RMT OU First Team - Balanced

zaktrunks

Hey. I’m pretty new to competitive battling here. I have played every generation since RBY but never really competitive, except for the occasional linked battle con amigos I’ve been playing around on Shoddy for the past week or so and I’m maybe winning about a half of my matches so I think I could really use some constructive criticism on my team. I suppose it’s a balanced offensive team, or at least that’s what I’m going for…

Here we go:

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Starting off:


metagross.png



Metagross @ Occa Berry
Ability: Clear Body
EVs: 252 HP / 236 Atk / 12 Def / 8 Spd
Adamant nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Earthquake
- Bullet Punch
- Explosion
- Stealth Rock

This is the standard lead Metagross variant. His main purpose for me is to lay down the rocks but his offensive capabilities have helped me many times. Earthquake is there to scare off the Heatrans and Infernapes that he may be up against. Combine that with the Occa Berry for fire resist I’d say he does a pretty good job. I like the priority of Bullet punch in there and it has allowed me get the first hit in before the Ninjasks (not sure how common those actually are) set up their substitute. It has helped me with Breloom once or twice as well and the super effective-ness against Aerodactyl is invaluable. And the Explosion is there for the obvious suicide benefits.



infernape.png


Infernape (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Blaze
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Jolly nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Close Combat
- Fire Punch
- Stone Edge
- Swords Dance

This is the standard Swords Dance Infernape. It proves to be a good wall breaker and when I get the chance to switch it in on a wall and get a SD off it’s definitely a force to be reckoned with. It seems to do its job fairly well though I tend not to get a SD off as much as I’d like to. Not a whole lot of problems with this set, it works well.


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Salamence (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 84 Atk / 208 Spd / 216 SAtk
Mild nature (+SAtk, -Def)
- Roost
- Brick Break
- Draco Meteor
- Earthquake

I switch this guy in whenever I sense an oncoming EQ, which is exactly why I think I could go for another flyer / levitator (fixed with Rotom-C). I usually bring him in too early on in the game for my liking. Draco Meteor is my go to attack in this set as it’s powerful enough to hurt most anything. Brick Break is there for the special walls and EQ for those that switch in resistant Steel types. Roost helps with the Life Orb damage. I ran the DD set on this for a while and I’ve been contemplating reverting back to that.


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Lucario (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Inner Focus
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spd
Jolly nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Close Combat
- Extremespeed
- Swords Dance
- Crunch

Eerily similar to my Infernape. I love the priority move on this guy though and Crunch has gotten me out of a bind more than once when faced with a Starmie. He’s a good backup wall breaker as well as a revenge killer, especially when the opponent is low on HP. Since he’s so similar to Infernape I have considered switching him with another, probably dark, poke like Tyranitar, though I’m not sure how well his sandstorm would jive with my team.


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Rotom-c @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 4 HP/252 Spd/252 SAtk
Timid nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Shadow Ball
- Leaf Storm
- Thunderbolt
- Trick

I initially had Mamoswine in this spot but decided that he had to go after he did a pretty good job of contributing nothing to my team. I chose the Rotom-C for the obvious advantages in typing and resistances/immunities. My team appears to be fairly weak to ground type moves so I needed someone to switch in when I felt such a move was imminent. Initially I was running one of the WoW variants on this and I switched when I questioned its usefulness. This set has been working amazingly and has a tendency of knocking out two per match. It provides good type coverage and works very well as a revenge killer with the Scarf boost . It’s an amazing counter to Gyarados and Swampert, as well as Gengar if I can lure him in.


And Finally the Wall…

blissey.png


Blissey (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 Def /80 SAtk / 176 SDef
Calm nature (+SDef, -Atk)
- Toxic
- Wish
- Protect
- Ice Beam

Pretty self explanatory; I try to get toxic off when I can and wish / protect to wall and stall. The ice beam is there just to have an attack; I’d be willing to change that out if I had to though it proves useful when I’m able to get one off against a Flygon. Also, it’s the only Ice type attack that I have which I’m sure is something that needs to change, but it’s been working well enough.


That’s it with my team. I’m getting better at knowing what to use and when but I still find myself making stupid mistakes (like forgetting who has what move,) but I’m still far from good. I seem to have a lot of EQ weaknesses (3 super effectives) that seem to get me in trouble and I can’t ever seem to fight off a Gengar without losing more than I would like. My team obviously needs some work and I am sure there are glaring holes all over the place.

Thanks and I appreciate any feedback you could give

-Pokemon art by Arkeis and the animated icons were found on pe2k.com and serebii.net-
 
Right, well, I'll give my opinion on what your team seems to be.

It is not deadful as a whole. However, there are several glaring weaknesses:

1. 3 pokemon weak to EQ. That said, you have 2 immunites.
2. 3 pokemon fragile to physical attacks, and aside from Meta, who seems to be a 'suicide' lead, nothing that can wall physically at all. (Mance can take a hit or two, and Rotom can too, but no 'walls'
3. No counter to scarf Heatran. Blissy makes it run, but, that's about it. Metagross, Ape, and Lucario will all be OHKO'ed by Earth Power., leaving your team with only Salamance to attack with. (Meta might be 2HKO'ed, but it's sp.def is far lower than def.)

It also seems as if Lucario isn't helping your team much. You have Infernape, who's weakness to EQ overlaps with Lucario. Both are fighting types. Sure, Lucario is being used as a physical sweeper, but, you could do better than him, to adress your other weaknesses.

