First OU team

[excaliberx18]

So... this is my first competitive team that I've planned out. I'm pretty new to this so please correct any mistakes. Also, I'm still confused about EVs so I copied some from smogon. Thanks for rating (if you did.....)

Skarmory @ Leftovers
Impish
Keen Eye
Evs: 252 HP / 64 Atk / 4 Spe
- Brave Bird
- Roost
- Spikes
-Whirlwind

Skarmory is my lead and his only main job is to set up some spikes before he is threatened. Then theres whirlwind to get some damage on some of his other pokes using the spikes. Roost is for recovery and Brave Bird is to just do legitamate damage if I switch in on a grass type threatening some of my other pokemon.

Flygon @ Choice Scarf
Adamant
Levitate
Evs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
-Earthquake
-Outrage
-U-turn
-Stone Edge

Choice Scarf Flygon would mostly be used to scout things out, do damage, and force a switch. I can safely come into electric, fire, and ground moves which are commonly seen. If the matchup favors me I can attack with Earthquake or Stone Edge. If I was just trying to force a switch or scout I would use U-turn to hurt and switch. Outrage is a last resort to do some good damage if its desperate.

Registeel @ Leftovers
Impish
Clear Body
Evs: 252 HP / 168Atk / 88 Def (Maybe more Def?)
-Stealth Rock
-Explosion
-Toxic
-Iron Head

Registeel is my tank/support poke. I sets up rocks and toxics which can wittle away damage quickly (especially with skarmory's spikes). Then it can stall or at least force a switch to create more damage with the rocks and spikes. Iron head is to do some decent damage and deal with some ice or rock types. Explosion is a last resort to get some solid damage. Not too much attacking on this set, so should I put on more def. or maybe sp.def.?

Mamoswine @ Life Orb
Jolly
Oblivious
Evs: 252 Atk / 252 Spe / 4 Def
-Earthquake
-Ice Shard
-Stone Edge
-Ice Fang (Maybe Superpower here?)

Mamoswine has Earthquake for great STAB and Ice Shard for revenge killing or annoying dragons. Stone Edge is for Gyra mostly. For my last move, Ice Fang would be preferable for a stronger ice move when im not trying to outspeed someone elses priority attack but superpower would give me some pretty good type coverage. Which one?

Vaporean @ Leftovers
Bold
Water Absorb
Evs: 188 HP / 252 Def / 68 Spe
-Wish
-Protect
-Surf
-Toxic

Common set for Vaporeon so I won't go into too much detail. Wish to heal itself or others switching in for support. Toxic for residual damage, and protect to scout or stall for toxic damage. Surf for good STAB.


Infernape @ Life Orb
Naïve
Blaze
Evs: 64 Atk / 252 Spa / 192 Spe
-Flamethrower
-Close Combat
-Grass Knot/Thunder Punch ????
-Hidden Power Ice

Infernape is the only special attack user besides vaporeon. Flamethrower for grasses and steels and also has good STAB. Close Combat is also a great move that can hurt pretty much everything well with STAB. Hidden Power Ice because I would like some extra security against dragons (seeing as they are like the strongest and most abused pokes). Grass knot would hurt bulky waters well which my team doesn't really have anything for, but vaporeon is virtuallt unaffected because its too light. Thunderpunch would work pretty well but not as good against buljy water but it could help against flying pokes.

Well thanks for reading my first OU team, and another thx if you rated.

Btw...2 things:

I forgot to mention that none of this team has been built so if any of you have some of these pokes or their preevolutions with some of these moves and natures i would be willing to trade, just pm.

Also....how do you get the pics of the pokes on your post, I couldnt find info. about it anywhere and I would like this post to look interesting (if thats the word for it)

[pastel]

looks pretty good for a first team, and for images, you can just use google:
"x" sprite. there will be.

go Grass knot on ape...definitively.
Toxic, isn't really a good move... Even if you can toxic a pokemon, if a gyarados comes in, that would usually ensure about 2 KOs, maybe only 1. I'd suggest you to go for HP electric...small, but quite helpful.

Well, anyway, this looks pretty weak to lucario.
After 1 SD, and you're done. Since flygon gets 2HKO'd after 1-2 SR damages with extremespeed.

I'd suggest you to run a defensive gliscor over that registeel..I don't really se him helping the team too much.

