Well, after spending a couple of months away from the competitive scene and Pokemon altogether, I have come back after I got Platinum. Before you start giving me suggestions, however, please note that this team is several months old, and during my absence, there has obviously been some changes in the OU metagame, which is why my team may have some big flaws in it that I might not mention (if there are any). Anyways, let's get started...
At a Glance:
Before I move on, I do admit that this team could be considered pretty standard. However, I've generally won more battles with this team than I have lost, even now, so I'm glad it works pretty well, and I like its somewhat "balanced" feel (if it can still be considered balanced). Moving on...
More Info:
Metalcross (Metagross) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Clear Body
EVs: 252 Atk/252 Spd/4 SDef
Jolly nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Meteor Mash
- Stealth Rock
- Trick
- Explosion
I use this as my lead, and it's the standard Scarf/Trick set; Trick Choice Scarf to your opponent to screw up their setup, whether it's for BPing, Stealth Rock, or Spikes, use Stealth Rock, and then Meteor Mash the hell out of everything while you can, Exploding when necessary. However, some problems can include a lead Azelf attacking first (most likely with Flamethrower or Fire Blast) and Max-speed Jolly Aerodactyl, who will JUST outrun Metagross by 1 speed. However, Metagross does a teriffic job screwing up other leads with this set, and the very first time I used it, I surprisingly 6-0'ed someone on ShoddyBattle, although that was the only time that happened.
---
Reaper (Dusknoir) (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 HP/52 Def/204 SDef
Impish nature (+Def, -SAtk)
- Fire Punch
- Thunderpunch
- Will-o-wisp
- Pain Split
Pretty much the Tank set on the Strategy Pokedex, but with a more defensively-balanced EV spread to complement both defenses. Will-O-Wisp shuts down physical attackers except Heracross, which is what Fire Punch is for (along with other Pokemon such as Scizor and Forretress), and Thunderpunch takes care of Pokemon such as Gyarados and Starmie. Basically, of the four big Rapid Spinners, Donphan is Dusknoir's biggest challenge, as he doesn't have Ice Punch, but Will-O-Wisp gives Donphan enough problems already. I hear that Dusknoir doesn't like Pursuit, but I thankfully haven't run into anyone using Pursuit on Dusknoir. Weavile is a potential threat, but it has to watch out for both Will-O-Wisp and Fire Punch. Pain Split is its "recovery move," and can potentionally cripple my opponent if used right.
---
Volonté (Azelf) @ Expert Belt
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 4 HP/252 Spd/252 SAtk
Timid nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Psychic
- Flamethrower
- Hidden Power [Fighting]
- Nasty Plot
Azelf is one of my two special attackers, and I think he does a very good job. Levitate allows it to switch in on any Pokemon using EQ with good prediction. If he gets one Nasty Plot boost in, Azelf, who already has great Special Attack, will be even more threatening with 523 Special Attack; combined with its great Speed, few Pokemon give Azelf problems. Psychic is a great STAB move and can takes care of many different Pokemon because of its great type coverage, but I think the most notable Pokemon it OHKOs is Gengar, who it also outruns if it isn't holding Choice Scarf. Flamethrower is a big problem for Scizor, Forretress, Weavile, and Skarmory along with other Steel-types who resist Psychic, and HP Fighting will tear apart Tyranitar and Weavile. Speaking of Weavile, though, it can give Azelf problems since Jolly ones are faster and can KO it with Night Slash or Pursuit, but they should still be wary, as Flamethrower and Hidden Power both OHKO them with ease.
---
Starman (Starmie) @ Life Orb
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 4 HP/252 Spd/252 SAtk
Modest nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Surf
- Thunderbolt
- Ice Beam
- Recover
Like Weavile, Starmie is another great sweeper. It may not be as powerful, but it trades in some power for great type coverage, and Life Orb helps it. Surf obviously gets STAB and hits many Pokemon, Thunderbolt takes care of opposing Water-types as well as Skarmory, and Ice Beam takes down Dragons such as Salamence, Garchomp, and Flygon, although Yache Berries will ensure their survival. Recover heals any damage made by Life Orb or my opponent's attacks. If Blissey gives Starmie problems with Thunder Wave or Toxic, then it can just switch out and heal its status with Natural Cure. Thunderbolt is easily predictable on my Starmie though, and those who have Electivire can easily exploit this to gain Speed from Motor Drive, which can be a problem. However, Starmie has excellent type coverage and does its job well.
