RMT Team

[Sheshi]

This team is one I have been working on for a long time. It has met a lot of success on the ladder. This team is an attempt at taking the offense quickly, but having bulk to fall back on if the offensive it fails. I attempt to cover the top threats of the OU metagame by having multiple checks for these Pokemon, which are Scizor, Salamence Gyarados (to a certain extent) and Heatran. This team attempts to set a medium tempo, allowing all members of the team to be able to keep up with the match and be able to battle to their maximum potential.

Team Needsaname (yes its a bad name, but it really does need a name, but please don't recommend one)

The Team itself. To kick things off, we have:

Heatran @ Shuca Berry
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 6 Def/252 Spd/252 SAtk
Timid nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Flamethrower
- Earth Power
- Will-o-wisp
- Stealth Rock

The anti-lead. I use stealth rock if I know they're not going to use taunt. If I know they are, I switch if its Aerodactyl. If its Azelf, I use flamethrower as they taunt. If I think they will switch, I use Stealth Rock. Heatran has many opportunities to get Stealth Rock up. Will-O-Wisp is for extra team support. I have found that Gyarados and Salamence are two common switch-ins for Heatran. They always stat-up on their first turn, cause they assume I will switch out. I end up burning them and then switch to the appropriate counter. The most common lead I see is Metagross, so I usually set Stealth Rock up, use Will-O-Wisp then
switch to an appropriate counter. If you're wondering why I have flamethrower, then we must revist the old Accuracy vs Power, and I mostly prefer the accuracy over power. Will-O-Wisp can be changed to explosion, but then you'd need to redo much of Heatran.

The EV's are just so speed and special attack are maxed out. Nothing special. Timid was chosen because I'm not using Explosion. Occasionally, I will put HP Grass so Heatran gains coverage on Swampert, but often its unneccesary.

The weaknesses of Heatran can be passed off to Celebi. Salamence can use Earthquake users to switch in and begin its attack. Scizor can also switch into Tyranitar. Swampert poses a problem, but Celebi can switch in and OHKO with Grass Knot.

Against common leads:

Aerodactyl: Switch out as it taunts or sets Stealth Rock up. Switching to
scizor or Metagross works well enough for me.

Azelf: I open up with Flamethrower as it uses taunt or Stealth Rock.

Infernape: Switch to Salamence as Fake Out hits. Then use EQ as it uses Stealth Rock as Leadape never has HP Ice. The attack boost means that if it uses Flare Blitz or Close Combat it won't do much damage. SR usually isn't up and intimidate means it does even less.

Metagross: Stealth Rock if I think they will too. Will-O-Wisp if they switch, which is rarely. Then I use Flamethrower or Earthpower. Depends on what I think the Metagross is holding. Mostly its Occa berry.

Heatran: Stealth Rock. If they use Earthpower, I can take a hit with Shuca Berry. Then switch to Salamence as they attempt to finish the job. Or I just attack straight away and forego Stealth Rock.

Smeargle: Absorb the inevitable spore then switch to Salamence or Scizor to KO it.

Jirachi: Flamethrower it if it uses Iron Head. If not, set SR up then take it
out with Flamethrower.

Roserade: Let Heatran absorb sleep then switch Salamence in as it uses toxic spikes and take it out.

Celebi @ Leftovers
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 102 HP/252 Def/76 Spd/80 SAtk
Bold nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Grass Knot
- Thunder Wave
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Recover

Celebi spreads paralysis around, keeps itself healthy with Recover. Grass Knot for STAB and HP Fire for Scizors who think they're funny and switch in, hoping to U-Turn or Pursuit Celebi to death. The paralysis is tricky as Electivire could take advantage of it, switch in then sweep. If that's the case, some clever Salamence switching can end the sweep but naturally you'd prefer not to be caught in that situation.

The Speed EV's are irregular, but in some rare cases, defensive Celebi choose to run more speed EV's than the standard. So I made 76 Speed EV's. The Special attack EV's are so HP Fire will OHKO Scizor all the time. Maxed out defence and the rest in HP. Bold is a no brainer for a defensive Celebi (although admittedly, this doesn't seem like one). The EV's allow Celebi to OHKO Scizor and the speed also allows Celebi to get a little edge over other standard defensive Celebi.

Heatran covers Celebi's weaknesses well. Celebi has a multitude of useful
resistances but conversely, it does have a lot of weaknesses. Salamence can handle Celebi's bug problem quite well as can Heatran.

