Team Six Valuable Virtues [Balanced OU]

[Cerulean21]

At a First Glance:

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Introduction:
Ever since HG/SS moves have been introduced on Shoddy, I tried to find a team that could work with CB Dragonite and his new toy Extremespeed. It didn't partuclarly work well as a core, so I decided to give it a side role and centre the team around other Pokemon. I decided to go with SubCM Jirachi, which I have often used with great success. This is what, after some weeks of testing, I have come up with. Hope you enjoy the read.

Into Detail:

• Sagacity the Dragonite
• Item: Choice Band
• Nature: Adamant
• EVs: 56 HP, 252 Atk, 200 Spe
• Ability: Inner Focus
• Moveset:
  • Outrage One word: Incredible power. A STAB 120 BP attack off Dragonite's impressive 403 Attack stat is quite frightening. After Stealth Rock, Outrage can at least 2HKO every non-Steel type in OU, and even many Steel types face a 2HKO (e.g. Lucario takes 77% min). Switching in can thus be very dangerous to the opponent. Outrage alone makes this Dragonite an amazing wall breaker. (see damage calcs below)
  • Earthquake This works great along with Outrage to hit the various Steel types. It's the move I use the least though, simply because it invites all the Levitate/Flying Pokemon to switch in for free. Th possibility to murder Lead Heatran even through Shuca Berry is very handy though.
  • Fire Punch This is mainly for Bronzong and Skarmory, but has nailed me some surprise kills on stuff like Gengar that have switched in expecting Earthquake. Fire Punch is often used for scouting, when it is too risky to lock Dragonite into Outrage/EQ. It works nicely with the other attacks as Dragon/Ground/Fire has no resists.
  • Extremespeed This is, apart from the greater bulk, the main reason to use CBnite over CBmence. Extremespeed is extremely useful for a lead Pokemon, being able to take out many frail leads. They will usually get up SR, but won't be able to attack. It is also useful for revenge killing some of the frailer sweepers.
• Description: Dragonite has always been a favourite of mine. Since Salamence got Outrage in Platinum, the competition has become a lot bigger for Dragonite. This has it's advantages however, since it allows for "niche" movesets where Nite actually outshines his cousin. This set is one of them, not only because Dragonites greater bulk means it survives attacks that Salamence wouldn't, but also because Extremespeed is exclusive to Dragonite. This set packs an aweful lot of power. And while it would love some paralysis support, it also works nicely without it.
• Synergy: Lead and Revenge killer, mainly. Dragonite works great with Jirachi as they cover each other's weaknesses. The SR weak hurts a bit, since Dragonite is going to switch a lot. But once it is in, the steel types removed or weakened, Dragonite can sweep with Outrage. Seriously, this thing has been able to sweep quite a few of the slower teams, taking out round 4 Pokemon all by itself. Salamence may outclass Dragonite in many ways, but in his niches, it still shines.

• Dragonite against common Leads:
• 
  Switch to Swampert
• 
  Extremespeed will 2HKO, meaning, it can only set up Stealth Rock
• 
  Earthquake OHKOs through Shuca Berry
• 
  Extremespeed 2HKOs
• 
  Earthquake, Thanks to Inner Focus, Iron Head cannot flinch
• 
  Outrage OHKOs and Dragonite is faster
• 
  Switch to Celebi
• 
  Earthquake will 2HKO
• 
  Extremespeed will 1-2HKO
• 
  Switch to Tentacruel to take the sleep, then Extremespeed
• 
  Switch to Celebi

Damage Calculations

Outrage vs 252/168 Impish Hippowdon: 53.8-63.6% - 2HKO
Outrage vs 252/40 Impish Gliscor: 67.8-79.9% - 2HKO
Outrage vs 252/40 Jolly Gliscor: 74.0-87.6% - 2HKO
Outrage vs 252/252 Relaxed Swampert: 63.1-74.3% - 2HKO
Outrage vs 188/252 Bold Vaporeon: 72.3-85.3% - 2HKO
Outrage vs 252/220 Bold Celebi: 60.4-71.3% - 2HKO
Outrage vs 252/188 Bold Rotom-A: 79.9-94.1% - possible OHKO after SR
Outrage vs 252/252 Bold Suicune: 53.3-63.1% - 2HKO
Outrage vs 4/0 Timid Suicune: 85.4-100.9% - possible OHKO
Outrage vs 24/252 Calm Blissey: 99.5-117.0% OHKO after SR
Outrage vs 252/0 Adamant Machamp: 103.4-121.9% - OHKO
Outrage vs 252/252 Bold Cresselia: 47.3-55.6%
-1 Outrage vs 4/0 Jolly Gyarados: 80.1-94.6% - OHKO after SR
-1 Outrage vs 156/100 Adamant Gyarados: 64.1-75.7%
-1 Outrage vs 248/248 Impish Gyarados: 47.3-55.7% 2HKO after SR

