At A Glance
Hey guys, this is a team I’ve been using lately. I tried to build it around a Sceptile sweep, but the focus has changed over to Dragonite. It’s done well, but I think it can do better. I’ll get right into my team building process.
Team Building Process
I knew right away that I wanted to try Sceptile in OU, so I had my first team member.
I figured that in OU, Scizor would cause Sceptile serious problems. Magnezone can reliably take Scizor out of the match, so he was a natural choice.
I was trying to find a pokemon with good defensive synergy with these two to form my Core. Dragonite resists Fire, Fighting, and Bug (Plus is immune to Ground), so he rounded out my core three.
Next, I wanted a good wall breaker. I’ve always wanted to try Mixed Metagross, so onto the team he went.
I noticed I had three fire Weaknesses (though Sceptile outspeeds all non-scarfed fires anyways), so I needed a resist. Swampert can set up Rocks, and his only weakness is resisteb by everybody else on the team. A natural choice.
I still wanted another fire resist, but preferably not weak to ground since that would give me three. Snorlax fit those criteria, so I gave him a shot.
Finally, after a bit of reworking thanks to my fellow Smogonites, the new and improved version looks like this!
The idea behind this team is to take out all the Bulky waters and steels, allowing Dragonite to sweep. If Dragonite goes down somehow, then Sceptile is my back up sweeper if he’s alive. I’ve had some success with this team, winning probably about 75% of all my matches. However, I’m looking for a few improvements to push this team from good to elite. Without further ado, I present my team!
In-Depth Look
Starmie@Life Orb
Timid Nature, 4 Def, 252 Sp.A, 252 Spe
Rapid Spin
Ice Beam
Thunderbolt
Surf
Starmie replaces Swampert as my lead. It does a great job at removing hazards, and puts the opponent on the defensive right away. Surf is for STAB, while Ice Beam and Thunderbolt form BoltBeam coverage. Rapid Spin gets rid of Stealth Rocks, making Dragonite's job much easier later on. Big thanks to BKC.
Swampert@Leftovers
Relaxed nature, 348 HP, 216 Def, 44 SpD
Stealth Rock
Earthquake
Ice Beam
Roar
Swampert was my lead, but he still does a solid job of getting Stealth Rocks down. His Fire and Electric resists are vital to my team, and every other pokemon barring Starmie resists his one weakness, Grass. Earthquake is for STAB, while Ice Beam nails Gliscor and the dragons. I’m running Roar in the final spot to phaze out sweepers and scout switch-ins.
Magnezone@Choice Scarf
Naive Nature, 4 Att, 252 SpA, 252 SpeSpe
Thunderbolt
HP Ground
Flash Cannon
Explosion
Magnezone is the first key to facilitating Dragonite’s sweep. He does a great job at removing steels, especially Scizor and Jirachi without Fire Punch. With the steels gone, Dragonite can decimate the opponent much easier. Thunderbolt and Flash Cannon are STAB. Normally I'd run HP Fire, but the rest of my team handles Scizor and Forretress well. HP ground lets me revenge non-scarf Heatran. Explosion lets me go out with a bang. Thanks to Lazyboy.
Scizor@Choice Band
Adamant nature, 244 HP, 252 Att, 12 Spe
Bullet Punch
U-Turn
SuperPower
Pursuit
Scizor is my new steel lure, replacing Metagross. Scizor does a good job of luring in Heatran, Skarmory, and opposing Magnezone, allowing me to U-Turn out and trap them with Magnezone. Bullet Punch is for STAB and priority, something my team lacked until now. SuperPower hits enemy Steels hard, and Pursuit lets me trap Psychics and Ghosts, especially those who resist Bullet Punch (*cough*, Rotom-A, *cough*). He also can pick off weakened Dragonites, who earlier gave me big problems. A big thanks to Bubbly.
Sceptile@Life Orb
Hasty Nature, 28 Att, 248 SpA, 232 Spe
Leaf Storm
Earthquake
HP Fire
Dragon Pulse
After the opposing Steels are weakened or dead, Sceptile comes in to work his magic. His blazing 120 Base Speed and given EVs are enough to outpace Max Speed Starmie. Sceptile acts as my main Bulky Water remover. Leaf Storm is STAB and destroys anything that doesn’t resist it, while Earthquake handles Blissey, Heatran and other Fires trying to stop me. HP Fire is (again) to stop Scizor, Forry, and opposing Grasses. Dragon Pulse has great neutral coverage (especially if Magnezone did his job), and can sometimes OHKO standard Dragonite after SR damage. Sceptile is now my best answer for BulkyDos. I can outspeed and OHKO, even after a Dragon Dance, with the slightly tweaked EVs. Although it results in his death, Sceptile can force Kingdra to Outrage, allowing Magnezone to come in and kill it. Normally Sceptile won’t sweep, but weakens the opponent enough for…
Dragonite@Leftovers
Careful Nature, 252 HP, 216 Sp.D, 40 Spe
Dragon Claw
Dragon Dance
Heal Bell
Roost
Dragonite is the star of the show. With the steel-types gone thanks to the rest of the team, Dragonite can forgo coverage moves for support moves to aid his sweep. Dragon Claw is STAB, and Dragon Dance boosts his attack and speed. Roost allows me to heal and grab a few extra boosts, but the key to his success is Heal Bell. With this move, I can set up on pokemon who normally threaten me, such as Will-O-Wisp Rotom, Thunder Wave Jirachi, and the many users of Toxic. I try to keep him hidden until the end, but I’ll Heal Bell for the rest of the team if necessary. Usually, about 65% of my wins are from a Dragonite sweep.
