Hello everyone! I've been playing pokemon for 2+ years, but recently got back into the OU game from Random Bats and Ubers. Traditionally, I've found OU pretty hard to crack, with a lot of really good players and a huge amount of viable strategies. However, this team has got me from 1200-1300 to 1500 quite easily, and I'm looking to keep on climbing with a few changes.
Essentially, I made this team around my philosophy: Smart predictions win games. Instead of winning through sheer power, I like to using typing, unexpected sets, and sheer stupidity to win the game. I also really like setup; I've tried to hold it back for this team, though. Here's the team:
Teambuilding Process:
Back when I played more Pokemon, I loved specially defensive Excradrill in ubers. It was surprisingly bulky, mold breaker had a wonderful niche against Levitate and Magic Bounce, and it still hit relatively hard. As an extra bonus, Excadrill is also immune to thunder wave and toxic, making it able to switch in on several status moves. I also wanted to try my SubPunch Breloom set; Though it is laughably bad in some situations where getting up a sub simply doesn't work, it can infuriate many team and the STAB focus punch hits stupidly hard even when resisted.
So my team at the start looked like this:
Already, I have a serious fire weakness going, and only physical attacks. Though both these issues are still present in the final team, I start to mitigate them with Rotom-W. Not only is this thing resistant to fire, but it can also switch in on ground-type moves that would hurt Excadrill as well as flying-type moves that would OHKO Breloom. Rotom-W is also a nice way to check Talonflame, which is a big threat to both Excadrill and Breloom. I decided on the physically defensive set to compliment the specially defensive Excadrill set.
Furthermore, I was told about a monster of an Altaria set: Specially defensive dragon dance, with cotton guard. Cotton guard lets Altaria set up on many, many physical attackers in the tier, including Landorus-T and Garchomp, who are both extremely popular in the tier right now. It also gives me a clear win condition; clear out Altaria's counters, set up with Altaria, win game.
Right now I have:
With my final two pokemon I decide to go for some 'glue' to hold the rest of the team toghether. Furthermore, I also want to be able to check some of the big threats in OU; Immediately, I see that I have nothing for bulky grass-types like Mega-Vensaur, Serperior, and Vileplume. I also see that until Altaria sets up, my team is very, very slow. I decide to go with Torandus-T here, and choose the assault vest set to get (in my opinion) the best pivot in OU right now. With moderate special bulk, knock off, u-turn, and a stupidly strong hurricane, big bird is a huge addition to my team and compliments many of my other pokemon well. Electric-type and Rock-type attacks can either go to Breloom or Excadrill depending on the circumstance, while ice-type moves are generally handled OK by rotom-w.
Finally, I realize that I'm kind of weak to fairy-types and lack priority. Scizor immediately popped into my head for his great mixed bulk, STAB technician bullet punch, and resistance to fairy-type moves. Scizor also gives me a total of 3 u-turn/volt switch users, making my team very flexible and hard to pin down. Finally, Scizor also gives me an excellent check to things like Weavile and Diancie-Mega. These things aside, I still feel like Scizor may be my weakest team member, so I'm open to any recommendations for a replacement.
So now we have my final team:
Individual Analysis
In this section, I'll look at the strengths and weaknesses of each pokemon on my team, and explain how they fit together.
Altaria @ Altarianite
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 HP / 228 SpD / 28 Spe
Careful Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Cotton Guard
- Roost
- Return
More than capable of sweeping an entire team, Altaria-Mega is one of the strongest pokemon in OU right now. I like the defensive dragon dance set both because it fits my playstyle of bulky offense, but also because it lets Altaria setup on offensive, mixed, and defensive teams alike. The EV spread was inspried from the smogon analysis - I gave my set a bit extra special bulk because cotton guard and dragon dance take care of the rest. DD/Roost/Return should be familiar to everyone, but my extra addition to this set is the cotton guard. Raising defense by 2.5x is huge for altaria against most of its counters. A hit that was doing 50% now goes down to about 22%. Landorus-T and Garchomp very quickly go from threatening to setup fodder. Furthermore, the switch from "Oh I can kill this Altaria if I keep hitting it" to "Oh shit it's going to sweep my entire team" takes only 1 move; getting to 4x defense only requires two cotton guards, making it very difficult to react to Altaria in time. Still, Altaria has weaknesses like any other pokemon; Specially offensive steel types and poison types are the worst, especially Heatran. Unaware clefable (why do people not use this more?) can also blank my setup and hit me with moonblast. Furthermore, once it transforms, Altaria has no answer to status. Overall, I play Altaria as a late-game sweeper, bringing it in at either a good opportunity or once all its checks have been worn down.
