Suicune, I Choose You! [OU RMT]

[Zangetsu]

Introduction:
This is a team based on Suicune and a supporting cast built to aid it.


Team At A Glance

Roserade (F) @ Focus Sash
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 4 HP/252 Spd/252 SAtk
Timid nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Sleep Powder
- Toxic Spikes
- Leaf Storm
- Hidden Power [Fire]

Roserade provides lots of synergy to Suicune by being able to help it sweep with the Toxic Spikes and cripple walls like Blissey and it's ability to absorb opposing Toxic Spikes which are the bane to bulky waters.

Roserade beats many common leads. Against slower leads, it can immediately put them to sleep with Sleep Powder, and against faster leads, it can play the 50-50 game with Sleep Powder and Leaf Storm. Scizor can cover Jirachi leads and doesn't mind either the Trick or Paralyze too much and can also shrug off attacks from Metagross. Salamence can take care of Infernape leads as they generally don't carry HP-Ice.

Skarmory (F) @ Shed Shell
Ability: Keen Eye
EVs: 252 HP/4 Def/252 SDef
Impish nature (+Def, -SAtk)
- Brave Bird
- Roost
- Spikes
- Whirlwind

Skarmory's goal is to set-up Spikes that will increasingly rack up more residual damage. It can also phase very well with it's EV spread - capable of taking many neutral special attacks with impunity.

Scizor (M) @ Choice Band
Ability: Swarm
EVs: 248 HP/252 Atk/8 Spd
Adamant nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- U-turn
- Bullet Punch
- Superpower
- Pursuit

Scizor is a perfect team mate to Suicune, it can help scout the opponent's team with U-turn, capable of luring in Heatran and Gyarados to bring in Suicune and Pursuit many threats to Suicune (Offensive Latias, Rotom, Blissey, Celebi, Gengar etc.).

Salamence (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 16 Atk/252 Spd/240 SAtk
Naive nature (+Spd, -SDef)
- Draco Meteor
- Earthquake
- Flamethrower
- Outrage

My wallbreaker. It can break down SkarmBliss as well as many popular Stall Pokemon and hit hard from both sides of the spectrum. Also, it can bluff as DDMence by not initially using Draco Meteor and lure a Physical Wall into taking a Draco Meteor in the face.

Heatran (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 HP/16 SAtk/240 SDef
Modest nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Will-o-wisp
- Stealth Rock
- Flamethrower
- Roar

Heatran is a nice little utility capable of crippling physical attackers, and maintains Suicune's usefulness despite the largely physical metagame. It's other moves are to support the team, and it can bait Gengars to come in, who will never KO Heatran with Focus Blast.

Suicune @ Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 HP/252 Def/4 SAtk
Bold nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Surf
- Calm Mind
- Hidden Power [Electric]
- Ice Beam

Finally, the star of the team. I run HP-Electric over Roar because it is redundant with two other Pokemon who can do it better as well as Suicune being my late-game sweeper. The combination of Surf/Ice Beam/HP-Electric has perfect coverage barring Lanturn and can stop Gyarados's hoping that there is only the Surf/Ice Beam. The Bulky EVs are used to allow it to tank, as it'll eventually rack up lots of Special Attack and Speed anyway.

 

[tobi10]

I reccomend to use Leftovers on Skarmory, because even when you are able to switch out of Magnezone, you don´t have a safe switch-in for him, which makes you "waste" an item; whilts Leftovers will be useful every match regardless of your opponent´s party team.

 

[SlottedPig]

Hate to mini-mod here, but you need more lengthy descriptions.

Anyway, the team seems quite solid - except for a glaring weakness to Jolteon. The cat will outspeed your entire team, and OHKO Skarm and Suicune clearly. Salamence is OHKO'd for sure after SR because of it's nature. Heatran is going to be crippled. And Roserade? Chances are, it's already crippled with 1 HP. So it can just spam Thunderbolt.

Scizor is really your best bet, but it can't OHKO with Bullet Punch, so once they see your locked into it they can easily switch. I recommend you change Skarmory to:

Jolly l 4 HP, 252 Atk, 252 Spe @ Leftovers
~Dragon Dance
~Aqua Tail l Stone Edge
~Crunch
~Earthquake

Basically this thing checks Jolteon, even without investment. The bulky boost in Sandstorm is enough. Additionally, it reduces your Fire weaknesses.

Dragon Dancing will be a breeze with all the things Tyranitar forces out. But, you should be wary using it. Generally, you should start by smacking something hard with Crunch or Earthquake. Usually, it will be Scizor, and you can switch out.

The next time Tyranitar is in, set up your Dragon Dance and blow holes. Even if Scizor does come in - so what? Bullet Punch does nothing to stop Suicune's rampage.

The Spikes won't be missed much - Suicune's dependency on Spikes is questionable. What's also questionable is Suicune's set: it seems offensive, but the EV spread says otherwise. I'll let others rant on that for me.

