OUNewcoolcore MK.III
Introduction:
"Suicune is cool, let's use it"
Hi, this is an RMT for a team I've been using in OU on Showdown recently to some success.
Firstly on the slightly odd name. It's called OUNewcoolcore MK.III on account of the way I organise my teams on Showdown, with each bit representing something to remind me which team is which:
OU- This bit of course describes the tier
New- This is because I have had a previous team that was called "coolcore" (I possess incredible imagination)
coolcore- This section usually contains a brief description of the team's core strategy (in this case it started off as "Suicune is cool let's use it")
MK.III- This is the team version, updated every time I made a substantial alteration
Now that's cleared up, I suppose the best description of what the team actually does is that it's an Offense team that tries to constantly pressure the opponent until they slip up, creating a hole for one of the three main sweepers (Garchomp, Terrakion and Suicune) to start exploiting. I also try to be as flexible as possible to that I can play consistently against most play styles and can cope with the unexpected loss of a team member. It mostly works.
The Team:
In Depth:
Sweecoon (Suicune) @ Leftovers
Trait: Pressure
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SDef
Bold Nature
- Scald
- Calm Mind
- Rest
- Sleep Talk
Summary: "It's almost like I'm actually playing Gen 3"
I've always had a soft spot for Suicune. I had used it in OU before a few times across the generations, but never as the focus of a team and therefore never to great success. I had caught a few glimpses of its strength this gen though, using unsuspecting Rotoms as set up bait, punching Sand teams in the face and pulling the game back in a few last 'Mon sweeps. This team was created to capitalize on some of those strengths. Aside from the aforementioned duties, Suicune is also a nice switch in to many of the tier's Water Pokemon (although some care is needed with the likes of Specs Keldeo in the rain) and is a good makeshift switch in to most unbanded physical attackers. With specific relevance to Garchomp, Suicune giggles to itself as measly Ice Shards and Beams tickle its stomach, and sets up happily on steel switch-ins such as Forretress and Jirachi (being with Rest Talk making it usefully impossible to Paraflinch in the case of the latter). It has even set up on a few Ferrothorns who dared to venture out without Power Whip. The moveset, EVs and nature are straightforward, using the old Crocune set and aiming to make Suicune impregnable after a few Calm Minds.
Garfield (Garchomp) @ Choice Band
Trait: Rough Skin
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature
- Dragon Claw
- Earthquake
- Fire Fang
- Outrage
Summary: "Press Outrage, something dies"
Suicune is best friends with Dragons. Banded Garchomp is the recipient of this friendship, in return smacking a number of irritating Water immunities pretty hard. Few things are more enjoyable than the occasional forfeit as an opponent sees their Jellicent being cleanly OHKO'd. Other hard counters to Suicune Garchomp mauls include Gastrodon, Toxicroak and Vaporeon, although it helps if the former and latter are weakened slightly so no stray Ice Beams or Scald burns hurt Garchomp when it doesn't OHKO. Garchomp also handles those Jirachi which Suicune struggles with, namely ones with Calm Mind and Psyshock, and deals with some variants of Celebi. Admittedly Garchomp gets the most out of the Suicune partnership however, owing to Suicune's usefulness as a pivot against most things anti-Garchomp (read: Ice Pokemon). In short Garchomp basically functions as a durable Pokemon for me to switch in before clicking on a Dragon attack to see something die. Standard 252/252 EV split is used along with a fairly generic moveset, Jolly is used because its nice to outpace Thundurus after switching in on a predicted Thunder aimed at Suicune, along with positive natured base 100s in general. More importantly, the idea of Garchomp having a mindlessly jolly look on its face as it mercilessly hacks at its foes never ceases to amuse me.
