ORAS OU Always Attracts Draco Meteor - Mega Altaria RMT

Introduction:
(currently unfinished, will add rest of images at a later date)
I've had a small break for making RMTs recently, mainly due to my teams just not working too well, or just not being too fussed about playing. This changed with the creation of OR/AS OU, which allowed us all to try out the new megas and new moves. For this RMT I decided to choose something that at first glance is underrated. However with use it is one of the ultimate Dragon Slayers in Mega Altaria. As the title states, opponents always seem to try and KO with a dragon move, only to get treated to seeing 'It Doesn't Affect Altaria' pop up, thanks to its nice shiny new Fairy typing to replace Flying. While I haven't done much in the way of laddering so far, the team has shown great consistency, and potential to climb high up the ladder. Without further ado lets crack on to the RMT:

Team Overview:

Teambuilding Process:

As stated this team is built around Mega Altaria. Initially I selected a Specially based Agility set, due to its access to Hyper Voice, I figured it could work well as a check to Mega Salamence. However with no way to boost its Special Attack, I often found it underwhelming. I then made the switch to Dragon Dance, and it is powerful. Even with only base 110 Attack, with a boost or 2 this thing can 6-0 teams, and severly dent others.

Next up I wanted to cover the weaknesses of M-Altaria and offer good offensive synergy alongside it. Heatran was naturally the only choice, covering every weakness of M-Altaria, while having all its own weakness covered vice versa (Ground only being covered pre Mega) Normally I use the specially defensive set, but I was looking for offence when building this team so I went for Stealth Rocks + 3 Attacks, to maintain offensive pressure, and secure some surprise KOs on threats that outspeed the defensive builds.

With my offensive pairing sorted, I now wanted a Revenge Killer, and preferably something maintains synergy. I gave this slot a lot of consideration until I landed on Scarf Heracross. It has a good enough speed tier to become an effective scarfer, has high base power spam buttons (in Close Combat and Megahorn). It can also nicely check the Lati twins and Mega Slowbro. Another benefit is that I gain a status absorber (I opted for Guts over the traditional Moxie, this has won me a game as you will see from a replay later).

Halfway through the team, and the next role I decided needed filling was hazard control. In a lot of my teams I always choose the same Pokemon for this job, and it hasn't changed here. Latias gives me a nice bulky Deffoger, while giving solid offensive presence, and can also offer extra team support through Healing Wish, a move I love on Latias. It's weaknesses are also covered by the 3 Pokemon selected before, so it slotted in rather smoothly.

The last two slots were the more difficult to fill, as I didnt really know what I would struggle with at this stage. I figured I didn't have a good answer to Stall at present, outside of being able to deal with Slowbro fairly easily. I added a Stallbreaker Gengar to help against the playstyle, and offer another Fairy check onto the team. It also gives me some Status spreading to help rack up chip damage throughout battles.

Finally I wanted to use something that resisted Ghost, as it was the one type unaccounted for, I also felt some more pace was needed on the team, because outside of Heracross, threats such as Greninja outsped the entire team. I more or less selected this Pokemon without much thought after that, but it has been a fairly effective member, Weavile. Going for a Focus Sash set it gives me a semi reliable way to remove opposing Pokemons items, and it gives some much needed priority to the team. Greninja had a spell in this slot, however I felt that I needed more Physical presence on the team so switched it out after a short period.


In-Depth Analysis:



Altaria @ Altarite
Ability: Natural Cure -> Pixilate
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Return
- Earthquake
- Roost
- Dragon Dance


First of we have the star of the show in Mega Altaria. As stated in the teambuiling process, this used to be a specially based set, I was blinded by spamming Hyper Voice. Once I changed to the DD set, everything just fell into place. The Power of Return with the Pixilate and STAB boost is frankly incredible. Onto the set itself, Return is the STAB of choice, with Earthquake chosen to compliment its coverage, hitting hte Steel and Poison types who resist Fairy (bar Skarmory, Levitate Bronzong/Gengar and maybe a couple of others.) Roost is for survivability, due to Altaria's natural bulk I generally get to set up to +3 with DD, and still be able to Roost off the damage. Speaking of Dragon Dance, it is still one of the better set up moves in the game, and is what allows Altaria to sweep teams. Fire Blast is something to consider on the set, however after a couple of boosts, even resists take a lot from Return. Adamant was chosen over Jolly to maximise damage, and it's base 80 speed tier doesn't need me to tie with anything (bar maybe Mamoswine, who I wouldn't stay in on anyway). Attack and Speed are maxed for obvious reasons, while the leftover 4 go into defence, as this keeps it's HP odd for Stealth Rocks, more noticable in pre mega form. The Ability chosen is Natural Cure, as this allows me to absorb some status for the team if need be, before attempting to Mega Evolve and sweep. Thanks to the Fairy typing Altaria becomes one of the best answers to Dragons out there, a lot of opponents don't realise its typing change, so I often get a free turn to set up when the inevitable Dragon moves comes its way.

