A week ago or so I set out to make the most generic team for the current OU metagame. Previously I had been using a dragon dance team which was quite fun, but would only win 3 out of 4 games on average, and I was looking for something better.
Using this new team, I jumped up about 300 points (to 1300~, nothing special) - the team has been fairly successful so far, I've won approximately 5 out of 6 games on average. Still hoping to squeeze another 75-100 points on the ladder without making any adjustments (this team was created and has not been modified).
Cookie Cutter
(Lead) Azelf REPLACED BY Dugtrio (new lead: Swampert)
Item: Focus Sash
EVs: 252 attack, 252 speed - Naive
Stealth Rock/Explosion/Psychic/Flamethrower
Mission Critical: 60%
This is my only member who has a nickname - CookieCutter. He does just what you'd expect an Azelf to do, get up SR. If the opponent doesn't setup SR, and knocks me to 1%, I'll usually switch out unless I can gaurantee an explosion kill. Otherwise, I've had extremely good success with prediction in order to mutilate the opponent right off the bat - nailing a non-resistant switch with the highpowered STAB Psychic, or frying cocky Metagross leads with Flamethrower. If I can save Azelf's explosion for later in the game, I try to do so, unless the opponent has thrown up stealth rock.
(Lead) Swampert
Item: Leftovers
EVs: 240 hp, 216 defense, 52 spec. attack - Relaxed
Earthquake/Ice Beam/Surf/Roar
Mission Critical: 100%
Just like every other Swampert out there, he'll switch in on hard physical attackers to absorb the blows. Roaring can get especially good results, and I will almost always Roar if the opponent is switching in a counter, to rack up extra SR damage. Everybody already knows that Surf STAB hurts, Earthquake STAB hurts, etc.
Heatran
Item: Choice Scarf
EVs: 4 hp, 252 speed, 252 spec. attack - Naive
Flamethrower/Earth Power/Explosion/Hidden Power - Electric
Mission Critical: 70%
Heatran obviously switches in on fire attacks, although rarely do I get to make use of the flash fire bonus. I try to keep Heatran moving in and out, and unless he's landing a lucky sweep he usually won't be in more than one turn. He's a good (but risky) switch-in on Infernape or Celebi that are trying to Grass Knot my Swampert, but eating a Close Combat or Thunder Wave doesn't make Heatran a happy camper.
Rotom-H
Item: Leftovers
EVs: 248 hp, 168 defense, 88 spec. defense - Bold
Discharge/Will-O-Wisp/Overheat/Hidden Power - Ice
Mission Critical: 100%
I love this toaster (or whatever the hell this one is). His solid defenses make him my usual candidate after Azelf is down (or switched out). Overheat has had great success on targets like Roserade, Forretress, and Scizor - most people aren't stupid enough to leave them in, but for those that are: kudos to you, and thanks for the win. HP Ice catches dragon types like Salamence by surprise, and is especially useful against mixed or special Dragonite who are expecting the standard Will-O-Wisp. Discharge is decent STAB, but I'm considering changing it after I give this team it's first revision.
Scizor REPLACED BY Lucario
Item: Choice Band
EVs: 244 hp, 252 attack, 12 speed - Adamant
U-Turn/Bullet Punch/Pursuit/Superpower
Mission Critical: 80%
I've actually been surprised at how mediocre Scizor performs as a sweeper, but I think part of it is the fact that I don't have his power moves, but rather his utility moves. Bullet Punch is all-important, allowing me to end threats like low health dragon dancers, low health Breloom (it happens quite often with this team) and others. I've been disappointed with Superpower so far as the damage coming out doesn't seem to justify the lowered attack and defense. I'm definitely looking to see how I could revise him later - although he is remaining effective. Lastly, 12 speed is to outspeed all the other 4 and 8 speed Scizor.
Blissey
Item: Leftovers
EVs: 80 hp, 252 defense, 176 spec. defense - Calm
Seismic Toss/Toxic/Wish/Protect
Mission Critical: 100%
Seismic Toss is the most underrated Blissey move around. Whenever I switch in Blissey to absorb a burn, poison, or hard special hit, the opponent is usually gauranteed to switch to a counter. I almost always follow with a Seismic Toss, softening said counter up to be dispatched easily by any of the other attacks on the team. As long as Swampert or Rotom are still up, I can easily switch out of whatever is coming Blissey's way and finish them off. Blissey is a highly effective cleric with Wish, and Blissey is definitely the most switched Pokemon throughout my fights. I used to hate the giant egg queen back in advance during the highly special metagame, but here in the physical metagame not only is Blissey much more easily countered, but she makes prediction a lot more fun. The full defense spread is excellent in allowing Blissey to actually stay in on some of her weaker counters and stall things out late game, but boy does she hate crits (to date losing 3 games to crit, one of which was hax Jirachi with 4 flinches + crit on the final hit).
