OU

[TheBolo]

Hello! It's been awhile since I've done one of these. I didn't care for the new Kalos Pokemon at first but I slowly started incorporating them making my first legit OU team of this generation. This team is consistent but has a lot of flaws and errors that I need help fixing because it turns out the new metagame is pretty cool.

So offer up any changes you want, moves, Pokemon, items or otherwise, here we go!

Ereptomai (Salamence) Lum Berry
Moxie
Naive (+Spe, -SpD)
252 Atk/ 4 SpA/ 252 Spe
- Outrage
- Flamethrower
- Earthquake
- Dragon Dance

This is one Pokemon that I don't want to change, this guy is my favorite Pokemon and it's usually more fun to play with your favorites. Dragon Dance offers a nice boost in speed and after one Pokemon is taken down, x2 attack on him is nothing to mess around with. Lum Berry ensures that I won't be confused after Outrage and when facing a Jirachi I don't have to worry about being paralyzed and can attack at full speed both times, doing a decent amount of damage that I can cover with another Pokemon or KOing it.

Takhys (Tentacruel) Leftovers
Liquid Ooze
Bold (+Def, -Atk)
252 HP/ 240 Def/ 16 Spe
- Rapid Spin
- Toxic
- Scald
- Toxic Spikes

Their main purpose is to take a hit, remove hazards that cripple my other Pokemon, and lay down a status or some spikes. I feel like the toxic/toxic spikes combo is a little redundant in the moveset, but it can come in handy. It's also my counter for Ferrothorn. Liquid Ooze stops its ability to regain health and if I can lay down a burn with Scald (which does a decent amount of damage anyway) Ferrothorn's usually gone within a few turns.

Valdus (Charizard) Charizardite Y
Blaze
Timid (+Spe, -Atk)
4 HP/ 252 SpA/ 252 Spe
- Solar Beam
- Flamethrower
- Air Slash
- Dragon Pulse

Solar Beam without having to charge up in one word: Awesome. Water types, ground types, step aside because your typing is a burden now. I feel pretty comfortable sending him out against pretty much anything his move set can cover. Drought after he goes mega also helps to eliminate any weather patterns that hinder my team.

Soldarius (Aegislash) Focus sash
Stance Change
Adamant (+Atk, -SpA)
252 HP/ 252 Atk/ 4 SpD
- King's Shield
- Shadow Sneak
- Sacred Sword
- Swords Dance

Sword's Dance is what I normally begin with, a x2 priority move is pretty great. Sacred Sword provides good coverage, and King's Shield cripples offensive attackers that I wouldn't be able to handle as easily such as Garchomp. Focus Sash offers insurance that I'll have a second attempt to attack. (Edit: Actually looking at it just now I forgot to input the EVs, I've been doing fantastic with him so far and he wasn't even at full strength). Overall I'm pretty satisfied with this 'mon.

Vallum (Rhyperior) Leftovers
Solid Rock
Adamant (+Atk, -SpA)
252 Atk / 252 HP / 4 SDef
- Aqua Tail
- Stone Edge
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake

My physical wall. Solid Rock lessens the damage done by super-effective attacks by 25%, which really comes in handy. With the extra bulk I can take hits and deliver moves I shouldn't have been able to. Stealth Rock gets set up for hazards and then I use whatever move accordingly.

Helmer (Talonflame) Shell Bell
Gale Wings
Jolly (+Spe, -SpA)
4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
- Brave Bird
- Flare Blitz
- Taunt
- U-turn

Priority Brave Bird is great, Flare Blitz can be powered up by the sun Charizard leaves behind, Taunt to stop other 'mons from setting up and U-turn to get the heck out when things turn bad. Normally I'll use it to switch in to Rhyperior while facing Jirachi, getting a nice super-effective hit in and absorbing the thunder wave.

So that's my team! Please help in whatever way you can. Have a great day/night!

 

[Timpsu]

'kay, I'm going to be frank here and say that your team needs a lot of work. First of all, you have some 'mons here who don't do well in OU environment no matter what, such as Tentacruel. Also, each of your Pokemon has some sub-optimal moves or EVs, making it hard to fully utilize them in a way that takes full advantage of their niches. I'm going to make quite a few suggestions considering your moves, EVs and Pokemon choices in general. I hope you don't take any offense, but I do believe that with some strong modifications this team can be made much more better. First of all, I'm going to make some suggestions to just optimize your existing Pokemon, and in the end I will do some suggestions for heavy modifying, such as replacing some Pokemon with others.

First of all, I don't think Salamence is a good fit for a D-Dancer in OU. Even at +1, it can be managed, and it's not really that easy to get the Moxie boost. First of all, I suggest you switch Moxie to Intimidate, as that lets you have more setup opportunities, whereas Moxie is a bit unreliable as an ability. Also, I suggest you switch Flamethrower to Fire Blast. It does considerably more damage, for example, with Fire Blast you have 50% chance to kill a physically defensive Ferrothorn after SR, and not let him revengekill you with Gyro Ball or cripple with Thunder Wave. You really have to replace Air Slash with something on Char-Y, as you hit literally nothing with it. Fire Blast does always more damage in sun, even if Air Slash is supereffective. You need to replace Air Slash with either Focus Blast or Roost. Focus Blast lets you get past Heatran or Tyranitar, who tries to come in to change the weather, and Roost gives you more longevity.

