Project Break This Team (Week 42)

[Creator of Chaos]

Short on time as I have a cabinet to smash so I'll make this as quick s possible. A few things I can gather From the preview alone. This team Love's to fight balance and by that I mean destroy builds. Usual Lynchins like Clefable or CM latias Actually get taken advantage off by mutlple mons on this team and even after T-wave will find little time to Calm mind up lest talon or Reu decide to join the fun. Bulky Grounds like lando either get overwelmed trying to check everything or Wisped by talon. On paper Keldeo looks like trouble but still struggles with reuniclus and does not want to switch into garde. Even solid Sand checks like Rotom get blown to bits by garde. All in all anyone expecting to get by with a generic sand check or status/CM there way to victory will come up short vs this team

With all that in mind there is 1 Glaringly huge Weakness I'll point out. Azumarill Especially Drum and CB varients can almost 6-0 this team on paper and while it wont happen in practice just seeing Azu at team preview will cause painful mindgames as players are force to make double's to play around it or gamble on revenging. Azu can spam Aqua jet vs 4 members off this team while Reu and Keldeo dont enjoy Knock off or Play rough. If this team is going to get around Azu Then hitting luring it into Wisp or Doubling into Keldeo are the best options. Another mon that trouble this Team is CM manaphy but not to the extent that Azu does.

I'll post more later but thats my thoughts for now

 

[kek123]

Its a good team with little weakness give the offensive nature of the team although the team does have so problem like keldeo I mean the team can deal with keldeo and it has plenty of way of revenge killing it but it has no switch in to if it is spec keldeo but if it is and thing other than specs then reuni can deal with it pretty well .Also the team can struggle with suicune especially CM whirlwind since you cant do CM wars against that with reuni since it would just get throne out .Yea so over all the team is weak ish to bulky waters although it has ways round them.And very weak to azu but coc went over that.

The team also has to play very carefully around other sands teams although Drill being Jolly and on a balloon does help with that also Zard x can be problematic if the person playing the team predicts zard y and goes into talon letting it get plus 2 to out speed drill but usually you can tell which zard it is of team preview so this would be rare although zard x still is a treat.

but other than bulky waters theres not much this team is weak to.

 

[AM]

Fyi i made this team awhile ago when everyone was spamming mlati fat shit so a lot of choices will reflect that. Regardless im interested in the discussion here and some good points have been mentioned already :0. Ill let you guys know during core stage what normally breaks this team if one if the hosts tag me during that time.

 

[Random Passerby]

I used this team a bit and I find that it really doesn't enjoy fighting Banded Scizor or Offensive Mega Scizor. Yes, the team has Keldeo and Talonflame but if the opponent gets their Rocks up, Talonflame will be hard-pressed to switch into anything. Everything else takes a decent chunk of damage from U-turn. That is, unless you managed to burn it with Gard (either by predicting U-turn or baiting the switch-in).

Oh, and CM Mega Slowbro is relatively annoying for this team to kill. It finds opportunities to set-up in front of Keldeo, Talonflame, Excadrill and Tyranitar while Hyper Voice doesn't do enough damage to 2HKO at +1, allowing it to heal up. Depending on the set, Tangrowth can also prove to be annoying to KO (although after it has used up Sleep Powder, Reuniclus and Talonflame can take advantage of it).

I have not faced Specs Keldeo and Mega Diancie with this team yet but it doesn't seem to have a safe switch-in and you need to revenge kill it.

 

[Sobi]

thanks for the discussion guys

you may now post cores

Fyi i made this team awhile ago when everyone was spamming mlati fat shit so a lot of choices will reflect that. Regardless im interested in the discussion here and some good points have been mentioned already :0. Ill let you guys know during core stage what normally breaks this team if one if the hosts tag me during that time.

