AURA STORM
Intro:
Hello guys, Brizznets here again with my first RMT of the post Garchomp era. After a lengthy time of editing and playtesting the team, I've finally put the finishing touches on it. This is by far my most sucessful team, peaking at #4 (so close to 1, but I choked LeBron style >_>) on the smogon server. This team also got me voting reqs for the first time :). This team is built around Swords Dance Lucario, a really underated Pokemon in the metagame. I decided to hold of finishing this team until round 4 suspect testing was done and Garchomp was booted. Without the land shark running around, being all evasive and shit, this team has thrived. Before this team I had created a sucessful Drizzle team. Weather wars were getting pretty dull so I decided to step away from full on weather teams for a while and build a more balanced, anti-metagame team. Their were times where I considered turning this team into a pure sandstorm or drizzle team, but I was able to work around it. Building a team to efficiently combat weather is definitley difficult, but the end results can be awsome if played right. The team has great synergy that consist of a deffensive core of Gliscor, Skarmory and Latias that can be extremely hard to break through. Skarmory's Stealth Rocks, Rotom's Scarfed Volt Switch and damage from Sandstorm can really wear my opponents team down. All this residual damage plays nicely into a Lucario sweep. As for the RMT tittle. There's no deep meaning to it or anything, Aura=Lucario and Storm=Tyranitar simple. I'll try to make this not painful to read as my grammar and spelling isn't to good :/. I apologize for any mistakes. Ok, now on to team building.
Team Building:
1.
Lucario was the center piece of the team obviously. Gliscor was the next addition as he covers Lukes weaknesses nicely and countered some top OU threats like Excadrill, Terrakion and Conkelderp. Gliscor also gave a nice check against common sandstorm cores. After that I needed a partner for Gliscor. Rotom-W was a perfect candidate as he took Ground/Fire attacks for Lucario and Ice/Water attacks for Gliscor. I had put together a pretty sexy core, now I just needed some support.
2.
The only weakness of the current core was Grass, so I decided to patch up that weakness with a CB Infernape. I experimented with a number of different Fire-types such as Volcarona and Chandelure, but Infernapes speed and dual STABs were to good to pass up. Things were going pretty good at this point, I have a tendency of not finishing teams (or starting a new one),but I was determined to finish this one since it was looking so promising.
3.
I was a litte weak on the water side so Breloom was brought in. I used a standard sub-spore loom. Breloom also brought another status absorber. With Gliscor and Breloom, status was barely touching this team. Breloom was also there to help the bulky water problems I was having. I wasn't really putting to much thought in team building at this point. I just wanted to get a full team so I could tweak from their it.
V1
To round out the team I brought in a CB Dragonite to patch up the Water, Ground and Gire weaknesses, while providing some power from the physical spectrum. This team was pretty terrible when I first gave it a whirl. The main core was pretty effective, but the top 20 threats weren't covered like I hoped. There wasn't any deffensive back bone and even the offence wasn't to impressive.
V2
Version 1 of the team was more fragile than an emo kid so I brought in a specially defensive Heatran and a Vrizion. Infernape took fire attacks like a little girl so I brought in a specially deffensive Heatran who completly shrugs them off. I wasn't running a deffensive Virzion, but it has much better natural bulk then Breloom and along with a better deffensive move pool. This version was decent but it still lacked the offense I wanted, plus their were some top threats that weren't covered.
V3
I saw huge weaknesses to top threats like Tyranitar and Latios. Since those two were so common I had to find a way to deal with them. Bulky SD Scizor was the perfect counter to both of them. Scizor also helped with my lack of physical attackers, so the Blissey problem wasn't as bad. I also added a CM Latias. It just filled it's role much better then Dragonite with her natural bulk. This team saw good sucess and consistancy, but when I got higher up on the ladder I was getting stomed by higher level weather teams :(
V4
This was the phase of team building influenced by Heist, Governator and Ironbullet93. All three of them felt that Scizor was the weak link and they were right. IronBullet93 made a great recommendation in Tyranitar. With Tyranitar I can deal with all the threats that Scizor could. Tyanitar also added a Special wall, something my team was lacking off. Tyranitar also gave me benificial weather so the threat of Drizzle/Sun teams were greatly reduced. The new additions brought big Water and Ground weakness. With Tyranitar and Latios, I no longer needed a Fire immunity so Skarmory was added over Heatran for the physical bulk and to cover up some weaknesses. We essentially overhauled half the team in one phase. This was obviously the most sucessful variant of the team as I was able to get a decent ranking with it. Ok, now let's have a closer look at the team.
