Team Iron Balconies
I really don't like introductions, I never know what to say...so I'll just give you a little history on this team. This team was created in a fit of boredome, after reading over a ton of threads I started getting some ideas for a team. At first it started with just a bunch of random Pokemon that I had read about, but after a few matches the team just seemed to click. After a few tweeks here and there I was winning very often, and I was having fun doing it. So I decided why not write a Rate-My-Team? So here I am, a few hours later. But enough of that! I now present Team Iron Balconies (So shoot me, I suck at naming my teams)!!!
HEATRAN
Heatran (M) @ Choice Specs
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 4 Def/252 Spd/252 SAtk
Modest nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Earth Power
- Hidden Power [Grass]
- Dragon Pulse
- Overheat
SpecsTran has become my lead of choice. SpecsTran makes such an awesome anti lead, it can take care of most other common leads with ease. Metagross leads are by far my favorite matchups, Heatran can outspeed and OHKO with Overheat before it can even set up Stealth Rocks, this is taking Occa Berry into account. Swampert leads also suffer an clean OHKO with HP Grass before they can set up SR. Even faster leads like Azelf are good for me, I take a chunk out of HP while he uses SR and then I go straight to Gengar to absorb the Explosion. Lead Heatrans are a little tricky but they will usually try to set up SR while I OHKO with Earthpower, if they opt to attack me I will get KOed. Like any other lead SpecsTran is not perfect, but most of the time it gets the job done. If it survives the beginning of the game it also serves as a great hitter mid game, taking advantage of it's great resistances, immunities, and defenses to get some big hits in. Heatran is usually my first switch in when Scizor is threatened by Fire type attacks. Latias has nice synergy with Heatran, resisting Water and Fighting type attacks and being completely unharmed by Ground type attacks. Gengar is also a great choice, being immune to both Fighting and Ground attacks.
JIRACHI
Jirachi @ Expert Belt
Ability: Serene Grace
EVs: 252 Atk/252 Spd/4 SAtk
Naive nature (+Spd, -SDef)
- Fire Punch
- Grass Knot
- Ice Punch
- Iron Head
Taking the advice of several team raters, I have made some adjustments to my Jirachi. As mentioned by August, a Mixed Jirachi would patch up several of my teams weaknesses.
Mix Jirachi is excellent because it can feign Choice Scarf, a common Jirachi set, and smash pokemon thinking they can set up or get a free turn. For example, Swampert loves to come in on Iron Head / Fire Punch, or Substitute like your current set. With Mix Jirachi Swampert switches into Iron Head / Fire Punch / Ice Punch only to be hit with a 4x effective Grass Knot to finish it off. Thanks to the Extreme Speed resistance you can also check Lucario if it has had a defense drop previously. Slow MixMence is OHKO'd by Ice Punch and most Naive MixMence only chose to run 176 Speed, and Jirachi outpaces that. Sub CM Jirachi gets 2-3HKO'd by Fire Punch depending on what move you switch into and offensive Zapdos is OHKO'd by Iron Head -> Ice Punch with Stealth Rock out.
By making this change to a Mixed Jirachi I have had far more success with my team, allowing me to take care of almost every Pokemon that was marked on my threat list. Zapdos, Sub Calm Mind Jirachi, Suicune, Mamoswine, and Lucario. I will leave my old Jirachi set here so that other raters can take a look at how Jirachi in general works with my team synergy wise.
Jirachi @ Leftovers
Ability: Serene Grace
EVs: 252 HP/252 Atk/6 Def
Adamant nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Substitute
- Reflect
- Iron Head
- Body Slam/Thunder Wave
This is my take on Para Flinch Jirachi. Instead of using a Choice Scarf to flinch the opposing pokemon I use a combination of Body Slam/Thunder Wave to slow down the other Pokemon and then proceede to either Flinch the crap out of the other Pokemon. The other option is going straight for a Substitute directly after Paralyzing a Pokemon and from there either setting up Reflect or try to flinch the other pokemon. Jirachi is a great team player, spreading paralysis throughout the opposing team. Paralysis support is great for my team allowing some of my slower pokemon like Magnezone and Heatran to shine. Jirachi also has very nice synergy with Latias, taking the Ice and Dragon attacks aimed at her. In return Latias and Heatran can take the Fire type attacks aimed at Jirachi, while the Groung type moves are taken by Latias and Gengar which are both immune.
