Azelf in OU

Teams

Hey guys looking for any opinions on my team. I wanted to build a team around nasty plot Azelf as it is a pretty big threat, even in OU, once you take out most scarfers. It has done OK in the matches I have played although it struggles against Toxicroak. I feel like I should have my own scarf user as well although I'm not sure what.

Also this is my first post here so go easy on me :).

2Q==

2Q==


Azelf @ Life Orb
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
Nasty Plot
Psychic/Psyshock
HP Fighting
Flamethrower/Fire Blast

I like Azelf so I have tried to make a viable set and team based around it. Most people expect the stealth rock/u-turn variant or are unsure what it does so it is pretty safe to set up a nasty plot as long as you get it in on the right Poke. Psychic/Psyshock are the obvious STAB, Flamethrower provides good coverage and HP Fighting is to OHKO common switch-ins like T-tar after a nasty plot, and will do 34-40% to max SPDef Blissey (also after +2).


9k=
Z



Tyranitar @ Leftovers
Trait: Sand Stream
EVs: 252HP / 252Atk / 4SpA
Adamant/Naughty Nature
Crunch
Pursuit
Stone Edge
Ice Beam

Tyranitar gets a place on the team as residual damage is always important to stop things like Tentacruel and Jellicent which I would otherwise have trouble dealing with. The moveset is pretty standard, Stone Edge is for Volcorona, Ice Beam for dragons/Landorus. Crunch and Pursuit are necessary to take care of Psychic types that Azelf struggles with. Adamant or naughty nature depending on whether you want the extra ice beam power and don't mind the drop in SpDef.


images



Scizor @ Lum Berry/Occa Berry/Leftovers
Trait: Technician
EVs: 40HP / 252Atk / 216Spe
Jolly Nature
Swords Dance
Bug Bite
Bullet Punch
Superpower

Scizor was also a fairly straightforward choice as it helps take care of the psychics Azelf can't. Lum/Occa Berry are for bluffing a band, EV's are to outspeed incoming Magnezone's (except scarfed variant) that think you are locked into bug bite or bp and immediately KO with superpower (after some hazards damage or a SD if they are a bulkier variant, so this is a risk).


2Q==
9k=



Celebi @ Leftovers/Life Orb
Trait: Natural Cure
EVs: 252HP / 192SDef / 64Spe
Calm Nature
U-turn
Giga Drain
Psychic
Recover

Celebi is the special tank on this team and also important as it helps counter rain teams which was a problem I had with the first team I had. The speed EV's are to escape Gothitelle before they can get a hit off on Celebi and hit it with a super effective u-turn. Life orb is probably the better option in this case as two methods of recovery are available so Celebi already has decent survivability. It can also take on Toxicroak 1v1 relatively well so it is important to keep it healthy against teams packing a Celebi.


Z
Z



Donphan @ Leftovers
Trait: Sturdy
EVs: 252HP / 252Def / 4Atk
Impish Nature
Ice Shard
Earthquake
Rapid Spin
Stealth Rock

Donphan earns a spot as it packs the ice shard to help revenge killing dragons and spinning to keep everything healthy. I could probably run Forretress instead (and replace Ferrothorn) however in testing the team Donphan seems to fit a lot better. Other than that it is a pretty standard set.


Z
Z
Z



Ferrothorn @ Leftovers
Trait: Iron Barbs
EVs: 252HP / 252Def / 4SpD
Relaxed Nature
Spikes
Leech Seed
Power Whip
Gyro Ball

Nice, standard Ferrothorn. I usually run a few extra SpDef EVs to tank a hit from Specs Toed and hit back with a leech seed/power whip, depending on its health. It earns a spot on the team as a fairly decent pivot switch and works decently with Donphan and Celebi.


Sorry if I haven't really described everything properly, basically the team is set up to stall out other teams threats with sand/the defensive core of Celebi/Donphan/Ferrothorn. T-tar and Scizor get rid of things like Jellicent, Volcorona (unless I miss Stone Edge) and any psychic types

So yer, there is my team, any suggestions, etc. would be appreciated :) thanks.
 
Your team seems good but a major flaw is that donphan. Though your team would not appreciate hazards they don't suffer to greatly. I would run this set instead.
Garchomp@Life orb
Trait: Rough skin
Swords dance
Outrage
Earthquake
Stone edge/ Rock slide
Nature: Adamant Evs: 252ATK/4DEF/252SpE
You kind of need a physical sweeper other than scizor because its more of a novelty than a threat.
 
I do agree that I need a good physical sweeper, but I think it needs to be scarfed, to remove threats like Thundurus-T and that otherwise get to my team (if I get rid of the Donphan).

Maybe scarf Garchomp would be OK, outspeeds most of the meta barring a few, which the rest of my team handles fairly well barring scarf Infernape but I can play around it depending what it is locked into.
 
