team p3 is cool (OU RMT)

There's no better team name than this and nobody else listens to me when I suggest that so I'm using it myself. Also sorry if there are any font tags or formatting problems, I previewed this a few times and didn't see any though. There might be some I missed since I copied from Word/Notepad.

Alright I’ve had this team for probably close to 2 years now and decided to finally post it. I doubt I’ll be using it much anymore especially since it got a little worse ever since Platinum came out (it was originally made pre-platinum). Anyway, this team has been pretty good the whole time, and focuses on somewhat offensive pokemon who can still take hits. It’s gone through tons of changes and I’ve never found the “perfect team” but this is probably as close as I have gotten with it. I haven’t gotten to the top of the ladder or whatever since I don’t do a ton of battles at a time.

Also, I don’t use regular 252/252/4 EV spreads. I actually enjoy calcing everything (I do it manually, I don’t need any silly damage calculators) and make spreads based off that. I don’t remember what specific things I had EV’d this stuff for anymore but I know it was all for a good reason. Everything is pretty well thought out so I would appreciate if your replies are something better than “lol poliwrath sucks” please.

Another weird thing about my team is that most of my team is actually not OU pokemon. I don’t use the lower tier pokemon just for the sake of using them, I use them because they are the best at what I need them to do.

Team at a glance:


Notice how I have 3 Stealth Rock resists and also 4 Bug resists. I really don’t care about Stealth Rock and Scizor.


Gallade @ Life Orb
Adamant, 8HP/252Atk/144Def/104spd
Close Combat
Psycho Cut
Leaf Blade
Shadow Sneak

Everyone always says Gallade sucks or whatever but it is an amazing lead. It basically 2HKOs almost every lead and comes back later on to kill Starmie, Azelf, and others who all think they’re faster, and just weakened pokemon in general. I use him mainly for these reasons, although his great movepool and good stats definitely help also. 279HP/202Def/266SpDef is very good for such an offensive pokemon, with 383Atk also. The defenses let me live through something but I forgot what. He is pretty slow though, at 222.

When I first decided to use Gallade, I knew I needed his STAB moves. After that though I had no clue. Did I want status or 2 attacks or Swords Dance or what? I didn’t bother deciding until the team was done and realized I couldn’t do much to Swampert, so Leaf Blade was added. I couldn’t find any other big problems so I went with Swords Dance in hopes of getting a lategame sweep. The only things I couldn’t really hurt were Celebi and stuff like Xatu (Latias wasn’t allowed back then). I recently went to Shadow Sneak and it is amazing. Revenge kills a bunch of weakened pokemon and I desperately needed a priority move somewhere; as I said I don’t use 252/252 spreads and therefore don’t have max speed on anything.

Against the top 10 leads:
Metagross: Close Combat is a 2HKO but they usually try to Explosion on turn 2 so I go to spiritomb.
Azelf: Shadow Sneak is a 2HKO, but I always Leaf Blade first. I want him to think I’m slower so he stays in and then gets killed turn 2. One time I went to spiritomb turn 1 and he used Explosion instead of setting anything up so that was cool.
Jirachi: Gallade doesn’t mind getting tricked a Scarf, or if they try to flinch me I get Steadfast boosts. But if they’re doing that I just go to Magnezone since he resists Iron Head/Zen Headbutt and traps Jirachi.
Swampert: Leaf Blade is an OHKO and I have never seen anyone switch Swampert out here.
Aerodactyl: Psycho Cut + Shadow Sneak is a 2HKO and they get Taunt OR Stealth Rock. I love Aerodactyl, I am instantly up 6-5 in exchange for 20% on my Gallade and occasionally Stealth Rock down. Great pokemon!
Infernape: Psycho Cut is an 2HKO (because of Focus Sash) but I Shadow Sneak on the second turn. I actually don’t see many of these leading.
Hippowdon: Leaf Blade/Close Combat are a 3HKO in any combnation while he Stealth Rocks and anything else. If he doesn’t Slack Off turn 2 he dies.
Bronzong: Gallade loves being tricked a Choice Band and Close Combat is a 2HKO without it. My only worry is occasional Hypnosis but I can’t afford to use Lum Berry here.
Ninjask: Psycho Cut will OHKO, Shadow Sneak does 43% minimum. I normally Psycho Cut until he’s at a point where Shadow Sneak will kill him, or if I can predict the Baton Pass right and priority him there. Ninjask doesn’t really bother me.
Tyranitar: I’m faster than Adamant ones and Close Combat is a OHKO.

As you can see Gallade is pretty good against most of the leads and gets me in great position early game. Unfortunately I can’t really capitalize on this which is one of the reasons I’m posting this here. I would love something besides Lucario or something who can take advantage of my early game success.


Salamence @ Choice Specs
Rash, 16Atk/136Def/252SpAtk/104Spd
Draco Meteor
Fire Blast
Hydro Pump
Earthquake

When I first made the team, this was a Dragon Dance/Outrage/Fire Blast/Earthquake lead that I was trying to build the team around. That didn’t work so I moved him and tried out Specs and it was much better. Draco Meteor kills everything and a lot of times I don’t even bother trying to predict, especially early game. I currently outspeed Gyarados and everything slower without a positive nature (Heatran, Dragonite, etc). The 16Atk lets me kill something, the rest is in Defense to go with Intimidate to make me a little bulkier.

I’m thinking about using Dragon Pulse instead of Earthquake but nothing besides Draco Meteor actually gets used often. Earthquake was originally there to make the opponent think I had a Choice Band (they were popular at the time) and come back later to kill something with Draco Meteor. I don’t bother with that anymore and all it does now is beat opponents who would try to switch between Empoleon and Heatran in an attempt to wall me, or something like that.

Lately I have been thinking about changing this to Dragonite with Superpower instead of Earthquake, or maybe Thunderbolt instead? A “bulky” Salamence is probably not as good here. I could easily EV it to have the same or better stats in everything except Special attack and speed, and I obviously don’t have speed as my main priority.


Spiritomb @ Leftovers
Calm, 248HP/52Def/88SpAtk/120SpDef
Hidden Power Fighting
Shadow Ball
Will-o-Wisp
Calm Mind

Spiritomb without Rest/Sleep Talk? Spiritomb instead of Rotom? Yes, say what you want. I do not believe that Rotom instantly outclasses Spiritomb like people suggest. They counter completely different things and aren’t really too similar at all. For example, lategame Azelf and Tyranitars are a lot more threatening if I use Rotom instead. I have tried Rotom and it just did not fit here.

