The thought process behind making my team was that I had to be able to legally train all these Pokemon for my Wi-Fi team, meaning no Hidden Power. I also wanted to find a way to defeat the most commonly used Pokemon of OU without using them myself, meaning I didn't want to use Salamence, Scizor, Swampert, Metagross... you get the idea. So without anymore talk here's a look at my somewhat creative team that has pretty much an even record on the OU ladder.
"Shelly" lvl 100 Starmie @ Life Orb
Nature: Timid
EVs: 252 Spd, 252 Sp. Att, 4 HP
Ability: Natural Cure
-Grass Knot
-Hydro Pump
-Ice Beam
-Rapid Spin
When designing the team I decided that I wanted a good anti-lead, which led to me having to think of what the most common lead Pokemon are. Now Pokemon on the Smogon ladders seem to go in and out of "style" but I've found that Aerodactyl and Swampert will always be pretty common lead Pokemon. Both are OHKO'd, or have their sashes activated on the first turn while they set up Stealth Rock, and then defeated when I spin them away. Surf 2HKO's Metagross, but that almost never happens as I try to spin off rocks as soon as they get up and usually get blown up in the process. Some problems I've found have been other anit-leads, most notably Weaville, who if they pack Pusuit are the end of Starmie. If they don't I just switch out and Starmie acts as any other Rapid Spinner later in the match.
"Spanky" lvl 100 Snorlax @ Lum Berry
Nature: Adamant
EVs: 252 Sp. Def, 252 Att, 4 HP
Ability: Thick Fat
-Focus Punch
-Crunch
-Substitute
-Body Slam, Ice Punch, Whirlwind
In my opinion the only thing that puts Blissey even close to Snorlax in Special walling is it's superior health recovery, but Snorlax can take any special attack without blinking and hit back with devastating power. The lum berry is there because I've found that the most common switch in on my Starmie is Blissey. The strategy to knock Bliss out early is to allow it to status Starmie, switch Snorlax in on the SToss or whatever, then Focus Punch when he tries to use Toxic or Thunder Wave. The lum berry leaves Snorlax at great HP still and leaves my opponent without a Special Wall. Crunch OHKO's Gengar, who often comes in after I've set up a Sub to dodge a Focus Punch. The last slot I've been having some trouble with. Body Slam is nice for STAB and chance for para, Ice Punch is an option because Gliscor is a major problem if Starmie is dead, and Whirlwind because I have no other way to stop something like CurseLax from taking my whole team. You'll be able to help me with this better after reading the whole RMT and seeing my final strategy.
"DarkKnight" lvl 100 Dusknoir @ Leftovers
Nature: Impish
EVs: 252 HP, 252 Def, 4 Sp. Def
Ability: Pressure
-Pain Split
-Toxic
-Will-o-Wisp
-Night Shade
Dusknoir acts as my Physical wall and is currently my only answer to Gliscor, who I have to stall out with burn or toxic coupled with Pain Split. The purpose of the dual status is to be able to both cripple physical sweepers and stall out bulky Pokemon like Swampert or Gliscor if Starmie is down. I bring him in on the fighting move that is most likely coming at Snorlax and try to inflict status on whoever comes in on the switch. Most people don't see dual status coming so once I use toxic they feel pretty safe trying to set up a sweep and get their attack cut in half when I hit with a surprise WoW. Night Shade is there to finish off Pokemon put in range by my Pain Split and because I wanted to invest all my EVs in HP and Def while still being able to put some damage on my opponent. Not much to explain here, Dusknoir and Snorlax are great for both scouting out the enemy team and weakening everyone to the point where my final sweeper can come in and finish the match off.
"Thorn" lvl 100 Charizard @ Perism Berry
Nature: Jolly
EVs: 252 Spd, 252 Att, 4 HP
Ability: Blaze
-Dragon Dance
-Outrage
-Earthquke
-Overheat
Charizard is my best option to destroy Scizor, who even after and SD cannot OHKO with any of his attacks and gets destroyed by Overheat even with the Sp. Att drop from having a Jolly nature. Charizard is on the team because I always liked him since I played Blue version as a kid (though Blastoise was my favorite starter, sucks he's not as useful in todays metagame) and because I needed a good Scizor counter and a way to draw out my opponents water pokemon, something that is needed to set up for my final sweep. Even though he's not meant to really get much done I've still found that he can sweep some Pokemon after getting in a Dragon Dance, like no rain Kingdra and non-bulky Tyranitar. The real purpose of Charizard is to draw out some one who greatly fears Thunderbolt, which leads me too....
