So in my ongoing quest to have one semiviable all-one-type team for each type, here is my all-Steel team. Predictably, I made it for use in the OU environment. The team is still in the early stages of testing, I've played it only about 20 times.
The lineup thus far:
I'm afraid it's all terribly cliche, with the exception of Empoleon - but it's quite a lot harder and requires more thought to play with them all together, when you're always just a close combat/earthquake/fire blast away from extinction.
Now for the details.
Falling Star, Jirachi @ Choice Scarf
EVs: 200 Atk / 252 Spe / 58 Spatk
Adamant
Serene Grace
- Iron Head
- Zen Headbutt
- Trick
- Thunderbolt
Obvious Haxrachi is obvious. He serves as one of my team's three physical attackers, and so far I've been very happy with his performance both early- and late-game.
I might catch some flack about Trick here, but I've found it quite necessary - the Scarf helps him outspeed stuff that my team couldn't normally outspeed, and while I can pretty much take or leave Trick against most of the things you usually want to Trick, I've found the move really useful for getting rid of the Scarf late-game, when I really don't want to be locked into anything.
The most important thing Jirachi does on my team, though, is OHKO Infernape. That guy really ruins me with access to strong STABed fighting and fire attacks, the ability to switch between them, and the fact that none of my guys are even neutral to both. I haven't yet had to worry about the Flaming Monkey being kept back until Jirachi is dead - that guy tends to want to fight me early on (for reasons I can't fathom at all! =P)
Technobabble, Bronzong @ Light Clay
EVs: 252 HP / 58 Atk / 100 Def / 100 SpDef
Relaxed
Levitate
- Light Screen
- Reflect
- Stealth Rock
- Explosion
The choice between Levitate and Heatproof is an agonizing one on an all-Steel team, but considering what else I'm running, it's a simple matter of counting. None of my other guys like taking a Ground attack, but Empoleon and Heatran can both weather Fire attacks.
It hurts a little bit to run a Bronzong without any attacks that don't result in sacrificing him, but I've found Dual Screens to be absolutely necessary. Swords Dance Lucario has trouble setting up without them, and my team overall is pretty fragile on its own - the Screens are often the difference between win and lose.
As Bronzong is my one and only support poke, I felt it appropriate to stick Stealth Rocks on there too. Nothing on my team is particularly hard to switch in on - Empoleon hits hard but not that hard, and everyone else is packed with attacks that the right foe will be immune to or not take much damage from. As such, I end up in a lot of switchwars - so of course I want to punish them for switching in on me.
Bluecoat, Empoleon @ Expert Belt
EVs: 24 HP / 232 Spe / 252 SpAtk
Modest
Torrent
- Agility
- Surf
- Grass Knot
- Ice Beam
"Netdecked" off Smogon, I'll admit, but he serves me well. He has a pretty easy time setting up with Agility, especially after Screens from my Bronzong. Empoleon's purpose here is as basic as it gets: A Special sweeper that isn't called Heatran. I've really liked Expert Belt on him so far - I opted out of Life Orb, since Empoleon isn't at all disposable, and I feel that Leftovers would leave him with insufficient power. I haven't missed either of those things.
Crash Cage, Lucario @ Life Orb
EVs: 252 Atk / 6 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly
Inner Focus
- Swords Dance
- Stone Edge
- Extremespeed
- Close Combat
I'll admit, I have a considerable fondness for SpecsLuke, and it hurt me not to play him - but with dual screens hanging around, it's like a great environment for the typical SD set.
He's still left me a little cold though. The team was supposed to go like this: Lucario physical sweeps, Empoleon special sweeps, Bronzong supports, and Jirachi, Scizor and Heatran all come in for the hit and runs. Instead, what seems to happen is Jirachi physical/haxsweeps, and Lucario is forced to sigh and accept his doom when something faster switches in, getting a nice Extremespeed in as a parting shot. I'm sure a lot of that is due to my inexperience - especially with OU - but somehow I feel like he should be doing more.
Power Pinch, Scizor @ Life Orb
EVs: 6 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Adamant
Technician
- Bullet Punch
- Superpower
- Pursuit
- U-Turn
So apparently you're supposed to play Choice Band on this guy - but I say thee nay. Sure, Choice Band is more powerful and he doesn't take damage from it - but he's not living too long anyway, so that's largely irrelevant. I use him primarily for (surprise surprise) revenge killing, but I'd really like to be able to follow it up. With Choice Band, Scizor really can't. For any one of his moves, there's an answer that takes little to no damage drom it - and Scizor has to switch out, making his role disappointingly small (and making me suck up Spikes damage again, more often than not).
