The Dream Team!

Dreamish_

Dreamish_

After a few months on Shoddy and Smogon, I've kept changing my team. Somewhat to cure the problems that I've been facing, and sometimes due to the metagame shifts due to Uber Latias and whatnot. At first I started with a stock standard team, but I felt it wasn't working as well as it could, mainly because I didn't like how it played out. After that I started using pokemon some people have forgotten, and that worked for a while, until I started hitting the rank 1300's, where people were prepared for almost anything. With this experience, I hope I've been able to make a team that can take on almost any line-up. Which is what I present now:

NOTE: Changes made in this colour, Blue!

The Lead;

s_metagross.png

Metagross @ Lum Berry
Ability: Clear Body
EVs: 252HP/236Atk/8Def/12Spe
Nature: Adamant
- Bullet Punch
- Earthquake
- Explosion
- Stealth Rock

Essentially a standard Lead Metagross, though I've transferred a couple of Def EVs to Speed to outrun other Lead Metagross'. Lum was taken to stop statusing and make it usable outside of lead position. All in all a good change I think, though it's left a gaping hole in my team, who really wants a new physical sweeper.

The Support;
488.png


Cresselia @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252HP/252Def/4SpDef
Nature: Calm
- HP (Fire)
- Moonlight
- Shadow Ball
- Thunder Wave

As a replacement for Claydol, Cresselia has been the most successful suggestion. Being able to take most hits with impunity, as well as the tasty ground immunity have been extremely helpful in making my team stronger than before. HP Fire is once again taken to eat Scizors and Forrys and Shadow Ball is taken to stop the Rotoms from using Cress as set-up bait. Thunder Wave is as usual a fantastic move and will be used on every pokemon is can be used on. Moonlight is it's only healing move outside of Rest so I took it... but it's pretty meh considerng how prevalent TTar and whatnot is. All in all though, a good change from what I've seen; thanks for the suggestion KidX!



The Physical;

Please help, I need a new Physweeper! Rhyperior???

The Specialist;
243.png


Raikou @ Life Orb
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 4HP/252SpAtk/252Spe
Nature: Timid
- Calm Mind
- HP (Grass)
- Magnet Rise
- Thunderbolt

Absolute beast of a special sweeper. Capable of OHKO'ing most of the metagame after one CM boost, and smacks many would-be counters with HP Grass for super effective damage. (Particularly Swampert, cannot do anything outside of Roar usually, as MR dodges EQ's) When Latias was still around, I had a lot of trouble setting up Raikou, as Latias would just switch in, laugh at my TBolts, and Draco Meteor back. however, now the only think really in it's way is Blissey, and I have ways of dealing with the Pink... Yeah.

When Raikou gets Aura Sphere, I'm not sure if I'm going to switch to Specs Raikou or not. Opinions on the matter and suggested sets for Specs would be appreciated.

The Crocune;
suicune.png


Suicune @ Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252HP/244Def/12Spe
Nature: Bold (Thanks for the EV Spread and nature Tab.)
- Calm Mind
- Rest
- Sleep Talk
- Surf

Against the right team, this thing wins the battle. I usually use this late game or as a sleep absorber for Roserade Leads, Brelooms, or Smeargles. It's part of my counter to Brelooms, where it takes the spore, I switch to Clefable and encore the sub. Works pretty much every time. Same goes for Smeargles attempting to BP, and Roserades that attempt to get two sets of Toxic Spikes off. Standard EV spread and moves are taken for the Crocune set, seeing as how I found this to be the most effective spread for my team. Lastly, it out stalls most special threats in the game, and can absorb any status, like Clefable, and is generally just annoying. Trick attempts are usually predicted and I more often than not switch to Raikou or Metagross to pick up the Specs or Scarf respectively. And besides, Scarfed Suicune isn't so bad if you predict it and start Surfing.


The Star;
clefable.png


Clefable @ Leftovers
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: 252HP/4Atk/252Spe
Nature: Jolly
- Double-Edge
- Encore
- Softboiled
- Thunder Wave

My absolute favourite pokemon, Clefable is an amazing counter to some of the most feared pokemon in the metagame. Encoring those setting up, TWaving anyone it feels like. Beating Blissey with no recoil 120 power STAB D-Edges, and Softboiling off any damage, Clefable can do almost anything. Counters Breloom, Most TTars, Crocune, BP chains, Yanmega and Ninjask with their Speed Boost crap. Outstalls basically anything, and is generally just annoying. Sure it doesn't have the best stats in the world, but it laughs at entry hazards, likes Toxic Spikes, laughs at sub users, laughs at set-up attempts, laughs at status spreaders, and can take most special hits with ease. All in all, I feel Clefable is just a fantastic Poke.

Anyway, there's the team. Comments, Criticism, Advice, Praise, and everything in between will be at the very least acknowledge and thought about. Any weaknesses that I haven't seen that are pointed out are greatly appreciated. Thanks for reading!
 
how does clefable counter breloom. It isn't running toxic orb to take a sleep. Clefable is set up bait for breloom

Substitute gengar also rips through your team while behind a sub which it can find many opportunities to.

Double edges coming off base 70 attack is pathetic.
 
It counters Breloom because Suicune takes the sleep, and with my EVs and Jolly nature for Clefable it outspeeds all breloom, so I switch it in on the sub and encore it, problem solved.

As for Gengar, usually Raikou takes out all Gengar, and Clefable can sponge any Shadow balls thrown at Claydol or just in general, not to mention Crocune can take a Gengar pretty easily.

How about next time you add advice as to how to change it, rather than just criticising. What would be a better choice over Double-Edge as an attacking move? I've found that it deals more than ample damage to Blissey, whom is one of the banes of my team, and it can wear down other pokemon I'd otherwise have trouble with. (Encore a Crocune using Rest or Calm Mind, and Double-Edge if they stay in or TWave the switch). I'm more than open to suggestions, but I actually want suggestions, not just "It's wrong, no reason why."
 
Hi ths team looks pretty solid to me, but theres one problem i see, yor claydol uses reflect,but isnt holding light clay, if you want that reflect to last a respectable amount of time,you need light clay.
 
To be pretty blunt, your team is horribly weak to a huge number of big threats in the metagame - Salamence, Gyarados, Lucario, Scizor to name a few, not to mention you've got a huge weakness to stall teams, with you having very few means of really threatening the key members of one, as well as providing plenty of chances for Skarmory/Forretress to set up Spikes. I'll try to avoid completely changing your team, but unfortunately there's enough problems for a few fairly big changes to be necesarry.

First things first, Solrock might be cool and unexpected, but it's really doing nothing for you. From the looks of your team, you've tried to go with something fairly bulky and capable of sticking around for a while . . . and then you lead with a suicide lead which basically puts down Stealth Rock and goes boom, and to be honest, even then, you can do much better than Solrock for that. With a team like this, you'd be much better off using a standard Swampert lead with Ice Beam/Earthquake/Roar/Stealth Rock, which can be found in Swampert's analysis. Swampert still gives you a pretty reliable lead, as well as helping out with Salamence and Gyarados to an extent, although it still doesn't really deal with them properly, as well as giving you a solid switch into pokemon like Tyranitar during midgame.

Claydol seems to be a really odd choice here. It's not really a good pokemon at all in OU, outside of the odd niche role, and really just seems a bit random. There's all kinds of things that could fit in here, and I don't really want to change your team more than necesarry, so I'll leave it to you to think of some other options to try out. Something worth looking into might be a Life Orb Shaymin with Seed Flare/HP Fire/Earth Power/Rest or Tinkerbell Celebi with Leaf Storm/HP Fire/Thunder Wave/Recover, which would give you a Gyarados check, as well as a fairly bulky pokemon as a replacement which can also help out offensively.

