Team Review: Lumi & Co.

[Dr. Silver]

Greetings Pokecommunity!

I've put up this thread for some review of my current team. While I'm quite happy with my current line up I figured some input from some professional battlers might do me some good. Please note that while I'm aware of the Pokegoodness that are the mighty Garchomp and Volcarona, I'm somewhat more interested in using lesser used Pokemon, as you'll find out by reading the list.

All my battling takes place on the PSS as well, so you'll find no Pokemon Showdown discussion from me.

For an idea of how well my current team works, please take the time to watch this battle video, it'll help show my style of battle:

PLMG-WWWW-WWW6-P5FG


Introducing the team!:

Team Member 1: Lumi, the Sableye!

Item: Full Incense
Ability: Prankster
EV Spread: 252 Def/252 SpDef/4 HP
Impish Nature (+Def/-SpAtk)
-Recover
-Will-o-Wisp
-Trick
-Metal Burst

Lumi is usually the first Pokemon set out in battles and her aim is to cripple vital team members. Trick is used to burden the opponent with Lumi's Full Incense, crippling faster opponents and giving Lumi a useful item. Will-o-Wisp is used for crippling physical attackers that switch into her. Recover is used to give her some form of staying ability, whereas Metal Burst is used to punish attacks that she can comfortably survive.

Notable Achievements:
-Took down a Shiny Garchomp after surviving its brutal physical/special onslaught.
-Stood against a Mega Pinsir's attacks and forced the opponent to submit that particular match.


Team Member 2: Ratty, the Raticate!

Item: Flame Orb
Ability: Guts
EV Spread: 252 Atk/252 Speed/4 HP
Jolly Nature (+Speed/-SpAtk)
-Facade
-Protect
-Quick Attack
-Sucker Punch

Facade is the main attack of this set, after the Flame Orb takes effect it gives Ratty a 140BP attack before STAB is applied. Protect is used to stall for the burn status to take effect and to scan for an opponent's moves. Quick Attack is used to pick off faster opponents or to deal some decent damage to an enemy before they bring Ratty down, whereas Sucker Punch is mainly used against opposing Ghost types or faster Psychics.

Notable Achievements:
-Has taken down Mega Gengar, Mega Blaziken and Mega Charizard Y in one hit.
-Regularly takes on and defeats high-ranking Pokemon such as Garchomp and comes up on top.
-Just recently swept a team of Garchomp, Delphox, Noivern, Goodra and Charizard Y
(Videos of Ratty's performance available on request, best example is the video posted at the top of the thread)


Team Member 3: Electabuzz the, um, Electabuzz. But she's shiny!

Item: Eviolite
Ability: Static
EV Spread: 252 SpAtk/252 Speed/4 SpDef
Modest Nature (+SpAtk/-Atk)
-Volt Switch
-Light Screen
-Psychic
-Discharge

I got this one from Wonder Trade so I figured I'd stick with her and use it. Anyways, the idea behind her was to provide much needed Electric coverage for my team but to also help cushion Special Attacks. Light Screen helps support the team and Volt Switch allows her to escape. Psychic was put there in order to allow her the ability to hurt Ground types, and Discharge is preferred over Thunderbolt for the chance of Paralysis.

Notable Achievements:
-Stalled out a Hydreigon.


Team Member 4: Kaori, the Abra!

Item: Life Orb
Ability: Magic Guard
EV Spread: 252 SpAtk/252 Speed/4 HP
Modest Nature (+SpAtk/-Attack)
-Psyshock
-Shadow Ball
-Dazzling Gleam
-Energy Ball

Using an Abra may seem a bit stupid considering it can evolve twice, but Abra's Special Attack and Speed are quite respectable, and can throw unsuspecting battlers off their game. With Life-Orb boosted attacks, Kaori's power is quite respectable. Psyshock is used to get around Special Walls, while the other attacks are for coverage purposes.

Notable Achievements:
-Has taken down a few regular opponents via surprise factor.


Team Member 5: Gwen, the Lucario!

Item: Expert Belt
Ability: Inner Focus
EV Spread: 252 Atk/252 Speed/4HP
Jolly Nature (+Speed/-SpAtk)
-Close Combat
-Blaze Kick
-Bullet Punch
-Earthquake

The first of two high-tiered Pokemon to appear on my list, Gwen's role in the team is to come in and deal with a variety of threats. Close Combat is the STAB move of choice, being there for dealing as much damage as possible within a single hit. Bullet Punch makes up for the other part of her STAB, and is used for dealing some damage if her opponent is faster or is severely weakened enough. Earthquake is to deal with types that would resist her other moves and to also ensure that she does not need to use Close Combat so recklessly. Blaze Kick is there for getting the drop on Grass types.

