragon Dance is in my opinion the 3rd best set up move in the game (behind Shell Smash and Quiver Dance) as little can stand up to the combination of speed and power. After I get enough DD's up I am totally unstoppable, as Gyarados' AMAZING typing resists Bullet Punch and Mach Punch, two of the most common priority moves in the current metagame. I chose Intimidate over Moxie as it compensates for my lower physical defense, allowing me to come in on physical attackers most notably Gyarados, and start a set up. I can also pivot between Gyarados and something like Rachi or Glisocr to rack up Intimidate drops. Waterfall and Bounce are extremely powerful STAB moves, resisted only by Empoleon, Lanturn and Rotom W, the latter being the most prevalent threat. Enter Celebi...
Moves of Waterfall and Bounce Resisted by:
Empoleon
Rotom-W
Lanturn
Celery (Celebi) @ Leftovers
Trait: Natural Cure
EVs: 220 HP / 252 SAtk / 36 Spd
Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Earth Power
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Giga Drain
- Nasty Plot
This guy is good. REALLY good. Basically, once he gets a Nasty Plot up, he breaks down a large majority of the big defensive threats in this generation's metagame. The common Jellicent + Ferrothorn combination are easily destroyed, as Giga Drain maims Jellicent, with burn not being an issue as I am able to recover off the damage with Giga Drain, and my attacks hitting on the special side, while HP fire OHKO's Ferrothorn. It can EASILY live a HP ice from a Choice Specs Rotom (50%-59%) and destroy it with a Giga Drain, recovering a large chunk back. HP fire OHKO's Skarmory after a Nasty Plot. It also destroys Gliscor, with it taking 22% -27% from Ice Fang, and OHKO'ing with Giga Drain after a Nasty Plot (as I can predict Gliscor's Protect and can very easily set up a Nasty Plot). Earth Power does 64% - 75% to Jirachi after a Nasty Plot, and thanks to Natural Cure can easily switch out after being paralyzed and become healed. Baloon Heatran can be an issue, but I have Gyarados for it if it lacks HP Electric. Otherwise Earth Power OHKO's as I outspeed non-scarf variants. It isn't even KO'd by Haxorus' Outrage! On that note it isn't easily revenge killed. It can outspeed and OHKO Scizor with HP fire, as well as only taking only 40% - 48% from a banded Bullet Punch. The only thing it really struggles with is Terrakion and Excadrill's X-Scissor and Scarfed U-Turns. However Gliscor can come in on Excadrill and Terrakion, and if Terrakion is locked in to X-Scissor, then Gyarados can come in and set up. U-Turns do give switch initiative on my Gliscor, but I get to keep my Celebi :) The EV's are a very nice mix between bulk and speed, with maximum power. Once I get a Nasty Plot up, I can continue Giga Draining to be constantly at a healthy HP level. If it outspeeds me, I can live the hit, and kill it. If I outspeed, I can kill it. That's generally how it goes. The best of both worlds. I use Leftovers over Life Orb as the Sandstorm is up, meaning that Life Orb in conjunction with Sandstorm damage, regardless of Giga Drain's recovery, will seriously decrease the life of my Celebi. My move choice is an interesting one. I think I have already explained Giga Drain's usefulness, but its my main STAB option that got a boost this Generation from 60BP to a respectable 75BP, outclassing Energy Ball as the recovery is worth more than the extra 5 BP. I have also explained HP fire's incredible usefulness against the likes of Skarmory, Scizor, Ferrothorn and Forretress who would otherwise wall me. Earth Power is for Fire types who I outspeed such as Heatran, as well as OHKOing Magnezone. Celebi is really really hard to kill with his HP investment and Giga Drain recovery and even harder to wall after just one Nasty Plot boost. Its weird, everything he seems to have trouble with (most notably Volcarona who may well be the perfect counter) is so EASILY dealt with by Gyarados. It's a match made in heaven :).
