Dance Dance Revolution (An OU RMT)

[butterfingers158]

Hey there Smogon! It's time for my 4th RMT since becoming a member here.

First a little intro: The idea for this team started back in mid-February when I decided I was finally going to buy a DS and Platinum. This team was originally designed for Wi-Fi use, and I wanted to use as many pokemon as possible that I could acquire in emerald (to abuse the RNG to get good IV's and such). At the time, Shoddy battle was not working on my primary computer, so I never thought I would bring this team to shoddy. After using it for the last 4 or so days, my current win percentage stands around 75-80%, with many of those losses coming from me playing stupidly and/or mass hax. Without further ado, I present: Dance Dance Revolution!

At a Glance:

Apparently I like 3 things: Blue Pokemon, Water Pokemon, and Pokemon that start with the letter S

Quick Facts:

2 Pokes weak to Stealth Rock, 2 Resistors
4 Pokemon Immune to Toxic Spikes (and 1 with Natural Cure)
2 Pokemon Immune to Spikes
1 Pursuit Weak Pokemon

Resistances Chart:

In-Depth:

Jirachi @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Serene Grace
EVs: 80 HP/252 Atk/176 Spd
Jolly nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Iron Head
- Stealth Rock
- Trick
- U-turn

Jirachi starts us off. It's versatility means that it can fill many roles as a lead, much less the number it can perform on the team in general. My jirachi is of the Trick Scarf variety, serving as a lead/anti-lead with distinction. Trick allows me to cripple the slow, bulky leads. Iron head takes out the fast, frail leads and with that sexy 60% flinch chance, the other player often doesn't get his rocks up. U-turn allows me to escape unfavorable match-ups and to scout switch ins later on. Stealth rock is the obvious entry hazard that we all love and hate. His good bulk and typing means that he can serve as a good switch in later on in the match.

How he does against the common leads:

: Iron Head 2HKO's, and with the flinch chance it is quite likely they won't even get rocks up

: Trick them my scarf, if they EQ'd, bring in Gyarados/Salamence. If they SR'd, then set up my own as they switch

: See Metagross

: I usually U-turn out to Starmie to scout what type of lead it is, then play accordingly

: See Azelf

: Take the Fake Out then U-Turn to Starmie

: Iron Head 2HKO's, and they only have a 30% chance of sleep powder working.

: U-Turn to Starmie

: See Azelf

: See Metagross

: See Metagross

Gyarados (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 Atk/4 Def/252 Spd
Adamant nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Dragon Dance
- Waterfall
- Stone Edge
- Earthquake

Next up is Gyarados. The water dragon certainly earns his keep on this team. He can easily set up on common Pokemon like Scizor and just rip stuff up with his macho-man 125 base attack. Adamant nature was chosen to maximize the power of his attacks. Not out running Jolteon after a Dance is unfortunate, but the power more than makes up for it. I usually use him as an early game or mid game sweeper, softening up Pokemon that can counter Salamence. Dragon Dance is what this team is named for, and after using it once, Gyarados reaches 574 Attack and 391 Speed. Waterfall is a great STAB move, water is a pretty good attacking type, and the 20% chance of flinch is nice. Stone Edge covers Zapdos, Salamence, and other Gyarados, while also hitting things that resist Waterfall hard. Earthquake rounds out the coverage.

Salamence (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 4 Atk/252 Spd/252 SAtk
Naive nature (+Spd, -SDef)
- Dragon Dance
- Outrage
- Draco Meteor
- Earthquake

And here comes the other dancer! Mixed Dancing Salamence is a set I have used on a previous team, and I found it to be just awesome. The beauty of this set is that I can fake a MixMence by dropping Draco Meteors all over the place, and then when they least expect it, I can Dragon Dance in their face. Or I can keep him hidden until later, Dragon Dance, and when they bring in their Swampert/Hippowdon/Gliscor/(Put Physical Wall Here) I KO them with Draco Meteor. Dragon Dance is here once again, giving Salamence 460 Attack and 492 Speed after one. Outrage provides Physical STAB, and rips through anything that isn't a steel type. Draco Meteor is what gives this set its surprise value. Effective 210 Base Power coming off of 319 Special Attack hurts things. Earthquake provides coverage against grounded steel types. The only Pokemon I don't hit for at least neutral are Skarmory and Levitate Bronzong.