Hey guys, this is a team I’ve been using lately. I tried to build it around a Sceptile sweep, but the focus has changed over to Dragonite. It’s done well, but I think it can do better. I’ll get right into my team building process.
Team Building Process
I knew right away that I wanted to try Sceptile in OU, so I had my first team member.
I figured that in OU, Scizor would cause Sceptile serious problems. Magnezone can reliably take Scizor out of the match, so he was a natural choice.
I was trying to find a pokemon with good defensive synergy with these two to form my Core. Dragonite resists Fire, Fighting, and Bug (Plus is immune to Ground), so he rounded out my core three.
Next, I wanted a good wall breaker. I’ve always wanted to try Mixed Metagross, so onto the team he went.
I noticed I had three fire Weaknesses (though Sceptile outspeeds all non-scarfed fires anyways), so I needed a resist. Swampert can set up Rocks, and his only weakness is resisteb by everybody else on the team. A natural choice.
I still wanted another fire resist, but preferably not weak to ground since that would give me three. Snorlax fit those criteria, so I gave him a shot.
Finally, after a bit of reworking thanks to my fellow Smogonites, the new and improved version looks like this!
The idea behind this team is to take out all the Bulky waters and steels, allowing Dragonite to sweep. If Dragonite goes down somehow, then Sceptile is my back up sweeper if he’s alive. I’ve had some success with this team, winning probably about 75% of all my matches. However, I’m looking for a few improvements to push this team from good to elite. Without further ado, I present my team!
In-Depth Look
Starmie@Life Orb
Timid Nature, 4 Def, 252 Sp.A, 252 Spe
Rapid Spin
Ice Beam
Thunderbolt
Surf
Starmie replaces Swampert as my lead. It does a great job at removing hazards, and puts the opponent on the defensive right away. Surf is for STAB, while Ice Beam and Thunderbolt form BoltBeam coverage. Rapid Spin gets rid of Stealth Rocks, making Dragonite's job much easier later on. Big thanks to BKC.
Swampert@Leftovers
Relaxed nature, 348 HP, 216 Def, 44 SpD
Stealth Rock
Earthquake
Ice Beam
Roar
Swampert was my lead, but he still does a solid job of getting Stealth Rocks down. His Fire and Electric resists are vital to my team, and every other pokemon barring Starmie resists his one weakness, Grass. Earthquake is for STAB, while Ice Beam nails Gliscor and the dragons. I’m running Roar in the final spot to phaze out sweepers and scout switch-ins.
Magnezone@Choice Scarf
Naive Nature, 4 Att, 252 SpA, 252 SpeSpe
Thunderbolt
HP Ground
Flash Cannon
Explosion
Magnezone is the first key to facilitating Dragonite’s sweep. He does a great job at removing steels, especially Scizor and Jirachi without Fire Punch. With the steels gone, Dragonite can decimate the opponent much easier. Thunderbolt and Flash Cannon are STAB. Normally I'd run HP Fire, but the rest of my team handles Scizor and Forretress well. HP ground lets me revenge non-scarf Heatran. Explosion lets me go out with a bang. Thanks to Lazyboy.
Scizor@Choice Band
Adamant nature, 244 HP, 252 Att, 12 Spe
Bullet Punch
U-Turn
SuperPower
Pursuit
Scizor is my new steel lure, replacing Metagross. Scizor does a good job of luring in Heatran, Skarmory, and opposing Magnezone, allowing me to U-Turn out and trap them with Magnezone. Bullet Punch is for STAB and priority, something my team lacked until now. SuperPower hits enemy Steels hard, and Pursuit lets me trap Psychics and Ghosts, especially those who resist Bullet Punch (*cough*, Rotom-A, *cough*). He also can pick off weakened Dragonites, who earlier gave me big problems. A big thanks to Bubbly.
Sceptile@Life Orb
Hasty Nature, 28 Att, 248 SpA, 232 Spe
Leaf Storm
Earthquake
HP Fire
Dragon Pulse
After the opposing Steels are weakened or dead, Sceptile comes in to work his magic. His blazing 120 Base Speed and given EVs are enough to outpace Max Speed Starmie. Sceptile acts as my main Bulky Water remover. Leaf Storm is STAB and destroys anything that doesn’t resist it, while Earthquake handles Blissey, Heatran and other Fires trying to stop me. HP Fire is (again) to stop Scizor, Forry, and opposing Grasses. Dragon Pulse has great neutral coverage (especially if Magnezone did his job), and can sometimes OHKO standard Dragonite after SR damage. Sceptile is now my best answer for BulkyDos. I can outspeed and OHKO, even after a Dragon Dance, with the slightly tweaked EVs. Although it results in his death, Sceptile can force Kingdra to Outrage, allowing Magnezone to come in and kill it. Normally Sceptile won’t sweep, but weakens the opponent enough for…
Dragonite@Leftovers
Careful Nature, 252 HP, 216 Sp.D, 40 Spe
Dragon Claw
Dragon Dance
Heal Bell
Roost
Dragonite is the star of the show. With the steel-types gone thanks to the rest of the team, Dragonite can forgo coverage moves for support moves to aid his sweep. Dragon Claw is STAB, and Dragon Dance boosts his attack and speed. Roost allows me to heal and grab a few extra boosts, but the key to his success is Heal Bell. With this move, I can set up on pokemon who normally threaten me, such as Will-O-Wisp Rotom, Thunder Wave Jirachi, and the many users of Toxic. I try to keep him hidden until the end, but I’ll Heal Bell for the rest of the team if necessary. Usually, about 65% of my wins are from a Dragonite sweep.