ORAS OU Gardevoir Offense Battalion

[GingerNinja87]

Fate is not quite as
Strange as it appears ...

[

When the world sleeps,
Destiny plans,
The next move to take

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Team Preview :

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Introduction

Hello GingerNinja here, welcome to my latest and first OU RMT featuring an offensive Gardevoir squad to get back into the OU Meta. Having played the Monotier extensively last few weeks, I thought I would wet my feet into the new OU metagame once more for a fresh change.



Having just recently got into the OU meta again, I thought I would build around my favorite pokemon, Gardevoir and the Psychic / Fighting / Dark core featuring Bisharp and Keldeo to get the most out of her offensively.


After speaking to some friends in the Pokemon FIR and Central facebook communities, I decided upon the final additions to my squad and began testing and experimenting. The team itself has changed a lot over the design process, ultimately choosing to build without Tangrowth and Talonflame and to have something more offensive to play with. I felt this change was something I felt more comfortable with.

Looking to find the best balance for my squad to get the most out of the laddering experience :)
Open to any suggestions or sagely advice.

TeamBuilding Process

Gardevoir is my main pokemon and the mega evolution of my team. Trace is the preferred ability in that it allows me to potentially copy a useful ability before mega evolution allowing me to take advantage of Rain and Sand and stealing Regenerators and Intimidates before mega evolution and on the turn of mega evolution which is very important in specific matchups.

Bisharp is a top-tier threat in ORAS OU with access to Defiant, STAB Knock Off and Sucker Punch, and the ability to check many top-tier threats, such as Latios, Latias, and Clefable. Bisharp's typical traits make it a good choice as an effective partner for Gardevoir.

Keldeo was added to complete the Psychic + Dark + Fighting core and is a fairly important member in the squad. Keldeo supports Bisharp and Gardevoir by handling Ground-types such as Garchomp and Hippowdon, Steel-types such as Scizor and Ferrothorn, and opposing Dark types such as Mega Gyarados and Choice Scarf Tyranitar, which Bisharp has a hard time breaking through.

Scarf Jirachi was chosen as my revenge killer, being able to outrun and take out Pokemon weak to its STAB attacks. Thanks to its typing and natural bulk, it's able to switch into Latios, Latias, Mega Gardevoir, and Mega Diancie and eliminate them with Iron Head. Jirachi can use U-turn effectively in order to bait out its counters and allow teammates to deal with them.

Landorus T was added as a secondary pivot for momentum and for a reliable Rocksetter in general. Landorus-T's superb typing gives him immunities to Electric and Ground, two very potent offensive typings, and resistances to Bug, Fighting, and Poison. Landorus-T's defensive potential is also commendable allowing Gardevoir and friends to safely come in. I originally had Hippowdon in this slot however using Hippowdon felt like a big momentum sucker in general.

Latios was added in the final slot for defog support and that all important dragon coverage. Latios resides in a great Speed tier, allowing it to outspeed and check many threats such as Garchomp and Keldeo. In addition, it has a great Special Attack stat hitting targets hard, making life easier for team mates in general. I chose Latios over latias to hit things harder since I already had Healing Wish Jirachi.

Team Description

Gardevoir @ Gardevoirite
Ability: Trace
EVs: 16 HP / 8 Def / 232 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Taunt
- Hyper Voice
- Psyshock
- Focus Blast


This is the pretty standard wallbreaking Mega Gardevoir set and is also part of the Psychic-Dark-Fighting core. Taunt was chosen over Will-O-Wisp to have a better matchup vs stall and balance teams in general, crippling a variety of threats and slowing chansey and other fat mons down in the event of 1v1 match-ups. The Hp and defensive investment allows Gardevoir to avoid the 2HKO from Life Orb Latios's Psyshock which is perfect for Lati twins who may and stay in.

Bisharp @ Life Orb
Ability: Defiant
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Sucker Punch
- Swords Dance
- Knock Off
- Iron Head


I was really unsure on whether or not to use Pursuit or AV Bisharp here, but I ended up going with the SD variant instead to help Gardevoir break down many threats making life easier for the team. Jolly Nature was chosen to speed creep various threats like faster Rotom, Landorus and more keeping a sweep going. Because Jolly was taken, a Lifeorb was necessary to maximize damage output.

Keldeo @ Choice Specs
Ability: Justified
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Secret Sword
- Scald
- Hydro Pump
- Icy Wind


Went with standard Specs Keldeo to give it immediate firepower, wiping away Pokémon that don't resist its moves which benefits Gardevoir and Bisharp in general removing checks and switch ins. Against offensive teams, if Keldeo comes in on something that has difficulty harming it, there are very few things that are able to switch in safely. Latias and Latios are two of the most solid offensive Keldeo checks; however, even they are 2HKOed by Icy Wind after Stealth Rock damage. On top of these positives, Scald is notorious for being able to wear down switch-ins, such as Mega Venusaur and Slowbro, with burn damage, allowing Keldeo to overwhelm them the next time they attempt to switch in, all of which the rest of the team really appreciates.

