The Supe Nazi
"Ah, the good 'ole days."
Intro
Well, Smogon Tour 12 is finally over and I've been knocked out of the DPP OU tournament hosted by ENZ0 and Steven Snype. I figured I'd post this team now as it's been something I've been working on since probably the middle of the summer. This will be my second RMT here on Smogon and I'm looking to make some final tweaks to this team as well before fully jumping into 5th gen. I do still enjoy DPP however and will probably continue to tweak and use this team as there are a LOT of ideas I've thought of that I haven't tried yet. These will be posted in the Considered Changes sections of this RMT for each member, but keep in mind that it's all theorymon right now and the changes I'm thinking about haven't really been tested yet. I doubt I will be using this for any future tournaments, however. Anyway, I wanted to get some suggestions from you guys first as well as tell me if you think my suggestions would be good for this team as I've kinda hit a crossroad. Before I introduce the members, though, I encourage you to read about the history of this team below. If you don't read it, just keep in mind the team members you see above are from the original team and is NOT the current team I have now, which is below.
History
It all started when I was lurking in the Giveaway section of the forums about a year or so ago, looking for the next big giveaway to participate in to get access to better Pokémon. I hadn't been playing for very long and the teams I had made thus far weren't very good. Then, a well-known Smogonite named Supe posted a giveaway celebrating his birthday. Basically, you had to build a team with the Pokémon he had in his trade thread and post it to the giveaway thread in RMT format. The team had to be good, but extra points were given if you were original and not gimmicky. I wanted to do an Ubers team, but I didn't know the metagame very well, so I went with building a DPP OU team. I didn't win the giveaway because I made the most unoriginal team ever(see above), but I was a runner-up and therefore, I won "half the team I built". I picked the Pokémon I didn't have and would be tough for me to get the exact sets for at the time: Gliscor, Jirachi, and Flygon. The rest was easy as I either already had them or I just had to EV train them. Thus, I affectionately named the team The Supe Nazi, after both Supe and a certain episode of Seinfeld (a great show btw).
This team goes down in my history as the first "good" team I ever built. It consisted of Lead Gliscor/Life Orb Starmie/Offensive Dragon Dance Gyarados/Calm Mind Wish Jirachi/Choice Scarf Flygon/Mixed Tyranitar. I still sucked at the time, but the team literally won games for me all by itself in it's inception, given the current metagame at the time(Salamence had JUST left the tier). It helped that around this time, my teambuilding skills were starting to develop a little bit. However, with the DPP OU metagame continuing to develop even after BW was released, the team itself became less effective, so I retired it while it was still "on top" so to speak. I recently decided to bring it out of retirement, but I knew it was in need of an overhaul. The old team was extremely weak to offensive Grass types such as Shaymin and (now) Celebi as well as offensive Water types if my Water resists went down. I looked at what the current metagame was, with a focus on popular lead combinations(Starmie/Metagross in particular). I also wanted to use a slightly different team building process as up until now, I'd been roughly following the one I learned in the 2010 Seminar from Kevin Garrett, which is what many people follow.
Teambuilding Process
"Ah, the good 'ole days."
Intro
Well, Smogon Tour 12 is finally over and I've been knocked out of the DPP OU tournament hosted by ENZ0 and Steven Snype. I figured I'd post this team now as it's been something I've been working on since probably the middle of the summer. This will be my second RMT here on Smogon and I'm looking to make some final tweaks to this team as well before fully jumping into 5th gen. I do still enjoy DPP however and will probably continue to tweak and use this team as there are a LOT of ideas I've thought of that I haven't tried yet. These will be posted in the Considered Changes sections of this RMT for each member, but keep in mind that it's all theorymon right now and the changes I'm thinking about haven't really been tested yet. I doubt I will be using this for any future tournaments, however. Anyway, I wanted to get some suggestions from you guys first as well as tell me if you think my suggestions would be good for this team as I've kinda hit a crossroad. Before I introduce the members, though, I encourage you to read about the history of this team below. If you don't read it, just keep in mind the team members you see above are from the original team and is NOT the current team I have now, which is below.
History
It all started when I was lurking in the Giveaway section of the forums about a year or so ago, looking for the next big giveaway to participate in to get access to better Pokémon. I hadn't been playing for very long and the teams I had made thus far weren't very good. Then, a well-known Smogonite named Supe posted a giveaway celebrating his birthday. Basically, you had to build a team with the Pokémon he had in his trade thread and post it to the giveaway thread in RMT format. The team had to be good, but extra points were given if you were original and not gimmicky. I wanted to do an Ubers team, but I didn't know the metagame very well, so I went with building a DPP OU team. I didn't win the giveaway because I made the most unoriginal team ever(see above), but I was a runner-up and therefore, I won "half the team I built". I picked the Pokémon I didn't have and would be tough for me to get the exact sets for at the time: Gliscor, Jirachi, and Flygon. The rest was easy as I either already had them or I just had to EV train them. Thus, I affectionately named the team The Supe Nazi, after both Supe and a certain episode of Seinfeld (a great show btw).
This team goes down in my history as the first "good" team I ever built. It consisted of Lead Gliscor/Life Orb Starmie/Offensive Dragon Dance Gyarados/Calm Mind Wish Jirachi/Choice Scarf Flygon/Mixed Tyranitar. I still sucked at the time, but the team literally won games for me all by itself in it's inception, given the current metagame at the time(Salamence had JUST left the tier). It helped that around this time, my teambuilding skills were starting to develop a little bit. However, with the DPP OU metagame continuing to develop even after BW was released, the team itself became less effective, so I retired it while it was still "on top" so to speak. I recently decided to bring it out of retirement, but I knew it was in need of an overhaul. The old team was extremely weak to offensive Grass types such as Shaymin and (now) Celebi as well as offensive Water types if my Water resists went down. I looked at what the current metagame was, with a focus on popular lead combinations(Starmie/Metagross in particular). I also wanted to use a slightly different team building process as up until now, I'd been roughly following the one I learned in the 2010 Seminar from Kevin Garrett, which is what many people follow.
Teambuilding Process
I had just got done tutoring under reachzero for BW OU during the time when Garchomp was still in the tier, when I got the idea to bring this out of retirement. Subsequently, what he taught me helped to further my teambuilding skills for DPP OU. 4th gen. is big on combinations, so I decided to start with two Pokémon that covered each other well as opposed to one single Pokémon and then building off of that. Calm Mind + Wish Jirachi was a given as it was my main sweeper on the old team, so I paired it with something that had perfect defensive synergy with it: Dragonite
Furthering my quest to defeat lead Starmie, I knew Uxie had natural bulk so it had to be slower than a lot of leads to get my switch-in to come in safely. At first, I was going to go with a simple ScarfTar, but then I wanted to employ a U-Turning strategy to this team(I had another somewhat embarrasing reason as well, which I will explain near the end). Scizor is the most powerful U-Turner out there, but the CB set is too slow and can fall to lead Starmie. So, I decided to go with the Choice Scarf set to outspeed and defeat it as well as many of Scizor's other checks.
The last two slots were the toughest to fill. I wanted another resistance for Uxie to pivot to since Choice Scarf Scizor isn't very bulky. At the same time, I wanted something else that could come in on Fire moves that would take some pressure off of Dragonite as well as another offensive threat. I decided on Heatran and reluctantly went with the Life Orb set. For the last slot, I wanted to try Curse Swampert out since Water/Ground is a great typing to have in this metagame, IMO. Specifically, I wanted something to cover Jolteon and Zapdos as well as other Electric types since I was running Flash Cannon on Jirachi.
I chose my favorite set: MixNite. The next thing I worked on was my lead combination. I saw Starmie/Metagross as the most popular combination and was trying to figure out a way to beat all lead Starmie while still doing well against other possible leads. I'm becoming the type of player where I put a lot of emphasis on a lead, to the point where I'd rather have a lead that does neutrally against every other lead than one that has a great matchup against some leads and epically fails against others. I was also looking at past DPP OU nomination/archive teams that used Calm Mind + Wish Jirachi to get some ideas in general for the team. Teams like Lucifer & The Biscuit Hammer (an AWESOME read, both the RMT and manga), Calamity Trigger and Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers were big influences in the teambuilding process. Most teams went with a variant of Azelf, but I decided to go with Uxie. However, I didn't go with the Dual Screen lead that Philip had as I didn't want to make a cookie cutter version of his team, but I went with a general Support set that could act as a pivot, status inducer and death fodder later in the game. I went with a specific set and EV spread that does well against other leads I had in mind which you will see later.
The last two slots were the toughest to fill. I wanted another resistance for Uxie to pivot to since Choice Scarf Scizor isn't very bulky. At the same time, I wanted something else that could come in on Fire moves that would take some pressure off of Dragonite as well as another offensive threat. I decided on Heatran and reluctantly went with the Life Orb set. For the last slot, I wanted to try Curse Swampert out since Water/Ground is a great typing to have in this metagame, IMO. Specifically, I wanted something to cover Jolteon and Zapdos as well as other Electric types since I was running Flash Cannon on Jirachi.
Through testing periods, most of the team remained the same. Heatran and Swampert's slots changed a lot however. I went through several different combinations including Life Orb Aerodactyl/Stallbreaker Gliscor with CurseTar (my team ended up way too weak to bulky Waters), changing Swampert to a Specially Defensive spread with Yawn, and then trying out Bluff Flygon in Swampert's place and going back to Life Orb Heatran, with that latest version dangerously close to Calamity Trigger. During this time, I realized I didn't have a solid way of dealing with Offensive Suicune and Starmie outside the lead spot. I also started to tighten up on my defenses by having multiple resistances and very few, if any, type weaknesses with the whole team intact. I also wanted a team that was virtually immune to Toxic Spikes. Life Orb Heatran was back on the squad, but I made one final change: switching Swampert's spot to Specially Defensive Quagsire(occupied by BluffGon at the time). With the final squad, I had several answers for the biggest threats in this metagame as well as having a resistance or immunity to EVERY type in the game.
And there you have it.
