Does it really? Ferro still gets hit hard by dark pulse, and while I dont think it can 2hko, it's still a solid stab that you're losing a large chunk of health on. Same goes for venu, especially if you have no sp.def investment.
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Other ORAS Metagame Discussion
- Thread starter alexwolf
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I forgot to mention that at that point you would switch out. If you are running a certain set, you should know what walls greninja and teambuild accordingly. You're right, its not mega luke. I was just saying that it's still easy to play around whatever counters it.
dialganet
Banned deucer.
As a massive Megazam user, I can attest how it is pretty damn good. I used a Modest Calm Mind set during XY, and even though there are gonna be change to make, I think it'll be a threat to look out for.
There are some problems though: you'll need to change the nature to Timid (otherwise you won't outspeed Megabunny and Sceptile: not outspeeding Mmanectric wasn't a big deal as you always won 1vs1 matchups, but Zam cannot afford tank the Return of HiJumpBunny and Christmastile's Yesterday- Foxborough-like-Storming gifts), thus losing a good chunk of power (modest Mzam 2HKOes Chansey at +1 without Psyshock and then switches out to cure Toxic/Twave, if Focus Blast hit obviously) and, in consequence, the ability to singlehandendly manage Stall Teams. You'll need to have priority tankers all over the place too.
All in all, Zam will be a good answer to a good chunk of new Megas and threats (Slowbro/Megagross if carrying Shadow Ball, although not OHKOing them, Sceptile, Lopunny, Sableye if carrying Dazzling Gleam and Swampert if enoughly weakened, Gallade if running SB or DG, good against Camerupt outside of TR as tracing Sheer Force is a huge threat, I clearly remember every single Landorus-Incarnate fleeing from MZam to allow me a free CM), also fuck you coverninja I'm gonna Trace protean and defensive Chesnaught which seems on the rise; but it'll be pretty much forced to run timid if Sceptile and Lopunny are enough popular (and I guess they'll be, as Sceptile has notable niches and average versatility while Lopunny is physical Manectric on steroids with an outstanding support movepool) and it seems it will require a little more support to perform, thus hurting teambuilding.
I'm not an extensive user of Aero as of Zam, but I quite agree it'll have less problems and more success to begin with, at least in the first days of ORAS (it hates Swampert though) as all new fighting guys will be free food for him, it has godly speed, good support moves and great STABS and Tough Claws boosted coverage moves to play with and answer to new threats.
And yes I want Volcanion released. Good answer to CroBro(ther), more than decent check to Ninja and Sceptile (especially if Assault Vest), flat out counters Azumarill, and that Hydroscald is nothing to scoff at.
I AM THE JAMAICAN BOBSLED TEAM
formerly Smog Frog
disappointed at lack of GLALIE discussion
while glalie may not have the most well allocated stats, it has the power to more than make up for it. double-edge is ridiculous. you 2hko skarmory after rocks. you 2hko chansey. you 2hko clefable. double-edge glalie 2hkos every single resist, and puts a large dent in non-resists. it has access to ice shard, which IMO is a must on every team at this point. and the explosion it has is brutal. it might as well be called nuclear winter. it literally OHKOes or comes pretty damn close to on every non resist. not even full phys def shuckle is safe. it puts a large dent in resists, even takes a noticable chunk out of heatran. but please remember, explosion is only part of the reason to use glalie, and some folks have been using facade over explosion to take advantage of those mega sableye spamming will-o-wisp. and in ORAS, it's more likely than not to get freeze dry, which lets it beat bulky waters that plague it. after glalie is confirmed to get freeze dry, i at the very least expect it to get UU or BL.
check out the link in my sig for an effective glalie team
while glalie may not have the most well allocated stats, it has the power to more than make up for it. double-edge is ridiculous. you 2hko skarmory after rocks. you 2hko chansey. you 2hko clefable. double-edge glalie 2hkos every single resist, and puts a large dent in non-resists. it has access to ice shard, which IMO is a must on every team at this point. and the explosion it has is brutal. it might as well be called nuclear winter. it literally OHKOes or comes pretty damn close to on every non resist. not even full phys def shuckle is safe. it puts a large dent in resists, even takes a noticable chunk out of heatran. but please remember, explosion is only part of the reason to use glalie, and some folks have been using facade over explosion to take advantage of those mega sableye spamming will-o-wisp. and in ORAS, it's more likely than not to get freeze dry, which lets it beat bulky waters that plague it. after glalie is confirmed to get freeze dry, i at the very least expect it to get UU or BL.