Closer Look:
Rotom-W @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 252 Spe / 252 SpA / 4 HP
Timid nature (+Spe, -Atk)
-Volt Switch
-Hydro Pump
-Trick
-Hidden Power [Fire]
This hyper washing machine thing is awsome, he's found a spot on a lot of my teams thanks to his slew of resistances. I usually lead with Rotom unless a better oppourtunity presents itself. Rotom is a pretty nifty lead since I have options. I can Trick a scarf if their lead is threatening or i can just Volt Switch the hell out of their. I generally like to keep Rotoms Scarf on until all the opponents fast guys are out of the way. Rotoms ultimate function is to do consistant damage throughout the battle with a Scarfed Volt Switch. Rotom-W can take or is immune to SE hits for most of my team. With all of Rotoms resistaneces he can take a hit for a teamate then hit it back with a powerful dual STAB move. With Choice Scarf and Volt Switch, Rotom outspeeds a lot and can be an effective revenge killer and scout. Volt Switch is a basic STAB move that hits bulky waters that can give my team problems. Volt Switch also provides valuble scouting. Hydro Pump is Rotom-W's strongest attack that allows Rotom-W to wreck most Ground-types trying to come in for free on Volt Switch. Trick lets Rotom-W cripple special walls, especially those fatass hoes Blissey and Chansey, who would otherwise completely wall this set and some of my team. Trick doesn't become useless after the first use , I can also use it to shuffle my opponents items around. For example I could Trick my Scarf and get lefties and on the next turn I could Trick those lefties and get Choice Specs or something. Hidden Power Fire is to handle Grass and and those annoying Steel-types like Virizion or Ferrothorn.
Lucario (M) @ Life Orb
Trait: Inner Focus
EVs: 252 Spe / 252 Atk / 4 HP
Adamant nature (+Atk, -Spe)
- Swords Dance
- Close Combat
- Ice Punch
- Extreme Speed
Here's the star of the show, Lucario [/lame rhyme]. Thanks to multiple rates, I went back to testing SD Lucario and it turns out it works amazing with the new aditions. Every team has a starting point and Lucario is this teams. Lucario appreciates the Fire and Ground immunities/resistances that I've coupled him with. This means Lucario can be a threat for the entire game without having to worry about getting screwed over by Fire/Ground. Ferrothorn and Forretress are great set up bait for Lucario, allowing him to get to +6 eaisly. Swords Dance boosts Lucario's Attack to high levels, backed by his amazing strong moves. Close Combat serves as Lucario's main STAB move, capable of OHKOing physically defensive Skarmory after a Swords Dance. With ExtremeSpeed's boost to +2 priority, Lucario can now outspeed all other offensive priority moves except for Fake Out. This means that he no longer has to worry about Pokemon that use Mach Punch or Vacuum Wave as long as he can KO them with ExtremeSpeed. Finally, Ice Punch hits Gliscor and the 3 genies Pokemon on the switch in. Jellicent is the only Pokemon in OU that can fully wall this thing. I like to bring in Lucario late game, after Skarmory sets up Spikes, Tyranitar sets up rocks and Tyranitars sandstorm is up to make the sweeping job a bit easier. Lucario is definitley an underated Pokemon in the metagame and I'm surpirsed it doesn't get more usage. I've been told a lot of times just to ditch Luke for Excadrill, but Lucario has powerful priority and unprepared teams can be swept easily. Lucario and Latias easily form the best offensive duo I've ever used. They cover each others weaknesses perfectly.*
Tyranitar (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Sandstream
EVs: 252 HP / 148 SpA / 108 SpD
Sassy nature (+SpD, -Spe)
-Stealth Rock
-Pursuit
-Rockslide
-Fire Blast
The boss himself. Tyranitar has found a spot on the majority of my 5th gen teams, and he managed to find a spot on this one. I was originally running ScarfTar, but I just decided to make Rotom the Scarfer and Tyranitar the deffensive guy. Tyranitar is definitly one of the more versitile guys out there. He fills in many roles on my team, including weather inducer, special wall Stealth Rock support, and mixed attacker. He also gives me benificial weather which is extremely important in this metagame that rarely sees clear skies. He keeps top threats, Latios and Reuniclus in line for my team. Tyranitar and Skarmory work in tandem. They both cover up each others weaker deffensive side and they each have entry hazards to contribute. I'm running the standard MixTar set. I shuffled around the EVs a bit, but I couldn't find anything that works better then this