King Penguin (OU RMT)

[bread]

TEAM KING PENGUIN​

Hello, this is my second RMT. I designed this team with one pokemon in mind, Empoleon. If used correctly and its counters have been removed, Empoleon can sweep through entire teams unhindered. It is my favorite sweeper by far as almost nothing else can parallel its speed and power on the special side. Any comments and suggestions are welcome.

TEAM BUILDING PROCESS

So i started with my one constant, Empoleon. The two main things that are stopping his sweep are bulky waters and Blissey. Therefore I needed a way to take out bulky waters and cripple Blissey.

Celebi is a fantastic pokemon capable of taking down builky waters quite nicely along other annoying threats such as Breloom, Machamp, Hippowdon, and TTar. It is also an effective defensive wall to the two most common physical attacks, ground/fighting whle providing support through Twave.

In order to incapacitate Blissey, I wanted a Toxic Spiker. Tentacruel came to mind. It provides a surprisingly large amount of bulk on the special side even living through Tbolts. Celebi can also come in on the most common type attacks thrown at Tentacruel, electric and ground.

With the addition of Celebi, I thought why not use Heatran to form the infamous Celetran combo? Tentacruel can not handle repeated switch ins with no recovery. I had two two defensive pokemon and Empoleon that could not be shown till late game. Heatran provides a fire immunity and some much needed speed and power. He became my first attacker/revenge killer. Tentacruel, Celebi, and Heatran also provide a nice fire, water, grass core.

Looking at the typing I realized that 3/4 of my pokemon had a crippling weakness to ground. I desperately needed a ground immunity and another sweeper. Since Heatran hit on the special side, I chose the physical Flygon. It can resist electricity aimed at Tentacruel, ground aimed at Heatran, and fire aimed at Celebi. It can act as insurance against Salamence and provides even more immunities to my team. U-Turn is a very welcome move to scout my opponent.

For my last slot, I chose Swampert. I wanted SR and a phazer who could act as a lead. Before you exclaim over the three water types on my team remember that Empoleon is essentially a non-factor in defensive team synergy since I will never pull it out till its counter have been removed and it is allowed to sweep. If I ever have to switch out Empoleon it usually means that something went horribly wrong, and I am about to lose. Therefore I really only have two waters on my team. Water has two weaknesses: grass and electric. Swampert resists electric while Tentacruel can take grass. Flygon can also come in for free off of electric attacks while Celebi and Heatran shrug off grass attacks like nothing.

TEAM IN-DEPTH

Swampert @ Leftovers
Ability: Torrent
EVs: 4 Atk/252 HP/252 Def
Relaxed

- Stealth Rock
- Roar
- Ice Beam
- Earthquake

This is the standard MixPert lead. I will almost always be able to set up Stealth Rocks. Taunt leads can ruin his fun, but I can usually 2HKO the lead and set up Stealth Rocks in a later switch. Usually my go to switch for Salamence. The baited grass attacks allow Celebi or Heatran to enter. It can roar away dangerous threats if they happen to set-up such as Suicune. Roserade can be easily dealt with as Tentacruel can eliminate any Toxic Spikes on my field.

Celebi @ Leftovers
Ability: Natural Cure
Evs: 252 HP/220 Def/36 Spe
Bold

- Twave
- Grass Knot
- HP Fire
- Recover

Grass knot for bulky waters such as Gyarados and Swampert, Ttar, Starmie and Hippowdon. HP Fire are for the steels that love to switch in such as Forretress, Scizor, and Skarmory. It can also go toe-to-toe with Breloom with HP Fire. Twave provides great support crippling faster sweepers and can wall many physical pokemon. It is also a great status absorber with Natural Cure. It baits fire attacks which is perfect for Heatran. It is also my only answer for ground attacks if Flygon happens to die.

