I would like to start this post with a quick story that led to me making this team. (If you aren't interested in the war story, skip the following paragraph)
Once upon a time (well, earlier this summer) I was on Shoddy with a typical OU sandstorm team, having very average success with it. Suddenly, out of the blue some guy with a team of mostly UUs comes and all but rolls over my team; turns out he was quite the troll about it as well and rubbed it in my face until I performed the simple action of clicking 'Leave Room'. That one battle left an everlasting mark on my views of competitive battling... Maybe teams crammed with OUs aren't always the answer.
But enough of the tripe, let me tell you the premise behind the team. I wanted to create a lineup that could easily stand up in the faces of the scariest OU threats and laugh, but at the same time they didn't need to be so specialized they take ONLY those threats. I also wanted to utilize some of my favorite Pokes from the lower tiers, which makes me feel a little better when I beat the so called 'OU-Whores'
Without further ado, here is the team at a glance:
Now for a closer look at each individual:
Infernape (Curious George)
Gender: Male
Item: Focus Sash
Ability: Blaze
Hasty: 252 Spd, 252 SpA, 4SDf
Fake Out
Stealth Rock
Fire Blast
Encore
This Infernape makes a pretty amazing lead. Fake Out is for the priority auto-flinch (and sash-breaking). Stealth Rock is there of course to punish foes for switching, and STAB Fire Blast brings the pain. Encore is a very interesting, useful and yet somewhat rarely seen option on Infernape, able to lock opposing leads into Stealth Rock while I keep my sash (all, of course, if I predict correctly). If I don't get Rocks up, it's not the end of the world; if my opponent gets rocks up, only Dragonite has anything to worry about (and he has Roost). So how does Infernape stack up against other common leads?
: Standard lead Azelf is going to be KOed by Fake Out + Fire Blast without question. I prefer to go for the kill, as I don't like to run the risk of Encoring Stealth Rock here, in case it Taunts for some reason.
: I can Fake Out if I want to, but there's really no point. Easily OHKOed by Fire Blast if running Lum Berry/Iron Ball, 2HKOed if it has Occa Berry. In that case, he gets Rocks up and loses his Gross if he doesn't switch out, or attempts the 2HKO with EQ + Bullet Punch, only to be met by Slowbro.
: Fake Out, set up Rocks, Encore whatever he does, switch accordingly to whomever can best deal with attack he is using (Dragonite LOVES Earthquake, Magnezone with HP Grass LOVES Ice Beam, if Swampy is dumb enough to Ice Beam Ape)
: Standard LeadScarf Jirachi is KOed 100% of the time by Fake Out + Fire Blast. If it tricks me a Scarf, I gain a decent revenge killer for later. Iron Head is a 4HKO, and it would be dumb to get locked into Stealth Rock against an Ape. If it U-Turns out, no problem, even if it's to a Heatran to take my Fire Blast. Not too much of a problem overall.
: *Sigh* Ape can't do much here besides using Fake Out to break the sash. Fire Blast doesn't 2HKO after Fake Out, so there's no reason to try and predict a Taunt. Just switch to Slowbro and let him handle it.
: Muahaha. Since I don't run Close Combat, I don't need to invest in attack; that in turn lets me max my speed and beat other LeadApes to the Fake Out. From there, I set up Rocks, then Encore and switch accordingly (usually to Slowbro). If I Encore Stealth Rock, I can Fire Blast for free; Ape takes a surprising amount of damage from his own Fire Blast (42% minimum), so if the opponent stays in, they risk their Ape getting KOed by mine, but their switch-in will take damage from Stealth Rock AND Fire Blast. What to do?
: Fake Out + Fire Blast. Easy.
: Fake Out, set up Stealth Rock, Encore and switch appropriately.
: This Ape can't do much to T-Tar, but fortunately most switch in fear of Close Combat, so I really don't have to deal with him in a lead v. lead scenario.
: Fake Out, then Fire Blast is a 2HKO after that, and I can live one EQ thanks to sash. Hopefully I can get up Rocks after that.
: Fake Out, then Fire Blast. If he sets up Rocks, I get the kill with another Fire Blast. If he EQs, Sand Stream breaks my sash and I die. From there, Slowbro's Surf stands a good chance of killing, but the opponent will likely see that coming from a mile away and may just switch Hippowdon out.
: So many people get angry at the hax this guy causes, but for me, Fake Out followed by a simple switch to Slowbro solves all my problems.