check out the link in my sig for an effective glalie team
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This is likely just in response to Mega Mence and might go when it goes, but I've been seeing alot of Scarfed Latios everywhere. Latios is harder to deal with in general due to the fact that it could be running scarf, unless this was also in X and Y OU, I haven't played in awhile.
Greninja is arguably the best Pokemon in the tier now besides Mega Salamence. Greninja is super scary now and is even harder to handle now too cuz gunk shot and low kick, it can mess up stall too
Breloom's usage seems to be alot more now, mostly due to Mega Slowbro I assume, not to mention that Rotom-W is becoming even more annoyingly common.
Garchomp seems even worse now imho, as it's just not fast enough anymore, can't break through Mega Slowbro, Skarmory has become more common and many more reasons. But that's just my opinion.
Also, Lol at all the Toxic Skarmory on the lower end of the ladder
This is just stuff I've noticed, but again I haven't really played X and Y OU in like a month or two. So some of this might be the same as before
Greninja is arguably the best Pokemon in the tier now besides Mega Salamence. Greninja is super scary now and is even harder to handle now too cuz gunk shot and low kick, it can mess up stall too
Breloom's usage seems to be alot more now, mostly due to Mega Slowbro I assume, not to mention that Rotom-W is becoming even more annoyingly common.
Garchomp seems even worse now imho, as it's just not fast enough anymore, can't break through Mega Slowbro, Skarmory has become more common and many more reasons. But that's just my opinion.
Also, Lol at all the Toxic Skarmory on the lower end of the ladder
This is just stuff I've noticed, but again I haven't really played X and Y OU in like a month or two. So some of this might be the same as before
The 4MSS is more of a problem for the opposing team. The user knows what they're capable of taking out but for you, every switch is a risky click.
If anything the amount of options ninja has is also a strength as it can play mind games.
I'd hate to so greninja go, but I think I smell a suspect once mega salamence is gone. Crazy how it only took two moves (one really) to skyrocket greninja to greater heights.
Grass Knot, Extrasensory?
I know this thing has 4 MSS and so there's always something that'll counter Greninja, the thing that makes it so fucked to deal with is that it has so many viable moves. Not just things that serve barely any purpose outside of countering a single threat, but moves that are good in many situations. It can pretty much be tailored to beat down any of it's counters that you want it to beat. Let's assume you run Gunk Shot and Hydro Pump, you can run two of Ice Beam/Dark Pulse/Extrasensory/Grass Knot/Hidden Power Fire/Low Kick and just annihilate an entire list of possible counters based on what you choose. The addition of Gunk Shot is forcing teams to pack multiple Greninja checks or cross their fingers that the one that they do have isn't beaten down by one of Ninja's coverage options.
To be honest, Hydro Pump or Water STAB in general isn't even required anymore. I've seen quite a few people run something like Gunk Shot, Low Kick, Ice Beam, and Dark Pulse/Hidden Power Fire. Water STAB is good, but not really even a requirement anymore.
Almost every top tier threat has moves to beat its counters, this is nothing new. There are, however, generally inferior moves now that Gunk Shot is out, and Grass and Psychic coverage are in this category, especially Extrasensory, which only has use for hitting SpD Mega Venusaur (rare) and Tentacruel (even rarer). Keldeo is 2HKOed by Gunk Shot, so one of the reasons to use Extrasensory in XY is no more. Same goes for Grass Knot / HP Grass to an extend, as Gunk Shot takes care of many Water-types, such as Keldeo and Azumarill, and provides better coverage in general.
As long as you have some generic high power stab moves and a logical team you're generally ok against megas like metagross lopunny and altaria. But salamence takes quite a bit of specialization considering that when it comes in (on something it sets up on, not hard with 100 speed and intimidate) it either DDs or gets a sub and has dragon/flying/fire/ground coverages. The good ice shard users are seeing serious use, but another answer has come up for DD sets.