Notable Achievements:
-Took down a Darkrai
-Routinely deals with threats that Ratty cannot, such as Tyranitar or other Rock types.


Team Member 6: Dante the Absol!

Item: Absolite
Ability: Pressure/Magic Bounce
EV Spread: 252 Attack/252 Speed/4 SpDef
Adamant Nature (+Attack/-SpAtk)
-Me First
-Swords Dance
-Sucker Punch
-Psycho Cut

The back-up star of the team, Dante comes out when the battle seems rather hopeless. Sucker Punch is the main attack of the set, as the opponent almost always tries to attack Dante due to his Magic Bounce ability. Psycho Cut is included in the set to deal with opposing Fighting types and the rare Poison-type opponent. Swords Dance is included in the set for the rare occasion that he can pull off a Swords Dance, such as when playing mind games with Aegislash. Me First is a move I'm enjoying at the moment, as the ability to copy an opponent's attack and use it with a 50% increase in power can be rather handy.

Notable Achievements:
-Often brings the team back from a potential loss
-Destroyed a Mega Tyranitar by using Me First to use Earthquake.


And that is my current team. I'm looking for interesting movesets to try out, so please make some suggestions regarding what moves should be replaced or what Pokemon should be replaced altogether.

Thanks for your time!

-Dr. Silver

 

[PlatinumDude]

I know that Trick can cripple opponents with hindering items, but Sableye has much better things to do than that. It's not that bulky enough to counter hits with Metal Burst and is better off abusing its support move pool with this:
-Taunt
-Will-o-Wisp
-Recover
-Foul Play/Night Shade/Knock Off
Nature: Bold
EVs: 252 HP/88 Def/168 SDef
Item: Leftovers
Ability: Prankster

Diggersby > Raticate. It doesn't rely on being statused to hit hard and strikes harder thanks to Huge Power:
-Swords Dance
-Return
-Earthquake
-Quick Attack
Nature: Adamant/Jolly
EVs: 4 HP/252 Atk/252 Spe
Item: Life Orb
Ability: Huge Power

or
-Return
-Earthquake
-Wild Charge
-U-turn
Nature: Adamant
EVs: 4 HP/252 Atk/252 Spe
Item: Choice Scarf
Ability: Huge Power

I don't like having Electabuzz in OU, even with Eviolite. It just doesn't hit hard enough compared to Wash Rotom and Thundurus:

Wash Rotom:
-Volt Switch
-Hydro Pump
-Will-o-Wisp
-Pain Split/Rest
Nature: Bold
EVs: 248 HP/216 Def/44 Spe
Item: Leftovers/Chesto Berry

or
-Volt Switch
-Hydro Pump
-Thunderbolt/Pain Split
-Will-o-Wisp
Nature: Modest
EVs: 228 HP/60 SAtk/220 Spe
Item: Leftovers

or
-Volt Switch
-Hydro Pump
-Hidden Power (Ice)/Thunderbolt
-Trick
Nature: Timid/Modest
EVs: 4 HP/252 SAtk/252 Spe
Item: Choice Scarf

Thundurus:
-Thunderbolt
-Hidden Power (Ice)
-Focus Blast/U-turn
-Thunder Wave
Nature: Timid/Naive
EVs: 4 Def/252 SAtk/252 Spe
Item: Life Orb/Leftovers
Ability: Prankster

or
-Nasty Plot
-Thunderbolt
-Hidden Power (Ice/Flying)
-Focus Blast/Psychic/Thunder Wave/Substitute
Nature: Timid
EVs: 4 Def/252 SAtk/252 Spe
Item: Life Orb/Leftovers
Ability: Prankster

or
-Wild Charge
-Knock Off
-Superpower
-Hidden Power (Ice)/U-turn/Fly/Taunt
Nature: Naive/Jolly
EVs: 252 Atk/4 SAtk/252 Spe or 76 Atk/180 SAtk/252 Spe
Item: Life Orb/Power Herb

While Abra has competent enough Special Attack to compete in OU, it's just overshadowed by Alakazam by a long shot. That's because it's even frailer than Alakazam. Abra's 20/15/55 defenses is even frailer than Alakazam's 50/45/95. 90 Speed is average by OU standards, meaning that Gengar, which Alakazam outspeeds, can KO Abra. Another example: Lucario's Extreme Speed outright OHKOs Abra, while it 2HKOes Alakazam. Abra also lacks Focus Blast, which is an important tool for Alakazam to muscle past Steel Pokemon:
-Psychic/Psyshock
-Shadow Ball
-Focus Blast
-Hidden Power (Ice/Fire)/Dazzling Gleam
Nature: Timid
EVs: 4 HP/252 SAtk/252 Spe
Item: Life Orb/Focus Sash
Ability: Magic Guard

