The Witnesses: An OU RMT

[Witnessed]

The Witnesses: An OU RMT by Witness315​

Introduction​

Hello everyone, welcome to my first RMT. I can usually be found on the Smogon forums here, rating teams, or posting in Stark. After lurking on Smogon for two months, reading what seemed like hundreds of RMT's and dozens of great warstories, I decided to download Shoddy Battle about two weeks ago and give it a swing. I had a blast testing teams and laddering. I am still learning the game, and I hope I can get better. After playing with my first team for a while, it was getting sort of old, and I felt that it wasn't performing well. So I decided to make a new team, way better than my first.​

The Strategy
This team is built around Subsititute Calm Mind Raikou. Raikou is an awesome Pokemon to use, and after a Calm Mind or two it has ripped through entire teams. The goal is to eliminate any of Raikou's counters, such as Blissey and the uncommon Lanturn, to allow Raikou to safely set up and sweep. Supported with Rapid Spin support and a status absorber, nothing really stops Raikou.​

Team at a Glance

In Depth Analysis​

The Lead

Swampert@ Leftovers
Torrent
Relaxed nature (+Defense, -Speed)
240 HP/216 Defense/52 Attack​

Earthquake
Ice Beam
Stealth Rock
Roar​

Swampert is a fantastic lead. With amazing defenses and an excellent way to lay down Stealth Rock and scout. With Ice Beam and Earthquake, it forms the formidable Ground-Ice attacking combination resisted only by Bronzong in OU. The EV's distributed I switched the EV's from Special Attack to Attack because I learned those EV's were to OHKO Garchomp. This gives Swampert more power behind its STAB Earthquake.​

Moveset​

Earthquake: STAB move that provides excellent type coverage. It picks takes Jirachi, Metagross and Infernape leads down easily.​

Ice Beam: A nice coverage move. It hits Grass type switch ins and wrecks the Dragons. It takes care of Aerodactyl and Ninjask leads.​

Stealth Rock: No description needed.​

Roar: A fabulous phazing move. It helps rack up Stealth Rock damage, and scouts for threats. It reveals so much with a touch of a button.​

The Wall Breaker

Salamence@ Life Orb
Intimidate
Naive nature (+Speed, -Sp. Defense)
84 Attack/176 Sp. Attack/252 Speed​

Draco Meteor
Fire Blast
Earthquake
Outrage​

MixMence is an awesome wall breaker. My last team had a problem dealing with SkarmBliss problem, so Salamence fit in right away to my new team. The EV's are meant for Max Speed, while retaining the ability to KO Blissey and manage to keep some attacking power. It also is my way to deal with Infernape, although I usually switch out to avoid getting KO'd by HP Ice.​

Moveset​

Draco Meteor: The STAB Special move. With a ridiculously high 210 base power move, the thing wrecks nearly everything. With excellent neutral coverage it is my main attack.​

Fire Blast: An awesome coverage move. It kills of Forretress, Skarmory and Bronzong(without Heatproof, of course). If Swampert is taken on by a Roserade, then I send in Mence after the Sleep Clause is activated and KO with Fire Blast.​

Earthquake: Physical coverage move. Takes down Heatran and Magnezone, two guys who seem to cause some problems for me.​

Outrage: Physical STAB move that wields fearsome power. I usually use this later on in the game once the Steels are dead.​

The Star of the Show

Raikou@ Leftovers
Pressure
Timid nature (+Speed, -Attack)
68 HP/116 Sp. Attack/72 Sp. Defense/252 Speed​

Thunderbolt
HP Ice
Substitute
Calm Mind​

The title says it all. It's the wonderdog itself, Raikou. This guy can work wonders, tearing holes in the opponents team and disrupting everything. Behind a subsititute, it can Calm Mind up, allowing it to safely get its boosts and sweep. I chose Raikou because because it had a suprise factor on teams because it is borderline. The beast is uncaged.​

Moveset​

Thunderbolt: Obvious STAB move here. After a Calm Mind this things KO's everything except ground types, those who resist it and the Pokemon's premium McDonald's customer, Blissey.​

HP Ice: With Thunderbolt, I get psuedo-BoltBeam coverage, and it smacks around the Dragons such as Latias and Ground types immune to Thunderbolt.​

Substitute: Behind the safety of a Sub, I can Calm Mind without any disruptions. It protects me status and whatnot.​

Calm Mind: The boosting move. After two of these even the most powerful special attacks are doing little to Raikou.​

The Rapid Spinner

Forretress@ Shed Shell
Sturdy
Sassy nature (+Sp. Defense, -Speed)
252 HP/252 Sp. Defense/4 Defense​

Gyro Ball
Payback
Rapid Spin
Spikes​

Forretress allows me to set up additional entry hazards while being able to clear away Hazards itself, allowing me to bring in Gyarados or Salamence onto the battlefield. Probably the unsung hero of the team. It was also suggested I use a Specially bulky EV spread to take its resisted hits better, so I decided it was a good idea.​

Moveset​

Earthquake: A great coverage move to nail Heatran and Magnezone switch ins.

