Thunderbolt Out Of The Blue

[Amph]

Introduction​

Salamence had just been banned, and so Shaymin usage was on the rise. I went to the BL section of Smogon to look at it's analysis and just below it I saw Raikou, who I had not touched since it left UU. Out of curiosity, I clicked the analysis and looked around. It seemed to be a frailer but more powerful FastCune. I wasn't fond of Fast Cune because of it's lack of Speed but Raikou had that. I thought for a minute then decided to make a team around it. I chose the Sub CM set as it was the set I used while Raikou was in UU and it still works fabulously in OU. I decided the set would work with Toxic Spikes, therefore it turned somewaht into a semi stall team. This RMT is probably my best yet, so I hope you'll rate it. Anyway, enough talking, on with the team.

The Team​

Roserade (M) @ Focus Sash
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 4 HP/252 Spd/252 SAtk
Timid nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Toxic Spikes
- Sleep Powder
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Leaf Storm​

Roserade is a key member, with luck it can disable an opponents team member with it's 75% accuracy sleep move and set up Toxic Spikes. The rest of the team rely on Roserade so a strong start with Roserade is vital. Leaf Storm packs a Punch and can KO a lot of neutral foes, severely damaging the others. HP Ice helps me against other Roserade leads because HP Fire is the standard, and lowers their Speed IV. That means I can sleep them before they sleep me.

Gengar (M) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 4 Def/252 Spd/252 SAtk
Timid nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Shadow Ball
- Thunderbolt
- Focus Blast
- Trick

Gengar is my revenge killer and one of my weapons against stall teams. Shadow Ball hurts coming off a Base 130 Special Attack, and can KO a lot of weakened foes. The Ghost typing helps me get take Explosions without Metagross taking a huge hit. Thunderbolt helps me revenge killer Gyara with one DD and hit Bulky Waters respectably hard. Focus Blast is for Steel types that resist Gengars primary STAB, although the accuracy is a huge turn off. Why can't Gengar have Aura Sphere? Trick can lock Pokes into set up moves, and Gengar can often gain Leftovers out of them.

Gliscor (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Sand Veil
EVs: 252 HP/4 Def/252 Spd
Jolly nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Taunt
- Earthquake
- Roost
- Stealth Rock

This thing is really what saves the team against stall. Taunt stops Blissey from statusing my team, and can absorb Thunderwaves on the switch in. It is also responable for setting up my final hazard, Stealth Rock, a must have for every team. Earthquake is my only attack, but I'm considering putting in U-Turn here. Roost helps Gliscor stay healthy. He is also my primary counter for SD Lucario, even though Agility Luke kills him with Ice Punch.

Metagross @ Shuca Berry
Ability: Clear Body
EVs: 252 HP/80 Atk/176 SDef
Adamant nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Meteor Mash
- Thunderpunch
- Bullet Punch
- Ice Punch

This thing was a late edition, and pretty much the backbone of the team. I tested SubCM Rachi here, but found this thing functions better. I found this on ST's Pokemorphs RMT. It checks a lot of stuff, Meteor Mash and Bullet Punch KO a lot of Pokemon, and with a possible Attack boost anything that doesn't resist it isn't gonna like it, with the highest attack of any OU Pokemon it really Punches holes. However it's main purpose is to counter threats, Gyarados and Dragonite at +1 get taken down by Thunder Punch and Ice Punch, for example. It's just a really good Pokemon in general.

Gyarados (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 Atk/88 Def/168 Spd
Jolly nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Dragon Dance
- Waterfall
- Earthquake
- Bounce

This seems odd, but it works. Bounce causes switches, meaning Toxic Spikes affect more Pokemon, and make them lose more HP. Make it a boosted hit and nothing's gonna be too happy unless it's a Skarmory. waterfall is for STAB and Earthquake hit's not floating Steels. The EVs allow Gyara to outsepped Timid Jolteton after a Dragon Dance. This thing is the secondery sweeper of my team and works amazingly with Raikou and Roserade.

Raikou @ Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 4 HP/252 Spd/252 SAtk
Timid nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Calm Mind
- Thunderbolt
- Substitute
-Hidden Power [Ice]

Setting up a Sub is priority over getting up Calm Minds, as the Substitue stops me from being Toxiced, and allows me to scout out foes. With a few CMs the Subs are hard to break with the special side. And with a very nice speed, and a high Special Attack, Thunderbolt will rip though teams. Hidden Power Ice may be something I cchange to deal with Swampert, as most Flygon’s are Scarfed, and Dragonite is hurt enough by Thunderbolt already, but I’m not sure.



Threat List​

Abomasnow: Roserade beats it as a lead, Metagross beats it outside the lead position.

Aerodactyl: I usually just HP Ice twice with Roserade. If they set up Rocks first turn I try and Sleep Powder them, then set up Toxic Spikes.

Azelf: Hidden Power Ice then Sleep Powder. Outside of lead, Gengar kills it is the sash is broken and can take an Explosion.

Blissey: Toxic Spikes wear it down when it tries to wall Raikou or Gyarados, Gliscor can stop it from statusing with Taunt.

Breloom: I let Roserade take the sleep because of Natural Cure then go out to Gengar to beat it.

Bronzong: It can wall me a bit, but can't do much in return.

Celebi: Gengar, Gliscor Taunts it. Raikou and Gyarados if they've set up a bit.

Dragonite: Roserade, Metagross, Gyarados' Intimidate, and Raikou.

Flygon: Roserade, Metagross.

Forretress: Gliscor Taunts, then I just go from there, knowing it can't do much besides Explode.

Gengar: Metagross' EVs allow it to take 2 Focus Blast from the non Specs sets, Gengar can revenge.

Gliscor: Roserade, Metagross, Raikou.

Gyarados: Metagross, Gengar.

Heatran: Gyarados, Gliscor cancome in on Earth Power and EQ it, Gengar revenge kills it.

Heracross: Gliscor, if this thing is dead Gyara can check it if it comes in on hte right move but it can cause a lot of mdamage if played correctly.

Hippowdon: Usually leads, and gets beaten and set up on by Roserade.

Infernape: Gyarados, with a defense drop and after LO recoil Meta's Bullet Punch. Gengar can revenge it.

Jirachi: Scarf sets are annoying, but with prediction I can play around them. The CM sets really hurt the team however.

Jolteon: Gliscor if it's Specs or it carries HP Grass.If Gyarados can get i against a Specs set not using T-Bolt he can set up on it or just kill it.

Kingdra: Metagross beats the ones stuck on Outrage, Gyarados' Intimidate negates the DD's attack boost and Gengar outspeeds even after a DD.

Lucario: Gengar if it doens't have Bullet Punch, Gyarados, Gliscor beats the SD Lukes.

Machamp: If it comes in late game on full health or as a lead it usually causes a lot of damage but can be played around with prediction.

Magnezone: Gengar, Gliscor, Raikou walls it and sets up on it, Gyara can beat the Steel Killer set.

Mamoswine: Leads eat a Leaf Storm, Metagross and Gyarados kill it outright if Metagross can avoid eating a CB EQ if it has it's berry.

Metagross: Gyarados, Gengar can do a bit on the revenge kill, Gliscor if it doesn't carry Ice Punch.

Rotom-A: Gengar, everyone else can just pound it with their strongest moves except Gliscor.

Scizor: Gliscor absorbs U-Turns, Gyara Intimidates and if it keeps in good health won't be KOes by the Bullet Punch later. Metagross can take CB Bullet Punches and get it to switch, but can't do much back.

Skarmory: Gliscor Taunts, Gengar, Raikou.

Snorlax: Toxic Spikes help me beat it, and Gengar 2HKOs with Focus Blast. Everyone else just punds away at it.

Starmie: Gengar revenges, Roserade if it still has it's Sash, Raikou.

Suicune: Raikou, Gengar Tricks and Gliscor Taunts. Not much can take this.

Swampert: With Toxic Spikes they die eventually, I just whittle away with them as they come in to take hits for the team.

