Team Absolute Powerforce
Team Absolute Powerforce focuses mainly on wearing down opponents with powerful sweepers and entry hazard, paving way for Zapdos and Starmie to sweep.
Team building
When I thought of OU, Dragonite comes to mind. That directed me to Steel types who can take Outrages from it. Empoleon come to mind, so I decided to build a team around it.
Now I need a lead that can beat other leads. Azelf and Metagross come to mind but I chose Metagross.
Now I see a severe Ground weakness and Gengar Comes into mind.
I see that I need a side by side sweeper with Empoleon and decided on Mamoswine
Metagross does not do its job well so I looked up Smogon and chose Infernape
I see that my team to too specially based and Blissey would wall it so I need another Physical Attacker.I started with Lucario.
Lucario seems inappropriate because of Scarf-tran so I took it out for Scarf Heracross.
Added Zapdos to handle bulky waters and Scizor.
Took out Empoleon due to its speed and Gengar due to fear of Scizor’s Pursuit and replaced with Starmie, my new sweeper and Skarmory, to take physical hits and Earthquakes, respectively.
Infernape (M) @ Focus Sash
Ability: Blaze
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 Spe / 252 SpA
Hasty Nature (+Spe, -Def)
- Overheat
- Mach Punch
- Endeavor
- Stealth Rock
Used to be a Metagross but it did not live up to standards against other leads. Infernape almost always guarantees a Stealth Rock up. Infernape could also come in and FEAR later on if necessary.
What to do with leads:
Aerodactyl: Endeavor the Earthquake. Mach Punch for the KO. Set Up rocks on the switch-in.
Azelf: Overheat, then Mach Punch for the KO. Set Up rocks on the switch in.
Machamp - SR then switch to Skarm for Spikes
Metagross – Overheat for the kill unless it’s Occa’ed which I’d Mach Punch Next turn if I sense Bullet Punch OR Set Up Rocks and die.
Swampert - Stealth Rock as they Stealth Rock. Mach Punch for it to EQ me. Then Envdeavor as they kill Nape
Jirachi – SR then Overheat if I don’t die
Infernape – Switch to Starmie to take Fake Out and KO with Hydro Pump.
Roserade – Overheat then SR
Heatran – SR as they SR then FEAR.
Ninjask - SR then go to Skarm fo WW it away
Hippowdon – SR and Overheat if he doesn’t Earthquake
Tyranitar – SR and Overheat if he doesn’t Earthquake
Starmie - FEAR
Uxie – SR and do what I feel like doing
Dragonite – FEAR and SR on the Switch-in
Smeargle – SR and take the Spore. Then go to Skarm for WW or Spikes depending on what he does.
Bronzong - Never seen a Bronzong lead, But Overheat is the way to go.
Forretress – Overheat.
Crobat – Overheat
Gliscor – SR then FEAR
Skarmory - Overheat
Ambipom – Go to Skarm
Yanmega – SR on the Protect then FEAR
Abomasnow - Overheat
Celebi – Overheat
Skarmory @ Leftovers
Ability: Keen Eye
EVs: 252 HP / 64 Atk / 176 Def / 16 Spe
Impish Nature (+Def, -SpA)
- Drill Peck
- Roost
- Spikes
- Whirlwind
Standard. Helped me a lot with physical sweepers and phase them away. Takes Fake Out aimed at Nape and set up Spikes. Drill peck instead of Brave Bird for more survivability. It used to be Gengar to take Earthquake for the team but after testing with Skarmory, I found that it was much better and puts the opponent in a ‘die if you switch, die if you don’t position’.
Heracross (M) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Guts
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SpA)
- Close Combat
- Megahorn
- Stone Edge
- Night Slash
Used to be a Lucario to help against Blissey. However, that would let Scarf Heatran kill my entire team so I added Heracross to prevent that from happening. Heracross also helped me against DDnite and DDdos with Stone Edge and Rotom-A with Night Slash. I would switch into a WoW or Toxic and sweep with Guts boosted Close Combats.
Mamoswine (M) @ Expert Belt
Ability: Snow Cloak
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature (+Spe, -SpA)
- Ice Shard
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- Superpower
Was always here ever since I started the team. He helped a lot to revenge kill dragons and Togekiss. Superpower is for Blissey in case Heracross dies and Expert Belt could effectively bluff a Choiced set. I would switch in on an electric attack and scare it away with STAB Earthquake.