The Team
Navi - Uxie @ Lum Berry
Lead Strategy: I stole this from Faladran because, honestly, not much has changed...and I don't like ponies
Azelf - Azelf has too many possible sets now: Choice Band, Choice Scarf, Colbur Azelf, Life Orb, and Standard Focus Sash Lead. No need to mess around. Just U-Turn to scout which set it is and go to Scizor to U-Turn again. Choiced users will typically U-Turn turn 1 and if it does roughly half, you know it's Banded.
Machamp - Easy. I can't stand the fact that people still use this, but Uxie is tailor made to beat it. Psychic twice and you'll get the 2HKO thanks to Lum Berry in case they get cute and DynamicPunch off the bat. Their best bet is Payback, damage wise, which doesn't OHKO.
Aerodactyl - I haven't really faced these lately to be honest. The safest option is to just go for the 3HKO while they Taunt you, Stealth Rock and then hit you with a Rock Slide. Just hope you don't get flinch haxed. Every other possibilty either has your teammates get hurt or OHKO'd or you end up locking into Bullet Punch with Scizor, giving them a chance to set up on you(if they're leading with Aero, there's a good chance their team is very offensive).
Metagross - Typically I will Stealth Rock as they Stealth Rock, then U-Turn out to Heatran turn 2 as they Meteor Mash. Then I just blast them with either Fire Blast, predicting Gyarados or Dragonite, or the safer Earth Power. If they Explode turn 2, Heatran is severly crippled but you get a bulky Steel out of the way that can trouble Jirachi if it carried Earthquake. Quagsire can take Metagross on as well if you don't want to risk Heatran.
Swampert - Similar to Metagross, but on turn 2, I will actually Psychic as their best option is to Roar on turn 2. Ice Beam does nothing to Uxie(it does 40% to Gengar of all things), so if they do Ice Beam, it just gives me another turn to Psychic again. If they Roar me into Dragonite, I Draco Meteor. Heatran: Hidden Power Grass. Scizor: U-Turn back to Uxie. Jirachi: go back to Uxie until he Roars me into something good. Quagsire: Toxic.
Infernape - Attempt to Stealth Rock turn 1. If they Fake Out, I go for it again and then Psychic for the 2HKO since it's the standard suicide lead and the sooner Ape is gone, the better. If they don't Fake Out, there's a few options. If they Stealth Rock turn 1, I will actually Thunder Wave turn 2 as nowadays they could carry U-Turn and I go from there. If it's Scarfed, they will typically U-Turn turn 1, so I will typically Thunder Wave the switch-in depending on what it is(usually a trapper like Tyranitar or Scizor or a setup poke). I have seen so many players stay in with Ape however, so I just destroy it if that's the case.
Heatran - Tricky only because Choice Specs is still a possibility. Usually, I will switch directly to Dragonite as my own Heatran is too risky(I've never seen Specially Defensive Heatran used in the lead spot). They will always either Stealth Rock or go for Fire STAB, so I go for Superpower to force it out since I will outspeed. I've caught so many people with this strategy since they think my Dragonite is slower for some reason. If they Overheat turn 1, I will Roost predicting the switch as they will only 2HKO with Specs Overheat if they roll max damage twice. Unlikely.
Jirachi - Usually, I will just hard switch to Scizor since most of the time it's Scarfed. They'll either Trick or Iron Head and I go from there. Heatran is usually the next switch after that. I could go to it turn 1 instead of Scizor, but Trick is always possible. Even though having a second revenge killer in ScarfTran is good, you may need the power of Life Orb for unseen threats and this team is meant to scout first.
Roserade - I really haven't seen these, but this is one that is actually tough somewhat. Basically, something is going to sleep so I wouldn't bother with Psychic as Roserade is faster and you won't get the 2HKO in time. Also, a double U-Turn from Uxie and Scizor only OHKO's 60% of the time so that's risky as well(and if it's Scarf Roserade with HP bulk, forget it). Setting up Stealth Rock is honestly the best bet and just let Uxie snooze after that. Either Scizor or Heatran will be your safe switch-in: you just have to bait the Hidden Power to see which one it is.
Hippowdon - Another one I haven't really seen, thankfully. This is arguably the worst matchup if it's Specially Defensive and one of the reason why I'm considering a different spread on Dragonite(see below), although the extra damage I would do isn't much. Otherwise, I handle it similar to Swampert. If it's Specially Defensive, you are doing less damage with Psychic(15-20% max after Leftovers IIRC). The only thing Hippo can do after Stealth Rock is Roar. If they have Crunch, I just spam Psychic until Uxie dies as most likely I'm up against Stall, so everything is slow anyway aside from ScarfTar. Other that that I have to play around my opponent and either bring in Quagsire on a turn where they Slack Off to threaten Toxic or force them into a situation where my Heatran is in and they are at 53% or less as Fire Blast will OHKO from there. Sometimes you will get a luck break and they will switch out turn 1 thinking you are TrickScarf and usually ScarfTar is the switch-in. You can then paralyze it and get out, though you will be severely weakened.