For those of you still reading, I'm sorry that got pretty long winded, but the rest shouldn't be too bad.
Magnezone (Fridge Magnet)
Gender: None
Item: Leftovers
Ability: Magnet Pull
Timid: 28 HP, 228 Spd, 252 SpA
Substitute
Metal Sound
Thunderbolt
HP Grass 70
EDIT: Changed to HP Fire 70
Magnezone is a definite must-have for a team called 'OU Counter.' In addition to having a great Specially Offensive presence, it makes a great one-stop counter to a few Steel-types. It stands up to Scizor's Bullet Punch, Jirachi's Iron Head, and it annihilates Leftovers Skarmory. It can also hide behind a Substitute on a predicted switch/U-Turn and deal with the switch-in accordingly. The HP EVs reach a Leftovers number, the Speed gets Magnezone ahead of any Scizor that's not using Bullet Punch, and Max Sp. Attack gets all the power I can get.
I'm thinking about replacing HP Grass with Fire. I lose the powerful hit on Swampert, but I gain a powerful hit on Scizor (who I need to kill before it lands a Superpower) and Forretress (who can EQ). Metal Sound is also proving less effective than I thought it would be; At -2 SDf, Blissey only takes about 39% max from Thunderbolt. Even at -4 it's still not a guaranteed 2HKO (50.1% minimum, but Leftovers gives her back just enough to survive another attack), and I don't want to bank on having to get THREE Metal Sounds off to win that war, since she'll probably be S-Tossing the whole time. Let me know what you think.
Slowbro (Drugs not Hugs)
Gender: Male
Item: Leftovers
Ability: Own Tempo
Bold: 252 HP, 252 Def, 4 Spd
Surf
HP Electric 70
Slack Off
Thunder Wave
When the Smogon analysis says that this guy is viable in OU, it turned out to be very true. His physical bulk is about on par with Swampert's, but Slowbro trades Stealth Rock and an Electric immunity for Thunder Wave, instant recovery, a resistance to Water AND the Own Tempo ability. These last two qualities make Slowbro a virtually universal counter to both Machamp (who 4HKOS with Payback) AND DDGyara (who struggles to get the 3HKO at +1) as well as a great all around physical wall. He mostly spreads paralysis, and with Base 100 Sp. Attack, his attacks still have a little bite, even with no investment.
Lanturn (Hugs not Drugs)
Gender: Female
Item: Leftovers
Ability: Volt Absorb
Calm: 252 HP, 4 Def, 100 SpA, 152 SDf
Thunder Wave
Confuse Ray
Thunderbolt
Ice Beam
Even in the hard-hitting, fast-paced realm of OU, Lanturn still makes a viable absorber of special attacks. Numerically speaking, her specially defensive capabilities don't seem top notch; an amazing Base 125 HP is somewhat offset by a lackluster Base 76 SDf. However, one must look past these numbers. What makes Lanturn shine (pun perhaps intended...) is her unique typing and access to the fairly rare Volt Absorb ability; because of these two factors, she takes some sort of reduced damage from Fire-, Water-, Ice-, and Electric-type moves (some of the most common types for special attacks in the metagame) as well as gaining a 4x resistance to Steel, so in a pinch she can go fin-to-toe with a Scizor locked into Bullet Punch. Her low weight also means that un-STABed Grass Knots don't pose a threat (For example, Life Orb Starmie manages a paltry 23.8% max) Her main goal is to wreak havoc with the dreaded parafusion combo. I typically use Confuse Ray on a predicted switch; most opponents know enough about Lanturn to know that a Thunder Wave is probably coming and will switch in a Poke that already has a status. Confuse Ray, however, hits any switch-in (bar those with the Own Tempo ability). Thunderbolt and Ice Beam at best only supplement the damage from parafusion; Lanturn doesn't exactly pose an offensive threat with Base 76 Sp. Attack. If paralysis simply gets spread around, however, she's done her job.
As useful as her resistances are, I find that her lack of reliable recovery means she still gets taken down fairly quickly (especially if luck with parafusion doesn't go in her favor). Add to that the fact her hits barely dent most opponents, so if the opponent Subs up in her face, she's pretty much useless. I've thinking of keeping the UU trend going and perhaps replacing her with Registeel to aid the team in taking onslaughts from Dragonite (who otherwise hits this team really hard). Again, let me know what you think here, or make your own suggestions.
Fun Fact: This thing haxed a Togekiss to death once. Tee-hee.
