XY OU Imagine

[bruno]

XY has come to an end. Even though I never really liked it, building in World Cup, Grand Slam, and various other tours was really fun, so I decided to make a RMT of the last team I put effort in. I wasn't actually gonna make any RMTs because of SPL, but now that I know that the metagame will be ORAS and not XY there is no problem with making this. Even though this team didn't really get any achievements like an important tour win or something, it is still one of the best teams I've made (and tbh the xy metagame changes a bit pretty much every 2 months, 4 months ago almost no one used spikes on mons, 6 months ago everyone used defog on mew, shit like that). The strategy it uses is really simple, you just get hazards while keeping momentum up, then try to wear down the opponent's pokemon with moves like endeavor and explosion to help pinsir, raikou or latios in the end game. What I like the most about this team is how I can prepare my gameplan when going into a game, not having bad matchups against most teams due to how many options and surprises the team holds. I chose to theme this RMT from the amazing song "Imagine" as it's my favorite song (so creative I know thx!). I recommend listening to this song while reading the RMT!​

• Teambuild Process

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I wanted to make a team based around Mega Pinsir because of how strong it is and how much of a threat it poses when played well. I then proceeded to search for some kind of unexpected strategy that helps it sweep. After thinking about some Ubers games, explosion Landorus-T came to mind and I ended up pairing it with Pinsir. Landorus' explosion helps Pinsir a lot, by catching a lot of it's counters; such as Skarmory and Rotom-w; at lower health to help on its sweep. Besides that, it also gets up stealth rocks and counters Excadrill (which can check Pinsir in sandstorm), both things that Pinsir appreciates a lot to let it run through teams.

As I am using Mega Pinsir, a spinner or defogger is always helpful. I decided to go with Latios because lati@s are, in my opinion, the best defoggers in the meta, and Latios can still keep the offensive momentum while giving me a really nice water resistance.

The ice and dark weakness were getting worrying, so Pokemon like well-played Bisharps or Mamoswines could still run through my team, however I also wanted something to keep up offensive pressure. Keldeo fit this role perfectly.

Ok, it looks pretty good right now, but it still lacks dragon resists, which lets latis come in and get a kill just by clicking Draco Meteor. I also still had a huge fairy weakness, so Pokemon from the likes of Azumarill and Gardevoir were gonna be a pain in the ass to deal with. The key to get through ended up being Klefki (hahaha, punE). Not only does this give me a check to Azumarill, Gardevoir and Lati, it also gives me a Spikes user to keep up with the offensive pressure of the team and making it easier to beat stall.

The synergy of the team was looking pretty crisp, but as many offensive teams, it didn't have a Greninja check. It also had a lot of trouble with Pinsir, and only one resistance to steel. I ended up picking Raikou for this slot. It worked like a charm, checking exactly what i needed really well and kept up the team's momentum with volt switch.

• In Depth

Landorus-Theiran (

)
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 124 Atk / 152 Def / 232 Spe
Nature: Adamant
Moveset: Earthquake, Stealth Rock, Stone Edge, Explosion​

Landorus-T does it's job with pride. Checking many threats, such as Excadrill, Charizard-X and Garchomp, getting Stealth Rock and hitting really hard with Earthquake and Stone Edge, which have really good coverage together. The moves are pretty standard here barring Explosion. Normal Gem Explosion is usually the way to win with this team. We can take (put blunder vs leftiez replay when replays are back here) blunder's game vs leftiez as an example. Rotom-W is one of the best checks to Landorus-T and Pinsir. In that specific case he made a mistake(can't blame him cuz this set isn't common tho) as after Explosion, Pinsir had a clean path to wrap up the game. The EVs of this set might look weird, but they are there for a reason. The speed EVs are there to outspeed jolly mega heracross and speedcreep against some stallbreaking Mew sets, so it can explode before they Wisp. The defense EVs allows it to tank two Iron Heads from Life Orb Excadrill with Stealth Rocks up. It also allows it tank a flare blitz from Charizard X after a Dragon Dance. The rest of the EVs are put into Attack to maximize it's power.

Klefki (

)
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 248 HP / 196 Def / 64 SpD
Nature: Careful
Moveset: Spikes, Thunder Wave, Toxic, Play Rough​

Alongside Landorus-T, Klefki offers great help to the team with hazards. It also has an defensive amazing typing and the famous ~~mexican~~ Thunder Wave strategy that can nullify a ton of threats. The set is as standard as it gets with pretty much the same moveset from Ubers. At one point I thought toxic wasn't that useful, so I decided to test Macho Brace Switcheroo and Magic Room. But at the end of the day I realised Toxic is indeed the best 4th move as it helps wearing down Pokemon like Slowbro and Landorus-T. The EVs allow it to be not be 2KOd by azumarill's waterfall, which has proven to be really useful in many games. The rest of the EVs were put into special defense to help it tank moves from Gardevoir and Latis better.