Your team seems to be kind of focused on a Raikou/Metagross sweep, and I think you'd probably be better off making Raikou the focus of it here. Byu switching Metagross to a CB Scizor with Bullet Punch/U-turn/Pursuit/Superpower, you get a similar(ish) pokemon which will fit into the team much better, giving you a way to deal with Salamence, as well as picking off things like Starmie and Infernape once they drop to ~50%, which are other problematic pokemon for you.

Raikou is for the most part fine, but you don't want Magnet Rise. The only noteworthy Earthquake user is Scarf Flygon, and it's not worth losing coverage for that. You'd be much better off going with Shadow Ball so you can hit Rotom, which not only semi-walls you otherwise, but also causes problems for Metagross/Scizor and Suicune.

Again, Suicune is almost fine, but you're going to want to change that EV spread. CroCune is better off focusing its EVs on physical defense rather than special, as not only does it go a long way towards helping it switch into what it needs to, but you also have Calm Mind to boost Special Defense, so the extra physical defense is extremely important in letting you set on on things. I'd suggest going with a Bold nature and an EV spread along the lines of 252 HP/244 Def/12 Spe.

Finally, it may be your favourite pokemon, but Clefable simply isn't good enough in OU, especially with that set. Steel types are everywhere, and you're simply inviting Scizor, Lucario, Skarmory, Forretress, Jirachi, etc to come in and set up on/ko you. I've tried to avoid making huge changes as much as possible in my suggestions so far, but one is really needed here. Even taking into account what I've suggested, you're still going to really struggle against stall teams, you're still going to struggle to beat Lucario, and you're still lacking some general power. A Mixed Salamence with Draco Meteor/Fire Blast/Brick Break/Roost would fit in extremely well here, helping to deal with all three of those problems.

Hope you found some of my suggestions helpful, good luck with the team.

bloo 9.9
​
 
Thanks for the review Tab, I can definitely see some good points, particularly about Claydol.

However, there are a few things that I would like to discuss with regards to the changes.

We'll go from top to bottom, as that might fit better.

First, I can see the issue with using Solrock as a lead, but at the same time, I've played and experimented with all of the common leads, including Swampert, and found that explosion is nearly invaluable, as well as the threat of explosion itself. Also, the coverage of EQ and SE is extremely helpful in a lot of circumstances, as lately I've been finding myself keeping Solrock alive and using him mid - late game, where I've been able to get crucial KO's on certain pokemon attempting to set up, or being locked into a move that is either not effective or Solrock is immune to, i.e. ScarfTran Earth Power. Also, as it is underestimated, a lot of battles have been changed by players attempting to set up on it, and being OHKO'ed by one of its offensive moves. It's also faster than Swampert, and beats it 1 on 1, with some good prediction. I'm still willing to consider Swampert, though I'm not quite convinced.

With Claydol, I agree, I wanted something bulky that could threaten Scizor and most Steel types, as Claydol can take CC's from Lucario like a man, but Shaymin seems to be a very good choice. Would Life Orb be my best bet here? Or is there another item that would be more ideal?

Metagross is more often than not my sweeper in all honesty, I usually bring Raikou out either late game, or early game when I find something to set up on. I'll try Scizor but I am a bit sceptical about it, as Metagross has won me plenty of battles with awesome coverage. Maybe I could switch Ice Punch for Thunder Punch? That would take care of Gyarados and I think MM does enough damage to the Dragons to warrant a switch.

Onto Raikou. I'll happily try Shadow Ball, but one of my concerns is that there are plenty of other ground users that will make life alot scarier for Raikou if I make the change. Perhaps the most noteable outside of Scarfgon is Gliscor, who otherwise threatens all of my team bar Solrock and Suicune with EQ, and magnet rise turns him into set-up bait. But I have noticed I have some trouble with Rotom, hence Claydol was there to threaten with Shadow ball and be immune to discharges. Also choice band TTar's locked into EQ to kill Metagross become set up bait if I sacrifice Metagross for Raikou.

I'll change Suicune, prior to this I hadn't used CroCune all that much. thanks for the advice.

