I want to use Audino in ou [RMT]

[2Fruit]

I've always liked Audino for it's design and concept but it's always been considered a lackluster pokemon by the competitive community. I won't say they're wrong, but Just because a pokemon I like is considered bad doesn't mean I won't use it.

The problem is, the other pokemon I felt like using at the time were in OU, so I had to build a team Where Audino is not a liability in a world filled with dragons, genies, and washing machines.

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Audino @ Leftovers
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
- Wish
- Heal Bell
- Toxic
- Knock Off/Icy Wind

I decided to play to Audino's best niche and strength, it is the only pokemon with wish, heal bell, and regenerator. With max investment, Audino can provide 205 HP to the other pokemon on my team, healing up to 2 thirds of the other members. Heal bell gives it a second toy to play with, removing status.

The big problem with Audino is it's low damage output, letting it be setup upon. Toxic can remedy this to a point, but I'm on the fence for the final move. Knock off is always useful for removing Items, but Icy wind has also proven to work well with the team, As Audino often switches out and lowering the opponent's speed makes checking easier.

The rest of the team


Ferrothorn @ Leftovers
Ability: Iron Barbs
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Atk / 252 Def
Impish Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Spikes
- Thunder Wave
- Knock Off

By now I had decided to go in the direction of a hazard stacking team, gradually wearing down my opponent through long battles. Ferrothorn can provide even move knock off support, in an attempt to take out Opposing Starmies before they rapid spin away. If that fails I have an auxillary defence against rapid spinners.

Chandelure @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Energy Ball
- Clear Smog
- Flamethrower
- Shadow Ball

Chandelure with flash fire can switch in on the fighting type moves Audino despises, the fire type moves that cook ferrothorn, and rapid spin. Clear smog can remedy pokemon thinking they can set up on Audino as it switches out. The other moves give coverage and Allow Chandelure to act as a revenge killer of sorts.

Starmie @ Life Orb
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 168 HP / 88 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Rapid Spin
- Scald
- Psychic
- Recover

Starmie removes hazards for my team and counters Keldeo, Heatran, and others. The moveset is fairly explanatory.

Tyranitar @ Choice Band
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Pursuit
- Superpower
- Stone Edge
- Earthquake

Tyranitar pursuit traps common defogers and can stomach dark type moves that Slam everyone else for neutral or super effective damage. I can't decide if T-tar should wear a head band or a scarf. Though Tyranitar cannot stop opponents from defoging, it can get a free kill, and I don't really mind, as Ferrothorn usually lives long enough to rebuild the spikes.

Charizard @ Charizardite Y
Ability: Blaze
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Hasty Nature
- Flamethrower
- Solar Beam
- Roost
- Bulldoze

Charizard has a ton of synergy with the rest of the team, Benefiting from Starmie's rock removal, and Tyranitar's sun reset, and benefiting Chandelure and Ferrothorn with it's ground immunity and Fire boosting moves.

The last move deserves some explaining.

Most players would opt for earthquake over bulldoze as it has nearly double the power. I had earthquake at first, until I realized that with the spread I was running, neither EQ nor Buldoze could destroy Heatran in one hit, and I couldn't always gurrantee SR would be up until Heatran was removed from play.

But the main reason is that Charizard forces a ton of switches and bulldoze has the same Idea as Icy wind in that it seriously eases prediction. Suppose an opponent decides to switch in say a garchomp, or a scarf-Tar to try and Kill of Charizard. In theory, Earthquake does more damage because it has more power. In Practice, Case 1Bulldoze does more damage because Charizard Can use another move instead of switching out, even perhaps a flamethrower. In situiations where EQ would 1HKO, Bulldoze would essentially be a free KO as well, with another Attack finishing off an opponent or else the Opponent will switch out again (which is fine Even though they probably avoid a KO, as they continue to rack up Entry hazard damage and possibly lose more speed.

In Case 2 Charizard will switch out right after using bulldoze, usually to T-tar or Chandelure. sometimes, Choice scarf isn't enough to outspeed certain pokemon, specifically other scarfers and Dragon dancers. Constant spamming can prevent the opponent from getting to acceptable levels of speed, meaining revenge killing goes from a costly action to a 1-1 trade off.

Mostly posting this for opinions on Tyranitar, Starmie, and Charizard, but appreciate Feedback of any kind.