Lenchen (Latias) (F) @ Life Orb
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
- Draco Meteor
- Psyshock
- Hidden Power [Bug]
- Recover
Summary: "Like a bland Breloom"
Once upon a time this team slot was occupied by Sub Punch Breloom, bringer of unlimited hilarity. Whilst Latias is far less amusing, it makes up for this by actually contributing to the team; it is of key use in battles against Rain and Sun teams and provides a nice response to the Grass types that Suicune disagrees with. Its typing also helps in switching into the fighting attacks which can be troublesome to the rest of the team. The set is a bit odd, running the sort of set you might expect to see on a Latios except with better durability. Draco meteor is there because it hits stuff hard, having a field day once Steel types are removed (which Magnezone, Garchomp and Suicune are good at doing between themselves). Psyshock deals with Breloom, who was otherwise intent on having vengeance after being cut from the team, whilst also hitting special walls quite nicely. Hidden Power Bug is a personal favourite, destroying Celebi which think they can stall out Draco Meteor. Recover is there for the obvious purpose of increasing durability, especially when Latias is being relied on heavily against Sun and Rain offense. EVs are once again a generic 252/252, maximising the pain Latias can inflict and the speed at which it can do so.
Cherundolo (Magnezone) @ Leftovers
Trait: Magnet Pull
EVs: 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
- Thunderbolt
- Flash Cannon
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Substitute
Summary: "Killing Steels with zero skill"
Magnezone seems somehow to find its way on to all of my teams, being a standard response to numerous Steel types. Its role is that of every Magnezone ever to have been used, killing Steels, and it does this very well, even overpowering Ferrothorn in the Rain provided that Leech Seed isn't switched into. It also provides a nice secondary response to the Water Absorb Pokes which can often block Suicune. Standard 252/252 is used yet again, and Timid is chosen to make sure that SD Scizor doesn't outpace and cause trouble. Sub and three attacks seems to be the best way forward generally, with HP Fire for Steels, Thunderbolt for the waters and Flash Cannon for general Neutral coverage. The amount of times people switch out their bulky waters into a ground type expecting a Thunderbolt, only to see Substitute go up followed by Flash cannon (KOing Mamoswine nicely) has numbered a lot. Other ground switch ins such as Landorus are maimed quite badly by Flash Cannon, and the turn it spends taking out the Substitute can yield valuable information as to what kind of a set it's running.
Sanic (Jirachi) @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Serene Grace
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Iron Head
- U-turn
- Stealth Rock
- Trick
Summary: "Jesus Christ how horrifying"
This set is almost like an experiment to see how many roles can physically be crammed onto one Pokemon. It's something of a dedicated lead, replacing what used to be a Normal Gem Explosion Mew suicide lead which, whilst creating much mirth from its exploding, meant that the team effectively consisted of 5 Pokemon in most games and was also hilariously weak to Calm Mind Latias. Jirachi solves this problem and manages to use flinch hax as a suitably amusing replacement to Explosion. It sets up Stealth Rock reliably whist also providing cheap KOs on Terrakion and Breloom leads most of the time. Trick is a nice opening move to cripple defensive leads, and also enables Magnezone to come in and happily slaughter Ferrothorn or Forretress locked into something useless. Trick also provides me with a somewhat inelegant response to certain Calm Mind sweepers, Baton Pass teams and can be a last ditch response to something like DD Gyarados after a boost, locking it into a move that another team mate can take before revenge killing. Importantly it can flinch hax CM Latias to death, a Pokemon which otherwise has its way with this team. Aside from setting up SR, crippling walls, revenge killing and ending sweeps, Jirachi can also use U-Turn to gain momentum and scout, and can pull off a frustrating flinch-based late game clean up with Iron Head if it needs to. 252/252 once again rears its ugly head, with Adamant chosen over Timid because Terrakion is the go to revenge killer for things that a Jolly Jirachi would outpace anyway. It also verges on feeling morally wrong to have a scarfer with an attacking stat lower than 300.
Terrence (Terrakion) @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Justified
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature
- Close Combat
- Stone Edge
- X-Scissor
- Quick Attack
Summary: "Terrence used Quick Attack! The foe's Cloyster lost 1% of its health! The foe's Cloyster fainted!" or "Terrence used Stone Edge! The foe's Dragonite avoided the attack!"