Swampert (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Torrent
EVs: 252 HP/4 Atk/252 Def
Relaxed nature (+Def, -Spd)
- Earthquake
- Ice Beam
- Protect
- Roar

Ah Swampert... how I love you so. He is the glue of my team. His great defenses mean that he can wall a good number of Pokemon that could be troublesome otherwise. The EV's are the MixPert lead spread, but since he isn't in the lead, I can use both Protect and Roar, which is very advantageous. Earthquake is STAB, and hits things that he walls (namely Metagross and Tyranitar) very hard. Ice Beam provides respectable coverage when combined with Earthquake. Protect allows me to scout out what move a choiced Pokemon is going to use, not get exploded on, guard against toxic(which Swampert HATES), and stall for more leftovers recovery. Roar allows me to scout switch ins and get rid of stat boosters. He is also my only Pokemon that isn't hit at least neutrally by electric attacks.

Scizor (M) @ Choice Band
Ability: Technician
EVs: 248 HP/252 Atk/8 Spd
Adamant nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- U-turn
- Bullet Punch
- Superpower
- Pursuit

Oh Scizor, how we all hate you, but we still use you anyways. You're just that damn useful. Yes, it's another boring Choice Band Scizor. Sorry, but he works. He provides very useful resistances with his great typing, and can switch in a couple of times on attacks because of his decent bulk. He is a great revenge killer, and keeps DD Salamence from running all over me(if Swampert is at too low of health to take an Outrage and KO back). U-turn for scouting switch ins and such. Bullet Punch is what makes him such a great revenge killer. Superpower is useful for hitting steels who want to get cute and switch in, and it also 1HKO's Blissey. Pursuit allows me to trap things such as choiced Rotom and Latais.

Starmie @ Expert Belt
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 136 HP/156 Def/216 Spd
Timid nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Rapid Spin
- Surf
- Thunderbolt
- Recover

And lastly we have Starmie. With both of my main sweepers being weak to Stealth Rock, I felt that a spinner was a necessity on my team. Starmie fits the bill perfectly with its Speed, typing, and Special Attack. It is my best answer to Infernape, and my only dedicated Gyarados counter. With the EV spread, Max Attack Gyarados at +1 with life orb can never 1HKO Starmie with Stone Edge or Earthquake, while Starmie always 1HKO's if rocks are up. Starmie takes only 45-53% from a Scarf-Tar's pursuit if it stays in, and if Tar switched in on surf, Starmie KO's it always if rocks are up. Rapid Spin is the most important move, getting rid of spikes and more importantly Stealth Rock. Surf is a powerful STAB move which can 2HKO Scarf Rotom-A, the most prominent spin blocker around on offensive teams. Thunderbolt allows me to counter Gyarados. Recover allows Starmie to stick around longer for more ass kicking.


Thanks for reading this RMT, and I hope that you can help me improve this team!

Threat List is below.

 

[butterfingers158]

Threat List
​

Offensive Threats

Aerodactyl - Jirachi manhandles lead Aerodactyl

Azelf - Jirachi handles lead Azelf no problem.

Breloom -Always annoying, Swampert is my usual sleep sacrifice. After that it isn't too hard to handle honestly.

Dragonite -Anti-Lead ones get tricked a scarf and become no problem. Dragon Dancing ones get taken out by Swampert or Scizor without issue.

Electivire -Swampert walls him all day and all night(not even mentioning he gets 1HKO'd by Earthquake)

Empoleon -Swampert can pHaze it and/or kill it with earthquake. I generally don't let it get an agility and then it is no problem at all.

Flygon -Choice Scarf Flygon is easily played around, and it often provides free switch ins on choiced earthquakes. No problems here.

Gengar -Scizor or Jirachi are my best answers to it, Starmie outspeeds and deals 50%+ with Surf, so it can revenge in a pinch.

Gyarados - Starmie is a surefire counter, but Swampert can pHaze it if Starmie is down(though it will take a big hit in the process).

Heatran - Choiced ones can be played around easily. Starmie is a good general switch-in. Depending on the HP type, Swampert or Salamence handle it no problem also.

Heracross -Haven't seen one honestly, but Choiced ones can be played around. Gyarados and Salamence resist both STAB's and weaken the blow with Intimidate.

Infernape - Starmie kills this guy

Jirachi - I have to figure out the set first, but in general Swampert can handle it.

Jolteon - Swampert is my best answer to him.

Kingdra - Swampert can pHaze, Scizor can take a hit and deal 70% or so with U-turn. Gyarados can Intimidate it. Could possibly be a problem, but I haven't run into many.

