The Nonary Game. A game where your life is at risk (5th gen OU)

[Nonary Game]

G'day Smogon users. You have been chosen to play a game. A game where you put your life on the line. A game known as rating my team.

Cheesy introduction aside, this team has consistently gotten me almost to the top of Standard OU, but it's not without it's problems. That's where you guys come in. Let's meet the team:

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This team was built on the philosophy that bulk reigns supreme, and it works (for the most part).

Ace (Hippowdon) (F) @ Leftovers Trait: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SDef
Impish Nature (+Def, -SAtk)
- Earthquake
- Roar
- Stealth Rock
- Slack Off

Hippowdon is a pro, and an Ace against other weather, rocking their shit. As the slowest weather summoner, he ensures that Politoed and Ninetales cannot summon their weather, putting me at an immediate advantage. Earthquake provides an obligatory STAB option, and from there, Slack Off provides reliable recovery, Roar helps with Roobushin and other stat boosters, and Stealth Rock is Stealth Rock. EVs and nature were chosen to maximize physical bulk and better contend with Doryuuzu, an omnipresent threat.

Snake (Breloom) (M) @ Toxic Orb
Trait: Poison Heal
EVs: 252 HP / 128 Atk / 128 Def
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Spore
- Mach Punch
- Drain Punch
- Seed Bomb

Snake is also a pro, pulling cheap shit like Spore just to fuck with you. And you meddling kids, and your little dog too. Spore is for shutting down something slower, Seed Bomb is mainly for bulky waters and Rotom-W, Drain Punch is there for another STAB option and to provide some form of recovery, and Mach Punch is there as a backup priority option in case some faster threats show up. EVs and nature were chosen to add more bulk, as Breloom isn't outspeeding too much even with speed investment, and to let it better answer Doryuuzu and Landlos.

Santa (Jirachi) @ Leftovers
Trait: Serene Grace
EVs: 232 HP / 20 Atk / 216 SDef / 40 Spd
Careful Nature (+SDef, -SAtk)
- Body Slam
- Iron Head
- Wish
- Fire Punch

Jirachi, the third member of the team, came as an answer to the Draco Meteor whores, like Latios and Sazandora. His EV spread and nature allow for very high special bulk, better answering the slew of meteor-spamming dragons, and as a general option for answering some special hitters. Body Slam provides some reliable paralysis, Iron Head helps with keeping them in check and forcing flinches, Wish is for healing the team up and making them more awesome, and Fire Punch screws over the fools who think switching in Nattorei and Scizor is a good idea, even if it's a 2HKO on both, and Fire Punch and two hits from Stealth Rock will kill Scizor. It also has the ability to help against Magnezone.

Clover (Rankurusu) (F) @ Life Orb
Trait: Magic Guard
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SAtk
Bold Nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Calm Mind
- Recover
- Psycho Shock
- Hidden Power [Fighting]

Rankurusu is the star of the show, putting pain down in all directions. It's EV spread allows it to have absurd levels of bulk, 424 HP, 276 Def, and 206 Sp. Def from the start. That kind of bulk rivals Vaporeon, and with Magic Guard, it's probably one of the best Pokemon in the entire metagame.

I originally used her as an answer to the initial hordes of Roobushin, but before long I found it deconstructing teams left and right. Calm Mind and Recover makes it as much of a bitch Crocune was back in earlier generations, alongside the CM Jirachi variants. It can cycle those two moves and easily get the power to sweep. Psycho Shock isn't a joke, easily 2HKOing Blissey after two CMs. It even has the ability to win against other CM boosters bar Jirachi, who wins anyways against you. Hidden Power is there so Tyranitar can't make Rankurusu it's bitch, as after a CM it will OHKO nearly all TTars after Stealth Rock. Focus Blast could be used, but it missed so goddamn much I stopped using it.

Zero (Starmie) @ Expert Belt
Trait: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Hydro Pump
- Thunderbolt
- Ice Beam
- Hidden Power [Fire]

Zero is an enigma, and a dangerous one at that. The EV spread is for the most power and sweeping capabilities, and the Expert Belt helps cut down on LO recoil and helps to feign a Choice item when played right. Starmie still sports boltbeam coverage, and Hydro Pump is chosen for more power. Hidden Power Fire punishes Scizor and Nattorei as well. Rapid Spin isn't needed as this team really doesn't fear entry hazards much.

June (Randorosu) (M) @ Passho Berry
Trait: Sand Power
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Swords Dance
- U-turn
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge

June may seem useless at times, as I often don't have to use him, but he's still a powerful ally. Passho Berry helps it eat a Water attack, letting it answer Gyarados and other waters, alongside feigning another Choice item.

Swords Dance is for the power boost, as June is plenty fast as is. U-turn is to scout and play the Choice gambit a bit more, and QuakeEdge coverage is just that good. EVs and nature are chosen to maximize speed and retain some power.

