Space Bound

Space Bound


was the first Ubers team I made after I began playing the tier earlier this year. I have had some success with the team seeing as it helped me get #3 on leaderboard soon after starting Ubers. While the team hasn’t changed that much since then, I’ve gotten a lot better even though this was still one of the teams I used the most throughout my experience in the tier. I’ve used this in tournaments such as SPL (4-1 record) and stuff like Ubers Cup. Having used this team for awhile, and since the Arceus Metagame is so close by, I feel it’s time to retire it. Both SD and CM variants of Arceus would have no problems dealing with the team so I’d have to change so much that the team wouldn’t be quite the same.


The initial concept for this team was creating a team that helped the Paradancer Groudon set sweep. The end result wasn’t quite that since I probably sweep with Darkrai more than Groudon but the end result was far better than I anticipated.








I present Space Bound (I got the name from the Eminem song)





Giratina-o @ Platinum Orb
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 Atk/196 Spd/62 SAtk
Naive nature (+Spd, -SDef)
- Draco Meteor
- Shadow Sneak
- Earthquake / Outrage
- Hidden Power [Fire]


Even though it’s not seen much these days, Giratina-O is personally one of my favorite leads. It might have some trouble vs. some leads, but it beats the leads that I need beaten. Since my whole team is grounded (bar Giratina-o of course), limiting the entry hazards that I have to deal with was the mindset I had when choosing my lead. Because of this, I dismissed most leads that prioritized setting up hazards and decided to leave a Stealth Rock user for later in the game. While Leadquaza was on the original draft of this team, I switched to Giratina-o after trying it out. The reason is chose Giratina-O over Rayquaza as my lead was for several reasons. Giratina-o is considerably more bulky, lacks a Stealth Rock weakness and has a nice ghost typing that allows me to block rapid spin throughout the game. While spin blocking isn’t essential on my team since I’m not utilizing spikes, its particularly useful against teams that pack Ho-Oh. Ho-Oh can do quite a number to this team like most uber teams so having Stealth Rock take 50% of its health is nice. I use Earthquake > Outrage most of the time because i only ever end up outraging is vs. Kyogre leads. Even then the method isn’t reliable since it can easily switch out next turn so I decided to use Earthquake instead which hits mons such as Tyranitar, Spec def Jirachi and Heatran.


Lead Matchups:





Jirachi @ Leftovers
Ability: Serene Grace
EVs: 252 HP/40 Def/4 Spd/212 SDef
Careful nature (+SDef, -SAtk)
- U-turn
- Wish
- Iron Head
- Thunder Wave / Body Slam


Spec. Def Jirachi is nothing less than a Boss. It’s able to take hits better than other steels while also wish passing to the rest of my team as well as itself. Jirachi also functions as the main paralysis spreader on this team using thunderwave to paralyze opposing mons bar Groudon and Chomp. Because those two do commonly switch in, I often find myself U-turning in the beginning of the game. I occasionally use Body Slam because while it may be the superior move overall, I can’t stand its mediocre 60% paralysis rate because there are often times when I need that guaranteed paralysis. Iron head makes its way onto this set over protect because when I use it in tandem with Twave, paraflinching annoys the hell out of my opponents. Its healing abilities may not be quite as efficient but the tradeoff is worth it IMO.





Palkia @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 4 Atk/252 Spd/252 SAtk
Timid nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Draco Meteor
- Spacial Rend
- Thunder
- Flamethrower

Palkia gets the nod over Latias as my needed Kyogre Counter solely for its revenge killing abilities. Since Kyogre generally has to be taken down before I can deal any serious damage, Palkia plays a key role in taking its hits. Draco Meteor is a hit and run sorta thing while Spacial Rend is used for more consistent damage of a period of turns. Thunder is used obviously to hit Kyogre hard while Flamethrower is used to hit steels who regularly switchin bar Heatran. Since my team is sun based, Surf wouldn’t do much a lot of the time. I used to run a Hasty nature with Outrage > Spacial Rend but since by team has Lati@s covered very well between Jirachi, Heatran and Darkrai, I figured it wasn’t really all that necessary.




Heatran (M) @ Chople Berry
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 94 Atk/164 Spd/252 SAtk
Hasty nature (+Spd, -Def)
- Stealth Rock
- Explosion
- Fire Blast
- Dragon Pulse

With the more common sets of Heatran being Taunt + Roar and RestTalk, other Heatran sets have a nice surprise value. This Heatran’s main functions are setting up Stealth Rocks for my team as well as luring Kyogre. Fire Blast is given a nod over flamethrower because this Heatran focuses more on dealing immediate damage. A sun boosted STAB Fire Blast from Heatran is amazingly strong doing an enourmous amount of damage to anything that doesn’t resist it. Explosion is used in order to KO Kyogre as well as some other pesky pokemon like Blissy. Dragon Pulse is used to get super effective damage on dragons who resist Fire Blast. Fireburns suggestion of Chople berry has been helpful for dealing with Rayquaza leads better as well as any other random fighting moves. Special Attack is maximized while enough speed is run to hit a comfortable 254 Speed while the rest is put into Atk in order to boost explosion.



Darkrai @ Leftovers
Ability: Bad Dreams
EVs: 4 HP/252 Spd/252 SAtk
Timid nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Dark Void
- Nasty Plot
- Dark Pulse
- Focus Blast

Darkrai is probably my favorite Sweeper in the game. Getting a guaranteed cripple on the opposing team (bar a Void miss), Darkrai immediately places pressure on the opposing team. From there, it can be a deadly sweeper with its unresisted Dark Pulse + Focus Blast combination. I run Leftovers > Life Orb because I found that when using Leftovers, Darkrai died too quickly and the recoil definitely hurt. Focus Blast is used over Substitute because I feel that hitting Heatran, Dialga and Scizor is too important to drop Focus Blast.





Groudon @ Leftovers
Ability: Drought
EVs: 200 HP/112 Atk/108 Def/88 Spd
Adamant nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Earthquake
- Swords Dance
- Stone Edge
- Thunder Wave

While Rock Polish Groudon is probably my favorite Groudon set, this set is just as good. Paradancer Groudon is a fun set that abuses opposing paralyzed mons very well. In the beginning of the game to midgame, the Groudon aims to paralyze as much of the opponents team as it can while ripping holes in them with its STAB Earthquake. When Groudons main Switchins are paralyzed and weakened, it proceeds to Swords Dancing in an attempt to sweeping the opposing team. The EVs are taken from analysis and are used in order to have defensive Bulk while having a respectable Speed and Attack. Stone Edge rounds off the move set in order to hit everything that is resistant/immune to EQ.






So yea, Space Bound is probably my retirement team for the Pre Arceus Metagame. I mean, ill probably play in some of the Ubers tours, but other than that, any ubering i do will probably be more focused on the Farceus Metagame. I liked this metagame but look forward to the new metagame.







Threat List: (Only problems the team faces)


Kyogre- While choiced kyogres aren’t really an issue, Thunder Wave and Calm Mind variants can be annoying. Luckily Heatran is able to lure them and explode. Palkia is able to thunder but that damage is sometimes lackluster if it gets too many CM’s.

Heatran- Taunt Roar Tran is the only one I really see although it has plenty of other great sets. If the opponent has Spikes + SR on the field, it can be annoying because 5/6 of my team is grounded. Giratina-O is able to lure them quite well though so it isnt an issue the majority of my battles. Darkrai also has Focus Blast.

Rayqauza/Salamence- The only time SD Quaza gets a chance to setup is palkia locked into a non dragon move so its not a huge issue. But if it sets up, im in trouble. Groudon can take a +2 claw but that’s about it. DD ray isnt an issue due to Palkia. Rayquaza leads are a bit annoying as well. Salamence gets just as few setup opprutunities as ray but DD mence has a more legit chance of sweeping since it speed ties palkia after a dd.

Garchomp- Scarf Chomp outspeeds Palkia and based off what its locked into, can heavily damage my team. CB and SD Chomp are outspeed by Palkia but have an easier time with groudon.

Ho-Oh- What team doesn’t have problems with this guy. Stealth Rock crippled it and Heatran can switch in to any non eq move and can explode. Groudon can outspeed and stone edge, Darkrai can put it to sleep.

Nice team, but I do see you having trouble with Jolly SD Luke. If Groudon is out of the picture thanks to Wobbuffet (or is just sufficiently weakened), odds are you're going to lose. Giratina-O wont stop a smart Deoxys-S player, who'll just switch out of the expected Shadow Sneak and come back later to set that fatal layer of Spikes. What's worse is that you have absolutely no way to stop this if he gets in for free. Scarfing Heatran would help with this (and simultaneously help your SD Rayquaza and eventual SD Arceus weakness), but you lose out on the versatility the current set provides. :/

yea your right Jolly SD Luke can be troublesome, i suppose ill add it to the threatlist. Although its on a similar boat to rayquaza, it doesnt get many opprutunities to settup outside of Palkia locked into a dragon move. And im aware that Deoxys-s switches out if im feeling risky ill use a different move as it switches out. and while its true it can set it up later its better than the beginning plus it often doesnt get the chance to do so. besides if that logic was used all the time, then all leads utilized to minimize deoxys-s wouldnt be that good (bar some). and scarfed heatran is still far slower than deoxys-s but is an interesting idea nonetheless, ill test it out

I know this might sound a little unorthodox, but i suggest a CM Darkrai over your current set. I know lots of people think it is out classed by Nasty Plot, obviously the power drop isn't favorable, but that doesn't prevent this darkrai from being effective. I've gone through many games using NP Darkrai in which i haven't been able to due sufficient damage to the opposing team after voiding due to being outspeed and hit for a large amount of damage due to threats such as LO Mewtwo, Scarf Darkrai, Scarf Palkia, Scarf Shaymin-S etc. By running CM not only are able to take hits from the aforementioned threats and such, but you're able to hit back with a +1 if not more CMs. I'm not denying that CM Darkrai misses the power that NP has, but it does have some stuff over it. Many teams can benefit from having a sweeper that can take a special attack or two instead of having their NP Darkrai OHKOed, in this case yours. Overall, Darkrai is much stronger but is still stopped by some threats that CM Darkrai can overcome. It's true that CM Darkrai may not be able to damage threats like Palkia as much as i wish, but with prior damage it can be an efficient late game sweeper.

Darkrai @ Leftovers
Ability: Bad Dreams
EVs: 32 HP/252 Spd/224 SAtk
Timid nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Dark Void
- Calm Mind
- Dark Pulse
- Focus Blast / Substitute

I noticed on your threat list that opposing Heatrans are a problem. I have a simple solution for this, add Earthpower on yours over Stealth Rock. Now you need a new SRer. I also have another solution for this, Deoxys-D lead! Functions very similar to Deoxys-S lead, except has bulk to take hits. This Bulk lets it get multiple layers vs leads such as Tyranitar, Mamoswine, Metagross, Scizor, Focus Sash Rayquaza, take quite a few air slash’s from Shaymin-S. It can take two Surfs from Thunder Wave Kyogre lead, attacks from Giratina-O lead, two attacks from Focus Sash LeadQuaza, and 1 from LO, and can take two hits from Groudon leads. It also beats Deoxys-A leads as well. Shadowball + Espeed always KO 0 HP Deoxys-S leads, plus it is important to take into account that most Deoxys-S leads will Taunt first turn

Deoxys-D @ Life Orb
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 HP/252 SAtk/4 SDef
Timid nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Shadow Ball
- Extremespeed
- Spikes
- Stealth Rock

Anyways good luck with the team and hope I helped!

thx for the rate tito, sick

I appear to have misworded the last few sentences of my post. My mistake. I never meant to imply that Scarftran is faster than Deoxys-S, I just messed up the placement of the sentences. :P

Also, in regards to opponents not having chances to set up, don't underestimate the support Wobbuffet provides. It gives those Pokemon plenty of chances to set up through Safeguard and Encore. Example: Jirachi can't touch Guarded Luke, DM locked Giratina can't stop Luke, EQ locked Groudon lets Ray set up, etc.

Anyway, I'm agreeing with tito's post, although I have to point out 252 HP Deoxys-S is never 2HKO'd by SB + ES (and you need very high rolls on both attacks to kill 4 HP Deoxys-S), meaning if it outpredicts you it can get up SR and Spikes. Since SR + 1 layer gives you hell when dealing with your problem pokemon, I'd be cautious about using it. Just something to consider. (CM Darkrai is pretty frickin' cool though.)

Have you considered replacing Jirachi with a T-wave Kyogre? I spreads status more efficiently because ground types can not reliably switch into it, lest they be maimed by Surf or Ice Beam. With the right EV investment, it can also take on the same steel-types Jirachi is, but it can threaten them back with something more reliable than Iron Flinch. You also would be gaining weather control which would allow you to run Surf on Palkia, in addition be being able to shut down Ho-oh based team more efficiently.

Kyogre @ Leftovers/Lum Berry
Bold 252 HP / 40 Def / 44 Spe / 172 SpD

Surf
Thunder wave
Ice Beam
Roar/Thunder/Rest

The evs are really defensive and served a specific purpose but I do not remember exactly what it was. Anyway, the set works well. Nice team =]

you might want to try wide lens over leftovers on darkrai, since i find lefties doesnt cut it on something as frail as darky. Nice team

-Life- said:

I appear to have misworded the last few sentences of my post. My mistake. I never meant to imply that Scarftran is faster than Deoxys-S, I just messed up the placement of the sentences. :P

Also, in regards to opponents not having chances to set up, don't underestimate the support Wobbuffet provides. It gives those Pokemon plenty of chances to set up through Safeguard and Encore. Example: Jirachi can't touch Guarded Luke, DM locked Giratina can't stop Luke, EQ locked Groudon lets Ray set up, etc.

