TEAM YACOB
This is my first RMT (I think), so bear with me. Sorry if the format's messy, the descriptions aren't long enough...etc.
INTRO
I've been on the competitive battle scene for a long time now. A good three years or so I guess - and it all started with Serebii's (no flaming) humble wifi chat. After coming to Smogon, I started to learn all about the more competitive aspects - EVs/IVs, movesets, synergies, and just about everything else that has anything to do with battling. I consider myself pretty pro, but by no means perfect. A while (few weeks) back, I thought - 'How can I make my mark as a competitive battler?'. I've been familiar with Shoddy for quite a while, and so I set myself the target of getting on to the OU Leaderboard (top 50). After a few mediocre teams that failed, I decided to build one carefully, going over every pokemon before placing it on, and so forth. It took me quite a while to build. After extensive use on the ladder, the team peaked at around a rank of 1380. From here, I went on a never-ending losing streak (that user now resides at around 1310). So I took a little break from Shoddy, so that I may recollect myself. Earlier on today, I thought - 'Right, no joking around now. It's time to get on the leaderboard!'. And that's the (probably very boring) story of how Team Yacob came to be. Note that no member secured a place without careful consideration. Help me get on to the leaderboard - all of your rates are appreciated!
THE TEAM
The Lead
Jirachi @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Serene Grace
EVs: 80 HP/252 Atk/176 Spd
Nature: Jolly (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Iron Head
- U-turn
- Stealth Rock
- Trick
Whilst looking at how much damage Lucario does to most common walls/tanks after a Swords Dance, I noticed that a lot of percentages lingered about 90%. Therefore, having Stealth Rocks up turns many 2HKOs in to OHKOs. This makes Lucario generally easier to sweep with, and requires less support. Looking at the common stealth rockin' leads, I needed one that could easily accomplish his goal, and still provide useful mid/lategame. Jirachi has many factors that establish it as a good lead - opposing trickers are basically screwed (scarf for scarf means that they have to switch out - free rocks!), its awesome speed means that it usually avoids fast sleep (crobat/lucario) - it can either U-Turn out, causing moderate damage, or set up SR straight away - and against slower leads, it can either trick its scarf (Bronzong, I'm looking at you), set up SR, and generally do whatever the hell it likes. Jirachi forms a U-Turning trio with Flygon/Scizor, and therefore, is important to my team.
The given EVs allow it to outspeed neutral base 100s, whilst maintaining max attack. The leftovers are dumped in to HP for extra survivability.
The Revenge Killer
Heatran (M) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 6 Atk/252 Spd/252 SAtk
Nature: Naive (+Spd, -SDef)
- Dragon Pulse
- Earth Power
- Explosion
- Fire Blast
Heatran is an absolutely amazing revenge killer. It checks many threats this team has trouble with - Magnezone, Lucario, Scizor, Salamence and many more. I knew that with the insane amount of steels I have on my team (Heatran was placed last), I needed some sort of 'counter' - and Flash Fire provides just that. Will-O-Wisp on my Lucario? Don't think so. Fire Blast on my Scizor? Not a chance. You'd be surprised at the amount of free switch-ins it gets - Fire is by far the most common type used against steels. It's also more bulky than you'd think - it isn't entirely restricted to revenging, as it can come in on the many attacks (Shadow Ball, Leaf Storm, weak electric attacks, U-Turn are but a few examples) with impunity. Heatran doesn't have a very high base speed - and to be able to revenge, it needs to actually outspeed the opponent - and therefore, Scarf is the item of, pun totally intended, choice.
The EVs are...standard, but they get the job done. Naive nature to outspeed certain pokemon. The moveset is fantastic - unresisted coverage, paired with Explosion, not bad at all!
The...Physical Utility Dude
Scizor (M) @ Choice Band
Ability: Technician
EVs: 248 HP/252 Atk/8 Spd
Nature: Adamant (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Bullet Punch
- Superpower
- U-turn
- Pursuit
Scizor is the number one OU pokemon for a reason. Before Team Yacob, I'd never used him before - but seeing everyone else using it made me want to try it. I don't think he'll ever be left out of a future team - Scizor is amazing. Being able to freely switch in on a plethora of troublesome pokemon (Latias, I'm looking at you) and dent them is great. Scizor is the slowest U-Turner on my team - but he more than makes up for this with his huge attack score. Scizor's role is to generally scout the opponent's team with U-Turn by U-Turning to either Jirachi or Flygon - both, who, in turn, can U-Turn to another member to either set up (Luke), or net a KO (Heatran). It's surprising how frustrating U-Turning is - seeing as three pokemon on my team have it, the three in question (Jirachi/Scizor/Flygon) almost always avoid their respective counters, whilst denting the opposing team at the same time. Scizor handles a good load of pokemon that could prove annoying to Lucario with ease - take Celebi, for example.
Scizor doesn't need much speed (it's pretty slow), so the EVs are split between HP/Atk for bulk and raw offensive power. Adamant for more attack power. Power.
