Another try at the OU Metagame [RMT]

[devilicious]

So, after months of ignoring everything above UU, I decided to play some OU again.

*image removed*
Man in Skirt (Gallade) @ Lum Berry
Ability: Steadfast
EVs: 6 HP/252 Atk/252 Spd
Adamant nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Swords Dance
- Close Combat
- Shadow Sneak
- Stone Edge

→ Gallade is a great lead to counter leads. After a Swords Dance, Bronzong is OHKO'd by Close Combat. Gengar and Azelf are both 2HKO'd by Shadow Sneak. After a single SD, Gyarados falls falls to Stone Edge, even factoring Intimidate. If you aren't prepared for it, this Gallade can wreck quite some damage.

*image removed*
Disgusting (Metagross) @ Leftovers
Ability: Clear Body
EVs: 250 HP/252 Atk/8 Spd
Adamant nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Meteor Mash
- Bullet Punch
- Explosion
- Thunderpunch

→ Metagross is a disgusting little beast. This thing is hard to kill due to good resistances and great stats, and while the opponent switches around, it just increases its Attack stat with Meteor Mash. After one or two Atk boosts, Bullet Punch punishes a lot. Thunderpunch is for other Steel Types, but it hasn't been that that useful so far, so I'd like other ideas. Explosion kills everything I can't.

*image removed*
Claves (Mismagius) @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 116 HP/252 Spd/140 SAtk
Timid nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Calm Mind
- Substitute
- Shadow Ball
- Hidden Power [Fighting]

→ One of my favourite sweepers of all time. Can come in a lot of stuff with its three immunities and great Sp. Def, put up a sub, and start CMing away. With 105 Base Speed, even Garchomp is left in the dust dust. Shadow Ball and HP Fighting provide perfect coverage.

*image removed*
Miojo (Tangrowth) @ Leftovers
Ability: Chlorophyll
EVs: 252 HP/228 Def/28 Spd
Impish nature (+Def, -SAtk)
- Sleep Powder
- Power Whip
- Leech Seed
- Knock Off

→ Ah, my favourite favourite physical wall! Stops Garchomp and Gyarados like no one else, and does it while looking cool. Sleeps any counter that comes in, forces switches with Leech Seed and Knocks Off those problematic Leftovers and Pinch Berries. Power Whip is for, of course, pure destructive power- people often overlook Tangy's 100 Base Atk.

*image removed*
Toilet (Heatran) @ Leftovers
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 HP/96 Def/100 SAtk/60 SDef
Modest nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Lava Plume
- Earth Power
- Rest
- Sleep Talk

→ This flaming toilet here is my Status Absorber and Special Wall. Metagross, Tangrowth and Froslass are afraid of fire, while Gallade and Metagross both hate hate getting burned, and Heatran loves loves eating some Wisps for breakfast. Lava Plume spreads burns and makes Gyarados think twice before switching in. Earth Power provides nice coverage alongside Fire. I could change it to your Hidden Power of choice, but Dragons don't like coming in Lava Plume and Swampert can't take repeated hits from Earth Power.

*image removed*
Yuki-chi (Froslass) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Snow Cloak
EVs: 252 Spd/252 SAtk
Modest nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Destiny Bond
- Ice Beam
- Shadow Ball
- Hidden Power [Fighting]

→ Whaaat. Choice Scarf on something already fast fast and already adorable? You got it. Deoxys-S is unsuspectedely destroyed, and so are Scarfchomps [even though they fail, but oh well] and general scarfed Pokémon. Hidden Power Fighting once again to provide full coverage with Ghost, plus Tyranitar and Weavile like to switch in Froslass- too bad for them. Destiny Bond is my reason for no defensive EVs at all, and also lets me take advantage of Stealth Rock in a way. Can also stop enemies from behind their Substitutes.


And that's it!
Pretty pretty please please don't recommend Garchomp or Blissey. ♥

 

[Aquilae]

You have a blatant Lucario weakness. With a Swords Dance up everything in your team is outsped and OHKOed. Bullet Punch for Froslass and Mismagius, Close Combat for everything else. It would come in easily against Tangrowth when something is already slept.

Gengar will cause problems, although it does not get many switchins when it is in and not against Gallade it would cause a lot of trouble, even moreso if it does not Hypnosis first, allowing it to KO Heatran with Focus Blast. It also ouspeeds Mismagius, Tangrowth, Metagross and Gallade putting them at risk from Hypnosis, or in Mismagius and Gallade's case, a SE Shadow Ball. It wouldn't be staying in Froslass because it has 5 more base speed.