Zapdos @ Life Orb
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 4 Def / 252 Spe / 252 SpA
Timid Nature (+Spe, -Atk)
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power [Grass]
- Heat Wave
- Roost
CB Scizor is a pain in the ass after Infernape dies and I had to find something to take its attacks and OHKO back. Zapdos pretty much walls everything thrown at it from Scizor. This set is unexpected due to standard Zapdos being more defensively built.
Starmie @ Life Orb
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 Spe / 252 SpA / 4 SpD
Timid Nature (+Spe, -Atk)
- Hydro Pump
- Thunderbolt
- Ice Beam
- Recover
Used to be Empoleon which was the core of the team but I found it too slow and setting up an Agility is probably going to kill me. Bolt Beam + Hydro Pump hits everything except Lanturn and Shedinja for at least neutral. I’m not sure whether to keep Hydro Pump or go to Surf. I’ also considering Grass Knot but I guess it is redundant.
Wanted:
• One of the biggest problems this team has is entry hazard damage. I want to add a Rapid Spinner, but I’m not sure who I should replace. Entry hazard damage combined with Life Orb recoil and weather damage wears down my team pretty quickly. I also have a much better time checking various threats with Infernape's Focus Sash intact.
• The last important thing I feel like I'm missing is something that uses Taunt, which would help me deal with stall teams.
Threat List: Top 29 Pokemon in OU
Scizor: Heat Wave and Overheat Kills it. Zapdos also walls it.
Heatran:: Heracross outspeeds all variants and KO with Close Combat, Mamoswine outruns non-Scarfed versions and KOs with Earthquake, Starmie KO’s With Hydro Pump
Tyranitar: Mamoswine has Superpower and Earthquake, Starmie hurts Tyranitar with Hydro Pump, Heracross has Close Combat.
Gyarados: Heracross and Mamoswine use Stone Edge to kill it. Starmie and Zapdos kill it with Thunderbolt. Skarmory WW it away as it DD’s
Gengar: Heracross outspeed unscarfed variants and Kos with Night Slash.
Jirachi: Overheat and Heat Wave dispose of it.
Rotom-A: Heracross can switch in on a WoW and KO with Guts boosted Night Slash
Starmie: Unscarfed Versioned are killed by Night Slash. Thunderbolt can kill any Starmie.
Infernape: Earthquake from Mamoswine kills it if it does not KO Mamoswine first. Starmie walls any set without Thunderpunch.
Metagross: Mamoswine has Earthquake and Infernape can Overheat it. Zapdos cal wall it and KO with Heat Wave. Skarmory can WW Agiligross.
Swampert: If Zapdos cannot OHKO with HP Grass, I don’t know what to say.
Blissey: I have plenty of powerful physical attacks to muscle through Blissey.
Machamp: Skarmory sets up Spikes on it and Roost off the Damage.
Lucario: Heat Wave silences it. Mamoswine outspeed and KO Adamant variants.
Azelf: Night Slash for the win
Breloom: Ice Beam and Heat Wave ends its life instantly.
Gliscor: Mamoswine’s Ice Shard can 2HKO and Starmie OHKOs all un-Yached versions.
Flygon: Mamoswine OHKOs with Ice Shard, Starmie outspeed unscarfed variants and OHKO with Ice Beam.
Skarmory: Starmie and Zapdos scare it off.
Vaporeon: Starmie and Zapdos 2HKOs with Thunderbolt.
Jolteon: Mamoswine can switch in on Thunderbolt and scare it away with a STAB Earthquake.
Suicune: Starmie’s Thunderbolt 2HKOs all Suicune. Its Thunderbolt can 2HKO all variants of Suicune without Special Defense investments and has a chance to OHKO more offensive variants after Stealth Rock.
Dragonite: Ice Shard from Mamoswine is the Obvious Choice Here. Otherwise, Stone Edge from Heracrosss.
Celebi: Every Member In My Team can hit it for Super Effective.
Magnezone: Anything with Earthquake takes care of Magnezone and the only thing it can really trap is my Skarmory.
Zapdos: Heracoss and Mamoswine KO with Stone Edge. Starmie KO’s with Ice Beam.