Jirachi @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Serene Grace
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Iron Head
- U-turn
- Fire Punch
- Healing Wish


Went with Scarf Jirachi because its a really effective as a late game cleaner and also provided the team with a form of momentum and healing wish keeping Gardevoir and partners really healthy. Iron Head allows Jirachi to act as a check to Kyurem B and fairies, which is pretty necessary in removing Clefable and Mega Diancie. Went with Heart Stamp over Zen purely because it has a higher flinch chance, and has more PP. Allowing me to check Gengar, Mega Lopunny and more. Fire Punch was chosen to deal with the rising usage of Scizor in general.

Landorus-Therian @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 HP / 240 Def / 16 SpD
Impish Nature
IVs: 26 Spe
- Earthquake
- U-turn
- Stone Edge
- Stealth Rock


Landorus is the stealth rocker and a secondary pivot of the team. Landorus aids the team overall as it punishes opposing volt-turn teams. Things like scarf drill that can defeat Gardevoir and Keldeo get hard walled by lando. Landorus with its beautiful ability intimidate helps with physical threats threats like Charizard X, Terrakion, Mega Scizor and more. Talonflame is often an issue, however it can be played around if Lando is kept healthy thanks to Jirachi. Rocks also help tremendously, as they pressure double switches which could overall hurt the team. 26 Speed Ivs allow me to underspeed the common 27 IV speed and faster Landorus giving me momentum advantage.

Latios @ Life Orb
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 29 HP / 0 Atk
- Draco Meteor
- Psyshock
- Defog
- Roost


Latios was added lastly to help pressure bulky waters, a safe ground switch as well as defensive walls in general. For a primarily offensive lineup, a defogger was also needed. Because I already had Healing Wish on Jirachi. latios was choosen over latias for that reason. Went with the standard set, Latios's ample resistances, including ones to common Water-, Fire-, and Electric-type attacks, and nifty Ground-type immunity grant it a plethora of opportunities to switch in which help the team in general. 29 Hp lessens Lifeorb damage.

Importable

Importable Team


Gardevoir @ Gardevoirite
Ability: Trace
EVs: 16 HP / 8 Def / 232 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Taunt
- Hyper Voice
- Psyshock
- Focus Blast

Bisharp @ Life Orb
Ability: Defiant
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Sucker Punch
- Swords Dance
- Knock Off
- Iron Head

Keldeo @ Choice Specs
Ability: Justified
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Secret Sword
- Scald
- Hydro Pump
- Icy Wind

Jirachi @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Serene Grace
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Iron Head
- U-turn
- Fire Punch
- Healing Wish

Landorus-Therian @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 HP / 240 Def / 16 SpD
Impish Nature
IVs: 26 Spe
- Earthquake
- U-turn
- Stone Edge
- Stealth Rock

Latios @ Life Orb
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 29 HP / 0 Atk
- Draco Meteor
- Psyshock
- Defog
- Roost

Replays

Replays



Recent Replays


http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/ou-401327078

http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/ou-402018458

http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/ou-402022351



Older Replays

http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/ou-399986095

http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/ou-333800093

http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/ou-333797072

Shoutouts

Special Thanks

The FIR mentor community
Pokemon Fire Island Ruins
Pokemon Central

Threatlist

Threats

Talonflame both offensive and defensive sets in General give the team and core some issues, this forces alot of work on Landorus and Jirachi keeping Landorus healthy. Alternatively I can dissuade Talonflame from switching in by keeping Rocks active, and punishing potential switch ins with Psyshock and coverage moves respectfully.

Choice Scarf Magneton / Choice Magnezone are great late-game cleaners and a threat to be careful of, 2HKOing a good portion of my team they can punch holes with ease. It can also trap my Steel-types and stealing early momentum from bad calls or early prediction.