Now, onto the last one. I've been using Clefable since RBY days, and I think I've found when it can, and when it can't be switched in. It can counter so many pokemon, but only if used right, and this set has been quintessential in stopping a lot of would-be losses from occurring, Steel types hate CroCune, as well as Raikou if they're choiced, and Metagross threatens them all with EQ, except Forry and Skarm, which get eaten alive by Clefable who merely encores their attempts to spike etc, and Twaves the switch. Not to mention Raikou OHKO's Skarm, and HP fire from the newly implemented Shaymin OHKO's Forry.

Thank you very much for the review though, I really appreciate it. And Shaymin is working really well!
 
Hello!

Alright lets review/ rate your team from top to bottom.

Solrock: Alright, looks good seems to get the job done for you 'Nuff said. Moving on...

Claydol: Maybe you could try the floating duck: Cresselia, she has more hp defense, special defense, and speed the only thing that claydol has that cress doesn't is earth power.

Metagross: Looks fine a the moment

Raikou: Good, this seems what the team is based around os your fine. And with Aura Sphere coming out for raikou maybe you can use a specs or even a scarf set to revenge kill the likes of T-Tar.

Suicune: Standard CroCune nothing wrong here

Clefable: DUDE!!! this is gotta be the best Clefable set i have ever seen. Good job!

Good Luck!
 
Thanks for the review KidX, I'll try out Cressy and see how it goes. As you said,they are similar enough, and Cressy does have better stats!

Anyway, thanks again.
 
Hey I got your Pm, and honestly, this team looks pretty interesting... I can honestly say I've never seen a Solrock lead, ever. I had to look at the analysis just to find out what it's base stats were! But I digress... This team, unfortunately, is weak to common threats. I can see a Lucario setting up on Crocune and one hit killing your entire team. Gyarados also has a lot of fun with this team, and, given the opportunity, will run through it with equal efficiency. I'd try running a ScarfRotom over Solrock, who honestly just isn't a good choice on a bulky team. Metagross could then become a lead. It also stops SubPetaya Empoleon, who is equally destructive, and Scizor, the CB version of which can do more than it's share of 100% to this team.

That's all I got, on top of other suggestions, the team should turn out great. Hope I helped.
 
Hey Dreamish, finally found you on the Pokemon e-scene! :)

Now I'm going to review this team into the ground, considering the amount of times youve beaten me with it :(

First, Solrock. Remember when we were talking about Azelf would be a better lead than Solrock cause of the bonus speed and generally better stats? I still think running a Colbur Azelf would work wonder, as it'd give you an answer to Machamp without blowing up, as well as being able to get up rocks and generally being stronger. But still, Solrock is pretty neat XD

Good you changed Claydol, the moon duck is way better. If you don't wanna use moonlight, why don't you just run Shadow Ball/HP Fire/T Wave/Reflect? Only problem is whether to use light clay or lefties.

Meh, it's Agiligross. I say use Tpunch, bulky waters hurt you more than Nite, Gon and Mence (considering Mence is gone soon). Though that means I can't keep wish passing with vaporcat :P

What're you gonan do with Raikou? Specs/scarf when Sphere comes out? I say you should :D Anyway, you know how to use this thing perfectly already, so nyuh!

I hate you for using Crocune, I remember when you had Ludicolo in this spot, you should do that again :( Your Ludi was AWESOME!

YAY CLEFABLE! You're so good with him, don't ever change! EVER!

Anyway, yeah, I say fix Cressy to make him yours, and use Ludicolo again!

Catchya!

Kaname~
 
Thanks for the reviews Toxic and Squibble.

I've decided to change Solrock for a Metagross Lead, you can go check the blue writing as to what I've decided on.

I need a Pokemon that'll fit Metagross' mold, i.e., a good physical sweeper that isn't steel preferably, or Mence.

Suicune or Ludicolo? any opinions? Ludicolo set would be;

Ludi @ Damp Rock
Nature: Calm
EVs: 252 HP/252SpDef/4Spe
Ability: Rain Dish
Rain Dance
Leech Seed
Sub
Energy Ball/Grass knot

Opinions appreciated.
 
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