The OU Metagame Guide

Section I. Introduction:

The OU (overused) or Standard metagame refers to the group of Pokemon that are most overused on NetBattle today. Some of this group of Pokemon have base stats that are Uber metagame caliber but have flaws to keep them from being uber such as their stats and or their movepool.

All of the following Pokemon are considered OU at the PokeRealm server:

Aerodactyl
Alakazam
Articuno
Blaziken
Blissey
Breloom
Celebi
Chansey
Charizard
Claydol
Dodrio
Donphan
Dragonite
Dugtrio
Dusclops
Entei
Espeon
Exeggutor
Flygon
Forretress
Gardevoir
Gengar
Gyarados
Heracross
Jirachi
Jolteon
Kingdra
Ludicolo
Magneton
Marowak
Medicham
Metagross
Milotic
Miltank
Moltres
Ninjask
Raikou
Regice
Regirock
Registeel
Rhydon
Salamence
Sceptile
Skarmory
Slaking
Smeargle
Snorlax
Starmie
Suicune
Swampert
Tauros
Tyranitar
Umbreon
Vaporeon
Venusaur
Weezing
Zapdos

Section II. Common Pokemon:

Even though all of the Pokemon listed above are considered OU. Some are more common than others.

High OU Pokemon their most common move sets include:

Blissey (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SDef
Bold Nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Aromatherapy
- Seismic Toss
- Softboiled
- Thunder Wave / Ice Beam

Note: If using Ice Beam take around 116 EVs from HP and put them into Satk which will Make standard DD Mence take about 87%-100% damage.

Celebi @ Leftovers
Trait: Natural Cure
EVs: 240 HP / 120 Def / 148 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Baton Pass
- Calm Mind
- Psychic / Hidden Power [Fire / Electric]
- Recover

Note: You will need to adjust it's EVs if using HP [Fire], Celebi needs 300 Speed to outrun non-Jolly Mence.

Donphan (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Sturdy
EVs: 252 HP / 96 Atk / 160 Def
Impish Nature (+Def, -SAtk)
- Earthquake
- Rapid Spin
- Rest
- Rock Slide

Dugtrio (M) @ Choice Band
Trait: Arena Trap
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Aerial Ace
- Earthquake
- Rock Slide
- Hidden Power [Bug]

Gengar (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 196 Atk / 184 Spd / 128 SAtk
Hasty Nature (+Spd, -Def)
- Focus Punch / Hypnosis
- Ice Punch / Fire Punch / Giga Drain
- Substitute
- Thunderbolt

Heracross (M) @ Choice Band
Trait: Guts
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Brick Break
- Hidden Power [Rock]
- Megahorn
- Sleep Talk / Focus Punch

Jirachi @ Leftovers
Trait: Serene Grace
EVs: 240 HP / 56 Def / 16 Spd / 148 SAtk / 48 SDef
Bold Nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Calm Mind
- Fire Punch
- Psychic
- Wish

Metagross @ Choice Band
Trait: Clear Body
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Earthquake
- Explosion
- Meteor Mash
- Rock Slide

Milotic (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Marvel Scale
EVs: 212 HP / 172 Def / 68 SAtk / 56 SDef
Bold Nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Hypnosis
- Ice Beam
- Recover
- Surf

Skarmory (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: Sturdy
EVs: 240 HP / 56 Atk / 196 Def / 16 Spd
Impish Nature (+Def, -SAtk)
- Hidden Power [Flying]
- Rest
- Spikes
- Whirlwind

Snorlax (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: Immunity
EVs: 160 HP / 72 Atk / 136 Def / 140 SDef
Careful Nature (+SDef, -SAtk)
- Body Slam
- Curse
- Rest
- Shadow Ball

Swampert (F) @ Leftovers ** MUDDY WATERZ!!1
Trait: Torrent
EVs: 240 HP / 16 Atk / 156 Def / 96 SAtk
Relaxed Nature (+Def, -Spd)
- Curse
- Earthquake
- Ice Beam
- Rest

Tyranitar (M) @ Leftovers ** BOAH BOAH BOAH
Trait: Sand Stream
EVs: 44 HP / 240 Atk / 176 Spd / 48 SDef
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Dragon Dance
- Earthquake
- Hidden Power [Rock] / Rock Slide
- Taunt

Note: Choose HP [Rock] if you want accuracy over power and chance to flinch. Also if using RS you may take 4 EVs off of Speed (because HP [Rock] gives you only 30 Speed IVs instead of the max of 31 you get without HP [Rock]) and put them into Atk or SDef.

Section III. Threats in the OU Metagame:

Skarmbliss:

Not much of a threat anymore if you know how to counter it. It involves a combination of the Pokemon Skarmory and Blissey to block Physical and Special attacks respectively.

Counters include:

Gengar (M) @ Leftovers ** NIGS BE CHEATIN
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 196 Atk / 184 Spd / 128 SAtk
Hasty Nature (+Spd, -Def)
- Focus Punch
- Ice Punch
- Substitute
- Thunderbolt

McIceGar

Tyranitar (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 HP / 68 Spd / 188 SAtk
Quiet Nature (+SAtk, -Spd)
- Substitute
- Focus Punch
- Thunderbolt
- Crunch

Boah.