What scarfer with 120+ speed could kill a salamence and isn't horrible idea? Well, greninja, lol. Pretty univerally useful with ice beam+3 moves, special or physical. Greninja seriously boils down to ice stab without SR weak and the other 3 moves are flavoring. I've seen this used and it's one of few answers to a +1 salamence (others being weavile, mamoswine, talonflame, or prankster twave). Any other supposed check that comes in expecting to "take a hit" can always be surprised by one of salamence's 6 or so viable coverages. Even diancie can be wasted by an iron tail.
I'm not here to champion the idea of scarf ninja but to point out that hey it works and his offences arent terrible if you hit x2 x4 SE and have stab on every move.
Useful for lopunny, salamence, manetric, sceptile, scarf chomp, scarf lando.
Will dugtrio be OU? lol what a comeback for this guy
What scarfer with 120+ speed could kill a salamence and isn't horrible idea? Well, greninja, lol. Pretty univerally useful with ice beam+3 moves, special or physical. Greninja seriously boils down to ice stab without SR weak and the other 3 moves are flavoring. I've seen this used and it's one of few answers to a +1 salamence (others being weavile, mamoswine, talonflame, or prankster twave). Any other supposed check that comes in expecting to "take a hit" can always be surprised by one of salamence's 6 or so viable coverages. Even diancie can be wasted by an iron tail.
I'm not here to champion the idea of scarf ninja but to point out that hey it works and his offences arent terrible if you hit x2 x4 SE and have stab on every move.
Useful for lopunny, salamence, manetric, sceptile, scarf chomp, scarf lando.
Will dugtrio be OU? lol what a comeback for this guy
Good point actually. The main use for water STAB in days gone past was to muscle past fairy types but now that's not even needed. Protean is what makes this so good. I have a shitty team on ladder around the 1300 mark (using my main to test out every mega at the expense of my rating) and I literally just won 3 matches in a row that I probably shouldn't have due to the ridiculousness that is Greninja. And yes one of the people I beat had a Chansey.
Also what's everybody's thoughts on regular Slowbro in this metagame?
The set I'm running with ninja has Ice Beam/Dpulse/GunkShot/Low Kick, and honestly, it's a monster. There are times I miss Extrasensory (got walled by a Tenta yesterday) but Greninja is really the best Pokemon in the tier right now, save mega mence. There are so many times I see a team and all I have to say is "k gotta get rid of 1 check and it's game." It's ridiculous, teams that aren't prepared get 6-0'd and even stall is an easy task when played well enough predicting switches, as the only thing they can do is LO stall it out. Greninja is my favorite Pokemon by a long shot, and it was okay before, but now I really feel a suspect test is coming for it... I love it and all, but I just might vote for it to go if it happens, it's insane.
I really don't see the point in running Low Kick Gren. It's a lure like just about anything else, but it's really a less efficient set by miles compared to the standard Hydro/Ice Beam/Pulse/Gunk set. I guess that's a textbook definition of a lure, but I'm just not seeing why you would want to nerf the best Pokemon in the tier in order to break 2 mons, especially when one of them is trapped by Magnezone, and both can be trapped by Goth. There are multitudes of stallbreakers right now, Gren does not have to be (and will not be) your team's primary stallbreaker for most well-built teams. It's ok to run a set with 2 counters when it pretty much beats everything else, especially when those two counters are pretty passive, and one of which wears down easily.
Speaking of trappers, they damned good in this meta. Goth is only a little better than average, but Magnezone is better than it used to be by leaps and bounds. It synergizes well with most viable megas right now (Metagross, Mence, Gyarados, Diancie) as well as with some of the best Pokemon in the tier (Lando-T, Gren). There's a lot of shit in this meta with a limited pool of counters, and a lot of those counters are Steel-Type. Skarmory and Ferro are holding teams together against MGross and MGyara, while Empoleon is holding teams together against Gren for easy examples. Mega/Lando-T/Gren/Zone/2 Filler is a pretty strong team in this meta, I wouldn't be surprised to see a lot of people running teams like this soon.