Latias - Choice Specs ones hurt, but Jirachi/ Scizor can take atleast one blow. Scarf ones are much more manageable. CM ones can be pHazed by Swampert and Scizor can take non-HP fire ones.

Lucario -Salamence/ Gyarados can take him on decently. If it doesn't have a SD Swampert can easily handle it. Scizor can revenge a weakened one.

Machamp - Can be very annoying. Anti-Lead ones lose to Jirachi. Salamence 1HKO's with Draco Meteor. Sometimes a sacrifice is needed to take it down.

Magnezone - While it can trap my steels, it hasn't been much of a problem. Swampert can handle non-HP grass varieties. Gyarados/Salamence both 1HKO with Earthquake easily. Starmie 2HKO's with surf.

Mamoswine - Jirachi and Scizor make it cry

Metagross - Lead ones are tricked a scarf and are handled later. Swampert takes Agiligross.

Ninjask - Haven't seen one, but Swampert can pHaze. Jirachi 2HKO's with Iron head.

Roserade - Haven't seen one outside of the lead spot, where Jirachi handles it nicely.

Salamence - Always a pain. DD ones can be taken by Swampert in good health or revenged by Scizor. MixMence can be stopped by intelligent switching and Stealth Rock.

Scizor - While nothing on my team likes taking a U-turn overly much, i often times find the best way to tackle him is to not switch when it is going to U-turn, and just damage him as much as possible. If I get it locked into Pursuit/Bullet Punch, Gyarados sets up. SD ones are pHazed by Swampert.

Smeargle - Jirachi can handle it.

Starmie - Depends on the variety. I often times bring in my own Starmie to scare them off. Could potentially pose a problem though.

Togekiss - Gyarados outspeeds and can KO with Stone Edge. Could potentially be a problem, but it is rather uncommon

Tyranitar - Swampert walls Tyranitar. Scizor and Jirachi can handle it too.

Weavile - Scizor or Jirachi kill it.

Defensive Threats

Blissey - It honestly only walls Starmie on my team. Is no issue.

Bronzong - I have no fire attacks so I just throw the strongest attacks I can at it.

Celebi - An annoyance. Scizor KO's with U-turn if they don't have HP fire. Jirachi can also U-turn for around 50% damage.

Dusknoir - Will-o-Wisp is annoying, but he is very uncommon. Starmie doesn't mind status and can deal around 30% with Surf, so non-Shadow Sneak/ Thunderpunch ones will lose there.

Forretress - Hit it with strong attacks and then spin the hazards away later is all I can do.

Gliscor - Salamence 1HKO's with Draco Meteor. Starmie does huge damage with Surf.

Hippowdon - Salamence does a ton with Draco Meteor. Starmie hits it hard with Surf. Swampert can take it out with Ice Beam.

Rotom-A - Choiced ones can be played around and pursuited with Scizor. Draco Meteor does a good chunk of damage also.

Skarmory - Starmie takes care of Skarmory no problem, 2HKOing with Thunderbolt and spinning the spikes away.

Snorlax - Best option is to trick it a scarf. Superpower from Scizor KO's it

Suicune - Swampert can pHaze it. Tricking it a scarf always helps. Starmie can take unboosted Surfs and scare it off.

Swampert - Draco Meteor does huge damage. If it is a lead it gets a scarf tricked to it. Since it has no recovery it is just worn down.

Tentacruel - Any of my earthquake users can take it out no problem.

Vaporeon - 2HKO'd by boosted Gyarados, who survives HP electric. Generally just needs to be worn down. Starmie can scare it off with Thunderbolt.

Zapdos - Draco Meteor 1HKO's after rocks. Swampert walls non-HP grass varieties.

 

[vouslavous]

looks like a good team although im no expert yet, the one thing i recommend is instead of meteor on mence i would go with fireblast, its a nice surprise for steel switch in's that always jump on mence.

 

[butterfingers158]

looks like a good team although im no expert yet, the one thing i recommend is instead of meteor on mence i would go with fireblast, its a nice surprise for steel switch in's that always jump on mence.

Thanks for your suggestion, but it isn't much of a surprise considering Fire Blast is standard on Salamence.

 

[KnightoftheWind]

I don't really like your Salamence set that much. The main idea of Mixed DDMence is to beat down the physical walls that would otherwise stop a DDMence sweep. However, with little EVs in Attack, it'll be hard to get a DDMence sweep going, as you'll have a severe drop in the power of Outrage and Earthquake, so trying to sweep with little Attack may prove a bit difficult. To rectify this problem, try an EV spread of 80 Atk / 252 SpA / 176 Spe with a Naughty nature. This gives Salamence that little bit of extra power to KO Blissey, Metagross and Tyranitar with Outrage or Earthquake.

Another annoying thing about your Salamence set is the fact that is is walled to hell and back by Skarmory and Bronzong. Thankfully, you don't need another change in your Salamence set to alleviate this issue. Instead, I suggest you replace your Jirachi with a Magnezone.

Magnezone @ Leftovers | Naive
40 Atk / 252 SpA / 216 Spe
Substitute / Thunderbolt / HP Fire / Explosion

Magnezone is the ultimate support partner for your Salamence. It's pretty much guaranteed to remove Shed Shell-less Skarmory and Bronzong from the match, as well as Choice Band Scizor, who can also be troublesome for your Salamence. Magnezone also provides some nice resistances to Electric, Ghost and Dark, which you previously struggled with. Substitute lets Magnezone avoid status and get extra attacks, Thunderbolt is self-explanatory, HP Fire over HP Grass to hit Bronzong and Salamence can Draco Meteor Swampert and Explosion is a great panic button.

Without Jirachi, you lack a lead and a way of setting up Stealth Rock. Thankfully, you have the perfect Stealth Rocker candidate in Swampert. I suggest you move Swampert into the lead position and replace Roar with Stealth Rock. The reason I'm suggesting Protect on your Swampert aside from Roar is that you lack a Ghost-type, so Explosion from Azelf or Metagross can badly hurt your team. With Protect however, Swampert can block Explosion while the opponent KOs itself.

Good luck with your team.

 

[butterfingers158]

Thanks for the rate!

Changing Salamence's EV spread is something I will not do, running less than max speed leaves me more vulnerable to revenge kills. The drop of power is somewhat noticeable, but has not been a problem at all so far.

Running Magnezone on the other hand, is something I'll consider.

Thanks again.

 

[shinygrowilthe]

Gyarados (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 Atk/4 Def/252 Spd
Adamant nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Dragon Dance
- Waterfall
- Stone Edge
- Earthquake

Although the EVs in attack and speed do help a lot I suggest putting some in defence or Hp. With the Evs you have now it is a lot easier for a choice scarfer to revenge kill you. I suggest trying out the Bulkygyra set but instead of taunt try roar. With the speed from dragon dance you can easily shuffle the opponents team, scouting for counters and inflicting damage if SR is up. Good luck.

 

[watershogon94]

I personally think that you should transfer some Sp.attack evs to attack on your Salamance. Your running 2 Physical moves and Dragon dance with the increase of attack you will do more damage off just one Ddance and still pack a powerful draco meteor. I suggest maybe doing 126 att/252 spe/ 126 sp.att but thats just my opinion

 

[pkmntrainerblue]

Well I saw one type that could pose a problem to your team. Ghost type and two pokemon in particular Gengar and Rotom-H but mostly Rotom-H. Just to show you if a Gengar runs at least 74Def Evs you can not revenge with bullet punch and even a 0 evs there is still a chance you will not OHKO with bullet punch. Gengar runs a set that hits all of your team at least neutrally and three super effectively and it is the most common set the standard. You will run into even more problems with the MYSTICgar and the Sub Special Gengars because MYSTICgar can take out your Scizor by figuring out which move you are doing with Protect then stay in and kill you if you use pursuit and run away if you use bullet punch. The Sub Special Gengar because if is very difficult to revenge him if he has his substitute up since he can OHKO most of your options for revenging (Not sure if he OHKOs Jirachi though) but the other two (Scizor and Starmie) do not have a chance. Rotom-H will do you pain because while he is slower then Gengar he is far more bulky. He can take out Scizor and Jirachi with Overheat. Thunderbolt for gyrados. Shadow ball whacks starmie then he can cripple salamence with Will-O-wisp. So as you can see the problems that come from these two pokemon. I don;t want to make a huge change to your team but maybe you should add a Tyranitar to your team. He can easily take out Gengar (though it must be aware for focus blast) and Rotom-H (though he must be aware for the rare HP fighting) with crunch or trap with pursuit. So now who to get rid of. Hmmmm.... I am not sure who you think is the worst on your team and I feel weird doing this but I will give the choice to you. Well the set I was thinking of would be the Scarf set (copied from the StrategyDex =P) This one:

Tyranitar @ Choice scarf
nature Jolly
evs 4 HP 252 Atk 252 spe
moves
- Stone edge
- Crunch
- Pursuit
- Earthquake

So yeah I kinda explained how this works already (look above). So I guess I will write some random stuff about this set. Stone edge for flying and STAB. Crunch for a more reliable dark STAB move then Pursuit. Pursuit to get the fleeing ghost types. Earthquake for rock, steel, and electric Pokemon.