Spiritomb was EV’d to survive Life Orb/252/Adamant Outrage or Choise Specs/252/Modest Draco Meteor from Salamence. That’s kinda silly at this point though especially without Pain Split, but I can’t decide if I want physical or special bulkiness more. I want to be able to beat Tyrantiar better but there’s a ton of things Spiritomb needs to switch in on. I probably will take out the 88SpAtk and put them in defenses.


Poliwrath @ Leftovers
Impish, 140HP/48Atk/252Def/68SpDef
Hypnosis
Substitute
Ice Punch
Focus Punch

This guy is definitely the MVP of the team. Despite having only 218 Attack he tends to do more damage than everyone else in addition to crippling something with Hypnosis. Also, before you suggest it, this is NOT a worse Breloom. Poliwrath has the typing and stats to switch in on a ton of pokemon and force them out. 90HP/95Def/90Spdef is very good, especially considering this thing went into NU, especially with 6 resists (Steel/Bug/Ice/Fire/Rock/Dark) and an immunity to water. Notice Scizor’s STAB being there, as well as the 4 moves on most mixed Tyranitar. When I first used this people were also still using 1 attack Suiciune and Gyarados too (Surf/Waterfall with Rest, Sleep Talk, and either Calm Mind or Dragon Dance respectively). The only thing mixed Tyranitar can do is Earthquake really, and if they want to try that I’ll bring in Salamence (or ideally Dragonite if I use that instead). Poliwrath is also an amazing Empoleon/Suicune counter. Some of the RMTs I look at say that they have problems against them but they do absolutely nothing to Poliwrath.

This movepool is more or less based on throwing around as many Focus Punches as I can. Hypnosis something to put it to sleep, then Substitute. If they switched out I get a free Focus Punch, if they didn’t I get at least 2 usually. I chose Ice Punch as the final attack, but not for the freeze chance. Although Focus Punch almost always does more damage, it lets me beat things like Salamence and Water/Fighting isn’t as good coverage as Ice/Fighting imo. The freeze chance of Ice Punch gives me even more opportunities to Focus Punch.


Magnezone @ Leftovers
Modest, 12HP/252SpAtk/160SpDef/84Spd
Thunderbolt
Hidden Power Ice
Substitute
Explosion

When I first made the team, based on Salamence, I chose Magnezone to go with it, since it is similar to the Salamence/Metagross combination typewise. Magnezone isn’t as good as it used to be imo, since back then Gengar didn’t use Focus Blast all the time and Lum Berry Magnezone could beat them. It’s still great at trapping steels though. Scizor can’t do much, Jirachi just tries to flinch me until I can get a sub up, Skarmory dies without Shed Shell (haven’t seen any use it), and depending on the situation I can beat all the other ones (Scarf Heatran stuck on Hidden power/Dragon Pulse, Lucario if I have a Sub up and he switched in for some reason, Metagross/Bronzong without Earthquake, etc).


Froslass @ Choice Scarf
Timid, 24HP/44Def/12SpAtk/252SpDef/176Spd
Ice Beam
Shadow Ball
Thunderbolt
Trick

Maybe I should explain this one… Froslass, max SpDef, 12SpAtk, and Choice Scarf on something that only has speed at 80+. Why? I actually added this recently, when I put shadow Sneak on Gallade, when I realized I needed to be a little faster. I tried so many things here as a “fast pokemon to beat other fast pokemon”. Infernape worked for a little while, then I tried Scarf Gengar which didn’t work for me. At the time I was trying to use both a Choice Scarf AND a priority move on the pokemon, so I had Sucker Punch Gengar. Maybe I’ll try again with a more standard set sometime. I like Froslass’s slight defenses though, as it does something important that I’ll get to in a minute. I also thought about Scarf Scizor (standard moveset I think) and Magmortar. After choosing Froslass I found out about Scarf Ice Shard Mamoswine that I want to try too.

Anyway, this was EV’d to take any attack, except Fire Blast, from a 252Atk/4SpAtk Life Orb Salamence. I’m faster than all Salamence even after a Dragon Dance. Ice Beam is an OHKO even with almost no SpAtk.

I can also Trick to mess up walls. Froslass is a very specific pokemon. It can’t switch in on very much but kills everything it can get it on because of its speed and a super effective move. It does little damage when hitting neutral and can’t change moves, combined with a Rock weakness, so it’s only getting in 2 times usually, maybe 3. I make sure to get the most out of it though and kill off most problematic non-Tyranitar pokemon.
I really don’t know what to use here. This 6th spot has never been great for me. I normally either win with the other 5 or lose regardless of who’s here.


Threat list is in the next post because it’s so long and thorough. I don’t have the “team building process” thing because I made this forever ago and don’t remember the thought processes anymore. I know I was building it around DD salamence/Magnezone and it didn’t work out like that. Sorry if you were hoping for a whole big thing.

Thanks for reading and (hopefully) rating!
 
THREAT LIST (also sorry again if there are any font tags/formatting errors here. this is very in depth btw)


Offensive threat list:
Aerodactyl:
Psycho Cut + Shadow Sneak will 2HKO it every time, and all it does is Stealth Rock or Taunt uselessly. If I actually saw a nonlead I doubt it'd be a problem, Froslass outspeeds and he can't do much to Spiritomb. Anyone else can come in if he's choiced, depending on the move. This thing is really not a problem at all.

Alakazam:
Most of them can't kill Spiritomb, the most common moves are Psychic and Focus Blast. Any kind of setup lead (Reflect/Light Screen/Encore/whatever) gets killed by Gallade, nonlead gets killed by Spiritomb/Gallade switching in. If he is using Specs, Trick could bother me depending on who he hits, but I have 4 special pokemon so it's not too bad. Even Spiritomb doesn't hate getting Specs. Meanwhile only Signal Beam can hit Spiritomb, and everyone else except Gallade resists Bug. Magnezone can come in on anything except Focus Blast. I have yet to see a Calm Mind one like I did in advance so I can't say if it's easy or not but I can't imagine it being too difficult.

