XY OU Sticky Web Sweepers. I'm back I guess??

[Nix_Hex]

Hello all. My name is NixHex and I used to play BW OU all the time and was actually made OU mod and was grandfathered in when XY came about. I recently relinquished my mods cause I rarely played XY OU and only posted in suspect threads (I might ask for my mods back because those threads require some serious work and Mawilite is as bad as any other suspect). Then, Aegislash was banned. There were many pros and cons to Aegi's ban and I would have been satisfied either way, but since it DID get the ban hammer, I decided to come back to OU so I could try out stuff like Mega Gardevoir and Mega Medicham, which were cockblocked by Aegi before. I started messing around with a phys/special core offensive core with Mega Garde and Banded Azumarill but I started realizing that Gardevoir is just slightly too slow. But too slow nonetheless. Also, I generally dislike choice items so I wanted to give Belly Drum Azumarill a try. Aqua Jet is amazing but I also wanted to take advantage of STAB Play Rough without taking too many hits, especially losing a net 25% just setting up. I knew I needed some sort of Speed control, and Sticky Web sounded like the best solution.

Team Building Process

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First, I knew my two sweepers: Azumarill and Gardevoir.

Azumarill @ Sitrus Berry

Ability: Huge Power
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Belly Drum
- Play Rough
- Waterfall
- Superpower

Gardevoir @ Gardevoirite

Ability: Trace
EVs: 24 Def / 232 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Hyper Voice
- Psyshock
- Focus Blast
- Taunt

I knew exactly what I needed next: Shuckle. It is the best Sticky Web user, with Sturdy and Mental Herb, only failing against Magic Bounce, Magic Coat, or sleep. Galvantula is pretty nooby and is something I roll my eyes at when I see it.

My two sweepers fail miserably against Ferrothorn. Focus Blast needs a crit and I don't feel like using Superpower on Azumarill; the Belly Drum damage is bad enough, no need to stack Iron Barbs and Rocky Helmet damage right on top. Enter Specs Magnezone, the only Choice Specs user I will ever use.

I always include a Grass-type (Venusaur is my favorite Mega) in order to have a Spore absorber, and Ferrothorn never disappoints. It can lay even more hazards which makes it easier for Gardevoir to sweep.

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For my last Pokemon, I had a brain fart and put AV Tornadus-T on the team. I don't know why, because Regenerator and good Speed don't do much to mitigate two 70% accurate special attacks and two weak physical utility moves (albeit useful ones). I needed something fast, a guaranteed one-up against floating foes like Landorus-I. Enter Scarf Latios.

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Team Analysis

Shuckle @ Mental Herb

Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Sticky Web
- Stealth Rock
- Knock Off Toxic
- Encore

Shuckle is an unconventional Pokemon and is usually my lead. I am almost guaranteed Sticky Web or Stealth Rock (sometimes both!), with Magic Coat / Bounce and sleep being the only surefire counters. Knock Off is good for getting rid of my opponents' Leftovers, Scarves, Orbs, Berries, Vests, Helmets... you get the picture. Encore is an unsung hero of this set, letting me lock Mawile into Swords Dance or Substitute, Heatran into Rocks, or if I'm really lucky, Excadrill into Iron Head. There's some sweet irony in trapping Mawile and Excadrill with a Magnezone of all things! Sticky Web slows things down enough for Azumarill and Gardevoir, and Rocks break sashes and add chip damage, aiding Gardevoir in sweeping. Toxic allows me to wear down stuff like Rotom-W and does more damage overall than piss-weak Knock Offs that do an average of 1 damage with every use. It also allows me to damage Talonflame who can only hit it for neutral damage; heck, if I'm lucky I can encore it into an undesirable move and kill it slowly.

