Offense (OU RMT)

[flashbolt]

ive tested this team alittle bit with mixed success. The idea, as i get quite bored of long stall battles, was to create a team which sets up and sweeps as quick as possible. In that way i could hopefully fill my team with enough threats that would decimate opposing teams. Unfortunatly it hasnt quite worked (if it had, do you think id be asking for advice?). A factor in the lack of success may be that i dont make many OU teams (favouring the UU metagame). Here goes;

Swampert (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Torrent
EVs: 252 HP/6 Atk/252 Def
Impish nature (+Def, -SAtk)
- Stealth Rock
- Avalanche
- Earthquake
- Roar

I quite like my Electrode lead, something i promoted from my UU team. Taunt is very useful to stop SR leads and sleep moves. TWave can cripple the more offensive leads and focus sash gives me some margin for error. I can see whose faster and react appropriately. Can often kill something with TBolt (+para hax abuse) or Explosion and Static seems to activate surpringly often. Usually a suicide lead but can come back in later game for revenge kill. Problem with priority leads (Infernape).

Electrode has been replaced by Swampert on the advice of those who have posted. It has benefitted my team by better dealing with common leads such as Metagross. Though i do miss TWave crippling Metagross and Azelf, this is mostly because i fear my team becoming too standard. I seem to be playing Swampert quite suicidally at the moment because i still fear switching to my sweepers as life orb/SR and taking one hit really racks up. If i can get a switch to Skarmory i will take it, Swampert can be useful later coming in on Heatran.

Gyarados (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 4 HP/252 Atk/252 Spd
Jolly nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Dragon Dance
- Ice Fang
- Waterfall
- Stone Edge

Could be called the centrepiece of my team. Rhyperior and Jolteon provide nice resistances where Gyara lacks. Can sometimes find his way in early game with immunity to ground moves that electrode attracts. Intimidate makes him a useful switch into Infernape (particularly if Skarmory has just taken the fake out). Usually a late game sweeper.

Rhyperior (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Solid Rock
EVs: 252 Atk/252 Spd/4 SDef
Jolly nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Rock Polish
- Stone Edge
- Megahorn
- Earthquake

Rock Polish surprises alot of people (oddly). Megahorn is a very useful KO on Celebi who can otherwise cause my team alot of aggro and seems to be confident to switch into this guy quite alot. Unfortunatly, like alot of opponents, i cant counter Celebi as such.

Jolteon (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Volt Absorb
EVs: 4 Def/252 Spd/252 SAtk
Timid nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Charge Beam
- Thunderbolt
- Shadow Ball
- Hidden Power [Ice]

Works well with Gyara and Skarmory attracting alot of Electric attacks and in turn covering the ground attacks Jolteon attracts. Jolteon provides some instant power as opposed to the abundant setup. Oddly he surprises many Magnezone who come in for Skarmory by 2HKOing with TBolt. Now that Jolteon has Life Orb it misses out on the 2HKO on Magnezone, life orb has generally benefitted my team though i barely use charge beam.

Skarmory (M) @ Shed Shell
Ability: Keen Eye
EVs: 252 HP/64 Atk/176 Def/16 Spd
Impish nature (+Def, -SAtk)
- Brave Bird
- Roost
- Spikes
- Whirlwind

Well i had to have something defensive. This guy has in many ways become vital to my team. He sets up SR which is vital to my sweeping he can wall many physical threats such as physcial Metagross, physical Tyranitar and Heracross. Brave Bird is the attack of choice because i usally play Skarmory suicidally. After SR i Roost/Whirlwind to scout teams and identify threats to my sweeps. As i dont much like letting my sweepers get hit i can let this guy be death fodder or can let him absorb status.

Empoleon (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Torrent
EVs: 24 HP/232 Spd/252 SAtk
Modest nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Agility
- Surf
- Ice Beam
- Grass Knot

Added to my team for some more special attack, useful resistances helps him set up an Agility and kill as much as he can. Simple.

Threats to my team:
most threats i can struglle and beat by forcing them to switch out and later KOing them as part of a sweep (at high expense to my team) but ones that cause me particular problems; (feel free to add if you think ive left some off)
-Priority moves in general, undermine my sdeed boosts, i have none on my own team, something i would liek to change but can't really find space for.
-Breloom; i try to get electrode/skarmory to take the sleep and bring in gyara to scare him off/ wear him down with ice moves
-Flygon. This is my biggest weakness and seems to get me alot. When scarfed he is too fast to let me set up and can OHKO all my sweepers.
-Latias. another big problem. I hope for SR/ rhyperior megahorn/jolteon to rack up enough damage.
-Rotom. especially Rest/Talk, i have nothing that can land SE hits on it and rely on building up damage.

