The champion path: a concept ( OU )

[puking_rainbows]

Well... I made a deal with a friend that at the end of summer we would have a pokémon battle. So now I finished my Soul Silver game and have begun to create a concept of my new and future team. I know it’s not the best and that it has some flaws, and that’s the reason why I need critic. Let’s make this team the best it can be! Let’s go!

At a glance: ​

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In depth: ​

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Swampert​

Relaxed – Leftovers
* Torrent *
HP-236 // Def.-216 // Sp.At.-52 // Spd.-4​

-Roar
-Stealth Rock
-Ice Beam
-Earthquake​

My new lead, but I’m not sure about it because Porygon2 has a great potential. His strategy is to set up Stealth Rock, then roaring away the foe. Ice Beam and Earthqueake are there for coverage. The 4 EVs that are invested in Speed are to make this Swampert faster than opponent Swampert.​

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Porygon2​

Bold – Leftovers
* Trace *
HP-252 // Def.-216 // Sp.At.-40​

-Ice Beam
-Thunderbolt
-Recover
-Thunderwave​

Just love this pokémon. Not many have seen his potential: his ability, combined with a proper movepool, can make this pokémon a beat! Bolt-beam has always taken care of most types and of many leads. To those that resist these two attacks I use Thunderwave. The only problem is when facing a Swampert, as it doesn’t affect him. So the question is if I should change Thunderwave for an attack like Toxic, making a combination with recover to cripple the opponent a little. Thunderwave is there to slow down the other pokémon. Also, I’m thinking of changing this lead for Swampert, the reasons are listed below in Swampert’s explanation.​

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Salamence​

Naive – Life Orb
* Intimidate *
Atk.-252 // Spd.-244 // Sp.Atk.-12​

-Dragon Dance
-Dragon Claw
-Fireblast
-Earthquake​

This team has way too many special and mixed sweepers, so I had to change the moveset of at least one of the pokémon. The most suitable set to be changed was Salamence's. After a Dragon Dance, Salamence is nearly unstoppable with Dragon Claw. Fireblast is for those Ice-typed pokémon he hates and for bulky steel types like Skarmory. The last slot is for Earthquake, a move that hits hard on many pokémon.​

Heatran
Naive – Choice scarf
* Flash fire *
Sp.Atk.-252 // Spd.-252 // Atk.-6​

-Explosion
-Fire Blast
-Earthpower
-HP grass​

This was my status absorber. I made it a revenge killer because Earthquake is too common in the current metagame. Lava Plume is a powerful STAB, Explosion serves for those situations in which i think Heatran is going to be defeated, as a last resort. Earthpower to hit more pokémon. Finally, I chose HP grass over HP ice to take care of Earth-typed pokémon. Also, i needed a powerful grass move in my team to stand against pokémon as Swampert.​

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Jirachi​

Impish – Leftovers
* Serene grace *
HP-240 // Def.-160 // Sp.Def.-76 // Spd.-32​

-Wish
-U-Turn
-Iron Head
-Body Slam​

Combined with Salamence, this pokémon has no weaknesses. I tried to make this pokémon a type of paraflinch. Wish and U-Turn for recovery and as an escaping route. Iron head is used to make the foe flinch. The last slot is filled with Body Slam, a move that has a high rate to make the opponent flinch. It is preferred this move over Thunderwave because, not only does my Porygon2 have that move, but also because there are some pokémon like Swampert that aren’t affected by it. So the only way to solve that problem is to put Body Slam, as it will do damage too. ​

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Celebi​

Bold – Leftovers ( ? )
HP-252 // Def.-220 // Spd.-36
* Natural cure * ​

-Psychic
-Grass Knot
-Leech Seed
-Recover​

My cleric, and a good one, I have to say, Leech seed is there to help my team to recover, Recover is there to recover himself, thus making it harder to low his HP. I put Grass Knot to face other Swampert, because I always had a problem with them. Before I had Heal Bell, but after having a look over my team, I arrived to the conclusion that I didn’t really need that move. Psychic for STAB.​

Thanks for your atention! Let me know your oppinions and your first impressions, please (:


Special thanks to pokemonelite2000 and to arkeis for the images.

 

[technomancer]

From reading your post, it seems like you're just using pokemon for their typing and coverage, and to fill certain positions on the team. I strongly suggest you make a threat list to better understand your team's actual gameplay dynamic, and play on shoddy often.

Your team is super ou, and celetran with swampert can handle most threats adequately enough, but dragons running eq can ruin it on a predicted heatran switch, and swampert can only take so many outrages/draco meteors; the same to porygon-z.

 

[DahliaSky]

swampert is a pretty good lead, but a better supporter as many leads now run energy ball/grass knot just for him, and taunt is just too common to ignore. It may be better to have porygon out there for its antilead potential, and switch off to swampert if its unsafe.

Mence and jirachi seems like a good team on paper, but both will have problems with opponent's movesets, not just single moves. its good to be able to switch in on predicted ground or fire attacks, but does you no good if you switch mence into a heatran that uses sub/dragon pulse (for example).

you should look more into the sets opponents run than the types your pokemon resist, and see where your true weaknesses are. for example: Starmie can sweep 4/6 of your pokemon, and give the other two a really hard time living, and machamp fears none of your pokemon, especially from behind a sub while you're confused.

 

[Albinoloon]

You have a great team, and congrats for using Porygon2, (you're not the only one) but there's a few things: 1. It's hard to figure out how the team and each member works, so would you consider adding a threat list? It would make it easier for people to rate, and 2. if you want your Porygon2 to handle Swampert and others better, consider this set:
Porygon2
@ Leftovers
EVs: 252 HP/ 192 Def/ 64 SDef
Bold
- Zap Cannon
- Ice Beam
- Toxic
- Recover

This set provides Porygon2 with some extra bulkiness, and more stalling capabilities.
Zap Cannon has a little more power than Thunderbolt, AND can inflict status, the low accuracy won't be a big problem considering that Porygon2 can absorb a few hits with recover. Toxic can make your stall more effective, especially with pokemon like Swampert, whom you just can't just score a good hit on. This Porygon2 can act as a revenge-killer, and a staller. Personally, I think that Celebi needs heal bell over psychic because, long story short, status can wreck your (and any) team. Hope I helped! :)

 

[DarkSlay]

Hey there! Before I rate this, you really need to playtest your teams before you place them on RMT here. This way, us raters can get an adequate reading on how exactly this team functions when played by you, and so that you yourself can witness what counters this team. However, this team is pretty viable, so I'll go ahead and rate it.

You have a massive weakness to Specially Based MixApe with HP Ice. With proper prediction (and the fact that it outspeeds five out of six of your Pokemon), it has the potential to OHKO your entire team with ease after SR damage. You also currently also have no check or counter to it, unfortunately.

Offensive Shaymin and Celebi, again with HP Ice, will also give you trouble. They can't OHKO everything like Infernape can, but they will be extremely hard to beat. Jirachi and Heatran (on the obvious switch) will be hit with Earth Power. Swampert is nailed with Seed Flare/GK. Porygon2 is 2HKO'd by Seed Flare, and can only muster around 50% damage with Ice Beam, which can and will be healed off. Salamence is a speed tie and potential OHKO with HP Ice. 3/4 of your Celebi set is useless on Shaymin, whereas all of it is useless on opposing Celebi. Shaymin will also eventually win if it scores a -2 SpD drop after Seed Flare and bash with HP Ice.

Swampert

Please, for the love of God, don't use P2 as a lead. It doesn't stop any of the current OU leads from doing their jobs, and is pretty much just set-up and Taunt bait. Swampert is a good, conservative lead that also doubles as a tank later on in the match. Nothing that P2 loses to hates Swampert much, either, so the synergy there is nonexistant. P2, in short, is a much, much more usless Swampert who can't set up SR in the Lead position.

Porygon2

I understand the novelty here, I really do. Porygon2 has a cool niche as a DD Salamence/Gyarados check, which is nice. However, Choice Scarf Starmie can do the exact same things that Porygon2 can do in OU play, plus provide the team with an Infernape check. While Porygon2 has some bulk Physically, it still loses often to Fighting types and strong Special Attacks. I just don't see how, from a competitive standpoint, Porygon2 is doing well for this team, even if it's one of your favorite Pokemon.

Starmie @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Natural Cure
EV's: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Nature: Timid
Moveset:
- Surf / Hydro Pump
- Ice Beam
- Thunderbolt
- Trick

Enter: Starmie. ScarfMie is the ultimate DD Salamence and Gyarados check, being able to outspeed both after they DD up once and OHKO'ing them with either Ice Beam or TBolt. Outside of this, Starmie plays as an excellent revenge killer, able to easily beat Infernape, Heatran, and other important Pokemon. Trick is for crippling those annoying Blissey that get in the way, as well as any other thing that would not like getting locked into one move (Suicune, Vaporeon, etc.). After you have Tricked your Scarf, you still outspeed Infernape and pre-DD Gyara and Mence, so keep this in mind.

Salamence

Your EV's are a bit odd. Salamence needs max Speed in order to outspeed/speed tie certain Scarf users (Jirachi, for example) after a Dragon Dance. I recommend changing the spread to 232 Atk / 24 SpA / 252 Spe. This allows you to have huge attacking potential, a chance to OHKO Skarmory and Forretress, and speed tie Scarf Base 100's.

Heatran

Now that Starmie is your effective revenge killer, I recommend changing your ScarfTran to Substitute Heatran, something that I think is way, way more dangerous than ScarfTran.

Heatran @ Leftovers
Ability: Flash Fire
EV's: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Nature: Timid
Moveset:
- Substitute
- Fire Blast
- Earth Power
- Toxic / Explosion / Hidden Power (Grass/Ice/Electric)

SubTran is a menace. The gameplan: you switch in Heatran on an appropriate Pokemon, like Celebi or ScarfTran and such. They switch out, you Sub. Under a Sub, it's almost impossible to not get crippled in some way by SubTran. Heatran under a Sub can either nail pretty much everything hard with STAB Fire Blast, counter opposing Heatran or Fire types with Earth Power, or do one of the many other moves it has access to. Toxic is the number one choice, to cripple Suicune, Vapoeron, Salamence, TTar, Gyarados, and Flygon switch-ins. Explosion is exclusively for Blissey, although note that if you do opt for Explosion, you should be using a Naive nature to guarantee the OHKO. Hidden Power is more specific as to what it counters, but overall, Toxic hits a wider range of Pokemon. It's up to you, though.

Jirachi

This Jirachi is kind of a mess, to be honest. The EV's are pretty odd, as is the moveset choice. May I suggest using a a different set? This set (I call it Liberachi due to its "gay hax" nature, but it's really just Sub + TWave) is designed to provide team paralysis support while also doubling as being...well, really, really annoying. XD

Jirachi @ Leftovers
Ability: Serene Grace
EV's: 164 HP / 168 Atk / 176 Spe
Nature: Timid
Moveset:
- Substitute / Wish
- Thunder Wave
- Iron Head
- Fire Punch

Liberachi is really, really annoying. Have I made that clear yet? XD The trick to using this Jirachi is coming in on a good Pokemon, TWaving the switch, then switching out to the appropriate Pokemon (Salamence, Heatran, etc.). Then, next switch, put Jirachi under a Sub. With its main counter paralyzed, Jirachi now has its way with your opponent's team. Iron Head is for that pure Flinching goodness, while Fire Punch hits the Steels (bar Heatran) that resist Iron Head (and the 20% Burn rate is nice, too). This Jirachi is an amazing partner with Salamence, too. Substitute is usually the only option, since Jirachi is almost impossible to kill under a Sub and without it, it would be wide open to a lot of attacks. However, if you really miss Wish support, you can test Wish over Substitute (or Fire Punch if you feel like Iron Head flinching is enough).

Celebi

You'd want HP Fire over Psychic, in order to beat Scizor and Forretress. You might also want to consider TWave over Leech Seed. Leech Seed is nice, but more often than not, your opponent just switches. TWave is permanent (bar Clerics), and you can never have too much TWave support.

Hope this helps, and good luck!