My first OU competitive team

[Thewolfman]

Hi guys, this is my first competitive team and I'm looking for some suggestions and feedback. This team has been tested on the Shoddy Server and has a winning percentage slightly above .500, which isn't bad but it's not great either. I haven't really developed a set strategy yet, I do the basic try to get super effective moves.

The Team at a glance:

Mamoswine @ Focus Sash
Oblivious
Jolly
Att: 252 Speed: 252 Def:6
- Ice Shard
- Earthquake
- Stealth Rock
- Endeavor

Mamoswine is a great reliable lead off. He is able to set up stealth rock and with focus sash, is able to use endeavor effectively when the opponent thinks he can OHKO him. He then uses Ice Shard allowing him to kill off the threat. The following move he uses will also be Ice Shard so he can inflict damage before he faints. Earthquake provides great coverage as well.

Lucario @ Life Orb
Inner Focus
Adamant
Att: 252 Speed:252 Def: 3
- Close Combat
- Bullet Punch
- Sword Dance
- Ice Punch/Crunch

This slot has changed many times in my team and this time I thought I would give this guy a shot. His main purpose is to either bullet puch something with low health or use sword dance for sweeping. Close Combat is a given for a physical Lucario but the slot I'm worried about is the last one. I'm currently use Ice punch because of the Gliscor threat but I considering Crunch because of my teams inability to kill of psychic types (Gengar never lasts more than a couple turns).

Gengar @ Life Orb
Levitate
Timid
Sp A: 252 Sp: 252 Def:6
- Shadow Ball
- Thunderbolt/Giga Drain
- Focus Blast
- Destiny Bond???

Gengar really packs a powerful punch with it's combination of speed and special attack. Shadow Ball is a powerful STAB and Focus Blast is a personal favorite because of the common switch-in of Tyranitar. Thunderbolt is a great coverage move as well though my team lacks grass moves so I'm thinking Giga Drain would really help there along with providing some recovery. Destiny Bond may be too predictable but I thought I'd give it a try.

Infernape @ Life Orb
Blaze
Naive
Att: 64 Sp: 194 Sp A: 252
- Flamethrower
- Thunderpunch/Grass Knot
- Close Combat
- Nasty Plot

Infernape is yet another great sweeper with high special attack and speed. He's mainly for those annoying steel types like Metagross and Bronzor (I know this seems silly because they both are psychic, I'm looking for a different candidate). Once again I'm looking at the lack of grass types so maybe grass knot over thunderpunch.

Swampert @ Chesto Berry
Torrent
Adamant
Hp: 252 Sp D: 252 Att: 6
- Avalanche
- Earthquake
- Curse
- Rest

This guy really adds some defense to the team. Curse is a great first move to scout what the opponent plans to do. If they decide to peck at it, I'll let them and simply use rest when his Hp gets low. Avalanche is handy because of Swampert always going last, making it a pretty consistent 120 base power. Earthquake is a great STAB to go along with it.

Magnezone @ Magnet
Magnet Pull
Modest
Hp: 172 Sp: 84 Sp A: 252
- Thunderbolt
- Magnet Rise
- Substitute
- Hidden Power (Grass)

Magnazone is fun to use when the opponent switches in a pokemon hoping to use a ground type move on it, then I use Magnet Rise and that settles that. In addition, Substitute can really last along time because of magnezone being part steel. While their struggle with the substitute, I'm using his high special attack with Thunderbolt and Hidden Power.

This team really struggles against ground types and fighting types. To counter these, I'm looking to add a flying type. Any suggestions there would be great. Thanks for taking the time to read this and happy battling!

 

[reyscarface]

Hello!

Well, pretty nice team, looks very solid, but ill try to give you some advice so it can get even better :)

First of all, at a first glance, your team is tremendously Lucario weak, only Gengar will be able to stop a +2 Lucario, but as you said, Gengar wont last more than a couple of turns, which means you will have big problems.
The weak link looks like its swampert. Sure, it adds some defense, but besides from that it doesnt do much. I think you may be better with a Gyarados. It gives you a solid Lucario and Scizor check, which your team desesperately need. It also will help you a lot vs stall thanks to Taunt, which will shut down Skarmory/Forretress big time and you will be able to DD and probably sweep. Heres the set:

Gyarados @ Leftovers - Adamant
156 HP / 108 Atk / 100 Def / 144 Spe
~ Dragon Dance
~ Waterfall
~ Stone Edge
~ Taunt

Now onto Magnezone, Magnezone looks like it was just slapped because its sprite looks cool. Its really not doing anything besides _maybe_ killing a Scizor. Gyarados already takes good care from Scizor, so i think Magnezone has to go. But what to put on its place? Alright, DD Mence gets a DD and its good game because Mamoswine wont be surviving all the game. I recommend you change your Magnezone for a Scarfed Latias, this really aids you because now you have a great revenge killer that wont let Salamence/Gyarados/Kingdra sweep thanks to the fastest Draco Meteor.

Latias @ Choice Scarf - Timid
252 SpA/ 252 Spe/ 4 HP
- Draco Meteor
- Thunderbolt
- Trick
- Surf

Trick is there to play around stall if you find Blissey annoying.

Two of the biggest banes of Latias are undoubtly Scizor and Tyranitar, but hey, we can bait them and kill them by changing Gengar's moveset.
Gengar wants Substitute/HP Fire/Shadow Ball/Focus Blast to do so. Easy as this, sub on something that hates Gengar like Lucario as they switch to Scizor. Now you have a sub up and will kill that Scizor with a powerful HP Fire. Focus Blast takes care of Heatran, 100% Lucario and Tyranitar, who would otherwise give a lot of problems to this team. Shadow Ball is obligatory STAB. Now, the item is a hard one to pick, you can stay with Shadow Ball but you will find you are dying too soon, but since you said Gengar just battles for a few turns, the boost of power may be worth it. Or if you want more survability, you can go ahead and use Leftovers/BlackSludge, its pretty much up to you.

Infernape seems fine, but since you said you really only want a powerful fire to deal with Bronzong/Metagross, maybe changing the Infernape for a Heatran would help you a lot. LO Heatran is a total beast, and its a great stall breaker too since it can Explode anytime on Blissey (watch out for protect though). Heres the set:

Heatran @ Life Orb - Naive
252 SpA, 252 Spe, 4 Att
- Explosion
- Fire Blast
- HP Grass / Dragon Pulse
- Earth Power

HP Grass is for Swampert and other bulky waters that are in around 45%, where Earth Power fails to kill, while Dragon Pulse is a nice way to catch Salamence, Latias, Flygon and Kingdra of guard on the switch. LO Fire Blast OHKOs every steel in OU iirc (barring Heatran and Empoleon). Also Heatran will help you if Jirachi decides to Iron Flinch your whole team someday xD

If you decide that Heatran isnt the way to go, then keep your Infernape with a Grass Knot, Fire Blast/Flamethrower, Close Combat and HP Ice. Nasty Plot isnt really helping you since you just want to deal a hit and then run, while HP Ice will OHKO Salamence.

On Lucario always run either Crunch or Stone Edge. Stone Edge is in case you find bulky Gyarados very annoying, since it OHKOs it after SR, while Crunch deals with pesky Rotoms, which may be otherwise very annoying.
Ice Punch just doesnt cut it because a lot of Mences run max speed this days, and also Gliscor will always outspeed even Jolly Lucario.

Overall great team bro, good luck in the future!

 

[Thewolfman]

Thanks for the advice and suggestions for my team! I'm sure they will help out a ton!