 

[CrossHair-a]

A little response (and nitpick) to legendary_07, consider running Flamethrower or Fire Blast over Overheat on Heatran to give him staying power and maintaining his Special Attack. This also give you a better switch-in to Magnezone, should you opt to keep Shed Shell on Skarmory. Heatran makes an excellent Magnezone switch-in mainly because you made him specially defensive, which lets him set up Stealth Rocks on Magnezone and Roar him out, getting rid of his Sub and/or Charge Beam boosts, or jsut force him out because Heatran will (I assume; too lazy to calc) KO with Fire Blast.

Good luck with the team!

 

[Setsuna]

Hi.

Let me start saying that I liked the way you presented the team, simple but concise. Just that I think you could've made the descriptions in each Pokemon better, or a bit longer. But these are minor issues, the strategy overall gets to the person whom read the RMT.

On with the rate, I notice some important problems that need to be taken care of, starting by MixApe and NP Ape, LO Heatran, LO Starmie and probably SD Lucario as well.
All the aforementioned Pokemon remain 'uncontrolled' and pose an important threat to the whole team. Those two variants of Infernape can practically wear the entire team down. I'll write down some examples of the situations:

MixApe OHKOs Roserade, Scizor and Skarmory with Fire Blast/Flamethrower, while Salamence dies in hands of HP Ice; Heatran is 2HKO'ed by CC and Suicune takes around 34% by a LOed standard MixApe Grass Knot.
NP Ape Ape sets up on all your mons bar Suicune (since most of the time you won't let them stay against Infernape), and after a Nasty Plot every single Pokemon, except Heatran, will get OHKO'ed.
Lo Heatran on the other hand, OHKOs Roserade, Scizor and Skarmory with Fire Blast/Flamethrower, your Heatran dies due to Earth Power, Suicune won't like a LOed Explosion, and Salamence will be the only way to stop this threat.
LO Starmie, similar to Heatran, just that this time you're facing a faster Pokemon, capable of OHKO'ing each mon except Scizor and Suicune.
SD Lucario, Salamence comes to save you again. Once it sets a Swords Dance up, it will be practically unstoppable.

Okay so we need to cover a lot of stuff if we want to put this team in a higher scale. To begin with, Suicune doesn't have a self-recovery move, so Toxic Spikes won't benefit it that much since you will have just a couple of turns to use Calm Mind and then attack. In front of Blissey, she just has to Seismic Toss Suicune and wait until it faints, and the same against Snorlax in 1v1, they just need to throw moves and use Softboiled/Rest to restore their HP, because Suicune will die anyway. My point is, that for this set, Toxic Spikes aren't that useful, Spikes are enough in my opinion. So here comes my first recommendation, Gliscor in the lead position:

Jolly| Leftovers| 252 HP / 40 Def / 216 Spa
Earthquake | Stealth Rock | U-turn/Taunt | Roost

Besides what I stated above, Gliscor can also help with some of the threats that I mentioned at the beginning (it counters Lucario, and revenge kills Heatran). Also, it gives you the opportunity to set up SR in the first moments of the match as well as the chance to deal with DD Tyranitar and Agility Metagross outside of Skarmory.

But Infernape and Starmie's problem hasn't been fixed yet, and sadly, replacing Salamence is one of the two things I think could be done in order to get rid of it. What I have in mind is LO 3 attacks Latias, which in conjunction with Scizor can handle Starmie to an extent, while Infernape shouldn't be worrying anymore. Use a Timid nature with Draco Meteor - Thunderbolt - Surf - Recover and the following EVs spread: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spd. Salamence is a great wall breaker, one of the best actually, but Latias is great too, and more when you're using entry hazards on the team.

On Scizor, like I was saying before, you need to tweak its EVs: 168 HP / 176 Atk / 160 SpD / 4 Spe will be great since Scizor is your Latias check and this spread allows you to survive two consecutive Draco Meteors from SpecsLatias, and take special hits better (i.e: Starmie).

On Suicune, I don't find that spread to be too useful since like I said, its only way for healing itself is the item, which gets annulled in SS. You can always stay with it or simply go with a more offensive set like 160 HP / 120 SpA / 228 Spd or 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe with a Timid nature.

Hope to have helped and good luck.

 

[Nosferalto]

Hello.

First off, Roserade. Standard and good. However, I don't like the fact that you have HP Fire on Roserade for various reasons. Firstly, it will lower your Speed by one IV wich means you won't be able to speed-tie with other Roserade leads meaning that you won't have Toxic Spikes on the field resulting into ruining your whole strategy since Suicune requires TS to function to it's fullest. Also, since you won't reveal Suicune until late game, your team is Heatran weak and considering the abundance of Heatran Leads, I would try HP Ground for opposing Heatrans, who you probably want to get out of the picture as early as possible. You can also try HP Ice which can suprise Salamence that think they can setup on you and revenge kill one if it's a MixMence.

I noticed that your team seems to have issues with Swords Dance Lucario that can easily setup on Roserade (if sleep clause is activated / SpAtk drop) and Scizor locked onto Pursuit to name a few. With clever Intimidate switch-ins you can beat it with Salamence, however if SR is on the field, Mence is at risk of a KO.

