Reach for the stars

[-Lux-]

~~~ At A Glance~~~

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~~~Team Building~~~

This team is based around my fav sweeper: Raikou. with amazing speed mixed with decent bulk and also access to thunder bolt and shadow ball granting me perfect coverage couldnt be better.

Next up is 1 of the best Dancers in OU: Gyarados. This Powerfull beast after 1-3 DD is a dangerous opponent to handle witch makes it so reliable in mid game or even a late sweep. either way a deadly opponent all round no matter who you face.

Taking the 3rd part of my team is my best revenge sweeper Jirachi. Although he doesnt have Superior stats he can still cause murder to opponents sweepers or walls with its amazing power to flinch the target 60% of the time giving me full control over the battle.

noticing that so far i had alot of ground weakness i decided to make things fun by adding a bulky DDnite. after alot of testing if used right this pokemon is a beast even while burned witch made an exaptional member to the team anytime in the battle. gets ruined by mixape if not boosted.

After alot of thought it was clear that Gyarados alone could not stop the power of mixape so i added starmie. I tried it a few times and it turned out a big help vs mixape and vs anti-lead machamp who is a pain also dealing massive damage to any1 who oposes it Wall or sweeper.

The last problem i faced was coming up with a lead. After testing multiple leads Celebi standed out the most in ruining Swampert and metagross leads in the blink of an eye with the power to come back in midgame and deal Massive damage to other threats.



~~~Into The Depths~~~

Celebi @ Occa berry

Nature: Modest
Evs: 76 HP / 252 SpA / 180 Spe
Moves:
.

Stealth Rock
.

Leaf Storm
.

Earth Power
.

U turn

Synergy:
Bug: Gyarados / Dragonite
Flying: Jirachi
Fire: Dragonite / Gyarados / Starmie
Ice: Starmie / Jirachi
Poison: Jirachi

Ive always had problems with heatran / mixape trying to get an advantage over my team and so far this celebi has done a good job at preventing it. with an amazing base sp attack it can ko even the bulkiest of swampert and any Metagross with under 100 sp def evs.
Another advantage is that it can come in midgame and deal some serious damage to most opponents. In conclusion the perfect lead.

Gyarados @ Wacan berry

Nature: Adamant
Evs: 156 HP / 72 Atk / 96 Def / 184 Spe
Moves:
.

Dragon Dance
.

Waterfall
.

Earthquake
.

Ice Fang

Not the usual Bulky Gyarados moveset but that doesnt mean its not as good. with its 3 attacks giving perfect coverage its a hard opponent to take down after 2-6 DD. Wacan berry is for its very common counters such as starmie / jolteon / raikou and returning the damage with earthquake Quite indestructable.

Synergy:
Electric: Wacan berry / Raikou
Rock: Jirachi

Raikou @ Life Orb

Nature: Timid
Evs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Moves:
.

Thunder Bolt
.

Shadow Ball
.

Hidden power ( ice )
.

Calm Mind

Everyones telling me that Raikou is Under rated and is useless. well heres were i proove them wrong after Calm mind it can 2ko the bulkiest of dusknoir - 3ko Crocune without breaking a sweat. Its biggest problem is Fast Earthquake users like Dugtrio and flygon witch are easily taken by Gyarados.

Synergy:
Ground: Celebi / Gyarados / Dragonite

Dragonite @ Leftovers

Nature: Adamant
Evs: 252 Hp / 58 Atk / 100 Def / 100 SpD
Moves:
.

Dragon Dance
.

Dragon Claw
.

Earthquake
.

Roost

Out of all the bulky sweepers ive tested this 1 would have to be the best. after a few DD it can be hell to take down even when burned it puts up a decent fight 2ko'ing bulky dusknoir at +6 burned. as every dragon its problem is ice witch is easily Resisted + ko'd by Jirachi or Starmie giving it immunity.

Synergy:
Ice: Jirachi / Starmie
Rock: Jirachi
Dragon: Jirachi

Jirachi @ Choice scarf

Nature: Adamant
Evs: 4 Hp / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Moves:
.

Iron head
.

U turn
.

Fire Punch
.

Thunder Punch

This has to be the best physical sweeper in OU. nothink can take its flinch spamming easily witch is a real pain. also the high burn / paralize chance can work to my advantage. the only problem here is speed ties with scarfgon or/and Swampert who can give it a run for its money. other than that Great sweeper has helped me in many battles.

Synergy:
Ground: Celebi / Gyarados / Dragonite
Fire: Gyarados / Dragonite / Starmie

Starmie @ Life Orb

Nature: Timid
Evs: 4 Hp / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Moves:
.

Surf
.

Psychic
.

Ice beam
.

Thunder Bolt

Starmie fits in perfectly here taking away my machamp and mixape Problem leaving me to sweep. ko'ing common counters with LO surf while taking immunity from Raikou making the perfect combination. a speed boosted electivire is the only problem ive ever faced with starmie taking a death blow from jirachi or gyarados fixes that.

Synergy:
Electric: Raikou
Grass: Celebi / Jirachi / Dragonite
Bug: Gyarados / Dragonite


~~~Last Look~~~

~~~Any advice on movesets or switches would be helpfull thanks in advance~~~

 

[Bloo]

Hi there, you've got a pretty nice team here. I have a few suggestions that will hopefully help your team out!