The other reason why I don't want Choice Band on Scizor on this team: Magnezone. I need to work on my prediction game, true, but he's been screwing me up when I don't know he's on a certain team, and a Scizor locked into Bullet Punch or Pursuit is a free kill for him. Being able to say "oh hey by the way Superpower" is an intensely satisfying way to exterminate that pest.
He still works really well for revenge - I haven't had much that I need to revenge that's out of range of dying to Bullet Punch or Pursuit, even without Choice Band.
Metal Slug, Heatran @ Life Orb
EVs: 6 HP / 252 SpAtk / 252 Spe
Naive
Flash Fire
- Fire Blast
- Earth Power
- HP Grass
- Explosion
And now for the most disappointing, but completely necessary, member of my team. The quad ground weakness on a team where nearly everything is weak to ground?
Not helping.
His seemingly decent defenses protect him from even neutral hits a lot less than I thought they would, so he tends to die shortly after coming out.
Now, here's why he's necessary.
On a team where everyone shares a type, it's hard to switch guys in - shared weaks, of course, suck. Heatran thus benefits immensely from Flash Fire, and so far I've been able to get him in for free every single time. He also has nice attack coverage for my team - he's the only Fire or Ground attack I have, and it's threatening enough that I don't even need to use them. It works nicely to cause switches out of stuff that I normally wouldn't.
I still feel like he should be able to do more, but he seems to provide unique coverage, so I can't really get rid of him.
Counters to the team are obvious, anything that normally takes out steels does really well - especially the aforementioned Infernape, who will crush everything if Jirachi is dead. I haven't run the numbers, so I'm not sure if Empoleon survives an Infernape Close Combat with Reflect up - but if he does, I guess that's a decent way to take him out.
Magnezone also gives me some trouble, especially if he traps Jirachi. I'm not sure what I can do about that, or if I even care enough to bend over backwards for him.
I could go more defensive - replace Heatran with Skarm, which would probably mean I need another Special attacker, so switch Lucario to Specs or whatnot. If I did that, I might Heatproof Bronzong.
Ghosts suck to fight in that I can't super effect them at all other than Scizor's Pursuit, but I'm fairly confident that they aren't going to be doing a whole lot back.
As far as other options, I have the aforementioned Skarm, as well as Metagross and Magnezone, but I have yet to see a good reason to run either of those.
The lineup thus far:
I'm afraid it's all terribly cliche, with the exception of Empoleon - but it's quite a lot harder and requires more thought to play with them all together, when you're always just a close combat/earthquake/fire blast away from extinction.
Now for the details.
Falling Star, Jirachi @ Choice Scarf
EVs: 200 Atk / 252 Spe / 58 Spatk
Adamant
Serene Grace
- Iron Head
- Zen Headbutt
- Trick
- Thunderbolt
Obvious Haxrachi is obvious. He serves as one of my team's three physical attackers, and so far I've been very happy with his performance both early- and late-game.
I might catch some flack about Trick here, but I've found it quite necessary - the Scarf helps him outspeed stuff that my team couldn't normally outspeed, and while I can pretty much take or leave Trick against most of the things you usually want to Trick, I've found the move really useful for getting rid of the Scarf late-game, when I really don't want to be locked into anything.
The most important thing Jirachi does on my team, though, is OHKO Infernape. That guy really ruins me with access to strong STABed fighting and fire attacks, the ability to switch between them, and the fact that none of my guys are even neutral to both. I haven't yet had to worry about the Flaming Monkey being kept back until Jirachi is dead - that guy tends to want to fight me early on (for reasons I can't fathom at all! =P)
Technobabble, Bronzong @ Light Clay
EVs: 252 HP / 58 Atk / 100 Def / 100 SpDef
Relaxed
Levitate
- Light Screen
- Reflect
- Stealth Rock
- Explosion
The choice between Levitate and Heatproof is an agonizing one on an all-Steel team, but considering what else I'm running, it's a simple matter of counting. None of my other guys like taking a Ground attack, but Empoleon and Heatran can both weather Fire attacks.
It hurts a little bit to run a Bronzong without any attacks that don't result in sacrificing him, but I've found Dual Screens to be absolutely necessary. Swords Dance Lucario has trouble setting up without them, and my team overall is pretty fragile on its own - the Screens are often the difference between win and lose.
As Bronzong is my one and only support poke, I felt it appropriate to stick Stealth Rocks on there too. Nothing on my team is particularly hard to switch in on - Empoleon hits hard but not that hard, and everyone else is packed with attacks that the right foe will be immune to or not take much damage from. As such, I end up in a lot of switchwars - so of course I want to punish them for switching in on me.