---
Assassin (Weavile) (M) @ Expert Belt
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 4 HP/252 Atk/252 Spd
Jolly nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Night Slash
- Brick Break
- Ice Shard
- Pursuit
Ah... Weavile. One of the most frightening revenge killers ever and one of my physical attackers. Although its defenses are rather lacking (it has surprisingly decent Special Defense, though), I love how much damage you can cause with this thing. Night Slash is a good STAB move with good type coverage, hitting Pokemon such as Azelf hard, and Brick Break is great against Blissey, some Steel-types, Tyranitar, and opposing Weavile. Ice Shard isn't as powerful as Ice Punch, but can still OHKO Dragons such as Salamence along with letting Weavile strike first. Pursuit hits hard on any Pokemon trying to switch out, and those who do are usually weak to it. Some letdowns are that Weavile will easily die from most attacks (especially Fighting-type attacks), and he has a weakness to Stealth Rock as well. However, Weavile's combination of high Speed and Attack make it an excellent physical sweeper and a great asset to my team.
---
Super Nuke (Salamence) (M) @ Yache Berry
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 232 Atk/252 Spd/24 SAtk
Naughty nature (+Atk, -SDef)
- Outrage
- Flamethrower
- Dragon Dance
- Earthquake
Salamence is my second and my strongest physical sweeper, and runs the standard Dragon Dance set. Intimidate can somewhat cause problems for opposing physical attackers, and can switch in on an Earthquake or other Ground-type moves with no problem. DD is to obviously boost his Attack and Speed, Outrage hits many Pokemon for massive amounts of damage when combined with Salamence's Attack stat of 400, a Dragon Dance or two, and STAB, although the confusion status can be a pain, so I might replace it with Dragon Claw. Flamethrower handles any opposing Steel-types such as Skarmory and Steelix, who resist Outrage and have high Defense, and I use it instead of Fire Blast because of its 100% accuracy, making it more reliable. Earthquake hits many Pokemon hard, especially Heatran, and is a better alternative for some Steel-types with lower Defense stats such as Metagross. Like other Dragons, Salamence will have a problem with any Pokemon with Ice attacks, but the Yache Berry will ensure its survival at full health, although this can be questionable if Salamence has Stealth Rock damage. However, if it does survive, Salamence can very quickly turn the tables on its Ice-type opponents.
---
Well, that's the team. Ir hink my main strategy basically involves messing up my opponent's lead with Metagross, and then hitting hard while having good type coverage with my sweepers, using Dusknoir for my defensive needs. It isn't the best team, but I think it's a pretty solid one overall, although the new changes to the metagame may cause it to have several new flaws which you raters can help me find out (if there are any).
----------
Threats:
These are the biggest potential threats to my team that I know of. I will update this and add/remove threats if necessary. Those marked in red are threats that cause me big problems. I can somewhat handle those marked in orange, but my team could use some improvement dealing with this threat. I can generally handle those marked in green with relative ease.
Heatran: Heatran isn't really a huge threat unless it's Scarfed, then it becomes a huge pain in the @$$, as it outruns my entire team while Fire Blasting or Flamethrowing almost everything to death. However, Dusknoir can possibly paralyze it with a lucky Thunderpunch, Starmie can use Surf and Recover off the damage (thanks m0nkfish!), and Salamence can take a hit and then KO it with Earthquake, but those are my only ways of handling Scarftran so far. Help, please!
Electivire: If Electivire successfully absorbs either my Starmie's Thunderbolt or (less likely) my Dusknoir's Thunderpunch, getting the Speed Boost, it can be a hassle to defeat, although Salamence willl survive Ice Punch and easily take it out with Earthquake, even without Dragon Dance.
