Thoughts on this M Pinsir team?

Question

I've been going on these forums a lot lately giving advice but haven't really asked for any myself so I want to spark some discussion on this team. I hadn't really used M Pinsir too much before recently but I gotta say, he's really good in OU if you have the right support.

With this team I've gotten to around 1400-1500 before ultimately dropping back down from a bad luck spree or just facing better players etc. I play like trash but I'd like to assume the team is good lol

http://prntscr.com/8mpl0q
http://prntscr.com/8mplev
http://prntscr.com/8mplns

Note: I haven't played much on Srw3 or AndrewWK, those are my primary accounts for the most part while the4skinz is kind of a goof around acc. I mean overall I have a W/L of over 71% so that's p good B))

Pinsir-Mega @ Pinsirite
Ability: Hyper Cutter
Happiness: 0
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Frustration
- Quick Attack
- Close Combat
- Swords Dance

Adamant I've found to be more effective than Jolly simply because coming in at a mediocre 105 base speed, Pinsir doesn't really need to max that out for anything. Keldeo, Lati@s, M Diancie, Tornadus-T, Thundurus, and Talonflame will outspeed Pinsir even if he's Jolly so it doesn't make a difference. Just beef up those Quick Attacks amirite

Frustration is also ran over Return because on the off chance you encounter a Choice Scarf Ditto, you don't want him to be able to do much against you. (They always run max happiness so Frustration becomes base 1 instead of 102)

Starmie @ Leftovers
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 248 HP / 40 SpA / 220 Spe
Timid Nature
- Psyshock
- Scald
- Recover
- Rapid Spin

I love fat Starmie sm. It's able to counter standard M Metagross and most Keldeos bar HP Electric or Bug. EVs are just enough to outspeed base 110 Pokémon and then the rest is dumped into SpAtk. Also Rapid Spin.

Weavile @ Life Orb
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Knock Off
- Ice Shard
- Icicle Crash
- Pursuit

Weavile is able to take care of threats such as Tornadus-T, Thundurus, Lati@s, Alakazam, other Starmies, and can play clean up late-game if you need him too. High speed and attack makes him a fantastic Pokémon in OU right now.

Magnezone @ Choice Specs
Ability: Magnet Pull
EVs: 172 HP / 252 SpA / 84 Spe
Modest Nature
- Thunderbolt
- Volt Switch
- Flash Cannon
- Hidden Power [Fire]

Traps and kills Ferrothorn and Skarmory, both of which wall M Pinsir.

Landorus-Therian @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 56 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 196 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- U-turn
- Superpower

I believe the EVs are just enough to outspeed base 150 Pokémon if you have your scarf intact. Lando is self-explanatory; comes in and scares out mons such as Heatran or other Landos also provides a really nice pivot with U-Turn.

Heatran @ Leftovers
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 Spe
Bold Nature
- Lava Plume
- Stealth Rock
- Roar
- Toxic

Physically defensive Heatran??? Yeah I know, he's here primarily because I kept finding myself getting swept by Swords Dance Talonflame. The specially defensive Heatran I believe is 2HKO'd by a +4 or +6 Brave Bird from Talonflame while the phys defensive one is 3HKO'd. This is really important if you can play him right and keep him the back until the time is right.

So that's it for this team; I gave my explanations and whatnot, if any of you could give suggestions on any weaknesses you see right away, let me know! (By weaknesses, I mean weak to one specific Pokémon, not type synergy etc) Thanks ^^

Comments

imo, just  thought but if Skarm doesnt run BB and pinsir has an SD boost 2 frustrations kill it iirc
but overall, bloody great team m9

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I wpuld suggest sticking to max speed Starmie. In a metagame with a bunch of scary threats in the 110-115 speed tier (Thundurus, Serperior, Raikou, Scarf Magnezone [doesnt surpass base 115], etc), it is rather safe to always be fast and only lose about half the time to a speed tie, rather than all the time. starmie can always revenge kill the above mentioned pokemon or put them in a situation that isnt exactly favorable for them (such as forcing Thundy to TWave). Just remember to keep 4 SpA evs on starmie for a guaranteed OHKO on Gengar.

Specially Defensive Heatran may benefit you more due to the sole fact that Talonflame legitimately cannot set up on any of your members bar Magnezone locked into HP Fire or Flash Cannon (in which case the worst it can get is +2, since you should switch into a healthy LandoT or Heatran immediately). Everyone else dents and/or kills Talonflame. I'm not so much a fan of Roar, as I find Taunt better to beat Clefable, but you have Magnezone and adamant Pinsir to remedy that. You can opt to run Stone Edge to do great damage to stallbreaker Talonflame, who literally taunts you and chips your life away while nothing exactly switches in (fearing Will-O-Wisp). This will allow you to prevent such a situation, as well as outright ohko CharY iirc.

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I originally had SpDef Heatran on this team but they'd bring in Talonflame on things like Weavile or Pinsir and force the switch. Once Heatran is weakened as well, since he has no form of reliable recovery he can potentially be 2HKO'd by Brave Bird if the TFlame has setup enough. Clefable isn't much of an issue for this team which is why I took off Taunt. SE Heatran is interesting tho I'll take that into consideration, thank you!

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+2 Talonflame shouldnt be doing over 35% with +2 Sharp Beak BB (maximum 40%). You can consider running slight Defensive investment (like 80 evs MAX) to avoid a +2 2hko after a rock and a spike switch in, but it shouldnt warrant a fully Defensive heatran to do so. Additionally, you can always opt for Protect for "extra" lefties recovery (assuming you dont get knocked off.

Stone edge is a great way to hurt Talon. I almost always run it if Heatran is my primary check to the bird and/or zard y.

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+2 252+ Atk Sharp Beak Talonflame Brave Bird vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Heatran: 178-210 (46.1 - 54.4%) -- 59% chance to 2HKO

+4 252+ Atk Sharp Beak Talonflame Brave Bird vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Heatran: 267-315 (69.1 - 81.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

+6 252+ Atk Sharp Beak Talonflame Brave Bird vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Heatran: 357-420 (92.4 - 108.8%) -- 56.3% chance to OHKO

+2 252+ Atk Sharp Beak Talonflame Brave Bird vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Heatran: 130-153 (33.6 - 39.6%) -- guaranteed 3HKO

+6 252+ Atk Sharp Beak Talonflame Brave Bird vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Heatran: 259-306 (67 - 79.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

Even worst case scenario, it's going to live a Brave Bird instead of risking a 50/50. Yeah it's impractical to have a TFlame get to +6 but even at +2 it's a 56% chance to 2HKO

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As I've already stated, nothing bar the exceptions above allow Talonflame to get to +4, much less +6. The only way that'd happen is if the opponent runs taunt swords dance AND you run the typical spdef set (which I suggest a fix for). Btw, jolly only does 42-49.8% at +2. No good players run Adamant in a etagame where Jolly is more valuable.

Alternatively, you can always sack Heatran and another member (usually starmie will be the most expendable late game) to revenge kill adamant talon (who took the recoil of 2 pokemon deaths) with ice shard. Not most appealing way, I know, but it works, especially against last mon talon.


I just cant see how talonflame is a huge threat when something like Lati@s forces the same exchange as Talon in which you MUST sack something in order to beat it (you cannot switch weavile in directly to lati@s). If you switch in Magnezone or def heatran,  they slowly get wittled while the lati switches out for free.