The Wrecking Krewe (28-3)

Ahoy, gentlemen! I've played BW OU for quite a while now, and recently made this team of bulky sweepers (well, mostly) in an effort to win consistently. As the record has shown so far, the team has been very effective, but I feel a few things may be holding it back, and I can't put my finger on them. I do get consistently beaten by stall teams, so any help there would be appreciated.

The teambuilding process:

The team began when I started using Volcarona over Darmanitan on an OU sun team. I was absolutely smitten with it, due to its excellent typing (offensively,) natural bulk and access to Quiver Dance. Oftentimes, it pulled a clean sweep by itself. To suit this team's purpose (to maintain formidable defensive bulk while dealing out major damage in return,) I went with the bulky Quiver Dance set. As I had seen before, Volcarona could often exploit the added power from a rival sun team.
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Knowing that Volcarona requires solid spinner support to function well, I gravitated towards the premier bulky spinner of OU, none other than Tentacruel. It has remarkable special bulk and excellent speed for a wall, also setting up Toxic Spikes of its own while spinning. It can absorb most water attacks intended for Volcarona. He also had the added bonus of exploiting rain teams for free healing, thanks to Rain Dish.
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Seeing as these two had fairly low physical bulk, even with investment, I chose Tangrowth to back them up with his incredible defensive prowess and excellent team support options. He serves as a definite answer to some of the major dangers of OU, namely Terrakion and Haxorus. Due to the nature of this team, switching can be a necessity on occasion, and Regenerator aids Tangrowth greatly in this endeavour. Ferrothorn was the original choice, but I was so quickly bored by him that I returned to this old favorite.
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As I had mostly covered the defensive needs of the team, it was now time to stock up on a bulky sweeper or two. Due to his natural bulk, immunity to the omnipresent Earthquake, and access to Dragon Dance, Gyarados was the best choice for this slot. With investment in defenses and Intimidate, Gyarados maintains a very bulky build while rapidly gaining speed and power. This team was prone to being set up on due to somewhat mediocre offensive power from a few members, so speed investment and Taunt quickly turned Gyara into a team favorite. Forcing out support pokes and gaining boosts was his bread and butter, and he managed to pull of a few full sweeps on his own.
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Next, I realized that mere bulk was not enough to win a match, especially against the more powerful setup sweepers of the game, so I quickly began the search for a revenge killer. Noting the Electric weakness of two members (especially Gyarados,) I looked around for a powerful, speedy Ground-type. Due to this immunity, excellent attacking power, and solid speed, Mamoswine was an easy pick for the revenger. As an added bonus, Mamo has Thick Fat, allowing him to take a Fire or Ice type attack with relative ease despite his low bulk. Mamo also soon drew further respect from me as he effortlessly exploited the Sandstorm and Hail of rival teams.
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Finally, with a well-rounded and successful team, I realized that Pokémon also requires some surprise factor. I remembered, from my DPP days, my old Gengar set that brought so many victories. The set, as I playtested, had not become any less effective. Many people blindly attack Gengar, seeing as he can rip apart most teams, so I took advantage of this. Giving him a Focus Sash, Gengar can take these physical hits, and with good prediction, can consistently OHKO back with Counter. Being lightning-fast, Gengar could often bring down another fresh poke using Destiny Bond.
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Gentlemen, The Wrecking Krewe.

"The Front"
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GENGAR @
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EVs: 4 HP | 252 SpA | 252 Spe
TRAIT: Levitate
NATURE: Timid (+Spe,-Atk)
MOVESET: Counter | Shadow Ball | Destiny Bond | Focus Blast​

Analysis:
This set usually leads off the team, but that fluctuates based on the lead I predict from my opponent. Against weather teams, Gengar will usually just go the straight attacking route, using Destiny Bond when things look grim. However, many times, Counter is the perfect choice, demolishing almost every physical attacker in OU. Shadow Ball and Focus Blast were the obvious choices for Gengar's attacks, giving him perfect neutral coverage while dealing very good damage against the entire tier. Blissey remains the worst enemy of this set, and weather inducers tend to hamper his effectiveness a bit. They are handled better by other members of the team anyways.


"Mojumbo"​
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TANGROWTH @
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EVs: 252 HP | 252 Def | 4 SpD
TRAIT: Regenerator
NATURE: Relaxed (+Def,-Spe)
MOVESET: Giga Drain | HP Ice | Sleep Powder | Knock Off

Analysis:
Tangrowth is a fantastic physical wall in OU, even if he's been relegated to RU. He can safely handle almost every physical attack in the entire game, often hitting back hard due to naturally high attacking stats or crippling the opponent with Sleep Powder. It also usually ruins VoltTurn chains, stopping all momentum by sleeping the switch-in. Even with Regenerator, I opted for Giga Drain, as it aids in keeping Tangrowth alive while dealing damage off of base 110 Special Attack. Hidden Power Ice was a no-brainer, hitting Dragons hard on the switch in while giving a decent answer to rival Grass types. As most Dragons lean towards physical attacks, Tangrowth is a solid check to most of them. Sleep Powder is Tangrowth's bread and butter, usually completely crippling rival pokes, allowing a teammate to mop them up more easily later in the match. Finally, the final slot was given to Knock Off over Leech Seed; as Tangrowth already recovers enough HP between GD and Regenerator, Knock Off seemed the better choice, allowing Tangrowth to ruin an attacker or wall that relies on its item to remain effective.