Moves of Giga Drain, Earth Power and Hidden Power Fire Resisted by:
-Charizard
-Moltres
-Dragonite
-Altaria
-Salamence
-Lati@s
-Rotom-H
-Hydregion
Arts+Crafts (Scizor) (M) @ Choice Band
Trait: Technician
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Bullet Punch
- Superpower
- U-turn
- Pursuit
Well shit, it's the last Pokemon. And, as is common, the last Pokemon is the Glue. The revenge killer should a big threat come in and threaten my team. As I said earlier, it feels like it shouldn't, but STAB Technician boosted Bullet Punch coming off a Choice Banded Scizor absolutely destroys. There are very few Pokemon that can stand up to it. Scizor is a very potent revenge killer and late game sweeper. It's awesome Bug/Steel typing grants it 9 resistances, an Immunity (Poison) and only one (4x) weakness to Fire allowing it to take a few hits as well. With 248 HP EV's and Wish support from Jirachi, It's hardly frail. There isn't much to say really, it's just the standard, tried and true, Choice Banded Scizor set. I chose this set over the Swords Dance set as I felt like I had plenty of set up sweepers and another one was not needed. I also felt like I lacked raw power right out of the gate as well so the Choice Banded set designed to revenge kill seemed like a better fit. I use Superpower over Brick Break as dual screens can easily be stalled out, and as I'm Choice Banded, I'm not going to be staying in for more than 2 Superpowers at the most so the Attack drops are barely detrimental. U-Turn and Pursuit are there for the perfect "Catch 22" for Reuniclus - If it stays in, It'll get U-Turned, If it switches it will get Pursuited. Same with Celebi, although some variants carry HP fire which will ruin me. This description is short, I know, but we ALL know what CB Scizor does and how it works. It took me a while to realise just how good priority is to have, and with Scizor's being the most powerful in the game, it's hard to pass it up.
Moves of Bullet Punch, U-Turn and Superpower resisted by:
(Pursuit is not on here as its only use is to catch Pokemon who are threatened by other moves, therefore if Pursuit is the only move I have to hit something with, It's not going to be doing much)
-Charizard
-Tentacruel
-Gyarados
-Zapdos
-Moltres
-Qwilfish
-Mantain
-Pelliper
-Shedinja
-Rotom-Standard
-Rotom-F
-Swanna
-Emolga
-Jellicent
-Chandelure
-Volcarona
-Thundurus
(Seems like a lot but I have most of them dealt with and you don't see Emolga in OU too often ;) )
So thats the team. Tell me what you think down below!
Threats
This list isn't too big as nothing IMMEDIATELY comes to mind, but here's a few:
-Electivire: Hits all of my team for Super Effective damage if it's carrying Fire Punch and all but Scizor if its carrying EQ. But then again I actually don't have an Electric type move on this team to hit it with and give it it's sought after Motor Drive boost. So I can easily deal with it, possibly go to Jirachi and Body Slam it, then Gliscor for the EQ and in desperation Scizor for the Bullet Punch.
-Gyarados As I said before, I don't have an Electric type move for it. My usual strategy is to pivot switch in to my own Gyarados for the intimidate's and then in to Rachi for the Body Slam, then back in to Gyarados to try and set up on the -2 Attack drops. Even without all of those shenanigans I can easily beat other Gyarados' with mine, thanks to Intimidate + Rest. However If it gets set up, I'm in for a world of hurt.
The Team At A Glance:
So that's the team. Now for a brief look in to how I constructed the team:
With the OU metagame being full of weather I decided I needed to hop on the bandwagon. The decision here was pretty much "who is the best weather inducer?" The answer seemed obvious...