spread. Pursuit is the most reliable STAB, as it does incredible damage to Ghost- and Psychic-types trying to switch out. Fire Blast combines with Pursuit nicely, hitting common Steel-types such as Ferrothorn, Skarmory, and Foretress. Rockslide is a great coverage and STAB move that allows me to take out Volcarona and other Fire Types Tyranitar can take a hit from. The spread given is generally bulkier to sponge special attacks in conjunction with the Sandstorm boost and a + nature. Tyranitar's Stealth Rocks and Sandstorm are key to setting up a Lucario sweep. I only ever lead with Tyranitar if I'm seeing a sun team even with SpA investment ,Energy Ball and HP Fighting, Nintales still loses to Tyranitar.
Latias (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Spe / 4 Def
Timid nature (+Spe, -Atk)
-Dragon Pulse
-Calm Mind
-Recovery
-Roar
After multiple suggestions from you guys, I replaced Latios with Latias to have insurance against rain and sun team sweepers. It's hard to believe the Soul Sister found herself at the bottom of OU usage in May, this thing is such a beast. This set in particular is an amazing fit for this team. I have a lot of ways to eliminate steel types on this team so Latias is free so spam Dragon Pulse after set up. Latias is the first part of an amazing deffensive combo of Skarmory and Latias. They cover up each others weaknesses perfectly. Latias can come come in on resisted or neutral attacks and taking little damage thanks to her huge base 130 Special Defense. After taking a hit Latias sets up with Calm Mind, which gives Dragon Pulse tremendous power after two or three boosts while giving Blissey a run for her money on the specially deffensive side. Recover further enhances her durability, restoring half of her health in a single turn. Leftovers is also a nice boost, giving her additional recovery while negating damage from Tyranitars sandstorm. Dragon Pulse is Latias's main attack, providing solid power before boosting while hitting incredibly hard after Calm Mind. Roar is for phazing the opponent and racking up Spikes and Stealth Rock damage, while stopping setup sweepers as well. It also scares away Pokemon trying to land status on her. The given EV spread is fairly straight forward, she has maximum HP EVs to increase her overall bulkiness and maximum Speed are to make Latias as fast as possible, which can be a big help after several Calm Minds, when most defensive buffs won't exactly be necessary. This spread gives Latias great late game sweeping potenial.
Gliscor (M) @ Toxic Orb
Trait: Poison Heal
EVs: 252 HP / 184 Def / 72 Spe
Impish nature (+Def, -Spe)
-Swords Dance
-Earthquake
-Ice Fang
-Taunt
Ah, the buff Zubat known as Gliscor. He's definitley one of my favorites in gen 5 thanks to his new DW ability Poison Heal. Poison Heal heals twice as much as lefties in case you didn't know. Poison Heal also makes Gliscor immune to Burn and Sleep (along with paralysis), making him even more devistating. Gliscors the guy I got to if the opponent is attempting to spread status. This guy is the glue to the team, being able to shift mommentum in my favour. Gliscor is the perfect partner to Lucario becuse of his immunity to Ground and resistance to Fighting. Gliscors job isnt only taking hits, he can also dish them out at very powerful levels after a couple of SDs. Gliscors item Toxic Orb comes in handy against those annoying Trick leads. I'm running the basic set. Swords Dance allows Gliscor to boost its Attack to high levels in just one turn, and its great natural bulk makes it easy to shrug off hits as Gliscor is setting up. Conkelderp really intimidates Lucario and Tyranitar so Gliscor steps up. Gliscor is just a nice counter to most sandstorm cores in general. Gliscor's utiliy doesn't end there. Gliscor can also function as an effective stall breaker with Taunt and his status immunity. Although I've been switching back and fourth between Toxic just to have a form of status on the team. Earthquake is Gliscor's priamary STAB attack. It has some nice power behind it after a Swords Dance. Ice Fang hits Levitate users and Flying-types who are immune to Earthquake, and gives nice overall coverage alongside Earthquake. Taunt is a standard support move for Gliscor to prevent Pokemon such as Swords Dance Scizor from setting up alongside him, and also to stop Skarmory and Hippowdon from phazing with Whirlwind and Roar. I'm using the the standard EV spread is used to outspeed max speed Tyranitar and all Adamant Breloom, while still maintaining Gliscor's amazing physical bulk to counter Excadrill, Conkeldurr and sandstorm cores.