Hello there! This is a pretty cool team, and I have experience with using Nasty Plot Azelf, a great sweeper, in UU. However, I have never tried it in OU. Looking over your team, I can see a huge weakness to Fire. Your Ttar is the only thing resisting it, but it is not bulky at all and can be defeated relatively easily. Thus, Sun teams can absolutely wreck you. Also, looking at your pokemon, I noticed that none of your Pokemon are weak to Stealth Rock, which makes Donphan unnecessary. Donphan is extremely weak to Specially oriented attacks, and most Fire moves will take it out. Your defensive core is not a strong one, as it does not have great synergy together. Two of them are once again weak to Fire, and the other unable to wall it. Flying type moves also pose a problem, with Ttar being once again the only resist to them. Thus, I have several changes I propose: Firstly, I suggest Landorus-T > Donphan. Why, you may ask. Landorus-T has a trait very useful for your type of team. It sports a huge 145 base attack stat, with excellent bulk, decent Speed, and Intimidate. These traits allow it to be a solid absorber of Fighting-type attacks. The set I would run is as follows:

Landorus-T @Leftovers
Trait: Intimidate
EVs: 200 HP / 64 Atk / 244 Def
Nature: Adamant
-Stealth Rock
-U-turn
-Earthquake
-Stone Edge

This set provides your team with the necessary Rocks, but acts as a pivot by gaining momentum for you. U-turn is a great scouting move and keeps your momentum, while Earthquake and Stone Edge give you excellent coverage, hitting hard off that massive attack stat. This helps damage the opposing team a lot. Now with this addition, you now find yourself massively weak to Ice types in general, more than you were with merely Donphan. Also, Ferrothorn and Celebi together both have a Flying and Ice type neutrality and weakness respectively. To solve this, I propose Jirachi > Ferrothorn. I suggest the Scarf set as it provides you with yet another U-turn user, but also a Scarfer, which vitally revenges many threats or flinchaxes the rest to the ground with Iron Head. It also has excellent bulk, allowing it to take Ice Beams with ease and then KOing.

Jirachi @Choice Scarf
Trait: Serene Grace
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Nature: Jolly
-Iron Head
-Ice Punch
-Fire Punch
-U-turn

Now, your Celebi is excellent, adds on to this U-turn core that wears down the opponent greatly. To make it a premier special wall, run Leftovers > Life Orb and remove the Speed EVs, because Gothitelle cannot do anything to a specially defensive set without boosts. Run the standard 252 HP / 236 SpD / 20 Spe to have great defense while outspeeding anything relevant. Looking at your Ttar set, it seems a bit strange. I would propose in here to run the defensive support set, as yours looks like a cross between a CB and an Expert Belt Ttar. The support set allows it to tank special attacks like a boss and also allows it to be more durable, making it easier to last through a weather war.

Tyranitar @Leftovers
Trait: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 SpD
Nature: Sassy
-Pursuit
-Crunch
-Fire Blast
-Ice Beam/Stone Edge/Superpower

For your Scizor, if you are trying to bluff a Choice set, definitely run U-turn over Bug Bite. Bug Bite is a red flag that shows to your opponent you are running a set-up set, while U-turn will not only help the U-turn core out a lot, but will completely fool the opponent into thinking it is a Banded or Scarfed set. Well, that was a lot of rating, I know I changed a lot, but I feel once those edits are made, your team will be very successful defensively thanks to stronger synergy and a good U-turn core. Hope I helped and good luck!

Tl:dr
Landorus T over Donphan
ScarfRachi over Ferrothorn
Lefties over LO on Celebi
SpD set on TTar
U-turn over Bug Bite on Scizor
 
Thanks for the help :).

The only problem I see with that is it still leaves me very weak to fire. I am considering a bulky Rotom-W or Heatran instead of the Jirachi. I could probably run a scarf on the Landorus in place of the scarf rachi.
 
Hey man, cool team. Since you are basing this team around an Azelf sweep I think instead of Donphan you should be using an Offensive Landorus-I. This really lets your team hit hard and not give the opposing team any time to react, on top of being a solid fighting resist. I'd go with a u-turn set to lure in Azelf counters like Lati@s and Jellicent and trap them with ttar. You can also use it as an offensive sr setter to get rocks as you force a switch, since Donphan was your sr setter.

Landorus-T (Landorus) (M) @ Life Orb
Trait: Sheer Force
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Naive Nature (+Spd, -SDef)
- U-turn
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Hidden Power [Ice]

I also feel like Ferrothorn is rather out of place. I know it sets down hazards but I really feel like this team shouldnt be wasting time setting up hazards (other than SR of course) so I recommend changing it to something that can act as a revenge killer and also help with other weathers. I think Keldeo would work well because it can take fire / water attacks as well as things like Scizor Bullet Punches; it also has great synergy with Tyranitar and U-turn Landorus.

Keldeo @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Justified
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Secret Sword
- Hydro Pump
- Icy Wind
- Hidden Power [Rock]

This team is fairly weak to Gyarados and Volcarona so I think HP Rock should be used so you have a way to revenge them.

I'd like to now suggest a Choice Band Tyranitar set over your current mixed version as it can effectively trap the counters of Landorus, Azelf, , Keldeo, and Scizor whilst being a very effective wallbreaker.

Tyranitar (M) @ Choice Band
Trait: Sand Stream
EVs: 8 HP / 240 Atk / 144 SDef / 116 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Stone Edge
- Superpower
- Crunch
- Pursuit

This team is still somewhat bothered by sun sweepers like Volcarona and Venusaur so I recommend changing your Scizor set to a Flying Gem Acrobatics set to lure them in (especially Volcarona) and kill them with an unexpected Acrobatics. I also recommend running U-Turn so you can u-turn out on things that might set up on you like Jellicent or Skarmory, giving you momentum and potentially eliminating even more Scizor counters with ttar.

Scizor (M) @ Flying Gem
Trait: Technician
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Swords Dance
- Bullet Punch
- U-turn
- Acrobatics

Another minor change would be to run a Baton Pass over U-turn on Celebi so Tyranitar can't trap you with pursuit as well as run a bulkier spread.

Celebi @ Leftovers
Trait: Natural Cure
EVs: 220 HP / 4 SAtk / 252 SDef / 32 Spd
Calm Nature (+SDef, -Atk)
- Giga Drain
- Baton Pass
- Psychic
- Recover
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top