Didn't actually want to make and RMT for this particular team, I'd already shared it elsewhere so I thought I'd be a bit more original and work on a new team for this board, but alas this team has become my present milestone which my other teams try to live up to, and while I have been teambuilding like fucking crazy and amassed a good amount more since this one, generally the principal ends with it being very similar to this team, or weak to things which can be solved by making it similar to this team. All in all, I like this team, and it's generally the centrepiece of my teambuilding phase right now, so I figured if all my current teams are coming out looking like this that I'd weed out any fixable issues from the root. It's composed of a lot of great and solid offensive cores that tie in together pretty damn well and works on the heavy offence concept of sweeper/breaker x 6. Without further ado:
Artistic masterpiece by me btw. Click it to go to a cool song, cut to 4:26 to skip to the badass part.
Zard Y and RP Lando-I. This is a core I'd been working with for a long long time but never seemed to strike a chord with the final outcome. I'd always end up with teams absurdly weak to fat Waters, Mamoswine, Lati@s, Birdspam and such, but a renown core of genocidal wallbreakers and my personal favourite two mons to use in the meta right now is something I couldn't give up on.
This core is weak to fat Waters fat Grounds, and fat Dragons, so support for this was paramount. Bolt-Beam coverage supports this core superbly in helping to break through those fucks. I considered Raikou for this role also but ended with Thundy for the primary reason that is offers Prankster T-Wave support, this is very very good for Zard Y as it makes it easier for him to pick off more offensive threats without taking too much damage due to being outsped, Zard Y sits on quite a disappointingly lacklustre speed tier and as such is prone to taking prior damage from the likes of Megagross, Mega Lop, Keld, Lati@s, etc and limits his workable time in the battle. T-Wave for these annoying pests works wonders. Additionally, Thundy is one tough fucker and offers the Bolt-Beam utility I needed as well as being a mon I fell in love with using in my earlier competitive days and one I wanted to use again.
Good as it may be, Thundy isn't too well enough equipped to deal with all the threats to the initial core. HP Ice isn't enough for shit like Hippo, T-Tar and Ice types also became even more of a boon. I had no Bish counter either. Enter my hands-down most used Pokemon ever. Keldeo offers support for all of these as well as offers an answer to the problematic specially defensive bitch, Chansey. Keld's coverage and typing is something this team really needed at this point.
Opposing Keld could potentially tear me a new one, namely Scarf and Specs, the only thing I could call proper support for it on this team is Thundy, and he could not take two Scalds from a Scarfed Keld or even one Hydro Pump after Rocks from Scarfed Keld for that matter. He was a good answer to them, but not good enough to be my only answer. Also, I have a Thundy and a Zard, I needed hazard removal like nothing else. Latios provided all of the above in a powerful and speedy package, as well as offerring additionaly support for fat Waters, Mega Venu, and miscellaneous Fighting type boons. A T-Tar + Exca core would have made me even more weak to everything Latios is here to try and solve, and I hate that core anyway, I've never used it effectively and I'm not fond of Exca as a Pokemon anyway, just not my thing. Latios worked best no doubt.
I needed a hazard setter and an answer to Fairies and birdspam who, while not unbeatable at this stage, were still problematic. Heatran fit that perfectly, being able to deal with Talonflame and shit like Clefable and specially offensive Mega Alt while also providing hazard support. Tran's main weaknesses were covered by the rest of the team so adding him would not by detrimental and not really bringing problems I couldn't solve which is important to consider this late stage of teambuilding. And so my team was complete. Almost...
But Tran did bring problems though, two problems which I'd failed to account for at the time and one I'd dismissed as solved when it really wasn't. These were as follows: No physical attackers, and no priority. I am fond of leaning some of my teams towards special offence even pretty heavily as raw offence can break through special walls eventually and there's much less to fear in regards to Will-O-Wisp, but physical offensive support is still vital as pressure isn't always enough. I dismissed this as solved initially as I did have Secret Sword and Psyshock support, but it didn't take long for me to realise that's a fucking stupid excuse. Priority is vital too, the long of the short of it was that no matter how fast my team is and how much T-Wave support I have, a Paralysed -6 speed Iron Ball holding 0 speed IV Brave Talonflame Brave Bird still outspeeds any attack on my team. It mattered. As such, I did something I had to grit my teeth to go through with, I decided to run Rocks on Lando. While I still think it's so much potential wasted by this, there was no other way around it simply on the basis that I needed one particular mon on this team who fit the bill, and that was Scizor. Scizor offered hard priority, switch initiative in U-Turn, Knock Off support for Chansey, general hard physical offence, an answer to Fairies even if not a hard-counter, she just ticked all the boxes. Though she doesn't help with Birdspam, and Bisharp may have also been a viable option here, I think Scizor was the saving grace this team needed.
