X/Y OU team

I've rated a lot of X/Y OU teams since the games' release. I didn't want to do my own team until the OU usage lists were up. Even though the OU list isn't final as of yet, I decided to go ahead and make my own OU team. This one is based on SubSeed Trevenant, which I've enjoyed using in Battle Spot in my X game.

Trevenant:

-Substitute
-Leech Seed
-Will-o-Wisp
-Phantom Force
Nature: Impish
EVs: 252 HP/180 Def/76 Spe
Item: Sitrus Berry
Ability: Harvest

As I mentioned before, I enjoyed using this Trevenant variant because of its longevity and ability to wear down opponents easily. It's also the spin blocker of the team. I'd like to keep this on my team if anyone doesn't mind.

Tentacruel:

-Toxic Spikes
-Scald
-Sludge Bomb
-Rapid Spin
Nature: Bold
EVs: 252 HP/224 Def/32 Spe
Item: Black Sludge
Ability: Liquid Ooze

This Tentacruel is an excellent teammate for Trevenant because it sets up Toxic Spikes, letting Trevenant not waste a turn using Will-o-Wisp (though Will-o-Wisp is useful to let Trevenant burn physical opponents). Also the team's Rapid Spinner

Sylveon:

-Wish
-Protect
-Hyper Voice
-Heal Bell
Nature: Bold
EVs: 252 HP/244 Def/12 Spe
Item: Leftovers
Ability: Pixilate

The cleric of the team, Sylveon cures any status the team picks up with Heal Bell, as Trevenant is crippled by burn and poison. It also provides Wish support for the other team members.

Talonflame:

-Swords Dance
-Flare Blitz
-Brave Bird
-Roost
Nature: Adamant
EVs: 252 Atk/4 Def/252 Spe
Item: Sharp Beak
Ability: Gale Wings

I felt that this team needed some muscle, so Talonflame fit the bill neatly as the team's revenge killer. It also benefits from Tentacruel's Rapid Spin support.

Garchomp:

-Swords Dance
-Dragon Claw
-Earthquake
-Stealth Rock
Nature: Jolly
EVs: 4 HP/252 Atk/252 Spe
Item: Lum Berry
Ability: Rough Skin

I needed a Stealth Rock setter as well. Garchomp was the one that came in my head because of its strong offensive presence. It's walled badly by Togekiss, though.

Mega Mawile:

-Swords Dance
-Play Rough
-Sucker Punch
-Fire Fang
Nature: Adamant
EVs: 132 HP/252 Atk/124 Spe
Item: Mawilite
Ability: Intimidate

I also needed another strong attacker on the team and Mega Mawile also came in my head.

Thoughts? Opinions? Replacements? (no replacing Trevenant, though; I've had too much fun using it)

Platinum needs help? I'll see what I can do...

The first thing that comes to mind is that your team lacks a solid special attacker. While Tentacruel and Sylveon have a few special attacks, their roles are more for support. So a physical wall probably screws your team. Probably. But who to take out, and what to put in?

If you need a good Stealth Rock setter that isn't Garchomp but still has good offensive presence, you could use Mamoswine. A bit frail, yes, but it destroys Togekiss and gives you great offensive typing.

No Chance Without Zekrom said:

Platinum needs help? I'll see what I can do...

The first thing that comes to mind is that your team lacks a solid special attacker. While Tentacruel and Sylveon have a few special attacks, their roles are more for support. So a physical wall probably screws your team. Probably. But who to take out, and what to put in?

If you need a good Stealth Rock setter that isn't Garchomp but still has good offensive presence, you could use Mamoswine. A bit frail, yes, but it destroys Togekiss and gives you great offensive typing.

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I'll consider Mamoswine, as well as specially-based Mega Lucario. Mega Mawile's low Speed is a letdown at times, tbh. Trevenant also does a decent job of wearing down physical walls.

hyper voice? not doubting your decision or anything i just want to know the purpose of having hyper voice over moonblast.

Super Bling said:

hyper voice? not doubting your decision or anything i just want to know the purpose of having hyper voice over moonblast.

