[OU] CounterSweep

The Business Man

Intro: Hey all. It's been a long time since I've played this game, let alone build a team, but I think I did a pretty good job with this one. Basic idea is counter major threats with the likes of Zapdos, Starmie, Blissey and Jirachi and then proceed to sweep with Flygon and Scizor. I also plan on turning this into a WiFi team so all help is greatly appreciated :D

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At a Glance:
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dpmfa121.png
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dpmfa330.png
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In-Depth:

385.png
@ Choice Scarf
Jolly Nature (+Speed, -Special Attack)
Ability: Serene Grace
EVs: 80 HP / 252 Attack / 178 Speed
  • Trick
  • Stealth Rock
  • Iron Head
  • Ice Punch / U-turn
Jirachi is an asshole, thus it is my lead. 462 Speed with the Scarf to outspeed other Scarf users that are either +Speed base 90s like Porygon-Z and Roserade or neutral base 100s like Celebi, Flygon, Salamence and Zapdos. Iron Head hits Aerodactly hard, and most try to Taunt first anyway as they get outsped and 2HKOd. Ice Punch hits for varied coverage against various Flyers, Dragons, Grounds, and Grassers. Trick of course is great for screwing fat walls like Blissey and Bronzong over when they try to come in on me. Stealth Rock is obvious, probably the best move in the game. Testing U-turn at the moment, it provides some good scouting and synergy with the other two U-turners on my team.

145.png
@ Leftovers
Bold Nature (+Defense, -Attack)
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 HP / 220 Defense / 38 Speed
  • Roost
  • Thunderbolt
  • Heat Wave
  • Hidden Power [Grass] / Toxic
Standard physically defensive Zapdos, and probably one of the better Scizor counters. Fairly self-explanatory, HP-Grass for Swampert, Hippowdon, Rhyperior, Tyranitar, etc. I've had Swamperts stay in on me as I switch into them using Stealth Rock, and then OHKO them with HP-Grass. You'd think people would understand why I would switch Zappy in... Anyway, Fire-Grass-Electric is a great combo resisted by none IIRC (correct me if I'm wrong, I can't think right now.) :P. Testing Toxic over HP [Grass] at the moment, I'm liking it as anything that doesn't get hit by it (Steels) hate Heat Wave, except Heatran who doesn't really like Thunderbolt though doing 2HKOing it with SR support and no Lefties.

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@ Leftovers
Timid Nature (+Speed, -Attack)
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 138 HP / 156 Defense / 216 Speed
  • Recover
  • Surf
  • Thunderbolt
  • Rapid Spin
Starmie is one of my favourites for sure, since Misty used it against me in RBY and owned me every time. Starmie provides my team with a good Gyarados counter and also provides Rapid Spin to clear annoying Toxic Spikes, etc. from the field. Toxic Spikes liked to fuck my old team in the ass, so I decided to adopt a Spinner this time. Recover + bulky EVs help it stay alive and the 216 in Speed are for outspeeding all non-Scarf Gengar. The only thing I think I need to change on Starmie is perhaps mix-up the spread and give it some Special Attack EVs, but I don't really know. :)

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@ Choice Band
Adamant Nature (+Attack, -Special Attack)
Ability: Technician
EVs: 244 HP / 252 Attack / 14 Speed
  • Bullet Punch
  • Pursuit
  • U-turn
  • Superpower
Everyone's favourite overused pokemon. Scizor is a beast, huge 591 Attack stat + Technician + STAB priority, but you all already knew that. I run 14 Speed to outspeed all those other Scizors running 8 :D. He provides good synergy with Flygon, as they can U-turn back and forth and each resist the other's weakness. Scizor hardly needs an explanation anymore, he's just a beast.

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@ Choice Scarf
Naughty Nature (+Attack, -Special Defense)
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 6 HP / 252 Attack / 252 Speed
  • Draco Meteor / Fire Blast / Stone Edge
  • Outrage
  • Earthquake
  • U-turn
I <3 Flygon. I run max speed for no reason other than I can, as I rarely keep him in for anything other than a revenge kill or a scout with U-turn. I can surprise people with Draco Meteor to the face though, as those physically based guys think they can just waltz in and take an Outrage then I smack 'em with the Meteor. Again, double U-turn on both of my physical sweepers is great and can cause a lot of switches for the opponent (which usually hurts as 90% of the time I've had Stealth Rock down.) I don't really know if he is the most effective fellow in this spot though, so any suggestions on if I should remove him and a replacement would be appreciated. The last slot is up in the air right now, testing three different things from Fire Blast to Draco Meteor to Stone Edge. Not really close to a decision though :/.

