XY OU New Here, but I have a cool team..based around Gallade

[juliorain]

This is my first post here.... But whatever. I have been playing OU for a while competing casually with friends and am curious about how you think I will fare in an OU match and provide suggestions for improvement.

Now enough about me. Here is my team:

My original team started in XY with my Mega Gardevoir being a teamwrecker, and now that Gallade has recieved one, I decided to start there.

My teams are built around the premise of flexibility, that is, being able to adapt to any present team. To begin, I received a Ralts with perfect IVs through wonder trade and began my team:

Gallade @ Galladite

Adamant nature
Nature: whatever Gallade's mega is, otherwise justified...hehe
- Swords Dance
- Zen Headbutt
- Knock Off
- Drain Punch​

EVs = 252 Attack, 252 Speed, 4 Spd​

Because I recognize Gallade's fragility, I included drain punch as opposed to close combat. Knock Off was included for those pesky ghosts, and Zen Headbutt for additional coverage against poison types and other fighting types who can annoy him.

Swords dance should be an obvious choice....to make Gallade's ridiculous attack even more so.

To support him, I realized there were some major weaknesses in both Ghost and Flying typing, so then I added Tyranitar (but then later removed him, due to reasons I will address later). I chose instead to introduce Skarmory to my team to wreak some havoc with a defensive backbone.

Skarmory @RockyHelmet

Impish nature
Ability: Sturdy
-Roost
-Brave Bird
-Rock Slide Defog
-Stealth Rock

EVs = 252 HP, 252 Def, 4 SpD​

I originally had whirlwind, but I figured trolling the other wouldn't be fun and rock slide really does help counter flying types. Rock slide also has a chance of flinching the target (and making its moveset not Uber), however on the Smogon battling forums, found rock slide to be useless. I'll keep it ingame since there is rearely an opportunity for stealth rocks, but on here is is as popular as ever. Without defog, then by extension, my Volcarona is useless, so I'll make the concession to add it here.

Now with Gallade and Skarmory on my team, I also needed a special defense core. Looking around the OU metagame, (and with a helpful friend's suggestion), I came across Venusaur. A specially defensive set.

....I will work out the Ghost problem soon.

Venusaur @ Weakness Policy

Calm Nature
Ability: Overgrow (blech. couldn't get its hidden)
-Sludge Bomb
-Synthesis
-Giga Drain
-Earthquake

EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD​

The last is for an added punch, while the other three drive off Fairies (which is bad for Gallade), Water types and ground types while still remaining healthy. The added Weakness policy gives the other person a surprise and nailed a togekiss, and gardevoir and gerninja with it in the same battle.

With this.... I needed a special attacker, since Gallade is primarily physical.

So I remembered my BW OU team with a bulky Volcarona, and decided to give it a fair game. It would comfortably in my team.

Volcarona @ Focus Sash

Modest Nature
Ability: Flame body (YUSS!)
- Quiver Dance
- Bug Buzz
- Fire Blast
- Giga Drain

EVs = 72 HP 252 SpA 184 Spe​

Under the right situations, and with one quiver dance, I took 75% of an Arcanine's health with a bug buzz. This is a monster. I gave it a sash just in case if it was up against a ground/rock type or water/ground...then I can use giga drain and recover a shit ton of HP for a nice, evil surprise.

With this, the team needed another physical and special attacker now that the primary offense has been established. For the offense, I chose Garchomp intead of Tyranitar and Rotom Wash.

Rotom-Wash @ Leftovers

Nature: Calm
Ability: Levitate
-Hydro Pump
-Protect
-Thunderbolt
-Will-O-Wisp

EVs: 252 HP, 44 Def, 60 SpA, 148 SpD, 4 Spd​

For Rotom, Rotom is generally a fantastic little shit that helps my team except for grass types which are essentially eliminated with Skarmory and Volcarona...I've had this bulky mofo 2HKO a chandelure using energy balls. And I consistently destroy all Mega Blazikens and Charizard X's and Greninjas (come on guys, there are more mons than those three). What more needs to be said? Its a standard set that covers my team well.

Finally, my Garchomp.

