An OU Team from a UU Trainer

[3.14kachu]

Before, I had been solidly grounded in UU, and not too many people respected me for it. 90% or more of the teams that I had rated were OU, but I had no reputation for designing OU teams of my own. Now, it’s time to prove that I can conquer OU. This is my ultimate team, the culmination of everything I have ever learned about 5th Gen Competitive Pokémon Battle!

Don’t get me wrong, I like UU better. Most likely, I will never make an OU team again. Still, after looking at multiple teams that all of you have posted and thinking to myself, “how would I beat that?” I have made a team that counters most of the strategies I see in OU. Here are the goals of the team:

-It needs to counter Rain Teams, Sun Teams, Sandstorm Teams, and Trick Room Teams.
-Every type needs to be resisted by 2 different pokémon.
-No more than 2 pokémon can be weak to any given type.
-It needs to be able to withstand damage while also having powerful sweepers.

After much deliberation, I came up with this:

Spoiler: Team Building; read please!

Team Building:

I started with Whimsicott, which I had planned to use Memento to give a good Dragon Dance opportunity to a Salamence. I wanted Salamence for Moxie, but later changed it to Dragonite so that Multiscale would allow it an extra Dragon Dance.

Heatran was the logical next step. It was resistant to everything that threatened Dragonite, and Dragonite resisted all of its weaknesses in return. Heatran was also a great special defensive sweeper, while Dragonite was the opposite: fast and physical. They were a flawless combination.

Excadrill came next, to be the counter to Sandstorm teams. I later swapped him out when I found a much better counter.

Metagross was supposed to be my ultimate sandstorm counter. I would have given it Ice Punch for Gliscor and Hammer Arm for Tyranitar. I didn’t realize that Air Balloon Heatran made a pretty good counter itself, and with Dragonite to help, and he wasn’t really needed. For a time, though, I thought of putting him on the team.

I added Lapras as a bulky counter to Rain Teams. I had a great idea that involved Perish Song and Whirlpool, which Lapras could pull off due to its bulk and its ability Hydration, which could awaken it after every Rest in rain.

When I reviewed my goal of having every type resisted twice, I settled on Celebi to give me the Ground, Electric, and Fighting resistances I needed.

The completed team was full of holes. It didn’t double-resist Ghost, Dark, and Rock, and Whimsicott was a waste of team space. I chose Espeon as my more effective lead, which still had the role of preventing the foe from laying down hazards, and giving the other pokémon switch-ins with no risk of getting statused.

Now there were too many Psychic types, and I realized that I needed to replace Metagross with something that resisted Electric, Ghost, and Dark. Magnezone seemed a perfect fit, and it helped that it could deal with the Steel types that threaten Dragonite. I also took out Celebi, as it could not deal with the Rock moves that threatened the team.

I now needed something resistant to Ground, Rock, and Electric, so I picked one of my favorite pokemon, Breloom. I wish Breloom was weaker, so that I could use him in UU, because this is a seriously awesome pokémon. I mean, honestly, it’s a mushroom warrior!

At this point, I had a great idea. Drizzle and Swift Swim is banned, but not if the opponent sets up Drizzle. If I had a Swift Swim sweeper, it would ensure that it would be faster than any pokémon on an opposing rain team, because they would never have a Swift Swimmer. Thus, Swift Swim pokémon make excellent rain team counters. I picked Kingdra, which is so awesome in Rain that it is probably the source of the ban. I gave it Outrage, which I was too wary to give my Dragonite, so that the opponent would switch up a Steel-type, to be taken out by Magnezone.

And the team was complete. I double-checked my goals, and every one of them was accomplished.
___________________________

Now for the more recent changes. After some comments for this RMT, I realized that Espeon wasn't a very useful lead, unable to deal with set-up sweepers like Thundurus. Instead, I opted for Latios, which has the power and speed to annihilate most leads or at least cause some switching. I decided to do a non-Scarf Latios so that it could adapt to any switch-in that came up. It also allowed it to use Memento, so, in a way, my original Whimsicott idea was achieved.

Now the team was too Dragon-weak, and Ice-weak, which meant that both Kingdra and Breloom had to go (I couldn't get rid of Dragonite, it's too awesome). Kingdra hadn't covered anything, but Breloom had covered Rock, so I needed to add a Rock-resistant pokemon to the team. Swampert seemed bulky and powerful enough for the job. As for the other pokemon, I realized that 4 pokemon on the team were resistant to fire, so it was the perfect chance to introduce another bulky sweeper, Scizor.

