My team at a glance:
First, the lead:
Smeargle @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Own Tempo
EVs: 252 HP / 6 Def / 252 Spd
Nature: Jolly (+Spd, -SpAtk)
- Spore
- Haze
- Heal Bell
- Destiny Bond
People are probably going to shoot me for this one, but it's probably the most useful member of my team. Choice Scarf, Jolly, and Max Speed are to ensure Smeargle can hit nearly every lead with Spore. The conspicuous lack of entry hazards, I think, is justified, because Spore generally negates the opponent's lead's attempts at doing the same and messes them up psychologically (especially since their overall strategy usually depends on the lead, and in case they try it later, there's always Starmie in the ranks. Most of the battles I've played are free of entry hazards other than the occasional Stealth Rock, which is quickly spun off. Haze is in case of BP teams with Ninjask leads that have greatly annoyed me in the past; if I see one of those, I switch out immediately. Heal Bell is to get rid of Registeel's Rest, allows me to stay in on Yawn and KO that annoying wannabe phazer, and in the odd case of Machamp or TTar getting burned. Lastly, Destiny Bond. I love this thing: it lets me net that really annoying ending kill. I usually use it to remove something I don't have a counter for, like Max Speed Breloom after Alakazam's been KO'd or a fully set-up sweeper. Smeargle can keep coming in and Sporing after I KO the sleeping lead or it wakes up, which makes it very useful for taking out non-Scarfed Scizor if Alakazam's been KO'd. Max HP to increase the chance Smeargle will survive to use Spore more than once or twice, which is important for me to take out the things I don't have counters for. The lack of offense moves doesn't faze me because I can always Destiny Bond anything I want to kill if I'm cornered.
Starmie @ Leftovers
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 158 HP / 252 Spd / 100 SpAtk
Nature: Timid (+Spd, -Atk)
- Surf
- Thunderbolt
- Grass Knot
- Rapid Spin
Starmie was appropriate on this team to provide Rapid Spin, but I think the real clincher for Starmie was its use as a cleanup sweeper (should Alakazam have been KOd.) Surf is there for STAB and good neutral damage, Grass Knot to take out that bloody annoying Swampert that my team will otherwise have to rely on Spore to beat without major loss, and Thunderbolt, obviously, for Gyarados and Whirlwinding Skarmory. I also use Starmie as a status absorber thanks to Natural Cure, though Heal Bell on Smeargle generally renders this unnecessary.
Tyranitar @ Life Orb
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 234 HP / 64 Atk / 24 Spd / 188 SpA
Nature: Rash (+SpA, - SpD)
- Earthquake
- Ice Beam
- Flamethrower
- Thunderbolt
MixTar's deadly not only as a lure for this team, but also as a generic sweeper. Flamethrower ensures Scizor, Forretress, and Skarmory are OHKO'd on the switch, especially the latter two who often try to switch in and wall. Earthquake is for coverage, and most Flying-types who try to switch in on its immunity are nailed by Ice Beam or Thunderbolt. The sandstorm helps me defeat Sashers and the occasional staller as well, as well as obviously boosting TTar's SpDef. TTar's defense and Attack don't need much boosting, they're naturally really high, so I added HP for the additional bulk and SpA to increase the punch of those moves, as they often really need to OHKO.
Registeel @ Leftovers
Ability: Clear Body
EVs: 252 HP / 6 Atk / 252 SpD
Nature: Careful (+SpD, -SpAtk)
- Explosion
- Seismic Toss
- Rest
- Counter
Most people say the problem with Registeel are its weakness to the two most common physical attacks. So why, might you ask, is SpDef maxed out? To resist fire, since the other two don't matter. This set uses the strength of Fighting- and Ground-type moves against them using Counter, which destroys opposing Machamp, Flygon, Heracross, etc. who try to switch in and cause Registeel pain. For anything that pisses me off and I don't have a Counter for, I explode, and though I don't use it much, I can always Rest and Recover. Seismic Toss is to make sure I can do damage to non-Ghosts and break Substitutes. Essentially, I use Registeel to sponge Toxic and take care of annoying physical threats, or wall and kill special ones with Seismic Toss or Explosion.
