Sweet Home Alabama

[Dr Ciel]

Sweet Home Alabama​

Introduction

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Hello all you Smogonites, it's Dr Ciel again with another RMT, my third on this forum! Most of you know me for my past RMT, The Dawn Of Kyurem, which was an offensive hail team that was very, very successful. Anyways, most of you know me as an offensive player that uses strong and fast Pokemon to overwhelm my opponent and destroy their team in a maximum of 20 turns or less. Well, no I present to you a bulky offense team that I made a few days ago, and it peaked on Showdown with an ACRE of 1608 and I hope you all can make it better. First and foremost, the name of the song is a reference to Lynyrd Skynyrd's 1974 hit song, Sweet Home Alabama, the song that I listened to for the bulk of my laddering time with this team on Showdown. All that aside, this team was born out og a core that I used a lot in the past, the combo of Rotom-W and Celebi. This core is interesting, because each of them cover each others weaknesses quite well, so I decided to make a team out of this, which is the team I am presenting to you today. The playstyle of this team is a sort of a Bulky Offense sort with the goal being to sweep late-game with either Scarf Salamence and my favourite Pokemon to sweep with, the ever almighty Lucario. I've been seeing one too many weather teams on the RMT forum and I don't see a lot of bulky offense teams, so that's why I'm posting this team. With that said, pack your bags and head down to Birmingham, it's time to start this RMT, so let's get it on!​

Team At A Glance​

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In Depth Look

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Deoxys-D
Deoxys-Defense @ Rocky Helmet
Trait: Pressure
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
- Spikes
- Taunt
- Magic Coat
- Stealth Rock​

First up, we have our good Hyper Offensive friend, and my personal favourite anti-lead, the always popular, Deoxys-D. Deoxys-D is here to set up and prevent hazards from being set on my side of the battlefield. You may view this set as odd, I also agree, that is is odd, but for me, it makes the team breathe. Without him, this team would simply fall apart. Anyways, standard EV's here, The max HP makes Deoxys-D ridiculously bulky, while the Speed EV's help hom outspeed a good chunk of the OU tier. Okay, onto the moveset. Spikes is an excellent move, as this team thrives off of entry hazard damage in order to do its job, so Spikes is an absolute must on a Deo-D hyper offense team. Taunt helps me to prevent setting up hazards in the first place, since I have two Pokemon weak to Stealth Rock, this is another must. Magic Coat is used to reflect back such things as status, the hazards, and a whole lot of other things from things like Forretress, Ferrothorn, Sableye, Whimsicott, and a whole lot more. All in all, Deoxys-D is the absolute backbone of this team and without it, my team would otherwise fall apart.​

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Salamence
Salamence @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Moxie
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SAtk / 252 Spd
Naive Nature
- Outrage
- Dragon Claw
- Earthquake
- Fire Blast​

Now, fellows of Smogon, meet what is possibly, the greatest late-game sweeper to ever step onto the battlefield, the ever mighty Choice Scarf Salamence. Salamence is part 1 of my 2 part sweeping duo in this team. We all know how to use Choice Scarf Salamence, you simply remove the steels and then remove anything that can possibly KO Salamence and then Outrage the rest of their team to death. You have your standard EV's here, with Max Attack for maximum destroying power, 4 Special Attack EV's to boost Fire Blasts power just a bit and the 252 Speed EV's to outspeed the common OU threats. Outrage is my obligatory base 120 Power STAB move, which deals a lot of damage to everything that doesn't resist it (Only steel typed Pokemon resist it). Dragon Claw is for when I don't want to get hit with Outrages nasty sie effect of confusion, which is always annoying. Earthquake is for hitting Pokemon that would otherwise wall Salamence, such as Jirachi, Metagross and Magnezone. Finally, Fire Blast is for Pokemon such as Skarmory, Ferrothorn and Scizor, as these 3 would otherwise render salamence useless ( Espically Skarmory).​

