ORAS OU Keys & Blades (Mega-Gallade HO)

[Albacore]

Keys and Blades : A Mega-Gallade Hyper Offense Team​

Introduction :​

Hi there! The name's Albacore, I've been pretty active both on Smogon and PS for over a year. I've built a good number of teams over that period of time, and when ORAS came around, I suddelnly made a lot of them. I didn't really feel like most these teams were really worth putting up for RMT though.
I'm mostly a balance/bulky offense player who often dabbles into stall, I don't really play much Hyper Offense, mostly because it often relies on predicting what move your opponent is going to go for which I am honestly terrible at. However, when I decided to build a team around Mega-Gallade, one of my favorite new ORAS megas, an HO team is what I ended up creating. Why am I RMTing this team in particular? Well, even though I find it to be a pretty good team, it still struggles against a few things, and though it is pretty standard (like pretty much everything else I build), there are one or two slightly unconventional things in it. I'm not running Calm Mind Mega-Gallade or Assault Vest Greninja or anything like that though, don't worry. Another reason I decided to RMT this that a member of this team is probably getting banned quite soon, so I might as well do something with it before I have to scrap it. Anyway, here we go :

Teambuilding process :​

Hide

Started off with the very popular Gallade+Bisharp core, this core basically works by weakening physically defensive stuff with one to break it with the other. Bisharp destroys Fairy-types and Psychic types which might give Gallade problems, while Gallade smashes Fighting types, Dark Types and Steel types which can be annoying for Bisharp. Gallade also really loves hazards being up which Bisharp helps maintain thanks to Defiant. Gallade is also threatened by faster attackers in general which Bisahrp can pick off thanls to Sucker Punch. In short this is a really good core that I wanted to try out.

As solid as this core is, it happens to be completely and utterly walled by Mega-Sableye. The best Mega-Sableye counter is Clefable, however I felt like it would be a tad too passive for the team I was trying to build, so I went with Choice Specs Sylveon instead, who hits very hard and has excellent synergy with the Galladesharp core, being able to bait in Steel and Poison types for Gallade, and stuff like Jirachi for Bisharp.

I soon realized that my current team really appreciates Spikes support. I decided to use Greninja, simply because the amount of switches it forces makes it a very good Spikes setter, and Greninja is just a really good addition to any HO team in general.

Now, there are actually two different paths I took here for filling up the rest of my team, and I ended up with 2 slightly different teams.

The first one just has Phys Def Landorus-T and Rotom-W as pivots for Greninja, Gallade and Bisharp and make my team into bulky offense. That team isn't bad by any means and I don't really have a reason to scrap it, but it's honestly kinda lazy and I'd like to have something a bit more interesting than another goddamn Lando-T/Rotom-W bulky offense team. It also wasn't able to keep up enough momentum to keep spikes up, despite the VoltTurn core, which can be a problem.

The second option was to take more of an all-out offensive route and runs Thundurus as a sweep stopper, basically providing a check to Water types which are kind of a problem for me.

But then I remembered this thing called Klefki. Klefki fit perfectly on my team because, not only did it give me prankster Thunder Wave, it could also carry Spikes, freeing up a moveslot on Greninja. I also just wanted to try it out to see if it was actually good, and turns out it really is.

All I needed now was a rock setter. I wanted one that could 2HKO Mega-Sableye since this thing is still really annoying for my team and I want to be able to actually get rocks up vs it. I first decided to try out Focus Sash Explosion Lando-I, mostly for a laugh, but it honestly kinda sucked as you'd imagine.

Next pick was Earth Plate Landorus-T. This was a much better pick, but even with an Earth Plate it still can't 2HKO Ferrothorn which was starting to annoy me given how common it is.

My last and current choice is Air Balloon Heatran, and it worked overall better than Lando-T, though its inability to consistently check Ground-types can be a problem, I've always been able to keep my balloon when I needed it. I'm still not 100% sure that it's what I need for my team, but it's certainly puts in major work and I have no complaints about it.

​

​

The team :​

Gallade @

Ability: Justified
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Close Combat
- Zen Headbutt
- Substitute
- Knock Off / Swords Dance

The main threat of the team and usually the MVP. Hits hard and is pretty fast too, and its coverage makes it a pain to switch into. It can also take a hit if needed, which comes in handy against fast stuff such as Greninja, Lopunny and Sceptile.

- Close Combat is my main STAB, no reason not to run it.
- Zen Headbutt was chosen over Psycho Cut for no real reason, I kinda just like the power and though I don't have the greatest luck, I haven't has a gamechanging miss yet and the extra damage is always nice. Plus cheeky flinches can let me break through some defensive Pokemon like Clefable. I definitely need a Psychic STAB here for the OHKO on Keldeo as well as hit Azumarill for actual damage.
- I'm using Substitute here because otherwise, Bisharp just cleans through my team if it gets an SD up. It also really helps improve my matcup against Offense by easing prediction, while also enabling me to avoid status and abuse the many switches Gallade forces.
- Knock Off is useful against offensive teams too, removing items such as Landorus-T's Choice Scarf and making it a non-factor, as well as hitting Psychic types.
- Swords Dance is also a very good move here, Sub+SD just makes defensive teams cry and not running SD at all on MGallade is kind of a shame, but I don't really need an improved macthup vs balance/stall as much as I do vs Offense, so Knock Off is generally a better pick even if it means I can't set up on bulkier stuff.

