Team London

[SOMALIA]

Hi there people of Smogon. Today I'll be posting my latest OU team(dont worry no silly gimmicks this time) that has accomplished quite alot for me such as reaching the semi-finals of an OU tour(in my alt (BAN ME PLEASE)uto), winning several tours on Pokemon Online and also reaching 28th on my alt 'I own the right..' on the smogon shoddy server a few months back in early August.

Changes in BOLD

Without further ado:

SEWER MONSTA JACOBS@ Shuca Berry

252Sp.Att/252Speed/4HP Timid
-Fire Blast
-Earth Power
-Hidden Power Grass
-Stealth rock

This is your standard Heatran lead I guess. Since my team was stall based I needed a lead that prevented the early set up of spikes from foes such as Forretress and Skarmory. Heatran also has great typing and aids me greatly mid game coming in on the obvious Fire type moves and those annoying Bulky Rotom. Fire Blast outweighs Flamethrower in so many ways, securing vital OHKO's after stealth rock. hidden power grass was chosen over explosion as keeping Heatran alive throughout the match is important to it's fellow teamates.​

EDIT: Changed Heatran for Hippodown, currently testing it out.

With Heatran as my lead, I know needed a Pokemon that could back it up against leads it could not set up upon or be instantly killed by. Forretress fit the bill perfectly being able to deal with Gliscor and Aerodactyl leads.

BADMAN MARCUS@ Leftovers

252HP/158Def/100Sp.Def Relaxed
-Spikes
-Rapid spin
-Payback
-Toxic Spikes


Forretress has great typing and deals with all the boring stalling/spinning duty that no-one else on my team likes to do. It can switch in on a handful of pokemon such as Swampert, Non-fire Punch Jirachi, Mamoswine and comfortbaly spin away hazards or set up some of his own. Earthquake is used primarily because of those annoying sub-charge beam Magnezone as well as on SD lucario who think they can get an easy +4 by setting up on Forretress only to be 2HKO'd(OHKO'D after sr+2 spikes damage). Payback hurts Spin blockers such as Scarf Rotom and Gengar. Forretress and Gyarados make the solid Backbone of my team.​

Next time comes the big man..or should I say fish. Bulky Gyarados is a huge asset to this team taking care of nasty plot Infernape and the Mixed variant as well as fragile sweepers such as Flygon to an extent and Lucario.

RIVER THAMES@Leftovers

252HP/108Def/146SP.Def Careful
-Waterfall
-Roar
-Sleep Talk
-Rest

Gyarados plays the role oh phazer in the team. It gives me an opportunity to scout the enemies team as well as rack up significant amounts of damage if all layers of entry hazards are up. Gyarados, Forretress and Rotom make a solid defensive trio. Unfortunately since Gyarados lacks roost, I had to use the next best thing called Rest. It does pretty good, complemented by sleep talk and helps me out in alot of sticky situations. the Ev's are set in a way for Gyarados to take attacks from the special side a bit better, especially grass knot from LO Infernape.

TAKING THE PISS BRUV@Leftovers

252HP/200Def/58Sp.Def Bold
-Thunderbolt
-Rest
-Sleep Talk
-Will-o-wisp

Rotom-h is just ..amazing. It is probably the no.1 spin blocker in the metagame and with access to Will-o-wisp it spreads burns everywhere. This is what you can call my 'second line of defense' once Gyarados and forrtress are severely dented or down. It compliments Blissey's weaknesses pretty well. I'm thinking to change this set to a Pain split shadow ball one instead of rest+Sleep talk so any suggestions?

