OU RMT: Dragons, heavy metal, and Leftovers

[RoxburyGuy58]

My last singles team for the fourth gen. The first three Pokemon mentioned are my Battle Tower Team, which means I've used them many times and they are very reliable. I beat Palmer twice (on the 21st and 49th battles) with them. I don't go on WiFi much. Although that might not mean much, they are tested and work very well. Here we go:

Swampert @ Leftovers
Nature: Relaxed
Ability: Torrent
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Ice Beam
- Roar
EVs: 252 HP/ 4 Atk/ 252 Def
Role: Generic MixPert lead. If it ain't broke, why fix it? In the tower, his item is actually the lesser Shell Bell because the next pocket monster I'll mention needs the lefties more than he does. He'll be much more useful with the lefties, and Roar is a great scouting tool, and is useful for countering Yanmega leads. Don't really know what more to add...

Jolteon @ Leftovers
Nature: Timid
Ability: Volt Absorb
- Substitute
- Baton Pass
- Wish
- Thunderbolt
EVs: 252 HP/ 24 SpD/ 232 Spe
Role: Best. Wish. Supporter. Ever. At least in my eyes. I could write a whole essay on why I LOVE Jolteon, but instead I'll just state the specifics. No matter what, as soon as he enters the battlefield, he uses Substitute first to scout the opponent's response. Then I play accordingly. The EVs allow the sub to survive neutral Hidden Power from a 319 SpA stat, in addition to Celebi's Grass Knot and Blissey's Ice Beam. He doesn't have 252 Spe EVs beacause he needs to be slower than opposing Jolteon to set up a sub. It can be passed so one of my other pokes is guaranteed a safe switch in, or to scout for the hundreds of things that know Earthquake. Wish heals pokemon like Swampert who lack a reliable recovery.

Salamence @ Choice Scarf
Nature: Naughty
Ability: Intimidate
- Outrage
- Earthquake
- Fire Blast
- Aqua Tail
EVs: 248 Atk/ 8 SpA/ 252 Spe
Role: Physical sweeper. He originally had a Choice Band, which allowed him to OHKO almost any non-Steel type, even w/o an entry hazard set up. However, he kept losing to unscarfed Garchomp all the time in terms of speed. Also, the scarf covers up his frailty by letting him hit first and hit hard. W/ Stealth Rock up, all his 2HKOs are turned into OHKOs. He is insanely powerful. He has the capacity to take out an entire half a team under the right conditions, all without setting up!

Azelf @ Life Orb
Nature: Hasty
Ability: Levitate
- Nasty Plot/Protect
- Psychic
- Flamethrower
- U-turn/Explosion/other physical move?
EVs: 4 HP/ 252 SpA/ 252 Spe
Role: Special sweeper. If he gets baton passed a sub or comes in on a pokemon that I know has no attack moves, he can set up one Nasty Plot. And one is all he needs to start wrecking the opponent's team. Also, the use of Nasty Plot might trick the opponent into thinking I have a purely special pixie, thus switching to the likes of Blissey, Umbreon, Tyranitar, what have you. So I'm stuck as to a good, somewhat unpredictable physical move for the last slot. Explosion is good, but that means that his only physical option is one that ends up killing him. U-turn is good for scouting, but is there a better option out there? If NP seems unnecessary since he has the Life Orb, protect could be an alternate option for scouting. I need a little help for this guy.

Bronzong @ Light Clay
Nature: Relaxed
Ability: Levitate
- Light Screen
- Reflect
- Gyro Ball
- Confuse Ray
EVs: 252 HP/ 152 Atk/ 8 Def/ 96 SpD
Role: Dualscreen supporter, something my team would very much benefit from. He can come in on a multitude of things, set up, and cripple the opponet and/or force a switch with Confuse Ray. It's an excellent move to have, and I don't see why a lot of Bronzong don't carry it. He can only take so many hits, though, so he benefits greatly from substitute+wish support from Jolteon. The screens also give Salamence and Azelf a prayer of surviving a super-effective hit.

Tentacruel @ Leftovers
Nature: Calm
Ability: Liquid Ooze
- Toxic Spikes
- Rapid Spin
- Surf
- Hidden Power Ghost/ HP Dark/ Giga Drain
EVs: 252 HP/ 120 Def/ 136 SpD
Role: Toxic Spiker/Rapid Spinner. The last move is what prevents this jellyfish from being a predicable and generic set. If he has one of the above Hidden Powers, he can not only damage spin-blocking ghosts, but hit psychic-types as well. However, getting one with the right nature, ability, AND IVs is rather time-consuming and too dependent on luck, so Giga Drain might be good. He gets to heal more HP, and take on weakend opposing Swampert. Having more than one pokemon that's weak against Earthquake in an OU team may seem risky, but since half my team levitates, and Swampert is a physical wall, I don't have too many concerns.

So, what do you think? I'm bringing this to the VGC in my area to fight people while I'm waiting in line. Don't want to fight w/my doubles team, and face the same guy later that knows my strategy, y'know? Plus, I plan to get in on some tourneys and other fun stuff on SWF with these guys. I think this team is pretty balanced, and all of the pokes complement each other very nicely. There is also stable defense against common OU threats.
So, aside from critiqueing, what route should I take with my Azelf? And should I go for Hidden Power or Giga Drain with Tentacruel?

Thanx in advance 4 da' advice

 

[Wave⁂]

Tentacruel with HP Ghost is an interesting idea, but I don't think he has enough SpAtk to take advantage of it. Calcs?

Confuse Ray is generally a bad move, since they can switch to get rid of it, and you don't hit hard with Gyro Ball. Speaking of hitting hard, Explosion and Earthquake work well in the final moveslot. I'd pick Explosion.

Azelf is a bad special sweeper. Too frail, can't hit stuff enough, and not fast enough. It looks almost like a Scizor lure-ish Pokémon, but your team doesn't mind Scizor. I recommend Nasty Plot Infernape (resists Bullet Punch, the only priority in OU), Calm Mind Latias (really fast and really strong), or CroCune (works nicely with Toxic Spikes support, has type synergy with the team).

Why use Jolteon over Vaporeon?

 

[Terywj [태리]]

Bronzong should have Explosion / Hypnosis over Confuse Ray.

Also, just a nitpick, but just because a trio can beat Battle Tower Tycoon Palmer doesn't mean they are automatically good.

-Terywj

 

[RoxburyGuy58]

@Terywj: I just mentioned Palmer to point out that the first three pokemon have been tested and have good synergy together. I know that the B-Tower in no way compares to fighting real trainers. Confuse Ray was to force switches so Bronzong can set up a screen for free, but now that you make me think about it, Explosion prevents him from being trapped by Magnet Pull.

@annoying1359: I haven't gone jellyfishing yet, so I have no calcs. But I guess GDrain is better, 'cause if I do get the right TCruel, his HP might have the lowest possible base power. The other options you presented for a special sweeper sound pretty good, and I'll look into each one before I reach a decision. It'll most likely be Suicune or Latias, because a little extra bulk can go a long way.

Thanx u guyz =D

 

[Wave⁂]

Hold up. Giga Drain Tentacruel is going to be doing next to nothing unless you're killing Swamperts. Try Ice Beam or Knock Off.

 

[UltiMario]

Freaking hell.

I hate starting to review RMTs then noticing its an in-game RMT.

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