ORAS OU Mega Charizard-X Balance Team (Peaked #127)

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Hey everyone, I'm a lurker, and this is my first RMT and post on Smogon. Don't be fooled, however, because I'm not a new player in Pokémon, and have been frequenting Pokémon Showdown! for some time. This is a Mega Charizard-X team that I built myself, and one that I feel pretty proud of. A somewhat generic team, with many popular Pokémon, but it works well together. With that said, let's begin.
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Starting off, I wanted to use one of my favorite Pokémon to build my team around. Given the chance, Mega Charizard-X can plow through entire teams, and in my replays, there are a couple demonstrations of just how powerful Mega Charizard-X is.
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Second, I wanted to build a balanced team around Mega Charizard-X, because I felt that it did best on balanced teams in the current metagame. With that in mind, I wanted to either make a FWG core with Mega Charizard-X or DFS core. Thinking about it, I decided to do both. Mega Charizard-X, Ferrothorn, and Azumarill form a nice FWG and DFS core, and I decided to work around that.
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I needed either Defog or spinning support for my team, and Latios was the first thing I had in mind. With its offensive pressure and ability to Defog, I immediately added Latios to the team, and it has stayed ever since.
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Next, I wanted a wallbreaker that could wear down the checks and counters of Mega Charizard-X and pave a way to sweep with it later. Keldeo seemed like a good choice because its Specs set is great at wearing things down, and the majority of checks and counters of Mega Charizard-X, such as Rhyperior, Landorus-Therian, and Heatran, have a weakness to water.
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Looking at my team, I realized I had no way of checking sweepers that were already set or anything faster than base 110 speed. Realizing this, I looked for a scarfer that provided utility and also revenge killed faster threats and set up sweepers. I chose Landorus-Therian because it fit what I wanted and also provides an additional check to physical attackers that Ferrothorn might not be able to handle.
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With ORAS, I realized that my team had some problems with some of the new Pokémon, mainly Mega Slowbro. I decided to use Gengar, who is as powerful as Latios in terms of base stats, and it provides utility for the team and is a strong special attacker that beats Mega Slowbro. It replaced Keldeo because Keldeo checks and counters were everywhere, and as a result, it was difficult to use most of the time. Often, I had to double switch in order to do anything. Although Gengar doesn't support a Mega Charizard-X sweep quite as well as Keldeo, it still supports a sweep while supporting the team as a whole better than Keldeo could.
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Salamander (Charizard) (M) @ Charizardite X
Ability: Blaze
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 56 HP / 252 Atk / 200 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Dragon Dance
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Flare Blitz
- Dragon Claw
- Roost

I started with a fully offensive set, which included Earthquake, but then realized that it was subpar and quickly switched to a bulky Charizard set. This set is, in my opinion, better than fully offensive sets because being able to get more than one DD up and having longevity with Roost beats being able to potentially sweep a badly made team. 200 Speed is to outspeed the max base 145 speed megas, such as Mega Sceptile and Mega Beedrill, after one DD. I chose Adamant over Jolly because I have teammates to deal with Scarf Landorus-T, and it'd be much easier wearing it down with unboosted Flare Blitzes and then cleaning later on.

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

The reason I chose AV over other sets was because Azumarill is already plenty powerful without a boosting move or item, and AV improves the bulk that Azumarill already has. With this set, I'm able to better live special attacks aimed at my team and still have physical bulk, making Azumarill an excellent tank. It is also there to beat the ground types that annoy Mega Charizard-X, such as Hippowdon and Landorus-T. The set is the standard AV Azumarill set, and the EVs are meant to live a Thunderbolt from LO Thundurus while still having a lot of physical bulk to boot with the massive amount of HP.

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Touch Me Harder (Ferrothorn) (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Iron Barbs
EVs: 252 HP / 88 Def / 168 SpD
Sassy Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Stealth Rock
- Leech Seed
- Power Whip
- Gyro Ball
My mixed wall and also my hazard setter. With the EVs, I can live a +3 Manaphy Ice Beam, while still taking on the multitude of physical attackers in OU. It also sets up Stealth Rocks, which helps with wearing down the opposing team enough for Charizard to sweep. With Ferrothorn, Azumarill, and Mega Charizard-X, I have a FWG core as well as a DFS core. The defensive synergy and utility Ferrothorn provides for Azumarill and Mega Charizard-X is the reason Ferrothorn was included, and together, make a nice core for balance.

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Joker (Gengar) (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Taunt
- Shadow Ball
- Sludge Wave
- Focus Blast

Gengar was put on here because I'm scared of Mega Slowbro, and I think ghost is currently the best offensive type in the game. Ghost and fighting have unresisted coverage, and Sludge Wave is for STAB and hitting fairy types for super-effective damage. Out of all the 3 attacks + support move Gengar sets, I chose Taunt because it can shut some stall Pokémon down and is, in general, a very useful move to have. The set is the standard set, with Timid nature and max SpA and Speed.

