Need help with Ou team (peaked ~1380)

[MegaSimon]

So here it is, I created a team that works extremely well on cartridge gaming (which isn't especially difficult, but wtv...) and tried it out on Showdown. I got to a max rating of about 1380 but I just can't get over that :/ So I'd like a little help to see if there is anything to change/ remove/ you name it in my team :)

After some good Advice from RoyRenard, all my changes will now be in red!

I will replace Togekiss with either DD dragonite or DD salamence but I'm still looking at which one to choose. Salamence is a lot faster than dragonite, but dragonite has a lot more bulk. I fell like using dragonite is somehow lost on my team, since I don't have a spinner/ defogger (ie there's a good chance that multiscale is useless), so I would rather go for Salamence? Thoughts on that? I would teach either of them Arial Ace to be able to do some damage to M-Venusaur, does that seem viable?

RoyRenard also suggested running Lando-t instead of Skarmory, and at first I thought that was a great idea. Then, in afterthought, I realized that I lost my only M-Venusaur counter, and more importantly, my only phazer... So I'm still debating that one! Any additional criticism/ ideas are very welcome!

Onto the players!!

Rotom-W @choice scarf Chesto Berry
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 152 HP / 200 Spa / 156 Spe EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpA
Modest Nature Bold Nature
- trick (Pain split) Rest
- Hydro pump
- Volt-switch
- Will-o-wisp

The first member of my core. The choice band has worked very well for me, surprising a lot of my opponents with his speed. I used to run it with 252 EV in Spa, but I want it a little bulkier as it is a mon who is supposed to run through the full match. Hydro pump is self-explanatory, hitting gliscor, donphan and other fire/rock type hard. (I don't think I need to remind you guys of the weakness chart :P ). Volt Switch is there to gain momentum, and thanks to my decent speed with the scarf works very well, I can bring in a new counter to the counter that was sent out to deal with Rotom. Will-O-Wisp is there to stop physical sweepers (Aegislash, Garchomp, well, you get the point). I Run trick to trick the scarf onto a staller to severely limit it's usefulness, although I should maybe put Pain split for recovery and thus more staying power?
Scizor and Rotom force a lot of switches, that's why I try to set up SR + as many spikes as possible early.

Thanks to RoyRenard's advice, I decided to use a bulky set and it really helps compared to the choice scarf set. I can switch in on a lot more threats and still retain decent health.

I also thought of possibly running an assault-vest Rotom, something looking like EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpA and running hydro pump, volt-switch, discharge and HP ice. That would give it even more bulk, use discharge to spread a little paralysis, and HP ice to hit gliscor/ dragonite/ salamence hard. Would that be usable, especially losing WoW in the process?

Scizor Choice Band
Ability: Technician
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Att / 4 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Pursuit
- superpower
- U-Turn
- Bullet-Punch

Okay, Scizor is the second part of my core. I used the Mega for some time, but saw that the choice band worked a lot better for me. U-turn is there for the volt-turn combo, doing a decent amount of damage to dark, grass and psychics, as well as breaking focus sashes or just inflicting damage when I sense a switch. bullet punch to go for the revenge kill, and hit fairies hard.
I also use him as a "toxic absorber", then u-turn out of there. Pursuit is for trapping, and of his attack it deal decent damage if not resisted. Superpower is there for coverage, as well as hitting hard. The loss of attack and defense is not a big handicap, as Scizor does not often stay in several turns in a row.
Covers well for Venusaur if there is a chance of psychic attack.


Skarmory Leftovers
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 252 HP / 252 def / 4 Spd
Impish Nature
- Spikes
- Roost
- Brave Bird
- Whirlwind

So I needed a physical wall, and I've always loved the steel bird. He is a great counter to M-venusaur, and can set up a row of spikes, or attack to deal relatively heavy damage (considering he is a stall). Not much explaining need here I guess, whirlwind to phaze, and roost to heal. He phazes Aegislash particularly well, not traking too much damage off his attacks even after a sword dance.
Skarmory walls also fairies pretty well, and is good against fighting types (even though it gets problematic when they carry fire punch, which is what they usually do...). Leftovers for regen (duh...).
A good cover for Venusaur, can get hit by flying type attacks all day.

As I said in the intro, I was told to switch Skarm for lando-t, but I'm still debating that. He's my only megasaur counter and my only phazer. So will think on that.