Keldeo (

)
Ability: Justified
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Nature: Timid
Moveset: Scald, Hydro Pump, Secret Sword, Icy Wind​

God, you have no idea how many sets I tested here. At first, this Keldeo was Wacan Berry. However then I realized I didn't need it with Raikou, so I tested Roseli Berry to help out against Azumarill which also didn't help out much. I then started using Salac Berry with Substitute + Endeavor (shoutouts to jasonpwn), but it's just not that good in this meta. I ended up realising that Choice specs was the optimal item for this team. It gives the team a way to pressure opposing teams with more ease, and also helps me beat Ferrothorn, which the Substitute set failed to do. The set is pretty standard, with Icy Wind as the chosen 4th move here to help the team out against Latias, Latios, Dragonite, and sometimes it just saves me from a sweep on some games, hitting the foe's mon while dropping it's speed when it tries to set up DD's etc.

Raikou (

)
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 SpA / 28 SpD / 228 Spe
Nature: Timid
Moveset: Volt Switch, Thunderbolt, Shadow Ball, Hidden Power [Ice]​

Raikou is pretty much the glue of the team. With this spread, it can come in on any of Greninja's moves avoid the 2HKO. It also helps a lot with checking Mega Pinsir, and being a really fast Pokemon in general, thus helping out the team with revenge killing certain mons. With this rather standard set, it can sponge tons of special hits while getting me momentum with volt switch, which is really important for the team. The EVs are pretty standard, Raikou doesn't need to have max speed(just enough to outspeed standard Thundurus-I), so the rest of the EVs go into it's SPDef to allow it to sponge special hits and end up helping you win the game.

Latios (

)
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Nature: Timid
Moveset: Draco Meteor, Defog, Trick, Psyshock​

Latios is here to help the squad out with a ton of things. This set originally had the standard Life Orb set, but after having a lot of problem with sweepers and with Rain Dance teams, I decided to test the Choice Scarf set, and it worked like a charm. With Choice Scarf, it can stop a lot of sweepers, as well as use Trick to help me beat some fat Pokemon that can be rather annoying to the team. Not only that, but Latios can also Defog. Even though it might sound odd to have Defog on a team with Stealth Rock and Spikes, Defog on the eon is really important and can save a lot of matches, so it really only looks weird.

Pinsir (

)
Ability: Hyper Cutter
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Nature: Jolly
Moveset: Return, Quick Attack, Close Combat, Swords Dance
​

And finally..the Pokemon that lead me to create this team. This thing is just so amazing, it's unbelievable. Pinsir's raw power and incredible speed, alongside with its great ability and decent offensive typing can take down a lot of teams, especially with the support the team provides it. With the combination of Close Combat and Return, it can hit most of the standard-used Pokemon with at least neutral coverage and big power. Close Combat was chosen over Earthquake because CC just outclasses Eq after the Aegislash/Mawile Bans. Hyper Cutter was chosen as the Ability since it helps beat defensive Landorus-T, preventing it from switching pre-mega as Hyper Cutter avoids the Intimidate.

• Shoutouts

Big shoutouts to my frens Dallaren AND The DragonKnight for helping me with pretty much all the text of the thread, you guys are amazing. Also, big shoutouts to sugarhigh for drawing the team for me <3, as well as Logic. for making the "in depth" codes :]]]]. Other than that,,,,

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Blue_Star, Bouffalant, Destiny Device, Disenchanted, D. Miralis, el poeta,fingerscrossed ,GlassGlaceon ,Havor ,High Impulse ,Hot N Cold ,IAmGingy ,Imanalt ,Isa ,Jaiho ,Luka~ ,Melonz ,Miles Tails , Halcyon. ,
Nova ,Omfuga ,papai noel ,Ranger Mike ,Rewer ,Sinclair ,Tesung ,Steeljackal<3, TRC, Valentine, VallejoMC., CTC, dEnIsSsS, gr8astard, Hantsuki, Heiiraiser, Bruxa Baratuxa, e7e, Psychotic, The Goomy, Melonz, Prankster., praj.pran, Santuga, MarceloDK, MetalGro$$, New Breed, Royal Flush, SoulWind, Alexander, Kirigakure, Danilo, Steve Angello, Stathakis, ben gay,Cienight ,col49, Kushalos, Tokyo Tom, ShootingStarmie, MoxieInfinite, Toxzn, -Tsunami- ,Asuya ,Calloflochie ,CrashinBoomBang, chimpact, Lord Elyis, mencemeat, Zamrock, Shox, Hack, PROBLEMS, Ohmachi, Wepwn , Meru , Bluwing , blunder , PDC, TGMD , aim, Navy , Mizuhime , xtra$hine, Blim, Versace Python Cased, Tamahome, Dekzeh, -Gizmo-, Pedrock , Finchinator ,Moony
u're all frens :]]]]]]

