When I first started competitive Pokemon, at the dawn of DP, I sucked pretty badly. I used Pokemon that I liked a lot, and stuffed them together with no idea for synergy. Put in my favourite Special Sweeper, Physcial Sweeper, Special Tank, Physical Tank, and 2 more wildcards. Now, there were many Pokemon who I used a lot in those teams, but one of the ones I used the most were Alakazam. Now, any remotely experiences OU user understands this- Alakazam sucks, and is outclassed by Gengar. Gengar has a better typing, and a better ability allowing it to switch in, slightly better defences, a better main STAB, and a better offensive movepool, while all Alakazam has is slightly higher offensive stats, and a better supoprt movepool, but, seeing how fragile it is, hardly makes any use of it in OU.
Now however, years on and off of competitive battling, and at the end of Gen 4, I think I'm finally experienced enough to create a good and competitively viable team, with Alakazam as its head.
And this is where I realised it would be harder than it looked. I would have to capitalise on Alakazam's advantages over Gengar. The only noticeable advantage is 5 higher SpA and 10 higher Speed, as I planned to use Substitute. This meant that Alaka has a slightly higher chance of getting the OHKO on Tyranitar, as well as outspeeding, notably, ScarfTar, Starmie, and Gengar. But were these threats really worth it? When I finished this team, would I not end up replacing Alaka with a Gengar, to be more competitively viable? I admit I almost gave up here, but then I remembered looking at this page a long time ago. Salamance is useful in Uber, only because it is paired with Rayquaza. When one of them is destroyed, the other one can set up, and pick off the weakened counters. Why not emulate that same strategy in this team?
Now, I have two Pokemon that can sweep, together. The moment that one is gone, the other can come in and attack, and I had the basis for my team, set. Gengar comes in, does some damage, switches out, repeat as desired, Gengar dies, Alakazam comes in, and finishes the job. No I needed something that lures in Fighting, Normal, and/or Ground attacks for Gengar to switch to. This part was easy.
And now, that's half my team done. But, oops. 3 Special Sweepers, Blissey's gonna have a heyday. None of them plan to hold a Scarf either, and so, Setup sweepers too. Heatran can end up as a lead, but I'd avoid it if I could. Meanwhile, Heatran's still going to get killed by Water type moves. And... this would also be my first team using FWG. So I wanted to give it a try. It was around this point, where I also realised that this team would have to be Hyper Offense, seeing as I use both Gengar and Alaka.
This meant I needed Water and Grass types, a Revenge killer, and hopefully another lead.
And then, I realised, I'm in kind of a pinch. Gyara is the ONLY physical water type, same with Breloom. None of them can revenge, which means that's what I'll use. As dissapointed as I am, Heatran, you lead.
And, that's my team.
It failed.
And then I saved it onto a folder with all my other failed teams.
That was a few weeks ago, but, about last week, I decided to give my team one more shot. Flygon, I realised, nowadays, was pretty useless, honestly, as it's damage output isn't too high. So byebye Flygon, Heatran, you go back row.
Here we go, finally making progress. After trying both Focus Sash and Colbur, I decided the latter was substantially more effective. But, it still wasn't too effective. I remember trying various modifications on the Pokemon and their movesets, until one day I decided to rate some teams. Fortunately, I found this one. Now the enclosed RMT, and the RMT that RMT mentioned gives a quick guide to making Hyper Offense. I've been doing it all wrong.
For those who aren't bothered to click, and are as clueless as I was, basically, it's best to be dominantly physical, or dominantly special. So that, as I stumbled upon by accident earlier, that if a Pokemon dies to take out a counter, a similar Pokemon can then sweep. In addition, Choice items = No, as they make it so much easier for the opponent to setup. So, I removed the Scarf off Heatran, and decided to use the (arguably) best Special sweeper in the game.
Now my team's beginning to work. Unfortunately, Alakazam is no longer the prime sweeper, but it is still a very important factor. I decided to keep Breloom, as a last minute stop to Suicune, Jirachi, and any other CM sweepers.
Now, problem is, Azelf's still out of place. After setting up SR, it can explode, but that's basically all. So I wanted to replace it with a powerful special Anti-Lead. With Gyara gone, I also only had a single Ground resistance, and I'm reluctant to bring Gengar in so early, so maybe a Flying would be nice too.
Yanmega... I swear, I am so lucky I came across this guy. Best, lead, ever. And, what's more, it lures out Blissey/whatever Special wall they have so easily, which means I know what I'm facing next, and who to explode against.
Well, this teambuilding part is a lot longer than I'm used to, but the actual building took a while. So, here we go.
Yanmega (M) @ Choice Specs
Ability: Tinted Lens
EVs: 4 Def/252 Spd/252 SAtk
Modest nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Air Slash
- Bug Buzz
- Giga Drain
- Hidden Power [Electric]
As I've said before, my personal favourite lead in the current meta. I originally used the classic Specs set, with HP Ground and U-Turn in the last two slots, but I found this to be better. I know I said earlier that Choice = No, but the trade-off for Yanmega here is well worth it. Most people are reluctant to bring in their main setup sweeper so earlier, so I'm usually safe, and, unless they're a dedicated Special wall, even knowing what move Yanmega's locked in to doesn't help you that much, thanks to it's ability, Tinted Lens, doubling damage when resistance. This thing is just too powerful. Let me say this- Bug Buzz can 2HKO on Skarmory, who normally 4x resists. I don't believe many other Pokemon can claim that, espescially with 0 turns of setup.
I soon realised HP Ground was useless, because of the Heatran leads carrying Shuca left and right, so I put Giga Drain there to OHKO Pert, and it makes a decent attacking type with Tinted Lens. Without HP Ground, I had a spare HP to use for utility, so I removed U-Turn and put in HP Electric. Just rounds off coverage, and OHKO's Gyara and standard Skarmory.
---
Empoleon (M) @ Petaya Berry
Ability: Torrent
EVs: 24 Def/232 Spd/252 SAtk
Modest nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Agility
- Substitute
- Surf
- Grass Knot
The prime special sweeper in OU, and the late-game one in my team. It is amazingly powerful, and can even heavily dent things that resist it. Empoleon is usally the last out, and so, the other Pokemon weaken Empoleon's counters, allowing an easy sweep. For those that don't know how Agility SubPetaya works, you Agility on the switch, doubling your speed. Substitute is then used, until HP drops to 25%, where Petaya Berry activates, increasing SpA by 50%. Meanwhile, when your HP drops below 33%, Torrent gives you another 50% boost to your Water moves, while Empoleon's typing makes sure it doesn't die to the majority of priority moves. I chose Grass Knot over Ice Beam to beat Bulky waters.
---
Breloom (M) @ Toxic Orb
Ability: Poison Heal
EVs: 12 HP/248 Atk/248 Spd
Adamant nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Spore
- Focus Punch
- Seed Bomb
- Substitute
SporePunchin Breloom. There's something no-one in my team wants- status. The moment that anyone is paralyzed, they're almost dead weight. Once Breloom is poisoned, it can take Hypnosis and Thunder Wave all day. Meanwhile it, too, spreads Sleep by Spore, being a temporary end to a particular counter, then denting another, before switching out. Used as my only Physical attacker, to beat Calm Mind. Very little to say here, the classic Breloom we all hate.
---
Heatran (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 4 HP/252 Spd/252 SAtk
Naive nature (+Spd, -SDef)
- Fire Blast
- Earth Power
- Hidden Power [Electric]
- Explosion
Life Orb Heatran. This guy usually lures in Blissey, as well, so BOOM, explosions, and everyone else has a party. Fire Blast is a very powerful STAB, Earth Power for coverage. HP Electric is there for Bulky Waters, espescially Gyara, who can DD and beat my team. Without it, I can only Explode. as they set up. Takes Fire aimed at Breloom, and calls Ground and Fighting types for Gengar.
---
Gengar (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 4 Def/252 Spd/252 SAtk
Naive nature (+Spd, -SDef)
- Shadow Ball
- Thunderbolt
- Focus Blast
- Explosion
Here we go, my initial sweeper, once I do some damage. ShadowSphere gives the best coverage in the game, being completely unresisted. Thunderbolt gets a few more Super Effective hits. Explosion beats Blissey once weakened, if Heatran fails to. Ironically, being a Ghost type, the moment it dies, I have a great advantage. If beaten by something genuinely faster than it, Alaka is usually faster if unscarfed, so he can, Substitute, then beat everyone else. If beaten by priority (usuallly Bullet Punch) Empoleon gets to set-up. A very useful part of the team. Naive > Jolly to boost Explosion damage.
---
Alakazam (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Synchronize
EVs: 4 HP/252 Spd/252 SAtk
Timid nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Substitute
- Psychic
- Focus Blast
- Shadow Ball
My favourite Pokemon, Alakazam. Sub to assist in scouting, at which I begin to defeat everything that Gengar couldn't. Psychic coming off STAB, LO and 135 SpA and 120 Speed is nothing to laugh at, and the Dark types that do die to Focus Blast. Because of Alaka's pathetic defenses, it usually comes in and Subs as Gengar dies to it's counters- ScarfTar and Starmie to name a few, who Alaka cleanly outspeeds. The only thing that can clearly "beat" Alaka are Scarfers and Priority users, but that's why I have Empoleon.
---
And... that's that. As I said, I start off with Yanmega, kill stuff, when I can't kill anymore, go to Breloom/Heatran, kill more stuff, go to Gengar, damage stuff, when it dies, go to Empoleon/Alakazam, set up, and kill stuff. And if one dies, the other's there for you.
And now, flaws. One of them is glaringly obvious- no Stealth Rock, and, unlike many people who don't use it, I know that that's a problem. The only Pokemon who can viably use it is Heatran, but if I remove HP Electric, then Gyara can set up and beat my team. So yeah, help me with that. Other than that, there are no gaping holes, but I know it can be improved, so yeah, rate and review, please ^_^
Now however, years on and off of competitive battling, and at the end of Gen 4, I think I'm finally experienced enough to create a good and competitively viable team, with Alakazam as its head.
And this is where I realised it would be harder than it looked. I would have to capitalise on Alakazam's advantages over Gengar. The only noticeable advantage is 5 higher SpA and 10 higher Speed, as I planned to use Substitute. This meant that Alaka has a slightly higher chance of getting the OHKO on Tyranitar, as well as outspeeding, notably, ScarfTar, Starmie, and Gengar. But were these threats really worth it? When I finished this team, would I not end up replacing Alaka with a Gengar, to be more competitively viable? I admit I almost gave up here, but then I remembered looking at this page a long time ago. Salamance is useful in Uber, only because it is paired with Rayquaza. When one of them is destroyed, the other one can set up, and pick off the weakened counters. Why not emulate that same strategy in this team?
Now, I have two Pokemon that can sweep, together. The moment that one is gone, the other can come in and attack, and I had the basis for my team, set. Gengar comes in, does some damage, switches out, repeat as desired, Gengar dies, Alakazam comes in, and finishes the job. No I needed something that lures in Fighting, Normal, and/or Ground attacks for Gengar to switch to. This part was easy.
And now, that's half my team done. But, oops. 3 Special Sweepers, Blissey's gonna have a heyday. None of them plan to hold a Scarf either, and so, Setup sweepers too. Heatran can end up as a lead, but I'd avoid it if I could. Meanwhile, Heatran's still going to get killed by Water type moves. And... this would also be my first team using FWG. So I wanted to give it a try. It was around this point, where I also realised that this team would have to be Hyper Offense, seeing as I use both Gengar and Alaka.
This meant I needed Water and Grass types, a Revenge killer, and hopefully another lead.
And then, I realised, I'm in kind of a pinch. Gyara is the ONLY physical water type, same with Breloom. None of them can revenge, which means that's what I'll use. As dissapointed as I am, Heatran, you lead.
And, that's my team.
It failed.
And then I saved it onto a folder with all my other failed teams.
That was a few weeks ago, but, about last week, I decided to give my team one more shot. Flygon, I realised, nowadays, was pretty useless, honestly, as it's damage output isn't too high. So byebye Flygon, Heatran, you go back row.
Here we go, finally making progress. After trying both Focus Sash and Colbur, I decided the latter was substantially more effective. But, it still wasn't too effective. I remember trying various modifications on the Pokemon and their movesets, until one day I decided to rate some teams. Fortunately, I found this one. Now the enclosed RMT, and the RMT that RMT mentioned gives a quick guide to making Hyper Offense. I've been doing it all wrong.
For those who aren't bothered to click, and are as clueless as I was, basically, it's best to be dominantly physical, or dominantly special. So that, as I stumbled upon by accident earlier, that if a Pokemon dies to take out a counter, a similar Pokemon can then sweep. In addition, Choice items = No, as they make it so much easier for the opponent to setup. So, I removed the Scarf off Heatran, and decided to use the (arguably) best Special sweeper in the game.
Now my team's beginning to work. Unfortunately, Alakazam is no longer the prime sweeper, but it is still a very important factor. I decided to keep Breloom, as a last minute stop to Suicune, Jirachi, and any other CM sweepers.
Now, problem is, Azelf's still out of place. After setting up SR, it can explode, but that's basically all. So I wanted to replace it with a powerful special Anti-Lead. With Gyara gone, I also only had a single Ground resistance, and I'm reluctant to bring Gengar in so early, so maybe a Flying would be nice too.
Yanmega... I swear, I am so lucky I came across this guy. Best, lead, ever. And, what's more, it lures out Blissey/whatever Special wall they have so easily, which means I know what I'm facing next, and who to explode against.
Well, this teambuilding part is a lot longer than I'm used to, but the actual building took a while. So, here we go.
Yanmega (M) @ Choice Specs
Ability: Tinted Lens
EVs: 4 Def/252 Spd/252 SAtk
Modest nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Air Slash
- Bug Buzz
- Giga Drain
- Hidden Power [Electric]
As I've said before, my personal favourite lead in the current meta. I originally used the classic Specs set, with HP Ground and U-Turn in the last two slots, but I found this to be better. I know I said earlier that Choice = No, but the trade-off for Yanmega here is well worth it. Most people are reluctant to bring in their main setup sweeper so earlier, so I'm usually safe, and, unless they're a dedicated Special wall, even knowing what move Yanmega's locked in to doesn't help you that much, thanks to it's ability, Tinted Lens, doubling damage when resistance. This thing is just too powerful. Let me say this- Bug Buzz can 2HKO on Skarmory, who normally 4x resists. I don't believe many other Pokemon can claim that, espescially with 0 turns of setup.
I soon realised HP Ground was useless, because of the Heatran leads carrying Shuca left and right, so I put Giga Drain there to OHKO Pert, and it makes a decent attacking type with Tinted Lens. Without HP Ground, I had a spare HP to use for utility, so I removed U-Turn and put in HP Electric. Just rounds off coverage, and OHKO's Gyara and standard Skarmory.
Azelf- Bug Buzz OHKO's Colbur. If Sashed, another Bug Buzz will finish the job.
Machamp- Air Slash OHKO's.
Aerodactyl- Slight problem here. Can break Sash, but is OHKO'd by Rock Slide. Revenge with Breloom.
Metagross- Usually Air Slash, and can bank on 30% Flinch chance to 2HKO.
Swampert- Giga Drain
Infernape- Slight Problem. Go to Heatran, take to take the Fire move or Fake Out, and switch to Gengar to take the Close Combat.
Heatran- They usually SR first, and Air Slash 2HKO's. 30% flinch is nice too.
Jirachi- Usually SR or Trick. Bug Buzz on Jirachi, then on the switch.
Ninjask- (lol) Bug Buzz the Sub and the switch in, doing a heavy dent. Another Pokemon can finish the job.
Roserade- Air Slash
Machamp- Air Slash OHKO's.
Aerodactyl- Slight problem here. Can break Sash, but is OHKO'd by Rock Slide. Revenge with Breloom.
Metagross- Usually Air Slash, and can bank on 30% Flinch chance to 2HKO.
Swampert- Giga Drain
Infernape- Slight Problem. Go to Heatran, take to take the Fire move or Fake Out, and switch to Gengar to take the Close Combat.
Heatran- They usually SR first, and Air Slash 2HKO's. 30% flinch is nice too.
Jirachi- Usually SR or Trick. Bug Buzz on Jirachi, then on the switch.
Ninjask- (lol) Bug Buzz the Sub and the switch in, doing a heavy dent. Another Pokemon can finish the job.
Roserade- Air Slash
Empoleon (M) @ Petaya Berry
Ability: Torrent
EVs: 24 Def/232 Spd/252 SAtk
Modest nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Agility
- Substitute
- Surf
- Grass Knot
The prime special sweeper in OU, and the late-game one in my team. It is amazingly powerful, and can even heavily dent things that resist it. Empoleon is usally the last out, and so, the other Pokemon weaken Empoleon's counters, allowing an easy sweep. For those that don't know how Agility SubPetaya works, you Agility on the switch, doubling your speed. Substitute is then used, until HP drops to 25%, where Petaya Berry activates, increasing SpA by 50%. Meanwhile, when your HP drops below 33%, Torrent gives you another 50% boost to your Water moves, while Empoleon's typing makes sure it doesn't die to the majority of priority moves. I chose Grass Knot over Ice Beam to beat Bulky waters.
---
Breloom (M) @ Toxic Orb
Ability: Poison Heal
EVs: 12 HP/248 Atk/248 Spd
Adamant nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Spore
- Focus Punch
- Seed Bomb
- Substitute
SporePunchin Breloom. There's something no-one in my team wants- status. The moment that anyone is paralyzed, they're almost dead weight. Once Breloom is poisoned, it can take Hypnosis and Thunder Wave all day. Meanwhile it, too, spreads Sleep by Spore, being a temporary end to a particular counter, then denting another, before switching out. Used as my only Physical attacker, to beat Calm Mind. Very little to say here, the classic Breloom we all hate.
---
Heatran (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 4 HP/252 Spd/252 SAtk
Naive nature (+Spd, -SDef)
- Fire Blast
- Earth Power
- Hidden Power [Electric]
- Explosion
Life Orb Heatran. This guy usually lures in Blissey, as well, so BOOM, explosions, and everyone else has a party. Fire Blast is a very powerful STAB, Earth Power for coverage. HP Electric is there for Bulky Waters, espescially Gyara, who can DD and beat my team. Without it, I can only Explode. as they set up. Takes Fire aimed at Breloom, and calls Ground and Fighting types for Gengar.
---
Gengar (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 4 Def/252 Spd/252 SAtk
Naive nature (+Spd, -SDef)
- Shadow Ball
- Thunderbolt
- Focus Blast
- Explosion
Here we go, my initial sweeper, once I do some damage. ShadowSphere gives the best coverage in the game, being completely unresisted. Thunderbolt gets a few more Super Effective hits. Explosion beats Blissey once weakened, if Heatran fails to. Ironically, being a Ghost type, the moment it dies, I have a great advantage. If beaten by something genuinely faster than it, Alaka is usually faster if unscarfed, so he can, Substitute, then beat everyone else. If beaten by priority (usuallly Bullet Punch) Empoleon gets to set-up. A very useful part of the team. Naive > Jolly to boost Explosion damage.
---
Alakazam (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Synchronize
EVs: 4 HP/252 Spd/252 SAtk
Timid nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Substitute
- Psychic
- Focus Blast
- Shadow Ball
My favourite Pokemon, Alakazam. Sub to assist in scouting, at which I begin to defeat everything that Gengar couldn't. Psychic coming off STAB, LO and 135 SpA and 120 Speed is nothing to laugh at, and the Dark types that do die to Focus Blast. Because of Alaka's pathetic defenses, it usually comes in and Subs as Gengar dies to it's counters- ScarfTar and Starmie to name a few, who Alaka cleanly outspeeds. The only thing that can clearly "beat" Alaka are Scarfers and Priority users, but that's why I have Empoleon.
---
And... that's that. As I said, I start off with Yanmega, kill stuff, when I can't kill anymore, go to Breloom/Heatran, kill more stuff, go to Gengar, damage stuff, when it dies, go to Empoleon/Alakazam, set up, and kill stuff. And if one dies, the other's there for you.
And now, flaws. One of them is glaringly obvious- no Stealth Rock, and, unlike many people who don't use it, I know that that's a problem. The only Pokemon who can viably use it is Heatran, but if I remove HP Electric, then Gyara can set up and beat my team. So yeah, help me with that. Other than that, there are no gaping holes, but I know it can be improved, so yeah, rate and review, please ^_^
