ORAS OU Weapon X: The Return of Zard X

[You...You...]

Introduction​

Hello and welcome to my first ever RMT featuring Mega Charizard X! Before making this team I was going through the teams I had made during ORAS, a solid 50 or so, and noticed I had no team made with either Zard form that I hadn't immediately scrapped (I'd made some terrible ones for fun laddering that fell flat on their faces beyond 1600). In order to see if the recent viability rankings nomination for Charizard X to S rank was valid I decided to make a team around it. At first I was sceptical, due to the prominence of new Megas like Mega Altaria and Mega Diancie (who actually takes 75% from Jolly +1 Flare Blitz) but eventually this team turned out to be one of my best and absolute favourite teams, getting me to an OU Mini Tour final in which I choked away a guaranteed win and made it so I had to hit two Hurricanes in a row to win. Of course, I missed and lost the tour. But I digress, this is my favourite team I've made in ORAS and I hope you enjoy my RMT! :)

Team at a Glance

Teambuilding Process

Teambuilding Process

Charizard X was my starting point being a deadly sweeper and an amazing win-condition with his amazing power, reasonable bulk and an (almost) unique typing which lets him set up on a wide variety of pokemon. Before I made this team I'd already decided not to use a Serperior in tandem with Zard X because, as I found out when building one of the Zard X teams I eventually scrapped around the time of the Metagross suspect, I find Serperior very restricting when I teambuild as it gears the team to a more offensive style of play while my favourite playstyle and the one I'm best at building is balance. So yeah the smug snake is not making an appearance this time round.

Using Charizard 101: Always have hazard removal. This is a set-in-stone teambuilding law and one I decided to immediately attend to. I initially went with Latios to lure Heatran with the Defog+STABs+EQ set to free up Charizard's 4th moveslot for Roost but as the team took shape I needed Roost more and more to check Keldeo and eventually I ended up changing the set as the rest of the team deals quite well with Heatran. However Latios is here to stay as Keldeo is scary and the extra power is quite useful for reasons that will be covered later in the RMT.

It's no accident that Keldeo finds his its way onto the vast majority of my teams. His Its versatility, wallbreaking capabilities, dark resistance and his its ability to break past his its counters by sheer power and scald burns were all highly appealing characteristics that makes him it find his its way onto my team. Nvm:Keldeo is genderless.

Next I added a defensive core that makes up the defensive backbone of my team. Ferrothorn and Hippowdon blanket check a massive amount of the metagame checking the plethora of threats that up until now destroyed my team. This pair also add a hazard stacking element to my team which works well with the rest of my team as the rest of my team, especially Keldeo and Latios, force a lot of switches.

The final member of my team underwent a number of changes and in the end it was a choice between Thundurus and Tornadus-T. While Thundy brought a lot of useful things to the table, in the end I went with Torn-T due to his consistency, pivoting prowess and the ability to do something useful no matter what the circumstance. There's a reason Tornadus-T is being nommed for S rank and if it wasn't for his desperate need for glasses whenever he uses Hurricane I would probably support it.

Anyway that's the current version of the team at a glance. Now it's time to go in depth.

Team In Depth

Weapon X (Charizard-Mega-X) @ Charizardite X
Ability: Tough Claws
EVs: 72 HP / 252 Atk / 184 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Dragon Claw
- Flare Blitz
- Roost

The star of the team, the primary win-con, the new S rank, the guy who has the weirdest moustache I've ever seen: Weapon X. By virtue of his monstrous attack, Tough Claws, his awesome typing and Dragon Dance Charizard X is one of the best sweepers in the game. Dragon Dance, Dragon Claw and Flare Blitz are staples and are on almost every Charizard X moveset. The final moveslot is the only one that's customizable and for mine I chose Roost for longevity. Roost enables Charizard not only to fire off his powerful attacks early game but it also allows Charizard to set up more Dragon Dances on pokemon who do a moderate amount to him (around 30-40%) when he does decide to attempt to close out the game. The EVs in speed allow Charizard to outspeed Scarf Lando-T at +1 and the rest is dumped in bulk.