MARGRET THE WHORE@Leftovers

252HP/252Def/8Sp.Def Bold
-Seismic toss
-Aromatherapy
-Softboiled
-Thunder Wave​

Blissey sponges almost any special attack and is my best switch in for a handful of threats such as LO starmie and LO shaymin. The main reason I use this set over the Wish set is that I get Aromatherapy, and it seems to do more good to the team than wish can. Thunder wave is chosen over Toxic due to the amount of Steels and Breloom that switch into Blissey predicting the obvious Toxic, it's not even funny. Blissey happily comes in early in on the game to lure in Infernape so that it can be dealt with right away.​

HYDE PARK RESIDENT@Leftovers

72HP/252Speed/184Sp.Attack Timid
-Seed Flare
-Hidden power Fire
-Earth Power
-Leech Seed​

I love this Pokemon. Bulky waters are dealth with by Blissey but to speed things up Shaymin loves to come in and destroy with Seed flare. Hidden Power Ice is for the handful of Mixed Flygon and Mixed/DD Dragonite that think I'm not big threat to them after seeing my leftovers only to find themselves outspeed and OHKO'd. Shaymin and Heatran go well hand in hand being further effective with Gyarados in the team, forming that unfamous FWG core.​

Anyhow this is my team. Any rates, hates, comments from mates will great people and thanks for reading this. BYE BYE

 

[Nosferalto]

Hi SOMALIA,

At a glance, this looks like a solid stall team, good job. You have most threats covered by I am a bit worried about Tyranitar and DD Dragonite. The lack of a Rock resist is really going to hinder this team's performance since DD Tyranitar and CB Tyranitar are easily going to 6-0 this team. Looking at your team, Heatran seems to be the weakest link of the team, not doing anything significantly important other than setting up SR and is running an offensive moveset which isn't very suited on a team like this. Over Heatran, Hippowdon will be the best replacement. Giving your team a Rock resist, a Tyranitar counter and a DD Dragonite check while still setting up SR. Go for: SR / Earthquake / Roar / Slack Off, Leftovers, an Impish nature and 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpDef as an EV spread. You now have SS on your team which along with Roar to phaze allows you to rack up residual damage.

I think you should change Shaymin moveset a bit since your set is more suited on an offensive team. Your team now has most offensive threats covered but stall teams are problematic. Change your moveset to: Leech Seed / Earthpower / Seed Flare / Rest with a more defensive EV spread 252 HP / 36 SpA / 220 Spe. Leech Seed will also help you out to wear down the foe's team along with entry hazards and give you an excellent way to get around opposing stall teams.

Consider Wish + Protect on Blissey. Wish support is incredibly useful on stall and increases Forretress' survivability which is pretty important considering Forretress plays an extremely important part on your team.

As for minor changes, Toxic Spikes > Earthquake on Forretress. Gives you another form of entry hazards to wear down your foe's team furthermore, helps you out against numerous threats to this team and a very welcome addition to your team in general.

Other than that, solid team. Good luck!

 

[SOMALIA]

Hi SOMALIA,

At a glance, this looks like a solid stall team, good job. You have most threats covered by I am a bit worried about Tyranitar and DD Dragonite. The lack of a Rock resist is really going to hinder this team's performance since DD Tyranitar and CB Tyranitar are easily going to 6-0 this team. Looking at your team, Heatran seems to be the weakest link of the team, not doing anything significantly important other than setting up SR and is running an offensive moveset which isn't very suited on a team like this. Over Heatran, Hippowdon will be the best replacement. Giving your team a Rock resist, a Tyranitar counter and a DD Dragonite check while still setting up SR. Go for: SR / Earthquake / Roar / Slack Off, Leftovers, an Impish nature and 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpDef as an EV spread. You now have SS on your team which along with Roar to phaze allows you to rack up residual damage.

I think you should change Shaymin moveset a bit since your set is more suited on an offensive team. Your team now has most offensive threats covered but stall teams are problematic. Change your moveset to: Leech Seed / Earthpower / Seed Flare / Rest with a more defensive EV spread 252 HP / 36 SpA / 220 Spe. Leech Seed will also help you out to wear down the foe's team along with entry hazards and give you an excellent way to get around opposing stall teams.

Consider Wish + Protect on Blissey. Wish support is incredibly useful on stall and increases Forretress' survivability which is pretty important considering Forretress plays an extremely important part on your team.