• Ending

Overall the team is well built and prepared to deal with most of the metagame. A well played Charizard Y, Specs / Scarf Keldeo, Mega Aerodactyl, Mega Scizor and Mew are key threats you may struggle with while using the team, but despite this the team does have ways to deal with them. As I said before, what I like the most about this team is the ability to win most games with the amazing surprise factor it holds. Thanks a lot to everyone that helped me make this and I really hope you enjoyed it!​

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Landorus-Therian (M) @ Normal Gem
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 124 Atk / 152 Def / 232 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Earthquake
- Stealth Rock
- Stone Edge
- Explosion

Klefki @ Leftovers
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 248 HP / 196 Def / 64 SpD
Careful Nature
- Spikes
- Thunder Wave
- Toxic
- Play Rough

Keldeo @ Choice Specs
Ability: Justified
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Scald
- Hydro Pump
- Secret Sword
- Icy Wind

Raikou @ Assault Vest
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 SpA / 28 SpD / 228 Spe
Timid Nature
- Volt Switch
- Thunderbolt
- Shadow Ball
- Hidden Power [Ice]

Latios (M) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Draco Meteor
- Defog
- Trick
- Psyshock

Pinsir @ Pinsirite
Ability: Hyper Cutter
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Return
- Quick Attack
- Close Combat
- Swords Dance

 

[4daptability]

I really like the concept of this team because of how effective it is at supporting one of the most underrated Mega Evolutions of XY in Mega Pinsir, other than just using Knock Off + Magnezone, or Bird Spam. Not that it matters much at all because ORAS has replaced XY OU, but I am curious to see how Knock Off over Stone Edge on Landorus-T might work out, mainly due to its ability to cripple walls/tanks such as Slowbro or Landorus-T before using Explosion. It does also have the benefit of hitting Lati-twins and Gengar on the switch in, and you can just T-Wave opposing Birds/Charizard (regardless of which one it is) with Klefki or just plain threaten them with Intimidate + Raikou.

Very innovative and well-built imo.

 

[bruno]

I really like the concept of this team because of how effective it is at supporting one of the most underrated Mega Evolutions of XY in Mega Pinsir, other than just using Knock Off + Magnezone, or Bird Spam. Not that it matters much at all because ORAS has replaced XY OU, but I am curious to see how Knock Off over Stone Edge on Landorus-T might work out, mainly due to its ability to cripple walls/tanks such as Slowbro or Landorus-T before using Explosion. It does also have the benefit of hitting Lati-twins and Gengar on the switch in, and you can just T-Wave opposing Birds/Charizard (regardless of which one it is) with Klefki or just plain threaten them with Intimidate + Raikou.

Very innovative and well-built imo.

Thanks for the input! Knock Off does sound like an interesting choice, but without stone edge my team would have pretty much no answers to bulky wow talonflame. Not only that, but it would make my team more weak to subSD hawlucha then it already is, forcing my landorus-t to explode on it. I can see knock off working tho, but it really can't fit on this case. :]

 

[Reymedy]

It's weird that I don't see my name anywhere in the shoutouts. After all that's the exact team I used against you, the same LandoT Explosion + Klefki Spikes core, a Latios, and a Keldeo, then you added a Pinsir + something to beat Pinsir checks.
Just like yan, you made some brazilian changes here and there, that's cute.

However, this team is awfully Mew weak, you dont have anything to break it, bar some "you won't see this Latios tricking Scarf coming" Tele shit. I guess you kinda rely on the Explosion PS! bug to break through it, or you simply forego rock and explode right away hoping you're faster, I don't know. It's kinda the same headache with Rotom-W, but in worse, since he's a massive pain for your sweepers.