Blissey has the potential to be troublesome for your team since you're lacking strong physical moves that immediately threaten her. Your team revolves around CM Raikou, a Pokémon that is stopped cold by Blissey. If you wish to sweep with Raikou, you need a reliable way to eliminate Blissey. One way you can do this is by using Roserade as a lead over Celebi. Roserade can lay down Toxic Spikes. Toxic Spikes make it difficult for Blissey to take repeated onslaughts from your special attackers, allowing Raikou and Starmie to bring it down. Gyarados's main roadblock are bulky Water-types such as Vaporeon, right? Well, Toxic Spikes wears them down, giving Gyarados an easier time against them. If you wish to give Roserade a try, I recommend using the following:

Roserade @ Focus Sash
Ability: Natural Cure
Nature: Timid
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
- Sleep Powder
- Toxic Spikes
- Leaf Storm
- Hidden Power Ground

Pretty straightforward set. Since you showed concern against lead Heatran, I've included HP Ground onto Roserade's set. HP Ground in conjunction with Sleep Powder allows you to defeat Heatran most of the time. HP Ice can be used in the last slot if you want to kill lead Gliscor in one-shot and any Salamence that attempt to set-up on you. Toxic Spikes isn't a full proof way of taking down Blissey, so I have another suggestion for you later in this rate that will help you deal with her.

If you decide to replace Celebi with Roserade, you will lose out on Stealth Rock. For this reason, I'd like to recommend using a Gliscor in place of Dragonite. Dragonite seems like a filler on this team and isn't doing much for you. Gyarados is already fulfilling a similar role that your Dragonite is. Dragonite doesn't seem to be doing much as a physical sweeper here and you could really use some support in that slot, especially if you do end up using Roserade in place of Celebi. Gliscor can give you that support by providing Stealth Rock. It can also act as a safety blanket against Fighting-types, and also provides assurance against Tyranitar. Gliscor also helps you defeat Blissey and fares well against stall teams. Here's what I recommend using:

Gliscor @ Leftovers
Ability: Sand Veil
Nature: Jolly
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 Spe
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Roost
- Taunt

This set if rather self explanatory. If you want a more in-depth explanation as to how it works, check its analysis. Lastly, I have a few nitpicks for your team.

• Use Rapid Spin over Psychic on Starmie: Seeing as Gyarados is harmed by SR, her would appreciate if it was somehow removed. By using Rapid Spin, you can rid of SR, giving your Gyarados an easier time. Rapid Spin also disposes of the poison-inducing Toxic Spikes, an entry hazards which hinders Raikou's attempts to sweep. Psychic doesn't provide any significant coverage for Starmie. By usig Psychic, you're risking Tyraitar coming in for free, giving it an opportunity to annihilate Starmie with its STAB moves. I'd say Rapid Spin benefits you more than Psychic, so I suggest trying it out!

• Use a Jolly nature over Adamant on Jirachi: Choice Scarf Jirachi is a revenge killer, not a sweeper, so you need as much Speed as possible. With an Adamant nature, Scarf Jirachi fails to outpace Pokémon such as a Jolly Scarf Flygon and +1 DD Salamence with a Speed boosting nature, which is definitely something you don't want. With Jolly, you can Speed tie with the aforementioned Pokémon instead of straight out losing to them.

• Consider running Ice Punch in place of U-turn on Jirachi: Ice Punch will allow you to KO Salamence and Flygon without having to rely on Iron Head's flinch rate. Ice Punch also allows Jirachi to deal with Gliscor if the need arises.

That's all I have. Setsuna also weighed in his opinion on your team with this rate, so thank him as well. Good luck with your team!

 

[Setsuna]

I would also like to add a couple of things we forgot to mention. Firstly, I think Wacan Berry isn't the best item you can use for Gyarados, on this particular team. The purpose of using this item is obvious, but it's important to underline that max SpA Rotom-A won't face much troubles when attacking Gyarados with Thunderbolt. Rotom-A is one of the most used Pokémon in OU, and of the best Pokemon to utilize for the purpose of countering DD Gyarados, and the Wacan Berry doesn't really stop him from scoring an OHKO on Gyarados factoring in Stealth Rock damage. Take a look at this:

Max SpA Rotom-A's Thunderbolt vs. 156 HP Gyarados: (72.97% - 85.95%) --> Wacan Berry included. Most of the time, when SR is in play, T-bolt will be an OHKO.

72 Atk Gyarados's +1 Waterfall vs. 4 Def Rotom-A: (71.37% - 84.65%) --> Even with two previous damage of Stealth Rock, you're not getting so many probabilities of KOing Rotom-A.

What I'm getting at is that now that Toxic Spikes support has been suggested, Leftovers can be a much better option to use on Gyarados, as it will help him to stall Pokémon such as Vaporeon, Blissey, and Celebi easier than by using the berry. Leftovers will also help Gyarados to recover some health after having received a hit, so it will be increasing his opportunities of survival overall. On the other hand, without moving out of the subject of Gyarados, there are still one-two details to touch. Stone Edge is likely a must on almost any Dragon Dance variant of this Pokemon, as it permits him to hit for super effective damage opposing Gyarados, which is of vital importance in my opinion. Also, now that you have Toxic Spikes around, Gyarados won't be needing that much Ice Fang for taking care of Celebi, the primary counter of this Pokemon, as between Stone Edge and TS the aforementioned Grass-type individual will need to take a turn to switch out or otherwise it'd faint. In short, use Leftovers over the berry, and Stone Edge instead of Ice Fang.

Good team overall, gl.