Bisharp @

Ability: Defiant
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Sucker Punch
- Knock Off
- Iron Head
- Aerial Ace / Pursuit / Swords Dance

Second half of the GalladeSharp core, Bisharp provides me with a good check to Fairy-types, a Defog dissuader, powerful Priority which is really important on this team to beat faster stuff, and all-around very strong offensive Pokemon.

- Sucker Punch is the most important move on the set, it enables it to clean weakened teams and gives me a way to check faster threats such as Greninja, Scarf Landorus-T and which are otherwise really annoying for my team
- Knock Off is Bisharp's most powerful move and also has a fantastic secondary effect.
- Iron Head is pretty obvious secondary STAB for hitting Fairy types, also can flinch which is always fun.
- You're probably wondering why the hell I would even consider running Psycho Cut on Bisharp over Pursuit. Well, this team happend to be very weak to Keldeo, and I can definitely afford a very good Keldeo lure (Keldeo being a very obvious and usually very safe switch into Bisharp). Furthermore, Pursuit isn't all that useful : the main things it traps, Chansey and Latis, are not threats to my team at all (Latis in particular are very hard pressed to do anything vs this team period) edit : Changed to Aerial Ace becuase it also hits Chesnaught.
- As I said, Pursuit is useful, but not all that useful. However, it is a necessity if I decide to run SD on Gallade, because then it is walled by bulky Psychic-types so I need a way to remove them.
- Swords Dance is very good in theory but honestly, I never find myself using it. While Gallade and Bisahrp seem like they should be running SD to break through slower Pokemon, Spikes enables me to do that anyway so I don't really need SD on either of them. It's still a good option though

Sylveon @

Ability: Pixilate
EVs: 164 HP / 252 SpA / 92 Spe
Modest Nature
- Hyper Voice
- Baton Pass
- Psyshock
- Hidden Power Fire / Hidden Power Ground

Man I love this thing. Not only does it provide me with a necessary counter to Mega-Sableye, it also hits really hard, doing crazy stuff like dealing 65% to Magnezone. It's a great glue for my team, checking dangerous stuff like Thundurus, Mega-Manectric, Mega-Sceptile, Keldeo and Conkeldurr and switching into annoying crap like Rotom-W and Lando-T U-Turns. Speed enables me to outspeed Skarmory and 2HKO with Hyper Voice before it gets a Defog off (yes, it can actually do this lol) and also lets me outspeed most Azumarills.
- Hyper Voice is pretty obvious, hits hard as all hell and even smacks resists hard.
- Baton Pass lets me pivot into Gallade as I bait in a Steel or Poison type or into Bisahrp if the opponent send in Jirachi
- Psyshock is kinda just filler, I never use it since most of its targets are hit harder by Baton Passing into the appropriate check, though it does hit SpD Talonflame harder than any other move
- I honestly have no idea whether to run Hidden Power Fire for Ferrothorn and Scizor or Hidden Power Ground for Heatran, HP Fire is probably better since it hits Scizor who is kind of a threat I guess? Ferro and Heatran don't trouble my team at all, but I literally never use either of these hidden powers, Baton pass is there for a reason. I'm pretty sure you could run Heal Bell here and it would probably be better if anything.

Greninja @

Ability: Protean
EVs: 40 Atk / 216 SpA / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- Ice Beam
- Gunk Shot
- Dark Pulse
- Grass Knot / Extrasensory

This thing is kinda dumb lol. It's arguably the best Pokemon in the metagame, and for good reason : its insane speed, coverage, and power make it an absolute force. I gave it 40 Atk because the guaranteed OHKO on Azumarill with Gunk Shot is much, much more important than the guaranteed OHKO on Latios with Ice Beam. Naive>Hasty to take Azumarill's +6 Aqua Jet from full.
- Ice Beam is Greninja's main STAB move, it hits tons of stuff and is pretty much a must.
- Gunk Shot is needed for Azumarill and Clefable, and does a chunk to Chansey too.
- Dark Pulse is needed if I don't want to be walled by Mega-Metagross, and it also hits Mew as well as Jirachi, though those aren't too much of a problem for my team.
- Grass Knot enables me to deal with Bulky Waters such as Mega-Gyarados, Mega Slowbro, and Suicune better, as wel as bulky Ground types like Hippowdon. Although I have rarely used it, it covers up a weakness in my team decently.
- Extrasensory is nice for OHKOing Keldeo as well as luring Tentacruel so that it can't spin away my hazards.

