Balanced OU lineup

[megawurmple]

The team at a glance

The general strategy with this team is to use my bulkier Pokemon to take out walls and set up hazards, allowing my sweepers to take care of the rest.

Individual pokes

Puff (Dragonite) @ Weakness Policy
Ability: Multiscale
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Dragon Claw
- Extreme Speed
- Fire Punch
- Dragon Dance

Dragonite is a physical sweeper. After a Dragon Dance, Dragonite outspeeds anything below a fully invested base 130 Poke with a positive nature. The combination of Weakness Policy and Multiscale is a powerful one, allowing Dragonite to take a super-effective hit from almost anything and hit back twice as hard. Dragon Claw is your basic STAB, Fire Punch takes care of bulky steel and ice types, and Extreme Speed has +2 priority, allowing you to get past those pesky Bullet Punches and Quick Attacks.

MC Hammerhead (Garchomp) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Rough Skin
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Nature: Hasty
- Earthquake
- Dragon Claw
- Stone Edge
- Fire Blast

Excluding Deoxys-S, ScarfChomp outspeeds anything that isn't scarfed. That's quick. His base 130 attack means that he hits like a train, and he has good coverage with his moveset, making him a ridiculously good revenge killer. Earthquake, Dragon Claw and Stone Edge don't need an explanation, and Fire Blast is there to take down steels such as Ferrothorn or Skarmory.

Washington (Rotom-Wash) @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 168 Def / 88 Spd
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Hydro Pump
- Thunderbolt
- Will-O-Wisp
- Substitute

This guy is physically very bulky. His big defensive stats, combined with Will-O-Wisp, make him a formidable wall against almost any physical sweeper. Substitute is a move I tried out in place of Pain Split, which I can't get, and has been successful so far as it means that status moves cannot hit him when a sub is up, allowing him to break some walls. A well timed Substitute also gives you a free turn against whatever the opponent switches in to. The other two moves are just STAB moves.

Humbug (Pinsir) @ Pinsirite
Ability: Moxie (Aerilate when mega evolved)
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature
- Return
- Quick Attack
- Earthquake
- Swords Dance

Aerilate is a stupidly powerful ability, boosting normal type moves by 30%, then making them flying type so that mega Pinsir gets a STAB bonus too, totaling a 95% increase in power to all normal type moves. Return hits for almost 200BP, and Quick Attack almost 80BP. Combined with Pinsir's already huge attack, this guy is hard to wall. After a Swords Dance, he is so powerful that his Return is guaranteed to 3HKO a fully invested defensive Skarmory. Earthquake is there for coverage, taking down steel and fire types that would be otherwise problematic.

Skarface (Skarmory) @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 Spd
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Stealth Rock
- Spikes
- Whirlwind
- Roost

This guy is obviously my hazard setter. With such huge defensive stats, he can switch in to almost any physical attacker and set up 2 or more layers of hazards. Whirlwind and Roost offer longevity by removing threats or recovering, as well as Whirlwind being a way of abusing the hazards set up beforehand. You may have noticed that I don't run Brave Bird in this set, and that's because I don't feel that it's necessary. The ability to set 2 different hazards is more important to the role Skarmory plays in my team, and I don't run into Taunt often enough to warrant playing around it.

Espeonage (Espeon) @ Focus Sash
Ability: Magic Bounce
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Psychic
- Shadow Ball
- Dazzling Gleam
- Calm Mind

Espeon is my special sweeper. Calm Mind boosts his power, the other moves are for STAB or coverage, with Dazzling Gleam hitting for super-effective damage on dark types that Espeon can't normally handle. Sash allows Espeon's paper-thin defenses to take a hit without worrying about dying so that he can continue to sweep. Magic Bounce also has its uses if you can predict correctly. Espeon is possibly the weakest Pokemon in my team and I'm considering Greninja as a special sweeper instead. Thoughts?

Kermit (Greninja) @ Life Orb
Ability: Protean
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Hydro Pump
- Ice Beam
- Dark Pulse
- Extrasensory

Just your generic Greninja, designed to be a special sweeper. Hit hard or die is the strategy here. Hydro Pump is for huge power, Ice Beam is your most powerful reliable move, and Dark Pulse and Grass Knot are for coverage. Not much more to say really.