 

[bartozio]

I'm not very experienced with electrode leads, but I suggest giving him some more speed IV's, as this way, he can't outspeed max speed 110+ base speed leads like jmpluff, azelf, crobat and aerodactyl. to outspeed those as well, you will need 176 speed ev's to outspeed a max speed aerodactyl or crobat.
You could get those out his attack stat, as explosion will do massive damage anyway.
Also, you have one suicidale lead, three set-up sweepers, one deffensive poke and one choice user.
since your elektrode is not ment to last long, that leaves you with three pokemon who need to set up, and two to give you that time.
I'm not very experienced with these kind of things, but i would use some more choice users, or supportive pokemon if I were you.
One wall can be enough on a team like this, but skamory isn't realy the right guy for this. it's better to use something that can take hits from both sides, like shucle or dusknoir.
I also don't see the point of baton pass on jolteon. It's weird on him without something to pass anyway, but with a coice specs?
Hope you can use this.

 

[flashbolt]

i use the baton pass to scout counters, particularly dugtrio which comes in for an easy kill on a choiced jolteon otherwise. but im willing to change as i rarly use it, shadow ball as an alternative?
ill change the speed EVs
does anyone else have recommendations for my wall? i do quite like the SR/roost/whirlwind. im willnig to try a change.

 

[~Golden Emp]

Ever tried the Rest-Talk DDBulkyGyara set? It can act as a status absorber, and as a wall, and it is damn good xD

 

[Bloo]

Alright, I'll adress some concerns first. You have three Ground weaknesses which can be part of the problem as to why Pokemon such as Dragon Dance Salamence or the Flygon you mentioned hurt your team. It will be a good idea to reduce the amount of Ground weaknesses that you have. Secondly, Rotom formes can be quite a problem as well since it can kill Skarmory, Empoleon, and Gyarados with ThunderBolt and can Will-O-Wisp Rhyperior, making its attacks weak. Jolton and Electrode cannot do anything as well, however, if you change one move on Jolteon's moveset, you'll be able to combat Rotom formes more effectively. So starting with Jolteon, use Shadow Ball over Signal Beam. What is Signal Beam hitting? It is mainly used to kill Celebi with a OHKO. Shadow Ball 2HKOes Celebi while said Celebi does little damage to you with Grass Knot. Shadow Ball will still allow you to hit Phychic-types such as Cresselia, Latias, Celebi, Alakazam, etc. Shadow Ball, however, provides you with a move that can deal large amounts of damage to Rotom formes, a Pokemon that troubles your team.

Now, I can see Flygon filling Rhyperior's role more effectively. Flygon will give you a fast revenge killer that can easily come in on its many resistances and can start attacking with its strong STAB moves of Earthquake and Outrage without needing to set up. Flygon also provides you with another Ground immunity, making it a lot easier for your to take Ground attacks. Flygon can revenge kill the Latias and Breloom that you hate as well if said Breloom is not under a Substitute. However, if it is under a Substitue, you can just break the Substitute with U-turn and as it Focus Punches, go to a Fighting resist in Gyarados and Ice Fang since you will outspeed most Breloom. Outrage/U-turn will take care of Latias while a Fire move such as Fire Blast can help against Brelooom. Flygon also retains the synergy with Gyarados that Rhyperior had. Give Flygon a try with Choice Scarf, Earthquake, U-turn, Outrage, Fire Blast, 80 HP / 252 Atk / 176 Spe, Adamant. Earthquake is for STAB and gets a super effective hit on Pokemon such as Tyranitar, Metagross, Infernape, etc. Outrage is also for STAB and can take care of Dragon-types. U-turn is a great move for scouting and is an excellent move on Flygon. Fire Blast is for Steel types such as Skarmory.

