Now onto the in depth look at the team!!Team Building Process:
This team came about through me wanting to utilize my favourite Pokemon,and a pretty under-rated threat, Absol/ Mega Absol. Through its brilliant stats (if a little frail) and it's ability Mega Absol functions as a check to hazard setters and also as a late game cleaner, and to an extent wall breaker.
Due to Absol's Dark typing and frail nature, it will be targeted by the huge amount of Fighting types, along with Fairies that can easily OHKO it, so I next needed a partner to resist those 2 types, and be able threaten them in it's own right. The search for this Pokemon didn't take long at all, the ever common Aegislash.
With Absol's weaknesses covered, the next job was to cover Aegislash, and start adding some support to the team. I was looking for something bulky, but again could threaten opposing Pokemon in itself. With it's access to Defog, and Healing Wish, and the ability to resist/be immune to the common Fire and Ground attacks in OU I decided the next member of the team will be Latias.
Now that the spine of the team has came together, the next step was to look for some more defensive Pokemon, preferably able to spread some Status and Hazards that the team currently lack. Between the 2 I chose there was brilliant synergy in the Typing, and cover's some of the weaknesses not covered through the first 3 Pokemon. I settled for Togekiss and Heatran for these roles, Togekiss being my Physical Wall, and almost counter to Garchomp, while Heatran goes into it's familiar Specially Defensive Hazard setter role.
Only one space remaining on the team, and I only have 2 Pokemon with genuine offensive Presence, I needed another Pokemon to provide some much needed damage. I wanted to hit from the special side of things here and needed some more speed, as other than Latias and Absol, there wasn't much in the way of pace. My eyes settled on Greninja, being one of the fastest Pokemon introduced in Gen 6, and has very interesting, and powerful Ability, Protean, this gives me STAB on which ever attack I use, and Greninja gets great coverage, including Hidden Power.
After a month or so of testing a variety of different options on the team, I found that Latias wasn't really adding much to the team at all. In a similar sense Togekiss wasn't working as expected, however it's typing was essential for the defensive synergy of the team. In deciding to replace Latias, I changed Togekiss into the teams offensive defogger, utilising a Scarf variant. Now that I needed a physical wall, there was on only one that really stood out, and I haven't looked back since, Quagsire.
Absol @ Absolite
Ability: Justified (Magic Bounce)
Nature: Naive (Spe+/SpD-)
EVs: 252 Atk/40 SpA/216 Spe
-Sucker Punch
-Knock Off
-Superpower
-Fire Blast
Absol here is the reason the team was built. It has two main functions on the team, first of which is to be a wall breaker and late game cleaner. In it's mega form all of it's offensive stats recieved a really nice boost, especially it's speed that has always been a little lacking. With it now sitting on 115 base speed, with 150 Attack and 115 Special Attack it can punch some holes in the opposing team, out speeding a decent portion. Sucker Punch and Knock Off are both fantastic STAB moves, each offering god utility, Sucker Punch being one the most powerful priority moves in the game, and Knock Off removes the item off of its target, and hits for around 142 base power. Superpower offers good coverage alongside the STAB moves, and hits Steels, Dark, Normal, Rock and Ice types for super effective damage. Fire Blast is to hit the likes of Ferrathorn and Scizor for higher damage, and is a good mixed option. It's other function is to reflect Status and Hazards back onto the opponent. Unlike other Magic Bounce users, Absol isn't weak to Dark or Ghost, the problem that plagued the Psychic type users. The EVs of the set are self explanatory, 216 Speed to outspeed the base 108 Pokemon in the tier, 252 Attack for maximum Physical damage, and the leftover 40 in Special Attack allow it to grab some 2HKOs and OHKOs that it couldn't with little investment such as Skarmory for example.
Aegislash @ Weakness Policy
Ability: Stance Change
Nature: Brave (Atk+/Spe-)
EVs: 252 HP/252 Atk/4 SpD
-Shadow Sneak
-Iron Head
-Sacred Sword
-Kings Shield
Aegislash is one of the key member's of the team. It cover's all of Absol's weaknesses to give it plenty of opportunities to switch in. From there it threatens the opponent using its 150 base attack when in Blade form. The common variant for Aegislash is the mixed attacker, however that didn't fit the need of my team, and I feel wastes some coverage that it will appreciate. Shadow Sneak is a good STAB move, giving it some priority to nick a KO, or sometimes outright threathen some frailer Pokemon. Iron Head is the secondary STAB, almost exclusively used on Fairy's. Sacred Sword adds good coverage, hitting most of what resists the first 2 attacks. King's Shield does what it does, it is unlikely to see an Aegislash without it. Weakness Policy allows me to gain a +2 without having to use a slot for Swords Dance, and in Shield form, I can tank a few super effective hits to gain the boost. The best part of this is that Knock Off activates it before the item gets removed.
Togekiss @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Serene Grace
Nature: Modest
EVs: 8 HP/252 Sp.A/248 Spe
-Air Slash
-Dazzling Gleam
-Flamethrower
-Defog
Previously Togekiss functioned as the team's Physical wall, the set can be viewed lower down the analysis. With Latias moving on Togekiss moved into the role of offensive Defogger. Due to it's typing it gets plently of opportunity to switch in, capitalizing on it's immunities to Dragon and Ground. It's main function is to remove hazards, fast. Once any hazards are off of my side it reverts into a revenge killer, and a back up late game cleaner. This type of Togekiss does suffer from FMSS however I feel I have found the best combinations for coverage. Air Slash is the main STAB, while sharing Fighting coverage with Dazzling Gleam, it also gives me an option for Mega Venusaur. Dazzling Gleam is the second STAB, hitting Dragon, Fighting and Dark. Flamethrower was chosen as the last move, primarily for Ferrathorn and Scizor, I am considering Aura Sphere in one of these slots if there are any Pokemon I can KO that I currently struggle to, maybe Bisharp. The EVs and nature maximise my damage output, 8 HP EVs give me a Stealth Rock number, letting me switch in a maximum of 4 times, the 248 go into speed, after Scarf I hit 387. The EVs could be optimised, I would appreciate some help figuring out important Pokemon to out speed.
