ORAS OU Diancing Queen, Hyper Offense! (Peaked #10 1904 Elo)

[hero]

Kill me for that title. The truth is I have played with this team for a while and I can't seem to find more ways to improve it, even though I know it can be improved. Two heads are better than one, and by two heads I mean the entire Rate My Team forum. I hope you guys can help me out :D

Before I start with the team I think is worth mentioning that I didn't have any real teambuilding process in the sense of building around one or two Pokemon (maybe that's my problem, who knows). Hyper Offense is my favorite playstyle. I wanted a team in which I can carry momentum by using powerful attackers, priority and setup moves and making my opponents pay for their mistakes giving me a chance to setup with one of my sweepers.

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Skarmory @ Custap Berry
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 160 HP / 96 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Brave Bird
- Taunt
- Stealth Rock
- Spikes

Skarmory is my suicide lead, it's there to lay Stealth Rock and a layer of Spike if possible and start pressuring teams from the start. Taunt prevents fat mons to do their thing while I'm working and Brave Bird is just to eliminate any momentum my opponent could've won (i.e Dancing Pokes like Charizard or Volcarona) it also nails some KOs on the likes of Lop or Keldeo when I'm on Custap. Speaking of which, I'm using 0 SpDef IVs and Naive Nature for weaker special moves such as scarf keldeo scald to bring me down to sturdy so I can setup another Spike or kill him.

Bisharp (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Defiant
EVs: 32 HP / 252 Atk / 224 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Knock Off
- Iron Head
- Sucker Punch
- Swords Dance

This is just a staple on most of my offensive teams. Bisharp has everything he can ask for, an amazing ability, great offensive typing, decent speed and just a great Atk Stat to back it up. Bisharp is my anti-defogger and it's just great at it. I think we all know what all these moves are for so I'm not going to bother explaining them. Bisharp punishes Defog users and pairs really well with Skarmory (offensively it is). I'm pretty happy with this guy and I can't see myself changing him.

Scizor @ Life Orb
Ability: Technician
EVs: 32 HP / 252 Atk / 224 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Bullet Punch
- Bug Bite
- Superpower
- Swords Dance

Scizor pairs amazingly with Bisharp, weakening each others checks and counters aka Physical OU Walls. As Skarmory most of the time has to sacrifice 90% just to Defog on Bisharp, Scizor appreciates that (the same can be applied to Helmet Chomp). 216 Speed with an Adamant Nature gives me enough speed to outspeed SpDef Heatran and the fastest variant of Defensive Rotom-W you can find. 252 Atk because we wanna hit as hard as possible and the rest in HP for some bulk. Bisharp and Scizor can trade their roles as sweepers and are really solid wincons.

Diancie @ Diancite
Ability: Clear Body
EVs: 68 Atk / 252 SpA / 188 Spe
Rash Nature
- Rock Polish
- Moonblast
- Diamond Storm
- Earth Power

The Mega of my team, I was thinking of ways of not getting swept by Talonflame and not get stalled by the annoyance of Mega Sab when this thing came to the picture and man, this thing is just so good against those team archetypes. Being one of the few mons that after it mega evolves doesn't fear anything from Sableye and Talonflame is something that I can respect (unless Steel Wing is a thing). Moonblast is a powerful STAB move and with a Rash Nature does ridiculous amounts of damage and often can sweep late game. Diamond Storm is my mixed attacking alternative, getting the OHKO on Talonflame, Char X and hitting lots of stuff hard on the switch, is also a good alternative if a Clef starts CMing on you as you go for moonblast first and Diamond Storm should be able to pick him off (although usually hard switching into one of your steels is a better option). Earth Power hits Steel and Electric types offering great coverage. Last but not least, Rock Polish over Protect, this is my personal choice as it's almost an instant win against some offensive teams late game. Of course the EVs are optimized for Rock Polish (I just stole them from Smogon LOL)

Garchomp (M) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Rough Skin
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant/Naughty Nature
- Outrage
- Earthquake
- Dragon Claw
- Stone Edge/Fire Blast

Garchomp is the #1 Pokemon in the usage stats and it's funny how it's because of its bulk. I decided to go old school and since I needed a ground type and I lacked inmediate speed, I decided to try something that's been in my mind for a long time, and it is the good old Scarf Garchomp, with an +Atk Nature gets the OHKO on a lot of mons such as Mega Gardevoir, Thundurus, Torn and it's just amazing how it can clean up games once his inmunities are gone, which is something my team does really well in my experience. Outrage just is so spammable once the fairy/steel cores are weakened/gone. Earthquake functions in a similar way. Once Flying Types and levitate users are gone it wrecks havoc. Dragon Claw is just a reliable STAB so I can revenge kill things like Mega Char X after a DD or Gyarados. Stone Edge is the move I'm using currently and it just grabs the KO on Togekiss and Char Y, the first one being quite popular on that Shedinja Stall. Fire Blast can be used if you don't trust your hazards and offensive presence to wear down Mega Scizor, which can be a problem. Scarf Garchomp just a great revenge killer and late game cleaner.