Streak (Latios) @ Life Orb
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Defog
- Roost
- Draco Meteor
- Thunderbolt/Psyshock

Hazard removal is an essential aspect of teambuilding as a whole under normal circumstances but when you have a Charizard on your team the importance of hazard removal increases tenfold. Latios, widely regarded as the best hazard remover in the tier (along with his sister), provides essential hazard removal for this team. Originally I ran EQ over Roost and Psyshock over T-bolt but ever since I chose Tornadus-T for the final slot the need for luring Heatran has decreased and the need for checking Keldeo has increased. So now I'm running Roost and T-bolt which helps against bulky waters such as Slowbro (especially important for Zard), Manaphy and Suicune without dropping my special attack. The rest of the moveset is entirely standard and self-explanatory. Psyshock has been slashed because of its consistency and either move can be used in that slot.

Arion (Keldeo) @ Choice Specs
Ability: Justified
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Scald
- Secret Sword
- Hydro Pump
- Icy Wind Hidden Power Electric

Specs Keldeo fills this teamslot providing a much needed dark resist, wallbreaking prowess and an immense amount of pressure on the opposing team by virtue of its power and the most bullshit move in the game: Scald. Keldeo also deals with quite a few mons that would be very annoying for this team otherwise such as Chansey, Bisharp and Weavile. Its moveset is quite standard so there's not much to explain but I guess HP Flying could be used as extra insurance vs Mega Venusaur but even now that Latios doesn't have Psyshock, Tornadus-T deals with VenuTran quite effectively. Hidden Power Electric replaces psyshock to hit Slowbro, Starmie and other waters that feel safe switching into Keldeo.

Barb (Ferrothorn) @ Leftovers
Ability: Iron Barbs
EVs: 252 HP / 88 Def / 168 SpD
Relaxed Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Spikes
- Leech Seed
- Gyro Ball
- Protect

The first part of my defensive hazard-stacking core and an amazing check to a wide array of threats by virtue of its typing and solid mixed bulk, Ferrothorn does some essential work for this team, keeping quite a number of 'mons at bay that would otherwise slice through this team. Additionally Ferrothorn is one of the most annoying 'mons in the game to take down, healing incessantly with Leech Seed and Leftovers combined with protect. The EVs are the standard spread to survive two +3 Ice Beams from Manaphy and the moveset is just the standard spikes set that forgoes Power Whip.

Block (Hippowdon) @ Leftovers
Ability: Sand Force
EVs: 252 HP / 144 Def / 112 SpD
Impish Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Slack Off
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge​

It's not hard to see why Hippowdon's usage has spiked recently. The biggest reason is his amazing bulk which allows him to blanket check a wide array of threats including some that are extremely hard to check such as Mega Metagross, Bisharp and Mega Lopunny. For my team Hippowdon also provides a much needed Talonflame check (hence Stone Edge>Whirlwind) and Stealth Rocks. The EV spread is the standard mixed defensive spread, avoiding the 2HKO from Life Orb Thundurus's and Mega Manectric's Hidden Power Ice while maintaining massive defensive presence on the physical side.

Tornadus-Therian @ Life Orb Assault Vest
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 76 Atk / 216 SpA / 216 Spe EVs: 132 HP / 124 SpA / 252 Spe
Naive Timid Nature
- Hurricane
- U-turn
- Knock Off
- Superpower

An amazingly consistent pivot, widely regarded as one of the best pokemon in the current meta, Tornadus-Therian occupies the final slot of this team. Its main selling point and one of the reasons it is so good is the way he punishes switches; be it by doing a heavy amount of damage with Hurricane before U-turning out, Knocking Off the opponent's item or generating momentum with U-turn, Tornadus-T forces switches and then punishes the opponent for it by capitalising on it. This is absolutely amazing if you combine this with the hazards set up by my defensive hazard stacking duo of Hippowdon and Ferrothorn. While there are benefits of having Thundurus in this slot, I feel like I made the right choice by going with Tornadus-T though you're welcome to disagree in the comments. This slot is probably the biggest reason I'm doing this RMT.