 

[Handsome Samurott]

I am by no means an expert, so take my comments with a grain of salt and consider other sources :) You have some cool Pokemon there. I've always hated facing Mega Charizard Y -_- And Tyranitar is a beast!

Generally speaking, if you're using a mega evolution, that mega evolution should be the center of your team. Although the rest of your team should not be totally dependent upon it for winning, it is the center and your team should provide the support necessary for it to do whatever job it is you want it to do. When I look at your team, I'm not exactly sure what you're trying to accomplish with Mega Charizard Y and how the rest of your team is supporting him.

You seem to want to use Mega Charizard Y as a mixed attacker in order to check Heatran, but that is not a strategy I recommend. First, Mega Charizard Y is a special, not a physical, attacker. I think Smogon has a good move set for him: Fire Blast/Flamethrower, Solar Beam, Focus Blast, and Roost/Dragon Pulse. Second, I would not recommend running a Hasty nature on Mega Charizard Y. It's Def is already vulnerable; you don't want to diminish it even further. Likewise, I would not recommend running a Naive nature because you do not want to diminish his special bulk. I think a Timid or a Modest nature is best, depending on whether a Spe or SpA boost is more important to you and your team. Finally, is it all that wise to design this Mega Charizard Y to try to check a single threat - Heatran - that it cannot adequately check, even with the set you have designed for him? It seems more logical to me, if you're really all that worried about Heatran, to have another teammate provide that check. Does any of this make sense?

Charizard/Mega Charizard Y is exceedingly vulnerable to Stealth Rock, so having Rapid Spin support is very important, unless you are excellent at the art of prediction and can time his entry just right. But most of us aren't that good, so having a teammate with Rapid Spin is a good idea. Starmie fits that role perfectly, although some people prefer Excadrill. I'm curious: why did you choose that particular EV distribution for Starmie? Also, if you're putting a Life Orb on Starmie, I'm assuming you want to use it in a more offensive role. In that case, I would forgo Scald in favor of Hydro Pump/Surf and forgo Recover in favor of Ice Beam. If you're going for a more defensive role, what about scrapping Psychic for Reflect Type? You can play around with these sets to see which one works best.

Having a utility Pokemon is a great idea, and Ferrothorn can fill this role well. Plus, with Starmie and Mega Charizard Y, it creates a nice Grass/Fire/Water core. But I'm afraid you are being too utility-oriented with this set for Ferrothorn. And I'm not sure your EV spread and nature are the best for him. First, as I see it, your team is fairly weak to Water, Ground, and Rock types. Using Power Whip, Ferrothorn could check these Pokemon and keep them on their toes. Second, you have no coverage whatsoever against Sylveon and Clefable, the ubiquitous Fairy types in the meta-game. Using Gyro Ball, Ferrothorn could smash through their significantly weaker physical defense. Since Ferrothorn will not be outspeeding anything, and in order to maximize the power of Gyro Ball, I would run a Relaxed nature (+ Def, - Spe) and a 0 IV in Spe. Third, you have to decide what utility moves you want to run. Ferrothorn has so many good options that it's tough to decide! I'm having the same problem deciding what utility moves to run on my Ferrothorn :) I generally like Leech Seed and Stealth Rock, but Spikes is never a bad choice. Just remember that Spikes will not hurt Flying types and Pokemon with Levitate. However, the more layers of Spikes you lay down, the more grounded Pokemon will be hurt. On the other hand, Stealth Rock will do damage to almost every Pokemon and will punish Fire types, especially Fire/Flying types such as Talonflame and opposing Charizard. I recommend running Leech Seed and then choosing between Stealth Rock and Spikes. However, if diminishing your opponent's speed is absolutely critical to your strategy, then you can run Thunder Wave in place of Leech Seed. Finally, Leftovers is a great item to run on Ferrothorn, or you could run Rocky Helmet, which, coupled with Iron Barbs, will inflict wicked damage to physical attackers.

