Giving my whirl at Platinum (OU Platinum RMT)

[ABYAY]

Yes, I'm attempting to take on Platinum's metagame, but there's a twist; no Scizor, Skymin, or Heatran on my team. They are crack, and I don't smoke that stuff. Well, here goes.

Azelf @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 Atk/6 Def/252 Spd
Adamant nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Zen Headbutt
- Fire Punch
- Explosion
- U-turn

Scarf Azelf is actually a decent threat. It holds a stronger U-Turn, decent coverage, and a powerful Explosion. SR isn't here because I rarely have time to use it.

---
Oven Rotom @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP/62 Def/196 Spd
Timid nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Overheat
- Shadow Ball
- Thunderbolt
- Reflect

SD Luke counter; Reflect ensures that SD Crunch will fail to 2HKO. The speed outpaces Adamant Lucario, and all else is self-explanatory.

---
Dragonite (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Inner Focus
EVs: 170 Atk/124 Spd/216 SAtk
Naughty nature (+Atk, -SDef)
- Superpower
- Fire Blast
- Draco Meteor
- Thunderbolt

Wall-breaking Dragonite; Superpower from this thing hurts like heck against Blissey (OHKO'd) and Snorlax (potential to be OHKO'd), and since Fire Blast OHKO's Skymin already, I'm using Draco Meteor for the obligatory "Life Orb omg that fricken hurts." move.

---
Vaporeon (M) @ Choice Specs
Ability: Water Absorb
EVs: 252 Def/4 Spd/252 SAtk
Modest nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Ice Beam
- Wish
- Hidden Power [Electric]
- Surf

Specs Vaporeon and MixApe counter, as well as early Heatran counter. Seriously, this thing REALLY hurts.

---
Torterra (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Overgrow
EVs: 212 HP/252 Def/44 Spd
Impish nature (+Def, -SAtk)
- Wood Hammer
- Earthquake
- Leech Seed
- Stealth Rock

DDTar Counter and Stealth Rock setter; Torterra's use is nothing lately, so I hope to be one of the only competitive users of it. It can also be an annoying supporter with Leech Seed.

---
Metagross @ Leftovers
Ability: Clear Body
EVs: 244 HP/176 Atk/40 Def/42 SDef/8spd
Adamant nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Earthquake
- Meteor Mash
- Rest
- Sleep Talk

Rest-talk Metagross? Wtf is this?...My status absorber. Metagross has good bulk and plenty of resistances. Nothing else on my team can fulfill this role of an absorber. I might opt for Hammer Arm/Gyro Ball/Resttalk, but that's still in debate. For now, I go with 8 speed EVs to outrun CB Tyranitar, a potential threat to the team.

---

Yeah, I still have some weaknesses, but hey, I'm not using any of the abused Pokemon, so give me credit for that. Feel free to help out, but I will not use Skymin, Heatran, or Scizor.

 

[Samson]

no Scizor, Skymin, or Heatran on my team. They are crack, and I don't smoke that stuff.

rofl, well put.

cool azelf, tho with scarf i'd think you can make it mixed. i'm really liking the idea of CBzelf myself. to think that utility deoxys uses light screen predicting incorrectly just to get nearly OHKOd by CB uturn... i'm a little turned on. one of the only, if not the only, viable physical psychics.

cool rotom. can't say much else really.

the dragonite is interesting but i doubt it'll come in handy a majority of the time. just a way for you to trick a blissey into getting lolRAEPd once in a while.

super cool vaporeon. bulky waters with choice items is something i've been doing for a while now and they does not disappoint, gotta tell ya.

who is torterra outspeeding there? o.O

lol actually sleeptalk metagross isn't all that uncommon. i dunno why, but people see big ugly monster and think 'talks in sleep'.

 

[ABYAY]

Torterra is outspeeding neutral Swampert by more than a few points so I'm not Ice Beam'd into oblivion while I KO with my Wood Hammer. I think it also outspeeds neutral 0 spd Tyranitar.

I'd like to keep Azelf fully physical due to it being one of my only big physical attackers, the other being Metagross (Dragonite only has purpose in defeating Blissey/Snorlax and Torterra can't do much damage except to a couple specific threats.)