Metagross @ Choice Band
Ability: Clear Body
EVs: 122 HP/252 Atk/136 Spd
Adamant nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Meteor Mash
- Thunderpunch
- Ice Punch
- Earthquake

I put Thunder and Ice Punch on so Metagross can deal with Flygon, Salamence, Latias and Gyarados. Earthquake is for Jolteon and Electivire. MM for STAB. If you're wondering where Explosion is on a Choice Band set, well its not there because I want maximum coverage for Metagross. I need Metagross to do as much damage without being a suicidal maniac. Explosion, if you absolutely must have it can be put in place of either Thunder or Ice Punch. I decided on a choice band set after I tried the agiligross set, but found it was inefficient as it rarely used Agility. When it did, it was always a bad time and usually spelt doom for Metagross, so I scrapped it. I can't think of any type that resists the above type combination, barring Shedinja.

I am a fan of always maxing Metagross' attack out. I put 136 so I could outspeed all other Metagross by one point. The most EV's that is recommended is 132. Never speed increasing nature, so I stuck with Adamant. Then the rest were put into HP so I could give it some bulk.

Metagross' two weaknesses are covered by Salamence. Its fire weakness can also be passed off to Heatran or Latias. Heatran prefers the fire absorbing with Flash Fire, however circumstances might not allow multiple switch ins (IE Spikes), so Latias does just as well.

Salamence @ Life Orb
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 146 Atk/148 Spd/216 SAtk
Naive nature (+Spd, -SDef)
- Draco Meteor
- Roost
- Flamethrower
- Earthquake

Generally speaking, standard Mixmence has Outrage. However, this is obviously a slight variation, I like to refer to it as Specially Based Mixmence (lol). Draco Meteor is great for high damage. Flamethrower and Earthquake are for everything that resists it. Earthquake has been included so Heatran doesn't switch in and ruin it all. Flamethrower is for all the other steel types that switch in, hoping to benefit from the resist of Draco Meteor and possibly set up. Roost is not generally seen on Salamence, and to be honest, I believe that Roost is a great option for Salamence as it can extend Salamence's life significantly, especially since Intimidate itself can cause switching (not guaranteed though). Outrage can be put over Roost but Roost increases the staying time for Salamence.

The EV's and the nature allow Salamence to outrun all the other neutral natured Base 100 Speed Pokemon by one point. The rest were put
into attack and special attack. Since there is only one physical move and one special, I had a bias to special attack, especially since the STAB is a special and not physical. Although less attack EVs and more special attack EVs could work.

Its weaknesses of Ice, Rock and Dragon can be passed around. Metagross works well, covering all of its weaknesses. Dragon and Ice moves can also be taken by Scizor but I must be careful of the freezehax of Ice Beam, which does ruin my day. Otherwise, Scizor can have fun with the Pokemon like Cresselia, Blissey and Mamoswine.

Scizor @ Muscle Band
Ability: Technician
EVs: 162 HP/252 Atk/96 Spd
Adamant nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Bullet Punch
- Pursuit
- Superpower
- U-turn

What appears to be a gimmicky item for Scizor and because of it, I have no doubt that some people will flame me endlessly for using it. Granted, it is unexpected and an item that is practically never used, but it allows me to (semi) bluff Choice Band (because there is no LO recoil), so when T-Tar or Magnezone come in on pursuit, hoping to set up, they get a nasty shock when Superpower OHKOs. Scizor's Superpower with Muscle Band gets the OHKO on two Pokemon without switching (if its super effective damage). I love the Choice Band set, but the Muscle Band does provide a little boost ('only' 10% i know) but I can change attacks unlike the Choice Band set, so Scizor is able to OHKO Magnezone switch-ins. The ability to switch attacks is invaluable to this team.

The max attack is a no brainer as well. 96 speed because some Scizor can run 92 speed EV's, so I can outspeed them all. Then put the rest in HP.
Its single weakness, fire, can be passed off to Heatran, Salamence or Latias.

Latias @ Choice Specs
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 6 Def/252 Spd/252 SAtk
Timid nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Dragon Pulse
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Thunderbolt
- Trick

I read the article about negating the effects of luck in the Smog. So, Latias is here to help counter Gyarados, which my team has trouble with. But Gyarados with Ice Fang does prove problematic. It also counters Salamence with Dragon Pulse and Scizor with HP Fire. Trick is for the
countless walls that switch in, trying to wall it. I considered giving Latias
the Boltbeam combo, but decided that the coverage wasn't worth it since HP Fire hits grass types and Dragon Pulse takes opposing Dragons out.

I just maxed out Special Attack and Speed for maximum damage output and maxed speed out so I could outspeed everything that Latias is capable of outspeeding. Timid nature is for the speed since specs increase Latias' special attack anyway.