Machamp @ Leftovers
Ability: No Guard
EVs: 100 HP / 252 Atk / 6 Def / 152 SpA
Nature:
- DynamicPunch
- Stone Edge
- Fire Blast
- Payback
This thing is, plainly put, a monster. DynamicPunch rapes anything and everything that tries to switch into Machamp, even if they resist it, and confuses them to boot, except the ghosts, nearly all of whom are quicker and are OHKOd with Payback. Machamps base speed sucks so much that it doesn't hurt to further depress it, and in fact, making it slower makes increased Payback damage more likely, as Machamp as the bulk to take more hits. Fire Blast is to shock incoming Skarmory, Froslass, Forretress, Bronzong etc. who switch in hoping to wall Machamp, only to find themselves confused and then hit with a super-effective attack. The EVs ensure 2HKO of Skarmory and as much damage as possible to Bronzong, as well as OHKO of Forretress and Scizor if it's foolish enough to switch in. My usual plan is to use Spore with Smeargle and switch out to Machamp, who proceeds to confuse the sleeping lead, forcing a switch to the team's Ghost, which I OHKO with Payback and then spin away all entry hazards. Most games I play are entry hazard-free because of this. After the Ghost is down, I can DynamicPunch the hell out of pretty much everything else and use Registeel to absorb any super-effective attacks aimed at Machamp.
Alakazam @ Life Orb
Ability: Synchronize
EVs: 6 HP / 252 Spd / 252 SpAtk
Nature: Timid (+Spd, -Atk)
- Psychic
- Focus Blast
- Hidden Power Fire
- Shadow Ball
Alakazam is the finisher. Anything any of those guys can't take out, 'Kazam can. Life Orb + Sandstorm draining his health and the fact that he folds like paper if hit specially OR physically; nothing without a Scarf that isn't called Jolteon can touch it in the later stages of the game. Focus Blast and Hidden Power Fire destroy the Steel-types of OU, and Shadow Ball crushes any Ghosts that escape Machamp's payback. Once Metagross/Jirachi/Bronzong are put to sleep by Smeargle, HP fire is used to whittle away at their HP and usually 3HKO. Focus Blast annihilates Heatran, Lucario, Umbreon, Tyranitar, etc. and Psychic dishes out huge neutral damage to sleeping or weakened opponents and 2HKOs, OHKOing anything that it's super-effective against.
First, the lead:
Smeargle @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Own Tempo
EVs: 252 HP / 6 Def / 252 Spd
Nature: Jolly (+Spd, -SpAtk)
- Spore
- Haze
- Heal Bell
- Destiny Bond
People are probably going to shoot me for this one, but it's probably the most useful member of my team. Choice Scarf, Jolly, and Max Speed are to ensure Smeargle can hit nearly every lead with Spore. The conspicuous lack of entry hazards, I think, is justified, because Spore generally negates the opponent's lead's attempts at doing the same and messes them up psychologically (especially since their overall strategy usually depends on the lead, and in case they try it later, there's always Starmie in the ranks. Most of the battles I've played are free of entry hazards other than the occasional Stealth Rock, which is quickly spun off. Haze is in case of BP teams with Ninjask leads that have greatly annoyed me in the past; if I see one of those, I switch out immediately. Heal Bell is to get rid of Registeel's Rest, allows me to stay in on Yawn and KO that annoying wannabe phazer, and in the odd case of Machamp or TTar getting burned. Lastly, Destiny Bond. I love this thing: it lets me net that really annoying ending kill. I usually use it to remove something I don't have a counter for, like Max Speed Breloom after Alakazam's been KO'd or a fully set-up sweeper. Smeargle can keep coming in and Sporing after I KO the sleeping lead or it wakes up, which makes it very useful for taking out non-Scarfed Scizor if Alakazam's been KO'd. Max HP to increase the chance Smeargle will survive to use Spore more than once or twice, which is important for me to take out the things I don't have counters for. The lack of offense moves doesn't faze me because I can always Destiny Bond anything I want to kill if I'm cornered.
Starmie @ Leftovers
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 158 HP / 252 Spd / 100 SpAtk
Nature: Timid (+Spd, -Atk)
- Surf
- Thunderbolt
- Grass Knot
- Rapid Spin
Starmie was appropriate on this team to provide Rapid Spin, but I think the real clincher for Starmie was its use as a cleanup sweeper (should Alakazam have been KOd.) Surf is there for STAB and good neutral damage, Grass Knot to take out that bloody annoying Swampert that my team will otherwise have to rely on Spore to beat without major loss, and Thunderbolt, obviously, for Gyarados and Whirlwinding Skarmory. I also use Starmie as a status absorber thanks to Natural Cure, though Heal Bell on Smeargle generally renders this unnecessary.