Azelf:
Shadow Sneak will 2HKO every time but I prefer to Leaf Blade + Shadow Sneak so they will stay in and let me kill it, not suspecting Shadow Sneak (nobody seems to expect Gallade to use that or Leaf Blade). Spiritomb is probably the best counter in the game, immune to Psychic and Explosion. If he uses Thunderbolt instead of Flamethrower (or Taunt or something instead), Magnezone can come in. Lategame Azelf isn't really used, but I have Shadow Sneak and Scarf Froslass for it.

Breloom:
Sleep sucks but I typically go to Spiritomb to take the sleep. I can then go to Salamence, Gallade, or maybe Froslass. Salamence resists both STAB moves, Gallade resists Focus Punch and Froslass is immune. Breloom is tough but it's not too hard to play around. Unfortunately, Salamence and Froslass are the only things faster.

Dragonite
I haven't seen too many of these but they haven't been a big problem. Spiritomb can Will-o-Wisp, Salamence outspeeds Adamants without a Dance, Froslass outspeeds them with a dance. If Poliwrath or Magnezone have a Sub up, he can't come in on them. This one might be a problem if people actually used it, however I have been preparing for a possible future Salamence suspect test and realized this might be tough too. Especially if HGSS gives us Extremespeed Dratini again.

Dugtrio
idk if Dugtrio is supposed to be on this list anymore since it's UU now but whatever. I can't really “counter” him I guess since I can't switch in but he doesn't bother most of my team. Only one he can beat easily is Magnezone and that's if I don't have a sub up. If he doesn't have Aerial Ace then he can't hurt Gallade/Poliwrath. Froslass outspeeds, Spiritomb isn't even 2HKO'd by Adamant CB Earthquake and can burn it/Shadow Ball for a 2HKO.

Electivire
I have never had a problem with this. My only electric moves are Thunderbolt on Magnezone and Froslass. Magnezone usually has a Sub up when he comes in and Froslass is usually not hitting anything without killing it, so Electivire would only be a revenge switch. Spiritomb and Gallade aren't hit super effective by anything (unless he has Shadow Ball), and Froslass can switch in and outspeed even after a Motor Drive boost. If I hit it with Trick I can get anyone in pretty easily. I normally don't bother with that though, Electivire isn't too hard to deal with imo.

Empoleon
I have no trouble beating these unless everything is dead/severely hurt, and then anything could sweep at that point. Poliwrath is an amazing counter for this; he is immune to Surf and takes 77-91 (21.3-25.2%) max with the petaya boost!, so my Sub is almost never broken. Focus Punch will OHKO. Froslass outspeeds even with 1 Agility and Thunderbolt does 36% minimum, so it will always kill if they've gotten their Petaya Boost already. Magnezone can stop it from switching out and will OHKO with Thunderbolt, but is the worst of the 3 options. Empoleon will have trouble setting up on anybody except Froslass stuck on Ice Beam/Shadow Ball, because everybody has an attack that can at least break the Sub (he might be able to set it up and get an agility from behind it against poliwrath if I decide to make my own sub instead of risking the focus punch). A lot of RMTs that I see apparently have problems against this, but I have no issues at all

Flygon
Kinda like Dugtrio, this isn't really one you can counter. It's faster than 5/6 of my team and U-Turns out every time. Froslass outspeeds even Jolly ones, and Ice Beam is an OHKO. Magnezone only takes 33% max from Adamant Scarf Outrage if he tries that. idk not a lot to say about this one, it really doesn't bother me though.

Gengar
Really who doesn't have problems with Gengar? If he doesn't have Focus Blast/HP Fire Magnezone can come in but that's pretty unlikely and I don't like risking that. Gallade can OHKO with Psycho Cut and Shadow Sneak does 70% minimum so if I really need to I can sacrifice stuff to get him in killing range of that. I typically go to Spiritomb since he doesn't take a ton from Shadow Ball and is immune to Focus Blast/Explosion, and Hypnosis doesn't bother it too much. Shadow Ball does 84% minimum to Gengar. I've noticed Gengar normally likes to come in on Poliwrath and I can then Hypnosis it, then Ice Punch for 28% minimum; not a lot but it helps. Froslass is faster than any non-Scarf Gengar and does 70% minimum. So yeah I have a few ways to handle Gengar but they aren't very reliable imo, maybe I am just overrating it.

Gyarados
This is another one that could either be green or orange, a lot of it depends on the moveset. He can either be burned by Spiritomb or put to sleep by Poliwrath if needed (they like to switch in on Spiritomb). Salamence is faster if they don't have a Dance and Draco Meteor is an OHKO. Gallade does 39% minimum with Leaf Blade if I switch in on Gyarados. Spiritomb doesn't take a lot of damage, but he doesn't do a lot either without boosting; Shadow Ball is a 3HKO guaranteed with a Calm Mind, 2HKO with 2. I need to burn him to have a chance in that case. Froslass outspeeds any with 1 Dance (2 if they're really slow) and Thunderbolts it. If he is only using 2 attacks I can probably beat it easily: Salamence beats Earthquake/Waterfall, Poliwrath beats Stone Edge/Waterfall (Stone Edge with 2 Dances will never break my Sub, and 3 Dances can't do it every time). Poliwrath was originally put on the team to mainly beat this, especially Dragon Dance/Rest/Sleep Talk/Waterfall sets.

Heatran
Not a big problem tbh, at least not that I've seen. Scarf usually have 1 move, if that, to handle Salamence, and Magnezone can switch in if he uses it (dragon Pulse/HP Ice) and stop him from switching out until I kill it. Sub/status/Earth Power/fire move can't hurt Salamence except for his status move, and I only have 1 physical move on it anyway so burn isn’t too bad. Gallade can OHKO with Close Combat, Poliwrath would also if I used Stealth Rock. I don't have a lot to say about this and my argument probably hasn't convinced anyone that I have no Heatran problem but whatever.

Heracross
Only seen a couple but I didn't have any problems. They almost always use a STAB move first, so Salamence can switch in and scare it away. Magnezone and Poliwrath only care about Close Combat, but the other 4 resist/are immune to Fighting. Gallade can OHKO with Psycho Cut. Nobody else really does a ton of damage (Spiritomb and Froslass do 30% minimum with their strongest move) but Heracross doesn't hurt me at all.