Thundurus @ Life Orb
Ability: Defiant
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Thunderbolt
- Focus Blast
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Grass Knot

Thundurus was the last mon I added and I honestly don't know what to say about it. If there's a mon I'm open to replace It'd be this one.
I wanted an EQ inmunity and I also felt like Quagsire could be a problem, so Thundurus can lure him in and get the KO with Grass Knot. STAB Thunderbolt is amazingly strong and spammable and athe coverage is just insane, as you can hit almost everything in the metagame. Focus Blast destroys Ttar, Ferro and Tran on the switch and HP Ice is just coverage for the x4 weak mons. Defiant over Prankster because I don't have any non-attacking moves so at least I can bluff a physical/mixed set switching on a defog if Bisharp isn't an option.

That's pretty much the team, it has some really bad matchups that I would like to hear your suggestions in order to improve them.

Bulky Starmie: This mons disrupts my evil plan of hazards by spinning and not giving a crap about Brave Bird, as it's just so fat. If I'm lucky and it doesn't burn me with Scald I can kill myself with Brave Bird before he can spin but from there it's just my luck and me.

Lead Breloom: If I lose the speed tie turn 1 with my Skarmory I can say good bye to two mons. I can play around it but I take tons of damage and I can't setup.

Custap Lead Skarmory: Similar to Loom, If I lose the speed tie I'm in a bad position.

Good Players: They're just too good, I lose instantly.


Welp, that's pretty much it, help is appreciated, thanks for reading and if you want to try it out, go ahead, no refunds.

Hide

Skarmory @ Custap Berry
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 160 HP / 96 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Brave Bird
- Taunt
- Stealth Rock
- Spikes

Garchomp (M) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Rough Skin
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Outrage
- Earthquake
- Dragon Claw
- Stone Edge/Fire Blast

Bisharp (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Defiant
EVs: 32 HP / 252 Atk / 224 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Knock Off
- Iron Head
- Sucker Punch
- Swords Dance

Diancie @ Diancite
Ability: Clear Body
EVs: 68 Atk / 252 SpA / 188 Spe
Rash Nature
- Rock Polish
- Moonblast
- Diamond Storm
- Earth Power

Scizor @ Life Orb
Ability: Technician
EVs: 32 HP / 252 Atk / 224 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Bullet Punch
- Bug Bite
- Superpower
- Swords Dance

Thundurus @ Life Orb
Ability: Defiant
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Thunderbolt
- Focus Blast
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Grass Knot

​

 

[Blackdrakon30]

That is a beautiful team to be honest, (In my opinion). The scizor, skarmory and bisharp carry a common weakness to fire, but you manage to cover that with diancie and garchomp. Thunderus generally is skilled with nasty plot, but if you are worried about quagsire and mega swampert and such, your set works well. Just watch out for fire types that garchomp and diancie might have troubles handling, however, that should not be much of an issue. Skarmory could run roost rather than spikes, but as you are running hyper-offense that isn't really necessary. The team has excellent synergy in my eyes, or at least off of what I have observes in my reviewing of your team. Thunderus, if anything, is your weak link to some extent, and if you wanted to replace him, you could maybe use zapdos with air cutter and thunderbolt, as it might have better STAB options to cover the threats you listed. But nice team though.

 

[hero]

That is a beautiful team to be honest, (In my opinion). The scizor, skarmory and bisharp carry a common weakness to fire, but you manage to cover that with diancie and garchomp. Thunderus generally is skilled with nasty plot, but if you are worried about quagsire and mega swampert and such, your set works well. Just watch out for fire types that garchomp and diancie might have troubles handling, however, that should not be much of an issue. Skarmory could run roost rather than spikes, but as you are running hyper-offense that isn't really necessary. The team has excellent synergy in my eyes, or at least off of what I have observes in my reviewing of your team. Thunderus, if anything, is your weak link to some extent, and if you wanted to replace him, you could maybe use zapdos with air cutter and thunderbolt, as it might have better STAB options to cover the threats you listed. But nice team though.

Thanks for your rate! Spikes is mandatory on Skarm as it helps get KOs with strong unboosted attacks like Bisharp' Sucker Punch. I've never considered Zapdos before as it's just so common as a defensive mon but definitely gonna try it out, since it gets many useful coverage moves.
Thanks for reading!

 

[ShadowMinbari]

Amazing team man, using it on ORAS currently, thanks for sharing!