Porygon2 (Little Mac)
Gender: None
Item: Leftovers
Ability: Trace
Bold: 252 HP, 40 Def, 216 SDf
Thunderbolt
Ice Beam
Thunder Wave
Recover
This is a masterpiece in the concept of countering utility, sadly banished to the foggy, endless depths of NU. It has respectable bulk (85/90/95 defenses), but its real selling point is the ability Trace, shared only by the more fragile Gardevoir. Quite a few notable Pokemon in OU are crippled when their own abilities are turned against them. Is SpecsJolteon's Thunderbolt ruining your day? Is Vaporeon slowly chipping away at you with Surf? Did that friggin Heatran get a Flash-Fire boost? Did Gyarados switch in ready to DD sweep you into oblivion? Are you tired of Flygon's Choice-locked Earthquake ravaging your team? Yeah, you get the point; Porygon2 can switch into all these threats and more (well, with the given EVs Gyarados still wins handily) and proceed to spread paralysis, inflict a little damage with its nice Base 105 Sp. Attack, or simply use some free time to Recover back some lost health. Smogon recommends a physically bulky spread, but I think the Pokemon it is most capable of countering (such as the aforementioned few) mandate a more specially bulky spread to better take their secondary attacks (such as Heatran's Earth Power, which 5HKOs(!) the vast majority of the time unless it runs a Specs set). From here, Porygon2 performs largely the same main role as Slowbro and Lanturn; spread as much paralysis as possible, inflicting some damage on the way.
I think it is worthy to note that when I first made this team I ran a TrickSpecs set here (replacing Thunder Wave in my moveset), but I didn't find it too effective. I'm not sure why; I would think most battlers wouldn't know Porygon2 can Trick (I was surprised to find out at least), so they would switch in a wall without a second thought. I'm thinking about trying that again, though, As usual, let me know your thoughts and suggestions.
Dragonite (Elliot)
Gender: Male
Item: Leftovers (who'da thunk?)
Ability: Inner Focus
Careful: 252 HP, 44 Spd, 212 SDf
Dragon Dance
Dragon Claw
Roost
Heal Bell
Lastly, here's the main sweeper of the team. When I have many of the opponent's Pokes paralyzed and they've been chipped away at, this guy can come in, DD up and attempt the sweep. Dragon Dance is one of the best boosting moves in the game, and Dragon is THE best STAB in the game for neutral coverage in only one move. Roost is an obvious choice to increase longevity while also reducing that crippling Ice weakness. Heal Bell makes an awesome final choice to keep Dragonite (and his teammates) status-free; it's fun when Rotom-A or someone similar switches in and Will-o-Wisps. I just continue to DD in their faces, ring the Heal Bell, and the fight begins. The HP and SDf EVs allow him to take weak un-STABed Ice Beams (and many other special attacks) like a champ, while the Speed EVs allow him to outpace neutral-natured Base 105s and positive-natured Base 90s after one DD. After 2 DDs he outspeeds all unboosted Pokemon in OU, bar Ninjask. Skarmory worries him a little bit with that outrageous physical defense and resistance to Dragon, but hey, that's what Magnezone's for, right?
Speaking of Skarmory, let me mention what Dragonite is capable of against him (WAR STORY ALERT AGAIN!!! Skip to the next paragraph if you're not interested). Dragonite had a Curselax-esque last Pokemon victory once. I was down 4-1, but all my opponent had that could take my attacks was his Skarmory. I believe it was a specially defensive one, because I DDed up to +6 and was dealing roughly 50% with Dragon Claw. It came down to chance: Could I spam Dragon Claw until I scored the critical hit that I needed, or would I run out of PP first? Fortunately, with 5 PP left I scored the critical hit, and with the remaining PP I was able to take down the rest of his team. Good thing he didn't pack anyone with Ice Shard, right?
Overall, this team is able to play around virtually any threat I encounter. However, three Pokemon with a very similar playing style always give me more trouble than I'd like; these three horrors are DD versions of each T-Tar, Kingdra and Dragonite (Actually, practically any version of Dragonite is threatening to me, as noted in Lanturn's section). I'm normally able to get around Kingdra by paralyzing it, forcing it to Rest and burn off its Chesto Berry, paralyze it again, wait until it Rests again then spring Dragonite on him while he helplessly sleeps and force him to switch. Sadly, this strategy is easily foiled by smart playing; both times I have been in this scenario, the opponent was simple too greedy with their DDs.
