Just as I got the hang of 4th gen =/

[Precipice]

Well folks this is my first RMT post on the forums, and I'm relatively new to smogon but im enjoying my time here ^^ I would like to think I know a bit about 4th gen however I still have a lot of room for improvement ^^;
I recently finished being tutored by Mekkah, and although on paper it says im finished I still go to him for advice probably too often xD
Anyway just as I began to get the hang of 4th gen...5th gen came out.

That aside this is my final 4th gen OU team- Bulky Offense.


I know some people like to show you how their teams built up and how they chose the perfect pokemon to fill each role first time- I don't do that. Honestly if i tried to it would be a mighty long list. I've tweaked this team time and time again and its still not brilliant, but its the most successful one I've made so far- even if it is pretty standard ^^;

Jirachi @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Serene Grace
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Iron Head
- Trick
- ThunderPunch
- Stealth Rock


I love this guy as a lead. Iron Head flinch/hax is horrible to be on the recieving end of and that is generally my first plan of attack to leads which take neutral damage.

Against other leads:

Aerodactyl- Iron head til it dies.

Swampert- trick as it will probably sr predicting the switch. Then switch to shaymin.

Heatran- can be tricky. Go to gengar as most sensible players would use Earth power against this guy in case your opponent has a heatran.

Ttar- switch to shaymin first so as not to take any massive damage, then see what he does.

Metagross- switch to gengar.

Roserade- trick the scarf and switch to shaymin.

Shaymin @ Life Orb
Trait: Natural Cure
EVs: 152 HP / 104 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Rest
- Seed Flare
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Earth Power

Standard Offensive shaymin, this little guy is amazing. Nothing likes to be on the recieving end of a boosted Seed Flare, Earth Power and Hp Ice give it good coverage and who doesnt want health regeneration free of charge?

Zapdos @ Leftovers
Trait: Pressure
EVs: 248 HP / 228 Def / 32 Spd
Hardy Nature
- Heat Wave
- Thunderbolt
- Roost
- Toxic

Standard deffensive zapdos. This guy is for pesky fighting types who try and sweep my team, and also helps cover scizor- I find for some reason, most people dont switch him out against zapdos, which is odd because it pwns him every time.

Tyranitar (M) @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Sand Stream
EVs: 180 HP / 252 Atk / 76 Spd
Hardy Nature
- Superpower
- Stone Edge
- Crunch
- Pursuit

This thing is the muscles of the team. I used to run CB but I find CS is more useful, allowing me to kill things I usually couldnt like Gyarados and Metagross. He also acts as my phyiscal sweeper, since no other pokes in the team can fill that role ^^;

Gengar (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Hardy Nature
- Shadow Ball
- Focus Blast
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Substitute

This slot was a filler for a long time but I think gengar fits well enough here, he helps me deal with Rotom forms aswell as the occasionall dusknoir. He basically plugs some of the weaknesses in my team.

Heatran (M) @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Flash Fire
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Earth Power
- Fire Blast
- Hidden Power [Electric]
- Explosion

Standard CS tran. This guy is on the team simply because- I love him. He's been on practically every team I've made because he's just so damn good. HP electric is great for predicting, OHKO'ing gyara and Kingdra if I get it right which is usually very helpful.

Thanks, I would really appreciate some criticism ^^

 

[Chris P. Bacon]

Im not so sure you need Scarf Tyranitar on this team, the threats he removes are covered already by your team (Starmie, Gengar, ect.). I think this spot would be great for a water type, it'll give you one less EQ resitance and complete a water/Heatran/grass core. Vaporeon can be nice considering it can heal some of your team members

Vaporeon @ Leftovers
Nature: Bold
188 HP / 252 Def / 68 SpD

-Wish
-Protect
-Surf
-Ice Beam/Roar

Standard set, except no need for HP Electric or even Toxic since you have water types covered fairly well leaving your last move up for grabs. Just depends on what you want to do to Dragonite who seems to be a threat o this team. Kill him right away using Ice Beam or roar him out and other boosters, but seeing as you don't have much entry hazards I would suggest Ice Beam.

Lastly change Heatrans nature to Naive. You wont be missing out on any power since your using a Scarf as opposed to Specs or Life Orb. The speed will help you get the jump on base 130's (Jolteon) and bulky DD Gyra. If you insist on a +Sp. Atk nature at least use Naughty or Rash that way the power of explosion isn't cut.

I'm sure other people will come up with better ideas, but I hope this helped a bit. Good Luck.

 

[aVocado]

You have a SubSplit Gengar weakness, it can stall out your Zapdos to KO range for Shadow Ball, while Focus Blast hits your other team members for super effective, and opposite Gengar will win the speedtie against your Gengar because HP Fire reduces speed.

However, you can switch Lead Rachi with a Lead Heatran and use these sets:

Jirachi @ Choice Scarf
252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe [always use 4 SpD]
Jolly
- Iron Head
- ThunderPunch
- Ice Punch
- U-Turn / Fire Punch

Heatran @ Life Orb
Naive / Hasty
252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
- Stealth Rock
- Overheat
- Hidden Power Grass
- Explosion

This Jirachi will let you revenge-kill Lucario, Gengar, Gyarados, Dragonite and Tyranitar which all threaten your team. While Heatran does good against the majority of the leads and can be a nice sweeper if it survives.