Starmie - Easy. I U-Turn, letting Uxie take Hydro Pump and then go to Scizor to U-Turn again since it's Scarfed and, therefore, outspeeds. Dead Starmie most of the time and if they switch, I get switch advantage. I still have Quagsire to handle it later on if they do switch out. This team is well prepared for Starmie, which is something not many teams can say.
Dragonite - I know the power of this lead firsthand as I use it on one of my other teams(honestly, I feel partially responsible for it's recent resurgence, albeit a small one). Most actually carry Life Orb still(IMO Lum Berry is superior). That said, I will Stealth Rock turn 1 since Thunder Wave is risky due to the possibility of Lum Berry. Draco Meteor is their best chance to 2HKO Uxie which only happens roughly 40% of the time. If they are Quiet Nature with no speed(most of them are and Uxie outruns those), I will go to Heatran to bait the Earthquake or Superpower, then go to Dragonite who also outruns standard lead Dragonite and standard MixNite, threatening my own Draco Meteor.
Gliscor - This team doesn't like Gliscor, particularly the Stallbreaker set. If it's leading though, I always Psychic turn 1 as they will most likely Taunt. Then, I U-Turn to Dragonite as they Stealth Rock and threaten the OHKO with Draco Meteor to force it out. Usually, I will Fire Blast instead predicting their switch. From there, it's a matter of bringing in Heatran safely or keeping Dragonite alive to take it down later on.
Tyranitar - I've seen so many people use this as their lead, but have hardly ever faced them myself. I know that they can typically carry Payback and they aren't OHKO'd by lead Starmie IIRC, so I just U-Turn outright knowing I can take a Pursuit if they carry it and go to Scizor to threaten it. If they stay in, I get more damage since I'll outspeed and go from there. If they switch, I maintain switch advantage.
Skarmory - Taunt is usually standard on lead Skarm. I go to Heatran immediately as Spikes are somewhat annoying for this team and I can't give Skarm any openings to set them up. From there, I have to play Dragonite carefully as far as what moves I show(spamming Extremespeed if I have it) to try and bait Skarm back in for the Fire Blast or just never allow it to come back in period. Skarm is tough to handle in the hands of a good player.
Forretress - Same as Skarmory. It's tempting to get Stealth Rock up first turn, but keep in mind 2 layers of Spikes is pretty bad for this team; Scizor and Heatran in particular. It puts more pressure on Jirachi to try and heal.
- Levitate
- 252 HP / 160 Def / 96 SpA
- Relaxed Nature (+Def, -Spe)
- Moveset:
- Stealth Rock - Absolutely necessary on a lead like Uxie. It's common knowledge that Stealth Rock does 100-200% worth of damage throughout the course of one game. Think of it as potentially KO'ing 2 Pokémon just from Stealth Rock alone. It goes up immediately if possible since it cripples threats such as Gyarados, Zapdos, and Dragonite.
- U-Turn - An excellent pivot move on something as bulky as Uxie. U-Turn is the key to beating lead Starmie as well as faster leads carrying Taunt. Usually against Starmie, I will U-Turn immediately to Scizor after taking Hydro Pump damage. I then U-Turn again to finish Starmie off if they stay in. If they switch, I still maintain switch advantage and can go to a counter/check. Same thing goes for Azelf and anything else that commonly carries Taunt that outruns Uxie, although Choice Band Azelf U-Turn is a 2HKO in which case I will know the set turn 1. A great move to have overall for scouting and maintaining the advantage.
- Psychic - Psychic is here for one main purpose: Machamp. With 4 Special Attack EV's, it has an extremely high chance to clean 2HKO the standard lead Machamp, doing 98% minimum if I roll minimum damage twice. Outside of that, Psychic is decent STAB in general as Uxie does not hit very hard and the occasional Sp. Def drop can help tremendously, forcing switches. It also helps to deal with Infernape without risking Jirachi.
- Thunder Wave - Uxie is known for having Yawn to force switches until something goes to sleep. I was testing Yawn on the first version of this team, but didn't like the fact that once something went to sleep, Yawn was essentially useless. A smart opponent can play around Yawn and have their least useful Pokémon be used as sleep fodder depending on what's been revealed at the time, oftentimes being the Pokémon I didn't want asleep. I switched over to Thunder Wave in order to cripple key offensive threats I see during the course of a game that outspeed this team, namely Choice Scarfers not named Flygon. Outside of that though, this slot is pretty flexible although I honestly don't think Uxie could run anything else.