MakuFlex

 

[kek123]

Roar CM Cune + Balloon SD drill

sets

Suicune @ Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Rest
- Calm Mind
- Roar
- Scald

Excadrill @ Air Balloon
Ability: Sand Rush
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Iron Head
- Rock Slide
- Swords Dance

Tyranitar @ Smooth Rock
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 248 HP / 80 Def / 180 SpD
Impish Nature
- Crunch
- Pursuit
- Stone Edge
- Stealth Rock

Suicune does pretty well versus this team as it the team lack immediate damage other than Mega gard so its is pretty easy to CM up on any thing other than Mega Gard and Reuni cant CM on Cune either since it has Roar so it would just get thrown out of battle also Excdrill does pretty well versus this team as it has no real physically defensive wall all you really need to do is Pop drills Balloon and then the other Drill is free to sweep and T-tar is juat there because drill needs sand and rocks can force drill to let somthing Pop it ballon since the team also has talon flame so it does not want to leave rock up for two long. so yea SD drill and CM roar cune do pretty well versus this team.

Replay:http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/ou-410263420 (thanks to Creator of Chaos for helping)

 

[AM]

I might as well wait till core picking is over to say stuff to not spoil anything. The one above is good though.

 

[Infernal]

Metagross-Mega @ Metagrossite
Ability: Tough Claws
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Meteor Mash
- Ice Punch
- Hammer Arm
- Thunder Punch

Rotom-Wash @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 Spe
Bold Nature
- Volt Switch
- Hydro Pump
- Will-O-Wisp
- Pain Split

Surprised nobody mentioned Mega Gross during the discussion phase, but it's a huge offensive threat for this team. Between Meteor Mash and its coverage moves, nothing on the team can switch in without taking large amounts of damage. Mega Gross' ability to threaten the team's centerpiece of Mega Gardevoir + sand is also nice. Mega Gardevoir and Tar are both massacred by Meteor Mash, with the latter in particular being unable to discourage Mega Gross from switching in due to the coverage it's running here (Stone Edge, Pursuit, Ice Beam). Talon and Keldeo are both slower and blown back by Thunder Punch, which deals 85.2 - 100.8% and 74.7 - 88.4% respectively. Although Reuniclus avoids a 2HKO from Meteor Mash, it's lacking Leftovers and will constantly be forced to Recover as Mega Gross keeps clicking its STAB. Couple this with the possibility of attack raises from Meteor Mash and Reuniclus becomes a really shaky answer.

The main issue Mega Gross runs into versus this team is Exca. For this reason, Rotom-W makes for a good partner. Mega Gross doesn't really need another offensive partner to help break the team down, so focusing on covering its problems here is better. Rotom-W can handle Exca nicely, all while threatening other team members like Talon and Tar. With Volt Switch, it's also able to 1. give Mega Gross the chance to come in for free versus the team's main switch-ins of Mega Gardevoir and Reuniclus, and 2. help Mega Gross avoid taking any unnecessary damage otherwise gained from switching in directly. All in all, Rotom-W does a really nice job supporting Mega Gross and covering its issues versus this team. Some replays are below to demonstrate the core in action:

Replay 1

• Thank you daddy's kisses for testing with me. Mega Gross does plenty of work here. It's first appearance is on turn 4, where it's able to freely switch in on Tar. From there, I use Meteor Mash as Reuniclus comes in, gain an attack raise, and grab a kill. These turns in particular demonstrate the problem Reuniclus has taking on Mega Gross for this team: being forced to heal after every Meteor Mash and risking attack raises. From there, the match plays its course, with Mega Gross ultimately cleaning house. Rotom-W's ability to keep Exca in control and bring Mega Gross in for free to apply pressure on turn 15 demonstrate its usefulness versus this team.

Replay 2

• Thank you bludz for giving me a match. Mega Gross applies similar pressure and kills three Pokemon total here. One of the main things to take away from this replay is, again, how Reuniclus is a shaky answer to Mega Gross for the reasons discussed earlier. Like in repay 1, Rotom-W being able to handle Exca for me was much appreciated too.

