My first decent team (peaked at 1334)

[tanakattack]

As the title states, I peaked at 1334 points (forget the ranking), just outside of 1337 :(

I got there really fast after the team was fully formed, but then after a few extremely unlucky games I just started ragequitting, making crazy overpredictions, and falling pretty far.

Anyways, team at a glance:

Team synergy:

The team started with me getting tired of being run over by weather teams once they set up. Although I had trouble with several of these weather teams, I was especially having trouble getting by Venusaur in the sun and Tornadus + Toxicroak in the rain (don't really know why these in particular). For this reason, I finally decided to take the plunge and use weather myself. Enter Tyranitar.

Tyranitar (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 HP / 32 Atk / 56 SAtk / 168 SDef
Sassy Nature (+SDef, -Spd)
- Pursuit
- Flamethrower
- Superpower
- Stealth Rock

My counter to weather. I don't really take advantage of the sand, (only 1 poke likes it other than TTar), but I've found it really helps a lot when other teams, especially rain, rely on their weather staying up. Counters Latios/Latias pretty much perfectly, can usually do significant damage to Heatran (barring burn), handles Ferro and Skarm. And he sets up my rocks to boot. Basically as long as I keep him away from anything with a fighting move and Jirachi/Scizor, he's great.

Jellicent (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Water Absorb
EVs: 248 HP / 216 Def / 44 SDef
Bold Nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Recover
- Will-O-Wisp
- Scald
- Taunt

I guess I should've moved Jelli to the bottom because this was the last member of the team added. Originally Heatran, but I switched it after about 3 battles because I had an excruciatingly obvious weakness to fighting. This guy is a lifesaver, and provides an excellent check to Terrakion (on a safe switch), Scizor, Infernape, and many other common pokes.

Alakazam (M) @ Focus Sash
Trait: Magic Guard
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Shadow Ball
- Focus Blast
- Psychic
- Hidden Power [Ice]

Love Alakazam - use him on pretty much any OU team I make. HPice is the best part of this set, as it instantly slays Gliscor, Salamence, and Dragonite with broken Multiscale. It 2HKO's pretty much anything with Modest (yes, I've tried Timid, Modest has just worked better for me). When I get this guy in on a safe switch, barring a focus blast miss, which I guess does happen fairly often, at least one poke is going to faint. Usually I can knock 1 off and deal significant damage to 2 more with 'zam.

Landorus (M) @ Wide Lens
Trait: Sand Force
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Swords Dance
- Fly
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge

This is a big reason for posting the RMT. I honestly have no idea why this Landorus works better than other pokes that I've tried in the role of set-up sweeper (I've tried DDnite, SD Lucario, SDnape, and others). I'm certainly open to suggestions on this, as I'm sure there are better threats to put in here. Fly has actually worked decently, especially against Breloom and Celebi, and I use Wide Lens because Stone Edge misses too much for me, so it seems more useful than Expert Belt. I love being able to bluff Choice with this guy, and he obviously does significant damage in Sandstorms, but I can't help but feel there's a better option here. I've never gotten a clean sweep with this guy.

Rotom-W @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 176 HP / 124 SAtk / 208 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Trick
- Volt Switch
- Hydro Pump
- Hidden Power [Ice]

When timed correctly, trick will virtually destroy any wall in the game. Alternately, If I see any threats that I think would be better served by keeping my scarf, I'm more than willing to go the whole game with it. EV's are a little weird here. I like being able to take a hit with this guy, especially ones coming from Starmie. It also confuses a lot of people when they see it has slightly more bulk than a choice user (they start thinking bulky attacker). It also runs enough speed to get by pretty anything (I think) that doesn't also have a scarf. This also means that I can consistently identify which of the opposing player's pokes are scarfed. The rest of the EVs go into SpA for obvious reasons.

Breloom (M) @ Toxic Orb
Trait: Poison Heal
EVs: 208 HP / 48 Atk / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Spore
- Substitute
- Seed Bomb
- Focus Punch

Yes, I'm a Breloom abuser. And I'm shameless about it. The second Breloom is matched up against something slower than it, Sub/Spore/FocusPunch. Just gotta watch out for Espeon and Xatu, along with unconventional scarfers. I run Jolly because outspeeding Adamant Dragonite and a few other threats is really nice.