Earthquake vs 252/12 Adamant Metagross 79.7-94.0%
Earthquake vs 80/0 Jolly Jirachi: 101.4-119.7% - OHKO
Earthquake vs 4/0 Naive Heatran (@Shuca Berry): 108.0-127.2% - OHKO

Fire Punch vs 252/80 Sassy Bronzong: 66.9-79.3% - 2HKO
Fire Punch vs 252/176 Impish Skarmory: 49.7-58.7% - 2HKO after SR
Fire Punch vs 252/144 Relaxed Forretress: 96.0-113.0% - OHKO after SR

Extremespeed vs 0/0 Naive Azelf: 67.7-79.7% - 2HKO
Extremespeed vs 4/0 Timid Latias: 53.0-62.6% - 2HKO
Extremespeed vs 0/0 Naive Salamence: 53.5-63.1%
Extremespeed vs 252/0 Jolly Smeargle: 103.8-122-3% - OHKO
Extremespeed vs 0/0 Naive Infernape: 66.6-78.5%
Extremespeed vs 0/4 Jolly Ninjask: 104.6-123.2% - OHKO

• Benevolence the Celebi
• Item: Leftovers
• Nature: Bold
• EVs: 252 HP, 216 Def, 40 Spe
• Ability: Natural Cure
• Moveset:
  • Grass Knot Obligatory STAB move that can pack quite some power against certain heavy foes. It will always 2-3HKO Gyarados, majorly hurt Tyranitar and Hippowdon and will always OHKO Swampert, to whom Celebi is arguably the best counter. Thanks to Toxic Spikes, the pitiful 60 Base Power it has against Vaporeon is much less of an issue.
  • Hidden Power [Fire] This is mainly for Scizor, who can be quite a menace to Celebi. It also hurts Metagross, Jirachi, Lucario and other associated Steel types. The combination of Grass/Fire gives many troublesome sweepers like Salamence and Heatran a free switch in though. I might consider Thunder Wave here, which should keep them at bay somewhat, but it would render Celebi easily walled.
  • Perish Song This is one of the most useful moves on this team. It means that I won't usually lose to Curselax, last Pokemon Crocune or enemy SubCM Jirachis. The Phazing effect it has also helps a lot against Baton Pass teams, especially if they lack Mr. Mime and/or have already used Ingrain. It furthermore can keep things like DDMence somewhat under control, as he loves to switch into Celebi once I revealed HP [Fire]
  • Recover Basic recovery move to keep Celebi alive much longer. Also helps winning Stall wars.
• Description: Celebi is always a staple on my teams, and for good reason. This little fairy is not only unbelievably sturdy, it also is my main answer to some of the metagames top threads like Breloom and Gyarados. The set is pretty straight forward defensive, being able to wall many physical attackers. The Pursuit weakness is a bit of a let down, but Celebi survives most of them when at full health and is certainly sturdy enough to battle some of them out.
• Synergy: Both Jirachi and Kingdra hate bulky Water types and bulky Ground types, which Celebi can comfortably handle. The green fairy also has some useful resistances to Ground, Water, Fighting and Electric, which comes in pretty handy. Celebi/Tentacruel have quite fantastic defensive coverage, resistance-wise, making it a great defensive core to this team. Celebi's sturdyness also works well with Tentacruel's Toxic Spiking.

