Why do people keep using the same teams

[Bland Mango]

Whenever you battle online, you keep seeing the same people pop up with the same Pokemon on their teams.

Ferrothorn, Greninja, Talonflame, Clefable, Latios, Thundurus, I could go on... I'm bored of seeing them.
They also always have the same strategy and same moves. They delay a lot using Substitute, Protect, and leftovers etc which doesn't help them too much it just wastes time etc.

What can Pokemon do to really shake the balance up, and stop the same Pokemon appearing again and again and again.

 

[Vanyss]

You see a lot of people using OU teams, but thats not the majority of what I've encountered online at all. Most challenges I've received were from uber teams. I've got loads of battle video's from my team pitted against overpowered legendaries (usually controlled by people who don't know what they are doing.) Though I hardly see the specific pokemon you mentioned. (apart from Greninja.) The only ferrothorn and Clefable I've seen online were on my own side. I think I have seen one talonflame in many battles and no thundurus or Latios.

But to answer you question; there can be many reasons.
A: They are simply some of the best pokemon around with the most effective strategies.
B: People like these pokemon and their strategies a lot.
C; Smogon says this is how they should use them.
D: These pokemon are very popular at the moment.
E: someone is paying all your opponents to annoy you.
F: All of the above.

 

[Peeko]

If only E was true...

 

[Alola]

Are you referring to Smogon/PokeShowdown or DS battles when you say online?

 

[ange]

Because people play to win and so will use the best Pokemon with the best movesets.

 

[Apawn:p]

Agrees with above^

 

[King Fissamé]

You think that's bad, I got through more frustrating situation than yours. Darkrai, Arceus, Dialga, Palkia, Girantina, Protean Greninja, and it gets worst

 

[BadAssKoala]

You mostly listed OU pokemon which are OU for a reason. The majority of teams will have at least a few pokemon you listed simply because they're really good. If you want a casual battle you should check out the casual battle request thread, or battle on the UU and RU tiers on showdown or pokemon online.

 

[UB-01 Kenobi]

People use those Pokémon because they are the best at what they do, and can often fulfill a variety of roles, leading to unpredictability. Is his Thundurus-Therian a Prankster with Taunt and Thunder Wave? Or is it Defiant, and will get a +2 Attack bonus and sweep my team if I try to Defog his hazards away? These mind games quantify the highest level of play, and since Wi-Fi battles do not use a tiering system, everybody uses these Pokémon. I personally am a huge fan of OU, even though I run some unorthodox stuff like Cacturne, Abomasnow, etc (and not to brag but I used Bisharp and Mandibuzz before they were cool OU ). However, if it's not your thing, I'd recommend ditching Wi-Fi matches and playing the RU (beta) tier on Pokémon Showdown that just went live. A huge variety of Pokémon are currently viable, and if you have a cool team that many people emulate you could actually shape the tier yourself, and that's just awesome. If you don't believe me, check out my RU team and see all the fun and weird Pokémon I use to great effect:

Spoiler

Dugtrio @ Focus Sash
Ability: Arena Trap
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 Atk / 4 HP
Adamant Nature
- Earthquake
- Night Slash
- Stone Edge
- Stealth Rock

Yanmega @ Choice Specs
Ability: Tinted Lens
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 SAtk / 4 HP
Modest Nature
- Bug Buzz
- Air Slash
- Giga Drain
- Hidden Power [Fire]

Carracosta @ Weakness Policy
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 Atk / 4 SDef
Jolly Nature
- Waterfall
- Shell Smash
- Stone Edge
- Aqua Jet

Leavanny @ Focus Sash
Ability: Swarm
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 SAtk / 4 SDef
Timid Nature
- Swords Dance
- X-Scissor
- Leaf Blade
- Sticky Web

Banette @ Banettite
Ability: Frisk
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 HP / 4 SDef
Adamant Nature
- Knock Off
- Will-O-Wisp
- Shadow Sneak
- Destiny Bond

Skuntank @ Black Sludge
Ability: Aftermath
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 HP / 4 SDef
Adamant Nature
- Defog
- Sucker Punch
- Pursuit
- Poison Jab

Carracosta? Leavanny? Skuntank? Who uses crap like that, amirite? (The answer to that question is: Glory Blaze! He uses weird crap xD) And that's just my team! Hypno, Aromatisse, Emboar, Clawitzer, Vivillon, all sorts of cool stuff can be found down there. Good luck experimenting

 

[Master Mew]

Asking why Over-Used pokemon are so overused is like asking why Pop music is so popular.

I feel your pain, though; I, too, would be completely ok with never seeing Rotom-W and Tyranitar again. I've never successfully built an OU team that actually consisted of just OU, or even half OU, pokemon and I still win more battles than I lose so running the same old crowd as everyone else is not mandatory for success - it just makes it a lot easier.

 

[UB-01 Kenobi]

Asking why Over-Used pokemon are so overused is like asking why Pop music is so popular.