I'm too lazy to give you a rate and to change what you built (mainly also because it would make your team even more like mine), but I can at least point out the obvious flaws.
First your Landorus-T spread is awfully unefficient. I won't go into the different spreads that increase your special bulk while retaining the same exact amount of physical bulk, instead, I propose you to invest around 124 HP to not be 0HKO by RotomW Pump, which is really more useful than the other situations you describe (and like 124 hp and rest in def leaves only around 10% for the other scenarios to happen, which is acceptable).
Second, you should have Knock Off, not Stone Edge. It should help against Mew (I play my LandorusT Lum, to totally cover this match, a Slowbro burn, a RotomW WoW scenario etc. but while you're at it, you better fully abuse that Explosion bug anyway), it's just a better move overall, because SE coverage is not relevant (Bulky Talonflame will die to your Explosion, due to the PS! bug hehe) and Explosion + Knock Off + EQ is a dreamy combination. It'll be easy to Knock Off Skarmory item, which should help you a lot in setting up the sweeps you're trying to set-up.

I see you tried some weird Klefki sets, and finally came up with a Toxic/Play Rough set. Ahm, first, Play Rough is really meh on Klefki, I don't know if you ever used it in a game. Instead, I'll give you my set, that is CB + Trick with Foul Play. Foul Play does retarded damages with CB actually, which means that you Klefki isn't just a Spikes then die machine, and can genuinely check some threats. It 2HKO Landorus-T scarf (which will really help Pinsir to sweep) and the classic offensive Zor after rocks (which means that if it ever SDs, it'll be OHKO'd).
Tricking a choice item will help you a ton against Stally teams, since this matchup is poorly covered right now. The whole team is screaming "Defog on me" with a Pinsir, this Klefki, and this Latios. I don't think that a Skarmory will ever switch into a Latios until it scouted your coverage options, but they are usually not afraid of Klefki. You're really forced to outplay heavily the Stall through double switches after putting Rock + Exploding on Skarm if you don't make any change.
Anyway, I'm not sure about that Latios, you say it helps against Rain Dance teams but I want to point out that Keldeo Scarf outspeed Kabutops Adamant under Rain. If it's Jolly, it'll outspeed Latios too anyway, and Kingdra should, I guess, creep for this benchmark aswell, so saying that Latios Scarf helps against Rain teams is not convincing me.

I also want to say, that the original idea of the team was to NOT be SR weak, so your idea to put a Pinsir is really counter-productive, and the fact that it's not your Keldeo but your Latios that is scarfed probably means that you lose to something around the lines of the CBB offense. Which is really a big drawback (more than being "Rain weak" to be honest).

Yea, I hope I helped to improve your "innovative" team.

 

[bruno]

It's weird that I don't see my name anywhere in the shoutouts. After all that's the exact team I used against you, the same LandoT Explosion + Klefki Spikes core, a Latios, and a Keldeo, then you added a Pinsir + something to beat Pinsir checks.
Ok, let's start it from here. I didn't get anything from the game i beat you, i got it from Dekzeh(thanks for reminding me about it tho!) like 2 months ago lol, saw him using klefki and a team that had some Pokemon that were just the same as this one. So don't come here saying stuff you're not even sure of.
Just like yan, you made some brazilian changes here and there, that's cute.
I guess you have problems with the brazilian nation? Your post on the smogon tour thread bashing Destiny Device was really weird too, ya know. I hope you never need help with any brazilian in this community bro, that's all i can say.

