Hello everyone, I'm neut986 and, after a little while of lurking the forum and occasionally battling with my subpar teams, I made this and it's working out alright so far, but I feel like it needs a few more opinions before it reaches its full potential.
Here's how I built this team:
I started with my favorite Pokemon from the new generation: Scrafty! Scrafty is really cool in general. I'm using a set that's mostly my own invention, that I'll go into detail about later on. It's a Bulk Up set using Dragon Tail.
Ferrothorn is a very good partner to Scrafty. Setting up hazards helps Scrafty do residual damage with Dragon Tail, and Thunder Wave support is also greatly appreciated.
Choice Band Dragonite adds a welcome late game sweeper as a plan B, as well as strong priority.
Choice Scarf Chandelure serves mostly the same function as Dragonite, as well as having excellent defensive synergy with Ferrothorn, spinblocking, and just wrecking everything with its outrageous Sp. Atk.
I've always loved the idea of Magic Bounce Pokemon, and Xatu's Dual Screen and Wish support is really good for my Choice users.
A specially defensive Jellicent ties the team together defensively, as well as taking water attacks and spinblocking.
Anyway, here comes the team in greater detail:
Scrafty @ Leftovers
Ability: Shed Skin
EVs: 252 HP / 8 Atk / 248 Sp Def
Careful Nature (+Sp Def, -Sp Atk)
- Bulk Up
- Drain Punch
- Dragon Tail
- Rest
Scrafty is a total badass. His offensive stats may be nothing to write home about, but his killer defenses and unique skillset allow him to get multiple Bulk Up boosts under his belt, after which he is an unstoppable monster. This set is not threatened by status, physical non-fighting type attackers, really the only thing it folds to are strong special attacks. Drain Punch and Rest give this set serious staying power, and allow me to get up 3-5, sometimes even 6 Bulk Up boosts. Drain Punch gives perfect neutral coverage with Dragon Tail, barring some future Ghost/Steel type, and Dragon tail also allows Scrafty to avoid some serious threats to it, like Sableye on the switch, really anything with Taunt.
Ferrothorn @ Leftovers
Ability: Iron Barbs
EVs: 252 HP / 88 Def / 168 Sp Def
Impish Nature (+Def, -Sp Atk)
- Spikes
- Thunder Wave
- Leech Seed
- Protect
Ferrothorn is a defensive beast, as proved time and again. Entry hazard and paralysis support are incredibly useful for Scrafty, and Leech Seed gives Ferrothorn more recovery, especially when used with Protect. The EVs are from the Smogon analysis, and I've thought about using a spread more geared toward special defense, but I need Ferrothorn to take hits from the many prevalent physical Dragon types in OU.
Dragonite @ Choice Band
Ability: Multiscale
EVs: 60 HP / 252 Atk / 196 Spe
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -Sp Atk)
- Outrage
- ExtremeSpeed
- Fire Punch
- Earthquake
Fairly standard Dragonite set. If Xatu can keep rocks off my side of the field, Multiscale lets Dragonite take a huge amount of punishment, and he can retaliate hard with STAB Outrage off a banded 403 Attack stat. Failing that, ExtremeSpeed is powerful priority, especially with Dragonite's enormous Attack. It even beats Ice Shard to the punch! Speaking of punch, Fire Punch and Earthquake provide great coverage together against many prominent Steel types, although these are rarely used except in the endgame.
Chandelure @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Flash Fire
Modest Nature (+Sp Atk, -Atk)
EVs: 252 Sp Atk / 4 Sp Def / 252 Spe
- Fire Blast
- Hidden Power Fighting 70
- Shadow Ball
- Energy Ball
Another fairly standard choice sweeper, this time on the Special side of the spectrum. Fire Blast does insane amounts of damage, although the accuracy bothers me quite a bit, considering my luck. HP Fighting and Shadow Ball give perfect neutral coverage, although the raw power of Fire Blast is generally preferable. Chandelure checks Scizor effectively, as well as murdering Ferrothorn, Forretress, and Skarmory whenever necessary. The extra point into Sp Def stops the odd Porygon-Z from getting a Download boost, and keeps HP odd for Stealth Rock, I believe.
