SM OU The Godly Trio - 1656 Elo Peak

[Pocopoco]

Hey everyone, Pocopoco here. This is my first SUMO RMT, I have done one or two in ORAS. I honestly feel like this is one of the best SUMO teams I have built so far and I have managed to peak 1656 on the ladder. However, I feel like the team can improve further (mainly the EV's). Enjoy this RMT and feel free to provide me with constructive criticism!

Proof of peak:

The team in depth
The two pokemon I built this team around, are Pheromosa and Mega Charizard Y.



Charizard @ Charizardite Y
Ability: Blaze
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Fire Blast
- Solar Beam
- Focus Blast
- Roost

The reason I chose to build around Zard-Y, is because I quickly realised how few switch ins it has in the current meta. It absolutely destroys or severely dents every mon in the tier, bar Mantine, Pelipper, Toxapex, Tyranitar, Chansey and Lati@s. Honestly, every time it can come in safely, it either gets a kill or severely weakens something. In ORAS I barely ever used it because I could not reliably remove rocks, but now that Tapu Fini is around, it's rather easy to keep rocks of the field most of the time.

The set is fairly straight forward, Fire blast is there to nuke every mon in the tier bar the ones I mentioned earlier. Solar Beam is there to hit hard bulky waters such as Tapu Fini and Rotom-W, which helps Pheromosa clean up later. Focus blast is there to hit Tyranitar and Heatran, which otherwise wall Zard-Y. Roost is there to keep Zard-Y healthy, which is useful to keep it alive and do more damage. This guy is definitely the MVP of the team.

Pheromosa @ Fightinium Z
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 224 SpA / 32 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
- Quiver Dance
- Bug Buzz
- Focus Blast
- Ice Beam

This thing is honestly so good. It's unpredictable, strong and fast. Originally I ran scarf on Mosa, but I decided to run Quiver Dance together with Fightinium Z and I do not regret switching the set at all. With Fightinium Z you can OHKO Metagross Mega and heavily dent or even OHKO Rotom-W (depending on its spread). What I usually do is Quiver Dance on something that is likely to switch out, such as Lando and then nuke the next switch in with its Z-move. I usually do this mid to late game when its checks are dead.

The spread im running gives me the special bulk I need to live a water shuriken from Greninja pretty much most of the time. Max speed to outspeed most things bar opposing (scarfed) pheromosa and other fast scarfers. Quiver Dance is there to use against mons that are basically forced to switch out. Ice beam kills Lando, Garchomp, which can otherwise take one hit. Bug Buzz is a stab move that hits hard. Focus Blast is there to hit basically all the steels (such as Celesteela, Heatran, M-Gross, Ferrothorn, M-Scizor, etc.) for insane damage. Zard Y + Pheromosa are terribly powerful and thats why I decided to build around them.



Zygarde @ Choice Band
Ability: Aura Break
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Thousand Arrows
- Outrage
- Extreme Speed
- Toxic

The third mon I chose is Zygarde. I opted for the Choice Band set because I felt like I did not need another setup mon. I chose Zygarde, because it quite reliably takes care of Toxapex and Chansey (to an extent, Tapu Fini helps with Chansey as well). The EV's are standard, max speed to outspeed as many things as possible, max attack to hit as hard as possible. I went for jolly to speed tie with Tapu Lele (not scarfed), but I am considering adamant to hit harder. Not sure what's better.

Thousand Arrows is an amazing move, since it is able to hit flying and levitating pokemon. It helps me kill/weaken pokemon that Zard-Y and Pheromosa struggle with (Chansey, Toxapex, Tapu Fini). Outrage to hit hard nearly everything besides steel and Fairy types. Extreme Speed is there because I have no other form of priority and its very useful to revenge kill Pheromosa and Greninja, for example. Toxic is there to poison a common switch in, like Lando, Tapu Bulu and Hippowdown, though I am not sure about the usefulness of this move.