Heatran @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Flash Fire
Evs: 252 HP/252 SpA/4 Atk
Rash

- Fire Blast
- Dragon Pulse
- Earthpower
- Explosion

It can come in on an expected WoW or fire attack cause havoc. Explosion if I know Blissey or a bulky water is incoming. If all else fails against a CM Suicune, explosion can save the day. Fighting moves will do nothing to Celebi while ground moves can be avoided by Flygon or tanked by Swampert/Celebi. Fire blast is a much needed stab to take out the hindersome Skarmory who will not die to Celebi's Hp Fire with Roost. It will hit hard on anything not resisting it. Earthpower for additional coverage. However, I am not finding much use for dragon pulse since I have ample dragon checks. Should I replace it and if so, with what? Heatran attracts Blissey like no other. If so, then I switch to Tentacruel.

Tentacruel @ Leftovers
Ability: Liquid Ooze
Evs: 252 Hp/252 120/Def 136 SpD
Calm

- Surf
- Sludge Bomb
- Toxic Spikes
- Rapid Spin

The toxic spike setter capable of reducing Blissey and bulky waters to dust. I can come in on Blissey and Toxic Spike twice. It's even better when Blissey attempts to twave as it gives me a free turn (most of the time). Blissey can not do seriously harm and will eventually die to toxic on a later switch. Tentacruel is also a great switch to Infernape who can 1HKO both Celebi and Heatran (with successful prediction). It can resist a surprising amount of special attack and either kill or weaken some sweepers. However, I generally don't attack too much as Empoleon will kill whatever Tentacruel is supposed to kill.

Flygon @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Levitate
Evs: 252 Atk/252 Spe/4 HP
Adamant

- EQ
- Outrage
- Stone Edge
- U-Turn

This is my main switch from ground and electric attacks baited by Heatran and Tentacruel. It is my only stop to Jolteon other than the iffy Swampert if Jolteon happens to carry HP Grass. It is a very effective revenge killer and can scout my opponent which makes predicting a lot easier. EQ and Outrage for stab. I don't really like the accuracy of Stone Edge. If I do switch it, what move should I switch it to?

Empoleon @ Petaya Berry
Ability: Torrent
Evs: 252 SpA/24 Def/232 Spe
Modest

- Agility
- Substitute
- Surf
- Ice Beam

This is the star of the show. If bulky waters and Blissey have been eliminated, then I am free to Sweep. Priority users such as Infernape can be easily dealt with by Tentacruel or Heatran on the switch from an incoming fire attack. If used correctly, Scizor's BP will not be enough to KO me. Besides most Scizors die from the uncommon HP Fire from Celebi or Heatran. Flygon, still outspeeding Empoleon after Agility, can be easily dealt with by Celebi or Swampert. If toxic spikes are in play then I can even set up on bulky waters and Blissey and proceed to sweep. My lack of a RS blocker has been problematic at times but nothing I can't get around.

 

[DahliaSky]

*just imagines this huge lead up, then you sub, he switches, taunt, dead*

the only problems i really see are:
1) that if the opposing blissey runs heal bell you could be trying forever to get rid of it.

2)what if machamp switches in before your first spikes, sets up sub, then kills you? (not too hard if you took a bit of entry damage and are confused, just 1 miss and you're in real trouble). With no psychic on celebi there isn't really anything you have against it except that it may take a few hits to kill a couple of your pokemon, which is very possible from behind a sub with a confusion move.

3)agigross carrying EQ and ice punch can cause you real problems, especially if you get slept or kod on swampert since its a lead.

 

[bread]

I am pretty sure Flygon can still outspeed Agigross and kill with EQ.

Machamp hasn't been that much of a problem. Swampert and Celebi can take hits. If I get unlucky and one of them dies, Machamp will have been sufficiently weakened to finish off. (explosion as a last resort).

If I wanted a wall-breaker with a fighting move, who should I substitute?

 

[Solstice]

Mixed Infernape could take the place of Heatran, he can wallbreak and is a great Blissey counter, so long as you avoid T-Wave.

 

[DahliaSky]

I am pretty sure Flygon can still outspeed Agigross and kill with EQ.

Machamp hasn't been that much of a problem. Swampert and Celebi can take hits. If I get unlucky and one of them dies, Machamp will have been sufficiently weakened to finish off. (explosion as a last resort).

If I wanted a wall-breaker with a fighting move, who should I substitute?

i assure you that flygon (while it can outspeed agigross) cannot ohko him, and gets OHKO in return.