Skarmory (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: Sturdy
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 Spe
Impish nature (+Def, -Spe)
-Whirlwind
-Spikes
-Roost
-Brave Bird
Skarmory was a Pokemon I was a bit iffy about in building this team since I don't normaly run pure wall type Pokemon. I either use bulky offensive Pokemon or all out sweepers, but Skarmory was such a great fit for this team. Skarmory is my allternate lead if Rotom seems out matched on the team preveiw. This Skarmory does what any other Skarmory does since he was introduced. It sets up entry hazards, phazes and heals up (with the ocassional Brave Bird). Using Roost can wear out Life Orb users while keeping Skarmory at high health. Whirlwin prevents Pokemon such as Bulk Up Conkelderp from setting up. It also inflicts passive damage from the opponent landing on Spikes or Tyranitars Rocks. Running Spikes without a spin blocker is risky and setting up 3 layers of Spikes could just end up as wasted turns, but the number of spinnners has greatly reduced since gen 4 in my opinion. People are more worried about killing stuff. Brave Bird ties the moveset together nicely with it being a high Base Power STAB move that handles threats nicely especially Fighting-types such as Conkelderp and Scrafty. Leftovers gives Skarmory recovery while phazing. Skarmory has a nice partner ship with Gliscor since it can switch into most Fighting-types with relative ease and is one of the better ways to take down Excadrill. Skarmory's Spikes and Tyranitars Stealth Rocks work great in tandem with the sandstorm, they slowly wear down the opponents team to the point were a Lucario sweep is easy.
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Rotom-W @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 252 Spe / 252 SpA / 4 HP
Timid nature (+Spe, -Atk)
-Volt Switch
-Hydro Pump
-Trick
-Hidden Power [Fire]
Lucario (M) @ Life Orb
Trait: Inner Focus
EVs: 252 Spe / 252 Spa / 4 HP
Adamant nature (+Atk, -Spe)
-Swords Dance
-Extreme Speed
-Close Combat
-Ice Punch
Tyranitar (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Sandstream
EVs: 252 HP / 160 SpA / 96 SpD
Sassy nature (+SpA -Spe)
-Stealth Rock
-Pursuit
-Ice Beam
-Fire Blast
Latias (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: Levitate
EVs: HP SpA / 252 Spe / 4 Def
Timid nature (+Spe, -Atk)
-Dragon Pulse
-Calm Mind
-Recovery
-Roar
Gliscor (M) @ Toxic Orb
Trait: Poison Heal
EVs: 252 HP / 184 Def / 72 Spe
Impish nature (+Def, -Spe)
-Swords Dance
-Earthquake
-Ice Fang
-Taunt
Skarmory (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: Sturdy
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 Spe
Impish nature (+Def, -Spe)
-Whirlwind
-Spikes
-Roost
-Brave BirdConclusion:
Well that's about it. I hope you enjoyed this RMT. Go ahead and rate, hate or steal the team. Also, even though I've extensivly tested this team, I'm open to any suggestions for change because I'm sure there are people here that know a lot more than I do. A threat list will be on a sperate post (hit pic limit :/). I'm working on a RMT for my hyper offensive team and I recently finished a pretty legit sun team so you can look foward to seeing those. Ok piece out until the rates!
Final Look:
