Tournament OLT Discussion Thread

[WECAMEASROMANS]

This is probably the most helpful and informative thread I've seen in the OU subforum in a while, so congrats on constantly keeping the thread updated and interesting to read :o

The most noticeable aspect of Cycle 3 would be that Baton Pass is finally put under the radar again and more and more people are now seeing it again as a problem in today's metagame that needs to be addressed immediately. Scolipede is just so consistent with grabbing boosts since it doesn't even have to do anything; it already outspeeds everything by virtue of nature (especially after a protect) so it can literally sit there and spam sub + protect to gain speed boosts and eventually passing them to the appropriate teammate. Because of this, you can't leave anything even remotely passive vs the Scolipede for one turn because the only thing worse than facing a wallbreaker with numerous speed boosts is a wallbreaker with numerous speed boosts behind a sub. The whole nature of baton pass regarding this team just leads to the team being incredibly match up reliant, as usually you will only be able to break this team by leading off with a powerhouse vs the Scolipede (think offensive talonflame, pinsir, kyurem-b, mega metagross) to prevent it passing to anything without taking a huge chunk of damage. Stallish teams in general will have tremendous difficulty preventing Scolipede from passing subs + speed boosts and then usually get destroyed by the wall breaker (usually manaphy or heracross) that now has speed boosts. Even though it may be deemed "match up reliant", it seems to have a beneficial match up vs most types of teams seen on ladder and is pretty simple and straightforward to play with, as illustrated by how 3/7 of the players who qualified this cycle have been using Baton Pass.

A popular core going on right now is the dual defog core consisting of Skarmory + Zapdos and then Dugtrio to complement these two. Skarmory + Zapdos pretty much defog on all the common SR (and spikes!) setters commonly seen in the metagame today, with the exception of Heatran and Support Tyranitar with Fire Blast, both of whom are easily trapped by Dugtrio. This leads you to pretty much always have your side of the field clear from hazards which is beneficial for more defensive minded teams. Another huge thing with the Skarmory + Zapdos core is that you pretty much destroy the popular birdspam team created by Xtra since those two literally wall everything on that team besides Manaphy, which can be taken care of by another teammate such as unaware Clefable, or Mega Venusaur as Ox the Fox used on his variant of the team. I think this core was originated when Tele saw someone on ladder using it and popularized it with his semi stall team displayed on this thread somewhere, but during this cycle both Ox and ABR had good results incorporating it onto their different builds.

As for my own personal laddering experience during this cycle, I've used a bunch of teams on ladder (probably around 7), unsure of which team I liked best and was most comfortable with so I mainly just kept rotating my teams around every 2 or 3 games. I was top #1 or #2 perhaps around 2 times during this cycle but I kept on tilting uncontrollably. It got so bad that I was actually in the 1600's during the day before the deadline. I obviously was getting pretty frustrated so I decided to make a brand new team. I was sick and tired of losing to that BP team going around and even more disgusted with how many of my teams were unable to break more defensive stallish cores, and despised getting pressured to hell and back whenever I would use stall teams of my own. And so I set out to make a team with offensive power being the main focal point; this team needed to be defog/rapid spin free and had to focus on maintaining pressure right from the start. It went pretty well, being able to get me from 1600s to 2000s+ in one day.

MEGA MANECTRIC OFFENSE

Azumarill @ Choice Band
Ability: Huge Power
EVs: 160 HP / 252 Atk / 96 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Play Rough
- Waterfall
- Aqua Jet
- Ice Punch

Kyurem-Black @ Choice Specs
Ability: Teravolt
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 30 SpA / 30 Spe
- Ice Beam
- Draco Meteor
- Earth Power
- Hidden Power [Fire]

Clefable @ Leftovers
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: 252 HP / 236 Def / 16 SpD / 4 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Stealth Rock
- Soft-Boiled
- Moonblast
- Flamethrower

Landorus-Therian @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 24 HP / 252 Atk / 232 Spe
Jolly Nature
- U-turn
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- Superpower

Manectric @ Manectite
Ability: Lightning Rod
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 30 Def
- Volt Switch
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Overheat

Terrakion @ Choice Band
Ability: Justified
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Stone Edge
- Close Combat
- Quick Attack
- Iron Head

I wanted to build around Terrakion! It's unpeccable type coverage + sheer power was appealing to me. Unfortunately, defensive Landorus-T was everywhere and it just so happened to be one if Terrak's best switch ins. Other Pokemon such as Hippowdon, Tangrowth, and Slowbro were also quite popular and switched into it quite well so I wanted to have a way to bait these Pokemon into coming in with Terrakion and then double switch into something that would immediately force a switch or get a straight up kill on these aforementioned switch ins. Choice Specs Kyurem-b does this quite well, especially being able to lure defensive Slowbro in and get a kill right away with Specs Draco Meteor. Scarf Landorus-T and Mega Manectric consist of my speed control with this team and are able to easily generate momentum with u-turn and volt switch, as well as having a splendid matchup vs birdspam teams. Clefable and Azumarill make up the duo fairy core; Clefable is the obligatory SR setter because having Sableye completely cockblocking hazards from me with such an offensive team was a total turn off for me. Max Defense was there to assist with switching into some incredibly hard hitters such as lopunny, medicham, mega heracross, and specs psyshock latios, while flamethrower is there because Mega Scizor is a complete bastard who I do not want to give free turns to setting up or healing and what not. Azumarill is just my typical breaker which teams really pack no switch ins to for some reason; the only thing unusual about my set is ice punch. Ice punch is cool since it ohkoes offensive Venusaur which hasn't mega evolved yet and tries hard switching into you, it also ohkoes defensive rocky helmet landorus-t which a lot of people like switching into Azumarill since Waterfall doesn't OHKO and they can set up rocks. Its your best way to damage the increasingly popular Tangrowth/Amoongus and its run over Superpower on this team since I have specs hp fire Kube to lure Ferrothorn, as well as Mega Manectric and Terrakion.

Happy laddering! n_n

 

[Tele]

After seeing people stealing my team, changing 1 pokemon or 1 set and thus making it worse, ive finally decided time has come for me to throw some light on what i would define the most succesfull team of this year's olt.

Back in may, I was getting ready to play world cup testing a team on the ladder when i met a guy whos team was: Skarmory, Suicune, Clefable, Charizard-X, Dugtrio and (F)apdos. I dont remember what this guy's name was, but i remember i got smashed real hard. I, Telegend, The Bloo Slayer, who 2 months later would lead the italian team to his first playoffs appearance ever, just got slayed. I couldn't believe it. I immeditely went to this guy and asked him if he could pastebin his team. The very second i saw the team, i knew it had something special. Until that moment, no one had ever thought about having 2 defoggers on the same team. That stall team was unconvential. That stall team was surprisingly good. That stall team still had potential left. And thats why i liked it and saved it somewhere in the teambuilder. As you may have noticed, I did not use it throughout world cup. Thats because the team was so fucking powerfull i was scared to even click it when accepting or sending a challenge. Anyway. Flashforward to early august, i finally found the courage to use this freaking powerfull team. I noticed charizard-x wasnt doing shit half of the time and the team was insanely weak to medicham, so i replaced it with mega Sableye. And thats how the team as you see it today was made. Only weaknesses include Charizard-y and Mega Heracross. Direct any other question you may have to the team co-creator user Zepherox.

 

[Ox the Fox]

Team I used to qualify:

The idea of this team when I was trying to make a super aesthetically pleasing team at preview by using gastro + mvenu + reuni. I've gone through a lot of edits of this team and found out reuni really isn't that good and ended up with this version. The team really revolves around getting rocks up with clefable as soon as possible and then slowly wearing down their team with mvenu + keldeo + spikes with skarmory. Resttalk keld is a set which helps a ton with whittling down opposing teams while being a fantastic mon to switch into the likes of bisharp, weavile, mew and heatran. Venu is another incredibly underrated pokemon in this current metagame who I thought would be terrible before making this team. It's just so good because it's able to check a ton of pokemon with it's natural bulk and pressure opposing teams super hard with sludge bomb + giga drain, the only real counter to it is heatran which gets whittled by spikestack + gives a super free switch in against keldeo. This team has fantastic matchup against bird spam, weavstall (get up rocks with clef then pressure with keldeo + venu), and most of the balances currently running around which just lose to keldeo + ttar + hazard stack.

importable

kindagreen (Tyranitar) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Crunch
- Stone Edge
- Superpower
- Pursuit

shinyisgreen (Keldeo) @ Leftovers
Ability: Justified
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Rest
- Sleep Talk
- Scald
- Secret Sword

browngreen (Skarmory) @ Leftovers
Ability: Sturdy
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 248 HP / 84 Def / 172 SpD / 4 Spe
Impish Nature
- Spikes
- Brave Bird
- Whirlwind
- Roost

pinkgreen (Clefable) @ Leftovers
Ability: Magic Guard
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Stealth Rock
- Moonblast
- Thunder Wave
- Soft-Boiled

bluegreen (Gastrodon-East) @ Leftovers
Ability: Storm Drain
EVs: 252 HP / 112 Def / 144 SpD
Sassy Nature
- Curse
- Scald
- Earthquake
- Recover

purplegreen (Venusaur) @ Venusaurite
Ability: Chlorophyll
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 232 HP / 252 SpA / 24 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 30 SpA / 30 Spe
- Giga Drain
- Sludge Bomb
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Synthesis

 

[Get this Money]

After seeing people stealing my team, changing 1 pokemon or 1 set and thus making it worse, ive finally decided time has come for me to throw some light on what i would define the most succesfull team of this year's olt.

Back in may, I was getting ready to play world cup testing a team on the ladder when i met a guy whos team was: Skarmory, Suicune, Clefable, Charizard-X, Dugtrio and (F)apdos. I dont remember what this guy's name was, but i remember i got smashed real hard. I, Telegend, The Bloo Slayer, who 2 months later would lead the italian team to his first playoffs appearance ever, just got slayed. I couldn't believe it. I immeditely went to this guy and asked him if he could pastebin his team. The very second i saw the team, i knew it had something special. Until that moment, no one had ever thought about having 2 defoggers on the same team. That stall team was unconvential. That stall team was surprisingly good. That stall team still had potential left. And thats why i liked it and saved it somewhere in the teambuilder. As you may have noticed, I did not use it throughout world cup. Thats because the team was so fucking powerfull i was scared to even click it when accepting or sending a challenge. Anyway. Flashforward to early august, i finally found the courage to use this freaking powerfull team. I noticed charizard-x wasnt doing shit half of the time and the team was insanely weak to medicham, so i replaced it with mega Sableye. And thats how the team as you see it today was made. Only weaknesses include Charizard-y and Mega Heracross. Direct any other question you may have to the team co-creator user Zepherox.

???

 

[Updated Kanto]

???

You retarded or what? If you continue to read the first part you will see that people that took his team changed 1 mon and made it worse while his edit made it great.

 

[Confide]

http://pastebin.com/AtWDVz0C <---- team i used for majority of laddering for cycle 4

This team was built by Samuel Norton aka lt1s norton aka jake5 that i mostly used to qual for olt with. This team demonstrates the use of latias, offensive zor, offensive lando and sand which isn't rly common in the current meta.

u basically try to overwhelm your opponent with sd 3 attacks sciz, sd exca, sd lando, and tg manaphy. the team kinda needs to be played aggressively so that common threats like lopunny and keldeo arent too much trouble.

scizor has enough speed to outpace 44 spe rotom and base lando by a few points while rest is dumped in hp and attack.
rd manaphy is ev'd to outpace timid tran and modest is used to help it pressure unaware clef easier. the rest is put into hp so manaphy takes less from seismic toss from chansey and rd is to fk up stall. ice beam is used as coverage it cuz helps beat bulky grass types namely amoongus, av tangrowth, and ferro to avoid spike stacking because i have no hazard removal. ice beam also weakens m venusaur.
lando is adamant cos it has the ability to 2hko quagsire w/ eplate and max speed to outspeed opposing adamant excadrill. offensive lando is also used to pressure defoggers like zapdos and skarmory easier.
exca is adamant life orb bcos having the chance to 2hko slowbro after rocks + sand damage is nice.
ttar is standard scarf pursuit for speed control + sand
latias is used over latios mainly for healing wish. hp fire to prevent spike stacking from ferro or skarm. it also helps break down skarm for sd zor, exca, and lando. No defog cos team is already weak as dix to bisharp.

this team has decent matchup vs bird spam. healing wish lati + sd lando makes the m/u vs stall and double defog skarm + zap stall easier (assuming u dont get pp stalled and hit all ur fucking stone edges sigh). Offensive scizor also makes the matchup vs baton pass a lot easier.

all in all this team has winnable matchup vs most common builds on the ladder.

sorry for the shitty formatting lol gl laddering

e: norton also got the highest oras peak on ladder w/ this team O_O http://prnt.sc/cfepc2

 

[Googly]

Man this cycle was intense! Anyone who was around during the conclusion of Cycle 4 will know just how close it was! People might see laddering as a chore, but I actually really enjoyed it and was lucky to play alot of exciting games. I'm sorry if I lost my cool against anyone lol, bad luck can get the best of us sometimes :x

So it is true that I used Baton Pass during a portion of my laddering run, but most of my high ladder matches were done with some variant of Umbreon stall... yeah, just like last year I guess. I doubt anyone wants to see Umbreon stall teams though, so here's a cool BP Squad instead! It's not quite as consistent as the main one that's been going around, but I still had alot of fun using it, plus there's a Belly Drum Chesnaught!

Hide

Scolipede (F) @ Black Sludge
Ability: Speed Boost
EVs: 248 HP / 172 Def / 88 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Protect
- Attract
- Substitute
- Baton Pass

Manaphy @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Hydration
EVs: 192 HP / 252 SpA / 64 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Tail Glow
- Surf
- Ice Beam
- Energy Ball

Espeon @ Leftovers
Ability: Magic Bounce
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpA
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Calm Mind
- Stored Power
- Morning Sun
- Dazzling Gleam

Gliscor
Ability: Hyper Cutter
EVs: 152 HP / 252 Atk / 104 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Acrobatics
- Earthquake
- Swords Dance
- Stone Edge

Chesnaught @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Bulletproof
EVs: 100 HP / 252 Atk / 156 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Drain Punch
- Seed Bomb
- Belly Drum
- Stone Edge

Metagross-Mega @ Metagrossite
Ability: Tough Claws
EVs: 36 HP / 252 Atk / 220 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Meteor Mash
- Earthquake
- Ice Punch
- Thunder Punch

As for the... interesting move choice on Scolipede, Attract may seem stupid, but in some situations it really works, and in my opinion is usually more useful than an attack like Megahorn or Poison Jab. Against any Male Pokemon (Landorus for example) you can continually spam Substitute until they're immobilised, allowing you to safely pass a sub to your chosen recipient, set up and win! It's a scummy strategy I know, but if you're already using BP then you might as well go all the way right?

(Pls don't hate me for sharing this. I'm of the opinion that Scolipede Pass is a ridiculous strategy that needs to be looked into. The way I see it, the more people that use Scolipede Pass, the more attention it'll get.)

 

[AzureRaptor]

I dunno I'd like to think that Umbreon is a pretty unique mon in itself, although that might be due to it being my favorite mon of johto. But I'd definitely like to see what you did with it. And you're definitely right about BP as a strategy, right on the nail...