That's the team I have so far.

The Team:

Latios @ Life Orb
Ability: Levitate
Nature: Timid
EVs: 252 Spe, 252 SpA, 4 HP

-Dragon Pulse
-HP Fire
-Psyshock
-Memento

This is BoltBeam at its best. The first 2 moves have great coverage, while Psyshock OHKOs Blissey. Memento is to give one of my other pokemon an edge (letting Dragonite to use Dragon Dance, letting Swampert use Curse, or letting Scizor use Swords Dance. Heatran can also set up Stealth Rock, I guess). I decided on Life Orb instead of the traditional Scarf because Latios is faster than most leads anyway, can survive an attack from a Thundurus, and I wanted it to be able to use Memento.

Dragonite @ Lum Berry / Life Orb
Ability: Multiscale
Nature: Jolly
EVs: 200 Spe, 252 Atk, 56 HP

-Dragon Dance
-Dragon Claw
-Brick Break
-Roost

This is a variation on the typical DD Dragonite. If Latios does its job well enough, it might be able to get in 3 or 4 Dragon Dances. Dragon Claw is for STAB, and Brick Break is for coverage; Air Balloon has made me too afraid to use Earthquake instead. Dragon Tail was added because, with Lum to stop status, the only thing that could stand in the way of Dragonite’s sweep is a Skarmory using Whirlwind or some other phazing scenario. Dragonite, being faster, should be able to use Dragon Tail first, and switch the foe out. Roost, however, might be a better idea, as Dragonite is bulky enough to be able to last a while with a good source of healing.

Swampert @ Leftovers
Ability: Torrent
Nature: Brave
EVs: 252 Atk, 252 HP, 0 Spe IVs

-Curse
-Hammer Arm
-Waterfall
-Rock Slide / Stone Edge

Swampert makes a good counter to Sandstorm teams and Trick Room teams. This set makes it as slow as possible so that it can sweep in a Trick Room, but also because speed just isn't that important to Swampert anyway. Along with Magnezone, it fills the role of Rock-counter.

Heatran @ Air Balloon
Ability: Flash Fire
Nature: Timid
Evs: 252 SpA, 136 Spe, 120 HP

-Fire Blast
-Earth Power
-Hidden Power [Ice]
-Stealth Rock

This Heatran is bulky enough to get a few KOs under its belt. Credit goes to Infectious for the EVs, which allow it to outspeed Gliscor and take it out with HP Ice. Earth Power can deal good damage against most Tyranitars, and Fire Blast provides a super-powerful STAB. Heatran also makes the perfect counter for Sun teams. It absorbs the most powerful Fire moves, and takes Grass and Poison from Venusaur with ease. Stealth Rock is helpful to hurt the foe on every switch.

Magnezone @ Air Balloon
Ability: Magnet Pull
Nature: Calm
Evs: 252 SpA, 252 HP, 4 SpD

-Thunderbolt
-Signal Beam
-HP Fire
-Volt Switch

This is the Magnezone set I use to trap Steels to help out Dragonite and Latios. Thunderbolt is for STAB. I’ll use HP Fire against most steels, but Thunderbolt will work against Empoleon, Skarmory, and Heatran. Signal Beam gives decent coverage. Volt Switch is so that Magnezone will go last, switch, and keep the switch-in from taking damage on the switch.

Scizor @ Life Orb
Ability: Technician
Nature: Adamant
Evs: 252 Atk, 252 HP, 4 SpD

-Swords Dance
-Bullet Punch
-Brick Break
-Pursuit

If Scizor uses Swords Dance, there is not much that can stop it. Bullet Punch with STAB and Technician hits with insane power. Brick Break is for coverage. I changed U-Turn to Pursuit, which lets me destroy choiced switching pokemon and gives me perfect coverage.

Threats: I have no Rapid Spinner, so hazards might be problematic. I generally have a decent resistance to Stealth Rock, though. Only Dragonite is weak to it.

I’ll be happy to take any advice on this team. It’s purely theoretical so far, so feel free to make any substitutions that you deem necessary.​

 

[Kerosene]

I like this. You really thought about the Team's Members and weaknesses. However, I do have suggestions.

Espeon- Nice, but are you sure it is a good Wish-passer? Does it learn Memento?

Dragonite- I like it, but since you have a rain team, Thundurus/Tornadus could be good for the team as rain abusers.

Kingdra- This is weird. You get locked into Rain Dance/Yawn if you use it, so you waste a turn of rain. Try turning it into mixed set with a Life Orb.

