Hey guys! One Approved here. I was going to write an RMT of a team that had been well-tested and oiled out and make it look all nice and stuff to celebrate the new site going up, but then PS decided to delete all of my teams lol! So since I'm going to be building new teams, I figured I'd throw this one up in an RMT while I still had it. This is the only team I have left atm; I built it with my tutor and while it's seen moderate success, it's not perfect yet. It's a balanced-style team that was built around the framework that we had worked on together of: speed / sweeper / breaker / pivot / utility / utility. So without further ado, here is the teambuilding process:
Oh, and a tl;dr version of the song above: My team is balanced, and that song has a lot of fast/slow parts so it's pretty balanced. An Overture typically also gives you an overview of what's to come in a musical/opera, and this was like an introduction into ORAS OU for me. Fun fact: The Oboe solo in the piece was at one point in heavy consideration to become the national anthem of Israel n_n
My tutor asked me which pokemon I wanted to start with. I told him either Mega Gardevoir or Mega Manectric, since Gardevoir/Manectric are two of my favorite pokemon and they're FINALLY seeing OU play. We decided to go with Calm Mind Mega Gardevoir because it was much easier to build around as a legitimate sweeper threat and because we felt it was a better choice in the metagame (probably because we both expected MegaGross to be banned. oops.)
Landorus-T was added next. he asked me which pokemon would give Gardevoir trouble, and physical priority was a big issue. Landorus-T's intimidate and ability to set up rocks was a perfect addition.
SubCM Keldeo and Scarf Latios were added next. Scarf Latios provided speed, water resistance, and an extra check to Landorus-i while SubCM Keldeo also checked Landorus while being able to set up on water-types aside from Starmie. Eventually I role-reversed the two, to Scarf Keldeo and LO Latios.
Raikou and Scizor rounded the bunch out. They provided a solid VoltTurn core amongst each other, as well as with Landorus-T.
In-Depth Look
gamercal@ Gardevoirite
Trait: Trace (Pixilate)
24 Def/232 SpAtk/252 Spe
Timid nature
IVs: 0 Atk (foul play sucks)
~Hyper Voice
~Psyshock
~Focus Blast
~Taunt
Initially we opted for Calm Mind Mega Gardy, because at +1/+1 it hit like a truck. However, more stallsy-based teams were annoying to deal with, so I switched to taunt. Hyper Voice is for Fairy STAB through Pixilate, Psyshock has Psychic STAB and hits through Defense, so it takes down Chansey/Blissey with greater ease. Focus Blast is for coverage, it hits Tyranitar, Ferrothorn, and other Steel-types trying to switch in. Only 70 accuracy sucks but there isn't any better option, unfortunately. The EVs are pretty standard - Max Speed because you want to go fast, the 24 defense are so you can survive a 2HKO from Life Orb Latios's Psyshock, because as I alluded to above, Gardevoir has pitiful defense. The rest are in Special Attack so you can kill things. Gardevoir fills the Breaker role in the balanced framework because of its ability to power through walls thanks to Taunt as well as very high power.
Nyandorus @Leftovers
Trait: Intimidate
252 Hp/240 Def/8 SpD/8 Spe
Impish nature
~Stealth Rock
~Earthquake
~U-turn
~Stone Edge/Knock Off
Landorus-T is a fantastic pivot pokemon. Intimidate makes it exceedingly bulky, it has plenty of good resistances, and it's got a slow U-turn to keep momentum on my side. Stealth Rock is crucial to keep things like Talonflame, Mega Pinsir, and Volcarona in check. Earthquake STAB is always a plus. I'm still toying around with the last slot. I started with Knock Off because it bodied things like Latias/Latios/Gengar that got too aggressive trying to switch in for free, and also because knocking off any item is pretty useful. However I felt I wasn't using it enough. I switched to Stone edge to provide extra insurance against Volcarona, as well as to hit Gyarados and/or Zapdos on a predicted switch in. The EVs are cool, but again, standard. 8 Speed gets by most Magnezone while 8 Special Defense allows you to survive Mega Manectric's Hidden Power Ice once. The rest goes into HP and Defense to deal with the aforementioned Talonflame and Mega Pinsir much more easily, as well as physical threats in general. To be honest, when you have STAB Earthquake and an extremely high base 145 Attack, it's not like you need much of an attack investment anyways. Landorus takes the pivot role in the Balanced framework becasue of its ability to switch in and tank almost any physical hit, and then u-turn out immediately to keep the momentum on my side of the field.
Toothless (Latios) @Life Orb
Trait: Levitate
4 Def/252 SpA/252 Spe
Timid nature
IVs: 0 Atk
~Draco Meteor
~Psyshock
~Hidden Power Fire
~Roost
Latios provides a solid check to Landorus-I, as well as Fighting-types and Water-types like Keldeo or Breloom. Draco Meteor is the most powerful STAB it has, Psyshock hits Keldeo regardless of how many Calm Mind boosts it has, and hits Chansey/Blissey hard-ish. Hidden Power Fire is what I chose for coverage because it hits Ferrothorn, Bisharp, and Opposing Scizor as they try to switch in, which this team can struggle to handle at times. (Particularly Ferrothorn.) Roost is to keep longevity through the game, although I've been more recently toying with the idea of Defog due to the problems this team has had with Spikes/Toxic Spikes. EVs don't really need much of an explanation: Just hit as hard and as fast as humanly possible. Latios fills up one of the two Utility roles in the balanced framework.
Applejack (Keldeo) @Choice Scarf
Trait: Justified
4 Def/252 SpAtk/252 Spe
Timid nature
IVs: 0 Atk
~Hydro Pump
~Secret Sword
~Scald
~Hidden Power Electric
Initially I started with Sub Calm Mind Keldeo, which I liked a lot. The only reason I switched was because I switched from Scarf to LO Latios, and this team really missed having the extra speed. Scarf Keldeo is not bad, though. STAB Hydro Pump hits very hard, and Secret Sword hits through defense like Psyshock does, so it ignores any of those pesky calm mind boosts against another Keldeo, as well as the SpDef boost that is provided by a sandstorm, Tyranitar can probably survive Hydro Pump and definitely lives Scald. Not so much Secret Sword. Scald might seem redundant but the 30% burn chance is toxic (no pun intended) and it can swing matches heavily in my favor. It's nice to get the attack drop on certain switch-ins (ie: Breloom, Ferrothorn). Hidden Power Electric is what I chose in the last slot to give me an extra out against Gyarados as well as Bulky-waters like Slowbro. The EVs are again, very simple with maxed SpAtk/Speed. Keldeo fills the Speed slot in the Balanced framework, as Choice Scarf allows it to outspeed the entire unboosted tier, as well as some threats even after they are +1.
Thor (Raikou) @Assault Vest
Trait: Pressure
252 SpA/32 SpD/224 Spe
Timid nature
IVs: 0 Atk
~Thunderbolt
~Volt Switch
~Hidden Power Ice
~Shadow Ball
Assault Vest is a nifty item that came out in XY, and Raikou makes a great use of it with its natural special bulk as well as its ability to offensively threaten several special threats (ie: Thundurus, Starmie). Thunderbolt is Raikou's most powerful STAB (aside from Thunder, which I swear misses even more than Focus Blast does.), and Volt Switch allows Raikou to dip out at any point in time should it be threatened. Hidden Power Ice is a solid coverage move as it hits Grass-types as well as Garchomp and Dragonite. Shadow Ball is just a filler 4th option, it hits Gengar and Latias/Latios for super effective damage. 224 Speed allows me to get by Thundurus, the extra EVs were just dumped into Special Defense to give me some extra bulk to take on the likes of Gengar/Mega Charizard Y. Raikou fills another Utility role on this team, although it can double as a pivot in a lot of circumstances.