 

[zbr]

interesting standard team. nothing can rly go wrong if you run keld lati lando and 3 other filler mons since they are honestly the strongholds on OU at this point of time. i honestly kinda hate it when people put teams that are actually pretty solid as fuck and dont rly need much improvement cause that means there's not much suggestions that i can give. but, im here nonetheless, which means i've spotted something that might help give your team an edge in fighting games on the ladder.

first of all you said "Went with Heart Stamp over Zen purely because it has a higher flinch chance" but i don't see heart stamp anywhere on your jirachi. looking at your team, i rly dont think fire punch is needed since you have sharp and keld for things like megagross and ferro and the likes and scizor can easily be dealt with and therefore i just generally think that actually running heart stamp over fire punch is pretty beneficial to the overall team. |

next, since you're running a more offensively oriented team, i would actually suggest running tbolt over roost on latios simply because this ensures you dont get shitted over by bulkier waters as well as offensive waters such as azu and gyara (both forms) that seem to be able to run through your team if they are well played. tbolt over latios also gives you a nice way to hit offensive flying types on the switch in so that you have an easier matchup against those type of teams.

i'll be honest, gardevoir actually alr tackles spdef talon since it can't stay in on a hvoice + psyshock and LO bish can't run pursuit without getting absolutely ripped to shreds by a draco from lati. the burd spam match up can easily be played around with if you play it properly and don't let your lando take too much hits and forcefully keep rocks up. but i actually will suggest that you try running spdef av tangrowth with rock slide over bisharp.

252+ SpA Choice Specs Magnezone Hidden Power Fire vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Assault Vest Tangrowth: 158-186 (39.1 - 46%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
0 Atk Tangrowth Rock Slide vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Mega Pinsir: 184-220 (67.8 - 81.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
0 Atk Tangrowth Rock Slide vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Pinsir: 108-128 (39.8 - 47.2%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
252 SpA Life Orb Tornadus-T Hurricane vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Assault Vest Tangrowth: 304-359 (75.2 - 88.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

the calcs above show that with proper luring, tangrowth can actually deal with with mpins as well as the mag twins which helps deal with your problems quite effectively. granted there is still the issue of playing smartly so you don't get wrecked by it but since you're a more offensive team style, it's suggested that you actually go ahead and play aggressively to reduce the problems of your teams since most of your issues are actually solved by playing smart. if you feel that tang increases the difficulty of the team when played against such archetypes, then i echo out the rater above me and use rotom-w over bish to decrease the skill ceiling for the team since honestly the team is already quite auto pilot alr. just some suggestions for the team ofc

hopefully my suggestions help you climb up the ladder more and improve your team so that it rectifies some of the weaknesses that are present. good luck and have fun in the game! /cheers/

 

[GingerNinja87]

Hello, nice team you have here. I can see flying types giving you some troubles. Wil-o-Wisp talonflame is a very difficult pokemon to deal with as your switch in for flying types in landorus-thieran does not appreciate being hit by a wil-o-wisp which can happen on the switch in.Assault vest and Life orb Tornadus-therian is also a major threat because of its coverage moves in knock off superpower and heat wave being too hit your flying resist for super effective damage. Bird Spam can trouble this team a lot as mons like pinisr-mega and talonflame both can wear down Landours-therian for each other. I have a few ideas to help improve this team while keeping the main idea of being a offensive Gardevoir-mega Team.

->

With all these flying types threatening your team, I recommend you run Rotom-W over Bisharp. This allows you to have a flying resist that can switch in to the likes of Wilo talonflame, tornadus-therian and pinsir-mega. With the removal of bisharp you lose a solid win condition. However, Rotom-w Will be able to support gardevoir-mega in winning more because of volt switch support meaning your gardevoir-mega will have safer switch ins with this rotom-w and your u-turners in Jirachi and Landorus-therian.

Other options for if you want to keep bisharp:

In that case, I suggest you run Surf over Defog on Latios. This allows Latios to hit fire types like heatran and talonflame which can open up for your steel types (jirachi, bisharp) and your fairy type (gardevoir-mega). Removing defog will mean you will not be able to remove hazards. But nothing on your team is weak to hazards and this offensive teams will be forcing the switches instead of switching around.

you can also consider running Pursuit over Sword Dance on Bisharp which can trap psychic types like Jirachi, metagross-mega, latios, latias which will open up for keldeo and gardevoir-mega to allow them to spam their stab moves more. Losing Sword Dance does mean you lose out on being a more reliable win condition. But with pursuit you open up for your other members to have a better chance of winning. If you run Pursuit, then you should run black glasses over life orb because you will not gain any extra kills with life orb, so running black glasses allow you to not take recoil and stay alive longer.

rotom-w set

Rotom-Wash @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Volt Switch
- Hydro Pump
- Will-O-Wisp
- Pain Split

Thankyou for spending the time to critique and rate my team :) Ill try the Rotom Wash out this evening. It seems like a solid choice as another ground resist and a way of defeating Flying type in general. Thanks so much sir :))

 

[GingerNinja87]

interesting standard team. nothing can rly go wrong if you run keld lati lando and 3 other filler mons since they are honestly the strongholds on OU at this point of time. i honestly kinda hate it when people put teams that are actually pretty solid as fuck and dont rly need much improvement cause that means there's not much suggestions that i can give. but, im here nonetheless, which means i've spotted something that might help give your team an edge in fighting games on the ladder.

