Soul Silver Team

[snaptime]

Hey guys, I'm new here, I stopped playing Pokemon years ago after I finished gen 3. Then a few months ago I went back and started playing gen 3 games again, but a few days ago I decided to move on to gen 4 so i got Soul Silver. Here's my team, I know it might have some flaws so I'm open to any suggestions big or small. Thanks.

@Adamant 252Attack/252HP/4Spd - (QuickClaw)
Stealth Rock
Earthquake
Hammer Arm
Light Screen

Metagross is my opener, with stealth rock to stop them from switching a lot during the game, and also hurt their flying types (Dragons Specifically). Light screen is to set up a good sp wall for my sweepers who need it. Then Hammer arm and Earthquake for coverage and sweeping if they send in something week as a opener. If Metagross stays alive I will use it periodically during the match as a wall and a setup with more light screens.

@Timid 252Spd/252SpAttack/4HP - (Focus Slash)
Hydro Pump
Ice Beam
Thunderbolt
Rapid Spin

Starmie is my Rapid Spinner & Sp Sweeper. It has Ev's in speed & SpAttack obviously so it can sweep and also switch in for a quick rapid spin if they decide to use hazards on their team. Focus Sash to get an extra hit in.

@Calm 252SpAttack/136Spd/126HP - (Life Orb)
Focus Blast
Giga Drain
Substitute
Will-o-Wisp

Gengar is another special sweeper on the team, but he also servers the purpose of WoW for thier physical pokemon. The plan for him is to substitute right away and then WoW if its a physical pokemon or sweep right away if not. When in doubt switch to Gengar for a easy sweep. I chose Focus Blast instead of Shadow Ball purely because it has much stronger power and also more coverage on different types. Giga Drain is a Swampart counter or to just heal if they send out something week to grass.

@Timid 252SpAttack/252Speed/4HP - (Leftovers)
Nasty Plot
Aura Sphere
Flamethrower
Airslash

Togekiss is my final special sweeper. It is a pretty bulky Pokemon with great stats. Flamethrower is a scizor/skarm/foretress counter. Nasty Plot obviously to open with when Togekiss is switched in. Aura Sphere and Airslash are for more coverage. I am considering taking out Airslash for Roost or Thunderwave but it leaves me weak to fighting types.

@Adamant 252Attack/252Speed/4HP - (Shell Bell)
Dragon Dance
Ice Fang
Aqua Tail
Earthquake

Gyrados is my main physical sweeper. Open up with dragon dance and then keep killing anything that comes its way. Then slip in another dragon dance when they give me a free turn. I thought maybe shell bell would be a good item for Gyrados to hold because its going to be doing massive amounts of damage so it would heal a significant amount. Life Orb is another option but I feel like it would hurt Gyrados too much were as Gengar is protected by the substitute.

@Adamant 252Attack/200HP/56Spd - (Choice Scarf)
Hammer Arm
Fire Punch
Rock Slide
Return

Slaking is my teams secret weapon. With a STAB return attack, Slaking will definitely be a huge threat to the opponent's fragile Pokemon. I also will use Slaking as a special wall and send him out when needed to block a hit and then wipe out their sweeper next turn. I wont keep him in for long periods of time. He's more of a block the hit, strike back, and then switch out Pokemon. Choice Scarf is to make sure he goes first after he takes a hit. The choice side effect doesn't bother Slaking because he's only staying in for one turn anyways.

 

[Killjoy9k]

Hey I'm fairly new with competitive battling also, but one thing I noticed right away was the focus sash on starmie. Starmie is bulky enough to where it is pretty hard to OHKO him, so I would suggest replacing it with life orb or leftovers.

 

[snaptime]

Hey I'm fairly new with competitive battling also, but one thing I noticed right away was the focus sash on starmie. Starmie is bulky enough to where it is pretty hard to OHKO him, so I would suggest replacing it with life orb or leftovers.

Thanks, Yeah I replaced Starmie with a Expert Belt.

 

[TomX159]

Hi, got your PM so I'll help you out a bit.