LATIAS
Latias (F) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 6 HP/252 Spd/252 SAtk
Timid nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Trick
- Thunderbolt
- Draco Meteor
- Surf
Choice Scarf Latias makes an excellent revenge killer, with the ability to outspeed Salamence and Gyarados after they use Dragon Dance and KO them back with Thunderbolt and Draco Meteor respectively. Surf is there as a filler of sorts, it does serve me well sometimes. Surf allows me to revenge kill Choice Scarf Heatran, hurt Tyranitar if they happen to switch in, and give me a solid neutral hit on alot of other threats. Trick is what makes Latias one of my favorite revenge killers, it allows me to screw over things like Blissey and Vaporeon that come in to ruin my fun. After its Scarf has been tricked away it still works well as a mid game threat with its super powered Draco Meteor and good type coverage. Levitate is a great ability for this team, allowing Latias to come in unharmed on Ground type moves aimed at my various Steel Types. In turn my Steel types take the Dragon, Ice, and Dark attacks aimed at Latias.
SCIZOR
Scizor (M) @ Choice Band
Ability: Technician
EVs: 248 HP/252 Atk/8 Spd
Adamant nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Bullet Punch
- Superpower
- Pursuit
- U-turn
Call me unimaginative but Scizor makes an excellent addition to most teams. Its priority is extremely valuable for my team, picking off weakened threats such as Salamence, or speedy Choice Scarfed pokemon. Scizor is also my go to guy for taking out Ghost types not named Rotom, Latias, and other Psychic types that can give me trouble occasionally. U-turn is by far the most useful move on Scizor, allowing me to deal huge amounts of damage to anything not resisting it and allowing me to keep momentum on my side. Once some of the other team's Pokemon are paralyzed it becomes much easier to take stuff out with U-turn. Superpower is there basically to hit predicted Magnezone and Heatran switchins but also lets me hit alot of other Pokemon relatively hard without having to predict much. Yeah Scizor is a little predictable, but it continues to be my priority user of choice because of its natural bulk along with its huge amounts of resistances. Can you really blame me? Heatran loves absorbing the Fire type attacks directed at Scizor. If Heatran is gone though, Latias doesn't mind Fire type moves too much either.
GENGAR
Gengar (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 6 Def/252 Spd/252 SAtk
Timid nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Shadow Ball
- Focus Blast
- Thunderbolt
- Hypnosis
Life Orb Timid Gengar is a great mid game threat, using its high speed and special attack to do huge amounts of damage to the opposing team. Shadow Ball and Focus Blast give you perfect coverage hitting every Pokemon in the game for at least neutral damage. Thunderbolt is, like Surf on Latias, a semi filler move. It gives me another strong attack that has the potential to hit random threats like Vaporeon or Suicune for super effective damage. I have considered using Substitute instead of Thunderbolt, but have chosen Thunderbolt because Substitute will mean that I would have to sacrifice alot of HP to Life Orb, Substitute, and occasionally Sand Storm. Hypnosis has found its way onto this set, despite its low accuracy. Hypnosis usefulness out shines its drawbacks, allowing me to incapacitate their first answer to Gengar and allow me to set up one of my Substitute users. Gengar's immunities prove very valuable to this team. Fighting and Ground attacks are the most common way of taking care of Steel types, but Gengar is here to abuse that and get some free switches! One of Gengar's best uses is that of Scizor lure. It attracts Scizors like moths to a flame, allowing me to hit them with strong Focus Blast. Now they are forced to use Bullet Punch, which of course is my last Pokemon's cue to enter the battle field...
MAGNEZONE
Magnezone @ Leftovers
Ability: Magnet Pull
EVs: 174 HP/84 Spd/252 SAtk
Mild nature (+SAtk, -Def)
- Thunderbolt
- Substitute
- Thunder Wave
- Explosion
Magnezone is such an awesome Pokemon. Not only does it have the highest Special Attack among Electric types, but its ability is absolutely amazing. Magnezone usually comes into a Bullet Punch aimed at Gengar, effectively giving me a free kill. At that point I will take advantage and use Thunder Wave to let me have a guaranteed Substitute after the said Scizor has been eliminated. That substitute opens up so many other doors for Magnezone. It can either use Thunder Wave on the next Pokemon to come out and continue hitting it with Thunderbolts, or just explode if something like Blissey or Zapdos comes in. Magnezone is also great at taking care of Choice Scarf Jirachi and Earthquake-less Metagross, with similar results. A very handy Pokemon to have with Scizors crawling all over the place. Magnezone has excellent synergy with Latias, taking Ice, Dragon, and Dark attacks aimed in her direction. In return Latias can take the Ground and Fire attacks aimed at Magnezone. Heatran also enjoys getting its Fire type moves boosted with its Flash Fire ability!
