The Big Team That Couldn't

Hi, Ive only been in metagame for about a month, and have learned a significant amount since I started. I have stuck to HGSS OU beacuse I am most comfortable in OU, and I don't like Gen V. Anyway, I have been doing extensive research on here on Smogon and am using my teams on Pokemon Online to test them. I decided on a balanced offense. I have found that I tend to run into some issues(unfortunately this team has less testing on it than previous). Some are play style errors, but some, I'm sure, are in my team. Here it is.

Aerodactyl (M) @ Focus Sash
Trait: Rock Head
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Rock Slide
- Taunt
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
My lead. He's a standard Aerodactyl with Stealth Rock. I don't use him a total suicide lead, but usually switch him out to use later.

Tyranitar (F) @ Choice Band
Trait: Sand Stream
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Crunch
- Stone Edge
- Pursuit
- Aqua Tail
The deadly Choice Band Tyranitar! My team uses a TyraniGenZone core, and effectively my whole team is built around him sweeping.

Magnezone @ Leftovers
Trait: Magnet Pull
EVs: 172 HP / 84 SAtk / 252 Spd
Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Hidden Power [Grass]
- Substitute
- Thunder Wave
- Thunderbolt
Part of my offensive core, he serves to get those darn steel types, and also sets up Substitute on the likes of Suicune. HPG is for Swampert specifically.

Gengar (M) @ Life Orb
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Focus Blast
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Shadow Ball
- Thunderbolt
The other member of my core, Gengar serves to absorb Ground moves aimed at Magnezone and Tyranitar, and also Fighting moves. with HPF I use him against the speedier Grasses that Dragonite can't get.

Dragonite (M) @ Life Orb
Trait: Inner Focus
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Lonely Nature (+Atk, -Def)
- Fire Blast
- ExtremeSpeed
- Earthquake
- Draco Meteor
My wallbreaker. I ran Earthquake over Superpower for the higher Heatran hit and also against Jirachi, both of whom gave me problems.

Mamoswine (M) @ Life Orb
Trait: Oblivious
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Ice Shard
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- Superpower
The newest addition to my team. This final slot has passed between 9 or so pokemon and I'm still not sure. I needed him for Flygon is one of m reasons for him.

Any comments or suggestions? Better ways to play this team? All criticism that is true is welcome! Thanks in advance!
 
Okay, so I've been battling for a long time and I like to rate. I'll point out some threats first:

1. Lucario

Agility Lucario, though not common, is probably the most threatening thing to this team. If it gets any chance to set up at all, then it will KO your entire team as long as Aerodactyl's Focus Sash is broken.
- resists Extremespeed and Ice Shard
- outspeeds everything
- if it doesn't OHKO everything on your team with Close Combat, it does with Ice Punch or Crunch.

Swords Dance Lucario is much more common and is also a huge threat. If it has Bullet Punch, it becomes even more of a threat since it can even kill Gengar. However, it is often paired with Choice Scarf Tyranitar, so there's a good chance that Gengar is gone by the time Lucario comes out.
- resists your priority
- after Stealth Rock damage, OHKOs Dragonite with +2 Extremespeed and Gengar with +2 Bullet Punch
- beats Aerodactyl with +2 Bullet Punch, or does about 50 - 60% with +2 Extremespeed.
- everything else loses to Close Combat

2. Metagross

Agility Metagross is so devastating to this team that it's scary. Switch in on Tyranitar's Stone Edge or Pursuit, for example, and your entire team is dead (barring Meteor Mash misses).
- just Meteor Mash and Earthquake (without the filler move) can KO everything on this team
- Dragonite's death requires Stealth Rock damage
- Metagross has a huge Defense stat while resisting both Extremespeed and Ice Shard
- outspeeds everything

3. Gyarados

Jolly Gyarados (offensive) is the most threatening set, especially with Waterfall/Stone Edge/Earthquake. Adamant Gyarados, while still very threatening, is outsped by Aerodactyl.
- Dragonite's Extremespeed does roughly 40%, while Mamoswine's Ice Shard does roughly 35%. While this is almost a KO after Stealth Rock (and a KO after SR and Life Orb), you lose potentially 2 Pokemon in the process. And if you lack one of those Pokemon once Gyarados sets up, you could have a lot of trouble.
- Gyarados can hit every one of your team members super effectively with Water/Rock/Ground, except Gengar who is very very frail.


Basically, the problem with these threats that you cannot deal with is their speed. Agility Lucario and Agility Metagross are the most threatening, and you can see why.

It is advised to have at least 1 Pokemon with Choice Scarf on an offensive team. It's hard to heavily rely on priority to do revenge kills, since there aren't a lot of coverage moves, such as against Gyarados. 2 of the most effective users of Choice Scarf are Jirachi and Flygon.

- I suggest you replace Mamoswine with a Choice Scarf revenge killer, since they can also handle Dragonite, the main thing that Mamoswine does.

Jirachi uses Fire Punch to revenge kill Lucario and do a lot of damage to Metagross, ThunderPunch for Gyarados, and Ice Punch for Dragonite. Iron Head has a nice flinch rate and is STAB, so it's just a reliable move. This set can also utilise U-Turn for scouting, or Trick for crippling stall or annoying Pokemon like Snorlax and defensive Suicune.

Flygon is harder to switch in because of less resistances and weaker defenses, but Flygon packs much more power. Outrage or Dragon Claw to revenge kill Dragonite and Kingdra, while Earthquake hits Metagross, Jolteon, etc. U-Turn is fun to use while the last slot is pretty versatile. ThunderPunch for Gyarados specifically, or Stone Edge to get Gyarados, Zapdos, etc. while also killing weakened Gengar without locking itself into Outrage.

Choice Scarf Rotom-a (preferably Rotom-H or Rotom-W) are also interesting choices. It can revenge kill Gyarados, or even Dragonite with Hidden Power Ice. It can even use Trick. However, with Gengar as another ghost type, it probably won't work.

- Speaking of Gengar, I recommend a Substitute + Pain Split set. The reason is because Life Orb + Sandstorm damage really add up, and Substitute, while bringing that even lower, will allow good use of Pain Split. You lose coverage moves in Hidden Power Fire and Thunderbolt, but Substitute helps to ease prediction and Pain Split allows Gengar to stay alive for much longer. Plus, Magnezone takes care of Scizor anyway, so the need for Hidden Power Fire is not that great.

Gengar @ Life Orb
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Substitute
- Pain Split
- Shadow Ball
- Focus Blast

When using Gengar in a sandstorm, this set is great. It isn't even walled by Blissey, so as long as you can avoid Thunder Wave then Gengar will win. If I remember correctly, Focus Blast deals about 30% to the average Blissey.

- Another thing you could consider is running Roost over Extremespeed on Dragonite. They both have great uses, but Life Orb, sandstorm, and Stealth Rock take a huge toll on Dragonite, so Roost can be used, especially against stall teams.

- Changing your lead could also work, and a good lead I will suggest is Swampert. It also sets up Stealth Rock, while being a useful phazer with Roar, and good defenses to wall the likes of Heatran and Infernape without Grass Knot. I don't think Aerodactyl is that useful on the team, and there's a reason he is not such a common lead anymore.
 
No problem, and good luck with the team!
If you need any more suggestions, just post and I'll try my best to help.
 

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