Team Nostalgia (My First OU RMT)

[Scytherslash]

Hey guys, I'm new to Smogon, so this is my first RMT. This is my first competitive team, and I figured that I would ask for everyone's help. I chose this name because i used mostly old school pokemon who still make there presence known in the metagame. So here we go!

Team At a Glance

In Depth
​

Infernape @ Focus Sash
Ability: Blaze
EVs: 64 Atk/252 SpAtk/192 Spe
Naive Nature
-Fake Out
-Stealth Rock
-Fire Blast
-Close Combat
----
I like this lead a lot. First use Fake Out to break enemy Focus Sash if they have one, then set up rocks and attack or switch. He usually KO's the other lead if I stay in, and if I switch he can come back to get a KO or two late game. Focus Sash to ensure that I can set up rocks. So far the biggest lead problem are other Inferape with a little more speed EV investment as they can Fake Out faster than me, so I might move the Attack EVs to max out speed.

Tyranitar @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Sandstream
EVs: 180 HP/252 Atk/76 Spe
Adamant Nature
-Crunch
-Earthquake
-Stone Edge
-Fire Punch
----
Pretty much a revenge killer. Choice Scarf so he can out speed foes who aren't scarfed. He's been hit or miss, he either gets his KO or he gets KOed. Fire Punch is to punish Scizor if I predict a Swords Dance. Earthquake is an all out powerful move and Crunch and Stone Edge are for reliable STAB. I obviously switch if I'm locked into the wrong move. EVs give him a little bulk, but mostly offensive. This set over all hasn't been working so is there something that can take his place?

Starmie @ Life Orb
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 4 HP/252 SpAtk/252 Spe
Timid Nature
-Surf
-Ice Beam
-Thunderbolt
-Rapid Spin
----
My special sweeper, and spinner. Great speed and a respectable special attack. Life Orb is to dish out more damage with my attacks, same with the EVs. BoltBeam combo provids great coverage, Surf is for STAB, and Rapid Spin is to spin away other entry hazards. Natural Cure allows Starmie to absorb a status inducing attack, for example Spore, and then heal on the switch. A superb pokemon.

Umbreon @ Leftovers
Ability: Synchronize
EVs: 252 HP/128 Atk/128 SpDef
Careful Nature
-Wish
-Curse
-Payback
-Protect
----
My tank. Umbreon has always been one of my favorite pokemon, so incorporated it into my team. Wish provides support for himself and the rest of the team, and protect guarantees that Umbreon will heal after using Wish. Curse to boost defense and attack, and Payback for STAB and so that if Umbreon gets Taunted, he isn't useless. I decided to invest some EVs in Attack because I want Payback to have a little more sting.

Scizor @ Life Orb
Ability: Technician
EVs: 4 HP/252 Atk/252 Spe
Adamant Nature
-Swords Dance
-Bullet Punch
-Brick Break
-Pursuit
----
100% my favorite pokemon since he first came out. And his stats aren't half bad either. He is my main physical sweeper. Send him out on something that will switch, Swords Dance during the switch, and proceed to sweep. Bullet Punch is great for STAB, also boosted by Technician, and has priority. Brick Break for steel and normal types, and pursuit to punish the switch. Obviously beaten my Magnezone so I try to wait as long as possible before revealing Scizor. Thinking about switching either Pursuit or Brick Break to U-Turn.

Celebi @ Life Orb
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 232 HP/240 SpAtk/36 Spe
Modest Nature
-Leaf Storm
-Psychic
-Thunder Wave
-Recover
----
This guy pretty much brings the team together. Leaf Storm handles bulky waters, while Psychic handles Machamp, who I despise. Thunder Wave is great to cripple the opposing team, and Recover heals back Life Orb damage. EVs in HP along with natural bulk allow him to take a hit or two, and the rest of the EVs allow Celebi to tie up loose ends if the others sweepers faint. Celebi is a great counter for things that sweep my team.

Last Thoughts​

Overall I think this is a pretty solid team. I was thinking about using a suicide Aerodactyl as my lead instead of my Ape, and then replacing Tyranitar with a MixedApe so I can have a wall breaker. Tyranitar just doesn't seem to get anything done, and if the Sandstorm isn't helping me, it's hurting me. All thoughts and criticism are welcomed as I am trying to make a very competitive team. Thanks in advanced!

 

[Zachary]

Congrats on joining Smogon!

Infernape is a great lead, but watch out for lead Swampert. They could give you hell. If one goes out, immediately switch to Celebi and Grass Knot. Typically, Swampert would Earthquake Infernape over using Ice Beam, so you should be safe there unless they somehow miraculously predict the switch.

About Tyranitar, why isn't it working? What's going wrong there? Information might help.

Otherwise, I suspect the reason it's probably not working is because it's choiced. Since it's choiced, a lot of things can go wrong--any Flying-type or Levitate user can safely come in and nullify Earthquake, set up while you switch, and then sweep through your team. Fire Punch is useless against Scizor if you're choiced; typically, a Scizor's going to switch out (or worse, use U-Turn) when Tyranitar shows up to the party, avoiding an Earthquake.

I'm personally not a fan of choicing, so that may just be my prejudice coming through, but try this instead:
[box]

Tyranitar @ Lum Berry
4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Sand Stream / Jolly
- Dragon Dance
- Rock Slide
- Crunch
- Fire Punch[/box]

Dragon Dance gives you the Speed and Attack as if you were choiced, but you're not locked in to one move. This lets Tyranitar be immensely more adaptable, and actually makes Fire Punch useful. I went with Rock Slide over Stone Edge for the flinch and accuracy, but that's your call--either move is going to take out Flying-type threats.

EDIT: I forgot to talk about Lum Berry. Lum Berry is mostly for other Dynamicpunch-using Machamp, as it kills off confusion one time. You could alternatively go with Life Orb, but Life Orb will ruin your chances to bluff a choiced item. Then again, so will Dragon Dance.

 

[bubbly]

The problem here is that you have very few good switch ins to a lot of common pokemon. Heatran, for instance, can only be stopped from just spamming a LO or Specs Fire Blast by Tyranitar (since Starmie gets 2HKO'd by Timid LO Fire Blast, and your particular one lacks Recover).
Not really sure why Starmie is necessary either. Your pokemon aren't particularly vulnerable to SR, and you seem to be using it primarily as a spinner. If you wanted to keep Starmie, Recover would be a better choice.
Scizor is another MASSIVE problem. Four of your pokemon have bug weaknesses and will be OHKO'd by U-turn. Basically any form of Scizor will walk over you if played properly.
There are a lot more threats which I won't list, but the fact that you have serious weaknesses with the two most common pokemon in the game tells you you have problems. The issue is that you have one fairly inferior wall in Umbreon (sorry, but its true; Umbreon just isn't very good), and not a great deal of typing synergy between the other members.

First of all I'd suggest replacing Umbreon and Starmie with a Vaporeon, who gives you durability, Wish support, and a good counter to a lot of threats such as Heatran, Gyarados, Infernape, etc etc. Just run a standard Wish supporter as per the site analysis. Now you predominantly have problems with pokemon weak to Ice and Fire, such as Scizor, Flygon, Zapdos, etc. There isn't a quick fix for all of these, but a Scarf Heatran would do a pretty good job at patching up weaknesses. I'd suggest running a bulkier Tyranitar set without Choice Scarf alongside this Heatran, such as CBand with Aqua Tail instead of EQ (again, look at the site analysis). This gives you a fairly durable counter to things like Rotom-A and a back up to stop Heatran and so on.
Also, CB Scizor is infitely more helpful to your team than a SD Scizor.

Okay, so try those out. I won't pretend that it will make it a great team, since these suggestions are just intended to patch it up so you won't automatically lose against certain pokemon. Good luck!

 

[Scytherslash]

Thanks for the catch ShinyAzelf, it was supposed to be 232 HP EVs but I accidentally put 252, but thats corrected now.

To bubbly, thanks for the suggestions, I'll try some of them out. It is true that Umbreon isn't the best tank that I could use, I've been trying to find a moveset that would work but to no avail, so it's probably time for a replacement!

To Zachery, don't worry, Infernape never stays in on things like Swampert! But thanks for the Tyranitar set, that might just work. I'm with you, I don't really like choice sets because the opponent can plan around it, and Dragon Dance is a great set. I'll try it out right away. Thanks!

 

[Dragonite_FTW]

I think you have two problems one is that Dragonite can walk all over leadape. (Sorry I'm biased.) The second is a lack of Bronzong/Skarmory counters. Assuming your leadape gets killed (no offense ape is pretty frail), Bronzong can walk all over your team if it wants to. As for your Tyranitar not working, have you tried Scarfed Flygon, it mike work better with your team since it is a fair bit faster than Tyranitar. I also agree with what bubbly said, SR isnt a huge problem for your team. I would also suggest as a final note maybe replacing Celebi obviously you're looking for an offensively minded wall. I am personally a huge fan of these, but there are better ones than celebi with its 7 weaknesses.

 

[soonerorlater]

Sadly, the newest attacking leads stop Infernape cold. Anything from Machamp, Dragonite, Metagross (more popular Occa Berry versions without Stealth Rock), Gengar (my personal favorite)... the list goes on. Also, every bulky lead except Heatran (somewhat bulky) still does its job, and threatens to KO Infernape.

The best anti-lead that still provides Stealth Rock is Metagross or Heatran. They have great utility with resistances, and can explode on most stat-uppers or Blissey in Heatran's case. The lead competition is too tough for Infernape to stop set-ups and set up its own rocks (Azelf and Aerodactyl leads are seriously decreasing in use right now).

Umbreon can't really help your team right now. Scizor can switch in, and can U-Turn, and EVERY SINGLE pokemon on your team will die/take serious damage from it. Actually, the only one that doesn't die is Scizor, assuming Infernape is already dead (who still takes 20%ish, despite 4x resist). That's why you want something bulky/resists Bug without being too frail. Vaporeon is probably the best for Wish support, and can take Starmie's place if you run Ice Beam instead of Toxic, effectively functioning as a check to many sweepers and providing health.

Hidden Power Fire is much better than Celebi for its ability to kill Scizor before it U-Turns and not be walled by Steels. Also, Celebi doesn't exactly "counter" Machamp. If Machamp switches in and you switch in later, you counter only 50% of the time due to confusion, and be promptly KOed with Ice Punch. Here's my suggestions:

Lead Ape can be either lead Dragonite, lead Gengar, or Life Orb Azelf. Life Orb Azelf is surprisingly powerful, capable of OHKO on Machamp, non-Occa Metagross, Swampert, Hippowdon, Mamoswine, etc. with appropriate moves. It can even 2HKO no-investment Tyranitar with Grass Knot and survive one Pursuit staying in (but will die from LO recoil + SS). Dragonite and Gengar just simply OHKO Machamp while outspeeding it, so they work fine.

Umbreon -> Vaporeon
Everyone said this, so I'll make it short. Better typing, almost equal defenses, higher damage output, and more useful attacking types while providing Wish support.

Starmie -> Scarf Flygon
Someone above said this, but Flygon is faster, and still has great type coverage with STAB moves (despite being locked in). It's by far a better revenger/sweeper (after the opposition is out/heavily damaged) since it checks Kingdra and Tyranitar better.

Celebi -> Shaymin
It's arguably better for your niche (hard hitting wall of sorts), as it's not weak to Pursuit, has better STAB move and movepool (Earth Power, and same Hidden powers), same stats, and Natural Cure. Celebi is usually favored for its support movepool, but it doesn't look like you need much support in paralysis.

Final notes: TTar wants 252 Speed EVs and Jolly to outrun Azelf and Gengar. It's a must. If Scizor dies, stall stomps you in the face. Make sure you keep Scizor's health (and not get caught by Magnezone, or get walled by Rotom-A) with Wish support, and if that fails, your best bet is to hope for a 2HKO on Blissey with Seed Flare from Shaymin (but Skarmory walls it easily, and you'll eventually die that way).

 

[Scytherslash]

Thanks for all the ideas guys, I've taken some into account and I'm also trying some of my own ideas based off yours. Zachery suggested a DD TTar so I thought about maybe instead a DD Dragonite, to take away one of my bug weaknesses, and it can do a similar job to DD TTar, but Dragonite has access to Roost. With Dragonite, I am also trying a Magnezone instead of Starmie to take out Scizor and other steel types that can pose a problem, plus Dragonite and Magnezone have great synergy. I've also taken bubbly's advice and opted for a Wish Support Vaporeon instead of Umbreon, because Vappy has more lasting ability, can still pass wish, and can handle heatran. Finally I'm trying a CB Scizor instead of Swords Dance seeing how I never SD with him anyway. Still testing these changes, which are pretty big to the team, and when I come out with results I'll edit the team. Thanks for the help so far, let's keep this going!