I couldn't come up with a good name. >www<
[At a Glance:]
[At a Glance:]
[Team Building Thought Process:]
I like to start off with a lead in every team. Azelf is pretty fast and has access to Taunt, which shuts down a lot of popular leads, and Stealth Rock, which is pretty crucial.
I almost always put Rotom-H into my team to block Rapid Spin and for its awesome immunities. Gengar is another option, but Rotom’s got a bit more bulk, and its Electric STAB is pretty great, so I chose it over Gengar here. Levitate>Pressure so it’s naturally superior to Dusknoir.
I really like bulky, strong Pokemon; they can hit hard without worrying about being taken out in one shot by almost anything. I also like having a Pokemon with Taunt as a lead to stop initial Stealth Rocks, as well as somewhere in the 5 remaining slots to ward against things like Substitute, Reflect, Wish, Toxic, etc. Gyrados has Intimidate, taunt, Dragon Dance, and great stats so it was a natural choice.
I wanted another strong attacker next to Gyrados. Lucario’s weak to Fire, Ground, and Fighting, while Gyrados resists/immunes all of those types, so I thought that Lucario would be a good partner. It also has coverage that Gyrados lacks as well as a solid priority attack for things like Salamence or Infernape.
Honestly, this team isn’t very vulnerable to Stealth Rock, Spikes, or Toxic Spikes; 3 Levitating Pokemon and a Flying type resist Spikes and Toxic Spikes, Lucario is immune to Toxic Spikes, and both Lucario and Donphan resist Stealth Rock. I just really like Donphan. Ice Shard, Knock Off, and Roar are great moves, while STAB Earthquake from a great base Attack can really hurt. I’m very receptive to replacements. Rapid Spin isn’t crucial but I think Roar or Whirlwind is, but I’m not sure what would fill his spot nicely.
A Status absorber is always nice, and Cresselia’s got great defensive stats and Levitate to work with. Ice Beam is for dragons while Thunder Wave can wreck things like non-Taunting Gyrados, Salamence, and Infernape.
[In-Depth Look:]
Azelf @ Focus Sash
Nature: Naïve (+Spe, -Sp. Def)
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 78 Atk / 180 Sp. Atk / 252 Spe
~Taunt
~Stealth Rock
~Fire Blast
~Explosion
With 115 Base Speed, Azelf has the second-fastest Taunt in OU. Aerodactyl is faster, but it’s probably the least common lead I’ve ever seen, and I can switch into Cresselia to Ice Beam it while with Levitate and its Leftovers, HP and Defense Rock Slide/Stone Edge won’t be killing it anytime soon. I’m a fan of suicide leads, and Azelf is one of the best. With a fast taunt that shuts down Stealth Rocks, access to Stealth Rocks of its own, Fire Blast for Metagross, and Explosion for if it’s gotten Stealth Rocks/Taunt up, Azelf is capable of not only preventing my opponent’s lead from setting up, but probably killing it off, too. 5-5 with the opponent lacking a Stealth Rocker and Rocks of my own up is pretty advantageous. Metagross with Meteor Mash + Bullet Punch can take it out before it attacks if I start with Taunt or Stealth Rock but without Meteor Mash, Bullet Punch is a 3HKO, which lets me Taunt, Stealth Rock, and switch to something else so that it can Explode later.
Rotom-H @ Leftovers
Nature: Bold (+Def, -Atk)
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 168 Def / 88 Spe
~Discharge
~Shadow Ball
~Overheat
~Reflect
Rotom is a bulky spin blocker that counters Scizor and Gyarados quite effectively. I had the option of Will-o-Wisp or Reflect for the last attack slot. Will-o-Wisp is inaccurate and has no effect on fire types (and only helps out Heatran). I chose Reflect because it can’t miss and is less conditional overall than Will-o-Wisp. The choice of Discharge over Thunderbolt was in favor of the former, because unlike Will-o-Wisp I’ve had a good experience with Discharge’s paralysis rate and since Rotom-H isn’t packing Will-o-Wisp, Paralysis status won’t overlap with Burn status. Rotom isn’t a full-on wall like Blissey; strong attacks, even unboosted attacks, can hit him hard, but with Reflect and Thunderwave he has a better chance of switching in safely.