Klefki @

Ability: Prankster
EVs: 252 HP / 200 Def / 56 Spe
Impish Nature
- Thunder Wave
- Spikes
- Play Rough
- Magnet Rise

Klefki is actually really good, as I discovered while using it. It provides 2 very important things for my team : Spikes, which lets me wear down defensive Pokemon and even offensive ones like Greninja a lot, and Prankster Thunder Wave, which enables me to deal with Greninja, MLopunny, etc. Klefki is just an excellent Spikes stacker, it usually gets 2-3 up each match. It also gives me a switch to scary stuff like Weavile. Speed is for outspeeding Max Speed Azumarill in case it wants to use me as setup fodder, or if it's already gotten a Belly Drum off I can TWave it in the hopes it'll get paralyzed. Oh, and it's usually the thing I go to when I need something to die. Dedicated death fodder may not be the most prestigious role, but it is a noble one nonetheless
- Spikes is the point of the set, let me wear down opponents for my offensive stuff to abuse.
- Thunder Wave stops sweepers and faster Pokemon from running all over me, and is extremely useful if there's one fast threat I just want removed.
- Play Rough over Foul Play to deal more damage to the likes of Azumarill, Garchomp, Kyurem-B and Mega-Sceptile and crucially break MLopunny and MAltaria's Sub.
- Magnet Rise is just amazing, it lets me completely troll Landorus-T, non-Fire Blast Garchomp, Mamoswine and a bunch of other stuff.

Heatran @

Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Fire Blast
- Earth Power
- Ancientpower / Taunt

My SR setter and other offensive glue, protects me from Mega-Scizor and Talonflame and is my best switchin to Clefable and opposing Heatran. Air Baloon helps a ton against ground types such as Landorus-T and Excadrill. This is definitely the most disposable member of my team though, so I'm completely fine with discarding it.
- Stealth Rocks are the purpose of the set, they are neefed on almost every team and this one is no exception.
- Fire Blast is my most powerful move and main STAB, just generally hits stuff hard.
- Earth Power is mainly for hitting opposing Heatrans as well as Charzard-X and provides great coverage in general.
- Ancientpower stops my team from getting destroyed by SD Talonflame, I really don't want to play Roost/Earth Power mindgames with it (Chosen over Stone Edge because more accurate and already does anough to Talon, Stone Edge is mainly for YZard which Heatran isn't trying to hit in the first place) I guess I could Taunt it and then just spam Fire Blast but this is a much more direct and reliable way of dealing with it. (also getting the boost is literally the best thing ever).
- Taunt is very nice for slower defoggers and rock setters and also disables Clefable, though in practice it doesn't come all that handy for whatever reason, probably because defoggers don't really get many opportunities to defog vs my team in the first place.

Threatlist :​

Hide

Mega-Swampert : Rain in general just plain demolishes this team, Mega-Swampert deserves a special mention since Klefki can't even TWave it. Fortunately, it doesn't get its doubled Speed on the fist turn. My best way of dealing with it is by dealing enough damage while it Megas to the point where Bisharp can revenge kill it (screw Protect variants though)

Azumarill : Belly Drum Azumarill can literally 6-0 my whole team with SR up, so I have to stop it from setting up which is kinda tricky when it can set up vs both Heatran and Klefki. I need to keep Greninja at full in order to even check it. The Assault Vest and Band sets are also kinda scary, but can be played around much more easily. It's worn down very easily by hazards though which is nice, but it's still a massive threat.

Breloom : Sashloom gets one sleep or one kill vs my team no matter what. can revenge kill Greninja, Heatran, Bisharp, etc... Running Landorus-T doesn't really fix this problme bcause I can't actually KO it unless i HP Flying Other variants are much easier to deal with though.

Keldeo : Noticing a pattern here? My team just hates Water types, and Keldeo is not exception, it switches in on Heatran basically for free and puts me in a really tricky position. This is the reason I have Psycho Cut on Bisharp as stated, so that limits the amount of things that switch into it for free to 1, but that's not nearly enough since I don't have a very good switchin of my own (my best switchin is Sylveon who is 2HKO'd by even Specs Scald after Rocks). Scarf Variants are countered by Sylveon, Specs variants are outsped by Gallade and Greninja, and I can always use Prankster TWave to save the day. I can kinda deal with it for the most part, but it can be tricky.

Garchomp : Both the Scarf and Sash lead sets are really tough for me to deal with. Scarf can be played around since I have immunities to Earthquake, Fire Blast, and Outrage/DClaw, but if it pops Heatran's Balloon as it switches in it can just switch out, switch back in again, and spam EQ. Klefki does give me an emergency Ground immunity though which is nice. Sash Lead I usually have to sack something to, but in order for it to KO Greninja or Gallade, it needs to lock itself into Outrage which can enable my Sylveon to smack it with a Hyper Voice. It's too bulky to be revenge killed by Bisharp and powerful enough to 2HKO everything on my team, so this is a threat and a half.

