ORAS Ubers Double Band Trouble (Peaked #12 On Ubers Ladder)

[Air Jak]

Where Ya At

Introduction

Hello everyone! I'm Jak but I go by Air Jak 11 on PS.After some time here on Smogon and playing a fun unofficial tier known as Monotype, I decided to try my hand at an official tier and see how I do at it. After some testing with Pokemon and different teams, I got an idea of a unique team idea with the core around 2 of my favorite pokemon being Scizor and Rayquaza, both with Choice Bands. This team got me to top 12 of the Ubers ladder and is the also reason I decided to make reason I decided to make my First Ever RMT on Smogon! I've probably rambled enough so anyway lets get on with the team!

Proof of Peak

http://i.imgur.com/NTLTTXv.png

Teambuilding Process

I decided to start the build around the team with Scizor to force switches and gain momentum and get priority kills and also pursuit trap certain Pokemon.

Next I wanted Rayquaza to act as a wallbreaker with it's band to help beat some of Scizors threats which I'll cover later.

I wanted a Pokemon with Stealth Rocks and as well as take the ice and water weaknesses off of Rayquaza and Scizor and I also wanted to cripple Pokemon with Thunder Wave, so naturally Primal Groudon fit the bill.

Looking at my team I needed a Special Attacker, and Xerneas fit the bill because of Geomancy boosting it's special attack and speed perfectly.

Looking at my team I realized how weak to Ho-Oh and Salamence as none of my Pokemon appreciated
Brave Bird or Sacred Fire Spam so Arceus Rock helps well.

I honestly wanted to use Mega Mewtwo X as a non choiced physically attacking Pokemon with speed and access to taunt so it came in handy.

Scizor @ Choice Band
Ability: Technician
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Bullet Punch
- U-turn
- Superpower
- Pursuit

Starting off with Scizor, I really wanted to build off this Pokemon because of it's amazing power with a Choice Band and to serve as a Xerneas check Scizor acts as a pivot as it is able to U-turn to gain momentum against switchins like Primal Groudon, Ho-Oh, and Kyogre and makes it easier for Rayquaza to come in and kill, being a good team member. Banded Bullet Punch really hurts really hard and acts as a clean up move against weakened Pokemon. Another good use is for against Xerneas as Bullet Punch has a chance to OHKO after rocks. Pursuit enables me to trap the Lati twins which both do massive damage to my team, if they don't carry HP fire that is. Superpower is mainly for Arceus-Normal as it has a chance to OHKO and it is also good against things like Kangaskhan and Dialga as well.

Rayquaza @ Choice Band
Ability: Air Lock
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Dragon Ascent
- Waterfall/ Earthquake
- V-create/Earthquake
- Extreme Speed

Now this is where the fun starts. This savage hurts things hard with a Choice Band. It's main goal is to work with Scizor for U-turn momentum against walls then pick off kills with it's moveset. Waterfall is pretty much only for Primal Groudon as it is a huge issue to my team and the fact that it's the only Pokemon on my team that is immune to Primal Groudon's ground STAB helps as well. Dragon Ascent with a band is powerful and does amazing damage to some pretty bulky walls such as Lugia and Arceus Water. Banded Extreme Speed is good for priority and V-create is good against things like Skarmory and Ferrothorn. Earthquake can be used in place of Waterfall or V-create to hurt things like Aegislash and Arceus Rock for more damage.

Groudon-Primal @ Red Orb
Ability: Drought
EVs: 248 HP / 68 Atk / 136 SpD / 56 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Precipice Blades
- Stealth Rock
- Thunder Wave
- Lava Plume/Stone Edge

Primal Groudon is one amazing Pokemon honestly. It's typing and ability are just amazing and with it's bulk helps me out so much. I decided to go with an Adamant Nature with some speed on this one to out speed opposing Primal Groudon and hit harder against other Pokemon in general as well. The Sp.def Investment is so I can switch into ice beams more easily and it helps me live a 2+ Moonblast from Xerneas, which I can then cripple it with Thunder Wave and either do damage to it or set my rocks.

Xerneas @ Power Herb
Ability: Fairy Aura
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 120 HP / 92 Def / 252 SpA / 44 Spe
Modest Nature
- Geomancy
- Moonblast
- Thunder
- Aromatherapy

This Pokemon seemed like a great fit for a specially offensive Pokemon on my team to help as a specially attacking Pokemon and as a setup sweeper. I gave it a little bit more bulk in HP and Defense just to help live attacks like Primal Groudon's Precipice Blades and Arceus E-speed after a plus 2. The defense and HP also help me live Mega Mew-two Y's Psystrike and set up with Geomancy and kill it afterwards. Moonblast is an amazing stab to always have, and Thunder is to OHKO Ho-Oh after 2+, in hopes I don't miss. Aromatherapy is for healing my self after being crippled by opposing Primal Groudon's Thunder Wave and helps heal my team of any status as well.

(Couldn't Find a Gen 6 Sprite D:)
Arceus-Rock @ Stone Plate
Ability: Multitype
EVs: 248 HP / 8 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Defog
- Will-O-Wisp
- Recover
- Judgment

After seeing how weak my team was to Flying types like Ho-Oh, Salamence, and Rayquaza, Arceus rock was the perfect choice. Standard Bird Antidote to help get pressure off my team. Judgment being STAB rock move killing the big threats. Defog is to get rocks off my team helping Rayquaza. Recover is always good for healing, and Will-O-Wisp is good on Crippling threats like Arceus Normal and Ghost which are big threats to my team as well.

Mewtwo-Mega-X @ Mewtwonite X
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
Hasty Nature
- Taunt
- Low Kick
- Ice Beam/ Ice Punch/ Stone Edge
- Earthquake

When I thought about the final slot, the ideas came to mind. I saw how Darkrai could pick my team apart because nothing was really fast and I wanted to use another Physical Attacker with Taunt so Mew-two Mega X fit the slot. Mewtwo's speed and Low kick really helps taking out Darkrai which is a huge threat against my team, but Mewtwo's Taunt helps me get rid of defensive Pokemon like Arceus Water and Lugia as I can taunt them and proceed to crack them down with Low Kick. Earthquake is good for hitting Aegislash, Klefki, Gengar-Mega, and Primal Groudon for good damage. I originally have Ice Beam on the slot for Mega Salamence as it won't kill with Ice Punch, but does little to the Lati Twins. Stone Edge is also good for Ho-Oh as well.

Conclusion: This team was fun to use all in all and it was good to see my ideas come to life and make a good stand on the ladder.

Threats:

This thing is annoying to deal with thanks to my little Ground resistances and it's access to thunder wave. If this thing turns out to be a Rock Polish Set, I might as well click X. Have to play around with it using Rayquaza and killing it as fast as I can.

This thing just shits on my team with Psycho Boost and Super Power. Scizor can scare it out with Bullet Punch and U-Turn.

Replays:
Team in Action:
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/ubers-278374377
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/ubers-278366609
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/ubers-277524890

Shoutouts

Shouts to my friends PK-Kaiser Balto iWanka Arifeen Ashaury Azelea iGlack and especially Sabella for qualifying for OU's OLT. Shouts out to many more people from the mono community as well. GO X LEAGUE!

Importable:

Team

Scizor @ Choice Band
Ability: Technician
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Bullet Punch
- U-turn
- Superpower
- Pursuit

Rayquaza @ Choice Band
Ability: Air Lock
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Dragon Ascent
- Waterfall
- V-create
- Extreme Speed

Groudon-Primal @ Red Orb
Ability: Drought
EVs: 248 HP / 68 Atk / 136 SpD / 56 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Precipice Blades
- Stealth Rock
- Thunder Wave
- Lava Plume

Xerneas @ Power Herb
Ability: Fairy Aura
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 120 HP / 92 Def / 252 SpA / 44 Spe
Modest Nature
- Geomancy
- Moonblast
- Thunder
- Aromatherapy

Arceus-Rock @ Stone Plate
Ability: Multitype
EVs: 248 HP / 8 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Defog
- Will-O-Wisp
- Recover
- Judgment

Mewtwo-Mega-X @ Mewtwonite X
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
Hasty Nature
- Taunt
- Low Kick
- Ice Beam
- Earthquake

Thanks all for checking out my team! n_n

 

[Minority]

Hi Jak, this team is better than most in the RMT subforum but I think several aspects of the team are responsible for potential problems that can be eliminated.

I understand that the origin of the build was to build around CB Scizor but this mon just doesn't really work in this metagame. Getting locked into Bullet Punch, Superpower, or Pursuit is very problematic when you consider the nature of common opposing threats. You mention a strong weakness to RP Don and much of this is due to your decision to use CB Scizor; being locked in Bullet Punch gives P Don free set up while half of your team is already checked by P Don and your only switch-in is mauled by Dragon coverage, Rock coverage, and Plume burns. Being locked into Pursuit actually allows Xern to setup on top of you, and if P Don is chipped or gone you're likely sacking one or more mons. Between Primal Groudon, Rayquaza priority, and whatever you replace Scizor with, Xern still shouldn't be an issue however. If you want a strong offensive Steel that can crush Dialga and Mega Kanga then I would suggest trying Mega Lucario over CB Scizor. This would require you to change MM2X to another mon, something that can provide you an EKiller check.