- About this Pokémon
The original lead, Gliscor, loses to a lot of stuff in the lead spot these days. I knew I would change this spot as soon as I decided to un-retire this team. I absolutely love leading with this. It's akin to Swampert as far as reliability, but IMO it performs better than lead Swampert does in this metagame. It has Levitate so it's unaffected by Spikes and Toxic Spikes and gives Uxie a Ground immunity, it sets up SR, it U-Turns to gain momentum and maintain it as well as controlling the tempo of the game and it's got STAB Psychic. I can say I'm never truly at a disadvantage with Uxie leading the squad, even in scenarios that look bad. I occasionally swap this with Colbur Azelf and both perform the lead role equally well for different reasons. Uxie has the bulk to survive at least until midgame, while U-Turning and crippling key Pokémon with paralysis via Thunder Wave. Azelf is more of an offensive threat and also has disruption via Taunt, although it is much frailer even with EV's invested in bulk. This Uxie is specifically designed to beat Machamp and Starmie leads, while doing well against everything else. The given EV's and nature look weird, but they make sure Uxie is as physically bulky as possible to take Pursuits from the likes of Tyranitar and Scizor as well as U-Turns from the latter. It also bolsters the Fighting resist against things like Infernape. After talking with a few people, they suggested an EV spread of 180 Def / 76 SpA with a Relaxed nature over the previous spread of max HP / max Def with a Quiet nature. The new spread is the superior one, giving me 15 more Defense and keeping the same Special Attack stat, but I decided to take it a step further and add 20 EV's to SpA to guarantee the 2HKO on Machamp instead of missing it 1% of the time. It still has 10 more Defense than the old spread. Anyway, Relaxed nature is to make sure Uxie is as slow as possible to take hits first, particularly against Starmie, then U-Turn out to something else that can come in safely(namely Scizor). 96 Special Attack EV's get the 2HKO on Lead Machamp. Lum Berry is there to heal any status from sleep leads as well as Machamp users that want to get cute and use DynamicPunch just for the confusion hax.
- Possible Changes
- Azelf - either Colbur if I want SR or Choice Band if I want Heatran with SR
- TrickScarf Uxie - IMO this is a more predictable set, so not really sure
- Celebi
- Crobat - either Stallbreaker or Probat aka Choice Band if I make Heatran the SR user
Lead Strategy: I stole this from Faladran because, honestly, not much has changed...and I don't like ponies
Muffin - Heatran @ Life Orb
- Flash Fire
- 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
- Timid (+Spe, -Atk)
- Moveset:
- Taunt - Pretty standard on Life Orb Heatran with the other option being Substitute, which I'm considering. Taunt shuts down any support Pokémon from aiding it's teammates. Blissey is a favorite switch-in for Heatran so it is Taunt's main victim. Suicune is another popular switch-in as well, so if I've seen Suicune already, I will usually catch it on the switch so it can't Calm Mind up, making Quagsire's job even easier. My favorite thing about Taunt is that if my opponent is using a last 'mon stat-up strategy such as CurseLax, if QuagTran is alive, they're gonna Struggle...literally(as long as I Encore the stat-up move). The combo is tough to pull off, so I don't rely on it. It's kind of something that is just "there", but is hilarious when it does work as my opponent suffers an embarrasing loss(as seen here).
- Hidden Power Grass - This is specifically to one-shot Swampert, although I can catch any bulky Water on the switch not named Gyarados as well. It definitely keeps my team from getting phazed around and makes Dragonite's job easier if Swampert is too high on HP for Draco Meteor to take it down.
- Earth Power - Standard coverage move on Life Orb Heatran. It's biggest boon is for other Heatran, although it can catch other Steel types weak to Ground as well. I have hardly ever caught other Heatran with this move though as it requires you to catch it on the switch or take a huge risk by staying in to win the speed tie. Ironically, you could argue there is less risk these days as the slower Specially Defensive Heatran is extremely popular, but it's a risk I'm usually not willing to take unless I'm certain of the set.
- Fire Blast - STAB move for this set and the move I usually spam as even bulky Waters that switch in take a decent amount of damage from it. The most consistent move Heatran can have from a damage standpoint.
- About this Pokémon
Life Orb Starmie used to be in this slot on the old team. Heatran has been kind of an oddball, however, and to this day I'm still thinking I can put better use to this slot. It's not so much because of Heatran itself because Heatran has great resistances and typing for this team. It's more because of the set I'm using. This is the standard Life Orb set with Taunt to cripple switch-ins such as Blissey as well as potentially blow holes in defensive Fire/Water/Grass cores. I really feel like Life Orb Heatran is filler in this team though, mainly because it lacks longevity and I honestly think I can use a better set, although I'm afraid the team will be too defensive if I choose something like Specially Defensive Heatran as this set can come in ready to do damage immediately.
- Possible Changes
- Shuca Berry Heatran - coincides with Uxie changes earlier(see above)
- Dugtrio - yeah...that's right. It stops Heatran, Tyranitar, Starmie, Infernape, Breloom and some other 'mons. The first two being the biggest sellers as they both hard counter Jirachi
- Mixed Infernape
- Specially Defensive Empoleon - possibly with SR
- Mixed Tyranitar
Kain - Dragonite @ Life Orb
- Inner Focus
- 116 Atk / 140 SpA / 252 Spe
- Naive Nature (+Spe, - SpD)
- Moveset:
- Draco Meteor - Standard STAB on MixNite and often is the opening move of the set as it dents nearly anything that comes in and the opponent is forced to switch around to try and predict MixNite's moves. My only beef is because of the spread I'm running, Draco Meteor just doesn't have the bite that the standard MixNite's has. I've had several games where I've missed crucial OHKOs and 2HKOs due to not running max Special Attack, but that is the sacrifice when you're running max Speed. It's either this or allow Blissey to live a Superpower.