In my opinion, the two best defensive Pokemon to come out of this generation are Gliscor and Jirachi. Gliscor stops most physical attackers such as Conkeldurr and Terrakion dead. Jirachi serves as a solid check to the new special attackers on the block in this generation, as it can EASILY take a Psyshock. It also shuts down sweepers such as Thundurus and Lati@s with a Body Slam that will cause paralysis more often than not. Both of these Pokemon do not get buffeted by Sandstorm so with Leftovers and Poison Heal the gap between my HP and the opponent's is ever increasing without me having to do anything...
I needed something to take those physical water and special fire attacks that Jirachi and Gliscor can't handle between them, as well as huge threats such as Volcarona but i really wanted something that could sweep teams as well as being bulky. Gyarados immediately came to mind, so I looked at the sets on smogon. But just after sweeping teams in UU with a RestoChesto Kingdra, I suddenly had a brilliant idea...
The next spot on my team was a tough one, it needed to be a special attacker to break down the physical walls Gyarados can't handle. It also needed to destroy bulky waters like Rotom W and Jellicent that Gyarados couldn't handle. It also needed to stand up to the sheer amount of Scalds and Will-O-Wisps that these bulky waters have. Celebi does this well with it's ability, Natural Cure. I LOVE bulky Nasty Plot Celebi with Giga Drain>Recover. It also packs HP fire for Ferrothorn and Scizor who would stop him dead and cripple with T-Wave or OHKO with Bug Bite/U-Turn respectively...
I needed a Revenge killer as well as a check to Reuniclus (as they all carry Focus Blast, rendering T-Tar insufficient). CB Scizor seemed perfect. It feels weird how much Bullet Punch does, as it seems built in me back from when i played Ruby as a little kid that when i see a 40BP move I just cringe, expecting it to do a smidgen, when in reality Scizor can clean up weakened teams like it's his day job.
Now lets look at an in-depth analysis.
Tyraniturd (Tyranitar) (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 HP / 180 SAtk / 76 SDef
Sassy Nature (+SDef, -Spd)
- Stealth Rock
- Ice Beam
- Fire Blast
- Crunch
Tyranitar, he gets all the bitches. He looks fucking cool and is generally awesome. His amazing attack stat is amazing without investment, with Crunch seriously denting ghost and psychic types such as Jellicent and Lati@s . Fire blast deals with Ferrothorn, Forretress and if I can predict the Scizor switch in, but I am unwilling to stay in on any of Scizor's moves, regardless of the set. Ice beam deals with dragon types such as lead Dragonite, who rarely pack Superpower, Ice Beam is a clean 2HKO on Dragonite, or an OHKO if it switches in with Stealth Rock up as this breaks its Multiscale. It also deals with Gliscor who would wall the crap out of me otherwise. I love predicting the protect on Gliscor, going for Crunch, persuading it to stay in then BAM! Ice Beam motherfucker! Get Outa here! What you doing son? Stealth Rocks are mandatory on any team, breaking Focus Sashes and Multiscale as well as turning 2HKO's in to OHKO's. When SR is up, Pokemon like Salamence and Volcarona are hurt rather badly on the switch in. Fire Blast also complements Stealth Rocks as it OHKO's Forretress (a common user of Rapid Spin) once Sturdy is broken. The EV's are to take advantage of Tyranitar's 1.5x Special Defense boost in the sand, as well as giving that extra bit of punch to Fire Blast and Ice Beam as Tyranitar's Special Attack is quite a bit lower than his Physical Attack. It has a Sassy nature as speed is the only stat I can afford to lower, and T-Tar is pretty damn slow anyways. The only reason you would not run a -Speed nature is to beat other Tyranitar's, but this one lacks Superpower, so it won't be able to do that anyway. The choice between Chopple Berry, Leftovers and Lum Berry was a tough one, but with the amount of "weather wars" that go on means that I need to save Tyranitar for the mid-game, and have maximum survivability, Leftovers being the superior option for the mid-game. Chopple Berry seemed redundant as I have 3 fighting resists on this team, so I always have a safe switch to fighting type hits. Lum Berry seemed like a good option, but I have Gliscor as a status absorber, and if his poison heal is yet to activate, then Tyranitar doesn't mind being statused as he is mixed (and I have Scizor to compensate for the nerfed Crunch) therefore burn isn't too much of an issue, I am also pretty slow so inflicting T-Tar with Paralysis is a rather futile pursuit.
Moves of Fire Blast, Ice Beam and Crunch Resisted By:
-Houndoom
-Poliwrath
-Sharpedo
-Crawdaunt
-Infernape
-Heatran
-Emboar
Jenna Haze (Jirachi) @ Leftovers
Trait: Serene Grace
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SDef
Careful Nature (+SDef, -SAtk)
- Wish
- U-turn
- Body Slam
- Iron Head
Oh My Arceus! I never knew Jirachi could be so good! Granted, she looks pathetic, but she is so bulky! Her typing is common but nevertheless good, as it makes up for her Steel typing's fighting type weakness. She provides wish support to the team in a very interesting way. Let me explain, the way Wish passing works normally is to recover up an injured Pokemon, you must Wish up, switch out and the injured Pokemon must survive hazard damage AND take an incoming hit. If this injured Pokemon is a frail sweeper at low health, this can be a troublesome task. Now, with Jirachi's incredible bulk, she can come in on a special attacker faster than her (as she has no speed investment this shouldn't be too tricky) and Wish up, take the hit and U-turn out, meaning the Pokemon needing to be healed must only survive hazard damage, and with only one of my Pokemon being weak to Stealth Rocks, that isn't too difficult. U-turn also gives me switch initiative, eases prediction, as well as allowing me to deal with those pesky Magnezone's which seem to be getting more and more popular nowadays (As Magnezone + Haxorus/Mence can really mess teams up). Body Slam and Iron Head work together with Jirachi's ability Serene Grace to annoy the fuck out of walls and cripple sweepers. I chose body slam over T-Wave as hitting ground types seemed more useful than hitting ghosts, as there are simply more ground types in the current metagame such as Excadrill that don't appreciate paralysis. Ghosts are generally less common, the prominent 2 being Jellicent (dealt with by Celebi) and Gengar, kinda dented by Iron Head on Jirachi anyway, and can't do much thanks to my special bulk. Also, Gengar often carries Substitute nowadays, which would block the Paralysis anyway. Paraflinching also compensates for the lack of Protect on my Jirachi, as an Iron Head on a Paralyzed Pokemon will most likely grant me my Wish recovery. Leftovers is pretty much the only option on a special wall. I don't need any speed investment as I can outspeed a jolly scarfed Deoxys-S if I paralyze it :D so it's the straight 252/4/252 EV investment. With the 4 being in Defense for a little extra bulk, which helps with taking those Psyschocks and Physical Dragon-Type moves as base 100 Defense is nothing to scoff at even if is pretty much uninvested.