Gardevoir @ Gardevoirite

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Ability: Trace >> Pixilate
EVs: 24 Def / 232 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Hyper Voice
- Psyshock
- Focus Blast
- Will-O-Wisp

I got the EV spread from Gardevoir's analysis which lets it take two Psyshocks from Latios and OHKO with Hyper Voice. Hyper Voice is a Dragon killer and does huge damage to many things switching in. I changed Taunt to Will-O-Wisp soon after I made the team in order to burn things like Landorus-T and Mawile thinking they can switch in and ruin my day. Psyshock is a very reliable back-up STAB and discourages Venusaur from switching in, 2HKOing it. Rotom-W is crippled by either move especially after Rocks damage. Focus Blast is only for weakened Heatran, Ferrothorn, Tyranitar, and Excadrill, but I am always fearful of clicking it. It's a necessary evil no thanks to its terrible accuracy, but it provides good coverage and in moments of desperation, can save Gardy's life with some luck.

Azumarill @ Sitrus Berry

Ability: Huge Power
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Belly Drum
- Play Rough Return
- Waterfall
- Aqua Jet

This thing speaks for itself. Belly Drum allows it to OHKO a ton of things with any of its moves. Once the levitators / fliers / scarfers are gone, and with some clever switching and prediction, Azumarill can be my wincon early on. I changed the spread to Jolly in order to beat.... I don't remember what exactly. I also changed Superpower to Aqua Jet since I have Magnezone to cover Ferrothorn. I may change back the nature to Adamant since I finally have some priority which I lacked before. Return has a great chance of OHKOing Mega Venusaur and takes care of Amoonguss with little trouble.
Magnezone @ Choice Specs

Ability: Magnet Pull
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpA / 4 SpD 128 HP / 252 Atk / 128 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 30 SpA / 30 Spe
- Thunderbolt
- Flash Cannon
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Volt Switch

I said in the overview that I hate Choiced Pokemon. Yet I have two on my team. This is the only Specs user I will ever use. It is my only sure-fire way of getting rid of Ferrothorn, 2HKOing the standard 252/88/188+ spread and OHKOing anyone noobish enough to run a spread of 252 / 4. It can Leech Seed / Protect stall me all it wants, but it's still dying in two or three turns. I also said earlier that I can trap Excadrill or Mawile given the right conditions, that is being locked into Iron Head or Substitute / SD, respectively. It also tears bulky waters a new one and discourages Fairies like Sylveon from coming in. Volt Switch allows me to bring in one of my attackers safely. The new EV spread allows me to outspeed any creeping Mega Scizor and two-shot with HP Fire while taking diddly from Bullet Punch. I don't see much Superpower so I'm not worried at all.

Hide

Ferrothorn @ Rocky Helmet

Ability: Iron Barbs
EVs: 252 HP / 88 Def / 168 SpD
Sassy Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Spikes
- Leech Seed
- Gyro Ball
- Protect

Ferrothorn has been one of my favorite Pokemon since early BW and is featured on about 80% of my teams. Rocky Helmet is pretty trendy and allows me to chip away at contact users in conjunction with Leech Seed. Protect gives it even more time for recovery and helps me predict Pokemon that I already know are choiced so I can send in an appropriate counter. Fighting-types like Conkeldurr really hate dealing with this guy, taking stupid recoil and seed damage even when they Drain Punch. Gyro Ball seems weird since I have Sticky Web on the field, but it keeps opposing Fairies at bay.

Bisharp @ Black Glasses

Ability: Defiant
EVs: 252 Atk / 156 SpD / 100 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Knock Off
- Sucker Punch
- Iron Head
- Pursuit

This guy is incredibly strong and has great utility. First off, I use 100 Spe to creep on 0 Spe Venusaur and two-shot with Knock Off at +2. I can send it in on a Lati@s using Defog then use Pursuit or Sucker Punch. The remaining EVs allow me some room for error if they decide to stay in and use Thunderbolt / Surf or worse, HP Fire. It's a shame I can't destroy Latias before Healing Wish, although since I already am at +2, it's sweep time. Black Glasses are used over Life Orb since I'm using a whopping 3 Dark attacks. Iron Head absolutely murders stuff like Tyranitar and stupid Fairies like Sylveon and Clefable.

