I'll Let You Have A Secret Pokemon - a MAGIKARP - for just $500!

[Dukewarrior13]

1874 and climbing

At a Glance

Hello Smogoners! Despite the new generation quickly approaching, which is going to change the metagame with the new introducing of fairy types and mega evolutions, I have made it my goal to create my best OU generation 5 team because I have never really stuck with a team for more than a month. Nevertheless, I have always been an OU type of guy and I have stuck with the tier through balanced and unbalanced times. This team is situated around a water/fire/grass core that I have perfected and tweaked for a long time. Before I am going to go through the team in detail, i should let you know that this team is far from perfect. Now, enough of that, let’s get on with the team!


In Detail

84 Hp/ 252 Att/ 172 Spe
Adamant (+Att, -SpA)
Moxie
Leftovers

Dragon Dance
Earthquake
Waterfall
Bounce

Remember that fucker in Kanto that tried to sell you a magikarp outside of the entrance of Mt. Moon for $500? The first time I played the game (almost 9 years ago), I have never heard of a magikarp and so I bought it. I absolutely loved that magikarp. Even though it only had splash as a move, I switched it into battle and then right back out so it would gain some exp points and would grow a little more. By the time I had gotten to the Celadon Gym, my little magikarp was level 19. I battled Erika which was the toughest battle of my life (at that point anyways.) All of my Pokémon were fainted except magikarp and Erika’s tangrowth was at red health. I switched my magikarp out knowing that my little guy wasn’t going to make it. At this point, tears were building up because I had not lost a battle before (c’mon guys I was 5) and I thought that if you lost a battle then you would lose the entire game. To my surprise, magikarp preceded to kill the tangrowth, winning the battle. I jumped up with joy and hugged my Gameboy. Magikarp proceeded to evolve to the fantastic Gyarados. I was so happy. And that was the moment that united me with this awesome sea monster of doom.

I had the dilemma with the ev spread, I wanted it to be bulky but it still needed some speed. A few sort calculations later and I came out with this spread. Max attack with an Adamant nature was a given for obvious reasons. The speed allows me to outspeed the following Pokémon with one Dragon Dance (assuming my calculations are correct):

Life Orb Latios
Non Scarfed Thundurus-T
Swords Dance Terrakion
Swords Dance Garchomp
Starmie and all other base 115 speeders (By half of a point)

The rest are thrown into Hp for bulk of course J. I am torn between Moxie and Intimidate for his ability. While moxie may seem like the obvious choice, Intimidate is also useful in a number of ways. Like Landorus-T setting up stealth rocks, Intimidate allows a nearly certain free turn in Dragon Dancing as the opponent switches out. Intimidate can also allow Gyarados to defend Heatran from fighting types, although Gengar can already do that. If anybody has any experience in using both abilities, (because I have only tried out Moxie), let me know!
P.S. Yes, I know it is my profile pic, that is not a coincidence :)

252 Hp/ 28 SpA/ 228 SpD
Modest (+SpA, -Att)
Regenerator
Black Sludge

Giga Drain
Stun Spore
Spore
Hidden Power Fire

This guy is the newest addition to my team, courtesy of Plus. I originally had a bulky Rotom-M scout but realized that I needed a more solid pivot that could weaken choice Pokemon for my late game sweepers. While Amoonguss certainly maintains a longer life on the battlefield, I do miss the power of Rotom-M's Leaf Storm. Therefore, I am wondering whether I should use the intriguing Life Orb set in a similar manner to Mienshao. Also, since I already have Heatran to absorb special attacks, should I change the evs to a more physically defensive form?

4 Hp/ 252 SpA/ 252 Spe
Timid (+Spe, -Att)
Flash Fire
Leftovers

Fire Blast
Earth Power
Hidden Power Ice
Stealth Rock

For a long time I have been running a specially defensive set on Heatran untill I realized that Heatran doesn’t need much investment. He acts as the ultimate lure for the most annoying Pokémon in the game: Gliscor. His move set is pretty standard and he nearly always gets up rocks. Heatran has pretty good synergy with the rest of the core and he can really take advantage of the double immunities to ground from the other two. His steel typing is a blessing and really comes in handy in blocking Draco Meteors or Outrages.

