XY OU Scrubbing it up in OU

[Pinkin Lark]

Greetings! I am A Random Scrub. When I first started playing on Showdown, I refused to touch the OU tier, not wanting to deal with things such as Talonflame, Greninja, and the like. And after a time of playing in RU and UU, I got bored and threw together an OU team with little knowledge of the meta. And then didn't use it for a while. But then I finally started to study the meta a bit, and figured I'd try out what I had created. Turns out it was pretty solid, sitting currently within the 1450 range - not terribly impressive, but pretty good for me. Now that I've started to get a bit tired of running the same team, I figured the cool RMT people could help improve it some more.

Lunar Fairy (Clefable) @ Leftovers
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: 236 HP / 180 Def / 92 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Calm Mind
- Soft-Boiled
- Moonblast
- Flamethrower

At the suggestion of both dEnIsSsS and SomeKidFromJhoto, I replaced Togekiss with this Clefable. Capable of both dishing out hits and soaking them(especially after a Calm Mind or two), it has already done good work. Initially I gave it Stored Power, but that caused it to be walled by a few annoying things. Flamethrower gives me a backup in case Magnezone can't get the job done.

Pinch Me (Scizor) @ Scizorite
Ability: Light Metal
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Atk / 252 Def
Impish Nature
- Roost
- Defog Knock Off
- Bullet Punch
- U-turn

Once I had Togekiss, I really wanted something to cover anything that could threaten it. Enter defensive Mega-Scizor. Capable of being a complete boss against any attack that doesn't involve Fire, he simply shrugs it off, forces a switch, and U-turns into a suitable counter. Moveset is rather standard, giving him great utility while keeping momentum. Defog doesn't see a terrible amount of use, mostly due to the last member of the team.

Update: Replaced Defog with Knock Off, as most hazards were dealt with before they could be used thanks to Magnezone. Even then, the team is not very vulnerable to Stealth Rock, making it low priority to deal with.

Darude (Tyranitar) @ Leftovers
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SpD
Relaxed Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Ice Beam
- Crunch
- Stone Edge

Yes, I gave him that nickname. Free free to hate me.

The classic OU wall. He cares little for anything you try to do to him(long as it's not called Focus Blast - then he leaves it to Togekiss). Sets up hazards, soaks hits, deals damage. Ice Beam is for the ever-present Gliscors and Landorus..es... in the tier. I initially ran Earthquake over Stone Edge, but found that Garchomp covered that far better.

Real Fun Guy (Breloom) @ Life Orb
Ability: Technician
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Spore Force Palm
- Bullet Seed
- Rock Tomb
- Mach Punch

One of my all-time favorite Pokes, Breloom is adorable and incredible. He's actually gone though multiple forms on this team. Initially he held a Focus Sash, allowing him to easily get off some extra damage against anything, or simply soak a Talonflame hit and OHKO with Rock Tomb. Except my own Sand had a tendancy to break it. Then I gave him the Toxic Orb/Poison Heal combo, but realized I lost a LOT of damage in doing so. Now he is just a pure offensive threat with a Life Orb, capable of making your life miserable.

Update: Replaced Spore with Force Palm. I really never used Spore, and Force Palm allows for a bit stronger Fighting STAB than Mach Punch, as well as providing a nice Para chance.

LAND SHARK (Garchomp) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Sand Veil
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- Outrage
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- Fire Blast Dragon Claw

The one-man cleanup crew. Able to come in early/mid-game to get solid revenge kills, or simply sweep everything aside late game, provided the Fairy/Steel types have been dealt with. I go with Sand Veil over Rough Skin for the Tyranitar synergy, and it has saved me a number of times. EdgeQuake combo is for solid damage when I don't want to lock myself in, and Outrage is the general sweeping move. I have Fire Blast for coverage on some nasty steel types that I can't hit with EQ, but the next team member deals with 90% of those.

Update: Replaced Fire Blast with Dragon Claw. Initially it was a Ferro/Skarm counter, but I forgot to replace it after adding Magnezone. Dragon Claw provides me with a good Dragon STAB, without the need to lock into Outrage.