The EVs on ScarfTar are also strange, you should use a simple 252 Atk / 8 HP / 250 Spe spread.

 

[fatty]

Yeah CS Tar basically needs max speed to be effective. Also, Jirachi is one of the best leads to go against Tyranitar leads, so why do you switch out? And btw, why does Zapdos, Tar, and Gengar all have Hardy nature? :s

 

[Aerrow]

Great team.

Threats

• Dragon Dance Dragonite, Gyarados
• Infernape
• Lucario
• Slight LO Shaymin weakness

This is an excellent built team, although I see a few Pokemon which can cause it problems if they are given the opportunity to set-up, or even switch in for that matter. The dragon dancers I've mentioned can prove to be real problems for your team, due to self-explanatory reasons (no proper check on your team). Also, both Infernape and Lucario can rampage through your entire team bar Gengar which is easily defeated by Scizor, a common teammate to both of the aforementioned Pokemon. Lastly, you have a slight offensive Shaymin weakness as it is capable of causing major dents in your team courtesy of its high offensive prowess and decent amount of bulk.

Solutions

• Bulky Dragon Dance Gyarados

[box]

Gyarados (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 156 HP/80 Atk/88 Def/184 Spd
Adamant nature (+Atk,-SpAtk)
- Dragon Dance
- Stone Edge
- Earthquake
- Waterfall[/box]
Luckily almost all of the aforementioned threats are checked by, if not countered, by one Pokemon - Gyarados. Seeing as how Tyranitar is potential the weakest link in your team, I recommend replacing it was said DD Gyarados for several reasons, the first obviously being its ability to check the mentioned threats. Secondly, it also provides great synergy with the rest of your team while also acting as a great offensive partner to Heatran and Zapdos as together, they will be able to deal with each others common switch ins, thus increasing the overall performance of your team in battle. Other than that, there's not much to say except changing Thunderpunch on Jirachi to Firepunch as it provides better coverage with Iron Head; also, I recommend changing your Tyranitar's EVs tot eh standard 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe. I hope I helped and good luck!

Edit: I just noticed this: why do so many of your Pokemon have a Hardy Nature? I suggest replacing them with more ... beneficial natures.

 

[Faladran]

Hey, Gen 4 isn't over yet!! Well, I'd like to begin by congratulating you on your "graduation" from B101. This team isn't too bad in its current state, but there are certainly some changes that could help improve it considerably. I'm going to agree with a couple of the rates above me in this regard; LO Heatran tends to be a better lead than Scarf Jirachi in the current metagame, and you could really use a bulky Water-type to complete your FWG core. These suggestions will likely benefit your team, as they will increase your overall synergy while removing some of the redundancy of having 3 choiced Pokemon.

I'm going to just add in a couple of minor suggestions of my own here. To begin with, I'd like to address your Shaymin's set. While the LO variant of Shaymin is quite effective at switching into and threatening opposing bulky Water-types, it is unfortunately very standard and therefore easily predictable. In addition, Life Orb subtracts from Shaymin's durability, forcing it to Rest up and switch out often after taking attacks. If you find that you prefer the LO set, feel free to keep it as is; however, I would definitely recommend at least trying out Shaymin's Leech Seed + Protect set:

[box]

Shaymin@ Leftovers
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 HP / 68 SpA / 188 Spe
Timid nature (+Spe, -Atk)
- Leech Seed
- Protect
- Seed Flare
- Hidden Power Fire / Earth Power[/box]
One of the main advantages that this set has over the LO set is the fact that it is able to take advantage of bulky Waters, regardless of whether they switch out or not. The combination of Leech Seed + Protect is incredibly effective when used in conjunction with Leftovers, ensuring that you will maintain a high level of health in most cases. Protect is also useful for scouting choiced attacks (notably U-turn), as well as stalling your opponents out for one additional turn of recovery. Seed Flare provides essential STAB, and still hits hard without LO due to its high base power. Finally, the last move is up to preference. HP Fire will OHKO Scizor switch-ins attempting to U-turn off you, while Earth Power can easily take out any non-Scarf Heatran.

As a final nitpick, I would recommend trying out Hypnosis over HP Fire on Gengar, especially if you decide to use HP Fire on Shaymin. While it may seem gimmicky and inaccurate, Hypnosis still has a good chance of hitting, especially considering that you have two chances with it if behind a Substitute. Many common switch-ins to Gengar do not expect being put to sleep, seeing as SubSplit is the most common Gengar set. Hypnosis can often cripple a vital member of the opposing team, making things easier for your own Pokemon to sweep through the opposition.

Good luck with your team!

 

[Precipice]

Thanks for all th comments guys ^^ I appreciate it, especially those of you who put the effort into writing more lengthly responses.

Right now Im just going to implement some changes and see how they work, I'll post here when i make my final decisions on what works best ^^

Also i dunno what happened with the natures :S