Infernape
Again, it's one I can't really explain but don't have a problem with. Without HP Ice, it can't do a thing to Salamence. Spiritomb doesn't really care about its moves besides Fire Blast and can 2HKO with Shadow Ball (with Life Orb damage) or Calm Mind up. Gallade can revenge switch in if it's near full health (Fire Blast does 82% max) and OHKO with Psycho Cut, or 27% minimum with Shadow Sneak if needed. Poliwrath isn't even 2HKO'd by Close Combat and can put it to sleep or put a Sub up to Focus Punch (always an OHKO after he uses Close Combat once)

Jirachi
Gallade doesn't mind getting Scarf'd at all, but he's still not incredibly fast. If they're Scarfed and don't Trick, I can go to Magnezone and trap them. A lot of them actually try to Iron Head my Gallade from turn 1. If nothing else, Close Combat will 2HKO and Steadfast makes me faster. As for non-leads... the same pokemon beat them. Salamence outspeeds slow non-scarf ones, Froslass outspeeds them even if they do have a Scarf and can kill it at low %s. Magnezone really messes them all up, he doesn't even care too much about Scarf, it just means no more Sub.

Jolteon
Like I said with Electivire, I only have 2 electric attacks on the team, and Jolteon is less threatening than Electivire imo anyway. I can Sub up with Magnezone since he can't break it. Froslass outspeeds it and can 3HKO with Ice Beam, or Trick the Scarf onto it (not an ideal move though). Standard right now is Specs, and regardless of which move it uses I can get somebody in (usually Magnezone, or I can set Poliwrath up on HP Ice). really not a threat at all.

Kingdra
Again, nobody counters this thing. Only Froslass is faster but not if he's at +2 (2 Dragon Dances or Rain Dance). Poliwrath is immune to the Water moves and forces him to use Outrage, allowing Magnezone come in and 2HKO with Thunderbolt, assuming he has Life Orb. Spiritomb can burn them and they're usually not too bad at that point. Idk really what to think about Kingdra, sometimes it sweeps me easily but other times I have no problem at all. I'll leave it orange for now though.

Latias
This one isn't too tough, even though I have 4 special pokemon it could wall. Choice versions are just worse Salamences with Trick (people wonder why "Latios is better than Latias in suspect", obviously if you use Specs Latias in OU you're going to try it there too and it's worse than Latios at being offensive) and my main switchins, Spiritomb and Magnezone, don't mind Specs too much. If it's using HP Fire/Surf Salamence can come in, Surf and Poliwrath can come in, Draco Meteor and Magnezone can. Non-choice versions without Sub/Refresh get hit by status. Without Calm Mind they get beat 1v1 by Spiritomb, especially if they also do not have Sub/Refresh. Spiritomb does 46% minimum if we have the same amount of Calm Minds. This is another thing where I have to wear it down a little bit over time and it seems like I would have a huge problem with it, but somehow don't.

Lucario
Spiritomb only cares about his worst move (Crunch/Ice Punch, whichever they use) and can burn it. HP Fighting is a guaranteed 2HKO if they have any sort of damage (49% minimum) and will more often than not 2HKO regardless. Froslass can come in and kill an injured Lucario (27% minimum with Thunderbolt). I can pretty easily play around him if Stealth Rock isn't up: revenge switch Salamence (or switch it in on a Swords Dance), go to Magnezone to take the crunch/Extremespeed, and back to Salamence to take the Close Combat. That's 2 intimidates so Lucario is back to its normal attack stat. Close Combat does 45% max at that point, and that's actually his strongest move against Salamence of those 3. Earthquake does 89% minimum despite having only 16 EVs, and then Froslass could easily come in like I suggested earlier. Hydro Pump will do 91% minimum so Fire Blast obviously OHKOs. If I put more speed on Magnezone I can outspeed Lucario if I happen to be tricked a Scarf, but that's too situational imo to EV it for that.

Machamp
Stats say the standard has 4 attacks, but every one I have seen was Rest/Sleep Talk/Dynamicpunch/Ice Punch. If that's the case, Froslass really doesn't care and Spiritomb doesn't care much either. If it does have 4 attacks, Spiritomb is the better option because of the burn. If I can get him in on something besides Dynamicpunch, Poliwrath can (hopefully) put him to sleep and then set up a Sub as he switches/Sleep Talks anything besides Dynamicpunch. Salamence's Draco Meteor does 99% minimum and is faster. If he's asleep I can get Magnezone in. Froslass can cripple him with Trick if I get to a point where I don't mind Tricking, and he will hate it regardless of moveset.

Magnezone
Nobody on my team really cares about Magnezone, the only thing he can do is come in on mine and kill with HP Fire, and then explode on something else later on. He usually comes in 1st turn against mine so I have a Sub up. My Explosion and Thunderbolt do 37 and 30% minimum respectively. One Thunderbolt while he breaks my Sub and an Explosion the next turn, and he's down to 33% or less. Then I bring in Poliwrath and Sub up since he has to switch out (standard is Scarf), or Salamence to hit the switchin with Draco Meteor. Spiritomb will 3HKO with HP Fighting but I could probably Calm Mind up if I wanted to, and even if he's not wearing a Scarf he can't explode. Thunderbolt is a 3HKO on me.

Mamoswine
According to the stats it looks like it's a suicide lead type of moveset. If it is used as a lead, Gallade can kill it with 2 Leaf Blades or Close Combat, if he doesn't have a Sash. If he does then I would probably switch out, his Ice Shard is faster than Shadow Sneak and my defenses are lowered. If mamoswine comes in on a Poliwrath Sub he has to watch out for Focus Punch, same thing if he tries to come in on Spiritomb (HP Fighting from him). Really not much of an issue here.

Metagross
More often than not, it's a lead. I typically Close Combat turn 1 and then switch to Spiritomb to take the Explosion that's coming at that point. Metagross really doesn't bother me since everyone wastes it as a suicide lead. I'm not sure if I've seen a nonlead Metagross, but whenever their lead manages to stay alive until later, it normally is not a problem.

Porygon-z
They're almost always choiced and will probably Tri Attack first, while I switch to Spiritomb or Froslass. This is all in theory by the way since I haven't seen one yet that I can remember. If I have seen any, they haven't caused me enough trouble to think about later. Anyway, according to the stats, they use tri Attack/Ice Beam/Thunderbolt/Dark Pulse, so Magnezone can easily get in on anything besides Tri Attack and set up a Sub while he switches out. Everyone on the team can come in on something, especially non-Thunderbolt.