Last but not least we have Terrakion. Pretty standard set and EVs, and fulfills the role of revenge killing a myriad of threats at +1 (when Stone Edge actually hits of course). It's also a primary late game sweeper, with a good proportion of games finishing up with him CCing whatever's left standing. There isn't a whole lot to say about this set other than it prevents me getting swept by a large number of things. Quick Attack is probably the most out of place option, with its ridiculously miniscule output on a scarf set being enough to make many competitive battlers throw up with disgust. I do feel bad for using it, but the very rare instances where it chips that 1% off of Focus Sash Cloyster or whatever are more frequent than occasions where I wish I had Sacred Sword.
Development, performance and stuff
The team as it is now is the result of a fair period of lengthy trialing and improvement. I've experimented a lot, even giving a chance to Pokemon such as Cradily and Ditto. The team as it is at this stage is pretty good, going 14-0 on a fresh alt I made for it and reaching a rating of 1890. A previous incarnation briefly held a score of 1989 after straight wins against highly ranked opponents, but a shocking run of form led to it falling dramatically before the deviation had a chance to drop low enough for me to feature in the ladder. I've gotten to the stage now where it's becoming increasingly difficult to identify weak links, although I feel there is some redundancy in Cherundolo the Magnezone's role. You may ask why I'm turning over a team that's on an unbeaten 14 match win streak before at least allowing it to lose, but a few of those wins have been close calls and I still don't feel happy facing off against certain more stallish teams and certain Pokemon like Landorus. It's clear to me that certain problems from previous incarnations of the team still haven't been properly addressed, for example the way in which I have to play very well against boosting sweepers as a result of my reliance on revenge killing without priority, and things like letting Dragonite get that second DD or misplaying Volcarona even slightly can end me there and then. Furthermore, I have a tendency to play progressively worse the more success I have with a team and an equally bad tendency to go on endless losing streaks after the first loss is registered, and would therefore like to improve the team as much as possible now in order to give me the best chance of building on what I currently have.
Have at it, nothing is sacred with the obvious exception of Suicune.
Introduction:
"Suicune is cool, let's use it"
Hi, this is an RMT for a team I've been using in OU on Showdown recently to some success.
Firstly on the slightly odd name. It's called OUNewcoolcore MK.III on account of the way I organise my teams on Showdown, with each bit representing something to remind me which team is which:
OU- This bit of course describes the tier
New- This is because I have had a previous team that was called "coolcore" (I possess incredible imagination)
coolcore- This section usually contains a brief description of the team's core strategy (in this case it started off as "Suicune is cool let's use it")
MK.III- This is the team version, updated every time I made a substantial alteration
Now that's cleared up, I suppose the best description of what the team actually does is that it's an Offense team that tries to constantly pressure the opponent until they slip up, creating a hole for one of the three main sweepers (Garchomp, Terrakion and Suicune) to start exploiting. I also try to be as flexible as possible to that I can play consistently against most play styles and can cope with the unexpected loss of a team member. It mostly works.
The Team:
In Depth:
Sweecoon (Suicune) @ Leftovers
Trait: Pressure
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SDef
Bold Nature
- Scald
- Calm Mind
- Rest
- Sleep Talk
Summary: "It's almost like I'm actually playing Gen 3"
I've always had a soft spot for Suicune. I had used it in OU before a few times across the generations, but never as the focus of a team and therefore never to great success. I had caught a few glimpses of its strength this gen though, using unsuspecting Rotoms as set up bait, punching Sand teams in the face and pulling the game back in a few last 'Mon sweeps. This team was created to capitalize on some of those strengths. Aside from the aforementioned duties, Suicune is also a nice switch in to many of the tier's Water Pokemon (although some care is needed with the likes of Specs Keldeo in the rain) and is a good makeshift switch in to most unbanded physical attackers. With specific relevance to Garchomp, Suicune giggles to itself as measly Ice Shards and Beams tickle its stomach, and sets up happily on steel switch-ins such as Forretress and Jirachi (being with Rest Talk making it usefully impossible to Paraflinch in the case of the latter). It has even set up on a few Ferrothorns who dared to venture out without Power Whip. The moveset, EVs and nature are straightforward, using the old Crocune set and aiming to make Suicune impregnable after a few Calm Minds.
