Balanced OU Team (Tested well, looking for next step)

[klawehtgod]

So this is basically this the first OU Team I ever built that was successful. It's been through a LOT (Gliscor and Blissey are the only original members), but now it works. My record is something like 26-10 (spread over two alts on Showdown, so exact record is unknown). Most of my losses involved getting swept by one pokemon, so any odd moves are a result of that. I have a few specific concerns that are outlined below, but of course all advice is appreciated.
Basic play is lead Breloom and use Spore. After that, go to Keldeo or Pinsir and boost, depending on what they have. Pivot to Blissey a lot. Keep Pinsir alive because otherwise Mega Venusaur will eat me. Oh also, Keldeo, Blissey and Latios have no physical attacks, thus 0 attack IVs so as to minimize Foul Play and Confusion damage.

Without Further Ado...

Breloom @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Technician
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature
- Mach Punch
- Bullet Seed
- ThunderPunch
- Spore

Breloom is the standard lead. Scarf + Spore = 6 v 5. A good start by all accounts. Originally This walking mushroom was Banded. But you can only get OHKO'd by Galvantula so many times (twice actually) before you realize you have a problem. Technician Mach Punch is a beautiful priority move, and so many times people switch in "Checks" that take a mach punch on the switch and get KO'd the next turn. Technician Bullet Seed is wonderful in ways everyone already understands (unless it hits 2 times, twice in a row, and then I lose). ThunderPunch OHKO's Gyarados. I almost got 6-0'd by a Gyarados that spammed Bounce. True story. Never again.

Gliscor @ Toxic Orb
Ability: Poison Heal
EVs: 252 HP / 184 Def / 72 Spd
Impish Nature
- Toxic
- Earthquake
- Protect
- Substitute

My favorite Gen 5 OU pokemon (Well Terrakion, but I used him in Ubers). Toxic Stall claims so many victims. The EVs are a smogon special, and they work. Toxic Orb activates Poison Heal, and Toxic + Protect/Sub brings opponents (very slowly) to their knees. Using Substitute, then Earthquake + Protect allows Poison Heal to completely recover the HP used for the Sub. However, Knock Off seems very valuable this generation, and I am finding less and less time to use Substitute. Ironically, Gliscor has terrible synergy with Blissey, because (especially if Toxic Orb gets knocked off) Blissey keeps being a jerk and curing it of Toxic. But seriously, should I replace Substitute with Knock Off?

Keldeo @ Leftovers
Ability: Justified
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SAtk
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Secret Sword
- Scald
- Calm Mind
- Icy Wind

This My Little Pony Reincarnation has a habit of dying in every single battle ever. That plus its completely unusable ability makes me wonder why I use him at all. Then Secret Sword KOs a Blissey, Scald KOs a Talonflame, and Icy Wind KOs a Dragonite, and I remember that Fighting/Water/Ice is really freaking good coverage. Maybe Life Orb instead of Leftovers, to really drive home the power? Maybe speed instead of HP, and go with the Glass Cannon model? Thoughts here much appreciated.

Blissey @ Leftovers
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 Spd
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Toxic
- Heal Bell
- Protect
- Wish

Fatty here is the crux of this team. Cleric and Pivot all rolled (literally Blissey is fat enough to roll) into one, Blissey is like Chansey but more Knock Off -proof (and fatter). Wish + Protect for self healing. Toxic + Protect for damage output. Wish + switch for bringing in full HP sweepers. Heal Bell for saving the day (except in Gliscor's eyes). Natural Cure and Leftovers to take care of itself (and its permanently unborn egg. Creepy, huh?). EVs to tank some physical hits. And 8 Spd EVs to outspeed all the other mean Blisseys who aren't MY Blissey. But seriously, I would lose every single game without Blissey.

Latios @ Assault Vest
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Draco Meteor
- Psyshock
- Energy Ball
- Ice Beam

I honestly have no idea why Latios is on this team. I suppose its nice to carry a legendary, but I think its because I like Assault Vest. But then it gets knocked off and Latios is suddenly a liability. I've also been criticized on my coverage. On paper it looks like a good set, but it keeps under-performing. Of all the pokemon on this team, Latios is easily the one I am most willing to replace, or at least overhaul.

Pinsir @ Pinsirite
Ability: Moxie (Mega Pinsir has Aerilate)
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Quick Attack
- Return
- Close Combat
- Swords Dance

Wow is this guy great. Tyranitar used to be my mega of choice, until I realized it didn't do anything useful. That is not a complaint anyone could make of Mega-Pinsir. Aerilate is a spectacular ability, and a 155 Base Attack is nuts. Quick Attack and Return are 1.3 x 1.5 = 1.95 x BP attacks. Close Combat crushes so many things, yet for some reason not everyone sees it coming. And Swords Dance makes it all possible (not really, this guy wrecks anyway, SD is overkill really). Not bad for some lame bug everyone skipped over in Viridian Forest. (Look at Beedrill now. Oh how the mighty fall.)