Conclusion, Threat List and Importable​

Overall this team functions really well and it's really efficient at getting Charizard X sweep. I hope you enjoyed my RMT and my team. Bye!

Threat List

This team is not without weaknesses. Here are a few major threats to the team.

-(Specifically the Bulk Up variant) BU Talonflame destroys my team if I let it get going.

- Gengar tosses this team. I have virtually no switchins, only revenge killers. I have considered AV on Torn but I really like the damage output of LO.

- I have very little switchins to LO if Hippo is weakened

- Ferrothorn checks this well and Hippowdon can sort of take it on if it is unboosted when Hippo comes in but if it is partnered with Mag or Ferrothorn gets taken out/weakened, this thing destroys my team.

- I lack a safe switchin to this thing so it can do quite a bit of work. Ferrothorn can kinda of handle it if at full but honestly this is a one time thing meaning Gardevoir can get out of hand pretty quickly. Thank god it isn't very common.

- While it needs my team to be a bit weakened, it is tricky to handle; especially late game.

Importable

Weapon X (Charizard-Mega-X) @ Charizardite X
Ability: Tough Claws
EVs: 72 HP / 252 Atk / 184 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Dragon Claw
- Flare Blitz
- Roost

Streak (Latios) @ Life Orb
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Defog
- Roost
- Draco Meteor
- Thunderbolt

Arion (Keldeo) @ Choice Specs
Ability: Justified
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Scald
- Secret Sword
- Hydro Pump
- Hidden Power [Electric]

Barb (Ferrothorn) @ Leftovers
Ability: Iron Barbs
EVs: 252 HP / 88 Def / 168 SpD
Relaxed Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Spikes
- Leech Seed
- Gyro Ball
- Protect

Block (Hippowdon) @ Leftovers
Ability: Sand Force
EVs: 252 HP / 144 Def / 112 SpD
Impish Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Slack Off
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge

Tornadus-Therian @ Assault Vest
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 132 HP / 124 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Hurricane
- U-turn
- Knock Off
- Superpower

All changes will be marked in bold red.

 

[Tushar Cool]

Hi there :),Nice RMT n_n , It looks like your threatlist is in complete,add Mega alt, mega Alakazam and Mega gardevoir to the threat list,i am probably missing something :p. Actually Mega Alakazam Runs Focus blast so it can ohko Ferro and there are also special altaria variants around,also did megataria runs Fire blast :],You are also weak to grass knot Mega metagross :p.Actually Hippo can use stone edge on but variant it 2hkos even after burn so when u decrease its HP ,it gonna roost so u can easily knock it out using eq but its a big deal I know :3.

Now ,Your team looks weak to a few common OU threats I will try my best to fix it :3.

I am back :),let's fix your team now ^_^

• First of all run Psyshock on Latios it does same damage to almost all poke that it hits SE using tbolt and Psyshock let's u deal in the defense stats of Pokemon for ex - Gengar , Dragagle etc. Also Psyshock has stab so it hits Pokemons with more power than any other move(if both moves are neutral :p).

You can try Jirachi over Ferrothorn,it helps u to deal with Mega Gardevoir and Mega Metagross :] ,it can also do damage to Mega Altaria but it got 2hko'ed by its earthquake :(

If you can fit an AV Raikou somewhere it will work great with Jirachi and Tor-t it counters Gengar,Mega Alakazam and non Superpower tor-t.

We know that Raikou Lacks recovery,so Jirachi can give it recovery with wish and get the momentum going with Volt-turn statergy ^_^.

You can Also try out Analytic's suggestions I mean u should try those out and add whatever fits your team well ,I think u can use Raikou over Keldeo :x.(tbolt > HP electric :p).

Sets

Jirachi @ Leftovers
Ability: Serene Grace
EVs: 252 HP / 224 SpD / 32 Spe
Careful Nature
- Iron Head
- U-turn / Thunder Wave
- Wish
- Protect / Thunder Wave

Raikou @ Assault Vest
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 SpA / 32 SpD / 224 Spe
Timid Nature
- Thunderbolt
- Volt Switch
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Shadow Ball

Actually if u will use thunder wave or body slam on Jirachi u can paraflinch Mega Altaria if u dont want to use thunder wave then u have to deal with mega Alt as fast as u can,your team is weak to it :(.