Bonus replay vs. AM where Mega Gross really shines

 

[Creator of Chaos]

Reserving Azumarill + Mega Diancie. Why because I'm mean and like to hurt people with fairies

 

[Creator of Chaos]

Im looking for a core testing partner either for tommorow or thursday any volenteers?

 

[matthewc20090]

I'm down to test

 

[kek123]

I can test two if you want more than one replay ;) and your ready to lose :P

 

[Creator of Chaos]

I can test two if you want more than one replay ;) and your ready to lose :P

I'm down to test

I'm available tonight around 7-10pm WA Time

 

[Creator of Chaos]

+

Sets:

Hide

Azumarill (M) @ Choice Band
Ability: Huge Power
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Aqua Jet
- Waterfall
- Knock Off
- Play Rough

Diancie @ Diancite
Ability: Clear Body
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- Moonblast
- Diamond Storm
- Earth Power
- Protect

Explanation: Azu + Diancie is a pretty standard Fairy Spam core that covers both sides of the offensive spectrum and while the pair can potentially be outpredicted the fact that neither have safe switch ins is cause for alarm with this team. Azu can 2hko/OHKO the entire team with the right move and can safely spam aqua jet vs 4 members a problem that only gets worse once keldeo and reuniclus are taken out of picture while azu is fat enough to take virtually any hit dished to it back. Pretty much the best answer is to outpredict/Sack and go into talonflame whom is dealt with pretty effectively by Diancie Whom can tank even a 4+ bravebird in her base form as well as deter wisp spam in mega. She also kills and outspeeds most mons on this team with the exception of Drill under sand who doesn't wanna swtich in anyway. Basically by working off each others few predictions the 2 can completly decimate the team and even if 1 goes it'll simply pave the way for the other to sweep.

Support: Healing Wish, Talon and Ferro provide really good support as Wish can give a 2nd shot at cleaning the team, Talon provides more prioty and Ferro makes a nice back up should Drill be to problematic

Replays

Hide

Replay 1: http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/ou-410207137 - Even Choice locked Azu prove's a total nightmare killing 3 mons on its own despite me being on the back foot towards the end. Pretty Much Azu done enough damage here to allow rotom to clean up
Replay 2: http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/ou-410243415 - Diancie does some work in the middle making my oppenent over predict but Healing wish into Azu is what breaks the game is my favour. Azu pretty much gets a kill everytime it comes in and even when it doesn't it causes huge dmg not to mention by late game all I had to do was predict well and sack at the right time.
Replay 3: http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/ou-410259684 - Diancie puts in a huge amount of work here. I Start off well killing his gardevoir and Crippling T-tar Early with Talon before Kek Out predicts me and manages to get talon to 4+. Thankfully Diancie in base form is able to tank brave bird before killing it. Later she does more work after being resed by healing wish and outpredicting his swtichs taking out Keldeo and T-tar in the process.

Bonus: http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/ou-410199558 - Azu gets heaps of kills here but the true star is Breloom whom beats talonflame

Tagging Random Passerby , matthewc20090 to come finish there cores. Im avaiable if you need/Want replays

 

[Random Passerby]

+

Sets

Gyarados @ Gyaradosite
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Waterfall
- Crunch
- Dragon Dance
- Substitute

Jirachi @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Serene Grace
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Iron Head
- U-turn
- Healing Wish
- Heart Stamp

Explanation

Mega Gyarados and Jirachi is a nice core because Jirachi can switch into Fairy-type moves that Gyarados dislikes. Jirachi also helps out against faster Fighting-types such as Keldeo and Mega Lopunny. Meanwhile, Gyarados can threaten bulky Grounds and Heatran who likes to come into Jirachi.

Against this team, you can see that Mega Gyarados's STAB cleans the entire team except Keldeo, who needs to be weakened (+1 Waterfall does about 37 - 44%). However, before it sets up, it needs to watch out for Mega Gard which is handled by Jirachi. Jirachi also allows me to play Gyarados more aggressively and then Dragon Dance up for the win.

