SM OU New Player ~ Second attempt at OU team building

[Exter98]

I'm still very new to PS and competitive in general. The first team I made was really bad and I cringe looking back at it now and surely in a few days I'll cringe at this team when I have learned more about competitive play.

Feel free to point out any flaws, inconsistencies or overall weaknesses you might find in the team or if any changes you believe would be good for the team.

I don't know which category exactly this team would fall in but it is most definitely an offensive team. I'm not very fond of hazard setting and not very good at it either I guess,so I rather just Defog opponent's hazards and keep clearing the field with my offensive team.

Anyway, here is the team.

Infernape (M) @ Choice Band
Ability: Blaze
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- U-turn
- Close Combat
- Gunk Shot
- Flare Blitz

Close Combat, Gunk and Flare Blitz, all three of these moves have high power and combined with Infernape's good Atk stat and Choice Band, this moves set can be very destructive towards a good variety of pokemons. When I am unsure or if I suspect my opponent knowing a move like Earthquake, I just U-turn into a Flying type (Gliscor/Articuno in this team).

Bisharp (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Defiant
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Sucker Punch
- Iron Head
- Stone Edge

Bisharp is the one I am kind of unsure about in this team. I'm thinking about switching him with an Electric type. He usually just proves to be a hard hitter with Iron Head and Sucker Punch being its main STABS, while Sucker Punch helping clear that last bit of HP on an opponent or by damaging an opponent first before Bisharp dies. I realize that a set without a safe to use Dark move like Knock Off is bad but I'd rather take that risk with Bisharp and give it a extra variety of move. Stone Edge is to stop Fire types that might show up to kill Bisharp. If a faster Fighting type shows up, I can just switch out Bisharp with Gliscor, most of the times.

Articuno @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Snow Cloak
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Freeze-Dry
- Ancient Power
- Hurricane
- Defog

Articuno is my best answer to Landrous. I chose Ancient Power while sacrificing a good stab like Blizzard to cover the likes of Charizard. I don't have any direct answer to fire types other than my Gliscor's Earthquake, and Charizard-Y is immune to Earthquake. Freeze-Dry works really good as a STAB, while it's weaker than Blizzard/Ice Beam, it is still very useful because often a times I do find opponent switching into Water types like Toxapex/Greninja when I bring out Articuno, so Freeze-Dry takes care of that. I gave Defog to Articuno rather than Roost because I wanted atleast two of my Pokemons being able to Defog. So I gave Articuno a Sitrus Berry to make up for the Roost because I don't want to let it die easily either, as Landrous can destroy my team without Articuno.

Gliscor (M) @ Toxic Orb
Ability: Poison Heal
EVs: 252 HP / 60 SpD / 196 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Toxic
- Iron Tail
- Defog

Gliscor is my hazard remover. Earthquake being its main STAB. Toxic can be very helpful in breaking the opponents team. Ice types can damage Gliscor 4x, that is why I have given it Iron Tail to deal with Ice Types that are slower than him.

Mimikyu-Totem (F) @ Ghostium Z
Ability: Disguise
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Shadow Claw
- Play Rough
- Shadow Sneak

Mimikyu is my Z-Move user. Mimikyu proves really helpful to my team. It almost always secures a Swords Dance kill against alot of pokemons due to Disguise. Shadow Sneak helps end anyone if they survive the Z-move or if Mimikyu gets to 3x or 4x attack by SD then Shadow Sneak is often enough to OHKO some pokemons. Play Rough is a strong STAB. While Shadow Claw being the other STAB.

Mawile-Mega (F) @ Mawilite
Ability: Huge Power
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Play Rough
- Swords Dance
- Crunch
- Sucker Punch

Mega-Mawile can be a beast even after a single use of SD, sometimes he works as my trump card, showing up in a losing game and stacking kill after kill and other times if I make a single mistake he dies. I tried it with Knock-Off and now trying with Crunch. While Knock-Off seems more useful than Crunch, I just use Crunch because I feel like I don't use Mawile defensively and switching around. So Knock-Off won't be used on multiple pokemons. Once I have a used SD, my strategy with Mawile is to kill or be killed, no switching. So, that's why Crunch.



WEAKNESS:
-I'm not experienced enough to recognize all threats to this team but Charizard-Y is absolutely a big threat. Even though I taught Articuno and Bisharp rock moves, they are still slower than Charizard, so he can OHKO them with a fire move.

-I also don't have any Electric/Grass move user to take care of Water types. Freeze-Dry is the only thing that is super effective against water types. But still water types don't give my team as much trouble as I would expect.

I'm not sure but I'm thinking about switching Bisharp with Tapu Koko/Zapdos because that would cover all water types and Charizard-Y.

So, what do you guys think about this team ?

