Team Steel Dragon (OU Competative)

[Chaos]

This team is designed for OU competative play and is focused on luring out apozing steels and threats to my dragons so that I may kill them and then allow my dragons to continue to sweep on.

Here is the line up in a glance:

First up

Salimance (Draco) @ Life Orb

Nature: Mild (+SpAtk / -Def)

Ability: Intimidate

EVs: Atk 72, Spe 220, SpAtk 216

Role: Crushing Lead

Draco Meteor

Outrage

Hidden Power (Ice)

Earthquake

Draco has three simple jobs. To crush the oposing lead, have the opponent show their dragon counter, and optionaly to return later as a wall breaker. I know i will get a fit over not having a SR lead but the point of this is to throw off my opponent. This Dragon also handels the two most common leads easily. Taunt leads are normaly frail and suicidal already and if they expect to stop a DD Mance they are sadly mistaken. If it is a trick lead I will benefit all three ways! I get a scarfed Mance, Band Mance, or a Specs Mance! Now were is the problem with that? Hidden Power Ice is effective against more Leads than Fire Blast (Aerodactyl, Togekiss, Glyscore to name a few) and the EVs were only moved slightly to Beat out all base 95 pokemon who chose a speed positive nature and max out the speed stat. (Like glyscore leads)

Next is

Metagross (Meta) @ Expert Belt

Nature: Naughty (+Atk / -SpDef)

Ability: Clear Body

EVs: Atk 252, Spe 134, SpAtk 124

Role: The Trick

Meteor Mash

Thunder Punch

Hidden Power (Fire)

Grass Knot

Metagross is so common that many teams carry a counter. This counter would normaly be a bulky water and is used to counter all steels and some dragons. Metagross is setup bait to some of those with the wrong set. Meta has a set designed to counter these counters though and clear the way. and he can use HP Fire to dent any steel dumb enough to come in as well. This opens the way for Scizor, Kingdra, and also scouts the team to a good level that i should know at least one or two partners to the bulky water or the lead that has not come out yet. My only question is should i add earthquake over meteor mash to counter absolutly everything that may come in? (heatran and magnezone come to mind)

Now the fun parts (and yes we are still in Hoenn)

Latias (Purity) @ Choice Scarf

Nature: Timid (+Speed / -Atk)

Ability: Levitate

EVs: Hp 80, SpAtk 252, Spe 176

Role: Dragon / Gyara Counter

Draco Meteor

Surf

Thunderbolt

Trick

This Latias is now changed to handel DD Mance and DD Gyara as well as some other common threats to the over all line up. (Thanks Dimi)

The Alternate

Scizor (Big Red) @ Choice Band

Nature: Adamant (+Atk / -SpAtk)

Ability: Technician

EVs: Hp 248, Atk 252, Spe 8

Role: Latias Partner / Mid game Sweeper / Scout / Revenge Killer (A lot I know lol)

Bullet Punch

Pusuit

U-Turn

Superpower

As I said in the previous paragraph Big Red's main job is to counter latias's counters. He also scouts for me with U-Turn. Revenge kills alot with Bullet Punch + STAB + CB + Technician. Destroys with pursuit. And finaly sweeps later game with moreBullet Punch + STAB + CB + Technician.

The last Dragon of Johto

Kingdra (Drache) @ Leftovers

Nature: Naughty (+Atk / -SpDef)

Ability: Sniper / Swift Swim

EVs: 252 Atk, 232 Spe, 24 SpAtk

Role: Mid Game Sweeper

Dragon Dance

Outrage

Waterfall

Hydropump

Drache is dragon in German if the name confused you. Drache is only resisted by empoleon and shedinja so late game should have no problems with only dragons as his weakness. If an opening comes up early I take it though. The Speed EVs are just enough after one DD to out speed base 130s. Sniper is nice with a Critical hit but Swift Swim will let me abuse Rain Dance teams... Advice?