Anyway, I hope you enjoyed reading my first RMT, long-winded though it was. My CRE with this team is currently 1260-ish. I seem to win about 70% of my battles, but I'm just too lazy to push my CRE any higher before getting help on this. I think I've played enough times with this team to know what their weak points are. are. Thanks for reading, and I'm open to any suggestions you may have.
EDIT: Lanturn is to be replaced with...
Empoleon (Wark! Wark!)
Gender: Male
Item: Petaya Berry
Ability: Torrent
Modest: 76 HP, 12 Def, 168 Spd, 252 SpA
Substitute
Agility
Hydro Pump
Grass Knot
So it doesn't look much like a Chocobo, but eh, they're both birds. Anyway, as special sweepers go this guy is one of the best; even Blissey doesn't like taking a triple-STABed (!) Hydro Pump coming off Base 111 Sp. Attack. He also has great synergy with Dragonite, being able to take the Ice and Rock attacks aimed at him while Dragonite handles any EQ or Thunderbolt aimed at Empoleon. The EVs are fairly specific; 252 SpA for maximum power, 168 Spd to get ahead of Base 130s after an Agility, 76 HP to get the highest possible number divisible by four, and 12 Def because they're just leftover.
Overall, while I miss Lanturn's plethora of special resistances, this guy still makes a solid addition to the team. It's also good to not rely solely on only Dragonite to secure a sweep.
Once upon a time (well, earlier this summer) I was on Shoddy with a typical OU sandstorm team, having very average success with it. Suddenly, out of the blue some guy with a team of mostly UUs comes and all but rolls over my team; turns out he was quite the troll about it as well and rubbed it in my face until I performed the simple action of clicking 'Leave Room'. That one battle left an everlasting mark on my views of competitive battling... Maybe teams crammed with OUs aren't always the answer.
But enough of the tripe, let me tell you the premise behind the team. I wanted to create a lineup that could easily stand up in the faces of the scariest OU threats and laugh, but at the same time they didn't need to be so specialized they take ONLY those threats. I also wanted to utilize some of my favorite Pokes from the lower tiers, which makes me feel a little better when I beat the so called 'OU-Whores'
Without further ado, here is the team at a glance:
Now for a closer look at each individual:
Infernape (Curious George)
Gender: Male
Item: Focus Sash
Ability: Blaze
Hasty: 252 Spd, 252 SpA, 4SDf
Fake Out
Stealth Rock
Fire Blast
Encore
This Infernape makes a pretty amazing lead. Fake Out is for the priority auto-flinch (and sash-breaking). Stealth Rock is there of course to punish foes for switching, and STAB Fire Blast brings the pain. Encore is a very interesting, useful and yet somewhat rarely seen option on Infernape, able to lock opposing leads into Stealth Rock while I keep my sash (all, of course, if I predict correctly). If I don't get Rocks up, it's not the end of the world; if my opponent gets rocks up, only Dragonite has anything to worry about (and he has Roost). So how does Infernape stack up against other common leads?
For those of you still reading, I'm sorry that got pretty long winded, but the rest shouldn't be too bad.
Magnezone (Fridge Magnet)
Gender: None
Item: Leftovers
Ability: Magnet Pull
Timid: 28 HP, 228 Spd, 252 SpA
Substitute
Metal Sound
Thunderbolt
HP Grass 70
EDIT: Changed to HP Fire 70
Magnezone is a definite must-have for a team called 'OU Counter.' In addition to having a great Specially Offensive presence, it makes a great one-stop counter to a few Steel-types. It stands up to Scizor's Bullet Punch, Jirachi's Iron Head, and it annihilates Leftovers Skarmory. It can also hide behind a Substitute on a predicted switch/U-Turn and deal with the switch-in accordingly. The HP EVs reach a Leftovers number, the Speed gets Magnezone ahead of any Scizor that's not using Bullet Punch, and Max Sp. Attack gets all the power I can get.
I'm thinking about replacing HP Grass with Fire. I lose the powerful hit on Swampert, but I gain a powerful hit on Scizor (who I need to kill before it lands a Superpower) and Forretress (who can EQ). Metal Sound is also proving less effective than I thought it would be; At -2 SDf, Blissey only takes about 39% max from Thunderbolt. Even at -4 it's still not a guaranteed 2HKO (50.1% minimum, but Leftovers gives her back just enough to survive another attack), and I don't want to bank on having to get THREE Metal Sounds off to win that war, since she'll probably be S-Tossing the whole time. Let me know what you think.