If you switch in celebi on machamp, she takes 44-52% from payback. This means that you won't be able to break a machamp's sub efficently (if at all) because you'll be constantly healing, and if you switch in on dynamic punch the confusion could spell trouble for you, since you MUST heal to survive.

Machamp hits swampert 34-40% with dpunch, and confuses him. That much damage means if you switch in on dpunch, ONE confusion miss means you die, and even if you don't miss, all you can do is roar him to come back later, or break his sub before he kills you.

with each of those, you have to choose to either break the sub or die... doesn't seem to me like they really stop him. I don't know if you just haven't faced sub+3attack machamps, or if you've gotten lucky on your opponents that did... but i can't believe for a second that two of your pokemon that do under 40% damage to machamp and take more than that much from him while he's behind a sub can be considered counters.

Best you seem to have is lose one to get rid of the sub, then revenge kill with flygon, who only hits him 60% MAX with outrage, or hearan who hits him MAX 69% with fire blast.

If you still don't consider him a threat then i'm very confused and would have to assume you have a seventh pokemon hidden up your sleeve.

 

[bread]

what would you recommend that I do to fix these threats that won't leave me open to other more common threats?

 

[Nosferalto]

Move those 4 Atk EVs on Swampert into Speed which gives you the upper hand against opposing Lead Swamperts.

While you certainly have most offensive threats covered, perhaps the biggest problem I see with your team is the lack of a reliable way to get around a Stall team since this team lacks immediate power. Having two Pokemons on your team with a Choice Scarf as an item is definitely unnecessary, sacrificing a lot of power, once again reiterating a stall problem. Flygon seems like the most replaceable member, since everything else is needed. In terms of type synergy, replacing Flygon with a Classic MixMence won't be an issue at all since Salamence retains that Ground- type immunity. You already have a Ground- type in the form of Swampert and Celebi already had the resistances to Electric and Ground which were the reasons you mentioned you used Flygon. Go for: Draco Meteor | Brick Break | Roost | Fire Blast with 80 HP / 252 SpAtk / 176 Spe - Life Orb as an item with a Rash Nature. You 2HKO Blissey with Brick Break, OHKO Skarmory and Forretress with Fire Blast, and do massive damage to whatever tries to switch-in take a Draco Meteor. The EVs let you outpace Adamant Lucario, making it a decent last check to SD Lucario and Fighting- types in general. With Stall weakened thanks to Salamence, Empoleon with the support this team offers it, should be able to break through most of the time. Salamence also lures in Ice attacks and Bullet Punch from Scizor which is an opportunity for Empoleon to switch-in and set-up thanks to it's x4 resistances.

With Flygon removed, Jolteon becomes a little more threatening to your team. Swampert is a decent check to Jolteon if it lacks HP Grass, but if it does it could be problematic. The easiest solution to this problem would be to simply change Rash Nature on Heatran to Naive. With a Naive Nature and a Choice Scarf as an item, Heatran reaches 417 Speed which is enough to outspeed Timid max Speed Jolteon (as opposed to Rash which fails to do so) and hit it with Earthpower for the OHKO ensuring Jolteon doesn't go too far.

 

[Michurro]

Normally, Id suggest a scarfed rotom h on this type of team. But it would mean reworking the entire team so I say salamence is the next best thing as nosferalto suggested. But tentacruel now becomes more of a burden seeing as how you now have a reliable blissey counter. A rapid spinning starmie actsthe same way as tentacruel without the t-spikes. Plus it can aborb status. The only downside is that you cannot absorb toxic spikes your self, but empoleon and salamence aren't even affected. But you have empoleon so starmie won't be living to its full potential. Just an option to consider

 

[Sirfunchalot]

since half of your team resists stealth rock, and none of them are actually weak to it, I'm pretty sure you can take Rapid Spin off of Tentacruel for maybe Hidden Power Electric, to make sure it isn't set up fodder for Gyarados, who after a dance can cause you a lot of trouble, seeing as your only real check to it is Flygon, and stone edge won't kill it 20% of the time.