Speaking of trappers, they damned good in this meta. Goth is only a little better than average, but Magnezone is better than it used to be by leaps and bounds. It synergizes well with most viable megas right now (Metagross, Mence, Gyarados, Diancie) as well as with some of the best Pokemon in the tier (Lando-T, Gren). There's a lot of shit in this meta with a limited pool of counters, and a lot of those counters are Steel-Type. Skarmory and Ferro are holding teams together against MGross and MGyara, while Empoleon is holding teams together against Gren for easy examples. Mega/Lando-T/Gren/Zone/2 Filler is a pretty strong team in this meta, I wouldn't be surprised to see a lot of people running teams like this soon.
To add to your point on trappers, I think Wobb might be making a comeback. This may just be bias speaking here, but with slower setup sets like CM bro and CM lati twins on the rise, wobb may see a rise in usage simply to shut that down. He also gives stall fits by "punishing" SR setters with encore and just being really good at creating free turns in general. His main advantage over goth is mostly his bulk and the fact that he's not reliant on trick choice item to create free turns, meaning that he has a legitimate chance of trapping multiple times during a match. You could even do the old tickle trap combo to just flat out remove certain troublesome walls.
I really don't see the point in running Hydro Pump anymore. It serves as a strong attack, sure, but it misses out on coverage.
Also, Low kick deals with ttar, heatran(better than Hydro), kyurem-b, empoleon, it hits chansey as hard as gunk shot, but is accurate and if you're lucky it might be a 2hko, bisharp, and to a lesser extent, mamoswine and magnezone.
40 Atk Life Orb Protean Greninja Low Kick (120 BP) vs. 248 HP / 0 Def Heatran: 320-377 (83.1 - 97.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
216 SpA Life Orb Greninja Hydro Pump vs. 248 HP / 220+ SpD Heatran: 276-328 (71.6 - 85.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
40 Atk Life Orb Protean Greninja Low Kick (120 BP) vs. 248 HP / 252+ Def Tyranitar: 452-536 (112.1 - 133%) -- guaranteed OHKO
216 SpA Life Orb Greninja Hydro Pump vs. 248 HP / 8 SpD Tyranitar in Sand: 257-304 (63.7 - 75.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
40 Atk Life Orb Protean Greninja Low Kick (80 BP) vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Empoleon: 250-296 (67.2 - 79.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
216 SpA Life Orb Greninja Hydro Pump vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Empoleon: 69-82 (18.5 - 22%) -- possible 6HKO after Leftovers recovery
40 Atk Life Orb Protean Greninja Low Kick (120 BP) vs. 0 HP / 0- Def Kyurem-B: 374-445 (95.6 - 113.8%) -- 75% chance to OHKO
40 Atk Life Orb Protean Greninja Low Kick (100 BP) vs. 252 HP / 88+ Def Ferrothorn: 190-226 (53.9 - 64.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
Low Kick Greninja is in no way a lure. Low Kick takes out two otherwise counters, outdamages Hydro Pump on two things one would commonly carry Hydro Pump for, and can potentially free you from running HP Fire if you're willing to trade Iron Barb damage for another moveslot. That's not a lure, that's a legitimate moveset option. A lure is designed to take out one counter for a Pokemon at the expense of regular functionality. Low Kick Greninja doesn't fit that description because it can be fit on without sacrificing coverage, and it takes out more than one potential counter to a it. Low Kick is just a regular coverage option like Dark Pulse, HP Fire, and Ice Beam.
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You know, speaking of Greninja, I think physically based mixed might actually work really well, something like this.
Greninja @ Life Orb
Ability: Protean
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
Hasty Nature
- U-turn
- Ice Beam
- Gunk Shot
- Low Kick
Trades power for scouting, mind games, and lure goodness. Outspeeds HP fire greninja and severely dents with u-turn, all around nice stuff.
Also, add reg gyarados (especially assault vest gyarados) to list of greninja counters. Yes, I know greninja can run HP elec, but nobody does.
Greninja @ Life Orb
Ability: Protean
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
Hasty Nature
- U-turn
- Ice Beam
- Gunk Shot
- Low Kick
Trades power for scouting, mind games, and lure goodness. Outspeeds HP fire greninja and severely dents with u-turn, all around nice stuff.