Conclusion:

Well, there's not much to say. Have at it. And let's see if we can find an answer to Water in general, as it appears to be a major issue for this team sometimes. Choice Band Gyarados is a cunt. >__>

 

[G NuBz]

Just a quick rate:

Use a Rock Polish Randorosu set. It has virtually no counters since it outspeeds and outpowers pretty all of OU. To make this change, put the Nature to Naive / Hasty, change Swords Dance to Rock Polish, U-Turn to Hidden Power [ICE], and the EVs to 176 Atk / 80 SpA / 252 Spd. I've swept countless teams with this set, and I highly recommend using it, especially if you find Randorosu to be somewhat useless. Also, Passho Berry could be changed to Life Orb if you want some extra power.

Good Luck!

 

[The Main]

Run Double Dance on Randorusu, its all it needs, and sometimes its just too slow to U-turn out of situations. Replace Passho with Yache Berry, Bulky Waters some times pack Ice Beam, and actually I think Life Orb is a better option as Randourusu can just power its way through without feigning anything.
Hippowdon NEEDS some SpD investment, or its easily killed by Vaporeon, and even with no investment it can live through Doryuuzu's EQ. Draco Meteor whores is quite an insult for me >_> (All of my teams except my stall & Gimmick team has it);run CM Rachi to cover the weakness of Zapdos. If you find Jirachi sort of weighing you down, you can opt for Nattorei, which protects you from DM, but also helps spreading paralysis and set ups spikes. Your team has only one LO user, two if you follow my suggestions, and Randorusu is not supposed to survive more than 5 turns, so Wish is not necessary, and you would also have probelms switching in Randorusu.
Other than that, this a rather excellent team, good luck with it!

 

[The Grand Babido]

Hey man, this looks like quite a solidly built team however there are a couple of issues which I think need addressing.

I think you are going to fix yourself struggling to take on Rain teams and although Rain is almost guaranteed to be nerfed at the end of this suspect testing period, I think it is still a legitimate problem for your team. Opposing Rankurusu also stand out as a threat to your team, but I believe between Jirachi's hax and the pure power Randorusu can produce from its Earthquakes, you should have Rankurusu covered. By using a Life Orb and Rock Polish on Randorusu, in my opinion, you will be able to handle both the aforementioned threats relatively well. With Life Orb, in Sandstorm, Randorusu is able to hit some versions of Rankurusu for over 90% which means you will have them more adequately covered. Even if your opponent uses Politoed, Randorusu will be outrunning the majority of Rain sweepers at +2 spe and will be able to clean up a weakened Rain team. Hidden Power [Ice] is also something you could try to catch Gliscor switch-ins offguard, but if you like Swords Dance, stay with it.

I think a Rotom-W will be able to slot over your Starmie. Firstly, it is quite a fair bit bulkier than Starmie and so it can withstand most water-type attacks. Secondly it has a STAB Thunderbolt which would be a huge asset against Rain teams, in fact against any team in general. Thirdly, it will give you a tertiary check to Randorusu and Doryuuzu [trust me, you can never have enough checks for those two!] and finally will be able to take on Choice Band Gyarados who is problematic? for you lol.

Rotom-W @ Leftovers
Modest | Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 160 SpAtk / 96 Spe
Hydro Pump / Thunderbolt / Pain Split / Hidden Power [Fire]

Rotom-W takes on most water-type Pokemon a lot better than Starmie as, because it has the secondary typing, it not only resists water attacks but can hit back super-effectively with a STAB attack.

I'm sorry for not really saying much, but there isn't too much to say! You have on your hands a good team. Good luck!

 

[Aerrow]

Hello,

At this point, this team seems really solid, and after the previous raters have explained their points, there's not much left for me to say here. The typical Rain team, does seem like an immense problem for your team as if the opponent manages to take out Hippowdon, its more or less game over, as your team doesn't really have any strategy to defeat rain other than changing the weather. Due to this, I second Heist's suggestion of a defensive Rotom-W over your Starmie, but instead of running Thunderbolt / Hydro Pump / Pain Split / Hidden Power Fire, I recommend testing out Will-O-Wisp over HP Fire as in the rain, HP Fire is a 3HKO at best against Nattorei, while Will-O-Wisp will not only help wear Nattorei down, but it'll also help against Pokemon like Kabutops and Kingdra, making them useless after Politoed has been shut down.

Next, I suggest re-trying out Focus Blast on Rankurusu, as although scoring a miss with the move is quite unpleasant, the overall power output will often be useful. Also, I think that opting for a Rock Polish Randorusu over your Swords Dance variant would better suit this team as since you use him (if ever at all) late game, the rest of your team will have weakened the opposing team's core significantly, so in almost all scenarios, Randorusu will not need the extra power from Swords Dance to sweep; the extra speed from Rock Polish would prove to be much more useful, as it'll help a lot more when going up against something like Latios or Boruturusu which both outpace Randorusu. A set with with Rock Polish / Earthquake / Stone Edge / Hidden Power Ice would work magnificently; the EVs would be standard - 252 Atk / 4 SpA / 252 Spe. I hope this has helped, and good luck!

Changes in Short

• Defensive Rotom-W (with HP Fire) over Starmie
• Focus Blast over HP Fighting on Rankurusu
• Rock Polish Randorusu over Swords Dance Randorusu