OU RMT Salamence Sweep!!

Zombie Leon

I'd just like to say a few words before the RMT begins. The main aim of this team is to find a path for salamence to wreck havoc. Out of all the pokes I've chosen they have good synergy, but I find myself rain dance weak (especially to ludicolo :S) and strangely magnezone weak. If these problems could be fixed that would be awesome. Cheers!
Edits in bold.​

142_Aerodactyl.jpg

Aerodactyl (M) @ Focus Sash
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 Atk/252 Spd/6 SDef
Jolly nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Stealth Rock
- Taunt
- Stone Edge
- Earthquake
Your standard suicide lead set. I usually taunt on the first turn to absolutely make sure no rocks come up on my side of the field and then proceed to put my own rocks up. Due to his blistering 394 Spd he can outrun pretty much anything that's not a scarfed jirachi. In this case I go straight to putting the rocks up and hope that the iron head that hits me doesn't make me flinch. If it does then it's an early grave for the prehistoric monster. SE and EQ give decent coverage together and are pretty powerful both at 100 BP and SE gets STAB. With these moves (if I'm still alive) I can proceed to damage and attempt KOs with this suicide lead.
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462_Magnezone.jpg

Magnezone @ Leftovers
Ability: Magnet Pull
EVs: 42 Atk/216 Spd/252 SAtk
Naive nature (+Spd, -SDef)
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power [Grass]
- Substitute
- Explosion
This is my main method of removing steels from the field to allow salamence to have a better chance of denting and possibly sweeping the opposing team if they are not prepared for it. T-bolt is the main STAB I go for against steels, HP grass is mainly for swampert for the OHKO. Sub is usually used first as it eases prediction on the next switch in. Explosion can get me out of a tight spot or if I'm about to bite the dust anyway I can go out with a BOOM!!! He serves an important role on this team but can often be trapped by other magnezone when I'm stuck on T-bolt/HP, but the same can be said for them. This is currently replacing the scarfzone set I was using previously as this set does the same job, but can hit other threats apart from steels.
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373_Salamence.jpg

Salamence (F) @ Life Orb
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 Atk/6 Def/252 Spd
Adamant nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Dragon Dance
- Earthquake
- Roost
- Outrage
The very reason magnezone is on the team, to get rid of all the dragon resists on the opponents team to allow DDmence's potential to shine through. EQ + fire blast can damage any excess steels that are still looming and she comes packed with a dragon STAB to abuse the lack of steels on both attacking spectrums.
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212_Scizor.jpg

Scizor (M) @ Choice Band
Ability: Technician
EVs: 160 HP/176 Atk/6 Spd/168 SDef
Adamant nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Bullet Punch
- Superpower
- Pursuit
- U-turn
Scizors main role is to build up as much damage from hit and run attacks as possible. U-turn is usually my first option as I've grown more fearful of opposing magnezones switching in and it's a good move to keep the offensive momentum flowing. BP is the obvious STAB coupled with technician to revenge kill weakened pokes such as salamence once its switched into SR, although with the new EV spread I'm not sure if this is still the case. Superpower is to hit other steels like a magnezone I expect switching in a second time and pursuit to eliminate ghosts that want to spin block and psychics (e.g. latias). The new EVs allow me to switch into latias much easier and threaten it with pursuit/u-turn.
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121_Starmie.jpg

Starmie @ Leftovers
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 136 HP/156 Def/218 Spd
Timid nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Surf
- Thunderbolt
- Rapid Spin
- Recover
The rapid spinner of the team because I NEED backup just in case aerodactyl can't do his job or stealth rock is set up later in the game. Surf is the obligatory STAB and has nice coverage, T-bolt can hit opposing gyarados hard, but I'm not sure whether to drop it for ice beam to hit pesky dragons?? Rapid spin is needed in the job description and recover is for more longevity so I can repeatedly come in and spin if I need to.
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479_Rotom.jpg

Rotom-h @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 216 HP/252 Spd/42 SAtk
Timid nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Thunderbolt
- Shadow Ball
- Overheat
- Trick
A new addition to the team to replace gyarados. Gyarados was only placed on the team originally as a filler and the keep the pressure applied on the opponent. Rotom-h's role is to revenge kill opposing gyarados with t-bolt and is an additional check to scizor by threatening it with overheat. Shadow ball is an extra STAB move and trick is primarily to screw over stall e.g. blissey.
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If Salamence wants to sweep, then Dragon Dance is the move you want. Gyarados seems to be doing the exact same thing, though, which is a little strange but not actually a problem, I suppose. I would run Taunt Gyarados though, to better support the rest of the team.
 
Magnezone is not really necessary. Your Salamence OHKOs Skarmory 70% of the time with Flamethrower, and it also has boosted Earthquakes to deal with other Steels. Most Skarmory have Shed Shell anyway and can escape your Thunderbolts, and switch into a Ground type or Electivire.
 
