Team Plasma (OU)

[druin]

Hi guys, this is my first ever RMT. I've been klutzing around Shoddy Battle for a while now, occasionaly creating a decent team. However, I seem to have really hit the mark with this one. About 6 out of 10 battles are won by me, which for me, is very good.

This team focuses around using Dual Screen support to set up a sweep. I have not yet run into a pokemon that stopped it stone cold, probably because I put some effort into building this team.

Overview

Team Building

I started building this team with offence and Dual Screens in mind, and so I started off with Azelf, a speedy pokemon that also had Explosion.

Next, I wanted 2 pokemon who could use the Dual Screen protection to help them set up. I chose DD Kingdra, with his formidable typing, and DD Tyranitar, for his sheer power.

Like most of my teams, I knew Scizor would be part of the line-up. This team was no different. I also added Heatran, as I saw my team could have some trouble with Metagross.

I changed my plan a bit here, because I realized I was putting too much pressure on Azelf. If he led the team, he would be responsible for setting up both the screens and Stealth Rock. Rather than adding in another sweeper like I initally planned, I added in a new lead. Aerodactyl is my all time favorite lead, and I found he fit perfectly into this team.

And my team was set. I immediately noticed its success, and after experimenting a bit with different movesets, I finally came to the following...

A Closer Look

Aerodactyl @ Focus Sash
Ability: Pressure
Jolly Nature
4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
- Stealth Rock
- Taunt
- Rock Slide
- Earthquake

Ah, good old Aerodactyl. Definitely my all-time favorite lead. He renders enemy Azelf useless, and basically manages to get Rocks up against anything. What makes him even better, is that he can come back later to effictively revenge-kill with his 394 Speed stat. Rock Slide replaced Stone Edge very quickly, as the accuracy just kept failing me. The flinch hax can also work wonders against other leads.

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Azelf @ Light Clay
Ability: Pressure
Jolly Nature
252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Spe
- Light Screen
- Reflect
- Explosion
- Taunt

What this team was built around. He gets screens up, keeps other pokemon from statting up, and then goes out with a bang. Fire Blast initially filled the last moveslot, but lack of use made me switch to Taunt. This guy loves switching into Trick once screens are up, because they usually power up his Explosion.

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Tyranitar @ Lum Berry
Ability: Sand Stream
Jolly Nature
4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
- Dragon Dance
- Stone Edge
- Fire Punch
- Earthquake

'Menace' is what decribes DD Tyranitar. He makes great use of Dual Screens, by being able to set up more comfortable. With one dance under his belt, he's a threat. With 2, he's basically unstoppable. QuakeEdge gives me great coverage, and Fire Punch is for Scizor who come in to ruin the party. I had Crunch in the last slot at first, but that's only really useful for Celebi. Defensive Celebi still avoids the KO from Crunch at +1, so it's not an important difference. Since only 2 of my pokemon are vulnerable to sandstorm, his ability generally has a good impact on my strategy.

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Scizor @ Life Orb
Ability: Technician
Adamant Nature
244 HP / 252 Atk / 12 Spe
- Swords Dance
- Bullet Punch
- Superpower
- Roost

The physical half of my revenge killing squad. Rather than going for the traditional CB set, I decided to try out Swords Dance, but with a twist. Rather than dumping all remaining EVs into Speed, I put in just enough to outrun standard CB Scizor while retaning as much bulk as possible. A +2 Life Orb Bullet Punch does around twice as much damage as a CB Bullet Punch, and picking up a boost usually isn't too hard. After a good suggestion by IBanez, I realized U-turning out would make me lose all my stat drops, while Roost could help me regain lost health.

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Kingdra @ Leftovers
Ability: Sniper
Adamant Nature
252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
- Dragon Dance
- Waterfall
- Outrage
- Substitute

My second sweeper, and boy is he good. Dragon/Water is probably the best typing in the game, both offensively and defensively. Behind screens, Kingdra can be incredibly hard to take down, considering it only has 1 weakness. Dragon Dance is an amazing move, and Waterfall and Outrage provide unresisted coverage, bar Empoleon. However, with +2, Outrage is still a clean 2KO on the standard SubPetaya Empoleon. Subsitute was put in over protect, because with Kingdra's great typing it would be hard to break behind screens. Status was also haunting Kingdra, so this made a great move for it to carry.

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Heatran @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Flash Fire
Naive Nature
4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
- Overheat
- Flamethrower
- Earth Power
- Explosion

The special half of my Revenge killing squad. He absorbs and Fire attack aimed at the team, specifically Scizor. The Flamethrower-Overheat combo has never failed me. Flamethrower for a late-game sweep, and Overheat for a smashing hit-and-run. Explosion takes out anything that doesn't resist it (most of the time), and Earth Power takes care of other non-scarf Heatran.

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And that concludes Team Plasma, a name badly linked with the word 'Screen' :p I encourage you to try it out, because it worked really well for me. Please also leave any comments, good or bad, because I'd love to make this team even better.

Thanks for reading!

 

[Jebus McAzn]

Not a bad team at all. First off, let me recommend scrapping Protect on Kingdra. You'll only have screens up for so long, and it would pay off to be as hyper-offensive as possible during that time. Try switching Protect with Draco Meteor or Hydro Pump and switching natures (Naive, perhaps?). That way, you can get the jump on more physically Defensive Pokemon. If you want to stay defensive, try Substitute. Kingdra's got excellent resistances, and behind Dual Screens, your opponent's going to have a hard time breaking a Sub.

You strongly need Earth Power on Heatran. You're running a Scarf, meaning you'll outrun any other non-Scarf Heatran out there. Earth Power is essentially a staple, just to deal with other Heatran. I really don't think that Overheat/Flamethrower is a necessity; just Overheat on a Scarf set should be fine.