4 Hp/ 252 SpA/ 252 Spe
Timid (+Spe, -Att)
Levitate
Focus Sash

Focus Blast
Shadow Ball
Taunt
Destiny Bond

Gengar is tied with Froslass for the fastest user of destiny bond and it is a mystery to me why people don’t take advantage of this more often. He acts as a suicide trapper for boosters and baton pass teams that slips through the holes of my core. If dragonite has a nailed himself with a couple of dragon dances, no problem because Gengar can go out and take advantage of his locked outrage. Trainers that I have battled against don’t really grasp the mechanics of destiny bond. A lot of people think that a Destiny bond only works if you are faster than the opponent. Instead, it lasts untill after the opponent makes another move, even if it is in the next turn. Gengar also acts has a very convient spin blocker. Any Trainer that knows what I am up to with a Destiny Bond can expect to eat Focus Blasts and Shadow Balls, which provide nearly perfect coverage. Taunt is used to shut down Blissey, but it really doesn’t see any action. This is the closest utility Pokémon on my team.

4 Hp/ 252 Att/ 252 Spe
Jolly (+Spe, -SpA)
Justified
Muscle Band

Swords Dance
Close Combat
ExtremeSpeed
Ice Punch

I decieded at this point that I would need a revenge killer, one that could switch in without fear of entry hazards and can sweep on his own if given the chance. I also noticed that my team lacked the useful fighting type coverage (besides Gengar’s Focus Blast and I am not going to rely on that). All factors pointed to Lucario and so he was an obvious choice for my team. He has done pretty well on my team, so far.

I know what you are thinking, “Muscle Band? NOOOOOO.” I know, Muscle Band is generally hated and outclassed by Expert Belt and Life Orb. There are a few reasons that I have chosen Band over Belt or Orb: ExtremeSpeed. Seeing that the most useful move in his arsenal cannot hit anything for super effective damage; that crosses out expert belt. Lucario’s beautiful typing allows me to switch him in easily even if stealth rocks are up, (the same cannot be said about Gyarados or Genger.) and I don’t want Life Orb recoil to hinder is playing time.

4 Hp/ 252 Att/ 252 Spe
Jolly (+Spe, -SpA)
Rough Skin
Lum Berry

Swords Dance
Outrage
Fire Fang
Earthquake

Every team needs to have a dragon on their team in today’s metagame (although not for long thanks to fairies!). I have always wanted to use Garchomp because of his good ability his weaknesses are easily covered. His 108/95/85 bulk is nothing to laugh at, and his 102 typing is just enough to outspeed many threats such as Hydreigon, non boosted Dragonite and Haxorus. Lum Berry allows me to switch into Breloom and will preceed to wreak havoc. I threw him on at the last minute to widen a hole in the opponent’s team that Gyarados can get through.

Please Note that no Pokémon’s place is set in stone and if you have any suggestions then please reply!

Shout outs:
Thanks to pokemonelite2000.com for their sprite collection!
Thanks to Jifish for his Pokémon picture collection!
Thanks to Smogon, Pokémon Showdown, and all of its Admins
Thanks to you guys for reading this!​

 

[Dukewarrior13]

*le bump* C'mon I know you have your opinions!

 

[Plus]

It seems that you've tried out a lot of stuff and didn't seem to like it. I honestly would have suggested Celebi over Rotom to better prepare you for things like Keldeo, as it has superior bulk and resists both of Keldeo's STABs, making its typing not particularly as awful as it may seem in this metagame. But I guess there are other options as well, which I will mention below.

