OU Metagame Counter(er)

[Synral]

Teh Ovarvooz:

Goal: Counter the entirety of the current OU metagame. (Not including Roserade, Spiritomb, Milotic, Garchomp, or Deoxys-E)

Snowblind (Mamoswine) (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Oblivious
EVs: 178 HP/116 Atk/196 Spd/20 SDef
Adamant nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Toxic
- Ice Shard
- Earthquake
- Stealth Rock

130 Base Attack is great and all, especially with sexy Ice and Ground STAB's like Mammy has, but why eschew the base 110 HP that most walls would love to have? (I know Skarmory would.) Anyway, the central idea is to set up my rocks, survive most attacks, outspeed and murder T-tar leads. Since the theme of the team is to counter the OU Metagame, he fits right in there. Things like Ninjask, Yanmega, Salamence, and Aerodactyl are leads that like to set up Rocks or boosts, and Mamoswine ends that fantasy with impunity. It even beats out Azelf with help from Tomb to absorb Explosion or Psychic. If I'm not fighting an offensive lead, Toxic cripples a lot of the common lead walls, and it's easy to spread with Mamo's general bulk. Skarm and Bronzong are really the only leads Mamoswine has trouble with. But the theme of the team means they aren't going to get past the rest.

Ms. Murder (Spiritomb) (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 HP/98 Def/160 SDef
Calm nature (+SDef, -Atk)
- Shadow Ball
- Hidden Power [Fighting]
- Rest
- Sleep Talk

This is the first of the many Rest Talkers on the team. Most of the team deals with status, well, but things like Gyarados ALWAYS need a fall-back, so I decided to stock up. Ghost/Fighting hits everything for at least neutral, so that's nice, but he can't do a lot to what he can't hit super-effectively. Anywho, blocks Spinning attempts to get rid of Mamo's rocks, and since he's a lead, he might not be around to put them back up. Counters most Psychic types, who Weezing pisses itself in fear of. Rest and Sleep Talk combo'd with Pressure and Mamo's toxic allows for some sexy stalling prowess. I have been thinking of axing Sleep Talk for Calm Mind, howevers. Also, how is Tomb BL? Milotic was understandable, Roserade was a bit of a stretch, but Tomb? NYEAH... (Why couldn't it have been Vire?)

Lullaby (Cresselia) (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 20 HP/252 Def/102 SAtk/136 SDef
Modest nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Thunder Wave
- Ice Beam
- Psychic
- Rest

I COULD'VE used Reflect. Why not? Because Machamp and Weezing already wall it's weaknesses very nicely, and Reflect would really only turn 3KO's into 4KO's. Not needed. Thunder Wave for crippling the sweepers, and Ice Beam and Psychic to hit many of the popular sweepers, like Hera and the Dragons. (Hera needs to be locked in Stone Edge or Close Combat, though.) Rest is for general status absorbtion, but also because Sandstorm and Hail are too common to use Moonlight. Stops special threats that could otherwise trample the team into the ground.

Jack Bauer (Machamp) (M) @ Lum Berry
Ability: No Guard
EVs: 252 HP/80 Atk/144 Def/34 SDef
Impish nature (+Def, -SAtk)
- Dynamicpunch
- Stone Edge
- Rest
- Thunderpunch

Chuck Norris didn't fit. DAMN.
Anywho, the spread I'm sure looks weird, but with all the hard hitters in this metagame, you need whatever bulk you can get your hands on. Machamp is a bulky sweeper, but a simple 252HP/252Atk leaves him 2KO'd by too many things. So I tweaked it a bit, leaning towards physical defense, since Cress will probably take most of the special hits for him, such as specs Psychics. DynamicPunch and Stone Edge get nice coverage, and Thunderpunch owns Skarmory and Gyarados.

Lithium (Weezing) (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP/176 Def/82 SAtk
Relaxed nature (+Def, -Spd)
- Flamethrower
- Thunderbolt
- Explosion
- Hidden Power [Ice]

Physical sweeper buffer. Stops things like Medicham, Heracross, Gyarados, DDmence, Scizor, etc. Basically, hammer everything bar Lanturn with super-effective attacks, and explode when finished. In sync with Cresselia, they cover each others weaknesses very nicely. (He can take a Megahorn for her, and she can take a Psychic for him.)

Vicarious (Gyarados) (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 6 HP/252 Atk/252 Spd
Jolly nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Waterfall
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- Dragon Dance

A simple, yet effective DD-Gyara. Since a lot of the team plays defensively against sweepers, they shouldn't be a problem, giving him an easier time setting up. Since Mamoswine, Weezing, and Cresselia all pack ice moves, I went for Stone Edge over Ice Fang. Stone Edge will still OHKO most of what Ice Fang would, anyway, bar Gliscor, which is beaten by Waterfall, regardless. It can be a makeshift Heracross counter when Weezing's dead, just avoid Stone Edge. Simple late-game murderer, just sweep as much and as fast as you can, Gyara. Jolly over Adamant to outrun base 130's like Jolteon and Aerodactyl that could kill it off later.