As for Tyranitar, I honestly don't see how he benefits your team all that much. He can be a beast, and his physical attack provides a nice balance to a team that is so reliant on SpA. But I think there are better choices. But if you want to use Tyranitar, I have a perfect move set that I learned from a friend and will pass on to you. Let's try to keep this set our secret ;-)

Tyranitar @ Assault Vest
Ability: Sand Stream
Nature: Brave
EVs: 252 Atk, 252 Def, 4 SpA
Moves:
- Crunch
- Stone Edge
- Fire Blast
- Pursuit/Ice Punch

The Assault Vest, together with Sand Stream, boosts Tyranitar's SpD considerably, allowing it to tank moves it would either faint to instantly. Although Tyranitar is very physically bulky, he is still weak to many physical attacks, so making him as bulky as possible is critical, hence maxing out his Def. And of course Tyranitar has a beautiful base 134 Atk, so you want to max that out so that he can hit hard. The reason for a Brave nature over an Impish nature is to further increase his Def without further diminishing his already modest SpA. The reason to preserve his SpA is so that he can surprise Steel types such as Skarmory, Ferrothorn, and Scizor with Fire Blast. In the last slot, you can run Pursuit to trap Gengar and a host of Psychic types, such as Starmie, Alakazam, Latios, Latias, etc. Or you can run Ice Punch for coverage against Dragon and Ground types. But Pursuit is the better option.

As for Chandelure, I'm not really familiar with him in the sense I've never encountered him much and I've never used him. I will let others comment on him. Finally, I rarely tell people to ditch a Pokemon, partly because people like to battle with their favorite Pokemon, partly because a rarely used Pokemon can be a surprise to your opponents, and partly because many Pokemon have untapped potential for the meta-game (just look at Se Jun Park's genius use of Pachirisu in the 2014 World Championships!) just waiting to be discovered. However...ditch Audino. If you're looking for Wish passers, there are much better options, chiefly in Vaporeon and Sylveon. If you're looking for a cleric, there are much better options, such as Sylveon, Clefable, Chansey, Blissey, and, to a more modest extent, Umbreon. If you're looking for something to dish out toxic, there are so many better options. And there are plenty of better Knock Off users as well. Just ditch Audino and find something else :)

One last note. Your team is ridiculously prone to status, even with a cleric. Perhaps invest in a status absorber, such as Magic Guard Clefable or, even better, Poison Heal/Toxic Orb Gliscor.

I hope these comments helped you. In no way do I want to diminish the team you have put together, and in no way do I want to impede you from the creative and critical thinking process. Look at your options, consult Bulbapedia and Smogon for options and move sets, and consider exactly what you want to accomplish with your team, how you intend to execute that plan, and how you plan to check the prevalent threats and trends in the meta-game. Good luck!

 

[Nah]

@Handsome Samurott: While megas are often the center of the team, they don't have to be. And running Earthquake on Zard Y is actually a legit thing since EQ handles Sp.Def Heatran much better than Focus Blast does. I also don't think that his team is that status weak, since Ferrothorn is immune to poison and doesn't care about paralysis, while Starmie has Natural Cure and Zard Y and Chandelure can block burns, not to mention that he does still have cleric support. But I do very much agree with what you're saying about Ferrothorn.

Anyway, for the last slot on Audino I'd go with Knock Off over Icy Wind since Bulldoze and Thunder Wave will give you enough Speed control and you'll probably need to drop Knock Off on Ferro to make room for the stuff Hansome Samurott suggested.

Ues Fire Blast on Chandelure over Flamethrower, you'll need the extra power.

 

[PlatinumDude]

I am by no means an expert, so take my comments with a grain of salt and consider other sources :) You have some cool Pokemon there. I've always hated facing Mega Charizard Y -_- And Tyranitar is a beast!

Generally speaking, if you're using a mega evolution, that mega evolution should be the center of your team. Although the rest of your team should not be totally dependent upon it for winning, it is the center and your team should provide the support necessary for it to do whatever job it is you want it to do. When I look at your team, I'm not exactly sure what you're trying to accomplish with Mega Charizard Y and how the rest of your team is supporting him.

You seem to want to use Mega Charizard Y as a mixed attacker in order to check Heatran, but that is not a strategy I recommend. First, Mega Charizard Y is a special, not a physical, attacker. I think Smogon has a good move set for him: Fire Blast/Flamethrower, Solar Beam, Focus Blast, and Roost/Dragon Pulse. Second, I would not recommend running a Hasty nature on Mega Charizard Y. It's Def is already vulnerable; you don't want to diminish it even further. Likewise, I would not recommend running a Naive nature because you do not want to diminish his special bulk. I think a Timid or a Modest nature is best, depending on whether a Spe or SpA boost is more important to you and your team. Finally, is it all that wise to design this Mega Charizard Y to try to check a single threat - Heatran - that it cannot adequately check, even with the set you have designed for him? It seems more logical to me, if you're really all that worried about Heatran, to have another teammate provide that check. Does any of this make sense?