"Lightning" lvl 100 Jolteon @ Liechi Berry
Nature: Timid
EVs: 252 Spd, 252 Sp. Att, 4 HP
Ability: Volt Absorb
-Thunderbolt
-Agility
-Substitute
-Baton Pass
Ok, Jolteon has always been my favorite Pokemon. On past teams I've found that he can be quite the special sweeper, but without the use of Hidden Power that abililty is greatly diminished. So my idea to still be able to use him effectively and surprise my opponents was to baton pass at least +2 speed and +1 attack to my final Pokemon. After my opponents water Pokemon kills my Charizard my Jolteon comes in for what they assume is the revenge kill. When they switch out to someone with Earthquake I set up my sub, then use Agility and substitute until left at 1% HP, activating the Liechi boost and then using Baton Pass to my second favorite Pokemon and my Sweeper....
"Aiden" lvl 100 Heracross @ Wide Lens
Nature: Jolly
EVs: 252 Att, 252 Spd, 4 HP
Ability: Guts
-Close Combat
-Megahorn
-Night Slash
-Stone Edge
Heracross. On previous teams I used the ever common Scarfed version, which was an awesome Pokemon. However I hated the restriction of only being able to use one move, giving me the idea to pass speed to Heracross. With the agility boost Hera can outsped Scarfran and basically any other Pokemon, and with +1 attack he can OHKO anything that's not a physical wall who somehow managed to avoid taking any damage from my previous 5 Pokemon. Megahorn and Night Slash provide pretty redundant coverage, but I hesitate to use Stone Edge on Pokemon like Gengar because if it misses I'm done. These four moves do provide unresisted coverage, and can OHKO almost any Pokemon in the game. Some issues for him are obviously priority, but the idea of this team was never to attempt a clean sweep with Heracross (and trust me I've lost plenty of matches by trying to set up too early) but it is to weaken most of my opponents Pokemon so that Hera's job is to simply clean up the mess.
Let me know what you guys think, I know the EV spreads are far from imaginative, but I think Pokemon and the movesets are unique enough to say that it is not your everyday OU team. I had fun making the team and get enormous satisfaction from destroying people who rely on the strongest Pokemon in the game to do their work for them and don't use any real strategy. In matches people probably suspect that I'm simply trying to stall around and have no real synergy, only to be surprised when it all ends with Megahorn devastating their team.
"Shelly" lvl 100 Starmie @ Life Orb
Nature: Timid
EVs: 252 Spd, 252 Sp. Att, 4 HP
Ability: Natural Cure
-Grass Knot
-Hydro Pump
-Ice Beam
-Rapid Spin
When designing the team I decided that I wanted a good anti-lead, which led to me having to think of what the most common lead Pokemon are. Now Pokemon on the Smogon ladders seem to go in and out of "style" but I've found that Aerodactyl and Swampert will always be pretty common lead Pokemon. Both are OHKO'd, or have their sashes activated on the first turn while they set up Stealth Rock, and then defeated when I spin them away. Surf 2HKO's Metagross, but that almost never happens as I try to spin off rocks as soon as they get up and usually get blown up in the process. Some problems I've found have been other anit-leads, most notably Weaville, who if they pack Pusuit are the end of Starmie. If they don't I just switch out and Starmie acts as any other Rapid Spinner later in the match.
"Spanky" lvl 100 Snorlax @ Lum Berry
Nature: Adamant
EVs: 252 Sp. Def, 252 Att, 4 HP
Ability: Thick Fat
-Focus Punch
-Crunch
-Substitute
-Body Slam, Ice Punch, Whirlwind
In my opinion the only thing that puts Blissey even close to Snorlax in Special walling is it's superior health recovery, but Snorlax can take any special attack without blinking and hit back with devastating power. The lum berry is there because I've found that the most common switch in on my Starmie is Blissey. The strategy to knock Bliss out early is to allow it to status Starmie, switch Snorlax in on the SToss or whatever, then Focus Punch when he tries to use Toxic or Thunder Wave. The lum berry leaves Snorlax at great HP still and leaves my opponent without a Special Wall. Crunch OHKO's Gengar, who often comes in after I've set up a Sub to dodge a Focus Punch. The last slot I've been having some trouble with. Body Slam is nice for STAB and chance for para, Ice Punch is an option because Gliscor is a major problem if Starmie is dead, and Whirlwind because I have no other way to stop something like CurseLax from taking my whole team. You'll be able to help me with this better after reading the whole RMT and seeing my final strategy.