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Sylveon gets Pixilate as a Hidden Ability, which turns Hyper Voice into a Fairy attack stronger than Moonblast (since it also gives an additional 30% boost on top of STAB), and most importantly, bypasses those pesky Substitutes.

Super Bling said:

hyper voice? not doubting your decision or anything i just want to know the purpose of having hyper voice over moonblast.

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One word. Pixilate.

It's an ability that turns Normal-type moves to Fairy-type and boosts their power. That's why he's recommending Hyper Voice, because it gets STAB thanks to the ability and also the boosted power.

Edit: Dammit Zekrom

Super Bling said:

hyper voice? not doubting your decision or anything i just want to know the purpose of having hyper voice over moonblast.

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Sylveon has the Pixilate ability, which turns Normal moves into Fairy moves and gives them a 30% boost. This makes Hyper Voice stronger than Moonblast:
-90 (base power) x 1.5 (STAB thanks to Normal conversion to Fairy) x 1.3 (Pixilate boost) = 177.5 base power.

Edit: Greninja'd twice

oh wow lol

ok

Iron Head on Mawile helps it take care of Togekiss, unless it is paraflinched to death. However, i'm not sure the drop in type coverage is worth it.

I have found that Togekiss is wrecked by priority moves especially Bullet Punch, so Scizor could be beneficial. It adds another fire weakness, but Tentacruel and Garchomp do a good job at walling most fire types.

If Togekiss is an issue, you should run Stone Edge and Earthquake as your 2 offensive moves on Garchomp. Dragon Claw is a solid STAB, but it only hits other Dragons and is completely resisted by Fairy types. Stone Edge would not only let you deal with Togekiss, but also gives some pretty sweet coverage with Earthquake. You could use Iron Head. That would take care of Togekiss as well as not being completely walled by other Fairy Pokemon, like Bold 252Def Sylveons. Which, by the way, you have about a 68% chance of OHKO'ing with Iron Head after Stealth Rocks and a Swords Dance.

And just throwing this out there, but Defiant Bisharp loves all this hazard support you've got. Rapid Spin would be blocked by Trevenant, and Bisharp would really punish your opponent for using Defog, so those two have great synergy with hazards. There's not really a way to put him on the team, though, unless you use some gimmicky Stealth Rock Bisharp. That's why I'm just putting the idea out there.

Calamitastrophe said:

If Togekiss is an issue, you should run Stone Edge and Earthquake as your 2 offensive moves on Garchomp. Dragon Claw is a solid STAB, but it only hits other Dragons and is completely resisted by Fairy types. Stone Edge would not only let you deal with Togekiss, but also gives some pretty sweet coverage with Earthquake. You could use Iron Head. That would take care of Togekiss as well as not being completely walled by other Fairy Pokemon, like Bold 252Def Sylveons. Which, by the way, you have about a 68% chance of OHKO'ing with Iron Head after Stealth Rocks and a Swords Dance.

And just throwing this out there, but Defiant Bisharp loves all this hazard support you've got. Rapid Spin would be blocked by Trevenant, and Bisharp would really punish your opponent for using Defog, so those two have great synergy with hazards. There's not really a way to put him on the team, though, unless you use some gimmicky Stealth Rock Bisharp. That's why I'm just putting the idea out there.

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1. I prefer Dragon Claw + Earthquake because having something to hit Gliscor without resorting to Stone Edge's shaky accuracy is better, IMO. Also, Iron Head isn't worth using on Garchomp because other than handling Togekiss, it serves no other purpose because Earthquake hits Fairies hard enough already. If I wanted to use Iron Head, I would've put it on Mawile, or opted for Excadrill, which does have STAB on Iron Head.


2. Bisharp is certainly an interesting option indeed; I'll consider it.

Looking at your team I would say you need a Special Attacker. You have Special moves but not a single EV into SAtk on anything. Mega Mawile seems debatable to me. I would probably replace it with a Special Attacker.

The questions I have would be what is Mawiles purpose? What coverage are you looking for? Steel could be covered by Lucario and he can be a great Special Sweeper. I much prefer the Special to the vastly overused Physical Lucario. Most people expect him to be Physical too.