Crimson Tide (Scizor) @Choice Band
Trait: Technician
248 HP/252 Atk/8 SpD
Adamant nature
~Bullet Punch
~U-turn
~Superpower
~Knock Off
Ahh yes, the glue that has been a staple since the DPP Era. CB Scizor isn't used as much today with Mega Scizor being out and all, but I already has my mega stone used on Gardevoir. Bullet Punch backed by STAB, Technician, and Choice Band makes it decently powerful, and a very solid check to anything fast with low defense (ie: my own Mega Gardevoir.) It also allows me to check, and in some cases counter Dragon-types like Dragonite. U-turn is just stupidly powerful, slow enough for me to move based on my oponent, and it threatens Grass-types I guess. Superpower is there for coverage, nailing Heatran that try to switch-in. Knock Off is used in the last slot. I thought about Pursuit, especially because it pairs well with Technician, but with Mega Gardevoir, AV Raikou, and my own Latios, I'm not really worried about forcibly killing my opponents' latias/os. Knock Off is better here I think because it trolls a lot of switch-ins (ie: Gliscor, Landorus-T) and packs the same coverage. Now as for the EVs, 248 HP with 8 somewhere else (usually Speed/Special Defense) has been the standard since DP, but I honestly still have no clue what it does. It's probably so you take less damage from Stealth Rock or something like that. The remaining 8 go into special defense to help take Draco Meteors better, and max Attack for sheer power.
Weaknesses
~Ferrothorn: always has and will be a pain in the ass. Usually I don't get too worked up about it because I run either a Fire-type that can directly switch in repeatedly, like Heatran, or I run Rotom-W, and can lure it in for the burn via Will-o-Wisp, and neuter its effectiveness throughout the match. This is the first team I've used in a long time that runs neither, so handling it can be a bit painful at times. I've thought about swapping to HP Fire on Raikou to lure it in, but them I'm absolute bait for Landorus to get in on. Speaking of:
~Landorus-T: As you can see, my only real Landorus-T switch ins are my own Landorus-T and Latios. Needless to say, if it runs both HP Ice and U-turn, I'm in for a rough time. I've tried to migitate this weakness by limiting the amount of switch-ins it can have (HP Ice on Raikou, everything else hits stupidly hard or has U-turn) but it can still pose a problem if it gets in for free.
~Landorus-I: I'm less worried about this one because a combination of Latios, Keldeo, and Scizor handle it pretty well, but a late-game Rock Polish can be threatening at times. If my opponent manages to trap either Latios with Pursuit, or Scizor with Magnet Pull, my ways of handling this pokemon become severely limited.
~Volcarona: For a while I switched to Scarf Kyurem-B to handle this more effectively, but I eventually went back to Latios. Stone Edge on Landorus-T actually does help somewhat because the defensive variants can't really OHKO me at +1, even if they have Fire Blast. However, Landorus-T needs to be very high on health, and offensive Voclarona will destroy me regardless.
Conclusion
This was my first team to have any success in 6th gen OU, and so far this generation is looking SOOOOO much more fun than BW OU was, so I'm very excited to learn more about the tier as it develops and to get back into competitive play as a whole. Thanks a bunch for reading, feel free to take the team and try it out, I just ask that you keep the nicknames. Be sure to let me know any fixes you see! Thanks! n_n
Importable
Oh, and a tl;dr version of the song above: My team is balanced, and that song has a lot of fast/slow parts so it's pretty balanced. An Overture typically also gives you an overview of what's to come in a musical/opera, and this was like an introduction into ORAS OU for me. Fun fact: The Oboe solo in the piece was at one point in heavy consideration to become the national anthem of Israel n_n
My tutor asked me which pokemon I wanted to start with. I told him either Mega Gardevoir or Mega Manectric, since Gardevoir/Manectric are two of my favorite pokemon and they're FINALLY seeing OU play. We decided to go with Calm Mind Mega Gardevoir because it was much easier to build around as a legitimate sweeper threat and because we felt it was a better choice in the metagame (probably because we both expected MegaGross to be banned. oops.)