Moves of Iron Head and Body Slam Resisted by:
-ALL STEEL TYPES (Bar Aggron, Bastiodon, Probopass)
-Shedinja
-Rotom Regular
-Jellicent
-Chandelure
CountVonCunt (Gliscor) (M) @ Toxic Orb
Trait: Poison Heal
EVs: 252 HP / 112 Atk / 144 Def
Impish Nature (+Def, -SAtk)
- Swords Dance
- Earthquake
- Ice Fang
- Protect
Aaaah Gliscor. What a beast. It is gobsmacking how a Pokemon, seemingly outclassed by Skarmory in terms of base stats can check and effectively counter SUCH a large amount of the metagame's top top physical threats from this generation and previous generations. Gliscor scoffs as Scizor, Terrakion, Conkeldurr and Excadrill. It is ridiculous. The reason for this? Well Gliscor does have decent base 125 defense, but pretty lackluster base 75 HP for the hard hitters of today's metagame. Why is he so good then? Well unlike Skarmory, he actually resists fighting, but there's more to it. With his new ability, Poison Heal, he turns from a humble stallbreaker, sandveil-haxing people on sand teams to one of the best physical tanks in the game. He can tank hits as well as sweep with multiple Swords Dance boosts. With Poison Heal, 2HKO's turn in to 3HKO's and then Gliscor puts up a protect and the opponents lucky if he gets the kill before Gliscor strikes back with a surprisingly painful (Base 95 Attack) Earthquake. Although most people tend to invest heavily in Defense, or split the EV's between Defense and Speed for more of a sweeper, I've given mine a bit less Defense and invested rather generously in Attack. I find that 252 defense is simply unnecessary with Poison Heal + Protect, as switches are forced more often than not, so I rarely need to take multiple hits in succession, meaning there is plenty of time for poison heal recovery. The speed was even less useful to me as with the fast paced metagame of today, Gliscor didn't need to/couldn't outspeed anything crucial. So I beefed up his attack stat, making it get those easy 2HKO's, as well as helping me tremendously in those Ice Fang wars vs. other Gliscors as long as the other Gliscor doesn't have an SD up already. The Item is pretty obvious. Toxic Orb gives me guaranteed Poison Heal regarding I don't switch in on a status move. Swords dance is there so i can set up and sweep on a physical attacker doing nothing with its attacks. Earthquake is the main STAB attack, hitting, most notably steel types such as Jirachi, super effectively. This is especially effective against said Jirachi as long as my Poison Heal is active, Rachi cannot paralyze me, meaning paraflinching shenanigans won't happen, and I'll have a 40% chance of breaking through and getting off a super effective EQ. Ice Fang hits Grass types and Flying types that resist and are immune to EQ respectively.
Moves of Earthquake and Ice Fang Resisted by:
-Bronzong
-Rotom-W
-Rotom-H
-Shedinja
-Cryogonal
Double D's (Gyarados) (M) @ Chesto Berry
Trait: Intimidate
EVs: 156 HP / 72 Atk / 96 Def / 184 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Dragon Dance
- Waterfall
- Rest
- Bounce
Oh WOW. Just OMG what a beast. Everyone has a Gyarados when they play through the single player. They teach it stuff like Hydro Pump and Dragon Rage but still think it's awesome. That's just exactly what mine is. Awesome. I have a theory right, about custom movesets. Custom movesets (i.e. ones that aren't on smogon) are good in lower tiers, for example offensive Vileplume can really catch you off guard and reck shop in NU, but in OU, custom movesets are far less viable. The reason for this is that certain Pokemon are used a lot (and therefore OU) because of a particular trait. Take Breloom for example. 3rd lowest BST in 4th gen OU, but still an absolute monster. The reason for this? 100% accurate sleep move + poison heal screams free subs at you, making it one of the best SubPunchers/SubSeeders in the game. Now imagine a Breloom without Spore? It's ridiculous who would run that? Now imagine Scizor without bullet punch? Also ridiculous. Magnezone without Magnet Pull, the list goes on. However this Gyarados is different. The simple reason is that I haven't really taken away what Gyarados does, I've just tweaked the model to the fifth generation a bit. I haven't messed with the EV's or anything, I've simply changed the move Taunt to Rest. Why? The answer is Scald. The reason taunt is on the Bulky DD set is as a protection from status moves, but this generation brought with it the move scald, which has become standard on nearly all bulky waters. This means that taunting the opponent is no longer sufficient as Gyarados can still be crippled and ruined by pretty much all bulky waters. So I decided to replace Taunt with Rest and a Chesto Berry. This solves the scald crisis as it allows me to keep DD'ing until they get