P.S. Good Luck,Have Fun ^_^

 

[p2]

Cool team, but some changes I would make are changing Tornadus-T's EV spread to 76 Atk / 180 SpA / 252 Spe (if you want to keep using the Life Orb set, if not, use Analytics spread) so you do not get outsped by nonmega Alakazam. And you could also run a spread of 40 HP / 252 Atk / 216 Spe on Charizard as this means Scarf Kyurem-B can't revenge kill you.

And as Charilax Blastler mentioned, you can cover your Gardevoir and Altaria weakness easily by running Jirachi > Ferrothorn. A lure set with Shuca Berry can easily shrug off an Earthquake from Altaria then proceed to Paraflinch it. However, this makes you very weak to Torn-T with Heat Wave and it makes you weaker to Gengar.

set

Jirachi @ Shuca Berry
Ability: Serene Grace
EVs: 252 HP / 72 Atk / 168 SpD / 16 Spe
Adamant Nature
- U-turn
- Iron Head
- Fire Punch / Ice Punch
- Thunder Wave

 

[Analytic]

Hello bud, great looking team and I found it to be really solid.

My only change would be trying out Assault Vest Tornadus-T over the current Life Orb set with an EV spread of 132 HP / 124 SpA / 252 Spe with a Timid nature. This solves a lot of problems that you currently face against stuff like LO/M-Alakazam, Gengar, checks M-Gardevoir and Tornadus-T rather well. This also gives you a secondary switch-in to Specs Keldeo which wears down Latios to a great extent so having a secondary switch-in is nice as Regenerator heals off some damage that you have taken from it as well as functioning as a more reliable pivot than the LO variant of Tornadus-T.

This is a minor suggestion but I think you should definitely try it out, try HP Electric over any move that you feel hasn't worked out for you so far on Keldeo and replace Thunderbolt on Latios with Psyshock. I feel Psyshock is kinda neccesary to hit Amoonguss and Tentacruel and get off more damage on Assault Vest variants of Raikou and Tornadus-T than with Draco Meteor/Thunderbolt. HP Electric on Keldeo as Slowbro and Starmie are common switch-ins so it often catches them off guard. Psyshock also allows you to hit M-Altaria and M-Gardevoir for more damage, if that situation ever arises.



Hope I helped.

 

[Yoda2798]

Hi there, and a very nice team you have!

As above posters have recommended, I would change your Torn-T to a bulkier AV set to better check threats such as Gengar, Zam and Keldeo.

I would debate that Psyshock is better than Thunderbolt on Latios, as Draco already hits bulky Water types, while Psychock helps more against threats such as Altaria, Gengar and Mega Garde.

Leftovers, Leech Seed and Protect on Ferro are a good combination, but I think Power Whip helps more against Manaphy and Mega Gyara.

 

[You...You...]

Hi everyone, thank you so much for the rates! They really did help a lot.

Tornadus-T- Agree: I will definitely change it to AV and the spread provided. Thanks Analytic!

Jirachi>Ferrothorn- Disagree: I'm not making this change. Jirachi will make me a lot weaker to Gengar, Mega Diancie and Mega Altaria (fleggumfl- Jirachi actually makes me weaker to Mega Altaria since Ferro deals with it barring the rare(ish) Fire Blast) in exchange for helping me against the far more rare Mega Gardevoir and Mega Metagross who is already dealt with reasonably well by Hippowdon. Also Charilax Blastler, AV Raikou would be nice to have but I can't fit it in the six slots available to me (no I am not replacing Keldeo who is my only dark resist).

Hidden Power Electric>Icy Wind on Keldeo: I agree with this, I never find myself using Icy Wind anyway.

