The title says it all. This OU team is modest, tries not to be too ambitious, and just goes for overall balance. I did my very best to build this team with as many immunities/resistances as possible while still retaining the ability to hit hard and open up a sweep. Without any further rambling, I present the team.
Changes in Bold
Mamoswine @ Focus Sash
4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Nature- Adamant
-Stealth Rock
-Ice Shard
-Earthquake
-Endeavor
This mamoswine is a great lead because he is pretty quick and can set up stealth rocks all of the time. Even against aerodactyl, i can just ice shard twice as he taunts so he doesn't get rocks up. STAB Earthquake coming off of a 130 attack does heavy damage to non-resisted pokemon. And if i predict a bullet punch from scizor or some other faster attack that would OHKO, i simply endeavor and then ice shard for the KO. Mamo is overall a very solid, reliable lead that can get up rocks and hold his own against much of OU so he isn't dead weight after he sets up rocks.
Jolteon@ Choice Specs
4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Nature- Timid
-T-Bolt
-Hidden Power [Grass]
-Shadow Ball
-Baton Pass
Specs jolt is my premier special attacker and t-wave absorber. With choice specs, he hits surprisingly hard with STAB T-Bolt. Easily 2HKOing incoming dusknoir and scoring the OHKO on Togekiss (after rocks). Also, if you are certain that Gyarados is going to use dragon dance instead of waterfall, jolteon can come in, outspeed it, and either scare it away or OHKO it. Shadow ball is here mainly for coverage on the likes of celebi, gengar, and other ghosts. Hidden power grass keeps waters (swampert in particular) from completely walling me. Jolteon is also the only real swampert check i have on this team so it is necessary for him to stay alive. Baton pass is used when i come in to revenge kill something that the opponent will likely take back. For example, i send it out against gyarados, use baton pass as he switches into blissey, i send out the appropriate counter such as rhyperior, rock polish on the switch, mayhem begins.
Dusknoir@ Leftovers
252HP / 228 Def / 28 Atk
Nature- Impish
-Will-o-Wisp
-Pain Split
-Ice Punch
-Earthquake
Standard tanking dusknoir. He can be a real prick to physical attackers with his immense bulk and will o wisp to cripple them. Earthquake is very handy for any jokesters trying to send in a heatran to absorb a wOw for the boost. Ice punch is really just here for some neutral coverage as well has hitting the flyers who are immune to EQ. It also hits dragons incredibly hard. Pain split makes it even easier to take on other walls by leeching off of their HP. Especially when dusknoir has such a low base HP
Snorlax@ Choice Band
252AtK / 252 SpD / 6 Def
Nature- Adamant
-Body Slam
-Crunch
-Earthquake
-Fire Punch
In 4th gen, snorlax really took a hit as a wall, so I am not going to try to use him as one when he would clearly be outclassed by blissey. Instead, i turned him into one of the most reliable heatran, zapdos, and specsmence counters in the game. I can freely switch him in on any of those threats and attack accordingly. Body slam is the main form of attack because it gets STAB and has a nice 30% paralysis rate. Even if i predict incorrectly and body slam a heatran, i will still outdamage his earth powers and fire blasts significantly. Crunch hits the most common counters: levitating ghosts who are immune to half of this set. Fire punch patches up the only remaining hole in coverage by hitting steels that are in the air, such as skarmory and bronzong. To conclude, snorlax is every bit as good as he used to be, but his role has changed this gen and can hit unbelievably hard with choice band.
Rhyperior@ Life Orb
252AtK / 252 Spe / 6 HP
Nature- Jolly
-Rock Polish
-Stone Edge
-Earthquake
-Megahorn
Rock Polish rhyperior is my favorite late game sweeper because it is VERY easy to get that rock polish. I already explained the dry passing scenario with jolteon and it is very easy to switch him into choiced normal or flying attacks. Jolteon has wonderful offensive synergy with both Rhyperior and Snorlax. He takes out their biggest counters: bulky waters such as swampert and suicune. After those threats are gone, i try and find that magic turn to get my rock polish and then it's time to raise some hell. Earthquake is the main attack on this set because it is 100% accurate 100 base power STAB. Stone edge hits what earthquake cannot such as flyers but it's always a gamble with that 80% accuracy so i try to use it only when necessary. And finally, megahorn is to eliminate of any celebi, dark types, or any other grass type really. Rhyperior is often the last of my pokemon that the opponent sees. He is that good as a late game sweeper. Agiligross gives this set up some competition, but i prefer the slightly higher attack as well as much more useful STAB attacks.
Gengar @ Choice Scarf
252SpA / 252 Spe / 6 HP
Nature- Timid
-Shadow Ball
-Hidden Power [Ice]
-Focus Blast
-Trick
ScarfGar was a suggestion (and a good one at that) to get me a much needed revenge killer and a little more special firepower. He is able to outspeed dd mence and OHKO with HP Ice. Mence would otherwise give my team serious troubles. Most importantly, however, he is able to keep SD Lucario in check by coming in on Extreme Speed or Close Combat and scaring it away with focus blast. While not the ideal situation because it ruins gengar's role, trick is to cripple any blissey that decides to stroll in. Overall, a good addition to my team that lets me keep the ground immunity that was so valuable to staraptor.
