XY OU Jurassic Park: Survival Instinct

[MisterBobobo]

“You know, at times like this one feels, well, perhaps extinct animals should be left extinct.”
― Michael Crichton, Jurassic Park

The circle of life is well known: surviving needs killing, killing needs supremacy. It is in the way the instinct of the predator takes form. The hunting tactics allow you to force the prey to play your own game and lure it in a dangerous trap. Anyway, the art of killing is still an art. Over the years competitive game was continuously filled with Pokémon stronger and stronger, and who in the past was a predator in a few year became a mere prey. Only the strongest predators remain at the top on the food chain

After the release of Garchompite, the Mach Pokémon has become even more powerful, as he could destroy every defensive core and make the sweep of physical and offensive attackers much easier. In fact, thanks to its wonderful offensive movepool, he could lure many defensive tanks, walls and pivots such as Skarmory, Ferrothorn and Scizor. On the other hand, very fast Pokémon such as Thundurus, Latios and Greninja were threatening sweepers which could out-speed and revenge-kill Garchomp with super-effective damage. Having said this, Tyranitar seemed the best partner of Garchomp, because of its ability (Sand Stream) and the fact that it could check Latios, Latias and Salamence. Moreover, it could increase the offensive pressure, with Ice Beam and Fire Blast being lure moves which could help the sweep of Garchomp and other sweepers.

As Garchomp was threatened by fast Dragon-type and Tyranitar was shut down by Fighting-type Pokémon, a partner which could have key resistances to common physical attacks was needed; a sweeper which could get advantage of the absence of physical tanks was also a great teammate for wall-breakers like Garchomp: Azumarill was a great Latios check, good priority user and great physical attacker that could sweep after the revenge-kill of checks like Ferrothorn and Skarmory.

Even if the problem of Steel- and Dragon-type Pokémon was solved, Bulky Waters like Rotom-W could be really annoying as they could check Azumarill and Heatran. That having been said, a Grass- or Dragon-type that could check Azumarill and Rotom-W was needed: Ferrothorn was the best solution, also granting useful damage in the terms of Spikes and Leech Seed. Anyway, a good way to lure Bulky Waters seemed to be the most effective method to make the sweep of Azumarill much easier, so SubToxic Heatran was added as it could cripple Azumarill and Rotom-W, but also Latias and Landorus-T.

At that moment, the team was well balanced and not too weak to the most used Pokémon in Overused. On the other hand, it was quite slow and fast sweepers like Alakazam and Gengar could be a problem. In fact, a fast, powerful, special sweeper was needed to check and revenge-kill these kind of threats. Thundurus-I was a great wall-breaker, which could also paralyze fast attackers like Greninja and Talonflame and kill threatening wall-breakers like Garchomp, Charizard Y and Medicham.

The team was finished; it was well balanced and didn't have much problem against the most common threats. After posting it to Smogon, many of you helped me to do some changes and some movesets and items were changes. Three days after I posted it, I decided to replace Thundurus-I with Zapdos, as it could be bulkier and could perform as a check of many threats, like Pinsir-Mega. Moreover, it provided Defog support, which was much useful.

As strong as a T-Rex, as bulky as a Triceratopus, as fast as a Velociraptor: Garchomp is a threatening predator which can destroy and devour the opponent team with ease. Thanks to its Mega Stone, its raw power and average bulk are even increased, with the only downside of a lowering in Speed.
As for the moveset, Earthquake and Draco Meteor are the main STAB moves, with the latter nailing physical pivots like Landorus-T and Rotom-W. Fire Blast makes Garchomp a great lurer which can revenge-kill Steel-type Pokèmon like Ferrothorn and Scizor. Stone Edge hits Togekiss and Zapdos, also being boosted by Sand Force.
A Lonely nature is used to boost Garchomp's already high Attack, as Defense is not as important as Special Defense, which is useful not to be OHKOed from Hidden Power [Ice]. The EVs spread makes Garchomp OHKO Togekiss with Stone Edge outside of the Sand, with Stealth Rock damage. The Speed is maximized and the rest is put into Special Attack
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Representing one of the few Pokémon that remained Overused from the First to the Sixth Generation, Tyranitar is an unstoppable, bulky and devastating tank with a limited number of checks and counters. Being a Ferrothorn and Landorus-T lurer / revenge-killer, is a wonderful partner for Azumarill and Garchomp.
Stealth Rock is the main move of the set, dealing damage to many Flying-type Pokémon like Talonflame. Ice Beam nails Landorus-T, Garchomp and Dragonite; Fire Blast revenge-kills Ferrothorn, Skarmory and Scizor. Superpower deals higher damage than Low Kick against Terrakion and Heatran.
As for the EVs spread, 244 Speed EVs are enough to out-speed standard Landorus-T, Special Attack is maximized in order to make Tyranitar a great lurer. The remaining 12 EVs are put into Attack to boost Crunch's damage.

