Geez, I'm getting burnt out on OU. Better get into UU or VGC. Again, I'll add the better explanations when I have more time.
Current team ELO (PS): 1520
Landorus-Legged (Landorus-Therian) (M) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Earthquake
- U-turn
- Stone Edge
- Brick Break
Most frequently used lead and Scarf sweeper. With 407 attack after being fully invested and Adamant, Landorus hits like a truck with some natural bulk with Intimidate. This is also my first time using Landorus-T sadly enough, I missed out on a lot.
*Earthquake is hard-hitting STAB, U-Turn lets me escape a bad matchup and get some damage off instead of a hard switch. Stone Edge makes the nice little EdgeQuake combo and covers more stuff and Brick Break is there to break screens and stuff.*
Power Plant (Zapdos) @ Assault Vest
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 SAtk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Modest Nature
- Thunderbolt
- Heat Wave
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Volt Switch
Finishes the Volt Turn combo as slightly bulky sweeper. I used to have a Scarf on this guy to make up for below expectations speed, I'm now using a Vest to make Zapdos somewhat of a special tank, and having all moves readily available without switching is a pretty comforting on a Pokémon like Zapdos. This was a spot previously occupied by Togekiss and Hydregeion but they worked out terribly.
Thunderbolt and Volt Switch STABs with the BoltBeam provided from Hidden Power Ice. Heat Wave is more coverage and takes care of Ferrothorn and Scizor.
Bouncer (Espeon) @ Choice Specs
Ability: Magic Bounce
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
- Psyshock
- Dazzling Gleam
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Wish
Bounces back nasty status moves and sweeps with nice SAtk from specs. Now running three Choice Pokémon may seem like a bad move, but this bunch actually works out really well being able to hold its own in 1480-1530 in the OU ladder. Espeon is also a great counter to Smeargle, Ferrothorn, and status reliant things.
Psyshock is STAB and deals with special walls like Florges easily. Dazzling Gleam gets to Dragons and Dark types and then Hidden Power Fire hits Skarmory and Ferrothorn hard. Wish is to fake a support or non-choice set, since I'm going to be switching out to pass it on to something else anyway.
Skiz0r (Scizor) @ Scizorite
Ability: Technician
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 HP / 4 SDef
Adamant Nature
- Bullet Punch
- Bug Bite
- Roost
- Swords Dance
I previously had a D-Dance Megdos here. Sure, it got a nice third intimidate off, but it didn't really serve me that well nor did it feel like it had a place in the team. A star Mega sweeper was what I wanted, so I choose a standard but reliable Scizor.
Swords Dance gets me to some pretty high attack and lets me set up sweeps. Bullet Punch is just plain broken with STAB, Technician, Priority, and Mega-Scizors great attack stat. Bug Bite is there as a secondary STAB and allows me to take care of those BellySitrus Azumarill. Roost is there to make up for the lack of leftovers or to heal up after SDing.
RK9 (Arcanine) @ Leftovers
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 196 HP / 252 Atk / 60 Def
- Flare Blitz
- Extreme Speed
- Will-O-Wisp
- Morning Sun
Physical tank thingy, despite getting completely walled out by a Flash Fire Heatran or Chandelure defeat has to be admitted now and then. For what it does, Arcanine got me out of lots of tricky situations and is my most frequent switch in after U-Turning with Landorus to get a double Intimidate off.
Flare Blitz is STAB and then with the priority Extreme Speed, lets me finish off faster foes. Will-O-Wisp is a godsend in crippling stuff, especially physical sweepers like Megawhile and Megatar. Morning Sun is to heal up and keep attacking.
Wally (Deoxys-Defense) @ Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 HP / 128 Def / 128 SDef
Calm Nature
- Toxic
- Night Shade
- Recover
- Protect
Mixed wall with extra in SDef, not much can 2HKO it. Deoxys finds its way onto the team to provide some utility walling and stalling for this offensive team. I don't get why Deo-D is still OU, but it has its place here on this team.
Toxic is good stuff with 378+ defenses, combine that with Recover and Protect and you got something that becomes hard to kill. Night Shade allows me to deal constant damage without it being lowered in power.
But, Defiant though!
Despite it being an intimidate-based team, Defiant isn't really a problem as it'll end up as only +1 attack after the intimidate debuff. As there's almost nothing that's good at utilizing the ability aside from Bisharp, it's not a huge problem. My main intimidators also can take an attack from a Defiant Poke pretty well from what I've seen.
