Slash-V - A Non Weather OU Team

[h7u9i]

SLASH-V


This is another non-weather OU team. I am very excited about this team, and I really think the team members work well together. This is a fairly offensive team, but that’s just my battling preference. The name comes from the first letter of each of the pokemon on the team.

I hope you enjoy reading, rating, and maybe even testing out my team.

TEAM BUILDING:

So this team started with CB Azelf as a suprise lead. Most people think it's going to Stealth Rock and BAM! Either a super effective hit or a U-Turn to a counter.

The next was to think of counters I could U-Turn to. Virizion is great for Tyranitar - even if it's running Ice Beam. Virizion's great Special Bulk lets it OHKO next turn. It also handles bulky waters, and Ferrothorn. Taunt lets me U-Turn from Azelf to a pokemon that can stop Baton Passers like Ninjask and Yanmega.

Heatran is great to cover Ninetales with Earth Power, and it takes advantage of the Sun. Virizion also draws Fire attacks with Heatran can absorb. With HP Ice, it can cover Gliscor, Garchomp, and Landorus. Heatran is also a great late-game sweeper with Flame Charge.

Next, I decided I needed some hard hitters. I'm a fairly offensive player, so I like pokemon that can hit hard and fast. Scrafty is one of my favorite Genration V pokemon, and it shines on this team. It hits opposing Psychic types hard, as well as Jellicent and Ferrothorn. Ice Punch also lets Scrafty cover Gliscor and after a single boost, it can outspeed unscarfed 252 Jolly Garchomp.

Next, Scizor comes into play. Scizor also draws in those Fire Type moves Heatran loves, and it adds some needed priority to the team. Bulky SD Scizor is awesome at sweeping, and it a great asset to the team.

Lastly, is my Dragon. Since Latios was brought down to OU, I decided to use it. With it's massive special attack stat boosted by Choice Specs, it adds not only a powerful attack, but needed coverage as well with Surf and Thunderbolt.
​

DETAILED ANALYSIS:

Azelf @Choice Band
Levitate || Jolly
4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
~Zen Headbutt
~Ice Punch
~Fire Punch
~U-turn

This the lead and the basis for this team. I was trying to build a separate team, and needed something Psychic type to hit hard and fast. Azelf somehow popped up, and I tried a Choice Band set. I discovered many people often mistake it to be a set running Stealth Rock. So I thought it’d be a great surprise lead, and I was right. Against Taunt leads, they predict a Stealth Rock and I get off a free super effective move, or a U-turn to a counter. Some trainers also predict a Stealth Rock and switch to Espeon, where I can OHKO with U-Turn. Zen Headbutt is great STAB and hits everything hard, especially Machamp, Infernape, and Conkeldurr. Ice Punch can hit Thundurus and Gliscor hard as well as 2-3HKO Hippowdon, and Fire Punch covers Forretress and Ferrothorn. U-Turn can hit opposing Azelf and Tyranitar, as well as switch to a counter for anything Azelf doesn’t hit. EV’s maximize Attack and Speed, and Choice Band maximizes its power.

Scrafty @Lum Berry
Moxie || Jolly
4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
~Dragon Dance
~Drain Punch
~Crunch
~Ice Punch

Scrafty is one of my favorite fifth generation pokemon, if not my favorite. With its 65/115/115 Defenses, and access to Dragon Dance, Scrafty can function as a bulky Sweeper. This set is fairly standard with a few personal preferences. Drain Punch over Hi Jump Kick to increase the amount of time Scrafty can stay on the field. Crunch is the next strongest STAB move Scrafty has, and can hit Ghost types very hard. Ice Punch can hit Gliscor, Zapdos, Dragons, and ground types. Lum Berry allows Scrafty to set up on opposing pokemon who try to status, then come back for the kill. Moxie lets Scrafty boost his attack with each kill and sweep more easily.