Rhyperior
Everything can hit him super effective and has some kind of advantage over him (Sub, outspeeds, status him, or some combination of those) so I really have no problem against him. I've only seen a couple but I got rid of them pretty easily. Plus he's so low in usage I really don't expect to see him often.

Salamence
Like the other pokemon I made orange, this one's not counterable. I'm doing what I can though. Spiritomb can switch in and burn him, which will mess it up especially if it's a Dragon Dancer. This was the reason I added Froslass: I can switch in on anything from the Dragon Dance set except for Fire Blast and kill it with Ice Beam before it attacks me again (even if he Danced). Poliwrath can Ice Punch and can survive a hit, Magnezone can come in after something dies to Outrage.

Scizor
The #1 most used pokemon is not one of my worries. Firstly, I have 4 bug resists and no weaknesses to it. Unless he's content with like 10% each time he's going to have to try something else. Bullet Punch gets himself killed by Magnezone, and any other Bug move or Superpower/Brick Break gets forced out by Salamence. Poliwrath resists everything except the fighting move. Salamence does 69% minimum to 248hp/0spdef Scizor with Draco Meteor, a 2HKO every time. Like Poliwrath, Magnezone only cares about the fighting attack, though he is weak to it instead of neutral, and again the other 4 pokemon resist/are immune to Fighting. Every time I face a Scizor I can not believe how easily I can handle them without taking a big loss. What a terrible overrated pokemon.

Starmie
If they happen to lead with it, Shadow Sneak is a guaranteed 2HKO even if it has Leftovers. I've killed quite a few Starmies with Froslass because they think they are faster, only to get beaten by Shadow Ball (64% minimum). If they're only using 2 attacks, they get beat by Salamence (Surf/Thunderbolt) or Poliwrath (Surf/Ice Beam). If they're using Ice Beam/Rapid Spin/Thunderbolt/Recover or something without Surf, Magnezone beats it. Spiritomb will 2HKO with Shadow Ball and without Recover will beat it every time (if he does have Recover and tries to stall, I can always keep Shadow Balling until I get a critical).

Togekiss
Without any Resters or Ground types it's tough to take his Thunder Wave. I usually go to Spiritomb since he doesn't mind it too much, or Magnezone for the Air Slash resistance. If they have Aura Sphere then Magnezone is a bad choice so I normally go to Spiritomb first. Togekiss is one of those guys that doesn't bother me but I don't really have much to say about it.

Tyranitar
This was easier to handle when I had Infernape instead of Froslass but even with only 2 Fighting types it's not too bad. Gallade and Poliwrath OHKO it every time. Spiritomb can burn it and HP Fighting will 2HKO every time without Leftovers. Magnezone and Froslass are the only ones who don't like it. Also, everything except Earthquake and Thunderbolt are resisted by Poliwrath. In other words, he resists every move you normally see on Tyranitar. This thing is surprisingly easy to handle most of the time. Sometimes I have a bunch of trouble though so idk.

Weavile
I think everyone on my team besides Froslass can handle Weavile. Really not a big deal at all, not that I see too many of them.

Yanmega
I will leave this green until I actually play against one. Everything I could say is just theory.


Defensive Threats:
Blissey
Even though I have 4 special pokemon I really don't mind Blissey. Spiritomb can beat Blissey without Toxic 1v1, and Froslass can always Trick to cripple them. Magnezone does a bunch of damage with Explosion if needed. Gallade and Poliwrath really have no trouble beating Blissey, especially if it doesn't have Seismic Toss. The only battles where Blissey has been a problem was when both my physical attackers were gone but obviously when those are gone you can't expect to do great against this.

Bronzong
Gallade will 2HKO "standard" 252hp/100def/relaxed (it's hard to tell what is standard on this thing but it looks like it's usually not any more defensive than that) with Close Combat every time. Any bronzongs without Earthquake get beat by Magnezone. Gyro Ball/Hypnosis/dual screen gets beat by Magnezone/Poliwrath/maybe Spiritomb. Spiritomb can take the sleep whenever he tries to do that. Really not a big deal, I don't see him a lot though.

Celebi
Salamence beats it every time, especially if they don't have Thunder Wave. Without HP Fire it also gets beat by Magnezone and maybe Froslass. He can't do much to Spiritomb besides Leech Seed and I can Shadow Ball it for a couple turns. Celebi is annoying and forces switches but really doesn't do a lot to me.

Cresselia
This is another one I don't see much, but the few times I have seen it it hasn't done anything. Most are those silly dual screen sets which I don't care about at all, I'm getting a couple free attacks or setting up a Sub with one of my pokemon. Cresselia doesn't really hurt a lot of my pokemon besides Salamence, and Poliwrath if it has Psychic. I normally don't bother with them though, I go to Spiritomb every time and have Magnezone also. Froslass can Trick it.

Donphan
This is a weaker Hippowdon as far as my team is concerned. The only thing he does is Rapid spin (I don't use stealth Rock) and Ice Shard. He comes in on Salamence and I switch to one of my 3 Ice resists, all of them having an Ice move of their own to hit him back (or STAB Focus Punch). The only other time he can get in is on Magnezone and I have a Sub up usually, so I get a free attack on it while he tries to break it. I then switch to salamence and then back to Froslass/Poliwrath to take the Ice Shard coming at him.

Forretress
Without Earthquake, Magnezone kills it. Toxic Spikes is annoying but other than that it's not a big deal. Gallade 2HKO's leads with Close Combat and Froslass can Trick them. I guess Spiritomb can burn them, and is immune to Explosion/doesn't care about Gyro Ball. I could probably Calm Mind up while he's setting up stuff if I want, but I will not let him do that. Anyway, really not a problem against this guy.

Gliscor
Apparently these things use a lot of speed now, but I don't really care about that. Their only attack is normally Earthquake, so Salamence can come in and kill them unless they switch. Poliwrath can Ice Punch, Froslass outspeeds and OHKO's every time.

Hippowdon
I hate this one, Sandstorm really bothers my team. Sandstorm is the only thing he does that I care about though. Gallade 3HKO's with Leaf Blade/Close Combat and the rest of my team can all do something to easily get rid of it (spiritomb might need to set up, which he probably can't, but he can at least burn the Hippowdon). Annoying, but not too much of a problem.