Synergy:
Poison - Heatran, Gengar
Steel - Heatran
Fairy - Heatran, Gengar
Ice - Heatran, Weavile

Heatran @ Air Balloon
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Fire Blast
- Earth Power
- Flash Cannon
- Stealth Rock

Next up is offensive Heatran, a fantastic partner for Altaria, due to its fantastic typing, which happens to cover all of Altaria's weaknesses. The set functions as the main Special Attacker on the team, full speed investment often grabbing a surprise KO or 2 on opponents not expecting it. The moveset is to utilize it's STAB moves, in Fire Blast for sheer power, Flash Cannon to hit opposing Fairy types, Earth Power is chosen mainly for opposing Heatran, I have considered using Ancient Power for BirdSpam, or Taunt to help break Stall. Finally Stealth Rocks is used to give the team Hazards, and Heatran is a very reliable setter, being able to multiple times if need be. The EV spread is for maximum Special Attack and Speed, the leftover dumped into Special Defence. Air Balloon is the item of choice, giving a pseudo immunity to Ground, granting a lot more opportunity to switch in.

Synergy:
Water - Altaria, Latias
Ground - Altaria (pre-mega), Latias, Heracross, Gengar
Fighting - Altaria, Latias, Gengar

Heracross @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Guts
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Close Combat
- Megahorn
- Knock Off
- Stone Edge

The team needed a revenge killer, that also fit into the synergy I was trying to build between each Pokemon, Heracross covers the Ground weakness that Heatran had uncovered and Heatran itself covers HEracross' weaknesses. The set is pretty much standard for Scarf Heracross, with the exception of using Guts over Moxie. The main reason for this is to give me some Status absorbing capabilities. The boost from Guts is effectively a +1 so it hits as hard as Moxie users without the need to grab a KO first. This ability has won me a few battles, due to people expecting the other ability. The moveset is very self explanatory, Close Combat, and to a lesser extent Megahorn, are both spam buttons, both 120 base power, with STAB, and can severely dent opposing walls such as Ferrothorn and even Mega Slowbro is 2HKOd. Knock Off is the safer move to use when predicting a switch, allowing me to remove items, which as I state in all of my RMTs, is a very powerful ability to have on a team. Stone Edge is the last move, specifically to hit Flying Types, though generally I won't stay in on them unless I can guarentee the KO. Like the above Pokemon this set is maximum speed, with a Jolly nature, and maximum Attack for damage output. 4 put into Defence rather than HP as to take less damage from the Status it may pick up.

Synergy:
Flying - Heatran
Fire - Heatran, Altaria, Latias
Psychic - Heatran, Latias, Weavile

Latias (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Draco Meteor
- Psyshock
- Defog
- Healing Wish

Next up we have the teams Hazard Control, and in a sense a pseudo Cleric. Latias was chosen over Latios for this role purely because of Healing Wish, which can give any member of my team a second chance to sweep, it can also be used tactically to dodge Pursuits for example. Defog is standard fare, removing Hazards, removing my own is usually not an issue due to Heatran usually being able to set up multiple times. The last 2 attacks are both STAB, Draco Meteor for pure power, and Psyshock to hit Fairies on their generally weaker defensive stat, while covering Fighting and Poison types too. Leftovers was the item of choice for this set to give some passive recovery for increased longevity. The EVs can be tinkered into a slightly bulkier spread, as Latias isn't meant to sweep or break walls. At present it is max speed and Timid, to tie with other base 110's such as Gengar or opposing Lati@s, 252 in Special Attack for damage output, then the last 4 into HP.