Garchomp @ Expert Belt

Abillity: Rough Skin
Nature: Naughty
-Dragon Claw
-Earthquake
-Iron Head
-Rock Slide

EVs: 72 HP, 252 SpA, 184 Spe​

I hate life orb because of the HP drain and I hate choice items. If I have landed my attacks correctly, then they typically fall within less than 5% HP left, so a 10% boost to super effective moves is optimal. No need to overdo it. ;)

Iron head is for Fairy and Ice protection. Rock slide for the flinch and Flying types, EQ for STAB, and Dragon claw for everything else. I had Crunch, but found Iron Head much more useful.

However, this does leave with a serious vulnerability to bulky Ghost types. But I am looking for special attack alternatives. Tyranitar, on this team would introduce many unnecessary vulnerabilities to fighting and fairy types and sandstorm would not be beneficial.

So how does my team faire? Good, bad? Suggestions? :)

Also. I typically adjust my team since one can see it before battling, otherwise I'll always start with Skarmory.

 

[juliorain]

Bump. It has been three days and I am still awaiting a reply.

 

[Sixpence]

One threat I see giving you trouble is Mega-Medicham. Before I continue with that you should really add in Bisharp as it handles the ghost weakness you are afraid of plus it's a proven core.

I would also suggest bringing in an Excadrill or Ferrothorn in the place of your Venusaur. Venusaur should only be used in the sun or as a mega.

This team you made may work individually but they don't cover your weaknesses like a synergistic team would. You'll also need something like Blissey with heal bell to get rid of status on your team.

You should be covered with the changes also where did you get that Rotom-w set from?
Since you are using it for an in-game team check the GTS for these pokemon, people are really generous.

Bisharp
Defiant
Adamant/Jolly
252 Attack| 4 HP| 252 Speed
Sucker Punch, Iron Head, Pursuit, Swords Dance

Excadrill
Sand Rush
Adamant|
252 Attack| 4HP| 252 Speed.
Stealth Rocks, Rapid Spin, Earthquake, Iron Head

Garchomp
Adamant/Jolly
252 Attack| 4 HP| 252 Speed
Outrage, Earthquake, Fire Blast, Swords Dance

 

[Der Twist]

There's quite a bit here to work on, I'm not sure if I'll get to covering everything since I am kind of tired, but I'll get to what I see right away. A lot of the problems I see don't have direct fixes since the overall issue would require a little bit of team structuring, so I'll make a note of what I see wrong and get to my changes after. Just saying that now so you don't read the first two paragraphs and think I'm just one of those guys who points out everything wrong but doesn't help fix it.

Anyway, Gallade does well in an offensive environment, offence based balance at the very least, so looking at a Mega Gallade team and seeing a Skarmory is an easy easy indicator that something is wrong. Skarm is passive as fuck, it has no place on an offensive team, or really anything outside of stall unless it's the Custap Berry suicide lead variant. It offers no offensive support to help keep pressure on opponents, doesn't break walls or removes Gallade's counters, it's just an opportunity for your opponent to send out a sweeper and set up and turn the pressure on you. Everything you don't want.
Venusaur is a terrible mon and Weakness Policy is a terrible item. Overall, everything is just wrong there. Regular Venu just barely has a niche as a Life Orb sweeper in the Sun with Zard Y, but outside of that it's dead weight. It's not really offensive at all, it's slow as shit, it's not the bulkiest thing ever and Birdspam is very much a thing. Yeah, no, if you're looking for an offensive Grass type then you missed the mark picking Venu.
Gallade has good speed, with the good ol' speed of base 110 it outspeeds a lot of threats and has little trouble cleaning up. Unless you're running Adamant. You have an SD Gallade, you'll have plenty of power post set-up and still a damn good offensive presence pre set-up, Jolly gives you the speed to support that power so you don't get cleared by things you should handle well enough, so all of a sudden you can beat a, say, Specs Keld 1v1 where otherwise you'd risk getting OHKOed. Jolly is what you're after. Close Combat too. The offensive power of Close Combat to clean up is much more rewarding than a dinky Drain Punch. When you need to get a hard hit then CC is your thing to go to, it lets you get the OHKO against shit like Chansey and Hearan so you don't risk unnecessary damage or status. Speed and power is Gallade's thing.
I see no use for SpD Rotom. I get why it was viable in the Greninja days, but Greninja ain't here no more. What you have here is a weakness to Birdspam. Seriously, your whole team gets murked by a +2 Talonflame. Rotom-W should be your knight in shining armour for that, but alas you're running special bulk. Nah, run physical, it'll serve you better. The moveset is pretty cringe-worthy too, Rotom isn't offensive enough to make use of Thunderbolt, but instead it prides itself on being a pivot with recovery. As such, Volt Switch and Pain Split is what you want.