Venusaur @venusaurite
Ability: Chlorophyll
EVs: 252 HP / 56 Spa / 200 Spd
Calm Nature
- Synthesis
- Giga Drain
- Sludge Bomb
- Hidden Power fire

So appart from the nostaglgia this guy give me (first pokemon I ever had :-D ), this is arguably the best tank out there. He has decent bulk and great defenses, and a very decent spa to top it off. Synthesis for regen, and giga drain is to hit waters hard (only grass attack in this team). sludge bomb to hit fairies, and HP fire is to hit a Skarmory or a Scizor switching in. He also covers very well for Skarm, taking electric like it where nothing, and is able to shrug of a non-stabbed fire attack (off a not too hard hitting opponent) thanks to thick fat. he also covers grass moves very well for Rotom, though Skarm and Scizor usually do it better.


Togekiss Leftovers
Ability: serene Grace
EVs: 252 HP / 56 Def / 200 Spd
Calm Nature
- Heal Bell
- Wish
- Roost
- Thunder Wave/ Air Slash

Togekiss is my one question in this team... I NEED a status healer with all these Rotoms running around with will-o-wisp (I do realize that is ironic, get over it xD ). I though it might be a good move to double him up as a health healer as well. Roost for obvious reasons. Thunder wave is to spread paralysis, but since I don't have any sweepers that need to be faster than the opponent, I might want to run air slash (and that way I'm not taunt-bait)?
Dragonite WeaKness Policy
Ability: Multiscale
EVs: 252 att / 4 Spd / 252Spe
jolly Nature
- Dragon dance
- dragon claw
- fire punch
- Aerial Ace

I decided to go with DD dragonite, and we'll see how that goes. I haven't had enough battles with him, but he's looking good so far.
Weakness Policy really helps along with multiscale to boost up for the end game sweep, since he has great bulk along with multiscale.
I wanted dragon claw over Outrage since it doesn't lock me into a move fairies can come into, fire punch for coverage, and I chose aerial ace to hit venusaur hard, since he is used in a lot of teams.
The one problem of this set is that I have no spinner to keep multiscale active, which reduces a lot his bulk...

So as I said earlier, I'm still debating whether I sould run DD salamence or DD dragonite instead. Any help is welcome on that matter :)

Heatran @ Balloon
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 104 HP / 252 SpA / 152 Spe
Naive Nature
- Earth Power
- Fire Blast/ lava plume
- Explosion
- Stealth Rock

My SR user. I used to run him fully invested in speed and sp att, but with that speed, he's outsped most of time anyways, so I might as well make him bulkier. With that he can come back later in the game to wreak some havoc :-P Explosion is to deal heavy damage once he's about to die. Balloon is to not get OHKOed on an ground attack. Fire blast for stab and earth power for coverage. Should I replace fire blast with lava plume for better accuracy and a chance to burn?
Heatran covers for scizor and skarm, and aims to get hit by a fire attack to activate flash fire. He is not my lead, I usually lead with Rotom to volt-switch out to him if the opposing pokemon is something I can come in on. Otherwise I just wait for an opportunity to switch in and place the rocks.

Sot here are a few obvious flaws in this team, which is why I'm coming to ask you guys :-P

First: I have no fairy attack. none. Zero. Nada. Maybe use dazzling gleam on Togekiss (even though that means losing any advantage to serene grace...)?

I have no spinner, But I just can't see one which fits well onto my team... And I am very reluctant to use defog as my team forces switches, so I need my own entry hazards...

Lastly, I have A LOT of steel type pokemon (3/6) Is that a big problem?

I'm open to ANY criticism (constructive ;) ), and or modifications. I just want to keep two pokemon: Scizor and Venusaur. The rest are expendable! :)

Thanks, and start typing! :)
Thanks a lot to RoyRenard, after following some of his comments, I already peaked at 1500+! You're still free to comment though! ;)

 

[RoyRenard]

A Choice Scarf set on Rotom-W seems a bit unrealiable to me during these stages of the metagame. Sure, you take people on surprise and have the chance to detriment a supporter from the opposing team, but that won't always work; especially because you can always end up getting another Choice item (which will completely render the surprise factor useless, especially when you try to keep using Trick in order to get something better) or get absolutely nothing and lose momentum when your opponent switches to Mega-Venusaur, for example, which is one of the most popular Megas out there and completely counters Rotom-W. Another reason to use a bulky spread over a somewhat gimmicky Trick set is that there are so many potent threats out there that Rotom-W can switch on and force out, but only if it has some sort of defensive investment. Things that it would wall or check otherwise, can even reach 2HKO's with a non-defensive set.
The reason I put emphasis on this is because, just out of a small glimpse, I can say that Heatran can pose huge trouble for your entire team once Rotom-W (and your own Heatran, to an extent) is dealt with. Your M-Venusaur, as it lacks Earthquake, can't even touch him. If you face a Heatran with Air Balloon, your own Heatran can't touch it either (unless you suicide with Explosion, lol). In summary, Heatran completely counters/checks 4 members of your team, so that Steel-type predominance sure is trouble.
The same goes for Max Speed Excadrill, who can tear holes through your entire team once Heatran's balloon is popped and Rotom-W has exchanged his Scarf, just with a combination of Earthquake and Iron Head. In order to deal with Excadrill (and, potentially, Heatran), you can use Landorus-T: a great pivot, with an extra powerful Earthquake and a great answer to Ground attacks himself and physical attackers in general, completely walling things like Scarf Garchomp.
Also, you seriously lack a set-up sweeper and, thus, a way of applying pressure to your opponent. I would suggest either using a Swords Dance set on Scizor or switching Togekiss with something more threatening, such as a Dragon Dance Dragonite, Swords Dance Garchomp, DD Gyarados, SD Talonflame, etc. Dragonite and Gyarados in particular might be the best options among those because they are more on the bulky side, just like Togekiss, and can clean up entire teams once they have set-up a couple of times and their counters are gone.

