OU: Soul Reapers

[silver116]

Hey guys! This is a team I've been brainstorming on for a few days for Pokemon Showdown, but I feel there is a huge flaw. That flaw is, of course, not apparent to me. That's where you come in! I'm not perfect at making RMT's so cut me some slaking (worse joke ever). Anyways here is the team:

LEAD CORE:

ランドロス (Landorus-Therian) (M) @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Intimidate
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SAtk / 252 Spd
Naive Nature
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- U-turn
- Superpower

═► As you have probably noticed I'm having fun with the Japanese names of my pokes just because they look... fancy. This is the basic scarfed Landorus set omitting the fact that I used Landorus-T form instead. Choice scarf almost always lets me go first to either U-Turn out or revenge kill a damaged pokemon on my opponents team. Superpower is there as one of my two ways to counter Blissey/Chansey. Sometimes I lead with Landorous and either attack or U-Turn out.

カイリキー (Machamp) (M) @ Lum Berry
Trait: No Guard
EVs: 240 HP / 248 Atk / 16 SDef / 4 Spd
Adamant Nature
- DynamicPunch
- Payback
- Bullet Punch
- Ice Punch

═► This is another one of my leads and is most commonly my lead. Dynamic punch scares almost any weather starter (and the most of the metagame but that's besides the point) and can ruin my opponents ability to set-up due to confusion. I have Payback to deal with ghosts Ice Punch to threaten dragons, and Bullet Punch to finish em' off. Dynamic Punch is really my only chance to counter Skarmory which is a big problem. Lum Berry is cool and all as it allows me to bypass status, however, I am debating using Focus Sash.

OFFENSIVE CORE:

キュレム (Kyurem) @ Icy Rock
Trait: Pressure
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
- Hail
- Blizzard
- Dragon Pulse
- Roost

═► This is my inspiration for this team as I always thought Kyurem was cool but never wanted to use an old, boring Smogon set. Once I maintain a safe switch-in for Kyruem as to force my opponent out, I can start up the hail. It follows that naturally I'd utilize Kyruem's massive Blizzard STAB and Dragon Pulse STAB. I pondered on switching Dragon Pulse for Draco Meteor but that would make it very hard for Kyruem to stand it's ground. Roost is to keep Kyruem healthy as usual.

ランクルス (Reuniclus) (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: Magic Guard
EVs: 200 HP / 250 Def / 60 SAtk
Bold Nature
IVs: 30 SAtk / 30 SDef
- Calm Mind
- Recover
- Psychic
- Focus Blast

═► At first I tried to make successful a Calm Mind Alakazam set but that did not work out nicely as Alakazam is much to weak (but is still the boss). Instead I chose to utilize Reuniclus' ability to switch in on hail and hazards and serve as a viable switch-in for Kyruem. This is a basic Calm Mind set to turn Reuniclus into an unstoppable special sweeper. Recover is, as Kyruem, there to keep it healthy. Concerning the wierd EV distribution, I wanted to boost Reuniclus' special attack whilst keeping him relatively bulky (compare to Smogon Calm Mind set).

SPECIAL-OPS CORE:

ハッサム (Scizor) (M) @ Choice Band
Trait: Technician
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 SDef
Adamant Nature
- U-turn
- Bullet Punch
- Superpower
- Pursuit

═► Really just the basic Scizor set. Two reasons I added it to my team was to serve as my second option to OHKO Blissey/Chansey with Superpower and to effectively trap Latios/Latias with Pursuit. Bullet Punch for priority yada, yada, yada.

シャワーズ (Vaporeon) (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: Water Absorb
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 Spd
Bold Nature
- Wish
- Protect
- Scald
- Toxic

═►I absolutely LOVE Vaporeon. Not only is it a defensive beast but also it can serve as a water-type Gliscor utilizing Wish, Protect, and Toxic. Scald is there to be a damage output and, also, to inflict burn on physical attackers. Vaporeon is really my only defense on this team besides Kyruem's great array of resistances.

Well... that's it! Do you think it's good? bad? both?! Constructive criticism is very appreciated but please no hating. Feel free to suggest new strategies, pokemon, and almost anything else! Thanks for ready!

 

[Spammy]

My only criticism for this RMT is

It's Kyurem. xD

jk jk.

Your team seems incredibly balanced as far as type weaknesses go. I can't find one common weakness between your entire team, which is quite a feat.

But I see something that concerns me: you do have Reuniclus that can break stall teams like a boss, but you lack a spinner, or any hazard setters for that matter, of your own, the former more.

You might consider Tentacruel for a spinner and hazard setter (replacing Vaporeon), although Stealth Rocks is probably more important than Toxic Spikes.

I am kinda iffy on the Kyurem set, although I guess that's just because this meta revolves so much around autoweather...

 

[silver116]

@ Spammy

═► I will definitely look into Tentacruel, however, I've never been quite fond of entry hazards because I find them to be a waste of a turn. On the bright side, if I do include Tentacruel I can run some other set on it but include rapid spin so that hazards are no problem at all. A clean playing field. As far as my Kyruem set goes, I am confident that I can make it work as Kyruem was placed in OU for a reason. Hail could be replaced by another move but by what? I like to have some anti-metagame gimmick on my teams. Any suggestions for my dear old Kyruem? So far I've won a good amount of battles, but not with specifically Kyruem. Thanks for the feedback I'm glad to hear from you!

 

[Chaos Jackal]

Two things about Landorus.
First, why the SpAtk EVs? You don't run a special move. You can give the last boost to another stat.
Second, do you think you need both Naive Nature and Choice Scarf? I can see some reasons, but I also wonder how it would function with an Adamant nature. Also, if you want +Speed nature, why Naive and not Jolly? As I mentioned before, you don't run any Special attacks in the set, so why reduce your SpDef instead of your actually useless SpAtk?

 

[iSharingan]

I noticed you are seriously underestimating entry hazards. I personally noticed a huge change in my battling skill when I finally realized there are benefits to using hazards, much less non-attack moves (yes. I was at that "4 fire attacks on Charizard" stage once, too). I'm sure you've noticed, but many frail pokemon that need set up will run a focus sash. If for no other reason than foiling that item, Stealth Rock become extremely useful as it can break virtually any focus sash (the exceptions being the likes of Magic Guard Alakazam). Entry hazards also wear down the team over the course of the match. It isn't uncommon in competitive battling to have the perfect counter for the foe's pokemon, but said counter is so low on heath that it will die just from switching in due to entry hazards.