So I made an epic leaderboard run in Ubers that failed to crack the top 5 after I lost to Bad Ass and Shrang. Annoyed, I decided to turn my efforts to OU. I had been away from the tier for a while, and I hadn't been very successful since Latias left the metagame.
I didn't want to use a stall team because stall is a very tracked playstyle, and I've been more successful with bulky offense in most tiers. So I looked at Obi's Machampion's team, and built my own for the current metagame. I think that with this team, I can successfully handle most offensive threats, but I might need some help dealing with stall, though I can at least give stall a hard time due to recovery and Jirachi (which lures Skarmory).
The point of this team is to paralyze things with Jirachi and Blissey, which screws up offense. Paralysis, of course, synergizes with Machamp's DynamicPunch. Finally, against stall, the plan is to use Jirachi and Gyarados to break it down.
EDIT: I recently picked a CM/Wish Jirachi over the stallbreaker set, and moved Thunder Wave to Celebi to maintain paralysis support.
At a glance...
In Depth...
Gliscor (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Sand Veil
EVs: 252 HP/6 Def/252 Spd
Jolly nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Earthquake
- Taunt
- Roost
- Stealth Rock
---
Gliscor is the best lead I found for this team, as it functions well in the lead position and throughout the game. Taunt is useful against all kinds of leads, like Roserade, Smeargle, Metagross, and Hippowdon, while also blocking setups from the likes of Dragonite, Gyarados, Skarmory, and Forretress. Earthquake is mainly used later in the game against threats like Lucario and Metagross. Roost is there for recovery, while also ensuring that stall teams need Toxic to bring me down.
Gyarados (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 HP/104 Def/152 SDef
Impish nature (+Def, -SAtk)
- Dragon Dance
- Waterfall
- Rest
- Sleep Talk
---
Gyarados serves many capacities on this team as well. He can work as an endgame sweeper, though that's not my main purpose for having him here. Mainly, he is my Infernape and Heatran counter (I've arranged the EV's so a +2 LO Grass Knot doesn't OHKO) and a check on things like Mix Dragonite, DD LO Nite, Breloom, and many more dudes. Again, Rest and Sleep Talk help him deal with stall teams. Also, Gyarados and Blissey make a potent walling combination.
Blissey (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 152 HP/252 Def/104 SDef
Bold nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Seismic Toss
- Thunder Wave
- Flamethrower / Wish
- Softboiled
---
Blissey is Blissey, except that I'm using the spread for IPL's Bold Bliss. This serves as my check on the litany of special attackers inhabiting the metagame, such as Starmie, Gengar, Jolteon, Togekiss, Zapdos, Empoleon, and many more. Thunder Wave hits physical threats on the switch-in, and I'm lucky that I don't need to debate between Seismic Toss and Flamethrower. Seismic Toss hits more threats harder, while Flamethrower covers Rotom-H and Gengar, and between Flamethrower and Thunder Wave Scizor gets owned. Since Jirachi has Wish, I don't need to use it here, so I can go for a coverage Blissey, a luxury that few teams can afford, but I'm considering Wish since Dual Wishpassers are awesome.
Celebi @ Leftovers
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 HP/220 Def/38 Spd
Bold nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Grass Knot
- Recover
- Thunder Wave
- Hidden Power [Fire]
---
Celebi is awesome in the current metagame, checking a wide range of threats, such as Gyarados, Suicune, CursePert, (I lost in a tour match to Conflict when he used this, lol) Zapdos, Breloom, and many more. Hidden Power Fire is there because I'm sick of stalling out Brelooms (which are exceedingly common in the current metagame) and because it also lets me lure and kill Forretress. Finally, Celebi is my Gyarados counter, since Gyara can set up on Blissey and Machamp. I used to have Perish Song over Thunder Wave, but decided to make
Jirachi @ Leftovers
Ability: Serene Grace
EVs: 252 HP/220 Def/38 Spd
Bold nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Calm Mind
- Wish
- Psychic
- Thunderbolt
---
I recently made this a CM/Wish Jirachi, which is one of the most awesome sets ever designed. A sweeper, stallbreaker, cleric, and most importantly, check on CroCune, Vaporeon, and RestTalk Rotom. This is also my only Steel, and the Pokemon that I use to absorb Outrages in an emergency. Being T-tar fodder sucks, but I have Gliscor and Machamp to beat Tyranitar, so I'm not too concerned. I use Psychic since I intend this to counter RestTalk Rotom-A, and Flash Cannon doesn't do too well against it.
Machamp (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: No Guard
EVs: 252 HP/252 Atk/6 Spd
Adamant nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Dynamicpunch
- Ice Punch
- Rest
- Sleep Talk
---
JiraChamp is basically the core of this team, and Machamp doesn't disappoint in the slightest. He serves as a Tyranitar counter, and also helps shuffle around the enemy team with confusion (which becomes even stronger with paralysis support). Recovery helps against stall teams, and Ice Punch deals effectively with annoying Gliscors. There's not really much else to say about him.
Threat List: almost up.
I didn't want to use a stall team because stall is a very tracked playstyle, and I've been more successful with bulky offense in most tiers. So I looked at Obi's Machampion's team, and built my own for the current metagame. I think that with this team, I can successfully handle most offensive threats, but I might need some help dealing with stall, though I can at least give stall a hard time due to recovery and Jirachi (which lures Skarmory).
The point of this team is to paralyze things with Jirachi and Blissey, which screws up offense. Paralysis, of course, synergizes with Machamp's DynamicPunch. Finally, against stall, the plan is to use Jirachi and Gyarados to break it down.
EDIT: I recently picked a CM/Wish Jirachi over the stallbreaker set, and moved Thunder Wave to Celebi to maintain paralysis support.
At a glance...
In Depth...
Gliscor (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Sand Veil
EVs: 252 HP/6 Def/252 Spd
Jolly nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Earthquake
- Taunt
- Roost
- Stealth Rock
---
Gliscor is the best lead I found for this team, as it functions well in the lead position and throughout the game. Taunt is useful against all kinds of leads, like Roserade, Smeargle, Metagross, and Hippowdon, while also blocking setups from the likes of Dragonite, Gyarados, Skarmory, and Forretress. Earthquake is mainly used later in the game against threats like Lucario and Metagross. Roost is there for recovery, while also ensuring that stall teams need Toxic to bring me down.
Gyarados (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 HP/104 Def/152 SDef
Impish nature (+Def, -SAtk)
- Dragon Dance
- Waterfall
- Rest
- Sleep Talk
---
Gyarados serves many capacities on this team as well. He can work as an endgame sweeper, though that's not my main purpose for having him here. Mainly, he is my Infernape and Heatran counter (I've arranged the EV's so a +2 LO Grass Knot doesn't OHKO) and a check on things like Mix Dragonite, DD LO Nite, Breloom, and many more dudes. Again, Rest and Sleep Talk help him deal with stall teams. Also, Gyarados and Blissey make a potent walling combination.
Blissey (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 152 HP/252 Def/104 SDef
Bold nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Seismic Toss
- Thunder Wave
- Flamethrower / Wish
- Softboiled
---
Blissey is Blissey, except that I'm using the spread for IPL's Bold Bliss. This serves as my check on the litany of special attackers inhabiting the metagame, such as Starmie, Gengar, Jolteon, Togekiss, Zapdos, Empoleon, and many more. Thunder Wave hits physical threats on the switch-in, and I'm lucky that I don't need to debate between Seismic Toss and Flamethrower. Seismic Toss hits more threats harder, while Flamethrower covers Rotom-H and Gengar, and between Flamethrower and Thunder Wave Scizor gets owned. Since Jirachi has Wish, I don't need to use it here, so I can go for a coverage Blissey, a luxury that few teams can afford, but I'm considering Wish since Dual Wishpassers are awesome.
Celebi @ Leftovers
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 HP/220 Def/38 Spd
Bold nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Grass Knot
- Recover
- Thunder Wave
- Hidden Power [Fire]
---
Celebi is awesome in the current metagame, checking a wide range of threats, such as Gyarados, Suicune, CursePert, (I lost in a tour match to Conflict when he used this, lol) Zapdos, Breloom, and many more. Hidden Power Fire is there because I'm sick of stalling out Brelooms (which are exceedingly common in the current metagame) and because it also lets me lure and kill Forretress. Finally, Celebi is my Gyarados counter, since Gyara can set up on Blissey and Machamp. I used to have Perish Song over Thunder Wave, but decided to make
Jirachi @ Leftovers
Ability: Serene Grace
EVs: 252 HP/220 Def/38 Spd
Bold nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Calm Mind
- Wish
- Psychic
- Thunderbolt
---
I recently made this a CM/Wish Jirachi, which is one of the most awesome sets ever designed. A sweeper, stallbreaker, cleric, and most importantly, check on CroCune, Vaporeon, and RestTalk Rotom. This is also my only Steel, and the Pokemon that I use to absorb Outrages in an emergency. Being T-tar fodder sucks, but I have Gliscor and Machamp to beat Tyranitar, so I'm not too concerned. I use Psychic since I intend this to counter RestTalk Rotom-A, and Flash Cannon doesn't do too well against it.
Machamp (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: No Guard
EVs: 252 HP/252 Atk/6 Spd
Adamant nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Dynamicpunch
- Ice Punch
- Rest
- Sleep Talk
---
JiraChamp is basically the core of this team, and Machamp doesn't disappoint in the slightest. He serves as a Tyranitar counter, and also helps shuffle around the enemy team with confusion (which becomes even stronger with paralysis support). Recovery helps against stall teams, and Ice Punch deals effectively with annoying Gliscors. There's not really much else to say about him.
Threat List: almost up.
