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SUSPECT
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Edits will be in bold
Introduction
(I used suspect 3 times! :D)
Hello Smogonites, this is another one of my RMTs and it is for the Stage 3-3 Suspect Tests. The suspects this round were Manaphy and Latias, so I decided to make a team based around them, using their most destructive sweeper sets and building a supporting team around it. This team was designed to clear the way for each of their sweeps and get rid of threats.
Overall, the team has been not too bad, and I have laddered consistently to around a 1200 CRE (which is pretty good, by my standards :P) . I didn't want to lose that CRE so I've only been laddering a little bit recently, also because I've been away a lot. So I decided to make an RMT to get advice, because I've been losing more than I would like to some of the better players on the ladder, and hopefully make my way on the leaderboard (a hard goal, but hey, why not try?)
Well, I don't know what else to say, so, I present you the team!
In - Depth
Azelf @ Focus Sash
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 4 Atk/252 Spd/252 SAtk
Naive nature (+Spd, -SDef)
- Explosion
- Taunt
- Stealth Rock
- Psychic
Azelf has probably been the most reliable lead for me ever on Shoddy, simply because it can serve as a reliable entry hazard set upper and a deadly special attacker that can take out almost all other leads in 2 hits. I know the set is pretty standard, but its what I've been using for almost all my teams, and it has worked consistently well for me.
Theres not much else to explain about this set. Stealth Rock is crucial to the team's success mainly because it has some problems with DD Mence and Gyarados, both of whom take a huge chunk from Stealth Rock. With this entry hazards, revenge killing becomes much easier, and it becomes easier to KO them on the switch. I went with Taunt over Fire Blast because Metagross almost always carries Occa Berry nowadays, and it seemed necessary to shut down all slower leads and prevent them from setting up Stealth Rocks or Spikes. Psychic to take out Fighting types like Infernape (who I rarely see nowadays), and Poison types, and is just a good strong STAB attack that I can use if I get taunted/etc. And Explosion is a great way to get a kill after setting up rocks, and can clear the way for my sweepers by eliminating the other team's special wall.
This set still has problems with Tyranitar leads and other Azelf leads, two very common leads in the suspect metagame. Tyranitar OHKOs with Crunch, with Sandstorm negating Focus Sash, and the best I can hope for is to set up Stealth Rock. I sort of hate relying on a speed tie to taunt an Azelf first, because if I lose the speed tie, I lose the momentum of the whole match.
Overall, Azelf is indisputably the premier lead in OU and Suspect, and does its job for the team.
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Tyranitar (M) @ Babiri Berry
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 4 HP/252 Atk/252 Spd
Adamant nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Crunch
- Stone Edge
- Dragon Dance
- Fire Punch
Good ol' Tyranitar, it has found its way onto almost all suspect teams these days. The best Latias check in the game, it serves as both a check to many threats to the team like Heatran, Latias, Gyarados, and KO them with the associated move. The best thing I love about this set is its ability to bluff a Choice Band, allowing me to get a surprise kill against something that thinks I'm locked in. This set also takes next to nothing from Gyarados's Waterfall, Heatran's Earth Power, or Latias's Surf, making it their ideal counter and the best check on the team.
Tyranitar is a very common pokemon nowadays, but because of its ability to check common threats and strike back with powerful attacks, and its ability, Sandstream, that helps stall and deal residual damage to opposing pokemon.
BabiriTar gives me the advantage against Scizor switching in, and gives me another set-up sweepe
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Rotom-h @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 4 HP/252 Spd/252 SAtk
Modest nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Hidden Power [Ground]
- Overheat
- Thunderbolt
- Shadow Ball
My most reliable Scizor counter, Rotom-H is my favorite Rotom-forme to use, and with a Choice Scarf equipped, becomes a reliable revenge killer. The set checks Scizor, Heatran, Tyranitar, Gyarados, Gengar, and other Rotom reliably with its respective moves, and because of its natural bulk, can last throughout the match and continue checking the opposing team and allowing my sweepers to sweep without problem.
