Featured OU RMT: Evolution by chenman333
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Hello readers, this is august, coming to you with the Featured OU RMT! This is a team that accurately portrays this period in the metagame. This is an offensive minded team that focuses on wearing down the opponent with powerful Draco Meteors before coming in and finishing off the weakened opponent.
With a day off from being sick, I decided to take advantage of the relatively low ladder scores and climb in the rankings a bit, and after a very boring time I finally reached top 10 with my Alt, DAVE333. This current version has gone through a very twisty road that started as heavy offensive and gradually moved into bulky offense again. As you can see, I take full advantage of popular OU pokemon, as well as the deadly Dragon+Steel combo. It fully abuses STAB Draco Meteor as well, the move just wrecks everything except Blissey. Surprise is something that it does very well, and I use a few unorthodox sets here and there to surprise my opponents, often drawing free kills. Still, even when my opponent is aware of what I use, it is a very reliable team that can keep pressure on pretty well.
This team does a great job against most teams, but it can have its struggles against stall; me vs. stall is a game based completely around how well we can predict what my Mixmence does, and whether or not Blissey dies.
Metagross @ Lum Berry
Clear Body
252 HP / 220 Atk / 36 Spe
Adamant
- Meteor Mash
- Earthquake
- Bullet Punch
- Stealth Rock
Probably the iffiest member of my team. Great lead, no doubt, 3 attack Metagross is. With my extra speed EVs and Lum Berry, he beats most sleep leads, Metagross leads, Azelf, Aerodactyl, etc. The list goes on. Very reliable at getting the rocks up. The fact that he doesn't have Explosion can suck at times but it keeps my opponents wary if they think he has it. It does mean however, that he'll be sticking around longer, and his typing and bulk are usually very helpful even late game.
The moves combine some decent coverage and the ability to eliminate a lot of common leads, and of course SR is so necessary on my team to punish switches a bit.
Pretty standard EVs but I go for quite a lot of speed, just to make sure I get the leg up on majority of Metagross, Scizor, Tyranitar, Machamp, etc. I face.
Lum is chosen for those damn sleep leads and Machamp; Infernape, Heatran, etc. are all easily dealt with since I have 4 Fire resists.
I say Metagross is my weak link because of this: he means free spikes for Skarmory/Forretress, who are in turn free switch ins for Salamence. Then emerges the Mixmence vs. Stall issue I have. Empoleon is another lead I'm considering, although he certainly doesn't help my Blissey troubles. Could use help here.
Currently Testing Shucatran lead: It works decently but he does lose to a lot more; sashed sleep leads are kinda annoying.
Tyranitar @ Expert Belt
Sand Stream
156 HP / 100 Atk / 60 SpA / 192 Spe
Brave
- Crunch
- Pursuit
- Stone Edge
- Flamethrower
Tricky bastard Tyranitar is. I get no more satisfaction than Pursuiting a silly choiced Rotom/Latias, then frying the Scizor switch in that is trying to U Turn, or Stone Edging the Gyarados. Crunch is around when I think Rotom will try to WoW me and provides a bit more pop against some things. Maybe I should consider Rock Slide over Stone Edge, but the extra power can be very useful against say, Blissey or others that I need to hit neutral. Fire Blast could hit Skarm/Lucario harder, but I would not want to risk missing Lucario/Scizor and end up dead. T-Tar also provides some great special bulk, particularly against electric pokemon whom I hate dearly.
A lot of scarfers are a pain for my team, and gengar as well, so I generally want them dead. At the same time, I dislike the free turns CB gives. Expert Belt is useful as hell.
I don't remember what the EVs do unfortunately. But I remember originally using twash's spread, but it didn't have much bulk which I needed to be switching into all the Rotoms, Latias, Gengar, etc. I'll have to look into it again. But in terms of trapping and killing, he gets the job done.