+

/

+

Ground Type+Another Ground Type (or Talonfalme, or thing Heatran has to switch into) : I always try to keep my Baloon intact when I need it. However, sometimes I really can't and in these situations any EQ user can just go ham. Magnet Rise on Klefki, one again, is pretty clutch, but if one of those Ground types in Exacrill then I'm in a pickle since Kelfki can't beat that (Foul Play is actually kinda nice for Excarill so I guess there's that) Once again, gotta be really careful when handling Ground types

Mega-Metagross : Switches in for free on either one of my fairies and I have a tricky time switching something into it. However, Greninja is a decent check, Heatran stops it from MEvoing, and Agilgross can be revenge killed by Bisharp.

will update

Closing thoughts :
​

This team, from what I've experenced, generally just destroys Balance. It's also pretty good vs Stall, but it tends to struggle vs opposing Hyper Offense as well as the more offensive side of Bulky Offense (the kind of teams you find Azumarill/Keldeo on), and just hates all forms of water which is its greatest downfall. In any case, I'm quite proud of this team, it may not be very original but it's been working out very well so far, I have yet to suffer the inevitable massive tilt which will turn me to hate this team.

Importable

Gallade (M) @ Galladite
Ability: Justified
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Close Combat
- Zen Headbutt
- Substitute
- Knock Off

Bisharp @ Life Orb
Ability: Defiant
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Sucker Punch
- Knock Off
- Iron Head
- Psycho Cut

Sylveon @ Choice Specs
Ability: Pixilate
EVs: 164 HP / 252 SpA / 92 Spe
Modest Nature
- Hyper Voice- Baton Pass
- Psyshock
- Hidden Power [Fire]

Greninja @ Life Orb
Ability: Protean
EVs: 40 Atk / 216 SpA / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- Ice Beam
- Gunk Shot
- Dark Pulse- Grass Knot

Klefki @ Leftovers
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 252 HP / 200 Def / 56 Spe
Impish Nature
- Thunder Wave
- Spikes
- Play Rough
- Magnet Rise

Heatran @ Air Balloon
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Fire Blast
- Earth Power
- Ancientpower

 

[AD impish john]

You have a water type weakness so ill help. Leaf Blade on gallade will be helpful for rotoms and othher water types. Sylveon specs is ok but i think that it would be better as an helper by using wish and heal bell. or you can use clefable but slyveon is better. kelfki set is ok but ill fix it. Use it as a screener so you can take more hits and taunt will wreck set ups. hope i helped.

 

[churmp]

add any ground type on to your threat list

 

[Red King]

Like, scarf chomp + any kind of hit dmg on heatran = 6-0. Maybe run defensive or w/e Landorus t over heatran. You also nail tflame harder that way as well as opposing heatrans = run hp fire on sylveon for ferro. Also you still get zard x. I know you hate ferrothorn, but come on, Gallade and Sylveon can handle it pretty well. I mean, Sylveon basically lures it.

 

[Der Twist]

Yeah, Taunt + Lando/Chomp/any other EQ user looks like a sweep. Still, your team looks like it can handle Taunt users just fine so it's probably just a question of holding Lando back before he runs amok and getting a switch-in to that nutsack keyring fellow. I like it a lot, I've been eager to see a good HO Mega Gallade team and this one does not disappoint. Great stuff; I hope I never have to fight it.

 

[Red King]

You have a water type weakness so ill help. Leaf Blade on gallade will be helpful for rotoms and othher water types. Sylveon specs is ok but i think that it would be better as an helper by using wish and heal bell. or you can use clefable but slyveon is better. kelfki set is ok but ill fix it. Use it as a screener so you can take more hits and taunt will wreck set ups. hope i helped.

I feel like leaf blade gallade is a horrible waste. you're hitting all of those mons with zen headbutt. super effective doesn't equal better. besides, specs sylveon already checks like rotom and keldeo while nuking switch ins. His klefki is a better set because it isn't a set for a suicide sweeper. His klefki is a hazard setter/crippler. It doesn't need screens.
I imagine a venusaur slowbro core handles this team pretty well. As i balance player i don't look fondly on that team, but i am prepared.

 

[Scotti]

Ok, so I was experimenting to see if heal block went through magic bounce. The problem is.... it doesn't. I have a pretty good change for your team, but it involves removing heatran. Idk if it makes your team a lot weaker to sableye, but it should help against ground types and water types.

Celebi @ Leftovers
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 220 HP / 252 SpA / 36 Spe
Modest Nature
- Recover
- Giga Drain
- Stealth Rock
- Psychic

I believe that celebi could help against a lot of threats. You could change the ev's to be more physically defensive for Azumarill, Swampert, garchomp, and landorus-t. Thats all I really have to say. Solid team and nice rmt luvdisc'd :]

Hope I helped.

 

[mcpallday]

Kid, nobody knows u,,,, Hey fren very nice team you have here. You pastes me a varient of this team awhile ago with iirc, mamo>clef and rotom>tran, and I have to say, these changes worked oht perfectly. Balloon tran is a great anti lead getting up rocks on almost every relevant rockker in the tier. As your threatlist stated, you are very weak to bulky waters, so having gk on ninja seems like a good choice. Another way to beat those mons is, celebii seems like a great choice to add to this team! It beats all the mons you have listed on your threat list, and helps to pass nasty plots to greninja/sylveon which could also deal with your HO problem. I don't really know who you'll replace it with as adding celebii opens up your weak ess to sd talonflame and mega zor. Anyway hope I helped!