Threat List
Defensive Threats
Blissey - Blissey always enjoys coming in an ruining the fun for my special attackers. Thankfully I have two ways of dealing with Blissey. The first is using Scizor to either Pursuit Blissey, hit her with Superpower, or hit her with U-turn. The plan B is to trick a Choice Scarf onto her as she comes in to wall Latias. The last and final resort would be to use Magnezone's Explosion to take her out.
Bronzong - Lead Bronzong gets OHKOed, if I'm not mistaken, by Heatran's Overheat. Other versions often find themselves trapped by magnezone and getting 2HKOed, and if Magnezone is coming in from Scizor's U-turn then it's more than likely a OHKO.
Celebi - Celebi is not too big of a problem and can usually be handled by Scizor who can hit it with a 4x super effective U-turn while Celebi can do little in return. Scizor also has the option to pursuit Celebi if it tries to switch out. Gengar can take out weakened Celebi with Shadow Ball.
Cresselia - Cresselia, like alot of other Psychic threats, can be dispatched easily by Scizor's U-turn or Pursuit. Gengar can also finish off a weakened Cresselia with Shadow Ball.
Donphan - If we ignore the fact that this guy is UU now, Donphan wont be doing much for the opposing team due to the fact that I never seem to have Stealth Rock on my teams. It might find its way in on Magnezone, which any Ground type walls, in which case I can either use Explosion, switch to Latias and use Surf, or go to Gengar and hit it with STAB Shadow Balls.
Dusknoir - Dusknoir is very slow, and its priority is resisted by most of my Steel types. Heatran can come in on a WoW directed at Scizor and threaten it, and the rest of its team, with a super powered Overheat.
Forretress - Heatran can usually come in on this guy no problem and force him out with the threat of Overheat KOing him. Forretress also is conviniently trapped by Magnezone, who comes out of the encounter usually behind a Substitute.
Gliscor - After taking a few hits Gliscor gets KO by most of my Pokemon, except Magnezone (who can explode if it has a Substitute up). Jirachi can set up Reflect and cripple him with Body Slam, allowing him to be easily picked of by either Iron Head or another Pokemon.
Gyarados - Depending on the type of Gyarados I'm faced with I have two different things I try to do. Since this is a defensive Gyarados, it will usually come in on Scizor. In which case I would U-turn to Gengar and threaten it with either Hypnosis or Thunderbolt.
Hippowdon - Almost always a lead, in which Heatran will just use Overheat for an easy KO before he can set up SR. If he isn't a lead I would just use its weaker Special Defense and take it out using one of my various Special attackers, all of whom outspeed (Magnezone could use Explosion if totally necessary). Gengar and Latias can switch into predicted Earthquakes and hurt it back badly.
Jirachi - Lead Jirachi get OHKOed by Heatran, while having no way of hurting me back. If they trick Choice Scarf onto Heatran then I gain a great revenge killer while they lose Jirachi. Magnezone can also trap Jirachi quite well, and only has SubCM Jirachi to worry about in which case I would use Explosion, getting rid of the Substitute, and trying to KO it with either Heatran or Gengar. SubCM Jirachi is a problem.
Rotom-A - Rotom is a slight problem. Without a reliable way to trap it like a Tyranitar, I have to resort to good old fashioned beatdown. Rotom will usually come in on Scizor to absorb U-turn, in which case I would U-turn to Gengar and check for its item, if I see Leftovers I can go for an easy KO with Shadow Ball, otherwise I can assume its a choice set and switch back to Scizor to absorb the incoming Shadow Ball and trap it with Pursuit.
Skarmory - Easily dispatched by Heatran and Gengar, and completely trapped by Magnezone who comes out of the encounter with a Substitute.
