My Standard OU Team - HELP!!!

[LukeOzade456]

Hello guys, I have finally started battling competitively in Gen 5 but I am having problems building my team. The team is very poorly made as I am just starting out. I made this team but I feel there is tonnes of room for improvement and hope you guys can help me.

Scrafty @ Leftovers
Nature: Careful
Ability: Shed Skin
EV: 252HP/ 248SpD/ 8Atk
Moveset:
Bulk Up
Crunch
Drain Punch
Rest

This is one of my favourite pokemon and so far it is the only pokemon on my team that actually works. I send it in on a pokemon that i resist and set up Bulk Up, then when I have little HP I use rest and my Shed Skin ability removes sleep. I then go for the sweep, this has proved very useful for me.


Gengar @ Leftovers
Nature: Timid
Ability: Levitate
EV: 252SpA/ 252Spd/ 4HP
Moveset:
Substitute
Disable
Shadow Ball
Psychic

I have got gengar on my team mainly because it covers Scrafty's weaknesses but also seemed pretty cool to use. First of all I use substitute on my first go. Then I use disable so the opponent can not hit me with there strongest move then I use Shadow Ball or Psychic to finish it off.
This set however does not always work so I would not mind any suggestions.


Rotom W @ Choice Specs
Nature: Timid
Ability: Levitate
EV: 252SpA/ 252Spd/ 4Hp
Moveset:
Volt Switch
Hydro Pump
Hidden Power[Ice]
Trick

Ok, this is one of the pokemon that i honestly do not know why I picked it, I guess it was just to fill a spot and cover some of the metagame but it seems to always fail. I do not mind any suggestions at all as I have no strategy for using Rotom at all.


Landorus @ Choice Scarf
Nature: Jolly
Ability: Sand Force
EV: 252Atk/ 252Spd/ 4Def
Moveset:
Earthquake
Stone Edge
Hammer Arm
U Turn

Landorus is on my team because it looks cool and is also a strong sweeper which cleans up anything at the end of the game. It covers weaknesses of my team in general but also creates more like Ice weaknesses etcetera. I would love to keep him on my team but I have no idea what to do with him and no strategy so suggestions would be great.


Ninetales @ Life Orb
Nature: Timid
Ability: Drought
EV: 252SpA/ 4SpD/ 252Spd
Moveset:
Fire Blast
Solarbeam
Hidden Power[Rock]
Will O Wisp

Ninetales is my teams special sweeper and does a very good job of it. I send her out on pokemon who she resists and then just sweep the team in the sunlight. It also cover my teams major ice weakness. If ninetales is ever in a pinch i use Will O Wisp before she dies so I can at least cripple the opponent. I have Hidden Power Rock mainly because it cover flying type pokemon that Scafty is weak to. If you want to make any changes here though then that is fine.


Donphan @ Leftovers
Nature: Impish
Ability: Sturdy
EV: 252Hp/ 4 Atk/ 252 Def
Moveset:
Rapid Spin
Stealth Rock
Earthquake
Roar

Donphan plays many roles in my team and usually does them quite efficiently. Rapid Spin is there to remove entry hazards, Stealth Rock sets up entry hazards and Roar is my phaser move and also causes a bit of damage to opponent on switching due to Stealth Rock. Finally EQ is there purely for STAB. If you have any suggestions on Donphan then that will be fine.



This is my team and as you can see half of the team is not very well thought out. This is because I am not good at team building and I am not used to the Gen 5 OU metagame as of yet so any advice would be much appreciated. Thank You :)

 

[Blue_Star]

Hey, LukeOzade456, I think this team has a lot of potential, but I feel you can still improve it. Use Focus Blast over Psychic on Gengar, since it has better coverage by hitting Steel- and Dark-type Pokemon. Running Ice Shard over Roar on Donphan also seems a good idea, since it helps checking Dragon-types such as Dragonite and Salamence, then you can use an Air Balloon Heatran over your Landorus, since you seem very weak to opposing Heatrans, as well as Volcarona. Ninetales probably wants a spread of 128 HP / 252 SpA / 20 SpD / 108 Spe Modest, as well as a moveset of Fire Blast / SolarBeam / Sunny Day / Will-O-Wisp, since it's the best set it can use. You're using Rotom-W for special attacking power + water resistance, right? Venusaur does a much better job at doing it, since you're using a Sun team.
Sets:

Venusaur Set

Venusaur (M) @ Life Orb
Trait: Chlorophyll
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Growth
- Energy Ball / SolarBeam
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Sleep Powder / Sludge Bomb

Heatran Set

Heatran (M) @ Air Balloon
Trait: Flash Fire
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Fire Blast
- Earth Power
- Dragon Pulse / Hidden Power [Ice]
- Roar / Flame Charge / Sunny Day

However, those are only options to consider, good luck!