Xatu @ Light Clay
Ability: Magic Bounce
Impish Nature (+Def, -Sp Atk)
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 Sp Def
- U-Turn
- Reflect
- Light Screen
- Wish
The first question I usually get about my Xatu is the obvious one. Why not use Espeon? My usual answer is about its immunity, which provides safe switches on the ubiquitous Earthquake. A weakness to Stealth Rock is obviously harmful, but I don't mind, as the reason for Xatu is to bounce Rocks over to the enemy. Dual Screens allow Scrafty to set up more easily, and Wish is helpful for the members of my team with no recovery, Ferrothorn and my Choice users in particular. U-Turn provides scouting and safe switches, as well as a bit of offensive momentum when super effective. I'm thought about replacing Xatu with a dual screen Espeon, but I'm not sure which would be more effective. Like I said, the ground immunity is good against many users of Stealth Rock. I've also considered a specially defensive Xatu, because Ferrothorn and Scrafty can handle most physical sweepers.
Jellicent @ Leftovers
Ability: Water Absorb
Calm Nature (+Sp Def, -Atk)
EVs: 252 HP / 212 Sp Def / 44 Spe
- Scald
- Toxic
- Taunt
- Recover
Specially defensive Jellicent provides good defensive synergy with Ferrothorn, as well as taking water attacks aimed at Chandelure. I prefer Toxic over Will-O-Wisp to go toe-to-toe with other bulky water types, and because it works better with my Scrafty. The rest of the set is fairly standard. Taunt shuts down set-up sweepers and stall Pokemon like Blissey and Ferrothorn. I use a specially defensive set instead of a physical set because Scrafty, Ferrothorn and Xatu deal alright with physical threats. I've tested other bulky waters in this slot, Tentacruel and Slowbro in particular, but Jellicent's immunities and spinblocking make it preferable in most instances.
In conclusion, this is the team I've done the best with out of the few I've made. I hover in the high 1000s of ranking, but I feel like I could do much better with this team after a few tweaks and a lot of practice. Anyway, I'd love to hear what you all think. Pretty much the only thing I won't replace or adjust on this team is my Scrafty, because it really does perform very well with the proper team support.
Here's how I built this team:
I started with my favorite Pokemon from the new generation: Scrafty! Scrafty is really cool in general. I'm using a set that's mostly my own invention, that I'll go into detail about later on. It's a Bulk Up set using Dragon Tail.
Ferrothorn is a very good partner to Scrafty. Setting up hazards helps Scrafty do residual damage with Dragon Tail, and Thunder Wave support is also greatly appreciated.
Choice Band Dragonite adds a welcome late game sweeper as a plan B, as well as strong priority.
Choice Scarf Chandelure serves mostly the same function as Dragonite, as well as having excellent defensive synergy with Ferrothorn, spinblocking, and just wrecking everything with its outrageous Sp. Atk.
I've always loved the idea of Magic Bounce Pokemon, and Xatu's Dual Screen and Wish support is really good for my Choice users.
A specially defensive Jellicent ties the team together defensively, as well as taking water attacks and spinblocking.
Scrafty @ Leftovers
Ability: Shed Skin
EVs: 252 HP / 8 Atk / 248 Sp Def
Careful Nature (+Sp Def, -Sp Atk)
- Bulk Up
- Drain Punch
- Dragon Tail
- Rest
Scrafty is a total badass. His offensive stats may be nothing to write home about, but his killer defenses and unique skillset allow him to get multiple Bulk Up boosts under his belt, after which he is an unstoppable monster. This set is not threatened by status, physical non-fighting type attackers, really the only thing it folds to are strong special attacks. Drain Punch and Rest give this set serious staying power, and allow me to get up 3-5, sometimes even 6 Bulk Up boosts. Drain Punch gives perfect neutral coverage with Dragon Tail, barring some future Ghost/Steel type, and Dragon tail also allows Scrafty to avoid some serious threats to it, like Sableye on the switch, really anything with Taunt.