Anyway, I'm agreeing with tito's post, although I have to point out 252 HP Deoxys-S is never 2HKO'd by SB + ES (and you need very high rolls on both attacks to kill 4 HP Deoxys-S), meaning if it outpredicts you it can get up SR and Spikes. Since SR + 1 layer gives you hell when dealing with your problem pokemon, I'd be cautious about using it. Just something to consider. (CM Darkrai is pretty frickin' cool though.)

Click to expand...

yea wobbuffet + luke is troublesome and lol yea im aware of the Deoxys-D issues....

giggity69 said:

Have you considered replacing Jirachi with a T-wave Kyogre? I spreads status more efficiently because ground types can not reliably switch into it, lest they be maimed by Surf or Ice Beam. With the right EV investment, it can also take on the same steel-types Jirachi is, but it can threaten them back with something more reliable than Iron Flinch. You also would be gaining weather control which would allow you to run Surf on Palkia, in addition be being able to shut down Ho-oh based team more efficiently.

Kyogre @ Leftovers/Lum Berry
Bold 252 HP / 40 Def / 44 Spe / 172 SpD

Surf
Thunder wave
Ice Beam
Roar/Thunder/Rest

The evs are really defensive and served a specific purpose but I do not remember exactly what it was. Anyway, the set works well. Nice team =]

Click to expand...

I actually have not considered it and while its interesting, it really opens me up to lati@s since spec def rachi handles it extremely well. Not only that Kyogre doesnt resist dragon, doesnt have wish recovery etc etc. so while i probably wouldnt use it over jirachi, i could consider running it over heatran and move sr to rachi. something to test out, thanks for the idea.

Cherub Agent said:

you might want to try wide lens over leftovers on darkrai, since i find lefties doesnt cut it on something as frail as darky. Nice team

Click to expand...

Huh, the idea seems funny but i like it seeing as i run a 80% and 70% acc moves. And actually leftovers can be really helpful to mitigate hazards damage and take weaker hits. although, wide lens might be more useful ill try it out

I would also recommend kyogre over jirachi, especially if you intend to keep using giratina-0 as your lead.

Right now, giratina-0 is your only chance of beating rp groudon outside of letting paradancer groudon take massive damage, but if giratina-0 takes even one small hit, say a shadow ball from a deoxys-e at the very beginning of a game, your chances of favorably beating groudon plummet(a smart user of rp groudon will recognize the opportunity to weaken a counter at the beginning of the game). Bulky kyogre can easily survive a rp groudon eq and ko back with surf, while filling a similar function as that of jirachi, so it is a better choice in my opinion.

The other option of course is to change your lead to something else and preserve giratina-0 for later when you have already scouted a bit and can assess the situation more easily.

Yes this makes you much weaker to latias, but if it is trying to sweep you can phaze it with kyogre's roar, and if you're still worried change flamethrower on palkia to dragon claw or outrage (I have never needed flamethrower on palkia). If you do as i think you should and remove giratina-0 from the lead spot, it will also act as a check on latias that are paralyzed or below 50%.

Summary:
Giratina-0 away from lead
and/or
jirachi out for kyogre
regardless of either of these dragon claw>flamethrower on palkia

This a really solid defensive team (i don't agree with your title lol), so maybe you should just let it stand as it is, changing pokemon may ruin the effectiveness.

Myzozoa said:

I would also recommend kyogre over jirachi, especially if you intend to keep using giratina-0 as your lead.

Right now, giratina-0 is your only chance of beating rp groudon outside of letting paradancer groudon take massive damage, but if giratina-0 takes even one small hit, say a shadow ball from a deoxys-e at the very beginning of a game, your chances of favorably beating groudon plummet(a smart user of rp groudon will recognize the opportunity to weaken a counter at the beginning of the game). Bulky kyogre can easily survive a rp groudon eq and ko back with surf, while filling a similar function as that of jirachi, so it is a better choice in my opinion.

The other option of course is to change your lead to something else and preserve giratina-0 for later when you have already scouted a bit and can assess the situation more easily.

Yes this makes you much weaker to latias, but if it is trying to sweep you can phaze it with kyogre's roar, and if you're still worried change flamethrower on palkia to dragon claw or outrage (I have never needed flamethrower on palkia). If you do as i think you should and remove giratina-0 from the lead spot, it will also act as a check on latias that are paralyzed or below 50%.

Summary:
Giratina-0 away from lead
and/or
jirachi out for kyogre
regardless of either of these dragon claw>flamethrower on palkia

This a really solid defensive team (i don't agree with your title lol), so maybe you should just let it stand as it is, changing pokemon may ruin the effectiveness.

Click to expand...

thanks for the rate, ill consider everything you offered and yea kyogre is starting to sounds appealing and giratina-o outside of the lead position would allow me to handle rp don better. something ill definitly try out. and lol now that i think about it, it is defensive my mistake, offense was just the first word that came into my head when i made the title.