Lucario needs Swords Dance to be more threatening than it already is. Blaze Kick doesn't give Lucario noteworthy coverage outside of Scizor and Skarmory (which Close Combat does chunks to already):
-Swords Dance
-Close Combat
-Extreme Speed
-Iron Tail/Crunch/Earthquake/Ice Punch
Nature: Adamant
EVs: 252 Atk/4 Def/252 Spe
Item: Life Orb

Play Rough >>>>>>>>>> Psycho Cut on Mega Absol. Not only does it hit Fighting Pokemon, it also hits Dragons. I don't see any merit in using Me First at all, tbh.:
-Sucker Punch
-Pursuit/Knock Off
-Fire Blast
-Play Rough/Superpower
Nature: Naive
EVs: 252 Atk/4 SAtk/252 Spe
Item: Absolite
Ability: Super Luck/Justified

or
-Swords Dance
-Sucker Punch
-Night Slash/Knock Off
-Play Rough/Baton Pass
Nature: Jolly
EVs: 4 HP/252 Atk/252 Spe
Item: Absolite
Ability: Super Luck/Justified

 

[LetsPlayALoveGame]

Who better to review your team than a fellow user of their favorites? Well, that and I already reviewed a few people on Smogon, so I have a little experience. Here we go:

Sableye has seen a huge usage spike since it was blessed with Prankster, and I think it works very nicely with the momentum of this team. Recover and Will-o-wisp are essential, Trick is pretty situational, however. Might wanna test it out and see if something else would suit it better. Metal Burst is alright, but I'd change it out for a STAB Foul Play to counter physical powerhouses and setter-uppers. Overall not bad.

It seems this Raticate is to you what Mantine is to me. Something that's generally considered worthless by the community, but has proven its worth on your team. Mad respect for using this, even more so for actually having this much success thus far. Not much I'd change here since I hadn't really used one before, other than maybe changing Quick Attack for Super Fang to break walls.

Good addition here. I always find myself in need of electric-types, so yeah, not much else I have to say or change. Props for using another non-evolved Pokemon, and if you're successful, more power to ya.

Never heard of anyone using this and it does seem pretty risky, but no disrespect! This is pretty much the standard Alakazam set, so there's not much else I can recommend.

Better coverage on this Lucario set than most. Again, not much else I can say. Flows well with the rest of the team. Might wanna switch things up and experiment, that's all I can say.

Underrated mega. Everything's good here, just swap Psycho Cut for Play Rough as PlatinumDude said.

We should battle soon!

 

[Dr. Silver]

I know that Trick can cripple opponents with hindering items, but Sableye has much better things to do than that. It's not that bulky enough to counter hits with Metal Burst and is better off abusing its support move pool with this:
-Taunt
-Will-o-Wisp
-Recover
-Foul Play/Night Shade/Knock Off
Nature: Bold
EVs: 252 HP/88 Def/168 SDef
Item: Leftovers
Ability: Prankster

Y'see, I don't ever need to use Taunt at all as no one I've come across has had the sense to try crippling Sableye with any status conditions. I'll agree that Metal Burst doesn't seem to be helping her take down opponents though, I originally had Foul Play to begin with and that worked pretty well, so I'll give it another try.

Diggersby > Raticate. It doesn't rely on being statused to hit hard and strikes harder thanks to Huge Power:

The main reason I prefer Raticate over Diggersby is the pure surprise factor over it, and that Raticate is 20 points faster than a Diggersby without a choice item, something Diggersby needs to be able to hit anything. That being said, I have been looking for a Diggersby build, so I may consider one of the sets provided.

I don't like having Electabuzz in OU, even with Eviolite. It just doesn't hit hard enough compared to Wash Rotom and Thundurus:

That's the issue we're having here, my team isn't designed for OU play, it's designed for just battling on the PSS. If I was going for an OU team, I wouldn't even consider Electivire, let alone Electabuzz. Electabuzz's main purpose is to provide Light Screen support to the team, the Special Attack EVs were there simply because I couldn't decide on if I wanted a stronger Discharge or a beefier Electabuzz.