Heatran @Air Balloon
Flash Fire || Timid
252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
~Fire Blast
~Earth Power
~Hidden Power Ice
~Stealth Rock

Heatran adds great coverage to the team, threatening opposing threats like Excadrill. The set is almost completely standard. Air Balloon allows Heatran to switch in on Earthquakes, and it also catches some trainers off guard. Flash Fire gives Heatran another immunity, so the main threat to Heatran is Fighting types. Fire Blast is strong STAB, Earth Power can hit other Fire types and Heatran, and HP Ice hits Dragonite, Garchomp, Landorus, and Gliscor hard. Stealth Rock because it's Stealth Rock. Timid Nature allows Heatran to outspeed Breloom.

Scizor @Leftovers
Technician || Adamant
248 HP / 40 Atk / 216 SpD / 4 Spe
~Swords Dance
~Bullet Punch
~Bug Bite
~Roost

Scizor is great to pair with Heatran, as it draws in Fire moves. Standard set - Bullet Punch and Bug Bite for STAB, Roost to increase suvivability. EV’s are standard and allow Scizor to survive a Focus Blast from Reuniclus. 4 Speed EV’s let Scizor outspeed other Scizor. Leftovers lets Scizor stay in the battle longer.

Virizion @Life Orb
Justified || Jolly
4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
~Swords Dance
~Leaf Blade
~Close Combat
~Stone Edge

With it's great typing, Virizion really can fit on almost any team. Virizion can cover the Bulky Water types, and also OHKO Swampert and 2HKO unboosted Quagsire. Virizion is also my answer to Blissey and Snorlax. Virizion’s attack stat isn’t all too stellar, so a Swords Dance is necessary to hit hard. Leaf Blade and Close Combat are great STAB moves, Stone Edge gives Virizion complete neutral cover, and hits Flying types and Dragonite hard. Life Orb lets Vizirion hit hard without a Swords Dance, and increases his power.

Latios @Life Orb
Levitate || Timid
4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
~Draco Meteor
~Surf
~Thunderbolt
~Hidden Power Fire

Life Orb Latios finishes up the team as the heaviest hitter on the team. Since it was brought down to OU the generation, why not use one of the best dragons in the game? STAB Draco Meteor hits everything insanely hard, one or two hit KOing almost everything. Surf adds the team’s only water move, and hits fire and ground types. Thunderbolt is also the only move of its type on the team, adding coverage for flying types and bulky waters. Hidden Power Fire is standard for Ferrothorn, Forretress, and Scizor.

Threat List:
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Weavile – This little guy hits 5 of my Pokemon for super effective damage if it’s running Ice, Dark, and Fighting moves. His insane attacking power and speed take out the majority of my team.

Lucario – He can outspeed Heatran, and hit Scrafty and Scizor hard. STAB Vacuum Wave is also annoy with its priority.

Toxicroak – I hate Toxicroak. Even if Azelf is there to hit it, a sucker punch can usually OHKO Azelf, and leave me helpless against its attacks.


Actually, my team pretty much suffers from most Fighting types if Azelf if dead.

Metagross and Jirachi are also threats to the team. Their typing make them weak to only Fire and Ground - which only Heatran has, excluding Latios's HP. These guys are hard to kill in a few hits and I just have to keep wearing them down.





YOUR JOB:

Rate, Comment, give me advice, what can I do to help my team become the best it can be. I would absolutely LOVE more help on the Threat List section - it's always my worst when writing these RMTs.

Thanks so much for reading!
~h7

Export-to-text:
​

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Azelf @ Choice Band Trait: Levitate
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Zen Headbutt
- Ice Punch
- Fire Punch
- U-turn
Virizion @ Life Orb
Trait: Justified
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Swords Dance
- Leaf Blade
- Close Combat
- Stone Edge
Scrafty (F) @ Lum Berry
Trait: Moxie
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Dragon Dance
- Drain Punch
- Crunch
- Ice Punch
Heatran (F) @ Air Balloon
Trait: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 SAtk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Fire Blast
- Earth Power
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Stealth Rock
Scizor (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Technician
EVs: 248 HP / 40 Atk / 216 SDef / 4 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Swords Dance
- Bullet Punch
- Bug Bite
- Roost
Latios (M) @ Life Orb
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Draco Meteor
- Surf
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power [Fire]

​

 

[Tobes]

First, the concept of a lead is dead in 5th gen. You need to lead with whatever you think puts you at an advantage against your opponent's team.

