Keep Out (OU Screens) Revised

[Mikewando]

This is only my second RMT and I don't frequent the forums so forgive me if I miss anything.

Changes to existing pokes in RED.

Overview:

Screens are pretty uncommon in OU and I'd always written them off until I played someone running them and realized how eight turns of halved damage can make the typically frail sweepers into tanks. So I decided to make my own screens team and this is the result...

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Lead:

Uxie@Light Clay
Ability: Levitate
Nature: Jolly
252 HP / 20 Def / 20 SpD / 216 Spe
~ Light Screen
~ Reflect
~ U-Turn
~ Stealth Rock

Azelf is a much more common lead and can run a dual screen set, but the bulk of Uxie makes me like it more as it can keep coming back. It can last through just about any lead to get up both screens and stealth rock or break it's sash and avoid Taunts with U-Turn.

Vs Leads In General: Reflect/Light Screen, SR, The Other Screen, U-Turn

Vs Special Leads:

Hide

Aerodactyl: U-Turn to Bronzong
Roserade: U-Turn to Suicune

Setup:

Gliscor@Yache Berry
Ability: Sand Veil
Nature: Jolly
252 HP / 196 SpD / 60 Spe
~ Taunt
~ Rock Polish
~ Swords Dance
~ Baton Pass

This guy is a new addition to my team. I was having trouble with phazers and was looking to replace Rotom-S when it was suggested I try using Taunt instead of countering each phazer that was giving me trouble. Gliscor instantly came to mind as the poke for the job, being a pretty effective Cradily counter and all.

There are still some kinks to iron out but Gliscor is a much better fit for this team than Rotom-S was; it's really a team player. It comes in after screens are up if there's nothing immediately threatening or just in general to stop Skarmory and the like dead in their tracks with Taunt. It then proceeds to Rock Polish, and if my opponent switches in something that's best countered by Suicune it can Baton Pass the extra speed away. Otherwise it continues with as many Swords Dances as it can before Baton Passing to either Breloom or Tyranitar, who can proceed to wreck the other team.

I opted for Sand Veil instead of Hyper Cutter, because there's really only one pokemon that would counter with intimidate (Gyrados) while there are many times where the extra hax provided in sand mean pulling off an impossible sweep (always nice to see "How does icebeam miss?"). Of course if I find that the attack stage starts mattering too often I'll switch.

Ice attacks are always something to be cautious of, and even behind screens with a yache berry Gliscor's SpD is none too high. In testing though his worst enemy seemed to be crits. Trying to pull off the second Swords Dance which should leave it at low health to safely baton pass away, only to see the crit KO can be very rage inducing.

Sweeper:

Breloom@Toxic Orb
Ability: Poison Heal
Nature: Adamant
48 HP / 252 Atk / 208 Spe
~ Spore
~ Seed Bomb
~ Facade
~ Mach Punch

I have forever loathed Breloom. It is the bane of Cradilys everywhere. It's essentially immune to toxic and both of Cradily's STAB attacks are not very effective so it's free to set up a substitute and then focus punch away and spore any counters.

This is a slightly tweaked Swords Dance set, in that it lacks Swords Dance. Basically Gliscor is acting as Breloom's Swords Dance (and also gives a welcome speed boost) which leaves a welcome slot open for Breloom's signature move, Spore. After a Rock Polish and a Swords Dance or two there are very few pokes who don't fear at least one of its attacks and anything it can't deal with it can put to sleep.

Skarmory's Brave Bird and Celebi's Psychic are still of concern to Breloom, but it can Spore at least one of them, and if either are out when Gliscor passes, I'd obviously pass to Ttar who counters both of them superbly. Unfortunately Gliscor tends to draw Ice attacks which don't favor passing to Breloom. But that's okay because Breloom still shakes off the Water and Grass attacks that Gliscor also pulls, and any Ice threats to Gliscor mean I'd be passing to Ttar anyway. Oh and freeze hax makes me sad inside.

Sweeper:

Tyranitar@Lum Berry
Ability: Sand Stream
Nature: Jolly
4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
~ Rock Slide
~ Crunch
~ Fire Punch
~ Earthquake

Ttar loves coming into special Ice moves on the pass that were aimed at Gliscor, and then firing off a wide variety of attacks to counter almost any threat.

Lum Berry is chosen to neutralize Toxic Spikes/Will-O-Wisp/Thunder Wave on the pass, so that Ttar keeps swinging no matter what. Rock slide is chosen over Stone Edge for the improved accuracy, and because after a Swords Dance, Rock Slide OHKOs everything I'd use Stone Edge on anyway, also flinch hax or whatever. Fire Punch rounds off the set to OHKO Scizor, Breloom, and Skarmory after various numbers of Swords Dances (the exact numbers are left to the reader as an exercise) and is also Ttar's best attack against a few other opponents such as Venusaur, Mamoswine and Abomasnow.