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Lucario
Lucario @ Life Orb

Trait: Justified
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Close Combat
- ExtremeSpeed
- Crunch​

Hello weakened team, my name is Life Orb Lucario, prepare to be ripped to shreds. That's what Lucario says when the opposing team is weakened, simply SD up and sweep like there's no tomorrow. Lucario is part 2 of my 2 sweeper core along with my Choice Scarf Salamence, of course. Standard EV's once again, with max Attack to destroy everything in its path and max Speed to outspeed some of the common threats of the OU metagame such as Latias, and many others that I cannot think up of at this moment in time. Swords Dance is the crux of this set, raising Lucario's Attack stat to a sky high 700 with Adamant Nature, this is absolutely needed on any Lucario. Close Combat is the obligatory STAB move here, used for destroying opposing Steel, Dark and Rock types that would dare switch in to Lucario, threats such as Tyranitar, Magnezone, Skarmory, Jirachi, Bronzong, and many, many others. Extremespeed is for picking off weakened Pokemon, such as Latios, Volcarona (Watch out for Flame Body), and a few others that, once again, I cannot think up of at this moment in time. Finally, Crunch is for getting crucial KO's on Latias and Reuniclus, most importantly the latter, because he can sweep me with the OTR set.​

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Thundurus-T

Thundurus-Therian (M) @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Volt Absorb
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
- Volt Switch
- Thunderbolt
- Focus Blast
- Hidden Power [Ice]​

Physical Walls of the OU metagame, my name is Thundurus, you may have killed off opposing Choiced Physical sweepers, but you're about to get Thundurus'd. Anyways, Thundurus is my main revenge killer here, KOing a whole lot of threats in the OU metagame that would otherwise doom my entire team, were Thundurus not be on this team. Once again, standard EV's, max Special Attack to boost that already sky high Base 145 Special Attack to near godlike levels. I use a Timid nature specifically to outspeed Choice Scarfed Salamence, Haxorus, Jirachi, and a couple others that I cannot think of at this moment. Volt Switch is a strong STAB move that helps me escape Pokemon that may take little to no damage from the other 3 moves, most notably Latias. Thunderbolt, once again, is obligatory damage, doing huge amounts of damage to Politoed, Starmie, Tentacruel, Cloyster, Gyarados, and a whole lot more. Focus Blast is mainly for hitting Tyranitar and Magnezone, both of which could somewhat pose a threat to this team. Finally, HP Ice is there for grabbing KO's on Salamence, Gliscor, and many dragon typed Pokemon in the OU metagame.​

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Celebi
Celebi @ Life Orb
Trait: Natural Cure
EVs: 56 HP / 252 SAtk / 200 Spd
Modest Nature
- Leaf Storm
- Psychic
- Thunder Wave
- Recover​

Next up, we have out favourite time traveling angel, she has great typing, a solid amount of resistances, and one of the greatest abilities ever in Natural Cure, meet Celebi. Celebi is my offensive pivot (bulky offense teams such as this one are necessary) When I'm not sure what my opponent will switch in, I send out Celebi and then act accordingly depending on what the opponent has on the field. I'll give you a rundown on the EV's. Max Special Attack and a Modest Nature allows Celebi to hit as hard as possible, with it's 2 strong STAB moves, while the 200 Speed EV's allow her to outspeed everything up to Max Speed Mamoswine and Venusaur. Leaf Storm is an excellent base 140 Powered STAB move used to destroy dedicated Bulky waters, such as Slowbro, Suicune, and Gastrodon. Psychic is an excellent move to grab surprise KO's on many fighting Pokes, such as opposing Lucario, Conkeldurr, and even opposing Terrakion. Since Celebi causes a whole bunch of switches, I use Thunder Wave in order to cripple the Steel types that love to switch in on her, most notably Scizor. Finally, Recover is there to prevent Celebi from being worn down from Life Orb recoil.​

