The End of an Era

[Krow]

The End of an Era

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I wanted to finish out Gen 5 with 1 final team. This team was originally made to play in the Keldeo suspect ladder, but I've loved the way it plays so much that I'm just keeping it as my staple team for the rest of the generation.

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Infernape @ Focus Sash
Trait: Blaze
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature
IVs: 30 Atk / 30 SAtk / 30 Spd
- Stealth Rock
- Fake Out
- Flare Blitz
- Close Combat

Infernape has undoubtedly become my favorite pokemon throughout the generation and possibly onward. The options and coverage he has is absolutely amazing, blowing up almost all other leads in the metagame. Stealth Rock is actually an option that you can forgoe actually using. The only time I prioritize Stealth Rocks over hitting "insertlead" is if there is Volcorona or Heatran.

Tyranitar @ Life Orb
Trait: Sand Stream
EVs: 36 HP / 252 Atk / 220 Spd
Jolly Nature
- Crunch
- Stone Edge
- Superpower
- Dragon Dance

DD Ttar is such an underused set and I don't understand why. It's so strong against so many things right now, if it can get the set up. The EV spread is very specific to outspeed 252+nature Lati@s with 2 DDs. After that the only threats that outspeed him are Alakazam, Gengar, and various scarf sets.

Jirachi @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Serene Grace
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 Atk / 4 HP
Jolly Nature
IVs: 30 Atk / 30 Def
- Iron Head
- Ice Punch
- U-turn
- Fire Punch

ScarfRachi is so great. I never saw this set being good, and tried it one day just for giggles. It revenge kills so hard and punishes everything. People never really see it coming and I don't know why. Fire Punch melts Scizor / Ferrothorn. U-turn is great for scouting, and Iron Head's flinch has managed to flinch and save me a few times.

Jellicent @ Leftovers
Trait: Water Absorb
EVs: 160 SDef / 252 HP / 96 Def
Bold Nature
IVs: 30 Atk / 30 SAtk
- Scald
- Giga Drain
- Toxic
- Recover

The king of walls in OU. My Jellicent is running a sort of mixed defensive spread of EV's. The more interesting thing is that most people will run WoW. I don't really have many problems against physical attackers, at least none that Scald doesn't deal with.

Latios @ Choice Specs
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 SAtk / 4 HP
Timid Nature
IVs: 30 Atk / 30 SAtk / 30 Spd
- Draco Meteor
- Psyshock
- Thunderbolt
- Energy Ball

Latios is very common in OU right now and I honestly don't feel like I have to explain it much. Hit things hard. The only thing that's worth explaining is Energy Ball. I felt my team has very little grass offense, and got walled by a Gastrodon once, so I said screw that.

Garchomp @ Choice Band
Trait: Rough Skin
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 Atk / 4 HP
Jolly Nature
- Outrage
- Earthquake
- Fire Fang
- Stone Edge

I wanted some good coverage and I'm not a fan of CBNite (who honestly might be better). Garchomp is one of my favorite pokemon, and CB gives him so much strength to go along with his already great speed. Pretty standard compared to everything else on the team.

 

[MrEon]

Seems like a decent team, a couple of things though.

First, DDTar is'nt that great anymore due to its weakness to 2 common priority moves - Breloom's Mach Punch and Scizor's Bullet Punch. Also, I'm a big fan of CBTar myself, and I can tell you Ttar with any sort of boost (DD in your case) hits like a train. That said, if you really like DDTar give Chople Berry a shot, since it softens up Breloom's MP, and Jellicent handles Scizor anyways.
However, even with it, common things like Scarf Terrakion/Keldeo outspeed Ttar even at +2 speed, and can kill it with their Fighting STAB. So, if you are willing to change the slot entirely, I suggest trying out Double Dance/SubSD Terrakion instead and see how it works out.