First off, Metagross is my favorite lead in the Gen 4 metagame. It beats the vast majority of common leads in the game. The set you have going is okay but it could be a lot better. For starters Quick Claw is a hax item and is generally not allowed (I believe PO still allows it and I've lost a handful of games because some random nub has a Quick Claw on his Donphan or some sht). Switch it to Lum Berry which cures sleep from lead Sleep Powder or Wil-O-Wisp from Rotom. The EV spread gives Metagross enough bulk to live Fire Blast from Azelf and Meteor Mash + Bullet Punch it to death while the Speed investment lets you outspeed other Metagross leads and Earthquake them. Meteor Mash is super powerful STAB that has the rare chance of getting an attack raise and it's important to have Bullet Punch on lead Metagross because it is a priority move. Here's the set you should use:

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Metagross @ Lum Berry
Ability: Clear Body
EVs: 220 HP / 232 Atk / 44 SpDef / 12 Speed
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SpAtk)
- Stealth Rock
- Meteor Mash
- Bullet Punch
- Earthquake

Another thing I noticed is that Jolteon and Scarf Rotom will destroy this team. With Jolteon's blistering 130 base speed and Rotom's Choice Scarf they can outspeed and take out Starmie, Gengar, Togekiss, and Gyarados. One of the blobs such as Snorlax or Blissey can help with this. The first thought is since this team looks more offense heavy, Snorlax can replace Slaking mainly because Slaking is practically worthless in 4th Gen OU. Sure it has amazing attack, but being forced to loaf around means that it can never stay in for more than a turn which can allow a lot of pokemon to set up on it. Here's my suggestion for Snorlax:

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Snorlax @ Leftovers
Trait: Thick Fat
EVs: 188 HP / 104 Def / 216 SDef
Careful Nature (+SDef, -SAtk)
- Curse
- Body Slam
- Earthquake
- Fire Punch

Third, I'd suggest replacing Togekiss with Calm Mind Jirachi. This gives you another safety net against things like Jolteon and Rotom. Even though you trade a flyer for something weak to Earthquake/Earth Power, Gyarados and Gengar should be enough. Calm Mind Jirachi has better bulk than Togekiss and is a bit more versatile. Here's the set:

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Jirachi @ Leftovers
Trait: Serene Grace
EVs: 252 SAtk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Calm Mind
- Psychic
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power [Fire]

Lastly, some nitpicks...

Shell Bell --> Leftovers and Aqua Tail --> Waterfall on Gyarados (just realized how old school Ice Fang/EQ is on Gyarados X_x)

Since you lack a scarfer after replacing Slacking, I'd put a Choice Scarf of Gengar. Substitute + Life Orb isn't too productive without Pain Split and Shadow Ball is a must on Gengar. I'd roll with this:

Hide

Gengar @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 252 SAtk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Shadow Ball
- Focus Blast
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power [Ice]

Well that was just a quick rundown. If another apparent threat arises you can always post back in this thread.

 

[snaptime]

I already made a few changes since my last post, so I thought this would be a good time to post them. Slaking -> Scizor
@Adamant 252HP/40Attack/216SpDef - (Occa Berry)
Swords Dance
Bullet Punch
Bug Bite
Light Screen

Metagross took reflect instead of light screen to protect from earthquake attacks which are more common on lead move sets.
Gyarados has Stone Edge instead of Ice Fang
Gengar has Hypnosis instead of W-o-W

I see the electric type weakness, and I was thinking of switching Togekiss for Flygon but I saw a bulk differences that I dont really agree with. Still thinking about it though. I dont think Julteon would be that hard to deal with since it cant really harm metagross to much and I could EQ it. And if I have a Gyrados set up early with one DD I could EQ it as well.
As for Jirachi I was kind of making this a non-legendary team but I will make the switch for Jirachi in an alternative version of this team that includes OU legendarys.

edit* maybe also switching Gyarados -> Gliscor would also help with electric types? Would it fit my team well?

 

[TomX159]

I already made a few changes since my last post, so I thought this would be a good time to post them. Slaking -> Scizor
@Adamant 252HP/40Attack/216SpDef - (Occa Berry)
Swords Dance
Bullet Punch
Bug Bite
Light Screen

Metagross took reflect instead of light screen to protect from earthquake attacks which are more common on lead move sets.
Gyarados has Stone Edge instead of Ice Fang
Gengar has Hypnosis instead of W-o-W

I see the electric type weakness, and I was thinking of switching Togekiss for Flygon but I saw a bulk differences that I dont really agree with. Still thinking about it though. I dont think Julteon would be that hard to deal with since it cant really harm metagross to much and I could EQ it. And if I have a Gyrados set up early with one DD I could EQ it as well.
As for Jirachi I was kind of making this a non-legendary team but I will make the switch for Jirachi in an alternative version of this team that includes OU legendarys.

edit* maybe also switching Gyarados -> Gliscor would also help with electric types? Would it fit my team well?

