First OU Team

[crimsoncero]

I've begun battling in showdown a few days ago, and it was my first time having a player vs player battles.
After talking with Gimmipie for a while, he helped me create my first OU team.





Gardevoir (F) @ Gardevoirite
Ability: Trace
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 16 HP / 8 Def / 232 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Hyper Voice
- Psyshock
- Focus Blast
- Calm Mind

• I've based my team around Mega Gardevoir. A potent Wall-Breaker who has a strong STAB in both Hyper Voice (After Mega Evolving) and Psyshock, the former hits Dragons, Fighting and Dark as well as anything with poor Sp.Def, and can also hit through subsitute. The latter allows her to break through Eviolite Chansey and Blissey while also providing coverage for Poison types. Focus Blast hits Steel switch-ins or slower Steel Pokemon and Calm Mind turns Gardi into a potential setup sweeper. The ability Trace helps Gardi to turn the table before she Mega-Evolves, by turning Intimidate or Magic Bounce against the enemy. I've later created a Fairy/Steel/Dragon core with her, having a great coverage together.

Bisharp (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Defiant
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Knock Off
- Swords Dance
- Iron Head
- Sucker Punch

• The Steel part of the above mentioned Fairy/Steel/Dragon core; walls most Poison and Steel types that hit Gardevoir super-effectively and resists her and Latios' Ghost weakness, having nine resistances and two immunities makes Bisharp a solid switch-in. His ability Defiant turns stat-drops into a boost, helping in making sure he is on top of it's enemies. Knock Off is the main STAB move, hits very hard and has the bonus of removing held items. Swords Dance raised an already beastly attack after Bisharp forces a switch. Iron head is a nasty secondary-STAB move, murdering Fairies, bonus in potentially causing a Flinch. The last move, Sucker Punch, is a powerful STAB-boosted priority move, which helps Bisharp to finish off or outspeed dying enemies. Life Orb adds even further offensive power to a pokemon who is all about taking you down.

Latios @ Life Orb
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Draco Meteor
- Earthquake
- Roost
- Tailwind

• The Dragon part of the Fairy/Steel/Dragon core, resists Bisharp's Fighting and Fire weaknesses and immune to its Ground weakness. Life Orb together with Draco Meteor - an extremely powerful STAB move with fairly reliable accuracy - helps Latios to get in and out while dropping Meteors to destroy enemy teams. Earthquake handles the Steel resistance whilst providing coverage, the unusual use of 4 Atk EVs is to give EQ a bit more power. There is a consideration for swapping EQ with Hidden Power (Fire) to make use of a better special stat, in which case the 4 Atk EVs will be re-allocated to HP or Def. Roost provides a reliable recovery, and Tailwind is a huge benefit to both M-Gardi and Bisharp.

Zapdos @ Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 248 HP / 176 Def / 68 SpA / 16 Spe
Bold Nature
- Thunderbolt
- Roost
- Defog
- Heat Wave

• Zapdos can check dangerous threats such as Scizor, M-Pinsir and Tornadus-T as well as bulky Water types. Additional resistance to Steel Pokemon threatening M-Gardi or Fighting Pokemon threatening Bisharp. Pressures offensive teams with good coverage and decent stats. T-bolt is a potent STAB move, with an added bonus of possible paralysis. Roost provides reliable recovery while Defog removes annoying hazards. Heat Wave hits Grass and Steel types.

Keldeo-Resolute @ Choice Specs
Ability: Justified
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Scald
- Secret Sword
- Hydro Pump
- Icy Wind

• Keldeo is a dangerous Special Sweeper, especially with Choice Specs. Pairs well with Latios and Zapdos, and can check dangerous Ice or Dark threats. Scald is the main STAB, hits hard with reliable accuracy and a high chance to burn. Secret Swords breaks Steel walls as well as Chansey or Blissey. Hydro Pump for extra power, considering changing to Hidden Power (Bug) for coverage against a Psychic or Grass switch-ins. Icy wind hits Lati@s hard and slows down fast sweepers.

Klefki @ Leftovers
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
- Spikes
- Thunder Wave
- Magnet Rise
- Foul Play

• Klefki is a great lead with Prankster giving non-damaging moves priority. An excellent typing with several resistances and two immunities works well with the rest of the team. It can set Spikes and has T-Wave to cripple fast, offensive Pokemon. Magnet Rise provides immunity to the otherwise lethal Earthquake and Foul Play hits offensive Pokemon extremely hard.

Any recommendations and suggestions are welcome.

 

[gimmepie]

I've been thinking it might not be a bad idea to go for Hidden Power (Electric) on Keldeo. Bulky Water Pokemon can be an issue for it, so it'll be good to be able to take a chunk out of them. Slowbrow and Manaphy won't enjoy it.

You could go with HP Bug like we talked about earlier too, since that provides coverage against psychic types (Slowbro included). Icy Wind already hits the Lati's though, so that's something to consider.

