A first Glance at the team:
First of all, although this team is called "Starm & Skarm" Skarmory and Starmie are far from the stars (get it? Starmie? No? Ok...) of the team but the name sounded cool. The real star of the team is a pokemon I've always liked but has never been good in OU until now whos name is Tyrantrum with its new access to the ability Rock Head it can rip huge holes in teams.
The first Pokemon is (not very surprisingly) Tyrantrum which is fun to use with its ability to sweep and Head smash literally anything it wants.
Tyrantrum @ Lum Berry
Ability: Rock Head
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Dragon Claw
- Dragon Dance
- Head Smash
- Fire Fang
This is pretty much the standard Dragon Dance set except I'm using Fire Fang over Earthquake. My reasoning behind this is the only thing earthquake hits really hard that “can't” be hit by Head Smash and Fire Fang is Heatran which is actually OHKOed at plus one with Head Smash after Rocks without LO:
+1 252+ Atk Tyrantrum Head Smash vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Heatran: 364-430 (94.3 - 111.3%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock
And a 62.5% chance to knock out Heatran with LO without boosts:
252+ Atk Life Orb Tyrantrum Head Smash vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Heatran: 317-374 (82.1 - 96.8%) -- 62.5% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock
Besides Fire Fang its a more or less standard except I'm using Lum Berry over Life Orb so I can set up on Rotom-W without being burned then crying a Salt Lake City. Unfortunately without Life Orb you can't KO a Ferrothorn at plus 1 with Fire Fang I still like using Lum Berry, but it's really a matter of preference. Dragon Dance, Dragon Claw, and Head Smash should all be pretty obvious. DD lets you sweep, Head Smash is super fun with Rock Head and Dragon Claw is just another form of stab for pretty much nothing besides maybe some fighting types or other things that resist rock. One more thing I didn't mention is its beautiful speed which is just 2 more than adamant Bisharp which is an addedbonus
to this already (in my opinion) amazing Pokemon.
The next Pokemon is a 'mon I've been using a lot recently by the name of Skarm (it's half the name of the team ya know? It can't be a surprise to you that its on the team... can it?).
Skarmory @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 248 HP / 236 Def / 24 Spe
Impish Nature
- Brave Bird
- Stealth Rock
- Whirlwind
- Roost
When I thought about pokemon that stop a Tyrantrum sweep two pokemon immediately come to mind by the names of Mega Lopunny and Landorus Therian. Landorus for more than obvious reasons and Lop' because even after one Dragon Dance my Tyrantrum gets outsped by the rabbit and then dies to a HJK. So I put a Skarmory on the squad because its a reliable Stealth Rocker and combats the two pokemon I just mentioned fairly well with use of Rocky Helmet, and Brave Bird for the bunny. Besides that I'm using Roost for longevity, Whirlwind for stopping annoying sweepers such as Altaria mega etc. and Brave bird and Rooks for the reason I just mentioned. EVs are pretty standard and that's about it.
Looking at the two Pokemon we have so far (and the rest of the team) you'll probably notice a deadly weakness to Mega Manectric, and although it isn't TOO common I thought it necessary to bring at least one Pokemon to handle it (I ended up only bringing this...).
Charizard-Mega-X @ Charizardite X
Ability: Tough Claws
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 248 HP / 152 SpD / 108 Spe
Careful Nature
- Roost
- Will-O-Wisp
- Earthquake
- Dragon Claw
The set I decided to run is that of the bulky stall Zard with Will-O-Wisp for crippling physical attackers that are slower or are caught on the switch, Roost for recovery, Earthquake for damaging things like Heatran, and Dragon Claw to have a nice stab and a move that can attack lots of things and show Charizard's strength even when not using any Attack investment. For the EVs I decided to put enough speed to outspeed plus speed nature base 70s because thats a common thing you need to account for in OU. I obviously put 248 in HP so I could switch into rocks four times and the rest in Special Defense because its the other half of my two defensive core (the other ones Skarm, if you couldn't tell). As I mentioned before a main reason this is a charizard is to combat pokemon like Manectric and Thundurus and special electric types in general, and thats why I'm using it over something like Heatran (because Heatran doesn't have recovery and can’t keep switching in on volt switch every damn day).