"DarkKnight" lvl 100 Dusknoir @ Leftovers
Nature: Impish
EVs: 252 HP, 252 Def, 4 Sp. Def
Ability: Pressure
-Pain Split
-Toxic
-Will-o-Wisp
-Night Shade
Dusknoir acts as my Physical wall and is currently my only answer to Gliscor, who I have to stall out with burn or toxic coupled with Pain Split. The purpose of the dual status is to be able to both cripple physical sweepers and stall out bulky Pokemon like Swampert or Gliscor if Starmie is down. I bring him in on the fighting move that is most likely coming at Snorlax and try to inflict status on whoever comes in on the switch. Most people don't see dual status coming so once I use toxic they feel pretty safe trying to set up a sweep and get their attack cut in half when I hit with a surprise WoW. Night Shade is there to finish off Pokemon put in range by my Pain Split and because I wanted to invest all my EVs in HP and Def while still being able to put some damage on my opponent. Not much to explain here, Dusknoir and Snorlax are great for both scouting out the enemy team and weakening everyone to the point where my final sweeper can come in and finish the match off.
"Thorn" lvl 100 Charizard @ Perism Berry
Nature: Jolly
EVs: 252 Spd, 252 Att, 4 HP
Ability: Blaze
-Dragon Dance
-Outrage
-Earthquke
-Overheat
Charizard is my best option to destroy Scizor, who even after and SD cannot OHKO with any of his attacks and gets destroyed by Overheat even with the Sp. Att drop from having a Jolly nature. Charizard is on the team because I always liked him since I played Blue version as a kid (though Blastoise was my favorite starter, sucks he's not as useful in todays metagame) and because I needed a good Scizor counter and a way to draw out my opponents water pokemon, something that is needed to set up for my final sweep. Even though he's not meant to really get much done I've still found that he can sweep some Pokemon after getting in a Dragon Dance, like no rain Kingdra and non-bulky Tyranitar. The real purpose of Charizard is to draw out some one who greatly fears Thunderbolt, which leads me too....
"Lightning" lvl 100 Jolteon @ Liechi Berry
Nature: Timid
EVs: 252 Spd, 252 Sp. Att, 4 HP
Ability: Volt Absorb
-Thunderbolt
-Agility
-Substitute
-Baton Pass
Ok, Jolteon has always been my favorite Pokemon. On past teams I've found that he can be quite the special sweeper, but without the use of Hidden Power that abililty is greatly diminished. So my idea to still be able to use him effectively and surprise my opponents was to baton pass at least +2 speed and +1 attack to my final Pokemon. After my opponents water Pokemon kills my Charizard my Jolteon comes in for what they assume is the revenge kill. When they switch out to someone with Earthquake I set up my sub, then use Agility and substitute until left at 1% HP, activating the Liechi boost and then using Baton Pass to my second favorite Pokemon and my Sweeper....
"Aiden" lvl 100 Heracross @ Wide Lens
Nature: Jolly
EVs: 252 Att, 252 Spd, 4 HP
Ability: Guts
-Close Combat
-Megahorn
-Night Slash
-Stone Edge
Heracross. On previous teams I used the ever common Scarfed version, which was an awesome Pokemon. However I hated the restriction of only being able to use one move, giving me the idea to pass speed to Heracross. With the agility boost Hera can outsped Scarfran and basically any other Pokemon, and with +1 attack he can OHKO anything that's not a physical wall who somehow managed to avoid taking any damage from my previous 5 Pokemon. Megahorn and Night Slash provide pretty redundant coverage, but I hesitate to use Stone Edge on Pokemon like Gengar because if it misses I'm done. These four moves do provide unresisted coverage, and can OHKO almost any Pokemon in the game. Some issues for him are obviously priority, but the idea of this team was never to attempt a clean sweep with Heracross (and trust me I've lost plenty of matches by trying to set up too early) but it is to weaken most of my opponents Pokemon so that Hera's job is to simply clean up the mess.
Let me know what you guys think, I know the EV spreads are far from imaginative, but I think Pokemon and the movesets are unique enough to say that it is not your everyday OU team. I had fun making the team and get enormous satisfaction from destroying people who rely on the strongest Pokemon in the game to do their work for them and don't use any real strategy. In matches people probably suspect that I'm simply trying to stall around and have no real synergy, only to be surprised when it all ends with Megahorn devastating their team.