 

[.]

Choice Band Tyranitar doesn't do you any favors, whatsoever:

Tyranitar @ Choice Band
Adamant
188 HP/252 Att/76 Spe
Crunch
Stone Edge
Earthquake
Ice Punch

Ice Punch vs. Max HP/Max Def Torterra: 97.46%-115.74%
Stone Edge vs. 0 HP/252 Def Vaporeon: 73.88%-87.31%
Earthquake vs. 252 HP/40 Def Metagross: 71.43%-84.07%

Coincidentally, CBTar outruns your exact Metagross by 1 point, thus I reccomend moving 8 EV's from HP into Spe, to outrun and OHKO CBTar if you have ideas of switching in.

LO DD Kingdra is also a pain for this team, since after a DD it outspeeds all but Azelf (who could Explode on it, but I honestly don't see it living a few turns)

Kingdra @ Life Orb
Adamant
42 HP/252 Att/216 Spe
Dragon Dance
Waterfall
Outrage
Return

+1 LO Outrage vs. 0 HP/252 Def Vaporeon: 90.55%-106.72%
+1 LO Outrage vs. 252 HP/252 Def Torterra: 59.64%-70.30%
+1 LO Waterfall vs. 252 HP/40 Def Metagross: 43.96%-51.92%


I'd invest in something to counter these mentioned threats, as they really put a dent in your team.

 

[ABYAY]

I've moved 8 HP EVs to speed on Meta, but I'm iffy on them running Ice Punch. They would probably favor Pursuit to crash down the likes of Azelf. Ice Punch, I can see being a threat though. I'll have to be able to predict well, or it will give me trouble.

As for DD Kingdra...there isn't really a good option in countering it. Empoleon can't do crap to it, although it walls it well until 4 DDs are headed my way. Azelf can come in after a kill, blow up, and take it down with me.

Regardless, thanks for showing me those two major threats.

 

[.]

That's your only real option at the moment, however, with the mass amount of Scizor's carrying Pursuit, it'd be easy for them to come in on your Zen Headbutt, and trapping you.

 

[ABYAY]

That's why I rarely use Zen Headbutt until end-game, after I've scouted their team enough to notice if Scizor is around or not. My first assumption is yes, they will, since right now they're used so much, the stock market wishes it had stocks that high.

 

[.]

I highly doubt a Scarf Azelf will be staying around until late game, especially a lead one. There's a lot of things that can hurt it, and things like Heatran or Kingdra can come in on Fire Punch (the former benefitting from it) and the lattering using it as set up. Make sure you abuse U-Turn ;)

 

[ABYAY]

That's why I'm purely physically orientated with Azelf. U-Turn gains power, should something like Tyranitar try to switch in on an expected Fire Punch. Azelf needs Superpower >_>

On contrary, Azelf is occasionally my LAST Pokemon alive. It rarely sees playtime until I've withered the opposing team enough.

 

[.]

Just be careful, since even with that spread, Azelf only does 40.47% - 48.09%To even 0 HP sets, which never are used.

 

[ABYAY]

so with SR, it'll only be able to switch in only once safely, as opposed to twice without. Thanks for the info (and being the only one except samson actually rating this team. People wonder why I've been losing so much.)

 

[Samson]

hmm, well how is torterra doing? i gotta say, im not really convinced on whether its adding any power or viable tanking ability in a team full of ous. it just has too many available weaknesses and is pretty much afraid of everything. you really have just hope that certain waters don't have ice beam, certain sets are utility sets rather attack sets and that torterra will do enough STABd damage to get away with it. the only torterra set i had success with is an adamant Rock Polish set, being able to raep incoming gengars with crunch. seriously, im only insane enough to run a set like that that gets walled by almost everything xD... but at least it did something.

yeah i would be concerned on the damage output of scarfzelf as well. the speed is definitely helpful for the early game but it definitely needs power for the late.

 

[ABYAY]

I could use a powerful CB Torterra with Stealth Rock as an additive if it really helps, but right now, he's actually faring rather well. Knowing when to send him in is a good key to dealing damage with Leech Seed, set up SR, or just plainly bash the foe's face in with an attack.