Also, add reg gyarados (especially assault vest gyarados) to list of greninja counters. Yes, I know greninja can run HP elec, but nobody does.
Recently, I've been having more success with the offensive DD m.mence than with the BnB subDD set. I'm assuming it is mostly because everyone laddering in ORAS meta is carrying numerous means of checking subDD. M.mence reminds me of garchomp of DPP era, and I'm not liking it. Anyways, I feel like more people may try to run faster mence sets more just for other mega mences also.
MikeDawg
Banned deucer.
As alexwolf mentioned, Alomomola is a very nice mon to deal with some of the new threats in ORAS. I like the specially defensive set in particular:
Alomomola @ Leftovers
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 104 HP / 252 Def / 152 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Mirror Coat/Toxic
- Wish
- Protect
- Scald/Toxic
Alomomola has the ability to both take on common threats with its massive bulk while also providing Wish support to the team, which I find invaluable in the current state of the metagame given the huge emphasis on overloading. Here are some calcs:
Greninja: 252 SpA Life Orb Protean Greninja Grass Knot (60 BP) vs. 104 HP / 156+ SpD Alomomola: 283-335 (56.9 - 67.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
While Alo is 2hkod by grass knot, if ninja is running grass knot, then its movepool is lacking something else. Alo can then pivot out or ninja to an appropriate teammate, restoring its health in the process and leaving ninja with life orb damage. Any other move that ninja may carry can only 3hko at best. (which alo can easily wish off).
Lopunny: 252 Atk Lopunny High Jump Kick vs. 104 HP / 248 Def Alomomola: 202-238 (40.6 - 47.8%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Leftovers recovery
Lopunny can only 3hko, and return does even less (else lopunny has to deal with protect shenanigans). Alo can, once again, wish off the damage or provide a wish to an appropriate team member.
Metagross: 0- SpA Tough Claws Metagross Grass Knot (60 BP) vs. 104 HP / 156+ SpD Alomomola: 142-168 (28.5 - 33.8%) -- 97% chance to 4HKO after Leftovers recovery
Alo is not threatened in the slightest, and can threaten a burn or pass off a wish.
Keldeo: 252 SpA Choice Specs Keldeo Secret Sword vs. 104 HP / 248 Def Alomomola: 190-225 (38.2 - 45.2%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Leftovers recovery
Also a nice Specs keldeo counter.
Landorus: 252 SpA Life Orb Sheer Force Landorus Earth Power vs. 104 HP / 156+ SpD Alomomola: 298-351 (59.9 - 70.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
It cannot take lando on comfortably, but one free turn allows for a wish to either a teammate or to alo itself. Mirror coat shenanigans can ensue.
Altaria: 252+ SpA Pixilate Altaria Hyper Voice vs. 104 HP / 156+ SpD Alomomola: 163-192 (32.7 - 38.6%) -- 4% chance to 3HKO after Leftovers recovery
Alo can simply wish off the damage.
Some of the others are fairly obvious (Swampert, Glalie, etc.). Basically, Alo has the capability to deal with a ton of new threats. However, using alo as a standalone wall in this meta is a very bad idea due to its pitiful offensive presence. Sub mons such as Salamence and Latias (and anything else really) can set up on Alo all day. In fact, most things that set up in any capacity can ruin alo's day. As such, it needs to be used as nothing more than a pivot. While it can counter a good number of non-setup mons, it is vital to have a second answer to just about everything. While this may seem like alo causes too much redundancy, in reality, a lot of new threats don't even have a solid answer to begin with. Alo is a blanket check to the metagame that can also keep the team healthy enough to continue dealing with typical offensive mons.
Alomomola @ Leftovers
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 104 HP / 252 Def / 152 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Mirror Coat/Toxic
- Wish
- Protect
- Scald/Toxic
Alomomola has the ability to both take on common threats with its massive bulk while also providing Wish support to the team, which I find invaluable in the current state of the metagame given the huge emphasis on overloading. Here are some calcs:
Greninja: 252 SpA Life Orb Protean Greninja Grass Knot (60 BP) vs. 104 HP / 156+ SpD Alomomola: 283-335 (56.9 - 67.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
While Alo is 2hkod by grass knot, if ninja is running grass knot, then its movepool is lacking something else. Alo can then pivot out or ninja to an appropriate teammate, restoring its health in the process and leaving ninja with life orb damage. Any other move that ninja may carry can only 3hko at best. (which alo can easily wish off).