Threats (I'm sure other people will provide a few):

- Baton Pass! I have no phazer, and am consistently rocked by a well-constructed baton passing chain.

- Terrakion: Once Jellicent is down, I have nothing to take a close combat. Stone Edge is also a huge threat, especially with rock gem.

- Draco Meteor not coming from Latios/Latias

- As per the team synergy table, anything with a hard-hitting grass move is hard to stop for me.

Moderate threat:

- Celebi: Not sure why, but despite how my team looks, I've never had too much trouble with Celebi, although it is one of the harder pokes to play against.

EDIT: although I use the PO server a lot, I'm new to the forums. I read the RMT rules, but let me know if there is something I missed or something else you guys want me to include.

 

[LampShade0wns]

If I were you I would give Alakazam life orb. It will get the boost but not take any damage.

The reason he has Focus Sash is because he needs the Revenge Kills. Without it Pokemon like Dragonite would tear through his team. So just make sure you keep Alakazam away from attacks at all times.

For the rate anyway, I would personally drop Alakazam, for something more defensive, you need a Steel so why not Skarmory. With Jellicent there for Anti Spinning, and Rotom-W allowing you to force switches and Volt Turn out, why not? If you really love Alakazam keep it, this is just a strong suggestion, Skarmory could fit into a few spaces on your team.

Now, no matter what you need to drop Fly on Landorus, it just allows you're opponent to bring in counters. Run U-Turn over it, even with Swords Dance it will be a great asset, It will OHKO Skarmory and get a huge hit in on Breloom. With SS + Sand Force I think a +2 EQ will KO Breloom anyway. If not it will probably try to Spore so you can get out to your own Breloom who will be at minimum at a speed tie with it, and hit first with Focus Punch. Also this will bring some form of VoltTurn to your team with Landorus and Rotom.

 

[Unbreakable]

I think Fly works for him precisely because it literally flies in the face of various mantras. It's got good base power, is fairly reliable, gets STAB, and no immunities (and nothing that resists flying would DARE switch into Landorus). Combine this with Landorus's impressive attack stat, and chances are good that he can get significant damage on whoever comes in. More worrisome is if a smart player uses the free turn to set up a Sub or Bulk Up.

(however, this is just more proof to me that it's not the team, it's how you play it)

 

[Nova]

Hi tanakattack

First off welcome to Smogon and nice team you have here. Looking at your team, potential threats include Offensive Trick Room Reuniclus and offensive Dragon pokemon such as Dragonite and Haxorus. If TR Reuniclus is able to set up a Trick Room, he can “outspeed” your entire team and fire off powerful LO attacks while hitting a majority of your team for super effective damage. You can check this threat by making some changes to your Tyranitar. I recommend that you change Pursuit to Crunch and replace Leftovers with a Chople Berry. With a Chople Berry and the Special Defense boost from Sandstorm, Tyranitar can take a Focus Blast from Reuniclus and then retaliate with Crunch. The downside of this change is that you will lose out on the ability to trap frail Psychic types such as Latios and Starmie, however, Alakazam can handle these threats unless they are Scarfed. For the weakness to Dragon types, I suggest you try a Standard Choice Band Scizor over Breloom. Scizor provides you with a Dragon type resist that is currently absent from your team, beats Dragonite and Haxorus with Bullet Punch if they have taken some prior damage , and is able to trap Latios/Latias lacking Hidden Power Fire with Pursuit. Scizor’s Bullet Punch provides your team with a priority move that your team currently lacks and allows you to revenge kill a number of top OU threats such as Terrakion. In addition to this, Scizor's U-turn also makes a great Voltturn combo with Rotom-W, giving you the ability to gain switch advantage. Losing Breloom may make you a bit weaker to Stall teams, but you are already using Alakazam and Taunt Jellicent which are capable of beating most Stall threats.

Now for some smaller changes. I suggest that you replace Fly on Landorus with Substitute. Opponents can easily play around Fly by switching to a Pokemon that resists Flying type attacks and Substitute is a great move to use in order to block status moves while setting up Swords Dances. Leftovers over Wide Lens is also more beneficial on Landorus. Wider Lens is a nice item every once in awhile to boost the accuracy of Stone Edge but it is only helping one move, while Leftovers provides Landorus with longevity and the ability to create more Substitutes. Another suggestion I have is to change Alakazam’s nature from Modest to Timid. This is important so that you can outspeed threats such as Timid Lati@s and Starmie as well as Jolly Terrakion and take them out before they can hit you. The ability to outspeed certain Pokemon is usually much more beneficial than being able to hit harder.