As for minor changes, Toxic Spikes > Earthquake on Forretress. Gives you another form of entry hazards to wear down your foe's team furthermore, helps you out against numerous threats to this team and a very welcome addition to your team in general.

Other than that, solid team. Good luck!

Thanks for the rate Nosferalto. Yep I seem to always have problems with DD and CB tyranitar and usually have to sacrifice a Pokemon to revenge kill it. So far Dragonite's have been no threat at all but I'll try Hippodown over Heatran in lead position. I've tried Wish blissey before but the amount of trouble I face against offensive teams was alot since I barely get to switch in Blissey in first place and having a 2 turn method of recovery for Blissey herself kinda isn't my preferred method.

Thanks alot will also change earthquake for Toxic spikes.

 

[Delta 2777]

Hey dude, got your VM.

Overall this is looking very much like a standard stall team, with the exception of Heatran and Shaymin being two Pokemon that you rarely see on stall. This isn't necessarily a bad thing though, I myself am a fan of unorthadox Pokemon on certain playstyles, so if you can make it work, all the better for you.

First and foremost, I notice that your Blissey does not have 252 Defense EVs; all Blissey should always maximize their Defense before investing in any other stat. I'm going to suggest you use the spread 216 HP / 252 Def / 40 SpDef, as this gives you far more defensive potential in the physical Defense department, while only sacrificing roughly 1% of your SpDef. I would also suggest that you test Ice Beam on Blissey in order to better deal with Gengar (who otherwise can destory most of your team, other than Forretress), along with hitting Flygon, Dragonite, and Gliscor. The only downside is the lack of consistant damage, most notably against Heatran, but you have Heatran checked pretty well it seems. If you do run Ice Beam, the EV spread should be 216 HP / 252 Def / 40 SpAtk.

I'm going to suggest a different Shaymin set for you as well:

Shaymin @ Leftovers
Timid Nature
112 HP / 216 SpAtk / 180 Spe
-Seed Flare
-Hidden Power [Fire] / Aromatherapy
-Earth Power / Aromatherapy
-Leech Seed / Rest / Aromatherapy

Feel free to shift as much of the SpAtk EVs to bulk if you want to, especialy if you choose to run Aromatherapy over an attacking move. Maximizing speed isn't that particularly important anymore; with Salamence gone, its main utility is for Zapdos and Jirachi, meaning you can shift a good 20 stat points to increase bulk and attacking power. Hidden Power [Fire] > Hidden Power [Ice] is because it is very important for Shaymin to hit Forretress and Skarmory. While Leech Seed may seem unreliable for recovery, it gives you a much better way to deal with "the last Pokemon," most notably CurseLax, CroCune, and Bulky Roost Heal Bell Dragonite. Leech Seed also gives you a way to beat Blissey, who seems to annoy your team quite a bit. Aromatherapy isn't necessary, but it is an option if you want to change Blissey to a WishBliss set. The SpAtk EVs give you the ability to OHKO most Scizor and Heatran with HP [Fire] and Earth Power, respectively, along with 2HKOing 252 HP Suicune after a Calm Mind.

I'm going to suggest changing Forretress to a SpDef spread of 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 SpDef. This allows you to better check Gengar and Rotom-A, both of whom whom really threaten this team, especially if Blissey doesn't run Ice Beam (otherwise she can't break its Substitutes). I'm also going to suggest you move Forretress to the lead positition so that you can get your EHs up early, and change Heatran to a Specially Defensive spread (252 HP / 248 SpDef / 8 Spe, Calm @ Leftovers) with the moves Flamethrower/Earth Power/Stealth Rock/Rest. This gives you a better check to a wide variety of Pokemon, such as the aforementioned threats, as well as threatening opposing Skarmory and Forretress.

Lastly, I'm going to suggest you change Gyarados's EV spread to either 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 Spe (Impish) or 252 HP / 240 Def / 16 SpDef (Careful). Gyarados doesn't need that much special bulk, it only really help against threats like MixNite, while more physical bulk helps against many more threats such as Scizor and Lucario.

Some other things to test are Shadow Ball on Rotom-H, and Toxic Spikes over Earthquake on Forretress; you won't know which move you like better before you test it. I know I suggested a lot for this team, and I don't expect you to follow every suggestion. Good luck with the team!

EDIT: Hippowdon may be a good Pokemon to test as well over Heatran as mentioned for the sake of checking Tyranitar. If you do this then I would reccomend a Specially Defensive spread on it (252 HP / 72 Defense / 184 SpDef, Impish). Gliscor may be a potential choice too, as it has slightly better lead matchups, can still check Tyranitar, and still sets up Stealth Rock.

 

[Faladran]

Hey SOMALIA,

So as other raters have already stated, this is a pretty solid team defensively. Due to the team's stallish nature, it's got members that can keep just about all the major threats in check. Therefore, I'm only going to make minor suggestions to help support the team, rather than suggesting any total replacements.

I'll start with Heatran. My first impression was that it seemed somewhat out of place, since the ShucaTran lead is generally used on offensive teams. For this reason, I'm going to recommend that you switch to a lead set that fits better with the defensive nature of your team, and will hopefully help you out overall:

Heatran @ Leftovers
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpD / 4 Spd
Calm nature (+SpD, -Atk)
- Lava Plume
- Earth Power
- Roar
- Stealth Rock

This is basically a specially defensive Heatran that I've changed a bit to function as a lead. With the given spread, Heatran becomes incredibly bulky on the special side, allowing it to switch in often and abuse the entry hazards that you've set up by using Roar. Lava Plume is the preferred STAB attack because of its 30% burn rate, which is often very useful against common switch-ins such as Tyranitar or Gyarados. Hidden Power Grass is the only move that you're that this set is missing, but it's only for taking out Swampert leads (which are becoming increasingly uncommon) and Shaymin makes for a great Swampert switch-in anyway. I'm aware that your own Gyarados is already a very capable phazer, but in my experience, stall-oriented teams always appreciate a second user of Roar / Whirlwind to further rack up entry hazard damage and shuffle the opposing team around.

As a minor nitpick, I think that Protect may be a good move to try over Earth Power on Shaymin's set. Earth Power is really only useful for taking out opposing Heatran switch-ins, but RestTalk Gyarados is such a good Heatran counter that it is relatively unneeded. Protect would allow you to stall out opponents for more turns, gaining Leech Seed damage and recovery, as well as forcing more switches.

Good luck with your team!

 

[IronBullet]

Hey dude,

Generic stall team, looks pretty decent and covers all the relevant threats. I think SubRoost Zapdos could give you some issues, with Rotom susceptible to Pursuit thanks to Will-O-Wisp's crappy accuracy and even more so while sleeping. So, the Heatran set suggested above by Faladran is a very good choice, providing insurance against plenty of special attackers, and being a great shuffler to boot. If you plan to use it, Forry would be better off in the lead spot, as Heatran doesn't match up too well against common leads.

I really feel the need for a catch-all Pokemon that can deal with any last Pokemon stat-boosters, and act as a backup check to dangerous sweepers including DD Gyara, Empoleon, Agiligross and the like. A Scarf Rotom still provides nice resistances and immunities, but provides your team with some much needed speed to help deal with speedy threats. It acts as mainly a backup check, and Trick is a wonderful move to deal with Pokemon like CurseLax or CroCune. I'd suggest the standard moveset of Thunderbolt/Shadow Ball/Overheat/Trick, although W-O-W is viable over Overheat to catch T-Tar on the switch. A bulky spread can be used to make switching into Starmie Surfs/Gyarados Waterfalls easier, and it still packs enough power to get the job done.

Nice team, gl!

 

[SOMALIA]

Thank you you 3 I will implement the changes, I've tried Hippodown lead but it isn't so good so I'll stick to the one Faldaran suggested. Much thanks nigs!!!