Replays

Game 1: http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/ou-410770433

I think this game is pretty straightforward. My entire strategy is use Gyarados as a battering ram, weaken Keldeo, heal up and sweep. It mostly works that way except CoC sacks his Keldeo for no reason, allowing me to sweep.

Game 2: http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/ou-410775516

This game is similar to the previous one except that I don't even need to work to weaken Keldeo as CoC lets it take a Volt Switch, which causes it to go into +1 Waterfall range. After Keldeo is dead, all I need to do is wait out the Sand turns and heal up to DD and win. Or at least until I got a relatively low roll
+1 252 Atk Mold Breaker Mega Gyarados Crunch vs. 252 HP / 232+ Def Reuniclus: 392-464 (92.4 - 109.4%) -- 56.3% chance to OHKO

 

[AM]

+

Sets

Gyarados @ Gyaradosite
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Waterfall
- Crunch
- Dragon Dance
- Substitute

Jirachi @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Serene Grace
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Iron Head
- U-turn
- Healing Wish
- Heart Stamp

Explanation

Mega Gyarados and Jirachi is a nice core because Jirachi can switch into Fairy-type moves that Gyarados dislikes. Jirachi also helps out against faster Fighting-types such as Keldeo and Mega Lopunny. Meanwhile, Gyarados can threaten bulky Grounds and Heatran who likes to come into Jirachi.

Against this team, you can see that Mega Gyarados's STAB cleans the entire team except Keldeo, who needs to be weakened (+1 Waterfall does about 37 - 44%). However, before it sets up, it needs to watch out for Mega Gard which is handled by Jirachi. Jirachi also allows me to play Gyarados more aggressively and then Dragon Dance up for the win.

Replays

Game 1: http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/ou-410770433

I think this game is pretty straightforward. My entire strategy is use Gyarados as a battering ram, weaken Keldeo, heal up and sweep. It mostly works that way except CoC sacks his Keldeo for no reason, allowing me to sweep.

Game 2: http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/ou-410775516

This game is similar to the previous one except that I don't even need to work to weaken Keldeo as CoC lets it take a Volt Switch, which causes it to go into +1 Waterfall range. After Keldeo is dead, all I need to do is wait out the Sand turns and heal up to DD and win. Or at least until I got a relatively low roll
+1 252 Atk Mold Breaker Mega Gyarados Crunch vs. 252 HP / 232+ Def Reuniclus: 392-464 (92.4 - 109.4%) -- 56.3% chance to OHKO

On the second replay that game could've been entirely different if CoC lead Talonflame like he was suppose to. The first replay he chose the wrong Spore recipients. I don't feel like he was aggressive enough in preventing a M-Gyarados sweep to justify it as something that blows back the team. Kind of a given you would keep Keldeo healthy. Otherwise this seems ok but dont feel like the replays did it justice like Metagross did :/

Edit: At Below: Oh my B :0

 

[Random Passerby]

On the second replay that game could've been entirely different if CoC lead Talonflame like he was suppose to. The first replay he chose the wrong Spore recipients. I don't feel like he was aggressive enough in preventing a M-Gyarados sweep to justify it as something that blows back the team. Kind of a given you would keep Keldeo healthy. Otherwise this seems ok but dont feel like the replays did it justice like Metagross did :/

I kinda agree with this and you can see I did acknowledge that CoC did made some moves that make the Gyarados sweep easier. Maybe I could have tried to get a better replay but yeah, time constraints.

EDIT @ below: I think I did mention on here that when I was using this team, Banded Scizor gives me trouble? I suppose you can use Mega Scizor too as its basically a superior version of Scizor. About Gyarados, yeah, regular Gyarados does work better; it slipped my mind fsr.

 

[AM]

With that said the core posting part has kind of died down so might as well comment on some things since I don't see too many cores being posted anymore.

