Team Desert Lightning

[Hegna]

Changes are in BOLD
First off let me refer to you the base of this team, from my last RMT. Only read it if you're interested in the early steps of the team building. That's about it.
Even though the team is different, I started with that, so I'm going to continue Team Building from there.

First off, I realized a few things:

1. Articuno rarely swept, and didn't help much. I ended up relying on the rest of the team to win.
2. Agility Articuno's analysis specifically says that it's too weak for OU. Normally this wouldn't stop me, but from my playing with the team, I definitely believed it.

Thus, I swapped Articuno for a similar bird, that just fits into the metagame better: Agility Zapdos. I tried multiple agility sets with Zapdos and ended up with Tbolt / HP Grass / Heat Wave / Agility holding Lefties.
That is where this team starts.

Following Articuno's removal, I saw less and less use for Donphan, as Zapdos could manage rocks much better, and Zapdos could take many of the physical hits Donphan absorbed, though granted not as well. I noticed that I was relying on flygon a bit too much though to get rid of things like Heatran, Gyarados, etc. by revenge killing. Though it worked pretty well, I wanted a sure fire way to take them out, especially since donphan's ice shard couldn't help against mence once it's gone.

I then remembered a friend's team once. Porygon2 worked wonders, reflecting damaging abilities for easy swap-ins and effective countering. I had found my new member.

This version stayed for quite a long time, with a few changes to P2 and Zapdos, but it frankly stayed most the same. That is, until someone else's Zapdos just cleared half my team off the bat.
I needed something that could take it down. I knew Empoleon was probably going too, as it just didn't seem needed to take on rain, and it was far too specific on the team.
Hence I bring in Tyranitar.

The problem then arose that Infernape's usefulness went way down in the inevitable sandstorm by Tyranitar. I definitely needed Tyranitar, and I still needed an answer to some common stall Pokemon that infernape took down for me.

That brought me to Stallbreaker Gliscor, which could easily taunt and beat many stall members, though there are some it must be wary of.

Through playing a few more times, I decided to try giving Gliscor the lead since taunt is able to shut down rocks and other hazards, that could be annoying, though definitely not as much as they were for articuno.
That is how my changes to this team ends.

This is Team Desert Lightning.

Here's how the types match-up for reference:

Gliscor @ Leftovers
Jolly
Sand Veil
252 HP / 36 Def / 222 Spe
Taunt
Stealth Rock
Earthquake
Roost

Stall breaker Gliscor was just what this team needed to replace Infernape. It can use taunt and Earthquake to singlehandedly beat many threats in a stall team. The EVs let me outspeed +speed base 90s while still keeping some bulk. Taunt is an obvious must to stop opponent's stall (especially the annoying Blissey), and Gliscor's a good rocks set-up since it has plenty of time to get it in play.

Tyranitar @ Leftovers
Hasty
Sand Stream
252 Atk / 208 Spe / 48 Sp.A
Pursuit
Crunch
Superpower
Flamethrower
My own take off bait tar really. This tyranitar can swap in and get a sub up usually. Then when scizor shows its face, it just breaks the sub with Bullet Punch and is OHKOed by flamethrower. Substitute has the added effect of making some people believe I'm running a boah set, which can occasionally help me out. The EVs also allow me to OHKO Breloom with Flamethrower, as well as outspeed scizor, defensive Rotom formes, and breloom stopping them from even denting my subs, and making rotom and easy set-up for my sub as it tends to try to paralyze or burn me first.

I switched to a more standard bait tar to beat blissey more easily. Ignore my reference to some sort of boah bluffing as well.

Flygon @ Choice Scarf
Naughty
Levitate
252 Atk / 180 Spe / 76 Sp. A
Earthquake
Outrage
Fire Blast
U-Turn
Flygon really does hold this team together for me. U-turn allows me to scout, and makes flygon a great switch in when there's any double K.O.s. The EVs maximize my Attack, give me enough speed to outspeed adamant ninjask (not that common, but I also outspeed all base 90 +1 pokemon) and put the rest into special attack for my fire blast. It also outspeeds some Kingdra sets in the rain, which can be useful when it comes down to the wire.

Need to test playing without Fire Blast. Will be done soon enough.

Scizor @ Choice Band
Adamant
Technician
252 Atk
248 HP / 252 Atk/4 Def/4 Spe
Bullet Punch
U-turn
Superpower
Pursuit

Pursuit was the reason I took this in the first place, but it really is a great help. I have 1 less Speed to avoid a speed tie with other scizors. I'm going to swap out for sure if they switched in when I'm locked into BP, so I don't need the speed there, and I'd rather go last if I swapped into them since I know what they're using, and wouldn't swap in if it could take out my scizor. Obviously Scizor helps me revenge kill almost anything under the sun, and usually comes in after a U-turn from Flygon to get the job finished.