Vanilla (Charizard-Mega-Y) (M) @ Charizardite Y
Ability: Drought
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Fire Blast
- Solar Beam
- Focus Blast
- Roost / Dragon Pulse
Zard-Y is near the top of my list of my favourite Megas along with Gardevoir, Diancie and Lop. Unlike those three though, Zard-Y isn't on that list by the fact that it's sexy in conjunction with being great on a team, it's just flat-out awesome on a team. I've got quite a thing for genocidal wallbreakers and as such I've preferred Zard-Y over its X counterpart. I've wanted to work with Zard for ages to build something truly great, but this is the best I've done. Zard-Y's main purpose is to punch huge holes in opposing teams and allow me to pick off the remaining mons left with one of my lot and clean up efficiently. Also a decent lead at times to counter those Mega Shiny-Eyeballs leads and apply enormous offensive pressure on my opponent early on.
This is as standard a Zard-Y set as it comes. I did consider running the physically based mixed set, but I really didn't want to, I'd much rather abuse his monstrous base 159 SpA to its fullest extent. That being said, Fire Blast is the obvious starting point here, being pretty much the most, if not only, relevant STAB for this set. Coming from that afore mentioned base 159 SpA and in the Sun it just murks shit and it is hard-pressed to find something it can't 2HKO barring Flash Fire abusers. Solar Beam was an obvious nex choice that's pretty much mandatory on any version of Zard-Y you're running due to how well it deals with its arch nemeses in fat Waters. Shit like Rotom-W, Slowbro, Cune and such can just eat the dick if they think they can come in and that's a nice archetype of otherwise easy counters for most other Fires sorted. Remember those Flash Fire abusers I mentioned before? Yeah, Heatran's one of them and Solar Bean can't do shit either. T-Tar also rains, or Sandstorms, on Zard's parade too. As such, these problems additionally need to be accounted for. That's where Focus Blast comes in, catches both of these problems pretty well and keeps T-Tar at bay if it doesn't wait for a safe switch opportunity and tries to go in dry. Lastly there's Roost and Dragon Pulse. Roost offers your best Wallbreaker more sustainability and makes it that much more annoying to handle, though Dragon Pulse does catch what otherwise would be counters like Latias and Zard-X to make him that much more tough to handle. Either option works well.
Timid was chosen over Modest because while Zard-Y does value the power and lacks great speed, base 100 is still fairly abusable and does allow me to threaten things that would otherwise threaten me such as RP Lando-I, Diance, and Megagross pre set-up, as well as speed-tie with other base 100s who Zard would like the chance to outspeed whenever he can such as Mega Garde. The EVs make the most of my speed and offensive potential and 0 Atk IVs minimise Foul Play and confusion damage. Charizardite Y is there because I need to fucking Mega evolve.
There's not really many other options for this mon. I guess mixed with EQ over Focus Blast works if you're scared of Chanreleur, but not much else. If you hate the Fire Blast accuracy and opt for Modest Flamethrower then read all the reasons above to run Timid and just stick with that. If you try Timid Flamethrower then grow some fucking balls, you're not running Inferno with 50% acc or some shit, Fire Blast is in an acceptable accuracy range, and you need the power to break walls which you can't do if you hit like a pussy.
xXWTFSoFastOHKOXx (Landorus) (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Sheer Force
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 30 Def
- Earth Power
- Sludge Wave / Focus Blast
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Stealth Rock
Oh, Lando-I. Such wasted potential having to be a hazard setter where you could be setting up RPs or CMs and taking lives. Alas, however t'was nat the case here as I needed a hazard setter that didn't conflict with the synergy of this team. I's not all bad though, lead Lando-I offers really hard pressure against an opponent and is still a very usable wallbreaker throughout the match even if sub-standard to the set-up variants in that regard.
Earth Power is mandatory on Lando-I being his best STAB boosted by Sheer Force to enormous levels. It can more reliably threaten stuff like Tran and Diancie than Zard-Y can which is always pretty cool and smash anything else pretty hard otherwise. The next is a toss-up beween Sludge Wave and Focus Blast. Sludge Wave is my preferred option as this team's best offensive support against the likes of Clef and Mega Alt outside of Scizor, those two could potentially run amok on my team should Sciz go down and Zard can only do so much against them. Still, Sheer Force boosted Focus Blast still ain't nothing to fuck with and can get the 2HKO on SpD Skarm who can be annoying. Hidden Power Ice is mandatory on my Landos with how effectively he can bait in the likes of Gliscor and opposing Landos. It makes him great as a lead in that has can effectively threaten other lead hazard setters like Lando-T and Garchomp. Lastly, Stealth Rock is there because no one else could bear the burden. Every team needs Rocks, Lando was the best to receive them, and I really do give Rock setter Lando too little credit because it is very good, applies pressure early game and is always something you want to keep around for offensive utility.
Timid over Modest again because without RP you have no good way of outspeeding come threats, getting the creep on base 100s with the troll base 101 is something you can and should abuse. Life Orb boosts Lando-I's power astronomically and emphasises his wallbreaking capabilities in a more reliable way than Expert Belt for example. Sheer Force because I have no Sand to abuse Sand Force with. The EVs make the most of my speed and offensive potential and HP Ice IVs modified to minimise Foul Play and Confusion damage.
Rock Slide is another option for the likes of counters such as AV Torn-T, though that is a very specific move to run for which you'd have to replace another move which has much more utility on this set for this team, not worth it imo.
xXSoStronk420ggXx (Thundurus) (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 30 Def
- Thunder Wave
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Taunt
Contrary to many, I fall in love with things I get swept by. Something I get majorly brutalised by I immediately decide to try, getting trounced by something like that is a slap in the face about how good something you're overlooking really is. This is how I ran into Thundy-I way back in early X/Y. After a while, my usage of Thundy dropped despite me still regarding it as one of my favourite competitive mons and I found myself favouring Raikou over this guy. Nope, not this time, I decided to return to my roots and run Thundy for the sake of T-Wave spam and to form a badass double Genie core.
Thunder Wave is a saving grace for this team. It helps against so many things that threaten it and turns decent boons completely useless. Shit Like Mega Lop, Mega Alakazam, Lati@s, and such all become that much less problematic with a little T-Waving. Additionally, T-Wave support is great to help bypass the issue of Zard's lacklustre speed, Paralysing something that outspeeds him lets Zard get more kills without taking unnecessary damage, a great help all around. Thunderbolt is my STAB, obviously. It helps me clear some wet threats who may prove potentially problematic for the team as well as give me an answer for Flying fuckers like Talonflame and Mega Pinsir. Hidden Power Ice lets me hit the Ground types immune to my STAB hard, so shit like Lando, Glisc or Chomp who try coming in will get effectively murked. It lets me hit the Latis pretty hard too which I need. The last move is one I've received quite a negative response for, but I chose Taunt. I with with this because Thundy is generally my other lead option, while I do occasionally lead with Zard or Keld too, double Genie are mostly my leads. Thundy leads off to handle things Lando wouldn't enjoy facing off against, namely shit like Skarm and such, on the occasions when this happens and I can't KO the lead Taunt support is great to avoid Rocks coming up and forces their setter out or to stay and die; I have Defog support, that is true, but it wastes a turn and costs momentum, Defog is a contingency plan in all honesty. Taunt also prevents set-up from shit like Clef, Mega Alt and whatever so I can ensure the offensive pressure stays with me. Not you. You suck.
Timid should be obvious by now, for Thundy more than anything. I can't be running a base 111 speed mon without a +speed nature. Life Orb boosts power a lot so I can hit much harder. Prankster to spam T-Waves and Taunts more freely and I'm not really baiting Defoggers or Intimidaters to abuse Defiant with, I'm not even mixed, so... The EVs make the most of my speed and offensive potential and HP Ice IVs edited to minimise Foul Play and confusion damage.
Only other option would be either Focus Blast or Superpower over Taunt which I have been told to run, but Taunt utility is very helpful and I'm running a Fighting type move on at least half of my team, 4/6 if Lando chooses Focus Blast, so it's kind of wasted coverage imo.
20% Cooler (Keldeo-Resolute) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Justified
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 1 Atk / 30 SpA
- Hydro Pump
- Scald
- Secret Sword
- Hidden Power [Electric]
Good God, this thing. This thing finds itself winding up on every team I build. It can effectively deal with so many nuisances like Bisharp, Lando, Tyranitar and such, it's not something I can afford not to run. I have been taking a favour to Coballion recently though so my Keld addiction is being diverted, but it is still hands-down my most used mon, and this my most used set.
Hydro Pump is my most powerful Water STAB and hits really hard, lacklustre accuracy but when you need the power you need the power, good to get a big chunk off something obviously incoming when my opponent needs to save something I intend to revenge, it helps me eat through teams better. Scald is better for simple revenging due to its better accuracy and is a less risky choice at times when nothing really wants to take any sort of hit from Keld whether it be match-up or general battle wear. The chance to Burn is good too for occasions which is why it's valued over Surf. Secret Sword helps me handle shit like Ferro switch-ins as well as offer good support for Chansey, who can annoy a team loaded with special attackers, and Bish who's always a fucking threat. The pseudo-physical capabilities also help with any other special wall really, keeps me from being too easy to wall. Lastly, HP Electric can chunk fat Waters who try to switch in, it helps out quite a bit and helps make my opponent more predictable in the situation depending on how much damage I'm doing.
Timid because you already know by now, come on, I've been on about this for the last three mons, I need the speed, especially for a Scarfer. Speaking of, Scarf makes Keld an effective revenger and allows her to check a multitude of threats nicely. Justified because it's Keld's only ability. The EVs make the most of my speed and offensive potential and HP Electric IVs edited to minimise Foul Play and Confusion damage.