Mawiles Fairy typing I don't see doing much good for you. You already have Sylveon and Garchomp can take care of Dragons with Dragon Claw. Not really sure on the Mawile choice at all really.

EDIT: Nevermind, everything I said was already mentioned.

That Trevenant set looks annoying. :P Phantom Force is a bit risky in competitive, since it gives your opponent a free turn. Shadow Claw is a bit weaker, but attacks in one turn. Something to chew on.

I don't like using Sylveon as a Physical wall. In my opinion, base 65 is just too low. I know that might work for you, but I don't think you should rely on Sylveon as a physical wall. In fact, you don't really seem to have a physical wall. Trevenant is okay for general stalling, but it's nice to have a back up and something to counter physical attackers.

Have your tried running a Life Orb on Talonflame? Roost can recover residual damage. Swords Dance irks me. I don't really like running Swords Dance, but I can see it working with Talonflame.

The lack of a Steel-type attack on Mega Mawile could be awkward for you. You haven't really got much to hit Fairies. I know Tentacruel can, but not using a Steel-type move on Mega Mawile seems like a waste.

There seems to be a lack of a good special sweeper. Sylveon is more of a tank and status/HP healer than a sweeper. I recommend a mixed sweeper for Garchomp. He's got the stats to pull it off, too. But maybe you sub Garchomp or Mega Mawile for a special sweeper.

And you don't really have anything that can take an Earthquake apart from Trevenant, who is only resistant. Talonflame is immune, but Roost is priority and leaves you weak to Ground for the rest of the turn. Not to mention Rock/Ground coverage is common.

Other than that, looks pretty solid. Don't know about the synergy though, since this team kinda looks like it's just strong Pokemon thrown together. Have you tried the team out as a whole?

Karzahni said:

That Trevenant set looks annoying. :P Phantom Force is a bit risky in competitive, since it gives your opponent a free turn. Shadow Claw is a bit weaker, but attacks in one turn. Something to chew on.

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Normally Phantom Force is a bad idea on a Pokemon, but its used on Trevenant to stall for an extra turn so Harvest can replenish its Siturs Berry. It's not meant to be a truly offensive option.

I don't like using Sylveon as a Physical wall. In my opinion, base 65 is just too low. I know that might work for you, but I don't think you should rely on Sylveon as a physical wall. In fact, you don't really seem to have a physical wall. Trevenant is okay for general stalling, but it's nice to have a back up and something to counter physical attackers.

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When I first saw his Sylveon set, I thought that too, but then I remembered one of my favorite Water types, Vaporeon. Despite Vaporeon's lowish base Defense of 60, its massive HP and good Sp.Defense allow it to tank hits well with Wish+Protect and a defensive EV spread. It's great. Platinum's Sylveon is in the same vein as that. It should work since Sylveon has resistances to Fighting, Bug, Dark, and a Dragon immunity, and has bulk similar to Vaporeon.

No Chance Without Zekrom said:

Normally Phantom Force is a bad idea on a Pokemon, but its used on Trevenant to stall for an extra turn so Harvest can replenish its Siturs Berry. It's not meant to be a truly offensive option.



When I first saw his Sylveon set, I thought that too, but then I remembered one of my favorite Water types, Vaporeon. Despite Vaporeon's lowish base Defense of 60, its massive HP and good Sp.Defense allow it to tank hits well with Wish+Protect and a defensive EV spread. It's great. Platinum's Sylveon is in the same vein as that. It should work since Sylveon has resistances to Fighting, Bug, Dark, and a Dragon immunity, and has bulk similar to Vaporeon.

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To add, Phantom Force also lets Trevenant stall for extra burn and/or Leech Seed damage. The second-turn strike also piles on an extra bit of damage to wear down the opponent a bit faster. Ghost also has good neutral coverage overall, so the only safe switch-ins to the move are Normal and Dark Pokemon, which can be burned by Will-o-Wisp; after that, Trevenant can switch out.

Mawile generally doesn't use Iron Head because Play Rough already hits Fairies hard enough.