Skarmory
I saw this thing lead once and 2HKO'd it. Anyway that's normally what happens, Gallade comes in and kills it. If I see that he has Leftovers I bring in Magnezone immediately (except if he's a lead, since Gallade can kill it anyway). Shed Shell would be a little more annoying since I can't trap it, but then he's not healing as much and I can force him to Roost more often. I might even consider burning him if he has Shed Shell.

Snorlax
2 Fighting types, an Exploder, and a Will-o-Wisp/HP Fighting Spiritomb means he won't be much of a problem. He's probably the defensive pokemon I would least like to face (not counting Latias if it was in this section) since nothing I do can permanently hurt him. Thankfully I don't play against them much. I would probably use Gallade/Poliwrath to keep him away and I might try to Trick him with Froslass, Rest/Sleep Talk isn't doing anything with a Scarf. If they use Curse, Magnezone can't use Explosion very well. I really just can't do much against him.

Suicune
Rest/Sleep talk/Calm Mind/Surf can't do a thing to Poliwrath. Ice Beam instead of one of those moves and he still can't do much. With no Calm Minds, it does 10% max from 0SpAtk Suicune. 3 of them does 79-93 (22-26%) so even that will not break the Sub usually. If that won't work, I can Leaf Blade/Explosion/Draco Meteor before they set up. Might be a problem if Poliwrath is dead but whatever, everything is a problem if its counters are dead.

Swampert
I LOVE Swampert. everyone leads with it and doesn't switch it out, and Gallade OHKO's with Leaf Blade before he can do anything to me. If they do happen to switch out, most of my team can handle it anyway. I originally had HP Grass on Magnezone to beat this but Gallade was doing it so well himself. Status is good against it (I'm surprised I don't see sets like Roar/Surf/Rest/Sleep Talk to block status and add up Stealth Rock damage), and this is one of those guys where worst case scenario I try to chip away at it.

Tentacruel
He can't do anything to Poliwrath, but then Poliwrath can't do much to him either. I can Trick with Froslass if needed. Magnezone, Salamence, and Gallade can all handle if pretty well but don't like Knock Off too much. I really didn't mind Tentacruel even when I had Infernape, I don't mind it now either.

Vaporeon
Another bulky water who could do a lot against a different team, particularly ones that are based on Gyarados, but really doesn't bother me much. Poliwrath can actually hurt this one, especially without HP Electric. If it has Toxic instead, I can Sub up before he uses it so it doesn't hit me. Nobody really cares about Vaporeon here.

Zapdos
I don't care if this thing is offensive or defensive, I still hate it. If it's Thunderbolt/Heat Wave/HP Grass, Salamence can handle it. Without Heat Wave Magnezone could beat it. Gallade can take a hit and hit him back with STAB Psycho Cut and Shadow Sneak, wouldn't do a ton of damage though. Froslass is faster and does 188 (48.9%) minimum, very good chance to 2HKO. If he's too injured to try that, I can Trick. Really I can not stand Zapdos though.


Let me know if I forgot anyone or messed anything up please.
 
I don't know why people say gallade sucks. But it is very good lead. Very good sweeper to use in early game.

Also, this team is acually very, very good. I acually like this team. Very good counter for scizors, and scarf jirachis.

This is my first time saying this to someone about rating.. But this is very pwnage.
 
I'm not a fan of your Salamence set. Specifically, Hydro Pump doesn't seem to have a purpose. Earthquake hits Rock- and Fire-typed opponents, and Grounds are not generally built to take Draco Meteors. It seems to me the set would be better with a Life Orb and either Outrage or Roost over Hydro Pump.
 
Hello.

Gallade would be better off with a Focus Sash so it can survive Explosions and Earthquakes. You could also use Destiny Bond if you are good with prediction. It usually kills at least one Pokemon. The other option would be Taunt, which would prevent Swampert / Metagross from setting up and then you both die from Destiny Bond.

On Salamence, I suggest Dragon Pulse over Earthquake. With Earthquake you are going to be hitting Heatran, Metagross, Jirachi, which are all hit harder by Fire Blast or Hydro Pump. Dragon Pulse gives you a reliable sweeping move. The other option would be to go mixed.

MixMence @ Life Orb
Nature: Naive / Naughty
EVs: 80 Atk / 252 SpA / 176 Spe
~ Draco Meteor
~ Brick Break
~ Hydro Pump / Roost
~ Fire Blast

Hmm... as you said Gengar does a number to this team especially if Froslass has used Trick. Try Scarf Magnezone in place of your current one. It can revenge kill Gengar and even switch into a Shadow Ball or Thunderbolt. It still traps most Steel-types pretty well.

I would certainly replace Froslass with Gengar. Gengar has 50 more base Special Attack which gives it a huge edge. Give it Shadow Ball / Focus Blast / Hidden Power Ice / Trick. Usually Thunderbolt would go over Hidden Power ice, but your team needs something to revenge kill Salamence. Gengar isn't weak to Stealth Rock which is a huge plus.

Since you already have an Explosion taker in Gengar or Froslass, I think Suicune or Latias would be a better Calm Minder instead of Spiritomb. Both have their merits, Suicune is insanely bulky and can use Rest effectively while Latias is really fast and can beat Blissey. For your team, I'd go with Latias so SpecsJolt doesn't become a bitch.

If Poliwrath has been doing well for you, then there is no need to change it. Seems like a pretty reliable Pokemon, though weak. Good luck!
 
Crobat does pop up as a threat to Gallade and Polywrath if it has bravebird (unless you put focus sash on Gallade, but I'd keep the life orb instead if you are good at keeping it alive during the battle), and a threat to Spiritomb if it has taunt, but you have Salamence and Magnezone to deal with that. I can't say whether it can survive a timid Choice scarfed Froslass with those EV's if it's the bulky Crobat (though if Gengar is surviving a shadowball from your froslass, then Crobat probably can survive too), but you probably won't bump into one with night slash very often.

You don't really have any glaring weakness's and you probably know how to use your team better than anyone else so if you've done well with it, that's cool :x.
 
There's no better team name than this and nobody else listens to me when I suggest that so I'm using it myself. Also sorry if there are any font tags or formatting problems, I previewed this a few times and didn't see any though. There might be some I missed since I copied from Word/Notepad.

