As you may or may not know, Balanced Hackmons recently got a rather unique rule: 2 ability clause. Basically, you may only carry two of any specific ability on your team. It may seem like an odd rule to add, but it's rather similar to the species clause in standard metas. After all, it wouldn't be healthy for OU if everyone could run six Gale Wings Talonflames, right? So why would it be healthy to Balanced Hackmons to allow similar or nastier abilities to be spammed? (Hello six Proteans!)
During the discussions about the necessity of an ability clause, and whether it should allow for only one or two instances of an ability, I decided to create a team to drive home the issue of how necessary such a clause really was. The prevailing argument against the ability clause was that a good counter would stop six instances of a given ability.
Against an opponent who knows what they're doing, this is laughably untrue.
In reality, the counter can stop one, two, or, if it's really lucky, maybe even three of the same thing. But, especially in BH where even a hard counter can find it difficult to OHKO or completely shutdown the thing it's supposed to be countering, the counter will eventually be overwhelmed and, shortly after that, the rest of the opposing team can easily follow.
The team I put together revolved around Poison Heal as it is a powerful ability that is usable by offense, defense, support, gimmick, and pretty much everything else more or less equally. Once the team was assembled and functional, it proceeded to roll over the opposition, including players that I considered to be superior in skill compared to me, and pulled a 22-3 record before I set the team aside. I can only prove 19-1, however, as the other four replays I either forgot to save or Showdown had an error and failed to save the replay.
But in brief, loss #1 was due to a critical hit on my Giratina it would have survived otherwise, which led into a scenario I didn't have a back-up answer to at the time. The second was due to a boosted Gengar-Mega that was damaged by Stealth Rock. It survived a hit that had a chance to OHKO it at full HP, (the attack could do 87-102.4% damage and I rolled exactly 87, the only value Gengar could have survived at). The last was against lcass, a talented BH player, who knew at least part of my team ahead of time while I didn't know his.
My rank peaked at about 1530 on the BH ladder, which, after removing all the alts (some people in this tier love to try to hog the 10 ten by themselves), would have put me around top 5 at the time. I didn't screenshot this since I intended to take the #1 spot first, but rating decay combined with my lack of free time to play consistently prevented me from going any higher.
Anyway, that's enough of a foreword. Why don't I give this team the proper send-off it deserves?
ability clause pls (Regigigas) @ Toxic Orb
Ability: Poison Heal
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SAtk / 252 SDef / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature
- Spiky Shield
- Facade
- Spore
- Dragon Tail
Honestly, if this thing wasn't so effective in BH, I'd never tough it just because of that design.
Aesthetic complaints aside...
This set is based off of what was a standard Regigas set during Gen V BH. Spiky Shield is there primarily to ensure that the Toxic Orb triggers so that Gigas can get set-up in the face of both Trick and Status leads. However, it can also be handy in stalling an opponent or threatening certain physical attackers with residual damage, such as Kyurem-B and Shedinja.
The rest of the set is fairly straight forward. Sleep things, punch them with Facade, or shuffle with Dragon Tail (which is usually the move of choice against Sheddy leads since, 80% of the time, it's an Illusion Belly Drum Slaking or similar). Gigas is also the most expendable member of the team and exists entirely for lead purposes. Not that it's useless beyond that. Far from it, in fact! If allowed to, it can sweep part of or an entire unprepared team on its own without ever needing to switch.
ability clause pls (Giratina) @ Toxic Orb
Ability: Poison Heal
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 252 SAtk / 252 SDef / 252 Spd
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Recover
- Whirlwind
- Will-O-Wisp
- Defog
Poison Heal Giratina has become fairly common in the tier and this is one of my takes on it. It's largely a copy and paste from my anti-momentum team, though I swapped Knock Off for Defog to get rid of hazards. Since I only ran Stealth Rock to deal with Shedinja, I was not too worried about removing my own rocks if I had to.
A bold nature was chosen specifically because of Refrigerate Kyurem-B and physical Pixilate Xerneas, two threats every team needs to be ready for. Between Bold and recovery from PH, Giratina can survive a Fake Out + Extreme Speed and retaliate with Will-O-Wisp to cripple them. This often leaves Gira badly hurt, but it can recover easily enough once I can get it in safely again. The priority sweeper usually can't.
