Riposte! (OU RMT)

Doman

Title not to be confused with "repost!" That's a different thing entirely. First time making an RMT, so if I make a faux pas somewhere, lemme know.

The team's lineup at a glance is Machamp, Bronzong, Celebi, Vaporeon, Heatran, Dragonite. After repeatedly getting torn up by Sandstream/stealth rock/spikes/other residual damage my first month or so on Shoddy, I decided to make a team that's a fair bit more durable. High defensive stats aren't the key to the team, but the team is designed to be naturally bulky and just shrug off hits while keeping on the offensive. I've played with this team for a few days now, and while I haven't kept track of wins/losses (would have done so if I planned to make an RMT thread from the beginning!), it's the team I've been most successful with so far.

Machamp@Lum Berry
No Guard
Adamant - 252 HP/160 Atk/96 SpD
- Substitute
- DynamicPunch
- Stone Edge
- Payback

Anti-lead, where the opening move depends on what the opponent has. It's not often I have to switch this guy out first thing, since most will try to a) induce a status effect on him or b) switch out to a Ghost type so DynamicPunch whiffs. Lum Berry fixes the first problem, Payback fixes the second, Substitute prevents further status effects. He usually gets a few good hits in and lets me start off with the upper hand.

Bronzong@Light Clay
Levitate
Relaxed - 252 HP/8 Def/152 Atk/96 SpD - 0 Spd IVs
- Reflect
- Gyro Ball
- Stealth Rock
- Explosion

Both Machamp and Bronzong are, admittedly, there to help make things easier for the rest of the team. Bronzong is basically here to come in early on something it resists, possibly Stealth Rock, then Gyro Ball or Reflect/Explode depending on how long I think he'll survive what he's currently up against. However, while Reflect does help the team out immensely, since the others' defensive stats are skewed towards Special Defense, in longer fights the wall runs out and I've exploded already. Stealth Rock never seems to be that urgent of a priority in the heat of battle, either, and I only manage to get Reflect or Stealth Rock up, not both. I'm thinking of replacing him with someone who'll stick around for another shot of Reflect as the fight drags on, given the rest of the team's nature.

Celebi@Leftovers
Natural Cure
Timid - 252 HP/176 Spd/80 SpA
- Calm Mind
- Baton Pass
- Recover
- Grass Knot

From here on out, these members are built to last and hit hard. This is a basic Baton Passing Celebi, which can do some surprising damage with Calm Minded Grass Knot and quickly hand the bonuses off to Vaporeon or Heatran when something comes in for salad.

Vaporeon@Leftovers
Water Absorb
Bold - 228 HP/252 Def/28 SpA
- Surf
- Ice Beam
- Wish
- HP Electric

Used to be Surf/Ice Beam/Wish/Protect, but this set up seems better to send in against other waters, like Suicune or Starmie. Ice Beam and HP Electric are there for coverage, Surf for STAB, and Wish to heal itself and make switch-ins for others a bit safer. Calm Mind passes from Celebi combined with Wish have helped Vaporeon turn into both a bulky and offensive threat, even in the face of STAB Thunderbolts.

Heatran@Leftovers
Flash Fire
Modest - 228 HP/30 Spd/252 SpA
- Metal Sound
- Taunt
- Fire Blast
- Earth Power

Instead of going with the current Scarftran trend I usually see, this one is built to come in on what it can resist and blast away. Taunt prevents opponents from setting up or recovering, and that, combined with Metal Sound, has let Heatran take down special walls that pose a problem to the rest of the team.

Dragonite@Lum Berry
Inner Focus
Adamant - 252 HP/60 Atk/196 Spd
- Dragon Dance
- Light Screen
- Roost
- Outrage

Dragonite usually isn't the recipient of Calm Mind passes, but he still keeps on the defensive with Roost and Light Screen. At first, it sets up Light Screen and alternates between Dragon Dancing and Roosting, then fires away with the rarely-resisted Outrage. It's meant to stay in against the usual 4x weak Ice Beams that opponents use to take dragons down, and does so surprisingly well. With a few dances under its belt, and Lum Berry to ward off status (be it burn, paralysis, or Outrage's confusion), the only thing that usually stops it is Ice Shard or an ice attack on the switch (That's the only time the now-popular Skymin has managed to beat it, too).



The main problems I've had with this team have to do with late game physical sweepers with either a Scarf or Swords Dance and priority moves. I'm kind of questioning my choices of Machamp and Bronzong, though the first does provide some physical firepower to the team and when the latter manages to provide its support, it's much welcomed. I'm not sure what else would make a good candidate for either of the first two, and even then, I'm not sure if I should change something in the last four or not. Thoughts, suggestions?
 
I suggest changing your Heatran up to 223 Speed so that you outspeed the standard Scizor, so that it remains a check to varients who will otherwise simply just Super Power or Brick Break you, obviously you will survive but not nessecarily if you have take a hit on coming in so you don't really want to be taking any chances with that. So lets go with a spread that looks more like: 124 HP / 252 SpA / 132 Spe, manintaining a fair amount of bulk but still keeping that ever present Scizor in check.