Lopunny: 252 Atk Lopunny High Jump Kick vs. 104 HP / 248 Def Alomomola: 202-238 (40.6 - 47.8%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Leftovers recovery
Lopunny can only 3hko, and return does even less (else lopunny has to deal with protect shenanigans). Alo can, once again, wish off the damage or provide a wish to an appropriate team member.
Metagross: 0- SpA Tough Claws Metagross Grass Knot (60 BP) vs. 104 HP / 156+ SpD Alomomola: 142-168 (28.5 - 33.8%) -- 97% chance to 4HKO after Leftovers recovery
Alo is not threatened in the slightest, and can threaten a burn or pass off a wish.
Keldeo: 252 SpA Choice Specs Keldeo Secret Sword vs. 104 HP / 248 Def Alomomola: 190-225 (38.2 - 45.2%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Leftovers recovery
Also a nice Specs keldeo counter.
Landorus: 252 SpA Life Orb Sheer Force Landorus Earth Power vs. 104 HP / 156+ SpD Alomomola: 298-351 (59.9 - 70.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
It cannot take lando on comfortably, but one free turn allows for a wish to either a teammate or to alo itself. Mirror coat shenanigans can ensue.
Altaria: 252+ SpA Pixilate Altaria Hyper Voice vs. 104 HP / 156+ SpD Alomomola: 163-192 (32.7 - 38.6%) -- 4% chance to 3HKO after Leftovers recovery
Alo can simply wish off the damage.
Some of the others are fairly obvious (Swampert, Glalie, etc.). Basically, Alo has the capability to deal with a ton of new threats. However, using alo as a standalone wall in this meta is a very bad idea due to its pitiful offensive presence. Sub mons such as Salamence and Latias (and anything else really) can set up on Alo all day. In fact, most things that set up in any capacity can ruin alo's day. As such, it needs to be used as nothing more than a pivot. While it can counter a good number of non-setup mons, it is vital to have a second answer to just about everything. While this may seem like alo causes too much redundancy, in reality, a lot of new threats don't even have a solid answer to begin with. Alo is a blanket check to the metagame that can also keep the team healthy enough to continue dealing with typical offensive mons.
Or Noivern, which is weak as hell without Specs or at least LO but can outspeed +1 Mence and OHKO it with Draco Meteor even if Mence is behind a sub. It is also a nice answer to Sub Sceptile, and it can mess with stall thanks to Switcheroo.
Of course, it hits like a wet noodle against everything else... I mean, Focus Blast doesn't even get you an OHKO on Excadrill, to give you an idea on how weak this thing is. Still, it at least has a niche, if Salamence and Sceptile are that scary to you.
But Greninja is also pretty underwhelming without LO - you pretty much have to be hitting something SE if you want to do any reasonable damage. That's why the LO set is so dangerous - you threaten more or less the entire tier with a SE attack. Scarfninja can't do that if it's locked into one attack, and it doesn't even have a move like Draco Meteor with relatively good damage and coverage despite the middlin' SpAt.
TL;DR version: you're better off using Weavile or Mamo to RK Mence, or if you're really afraid of subs and don't mind something otherwise crappy, Scarf Noivern. Scarfninja, though? Pass.
Really liking Porygon2 in ORAS OU. Nice to see my favorite Poke became more useful against some of the new Megas. Especially Mega Mence. Though in case he fails I had to resort to running Scarf Greninja.
Your spread (assuming by calcs rather than what you listed)
104 HP 248 Def 156 SpD Calm=
497 HP, 258 Def, 181 SpD
104 HP 186 Def 220 SpD Bold=
497 HP, 266 Def, 181 SpD
Bold would be preffered if your investing in both defenses unless you need SpD to be higher than 189. You can move those extra 8 points elsewhere if needed.