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@ Leftovers BEING REPLACED!
Calm Nature (+Special Defense, -Attack)
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 Defense / 40 Special Attack / 216 Special Defense
  • Aromatherapy
  • Softboiled
  • Toxic / Thunder Wave
  • Ice Beam
I hate Blissey. Honestly, if anyone has a suggestion on a good replacement, I'll probably test it until I die as I hate using Blissey as much as I hate facing them. Plus this is basically just taken from the Smogon analysis :3. I've tested both Toxic and Thunder Wave and they are both used well but in different situations, so I might just alternate depending on trends I see in the metagame (more use of Steels, etc.) I felt like I needed a Cleric as often people would be hitting my bulk like Zapdos with Toxic and my sweepers with Thunder Wave or Will-O-Wisp (obviously not TW on Flygon though :P). I also hate Breloom so I usually get a guy to absorb Sleep (usually Jirachi) then I send Zapdos in and kill it, then Aromatherapy with this bitch. Blissey is the best at what she does, but I still hate her and would like to use something else that does a similar job (but isn't completly outclassed by Blissey).

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So yeah, that's my team. :)
I'd appreciate all the help I can get on it and when I feel that it's close to as good as it could be I'll start turning it into a WiFi team.

Thanks!
 
You needn't worry about Toxic Spikes; the only Pokemon poisoned by them have Natural Cure. Your team's impunity to Toxic Spikes and single Stealth Rock-weak Poke doesn't warrant the use of Starmie as a spinner. If you must have a Gyarados counter and/or bulky water, Vaporeon, Slowbro, etc. make great alternatives (Starmie is only a replacement if Rapid Spin is absolutely necessary).

toot-toot and good luck
 
AdamV2 said:
Intro: Hey all. It's been a long time since I've played this game, let alone build a team, but I think I did a pretty good job with this one. Basic idea is counter major threats with the likes of Zapdos, Starmie, Blissey and Jirachi and then proceed to sweep with Flygon and Scizor. I also plan on turning this into a WiFi team so all help is greatly appreciated :D

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At a Glance:
dpmfa385.png
dpmfa145.png
dpmfa121.png
dpmfa212.png
dpmfa330.png
dpffa242.png


----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

In-Depth:

385.png
@ Choice Scarf
Jolly Nature (+Speed, -Special Attack)
Ability: Serene Grace
EVs: 80 HP / 252 Attack / 178 Speed
  • Trick
  • Stealth Rock
  • Iron Head
  • Ice Punch
This is a great lead in the current OU Metagame which is dominated by Steels and Dragons. Scouting is very essential in this metagame as well, which is why I believe U-Turn would be much more useful than Ice Punch would.

145.png
@ Leftovers
Bold Nature (+Defense, -Attack)
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 HP / 220 Defense / 38 Speed
  • Roost
  • Thunderbolt
  • Heat Wave
  • Hidden Power [Grass]
You're using an extremely offensive moveset and yet your EVs and Nature don't match it... With a moveset such as yours it would be much better if you used 252 Spe / 252 SpA / 6 HP with a Timid Nature and Life Orb. Your current EV Spread doesn't even guarentee an OHKO on Swampert, let alone Tyranitar or Hippowdon.

121.png
@ Leftovers
Timid Nature (+Speed, -Attack)
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 138 HP / 156 Defense / 216 Speed
  • Recover
  • Surf
  • Thunderbolt
  • Rapid Spin
I see no problems at all with Starmie being on your team. Without Starmie, Gyarados with a Dragon Dance under its belt can cause your team some serious trouble. Also, Rapid Spin is pretty essential on teams with the abundance of stall teams lately. You wouldn't want Spikes and SR wearing down your team.

212.png
@ Choice Band
Adamant Nature (+Attack, -Special Attack)
Ability: Technician
EVs: 244 HP / 252 Attack / 14 Speed
  • Bullet Punch
  • Pursuit
  • U-turn
  • Superpower
Call me crazy, but personally I like using Quick Attack instead of Pursuit on CB Scizor. The majority of people you battle will expect Pursuit and keep their Ghost in to attack for another turn, so Pursuit becomes pretty useless as Bullet Punch deals the same amount of damage.

Quick Attack helps against incoming Infernape's and Zapdos's which Scizor normally has a difficult time dealing with.