Tornadus-Therian @ Assault Vest
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 136 HP / 160 SpA / 212 Spe
Hasty Nature
- Hurricane
- U-turn
- Focus Blast
- Knock Off
Big Bird is here, and although Altaria is the chief sweeper this guy is still the MVP of the team. I love the assault vest set to bits - you still outspeed practically everything, but you have good special tank that lets you switch in on many special attackers (Hi Latios). It's general utility is also excellent - removing items with knock-off neuters many otherwise very annoying threats, and u-turn makes this thing ridiculously difficult to pin-down and KO in conjunction with regenerator. I used to run superpower instead of focus blast, but eventually switched because it made me too weak after. However, the accuracy loss is very, very annoying.
Tornadus-T's #1 counter are things faster than it; Mega-Manectric is probably the worst offender, but Mega-Beedrill and Mega-Lopunny are definetely up there. Stealth rocks are also very annoying, but renegerator really helps to mitigate them. I play around these threats using Excadrill's ability to rapid spin on many, many defensive pokemon and switching into the right pokemon for the right situation. However, I do recognize Mega-Lopunny is one of the major threats to my team; if Rotom-W isn't healthy and Scizor is dead, a +1 boost from power-up punch is all it needs to go on a rampage.
Rotom-Wash @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 Spe
Bold Nature
- Hydro Pump
- Volt Switch
- Will-O-Wisp
- Pain Split
Pretty standard pokemon here. Famed for its ability to annoy almost everyone, Rotom-W is still near the top of usage statistics in ORAS. I use it to counter many physical attackers (especially talonflame), as well as bring moderately strong special attacks to the table and spread burn across the enemy team. This thing really compliments Tornadus-T well, tanking most attacks directed at it in conjunction with excadrill. Not the star of the team, but an excellent sidekick.
Scizor @ Choice Band
Ability: Technician
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Bullet Punch
- U-turn
- Knock Off
- Superpower
Like I said in my teambuilding part, this is probably the weakest part of the team. It still has a very defined role though - killing fairies and having strong priority. Furthermore, it works together with Torandus to get rid of the opponent's items, giving me a definite advantage as the battle goes on. It's natural bulk is enhanced with 252 HP ev's, letting it be a general switch in to many pokemon and responding with a very powerful u-turn. It's 4x fire type weakness, while being its only weakness, is very annoying though, especially together with Excadrill and Breloom's weakness. Unfortunately I can't make this thing a mega, given that the slot is currently occupied by altaria. Overall, Scizor is a weak glue for the team; kind of like a shittier Rotom-W right now.
Excadrill @ Leftovers
Ability: Mold Breaker
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
- Earthquake
- Iron Head
- Stealth Rock
- Rapid Spin
One of the best support pokemon in ORAS right now. The dual stabs of Earthquake and Iron Head give excellent coverage across the tier; even pesky rotom-w dies screaming when it remember's that this thing has mold breaker. Furthermore, mold breaker also lets you use stealth rock safely against espeon, xatu, and sableye-mega, letting you put up entry hazards without worry. Finally, excadrill often forces switches, letting you rapid spin quite easily. The special bulk this thing brings to the table is nothing to scoff at; Magnezone, Lati@s, and Espeon are examples of things that do very little damage, despite often running super effective coverage moves. Together with Rotom-W, it forms the defensive core that holds my team together and paves the way for Altaria and Breloom to win the game.
Breloom @ Toxic Orb
Ability: Poison Heal
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Spore
- Focus Punch
- Substitute
- Seed Bomb
I can't believe that no one uses this set. Not only does it hit like a truck, but having 100% accuracy sleep as well as immunity to status makes this thing have incredibly few true defensive counters. Though Breloom is slow, it can often outspeed many defense and utility pokemon. Depending on the situation, using either Spore or Substitute is most appropriate; smart prediction is required to make full use of Breloom here. Ideally, you want to spore your biggest threat; there's no point sporing Swampert when this means that Torandus-T is going to counter you now. Focus punch, with STAB, hits extremely hard. Many pokemon with resists still take ~40% damage, and defensive pokemon with a weakness to it still often get OHKO'd (looking at you, Heatran and Ferrothorn). Poison heal the cherry on top; 12.5% of health back every turn lets you use substitute with impunity, and not having to worry about parahax or will-o-wisp is also wonderful. Breloom has caused many ragequits and forfeits, simply because behind a sub and without sleep clause activated, it's very difficult to truly wall.
Conclusion and Overall Analysis
This team is a joy to play with; it doesn't require many turns of stall to get a decisive advantage and win the game. However, I'll say it again: Fire-type pokemon currently are more than capable of destroying me. A well-played sunny day team will choke me out almost instantly, but even an opportune DD from Mega-Charizard X can end me if Altaria isn't full HP. Mega-Lopunny is also quite threatening, due to it outspeed my entire team and it hitting stupidly hard. Once again, Altaria soft counters it at full hp, but it's shaky at best. Overall though, this team has carried me quite a bit up the ladder, and I'm looking to put the final touches on it now to crack the top 500. Thanks for reading!
