Rate My Team | My First Competitive Team Ever (OU)

[DavideBlast]

Hello everybody, I'm Davide and this is my first competitive ou team ever ( also my first thread on smogon yaay ) so I'd really love if you could give some tips to me. Please don't mind eventual English errors , I'm Italian and we all know how good Italian people are at English... (lol?)

Ferrothorn @ Rocky Helmet
Ability : Iron Barbs
EVs : 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 Atk
Relaxed Nature (+Def, -Spe)
- Leech Seed
- Stealth Rocks
- Spikes
- Gyro Ball

Ok, I didn't know if a Klefki would've been better, so I just went for Ferrothorn since his defense stats are awesome and I've a quite good Fire Type resistance with the other members of the team. He's the standard lead pokémon that set ups spikes, leech seeds and stealth rocks. Then Gyro ball for 2 reasons: it helps him against taunt-baits but mainly because it's extremely powerful since I gave him 0 IVs on speed and the Relaxed nature (-Spd,+Def).

Infernape @ Life Orb
Ability : Iron Fist
EVs : 252 Atk / 252 Spd / 4 HP
Jolly Nature (+Spe, -SpA)
- Stealth Rocks
- Brick Break
- Fire Punch
- Earthquake

Sometimes I lead with him, that's why I put Stealth Rocks so I can still put some entry hazard in case of a scary Fire Type pokémon that would OHKO my poor Ferrothorn like Ninetales, Talonflame or even a Charizard. Apart from that, he still is my good ol' speedy physical damage dealer. I gave him Fire Punch instead of Flare Blitz or something else because he has Iron Fist (I don't really like Blaze that much). I gave him Brick Break instead of Close Combat because I've experienced way too many Bronzongs, Smeargles, Klefkis that set up Reflect and Light Screen and also because I don't really like the stat reduced after he hits (who does right?). And then Earthquake just so he doesn't get melted by Electric Type pokémons.

Latios @ Life Orb
Ability : Levitate
EVs : 252 SpA / 252 Spe / 4 HP
Timid Nature (+Spe, -Atk)
- Draco Meteor
- Psyshock
- Ice Beam
- Thunderbolt

My Latios... he's just... awesome... this guy is just the super-duper-mega-alpha-beta-pokémon. He really can sweep the entire team with that massive Speed + SpAtk combo. I chose Draco Meteor as a "semi-panic" attack, for example, if I don't know what to do I just go fot it, and 75% of the times it OHKO most pokémons (of course then I have to switch out but that's not a really big deal in my opinion). Then the rest of the moves are just standard, I think everybody would put Psyshock and Ice Beam on this sexy beast. I initially had Energy Ball over Thunderbolt, but then I realized that Thunderbolt is just more useful (and I also have another Grass Type Pokémon in case I really need a Grass Type move).

Greninja @ Leftovers
Ability : Protean
EVs : 252 Spe / 252 SpA / 4 HP
Timid Nature (+Spe, -Atk)
- U-Turn
- Ice Beam
- Surf
- Dark Pulse

This is one of my favorite ones. That ability, if used correctly, can mess up every kind of team.
He helps Latios, Infernape and Aegislash finishing the work if they don't get the job done with that ridiculous amount of Speed (377). I gave him those moves just to be able to use his ability in the best way possible switching beetween Bug , Ice , Water and Dark. I chose U-Turn also because I could switch out pokémon while still doing some damage. Then I gave him Surf over Scald simply because I never get that BRN proc, so I decided to give him that +10 damage with Surf. I still don't know what item I should give him, I temporarily gave him Leftovers but I don't know about that.

