Just another OU team.

[Dragados]

OVERVIEW

Nothing too fancy here, just a team I put together over a period of time that's been working fairly well for me on the Standard Ladder. I think my rating is starting to peak though, so I figured it was a good time to bring my team in for a bit of rating. All of these are lifted directly from the Analysis pages, I figured there was no point in messing with a good thing. I'm not too personally invested in this team, so all suggestions will be considered. A bit of explanation is always nice, though, as I'm not always the brightest Pokémon guy.

Weavile @ Focus Sash
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 4 HP/252 Atk/252 Spd
Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
Fake Out
Taunt
Counter
Night Slash

Anti-Lead set. It's been working rather well for me so far, nullifying most leads or at least scaring them off. I have problems with T-Tar and Aero Leads though, and I'm not quite sure how to deal with them. The analysis suggests Ice Punch for Aero, but he still outspeeds me, and if he gets rocks up then Weavile isn't doing his job. Taunt is also my only defense against set-up sweepers. Not a good thing.

Heatran @ Choice Specs
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 40 HP/252 SAtk/216 Spd
Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
Overheat
Earth Power
HP: Grass
Flamethrower

My special sweeper. Not much to say here. Opted for Overheat/Flamethrower over FB/Dragon Pulse since he's pretty easy to switch in, and the extra power from Overheat is appreciated.

Swellow @ Toxic Orb
Ability: Guts
EVs: 4 HP/252 Atk/252 Spd
Jolly Nature (+Spd -SAtk)
Facade
Brave Bird
U-Turn
Pursuit

My favorite gimmick pokemon ever. His recent performance has been lackluster though. He's becoming difficult to switch in with the prevalence of rocks, and he can't really take any hits. I feel pursuit is a wasted moveslot, either because I'm too stupid to notice it or because my opponents are too stupid to switch. Thinking about replacing it with Protect for easier Guts activation. Toxic Orb for the lower front end damage, since this guy never stays alive for long.

Mantine @ Leftovers
Ability: Water Absorb
EVs: 252 HP/252 SDef/4 Spd
Calm Nature (+SDef, -Atk)
Surf
HP: Flying
Ice Beam
Toxic

My Special Wall. Not quite Blissey, but he does well. The 4x electric weak is very tempting to anyone, perfect entrance opportunities for Donpahn or Electivire. He is lacking a bit in survivability, though. Probably going to replace Surf with Protect for lefties/toxic damage. Surf doesn't add much coverage, so it seems like the best choice to drop.

Donphan @ Leftovers
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 252 HP/4 Atk/252 Def
Impish Nature (+Def, -SAtk)
Rapid Spin
Earthquake
Ice Shard
Stealth Rock

My spinner/SR/physical tank. I think I have him spread across too many roles, he usually dies early on. He's a good candidate for Roar to help with my lack of a Hazer of any kind, but I'm not sure where I would fit in. Rapid Spin has saved me many times, so I'd like to keep that in if at all possible.

Electivire @ Expert Belt
Ability: Motor Drive
EVs: 4 HP/252 Atk/252 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
Cross Chop
Earthquake
Ice Punch
Thunder Punch

My endgame sweeper. Motor Drive has been consistently easy to abuse, though that may be my opponents' fault moreso than my predictive genius. I'm probably going to switch this over to the Mixed Sweeper version when I get on Shoddy next, as this set has a bit of trouble with being walled along with the heavy physical tilt of my team.


That's about it. Again, nothing too fancy, just a group of pokemon with complementary immunities I try to use to maximum effect. The main problems I'm noticing are a weakness to any sweeper that's set up already. I only have Taunt on Weavile to stop that, but by the time I can work him in, it's largely too late.

 

[Gaborik]

Gyarados absolutely takes this team apart. You have no way to break stall. There are multiple problems with this team, but for starters changes lets take out Swellow. It is just too easily walled and the Stealth Rock/Sand/Orb Damage pile up too quickly for it to be useful. To help you take on stall I would recommend one of the MixMences (old or new) from the analysis (http://www.smogon.com/dp/pokemon/salamence). Either of them work good enough at beating stall if you use them well.

The second problem is Gyarados. I want to replace Donphan with something that can still run Stealth Rock for your team while taking care of Tyranitar. I don't think that combination works out but either way you should try something like a Swampert in that role. He can still set up rocks, you can run Roar to phaze, he can take the hits from Dragons and retaliate with Ice Beam, and gets STAB Equake to still wall Tyranitar. You still have a problem with Gyarados which is what I originally started this thought with, but Swampert is an overall upgrade on Donphan for you.

