The S Team! (OU)

[yee]

As much as i like swampert i always thought he was extremely overrated, so ive been trying to use him in more teams. This team is almost entirely based around the concept of using a pokemon strictly because you like it. Since i have 3 4x grass resistances its also got some decent synergy as well, but that wasn't really the point. I thought maybe taking a look at the entire ou tier and seeing what swampert could handle would make it easier to build a team around him. While i havent actually tested it yet (shoddy is down unfortunately) in theory i have a decent check to every threat in ou. Theres the team, it is a coincidence they all start with S-

At a Glance

In Depth​

@ Lum Berry
Impish
Sturdy
252 HP, 240 spD, 16 spe
-Spikes
-Brave Bird
-Taunt
-Roost

Ive been seeing skarmory leads gaining popularity and personally i love being true to the cartridge games. Swampert cant really threaten/set up on a lot of leads so why not lead with something that can? The lum berry is great for an anti-lead, letting it destroy stuff like roserade, machamp and smeargle. The special defense investments helps it take plenty of hits from swampert and makes fire blast from azelf a bit less threatening, while the speed lets it outrun and taunt metagross. If jirachi tricks a scarf on it, theres 3 layers of spikes right from the start. The only problem is that i am really prone to magnezone, but at least skarmory can take on common leads with much more success.

@ Leftovers
Torrent
Relaxed
252 HP, 216 defense, 40 special defense
-Stealth Rock
-Earthquake
-Ice Beam
-Roar

Ive got a theory that the reason swampert keeps letting me down is because i keep trying to use him as a lead. Swamperts strong is sponging powerful hits mid game, so i dont see any reason to use him as a lead, where there are explosions and taunts to deal with. Protect has been replaced with roar, because even though random grass attacks will take their toll its never good to give free switches, and it doesnt take full advantage of spikes.

@ Choice Band
Technician
Adamant
168 HP, 180 atk, 160 spD
-Bullet Punch
-U-turn
-Superpower
-Pursuit

Ever since i got this ev spread i have had the urge to use scizor even more often. His defenses equal out and he can now take two draco meteors from specs latias, while taking on special attackers in general like gengar/starmie a bit easier. Bullet Punch is the universal revenge killing move, u-turn is great for scouting, and pursuit prevents pesky ghosts/psychics from causing too much mayhem.

@ Leftovers
Pressure
Calm
252 HP, 140 def, 116 spD
-Shadow Ball
-Will-o-wisp
-Rest
-Sleep Talk

Ive been looking to use spiritomb for a while, and he seems to make a fine status absorber. I have a feeling a more specially defensive ev spread might work better because he stacks up well against most special attackers. The ghost/dark typing gives unique immunities to normal, psychic and fighting moves while also protecting it from dark type attacks, this makes it one of the best switch ins to lead azelf, machamp, rotom (who i can never seem to counter), and a great backup for lucario. The main reason im using spiritomb is because im so tired of using rotom on every single team and its nice to not worry about pursuit users.

@ Life Orb
Intimidate
Rash
80 HP, 252 spA, 176 spe
-Draco Meteor
-Fire Blast
-Brick Break
-Roost

Nothing on this team can defeat skarmbliss and put instant pressure on the opponent so mixmence is a good fit here. Draco Meteor deals massive damage and the few pokemon that can shrug it off are hurt badly by fire blast or brick break. Roost is very important here because life orb recoil, stealth rock damage and the possible sandstorm will take away lots of health very quickly.

@ Choice Scarf
Natural Cure
Timid
4 HP, 252 spA, 252 spe
-Surf
-Thunderbolt
-Ice Beam
-Trick

Starmie is a good fit here as a revenge killer for stuff like gyarados and salamence and also as a trick scarfer for suicune, who i tend to have huge trouble with. Heatran is also a huge problem with scizor, skarmory and spiritomb so a secondary water type for it cant hurt. I was lucky enough to get a shiny timid starmie with perfect ivs so im not going for power boost with modest, also if i give up the scarf that means i cant outrun the huge amount of things timid starmie is useful for (latias, gengar, infernape etc.).


Im pretty satisfied with this team, ive only spent a few hours on it and i havent gotten a chance to test it but it does use pokemon i want to use while being able to handle the big threats of ou fairly well. There are probably different pokemon and different sets that would work better so im leaving it to you now thanks for reading!

 

[Gaborik]

Lucario uses Swords Dance! Oh no..............

At least you have an Intimidate available in Salamence to somewhat neuter him, but you don't want your team to be this blatantly a top 10 threat. Starmie patches a lot of holes for you, but really is just bait for Pursuit Tar/Scizor which is present on oh so many teams.

