I've been playing around with this team for ages, but just recently I started trying to climb the ladder with it, as I noticed it was starting to outperform my supposedly "competitive" teams.
After getting to 1401 (which, with my patience, is all that I'm going to ever shoot for) I've decided to let loose the forum dogs on it, and see if they can't rip it to shreds. Things that I expect people to not like about it: Registeel and Clefable make an appearance, and the fact that it probably relies too much on 'hax'.
The lineup is:
I've played around with the line-up since Latias' ascension to Ubers, and this team does win quite a lot. Perhaps in more skilled hands it could do even better. The original focus of the team was to use pokemon who were resistant to entry hazards, allowing me to switch easily, while spreading paralysis and wearing down my opponent by punishing trying to set up. Only one of these pokemon is weak to Stealth Rocks, and only one is effected by toxic spikes; in fact, only two of my pokemon can be hurt by poison. Nevertheless, stall is this team's biggest obstacle.
Dragonite (David) @Lum Berry
Nature: Quiet
252 Atk / 252 SpA / 6 Spd
-Draco Meteor
-Fire Blast
-Extremespeed
-Earthquake
When I found out that Dragonite was receiving Extremespeed in HG/SS, I knew I wanted to use him in a team somehow. I tried Choice Band, Dragon Dance, and then I found the Smogon entry with Anti-Lead Dragonite. It's amazing how many leads I can destroy with this; while I have no way of preventing Stealth Rocks from being set up, they barely effect my team anyway. It's more important for me to be one up right at the start of the game, and all the better if Dragonite can have relatively high health to heavily weaken the next switch-in.
I know the suggested item in the analysis is Life Orb, but I think Lum Berry has more benefit. This lead punishes anything that tries to status it, with a heavy-hitting Draco Meteor or Earthquake, followed by an extreme-speed. Smeargle and Roserade are suddenly no issue, and Yawners are easy. What's more, I can switch Dragonite into a Breloom if I'm caught with my pants down and he still has his berry.
I'm not going to write how I deal with each lead, because I've gone for long enough on this pokemon; however, I will say that I have severe problems with Hippowdon and Mamoswine, and moderate problems with Machamp, Uxie, and Swampert. I tend to Draco Meteor most pokemon, unless there's an obviously better choice, and I was also wondering if anyone had advice on that.
Registeel (Regina) @ Leftovers
Nature: Sassy; IVs: SpA 28
252 Hp / 6 Def / 252 SpD
-Stealth Rock
-Thunder Wave
-Earthquake
-Explosion
This is not a common EV spread, as far as I know, nor is it common to have Registeel in an OU team, seeing as it's apparently outclassed by Bronzong. Registeel has some distinct advantages, however, that made me choose it.
First, there's the fact that it learns Thunder Wave, and a lot of my benefits in one way or another from my opponent being paralyzed. Secondly, there's its absurdly high defenses: much higher than Bronzong's. The only Heatran that has a chance of OHKOing this pokemon is one wearing Specs; this means that Registeel can Thunder Wave Heatran on the switch-in, set up rocks, and then Earthquake to do a good amount of damage. This is assuming Heatran isn't fully paralyzed, at which point things get haxy.
Registeel fails against Taunt Gyarados, Taunt Gliscor, and anything else with Taunt. She also can't touch ghosts, and this is an easy set-up for Sub-Beam Rotom. The reason I invested so much in Special Defense, is because it's unexpected, and because Heatran just loves to switch into Registeel.
Infernape (Fiona) @Choice Scarf
Nature: Naive; IVs: 30 Atk, 30 Def
66 Atk / 192 Spd / 252 SpA
-Close Combat
-Overheat
-U-turn
-Hidden Power (Ice)
This is my newest addition, and the EVs are once again different from the standard set. I love this Infernape. I used to run Nasty Plot Mixape, and this set came up because of Latias going bye-bye. I'm really glad it did, because no one expects this. Although I suppose if you're reading this, maybe you'll expect it. I took the Smogon analysis set, and made it faster. It needed to be faster, because I was still being out-sped by Choice Scarf Flygon. Now I outspeed it and OHKO with Hidden Power. I can play around Starmies (unless they're also scarfed) and can really but a damper in Scarftar's day. What's more, I outspeed +2 Metagross and can OHKO with Overheat. While Overheat does leave me open to being set up on, it's still my move of choice mid-to-late-game, while before that I'll often just U-turn to scout.
Clefable (Christina) @ Leftovers
Nature: Calm
252 Hp / 152 Def / 100 SpD
-Seismic Toss
-Thunder Wave
-Softboiled
-Encore
This is my baby right here. I seldom build a team without Encorefable, because I've grown to count on how many different pokemon she can shut down. Nearly any set-up move can be Encored, and that includes Substitute. Encore is ridiculously powerful, lasting 4-8 turns and destroying Crocune, Curse anything, and Focus Punch Breloom if I can switch in on the Substitute.
The EVs allow her to survive lead Heatran's Explosion, and if I predict it right, I can softboiled back up to 60% health. My only complaint is that she just amplifies my weakness to Charge Beam Rotom. Oh, and Lucario and Scizor make her cry sometimes.
Gengar (Greg) @ Life Orb
Nature: Timid
6 Def / 252 Spd / 252 SpA
-Substitute
-Shadow Ball
-Focus Blast
-Pain Split
This is one of the best Gengar sets I've ever seen, and this is often my trump card, because if Gengar can get a Substitute against a pokemon that can't break it (such as another Gengar encored into Focus Blast), my opponent is probably going to lose at least one pokemon. Pain Split + Life Orb is quite an amazing combination; Substitute lets me beat Scizor and Scarftar (if it's a bit damaged already) as well.
Jirachi (Geoffrey) @ Leftovers
Nature: Impish; IVs: SpA 25
240 Hp / 160 Def / 34 Spd / 76 SpD
-Wish
-U-turn
-Body Slam
-Iron Head
This and Clefable together cause many ragequits. I know that Serene Grace is haxy, and I know that Body Slam and Iron Head are haxy; however, I needed a pokemon who could pass wishes, spread paralysis to ground types such as Flygon and Gliscor, and who would not be weak to entry hazards. Jirachi fits the bill, and is also incredibly bulky with this EV spread. Scizor's Superpower is a 3HKO, meaning I can switch into it while it's trying to Superpower Clefable, use Wish, and then Iron Head (hoping for that 60% mark) to heal myself up, and possibly cause a ragequit.
Everyone hates Jirachi when it's used against them, but I have to say I love paralyzing a Gyarados with Body Slam as it Taunts me; actually, Body Slam is amazing and I'm very glad I chose it over a third Thunder Wave.
In Closing:
I can tell you the weaknesses I tend to have while using this team. Heavy stall with Skarmory, Forretress, Blissey, etc. used with good prediction tend to destroy me, and I have no good way to beat Hippowdon. Lucario can be a problem if he sets up and Gengar is gone, and Crocune is a massive problem if Clefable is KO'd prior to Crocune coming out. Machamp is a pain, but he always is, and hail teams are annoying and rely on me being really clever with Clefable.
Please suggest ways to polish this team. While I don't guarantee I'll change anything, I appreciate critisism with effort behind it.
Also, I really enjoyed putting this team together, and writing this RMT as well!
After getting to 1401 (which, with my patience, is all that I'm going to ever shoot for) I've decided to let loose the forum dogs on it, and see if they can't rip it to shreds. Things that I expect people to not like about it: Registeel and Clefable make an appearance, and the fact that it probably relies too much on 'hax'.
The lineup is:
I've played around with the line-up since Latias' ascension to Ubers, and this team does win quite a lot. Perhaps in more skilled hands it could do even better. The original focus of the team was to use pokemon who were resistant to entry hazards, allowing me to switch easily, while spreading paralysis and wearing down my opponent by punishing trying to set up. Only one of these pokemon is weak to Stealth Rocks, and only one is effected by toxic spikes; in fact, only two of my pokemon can be hurt by poison. Nevertheless, stall is this team's biggest obstacle.
Dragonite (David) @Lum Berry
Nature: Quiet
252 Atk / 252 SpA / 6 Spd
-Draco Meteor
-Fire Blast
-Extremespeed
-Earthquake
When I found out that Dragonite was receiving Extremespeed in HG/SS, I knew I wanted to use him in a team somehow. I tried Choice Band, Dragon Dance, and then I found the Smogon entry with Anti-Lead Dragonite. It's amazing how many leads I can destroy with this; while I have no way of preventing Stealth Rocks from being set up, they barely effect my team anyway. It's more important for me to be one up right at the start of the game, and all the better if Dragonite can have relatively high health to heavily weaken the next switch-in.
I know the suggested item in the analysis is Life Orb, but I think Lum Berry has more benefit. This lead punishes anything that tries to status it, with a heavy-hitting Draco Meteor or Earthquake, followed by an extreme-speed. Smeargle and Roserade are suddenly no issue, and Yawners are easy. What's more, I can switch Dragonite into a Breloom if I'm caught with my pants down and he still has his berry.
I'm not going to write how I deal with each lead, because I've gone for long enough on this pokemon; however, I will say that I have severe problems with Hippowdon and Mamoswine, and moderate problems with Machamp, Uxie, and Swampert. I tend to Draco Meteor most pokemon, unless there's an obviously better choice, and I was also wondering if anyone had advice on that.
Registeel (Regina) @ Leftovers
Nature: Sassy; IVs: SpA 28
252 Hp / 6 Def / 252 SpD
-Stealth Rock
-Thunder Wave
-Earthquake
-Explosion
This is not a common EV spread, as far as I know, nor is it common to have Registeel in an OU team, seeing as it's apparently outclassed by Bronzong. Registeel has some distinct advantages, however, that made me choose it.
First, there's the fact that it learns Thunder Wave, and a lot of my benefits in one way or another from my opponent being paralyzed. Secondly, there's its absurdly high defenses: much higher than Bronzong's. The only Heatran that has a chance of OHKOing this pokemon is one wearing Specs; this means that Registeel can Thunder Wave Heatran on the switch-in, set up rocks, and then Earthquake to do a good amount of damage. This is assuming Heatran isn't fully paralyzed, at which point things get haxy.
Registeel fails against Taunt Gyarados, Taunt Gliscor, and anything else with Taunt. She also can't touch ghosts, and this is an easy set-up for Sub-Beam Rotom. The reason I invested so much in Special Defense, is because it's unexpected, and because Heatran just loves to switch into Registeel.
Infernape (Fiona) @Choice Scarf
Nature: Naive; IVs: 30 Atk, 30 Def
66 Atk / 192 Spd / 252 SpA
-Close Combat
-Overheat
-U-turn
-Hidden Power (Ice)
This is my newest addition, and the EVs are once again different from the standard set. I love this Infernape. I used to run Nasty Plot Mixape, and this set came up because of Latias going bye-bye. I'm really glad it did, because no one expects this. Although I suppose if you're reading this, maybe you'll expect it. I took the Smogon analysis set, and made it faster. It needed to be faster, because I was still being out-sped by Choice Scarf Flygon. Now I outspeed it and OHKO with Hidden Power. I can play around Starmies (unless they're also scarfed) and can really but a damper in Scarftar's day. What's more, I outspeed +2 Metagross and can OHKO with Overheat. While Overheat does leave me open to being set up on, it's still my move of choice mid-to-late-game, while before that I'll often just U-turn to scout.
Clefable (Christina) @ Leftovers
Nature: Calm
252 Hp / 152 Def / 100 SpD
-Seismic Toss
-Thunder Wave
-Softboiled
-Encore
This is my baby right here. I seldom build a team without Encorefable, because I've grown to count on how many different pokemon she can shut down. Nearly any set-up move can be Encored, and that includes Substitute. Encore is ridiculously powerful, lasting 4-8 turns and destroying Crocune, Curse anything, and Focus Punch Breloom if I can switch in on the Substitute.
The EVs allow her to survive lead Heatran's Explosion, and if I predict it right, I can softboiled back up to 60% health. My only complaint is that she just amplifies my weakness to Charge Beam Rotom. Oh, and Lucario and Scizor make her cry sometimes.
Gengar (Greg) @ Life Orb
Nature: Timid
6 Def / 252 Spd / 252 SpA
-Substitute
-Shadow Ball
-Focus Blast
-Pain Split
This is one of the best Gengar sets I've ever seen, and this is often my trump card, because if Gengar can get a Substitute against a pokemon that can't break it (such as another Gengar encored into Focus Blast), my opponent is probably going to lose at least one pokemon. Pain Split + Life Orb is quite an amazing combination; Substitute lets me beat Scizor and Scarftar (if it's a bit damaged already) as well.
Jirachi (Geoffrey) @ Leftovers
Nature: Impish; IVs: SpA 25
240 Hp / 160 Def / 34 Spd / 76 SpD
-Wish
-U-turn
-Body Slam
-Iron Head
This and Clefable together cause many ragequits. I know that Serene Grace is haxy, and I know that Body Slam and Iron Head are haxy; however, I needed a pokemon who could pass wishes, spread paralysis to ground types such as Flygon and Gliscor, and who would not be weak to entry hazards. Jirachi fits the bill, and is also incredibly bulky with this EV spread. Scizor's Superpower is a 3HKO, meaning I can switch into it while it's trying to Superpower Clefable, use Wish, and then Iron Head (hoping for that 60% mark) to heal myself up, and possibly cause a ragequit.
Everyone hates Jirachi when it's used against them, but I have to say I love paralyzing a Gyarados with Body Slam as it Taunts me; actually, Body Slam is amazing and I'm very glad I chose it over a third Thunder Wave.
In Closing:
I can tell you the weaknesses I tend to have while using this team. Heavy stall with Skarmory, Forretress, Blissey, etc. used with good prediction tend to destroy me, and I have no good way to beat Hippowdon. Lucario can be a problem if he sets up and Gengar is gone, and Crocune is a massive problem if Clefable is KO'd prior to Crocune coming out. Machamp is a pain, but he always is, and hail teams are annoying and rely on me being really clever with Clefable.
Please suggest ways to polish this team. While I don't guarantee I'll change anything, I appreciate critisism with effort behind it.
Also, I really enjoyed putting this team together, and writing this RMT as well!
