"Fine..." (RMT - OU)

[Chase]

Okay, here goes nothing.

I.....really don't enjoy OverUsed as much as I do lower tiers. I understand that it's the premier Smogon tier and the one that most people are familiar with so I -do- want to get batter at it. That being said, there are some priorities that I absolutely -have- to follow or an OU team just falls out of my liking.

• The team has to be composted at least 66.6 percent of Pokemon that I LIKE. One of the biggest things I try to live out is Karen's "Truly skilled trainers try to win with their favorites." quote - because to me, I have the most fun in any Pokemon scenario using Pokemon that I like.
• The team has to hold a degree of offensive presence. I don't enjoy playing Stall - so if the team is not at least balanced, it's not a good team for me.
• The team has to be one that benefits greatly from punishing an opponents decision. That's how Hilda does competitive, prey on the opponents decisions until I have enough of an upper hand to close the deal.

I have to admit that I won't be terribly open-minded so much as to actually MAKE changes to the team due to those three criteria. That being said, I -still- want your opinions and will gladly take your criticism.

Please do behave with one another, and I'll do my best to meet you all half way. Here goes...

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Charizard @ Charizardite X

Ability: Blaze (Tough Claws)

EVs: 252 Atk / 252 Spe / 4 Def

Adamant Nature

- Dragon Dance

- Dragon Claw

- Earthquake

- Flare Blitz

This is -not- your Bulky Xzard variant. Everything about this Pokemon is to conform to my three criteria as much as possible. Earthquake is pretty standard on Xzard and is used to get rid of smogonturd (Heatran) on the switch, Dragon Claw is the conservative STAB that is a contact move and receives a bit of a lift from Tough Claws, and Flare Blitz is the aggressive stab that is there to do damage to anything like predicted Sylveon on the switch. This Pokemon has Dragon Dance to make everything threatening as well as set up to finish the job speed wise. This Pokemon is one of the Aggresors on my team.

Clefable @ Life Orb

Ability: Magic Guard

EVs: 252 SpAttk / 252 HP / 4 SpDef

Modest Nature

- Moonblast

- Flamethrower

- Calm Mind

- Focus Blast

This Clefable is used as cleri-.......SIIIIKE. Calm Mind decision punisher. Moonblast is the stab that deals with opposing dark, fighting, and dragon types. Flamethrower punishes Bisharp, Scizor, and Ferrothorn - and if you think Heatran can just switch in safely on THIS thing. Think again. Forgoing Soft-boiled - I decided to further terrorize Smogonturd and opt for Focus Blast, which also will hurt the likes of MegaGross and Mega-Lopunny on the switch a little bit. I can also feign Unaware with this Pokemon to force out things like Belly Drum Azumarill with a bit of mind games if needed. Clefable is like a poker player bluffing that he has a good hand in literally all sense of the word "bluff." If the gamble pays off, Xzard gets the breathing room it needs to sweep and the margin starts looking my way.

Skarmory @ Rocky Helmet

Ability: Sturdy

EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 Spe

Bold Nature

- Roost

- Stealth Rock

- Brave Bird

- Whirlwind

Skarmory is one of those Pokemon I enjoy using in Story playthroughs to provide a little bit bulk to my team - specifically in Gen 3. Competitively, it's arsenal is downright annoying and physical attackers are not going to enjoy having this thing around. Namely Lopunny, who's attacks won't be be able to do much to it and is then threatened with Brave Bird if it's HP is low - or susceptible to being Phase bait. Stealth Rock provides the team some help with sash breaking and chip damage, and with Whirlwind those rocks will be a huge pain if push comes to absolute shove. This thing needs Latios, Latias, and Scizor out of the way in order to serve that secondary role of Phaser, which I think I have some answers for.

Serperior @ Life Orb

Ability: Contrary

EVs: 252 SpAtk / 252 Spe / 4 Def

Timid Nature

- Substitute

- Leaf Storm

- Giga Drain

- Hidden Power Ground

The instant sweeper on this team - Serperior's job is to basically clear any and all opposing Rock, Ground, and Water types out of the way for XZard, but it's secondary function could be to take XZard's late game clean-up job if need be due to it's Contrary ability. Sub provides it chances to wail on opposing Pokemon that threaten to end it's sweep. Leaf Storm is the primary move - providing Serp with a ton of damage output right from the get go, as well it's Contrary stat boost. Giga Drain will hurt lots of things after Leaf Storm is used, and provides the Regal Pokemon with recovery, and HP Ground takes care of things like Heatran (because, seriously, this thing needs to stay the heck away from my team.) as well as Poison type Pokemon that look to threaten Serperior and teammate Clefable.

Empoleon @ Leftovers

Ability: Torrent

EVs: 248 HP / 252 SpDef / 8 Def

Calm Nature

- Scald

- Toxic

- Protect

- Defog

The second of my two armored avians is the most defense-minded Pokemon in this team. It's built to take on Special Attacks - and it's tasked to share status inflictions and keep hazards away - helping the rest of the team as it attempts to hit hard and fast. Torrent may potentially boost Scald's damage output and I opted for Empoleon because of criteria 1 (I like Empoleon) and I don't want to get pursuit trapped and taste my own medicine OR carry two Dragon type Pokemon after XZard evolves - so I opted for Empoleon over one of the Lati twins. Empoleon also doesn't hold a x4 Weakness to Fire like Scizor, so this seemed to be my best defogger available taking the rest of the team into consideration. Protect rounds out the set if Empoleon is in need of stalling the opponent out for the win.

Krookodile @ Choice Scarf

Ability: Moxie

EVs: 252 Atk / 252 Spe / 4 Def

Jolly Nature

- Earthquake

- Crunch

- Stone Edge

- Pursuit

Choice Scarf Krookodile has two functions. It will pursuit trap/Crunch Latios and Latias if they are brought in to eat a Special Attack as well as punish switch ins late-game like Gengar (anticipating the Earthquake.) applying some pressure to Psychic and Ghost types. It also is an emergency sweeper with it's Moxie ability if the route to victory is there. Krookodile and Skarmory are the biggest deterrents to Birdspam, as OHKing a Talonflame late game with Stone Edge will provide a Moxie boost and threaten M-Pinsir or something else that comes in with Flying type intentions. Moxie allows Krookodile more of a use than it's Scarf would normally allow. Revenge Killer, Decision Punisher, Emergency Sweeper, and fast enough to do the job most of the time. It's one of my FAVORITE Pokemon.

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The goal of this team is to make the opponent pay dearly for their decisions first and foremost. It's very dependent on outplaying the opponent and has a decent chance of failure if I don't make the plays, but if I do it can be very hard for my opponents to climb back up the mountain.

Hit me with your best shot.

[Sonikku]

You should run Impish on Skarmory so Brave Burd isn't weakened, and Skarmory is also a better Defogger than Empoleon, unless you can predict the switch to Bisharp and Scald. Your team has no switch-ins to Earth Power Heatran, so just keep Empoleon alive, etc. Tornadus-T is also a threat. Im thinking Scarf T-Tar over Krookie Munster, but you should keep it. Tornadus isn't very common.

More Threats:

Dragalge

Magnezone

Bisharp

Gengar

Just keep them in mind and play around them.

Pretty Powaful team [:

[Tomas Elliot]

Wait, you like to punish opponent's decisions, you made an argument (which I liked a lot) in favor of Aegislash returning to OU because it punishes decisions which is a good thing, and you are not using Aegislash in this team? I am a bit disappointed...

This aside, I think you are overly obsessed with Heatran. You already have two ways of baiting it and obliterating it with a Ground-type move, do you really need the shaky Focus Blast on Clefable? I'd really recommend running Softboiled instead, Clefable is a Pokemon you want to stay alive for as long as possible, so that it can continuously soften up the special walls your opponent my carry and pave the way to Serperior. So the last thing you need is for it to get worn down early on. Focus Blast doesn't add anything to your team outside of hitting Heatran (Flamethrower is better to hit Steel-type mons on the switch, and Lopunny is something nobody in possession of their mental faculties would switch into Clefable anyway), and you really can deal with Heatran in other ways. Why do you hate it so much?

Anyway, I also think you should run Leftovers on Serperior, with Dragon Pulse over Giga Drain: if you play cleverly, the passive recovery is all you need to mantain your subs, Contrary will allow you to build momentum and hit like a truck anyway (the extra power really is marginal once you hit +4), and Dragon Pulse will prevent Serperior from becoming set-up bait for Dragonite, which is very very important as this team seems kinda exposed to a dragmag core. By this I mean that most U-turn users of the tier can easily force you to switch to one of your Steel-type mons... And they are both weak to Electric, so all a guy needs to do is U-turn bait you into Magnezone and bam, suddenly you have lost your defensive core, and their Dragonite is ready to sweep you. So yeah, having something to score the surprise OHKO on Dragonite as it attempts to set up in such a scenario would be important IMO.

Really tho, your weakness to U-turn + dragmag is staggering: if your opponent has out Scizor or Landorus you have no choice but switch to Skarm/Empoleon, as they threaten the rest of your team, so all they need to do is U-turn into Magnezone and you are screwed... I really really think you should get yourself a defensive Pokemon that resists U-turn and isn't weak to Electric, just to solve this problem: Gliscor, Landorus-T, things like those. A Landorus-T would be ideal because you could give it Stealth Rock, allowing Skarmory to do the defogging: this way, you could run Landorus-T over Empoleon. There are also other solutions, pick the one that fits better your criteria, but seriously, do something about this problem of yours... I hope this could help!

[Chase]

Just because I like to punish my opponents decisions doesn't mean I like to do it in the most preventative or defensive way. What I mean by this is that I -am- aware of being weak to dragmag + U-turn and I do agree that some shoring up could be done.

Problem with that is, I absolutely HATE Gliscor and Landorus-T. Both of them are really good Pokemon in their own right - but they both seriously violate the first criterion of mine (Gliscor is a Pokemon that really ruins the experience for me as an opponent and I wouldn't want to use it against anyone else, and Lando-T sees enough use from everyone else. *hipster glasses*

-My- alternative plan for Magnezone is to catch someone off guard. With Volt Switchers, I go out to Krookodile and prevent the switch. With U-turners I go out to Xzard instead of the expected Steel type and either get my Dragon Dance or go after the Dragon/Magnezone. Rather than being particularly brilliant, it's risky. Risk pays off when talking to me.

The reason I have Empoleon AND Skarmory on my team is to Allow Skarmory to keep Brave Bird -and- WhirlRock, while also being able to defog hazards away for Xzard. I could definitely see myself trading some moves between Empoleon and Skarmory, but Empoleon makes me feel better about the first Criterion. Remember, OU is a hard tier to enjoy for me, so I have to kinda push the envelope just to find things I like.

Heatran...is one the most disgusting legendary pokemon i've ever laid eyes on. It's immune to fire types and immediately pressures them with Earth Power, and it's sooooo commonly used that I get the displeasure of seeing it when I play OU.....alll. the time. Clefable's whole deal is being the bluffing poker player. Is it much more fallable than Softboiled variants? Oh yeah, definitely. It's also more rewarding to be able and assuredly clear it and Bisharp away

[Aero]

Very balanced and rather unique team you have here. The only glaring annoyance to this team is Magnezone, which can be difficult to play around since it can trap two of your mons. The obvious fix is Shed Shell on Skarmory, which would work out quite nicely as you can switch to Krookidile on the Tbolt, force Magnezone to switch, and now you have regained momentum of the battle. In addition, Shed Shell helps against the increasingly popular Gothitelle.

Mega-Sceptile looks like it can also punch holes into this team. It's faster than XZard and Dragon Pulse does OHKO, but that is provided it comes in before you Dragon Dance. Given its massive speed and special attack, it definitely can't go down without severely hurting something, especially since your Clefable is not bulky oriented. But instead of suggesting a bulky Clefable, one solution to this could be adding Ice Beam over Protect on Empoleon. This allows you to cleanly OHKO Mega-Sceptile, and it also cleanly OHKOs Landorus-I, which also can be a pain to deal with. It also (again) cleanly OHKOs Gliscor who might think your Empoleon is just Earthquake bait. Dragon Pulse on Serperior is another option, perhaps over Giga Drain, but then Life Orb can quickly wear Serperior down.

[NickCrash]

Your Zard will have enormous Atk stat and a boost from Tough Claws. It's a crime not to boost it's speed, especially with all those 100+ speeders and scarfers around. You won't always have opportunities to DD, and the extra power is not worth it if you're not alive to use it.

Currently I suppose you like 100% of the team, so even if I change 1 or 2, it shouldn't matter much, right?

In my opinion, Krooko is a cool, reliable pokemon, but in this team, I feel it's not enough. My suggestion would be to change it with a scarfed Tyranitar. Since you already have 2 steel pokemon and a Clefable that couldn't care less about residual damage, why not use a T-Tar and apply more pressure to your opponent?

Sand will give the extra SpDef you need, and you keep Crunch, EQ, and Stone Miss. You can add an Ice Punch, as you currently have no Ice coverage. If you wish, you can run Facade for the extra element of surprize. In this case you'll have to toss one of the other moveslots, but it should be worth it.

Since you are not going to enter Stall wars, and you dislike the Ground/Flying delegates, my suggestion would be to switch Whirlwind with Defog on Skarm, and change Bibarel Empoleon with my little Brony, Keldeo!! Strong, fast, and hits on both sides. You can leave the fighting coverage to this fella, and switch Clefable's Focus MISS with Softboiled, because Cleffable needs to stay alive to kill. Keldeo can deal with the rest (also non-scarf Magnezone). You can use Hydro Pump or Scald (depends on whether you choose a lefties SubCalm set, or a life orb one). You cannot dislike Keldeo!

Oh and remove Giga Drain from Serperior and replace it with Dragon Pulse.

Looks good on paper

[Chase]

In response to replacing Krookodile - I often hear two things about Krook in OU as to why it's not good enough to hang. The first is that it doesn't do enough damage to sweep initially and the second is that Tyranitar completely outclasses it. The first statement is ONLY true in the event that Krookodile is trying to attack something with a lot of HP remaining, and the second is....well, yeah, it's true. T-tar is the best Pursuit trapper with access to Earthquake, Stone Edge, and Crunch in it's arsenal.

The redeeming factors with Krook is that Focus Blast is a bit more resisted (not by much) than it would be in T-Tar's case, and Moxie is more fun to utilize than Sand Stream is.

Unfortunately, I -do- hold a disdain for Keldeo. My best OU teams ALWAYS have it aboard because it's indeed very very useful. I'm trying to break some molds here.

Magnezone however -is- looking to be problem, but I'm not sure if it's as much of a problem as you guys are making it out to be. I'll have to get some experience in before I make a decision. Thank you guys for looking out for me! Keep it up!