However, this team is awfully Mew weak, you dont have anything to break it, bar some "you won't see this Latios tricking Scarf coming" Tele shit. I guess you kinda rely on the Explosion PS! bug to break through it, or you simply forego rock and explode right away hoping you're faster, I don't know. It's kinda the same headache with Rotom-W, but in worse, since he's a massive pain for your sweepers.
Not really. All i have to do is go into Keldeo, if it knocks off i can keep going for scald, if it doesn't hydro pump will do the job to the point in where it can't softboiled. Klefki also deals with Mew just fine, as long as it can come in on anything but Taunt, since it can toxic it and from there it's pretty much crippled.
I'm too lazy to give you a rate and to change what you built (mainly also because it would make your team even more like mine), but I can at least point out the obvious flaws.
Ok, i thought you just wanted to "look cool"(or something else? idk lol) saying it was your team and telling me about a weakness of my team without trying to help me out covering it(i thought that isn't supposed to be a rate? So that means i can go into any thread and say someone is weak to "x" and then just post it? That sounds weird, specially seen how you are one of the guys who manage this part of the forum.). But it looks like you're actually gonna give it a rate, so let's get down to it
First your Landorus-T spread is awfully unefficient. I won't go into the different spreads that increase your special bulk while retaining the same exact amount of physical bulk, instead, I propose you to invest around 124 HP to not be 0HKO by RotomW Pump, which is really more useful than the other situations you describe (and like 124 hp and rest in def leaves only around 10% for the other scenarios to happen, which is acceptable).
That sounds pretty interesting, but i can't see it helping much. The scenarios i describe are actually really important, because Excadrill is way more problematic then Rotom-W. But nonethless, i'll make sure to test this.
Second, you should have Knock Off, not Stone Edge. It should help against Mew (I play my LandorusT Lum, to totally cover this match, a Slowbro burn, a RotomW WoW scenario etc. but while you're at it, you better fully abuse that Explosion bug anyway), it's just a better move overall, because SE coverage is not relevant (Bulky Talonflame will die to your Explosion, due to the PS! bug hehe) and Explosion + Knock Off + EQ is a dreamy combination. It'll be easy to Knock Off Skarmory item, which should help you a lot in setting up the sweeps you're trying to set-up.
The problem about using Knock Off is that it would make me more Hawlucha weak then i already am, forcing my landorus-t to explode on it just to break the sub which won't help much at the end of the day anyway. Also, knock off could help indeed against slowbro, but i think it would only work if you use the Lum Berry set, seen how it can get burned from scald, which would make it unable to use it's powerful explosion. And yeah bulky talonflame would also be a pain.
I see you tried some weird Klefki sets, and finally came up with a Toxic/Play Rough set. Ahm, first, Play Rough is really meh on Klefki, I don't know if you ever used it in a game. Instead, I'll give you my set, that is CB + Trick with Foul Play. Foul Play does retarded damages with CB actually, which means that you Klefki isn't just a Spikes then die machine, and can genuinely check some threats. It 2HKO Landorus-T scarf (which will really help Pinsir to sweep) and the classic offensive Zor after rocks (which means that if it ever SDs, it'll be OHKO'd).
Tricking a choice item will help you a ton against Stally teams, since this matchup is poorly covered right now. The whole team is screaming "Defog on me" with a Pinsir, this Klefki, and this Latios. I don't think that a Skarmory will ever switch into a Latios until it scouted your coverage options, but they are usually not afraid of Klefki. You're really forced to outplay heavily the Stall through double switches after putting Rock + Exploding on Skarm if you don't make any change.
This looks pretty crisp. The only problem with using foul play + trick is that i need every single other move on my Klefki for this team to work. Also, play rough helps me out dealing with calm mind clefable which can turn out to be annoying, even though tricking it the choice band would criple it anyways. But having two Pokemon with trick seems to be a bit counterproductive, so idk. At the end of the day i'll test this out, it looks pretty cool, and i thank you for giving me that idea. Oh, and stall isn't really hard to deal with most of the time, with Latios being able to trick some mons(just like you said, tricking mons on stall helps a lot indeed), well played Landorus-T exploding on the right time and Pinsir, it isn't supposed to be that hard.
Anyway, I'm not sure about that Latios, you say it helps against Rain Dance teams but I want to point out that Keldeo Scarf outspeed Kabutops Adamant under Rain. If it's Jolly, it'll outspeed Latios too anyway, and Kingdra should, I guess, creep for this benchmark aswell, so saying that Latios Scarf helps against Rain teams is not convincing me.
Yes, it is mainly for Kabutops, and most of the other swift swim users outside of Kabutops. It also helps me out with Pokemon such as dragon dance gyarados which Keldeo can't really help with(unless it is hidden power electric, which i guess is on every set so w/e). At the end of the both help with rain and stopping sweepers, but i think the raw power of specs keldeo just fits the team way better than a life orb latios would. Also, with Trick Latios i can have an easier time dealing with stall.

I also want to say, that the original idea of the team was to NOT be SR weak, so your idea to put a Pinsir is really counter-productive, and the fact that it's not your Keldeo but your Latios that is scarfed probably means that you lose to something around the lines of the CBB offense. Which is really a big drawback (more than being "Rain weak" to be honest).
CBB offense is a really good team so that shouldn't be something to be annoyed with. But it really isn't weak to it. Most of the time, choice scarf Latios can kill most of the mons, as well as Pinsir. Most of the time, i'd lead with keldeo on garchomp, go for the burn, then if he brings greninja i can try to burn it again or he can sac chomper, then come in with pinsir on something like bisharp or scizor and get a kill. But as i said, i can see CBB offense beating this team as it is a really good team. It really isn't weak to SR, it only has Pinsir which doesn't mind the stealth rock weakness most of the time, as it will come in only 2 times anyway. If anything i can still defog with latios later.
Yea, I hope I helped to improve your "innovative" team.
Thanks for all the input! Also, thanks for calling my team innovative when i never said it is! Sorry for the bad english / all the kaels ;o

Reymedit : Beating CM Clef with Play Rough Klefki and going for the burn against a Chomp t1
*taking notes*
+ moved to showcase, congratulation !