- Fire Blast - Another standard for MixNite(well, the standard is actually Flamethrower but it doesn't have enough power for my tastes). Fire Blast is kind of my "safe" move to use if I don't want the Special Attack drop from Draco Meteor yet. This combined with STAB Draco Meteor offers great coverage, especially given the rest of the set. It keeps Steel types from setting up on me like Skarmory and Forretress. Even Heatran isn't completely safe because of the other coverage I have. It gets Grass types too, though Dragonite has to be more careful these days since Grass types are opting for Hidden Power Ice over Fire to cover Dragonite and Flygon.
- Superpower - Standard move on MixNite. It's main purpose is to one-shot all Blissey, although Earthquake can have some merit here as well since Dragonite no longer needs to compete with Salamence. It also allows Dragonite to not be forced out as much due to stat drops. I personally like Fighting coverage better as Ground can miss against several Pokémon whereas Fighting will only miss Ghost types such as Rotom-A and Gengar. Both Fighting and Ground cover virtually the same things, anyway.
- Extremespeed/Roost - This slot I am struggling with a bit. Neither one has been permanent for me. The general rule is that Extremespeed is better used against offensive teams and Roost is better against stall. If I use this team for WiFi, I go with Extremespeed since stall is nearly non-existant there. I have tested both on PO and recently Extremespeed hasn't pulled it's weight(probably due to the teams I was facing after climbing the ladder a bit) and there are less situations where I've needed it. I switched to Roost to take some pressure off of Jirachi and overall, that has done well for me save for a few scenarios where I wish I had priority.
- About this Pokémon
The second Pokémon I chose for this team. This slot used to be occupied by Offensive DD Gyarados on the old team. I chose the MixNite set for a few reasons: MixNite is already a huge threat in this metagame, but when combined with Wish support from something like Jirachi, it becomes an ever bigger problem since it's longevity is increased and it's SR weakness is virtually negated. I used to go with the standard spread, but I was tired of max Speed Heatrans coming in and using Explosion on me. I was also tired of Adamant Lucario outrunning me, so I opted for a different EV spread. I now use max Speed with Naive nature similar to MixMence. I would run Hasty, but I wanted to have as much insurance as possible against Fighting attacks such as Infernape's Close Combat. The EV's allow me to outrun all non-Scarfed Heatran and all Adamant Lucario and get the jump on them before Dragonite even gets scratched. I've caught more than my fair share of opponents off guard with this spread.
- Possible Changes
- 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe EV spread - really to give Draco Meteor it's power back in exchange for not OHKO'ing Blissey
- Earthquake > Superpower - for reasons stated above(see Superpower description), but again...Blissey
- Rain Dance Mixed Kingdra
- Zapdos - either Agility or standard Life Orb
Third Eye - Jirachi @ Leftovers
- Serene Grace
- 252 HP / 220 Def / 36 Spe
- Bold Nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Moveset:
- Calm Mind - Required since this is Calm Mind + Wish Jirachi after all. The ability to alternate between this and Wish is what makes this set so dangerous, virtually eliminating critical hits(but unfortunately, not status). This sequence does especially well against stall. I just have to make sure Heatran and Tyranitar are out of the picture before sweeping, so I try to hide Calm Mind if I can until the time is right.
- Wish - Also required for the same reasons stated above. Combos very well with Calm Mind and getting to +6 against stall is fairly common once phazers are out of the way(and if they aren't, they wont like boosted Psychics and Thunderbolts as they phaze me out). Also supports Dragonite, but can support other teammates, especially ones that don't share it's weaknesses such as Quagsire and Uxie.
- Thunderbolt - Standard coverage move for this Jirachi set. This is also my main answer to Gyarados who, outside of this, I have to maintain constant pressure on to beat. Electric has good neutral coverage in general, particularly in this metagame. Probably won't change this slot unless there's a very good reason.
- Psychic - General STAB for Jirachi. I used to run Flash Cannon to cover Celebi and Tyranitar, but Infernape and other Fighting types were actually becoming issues, despite having Dragonite and Uxie and were more dangerous when either one was down. So I switched to Psychic to get the drop on them, OHKO'ing Ape although Ape does a number to Jirachi before going down unless I have a Wish in the air prior. I try not to bring Jirachi in directly and make the Ape player come in on me instead. The other reason why I switched is because I have Scizor for Tyranitar and Celebi, but I may go back to Flash Cannon depending on the changes that are made.