Whirlwind, besides its useful shuffling qualities, is also handy for dealing with Entrainment Magic Bounce, something that's usually considered to be a counter to Poison Heal. Not only do I get to scout their Entrainment user, but Whirlwind will get bounced and let me escape the Entrainment for free. The random switch is a little inconvenient, but, especially early in a match, it can allow me to trigger another Toxic Orb with absolutely zero risk besides hazards if I didn't Defog first.
ability clause pls (Yveltal) @ Toxic Orb
Ability: Poison Heal
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SAtk / 252 SDef / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature
- Knock Off
- Circle Throw
- King's Shield
- Brave Bird/Sucker Punch/Pursuit
While Poison Heal Gira has become popular lately, Yveltal has been getting in on the fun too now that Refrigerate and Pixelate aren't spammed anywhere near like they were back in the early Gen VI days. The set here isn't something I would generally come up with on my own. Rather, it's my own variation of a set that I first saw Keep It Playful use when he helped me put together a sand team.
With the exception of Moonblast and Boomburst, the majority of the super-effective attacks directed at Yveltal tend to be physical in nature, such as Refrigerate Extreme Speed, Head Smash, and Bolt Strike. King's Shield, while it doesn't quite shut the attackers down, weakens the attacks enough so that Yveltal can deal with them or that I can switch safely.
Beyond that, the first two moves are just being a PITA. Knock Off is as annoying as always, especially when used by something as hard-hitting as Yveltal, and has ridiculous utility in BH ranging from crippling all Judgement sweepers not named Arceus to seriously cutting Imposter Chansey's bulk. And once the Toxic Orb is activated, Yveltal, like the rest of my team, doesn't really care if it gets hit by Knock Off.
The last slot is the one I've been most indecisive on the team and changed the most. Brave Bird was the most common pick, which gave Yveltal a way to hurt stuff that resists Dark and could scare quite a few Mewtwo-X. Meanwhile, Sucker Punch tended easily deal with out of control Mega Gengars and Mewtwo-Y, particularly since the move is rarely ran. If I had been carrying Sucker Punch during my second loss instead of Brave Bird, I'd be at 23-2 instead of 22-3. And finally, Pursuit is just mean. Being almost never seen in BH, those hapless Mewtwo-Y trying to flee to safety never saw their demise coming.
ability clause pls (Xerneas) @ Toxic Orb
Ability: Poison Heal
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SAtk / 252 SDef / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
- Light of Ruin/Moonblast
- Stealth Rock
- Knock Off
- Sacred Fire
Why can't I find awesome images like this one and Yveltal's for everyone without them being annoyingly oversized for a forum post?
Ahem, anyway...
With Giratina's tendency to attract the attention of opposing Yveltal, among other stuff that likes to pick on the ghostly dragon, Xerneas is an excellent check or counter depending on the set. Xerneas' goal is to provide a good offensive presence when I need it and, since many Magic Bounce users are vulnerable to its coverage, force them out to set-up rocks. Said rocks are mostly there just to kill Shedinja though, so getting them up is hardly necessary if the opponent is not using the undead bug.
Sacred Fire might seem like an odd choice when paired with a Timid nature, but the primary reason it exists is to burn stuff, particularly Imposters, Shedinja, and physical attackers, without getting bounced or Taunted. Since Poison Heal was, and still is, rather prevalent, many teams have been neglecting to carry a cleric to avoid having to protect their Toxic Orbs after activation. But if they have both orb-users and a cleric... well, Knock Off is there to force a deliciously sadistic choice upon them once I've burned their physical sweeper.
It's worth noting that I originally ran Searing Shot instead since it has good power and a 30% burn chance. But I wound up swapping for Sacred Fire since the burn was more important than the direct damage.
When I started, Moonblast was the only good option for a non-Pixelate attacker. I mean, sure, there's Play Rough, but that move is just a bit outclassed. However, a little ways in, Light of Ruin was added to PS and, while it may not be available in most tiers, there's nothing stopping its usage in BH. However, the recoil is so high that Poison Heal doesn't cover it too tell, so it makes Xerneas a lot riskier to use. The boost in power is very significant though, so picking between the two was a difficult choice I never settled on.
ability clause pls (Kyogre) @ Toxic Orb
Ability: Poison Heal
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 252 SAtk / 252 SDef / 252 Spd
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Spore
- Quiver Dance
- Surf
- Ice Beam
After seeing Adrian Marin's Kyogre in action (and its copies some people have used), and being quite familiar with Kyogre's potential bulk, adding one to this team just seemed like a great idea to set-up a sweep and win. However, while both mine and Adrian's use Poison Heal with Spore and Quiver Dance to set-up relatively safely and sweep, the similarities end there.
Ironically, his is more offensive by packing Water Spout with, if memory serves correctly, Moonblast for coverage. Mine opts for more longevity by sacrificing potential power for an increase in PP via Surf and safer coverage in Ice Beam. The reason being my team isn't built to handle an Imposter Kyogre. Instead, Kyogre takes care of its own Imposters. But if an Imposter managed a crit with a highly-boosted Moonblast or full HP Water Spout... well, both of those can OHKO Kyogre easily. Meanwhile, even at +6, Surf can't OHKO from full HP.
Aside from Imposter shenanigans, choosing Surf allows me to handle stallier teams better by not having to worry about running out of PP so easily. Combining it with Ice Beam lets Kyogre have neutral coverage on everything but opposing water types, which are pretty much limited to opposing Kyogre and Gyarados-Mega. Or rarer stuff like Keldeo, Jellicent, and Waterceus. Or outclassed stuff like Blastoise-Mega, Suicune, and Greninja. Or Empoleon, which becomes popular with new players at random intervals for some reason.
But anyway, simple strategy here: Spore the opponent, set-up on them, and then sweep.
ability clause pls (Charizard-Mega-Y) @ Toxic Orb
Ability: Poison Heal
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 252 SAtk / 252 SDef / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Magma Storm
- Oblivion Wing/Aeroblast
- Earth Power
- Perish Song
Ah, Charizard-Y. The less-beloved and, IMO, better looking of the two megas. Don't get me wrong, X is cool too. I just like Y's design more.
Again, aesthetic commentary aside...
Picking the last member was quite difficult, but my team was already well synergized in terms of defense. What it really needed was a quick, offensive punch. Kyogre hurts, sure, but it needs to set-up and not every opponent is easily to set-up on. Xerneas hits hard, but its coverage is a bit limited by necessary utility, especially since Flash Fire Steel-types are pretty common, and Regigas also lacks a way to hurt Steel-types significantly.
Enter Charizard-Y. While the frailest member of the team, it's no slouch in hurting stuff and forcing switches. Magma Storm is chosen over Blue Flare primarily to kill Shedinja. However, the trapping potential, especially when paired with Perish Song, cannot be overlooked (despite that song being added after Magma). It can also catch things it walls too, such as Fairy/Fire/Ground coverage Xerneas, and proceed to destroy them. This makes it run the risk of getting perish trapped by an Imposter, but said Imposter would be going down with it.
Earth Power is taken as coverage against the ever-common Flashfire Steel types. Sometimes I feel like I'm the only one using this move and I seriously feel it's underrated. Sure, it's no Earthquake, but special sweepers usually don't want Earthquake anyway. The really nice thing is Charizard-Y is immune to this move himself, so it nets him great coverage without risking himself to Imposters (well, adding more risk at any rate). It also ticks off the ever-present Aegislash who wants to run both Flashfire and Levitate, but can't.
Originally, I ran Roost instead of Perish Song. However, I quickly realized I was using it once every never per battle and started to explore other options. Perish Song came to light after my first loss. That move is normally reserved for bulkier Pokemon, like Lugia, so it came as a bit of a surprise to the opponent. Aside from stopping last stands cold, it also was great for forcing out entrenched defensive Pokemon or preventing the foe from setting up.
Finally, Oblivion Wing vs. Aeroblast. Basically, it's just a survivability vs. power argument, in which I wound up opting for the former. Aeroblast is still amazing and underused in my opinion though.
Known Weaknesses
-Electric attacks: Yveltal, Kyogre, and Charizard all share an Electric weakness that is resisted only by Giratina. Fortunately, Electric-types are very rare in BH and Electric-coverage is rather uncommon, Kyurem-B aside, so this was never a problem. And whenever someone does break out Zekrom, it's almost always a No Guard set using Zap Cannon + Dynamic Punch with recovery and boosting... which Giratina laughs at.
-Heavy offensive pressure: Good hyper offense is rarer than electric attacks since most common HO teams are poorly made and/or poorly played by newer players who mostly just spam Contrary and Simple. However, since most of my recovery came from PH rather than actual recovery moves, strong, offensive pressure could wear my team down. Fortunately, enough bulk is present that my team can wear them down in return and safely recover once the pressure is removed.
-Toxic Orb Imposter: In theory, they'd be very problematic to deal with. In practice... well, I've yet to bump into one. Ever.
-Pecha/Lum Berry Trick: In theory, though again, I've never seen this actually ran. It'd be the equivalent to getting the orb Knocked Off before activation, which did happen on some occasions but never really came close to crippling my team. Now maybe three or four Lum Berry Tricks could cause some problems, but at that point my opponent would be counter-teaming.
-Trick or Knock Off + Natural Cure Entrainment: Yet another theory, except I've actually seen this one... when I was using it on an experimental team. Other than that, nope.
-Hex/Venoshock: Also just in theory since I didn't encounter these. However, Gigas is immune to Hex and Yveltal resists it. Giratina is resistant to Venoshock. And, in any case, there were harder hitting attacks flying around, so these probably wouldn't be that scary.
Vs. common and specific threats
-Refrigerate Kyurem-B: Perhaps the most common offensive threat in the tier, how I dealt with this thing depended on its coverage. If it lacked Bolt Strike, Kyogre was usually safe to come in, sleep it, and start setting up. Otherwise, Regigas was usually my next best option if I needed to switch into it since it could stall Extreme Speed PP and heal at the same time. If it didn't get critted, Giratina could burn it and Yveltal could simply King's Shield it. If Xerneas was at high HP, it could take the hits well enough to retaliate with Moonblast or burn with Sacred Fire.
-Boomburst: Most common Boombursters are not the fastest thing around and tend to hover in the 90-99 base speed zone. And if they're faster, then it usually meant they were lacking in either power or STAB, often bulk too, which in turn made them much easier to deal with. Since Gigas is Jolly, it could outspeed all but Scarf Boomburst and put them to sleep. Kyogre resisted the worst of the three, Specs Kyu-W's Refrige Boomburst, and could also sleep them and, in fact, start setting up in their face. In a pinch, Charizard could Perish Song to ensure their momentum would be stopped and allow me to regroup and prevent them from attempting another sweep.
-Imposter: Since 99% run Eviolite and .9% run Leftovers, Imposters were rarely problematic. I could status them with impunity and the lack of recovery moves meant I could wear them down as well. The lack of Substitute or Illusion also ensured I'd never have to deal with them Skill Swapping Imposter onto me. Or getting nailed by a Final Gamibt.
-Shedinja: Gigas has Spiky Shield, Giratina has Will-o-Wisp, Xerneas has Sacred Fire and Stealth Rock, and Charizard has Magma Storm. Additionally, PH recovery means most of my mons could survive an Endeavor + Ice Shard regardless. And when all else fails? Giratina switches in safely except to Scrappy or equivalent Sheddy. But that one is exponentially easier to kill and to play around than Sturdinja.
-Skill Swap/Entrainment/Gastro/Etc: These could be annoying to deal with, but that's was about it. By not switching right away, unless poison was stacked high, and keeping hazards clear, meant I could stall the PP at worse and, more commonly, wear the offending Pokemon down. Against many teams relying on this to check PH, this was usually all I had to remove to make the rest of the team crumble.
Though it may no longer be legal in BH, this team is still playable in both pure Hackmons and custom games. Though if you bring it to pure Hacks you'll want to look into a change or two to deal with Shadow Tag, Wonderguard, and No-Guard Sheer Cold, Parental Bond, and whatever other threats that are common there but absent in BH.
During the discussions about the necessity of an ability clause, and whether it should allow for only one or two instances of an ability, I decided to create a team to drive home the issue of how necessary such a clause really was. The prevailing argument against the ability clause was that a good counter would stop six instances of a given ability.
Against an opponent who knows what they're doing, this is laughably untrue.
In reality, the counter can stop one, two, or, if it's really lucky, maybe even three of the same thing. But, especially in BH where even a hard counter can find it difficult to OHKO or completely shutdown the thing it's supposed to be countering, the counter will eventually be overwhelmed and, shortly after that, the rest of the opposing team can easily follow.
The team I put together revolved around Poison Heal as it is a powerful ability that is usable by offense, defense, support, gimmick, and pretty much everything else more or less equally. Once the team was assembled and functional, it proceeded to roll over the opposition, including players that I considered to be superior in skill compared to me, and pulled a 22-3 record before I set the team aside. I can only prove 19-1, however, as the other four replays I either forgot to save or Showdown had an error and failed to save the replay.
But in brief, loss #1 was due to a critical hit on my Giratina it would have survived otherwise, which led into a scenario I didn't have a back-up answer to at the time. The second was due to a boosted Gengar-Mega that was damaged by Stealth Rock. It survived a hit that had a chance to OHKO it at full HP, (the attack could do 87-102.4% damage and I rolled exactly 87, the only value Gengar could have survived at). The last was against lcass, a talented BH player, who knew at least part of my team ahead of time while I didn't know his.
My rank peaked at about 1530 on the BH ladder, which, after removing all the alts (some people in this tier love to try to hog the 10 ten by themselves), would have put me around top 5 at the time. I didn't screenshot this since I intended to take the #1 spot first, but rating decay combined with my lack of free time to play consistently prevented me from going any higher.
Anyway, that's enough of a foreword. Why don't I give this team the proper send-off it deserves?
ability clause pls (Regigigas) @ Toxic Orb
Ability: Poison Heal
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SAtk / 252 SDef / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature
- Spiky Shield
- Facade
- Spore
- Dragon Tail
Honestly, if this thing wasn't so effective in BH, I'd never tough it just because of that design.
Aesthetic complaints aside...
This set is based off of what was a standard Regigas set during Gen V BH. Spiky Shield is there primarily to ensure that the Toxic Orb triggers so that Gigas can get set-up in the face of both Trick and Status leads. However, it can also be handy in stalling an opponent or threatening certain physical attackers with residual damage, such as Kyurem-B and Shedinja.
The rest of the set is fairly straight forward. Sleep things, punch them with Facade, or shuffle with Dragon Tail (which is usually the move of choice against Sheddy leads since, 80% of the time, it's an Illusion Belly Drum Slaking or similar). Gigas is also the most expendable member of the team and exists entirely for lead purposes. Not that it's useless beyond that. Far from it, in fact! If allowed to, it can sweep part of or an entire unprepared team on its own without ever needing to switch.
ability clause pls (Giratina) @ Toxic Orb
Ability: Poison Heal
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 252 SAtk / 252 SDef / 252 Spd
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Recover
- Whirlwind
- Will-O-Wisp
- Defog
Poison Heal Giratina has become fairly common in the tier and this is one of my takes on it. It's largely a copy and paste from my anti-momentum team, though I swapped Knock Off for Defog to get rid of hazards. Since I only ran Stealth Rock to deal with Shedinja, I was not too worried about removing my own rocks if I had to.
A bold nature was chosen specifically because of Refrigerate Kyurem-B and physical Pixilate Xerneas, two threats every team needs to be ready for. Between Bold and recovery from PH, Giratina can survive a Fake Out + Extreme Speed and retaliate with Will-O-Wisp to cripple them. This often leaves Gira badly hurt, but it can recover easily enough once I can get it in safely again. The priority sweeper usually can't.
Whirlwind, besides its useful shuffling qualities, is also handy for dealing with Entrainment Magic Bounce, something that's usually considered to be a counter to Poison Heal. Not only do I get to scout their Entrainment user, but Whirlwind will get bounced and let me escape the Entrainment for free. The random switch is a little inconvenient, but, especially early in a match, it can allow me to trigger another Toxic Orb with absolutely zero risk besides hazards if I didn't Defog first.
ability clause pls (Yveltal) @ Toxic Orb
Ability: Poison Heal
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SAtk / 252 SDef / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature
- Knock Off
- Circle Throw
- King's Shield
- Brave Bird/Sucker Punch/Pursuit
While Poison Heal Gira has become popular lately, Yveltal has been getting in on the fun too now that Refrigerate and Pixelate aren't spammed anywhere near like they were back in the early Gen VI days. The set here isn't something I would generally come up with on my own. Rather, it's my own variation of a set that I first saw Keep It Playful use when he helped me put together a sand team.
With the exception of Moonblast and Boomburst, the majority of the super-effective attacks directed at Yveltal tend to be physical in nature, such as Refrigerate Extreme Speed, Head Smash, and Bolt Strike. King's Shield, while it doesn't quite shut the attackers down, weakens the attacks enough so that Yveltal can deal with them or that I can switch safely.
Beyond that, the first two moves are just being a PITA. Knock Off is as annoying as always, especially when used by something as hard-hitting as Yveltal, and has ridiculous utility in BH ranging from crippling all Judgement sweepers not named Arceus to seriously cutting Imposter Chansey's bulk. And once the Toxic Orb is activated, Yveltal, like the rest of my team, doesn't really care if it gets hit by Knock Off.
The last slot is the one I've been most indecisive on the team and changed the most. Brave Bird was the most common pick, which gave Yveltal a way to hurt stuff that resists Dark and could scare quite a few Mewtwo-X. Meanwhile, Sucker Punch tended easily deal with out of control Mega Gengars and Mewtwo-Y, particularly since the move is rarely ran. If I had been carrying Sucker Punch during my second loss instead of Brave Bird, I'd be at 23-2 instead of 22-3. And finally, Pursuit is just mean. Being almost never seen in BH, those hapless Mewtwo-Y trying to flee to safety never saw their demise coming.
ability clause pls (Xerneas) @ Toxic Orb
Ability: Poison Heal
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SAtk / 252 SDef / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
- Light of Ruin/Moonblast
- Stealth Rock
- Knock Off
- Sacred Fire
Why can't I find awesome images like this one and Yveltal's for everyone without them being annoyingly oversized for a forum post?
Ahem, anyway...
With Giratina's tendency to attract the attention of opposing Yveltal, among other stuff that likes to pick on the ghostly dragon, Xerneas is an excellent check or counter depending on the set. Xerneas' goal is to provide a good offensive presence when I need it and, since many Magic Bounce users are vulnerable to its coverage, force them out to set-up rocks. Said rocks are mostly there just to kill Shedinja though, so getting them up is hardly necessary if the opponent is not using the undead bug.
Sacred Fire might seem like an odd choice when paired with a Timid nature, but the primary reason it exists is to burn stuff, particularly Imposters, Shedinja, and physical attackers, without getting bounced or Taunted. Since Poison Heal was, and still is, rather prevalent, many teams have been neglecting to carry a cleric to avoid having to protect their Toxic Orbs after activation. But if they have both orb-users and a cleric... well, Knock Off is there to force a deliciously sadistic choice upon them once I've burned their physical sweeper.
It's worth noting that I originally ran Searing Shot instead since it has good power and a 30% burn chance. But I wound up swapping for Sacred Fire since the burn was more important than the direct damage.
When I started, Moonblast was the only good option for a non-Pixelate attacker. I mean, sure, there's Play Rough, but that move is just a bit outclassed. However, a little ways in, Light of Ruin was added to PS and, while it may not be available in most tiers, there's nothing stopping its usage in BH. However, the recoil is so high that Poison Heal doesn't cover it too tell, so it makes Xerneas a lot riskier to use. The boost in power is very significant though, so picking between the two was a difficult choice I never settled on.
ability clause pls (Kyogre) @ Toxic Orb
Ability: Poison Heal
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 252 SAtk / 252 SDef / 252 Spd
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Spore
- Quiver Dance
- Surf
- Ice Beam
After seeing Adrian Marin's Kyogre in action (and its copies some people have used), and being quite familiar with Kyogre's potential bulk, adding one to this team just seemed like a great idea to set-up a sweep and win. However, while both mine and Adrian's use Poison Heal with Spore and Quiver Dance to set-up relatively safely and sweep, the similarities end there.
Ironically, his is more offensive by packing Water Spout with, if memory serves correctly, Moonblast for coverage. Mine opts for more longevity by sacrificing potential power for an increase in PP via Surf and safer coverage in Ice Beam. The reason being my team isn't built to handle an Imposter Kyogre. Instead, Kyogre takes care of its own Imposters. But if an Imposter managed a crit with a highly-boosted Moonblast or full HP Water Spout... well, both of those can OHKO Kyogre easily. Meanwhile, even at +6, Surf can't OHKO from full HP.
Aside from Imposter shenanigans, choosing Surf allows me to handle stallier teams better by not having to worry about running out of PP so easily. Combining it with Ice Beam lets Kyogre have neutral coverage on everything but opposing water types, which are pretty much limited to opposing Kyogre and Gyarados-Mega. Or rarer stuff like Keldeo, Jellicent, and Waterceus. Or outclassed stuff like Blastoise-Mega, Suicune, and Greninja. Or Empoleon, which becomes popular with new players at random intervals for some reason.
But anyway, simple strategy here: Spore the opponent, set-up on them, and then sweep.
ability clause pls (Charizard-Mega-Y) @ Toxic Orb
Ability: Poison Heal
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 252 SAtk / 252 SDef / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Magma Storm
- Oblivion Wing/Aeroblast
- Earth Power
- Perish Song
Ah, Charizard-Y. The less-beloved and, IMO, better looking of the two megas. Don't get me wrong, X is cool too. I just like Y's design more.
Again, aesthetic commentary aside...
Picking the last member was quite difficult, but my team was already well synergized in terms of defense. What it really needed was a quick, offensive punch. Kyogre hurts, sure, but it needs to set-up and not every opponent is easily to set-up on. Xerneas hits hard, but its coverage is a bit limited by necessary utility, especially since Flash Fire Steel-types are pretty common, and Regigas also lacks a way to hurt Steel-types significantly.
Enter Charizard-Y. While the frailest member of the team, it's no slouch in hurting stuff and forcing switches. Magma Storm is chosen over Blue Flare primarily to kill Shedinja. However, the trapping potential, especially when paired with Perish Song, cannot be overlooked (despite that song being added after Magma). It can also catch things it walls too, such as Fairy/Fire/Ground coverage Xerneas, and proceed to destroy them. This makes it run the risk of getting perish trapped by an Imposter, but said Imposter would be going down with it.
Earth Power is taken as coverage against the ever-common Flashfire Steel types. Sometimes I feel like I'm the only one using this move and I seriously feel it's underrated. Sure, it's no Earthquake, but special sweepers usually don't want Earthquake anyway. The really nice thing is Charizard-Y is immune to this move himself, so it nets him great coverage without risking himself to Imposters (well, adding more risk at any rate). It also ticks off the ever-present Aegislash who wants to run both Flashfire and Levitate, but can't.
Originally, I ran Roost instead of Perish Song. However, I quickly realized I was using it once every never per battle and started to explore other options. Perish Song came to light after my first loss. That move is normally reserved for bulkier Pokemon, like Lugia, so it came as a bit of a surprise to the opponent. Aside from stopping last stands cold, it also was great for forcing out entrenched defensive Pokemon or preventing the foe from setting up.
Finally, Oblivion Wing vs. Aeroblast. Basically, it's just a survivability vs. power argument, in which I wound up opting for the former. Aeroblast is still amazing and underused in my opinion though.
Known Weaknesses
-Electric attacks: Yveltal, Kyogre, and Charizard all share an Electric weakness that is resisted only by Giratina. Fortunately, Electric-types are very rare in BH and Electric-coverage is rather uncommon, Kyurem-B aside, so this was never a problem. And whenever someone does break out Zekrom, it's almost always a No Guard set using Zap Cannon + Dynamic Punch with recovery and boosting... which Giratina laughs at.
-Heavy offensive pressure: Good hyper offense is rarer than electric attacks since most common HO teams are poorly made and/or poorly played by newer players who mostly just spam Contrary and Simple. However, since most of my recovery came from PH rather than actual recovery moves, strong, offensive pressure could wear my team down. Fortunately, enough bulk is present that my team can wear them down in return and safely recover once the pressure is removed.
-Toxic Orb Imposter: In theory, they'd be very problematic to deal with. In practice... well, I've yet to bump into one. Ever.
-Pecha/Lum Berry Trick: In theory, though again, I've never seen this actually ran. It'd be the equivalent to getting the orb Knocked Off before activation, which did happen on some occasions but never really came close to crippling my team. Now maybe three or four Lum Berry Tricks could cause some problems, but at that point my opponent would be counter-teaming.
-Trick or Knock Off + Natural Cure Entrainment: Yet another theory, except I've actually seen this one... when I was using it on an experimental team. Other than that, nope.
-Hex/Venoshock: Also just in theory since I didn't encounter these. However, Gigas is immune to Hex and Yveltal resists it. Giratina is resistant to Venoshock. And, in any case, there were harder hitting attacks flying around, so these probably wouldn't be that scary.
Vs. common and specific threats
-Refrigerate Kyurem-B: Perhaps the most common offensive threat in the tier, how I dealt with this thing depended on its coverage. If it lacked Bolt Strike, Kyogre was usually safe to come in, sleep it, and start setting up. Otherwise, Regigas was usually my next best option if I needed to switch into it since it could stall Extreme Speed PP and heal at the same time. If it didn't get critted, Giratina could burn it and Yveltal could simply King's Shield it. If Xerneas was at high HP, it could take the hits well enough to retaliate with Moonblast or burn with Sacred Fire.
-Boomburst: Most common Boombursters are not the fastest thing around and tend to hover in the 90-99 base speed zone. And if they're faster, then it usually meant they were lacking in either power or STAB, often bulk too, which in turn made them much easier to deal with. Since Gigas is Jolly, it could outspeed all but Scarf Boomburst and put them to sleep. Kyogre resisted the worst of the three, Specs Kyu-W's Refrige Boomburst, and could also sleep them and, in fact, start setting up in their face. In a pinch, Charizard could Perish Song to ensure their momentum would be stopped and allow me to regroup and prevent them from attempting another sweep.
-Imposter: Since 99% run Eviolite and .9% run Leftovers, Imposters were rarely problematic. I could status them with impunity and the lack of recovery moves meant I could wear them down as well. The lack of Substitute or Illusion also ensured I'd never have to deal with them Skill Swapping Imposter onto me. Or getting nailed by a Final Gamibt.
-Shedinja: Gigas has Spiky Shield, Giratina has Will-o-Wisp, Xerneas has Sacred Fire and Stealth Rock, and Charizard has Magma Storm. Additionally, PH recovery means most of my mons could survive an Endeavor + Ice Shard regardless. And when all else fails? Giratina switches in safely except to Scrappy or equivalent Sheddy. But that one is exponentially easier to kill and to play around than Sturdinja.
-Skill Swap/Entrainment/Gastro/Etc: These could be annoying to deal with, but that's was about it. By not switching right away, unless poison was stacked high, and keeping hazards clear, meant I could stall the PP at worse and, more commonly, wear the offending Pokemon down. Against many teams relying on this to check PH, this was usually all I had to remove to make the rest of the team crumble.
Though it may no longer be legal in BH, this team is still playable in both pure Hackmons and custom games. Though if you bring it to pure Hacks you'll want to look into a change or two to deal with Shadow Tag, Wonderguard, and No-Guard Sheer Cold, Parental Bond, and whatever other threats that are common there but absent in BH.
ability clause pls (Regigigas) @ Toxic Orb
Ability: Poison Heal
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SAtk / 252 SDef / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature
- Spiky Shield
- Facade
- Spore
- Dragon Tail
ability clause pls (Giratina) @ Toxic Orb
Ability: Poison Heal
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 252 SAtk / 252 SDef / 252 Spd
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Recover
- Whirlwind
- Will-O-Wisp
- Defog
ability clause pls (Yveltal) @ Toxic Orb
Ability: Poison Heal
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SAtk / 252 SDef / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature
- Knock Off
- Circle Throw
- King's Shield
- Sucker Punch
ability clause pls (Xerneas) @ Toxic Orb
Ability: Poison Heal
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 252 SAtk / 252 SDef / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Light of Ruin
- Stealth Rock
- Knock Off
- Sacred Fire
ability clause pls (Kyogre) @ Toxic Orb
Ability: Poison Heal
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 252 SAtk / 252 SDef / 252 Spd
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Spore
- Quiver Dance
- Surf
- Ice Beam
ability clause pls (Charizard-Mega-Y) @ Toxic Orb
Ability: Poison Heal
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 252 SAtk / 252 SDef / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Magma Storm
- Oblivion Wing
- Earth Power
- Perish Song
Ability: Poison Heal
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SAtk / 252 SDef / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature
- Spiky Shield
- Facade
- Spore
- Dragon Tail
ability clause pls (Giratina) @ Toxic Orb
Ability: Poison Heal
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 252 SAtk / 252 SDef / 252 Spd
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Recover
- Whirlwind
- Will-O-Wisp
- Defog
ability clause pls (Yveltal) @ Toxic Orb
Ability: Poison Heal
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SAtk / 252 SDef / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature
- Knock Off
- Circle Throw
- King's Shield
- Sucker Punch
ability clause pls (Xerneas) @ Toxic Orb
Ability: Poison Heal
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 252 SAtk / 252 SDef / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Light of Ruin
- Stealth Rock
- Knock Off
- Sacred Fire
ability clause pls (Kyogre) @ Toxic Orb
Ability: Poison Heal
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 252 SAtk / 252 SDef / 252 Spd
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Spore
- Quiver Dance
- Surf
- Ice Beam
ability clause pls (Charizard-Mega-Y) @ Toxic Orb
Ability: Poison Heal
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 252 SAtk / 252 SDef / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Magma Storm
- Oblivion Wing
- Earth Power
- Perish Song
If I know the user's main in relation to the BH community, it's listed here. Otherwise it's the PS name they were using.
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/balancedhackmons-98594406 (W, weiseguy)
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/balancedhackmons-98606505 (W, Kumi)
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/balancedhackmons-98609267 (W, Mamp)
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/balancedhackmons-98611823 (W, doomstarr)
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/balancedhackmons-98613759 (L, weiseguy) *Could either blame a crit, leaving Gira in to get critted, or not having an answer to the problem at the time.
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/balancedhackmons-98618810 (W, Kumi)
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/balancedhackmons-98623575 (W, Defy_Juice)
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/balancedhackmons-98991567 (W, kelvinlarkin)
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/balancedhackmons-98993596 (W, Tehpig boss)
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/balancedhackmons-98998646 (W, hduwhud)
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/balancedhackmons-99007608 (W, Hacked Showdown)
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/balancedhackmons-99355483 (W, biboo)
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/balancedhackmons-99356996 (W, Blue Frog, despite some really bad plays on my part)
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/balancedhackmons-99360275 (W, Bastra)
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/balancedhackmons-99365939 (W, United States)
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/balancedhackmons-99369252 (W, holloway 1)
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/balancedhackmons-99646583 (W, Kumi)
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/balancedhackmons-99648767 (W, Shuggah)
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/balancedhackmons-100504135 (W, Piccolo)
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/balancedhackmons-98594406 (W, weiseguy)
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/balancedhackmons-98606505 (W, Kumi)
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/balancedhackmons-98609267 (W, Mamp)
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/balancedhackmons-98611823 (W, doomstarr)
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/balancedhackmons-98613759 (L, weiseguy) *Could either blame a crit, leaving Gira in to get critted, or not having an answer to the problem at the time.
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/balancedhackmons-98618810 (W, Kumi)
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/balancedhackmons-98623575 (W, Defy_Juice)
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/balancedhackmons-98991567 (W, kelvinlarkin)
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/balancedhackmons-98993596 (W, Tehpig boss)
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/balancedhackmons-98998646 (W, hduwhud)
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/balancedhackmons-99007608 (W, Hacked Showdown)
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/balancedhackmons-99355483 (W, biboo)
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/balancedhackmons-99356996 (W, Blue Frog, despite some really bad plays on my part)
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/balancedhackmons-99360275 (W, Bastra)
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/balancedhackmons-99365939 (W, United States)
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/balancedhackmons-99369252 (W, holloway 1)
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/balancedhackmons-99646583 (W, Kumi)
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/balancedhackmons-99648767 (W, Shuggah)
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/balancedhackmons-100504135 (W, Piccolo)