Payback: This move here used to be Gyro Ball, but it was suggested I use Payback here.

Rapid Spin: An invaluable move. Not much to say here.​

Spikes: Secondary entry hazards to cause trouble for Blissey and other walls coming in to wall Raikou.​

The Dragon Dancer

Gyarados@ Leftovers
Intimidate
Adamant nature (+Attack, -Sp. Attack)
4 HP/252 Attack/252 Speed​

Dragon Dance
Waterfall
Earthquake
Stone Edge​

This thing is simply amazing. It goes on steals the show from Raikou a lot by going on a sweep itself. It wrecks Blissey and Lanturn, allowing me to get Raikou in and sweep. He is a great member of the team. People usually think that based around DD Gyara, so I get Raikou in on a Thunderbolt and sweep!​

Moveset​

Dragon Dance: The boosting move. After a DD, nothing is standing in Gyara's way except Choice Scarf users.​

Waterfall: The all important STAB move with nice type coverage. Everyone loves the chance of it flinching, although rare.​

Earthquake: I get a lot of enjoyment out of using this. I have people sending in Electivires and Jolteons against Gyara after the first DD, only to be OHKO'd by Earthquake. Anyways, good type coverage.​

Stone Edge: The other coverage move. It grabs KO's against other Gyarados, Zapdos and some Dragons. Probably my best way of dealing with Latias with Gyara to. The below average accuracy sometimes costs me a sweep though.​

The Status Absorber

Suicune@ Leftovers
Pressure
Bold nature (+Defense, -Attack)
252 HP/252 Defense/4 Speed​

Surf
Calm Mind
Sleep Talk
Rest​

I love CroCune. It is such a beast. Despite being walled endlessly by Vaporeon, the thing absorbs status like a champ and can hit back hard. Resting off status and damage, and being able to boost and sweep is great. Suicune is an invaluable member of the team.​

Moveset​

Surf: The STAB move. Gets decent coverage. Having only one attacking move really, really hurts, but after a few Calm Minds it becomes very powerful in its own right.​

Calm Mind: The boosting move. As you can see, I love Calm Mind. No Special Defense investment needed because of this move right here.​

Sleep Talk: Nice move. Sometimes it fails on me, but It works fine.​

Rest: The recovery move. The main crux of the set and allows me to get damage and status away.​

Conclusion
I hope you liked my RMT. All rates are welcome, so tell me what you think!​

Raikou For the Win!​

 

[Blackhawk11]

Hi,

You appear to be slightly weak to Life Orb Starmie with Hydro Pump/Ice Beam/Thunderbolt/Grass Knot, because it is capable of OHKOing at least three of your Pokemon (Swampert, Salamence, and Gyarados) while outspeeding all of them providing the latter hasn't set up a DD yet. I'm pretty sure Hydro Pump will OHKO Forretress, but without running damage calcs, which I don't have time for right now, I can't be sure. I'm also going to assume that Raikou is at least 2KOed by Hydro Pump and Suicune is 2KOed by Grass Knot, meaning that neither can reliably switch into them. So your only reliable way to beat it is by switching around while its Life Orb slowly kills it. Raikou can possibly beat it with Thunderbolt, but you risk losing the speed-tie. Also, by bringing out Raikou to revenge kill, you will be revealing your late-game sweeper early, as Starmie is usually used to wear the opponents team down mid-game.

To get a reliably counter, I suggest giving Suicune HP Electric, unfortunately, by doing that, you would have to replace either Calm Mind (which is a possibility considering you already have two other set up sweepers) or your ResTalk combo, which leaves your team susceptible to status and prevents Suicune from healing itself, which will hurt your team.

So, in case you got lost somewhere in the middle of that, here's my rate in a nutshell:

-Starmie runs through your team, beating at least one Pokemon and damaging another.

-You have no reliable way to counter Starmie, and only a semi-reliable way to revenge-kill, which could possibly severely weaken your late-game sweeper.

-By replacing Calm Mind with HP Electric on Suicune, you can reliably revenge kill Starmie with little risk of a 2KO (I actually just did the damage calc on this one, you have a very good chance to survive 2 GKs after factoring in Leftovers).

Good luck. I may come back and look over this, but right now I have to leave the computer.

 

[MetaNite]

Cool team.

I would not worry too much about Life Orb Starmie, as they rarely run Grass Knot late game and it will have some trouble switching in. Still, it could be a real headache. I suggest using 252 HP / 252 SpD Forretress with Payback. This gives you a lot of Special Bulk to stand up to common spinners such as Starmie and Rotom-A. Payback will 2HKO the lot of them. Payback can easily replace Gyro Ball. With its enormous Defense, Forretress still takes physical hits fairly well.

Next, on Raikou I suggest using Shadow Ball instead of HP Ice. Shadow Ball hits Latias, Swampert, and Celebi much harder, while also killing Rotom-A. Thunderbolt and Shadow Ball is only resisted by Magnezone, same as boltbeam in OU.

This team might have some trouble with Blissey, especially if it has Seismic Toss. Bulky Gyarados helps out much against Blissey.