Latios (M) @ Choice Scarf

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Ability: Levitate
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe 192 SpA / 64 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Draco Meteor
- Psyshock
- Thunderbolt
- Dragon Pulse / Trick

Yet another Choiced Pokemon. Draco Meteor smashes Dragons as well as "frail" levitators and fliers like Landorus. Psyshock helps it against Venusaur and other Poison-types and is safer to use than Draco Meteor. Thunderbolt discourages Azumarill from switching in, and Dragon Pulse is a nice STAB that allows me to clean up Pokemon that have taken previous damage throughout the match from hazards or near-KOes from Gardevoir or unboosted Azumarill. I may change it to Trick though, as Psyshock really doesn't do all that much to Chansey, plus it helps me against stuff like Sylveon and Clefable that dare switch in. The new spread allows me to switch in on Charizard-Y while still maxing its Speed. Specs gives it the most power possible, and Trick is used over the weak and rare Dragon Pulse in order to cripple walls like Ferrothorn and Chansey.

Problem Pokemon

Talonflame

I really have no way to beat this guy outside of Stealth Rock and sacking Ferrothorn, making it lose a TON of health from recoil. It beats Azumarill and Latios at medium health and annihilates Magnezone and Ferrothorn. Shuckle can't do too much to it outside of removing its item which is cool I guess. Basically, rocks MUST be up to beat this guy. If it sets up a Swords Dance, then good night.

Amoonguss

This thing can spore everything on my team except Ferrothorn, who can't do much against it except set up some Spikes (kind of nice, but it doesn't accomplish the bigger goal, which is getting rid of stupid Amoonguss). It needs hazard damage to be KOed by Gardevoir or Latios. Basically anything that 2HKOes it gets put to sleep.
Quagsire

Unaware existing is a really good way for me to hesitate with Belly Drum. I have to rely on pecking away at it with Play Rough while avoiding a burn from Scald. If I can manage to knock this guy out then I'm home free, but it's easier said than done and he wastes a ton of time.
Replays
I can't guarantee that these are all against the most amazing of players, but they're saved in my replays bookmark folder.
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/ou-149990083
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/ou-149994184
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/ou-150001076
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/ou-150031038
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/ou-150035236 <-- Gardevoir and Latios doing work
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/ou-150051320
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/ou-150054733 <-- Azumarill doing work

Thank you all for reading. I hope you enjoyed this RMT and I appreciate any advice you can send my way!

 

[ItoI6]

I prefer Toxic on shuckle over knock off and it seemed to come in handy but idk knock off could be useful as well.

Consider Return on Azumaril over waterfall. It guarantees a ohko on mega-venu and amoongus after rocks on the bellydrum, bulky steels like skarm that waterfall would be required for are handled by magnezone. It would be extremely helpful as this is like your prime win condition vs stall lol.

idk the exact evs but magnezone should speed creep up to standard mega-scizor at the very least, to get your moneys worth out of this thing.

Ferrothorn seems not very good on this team for a number of reasons
1) his speed tier is too low to make use of sticky web
2) you need a better genie/flyspam check
3) stacking that much hazards really isnt going to help you that much when you dont run bisharp to punish defog with

Usually on my sticky web teams i use mamo or calm mind raikou to handle genies and both function well with sticky web support but I'm not really sure if either would be a good fit on this team as you need a bunch of things at once to sort of glue this team together. Anyway try a bunch of different stuff idk

Latias is so much better than latios on sticky web solely because of Healing Wish support. You could get off another drum with azu or get a weakened garde back into the battle which is crucial because usually theres like one mon that just does really well per battle.

It looks ok but kind of weak to stall with quag. dont really see much you can do about that without reworking pretty much everything though

 

[CraftyInsight]

Yo nice team you have there, but I do see some issues.