Weavile: Azelf, Starmie, Dusknoir, Salamence, and my own Weavile are weak towards Weavile, which can cause problems if it is running a Jolly nature. However, Dusknoir has Fire Punch, Azelf has both Flamethrower and HP Fighting, and my Weavile has Brick Break, all of which cause the opposing Weavile serious problems. Salamence can also survive an Ice Shard or Ice Punch while tearing it apart with Outrage or Earthquake.
Dragonite: Can be a pain when paired with Forretress, but needs to watch out for Salamence, Weavile, and Starmie.
Forretress: It can Rapid Spin away my Stealth Rock and Explode when I don't want it to, but is easily killed by Fire-type attacks and will have problems against Dusknoir.
Changes:
This will be updated if I make any changes to my team in the future.
----------
Well, that's my team. I greatly appreciate any suggestions and/or feedback, but please make your criticism as constructive as possible if you are going to do so, and please back up your suggestions with a good amount of evidence. Also, I will simply ignore stupid replies such as "______ sux ROFL" and others. That being said, send me your feedback, and thanks for reading this and rating!
Metalcross (Metagross) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Clear Body
EVs: 252 Atk/252 Spd/4 SDef
Jolly nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Meteor Mash
- Stealth Rock
- Trick
- Explosion
I use this as my lead, and it's the standard Scarf/Trick set; Trick Choice Scarf to your opponent to screw up their setup, whether it's for BPing, Stealth Rock, or Spikes, use Stealth Rock, and then Meteor Mash the hell out of everything while you can, Exploding when necessary. However, some problems can include a lead Azelf attacking first (most likely with Flamethrower or Fire Blast) and Max-speed Jolly Aerodactyl, who will JUST outrun Metagross by 1 speed. However, Metagross does a teriffic job screwing up other leads with this set, and the very first time I used it, I surprisingly 6-0'ed someone on ShoddyBattle, although that was the only time that happened.
---
Reaper (Dusknoir) (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 HP/52 Def/204 SDef
Impish nature (+Def, -SAtk)
- Fire Punch
- Thunderpunch
- Will-o-wisp
- Pain Split
Pretty much the Tank set on the Strategy Pokedex, but with a more defensively-balanced EV spread to complement both defenses. Will-O-Wisp shuts down physical attackers except Heracross, which is what Fire Punch is for (along with other Pokemon such as Scizor and Forretress), and Thunderpunch takes care of Pokemon such as Gyarados and Starmie. Basically, of the four big Rapid Spinners, Donphan is Dusknoir's biggest challenge, as he doesn't have Ice Punch, but Will-O-Wisp gives Donphan enough problems already. I hear that Dusknoir doesn't like Pursuit, but I thankfully haven't run into anyone using Pursuit on Dusknoir. Weavile is a potential threat, but it has to watch out for both Will-O-Wisp and Fire Punch. Pain Split is its "recovery move," and can potentionally cripple my opponent if used right.
---
Volonté (Azelf) @ Expert Belt
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 4 HP/252 Spd/252 SAtk
Timid nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Psychic
- Flamethrower
- Hidden Power [Fighting]
- Nasty Plot
Azelf is one of my two special attackers, and I think he does a very good job. Levitate allows it to switch in on any Pokemon using EQ with good prediction. If he gets one Nasty Plot boost in, Azelf, who already has great Special Attack, will be even more threatening with 523 Special Attack; combined with its great Speed, few Pokemon give Azelf problems. Psychic is a great STAB move and can takes care of many different Pokemon because of its great type coverage, but I think the most notable Pokemon it OHKOs is Gengar, who it also outruns if it isn't holding Choice Scarf. Flamethrower is a big problem for Scizor, Forretress, Weavile, and Skarmory along with other Steel-types who resist Psychic, and HP Fighting will tear apart Tyranitar and Weavile. Speaking of Weavile, though, it can give Azelf problems since Jolly ones are faster and can KO it with Night Slash or Pursuit, but they should still be wary, as Flamethrower and Hidden Power both OHKO them with ease.
