A Star in the Sky

[Mithril]

So here is the team that I am presenting, A Star in the Sky....yeah its corny, deal with it.

At a glance:

The team is based around Wish CM Jirachi, and goes about attempting to remove its counters from play. Gliscor was chosen as a great Ttar counter. Then Machamp was chosen as an Anti-Lead, as it beats most of todays leads. Heatran was chosen for SR, and the ability to beat Swampert. Scarf Latias was then added in order to deal with DD Mence and DD Gyara, as well as beng able to Trick Blissey. Finally, ScarfTar was added as the catch all for opposing special sweepers.

Machamp
Adament @ Lum Berry
240 HP/244 Atk/16 SpD/8 Spe
-Dynamic Punch
-Payback
-Bullet Punch
-Ice Punch/Stone Edge
Having never played with an anti-lead before, and having seen the first hand power of lead Machamp, I decided to go with it. Lum Berry is obviously to take on the likes of Roserade, or providing a single use status absorber late game. Dynamic Punch, Payback, and Bullet Punch are staples on lead Machamp. However, I am having difficulty deciding on Ice Punch vs Stone Edge. Ice Punch hits Mence harder, but Stone Edge also catches Gyarados.

- I usually Dynamic Punch to find out the item then go to Heatran.

- Payback, then Bullet Punch.

- Normally Dynamic Punch to start, or predict the Trick and go to Latias or Ttar.

- Straight Dynamic Punch.

- Dynamic Punch then Bullet Punch.

- Dynamic Punch, then go to Latias to counter..

- Dynamic Punch once, then go to Latias..

- It can't do anything so I just Dynamic Punch.

Heatran
Timid @ Shuca Berry
4 HP/252 SpA/252 Spe
-Fire Blast
-Earth Power
-Hidden Power Grass
-Stealth Rock
Here is a variation of Heatrap. I needed Stealth Rock somehwere on my team, and Heatran just seemed to fit in nicely. It provides me with a way to beat Swampert, who would otherwise run rampant through my team. It can also be useful for trapping other pokemon that can give me trouble. It gives me a safe initial switch to CB Scizor, unless Superpower of course, while also nicely dealing with Magnezone and Jirachi.

Latias
Timid @ Choice Scarf
4 HP/252 SpA/252 Spe
-Draco Meteor
-Surf
-Thunderbolt
-Trick
After looking through my team, I became aware of a DD Mence weakness, and also a slight DD Gyarados weakness. In order to remedy this, I went with Scarf Latias. Since I have Machamp and Gliscor to deal with Ttar, I am less worried about running scarf. Trick helps me deal with threats such as Crocune and Blissy, whom are otherwise just a sever annoyance to face. Latias is also the only Infernape counter on my team, but it does the job well, bar U-Turn and HP Ice.

Gliscor
Jolly @ Leftovers
252 HP/40 Def/216 Spe
-Taunt
-Toxic
-Earthquake
-Roost
Gliscor is probably the most crucial member to the team. While providing a counter to Lucario is very important, probably more important is its role of stallbreaker on the team. Gliscor can single-handedly crush stall, through the great combination of Taunt and Toxic. It is the teams main Ttar counter, and also helps when faced with opposing Metagross. If need be, it can also get Magnezone out of the way to help pave the way for a Jirachi sweep. However, its main job for this team is to destroy stall, which otherwise threatens my team.

Tyranitar
Jolly @ Choice Scarf
4 HP/252 Atk/252 Spe
-Crunch
-Stone Edge
-Superpower
-Pursuit
Scarf Tyranitar, arguably the biggest threat in todays metagame. It plays the all important role of countering Latias. I find it hard to build a team without Scarf Tar these days, thanks to the plethora of pokemon it counters. I basically plays the role of a much more offensive Blissey, stopping almost all special threats in todays Metagame. One must be careful with Specs Latias though, as Surf is a 2HKO. I opted to go with Superpower over Earthquake in order to hit Blissey harder, as well as opposing Ttar. Scarf tar is also very useful in outspeeding MixMence, ensuring that it does not walk through my entire team.

Jirachi
Bold @ Leftovers
252 HP/220 Def/36 Spe
-Wish
-Calm Mind
-Thunderbolt
-Psychic
The entire team was based around Jirachi. Looking through some RMT's, I saw the Wish CM Jirachi, and I had to try it. Once its counters are out of the way, teams are hard pressed to stop it. Tyranitar is dealt with through Gliscor and Machamp. Blissey is dealth with through Gliscor and Machamp and Ttar. Magnezone is beaten by Heatran. Snorlax is the same as Blissey. Swampert is beaten by Heatran. After these threats are taken out, it is a simple matter of Calm Minding up, and going for a sweep. Jirachi is also important in that it can check Empoleon, while also being a secondary check to Gyarados should Latias fall early in the battle.

So there is my team. It has been fairly successful so far, but I feel like it can improve a lot. Any help you can give would be much appreciated.

 

[jc104]

I must say I really like this team. Teams similar to this have been having excellent success on the ladder, and I hope you will be too. You have most threats very well covered with 2+ checks for each main OU threat.