Lucario
Item: Life Orb
EVs: 252 attack, 4 defense, 252 speed - Jolly
Close Combat/Crunch/Extremespeed/Swords Dance
Mission Critical: 85%
Lucario was brought in to place CB Scizor and seems to fill his role only marginally better. In some cases he can be a real asset, particularly when the opponent gives me a free chance to setup. His Extremespeed is notably weaker for revenging threats like DD Salamence, but if he can get a SD up he's definitely mean. The biggest weaknesses Lucario has versus Scizor is the very notable fighting and ground weaknesses. This can hamper his ability to switch in, although some notable goodies come with the new typing: switching in on stone edge, dark pulse, and u-turn proves highly effective.
I try to position Lucario as a late-game sweeper, but with the relative defensiveness of the team as a whole, he often has to go in sooner than I'd like.
We'll see if he continues to fit the role or if it's back to the drawing board.
Dugtrio
Item: Liechi Berry
EVs: 40 hp, 252 attack, 216 speed - Jolly
Earthquake/Stone Edge/Sucker Punch/Substitute
My, this is certainly surprising. I never thought Dugtrio would find his way on this team, but he has definitely pulled his weight since his addition, performing the role of an extremely powerful late-game sweeper if his threats have been exhausted. The idea behind this highly non-standard Dugtrio set is to substitute up and activate Liechi Berry, then proceed to utterly destroy whatever is left of the opponent.
Switch Dugtrio in on any electric move, or switch him in after a revenge sacrifice, or on a limited set Blissey. Proceed to sub down to 25%, ignoring sandstorm, then outspeed the threat and eliminate them before they can destroy your substitute. Worst case scenario is you're 1.5x damage with no substitute, but sometimes (especially if the switch in is well orchastrated) you can retain that substitute and become effectively unstoppable. Since Dugtrio couldn't take a hit from a paralyzed Caterpie with much success, being at 25% hp has almost no effect except during hail.
His main weaknesses are the lack of diverse typing on hits and his inability to take a hit from anything whatsoever - if he isn't shown until the opponent has 3 Pokemon at 70% though, it's usually good game. He's already finished off 6 of 14 games.
That pretty much wraps up the gang. Once I get to 1400 or so I plan to revise the team making whatever small adjustments I can to EVs or movesets, and potentially replacing Azelf or Heatran, as they are the least influential in the team's success. I'd like to check out a slightly altered EV spread for Rotom-H, as I think there's some room for improvement there. Toxic on Blissey doesn't net very good results due to the large quantity of steel Pokemon running around in the metagame, however I'm reluctant to change it as Blissey has won numerous games that have stalled out with her being the last one alive.
My red zone Pokemon that cause this team the most trouble:
Gengar - The speed and versatility is hard to beat, Focus Punch counters Blissey on all 252 spec. attack Gengar. If Swampert is low or dead, or Gengar is packing HP Grass, then the entire team is in trouble.
Breloom - Subseed Breloom with Focus Punch and Seed Bomb can take out both walls no problem, and cause serious problems for Rotom-H. If the sub is down, I can force a switch with Heatran and try to predict the most pain for the incoming, but if the sub is up I'm usually between a rock and a hard place, unless Azelf is still in great condition.
Infernape (late game) - Usually by late in the game Swampert is worn down or dead, and Rotom doesn't do much to Infernape. Azelf is almost always down, and Scizor is easily countered by Infernape at high health. Heatran is usually the safest bet with Earth Power if I can get a clean switch-in, but if the opponent has Levitate/Flying left it usually makes things a rapid switch war.
I honestly can't think of anyone else that has caused significant havoc to the team right at this time, but I'll try to update later if I can remember any others. These two are common enough that they can definitely cause problems.
Looking for input on how I could revise this team to handle the few counters I can remember right now, and any other adjustments you can think of, but so far the team has been very solid.