Alright I’ve had this team for probably close to 2 years now and decided to finally post it. I doubt I’ll be using it much anymore especially since it got a little worse ever since Platinum came out (it was originally made pre-platinum). Anyway, this team has been pretty good the whole time, and focuses on somewhat offensive pokemon who can still take hits. It’s gone through tons of changes and I’ve never found the “perfect team” but this is probably as close as I have gotten with it. I haven’t gotten to the top of the ladder or whatever since I don’t do a ton of battles at a time.

Also, I don’t use regular 252/252/4 EV spreads. I actually enjoy calcing everything (I do it manually, I don’t need any silly damage calculators) and make spreads based off that. I don’t remember what specific things I had EV’d this stuff for anymore but I know it was all for a good reason. Everything is pretty well thought out so I would appreciate if your replies are something better than “lol poliwrath sucks” please.

Another weird thing about my team is that most of my team is actually not OU pokemon. I don’t use the lower tier pokemon just for the sake of using them, I use them because they are the best at what I need them to do.

Team at a glance:


Notice how I have 3 Stealth Rock resists and also 4 Bug resists. I really don’t care about Stealth Rock and Scizor.


Gallade @ Life Orb
Adamant, 8HP/252Atk/144Def/104spd
Close Combat
Psycho Cut
Leaf Blade
Shadow Sneak


Everyone always says Gallade sucks or whatever but it is an amazing lead. It basically 2HKOs almost every lead and comes back later on to kill Starmie, Azelf, and others who all think they’re faster, and just weakened pokemon in general. I use him mainly for these reasons, although his great movepool and good stats definitely help also. 279HP/202Def/266SpDef is very good for such an offensive pokemon, with 383Atk also. The defenses let me live through something but I forgot what. He is pretty slow though, at 222.

When I first decided to use Gallade, I knew I needed his STAB moves. After that though I had no clue. Did I want status or 2 attacks or Swords Dance or what? I didn’t bother deciding until the team was done and realized I couldn’t do much to Swampert, so Leaf Blade was added. I couldn’t find any other big problems so I went with Swords Dance in hopes of getting a lategame sweep. The only things I couldn’t really hurt were Celebi and stuff like Xatu (Latias wasn’t allowed back then). I recently went to Shadow Sneak and it is amazing. Revenge kills a bunch of weakened pokemon and I desperately needed a priority move somewhere; as I said I don’t use 252/252 spreads and therefore don’t have max speed on anything.

Against the top 10 leads:
Metagross: Close Combat is a 2HKO but they usually try to Explosion on turn 2 so I go to spiritomb.
Azelf: Shadow Sneak is a 2HKO, but I always Leaf Blade first. I want him to think I’m slower so he stays in and then gets killed turn 2. One time I went to spiritomb turn 1 and he used Explosion instead of setting anything up so that was cool.
Jirachi: Gallade doesn’t mind getting tricked a Scarf, or if they try to flinch me I get Steadfast boosts. But if they’re doing that I just go to Magnezone since he resists Iron Head/Zen Headbutt and traps Jirachi.
Swampert: Leaf Blade is an OHKO and I have never seen anyone switch Swampert out here.
Aerodactyl: Psycho Cut + Shadow Sneak is a 2HKO and they get Taunt OR Stealth Rock. I love Aerodactyl, I am instantly up 6-5 in exchange for 20% on my Gallade and occasionally Stealth Rock down. Great pokemon!
Infernape: Psycho Cut is an 2HKO (because of Focus Sash) but I Shadow Sneak on the second turn. I actually don’t see many of these leading.
Hippowdon: Leaf Blade/Close Combat are a 3HKO in any combnation while he Stealth Rocks and anything else. If he doesn’t Slack Off turn 2 he dies.
Bronzong: Gallade loves being tricked a Choice Band and Close Combat is a 2HKO without it. My only worry is occasional Hypnosis but I can’t afford to use Lum Berry here.
Ninjask: Psycho Cut will OHKO, Shadow Sneak does 43% minimum. I normally Psycho Cut until he’s at a point where Shadow Sneak will kill him, or if I can predict the Baton Pass right and priority him there. Ninjask doesn’t really bother me.
Tyranitar: I’m faster than Adamant ones and Close Combat is a OHKO.

As you can see Gallade is pretty good against most of the leads and gets me in great position early game. Unfortunately I can’t really capitalize on this which is one of the reasons I’m posting this here. I would love something besides Lucario or something who can take advantage of my early game success.

Gallade isnt an amazing lead, but it is a good one. Im not a big fan of your set. I ran a set of close combat, swords dance, shadow sneak and taunt/destiny bond with mixed results. If you keep your set or use mine, i would use a focus sash, so your not ohkoed by heatran and metagross.


Salamence @ Choice Specs
Rash, 16Atk/136Def/252SpAtk/104Spd
Draco Meteor
Fire Blast
Hydro Pump
Earthquake

When I first made the team, this was a Dragon Dance/Outrage/Fire Blast/Earthquake lead that I was trying to build the team around. That didn’t work so I moved him and tried out Specs and it was much better. Draco Meteor kills everything and a lot of times I don’t even bother trying to predict, especially early game. I currently outspeed Gyarados and everything slower without a positive nature (Heatran, Dragonite, etc). The 16Atk lets me kill something, the rest is in Defense to go with Intimidate to make me a little bulkier.

I’m thinking about using Dragon Pulse instead of Earthquake but nothing besides Draco Meteor actually gets used often. Earthquake was originally there to make the opponent think I had a Choice Band (they were popular at the time) and come back later to kill something with Draco Meteor. I don’t bother with that anymore and all it does now is beat opponents who would try to switch between Empoleon and Heatran in an attempt to wall me, or something like that.

Lately I have been thinking about changing this to Dragonite with Superpower instead of Earthquake, or maybe Thunderbolt instead? A “bulky” Salamence is probably not as good here. I could easily EV it to have the same or better stats in everything except Special attack and speed, and I obviously don’t have speed as my main priority.
Yeah, i would use dragon pulse instead of earthquake. Dont use a specsnite, as salamence has better SpAtk.