How Do They Work? (Magnezone) @ Choice Specs
Ability: Magnet Pull
EVs: 168 HP / 252 SpA / 88 Spe
Modest Nature
- Volt Switch
- Flash Cannon
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Thunderbolt

Don't you hate all of those Skarmorys and Ferrothorns and their annoying hazards? Scizor threatening to ruin your day? Magneton cares little for any of that. Magnet Pull Magnezone is great in a tier full of Steel-type Pokemon just waiting to get trapped. Generally my lead if I see the aforementioned Skarm/Ferro on my enemy team, he retains use throughout. Even without Analytic, nothing likes taking a hit from Specs Magnezone. The set is pretty standard, with a bit extra speed to creep any Skarms trying to creep me.​

Some threats I've hit:

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Greninja: While I have a number of things to threaten it, they either have to already be out, or need to switch in after I lose someone. Protean can also make things a bit harder.

Talonflame: I -need- Tyranitar or Garchomp alive and healthy to deal with Talonflame. Otherwise it tends to run over me.

Excadrill: While I laugh at Mold Breakers, Sand Rush is a real issue, especially since I can also give it the boost.

Gliscor: While T-Tar has the useful Ice Beam, Gliscor is still annoying to deal with. Outside of risking locking myself into Outrage on Garchomp, my only other real option is to predict a switch against Magnezone and throw out a Flash Cannon, which does 56.2 - 66.4% and then is forced out on the threat of EQ.

Stall: Stall sucks. I hate stall. Stall needs to die. Especially since this team lacks Knock Off, stall hurts a lot. Chansey becomes a hell of a lot harder to kill off. While I can somewhat deal with both hazards and toxic/burns, it is still a very difficult uphill battle.

In the end, the team has done good work for me. And while my rank with it isn't terribly impressive(OU's ladder terrifies me as a RU/UU player - RU's #1 doesn't even breaks OU's top 500..), I'm not exactly a great player.

RIP:

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Got Flinch? (Togekiss) @ Leftovers
Ability: Serene Grace
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpA / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Roost
- Heal Bell
- Air Slash
- Aura Sphere

Togekiss just wasn't doing it. While decent as an offensive 'mon, it didn't have the greatest of bulk. And with bulk, it really lacked power. That along with it's handful of weaknesses and vunerability to Rocks made me look for something better.
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Importable:

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Lunar Fairy (Clefable) @ Leftovers
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: 236 HP / 180 Def / 92 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Calm Mind
- Soft-Boiled
- Moonblast
- Flamethrower

Pinch Me (Scizor) @ Scizorite
Ability: Technician
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Def
Impish Nature
- Roost
- Knock Off
- Bullet Punch
- U-turn

Darude (Tyranitar) @ Leftovers
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SpD
Relaxed Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Ice Beam
- Crunch
- Stone Edge

Real Fun Guy (Breloom) @ Life Orb
Ability: Technician
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Force Palm
- Bullet Seed
- Rock Tomb
- Mach Punch

LAND SHARK (Garchomp) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Sand Veil
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Outrage
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- Dragon Claw

How Do They Work? (Magnezone) @ Choice Specs
Ability: Magnet Pull
EVs: 168 HP / 252 SpA / 88 Spe
Modest Nature
- Volt Switch
- Flash Cannon
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Thunderbolt

 

[Pinkin Lark]

Guess I'll bump this, considering it's been about a week (and nearly on page 3).

Been considering replacing Togetic, though I'm not sure exactly what to put in it's place.

 

[SomeKidFromJohto]

I definitely second switching togekiss out for a different fairy. Either clefable or sylveon could work, depending on your preference. In fact, you could even run a specs hyper voice sylveon and switch your magnezone over to a scarf so you don't have to speed creep (as much). The other option is magic guard clefable, as it synergizes very well with a sand team since it takes no passive damage from sandstorm. Other than that, your team looks fine, and there's nothing you really NEED to change. I always encourage people to continue experimenting, though, so just for kicks, try out some different sets of the pokemon you already have:

- I already suggested scarfed magnezone, so why not also try rough skin/rocky helmet garchomp? Less people will expect it in the sand, assuming you'll have sand veil, and you could get some solid passive damage against a physical attacker.

- Consider switching megas. Band scizor and run it more offensively, and run mega T-tar. You've got several mega-capable pokemon on your team, so switching which one megas can actually make a huge difference to how the team plays, and help keep your opponent guessing. Plus, banded scizor hits harder than mega scizor does, and can net some crucial OHKOs or 2HKOs in a tight game, and could help alleviate your problems with certain stall teams, easily knocking out their fairies, and continuing the offensive pressure afterwards.

