(RMT) Gen 8 OU Team

[Kabunox]

Hello, Thanks for Reviewing My Team.
First time posting.


Dragapult @ Leftovers
Ability: Clear Body
EVs: 4 HP/ 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Dragon Darts
- Dragon Dance
- Phantom Force
- Sucker Punch

-Dragapult's role is a DD Sweeper.
-The Leftovers help in recovering some hp while it's setting up.
-Adamant is so more power can be put into the attack considering it doesn't need a speed nature.
-Dragon Darts because it's the most preferred Dragon move for it, DD as it is needed for its role,
Phantom Force for coverage, Sucker Punch for Priority.

Rillaboom @ Miracle Seed
Ability: Grassy Surge
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Drum Beating
- Grassy Glide
- Darkest Lariat
- Drain Punch

-Rillaboom's Role is a Priority Attacker - Offensive Attacker.
-Miracle Seed to boost the priority move's strength without exchanging hp.
-Adamant to boost the power of the attacks.
-Drum Beating because I prefer it to Wood Hammer because of recoil,
Grassy Slide because it is needed for one of its role's, Darkest Lariat for coverage,
Drain Punch for coverage and healing, I chose not to use superpower because of the drop it gets in the attack.


Tornadus-Therian (M) @ Zoom Lens
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Hurricane
- Heat Wave
- Grass Knot
- Nasty Plot

-Tornadus-Therian's Role is as a Nasty Plot Sweeper.
-Zoom Lens Because it gets a boost in Accuracy for its attacks.
-Timid to boost the Speed and support Zoom Lens.
-Hurricane to take advantage of Zoom Lens, Heat Wave for coverage,
Grass Knot for coverage, Nasty Plot is needed for its role.

Melmetal @ Choice Band
Ability: Iron Fist
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Def
Adamant Nature
- Double Iron Bash
- Darkest Lariat
- Body Press
- Ice Punch

-Melmetal's Role is as an Offensive Attacker.
-Choice Band is used to power up the Attacks.
-Adamant to power up the Attacks even more.
-DIB is its main attack, Darkest Lariat for coverage,
Body Press to take Advantage of its Def, Ice Punch for coverage.

Mew @ Leftovers
Ability: Synchronize
EVs: 252 HP / 128 Def / 128 SpD
Jolly Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Defog
- Fake Out
- Heal Bell

-Mew's Role is as a Stealth Rock Setter - Supporter.
-Leftovers to heal HP.
-Jolly to boost the Spe.
-Stealth Rock is needed for its Role, Defog to remove Hazards that the opponent tries to set up,
Fake Out to deal some minor damage and being the best at doing so, thanks to it always going first,
Heal Bell to cure Status Conditions.



Volcarona @ Leftovers
Ability: Flame Body
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Bug Buzz
- Fiery Dance
-Quiver Dance
-Giga Drain

-Volcarona's Role is as a Quiver Dance Sweeper.
-Leftovers to heal HP while setting up.
-Timid to boost the Spe as Atk is useless for it.
-Bug Buzz as its main Bug move, Fiery Dance as its Main Fire move and being able to boost SP.Atk,
Quiver Dance is needed for its role, Giga Drain for coverage and healing.

 

[sdfghy]

I love this. The mew lead is strong, melmetal has a nice set for the current meta. Grassy terrain supports the teams natural bulk. Torn could benefit from focus blast over grass knot tho.

 

[ironwater]

Hello Kabunox, welcome to Smogon and to the RMT section. I’m here to rate your team and suggest changes to improve it.

Looking at the team, you seem to have understand which Pokemon that can shine in SS OU, but I think that you are pretty new to the metagame which can explain why most of your sets are suboptimal or rather inefficient. To me, this team looks like some kind of Bulky Offense and could be turned into an Hyper Offense, but I rather keep the main ideas here and make a Balance/Bulky Offense kind of team as I think you can make an efficient one while keeping most of this Pokemon. I will try to detail the movesets and to explain why some of your move choices are suboptimal / won’t really work. If you don’t know how to use a Pokemon keep in mind that you can always check the analysis in the Smogon Dex (if it is uploaded) which you can find here: https://www.smogon.com/dex/ss/pokemon/.