Psyshock>T-bolt on Latios- Unconvinced but open-minded: First off I'll restate the benefits of Thunderbolt. It allows me to deal/weaken bulky waters without dropping my special attack meaning I can drop a Draco on the pokemon switching in after I've Thunderbolted the bulky water the first time. It also allows me to beat the bulky waters who just recover on the turn that I would normally Draco, thinking they can just stay in and continue causing problems after my special attack has dropped (think Slowbro, Alomomola etc). That's basically the thinking behind Thunderbolt. Now to reply to your comments on the subject.

• First of all run Psyshock on Latios it does same damage to almost all poke that it hits SE using tbolt and Psyshock let's u deal in the defense stats of Pokemon for ex - Gengar , Dragagle etc. Also Psyshock has stab so it hits Pokemons with more power than any other move(if both moves are neutral :p).

The only reason I'd be staying in with Gengar with my Latios is if I'm desperate in which case I can still Draco and Dragalgae is annhilated by Draco and probably won't be staying in for this reason meaning I'll probably be better off using Draco on the switch anyway. Yes, Psyshock has STAB but I still have another STAB and Thunderbolt is useful for the reasons stated above.

replace Thunderbolt on Latios with Psyshock. I feel Psyshock is kinda neccesary to hit Amoonguss and Tentacruel and get off more damage on Assault Vest variants of Raikou and Tornadus-T than with Draco Meteor/Thunderbolt. Psyshock also allows you to hit M-Altaria and M-Gardevoir for more damage, if that situation ever arises.

Thunderbolt already hits Tentacruel for admittedly less damage, not that it matters because 1. Tentacruel is likely to switch and 2. Tentacruel can't do shit to you so that point is irrelevant. Amoongus is easily taken advantage of; its some free spikes for Ferrothorn, it gets destroyed by Tornadus, it can be set-up fodder for Zard X if something is already asleep and so on. If anything, for most of the match I'd almost prefer peaceful coexistence with Amoongus. Getting off more damage on Raikou and Torn-T is nice, as is hitting Mega Garde and Alt for more, but realistically those situations won't happen often and when they do happen my Latios is likely being sacked off and will die on the following turn (also specifically in the case of Torn and possibly in the of Raikou, it would likely U-Turn out of my expecting the switch).

I'm still open to having Psyshock over Thunderbolt but I haven't really heard a convincing enough reason yet.

Anyway enough of that, thank you all for the insight, I'll update the OP as soon as I can!

 

[Tushar Cool]

Hi everyone, thank you so much for the rates! They really did help a lot.

Tornadus-T- Agree: I will definitely change it to AV and the spread provided. Thanks Analytic!
Jirachi>Ferrothorn- Disagree: I'm not making this change. Jirachi will make me a lot weaker to Gengar, Mega Diancie and Mega Altaria (fleggumfl- Jirachi actually makes me weaker to Mega Altaria since Ferro deals with it barring the rare(ish) Fire Blast) in exchange for helping me against the far more rare Mega Gardevoir and Mega Metagross who is already dealt with reasonably well by Hippowdon. Also Charilax Blastler, AV Raikou would be nice to have but I can't fit it in the six slots available to me (no I am not replacing Keldeo who is my only dark resist).
Hidden Power Electric>Icy Wind on Keldeo: I agree with this, I never find myself using Icy Wind anyway.
Psyshock>T-bolt on Latios- Unconvinced but open-minded: First off I'll restate the benefits of Thunderbolt. It allows me to deal/weaken bulky waters without dropping my special attack meaning I can drop a Draco on the pokemon switching in after I've Thunderbolted the bulky water the first time. It also allows me to beat the bulky waters who just recover on the turn that I would normally Draco, thinking they can just stay in and continue causing problems after my special attack has dropped (think Slowbro, Alomomola etc). That's basically the thinking behind Thunderbolt. Now to reply to your comments on the subject.


The only reason I'd be staying in with Gengar with my Latios is if I'm desperate in which case I can still Draco and Dragalgae is annhilated by Draco and probably won't be staying in for this reason meaning I'll probably be better off using Draco on the switch anyway. Yes, Psyshock has STAB but I still have another STAB and Thunderbolt is useful for the reasons stated above.