I worry about you with Blissey, Machamp is your lead and probably therefore your most vunerable team member, and is your only "real" answer to Blissey, Dragonite can't do anything against Blisseys with Thunder Wave and doesn't really like TOxic Vairents either although you might be able to scare it out with the threat of SuperPower / Outrage, but I would suggest changing Bronzong to your lead and change Machamp to the Standard ResTalker who will be able to switch into Blissey constantly and pose a threat and force switches with Dynamic Punch. Bronzong does well here as your main team idea is to Baton Pass special attacking moves around you will need something to safely combat Blissey, and this does it well. It also helps you to deal with that Tyranitar who poses a threat to your main strategy because it can pursuit trap Celebi, so it helps out in both respects.

Possibly consider Explosion > Taunt, I know you can taunt and then Metal Sound Blissey, and if that works then fine, but you might want to try out
a slightly more sure fire way of getting rid of Blissey then try that, I don't like your prospects against the (now addmittedly rare) Seismic Toss Blisseys. Gosh I'm tto tired now lol, I hope some of that helped and if you are having any more problems dont hesitate to come back!
 
Machamp looks good, and you can survive a Psychic from a Neutral Focus Sash 252 SpA Azelf, so that looks excellent (however Azelf will win if it uses Psychic twice because of Focus Sash). I don't really see the point of Light Screen on Dragonite, seeing as you sacrifice a spot that could be used for another attack (like Earthquake) that would stop later game steels from wrecking you (Scizor could set up on you if it had Roost and wreck your entire team, especially after Bronzong explodes). Having Celebi just pass you a couple Calm Minds would probably be preferred since you get far better coverage and the CMs will last you a lot longer than light screen.

Vaporen is definitely going to need to Protect since you can easily be 3HKO'd by a bunch of other things without it (along with all the residual damage happening, it can even turn those 3HKOs into 2HKOs). Protect also allows you to scout a Choiced attack and switch to the appropriate Pokemon. The choice between Ice Beam and Hidden Power Electric is yours, but you have Pokemon that can both easily handle Gyarados (Celebi with Reflect up) and Salamence (Dragonite with Reflect up). Salamence is probably the harder one to handle, so I'd suggest Ice Beam.

I would recommend this Heatran set:

Modest @ Leftovers
252 HP/16 Special Attack/240 Special Defense
~Fire Blast
~Earth Power
~Substitute
~Toxic

While your other set cuts their SpD, it will usually force them to switch so Heatran won't really be getting in too powerful hits on what it needs to. Machamp and Dragonite can already easily deal with Blissey (especially after a CM boost and Lum Berry), but Bulky Waters/Grounds (who will always switch out of Celebi and into Heatran) will be a problem. Toxic will really do some damage to them, and with Vaporeon having protect along with Reflect on Bronzong, you can easily stall them out so that Dragonite can sweep. You also need to keep Celebi at a decent amount of health so that it can pass 1-2 CMs to Dragonite.
 
Hey there. You have a really well-balanced team, but there's just a few things I'd recommend you changing.

Encore can be a devastating move on a lead Machamp. It allows you to get substitute up for free, and basically get 2 Dynamicpunches on the opposing pokemon. I would put Encore over Payback, as Dynamicpunch and Stone Edge have pretty great coverage by themselves. More info about Encore Machamp, as well as what to against common leads, can be found here.

On Vaporeon, I strongly suggest dropping either HP Electric or Ice Beam for Protect. Without Protect, Wish is no longer reliable healing. I've had a lot of experience with Vappy, and in the beginning I ran a 3 attack set just like you. But trust me, you will end up missing Wish very much - it easily mean the difference between losing Vaporeon in a game and not. I would replace HP Electric, as you already have Celebi for handling most Gyarados. Also, if you choose to use the set posted by Wedge above, Protect will also help in Toxi-stalling the poisoned opponents.

Change Celebi's EVs to 252 HP, 220 Def, 36 Spe. First of all, you are running Calm Mind, which will increase your Celebi's SpD, so you want to have a decent amount of physical defense to start off with. Secondly, it will help you greatly in taking on Gyarados, as you will be able to take its Stone Edges a lot easier. The 36 Spe EVs are necessary to outrun Jolly Tyranitar - otherwise it will just Crunch you to death before you can use Grass Knot. Your Dragonite will be providing Light Screen support anyway, so I really think Celebi could use the added defense.

On Heatran, I also think you should use the set posted above. Alternatively, you could run the standard Scarf sweeper. This would benefit your team quite a bit as it is rather slow without it. It also means that if Celebi manages to pass some boosts to it, you can easily outspeed and OHKO something with prediction. An Explosion on Heatran will also help you with your Blissey problem.

And finally, that Dragonite set is win =). I can really see right from here how this team can work, using Celevappytran to take on and weaken your opponent's sweepers, before Dragonite sets up on the beleaguered team and sweeps. I really like it =).

Good luck with your team.

LR.
 
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