Heatran- I have a few disagreements with this. Heatran should have Overheat/Fire Blast instead of Magma Storm because of accuracy reasons. Also, replace Rest with Stealth Rock, since you don't have a user on your team. Rain halves Fire’s power in half, so Heatran might not be such a good idea to have on your team.

Breloom- How about a Choice Band with Mach Punch? You could turn Heatran(if you keep it) into a choice scarfer so it could be your revenge killer.

Magnezone- Really good. I like it a lot.

 

[Scizorisnotcool]

Wow. You've proven your ability to make an effective team in any tier, from the looks of it. I'm just going to leave a few ideas here for you to incorporate if you want.

@Espeon - That's definitely a cool set, but I'm not so sure about him as a screener. He is a little bit fragile, but I guess since he can get the wall up before he takes a hit, that gives him the survivability he needs to get the next screen up. The taunt immunity is definitely an interesting part of it. I doubt his effectiveness as a Wish-passer in OU, but I guess it could be done. Keep in mind I'm not trying to knock your team, it's very solid, but I'm just trying to point out things that seem to ME, like they may not be very practical. I could be 100% wrong though.

@Dragonite - Looks good, nothing I would change.

@Kingdra - On a choice bander, I would avoid moves like Yawn and Rain Dance. I would recommend some other options to increase type coverage, although he doesn't have many options (Iron Head/Bounce?). I don't know actually, Ice Beam might be worth investing a move slot into to drop all those Flying/Dragon types and Gliscors you'll be finding in OU.

@Heatran - Looks fine to me, nothing that I would change.

@Breloom - Same here

@Magnezone - For his held item, I'd recommend Wise Glasses, but it is your call. His set looks great.


Most of these suggestions probably aren't very helpful, but at least it's a bump.
Looks like a really solid team though, GL on making it even better.

Oh... also...
I made a new UU team thats up for rating right now if you are interested...

 

[3.14kachu]

Thanks for all of the suggestions. To start, Heatran will have Stealth Rock and Fire Blast instead of Rest and Magma Storm, respectively. I felt free to put Heatran on the team because I will make sure never to use him when the rain is up. Because there's no Politoed on the team, I can choose not to set up rain. It's not really a rain team.

Now for Kingdra. I think Life Orb has some merit, although I expected to be locked into Outrage most of the time, so I didn't really need that variation. I will change its held item to Life Orb, allowing me to use the moveset Outrage/Waterfall/Rain Dance/Dragon Dance. Without the Choice Band, I'll be able to raise Kingdra's stats, becoming even more powerful. Still, until it uses Dragon Dance, it won't be able to match the power it had with Choice Band.

Breloom is fine as it is; I'm not changing it. I think there's a great surprise factor in getting hit with a high-speed Spore, forcing both pokemon to switch out. It can also do a ton of damage with Technician and Bullet Seed, which will even break through Subs.

Dragonite's typing is really good for the team as a whole, so it's not practical to change it. Both Thundurus and Tornadus have no resistance to fire, which makes the team more weak to it overall. I think Dragonite does fine, especially after Magnezone removes the steels.

 

[Blue Harvest]

Roost > Dragon Tail on Dragonite. You already have Magnezone to remove Skarmory and Dragon Tail won't stop Skarmory from just pounding you with Brave Birds once it learns you can't hurt it.

Real rate later! Off to the beach!

 

[3.14kachu]

Fine. I'll use Roost, I guess. Any other suggestions?

And what's the general consensus on Espeon? Is the mere possibility of it having Magic Guard enough to prevent hazards and status from being used against it?

 

[Scizorisnotcool]

Fine. I'll use Roost, I guess. Any other suggestions?

And what's the general consensus on Espeon? Is the mere possibility of it having Magic Guard enough to prevent hazards and status from being used against it?

It will probably stop people from trying until you use Heal Bell. Once you use that, they'll know that your Espeon is 4th gen and therefore won't have Magic Guard. Synchronize still might discourage people from status-ing it.

Does anyone know if you Rest with Synchronize, will it still transfer sleep to the enemy?

 

[Infectious]

It will probably stop people from trying until you use Heal Bell. Once you use that, they'll know that your Espeon is 4th gen and therefore won't have Magic Guard. Synchronize still might discourage people from status-ing it.

Does anyone know if you Rest with Synchronize, will it still transfer sleep to the enemy?

No, sleep in general does not get transferred to the enemy. Also, some people might not know that Heal Bell is unobtainable with Magic Bounce.

Also, on the team, I suggest Magic Bounce because if your opponent has a ScarfApe, it can pretty much KO your whole team (Dragonite if Multiscale ISN'T activated and Kingdra after it's taken about 30-40% damage). With SR not on your field, you can safely bring in Dragonite and KO with (Earthquake). I suggest replacing one of the moves with Earthquake on Dnite, because an unboosted Dragon Claw does not OHKO. The max is about 96% after SR. This scenario is if they stall out your Reflect.

 

[3.14kachu]

Like I said before, Air Balloon is making me a bit nervous about using Earthquake. I would also use Life Orb, but that would break Multiscale. By the way, I'm assuming that I will always have at least a single DD boost, and Dragonite, with its bulk and Roost, can easily hold off a few attacks and boost up.

 

[3.14kachu]

This team must either be really solid or really boring for it to go to page 2 so fast. This is the first time I've ever bumped any of my own work.

Come on! Here's a question - If I want to have the best possible counters for Rain, Sun, and Sandstorm, what should I use? (These would replace Kingdra, Heatran, and Breloom, respectively)

I use Kingdra because it resists water and is a powerful, effective Rain sweeper. Is it the best option?

I use Heatran because it resists Fire, Grass, and Poison, and its Fire Blasts are super-powerful in Sun. Is it the best option?

I use Breloom because it resists the common Rock/Ground combo that is widely used on Sandstorm teams, and can counter with Grass/Fight for super-effective hits on Rock, Ground, and Steel. But is it the best option?

Please keep rating this team.

 

[Infectious]

This team must either be really solid or really boring for it to go to page 2 so fast. This is the first time I've ever bumped any of my own work.

Come on! Here's a question - If I want to have the best possible counters for Rain, Sun, and Sandstorm, what should I use? (These would replace Kingdra, Heatran, and Breloom, respectively)

I use Kingdra because it resists water and is a powerful, effective Rain sweeper. Is it the best option?

I use Heatran because it resists Fire, Grass, and Poison, and its Fire Blasts are super-powerful in Sun. Is it the best option?

I use Breloom because it resists the common Rock/Ground combo that is widely used on Sandstorm teams, and can counter with Grass/Fight for super-effective hits on Rock, Ground, and Steel. But is it the best option?

Please keep rating this team.

I'd say Kingdra is a pretty reliable rain counter because of Swift Swim and Water boosted moves. Just watch out for Tornadus and Dragonite carrying Hurricane. I myself don't have a rain counter on my current team. But since DrizzleSwim is banned, I rely on my fast pokes/priority to take sweepers out.

Heatran only works as a Venusaur check since it resists Solarbeam, Sludge bomb, and HP Fire. But keep in mind that Sawsbuck might be carrying either Nature Power (earthquake in wifi battles, if your Balloon is gone) or Jump Kick. I use Weavile as a sun check and it works pretty well, being able to OHKO most chlorophyll sweepers.

As for sand, I use Azumarill to check most threats. Excadrill being the top threat, as well as it deals with TTar and Gliscor, as well as does a decent chunk to Skarms, and OHKOs Ferrothorn with Superpower. I don't think Breloom would work well as a sand check. Even though it resists the EdgeQuake combo, Excadrill often carries a coverage move such as Return or X-Scissor, which Loom can't live at +2. Gliscor also carries Ice Fang often, and can also tank most of Loom's moves, and not get effected by Spore.

Seeing as how my pokes break your rules, however, I'd say the pokes you picked are the best at what you want them to do.

 

[3.14kachu]

Do you think Virizion (same typing, more bulky) would be a better Sandstorm counter than Breloom? After a Swords Dance, it might get some decent sweeping in, but it's not as physically defensive as it is specially.

I wish the game developers had given it Bulk Up.

 

[asterat]

Try restchesto on kingdra.

 

[Blue Harvest]

Very Cloyster weak. Aftera Shell Smash it outruns and destroys every single Pokemon you have. It easily sets up against Espeon, Dragonite and Kingdra. Magnezone has a chance of beating it unless Cloyster runs Razor Shell or Surf.

Conkledurr also 6-0s you. After a Bulk up your are literally incapable of hurting it barring Spore (and it has a reasonable chance of waking up after). Heatran takes 126% minimum from Drain Punch after a Bulk Up which will heal most of the damage Fire Blast will do. Mach Punch will always KO after Rocks if you are at 80% or lower.. All your other Pokemon are laughed at.

