Stall + 2 Cleaners (Needs a lot of work)

Ok so here was my original team, the first one I ever used to battle in ORAS OU. I haven't competitively battled since DPP, and I mostly battled UU back then, so the addition of Dream World abilities, Fairy-type, Mega Evolutions and hundreds of new Pokemon was a lot to learn rapidly. I threw this team together very quickly.



I noticed a lot of problems with this team obviously. First of all, there was of course no synergy which is something that I overlooked when making the team. Too much of my team was just setup fodder. I also lacked any priority whatsoever and my main offensive threats, Garchomp and Pidgeot, were too frail and weak (or at least didn't resist) all of the most common priority moves. So I decided it would be better to restructure my team so that it was bulkier, but could still handle Pokemon that tried to setup on it. Here is my current team:

Talonflame
Ability: Gale Wings
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Acrobatics
- Roost
- Swords Dance
- Flare Blitz

Comments: Talonflame is meant to be a late-game cleaner and so far this has proved pretty successful. It does pair well with my other late-game cleaner, though I am not sure that they work well with the rest of my team. The set is pretty self-explanatory, and I do like that it is Knock-off proof (most of the rest of my team suffers badly from repeated Knock-offs).

Clefable @ Leftovers
Ability: Unaware
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpA / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
- Moonblast
- Protect
- Heal Bell
- Wish

Comments: So I got rid of the Magic Guard Clefable and switched it around to this set, though I still need something to deal with Poison and Steel types. Unaware Clefable pretty much shuts down any other setup sweeper without a super effective move. Still, if Clefable is set up on, and KO'd despite Unaware, then it's pretty much game over for me.

Sharpedo @ Sharpedonite
Ability: Speed Boost
EVs: 224 Atk / 32 SpA / 252 Spe
Naughty Nature
- Protect
- Crunch
- Hydro Pump
- Zen Headbutt

Comments: I hate this set. I want to use another late-game cleaner. Any suggestions?

Mew @ Leftovers
Ability: Synchronize
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpA / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
- Defog
- Soft-Boiled
- Will-O-Wisp
- Psychic

Comments: Honestly I think this set is horrid. I like Defog but I hate that it removes the Rocks from the other side, so I am thinking about replacing Mew with a bulky (but still fast) spinner. Any ideas?

Garchomp @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Rough Skin
EVs: 240 HP / 176 Def / 92 Spe
Impish Nature
- Dragon Tail
- Earthquake
- Toxic
- Stealth Rock

Comments: I like the bulky variant of Garchomp much better than the all-out attacking Garchomp because with prediction it can still do a lot of damage with its STAB moves. I am wondering whether having another coverage move would be better over Toxic since a number of its teammates can learn this move and may be better suited for it.

Porygon2 @ Eviolite
Ability: Trace
EVs: 248 HP / 204 Def / 56 SpD
Calm Nature
- Thunderbolt
- Ice Beam
- Recover
- Thunder Wave

Comments: I actually really like this thing in OU. It is really bulky with Eviolite and it still hits pretty hard. I don't think I have the proper team support for this set though.

If you want a bulky spinner with decent speed, the only thing I can think of really is Starmie:

Starmie@Leftovers
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 248 HP / 36 Def / 224 Spe
Timid Nature
- Scald
- Recover
- Rapid Spin
- Reflect Type

It retains most of what Mew had going for it (ability to burn, self-healing move, hazard removal, Psychic-type), while being faster (outspeeds max speed base 110s with that spread) and spinning instead of defogging. It also lets you keep a Water type since you're gonna be ditching Mega Sharpedo.

For other late game cleaners you could try Mega Manectric, Mega Lopunny, or Mega Metagross or something.

And idk, I think that you have the support for Porygon2. It's bulky as **** with Recover+Eviolite, so most of what comes at it is Knock Off, strong Fighting STAB, set-up sweepers, and Toxic/burns. Talonflame sponges Knock Offs, while Clefable can deal with the status, Fighting moves, and set-ups (speaking of Clef, maybe move some of those Sp.Def EVs into Def so it tanks hits from the physical side a bit better). Sometimes you could possibly even switch in Garchomp to get 'em.

