Just another OU team- Needs some work!

[cheesyjohn]

At a glance!

Just made this team while ago, im fairly new on shoddy, but this is what i have going

Static Focus Sash Jolly

252 Speed/ 152 Atk/ 104 SpA

Thunderbolt
Taunt
Explosion
Sucker Punch

Good old Electrode lead. Boasting a 140 speed, this guy will outspeed almost all the pokemon in the meta aside from ninjask. TB is for stab if it gets a chance to fire off one. Taunt is for anti SR. Explosion because it takes down everything. Sucker punch for anti-leadape.

Insomnia Life Orb Jolly
252 Speed/ 252 Atk/ 4 Def

Pursuit
Sucker Punch
Drill Peck
Superpower

Honchkrow might be in UU, but if it not dealt with properly, it can easily slam 2 or 3 pokemon with it. Honchkrow freely switches in on the predicted Psychic or the everpopular Earthquake. Pursuit allows you to hit them on the switch if their choiced. Sucker Punch is good for safe killing, as a STAB Sucker Punch from a base 125 attack is strong enough to 1 hit most psychics, and knock a decent chunk off anything not resistant to it. Drill Peck is mainly for STAB and Anti-Machamp. Superpower will take a good chunk off anything not resisted.

Oh noes its TEH BRELOOMZ!
Poison Heal Toxic Orb Jolly

252 Speed/ 150 Atk/ 100 SpD

Spore
Substitute
Focus Punch
Leech Seed

Lets face it, Breloom counters anything that doesnt kill it in one hit. Breloomz is my Scizor counter. Switch in after my current one dies. Since Breloom will always go first if Scizor tries to Superpower, and it can always tank a Bullet punch, Breloom makes an Ideal counter. Spore to force a switch. Substitute or leech seed on the switch. The Sub down or Focus punch them.

Technician Life Orb Adamant
252 Atk / 252 Speed/ 4 Def

Swords Dance
Bullet Punch
U-Turn
Superpower

Standard Scizor. Switch it in at the endgame to finish off the rest of the opponent.

Technician Life Orb Jolly

252 Atk/ 252 Spe/ 4 Def

Fake Out
Last Resort


Last Resort Ambipom. Fake out to dent anything. Last resort to start Sweeping. IMO i kinda want to replace this with something else, but hes still a solid Poke.

Levitate Life Orb Modest
252 Speed/ 252 SpA/ 4 SpD


Dragon Pulse
Surf
Recover
Calm Mind


Switch into Special sweepers, calm mind up, then start Sweeping. I dont really like Latias, its not my style. Perhaps Salamance might be a better choice?



My view of this team so far



Electrode: Good start, can be unreliable sometimes, but its a good anti-lead and anti anti-lead.

Honchkrow: Love the mindgames you can do with this baby
Breloomz : Me and Breloom go back along way, and its always been there for me. Breloom Winz. Period. Z.

Scizor: So common in the meta that Everone has a counter for it. Might take out for a Rotom.. I dunno


Ambi: Good surprise to throw out. Most people dont know how to deal with Ambi, so it can take a poke out and dent another one.

Latias: Good poke, but again, Not really my style, and it seems everyone has an ice beam or Night slash to throw this one out.

 

[Dormin]

Let me be the first to welcome you to Smogon! Before I start rating your team, I want to say that it has a considerable amount of problems. I don't want to assume too much about your experience, but I think you would really benefit from checking out the Battling 101 section of the forums. While I have no experience there, I have seen some great battlers come out of the tutoring there, and I highly recommend it.

That being said, your team is going to need some major reworking. First off, Electrode is not a very good lead for the OU tier because the only thing it has going for it is its speed. I would recommend that you replace it for something that can set up stealth rock and survive to tell the tale. In this case, I would recommend a Heatran lead.

Heatran @ Shuca Berry
Naive
Flash Fire
EVs: 4 HP, 252 SpA, 252 Spe
-Stealth Rock
-Fire Blast
-Earth Power
-Explosion

This not only gives you some early rocks, but it gives you a bulky pokemo pn that can come back later in the match when necessary to threaten a team with Fire Blast, EP, and Explosion for special walls, which will really help with my next suggestion.

I think a good offensive core for your team is in order. Since you dislike Latias and Ambipom is really better suited for the UU tier. I think you'll have a lot of success with this combo..

Gyarados @ Leftovers
Adamant
Intimidate
EVs: 156 HP, 108 Atk, 100 Def, 144 Spe
-Dragon Dance
-Waterfall
-Stone Edge
-Taunt

Jolteon @ Life Orb
Timid
Volt Absorb
EVs; 4 HP, 252 SpA, 252 Spe
-Thunderbolt
-Shadow Ball
-Hidden Power Grass
-Charge Beam/Signal Beam

This is a fantastic offensive combination due to the fact that Jolteon absorbs electric attacks aimed at Gyarados. You can go with a more offensive Gyarados if you want, I just prefer BulkyGyara because it can combat stall. On Jolteon Charge Beam is preferred to give you a potent special sweeper, which can actually sweep a team if you explode on your opponent's special wall with Heatran.

Scizor and Breloom fit well with these changes, so I don't want to change them too much. For Scizor I recommend this set...

Scizor @ Choice Band
Adamant
Technician
EVs: 176 HP, 100 Atk, 176 SpDef, 56 Spe
-Pursuit
-U-turn
-Superpower
-Bullet Punch

In today's metagame a Choice Band Scizor is much more effective than the early Platinum SD Scizor craze. The EV spread allows you to better switch in to threats like Starmie and Celebi which wall a potential Gyarados sweep. You could go with the standard spread though.