The only Native to the Region

Heatran (Hot Head) @ Choice Scarf

Nature: Naive (+Spe / -SpDef)

Ability: Flash Fire

EVs: Hp 6, Spe 252, SpAtk 252

Role: Fire Counter / Steel Counter / Revenge killer

Fire Blast

Earth Power

Hidden Power (Grass)

Explosion

Hot Heat gets out early in the game but I just like to keep things organized. He generaly comes in on the steels that came on one of my dragons or he took the heat from a fire type that came out on my Metagross or Scizor and got Flash Fired. He helps round off the team and keeps things flowing.

I would like to thank you now for taking the time to comment on and rate my team. All advice is greatly apreciated.

Edited July 19, 2009 by Chaos
Latias Kingdra Heatran Updated

[Toffeuy]

Scizor (Big Red) @ Choice Band

Nature: Adamant (+Atk / -SpAtk)

Ability: Technician

EVs: Hp 252, Atk 252, Spe 4

Role: Latias Partner / Mid game Sweeper / Scout / Revenge Killer (A lot I know lol)

Bullet Punch

Pusuit

U-Turn

Brick Break

I can tell Superpower will be your last resort. Skarmory is a threat. Skarmory can easily wall all your moves except Superpower. Superpower still can't 1HKO a Skarmory. While Skarmory has the upper hand to attack. Locked in Choice Band, you have to use Superpower which lowers your attacks and defences constantly. So Brick Break in this case may be the wiser choice.

[Psycho K]

Salimance (Draco) @ Life Orb

Nature: Mild (+SpAtk / -Def)

Ability: Intimidate

EVs: Atk 72, Spe 220, SpDef 216

Role: Crushing Lead

Draco Meteor

Outrage

Hidden Power (Ice)

Earthquake

Draco has three simple jobs. To crush the oposing lead, have the opponent show their dragon counter, and optionaly to return later as a wall breaker. I know i will get a fit over not having a SR lead but the point of this is to throw off my opponent. This Dragon also handels the two most common leads easily. Taunt leads are normaly frail and suicidal already and if they expect to stop a DD Mance they are sadly mistaken. If it is a trick lead I will benefit all three ways! I get a scarfed Mance, Band Mance, or a Specs Mance! Now were is the problem with that? Hidden Power Ice is effective against more Leads than Fire Blast (Aerodactyl, Togekiss, Glyscore to name a few) and the EVs were only moved slightly to Beat out all base 95 pokemon who chose a speed positive nature and max out the speed stat. (Like glyscore leads)

It's Gliscor. If it has Yache Berry, you're sort of in trouble if it then Ice Fangs in response. That is, assuming it has Hyper Cutter too. Speaking of physical Ice moves, you won't like lead Metagross with Ice Punch is a similar problem. Worse, actually. In both cases it may be a OHKO, with or without Life Orb damage. Your Earthquake won't OHKO Metagross unless I'm really overestimating his defense. If you do have a sliver of life left, its Bullet Punch may deal with that, so be wary. You really can't do anything to Bronzong and I know you have hopes of getting tricked something nice from it, but be careful of getting Macho Brace tricked on to you. It would really suck to have the second fastest (not counting Swift Swim Kingdra) member of your team suddenly end up slow and 30% weaker. Skamory cannot wall you as well as Bronzong, but it has Roost. I don't know how much LO HP Ice does to the common Skamrory. Look into it? You've got decent SpD there, but is it enough to take two Psychics from Azelf? Granted, if it has Taunt, it may go for that if it's expecting Dragon Dance as you say, or just feel it has time to setup Stealth Rock in that case and then leave to use Explosion on one of your non-Steel Pokemon later.

You're relying on the element of surprise, which is good, but it's not necessarily enough to crush enemy leads with extreme efficiency. If Salamence had a priority move, it would be pretty straightforward. Draco Meteor and then said priority move. It does not have this though, so this is harder. Oh, I don't know if Cresselia gets seriously run as a lead, but seeing how both of your Dragon moves are of the all-out nature and Earthquake won't hit it, you're limited in options and then you get Thunder Waved and then it throws up dual screen (the first screen it uses would be dependent on which attack you did) next turn or something. *shrug*

Conceptually, this idea of overwhelming the lead with brute force looks great on paper, but if you've already started using him, I want to know how he fared.