 

[FlamingVictini]

Yo buddy,
iirc you smashed me w/ this using Zam > Thund? Anyway I have a few things to point out 1 by 1, and i'm certainly gonna use this team :D

Firstly, on Bisharp, I really prefer Jolly SD as the extra speed is pretty nice especially for other bisharp which could be a huge threat at +2 or +4 vs your team. I would simply go Max Max on the EVs and run 29 HP IVs for your LO number, but if you don't like that I would go 32 / 224 / 252.

On Scizor, I would drop 8 HP Evs for Speed EVS to get a spread of 32 HP / 252 Atk / 224 Spe as this gives you a LO number and a little bit of spreed creep. Alternatively you could just go a simple max max spread to maximize scizor's speed with an adamant nature.

On Diancie i would go with a spread of 68 Atk / 252 Satk / 188 Spe. Yours currently has a mistake and underspeeds Jolly Drill by 1 point after mega rather than outspeeding it, and i really prefer the extra attack than the random bulk. I really love RP Diancie especially if your team is built to direct game flow so it can mega and RP easily, I think you've used it pretty well but i'll test to make sure protect isn't better.

Now for Skarmory, there are 2 routes you can go. One is really frail, and the other is somewhat bulky (to live certain hits). A spread of 160 HP / 96 SDef / 252 Spe (and make all IVs 31) allows you to live a Choice Specs Scald + Burn from Keldeo and just set up more hazards in general (i find it kind of irrelevant that a scarf keldeo would lead. I find relying on custap to not be so useful as good players will make sure to not activate it most of the time while still killing you, so the extra bulk could be useful if you decide to switch. I also prefer Iron Head even though you have two steels as lead protect Diancie is very annoying, but I can understand why you want brave bird as it is generally stronger and also prevents Rapid Spin after u hit custap. To remedy this i have an interesting solution:

Since you are unsure about Thundurus, i propose Mismagius or Gengar > Thundurus. The are both solid spinblockers, one doing some jobs better than the other. Gengar seems like the more standard choice, as you can run Taunt 3 Atk to help vs stall and lead breloom as well as spinblock and be a strong special attacker. You can also run Energy Ball > Taunt as this gives you a solid chance to KO Specs Keld and immediately hurting Manaphy more than Sludge Wave and to snipe Hippo without playing any Taunt mind games (you can also bluff taunt vs breloom :D). However, Gengar is poor at spinblocking Bulky Psyshock Starmie which you listed as a threat, so instead Mismagius can be used over Gengar. With better SDef you no poison type you can take multiple hits and KO back, while also usually eating a hydro or psyshock from LO starmie as well. You also have a surprise factor and can try a LO Shadow Ball / Energy Ball / Nasty Plot / Destiny Bond. This will give you sweeping options with nasty plot, a surprise kill with destiny bond that also coveres for the lack of fighting/fairy coverage, and the desired and unexpected grass coverage to snipe threats you listed. I've fooled around with this set when playing NU vs OU and its surprisingly effective so worth considering as eccentric as it sounds. I'll leave the sets below, hope my changes will help and grats with the team! You're an aggressive player but your reads are mostly spot on nice job dude :]

Sets

Gengar @ Life Orb
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 29 HP / 0 Atk
- Shadow Ball
- Focus Blast
- Sludge Wave
- Taunt / Energy Ball

Mismagius @ Life Orb
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 32 HP / 224 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Shadow Ball
- Energy Ball
- Nasty Plot
- Destiny Bond

 

[hero]

ShadowMinbari No problem brah, appreciate it!

FlamingVictini Thanks for your rate!

I like adamant on bisharp since it gets some crucial KOs on frail pokemon like thundy, exca, torn, raikou, etc and the extra speed doesn't usually come into play, but i'm gonna give jolly a try as I can see it being useful against opposing bish and maybe some altaria sets.

I'm gonna give Scizor the LO number you suggested, as well as the Diancie spread, which is way better haha :] thanks!

I actually find really interesting that skarmory set, I've always used max max with my suicide skarms so I think this spread will be really interesting to try, I'll let you know how did it go! I'm still effy about Iron Head but if I take one of your ghost type suggestions then it should be fine

I'll try Mismagius and Gengar, I'm kinda leaning towards Gengar since Mismagius is still 2hko'ed by Psyshock on the switch and can't outspeed Starmie in return but I will definitely give it a shot, after all, theorymonning only gets one so far! I can see Destiny Bond in either Gengar or Mismagius being useful for supporting Diancie as Scizor and Ferro are common answers to these mons and getting rid of them can support a sweep for Diancie

Thank you!! :D

 

[Leftiez]

Hey there, this is an interesting team and i really like that kind of HO, Custap Lead Skarmory is funny to use and almost unbeatable at what he does, however there are some mistakes in your teambuilding at some points and that's why i'll give you a rate.