Tapu Fini @ Leftovers
Ability: Misty Surge
EVs: 248 HP / 192 Def / 16 SpD / 52 Spe
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Moonblast
- Nature's Madness
- Taunt
- Defog

Tapu Fini is part of my team to get rid of rocks for Zard Y and the rest of the team. I feel like defog is necessary on almost every team, especially on mine. It's a very good defensive pivot and helps me against rain teams. It walls threats like Battle Bond Ash-Gren, Kingdra, Zard X (without T-Punch), etc. Moonblast is there for Zygarde, Lati@s, Pheromosa, etc. Nature's Madness is there to chip mons that can safely switch in to Fini, such as ferrothorn. Taunt is there to help me against stall (yes, you Chansey, Toxapex). Defog to help Zard and the rest of my team.

52 speed is there to outspeed defensive Lando, although I feel like I should invest more in defence since outspeeding Lando doesn't help me much. The rest of the EVS into defence and hp to take physical hits better and a little bit into special defence to take certain special hits better, like Greninja's hydro pump.



Landorus-Therian @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 HP / 216 Def / 24 SpD / 16 Spe
Impish Nature
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- Stealth Rock
- U-turn

Next I decided to put Lando on my team (who doesn't). It's there to check physical threats and improve my matchup against Pinsir-Mega, which is absolutely necessary as it destroys my team otherwise. It also gets up rocks for me, which helps me get certain OHKO's and 2HKO's. The spread gives me a lot of physical bulk and also helps me outspeed Magnezones, Adamant Tyranitars and Jolly Azumarills. Furthermore, the special defence investment helps me against Lati since it can't OHKO me with Draco from full.

EQ is there to hit a lot of things hard, like Toxapex which again helps my other team members. Stone Edge is necessary for Mega Pinsir as it is a huge threat to my team. it also hits some other mons like Volcarona, Salamence and Dragonite. Rocks to help the rest of the team and U-turn to grab momentum to get a safe switch in for another team member.



Magearna @ Assault Vest
Ability: Soul-Heart
EVs: 248 HP / 252 SpA / 8 SpD
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Fleur Cannon
- Flash Cannon
- Aura Sphere
- Volt Switch

Last but definitely not least: Magearna. Even before SUMO came out I knew I wanted to use this mon because of its design. I love it. This thing gives me defensive utility by taking hits and volting out to grab momentum or dealing heavy damage to common switch ins, such as ferrothorn, Lando and Heatran. Fleur/Flash cannon are there as stabs and Aura Sphere is there to hit many steels. Volt Switch is there to grab momentum for another mon.

Assault vest and max hp + max sp att to tank hits and hit hard at the same time. Honestly Magearna is such a good pivot. Since SUMO it has a spot on almost all of my teams.

I am not sure about the spread of Lando and Fini, so help is appreciated. Thanks a lot for reading my RMT if you have gotten this far!

Threats:

I have no good switch ins for this, it's superfast and hits like a truck. I usually play around this with Fini and Lando, but it's tough to face it.

Strong Fire types such as:

Once it sets up a Quiver Dance, it can sweep my team if it has Inferno Overdrive (it OHKO's Zard-Y in the sun).

Opposing Zard-Y's are tough to face, because I have no good switch ins.

Probably one of the biggest threats to my team. Once it sets up an SD I will likely get swept unless my Lando is healthy.

Volt Switches around my team and hits Lando/Zygarde with Hp ice.

When one of these mons is on the opposing team, I prioritise killing them and keeping my 'checks' alive.

 

[Hanken]

The team you constructed based off of Pheromosa and Charizard Y is very nice for two mons I don't see often. Nevertheless, I still have some ideas.

My largest change I would recommend would be to switch out Magearna for Nihilego. It has great bulk, can set up rocks, and is an amazing scarf revenge killer and late game sweeeper. In addition, it would cover all of the threats to your team, except for Metagross, while still having its weaknesses covered by the rest of your mons.