Tyranitar @ Life Orb
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 234 HP / 64 Atk / 24 Spd / 188 SpA
Nature: Rash (+SpA, - SpD)
- Earthquake
- Ice Beam
- Flamethrower
- Thunderbolt
MixTar's deadly not only as a lure for this team, but also as a generic sweeper. Flamethrower ensures Scizor, Forretress, and Skarmory are OHKO'd on the switch, especially the latter two who often try to switch in and wall. Earthquake is for coverage, and most Flying-types who try to switch in on its immunity are nailed by Ice Beam or Thunderbolt. The sandstorm helps me defeat Sashers and the occasional staller as well, as well as obviously boosting TTar's SpDef. TTar's defense and Attack don't need much boosting, they're naturally really high, so I added HP for the additional bulk and SpA to increase the punch of those moves, as they often really need to OHKO.
Registeel @ Leftovers
Ability: Clear Body
EVs: 252 HP / 6 Atk / 252 SpD
Nature: Careful (+SpD, -SpAtk)
- Explosion
- Seismic Toss
- Rest
- Counter
Most people say the problem with Registeel are its weakness to the two most common physical attacks. So why, might you ask, is SpDef maxed out? To resist fire, since the other two don't matter. This set uses the strength of Fighting- and Ground-type moves against them using Counter, which destroys opposing Machamp, Flygon, Heracross, etc. who try to switch in and cause Registeel pain. For anything that pisses me off and I don't have a Counter for, I explode, and though I don't use it much, I can always Rest and Recover. Seismic Toss is to make sure I can do damage to non-Ghosts and break Substitutes. Essentially, I use Registeel to sponge Toxic and take care of annoying physical threats, or wall and kill special ones with Seismic Toss or Explosion.
Machamp @ Leftovers
Ability: No Guard
EVs: 100 HP / 252 Atk / 6 Def / 152 SpA
Nature:
- DynamicPunch
- Stone Edge
- Fire Blast
- Payback
This thing is, plainly put, a monster. DynamicPunch rapes anything and everything that tries to switch into Machamp, even if they resist it, and confuses them to boot, except the ghosts, nearly all of whom are quicker and are OHKOd with Payback. Machamps base speed sucks so much that it doesn't hurt to further depress it, and in fact, making it slower makes increased Payback damage more likely, as Machamp as the bulk to take more hits. Fire Blast is to shock incoming Skarmory, Froslass, Forretress, Bronzong etc. who switch in hoping to wall Machamp, only to find themselves confused and then hit with a super-effective attack. The EVs ensure 2HKO of Skarmory and as much damage as possible to Bronzong, as well as OHKO of Forretress and Scizor if it's foolish enough to switch in. My usual plan is to use Spore with Smeargle and switch out to Machamp, who proceeds to confuse the sleeping lead, forcing a switch to the team's Ghost, which I OHKO with Payback and then spin away all entry hazards. Most games I play are entry hazard-free because of this. After the Ghost is down, I can DynamicPunch the hell out of pretty much everything else and use Registeel to absorb any super-effective attacks aimed at Machamp.
Alakazam @ Life Orb
Ability: Synchronize
EVs: 6 HP / 252 Spd / 252 SpAtk
Nature: Timid (+Spd, -Atk)
- Psychic
- Focus Blast
- Hidden Power Fire
- Shadow Ball
Alakazam is the finisher. Anything any of those guys can't take out, 'Kazam can. Life Orb + Sandstorm draining his health and the fact that he folds like paper if hit specially OR physically; nothing without a Scarf that isn't called Jolteon can touch it in the later stages of the game. Focus Blast and Hidden Power Fire destroy the Steel-types of OU, and Shadow Ball crushes any Ghosts that escape Machamp's payback. Once Metagross/Jirachi/Bronzong are put to sleep by Smeargle, HP fire is used to whittle away at their HP and usually 3HKO. Focus Blast annihilates Heatran, Lucario, Umbreon, Tyranitar, etc. and Psychic dishes out huge neutral damage to sleeping or weakened opponents and 2HKOs, OHKOing anything that it's super-effective against.