To have more of a cushion against big threats such as Salamence and others, I think it is best to replace Electrode. Threats such as Salamence can be quite a pain for your team if it is a Dragon Dancer or a mixed sweeper. It can hit every Pokemon on your team barring Gyarados super effectively with a set of Earthquake/Outrage/Fire Blast/Dragon Dance or Draco Meteor. Salamence can set up on your Jolteon locked into a Signal Beam and can get a Dragon Dance in by scaring Skarmory away with Fire Blast. If it is a mixed sweeper, not many Pokemon on your team will enoy taking its atatcks. So, what Pokemon can you have on this team to set up Stealth Rock and still be able to help against Salamence? The Pokemon I have in mind is Swampert. Thanks to Swamperts durability, it can easily set up Stealth Rock in most situations. Swampert also gives your team a check to Salamence since Swampert can survive a +1 DD Outrage and OHKO Salamence back with Ice Beam. Swampert excels at countering Heatran, Bulky Ground types such as Rhyperior, etc. I also suggest that you use Swampert as your lead over Electrode. As a lead, Swampert functions excellently due to Swampert's ability to take on the majority of leads that are common in todays metagame such as Heatran, Jirachi, Infernape, Aerodactly, Hippowdon, Metagross, etc. Electrode is not the best lead to be using on your team since it has trouble with Swampert, Tyranitar, Metagross, Infernape, etc. It also has a firly weak Explosion and ThunderBolt. If you decide to use Swampert, the set I suggest you use is Stealth Rock, Avalanche, Earthquake, Roar, Leftovers, Impish, 252 HP/252 Defense/ 6 Attack. Stealth Rock is there to limit the amount of times danegrous sweepers to your team such as the aforementioned Salamence can come in and reak havoc. Earthquake is there for STAB and to allow Swampert to hit Steel types such as Metagross and Jirachi super effectively. Avalanche allows Swampert to take on Dragons and hit incoming Grass types such as Celebi on the switch-in. It also gets a hard hit on Latias, a Pokemon you mentioned troubles you. Roar can be used to get rid of threats that are giving you a hard time. Overall, Swampert will help you more with the Flygon and various other threats that you hate.

If you do decide to try Swampert, you can give Skarmory Spikes over Stealth Rock to aid your sweepers have an easier time killing. Spikes will add to the residual damage that your opponent will be taking each time they switch-in unless they are immune to Spikes. Here are my final ideas since I have so many. I was possibly thinking of a Rotom forme over Empoleon. It helps even more with Breloom, Flygon and other threats that trouble you and gives you another Ground immunity. Rotom can use the Special Attacks that you are looking for in that final spot and can block Pokemon from Rapid Spinning your entry hazards away. It has great typing and offers great immunities and resistances. Rotom also does pretty well against users of priority moves such as Scizor and Mamoswine. So, Rotom basically adds to helping solve the teams problems that you listed. Another idea I had was making Jolteon a Life Orb Charge Beam version. If you use the Choice Scarf Flygon I suggested over Rhyperior, it will be best to have Jolteon have freedom in choosing attacks. With a Charge Beam boost, it has the power of Choice Specs, however, it is not locked into one move. The set can be found here.

 

[flashbolt]

Thanks alot all of you for posting
I have taken alot of your advice and am testing other aspects.
Amendments are in Red
Outdated Info is in Green
Please keep giving advice as i dont think the team has reached its potential.
Atm i am considering Flygon and Rotom (any advice on which Rotom is best?) but instead of Empoleon i am thinking about replacing Skarmory with Rotom, in tune with the Offensive theme. feel free to put me in my place if im being stupid...

 

[bartozio]

It's not that stupid to replace skamory, but if you can't keep swampert alive, having a deffensive pokemon to take a hit when a sweep fails is recommended.
About the rotom forms, all the other forms have the same stats, and are more deffensively then the normal form. the normal one is faster, but it's speed is still not that great. I recommend a other form, as they take hits better, and the loss of speed won't hurt you that much. There attack is better as well, so they will hit harder. I'd go with the heat form for overheat if I where you, since it gets a good hit at some annoying steel types you might get to face (like metagross, jirachi and steelix).

 

[Revolution.Z]

Ok cool team.
Firstly calculate if your rhyperior and empoleon hit 395 after a rock polish/agillity because thats really the key number as it outspeeds everything not scarfed in the Standard tier. If you find you have more than that after the polish/alli lower the ev spread and invest in HP or defenses to give more bulk i find this check for DD/agillity/polish users is very useful.
Jolteon...wow pretty much useless on ur team. Specs it or chuck it. With absolutely no coverage and I can see your obviously struggling for a good moveset it should be seriously considered to be changed for a evire if you still want to use gyara as a sort of a lure. Rhyperior has many problems setting up. With incredible amounts of weakness even with solid rock. Scarfers could be a big problem and sashers for that matter. Gyara far too standard. Try sub over a move to scout and get the guaranteed DD up. Life orb is somewhat reckless on a gyara that fragile. Lefties and a different spread could be better check out gyaras smogon sets for some ideas especially bulky gyara.

The fact you use four LO's on your team is somewhat shocking. Hail/sandstorm could ruin you and stall teams with healing moves will also give you a hard time.

And pert omg maybe the best SR set up but incredibly useless after. Spinners/Taunters are guaranteed to ruin you. Way too common and exspected in the standard tier.

Oh and try a petya set on empoleon so much more effective.

kinda unique team but i have worries about your abillity to sweep with those pokemon.

Good luck

SF(strategy focus)

 

[bartozio]

counted it out for you, and empoleon reaches over 395 after a single agility, and so does gyrados after a dragon dance. Ryperior almost gets it after a rock polish (it's only 392). But not all base 130 pokemon carry max speed, and else your other pokes can still take care of them. good luck with your team.