• Valour the Swampert (Replacing Heatran)
• Item: Leftovers
• Nature: Relaxed
• EVs: 240 HP, 212 Def, 56 SpA
• Ability: Torrent
• Moveset:
  • Stealth Rock Stealth Rock is an absolut necessity, turning some of Dragonite's 2HKOs into OHKOs and means that Salamence and Gyarados can't switch in that often.
  • Earthquake Basic STAB attack that lets the mudfish counter many threats, such as Heatran, Metagross and Electivire and works nicely against Jirachi. It also murders Lucario and other frail sweepers not resistant to it and has great coverage alongside Ice Beam.
  • Ice Beam Ice works well alongside Ground, hitting most flying Pokemon for supereffective damage, most notably Salamence, Flygon and Dragonite. Ice Beam is also Swamperts only weapon against Rotom-A, and works well against Zapdos running HP [Ice] rather than Grass. It will scare out the sometimes troublesome Gliscor as well.
  • Roar This is great against certain sweepers who try to set up on Swampert, Substitute Rotom, SubCM Jirachi and Taunt-less Gyarados, won't be able to set up, and in case of the latter, will take an additional turn of Stealth Rock damage, making them considerably easier to counter.
• Description: Replaces Heatran. Thanks to his great defensive typing and his above average defences it can come in and counter quite a number of threats, such as Electivire, Salamence, Aerodactyl, Metagross, Heatran and Tyranitar. It also sets up Stealth Rock, which is highly beneficial for my team.
• Synergy: Sets up Stealth Rock and works well well with the other Pokemon of the team thanks to his resistances to Rock, Steel and his immunity to Electric, which is especially beneficial for Tentacruel and Kingdra. Comes in on most Tyranitar with relative easy, which is important to this team. It also appreciates Tentacruel's ability to remove Toxic Spikes.

• Deceit the Tentacruel
• Item: Leftovers
• Nature: Calm
• EVs: 252 HP, 56 Def, 200 SpD
• Ability: Liquid Ooze
• Moveset:
  • Surf Basic STAB attack that lets me take on Infernape. Water is a great attacking type, being able to hit many things for neutral damage. Interestingly, Vaporeon does not wall Tentacruel, thanks to Toxic Spikes, so that doggy mermaid becomes mere set up fodder (since Taddle is immune to Toxic and takes pitiful damage from HP Electric).
  • Toxic Spikes Both Jirachi and Kingdra benefit hugely from Toxic Spikes as it helps them to wear down things like Blissey, Celebi and Swampert. Tyranitar also hates them, giving me another security check for that monster.
  • Rest Now this makes up for the lack of recovery move. Rest is amazing on Tentacruel, recovering to full health and getting rid of any status. This is also what allows me to defeat SubPetaya Empoleon, as he has no chance to blast through her Defences with Surf (and obviously, even less so with Ice Beam).
  • Sleep Talk Just to make sure that Tentacruel is not defenceless when asleep. It helps setting up and also makes countering Gengar a lot easier (especially if he lacks Thunderbolt).
• Description: Tentacruel is amazing. Her 120 base Special Defence means that she can wall a great deal of Pokemon rather easily and set up Toxic Spikes. The main reason why I use Tentacruel over Vaporeon is her ability to absorb Toxic Spikes (and set them up), and her resistance to Fighting and Bug. Even CB Scizor has no chance blasting through her since she resists his entire movepool bar Pursuit and can wear him down with Surf. An overall great Pokemon.
• Synergy: Because Infernape is quite a huge threat to this team, Tentacruel is a necissity. Whilst she struggles more against Heatran than the likes of Vaporeon or Milotic due to her Ground weakness, she does all the better against Infernape. As an added bonus, she's very sturdy on the Special side defeating even Sub-Agility Empoleon one on one, by simply resting off any damage from surf. Heatran also has to run modest to even consider to 2HKO her, allowing me to counter it. Toxic Spikes severly hurt walls, which is great for Jirachi as it will have a much easier time against Swampert and Blissey. She also works quite nicely in combination with Celebi, letting me take on a wide variety of Pokemon.

• Veracity the Kingdra
• Item: Leftovers
• Nature: Adamant
• EVs: 252 HP, 24 Atk, 232 Spe
• Ability: Swift Swim
• Moveset:
  • Dragon Dance Thanks to his typig, Kingdra usually has quite an easy time setting up. Dragon Dance works great, boosting attack and speed. After two Dragon Dances (which really is easy to get), it will outrun just about everything and deal massive damage with his awesome STAB.
  • Outrage Having STAB on Dragon is amazing. Whilst Outrage's confusion rate is sometimes a mixed bag, the sheer power of this move makes up for it. Dragon also is a great attacking type, only being resisted by Steel types.
  • Waterfall Water works great alongside Dragon and makes a fine secondary STAB for Kingdra. The move combination is only resisted by Empoleon in OU, allowing Kingdra to sweep quite easily. Waterfall also comes with a handy flinch rate, and since DD is boosting Kingdra's speed, it gets more easily to make use of that.
  • Substitute Substitute is brilliant on Kingdra. Not only because it prevents Status, but it also prevents him from being revenge killed too easily.
• Description: Kingdra is quite a sturdy sweeper, having only one weakness and good defences. You'd be surprised how often this thing can set up and sweep thanks to substitute and it's typing. This set tries to take advantage of Kingdra's great defensive typing by giving it some bulk. The HP EVs generate a stat of 353, which grants one additional turn of survival if the damage is only residual. 232 Speed EVs outspeed positive natured 130 base speed Pokemon after a Dragon Dance, the rest is pumped into Attack.
• Synergy: Kingdra works quite well with Jirachi, being able to set up on Heatran easily with it's double fire resist. It's an overall great sweeper that can be pretty hard to stop. It's also one of the core Pokemon of this team, thus being supported by the others. Tentacruel absorbs enemy Toxic Spikes, enhancing its durability, and sets up TS or my team, which will help Kingdra sweep, whereas Celebi gets rid of the Bulky water types that plague Kingdra.

• Esperance the Jirachi
• Item: Leftovers
• Nature: Timid
• EVs: 252 HP, 76 SpA, 180 Spe
• Ability: Serene Grace
• Moveset:
  • Calm Mind This is what makes this Jirachi such an amazing sweeper. Thanks to the Special defence boosts, even Heatran becomes a less frightening revenge killer. Thanks to CM, Jirachi can even set up on woluld-be counters such as Rotom or Zapdos.
  • Flash Cannon Flash Cannon is a great STAB move that works nicely with Thunderbolt. The Special Defence dropping side effect can come in pretty handy too, especially against something like Blissey. It majorly hurts Tyranitar and is unresisted by Celebi and Latias, making it superior to Psychic for this team.
  • Thunderbolt Thunderbolt works nicely alongside Flash Cannon as it hurts many Steel resists for Supereffective or ar least neutral damage. The 20% paralysis rate is useful whilst setting up, especially against enemy Jirachi or Latias.
  • Substitute Brilliant for dodging Critical hits, status and helps against being revenge killed. Thanks to this, the standard Wish Bliss without Seismic Toss becomes setup fodder. Also, since Jirachi is able to set up 101 HP subs, the fat pink nurse can't destroy it in one Seismic Toss, allowing Jirachi to set up with Calm Mind. It also helps defeating Bulky CM Latias when Calm Minded up alongside, as the battle will come down to who is critting first.
• Description: The core to this team. Decent Speed, awesome typing and above average defences make Jirachi a formidable bulky sweeper. Once Jirachi's main counters are removed, there are a few things that can stop it and after a couple of CMs even the mighty Heatran can't do much to it anymore.
• Synergy: With its great number of immunities, Jirachi can often switch in to set up or scout for counters with substitute. Jirachi also works great with Kingdra, as it often draws choiced fire attacks (read: Heatran) against which Kingdra can easily set up. Jirachi's typing also works quite well in conjunction with Dragonite as they resist each other's weaknesses. Overall, Jirachi is a great asset to this team.

Threat List

Defensive Threats:

Blissey: Dragonite covers it somewhat and if TS are out, Jirachi set up on it. Tentacruel can also set up on it, but can't do anything back. Can be a nuisance

Bronzong: Swampert, Celebi

Celebi: Jirachi and Tentacruel set up on it.

Forretress: Celebi. Jirachi sets up on those that lack Earthquake

Gliscor: Swampert

Hippowdon: Celebi, Swampert

Rotom-A: Swamper and Jirachi usually work

Skarmory: Annoying, Celebi or Jirachi

Snorlax: Perish Song means Curselax won't work. Dragonite deals massive damage

Suicune: Perish Song Celebi, Toxic Spikes or CM Jirachi. Dragonite 2HKOs usually.

Swampert: Celebi

Tentacruel: Set up fodder for Jirachi

Vaporeon: Jirachi and Tentacruel set up on it, Kingdra too, usually.