Essentially, I made this team around my philosophy: Smart predictions win games. Instead of winning through sheer power, I like to using typing, unexpected sets, and sheer stupidity to win the game. I also really like setup; I've tried to hold it back for this team, though. Here's the team:
Teambuilding Process:
Back when I played more Pokemon, I loved specially defensive Excradrill in ubers. It was surprisingly bulky, mold breaker had a wonderful niche against Levitate and Magic Bounce, and it still hit relatively hard. As an extra bonus, Excadrill is also immune to thunder wave and toxic, making it able to switch in on several status moves. I also wanted to try my SubPunch Breloom set; Though it is laughably bad in some situations where getting up a sub simply doesn't work, it can infuriate many team and the STAB focus punch hits stupidly hard even when resisted.
So my team at the start looked like this:
Already, I have a serious fire weakness going, and only physical attacks. Though both these issues are still present in the final team, I start to mitigate them with Rotom-W. Not only is this thing resistant to fire, but it can also switch in on ground-type moves that would hurt Excadrill as well as flying-type moves that would OHKO Breloom. Rotom-W is also a nice way to check Talonflame, which is a big threat to both Excadrill and Breloom. I decided on the physically defensive set to compliment the specially defensive Excadrill set.
Furthermore, I was told about a monster of an Altaria set: Specially defensive dragon dance, with cotton guard. Cotton guard lets Altaria set up on many, many physical attackers in the tier, including Landorus-T and Garchomp, who are both extremely popular in the tier right now. It also gives me a clear win condition; clear out Altaria's counters, set up with Altaria, win game.
Right now I have:
With my final two pokemon I decide to go for some 'glue' to hold the rest of the team toghether. Furthermore, I also want to be able to check some of the big threats in OU; Immediately, I see that I have nothing for bulky grass-types like Mega-Vensaur, Serperior, and Vileplume. I also see that until Altaria sets up, my team is very, very slow. I decide to go with Torandus-T here, and choose the assault vest set to get (in my opinion) the best pivot in OU right now. With moderate special bulk, knock off, u-turn, and a stupidly strong hurricane, big bird is a huge addition to my team and compliments many of my other pokemon well. Electric-type and Rock-type attacks can either go to Breloom or Excadrill depending on the circumstance, while ice-type moves are generally handled OK by rotom-w.
Finally, I realize that I'm kind of weak to fairy-types and lack priority. Scizor immediately popped into my head for his great mixed bulk, STAB technician bullet punch, and resistance to fairy-type moves. Scizor also gives me a total of 3 u-turn/volt switch users, making my team very flexible and hard to pin down. Finally, Scizor also gives me an excellent check to things like Weavile and Diancie-Mega. These things aside, I still feel like Scizor may be my weakest team member, so I'm open to any recommendations for a replacement.
So now we have my final team:
Individual Analysis
In this section, I'll look at the strengths and weaknesses of each pokemon on my team, and explain how they fit together.
Altaria @ Altarianite
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 HP / 228 SpD / 28 Spe
Careful Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Cotton Guard
- Roost
- Return
More than capable of sweeping an entire team, Altaria-Mega is one of the strongest pokemon in OU right now. I like the defensive dragon dance set both because it fits my playstyle of bulky offense, but also because it lets Altaria setup on offensive, mixed, and defensive teams alike. The EV spread was inspried from the smogon analysis - I gave my set a bit extra special bulk because cotton guard and dragon dance take care of the rest. DD/Roost/Return should be familiar to everyone, but my extra addition to this set is the cotton guard. Raising defense by 2.5x is huge for altaria against most of its counters. A hit that was doing 50% now goes down to about 22%. Landorus-T and Garchomp very quickly go from threatening to setup fodder. Furthermore, the switch from "Oh I can kill this Altaria if I keep hitting it" to "Oh shit it's going to sweep my entire team" takes only 1 move; getting to 4x defense only requires two cotton guards, making it very difficult to react to Altaria in time. Still, Altaria has weaknesses like any other pokemon; Specially offensive steel types and poison types are the worst, especially Heatran. Unaware clefable (why do people not use this more?) can also blank my setup and hit me with moonblast. Furthermore, once it transforms, Altaria has no answer to status. Overall, I play Altaria as a late-game sweeper, bringing it in at either a good opportunity or once all its checks have been worn down.