I shouldn't have started another rate since I just rattled off 3 others and a Rain Dance team gave me a headache. Consider this advice on a problem I see for your team so you get the free bump to the top so maybe someone else can help you tackle the problem... or you can edit in a fix you thought off. I'll try to get back to you and edit my post to give you a complete look through, though being Lucario weak needs to be fixed somehow for sure.

 

[ginganinja]

um...
Gaborik did you miss the Spiritomb that beats Lucario?

Good team actually so just minor nitpicks.

I prefer Scaf Latias over Starmie as it is more bulkier but I guess the chioce is up to you.

Also I would like to see Roar on Swampert as they you can activally abuse spikes somewhat, otherwise it seems pointless having Skarmory on the team.

 

[yee]

Salamence is an excellent lucario check, taking 57-67.2% from a +1 extremespeed and making it so stone edge (its best attack against spiritomb) does 55.9-66.1%, and the only way it could beat mence without prior damage would be to run a jolly nature which means i could probably outstall it. Swampert will barely survive the +1 close combat (taking 87% max) but can in case of an emergency.

This is a bit of a nooby reason, but i choose scarf starmie over latias simply because it isnt legendary. It also just happens i have an incredible shiny timid starmie with perfect stats so it goes in there every chance i get, if i wanted to build this for wifi i wouldnt want to have to hunt for a good latias.

As much as i like protect roar probably would be the better option, protect is useful with that 4x grass weakness but it can be useless if im just gonna sit there during a switch ill replace that.

Thanks for the rates! Hopefully one day ill actually get to test this team.

 

[ToF]

Your team is pretty solid overall, just a few pretty glaring weaknesses. First off, I would hardly call Spiritomb a solid check to Lucario. RestTalk is way too situational, and if by any chance you don't select Will-O-Wisp, Lucario will sweep this team.

Your also somewhat weak to Expert Belt Jirachi with Grass Knot instead of Thunderbolt. Everything on your team is KO'd barring Spiritomb, and if that gets flinched twice it's game over.

There's a few things you can do to remedy this. Rotom-H is a much better ghost than Spiritomb, and there's a reason why it's used so much regardless of the Pursuit weakness. Just run the standard set with Thunderbolt / WoW / Rest / Sleep Talk. It functions in the exact same way as Spiritomb, and it covers your Gyarados weakness as well, meaning you don't need to rely on Starmie. By the way, if Starmie is somehow Pursuited by Tyranitar, your team is going to be beaten by LO Gyarados since Skarmory does not have a phazing move. Rotom-H is just the better choice.

To solve the Jirachi issue, and the somewhat prevalent SD Lucario issue, I'd slot Scarf Heatran over Scarf Starmie. Just look at it this way, the things you want Starmie to cover can be covered by your other team members. Swampert handles DDMence just fine, and Mixmence can be played around by smart switching on your part. Heatran takes on every form of Jirachi, and can serve your revenge-killing needs as well. As for Suicune, you should have some hazards up before it comes in, and worst comes to worst you can simply Explode on it.

Salamence's EV's could use a bit of tweaking as well. The 80 HP isn't necessary if you implement the above changes, and I'd much rather prefer you maximize its wall-breaking potential. Run EV's of 80 Att / 176 Sp.Att / 252 Speed with a Naive nature. 80 Att ensures the 2HKO on Blissey with Brick Break, and the 252 Speed allows you to tie with things like max speed Jirachi in case something goes wrong with your other team members.

 

[MetaNite]

While I agree mostly with what ToF has brought up, replacing Choice Scarf Starmie with Choice Scarf Heatran leaves you open to Suicune, particularly one with max Speed, as it will outspeed your MixMence. A couple things you can change to lessen Suicune's hold on your team, max Salamence's Speed. 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe Naive is a very boring EV spread, I know, but it is very helpful. Not only does it guarantee you outrun Suicune, but also Lucario (who may have ice punch / stone edge), and also tie with Jirachi who may try to flinch you should you not outspeed. Enemy Salamence as well can be outsped and taken care of in dire situations. Next, I highly suggest using Whirlwind on Skarmory over Brave Bird. Specially Defensive pHazer Skarmory is a good counter to Suicune (if its not the last Pokemon), and this allows you to run Choice Scarf Heatran as previously mentioned with less consequences. Skarmory can, if necessary, counter Gyarados now too, as well as Tyranitar and get them the heck out of there with Whirlwind. I second replacing Spiritomb with RestTalk Rotom-A. It is a great Gyarados counter and can harm many Pokemon. Good luck to you.