SM OU Kneel before Zygod

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Introduction

After struggling a few times playing against Zygarde, I decided to build my own Zygarde team: if you can't beat them, join them.


The Team

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Zygarde @ Leftovers
Ability: Aura Break
EVs: 224 HP / 216 SpD / 68 Spe
Careful Nature
- Substitute
- Coil
- Toxic
- Thousand Arrows

Zygarde here is the main threat. A SubCoil set with Toxic, so it can deal both with offense and stall/balance. The HP EVs allow substitutes with more than 100 HP, so Chansey Seismic Toss can't break through it and the speed investment is enough to be faster than base 70 neutral-nature pokemon (Bisharp). Once its checks and counters are gone, it can set up a few Coils and sweep.


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Landorus-Therian @ Flyinium Z
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Fly
- Earthquake
- Stealth Rock

Here, I run Landorus-T as an offensive rocker. Flyinium-Z allows it to obliterate Mega Venusar and Tangrowth, which walls Zygarde completely and threatens it with HP Ice, it also helps dealing with opposing Landorus-T, KOing it after some cheap damage. I chose Adamant nature after missing some KOs when running Jolly.


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Metagross-Mega @ Metagrossite
Ability: Clear Body
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Meteor Mash
- Ice Punch
- Thunder Punch
- Earthquake

Metagross fits well in my mega slot, as it can deal with Tapu Lele, Mamoswine and Latios, that could be an issue for Zygarde. There's not much to explain here: Meteor Mash is it's strongest STAB and deals with fairies; Ice Punch for Landorus-T, Garchomp and Zygarde; Thunder Punch hits Fini and Celesteela hard, specially offensive types and takes a boost from Electric Terrain; Earthquake to deal with opposing Gross, Heatran and do some cheap to Ferrothorn without activating the Iron Barbs.


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Greninja-Ash @ Choice Specs
Ability: Battle Bond
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Hydro Pump
- Dark Pulse
- Water Shuriken
- Ice Beam

Ash-Greninja is the revenge killer/late game sweeper, as it 1HKOs almost everything that doesn't resist it. It appreciates some cheap damage dealt by MegaGross and Landorus-T removing bulky grass types. The first two moves are strong STABs, dealing as most damage as possible, specially Hydro Pump, that can sweep a team after the water resists are gone. Water Shuriken for priority, KOing set up sweepers and scarfers after prior damage. Ice Beam is another way of dealing with Landorus-T and opposing Zygarde, also hitting Zapdos hard, KOing non spdef variants.


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Tapu Koko @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Electric Surge
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 30 Atk
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Volt Switch
- U-turn

Tapu Koko for speed control and revenge killing what Greninja can't. Thunderbolt hits hard under Electric Terrain and is my main way of dealing with Fini, which walls Zygarde and Greninja, and Scarf Lele, that otherwise could be a big problem to this team. Electric Terrain also helps with Spore/Sleep Powder and boosts Metagross Thunder Punch. HP Ice so it can hit ground types (read: Scarf Chomp and Scarf Lando). VoltTurn for momentum and to bring Zygarde freely so it can set up.


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Tapu Fini @ Leftovers
Ability: Misty Surge
EVs: 240 HP / 196 Def / 72 Spe
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Surf
- Defog
- Nature's Madness
- Moonblast

At first, I was using Rotom-W in this slot, but later I found Fini fits better into the team, as it has access do Defog for hazard control and Nature's Madness to punish switches. The EV investment and nature allow it to take both physical and special hits, functioning as a deffensive pivot. Moonblast hits dark and dragon types, and Surf hits bulky ground types, while being unexpected at the same time.

Conclusion

This team has got me good results, something around 75% of wins and rank ~1630, but I think it needs some improvements. Tapu Koko can be a huge threat, specially Life Orb variants and you have to play very carefully against stall, keeping Landorus-T and Zygarde as healthy as possible, as they're the set up sweepers. Any help will be of great value, thanks for the attention!
 
I feel like you should replace Nature's Madness and Surf on Tapu Fini with taunt and scald, that wya you have a mon that can get around stall much easier and atk drops are still crucial to the meta.
 
I feel like you should replace Nature's Madness and Surf on Tapu Fini with taunt and scald, that wya you have a mon that can get around stall much easier and atk drops are still crucial to the meta.

I agree taunt is a viable option, so I have less problems with stall, but with the MegaGross suspect, I'm using Mega Mawile, which is a good wallbreaker. About Scald, I ended up with Surf because of Misty Terrain, but yeah, it can cripple flying types. Thanks for the suggestions.
 
Hi PainInTheS and welcome to Smogon ! You have a pretty cool team here but I think it's not really adapted for the metagame right now since Offense is the dominating playstyle and your team has many troubles at dealing with popular threats like M-Medicham and common cores like M-Medicham + Tapu Koko. The fact that you have some passive Pokemons on your team like Tapu Fini and Zygarde can open many occasions for your opponent to recuperate his Offensive momentum and, by this way, pressure a lot your team. So, I think the best way to improve your team is to make it more Offensive and less passive, to allow you to handle Offensive pressure and put yourself a massive amount of pressure to your opponent, reducing by this way his occasions to pressure your team and to get/recuperate his momentum.