 

[Gotham Paladin]

I would like to point out in my first game of the olt tie breaker, I did make a mistake relying on a paralyzed scizor to win me the game. It was my mistake and I did really get fortunate with the paralysis on clefable letting starmie clean. I looked at this game and realized that I should have kept kyurem as iron head won me the game and I didnt have to rely on hax. It was my own fault and I will for sure do my best to make better decisions in the future. Nonetheless, it was a fun series.

 

[Isza]

Great thread, had a fantastic time reading it. I generally really enjoyed this tournament, it being my first major one. It was a great way to interact with the rest of the players and make some new friends.(Beats playing in the tournaments room)

There were a lot of factors this cycle that I generally didn't enjoy. One of those were all the new Baton Pass teams running around that at first I wasn't so used to playing. Another one was the new variations of shed stall Bran kept on using. After awhile I kinda sucked it up and learned how to play around all that and ended up qualifying. I used a large number of teams to meet my goal but I'll just post the 2 that I believe had the most success overall, so here goes:

This is a team that I built around Mega Scizor + Life orb Alakazam. Alakazam is so underated and has very few switch ins in ORAS besides Torn T, Chans, and Mega Scizor depending on set. Alakazam also does fairy well against balance and offense, and Mega Scizor could take advantage of that with U- Turn for Momentum. I added Scarf Keldeo as my check to dark types and as good speed control. Tran serves as my speedy rocker checking Serp, While Latias Serves as my defogger with surf to it opposing trans. At this point I had a great Match up vs Offense and Balance, but I lost to stall. So I added Earth Plate Double Dance Lando to soften the stall match up, which helped a lot.
This team should be played aggressively as nothing on the team is really a good defensive pivot into things like Lopunny Besides Scizor. Overall it has a great match up vs the majority of trends on the ladder such as BP, and Stall and is fun to play overall.

Alakazam+ Scizor

Sia (Alakazam) (F) @ Life Orb
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 30 Def
- Psychic
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Focus Blast
- Shadow Ball

Lunar (Keldeo-Resolute) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Justified
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 1 Atk / 30 SpA
- Scald
- Hydro Pump
- Hidden Power [Electric]
- Secret Sword

Hammer Head (Landorus-Therian) @ Earth Plate
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- Swords Dance
- Rock Polish

Decode (Latios) @ Life Orb
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Defog
- Draco Meteor
- Surf
- Roost

Mizu (Scizor-Mega) (F) @ Scizorite
Ability: Technician
EVs: 252 HP / 40 Atk / 76 Def / 140 Spe
Impish Nature
- Bullet Punch
- Roost
- Knock Off
- Swords Dance

Moms Oven (Heatran) (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 248 HP / 8 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Lava Plume
- Stealth Rock
- Taunt
- Toxic

I built this in cycle 5 and it performed really well. I wanted to make a team around Medicham that shit on all of the stall running around, as well as Baton Pass. After looking over a conversation between Leftiez and ABR about how they lost the concept of running defog on the Latias Twins, I figured I'd run another form of hazard removal. I went with rocks drill with rapid spin so that I could clear Hazards and set up Hazards 100% of the time vs stall. Toxic hits Mega Sableye and annoying walls like Slowbro. Since I had spin on driller, I decided to use HP Fire/Surf on Latias with roost, seeing as they always think you are surf or HP fire. This way you break Tran+Mega Scizor/Ferro Cores Really easy. Medicham is standard with Zen Headbutt to hit Clef because I'm really weak to that, and Manaphy has Modest Rain Dance with Shadow Ball so that you hit Shedinja :). Scarf Lando is for speed control, and Tangrowth is there to spread sleep, and check things like Azumarill, Bisharp, Mega Metagross, ect.