This is the team. Feel free to criticise. I need all the help I can get. I just ask that you try not to suggest COMPLETELY different pokemon as subsititutes unless it is very, very obvious that one is outclassed
Changes in Bold
Mamoswine @ Focus Sash
4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Nature- Adamant
-Stealth Rock
-Ice Shard
-Earthquake
-Endeavor
This mamoswine is a great lead because he is pretty quick and can set up stealth rocks all of the time. Even against aerodactyl, i can just ice shard twice as he taunts so he doesn't get rocks up. STAB Earthquake coming off of a 130 attack does heavy damage to non-resisted pokemon. And if i predict a bullet punch from scizor or some other faster attack that would OHKO, i simply endeavor and then ice shard for the KO. Mamo is overall a very solid, reliable lead that can get up rocks and hold his own against much of OU so he isn't dead weight after he sets up rocks.
Jolteon@ Choice Specs
4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Nature- Timid
-T-Bolt
-Hidden Power [Grass]
-Shadow Ball
-Baton Pass
Specs jolt is my premier special attacker and t-wave absorber. With choice specs, he hits surprisingly hard with STAB T-Bolt. Easily 2HKOing incoming dusknoir and scoring the OHKO on Togekiss (after rocks). Also, if you are certain that Gyarados is going to use dragon dance instead of waterfall, jolteon can come in, outspeed it, and either scare it away or OHKO it. Shadow ball is here mainly for coverage on the likes of celebi, gengar, and other ghosts. Hidden power grass keeps waters (swampert in particular) from completely walling me. Jolteon is also the only real swampert check i have on this team so it is necessary for him to stay alive. Baton pass is used when i come in to revenge kill something that the opponent will likely take back. For example, i send it out against gyarados, use baton pass as he switches into blissey, i send out the appropriate counter such as rhyperior, rock polish on the switch, mayhem begins.
Dusknoir@ Leftovers
252HP / 228 Def / 28 Atk
Nature- Impish
-Will-o-Wisp
-Pain Split
-Ice Punch
-Earthquake
Standard tanking dusknoir. He can be a real prick to physical attackers with his immense bulk and will o wisp to cripple them. Earthquake is very handy for any jokesters trying to send in a heatran to absorb a wOw for the boost. Ice punch is really just here for some neutral coverage as well has hitting the flyers who are immune to EQ. It also hits dragons incredibly hard. Pain split makes it even easier to take on other walls by leeching off of their HP. Especially when dusknoir has such a low base HP
Snorlax@ Choice Band
252AtK / 252 SpD / 6 Def
Nature- Adamant
-Body Slam
-Crunch
-Earthquake
-Fire Punch
In 4th gen, snorlax really took a hit as a wall, so I am not going to try to use him as one when he would clearly be outclassed by blissey. Instead, i turned him into one of the most reliable heatran, zapdos, and specsmence counters in the game. I can freely switch him in on any of those threats and attack accordingly. Body slam is the main form of attack because it gets STAB and has a nice 30% paralysis rate. Even if i predict incorrectly and body slam a heatran, i will still outdamage his earth powers and fire blasts significantly. Crunch hits the most common counters: levitating ghosts who are immune to half of this set. Fire punch patches up the only remaining hole in coverage by hitting steels that are in the air, such as skarmory and bronzong. To conclude, snorlax is every bit as good as he used to be, but his role has changed this gen and can hit unbelievably hard with choice band.
Rhyperior@ Life Orb
252AtK / 252 Spe / 6 HP
Nature- Jolly
-Rock Polish
-Stone Edge
-Earthquake
-Megahorn
Rock Polish rhyperior is my favorite late game sweeper because it is VERY easy to get that rock polish. I already explained the dry passing scenario with jolteon and it is very easy to switch him into choiced normal or flying attacks. Jolteon has wonderful offensive synergy with both Rhyperior and Snorlax. He takes out their biggest counters: bulky waters such as swampert and suicune. After those threats are gone, i try and find that magic turn to get my rock polish and then it's time to raise some hell. Earthquake is the main attack on this set because it is 100% accurate 100 base power STAB. Stone edge hits what earthquake cannot such as flyers but it's always a gamble with that 80% accuracy so i try to use it only when necessary. And finally, megahorn is to eliminate of any celebi, dark types, or any other grass type really. Rhyperior is often the last of my pokemon that the opponent sees. He is that good as a late game sweeper. Agiligross gives this set up some competition, but i prefer the slightly higher attack as well as much more useful STAB attacks.
Gengar @ Choice Scarf
252SpA / 252 Spe / 6 HP
Nature- Timid
-Shadow Ball
-Hidden Power [Ice]
-Focus Blast
-Trick
ScarfGar was a suggestion (and a good one at that) to get me a much needed revenge killer and a little more special firepower. He is able to outspeed dd mence and OHKO with HP Ice. Mence would otherwise give my team serious troubles. Most importantly, however, he is able to keep SD Lucario in check by coming in on Extreme Speed or Close Combat and scaring it away with focus blast. While not the ideal situation because it ruins gengar's role, trick is to cripple any blissey that decides to stroll in. Overall, a good addition to my team that lets me keep the ground immunity that was so valuable to staraptor.
This is the team. Feel free to criticise. I need all the help I can get. I just ask that you try not to suggest COMPLETELY different pokemon as subsititutes unless it is very, very obvious that one is outclassed