The next Pokemon is one that I'm using in order to get rid of hazards in case Charizard doesn't want to take 50% (or 25%) from Stealth Rocks. You guessed it. The fabled Starmie (OMG IS THIS WHERE THE "STARM" PART OF THE NAME COMES FROM?).
Starmie @ Life Orb
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: NaN Atk
- Rapid Spin
- Ice Beam
- Scald
- Psyshock
Starmie is a very reliable Rapid Spinner and has decent synergy with Charizard. It also has the ability to revenge kill the infamous Snake in the Grass or more commonly known name; Serperior. I really have no switch in to a Serp and I'm kind of destroyed by that thing to be honest. But Starm can manage to knock it out with an Ice Beam if need be. The EVs are pretty standard and the moves are pretty much the same. I''m using Scald over the other one (Hydro Pump) because although its weaker it does have the chance to burn which I appreciate and the lack of an ability to miss. Psyshock can hit Spdef walls and is another fun form of STAB. Lastly, I'm using Life Orb is a pretty mandatory item on the star fish because its really weak without it.
The next Poke' is my main special sweeper and its few "checks" are easily combated by the previous four Pokemon. Its also the brother of the most used Pokemon in the meta but can still be very good. It's name is LANDORUS!
Landorus (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Sheer Force
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Mild Nature
- Earth Power
- Knock Off
- Rock Polish
- Psychic
I decided to go with a Rock Polish set because the team was already a little bitslow
and I honestly didn't want to use Calm Mind in the slightest. Earth Power is Lando's main stab *only stab move*. Knock Off is for those Pesky Lati twins and can do a little bit of a chunk to the good old Onion (Celebi). Rock Polish is obviously for getting speed to go ahead and destroy teams. Lastly we're using Psychic to hit things like non-scarf Landorus-T and Gliscor. Its really tempting to change it to Hidden Power Ice but you can also use Psychic for the rare occurrence of Mega Venusaur which obviously would laugh at the idea of an HP Ice.
The last Pokemon is by far my favourite Pokemon in the tier. As well as a good choice scarfer (in this case) and another way to check that bastard Bisharp.
Keldeo @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Justified
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: NaN Atk
- Scald
- Hydro Pump
- Icy Wind
- Secret Sword
The set that lay before might make you go "um... are you feeling okay?" but if you really think about it theres not much that you're outspeeding when using Timid contrary to Modest. With Modest you obviously get more power. And either way you outspeed the main Scarf user in the meta, Lando-T which is all the speed you really need in my opinion. For the moves you see I think I went pretty standard. Scald and Hydro because Hydro can help you hit harder but as I said before sometimes you need the accuracy for the assured win and possible burn for making physical attackers cry. Icy Wind I thought was a better choice in case my item were to be removed I couldslow
things down on switch-in the knock them out with one of my STAB move according to what type of Pokemon they switched in. The last move is Secret Sword which is Keldeo's signature move, and for good reason, it lets you hit pretty much kill things like Chansey and Blissey with great ease.
That’s pretty much it for the team and I would love to read some feedback :]
Importable:
Tyrantrum @ Lum Berry
Ability: Rock Head
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Dragon Claw
- Dragon Dance
- Head Smash
- Fire Fang
Skarmory @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 248 HP / 236 Def / 24 Spe
Impish Nature
- Brave Bird
- Stealth Rock
- Whirlwind
- Roost
Starmie @ Life Orb
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: NaN Atk
- Rapid Spin
- Ice Beam
- Scald
- Psyshock
Charizard-Mega-X @ Charizardite X
Ability: Tough Claws
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 248 HP / 152 SpD / 108 Spe
Careful Nature
- Roost
- Will-O-Wisp
- Earthquake
- Dragon Claw
Landorus (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Sheer Force
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Mild Nature
- Earth Power
- Knock Off
- Rock Polish
- Psychic
Keldeo @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Justified
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 30 Atk / 30 Def
- Scald
- Hydro Pump
- Icy Wind
- Secret Sword
First of all, although this team is called "Starm & Skarm" Skarmory and Starmie are far from the stars (get it? Starmie? No? Ok...) of the team but the name sounded cool. The real star of the team is a pokemon I've always liked but has never been good in OU until now whos name is Tyrantrum with its new access to the ability Rock Head it can rip huge holes in teams.