Garchomp would do a lot of damage, SDChomp in particular. You would have to sacrifice Tangrowth to wear it down, which means that you would lose valuable support and Froslass/Mismagius would have trouble countering the next pokemon that comes in.

Mamoswine gives a load of problems, hitting everything except Froslass extremely hard.

First, ditch Froslass. You have no lack of Deoxys coverage as evidenced by Metagross and Gallade.

Next, Gengar > Mismagius. Your team does not have the support required for a Calm Mind Mismagius sweep and it would appreciate the added Sleep support (more on that later), and Gengar's great immunities gives you a good switchin to Heracross.
Go Timid, and Substitute > Thunderbolt, decimating Heatran and Cresselia which would invariably switch in to absorb the sleep.

For your purposes Celebi would be arguably better at Tangrowth's job - countering Gyarados - due to instant recovery. Use a Leech Seed/Grass Knot/Thunder Wave/Recover Celebi. Reflect can go over Thunder Wave but Thunder Wave helps cripple many offensive switchins which would be more than happy to switch into Celebi.

Thunder Wave does not overlap with Gengar's Hypnosis which is great.

If you are using Gallade keep in mind that it is a horrible lead, most of the leads which you listed require setup to KO and the ones that do not would not be staying in Gallade either way due to being unable to OHKO.
I would recommend you to go with the standard Gallade set with Ice Punch and X-Scissor or Night Slash. This would help your team as it can eliminate Gallade's biggest counter, Gyarados, quite effectively with Metagross and Celebi.

I would recommend a ScarfGyarados here, allowing you to get the jump on Mixape, Garchomp and other assorted threats as well as getting further coverage over Machamp, Lucario and Gallade.

Leading with Gyarados would help prevent Stealth Rocks from being set up indirectly as most leads would fear Taunt and thus would not use it. Stealth Rocks are a major hindrance to Gyarados' performance, so it makes stopping them imperative.
Gyarados also can get some surprise kills on Gengar, Azelf and other frail leads or those which are weak to its attacks, Salamence for example.

Without the need for Lum on Gallade since it is not leading a Life Orb or Expert Belt would be better on it.
Metagross desires the extra power moreso than the Leftovers recovery which is why I recommend Life Orb or Expert Belt again. You can use some gimmicky Stealth Rock/Pursuit/filler/filler Metagross and eliminate ScarfGar and Deoxys but its up to you.

To summarise:

Gyarados/Gallade/Heatran/Gengar/Celebi/Metagross

 

[devilicious]

Thank you for your input, Aquilae. :3

But Gallade has been working great as a lead, so I won't dump it just yet. Everytime someone sends Gyarados in it's in the turn I SD, OHKOing it with Stone Edge. So Gallade's 'biggest counter' hasn't *yet* caused any problems to it. I don't really like ScarfGyara, so that's why I'm against your suggestion.

I agree that it has been more and more difficult to setup with Mismagius, so Gengar is something to consider. I'll test how it does later.

About Garchomp, I haven't had any problems with it so far either. Tangrowth isn't even 2HKO'd by a +2 Dragon Claw, and I'm quite careful with Sleep Powder so I don't use it on something useless- my two targets are usually Garchomp and Lucario, Pokémon that, yes, my team can have problems [even though a +2 Bullet Punch does not OHKO Mismagius, who can KO back with HP Fighting].

But I think I'll be going with that gimmicky Metagross to counter Deoxys, so I can ditch Froslass and pack a better Mixape counter. Maybe Vaporeon, so I could help Tangrowth with Wishpassing, or Starmie for better Garchomp coverage.

 

[Lil MuDkiP849]

Thank you for your input, Aquilae. :3

But Gallade has been working great as a lead, so I won't dump it just yet. Everytime someone sends Gyarados in it's in the turn I SD, OHKOing it with Stone Edge. So Gallade's 'biggest counter' hasn't *yet* caused any problems to it. I don't really like ScarfGyara, so that's why I'm against your suggestion.

I agree that it has been more and more difficult to setup with Mismagius, so Gengar is something to consider. I'll test how it does later.

About Garchomp, I haven't had any problems with it so far either. Tangrowth isn't even 2HKO'd by a +2 Dragon Claw, and I'm quite careful with Sleep Powder so I don't use it on something useless- my two targets are usually Garchomp and Lucario, Pokémon that, yes, my team can have problems [even though a +2 Bullet Punch does not OHKO Mismagius, who can KO back with HP Fighting].