For the weaknesses of your team I would say that, as I said above, your team is pretty weak to
Wallbreakers like Tapu Koko and M-Medicham,but also Protean and Battle Bond Greninja, Banded Zygarde and M-Metagross since your Bulky Pokemons can quickly get overwhelmed by them and they canget rid of the rest of your Pokemons after. Some Set-up Sweepers like Shattered Psyche Volcarona can be dangerous for your team since Scarf Koko doesn't have enough power to Revenge Kill it.

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--->
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AND
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--->
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As first changes, I propose you Scarf Keldeo > Tapu Fini as well as Mago Stallbreaker Koko > Choice Scarf. Scarf Keldeo gives you a solid way to Revenge Kill set-up sweepers like Volcarona and also Gyarados and Salamence which can both be annoying for your team. Its Water/Fighting Typing also allows it to switch-in on Dark Types, particularly Battle Bond/Protean Greninja and Bisharp. Also, the fact that it's faster than other Choice Scarf users like Nihilego and Garchomp helps a lot (its typing also helps it to beat them). Thanks to its excellent speed with Choice Scarf, its decent power and its really good Offensive and Defensive Typing, it can dismantle Offensive Cores and Offensive Teams with ease, helping a lot your team. I'd suggest you to run HP Electric & Stone Edge on it to be able to Revenge Kill Volcarona a lot more easily and to be able to have some decent damages to opposing Water types coupled with Tapu Koko's Electric Terrain. This particularly helps against Gyarados and opposing Keldeos. Mago Stallbreaker Koko helps for your matchup against Stall while still being able to deal with more Offensive teams. It is also able to 1V1 opposing Kokos which is good. To do that, it needs the 252 HP/52 SpA/12 SpD/192 Spe spread with a Timid Nature which also creeps Greninja (it's also slower than other Kokos so, you can easily get momentum on them). Its Taunt prevents your opponent from setting up he's Hazards and removing them (giving you a pseudo Hazards Control) and also clicking status moves, which your team doesn't appreciate. Nature's Madness helps to weaken the opponent's team in combination with Hazards.

Now, some other adjustments with sets :

-
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Change it to Choice Band : Choice Band Zygarde really helps your team to break through Defensive Teams and also to pressure more Offensive ones with its strong priorities (for example, Banded Extreme Speed 2HKOes Keldeo after Rocks), while still being able to check menaces like M-Charizard Y and Volcarona. This change particularly helps against Landorus which was able to annoy SubCoil Zygarde with HP Ice/Earthquake (and also your own Lando in HP Ice's case) but gets heavily weakened by Banded Thousand Arrows and Outrage, helping out your Koko and your M-Metagross. I'd suggest you to run 12 SpD EVs on it to survive to a +1 Shattered Psyche from Volcarona, as well as Toxic to cripple things like Tangrowth.

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Change it to Defensive Yache : Defensive Yache Lando really improves your matchup against threats like M-Metagross, M-Medicham and Tapu Koko which often run Ice moves. With Yache Lando, you are able to take an Ice move from them and retaliate with a powerful Earthquake or set-up your Rocks on them. It also gives you a slow pivot which allows you to freely sent out your other Pokemons. I suggest to run a 248 HP/204 Def/28 SpD/28 Spe with an Impish Nature to avoid the 2HKO from both LO Tapu Koko's HP Ice/Dazzling Gleam, Adamant M-Medicham's Ice Punch and M-Metagross' Ice Punch.

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Hammer Arm > Earthquake : I think Hammer Arm has more utility than Earthquake since you already have 2 Ground Types and Hammer Arm helps you a lot against Ferrothorn (and still hits Heatran and opposing M-Metagross really hard) which is really annoying for your team.

Alternative options :

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(M-Metagross' Suspect)

Since M-Metagross is currently being suspected (here is the thread http://www.smogon.com/forums/threads/np-sm-ou-suspect-process-round-4-the-robots.3602385/), an option is to run AV Magearna > M-Metagross which helps a lot against Special Attackers like Gengar and M-Alakazam and also gives you another slow pivot to freely sent out your other Pokemons.

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Wave Incense + Spikes : Wave Incense + Spikes Ash-Greninja is a decent option to lure Specs and having Spikes which help at weakening threats like Tangrowth in general and helping a lot against Stall and every types of teams.