Salamence @ Life Orb
Intimidate
40 Atk / 216 SpA / 252 Spe
Naive
- Draco Meteor
- Brick Break
- Flamethrower
- Roost
Draco bomber number one and probably my MVP. He is, unfortunately, probably my biggest way of beating stall and he can do some amazing things. Classic Mixmence is just so good simply because he can roost off any damage. Draco Meteor is just ridiculous, doing big damage to everything except Blissey. Everything else is for coverage basically.
But literally, this might just be the only reason why SkarmBliss just doesn't shit on me, but it can be difficult against a good stall player. Salamence usually comes in on Skarmory or Forry when they come in on Metagross. Usually a few things switch into this: Latias, Blissey, or Steel. And of course, its a pain to pick what to use. Brick Break has to be used to 2hko Blissey on the switch, otherwise it can stall me like the fat whore it is till I get a crit, but thats pretty unreliable at best. I suppose Draco Meteor is my best choice, but sometimes the steel here actually stays in too, giving them more free spikes. Not what I want at all.
40 Atk EVs instead of the usual 16 beacuse I wanted a lil more pop against Blissey.
Jirachi @ Choice Scarf
Serene Grace
4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly
-Iron head
-Fire Punch
-U-turn
-Trick
My glue. Jirachi is here to take random hits and to scout, hax, generally just be a bitch. Does a good job obviously with its speed. Sometimes I feel I need Ice Punch for DDMence with Roost, but U Turn and Trick can be so valuable. trick is godly vs. stat uppers and U Turn is great for escaping and scouting. Fire Punch makes Jirachi a great check against Lucario/Scizor, and Iron Head is obligatory for STAB and hax. At times hax fails me when I try to go for the win, but its generally pretty reliable, especially once I eliminate the resists.
Suicune @ Leftovers
Pressure
4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid
- Calm Mind
- Surf
- HP Electric
- Ice Beam
This thing is pretty darn deadly, even without the LO. With sand up and Suicune needed defensively, I decided Lefties was necessary. The power loss is annoying at times, but generally its okay. Especially when I simply need to clean, because this does it like a mofo. After dropping Draco Meteors everywhere, the coverage and super effective hits and power of Suicune can really clean up a team nicely. Suicune provides a much needed reliable check against Gyarados, and switches very well into so many things its not funny. And of course when they see CM, Lefties, and Surf, they don't expect to get Ice Beamed or HPed in the face. Has given me quite the comebacks, this guy has.
Some more bulk would be helpful I suppose, but the I enjoy the power/speed he has right now. Moveset is fairly obvious. Basically, Suicune is a very useful check pokemon that is very dangerous offensively.
Latias @ Life Orb / Expert Belt
Levitate
Timid
4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
- Draco Meteor
- Grass Knot
- HP Fire
- Roost
My most recent addition, and perhaps the most useful. Latias helped provide something to smash Swampert to bits before he knew what hit him, as well as finally provided an Electric resist, and added a bunch more. Grass Knot is generally the move I spam in hopes of catching T-Tar on the switch. HP Fire for the KO on Scizor and 2hkoing most steels, Draco Meteor is again, a bomb. Having 2 on the same team is invaluable at times.
But basically Latias is here to be a very very dangerous check to a lot of pokemon, and she has some pretty decent longevity too thanks to Roost (I choose Roost over Recover cause its...Roost).
Life Orb because the power is oh so necessary, sometimes Latias fails to even kill Tyranitar with Grass Knot in 2 hits! Ugh. Though bluffing Choice Scarf/Specs could be useful I suppose.
Leading off this offensive brigade for chenman is Lum Berry Metagross, a popular lead that is well known for almost always being able to lay down Stealth Rock. The Lum Berry gives chenman a way to beat common sleep inducing leads, like Roserade and Smeargle, which often means the opponent will not be able to lay their entry hazards, making it a lot easier to sweep. Coupled with a strong STAB attack as well as priority, Metagross easily picks off Focus Sash leads like suicide Azelf or Aerodactyl. Although Metagross lacks Explosion, it has no trouble making itself of use after laying down Stealth Rock. Metagross provides extra Steel-type and Dragon-type resistances for late-game should it stick around, which never hurts!