Firstly, this team has literally nothing for Mega Pinsir, especially since it is immune to Web. Latios can take a +2 Quick Attack but will get picked off easily if he is weakened beforehand. Therefore, I suggest changing Magnezone from Specs to Scarf. Scarf Magnezone allows you to have a nice answer to Mega Pinsir, as well as Talonflame (since you can easily switch it into a banded BB and check it with Scarf Thunderbolt).

Next, you have so much hazards on the team, but no way to spin block or abuse defog. Because of this, I recommend swapping Ferrothorn for Bisharp. Spikes is not really needed, but Bisharp can be really crucial. Also Ferro fits awkwardly on your offensive team, and Gyro Ball + Sticky Web is not effective. Bisharp however can greatly benefit your team. Amazing offensive capabilities + sticky web allows Bisharp to singlehandedly dent teams, and most importantly, it could come in on a potential defog to get a free +2. Dont worry about Azumarill, Latios checks it well with Tbolt.

Lastly, specs Latios can be a lot better than Scarf, since under sticky web, Latios outspeeds everything and massacre teams with Specs Dracos. Here's the Latios set:

Hide

Latios (M) @ Choice Specs
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 192 SpA / 64 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Draco Meteor
- Psyshock
- Thunderbolt
- Trick

SpDef EVs allows Latios to switch into Charizard Y and Landorus-I more easily. Latios is your team's only answer to Zard Y, so those EVs are really important. I see no need in Dragon Pulse, Trick is way better to cripple mons and make them potential setup bait for SD Bisharp or Azumarill.

Hope I helped!

 

[Nix_Hex]

I prefer Toxic on shuckle over knock off and it seemed to come in handy but idk knock off could be useful as well.

Consider Return on Azumaril over waterfall. It guarantees a ohko on mega-venu and amoongus after rocks on the bellydrum, bulky steels like skarm that waterfall would be required for are handled by magnezone. It would be extremely helpful as this is like your prime win condition vs stall lol.

idk the exact evs but magnezone should speed creep up to standard mega-scizor at the very least, to get your moneys worth out of this thing.

Thanks for Return, I completely forgot about that! And yeah, I put Magnezone on my team for Skarm too, forgot to mention him in the analysis though.

It looks ok but kind of weak to stall with quag. dont really see much you can do about that without reworking pretty much everything though

I think Shuckle's Toxic will help against Quagsire.

Yo nice team you have there, but I do see some issues.

Firstly, this team has literally nothing for Mega Pinsir, especially since it is immune to Web. Latios can take a +2 Quick Attack but will get picked off easily if he is weakened beforehand. Therefore, I suggest changing Magnezone from Specs to Scarf. Scarf Magnezone allows you to have a nice answer to Mega Pinsir, as well as Talonflame (since you can easily switch it into a banded BB and check it with Scarf Thunderbolt).

Next, you have so much hazards on the team, but no way to spin block or abuse defog. Because of this, I recommend swapping Ferrothorn for Bisharp. Spikes is not really needed, but Bisharp can be really crucial. Also Ferro fits awkwardly on your offensive team, and Gyro Ball + Sticky Web is not effective. Bisharp however can greatly benefit your team. Amazing offensive capabilities + sticky web allows Bisharp to singlehandedly dent teams, and most importantly, it could come in on a potential defog to get a free +2. Dont worry about Azumarill, Latios checks it well with Tbolt.

Yeah I think Bisharp is a better option, didn't think of that either. This is why I need more brains while building teams; I usually don't build (good) teams by myself and this is the first team that I've made alone and has actually been pretty successful.

Lastly, specs Latios can be a lot better than Scarf, since under sticky web, Latios outspeeds everything and massacre teams with Specs Dracos. Here's the Latios set:

Hide

Latios (M) @ Choice Specs
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 192 SpA / 64 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Draco Meteor
- Psyshock
- Thunderbolt
- Trick

SpDef EVs allows Latios to switch into Charizard Y and Landorus-I more easily. Latios is your team's only answer to Zard Y, so those EVs are really important. I see no need in Dragon Pulse, Trick is way better to cripple mons and make them potential setup bait for SD Bisharp or Azumarill.