I'll test DD some more on mence then. Magnezone comes in handy in pretty much every match I play so I won't be replacing him. I may run taunt on Gyarados over EQ. Does anyone know of a better DD set for Salamence that doesn't necessarily need to cover steels?
 
hi, your team itself is quite solid, and any pokémon that may appear to be a threat (such as choice band tyranitar) can't exactly switch in on you due to your ability to hit your opponents so hard that it is facing an inevitable ohko after a switch into most of your pokémon's attacks. all i can suggest is a change of sets, at best. first of all, i would like to address your salamence set: as MrIndigo has already pointed out, salamence appears to be the focus of your team and is meant to be the pokémon hitting your opponents the hardest, this means that wherever it can acquire boosts, it will most likely benefit from them and threaten your foes even more (even if it's only to complement the later effectiveness of other pokémon like your gyarados), therefore, i would recommend you actually go and stick to using your dragon dance salamence. your current set is all well and good in the short term, but it's much too prone to being set up on after its used a draco meteor (for example), which invites common walls to come in and remove salamence without much pressure as it would have due to the decrease in its fundamental attacking stat, special attack. with using dragon dance salamence, the tempo of your game increases, and you're pressure becomes more of a problem for opponents (who are now 2HKOed by Salamence's +1 Life Orb Outrage regardless of what they may attempt, severely weakening foes). the choice between roost and fire blast is optional; roost is beneficial if you find starmie not doing as much as you'd like with regard to rapid spinning, and fire blast for steel-types that magnezone may appear incapable of handling. i would like to suggest the following set:

salamence @ life orb
ability: intimidate
evs: 252 atk / 4 def / 252 spe
adamant nature (+atk, -spa) or naughty nature (+atk, -SpD)
- outrage
- earthquake
- fire blast/roost
- dragon dance

with regard to starmie, i would suggest the use of thunderbolt over ice beam, mainly for the fact that gyarados is much more of a threat to you (as without it, gyarados can set up on you and dragon dance on you, then commence to 6-0 you if aerodactyl is: a) gone, or b) damaged prior and is outpaced by gyarados), that starmie can handle, as opposed to starmie's ability to deal with dragon-types like salamence and flygon, which it's getting hurt more from, and can't really switch into, whereas a scizor with 160 HP / 176 Atk / 168 SpD / 4 Spe can deal with salamence and latias effectively; besides, you can handle them through smart play and scizor anyway. there isn't much comprise in the matter, unless you want to endanger your team unnecessarily to have an ineffective "back-up check" than a "solid check" to a more definitive threat to you specifically.

random nitpick, but you may want to move aerodactyl's hp evs into SpD or defense, so your HP number remains odd so you can switch into stealth rock five times as opposed to four.

edit just to open yourself to more probabilities; making starmie a life orb starmie with hydro pump / ice beam / thunderbolt / recover and 40 HP / 252 SpA / 216 Spe, depending on your preference, means that you are adding to the pressure that your opponents have with regards to checking starmie; the likes of scizor and tyranitar cannot switch into you safely, and risk dying more often than not if they switch into hydro pump from starmie.

good luck with the team.
 
Hello there. Salamence sweeps are always fun, but you seem to have left a few threats unchecked.

Agility Metagross is a huge threat to your team, as it can come in on Scizor's Bullet Punch or Pursuit, set up an Agility, and sweep the rest of your team. Only Scizor can take a hit, but he can only do around 50-60% or so with Superpower, which means that you'll have to sacrifice quite a few Pokemon to take it down. A slightly lesser but still imposing threat is DD Gyarados, as it can come in on Scizor's Bullet Punch and set up a DD. Although Starmie handles that, it has to be in good condition to (Jolly non-LO do 50% minimum, Adamant LO does 74% minimum). Intimidate juggling reduces Gyarados's ability to sweep, but both of your Intimidators are weak to Stone Edge. Fortunately, there is one check for both of these Pokemon: Scarf Rotom-h. It resists or is immune to all of Agility Metagross's common attacking moves and can outspeed Gyarados even after a DD and KO both of them. Scarf Rotom-h also helps you with your Charge Beam Jolteon problem, as you need both Scizor and Magnezone to take it down (or good prediction). By replacing Gyarados for this, you gain the aforementioned benefits and you lose another potential sweeper.

Rotom-h @ Choice Scarf
Timid | 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Thunderbolt / Overheat / Shadow Ball / Trick

Thunderbolt and Overheat handle Gyarados and Metagross respectively, while Shadow Ball is there to hit Latias, Gengar, and other Rotom-a. Trick is there to cripple Blissey.

Secondly, your Scizor is the only Pokemon that can switch into Latias and threaten it with a Pursuit or U-turn. Therefore, I recommend a slightly bulkier EV spread for Scizor. With a spread of 160 HP / 176 Atk / 168 SpD / 4 Spe, you can reliably take Draco Meteors from Latias and threaten it.