 

[MegaSimon]

Thanks for your answer. I agree with Landorus. Should I then replace heatran with him and run SR on him? Sounds good to me :-)

I also agree with the fact I have no late game sweeper, but I feel that I would compromise my team having no heal bell/ aromatherapy to heal burn/ paralysis? Wouldn't my late game sweep be screwed over if my sweeper got a status problem?

I am surprised by your answer/ reaction to rotom, but then again, that's what this rmt is for :-) so I'll give your version a go and see what happens and how I like it.

Any other propositions, anyone? :-)

 

[RoyRenard]

I'm not so sure about replacing Heatran, because he, altogether with Rotom-W and M-Venusaur, forms one of the best defensive Fire-Water-Grass cores out there, covering a ton of threats, like Talonflame, Conkeldurr, other Rotom-W's, Aegislash, Azumarill, Thundurus, etc. I would prefer using Landorus-T over Skarmory, as it provides better offensive presence and functions as a pretty decent sponge for physical attacks and also forces a lot of swtiches.
About the second point... well, not every team really needs a Cleric. In fact, I'm pretty sure that the more successful teams rarely do consider a Cleric, unless they focus on stall or semi-stall. Yeah, your late-game sweep will be screwed if your sweeper gets statused, but that's why sweepers should be kept safe until their counters and checks have been dealt with, or at least have been weakened enough. That's when you bring your sweeper, set-up and finish up the opposing team. You have many options to cover and absorb status, such as your very defensive core of Heatran, Rotom-W and Venusaur. But if you really think that status is a serious problem for your team, then, by all means, stick with Cleric Togekiss.
My thing with Scarf Rotom is that it's only annoying at most, just like Swagger Klefki. And Rotom-W really appreciates the bulk in order to face the current threats in the metagame. Moreover, the likes of Rotom-W, Heatran and Venusaur work much better as bulky attackers. In fact, your whole team seems oriented towards bulky offense, with the particularity that those Pokémon have somewhat offensive spreads, which might work well, it's just a matter of testing.

 

[MarkWahlbergIsAPin]

I would get rid of Skarmory completely. Replace him with Umbreon.

Umbreon @ Leftovers
Ability: Synchronize
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 248 HP / 8 SDef / 252 Def
Bold Nature
- Wish
- Protect
- Heal Bell
- Foul Play

Then change your Togekiss to:

Togekiss @ Leftovers
Ability: Serene Grace
EVs : 252 SDef / 252 HP / 4 SAtk
Calm Nature
- Thunder Wave
- Air Slash
- Roost
- Defog

 

[MegaSimon]

Thanks for answers!! :) Will try replacing Skarmory with Landorus. Do you have an idea of a set I should go with, or do I take the one from the smogon website?

As for end game sweepers, is a special sweeper viable? That way, I don't have to be afraid of a burn? Or should I still try along replacing Togekiss with DD dragonite or Gyarados? Will defo try all of that when I get home! :)

Mark, thanks for answers, but I will not play Togehaxx. I really find it anti-gaming and annoying, So I won't be trying that along. Thanks for the answer though!! :)


Anyone else have some thoughts? Will update the OP tomorrow when I get back from my week end :)

 

[MegaSimon]

Gonna use my bump here. Modified the OP, changes are in red.

I'm pondering changing Skarm for Lando-t, but as I said in my post, I'll lost my only Venusaur counter, and my only phazer... So I'm still deciding here... And I need advice! :P
I changed togekiss for a DD dragonite, and changed my trick rotom to a more bulky version. Also thinking of using assault vest on him, but I need other opinions before I choose that!

Please help! :)

thanks!