---
Starman (Starmie) @ Life Orb
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 4 HP/252 Spd/252 SAtk
Modest nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Surf
- Thunderbolt
- Ice Beam
- Recover
Like Weavile, Starmie is another great sweeper. It may not be as powerful, but it trades in some power for great type coverage, and Life Orb helps it. Surf obviously gets STAB and hits many Pokemon, Thunderbolt takes care of opposing Water-types as well as Skarmory, and Ice Beam takes down Dragons such as Salamence, Garchomp, and Flygon, although Yache Berries will ensure their survival. Recover heals any damage made by Life Orb or my opponent's attacks. If Blissey gives Starmie problems with Thunder Wave or Toxic, then it can just switch out and heal its status with Natural Cure. Thunderbolt is easily predictable on my Starmie though, and those who have Electivire can easily exploit this to gain Speed from Motor Drive, which can be a problem. However, Starmie has excellent type coverage and does its job well.
---
Assassin (Weavile) (M) @ Expert Belt
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 4 HP/252 Atk/252 Spd
Jolly nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Night Slash
- Brick Break
- Ice Shard
- Pursuit
Ah... Weavile. One of the most frightening revenge killers ever and one of my physical attackers. Although its defenses are rather lacking (it has surprisingly decent Special Defense, though), I love how much damage you can cause with this thing. Night Slash is a good STAB move with good type coverage, hitting Pokemon such as Azelf hard, and Brick Break is great against Blissey, some Steel-types, Tyranitar, and opposing Weavile. Ice Shard isn't as powerful as Ice Punch, but can still OHKO Dragons such as Salamence along with letting Weavile strike first. Pursuit hits hard on any Pokemon trying to switch out, and those who do are usually weak to it. Some letdowns are that Weavile will easily die from most attacks (especially Fighting-type attacks), and he has a weakness to Stealth Rock as well. However, Weavile's combination of high Speed and Attack make it an excellent physical sweeper and a great asset to my team.
---
Super Nuke (Salamence) (M) @ Yache Berry
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 232 Atk/252 Spd/24 SAtk
Naughty nature (+Atk, -SDef)
- Outrage
- Flamethrower
- Dragon Dance
- Earthquake
Salamence is my second and my strongest physical sweeper, and runs the standard Dragon Dance set. Intimidate can somewhat cause problems for opposing physical attackers, and can switch in on an Earthquake or other Ground-type moves with no problem. DD is to obviously boost his Attack and Speed, Outrage hits many Pokemon for massive amounts of damage when combined with Salamence's Attack stat of 400, a Dragon Dance or two, and STAB, although the confusion status can be a pain, so I might replace it with Dragon Claw. Flamethrower handles any opposing Steel-types such as Skarmory and Steelix, who resist Outrage and have high Defense, and I use it instead of Fire Blast because of its 100% accuracy, making it more reliable. Earthquake hits many Pokemon hard, especially Heatran, and is a better alternative for some Steel-types with lower Defense stats such as Metagross. Like other Dragons, Salamence will have a problem with any Pokemon with Ice attacks, but the Yache Berry will ensure its survival at full health, although this can be questionable if Salamence has Stealth Rock damage. However, if it does survive, Salamence can very quickly turn the tables on its Ice-type opponents.
---
Well, that's the team. Ir hink my main strategy basically involves messing up my opponent's lead with Metagross, and then hitting hard while having good type coverage with my sweepers, using Dusknoir for my defensive needs. It isn't the best team, but I think it's a pretty solid one overall, although the new changes to the metagame may cause it to have several new flaws which you raters can help me find out (if there are any).
----------
Threats:
These are the biggest potential threats to my team that I know of. I will update this and add/remove threats if necessary. Those marked in red are threats that cause me big problems. I can somewhat handle those marked in orange, but my team could use some improvement dealing with this threat. I can generally handle those marked in green with relative ease.
Changes:
This will be updated if I make any changes to my team in the future.
----------
Well, that's my team. I greatly appreciate any suggestions and/or feedback, but please make your criticism as constructive as possible if you are going to do so, and please back up your suggestions with a good amount of evidence. Also, I will simply ignore stupid replies such as "______ sux ROFL" and others. That being said, send me your feedback, and thanks for reading this and rating!
