OU Grass Monotype

I've asked for help a couple times before, and after battling some more I come back with a few changes to my team.

Ferrothorn (M)
Item: Rocky Helmet
Ability: Iron Barbs
Nature: Brave
EV's: 252 Atk, 168 SpD, 48 Def, 40 HP
Moves:
Power Whip
Gyro Ball
Stealth Rock
Leech Seed

Ferrothorn is my main lead and dragon abuser. I prefer having a mostly offensive set because I need to be able to squeeze as much power as I can to deal with potential threats. Ferrothorn never seems to stay in the battle for very long so I lay out hazards and go straight to attacking. If there's one move I'll switch out, it's Leech Seed.

Sceptile (M)
Item: Choice Scarf
Ability: Overgrow
Nature: Modest
EV's: 252 SpA, 252 Spe, 4 HP
Moves:
Giga Drain
Focus Blast
Hidden Power Fire
Dragon Pulse

Sceptile is my special sweeper. I have him with a scarf to outspeed other threats such as Gengar and Yanmega (even after a speed boost). I tried a life-orb set, but I found this set to be much more useful and could get the job done a lot better. I have a special set because my team is mostly physical attackers, and I needed a special attacker.

Jumpluff (M)
Item: Flying Gem
Ability: Chlorophyll
Nature: Adamant
EV's: 252 Atk, 252 Spe, 4 HP
Moves:
Swords Dance
Sleep Powder
Acrobatics
U-Turn

Jumpluff is one of my strongest physical attackers. He also doubles as my lead against fire teams to either knock out Ninetails, or put a major dent in Heatran. Jumpluff has swept teams before and is my best defense against bug teams.

Breloom (M)
Item: Focus Sash
Ability: Technician
Nature: Jolly
EV's: 252 Atk, 252 Spe, 4 HP
Moves:
Spore
Swords Dance
Mach Punch
Bullet Seed

Breloom is a staple for grass and fighting teams alike, and mine is running your typical techniloom set.

Shiftry (M)
Item: Leftovers
Ability: Chlorophyll
Nature: Adamant
EV's: 252 Atk, 252 Spe, 4 HP
Moves:
Swords Dance
Seed Bomb
Sucker Punch
Brick Break

Shiftry is my main revenge killer and psychic counter. He's the newest member of my team and has proven his spot with priority in Sucker Punch to eliminate threats like Gengar and Latios.

Tangrowth (F)
Item: Leftovers
Ability: Regenerator
Nature: Modest
EV's: 252 HP, 252 Def, 4 SpA
Moves:
Giga Drain
Hidden Power Ice
Focus Blast
Synthesis

Tangrowth is my physical wall. No unboosted brave bird has been able to OHKO Tangrowth even with stealth rock damage. Once the opponent uses brave bird I strike back with a super effective hidden power to finish off the bird. Tangrowth also comes in handy with dragon teams as it can absorb those outrages and deal back super-effective damage.

My team still has a few threats and if you have any suggestions about these threats, any advice is appreciated.
Fire Teams
Dragon Teams
Heracross (Only when scarfed and with Moxie)
Crobat
Heatran

That's pretty much it. My grass team has won three tournaments and has come in second in countless others. I feel like I've made a lot of improvement, but there's always more ways to get stronger and as I said before, any advice/suggestions are greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!

Ferrothorn's set looks like a defensive one, and Brave should only be used on a Choice Band set. The preferred EV spread is Relaxed with 252 HP/48 Def/208 SDef to balance out its bulk. Where'd you get your EV spread from?

Jumpluff's U-turn wastes away its Swords Dance attack boosts. Sure, you have Breloom's Spore, but letting Jumpluff sleep something by itself (with Sleep Powder) is generally a better idea than U-turning out.

Nature Power (becomes Earthquake in Wi-Fi and simulator battles) or Low Kick is a better option over Shiftry's Brick Break, as 75 power isn't really the best base power you have there.

What's the point of making Tangrowth Modest if you're barely even investing in Special Attack at all? Either use a Relaxed nature or change the EV spread to 112 HP/252 SAtk/144 Spe.