Togekiss: Roserade, Gengar, Raikou, Metagross. If they are haxed too much however it can get ugly.

Tyranitar: Metagross, Gengar does a lot with Focus Blast, Gyarados if it's Choiced into any move other than Stone Edge.

Zapdos: It's not something I like facing, but after I figure out the set I just go form there. I do need some help with this guy.

 

[vashta]

you have a good team here, sir, but i would like to suggest a few potential changes that may improve its performance in the long-run.

firstly, consider changing your current gengar set into the substitute + pain split set. the main reason for this is because gengar already outspeeds and revenge kills the pokémon it can and needs to. i think choice scarf over compensates gengar's natural revenge killing ability; some of the pokémon you wish to "revenge" kill (i.e. Dragon Dance Tyranitar) either don't need revenge killing or shouldn't be checked by gengar in the first place. furthermore, the new gengar set really gives you an advantage against stall as roserade's toxic spikes screw up blissey and any other pokémon prone to it. gengar is far more threatening with its new set + toxic spikes than anything else; it therefore works better as a partner for raikou. the set i had in mind was:

gengar @ leftovers
ability: levitate
evs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
timid nature
- shadow ball
- focus blast
- pain split
- substitute

secondly, you should consider changing Gliscor for Swampert. to be honest, if gengar's set is changed, then lucario cannot set up on any of your pokémon without being killed, so there is no reason to stress yourself out with a third check to lucario (you already have gengar and gyarados revenge killing anyway). furthermore, swampert better deals with agility metagross which is a huge threat to your team if it carries ice punch. gyarados is an unreliable check to it because it cannot switch into stealth rock multiple times. in addition to this, swampert also helps you deal with tyranitar (particular Dragon Dance which 2HKOes Gliscor easily) much better. in my opinion, you are overloading metagross with the burden of having to deal with both tyranitar and other pokémon; it just isn't necessary swampert also gives you an edge on dragon-types, like flygon, which you can't switch into much either.

the set i would suggest is:

swampert @ leftovers
ability: torrent
evs: 252 hp / 4 SpA / 252 Def
relaxed nature
- ice beam
- earthquake
- stealth rock
- roar

lastly, on a more minor note, if you really need to have a choice scarfer, then i suggest changing gengar into a choice scarf rotom-w. rotom-w revenges what's necessary and more. the main reason for why i'd suggest rotom-w is because of its bulk, ability to revenge kill effectively still and the fact that it can deal with agility metagross also. you could use the moves thunderbolt/shadow ball/hydro pump/trick.

 

[Amph]

Thanks for the rate. I'm going to test the Gengar set now, but I'm not sure about switching Gliscor to Swampert, I've given it a lot of tries and it never seems to work for me. Also, the reason I want Gliscor besides SR, is Taunt. My team can be a bit stall weak at times so I like to have a moderately fast Taunter. That being said I'm testing Taunt on Gyarados now. I'll test it anyway, however.

 

[Scimjara]

Hey Amph solid team you have yourself, I have a few suggestions that may help your team out!

This team has a problem with zapdos in general especially three attack+roost zapdos. A portion of your team can easily get sweeped by offensive zapdos especially if it uses hidden power ice instead of hidden power grass. Your only true check to it is raikou who still takes a little damage from thunderbolt and a small chunk from heatwave since raikou doesn't have instant recovery considering sand storm may be in play I would consider zapdos a major concern for this team.

Another threat I feel this team has trouble against is life orb starmie. Sure it doesn't look like it but you do not have a safe switch into starmies hydro pump. Starmie could easily switch into gliscor and let off a life orb hydro pump which ohko's gliscor if you decide to stay in for fodder it also ohko's gengar and 2ko's metagross with hydro pump, gyarados isn't a safe switch in either because lo starmies have thunderbolt. The best option you have is switching in raikou and that still isn't a valid option because raikou would take 65.5% - 77.6% from life orb hydro pump and after sr that would leave you with less then 20% health so there goes your sweeper. Then your initial response is to thunderbolt while your opponent would switch into flygon. Who is paired with starmie most of the time. Then u-turn to most likely kill raikou and start the whole process over again by switching in starmie.