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Rotom-W

Rotom-Wash @ Leftovers
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 248 HP / 28 SAtk / 232 SDef
Calm Nature
- Volt Switch
- Hydro Pump
- Will-O-Wisp
- Pain Split​

Wait, Ciel, are you crazy? Why the hell are you using a Special Defensive Rotom-W on a team like this instead of the Bulky Attacker or even one of the Choice sets? Well, the answer is simple, I've always wanted to try out the CeleTom core (As I call it), because they resist each others weaknesses quite nicely. When a threat such as Volcarona switches in, Rotom-W comes in with an emergency KO. The EV'S here are to maximize Rotom-W's bulk, with the 28 Special Attack EV's to assure that Max HP Gliscor is OHKO'd by Hydro Pump. Volt Switch is a staple to this set, as it gives a good STAB move, as with all the Volt Switching between him and Thundurus-T, the opposing team is simply worn down. Hydro Pump is such and excellent STAB to have, as it does decent damage on whatever switches into Rotom. Will-O-Wisp is to cripple any physical attackers, such as the ever common Conkeldurrs, Haxorus', Scizors, Salamences, and a whole lot of physical attackers in the OU metagame that I cannot be bothered to list. Finally, Pain Split is there for a somewhat reliable recovery and to make sure Rotom-W doesn't get worn down himself.​

Importable

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Deoxys-Defense @ Rocky Helmet
Trait: Pressure
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
- Spikes
- Taunt
- Magic Coat
- Stealth Rock
 
Salamence @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Moxie
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SAtk / 252 Spd
Naive Nature
- Outrage
- Dragon Claw
- Earthquake
- Fire Blast
 
Lucario @ Life Orb
Trait: Justified
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Close Combat
- ExtremeSpeed
- Crunch
 
Thundurus-Therian (M) @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Volt Absorb
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
- Volt Switch
- Thunderbolt
- Focus Blast
- Hidden Power [Ice]
 
Celebi @ Life Orb
Trait: Natural Cure
EVs: 56 HP / 252 SAtk / 200 Spd
Modest Nature
- Leaf Storm
- Psychic
- Thunder Wave
- Recover
 
Rotom-Wash @ Leftovers
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 248 HP / 28 SAtk / 232 SDef
Calm Nature
- Volt Switch
- Hydro Pump
- Will-O-Wisp
- Pain Split

Conclusion

Well, I'm finally done with this team, I'm glad you made it this far, so props to you. Special shoutouts to Don Honchkorleone for all the support he game me thoughout my first few months on Smogon through the past few months. Another shoutout to Superpowerdude again for the support, he's a great, nice guy, and and excellent teambuilder. Another shoutout to Electrolyte for the great discussions of competitive Pokemon that we have had in the past. Finally, I would like to thank the guys in #ratemyteam for being all good guys in general. This is another successful team by Dr Ciel, if you like it, please leave a Luvdisc

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Final Glance

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[Pikachuu]

Hey man nice team you got here. I see a weakness to sun team teams in general with Xatu but most weatherless teams tend to be weak to them anyway but what you could do is give Deoxys-D Skill Swap over Magic Coat to be able to set up against Xatu or Espeon and also give it the item Mental Herb so you still have a way to beat faster Taunters. Next I noticed you're weak to the core of Tyranitar+Keldeo you could give Celebi Baton Pass somewhere so you can troll Tyranitar and give Lucario an Attack boost and also give you a free turn of setup. Also I noticed you're kinda weak to Scarf-Terrakion, you could give Lucario Bullet Punch instead of Crunch so it doesn't ruin your sweep and also deal with Gengar.

 

[tintinwong]

Nice team. Very similar to a team I created about 2 weeks ago. I used politoed and scizor over lucario and celebi, and achieved somewhere around 1700-1800. Can't remember.