Celebi @ Leftovers
Ability : Natural Cure
EVs : 252 HP / 252 SDef / 4 Spe
Calm Nature (+SDef, -Atk)
- Heal Bell
- Toxic
- Perish Song
- Energy Ball

I use him as a support with those Toxic and Heal Bell. I gave him Perish Song because I started suffering from Baton Pass teams with those silly
Scizor ( <--- I hate him soooo much!!!) and Aegislash.
Then Energy Ball just because his SpA isn't that bad (236) and also so I don't get Taunt-bait'd.
He's really helpful and he made me win a lot of games with this team, but I was thinking about another support pokémon like Vaporeon because I'd love to have Wish as a move but then I have to remove Perish Song because Vaporeon can't learn it and I really don't know what to do.

Aegislash @ Leftovers
Ability : Stance Change
EVs : 252 Atk / 252 Spe / 4 HP
Jolly Nature (+Spe, -SpA)
- King's Shield
- Swords Dance
- Sacred Sword
- Shadow Sneak

There's nothing to say about him. That's the moveset that everybody uses and I don't know what to say about this. He's just a Force of Nature:
1 : Set up 1-2 Swords Dance
2 : Start Attacking
3 : ???
4 : Profit Win.
I'm thinking about changing him because I don't really like him, but for know him keeping him, leave suggestions on what I could replace him with.


So this was my team, hope you leave suggestions on what I should remove/add/do. Please keep in mind that I'm into competitive poémons by like 2 weeks so I'm really noob about these things and that's why I'd love you to help me. Thanks for reading and Good Luck on the battlefield ;)

 

[Durant]

Celebi's ability is natural cure not levitate. Also if you are using perish trapping Celebi you might want to use protect over toxic to stall out perish song turns and replace energy ball for giga drain because the power isn't much difference and recovery really helps on a defensive mon. Vaporeon can also learn haze so replacing celebi with Vaporeon can be an option. My internet is being weird atm so ill edit some sets in this post once i can do that.

Edit:
Celebi @ Leftovers
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 236 SDef / 252 HP / 20 Spd
Calm Nature
- Perish Song
- Protect
- Giga Drain
- Recover

or

Vaporeon @ Leftovers
Ability: Water Absorb
EVs: 4 SDef / 252 HP / 252 Def
Bold Nature
- Wish
- Protect
- Heal Bell / Scald
- Haze

 

[DavideBlast]

Thanks a lot, I'll do what you suggested me with celebi since I think it's more logical than how my celebi is at the moment and thank you again ;D.
And also, do you have any suggests on who should I replace Aegislash with?

 

[Durant]

I won't change any pokemon in your team out but here's a few tips to improve your team:
- Your Ferrothorn set seems fine although you should drop your speed IV's to 0 for a stronger gyro ball
- For Infernape i suggest replacing the set you are using now with a choice scarf set because you don't seem to have any scarfers or revenge killers on your team. the set would look something like this:
Infernape @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Blaze
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 Atk / 4 SDef
Jolly Nature
- Close Combat
- Flare Blitz
- U-turn
- Stone Edge
This set allows to outspeed and revenge kill pokemon like Latios and Terrakion once they have been weakened. You can use hidden power ice to revenge kill dragon's more easily.
- You seem to be using your Latios as a wallbreaker so choice specs should be the item of choice for more power. The inability to switch moves doesn't really matter as you seem to be using draco meteor most of the time and you have to switch out either way after using draco meteor.
- The Greninja set you have seems fine but you should give him a hasty nature so his u-turn won't be weakened. Also replace leftovers with life orb or expert belt because Greninja can't take any hits so recovery isn't needed.
- Aegislash fits easy on most teams so you don't really neeed to replace it but i suggest changing his set to a mixed wallbreaking set because the swords dance set is easier to counter:
Aegislash @ Spooky Plate
Ability: Stance Change
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 SAtk / 4 SDef
Brave Nature
- Shadow Ball
- Shadow Sneak
- Iron Head
- Sacred Sword
This set is mainly used because it deals heavy damage to almost everything that switches in and is really useful for breaking walls.

Also sorry if i am wrong about something i'm not great in rating teams.

