First team (OU)

[Zapp]

Hey everybody.

Here's the first team I put together for compettitive battling. I would appreciate any (constructive) comment or advice to help me. So, here goes:

Gyarados @ Life Orb
Jolly/EVs: 4 HP, 252 Attack, 252 Speed

-Dragon Dance
-Waterfall
-Earthquake
-Ice Fang (may change for Stone Edge...)

Classic offensive Gyarados...

Electivire @ Expert Belt
Rash/EVs: 30 Attack, 252 Sp. Attack, 228 Speed

-Thunderbolt
-Flamethrower
-Cross Chop
-Ice Punch

I took this moveset form Smogon, and so far I am very pleased with it. As a battle strategy, I use the combo Gyarados+Electivire to lure in electrick attacks to activate Electivire's Motor Drive on the switch.

Dusknoir @ Leftovers
Impish/EVs: 252 Defense, 252 HP, 4 Attack

-Will-O-Wisp
-Pain Split
-Thunder Punch
-Ice Punch

My tank. I like it, but I'm not sure if I'm going to keep it (I'll explain later)

Metagross @ Life Orb
Adamant/EVs: 4 HP, 252 Attack, 252 Speed

-Agility
-Meteor Mash
-Earthquake
-Explosion

Standard Agiligross moveset. It's both strong and sturdy: I love it.

Porygon-Z @ Choice Scarf
Modest/EVs: 4 HP, 252 Sp. Attack, 252 Speed

-Dark Pulse
-Thunderbolt
-Ice Beam
-Tri Attack

Unfortunately, I'll have to re-breed that one. I'll probably try to get one with a Timid nature (instead of modest) with better IVs. Besides its lack of speed, it's a powerhouse. As a Special Sweeper, I like it even better than Gengar.

Garchomp @ Choice Scarf
Adamant/EVs: 4 HP, 252 Attack, 252 Speed

-Earthquake
-Dragon Claw
-Stone Edge
-Fire Fang

Like Porygon-Z, I bred my first Garchomp with unexceptional IVs: I'll have to breed myself another one, probably with a Jolly nature instead.

So that's my current team. However, there are some changes I was thinking to make. I have two other interesting Pokémon, and I was thinking about including one of them...but I don't know what Pokémon to replace:

Aerodactyl @ Focus Sash
Jolly/EVs: 4 HP, 252 Attack, 252 Speed

-Stealth Rock
-Earthquake
-Stone Edge
-Aerial Ace

I used to use it a my lead to set up Stealth Rock. I thought it was nice, but unexceptional. Besides, it has many weaknesses...your thoughts?

Swampert @ Leftovers
Relaxed/EVs: 252 HP, 252 Defense, 4 Attack

-Stealth Rock
-Earthquake
-Avalanche
-Waterfall

My other possible lead. I think its more polyvalent than Aerodactyl as a lead. Besides, it's sturdy so it wouldn't hurt too much if I was to take out Dusknoir to include it. I don't know what to do...

So that's it. Hope you can help me point ou a few problems there and there, I would appreciate it. Thank you.

(Please, forgive my poor English)

 

[aragornbird]

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Hi Zapp!

First of all, Garchomp is Uber so you can't use it. However, Flygon has the same exact type and uses a Choice Scarf set just as well.

Flygon @Choice Scarf
Jolly Nature
4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd

-Outrage
-Earthquake
-U-Turn
-Stone Edge

As for your lead, Swampert is generally more reliable as many leads are prepared to take out Aerodactyl. But change your nature to Impish. No point in using Relaxed when you have no Special Attacks.
Also, change Avalanche to Roar. Using Roar to scout and build up entry hazard damage is a much better option.


Btw, I'm so glad you're using Mixed Electivire instead of Physical Electivire like most other newbs.

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[Fire Wolf]

aragonbird, what do you mean by "No point in using Relaxed when you have no special attacks?" Relaxed is fine, it's kinda the same as Impish, just Relaxed minuses the already horrible speed of Swampert while Impish minuses SpA. This is wi-fi not shoddy so he has to go through breeding and EV training when it isn't needed.

Oh and, as aragonbird pointed use Roar > Avalanche but also use Ice Beam > Waterfall, Ice Beam is good to hit dragons. Also it hits grass types on the switch.

 

[BlueberryYumYum602]

Yeah Garchomp is "UB3RZ~!!" lol it's on Smogon's uber list which most follow so you might wanna consider Flygon as a good alternative. Flygon also has levitate which is super nice

Good team otherwise

 

[Zapp]

Swampert is definitely making more sense to me now. Thanks guys.
I didn't know Garchomp was classed in Uber, I'll do my ressearch better next time...

Besides that, do you have any important advices about the rest of the team? Is it a good team overall?

Even though Garchomp is in the Uber tier, can I still use it for Wi-Fi battling, even though my other Pkms are OU? The difference only matters in tournaments doesn't it?

Thanks for clearing it up, I'm a bit confused ;)

 

[zommy08]

aragonbird, what do you mean by "No point in using Relaxed when you have no special attacks?" Relaxed is fine, it's kinda the same as Impish, just Relaxed minuses the already horrible speed of Swampert while Impish minuses SpA. This is wi-fi not shoddy so he has to go through breeding and EV training when it isn't needed.

Oh and, as aragonbird pointed use Roar > Avalanche but also use Ice Beam > Waterfall, Ice Beam is good to hit dragons. Also it hits grass types on the switch.

Relaxed is obviously inferior to Impish (yes, Swampert's speed sucks) because... the standard rules of natures are: increase useful stat; decrease useless stat. Swampert's useless stat is SpAtk because of no special attacks.

Roar over Avalanche is acceptable, but Ice Beam over Waterfall isn't. Waterfall is physical, which is obviously Swampert's higher attack stat, plus it gets STAB; Ice Beam is neither. Also, don't use two Stealth Rock users, especially since Aero has a sash and is ridiculously fast. Swampert would be better with Waterfall, Earthquake, Avalanche and Roar.

 

[aragornbird]

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Even though Garchomp is in the Uber tier, can I still use it for Wi-Fi battling, even though my other Pkms are OU? The difference only matters in tournaments doesn't it?

No, Uber means you can't use it in Wi-Fi battles at all. But you can use it in-game as much as you like.

zommy: He doesn't have two Stealth Rockers. They are both alternates.

Actually, now that I think about it, you'd still have 7 Pokemon on the team which is 1 too many.

Okay, lead with Swampert. Gyarados + Electivire is a decent combo. Agility Metagross works but change it's EV spread to 112 HP / 252 Atk / 12 Def / 132 Spd. 132 is all you need to outspeed Heatran without an Agility. You don't really need Dusknoir. It's an outdated wall and your team doesn't revolve around entry hazards.

What you need is something to counter Rotom. Rotom beats both Gyarados and Electivire simply by using Will-o-wisp.
Heatran can be used to counter it. My favorite Heatran set is:

Heatran @Leftovers
Timid Nature
252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spd

-Fire Blast
-Earth Power
-Substitute
-Toxic

Flygon can be your new Choice Scarfer.

So your team should be Swampert, Gyarados, Electivire, Heatran, Metagross, and Flygon. Slightly Ground weak, but still better than what you started with. You can replace Metagross with Scizor if Earthquake bothers you.

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[Zapp]

Istead of Flygon, I was thinking about Dragonite to replace Garchomp`

Dragonite @ Life Orb/Lum berry
Adamant/EVs: 252 HP, 204 Speed, 54 Attack

-Dragon Dance
-Outrage
-Earthquake
-Roost

It's sturdy and strong and would be backed by Swampert to swith on Ice Beam...your thoughts?