Ferrothorn @ Leftovers
Ability: Iron Barbs
EVs: 252 HP / 88 Def / 168 Sp Def
Impish Nature (+Def, -Sp Atk)
- Spikes
- Thunder Wave
- Leech Seed
- Protect
Ferrothorn is a defensive beast, as proved time and again. Entry hazard and paralysis support are incredibly useful for Scrafty, and Leech Seed gives Ferrothorn more recovery, especially when used with Protect. The EVs are from the Smogon analysis, and I've thought about using a spread more geared toward special defense, but I need Ferrothorn to take hits from the many prevalent physical Dragon types in OU.
Dragonite @ Choice Band
Ability: Multiscale
EVs: 60 HP / 252 Atk / 196 Spe
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -Sp Atk)
- Outrage
- ExtremeSpeed
- Fire Punch
- Earthquake
Fairly standard Dragonite set. If Xatu can keep rocks off my side of the field, Multiscale lets Dragonite take a huge amount of punishment, and he can retaliate hard with STAB Outrage off a banded 403 Attack stat. Failing that, ExtremeSpeed is powerful priority, especially with Dragonite's enormous Attack. It even beats Ice Shard to the punch! Speaking of punch, Fire Punch and Earthquake provide great coverage together against many prominent Steel types, although these are rarely used except in the endgame.
Chandelure @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Flash Fire
Modest Nature (+Sp Atk, -Atk)
EVs: 252 Sp Atk / 4 Sp Def / 252 Spe
- Fire Blast
- Hidden Power Fighting 70
- Shadow Ball
- Energy Ball
Another fairly standard choice sweeper, this time on the Special side of the spectrum. Fire Blast does insane amounts of damage, although the accuracy bothers me quite a bit, considering my luck. HP Fighting and Shadow Ball give perfect neutral coverage, although the raw power of Fire Blast is generally preferable. Chandelure checks Scizor effectively, as well as murdering Ferrothorn, Forretress, and Skarmory whenever necessary. The extra point into Sp Def stops the odd Porygon-Z from getting a Download boost, and keeps HP odd for Stealth Rock, I believe.
Xatu @ Light Clay
Ability: Magic Bounce
Impish Nature (+Def, -Sp Atk)
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 Sp Def
- U-Turn
- Reflect
- Light Screen
- Wish
The first question I usually get about my Xatu is the obvious one. Why not use Espeon? My usual answer is about its immunity, which provides safe switches on the ubiquitous Earthquake. A weakness to Stealth Rock is obviously harmful, but I don't mind, as the reason for Xatu is to bounce Rocks over to the enemy. Dual Screens allow Scrafty to set up more easily, and Wish is helpful for the members of my team with no recovery, Ferrothorn and my Choice users in particular. U-Turn provides scouting and safe switches, as well as a bit of offensive momentum when super effective. I'm thought about replacing Xatu with a dual screen Espeon, but I'm not sure which would be more effective. Like I said, the ground immunity is good against many users of Stealth Rock. I've also considered a specially defensive Xatu, because Ferrothorn and Scrafty can handle most physical sweepers.
Jellicent @ Leftovers
Ability: Water Absorb
Calm Nature (+Sp Def, -Atk)
EVs: 252 HP / 212 Sp Def / 44 Spe
- Scald
- Toxic
- Taunt
- Recover
Specially defensive Jellicent provides good defensive synergy with Ferrothorn, as well as taking water attacks aimed at Chandelure. I prefer Toxic over Will-O-Wisp to go toe-to-toe with other bulky water types, and because it works better with my Scrafty. The rest of the set is fairly standard. Taunt shuts down set-up sweepers and stall Pokemon like Blissey and Ferrothorn. I use a specially defensive set instead of a physical set because Scrafty, Ferrothorn and Xatu deal alright with physical threats. I've tested other bulky waters in this slot, Tentacruel and Slowbro in particular, but Jellicent's immunities and spinblocking make it preferable in most instances.
In conclusion, this is the team I've done the best with out of the few I've made. I hover in the high 1000s of ranking, but I feel like I could do much better with this team after a few tweaks and a lot of practice. Anyway, I'd love to hear what you all think. Pretty much the only thing I won't replace or adjust on this team is my Scrafty, because it really does perform very well with the proper team support.