Hope I helped!

Thing about Specs > Scarf is that allows me to beat +1 Char-X... although it seems that Azu does 88.9 - 105% with Aqua Jet! I'll change it to Specs then. I've used it in the past (BW) and have been pleased with it. However if I'm running those SpD evs, do you think Specs / LO Latias would be better? Same set but Healing Wish > Thunderbolt? Thanks guys for all the help, I appreciate it. I'll make these changes and report back pronto.

 

[CraftyInsight]

Thanks for Return, I completely forgot about that! And yeah, I put Magnezone on my team for Skarm too, forgot to mention him in the analysis though.



I think Shuckle's Toxic will help against Quagsire.



Yeah I think Bisharp is a better option, didn't think of that either. This is why I need more brains while building teams; I usually don't build (good) teams by myself and this is the first team that I've made alone and has actually been pretty successful.


Thing about Specs > Scarf is that allows me to beat +1 Char-X... although it seems that Azu does 88.9 - 105% with Aqua Jet! I'll change it to Specs then. I've used it in the past (BW) and have been pleased with it. However if I'm running those SpD evs, do you think Specs / LO Latias would be better? Same set but Healing Wish > Thunderbolt? Thanks guys for all the help, I appreciate it. I'll make these changes and report back pronto.

Both are really good sets, and its really up to your own preference :)

However, do not forgo TBolt! You need it for Azumarill should you decide to replace Ferro.

If you're running specs, go with Latios. Specs TBolt from Latios OHKOs Azumarill after rocks, whereas Latias can't. When using specs, Latios will always be the better option with its better spatk stat.

Latias has Healing Wish, so you could heal up one of your mons should they be weakened, so that can be very helpful also! Again, Tbolt is important, so go with Psyshock / Draco / Tbolt / Healing Wish and a Life Orb if you want to use Latias.

Specs Latios also has a good niche in Trick. Crippling and making something set up fodder for Azu or Bish can sometimes be the factor that wins you games.

Once again, hope I helped!

 

[Rustyy]

consider running a sabeleye with gravity. this makes flying and levitating pokemon receive the speed drop from web, so lati@s cant switch in and defog right away

 

[Nix_Hex]

I made some pretty big changes, including swapping out Ferrothorn for Bisharp, swapping Latios's Scarf for Specs, and fixing various speed and coverage issues that plagued me before.

 

[blunder]

Hey NixHex nice team! I really like to see sticky web teams and yours looks good using Magnezone to take care of Gardevoir's checks and helping the other mons on your team such as Azumarill by getting rid of annoying mons like Ferrothorn. While your team looks good I think I have a change that would really benefit you. I think changing your Shuckle spread to a Specially Defensive build would benefit you a lot more. Most Super effective physical moves already 2HKO Shuckle and the extra special defense helps greatly in being able to never be 2HKOed by Landorus Earth power or Rotom-W Hydro Pump. This makes it so that Shuckle is much more consistent in getting up both entry hazards as well.

Shuckle

Shuckle @ Mental Herb
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 248 HP / 64 Def / 196 SpD
Careful Nature
- Sticky Web
- Stealth Rock
- Encore
- Toxic

Other than that, great team and I hope I helped :]

 

[Monte Cristo]

ello fren

Just going to suggest something really quick here: Specs Latios isn't really that good because being locked into any of its moves is pretty much, as I put it "jail bait". I would switch to a Life Orb Varaitn with Roost over Trick, while it doesn't cripple stall as hard due to lack of trick, the ability to switch up moves (and heal) provides a bigger threat to offense and stall. It also handles things like Landorus and Special Thundurus-I better (Roost) which can be problematic to the success of your team.

fyi this part is really hard to fix without ruining how your team works but- you should try something to get rid of that Thundy weakness as it can be severely problematic in future matches.

basically

• item: Choice Specs ---> Life Orb
• move slot 4: Trick ---> Roost