I decided to go with Shadow Ball over Trick, mainly because without it, I found it hard to deal with Rotom-W, the Rottom forme with Hydro Pump, and also because I almost never see Blissey these days. Also, because I'm pretty bad at prediction and I almost never used it anyways. So, Shadow Ball was inserted in place of Trick.
Max Special Attack and Speed allow me to do as much damage as possible and dent anything else switching in. And of course, Modest Nature for the +1 Special Attack boost, I didn't feel the need to go Timid because I had enough speed to check the threats I needed to check.
Rotom-H serves as the glue to the team and is my primary revenge killer for many threats in the suspect metagame.
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Scizor (M) @ Choice Band
Ability: Technician
EVs: 152 HP/180 Atk/8 Spd/168 SDef
Adamant nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Bullet Punch
- U-turn
- Superpower
- Pursuit
The most overused pokemon ever makes its way once again to one of my teams. Scizor has become increasingly popular this year and works wonderfully in the Suspect metagame as well, being one of the best Tyranitar counters to date. It also serves as a Heatran, Latias, and Salamence counter, dealing a huge amount of damage with Bullet Punch alone.
Pursuit is for picking off Latias and ghosts, and I have no more need for Quick Attack with BabiriTar. Superpower is great to hit Heatran/Tyranitar and anything else hard on the switch in. U-turn is my primary scouting move and is useful to get a free switch in for one of my sweepers.
I went with a Specially Defensive Scizor this time, to take Latias's Surfs or Thunderbolts and other special attacks in case I can't OHKO with Bullet Punch.
The rest of the set is fairly standard. Scizor is a great pokemon to have on many teams and it first on my team as well. Even though its the most used pokemon in OU (30%?!), I felt it needed to be included on the team.
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Manaphy @ Wacan Berry
Ability: Hydration
EVs: 80 HP/176 Spd/252 SAtk
Timid nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Tail Glow
- Surf
- Ice Beam
- Hidden Power [Electric]
Now we enter the suspects. Manaphy, the first suspect, was voted OU originally but apparently some people thought it was broken, so it was tested again. And thats good for me, because I didn't participate in the first test, and I wanted to test out Manaphy. The first set I came across was a Wacan Berry set (I had previously never even heard of the berry) and I quickly saw that it was a reliable way to get a Tail Glow in, and KO faster revenge killers like Latias, who think they can OHKO with Thunderbolt.
With Tail Glow, Manaphy's special attack skyrockets and it can OHKO almost everything with the respective move. One Tail Glow set up can lead to a 3 or 4 pokemon sweep mid to late game, and is my primary sweeper on the team.
I felt Rest was very out of place on the set, because I didn't run Rain Dance on any of my pokemon, so I decided to replace it with Energy Ball. However, I then heard on another thread that HP Electric was, overall, a more reliable choice to deal with opposing Manaphies, so I decided to switch it out. Overall, they do the same basic purpose; win the 1 on 1 match between Manaphy and Manaphy. It is a crucial part of the set and helps me from getting walled by Manaphy, Gyarados, or Vaporeon.
Since its one of the suspects, I felt obliged to give it a star role on the team by using its Tail Glow sweeper set. It has worked fine for me so far and I don't really intend to change it in the future.
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Latias (F) @ Life Orb
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 4 Def/252 Spd/252 SAtk
Timid nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Thunderbolt
- Surf
- Recover
- Draco Meteor
The final member of the team is another suspect, Latias, who I've used plenty of times in OU and have had lots of experience using it. This set is basically just the standard Life Orb + 3 Attacks set. I decided to go with Draco Meteor mainly to get a surprise kill on things that think they can survive a Dragon Pulse and set up. I've gotten a surprise kill more than once, late game, and really gives me the edge in the match.
Thunderbolt and Surf provide good complimentary coverage with Draco Meteor, and each do a lot of damage once backed up with Calm Mind. The rest of the set is pretty standard, 252 EVs and Timid Nature to maximize speed, and 252 Evs in Special Attack, again standard. I decided to go with Life Orb for the extra power boost on my attacks and to help late game sweeps.
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So, thats my suspect team. Please rate and give suggestions :nerd: Happy New Year everyone!
One Last Look
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