Mantine is also largely useless in the OU metagame, and Electivire works ok.... but I'll leave the changes there for now until you try out hte other ideas first. I would lean to a Vaporeon over Mantine as it can help stop Gyarados and provide more overall bulk.

 

[Dragados]

All of those ideas sound great. I somehow missed Vaporeon when I made this team, and my Mantine is just a worse version of that. I'll make the changes first thing tomorrow when I get back on Shoddy and edit the original post as needed. Thanks for the help.

 

[Jeddi-kun]

Ah, I remember you. You were one of the only fights I've been in which actually had decent strategy. And, I believe I complimented you on that. =P To be honest, for you... I dont' think you need anythign else. Swellow can be replaced-- Mantine is an awesome Poke, if I recall correctly.

Althoguh many peopel prefer Vaporeon, I would use Sleeptalking Milotic in place of Mantine:

Milotic (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Marvel Scale
EVs: 252 HP/240 Def/18 SAtk
Modest nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Surf
- Sleep Talk
- Rest
- Ice Beam

It works great, especially if brought in late-game. Rest activates Marvel Scale, bringing defenses that rival with Sresselia's.

 

[wildfire393]

Well... this is certainly interesting. You have two UU members, 3 OU members who have not been seeing a lot of usage lately (Weavile, Electivire, and Donphan), and a non-standard set on your one very standard member. You certainly get points for creativity, but there's definitely some problems here.

For starters:

You have three SR-weak Pokemon. Yes, you have a Rapid Spinner, but due to the massive prevalence of Ghosts, particularly Rotom-H, Rapid Spinning is largely useless in the current metagame. Effectively, having Donphan is just eliminating a slot on your team that could be used for a useful member while giving Rotom-H numerous free switch-ins. If you want a Ground-type with Earthquake and Ice Shard, consider Mamoswine instead. I would also suggest losing both Swellow and Mantine. For a Water-type with a high special defense, try Vaporeon, Suicune, or Milotic. For a status absorber with a high attack, consider Poison Heal Breloom, Guts Machamp, Guts Hariyama, Immunity Snorlax, Heracross, or something along those lines. However, eliminating both of your fliers makes you very Ground-weak, so consider a Levitate Pokemon as one of your options. Scarfed Rotom-H makes a great counter to Scizor, Lucario, Gyarados, and a number of other threats. 252 Speed/ 252 Special attack / Timid with Thunderbolt/Overheat/Shadow Ball (or a hidden power of choice)/Trick is the set I'd recommend.

Also, the trend lately has been towards bulky leads, not things like Azelf that Weavile triumphs against. Consider something a bit heftier, like Metagross, Heatran, Bronzong, Tyranitar, or Jirachi in your lead spot.

 

[Dragados]

Jeddi: Yeah, that was a fun match. Not a big fan of sleep talkers, but if status starts to give me a problem I'll look into Milotic.

wildfire: If only there was a creativity ladder. I haven't seen too many ghosts so far, but I'm chalking that up to my low ladder position. I'll look into bulkier leads as well.

All of the suggestions are appreciated, and I'll get right to work when I can get on Shoddy tomorrow.

 

[les gets]

Most of my suggestions would include using different and OU pokemon, although I'm sure you've gotten enough of that and will be getting more of that, so I'll just give you a tiny suggestion for now:

HP ice might be better for your heatran.

You'll need HP ice for dragons, because ice shard on donphan is too..."nice".

Also, mantine is too slow and frail for mence or flygon or anything like that.

HP grass could be for hippowdon and rhyperior, which is okay I guess, however swampert isn't OHKO'd even with specs, while earthquake OHKOs back, so you'll need to find another way (since I can't think of anything at the moment).

I would use a scarf, too.

Just something to think about. =)

 

[Ucal]

There are better options for gimmick pokemon than Swellow imo.

Clefable@Toxic Orb | Magic Guard | Adamant
252HP / 252 Atk / 4 Spe
~ Protect
~ Facade
~ Meteor Mash
~ Fire Blast

This isn't weak to stealth rocks, has a field day with skarmbliss and loves switching into known toxic stallers. If it's already got the poison on, then it gets numerous free switch ins.