the burn, at which point they will almost always predict a switch, giving me a scald-free turn to rest up, recover ALL DAT HELF. H. E. L. F. HELF. And sweep from there. Alternatively I could setup a couple of DD's on the switch, start sweeping, then when i get down in the red from SS damage, Rest up, let my Chesto berry wake me up, then continue to sweep. If i go with the first option, i.e. using my "trump card" to get a free set up, then Sandstorm damage does surprisingly hurt quite a bit, but by then they will have huge gaping holes in their team by the time I'm finished off for Celebi and Scizor to clean up. Dragon Dance is the crux of this set, as Attack and Speed boosts allow me to outspeed and sweep unprepared teams who struggle to get a hit in before they are OHKO'd. Dragon Dance is in my opinion the 3rd best set up move in the game (behind Shell Smash and Quiver Dance) as little can stand up to the combination of speed and power. After I get enough DD's up I am totally unstoppable, as Gyarados' AMAZING typing resists Bullet Punch and Mach Punch, two of the most common priority moves in the current metagame. I chose Intimidate over Moxie as it compensates for my lower physical defense, allowing me to come in on physical attackers most notably Gyarados, and start a set up. I can also pivot between Gyarados and something like Rachi or Glisocr to rack up Intimidate drops. Waterfall and Bounce are extremely powerful STAB moves, resisted only by Empoleon, Lanturn and Rotom W, the latter being the most prevalent threat. Enter Celebi...
Moves of Waterfall and Bounce Resisted by:
Empoleon
Rotom-W
Lanturn
Celery (Celebi) @ Leftovers
Trait: Natural Cure
EVs: 220 HP / 252 SAtk / 36 Spd
Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Earth Power
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Giga Drain
- Nasty Plot
This guy is good. REALLY good. Basically, once he gets a Nasty Plot up, he breaks down a large majority of the big defensive threats in this generation's metagame. The common Jellicent + Ferrothorn combination are easily destroyed, as Giga Drain maims Jellicent, with burn not being an issue as I am able to recover off the damage with Giga Drain, and my attacks hitting on the special side, while HP fire OHKO's Ferrothorn. It can EASILY live a HP ice from a Choice Specs Rotom (50%-59%) and destroy it with a Giga Drain, recovering a large chunk back. HP fire OHKO's Skarmory after a Nasty Plot. It also destroys Gliscor, with it taking 22% -27% from Ice Fang, and OHKO'ing with Giga Drain after a Nasty Plot (as I can predict Gliscor's Protect and can very easily set up a Nasty Plot). Earth Power does 64% - 75% to Jirachi after a Nasty Plot, and thanks to Natural Cure can easily switch out after being paralyzed and become healed. Baloon Heatran can be an issue, but I have Gyarados for it if it lacks HP Electric. Otherwise Earth Power OHKO's as I outspeed non-scarf variants. It isn't even KO'd by Haxorus' Outrage! On that note it isn't easily revenge killed. It can outspeed and OHKO Scizor with HP fire, as well as only taking only 40% - 48% from a banded Bullet Punch. The only thing it really struggles with is Terrakion and Excadrill's X-Scissor and Scarfed U-Turns. However Gliscor can come in on Excadrill and Terrakion, and if Terrakion is locked in to X-Scissor, then Gyarados can come in and set up. U-Turns do give switch initiative on my Gliscor, but I get to keep my Celebi :) The EV's are a very nice mix between bulk and speed, with maximum power. Once I get a Nasty Plot up, I can continue Giga Draining to be constantly at a healthy HP level. If it outspeeds me, I can live the hit, and kill it. If I outspeed, I can kill it. That's generally how it goes. The best of both worlds. I use Leftovers over Life Orb as the Sandstorm is up, meaning that Life Orb in conjunction with Sandstorm damage, regardless of Giga Drain's recovery, will seriously decrease the life of my Celebi. My move choice is an interesting one. I think I have already explained Giga Drain's usefulness, but its my main STAB option that got a boost this Generation from 60BP to a respectable 75BP, outclassing Energy Ball as the recovery is worth more than the extra 5 BP. I have also explained HP fire's incredible usefulness against the likes of Skarmory, Scizor, Ferrothorn and Forretress who would otherwise wall me. Earth Power is for Fire types who I outspeed such as Heatran, as well as OHKOing Magnezone. Celebi is really really hard to kill with his HP investment and Giga Drain recovery and even harder to wall after just one Nasty Plot boost. Its weird, everything he seems to have trouble with (most notably Volcarona who may well be the perfect counter) is so EASILY dealt with by Gyarados. It's a match made in heaven :).