CroCune:

Suicune@Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
Nature: Bold
252 HP / 236 Def / 4 SpD / 16 Spe
~ Suf
~ Calm Mind
~ Rest
~ Sleep Talk

By now you may note a theme of Cradily counters as members of my team. I used to run a sandstorm team and any Suicune with Rest would really piss me off.

Well there's really not much justification needed for this one. A bulky water made Uber-grade bulky by screens has almost no problem setting up on anything, even enduring super effective Thunderbolts or Hidden Powers. This guy nets a ton of wins as the only real showstopper is a Vaporeon. Other than that it just requires some caution around pokes that might trick/encore/roar/taunt (which are now handled quite well with taunt Gliscor). Pressure also really helps out at taking down stall teams and almost always means Blissey goes down.

Sometimes Vaporeon also ends up the target of Gliscor's Baton Pass as the extra speed is (almost) always appreciated and if Gliscor is too threatened to Swords Dance then chances are good it doesn't threaten Vaporeon much and it's a good time to start setting up.

Mid-Game Screens:

Bronzong@Light Clay
Ability: Levitate
Nature: Relaxed
252 HP / 152 Atk / 8 Def / 96 SpD
~ Reflect
~ Light Screen
~ Gyro Ball
~ Explosion

I consider Bronzong one of the best screeners in the metagame and as such make thorough use of it. Let's face it, very few games last eight turns, and chances are good I'll need screens part way through a game; Bronzong gets the job done every time.

It only has one weakness so it can come in on any one of its resistances or even its immunity and proceed to get screens up. Gyro Ball helps against a few choice pokemon (Aerodactyl and Ttar mostly) and can notably deal a swift OHKO to most roserades. Explosion helps clear out any tough pokes and clears the way for teammates.

Previous Members:

Rotom-S@Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
Nature: Modest
252 HP / 40 SpA / 216 Def
~ Discharge
~ Confuse Ray
~ Air Slash
~ Shadow Ball

Closing Thoughts:

This is the first time I've used screens, but their usefulness is immediately evident upon playing, getting my rating higher than any of my other teams. They makes otherwise nonviable sets instantly viable and makes good sets even better. This is the first revision of this team and I have to say I like how much better I like the team working together more. Uxie does an excellent job getting screens up, and Gliscor stops opponents from setting up while setting up for my team. Then Gliscor is free to Baton Pass to several Pokemon who really work well to counter different threats without leaving gaping holes if any single poke dies.

After my revisions to Uxie though it lasts much longer, and I have to question if Bronzong is quite pulling all of its weight. It can be useful to have the steel resistance set and the focus of the team is Screens, but with Uxie able to get screens up even in late game, perhaps a different steel could be more useful, maybe a Metagross set? Please post any thoughts/suggestions. Also Ttar has a somewhat unconventional set, any suggestions on EVs keeping in mind that it's typically going to be passed a Rock Polish and 1-2 Swords Dances.

 

[MetaNite]

Hey. A couple things to improve this team: replace Breloom with Lucario. Breloom is often too slow to effectively use Swords Dance, and without Spore I really don't see a reason to use it over Lucario when you have Bronzong and Uxie to cover the Ground-weakness. A slightly improvised Lucario set works wonders behind dual screen:

Lucario @ Lum Berry
Nature: Jolly / EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
~ Swords Dance / Close Combat / Ice Punch / ExtremeSpeed

While it isn't quite as powerful as Breloom, Close Combat hits harder than Facade. The 306 base Speed allows it to be faster than all Suicune, Gyarados, and Rotom-A who are not holding a Choice Scarf. Lum Berry allows you to set up on a more Pokemon. Behind a Light Screen, you can easily get up two Swords Dance on defensive Rotom-A and behind a Reflect, survive Gliscor's Earthquake and kill it with Ice Punch. If you had Life Orb, you would soon die to the recoil and your sweep will end by default so to speak.

Some other nitpicks are for one thing, Bronzong should be Careful as you aren't using a Special Attack. I'm sure this was just a mistake, but just making sure. I would invest 16 Speed EVs into Suicune from its Defense to outspeed other CroCune and min Speed Rotom-A. I would also drop your Rotom-A for something else, or a Charge Beam Rotom-A. But if it works for you, by all means use it. Good luck.

 

[BKC]

I have a better idea for the Uxie lead, having used a dual screen set myself before.