Garfield (Garchomp) @ Choice Band
Trait: Rough Skin
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature
- Dragon Claw
- Earthquake
- Fire Fang
- Outrage
Summary: "Press Outrage, something dies"
Suicune is best friends with Dragons. Banded Garchomp is the recipient of this friendship, in return smacking a number of irritating Water immunities pretty hard. Few things are more enjoyable than the occasional forfeit as an opponent sees their Jellicent being cleanly OHKO'd. Other hard counters to Suicune Garchomp mauls include Gastrodon, Toxicroak and Vaporeon, although it helps if the former and latter are weakened slightly so no stray Ice Beams or Scald burns hurt Garchomp when it doesn't OHKO. Garchomp also handles those Jirachi which Suicune struggles with, namely ones with Calm Mind and Psyshock, and deals with some variants of Celebi. Admittedly Garchomp gets the most out of the Suicune partnership however, owing to Suicune's usefulness as a pivot against most things anti-Garchomp (read: Ice Pokemon). In short Garchomp basically functions as a durable Pokemon for me to switch in before clicking on a Dragon attack to see something die. Standard 252/252 EV split is used along with a fairly generic moveset, Jolly is used because its nice to outpace Thundurus after switching in on a predicted Thunder aimed at Suicune, along with positive natured base 100s in general. More importantly, the idea of Garchomp having a mindlessly jolly look on its face as it mercilessly hacks at its foes never ceases to amuse me.
Lenchen (Latias) (F) @ Life Orb
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
- Draco Meteor
- Psyshock
- Hidden Power [Bug]
- Recover
Summary: "Like a bland Breloom"
Once upon a time this team slot was occupied by Sub Punch Breloom, bringer of unlimited hilarity. Whilst Latias is far less amusing, it makes up for this by actually contributing to the team; it is of key use in battles against Rain and Sun teams and provides a nice response to the Grass types that Suicune disagrees with. Its typing also helps in switching into the fighting attacks which can be troublesome to the rest of the team. The set is a bit odd, running the sort of set you might expect to see on a Latios except with better durability. Draco meteor is there because it hits stuff hard, having a field day once Steel types are removed (which Magnezone, Garchomp and Suicune are good at doing between themselves). Psyshock deals with Breloom, who was otherwise intent on having vengeance after being cut from the team, whilst also hitting special walls quite nicely. Hidden Power Bug is a personal favourite, destroying Celebi which think they can stall out Draco Meteor. Recover is there for the obvious purpose of increasing durability, especially when Latias is being relied on heavily against Sun and Rain offense. EVs are once again a generic 252/252, maximising the pain Latias can inflict and the speed at which it can do so.
Cherundolo (Magnezone) @ Leftovers
Trait: Magnet Pull
EVs: 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
- Thunderbolt
- Flash Cannon
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Substitute
Summary: "Killing Steels with zero skill"
Magnezone seems somehow to find its way on to all of my teams, being a standard response to numerous Steel types. Its role is that of every Magnezone ever to have been used, killing Steels, and it does this very well, even overpowering Ferrothorn in the Rain provided that Leech Seed isn't switched into. It also provides a nice secondary response to the Water Absorb Pokes which can often block Suicune. Standard 252/252 is used yet again, and Timid is chosen to make sure that SD Scizor doesn't outpace and cause trouble. Sub and three attacks seems to be the best way forward generally, with HP Fire for Steels, Thunderbolt for the waters and Flash Cannon for general Neutral coverage. The amount of times people switch out their bulky waters into a ground type expecting a Thunderbolt, only to see Substitute go up followed by Flash cannon (KOing Mamoswine nicely) has numbered a lot. Other ground switch ins such as Landorus are maimed quite badly by Flash Cannon, and the turn it spends taking out the Substitute can yield valuable information as to what kind of a set it's running.