I feel your pain, though; I, too, would be completely ok with never seeing Rotom-W and Tyranitar again. I've never successfully built an OU team that actually consisted of just OU, or even half OU, pokemon and I still win more battles than I lose so running the same old crowd as everyone else is not mandatory for success - it just makes it a lot easier.

You'll find that using a 100% OU team is actually a recipe for disaster in a lot of cases. Most, if not all, teams have niches that would best be filled by a BL or UU (or even RU or NU on occasion) Pokémon - one thing that comes to mind is a team that peaked #1 on the ladder used by Branflakes, iirc, of the Smogon forums, whose integral member was a Mirror Coat Alomomola, of all things. For real success you have to experiment and find truly the best Pokémon for the job - OU is just a list of Pokémon that are particularly good at their jobs, but maybe you don't need a job that can be filled by one of them. Maybe you need a Pokémon that can heal itself and a teammate at the same time with a combo of Wish and Regenerator while punishing Rotom-W for using Volt Switch by OHKOibg the incoming Pokémon with Mirror Coat. Maybe you need an Alomomola. xD

 

[Master Mew]

punishing Rotom-W for using Volt Switch by OHKOibg the incoming Pokémon with Mirror Coat.

Ugh why have I never thought of this? D:

 

[TerraTF]

Asking why Over-Used pokemon are so overused is like asking why Pop music is so popular.

I feel your pain, though; I, too, would be completely ok with never seeing Rotom-W and Tyranitar again. I've never successfully built an OU team that actually consisted of just OU, or even half OU, pokemon and I still win more battles than I lose so running the same old crowd as everyone else is not mandatory for success - it just makes it a lot easier.

You'll find that using a 100% OU team is actually a recipe for disaster in a lot of cases. Most, if not all, teams have niches that would best be filled by a BL or UU (or even RU or NU on occasion) Pokémon - one thing that comes to mind is a team that peaked #1 on the ladder used by Branflakes, iirc, of the Smogon forums, whose integral member was a Mirror Coat Alomomola, of all things. For real success you have to experiment and find truly the best Pokémon for the job - OU is just a list of Pokémon that are particularly good at their jobs, but maybe you don't need a job that can be filled by one of them. Maybe you need a Pokémon that can heal itself and a teammate at the same time with a combo of Wish and Regenerator while punishing Rotom-W for using Volt Switch by OHKOibg the incoming Pokémon with Mirror Coat. Maybe you need an Alomomola. xD

This is actually how most Weather Teams work. The only OU Pokemon tend to be the Setter (Politoed, Ninetales, T-Tar, Char-Y, etc.), a Scouter (Pokemon knowing U-Turn or Volt Switch), and maybe 1 of their Sweepers. Otherwise its just Niche sweepers like Lilligant who are in lower tiers because they only work in certain conditions.

 

[DCM]

They've pretty much already covered everything, but it's definitely important to understand that these pokemon are not only good at the jobs they do, but they're easy to throw on a team. As everyone has pretty much alluded to, there are better, less used pokemon who have the potential to fill the roles (and we're still finding out what those pokemon are!) but the most common ones you see are easy to use and understand.

 

[Winterdaze]

It's a fact of life that people will gravitate toward the best options available, and that's not the sole providence of the OU tier alone. Playing UU? Hope you like fighting Mega Aggron and Florges. Gen V NU? You might not be sick of seeing Sawk and Jynx now, but you soon will be.

What actually constitutes the best options available and what are the most popular choices (i.e. the perceived best options available) can be quite different though, I've seen a lot of teams that consist of 6 pokes taken from the top ten usage stats just thrown together with little regard for synergy. It's important to keep an open mind when building teams, the best option for your particular situation could be something nobody has thought of.

 

[Gomez16]

Seems like everyone I am battling is using Talonflame and Greninja and a lot of rotom-W too. why I do not know, I beat them 9 out 10 times.

 

[Supreme Leader Palpitoad]

You can still be successful with pokes that are not OU against OUs. I defeated a Mega Kangaskhan with a Gogoat(and Mega Kanga is banned in Smogon, right?)

 

[TerraTF]

Seems like everyone I am battling is using Talonflame and Greninja and a lot of rotom-W too. why I do not know, I beat them 9 out 10 times.

As said earlier in the thread, those 3 are the best at what they do. Same reason M-Charizard Y is the most common Mega. People gravitate towards Pokemon that are easy to build a team around. You rarely see Cacturne, Clefable, and Leafeon because they are difficult to build around. Slap a Rotom-W on a team and 9 times out of 10 it works. For me I put a Scarf Rotom-W on my team and it helped immensely.

 

[Muur]

Play in a lower tier.

People want to win, they're going to use the stronger Pokemon.

 

[Crystal Onix]

I happen to really like Ferrothorn. I've never seen anyone else use it, though. I mostly see ubers and legendaries, against which my fossil team's been doing pretty well today.