Metagross (Meta) @ Expert Belt

Nature: Naughty (+Atk / -SpDef)

Ability: Clear Body

EVs: Atk 252, Spe 134, SpAtk 124

Role: The Trick

Meteor Mash

Thunder Punch

Hidden Power (Fire)

Grass Knot

Metagross is so common that many teams carry a counter. This counter would normaly be a bulky water and is used to counter all steels and some dragons. Metagross is setup bait to some of those with the wrong set. Meta has a set designed to counter these counters though and clear the way. and he can use HP Fire to dent any steel dumb enough to come in as well. This opens the way for Scizor, Kingdra, and also scouts the team to a good level that i should know at least one or two partners to the bulky water or the lead that has not come out yet. My only question is should i add earthquake over meteor mash to counter absolutly everything that may come in? (heatran and magnezone come to mind)

See, the Smogon set had Earthquake over ThunderPunch to deal with those counters, granted you're probably KO'd if Heatran Fire Blasts you, so you may not stay in on that. Heck, it doesn't have to be Scarfed to outrun you, and I'm not sure it has to use Fire Blast. Flamethrower might be enough. Magnezone...yeah. It would come in knowing/with the confidence that it is speedier than you, Magnet Rise if it was not sure if you had Earthquake, and then shoot Thunderbolts at you, though it won't like HP Fire. I don't imagine Gyarados switching in on you (Earthquake predict, but still...) since its Intimidate will not work, so why do you need ThunderPunch? Were you planning on duking it out with Vaporeon, Tentacruel, and Empoleon? Though, the latter two get handled by Earthquake, so it's really just Vaporeon.

I've never run Metagross, but I like Bullet Punch on pretty much all of them, but considering the purpose of this Metagross, you don't need it. Scizor is on revenge kill duty anyhow.

The loss of Meteor Mash makes Tyranitar into a slightly scarier customer. Your Meteor Mash will hurt it more than Grass Knot would and Tyranitar can be a big threat to you. With the knowledge of Meteor Mash not being something you have, it could theoretically Dragon Dance and go for the Earthquake KO next turn, otherwise some sort of unpredictable Flamethrower/Fire blast kind of thing.

Seriously reconsider that ThunderPunch.

Latias (Purity) @ Leftovers

Nature: Timid (+Speed / -Atk)

Ability: Levitate

EVs: Hp 204, Def 128, Spe 176

Role: Mid Game sweeper/ Status absorber

Calm Mind

Dragon Pulse

Recover

Refresh

This Latias is designed to take hits and absorb status and then after she is all charged up with calm minds let loose. Most threats should have bean eliminated by metagross but physical ices like Mamoswine and wevile are handeled by our next team member. As are her other Ghost, Dark, and Bug weaknesses.

Bronzong. Resists Dragon Pulse and Tricks you into Calm Mind possibly. It would probably want to determine if you had Leftovers, and if it does determine you do, Bronzong will want this. Jirachi is not terribly afraid of Dragon Pulse and it can Ice Punch you, or if it's specially based, Shadow Ball, which has a 40% chance of dropping your SpD. Worst case scenario might be the Nintendo Zone Jirachi which would Draco Meteor you actually, though I'm sure it would do an attack before that to scout just how bulky you are.

Refresh does help a lot if you're counting on having serious staying power and you get Toxiced in the middle of the process. It also gets rid of paralysis would would pretty much horribly gimp your sweeping potential by quite a bit. Whether or not its important enough to have over another attack move is really your call, though. Remember, she's the fastest Pokemon you've got, but with just one attack move, her sweeping ability really relies on Calm Mind. Of course, this is a defense build anyway...

The Alternate

Scizor (Big Red) @ Choice Band

Nature: Adamant (+Atk / -SpAtk)

Ability: Technician

EVs: Hp 252, Atk 252, Spe 4

Role: Latias Partner / Mid game Sweeper / Scout / Revenge Killer (A lot I know lol)

Bullet Punch

Pusuit

U-Turn

Superpower

As I said in the previous paragraph Big Red's main job is to counter latias's counters. He also scouts for me with U-Turn. Revenge kills alot with Bullet Punch + STAB + CB + Technician. Destroys with pursuit. And finaly sweeps later game with moreBullet Punch + STAB + CB + Technician.

Yeah. He really helps Latias out, though if it was Jirachi threatening her, beware of HP Fire/Fire Punch. Not much else to to say. The only thing this set would hate being up against is a bulky Ghost. They take Bullet Punch well and then burn you, but of course that's the cue for the Heatran. You could U-Turn, but Ghosts will resist this too, unless it is Spiritomb.

@Toffeguy: This is a Choice Band set. The main point of such sets is pretty much always to hit things extremely hard and then leave when the counter switches in. Scizor is pretty much made to be a revenge killer, so Superpower suits him nicely. There's little point in Brawling against Skarmory which can set up Spikes, Roost off the damage you were doing, then Whirlwind you away, or if it's convinced you want to stay around, this is a free Ghost switch in. More importantly, Superpower gives you a way to seriously hurt Heatran (Brick Break may not be enough) and Infernape.

The last Dragon of Johto

Kingdra (Drache) @ Leftovers

Nature: Adamant (+Atk / -SpAtk)

Ability: Sniper / Swift Swim

EVs: 24 Hp, 252 Atk, 232 Spe

Role: Late Game Sweeper

Dragon Dance

Outrage

Waterfall

Substitute

Drache is dragon in German if the name confused you. Drache is only resisted by empoleon and shedinja so late game should have no problems with only dragons as his weakness. Sub DD and sweep simple. If an opening comes up early I take it though. The Speed EVs are just enough after one DD to out speed base 130s. Sniper is nice with a Critical hit but Swift Swim will let me abuse Rain Dance teams... Advice?

Enemy Dragons tend to be late game as well. The Jirachi I talked about earlier is the ideal counter if you do Outrage, but I doubt those things are common. The enemy can easily keep the pressure on those Substitutes to ensure that they're breaking. Kingdra's HP really is not that great and if you're spamming Substitutes, you could possibly try some sort of low HP activation berry if you wish.

Sniper means that if Outrage crits, it will do some incredible stuff even to Skarmory and Forretress, whereas Swift Swim will give you a bit of fun with RD teams, though they may have Ludiciolo or Vaporeon around to take your Waterfalls. Vaporeon isn't particularly scared of Outrage. It would probably just Toxic and then stall until you've got to go.

I really like mixed Kingdra more, but this isn't a bad set. I do question the Substitute though. Sure, I know getting burned or paralyzed would suck, but I just don't think your HP is good enough for this.

The only Native to the Region

Heatran (Hot Head) @ Choice Scarf

Nature: Naive (+Spe / -SpDef)

Ability: Flash Fire

EVs: Hp 6, Spe 252, SpAtk 252

Role: Fire Counter / Steel Counter / Revenge killer

Fire Blast

Earth Power

Hidden Power

Explosion

Hot Heat gets out early in the game but I just like to keep things organized. He generaly comes in on the steels that came on one of my dragons or he took the heat from a fire type that came out on my Metagross or Scizor and got Flash Fired. He helps round off the team and keeps things flowing.

Fire counter? Don't walk into enemy Heatran's Earth Power or enemy Infernape's Close Combat now. Well, this guy scares off that pesky Bronzong. What Hidden Power type is that? If that is not HP Electric, Gyarados scares you off as it does Dragon Dance. Of course, you could just Explode on him, but Intimidate made it weaker. If it's a truly dedicated DDer, it won't have good defenses so the Explosion might actually be good enough to take it down. As a dedicated DDer, this means even though you have Choice Scarf, you would be outspeeded by it after one DD.

Salamence would be the smart counter here, though you might be walking into an Ice Fang. Assume that it does DD though. The question becomes whether or not you can survive the Ice Fang and then go for the KO with Outrage since Gyarados doesn't really care too much for your other two moves. It should be able to survive Draco Meteor considering its good HP and good SpD. Latias also could come in on the Earthquake, but she doesn't have Intimidate and Gyarados doesn't terribly mind Dragon Pulse. It would be compelled to switch if it feared you had Thunderbolt, though.

You could actually keep Heatran in on Gyarados to scout for Ice Fang and if your gamble was right, it won't cost you much since Ice Fang is 4* resisted. The Gyarados may actually have Stone Edge instead. Who knows. If you had Lave Plume instead and were doing that to prompt the Gyarados switch (though the better Gyarados prompt is Earth Power), you could stay in unexpectedly and try to burn it that first turn while it did Dragon Dance, but if you're going for revenge kills with Heatran, you definitely need one of the stronger Fire moves to be really effective at the job.

I can't say much else until I know what type that Hidden Power is.

Overall thoughts: Dragon Dance Salamence really puts the hurt on your team. If your Salamence goes down (the Intimidate helps and HP Ice takes it down), there's not much you can do to stop it. Latias cannot outrun it after it does Dragon Dance and won't KO with Dragon Pulse. Heatran falls to Earthquake, Kingdra to Dragon Claw, Scizor to Fire Blast. Metagross is weak to two of these moves, but after Dragon Dance, I'd think the Earthquake would be stronger. I am not sure how you would resolve this. Ice Shard is the ideal solution, but none of these can do that. Latias could have Ice Beam instead of Refresh to handle this. The alternative I see is if that Metagross was bulky and had Ice Punch, but it does not. If this DDMence was a +Speed nature, then it might not even fear your Salamence if it knows it is faster and is packing (surprise) Draco Meteor.

Ironically, enemy Scarfed Heatran also scores some nice revenge kills on everything you've got. Dragon Pulse for the three dragons, some fire move for Scizor and Metagross, and Earth Power for your Heatran, though it would be a speed tie.

I think you need to get a dedicated tank involved with your party. Something that can set up an entry hazard since you've got two Choiced Pokemon, meaning that switch-ins are not particularly tough business for the opponent and they can switch all day with no entry hazards around to annoy them. Following your typing theme, Bronzong, Skarmory and Forretress all learn Stealth Rock from what I recall. The latter two can do Spikes as well or as an alternative. Forretress can spin Stealth Rock away if you're really bugged by the 25% damage Salamence will take from it. Besides, you've got Choiced revenge killers means a lot of switching perhaps. Getting rid of the pointed stones wouldn't hurt. Bronzong's Gyro Ball can really hurt that rampaging Salamence, though Tricking Macho Brace onto it would probably be the best thing it could do. It might need some special bulk to take the Fire Blast, though.

Edited July 19, 2009 by Psycho K

[Dimi]

Ok, I think I'll try rating this. Gyarados and Salamence have a field day with this team. They can switch in and out whenever they want without fearing Stealth Rock. Also I see a pretty big stall weakness. Nothing on your team can beat SkarmBliss without having to switch out a lot. If the other team has their entry hazards 4 / 6 members will be taking 37% every time they switch in. First of all, to help with your Entry hazard problem I suggest making Metagross your lead.

Metagross @ Occa Berry

Adamant (+Atk, -SpA)

252 Hp / 236 Atk / 20 Spd

• Stealth Rock
  
• Bullet Punch
  
• Earthquake
  
• Explosion / Meteor Mash
  

Stealth Rock makes Gyarados and Salamence takes 25% damage when they switch in and helps with random pokemon holding Focus Sash. Bullet Punch 2hko's both Aerodactyl and Azelf, so if they Taunt you you don't have to worry about Stealth Rock for the rest of the match. Earthquake followed by Bullet Punch lets you beat Lead Infernape. Explosion is to boom and hopefully take something out with you, or you can go with Meteor Mash for a stronger STAB. Now for you Salamence I suggest you try this set.

Salamence @ Life Orb

Rash Nature (+SpA, -SpD)

80 Atk / 252 SpA / 176 Spd

• Roost
  
• Draco Meteor
  
• Brick Break
  
• Fire Blast / Flamethrower
  

Roost is very useful because you can recover both Stealth Rock and Life Orb damage. Draco Meteor puts a big dent in almost anything that switch ins. Brick Break 2hko's Blissey which is nice if you hit when it switches in. It aslo 1hko's Max Hp Tyranitar with SR in play. Fire Blast / Flamethrower lets you hit what Brick Break and Draco Meteor can't. Seeing as how Heatran can't handle Max speed JollyGyara i think you should make Latias your Scarfer.

Latias @ Choice Scarf

Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)

80 Hp / 252 SpA / 176 Spd

• Trick
  
• Draco Meteor
  
• Thunderbolt
  
• Surf
  

With 176 Speed Evs you can outrun any +1 base 100. Mostly DDmence and max Speed Jolly Flygon. 252 SpA evs are there to hit as hard as possible and the rest went into Hp for some bulkyness. Trick is useful if you dont want the scarf anymore. Draco Meteor is obvious and Surf + Thunderbolt finish this set by getting perfect coverage.

Scizor is also good but change his Evs to 248 Hp / 252 Atk / 8 Spd. With 248 Evs in Hp he'll take less damage from SR on hid 2nd time switch in. Also I suggest you cange Pursuit for Quick Attack so you won't be set up bait for SD Luke and don't have to worry much about Gyarados walling this set. Also with Quick Attack you can revenge kill Infernape, and have a chance of koing SubPeteya Empoleon after his berry boost.

I really don't see what Kingdra is doing with Sub. Sure it blocks status but i think he'll benefit more from a more offensive set.

Kingdra @ Life Orb / Leftovers

Naughty Nature (+Atk, -SpD)

252 Atk / 24 SpA / 232 Spd

• Outrage
  
• Waterfall
  
• Dragon Dance
  
• Hydro Pump
  

This set makes Kingdra hit as hard as possible. Outrage and Waterall are only resisted by Empoleon who your other members can handle. Dragon Dance boosts your stats and Hydro Pump can 2hko Skarmory who completely walls this set.

As for Heatran I suggest trying out a Life Orb set which can also help with Stall.

Heatran @ Life Orb

Naive Nature (+Spd, -SpD)

4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spd

• Fire Blast
  
• Earth Power
  
• Hidden Power Grass / Explosion
  
• Taunt
  

The best thing about this set is Taunt. With Taunt you can laugh in Blisseys face as it comes in and tries to status or heal itself. Fire Blast is STAB. Earth Power gets good coverage with Fire Blast. The choice between Hp Grass owns Swampert. Or you can go with Explosion if you decide you rather not have Blissey wall you. Taunt + Explosion kills inexperienced Blissey users.

Anyway good luck with your team.

[Chaos]

@ Toffeuy. Scizor has Superpower to go with CB and uses it to counter steals rocks and ice. it isn't going to stay in on skarmory and i couldn't change moves other wise.

@ Psycho K. Salamace has faced many leads and destroyed them. a strange Bronzong Screen lead was my only problem so far. But t I realy am starting to miss SR later in the game. And also thanks for sticking up for Big Red. He is one of my best Pokes.

@ Dimi. very nice rate and ideas. That latias set would have saved my butt twice now from a DD Mance late game. Definatly changing that. I'm gona toy with the meta lead and a new mance but i'm only sold on the latias and kingdra changes for now. And with the Changes to latias heatran is getting changed to HP Grass. exactly what set though i'm still debating. scarf has saved my butt many many times.

Status hasn't been as much of a problem as i thought so i am going to change to hydropump on Drache