Hope this just helps.

[Golden Wisp]

You gave Infernape mostly physical moves you could go for all physical:

Infernape @ Life Orb
Naïve
Blaze
Evs: 252 Atk / 252 Spe / 4 Hp
-Fire Punch
-Close Combat
-Thunder Punch
-Ice Punch

All 3 punches for coverage. Flare Blitz is powerful, but the recoil damage is too risky. If you think you won't have a problem with that go for it.

Or you could go all Special:

Infernape @ Life Orb
Naïve
Blaze
Evs: 252 Spa / 252 Spe / 4 Hp
-Heat Wave
-Focus Blast
-Grass Knot
-Hidden Power Ice

I always love a good heat wave, it's stronger than flamethrower and is awesome in double battles. You may have trouble with focus blast's poor accuracy.

Either way I just don't like physical and special mixed together. But it is a good team for your first try though!

[hailflameblast]

Incidentally, this is also my first rate on CRMT.

Originally Posted by excaliberx18

So... this is my first competitive team that I've planned out. I'm pretty new to this so please correct any mistakes. Also, I'm still confused about EVs so I copied some from smogon. Thanks for rating (if you did.....)

Skarmory @ Leftovers
Impish
Keen Eye
Evs: 252 HP / 64 Atk / 4 Spe
- Brave Bird
- Roost
- Spikes
-Whirlwind

Skarmory is my lead and his only main job is to set up some spikes before he is threatened. Then theres whirlwind to get some damage on some of his other pokes using the spikes. Roost is for recovery and Brave Bird is to just do legitamate damage if I switch in on a grass type threatening some of my other pokemon.

In my opinion, Skarmory isn't all that great a lead. Two very common leads, Azelf and Aerodactyl destroy it with Taunt for stopping setup, and they WILL get SR up, thanks to Sash. Also, after they go down, Skarmory would have lost quite a bit of health from Brave Bird. Then, that followed by a Magnezone destroys it. If Azelf Taunts you on a setup move, Skarmory is probably down for the count as Sash takes the brave Bird, and then Fire Blast will roast Skarmory for breakfast. I would suggest you use an Aerodactyl lead:-

Aerodactyl@Focus Sash
252 Atk 252 Spe 6 HP
-Taunt
-Stealth Rock
-Stone Edge/Rock Slide
-Earthquake




Flygon @ Choice Scarf
Adamant
Levitate
Evs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
-Earthquake
-Outrage
-U-turn
-Stone Edge

Choice Scarf Flygon would mostly be used to scout things out, do damage, and force a switch. I can safely come into electric, fire, and ground moves which are commonly seen. If the matchup favors me I can attack with Earthquake or Stone Edge. If I was just trying to force a switch or scout I would use U-turn to hurt and switch. Outrage is a last resort to do some good damage if its desperate.

And before you say "Flygon will soak up the fire hit", remember that there IS a chance of being burned by Azelf's Fire Blast. Azelf's main job is to set up rocks, after that, it generally will stay in to do maximum damage. Worse, an Azelf lacking Fire Blast generally has Explosion, which would be suicide to switch Flygon into.




Registeel @ Leftovers
Impish
Clear Body
Evs: 252 HP / 168Atk / 88 Def (Maybe more Def?)
-Stealth Rock
-Explosion
-Toxic
-Iron Head

Registeel is my tank/support poke. I sets up rocks and toxics which can wittle away damage quickly (especially with skarmory's spikes). Then it can stall or at least force a switch to create more damage with the rocks and spikes. Iron head is to do some decent damage and deal with some ice or rock types. Explosion is a last resort to get some solid damage. Not too much attacking on this set, so should I put on more def. or maybe sp.def.?

Shut down by SubCharge Rotom-A. If it comes in on SR, you are a goner, as Substitute stops Toxic, it IIRC it takes 2-3 Iron Heads to break a Sub, when it will probably be +2 to +3 in SpATk status. Setup fodder for Steel type Pokemon and ghosts with Substitute.



Mamoswine @ Life Orb
Jolly
Oblivious
Evs: 252 Atk / 252 Spe / 4 Def
-Earthquake
-Ice Shard
-Stone Edge
-Ice Fang (Maybe Superpower here?)