I would suggest that you continue to use Ice Punch on Machamp, since it can do large amounts of damage to Gliscor, who is highly common in the lead position as well as elsewhere. You should also change the spread to something like 240hp 244atk 16spdef 8 spe, though you may want a little more speed at the expense of attack. These EVs mean that you are still guaranteed to survive a Naive Azelf's Psychic, but you have much more attack, which is helpful against opponents like Swampert, and a little speed, which will help against other Machamp, who have become incredibly common.

Good luck.

 

[TSi]

This is a solid team, however, i think agiligross with ice punch runs through your team quite easily with a little bit of support. I'm not sure what to do to fix this being the team is solid as it is. Your best chance would be to survive with tran's shuca.

 

[george182]

Salamence and gyrados run through this team with ease, you may think latias can easilly counter them both. However anyone carrying either of these two sweepers generally carriers a pursuit user, most notably choice scarf tyranitar. Choice scarf flygon can achieve the same goals, with stone edge and outrage, although he has less power, he can utilise u-turn to scout the oponents team, and gliscor can toxic the walls that flygon invites in.

 

[Mithril]

I must say I really like this team. Teams similar to this have been having excellent success on the ladder, and I hope you will be too. You have most threats very well covered with 2+ checks for each main OU threat.

I would suggest that you continue to use Ice Punch on Machamp, since it can do large amounts of damage to Gliscor, who is highly common in the lead position as well as elsewhere. You should also change the spread to something like 240hp 244atk 16spdef 8 spe, though you may want a little more speed at the expense of attack. These EVs mean that you are still guaranteed to survive a Naive Azelf's Psychic, but you have much more attack, which is helpful against opponents like Swampert, and a little speed, which will help against other Machamp, who have become incredibly common.

Good luck.

Thanks for the rate. Ice Punch does seem better than Stone Edge, so I will stick with it. I like the ev spread...seeing as I really had no reason for mine. I will go with it.

This is a solid team, however, i think agiligross with ice punch runs through your team quite easily with a little bit of support. I'm not sure what to do to fix this being the team is solid as it is. Your best chance would be to survive with tran's shuca

I could be wrong, but I thought that Agiligross normally carried Thunder Punch, not Ice Punch. However, Ice Punch could give me trouble, although Heatran can survive the Earthquake and KO back with Fire Blast. Thanks for the rate.

Salamence and gyrados run through this team with ease, you may think latias can easilly counter them both. However anyone carrying either of these two sweepers generally carriers a pursuit user, most notably choice scarf tyranitar. Choice scarf flygon can achieve the same goals, with stone edge and outrage, although he has less power, he can utilise u-turn to scout the oponents team, and gliscor can toxic the walls that flygon invites in.

Thanks for the rate. However, I disagree that Gyarados runs through this team. Jirachi and Latias = two checks, and thus I am not bothered by it. DD Mence could be an issue if I lose Latias to Tyranitar, but it can be avoided. I personally just don't feel like Flygon fits in with the team. If more people suggest Flygon I'll give it a try, but for now I'm sticking with Latias.

 

[BreTran]

I must say this team is very effective countering todays metagame's biggest threat. Although scizor can do quite a number on your team with dual screen support and a SD under his belt, so i suggest using a choice scarf heatran and using SR on gliscor instead.

Good luck!

 

[DittoCrow]

Hey dukefan. I noticed that you could have a bit of trouble with Gliscor here. Your best options are Latias and Jirachi, however Jirachi will not enjoy taking a few EQs, even if it does 3HKO. Psychic after 2 Calm Minds will only do 81.6% max allowing Gliscor to get one EQ off. Heatran does have Shuca Berry, but Defensive Gliscor outspeeds and Fire Blast only does 91% max to Defensive Gliscor. A strong water type could help you here such as Suicune or Vaporeon. It also provides good synergy with Tyranitar and Gliscor. I'm not sure what to switch though. Probably Heatran, because you can put Stealth Rock on Gliscor.

Anyways, that was just a minor problem. The team looks great to me. I'm looking forward to facing it!

 

[Mithril]

First off, thanks for the rates.

Secondly, Choice Scarf Heatran is not needed, since the Heatran I am currently using outspeeds all Adament Scizor...which is all of them.

Finally, I do agree that a water type would be useful to have on the team. However, I'm not sure if Stealth Rock fits on Gliscor, since all four moves are necessary for it to be effective at its role of Stallbreaker. Are there any other suggestions about adding a Suicune or Vaporeon over something?

Also, any more rates would be much appreciated.

 

[Mithril]

I believe I get one bump...so bump. Any help would be much appreciated.

 

[Press To Play]

Hi. :)
Nice team. But you may want to consider a more straightforward EV spread on Heatran. 252spatk/252spe/4hp timid will at worst let you speed tie with opposing Heatrans. :)

 

[ZeusJuice0]

Hi. :)
Nice team. But you may want to consider a more straightforward EV spread on Heatran. 252spatk/252spe/4hp timid will at worst let you speed tie with opposing Heatrans. :)

I agree with him, whenever I use heatran my fast timid one destroys the other heatrans that are slower

 

[Mithril]

Alright, after testing I have found that the extra speed is in fact useful...although I enjoy the extra power from Modest. But for now I'll go with timid. Thanks for the rate. Any more suggestions?