Importables :

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Zygarde @ Choice Band
Ability: Aura Break
EVs: 252 Atk / 12 SpD / 244 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Thousand Arrows
- Outrage
- Extreme Speed
- Toxic

Landorus-Therian @ Yache Berry
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 248 HP / 204 Def / 28 SpD / 28 Spe
Impish Nature
- Earthquake
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- U-turn
- Stealth Rock

Metagross-Mega @ Metagrossite
Ability: Clear Body
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Meteor Mash
- Thunder Punch
- Ice Punch
- Hammer Arm

Greninja-Ash @ Choice Specs
Ability: Battle Bond
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Hydro Pump
- Dark Pulse
- Water Shuriken
- Ice Beam

or

Greninja-Ash @ Wave Incense
Ability: Battle Bond
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Hydro Pump
- Dark Pulse
- Water Shuriken
- Spikes


Tapu Koko @ Mago Berry
Ability: Electric Surge
EVs: 252 HP / 52 SpA / 12 SpD / 192 Spe
Timid Nature
- Thunderbolt
- Nature's Madness
- Taunt
- U-turn

Keldeo-Resolute @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Justified
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Hydro Pump
- Secret Sword
- Stone Edge
- Hidden Power [Electric]

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Zygarde @ Choice Band
Ability: Aura Break
EVs: 252 Atk / 12 SpD / 244 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Thousand Arrows
- Outrage
- Extreme Speed
- Toxic

Landorus-Therian @ Yache Berry
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 248 HP / 204 Def / 28 SpD / 28 Spe
Impish Nature
- Earthquake
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- U-turn
- Stealth Rock

Magearna @ Assault Vest
Ability: Soul-Heart
EVs: 248 HP / 252 SpA / 8 SpD
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Fleur Cannon
- Flash Cannon
- Aura Sphere
- Volt Switch

Greninja-Ash @ Choice Specs
Ability: Battle Bond
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Hydro Pump
- Dark Pulse
- Water Shuriken
- Ice Beam

or

Greninja-Ash @ Wave Incense
Ability: Battle Bond
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Hydro Pump
- Dark Pulse
- Water Shuriken
- Spikes


Tapu Koko @ Mago Berry
Ability: Electric Surge
EVs: 252 HP / 52 SpA / 12 SpD / 192 Spe
Timid Nature
- Thunderbolt
- Nature's Madness
- Taunt
- U-turn

Keldeo-Resolute @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Justified
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Hydro Pump
- Secret Sword
- Stone Edge
- Hidden Power [Electric]

I hope I helped. Good luck n_n
 
Thanks for your time and help, MFJr King!

- About Mega Medicham: when building the team I also thought this would be a huge threat, but I've played quite a few times against Koko/Cham cores and Medicham didn't turn out as a big issue, being 1HKOed by Specs Greninja Hydro Pump (even before the transformation) and taking massive damage from Dark Pulse. Tapu Koko and M-Metagross are another ways of dealing with it, as both outspeed it and are able to KO after some little damage. Stealth Rock support is great too.

Before Battle Bond:
252 SpA Choice Specs Greninja Hydro Pump vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Medicham-Mega: 262-309 (100.3 - 118.3%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252 SpA Choice Specs Greninja Dark Pulse vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Medicham-Mega: 192-226 (73.5 - 86.5%)
After Battle Bond:
252 SpA Choice Specs Greninja-Ash Dark Pulse vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Medicham-Mega: 255-300 (97.7 - 114.9%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock

252+ SpA Tapu Koko Thunderbolt vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Medicham-Mega in Electric Terrain: 225-265 (86.2 - 101.5%) -- 12.5% chance to OHKO
252+ Atk Pure Power Medicham-Mega High Jump Kick vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Tapu Koko: 222-261 (79 - 92.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

252 Atk Tough Claws Metagross-Mega Meteor Mash vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Medicham-Mega: 237-279 (90.8 - 106.8%) -- 43.8% chance to OHKO
Adamant Medicham:
252+ Atk Pure Power Medicham-Mega High Jump Kick vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Metagross-Mega: 271-321 (90 - 106.6%) -- 43.8% chance to OHKO
Jolly Medicham:
252 Atk Pure Power Medicham-Mega High Jump Kick vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Metagross-Mega: 247-292 (82 - 97%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

- Protean Greninja and Tapu Koko: yes, this team struggles with both of them, specially Koko, which forces me to use my own Tapu Koko, weakening it to the range of priority moves, or Metagross, that doesn't appreciate cheap damage early game. I've never battled against a Shattered Psyche Volcarona using this team, however, as you can see, it is extremely frail to Volcarona in general, being Zygarde my only switch-in.

- I really liked the proposed changes, as Scarf Keldeo fits nicely into the team and this Tapu Koko variant can help dealing with opposing Tapu Koko. Nevertheless, I'm a bit afraid of using a team without hazard control, what requires more prediction - and Tapu Fini was my only safe switch to Specs Greninja, but I'll give it a try.

- Other adjustments:

  • Banded Zygarde is great, like you said, against more defensive teams and fire types, but it forces me to run Hammer Arm on Metagross, because otherwise Ferrothorn would be a big trouble. I personally prefer Earthquake on MegaGross to deal with opposing Metagross because, despite having two ground types, both are slower and lose to Ice Punch.
  • Yache Berry Landorus can be really helpful, but how can I beat bulky grass types without the Flyinium-Z? Tangrowth can be, as my nickname states, a big PainInTheS sometimes.
  • I decided to run Choice Specs on Greninja because it forces switches almost everytime and the capability of switching moves doesn't help when playing against its checks (read: Tapu Fini).
I will try the Magearna option in the suspect ladder right now! Thanks for all your effort, it was really helpful, and please don't mind any grammar errors, English is not my native language hahaha
 
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