The core of Salamence and Jirachi provides excellent weakness-resistance coverage, with each resisting the weaknesses of the other. Salamence is chenman's best shot at beating stall, being able to fire off powerful Draco Meteors and smacking around Steel-types with Flamethrower while being able to run Brick Break for an easy 2HKO on Blissey, stall's popular special sponge. Roost allows Salamence to stay around into the later stages of the game, where it can be extremely useful thanks to Intimidate, which makes threats like Lucario or Scizor much easier to handle. Jirachi on the other hand, is more of a check to offensive team styles. Iron Head's 60% flinch rate allows Jirachi to get out of some sticky situations, whilst Fire Punch allows Jirachi to revenge kill Lucario and Scizor. Trick allows Jirachi to pawn off its Choice Scarf should it feel the need to, generally against stall or annoying stat uppers. U-turn is a solid choice to scout common Jirachi switch-ins and it helps give chenman momentum in the match.
Latias complements Salamence rather nicely, as it can launch off strong Draco Meteors to weaken the core as well as luring out Scizor and severely weakening or KOing it with Hidden Power Fire, meaning Scizor can no longer revenge kill mixed Salamence. Latias does very well offensively while simultaneously providing resistances to Fire, Water, Electric, Grass, and Fighting, with an immunity to Ground. This allows Latias to counter Infernape and act as a rather solid switch-in to Heatran and others while still being able to sweep late-game if required. Expert Belt allows Latias to get a fair amount of KOs after the opponent assumes it is a Choice Scarf Latias and often catches Scizor, Lucario, Swampert and others by surprise. On the other hand, Life Orb allows Latias to overpower some of its common checks anyway, although taking 16% per turn due to sandstorm and Life Orb is not what you want from an integral part of both your offensive and defensive core.
Tyranitar is an interesting member; it's sandstorm doesn't particularly help chenman but it does play an interesting role. Tyranitar lures in Steel-types like Skarmory, Forretress, Scizor, and Lucario which allows Latias and Salamence to spam Draco Meteors much easier as they don't have to worry about Steel-types coming in to absorb the Draco Meteors. Tyranitar also Pursuits Rotom-A and Latias, both of which can cause mild problems to this team if they are not disposed of. Tyranitar is also a rather solid check to Life Orb Jolteon, which is extremely annoying to chenman's team. Tyranitar also acts as a check to the less common Substitute Calm Mind Raikou and Substitute Calm Mind Jirachi that carries Psychic as opposed to Flash Cannon.
Last off is Suicune, who acts as both an offensive and defensive presence. Thanks to 115 base defenses, Suicune can run an offensively oriented set while still maintaining defensive capabilities to check Pokemon like Gyarados thanks to Hidden Power Electric. In the later stages of the game, Suicune is quite hard to take down for offensive teams and has plenty of opportunities to set up against resisted attacks like Choice Banded Scizor Bullet Punch. Suicune can revenge kill weakened Swords Dance Lucario due to sufficient physical defense as well as outrunning thanks to Timid nature and max Speed. Suicune can lure in common Crocune counters like Zapdos and Celebi and hit them with a powerful boosted Ice Beam, often taking them out. Suicune is an integral part of this team, providing a solid check to offensive teams late-game as well as being a sort of panic button in case Life Orb Gyarados gets a Dragon Dance in.
This is a very solid example of an offensive team. However, the bane of this team is easily stall. Stall teams with Forretress or Skarmory leads will have little trouble getting up two layers of Spikes early in the game, giving chenman a much harder time switching around. Mixed Salamence generally seems like chenman's best shot, and even with a prestigious stall breaker like MixMence, he has to predict nearly perfectly. Tyranitar can also no longer Pursuit Rotom-A as well as before, as Will-O-Wisp will often cripple Tyranitar before it can get an attack off. A faster Tyranitar holding an Expert Belt could perhaps work better, although chenman would lose quite a bit of bulk. Overall, this is an excellent team and I had a wonderful time writing it up, credits to chenman333!
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