Synergy:
Dark - Heracross, Weavile
Dragon - Altaria (Mega), Heatran
Bug - Altaria, Heatran, Heracross, Gengar
Ghost - Weavile
Fairy - Heatran, Gengar
Ice - Heatran, Weavile

Gengar @ Life Orb
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Shadow Ball
- Sludge Wave
- Taunt
- Will-O-Wisp

Gengar is a rather important member for the team, being the best answer to Stall that I have available. The key to this set is the use of Taunt to prevent Hazards, Status and boosting moves, while Will-O-Wisp provides some much needed Status for the team. The additional chip damage allows me to secure some KOs that I would otherwise miss out on, and also keeps opposing Physical Pokemon in check. Gengar's typing allows me to have a perfect switch into the very common Chansey being immune to everything it can throw at me, bar rare Thunder Wave sets. This can usually give me switch advantage. Similar to Latias, STAB moves are the offensive options, Shadow Ball giving near unresisted coverage (only Normal types and Chesnaught being Immune to it), and it hits the otherwise annoying Mega Slowbro for super effective damage. Sludge Wave gives the team more answers to Fairy types, and has a chance to spread Poison. Life Orb gives me some additional power, while the EVs are max speed and Special Attack with the leftover in Defence.

Synergy:
Ghost - Weavile
Dark - Altaria (Mega), Heracross, Weavile
Psychic - Heatran, Latias, Weavile

Weavile @ Focus Sash
Ability: Pickpocket
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Knock Off
- Ice Punch
- Low Kick
- Ice Shard

Finally we have Weavile, to offer some fast Physical moves, and gives me a key resistance to Ghost. With Focus Sash this gives me a powerful lead to rack up offensive pressure from the off, usually robbing the opponent of an item Turn 1 thanks to STAB Knock Off. Ice Punch is the main Ice STAB, hitting the many Dragons in the tier hard, and luckily Weavile naturally outspeeds all of them. Low Kick gives some additional Fighting coverage, and allows me to beat Bisharp, which is something that can sometimes trouble the team. I have been tempted to test Fake Out here, but Low Kick does more in my mind. Finally Ice Shard is chosen to give the team some priority, and can act as a secondary revenge killer if need be. Pickpocket was chosen as the ability, as Weavile is not bulky enough to use Pressure effectively, and there is a chance to steal an item if the Sash gets used up. The EVs are standard, speed and attack maxed out, with the leftover going into HP.
Replays:
Featuring Greninja:
VS Proj - little hax at the beginning, but good example of how the team plays, with some good prediction also.: http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/orasou-183720995

VS ookillum - a closer battle, shows the effectiveness of Scarf Hera on the team: http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/orasou-183729758

VS Radio Mawile Rocks - Mega Altaria sets up nicely against Skarmory, gets a 2HKO at +4 with Return, would have swept from there: http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/orasou-183731319

Featuring Weavile:
VS 26Tossweep - 6-0 Altaria sweep, little misplay on his part turn 3, and a couple of crits (that didn't matter to be honest): http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/orasou-184146698

VS Aglo - A battle which showcases the team, with minimal hax, with very good predictions throughout, except one turn where I was greedy with Dragon Dance: http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/orasou-184147688

VS Chupps - One battle to show why I use Guts on my Scarf Hera, without it I would have lost this battle: http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/orasou-184148991

Importable:
Altaria @ Altarite
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Return
- Earthquake
- Roost
- Dragon Dance

Heatran @ Air Balloon
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Fire Blast
- Earth Power
- Flash Cannon
- Stealth Rock

Heracross @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Guts
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Close Combat
- Megahorn
- Knock Off
- Stone Edge

Latias (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Draco Meteor
- Psyshock
- Defog
- Healing Wish

Gengar @ Life Orb
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Shadow Ball
- Sludge Wave
- Taunt
- Will-O-Wisp

Weavile @ Focus Sash
Ability: Pickpocket
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Knock Off
- Ice Punch
- Low Kick
- Ice Shard
 

Albacore

sludge bomb is better than sludge wave
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Hey there, nice team! You do have a few weaknesses though, and I have a couple of suggestions :