P.S. If u couldnt tell, its obviously_av

Hide

Celebi @ Leftovers
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 HP / 236 Def / 20 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Baton Pass
- Giga Drain
- Nasty Plot
- Recover

 

[Albacore]

Thanks for the rates guys!

You have a water type weakness so ill help. Leaf Blade on gallade will be helpful for rotoms and othher water types.

Leaf Blade actually isn't a terrible idea since it does do enough to Azumarill to the point where it can't Belly Drum and sweep me, and also OHKOs Mega-Swampert (though Gallade will rarely live a Rain-boosted Waterfall after Rocks). However it's not really worth it since that won't make it any easier for Gallade to actually switch into water types, which is my main concern, and Azumarill is more likely to try and set up on Heatran. The utility of Knock Off and the sheer wallbreaking power of Swords Dance are just better in the vast majority of scenarios.

Sylveon specs is ok but i think that it would be better as an helper by using wish and heal bell. or you can use clefable but slyveon is better.

The inherent problem with using a defensive Sylveon set on an offensive team like this is that you end up losing a lot of momentum. If Sylveon is running defense EVs, a lot of scary stuff such as MGardevoir, Gengar, Azumarill, Charizard-X, Charizard-Y, Talonflame, Sand Rush Excadrill etc... can switch in with much more ease, and I'll pretty much have so sack something to these every time I send Sylveon in. The Specs set doesn't suffer from this since not much wants to switch into a Hyper Voice from it, and most of the time it's Baton Passing anyway so I can just move into my check and deal with it from there. and Klefki can get away with running a defensive set however, simply because it has Thunder Wave it can stop setup sweepers and faster Pokemon in their tracks, so that isn't much of a problem. Plus, Wish isn't really that useful to my team since actually passing the wishes without something dying is pretty tricky. All in all, Cleric Sylveon is just too passive for this kind of team, Specs just works better overral

kelfki set is ok but ill fix it. Use it as a screener so you can take more hits and taunt will wreck set ups. hope i helped.

Now, this is a really good suggestion, and one I actually considered myself. Screens would enable me to give some much needed bulk to my frailer stuff, and would be especially good if either Gallade or Bisharp were to run Swords Dance. That being said, I'm not running it from two reasons. Firstly, it's hard to fit one screen, let alone two. I obviously need Spikes and TWave, Play Rough is also very useful for breaking subs. Magnet Rise is kinda necessary given how ground weak I am. And secondly, I'e never really been in a situation where I would like to set up screens. Klefki's main prioirty is Spikes, and most of what it does it just lay down a bunch of Spikes, switch out, then potentially come back in if I need something TWaved. Spikes will benefit my team more than Screens in most scenarios, and it's very rare for Klefki to stay alive long enough to set up spikes+screens+still be alive for a TWave if i need it, so I don't see myself using Screens too much to be honest. It's definitely a good option, but I'm not sure how useful it would be in practice.

Klefki doesn't get Taunt though... wish it did because that would be great.

add any ground type on to your threat list

Ground Types are indeed very threatening to my team, but I haven't really had trouble with them simply because, if I see a Ground type in team preview, I'm definitely saving Heatran's balloon for that. What can be problematic is if said ground type is paired with either a Talonflame (which Heatran is my only answer to) or another Ground type, who can take a turn to pop the Baloon. One the balloon is popped the other Ground type can cause major problems for me. However, most ground types are outsped and destroyed by Greninja, and those that aren't are choice-locked which makes them much easier to play around, especially since Klefki's Magnet Rise gives me a pseudo-immunity. Although Ground types in general are pretty threatening, I can usually beat them with very careful play

Like, scarf chomp + any kind of hit dmg on heatran = 6-0. Maybe run defensive or w/e Landorus t over heatran. You also nail tflame harder that way as well as opposing heatrans = run hp fire on sylveon for ferro. Also you still get zard x. I know you hate ferrothorn, but come on, Gallade and Sylveon can handle it pretty well. I mean, Sylveon basically lures it.

Speaking of scarfed grounds, Garchomp is indeed very scary and I'm definitely adding it to the threatlist. Unlike most ground types, it can just shake off hits from Heatran, break its Balloon, and hit it again, and its bulk makes it quite hard to revenge kill. Both the Scarf and Sash Lead variant are scary, however, both can be handled in different. No matter what Scarfchomp wants to lock itself into, I have immunities, so I can force it out more often than not, usually with Klefki, That being said, if it DClaws my Heatran, switches out immediately, and then switches back in, I'm in toruble. Sash is a different beast because it can actually switch moves and smack Klefki with Fire Blast, DClaw Heatran and then EQ it, etc... Something is going to have to take a hit to break its Sash in most cases, usually Greninja or Gallade The good thing is that in order to KO either of these, it needs to lock itself into Outrage which I can kinda abuse. But yeah, this thing is very scary. I'll go back to using Lando-T and see how it works out.

