Introduction
This team started because I played a decent amount on Smogon in Gen IV and haven't played the newer Gen Pokemon games as extensively. I realized that I didn't have a good grasp on the current OU metagame because of so many new and powerful Pokemon that I didn't know much about and it was hard to get a foothold when you didn't know things like, what coverage moves does this Pokemon get, is this a setup sweeper that you can't afford a mistimed switch on? I realized Gen VII UU looked a lot like Gen IV OU, a metagame I played the most back in the day. So I wanted to dip my toes in there.
Teambuilding Process
I started this team with Togekiss, mostly because of fond memories of using it in Gen IV. I also knew it got upgraded to Fairy typing as well. I originally started with a Bulky Nasty Plot Set, and eventually moved onto a more offensive version running Focus Blast for coverage on Krookodile, the Choice Scarf version of which was absolutely bodying me. This is where I started
Next I literally just used Smogon Analysis to look for good partners. I wanted an offensive team because as an inexperienced player I figured it was better to ask questions rather than answer them. Infernape fit the bill as an offensive fire type to help against the Steels that might check Togekiss.
Next I looked for overlapping synergies between my first 2 picks. Togekiss wanted hazard removal, and Infernape wanted something that could check water types, Starmie fit the bill. I also love Starmie as a mon, very versatile, it can also be my Z-Crystal user, as the other Z-Crystal sets for other Pokemon didn't fit what I wanted. Scizor was the beast of Gen IV OU. It synergized well with Infernape and Togekiss, being able to come in and trap threats like Latias and Starmie that threatened Infernape, and switch in on poison moves lobbed at Togekiss and U-turn allowed free switches to Starmie to threaten Z-Water Stab on fire types trying to nail Scizor.
At this point I didn't have a Mega. Looking back for synergies I needed a check to fliers to help Infernape and an Electric immunity/resist was also useful for Starmie. I didn't plan on using U-Turn on Infernape, opting to go for an old school mixed life orb attacker, so a Volt/Turn user that could help Scizor maintain momentum was useful as well. Mega Manectric fit the bill and was a fast attacker worked well on this offensive team.
None of my Pokemon could setup Rocks, and given that this was an old Gen IV inspired team in the days before team preview I decided on an old school dedicated lead, Azelf. Its certainly weaker with team preview, but it does its 1 job very well get up Rocks to allow me to get more OHKOs and 2HKOs with my high momentum team.
After playing with the team for a while I was getting annoyed. I had a hard time with Scarf Krookodile and Opposing Mega Manetric. Togekiss was a weak link. Supposed to help with the former, but often took a Knock off to the face on the switchin, rendering it useless. It also got tagged hard by a lot of opposing Dragons coverage moves despite having an on paper good matchup. I also had no resists for Manetric besides my own, relying on predicting an Electric attack correctly, and winning some speed ties with Overheat, not great. I was going to try to find a replacement.
I still needed a Ground resist, But also wanted an Electric Resist to take pressure of Manectric. I also wanted something that could potentially deal with something like a Calm Mind Latias with a fire move to cover Scizor. Something like Gligar didn't have enough Offensive pressure. I looked to the RU tier to find just the Pokemon, Flygon. Specifically a Choice Scarf set. It has improved my teams performance by a decent amount despite being RU.
The Team
Old School (Azelf) @ Focus Sash
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Explosion
- Taunt
- Knock Off
This is a dedicated Suicide lead for this throwback team. Designed to do 1 things. Setup Rocks. Since we have these other moveslots lying around, Taunt is there to stop opposing entry Hazards (Especially Stickyweb leads). Lastly, it explodes in your face. Knock off is in case you suspect a Ghost Switch in, or another resist and want to make good on your focus sash before dying. Pretty Standard Stuff. I'm still learning how to play with Azelf with team Preview. Its hard to think of when NOT to lead Azelf. With Team preview a lot Pokemon have good lead Matchups vs Azelf, Choice Scarf Users, Priority Users, Magic Bouncers etc. Knowing when to lead with someone else, knowing when to hard switch out of a bad matchup, knowing when to Taunt vs SR on turn 1, and knowing when to attempt to save Azelf to Explode LATER rather than just immediately is things I need to work on. For now if I can make it 5v5 and I have Rocks up and you don't, I'll consider it a success.Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Explosion
- Taunt
- Knock Off
2-D (Infernape) @ Life Orb
Ability: Iron Fist
EVs: 168 Atk / 88 SpA / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- Overheat
- Close Combat
- Mach Punch
- Gunk Shot
Noisy Cricket (Scizor) @ Choice Band
Ability: Technician
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Bullet Punch
- U-turn
- Superpower
- Pursuit
The King of Gen IV OU, Scizor is an incredible Pokemon on offensive teams. I opted for the Pursuit version to Punish Scarf Latias, Although scouting for HP Fire is very important and opposing Starmies. U-Turn as always combos with Flygon and Manectric to Chip away at 'mons with SR damage and get good offensive momentum going. Doing more research I may want to modify the spread to either under speed other Banded Scizor for slower U-Turn or run a spread with a bit more bulk to better come in on resisted/neutral moves and avoid taking too much damage.Ability: Technician
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Bullet Punch
- U-turn
- Superpower
- Pursuit
Sanic (Manectric) @ Manectite
Ability: Lightning Rod
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 1 Atk
- Volt Switch
- Overheat
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power [Grass]
