My last team was an offensive based team that I couldn't progress with even with suggested changes so I ended up scrapping the whole thing.
This team has done pretty well for me so far, I win more than I lose, but when I lose its usually because of a certain Poke or two, and that's why I'm bringing this team to the RMT forums.
Team at a glance:
In depth:
The Lead
Jirachi @ Choice Scarf
Serene Grace
Jolly, 80 Hp, 252 Atk, 176 Spe
Trick
Iron Head
Stealth Rock
Grass Knot
Ok. Lead Jirachi. This guy is my favorite OU lead by far. Iron Head is a clean 2hko on a lot of common leads like Azelf and Aerodactyl. However, there were four leads that I would go up against that I couldn't do anything against. They were Heatran, Swampert, Infernape, and Metagross. Three of these I could use Salamence to revenge kill against with EQ, Starmie could also take Infernape and Heatran, and Dusknoir could deal with Metagross. However, I had nothing to beat Swampert, which I was seeing more and more often. Because of this, I decided to get rid of U-Turn and throw in Grass Knot, which is a clean 2hko against him. Now when I face Swamperts, they either get SR up and I take no damage, or they don't get it up and I take ~70% from EQ. Either way, I come out ahead.
Leads and how I deal with them(Green is no problem, YellowOrange is dependable, Red is usually bad):
Metagross: Trick Choice Scarf. If they Stealth Rocked, I set up SR on the switch in, if they EQ me, I switch to Salamence and Draco Meteor the switch in.
Azelf: Go for the 2hko with Iron Head.
Aerodactyl: Same as Azelf.
Infernape: Switch to Starmie and Surf, they usually switch, but if they stay in it's a 1 or 2hko, I don't remember which.
Heatran: Switch to Blissey, T-Wave their switch in. If they Sub up first, I'm in trouble.
Uxie: These guys are annoying, usually set up SR, switch to Blissey, and T-Wave their switch in. They aren't a threat though.
Abomasnow: Trick Choice Scarf. Easy to deal with.
Gyarados: Switch to Starmie, usually take a big hit and they die or they switch. If they crit, it gets ugly real quick.
Bronzong: Stealth Rock and switch to Dusknoir.
Hippowdon: Stealth Rock and switch to Starmie.
The Special Wall
Blissey @ Leftovers
Natural Cure
Calm, 252 Def, 80 SpA, 176 SpD
Aromatherapy
Softboiled
Flamethrower
Thunder Wave
Blissey, the bane of special attackers. I decided since I'm going for a balanced team, I need a special wall, and Blissey is the perfect candidate. I opted for T-Wave because Toxic doesn't do much for this team and being able to switch in safer and outspeed more Pokes is nice. Scizor loves to switch in to Blissey, and if they get T-Waved on the switch and are weakened, Flamethrower will do 70-96% to them, depending on their EVs. Fighting attacks against Blissey get redirected to Dusknoir, then to Starmie if they get smart and start using special attacks instead of Fighting(namely mix users like Infernape). Aromatherapy is to deal with annoying Toxic, Burn, and Paralyze which significantly hamper various parts on my team (though it's fairly obvious, Burn ruins Scizor, Paralyze ruins Salamence and Jirachi, etc.)
The Physical Wall/Rapid Spin Blocker
Dusknoir @ Leftovers
Pressure
Impish, 252 Hp, 28 Atk, 228 Def
Will-O-Wisp
Pain Split
Ice Punch
Fire Punch
In my opinion, Dusknoir is really underrated. He has low health, but makes up for that with a good move pool and amazing defensive stats. Will-O-Wisp hampers physical attackers on the other team and allows me to bring in my attacker easier. Pain Split on a full health switch in nets me a good gain in health and cuts theirs down well. Ice Punch will 1-2hko a lot of Dragons like Flygon and Salamence and Fire Punch will 1-3hko a lot of pesky Steels like Forretress, Scizor, and Metagross. I use this guy to take impending U-Turns as it only does 5-20% damage to him(Flygon, Scizor, Jirachi). Shadow attacks directed at him are sent back to Blissey, but generally after the second time doing this, they try to Trick a Choice Scarf and I have to switch to Jirachi or I'm dead.
Rapid Spinner/Special Attacker
Starmie @ Leftovers
Natural Cure
Timid, 132 Hp, 156 Def, 220 Spe
Rapid Spin
Surf
Thunderbolt
Recover
I need a rapid spinner and Starmie is by far my favorite user of it. Self proficient with Recover, can counter Gyarados and Infernape, and Surf and Thunderbolt are good coverage overall. Like with most of my team, the EVs are taken right from the strategy Pokedex. Starmie also works a back up wall if Dusknoir fails. Not much else to say.