Alternative options may be Hidden Power Bug for Celebi, though the team as it is right now can handle the little onion pixie well enough so it's a bit of a waste. Hidden Power Fire is a more strange option, but a decent bait for Scizor who can be pretty annoying.
YM IOS-1 Eon (Latios) (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 29 HP / 0 Atk / 30 SpA / 30 Spe
- Draco Meteor
- Psyshock
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Defog
Latios was mandatory on this team as it was. I needed hazard removal, I needed an answer to Keld, I needed another powerful breaker in a speedy package with the coverage and utility to fix some pot-holes, that is what Latios is here, and he fixed them very well.
Draco Nukes are primary STAB for heavily smashing the more defensive foes I'm faced with, it's always best to use it sparingly for obvious reasons and not spam it too much as the SpA drop makes you very predictable after, but a well used nuke can be clutch. Psyshock is alternative STAB and additional pseudo-physical support. It helps with Fightings like Keld and whatnot as well as digs the boot into Mega Venu a bit more. Also helps with special walls as stated. Hidden Power Fire was the best option here as I have no answer to Scizor outside of Zard-Y (real subtle) so I needed the coverage quite a bit, it can handle Ferro too though with a Fighting type move on every other mon it's not the most problematic of mons. Lastly, Defog clears hazards which somehow managed to shuffle their way onto my side of he field. I mentioned that the idea is to have Thundy force away hazard users, but with a Zard-Y and a Thundurus on here I couldn't just rely on Thundy alone to just scare the Rocks away. Besides, if I'm running a Latios, why not try a little hazard support?
Timid. Yeah, Timid again, shouldn't be surprised, all my mons are a tad scared, a little nervous, value speed over power, all that shit. Just Timid. Again. Life Orb helps my attacks hit very hard and allows Draco Nukes to chunk walls much much more effectively. Levitate because it's Latios's only ability. The EVs maximise speed and offensive potential and HP Fire IVs edited to minimise Foul Play and confusion damage as well as set my HP to a Life Orb number.
Earthquake or HP Fighting are also both options to bait in Heatran, Bish and T-Tar which is nice, but I have decent support for all these threats as it is whereas I'm short of things for Sciz. Roost is good too as conservation of my Defogger and nuke switch is helpful, though the loss of coverage is a bit hurtful.
Iris (Scizor) (F) @ Choice Band
Ability: Technician
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 Def
Adamant Nature
- Bullet Punch
- U-turn
- Knock Off
- Superpower
Lastly we have Scizor, the girl who patched up so many problems. She offered a great Fairy check, an offensive picot, priority, Knock Off utility, a proper source of physical offence, all of which my team needed but lacked. Sciz the saviour coming through.
Bullet Punch is this saving priority I speak so highly of, boosted by Technician and Choice Band, it stings more than a little and greatly threatens the annoying fat Fairies that are a bit less straight-forward to deal with. Also great for revenging since no matter how slow Sciz is, as long as I have priority, I go first. You know, unless they have priority too, small detail. U-Turn, my secondary STAB, gives me switch initiative. With the switches I can force with a titan Banded Scizor, pivoting about all over the place is a pretty fun way to go, getting massive chunks out of opposing teams as I go to get the match-up I want and get to cracking through. Knock Off support is great on this thing first and foremost because it removes Chansey's Eviolite, Chansey being quite the bane of this team due to he fat special ass. Knock Off also helps de-Choice Choiced users to make them less threatening and easy to handle, as well as Leftovers users' source of passive recovery. Lastly, Superpower is a bait for Heatran, if I can catch it on the obvious switch then it's going to Hell. That's it, nothing else, I'm really not fond of Supoerpower on a Choiced mon since it's the least spammable move and can kill momentum entirely, it can turn into just watching your momentum strangle itself to death so it has very limited uses, but it is effective at performing that one single role it has.
Adamant. Adamant!? Wow, natures taking a full 180 now, instead of a fast special attacker we have a strong physical attacker. Sciz is way too slow to abuse a speedy nature and has priority regardless so Adamant to revenge more effectively is valued. Choice Band to break through walls and deal heavy damage wherever possible. Technician to boost power further where applicable. The EVs are something I'm not sure about, I just went with max odd HP for an SR number, max Atk and 8 filler in Def, but part of me is pretty certain there's a better set somewhere, I don't know, one with speed investment for a certain threat, or a specific defensive spread instead of just 248 HP, so if you guys could let me know I'd appreciate it.
Other options include Pursuit which I hate. It's almost as much of a momentum killer as Superpower and requires so much that you guess right to be effective and fucks you raw if you guess wrong. Also the utility it offers does not outweigh the utility of my current moveset. Alternatively, Bisharp over Sciz is also viable to better deal with the Latis and Gengar, though he has a less reliable source of priority, is less effective against Fairies like Mega Diancie and Altaria, and lacks U-Turn utility. Each have their benefits, but Sciz inches it imo.