Kingdra: DDdra get phased out by Skarm. Mixed attackers are more problematic though.
Togekiss: Starmie can OHKO with Thunderbolt, Mamoswine and Heracross have Stone Edge, Zapdos can use Thunderbolt, and Mamoswine has Ice Shard.
Bronzong: Heat
Wave those with Levitate, Earthquake the Heatproof One
Team Absolute Powerforce focuses mainly on wearing down opponents with powerful sweepers and entry hazard, paving way for Zapdos and Starmie to sweep.
Team building
When I thought of OU, Dragonite comes to mind. That directed me to Steel types who can take Outrages from it. Empoleon come to mind, so I decided to build a team around it.
Infernape (M) @ Focus Sash
Ability: Blaze
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 Spe / 252 SpA
Hasty Nature (+Spe, -Def)
- Overheat
- Mach Punch
- Endeavor
- Stealth Rock
Used to be a Metagross but it did not live up to standards against other leads. Infernape almost always guarantees a Stealth Rock up. Infernape could also come in and FEAR later on if necessary.
What to do with leads:
Aerodactyl: Endeavor the Earthquake. Mach Punch for the KO. Set Up rocks on the switch-in.
Azelf: Overheat, then Mach Punch for the KO. Set Up rocks on the switch in.
Machamp - SR then switch to Skarm for Spikes
Metagross – Overheat for the kill unless it’s Occa’ed which I’d Mach Punch Next turn if I sense Bullet Punch OR Set Up Rocks and die.
Swampert - Stealth Rock as they Stealth Rock. Mach Punch for it to EQ me. Then Envdeavor as they kill Nape
Jirachi – SR then Overheat if I don’t die
Infernape – Switch to Starmie to take Fake Out and KO with Hydro Pump.
Roserade – Overheat then SR
Heatran – SR as they SR then FEAR.
Ninjask - SR then go to Skarm fo WW it away
Hippowdon – SR and Overheat if he doesn’t Earthquake
Tyranitar – SR and Overheat if he doesn’t Earthquake
Starmie - FEAR
Uxie – SR and do what I feel like doing
Dragonite – FEAR and SR on the Switch-in
Smeargle – SR and take the Spore. Then go to Skarm for WW or Spikes depending on what he does.
Bronzong - Never seen a Bronzong lead, But Overheat is the way to go.
Forretress – Overheat.
Crobat – Overheat
Gliscor – SR then FEAR
Skarmory - Overheat
Ambipom – Go to Skarm
Yanmega – SR on the Protect then FEAR
Abomasnow - Overheat
Celebi – Overheat
Skarmory @ Leftovers
Ability: Keen Eye
EVs: 252 HP / 64 Atk / 176 Def / 16 Spe
Impish Nature (+Def, -SpA)
- Drill Peck
- Roost
- Spikes
- Whirlwind
Standard. Helped me a lot with physical sweepers and phase them away. Takes Fake Out aimed at Nape and set up Spikes. Drill peck instead of Brave Bird for more survivability. It used to be Gengar to take Earthquake for the team but after testing with Skarmory, I found that it was much better and puts the opponent in a ‘die if you switch, die if you don’t position’.
Heracross (M) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Guts
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SpA)
- Close Combat
- Megahorn
- Stone Edge
- Night Slash
Used to be a Lucario to help against Blissey. However, that would let Scarf Heatran kill my entire team so I added Heracross to prevent that from happening. Heracross also helped me against DDnite and DDdos with Stone Edge and Rotom-A with Night Slash. I would switch into a WoW or Toxic and sweep with Guts boosted Close Combats.
Mamoswine (M) @ Expert Belt
Ability: Snow Cloak
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature (+Spe, -SpA)
- Ice Shard
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- Superpower
Was always here ever since I started the team. He helped a lot to revenge kill dragons and Togekiss. Superpower is for Blissey in case Heracross dies and Expert Belt could effectively bluff a Choiced set. I would switch in on an electric attack and scare it away with STAB Earthquake.
Zapdos @ Life Orb
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 4 Def / 252 Spe / 252 SpA
Timid Nature (+Spe, -Atk)
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power [Grass]
- Heat Wave
- Roost
CB Scizor is a pain in the ass after Infernape dies and I had to find something to take its attacks and OHKO back. Zapdos pretty much walls everything thrown at it from Scizor. This set is unexpected due to standard Zapdos being more defensively built.