Second, and most pressing, you are horribly weak to Excadrill. If it's LO Return + Brick Break, you are 6-0'd. Even if it isn't LO, if Virizion has taken any prior damage or Heatran's Balloon has popped (not unlikely during a battle), you still lose. Excadrill finds time to set up on Azelf locked into Zen Headbutt, -2 Latios, etc. Adding Gliscor is your best bet. I'd suggest replacing Azelf with it.

Replace Dragon Pulse with Stealth Rock on Heatran, because otherwise Sun teams carrying Volcarona give you problems, since it can boost up to +6 while healing off damage with Morning Sun, and once those Fire Blast PP run out you're helpless. Stealth Rock makes it more difficult for Volcarona to come in and set up. If you still have problems with ityou can always switch Scizor to a Choice Band set with Quick Attack, which almost always KOs Volcarona after SR.

Good luck.

 

[h7u9i]

Oops. Forgot to update I'm using Flame charge over Dragon Pulse now. I thought really hard about Stealth Rock, and I'll give it another try =)

I also don't think the concept of a lead is completely dead. Most people lead with their weather pokemon, and Azelf can easily hit Tyranitar and Hippowdon hard. Also, leading with Azelf still lets me surprise Taunt leads, like Thundurus.

Anyway, thanks for the rate! I guess Virizion and Azelf are my only counters to Excadrill, I'll try out Gliscor and see what happens! However, then I lose my Fighting counter. =/ Anyway I could fix that?

 

[Aeromence]

if lucario is bugginig u that much u not use timid scarftran? it also revenges weavile, jirachi and metagross

 

[Conver5e]

Oops. Forgot to update I'm using Flame charge over Dragon Pulse now. I thought really hard about Stealth Rock, and I'll give it another try =)

I also don't think the concept of a lead is completely dead. Most people lead with their weather pokemon, and Azelf can easily hit Tyranitar and Hippowdon hard. Also, leading with Azelf still lets me surprise Taunt leads, like Thundurus.

Anyway, thanks for the rate! I guess Virizion and Azelf are my only counters to Excadrill, I'll try out Gliscor and see what happens! However, then I lose my Fighting counter. =/ Anyway I could fix that?

You don't necessarily lose your Fighting counter because of the fact that Gliscor can easily check multiple Fighting types. STAB Acrobatics/Aerial Ace along with a SD or Fling set can take out Conkeldurr/Excadrill while being able to take multiple Mach Punches/Stone Edges. However, adding Gliscor will also add another Ice weakness. It's up to your preference, though.

 

[h7u9i]

I like the idea of a Scarfed Heatran, I'll try that out. Still a little weary about Gliscor, and that Ice weakness is also a problem. What set would you recommend for Gliscor?

Also, what other threats do you guys see?
Thanks all for the rates!

 

[Eternal]

Remove Flame Charge from Heatran for Stealth Rock. Your team lacks a Stealth Rock supporter, it would really benefit from one. Flame Charge isn't that good as people aren't going to switch into something faster to counter Heatran. They will switch into a bulky Pokemon, preferably a bulky water Pokemon, to counter Heatran. And these bulky Pokemon are typically slow. So there isn't much reason to hit with a weak attack just to increase 1 stage of speed.

For Scizor, it you want to give it Roost, which I would highly recommend with that set you're using, then you should really give it Leftovers over Life Orb. You're going to have a really hard time conserving your HP or recovering without Leftovers. Whereas Scizor still does its job at countering threats like Reuniclus and Latios.

