Dusting off an Old Favorite [OU]

[TVboyCanti]

So I'm jumping back into comptetitive battling after ignoring Pokemon for 4 months or so, other than occasional spriting. While failing miserably at trying to make a successful OU team, I decided to try my old suspect team which was based around sweeping with Empoleon, who was still UU back in those days. Empguin is much more common nowdays, making this strategy less Avante Garde than it once was, but it's still effective and that's all I cared about. After making some adjustments to help with the team's synergy and power (replacing Heatran, Tyranitar and Donphan -with- Flygon, Salamence and Starmie), this is what I'm left with.

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Jirachi @ Shed Shell
Ability: Serene Grace
EVs: 252 HP/22 Atk/76 Def/160 SDef
Impish nature (+Def, -SAtk)
- Thunder Wave
- Wish
- Zen Headbutt
- Stealth Rock

A great lead that can reliably set up stealth rocks early without having to sacrifice itself in the Opening. Paralysis is great team support for Salamence and Empoleon, and Wish keeps Salamence and Flygon in the game longer. Zen Headbutt combines with Wish and Thunder Wave to form a nice little hax engine. I like being able to cripple Machamp and Infernape leads with Zen Headbutt when they expect to wall Iron Head. Zen Headbutt is walled by Ttar, but I find the surprise factor and the slightly better coverage of Zen makes it a better choice over Iron Head for this team.
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Flygon (M) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 Atk/176 Spd/80 SDef
Adamant nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Earthquake
- U-turn
- Stone Edge
- Dragon Claw

A pivot for Jirachi as well as my only SpecsJolt check(hence the sp def evs). Covers all of Jirachi's weaknesses both defensively and offensively. Also my check to Azelf leads, who can stop Jirachi with Taunt. Switch to Flygon and U-Turn back to Jirachi, giving me a chance to redo the opening turns against the Azelf player. Because Dragon Claw is used for super effective hits against dragon sweepers instead of neutral ones, I find it's more efficient than Outrage and keeps Flygon from getting easily revenge killed. Stone Edge so that I can have more sp def for stuff like Jolteon Shadow Balls and Azelf Flamethrowers.
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Starmie @ Mystic Water
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 56 Def/200 Spd/252 SAtk
Modest nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Rapid Spin
- Thunderbolt
- Recover
- Hydro Pump

Using Mence and Zappy without a spinner is pretty difficult. Mystic Water gives Hydro Pump the power it needs to reliably 2HKO stuff like Swampert, Bronzong, Rotom-A, etc, without weakening Starmie's defenses.
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GuessMySpread (Zapdos) @ Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 HP/80 SAtk/168 SDef
Modest nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Heat Wave
- Thunderbolt
- Roost
- Roar

Counter Scizor, scouts the opponent for Empoleon counters. The reason for spdef evs is to help it survive Mixed sweepers like Salamence, as well as to phaze out things like Latias. A remnant from suspect days where Sub/CM latias was everywhere, I'm starting to think this might be the weak link in the team, and probably what is making my team Blissey weak, but it's been doing adequately so far and the powerful thunderbolt has been very useful for taking out the bulky waters that stop empoleon.

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IEatyourFace (Salamence) (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 120 Atk/136 Spd/252 SAtk
Rash nature (+SAtk, -SDef)
- Flamethrower
- Earthquake
- Draco Meteor
- Outrage

Stall teams used to give me problems, but this thing is a godsend. I'm sure all of you have used this or had it used against them, so your all aware of it's purpose. Rapid Spin and Wish keep this thing going long after it should die, and usually the only time it does die is to an unexpected HP Ice or Ice Punch.
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The Beast (Empoleon) (M) @ Petaya Berry
Ability: Torrent
EVs: 28 HP/12 Def/216 Spd/252 SAtk
Modest nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Substitute
- Surf
- Agility
- Ice Beam

I'm trying to think of what I can say about this that isn't obvious. sets up on things like Scizor and Choice users, destroys everything that doesn't resist both it's attacks or isn't named Blissey. Can function as a slow beatstick without setting up, usually against stuff like Heatran. It's kind of annoying that so many teams pack both Scizor and Lucario, allowing them to stop my sweep prematurely with two priority attacks.


I'm not too familiar with the present metagame yet so I can't give very detailed descriptions of how team interacts with it. The team has been doing well with an average 80% win rate over the last two days. What I know so far from playtesting is that I have problems with CM tanks and Blissey, mainly due to a lack of any powerful physical offense it seems.

So there you go, have at it. Please rate my team!

 

[familyguyman]

Hmm, this team is pretty good but the generally weakness to Electric attacks is a bit worrying. I've never seen a team that could be thumped by Electivire fairly easily but lucky you it's a very rare threat.

Might I recommend Iron Head of Zen Headbutt for Jirachi as it has higher accuracy and flinch rate while maintaining STAB.

Also, if you give Starmie a Life Orb, it's Hydro Pump can OHKO Scizor and Skarmory (IIRC) and I don't think it get's those KOs with Mystic Water. With Recover and Rapid Spin, Starmie will have loads of time to heal and won't be worn down by switch ins.

To solve your Blissey problem, I'd recommend either DD Mence over what you have or possibly Mixed Dragonite who has access to Superpower to murder Blissey and also has a tad more bulk (might even take an Ice Shard thanks to Wish and Rapid Spin).


Just some thoughts.

 

[tab]

Definately replace Zen Headbutt with Iron Head.

To help deal with the Blissey weakness, I'd run a classic MixMence with a moveset of Draco Meteor/Fire Blast/Brick Break/Roost, which sacrifices a bit of all-round power for the ability to destroy Blissey and stick around for longer.

I don't really think Empoleon is the best choice for a late-game sweeper for this team. If you give Starmie a Life Orb, you already have a fast, powerful source (I'd recommend running a Life Orb and a Timid nature with a spread of 4 HP/252 SAtk/252 Spe), and as the team already has a huge bias towards special offense, a physical sweeper would work much better. I'd try out a SD Lucario, as not only is it an incredibly powerful sweeper, your other team members already do a pretty good job of removing its counters.

On Zapdos, I would replace Roar with HP Grass for hitting Swampert, as I don't really think phazing moves are all that useful on a team like this. You could also consider a more offensive EV spread of 4 HP/252 SAtk/252 Spe with a Timid nature.

I would give Flygon an adamant nature. Choice Scarf Flygon benefits from the added speed a lot more than a bit more power, and being able to atleast force the speed tie vs Jolly DDMence is pretty important when you don't have any other checks for it.

I don't think your Jirachi lead is the best choice for one. A moveset of Iron Head/Fire Punch/U-turn/Stealth Rock with Leftovers is the best choice for a non-Choice Scarf Jirachi lead, although I'm going to recommend that you give CS a try, with a moveset of Iron Head/Fire Punch/Trick/Stealth Rock, as it lets you beat the common leads much more easily.
Alternatively, you could try out a Lead Metagross instead, which I feel would work well on this team.

Good luck.