Charizard/Mega Charizard Y is exceedingly vulnerable to Stealth Rock, so having Rapid Spin support is very important, unless you are excellent at the art of prediction and can time his entry just right. But most of us aren't that good, so having a teammate with Rapid Spin is a good idea. Starmie fits that role perfectly, although some people prefer Excadrill. I'm curious: why did you choose that particular EV distribution for Starmie? Also, if you're putting a Life Orb on Starmie, I'm assuming you want to use it in a more offensive role. In that case, I would forgo Scald in favor of Hydro Pump/Surf and forgo Recover in favor of Ice Beam. If you're going for a more defensive role, what about scrapping Psychic for Reflect Type? You can play around with these sets to see which one works best.

Having a utility Pokemon is a great idea, and Ferrothorn can fill this role well. Plus, with Starmie and Mega Charizard Y, it creates a nice Grass/Fire/Water core. But I'm afraid you are being too utility-oriented with this set for Ferrothorn. And I'm not sure your EV spread and nature are the best for him. First, as I see it, your team is fairly weak to Water, Ground, and Rock types. Using Power Whip, Ferrothorn could check these Pokemon and keep them on their toes. Second, you have no coverage whatsoever against Sylveon and Clefable, the ubiquitous Fairy types in the meta-game. Using Gyro Ball, Ferrothorn could smash through their significantly weaker physical defense. Since Ferrothorn will not be outspeeding anything, and in order to maximize the power of Gyro Ball, I would run a Relaxed nature (+ Def, - Spe) and a 0 IV in Spe. Third, you have to decide what utility moves you want to run. Ferrothorn has so many good options that it's tough to decide! I'm having the same problem deciding what utility moves to run on my Ferrothorn :) I generally like Leech Seed and Stealth Rock, but Spikes is never a bad choice. Just remember that Spikes will not hurt Flying types and Pokemon with Levitate. However, the more layers of Spikes you lay down, the more grounded Pokemon will be hurt. On the other hand, Stealth Rock will do damage to almost every Pokemon and will punish Fire types, especially Fire/Flying types such as Talonflame and opposing Charizard. I recommend running Leech Seed and then choosing between Stealth Rock and Spikes. However, if diminishing your opponent's speed is absolutely critical to your strategy, then you can run Thunder Wave in place of Leech Seed. Finally, Leftovers is a great item to run on Ferrothorn, or you could run Rocky Helmet, which, coupled with Iron Barbs, will inflict wicked damage to physical attackers.

As for Tyranitar, I honestly don't see how he benefits your team all that much. He can be a beast, and his physical attack provides a nice balance to a team that is so reliant on SpA. But I think there are better choices. But if you want to use Tyranitar, I have a perfect move set that I learned from a friend and will pass on to you. Let's try to keep this set our secret ;-)

Tyranitar @ Assault Vest
Ability: Sand Stream
Nature: Brave
EVs: 252 Atk, 252 Def, 4 SpA
Moves:
- Crunch
- Stone Edge
- Fire Blast
- Pursuit/Ice Punch

The Assault Vest, together with Sand Stream, boosts Tyranitar's SpD considerably, allowing it to tank moves it would either faint to instantly. Although Tyranitar is very physically bulky, he is still weak to many physical attacks, so making him as bulky as possible is critical, hence maxing out his Def. And of course Tyranitar has a beautiful base 134 Atk, so you want to max that out so that he can hit hard. The reason for a Brave nature over an Impish nature is to further increase his Def without further diminishing his already modest SpA. The reason to preserve his SpA is so that he can surprise Steel types such as Skarmory, Ferrothorn, and Scizor with Fire Blast. In the last slot, you can run Pursuit to trap Gengar and a host of Psychic types, such as Starmie, Alakazam, Latios, Latias, etc. Or you can run Ice Punch for coverage against Dragon and Ground types. But Pursuit is the better option.

