Revenge kill (OU)

[Swali]

Hi, I'm new to the Smogon Forums, but I've been playing off-and-on in the Smogon Shoddy ladder for about four or five months now. This is the latest permutation of the team I've been using, now adapted for revenge killing.

The Team

Aerodactyl @ Focus Sash
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 4HP/252Atk/252Spe
Nature: Jolly
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- Taunt
- Stealth Rock

A standard Aerodactyl build. I'm most attracted to the Aerodactyl lead for several reasons. First of all, he's one of the fastest leads. I can't stand not going first. It really bothers me. The only things that can seem to outspeed Aerodactyl are Crobat, priority moves, and the odd Choice Scarf'd Trick leads. Which, speaking of trick, is the second reason. He outruns the conventional Trick lead, only beaten by a Choice Scarf one, but that's just asking for Aerodactyl to come sweep you later with nigh unbeatable speed. And that's the third reason I like Aerodactyl. He's always useful late game, for several reasons I'll touch on later.

Lucario @ Life Orb
Ability: Inner Focus
EVs: 252Atk/4Def/252Spe
Nature: Adamant
- Swords Dance
- ExtremeSpeed
- Close Combat
- Crunch

Like all the Pokemon this team runs, this Lucario is a standard build for physical sweeping. I once tried the special one, but had very limited success with it. It's hard to say when I'd rather have a no-set up sweeper or the physical beast that is SD Lucario. In the end, I just decided there were better special threats and the SD variant quickly became the primary sweeper. In an odd way, he doesn't fit the team, but the synergy seems to center around Lucario.

Starmie @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 4HP/252SpA/252Spe
Nature: Timid
- Surf
- Rapid Spin
- Ice Beam
- Thunder Bolt

One of three special attack-based revenge killers on the team. Starmie was originally put on the team to counter Fire, Dragon, and Bulky Water. This set deviates from the prescribed moves for a Scarfmie because this team, until recently, sported a Salamence. Rapid Spin remains, because Heatran's place on the team has not been solidified. Starmie has performed better than I had hoped, however. When I'm more sure of Heatran, Rapid Spin will probably be dropped for Trick.

Dugtrio @ Life Orb
Ability: Arena Trap
EVs: 4HP/252Atk/252Spe
Nature: Adamant
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- Night Slash
- Aerial Ace

After adding Dugtrio to my team, he became my favorite Pokemon. There's nothing quite so satisfying as holding him in the rafters, waiting to pounce on some of OU's biggest threats, then switch him in for a really easy kill. It's really easy to underestimate a Dugtrio, too, because he seems so underwhelming. I will admit, maybe Dugtrio is a little underwhelming, but a well-placed Dugtrio can really ruin someone's day. Best of all, he has a full type immunity. Not to mention, people don't seem to expect it to KO certain Pokemon before the little terror wreaks havoc. My favorite was when someone attempted to counter with Gyarados and just watched as Stone Edge and Stealth Rock made quick work of it. I just really wish Stone Edge didn't have such poor accuracy. It can really upset my little guy.

Gengar @ Life Orb
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 4HP/252Spe/252SpA
Nature: Timid
- Shadow Ball
- Thunderbolt
- Focus Blast
- Psychic

Gengar was added to this team for one reason. A couple months ago, it seemed as though there was a sudden boom in popularity for Machamp. To this day, Machamp is my least favorite Pokemon. He's the ret paladin of competitive Pokemon. A largely unskillful choice in my eyes, all you had to do was Dynamicpunch through your opponent's team and use a type-coverage attack if there was a ghost. It got to the point where I considered joining the forums just to petition for a Confuse Clause. I eventually got fed up with it and put Gengar on the team. It was a pretty obvious decision when it came down to it. Gengar's immune to Fighting-type attacks, Dynamicpunch is a fighting type attack. Gengar also filled the role of anti-Psychic/Ghost/Dark/Fighting, which the team had none of previously.