Just want to mention:As alexwolf mentioned, Alomomola is a very nice mon to deal with some of the new threats in ORAS. I like the specially defensive set in particular:
Alomomola @ Leftovers
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 104 HP / 252 Def / 152 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Mirror Coat/Toxic
- Wish
- Protect
- Scald/Toxic
Alomomola has the ability to both take on common threats with its massive bulk while also providing Wish support to the team, which I find invaluable in the current state of the metagame given the huge emphasis on overloading. Here are some calcs:
Greninja: 252 SpA Life Orb Protean Greninja Grass Knot (60 BP) vs. 104 HP / 156+ SpD Alomomola: 283-335 (56.9 - 67.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
While Alo is 2hkod by grass knot, if ninja is running grass knot, then its movepool is lacking something else. Alo can then pivot out or ninja to an appropriate teammate, restoring its health in the process and leaving ninja with life orb damage. Any other move that ninja may carry can only 3hko at best. (which alo can easily wish off).
Lopunny: 252 Atk Lopunny High Jump Kick vs. 104 HP / 248 Def Alomomola: 202-238 (40.6 - 47.8%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Leftovers recovery
Lopunny can only 3hko, and return does even less (else lopunny has to deal with protect shenanigans). Alo can, once again, wish off the damage or provide a wish to an appropriate team member.
Metagross: 0- SpA Tough Claws Metagross Grass Knot (60 BP) vs. 104 HP / 156+ SpD Alomomola: 142-168 (28.5 - 33.8%) -- 97% chance to 4HKO after Leftovers recovery
Alo is not threatened in the slightest, and can threaten a burn or pass off a wish.
Keldeo: 252 SpA Choice Specs Keldeo Secret Sword vs. 104 HP / 248 Def Alomomola: 190-225 (38.2 - 45.2%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Leftovers recovery
Also a nice Specs keldeo counter.
Landorus: 252 SpA Life Orb Sheer Force Landorus Earth Power vs. 104 HP / 156+ SpD Alomomola: 298-351 (59.9 - 70.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
It cannot take lando on comfortably, but one free turn allows for a wish to either a teammate or to alo itself. Mirror coat shenanigans can ensue.
Altaria: 252+ SpA Pixilate Altaria Hyper Voice vs. 104 HP / 156+ SpD Alomomola: 163-192 (32.7 - 38.6%) -- 4% chance to 3HKO after Leftovers recovery
Alo can simply wish off the damage.
Some of the others are fairly obvious (Swampert, Glalie, etc.). Basically, Alo has the capability to deal with a ton of new threats. However, using alo as a standalone wall in this meta is a very bad idea due to its pitiful offensive presence. Sub mons such as Salamence and Latias (and anything else really) can set up on Alo all day. In fact, most things that set up in any capacity can ruin alo's day. As such, it needs to be used as nothing more than a pivot. While it can counter a good number of non-setup mons, it is vital to have a second answer to just about everything. While this may seem like alo causes too much redundancy, in reality, a lot of new threats don't even have a solid answer to begin with. Alo is a blanket check to the metagame that can also keep the team healthy enough to continue dealing with typical offensive mons.
Your spread (assuming by calcs rather than what you listed)
104 HP 248 Def 156 SpD Calm=
497 HP, 258 Def, 181 SpD
104 HP 186 Def 220 SpD Bold=
497 HP, 266 Def, 181 SpD
Bold would be preffered if your investing in both defenses unless you need SpD to be higher than 189. You can move those extra 8 points elsewhere if needed.
Hydreigon and Mega Metagross do have near perfect type synergy, but is using Hydreigon worth it? It's D rank after all.
SpDef Klefki is actually a decent check to Greninja, as it resists Ice Beam and Dark Pulse, is immune to Gunk Shot and Low Kick does nothing. HP Fire and Hydro still hurt though.
The point of D rank is to put relatively shit 'mon that still have a very specific niche. This could very well be Hydreigon's said niche.
In addition, HydraGross core could be so good as to push Hydra up a rank or two. Do realize XY OU is different from what ORAS OU is going to be - a good example being how hyped up the current D rank Dugtrio is.
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