As for Chandelure, I'm not really familiar with him in the sense I've never encountered him much and I've never used him. I will let others comment on him. Finally, I rarely tell people to ditch a Pokemon, partly because people like to battle with their favorite Pokemon, partly because a rarely used Pokemon can be a surprise to your opponents, and partly because many Pokemon have untapped potential for the meta-game (just look at Se Jun Park's genius use of Pachirisu in the 2014 World Championships!) just waiting to be discovered. However...ditch Audino. If you're looking for Wish passers, there are much better options, chiefly in Vaporeon and Sylveon. If you're looking for a cleric, there are much better options, such as Sylveon, Clefable, Chansey, Blissey, and, to a more modest extent, Umbreon. If you're looking for something to dish out toxic, there are so many better options. And there are plenty of better Knock Off users as well. Just ditch Audino and find something else :)

One last note. Your team is ridiculously prone to status, even with a cleric. Perhaps invest in a status absorber, such as Magic Guard Clefable or, even better, Poison Heal/Toxic Orb Gliscor.

I hope these comments helped you. In no way do I want to diminish the team you have put together, and in no way do I want to impede you from the creative and critical thinking process. Look at your options, consult Bulbapedia and Smogon for options and move sets, and consider exactly what you want to accomplish with your team, how you intend to execute that plan, and how you plan to check the prevalent threats and trends in the meta-game. Good luck!

Ditching Scald is a bad thing to do on bulky Starmie. Why would you even give up the potential to burn something on the switch? Hydro Pump's low PP is very detrimental on defensive sets, as Starmie will be stalled out of offensive presence fast, no matter how tempting the extra power is. Scald's burn chance also outweighs the slight power that Surf has. Here's bulky Starmie:
-Scald
-Psyshock/Reflect Type
-Rapid Spin
-Recover
Nature: Timid
EVs: 252 HP/4 SAtk/252 Spe
Item: Leftovers
Ability: Natural Cure

Ferrothorn has little to no room for Knock Off, as it needs at least one of its STABs to function well:
-Stealth Rock
-Leech Seed
-Power Whip/Protect
-Gyro Ball/Thunder Wave
Nature: Relaxed
EVs: 252 HP/88 Def/168 SDef
Item: Leftovers
Ability: Iron Barbs

Mixed Charizard Y is actually usable, but it's not the best way to use it; Charizard Y's main niche is a strong special wall breaker in sun. While Bulldoze's Speed controls seems tempting at first glance, you can have Ferrothorn paralyze faster targets for you. Not only that, Bulldoze is weak for a coverage attack (sure, Hidden Power suffers from the same problem, but some Pokemon need it. Charizard doesn't even need Bulldoze in the first place for the reason I said). If you're interested, mixed Charizard Y uses:
-Flare Blitz
-Earthquake
-Solar Beam
-Fire Blast/Roost
Nature: Hasty/Naive
EVs: 252 Atk/4 SAtk/252 Spe
Item: Charizardite Y

Otherwise, use the standard Charizard Y set.

Clear Smog is a waste on Chandelure. Sure, it can get rid of opposing stat boosts from non-Steel Pokemon, but being locked into a STAB-less 50 BP move is bad, making it prone to being Pursuit trapped by Tyranitar, Scizor, or Bisharp:
-Shadow Ball
-Fire Blast
-Hidden Power (Fighting)
-Trick/Energy Ball
Nature: Timid/Modest
EVs: 4 Def/252 SAtk/252 Spe
Item: Choice Scarf
Ability: Flash Fire/Infiltrator

Assault Vest seems tempting on Tyranitar, but it's not worth giving up the extra power Choice Band grants, or even Choice Scarf's Speed boost. Besides, Tyranitar's special bulk is still good under sand, even without Assault Vest:
-Stone Edge
-Crunch/Ice Punch
-Pursuit
-Superpower
Nature: Jolly
EVs: 252 Atk/4 Def/252 Spe
Item: Choice Scarf
Ability: Sand Stream

Choice Band Tyranitar uses 100 HP/252 Atk/156 Spe to outspeed 0 Speed Mandibuzz. Moves are roughly the same as Choice Scarf, though.

I know you have your reasons for using Audino, but I'd like to point out the reason why it's not even used in the first place from this Pastebin:

outclassed as a wish passer and a tr setter, no offensive presence, just sits there and mega form outclassed by clefable. no