Hullo!
So while introducing a friend to Showdown for the first time I decided to try teambuilding with him. I decided I would make an OU team based around a Pokemon from a random generator. I got Roserade.
I myself am a bit new to Showdown, I started less than a year ago, but I'd like to think I've picked it up rather quickly. I've made a few teams before, including a supreme meme that I'm quite proud of. However, most of these teams were built around general balance. Eyeballing it, so to speak. I didn't bother referencing threatlists or anything like that, although I did look up a few guides on teambuilding, cores, roles, etc. as well as the Strategy Dex for set advice.
This team is my first attempt at actually reading the threatlist.
Team:
Roserade @ Life Orb
Ability: Technician
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Leaf Storm
- Sludge Bomb
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Spikes
Roserade is what the generator gave me, so Roserade is what I got. I opted for a standard Life Orb set, with Spikes over Toxic Spikes so I could get more immediate damage. I mostly use it for cleanup or as a switch-in for Mega Venusaur, Toxapex, Ferrothorn, etc. Sludge Bomb will surprisingly allow me to beat most Mega Venusaur sets, HP Fire just about OHKO's Ferrothorn, and Leaf Storm puts a good dent into Toxapex. Being quite frail and also having Life Orb damage on top of that, my immediate next step in team-building was to get some Wish support.
TL;DR Spikes and kill Mega Venusaur. Gotta use it cuz thats the rules.
Clefable @ Leftovers
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Wish
- Moonblast
- Ice Beam
- Soft-Boiled
Clefable is a fantastic multi-tool for me here. In addition to wish support, its immunity to status, weather, and hazards, as well as its self-healing, allow it to serve as a great tank, both physical and special. On top of that, it serves as my check to most Dragons, as well as things like Gliscor, Landorus-T, and more. Most Clefable sets run Moonblast and 3 support moves or 2 with Fire Blast, so most opponents are caught somewhat off-guard by Ice Beam. Access to both Wish and Soft-Boiled really helps in pp stall wars, or back-and-forths against other tanks such as Zapdos.
TL;DR ignore hazards, kill dragons, heal everything.
Excadrill @ Leftovers
Ability: Mold Breaker
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Iron Head
- Rapid Spin
- Swords Dance
Excadrill, in my opinion, works quite well with Clefable. It completely absorbs poison moves, and resists steel. It eats threats like Magearna for lunch, while receiving cover from Gliscor, Landorus-T, and Zapdos. Mold Breaker allows it to completely ignore Levitate, so EQ can hit the Latis and Rotom-W as well. Spinning is also always nice, especially since most of the team is susceptible to hazards. Swords Dance gives me a great boost on free turns when switching into hazard-setters and other non-threats.
TL;DR anti-hazard and cover for Clefable.
Infernape @ Choice Band
Ability: Iron Fist
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Fire Punch
- U-turn
- Close Combat
- Mach Punch
This Infernape set was partially built with deception in mind. Most Infernape sets out there are either mixed or special. Banded Infernape is much less common, but works well for me given the amount of more specially tanky mons in this tier. Fire Punch was chosen over Flare Blitz due to the combination of recoil and hazard chip damage. Iron Fist helps cushion some of the lost power, and max Atk EVs plus Choice Band mean I never have to worry about it anyways. U-Turn helps when making a bad prediction, and can even allow me to lead with Infernape against some teams, so I can scout first turn then switch into something better. CC needs no real explanation, and Iron Fist boosted Mach Punch makes for pretty good revenge killing.
TL;DR this thing kills any grass type not named Mega Venusaur, and also revenge kills.
Tapu Koko @ Electrium Z
Ability: Electric Surge
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Wild Charge
- Brave Bird
- Roost
- U-turn
Tapu Koko is basically a Whirlwind given sentience. It's amazing the switches that you can force with this thing, even when people don't know about the Z-Crystal. Max Atk Gigavolt Havoc threatens to delete most threats, and Brave Bird does pretty well if you predict a switch. Roost helps repair all the recoil damage this thing takes, while U-Turn lets you get free damage on almost anything when you need to switch out.
TL;DR this thing kills about half the offensive threats in the tier.
Aerodactyl-Mega @ Aerodactylite
Ability: Tough Claws
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Stone Edge
- Earthquake
- Pursuit
- Roost
Mega Aerodactyl helps iron out all the kinks left in this team. It outspeeds nearly everything in the tier that isn't already fast and then scarfed. Stone Edge 2-hit KO's Pelipper, but hitting Pursuit on a switch-out after just 1 also kills. In tandem with Earthquake, it breaks just about any fire type, which also threatens Toxapex and Ferrothorn. It technically loses to most Mega-Lati sets, as they usually carry Ice Beam or Thunderbolt, but without boosts it won't be OHKO'd. The 2 Pursuits it can get as a result will usually put them around the low 20%'s.
TL;DR this thing kills the other half.
Conclusion:
I'll admit I haven't used this team quite enough, and I have encountered some bumps in the road along the way, but I think that overall it's pretty good. It's hyper-offensive, while Clefable holds the whole team together with Wish support. Most of my losses have come down to bad predictions and plays on my part. I have some sort of answer to just about everything in this tier, if not a check or counter. I'm still fairly new so I'm sure you guys can find plenty of holes to poke in it, but that's how we learn, innit?
Anyways, thank you all, and hope you like the team.