Landorus-T was added next. he asked me which pokemon would give Gardevoir trouble, and physical priority was a big issue. Landorus-T's intimidate and ability to set up rocks was a perfect addition.
SubCM Keldeo and Scarf Latios were added next. Scarf Latios provided speed, water resistance, and an extra check to Landorus-i while SubCM Keldeo also checked Landorus while being able to set up on water-types aside from Starmie. Eventually I role-reversed the two, to Scarf Keldeo and LO Latios.
Raikou and Scizor rounded the bunch out. They provided a solid VoltTurn core amongst each other, as well as with Landorus-T.
In-Depth Look
gamercal@ Gardevoirite
Trait: Trace (Pixilate)
24 Def/232 SpAtk/252 Spe
Timid nature
IVs: 0 Atk (foul play sucks)
~Hyper Voice
~Psyshock
~Focus Blast
~Taunt
Initially we opted for Calm Mind Mega Gardy, because at +1/+1 it hit like a truck. However, more stallsy-based teams were annoying to deal with, so I switched to taunt. Hyper Voice is for Fairy STAB through Pixilate, Psyshock has Psychic STAB and hits through Defense, so it takes down Chansey/Blissey with greater ease. Focus Blast is for coverage, it hits Tyranitar, Ferrothorn, and other Steel-types trying to switch in. Only 70 accuracy sucks but there isn't any better option, unfortunately. The EVs are pretty standard - Max Speed because you want to go fast, the 24 defense are so you can survive a 2HKO from Life Orb Latios's Psyshock, because as I alluded to above, Gardevoir has pitiful defense. The rest are in Special Attack so you can kill things. Gardevoir fills the Breaker role in the balanced framework because of its ability to power through walls thanks to Taunt as well as very high power.
Nyandorus @Leftovers
Trait: Intimidate
252 Hp/240 Def/8 SpD/8 Spe
Impish nature
~Stealth Rock
~Earthquake
~U-turn
~Stone Edge/Knock Off
Landorus-T is a fantastic pivot pokemon. Intimidate makes it exceedingly bulky, it has plenty of good resistances, and it's got a slow U-turn to keep momentum on my side. Stealth Rock is crucial to keep things like Talonflame, Mega Pinsir, and Volcarona in check. Earthquake STAB is always a plus. I'm still toying around with the last slot. I started with Knock Off because it bodied things like Latias/Latios/Gengar that got too aggressive trying to switch in for free, and also because knocking off any item is pretty useful. However I felt I wasn't using it enough. I switched to Stone edge to provide extra insurance against Volcarona, as well as to hit Gyarados and/or Zapdos on a predicted switch in. The EVs are cool, but again, standard. 8 Speed gets by most Magnezone while 8 Special Defense allows you to survive Mega Manectric's Hidden Power Ice once. The rest goes into HP and Defense to deal with the aforementioned Talonflame and Mega Pinsir much more easily, as well as physical threats in general. To be honest, when you have STAB Earthquake and an extremely high base 145 Attack, it's not like you need much of an attack investment anyways. Landorus takes the pivot role in the Balanced framework becasue of its ability to switch in and tank almost any physical hit, and then u-turn out immediately to keep the momentum on my side of the field.
Toothless (Latios) @Life Orb
Trait: Levitate
4 Def/252 SpA/252 Spe
Timid nature
IVs: 0 Atk
~Draco Meteor
~Psyshock
~Hidden Power Fire
~Roost
Latios provides a solid check to Landorus-I, as well as Fighting-types and Water-types like Keldeo or Breloom. Draco Meteor is the most powerful STAB it has, Psyshock hits Keldeo regardless of how many Calm Mind boosts it has, and hits Chansey/Blissey hard-ish. Hidden Power Fire is what I chose for coverage because it hits Ferrothorn, Bisharp, and Opposing Scizor as they try to switch in, which this team can struggle to handle at times. (Particularly Ferrothorn.) Roost is to keep longevity through the game, although I've been more recently toying with the idea of Defog due to the problems this team has had with Spikes/Toxic Spikes. EVs don't really need much of an explanation: Just hit as hard and as fast as humanly possible. Latios fills up one of the two Utility roles in the balanced framework.