Infernal hit the nail on the head of what is the "x" button against this variant of the team with M-Metagross. I don't have any real good or at least reliable counterplay to it. Another one not mentioned is offensive SD M-Scizor + rocks. Bulky waters like the core kek posted give the team issues as well normally comes down to if I got my Reuni in first or M-Garde. Random Passerby picked the wrong gyarados that gives this team issues, he would've been better off just putting DDance Gyarados RestoChesto or sub + something for exca is fine. Mega Diancie to but Azumarill sucks and is way overstated in CoCs as he just purposely CT'd the team to overload it disregarding the meta as a whole. In the instances of "gambles" Azu is really easy to overload to me since it doesn't defensively handle anything on the team. I normally never find it too difficult but again CoC will bring everything to break one team on this thread when possible disregarding he loses to any CM water in the meta with his squad >.>

Volcanion is also a pain and thats probably about it off the top of my head.

Otherwise decent choices nice job. I stopped using this team like 2 months ago lmfao. I use a variant with Clef / Suicune over Keld / Reuni fyi and CM Sub M-Garde

 

[Creator of Chaos]

I just want to thank AM for his input and for letting us Use his Team, I'm just sad there was no more core's Lol. Only thing I disagree with is his assessment on azumarill as its hell for the team to switch into once in and any counter-play from my view is very prediction reliant (It goes both ways tho). That said I do admit I kinda overstated its impact and as AM stated with his usual gusto dont Expect it 6-0 as it will be worn down and I doubt a player of his or Infernals Caliber would let me get away with Obvious healing wish's. He is right when he says my team lose's to bulky water's to but Its actually a common problem on many of my teams ROFL (Seriously everything cept my Lop goon squad loses to Suicune and Scizor ROFL).

I do hope in future we get more discussion on things as I felt this week there was minimal input before we actually started posting cores and it could have avoided some of the Issue's AM rightly highlighted But Enough time for voting.

Core 1 - Suicune + Tyraniter + Excvadrill
Core 2 - Mega metagross + Rotom W
Core 3 - Azumarill + Mega Diancie
Core 4 - Mega Gyarados + Jirachi


Anyway i would like to get more people posting atleast in the discussion phase so Idea's would be appreaciated

Edit: 1 Vote it is.

 

[Random Passerby]

There's only 4 cores so I think 1 vote is sufficient.
Even though I really love Suicune, I had to vote Core 2. Mega Metagross is just a nightmare for the team as the only counterplay is Drill who gets countered by Rotom.

 

[matthewc20090]

Core 2 because I tested it myself

Also what's above

 

[Sobi]

CORE 1 because the team can't really do much to Suicune, which can just set up and / or phaze.

 

[dk]

Core 2; this team gets completely throttled by Mega-Meta, and Rotom-W covers the only real counterplay in Excadrill.

 

[FrozenCold]

Core 2 - Reasons have been stated.

 

[Sobi]

Infernal wins...

Team

Nidoking @ Life Orb
Ability: Sheer Force
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Earth Power
- Sludge Wave
- Flamethrower
- Ice Beam

Scizor-Mega (M) @ Scizorite
Ability: Light Metal
EVs: 248 HP / 16 Atk / 60 Def / 124 SpD / 60 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Bullet Punch
- U-turn
- Roost

Latios @ Life Orb
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 32 HP / 224 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Calm Mind
- Draco Meteor
- Psyshock
- Roost

Rotom-Wash @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 236 Def / 20 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 30 Spe
- Hydro Pump
- Volt Switch
- Will-O-Wisp
- Pain Split

Tornadus-Therian @ Assault Vest
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 248 HP / 8 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Hurricane
- Knock Off
- Heat Wave
- U-turn

Landorus-Therian @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 248 HP / 224 Def / 28 SpD / 8 Spe
Impish Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- U-turn

Brief Description

It's a team that try to abuse Nidoking wallbreaking potential as much as possible. It features some solid Pokemons who can bring it on the field safely thanks to Volturn (Rotom/Torn -> Clef, Scizor -> Lando/Skarmory).

You may discuss the team.