BOPDMS and Friends
BOPDMS (pronounced Bopped Ems) is the creation of a user with the tag "Washed Laundry." I ended up using it in my team and it became the star of the show. I wish to give credit where credit is due.
Hi. I'm a competitive player who's been around for awhile and has recently had the joy of experiencing this period at the start of a new meta where innovation is everywhere. I've reached a small hitch, however, in that I have a lack of feedback. According to results, this team is grand, but I still feel like there's something more I can do. Possibly because I reached this static state too quickly. Anyway, allow me to walk you through the team building process, explain the individual Pokemon more in-depth, and run through the general team strategy.
First off, here's the final line-up:
Here's the down and dirty stats: http://pastebin.com/ajN08fmz
Teambuilding Process:
This team started with my ever present love of Azumarill. I was going to build a team based around using him to his fullest, so he was the first to go on the team.
The next choice was almost as easy. Having played Azumarill ever since it got Huge Power, I knew from experience how powerful a friend Scizor was, so I went ahead and included him.
After that, I added Heatran, working under the assumption that I needed something to sponge Electric and Poison type attacks for Azumarill and Fire type attacks for Scizor. In general, having his specially defensive bulk makes it easy to build the team with his great typing. I already had 2/3rds of a traditional Fire-Water-Grass core and Heatran was an easy place to stick my rocks. At least for the time being, I included him.
I did a fair amount of thinking on what I wanted this team to do after adding Heatran. Eventually I decided to try and maximize Azumarill's wallbreaking potential by adding momentum to the team. This way, I could get Azumarill into play during times I was free to make the read for the wallbreak. That's cutting a long part of the story out because I wondered about that for awhile before coming to the conclusion of wanting a highly mobile momentum core. I went with Rotom-W+Lando-T because of how well they work with each other to create openings.
Now, I wanted to complete my Fire-Water-Grass core, but after further analysis, I concluded it wasn't worth it. These 5 cover their own weaknesses very well. In fact, the last 4 (Scizor, Rotom-W, Lando-T, and Heatran) are a super solid defensive core in and of themselves. When I abandoned that idea, I realized I wanted another strong attacker past Azumarill and that my team was going to be switching a lot. Since it was going to be switching so much, I first looked at Starmie, but it was too fragile. It brought sweeping presence to some degree, which I needed, but it wasn't going to be getting off more than two rapid spins in one game, which I considered important. That was when my friend recommended running his Bulky Offensive Pivot Defog Mega Scizor to fill the spot. I took him on his offer and added Gyrados to bring the threat of a sweep. The team was then finished aside from a few minor changes.
Individual Pokemon Analysis:
Azumarill (F) @ Choice Band
Ability: Huge Power
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 HP / 4 SDef
Adamant Nature
- Aqua Jet
- Superpower
- Play Rough
- Waterfall
The very simple choice band set. You run a priority move to revenge kill and carry the coverage to hit just about everything in the meta very hard on a read to the switch. The only things in OU that truly wall it to my knowledge are Amoongus and MegaVenusaur.
Scizor @ Scizorite
Ability: Technician
EVs: 40 Atk / 252 HP / 216 SDef
Adamant Nature
- Bullet Punch
- U-turn
- Defog
- Roost
The star. BOPDMS runs Defog to remove hazards rather than Rapid Spin. Generally inferior, it gets rid of both screens and your hazards which Rapid Spin left alone. However, he has a major advantage over the spinners currently in the meta: he is bulky. His impressive defenses (especially in Mega Form) and typing make him able to come in and remove hazards multiple times in the game while still allowing for decent damage from Bullet Punch and U-Turn. Unlike other Defog users, he maintains momentum through Defogging with his U-turn.
NOTE: The Scizor EVs are still a work in progress and could change.
Heatran @ Leftovers
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 SDef / 248 HP / 8 SAtk
Calm Nature
- Lava Plume
- Earth Power
- Roar
- Stealth Rock
Specially defensive Heatran. He originally had Protect rather than rocks, but too many dead turns led to me swapping that out with Lando. His typing and stats allow him to sponge hits well and he brings important tools like Stealth Rocks and phasing to this team. An easy switch off of a turn.
Rotom-Wash @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 232 SDef / 248 HP / 28 SAtk
Calm Nature
- Hydro Pump
- Volt Switch
- Will-O-Wisp
- Pain Split
Your second special wall and also your second turn pokemon. He is a special attacker that hits on water and electric STABs which can be important to keep around. He is one of the pokemon I find myself losing last in battles.
Landorus-Therian (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 248 HP / 168 Def / 92 Spd
Naive Nature
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- U-turn
- Hidden Power [Ice]
This Pokemon is your physical wall. With intimidate, he can take most physical hits in OU. Along with Scizor and Rotom he forms a strong momentum based core. Note that he is a fast U-turn, which is lovery to have alongside the two slower turns. He runs an extra 4 speed over standard and carries HP Ice to deal with himself.
Gyarados @ Leftovers
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 168 Spd / 248 Atk / 88 HP / 4 Def
Jolly Nature
- Waterfall
- Earthquake
- Taunt
- Dragon Dance
Gyarados is the weapon. He sits in the back and waits until charging in to sweep the team. Taunt is my set-up move of choice over Sub because of its added utility and multiple possible DD opportunities.
General Strategy:
Your general plan is simple. You get Azumarill in using the switches provided from your four middle mons and punches a hole built for Gyarados to plow through. You accomplish this with your plethora of turning moves and your Defog. Every time you successfully remove their hazards, you get a new chance to read them when they try to replace them. And that's not that difficult with Scior's momentum advantage after first Defogging.
Anyway, sorry for cutting it short near the end, but this man is tired. Any help would be appreciated. I'm especially looking for a Gyarados replacement to try.