Hope I helped.

Kid, nobody knows u,,,, Hey fren very nice team you have here. You pastes me a varient of this team awhile ago with iirc, mamo>clef and rotom>tran, and I have to say, these changes worked oht perfectly. Balloon tran is a great anti lead getting up rocks on almost every relevant rockker in the tier. As your threatlist stated, you are very weak to bulky waters, so having gk on ninja seems like a good choice. Another way to beat those mons is, celebii seems like a great choice to add to this team! It beats all the mons you have listed on your threat list, and helps to pass nasty plots to greninja/sylveon which could also deal with your HO problem. I don't really know who you'll replace it with as adding celebii opens up your weak ess to sd talonflame and mega zor. Anyway hope I helped!

P.S. If u couldnt tell, its obviously_av

Hide

Celebi @ Leftovers
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 HP / 236 Def / 20 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Baton Pass
- Giga Drain
- Nasty Plot
- Recover

Celebi... Can't believe I didn't think of that, this is actually an excellent idea because it gives me a great check to Water types in general as well as a switchin to EQs from Garchomp (I'll probably use a SR+LO set if anything to get the OHKO on AV Azu after SR). The only problem with this is, if I replace it with Heatran, I basically just lose to Talonflame, so I need to move my team round a bit, but I definitely think Celebi can work wonders for my team.

252+ SpA Life Orb Celebi Leaf Storm vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Mega Sableye: 224-265 (73.6 - 87.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock how do you like dem vegetables eh?

 

[churmp]

I've had trouble with scizor + lando-t, heatrans the only stop to scizor and i have to lose my balloon to stop scizor, and if i lose my balloon i can't stop lando-t

 

[daftmau5]

Aerial Ace>Psycho Cut on Bisharp imo if you're gonna tech. It hits Keldeo for a little less but LO Aerial Ace + Sucker Punch + Rocks KOs Keldeo anyway unless you get absolutely min rolled (61.9 + 30.6 + 6.25=98.75% min) :

• 252+ Atk Life Orb Bisharp Aerial Ace vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Keldeo: 200-237 (61.9 - 73.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
• 252+ Atk Life Orb Bisharp Sucker Punch vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Keldeo: 99-117 (30.6 - 36.2%) -- 56.8% chance to 3HKO

Aerial Ace however also hits Mega Hera + Chesnaught significantly harder:

• 252+ Atk Life Orb Bisharp Aerial Ace vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Chesnaught: 234-276 (61.5 - 72.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
• 252+ Atk Life Orb Bisharp Psycho Cut vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Chesnaught: 133-159 (35 - 41.8%) -- 79.8% chance to 3HKO after Leftovers recovery
• 252+ Atk Life Orb Bisharp Aerial Ace vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Mega Heracross: 322-385 (106.9 - 127.9%) -- guaranteed OHKO
• 252+ Atk Life Orb Bisharp Psycho Cut vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Mega Heracross: 190-224 (63.1 - 74.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

 

[UBERPYRO]

OK I reworked some of your synergy here: First take play rough on klefki and replace it with foul play. This alleviates your bisharp weakness considerably. Destroying those subs aren't so crucial, because as long as klefki gets in with the twave then sylv can come in and bop it with the sound-based hyper voice. What this does is it enables you to run SD over sub on gallade (substitute is really not optimal...).

Let's replace heatran with scotti's celebi. A TFlame weakness is better than 3 water type and some ground type weaknesses. Now you can stop running psycho cut on bisharp. Keep in mind that bisharp with some HP can still check tflame. You might consider HP Fire over psychic if you have scizor/ferro problems.
Edit: I originally said physically defensive celebi but then I remembered this is HO.

 

[Karxrida]

Nice team, Albacore. You should probably replace Dark Pulse with Grass Knot on Greninja since you already have 2 Knock Off users to deal with Psychics.

Also, Bisharp is God. Always use it.

 

[darkdon]

Hey Albacore ...sorry if this is a bit late but this is a really good team showcasing my favorite mega coz its as powerful as it looks badass. From my limited knowledge of OU, I'm going to suggest that you replace kelfki with scarf rotom wash. I know you said u used rotom b4 in the OP...but I don't know what kind of variant and since scarf variants are pretty rare, you'll still kinda keep the originality of the team. You could try out this spread below:

Rotom-Wash @ Choice Scarf
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Volt Switch
- Hydro Pump
- Hidden Power Ice/Will-O-Wisp
- Trick

This set pretty much deals with almost all the threats you mentioned in the OP. Having levitate gives u a much more stable ground immunity and allows heatran to be used without much pressure so that it can check other stuff. Volt-Switch can keep the momentum in your favor and hydro pump to hit hard. WoW goes well with trick so that u can cripple at least 2 mons on the opposing team although HP ice can be used for stuff like sceptile. I know ur probably gnna miss the whole prankster t-wave spikes thing but rotom helps with a lot more threats and can spread status of its own (one team cant counter all though). Scarf over defensive (although you could try that out to take hits better, if u haven't already) so that you don't lose much momentum as this a HO team.

