Hello! I haven't been on the competitive smogon scene in quite some time so I am a little rusty when it comes to team building and it looks like the OU meta is still in the formative stage so I have been struggling for a decent team comp, but I have had some mixed success with this team line up. The basic strategy I have been using is to either lead with Clodsire or Amoongus depending on the enemy team comp and then following up with one of my sweepers, or if I need an offensive wall Garganacl.
I seem to have the most trouble dealing with moushold and goldengho (but who doesn't?). I have been using Chi-Yu as a counter to goldengho and I usually try to put moushould to sleep using spore on Amoongus and then switch into something that can out right kill it or use giga drain or sludge bomb until it dies (this is especially effective if they try to set up using tide-up, but risky if they go straight for the population bomb, which is why I have Amoongus' terra type set to ghost.
I know that there are likely obvious flaws and weaknesses to this team, out side of having 3 weakness to fairy and fighting respectively, but without further-adoo here is the team.
Clodsire @ Leftovers
Ability: Water Absorb
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
- Recover
- Toxic Spikes
- Poison Jab
- Stealth Rock
My primary lead. I use it to set up stealth rocks and toxic spikes. Recover is for longevity and poison jab is for some stab damage and potentially poisoning an enemy. If the opponent has moushold I will usually lead with Amoongus instead to attempt to sleep it. I am thinking of swapping out toxic spikes for toxic or earthquake instead though. Other roles include special def wall. Water Abosorb was chosen to nullify a weakness and allow it to safely swap into water type attacks that would be used against Chi-Yu or Garganacl.
Amoonguss @ Leftovers
Ability: Regenerator
Tera Type: Ghost
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpA / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Spore
- Giga Drain
- Toxic
- Sludge Bomb
My secondary/backup lead. Primarily used as a lead if the opponent has moushold as I can terrastalize into the ghost type and then use spore to sleep them while avoiding the go to population bomb, I can then use sludge bomb to attack them. Leftovers and regenerator and giga drain are for longevity and for some grass stab if not terrestilized. Toxic is an odd choice I know, but should toxic spikes be removed or if Amoongus is the lead instead (and I am not facing down moushold any longer or a poison or steel type) it gives me an option for dealing with another defensive mon that would otherwise be absolutly annoying if not impposible to deal with. I am definitely open to changing toxic out for something else though. When not serving as a lead that make for a good special damage sponge/wall.
Garganacl @ Leftovers
Ability: Purifying Salt
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Def
Impish Nature
- Recover
- Salt Cure
- Earthquake
- Ice Punch
The primary role of Garganacl is to serve as a physically defensive wall with enough offense to be able to hit back whatever hits him. Capable of tanking one round of moushold's population bomb and counter attacking, but likely won't survive a second population bomb and usually can't KO moushold unless it has already taken some damage. Salt Cure is for stab and status damage, Earth Quake and Ice Punch are for coverage (Ice Punch is especially useful against all the physically offensive dragons running around OU right now) and recover is for longevity and pairs really well with Salt Cure and leftovers.
Dragapult @ Choice Specs
Ability: Infiltrator
Tera Type: Ghost
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Draco Meteor
- Flamethrower
- Shadow Ball
- Hydro Pump
A special sweeper/wall breaker. I chose Choice Specs for the increased damage, but I realize that choice scarf could also be used (though I find scarf more situationally useful). I'm not sure why the team builder went with 0 atk IVs but I am guessing that it is to weaken foul play? Infiltrator is the ability of choice as it gets around screens and substitutes. I went with the ghost terra type over dragon because I am expecting dragon, fairy, or ice type moves to be more commonly used than dark (though I could be mistaken in this) and this will eliminate several weaknesses and giving me only two (ghost and dark). I went with the special attacking variant over the physical one because it seems as though there are more special moves to choose from and they give a wider range of coverage. Shadow Ball and Draco Meteor are for stab, flamethrower and hydro pump are for coverage.
Chien-Pao @ Life Orb
Ability: Sword of Ruin
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Ice Shard
- Sacred Sword
- Crunch
- Ice Spinner
My Physical Sweeper. Life orb was chosen for increased damage and because Chien-Pao is a bit of a glass cannon anyway so taking damage from life orb in order to dish out heavy damage without restricting my moves is worth it to me. Ice shard is for stab priority and is more reliable than sucker punch I think. Sacred Sword is for coverage, Crunch is for stab with a chance to lower the def of anything that survives it, and Ice Spinner is for a stronger ice stab when I am not expecting a priority move (outside of opposing sucker punch, extreme speed, first impression, etc..).
Chi-Yu @ Expert Belt
Ability: Beads of Ruin
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Nasty Plot
- Lava Plume
- Psychic
- Dark Pulse
My other special sweeper (and potential wall breaker?). Again not sure why the team builder auto set the attack IVs to 0. Nasty plot is primarily for dealing with special walls and to guarentee ohkos (though I think in most circumstances nasty plot is overkill and I am thinking about changing it to something else I just don't know what since the move pool for Chi-Yu is very limited with little coverage). Lava Plum and Dark Pulse are for stab and coverage along with the chance to burn/flinch respectively and Psychic is for coverage. I chose expert belt because It can potentially increase the damage from Psychic to help with an ohko if needed if there isn't time to set up a nasty plot, but I also just didn't know what else to put on it (maybe a balloon to give it some immunity to ground?)