And so that's the team. I'm pretty proud of it, and a bit annoyed since it's hindered my creativity a lot. Every team I make is just double genie, Latios and Keld and generally a different Mega and maybe a Scizor substitute. Really, I'm stuck on this. Regardless, it still came out well and is pretty fun to use. Doesn't require too much switching, just play aggressive and spam attacks, withdraw when necessary is generally the gist of it, it's a tad more complex than that but that's the long of the short of it. Comments and criticism welcome and appreciated. Hope you enjoyed. :]
Fast Electrics can be a real pain in the ass due to their speed, coverage and utility. I can't even T-Wave them to make them more managable and I generally have to sac some shit to their coverage and grind them down bit by bit. Thank fuck they have no recovery. Easily the biggest problems here.
Fast hard-hitters. I'm lumping all of these mons in one category since I'd pretty much describe the threat they pose to this team and how they can be handled the same way, a few personal notes for a few such as never let Mega Kazam Trace your Sheer Force or you can just watch the bodies drop, etc. Aside from that, they outspeed a lot and hit hard as fuck. Annoying but can be played around. Threats neutralised once T-Waved, pretty much.
The SD variant poses the biggest threat. Can out-prioritise anything on my team and hit anything pretty hard. Generally if I have no direct counter I can at least ensure that Talon cannot set-up on be, but with Choiced Keld and Scizor, all it takes is being locked into that one useless move and it's over. Just be careful what you lock yourself into when there's a T-Flame left or it could be over. Potentially problematic, but manageable. Band can be annoying, but ok. SpD stallbreaker/Bulk Up is just fine, its utility doesn't hurt me too much and it's a slower variant which is fine for me.
This fucking piece of shit and its dumb-ass fucking face! Fuck this thing!
Artistic masterpiece by me btw. Click it to go to a cool song, cut to 4:26 to skip to the badass part.
YAY!
Vanilla (Charizard-Mega-Y) (M) @ Charizardite Y
Ability: Drought
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Fire Blast
- Solar Beam
- Focus Blast
- Roost / Dragon Pulse
Zard-Y is near the top of my list of my favourite Megas along with Gardevoir, Diancie and Lop. Unlike those three though, Zard-Y isn't on that list by the fact that it's sexy in conjunction with being great on a team, it's just flat-out awesome on a team. I've got quite a thing for genocidal wallbreakers and as such I've preferred Zard-Y over its X counterpart. I've wanted to work with Zard for ages to build something truly great, but this is the best I've done. Zard-Y's main purpose is to punch huge holes in opposing teams and allow me to pick off the remaining mons left with one of my lot and clean up efficiently. Also a decent lead at times to counter those Mega Shiny-Eyeballs leads and apply enormous offensive pressure on my opponent early on.
This is as standard a Zard-Y set as it comes. I did consider running the physically based mixed set, but I really didn't want to, I'd much rather abuse his monstrous base 159 SpA to its fullest extent. That being said, Fire Blast is the obvious starting point here, being pretty much the most, if not only, relevant STAB for this set. Coming from that afore mentioned base 159 SpA and in the Sun it just murks shit and it is hard-pressed to find something it can't 2HKO barring Flash Fire abusers. Solar Beam was an obvious nex choice that's pretty much mandatory on any version of Zard-Y you're running due to how well it deals with its arch nemeses in fat Waters. Shit like Rotom-W, Slowbro, Cune and such can just eat the dick if they think they can come in and that's a nice archetype of otherwise easy counters for most other Fires sorted. Remember those Flash Fire abusers I mentioned before? Yeah, Heatran's one of them and Solar Bean can't do shit either. T-Tar also rains, or Sandstorms, on Zard's parade too. As such, these problems additionally need to be accounted for. That's where Focus Blast comes in, catches both of these problems pretty well and keeps T-Tar at bay if it doesn't wait for a safe switch opportunity and tries to go in dry. Lastly there's Roost and Dragon Pulse. Roost offers your best Wallbreaker more sustainability and makes it that much more annoying to handle, though Dragon Pulse does catch what otherwise would be counters like Latias and Zard-X to make him that much more tough to handle. Either option works well.
Timid was chosen over Modest because while Zard-Y does value the power and lacks great speed, base 100 is still fairly abusable and does allow me to threaten things that would otherwise threaten me such as RP Lando-I, Diance, and Megagross pre set-up, as well as speed-tie with other base 100s who Zard would like the chance to outspeed whenever he can such as Mega Garde. The EVs make the most of my speed and offensive potential and 0 Atk IVs minimise Foul Play and confusion damage. Charizardite Y is there because I need to fucking Mega evolve.
There's not really many other options for this mon. I guess mixed with EQ over Focus Blast works if you're scared of Chanreleur, but not much else. If you hate the Fire Blast accuracy and opt for Modest Flamethrower then read all the reasons above to run Timid and just stick with that. If you try Timid Flamethrower then grow some fucking balls, you're not running Inferno with 50% acc or some shit, Fire Blast is in an acceptable accuracy range, and you need the power to break walls which you can't do if you hit like a pussy.
xXWTFSoFastOHKOXx (Landorus) (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Sheer Force
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 30 Def
- Earth Power
- Sludge Wave / Focus Blast
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Stealth Rock
Oh, Lando-I. Such wasted potential having to be a hazard setter where you could be setting up RPs or CMs and taking lives. Alas, however t'was nat the case here as I needed a hazard setter that didn't conflict with the synergy of this team. I's not all bad though, lead Lando-I offers really hard pressure against an opponent and is still a very usable wallbreaker throughout the match even if sub-standard to the set-up variants in that regard.
Earth Power is mandatory on Lando-I being his best STAB boosted by Sheer Force to enormous levels. It can more reliably threaten stuff like Tran and Diancie than Zard-Y can which is always pretty cool and smash anything else pretty hard otherwise. The next is a toss-up beween Sludge Wave and Focus Blast. Sludge Wave is my preferred option as this team's best offensive support against the likes of Clef and Mega Alt outside of Scizor, those two could potentially run amok on my team should Sciz go down and Zard can only do so much against them. Still, Sheer Force boosted Focus Blast still ain't nothing to fuck with and can get the 2HKO on SpD Skarm who can be annoying. Hidden Power Ice is mandatory on my Landos with how effectively he can bait in the likes of Gliscor and opposing Landos. It makes him great as a lead in that has can effectively threaten other lead hazard setters like Lando-T and Garchomp. Lastly, Stealth Rock is there because no one else could bear the burden. Every team needs Rocks, Lando was the best to receive them, and I really do give Rock setter Lando too little credit because it is very good, applies pressure early game and is always something you want to keep around for offensive utility.
Timid over Modest again because without RP you have no good way of outspeeding come threats, getting the creep on base 100s with the troll base 101 is something you can and should abuse. Life Orb boosts Lando-I's power astronomically and emphasises his wallbreaking capabilities in a more reliable way than Expert Belt for example. Sheer Force because I have no Sand to abuse Sand Force with. The EVs make the most of my speed and offensive potential and HP Ice IVs modified to minimise Foul Play and Confusion damage.
Rock Slide is another option for the likes of counters such as AV Torn-T, though that is a very specific move to run for which you'd have to replace another move which has much more utility on this set for this team, not worth it imo.
xXSoStronk420ggXx (Thundurus) (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 30 Def
- Thunder Wave
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Taunt
Contrary to many, I fall in love with things I get swept by. Something I get majorly brutalised by I immediately decide to try, getting trounced by something like that is a slap in the face about how good something you're overlooking really is. This is how I ran into Thundy-I way back in early X/Y. After a while, my usage of Thundy dropped despite me still regarding it as one of my favourite competitive mons and I found myself favouring Raikou over this guy. Nope, not this time, I decided to return to my roots and run Thundy for the sake of T-Wave spam and to form a badass double Genie core.
Thunder Wave is a saving grace for this team. It helps against so many things that threaten it and turns decent boons completely useless. Shit Like Mega Lop, Mega Alakazam, Lati@s, and such all become that much less problematic with a little T-Waving. Additionally, T-Wave support is great to help bypass the issue of Zard's lacklustre speed, Paralysing something that outspeeds him lets Zard get more kills without taking unnecessary damage, a great help all around. Thunderbolt is my STAB, obviously. It helps me clear some wet threats who may prove potentially problematic for the team as well as give me an answer for Flying fuckers like Talonflame and Mega Pinsir. Hidden Power Ice lets me hit the Ground types immune to my STAB hard, so shit like Lando, Glisc or Chomp who try coming in will get effectively murked. It lets me hit the Latis pretty hard too which I need. The last move is one I've received quite a negative response for, but I chose Taunt. I with with this because Thundy is generally my other lead option, while I do occasionally lead with Zard or Keld too, double Genie are mostly my leads. Thundy leads off to handle things Lando wouldn't enjoy facing off against, namely shit like Skarm and such, on the occasions when this happens and I can't KO the lead Taunt support is great to avoid Rocks coming up and forces their setter out or to stay and die; I have Defog support, that is true, but it wastes a turn and costs momentum, Defog is a contingency plan in all honesty. Taunt also prevents set-up from shit like Clef, Mega Alt and whatever so I can ensure the offensive pressure stays with me. Not you. You suck.
Timid should be obvious by now, for Thundy more than anything. I can't be running a base 111 speed mon without a +speed nature. Life Orb boosts power a lot so I can hit much harder. Prankster to spam T-Waves and Taunts more freely and I'm not really baiting Defoggers or Intimidaters to abuse Defiant with, I'm not even mixed, so... The EVs make the most of my speed and offensive potential and HP Ice IVs edited to minimise Foul Play and confusion damage.