Mamoswine has Earthquake for great STAB and Ice Shard for revenge killing or annoying dragons. Stone Edge is for Gyra mostly. For my last move, Ice Fang would be preferable for a stronger ice move when im not trying to outspeed someone elses priority attack but superpower would give me some pretty good type coverage. Which one?

Superpower is better, as it is your best move against Bronzong. Mamoswine is good as a Revenge killer, but you won't get anywhere sweeping with this as Skarmory makes this grind to a halt.



Vaporean @ Leftovers
Bold
Water Absorb
Evs: 188 HP / 252 Def / 68 Spe
-Wish
-Protect
-Surf
-Toxic

Common set for Vaporeon so I won't go into too much detail. Wish to heal itself or others switching in for support. Toxic for residual damage, and protect to scout or stall for toxic damage. Surf for good STAB.

You could have dropped Registeel/Vaporeon for Toxic Spikes Tentacruel, as that would free up one slot on one of them. Magnezone will force a switch or destroy it.




Infernape @ Life Orb
Naïve
Blaze
Evs: 64 Atk / 252 Spa / 192 Spe
-Flamethrower
-Close Combat
-Grass Knot/Thunder Punch ????
-Hidden Power Ice

Infernape is the only special attack user besides vaporeon. Flamethrower for grasses and steels and also has good STAB. Close Combat is also a great move that can hurt pretty much everything well with STAB. Hidden Power Ice because I would like some extra security against dragons (seeing as they are like the strongest and most abused pokes). Grass knot would hurt bulky waters well which my team doesn't really have anything for, but vaporeon is virtuallt unaffected because its too light. Thunderpunch would work pretty well but not as good against buljy water but it could help against flying pokes.

Infernape is good, but here he'll go down quickly due to residual damage. You might want to consider using CM Latias somewhere.





Well thanks for reading my first OU team, and another thx if you rated.

Btw...2 things:

I forgot to mention that none of this team has been built so if any of you have some of these pokes or their preevolutions with some of these moves and natures i would be willing to trade, just pm.

Also....how do you get the pics of the pokes on your post, I couldnt find info. about it anywhere and I would like this post to look interesting (if thats the word for it)

Comments in bold.

[excaliberx18]

I wanted infernape to hav some special moves cause pretty much my whole team is physcial but i would rather use close combat then focus blast because of acc.

[excaliberx18]

thx hailflameblast,for a first rate that was pretty good....i dont think im very good at team building yet lol...

[pastel]

Originally Posted by Golden Wisp

You gave Infernape mostly physical moves you could go for all physical:

Infernape @ Life Orb
Naïve
Blaze
Evs: 252 Atk / 252 Spe / 4 Hp
-Fire Punch
-Close Combat
-Thunder Punch
-Ice Punch

All 3 punches for coverage. Flare Blitz is powerful, but the recoil damage is too risky. If you think you won't have a problem with that go for it.

Or you could go all Special:

Infernape @ Life Orb
Naïve
Blaze
Evs: 252 Spa / 252 Spe / 4 Hp
-Heat Wave
-Focus Blast
-Grass Knot
-Hidden Power Ice

I always love a good heat wave, it's stronger than flamethrower and is awesome in double battles. You may have trouble with focus blast's poor accuracy.

Either way I just don't like physical and special mixed together. But it is a good team for your first try though!

First, all physical is a bad idea, he is running Specially based Mixape wich is just awsome, have you tried? Those 2 you said aren't very good.

Originally Posted by hailflameblast

Incidentally, this is also my first rate on CRMT.










Comments in bold.

This is your first rate, so.... This is not Remake my whole team section, then if you did not notice, he is using it for wifi, so rotom-a is just ungetable in this case...unless he uses AR, and almost nobody on serebii likes people to hack....

Also, wish vappy works etremely good infernape, so changing both of them would just be terrible....
Why change all the team? It looks very good.


EDIT: Indeed, this team looks very good, specially for your first try.
You don't have to listen to all rates, just to all that seem coherent.