 

[Rafael J. Feliciano]

Off the bat I see some issues with your team:

1. No Mega? A Mega is not mandatory but if your serious about competing with the upper echelon of players then it goes without saying.
2. I will break down some of the members of your team:
A. Ferrothorn: EV Spread should be 252 HP / 48 Def / 208 SpD to maximize his bulk all around. Your current spread makes him too susceptible to Special Attacks that should otherwise not do a thing to him barring SE attacks. His 74/131/116 Bulk is more than capable of taking all types of hits bar none. Also, drop Spikes < Power Whip; you don't want your Ferrothorn to be set up bait by anyone carrying Taunt or opposing Deoxys-D Leads.
B. Infernape: Why is he carrying Stealth Rocks too? Drop Stealth Rocks < U-Turn to give your team some pivot potential. Also drop Brick Break < Close Combat; your running Iron Fist and should use it to net some OHKOs. DON'T BE TENTATIVE with Infernape. He's the definition of a Kill Or Be Killed!!! Also change Fire Punch < Thunder Punch so that you have a coverage move for Bulky Water Types like Crocune, Manaphy, etc... Finally change his Nature from Jolly < Hasty/Naive so that we can replace Earthquake < Overheat. Basically its MixApe with all the trimmings.
Infernape @ Life Orb
EV: 252 Atk / 252 Spe / 4 HP
Ability: Iron Fist
Hasty Nature
- U-Turn
- Close Combat
- Overheat
- Thunder Punch
C. Latios: You don't have a Rapid Spin/Defog User so make him your Defog user. Drop Ice Beam < Defog. Also, Roost is preferred to give him viability. Depending on whether you want to hit stuff like Azumarill, Manaphy and CroCune Keep Thunderbolt. If Mega Venusaur gives you pause, which it should then keep Psyshock. My vote is for Thunderbolt < Roost.
D. Aegislash: The Physical Set is not very useful. He should go as follows:
Aegislash @ Leftovers
EV: 252 HP / 252 SpA / 4 SpD
Ability: Stance Change
Quiet Nature
- Shadow Ball
- Shadow Sneak
- Sacred Sword
- King's Shield

I got no problem with Greninja, however, Celebi I feel is the mon that needs to be dropped for a Mega. Though it's nice to have a Cleric, your team far too fragile to worry about stuff like Toxic, T-Wave, Spore and WoW. Toxic and Spore can be countered by switching into Ferrothorn. With 1 WoW Immunity in MixApe and 3 Special Attackers WoW will not cripple you that immediately. The only thing left is T-Wave, which is seen on Prankster users like Thundurus and Klefki so there's not much that can be done there.

The Mega I would suggest go best with your team imo is:

Venusaur @ Venusaurite
EV: 248 HP / 192 Atk / 68 SpA
Ability: Chlorophyll -> Thick Fat
Relaxed Nature
- Giga Drain
- Synthesis
- Earthquake
- Sludge Bomb

This is my personal spin on M-Venusaur and doesn't mean that you HAVE to follow this template. However, I find it very effective on a number of the top mons out there:

68 SpA Mega Venusaur Sludge Bomb vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Clefable: 188-224 (47.7 - 56.8%) -- 38.7% chance to 2HKO after Leftovers recovery

68 SpA Mega Venusaur Giga Drain vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Greninja: 270-320 (94.4 - 111.8%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock

192 Atk Mega Venusaur Earthquake vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Heatran: 332-392 (86 - 101.5%) -- 87.5% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock

192 Atk Mega Venusaur Earthquake vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Aegislash-Shield: 124-146 (38.2 - 45%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery

68 SpA Mega Venusaur Giga Drain vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Rotom-W: 140-168 (46 - 55.2%) -- 98% chance to 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery

192 Atk Mega Venusaur Earthquake vs. 32 HP / 0 Def Bisharp: 174-206 (62.3 - 73.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock

68 SpA Mega Venusaur Sludge Bomb vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Thundurus: 147-174 (49 - 58%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery

68 SpA Mega Venusaur Giga Drain vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Mega Gyarados: 164-194 (49.3 - 58.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock

192 Atk Mega Venusaur Earthquake vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Mega Mawile: 144-170 (47.3 - 55.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock

These are a handul of the most viable mons in the Meta today, not including mons like Azumarill, Keldeo, etc... who just get pwned by M-Venusaur.