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Thanks to its great typing and mixed bulk, Ferrothorn is one of the best Entry Hazards users; in addition, key resistances to Fairy- and Water-types make him a great Azumarill check, which is one of the most used physical attackers.
Spikes and Leech Seed are the main moves of the set, with the latter granting many OHKOes and 2HKOes from Garchomp and the latter being a reliable source of recovery. Power Whip and Gyro Ball are powerful STAB moves, with the former revenge-killing Water- and Ground-type Pokémon and the latter taking advantage of Ferrothorn's low Speed.
The 48 SDef EVs are used in order to prevent Life Orb Alakazam and Thundurus from OHKOing with Focus Blast. The rest are invested into physical bulk to tale hits from the likes of Azumarill and Mamoswine.

Wonderful movepool and amazing offensive presence are only two of the many features which make Heatran the most reliable Fire-type Pokémon of the OU metagame. In fact, its wonderful typing allows him to force so many switches that the opponent team will be soon weakened enough to sweep with Azumarill and Thundurus in the late-game.
Fire Blast is the best Fire STAB, while Earth Power nails Heatran and Tentacruel. Flash Cannon hits many Garchomp checks, like Azumarill, Latios and Togekiss. Stone Edge revenge-kills Talonflame and Volcarona.
As for the EVs, Special Attack and Speed are maximized, while the rest is put into Atk for Stone Edge.
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Being a great Agility Sweeper in RBY, a fantastic Rest + Sleep Talk User in GSC and RSE, a good Bulky Pivot in DP and BW, Zapdos has always been one of the best Electric-type Pokèmon. After that XY came out, the Thunder Bird became even more useful, as, thanks to Defog, it could remove the so-annoying Stealth Rock that gave so much pain to Flying-type Pokèmon.
As for the moveset, Thunderbolt and Hidden Power [Ice] provide good coverage, forming the great Bolt-Beam combo and hitting threats like Pinsir, Garchomp, Medicham and Thundurus-I. Roost and Defog are Utility moves, with the former healing the damage dealt by Stealth Rock, and the latter removing every kind of Entry Hazards from the field.
The EVs spread allows Zapdos to be a great check to Flying-Spam and Lucario, but also a good Garchomp and Thundurus-I revenge-killer. HP are maximized, while the remaining EVs are split into Defense and Special Defense, giving Zapdos a great mixed bulk.

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Thanks to its change of typing, Azumarill has become one of the strongest wall-breakers.Also being a reliable Dragon-type Pokémon check and wonderful priority user, it can be considered the offensive physical sweeper par excellence.
As for the moves, Waterfall and Play Rough are the main STAB moves, with the latter being almost unstoppable, as it 2HKOes Bulky Water like Rotom-W. Aqua Jet is a useful priority move which revenge-kills fast sweepers and stat-uppers like Alakazam, Volcarona and Heatran. Knock Off can be quite surprising, hitting every kind of switch-in and disposing of their items.
Maximum Attack EVs make Azumarill very powerful, while the Speed EVs are used to outspeed Standard Skarmory. The rest are invested into HP, with the exception of 4 Defense EVs, which reduce the damage of Entry Hazards.
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: Alakazam (Focus Sash) can be a threatening sweeper and late-game cleaner because it has a really high speed and a quite good moveset. It's not the most dangerous Pokémon when using this team, but it can be a problem if most of the team members are weakened. Zapdos and Azumarill are the best checks, with the former checking it and the latter revenge-killing it with Aqua Jet.​

: Garchomp (Mega All-Out Attacker) is one of - if not the - best wall-breakers and late-game sweepers of the OU Tier. Thanks to its wonderful offensive power and good speed, it can be threatening if Zapdos and Tyranitar are KO. In fact, its best checks Ice Beam Tyranitar (Focus Sash + Lure), Hidden Power [Ice] Zapdos and Play Rough Azumarill.

Medicham (Mega All-Out Attacker) is one of the most threatening wall-breakers of the XY Metagame because of its wide movepool and sheer power. It can be a trouble if it manages to come in against Garchomp or Ferrothorn. As for the checks, Azumarill can revenge-kill him with Play Rough and Aqua Jet, Zapdos can stop his sweep and Heatran can revenge-kill him thanks to Choice Scarf.

: Thundurus-I (All-Out Attacker) is one of the most problematic Pokémon when it comes to counter-checking, with Mega-Venusaur being its safest switch-in. It can be threatening because can outspeed Garchomp and Tyranitar and revenge-kill them with super-effettive damage. Its best checks are Aqua Jet Azumarill, Choice Scarf Heatran, Leech Seed Ferrothorn and Zapdos.

: Entry Hazards (Stealth Rock, Spikes and Toxic Spikes) have always been the most dangerous support moves of the Pokèmon Metagame. With the addition of Sticky Web, sweepers like Kyurem-B and Medicham have become even stronger. Having said this, the team is not too weak to the most common of the three - Stealth Rock -, but a combination of Toxic Spikes and Sticky Web can be annoying. Anyway, now that I added Zapdos on the team, Defog and the of lure Stealth Rock users like Ferrothorn and Landorus-T with Tyranitar and Garchomp is just enough to deal with them.
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Well, that's it, the team is at its end. Constructive criticism is highly appreciated, so thank you in advance for the comments. If you want, you can try out the team on Pokémon Showdown or Pokémon Online, using the "Export to Text" section which is below. As for the usage tips, the only advise I can give is not to switch too much and try to do some predictions, as the playing style of the team is Hyper Offensive. Just be careful when the opponent teams include threats like Medicham and Garchomp, as they're nearly impossible to counter and the best way to deal with them is revenge-kill them with Zapdos and Azumarill.

Export to Text

Velociraptor (Garchomp) @ Garchompite
Ability: Rough Skin
EVs: 112 Atk / 144 SpA / 252 Spe
Lonely Nature
- Draco Meteor
- Earthquake
- Fire Blast
- Stone Edge

T-Rex (Tyranitar) @ Focus Sash
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 12 Atk / 252 SpA / 244 Spe
Mild Nature
- Fire Blast
- Ice Beam
- Stealth Rock
- Crunch

Stegosaurus (Ferrothorn) @ Leftovers
Ability: Iron Barbs
EVs: 252 HP / 208 Def / 48 SpD
Relaxed Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Gyro Ball
- Leech Seed
- Power Whip
- Spikes

Triceratops (Heatran) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Earth Power
- Flamethrower
- Flash Cannon
- Stone Edge

Pterodactyl (Zapdos) @ Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 HP / 180 Def / 76 SpD
Bold Nature
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Defog
- Roost

Opossum (Azumarill) @ Choice Band
Ability: Huge Power
EVs: 88 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Def / 164 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Aqua Jet
- Knock Off
- Play Rough
- Waterfall

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[Nykthos]

Those graphics.... WOW...
Your team seems extremely balanced. I personally like to run Assault Vest on Azumarill in place of Choice Band to give it more versatility, but I'm not sure that matters. The only major suggestion I will make is Flamethrower over Fire Blast on Heatran. I have had some bad experiences with accuracy and I hope others can sympathize.
10/10

 

[Tricking]

Hi, fantastic graphic for your RMT. My suggestions are:

• Give more EVs in Attack to Garchomp-Mega.
• Replace Focus Sash on Tyranitar with Smooth Rock.
• Replace Choice Band on Azumarill with Assault Vest (it can help you with all the threats you mentioned)
• Replace Toxic with Stone Edge and Substitute with Flash Cannon on Heatran. Of course give it the Choice Scarf since the threats you mentioned are quite fast and your team can't cripple fast mons.
• Replace Leftovers with Life Orb on Thundurus.

 

[MisterBobobo]

Nyktos : even if I don't really like Assault Vest on Azumarill as it limitates its offensive power, I think I will consider replacing Fire Blast with Flamethrower or Overheat on Heatran.
Tricking : Thanks for your comment, that's a quite detailed rate! I think the most important thing is to raise the Speed of the team as the threats I mentioned are wall-breakers which must be checked by faster Pokèmon (Medicham, Alakazam), so I'll go for the Choice Scarf set on Heatran.

 

[Ahabb]

dude. Cool pics.
I believe you need more offensive presence. For that purpose I'm suggesting scarf tran. Its just great because it isn't much used at this time. It might become popular soon but for now you may use it to play some mind tricks. You can lead with it so that the opponent thinks that its a rock setter and just blast away something with its powerful STABS.

Heatran @ Choice scarf
EVs:4 SpD/ 252 SpA/ 252 spe
modest nature
-overheat
-ancient power
-flash cannon
-earth power

hope i helped. Good luck laddering.

 

[Alpha Ninja]

Hi I have a suggestion on all of ur Pokémon so basicly my version of your team ^^

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Velociraptor (Garchomp) (M) @ Garchompite
Ability: Rough Skin
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Outrage
- Earthquake
- Swords Dance
- Iron Head

T-Rex (Tyranitar) @ Smooth Rock
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Stone Edge
- Crunch
- Earthquake
- Pursuit

Stegosaurus (Ferrothorn) @ Leftovers
Ability: Iron Barbs
EVs: 252 HP / 128 Def / 128 SpD
Relaxed Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Leech Seed
- Gyro Ball
- Power Whip
- Protect

Triceratops (Heatran) (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Def / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
- Lava Plume
- Stealth Rock
- Toxic
- Protect

Pterodactyl (Thundurus) (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 56 Atk / 200 SpA / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- Thunder Wave
- Thunderbolt
- Superpower
- Hidden Power [Ice]

Opossum (Azumarill) @ Assault Vest
Ability: Huge Power
EVs: 188 HP / 252 Atk / 32 SpD / 36 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Play Rough
- Waterfall
- Aqua Jet
- Knock Off

 

[MisterBobobo]

Thanks for all your comments, I think the team is improving so much.

As for Heatran, after calculating the damage of Ancientpower (as Ahab posted that set), I decided to give it a Choice Scarf (so that it could check Medicham, Thundurus and Alakazam) and go for Stone Edge, because it can revenge-kill Talonflame, Volcarona and Gyarados.

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~ 0- Atk Heatran Stone Edge vs. 248 HP / 0 Def Talonflame: 316-372 (88 - 103.6%) -- 25% chance to OHKO
~ 252+ SpA Heatran Ancient Power vs. 248 HP / 252+ SpD Talonflame: 264-312 (73.5 - 86.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery

~ 0- Atk Heatran Stone Edge vs. 240 HP / 252 Def Volcarona: 248-292 (66.8 - 78.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
~ 252+ SpA Heatran Ancient Power vs. 240 HP / 0 SpD Volcarona: 276-328 (74.3 - 88.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery

~ 1 0- Atk Heatran Stone Edge vs. 88 HP / 4 Def Gyarados: 96-114 (27.1 - 32.2%) -- 47.9% chance to 4HKO after Leftovers recovery
~ 252+ SpA Heatran Ancient Power vs. 88 HP / 0 SpD Gyarados: 146-172 (41.3 - 48.7%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Leftovers recovery

As for Tyranitar, Tricking and Ninjadieter wrote that Smooth Rock would be a better item as the team doesn't include a Spinner or a Defog User, so Focus Sash could be ruined by Entry Hazards. Moreover, Smooth Rock can allow Garchomp to abuse of Sand Force for 8 turns. I also decided to change the EVs spread and go for 12 Atk / 252 SAtk / 244 Spd with a Mild Nature, which provides more staying power and allows to out-speed Landorus-T and revenge-kill it with Ice Beam.

As for Garchomp, Tricking and Ninjadieter recommended a more physically oriented EVs spread and nature, so I decided to go for 112 Atk / 144 SAtk / 252 Spd, as it can improve the offensive pressure by OHKOing Togekiss after Stealth Rock damage outside of Sand.

CHANGES IN RED!