[excaliberx18]

Thx alot pastel. Since you seem to have the most experience of the posts so far, how could I make this team less lucario weak without really changing the pokes and strategy much (i think i am willing to get rid of registeel possibly so maybe suggestions for replacements)

[Misaki-chi]

Ì'd recommend Gliscor, but that just increases your Suicune weak. Gyarados and Zapdos can both come in on Lucario (assuming the standard SD with Crunch) and threaten it. You could also run Mach Punch on Infernape to pre-empt its ExtremeSpeed. As others have stated, definitely replace Registeel. Registeel isn't particularly good outside of UU, you have Skarmory, and it does nothing for your team. Of course, Zapdos and Gyarados aren't setting up Stealth Rock, another plus for Gliscor. =/

You also can't deal well with bulky Rotom-A, particularly the RestTalk variants.

[excaliberx18]

i should go withs omething like an impish gliscor with:

Earthquake
Stealth
Roost
One of the elemental fangs

Yea, but like you said, something with a good water boosted with STAB move could rape most of the team.....this is so complicated lol......

[randomspot555]

Originally Posted by excaliberx18

Skarmory @ Leftovers
Impish
Keen Eye
Evs: 252 HP / 64 Atk / 4 Spe
- Brave Bird
- Roost
- Spikes
-Whirlwind

Skarmory is a fine Pokemon, but a poor lead, for a few reasons. Most of it's sets contain 2-3 (sometimes all 4) non-attack moves, which means it is set up bait for Taunt users. Even with one attack, it'll do laughable amouns of damage to Aerodactyl and Gyarados. Azelf, the other common Taunt user, usually carries Fire Blast which will rip Skarmory and it's poor special defense apart.

Almost all leads do some type of set up, so we've got a few types of leads:

Suicide Leads: They have ONE goal (usually, to set up Stealth Rock). They have low defensive stats and probably wouldn't survive a single hit if it wasn't for Focus Sash. Their first move will ALWAYS be the same, unless they can stop slow leads from setting up. Azelf and Aerodactyl are your two suicide leads.

Anti-Leads: These leads are made to stop the suicide leads and other frail leads. These guys usually contain Fake Out for priority and to break Focus Sash. Some may carry Stealth Rock (Infernape), others might not (Weavile, Ambipom). There's also an anti-anti lead with Dragonite. It's ability, Inner Focus, won't let it Flinch. So it'll Draco Meteor Infernape while it Fake Outs, and then it'll finish it off with priority Extreme Speed.Their goal is to STOP Stealth Rock leads, though they may also do some set up of their own.

Bulky leads: Bronzong, Metagross, Gyarados, Gliscor, and Swampert are pretty common, but there's some others too. Some may set up SR (pretty common on all except Gyarados, who can't learn it). Swampert usually stays around to be a Roar user. MEtagross usually explodes. Bronzong can go either way, or might stick around to set up Trick Room.

Roserade: I'm not sure where to put Roserade. It is Focus Sashed, but has decent defenses. It's goal is to set up 1-2 lairs of Toxic Spikes. It does this by using the 75% accurate Sleep Powder and then setting up. Aerodactyl can Taunt it in it's tracks. It rounds out it's set usually with Leaf Storm and either HP Fire or HP Ice.

Smeragle: Basically for Baton PAss teams, though it is also used to Trick Choice items onto leads.

Scout leads: These leads are basically to scout what the other lead is gonna do. Basically anybody with U-Turn or Baton Pass. Flygon can do this as well as Infernape. FAR less common, but I sometimes use them, and I'm a bit of an ego maniac.

Even among bulky leads, most usually aren't that upset if they die quickly.

Your goal is to figure out what you want your lead to do. There are your options.

Flygon is your basic Scarf set. A few things:

Flygon probably doesn't NEED all 252 EVs in speed. Figure out EXACTLY what you want to outrun, use those EVs in speed, and dump the rest into HP. This gives Flygon some much needed bulk, which'll help against it's many neutral-hit threats.

Thundrer Punch if you want to revenge kill Gyarados. Fire Punch if you want to revenge kill Scizor. Stone Edge if you can't decide.

Registeel is poor in OU. Others have already covered some good replacements.

Mamoswine has also been covered so I'll skip.

Vaporeon is actually a decent enough set. It looks like this is a Wi-Fi team. If you're lucky enough to get Hidden Power Electric, you might want to use that over Toxic to knock out Gyarados.

The standard Nasty Plot Life Orb Mixed Infernape is a "classic" and comes highly recommended.

[Master_of_grass]

good first time team. id go azelf over skarmory and glicor over registeel otherwise magnezone and lucario will pretty much rip your team to sheds