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Shere Khan (Landorus-Therian) (M) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 Atk / 24 Def / 232 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- Knock Off
- U-turn

Ferrothorn is on my team to check or counter many physical attackers, but there are many Pokémon that can break past Ferrothorn, such as Talonflame, opposing Mega Charizard-X, Mega Lopunny, Mega Metagross carrying Hammer Arm, and other physical attackers. In this physically-based metagame, I chose to have a secondary check to the many physical attackers of OU, and a revenge killer to boot. The set is the standard Scarf Lando-T, with max attack and just enough speed to out speed fully invested +1 Adamant Mega Charizard-X and Scarf Excadrill. The rest of the EVs are dumped into Defense to boost Lando-T's ability to take physical hits.

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Jet (Latios) (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Hasty Nature
- Draco Meteor
- Psyshock
- Earthquake
- Defog

With Charizard on my team, a defogger or spinner is absolutely necessary. Latios is here to preserve offensive momentum while providing Defog support, and being a hard-hitter in general. The set is the standard Latios set, with Earthquake to lure in Heatran and hit other steel types hard.

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If Hawlucha gets to +2, it pretty much sweeps clean through the entire team. I handle Hawlucha with Intimidates with Landorus-T, then maybe sacking it if necessary to bring in something to revenge kill. This doesn't work if my Pokémon are weakened, which is usually when Hawlucha comes in anyway, or if Hawlucha is behind a Substitute.
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Another Pokémon that gives this team problems is SD Bisharp, as it can OHKO most of the Pokémon on my team at +2. Honestly, my game plan for Bisharp is to just not let it set up, and hope that Ferrothorn can do something or I can predict something correctly.
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CroCune can also be troublesome to take out if it gets +1. My usual plan to deal with CroCune is as soon as it comes in, go to Gengar, Taunt, and fish for a SpDef drop from Shadow Ball, or send Mega Charizard-X in to start setting up on it.
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Opposing Gengar can also do major damage to my entire team, and seeing as I have no ghost resists on this team, is a very dangerous threat. Usually, I just try to switch into Landorus-T to OHKO Gengar. Azumarill can live a Sludge Wave from Gengar from full health (50% chance to live after rocks) and knock it out with Knock Off.
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Birdspam and flying type moves in general give this team a bit of trouble, as there aren't any flying resists on my team.
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Ice types in general give this team trouble. If Azumarill faints, then the entire team is hit either neutrally or super-effectively by ice moves.
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Going off of the ice weakness that the team has, Kyurem-B gives this team a lot of trouble if it finds a switch in opportunity due to its coverage being able to hit all of my Pokémon hard. It's not particularly hard revenge killing, however.
Salamander (Charizard) (M) @ Charizardite X
Ability: Blaze
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 248 HP / 60 Atk / 200 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Dragon Claw
- Flare Blitz
- Roost

Energizer (Azumarill) (F) @ Assault Vest
Ability: Huge Power
EVs: 240 HP / 252 Atk / 16 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Aqua Jet
- Waterfall
- Play Rough
- Superpower

Touch Me Harder (Ferrothorn) (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Iron Barbs
EVs: 252 HP / 88 Def / 168 SpD
Sassy Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Stealth Rock
- Leech Seed
- Power Whip
- Gyro Ball

Joker (Gengar) (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Taunt
- Shadow Ball
- Sludge Wave
- Focus Blast

Shere Khan (Landorus-Therian) (M) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 Atk / 24 Def / 232 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- Knock Off
- U-turn

Jet (Latios) (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Hasty Nature
- Draco Meteor
- Psyshock
- Earthquake
- Defog
 
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Nice team, I can't suggest something.
But maybe u can try belly drum Azumarill,as greninja is banned av is just use on Azu to take hits from lati twins and rotom-w.
 
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Correct me if I'm wrong, but with Latios being a Spattacker and all wouldn't HP Ground do more damage than EQ? I'm a little new so i don't know exactly how to calculate it. ( I know EQ hass 100 base damage and HP has 60, but since hes a speciall attacker I figured I'd point that out.).
 
Correct me if I'm wrong, but with Latios being a Spattacker and all wouldn't HP Ground do more damage than EQ? I'm a little new so i don't know exactly how to calculate it. ( I know EQ hass 100 base damage and HP has 60, but since hes a speciall attacker I figured I'd point that out.).
Earthquake hits SpDef heatran harder and also have a chance to OHKO if Latios is Naive.
It would also hit things like T-Tar for more damage.
 
Earthquake hits SpDef heatran harder and also have a chance to OHKO if Latios is Naive.
It would also hit things like T-Tar for more damage.