Please let me know what you think of this team and how you think it can be improved.
I seem to have the most trouble dealing with moushold and goldengho (but who doesn't?). I have been using Chi-Yu as a counter to goldengho and I usually try to put moushould to sleep using spore on Amoongus and then switch into something that can out right kill it or use giga drain or sludge bomb until it dies (this is especially effective if they try to set up using tide-up, but risky if they go straight for the population bomb, which is why I have Amoongus' terra type set to ghost.
I know that there are likely obvious flaws and weaknesses to this team, out side of having 3 weakness to fairy and fighting respectively, but without further-adoo here is the team.
Clodsire @ Leftovers
Ability: Water Absorb
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
- Recover
- Toxic Spikes
- Poison Jab
- Stealth Rock
My primary lead. I use it to set up stealth rocks and toxic spikes. Recover is for longevity and poison jab is for some stab damage and potentially poisoning an enemy. If the opponent has moushold I will usually lead with Amoongus instead to attempt to sleep it. I am thinking of swapping out toxic spikes for toxic or earthquake instead though. Other roles include special def wall. Water Abosorb was chosen to nullify a weakness and allow it to safely swap into water type attacks that would be used against Chi-Yu or Garganacl.
Amoonguss @ Leftovers
Ability: Regenerator
Tera Type: Ghost
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpA / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Spore
- Giga Drain
- Toxic
- Sludge Bomb
My secondary/backup lead. Primarily used as a lead if the opponent has moushold as I can terrastalize into the ghost type and then use spore to sleep them while avoiding the go to population bomb, I can then use sludge bomb to attack them. Leftovers and regenerator and giga drain are for longevity and for some grass stab if not terrestilized. Toxic is an odd choice I know, but should toxic spikes be removed or if Amoongus is the lead instead (and I am not facing down moushold any longer or a poison or steel type) it gives me an option for dealing with another defensive mon that would otherwise be absolutly annoying if not impposible to deal with. I am definitely open to changing toxic out for something else though. When not serving as a lead that make for a good special damage sponge/wall.
Garganacl @ Leftovers
Ability: Purifying Salt
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Def
Impish Nature
- Recover
- Salt Cure
- Earthquake
- Ice Punch
The primary role of Garganacl is to serve as a physically defensive wall with enough offense to be able to hit back whatever hits him. Capable of tanking one round of moushold's population bomb and counter attacking, but likely won't survive a second population bomb and usually can't KO moushold unless it has already taken some damage. Salt Cure is for stab and status damage, Earth Quake and Ice Punch are for coverage (Ice Punch is especially useful against all the physically offensive dragons running around OU right now) and recover is for longevity and pairs really well with Salt Cure and leftovers.
Dragapult @ Choice Specs
Ability: Infiltrator
Tera Type: Ghost
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Draco Meteor
- Flamethrower
- Shadow Ball
- Hydro Pump
A special sweeper/wall breaker. I chose Choice Specs for the increased damage, but I realize that choice scarf could also be used (though I find scarf more situationally useful). I'm not sure why the team builder went with 0 atk IVs but I am guessing that it is to weaken foul play? Infiltrator is the ability of choice as it gets around screens and substitutes. I went with the ghost terra type over dragon because I am expecting dragon, fairy, or ice type moves to be more commonly used than dark (though I could be mistaken in this) and this will eliminate several weaknesses and giving me only two (ghost and dark). I went with the special attacking variant over the physical one because it seems as though there are more special moves to choose from and they give a wider range of coverage. Shadow Ball and Draco Meteor are for stab, flamethrower and hydro pump are for coverage.
Chien-Pao @ Life Orb
Ability: Sword of Ruin
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Ice Shard
- Sacred Sword
- Crunch
- Ice Spinner
My Physical Sweeper. Life orb was chosen for increased damage and because Chien-Pao is a bit of a glass cannon anyway so taking damage from life orb in order to dish out heavy damage without restricting my moves is worth it to me. Ice shard is for stab priority and is more reliable than sucker punch I think. Sacred Sword is for coverage, Crunch is for stab with a chance to lower the def of anything that survives it, and Ice Spinner is for a stronger ice stab when I am not expecting a priority move (outside of opposing sucker punch, extreme speed, first impression, etc..).
Chi-Yu @ Expert Belt
Ability: Beads of Ruin
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Nasty Plot
- Lava Plume
- Psychic
- Dark Pulse
My other special sweeper (and potential wall breaker?). Again not sure why the team builder auto set the attack IVs to 0. Nasty plot is primarily for dealing with special walls and to guarentee ohkos (though I think in most circumstances nasty plot is overkill and I am thinking about changing it to something else I just don't know what since the move pool for Chi-Yu is very limited with little coverage). Lava Plum and Dark Pulse are for stab and coverage along with the chance to burn/flinch respectively and Psychic is for coverage. I chose expert belt because It can potentially increase the damage from Psychic to help with an ohko if needed if there isn't time to set up a nasty plot, but I also just didn't know what else to put on it (maybe a balloon to give it some immunity to ground?)
Please let me know what you think of this team and how you think it can be improved.