Without further do, let’s move to the changes I would made.


Major Changes

-> : Mew has a good niche as an hazards setter in Hyper Offense teams because of its access to Stealth Rock + Spikes + Taunt. If you were to use it in a balance team, you would rather use Spikes than Stealth Rock and use another Rock setter as they are very few reliable Spikes setters. You also want to have a recovery move on a defensive Mew, because you will have very few defensive utility otherwise, as you will be very easy to wear down. Here, I don’t think that Mew is the best pick, and I will use Landorus-T instead. Landorus-T is extremely easy to fit in a team and it brings a more than useful Electric immunity. You want to use it as a Rock setter, with U-turn to be able to pivot out and safely switch in one of your breakers. Earthquake is its main STAB and even if you have a Grassy Terrain setter, you still want to run it because a defensive Landorus doesn’t rely too much on Earthquake damage output. Last move could be Knock Off or Toxic to annoy opposing answers. I think you would rather have Toxic here as you already have several potential Knock Off users, but if you were to remove Knock Off on some of your other Pokemon, you could consider using it on Landorus-T. As for the spread, a mixed defensive spread is probably the best choice here as you want to have some SpD to handle the threatening Heatran . Lastly, you should use Leftovers as an item because it greatly improves your longevity and is your only way to recover health. Here is the set that sums all this up:

Landorus-Therian @ Leftovers
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 HP / 120 Def / 136 SpD
Impish Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- U-turn
- Knock Off / Toxic


-> : Volcarona is a cool sweeper, especially when paired up with a good Heatran check or lure (because Heatran completely shuts it down). However, you really need to wear a pair of Heavy-Duty Boots, because if you don’t you will lose half of your health when coming on Rocks and thus be kind of a dead weight when they are up. You also rather have Roost than 3 offensive moves unless you’re playing a Screen Offense and have no time for Roosting. As for the coverage, Psychic is often the best option because it allows you to beat Toxapex which completely walls you with Haze otherwise. Speaking of Pex, I actually think that it would be a great alternative to Volcarona here. This is because this team lacks a proper Urshifu-R and a proper Weavile check. Toxapex can easily deal with both, but with a mixed spread, it can also scout Choice Specs Dragapult . The move choice can be standard with Recover as a recovery move, Scald to fish for Burns and annoy physical breakers, Haze to prevent setup attempts and the last move could be Knock Off to remove opposing items or Poison Jab to beat Tapu Fini without having to risk a Scald Burn on Rillaboom . Here is the set (the spread is from the spread compendium thread, but there are other possible spreads):

Toxapex @ Black Sludge
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 124 Def / 132 SpD
Sassy Nature
- Poison Jab / Knock Off / Toxic Spikes
- Recover
- Haze
- Scald


Minor Changes

: Dragon Dance Dragapult is a cool set that can work in Offensive team and becomes deadly with Screens support and a Weakness Policy. In a balance kind of team however, you rather have immediate power and benefit from Dragapult very good special movepool. Thus, the best option here is probably a Choice Specs set. As for the moveset, Shadow Ball and Draco Meteor are its two main STABs and need to be used. U-turn is also required to be able to pivot on answer and keep the offensive momentum (making Melmetal come for free on Special walls for instance is really good). Last moveslot could be either Flamethrower to threaten Steel types like Corviknight , Scizor and Melmetal or Hex as your team has a lot of status spreaders and Hex can be deadly against a team crippled by status. Here is the set:

Dragapult @ Choice Specs
Ability: Infiltrator
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Shadow Ball
- Draco Meteor
- U-turn
- Flamethrower / Hex