Gyrados @ Leftovers
Nature: Adamant (+Atk, -Sp. Atk)
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 156 HP / 108 Atk / 100 Def / 144 Spe
~Taunt
~Dragon Dance
~Waterfall
~Earthquake
I don’t usually use Gyrados but after losing to DD/Taunt so often I decided to give it a try. I like the idea of having two Taunt users; one to stop leads and another to stop other random Pokemon from using things like Roar or Recover. The set I looked at on Smogon suggested Stone Edge but its accuracy always disappoints me so I’m going with Earthquake here. Its bulk, typing, intimidate, and leftovers allows it to set up pretty well against physical foes, and with Taunt he can even be used early game in some cases, which lets me leave Lucario for later.
Lucario @ Life Orb
Nature: Jolly (+Spe, -Sp. Atk)
Ability: Inner Focus
EVs: 252 Attack / 252 Spe / 6 HP
~Close Combat
~Extreme Speed
~Crunch
~Swords Dance
Lucario is the second sweeper on my team and is much more aggressive. Close Combat for STAB, Extreme Speed for priority, and Crunch to OHKO Ghosts and random things like Cresselia and Latias. Jolly because I’m paranoid about being slower than certain things. With Gyrados covering his fire, fighting, and ground weakness and Cresselia covering his final two, I have two good switch ins for things that beat Lucario. In terms of when I switch Lucario in, his steel typing gives him a plethora of useful immunities and resistances and with Extreme Speed he can take out things like Salamence stuck on Outrage.
Donphan @ Leftovers
Nature: Impish (+Def, – Sp. Atk)
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 6 Atk
~Earthquake
~Ice Shard
~Knock Off
~Roar
Donphan is the “meh” Pokemon of the bunch. I like Ice Shard for Salemence and Flygon, Knock Off is one of my favorite moves ever, and I wanted a sturdy (no pun intended) Pokemon to use Roar. One concern is that he can’t really take a +1 Gyrados’s Waterfall or a Salamence’s Fire Blast so I was considering other Roarers in his place. The problem is that the only good ones I could think of were Swampert, Suicune, and Latias. Swampert doesn’t share a weakness with any other Pokemon due to his ground typing but doesn’t seem to fit. Suicune is too similar type-wise to Gyrados and Latias would give my team 3 Ghost/Dark weaknesses and 2 weaknesses to U-Turn. I’m very receptive to any suggestions for suitable replacements. As for why it doesn’t have Rapid Spin, I don’t feel that my team is very weak to Spikes, Toxic Spikes, or Stealth Rock.
Only Gyrados takes heavy damage from Stealth Rocks, and he’s got Leftovers to shrug it off. 3/6 are immune to Spikes and Toxic Spikes, Lucario is immune to Toxic Spikes, and Lucario and Donphan resist Stealth Rock while the rest of the team has got Leftovers and takes neutral damage only. Considering that it can be difficult to pull off a Rapid Spin with all the ghost switches, as well as the fact that Donphan HATES a burn, I felt that Knock Off would be superior to get rid of those Rotom’s Leftovers and whatnot.
Cresselia @ Leftovers
Nature: Calm (+Sp. Def, -Atk)
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 6 Sp. Def
~Ice Beam
~Thunder Wave
~Rest
~Sleep Talk
My status absorber and general wall. Ice Beam is for dragons and as a reliable attack while Thunder Wave shuts down a ton of Pokemon. I really don’t know what to say here, she’s pretty plain. She resists the fighting and ground type attacks that take out Lucario and is able to Pressure stall with Rest. Sorry I don’t have much more to say about her.