Well you do not have to implement the change I made but I hope it brought this Ghost problem to your attention. And good luck with your team.

 

[butterfingers158]

Guess I'll use my one bump now, but disguise it in a stealthy manner.

I have thought about Scarf-Tar, but I just can't think who I'd add him over.

 

[R.B.G.]

Another annoying thing about your Salamence set is the fact that is is walled to hell and back by Skarmory and Bronzong. Thankfully, you don't need another change in your Salamence set to alleviate this issue. Instead, I suggest you replace your Jirachi with a Magnezone.

While, I agree with the above statement, I don't exactly believe in replacing Jirachi among other things on this team. This team is better built than most of my OU teams as of late, (seeing as I do mainly NU now) and I can see the basic purpose of it. However, I think you should replace Draco Meteor with Flamethrower/Fire Blast. A lot of people, including myself, wouldn't send out a late-game spiker until I'm sure my opponent's rapid spinner is out. If Starmie goes bye-bye, Gyarados and Mence fall to anything with a BoltBeam combo after stealth rocks. Maybe Rotom-H?

 

[c.falcon-arrgh]

Magnezone is the ultimate support partner for your Salamence. It's pretty much guaranteed to remove Shed Shell-less Skarmory and Bronzong from the match, as well as Choice Band Scizor,

Magnezone loses to bronzong one on one, as hp fire never OHKOs, while earthquake always OHKO.

I suggest instead that you give Salamence naughty nature, give it 252att, 252spe, 4sp.att, and replace draco meteor with fire blast. The main reason for you to have draco meteor would be to hit physical walls like the ones you mentioned earlier much harder, but Neither of them gets OHKO'ed (gliscor might if it doesn't have any sp.def investment). Therefore, what i'm suggesting is just simply put all of your focus into your physical power. The raw power of +1 naughty life orb outrage is just disgusting. It deals 70.24% - 82.86% to a standard hippowdon, 81.93% - 96.78% to standard physically defensive swampert, and 88.42% - 104.52% to defensive gliscor, which is an OHKO after stealth rock damage.

As such, the only pokemon that truely walls this set would be skarmory and levitating bronzong as you mentioned. Thus, it would be wiser to give salamence fire blast instead of draco meteor to hit those pokemon. fire blast is a guaranteed 2HKO on all skarmory and standard bronzong, which isn't too bad because the best skarmory can do is to whirlwind you out, while bronzong can only KO you by using explosion. If you wish for salamence to have more bulk, you can opt to use 112 speed and 144 defense instead. 112 speed allows you to outspeed base 130s after a dragon dance, and 144 EVs were placed into defense instead of hp because you're already naughty anyway and should focus more on physical defense. You can still put it into hp anyway if you want salamence to take resisted special moves easier.

Also, i suggest giving gyarados jolly instead of adamant. Although there is a significant loss in power, it is essential that pokemon like aerodactyl and jolteon doesn't end your sweep right there. With jolly and 168 speed, gyarados outspeeds all base 130s after a single dragon dance, and your attack is still packing power, with 524 attack and a life orb. The remaining 88 EVs can be placed in HP, which helps you switch into resisted moves more easily, and lets you take bullet punch from scizor easier should he try to abuse your life orb recoil and other residue damage and fire off a bullet punch to KO you.

 

[Starbuck]

Magnezone works great in conjunction with Salamence. Bronzong does't OHKO with Earthquake, and even if it did you can still Magnet Rise where the only thing Bronzong can do is Explosion, which solves the problem. Then again, Shed Shells are becoming common now.

I agree with changing Draco Meteor to Fire Blast for all the reasons the guy above stated.

One thing you may want to consider for Gyarados is changing it to the CB variant. It's pretty cool when Starmie switches in and is then OHKO'd by Payback, and Payback will 2HKO Celebi and Rotom if they switch in.

 

[c.falcon-arrgh]

Well, the person that suggested using magnezone did not include magnet rise in his moveset, and thats why i said magnezone can't win bronzong alone.

Standard bronzong with 84 attack EV does 99.64% - 118.15% to standard magnezone with EQ (Clean OHKO), while standard magnezone only does 34.02% - 40.24% with thunderbolt to standard bronzong which is a 3HKO(i use thunderbolt because it does more damage than a supereffective hp fire)