So that's the squad. Again, any advice is most certainly appreciated.

Completely unrelated, but so far the only reason I have for Dragonite not getting a mega is because the stone would be called "Dragonite-ite", which is exactly as dumb as it looks. Bonus points if you can come up with a better name.

 

[Super Strontium]

Greninja
Ability: Protean
Nature: Modest
EVs: 4HP / 252 Special Attack / 252 Speed
Held item: Focus Sash
Moves:
1. Surf
2. Dark Pulse
3. Hidden Power (Grass)/ Grass knot
4.U-turn

You said you wanted to switch Latios for something, with its unique ability & a bit of well placed prediction, this guy basically rules OU. Just give it a try & see yourself (please do modify the EVs & moveset to match your battling style, & call me Greninja fanboy, idc lol). Way to go!

Using Keldeo for a good coverage? What is Life Orb Alakazam for? With its Magic Guard, it can take no damage from entry hazard, weather effects , stats & life orb. Psyshock also comes off pretty well by this fella. Something you might consider trying

 

[bestoise97]

A very good team. I was considering a scarfed breloom but didn't know if it was viable. The only flaw I see is not having any any rapid spin/defog support for pinsir(although Blissey probably helps alleviate that problem) and your team is fairly weak to talonflame. Breloom Keldeo and Mega Pinisir are all OHKOd
252+ Atk Choice Band Talonflame Brave Bird vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Breloom: 1132-1336 (432 - 509.9%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Talonflame Brave Bird vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Keldeo: 512-606 (158.5 - 187.6%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Talonflame Brave Bird vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Mega Pinsir: 404-476 (148.5 - 175%) -- guaranteed OHKO
Latios too after rocks
252+ Atk Choice Band Talonflame Brave Bird vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Latios: 283-334 (93.7 - 110.5%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock
Even Blissey takes a lot although it can toxic it and TFlame would take a huge amount of recoil
252+ Atk Choice Band Talonflame Brave Bird vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Blissey: 426-502 (59.6 - 70.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
Once your Gliscor is KOd it easily wrecked by talonflame
To fix these problems I would suggest running Excadrill. His access to rapid spin can save your pinsir and SR would help your Tflame weakness, but your team is still too weak to it.

 

[klawehtgod]

A very good team. I was considering a scarfed breloom but didn't know if it was viable. The only flaw I see is not having any any rapid spin/defog support for pinsir(although Blissey probably helps alleviate that problem) and your team is fairly weak to talonflame. Breloom Keldeo and Mega Pinisir are all OHKOd
252+ Atk Choice Band Talonflame Brave Bird vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Breloom: 1132-1336 (432 - 509.9%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Talonflame Brave Bird vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Keldeo: 512-606 (158.5 - 187.6%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Talonflame Brave Bird vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Mega Pinsir: 404-476 (148.5 - 175%) -- guaranteed OHKO
Latios too after rocks
252+ Atk Choice Band Talonflame Brave Bird vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Latios: 283-334 (93.7 - 110.5%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock
Even Blissey takes a lot although it can toxic it and TFlame would take a huge amount of recoil
252+ Atk Choice Band Talonflame Brave Bird vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Blissey: 426-502 (59.6 - 70.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
Once your Gliscor is KOd it easily wrecked by talonflame
To fix these problems I would suggest running Excadrill. His access to rapid spin can save your pinsir and SR would help your Tflame weakness, but your team is still too weak to it.

Thank you for your input.

Scarf Breloom is definitely Viable. If you run it with Spore then you obviously have to switch out, but you will always sleep them.

Pinsir is more of late game sweeper, so it doesn't switch out that often. And the first time it switches in it's pure bug type, so it only loses 25% to Stealth Rock, which isn't terrible. And yes Blissey does help (Wish brings him back to full health guaranteed).

Talonflame is a glaring weakness, and you've definitely driven home your point very well. My only concern is that...
252+ Atk Choice Band Talonflame Flare Blitz vs. 252 HP / 252 Def Excadrill: 506-596 (119.3 - 140.5%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252+ Atk Talonflame Flare Blitz vs. 252 HP / 252 Def Excadrill: 338-402 (79.7 - 94.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock
Excadrill does not really solve the problem. If Excadrill come in on a Brave Bird and Talonflame isn't Banded, Excadrill loses. If Taloflame switches into Excadrill, Flare Blitz will wreck Excadrill.