Hope I helped and good luck with your team!


Set:

Hide

Scizor (M) @ Choice Band
Trait: Technician
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Bullet Punch
- U-turn
- Pursuit
- Superpower

tl;dr

Hide

Pursuit on Tyranitar ----> Crunch
Leftovers on Tyranitar ----> Chople Berry
Breloom ----> Choice Band Scizor
Fly on Landorus ----> Substitute
Wide Lens on Landorus ----> Leftovers
Modest Nature Alakazam ----> Timid

 

[Dietcoke101]

Yah I'm with Novaray. After you make those changes your team should be ready to go :D

 

[Jimera0]

I just want to come out and say that I'm not instantly jumping to the idea that Fly is actually a bad move on Landorus, and that it actually makes sense with Wide Lens.

The reason why you'd use Fly is the same reason you'd use Bounce on Gyarados (a lot of people DO do that remember, and I for one know it to be nasty). It's not as easy to play around as people think when the vast majority of flying resists are destroyed by EQ. It's got more power than any other coverage move Lando could run too. Really the only flying resist that CAN switch into Fly and not immediately be KO'd afterwards by EQ is Skarmory, which walls you just as bad with Sub / U-Turn. Finally, you won't be using Fly against Pokemon that can use it as an opportunity to set up on you, or that can use protect / etc unless you're stupid. There's no threat of people exploiting it unless you use it in a situation where they CAN exploit it. And quite frankly, the idea of a +2 Fly from Lando kind of terrifies me. There are so many things that Lando usually hates that are just wasted by Fly (mostly Grass types), and unlike U-Turn you can actually stay in and keep your boosts after using it. That's freaking scary.

Oh, and it works with Wide Lens because now it's boosting two important moves, not just one. Fly has 95% accuracy normally and Wide Lens more or less brings that up to 100%. I know from Bounce misses against me with Gyarados that missing on a two turn move can be absolutely devasating so that boost is appreciated. Still, that's less important in my view than keeping Fly itself; a quick look at it with an open mind has made me realize it's far more deadly than we give it credit for.

I'm all for Crunch and Chopple on Ttar though and switching out Breloom for Scizor. This team is just plain screwed if something sets up after Zam's sash is broken and having multiple buffers is never a bad thing. Besides, Scizor is just a boss and the Rotom-W / Scizor core is really good, if a bit overused.

EDIT: Just realized the Rotom Formes can come in on a fly and not be wrecked by EQ afterwards, but they won't be liking a +2 Stone edge much and if they're scarfed you can always exploit that right back with a little smart switching.

 

[tanakattack]

Thanks for the replies! I've been really busy last couple days, and will be buys for a few more, but I'll be sure to try out these suggestions when I get the chance.

 

[Unbreakable]

Good point, Jim (and thanks for agreeing with me on Fly! I felt validated for the first time ever!). But really, the only Rotom forme you're going to see in OU with enough frequency to merit watching out for is the wash version, and between Jellicent, his own R-W and Tar's special bulk, hydro pump isn't too much of a concern. Since scarf R-W is so popular, bringing Jellicent in on a hydro pump meant for Landy will force the foe to switch out most of the time, effectively giving you two free turns.

Still, my balls have shrunk enough from being unable to break 1200 (my best is 1173) that I don't think I'll be using this team. Besides, I play better when I have a coach standing by...this does not mean that I take proxies, I just need a sounding board.

The one suggestion I would make is to look to add a steel-type to the team, since you don't have any dragon resists and you have fire, fighting and ground covered. Scizor and Skarmory have been mentioned before, but with Dragonite still reigning as one of OU's top threats you're going to want something to switch in against that Outrage. Hurricane variants aren't that worrisome, as it needs rain support to be really effective. I really can't make a specific recommendation, though, as I know nothing about how to give the proper amount of diligence to building a team. I'd rather say that I don't know than unintentionally mislead you.