This is what I think can be bettered upon.

Let me know what you think?

 

[DavideBlast]

Thank you all for the tips
I changed Infernape, Latios and Aegislash mixing with both of the suggests.
I'm not sure about the M-Venusaur though... I think I'll try it out and then I'll let you know what I think
BTW I said that Ferrothorn already has IVs speed

 

[ApplepieFTW]

I won't change any pokemon in your team out but here's a few tips to improve your team:
- Your Ferrothorn set seems fine although you should drop your speed IV's to 0 for a stronger gyro ball
- For Infernape i suggest replacing the set you are using now with a choice scarf set because you don't seem to have any scarfers or revenge killers on your team. the set would look something like this:
Infernape @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Blaze
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 Atk / 4 SDef
Jolly Nature
- Close Combat
- Flare Blitz
- U-turn
- Stone Edge
This set allows to outspeed and revenge kill pokemon like Latios and Terrakion once they have been weakened. You can use hidden power ice to revenge kill dragon's more easily.
- You seem to be using your Latios as a wallbreaker so choice specs should be the item of choice for more power. The inability to switch moves doesn't really matter as you seem to be using draco meteor most of the time and you have to switch out either way after using draco meteor.
- The Greninja set you have seems fine but you should give him a hasty nature so his u-turn won't be weakened. Also replace leftovers with life orb or expert belt because Greninja can't take any hits so recovery isn't needed.
- Aegislash fits easy on most teams so you don't really neeed to replace it but i suggest changing his set to a mixed wallbreaking set because the swords dance set is easier to counter:
Aegislash @ Spooky Plate
Ability: Stance Change
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 SAtk / 4 SDef
Brave Nature
- Shadow Ball
- Shadow Sneak
- Iron Head
- Sacred Sword
This set is mainly used because it deals heavy damage to almost everything that switches in and is really useful for breaking walls.

Also sorry if i am wrong about something i'm not great in rating teams.

That aegi set really does need kings shield tho.

 

[DavideBlast]

That aegi set really does need kings shield tho.

Yea... that's what I was thinking too...
I'm rocking
- King's Shield
- Shadow Sneak
- SD Sword
- Iron Head
Adamant and with 252atk 252hp 4speed
How's that?

 

[ApplepieFTW]

Yea... that's what I was thinking too...
I'm rocking
- King's Shield
- Shadow Sneak
- SD Sword
- Iron Head
Adamant and with 252atk 252hp 4speed
How's that?

First, know that SD aegi is usually seen as inferior to ||shadow ball||iron head/sacred sword||pursuit/shadow sneak||, and then something like 100 attack ev's, 180 spec atk and then the rest into hp. Shadow ball hits very hard and is a good spammable move and iron head for fairies and sacred sword for bisharps and such and pursuit to trap lati's and sneak to revenge them+frail ghosts (gengar). But if you are going to run SD make your ev's (these arent perfect, but there isnt a 'perfect') 252+ atk, and then the speed probably should be max. The rarely run speed tbh. Just running 68 would let you outspeed other sneaking slashes but its just so damn slow. Put the rest into hp.

 

[Durant]

Yea... that's what I was thinking too...
I'm rocking
- King's Shield
- Shadow Sneak
- SD Sword
- Iron Head
Adamant and with 252atk 252hp 4speed
How's that?

The set Rafael J. Feliciano posted is probably the best set to use:
Aegislash @ Leftovers
EV: 252 HP / 252 SpA / 4 SpD
Ability: Stance Change
Quiet Nature
- Shadow Ball
- Shadow Sneak
- Sacred Sword
- King's Shield
When Aegislash goes mixed he can hit hard from both sides with base 150 attacking stats. you can change the set above to give it some attack EV's for even more sacred sword power but then you lose out on bulk.