Secondly, give Latios Trick over Energy Ball. It helps you against not only Gastrodon, but also Ferrothorn, which your current set fails to do any significant damage to, as neither of these 'mons like getting locked into one move. Also keep in mind that you have 3 Choiced 'mons - half your team, which can give your opponent opportunities to play unnecessary mind games so being able to get rid of the Specs on Latios can help you out (especially late-game, where most 'mons will be weakened and you wont need that much power).

tl;dr

- Chople Berry over LO on Ttar
OR
Double dance Terrakion over Ttar

- Trick over Energy Ball on Latios

 

[Subject 18]

Hey Krow. I'm looking through your team it strikes me as interesting with some noticeable flaws. First being you don't really seem to have a clear cut goal for this team, shown by the lack of a true setup sweeper. Dragon Dance Tyranitar is the closest thing you have to a setup sweeper and frankly its not sweeping teams anytime soon. Infernape being your lead is substandard and doesn't really achieve that role as well as other pokemon do, so this can be upgraded. Next thing I notice is your team is extremely weak to Ground moves as you have three pokemon weak to Ground, two that are neutral and one that is immune. This creates a weakness to strong Ground types such as Garchomp and Landorus-T who can come in and Earthquake almost at will and deal huge damage to your team. Latios being immune doesn't really help you as switching in to these two leaves you vulnerable to taking a Dragon move (Garchomp) or taking a U-Turn (Landorus-T) and essential losing your sole Ground immunity. Lastly you seem weak to Volcarona who is capable of sweeping your team since you don't a scarfer that can beat it once it has setup a Quiver Dance.

First off lets change Infernape. Infernape as a lead isn't that great nowadays. It is largely outclassed by both Terrakion and Garchomp who are much more effective in what they are able to do. I suggest replacing Infernape for Sword Dance Lucario. This might be a odd replacement since they don't really fill the same role but you are in need of a strong setup sweeper and can function with the current members you have on this team. Lucario now gives you a much reliable win condition then DD Tyranitar. The Bullet Punch slot can be change for either Ice Punch to beat Gliscor, Landorus-T or Crunch to beat Jellicent though you have Tyranitar who can trap opposing Jellicents. Though I for your team I prefer Bullet Punch to have a priority user that can beat Terrakion.

Lucario @ Life Orb | Justified
Adamant Nature |4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Close Combat / Extreme Speed / Bullet Punch / Sword Dance

Moving on to Garchomp I suggest making him Choice Scarf instead of Choice Band. As I mentioned earlier you have a pretty big weakness to Volcarona who can essentially sweep you after a Quiver Dance. Scarf Garchomp can come in a Volcarona as it Quiver Dances and OHKO it with a Stone Edge. As well as giving you a powerful revenge killer.

Next up is Jirachi. Since I have made Garchomp scarfed have Scarfed Jirachi is a bit redundant, with that said I suggest changing its set to the Shuca Berry Set. Even though it doesn't really fully resist Ground moves but it will allow you to take a Ground move and be able to take out the ground type. Since you mentioned that Gastrodon is an issue you can opt for Grass Knot to help deal this it as well as giving you a Stealth Rock user. Don't forget to change the IVs back to 31 on both Atk and Def.

Jirachi @ Shuca Berry | Serene Grace
Timid Nature | 140 HP / 252 Atk / 116 Spd
Psychic / Icy Wind / Grass Knot / Stealth Rock

There honestly isn't a reason to be using Dragon Dance Tyranitar. It won't be pulling off a sweep consistently these days with Breloom and Scizor being as common as they are. Since you have Lucario as you sweeper you need to clear you Jellicent for Luke to pull of a sweep once it gets to +2. For this reason I recommend Choice Banded Tyranitar to reliably trap Jellicent and Lati@s. The Speed EV will allow you to outpace most Jellicent to avoid the Will-o-Wisp and be able to Crunch it for the kill.

Tyranitar @ Choice Band | Sand Stream
Adamant Nature | 140 HP / 252 Atk / 116 Spd
Crunch / Pursuit / Superpower / Stone Edge

Some last changes

Sleep Talk over Energy Ball
Surf over Thunderbolt
Make all IVs 31

Taunt --> Giga Drain

That's all I have for you right now. I hope this helped and good luck with the team.

~Subject 18~​