Light Up The Night - [Gen4 OU RMT]

[Solace]

Light Up The Night - Gen4 OU RMT
By: JerenosaurusRex

Epilogue:

It's been a while since my last RMT. My only excuse for not writing anymore is the lack motivation. Don't get me wrong, I had tons of fun writing them and reading the comments, feedback, etc.; but I've found Pokemon slowly slipping through my fingers in the past few months. I'm definitely getting too old for this game. I can recall playing competitively since Netbattle, and playing casually since 1998. Maybe it's finally time to put up the cape? I don't know. I guess I'll continue to play Pokemon until Gen 4 is completely distinguished.

Light Up The Night by The Protomen is just simply awesome. I've been pretty addicted to the song lately... which brings us the reason behind the title. However, "There's a city where the strongest collide," is the line that sparked the most motivational value into the creation of this Hyper Offensive team. I know I wanted to tackle the current Gen4 metagame with everything it had to offer; bringing some of the most powerful sweepers into one team to give it one last go. I definitely had my doubts since I noticed an incredible Rotom-A weakness. But I find this team, when playing correctly, capable of taking it down in reasonable time.

Anyway, enough of that. Allow me to light up the night and reveal to you the heroes.

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Infernape @ Focus Sash
Trait: Blaze
EVs: 252 Atk | 4 SAtk | 252 Spd
Naive Nature (+Spd, -SDef)
- Stealth Rock
- Close Combat
- Fake Out
- Overheat

The torch. What better way to start with this team? Infernape poses an immediate threat against most teams. Fake Out + Overheat/Close Combat takes care of fragile leads and allows me to scout their switch in. Unless it's something that sets up, like Dragonite and Gyarados, or if SR is in play already, then I stay in to deal as much damage as possible with the STAB'd Close Combat and Blaze activated Overheat. Even the likes of Gliscor cannot withstand a blazing STAB'd Overheat, something that tends to give my team an awful time at sweeping. Bulkier leads like Swampert will not enjoying two potential Close Combats to the face, regardless of how bulky their spread. SR is only there whenever I find time to set up or when I feel like it's necessary. Honestly, this team does fairly well without it. I've found Lucario the only one truly needing its assistance.

Lucario @ Life Orb
Trait: Inner Focus
EVs: 252 Atk | 4 Def | 252 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Swords Dance
- Bullet Punch
- Close Combat
- ExtremeSpeed

Lucario was once marked as the best late game sweeper several months back. That title seemed to have now drifted to Gengar who, undoubtedly, destroys any team when finding an opportunity. But regardless, this jackal still holds a place in my heart and I believe it is a suitable candidate for a team of aggressive Pokemon.

Swords Dance and Close Combat are obvious staples on this set. However, both Bullet Punch and Extreme Speed takes care of almost anything possible that would resist Close Combat. As said previously, Rotom and defensive Zapdos might give this guy a hard time at sweeping. However, most of the time I switch in Jolteon/Aero to take the Heatwave/Overheat/Shadow Ball/Thunderbolt. I chose Adamant over Jolly for a few reasons. The damage output from Jolly does not come close to the raw power behind Adamant nature. I also believe that Adamant works well with the priority choices.

Starmie @ Leftovers
Trait: Natural Cure
EVs: 4 HP | 252 SAtk | 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Thunderbolt
- Psychic
- Hydro Pump
- Recover

Something that bothers me about this set up is the lack of Life Orb. Normally I love abusing LO'd Hydro Pumps and severely damaging my opponents that just aren't prepared for it. However, I went with Leftovers here to provide this team with some bulk. With LO, I can only switch in so many times against a Fire Blast (granted I don't get burned) while still being able to pose a threat. At least with Leftovers, I don't have to worry about residual damage or entry hazards.

Anyway, Thunderbolt, Psychic, and Hydro Pump takes care of most things not named Blissey. Psychic was chosen over Ice Beam to completely neuter the likes of Roserade, Machamp, and Tentacruel. It also gives me a reliable way to beat down on Gengar and Infernape. Recover maintains longevity. Rapid Spin might be a viable choice over T-bolt or Psychic. I'm still playing around with this set actually, so I'm open for some advice.

Aerodactyl @ Life Orb
Trait: Pressure
EVs: 252 Atk | 4 SDef | 252 Spd
Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Taunt
- Stone Edge
- Earthquake
- Roost

Ah... One of the most overlooked sweepers in this game. Aerodactyl is definitely a fearsome threat to things that attempt to stall, or even set up. Having access to both Taunt + Roost means it can play a role similar to Gliscor as a stall-breaker. Stone Edge + Earthquake is extremely powerful when used along side with Life Orb. Unlike Gliscor, this set up doesn't have a problem out-stalling Skarmory thanks to Pressure and its resistance to Brave Bird.

Jolteon @ Life Orb
Trait: Volt Absorb
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Baton Pass
- Thunderbolt
- Shadow Ball
- Hidden Power [Grass]

Jolteon was graced with an excellent typing, base stat spread, and design. It's too bad Flareon didn't get this special treatment, too. Oh well...

Anyway, this guy's a formidable candidate to this team. Life Orb'd STAB'd Thunderbolt dents anything not resistant to it. Shadow Ball and Hidden Power Grass provides obvious coverage. Grass was chosen over Ice to hit Swamperts and possibly T-tar switch ins. As for Baton Pass... It is love. Nothing beats scouting and knowing you have a possible advantage over your opponent. I also like switching without the worry of a possible Pursuit.

Jolteon is the only reliable choice versus Rotom-A variants. I like to only bring this guy out when it's necessary. Being pruned by things like Spikes, SR, LO, and SS means that I have to be wise when switching him in.

Metagross @ Life Orb
Trait: Clear Body
EVs: 252 Atk | 4 Def | 252 Spd
Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Agility
- Earthquake
- Ice Punch
- ThunderPunch

I swear, was Metagross designed after a Rook chess piece or something? Because this thing seems to destroy almost anything that crosses its path. The BoltBeam combo helps me fend off against Flygon, Dragonite, Gliscor, Gyarados, and other common threats. Jolly over Adamant because I feel like Life Orb provides all the power I need. Positive speed nature also gives me a way to take down Scarf Flygon after an Agility and neutral speed Gyarados/Dragonite before a Dragon Dance.

Earthquake over Meteor Miss because I need something for Jirachi. I also like wrecking enemy Heatrans who believe I run Meteor Miss/Ice Punch/ThunderPunch. I'm actually open for suggestions here, though. I was thinking about replacing one of the punches with Zen headbutt for an overall (somewhat) reliable STAB attack. But I'm still sort of on the fence with it.

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Rate/Steal/w/e

[Tales]

Flygon seems a bit problematic even though you have Aero/Metagross. I don't think thunderpunch is needed in all honesty and I would go with Meteor mash or explosion on that Metagross.

I would say Rapid spin> Psychic on Starmie since you will be switching out a lot with Jolteon. Specs on that Jolt maybe?

Anyway good team and the presentation 0-0 is amazing.

[Solace]

Rapid Spin on Starmie and Specs Jolteon might actually work. I'll give it a shot.

As for Meteor Miss, I'd rather not use it. It has never landed for me even though it has 85%. Hydro Pump is more reliable than it at times. It's a shame, really. :\ But I'll give it a shot as well, I guess.

[L]

Infernape looks good with defensive-lowering nature to let the Focus Sash activate, and that would let Blaze strengthen up your Fire-type moves.

Fake Out: This move should be used first to flinch your opponent with a bit of damage, which can also wore off the effect of the opponent's Focus Sash at the start of the battle (If the lead Pokémon is holding one.), to have the upper-hand of knocking out the opponent with full power.

Stealth Rock: This move should be used second to setup the entry hazard at the opponent, which would likely to hit all of the opponent's Pokémon to take damage, and even those Pokémon that are holding Focus Sash are likely wore off. This would give you something to do when you're waiting for Blaze to activate.

Close Combat: This move is good to have normal Accuracy stat and it suits the Effort Values (EVs) of Physical Attack pretty well.

Fire Punch: I would recommend replacing Overheat with Fire Punch, since that really suits Infernape's Physical Attack stat with Blaze to add in. Besides, I think it have enough power to defeat enough Pokémon, and even it got normal Accuracy stat than Overheat to hit successfully.

That's only 1 suggestion I could make.

Lucario learned 2 high-priority moves that can choose freely for any types of Pokémon it might battle with, even though Steel-type Pokémon got much endurance to high-priority moves, and Lucario's defensive stat would be something to worry about.

Close Combat: This move is very suitable for using EVs of Physical Attack, which is nothing to worry much to go in full power.

Bullet Punch: It's a bit good to strike first, even though ExtremeSpeed got the higher-priority before Generation V, and even its very effective to 2 types (Ice/Rock). This move would be the only move that can hit Ghost-type Pokémon.

ExtremeSpeed: This would be something required for battling types of Pokémon that likely resist Bullet Punch (Fire/Electric), and it got a bit more power than Bullet Punch.

Earthquake: Even when there is a Pokémon that Lucario is faster than, this move might gain the advantage to counterattack Fire-type Pokémon, and even Sword Dance don't have to be required, when you already given that much EVs of Physical Attack. I'm pretty sure its doing just fine without getting knocked out that badly.

That's only 1 suggestion I can make.

Starmie got a pretty good rank of Special Attack stat and Speed stat, but Starmie's Hit Points (HP) stat sounds pretty low, which would likely get knocked out with any strong hit by 5 types of effective moves (Electric/Grass/Bug/Ghost/Dark).

Surf: I know that you prefer that you would go with luck on Hydro Pump, but I'm pretty sure that it got enough strength, that it can perform to make pretty strong hit against any types of Pokémon just fine. This move is also known to be the strongest of my suggestion, with normal Accuracy stat to hit pretty well on all types of Pokémon.

Psychic: This move would be recommended to take advantage more effectively on 2 types (Fighting/Poison), and it suits pretty well for the upper-hand for any match it might face.

Ice Beam: This move should be highly recommended, to fix the solution on 2 types (Flying/Dragon), and even a great counterattack on Grass-type Pokémon. We sometimes don't really need Recover, due to having low HP base stat, and sometimes it might be at the wrong time to use it, when your opponent is using a stronger attack while recovering early.

Thunderbolt: A possible move to do more damage on Water-type Pokémon, without requiring to switch for being in the right track to defend your team, like Aerodactyl.

That's 2 suggestion I can make.

Aerodactyl gained pretty good Physical Attack stat and Speed stat, but it gain weakness to Water-type Pokémon with Water-type moves, making things a bit too difficult to deal with.

Taunt: This move would likely to start first, if you predict your opponent would use a non-attacking moves or a status move, which is for the first thing to do with Aerodactyl. This might required great Speed stat to stop your opponent, or you can attack when you knew that you can knock out your opponent with a strong hit.

Stone Edge: This is a great move to teach for Aerodactyl, and even it would perform a great counterattack on Ice-type Pokémon with plenty of power. There is no problem of using it, except if you prefer a Rock-type move that can flinch your opponent, which is Rock Slide.

Aerial Ace: I though this move would deal more damage to 2 types (Grass/Fighting), and to be sure that Aerodactyl attack successfully. Roost is fine, but with Taunt is in active, its likely enough that they would choose to use a stronger attack, since Aerodactyl doesn't have much defensive stat resist in battle.

Earthquake: This is highly recommended to perform a counterattack on 3 types (Electric/Rock/Steel). That seems to be the bit of a reason that shouldn't change.