I would suggest to use this over Lucario:

Flygon@Choice Scarf
Adamant Nature
80 HP / 252 Atk / 176 Spe
Earthquake
Outrage/Dragon Claw
U-Turn
Stone Edge/Fire Blast

Scarfgon is immune to EQ, and many physical sweepers are slower than it, and OHKO'ed by one of it's STAB moves. EQ deals with the aformentioned Scarftran weakness, while outspeeding it. Outrage is used to kill locked Dragons on outrage, or, to know you'll hit anything on the team hard, while Claw is for if you don't want to lock yourself in. U-Turn is a lifesaver, if you think they might switch (EG: Heatran will run from Scarfgon, and you'll see their next pokemon, and deal damage, before the switch-in). Fire Blast handles Brongzong and Scarm. It isn't massivly frail either, although, you wouldn't call it a 'wall'. Prediction is key for Scarfgon, but practice, and you can rip teams apart by including him.

However, you now have 2 X4 ice weak pokemon, as a result, I suggest switching Blissy's Ice Beam for Flamethrower, or using Rotom-A, and Overheat, instead.
 
Thanks for the input. Its good to know that its not dreadful ;o) I have been aware of the EQ weakness for a while and have been trying to figure out what to change. I played some with the Flygon last night and initially it didn't impress too much, but I think its growing on me and I definitly seem to use him more than I did my Luke. I just worry about having two 4x weak to ice on my team. As for the changing Blissey's Ice Beam to a Flamethrower, her beam is my only ice move, and as such, quite invaluable; but switching Rotom-C for -H would leave me weak towards Swampert and most other grounds...

Thanks! More input is welcome.
 
zaktrunks said:
Thanks for the input. Its good to know that its not dreadful ;o) I have been aware of the EQ weakness for a while and have been trying to figure out what to change. I played some with the Flygon last night and initially it didn't impress too much, but I think its growing on me and I definitly seem to use him more than I did my Luke. I just worry about having two 4x weak to ice on my team. As for the changing Blissey's Ice Beam to a Flamethrower, her beam is my only ice move, and as such, quite invaluable; but switching Rotom-C for -H would leave me weak towards Swampert and most other grounds...

Thanks! More input is welcome.
Click to expand...
Run hidden power grass. that way you OHKO swampert, Luca, and Scizor I used to do that....
 
It seems like you might have a problem with being walled. I know MixMence helps you out, but Draco Meteor isn't always going to work on things like Bronzong, Hippowdon (with sandstream SpD bonus), and mabey even Swampert (which is a huge weakness for your team)
I would suggest turning your Infernape into a MixApe

Infernape @ Life Orb
Naive
64 Atk/ 252 SpA/ 192 Spe
-Fire Blast
-Grass Knot
-Close Combat
-HP Ice

Grass knot will be a big help to your ground weakness, and now you canswitch to Rotom-A like Raikaria said to help with your ice weakness. MixApe will also help break those pesky walls that Salamence can't. He can also work as a revenge killer which your team lacks.

Now I would suggest making Lucario into a swords dancer so you have a powerful late game sweeper.
Lucario @ Life Orb
Adamant/Jolly
252 Atk/ 252 Spe/ 4 Def
-Swords Dance
-Close Combat
-Crunch
-Extreme Speed

The only other thing I would suggest is seeing how you like Thunder Wave on Blissey over Toxic, because thunder wave is really helpful in a game enviroment where speed is so emphasized.

Hope I helped, good luck!
 
Thanks BurtonEarny and StealingUrAir. The MixApe set looks appealing and it seems it would allow me to switch my Rotom-A to allow the Heat variety thanks to the grass knot. The HP Ice also gives me some flexibility in dealing with those pesky Dragons. I'll need to look at sets for the Heat Rotom but I will probably run a similar scarf set to the one I run now with the Cut.

@StealingUrAir
I think I will keep the Flygon on the team in lieu of a Luke variant for the time being, just to see how it pans out; however, the T-wave on Blissey is interesting and I may give it a test run later tonight.

Thanks!
 
What are you talking about hippowdon does not get a spd boost due to sandstream, only rock types do!
Any ways do not replace lucario with tyranitar... first of all none of your pokemon resist it except meta who seems to be a suicide lead, second pairing salamence with sandstorm, stealthrock, and life orb is just plain suicidal.
You should also have more than one wall on a team... letting blissey doing all the walling isn't really that smart, due to all the physical sweepers in ou. Instead i reccommend replacing salamence with suicune, I suggest a calm cune or crocune, since you already have plenty of sweepers, and calmcune can also serve as both a wall and sweeper an example is:
Suicune@leftovers
Bold
252hp/252def/4spa
~ Surf
~ Calm Mind
~ Roar
~ Ice Beam / Hidden Power Electric / Rest
or
Suicune@Leftovers
Bold
252hp/252def/4spe
~ Surf
~ Calm Mind
~ Rest
~ Sleep Talk
or if you want a more offensive version:
Suicune@Leftovers/Life Orb
Timid/Modest
4hp/252spa/252spe
~ Calm Mind
~ Surf / Hydro Pump
~ Ice Beam
~ Hidden Power Electric
this set also has some bulkiness after a calm mind or two
 
I would use Fire Blast over Earthquake on Salamence so you aren't walled by Skarmory or Bronzong. I would also recommend the MixApe set for Infernape and then turn your Rotom into Rotom-H to have a great Lucario revenge killer.
 
@CrAZyMONkeYZ

Thanks for the advice on the Suicune sets. I tried a couple of them out last night but just had an awful night at it. I'm not sure if it was the new team or me just having an off day. I'll try them out a bit more tonight and see how it goes.

Lately I've realized that I have a huge Rain Dance Kingdra issue. Everytime I face one of these teams the Kingdra takes out two or three (often my dragons since its his only weakness,) which I think is unacceptable. And with the Swift Swim and a DD under its belts nothing on my team comes close in speed...

Any help is still appreciated. Thanks.
 
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