Gyarados @ Leftovers
EVs: 156 HP / 108 Atk / 100 Def / 144 Speed
Nature: Adamant
~ Dragon Dance
~ WaterFall
~ Taunt
~ Stone Edge

This guy can Taunt Pokemon such as Swampert and Blissey so they pretty much can't do anything to you. This allows you to set up on them and hopefully sweep, or at least allow you to get in a Pokemon without being statused. Stone Edge is for Zapdos, Salamence, and opposing Gyarados, but if you want you can use Bounce for Celebi and Breloom.

Your team seems to have most of the threats covered.

Although the idea of the team was Raikou, I think Calm Mind Jirachi would work better.

Jirachi @ Leftovers
EVs: 252 HP / SpA / 176 Speed
Nature: Timid
~ Calm Mind
~ Substitute
~ Thunderbolt
~ Psychic

Jirachi has a lot more bulk and more resistances which gives it many oppurtunities to set up. On top of this, it is immune to Toxic Spikes which is very helpful. Not to mention it can set up on Seismic Toss Blissey. Psychic and Thunderbolt is only resisted by Celebi and a few others, but Flash Cannon can also be used over Psychic to hit Tyranitar.

Good luck.

 

[Witnessed]

Hey guys, thanks for the rates.
@Blackhawk: I was considering using the Calm Mind Suicune without SleepTalk, but I felt I needed a status absorber to take random Hypnosis and Sleep Powders. As for Starmie, they really aren't a problem. I can try outstalling Starmie with Suicune after I get a few Calm Minds up, and if it comes in on Raikou, I force a risky speed tie and can KO it. Likely I am gonna end up sacrificing on of my Pokemon, though.

@MetaNite: I am definately changing the EV's for Forry. It seems it can't stand up to its resisted special attacks, ie; Draco Meteor, Shadow Ball, etc. So I am definately going to change that. BulkyGyara sounds really nice here. I think I might test him. As for Jirachi, I think I am gonna stick with Raikou mainly for his higher speed and attacking power. Toxic Spikes aren't really a problem here, asa I have Forretress to clear them. I like Jirachi for its numerous resistances though.

Thanks again.

 

[ThePatriot]

I have a couple of suggestions

For gyrados run bouce in place of earthquake to get a reliable stab move (plus the 30% paralysis rate is nice)

For forretress run toxic spikes in place of spikes to soften that pink blob and other walls.

I would consider tentacruel in place of forretress if you go with my toxic spikes suggestion (plus tentacruelis a great spinner), and replace rakiou for jirachi if you switch to tentacruel.

Good luck :)

 

[franky]

Problems:

Sweep around Raikou
DD Gyarados

How to fix:

Hey great team, glad you like laddering. Now this team is great, but there are still a horizon of suggestions to improve Raikou's sweep. Firstly, I think you should give Spikes over Toxic Spikes a go to beat Blissey late-game and kill any major walls. Toxic Spikes + Raikou is a great combo lategame so defenitley try that. Raikou's current moveset is currently walled by Swampert to a good degree. I think a Celebi would benefit over Suicune the most. Having too much Electric weakness can sometimes be trouble when one of your Pokemon goes down. Celebi can work exceptionally well:

Celebi
@ Leftovers
Bold Nature (Def+ / Atk-)
252 HP / 220 Def / 36 Spe

- Grass Knot
- Thunder Wave
- Recover
- Hidden Power Fire

A great addition for several reasons. Firstly, this deals with Swampert, who really ruin Raikou's sweep. It also adds a good Ground resist as well as a good check to Gyarados which could be quite troublesome. Celebi also checks Sub Punch Breloom. Celebi can Thunder Wave to cripple faster opponent while Grass Knot is a clean 2HKO on Gyarados with SR down. Hidden Power Fire is used to smahs Scizor trying to score a free U-turn. However be cautious that you wont OHKO it, wait until it is significantly weak or it has switched in on SR at least 2-3 times to grab the kill otherwise you will faint from U-turn. Recover provides a good length of time in the entire match, healing off random hits.

As for other options go, try 252 HP / 252 Def / 6 SpA. 56 SpA is no longer required because chompy is in Uber play. 252 / 252 gives you good bulk to survive 3 CB Crunch's fro mTyranitar as well as having a really high chance of surviving +1 Outrage from salamence. More bulk the better. gl with this team.

 

[Witnessed]

Thanks for the rates Patriot and Franky.

@ThePatriot: I don't think Bounce is a good idea, because it allows my opponent to get in their Gyara counter in for little damage. Paralysis is always nice, but I think Earthquake nets some suprise kills on electric types switching in. I don't care about Blissey, Mence or Gyara kill it easily.

@Franky: I am definately going to test Celebi over Suicune's position. I desperately needed a Grass move to deal with Swampert, and I think I have found it. I will test this out.

Thanks again.

 

[tobi10]

My suggestion is Shadow Ball over Hidden Power on Raikou, since it hits every OU pokemon with neutral damage but Magnezone (which resists boltbeam anyways) and it helps in calm mind wars vs latias and hits swampert harder, I hope I helped and Good Luck!!