Applejack (Keldeo) @Choice Scarf
Trait: Justified
4 Def/252 SpAtk/252 Spe
Timid nature
IVs: 0 Atk
~Hydro Pump
~Secret Sword
~Scald
~Hidden Power Electric
Initially I started with Sub Calm Mind Keldeo, which I liked a lot. The only reason I switched was because I switched from Scarf to LO Latios, and this team really missed having the extra speed. Scarf Keldeo is not bad, though. STAB Hydro Pump hits very hard, and Secret Sword hits through defense like Psyshock does, so it ignores any of those pesky calm mind boosts against another Keldeo, as well as the SpDef boost that is provided by a sandstorm, Tyranitar can probably survive Hydro Pump and definitely lives Scald. Not so much Secret Sword. Scald might seem redundant but the 30% burn chance is toxic (no pun intended) and it can swing matches heavily in my favor. It's nice to get the attack drop on certain switch-ins (ie: Breloom, Ferrothorn). Hidden Power Electric is what I chose in the last slot to give me an extra out against Gyarados as well as Bulky-waters like Slowbro. The EVs are again, very simple with maxed SpAtk/Speed. Keldeo fills the Speed slot in the Balanced framework, as Choice Scarf allows it to outspeed the entire unboosted tier, as well as some threats even after they are +1.
Thor (Raikou) @Assault Vest
Trait: Pressure
252 SpA/32 SpD/224 Spe
Timid nature
IVs: 0 Atk
~Thunderbolt
~Volt Switch
~Hidden Power Ice
~Shadow Ball
Assault Vest is a nifty item that came out in XY, and Raikou makes a great use of it with its natural special bulk as well as its ability to offensively threaten several special threats (ie: Thundurus, Starmie). Thunderbolt is Raikou's most powerful STAB (aside from Thunder, which I swear misses even more than Focus Blast does.), and Volt Switch allows Raikou to dip out at any point in time should it be threatened. Hidden Power Ice is a solid coverage move as it hits Grass-types as well as Garchomp and Dragonite. Shadow Ball is just a filler 4th option, it hits Gengar and Latias/Latios for super effective damage. 224 Speed allows me to get by Thundurus, the extra EVs were just dumped into Special Defense to give me some extra bulk to take on the likes of Gengar/Mega Charizard Y. Raikou fills another Utility role on this team, although it can double as a pivot in a lot of circumstances.
Crimson Tide (Scizor) @Choice Band
Trait: Technician
248 HP/252 Atk/8 SpD
Adamant nature
~Bullet Punch
~U-turn
~Superpower
~Knock Off
Ahh yes, the glue that has been a staple since the DPP Era. CB Scizor isn't used as much today with Mega Scizor being out and all, but I already has my mega stone used on Gardevoir. Bullet Punch backed by STAB, Technician, and Choice Band makes it decently powerful, and a very solid check to anything fast with low defense (ie: my own Mega Gardevoir.) It also allows me to check, and in some cases counter Dragon-types like Dragonite. U-turn is just stupidly powerful, slow enough for me to move based on my oponent, and it threatens Grass-types I guess. Superpower is there for coverage, nailing Heatran that try to switch-in. Knock Off is used in the last slot. I thought about Pursuit, especially because it pairs well with Technician, but with Mega Gardevoir, AV Raikou, and my own Latios, I'm not really worried about forcibly killing my opponents' latias/os. Knock Off is better here I think because it trolls a lot of switch-ins (ie: Gliscor, Landorus-T) and packs the same coverage. Now as for the EVs, 248 HP with 8 somewhere else (usually Speed/Special Defense) has been the standard since DP, but I honestly still have no clue what it does. It's probably so you take less damage from Stealth Rock or something like that. The remaining 8 go into special defense to help take Draco Meteors better, and max Attack for sheer power.