While Abra has competent enough Special Attack to compete in OU, it's just overshadowed by Alakazam by a long shot. That's because it's even frailer than Alakazam. Abra's 20/15/55 defenses is even frailer than Alakazam's 50/45/95. 90 Speed is average by OU standards, meaning that Gengar, which Alakazam outspeeds, can KO Abra. Another example: Lucario's Extreme Speed outright OHKOs Abra, while it 2HKOes Alakazam. Abra also lacks Focus Blast, which is an important tool for Alakazam to muscle past Steel Pokemon:

I've used Kaori in a few matches now and I'm starting to see just how outclassed she is. Not that my two original Alakazam fared much better, but she's been knocked out a few times too many without contributing much to the team. Going to take the set advice you've given for another Alakazam or just outright replace it with something else.

Lucario needs Swords Dance to be more threatening than it already is. Blaze Kick doesn't give Lucario noteworthy coverage outside of Scizor and Skarmory (which Close Combat does chunks to already):

The main problem with that is Lucario never seems to be able to set up at all. If she's not throwing out attacks from the get go, chances are she's being knocked out beforehand. I do see that Blaze Kick's coverage is pretty minimal, so I'll look into replacing it with a more practical move.

Play Rough >>>>>>>>>> Psycho Cut on Mega Absol. Not only does it hit Fighting Pokemon, it also hits Dragons. I don't see any merit in using Me First at all, tbh.:

Y'know I actually forgot that Absol was able to have Play Rough bred into it. I can see how that would be a major improvement over Psycho Cut. However, I'm keen on keeping Me First as it can turn some nasty attacks against Pokemon that would threaten it, such as Lucario's Close Combat.

It seems this Raticate is to you what Mantine is to me. Something that's generally considered worthless by the community, but has proven its worth on your team. Mad respect for using this, even more so for actually having this much success thus far. Not much I'd change here since I hadn't really used one before, other than maybe changing Quick Attack for Super Fang to break walls.

Thanks for commenting Lovegame, always happy to see you around. I am considering changing Super Fang for something else, as Raticate does find itself occasionally struggling to do major damage to more beefy Pokemon.

I'd love to battle against you to see how my team fares against yours, after I've made a few modifications to it of course, haha.

 

[PlatinumDude]

Y'see, I don't ever need to use Taunt at all as no one I've come across has had the sense to try crippling Sableye with any status conditions. I'll agree that Metal Burst doesn't seem to be helping her take down opponents though, I originally had Foul Play to begin with and that worked pretty well, so I'll give it another try.


The main reason I prefer Raticate over Diggersby is the pure surprise factor over it, and that Raticate is 20 points faster than a Diggersby without a choice item, something Diggersby needs to be able to hit anything. That being said, I have been looking for a Diggersby build, so I may consider one of the sets provided.


That's the issue we're having here, my team isn't designed for OU play, it's designed for just battling on the PSS. If I was going for an OU team, I wouldn't even consider Electivire, let alone Electabuzz. Electabuzz's main purpose is to provide Light Screen support to the team, the Special Attack EVs were there simply because I couldn't decide on if I wanted a stronger Discharge or a beefier Electabuzz.



I've used Kaori in a few matches now and I'm starting to see just how outclassed she is. Not that my two original Alakazam fared much better, but she's been knocked out a few times too many without contributing much to the team. Going to take the set advice you've given for another Alakazam or just outright replace it with something else.



The main problem with that is Lucario never seems to be able to set up at all. If she's not throwing out attacks from the get go, chances are she's being knocked out beforehand. I do see that Blaze Kick's coverage is pretty minimal, so I'll look into replacing it with a more practical move.


Y'know I actually forgot that Absol was able to have Play Rough bred into it. I can see how that would be a major improvement over Psycho Cut. However, I'm keen on keeping Me First as it can turn some nasty attacks against Pokemon that would threaten it, such as Lucario's Close Combat.



Thanks for commenting Lovegame, always happy to see you around. I am considering changing Super Fang for something else, as Raticate does find itself occasionally struggling to do major damage to more beefy Pokemon.

I'd love to battle against you to see how my team fares against yours, after I've made a few modifications to it of course, haha.

Diggersby has priority Quick Attack, compensating for its so-so Speed. Even then, Raticate shares the same awkward Speed tier as Haxorus, meaning that while it can outspeed things like Black Kyurem, it fails to outspeed the many base 100 Pokemon in OU, like Charizard.

Lucario should only set up Swords Dance on something that doesn't threaten it. Its good defensive typing somewhat compensates for its frailty, so it gets ample opportunities to set up.

Me First is too situational for my tastes. Absol would definitely appreciate a more reliable Dark STAB (like Night Slash or Knock Off) in its place, as the conditions that require Me First to be successful restrict its usefulness. Ask yourself this: what if Me First fails, only for the opponent to set up using Swords Dance or the like? Even I consider Baton Pass a better option to pass on Absol's Attack boosts to someone else on the team.