I'd personally go with hp ground because it does more damage to the two threats you were concerned with.

252 SpA Life Orb Latios Hidden Power Ground vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Bisharp: 229-270 (84.1 - 99.2%) -- 37.5% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock
0- Atk Life Orb Latios Earthquake vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Bisharp: 156-185 (57.3 - 68%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock

252 SpA Life Orb Latios Hidden Power Ground vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Heatran: 322-385 (99.6 - 119.1%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock
0- Atk Life Orb Latios Earthquake vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Heatran: 291-348 (90 - 107.7%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock
 
I'd personally go with hp ground because it does more damage to the two threats you were concerned with.

252 SpA Life Orb Latios Hidden Power Ground vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Bisharp: 229-270 (84.1 - 99.2%) -- 37.5% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock
0- Atk Life Orb Latios Earthquake vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Bisharp: 156-185 (57.3 - 68%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock

252 SpA Life Orb Latios Hidden Power Ground vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Heatran: 322-385 (99.6 - 119.1%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock
0- Atk Life Orb Latios Earthquake vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Heatran: 291-348 (90 - 107.7%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock

If you want to OHKO Bisharp run HP fighting. EQ is the better move overall, hits Bisharp aswell as any Heatran set including the SpDef one. You are calcing 0 HP 0 SpDef, you didn't take that into consideration.
EQ unlike HP ground also hits other things for more damage (T-Tar, Empoleon, Klefki etc).
 
If you want to OHKO Bisharp run HP fighting. EQ is the better move overall, hits Bisharp aswell as any Heatran set including the SpDef one. You are calcing 0 HP 0 SpDef, you didn't take that into consideration.
EQ unlike HP ground also hits other things for more damage (T-Tar, Empoleon, Klefki etc).

Agreed. :]
 
I'd personally go with hp ground because it does more damage to the two threats you were concerned with.

252 SpA Life Orb Latios Hidden Power Ground vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Bisharp: 229-270 (84.1 - 99.2%) -- 37.5% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock
0- Atk Life Orb Latios Earthquake vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Bisharp: 156-185 (57.3 - 68%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock

252 SpA Life Orb Latios Hidden Power Ground vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Heatran: 322-385 (99.6 - 119.1%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock
0- Atk Life Orb Latios Earthquake vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Heatran: 291-348 (90 - 107.7%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock
This is accounting for Heatran being the non-SpD variant. Specially defensive Heatran is more common iirc which makes EQ more optimal, EQ can KO both your example Heatran and SpD Heatran after Rocks.

252 SpA Life Orb Latios Hidden Power Ground vs. 248 HP / 220+ SpD Heatran: 244-291 (63.3 - 75.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
4 Atk Life Orb Latios Earthquake vs. 248 HP / 0 Def Heatran: 328-390 (85.1 - 101.2%) -- 12.5% chance to OHKO

Also, neither HP Ground nor EQ is ideal for handling Bisharp, if you're looking to handle Bish with a Latios then HP Fighting to catch it on the switch is for you, given that Bisharp is pretty much one of the best Latios shut-downs, you want a guaranteed KO if you hit it on the switch, which HP Fighting offers.

Anyway, to review the team in minimal detail, kudos to you for running the Zard X/Ferro/Azu core! It's a pretty air-tight core combining the best of F/W/G + F/D/S and it's great to use.
You're running a Banded EV spread on your Azu though, the AV EV spread is EVs: 16 HP / 252 Atk / 240 SpD if I recall.
I'd also advise you run Sassy on your Ferro with the same EV distribution, Sassy with that EV spread is your classic 'live a Hyper Voice + Focus Blast from Mega Gard and KO with Gyro Ball' Ferro set, and that would be your safest switch-in to Mega Gard.
Also, given that you have Knock Off on Lando already, you can have safe leave to run Superpower on Azu to handle Ferro switch-ins a little better. I'd advise Superpower on Azu over Lando because being Choice-locked means you kind of have to spam it, and Superpower is one of the least spammable moves due to the Atk drop each time, so being Choice-locked into Superpower can be like watching your momentum strangle itself to death.
Lastly, run Naive on Latios with the 4 remaining EVs in Atk.
Nice team, man.
 
This is a pretty well thought through team PinnacleAZ, and there isn't really much to say about it. I do have a few small nitpicks though. As Der Twist said, you should be running the more optimal AV azu spread which he stated above, and i would move the hp EV's on landorus from hp to defense as it multiplies with intimidate better, allowing you to sponge a few hits here and there. Also, i would add kyurem-black to the threatlist as a well played one can really run through this team. Other than that this looks like a fun and definitely effective team :].

Lando set:
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Landorus-Therian (M) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 Atk / 36 Def / 220 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Knock Off
- U-turn
- Stone Edge
 
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