Revenge Killer/Trapper
Scizor @ Life Orb
Technician
Adamant, 176 Hp, 100 Atk, 56 Spe, 176 SpD
Bullet Punch
Pursuit
U-Turn
Roost
This is a very strange Scizor that I found on the strategy pokedex while mulling over how I wanted to put him in my team, but I find it to be pretty effective. Bullet Punch ohkos Gengar and a lot of weakened Pokes. U-Turn is good for scouting and along with Pursuit keep non-fire Rotom and Latias in check. Truth be told, I have found the lack of a fighting move a detriment, and I'm considering replacing Pursuit because Roost has helped me work off Spike and Life Orb damage. Thoughts and suggestions on this would be great. Overall, Scizor has worked great as clean up, as a revenge killer, as a Physical sweeper, basically everything he can do he has done it and done it well. It's no wonder he's used so much.
Mixed Attacker/Clean Up
Salamence @ Choice Scarf
Intimidate
Naughty, 252 Atk, 176 Spe, 80 SpA
Outrage
Earthquake
Fire Blast
Draco Meteor
Mixed attacking Scarfmence. He's a great revenge killer when Scizor won't cut it, OHKOing Heatran, Infernape, Scizor, and OHKOing almost everything that has already been weakened like Gyarados, Rotom, Swampert, and Latias. His outrage late game after I've already taken out the Steels works great and has sealed many victories. Outspeeds and 2hkos most walls as well. One of the exceptions being Snorlax, which is a problem for my team. Scarfmence picks up where I'm lacking in the offensive department and fills out the team nicely.
THREAT LIST
As usual, green is no problem, yelloworange can be done, and red is dangerous. Purple is impossible.
Gengar: Walled by Blissey, KO'd by Scizor.
Curselax: This thing is a HUGE problem, nothing on my team can take it down after it has its Curses up. Need help.
Heatran: Walled by Blissey, KO'd by Salamence's EQ or Starmie's Surf.
Infernape: Starmie.
Choice Tyranitar: KO'd by Jirachi, Scizor, Salamence, or Starmie.
DDTar: Will-O-Wisp or T-Wave to hamper it, then stalled out by Dusknoir, or KO'd by the same as Choice Tyranitar.
Rotom: Worn down by Blissey or Starmie working with SR. KO'd by Salamence or Scizor in most cases.
Azelf: Easily KO'd by most of my team.
Jolteon: Stopped cold by Blissey.
Latias: Stopped by Blissey, killed by Scizor or Salamence.
Jirachi: Worn down by Dusknoir.
Vaporeon: Can't do anything against Blissey, Starmie usually beats it or I wear it down and revenge kill it with Mence.
Gastrodon: Recently had a huge stall war with this guy, Swampert with recover. Taken down by Jirachi.
Swampert: Jirachi. Salamence if it's weak. Scizor if its REALLY low.
Blissey: Jirachi, Scizor, or Salamence deals with it. Either Trick a Scarf or 2hko. The statuses it puts out can be removed by my own Blissey. It's no problem.
Machamp: Sub versions are really annoying, eventually beat out by a combination of my Pokes. Non sub or Resttalk versions are easily beat by Mence or Jirachi.
Venusaur: Blissey and Dusknoir beat it. Salamence if all else fails.
Scizor: Dusknoir.
Forretress: Dusknoir.
Magnezone: Blissey.
Gyarados: Starmie. If its weak and Starmie isn't around, revenge killed by Scizor.
Flygon: Dusknoir. Starmie or Scizor revenge kill if its weak.
Gliscor: Dusknoir with Ice Punch/Will-O-Wisp.
Metagross: Dusknoir, Starmie, Salamence. It all depends on the circumstances.
Bronzong: Dusknoir or Salamence.
Skarmory: Starmie, Salamence, Dusknoir, Blissey.
Hippowdon: Starmie. Jirachi's Grass Knot does a bit over 40% to it if its low I can take it out with it.
Lucario: Revenge killed by Salamence. Dusknoir can beat it with Fire Punch if its high on health or Lucario is statused.
Togekiss: Everything outside of Dusknoir can beat it.
Empoleon: Stopped in its tracks by Blissey, but killing it is another story. Starmie or Salamence will have to step in and hope not to get killed. Substitute and Agility make it all the more annoying.
Celebi: Blissey, Scizor if it doesn't have Hidden Power Fire.
Breloom: Dusknoir or Jirachi. Scizor and Salamence can revenge kill.
Suicune: Calm mind is really hard to take down and I have to revenge kill or kill with Starmie before he gets too many Calm Minds
Scarf and Physical Jirachi: Easily taken down by Dusknoir
Calm Mind Jirachi: Same as Suicune really... can't take down once he has those Calm Minds in.
Raikou: Same as Suicune and Calm Mind Jirachi, except I can't use Starmie
Lucario: Salamence has to revenge kill or Dusknoir has to hamper before he eats a +2 Crunch
Well, that's the team. Thanks for reviewing.