I think your Aegislash is really the most criminally used Pokemon in the team. Focus Sash is absolutely redundant on him, as it breaks the moment you switch him to SR, and he can survive almost any hit at full health, unless it's a STAB super effective move. Also, I don't know what's the fascination with King's Shield + Swords Dance, but that's a bad set. +2 Shadow Sneak is not the end-of-all move, and it's very easy to check. Bulky Ground-types such as Hippowdon and Landorus can easily come in on your Aegislash, and check him. Also Mandibuzz can destroy you with Foul Play. Even though Swords Dance is not the best strategy to use on Aegislash, if you want to use it, use the set provided below. Iron Head is your most powerful physical STAB so that should be used. Head Smash lets you get past bulky Flying-types, but the recoil is heavy with Life Orb. Another option is Sacred Sword, but that really only covers Bisharp. Also, your Rhyperior needs some work. The only niche Rhyperior has in OU is that it can effectively check some strong physical attackers, such as Char-X, Talonflame and M-Pinsir and Dragonite. You never want to invest Attack on Rhyperior, as you will always move last, and need that extra bulk to do anything at all to the opposition. Rhyperior should be running the set I put down below. Stone Edge can be switched to Rock Blast to bypass Substitutes. Ice Punch lets you effectively check Garchomp, but Toxic can be used to wear down opposing walls. Last but not least, Talonflame. Even though priority Brave Bird is a nifty move, when it goes unboosted, you just don't hit all that hard. That's why I suggest you switch your item to either CB or Sharp Beak. With Choice Band, Talonflame becomes truly terrifying, but if you want to retain the option to switch moves, Sharp Beak should be used, as mostly you'll be spamming Brave Bird anyway. Sharp Beak boosted Brave Bird still isn't much, but it's better than Shell Bell. Switch Talonflame's nature to Adamant, as you really don't need the Speed, and Rhyperior can take good care of opposing Talonflame. Taunt is a bad move on the set, I suggest you switch it to Tailwind or Roost. Tailwind works better on Choice Band set, whereas Roost gives you more longevity if you use Sharp Beak.

Okay, now that the optimizing is done, I'm going to make some heavy moderation suggestions on your team. First of all, never use Tentacruel as a spinner outside of rain. The main problem with him is that he can't reliably beat the #1 spinblocker in the tier, Aegislash, unless you rely on Scald hax. Also, Toxic Spikes is not a good move, as any Poison type can come in and absorb them. Also it doesn't have an effect on most of the OU metagame. I suggest you try Starmie as a spinner in place of Tentacruel. Starmie can beat Aegislash, sits at a good Speed tier, and can be offensively threatening even if you don't need to spin. Below is the set to use. Hydro Pump is absolutely mandatory, as without is you fail to beat Aegislash. Ice Beam offers the best coverage, and Psyshock lets you get past M-Venusaur and AV Conkeldurr. Analytic + Life Orb hits hard on the switches Starmie creates. Another big fault I see in the team is that you have 3 Flying-types, of which 2 share the exact same typing, Fire/Flying. That's why I will propose you switch your Char-Y to Char-X, and leave out Salamence altogether, as Char-X is a better D-dancer overall. This would have the added benefit of having one extra teamslot, which you could fill with, for example, a special attacker. However, seeing as you most likely don't want to switch your Salamence away, you need to find another solution to the problem, but you can't have Char-Y and Talonflame on the same team, that's bad synergy. I'm going to make a proposal at the bottom of what your team would / could look like after my moderations. Good luck with teambuilding!

P.S I also noticed that with my moderations it would be quite easy to fit Latios or Latias on this team as a Defogger, so you wouldn't have to rely on Starmie spinning. That would open up another team slot for you, as Lati@s can act as reliable Defoggers + hit hard with their attacks.

Team

Charizard-X:
move 1: Dragon Dance
move 2: Flare Blitz
move 3: Dragon Claw
move 4: Earthquake
ability: Blaze
item: Charizardite-X
evs: 4 Def / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
nature: Adamant

Starmie:
move 1: Hydro Pump
move 2: Ice Beam
move 3: Psyshock
move 4: Rapid Spin
ability: Analytic
item: Life Orb
nature: Timid
evs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe

Aegislash:
move 1: Swords Dance
move 2: Shadow Sneak
move 3: Iron Head
move 4: Head Smash / Sacred Sword
ability: Stance Change
item: Life Orb
nature: Adamant
evs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe

Rhyperior:
move 1: Stealth Rock
move 2: Earthquake
move 3: Stone Edge / Rock Blast
move 4: Ice Punch / Toxic
ability: Solid Rock
item: Leftovers
evs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Def
nature: Impish

Talonflame:
move 1: Brave Bird
move 2: Flare Blitz
move 3: U-turn
move 4: Tailwind / Roost
ability: Gale Wings
item: Choice Band / Sharp Beak
evs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
nature: Adamant

Some strong special attacking wallbreaker, I'm gonna go with Landorus:
Landorus:
move 1: Earth Power
move 2: Psychic
move 3: Focus Blast
move 4: Sludge Wave / Knock Off
ability: Sheer Force
item: Life Orb
nature: Timid / Naive
evs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe