An Offensive Approach

[Umby]

I'm still not used to this generation, as I've been *trying* to play and make teams somewhat similar to when I'm playing 3rd gen. As a change of pace, I've decided to make something more offensive than I normally concoct.

Salamence (F) @ Life Orb
Trait: Intimidate
EVs: 116 Atk / 216 SAtk / 176 Spd
Naive Nature (+Spd, -SDef)
- Draco Meteor
- Fire Blast
- Outrage
- Brick Break

I started out with this, and to be honest it's a slot I'm having trouble trying to maintain. It busts some serious holes in the defense, but I have a bit of a tough time trying to get it in and to be honest, it only ever gets 1-2 turns of use once I do. I figured it still made a solid pairing with Metagross in being hard to defend against while complementing each others' weaknesses.

Infernape (F) @ Life Orb
Trait: Blaze
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SAtk / 252 Spd
Hasty Nature (+Spd, -Def)
- Overheat
- Close Combat
- U-turn
- Stone Edge

Started off as a CBer, but I prefer the versatility it gets here in between turns. Part of the Fire/Water/Grass core I have here. I'd like to know if Grass Knot would be viable enough over U-Turn so I can dick around with Swampert and Gastrodon.

Celebi @ Leftovers
Trait: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 SAtk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Nasty Plot
- Giga Drain
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Earth Power

I'm missing HP Fire, but Gliscor, Salamence, Tentacruel, and Infernape are more than enough to help me fend off Scizor. Ferrothorn is another issue, since it gets extra time to set up, but in the same realm, I get to set up. I haven't really matched up against it enough to see how it plays out on average.

Tentacruel (F) @ Black Sludge
Trait: Liquid Ooze
EVs: 252 SAtk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Hydro Pump
- Giga Drain
- Ice Beam
- Rapid Spin

First thought in your head might be as to why I'm not just using Starmie in taking this route. For one, I'm used to durability, even when sweeping. Tentacruel is bulkier so it fits that bill. The other side of the coin is that I'm trying to avoid getting revenge killed by Pursuit, since Celebi is already vulnerable to that. Getting rid of at least Toxic Spikes without spinning is a decent plus as well, and Giga Drain seems to be a nice surprise factor every once in a while. If this still isn't sufficient, would it be a decent idea to run something like LO Shaymin + Starmie or something to that effect? I've messed around with Virizion as the Grass part of my core, but it just doesn't fit and is what led me to use Infernape after numerous changes.

Metagross @ Occa Berry / Air Balloon / Shuca Berry
Trait: Clear Body
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Def
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Meteor Mash
- Hammer Arm
- Stealth Rock
- Ice Punch

I like EQ more than Hammer Arm, but I keep getting wrecked by Air Balloon Heatran and Lucario. I should probably be running Air Balloon myself, as it comes in handy when dealing with Gliscor and Landorus (especially since I'm using Ice Punch just for those two), but I tend to use Metagross for its Ice/Dragon resistance on a regular basis to where I wouldn't get a chance to use it effectively. So far Occa Berry hasn't helped much either, so I'm close to opting for Shuca. Once again, I like pairing this up with Salamence since they cover each others' weaknesses pretty well while mounting a solid, transitional offense.

Gliscor (F) @ Toxic Orb
Trait: Poison Heal
EVs: 248 HP / 176 Def / 84 Spd
Impish Nature (+Def, -SAtk)
- Earthquake
- Swords Dance
- Protect
- Facade

Gotta have a physical tank, what with Terrakion all but ripping the team to shreds in general, but to keep up with the pace of the team, I dropped in Swords Dance. Haven't gotten a chance to really use Facade, so in turn I haven't experimented with Ice Fang to compare them.

My main concerns are making a strong Fire/Water/Grass offensive core and somehow better complementing/replacing Salamence's slot. Sala has been sort of dead weight unless I can get it in early before Stealth Rock, and you can imagine how often that's happened.

Edit: Also I'm having issues breaking Reuniclus. 1v1 starting on the same turn Celebi can handle it (Nasty Plot vs CM, from my experience Celebi wins it), but if it has a turn advantage or is a LO Trick Room variant, problems start to arise.