Your team as it stands has to check EKiller between MM2X and CB Scizor, perfectly acceptable, however, your MM2X spread isn't conducive to this role. Maintain maximum Speed so you can still outrun Darkrai as intended, but run a Jolly Nature, and dump 248 EVs into HP and the remaining 8 into Defense. You can also play around with more efficient Defense-related spreads but I usually prefer having the mixed bulk. This spread allows MM2X to actually check any viable EKiller variant. Drop the move slashes and just run Ice Beam if Mence is pressuring Arc Rock too hard or run Stone Edge if Ho-Oh is pressuring Arc Rock too hard. If you hate Thunder missing against Ho-Oh so much you can run HP Rock; Lugia matchup can be fixed via other changes and Ogre is annoying due to Arc Rock + Scizor but not impossible to overcome.

Back to the idea of replacing CB Mega Scizor, if you were to run Mega Lucario you would (obviously) no longer be able to run MM2X as to check EKiller; this leaves you without any EKiller check as we've dropped both of your EKiller checks in the process of restructure. Your best options for new EKiller checks are along the lines of Arc Ghost or Gira-O in combination with your other offensive mons. Gira-O would help a bit against RP P Don, scare Deo-A with Shadow Sneak and give you a Arc Ground check which as of now is potentially problematic. I do think Arc Rock can work on some offense teams, but I don't really get it here. Your team doesn't necessarily absolutely need the anti-hazard support in combination with the Ho-Oh, Mega Salamence, and Yveltal check. Ho-Oh can be checked between SR presence + P Don + no switch-in opportunities. Mega Salamence is in a somewhat similar case and you'll be able to retain Yveltal checks. With the Arc slot freed you can run Arc Ghost, most likely the SD set as you can harm Rai and Ho-Oh switch-ins more than WoW + CM can, although you may still want to consider the later set; this also helps against your Deo-A problem to some extent.

The thing is that you don't have to use Mega Luke at all, and can try some other Steel-type like Klefki or Shuca Dialga, each going in a different direction. Going the route of Mega Luke + Arc Ghost leaves you still with an open slot with which you'll probs want another P Don check. Trying Gira-O also takes the build in another direction and still leaves the Arc slot open. In regards to CB Ray I don't find it an effective set, but if you really want to keep it at least run Jolly > Adamant so that you aren't outspeed by standard Arc Water and Lugia (CB Jolly DA still 2HKOs Arc Water and Lugia minus Multi). You can experiment with mixed and boosting sets I suppose, but the physical presence of the team assuming you use Mega Luke and SD Arc Ghost is already very strong. There's a lot of directions to go in which I'll leave you to play around with.

Summary (Optimizations Only):
Run Jolly on CB Rayquaza
Run Lava Plume on P Don
Consider the 56 HP / 156 Def / 252 SpA / 44 Spe spread for Xern
Consider HP Rock > Thunder on Xern
Consider Scarf Xern (Sleep Talk / Moonblast) if Rai and Deo-A really are that big of a problem
Run Ice Beam or Stone Edge on MM2X
Run a spread of 248 HP / 8 Def / 252 Spe / Jolly on MM2X
Consider a more efficient defensive spread for MM2X

Summary (Restructure Changes):
Consider a different offensive Steel-type over CB Scizor, perhaps Mega Luke, Shuca Dialga, or even something like Klefki
If MM2X is dropped, consider Gira-O or Arc Ghost to keep EKiller in line and provide deterrent for Deo-A
In the final slot consider a secondary P Don check; there are several potential directions here
If Arc Rock is dropped be sure to be able to maintain pressure against Mega Salamence
Consider how running Mega Mence condenses EKiller, P Don, and Mega Mence checks and still provides a strong physical presence


Okay there's only so much I can say so I'll leave it up to you what direction to go in with this team. Good luck.

 

[Air Jak]

Hi Jak, this team is better than most in the RMT subforum but I think several aspects of the team are responsible for potential problems that can be eliminated.