 

[DavideBlast]

Ok, I'm going to try it out and I'll let you know, thanks everybody for the help

 

[Shyfire]

overall your team isn't that bad. ferrothorn looks good your really taking advantage of gyro ball. that infernape is a bit iffy. stealth rocks are fine but if your running iron fist for it's ability fire punch is ok brick break is meh. depending on the situation brick break could be good or bad. mach punch could be the better option with it's priority and STAB plus the iron fist boost it is powerfull but it's what you want, brick break could be good to get rid of screens. earthquake is ok but if you are running iron fist thunder punch is the better option you could also run stone edge for a bit better coverage. Latios is fine as is greninja. your celebi is intresting. a perish song staller is not the greatest for a celebi, one taunt and it's over. now i don't know a lot about perish song stalling but.......celebi should be that pokemon that you send in to take a hit you know what i mean. celebi should be the expandable member of you team. just replace perish song with a psychic move. ageislash is almost ok, if your going to run a jolly max speed ageislash instead of swords dance use automize to raise you speed. for team support you team has a rather large bug weakness. once your infernape is gone a bug can wreck your team and, (i know people are going to hate me for this but) try to play by item clause so only one pokemon have an item, although you don't need to do this lot's of people do. greninja should hold the wancan berry, infernape should hold the life orb, latios should hold the choice specs celebi should stay leftovers and agieslash should have the air balloon. hope this helped

 

[Durant]

overall your team isn't that bad. ferrothorn looks good your really taking advantage of gyro ball. that infernape is a bit iffy. stealth rocks are fine but if your running iron fist for it's ability fire punch is ok brick break is meh. depending on the situation brick break could be good or bad. mach punch could be the better option with it's priority and STAB plus the iron fist boost it is powerfull but it's what you want, brick break could be good to get rid of screens. earthquake is ok but if you are running iron fist thunder punch is the better option you could also run stone edge for a bit better coverage. Latios is fine as is greninja. your celebi is intresting. a perish song staller is not the greatest for a celebi, one taunt and it's over. now i don't know a lot about perish song stalling but.......celebi should be that pokemon that you send in to take a hit you know what i mean. celebi should be the expandable member of you team. just replace perish song with a psychic move. ageislash is almost ok, if your going to run a jolly max speed ageislash instead of swords dance use automize to raise you speed. for team support you team has a rather large bug weakness. once your infernape is gone a bug can wreck your team and, (i know people are going to hate me for this but) try to play by item clause so only one pokemon have an item, although you don't need to do this lot's of people do. greninja should hold the wancan berry, infernape should hold the life orb, latios should hold the choice specs celebi should stay leftovers and agieslash should have the air balloon. hope this helped

You don't need to play by item clause and item clause limits your item choice.

 

[Shyfire]

never said everyone HAD to play by item clause (i called it people would be hating on me for bringing up the item clause)

 

[Vxy]

Honestly, the best Infernape set you can get is this:
Infernape @ Life Orb/Choice Scarf
Blaze
[EVs are up to you]
[Nature is up to you]
-Fire Blast/Overeat (I'd take Fire Blast)
-Close Combat
-Gunk Shot
-Hidden Power [Ice]

I've used this set before, and it works great! Gives you good coverage and works great against stall. Fire Blast roasts those physically defensive Steels like Skarmory, Ferrothorn, Scizor, etc. Close Combat hits the pink blobs (Chansey and Blissey) really hard. Gunk Shot is for Fairies, and HP Ice is to destroy the likes of Gliscor, Landorus-T, and all Dragons.

 

[Mangojean100]

Really liking this team, man, but a couple things. 1) Infernape should not have SR as you already have a rocker/spiker. 2) You should probably have a mega. Pinsir maybe? 3) I think you should get rid of Celibi. It's not really doing anything and would be the perfect place place for a mega. Also why Pinsir would be great is because your team is kind of dark weak. Beware of Mega Charizard Y!