Zapdos: Jirachi can try to set up on it, Dragonite can put massive holes in his HP.

Offensive Threats:

Breloom: Tentacruel takes the sleep, Celebi counters it

Dragonite: See Salamence

Electivire: Celebi

Empoleon: Tentacruel. Lead sets are murdered by Dragonite

Flygon: Swampert. Is usually choiced, so clever switching helps a lot here. Extremespeed Deals quite abit of damage.

Gengar: Tentacruel or Jirachi, depending on the set.

Gyarados: Celebi. Jirachi in a pinch

Heatran: Swampert, Tentacruel, Kingdra and to a lesser extend Dragonite

Infernape: Tentacruel, Dragonite

Jirachi: Celebi, Swampert

Kingdra: Toxic Spikes, Celebi

Latias: usually Jirachi

Lucario: Celebi, Jirachi

Machamp: Annoying, but Celebi, Tentacruel, Dragonite

Magnezone: Jirachi sets up on some sets, Celebi, Swampert when without HP [Grass]

Mamoswine Celebi, Swampert, Jirachi in a pinch

Metagross: Celebi, Swampert, Jirachi sometimes, Dragonite

Salamence: Swampert. Generally clever switching to let it take Life Orb recoil and then try to revenge kill with Extremespeed.

Scizor: Swampert, mainly. Jirachi in certain situations. Celebi often surprise kills with HP Fire

Tyranitar: Swampert

Former Members

• Malice the Heatran
• Item: Shuca Berry
• Nature: Timid
• EVs: 4 HP, 252 SpA, 252 Spe
• Ability: Flash Fire
• Moveset:
  • Lava Plume Lava Plume works brilliantly on Heatran thanks to its 30% burn rate, which can really cut down the effectiveness of things like Tyranitar and Salamence, who often switch in. Swampert also hates burn, but should optimally be poisoned by the Toxic Spikes. Lava Plume also offers nice STAB and will send Scizor, Celebi and Bronzong running.
  • Earth Power Ground works great alongside Fire, being able to hurt most Fire Types (and most importantly enemy Heatran) for supereffective damage. It is also the only way to keep Tyranitar out, somewhat.
  • Hidden Power [Ice] This is mainly for revenge killing Salamence locked into Outrage, but will also hurt the bulky Ground types and scare away Flygon. This move combination leaves Heatran completely walled by Swampert and Gyarados, who Celebi can take on nicely though.
  • Stealth Rock Stealth Rock is an absolut necessity, turning some of Dragonite's 2HKOs into OHKOs and means that Salamence and Gyarados can't switch in that often.
• Description: Shuca Berry works nicely on this Heatran for two reasons: one, it helps survive an Earthquake or the like and secondly, it helps bluffing Choice Scarf forcing switches. The obvious downside, however, is that it loses the ability to successfully revenge kill Weavile and most importantly Lucario. It works nicely as a Scizor counter though and can still successfully revenge kill all those Dragons locked into Outrage. Switching in on Rotom-A's WoW can not only force that annoying ghost out, it also grants Heatran a considerable boost for Lava Plume.
• Synergy: Heatran works extremely well alongside Celebi, forming the famous Celetran combo. It also sets up Stealth Rock, which is extremely useful in combating Salamence and Gyarados. The fire immunity is great. It's also a nice switch in into various steel types such as Scizor, Forretress and Skarmory.

Thanks for reading and please comment.

 

[Aeron Ee1]

Psychic is probably a better STAB move for Jirachi. It's got higher base power and relatively better coverage.

 

[Nosferalto]

Hi.

Looking at your team, you can patch up weaknesses to many common offensive threats, mainly, DD Tyranitar, DD Salamence, SD Lucario, Gengar and Jolteon. Tyranitar is a threat to this team because nothing can afford switching-in on a STAB Stone Edge except for Jirachi who's moveset is walled by TTar's mammoth SpDef and is weak to Earthquake. DD Tyranitar is particularly a threat because it gets several opportunities to switch-in and set-up, such as Dragonite locked onto Extreme Speed or Fire Punch, Jirachi and Tentacruel are both set-up fodders to TTar. From there it can DD up, and proceed to sweep your team. Stone Edge takes care of Dragonite and Kingdra, a +1 Crunch OHKOes Celebi and the rest are weak to Earthquake. DD Salamence is also a threat as it can come in on Dragonite locked onto Earthquake or Fire Punch, as well as Celebi and Tentacruel as they are horribly walled, then it can sweep with nothing holding it back. SD Lucario also sets up relatively easily against Tentacruel when it is asleep, or Dragonite locked onto Extreme Speed; then it can beat every single one of your Pokemons with the appropriate move. Gengar and Jolteon aboth have their way against this team, as they outspeed every single of your team members and can OHKO/2HKO everyone. Salamence and Jolteon could be revenge killed by Dragonite's Extreme Speed, but I feel that a better check is needed to ensure that those aren't a problem.