I feel that celebi is slightly out of place. I think that a LO tank latias fits the role better. Politoed can replace it too, but thats kind of a big change from weatherless to rain, so yeah.

Edit: Scarfed thundurus-t and scarf moxiemence is a terrifying offensive core. Good job.

 

[dice]

Hello, Dr. Ciel.

There are a few problems I see with your current lineup. First and foremost, there are a few offensive problems your team has. Offensively speaking, opposing Lati@s stick out as a major issue. Basically, Lati@s can just spam a Dragon-type STAB versus your team on practically every Pokemon and you die. SubCM Latias can simply Substitute on 66% of your team and then you're practically 6-0'd. This is a pretty big deal. Latios can simply click Draco Meteor and your team is severely dented. You highlighted Reuniclus as a major issue as well in your Lucario description. Crunch on Lucario is most certainly not a good way to handle Reuniclus. It doesn't OHKO TR versions and basically Trick Room Reuniclus can 6-0 you with some hazards. Mamoswine looks pretty troublesome as well. Even though you have a Rotom-W, that isn't why it is problematic. It can switch into Thundurus-T and completely ruin your momentum. It also revenge kills Salamence, Lucario if it is healthy, and dents Rotom-W heavily with Superpower on the switch-in. Terrakion causes major damage since it walls Lucario and heavily damages your whole team. Lastly, your Deoxys-D doesn't seem to fit your team. This is because you lack a spinblocker. Deoxys-D itself cannot keep hazards off the field by itself so you need to use a spinblocker, an offensive set which wouldn't fit the team, or you shouldn't use it. Because of this, I have a few recommendations. First of all, I recommend a Scizor instead of Thundurus-T. Thundurus-T looks fairly redundant on your team. Rotom-W serves the role as an Electric-type while Salamence serves the role as a Choice Scarf'r and Lucario is your offensive check to Scizor, thus I don't see a reason to use Thundurus-T. On the other hand, Scizor can easily check Lati@s, TR Reuniclus, and maintain momentum with U-Turn much like Thundurus-T could. It also isn't stopped could like Thundurus-T was. Additionally, Scizor forms a VoltTurn core with Rotom-W which gives you great momentum. I recommend the Specially Defensive Swords Dance set with 248 HP / 96 Atk / 164 SpD @ Leftovers with an Adamant Nature and a moveset of Swords Dance / U-Turn / Bullet Punch / Roost. This provides you with a good Lati@s / Reuniclus pivot, a secondary steel, a Terrakion check, and a good momentum keeper. Swords Dance and U-Turn may seem to conflict eachother; however, you use U-Turn early game mainly and spam Bullet Punch late-game so it isn't terrible. Now to fix the problem with Deo-D not blocking spinners, I recommend an Azelf instead of Deo-D. With Explosion Azelf can easily boom on spinners that try to spin Stealth Rock while still being able to Taunt opposing Deoxys-D and it maintains momentum. A set of Zen Headbutt / Taunt / Stealth Rock / Explosion @ Focus Sash with EV's of 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe and an Adamant Nature should work. Now, for minor nitpicks I would recommend a Specs Rotom-W instead of your current Specially Defensive set. With Scizor as your utility Pokemon, you need a breaker. Specs Rotom-W provides a good breaker and helps you break through troublesome Pokemon like OHKO'ing Scizor and doing heavily damage to common switch-ins. A set of Volt Switch / Hydro Pump / Trick / Hidden Power Ice | Grass @ Choice Specs with EV's of 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe and a Timid Nature should work for you. Lastly, to help your Terrakion weakness, I recommend Bullet Punch on Lucario instead of Crunch. Crunch is for Jellicent really and your team has no problem with it now with Specs Rotom-W and a Celebi, so Bullet Punch Lucario should work well as a Terrakion lure. Overall this is a decent team and I hope I helped. Good luck.

Edit: I missed one thing. Volcarona is a huge weakness so try out Stone Edge instead of Fire Blast on Salamence and change the nature accordingly.

