A Pretty Solid-Sinergy Balanced Team
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Hi, this is a pretty balanced team that I've built and been testing lately, getting some decent results with a peak around 1460, and I think it could go over 1500 without much trouble. The purpose of this team is to get as much coverage and solidity as possible, reducing the number of forced switiches and having as many responses as possible for a large number of threats. I've tried to build around Pokemon with pretty solid defensive synergies, like Swampert, Bronzong, or Latias, focusing on sets that provide great coverage. Other members like Infernape, Gengar and Magnezone provide great offensive coverage and remove may common threats from the tier, creating pretty solid cores with the bulkier members of my team. Besides, most of my losses don't happen because my team has big holes, instead, the opponent outplays me and removes my solid answers against his wincons before using them. I really appreciate any suggestion or possible change aimed at improving my team. Hope you like it and thanks for your time.
The Team In-Depth:
Swampert @ Leftovers
Ability: Torrent
EVs: 240 HP / 216 Def / 52 SpD
Relaxed Nature
- Earthquake
- Ice Beam
- Stealth Rock
- Roar
Swampert works as a lead, provides tremendous defensive coverage, and thanks to this set it also offers plenty of offensive support with Ice Beam and Earthquake. This is my favorite version of Swampert: it resists hits pretty well, sets up Stealth Rock, offers very good coverage against many threats, and also phazes with Roar, avoiding dangerous setup sweepers like Gyarados, Scizor, or Suicune, which can setup in front other versions of Swampert. This Swampert creates a very strong synergy with other team members like Latias, Magnezone, or Bronzong.
Latias @ Choice Specs
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 8 HP/ 220 Def/ 252 SpA / 28 Spe
Modest Nature
- Draco Meteor
- Thunderbolt
- Surf
- Trick
There isn't much to say about Specs Latias, she is a destructive force capable of severely damaging any team, and she also offers me a very good defensive coverage against a large number of threats such as Infernape, Breloom, Machamp, Swampert, or Gyarados. This is a slightly different set than the standard one, as it features Thunderbolt instead of Dragon Pulse in order to destroy Empoleon and Skarmory, and also runs a Modest nature instead of Timid. Modest nature allows me to deal as much damage as possible to the opponent, even when he switches into a defensive counter like Metagross, plus in this way, Latias can survive Pursuit trappers like Tyranitar or Scizor much better. She has the right Evs in Speed to always outspeed Breloom, but in some cases I miss the chance to match Gengar and other Latias in the speedtier.
Gengar @ Black Sludge
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 80 HP / 176 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Shadow Ball
- Focus Blast
- Will-O-Wisp
- Taunt
Gengar was the latest addition to my team, because previously this place was occupied by Spiritomb. The reason for this change was just a single Pokémon: Breloom. Spiritomb gave me great defensive and offensive coverage against any Ghost or Psychic, which are very abundant in OU (Gengar, Rotom, Latias, Starmie, Azelf...), but in this way, 4 members of my team were completely vulnerable to Breloom's Spore (Swampert, Bronzong, Spiritomb and Magnezone). That is why after a lot of testing I decided to replace Spiritomb with Gengar, and the results were much better. Now half of my team destroys Breloom and makes it impossible for him to set up a Spore in front of Latias, Gengar and Infernape. Gengar completely nullifies Breloom and offers me a very similar coverage to Spiritomb, but in a much more offensive way, only with the handicap of not being a safe defensive switch in against Ghost or Psychic.
Bronzong @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 128 Def / 128 SpD
IVs: 0 Spe
Sassy Nature
- Hidden Power Ice
- Toxic
- Gyro Ball
- Earthquake
One of the most solid tanks in all of OU, Bronzong provides fantastic coverage and synergies with several members of my team, making it hard for the opponent to break cores my cores. This particular set allows for a response to almost the entire tier, because it can hit super effective a large number of threats and also can poison the opponent, giving me a great advantage against walls. Bronzong works well against an infinite number of defensive and offensive threats: Hippowdon, Tyranitar, Gengar, Weavile, Jirachi, Flygon, Latias, Gliscor, Magnezone without Magnet Rise, Mamoswine, Metagross etc... This Bronzong only has nothing to do against certain Pokémon such as Scizor (especially the SD version), Skarmory, Kingdra with DD or Starmie. It can even hit strong counters like Heatran or Infernape very hard with Earthquake, which allowed me many times to remove both threats with prediction.
Magnezone @ Leftovers
Ability: Magnet Pull
EVs: 32 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpA / 220 Spe
Modest Nature
- Magnet Rise
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power Grass
- Thunder Wave
Magnezone is one of the most effective ways to remove the abundant Steel-type, and therefore creates an excellent offensive core with Latias. This set with Magnet Rise is the best when it comes to destroying Steel, as it prevents Earthquake from Metagross and Bronzong, and it is also a good answer to Ground, its greatest vulnerability. I've decided to use HP Grass instead of Ice or Fire in order to not be forced to switch out against Quagsire, and above all, Swampert, since one of the purposes of this team is to have as much coverage as possible and not be forced to switch in and out constantly due to a lack of coverage. Despite this, it still works very well destroying Steels, and even other Ground-types like Flygon or Gliscor are not a threat to my team, thanks to Swampert and Bronzong, or even Infernape with HP Ice.
Infernape @ Life Orb
Ability: Blaze
EVs: 252 Atk / 64 SpA / 192 Spe
Naive Nature
- Close Combat
- Hidden Power Ice
- Thunder Punch
- Overheat
Few Pokémon offer as good coverage as Infernape, which is capable of breaking through a ton of defensive cores. My Infernape uses a rather original variation of the classic Physically based mixed attacker set, which grants me amazing coverage and reduces the number of times the opponent forces me to switch out. I'm not going to go into detail about all of Infernape's coverage because it's pretty well known, but I do want to clarify the differences of this particular set. After testing Infernape a lot, I would always run into two switches from my opponent, which could start a setup in front of Infernape and wipe out my team. These Pokemon are Gyarados and Dragonite. Well, with Thunderpunch and HP Ice I always take them out, which gives me a huge advantage against my opponent, and besides, hardly anyone expects Gyarados or Dragonite to fall against Infernape. This version also works very well against another of the most common switches into Infernape: Starmie, as it does a lot of damage to it with Thunderpunch. Finally, HP Ice deals good damage to offensive Latias, which is great for wearing her down, and Close Combat hits Swampert well, being able to defeat it if it has low HP.
Threats:
Entry hazards: My team doesn't have a spinner, although it's not very vulnerable to hazards, but it's always dangerous to have SR and Spikes on your field. Fortunately, Magnezone deals very well with the main Spikes users (Forretress and Skarmory) and also with Tentacruel. Gengar cam use Taunt against hazard setters and Infernape destroys Roserade.
Possible changes:
PokePaste link and other teams:
https://pokepast.es/43a546e33177383b
https://www.smogon.com/forums/threads/ou-machamp-substitute-nightmare.3728246/#post-9790599
https://www.smogon.com/forums/threads/no-ou-a-serious-gimmick.3723822/
https://www.smogon.com/forums/threads/ou-a-very-original-hail-semi-stall.3680040/
https://www.smogon.com/forums/threads/balanced-sunny-day-bdsp-ou-team.3696418/
Last edited:
