So I've been trying a lot of OU stuff lately. I have like, 8 new teams on showdown. Most of these are crap. I didn't get it, why do my OU teams suck so bad? What made my Uber team so much better? As it turns out, I made a pretty awesome core team in Ubers, and that's why it was working so well. It wasn't intentional, mind you. I just thought It would be cool to have a Super Specially defensive wall on my team :
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A really fun multiscale defensive giant:
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And this weird looking rock/pinecone:
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But as I battled with them, I started, for the first time in my life, WINNING!-And not just once or twice, or against n00bs who just wanted to play with their shiny charizard, but consistently, on showdown.As I read more into competitive OU battling, I learned that my success wasn't a result of my awesome Skillz, it was actually a result of my luckily stumbling upon an awesome core:
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(Tanks a lot of Physical )----->(Tanks a lot of Special )--------->(Gets rid of the ****)
So as you can see, while forretress can take a lot of physical hits, Chansey can cover his special defense weaknesses. At the same time, Lugia can take fighting type stuff that comes chansey's way, or whirlwind out one of Forretress/Chansey's weaknesses. So I decided to apply this to the OU tier.
FrontLoad (Rotom-W) @ Leftovers
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 232 HP / 56 SAtk / 220 Spd
Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Volt Switch
- Hydro Pump
- Will-O-Wisp
When it comes to Rotom, which I've never used on an OU team before, (after some testing) I've decided I like them "Big and Chunky". This is where I started my core. Starting with a bulky Rotom-W is good because he only has one weakness, he's naturally bulky, and he can go on the offense. He's just good, all around. Will-O-Wisp is great with this core, allowing him to cripple physical attackers that might go for my special defending parts of the core. He also acts as a scout, and can scare off some people expecting the scarfed Rotom. HP ice can hurt other stuff too. And, for the next member of the core...
Spike (Ferrothorn) (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: Iron Barbs
EVs: 252 HP / 88 Def / 168 SDef
Careful Nature (+SDef, -SAtk)
- Leech Seed
- Power Whip
- Spikes
- Protect
Standard smogon stuff. This guy resists grass, obviously, but also has the ability to take Draco Meteor, Outrage, Stone Edge, and T-Bolts, and Toxics that might come for Rotom-W. His fire weakness is covered very well by Rotom. Iron Barbs + Leech seed and hurt an outraging, but helpless Garchomp, taking 20 % of its life every turn. But all in all, this guy just has kickass defenses, so he walls threats to many of my team such as Hydro Pumps aimed at Terrakion + Volcarona, Ice beam/Ice Shard aimed at Donphan and Latias, and can take neutral damage earthquakes any day. Now that we have a bulky attacker, and a physical wall, next we have...
Speed (Latias) (F) @ Life Orb
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Draco Meteor
- Roost
- Psyshock
That's right, a fast special tank to top it all off. Latias can cover the last weakness to my core: Fighting. He can take a Close Combat from Terrakion, a focus punch from Toxicroak, whatever Breloom stuff, etc. Latios wouldn't do quite as well in this core because he is more offensive, and doesn't have enough bulk to Roost as much. Draco Meteor still does a ton of damage, Psyshock takes on Special Walls, and HP fire takes down Scizor, Forretress, and Ferrothorn, who might want to switch in on a Draco meteor. Latias has good resistance to the elemental types, and Levitates to boot. This completed my initial Tri-Pokemon Core, but as I kept building, things just kept getting better.
Shield (Donphan) (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: Sturdy
EVs: 252 HP / 160 Atk / 96 Def
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Rapid Spin
- Earthquake
- Stealth Rock
- Ice Shard
I decided a rapid spinner would be nice, so Vulcarona wouldn't die of stealth rocks, so I got a Physically defensive rapid spinner. This actually turned out quite well for me. Now most people don't give so much attack to Donphan here, but I decided to try it out, creating a PHYSICAL tank on my team. This is where my core starts to overlap. Donphan can take a lot of Stone Edges, which until now kinda hurt Latias and Vulcarona. Donphan makes another core with Rotom and Ferrothorn. Ferro and Rotom take water, and ice hits nicely, while Donphan can take physical Fighting moves that hurt Ferro. A little extra attack is worth it for Ice shard when taking Outrages from Salamence, Garchomp, EQs from Gliscor, and stuff from Physical Landorus and Dragonite.
Sunflower (Volcarona) (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: Flame Body
EVs: 76 HP / 4 Def / 252 SAtk / 176 Spd
Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Giga Drain
- Quiver Dance
- Fire Blast
- Bug Buzz
But it's not over yet! Let's add a bulky Volcarona to the mix! With Volcarona, now we can have a classic Grass-Water-Fire core! While Rotom-Wash is a great tank, and Ferrothorn is a good wall, now another specially bulky Volcarona fits in excellently! This guy can switch in on grass attacks like nobody's business, bug hits that would be unchallenged by my Latias/Ferrothorn/Rotom-Wash core, or my Donphan/Ferrothorn/Rotom-Wash core! Whats more, Volcarona can also take fighting type hits, and make use of flame body in the process! As for the set, I gave him Bug buzz instead of earth power to take on Latios and Latias who expect to wall him. I don't find heatran to be much of a threat unless he carries HP rock or something.
Moose (Terrakion) @ Choice Band
Trait: Justified
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Close Combat
- Stone Edge
- X-Scissor
- Earthquake
Finally, my fast physical sweeper: Terrakion. Fighting type coverage really ties this team's offense together, and is super-dooper strong. Justified makes him able to switch in for Latias, and make him nearly unstoppable.
This team also works well in the rain, sun, and sand. Ferro's weakness is suppressed in the rain, while Rotom gets a boost, Volcarona flourishes in the sun with awesome Fire power, and Sand gives Ferro and Donphan the advantage, as well as a +1 Special defense for Terrakion.
If any of you actually read this entire post, cudos to you because it's super long.
Oh! and by the way:
"--this team really doesn't deserve more than two upvotes" --Breaking Point