Thirdly, give Aerodactyl Rock Slide over Stone Edge. It's definitely fast enough to take advantage of the flinch change, and it's mostly dying anyway so it's not really going to get much power off anyway.

Finally, you no longer need Choice Scarf on Magnezone because Scizor and Lucario are outsped by Rotom-h. Therefore, I suggest a different set for it. Try this one:

Magnezone @ Leftovers
Naive | 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Substitute / Thunderbolt / HP Grass / Explosion

Substitute lets your Magnezone scout attacks, while Thunderbolt takes care of Scizor. HP Grass easily KOs Swampert, while Explosion is there for a last ditch attempt. The EVs let you outspeed 0 Speed Skarmory and Breloom along with CB Scizor.

Good luck!
 
Thanks a lot for the rates vashta and supermarth64! I'll be testing the changes recommended such as the new scizor EVs suggested by both of you, the new salamence set from vashta, the new magnezone set from supermarth64 and finally I'll be testing rotom-h > gyarados. I'll let you know how it goes!
 
That switch to Rotom-H, by the way, could enable you to forego Rapid Spin on Starmie and instead pack another move, such as recover, or possibly a way of hitting Rotom-A's that switch in expecting spin for super-effective damage.

But yeah, as posted before, This team needs a household appliance. Do you feel that having the double intimidate is important, though?
 
If you want a salamence sweep, Mixmence is probably not the way to do it, unless you want to have a team that is paralysis oriented, which I don't believe is the case. I would invest much more attack EVs and physical moves, and defidently go with dragon dance on Salamence.
I'm not really a huge fan of stone edge, simply because of its meddling accuracy. If you're the kind of person that will use Fire Blast, go ahead, but I'd personally opt for another move on Gyrados, like maybe Ice Fang.
LO Jolteon seems like a troublesome pokemon to this team, espiecally if it's a BoltBeam version with HP ice; but he's not to common, so I wouldn't worry a lot.
 
Edits have been made to the team. Although I like the idea of having an offensive starmie on the team I just can't afford not to have a RS on the team, for salamence's sake. I have to say after testing the new magnezone set it is much better suited to the team than the scarf set. Please keep rating for anything else I should be looking out for or any new weaknesses the team might be developing. Thanks for the rates so far!
 
I don't see the point in having a lead that prevents the set up of Stealth Rock and having a spinner on the same team. Its counterproductive to have two things that one could easily do. Change one of them, and my suggestion would be to change Aerodactyl as its a suicide lead that only prevents Stealth Rock and gets Stealth Rock up itself, while Starmie supports the team by being a decent Infernape, Heatran check and it can help get rid of Hippowdon Gliscor, and other physical walls that wall Salamence. Something like a Trick-Scarf Jirachi lead would work well over Aerodactyl -- it can prevent Stealth Rock in some cases by flinching the opponent to death (for example: Azelf and Aerodactyl lose if they get flinched once by Iron Head) and can trick a Scarf on something, so mence can get an extra chance to set up on say, a Swampert stuck in an Earthquake. 80 HP / 252 Atk / 176 Spe, Jolly, Choice Scarf, and the moves: Trick, Stealth Rock, U-turn, Iron Head will give you a good lead that can help support the team nicely with Trick and can help scout with U-turn (and prevent you from getting trapped by opposing Magnezone).

Use Roost over Fire Blast on Salamence and an Adamant nature. Magnezone will be able to get rid of most Skarmory and Bronzong anyway (with you having 2 Trick-Scarfers it shouldn't be hard), and having Roost can get you an extra Dragon Dance, meaning GG for the opponent. +2 Life Orb Outrages OHKO everything, and nothing can outpace you in ou after 2 Dragon Dances. Also, nitpick mainly, but use 40 Atk / 252 SpA / 216 Spe on Magnezone. Maxing the speed is a waste, and with 216, you'll be able to outpace every Adamant Scizor, and set a sub on their Bullet Punch / Pursuit and act accordingly. The 40 Attack EVs give you a stronger Explosion, and optimizes your spread. And finally, use something like 216 HP / 40 Spa / 252 Spe on Rotom-h. You want to be able to survive +1 Waterfalls from LO Gyara, and a Crunch from LO Lucario as well as having a little more bulk to get it in on stuff. The rest of the team was covered by the other team raters here.

Good Luck.
 
@ joshe: I get what your saying about having a lead such as aero and a RS on the team. I may change starmie to a LO special attacker. Can anyone give me a bulky EV spread that can be offensive for the star? I took on board your changes in respect to salamence and magnezone so thanks for that.

@ george182: I like the idea of your mence set, it's a bit like the one on the smogon analysis, only with different EVs. I think I will stick with the set I'm currently running as it's not doing anything wrong atm. Thanks for the suggestion though.
 
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