Why use the top 20? (OU)

[Lord Yawgmoth]

I really, really don't like to use entire teams based around the top 20 OUs. It's boring, if you ask me. I've decided to try to make a team that attempts to beat the metagame without becoming the metagame, if you see what I mean. I've had some success with it, but not enough to really get in there and make a name for myself. So I'm going to need some help with this team to make it to the top and beat the metagame.
Obviously, I'd like to avoid using any commonly used Pokemon, so no more then 2 max of the most common, please.

At a glance:
*image removed*

HITMONCHAN @ Lum Berry
Adamant; 252 Atk, 58 Spe, 200 Hp
Iron Fist

Focus Punch
Subsitute
Mach Punch
Ice Punch

Hitmonchan is a very, very good lead. Lum Berry ensures anything like Roserade or Smeargle doesn't get to put me to sleep. I set up the Sub and Focus Punch everything to death. No joke. FP can and has done over 50% to some of the premier walls of the OU tier. Mach Punch finishes off Sashers and can do quite a lot to anything weak to it. Ice Punch is the "icing" on the cake. (Get it? Haha! I'm so funny.) It takes out most Flyers and Bulky Grounds like Gliscor who come in to try to wall me.

Pinsir @ Choice Scarf
Adamant; 252 Atrk, 252 Spe, 6 Def
Mold Breaker

X-Scissor
Earthquake
Close Combat
Stone Edge

My revenge-killer. And yes, I consider Pinsir to be superior to Heracross for two reasons. One, he gets a 100% accuracy Bug STAB while Heracross is stuck with Megahorn. Two, he gets Mold Breaker. Mold Breaker is an incredible ability. It allows Pinsir to revenge kill many more Pokemon that Heracross cannot, such as non-Scarfed Rotom, Gengar, Weezing, and more. You wouldn't believe how many people forget this and switch into an EQ with a Gengar. Plus, Pinsir is cooler. Right?

HEATRAN @ Leftovers
Bold; 252 HP / 96 Def / 160 Speed
Flash Fire

Fire Blast
Earth Power
Stealth Rock
Will-O-Wisp

Bulky Heatran is great for catching people off guard. Will-O-Wisp cripples many common Heatran switch-ins, such as Tyranitar and Mence. Heatran also makes a great Stealth Rocker, as he induces so many switches when I come in on one of his many resistances. Fire Blast is standard and lets me take advantage of the Flash Fire boosts, and also covers Steels. Earth Power takes out other Fire types.

Machamp @ Leftovers
Adamant; 252 Atk, 238 Hp, 20 Spe
No Guard

Dynamicpunch
Stone Edge
Rest
Sleep Talk

My status absorber. Bulky Machamp is awesome, as he can take a lot of hits and inflict lots of damage back. I gave him just enough Speed to outrun Blissey and other slow walls. He also makes a great Tyranitar counter, in case he's going on a rampage. I can also live a Gyara's Waterfall after a DD and get the KO with Stone Edge.

CROBAT @ Leftovers
Timid; 252 Spe, 200 SpAtk, 56 Hp
Inner Focus

Nasty Plot
Sludge Bomb
Hidden Power (Ice)
Heat Wave

Special Sweeper. He's a lot more dangerous then most people suspect. Heat Wave on Crobat catches a lot of people off guard and destroys some of the Specially weak Steels, like Forretrees, Skarmory, Scizor, Lucario, and others. HP Ice covers Grounds.

SNORLAX @ Leftovers
Careful; 252 Hp, 16 Atk, 56 Def, 186 SpDef
Thick Fat

Crunch
Earthquake
Curse
Rest

Special Wall and sweeper. Not much to say here. Crunch and Earthquake to get maximum type coverage, Rest for healing, and Curse to end games. I am surprised at how many people just aren't ready for him.

And there's my team! The one thing I can see right off the bat that I lack is a reliable Gyarados counter. Dusknoir also walls me really well.
Suggestions and comments are needed.

 

[Dark Azelf]

Yeah, Curselax sucks without its STAB move. If you want to be able to beat remotely bulky pokes (i.e Suicune) 1 vs 1 you NEED a stab move or you will be stuck doing 2 damage to everything. Preferably Body Slam because this team is quite slow.

You are SD Scizor weak because they run speed and just nail your Heatran with Brick Break or SuperPower. Granted they prolly wont stay is expecting it to be faster, although saying that based on how horrible the ladder is there days and the stupid stuff people do i wouldnt put it past them. :/ Id probably make it faster.

Also strangely SD Gliscor causes you alot of issues, i guess Crobats HP ice keeps it in check though lol

No answer to Lucario = Bad. SD/CC/ES/<FILLER> = 6-0 easy, you need a sold fighting resist. Crobat doesnt count because it loses to ES being frail with no def investments and also being SR weak doesnt help matters.