DigDug (Excadrill) @ Assault Vest
Ability: Mold Breaker
EVs: 80 HP / 176 Atk / 252 SDef
Adamant Nature
- Earthquake
- Rock Slide
- Poison Jab
- Rapid Spin

Looking at the first 5 Pokes in my team, I realised that I really needed a spinner. This is what happened. Good ol' DigDug here is the most unexpected special wall you'll ever see, but he's effective. With his Assault Vest, his base 110 HP stat and a lot of EVs in special defense, he can shrug off hits like they're nothing. For example:
252+ SpA Rotom-W Hydro Pump vs. 80 HP / 252 SpD Assault Vest Excadrill: 236-278 (61.9 - 72.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
Even a fully invested Modest Rotom-W can't OHKO with a Hydro Pump. This allows him to spin comfortably, and he easily takes down the electric types that normally plague my team. Rock Slide offers super-effective hits on the flying types that evade Earthquake, and Poison Jab makes Excadrill a world class fairy slayer.

Thanks in advance for the help. All advice is appreciated.

~megawurmple~

 

[Naoto Shirogane]

I can see your team struggling with zapdos and charizard x. zapdos can deal with most of your pokes and zapdos won't stay in on a exedrill. rotom w also has a lot of fun with your team as it can take most of them out and will just switch out when exedrill comes in. as for charizard x he can 6ko your entire team if he has stealth rocks up, rotom w does not threaten it as it's fire dragon so thunderbolt and hydro don't do much as all, skarmory gets koed by flare biltz, dragonite gets koed by dragon claw so does espeon, exedrill gets koed by eq or flare biltz, while pinsir also gets koed by flare biltz.

as for sets on pokes dragonites set is fine I prefer lum berry over weak poll
rotoms set is fine but you could give it thunder wave over will of wisp which would let you cripple charizard x.
pinsir is fine
Skamory needs bravebird because taunt uses will just cripple it and give your foe a free turn.
espeon is to weak to be running calm mind there are better bulkyier pokes like clafable who can take advantage of calm mind because they are bulky.
on exedrill get rid of poison jab for iron head, fairys are weakness steel and exedrill gets the stab from it making it do even more damage. I have never really seen this set before but you say he shrug of hits like nothing but still gets 2koed by a rotom and if he burns you first and you use rapid spin he beats you as you don't ko him with eq thanks to burn so that makes your statement wrong about him spinning easy.

How to get rid of this huge charizard x

replace skarm with Hippowdon. hippowdon can deal with charizard x and zapdos with this set he is bulky and can get stealth rock down to help your team while rock sild can deal with pinsir or charizard y switch ins.


Hippowdon @ Leftovers
Ability: Sand Stream
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Def
Impish Nature
- Slack Off
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Rock Slide

after notcicing the team i noticed air bloon heatran destorys every poke but rotom w who could get burnt by lava plume running it's chance to get a sub in then if it does stay in heatran walls rotom w thanks to protect while you take burn damage. pinsir and exedrill can only deal with heatran when bloon is popped which means one of your pokes may have to die or get burnt just to pop it's bloon and the 3 pokes which can pop it's bloon are ruined if they get burnt. dragonite will be useless all game. rotoms sub set will get ruined and espeon will lose a bit of health and won't be able to set up calm mind if it's burnt making that useless too.

best way to deal heat and charizard x is azmarill who can 2 ko chharizard x with play rough and ko heatran with waterfall. lum berry is just to get rid of any burns you may of got for instance lava plume from heatran if they even stay in which they should not.

Azumarill @ Lum Berry
Ability: Huge Power
EVs: 4 Def / 252 HP / 252 Atk
Adamant Nature
- Play Rough
- Waterfall
- Aqua Jet
- Superpower

you can try out clefable over espeon.

(Clefable) @ Leftovers
Ability: Unaware
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SDef
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Calm Mind
- Moonblast
- Heal Bell/flamethower
- Moonlight

this set is very good to use as it supports the team and sweep if you get a set up heal bell can remove the burns from dnite rotom and azmarill which cripple them/ or if you are worried about steel types flamethrower will help you take them out so all you need to do is predict a switch in such a bisharp which does around 60-70% damage after 1 calm mind it does 91% to 103 so 56.3 chance to ko. Heatran can be a pain as it can burn you I would not recommend setting up as your be taking a big risk.