: Rillaboom has two main sets. A choice Band one and a Swords Dance one. If both could work here, I think a Choice Band set would make more sense for its immediate damage output and pivoting ability. Drum Beating is a bad move when you already have a strong priority in Grassy Glide and you rather have Wood Hammer as a secondary Grass STAB for its incredibly high damage output. Darkest Lariat should be replaced by Knock Off as it hits harder when the opposing Pokemon still holds an item and it also cripples him by removing it. Drain Punch should be replaced by U-turn as you want to be able to pivot on your counters like Corviknight and pressure them by forcing Stealth Rock chip for instance while keeping the momentum. Superpower could be an option to hit Steel types and finish Corviknight more easily if you run Knock Off on your other Pokemon. You also need some Speed on this Pokemon to avoid being outspeed and chipped down by all the Pokemon with a similar Speed tier. Here is the set:

Rillaboom @ Choice Band
Ability: Grassy Surge
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Wood Hammer
- Grassy Glide
- U-turn
- Knock Off / Superpower

: Instead of using a Nasty Plot sweeper set, I would rather use it as Bulky Flying type and as your Defogger to avoid getting overwhelm by offensive Grass types like Kartana and by stack hazards teams. Hurricane is almost a must have and U-turn is extremely useful (cause here again momentum is important). Last move could be Knock off or Heat Wave to have a safer way of hitting Kartana and annoy Pokemon like Melmetal . Lastly, the item should be Heavy Duty Boots as you want to come freely on Rocks without negating your Regenerator recovery. Here is the set:

Tornadus-Therian (M) @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Hurricane
- Knock Off / Heat Wave
- U-turn
- Defog


: A banded set could work here on Melmetal as you will still be able to benefit from the Grassy terrain. Indeed, it gives you both a way to recover some health but also halves the damage you’ll take on Earthquake. As for the moveset, Superpower is way better than Body Press because it’s way stronger and Darkest Lariat doesn’t hit much thing. You rather have Thunder Punch to touch Corviknight and Toxapex which are two good Double Iron Bash switch ins. You also want some Speed investments on a Choice Band Melmetal to outpseed some defensive Pokemon. Another set you could use here would be a Protect set with some SpD to benefit more from the Grassy Terrain, and help to not get overwhelmed by Special threats and spread even more status if you chose to run Hex Dragapult . The status move could be Toxic, or Thunder Wave and the last move should be Thunder Punch as it is the most useful coverage option to hit your best counters. Here is the Protect set:

Melmetal @ Leftovers
Ability: Iron Fist
EVs: 252 Atk / 244 SpD / 12 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Protect
- Double Iron Bash
- Thunder Punch
- Thunder Wave / Toxic


And that’s all for the changes, here is the new version of the team, feel free to try it out:

The Past

Dragapult @ Choice Specs
Ability: Infiltrator
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Shadow Ball
- Draco Meteor
- U-turn
- Flamethrower

Rillaboom @ Choice Band
Ability: Grassy Surge
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Wood Hammer
- Grassy Glide
- U-turn
- Knock Off

Tornadus-Therian (M) @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Hurricane
- Heat Wave
- U-turn
- Defog

Melmetal @ Leftovers
Ability: Iron Fist
EVs: 252 Atk / 244 SpD / 12 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Protect
- Double Iron Bash
- Thunder Punch
- Thunder Wave

Toxapex @ Black Sludge
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 124 Def / 132 SpD
Sassy Nature
- Knock Off
- Recover
- Haze
- Scald

Landorus-Therian @ Leftovers
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 HP / 120 Def / 136 SpD
Impish Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- U-turn
- Toxic

Hope this was helpful, don't hesitate if you have questions and with all that saying, I wish you a nice day!

 

[starter bot aqua kd]

amazing fun team!

 

[HISELOISOVER9000]

Dear starter bot aqua kd,

Thank you for the Reply.

From Kabunox.

Trust me, you don’t want drum beating on rillaboom. You should use wood hammer because it’s better for beating walls such as pex. Drum beating is easily countered by switching out and it’s worse than glide since it’s worse dmg and the speed drop really isn’t that good