Its Ice weakness is sent to Heatran, Metagross and Scizor. Heatran takes care of Ghost, Dark and Bug as well. Scizor and Metagross also take care of other Dragon type moves, especially outrage, which Metagross loves to switch into and I am, of course, only too happy to oblige most of the time.

Team Selection
I knew Celebi had to be on the team, since it is my all time favourite Pokemon. It is also relatively bulky and has a great movepool. It does have lots of good resistances but the record setting 7 weaknesses is a problem.

Heatran covers Celebi's weaknesses and vice versa. I like leadtran, but unlike the standard leadtran, I made it timid with Will-O-Wisp and forwent Explosion. Explosion makes a suicide lead, but I need Heatran with its resistances for later in the battle.

Metagross gives a great deal of resistances and works efficiently with Celebi and Heatran. It also adds a great deal of attacking power, although its STAB Meteor Mash isn't the best for attacking with. I'm just glad its very powerful.

Salamence was added since it could work extremely well with Metagross and the two can rip entire teams apart given half a chance. Salamence also covers Celebi and Heatran's 4x weakness and Heatran can reciprocate with Salamence's 4x weakness.

The last 2 slots were a massive problem. I had 4 great Pokemon who could all work extremely well together. So I added Scizor for its resistances and its ability to revenge KO. We all know the deal with Technician Scizor so I won't go into it any further.

The last slot was the slot that was continuously changing. I found Jolteon insufficient as it created a massive problem with Mamoswine, so I put Latias there. I still have the problem, but Latias can attempt to KO back with HP Fire. Latias brings another ground immunity to the team and acts as a backup to Gyarados should Celebi be KO'd. It is also a good way of acting as a counter (of sorts) to Jolteon but Shadow Ball/Signal Beam does hurt a little. Understandably, Mamoswine will always pose a threat to this team but the team does have many Pokemon that can counter it or revenge KO it at the very least.

Admittedly, most of the Pokemon are chosen for resistances, but I did want some semblance of bulk and resistances to fall back on if the initial offensive was beaten back, which does happen. If it does, then I can try to slow things down and when I have an advantage, step up the pace and try to sweep again.

 

[The SPrinkLer]

I do agree that Metagross is kind of dead weight. It serves pretty much the same purpose as Scizor, with the only benefit of having Earthquake, and Salamence has it. I'd put an offensive Gyarados in that spot, to round off the CeleTranWater combo. Gyarados provides nice synergy with the rest of the team, and provides a great sweeper too. Here's the set:

Gyarados @ Life Orb
Adamant Nature
4 def/252 att/252 spd
-Bounce
-Dragon Dance
-Waterfall
-Stone Edge

Max speed so you can get the jump on other Gyarados, and stuff that tries to outrun the standard. This set utilizes Bounce to hit Starmie as well, who can pose quite a problem to your team if it is played correctly. Also, I'd put Roost over something on Scizor, probably Pursuit, because Pursuit requires too much prediction in my opinion, and probably the least needed move. I hope this helps your team and good luck!

 

[Kumar628]

Sprinkles basically said it all. Since I've been flamed/trolled about going on extensively about MixVires being a threat, I will just say that MixVire is a threat for obvious reasons and leave it at that to hopefully not get flamed. Ok?

Now, moving on. Sir who says Salamence needs Brick Break is wrong-o (to an extent) because Scizor takes care of Blissey no doubt. Superpower -> Pursuit usually kills, or Superpower twice for safety reasons. If Blissey carries Flamethrower, there's a problem, but Scizor usually does handle/scare out Blissey quite effectively. Also, since he's running a Bluff-ish set, he can spam Pursuit for the first few turns, but when Blissey Softboils/Wish -> Protects, Scizor can unleash Superpower and almost guarantee a KO/switch, respectively. I say keep Mence as he is, for taking care of Heatrans is basically what Mence is for on this team (also a free sweeper).

 

[supermarth64]

Hi there. Nice team here. Like many teams, there are a few problems with it.

First of all, I noticed a lack of an effective revenge killer. For example, Gyarados can switch in after a Scizor Bullet Punch and DD up then proceed to deal massive damage to the rest of your team. Fortunately, this can be easily fixed by changing your Latias to a Scarf set. With a Choice Scarf, Latias can outspeed and OHKO many of this metagame's top threats, like Salamence and Gyarados.

Latias @ Choice Scarf
Timid / Levitate
4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
-Draco Meteor
-Surf
-Thunderbolt
-Trick

Draco Meteor is an immensely strong STAB move, while Surf provides perfect neutral coverage with it except for Empoleon and Shedinja. Thunderbolt covers DD Gyaraods, while Trick can be used to cripple any slower Pokemon. There's no HP Fire because that would give Latias a 30 Spe IV, forcing it to become slower than any other Scarf Gengar or Latias.

Secondly, since this is a mainly offensive team, a slightly defensive Celebi seems out of place here. Once again, a change in the EVs and item can be useful. You're also mostly keeping the same moveset.

Celebi @ Life Orb
Timid / Natural Cure
72 HP / 252 SpA / 184 Spe
-Thunder Wave
-Leaf Storm
-HP Fire
-Rest

Thunder Wave is there to cripple opposing Pokemon, while Leaf Storm is a large jump in power over Grass Knot. HP Fire is still there for Scizor, but can also be used to handle Lucario. Rest is over recovery because it can heal off more of LO's recoil and with Natural Cure, can remove Sleep as well. The speed EVs are there to outspeed those Pokemon that outspeed Jolly Lucario by 1 point. However, you may choose to run Modest instead in order to only outspeed Adamant Lucario. 72 HP EVs give you 359 HP, a LO number.

Finally, agreeing with the people above, Metagross isn't doing much for your team. In fact, it gives more room for Pokemon to set up. While I agree with the idea that a Water-type should be used, I disagree with Gyarados. Even though Mixmence breaks through Stall, it will not appreciate Life Orb, Stealth Rocks, and possible Sandstorm damage. By utilizing a LO Starmie with Rapid Spin, it can hit hard while clearing any possible entry hazards that might ruin your team. With the addition of Starmie, you have to worry about Dark- and Ghost-type attacks, but with the constant momentum your team puts forth, that shouldn't be much of a problem.

Starmie @ Life Orb
Timid / Natural Cure
4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
-Surf
-Thunderbolt
-Rapid Spin
-Recover

Surf is obligatory STAB, while Thunderbolt grants more coverage than Ice Beam does when paired with Surf. Rapid Spin is the main reason to use this Starmie, while Recover can heal off any Life Orb recoil.

If you feel that Starmie is leaving too big of a weakness, you may use the above Gyarados. However, I recommend using it with a Jolly nature, as outspeeding threats is very important in today's metagame.

Good luck!

 

[Sheshi]

Thanks for the advice given so far. Please keep it coming!

Sprinkles. In response to your suggestion, I can tell that Metagross is my only rock resistor. If Gyarados is put in place of gross, then how am I going to stop Pokemon such as Tyranitar (especially Babiri DDtar)?

Kumar, I will agree that Mixvire is a threat, especially since the current Celebi has thunderwave. But how would you suggest I handle this particular problem?

Supermarth, thanks for your input. But I have a few questions.
Latias, while Draco Meteor, is powerful, why not use Dragon Pulse? Dragon Pulse allows it to be able to use its STAB more for endgame, where Latias is the last one standing.
The same would apply for Celebi. Leaf Storm is good, I'll admit, but I think Grass Knot would be better since Celebi can do (imo) more damage in the long term run since Leaf Storm lowers SPA. If Celebi (like Latias) is last one standing, then wouldn't Grass Knot be the better option?

With the addition of Starmie in place of Metagross, this opens a Ghost and Dark weakness, which means Gengar will have fun once Scizor's out of the picture. So I might try the Gyarados instead. Although then SR becomes a massive problem as does Tyranitar.

 

[Sheshi]

Question: Does Flamethrower 2HKO Azelf?

Turn 1: Azelf Uses taunt
Heatran uses Flamethrower.
Turn 2: Azelf uses Stealth Rock
Heatran uses Flamethrower.
Azelf fainted

It can OHKO, but if not, then the above happens. They lose a pokemon and get SR up or switch and not have SR up. If they explode, then it won't OHKO Heatran and they lose SR anyway.

 

[Kumar628]

Ok, cool, I don't get flamed/trolled for once. Celebi has a slight chance to wall Electivire with the defensive set, but going with the good ol' Rotom-H/C/W/F/S (how come people flame when I say Rotom-A? Meaning all?) can counter while also being a reliable spin blocker (always nice), and counter/wall to other pokemon. Other options are Cresselia, Swampert (if they run Ice Punch/HP Ice in place for HP Grass), Dusknoir, and Spiritomb. Let me give short runthroughs of them:

Cresselia: Basically, with the huge base HP, DEF, and SPD, she can just absorb all attacks and heal it off with Moonlight. She can also just boost like mad with Calm Mind while he keeps trying to get crits and such. Overall, a solid choice.

Rotom formes: These guys are smexie counters, eating up all of the attacks while crippling with Will-O-Wisp for the rest of the match (unless they have a cleric). Again, he can also be a great spin blocker and wall/counter many other pokemon. It doesn't matter which forme, they all don't have signature move Earth Power; but if you want a direct counter, you can run HP Ground.