Slowbro (Drugs not Hugs)
Gender: Male
Item: Leftovers
Ability: Own Tempo
Bold: 252 HP, 252 Def, 4 Spd
Surf
HP Electric 70
Slack Off
Thunder Wave
When the Smogon analysis says that this guy is viable in OU, it turned out to be very true. His physical bulk is about on par with Swampert's, but Slowbro trades Stealth Rock and an Electric immunity for Thunder Wave, instant recovery, a resistance to Water AND the Own Tempo ability. These last two qualities make Slowbro a virtually universal counter to both Machamp (who 4HKOS with Payback) AND DDGyara (who struggles to get the 3HKO at +1) as well as a great all around physical wall. He mostly spreads paralysis, and with Base 100 Sp. Attack, his attacks still have a little bite, even with no investment.
Lanturn (Hugs not Drugs)
Gender: Female
Item: Leftovers
Ability: Volt Absorb
Calm: 252 HP, 4 Def, 100 SpA, 152 SDf
Thunder Wave
Confuse Ray
Thunderbolt
Ice Beam
Even in the hard-hitting, fast-paced realm of OU, Lanturn still makes a viable absorber of special attacks. Numerically speaking, her specially defensive capabilities don't seem top notch; an amazing Base 125 HP is somewhat offset by a lackluster Base 76 SDf. However, one must look past these numbers. What makes Lanturn shine (pun perhaps intended...) is her unique typing and access to the fairly rare Volt Absorb ability; because of these two factors, she takes some sort of reduced damage from Fire-, Water-, Ice-, and Electric-type moves (some of the most common types for special attacks in the metagame) as well as gaining a 4x resistance to Steel, so in a pinch she can go fin-to-toe with a Scizor locked into Bullet Punch. Her low weight also means that un-STABed Grass Knots don't pose a threat (For example, Life Orb Starmie manages a paltry 23.8% max) Her main goal is to wreak havoc with the dreaded parafusion combo. I typically use Confuse Ray on a predicted switch; most opponents know enough about Lanturn to know that a Thunder Wave is probably coming and will switch in a Poke that already has a status. Confuse Ray, however, hits any switch-in (bar those with the Own Tempo ability). Thunderbolt and Ice Beam at best only supplement the damage from parafusion; Lanturn doesn't exactly pose an offensive threat with Base 76 Sp. Attack. If paralysis simply gets spread around, however, she's done her job.
As useful as her resistances are, I find that her lack of reliable recovery means she still gets taken down fairly quickly (especially if luck with parafusion doesn't go in her favor). Add to that the fact her hits barely dent most opponents, so if the opponent Subs up in her face, she's pretty much useless. I've thinking of keeping the UU trend going and perhaps replacing her with Registeel to aid the team in taking onslaughts from Dragonite (who otherwise hits this team really hard). Again, let me know what you think here, or make your own suggestions.
Fun Fact: This thing haxed a Togekiss to death once. Tee-hee.
Porygon2 (Little Mac)
Gender: None
Item: Leftovers
Ability: Trace
Bold: 252 HP, 40 Def, 216 SDf
Thunderbolt
Ice Beam
Thunder Wave
Recover
This is a masterpiece in the concept of countering utility, sadly banished to the foggy, endless depths of NU. It has respectable bulk (85/90/95 defenses), but its real selling point is the ability Trace, shared only by the more fragile Gardevoir. Quite a few notable Pokemon in OU are crippled when their own abilities are turned against them. Is SpecsJolteon's Thunderbolt ruining your day? Is Vaporeon slowly chipping away at you with Surf? Did that friggin Heatran get a Flash-Fire boost? Did Gyarados switch in ready to DD sweep you into oblivion? Are you tired of Flygon's Choice-locked Earthquake ravaging your team? Yeah, you get the point; Porygon2 can switch into all these threats and more (well, with the given EVs Gyarados still wins handily) and proceed to spread paralysis, inflict a little damage with its nice Base 105 Sp. Attack, or simply use some free time to Recover back some lost health. Smogon recommends a physically bulky spread, but I think the Pokemon it is most capable of countering (such as the aforementioned few) mandate a more specially bulky spread to better take their secondary attacks (such as Heatran's Earth Power, which 5HKOs(!) the vast majority of the time unless it runs a Specs set). From here, Porygon2 performs largely the same main role as Slowbro and Lanturn; spread as much paralysis as possible, inflicting some damage on the way.
