XY/ORAS Singles Rate my Team (OU)

[DragonianKing87]

So i've not got a few runs with this team so far and its handled itself fairly well but I still would like an extra set of eyes to look it over for me.


Talonflame @ Leftovers
Ability: Gale Wings
Nature: Jolly
EV's: 252 ATK, 4 Sp.D, 252 Spe
Moves:
Brave Bird
Flare Blitz
U-Turn
Steel Wing

Sylveon @ Leftovers
Ability: Pixilate
Nature: Bold
EV's: 252 HP, 220 DEF, 36 Sp.D
Moves:
Hyper Voice
Wish
Heal Bell
Protect

Latios @ Light Clay
Ability: Levitate
Nature: Timid
EV's: 248 HP, 8 Sp.A, 252 Spe
Moves:
Light Screen
Draco Meteor
Memento
Reflect

Roserade @ Focus Sash
Ability: Natural Cure
Nature: Timid
EV's: 4 HP, 252 Sp.A, 252 Spe
Moves:
Toxic Spikes
Sleep Powder
Leaf Storn
Hidden Power (Fire)

Keldeo @ Leftovers
Ability: Justified
Nature: Timid
EV's: 4 HP, 252 Sp.A, 252 Spe
Moves:
Hydro Pump
Secret Sword
Hidden Power (Ice)
Calm Mind

Bisharp @ Life Orb
Ability: Inner Focus
Nature: Naive
EV's: 252 ATK, 4 Sp.A, 252 Spe
Moves:
Dark Pulse
Iron Head
Swords Dance
Return


It feels like a solid team I just feel like it may have a weakness I'm not seeing at the moment. (This team was formed after hours of just trial and error and also some timely research)

 

[KoL]

Not much to say about this one:

- Steel Wing is a terrible move that should not be used by anything. You're better off with a support move like Roost, Will-O-Wisp or Taunt. Steel Wing is not going to slow down Rock-type Pokemon coming in on you in the slightest.

- If ever you feel Memento isn't pulling its weight, Latias pulls this type of set off far better than Latios does. Consider Defog as an option to keep enemy Stealth Rock from damaging Talonflame.

- Enemy Heatran would prove to be a pain for everyone on this team except Keldeo. Roserade carrying Hidden Power Ground instead of Fire can alleviate this somewhat, as you don't really need the Fire coverage as much with Talonflame there. Also note that if Roserade doesn't lead, enemy entry hazards are going to render the Focus Sash very useless very quickly. Focus Sash as a whole is pretty useless in singles unless it's put on a lead Pokemon.

- Calm Mind on a fast, frail Pokemon isn't the most optimal use of the move. Consider Substitute over it or even running a Choiced set if you find Calm Mind isn't pulling its weight.

- Your Bisharp set is terrible. For one, he has no business using Dark Pulse or any special attack for that matter, and your team in general is lacking any entry hazards. Bisharp learns Stealth Rock and has a lot of very strong physical Dark-type moves like Sucker Punch, Knock Off and Night Slash to bring to the table. Low Kick can also level the aforementioned Heatran trying to switch in on the sly. Also Return is worthless without STAB or some kind of boosting ability (Aerilate, Pixilate etc.)

You seem to have a basic idea of what you're doing at least, but these are the most glaring problems right off the bat.

 

[DragonianKing87]

I've actually changed the team quite a bit since this was posted I'll be sure to post an updated list here in a bit when I get home. (I'll edit this post)

Nonetheless your help and criticism is greatly appreciated.

 

[BlackoutSLM]

Hi. You could use Roost (like KoL said above) or Swords Dance on Talonflame instead of Steel Wing.
Roost can heal off the recoil damage of Brave Bird and it gets priority from Gale Wings.
As for Swords Dance, if you get a chance to set up one (or two), even a Rock type pokémon will lose a good chunk of HP if you find yourself forced to attack it.
Just be careful against Foul Play users.

 

[DragonianKing87]

Well after playing throughout the night I've made some tweaks and so here is version 2.0 actually its closer to like 2.3 but you get the idea.

