SM OU My Pitiful Attempt at Teambuilding

[Copperhawk]

Hey guys! I'm super new to smogon, but I've been reading the threads, watching gameplay, and practicing on Showdown, and I think I'm finally ready to show what little skill i have at this game. Here's the base team: Toxapex, Ferrothorn, Hoopa-U, Garchomp, Tapu Koko, and Marowak-Alola. My concept behind this team was simple, just to have 2 walls/tanks, 2 wallbreakers, and 2 sweepers.

Toxapex @ Black Sludge
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 68 HP / 252 Def / 188 SpD
Careful Nature
- Recover
- Toxic
- Baneful Bunker
- Haze

Toxapex, in my limited experience, appears to be one of the best walls in OU right now. His nature and EVs are designed to give him a perfect balance of Def and SpD as he seems to be useful against both physical and special attackers, and his ability and item give it longevity. Baneful Bunker and Recover let him wait out an opponent's attacks until the Toxic takes them out. Haze is in there to stop Baton Passers and Dragon Dancers.

Ferrothorn @ Leftovers
Ability: Iron Barbs
EVs: 12 HP / 252 Def / 244 SpD
Sassy Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Spikes
- Power Whip
- Gyro Ball
- Leech Seed

Ferrothorn seems to be the other good wall in OU currently, but I run him as more of a tank, or a lead. He sets up spikes or leech seed, and stays around if it seems right. Like Toxapex, his Evs give him a perfect mix of Def and SpD. A sassy nature and 0 speed IVs improve his gyro ball. Leftovers for longevity, Iron Barbs because anticipation sucks.

Hoopa-Unbound @ Choice Specs
Ability: Magician
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Dark Pulse
- Psyshock
- Focus Blast
- Thunderbolt

Hoopa-U's just a good special wallbreaker. Great coverage and incredible stats make him a better option for me than, say, Ash Greninja. EVs, Timid, and Choice Specs give him max offensive power. Not a lot to say about this guy.

Garchomp @ Firium Z
Ability: Rough Skin
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Earthquake
- Dragon Claw
- Fire Fang

I love Garchomp, and I really wanted to fit him in my team. I set him up with his classic Swords Dance wallbreaker set up, with Firium Z specifically to take out Ferrothorn. Same story here as with Hoopa-U. His EVs and nature give him max offensive power. Very simple, but it works.

Pheromosa @ Life Orb
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Rash Nature
- U-turn
- Bug Buzz
- Focus Blast
- Ice Beam

Pheromosa is built a little differently here than normal. Ice Beam's coverage is essential for this team, but that means that i have to put her in some risky situations. Thus, U-Turn to get the hell out of dodge as fast as possible (this is also why i use life orb, not choice specs). Other than Ice Beaming, Hoopa-U's got walls covered, so pheromosa sweeps up fairly well.

Marowak-Alola @ Thick Club
Ability: Rock Head
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Flare Blitz
- Double-Edge
- Shadow Bone
- Stone Edge

Another unconventional build. I find that with thick club, there's not much need for a swords dance, so I went with Stone Edge for coverage. Flare Blitz and Double Edge take advantage of Rock Head, and shadow bone gives great stab.


So yeah, that's my team! Recommendations and advice are much appreciated.

 

[Gravelmouse]

Hey, I am really new here too,but I think that the moderaters might want just a tiny bit more info about your team and might lock It. I am quoting from the rules here, but
#4. Be descriptive. Be as detailed as possible. Each Pokémon on your team should have a small paragraph describing these 3 things: 1) A reason for choosing that Pokémon, 2) the Pokémon's role on the team, and 3) a short description of its set. Don't forget to mention exactly what your Pokémon brings to the team.

 

[Dazzling Gleamstar]

Ok so first thing to say, your team is way too weak to ground types. Landorus is one of the best pokemon in the meta right now, and your "answer" is ferrothorn. SD Flyinium landorus, or even just standard defensive landorus gets way too much value versus your team. And that's just talking landorus. Garchomp, xygarde and Excadrill are all pokemon that exist. If you could find room for rotom wash or even your own landorus, you'll have a much easier time.

Your team also strikes me as weak to the strong psycic types in the tier. Tapu Lele demolishes hoopa and they cerro either hp fire or focus blast. Hoopa has more leeway versus alakazam and latios, but both generally carry coverage to hit ferrothorn. And metagross can 2hko ferrothorn with hammer arm while also threatening hoopa. And this is all under the assumption you don'tget trapped by magnezone.

The next issue is your speed. Sure, pheramosa is fast, but not fast enough to start answering things like volcarona or mence or any other speed boosting sweeper after they've gotten a boost. My reccomendation is to run choice scarf pheramosa.

Change banefull bunker for toxic spikes in tox. Change spikes for stealth rocks on ferro. Run max hp for more efficient usage of evs on your ferrothorn and Toxapex. And as a personal oppinion you should run much more bulk on marowak.

Anyways these are just a few brief things that came to mind from skimming the team. Best of luck building.

 

[Copperhawk]

Ok so first thing to say, your team is way too weak to ground types. Landorus is one of the best pokemon in the meta right now, and your "answer" is ferrothorn. SD Flyinium landorus, or even just standard defensive landorus gets way too much value versus your team. And that's just talking landorus. Garchomp, xygarde and Excadrill are all pokemon that exist. If you could find room for rotom wash or even your own landorus, you'll have a much easier time.

Your team also strikes me as weak to the strong psycic types in the tier. Tapu Lele demolishes hoopa and they cerro either hp fire or focus blast. Hoopa has more leeway versus alakazam and latios, but both generally carry coverage to hit ferrothorn. And metagross can 2hko ferrothorn with hammer arm while also threatening hoopa. And this is all under the assumption you don'tget trapped by magnezone.

The next issue is your speed. Sure, pheramosa is fast, but not fast enough to start answering things like volcarona or mence or any other speed boosting sweeper after they've gotten a boost. My reccomendation is to run choice scarf pheramosa.

Change banefull bunker for toxic spikes in tox. Change spikes for stealth rocks on ferro. Run max hp for more efficient usage of evs on your ferrothorn and Toxapex. And as a personal oppinion you should run much more bulk on marowak.

Anyways these are just a few brief things that came to mind from skimming the team. Best of luck building.

Thank you for the help! Now that you point them out, those flaws do seem pretty clear. I'll try those changes you recommended, and I'll see if they work out.

 

[ez]

Yo, cool team. I got a couple things to say:

• Replace Marowak with Landorus-therian. Your team lacks a Ground Immunity making yourself very vulnerable to mons like Double Dance Landorus, Excadrill Etc. Your on Landorus-therian can run Hidden Power ice allowing you to check Landorus that might set up and also has access to earthquake allowing you to check Excadrills which otherwise could be very annoying especially if it has Sand Rush which makes Excadrill very hard to revenge kill. This also gives you a Stealth Rock, which can be considered an essential on every team with it being able to punish switching, put things in range of mons, widdle down mons etc

• My next suggestion is to run Choice Scarf over Life Orb on Pheromosa. This allows your team to have a better revenge killer for other Scarfers and mons that may have set up. This also improves your matchup against Hyper Offense. You can also consider Running Rapid Spin on Pheromosa to remove the hazards on your side of the field while not removing the hazards you get up yourself. Also, consider running a more physical Pheromosa with High Jump Kick over Focus Blast allowing Mosa to punish more speically defensive mons like Chansey.

• Toxapex Should have Scald over Baneful Bunker.Although protecting yourself can be nice, your toxapex lacks an attacking move meaning mons with taunt can completely stop your Toxapex. This also means steel types like Scizor-Mega (which becomes a bigger threat with Marowak removed) can wall you as you have nothing to attack them with. Scald is weak however has a burn chance making it very useful. You can also consider running Toxic Spikes over Toxic on Toxapex. As this will add to your hazard stacking team.

