ORAS OU First RMT (based around Roserade)

[FairyTurtwig]

Hi! This is my first proper competitive team and although I'm finding that I'm winning more than I'm losing I feel it can definitely be improved on. It was built around Roserade.

Roserade @ Life Orb
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 SpA / 252 Spe / 4 SpD
Timid Nature
- Toxic Spikes
- Sludge Bomb
- Leaf Storm
- Sleep Powder

Basic Roserade set. Chose Roserade simply because I love it and wanted to build a viable team based around it. She's great at both setting hazards and attacking. Toxic Spikes is excellent unless I'm against a team of fliers/poison types. Sleep Powder is really useful especially on expected switch-ins. Max SpA means she hits really hard even when it's not super effective.

Lopunny @ Lopunnite
Ability: Scrappy
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 Spe / 4 Def
Jolly Nature
- High Jump Kick
- Return
- Fake Out
- Ice Punch

Excellent attacker and can easily OHKO or 2HKO most Pokemon she's up against. I considered switching Jolly for Adamant but I don't think the gain in attack is enough to justify the loss in speed. Ice Punch is really useful and lets Lopunny take on threats like Landorus-T and Garchomp.

Jirachi @ Leftovers
Ability: Serene Grace
EVs: 252 HP / 224 SpD / 32 Spe
Careful Nature
- Iron Head
- Toxic
- Wish
- Protect

I picked Jirachi because I wanted a more defensive Pokemon, as both Roserade and Lopunny are very frail. Super useful for inflicting Toxic on opponents if Roserade has fainted or is unable to come in. Wish/Iron Head/Protect combo makes Jirachi pretty much unstoppable if it outspeeds its opponent and Serene Grace works its magic every time. Wish also really helps my team heal, which it desperately needs.

Landorus-Therian @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 Spe / 4 Def
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- Knock Off
- U-turn

Chose Lando so I could combat Charizard and Heatran much more effectively. My pivot and I've also found him useful as a wallbreaker. Choice Scarf + full Speed EVs + Jolly mean he outspeeds pretty much everyone. Stone Edge is an excellent move for taking down Pokemon like Talonflame, who my team can struggle with otherwise.

Manaphy @ Lum Berry
Ability: Hydration
EVs: 252 SpA / 160 Spe / 96 HP
Timid Nature
- Tail Glow
- Surf
- Ice Beam
- Hidden Power Fire

Chose Manaphy because I needed a good Special Attacker. Manaphy can handle a lot of threats my team struggle with due to its wider movepool - Surf takes care of Fire-types, Ice Beam handles Garchomp, Latios and Latias, Landorus-T, and Hidden Power Fire can handle Ferrothorn and Bisharp. However I find Togekiss does a better job at handling them, so I'm tempted to switch to Energy Ball. Timid Nature boosts speed so Manaphy can hopefully get the first turn against most threats.

Togekiss @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Serene Grace
EVs: 252 HP / 176 Spe / 76 Def / 4 SpD
Timid Nature
- Nasty Plot
- Air Slash
- Fire Blast
- Roost

Togekiss was picked because of its strong Fairy-typing and potential for self-healing. Really good at taking out already weakened opponents especially with a Nasty Plot. Roost can be used on expected switch ins to keep Togekiss healthy, which greatly extendes her usefulness. Fire Blast often takes people by surprise - a lot of times Togekiss has been able to OHKO opponents who were switched in.

Conclusion
The team can handle quite a lot and I find that when it loses it's mostly a close loss rather than all out defeat. My most major threat is Mega Gyarados, who I have no reliable counter for. Jirachi can try to use Toxic, but unless Gyarados is the last Pokemon it can easily be switched out until there's less of my team to get through. Bisharp can cause problems too, as although I have a few counters it's often faster than mine and can cause a lot of damage. Any advice for improvements to the team would be much appreciated, thanks!

 

[MaChew94]

Hey, pretty cool looking team! I've got a few nit picks that might help you:

Firstly, you mentioned you're weak to M-Gyarados. Most counters for this guy are grass types, and you actually do pretty well with roserade/lopunny, but if you're still struggling (because of D-dance or whatever) then running an Azumarril set can counter both forms of Gyarados, Heatran, both forms of Charizard (waterfall does 70% damage to Char-Y and you can finish with aqua jet) and Talonflame, who you also said you were having trouble with, reliably OHKOing the latter and a mixture of ohko and 2hkos on the rest. There are two sets you can run on Azu; my personal favourite is the assault vest one, but you can also run belly drum for a win con if you wanted to. I'd replace Manaphy with it; although you said you needed a Sp. attacker, you have Togekiss and Roserade, and Azumarill outclasses Manaphy in regards to what you're weak to, I feel. You'd lose ice moves, but gain dragon control in the way of fairies. Azumarill also gives you a lovely bisharp counter if you run superpower on the set, tanking sucker punch and ohkoing. Finally, it comes with a really nice steel resist (or rather, neutral damage) effectively carrying 0 drawbacks if you decide to replace manaphy, except a poison weakness. That's so worth it, imo.

The next nit pick is to change Fire blast < Flamethrower on Togekiss; this is your ONLY fire move, and alongside Landorus is your only check to mega Metagross, who can faceroll your team if Lando dies. Since you're already running nasty plot, you don't need the damage, and you'd find far more use from reliability I feel; the damage increase is pretty negligible when both result in an ohko after a Nasty plot.

Since (if you decide to run it) Azumarill becomes your bird spam counter (watch out for mega pinsir, though - switch to Togekiss asap) you won't need to run stone edge on Landorus; even if Azu falls, your other mons can take them down with a mixture of their moves. Possibly running Stealth rock over stone edge gives you the opportunity for bonus hazards, but that's really scraping the barrel.

TL, DR;

Azumarill > Manaphy
Flamethrower > fire blast on Togekiss
Stealth rock > stone egde on Lando-T.

sets

azumarill @ assault vest
Ability: Huge power
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Att / 8 SpD
Adamant nature
- Waterfall
- aqua jet
- play rough
- superpower

This gives you massive dragon/dark/fire/ground control, tanking a really surprising amount and dealing so much damage. If you wanted to try the belly drum set:

azumarill @ sitrus berry
Ability: Huge power
EVs: 92 HP / 252 Att / 164 Spe
Adamant nature
- Belly Drum
- aqua jet
- play rough
- superpower

Sitrus berry puts it at 75% health after a belly drum, and from there, sweep with +6 aqua jet or play rough, using the speed you have to try and get round your opponents. I've seen azumarill's 6-0 teams before. It's terrifying.

Togekiss @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Serene Grace
EVs: 252 HP / 176 Spe / 76 Def / 4 SpD
Timid Nature
- Nasty Plot
- Air Slash
- Fire Blast Flamethrower
- Roost

Landorus-Therian @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 Spe / 4 Def
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge Stealth rock
- Knock Off
- U-turn

That's it from me, hope I could help. Happy playing!

 

[celes]

Hey FairyTurtwig, I like the team. M-Lopunny is really amazing with Toxic Spikes support.

One thing I noticed about your team is that Jolly Zard X destroys your team at +1 with very little opposition. The most you can do is force 50/50s with your M-Lopunny as you use Fake Out on it as to whether you High Jump Kick on a potential Roost, or if you switch out as it attacks you. To help with this, and to give you a move sound answer to Talonflame which threatens you quite a bit, I think you should run Bulky Landorus-T > Choice Scarf Landorus-T. This also allows you to check Sand Rush Excadrill better, which you have very little counterplay against, and provides you with a Stealth Rock user, which is important for every competitive build.

Next, I think you should run Subsitute + Toxic Jirachi > Wish Jirachi to lure in and rack up damage on Hippowdon so it's easier for M-Lopunny to break through it, as well as lure in Ferrothorn and be able to wear it down with Fire Punch damage to make Manaphy's life easier. You do seem to like Wish on Jirachi a lot, but I think this change can be very helpful for you.