Sanic (Jirachi) @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Serene Grace
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Iron Head
- U-turn
- Stealth Rock
- Trick
Summary: "Jesus Christ how horrifying"
This set is almost like an experiment to see how many roles can physically be crammed onto one Pokemon. It's something of a dedicated lead, replacing what used to be a Normal Gem Explosion Mew suicide lead which, whilst creating much mirth from its exploding, meant that the team effectively consisted of 5 Pokemon in most games and was also hilariously weak to Calm Mind Latias. Jirachi solves this problem and manages to use flinch hax as a suitably amusing replacement to Explosion. It sets up Stealth Rock reliably whist also providing cheap KOs on Terrakion and Breloom leads most of the time. Trick is a nice opening move to cripple defensive leads, and also enables Magnezone to come in and happily slaughter Ferrothorn or Forretress locked into something useless. Trick also provides me with a somewhat inelegant response to certain Calm Mind sweepers, Baton Pass teams and can be a last ditch response to something like DD Gyarados after a boost, locking it into a move that another team mate can take before revenge killing. Importantly it can flinch hax CM Latias to death, a Pokemon which otherwise has its way with this team. Aside from setting up SR, crippling walls, revenge killing and ending sweeps, Jirachi can also use U-Turn to gain momentum and scout, and can pull off a frustrating flinch-based late game clean up with Iron Head if it needs to. 252/252 once again rears its ugly head, with Adamant chosen over Timid because Terrakion is the go to revenge killer for things that a Jolly Jirachi would outpace anyway. It also verges on feeling morally wrong to have a scarfer with an attacking stat lower than 300.
Terrence (Terrakion) @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Justified
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature
- Close Combat
- Stone Edge
- X-Scissor
- Quick Attack
Summary: "Terrence used Quick Attack! The foe's Cloyster lost 1% of its health! The foe's Cloyster fainted!" or "Terrence used Stone Edge! The foe's Dragonite avoided the attack!"
Last but not least we have Terrakion. Pretty standard set and EVs, and fulfills the role of revenge killing a myriad of threats at +1 (when Stone Edge actually hits of course). It's also a primary late game sweeper, with a good proportion of games finishing up with him CCing whatever's left standing. There isn't a whole lot to say about this set other than it prevents me getting swept by a large number of things. Quick Attack is probably the most out of place option, with its ridiculously miniscule output on a scarf set being enough to make many competitive battlers throw up with disgust. I do feel bad for using it, but the very rare instances where it chips that 1% off of Focus Sash Cloyster or whatever are more frequent than occasions where I wish I had Sacred Sword.
Development, performance and stuff
The team as it is now is the result of a fair period of lengthy trialing and improvement. I've experimented a lot, even giving a chance to Pokemon such as Cradily and Ditto. The team as it is at this stage is pretty good, going 14-0 on a fresh alt I made for it and reaching a rating of 1890. A previous incarnation briefly held a score of 1989 after straight wins against highly ranked opponents, but a shocking run of form led to it falling dramatically before the deviation had a chance to drop low enough for me to feature in the ladder. I've gotten to the stage now where it's becoming increasingly difficult to identify weak links, although I feel there is some redundancy in Cherundolo the Magnezone's role. You may ask why I'm turning over a team that's on an unbeaten 14 match win streak before at least allowing it to lose, but a few of those wins have been close calls and I still don't feel happy facing off against certain more stallish teams and certain Pokemon like Landorus. It's clear to me that certain problems from previous incarnations of the team still haven't been properly addressed, for example the way in which I have to play very well against boosting sweepers as a result of my reliance on revenge killing without priority, and things like letting Dragonite get that second DD or misplaying Volcarona even slightly can end me there and then. Furthermore, I have a tendency to play progressively worse the more success I have with a team and an equally bad tendency to go on endless losing streaks after the first loss is registered, and would therefore like to improve the team as much as possible now in order to give me the best chance of building on what I currently have.
Have at it, nothing is sacred with the obvious exception of Suicune.