First of all, I don't see why we'd be wishing we chose Choice Scarf Terrakion if they choose a Hidden Power [Ground] Volcarona because Keldeo still revenge kills it. Volcarona needs Giga Drain (which would involve getting rid of one of it's STABs when used in conjunction with Hidden Power [Ground]) or sun support to beat Keldeo. And even then there are multiple great offensive pokemon that will put a strain on sun in general as well as check Volcarona (Dragonite, Salamence, Garchomp etc.)
I can understand your argument of not wanting to choose our Choice Scarfer so early, but what OU sweeper can't be revenge killed by Keldeo? There are only a few pokemon like Venusaur that pretty much need both Ninetales and Dugtrio to even have a chance of succeeding against this team and then there are the speed boosters, eg. Agility Thundurus-T, Rock Polish Landorus-I etc that are easily taken care of with the likes of Celebi, Lati@s (admittedly can be trapped by Tyranitar), Zapdos etc. By choosing Choice Scarf Keldeo now, the opposing team suffers a huge handicap when choosing their win condition. Also, no matter what we do, we can't choose our revenge killer after they choose their sweeper if they put it in the last slot, as they get the last pick.
Yeah I was thinking of Volca under sun, it was just the first example that popped into my head. I know that Keldeo is top-tier revenge killer but that doesn't mean that team 1 can't pick things that are easier to be revenge killed by something else. On top of that, knowing exactly which Scarfer they have to go up against makes it a lot easier for them to choose their set up sweepers. It would be better to wait a bit longer before we decide which revenge killer to use, team 1 choosing the last mon is irrelevant since 5 out of 6 is already enough to figure out who does this role best.
I really don't like the look of that Keldeo, not only are we not able to choose a Choice Scarf Keldeo (it really is the best revenge killer atm) down the path, but it's easily walled by multiple offensively orientated pokemon. With Choice Scarf Keldeo we force the opposing team to choose a passive pokemon, that can likely be trapped, if they want to reliably take Keldeo down, but with this set they can just take advantage of our lack of coverage as well as our lack of speed and choose an offensive pokemon that we'll be forced to counter later on. They can easily choose a Salamence, Dragonite, etc to beat Keldeo, they are difficult to counter and they can't really be trapped by anything. You could argue that they're weak to Stealth Rock and they won't have recovery, but there are multiple Dragonite variants that can run Roost (SubDD, Tank, Shuffler etc.) They could also run something like a Scarf Breloom (more viable than it sounds) to take out a +6 Keldeo behind a Sub with no problem. Overall, Choice Scarf Keldeo forces more passive counters, who are trappable, and will put a much bigger strain on the opponent's team.
Hmm good point, I hadn't realized how weak SubCM Keldeo is ouside of Rain (still strong but Dnite isn't a good counter to have with Heatran as our team-mate). Removing it as a possible Scarf mon later is also a let down so I'll drop that suggestion.
Anyways, so like everybody else I'm digging that Specs Latios and its synergy with Heatran. However, there is one particular set that I could see Team 1 picking that would end up being really annoying. T-Wave Rotom can switch in easily on the Heatran set and cripple a Latios switch-in with T-Wave. (who would otherwise wall it) This means that if we wanted to counter this problematic Rotom we would need to find something else that has Water and Electric resists that fits on the team (which isn't always easy) who wouldn't mind being hit with Paralysis. If that isn't a desirable option then we would just have to use Latios as our dedicated Rotom counter and build the rest of the team around having it paralyzed. Although both answers are possible neither make team building easier for us (Plus Latios is easy Pursuit fodder so we may end up having to go with option one anyways). I can only think of two mons that can switch into Rotom-W's STABs and not worry about T-Wave (or WoW) and those are Poison Heal Breloom and Celebii. Personally, I prefer Celebii due to the faster speed and ability to easily switch into HP Ice as well (we need a SpDefensive spread on Breloom to do that). I was thinking NP Celebii is the way to go as it gives it a strong offensive presence.
Celebi @ Life Orb
Trait: Natural Cure
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
- Giga Drain
- Psychic
- Nasty Plot
- Hidden Power [Fire]
What does this set do? Celebii makes use of it's 100 stat spread and multiple resistances to force switches setting up a Nasty Plot so that it can sweep. Giga Drain is main attack as a strong STAB option that lets you abuse LO to hit harder while gaining health instead of losing it. It also hits Tyranitar for SE damage
and has a 25% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock without having even boosted once. Hidden Power Fire is to OHKO Scizor even without a NP boost (like if Celebii switches into a Rotom Volt-Switch) as well as hits the many steel types that resist Giga Drain. Psychic is Celebii's other STAB and its best option against dragon types like DNite who would otherwise wall any NP Celebii that opted for HP Fire.
How can this set help the team? Celebii can easily switch in to the aforementioned Rotom-W with ease as well as the many other water, ground, and fighting types that will try to force Heatran out. (looking at you Lando-I and Keldeo) With Heatran as its partner, Team 2 has the makings of a solid FWG core from the start and one that has the bulk to abuse its typing to switch in easily while firing off powerful attacks or threatening a sweep to punish the switches it forces.
What can the other team do in response to this set? Sadly, Celebii has some coverage issues. Heatran can easily switch in to any of its attacks while threatening to OHKO it with is powerful fire STAB. Faster threats with strong SE attacks such as X-Scissor Terrakion or Weavile can threaten to revenge kill Celebii (the later can Pursuit as well). However, the biggest problems for this set are Lati@s and Hydreigon. Not only can they shrug off Celebii's attacks with ease but they can also switch into Heatran and threaten to OHKO him as well.
What potential additions can be made to deal with these responses? Opposing Heatran can already be somewhat dealt with by our own Heatran if the OP decides to not give it max speed or Earth Power. Otherwise, a bulky water type is a strong choice to complete the FWG while shrugging off Heatran's attacks and threatening back with STAB Surf/Hydro Pump. Keldeo and Rotom-W are two that come to mind due to their bulk and strong offensive presence. Gliscor and Land-T can switch into to Terrakion's attacks while threatening it back with STAB EQ. Weavile is hard to deal with due to Pursuit but is weak to SR and has to predict the switch out for Pursuit to OHKO. Lati@s and Hydreigon are all dealt with by Tyranitar. With Pursuit and boosted SpDef it can directly remove Lati@s with relative ease while it indirectly threatens Hydreigon by summoning additional passive damage to wear it away. After only two turns (one to switch in other to attack) with SR up and LO equipped Hydreigon takes a total of 35% damage. This prevents it from countering Heatran (even with Roost) as it has too attack to break the Substitute it will most likely be hiding behind and then be phazed out immediately after thanks to Roar. Opting for E-Belt or Choice Specs/Scarf will reduce the passive damage but will also weaken Hydreigon allowing for Team 2 to counter it easier.
Edit: ClubbingSealCub is right about the Calcs. This does mean that Celebii has a harder time dealing with Tyranitar that comes in after a Volt Switch than it does with Scizor. However, all is not lost as even CBTar has to predict the switch-out to OHKO with Pursuit otherwise it will only deal 55.05 - 65.65% and be too weak to survive another unboosted Giga Drain.