Hope this helps. Once again this is a really good team :)

EDIT: Duuuh 4got to read the title of the thread 0_O......well if u do go 4 this change u can change the title to 'Blades & Laundry' :P

 

[MangleyMan]

I was halfway through reading your RMT (Which is very nice) when I realized that your team has a HUGE weakness to Talonflame. After Heatran is taken care of, there is no stopping a Talonflame from tearing through your team. Sure, Klefki can Paralyze Talonflame, but that does not mean that Gale wings will not stay in effect. I would reccomendation replacing Heatran with Air Balloon Manectric.

Manectric @ Air Balloon
Ability: Lightningrod
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Thunderbolt
- Volt Switch
- Overheat
- Hidden Power Ice

Not only does it resist the Brave Bird of a Talonflame, but if Talonflame is Paralyzed, then you can come in and sweep with a Thunderbolt! And you don't have to worry about Stealth Rock hazards. Most pokemon that are not affected by Spikes, Manectric can take care of.

I hope this advice helped you!

 

[McBeengs]

Don't worry Albacore, ignore this guy ^

To be honest, I've stolen tried your team by a considerable amount of time, and I really have some things that you could change to make it better:

First off, Heatran: Yea just like you said, Heatran is the most disposable member of your team and for good reasons: When his Balloon pops and your rocks already are in the field, he's pretty much useless and only adds to the Ground weaknesses of your team... Not only dat but rain also demolishes your team very hard, even what isn't properly found in rain teams (Azumarill for an extend). I don't know if u already figured out but there's a pattern here: What counters Talonflame (and bird spam in general), checks most of the Ground types in OU and also manages 6/10 of your threats quite nicely? It should be obvious by now, but the answer is Rotom:

Rotom-Wash @

Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpA
Bold Nature
- Hydro Pump
- Volt Switch
- Will-O-Wisp
- Pain Split

Please don't make me explain his moveset, since Rotom's moves are so standard that they could put me in a coma... But srsly Phys Rotom-W is an wonderful partner to MGallade that checks much, MUCH more things that Heatran can in one single slot; Let me tell you why he is better over Heatran based on your threats:

Thank you PS Calculator

- Basically, Rotom switches for free and then proceeds to an WoW, rendering Swampert useless:
252 Atk Swampert Hammer Arm vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Rotom-W: 84-99 (27.6 - 32.5%) -- 71.8% chance to 4HKO after Leftovers recovery

- Not as good as MSwampert, but Rotom can survive 3 Play Rough's even with SR, and then burn him:
252+ Atk Huge Power Azumarill Play Rough vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Rotom-W: 123-145 (40.4 - 47.6%) -- 4.7% chance to 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery

- Most variants are Scarfed nowdays, so Rotom can revenge kill him easily (TW from Klefki helps alot in this case)
252 SpA Keldeo Secret Sword vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Rotom-W: 96-114 (31.5 - 37.5%) -- 85.7% chance to 3HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery

- Since is hard to see one of this running Adamant, Rotom can switch on a weakneed Chomp and kill with Hydro Pump (or burn with WoW, whatever)
252 Atk Garchomp Outrage vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Rotom-W: 135-160 (44.4 - 52.6%) -- 84% chance to 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery

- Mold Breaker variants still just as dangerous, but Sand Rush ones are countered by Rotom, even under sand:
252+ Atk Life Orb Excadrill Stone Edge vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Rotom-W: 110-130 (36.1 - 42.7%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Stealth Rock, sandstorm damage, and Leftovers recovery

- Immune to EQ, doesn't care about U-Turn / Stone Edge and can sac his lefties if necessary
252 Atk Landorus-T Stone Edge vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Rotom-W: 81-96 (26.6 - 31.5%) -- guaranteed 4HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery

- lol
252+ Atk Choice Band Talonflame Brave Bird vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Rotom-W: 81-96 (26.6 - 31.5%) -- guaranteed 4HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery

- The hardest of all, but after him kills something, switch to Rotom and burn this fucker:
252+ Atk Tough Claws Metagross Zen Headbutt vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Rotom-W: 142-168 (46.7 - 55.2%) -- 99.6% chance to 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery

As you can see, the only thing Rotom doesn't checks is Diggersby who 2HKOes him on the switch, but I have sure you can play arround this. The only really bad news of replacing Heatran is that way you would lose your rocks, making Bisharp's work a little more thin that it should be; One way of fixing this would be replaycing Sylveon by SR Clefable, but tbh I liked Sylveon the most, since she's an more immediate and powerful answer to Sableye; I'll put teh set here anyways:

Hide

Clefable @ Leftovers
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpA
Bold Nature
- Moonblast
- Stealth Rock
- Calm Mind
- Soft-Boiled

Anyway, I liked your team a lot; He is definitely my 2° team ready-to-battle other than my own with the Diancie(who half of Smogon already read him sooooooo). I really hope that I helped; If you need anything more, you can talk to me anytime :)

 

[thenewguy22]

this team is so weak to banded azu... still good tho:]

 

[one hitta quitta]

Do you think poison jab would be good on Mega Gallade? It allows Gallade to KO Azumarill, and even better, 2HKO Unaware Clefable. Not to mention, some damage on Sylveon.