Finally, you need something to take massive metagame threats like Salamence, Heatran, and opposing Gyarados. I recommend replacing Honchrow with....

Vaporeon @ Leftovers
Water Absorb
Bold
EVs: 188 HP, 252 Def, 68 Spe
-Wish
-Hidden Power Electric
-Surf
-Protect/Ice Beam

Vappy should also help you with Infernape, so you don't have to rely on Gyarados.

I think that, with these changes, you now have a really solid, competitive team for the OU tier. If you don't end up going to Battling 101, the next best thing is practice, practice, practice. Good luck!!

 

[cheesyjohn]

Let me be the first to welcome you to Smogon! Before I start rating your team, I want to say that it has a considerable amount of problems. I don't want to assume too much about your experience, but I think you would really benefit from checking out the Battling 101 section of the forums. While I have no experience there, I have seen some great battlers come out of the tutoring there, and I highly recommend it.

That being said, your team is going to need some major reworking. First off, Electrode is not a very good lead for the OU tier because the only thing it has going for it is its speed. I would recommend that you replace it for something that can set up stealth rock and survive to tell the tale. In this case, I would recommend a Heatran lead.

Heatran @ Shuca Berry
Naive
Flash Fire
EVs: 4 HP, 252 SpA, 252 Spe
-Stealth Rock
-Fire Blast
-Earth Power
-Explosion

This not only gives you some early rocks, but it gives you a bulky pokemo pn that can come back later in the match when necessary to threaten a team with Fire Blast, EP, and Explosion for special walls, which will really help with my next suggestion.

I think a good offensive core for your team is in order. Since you dislike Latias and Ambipom is really better suited for the UU tier. I think you'll have a lot of success with this combo..

Gyarados @ Leftovers
Adamant
Intimidate
EVs: 156 HP, 108 Atk, 100 Def, 144 Spe
-Dragon Dance
-Waterfall
-Stone Edge
-Taunt

Jolteon @ Life Orb
Timid
Volt Absorb
EVs; 4 HP, 252 SpA, 252 Spe
-Thunderbolt
-Shadow Ball
-Hidden Power Grass
-Charge Beam/Signal Beam

This is a fantastic offensive combination due to the fact that Jolteon absorbs electric attacks aimed at Gyarados. You can go with a more offensive Gyarados if you want, I just prefer BulkyGyara because it can combat stall. On Jolteon Charge Beam is preferred to give you a potent special sweeper, which can actually sweep a team if you explode on your opponent's special wall with Heatran.

Scizor and Breloom fit well with these changes, so I don't want to change them too much. For Scizor I recommend this set...

Scizor @ Choice Band
Adamant
Technician
EVs: 176 HP, 100 Atk, 176 SpDef, 56 Spe
-Pursuit
-U-turn
-Superpower
-Bullet Punch

In today's metagame a Choice Band Scizor is much more effective than the early Platinum SD Scizor craze. The EV spread allows you to better switch in to threats like Starmie and Celebi which wall a potential Gyarados sweep. You could go with the standard spread though.

Finally, you need something to take massive metagame threats like Salamence, Heatran, and opposing Gyarados. I recommend replacing Honchrow with....

Vaporeon @ Leftovers
Water Absorb
Bold
EVs: 188 HP, 252 Def, 68 Spe
-Wish
-Hidden Power Electric
-Surf
-Protect/Ice Beam

Vappy should also help you with Infernape, so you don't have to rely on Gyarados.

I think that, with these changes, you now have a really solid, competitive team for the OU tier. If you don't end up going to Battling 101, the next best thing is practice, practice, practice. Good luck!!

Thanks for the welcome :D


I've tested out this team a bit, and here are my comments so far.


Heatran : Great lead, this is definetly the Poke that i needed. Its solid, its not a suicide lead, and it works.

Gyara/Jolteon: Solid offensive "core" but the predicted switch is usually what screws me over. Maybe a dragon instead?

Vappy: Personally i do not like walls. Would it be a good idea to replace this with another sweeper?



Great review, my team is definetly better than it was at first, although i am kind of disappointed with Honchkrow *MiNdGaMez!@" leaving my team, Its very solid and it has consistent results. I generally find that Electric types are breaking my team wide open though, so maybe gliscor or donphan ( as a spinner too!) could help out.

 

[Black Buddha]

well seems to be that you want to play full on offense, which is quite expected from new players, and you can have a high success rate with good prediction skills, which come with time and experience.

I think Dormin has a lot of it covered, so I'll just point out a few things:
If you're using slow, bulkish sweepers then Paralysis support is much appreciated by your team. So, instead of Vappy, you could use always try something like a Zapdos with this:

Zapdos @ Lefties
Bold
EV's: 252Hp / 220Def / 36Spe
~Roost
~T-Wave / HP Ice
~T-Bolt / Discharge
~Heat Wave

Zapdos is a pretty solid Scizor counter with Heatave and high def + resistance to BP. Use Twave wit Tbolt or Discharge with HP Ice, as you want some sort of paralysis support. It also helps check Gyara's before they have DD'd. Also helps with your electric problems to a slight extent, although it cant really do anything to them unless you use HP Ground, which is kinda dumb :/
Just a suggestion, although with your team Vappy is probablby the superior choice.
And about your comment on the Gyara-Jolt combo, any sort of combo requires prediction, and without it no ones getting nowhere :/