"Twinmold"
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GYARADOS @
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EVs: 88 HP | 248 Atk | 4 Def | 168 Spe
TRAIT: Intimidate
NATURE: Jolly (+Spe,-SpA)
MOVESET: Taunt | Dragon Dance | Waterfall | Bounce​

Analysis:
Gyarados has consistently been a fan favorite, and for good reason. His natural bulk (enhanced by Intimidate) and solid attacking power made him a perfect bulky sweeper for the team. His glaring Electric weakness is handled swimmingly by Mamoswine, and Volcarona doesn't mind eating a Thunderbolt or three either. Taunt was a necessity for the team, and many people are surprised by it, allowing Gyara to completely stop support pokes and ruin potential Baton Pass chains. After a Dance or two, his Taunt is very fast. Dragon Dance is where the "sweeper" part comes in. With his bulk, he can set up and proceed to steamroll most of OU between his two STABs. Waterfall is Gyara's best option for a physical Water STAB, and carries a nifty flinch chance. Bounce was another easy choice, allowing Gyara to have a second STAB, seriously harming Fighting-types.


"Stronghold"
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TENTACRUEL @
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EVs: 252 HP | 236 Def | 20 Spe
TRAIT: Rain Dish
NATURE: Bold (+Def,-Atk)
MOVESET: Rapid Spin | Toxic Spikes | Scald | Protect​

Analysis:
Tentacruel provided much-needed spinner support while providing Toxic Spikes to assist the team in wearing down threats in a switch-heavy metagame. Most of the set is self-explanatory: RS and TS are the primary reasons for Tenta's use on the team, and Scald does decent damage while carrying a good chance to cause burn. Protect is always a great choice for a supporter, allowing Tenta to scout for potentially harmful moves. The given EVs allow Tenta to endure almost any hit while spinning or setting Spikes while maintaining solid Speed.


"La Montaña"
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MAMOSWINE @
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EVs: 252 Atk | 4 Def | 252 Spe
TRAIT: Thick Fat
NATURE: Adamant (+Atk,-SpA)
MOVESET: Earthquake | Icicle Crash | Superpower | Ice Shard​

Analysis:
Mamoswine is an excellent revenge killer, thanks to his base 130 Attack stat and wonderful coverage. His access to Thick Fat, his Ground-typing, and his decent Speed all allow Mamo to revenge kill many powerful attackers. Ice Shard is a wonderful STAB priority attack, hitting pretty hard despite low BP thanks to Life Orb; it's perfect for handling Dragons and allows Mamo to bypass some Speed issues. Icicle Crash is a great STAB move, hitting Dragons and Ground-types for major damage, especially Garchomp and Dragonite. Earthquake is possibly the best attack in the game, and with STAB, it's a no-brainer on Mamo, destroying most rival Ice and Fire types while rocking offensive Tyranitars. Finally, Superpower gives Mamoswine just a little more coverage, always OHKOing TTar and denting Blissey seriously, usually 2HKOing.


"Pythagoras"
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VOLCARONA @
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EVs: 240 HP | 252 Def | 16 Def
TRAIT: Flame Body
NATURE: Timid (+Spe,-Atk)
MOVESET: Quiver Dance | Fiery Dance | Roost | Bug Buzz​

Analysis:
Volcarona is a very simple poke to use. Simply boost with Quiver Dance and proceed to bulldoze entire teams, occasionally stopping only to Roost. With bulk investment, Volcarona is nigh unstoppable. Quiver Dance is the obvious choice, boosting Volcarona's best stats even higher n a single move. Roost allows for recovery from repeated attacks, and can keep Volca alive if Tentacruel was unable to keep Rocks away. Fiery Dance is a great unique STAB move, carrying a wonderful 50/50 chance to boost Special Attack even higher. Bug Buzz is the best coverage option available, doing more damage than FD thanks to higher Base Power, and can also lower the rival's Special Defense.


I worked very hard on building a synergetic team, and it paid in dividends, as you can see from the current team record of 28-3. Hope you enjoyed this RMT, and please offer any tips you think could help! Thank you for your time.

-saxton
 
I have one problem I see: Gyrados having bounce.

Bounce might be STAB, but it requires a turn of waiting. That turn can be used by our opponent to switch out to something that can easily kill gyarados/ effortlessly sponge/ set up.

Also, 3 pokemon are weak to rock-type moves. Even a bulky volcarona will crumble at the sight of a rock slide/edge. Gyarados can KO rock types with waterfall. Mamoswine will take major damage, and will certainly be KOed if the opponent's pokemon has any boosts.

I see one pokemon that could be trouble: Terrakion(Any set). Faster than all your pokemon except for 1(Gengar), He edgequakes tentacruel, volcarona, gyarados, and mamoswine. If it carries X-scissor, it does 68-77% to tangrowth.

You could try to take some attack EVs from Tangrowth's defense and add them to his attack so that he might be able to damage it back. But not too much, for you still want to be able to survive the hit.
 
If you're going to run Bulky Gyarados, do Sub > Taunt.

This means you're able to avoid status much better, as Taunt still allows the opponent to land a hit on you or switch in something that can properly handle Gyara. By using Sub, your opponent is forced to sacrifice something due to the insane power the Wyrm has. And if you prefer to go straight for the attack, then there's nothing stopping you there either, as you still have a sub and nothing but things like Rock Blast from Cloyster to fear.
 
I agree with the above poster, Gyarados should definitely run sub, but where is your decision. I suggest over taunt or maybe bounce even...
 
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