Swampert: Excellent counter. Except, HP Grass is run on MixVires as well, so use at your own risk. Earthquake is on almost every single Swampert set, so you can use this to your advantage. But again, HP Grass is a risk, but the standard is Ice Punch or HP Ice.

Dusknoir & Spiritomb: They're on the same boat, as they both have Will-O-Wisp to cripple, Pain Split to heal, and a solid attack stat, all of which Electivire fears. Sucker Punch on Spiritomb is great: MixVire has nothing but attacks, so you're almost guaranteed a hit. Pursuit is also good after a Will-O-Wisp; though he may stay in to try and beat you up with his Thunderbolt. Dusknoir can run Earthquake, which will always OHKO @ base 100 ATK. Fire Punch is also good because he has overall low defense (Base 67).

So, if you're worried about MixVire, then you can try any of these pokemon. Whether you want to wall to force a switch, or counter altogether is your choice. Whether you worry of him at all is also your choice.

 

[desklamp]

This looks like a good team and the only thing I can really suggest that hasn't been said is possibly switching Metagross to a ScarfRachi, which has the same coverage, but is much faster and can revenge kill some threats.

Jirachi @ Choice Scarf
Serene Grace
Jolly
80 Hp/252 Atk/176 Spe

Iron Head
Ice Punch
Thunder Punch
U-Turn

Max speed standard DDMence outspeeds this set, so you may want to invest into max speed rather than Atk or Hp to reach the speed tie. Ice Punch over Fire Punch because there aren't many steels that can really hurt this thing besides Metagross. And Ice Punch hax are fun. Iron Head also provides a decent amount of hax.

Another nitpick would be switching Muscle Band to Iron Plate on Scizor for a much stronger Bullet Punch, which helps out when you need to revenge kill something towards the end-game.

Otherwise, listen to some of the above rates, Tinkerbelle Celebi is an amazing pokemon and Choice Scarf Latias can outspeed and OHKO Gyara and DDMence after 1 Dragon Dance.

 

[MrIndigo]

I don't know why you're trying to outspeed the other Scizor. The vast majority of them don't run more than 8 EVs, and that's because the Scizor that hits first -loses-. Superpower is usually the move of choice in that situation and the defense boost means the second-hitter is likely to OHKO.

I think Scarfed Latias is better than Specsed, because Trick hurts more stuff and it allows you revenge kill stuff.

I agree with the above posters that Metagross is not doing much here. With Latias wielding Scarf and Scizor (who should maybe have Iron Plate or Insect Plate), you don't need another revenge killer, so something set-up based should go there. Either a bulky Tauntados/SubBounce Gyarados, SubCM Jirachi, or something like that.

 

[Sheshi]

Ok.
KUMAR: I do not flame/troll people because they say X Pokemon is a threat. However, I do not consider Mixvire a major threat since those are rarely seen thse days (sorry to say). However, I will conceed that it does pose a threat in some form. In such a case, I would use Swampert over Metagross since Swampert has the useful immunity to grass and I don't lose my rock resist :jump:

DESKLAMP, I will try the Scarfchi out, but the only problem I see is that then I have two scarfers (latias and jirachi). And tbh, I don't see the point of having two scarfers on the one team.

MRINDIGO, the reason I would like to outspeed other Scizor is so I can win against other Scizor who use Bullet Punch to finish. So I believe that Scizor (the one I'm using) can survive a Superpower and then finish with Bullet Punch. since I have 1 more speed I can KO their Scizor and I don't have to worry about the speed tie.

But nonetheless I will try Roost on scizor. I wonder why I never thought of it before? As for Iron/Bug Plate, I prefer Muscle Band because I can get that little power boost on all of Scizor's attacks. Iron Plate means that I miss out on the little boost of power that could secure a double KO with Superpower.
EG (And this did happen):
Turn 1
Tyranitar swiches in. Scizor uses Superpower. Tyranitar fainted.
Turn 2
Lucario switches in. Scizor uses Superpower. Lucario fainted.
This was done with muscle band. Can anyone guarantee that if I equip Iron Plate that that will do the same?

There are many great suggestions here. Thanks so far. I still appreciate any other input from other people as well.

 

[The SPrinkLer]

You could put Gyarados/Starmie(sounds like a cool idea which I totally agree with) over Scizor instead of over Metagross. If you put keep Metagross, change the moves to Bullet Punch, Explosion, Earthquake, and Meteor Mash/Thunderpunch. This will still allow you to retain that offensive edge, while getting Bullet Punch as a great revenging tool.