In order to solve these weaknesses, there are several things you should do. First of all, replace Tentacruel with Swampert. I noticed Tentacruel is kinda useless on this team. Toxic Spikes isn't needed at all, and there are many Pokemons in the OU tier that are immune to it. Any Poison type can switch-in and absorb them andwith no ghost type, any Rapid Spinner can spin TS. In addition, it is a complete set-up fodder to many OU threats. Since it only has Surf as an attacking move and Resttalk and TS, alsmost anything can come in if it resists water or Tentacruel is asleep and set-up or unleash a powerful attack. On the other hand, Swampert, provides a rock resist and an excelent check to both Tyranitar and Salamence with Earthquake and Ice Beam respectively. Also, it checks Jolteon pretty well, only fearing the occasional HP Grass. It also sets up SR, which frees up a slot on Heatran. Here's the set:

Swampert @ Leftovers | Torrent
Relaxed | 252 HP / 216 Def / 40 SpAtk
Earthquake | Ice Beam | Stealth Rock | Protect / Surf

Now, the only downside of removing Tentacruel is making your team a bit MixApe weak; and with your team's SD Lucario and Gengar weakness, I feel that all you lack is Speed. With that being said, your team would benefit a lot from a revenge killer. That's why I would suggest you slap a Scarf on Heatran and change it's moveset. Outspeeding Lucario and resisting Extreme Speed means that it is no longer a problem, also you can switch-into MixApe's Fire move and revenge kill it with ease. In addition, you have a solid switch-in to Gengar's STAB Shadow Ball (it's attack of choice), and a solid revenge killer. Explosion will help you surprise Blissey on the switch, meaning Jirachi can sweep relatively easy. Stall teams are less of a hassle that way. SR is set-up by Swampert. Here's the set:

Heatran @ Choice Scarf | Flash Fire
Naive | 4 HP / 252 SpAtk / 252 Spe
Fire Blast | Earthpower | Explosion | Dragon Pulse

Finally, I've got one more suggestion. This ins't really needed, but your team would benefit a lot from it, especially Swampert. Since your whole team, is incredibly bulky and only Celebi has a recovery move, Wish support would help your team a lot and would increase it's survivability. Swampert enjoys Wish support since it lacks a recovery move, as well as Heatran. To have Wish support, you can use it on Jirachi, and changing it's set to a more defensive one such as:

Jirachi @ Leftovers | Serene Grace
Bold | 252 HP / 220 Def / 36 Spe
Wish | Flash Cannon | Calm Mind | Thunderbolt

Well, that's my rate. You could try a Scarf Jirachi to beat all those threats but I didn't want to change CM Jirachi since you based the team around it. Hope this helps.

 

[Cerulean21]

Thanks for the rate so far.

@Aeron Ee1: I'm afraid that Psychic won't work as well, as it leaves Jirachi a lot more esily walled. Both Celebi and Latias would then resist Jirachi's attacks, which could be quite problematic. Another (main) reason is, that Psychic invites Tyranitar to switch in, and since he is a huge threat to my team already, I don't feel like giving him more oppurtunities to switch in.

@Nosferalto: First of all, thanks for this detailed rate. I have tested your suggestions and will take some of them into account. Swampert is unbelievably useful for this team. I tested it over Tentacruel first, but found that the jellyfish was dearly missed, so I decided to forego Heatran instead.
Scizor, Skarmory and Rotom-A are a slightly bigger Problem with Heatran gone, but so far, I have been able to work around them.


I will also test Choice Scarf Jirachi as you suggested. Whilst this would undoubtly majorly affect the team, it might also open a spot (Tentacruel) to make room for another sweeper there...