 

[GARCHOMPZILLA]

Great team, but i just really don't think ninetales should be on it. None of your other pokemon resist fire except for rotom, one of who's attacks is weakened in sun. That maens that a team based on sun or that can take advantage of it can really harm your team. If you want a special attacker, I would suggest:

Reuniclus@leftovers(magic guard)
Bold nature (+defense,-attack)
252 sp.atk,6 sp.def,252 sp.atk
-calm mind/focus blast
-recover
-pyschic/pyshock
-thunder
Yes, the movest could probably be changed, but either way reuniclus is both hard to kill and has a lot of sp.atk, allowing it to take down a lot of pokemon quickly while taking hits. You could also put trick and give it a flame orb to stall, as your team seems to lack a staller.

Overall I would go with that or latios, but if you want you could make gengar all offense (thunderbolt, Hp fire/ice, focus blast/pyschic, shadow ball) and use that.

 

[Black Rain]

Hi. Sun harms your team more than it benefits it. Tyranitar over Ninetales to give Landorus a boost. If you want to use Scrafty, try an offensive Dragon Dance version, or use Terrakion because those things just hit hard with a choice band. I second Blue Star's suggestion of Focus Blast > Psychic for type coverage.

 

[LukeOzade456]

Im trying to get a hyper offense team, not a weather team, I only used Ninetales because I needed a special sweeper, sorry I should of said that. Do you think if I changed Landorus to Tornadorus it would be better ?

 

[Lemonade]

Nice team, however I think Volcarona over Ninetales as your special sweeper would be a marked improvement. Similarities first: they both have Fire-type STAB and equal Speeds. However, Volcarona functions much better in that sweeper role because of its higher Special attack and access to Quiver Dance--a full offensive Volcarona will out damage even sun Ninetales, who is easy to revenge kill (no speed boosting) and easy to cripple (weather change=no SolarBeam or strong Fire Blast. Furthermore, you already have a spinner in Donpham--minimal changes are needed to accommodate Volcarona. That said, a set of 252 SpA / 4 SDef / 252 Spe Timid with a move set of Quiver Dance, Fire Blast, Bug Buzz, and Hidde Power Rock with Life Orb would be your best bet (fire STAB can be changed with more accurate options).

On that note i think Gengar could use a slight change: a SubPainSplit set adds extra insurance that Blissey will not wall Volcarona (you do have Scrafty, who can take advantage of Blissey switch ins, but extra help is never an issue!) Just switch Disable for Pain Split and Psychic for Focus Blast. Other than that, good luck!

 

[LukeOzade456]

I have currently changed Ninetales to Volcarona for my special sweeper, great choice. I am now weak to Water and Flying so I feel like I need to change Donphan to Magnezone, should I, if not any other suggetions.

Thank You

 

[Dragoon Master]

I believe that this would add to your team's speed factor. I believe this should replace Landorus and add to your over all team.
Tornadus (M) @ Focus Sash
Trait: Prankster
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Tailwind
- Air Slash
- Grass knot
- Attract / toxic
You are probabily wondering why grass knot? Grass knot kills sandstorm teams. By using grass knot, Tornadus will be able to defeat most popular sandstorm starters. Tornadus works as a great starter pokemon by using tailwind.

Magnezone may work on your team.

Magnezone @ Air Balloon
Trait: Magnet Pull
EVs: 116 Def / 252 SAtk / 140 SDef
Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Light Screen/Mirror Coat/Substitute
- Reflect/barrier/Substitute
- Thunderbolt/discharge/shock wave
- Double Team/Signal Beam
I don't know which pokemon you should replace for it if you want it, but I hope it helps.

I hope this all helps! :)
P.S. Dance Dance Scrafty should probabily be used on your team

 

[LukeOzade456]

I have decided a Dragon Dance Scrafty is nessecary.
I am now puzzled on whether to get have Hydreigon or Gengar as Hydreigon seems ok for the team in my eyes.