And you could also give Porygon2 Toxic in place of T-Wave and put Fire Blast on Garchomp if the T-Wave support isn't vital to the team. Fire Blast would let you roast Ferrothorn and Scizor, who would otherwise wall Garchomp and aren't handled well by the rest of the team (Talonflame is too obvious and they'll just run away before you can kill them).

I recomend Analytic on Porygon 2, for more power. Trace is good but a bit situiational.

2Fruit said:

I recomend Analytic on Porygon 2, for more power. Trace is good but a bit situiational.

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Trace is still a good ability because it lets you use things like Heatran's Flash Fire against their original users. Without Trace, Porygon2 isn't as good a check against things like the aforementioned Heatran. Analytic is useless on defensive sets, IMO, as it won't have enough power to take advantage of the boost.

Bulky Talonflame doesn't really need Flare Blitz, since it has the bulk to set up on the vast majority of Steels, like Ferrothorn. Drop it for Taunt, to stop walls from setting up, or Will-o-Wisp, to cripple physical attackers on a predicted switch.

A Calm nature and full specially defensive investment is redundant with Calm Mind on Clefable, as Calm Mind will boost Special Defense anyway and Clefable's physical Defense is left exposed. Use a Bold nature and max HP/max Defense investment.

As for another late-game setter-upper, you can try out Calm Mind Mega Sableye:
-Calm Mind
-Shadow Ball/Dark Pulse
-Will-o-Wisp
-Recover
Nature: Bold
EVs: 252 HP/252 Def/4 SDef
Item: Sablenite
Ability: Prankster

That's true but Heatran often carry toxic which can waste Porygon's bulk/turns with heal bell. It may be good against pokemon like Heatran, Clefable and Landorus but completely useless against a ton of other pokemon Porygon2 is up against. Also, uninvested porygon can use analytic for a possible ohko on garchomp with Ice beam, and a gurranteed 2hko on Keldeo (and Zard Y) with thunderbolt as well as a few others.

Thanks for the suggestions everyone. I switched a couple things around. I traded out Sharpedo & Mew for Starmie & Metagross

Metagross @ Metagrossite
Ability: Clear Body
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Rock Polish
- Meteor Mash
- Zen Headbutt
- Hammer Arm

Starmie @ Leftovers
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpA
Bold Nature
- Scald
- Rapid Spin
- Recover
- Psyshock

Metagross works well as a tank and it's also incredibly fast. If I can get any outright Metagross counters off the field and get in a Rock Polish it can be incredibly difficult for the opponent to do anything about it. Starmie ended up being a much better team supporter with Mew as I was able to keep the opponent's rocks on the field. Having Scald also helped since Mew was fairly helpless against Tyranitar. I think that Unaware Clefable pairs extremely well with these two, but I'm still wondering if having only one attacking move is suitable for Clefable set. While Clefable can't really get swept by a setup sweeper, one that is Steel type could prove problematic. Also I meant to try out Analytic on Porygon2, will test that when I get the chance.

Benadryl said:

Thanks for the suggestions everyone. I switched a couple things around. I traded out Sharpedo & Mew for Starmie & Metagross

Metagross @ Metagrossite
Ability: Clear Body
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Rock Polish
- Meteor Mash
- Zen Headbutt
- Hammer Arm

Starmie @ Leftovers
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpA
Bold Nature
- Scald
- Rapid Spin
- Recover
- Psyshock

Metagross works well as a tank and it's also incredibly fast. If I can get any outright Metagross counters off the field and get in a Rock Polish it can be incredibly difficult for the opponent to do anything about it. Starmie ended up being a much better team supporter with Mew as I was able to keep the opponent's rocks on the field. Having Scald also helped since Mew was fairly helpless against Tyranitar. I think that Unaware Clefable pairs extremely well with these two, but I'm still wondering if having only one attacking move is suitable for Clefable set. While Clefable can't really get swept by a setup sweeper, one that is Steel type could prove problematic. Also I meant to try out Analytic on Porygon2, will test that when I get the chance.

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A Bold nature on Starmie is a waste of its excellent Speed. The bulky Starmie set uses Timid with max HP and max Speed.