Bluecoat, Empoleon @ Expert Belt
EVs: 24 HP / 232 Spe / 252 SpAtk
Modest
Torrent
- Agility
- Surf
- Grass Knot
- Ice Beam
"Netdecked" off Smogon, I'll admit, but he serves me well. He has a pretty easy time setting up with Agility, especially after Screens from my Bronzong. Empoleon's purpose here is as basic as it gets: A Special sweeper that isn't called Heatran. I've really liked Expert Belt on him so far - I opted out of Life Orb, since Empoleon isn't at all disposable, and I feel that Leftovers would leave him with insufficient power. I haven't missed either of those things.
Crash Cage, Lucario @ Life Orb
EVs: 252 Atk / 6 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly
Inner Focus
- Swords Dance
- Stone Edge
- Extremespeed
- Close Combat
I'll admit, I have a considerable fondness for SpecsLuke, and it hurt me not to play him - but with dual screens hanging around, it's like a great environment for the typical SD set.
He's still left me a little cold though. The team was supposed to go like this: Lucario physical sweeps, Empoleon special sweeps, Bronzong supports, and Jirachi, Scizor and Heatran all come in for the hit and runs. Instead, what seems to happen is Jirachi physical/haxsweeps, and Lucario is forced to sigh and accept his doom when something faster switches in, getting a nice Extremespeed in as a parting shot. I'm sure a lot of that is due to my inexperience - especially with OU - but somehow I feel like he should be doing more.
Power Pinch, Scizor @ Life Orb
EVs: 6 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Adamant
Technician
- Bullet Punch
- Superpower
- Pursuit
- U-Turn
So apparently you're supposed to play Choice Band on this guy - but I say thee nay. Sure, Choice Band is more powerful and he doesn't take damage from it - but he's not living too long anyway, so that's largely irrelevant. I use him primarily for (surprise surprise) revenge killing, but I'd really like to be able to follow it up. With Choice Band, Scizor really can't. For any one of his moves, there's an answer that takes little to no damage drom it - and Scizor has to switch out, making his role disappointingly small (and making me suck up Spikes damage again, more often than not).
The other reason why I don't want Choice Band on Scizor on this team: Magnezone. I need to work on my prediction game, true, but he's been screwing me up when I don't know he's on a certain team, and a Scizor locked into Bullet Punch or Pursuit is a free kill for him. Being able to say "oh hey by the way Superpower" is an intensely satisfying way to exterminate that pest.
He still works really well for revenge - I haven't had much that I need to revenge that's out of range of dying to Bullet Punch or Pursuit, even without Choice Band.
Metal Slug, Heatran @ Life Orb
EVs: 6 HP / 252 SpAtk / 252 Spe
Naive
Flash Fire
- Fire Blast
- Earth Power
- HP Grass
- Explosion
And now for the most disappointing, but completely necessary, member of my team. The quad ground weakness on a team where nearly everything is weak to ground?
Not helping.
His seemingly decent defenses protect him from even neutral hits a lot less than I thought they would, so he tends to die shortly after coming out.
Now, here's why he's necessary.
On a team where everyone shares a type, it's hard to switch guys in - shared weaks, of course, suck. Heatran thus benefits immensely from Flash Fire, and so far I've been able to get him in for free every single time. He also has nice attack coverage for my team - he's the only Fire or Ground attack I have, and it's threatening enough that I don't even need to use them. It works nicely to cause switches out of stuff that I normally wouldn't.
I still feel like he should be able to do more, but he seems to provide unique coverage, so I can't really get rid of him.
Counters to the team are obvious, anything that normally takes out steels does really well - especially the aforementioned Infernape, who will crush everything if Jirachi is dead. I haven't run the numbers, so I'm not sure if Empoleon survives an Infernape Close Combat with Reflect up - but if he does, I guess that's a decent way to take him out.
Magnezone also gives me some trouble, especially if he traps Jirachi. I'm not sure what I can do about that, or if I even care enough to bend over backwards for him.
I could go more defensive - replace Heatran with Skarm, which would probably mean I need another Special attacker, so switch Lucario to Specs or whatnot. If I did that, I might Heatproof Bronzong.
Ghosts suck to fight in that I can't super effect them at all other than Scizor's Pursuit, but I'm fairly confident that they aren't going to be doing a whole lot back.
As far as other options, I have the aforementioned Skarm, as well as Metagross and Magnezone, but I have yet to see a good reason to run either of those.
