Sharks and Water Stuff
Hi everyone I'm fabiohimself and this is the first team I built in ORAS and my first RMT.
So basically I play just enough to see that my rating decayed a little between each game, but what I really like about pokeymans is the variety, and how some players actually manage to make stuff works. (sample of my teams page) So what I like to do is to go through RMTs and people's replays and try those teams for myself, often reverse-calcing EV spreads.
The team concept started with this post by AD Impish John who actually makes good teams in the good cores thread, and 2 posts after that Astroboy followed, so I had half a team already!
At this point I wasn't 100% sure on what set Sharpedo was going to use, I kept the mixed one because I'm more concerned about it being able to sweep late and didn't want to lose too much HP on random rocky helmet switchins.
So now I was at a step that the process of every cool team being built runs into aka a lack of fairy switchins. I took a look at the teams of people I was stalking and everyone had subbed Aegi for either Scizor or Bisharp. At first I wanted a defogger so Impish Scizor was my choice.
With my balanced core complete I needed a reliable win con, so I went with one of those boring pokes that are in literally every team. The coverage isn't even too redundant with M-Pedo and it sets up on all your hippos and slow stuff that trades hazards with dragalge and garchomp.
/
Here I just looked back at the team and saw that I had switchins for most anything and my only form of speed was BP from bulky scizor and Sharpedo after speed boosts, so I needed something fast with immediate physical power. I actually wanted to use band Relicanth for a moment but it's way too slow so I went for one of the new scarfed wallbreakers.
Added Thundurus because it stops a lot of threats dead in their tracks and greatly helps my EQ Altaria and Azumarill matchups since Dragalge tends to die early on.
At this point I wasn't 100% sure on what set Sharpedo was going to use, I kept the mixed one because I'm more concerned about it being able to sweep late and didn't want to lose too much HP on random rocky helmet switchins.
So now I was at a step that the process of every cool team being built runs into aka a lack of fairy switchins. I took a look at the teams of people I was stalking and everyone had subbed Aegi for either Scizor or Bisharp. At first I wanted a defogger so Impish Scizor was my choice.
With my balanced core complete I needed a reliable win con, so I went with one of those boring pokes that are in literally every team. The coverage isn't even too redundant with M-Pedo and it sets up on all your hippos and slow stuff that trades hazards with dragalge and garchomp.
Here I just looked back at the team and saw that I had switchins for most anything and my only form of speed was BP from bulky scizor and Sharpedo after speed boosts, so I needed something fast with immediate physical power. I actually wanted to use band Relicanth for a moment but it's way too slow so I went for one of the new scarfed wallbreakers.
Added Thundurus because it stops a lot of threats dead in their tracks and greatly helps my EQ Altaria and Azumarill matchups since Dragalge tends to die early on.
The Team
Garchomp
Ability: Rough Skin
EVs: 252 HP / 164 Def / 92 Spe
Impish Nature
- Earthquake
- Toxic
- Stealth Rock
- Dragon Tail
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We know what this guy does by now don't we? I was actually debating running endure to really jam it in on those mega-bunnies but I really don't have any move I want to get rid of. Toxic could be redundant with T-Spikes but I find that they serve different purposes and T-Spikes don't hit flying stuff and some good players with a toxic weakness will have a poison switch-in to absorb them. I could be running less speed but with all the fast Heatrans running around now I decided to keep the spread provided.
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Mega-Sharpedo
Ability: Speed Boost→Strong Jaw
EVs: 236 Atk / 92 SpA / 180 Spe
Naughty Nature
- Crunch
- Hydro Pump
- Protect
- Destiny Bond
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The post in the good cores thread advised EQ in the last slot but I have a Garchomp for that so I changed it to Destiny Bond to stop stuff that I allowed to set up. Hydro Pump could always be switched out but I like being able to hide it even though this thing is not touching mixed defense hippo or chomp. I found that teasing the mega once and actually mega evolving lategame is the best way to gain value out of it. I also played a bunch of M-Houndoom back in march so I'm not going to be psychologically crushed by using my mega as just fodder. Shit this could be a mega latias and the team would still work but I liked the idea of using the double shark combo.
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Dragalge
Ability: Adaptability
EVs: 224 HP / 252 SpA / 32 Spe
Modest Nature
- Draco Meteor
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Sludge Wave
- Toxic Spikes
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When this thing came out it looked like it was going to be the next big thing, but it's actually UU in usage. Apparently speed is a thing, I guess, but that could be used to our advantage. Only non-ferrothorn steels switch into this and that's what it has Toxic Spikes for. It's a shame because clicking specs draco and typing !dt switch-in in chat was always fun but we have to squeeze whatever versatility we can out of it I guess.