 

[TheTapDancer]

1. The team's speed control is pretty poor. Scarf Keldeo 6-0s you, as does anything fast that resists sucker punch, like Greninja.
2. There's a reason Articuno is PU. 4x Rock weakness combined with a mediocre ability and defensively-oriented stats make it really bad. You don't need maximum power ice attacks to kill landorus.
3. Bisharp is a good mon, but it struggles in the metagame as it stands. Ground attacks are common to counter Toxapex, Heatran and Magearna, and he doesnt really beat the important fairies due to their secondary typing. Bisharp is at his best on teams where he can counter Defogs or Pursuit trap key threats, which isn't true on this team.
4. Gliscor's moveset is odd. Iron Tail isn't as good as U-turn for what you want, and there's no slow ice-types in the meta to lure.
5. Double dark coverage on Mawile isn't great. Fire Punch, Thunder Punch or Iron Head are better moves than Crunch.

Overall though, I can't tell what this team is trying to do. Your team should really be doing one of four things:
1. Keeping up offensive presence so your opponent can't set up on you. With no hazards or speed control you'll struggle with this.
2. Keeping up momentum so you can set up. You don't have great setup sweepers, and they're very similar in nature as steel-type sucker punchers.
3. Holding your opponent off until you can make a play and set up. Again, you're not really doing this.
4. Stall. Not relevant here.

When you're trying to build a team, you really have to identify how the team is going to win. Clicking Sucker Punch won't work against good players or resists.

Here's my attempt to make a similar team, trying to win with setup Mimikyu and generate momentum with offensive pivots.

Mimikyu Volt-Turn Offence

Mimikyu @ Ghostium Z
Ability: Disguise
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Shadow Claw
- Play Rough
- Shadow Sneak

I much prefer Jolly Mimikyu. Being outsped by z-landorus, zygarde, tapu lele and especially Kyub is fatal for Mimikyu.

Latios @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Draco Meteor
- Ice Beam
- Trick
- Defog

Landorus answer + Speed control. Psyshock is nice but Ice Beam can lure lando after a trick, as most trick sets run Psyshock.

Tapu Koko @ Choice Specs
Ability: Electric Surge
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- U-turn
- Thunderbolt
- Dazzling Gleam
- Hidden Power Ground

As the team has good answers to Landorus already, HP Ground counters Heatran. HP Fire is an option for Scizor/Ferrothorn.

Mew @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Def / 252 SpD
Sassy Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Will-o-Wisp
- U-turn
- Roost

Solid counter to a lot of threats, slow pivot for mimikyu and rocks.

Gyarados @ Gyaradosite
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Crunch
- Waterfall
- Earthquake

Standard set. Taunt is an option to help against stall. I decided on this over Pinsir-Mega due to the ice resist, which is something this team needed. This guy eats Greninja for days, leaving Mew to handle all the other special attackers in the meta not named Volcarona.

Magnezone @ Leftovers
Ability: Magnet Pull
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
- Substitute
- Volt Switch
- Flash Cannon
- Hidden Power Fire

Weakens Scizor and kills Ferrothorn and Skarmory, who can stop Mimikyu. Sub lets it beat opposing Magnezone or set up on forced switches. Volt Switch over TBolt as the team loves slow pivots.

 

[0verloud]

To expand on what was already said, there's a whole bunch of threats that really hurt you, and your team doesn't have a whole ton of momentum. Here's an expanded list of things that you run into issues with:
-Scarf/Yache/Speed Investment lando
-Charizard Y
-Celesteela, to some extent
-Toxapex
-Mega Swampert/rain
-a majority of volt-turn users and a team set up for them
-Scarf Kyurem
-Incineroar (not sure if that's caught on as much in OU)

-You don't need two defoggers, especially articuno, which takes 50% from rocks on switch in. So you're almost dying to the thing you're trying to remove, and you're not very fast for OU anyways

 

[Exter98]

1. The team's speed control is pretty poor. Scarf Keldeo 6-0s you, as does anything fast that resists sucker punch, like Greninja.
2. There's a reason Articuno is PU. 4x Rock weakness combined with a mediocre ability and defensively-oriented stats make it really bad. You don't need maximum power ice attacks to kill landorus.
3. Bisharp is a good mon, but it struggles in the metagame as it stands. Ground attacks are common to counter Toxapex, Heatran and Magearna, and he doesnt really beat the important fairies due to their secondary typing. Bisharp is at his best on teams where he can counter Defogs or Pursuit trap key threats, which isn't true on this team.
4. Gliscor's moveset is odd. Iron Tail isn't as good as U-turn for what you want, and there's no slow ice-types in the meta to lure.
5. Double dark coverage on Mawile isn't great. Fire Punch, Thunder Punch or Iron Head are better moves than Crunch.

Overall though, I can't tell what this team is trying to do. Your team should really be doing one of four things:
1. Keeping up offensive presence so your opponent can't set up on you. With no hazards or speed control you'll struggle with this.
2. Keeping up momentum so you can set up. You don't have great setup sweepers, and they're very similar in nature as steel-type sucker punchers.
3. Holding your opponent off until you can make a play and set up. Again, you're not really doing this.
4. Stall. Not relevant here.

When you're trying to build a team, you really have to identify how the team is going to win. Clicking Sucker Punch won't work against good players or resists.

Here's my attempt to make a similar team, trying to win with setup Mimikyu and generate momentum with offensive pivots.