 

[IronBullet]

Hey,

Quite a solid team. I'd also suggest scrapping Protect on Kingdra for Substitute. Sub allows you to scout for status, and with Kingdra's excellent resistances, it's going to be quite hard to break its Sub under Screens.

Overheat on Heatran doesn't really have much utility, Flamethrower still gets the KOs it needs, and with Heatran's speed and its consistent damage, you can even attempt a late-game sweep. If you want power, go with Fire Blast. The remaining moveslot should go to Earth Power. I don't see why you have HP Grass. It does lol damage to most Waters barring Swampert. I'd recommend switching it out for Explosion, to take out Blissey and deal critical damage to every Bulky Water in OU. Change the nature to Naive to avoid powering down Explosion.

With Scizor's decent bulk, even more so under screens, I'd suggest replacing one of its moves with Roost. Roost allows you to continuously SD up, healing when necessary. When the screens finally expire, Scizor can easily sweep. I'd also suggest changing the item to Leftovers, and replacing Superpower with Brick Break. With a couple of boosts, the power difference isn't really noticeable, and Brick Break also doesn't come with a nasty Attack drop. This set gives Scizor much more staying capability, and under Screens, it's a monster, as it gets many more setup oppurtunities. It still has decent revenge killing capabilities even without the Orb.

Nice team, and gl!

 

[Elton5929]

I have one quick thing.. And it's just me I think.. But what about Uxie over Azelf with the following set:

Uxie @ Light Clay
Timid
252 HP / 252 Spe / 4 Def
~ light screen
~ reflect
~ memento
~ yawn/....

With memento you faint yourself but you also lower your opponents atk and special atk by 2 stages, wich with dual screens even gives you an easier set-up!!!!!!! Just think about it.. It works

 

[druin]

@Jebus: Thanks for your suggestions! As two people have said it now, I'm going to experiment with Substitute over Protect on Kingdra.

I will also be placing Earth Power on Heatran.

@IBanez: Thanks for your help! Looking at what you said, I quite liked the idea of roost, and letting Scizor get more Swords Dance in. However, I if i put in roost, I'd basically be aiming to get a +4 or +6 attack boost. At those levels, the drop from Superpower doesn't matter all that much. I'd also be at a point where i'm going for a sweep, and the Defence drop won't be all that important either.

As for Heatran. I am definetely going to be using Earth Power, as Dragon Pulse and HP are seeing very little usage. But the combination of Flamethrower and Overheat is proving to be very valuable to me - if I want a late game sweep, my enemy's team is usually considerably weakened, meaning Flamethrower does the job 100% of the time. If I need a little extra kick in a hit-and-run attempt, I opt for Overheat.

I'm going to give Explosion a shot as well. I'll be using the following moveset.

Heatran @ Scarf
Naive Nature
4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
- Overheat
- Flamethrower
- Earth Power
- Explosion

@Elton: I did consider Uxie for a while, but the lower speed and lack of explosion really hurts it. Memento is crippling as well, but you can just switch out of it. Thanks for your help though :)

 

[afterburn]

Hey, nice Heavy Offense strategy you've got here.

First off, I think Azelf would make a fine lead, with the moves Stealth Rock/Light Screen/Reflect/Explosion, U-turn or Taunt. The reason I suggest this, is simply because Dual Screen Azelf can already to Aerodactyl's job quite well (SR), and help with the general strategy of your team.

You could make Aerodactyl a sweeper if you replace him with DS Azelf lead. Aerodactyl does great under dual screens and with a boost to its special defense by sandstorm, it will be taking resisted special attacks very well from the likes of Heatran, who it becomes a surefire counter to under Sandstorm. Aerodactyl can also be a decent stall breaker, as it may be a little troublesome for your team, if you come up against a dedicated physical wall. Your team also looks like it can be halted by Bulky Gyarados, as it can easily set-up on Overheat locked Heatran and sweep or taunt your sweepers from setting-up. Aerodactyl also outspeeds Bulky Adamant Gyarados after a DD, and can revenge it with Stone Edge after Stealth Rock, making it a decent check to it. It also prevents stuff like Forretress ir Roserade from setting-up troublesome toxic spikes which hinder Kingdra.

Here's the Life Orb Aerodactyl set:

Nature: Jolly
Item: Life Orb
Evs: 252atk/4def/252spe
Moves:
Stone Edge
Earthquake
Roost
Taunt

Alternatively you can try Fire Blast over taunt if you really hate Forretress and Skarmory, although their set-up attempts are stopped by taunt.

Overall, Good Luck!

 

[Lolaser]

I think that unless you plan on placing Azelf in the lead position that an Uxie would do a far better job at setting up screens multiple times over Azelf. He has excellent defences (130 in both) and can thus tage some pretty big hits whilst he sets up the screens. He can also serve as a utility Pokemon, carrying moves like Thunderwave is always nice to cripple opponents Pokemon that attempt to switch in on yours.

Uxie @ Light Clay
Impish Nature
252 HP/ 252 Defence/ 4 Special Defence

Reflect
Light Screen
Thunderwave
U-Turn


U-Turn allows you to deal some small damage whilst you switch out and also allows you to switch second if they decide to switch which is always very nice. Another small nitpick is on Scizor I would put Brick Break over Superpower, as superpower lowers your Attack and Defence which will greatly reduce the durability of your Scizor.

 

[Darkprophet]

I did consider Uxie for a while, but the lower speed and lack of explosion really hurts it. Memento is crippling as well, but you can just switch out of it. Thanks for your help though :)

the point is you get a free turn if they switch, and if they don't, they're going to do so little damage to whatever comes in after Memento that it won't matter because they'll have -2 to both attacks, and you have both screens up.