Jolteon and Rotom will still be hard, if not impossible to deal with. Life Orb Jolteon 2HKO's Metagross so you can't switch in on it, which lets Jolteon kill any of your other pokemon before Metagross can come in freely. And even then Jolteon can just switch out and will just run through your team later. Same exact thing with Rotom, but you can't Earthquake Rotom with Metagross because Rotom's ability is Levitate.

Reflect is a waste of a move on Metagross, and same with Light Screen on Scizor. The only leads that have Earthquake are other Metagross, Aerodactyl, Swampert, Hippowdon, and MAYBE Bronzong. In regard against other Metagross, the EV spread I provided in my previous post lets you Earthquake them as they Earthquake you which shows them you’re faster and it’ll scare them off on the next turn so you can set up free Stealth Rock. The lead Metagross set I provided also beats Aerodactyl by using Bullet Punch twice. Aerodactyl NEVER Earthquakes off the first turn unless they’re bluffing a suicide lead but that set is extremely uncommon so Bullet Punching twice will always beat it. As for Swampert, Hippowdon, and Bronzong, they are 3 of the few leads that Metagross can’t kill. But in all cases you can set up Stealth Rock on the first turn as they do and then you can switch out. If you're extremely paranoid about Earthquake you can put on a Shucka Berry to half Earthquake's damage on Metagross.

Getting Gyarados a Dragon Dance just to deal with Electric types isn’t a good enough failsafe because +1 Gyara can still be forced out or killed by 2 very common defensive walls, Skarmory and Vaporeon. Almost all of the Electric abusers can run a Choice Scarf anyways and be faster than +1 Gyara forcing it out yet again.

In regards to Scizor, he should be replaced with a Snorlax as I suggested because he doesn’t really have anything to bring to the table besides a weakish Bullet Punch without a Swords Dance, while Snorlax provides a check to Electric users.

Stone Edge is fine on Gyarados but it should still have Leftovers instead of a Shell Bell and Waterfall over Aqua Tail.

Hypnosis is fine on Gengar as it’s less predictable but it should still have Shadow Ball somewhere on the move set and Substitute + Life Orb is ill-advised without Pain Split.

In regards to Jirachi, the metagame doesn’t care about whether or not there are legendaries it only cares if the pokemon is either too powerful or “broken” aka Wobbafett, Salamence, and Garchomp.

I don’t see Gliscor working well with this team because the main pokemon who use Electric moves (Jolteon, Rotom, Zapdos, Starmie, Azelf, Magnezone, Electivire, hell even Lanturn and Nidoking) all have a coverage move such as Surf/Hydro Pump or Hidden Power Ice/Ice Beam which will OHKO Gliscor.

Hope this insight helped.

 

[snaptime]

How do you feel about leading with Rain Dance Kingdra (Replacing my sweeper gyrados) as it is very unpredictable.
- It takes away my teams major electric weakness and balances the types out
- Start off with rain dance
1) Activate Swift Swim and quick sweep with 180 power outrage and 180 power waterfall
2) It fixes my 2 steel types fire weakness
3) Gives starmie the usage of Thunder instead of Thunderbolt & boosted hydro pump
-i couldnt find a good 4th move for it to sweep with so either a chest-rest on it or put yawn to force a switch out on their lead.

Then for Metagross i made it
Stealth Rock
Earthquake
Zen Headbutt
Bullet Punch

Just because I have no physic pokmeon and it can take down a machamp or tentacruel ext. and just a overall good coverage stab move. I prefer it over metoer mash. Also has the flinch chance.

Scizor I think would be better to keep if I go with Kingdra since I wont have a physical sweeper that can setup. So swords dance Scizor keeps that roll.


If leading with kingdra isnt a good choice, what about keeping the rest how it was before but replacing gyrados with either choice flygon/DD dragonite

Also switched Gengar to Shadowball/FocusBlast/Sub/Pain Split.
The team would look like this : http://i.imm.io/RuDJ.png