Weaknesses
~Ferrothorn: always has and will be a pain in the ass. Usually I don't get too worked up about it because I run either a Fire-type that can directly switch in repeatedly, like Heatran, or I run Rotom-W, and can lure it in for the burn via Will-o-Wisp, and neuter its effectiveness throughout the match. This is the first team I've used in a long time that runs neither, so handling it can be a bit painful at times. I've thought about swapping to HP Fire on Raikou to lure it in, but them I'm absolute bait for Landorus to get in on. Speaking of:
~Landorus-T: As you can see, my only real Landorus-T switch ins are my own Landorus-T and Latios. Needless to say, if it runs both HP Ice and U-turn, I'm in for a rough time. I've tried to migitate this weakness by limiting the amount of switch-ins it can have (HP Ice on Raikou, everything else hits stupidly hard or has U-turn) but it can still pose a problem if it gets in for free.
~Landorus-I: I'm less worried about this one because a combination of Latios, Keldeo, and Scizor handle it pretty well, but a late-game Rock Polish can be threatening at times. If my opponent manages to trap either Latios with Pursuit, or Scizor with Magnet Pull, my ways of handling this pokemon become severely limited.
~Volcarona: For a while I switched to Scarf Kyurem-B to handle this more effectively, but I eventually went back to Latios. Stone Edge on Landorus-T actually does help somewhat because the defensive variants can't really OHKO me at +1, even if they have Fire Blast. However, Landorus-T needs to be very high on health, and offensive Voclarona will destroy me regardless.
Conclusion
This was my first team to have any success in 6th gen OU, and so far this generation is looking SOOOOO much more fun than BW OU was, so I'm very excited to learn more about the tier as it develops and to get back into competitive play as a whole. Thanks a bunch for reading, feel free to take the team and try it out, I just ask that you keep the nicknames. Be sure to let me know any fixes you see! Thanks! n_n
Importable
gamercal (Gardevoir) @ Gardevoirite
Ability: Trace
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 24 Def / 232 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Hyper Voice
- Psyshock
- Focus Blast
- Taunt
Nyandorus (Landorus-Therian) @ Leftovers
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 HP / 240 Def / 8 SpD / 8 Spe
Impish Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- U-turn
- Stone Edge
Toothless (Latios) (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 2 Atk / 30 SpA / 30 Spe
- Draco Meteor
- Psyshock
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Roost
Applejack (Keldeo) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Justified
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Hydro Pump
- Secret Sword
- Scald
- Hidden Power [Electric]
Thor (Raikou) @ Assault Vest
Ability: Pressure
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 SpA / 32 SpD / 224 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Volt Switch
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Shadow Ball
Crimson Tide (Scizor) @ Choice Band
Ability: Technician
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 SpD
Adamant Nature
- U-turn
- Bullet Punch
- Knock Off
- Superpower
Ability: Trace
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 24 Def / 232 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Hyper Voice
- Psyshock
- Focus Blast
- Taunt
Nyandorus (Landorus-Therian) @ Leftovers
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 HP / 240 Def / 8 SpD / 8 Spe
Impish Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- U-turn
- Stone Edge
Toothless (Latios) (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 2 Atk / 30 SpA / 30 Spe
- Draco Meteor
- Psyshock
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Roost
Applejack (Keldeo) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Justified
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Hydro Pump
- Secret Sword
- Scald
- Hidden Power [Electric]
Thor (Raikou) @ Assault Vest
Ability: Pressure
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 SpA / 32 SpD / 224 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Volt Switch
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Shadow Ball
Crimson Tide (Scizor) @ Choice Band
Ability: Technician
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 SpD
Adamant Nature
- U-turn
- Bullet Punch
- Knock Off
- Superpower