Only other option would be either Focus Blast or Superpower over Taunt which I have been told to run, but Taunt utility is very helpful and I'm running a Fighting type move on at least half of my team, 4/6 if Lando chooses Focus Blast, so it's kind of wasted coverage imo.
20% Cooler (Keldeo-Resolute) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Justified
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 1 Atk / 30 SpA
- Hydro Pump
- Scald
- Secret Sword
- Hidden Power [Electric]
Good God, this thing. This thing finds itself winding up on every team I build. It can effectively deal with so many nuisances like Bisharp, Lando, Tyranitar and such, it's not something I can afford not to run. I have been taking a favour to Coballion recently though so my Keld addiction is being diverted, but it is still hands-down my most used mon, and this my most used set.
Hydro Pump is my most powerful Water STAB and hits really hard, lacklustre accuracy but when you need the power you need the power, good to get a big chunk off something obviously incoming when my opponent needs to save something I intend to revenge, it helps me eat through teams better. Scald is better for simple revenging due to its better accuracy and is a less risky choice at times when nothing really wants to take any sort of hit from Keld whether it be match-up or general battle wear. The chance to Burn is good too for occasions which is why it's valued over Surf. Secret Sword helps me handle shit like Ferro switch-ins as well as offer good support for Chansey, who can annoy a team loaded with special attackers, and Bish who's always a fucking threat. The pseudo-physical capabilities also help with any other special wall really, keeps me from being too easy to wall. Lastly, HP Electric can chunk fat Waters who try to switch in, it helps out quite a bit and helps make my opponent more predictable in the situation depending on how much damage I'm doing.
Timid because you already know by now, come on, I've been on about this for the last three mons, I need the speed, especially for a Scarfer. Speaking of, Scarf makes Keld an effective revenger and allows her to check a multitude of threats nicely. Justified because it's Keld's only ability. The EVs make the most of my speed and offensive potential and HP Electric IVs edited to minimise Foul Play and Confusion damage.
Alternative options may be Hidden Power Bug for Celebi, though the team as it is right now can handle the little onion pixie well enough so it's a bit of a waste. Hidden Power Fire is a more strange option, but a decent bait for Scizor who can be pretty annoying.
YM IOS-1 Eon (Latios) (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 29 HP / 0 Atk / 30 SpA / 30 Spe
- Draco Meteor
- Psyshock
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Defog
Latios was mandatory on this team as it was. I needed hazard removal, I needed an answer to Keld, I needed another powerful breaker in a speedy package with the coverage and utility to fix some pot-holes, that is what Latios is here, and he fixed them very well.
Draco Nukes are primary STAB for heavily smashing the more defensive foes I'm faced with, it's always best to use it sparingly for obvious reasons and not spam it too much as the SpA drop makes you very predictable after, but a well used nuke can be clutch. Psyshock is alternative STAB and additional pseudo-physical support. It helps with Fightings like Keld and whatnot as well as digs the boot into Mega Venu a bit more. Also helps with special walls as stated. Hidden Power Fire was the best option here as I have no answer to Scizor outside of Zard-Y (real subtle) so I needed the coverage quite a bit, it can handle Ferro too though with a Fighting type move on every other mon it's not the most problematic of mons. Lastly, Defog clears hazards which somehow managed to shuffle their way onto my side of he field. I mentioned that the idea is to have Thundy force away hazard users, but with a Zard-Y and a Thundurus on here I couldn't just rely on Thundy alone to just scare the Rocks away. Besides, if I'm running a Latios, why not try a little hazard support?
Timid. Yeah, Timid again, shouldn't be surprised, all my mons are a tad scared, a little nervous, value speed over power, all that shit. Just Timid. Again. Life Orb helps my attacks hit very hard and allows Draco Nukes to chunk walls much much more effectively. Levitate because it's Latios's only ability. The EVs maximise speed and offensive potential and HP Fire IVs edited to minimise Foul Play and confusion damage as well as set my HP to a Life Orb number.
Earthquake or HP Fighting are also both options to bait in Heatran, Bish and T-Tar which is nice, but I have decent support for all these threats as it is whereas I'm short of things for Sciz. Roost is good too as conservation of my Defogger and nuke switch is helpful, though the loss of coverage is a bit hurtful.
Iris (Scizor) (F) @ Choice Band
Ability: Technician
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 Def
Adamant Nature
- Bullet Punch
- U-turn
- Knock Off
- Superpower
Lastly we have Scizor, the girl who patched up so many problems. She offered a great Fairy check, an offensive picot, priority, Knock Off utility, a proper source of physical offence, all of which my team needed but lacked. Sciz the saviour coming through.