Thunderbolt already hits Tentacruel for admittedly less damage, not that it matters because 1. Tentacruel is likely to switch and 2. Tentacruel can't do shit to you so that point is irrelevant. Amoongus is easily taken advantage of; its some free spikes for Ferrothorn, it gets destroyed by Tornadus, it can be set-up fodder for Zard X if something is already asleep and so on. If anything, for most of the match I'd almost prefer peaceful coexistence with Amoongus. Getting off more damage on Raikou and Torn-T is nice, as is hitting Mega Garde and Alt for more, but realistically those situations won't happen often and when they do happen my Latios is likely being sacked off and will die on the following turn (also specifically in the case of Torn and possibly in the of Raikou, it would likely U-Turn out of my expecting the switch).

I'm still open to having Psyshock over Thunderbolt but I haven't really heard a convincing enough reason yet.

Anyway enough of that, thank you all for the insight, I'll update the OP as soon as I can!

I agree that u hit gengar with draco but u also losses your Spatk but psyshock don't do so,Using Jirachi makes you weak against Mega Diancie(I never thought of that). Actually No!!!

252 SpA Mega Diancie Earth Power vs. 252 HP / 224+ SpD Jirachi: 170-200 (42 - 49.5%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Leftovers recovery <<<<< :),u already get Raikou for gengar with shadow ball so u r not weak to it anymore ^_^,Even Ferro makes u weak against Mega alt but if you use t wave on Mega alt and then paraflinch it ,it would be Great ^_^.

U can Calc versus Mega diancie if u don't believe ,choose the Ou wish maker jirachi and change its SpD to 224 :]…

P.S. Have a nice day :3.

 

[GotR]

Hey bro, (inset usual pleasantries here).

I'd just like to weigh in on the Latios 'psyshock or thunderbolt' issue. Psyshock is the core of literally all of the recommended Latios sets (Trick, Defog, and Calm Mind) because it provides a solid STAB move with good power, gives Latios an option against specially tanky mons and assault vest users, and is excellent against an array of fighting and poison mons prevalent in the tier. Basically, it deals more damage than Thunderbolt to anything you don't want to Draco, and provides better coverage. Thunderbolt, on the other hand, is really only useful as a coverage move against bulky waters - an archetype that is already handled by Draco Meteor. The only water pokemon that can survive 2 Draco Meteors - regardless of the SPA drop - is Azumarill, a pokemon that is 2hko by psyshock anyway. That includes your listed threats of Slowbro, Manaphy, and Suicune. Basically you're overestimating the downside of Draco and not considering the benefits of running Psyshock: yes, thunderbolt is slightly better in very particular cases, but by and large anything that you want to thunderbolt is dealt with already by Draco, and Psyshock provides you with so many more as the secondary move.

Hopefully that's enough to convince you. If not, I'll go bring up some calcs and bring in some more facts, maybe see if I can get one of the top OU players on this site to give their opinion. There's no debate in the general community about running Psyshock on Latios, and that should be an indicator that it's probably worth running.

At any rate, have a nice day and enjoy battling.

 

[Manndarin]

I'd like to nominate that a certain someone pretty much ruins your team,which is zard y,since he can wreck train on your team when hippowdon is out of the game.It can solar beam your water types,Air Slash/Dragon Pulse your Zard-X and latios,and solar beam your keldeo.For this,I recommend switching out Hippowdon for Manaphy,as it can setup a rain dance.

Hide

Zard Y Counter (Manaphy) @ Leftovers
Ability: Hydration
EVs: 108 HP / 252 SpA / 148 Spe
Timid Nature
- Rain Dance
- Tail Glow
- Scald
- Ice Beam

148 speed timid lets you outspeed zard y so you can setup a free rain dance and avoid a possible solar beam and then go into your ferrothorn for free spikes.252 Special attack for some attack power and the rest dumped into HP.

 

[HenpeckedBow5]

Sorry about late response. I tried this team out and it was very solid with the changes. But I disagree when you mega gross and mega gardevoir are not common. They are extremely common. Jiracho>Ferrothorn is great if Raikou>Keldeo.