Updates to this team at rating 1335:
Swampert
EVs -> 240 hp, 52 attack, 216 defense
Surf -> Waterfall
Ice Beam -> Stealth Rock
Rotom-H
EVs -> 248 hp, 104 defense, 4 speed, 64 spec. attack, 88 spec. defense
Discharge -> Thunderbolt
Replaced Scizor with Lucario
Replaced Azelf with Dugtrio
Switched Swampert to lead
Using this new team, I jumped up about 300 points (to 1300~, nothing special) - the team has been fairly successful so far, I've won approximately 5 out of 6 games on average. Still hoping to squeeze another 75-100 points on the ladder without making any adjustments (this team was created and has not been modified).
Cookie Cutter
(Lead) Azelf REPLACED BY Dugtrio (new lead: Swampert)
Item: Focus Sash
EVs: 252 attack, 252 speed - Naive
Stealth Rock/Explosion/Psychic/Flamethrower
Mission Critical: 60%
This is my only member who has a nickname - CookieCutter. He does just what you'd expect an Azelf to do, get up SR. If the opponent doesn't setup SR, and knocks me to 1%, I'll usually switch out unless I can gaurantee an explosion kill. Otherwise, I've had extremely good success with prediction in order to mutilate the opponent right off the bat - nailing a non-resistant switch with the highpowered STAB Psychic, or frying cocky Metagross leads with Flamethrower. If I can save Azelf's explosion for later in the game, I try to do so, unless the opponent has thrown up stealth rock.
(Lead) Swampert
Item: Leftovers
EVs: 240 hp, 216 defense, 52 spec. attack - Relaxed
Earthquake/Ice Beam/Surf/Roar
Mission Critical: 100%
Just like every other Swampert out there, he'll switch in on hard physical attackers to absorb the blows. Roaring can get especially good results, and I will almost always Roar if the opponent is switching in a counter, to rack up extra SR damage. Everybody already knows that Surf STAB hurts, Earthquake STAB hurts, etc.
Heatran
Item: Choice Scarf
EVs: 4 hp, 252 speed, 252 spec. attack - Naive
Flamethrower/Earth Power/Explosion/Hidden Power - Electric
Mission Critical: 70%
Heatran obviously switches in on fire attacks, although rarely do I get to make use of the flash fire bonus. I try to keep Heatran moving in and out, and unless he's landing a lucky sweep he usually won't be in more than one turn. He's a good (but risky) switch-in on Infernape or Celebi that are trying to Grass Knot my Swampert, but eating a Close Combat or Thunder Wave doesn't make Heatran a happy camper.
Rotom-H
Item: Leftovers
EVs: 248 hp, 168 defense, 88 spec. defense - Bold
Discharge/Will-O-Wisp/Overheat/Hidden Power - Ice
Mission Critical: 100%
I love this toaster (or whatever the hell this one is). His solid defenses make him my usual candidate after Azelf is down (or switched out). Overheat has had great success on targets like Roserade, Forretress, and Scizor - most people aren't stupid enough to leave them in, but for those that are: kudos to you, and thanks for the win. HP Ice catches dragon types like Salamence by surprise, and is especially useful against mixed or special Dragonite who are expecting the standard Will-O-Wisp. Discharge is decent STAB, but I'm considering changing it after I give this team it's first revision.
Scizor REPLACED BY Lucario
Item: Choice Band
EVs: 244 hp, 252 attack, 12 speed - Adamant
U-Turn/Bullet Punch/Pursuit/Superpower
Mission Critical: 80%
I've actually been surprised at how mediocre Scizor performs as a sweeper, but I think part of it is the fact that I don't have his power moves, but rather his utility moves. Bullet Punch is all-important, allowing me to end threats like low health dragon dancers, low health Breloom (it happens quite often with this team) and others. I've been disappointed with Superpower so far as the damage coming out doesn't seem to justify the lowered attack and defense. I'm definitely looking to see how I could revise him later - although he is remaining effective. Lastly, 12 speed is to outspeed all the other 4 and 8 speed Scizor.
Blissey
Item: Leftovers
EVs: 80 hp, 252 defense, 176 spec. defense - Calm
Seismic Toss/Toxic/Wish/Protect
Mission Critical: 100%
Seismic Toss is the most underrated Blissey move around. Whenever I switch in Blissey to absorb a burn, poison, or hard special hit, the opponent is usually gauranteed to switch to a counter. I almost always follow with a Seismic Toss, softening said counter up to be dispatched easily by any of the other attacks on the team. As long as Swampert or Rotom are still up, I can easily switch out of whatever is coming Blissey's way and finish them off. Blissey is a highly effective cleric with Wish, and Blissey is definitely the most switched Pokemon throughout my fights. I used to hate the giant egg queen back in advance during the highly special metagame, but here in the physical metagame not only is Blissey much more easily countered, but she makes prediction a lot more fun. The full defense spread is excellent in allowing Blissey to actually stay in on some of her weaker counters and stall things out late game, but boy does she hate crits (to date losing 3 games to crit, one of which was hax Jirachi with 4 flinches + crit on the final hit).