With Fire Punch on Jirachi, Hidden Power Fire isn't necessary on Manaphy. This is your main way of breaking stall, but it can't break through stall staples such as Unaware Clefable and Chansey, so I think you should run Rain Dance > Hidden Power Fire on Manaphy to be able to break through them and semi-stall/stall in general much easier. This also forces Gothitelle to sack itself and Trick you to prevent a sweep, which give massive leeway for Nasty Plot Togekiss to continue to break through teams. Also, with Rain Dance you don't need Lum Berry anymore, so you can run Leftovers for a recovery option.

Seeing as though you have a Jirachi and Roserade, running Fire Blast on your Togekiss just adds to your Heatran weakness. So i think you should run Aura Sphere > Flamethrower to be able to hit Heatran, while still being able to hit Ferrothorn hard. This also prevents you from being walled by Tyranitar, plus Flying + Fighting coverage is extremely solid.

Lastly, seeing as though your main Azumarill and Keldeo switch-in is Roserade, I think you should run more bulk on it. Roserade with no bulk or Rest is very easy for a Keldeo to wear down, and if Roserade goes down then it can virtually get a kill every time it comes in. To help mitigate this, I think you should run Max HP investment on Roserade, as well as Synthesis or Rest > Sleep Powder to be able to consistently check Azumarill and Keldeo, and also be able to handle Thundurus better.

In short:

Bulky Landorus-T > Scarf Landorus-T

Substitute + Toxic Jirachi > Wish Jirachi

Rain Dance + Tail Glow Manaphy > Tail Glow + 3 Attacks Manaphy

Aura Sphere Togekiss > Fire Blast Togekiss

Max HP + Synthesis / Rest Roserade > Offensive Roserade

Sets

Roserade @ Black Sludge
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 248 HP / 8 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Giga Drain
- Sludge Bomb
- Toxic Spikes
- Synthesis / Rest

Jirachi @ Leftovers
Ability: Serene Grace
EVs: 252 HP / 140 SpD / 116 Spe
Careful Nature
- Toxic
- Substitute
- Iron Head
- Fire Punch

Landorus-Therian @ Leftovers
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 248 HP / 168 Def / 92 Spe
Impish Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- U-turn

Manaphy @ Leftovers
Ability: Hydration
EVs: 32 HP / 252 SpA / 224 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Tail Glow
- Rain Dance
- Psychic / Energy Ball
- Scald

Togekiss @ Leftovers
Ability: Serene Grace
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Nasty Plot
- Air Slash
- Aura Sphere
- Roost

Set Details

- I think Max Speed on Roserade is still helpful instead of a defensive spread since it allows you to outspeed and be able to get off a hit on Adamant / Modest Base 100s like M-Gardevoir. It also makes you more likely to be able to outspeed an opposing Manaphy. Rest is cool with Natural Cure since you can get back to full for free, but it can potentially grant your opponent a free turn. Synthesis is kinda weather reliant, but it's a bit more consistent than Rest since you don't need to switch out afterwards. The PP is pretty low though.

- The speed on Jirachi is for Base 70s such as Breloom and Bisharp, which allows you to Sub on Breloom before it can Spore, and Fire Punch a Bisharp before it can Knock Off. There's a bit extra speed on it opposing Pokemon that try to speed creep base 70s like Stallbreaker Mew and bulky Garchomp.

- The speed on Landorus-T is to outspeed standard Zapdos and Adamant Bisharp, the rest is just in bulk.

- The speed on Manaphy is to outspeed Jolly Zard X that speed creep max speed Scarf Kyurem-B, and the rest is in SpA and HP. Energy Ball can be used to hit bulky waters to help out M-Lopunny, but Psychic helps decimate M-Venusaur and Amoonguss that absorb your Toxic Spikes.

- Since you're running Aura Sphere, I went with max speed Togekiss > a bulky variant to be able to outspeed offensive Heatran and Aura Sphere them before they can Flash Cannon you, as well as Bisharp so they can't Iron Head you. You also get to Speed tie with Hoopa-U and hopefully be able to Air Slash them before they Gunk Shot you.

Hope i was able to help!