Starmie @ Life Orb
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 Spe / 252 SpA / 4 SpD
Timid Nature (+Spe, -Atk)
- Hydro Pump
- Thunderbolt
- Ice Beam
- Recover
Used to be Empoleon which was the core of the team but I found it too slow and setting up an Agility is probably going to kill me. Bolt Beam + Hydro Pump hits everything except Lanturn and Shedinja for at least neutral. I’m not sure whether to keep Hydro Pump or go to Surf. I’ also considering Grass Knot but I guess it is redundant.
Wanted:
• One of the biggest problems this team has is entry hazard damage. I want to add a Rapid Spinner, but I’m not sure who I should replace. Entry hazard damage combined with Life Orb recoil and weather damage wears down my team pretty quickly. I also have a much better time checking various threats with Infernape's Focus Sash intact.
• The last important thing I feel like I'm missing is something that uses Taunt, which would help me deal with stall teams.
Threat List: Top 29 Pokemon in OU
Scizor: Heat Wave and Overheat Kills it. Zapdos also walls it.
Heatran:: Heracross outspeeds all variants and KO with Close Combat, Mamoswine outruns non-Scarfed versions and KOs with Earthquake, Starmie KO’s With Hydro Pump
Tyranitar: Mamoswine has Superpower and Earthquake, Starmie hurts Tyranitar with Hydro Pump, Heracross has Close Combat.
Gyarados: Heracross and Mamoswine use Stone Edge to kill it. Starmie and Zapdos kill it with Thunderbolt. Skarmory WW it away as it DD’s
Gengar: Heracross outspeed unscarfed variants and Kos with Night Slash.
Jirachi: Overheat and Heat Wave dispose of it.
Rotom-A: Heracross can switch in on a WoW and KO with Guts boosted Night Slash
Starmie: Unscarfed Versioned are killed by Night Slash. Thunderbolt can kill any Starmie.
Infernape: Earthquake from Mamoswine kills it if it does not KO Mamoswine first. Starmie walls any set without Thunderpunch.
Metagross: Mamoswine has Earthquake and Infernape can Overheat it. Zapdos cal wall it and KO with Heat Wave. Skarmory can WW Agiligross.
Swampert: If Zapdos cannot OHKO with HP Grass, I don’t know what to say.
Blissey: I have plenty of powerful physical attacks to muscle through Blissey.
Machamp: Skarmory sets up Spikes on it and Roost off the Damage.
Lucario: Heat Wave silences it. Mamoswine outspeed and KO Adamant variants.
Azelf: Night Slash for the win
Breloom: Ice Beam and Heat Wave ends its life instantly.
Gliscor: Mamoswine’s Ice Shard can 2HKO and Starmie OHKOs all un-Yached versions.
Flygon: Mamoswine OHKOs with Ice Shard, Starmie outspeed unscarfed variants and OHKO with Ice Beam.
Skarmory: Starmie and Zapdos scare it off.
Vaporeon: Starmie and Zapdos 2HKOs with Thunderbolt.
Jolteon: Mamoswine can switch in on Thunderbolt and scare it away with a STAB Earthquake.
Suicune: Starmie’s Thunderbolt 2HKOs all Suicune. Its Thunderbolt can 2HKO all variants of Suicune without Special Defense investments and has a chance to OHKO more offensive variants after Stealth Rock.
Dragonite: Ice Shard from Mamoswine is the Obvious Choice Here. Otherwise, Stone Edge from Heracrosss.
Celebi: Every Member In My Team can hit it for Super Effective.
Magnezone: Anything with Earthquake takes care of Magnezone and the only thing it can really trap is my Skarmory.
Zapdos: Heracoss and Mamoswine KO with Stone Edge. Starmie KO’s with Ice Beam.
Kingdra: DDdra get phased out by Skarm. Mixed attackers are more problematic though.
Togekiss: Starmie can OHKO with Thunderbolt, Mamoswine and Heracross have Stone Edge, Zapdos can use Thunderbolt, and Mamoswine has Ice Shard.
Bronzong: Heat
Wave those with Levitate, Earthquake the Heatproof One