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Scizor
Ability: Technician
EVs: 248 HP / 112 Atk / 148 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Bullet Punch
- U-turn
- Superpower
- Pursuit
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I enjoyed running 252+ def defog mega scizor on an old M-Latias team, but my mega was taken and I had a special weakness. I knew that I was baiting latis with my other stuff so pursuit would be good and I knew I wanted my steel type to be AV because I had Chomp and potentially Dragalge to take a fighting type attack. In the end it came down to whether I wanted a reliable knock off user or a reliable priority user. I had to go way back to find a decent spread for AV scizor, knowing that I was committing to not having any recovery but the calcs are pretty interesting:
252 SpA Life Orb Latios Hidden Power Fire vs. 248 HP / 148 SpD Assault Vest Scizor: 234-276 (68.2 - 80.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
112+ Atk Scizor U-turn vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Latios: 272-324 (90.3 - 107.6%) -- 43.8% chance to OHKO
252+ SpA Mega Venusaur Hidden Power Fire vs. 248 HP / 148 SpD Assault Vest Scizor: 188-224 (54.8 - 65.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
112+ Atk Scizor U-turn vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Latios: 272-324 (90.3 - 107.6%) -- 43.8% chance to OHKO
252+ SpA Mega Venusaur Hidden Power Fire vs. 248 HP / 148 SpD Assault Vest Scizor: 188-224 (54.8 - 65.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
I could pump the SpD even higher but with U-Turn OHKOing Latios after rocks I actually really like this spread. Superpower over Knock Off for Steel types might be redundant.
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Keldeo-Resolute
Ability: Justified
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Scald
- Secret Sword
- Calm Mind
- Substitute
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No innovation here.
I needed a pokemon that would switch in and out and attempt to set up with 0 cost of opportunity since that's what the meta is about now and I already had plenty of anti-steel coverage (and ice weaknesses) so Lando-I was redundant and I went with this.
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Thundurus
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Thunder Wave
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power Ice
- Psychic
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This thing revenge kills stuff and it punches through walls. Any fast wallbreaker will do honestly, I was just curious to try this thing out after the hype for it has died out.
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Closing Thoughts
I would like to thank AD Impish John and Astroboy for the core, TheBumbleBeeBoy who is actually in the process of making a tea, around the M-Sharpedo/Garchomp core himself and FalseHopes for the layout that I cloned.
Garchomp @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Rough Skin
EVs: 252 HP / 164 Def / 92 Spe
Impish Nature
- Earthquake
- Toxic
- Stealth Rock
- Dragon Tail
Sharpedo @ Sharpedonite
Ability: Speed Boost
EVs: 236 Atk / 92 SpA / 180 Spe
Naughty Nature
- Crunch
- Hydro Pump
- Protect
- Destiny Bond
Dragalge @ Draco Plate
Ability: Adaptability
EVs: 224 HP / 252 SpA / 32 Spe
Modest Nature
- Draco Meteor
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Sludge Wave
- Toxic Spikes
Scizor @ Assault Vest
Ability: Technician
EVs: 248 HP / 112 Atk / 148 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Bullet Punch
- U-turn
- Superpower
- Pursuit
Keldeo-Resolute @ Leftovers
Ability: Justified
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Scald
- Secret Sword
- Calm Mind
- Substitute
Thundurus @ Life Orb
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Thunder Wave
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power Ice
- Focus Blast
Ability: Rough Skin
EVs: 252 HP / 164 Def / 92 Spe
Impish Nature
- Earthquake
- Toxic
- Stealth Rock
- Dragon Tail
Sharpedo @ Sharpedonite
Ability: Speed Boost
EVs: 236 Atk / 92 SpA / 180 Spe
Naughty Nature
- Crunch
- Hydro Pump
- Protect
- Destiny Bond
Dragalge @ Draco Plate
Ability: Adaptability
EVs: 224 HP / 252 SpA / 32 Spe
Modest Nature
- Draco Meteor
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Sludge Wave
- Toxic Spikes
Scizor @ Assault Vest
Ability: Technician
EVs: 248 HP / 112 Atk / 148 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Bullet Punch
- U-turn
- Superpower
- Pursuit
Keldeo-Resolute @ Leftovers
Ability: Justified
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Scald
- Secret Sword
- Calm Mind
- Substitute
Thundurus @ Life Orb
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Thunder Wave
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power Ice
- Focus Blast
EDIT: as suggested I switched out Tyrantrum for Thundurus, with Focus Blast over Psychic to help my Ferrothorn matchup
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