Mega Manectric has been a solid member of the team. Volt Switch takes advantage of the 2 other U-Turn users on the team to keep momentum going. Being able to absorb Electric attacks thrown at Starmie and Threaten tons of Damage with Fast Neutral moves like Overheat can come in handy. Also being able to Mega and Hit intimidate lets you switch in on Bullet Punches from Scizor on full health and threaten them out. This thing is also a great bait for both Seismitoad and Swampert, its a guaranteed 2HKO on Swampert with Hidden Power Grass after SR, and 18.8% to OHKO Seismitoad after SR + Leftovers, so even if they come in on a Volt Switch you can sometimes punish by getting the sneaky OHKO on Seismitoad anyways, especially if they try to go for SR assuming you'd switch. If you can predict the switch and Manetric is at Near full health, you can actually take down a Hippowdon with SR up, assuming they don't Slack Off by 3HKOing them through Leftovers Recovery, and taking 79% max from 0 Investment Attack Earthquake.Ability: Lightning Rod
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 1 Atk
- Volt Switch
- Overheat
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power [Grass]
Eurythmics (Starmie) @ Waterium Z
Ability: Analytic
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Hydro Pump
- Thunderbolt (Was Rapid Spin)
- Psyshock
- Ice Beam
Now, I spent all the time in the introduction talking about Rapid Spin Starmie, and you'll notice, I'm not using it. This came up after a few games of getting walled by bulky waters that I couldn't afford to let Manectric take a huge Scald to the face to check them so chunking them with Starmie Thunderbolt and forcing them to recover etc can help. Its very possible I need to go back to Rapid Spin but the set has been working. Waterium Z allows for big Chunks of Damage against even some resisted hits, allowing you to mop up with coverage moves. Psyshock 2HKOs Amoongus after SR. I may look for a bulkier set with Scald instead and possibly change Z-Crystal users, but its very solid for now.Ability: Analytic
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Hydro Pump
- Thunderbolt (Was Rapid Spin)
- Psyshock
- Ice Beam
Jade (Flygon) @ Choice Scarf (Was Togekiss)
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- U-turn
- Outrage
- Earthquake
- Superpower
Togekiss wasn't quite doing what I wanted on this team. This team relies on relatively fast attackers who can threaten heavy damage and keep momentum up for the team. I also wanted some good resists/immunity. Having Levitate is huge for this team since we didn't have very many Ground switch ins same with Electric immunity. Having a Fire resist also helps alleviate some of the pressure on Starmie to tank all those hits. Scarf on Flygon also makes this a solid revenge killer. Able to outspeed Choice Scarf Hydregon and OHKO it with Outrage, able to switch in on Scarf Krookodile's EQs and combine with a predicted HP Grass from Manectric on the switch to 2HKO Krookodile with Superpower. The combination of this and Scizor can help me check any form of Latias, If they're scarfed, Scizor can come in on a move he resists and OHKO on the switch out with Pursuit, If they're Calm Mind, or defensive, Flygon can come in and outspeed, and OHKO. I've won many games by maneuvering all their remaining Pokemon to be outsped, and 1-2HKOd by either Outrage or Earthquake through chip damage from U-Turns and Volt Switches and Stealth Rock. Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- U-turn
- Outrage
- Earthquake
- Superpower
This team has been a ton of Fun to play, but its not without issues. I have a hard time with Calm Mind users that I can't safely switch in on and hit on the physical side of the spectrum, especially Suicune. Nothing on my entire team wants to switch into Mega Beedrill the best I can do is try to revenge kill it with Scizor's Bullet Punch, and attempt to wear it down with chip damage from SR. Good defensive regenerators like Alomamola and Amoongus combined can make it super hard for me to get enough chip damage from Neutral moves to break through, especially if Im being worn down by SRs and life orb damage. Sticky Web users if uncontested can make my switch ins a lot harder.
I'm up for any and all suggestions, if there are any other ideas for different coverage moves, move sets or even Pokemon, I'm all ears. I'd like to keep the team offensive. This team isn't glass cannot balls out Hyper offense, but its closer to that than a "Bulky" offensive team.
Old School (Azelf) @ Focus Sash
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Explosion
- Taunt
- Knock Off
2-D (Infernape) @ Life Orb
Ability: Iron Fist
EVs: 168 Atk / 88 SpA / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- Overheat
- Close Combat
- Mach Punch
- Gunk Shot
Noisy Cricket (Scizor) @ Choice Band
Ability: Technician
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Bullet Punch
- U-turn
- Superpower
- Pursuit
Sanic (Manectric) @ Manectite
Ability: Lightning Rod
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 1 Atk
- Volt Switch
- Overheat
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power [Grass]
Eurythmics (Starmie) @ Waterium Z
Ability: Analytic
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Hydro Pump
- Thunderbolt
- Psyshock
- Ice Beam
Jade (Flygon) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- U-turn
- Outrage
- Earthquake
- Superpower
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Explosion
- Taunt
- Knock Off
2-D (Infernape) @ Life Orb
Ability: Iron Fist
EVs: 168 Atk / 88 SpA / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- Overheat
- Close Combat
- Mach Punch
- Gunk Shot
Noisy Cricket (Scizor) @ Choice Band
Ability: Technician
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Bullet Punch
- U-turn
- Superpower
- Pursuit
Sanic (Manectric) @ Manectite
Ability: Lightning Rod
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 1 Atk
- Volt Switch
- Overheat
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power [Grass]
Eurythmics (Starmie) @ Waterium Z
Ability: Analytic
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Hydro Pump
- Thunderbolt
- Psyshock
- Ice Beam
Jade (Flygon) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- U-turn
- Outrage
- Earthquake
- Superpower
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