Snorlax - Scizor handles snorlax quite nicely, resisting Body Slam (and even if it did paralyze him it wouldnt be such a big deal) and Cruch, and being able to retaliating with Superpower or U-turn, in which case I would go to Jirachi to set up either Substitute, Reflect, or both while being able to easily flinch it till it is KOed.
Suicune - Suicune takes alot of damage from the Electric moves on the team. Magnezone can come in and threaten Suicune with Thunderbolt or Explosion. Gengar and Latias can revenge kill it if it is weak enough. Suicune can be a big hassle.
Swampert - Heatran gets a OHKO on Lead Swampert with HP Grass most of time before he can even set up Stealth Rocks. Other than that he will usually try to force Magnezone out or come in on Scizor. Magnezone can just use Explosion on it. If it comes in on Scizor's U-turn I can go to Gengar who can do a good amount of damage with Shadow Ball. Another tricky Pokemon.
Tentacruel - My entire team is immune to Toxic Spikes and I have no Stealth Rocks for him to Rapid Spin away, so most of the time it is completely useless and gives me time to set up Substitutes on either Magnezone or Jirachi, or just go to Gengar and threaten it with a Thunderbolt.
Tyranitar - Tyranitar will usually come in to trap Gengar, in which case I will always use Focus Blast, which is a OHKO on all Tyranitar with the exception of a super Special Defensive Carefule Tyranitar.
Vaporeon - Not much of a problem as Latias can come in and either threaten it with getting tricked a Choice Scarf or getting hit by a Thunderbolt. Magnezone can also come in and paralyze Vaporeon while surviving a Surf and KOing back with Thunderbolt.
Zapdos - Another nuisance for my team. I will usually try to paralyze it with Jirachi or Magnezone (if it comes in while I use Substitute). From there I just weaken it with whatever I have left or use Explosion on Magnezone.
Offensive Threats
Azelf - Lead Azelf is probably one of my least favorite leads to have to deal with, but even then its not too hard to work around. I will always attack Azelf on the first turn, if they used taunt then I will stay in and KO while they set up Stealth Rocks, if they used Stealth Rocks then I go straight to Gengar to absorb the Explosion. Outside of the lead spot Scizor and Latias can pick of a weakened Azelf.
Breloom - Breloom is a pain in the ass. I usually have to sacrifice one Pokemon to sleep, and an additional Pokemon to get rid of its Substitute. Jirachi can come in after a Pokemon has been put to sleep and set up Reflect then go to Gengar to absorb the Focus Punch and try to KO Breloom before Breloom KO's its with Seed Bomb. Not a fun pokemon to handle.
Dragonite - Even after a Dragon Dance Dragonite is easily revenge killed by Latias. Jirachi and most of the other Steel Type members of the team can come in on an Outrage and set up or KO Dragonite.
Dugtrio - I've actually never faced on of these yet, but I'm sure it would cause some problems among my team. I would probably have to revenge kill it after it kills Magnezone (if I am behind a Substitute then I will use Explosion) with either Latias or Gengar.
Electivire - Not a very problematic Pokemon, as long as it does not get a Motor Drove Boost. If that does happen I would either have to resort to revenge killing it with Draco Meteor from Latias, or Body Slam paralysis from Jirachi. I'll just have to watch out for Motor Drive.
Gallade - I haven't seen any of these yet, but if I did I would have a rough time taking it out if it happened to get a Swords Dance. I can't really think of what I can to in return other than hope Shadow Sneak doesn't KO Latias or that it is already weakened so Scizor can pick it off with Bullet Punch.
Gengar - Scizor is a great way of getting rid of pesky Gengars, either Pursuit or Bullet Punch will do the job (most of the time Pursuit though since it KOs either way I think). If it happens to KO Scizor with HP Fire then it is easy pickings for my Gengar which will outspeed by one point and KO with Shadow Ball. Latias can also revenge kill it.
Gyarados - Dragon Dance Gyarados is not really to big of a problem as it can be revenge killed rather easily by Latias. Jirachi would usually be the sacrifice of choice so that I can see whether or not it has Earthquake, if it does then Latias can do the job, if it doesn't then I can set up Reflect and maybe paralyze it without having to sacrifice anything.