Bullet Punch is this saving priority I speak so highly of, boosted by Technician and Choice Band, it stings more than a little and greatly threatens the annoying fat Fairies that are a bit less straight-forward to deal with. Also great for revenging since no matter how slow Sciz is, as long as I have priority, I go first. You know, unless they have priority too, small detail. U-Turn, my secondary STAB, gives me switch initiative. With the switches I can force with a titan Banded Scizor, pivoting about all over the place is a pretty fun way to go, getting massive chunks out of opposing teams as I go to get the match-up I want and get to cracking through. Knock Off support is great on this thing first and foremost because it removes Chansey's Eviolite, Chansey being quite the bane of this team due to he fat special ass. Knock Off also helps de-Choice Choiced users to make them less threatening and easy to handle, as well as Leftovers users' source of passive recovery. Lastly, Superpower is a bait for Heatran, if I can catch it on the obvious switch then it's going to Hell. That's it, nothing else, I'm really not fond of Supoerpower on a Choiced mon since it's the least spammable move and can kill momentum entirely, it can turn into just watching your momentum strangle itself to death so it has very limited uses, but it is effective at performing that one single role it has.
Adamant. Adamant!? Wow, natures taking a full 180 now, instead of a fast special attacker we have a strong physical attacker. Sciz is way too slow to abuse a speedy nature and has priority regardless so Adamant to revenge more effectively is valued. Choice Band to break through walls and deal heavy damage wherever possible. Technician to boost power further where applicable. The EVs are something I'm not sure about, I just went with max odd HP for an SR number, max Atk and 8 filler in Def, but part of me is pretty certain there's a better set somewhere, I don't know, one with speed investment for a certain threat, or a specific defensive spread instead of just 248 HP, so if you guys could let me know I'd appreciate it.
Other options include Pursuit which I hate. It's almost as much of a momentum killer as Superpower and requires so much that you guess right to be effective and fucks you raw if you guess wrong. Also the utility it offers does not outweigh the utility of my current moveset. Alternatively, Bisharp over Sciz is also viable to better deal with the Latis and Gengar, though he has a less reliable source of priority, is less effective against Fairies like Mega Diancie and Altaria, and lacks U-Turn utility. Each have their benefits, but Sciz inches it imo.
Fast Electrics can be a real pain in the ass due to their speed, coverage and utility. I can't even T-Wave them to make them more managable and I generally have to sac some shit to their coverage and grind them down bit by bit. Thank fuck they have no recovery. Easily the biggest problems here.
Fast hard-hitters. I'm lumping all of these mons in one category since I'd pretty much describe the threat they pose to this team and how they can be handled the same way, a few personal notes for a few such as never let Mega Kazam Trace your Sheer Force or you can just watch the bodies drop, etc. Aside from that, they outspeed a lot and hit hard as fuck. Annoying but can be played around. Threats neutralised once T-Waved, pretty much.
The SD variant poses the biggest threat. Can out-prioritise anything on my team and hit anything pretty hard. Generally if I have no direct counter I can at least ensure that Talon cannot set-up on be, but with Choiced Keld and Scizor, all it takes is being locked into that one useless move and it's over. Just be careful what you lock yourself into when there's a T-Flame left or it could be over. Potentially problematic, but manageable. Band can be annoying, but ok. SpD stallbreaker/Bulk Up is just fine, its utility doesn't hurt me too much and it's a slower variant which is fine for me.
This fucking piece of shit and its dumb-ass fucking face! Fuck this thing!
Charizard-Mega-Y @ Charizardite Y
Ability: Drought
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Fire Blast
- Solar Beam
- Focus Blast
- Roost
Landorus (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Sheer Force
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 30 Def
- Earth Power
- Sludge Wave
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Stealth Rock
Thundurus (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 30 Def
- Thunder Wave
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Taunt
Keldeo-Resolute @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Justified
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 1 Atk / 30 SpA
- Hydro Pump
- Scald
- Secret Sword
- Hidden Power [Electric]
Latios (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 29 HP / 0 Atk / 30 SpA / 30 Spe
- Draco Meteor
- Psyshock
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Defog
Scizor @ Choice Band
Ability: Technician
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 Def
Adamant Nature
- Bullet Punch
- U-turn
- Knock Off
- Superpower
Ability: Drought
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Fire Blast
- Solar Beam
- Focus Blast
- Roost
Landorus (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Sheer Force
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 30 Def
- Earth Power
- Sludge Wave
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Stealth Rock
Thundurus (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 30 Def
- Thunder Wave
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Taunt
Keldeo-Resolute @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Justified
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 1 Atk / 30 SpA
- Hydro Pump
- Scald
- Secret Sword
- Hidden Power [Electric]
Latios (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 29 HP / 0 Atk / 30 SpA / 30 Spe
- Draco Meteor
- Psyshock
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Defog
Scizor @ Choice Band
Ability: Technician
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 Def
Adamant Nature
- Bullet Punch
- U-turn
- Knock Off
- Superpower
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