• Also, a better spread for Ferrothorn would be 252 HP / 88 Def /168 Spd which allows it too take 3 Ice Beams from Manaphy and avoid the 2ko from Jolly Life Orb Excadrill.

team with my changes

Landorus-Therian @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 248 HP / 240 Def / 8 SpD / 12 Spe
Impish Nature
- U-turn
- Earthquake
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Stealth Rock

Ferrothorn @ Leftovers
Ability: Iron Barbs
EVs: 252 HP / 88 Def / 168 SpD
Relaxed Nature
- Spikes
- Leech Seed
- Gyro Ball
- Power Whip

Pheromosa @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- High Jump Kick
- U-turn
- Ice Beam
- Rapid Spin

Hoopa-Unbound @ Choice Specs
Ability: Magician
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Dark Pulse
- Psyshock
- Focus Blast
- Thunderbolt

Garchomp @ Firium Z
Ability: Rough Skin
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Earthquake
- Dragon Claw
- Fire Fang

Toxapex @ Black Sludge
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 232 Def / 24 SpD
Bold Nature
- Scald
- Recover
- Toxic / Toxic Spikes
- Haze

 

[Copperhawk]

Yo, cool team. I got a couple things to say:

• Replace Marowak with Landorus-therian. Your team lacks a Ground Immunity making yourself very vulnerable to mons like Double Dance Landorus, Excadrill Etc. Your on Landorus-therian can run Hidden Power ice allowing you to check Landorus that might set up and also has access to earthquake allowing you to check Excadrills which otherwise could be very annoying especially if it has Sand Rush which makes Excadrill very hard to revenge kill. This also gives you a Stealth Rock, which can be considered an essential on every team with it being able to punish switching, put things in range of mons, widdle down mons etc

• My next suggestion is to run Choice Scarf over Life Orb on Pheromosa. This allows your team to have a better revenge killer for other Scarfers and mons that may have set up. This also improves your matchup against Hyper Offense. You can also consider Running Rapid Spin on Pheromosa to remove the hazards on your side of the field while not removing the hazards you get up yourself. Also, consider running a more physical Pheromosa with High Jump Kick over Focus Blast allowing Mosa to punish more speically defensive mons like Chansey.

• Toxapex Should have Scald over Baneful Bunker.Although protecting yourself can be nice, your toxapex lacks an attacking move meaning mons with taunt can completely stop your Toxapex. This also means steel types like Scizor-Mega (which becomes a bigger threat with Marowak removed) can wall you as you have nothing to attack them with. Scald is weak however has a burn chance making it very useful. You can also consider running Toxic Spikes over Toxic on Toxapex. As this will add to your hazard stacking team.

• Also, a better spread for Ferrothorn would be 252 HP / 88 Def /168 Spd which allows it too take 3 Ice Beams from Manaphy and avoid the 2ko from Jolly Life Orb Excadrill.

team with my changes

Landorus-Therian @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 248 HP / 240 Def / 8 SpD / 12 Spe
Impish Nature
- U-turn
- Earthquake
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Stealth Rock

Ferrothorn @ Leftovers
Ability: Iron Barbs
EVs: 252 HP / 88 Def / 168 SpD
Relaxed Nature
- Spikes
- Leech Seed
- Gyro Ball
- Power Whip

Pheromosa @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- High Jump Kick
- U-turn
- Ice Beam
- Rapid Spin

Hoopa-Unbound @ Choice Specs
Ability: Magician
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Dark Pulse
- Psyshock
- Focus Blast
- Thunderbolt

Garchomp @ Firium Z
Ability: Rough Skin
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Earthquake
- Dragon Claw
- Fire Fang

Toxapex @ Black Sludge
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 232 Def / 24 SpD
Bold Nature
- Scald
- Recover
- Toxic / Toxic Spikes
- Haze

Thanks man! I really appreciate you including the new team in the post. And all of your suggestions are really helpful! I'll try this team as well, and see if it works.

 

[Gravelmouse]

things to say:

• 
  
• Toxapex Should have Scald over Baneful Bunker.Although protecting yourself can be nice, your toxapex lacks an attacking move meaning mons with taunt can completely stop your Toxapex. This also means steel types like Scizor-Mega (which becomes a bigger threat with Marowak removed) can wall you as you have nothing to attack them with. Scald is weak however has a burn chance making it very useful. You can also consider running Toxic Spikes over Toxic on Toxapex. As this will add to your hazard stacking team.

Also an option just as viable as scald is posin jab. like scald this offers a way past taunt and a 30% chance of status. burn is a better status overall, but jab hits the tapus for some chip damage. Really, scald is probably better but if you would prfer poison jab it IS an option