Jolly Nature
Light Clay
252 HP / 216 Spe / 20 Def / 20 SDef
-Stealth Rock
-Reflect
-Light Screen
-UTurn

This lets you outrun lead Rossy so you can U-turn out to break their Sash, let CroCune absorb the sleep, and then switch right back to Uxie to get up your rocks and screens.

Overall, looks like a good team, good luck.

 

[Maugoross]

A BulkyGyara or Resttalk with Taunt can help with your Roar/Encore and Gyarados still checks Fighting-types and poses a threat with DD.
I'd say it can go over Rotom-S as it isn't very Bulky as you said. Behind Screens Gyara can just set up against anything outside of Electric attacks.

Small nitpick on your T-tar do you mean 252 Spe?
And as already said, use Spe on Uxie so you can set up screens vs slower leads like Heatran.

 

[min min]

What purpose does Rotom have other than annoying the crap out of things? It syncs with Tyranitar, soaks Electric moves for Suicune (which Breloom can already do) and that's pretty much it. I think you can use a defensive set instead to scare off Scizors switching into Breloom, and the sheer presence of Rotom-S might lead them to just attempt a kill with Bug Bite.

Also, for the Uxie, I suggest U-turn over Memento as Breloom does a good job already of scaring off other pokes. That might increase its longevity by a lot and you can replace Bronzong with extra offensive support (only Breloom and Tyranitar are capable of achieving some degree of one-turn sweeping), or you can just keep it for extra added insurance. Besides, with two suicide screeners lasting only 16 turns in total, I doubt it will keep up with your theme of 24/7 screens supporting your offensive core.

 

[Mikewando]

Hey. A couple things to improve this team: replace Breloom with Lucario. [...]

Some other nitpicks are for one thing, Bronzong should be Careful as you aren't using a Special Attack. I'm sure this was just a mistake, but just making sure. I would invest 16 Speed EVs into Suicune from its Defense to outspeed other CroCune and min Speed Rotom-A. I would also drop your Rotom-A for something else, or a Charge Beam Rotom-A. But if it works for you, by all means use it. Good luck.

I like Lucario but being forced to switch every time a team brings out Heatran really sucks and I find Mach Punch is at least as useful as ExtremeSpeed if not more for hitting STAB super effective against steels. Speed EVs on Suicune sound interesting, I'll try it. As for the nature on Bronzong, yeah sorry copypasta'd from my other RMT which had a Modest pokemon in that spot, it is actually Relaxed.

I have a better idea for the Uxie lead, having used a dual screen set myself before. [...]

This lets you outrun lead Rossy so you can U-turn out to break their Sash, let CroCune absorb the sleep, and then switch right back to Uxie to get up your rocks and screens. [...]

Yeah I've been toying with the idea of using U-Turn to break sashes and escape taunts. I'll probably try this set out.

A BulkyGyara or Resttalk with Taunt can help with your Roar/Encore and Gyarados still checks Fighting-types and poses a threat with DD.
I'd say it can go over Rotom-S as it isn't very Bulky as you said. Behind Screens Gyara can just set up against anything outside of Electric attacks.

Small nitpick on your T-tar do you mean 252 Spe?
And as already said, use Spe on Uxie so you can set up screens vs slower leads like Heatran.

Taunt is a very good idea and I'm not sure why I didn't think of it earlier. I'm not too fond of putting another electric weak pokemon on my team, but the idea made me think of another excellent taunter who fits very well on my team, Gliscor. It's fast, bulky, immune to electric, and good in sand. I'll try out a Gliscor set to replace Rotom-S later. And yes I did mean 252 Spe, fixed.

Edit: Upon looking at the sets it seems like maybe I should use a Gliscor with Baton Pass to help set up Breloom and Tyranitar (get Breloom faster and Tryantiar harder hitting) but I'm not sure what Ttar set would be best (since I surely don't want to get stuck with a scarf after the pass). Important threats that need to be dealt with after the removal of Rotom are Scizor, Skarmory and opposing Breloom so a natural set would be say MixTar with flamethrower, but swords dance doesn't help much there. Any ideas on a good set for this? Also if Gliscor turns out to be good enough at passing, I might take off the Swords Dance on Breloom and replace it with Spore as a Rock Polish backed Spore sounds very tempting.

Edit Edit: As poor as Fire Fang is perhaps it could work with expert belt to counter aforementioned threats. No SD necessary to 1HKO Scizor, one SD to 1HKO Breloom and two SD to 1HKO Skarmory after SR. The question then is just how to split up the HP/Spe EV's and which nature is best.

Edit Edit Edit: What am I smoking Ttar gets Fire Punch, problem solved. I'll update the above after I do a little testing.