Mimikyu Volt-Turn Offence

Mimikyu @ Ghostium Z
Ability: Disguise
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Shadow Claw
- Play Rough
- Shadow Sneak

I much prefer Jolly Mimikyu. Being outsped by z-landorus, zygarde, tapu lele and especially Kyub is fatal for Mimikyu.

Latios @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Draco Meteor
- Ice Beam
- Trick
- Defog

Landorus answer + Speed control. Psyshock is nice but Ice Beam can lure lando after a trick, as most trick sets run Psyshock.

Tapu Koko @ Choice Specs
Ability: Electric Surge
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- U-turn
- Thunderbolt
- Dazzling Gleam
- Hidden Power Ground

As the team has good answers to Landorus already, HP Ground counters Heatran. HP Fire is an option for Scizor/Ferrothorn.

Mew @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Def / 252 SpD
Sassy Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Will-o-Wisp
- U-turn
- Roost

Solid counter to a lot of threats, slow pivot for mimikyu and rocks.

Gyarados @ Gyaradosite
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Crunch
- Waterfall
- Earthquake

Standard set. Taunt is an option to help against stall. I decided on this over Pinsir-Mega due to the ice resist, which is something this team needed. This guy eats Greninja for days, leaving Mew to handle all the other special attackers in the meta not named Volcarona.

Magnezone @ Leftovers
Ability: Magnet Pull
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
- Substitute
- Volt Switch
- Flash Cannon
- Hidden Power Fire

Weakens Scizor and kills Ferrothorn and Skarmory, who can stop Mimikyu. Sub lets it beat opposing Magnezone or set up on forced switches. Volt Switch over TBolt as the team loves slow pivots.

Hm I see there are alot of things I need to implement while building a team. I guess this one had lots of flaws but everytime you guys tell me the wrongs of my team, the better I get next time. Thanks alot for your detailed reply on my team.

The Mimikyu based team you made also looks very interesting and well put together and that team also gives me an idea on how I should go about when team building.

 

[Exter98]

To expand on what was already said, there's a whole bunch of threats that really hurt you, and your team doesn't have a whole ton of momentum. Here's an expanded list of things that you run into issues with:
-Scarf/Yache/Speed Investment lando
-Charizard Y
-Celesteela, to some extent
-Toxapex
-Mega Swampert/rain
-a majority of volt-turn users and a team set up for them
-Scarf Kyurem
-Incineroar (not sure if that's caught on as much in OU)

-You don't need two defoggers, especially articuno, which takes 50% from rocks on switch in. So you're almost dying to the thing you're trying to remove, and you're not very fast for OU anyways

Yeah, I didn't realize the team had so many threats and holes. And yes the articuno with defog thing was a really dumb decision, I realized late that it sucks as a defogger. I'll try to implement more momentum and speed in my team/

 

[patlop2307]

Hey Exter98! Second RMT from you, second rate from me on your RMT :D The team definitely needs some imprvements to say the least. It is weak to a lot of cores and Pokémon on its own.

What is your team weak to?

I am going to be honest with you on this one. The team as it stands right now is not very good. Standard sets are modified to the worse, Pokémon are being thrown in with no real use whatsoever, the item choice is also very poor. That is why your team is actually that weak to so many Pokémon and cores (the ones mentioned in the above posts are some of the weaknesses you have with your team).

How can you improve your team?

>

: I do think there is a reason why Articuno is PU as of right now. I completely agree with TheTapDancer that its typing is very unfortunate, making it do a mediocre job at keeping off hazards at the very best with lots of luck. Zapdos, on the other hand, does fulfill its role as a remover well, as well as being a check/counter to numerous threats of the tier.

>

: Now, while I think that Bisharp can be an actual threat to a decent amount of teams, I do not think it is used to its full potential. The support for it is just lacking, which is why I swapped it for Greninja. Greninja is a nice speed control giving you Spikes at some points, but its main job is to act as a momentum gainer for your two set ups Reuniclus and Mega-Mawile.

>

: The two Pokémon both act as individual sweepers. If we look at the changes (Zapdos and Greninja) the build is shifting more towards balance. I would think Reuniclus is a much better fit then. It can bust through numerous teams, even act as a stall-breaker with Psychium at some points.

>

: Infernape does not do much on your team , since it gets walled out by Pokémon like Toxapex or Quagsire. Its speed tier also does not help in beating offense either. Toxapex also completes the defensive core I was going for.
Sucker Punch > Crunch (

): Sucker Punch gives you the priority that was lacking before. It is a formidable stallbreaker, not much more to say.

[OPTIONAL]

>

: I think both are nice picks. Hippowdon gives you a really solid Stealth Rocker with whirlwind- or toxic-support, while Gliscor poses as a nice knocker and a Sableye wall, it is just personal preference. I would go with a set change with Gliscor anyway, however. Iron Tail is just not necessary, I feel.


*Post going to be edited tomorrow, by the way. I just did not find enough time to explain my thought process thouroughly, hence I made this short and kind of cheap second part, sorry for that.