Heatran @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 4Atk/252Spe/252SpA
Nature: Naive
- Flamethrower
- Earth Power
- Hidden Power: Grass
- Explosion

Heatran is the newest addition for one simple reason. This team had a lot of immunities when this slot was filled by Salamence. Now, I've added another. This team, until either Gengar, Dugtrio, or Heatran is KO'd is immune to five different types (normal, fighting, ground, electric, and fire). What's more, three of those types are Lucario weaknesses. Two of those types are Heatran weaknesses. One is a Starmie and Aerodactyl weakness. Now take into account that Heatran takes 1/4th damage from both Grass and Ice, covering well for Dugtrio. Unfortunately, Gengar creates a bit of a weak link by not having his type-weaknesses covered.

That's sort of why I created the team to be a revenge kill team. First of all, there are the STAB neutral threats that can KO my Pokemon. Second, the team has no walls. The team once made very good use of Blissey and Hippowdon as walls, with a Kingdra for its ability to switch into just about anything. Now, however, losing a Pokemon is a lot easier, so I need to capitalize on it when it happens. Third, some of these Pokemon share individual threats, like Pursuit users. In fact, Pursuit is probably the team's biggest weakness. Starmie, Gengar, and Dugtrio all seem to fear Pursuit. I haven't seen a lot of Tyranitar lately or Scizor that carry Pursuit, but it's a looming threat for those three should one of the two switch into one of them. In most Pursuit cases, putting damage on the Pokemon, taking the KO, and getting a revenge kill is probably the best choice.

So, let me know what you think. I'd be glad to hear from you.

 

[Delko]

hello

You could try Hydro Pump instead of Surf on Starmie to get some important KO's. The same thing goes for Fire Blast over Flamethrower on Heatran.

I do suggest A life orb on Starmie or you could replace her with scarfed Latias, which is a better revenge killer imo:

Latias @ choice scarf/ timid/ levitate
6 HP, 252 Spe, 252 SAtk

- Trick
- Thunderbolt
- Draco Meteor/ Dragon Pulse
- Surf

--> Shouldn't be explained, moveset is obvious. Thunderbolt, Surf, Draco Meteor/ Dragon Pulse gives great coverage. Trick is to screw over walls. The option Draco Meteor or Dragon Pulse is that after the SAtk drop from Draco Meteor you are most likely left as a sitting duck. Although Draco Meteor could give you some important KO's, like Zapdos.

You are kind of Scizor weak (only safe switch-in is Heatran) so I suggest switching your Gengar to MYSTIC-gar. This will help you to kill Scizor switch-ins:

Gengar @ life orb/ timid/ levitate
6 Def, 252 Spe, 252 SAtk

- Protect
- Focus Blast
- Hidden Power (fire)
- Shadow Ball

--> Protect might seem like an odd option but it gives you an easier time at beating Scizor and to a lesser extent Tyranitar (or escaping from it). Protect on the first turn will show what Scizor might do, Pursuit or Bullet Punch. Since most are banded they will use the same move again next turn so you can plan your strategy accordingly. If they Bullet Punch you can switch out. If Scizor tries to Pursuit you can stay in and finish him off with a Hidden Power (fire). The only thing you need to watch out for are those Sword Dance Scizor.

I also sence a difficulty with Bulky waters, that's why you should consider changing Scarftran to Subtran. Of course this will not cure your water weakness, but it will allow you to badly poison one and stall it out.

Heatran @ leftovers/ timid/ flash fire
6 HP, 252 Spe, 252 SAtk

- Fire Blast
- Substitute
- Toxic
- Earth Power

--> While Subtran looses it reliable ability for perfect reveng killing it gains another possitive thing, you don't need to predict as good as you should with Subtran. Substitute when you thing your opponent is going to switch. So you can choose your move accordingly to the switch-in. Toxic lets you deal with Bulky waters (or at least as good as it possibly gets). Earth Power let's you deal with Heatran switch-ins trying to get a flash fire boost. Fire Blast is for the obvious STAB.

It's to shame you have no pokemon with a fire weakness (except Lucario, who is used as a late game sweeper) so Heatran could get a hard time switching in. You could insert Scizor somewhere.

Hope this helped!