Heatran @ Leftovers
Ability: Flash Fire
Nature: Calm
EVs: 252 HP/4 SpA/252 SpD
-Lava Plume
-Stealth Rock
-Roar
-Toxic/Protect
Heatran is the Special Wall for the team, Rocks setter and another Status spreader, adding Toxic poison to the team. Heatran is my usual choice in the lead slot, to either set Rocks or Toxic an opponent early game. From there I use the free switch ins on predicted Fire Attacks and my Ground immunity, thanks to Air Balloon. Roar shuffles the opposing team, racking up Rocks damage and switching any potential threats to Heatran out. Lava Plume is used for STAB and allows the chance to Burn any Physical attackers. The EVs and Nature are standard for Specially Defensive Heatran.
Quagsire @ Leftovers
Ability: Unaware
Nature: Bold
EVs: 252 HP/252 Def/4 Sp.A
-Scald
-Haze
-Toxic
-Recover
Quagsire is the new addition on the team, replacing Togekiss as the Physical wall, and I must say it was a good change. Thanks to it's natural bulk and it's ability, my team now has the ability to check more set up sweepers than before, and I now have a hard check/counter on Charizard X. The set is self explanitory, as it is standard I believe. Scald is the attack of choice, hitting fairly decently with 80 base power, while spreading Burn, further enhancing the walling capabilities Quagsire has. Haze is maybe the odd move here, it resets all stat changes, meaning if Quagsire does somehow faint, the next Pokemon in doesn't have to face a set up opponent. It also removes any changes on itself which is quite nice. Toxic adds more status and helps Quagsire win Stall wars if need be. Recover well recovers me. The EVs and nature give maximum Physical bulk, with the leftover 4 going into Special Attack to give a tiny boost Scald.
Greninja @ Life Orb
Ability: Protean
Nature: Timid
EVs:4 Def/252 SpA/252 Spe
-Scald
-Ice Beam
-Hidden Power Grass
-U-turn/Extrasensory/Dark Pulse
Greninja is the final member of the team, operating as the main Special Attacker, and thanks to Protean gains STAB on all it's attacks, making it a lot more powerful than a Standard special attacker. The EVs and Nature are standard for Greninja giving it maximum speed and power, with the leftover 4 going into defence. Scald is selected as the Water move of choice, having the option of a Burn over Surf, and better accuracy than Hydro Pump. Ice Beam is chosen to hit the ever present Dragon's and Ground types in OU, hitting some of them for x4 damage. Hidden Power Grass is the third attack, hitting opposing Water Types, key examples being Rotom-W and Quagsire. The final slot is currently undecided, with U-Turn currently first choice, for scouting and momentum purposes, Extrasensory can be used against Fighting Types, though they commonly have Assault Vest attached in the current Meta, Finally Dark Pulse is considered as an option for Aegislash and any other Ghost types in the tier.
So that is the team in full, any help will be greatly appreciated. The team has managed to peak at around 1593 on the OU ladder, and I feel it has the potential to get even higher with a few edits and additions. With the changes I have made it has managed to peak at 1671, which marks a nice improvement over the previous version. Finally here is the importable of both versions of the team if anyone wants to give the team a try:Previous sets/Team members:
Latias @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
Nature: Timid
EVs: 252 HP/4 SpA/252 Spe
-Draco Meteor
-Psyshock
-Healing Wish
-Defog
Latias is the teams Bulky supporter if you will, offering a vital anti-hazard set up with Defog, and also giving a team mate a second chance to sweep through Healing Wish. The other attacks are there for STAB, Draco Meteor, even with little investment, can still OHKO some dragons, whilst Psyshock is mainly for Assault Vest Conkeldurr and Mega Venusaur. Latias gets a lot of opportunities to switch in, similar to Aegislash, as it covers the Fighting weakness of Absol, is immune to Ground that threatens Aegislash and Heatran, resists Fire and Electric that can hit Aegislash and Togekiss respectively. Through these free switches it can usually remove any hazards affecting my team, and can add some offensive pressure on the opponent. While helpful to the team, Latias is one of the Pokemon more at risk to change, as I am tempted to try Latios as an offensive Defogger.
Togekiss @ Leftovers
Ability: Serene Grace
Nature: Bold
EVs: 248 HP/224 Def/4 SpA/16 SpD/16 Spe
-Air Slash
-Dazzling Gleam
-Roost
-Thunder Wave
Togekiss is the team's Physical Wall and a status spreader through the use of Thunder Wave. The main reason I chose Togekiss for the role is it's ability to counter most Garchomp sets, giving it a lot of opportunity to switch in. The EVs for this set may look a bit strange, but I will explain them now, the 248 HP allows it to switch into Rocks 5 times instead of 4, 224 Def with Bold nature gives it 310 defence, which allows it to take a large portion of physical hits. The 16 SpD EVs give it a little more overall bulk, it gives it some survivability against some unboosted special attacks, and non STAB super effective attacks. 16 Speed allows it to speed creep over over uninvested base 80's whilst the last 4 go into SpA to add a little boost to the STAB attacks. Thunder Wave and Air Slash form the Paraflinch set that Togekiss became notorious for in the past, Dazzling Gleam hits Dark, Dragon and Fighting super effectively, and Roost is for healing.
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