 

[Nah]

You're missing a critical component in Stealth Rock. All good OU teams make use of SR. Unlike Spikes, you don't need to set it up multiple times for the full effect, and nothing is immune to it (particularly important since several key OU threats are immune to Ground).

Two good options for SR setters would be defensive Landorus-T or Heatran, in place of Klefki. The former being a good pivot by giving you Intimidate, a slow U-turn, and Ground/Electric immunities, while the latter is 4x Ice and Fairy resistant with nice Poison and Fire immunities (Garde and Bisharp will appreciate these), and bops Ferrothorn and most Scizor and Magnezone variants (having extra answers to those is never a bad thing).

 

[wolf]

Be careful around SD Talonflame. It can OHKO Zapdos with Stealth Rock up. Your best option for it is to sacrifice Klefki and paralyze it, then bring in Zapdos or Bisharp. One way you could fix this is a Zapdos replacement. You don't really need a Defogger with no SR weak Pokemon, and Klefki's Spikes can encourage the opponent to Defog for you if necessary. I think Landorus-T would be a good fit, as it gives you an SR user, a sponge for taking hits, and a slow VoltTurner for getting in fragile Pokemon safely. Your team has no switch-ins for Mega Charizard X and is kinda run over by Excadrill in sand, so Lando would be handy to have.

Landorus-Therian @ Leftovers
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 HP / 240 Def / 8 SpD / 8 Spe
Impish Nature
- Earthquake
- U-turn
- Stone Edge
- Stealth Rock

This leaves you a bit more open to Mega Pinsir, but it's better to have a good switch-in for more common Pokemon like Charizard than Pinsir. Klefki can put a stop to Mega Pinsir's sweep via TWave, but you have to sacrifice it in the process. Then you can bring in Lando (or Bisharp if it's weakened), tank a Quick Attack for ~32%, and KO back. Use Rock Slide if you're paranoid about misses, but both it and Stone Edge have imperfect accuracy anyway. You have Zapdos for Scizor and Tornadus-T, but Keldeo and Klefki are adequate checks for them, respectively. Use Play Rough > Foul Play on Klefki if you want to damage Torn-T. Replace EQ with HP Fire on Latios if you use Lando. Without Zapdos you lose a reliable switch-in for Ferrothorn, but this isn't too important as long as all your Pokemon can threaten it (Keldeo is a decent check for Ferro as well).

Good luck, and praise the sun!

 

[gimmepie]

Be careful around SD Talonflame. It can OHKO Zapdos with Stealth Rock up. Your best option for it is to sacrifice Klefki and paralyze it, then bring in Zapdos or Bisharp. One way you could fix this is a Zapdos replacement. You don't really need a Defogger with no SR weak Pokemon, and Klefki's Spikes can encourage the opponent to Defog for you if necessary. I think Landorus-T would be a good fit, as it gives you an SR user, a sponge for taking hits, and a slow VoltTurner for getting in fragile Pokemon safely. Your team has no switch-ins for Mega Charizard X and is kinda run over by Excadrill in sand, so Lando would be handy to have.

Landorus-Therian @ Leftovers
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 HP / 240 Def / 8 SpD / 8 Spe
Impish Nature
- Earthquake
- U-turn
- Stone Edge
- Stealth Rock

This leaves you a bit more open to Mega Pinsir, but it's better to have a good switch-in for more common Pokemon like Charizard than Pinsir. Klefki can put a stop to Mega Pinsir's sweep via TWave, but you have to sacrifice it in the process. Then you can bring in Lando (or Bisharp if it's weakened), tank a Quick Attack for ~32%, and KO back. Use Rock Slide if you're paranoid about misses, but both it and Stone Edge have imperfect accuracy anyway. You have Zapdos for Scizor and Tornadus-T, but Keldeo and Klefki are adequate checks for them, respectively. Use Play Rough > Foul Play on Klefki if you want to damage Torn-T. Replace EQ with HP Fire on Latios if you use Lando. Without Zapdos you lose a reliable switch-in for Ferrothorn, but this isn't too important as long as all your Pokemon can threaten it (Keldeo is a decent check for Ferro as well).

Good luck, and praise the sun!

Doesn't the presence of Heat Wave on basically every Tornadus-T set ever make Klefki useless as a check?

 

[Nah]

Doesn't the presence of Heat Wave on basically every Tornadus-T set ever make Klefki useless as a check?

Sometimes they run Focus Blast instead, but it works as a check since you're not exactly going to switch it directly into a Torn-T with Heat Wave, and it can take at least one Heat Wave depending on the set. And once it's in it effectively forces Torn-T out unless it wants to eat a priority T-Wave (and then lose a lot of what makes it good).

 

[wolf]

Yeah, Klefki is a flimsy check. Without Zapdos the team is a bit weak to Torn-T, but it's better to be prepared for more common threats like Exca and Zard X. I'm not sure what could be added to fix the Torn-T weakness. Mega Diancie > Gardevoir maybe? Diancie is still very good at breaking.