- About this Pokémon
The only slot that hasn't changed. This is the set everyone knows: Calm Mind + Wish Jirachi. The biggest reason I love this set is because it does well against all team styles. It can support it's teammates with Wish against offense(namely Dragonite) and it performs very well against stall, setting up and beating stall's own counters to Jirachi(aka Blissey). Heatran, Tyranitar, and Infernape are Jirachi's biggest issues, though. I went with the standard spread and it's something I've gotten very comfortable with. The bulk on this thing is amazing to the point where I can use it as a light counter to Gyarados. The only way Gyarados will beat Jirachi is if it's an offensive variant AND it has to Earthquake to catch it on the switch, in which case it's a 2HKO. If they switch thinking something is fishy, usually SR is already up and between that and constant pressure from Heatran(another reason why I spam Fire Blast as Gyara LOVES to come in on Heatran), Gyara is hard pressed to do any real damage before going down. Offensive Gyarados is very rare these days anyway and people would rather use Bulky Gyara, who commonly doesn't carry Earthquake(even if it does, it's a pathetic 3HKO at best when unboosted). This is the only slot I will not change.
- Possible Changes
- Flash Cannon > Psychic - see above
Quina - Quagsire @ Leftovers
- Water Absorb
- 252 HP / 56 Def / 200 SpD
- Sassy Nature (+SpD, -Spe)
- Moveset:
- Toxic - Standard on this set. With Recover, I'm able to Toxic stall other bulky Waters and anything else non-threatening that's affected by Toxic and doesn't carry Taunt. Also puts setup pokes on a timer. My only issue is that Grass types are a common switch-in to this thing. It's not because they hit for super-effective damage(I have four 'mons that resist Grass), but it's because the main answer to them, Toxic, is usually nullified although it does put some of them on a timer so they can't stay in. Celebi and Shaymin have Natural Cure, Roserade is immune to Toxic, and Breloom, the most common switch-in, actually HEALS from it with Poison Heal. I am thinking of switching to Ice Punch just to catch these guys on the switch as they are the switch-in 90% of the time.
- Encore - This move is so amazing. It probably fits better on a team with more setup pokes, but it disrupts setup Pokémon not named Gyarados so well and forces the switch. Also messes up Substitute users since Encore goes right through them, buying me some time. This move is key to the QuagTran combo on last Pokémon setups as well for reasons I stated above. This is also a reason why I have so many resistances on this team: if I Encore an attack, I will have options to go to and move accordingly.
- Earthquake - STAB move for Quagsire and also happens to be her strongest attack. Good against grounded Steel types and Electric types not named Zapdos to force them out, but Agility Metagross comes to mind in particular as it helps Quagsire to beat it.
- Recover - Pokémon that have a move to heal itself is always a good thing and HGSS blessed Quagsire with this move. It allows Quagsire to Toxic stall in the first place and is essential for outlasting other Water types such as Starmie, Suicune, and even Swampert. Recover is pretty much standard for any Quagsire now as is Encore, especially for OU play.
- About this Pokémon
I must thank LizardMan for this set. The earlier builds of this team struggled with Life Orb Starmie outside the lead spot and Suicune in general. I always had to play around them to beat them and that usually involved saccing a team member to do so(and many times I ended up just checking them, which isn't good enough). On the original team, I had Scarf Flygon in this spot who also ended up just checking Starmie in the end without actually beating it. I was also looking for something to cover Electric types like Zapdos and Jolteon. I've tried CursePert, CurseTar, BluffGon, and Specially Defensive Swampert here as well to no avail. I finally gave Quagsire a whirl and it has not disappointed. One of the few, and maybe only, hard counters to Starmie and Suicune(In hindsight, I might actually be overprepared for Starmie). Life Orb Starmie barely 3HKO's Quag and Suicune isn't doing anything without boosts, which is a bad scenario for it since I carry Encore and Toxic with Recover. CroCune is COMPLETELY walled by this as well as Rapid Spin Starmie without Ice Beam due to Water Absorb. Quagsire is the second part of the infamous "QuagTran" combo as well, Encoring last stat-up pokes on their boosting move and then sending in Heatran to Taunt it for an embarrasing death. This thing has worked great for me and would be tough to change, although there is one 'mon I would switch it to which I will list below.
- Possible Changes
- Rotom-W - if nothing else, for ladder play as it does just as good a job as Quagsire does and gives me a solid Gyara check....but, God I hate the thing as it's on EVERY team now.
Bayonetta - Scizor @ Choice Scarf
Conclusion
Well, that's it. Boy was that a lengthy one. I hope you guys enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it. Threat list will possibly come later on, but don't be afraid to rate this now. It's been fun with this team and I will continue to tweak it, but it's time to move on to other ideas. I'm never good at ending things, so don't just sit there. Rate away.
Importable
- Technician
- 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
- Jolly Nature (+Spe, -Atk)
- Moveset:
- Bullet Punch - Standard for any Scizor now. It doesn't have the raw power that the Choice Band set has, but it's still pretty good for picking off weakened opponents and is the only priority I carry if I'm not running Extremespeed on Dragonite. It still packs some punch thanks to STAB and Technician.
- Pursuit - My alternative for dealing with Starmie, although I'd rather U-Turn against that so as not to give something like Lucario a free setup. The biggest reason for Pursuit though is to get the jump on Ghost-types like Gengar and Rotom-A. I do need more damage on them already than usual though since, again, Choice Scarf trades power for speed. Scizor's Pursuit still rivals Tyranitar's as far as damage output goes, thanks to Technician.