 

[Dr Ciel]

Hello, Dr. Ciel.

There are a few problems I see with your current lineup. First and foremost, there are a few offensive problems your team has. Offensively speaking, opposing Lati@s stick out as a major issue. Basically, Lati@s can just spam a Dragon-type STAB versus your team on practically every Pokemon and you die. SubCM Latias can simply Substitute on 66% of your team and then you're practically 6-0'd. This is a pretty big deal. Latios can simply click Draco Meteor and your team is severely dented. You highlighted Reuniclus as a major issue as well in your Lucario description. Crunch on Lucario is most certainly not a good way to handle Reuniclus. It doesn't OHKO TR versions and basically Trick Room Reuniclus can 6-0 you with some hazards. Mamoswine looks pretty troublesome as well. Even though you have a Rotom-W, that isn't why it is problematic. It can switch into Thundurus-T and completely ruin your momentum. It also revenge kills Salamence, Lucario if it is healthy, and dents Rotom-W heavily with Superpower on the switch-in. Terrakion causes major damage since it walls Lucario and heavily damages your whole team. Lastly, your Deoxys-D doesn't seem to fit your team. This is because you lack a spinblocker. Deoxys-D itself cannot keep hazards off the field by itself so you need to use a spinblocker, an offensive set which wouldn't fit the team, or you shouldn't use it. Because of this, I have a few recommendations. First of all, I recommend a Scizor instead of Thundurus-T. Thundurus-T looks fairly redundant on your team. Rotom-W serves the role as an Electric-type while Salamence serves the role as a Choice Scarf'r and Lucario is your offensive check to Scizor, thus I don't see a reason to use Thundurus-T. On the other hand, Scizor can easily check Lati@s, TR Reuniclus, and maintain momentum with U-Turn much like Thundurus-T could. It also isn't stopped could like Thundurus-T was. Additionally, Scizor forms a VoltTurn core with Rotom-W which gives you great momentum. I recommend the Specially Defensive Swords Dance set with 248 HP / 96 Atk / 164 SpD @ Leftovers with an Adamant Nature and a moveset of Swords Dance / U-Turn / Bullet Punch / Roost. This provides you with a good Lati@s / Reuniclus pivot, a secondary steel, a Terrakion check, and a good momentum keeper. Swords Dance and U-Turn may seem to conflict eachother; however, you use U-Turn early game mainly and spam Bullet Punch late-game so it isn't terrible. Now to fix the problem with Deo-D not blocking spinners, I recommend an Azelf instead of Deo-D. With Explosion Azelf can easily boom on spinners that try to spin Stealth Rock while still being able to Taunt opposing Deoxys-D and it maintains momentum. A set of Zen Headbutt / Taunt / Stealth Rock / Explosion @ Focus Sash with EV's of 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe and an Adamant Nature should work. Now, for minor nitpicks I would recommend a Specs Rotom-W instead of your current Specially Defensive set. With Scizor as your utility Pokemon, you need a breaker. Specs Rotom-W provides a good breaker and helps you break through troublesome Pokemon like OHKO'ing Scizor and doing heavily damage to common switch-ins. A set of Volt Switch / Hydro Pump / Trick / Hidden Power Ice | Grass @ Choice Specs with EV's of 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe and a Timid Nature should work for you. Lastly, to help your Terrakion weakness, I recommend Bullet Punch on Lucario instead of Crunch. Crunch is for Jellicent really and your team has no problem with it now with Specs Rotom-W and a Celebi, so Bullet Punch Lucario should work well as a Terrakion lure. Overall this is a decent team and I hope I helped. Good luck.

Thanks for the rate. I'll try these changes out soon.

 

[Electrolyte]

I'll start off this rate with a quote, my dear friend:
(this is about you)
+oarpheus: i like her HO team too
+oarpheus: a lot
+oarpheus: i've never even said a word to that woman and i love her ;-;

Happy Birthday!