- Alternatively, consider running your own excadrill to capitalize on your sand. Sand rush excadrill is a HUGE threat, and capable of sweeping any time sand is up. If you're running sand anyway, you might as well try, if only to say you did.

Just a few thoughts, and you obviously don't HAVE to try any of them, but hey, it couldn't hurt... much.

 

[Pinkin Lark]

Hi there, I think that Clefable is a much superior choice over Togekiss, since it it able to counter Greninja and allows you to have a solid answer to stall teams and Gliscor lacking Taunt. I think that Togekiss has many exploitable weaknesses and is too much vulnerable to passive damage (Stealth Rock and sandstorms). Sand Veil isn't banned? I think that Landorus-T is a better scarfer than Garchomp because it has a higher Attack stat, Intimidate and U-Turn, and there was no reason to run Fire Blast on Garchomp because you already have Specs Magnezone to get rid of Skarmory and Ferrothorn.

suggestions!

Clefable (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: 236 HP / 180 Def / 92 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Calm Mind
- Moonblast
- Flamethrower / Stored Power
- Soft-Boiled

Landorus-Therian @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 Atk / 24 Def / 232 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- U-turn
- Superpower
- Rock Slide

Firstly, your GeoPass team is evil, and I'm glad I've never run into it....

Switched Togekiss with Clefable, and it has done some good work. Togekiss actually was doing decently when it was in a more offensive role, but it does have a few nasty weaknesses, especially in OU. With Clefable, I'm capable of both taking and throwing out some nice hits.

I am a bit loathe to give up Scarfchomp, as it has saved my ass more times than I can count. I did, however, change Fire Blast to Dragon Claw, giving me a STAB Dragon move without locking myself into Outrage. And yeah, apparently Sand Veil is legal; guessing it is treated as a situational evasion, similar to Acupressure *shrugs*.

I definitely second switching togekiss out for a different fairy. Either clefable or sylveon could work, depending on your preference. In fact, you could even run a specs hyper voice sylveon and switch your magnezone over to a scarf so you don't have to speed creep (as much). The other option is magic guard clefable, as it synergizes very well with a sand team since it takes no passive damage from sandstorm. Other than that, your team looks fine, and there's nothing you really NEED to change. I always encourage people to continue experimenting, though, so just for kicks, try out some different sets of the pokemon you already have:

- I already suggested scarfed magnezone, so why not also try rough skin/rocky helmet garchomp? Less people will expect it in the sand, assuming you'll have sand veil, and you could get some solid passive damage against a physical attacker.

- Consider switching megas. Band scizor and run it more offensively, and run mega T-tar. You've got several mega-capable pokemon on your team, so switching which one megas can actually make a huge difference to how the team plays, and help keep your opponent guessing. Plus, banded scizor hits harder than mega scizor does, and can net some crucial OHKOs or 2HKOs in a tight game, and could help alleviate your problems with certain stall teams, easily knocking out their fairies, and continuing the offensive pressure afterwards.

- Alternatively, consider running your own excadrill to capitalize on your sand. Sand rush excadrill is a HUGE threat, and capable of sweeping any time sand is up. If you're running sand anyway, you might as well try, if only to say you did.

Just a few thoughts, and you obviously don't HAVE to try any of them, but hey, it couldn't hurt... much.

Clefable is doing good at the moment in the team, but I could see Specs Sylveon/Scarf Magnezone being an interesting idea. The only thing is that without Specs, Magnezone can't OHKO Ferrothorn with HP Fire, but I guess then it becomes similar to dealing with Skarm. (might miss some other OHKOs, but I'm not 100% sure if or what)

Rocky Helmet/Rough Skin is one of those things I think is just stupidly gimmicky. I know it does ~25% on any contact move, but it can be easily played around.

I tried doing a Banded Scizor/Mega-TTar combo a bit, and wasn't a huge fan. Losing the recovery on both of them was rather nasty, and made me a bit easier to wear down. For now I've just replaced Defog for Knock Off on Scizor, giving him a bit more offensive presence, while still being able to retain his great physical bulk, and providing a solution to annoying things(like freaking Eviolite Chansey). Might do more playing around with potential Mega ideas though.

Concerning Excadrill, my concern becomes a weakness to Earthquake/Earth Power. I already have a bit of a nasty weakness to it, and while Exca is great in sand, I'd be concerned with getting myself deeper into trouble against it.

I do appreciate the suggestions from both of you, especially since my teambuilding skills are generally a bit sub-par.