That's only 1 suggestion I can make.

Jolteon got good amount of Special Attack stat and Speed stat, but the difficult part sometimes is the moves to teach it, but its still good for other suggestion.

Thunderbolt: This is a highly recommended move that can be used on other types of Pokémon that is active. This move have normal Accuracy stat to make it look good.

Shadow Ball: There is no other option to teach, but this move is the best to find for Jolteon. No reason to bother this move, it can be used for type advantage (Psychic/Ghost).

Signal Beam: This move would be required to make a pretty good hit on Grass-type Pokémon, that are pretty resistant to Thunderbolt if you don't feel like switching Pokémon. That is what I can think of, even though you would use Baton Pass to avoid the effect of Pursuit, even though this is rarely been seen.

Hidden Power: You've explained your reason about it, which makes me decided it would be kept. Battling with Dragon-type Pokémon would be one thing to avoid, since Shadow Ball would be the strongest effort to make, or being lucky to confuse it with Signal Beam.

That's only 1 suggestion I can make.

Metagross have gain great achievement of Physical Attack stat and Physical Defense stat, and I can see why you're applying that much Speed stat on Metagross. It shouldn't be a problem, but the use of defensive stat would help to your advantage.

I bet I'm running out of characters of thoughtful ideas, and reading your full advantage on using Metagross, which makes me don't have to explain about my suggestion on it. Anyway, your team is great, and I hope my suggestion really works out well.

[george182]

You appear to be weak to your own team. Threats like Metagross, BP Lucario, Aerodactyl, Jolteon and Starmie give you a lot of trouble. You also have problems with Jolly DD Dragonite, and Jolly DD Gyarados.

To solve this I recommend using a Shaymin over Jolteon. Jolteon lacks resistances so he rarely gets the option to switch in. Shaymin gives you another ground resist. Shaymin can take on all of the threats mentioned above, bar jolly DD dragonite but to beat Shaymin he will be forced into outrage. Shaymin also keeps with the no choiced user theme.

I recomend a more passive set of
Shaymin @ Leftovers
Timid
252 speed/252 special attack/4hp
- Leech seed
- Protect
- Seed flare
- Hp Fire

Protect is vital because Shaymin is weak to U-turn from Flygon, and it's important you know he is locked into U-turn so you can safely switch to Aero, Lucario, Metagross or Infernape. Shaymin isn't perfect, electric attacks become a large problem and the weakness to u-turn could loose offensive momentum. This Shaymin also gives stall loads of trouble, and stall does somewhat trouble you.

I'm not a fan of Jolteon, it's lack of resistances make it difficult to bring in, but if you keep Jolteon I recomend a set of :
- Protect
- Yawn
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power/Shadow ball

Protect helps loads against Flygons, Yawn works well with protect and then stab + a coverage move. This is the best Jolteon set I have ever used. You really need to know what move Flygon locks himself into because he causes problems for your team if he starts predicting you.

Rapid spin on Starmie would be nice as Aerodactyl does not like stealth rocks.

[MissGuidance]

10/10

I shall test this on Po.

[xGhostface167x]

Iron Head on Metagross for Arceus sakes..

[Charizard92]

Pretty good team man. the problem with roost on aero is, well, its a 5th ground weakness. If I set up my standard gyara to +1/+1, I might be able to sweep your whole team.

Gyara, lum berry,
252att/sp
waterfall
ice fang
EQ
DD

Overall a great team though, thought of something else while reading it but it I totally forgot about itXD

PS, HP fire sounds gimmicky on starmie, but trust, I take out many things with it. here's my starmie set that no one knows:

Starmie @ leftovers
252 speed/sp att
timid
HP fire
psychic
Tbolt
Rapid Spin

Again, takes out a decent chunk of your team. however, I've never seen that set ANYWHERE, so you're good:P I'd like to battle this team on PO actually.