Tornadus-Therian @ Assault Vest
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 136 HP / 160 SpA / 212 Spe
Hasty Nature
- Hurricane
- U-turn
- Focus Blast
- Knock Off
Big Bird is here, and although Altaria is the chief sweeper this guy is still the MVP of the team. I love the assault vest set to bits - you still outspeed practically everything, but you have good special tank that lets you switch in on many special attackers (Hi Latios). It's general utility is also excellent - removing items with knock-off neuters many otherwise very annoying threats, and u-turn makes this thing ridiculously difficult to pin-down and KO in conjunction with regenerator. I used to run superpower instead of focus blast, but eventually switched because it made me too weak after. However, the accuracy loss is very, very annoying.
Tornadus-T's #1 counter are things faster than it; Mega-Manectric is probably the worst offender, but Mega-Beedrill and Mega-Lopunny are definetely up there. Stealth rocks are also very annoying, but renegerator really helps to mitigate them. I play around these threats using Excadrill's ability to rapid spin on many, many defensive pokemon and switching into the right pokemon for the right situation. However, I do recognize Mega-Lopunny is one of the major threats to my team; if Rotom-W isn't healthy and Scizor is dead, a +1 boost from power-up punch is all it needs to go on a rampage.
Rotom-Wash @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 Spe
Bold Nature
- Hydro Pump
- Volt Switch
- Will-O-Wisp
- Pain Split
Pretty standard pokemon here. Famed for its ability to annoy almost everyone, Rotom-W is still near the top of usage statistics in ORAS. I use it to counter many physical attackers (especially talonflame), as well as bring moderately strong special attacks to the table and spread burn across the enemy team. This thing really compliments Tornadus-T well, tanking most attacks directed at it in conjunction with excadrill. Not the star of the team, but an excellent sidekick.
Scizor @ Choice Band
Ability: Technician
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Bullet Punch
- U-turn
- Knock Off
- Superpower
Like I said in my teambuilding part, this is probably the weakest part of the team. It still has a very defined role though - killing fairies and having strong priority. Furthermore, it works together with Torandus to get rid of the opponent's items, giving me a definite advantage as the battle goes on. It's natural bulk is enhanced with 252 HP ev's, letting it be a general switch in to many pokemon and responding with a very powerful u-turn. It's 4x fire type weakness, while being its only weakness, is very annoying though, especially together with Excadrill and Breloom's weakness. Unfortunately I can't make this thing a mega, given that the slot is currently occupied by altaria. Overall, Scizor is a weak glue for the team; kind of like a shittier Rotom-W right now.
Excadrill @ Leftovers
Ability: Mold Breaker
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
- Earthquake
- Iron Head
- Stealth Rock
- Rapid Spin
One of the best support pokemon in ORAS right now. The dual stabs of Earthquake and Iron Head give excellent coverage across the tier; even pesky rotom-w dies screaming when it remember's that this thing has mold breaker. Furthermore, mold breaker also lets you use stealth rock safely against espeon, xatu, and sableye-mega, letting you put up entry hazards without worry. Finally, excadrill often forces switches, letting you rapid spin quite easily. The special bulk this thing brings to the table is nothing to scoff at; Magnezone, Lati@s, and Espeon are examples of things that do very little damage, despite often running super effective coverage moves. Together with Rotom-W, it forms the defensive core that holds my team together and paves the way for Altaria and Breloom to win the game.
Breloom @ Toxic Orb
Ability: Poison Heal
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Spore
- Focus Punch
- Substitute
- Seed Bomb
I can't believe that no one uses this set. Not only does it hit like a truck, but having 100% accuracy sleep as well as immunity to status makes this thing have incredibly few true defensive counters. Though Breloom is slow, it can often outspeed many defense and utility pokemon. Depending on the situation, using either Spore or Substitute is most appropriate; smart prediction is required to make full use of Breloom here. Ideally, you want to spore your biggest threat; there's no point sporing Swampert when this means that Torandus-T is going to counter you now. Focus punch, with STAB, hits extremely hard. Many pokemon with resists still take ~40% damage, and defensive pokemon with a weakness to it still often get OHKO'd (looking at you, Heatran and Ferrothorn). Poison heal the cherry on top; 12.5% of health back every turn lets you use substitute with impunity, and not having to worry about parahax or will-o-wisp is also wonderful. Breloom has caused many ragequits and forfeits, simply because behind a sub and without sleep clause activated, it's very difficult to truly wall.
Conclusion and Overall Analysis
This team is a joy to play with; it doesn't require many turns of stall to get a decisive advantage and win the game. However, I'll say it again: Fire-type pokemon currently are more than capable of destroying me. A well-played sunny day team will choke me out almost instantly, but even an opportune DD from Mega-Charizard X can end me if Altaria isn't full HP. Mega-Lopunny is also quite threatening, due to it outspeed my entire team and it hitting stupidly hard. Once again, Altaria soft counters it at full hp, but it's shaky at best. Overall though, this team has carried me quite a bit up the ladder, and I'm looking to put the final touches on it now to crack the top 500. Thanks for reading!