The first Pokemon is (not very surprisingly) Tyrantrum which is fun to use with its ability to sweep and Head smash literally anything it wants.
Tyrantrum @ Lum Berry
Ability: Rock Head
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Dragon Claw
- Dragon Dance
- Head Smash
- Fire Fang
This is pretty much the standard Dragon Dance set except I'm using Fire Fang over Earthquake. My reasoning behind this is the only thing earthquake hits really hard that “can't” be hit by Head Smash and Fire Fang is Heatran which is actually OHKOed at plus one with Head Smash after Rocks without LO:
+1 252+ Atk Tyrantrum Head Smash vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Heatran: 364-430 (94.3 - 111.3%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock
And a 62.5% chance to knock out Heatran with LO without boosts:
252+ Atk Life Orb Tyrantrum Head Smash vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Heatran: 317-374 (82.1 - 96.8%) -- 62.5% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock
Besides Fire Fang its a more or less standard except I'm using Lum Berry over Life Orb so I can set up on Rotom-W without being burned then crying a Salt Lake City. Unfortunately without Life Orb you can't KO a Ferrothorn at plus 1 with Fire Fang I still like using Lum Berry, but it's really a matter of preference. Dragon Dance, Dragon Claw, and Head Smash should all be pretty obvious. DD lets you sweep, Head Smash is super fun with Rock Head and Dragon Claw is just another form of stab for pretty much nothing besides maybe some fighting types or other things that resist rock. One more thing I didn't mention is its beautiful speed which is just 2 more than adamant Bisharp which is an addedbonus
to this already (in my opinion) amazing Pokemon.The next Pokemon is a 'mon I've been using a lot recently by the name of Skarm (it's half the name of the team ya know? It can't be a surprise to you that its on the team... can it?).
Skarmory @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 248 HP / 236 Def / 24 Spe
Impish Nature
- Brave Bird
- Stealth Rock
- Whirlwind
- Roost
When I thought about pokemon that stop a Tyrantrum sweep two pokemon immediately come to mind by the names of Mega Lopunny and Landorus Therian. Landorus for more than obvious reasons and Lop' because even after one Dragon Dance my Tyrantrum gets outsped by the rabbit and then dies to a HJK. So I put a Skarmory on the squad because its a reliable Stealth Rocker and combats the two pokemon I just mentioned fairly well with use of Rocky Helmet, and Brave Bird for the bunny. Besides that I'm using Roost for longevity, Whirlwind for stopping annoying sweepers such as Altaria mega etc. and Brave bird and Rooks for the reason I just mentioned. EVs are pretty standard and that's about it.
Looking at the two Pokemon we have so far (and the rest of the team) you'll probably notice a deadly weakness to Mega Manectric, and although it isn't TOO common I thought it necessary to bring at least one Pokemon to handle it (I ended up only bringing this...).
Charizard-Mega-X @ Charizardite X
Ability: Tough Claws
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 248 HP / 152 SpD / 108 Spe
Careful Nature
- Roost
- Will-O-Wisp
- Earthquake
- Dragon Claw
The set I decided to run is that of the bulky stall Zard with Will-O-Wisp for crippling physical attackers that are slower or are caught on the switch, Roost for recovery, Earthquake for damaging things like Heatran, and Dragon Claw to have a nice stab and a move that can attack lots of things and show Charizard's strength even when not using any Attack investment. For the EVs I decided to put enough speed to outspeed plus speed nature base 70s because thats a common thing you need to account for in OU. I obviously put 248 in HP so I could switch into rocks four times and the rest in Special Defense because its the other half of my two defensive core (the other ones Skarm, if you couldn't tell). As I mentioned before a main reason this is a charizard is to combat pokemon like Manectric and Thundurus and special electric types in general, and thats why I'm using it over something like Heatran (because Heatran doesn't have recovery and can’t keep switching in on volt switch every damn day).
