Gen 4 Planet of the Penguins


Introduction

Hello all and welcome to my first RMT (and my 50th post)! Before we begin, I want to say that as a challenge to myself as a teambuilder, I began trying to incorporate at least one starter from each tier into a team. This is my Gen 4 OU attempt to build a so-called "Starter Team."

Teambuilding Process


So first I had to decide which water starter I would use for this team, either Swampert or Empoleon. Empoleon has always intrigued me in Gen 4, so first I tried the SubPetaya set to have a sweeper.

Next, I needed the fire starter for this team and Infernape is the only fire-type OU starter, so it joined the team. I briefly experiment with the specially based mixed attacker set at this stage.

To help Empoleon's matchup with Blissey, Lucario was added. First, an attacking lead set was tried, before switching to Choice Scarf. This forced me to experiment and change Infernape's set at this point to the Endeavor Lead set.

For some reason, I added another fighting type in Breloom to the team. I wasn't thinking obviously, but I was making sure I had a strong fighting type, as Lucario was more of a revenge killer at this point and Ape was so frail it typically sacrificed itself to make the match 5-5 as a lead. The set for Loom was the standard SD dance.

Looking at the team I knew I was missing a sorely needed ground resist and pursuit support as psychics would eat this team alive. To alleviate the ground weakness, defensive Rotom-C was added. Rotom-C was chosen because Leaf Storm would give me a way to beat Swampert.


And for pursuit support, banded Ttar was added. Even though, it was another ground weakness, Ttar is the best pursuit trapper in the tier so I went with it.

As you can probably tell, the above team wasn't very good. Common threats like Scizor, Celebi, and a myriad of ground-types slaughtered that team and I didn't win a single game with it. First I realized Breloom was entirely unnecessary, so I replaced it with Dragonite, which also helped the team's ground weakness and has good synergy with a 'mon like Lucario because Dnite can eat a fire move aimed at Lucario. Next, I changed a bunch of the movesets to make them more effective. Empoleon became a lead with rocks, Ape became banded to function as a strong wallbreaker, Lucario became a set-up sweeper with SD, and Ttar became scarved. The team has functioned a lot better since these final changes.


The Team


Napoleon (Empoleon) @ Focus Sash
Ability: Torrent
EVs: 156 HP / 252 SpA / 100 Spe
Modest Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Hydro Pump
- Aqua Jet
- Grass Knot

Empoleon as a lead with Focus Sash is almost guaranteed to get rocks up. It also has a favorable matchup with most common leads like Hippowdon and Aerodactyl with the power of Hydro Pump followed by Aqua Jet if needed. The only common lead that Empoleon loses to is Machamp, but I have a plan for them (switching to Rotom). Grass Knot is not used very often, but helps against Swampert occasionally.


Anubis (Lucario) @ Life Orb
Ability: Inner Focus
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Close Combat
- Extreme Speed
- Crunch

Lucario has such great power if it can get a Swords Dance up, which usually happens because it can force a ton of switches from steel-types like Heatran to the blob, Blissey. However, Lucario is pretty frail and can't be switched into an attack, so it is usually a late-game sweeper for me, if it gets used at all. Espeed is also great priority that hurts after a SD boost. Crunch is for ghosts that I may catch on the switch.


Napalm (Infernape) @ Choice Band
Ability: Blaze
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Flare Blitz
- Close Combat
- U-turn
- Stone Edge

This thing is ridiculously strong as a wallbreaker. Almost nothing can survive an unresisted Flare Blitz or Close Combat and Infernape sits at a good speed tier, so the lack of a Scarf doesn't hurt. Starmie does outspeed and can KO Infernape, but if I predict the switch, then a U-turn does at least half.



Mr. Postman (Dragonite) @ Life Orb
Ability: Inner Focus
EVs: 56 Atk / 252 SpA / 200 Spe
Mild Nature
- Draco Meteor
- Fire Blast
- Earthquake
- Roost

Since adding Dragonite to the team, the team has improved drastically. Dnite does a lot of work in the early- to mid-game thanks to being able to take resisted hits very well, threaten a large portion of the meta with great coverage and roost for reliable recovery. Roost was chosen over Espeed because Lucario already has priority so it didn't feel necessary and the recovery is useful.



Lawn Weenie (Rotom-Mow) @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 208 Def / 48 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Thunderbolt
- Shadow Ball
- Will-O-Wisp
- Leaf Storm

Rotom-C honestly does so much for this team, it may be the star. Levitate gives my team another ground immunity, which helps when there are 4 ground weaknesses on the team. Electric is a good STAB type to have and hits a lot of the meta pretty hard. Leaf Storm helps win matchups with Swampert. But WoW is probably the biggest factor here. Wisp allows me to check every physical attacker in the game. I can survive a hit from Ttar and Scizor, cripple them with wisp and proceed to whittle down their health or KO with Tbolt (these examples are pursuit trappers, so it's important to stay in and not give pursuit the extra power). And remember Machamp? I can switch on the predicted dynamicpunch and safely cripple with wisp if it stays in (because no Champ runs Guts)



Moonwalker (Tyranitar) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Stone Edge
- Crunch
- Pursuit
- Earthquake

ScarfTar also provides some good utility to the team. Pursuit helps trap ghosts like Gengar and other threats like Starmie thanks to the Choice Scarf (obviously I have to watch out for Scarf Starmie and Gengar tho). ScarfTar also functions as a decent revenge killer, being able to outspeed base 115s that are non-scarved. Two other STABs in Stone Edge and Crunch are pretty self-explanatory and EQ over Superpower because I have plenty of fighting coverage already.

Threatlist

Red - major threat
Orange - certain set is a threat
Green - mild threat (typically if I make a mistake)


Choice Band Azelf is a bit of threat because of how powerful it is, even if it is rare. If it is bluffing the suicide lead set, then it typically gets one kill. I usually have to sack something like Dragonite and go into either Infernape (Flare Blitz KOs but I have to be wary of remaining water-types) or Tyranitar who can trap it with Pursuit or KO with Crunch (helps if Azelf is locked into Zen Headbutt). Rotom is also an option who can absorb an Explosion or live any move and retaliate with Shadow Ball or cripple with Will-o-Wisp. A +2 Espeed from Lucario also KOs Azelf, but I can't set up against it. However, I have to be careful because in the early- to mid-game, I don't know the rest of the opponent's team, so I have to tread carefully in choosing who to sacrifice and proceed with.


Zapdos is a big threat because nobody can safely switch into any set. Half of the team takes at least half from any Tbolt, Dragonite falls to HP Ice sets, and Rotom loses 1v1 to any set with Roost (especially SubRoost which can block Wisp with Sub). Specially Defensive is a big hassle because nobody on my team likes getting paralyzed from Twave. Physically defensive Zapdos shuts down my entire team unless rocks are up (in which case ScarfTar has a 75% to KO with Stone Edge). Scarf Zapdos outspeeds my entire team, SubRoost can continually stall, and Offensive sets are even harder to stop because of the power boost. Pretty much a mon has to be sacrificed to get to my ScarfTar, but even that is not a guarantee because I'm at the mercy of Stone Edge's accuracy.


Gyarados is only a threat if I play too recklessly and allow it to get a Dragon Dance up. If Rotom can't check it (because I let it get too weak) and Lucario doesn't have a SD boost, then this thing sweeps through my team easily at +1/+1

There are probably others, but this is all I have at the moment


Conclusion

So there it is, my first RMT! Hope you guys enjoyed reading it and leave some constructive feedback. Just remember that my own personal challenge forced myself to use Infernape and either Swampert or Empoleon, so take that into account when giving a rate. A couple of changes I was considering were Swampert over Empoleon to remove that ground weakness even more. I was also considering Gengar over Rotom-C as a spinblocker and ground immunity, but Rotom-C's defensive utility is probably too good to pass up. Anyways, leave your thoughts below and thanks for reading!


Napoleon (Empoleon) @ Focus Sash
Ability: Torrent
EVs: 156 HP / 252 SpA / 100 Spe
Modest Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Hydro Pump
- Aqua Jet
- Grass Knot

Anubis (Lucario) @ Life Orb
Ability: Inner Focus
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Close Combat
- Extreme Speed
- Crunch

Napalm (Infernape) @ Choice Band
Ability: Blaze
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Flare Blitz
- Close Combat
- U-turn
- Stone Edge

Mr. Postman (Dragonite) @ Life Orb
Ability: Inner Focus
EVs: 56 Atk / 252 SpA / 200 Spe
Mild Nature
- Draco Meteor
- Fire Blast
- Earthquake
- Roost

Lawn Weenie (Rotom-Mow) @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 208 Def / 48 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Thunderbolt
- Shadow Ball
- Will-O-Wisp
- Leaf Storm

Moonwalker (Tyranitar) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Stone Edge
- Crunch
- Pursuit
- Earthquake
 

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