- U-Turn - THE greatest move on this set. This is what allows Choice Scarf Scizor to do what it does and IMO, it utilizes U-Turn better than Choice Band Scizor can as this is the move Scizor should be abusing through most of the game anyway. This is they key component to my scouting and pivot game, especially when combined with a slow U-Turner like Uxie. Things like Starmie and Azelf get a quick circle jerk from those two and they're gone.
- Superpower - I rarely use it, but it has a specific purpose on Choiced Scizor. Excellent move towards the mid to late game. Catches any Heatran that isn't Scarfed and blows right through Tyranitar if it has nowhere to go. Also can catch Magnezone if I've seen it already and the coast is clear(meaning I won't get set up on if I lock into it).
- About this Pokémon
This. Thing. ROCKS! Choice Scarf Scizor is almost solely responsible for the pivot game and for general scouting on this team. It also happens to surprisingly be the fastest member on this team as without it, this team is pretty slow. I love U-Turning on lead Starmie with Uxie, going to this guy to give the opponent the false sense of security that I'm Choice Banded and therefore slower, only to find out I outspeed and OHKO one of the biggest offensive threats in DPP OU by turn 2. I don't even care if they know I'm Scarfed at that point and if they do switch thinking something is up, I still get switch advantage and, depending on who I'm playing, they still don't know for sure if I'm Scarfed or not. Anyway, Choice Scarf Scizor outspeeds everything up to base 120 speed that isn't carrying a Scarf themselves thanks to max Speed and a Jolly nature. I was actually going to use ScarfTar here, but Scizor became my excuse for being lazy and not breeding a good ScarfTar on my actual game cartridge(go ahead, laugh :-/ ). I tried it and it was awesome! This plays a lot differently than Choice Band Scizor. U-Turn is one of the best moves to use early game with a Choiced poke and Choice Band Scizor really can't afford to be locked into anything else w/o knowing the opponent's entire team. This is what makes using Choice Band really sad as you can't even unlock it's full power with Bullet Punch safely until late game. Trapping with Pursuit can also be dangerous. So I figured why not abuse U-Turn, the best early game move on a set that is meant to scout first to weaken counters as opposed to dishing out big damage. I still may switch to ScarfTar(I have a good one now ;-/ ) to still trap Starmie and get residual damage going with Sand Stream.
- Possible Changes
- Scarf Tyranitar - for reasons stated above. It would also let me do "better" against Zapdos by checking it, although I haven't particularly struggled with Zapdos.
Conclusion
Well, that's it. Boy was that a lengthy one. I hope you guys enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it. Threat list will possibly come later on, but don't be afraid to rate this now. It's been fun with this team and I will continue to tweak it, but it's time to move on to other ideas. I'm never good at ending things, so don't just sit there. Rate away.
Importable
Uxie @ Lum Berry
Trait: Levitate
EV's: 252 HP / 160 Def / 96 SAtk
Relaxed Nature (+Def, -Spd)
- Stealth Rock
- U-Turn
- Psychic
- Thunder Wave
Heatran (M) @ Life Orb
Trait: Flash Fire
EV's: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spe, -Atk)
- Taunt
- Hidden Power [Grass]
- Earth Power
- Fire Blast
Dragonite (M) @ Life Orb
Trait: Inner Focus
EV's: 116 Atk / 140 SAtk / 252 Spd
Naive Nature (+Spd, -SDef)
- Draco Meteor
- Fire Blast
- Superpower
- Roost
Jirachi @ Leftovers
Trait: Leftovers
EV's: 252 HP / 220 Def / 36 Spe
Bold Nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Calm Mind
- Wish
- Thunderbolt
- Psychic
Quagsire (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: Leftovers
EV's: 252 HP / 56 Def / 200 SDef
Sassy Nature (+SDef, -Spd)
- Toxic
- Encore
- Earthquake
- Recover
Scizor (F) @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Technician
EV's: 252 Atk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Bullet Punch
- Pursuit
- U-Turn
- Superpower
Trait: Levitate
EV's: 252 HP / 160 Def / 96 SAtk
Relaxed Nature (+Def, -Spd)
- Stealth Rock
- U-Turn
- Psychic
- Thunder Wave
Heatran (M) @ Life Orb
Trait: Flash Fire
EV's: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spe, -Atk)
- Taunt
- Hidden Power [Grass]
- Earth Power
- Fire Blast
Dragonite (M) @ Life Orb
Trait: Inner Focus
EV's: 116 Atk / 140 SAtk / 252 Spd
Naive Nature (+Spd, -SDef)
- Draco Meteor
- Fire Blast
- Superpower
- Roost
Jirachi @ Leftovers
Trait: Leftovers
EV's: 252 HP / 220 Def / 36 Spe
Bold Nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Calm Mind
- Wish
- Thunderbolt
- Psychic
Quagsire (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: Leftovers
EV's: 252 HP / 56 Def / 200 SDef
Sassy Nature (+SDef, -Spd)
- Toxic
- Encore
- Earthquake
- Recover
Scizor (F) @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Technician
EV's: 252 Atk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Bullet Punch
- Pursuit
- U-Turn
- Superpower