330.png
@ Choice Scarf
Naughty Nature (+Attack, -Special Defense)
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 6 HP / 252 Attack / 252 Speed
  • Draco Meteor
  • Outrage
  • Earthquake
  • U-turn
From experience, I find Stone Edge to be a better option than Draco Meteor because of the ability to hit Flying Types with more power; more specifically Gyarados. So try it out if you want, though Draco Meteor isn't all that bad.

242.png
@ Leftovers
Calm Nature (+Special Defense, -Attack)
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 Defense / 40 Special Attack / 216 Special Defense
  • Aromatherapy
  • Softboiled
  • Toxic / Thunder Wave
  • Ice Beam
What is Blissey doing here? Up until now your team looked like a standard DPP Bulky Offensive Team (which isn't bad) but then I see a Blissey in the last slot... She definetely doesn't belong on this team, to me it looks like you just stuck her on here without thinking. From the looks of your team, I feel Swampert could work well in this last slot. Choice Banded Swampert would be viable but you already have 3 choiced Pokemon which I feel is a bit much. I'm leaning more towards using CursePert in this spot.

Swampert @ Leftovers
Ability: Torrent
Nature: Careful
EVs: 252 HP / 216 SpD / 40 Def or 252 HP / 252 SpD / 6 Def (either one works)
Moveset:
- Curse
- Waterfall
- Rest
- Sleep Talk



Anyway, good luck with your team. If you ever need advice with anything feel free to PM me.
Click to expand...
 
Awesome, thanks for the help guys!

TeaBag: I really enjoy the security of Rapid Spin on Starmie, even if Toxic Spikes aren't really an issue Stealth Rock and Spikes can be.

locopoke: I've tested Quick Attack on Scizor and Stone Edge on Flygon and I do like them both, but I don't know if I want to get rid of Pursuit. I'll test it some more and see how often I'll be in a situation where I needed Pursuit more. Stone Edge I might actually just switch to because my last 3 matches Draco Meteor has come up short on what I truly needed: a reliable attack that can help against the asshole Zapdos that like to switch in as I EQ.

I'm not sure about the Zapdos, perhaps I'll test it but right now I really like how it's been working. It's just a bulky guy with some good coverage, but I'll test a 4/252/252 spread with LO and see how it fares. I've really just been using Zapdos as a tank though.

With Blissey, I really was more or less looking for something to help stop special-based sweepers with ease and also give me some security against Status. But I guess Starmie could be that security with Natural Cure, even the Swampert you suggested too with Rest. I'll test it for sure. Thanks again!
 
You don't have a reilable counter to Gyarados; one Dragon Dance and everything is outsped and KOd. The only thing really is Jirachi, but Ice Punch isn't phazing it. You claim Starmie is a good Gyara counter, but you are KOd by Adamant +1 LO Earthquake if you take the tiniest bit of residual damage. You should run a Choice Scarf, slap trick over Rapid Spin (noone is weak to it but Zapdos, who can heal anyway) and that can outspeed and KO with Thunderbolt.
 
One small recommendation I would make is Fire Blast over Draco Meteor on Flygon. Outrage will deal significant damage to anything not resistant to Dragon, while Fire Blast warns off Skarmory and Bronzong who are the most common switch-ins to Flygon.
 
ThePowerWithin: Yeah, 'Dos has been a nuisance. I take 74.58% - 87.80% from +1 Adamant LO EQ, so yeah if he gets maximum damage and I have been hit by SR I'm dead and if I've been hit by anything else I'm dead. I've been kind of thinking of replacing Starmie with Vaporeon running a 188 HP / 252 Def / 68 Speed set with Wish/Protect/Surf/HP [Electric]. Thoughts? Vaporeon only takes 50.00% - 58.93% from the same attack, and I have Wish + Protect to heal up. Plus I can predict the obvious EQ and switch to Flygon and threaten with Stone Edge as I will outspeed 'Dos with a DD under it's belt. But yeah, Vaporeon > Starmie?

m0nkfish: Hmm, leaving it Naughty and going Fire Blast > Draco Meteor & Stone Edge? Sounds like a good idea as those bastard Steel-types are getting annoying. Thanks, I'll test it for sure.

I've also been testing other things in Blissey's spot. Noteably the Tinkerbell Celebi:

Celebi @ Life Orb
Modest Nature (or Timid?)
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 232 HP / 244 Special Attack / 32 Speed
  • Leaf Storm
  • Hidden Power [Fire] / Earth Power
  • Thunder Wave
  • Recover
I was considering Earth Power if other for the fact that it hits Heatran. Thoughts?
 
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