Narrowing my search to good Physical Defense, Fire- and Flying- Resistance, has Stealth Rock and the ability to OHKO Talonflame, I came up with Tyranitar. Tyranitar was actually replaced by Pinsir, but now may replace Latios...
0 Atk Tyranitar Stone Edge vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Talonflame: 736-868 (246.9 - 291.2%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Talonflame Brave Bird vs. 252 HP / 252 Def Tyranitar: 87-102 (21.5 - 25.2%) -- 99.6% chance to 4HKO after Stealth Rock
If that isn't a Talonflame counter, nothing is.

Except Kabutops. Same search Criteria, but this time adding in Rapid Spin, and Kabutops is the answer. Seriously...
252+ Atk Choice Band Talonflame Brave Bird vs. 176 HP / 0 Def Kabutops: 113-133 (37 - 43.6%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Stealth Rock
This means Kabutops can switch to an attack, and on the next turn take another hit and OHKO back with Waterfall. And that's with minimal investment...
252+ Atk Choice Band Talonflame Brave Bird vs. 252 HP / 252 Def Kabutops: 90-106 (27.7 - 32.7%) -- guaranteed 4HKO
With full defensive investment, I have time to set up SR, use Rapid Spin, eat a jelly donut, and still OHKO back with Rock Slide. And thanks to Battle Armor there will be no hax to stop me.

Kaputops might seem like a liability against non-fire types, but the truth is 252 HP / 252 Def will gives him plenty of physical bulk. And SR + Rapid in one pokemon is just too good. Throw STAB priority in Aqua Jet and I have a winner. Goodbye Latios.

The only concern with this switch is I now have only one special attacker (Keldeo) and he dies all the time. But I'm going to give it a try.

 

[klawehtgod]

Greninja
Ability: Protean
Nature: Modest
EVs: 4HP / 252 Special Attack / 252 Speed
Held item: Focus Sash
Moves:
1. Surf
2. Dark Pulse
3. Hidden Power (Grass)/ Grass knot
4.U-turn

You said you wanted to switch Latios for something, with its unique ability & a bit of well placed prediction, this guy basically rules OU. Just give it a try & see yourself (please do modify the EVs & moveset to match your battling style, & call me Greninja fanboy, idc lol). Way to go!

Using Keldeo for a good coverage? What is Life Orb Alakazam for? With its Magic Guard, it can take no damage from entry hazard, weather effects , stats & life orb. Psyshock also comes off pretty well by this fella. Something you might consider trying

What's up Strontium. How goes the Uber team? The reason I am hesitant to put Greninja on this team is because it is very frail. Latios helps because with full investment and Assault Vest, it can tank any non-super-effective hits. I guess that means it should be Latias... oh well. Anyway the other guy who posted noted my massive weakness to Talonflame, and I'm going to replace Latios with Kabutops (description in above comments). As for Alazakam, again very frail. Keldeo has nice bulk with 252HP, despite his propensity to ruin my 6-0 chances. And I'm really not using him for coverage, I poorly articulated. I meant that Keldeo's moveset does a very good job at hitting some very important threats. But thank you for the input, and we should definitely battle sometime.

 

[Super Strontium]

What's up Strontium. How goes the Uber team? The reason I am hesitant to put Greninja on this team is because it is very frail. Latios helps because with full investment and Assault Vest, it can tank any non-super-effective hits. I guess that means it should be Latias... oh well. Anyway the other guy who posted noted my massive weakness to Talonflame, and I'm going to replace Latios with Kabutops (description in above comments). As for Alazakam, again very frail. Keldeo has nice bulk with 252HP, despite his propensity to ruin my 6-0 chances. And I'm really not using him for coverage, I poorly articulated. I meant that Keldeo's moveset does a very good job at hitting some very important threats. But thank you for the input, and we should definitely battle sometime.

As for my uber team, Nasty plot Darkrai is kick-ass (literally kick-ass), & I was just giving out my suggestion, but you should always seek the pokemon wich suit your style, which I can see, is defensive. Total opposite of mine, I just hope opposition doesn't attack before me & bombard them, thats why Alaka & Greninja appeal to me! And yes, we should battle sometimes :) are you on pokemon online? I'm there, with same username

 

[bestoise97]

Some more suggestoins: why not try tail glow manaphy instead of keldeo is too frail. I personally like timid holding wacan berry(the electric reducing one) with surf ice beam and energy ball but it has a plethora of good moves. Maybe because you only have one special attacker run sylveon over blissey.
something like this set
Sylveon @ leftovers
Ability: pixilate
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SAtk / 4 Special Defense
Modest or calm Nature depending if you want special bulk or power thi
- hyper voice
- shadow ball
- wish
- protect/baton pass ( a slow baton pass makes it easier to pass wishes)
I know this set isn't all that good but it is a start and it doesnt wall nearly as well as blissey but it does help balence your team. You also dont need heal bell as gliscor can absorb status for your team and if you opt to keep blissey its natural cure will deal with those Gliscor cant handle(like Rotom W's WoW) and Breloom for spores.

Sry for this confusing comment