Now, to the nitty-gritty. Venu and Skarm just go, straight up. You need Hazard removal, something to help break walls and remove threats that hurt Gallade, and a hazard setter. My recommendation for this is to run your Garchomp as a lead Rock setter. Garchomp has cemented itself as one of, if not the best offensive hazard setter in the tier, it gets your hazards up early and piles on offensive pressure from the get-go.
Secondly, run a Bish, the time-tested life-partner for Mega Gallade. It removes those Ghost, psychic and Fairy fuckers that Gallade doesn't want to deal with and allows you a clean sweep once his checks are removed. I'd suggest Assault Vest since you have enough set-up sweepers as it is and AV lets you switch into Fairy type hits a little more freely.
I'll be honest and say I'm not entirely sure what to run as your hazard remover that would have the best synergy with this team, but I'm gonna go ahead and say Latios. You are running a semi-suicide lead Garchomp (if you go with my suggestions anyway) and you have a Volc and possibly an AV Bisharp, so Fairies are probably not as big of an issue as it would first seem. Latios keeps offensive pressure on your opponent, gives you hazard support, potential to break annoying walls like Rotom-W, Slowbro, etc, and just generally work well. I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say Memento support might be good for your team too; again, you have a lot of set-up sweepers so creating an opportunity to get one out and set up easily could benefit you a lot.
Lastly, I can see Gliscor being the bane of this team. If you run Bish too then Knock Off support won't be that necessary on Gallade anyway and you could, and should, run Ice Punch instead for the likes of Gliscor and Lando.
That's my two cents on this team. Hope it helps. :]

Sets

Kaiba (Gallade) (M) @ Galladite
Ability: Justified
EVs: 4 HP / 192 SpD / 68 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Close Combat
- Zen Headbutt
- Ice Punch
- Swords Dance

Mr Washee (Rotom-Wash) @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 248 HP / 216 Def / 44 Spe
Bold Nature
- Hydro Pump
- Volt Switch
- Will-O-Wisp
- Pain Split

Sharkeisha (Garchomp) (F) @ Lum Berry
Ability: Rough Skin
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Dragon Claw
- Earthquake
- Swords Dance
- Stealth Rock

Chess Pro (Bisharp) @ Assault Vest
Ability: Defiant
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Sucker Punch
- Knock Off
- Pursuit
- Iron Head

Not Latias (Latios) (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Draco Meteor
- Psyshock
- Memento / Hidden Power Fire
- Defog

 

[juliorain]

Wow a lot options to work on. Thanks you two, it seems my team does indeed have several internal logic issues to sort out.

I thought about adding Bisharp to the team but I removed it, thinking it would be in and out as quickly as Gallade and has a bothersome 4x fighting weakness. I am new to playing on specifically OU, but it is worth a shot and allows me to focus on threats like Gliscor. Sixpence

I used the VGC Rotom.

Der Twist

I have experimented with team, and yes, Talonflame and Gliscor have given me major problems.

Garchomp with Stealth rock, eh? Interesting. Rock slide provides redundant coverage anyway.

It seems clear that Venusaur has to go. I put it on the team on the premise that it could provide support, but I guess switching it entirely is a good idea. Bisharp, despite its weaknesses, I guess can be a benefit if I can put Latios with it in addiotion, but that adds two psychic types and dragon types which would leave me at a greater vulnerability towards ice, dark, and ghost(gengar) types. Ice isn't so much a problem.

I like the idea of Latios since I have one in-game and it friggen love him. I'm nervous about the double-psychic type (along with gallade) and double-dragon (with garchomp).

I recently switched to Jolly on my gallade and that has helped immensely, and I do agree that Ice punch is a better option if I have bisharp in there to counter his ghost weakness. I'm nervous about Close Combat because of the defense reduction, but you suggest I only use that then at the end as clean-up. Right.

I like assault vest Bisharp idea hehe... seems dastardly.

Not sure about Rotom, however? You suggest: -volt switch, and pain split... hm... interesting

But then that would leave me with hazards: one way to avoid that is ditch volcarona. I like it, but it also takes 50% damage from rocks. Then what would be it's viable replacement? Sylveon or Gengar? Or simply run defog on Latios? Answered my own question.

 

[Der Twist]

Don't worry too much about type weaknesses. Obviously yeah you don't want to run a whole team that gets murked by one type, but on offensive teams offensive synergy is key above defensive, as long as you can muscle through opposing teams and keep pressure on an opponent them type weakness isn't the worst thing in the world, especially if you have coverage for it. Yeah, you could remove Volc and throw in Specs Sylve to destroy walls even more, at which point you wouldn't really need Defog support desperately and you could run Roost or coverage on Latios like Hidden Power Fire/Fighting or Earthquake, you could probably ditch Memento too.
Yeah, Gallade is more ideal for cleaning up late-game. As a fast sweeper as well, the idea is that you'd outspeed the things you're faced against and avoid taking many hits; basically outspeed and kill things before you get hurt. Close Combat does that for you. You're actually more likely to take damage running Drain Punch.
I can tell you're not convinced by the edits to Rotom, but seriously try it. Protect does nothing to you and Rotom is too weak to really abuse Thunderbolt unless you're running Trick Specs or some shit. You'd have Latios and possibly Specs Sylve to destroy fat Waters and Volt Switch or Hydro Pump can deal with Talonflame. Volt Switch gives you switch initiative so you can get better match-ups against opponents and keep the game in your favour, it's a great help for any team but offence especially. Seriously, try it.
One last note, I think you need to loosen up on your restrictions. Stat drops, 4x weaknesses, Choice items, Life Orb, these should not be things to avoid like the plague since they really can help. Stat drops are side effects to very powerful moves and the risk vs reward of those moves tends to be more favourable, like the afore mentioned Close Combat vs Drain Punch. Mons with 4x weaknesses are also not absolute no-no mons. Bisharp, Landorus, Heatran, Mega Sciz, etc are really some of the best mons in the tier right now and the 4x weakness shouldn't do anything for you, a weakness is a weakness 2x or 4x. Choice items and Life Orb, also not things to avoid given how much of an edge it gives you in many situations, allowing you to muscle through or outspeed shit you wouldn't otherwise, the support they give you is immense and well worth the prices. Life Orb recoil isn't severe and doesn't even much matter on things with reliable recovery and the move lock from Choice items shouldn't be too bothersome unless you play badly or your opponent out predicts you or both. Sorry for that mini-rant, just emphasising that limiting yourself is not a good way to go about things.

Set

Kitty (Sylveon) @ Choice Specs
Ability: Pixilate
EVs: 224 HP / 252 SpA / 32 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 30 SpA / 30 Spe
- Hyper Voice
- Shadow Ball
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Baton Pass

 

[juliorain]

I see. I'm being oddly pessimistic about life orb choice items and other things lol. My past teams I have used all three.

With your first suggestions, my score on Smogon rose to around the 1200's, but I have noticed that Volcarona is becoming increasingly a liability rather than an asset. (It did solo a water type team with giga drain). As I've needed a fairy more often than not, and given how common Sableye has been used. (Without Sylveon, my team is useless to mega sableye teams as I have figured out.), I will definitely consider Sylveon on my team. However it recommends baton pass for a choice-specs which is silly, since there is no stat increase that will carry over...I guess it is like a quick escape that avoids pursuit users.

I used your idea for Rotom and it worked.

I need to get better at predicting pursuit on Bisharp, unless you suggest something else.

Extra 30% to Life orb? I used it on past teams and IDK why I shied away form it this gen. I could give it to Garchomp since it basically is a suicide lead anyway.

 

[Der Twist]

Baton Pass on Choiced Sylveon is actually very standard. It's not just for passing boosts but for switch initiative also, like Volt Switch. Specs Sylveon forces a lot of switches, so Baton Passing instead of hard-switching on a predicted switch lets you see what Pokemon your opponent switches into and you can send out your appropriate counter, it's a lot less risky than hard-switching directly and you're not losing out on any real useful coverage. If you're really adamant against it though then you could run Psyshock for Mega Venu.

 

[juliorain]

makes sense. Mega Venu did give me trouble and there weren't many switch outs.

Up to 1239 :)