Magneton + Choice Bander (Pokemon that holds the item Choice Band) and Dugtrio + a Special attacker:

What is so dangerous about these combos are that they can easily take out a Physical or Special wall and then sweep the rest of your team.

Counters include:

Using your own Dugtrio to try and Trap their Magneton counters the Magneton + CBer and Regice and Snorlax counters the Dugtrio + a special attacker combo.

Heracross:

This guy is such a threat with his high speed and attack. When you give him a Choice Band he becomes even more deadly and he is also able to abuse his Trait Guts, one of the best ways is to switch him into a Hypnosis attack from Milotic and then use Sleep Talk which means that means he get the Choice Band Boost plus the bonus from Guts which makes him one huge pain to kill since he is so fast and can OHKO a lot of things.

Counters include:

Skarmory, or other Pokemon with extremely high Defence.

Jirachi:

Jirachi has a lot of staying power using Calm Mind in conjunction with Wish. This thing hits Pokemon hard with a STAB'd (same type attack bonus) Psychic and for Pokemon that resist Psychic it can use Fire Punch to hit them.

Counters include:

A fast strong physical sweeper that has Earthquake (ie. Dugtrio), a Pokemon that packs Earthquake and high Sp.Def (ie. EQ Snorlax), a strong physical attacker that packs Earthquake (ie. Metagross).

Celebi:

It is just as bad if not worse than Jirachi it has instant healing at it's access
With Recover, and with Calm Mind to increase it's SAtk and SDef it becomes a monstrous Special tank and can stop many things in their tracks. It can pass those Calm Minds to something like Suicune when can then sweep teams. It can also learn Leech Seed to sap your HP away increasing it's staying power, it can also learn Heal Bell to heal the status conditions on your team, which can also help in abusing the move Rest. Also with Natural Cure all those nasty status conditions disappear from Celebi when you switch it out.

Counters include:

Choice Band Dugtrio with HP [Bug] (it does NOT OHKO Celebi, it only does between 85% and 95% damage to standard Celebi. DD Salamence and DD Gyarados with one Dragon Dance can OHKO standard Celebi with HP [Flying].

Spikes:

Spikes is a big threat in the OU Metagame. If three layers of Spikes are laid down then that means that your Pokemon will take 25% damage each time they are sent out. Skarmory abuses it's ability to lay down Spikes with Roar or Whirlwind by shuffling Pokemon in and out causing 25% damage to each Pokemon every time it is dragged out. Forretress is also a very good Spiker, he can also learn Rapid Spin which brings us to the counters.

Counters include:

Any Pokemon that can learn Rapid Spin. Common Spinners include Claydol, Forretress, and Starmie. Watch out for ghost types like Gengar and Dusclops who can block your Rapid Spin so you don't blow the spikes away.

Section IV. Building an OU team:

There are many important guidelines to building a successful OU team:

1) Have one to two Physical Sweepers, try to make them a different type think about Salamence and Dragonite on the same team both are 4x weak to Ice meaning that if at least on of your opponents Pokemon has Ice Beam which is highly likely then both are of your physical sweepers are gone meaning something like Blissey can wall the rest of your team.

2) Have one to two Special Sweepers again try to make them both different types.

3) Have at least on Phazer (something that can use Roar / Whirlwind or Haze to stop another Pokemon from using stat-up moves ie. Skarmory with Roar or Whirlwind or Weezing with Haze). A phazer that uses Roar or Whirlwind can also help with Spikes support.

4) Have at least one Physical wall (something that takes physical hits very well without taking much damage) and one Special wall (something that takes Special hits very well without taking much damage) (ie. Blissey as a special wall and Skarmory as a physical wall).

5) A Spiker (something that can lay Spikes) is a good thing to have but is not necessary.

6) A Rapid Spinner is needed, unless you have Magneton on your team and one layer of Spikes doesn't bother you too much. Which means Magneton can fill the role of a Special Sweeper and Skarmory counter.

7) Have a Cleric (a Pokemon that can use Heal Bell or Aromatherapy to heal status conditions ie. Celebi or Blissey). Most good teams have a Cleric weather it is used to abuse Rest, get rid of bad status conditions or both. A Cleric is a very advantageous thing to have on a competitive OU team.

Note: Many of these categories may overlap (ie. Skarmory as a Spiker and a defensive wall).

Section V. Credit Where Credit is Due and Special Thanks:

Frostweaver: without him I would have never started competitive battling.
Husk1442: Being a good friend, helping me with this guide and helping me learn how to battle competitively.
Groudon80: He helped with listing all of the high OU Pokemon.
Mr. Maser: Helped out with a couple of sets and listing high OU Pokemon.
Leafgreen386: For confirming a couple of damage calculations, and pointing out to me things that I missed.
PokeRealm: For the OU tier list.
Special thanks to the readers: I hope this has helped you better understand the OU metagame.