Foreword
This is a team I've made with the help of a friend as my foray into OU. I've lurked for a bit, watching OU matches on Showdown, watching competitive content, and the like to get some basic knowledge needed for a competitive setting, but there comes a time when you have to just get in there for yourself to learn more. I've had decent results with the team on ladder after building it, and after taking out some of the early flaws that became pretty clear, came up with this, and I'm hoping to get a few pairs of more experienced eyes that could help me spot flaws that I didn't. Anyways, I don't wanna spend too much time on this intro, let's just get into the team, yeah?
The Lads Themselves
it's from bowser! (Heatran) @ Leftovers
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 248 HP / 232 SpD / 28 Spe
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Magma Storm
- Toxic
- Taunt
- Earth Power
Dear Pesky Plumbers
Heatran was chosen for its ability to trap and remove certain threats that would annoy the team, as well as being a good specially bulky mon to fall back on if needed. It can trap and/or threaten walls such as Corviknight with Magma Storm, Toxapex with Earth Power (as well as prevent Toxic Spikes via Taunt), although this is not always safe as it does come with Heatran taking SE damage of its own through Body Press or Scald, respectively. Toxic is useful for other walls which are not immune to being poisoned, as well as putting a timer on enemy mons, and Taunt keeps it from being total setup fodder. 28 Speed EVs is 4 more EVs than the main specially-defensive Heatran set, which allows it to strike opposing SpD Heatran with EP first. However, Heatran is not perfect - that 25% chance to miss on Magma Storm is aggravating as hell, and its quad Ground weakness means even coverage moves will kill it.
fishing game (Slowbro) @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Relaxed Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 0 Spe
- Scald
- Slack Off
- Teleport
- Future Sight
It's a fishing game!
Slowbro was chosen as a physical tank & defensive pivot to fall back on, as well as for its nice synergy with Heatran - Heatran appreciates its useful Fighting and Water resistances and ability to stomach common Ground-type moves like Earthquake, and Slowbro appreciates Heatran's ability to shrug off Grass and Bug moves, as well as moves such as Freeze-Dry and ESPECIALLY U-Turn, which often takes off large chunks of Slowbro's health. The given spread is a simple 252/252/4 that maximizes its physical bulk as well as minimizing its Speed to ensure slow Teleports to safely bring in other team members, with HDB nullifying the residual chip damage from hazards as it pivots for the team. For moves, Scald spreads burn and is a good STAB option against Ground-types which threaten mons like Heatran and Koko. Slack Off is for recovery, Future Sight provides helpful chip damage to aid the sweepers, and Teleport is the pivot tool to safely bring in said heavy hitters like Kartana, Dragapult, and Hawlucha, the former in particular being an immediate threat to other Water-types which would threaten Heatran while the other two can threaten the Fighting-types that are also trouble for Heatran (although Hawlucha would need to have lost his item first). Slowbro is no godsend either, however - while it remains a wonderful slow Teleporter to safely bring in the cleanup crew, weaknesses to common moves like U-Turn and Knock Off can hurt its longevity in the long run.
chicken man (Tapu Koko) @ Light Clay
Ability: Electric Surge
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- U-turn
- Light Screen
- Reflect
- Thunderbolt
Chicken Invaders
Tapu Koko was chosen for its synergy with Hawlucha's Unburden, setting Electric Terrain and dual screens for Hawlucha to use its Electric Seed, get a Swords Dance, and begin tearing through the team like gift wrapping on Christmas morning. A screens set for Koko was chosen to provide support, as any offensive mon appreciates having screens to protect them. U-Turn gives some chip damage and pivots, usually into Hawlucha, although it can pivot into other hitters if Hawlucha is a poor option. Thunderbolt was chosen over Taunt in this case as typically I don't lead with Koko so as to preserve Hawlucha's Unburden boost, as well as providing damage against Flying-types, Toxapex, Tapu Fini, and other bulky Water-types. On the topic of Tapu Fini, it's definitely an issue. While it doesn't threaten Koko itself, Misty Terrain overrides Electric Terrain, which prevents Hawlucha from getting its Unburden boost, and prevents status, which can hurt Heatran's trapping ability and Dragapult's WoW/Hex.
chicken man 2 (Hawlucha) @ Electric Seed
Ability: Unburden
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Acrobatics
- Swords Dance
- Close Combat
- Stone Edge
Chicken Invaders 2
The other half of Kokolucha. After its Unburden and Swords Dance boost, Hawlucha becomes an insane threat that hits like a freight train and moves at the speed of one too - and if brought in safely on Electric Terrain, becomes an immediate threat. It appreciates Koko's screens in order to get its Swords Dance safely, and possibly even another Swords Dance. Close Combat hits hard, and the defense drops are mitigated through Koko's screens. Acrobatics as well becomes an insane STAB move after Electric Seed is consumed. While Taunt is frequently ran on sets like these, I opted for Stone Edge in order to better deal with Flying-types, which aside from Koko's Thunderbolt, the team typically hits for neutral or worse. Once he's set up, Hawlucha is typically golden (save priority), but until then, he can be a tad on the dead weight side.
airplane (Kartana) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Leaf Blade
- Sacred Sword
- Knock Off
- Smart Strike
Paper! Paper! Paper!
Kartana was chosen as a revenge killer/sweeper that can threaten Ground-types that give Heatran and Koko trouble, as well as bulky Water-types that would be risky to remove with Heatran. Choice Scarf was chosen over other items such as LO to better outspeed for revenge kills. Koko appreciates its ability to check Fini, but swapping into a Scald can be risky as being burned effectively neuters the origami warrior. Thus, he appreciates Slowbro's ability to shrug off Scald and his slow Teleport to bring him in safely. As far as team synergy, he also appreciates Heatran's special bulk and Fire-type immunity, and if Heatran isn't a safe choice, Slowbro can also swap into Kartana's weaknesses. While sweeping isn't his main job, he certainly can after a KO thanks to Beast Boost. However, from my experience on ladder this Kartana is better at threatening kills than actually scoring them, as his Scarf means he will likely be forced out if the opponent switches in to a resist that he can't 2HKO.
swagapult (Dragapult) @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Infiltrator
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Hex
- Draco Meteor
- U-turn
- Will-O-Wisp
diplocaulus is my favorite prehistoric animal
Dragapult was chosen due to having nice synergy with Hawlucha as an offensive pivot. A HDB set was chosen over a more common Choice Specs set to better suit him as a pivot over a wallbreaker set and avoid hazard damage. As Dragapult is sent in to threaten the opponent, he can nail a switch-in with a burn before hitting them with a 120 BP Hex, or U-Turn into Hawlucha, who can threaten Dark-type answers to Dragapult or set up on passive special walls like Blissey. Will-O-Wisp was chosen over the more accurate Thunder Wave due to the team having better answers to Fire-types that are immune to burn than Electric or Ground-types that are immune to Thunder Wave, namely Zeraora or Lando-T, both not wanting to find themselves burned. While he won't answer everything by himself, Heatran's ability to shrug off Fairy-type attacks that would otherwise severely hurt Dragapult is greatly appreciated as well as his ability to switch into Fire-types that would be immune to a WoW, and like the rest of the team, he appreciates a bulky Slowbro's slow Teleports to safely bring them onto the field.
Conclusion
Hopefully, I didn't ramble on for
too long - I figured it would be better to give too much information than to give not enough information, since that would give better insights into the process that went behind the making of this team. And apologies in advance if there are any newbie oversights or mons that're outclassed, I'm still learning of course (and I'm more than happy to hear criticism to help with that). Anyways, thanks to those who've read this far and I hope you enjoy your day <3