For Virizion, it is way to easily walled by things like Gliscor and Dragonite. What you can do to not be easily walled by these is replace that useless Taunt move. Taunt isn't going to save you from Baton Passers. If something like Gorebyss wanted to set up on you, it won't do so on Virizion, by the time you've switched to Virizion to Taunt it, Gorebyss has already used Shell Smash and is faster than you. And can then run off to using Baton Pass. Also, remove the Lum Berry for Life Orb and make it Native natured. This will not only make it into a better sweeper, but also a better stall breaker.

 

[h7u9i]

Stealth Rock is definitely the better option, and it really helps let me take out pokemon more easily, although, Scarftran is an appealing option too.

I like the idea of Roost/Leftovers. I'll try that out =)

As for Virizion, what move could I put in place of it? I could try a Hasty Nature and Hidden Power Ice. Any other ideas?

Also when you say Native nature, do you mean Naive? and even if you did, it doesn't make much sense. ^^/

Thanks for the rate! =D

EDIT: So if I used HP Ice with a Hasty Nature, I would need to move 128 EV's from Attack into SpAttack to always OHKO 252 HP/0 SpD Gliscor. Taking the 4 Ev's away from HP leaves me 128 in Attack. Not terrible I guess after a Swords Dance. What you you guys think?

 

[TheFourthChaser]

Your team looks solid and there are only a few minor changes I would make here. As said above by Eternal Taunt looks useless on Virizion and I would put Stone Edge in that slot, unlike HP Ice it benefits from an SD and can hit Pokemon like Dragonite, Thundurus, and Salamence.

Scrafty is a really good mon but if the set were slightly changed I think it would be more effective as a sweeper, try changing the item to Lum Berry and the ability to Moxie. Lum will be taking care of the status Shed Skin would be helping out with and Moxie is easier to take advantage of on an offensive team like this. You might even want to try Adamant out on Scrafty, it isn't hard for something that bulky and immune to status to get 2 Dragon Dances and a +1 Adamant Scrafty will outspeed Garchomp.

 

[h7u9i]

I really like the Lum/Berry Moxie idea. I'll go with that and adamant.

Stone Edge is a good option for Virizion, but I'm alway weary about its accuracy. =/ Oh well. You win some you lose some I guess.

What do you guys think about switching Scizor out for Gliscor? The only thing the scizor is really good for on this team is drawing fire attacks and hitting with priority. Gliscor gives me a solid check to excadrill. Thoughts?

Also, I'm still torn between either adding Steath Rock on, or switching to Scraftran. =/

Thanks again for the rate =)

 

[TheFourthChaser]

I'd stick with Balloon Tran and put SR on it, Lucario isn't really common, SR is really helpful, and having Air Balloon gives you an extra check to things like Excadrill and Garchomp. You don't seem weak enough to Excadrill to need Gliscor and you'll be adding another Ice weakness, Mamoswine is gaining popularity and Scizor can help against it.

 

[h7u9i]

TobesMcGobes pointed out my weakness to Excadrill when Virizion or Heatran have been hurt, and I've found this to be very true. The only solid threat to Mamoswine would be Scizor, so I can't replace him huh? Ugh, this is difficult. As for Lucario, he's not very common, but when he does, I'd like a solid counter, and Gliscor could do that as well. Maybe I could replace Heatran with some other pokemon that could provide Fire coverage? Or maybe Scrafty? =/

As mentioned before Dragonite is also a big problem. If it gets a couple of Dragon Dances off, Latios can't outspeed it. =/

 

[Alice]

Use LO latios instead of specs. That way Excadrill, Lucario or Dragonite ain't getting free setup.

 

[h7u9i]

I made some changes - they are bolded. Thanks everyone for helping! Everyone has helped the team become better than ever! A few tweaks could still be made to make it much better, so keep rating and giving me advice please =)

Thanks again for the rates!