Your Heatran set, with a single attacking move and low speed, makes it easily revenge killed and easy to setup on. Considering you have huge problems with SD Lucario, I would suggest simply Scarfing your Heatran instead of resorting to a whole Pokemon change (^). This will allow you to revenge kill any Lucario no matter how many SD it gets. You don't have to get rid of Stealth Rock, as it is a staple on any team in this metagame. You can fool your opponent into thinking you don't have a Scarf and revenge kill Luke later. Just use: Fire Blast / Earthpower / HP Electric / Stealth Rock @ Choice Scarf and an EV spread of: 4 HP / 252 SpAtk / 252 Spe with a Timid Nature. The reason I suggested HP Electric is simple. Considering the fact that you'l only switch-in Suicune late game, your team will be DD Gyarados weak and this allows you to outspeed Gyara at +1 (if it's Adamant which most are) and OHKO it with HP Electric. Another good reason to use Choice Scarf Heatran is the ability to revenge kill MixApe, a dangerous Pokemon to your team that can potentially OHKO/2HKO your whole team. You can also try Quick Attack on Scizor to ensure Infernape doesn't cause any problems.

Now that we've changed your main Special sponge's moveset, we need to compensate that loss by changing Scizor's EV Spread to something a bit more defensive on the special side to take on threats like Gengar, Jolteon and Latias who will have no problem sweeping. 188 HP / 152 Atk / 168 SpD works here.

I find it a bit ironic that you're using a defensive EV spread on an offensive moveset like this one. A better moveset for your Suicune would probably be: Surf / Rest / Sleep Talk / Calm Mind. This set seems to fit your team a lot because you have Toxic Spikes. As now, you can stall out Vaporeon and Blissey with TS, the best CroCune counters in the game. However, if you don't want to change you moveset, just change your EV spread to: 4 HP / 252 SpAtk / 252 Spe.

There you go. All your weaknesses solved without resorting to any Pokemon changes so the synergy isn't corrupted. I hope this helps. Good Luck.

 

[thunderman9999]

Hi
i would keep roserade the same because most other roserades run hp fire so 50/50 chance.
Also you can sleep powder heatran effectively removing it from the match.
I would also change skarm for forretress, it lacks the electric weakness of skarmory and can set up sr and spikes AND rapid spin
Forry @leftovers/ shed shell
252hp 40atk 216spdef
SR
Spikes
Rapid spin
Payback
THis would also allow you to change haetran into a LO wallbreaker.
This attracts water like a magnet, and most are then 2KOED by HP grass.
It is extremely powerfull vs stall teams.
Heatran @ LO
6atk 252SPA 252SPE
Fire blast
Earth power
Hp grass
Sub/ Explode/taunt
Finally i would also change mixmence to csflygon.
Flygon@Scarf
6hp 252 ATK 252SPE
Outrage
EQ
Uturn
Fire/Stone edge
Eq can 1KO ape, heatran, sd luke.
Uturn/outrage wrecks starmie
Outrage kos all dragons
Stone edge to revenge gyarados.
You should change suicune to surf/calm mind /sleep talk/ rest

 

[august]

It appears to me your descriptions are a bit lacking. Please fix these up if entirely possible or it is an infractable offense.

 

[Nosferalto]

i would keep roserade the same because most other roserades run hp fire so 50/50 chance.

I disagree with this actually. Using HP Fire means that you will tie with other Roserades with HP Fire and therefore you will take a huge risk. You see, the team is centered around Suicune, and in order for Suicune to beat his counters -- Vaporeon; Blissey -- Toxic Spikes should be on the field to wear them down.

Not that crucial but it will definitely be beneficial on the long run if you encounter opposing Roserade leads.

 

[Hegna]

I'm not that amazing at analysing for flaws, but I do think you should definitely switch scizor's ability to Technician rather than Swarm.
It boosts your Bullet Punch (the main reason Scizor's used) and your pursuit, rather than just your U-turn, and it doesn't require you to be at low health to activate.

Maybe it was just a typo, but I'm pretty sure technician's more helpful here.

 

[Setsuna]

I disagree with this actually. Using HP Fire means that you will tie with other Roserades with HP Fire and therefore you will take a huge risk. You see, the team is centered around Suicune, and in order for Suicune to beat his counters -- Vaporeon; Blissey -- Toxic Spikes should be on the field to wear them down.

Not that crucial but it will definitely be beneficial on the long run if you encounter opposing Roserade leads.

Actually I agree with you Nosferalto, but just to be more specific, what really matters when deciding what kind of Hidden Power should Roserade use, is when you look at your entire team and see what could be more beneficial; for example Scizor and Forretress, Roserade's main reasons for using HP Fire. In his case, HP Ground is definitely better. But like I mentioned in my rate, even changing Suicune's moveset, and etcétera, there will still be some important threats capable of causing havoc in the team.