Porygon2 @ Leftovers
Bold
Trace
252 Hp / 216 Def / 40 Sp.A
Ice Beam
Thunderbolt
Recover
Thunder Wave

Frankly, I find Porygon2 amazing. It's an NFE, that's tiered and can stand up to many OU threats by tossing their abilities right back at them. The EVs are standard P2, and they help with bulk and its little power. Ice / Ground has great coverage, and it lets me hit Magnezone (which I trap) and Heatran (which gets stopped because of tracing Flash Fire) for 4x Super Effective damage. Sure, I lose the OHKO on Gyarados, but I can still TWave and cripple it pretty easily with its own intimidate. Porygon2 is my go to mon for some of OU's fiercest threats thanks to its ability, and it comes out alive and kicking often enough. Trace really is amazing, using other Pokemons' abilities to cripple themselves.

Swapped in thunderbolt, since it's needed for gyarados, and as noted by the first two raters, killing Magnezone's not really worth losing to gyara.

Going to test Suicune as suggested by Friar.

Zapdos @ Leftovers
Modest
Pressure
140 HP / 108 Spe / 252 Sp. A
Thunder Bolt
Hidden Power (Ice)
Agility
Roost

Finally, there's Zapdos. The star, as they say. Zapdos' EVs let it reach 526 Speed after an Agility, even outspeeding Timid Scarf Gengar. I also get to maximize my special attack, and add some bulk while I'm at it. Thunder Bolt and HP Ice is obvious coverage, and roost lets me get rid of the Sandstorm and rocks damage. Zapdos really can sweep in the end, unlike what it replaced, Articuno. Zapdos can also help earlier on, disabling some annoying threats to the team. Zapdos has definitely earned its spot on this team.

Once again:

This is Team Desert Lightning.

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[Zach]

Your version of Bait Tar works as a lure for Scizor, but it does not lure Blissey effectively, which is a problem considering your primary sweeper is walled by her. I therefore recommend you change to the standard Bait Tar.

Tyranitar @ Expert Belt
Hasty nature
252 Atk / 48 SpA / 208 Spe
-Crunch
-Pursuit
-Superpower
-Flamethrower

This set lures Blissey into a false sense of security by creating the illusion of a Choice Band Tyranitar; she will feel safe staying in if you are locked into Pursuit. That's when you Superpower her fat ass for the KO, freeing up space for a Zapdos sweep.

Meanwhile, this team has DDGyrados problems. Your Zapdos will be OHKOed by a +1 Stone Edge, your Tyranitar and Gliscor will be KOed by boosted Waterfalls, and your Porygon2, Scizor, and Flygon are unable to really hurt Gyarados (with the exception of Flygon, who has to lock itself into Outrage to dent Gyarados), and Porygon2's Thunder Wave isn't going to do anything to Taunt Gyarados. For these reasons I recommend you run either Thunderpunch or Stone Edge over Fire Blast on Flygon (with a Jolly nature and max Speed as well, to speed tie +1 Salamence) and/or Thunderbolt over Hidden Power Ground on Porygon2.

Good luck.

 

[Hegna]

I'll try the tyranitar, but I found with that set that CB Scizor's constantly killing T-tar (it deals 97.4% minimum with Bullet Punch, almost always an OHKO, even without rocks) right away, meaning I have to swap out pretty often.

I was thinking of switching P2 back to thunderbolt anyway, but I wasn't sure because I do like the extra damage on Heatran and Magnezone. I'll swap it back and see if it does better.

 

[Radon Imbalance]

I have used P2 on numerous teams, and would highly recommend using Thunderbolt/Discharge over Hidden Power Ground. Heatran probably won't be staying once you've Traced Flash Fire, and I personally don't think Magnezone is enough to justify running HP Ground. If you're bent on HP Ground, you could try replacing Ice Beam with Thunderbolt, as Scizor can take Mence if he's been weakened. You'll have to be mindful of Fire Blast though. If you want a different Blissey lure, you could try HeaTrap; which works surprisingly well assuming you don't get the Magma Storm miss:

Heatran @ Shuca/Passho Berry/Wide Lens
Modest
128 HP / 212 SpA / 168 Spe

~Magma Storm
~Hidden Power Grass
~Dragon Pulse/Taunt/Earth Power
~Explosion

This would also help to take out Swampert, which walls Zapdos and gives the rest of your team trouble as well.

 

[Hegna]

Seems like an interesting set, and I'd definitely like to try it, but I'd like a suggestion of something to swap out if possible, since I honestly am not sure what to try switching it with.