 

[albynes]

The only reason to use salamence over hydriegon and haxorus, is its speed..it outspeeds both and KO with a comfortable 100 base speed. Therefore maxing out its speed is a MUST. an Unboosted brick break is not doing anything for you, so switch it with dragon dance.

Salamence@ Life orb
Nature:Naive
Intimidate
Ev: 252 spatk/ 252 spd/ 4 atk

Dragon Dance
Draco Meteor
fire blast
Outrage

U get the full power from ur sp atk stat,and with a dragon dance...outspeed most of the meta, and boost its already high attack...its a wall breaker, and it stops ferro from using ur team as a fodder. I'm not sure its good as a lead, but it pwns.

 

[Dragone]

Here's a type weakness/resistance analysis of your team as a whole.

Normal: 1/2
Fire: 1/2
Water: 1/2
Electric: 1/2
Grass: 1/8
Ice: 4x
Fighting: 1/8
Poison: 1/8
Ground: 1/4
Flying: 2x
Psychic: 1/2
Bug: 1/4
Rock: 1
Ghost: 2x
Dragon: 1
Dark: 1
Steel: 1/6

Average: 1/2

It seems that Ice is the greatest threat against your team when your defending so I would try to even that out a bit. Replacing Salamence is actually a great way to take care of this weakness, and it could allow your team to have a Taunter, or a area hazard setter, (even though this is an offensive team). If you want to stick with offensive sets, and don't want to deviate to far from Salamence, you could try Haxorus. His great offensive stats and move pool could be a real asset to your team, and I doubt you will ever complain about him being dead weight. Also since he is a pure Dragon type, your Ice weakness will be improved. The other types that your team is weak to are actually not to common, so they shouldn't cause you too much trouble. Steel, Water, Dragon, Ground, and Poison types all have the largest number of resistances when compared to weakness so test them out the most. If you do like the Haxorus idea try this set:

Haxorus @ Lum Berry
252 Atk/252 Spe/4 Hp
Adamant

Dragon Dance
Outrage
Earthquake
Taunt

After one Dragon Dance, Haxorus can out speed and OHKO almost anything. Taunt is for taking care of walls and Pokes that use Will-o-wisp. Lum Berry will take care of Haxorus' confusion after Outrage so he will be ready for another rampage.

Good Luck Umby

 

[SiZZirP]

All I can say is...DRAGONITE CHANGES GAMES, I run a Dragnite on my team and in my opinion he will be a better fit for your team because he has more bulk than salamence and has access to priority Extreme speed.

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Dragonite (M) @ Lum Berry
Trait: Multiscale
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Dragon Dance
- Outrage
- Fire Punch
- Earthquake

• Balloon Heatran can give you loads of problems, so If you want you can Run Dragon claw, so you won't risk staying locked in and Heatran spamming HP [ICE].

 

[Oblivion IX]

Hey, pretty sweet offensive team you've got here. I can easily see a couple of pretty big problems though. First of all, Latios completely decimates your entire team. Nothing is able to live two consecutive Specs boosted Draco Meteor attacks outside of Metagross who won't be surviving a switch-in more than once. To make matters even worse you don't even have a way of checking the dragon. Sun teams are also threatening. Their powerful sweepers like Venusaur and Volcarona can walk straight through your entire team after just one turn of set-up. All of those overpowered Fire-types will also be stinging just as much as DM. To remedy both of these problems I suggest the use of Tyranitar in place of the aforementioned Metagross. Just like the later it can set-up the ever important Stealth Rock while its impressive SDef, which is boosted even more thanks to Sandstorm, allows it to switch into Latios whom it can kill with either Crunch or Pursuit. Of course, the use of a different form of weather is also a great way to combat Sun teams. Now the choice between Crunch and Pursuit all comes down to personal preference. The prior gives you a much more powerful attack that hurts CM Reuniclus while the later will stop Latios from siwtching out to cause more havoc. The choice between items is easier since Leftovers helps both while Chople Berry is better alongside Crunch since it allows you to take a Focus Blast from Reuniclus. Here's the set:

Tyranitar @ Leftovers / Chople Berry l 252 HP / 64 SAtk / 192 SDef
Crunch / Pursuit l Fire Blast l Ice Beam l Stealth Rock

Of course, there is that one negative side effect that comes with using SS, residual damage. It'll wear down Salamence pretty quickly along with Life Orb recoil. To help remedy this problem a slight bit you could try using D-Nite like the previous poster suggested. It's bulkier and Leftovers negates SS damage allowing you to maintain Multiscale if Tentacruel can succesfully get a spin off. Dragon Claw should be chosen over Outrage if this is the case. However, I do understand that you may not like the idea of taking resisdual damage at all so if that's the case then you could try using Jirachi or to a lesser extant Scizor to take on Latios/Reuniclus. I simply chose T-Tar because it helps to combat Sun. Whatever floats your boat though. Overall, it looks like a pretty good team. Good luck.