The Bulky Water/Tank/Wishpasser
Vaporeon (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Water Absorb
EVs: 188 HP/252 Def/68 Spd
Nature: Bold (+Def, -Atk)
- Wish
- Protect
- Surf
- Hidden Power [Electric]
Vaporeon is the defensive glue on my team. Wish is absolutely essential to the team, seen as not one member has a recovery move of their own. He, like Scizor, also serves as a general check to many potent threats that could single-handedly rampage through my team - mainly Gyarados and Crocune. Vaporeon can survive just about anything Gyarados can throw at him, and attack back with HP Electric. Crocune usually only carries Surf, so the strategy versus it will be to break the sub, switch to a U-Turner (they won't attack because of Water Absorb), and just keep on playing about with it. Clever switching means I'll rarely get hit. Having huge amounts of physical bulk doesn't hurt - he also serves as my switch in to most physical threats - Gliscor, Scizor, Tyranitar, etc. He also has great synergy when paired up with Heatran and Flygon - Electric move aimed at Vaporeon? Switch in Flygon. Water move aimed at Heatran? Switch in Vaporeon for a free heal. Ground move aimed at Heatran? Once again, switch in Flygon!
188 HP EVs allow for maximum Leftovers recovery. 68 Speed EVs allows Vapreon to outspeed Metagross/Skarmory. And the other EVs are placed in to Defence so that Vapreon can handle physical threats better. Bold nature for defense.
The Other Revenge Killer
Flygon (M) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 6 HP/252 Atk/252 Spd
Nature: Jolly (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Earthquake
- Outrage
- U-turn
- Stone Edge
Inferior Salamence? I don't think so! Flygon is a very important member to the team - for starters, he's immune to two types that the team has trouble with - Ground and Electric. These allow for free switch-ins, so Flygon can rack up some serious damage. 299 Atk may not seem like a lot, but coupled with insane speed, Flygon's more than capable of handling some top OU threats all by itself - OHKO on Salamence/Latias, OHKO on Lucario, OHKO on Heatran, and loads, loads more. Bar the increasingly-uncommon Choice Scarfed Latias. When building the team, Flygon's main role was to help Lucario out with some pokemon that he can't get past - Gyarados, Zapdos, Latias, Salamence and even Rotom-A (if it's been previously weakened). In turn, Lucario often gets his Swords Dances through Flygon - opponent just used Outrage? Switch in and set up. Flygon completes the U-Turning trio - and is the fastest of the three.
Just an example of what the U-Turning trio actually does. Say you've got a Draco Meteor coming your way - U-Turn out to Scizor/Jirachi. In turn, U-Turn right in their switch-in's face - say a ground type move is now coming your way. Back to Flygon! Playing about with the immunities and resistances of the three whilst damaging the opponent's team is a key feature of the team.
EVs, once again standard. Max attack is needed, as without a boost, he needs all he can get. Max speed for outspeeding almost the whole tier, including other scarfers, like Jirachi and Smeargle. Jolly for outspeeding more threats, as I think that speed's more important than attack - and with great coverage, Flygon will usually be doing huge amounts of damage anyway.
The Main Event!
Lucario (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Inner Focus
EVs: 6 HP/252 Atk/252 Spd
Nature: Jolly (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Close Combat
- Extremespeed
- Crunch
- Swords Dance
Lucario. I'm sure you're all familiar with him - he's possibly the deadliest sweeper in the whole OU tier. With a single Swords Dance under his belt, he can run through an entire team - anything slower dies to Close Combat/Crunch, and anything faster can be picked off with Extremespeed - bar ghosts, of course. Steel/Fighting typing is amazing - being able to switch in on a huge array of Choiced moves (such as Tyranitar's Crunch/Stone Edge) and set-up off the bat can often spell demise for an opposing team. One turn is all it takes! He's been in just about every team I've ever made, and with good reason. Lucario is the main pokemon on the team - the team was built around him. Just to show what each team member does to help him out:
Jirachi: Sets up Stealth Rocks that turn many 2HKOs into crucial OHKOs.
Heatran: Counters many threatening pokemon to Lucario, such as Zapdos.
Scizor: Counters the ever-annoying Celebi and Rotom-A - Overheats/Will-O-Wisps can be re-directed to Heatran.
Vaporeon: Provides wish support, checks Gliscor/Gyarados, two pokemon that Lucario has no hope of breaking.
Flygon: Is immune to the barrage of Earthquakes and Fire moves aimed at Lucario (o hai Salamence), and can OHKO many users of said moves in return.
As you can see, everything fits in together with him.
Jolly nature to outspeed Rotom-A (non-Scarf) and other Lucario and gain a valuable kill. EVs are split between Atk (to maximise damage) and Speed (to outrun things it needs to).
THE CONCLUSION
I look forward to all of your rates. I know that this team, whilst solid, has quite a way to go - but I believe that, with your help, it can end up going far. Now I'm tired as fuck (1:30AM over here, been up since...early, and typing this has taken ages), and can't be bothered to type, so goodnight.
P.S. - might edit a team building process some time.
P.S.S - need to know something, like how I handle X pokemon? Just ask.
P.S.S.S - santa clop.