 

[Rocxidi]

Looking at this team I noticed that both Rotom and Skarmory are physically defensive, so you might want to consider a more specifically defensive build on Rotom (calm). Will o Wisp allows you to wall physical sweepers too, although it tends to not be as reliable. With a substitute set, though, walling physical sweepers is much easier as the sub takes the damage prior to burn.

If Skarmory is a real problem, consider Close Combat on Pinsir. A Return + Close Combat combo allows you to 2HKO Skarmory, and with priority plus your two walls you don't really have to worry too much about the recoil. Earthquake is much safer though... Also consider Feint, as it can take down Talonflame at +2 after Stealth Rocks. Minus 10 power for more priority is a bargain.

Speaking of Skarmory, consider Toxic or Brave Bird/Drill Peck over Spikes; Stealth Rocks tend to be enough, and with Roost plus godly Defenses, Skarmory is a good Toxic staller. Kudos for not mentioning the term "Taunt Bait". I hate it.

Personally I prefer support Espeon, but with 130 Sp Atk and 110 Speed, Espeon was obviously meant to be a sweeper. However, the lack of physical bulk brings it down, and the fact that all priority moves are physical* means that Espeon will get Ko'd by most sweepers, while not being able to use priority itself (Aqua Jet is probably what keeps Crawdaunt in BL because of Focus Sash). Greninja can be a great replacement for Espeon as it deals with the threats mentioned by Naoto. Surf/Hydro Miss, Ice Beam, Extrasensory, and Grass Knot/Dark Pulse are the standard moves, although Hidden Power can be used for coverage against any Pokemon you hate.

Excadrill could use Iron Head for added STAB or Swords Dance for crazy offensive might. Poison Jab is only good for Azumarill but I don't see how it can win...

Loving that Dragonite btw.

*Vacuum wave is the only special priority move, but the only good Pokemon that can use this are Mega Lucario and Blaziken, which are banned. Thank you, Smogon.

 

[megawurmple]

I can see your team struggling with zapdos and charizard x. zapdos can deal with most of your pokes and zapdos won't stay in on a exedrill. rotom w also has a lot of fun with your team as it can take most of them out and will just switch out when exedrill comes in. as for charizard x he can 6ko your entire team if he has stealth rocks up, rotom w does not threaten it as it's fire dragon so thunderbolt and hydro don't do much as all, skarmory gets koed by flare biltz, dragonite gets koed by dragon claw so does espeon, exedrill gets koed by eq or flare biltz, while pinsir also gets koed by flare biltz.

after notcicing the team i noticed air bloon heatran destorys every poke but rotom w

I think I'm probably going to replace Espeon with Greninja for those reasons as Greninja can take down Heatran, Zapdos and Charizard X in one shot after rocks.

Looking at this team I noticed that both Rotom and Skarmory are physically defensive, so you might want to consider a more specifically defensive build on Rotom (calm). Will o Wisp allows you to wall physical sweepers too, although it tends to not be as reliable. With a substitute set, though, walling physical sweepers is much easier as the sub takes the damage prior to burn.

If Skarmory is a real problem, consider Close Combat on Pinsir. A Return + Close Combat combo allows you to 2HKO Skarmory, and with priority plus your two walls you don't really have to worry too much about the recoil. Earthquake is much safer though... Also consider Feint, as it can take down Talonflame at +2 after Stealth Rocks. Minus 10 power for more priority is a bargain.

Speaking of Skarmory, consider Toxic or Brave Bird/Drill Peck over Spikes; Stealth Rocks tend to be enough, and with Roost plus godly Defenses, Skarmory is a good Toxic staller. Kudos for not mentioning the term "Taunt Bait". I hate it.

Personally I prefer support Espeon, but with 130 Sp Atk and 110 Speed, Espeon was obviously meant to be a sweeper. However, the lack of physical bulk brings it down, and the fact that all priority moves are physical* means that Espeon will get Ko'd by most sweepers, while not being able to use priority itself (Aqua Jet is probably what keeps Crawdaunt in BL because of Focus Sash). Greninja can be a great replacement for Espeon as it deals with the threats mentioned by Naoto. Surf/Hydro Miss, Ice Beam, Extrasensory, and Grass Knot/Dark Pulse are the standard moves, although Hidden Power can be used for coverage against any Pokemon you hate.