Addressing what you mentioned, I would also change some of your EV's. Lando seems fine (especially with calcs Megagross can only rarely 3HKO it unless it has ice punch which 2HK0's), but I would change Fini. Without using Surf due to the sun, there isn't much point in outspending Lando, even if to chip away. Adding more points into defense/special defense seems like a better option. I'm also not sure if giving Pheromosa the extra SpD is worth it. Giving it more power is nice, and Tapu Fini is a great switch into non Gunk Shot Greninja.

Move wise, the team seems very solid. My only change would be to replace Toxic with other coverage such as Brick Break or even Crunch (unless Toxic works well I genuinely don't know how useful it is either).

I hope these changes help your team grow, and remove all threats in your path.

 

[Pocopoco]

The team you constructed based off of Pheromosa and Charizard Y is very nice for two mons I don't see often. Nevertheless, I still have some ideas.

My largest change I would recommend would be to switch out Magearna for Nihilego. It has great bulk, can set up rocks, and is an amazing scarf revenge killer and late game sweeeper. In addition, it would cover all of the threats to your team, except for Metagross, while still having its weaknesses covered by the rest of your mons.

Addressing what you mentioned, I would also change some of your EV's. Lando seems fine (especially with calcs Megagross can only rarely 3HKO it unless it has ice punch which 2HK0's), but I would change Fini. Without using Surf due to the sun, there isn't much point in outspending Lando, even if to chip away. Adding more points into defense/special defense seems like a better option. I'm also not sure if giving Pheromosa the extra SpD is worth it. Giving it more power is nice, and Tapu Fini is a great switch into non Gunk Shot Greninja.

Move wise, the team seems very solid. My only change would be to replace Toxic with other coverage such as Brick Break or even Crunch (unless Toxic works well I genuinely don't know how useful it is either).

I hope these changes help your team grow, and remove all threats in your path.

Nihiligo seems like a nice option to cover most of the threats to my team that I mentioned, however I really feel like I need magearna both to help me versus Ash and Protean Greninja (Only Tapu Fini is not enough, imo) and to grab momentum with volt switch to bring in one of my threats. I might try out Nihiligo though, since I have never used it before.

I think you're totally right about Fini's spread, I feel like the extra speed is less important than the defence. Someone correct me if I am wrong.

The spread of Pheromosa allows it to survive water shuriken from Ash Gren 100% of the time and 70% of the time after rocks. The lack of power is something I haven't noticed yet. It's the standard set of Smogon. I might change it though, since I already have two 'checks' to Greninja.

And yeah I am considering replacing toxic but at the moment I honestly don't see a better option because Thousand Arrows hits almost everything hard and toxic is good for Hippo, Tapu Bulu and Lando.

Thanks for your insight and tips! :)

 

[Hanken]

Nihiligo seems like a nice option to cover most of the threats to my team that I mentioned, however I really feel like I need magearna both to help me versus Ash and Protean Greninja (Only Tapu Fini is not enough, imo) and to grab momentum with volt switch to bring in one of my threats. I might try out Nihiligo though, since I have never used it before.

I think you're totally right about Fini's spread, I feel like the extra speed is less important than the defence. Someone correct me if I am wrong.

The spread of Pheromosa allows it to survive water shuriken from Ash Gren 100% of the time and 70% of the time after rocks. The lack of power is something I haven't noticed yet. It's the standard set of Smogon. I might change it though, since I already have two 'checks' to Greninja.

And yeah I am considering replacing toxic but at the moment I honestly don't see a better option because Thousand Arrows hits almost everything hard and toxic is good for Hippo, Tapu Bulu and Lando.

Thanks for your insight and tips! :)

I appreciate you taking in my ideas, and I have some new thoughts.

Looking back at your description I thought you meant something else, and now I see the Pheromosa spread makes total sense.