Moves of Giga Drain, Earth Power and Hidden Power Fire Resisted by:
-Charizard
-Moltres
-Dragonite
-Altaria
-Salamence
-Lati@s
-Rotom-H
-Hydregion
Arts+Crafts (Scizor) (M) @ Choice Band
Trait: Technician
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Bullet Punch
- Superpower
- U-turn
- Pursuit
Well shit, it's the last Pokemon. And, as is common, the last Pokemon is the Glue. The revenge killer should a big threat come in and threaten my team. As I said earlier, it feels like it shouldn't, but STAB Technician boosted Bullet Punch coming off a Choice Banded Scizor absolutely destroys. There are very few Pokemon that can stand up to it. Scizor is a very potent revenge killer and late game sweeper. It's awesome Bug/Steel typing grants it 9 resistances, an Immunity (Poison) and only one (4x) weakness to Fire allowing it to take a few hits as well. With 248 HP EV's and Wish support from Jirachi, It's hardly frail. There isn't much to say really, it's just the standard, tried and true, Choice Banded Scizor set. I chose this set over the Swords Dance set as I felt like I had plenty of set up sweepers and another one was not needed. I also felt like I lacked raw power right out of the gate as well so the Choice Banded set designed to revenge kill seemed like a better fit. I use Superpower over Brick Break as dual screens can easily be stalled out, and as I'm Choice Banded, I'm not going to be staying in for more than 2 Superpowers at the most so the Attack drops are barely detrimental. U-Turn and Pursuit are there for the perfect "Catch 22" for Reuniclus - If it stays in, It'll get U-Turned, If it switches it will get Pursuited. Same with Celebi, although some variants carry HP fire which will ruin me. This description is short, I know, but we ALL know what CB Scizor does and how it works. It took me a while to realise just how good priority is to have, and with Scizor's being the most powerful in the game, it's hard to pass it up.
Moves of Bullet Punch, U-Turn and Superpower resisted by:
(Pursuit is not on here as its only use is to catch Pokemon who are threatened by other moves, therefore if Pursuit is the only move I have to hit something with, It's not going to be doing much)
-Charizard
-Tentacruel
-Gyarados
-Zapdos
-Moltres
-Qwilfish
-Mantain
-Pelliper
-Shedinja
-Rotom-Standard
-Rotom-F
-Swanna
-Emolga
-Jellicent
-Chandelure
-Volcarona
-Thundurus
(Seems like a lot but I have most of them dealt with and you don't see Emolga in OU too often ;) )
So thats the team. Tell me what you think down below!
Threats
This list isn't too big as nothing IMMEDIATELY comes to mind, but here's a few:
-Electivire: Hits all of my team for Super Effective damage if it's carrying Fire Punch and all but Scizor if its carrying EQ. But then again I actually don't have an Electric type move on this team to hit it with and give it it's sought after Motor Drive boost. So I can easily deal with it, possibly go to Jirachi and Body Slam it, then Gliscor for the EQ and in desperation Scizor for the Bullet Punch.
-Gyarados As I said before, I don't have an Electric type move for it. My usual strategy is to pivot switch in to my own Gyarados for the intimidate's and then in to Rachi for the Body Slam, then back in to Gyarados to try and set up on the -2 Attack drops. Even without all of those shenanigans I can easily beat other Gyarados' with mine, thanks to Intimidate + Rest. However If it gets set up, I'm in for a world of hurt.