Heatran -Choice Scarf Heatran is a big pain, dishing out huge amounts of damage to my Fire weak team. My only hope is Latias who resists Fire type attacks and outspeeds, but even then it cannot get a OHKO. Magnezone can also take it out if it is stuck on HP Ice or Dragon Pulse. Heatran can also come in on a predicted Fire attack and force it out. Other versions of Heatran are too slow to deal to much damage to my team before it is taken out.
Heracross - Between Latias and Scizor, Heracross doesn't have much room to sweep and will have a hard time coming in to set up a Swords Dance. Choice Scarf sets are easy to abuse between Gengar and Heatran taking Mega Horn and Close Combat respectively.
Infernape - Latias makes a very good Infernape check, resisting both its STABs, outspeeding, and KO'ing it with Surf. Gengar can also come in and absorb a Close Combat and KO back with Shadow Ball.
Jolteon - I have not faced on yet, but I can see it might be a problem. The only thing I can think of is revenge killing it with Latias, but then again I depend to much on Latias. This is a problem spot.
Kingdra - Latias can easily outspeed both Dragon Dance and Rain Dance varieties while also KOing back with Draco Meteor.
Lucario - My first choice in taking out Lucario is Gengar, but this can easily be foiled if Focus Blast misses. Lucario has the potential to be extremely destructive at that point. Lucario can be a problem as well.
Machamp - Most Machamp I have see are usually in the lead position. Heatran KO's Machamp easily with Overheat before it even gets the chance to move. Other than that Gengar can come in on a predicted Dynamic Punch and deal some heavy damage in return.
Magnezone- Choice Scarf Magnezones stuck on Thunderbolt is dispatched by my own Magnezone. I would first paralyze it and then proceed to Set up a Substitute and Thunderbolt it till it is KOed. Since mine will be both faster (the paralysis) and bulkier (HP EVs and Leftovers) it will always come out on top. If it is not Choice Scarf then it is not really fast enough to do much damage to the team, but the same strategy would apply.
Mamoswine - This is one lead I will almost always lose to with Heatran. Both Pokemon that can avoid Earthquakes, Gengar and Latias, are hit hard by its other moves like Stone Edge and Ice Shard. Scizor can revenge kill it easily though.
Metagross - Like I mentioned earlier, LeadGross is my favorite matchup because it gets OHKOed easily without it being able to set up anything at all. Other than that AgiliGross could cause my team some problems, especially if it is using Earthquake, Jirachi should be able to survive and paralyze him effectively ending his sweep.
Porygon-Z - Havn't seen Porygon Z in a long time but it is not a very hard Pokemon to check. Gengar can come in on Choice Scarf versions, the most common if I'm not mistaken, and absorb the predicted Tri Attack, then again so can the rest of the Steel types on my team. Jirachi and Magnezone like getting free Substitutes up!
Salamence - The dreaded Salamence. Dragon Dance Salamence is revenge killed easily by Latias with Draco Meteor. If Latias happens to be dead already then I also have the option of getting its HP down to about ~60% and KOing it with Scizor. MixMence with Fire Blast can be a problem...
Scizor - Magnezone, do I need to say anymore?
Starmie - Scizor can switch into and Pursuit most Starmies with little risk to itself. the exception is Specs and LO Starmie which hit far too hard with Surf for Scizor to switch in, unless he can get in on a resisted hit. Latias can also revenge kill it with Thunderbolt.
Togekiss - Togekiss is pretty annoying but after it has been paralyzed it becomes a piece of cake to get rid of using either Magnezone or Jirachi, both resisting Air Slash and have Substitute to avoid Thunder Wave.
Tyranitar - Already mentioned it above.
Weavile - Weavile is easily one of my favorite Pokemon for my team to go up against. Not only do Heatran, Magnezone, and Scizor resist both of its STABs( Jirachi being neutral to Dark), but it gives a ton of time to set up Substitutes or just plain KO it with Scizor. Weavile is a joke, seriously.
Yanmega- Haven't seen one of these in OU ever but if I ever did I probably would just go ahead and do something that involves weakening it and then KOing it with Scizor. I really don't feel like looking up what moves it normally uses, I guess I will have to learn hands on!
Zapdos - Also mentioned above.
So that's my team. Despite the fact that it was kind of thrown together, it has worked really well on the ladder on Shoddy. It had very nice synergy and does a good job at eliminating most threats. I look forward to reading your suggestions and critiques. Thank you in advance!