I would suggest you use scarf tyranitar over gliscor and change the move set on metagross to lum berry metagross with stealth rocks. The change for scarf tar will benefit you because you get to revenge kill LO starmie in a more efficient way also better way of handling zapdos because you dont take alot from thunderbolt and ohko with stone edge if they decide to stay in. As for metagross you get to set up sr and meteor mash+bp takes out dragonite anyway after sr. Also having explosion can be useful at times.

---
Tyranitar @ Choice Scarf
4 HP / 252 Attack / 252 Speed
Jolly
~ Stone Edge
~ Crunch
~ Pursuit
~ Earthquake

Metagross @ Lum Berry
248 HP / 232 Attack / 28 speed
Adamant
~ Stealth Rock
~ Meteor Mash / Earthquake
~ Bullet Punch
~ Explosion
---
Good Luck with the team

 

[joshe]

The only thing i can really suggest right now is HP-Grass over HP-Ice on your Raikou. A +1 Thunderbolt from Raikou is doing 54.9% - 65.3% to 252 HP / 0 SpD Adamant Dragonite (2HKO which is somewhat easy considering you might have a sub up) while more offensive forms of Dragonite (4 HP / 0 SpD) are taking 65.4% - 77.8% to it which has a chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock. Not many Dragonites a staying in on Raikou anyway. You also do 41.9% - 49.5% to Scarf Flygon when at +1 which is, again, a chance to 2HKO it, but that really isn't important as Flygon is forced to use Earthquake giving Gyarados and Gengar (please use subsplitgengar; it's awesome) set up opportunities, keeping the offensive momentum going. I'm also going to suggest you take off a move on Gyarados (preferably Earthquake as Waterfall and Earthquake have really redundant coverage) and use Taunt on it just to help set up on Skarmory, Forretress, Swampert, and prevent the set up of some pokemon like opposing Gyarados and such. It also helps you against stall now that Gliscor is gone for Swampert (which helps check Dragonite and Tyranitar as vashta said).

Finally, I'm going to suggest you use Earthquake somewhere on Metagross just so you can hit Heatran on the switch, check Lucario better, and hit things like Jirachi who can pose a huge threat to your team with its Defensive Calm Mind Wishing set. I'd suggest it over Ice Punch as Meteor Mash + Bullet Punch does enough damage to check Dragonite. Or you could change its set entirely and run a Trick + Iron Ball set on it which helps support a Gyarados and Raikou sweep by taking out quite a few of their counters, such as Zapdos, Rotom-a, Skarmory (in Gyarados's case) and this Metagross guarantees to wreck atleast one Pokemon by either halving their speed, taking away their flying type, and removing their Levitate ability (Flygon, which now gets hit super effectively by HP-Grass). 236 HP / 252 Atk / 20 Spe, Adamant, Iron Ball, moves: Trick, Meteor Mash, Earthquake, Explosion is the set. With those EVs, you 2HKO all Skarmory and Rotom-a (you OHKO offensive choice scarf versions, you 2hko Defensive Zapdos and OHKO offensive Zapdos after taking Stealth Rock damage, all will Earthquake. Meteor Mash gives you a 150 base power STAB move which hits extremely hard against things like Dragonite, Celebi, Shaymin, and other things, while an Explosion will OHKO pretty much every pokemon that isn't well known in physical walling (even most physically defensive walls like Hippowdon and Skarmoryare taking a HUGE chunk of HP from it) and acts as a nice finishing move when Metagross is weakened. The 20 Speed EVs let you outspeed positive natured base 115s like Starmie and Azelf that have been tricked an Iron Ball. You can read more about this set here (last set).

Good Luck with your team.
​

 

[Amph]

I really don't want to use Tyranitar. The Sandstrom is just to hurtful to Raikou, considering it abuses Substiutes. I have decided to put Taunt on Gyara over EQ, however. I may put EQ on Meta, but I'm keeping the EVs. I have decided to put HP Grass on Raikou also, I was half debating it but wasn't sure. Thanks for the rates.