Team building Process: So after the help I had recieved from you guys I had at that point already swapped out Roserade for a Mega Manectric but that wasnt working out as well as i had liked and Forretress wasnt holding up well much against mons like Ferrothorn so I looked through the options I had in fron of me and this is what I had come up with.

Talonflame @Leftovers
Ability: Gale Wings
Nature: Jolly
EV's: 252 Atk, 4 Sp.Def, 252 Spe
Moves:
Brave Bird
Flare Blitz
Roost
U-Turn

I took some advice and got rid of Steel Wing in its place went U-Turn that way I have the swap out for it and I still can recover and deal damage.

Garchomp @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Rough Skin
EVs: 252 HP / 164 Def / 76 SpD / 16 Spe
Impish Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Dragon Tail
- Fire Blast

I chose to use Garchomp because he seemed like a great way to get stealth rock out while still hitting a lot of the bigger things Ive gad to deal with.

Raikou @ Assault Vest
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 SpA / 32 SpD / 224 Spe
Timid Nature
- Thunderbolt
- Volt Switch
- Hidden Power Ice
- Shadow Ball

As unfortunate as it is I cant seem to use Volt Absorb with this guy I don't know if its been banned or if im just challenged but Raikou has worked pretty well for me so far and I really have enjoyed using him.

Altaria @ Altarianite
Ability: Pixilate
EVs: 248 HP / 104 Def / 156 SpD
Bold Nature
- Roost
- Hyper Voice
- Heal Bell
- Fire Blast/Flamethrower

For this I went with Fire Blast but I still enjoy using the set and Altaria has worked well as a cleric type of mon for me though it seems rather frail.

Keldeo @Leftovers
Ability: Justified
Nature: Hasty
EV's: 4 HP, 252 Sp.Atk, 252 Spe
Moves:
Calm Mind
Substitute
Secret Sword
Scald

So with Keldeo I had gotten rid of Calm Mind in favor of Scald that way I could test the two STAB water moves and running both was a good option for me The EV build might need a little tweaking but this build seems to work fine.

Scizor @ Leftovers
Ability: Technician
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Atk / 252 Def
Impish Nature
-Bullet Punch
-U-Turn
-Defog
-Roost

I swapped Forretress out for Scizor as a hazard control that way I still had Fary Types covered and a fairly easy way to hit hard and fast in the process. This guy has won me a few games actually and I've loved every second of it.

 

[BlackoutSLM]

Hi.
I think you can't use Volt Absorb Raikou because that's his Hidden Ability, wich is not legally available for now. If you find yourself in need of that ability, you can use Jolteon instead of Raikou. It can run the same moveset and it is faster.

 

[KoL]

Hidden Ability Raikou is indeed not available yet, so that's why you can't use it.

Also for the love of god don't use an Assault Vest Jolteon. Jolteon has far better sets it can use (Choice, Sub/Baton Pass for example) than four attacks and an item that does very little for it.

 

[BlackoutSLM]

Oops. Didn't saw the assault vest... Only suggested Jolteon because of his ability.
If you don't really need Volt Absorb, keep using Raikou.

 

[KoL]

At any rate:

- Fire Blast is very out-of-place on Garchomp. It doesn't really aid the set in any way since the main purpose is Stealth Rock to lay hazards and then Dragon Tail to maximize hazard damage. A third attack or even something like Toxic would work better here.

- Raikou would make for a better Calm Mind user than Keldeo honestly. His speed and bulk are both higher than Keldeo's making him more suited to a Substitute/Calm Mind set. If you really want a Volt Absorber, Therian Thundurus is a good choice. Before anyone shouts "Ice weakness," there's two Pokemon on the team that resist Ice you geeks.

- This frees up Keldeo's options a fair bit now depending on what Raikou wants to use. Sub/CM is OK (Hasty nature is not - Secret Sword is special so Timid is what you want) but I honestly feel Keldeo's better off just straight hitting things with no setup with Life Orb or a Choice item to boost the potential.

Everything else is fine I'd say.