 

[Lord Yawgmoth]

But if I remove one of his attacks, he's unable to sweep everything. If I remove Crunch, Gengar walls me. If I remove EQ, Metagross walls me. Although I do see what you're saying.
Yeah, the average SD Scizor switches out on Heatran, but even if they stay in and KO me, doesn't Bulky Machamp make a good check? I mean what can Scizor really do to him after an SD?
Crobat can take Gliscors out very easiliy with HP Ice. No real threat there.
Actually, even with -25% of my health from SR, I can live the ES and KO back with Heat Wave, if I'm at full health.
And Pinsir has lived those ES before.

 

[Anti]

But if I remove one of his attacks, he's unable to sweep everything. If I remove Crunch, Gengar walls me. If I remove EQ, Metagross walls me. Although I do see what you're saying.

You're going to get walled by something no matter what, so you're going to have to choose between one or the other.

Yeah, the average SD Scizor switches out on Heatran, but even if they stay in and KO me, doesn't Bulky Machamp make a good check? I mean what can Scizor really do to him after an SD?

Superpower:

788 Atk vs 196 Def & 384 HP (120 Base Power): 449 - 529 (116.93% - 137.76%)

Bullet Punch:

788 Atk vs 196 Def & 384 HP (60 Base Power): 337 - 397 (87.76% - 103.39%)

And that's with 4 more HP (not like it really makes a difference). So no, you can't really beat Scizor, not to mention that it can always catch Heatran switching in.

Crobat can take Gliscors out very easiliy with HP Ice. No real threat there.

Crobat can't even switch in on Gliscor with SR down. Crobat is such huge Tyranitar bait (a common teammate of Gliscor given Sand Stream and Sand Veil working together) that you're taking a huge risk relying only on Crobat to beat it anyway. You really should have better defense against it.

Actually, even with -25% of my health from SR, I can live the ES and KO back with Heat Wave, if I'm at full health.

Heat Wave doesn't KO:

225 Atk vs 176 Def & 281 HP (100 Base Power): 184 - 218 (65.48% - 77.58%)

Extremespeed does (with SR, despite what you said ~_~):

700 Atk vs 196 Def & 325 HP (80 Base Power): 266 - 314 (81.85% - 96.62%)

And Pinsir has lived those ES before.

700 Atk vs 237 Def & 271 HP (80 Base Power): 221 - 260 (81.55% - 95.94%)

Also not with Stealth Rock in play, AKA the support every Lucario user has ready to go every battle.

___________________________________

In other words, D_A pretty much it the nail on the head. You really do need to change some things, so here are my suggestions.

First of all, Heracross is superior to Pinsir. Pinsir gets a maximum of 4 trips in with Stealth Rock down, and that's without Pinsir taking any other form of damage, including Spikes/Toxic Spikes, Sandstorm, and weak resisted attacks. The Stealth Rock weak is killer. Heracross also gets STAB on Close Combat, which is hugely useful so that it can actually do damage. On to your reasons though:

First, Megahorn is better than X-Scissor. You aren't really going to be using your bug move to revenge kill much anyway. NP Azelf is basically obsolete and Megahorn only hits Celebi, who would be crazy to stay in on either Pokemon. You might as well have more power behind your attacks. And really, even if X-Scissor is better, it certainly doesn't cancel out that horrid Stealth Rock weakness.

And then Mold Breaker. First of all, Gengar can hit both Gengar and Rotom with Night Slash. Not as powerful as Earthquake, but it still is going to do plenty of damage, KOing Gengar and doing a lot of damage to defensively vulnerable Rotom formes. And Heatran beats basically every Weezing in existence already.

And if Heracross being a top 20 Pokemon worries you, don't worry. It's almost never used nowadays. 47th in usage is really bad.

But that's ignoring the bigger issue. You have 2 Fighting-types and a wannabe Fighting-type (Pinsir) on this team. Even though none of them are trying to sweep or anything, that's a lot of opportunities you're giving to Pokemon like Salamence and Gengar to come in and rip you apart. As much as I think Heracross is better than Pinsir, I don't really think either of them are that good, especially taking into account your offensive and defensive synergy problems. You're really better off putting in something that can help with your team's weaknesses. First of all, make Heatran fast enough to outpace Adamant 252 Speed Scizor. to do that, I would use a spread of 252 HP / 96 Def / 160 Speed, which puts you one Speed point higher. However, I really don't know why you're running defense EVs at all. You already have Will-O-Wisp, and it shouldn't be staying in to take any kind of Earthquake. I would actually use a Modest Heatran with a 96 HP / 160 Spd / 252 SAtk to make it hit pretty hard.

As for Pinsir's replacement, I would use a bulky Water like Suicune. It doesn't help with Lucario (I'll get to that in a minute), but it does allow you to handle Gliscor, and it's probably the most threatening defensive Pokemon in the game. It also helps with Gyarados, which does pose a big threat to your team. And if you really care that much, it is only 28th in usage, so it's not hugely OU or anything.