 

[Ahabb]

yeah well stone edge does more but i personally prefer ancient power because of the accuracy. It can ohko tflame btw.
After the heatran change, i just noticed that you have no safe switch ins to flying spam. Sure heatran can take care of them with his powerful STABs and stone edge but you will first have to sack something. Thundurus resists flying spma but cannot take enough hits. So you probably need a safe switch in. i recommend physicall defensive zapdos. Heatran+Zapdos/rotom wash is already pretty famous in beating flying spam so i believe it can help you a lot. The typing remains same. The only thing you lose is prankster twave. Check it out, It might just prove to be a good enough change.

Another change that i believe you should make is changing your azumarill to assault vest. It can take more hits and still hit pretty hard. I just tried AV azumarill myself and its just great. AV set is proved to be its best set at the moment. You should really give it a try. Here are the sets:

Zapdos @ Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 HP / 168 Def / 68 SpA / 20 Spe
Bold Nature
- Thunderbolt
- Roost
- Defog
- Heat Wave

Defog is not necessary so you can change that to whatever.

Azumarill @ Assault Vest
Ability: Huge Power
EVs: 240 HP / 252 Atk / 16 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Aqua Jet
- Play Rough
- Knock Off
- Waterfall

Hope i helped again. Have a good time.

 

[DracoNinja]

Hi, really nice team you have here!

Firstly, you have a huge glaring weakness to Mega Medicham, which basically switches in for free vs Ferrothorn/Tyranitar and kills something. I would change Ferrothorn to defensive mew. Ferrothorn atm isn't doing a lot tbh other than beating Bdrum Azumarill, and even then Mega Garchomp can tank 1 +6 Aqua Jet and KO it with EQ. What Mew offers you is a solid counter to Mega Medicham, and can also cripple Azumarill by crippling it with WoW. Mew also provides a Defog user on your team, which is exceptionally helpful especially when you consider your entire team really dislikes entry hazards on your side of the field and is heavily punished by it, especially Thundurus-I.

Secondly, you might want to consider Life Orb over Leftovers on Thundurus-I. I understand that running a sand team means passive damage will wear Thundurus-I down extremely quickly, but without Life Orb it really lacks the power to muscle through threats. Take vs Garchomp for example:
252 SpA Life Orb Thundurus Hidden Power Ice vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Garchomp: 380-452 (106.4 - 126.6%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252 SpA Thundurus Hidden Power Ice vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Garchomp: 292-348 (81.7 - 97.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 SpA Life Orb Thundurus Thunderbolt vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Clefable: 204-242 (51.7 - 61.4%) -- 95.7% chance to 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
252 SpA Thundurus Thunderbolt vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Clefable: 157-186 (39.8 - 47.2%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Leftovers recovery

The power difference between LO and Leftovers is extremely noticeable, and I think the extra power boost will help wear down threats with the extra damage, which may enable Heatran to serve as a late-game cleaner or help Mega Garchomp secure a much-needed KO vs Clefable.

I'm not sure why people are suggesting AV Azu tbh, CB Azu really appreciates all of its counters worn down with the help of Mega Garchomp. This gives the team a secondary win con by weakening everything with the combination of very strong attacks+sand to the point where the entire team is KO'd by AJet.

Hope I helped, and good luck with the team!

(P.s. where did you get the pictures from btw o.o)

 

[Pikachu42]

epic RMT but how do you get rid of hazards
i'd also second the suggestion of putting assault vest on azumarill as it gives you a counter to non hp grass greninja
nice graphics and cool team

 

[MisterBobobo]

Alright! I've given a try to Zapdos, Smooth Rock Tyranitar and Assault Vest Azumarill and I've done some changes!

At first, I replaced Thundurus-I for Zapdos for many reasons: 1. Zapdos is a great Flying-Spam counter (as Ahabb said); 2. Zapdos is a quite good Thundurus and Medicham check; 3. Zapdos provides Defog Support, which is useful since the team has no way to remove Entry Hazards from the field (as Pikachu42 said).

As a consequence of this, I decided to give Tyranitar Focus Sash because, thanks to Defog, it can lure and revenge-kill Ferrothorn and Landorus-T with no problem, making the sweep of Azumarill and Garchomp even easier.

As for Azumarill, I tried out the Assault Vest set and I have to admit it's quite useful as it becomes a great check to many threats; anyway, I think I'll keep Choice Band. In fact (as DracoNinja said) I noticed that sweeping with Aqua Jet or Play Rough is very easy since Tyranitar and Garchomp are great Ferrothorn and Venusaur lures and revenge-killers.

CHANGES IN RED!