Something else to help with Fire Pokemon is Ludicolo, who can even use Rain Dance to (temporarily) cancel the team's Fire weakness:
-Rain Dance
-Hydro Pump/Surf
-Giga Drain
-Ice Beam
Nature: Timid/Modest
EVs: 4 HP/252 SAtk/252 Spe
Item: Life Orb/Damp Rock
Ability: Swift Swim

Mow Rotom can also help vs. Crobat:
-Volt Switch
-Leaf Storm
-Thunderbolt/Hidden Power (Fire)
-Trick/Hidden Power (Fire)
Nature: Timid/Modest
EVs: 4 Def/252 SAtk/252 Spe or 48 HP/252 SAtk/208 Spe
Item: Choice Scarf/Choice Specs

or
-Will-o-Wisp/Thunder Wave
-Volt Switch/Thunderbolt
-Leaf Storm
-Pain Split/Hidden Power (Fire)
Nature: Timid
EVs: 48 HP/252 SAtk/208 Spe
Item: Leftovers

Thanks for your feedback!

I made up that EV spread for Ferrothorn as I went along. I might end up changing it to your suggestion just to make it last longer in battle.

I'm not totally understanding your critique about Jumpluff. It has Sleep Powder already and U-Turn is a move I hardly use and I only use it when Jumpluff is being walled, one of my opponent's pokemon is already asleep, and I want to save Jumpluff for later.

I actually had Nature Power on Shiftry when I first got him, but then my computer glitched and it didn't save the changes I made to my team. I had to re-do Shiftry, but for the life of me I couldn't figure out what his fourth move was. Thanks for reminding me and I'll be sure to switch it out. It will also help against those pesky Heatran!

Tangrowth is also my opposing Breloom counter. Before HP Ice, I had HP Rock on Tangrowth. Basically Tangrowth could take a lot of hits, but not deal a lot of damage and couldn't even break Poison Heal Breloom's substitutes. I put that extra power on there that way I could get rid of those substitutes. I guess I won't need that boost anymore since I switched to HP Ice so I'll make sure to change the nature.

I've thought a great deal about Rotom and especially Ludicolo. I just don't know who I would replace. I do have a strategy against fire teams with Jumpluff, but if Jumpluff misses that first Sleep Powder and gets KO'd, then my whole team seems to fall apart. I really have no idea to switch out, so if you could say who you would switch out, then that would be great.

I think Ludicolo is the better Pokemon to have for your team, as none of your current Grass types resist fire. If you do want to use U-turn on Jumpluff then I'd suggest you switch for Ludicolo on a predicted Fire-type attack and Ferrothorn for a predicted Flying, Rock, Poison or Ice-type attack. I may also suggest for Jumpluff that you add Toxic in place of Sleep Powder to poison common walls.

I think I'll keep sleep powder as Jumpluff can overpower walls especially with that first acrobatics after a swords dance boost. Maybe replace U-turn with toxic, but definitely not sleep powder

Slayr231 said:

I think I'll keep sleep powder as Jumpluff can overpower walls especially with that first acrobatics after a swords dance boost. Maybe replace U-turn with toxic, but definitely not sleep powder

Click to expand...

Now I see where my mistake was. IMO, I'd rather have Seed Bomb over U-turn so that Jumpluff has a secondary STAB to work with.

I think I'll switch over to seed bomb. I hardly ever used u-turn, and I think seed bomb will see more usage.

Any suggestions on who to switch for Ludicolo? I just can't seem to single out any member. I'm leaning towards Sceptile, but I don't want to sacrifice the immediate speed that I get from Sceptile. Yanmega was a huge issue and I just don't want Yanmega to become the big problem it was. I could set up a rain dance while Yanmega protects with Ludicolo, but that's only when Yanmega switches in while Ludicolo is already out. I want Ludicolo, but I don't know how to fit it into my team.

It doesn't really matter in terms of defensive synergy, (Athough I wouldn't substitute the valuable Ferrothorn for it) because Ludicolo is the only viable grass type that has a neutrality to Fire, a niche which is only shared by the non-existent Cradily. Also, Ludicolo has STAB Water-type attacks to take down Fire-types. It only has three weaknesses: Poison, Bug and Flying.

I already know how Ludicolo stacks up. I'm not asking what it does, I'm asking for help on who to switch out. I've seen it used on other grass teams so I know how to use it as well.

On another note Cradily isn't totally useless. I used to use it and it caused countless rage quits and swept entire teams. The only thing was that it was a question whether or not I could set it up and most of the time I couldn't get it up and running, but that's a story for a different topic.