Terrakion easily beats you with its STABs. The only thing you have with a CHANCE of winning is Breloom who can barely take a Stone Edge.

SD Excadrill 6-0s. It easily sets up on Espeon or Breloom locked into Stone Edge. It can set up on Dragonite too.. Brick Break doesn't KO. +2 Return or X-Scissor rip Breloom in half. The rest of your team doesn't have a chance with Stealth Rocks down.

Skarmory + Blissey (or Chansey) wall your team without effort. Your only hope is Kingdra flinching Skarmory multiple times. Magnezone can help but only if Skarm lacks a Shed Shell.

Sub Disable or Pain Split Gengar ruins your whole team. Nothing can switch in without being 1-2HKOed.

If Heatran's Balloon is popped Rock Polish Landorus 6-0s.

Thundurus weak. Breloom revenge kill is your only way and even then you have to hope Stone Edge hits and Thundurus doesn't Thunder Wave.

Mienshao, or any fighting type for that matter will give you trouble. Fighting move + coverage is killing everything on your team.

Volcarona 6-0s as long as it runs HP Ice or Rock for Dragonite, though Fire Blast does a ton after Stealth Rocks.

Dragon Dance or mixed Salamence blow holes in the whole team. Even Heatran takes 57.6% - 67.8% from +1 Outrage, and is easily swept aside if you lack your Balloon.


You can drop Espeon for a Calm Mind / Recover / Psychic / Focus Blast Reunicles. This lets you take on fighting types better and sorta helps against Excadrill and Cloyster.

Run Spore / Seed Bomb / Focus Punch / Mach Punch on Breloom. This is a MUCH better set and will somewhat reduce the pressure Excadrill will put you under.

Also try giving Magnezone a Choice Scarf and running Thunderbolt / HP Fire / Flash Cannon / Explosion (filler). This may keep Thundurus from massacring you every time you see it.

That leaves Volcarona but ah well everyone is a little weak to it. The changes I suggested will overall make this team less weak to everything!

 

[3.14kachu]

Thanks a lot, BH. I have some ideas of how to make the team that much stronger:

I can replace Kingdra with Starmie to get a decent Scarf revenge-killer that can also rid me of my hazard problem. Starmie also functions as a psychic-type so Espeon is not actually needed and the team maintains its type stability NO MATTER WHAT I REPLACE IT WITH. Espeon is also a pretty ineffective lead anyways, so I might just send up a set-up sweeper to keep the foe from setting up (if they set up a hazard, I'll set raise my stats and OHKO the lead next turn).

I'll take your Breloom moveset, but I like technician (works great with Mach Punch), so I'll slightly augment it to Spore/Focus Punch/Bullet Seed/Mach Punch.

I have chosen as an alternate lead (now that Kingdra is gone there won't be an awful Dragon weakness) Latios, which not only acts as an insanely powerful sweeper that destroys everything, but can also use Memento to help out set-up sweepers (just Dragonite). The problem with this is that I won't be able to use a Scarf with it, but only other Scarf Latios is a problem, and I can switch in Heatran or Magnezone afterward.

Your comment about Magnezone is good, but I won't be able to use Rain Dance with HP Fire. Oh well. With Kingdra gone, it's not too big a deal.

*EDIT* - I can't use Latios, because it gives my team too much of an Ice weakness. I like Latios, but if I keep it, I would have to get rid of Breloom. With Latios covering Ground and Electric, all this replacement would have to cover is Rock. It also must not be weak to Ice, Fighting, Dragon, Ground, Dark, or Ghost. Swampert seems good. It's definitely bulky enough.

 

[3.14kachu]

I have finally updated the team with most of your suggestions. The team is now way more bulky and counters way more threats. It also has a lot of power that pokemon like Kingdra simply could not provide.

Also, BUMP!

 

[Blue Cobra]

I can see your Swampert has 128 Def and 128 SDef EVs.
It's always better to run 252 HP rather than 128/128, as the HP stat protects you better against both physical and special attacks

 

[3.14kachu]

I ran this through the total harm calculator, and it turns out you're right. Thanks!

 

[3.14kachu]

This is my only OU team, my pride and joy, and yet it goes to the second page so quickly. Please comment. It's simple: either say it's a flawless team that cannot achieve a higher state of perfection, or tell me how it could be improved or inform me of some weakness that you see.

Bump.

 

[Kerosene]

Boltbeam on your Latios is redundant when you can have Dragon Pulse/Surf/Hidden Power Fire and have good Dragon STAB.