Excadrill could use Iron Head for added STAB or Swords Dance for crazy offensive might. Poison Jab is only good for Azumarill but I don't see how it can win...

Firstly, Excadrill is my spec wall, although I see what you mean about being a bit physically oriented. I'll think about making some changes.

I still think QA is a better option than Feint because in the vast majority of situations, the extra power is more useful than extra priority.

I honestly don't think I'm going to change Skarmory any time soon. I've never run into any problems when using him, and having loads of hazard layers up is basically a free win unless they spin or defog.

I will switch Espeon out for Greninja and update the OP because of that.

On Excadrill, I would love to have Iron Head, but it isn't an egg move, so I can't breed a flawless Excadrill with Iron Head for my team, sadly. Also, Swords Dance doesn't work with Assault Vest, so I can't use that.

 

[Naoto Shirogane]

I think I'm probably going to replace Espeon with Greninja for those reasons as Greninja can take down Heatran, Zapdos and Charizard X in one shot after rocks.

The only problem with that is charizard is not going come in when rocks is up. heatran dies after 2 hydropumps even with stealth rocks up if you have life orb. the other problem is if charizard has turned to mega charzard x before you have rocks up it's over even if you mange to get it to switch out and then you get rocks up. then you're relaying on 1 pokemon to beat it with a hydropump which is not 100 acc so if it misses it's over.

By adding greninja you have just made it even easyier for choice scarf rotom to sweep you. as it kos greninja, pinsir and if rocks are up then skarm. it can use trick on dnite. when exedrill switchs in they might predict it and it you with hydropump then use it for a second time and your dead.

 

[megawurmple]

I do have other ways of killing Charizard X. For example, Charizard X can't OHKO a Dragonite, even with Dragon Claw, which allows me to set up a Dragon Dance then OHKO Charizard with a Dragon Claw.

 

[Naoto Shirogane]

I do have other ways of killing Charizard X. For example, Charizard X can't OHKO a Dragonite, even with Dragon Claw, which allows me to set up a Dragon Dance then OHKO Charizard with a Dragon Claw.

Charizard x would not stay in on dragonite as the weakness poll set is to much of a threat to the team and they should know charizard wont beat it. If charizard x gets a dragon dance in on rotom then it has a 50% chance of koing dragonite without stealth rocks.

 

[megawurmple]

Charizard x would not stay in on dragonite as the weakness poll set is to much of a threat to the team and they should know charizard wont beat it. If charizard x gets a dragon dance in on rotom then it has a 50% chance of koing dragonite without stealth rocks.

In which case I've had a free turn to set up DDance on my Dragonite, allowing me to sweep the rest of the team. This kind of thing does work both ways.

 

[Naoto Shirogane]

In which case I've had a free turn to set up DDance on my Dragonite, allowing me to sweep the rest of the team. This kind of thing does work both ways.

Really depends on if they have a defense wall or if they have heatran who still walls you. which most likely do they. If you can't see charizard x is a major threat that's fine it's your team. Not really going say anything else.

 

[Rocxidi]

I believe Dragon Claw does OHKO Dragonite, as the ability Tough Claws applies to the situation. Also, Charizard outspeeds you, regardless of the nature. Although this helps you take it down with a Dragon Claw, I wouldn't rely on the small chance of survival.

 

[megawurmple]

Really depends on if they have a defense wall or if they have heatran who still walls you. which most likely do they. If you can't see charizard x is a major threat that's fine it's your team. Not really going say anything else.

I agree that it is a threat, but I'm simply considering whether or not I can deal with it with my current lineup. What should I do to stop it now that I've added Greninja to the team as well?

I believe Dragon Claw does OHKO Dragonite, as the ability Tough Claws applies to the situation. Also, Charizard outspeeds you, regardless of the nature. Although this helps you take it down with a Dragon Claw, I wouldn't rely on the small chance of survival.