The next Pokemon is one that I'm using in order to get rid of hazards in case Charizard doesn't want to take 50% (or 25%) from Stealth Rocks. You guessed it. The fabled Starmie (OMG IS THIS WHERE THE "STARM" PART OF THE NAME COMES FROM?).
Starmie @ Life Orb
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: NaN Atk
- Rapid Spin
- Ice Beam
- Scald
- Psyshock
Starmie is a very reliable Rapid Spinner and has decent synergy with Charizard. It also has the ability to revenge kill the infamous Snake in the Grass or more commonly known name; Serperior. I really have no switch in to a Serp and I'm kind of destroyed by that thing to be honest. But Starm can manage to knock it out with an Ice Beam if need be. The EVs are pretty standard and the moves are pretty much the same. I''m using Scald over the other one (Hydro Pump) because although its weaker it does have the chance to burn which I appreciate and the lack of an ability to miss. Psyshock can hit Spdef walls and is another fun form of STAB. Lastly, I'm using Life Orb is a pretty mandatory item on the star fish because its really weak without it.
The next Poke' is my main special sweeper and its few "checks" are easily combated by the previous four Pokemon. Its also the brother of the most used Pokemon in the meta but can still be very good. It's name is LANDORUS!
Landorus (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Sheer Force
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Mild Nature
- Earth Power
- Knock Off
- Rock Polish
- Psychic
I decided to go with a Rock Polish set because the team was already a little bitslow
and I honestly didn't want to use Calm Mind in the slightest. Earth Power is Lando's main stab *only stab move*. Knock Off is for those Pesky Lati twins and can do a little bit of a chunk to the good old Onion (Celebi). Rock Polish is obviously for getting speed to go ahead and destroy teams. Lastly we're using Psychic to hit things like non-scarf Landorus-T and Gliscor. Its really tempting to change it to Hidden Power Ice but you can also use Psychic for the rare occurrence of Mega Venusaur which obviously would laugh at the idea of an HP Ice.The last Pokemon is by far my favourite Pokemon in the tier. As well as a good choice scarfer (in this case) and another way to check that bastard Bisharp.
Keldeo @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Justified
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: NaN Atk
- Scald
- Hydro Pump
- Icy Wind
- Secret Sword
The set that lay before might make you go "um... are you feeling okay?" but if you really think about it theres not much that you're outspeeding when using Timid contrary to Modest. With Modest you obviously get more power. And either way you outspeed the main Scarf user in the meta, Lando-T which is all the speed you really need in my opinion. For the moves you see I think I went pretty standard. Scald and Hydro because Hydro can help you hit harder but as I said before sometimes you need the accuracy for the assured win and possible burn for making physical attackers cry. Icy Wind I thought was a better choice in case my item were to be removed I couldslow
things down on switch-in the knock them out with one of my STAB move according to what type of Pokemon they switched in. The last move is Secret Sword which is Keldeo's signature move, and for good reason, it lets you hit pretty much kill things like Chansey and Blissey with great ease.That’s pretty much it for the team and I would love to read some feedback :]
Importable:
Tyrantrum @ Lum Berry
Ability: Rock Head
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Dragon Claw
- Dragon Dance
- Head Smash
- Fire Fang
Skarmory @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 248 HP / 236 Def / 24 Spe
Impish Nature
- Brave Bird
- Stealth Rock
- Whirlwind
- Roost
Starmie @ Life Orb
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: NaN Atk
- Rapid Spin
- Ice Beam
- Scald
- Psyshock
Charizard-Mega-X @ Charizardite X
Ability: Tough Claws
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 248 HP / 152 SpD / 108 Spe
Careful Nature
- Roost
- Will-O-Wisp
- Earthquake
- Dragon Claw
Landorus (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Sheer Force
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Mild Nature
- Earth Power
- Knock Off
- Rock Polish
- Psychic
Keldeo @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Justified
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 30 Atk / 30 Def
- Scald
- Hydro Pump
- Icy Wind
- Secret Sword