Lastly, I really think you should replace Crobat--it's Tyranitar bait, Blissey bait, Heatran bait, *insert Choice Scarf here* bait, Jolteon bait...ugh, there are so many better Pokemon for that job, like Azelf and Infernape. I would put in a really good Fighting resist here that can handle what currently has its way with you, or you could use a Steel-type Choice Scarf revenge killer like Jirachi or Metagross to give you a second Steel-type to help ease Draco Meteors and Outrages while still combating Lucario.

Cool idea for a team, but right now the execution is a bit lackluster imo. Still, I think it's a simple fix, and without using high OU Pokemon.

 

[Lord Yawgmoth]

I guess I could run Crunch and Body Slam, as most Steels (Other then Scizor and Forry) are part Psychic. I'll try it out.
Oh, it doesn't? Stupid damage calc. Although I didn't consider Life Orb, I suppose. =/
Hmmm...you know, I've never actually tried out Heracross. =/
I still want to be able to take unboosted Water and Fighting attacks from Gyarados and stuff before I burn them, so I'll change mine to the 252 HP / 96 Def / 160 Speed set you mentioned.
What about a Quagsire? I've had success trying him out, and he can be even more threatining then Suiciune with STAB Earthquakes to throw around. Plus, I get a reliable healing move to abuse.
What would you consider for a good Fight resist that can take out both Ape and Lucario?
Thanks for the suggestions Anti. I appreciate it.

 

[cutter kirby]

I guess I could run Crunch and Body Slam, as most Steels (Other then Scizor and Forry) are part Psychic. I'll try it out.
Oh, it doesn't? Stupid damage calc. Although I didn't consider Life Orb, I suppose. =/
Hmmm...you know, I've never actually tried out Heracross. =/
I still want to be able to take unboosted Water and Fighting attacks from Gyarados and stuff before I burn them, so I'll change mine to the 252 HP / 96 Def / 160 Speed set you mentioned.
What about a Quagsire? I've had success trying him out, and he can be even more threatining then Suiciune with STAB Earthquakes to throw around. Plus, I get a reliable healing move to abuse.
What would you consider for a good Fight resist that can take out both Ape and Lucario?
Thanks for the suggestions Anti. I appreciate it.

tentacruel maybe? It could spin off some sr and spikes

Is hitmonchan and machamp really good together? they cover almost the same things. I suggest you put breloom over hitmonchan (if its not top 20) and put machamp as anti lead.

I suggest taking out crobat for np azelf because your team is psychic weak at this point.

your team after this rate is
-machamp (anti lead)
-np azelf
-heatran
-breloom
-tentacruel
-snorlax

hope I helped :) Im too lazy to post sets, sorry.

 

[Calum.]

Heatran is more than a reasonable check for SD Scizor though it doesnt make a direct switch in.

This team is going to work very, very poorly against stall and you cannot even break SkarmBliss.

It is also going to struggle against Lucario and only Pinsir is actually checking Infernape for you. Pinsir is also your only answer to Gyarados. If you really want to not want to use pokemon that are highly used (they are used so much for a reason; because they are good) replace Crobat with a Slowbro. It gives you a somewhat reliable answer to Gyarados and MixApe, provided it doesnt switch in on a Grass Knot.

Slowbro @ Leftovers
Bold
Own Tempo

EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpAtk

Psychic
Surf
HP Electric
Slack Off

Psychic gives yopu the best Machamp counter in the game, which is great, although really Vaporeon would fit this role much better.

Also, Heatran is in the top 10 so meh.

As Anti said, a ScarfRachi or Scarf Metagross would help.

Metagross @ Choice Scarf
Jolly
Clear Body

EVs: 48 HP / 208 Atk / 252 Spe

Thunderpunch
Meteor Mash
Earthquake
Explosion

The EVs outpace Max Adamant Gyara (Jolly is stupid anyways) and always OHKO CroCune after Stealth Rock. This was generally formatted for myself when I ran SS, nullifying Leftovers, but if you wanted you could switch the HP Evs into attack. This should really replace Pinsir and gives you a revenge killer that isnt ESpeed weak.

 

[Valarauca]

6 things and a note

1) Thank your using Hitmonchan he rocks IMO

2) Top 20 boring *sigh* won't argue

3) Steel psychics are neutral to crunch

4) SkarmBliss counter is a big deal, may I suggest mixape? :P

5) Heracross > Pinsir, NU really?!?

6) A offensively played SR azelf lead (which I have only seen a couple of not counting me) could really cut through at least 2 members maybe 3 depending how you play it, and still get rocks up, before its untimely death, anti lead machamp would help.

7) fixes; what cutter kirby said basically

Its late and I'm tired I'll post more latter...

 

[Sebastien Loeb]

Team very weak to SDLuke in combo with Stealth rock, suggests you to give Choice Scarf to Heatran to try to Revenge-Kill it.