I also checked out Zygardes moves and the best other options I could see to deal with bulky Lando and Hippodown would be Dragon Tail, Block, Glare, or Pain Split. Overall, Toxic doesn't seem that bad.

I would still think that Nihilego might be nice to add because it reduces your threats from 5 to 2, but if you feel that it works really well, it is a nice counter to Ash Greninja.

 

[sexy_ampharos]

Toxic is there to poison a common switch in, like Lando, Tapu Bulu and Hippowdown, though I am not sure about the usefulness of this move.

I feel like Toxic could be replaced with Sleep Talk. Your Zygarde becomes some kind of answer to Amoonguss' Spore, as Fini is obviously not the one. Also with my teams that include Fini and Zygarde, I feel like you often have switches between them, so your own Misty Terrain prevents the move from your Zygarde. But tbh I haven't tried it out with your team. It was just the first thing I thought of! If you try it out, let me know how it works!

 

[Pocopoco]

I think Toxic is still the best option on Zygarde after testing Sleep Talk and some other options for a bit. It cripples common switch ins like Hippo, Tapu Bulu and Lando. I also feel like Sleep Talk is too situational and I can deal with Amoonguss, etc pretty easily.

Does anyone else have any suggestions on how to improve this team?

 

[Pocopoco]

Bump....

 

[3d]

hey cool team. i noticed that this team has a lot of trouble dealing with volcarona since it can find many opportunities to setup and easily sweep the team if it does. while you do have a zygarde it for one doesn't OHKO back and also takes ~80% from inferno overdrive and if it can getup a giga drain vs say a landorus-t or fini sack its out of range of extreme speed. it also ohkos with inferno overdrive if sun is up. tapu koko is also another huge threat as it can do major damage vs this team potentially 2hkoing everything and also being able to volt switch out on magearna and also being able to take a hit from pheromosa so you don't really have the most reliable counterplay to this. mega metagross (as you said) can also be troublesome with its strong coverage and potential to beat everything on this team 1v1 if it can get the chance to switchin, and also outspeed everything bar pheromosa which it can hit with bullet punch. with all this being said, here are my suggested changes.

personally, i would make choice band zygarde a choice scarf garchomp. choice scarf garchomp helps beat all the aforementioned threats while also still giving you a way to hit chansey + toxapex hard. getting into more detail, with its nice speed tier choice scarf garchomp outspeeds +1 volcarona and also ohkos it with rock slide, ensuring you have a solid counterplay for it. it also outspeeds tapu koko and pressures it really hard with EQ and also gives you a chance to double into your charizard since some of the most common garchomp switchins on bulky offense include celesteela and defensive landorus-t, both of which do not like dealing with charizard. while it doesn't ohko mega metagross at full, it easily kos it after a natures madness from tapu fini. the biggest downside this gives you is it drastically weakens your team to stall, so my second change will fix that. it also gets rid of your main priority but that shouldn't really be troublesome since you can always run dual chop to hit pheromosa before it sets up which is most likely the main thing that zygarde hits.

secondly i suggest changing your landorus-t to a more offensive set with rockium z. first things first seeing as this team has a z move candidate i suggest changing your pheromosa to focus sash since that can help it setup, and you have tapu fini to get rid of entry hazards for it. i think rockium z landorus-t with swords dance is a much better set on this team since it can pressure stall really hard with z stone edge + eq + sd getting rid of almost every member, except clefable quagsire or sableye which your charizard-y can deal with. you stated that rocky helmet was used to help deal with mega pinsir but that isn't really true since even then, mega pinsir still beats landorus-t since it doesn't have stone edge, and with the addition of garchomp that gives you a way to beat it at +2 if they try to stay in to get off damage vs garchomp. although, with this change this means you'll have to play with tapu fini smarter to be able to deal with excadrill and garchomp since they could put in work since landorust isn't physically defensive.