252+ Atk Tough Claws Mega Charizard X Dragon Claw vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Multiscale Dragonite: 199-235 (61.4 - 72.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

Dragon Claw can't OHKO Dragonite, and I outspeed it and OHKO it after a DDance.

+1 252+ Atk Dragonite Dragon Claw vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Mega Charizard X: 404-476 (135.5 - 159.7%) -- guaranteed OHKO

 

[Rocxidi]

Oh. You're right. Even at +1 Dragonite can barely survive.
If you're looking for a better Special Wall try Tentacreul.

Tentacruel @ Assault Vest/Black Sludge
Ability: Liquid Ooze
EV's: 252 HP / 252 SpD / 4 SpAtk
Calm Nature
-Rapid Spin
-Scald
-Sludge Bomb
-Ice Beam/Knock Off/Haze

Seems like a great wall, but lack of recovery cripples it.

 

[Naoto Shirogane]

Right now charizard x and charizard y are your main threats he best way to beat them both without changing to much of your team is using choice scarf garchomp. if chariard x gets one dragon dance in you still outrun it and ko it with earthquake or dragon claw (depends on foes other memebers). while you outspeed charizard y and can ko with stone edge or rock silde. charchomp can also beat heatran and zapdos. I highly recommend with this poke it covers most of your threats and can do a lot of damge letting your dragonite be a nice late game sweeper and putting less pressure on dragonite to be able to sweep

 

[megawurmple]

Oh. You're right. Even at +1 Dragonite can barely survive.
If you're looking for a better Special Wall try Tentacreul.

Tentacruel @ Assault Vest/Black Sludge
Ability: Liquid Ooze
EV's: 252 HP / 252 SpD / 4 SpAtk
Calm Nature
-Rapid Spin
-Scald
-Sludge Bomb
-Ice Beam/Knock Off/Haze

Seems like a great wall, but lack of recovery cripples it.

Another problem is that with Rotom-W and Greninja on the team, I don't want to overload on water types. Excadrill is currently my only really reliable way to deal with problematic electric types, so I don't want to replace him with another electric-weak Poke.

Right now charizard x and charizard y are your main threats he best way to beat them both without changing to much of your team is using choice scarf garchomp. if chariard x gets one dragon dance in you still outrun it and ko it with earthquake or dragon claw (depends on foes other memebers). while you outspeed charizard y and can ko with stone edge or rock silde. charchomp can also beat heatran and zapdos. I highly recommend with this poke it covers most of your threats and can do a lot of damge letting your dragonite be a nice late game sweeper and putting less pressure on dragonite to be able to sweep

That sounds like a good plan. What would you put him in in place of? I'm thinking either Pinsir or Dragonite.

 

[Naoto Shirogane]

Another problem is that with Rotom-W and Greninja on the team, I don't want to overload on water types. Excadrill is currently my only really reliable way to deal with problematic electric types, so I don't want to replace him with another electric-weak Poke.



That sounds like a good plan. What would you put him in in place of? I'm thinking either Pinsir or Dragonite.

Pinsir is a really nice sweeper so I think dragonite would be best to get rid of.

 

[Rocxidi]

Garchomp is a really great addition. It resists all of Pinsir's weakness except Ice, which Greninja can probably handle. With Stealth Rocks you can plow through teams with ease using either Greninja or Garchomp.

 

[megawurmple]

So the set would be like this:

Garchomp @ Scarf
Rough Skin
4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Naive nature
- Earthquake
- Dragon Claw
- Stone Edge
- Fire Blast

Sound good?

 

[Luckygreen9]

I would consider SpD Heatran over Excadrill, and then replace Spikes for Defog on Skarmory. Heatran checks Charizard Y, and you also have 4 Ground Immunites, 2 Water resists, and 2 Fighting resists with the other pokes. Also thinking about that, that really makes Mega Manectric a threat, so there's positives and negatives to both. Just an idea to consider. Heatran just kind of pairs well with the other five Pokémon that would be left.

 

[megawurmple]

The problem there is that I can't breed Heatran, so IVs are impossible to get right.

 

[Rocxidi]

What you could do is have Defog over Spikes on Skarmory, allowing you to pick a better Special wall. Conkeldurr might be interesting, but most of it's moves are from move tutors...