Lucario
Item: Life Orb
EVs: 252 attack, 4 defense, 252 speed - Jolly
Close Combat/Crunch/Extremespeed/Swords Dance
Mission Critical: 85%
Lucario was brought in to place CB Scizor and seems to fill his role only marginally better. In some cases he can be a real asset, particularly when the opponent gives me a free chance to setup. His Extremespeed is notably weaker for revenging threats like DD Salamence, but if he can get a SD up he's definitely mean. The biggest weaknesses Lucario has versus Scizor is the very notable fighting and ground weaknesses. This can hamper his ability to switch in, although some notable goodies come with the new typing: switching in on stone edge, dark pulse, and u-turn proves highly effective.
I try to position Lucario as a late-game sweeper, but with the relative defensiveness of the team as a whole, he often has to go in sooner than I'd like.
We'll see if he continues to fit the role or if it's back to the drawing board.
Dugtrio
Item: Liechi Berry
EVs: 40 hp, 252 attack, 216 speed - Jolly
Earthquake/Stone Edge/Sucker Punch/Substitute
My, this is certainly surprising. I never thought Dugtrio would find his way on this team, but he has definitely pulled his weight since his addition, performing the role of an extremely powerful late-game sweeper if his threats have been exhausted. The idea behind this highly non-standard Dugtrio set is to substitute up and activate Liechi Berry, then proceed to utterly destroy whatever is left of the opponent.
Switch Dugtrio in on any electric move, or switch him in after a revenge sacrifice, or on a limited set Blissey. Proceed to sub down to 25%, ignoring sandstorm, then outspeed the threat and eliminate them before they can destroy your substitute. Worst case scenario is you're 1.5x damage with no substitute, but sometimes (especially if the switch in is well orchastrated) you can retain that substitute and become effectively unstoppable. Since Dugtrio couldn't take a hit from a paralyzed Caterpie with much success, being at 25% hp has almost no effect except during hail.
His main weaknesses are the lack of diverse typing on hits and his inability to take a hit from anything whatsoever - if he isn't shown until the opponent has 3 Pokemon at 70% though, it's usually good game. He's already finished off 6 of 14 games.
That pretty much wraps up the gang. Once I get to 1400 or so I plan to revise the team making whatever small adjustments I can to EVs or movesets, and potentially replacing Azelf or Heatran, as they are the least influential in the team's success. I'd like to check out a slightly altered EV spread for Rotom-H, as I think there's some room for improvement there. Toxic on Blissey doesn't net very good results due to the large quantity of steel Pokemon running around in the metagame, however I'm reluctant to change it as Blissey has won numerous games that have stalled out with her being the last one alive.
My red zone Pokemon that cause this team the most trouble:
Gengar - The speed and versatility is hard to beat, Focus Punch counters Blissey on all 252 spec. attack Gengar. If Swampert is low or dead, or Gengar is packing HP Grass, then the entire team is in trouble.
Breloom - Subseed Breloom with Focus Punch and Seed Bomb can take out both walls no problem, and cause serious problems for Rotom-H. If the sub is down, I can force a switch with Heatran and try to predict the most pain for the incoming, but if the sub is up I'm usually between a rock and a hard place, unless Azelf is still in great condition.
Infernape (late game) - Usually by late in the game Swampert is worn down or dead, and Rotom doesn't do much to Infernape. Azelf is almost always down, and Scizor is easily countered by Infernape at high health. Heatran is usually the safest bet with Earth Power if I can get a clean switch-in, but if the opponent has Levitate/Flying left it usually makes things a rapid switch war.
I honestly can't think of anyone else that has caused significant havoc to the team right at this time, but I'll try to update later if I can remember any others. These two are common enough that they can definitely cause problems.
Looking for input on how I could revise this team to handle the few counters I can remember right now, and any other adjustments you can think of, but so far the team has been very solid.
Updates to this team at rating 1335:
Swampert
EVs -> 240 hp, 52 attack, 216 defense
Surf -> Waterfall
Ice Beam -> Stealth Rock
Rotom-H
EVs -> 248 hp, 104 defense, 4 speed, 64 spec. attack, 88 spec. defense
Discharge -> Thunderbolt
Replaced Scizor with Lucario
Replaced Azelf with Dugtrio
Switched Swampert to lead