also optimize the tapu fini spread so that it outspeeds cb ttar so running 248 hp 200 def and the rest in speed is probably a good idea since you can , could save you some games

landot and garchomp set

Garchomp @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Rough Skin
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Dual Chop
- Outrage
- Fire Fang

Landorus-Therian @ Rockium Z
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Swords Dance
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge

 

[Pocopoco]

hey cool team. i noticed that this team has a lot of trouble dealing with volcarona since it can find many opportunities to setup and easily sweep the team if it does. while you do have a zygarde it for one doesn't OHKO back and also takes ~80% from inferno overdrive and if it can getup a giga drain vs say a landorus-t or fini sack its out of range of extreme speed. it also ohkos with inferno overdrive if sun is up. tapu koko is also another huge threat as it can do major damage vs this team potentially 2hkoing everything and also being able to volt switch out on magearna and also being able to take a hit from pheromosa so you don't really have the most reliable counterplay to this. mega metagross (as you said) can also be troublesome with its strong coverage and potential to beat everything on this team 1v1 if it can get the chance to switchin, and also outspeed everything bar pheromosa which it can hit with bullet punch. with all this being said, here are my suggested changes.

personally, i would make choice band zygarde a choice scarf garchomp. choice scarf garchomp helps beat all the aforementioned threats while also still giving you a way to hit chansey + toxapex hard. getting into more detail, with its nice speed tier choice scarf garchomp outspeeds +1 volcarona and also ohkos it with rock slide, ensuring you have a solid counterplay for it. it also outspeeds tapu koko and pressures it really hard with EQ and also gives you a chance to double into your charizard since some of the most common garchomp switchins on bulky offense include celesteela and defensive landorus-t, both of which do not like dealing with charizard. while it doesn't ohko mega metagross at full, it easily kos it after a natures madness from tapu fini. the biggest downside this gives you is it drastically weakens your team to stall, so my second change will fix that. it also gets rid of your main priority but that shouldn't really be troublesome since you can always run dual chop to hit pheromosa before it sets up which is most likely the main thing that zygarde hits.

secondly i suggest changing your landorus-t to a more offensive set with rockium z. first things first seeing as this team has a z move candidate i suggest changing your pheromosa to focus sash since that can help it setup, and you have tapu fini to get rid of entry hazards for it. i think rockium z landorus-t with swords dance is a much better set on this team since it can pressure stall really hard with z stone edge + eq + sd getting rid of almost every member, except clefable quagsire or sableye which your charizard-y can deal with. you stated that rocky helmet was used to help deal with mega pinsir but that isn't really true since even then, mega pinsir still beats landorus-t since it doesn't have stone edge, and with the addition of garchomp that gives you a way to beat it at +2 if they try to stay in to get off damage vs garchomp. although, with this change this means you'll have to play with tapu fini smarter to be able to deal with excadrill and garchomp since they could put in work since landorust isn't physically defensive.

also optimize the tapu fini spread so that it outspeeds cb ttar so running 248 hp 200 def and the rest in speed is probably a good idea since you can , could save you some games

landot and garchomp set

Garchomp @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Rough Skin
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Dual Chop
- Outrage
- Fire Fang

Landorus-Therian @ Rockium Z
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Swords Dance
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge

Hey man, thanks a lot for the helpful suggestions. I swapped Zygarde for Scarfed Garchomp (rock slide instead of dual chop) and I must say that it is pretty good at checking Zard-Y, Volc, Metagross and some other threats to my team. Besides that it can act as a decent late game win con. However, I changed Lando's set to an offensive one (with sd), without Rockium Z and with a Yache berry. I did this because I really like Z move Pheromosa, it often sweeps teams and is a really good win con for me. With yache berry on Lando I improved my matchup against tapu koko and some other mons that commonly carry hp ice. I might give it earth plate though, not sure what's better.

PS: I stated that lando beats Mega Pinsir because I ran stone edge on it (no hp ice).