SM OU Mega-Metagross/Garchomp balanced

[Narwhal_Narcotics]

Introduction
I'm relatively new to competitive play, and my first dive into it was a disaster. Looking for a fresh start, I actually did my research for my second team and ended up with the unholy disgrace that you see below. I think the biggest problem on this team is that I have two pokemon with a 4X ice weakness, but both play major roles in battle.

The Team

Metagross-Mega @ Metagrossite
Ability: Tough Claws
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Bullet Punch
- Zen Headbutt
- Meteor Mash
- Brick Break

Metagross has always been a favorite of mine, and his mega made this an easy choice. The STAB moves were obvious choices. the others weren't so easy. i went with brick break instead of earthquake because it gets the Tough Claws boost, putting it almost exactly on par with EQ, and it rounded my coverage out more to my liking. the only relevant pokemon I can't hit when i run brick break is aegislash, where EQ leaves my helpless to Skarmory or Celesteela. I personally think bullet punch is a must-have for priority.


Garchomp @ Firium Z
Ability: Sand Veil
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Dragon Claw
- Earthquake
- Fire Blast

I had to choose garchomp for overall reliability. mostly works for me as a setup wallbreaker, but I've swept late game with him, used him defensively when necessary, and i believe you can never go wrong with a garchomp. moveset was easy. earthquake for obvious reasons, very spammable. I chose dragon claw instead of outrage because I wasn't looking to be locked into a move, and i may have the worst confusion luck in the world. Z-Fire Blast fixes any problems i may be having with a celesteela or skarmory, and is a nice little surprise for anything with a fire weakness that I need to get rid of.


Landorus-Therian @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 HP / 156 Def / 100 Spe
Impish Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- U-turn
- Knock Off

And here we arrive, at the root of my problem, my second 4X ice weakness. pretty standard Landorus-T set. physically defensive, utility. Stealth rocks are my only entry hazard on this team, and he is my only way of setting them. knock off for pesky leftovers, choice items, etc. U-Turn keeps him out of trouble. the given defense EVs makes him a 3HKO for mamoswines ice shard after intimidate.


Snorlax @ Leftovers
Ability: Immunity
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Rest
- Heavy Slam
- Curse
- Sleep Talk

Snorlax serves as my primary special wall. curse keeps him from being easy pickings for physical attackers. Rest-Talk works because it usually doesn't matter too much if he uses heavy slam of curse, usually both are fine. I chose heavy slam over return or body slam because i didn't want ghost types to force him out. I tried him with body slam before, but ghost types came in after they found out i only had one attack and started setting up for free.


Sylveon @ Leftovers
Ability: Pixilate
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Hyper Voice
- Wish
- Heal Bell
- Protect

I mostly use sylveon for cleric support since nothing on my team has its own form of recovery. pixilate hyper voice at least allows it to throw out some damage. Protect is useful when i need one more round of leftovers. I can wish, then switch next turn to bring a pokemon from near death up to decent HP. heal bell gets the burns off of my mostly physically attacking team, and keeps toxic off to avoid toxic stall.


Rotom-Wash @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 Def / 4 SpA / 252 SpD
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Hydro Pump
- Volt Switch
- Thunder Wave
- Will-O-Wisp

I almost always carry a rotom, either heat or wash, because they make excellent pivots. hydro pump finishes off weakened opponents mostly, i don't use often because rotom doesn't have a huge amage potential. Normally he comes in to paralyze or burn, the volt switch out. not much more to say about him.



Conclusion
As stated earlier, i think my biggest problem is the two 4X ice weaknesses. Otherwise, even though I know it's not perfect, I'm still only here to have fun. that being said, winning is more fun than losing.

 

[Psychobuzz]

Hello, and welcome to Smogon. Nice team you have here, but I can see notable drawbacks in your team. You have a special wall and a Wish passer on your team, but Chansey can do both of them very easily, while also packing a Ghost immunity; so Snorlax and Sylveon in these roles aren't necessary. This opens up a couple of ideas for a final slot, depending on your team's needs. You will need two things: Entry hazard removal support, and a revenge killer that can take on the Fire, Electric, Water and Steel-types that megagross' Bullet Punch resists. Greninja is one of ther most notable threats, as it can otherwise outspeed all of your Pokemon and change its typing to resist your move if it has Protean. Tapu Koko is a great choice for combatting Protean Greninja, as it naturally outspeeds it and hits it supereffectively. However, if an opponent is packing Ash-Greninja, Koko will be outsped, unless it packs a Choice Scarf. Koko can also take on Skarmory. Pheromosa is another good choice, as its U-turn, High Jump Kick and base 151 Speed forces Greninja out.

If you feel that entry hazard removal is more suitable, Pokemon such as Tapu Fini, Pelipper, and Excadrill would be the best choices, as they pack Defog. Fini is the better choice overall as it has more bulk and its Misty Terrain gives your whole team immunity to status, but be careful, as Rotom's status moves will also be ineffective while Mist is up. Pelipper has an equal special attack stat and can fire off powerful Hurricanes and Scalds thanks to its Drizzle ability, if you're in need of another special attacker. Excadrill is able to remove hazards while keeping yours on the opponents side, but as you only have one special attacker, and that Megagross and Garchomp also pack the same STAB moves, drill might not be necessary.

Now, about your stat spreads. Garchomp's spread and nature is a bit odd, considering it has Fire Blast, but I can see why max Attack and Speed is necessary. If you pack 32 Special attack EVs and change the nature to Naive/Hasty, you can guarantee the OHKO of Ferrothorn with a Z-Fire Blast. Outspeeding base 100s is great for Chomp, so lowering Attack EVs would be better. Rotom's is even worse, as no wall invests in anything but HP. This set below is taken from Smogon, but a better set overall.

Rotom-Wash @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 248 HP / 240 Def / 20 SpD
Bold Nature
- Volt Switch
- Hydro Pump
- Will-O-Wisp
- Pain Split

Now. This is one of Chansey's sets I'm talking about. This Wish passing set pairs very well with Rotom's status spreader set while also packing Aromatherapy, identical to Heal Bell:

Chansey @ Eviolite
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Def / 252 SpD
Bold Nature
- Protect
- Seismic Toss
- Wish
- Aromatherapy

Hope all this helps. Have fun experimenting!

 

[Narwhal_Narcotics]

Appreciate the help. Working on a chansey now. Anything to say about the double 4X ice weakness?

 

[Psychobuzz]

With a team like this you need to not only look out for Ice-types (which are rare in OU) but scout out the opponent's movesets. How to do this? By bringing in one of your 4x Ice weak Pokemon and switching to either Chansey if you think this mon has high special attack and Hidden Power Ice, or Rotom if you think the opponent learns Ice Punch and has a great Attack stat, like opposing Metagross.

Just thought I'd put that out there first. If you really want to get rid of a double 4x Ice weakness, you could replace Garchomp with a Hydreigon which comes with a bonus of additional coverage. While this comes with a drawback of a 4x Fairy weakness, Hyd's movepool is just as wide, and has a more powerful Z-Fire Blast too if you need surefire KOs on Steels.

Hydreigon @ Firium-Z
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Dark Pulse
- Draco Meteor
- Fire Blast
- U-turn

Surf, Flash Cannon and Earth Power could also be used in the last slot, but their power is too weak without Choice Specs. It's up to you.