Now, looking at your team, it's quite solid offensively; the bulk you have in CeleTom+Deoxys makes the team a lot more flexible and powerful. Nice job. You do have some issues offensively, however. Your two wallbreakers are choiced, which isn't necessarily a bad thing but it'll make it a lot harder to break cores such as SkarmBliss or AmoongBro. You already have a great wallbreaker on your team- Mence- but you've choiced it, so using it to break cores is not possible. For this reason, I suggest you change ScarfMence into DDMixMence. Its resistances will let it grab a +1 in front of many Choice locked opponents, and after just 2 DDances the snowballing effect will tear down teams. MixMence is also an excellent wallbreaker, which your team certainly needs; the ability to switch from Fire Blast to Outrage will be very useful. This leaves you with a dedicated physical and special sweeper as well as a mixed wall breaker.

Now, this change causes some unpleasant problems to come up. Lati@s become big problems, since they can just spam dragon coverage until something dies. Scarfed Dragons can be hard to beat too, but Luc can do a fair bit with ESpeed and Thundy can outspeed for the kill. To fix this, I think tweaking your defensive core would be helpful. To start off, since Lati@s are big problems, I think giving Celebi U-Turn over Recover and Giga Drain over Leaf Storm would be quite beneficial. U-Turn breaks the subs and lets you scout, forming a VoltTurn sponging core with Rotom. UTurn also does some damage to Reuniclus too. To make up for the loss of recovery, Giga Drain is there to act as a Pseudo-recover. Being able to kill bulky water types without needing to eat the drop in SpAtk is great too.

Since you are also a bit weak to SubSetup sweepers in general, I suggest you run Seismic Toss over Spikes on Deo-D. I think being able to not get set up upon by faster pokemon is better than laying down Spikes. You've got Magic Coat, which lets you utilize an opponent's hazards, so occasionally you can get your Spikes up that way. Also, you lack a spinner, and aren't fast paced enough to prevent opponents from spinning- so Spikes may not always be as useful as the ability to beat SubCM Keldeo, Latias, and Jirachi, as well as dent Reuniclus.

Other than that, cool team! Nice job Dr Ciel!

 

[Zentrius]

Since you don't have a sturdy Steel-Type (Lucario gets like 80-90% of damage from Specs Latios Draco Meteor), I recommend Bulky Swords Dance Scizor instead of Celebi. I don't really see exactly what Celebi does other than cheking most of the Water-types in the tier, but Rotom-W does this job essenstially better. I recommend the exact same set that Princess Brii posted, it works wonderful and revenge kills most of the tier @ 2 with Bullet Punch and it has the bulk enough to take something like Latios Draco Meteor. Also, it does pretty well againts Reuniclus who can easily 6-0 you with the TR set.

Now that you don't have something to straight up kill Jellicent (Rotom's Volt Switch oesn't 2HKO with that spread, and even if it did, Jellicent can easilly Recover off damage), Thundurus-T does great againts Jellicent, but it simply seems out of place with Rotom-W on the team, so I highly recommend SubSplit Gengar with the standard Shadow Ball, Focus Blast, Substitute and Pain Split attached with a Life Orb and a spread of 252 SpAtk, 252 Spd, 4 Hp and a Timid Nature instead of Thundurus-T. With Gengar on the team, you get a reliable Spinblocker and an offensive threat at the same time. Gengar can't really switch in most of the spinners on OU (but Donphan, Forretress that lack Gyroball, and some other shit), but when Gengar hits the battle, the spinners can't switch in. You really need a spinblocker in order for this team to function a lot better since without the spikes Lucario misses a lot of OHKOs/2HKOs.

Other than that, I think replacing Ice Punch/Bullet Punch over Crunch on Lucario seems like the better idea, but you can still use it if you are paranoic about Reuniclus.

So that's basically all, hope I helped, good luck with the team! :)