This team has done pretty well for me so far, I win more than I lose, but when I lose its usually because of a certain Poke or two, and that's why I'm bringing this team to the RMT forums.
Team at a glance:
In depth:
The Lead
Jirachi @ Choice Scarf
Serene Grace
Jolly, 80 Hp, 252 Atk, 176 Spe
Trick
Iron Head
Stealth Rock
Grass Knot
Ok. Lead Jirachi. This guy is my favorite OU lead by far. Iron Head is a clean 2hko on a lot of common leads like Azelf and Aerodactyl. However, there were four leads that I would go up against that I couldn't do anything against. They were Heatran, Swampert, Infernape, and Metagross. Three of these I could use Salamence to revenge kill against with EQ, Starmie could also take Infernape and Heatran, and Dusknoir could deal with Metagross. However, I had nothing to beat Swampert, which I was seeing more and more often. Because of this, I decided to get rid of U-Turn and throw in Grass Knot, which is a clean 2hko against him. Now when I face Swamperts, they either get SR up and I take no damage, or they don't get it up and I take ~70% from EQ. Either way, I come out ahead.
Leads and how I deal with them(Green is no problem, YellowOrange is dependable, Red is usually bad):
Metagross: Trick Choice Scarf. If they Stealth Rocked, I set up SR on the switch in, if they EQ me, I switch to Salamence and Draco Meteor the switch in.
Azelf: Go for the 2hko with Iron Head.
Aerodactyl: Same as Azelf.
Infernape: Switch to Starmie and Surf, they usually switch, but if they stay in it's a 1 or 2hko, I don't remember which.
Heatran: Switch to Blissey, T-Wave their switch in. If they Sub up first, I'm in trouble.
Uxie: These guys are annoying, usually set up SR, switch to Blissey, and T-Wave their switch in. They aren't a threat though.
Abomasnow: Trick Choice Scarf. Easy to deal with.
Gyarados: Switch to Starmie, usually take a big hit and they die or they switch. If they crit, it gets ugly real quick.
Bronzong: Stealth Rock and switch to Dusknoir.
Hippowdon: Stealth Rock and switch to Starmie.
The Special Wall
Blissey @ Leftovers
Natural Cure
Calm, 252 Def, 80 SpA, 176 SpD
Aromatherapy
Softboiled
Flamethrower
Thunder Wave
Blissey, the bane of special attackers. I decided since I'm going for a balanced team, I need a special wall, and Blissey is the perfect candidate. I opted for T-Wave because Toxic doesn't do much for this team and being able to switch in safer and outspeed more Pokes is nice. Scizor loves to switch in to Blissey, and if they get T-Waved on the switch and are weakened, Flamethrower will do 70-96% to them, depending on their EVs. Fighting attacks against Blissey get redirected to Dusknoir, then to Starmie if they get smart and start using special attacks instead of Fighting(namely mix users like Infernape). Aromatherapy is to deal with annoying Toxic, Burn, and Paralyze which significantly hamper various parts on my team (though it's fairly obvious, Burn ruins Scizor, Paralyze ruins Salamence and Jirachi, etc.)
The Physical Wall/Rapid Spin Blocker
Dusknoir @ Leftovers
Pressure
Impish, 252 Hp, 28 Atk, 228 Def
Will-O-Wisp
Pain Split
Ice Punch
Fire Punch
In my opinion, Dusknoir is really underrated. He has low health, but makes up for that with a good move pool and amazing defensive stats. Will-O-Wisp hampers physical attackers on the other team and allows me to bring in my attacker easier. Pain Split on a full health switch in nets me a good gain in health and cuts theirs down well. Ice Punch will 1-2hko a lot of Dragons like Flygon and Salamence and Fire Punch will 1-3hko a lot of pesky Steels like Forretress, Scizor, and Metagross. I use this guy to take impending U-Turns as it only does 5-20% damage to him(Flygon, Scizor, Jirachi). Shadow attacks directed at him are sent back to Blissey, but generally after the second time doing this, they try to Trick a Choice Scarf and I have to switch to Jirachi or I'm dead.
Rapid Spinner/Special Attacker
Starmie @ Leftovers
Natural Cure
Timid, 132 Hp, 156 Def, 220 Spe
Rapid Spin
Surf
Thunderbolt
Recover
I need a rapid spinner and Starmie is by far my favorite user of it. Self proficient with Recover, can counter Gyarados and Infernape, and Surf and Thunderbolt are good coverage overall. Like with most of my team, the EVs are taken right from the strategy Pokedex. Starmie also works a back up wall if Dusknoir fails. Not much else to say.