- Talonflame is a massive threat to your team, it walls Altaria and uses it as setup fodder, and your main switchin to it, Heatran, can't touch it (it needsto wait for it to Roost and Earth Power it which is unreliable). I would therefore run Ancientpower over Flash Cannon or Earth Power on Heatran. Whichever you decide to remove is up to you. Flash Cannon hits Clefable which kinda walls most of your team, but Earth Power is needed to beat XZard which, if it gets to +1, can blow through most of your team otherwise (Altaria's Earthquake doesn't do enough, so you need to rely on Flare Blitz recoil to get past it)

- Mega-Gardevoir looks quite scary for your team, it comes in for free on Latias an pretty much scores a KO from there. Your only switchins to Hyper Voice are Gengar, who still takes a ton from it and risks switching into Psyshock, and Heatran, who is outsped and destroyed by Focus Blast the following turn, though I guess you can play around it a bit by pivoting from Heatran to Gengar but that's still pretty risky. I guess you could run Choice Scarf Heatran to revenge kill it, but then you lose Stealth Rocks which is unfortunate. If you do run Scarf Heatran, you probably need to run a SR setter instead of Heracross. A better option would be to replace Heatran with Jirachi, a solid counter to Mega-Gardevoir which can also set up SR and provide support for your team through Wish, Healing Wish, or Body Slam and can keep momentum going thanks to U-Turn. Jirachi also resists all of MAltaria's weaknesses, so you don't lose much defensively, and deals with Clefable even better (Heatran can actually lose after a certain number of Calm Minds). Jirachi also somewhat helps deal with AV Azumarill, another very big threat to your team face, since it can come in completely for free on Weavile (and Latias to a lesser extent) and you have pretty much no switchins to it. Jirachi really dislikes Knock Off and can't do too much back to Azumarill, but it can switch into Play Rough and survive the next hit which nothing else on your team really can. Running Jirachi does make you much weaker to Bisharp though, so it's up to you.

- Mega-Metagross, much like Mega-Gardevoir, can come in for free against Latias and you have pretty much no switchins. Once again, Scarf Heatran is an option here. Greninja could also help, it fits he offensive nature of your team and can check Metagross decently with Dark Pulse. I would use it over Weavile if anything, since the two are a bit reduandant together.

- Skarmory could be problematic for your team. It walls your main win condition, Mega-Altaria, also walls Heracross and Weavile and though you do have Heatran and Gengar, Skarmory will obviously switch out of these so it's better to have half your team be able to take it on. One option would be running Thunderbolt or HP Fire on Latias (HP Fire could be used to hit Bisharp, a big threat to your team, harder, but Thunderbolt's ability to hit Charizard-Y could make it preferable), however, losing Psyshock means you lose your main way of dealing damage to Mega-Venusaur (who, while rare, is a problem for your team since it beats your win condition). I guess you could replace Latias for Latios and run a set of Draco Meteor/Psyshock TBolt or HP Fire/Defog, but you'll have to give up Healing Wish which is unfortunate.

- This is just a small nitpick, but a spread of 72 HP / 184 SpA / 252 Speed with a Timid nature is optimal on Latias, it hits a Life Orb number and also gives you additional bulk, without missing out on any important KOs.

Hope this helps!
 
Hey there, nice team! You do have a few weaknesses though, and I have a couple of suggestions :

- Talonflame is a massive threat to your team, it walls Altaria and uses it as setup fodder, and your main switchin to it, Heatran, can't touch it (it needsto wait for it to Roost and Earth Power it which is unreliable). I would therefore run Ancientpower over Flash Cannon or Earth Power on Heatran. Whichever you decide to remove is up to you. Flash Cannon hits Clefable which kinda walls most of your team, but Earth Power is needed to beat XZard which, if it gets to +1, can blow through most of your team otherwise (Altaria's Earthquake doesn't do enough, so you need to rely on Flare Blitz recoil to get past it)