These are a little unorthodox as suggestions, but since you don't like Life Orb Lucario, try running Normal Gem Lucario. Sometimes, a slightly boosted Extremespeed is all you need to kill off a threat, and boosts your power much more than a Muscle Band would, even a Life Orb. It does roughly 8-12% more than a Life Orb Lucario's ExtremeSpeed, which can come in handy in more clutch situations, especially when you're trying to pull off a sweep. One instance in particular is if a Scarf Salamence comes in on your +2 SD Lucario. Muscle Band would sometimes fail to kill with Extremespeed (about 50%) of the time with SR up, while Normal Gem guarantees you the kill. Muscle Band gives you really minimal boosts -- at least Normal Gem gives you more visible results due to the sheer usefulness of priority.

When running Sash Gengar, Counter is generally a useful move due to it's surprise factor. I'd say it's much better than Taunt because it allows you to kill common responses to Gengar such as Scizor, as well as serving up a clutch kill against a Dragon Dance user such as Dragonite. Then, you can proceed to Destiny Bond as your opponent attempts to pick off your 1% Gengar, netting you a two for one solely due to the surprise factor.

Run Air Balloon on the Heatran, so you can switch into Garchomp much easier, as I don't see too many safe switch ins for it on this team. Gengar and Gyarados aren't very good switch ins because they don't necessarily kill Garchomp right off the bat. Furthermore, Sun teams that run Mixed Growth Venusaur (Giga Drain, Growth, EQ), will be annoying to face despite Heatran covering a good amount of Sun as is, so running Air Balloon can help in those instances as well. Furthermore, Air Balloon allows you to switch into Landorus-T and threaten it with HP Ice, giving you an opportunity to either kill it, or set up Stealth Rock as it attempts to break your Balloon with U-turn.

Lastly, consider running Amoonguss over Rotom as Amoonguss provides a solid defensive pivot for this team and more bulk than Rotom has to offer. Amoonguss can last repeated switch-ins on rain teams thanks to Regenerator, and can sleep major threats to your team giving you an easier opportunity to sweep with Garchomp or Lucario lategame. Most importantly, Amoonguss works great against Keldeo, who is always annoying to face -- especially the Expert Belt sets. If you are in need of a defensive Grass-type not named Celebi, Amoonguss is always a decent option to consider.

Amoonguss@Black Sludge
Calm 252 hp/28 spa/228 spd
Giga Drain/Spore/HP Fire/Stun Spore

Good luck with the team, hope I helped.

 

[Stone Alchemist]

I don't know why you would run bulk on a non-bulky Gyardos that doesn't have substitute or Intimidate. I would suggest replacing Earthquake with either Substitute or Taunt for this reason. Intimidate also helps so that you can set up with even more ease. A jolly nature is preferred so that you can outspeed things like Jolteon or Alakazam after a DD.

I don't see much reason for you to run a Focus Sash when SR, hail, and sandstorm damage pamper its usage on Gengar, and you have neither a Spinner or a weather inducer. I would replace it with a Life Orb to get the most out of gengar's Special Attack. Like you said, Taunt doesn't get much usage and isn't that useful. You say that people who know about destiny bond "can expect to eat a Shadow Ball or Focus Blast", but smart players can play mind games with you on whether they attack or not. For this reason, I advise replacing Taunt with Protect to scout for these things. Also, I would replace Destiny Bond with Hidden Power Fire to nail Scizor and other steels on the switch, or when using protect to scout whether it locks into Pursuit or Bullet Punch.

Lucario doesn't care about LO recoil because it's frail as a breadstick. The 10% recoil doesn't matter when you're out sweeping teams with Extremespeed anyways. You should replace Muscle Band with LO, but if you're really paranoid about the recoil, a Silk Scarf is better to boost Extremespeed.

Your team lacks a revenge killer, and is also quite awkward with 3 physical setup sweepers. This is why I suggest Choice Scarf Garchomp in place of your SD Garchomp because your team lacks notable speed outside of Gengar, who seems to be suicidal anyways. BTW don't expect Garchomp to counter Breloom because Low Sweep on the switch + Bullet Seed OHKO's Garchomp. Good luck!