Revenge Killer/Trapper
Scizor @ Life Orb
Technician
Adamant, 176 Hp, 100 Atk, 56 Spe, 176 SpD
Bullet Punch
Pursuit
U-Turn
Roost
This is a very strange Scizor that I found on the strategy pokedex while mulling over how I wanted to put him in my team, but I find it to be pretty effective. Bullet Punch ohkos Gengar and a lot of weakened Pokes. U-Turn is good for scouting and along with Pursuit keep non-fire Rotom and Latias in check. Truth be told, I have found the lack of a fighting move a detriment, and I'm considering replacing Pursuit because Roost has helped me work off Spike and Life Orb damage. Thoughts and suggestions on this would be great. Overall, Scizor has worked great as clean up, as a revenge killer, as a Physical sweeper, basically everything he can do he has done it and done it well. It's no wonder he's used so much.
Mixed Attacker/Clean Up
Salamence @ Choice Scarf
Intimidate
Naughty, 252 Atk, 176 Spe, 80 SpA
Outrage
Earthquake
Fire Blast
Draco Meteor
Mixed attacking Scarfmence. He's a great revenge killer when Scizor won't cut it, OHKOing Heatran, Infernape, Scizor, and OHKOing almost everything that has already been weakened like Gyarados, Rotom, Swampert, and Latias. His outrage late game after I've already taken out the Steels works great and has sealed many victories. Outspeeds and 2hkos most walls as well. One of the exceptions being Snorlax, which is a problem for my team. Scarfmence picks up where I'm lacking in the offensive department and fills out the team nicely.
THREAT LIST
As usual, green is no problem, yelloworange can be done, and red is dangerous. Purple is impossible.
Gengar: Walled by Blissey, KO'd by Scizor.
Curselax: This thing is a HUGE problem, nothing on my team can take it down after it has its Curses up. Need help.
Heatran: Walled by Blissey, KO'd by Salamence's EQ or Starmie's Surf.
Infernape: Starmie.
Choice Tyranitar: KO'd by Jirachi, Scizor, Salamence, or Starmie.
DDTar: Will-O-Wisp or T-Wave to hamper it, then stalled out by Dusknoir, or KO'd by the same as Choice Tyranitar.
Rotom: Worn down by Blissey or Starmie working with SR. KO'd by Salamence or Scizor in most cases.
Azelf: Easily KO'd by most of my team.
Jolteon: Stopped cold by Blissey.
Latias: Stopped by Blissey, killed by Scizor or Salamence.
Jirachi: Worn down by Dusknoir.
Vaporeon: Can't do anything against Blissey, Starmie usually beats it or I wear it down and revenge kill it with Mence.
Gastrodon: Recently had a huge stall war with this guy, Swampert with recover. Taken down by Jirachi.
Swampert: Jirachi. Salamence if it's weak. Scizor if its REALLY low.
Blissey: Jirachi, Scizor, or Salamence deals with it. Either Trick a Scarf or 2hko. The statuses it puts out can be removed by my own Blissey. It's no problem.
Machamp: Sub versions are really annoying, eventually beat out by a combination of my Pokes. Non sub or Resttalk versions are easily beat by Mence or Jirachi.
Venusaur: Blissey and Dusknoir beat it. Salamence if all else fails.
Scizor: Dusknoir.
Forretress: Dusknoir.
Magnezone: Blissey.
Gyarados: Starmie. If its weak and Starmie isn't around, revenge killed by Scizor.
Flygon: Dusknoir. Starmie or Scizor revenge kill if its weak.
Gliscor: Dusknoir with Ice Punch/Will-O-Wisp.
Metagross: Dusknoir, Starmie, Salamence. It all depends on the circumstances.
Bronzong: Dusknoir or Salamence.
Skarmory: Starmie, Salamence, Dusknoir, Blissey.
Hippowdon: Starmie. Jirachi's Grass Knot does a bit over 40% to it if its low I can take it out with it.
Lucario: Revenge killed by Salamence. Dusknoir can beat it with Fire Punch if its high on health or Lucario is statused.
Togekiss: Everything outside of Dusknoir can beat it.
Empoleon: Stopped in its tracks by Blissey, but killing it is another story. Starmie or Salamence will have to step in and hope not to get killed. Substitute and Agility make it all the more annoying.
Celebi: Blissey, Scizor if it doesn't have Hidden Power Fire.
Breloom: Dusknoir or Jirachi. Scizor and Salamence can revenge kill.
Suicune: Calm mind is really hard to take down and I have to revenge kill or kill with Starmie before he gets too many Calm Minds
Scarf and Physical Jirachi: Easily taken down by Dusknoir
Calm Mind Jirachi: Same as Suicune really... can't take down once he has those Calm Minds in.
Raikou: Same as Suicune and Calm Mind Jirachi, except I can't use Starmie
Lucario: Salamence has to revenge kill or Dusknoir has to hamper before he eats a +2 Crunch
Well, that's the team. Thanks for reviewing.