As I said to crunch, I'll probably swap back to Thunderbolt on P2.

 

[Friar]

Hey there,

This is a really awesome team! I like how everything is set up for Zapdos to sweep, I just want to make a few suggestions on the team to help make it a little better.

First, I am just going to echo Crunchatize Me's earlier statements about both Tyranitar and Flygon. Using the standard BaitTar is a better choice for you team because of the addition of Pursuit and SuperPower. Pursuit allows you to instantly deal with Zapdos counters such as Latias and switching Blissey because of the STAB and boosted power on the switch (and in Latias' case, its super effective). This weakens Zapdos' counters to the point that they cannot wall Zapdos nor your other team members. In Blissey's case, you can bluff a Choice Band with Pursuit. This makes Blissey users usually stay in because they dont want to take a crazy powerful boosted Pursuit. At that point, you can smack them with SuperPower and eliminate perhaps the best Zapdos counter from the game.

Crunchatize Me is right about Flygon as well. Running ThunderPunch or Stone Edge over Fire Blast is a good idea because it gives you a better revenge killer to Gyarados and allows allows you to drop the Naughty Nature in favor of a Jolly one. This is absolutely crucial for Flygon to tie with other ScarfFlygon and ScarfRachi as well as max speed DD Mence. You may think that dropping Fire Blast makes you more open to Skarmory. However, you have Gliscor that can Taunt it, TTar to smack it with Flamethrower, Zapdos to Thunderbolt it, and Flygon and Scizor should be spamming U Turn all through the game, so you dont really have any reason to fear Skarmory. Max Speed and the better revenging attacks are the better idea. I recommend Stone Edge because you really want to hit Zapdos and Gyarados is not as much of a problem because of the next change I'm making:

Going into some of my own ideas, I would like to replace Porygon2. I dont see what it is doing for your team. You have nearly every single offensive threat covered in the combination of Flygon and Scizor, so an extra, momentum losing Pokemon actually hurts you more than it helps you. I agree you need a Fire resistance here, and I think the best possible option is a CM 3 Attack Suicune. This is a great durable attacker that can be a great sweeping partner with Zapdos. It benefits from Latias and Blissey being eliminated just as Zapdos does, and can use a quick Calm Mind to start laying the hurt on opposing teams. Once Suicune has finished tearing into the opponent's team, Zapdos is free to pick up the pieces. Suicune's bulk and Water typing really helps your team, and it poses more of an offensive threat than Porygon2, making it the better option. It is also a great switch in to Fire types as well as Gyarados, so Stone Edge is a better option on Flygon because Suicune can deal with Gyarados through HP Electric. It also has the ability to deal with most opposing Suicune, which you definitely have some problems withHere is the set:

Suicune @ Leftovers
Timid / Pressure
56 HP / 252 Sp. Attack / 200 Speed
-Calm Mind
-Surf
-Ice Beam
-HP Electric

Speed EVs hit 281, enough to beat Adamant Lucario and stuff trying to be one point ahead of the same Lucario. Special Attack is maxed to deal as much damage as possible with the rest in HP to bulk Suicune up a bit. Leftovers over Life Orb because Suicune does better with the increased longevity that Leftovers gives, instead of compromising Suicune's good bulk with a Life Orb (especially because Sand will always be up). You have ways to deal with most every Suicune counter, even Celebi (not really a good counter, but its decent I guess) and CM Jirachi, so I think this is an excellent addition to the team.

Ok, now for Zapdos itself. I think you should run HP Grass instead of HP Ice. You lose coverage on Celebi and Latias, but think about your team. Latias should be dead at the hands of TTar and Scizor (or even Flygon) early game. Celebi can be handled by Flygon, lured by Suicune, and even beaten by Scizor if Celebi lacks HP Fire. Salamence can be dealt with by passive Sandstorm damage, Flygon, and Scizor and will take big damage from Thunderbolt, so no problems there. Other dragons such as Kingdra and Dragonite can be dealt with by Scizor and/or Flygon as well. The main reason to use HP Grass is Swampert. Your team has a bit of an issue against Pert. Really you can only chip away at its health with U Turns or a Suicune Surf as it racks up entry hazard damage on you or chips away at your own team with its decently powerful attacks. You have Dragons well covered, so hitting Swampert is a huge help to both Zapdos and the rest of your team. The only dragon that might still pose a problem is Flygon, but Gliscor is one of the best ScarfFlygon stoppers, and you can resist Flygon's attacks pretty easily, so it is not that much of a threat. With all this in mind, I would use HP grass over HP Ice.

That's all I have. Good Luck with your team!