This is one of my first serious teams in OU that I made a month ago, and it started with an attempt to use Rotom-Wash. I want to specifically build around it because I'd heard people say that he was on the rise and that bulky waters pivots are the wave (pun intended), so I wanted to try that out. When I was done building and playtesting, I decided it would be a good idea to post it on the Smogon discord for advice.
Their, people helped shape the team more like it is now, but that wasn't enough for me. So, I changed the team based on the suggestions the people made there and posted that AGAIN on discord, but this time on the OU discord. And there, my frens, was where the final product was made. It has everything that you need in an OU squadron: a couple of pivots, a scarfer, a steel-type, a rocker, a defogger AND a niche pick that is not on the VR for some unknown reason.
I am not the best builder or player, but I'm willing to learn and improve.
S/O on the end of the RMT
Volcarona @ Buginium Z
Ability: Flame Body
EVs: 248 HP / 112 Def / 148 Spe
Timid Nature
- Quiver Dance
- Flamethrower
- Bug Buzz
- Roost
Our first mon is the matchup-moth him/herself! Volcarona is one of my favourite set-up sweepers in OU and it is able to put in work and win me games most of the time.
The basic defensive set is needed to check Kart, a mon that I find very scary to face. That might be because this team is kinda weak to it, but also maybe because I associate that mon with getting 6-0'd. This mon also just synergises well with my froggy since he gets demolished by any grass type in the metagame.
There is not too much to say about the moveset: Quiver Dance helps me win games, Flamethrower over Fiery Dance for extra PP and damage, bug buzz with a Z-crystal for big damage and Roost for 1v1ing Zam, Lati and all those dudes. The spread is just from the smogon dex, so the defence for Kart, Sciz, Bulu etc
Seismitoad @ Leftovers
Ability: Water Absorb
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Relaxed Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Scald
- Earthquake
- Toxic
Now, let's talk about this threat, shall we? THE BILLDOZER on Discord suggested me to use this since it gave me a Heatran switch-in and gets my rocks up, so Lando could be free to run scarf and be a defogger. Now I am in love with this thing, mainly because of it's typing. Yeah, quad weak to grass sucks, but I feel this mon makes up for it by burning the opponent with scald, getting my rocks up, checking Heatran and spreading Toxic as well. Because I don't know a good spread for Seismitoad in OU, I've just put everything in bulk with a nice and relaxed nature. This mon also functions as Ash Gren switch-in, providing he gets Choice-locked into Water-Shuriken.
Greninja @ Choice Specs
Ability: Battle Bond
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Hydro Pump
- Dark Pulse
- Water Shuriken
- Spikes
Speaking of which: Ash-Gren provides me with some speed and raw power, being able to wrap a game up by virtue of its strong moves and his good offensive stats.
However, this is the most expendable member, in my opinion, because even though it's a strong breaker, I feel like it gives the team the least role compression. It just gives me a fast boi, Spikes and Dark typing, but that's about it. I'm not saying it's useless 90% of the time, but If you guys want to have something else on the team, this mon is the one to be replaced (even though I know that you'll just kick Seismitoad out)
Edit: I thought quite a bit about this and played some more games, and actually Ash Gren helped me win quite a bit by just ploughing through the last mons on my opponents' team. Even if I make stupid misplays, Gren is a pokémon that helps me win anyway by just smashing through weakened mons that cannot revenge kill it. My opinion kinda changed on what I wrote here first.
Tornadus-Therian @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Hurricane
- Knock Off
- U-turn
- Defog
Tornadus makes an amazing pivot, because of it's ability and it's utility options, like knock off and defog. The former helps me with the bulky match-ups, being able to get rid of lefties and black sludges from sponges alike, while Volcarona loves the latter because It gets destroyed by rocks, of course. This is just your basic Tornadus, pretty much the mon that is the most capable to blanket check special attackers on my team.
Scizor-Mega @ Scizorite
Ability: Light Metal
EVs: 248 HP / 16 Def / 244 SpD
Impish Nature
- Swords Dance
- Bullet Punch
- Roost
- Knock Off
Up next we have our second bug, Scizor. This mon is my check to Lele and Zam, which kinda scares me. SD Scizor is another wincon that 1v1's checks to my team, including, again, Tapu Bulu. I like it that you don't need to worry about any speed investment on this mon, since it BP's everything to oblivion. Just like my other bug, Scizor uses roost to help him 1v1 better. It also gives me a Toxic switch-in, which helped me bamboozle my opponents multiple times.
Landorus-Therian @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 232 Atk / 68 Def / 208 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- U-turn
- Stone Edge
- Defog
Here he is, the goat of OU, with his best set. Scarf lando is speed, bulk, utility and momentum in 1 flying, orange dog/cat/goat. I know I have defog on my Torn too, but I know that my Volcarona wouldn't mind that. I pretty much always lead this mon to get immediate momentum, so I don't need to to think that much about what to lead.
I don't really need to explain anything about this mon, you know damn well what this mon is capable of.
This was it, but before I wrap this up, I wanna talk real quick about scary stuff. I think Ash-Gren has the potential to 6-0 my, because Seismitoad gets smacked if he locks himself into Dark Pulse. I am also still not sure about my matchup vs grass-spam, even though I've got my volc in the back.
Importable: < Click on me pls
Real quick S/O to everyone who helped with this team in the Smogon and the OU discord:
Social Justice Wario
THE BILLDOZER
stresh, for offering me the word expendable
spatula
Stagisolar77
curiosity
Ren
I think that is it, so thanks in advance for rating my team, and until next time!
Last edited: