OU Team Rater Competition v4 - Finals [Won by DeathByWobbuffet]

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TPP

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Head TD

Approved by the esteemed and all mighty RMT Leaders: IronBullet and Celticpride

Hosts: Team Pokepals | Anish | ez | Sun
Welcome to the latest edition of the Team Rater Competition! The tier this time around will be SM OU. For each round we'll post a team, and participants will have one week to complete a rate of said team. When the round is over, the participants who submitted the best rates will move onto the next round. If you are eliminated and want to receive feedback on your rate, the hosts will be more than happy to provide that upon request. Each round will last one week. Failure to rate the team within the one week time period will result in disqualification unless you're able to give us a valid reason. Please only sign up if you can commit to rating one team every week for the next month. If you're currently involved in or are looking to start rating OU teams, I highly encourage you to participate as this promises to be a great learning experience. Here's to a fun and competitive tournament!

Important notes:
  • Shoutouts in the room intro of the RMT room and in RMT news
  • The top rates from each round in addition to the rates in the final two rounds will count towards the Team Rater badge
  • The winner will be awarded voice status in the RMT room on PS if they have shown an interest in getting involved.
  • Each round will last one week. Failure to rate the team within the one week time period will result in disqualification unless you're able to give us a valid reason. Please only sign up if you can commit to rating one team every week for the next month.
  • If you are eliminated and would like some feedback on your rate and how you can improve going forward, feel free to ask us.
  • At the end of each round, we will announce the best rate from that round and a quick overview of what we liked in the rates submitted.
Deadline will be November 15th 11:59 PM GMT-5.

PM your rate to Team Pokepals Anish IronBullet Celticpride Sun ez


As you may have noticed, we decided to go ahead and include all the semifinalists from the previous round as their rates from the previous round were very similar, and they've all been doing well, each one having a top rate in a previous round and deserve one final chance to win it all.

Good luck to all of you :toast:
 

TPP

is a Tournament Directoris a Community Leaderis a Community Contributoris a Tiering Contributoris a Top Dedicated Tournament Hostis a Top Tutor Alumnusis a Top Team Rater Alumnusis a Senior Staff Member Alumnusis a Past SPL Championis a Past WCoP Champion
Head TD


Keldeo-Resolute @ Waterium Z
Ability: Justified
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Calm Mind
- Taunt
- Secret Sword
- Hydro Pump

Decided to build around Keldeo and its Calm Mind set. Toxapex is pretty common and with Taunt, Keldeo can set up against it and it can also beat Defensive Lando + Ferrothorn cores, which are also very common. Waterium Z lets Keldeo have a one time nuke to blow past some defensive mons or even heavily damage some mons before it can setup.


Tyranitar (M) @ Choice Band
Ability: Sand Stream
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 80 HP / 252 Atk / 176 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Stone Edge
- Crunch
- Pursuit
- Fire Punch

Next I added Choice Band Tyranitar. Latios is a common switch into Keldeo and will switch in and can also be used to revenge kill it. Tyranitar is here to Pursuit trap it and it can also deal major damage to defensive mons like Lando-T, Ferrothorn and Magearna. The moveset is standard with Fire Punch being run in the last slot in order to deal with Mega Scizor and Ferrothorn while also being able to hit Mega Mawile, Magearna and Kartana. EV spread allows it to outspeed Mantine and avoid a 1HKO from Volcarona's Bug Buzz after a Quiver Dance.

Venusaur (M) @ Venusaurite
Ability: Chlorophyll
EVs: 248 HP / 88 Def / 156 SpD / 16 Spe
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Synthesis
- Sludge Bomb
- Leech Seed
- Hidden Power [Fire]

The team at this point was very annoyed by Tapu Bulu and opposing Keldeo, so Mega Venusaur was added. It also helps remove Toxic Spikes from Toxapex and it can switch into Tangrowth, Tapu Koko and Ash Greninja. The EV spread allows Venusaur to tank hits from Ash Greninja and outspeed Mega Mawile. HP Fire enables Venusaur to deal with Steel-types including Ferrothorn, Mega Scizor, Mega Mawile and Kartana. Leech Seed makes Venusaur annoying as it can get a Leech Seed up fairly easily against most threats.


Celesteela @ Leftovers
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 248 HP / 132 Def / 128 SpD
Relaxed Nature
- Leech Seed
- Heavy Slam
- Flamethrower
- Protect

Celesteela was added as a partner to Venusaur to establish the team's defensive backbone. It helps the team against Mega Pinsir, Tapu Lele, as well as Tapu Bulu and Kartana to lesser extent. The EV spread and move set are standard and Celesteela also acts as another switch in to Latios in the event of Tyranitar being weakened. Finally, Celesteela provides the team with a ground immunity, preventing opposing Lando-T from spamming Earthquake.



Excadrill (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Sand Rush
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Iron Head
- Rock Slide
- Rapid Spin

At this point, the team needed some form of speed control and while a Choice Scarf user works, Excadrill was ultimately added due to Tyranitar being on the team to provide Sandstorm. Excadrill outspeeds most of the tier in sand and appreciates Tyranitar breaking down physically defensive threats. Excadrill also provides the team with hazard removal and can act as a switchin to Tapu Koko and volt switch users like AV Magearna.


Clefable (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
- Moonblast
- Stealth Rock
- Soft-Boiled
- Knock Off

Finally, the team needed a Stealth Rock user and something that could help out with Zygarde, and Clefable fit the bill. Clefable also helps out with dealing with physical attackers like Mega Lopunny and Mega Medicham and can KO them in return with Moonblast. Knock Off allows Clefable to remove leftovers from switch ins like Ferrothorn, Heatran, Celesteela and Toxapex, which makes it a bit easier to wear them down, especially Celesteela whom Excadrill appreciates weakened.​
Keldeo-Resolute @ Waterium Z
Ability: Justified
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Calm Mind
- Taunt
- Secret Sword
- Hydro Pump

Tyranitar (M) @ Choice Band
Ability: Sand Stream
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 80 HP / 252 Atk / 176 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Stone Edge
- Crunch
- Pursuit
- Fire Punch

Venusaur (M) @ Venusaurite
Ability: Chlorophyll
EVs: 248 HP / 88 Def / 156 SpD / 16 Spe
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Synthesis
- Sludge Bomb
- Leech Seed
- Hidden Power [Fire]

Celesteela @ Leftovers
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 248 HP / 132 Def / 128 SpD
Relaxed Nature
- Leech Seed
- Heavy Slam
- Flamethrower
- Protect

Excadrill (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Sand Rush
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Iron Head
- Rock Slide
- Rapid Spin

Clefable (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
- Moonblast
- Stealth Rock
- Soft-Boiled
- Knock Off
 

TPP

is a Tournament Directoris a Community Leaderis a Community Contributoris a Tiering Contributoris a Top Dedicated Tournament Hostis a Top Tutor Alumnusis a Top Team Rater Alumnusis a Senior Staff Member Alumnusis a Past SPL Championis a Past WCoP Champion
Head TD
Late as always, this time due to actual reasons including the release of USUM, but it's finally time to announce our winner! Congrats DeathByWobbuffet!

DeathByWobbuffet began his rate by breaking down what the team struggles with and began with the addition of AV Tangrowth over Mega Venusaur. As mentioned in the rate below, Tangrowth was added to improve the rain matchup while also sporting the utility in Knock Off to help out Keldeo in getting past opposing Magearna and Tangrowth. The next change with Toxapex was good because he readded a member to help remove Toxic Spikes (which was lost in the previous change), as mentioned below it still handles a threat that Clefable handled in Mega Lopunny along with handling a threat Venusaur helped with in Mega Scizor, and provide offensive support through Toxic Spikes. Moving on to the minor changes, DeathByWobbuffet changed Tyranitar's set to a Mega Tyranitar support set in order to add Stealth Rock that was removed from the previous change and then provides an option to use a different Z move on Keldeo to potentially enhance its offensive capabilities, mainly against opposing Grass types the team might struggle with. Finally, he provided a list of threats to the team after his changes along with advice on how to deal with them.

Hey, this is quite a solid team and I really like the idea of Keldeo + Sand backed by a sturdy defensive backbone on a conceptual level. However, there are a few issues I noticed that I felt could possibly improved by a few changes. Heatran is really annoying for this team to deal with in practice, the main reason being that it comes in on all of your defensive backbone (Mega Venusaur/Celesteela/Clefable) practically for free (worst case scenario it takes a Leech Seed from Venu/Celes or loses its Leftovers to Clef) and can just break your Pokemon down with its offensive prowess. Excadrill can revenge kill it but obviously can't come in at all, and it also loses to Choice Scarf variants if it isn't backed by Sand. Tyranitar can't really come in because it's 2HKOed by Earth Power a lot of the time, and even if it lacks Earth Power it hates taking a Will-O-Wisp or Toxic. Your only real switch-in is Keldeo, but that gets worn down quite quickly after switching into multiple Magma Storms or Earth Powers, as well as potentially having to take Toxic or your own Sandstorm damage, while still acting as your win condition most of the time. The matchup against Mega Swampert Rain is somewhat iffy. Obviously you do have Mega Venusaur, but the main problem is if Mega Swampert gets in (and it can do so easily on Clefable or Celesteela), you have to keep Mega Venusaur almost 100% healthy to avoid the 2HKO from Earthquake and barely force it out. Furthermore, every time it comes in it just gives Hawlucha a setup opportunity, which is fairly common on Rain teams. You do have Tyranitar to fight the weather war, but it struggles to get in and you can easily lose it if you predict wrongly. Bulky Grass-types, with some good examples being Tangrowth and Mega Venusaur, are rather difficult for this team to break. They wall your main win condition in Keldeo, while also switching into Excadrill nicely and not really being threatened by Celesteela/Clefable/Mega Venusaur very easily. Choice Band Tyranitar can break them with its sheer power, but it can't get onto the field against them too easily because it takes a fair chunk from their Grass-type STAB attacks and really only forces them out. Lastly, Life Orb Kyurem-B can be an annoyance for this team, as it completely eats up your defensive core and comes in for free on Mega Venusaur and even Celesteela if it's not hitting Heavy Slam. Furthermore, while you can revenge kill it with Keldeo and Excadrill in theory, it can actually take a Secret Sword or Iron Head from these two without chip damage and OHKO with Fusion Bolt and Earth Power in return, respectively.

Major Changes

>
:
The first change that I'm going to suggest is running
Assault Vest Tangrowth > Mega Venusaur. There are quite a few pros to making this change; for starters, it frees up your Mega slot, which is rather useful for a change I'm going to make later. It also makes your matchup against rain far easier, as it switches into basically every common rain abuser a lot more reliably than Mega Venusaur did. It can also afford to run Earthquake, which allows you to avoid letting Heatran come in for free, which Mega Venusaur could only really punish with Leech Seed. I am suggesting a moveset of Giga Drain / Hidden Power Ice / Knock Off / Earthquake alongside an EV spread of 252 HP / 28 Def / 228 SpD with a Sassy nature. Knock Off provides you with great utility, notable letting you remove Assault Vest from opposing Tangrowth and Magearna to support a late-game Keldeo sweep.

>
:
Secondly, I would recommend running
Toxapex > Clefable. You can definitely afford to make this change now that you have a different reliable Zygarde check in Hidden Power Ice Tangrowth. It also still checks Mega Lopunny. The only real drawback to this change is you miss out on a Stealth Rock setter, but we can relegate this somewhere else in a later change. You also don't have a reliable direct switch-in to Mega Medicham, but this is the case for most teams, and it still has a lot of counterplay if you prevent it from coming in where you can and play around it cleverly. In return, you gain a better way of dealing with certain Heatran variants. It can come in on non-Taunt + Earth Power variants and take them on fairly well, and Heatrans that do carry this combination of moves are possible to deal with in a change I'll suggest later. You also get a secondary Mega Scizor check, which is quite nice because you no longer have Hidden Power Fire Mega Venusaur and Celesteela can be worn down fairly easily with Stealth Rock up and continuously taking U-turn damage. However, the main reason I feel that Toxapex would be a great asset to this team is because of its access to Toxic Spikes. Toxic Spikes is really useful for this team because it helps to wear down Keldeo and Excadrill checks, particularly bulky Grass-types, much more quickly and overwhelm them. I would just go with Scald / Toxic / Recover / Toxic Spikes with 248 HP / 8 Def / 252 SpD. Toxic is more useful than Haze in this situation I feel because you have Excadrill to reliably revenge kill Volcarona and Toxic helps to wear down switch-ins like Zapdos and Latios.

Minor Changes

: Since your Mega Slot is free now, I want to run Support Mega Tyranitar > Choice Band Tyranitar. For starters, you lost a Stealth Rock setter in Clefable, and I feel this is the best replacement. Its ability to consistently switch into non-Will-O-Wisp Heatran consistently thanks to its superior bulk is invaluable to your team. It still provides Sand to support Excadrill, and still Pursuit traps threats such as Latios. Its bulk also has the benefit of making it a much much better check to Life Orb Kyurem-B, which I mentioned as a threat earlier. The moveset is similar, with Stealth Rock / Crunch / Pursuit / Earthquake with a spread of 168 HP / 252 Atk / 88 Spe. I've chosen Earthquake over Fire Punch here to reliably OHKO any Heatran set, and I think this is the best option honestly, but if you like Fire Punch is also possible to punish Mega Scizor and Ferrothorn on the switch.

: Lastly, an optional change that you can look into is Normalium Z > Waterium Z on Keldeo and Hyper Beam > Taunt. Normalium Z is a fairly unconventional set that isn't used much at all, but I think it does have some potential on this team. It allows you to lure in and eliminate bulky Grass-types, particularly Mega Venusaur and the rarer Amoonguss. It also helps versus Toxapex. The main reason I'm suggesting this is because your team struggles versus certain bulky Grasses, and this can help to somewhat alleviate this matchup. Of course, there are some drawbacks to this change. In particular, you miss out on Taunt, which makes certain matchups more difficult, and it's somewhat specific, as Keldeo can already get around certain bulky Grasses like Ferrothorn and Tangrowth to an extent. It's up to you.

I've put an importable below, good luck with the team!

Keldeo-Resolute @ Waterium Z / Normalium Z
Ability: Justified
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Calm Mind
- Taunt / Hyper Beam
- Secret Sword
- Hydro Pump

Tyranitar @ Tyranitarite
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 168 HP / 252 Atk / 88 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Pursuit
- Crunch
- Earthquake

Tangrowth @ Assault Vest
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 28 Def / 228 SpD
Sassy Nature
- Giga Drain
- Knock Off
- Hidden Power Ice
- Earthquake

Celesteela @ Leftovers
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 248 HP / 132 Def / 128 SpD
Relaxed Nature
- Leech Seed
- Heavy Slam
- Flamethrower
- Protect

Excadrill (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Sand Rush
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Iron Head
- Rock Slide
- Rapid Spin

Toxapex @ Black Sludge
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Def / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
- Scald
- Toxic
- Recover
- Toxic Spikes

I've also added a short threatlist below, as there are a few Pokemon that become somewhat more threatening with these changes. I'd recommend reading it if you're interested to know how you can deal with these threats.
: With the loss of Clefable, this can be slightly more difficult for you to deal with because you don't have a direct reliable switch-in to it. Your best way of playing around it is applying offensive pressure to it and keeping it from coming in if at all possible. It can only really come in on Tangrowth, since Toxapex threatens to burn with Scald. If it does get in, Excadrill under Sand can revenge kill it, as well as Keldeo after a little chip or if you use your Z-Move. Celesteela can also play Protect mindgames with it and take one High Jump Kick if needed. Getting Toxic Spikes up will pressure it when it comes in as well.

: Keeping Celesteela healthy by avoiding switching it in to other Pokemon to be chipped down unnecessarily is key in this matchup. Luckily, Choice sets can also be dealt with by your Tyranitar, as if you come in on a predicted Psychic and they switch out Pursuit is doing upwards of 70%. Tangrowth can check non-Choice Specs sets to an extent as well.

: Opposing Tyranitar can actually be somewhat annoying for your team to deal with, since Choice Band sets are fairly difficult for you to switch into. Thankfully, it doesn't get to switch in very easily, as it risks being burned if it comes in on Toxapex and takes a fair chunk from Celesteela's Heavy Slam and Tangrowth's Giga Drain. If it does get in, usually your best bet is to go hard Keldeo and try to punish it by setting up, though keep in mind that Keldeo doesn't enjoy taking a Choice Band Earthquake or even Stone Edge.

: Rockium Z variants can lure Celesteela and run through your team if you aren't careful. If you think it's running Rockium (look at team strucutre), try to lure out the Z-Move with Tyranitar or Excadrill. Even if Celesteela does get weakened too much to properly check it, you can still revenge kill it with Excadrill if needed. Tangrowth can also come in, but can't really do much in return unless it's weakened a lot.


Congrats once more and thank you to everyone that participated! Also wanted to thank my co-hosts for helping with this along with former RMT Competition champion and currently fisted Gross Sweep for helping out in the later rounds. Finally, a special shoutout to Snowy and here's 4000 words in the form of 4 pictures because a picture is worth 1000 words: :pimp::pimp::pimp::pimp:

I hope you all enjoyed and I hope to see you all around in the forum and for the next competition :toast:
 
o_o

This has been a really fun competition tbh, thanks a lot to the hosts for putting their time into reading a bunch of essays each week lol. I didn't even expect to get past round 1 tbh but I'll definitely be sticking around now :o

Also s/o Baloor for being a cool person to talk to between each round :D
 

IronBullet

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Congrats Wob! You've proven yourself to be a very capable rater with this win, and I hope to see you kick on from here to continue rating at a high level. Well done Baloor, Ramses and vsomani too :) Major thanks to Team Pokepals, Anish and the others for handling everything really efficiently and making sure the tour went smoothly. With plenty of aspiring OU raters around I expect we'll host another project, possibly a league, soon so keep an eye out for that!
 
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