SS OU My first team ever, would like help

[Buddyman48]

Hello, I am trying to get into competitive Pokemon. I have some Pokemon I really like. I have never really played competitive Pokemon and these are my favorite mons in OU right now. I have played some Pokemon Showdown to try to get a feel for OU. This is the new team I have come up with.

Gyarados @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Moxie
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Waterfall
- Dragon Dance
- Power Whip
- Bounce

I really think Gyrados is a big phsyical sweeper with moxie. I gave it Heavy-Duty boots to avoid rocks and sticky web. I have Jolly nature to try to outspeed other mons. The first turn I would dragon dance to get plus one attack and speed, then dynamax. I chose waterfall for anything that it is super effective/effective. Power whip for rotom-wash/barraskewta. I have bounce just for g-max air stream to raise speed. Ditto and Ferrothorn wall Gyrados pretty well.

Conkeldurr @ Flame Orb
Ability: Guts
EVs: 252 Atk / 140 Def / 112 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Facade
- Mach Punch
- Drain Punch
- Protect

I have conkeldurr with flame orb with guts ability to boost attack. I have some IVs in defense and sp defense to help it live super effective hits. I have facade that's boosted by flame orb to hit fairies and physic types. Mach punch for priority, drain punch for health, and protect to help start flame orb. I might would add thunder punch for corviknight.

Hatterene (F) @ Assault Vest
Ability: Magic Bounce
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Def / 252 SpA
Modest Nature
- Psychic
- Dazzling Gleam
- Mystical Fire
- Nuzzle

I think Hatterene is a good bulk special sweeper. I have assault vest to help tank more hits. Magic bounce to combat rocks, sticky web, spikes, etc. Modest nature to maximize special attack. Psychic, Dazzling Gleam, and mystical Fire are pretty much the basic set i see everyone using, but I wanted to use nuzzle to paralyze fast targets.

Rotom-Wash @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Volt Switch
- Thunderbolt
- Hydro Pump
- Will-O-Wisp

Rotom-Wash is good choice because it can burn physical attackers since there is a lot of physical attackers in OU. I gave it leftovers for regen, and max special attack and speed. Timid nature for speed boost. Volt Switch to switch, thunderbold for water and flying types, hydro pump for fire.

Mimikyu @ Life Orb
Ability: Disguise
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Play Rough
- Shadow Sneak
- Destiny Bond

Mimikyu is nice because of Disguise won't let it be hit with the first move. Life orb for extra damage. Max attack and speed with a little special bulk. Swords dance to maximize attack, play rough for Grimsnarl, and other dark and fighting types. shadow sneak for priority, and I like destiny bond to take attaches down when Mimikyu is low on health. However, I know Mimikyu is not the fastest mon.

Hawlucha @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Unburden
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Substitute
- Swords Dance
- Acrobatics
- Close Combat

I really like this Hawlucha set because it is very fast with unburden. It can also set up sub and sweep with swords dance. Max attack and Speed Ivs with a little bulk to try to tank hits, but I don't see that happening. Acrobatics's power is doubled with no item so perfect with an eaten Sitrus berry. Close Combat for a stab fighting type move that doesn't lower attack.

Overall, I think this is a decent team with a lot of glass cannons. I think it could be better, but I do not know what to add and take away. I really like speedy mons that can take out opponents fast. The only thing I could see would be taking Conkeldurr because of double fighting types. Thanks for the help! :)

 

[LordJiggles]

So one thing I've noticed is that that your team is half-Hyper Offense, half-random other stuff, which is usually not the best team structure. I would personally recommend fully committing to Hyper Offense and having a clear, defined win condition(s) and team support for those win conditions. Before beginning this rate, note that I understand this is your first competitive team so I will try to explain things as simply and respectfully as possible.

Going off of the Hyper Offense theme, you have 3 main setup sweepers in that archetype: Gyarados, Mimikyu, and Hawlucha. While Gyarados and Hawlucha are terrifying threats in the current meta, with Gyarados powering through everything and Hawlucha even being able to beat Ditto. Mimikyu, however, is only "okay" at best and all 3 of these sweepers are physical attackers, meaning that physically bulky Pokemon may be an annoyance for your team. I would recommend switching Mimkyu with specially-oriented Kommo-o using Throat Spray, as that set can beat mons such as Rotom-Wash which are incredibly annoying to both Gyarados and Hawlucha. Here is a recommended set:

Kommo-o @ Throat Spray
Ability: Soundproof
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Clangorous Soul
- Clanging Scales
- Flash Cannon
- Flamethrower

Clangorous Soul gives you +1 in all stats at the cost of 1/3 of your HP, but is also a Sound-move meaning that when you use it, Throat Spray will give you +1 in SpAtk, making your total boosts +1 Atk/+1 Def/+2 SpAtk/+1 SpDef/+1Spe. Aside from being able to resist both of Rotom-W's dual STABs and not caring that much about a Will-o-Wisp, Flamethrower can cook physically bulky Ferrothorn alive (further helping Gyarados which can be checked by it), and Flash Cannon can deal with Fairy-types that want to switch into Kommo-o. This sweeper is also much less frail than Mimikyu, and is a much better Dynamaxxer because Flash Cannon turns into Max Steelspike, boosting your defense making Kommo-o harder to revenge kill.

I'm also very surprised that you don't have any hazards on such an offensive team like this. Stealth Rock can be the difference between a 2HKO and a OHKO, so the extra damage can go a long way for your sweepers. Because this is a Hyper Offense team, it's a good idea to go with a suicide lead. The two leads that come to mind for this team are either Excadrill or Mew:

Excadrill @ Focus Sash
Ability: Mold Breaker
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Rapid Spin
- Earthquake
- Rock Tomb

OR

Mew @ Focus Sash
Ability: Synchronize
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Taunt
- Spikes
- Fire Blast

Excadrill is an excellent lead because Mold Breaker allows it to setup hazards against Magic Bounce users like Hatterene. It had Rapid Spin to remove any hazards your opponent sets up, and Rock Tomb allows it to lower the speed of opposing Pokemon, allowing you to keep up your hazards more easily. Excadrill also has a very high attack stat and can do some damage in case you need it to.

Mew has the added benefit of being able to setup BOTH Stealth Rocks and up to 3 layers of Spikes, further pressuring your opponent. Taunt stops any potential defoggers and Fire Blast is just a coverage move that nails Ferrothorn. Which one of these two you want to use is up to you. Excadrill is more reliable imo, and has better uses outside of just setting up hazards, but Mew can potentially just stack so many hazards that your opponent straight up loses because their defensive answers take so much damage just by switching in. In the end, the choice is up to you and your personal preferences. Maybe try out both and see which one you like better.

To prevent your opponent from revenge killing your sweepers or straight-up KOing them before they can set up, I would recommend using a Dual Screen setter. By having both Light Screen and Reflect up, you are effectively taking half damage from every attack for 8 turns, giving you much more time and many more opportunities to setup your sweepers. The best Dual Screen user currently is Grimmsnarl, with its excellent typing, decent stats, and access to Prankster which allows you to almost always setup your Dual Screens before your opponent can attack you. Here is the recommended Grimmsnarl set:

Grimmsnarl (M) @ Light Clay
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
- Light Screen
- Reflect
- Taunt
- Spirit Break

Light Clay extends the duration of Light Screen and Reflect from 5 turns to 8 turns. Taunt allows you to stop your opponent from Defogging away your screens and hazards, further supporting your team. Spirit Break is so you can attack when the situation calls for it and so Grimmsnarl doesn't become a passive deadweight when screens are already up.

The sets on Conkeldurr, Hatterene, and Rotom-Wash feel subpar on this team. Protect is not needed on Conkeldurr should you choose to continue using it, and is better off replaced by a coverage move such as Thunderpunch to hit Toxapex (because a Toxapex with Haze is a huge nuisance to your sweepers). Hatterene is much better off with Leftovers, as it allows you to continuously switch into defensive mons like Ferrothorn and Toxapex and either theaten them out or kill them. Max speed on non-Scarf Rotom-Wash is unnecessary most of the time, and is usually better running a physically defensive set to check opposing physical setup sweepers. You should either change it to a Scarf set with running Trick instead of Thunderbolt, or making it physically defensive and keeping Leftovers. Any of these three mons can be replaced with the choices I listed above, or, if you want to continue using one or some of them, you should make the changes I just mentioned.

I hope that the advice I gave was helpful, and feel free to PM me with further questions if you have any :) Good luck with your team and your battles in the future!

 

[Alstone]

Hi,

I believe you should give Conkeldurr a different movepool, a move different than Protect mainly. Dragapult is used a lot by other players and when you have 3 moves that can't even touch it, it's a big pain. I would test Ice Punch as a leverage move over Protect. I hope I helped a bit!