first of all you said "Went with Heart Stamp over Zen purely because it has a higher flinch chance" but i don't see heart stamp anywhere on your jirachi. looking at your team, i rly dont think fire punch is needed since you have sharp and keld for things like megagross and ferro and the likes and scizor can easily be dealt with and therefore i just generally think that actually running heart stamp over fire punch is pretty beneficial to the overall team. |

next, since you're running a more offensively oriented team, i would actually suggest running tbolt over roost on latios simply because this ensures you dont get shitted over by bulkier waters as well as offensive waters such as azu and gyara (both forms) that seem to be able to run through your team if they are well played. tbolt over latios also gives you a nice way to hit offensive flying types on the switch in so that you have an easier matchup against those type of teams.

i'll be honest, gardevoir actually alr tackles spdef talon since it can't stay in on a hvoice + psyshock and LO bish can't run pursuit without getting absolutely ripped to shreds by a draco from lati. the burd spam match up can easily be played around with if you play it properly and don't let your lando take too much hits and forcefully keep rocks up. but i actually will suggest that you try running spdef av tangrowth with rock slide over bisharp.

252+ SpA Choice Specs Magnezone Hidden Power Fire vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Assault Vest Tangrowth: 158-186 (39.1 - 46%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
0 Atk Tangrowth Rock Slide vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Mega Pinsir: 184-220 (67.8 - 81.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
0 Atk Tangrowth Rock Slide vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Pinsir: 108-128 (39.8 - 47.2%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
252 SpA Life Orb Tornadus-T Hurricane vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Assault Vest Tangrowth: 304-359 (75.2 - 88.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

the calcs above show that with proper luring, tangrowth can actually deal with with mpins as well as the mag twins which helps deal with your problems quite effectively. granted there is still the issue of playing smartly so you don't get wrecked by it but since you're a more offensive team style, it's suggested that you actually go ahead and play aggressively to reduce the problems of your teams since most of your issues are actually solved by playing smart. if you feel that tang increases the difficulty of the team when played against such archetypes, then i echo out the rater above me and use rotom-w over bish to decrease the skill ceiling for the team since honestly the team is already quite auto pilot alr. just some suggestions for the team ofc

hopefully my suggestions help you climb up the ladder more and improve your team so that it rectifies some of the weaknesses that are present. good luck and have fun in the game! /cheers/

I was originally running Tangrowth although not with Rockslide at the time, is there a specific Ev spread that will achieve everything it needs to do ? I will try Tangrowth later this evening.
Def think Ill try Thunderbolt Lati + Tangrowth to see how it flows. Thanks so much for the critique good sir :))

 

[zbr]

I was originally running Tangrowth although not with Rockslide at the time, is there a specific Ev spread that will achieve everything it needs to do ? I will try Tangrowth later this evening.
Def think Ill try Thunderbolt Lati + Tangrowth to see how it flows. Thanks so much for the critique good sir :))

not rly anything unique. i ran max hp max spdef sassy with avest for your team to test out with my friend and it worked quite fine.

 

[busyguy]

Hey man the team looks solid in its current state. I don't have many changes, but a few hints on how to improve the matchup against problematic mons.

First of all Talonflame looks like a real issue on your team. It beats every Pokemon in a 1v1 situation and potentially sets up on them with Bulk Up or Swords Dance. Lando is your only real switchin to it, but it gets burned by it using Lando to set up. The first thing you could do is using Surf on Lati like ez said, but keep in mind that your all members of your offensive part of your team are grounded, and HP Fire is an option on Lati considering your matchup versus Steels like Scizor, Ferro and Skarmory. Also Since you play volt turn and have to switch a lot playing aggressivly because of the nature of the team, your switches will get punished a lot if you don't have a way to get rid of Spikes and Rocks. So if you expect a hazard team, use Defog on Lati, otherwise you can use coverage moves. Losing Psyshock on Lati is not too bad since Poison and Fighting types are covered by the team.
A Lum Berry on Bisharp evades the burn from Talonflame for one turn. That also helps with other Will-O users like Mew, which you have problems breaking and helps against paralysis.

Another possibility would be to use Trick on Jirachi. If the opponent has a problematic mon like Talonflame, you can try to make them switch directly into Jirachi crippling it with a Choice Scarf. This requires prediction and you somehow need to invite him to put himself in a position in which he likes to bring Talonflame directly into your Jirachi. Other Jirachi, Skarmory or Ferrothorn which hinder Gardevoir from breaking teams can be given a scarf too if you plan it well.

That's all I got, good luck.