For Lack of a Better Name

[Fiction.]

Hello everyone. Fiction. here with my first RMT on the Smogon forums. This team peaked me at #9 on the Ubers leaderboard with a CRE of 1639. It's not really anything special at all, I just wanted to use Bulk Up Palkia and this is what I got with it. The name of the team comes from the deadmau5 album "For Lack of a Better Name." I am not actually a deadmau5 fan, but friends have told me about him and I thought that the name was kind of fitting.

Team at a glance:

In Depth:

Lucario @ Focus Sash
Ability: Inner Focus
EVs: 252 Atk/4 SDef/252 Spd
Nature: Adamant (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Close Combat
- Payback
- Extremespeed
- Ice Punch/Counter

Lucario equipped with a Focus Sash gives it the ability to deal with several common leads in the Uber metagame. Close Combat is Lucario's most powerful option, being able 2HKO Kyogre and Dialga, who cannot OHKO the egyptian jackal thanks to Focus Sash. Payback is chosen over Crunch because it, along with a subsequent Extremespeed can KO any Deoxys-S set, limiting Deoxys-S to setting up just one entry hazard on the field. The last moveslot is up for debate: on one hand, Ice Punch helps Lucario defeat Shaymin-S (Inner Focus stops any attempt at flinching Lucario with Air Slash) and Sash-less Rayquaza. On the other, Counter can net a KO on unsuspecting Groudon leads. Having Counter would make Lucario unable to defeat Rayquaza and Shaymin leads though, so if I do opt for Counter, I am considering using a Latias over Latios, because it can take Fire Blasts from Rayquaza and Air Slash from Shaymin-S (unless I get flinched too much) better than its brother.

Here is a list of matchups against the top 20 leads (July 2010) to show Lucario's effectiveness:

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Deoxys-S: Payback + Extremespeed gets a 2HKO on any Deoxys-S set, limiting it to setting up one, and only one entry hazard.

Kyogre: If it is a Scarf Lead, I Close Combat then Extremespeed leaving a large dent. If it is a Thunder Wave lead, I outspeed and 2HKO with Close Combat as long as I do not get paralyzed on the second turn (providing it uses Thunder Wave on the first turn of course).

Dialga: Close Combat has a good chance of OHKO'ing 4 HP/0 Def Dialga, if not Extremespeed KOs after. I outrun and 2HKO 252 HP Dialga leads with Close Combat. If Dialga decides to stay in and use Stealth Rock turn 1, Lucario will remain unscathed.

Deoxys-A: I will lose to Deoxys-A unless it lacks Superpower or uses Stealth Rock on the first turn. What I normally do is attack and then go to Scizor on the predicted Extremespeed and Bullet Punch, or if I feel like predicting a second Extremespeed for more damage I U-turn back to Lucario, otherwise I just Bullet Punch.

Darkrai: Darkrai lead is kind of tricky. I Extremespeed on turn 1 and if they Trick I get to Close Combat and KO next turn, if they Dark Void I go to Scizor after.

Mew: I actually have not battled a lot of these at all, but I know that I cannot stop Mew from getting Stealth Rock down, especially since Lucario outspeeds Mew therefore Payback only has a meager 50 BP (100 BP with super effectiveness). Being slower also gives Mew a safe U-turn to something that outspeeds Lucario and can KO it.

Groudon: If Groudon lays Stealth Rock down turn one, I have a small chance to 3HKO with Close Combat, if I do not it will be severely dented, though from my experience they only take two max and then go to something like Giratina-O and finish me off with Shadow Sneak. Groudon is the reason I am considering using Counter over Ice Punch, getting a surprise KO on the behemoth.

Forretress: I 3HKO with Close Combat, but it still manages to get two entry hazards up.

Rayquaza: Ice Punch for a swift OHKO, unless Rayquaza gets a Fire Blast burn or something.

Giratina-O: Lucario cannot win, it outspeeds Giratina-O leads, making Ice Punch the most powerful option, dealing a maximum of 43.1% damage.

Tyranitar: I OHKO with Close Combat. If it also has a Focus Sash, I still win because of Lucario's immunity to Sandstorm.

Shaymin-S: Ice Punch OHKOs, and Inner Focus prevents Air Slash flinching.

Scizor: Scizor will win with a combination of Brick Break + Bullet Punch, while I deal between 56% and 66% with Close Combat.

Mewtwo: If the Mewtwo is Life Orbed, I have a guaranteed 2HKO with Payback + Extremespeed. If it is a Scarf Mewtwo I will lose, but Mewtwo will be severely weakened and Scizor can pick it off.

Palkia: I have a good chance to 2HKO Hasty leads with Close Combat followed by Extremespeed.

Ninjask: Ice Punch + Extremespeed. If I opt for Counter I 2HKO with Payback followed by Extremespeed, or even two Extremespeeds, even though there is a very small of Ninjask surviving both hits, and being the unlucky guy that I am, well yeah.

Giratina: I can manage a Payback, since Giratina leads pack max Speed, but that is all.

Mamoswine: Close Combat + Extremespeed KO Mamoswine. If it Stealth Rocks Lucario remains unscathed.

Deoxys:Lucario will win this matchup, using Payback and then Extremespeed to 2HKO, and like Deoxys-S, limit Deoxys to setting only one entry hazard up.

Deoxys-D: Never faced one of these, but I would probably go to Scizor for a U-turn then finish it off with a Surf from Kyogre.[/i]

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Groudon @ Leftovers
Ability: Drought
EVs: 252 HP/220 Def/36 Spd
Nature: Impish (+Def, -SAtk)
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Dragon Claw
- Toxic

Groudon, ruler of the land, is on this team to counter physical threats such as Lucario and Swords Dance Rayquaza. The standard EV spread was not enough to stop +2 Rayquaza Waterfall, so I looked for some alternative spreads possible, so I saw this spread on Iconic's RMT featured in the Smog and tried it out, and I liked it. The extra investment also lets me take on Scizor and Garchomp better, which can cause Latios and Palkia a few problems. 36 Speed EVs let Groudon outspeed the standard Ho-oh, as well as most bulky Kyogre and Groudon. Toxic was chosen to cripple and wear down Kyogre and Lugia switch-ins.

In addition to this, Groudon reliably sets up Stealth Rock, needed to be able to combat Ho-oh more comfortably, as the rainbow phoenix can give this team troubles if it is at full health, as it can to pretty much every team. Having Groudon alongside Kyogre gives me control of the weather, preventing Pokémon such as Kingdra from ripping through my team. Groudon also boasts a handy Electric immunity, to absorb Thunder Waves that may be used to cripple my other Pokémon.

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Kyogre @ Leftovers
Ability: Drizzle
EVs: 252 HP/252 SAtk/4 Spd
Nature: Modest (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Surf
- Thunder
- Ice Beam
- Thunder Wave

Kyogre provides Rain for Palkia, boosting the power of its Aqua Tail attack. Kyogre also has good synergy with Scizor, reducing its Fire weakness with the permanent downpour it provides. Surf is the STAB move of choice and its power is further boosted by the Rain. Thunder is 100% accurate in rain and hits opposing Kyogre for super effective damage. Ice Beam hits Dragon- and Flying-type Pokémon. This attack combination is only resisted by Lanturn and Shedinja, neither of whom are common.

Thunder Wave is here because Kyogre lures some of the Pokémon that would be able to revenge-kill Palkia, such as Latias, Latios and opposing Palkia. I usually keep Thunder Wave hidden until I have scouted my opponent's Kyogre switch-in. Kyogre has been great at luring unsuspecting counters, making Palkia's time sweeping easier.

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Scizor @ Choice Band
Abiliy: Technician
EVs: 200 HP/56 Atk/252 SpD
Nature: Adamant (+Atk, -SAtk)
- U-turn
- Bullet Punch
- Pursuit
- Superpower

A Dragon-resist is essential to make a successful Uber team, and Scizor is a great way of dealing with the ubiquitous Dragon-types while being able to significant damage with its powerful attacks. Scizor's impressive typing let it come in on commonly seen moves in the Uber metagame, such as Kyogre and Mewtwo's Ice Beam, Shaymin-S' Seed Flare, Darkrai's Dark Pulse and Latias' Dragon Pulse. This makes this Scizor my answer to Taunt + Calm Mind Mewtwo and Nasty Plot Darkrai. U-turn is a great move, and even if a Bug-resist comes in, it gives me the advantage by allowing to bring a suitable counter onto the battlefield. Bullet Punch lets me pick off weakened Pokémon without fear of a severely damaging blow. Pursuit and Superpower do not really see much use, but they are for Lati@s and Heatran/Dialga respectively.

I do not really get much use out of Pursuit mainly because of Kyogre crippling the Pokémon I would normally use Pursuit on (fleeing Latias and Latios) with Thunder Wave which allows me to U-turn without fear: if Latias/Latios stays in I OHKO with U-turn, if they switch out I can go to a counter to the new Pokémon, all without getting damaged in the process. Therefore I am considering changing this set and am open to any suggestions regarding this Scizor. Overall, Scizor is vital on this team as the only Dragon-resist on it, and is used to defeat several offensive threats in the Uber metagame that could give my team a hard time.

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Latios @ Soul Dew
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 4 HP/252 SAtk/252 Spd
Nature: Timid (+Spd, -Atk)
- Draco Meteor
- Grass Knot
- Thunder
- Recover

Dragon-types are in every Uber team and this team is no different. Latios is the first of my two dragons, being able to dish out big amounts of damage to anything apart from Pokémon that resist Draco Meteor and Blissey. Thunder hits Lugia, Manaphy, Ho-oh and is capable of 2HKO'ing most Steel-types seen in Uber, while Grass Knot OHKOs Groudon and Kyogre, and also puts a dent in Tyranitar. Some of Latios' counters, such as Blissey, Scizor not coming in on Thunder and Tyranitar not coming in on Grass Knot can be dealt with by Groudon (unless Blissey has Toxic) and its STAB'd Earthquakes.

As stated earlier in this RMT, I am considering using a Latias instead of this Latios and using Counter on Lucario over Ice Punch. Thoughts on this would be appreciated and I am open to suggestions.

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Palkia @ Lustrous Orb
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 4 HP/252 Atk/252 Spd
Nature: Jolly (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Bulk Up
- Aqua Tail
- Outrage
- Earthquake

The second of two dragons on this team, and the late-game sweeper. I usually try to keep Kyogre alive all costs, because to its ability to set up Rain to power up Palkia's primary move: Aqua Tail. With the Stealth Rock that Groudon sets up, Palkia will be able to steamroll through the standard Bold Lugia that attempt to switch in. Outrage is the secondary attack, delivering extremely punishing blows after Palkia has a Bulk Up under its belt. Earthquake is the final attack, being able to 2HKO Dialga without having to lock myself on Outrage.

Dragon Claw is a possible replacement over Outrage but I do not know. Dragon Claw would give me freedom to alternate between attacks. I also do not get confused, which has been bothersome at times. I do not know if I miss any important KOs or, if I do, if Aqua Tail or Earthquake can KO those Pokémon Dragon Claw would not. Regardless, Palkia gets the job done once the faster Pokémon are crippled or Knocked Out.

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And that is my team. I have noticed that I am fairly Stall weak, so any suggestions to remedy that problem would be appreciated. Thank you for reading!​

 

[TrueLuck]

Very solid team, i don't see much wrong apart from maybe get rid of grass knot on Latios for maybe dragon pulse or HP, or get rid of recover and have the full all out attacker set, i know you may want GK for groudons but you have your own bulky groudon, two priority users, not to mention a bulky ogre, good team nonetheless.

EDIT: Love the use of Lucario aswell <3

 

[Iconic]

Excellent team. To remedy your problem with stall teams, you could consider making Kyogre a Modest mono-attacker with Surf / Calm Mind / Rest / Sleep Talk and a spread of 240 HP / 228 Def / 40 Spe. The only common Pokemon on stall teams that can beat this variant of Kyogre is Latias, and she is extremely easy to kill via Pursuit with Scizor. With Latias out of the picture, stall teams stand no chance: Blissey becomes set-up fodder thanks to Rest, Lugia can't do anything except phaze (only to take a bunch of damage in the process) and Giratina-O will struggle to do any meaningful damage back to you. On top of that, having a bulky Kyogre with Rest compliments Bulk Up Palkia nicely, since Kygore's increased longevity will by extension keep rain up longer. While you lose your Lati@s lure by not packing Thunder Wave, Scizor's presence means it shouldn't be that big of a loss, and you'll probably find yourself using Pursuit a lot more often.

If you find you're having trouble with Bulk Up Dialga like my team did, you can try Swords Dance or Bulk Up over Toxic on Groudon. Impish Groudon can only muster 43.6% - 52% to a +1 Dialga, so if you're slower or roll min damage on the second Earthquake, you'll probably lose the matchup. With Swords Dance, Groudon can come in, boost on the first turn and proceed to take out Dialga. If you opt for Bulk Up, just boost alongside Dialga until it stops, since you'll always win that matchup barring an untimely crit. Toxic is nice for crippling Lugia, but between Kyogre and Latios, losing it isn't too much of a big deal. Even Palkia has a chance of beating Lugia in the Rain! While I'm loving the Lucario lead, and I would definitely stick with Ice Punch over Counter, especially with lead Rayquaza becoming more prevalent. You actually still beat Groudon that choose to Stealth Rock against you since Close Combat 3HKOes, and if it attacks both turns, you have lots of options to beat Groudon with and Stealth Rock won't be on your side of the field. With that, Latias no longer becomes a necessity, so you should definitely stick with Latios. You could consider Calm Mind over Grass Knot and then switching to Dragon Pulse, since a +1 Dragon Pulse has a good chance of OHKOing Groudon if it's taken a little prior damage, but if the all-out attacker is working for you then stick with it. Anyways, I'm very much a big fan of this team, nice job.

 

[shrang]

Hi Fiction, good team, and congrats on the leaderboard spot.

As rightfully pointed out by yourself, your team is quite weak to Stall. You don't really have anything to smash through it apart from possibly Palkia (Whom Groudon would stop quite handily). You could also have some trouble with DD Rayquaza and Salamence. Without destroying changing too much of your team, I would suggest that you either: Change Kyogre to the CM-RestTalk variant suggested by Iconic. This would also allow you to overcome Darkrai leads who could just sleep your Lucario (Since it doesn't carry Magic Coat). Oh, and as is, Darkrai can completely destroy your team since you really don't have anything that can take an attack well or one that outspeeds it. CM-RestTalk Ogre can help you against Darkrai. Here it is:

Kyogre @ Leftovers
Ability: Drizzle
EVs: 240 HP/244 Def/24 Spe (Or you can use Iconic's spread, it really doesn't matter)
Nature: Modest
-Calm Mind
-Rest
-Sleep Talk
-Surf

Finally, I have a few small changes that I would recommend:

1) Replace Palkia's item to a Haban Berry
Yeah, Palkia gets revenged by stuff like Garchomp and Lati@s at the moment, and with a Haban Berry, you can take an attack and OHKO back with a boosted Dragon move. I'd also recommending replacing EQ with Dragon Claw, since it doesn't hit anything TOO significant (Apart from Dialga, which +1 Outrage does heaps to anyway). This can allow you to kill things like Rayquaza without having to lock yourself in.

2) Replace Grass Knot with Surf on Latios:
You already have Thunder to kill Kyogre with. Groudon takes a truck-ton from Draco Meteor anyway. Surf, on the other hand, has fantastic coverage alongside Draco Meteor and is generally a good move to just spam when you don't enough information to predict properly. Surf in the Rain does more than a neutral Thunder as well. I'd also consider replacing Recover with Dragon Pulse, since it allows for a more consistent sweep late-game, but that really doesn't matter.

3) Replace Dragon Claw with Stone Edge on Groudon:
You EV your Groudon to outspeed Ho-oh but carry no move to destroy it?? Come on. Stone Edge will deal with Rayquaza and Mence quite nicely too, and is pretty much a more rounded move (apart from the stupid accuracy) than Dragon Claw.

All in all, good team. Hope I helped, good luck!!

 

[Inevitable]

I wonder how you manage to beat anything scarfed when lategame? I imagine a scarfed palkia can easily kill palkia, latios , groudon and a weakened kyogre.

I am unsure how you could solve this problem easily, seeing how palkia is already the fastest pokemon on your team (barring latios which would run soul dew anytime)

 

[Siegrin]

It's really a fantastic team, however, I'm not too sure about having recover on such an offensive latios, especially when most attacks do hit latios for more than fifty percent. Maybe you should just go for the full offensive set.