- Mega-Gardevoir looks quite scary for your team, it comes in for free on Latias an pretty much scores a KO from there. Your only switchins to Hyper Voice are Gengar, who still takes a ton from it and risks switching into Psyshock, and Heatran, who is outsped and destroyed by Focus Blast the following turn, though I guess you can play around it a bit by pivoting from Heatran to Gengar but that's still pretty risky. I guess you could run Choice Scarf Heatran to revenge kill it, but then you lose Stealth Rocks which is unfortunate. If you do run Scarf Heatran, you probably need to run a SR setter instead of Heracross. A better option would be to replace Heatran with Jirachi, a solid counter to Mega-Gardevoir which can also set up SR and provide support for your team through Wish, Healing Wish, or Body Slam and can keep momentum going thanks to U-Turn. Jirachi also resists all of MAltaria's weaknesses, so you don't lose much defensively, and deals with Clefable even better (Heatran can actually lose after a certain number of Calm Minds). Jirachi also somewhat helps deal with AV Azumarill, another very big threat to your team face, since it can come in completely for free on Weavile (and Latias to a lesser extent) and you have pretty much no switchins to it. Jirachi really dislikes Knock Off and can't do too much back to Azumarill, but it can switch into Play Rough and survive the next hit which nothing else on your team really can. Running Jirachi does make you much weaker to Bisharp though, so it's up to you.

- Mega-Metagross, much like Mega-Gardevoir, can come in for free against Latias and you have pretty much no switchins. Once again, Scarf Heatran is an option here. Greninja could also help, it fits he offensive nature of your team and can check Metagross decently with Dark Pulse. I would use it over Weavile if anything, since the two are a bit reduandant together.

- Skarmory could be problematic for your team. It walls your main win condition, Mega-Altaria, also walls Heracross and Weavile and though you do have Heatran and Gengar, Skarmory will obviously switch out of these so it's better to have half your team be able to take it on. One option would be running Thunderbolt or HP Fire on Latias (HP Fire could be used to hit Bisharp, a big threat to your team, harder, but Thunderbolt's ability to hit Charizard-Y could make it preferable), however, losing Psyshock means you lose your main way of dealing damage to Mega-Venusaur (who, while rare, is a problem for your team since it beats your win condition). I guess you could replace Latias for Latios and run a set of Draco Meteor/Psyshock TBolt or HP Fire/Defog, but you'll have to give up Healing Wish which is unfortunate.

- This is just a small nitpick, but a spread of 72 HP / 184 SpA / 252 Speed with a Timid nature is optimal on Latias, it hits a Life Orb number and also gives you additional bulk, without missing out on any important KOs.

Hope this helps!
Right, you've gave me a lot of ideas to consider, a lot I agree with. I think I can afford to drop Flash Cannon on Heatran for Ancientpower, especially because Gengar is an effective answer for Clefable. So with that change Talonflame is much manageable.

In regards to M-Gardevoir, it hasn't been a major issue for the team so far. While I do have a lot that it can KO, Gengar still wins one on one, and if I make another suggested change (Greninja back in over Weavile) I'll have it in check even more. In regards to Greninja would a set of Low Kick, Gunk Shot Dark Pulse and Ice Beam work in this team?
Also this change would let me keep Scarf Heracross who has been a very effective member of the team.

In regards to Skarmory it isn't that big an issue, while it does wall M-Altaria, it also can't do a great deal in return, allowing me to set up Dragon Dances if it says in. If running Whirlwind there's a chance it could happen in my favour. Hitting Venusaur is much more important that hitting Skarmory with Latias so the set won't change in that regard, however I will use that EV spread for Latias.
 
I know you're only meant to use one bump, but I feel this team has a lot of potential to improve, on a new alt after Showdown got back up and running it is currently on a 10/2 W/L record, 50% of the games with Weavile, and the other 50% with Greninja. Each version works well, just need some more fine tuning, such as with EV spreads, and movesets etc.
 
You might have a slight problem with other pokemon setting up against you, so I suggest carrying roar on heatran. Also lava plume for extra accuracy and burn hax.

Heatran @ Air Balloon
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Lava plume
- Earth Power
- Stealth Rock
- Roar
 
You might have a slight problem with other pokemon setting up against you, so I suggest carrying roar on heatran. Also lava plume for extra accuracy and burn hax.

Heatran @ Air Balloon
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Lava plume
- Earth Power
- Stealth Rock
- Roar
I will definitely consider roar as an option, as you are right in saying set up sweepers are an issue, in regards to lava plume, I feel fire blast offers more, out of sheer damage, especially as it is an offensive build.

Great team, but i realy would recommend to take something againts Azumarill it can 2 or Ohko evrything in your team
I'm most likely going to keep Greninja over Weavile to give me a reliable answer to Azumarill, also if Altaria is at +1 it always OHKOs with Return
 

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