• I can notice a big weakness against Venusaur-Mega, it is very hard for you to play around it as it's carrying Hidden Power Fire, Scizor and Bisharp can't really come in. I'd suggest Latias Life Orb instead of Garchomp, Latias is really helpfull in your team as it can check water such as Rotom-W / Keldeo / Manaphy / Starmie without being forced to sac something (which was your case before this add), then Latias can also use Healing Wish as you're centralizing your team around setup, now you will be able to put a lot of pressure even though your main sweepers are weakned.

• Then i don't get why you're using that spread on Skarmory lead, it's counterproductive here, your goal is to make sure your opponent hits you so it can activate custap berry, but in this case you're giving bulk so it's harder for skarmory to activate its berry, you should use 252 Atk / Speed Jolly, like this you have more chance to be under 25% and then activate your berry for a last move and also do more damage with brave bird if you want to suicide after you got your Entry Hazards up.

• Last suggest would be to swap Focus Blast or Grass knot with Thunder Wave on Thundurus, Thunder Wave is very good here as it's a priority and can beat Fast threat in case it's becoming unmanageable, you can now paralyze pokemon such as Charizard-X, Gyarados, Lopunny, Altaria which is excellent for that kind of team.

I hope I helped and good luck with your team.

Latias

Latias (F) @ Life Orb
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Draco Meteor
- Psyshock
- Recover
- Healing Wish

 

[FlamingVictini]

Hey there, this is an interesting team and i really like that kind of HO, Custap Lead Skarmory is funny to use and almost unbeatable at what he does, however there are some mistakes in your teambuilding at some points and that's why i'll give you a rate.

• Then i don't get why you're using that spread on Skarmory lead, it's counterproductive here, your goal is to make sure your opponent hits you so it can activate custap berry, but in this case you're giving bulk so it's harder for skarmory to activate its berry, you should use 252 Atk / Speed Jolly, like this you have more chance to be under 25% and then activate your berry for a last move and also do more damage with brave bird if you want to suicide after you got your Entry Hazards up.

I hope I helped and good luck with your team.

I explained the reasoning behind that spread in my own rate and I'm guessing he liked it more than the really frail set so made the change, i'll paste that for you to read.
"Now for Skarmory, there are 2 routes you can go. One is really frail, and the other is somewhat bulky (to live certain hits). A spread of 160 HP / 96 SDef / 252 Spe (and make all IVs 31) allows you to live a Choice Specs Scald + Burn from Keldeo and just set up more hazards in general (i find it kind of irrelevant that a scarf keldeo would lead. I find relying on custap to not be so useful as good players will make sure to not activate it most of the time while still killing you, so the extra bulk could be useful if you decide to switch."

 

[hero]

Hey Leftiez thanks for rating! I wasn't home yesterday so thanks to FV for answering one of your points, I'm currently testing this bulkier Skarm set, as I was using the set you mentioned before.

• I can notice a big weakness against Venusaur-Mega, it is very hard for you to play around it as it's carrying Hidden Power Fire, Scizor and Bisharp can't really come in. I'd suggest Latias Life Orb instead of Garchomp, Latias is really helpfull in your team as it can check water such as Rotom-W / Keldeo / Manaphy / Starmie without being forced to sac something (which was your case before this add), then Latias can also use Healing Wish as you're centralizing your team around setup, now you will be able to put a lot of pressure even though your main sweepers are weakned.

Mega Venusaur is usually dealt with by the combination of Bisharp + Scizor, same thing with Rotom-W and Keldeo in some cases. I'm not really going to be switching out other than doubles and preserving a win condition. I'm going to try LO Latias because Healing Wish sounds pretty neat, although my main reason of no using the Lati twins is because a -2 Lati, especially Latias, gives my opponent an opportunity to setup which in this archetype could cost me the game. I'm still going to try it out because I don't like to theorymon everything.

• Last suggest would be to swap Focus Blast or Grass knot with Thunder Wave on Thundurus, Thunder Wave is very good here as it's a priority and can beat Fast threat in case it's becoming unmanageable, you can now paralyze pokemon such as Charizard-X, Gyarados, Lopunny, Altaria which is excellent for that kind of team.

Yeah Thunder Wave is nice as a panic button against setup mons, which could support the usage of Latias, because It wouldn't be instant gg if something sets up on me (besides rp lando or random lum mons). I'm going to test it using TWave > Focus Blast because I feel like I pressure both Ferro and Heatran enough with my team.

Oh and FlamingVictini the new spread for Skarmory is working great, although I ended up going with Brave Bird > Iron Head as the power of being able to kill myself and also of beating problematic mons such as loom, volc or keldeo on the first turns is way more appreciated! Thanks! As for spinblockers I'm still trying things out as getting rid of Thundurus actually hurts my matchup against Scizor and it's really hard to spinblock against starmie without using momentum killers like Sableye or Jellicent.

Maybe I'll just innovate and use Regular Hoopa :]