 

[Vadifire]

Celebi does check a lot of the bulky waters that obliterate this team and gives you a nichze ground resist.

A previous post mentioned replacing tran with celebi, but you pointed out that would make your team a LOT weaker to talon and imo a little weaker to ground too as celebi doesn't check a lot of grounds as well as balloon tran. IMO, sylveon is pretty replaceable as it serves primarily to weaken and lure steels, but ur team isn't even weak to steels with gallade + heatran. Celebi can also lure steels anyways if you throw BP on it to pass to garde or even bop em with either hp fire or earth power. You said that you have sylveon to check "Thundurus, Mega-Manectric, Mega-Sceptile, Keldeo" but celebi doesn't necessarily fair too bad against these mons either and tbh ur not as weak to those pokes as you are to rain and waters in general. On a team like this, sp.def celebi is mediocre and like you said, you do need a way to hit M-sabeleye hard , so I would try out a LO celebi set.

Here's an example set I pulled out of my ass, but tbh hp fire, recover, or even ancient power somewhere instead of anything but leaf storm would be viable. (or better lol)

Celebi @ Life Orb
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
- Leaf Storm
- Earth Power
- Baton Pass
- Psychic

Edit: Also, I think foul play would be better than PR on klefki

 

[Albacore]

Dark Pulse on Greninja doesn't hit too many targets, but it does hit MMetagross which is really invaluable because that thing can stomp all over my team otherwise.

About Play Rough over Foul Play : Honestly this doesn't really matter, Foul Play and Play Rough both have their advantages. Notably Foul Play hits Excadrill and Metagross for actual damage and stop SD Talon from setting up all over me so it could be worth trying out, but I do want to be able to break Lopunny's sub and not be a free BD for Azumarill. As I said, at the end of the day it doesn't make too much of a difference.

Although I am a bit weak to Talonflame, it's not like it completely 6-0s me with. It does hvae to play 50/50 shenanigans with Bisharp which, while painful for me, are 50/50s I can definitely win. Worst comes to the worst I can paralyze with Klefki and then be guaranteed to take out Talon with Knock off regardless of what Talon goes for. I don't really feel like running a completely subpar set just to deal with it better (especially since regular Manectric doesn't actually check SD Talonflame, the one that actually beats my team, and more to the point is completely outcalssed by Raikou.)

Rotom-W I might try out. I'm afraid it may be a little passive for this team, but a pivot would actually be really helpful, and it covers most of my weaknesses well. The only problem with running it over Heatran is that I lose SR support which is pretty important for this team to function since it relies on pressuring opponents with multiple layers of hazards and preventing defog from happening. This also ties into another problem with Rotom-W namely the fact that it's a free swithin for Latis, if i see one on the opposing team i pretty much have to spam Volt Switch or else I risk getting Defogged away. Rotom-W is kinda hard to fit overral but if I can I will try on this team, in theory at least it should work.

 

[Albacore]

Small update : I have been trying out Celebi and it works wonders for my team. Checks Azumarill, Keldeo, Breloom (who I recently realised destroys this team) etc. There are a few problems with it though. First is that it's hard to fit. I can't use it over Hetran because otherwise I lose to Talon, and Offensive Celebi can't really fit SR that easily ( from experience I need all 3 of Leaf Storm Earth Power and Psychic). I'm currently using it over Klefki. However, Kelfki is kinda important for my team : without Spikes, I can't pressure things quite as well, and also I lose to some faster stuff such as DD MGyara, Greninja, so I don't know if this is for the best. I also have much more trouble with Landorus-T. Then there's the fact that, though it is far from passive, it's setup fodder for a lot of stuff, especially after the SpA drop. I guess I could run TWave over Recover to stop that from happening, but I kinda want Recover to deal with Keldeo better. Overall I do think Celebi is what I need for this team, I just need to figure out howto fit it without losing to a bunch of other stuff.

 

[Poek]

hey fren, I think I have something to solve your problem. LUM SR + SD Garchomp > Heatran, that way you can check Breloom easier and overwhelm MSableye. As now with that change you're usually luring Sableye, you can replace Sylveon with Rotom-W, so your team doesnt get completely destroyed by Lando-T and birds, and Rotom-W checks Azumarill too which is a problem for your team as you stated and Rotom-W kinda gives you a Keldeo switch-in along with MGallade? I guess so.

Garchomp @ Lum Berry
Ability: Rough Skin
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Dragon Claw

Rotom-Wash @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 248 HP / 216 Def / 44 Spe
Bold Nature
- Volt Switch
- Hydro Pump
- Will-O-Wisp
- Pain Split