But I think I'll be going with that gimmicky Metagross to counter Deoxys, so I can ditch Froslass and pack a better Mixape counter. Maybe Vaporeon, so I could help Tangrowth with Wishpassing, or Starmie for better Garchomp coverage.

I wouldnt ddepend on tangrowths sleep powder so much. it has a 75% accuracy which means it misses more then stone edge so with its accuracy you may predict right, but then before you know it your opponent got a free switch. Aquilae IS right, you need a better sleep inducer.

Also, maybe you should consider counter starmie. Alot of your team (currently) is messed up by mixape, and the best you could do is D-bond froslass meaning you'd have to give froslass up, and even then you dont know if you'd be able to switch it in safely, but i think you would be if it doesnt use flamethrower. Though sacrificing one poke to get at another is never really a good thing. I dont really like Scarf+D Bond anyway...you could use better moves (example thunderbolt...which i might add is AMAZING on frossy) for a current situation and if you use it wrong you have to switch or sacrifice froslass.

Starmie could help with Ape, Heracross, and Garchomp, which your team seems to have trouble handling (i KNOW you have tangrowth for chomp, but see, some chomps like to sub and when you powder their sub., their just going to SD up and kill you. Trust me, it's happened to me before =/ ) Some chomps even get nasty with Fire fang.


On a side note- Your current team is x3 weak to fire and x3 weak to ghost. Gengar could cause problems if your lead gallade is down, as can weavile if frossy is down. Other pokes with fire moves (ape, ninetales, other heatran) can take advantage of your x3 weak to fire. And with Ape, you might send out heatran to take the fire, but the CC will certainly put a big dent in you. that. I go by my own saying- If it's 1/2 weak to 1-2 types, it's not a balanced team. I'm not saying your team *isnt* good, im just pointing out what you should watch out for.

On a more positive note- I like how you tech a lum berry on gallade. Wouldnt see that one coming XD
And yes...Tangrowth for Uber XPPP


Oh and i just noticed your looking for a deoxys counter. I'd say by FAR the best counter IMO is spiritomb. Spiritomb is immune to both super power and psychic and it's bulky defenses take whatever deoxys throws at it, and basically let's it OHKO-2HKO back. If your going to throw in spiritomb, i HIGHLY recomend a pursuit set. People arent stupid and know when their boned, so that could be a very, VERY good option to this team in terms of defense.

But if you dont want spiritomb, then the best i can suggest is to put pursuit on metagross over bullt punch...

 

[Saruboy]

A fast Houndoom also can cause a lot of problems for your team, although Heatran not so much. Although you don't see them as much in competitive play, being painfully fast and having a good special attack along with it's dural type that can exploit most of your team's weaknesses can put the hurt on. But not a bad team, though.

 

[Samson]

tangrowth isn't a physical wall. even if you give it the whole ev package, sorry, tangrowth is not a wall. it's a physical tank. your team could probably use something to use knock off, so i wouldn't count tangrowth out yet.

on that note, drop frosslass. it doesn't help your team at all... just adds extra weaknesses. replace it with a real tank, hopefull something that can absorb status better than heatran and isn't so afraid of gengar.

that heatran is hard to look at. really really hard to look at. gyara + dragons will still switch into heatran if they have to. sure, lava plume is something to be concerned for but i think you're forgetting so many factors that would be involved, such as your opponent not caring or not knowing that your heatran carries lava plume. be a bit more realistic when you try to paint heatran of all pokemon as an impenetrable bugger. if you want it to be a pain the butt for whatever switches in, give it taunt + WoW/sub/roar/sunny day. it should NOT be restalking at all.

why does metagross have explosion and leftovers? i'm sorry, but that's pretty silly. if explosion is there for revenge killing, then please drop leftovers and replace it with the berry that reduces damage from earthquake. if not that, then make this sucker a CB gross already.

as far as gallade, lum berry is actually VERY good on gallade. gallade is just not a good starter regardless of what item you give it. i highly suggest you give gallade a more bulky set. gallade can't stand up to pokes faster than him so he has to survive hits and hit harder. besides, it's perhaps your most reliable lucario counter. leaf blade really comes in handy for gallade as he ends up facing bulky waters and grounds a majority of the time. ice/thunder punch is also something to consider. shadow sneak doesn't hit hard enough and that ev set makes gallade a bit too fragile to rely on boosting its attack high enough to actually induce real damage with that move.