I understand that the origin of the build was to build around CB Scizor but this mon just doesn't really work in this metagame. Getting locked into Bullet Punch, Superpower, or Pursuit is very problematic when you consider the nature of common opposing threats. You mention a strong weakness to RP Don and much of this is due to your decision to use CB Scizor; being locked in Bullet Punch gives P Don free set up while half of your team is already checked by P Don and your only switch-in is mauled by Dragon coverage, Rock coverage, and Plume burns. Being locked into Pursuit actually allows Xern to setup on top of you, and if P Don is chipped or gone you're likely sacking one or more mons. Between Primal Groudon, Rayquaza priority, and whatever you replace Scizor with, Xern still shouldn't be an issue however. If you want a strong offensive Steel that can crush Dialga and Mega Kanga then I would suggest trying Mega Lucario over CB Scizor. This would require you to change MM2X to another mon, something that can provide you an EKiller check.

Your team as it stands has to check EKiller between MM2X and CB Scizor, perfectly acceptable, however, your MM2X spread isn't conducive to this role. Maintain maximum Speed so you can still outrun Darkrai as intended, but run a Jolly Nature, and dump 248 EVs into HP and the remaining 8 into Defense. You can also play around with more efficient Defense-related spreads but I usually prefer having the mixed bulk. This spread allows MM2X to actually check any viable EKiller variant. Drop the move slashes and just run Ice Beam if Mence is pressuring Arc Rock too hard or run Stone Edge if Ho-Oh is pressuring Arc Rock too hard. If you hate Thunder missing against Ho-Oh so much you can run HP Rock; Lugia matchup can be fixed via other changes and Ogre is annoying due to Arc Rock + Scizor but not impossible to overcome.

Back to the idea of replacing CB Mega Scizor, if you were to run Mega Lucario you would (obviously) no longer be able to run MM2X as to check EKiller; this leaves you without any EKiller check as we've dropped both of your EKiller checks in the process of restructure. Your best options for new EKiller checks are along the lines of Arc Ghost or Gira-O in combination with your other offensive mons. Gira-O would help a bit against RP P Don, scare Deo-A with Shadow Sneak and give you a Arc Ground check which as of now is potentially problematic. I do think Arc Rock can work on some offense teams, but I don't really get it here. Your team doesn't necessarily absolutely need the anti-hazard support in combination with the Ho-Oh, Mega Salamence, and Yveltal check. Ho-Oh can be checked between SR presence + P Don + no switch-in opportunities. Mega Salamence is in a somewhat similar case and you'll be able to retain Yveltal checks. With the Arc slot freed you can run Arc Ghost, most likely the SD set as you can harm Rai and Ho-Oh switch-ins more than WoW + CM can, although you may still want to consider the later set; this also helps against your Deo-A problem to some extent.

The thing is that you don't have to use Mega Luke at all, and can try some other Steel-type like Klefki or Shuca Dialga, each going in a different direction. Going the route of Mega Luke + Arc Ghost leaves you still with an open slot with which you'll probs want another P Don check. Trying Gira-O also takes the build in another direction and still leaves the Arc slot open. In regards to CB Ray I don't find it an effective set, but if you really want to keep it at least run Jolly > Adamant so that you aren't outspeed by standard Arc Water and Lugia (CB Jolly DA still 2HKOs Arc Water and Lugia minus Multi). You can experiment with mixed and boosting sets I suppose, but the physical presence of the team assuming you use Mega Luke and SD Arc Ghost is already very strong. There's a lot of directions to go in which I'll leave you to play around with.

Summary (Optimizations Only):
Run Jolly on CB Rayquaza
Run Lava Plume on P Don
Consider the 56 HP / 156 Def / 252 SpA / 44 Spe spread for Xern
Consider HP Rock > Thunder on Xern
Consider Scarf Xern (Sleep Talk / Moonblast) if Rai and Deo-A really are that big of a problem
Run Ice Beam or Stone Edge on MM2X
Run a spread of 248 HP / 8 Def / 252 Spe / Jolly on MM2X
Consider a more efficient defensive spread for MM2X

Summary (Restructure Changes):
Consider a different offensive Steel-type over CB Scizor, perhaps Mega Luke, Shuca Dialga, or even something like Klefki
If MM2X is dropped, consider Gira-O or Arc Ghost to keep EKiller in line and provide deterrent for Deo-A
In the final slot consider a secondary P Don check; there are several potential directions here
If Arc Rock is dropped be sure to be able to maintain pressure against Mega Salamence
Consider how running Mega Mence condenses EKiller, P Don, and Mega Mence checks and still provides a strong physical presence


Okay there's only so much I can say so I'll leave it up to you what direction to go in with this team. Good luck.

I'll consider the Scizor replacement and work around Giratina O and Lucario and possible a free Arceus Slot as well as a different Rayquaza set. The Mewtwo Set could also be helpful for me as well. I'll be sure to work on my team with all the advice you gave me. Thanks!