Spiritomb @ Leftovers
Calm, 248HP/52Def/88SpAtk/120SpDef
Hidden Power Fighting
Shadow Ball
Will-o-Wisp
Calm Mind

Spiritomb without Rest/Sleep Talk? Spiritomb instead of Rotom? Yes, say what you want. I do not believe that Rotom instantly outclasses Spiritomb like people suggest. They counter completely different things and aren’t really too similar at all. For example, lategame Azelf and Tyranitars are a lot more threatening if I use Rotom instead. I have tried Rotom and it just did not fit here.

Spiritomb was EV’d to survive Life Orb/252/Adamant Outrage or Choise Specs/252/Modest Draco Meteor from Salamence. That’s kinda silly at this point though especially without Pain Split, but I can’t decide if I want physical or special bulkiness more. I want to be able to beat Tyrantiar better but there’s a ton of things Spiritomb needs to switch in on. I probably will take out the 88SpAtk and put them in defenses.
I would use crotomb. It has great survivability and it can sweep unprepared teams with ease, just like crocune, but without weaknesses.



Poliwrath @ Leftovers
Impish, 140HP/48Atk/252Def/68SpDef
Hypnosis
Substitute
Ice Punch
Focus Punch

This guy is definitely the MVP of the team. Despite having only 218 Attack he tends to do more damage than everyone else in addition to crippling something with Hypnosis. Also, before you suggest it, this is NOT a worse Breloom. Poliwrath has the typing and stats to switch in on a ton of pokemon and force them out. 90HP/95Def/90Spdef is very good, especially considering this thing went into NU, especially with 6 resists (Steel/Bug/Ice/Fire/Rock/Dark) and an immunity to water. Notice Scizor’s STAB being there, as well as the 4 moves on most mixed Tyranitar. When I first used this people were also still using 1 attack Suiciune and Gyarados too (Surf/Waterfall with Rest, Sleep Talk, and either Calm Mind or Dragon Dance respectively). The only thing mixed Tyranitar can do is Earthquake really, and if they want to try that I’ll bring in Salamence (or ideally Dragonite if I use that instead). Poliwrath is also an amazing Empoleon/Suicune counter. Some of the RMTs I look at say that they have problems against them but they do absolutely nothing to Poliwrath.

This movepool is more or less based on throwing around as many Focus Punches as I can. Hypnosis something to put it to sleep, then Substitute. If they switched out I get a free Focus Punch, if they didn’t I get at least 2 usually. I chose Ice Punch as the final attack, but not for the freeze chance. Although Focus Punch almost always does more damage, it lets me beat things like Salamence and Water/Fighting isn’t as good coverage as Ice/Fighting imo. The freeze chance of Ice Punch gives me even more opportunities to Focus Punch.

The set looks fine, but breloom looks like it would do wrath's job better.


Magnezone @ Leftovers
Modest, 12HP/252SpAtk/160SpDef/84Spd
Thunderbolt
Hidden Power Ice
Substitute
Explosion

When I first made the team, based on Salamence, I chose Magnezone to go with it, since it is similar to the Salamence/Metagross combination typewise. Magnezone isn’t as good as it used to be imo, since back then Gengar didn’t use Focus Blast all the time and Lum Berry Magnezone could beat them. It’s still great at trapping steels though. Scizor can’t do much, Jirachi just tries to flinch me until I can get a sub up, Skarmory dies without Shed Shell (haven’t seen any use it), and depending on the situation I can beat all the other ones (Scarf Heatran stuck on Hidden power/Dragon Pulse, Lucario if I have a Sub up and he switched in for some reason, Metagross/Bronzong without Earthquake, etc).

What would this set do other than get koed?

Run this set:

Magnazone@Choice Scarf
Naive
4 atk/252 SpAtk/252 spe
Hp Fire
Thunderbolt
Flash Cannon
Explosion

Magnazone is still the premier steel killer, but not with that set your using.


Froslass @ Choice Scarf
Timid, 24HP/44Def/12SpAtk/252SpDef/176Spd
Ice Beam
Shadow Ball
Thunderbolt
Trick

Maybe I should explain this one… Froslass, max SpDef, 12SpAtk, and Choice Scarf on something that only has speed at 80+. Why? I actually added this recently, when I put shadow Sneak on Gallade, when I realized I needed to be a little faster. I tried so many things here as a “fast pokemon to beat other fast pokemon”. Infernape worked for a little while, then I tried Scarf Gengar which didn’t work for me. At the time I was trying to use both a Choice Scarf AND a priority move on the pokemon, so I had Sucker Punch Gengar. Maybe I’ll try again with a more standard set sometime. I like Froslass’s slight defenses though, as it does something important that I’ll get to in a minute. I also thought about Scarf Scizor (standard moveset I think) and Magmortar. After choosing Froslass I found out about Scarf Ice Shard Mamoswine that I want to try too.

Anyway, this was EV’d to take any attack, except Fire Blast, from a 252Atk/4SpAtk Life Orb Salamence. I’m faster than all Salamence even after a Dragon Dance. Ice Beam is an OHKO even with almost no SpAtk.

I can also Trick to mess up walls. Froslass is a very specific pokemon. It can’t switch in on very much but kills everything it can get it on because of its speed and a super effective move. It does little damage when hitting neutral and can’t change moves, combined with a Rock weakness, so it’s only getting in 2 times usually, maybe 3. I make sure to get the most out of it though and kill off most problematic non-Tyranitar pokemon.
I really don’t know what to use here. This 6th spot has never been great for me. I normally either win with the other 5 or lose regardless of who’s here.

This is too weak to be an effective revenge killer. Run a scarfgar instead. You get a 50 base special attack increase, and keep the ghost type and base 110 speed.

Try this set out:

Gengar@Choice Scarf
timid
4 hp/252 SpAtk/252 spe
Hp Ice
Thunderbolt
Shadow Ball
Focus Blast

Hp Ice ohkos salamence. This gengar outspeeds a +1 naive salamence and kos. It outspeeds a gyrados with 1-2 dds and ohkos with thunderbolt. Shadow ball kills your frosslass, as well as other gengars and rotoms. Focus blast kills magnazone and tyranitar. It hits the two best special walls for se damage, blissey and slorlax (as well as all of the regis)


Threat list is in the next post because it’s so long and thorough. I don’t have the “team building process” thing because I made this forever ago and don’t remember the thought processes anymore. I know I was building it around DD salamence/Magnezone and it didn’t work out like that. Sorry if you were hoping for a whole big thing.

Thanks for reading and (hopefully) rating!
Changes in Bold
 

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