I think it is worthy to note that when I first made this team I ran a TrickSpecs set here (replacing Thunder Wave in my moveset), but I didn't find it too effective. I'm not sure why; I would think most battlers wouldn't know Porygon2 can Trick (I was surprised to find out at least), so they would switch in a wall without a second thought. I'm thinking about trying that again, though, As usual, let me know your thoughts and suggestions.
Dragonite (Elliot)
Gender: Male
Item: Leftovers (who'da thunk?)
Ability: Inner Focus
Careful: 252 HP, 44 Spd, 212 SDf
Dragon Dance
Dragon Claw
Roost
Heal Bell
Lastly, here's the main sweeper of the team. When I have many of the opponent's Pokes paralyzed and they've been chipped away at, this guy can come in, DD up and attempt the sweep. Dragon Dance is one of the best boosting moves in the game, and Dragon is THE best STAB in the game for neutral coverage in only one move. Roost is an obvious choice to increase longevity while also reducing that crippling Ice weakness. Heal Bell makes an awesome final choice to keep Dragonite (and his teammates) status-free; it's fun when Rotom-A or someone similar switches in and Will-o-Wisps. I just continue to DD in their faces, ring the Heal Bell, and the fight begins. The HP and SDf EVs allow him to take weak un-STABed Ice Beams (and many other special attacks) like a champ, while the Speed EVs allow him to outpace neutral-natured Base 105s and positive-natured Base 90s after one DD. After 2 DDs he outspeeds all unboosted Pokemon in OU, bar Ninjask. Skarmory worries him a little bit with that outrageous physical defense and resistance to Dragon, but hey, that's what Magnezone's for, right?
Speaking of Skarmory, let me mention what Dragonite is capable of against him (WAR STORY ALERT AGAIN!!! Skip to the next paragraph if you're not interested). Dragonite had a Curselax-esque last Pokemon victory once. I was down 4-1, but all my opponent had that could take my attacks was his Skarmory. I believe it was a specially defensive one, because I DDed up to +6 and was dealing roughly 50% with Dragon Claw. It came down to chance: Could I spam Dragon Claw until I scored the critical hit that I needed, or would I run out of PP first? Fortunately, with 5 PP left I scored the critical hit, and with the remaining PP I was able to take down the rest of his team. Good thing he didn't pack anyone with Ice Shard, right?
Overall, this team is able to play around virtually any threat I encounter. However, three Pokemon with a very similar playing style always give me more trouble than I'd like; these three horrors are DD versions of each T-Tar, Kingdra and Dragonite (Actually, practically any version of Dragonite is threatening to me, as noted in Lanturn's section). I'm normally able to get around Kingdra by paralyzing it, forcing it to Rest and burn off its Chesto Berry, paralyze it again, wait until it Rests again then spring Dragonite on him while he helplessly sleeps and force him to switch. Sadly, this strategy is easily foiled by smart playing; both times I have been in this scenario, the opponent was simple too greedy with their DDs.
Anyway, I hope you enjoyed reading my first RMT, long-winded though it was. My CRE with this team is currently 1260-ish. I seem to win about 70% of my battles, but I'm just too lazy to push my CRE any higher before getting help on this. I think I've played enough times with this team to know what their weak points are. are. Thanks for reading, and I'm open to any suggestions you may have.
EDIT: Lanturn is to be replaced with...
Empoleon (Wark! Wark!)
Gender: Male
Item: Petaya Berry
Ability: Torrent
Modest: 76 HP, 12 Def, 168 Spd, 252 SpA
Substitute
Agility
Hydro Pump
Grass Knot
So it doesn't look much like a Chocobo, but eh, they're both birds. Anyway, as special sweepers go this guy is one of the best; even Blissey doesn't like taking a triple-STABed (!) Hydro Pump coming off Base 111 Sp. Attack. He also has great synergy with Dragonite, being able to take the Ice and Rock attacks aimed at him while Dragonite handles any EQ or Thunderbolt aimed at Empoleon. The EVs are fairly specific; 252 SpA for maximum power, 168 Spd to get ahead of Base 130s after an Agility, 76 HP to get the highest possible number divisible by four, and 12 Def because they're just leftover.
Overall, while I miss Lanturn's plethora of special resistances, this guy still makes a solid addition to the team. It's also good to not rely solely on only Dragonite to secure a sweep.