So while introducing a friend to Showdown for the first time I decided to try teambuilding with him. I decided I would make an OU team based around a Pokemon from a random generator. I got Roserade.
I myself am a bit new to Showdown, I started less than a year ago, but I'd like to think I've picked it up rather quickly. I've made a few teams before, including a supreme meme that I'm quite proud of. However, most of these teams were built around general balance. Eyeballing it, so to speak. I didn't bother referencing threatlists or anything like that, although I did look up a few guides on teambuilding, cores, roles, etc. as well as the Strategy Dex for set advice.
This team is my first attempt at actually reading the threatlist.
Team:
Roserade @ Life Orb
Ability: Technician
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Leaf Storm
- Sludge Bomb
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Spikes
Roserade is what the generator gave me, so Roserade is what I got. I opted for a standard Life Orb set, with Spikes over Toxic Spikes so I could get more immediate damage. I mostly use it for cleanup or as a switch-in for Mega Venusaur, Toxapex, Ferrothorn, etc. Sludge Bomb will surprisingly allow me to beat most Mega Venusaur sets, HP Fire just about OHKO's Ferrothorn, and Leaf Storm puts a good dent into Toxapex. Being quite frail and also having Life Orb damage on top of that, my immediate next step in team-building was to get some Wish support.
TL;DR Spikes and kill Mega Venusaur. Gotta use it cuz thats the rules.
Clefable @ Leftovers
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Wish
- Moonblast
- Ice Beam
- Soft-Boiled
Clefable is a fantastic multi-tool for me here. In addition to wish support, its immunity to status, weather, and hazards, as well as its self-healing, allow it to serve as a great tank, both physical and special. On top of that, it serves as my check to most Dragons, as well as things like Gliscor, Landorus-T, and more. Most Clefable sets run Moonblast and 3 support moves or 2 with Fire Blast, so most opponents are caught somewhat off-guard by Ice Beam. Access to both Wish and Soft-Boiled really helps in pp stall wars, or back-and-forths against other tanks such as Zapdos.
TL;DR ignore hazards, kill dragons, heal everything.
Excadrill @ Leftovers
Ability: Mold Breaker
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Iron Head
- Rapid Spin
- Swords Dance
Excadrill, in my opinion, works quite well with Clefable. It completely absorbs poison moves, and resists steel. It eats threats like Magearna for lunch, while receiving cover from Gliscor, Landorus-T, and Zapdos. Mold Breaker allows it to completely ignore Levitate, so EQ can hit the Latis and Rotom-W as well. Spinning is also always nice, especially since most of the team is susceptible to hazards. Swords Dance gives me a great boost on free turns when switching into hazard-setters and other non-threats.
TL;DR anti-hazard and cover for Clefable.
Infernape @ Choice Band
Ability: Iron Fist
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Fire Punch
- U-turn
- Close Combat
- Mach Punch
This Infernape set was partially built with deception in mind. Most Infernape sets out there are either mixed or special. Banded Infernape is much less common, but works well for me given the amount of more specially tanky mons in this tier. Fire Punch was chosen over Flare Blitz due to the combination of recoil and hazard chip damage. Iron Fist helps cushion some of the lost power, and max Atk EVs plus Choice Band mean I never have to worry about it anyways. U-Turn helps when making a bad prediction, and can even allow me to lead with Infernape against some teams, so I can scout first turn then switch into something better. CC needs no real explanation, and Iron Fist boosted Mach Punch makes for pretty good revenge killing.
TL;DR this thing kills any grass type not named Mega Venusaur, and also revenge kills.
Tapu Koko @ Electrium Z
Ability: Electric Surge
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Wild Charge
- Brave Bird
- Roost
- U-turn
Tapu Koko is basically a Whirlwind given sentience. It's amazing the switches that you can force with this thing, even when people don't know about the Z-Crystal. Max Atk Gigavolt Havoc threatens to delete most threats, and Brave Bird does pretty well if you predict a switch. Roost helps repair all the recoil damage this thing takes, while U-Turn lets you get free damage on almost anything when you need to switch out.
TL;DR this thing kills about half the offensive threats in the tier.
Aerodactyl-Mega @ Aerodactylite
Ability: Tough Claws
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Stone Edge
- Earthquake
- Pursuit
- Roost
Mega Aerodactyl helps iron out all the kinks left in this team. It outspeeds nearly everything in the tier that isn't already fast and then scarfed. Stone Edge 2-hit KO's Pelipper, but hitting Pursuit on a switch-out after just 1 also kills. In tandem with Earthquake, it breaks just about any fire type, which also threatens Toxapex and Ferrothorn. It technically loses to most Mega-Lati sets, as they usually carry Ice Beam or Thunderbolt, but without boosts it won't be OHKO'd. The 2 Pursuits it can get as a result will usually put them around the low 20%'s.
TL;DR this thing kills the other half.
Conclusion:
I'll admit I haven't used this team quite enough, and I have encountered some bumps in the road along the way, but I think that overall it's pretty good. It's hyper-offensive, while Clefable holds the whole team together with Wish support. Most of my losses have come down to bad predictions and plays on my part. I have some sort of answer to just about everything in this tier, if not a check or counter. I'm still fairly new so I'm sure you guys can find plenty of holes to poke in it, but that's how we learn, innit?
Anyways, thank you all, and hope you like the team.
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