 

[New World Order]

Hi, this is overall a solid team, really like that Tentacruel in particular, which can surprise a lot of teams. First off, I suggest running Draco Meteor/ Fire Blast/ Brick Break/ Roost on Salamence. With this set, Salamence can 2HKO the entire OU metagame, only incredibly uncommon pokemon like Cresselia can take 2 hits from this thing. Draco Meteor and Fire Blast make holes in just about everything. Brick Break means you are no longer walled by Air Balloon Heatran, who could OHKO your current set with HP Ice, and also allows Salamence to 2HKO Blissey without resorting to Outrage. Roost is the move of choice for the last slot. Since you already have impeccable coverage between 3 moves, Salamence really appreciates the ability to heal off that Life Orb and Stealth Rock recoil.

Gliscor really doesn't need those Defense EVs or Protect. The only thing Gliscor honestly ever needed Defense EVs for is Excadrill. At +2, Terrakion has a chance of OHKOing Gliscor anyways, so the Defense isn't helping you much there. Besides, Celebi is a more reliable method for dealing with Terrakion anyways. Instead, I suggest running a spread of 252 Hp/ 40 Def/ 216 Spe with a Jolly Nature. This allows Gliscor to outspeed SD Ice Punch Lucario and Mynism's Toxicroak, who would otherwise easily defeat this set. With STAB Earthquake, Gliscor can OHKO Lucario and Toxicroak before they even move, rendering Ice Punch worthless. I also suggest running Taunt over Protect. Yes, you already have enough weapons against stall. However, both Infernape and Salamence absolutely despise entry hazards and status. Taunt comes in handy by shutting that down.

Finally, Trick Room Reuniclus could be problematic for your team. Due to the emphasis on Speed, Reuniclus can absolutely pounce on your team members, dispatching them one by one. Metagross is not a reliable check due to its unspectacular Special Defense. If weakened before hand, Reuniclus is going through it too. Another problem with your team is Scarfed Dragon moves. All of your pokemon are outsped, and Metagross can only take Outrages, coupled with a lack of reliable recovery. 4Drag2Mag teams are an absolute nightmare for this team. I suggest replacing Metagross with a Specially Defensive Jirachi, who does a great job wrecking Trick Room Reuniclus, and checks dangerous pokemon like Latios, Latias, and Hydreigon. With Wish, Jirachi can take multiple hits from Dragons throughout a match, healing as it goes. However, a more important aspect of Wish support is that it could often give Salamence or Infernape another chance to sweep. Jirachi also provides Stealth Rocks. Stealth Rocks are a necessity on any team whether it be Offensive or Defensive. In the case of an Offensive team, Stealth Rock turns many 3HKOs into 2HKOs, and 2HKOs into OHKOs. Which is especially important for Wallbreakers/ Mixed Sweepers such as Salamence and Infernape.

GL

Sets:

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Salamence @ Life Orb
Intimidate
Naive
80 Atk/ 252 SpA/ 176 Spe
- Draco Meteor
- Fire Blast
- Brick Break
- Roost

Gliscor @ Toxic Orb
Poison Heal
Jolly
252 Hp/ 40 Def/ 216 Spe
- Swords Dance
- Earthquake
- Facade/ Ice Fang
- Taunt

Jirachi @ Leftovers
Serene Grace
Careful
252 Hp/ 224 Def/ 32 Spe
- Iron Head
- Body Slam
- Wish
- Stealth Rock

@ Oblivion, Tyranitar would be a huge cancer to team synergy. Salamence and Infernape get worn down fast enough by Life Orb, hazards, and potentially status damage. Adding Sandstorm recoil isn't going to help that at all.