Conclusion:
I have ran this team against the most recent list of OU pokemon, and it seems to me everything on it can be effectively countered. If you want to nitpick them, please do, I'd like to see what my bigger threats are. This team was tested on Shoddy, winning 25 out of 27 battles that it was used in on the standard ladder.
​

 

[Kagster123]

Your Machamp and Cresselia are set-up bait because they don't have sleep talk. You could use a cleric on the team if you don't want them to use sleep-talk, otherwise i don't really see the use of rest.

 

[Hocotate]

Your Machamp and Cresselia are set-up bait because they don't have sleep talk. You could use a cleric on the team if you don't want them to use sleep-talk, otherwise i don't really see the use of rest.

Machamp has Lum berry (which I think should be Chesto actually, seeing as rest will get rid of anything else).
Cresselia could probably use sleep talk. Psychic doesn't actually do much, since Heracross will destroy Cress anyway with megahorn, or switch out if it used Close Combat.

 

[Imran]

One thing that I always find with "Countering Teams" are that when you come in and counter something, they send out something else and then you have to counter that and on ad infinitum. You are always a step behind the game and for that reason you are always playing catch up, being constantly pummeled by attacks and eventually losing out to sheer pressure. At least you do have some sort of plan, which is to bring out Gyarados late game and sweep with him, but you are behind the game a lot and may have trouble finding a point as you have no real way of setting him up.

I honesly don't see why you have Thunder Punch on Machamp. You can still hit Gyarados with Stone Edge and Thunder Punch won't do much more to Skarmory than Dynamic Punch. Why would you give up on Sleep Talk for a move that is not going to help you in the slightest? Definately go with Sleep Talk. The same probably goes for Cresslia but is not so much of an issue.

Having three sleep talkers on a team is also a bad idea, it leaves you open to being set up on. If you are unluck (which I assure you you will Gyarados will set up on something and sweep. If that gyarados has Taunt you may as well say gg right then, only Weezing has a chance and he is susceptable to Waterfall. Bulkier versions of Gyarados will not be OHKOd by his Thunderbolt. POrygon Z might be a better choice in that spot, he is a more reliable counter to gyarados / DDMence due to his ability to Intimidate them back, meaning flinches from Waterfall won't be so much of an issue. His Ice Beam will also do more Damage to Salamence than HP Ice.

Best of a bad lot really. I don't think you are going to get very far with this team, better players will come in and set up on you and then sweep.

 

[tennisace]

The real problem with "Counter Teams", as Goldfan said, is that you can't counter everything, and once you "counter" something, they send in a revenge killer and a smart player will eventually wear you down through smart switches and entry hazards, seeing as you lack Wish support and Rapid Spin support, in addition to the lack of multiple types of spikes.

What you should do is change the goal to either a Bulky Offensive team meant to tank, or a Stall Team. The reason is that again, you can't keep "playing push", to quote my tennis coach. You can't just sit back on the defensive and let them gain momentum. Even though that seems like what stall teams do, its not. Stall teams have a solid purpose: Set up Entry Hazards, support each other, and stay alive for as long as possible.

Counters in this metagame just don't work, and I predict that when gen 5 comes out, they will almost completely cease to exist because of the sheer amount of threats to be countered.

Now, on to your actual team. Put Sleep Talk on Machamp over Thunder Punch, as its much more useful for taking status and tanking. Next, I'd suggest putting a Wisher over Cresselia. Use a WishBliss if you want the team to be more stallish, or use a Wish Togekiss if you want the team to be more offensive. These will also help with special hits, like Cresselia would. I'd also change Weezing to Skarmory or Metagross. They still beat Scizor, and have much better resistances. Again, use Skarmory if you want a more stallish team, or Metagross if you want a more offensive team.

That should help give your team a more solid base and goal, which is really what it needed.

 

[HameyHamey]

I've got to say that this is an awesome team but BE CAREFUL for this:

-Making a counter team doesn't always work because usually when you are trying to counter 2-3 common pokes there's a pokemon that kills those counters and potentially sweeps your team. Now on this team I don't see any central threat except for Yanmega and spiritomb won't live as long as you may think it might from bug-buzzes. Another thing,as stated by tennis, making a counter team isn't going to necisarily work as you never know what you might run into and there are just too many things out there.

Hope I helped!

 

[Shigen]

You should try using a pokemon with Toxic Spikes. It really helps a defensive team like yours, wearing down enemy pokemon faster. As everyone else has said, you overuse rest. You also may want to consider a rapid spinner, to prevent enemy entry hazards from wearing you down as (pardon the pun) rapidly. Tentacruel can rapid spin, and both set up and absorb toxic spikes. It is also durable. I suggest that you use it.

Subseed Breloom will also rape you as it is, seeing as he outspeeds enough of your team to set up consistently. Liquid Ooze Tentacruel would hurt any who Leech Seeded, while a RestTalker would slow down spore. If your Machamp dropped Tpunch for Sleep Talk, and you took Tentacruel, you would be fine.

Milotic was understandable

Just for this, I should quit helping you. Milotic was the least sensible of the changes. Sadly, however, it's based on an arbitrary percentage of use, so I can't debate it. (The proper word is use, not usage, by original English definition. Our culture has just misused the word usage for so long that we have accepted, ignored, and then forgotten about the grammatical error.)

Yanmega and spiritomb won't live as long as you may think it might from bug-buzzes.

And Air Slashes, which hit harder and flinch it out.