No time for Stall

Jin (Medicham-Mega) (F) @ Medichamite
Ability: Pure Power
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Fake Out
- High Jump Kick
- Ice Punch
- Zen Headbutt

Luna (Manaphy) @ Leftovers
Ability: Hydration
EVs: 84 HP / 252 SpA / 172 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Tail Glow
- Scald
- Shadow Ball
- Rain Dance

All about (Landorus-Therian) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 24 HP / 252 Atk / 232 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Knock Off
- Stone Edge
- U-turn

Ferro/Tran (Latios) @ Life Orb
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 30 SpA / 30 Spe
- Draco Meteor
- Surf
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Roost

Snakes (Excadrill) @ Leftovers
Ability: Mold Breaker
EVs: 216 HP / 252 SpD / 40 Spe
Careful Nature
IVs: 0 SpA
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Toxic
- Rapid Spin

Cuddles (Tangrowth) (F) @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 136 Def / 120 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 30 SpA / 30 Spe
- Giga Drain
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Knock Off
- Sleep Powder

For the people who can't really focus when they ladder, or who can't bear playing lots of games, try music! It helps a lot and eases the thought process. Happy Laddering everyone n.n, sorry for errors if there are any I did this all from my phone lol, I'll edit later.

 

[Iloveleague]

I've also really enjoyed using this thread. Its really helpful and certainly shows some meta trends over these few weeks.

Quick summary of my own experience with laddering. Most people probably saw me at the top of the ladder by the end of day 2 of cycle 5. I went on the grind and pumped out some games with the teams I'll outline below. I kinda sat at the top for the remainder of the cycle, getting a game or 2 a day to overcome decay. BTW if anyone is interested here is the thread that outlines how decay works on the ladder. Helpful to know how to maximize your points for the least amount of effort. http://www.smogon.com/forums/threads/everything-you-ever-wanted-to-know-about-ratings.3487422/ On the last day, however, I got a game that sent me into tilt. I ended up dropping into the 1800s before returning into the 2000s. This happened a couple more times because I kept getting greedy and trying to go for a couple more points. I finished in 6th with a real nailbiter at the end. FYI I started the day at 2043 points, and so if I had not gotten any games at all, I would have finished in 3rd. I guess that's a lesson for anyone who is laddering in the next couple cycles. Once you get into the 2000s its best just to wait it out in my opinion.

So what did I use to ladder? Well for the main bit of my laddering I actually used rain (I think I'm the only qualifier so far to use this primarily and for good reason). This is something I would 100% not recommend. I was using a team built by my friend FlamingVictini back during the last OLT. http://pastebin.com/mwgMbYLg I did change a couple things on the team ie dragon pulse > ice beam on kingdra for better accuracy, lum > sash garchomp (which I personally think is a necessity for breaking rotom-w with the team). Other than that, I do think that it is the standard for rain in ORAS OU. All that being said, I think rain in oras OU is ass and is terrible for laddering. The matchup vs birdspam on paper seems very bad and in practice relies on hitting stone edges with kabutops which is less than ideal. Overall, I would not recommend using rain in this meta.

I used rain to ladder from 1000-1850. From there I decided to switch up teams and switched to a baton pass team based on the one Floppy used but with a couple of changes from the meta. For those who have been dead the last 2 weeks, standard baton pass was scolipede with attract, espeon with stored power, sd heracross, sitrus manaphy, nasty plot hp flying thundurus and helmet garchomp. I made a couple changes to the team, main changing some evs on heracross and manaphy, putting poison jab on scolipede and fire blast on garchomp. I personally found poison jab to be a godsend, especially the poisons it let me get on mons like hydreigon, manaphy and put pressure on mons like alakazam and diancie. I used this team to ladder form 1950-2047 ~ where I sat for the rest of the week. One of the meta trends I did notice, this week, was that stall all but died this week. This was the main reason I used baton pass (it has an excellent stall matchup). Teams with zen headbutt metagross, alakazam and hydreigon became far more common. By the end of the week, I no longer felt that it was a viable choice and in fact it sent me into tilt.

The other 2 teams that I used for qualifying were offense teams. The first team was a crawdaunt team I adapted from something I saw in the teambuilding workshop thread built by daddy's kisses. http://www.smogon.com/forums/threads/ou-teambuilding-workshop-v4-close.3570296/page-18#post-6961940 I switched the scarf garchomp to a scarf lando to improve the birdspam matchup esp. scarf drill. I also changed a couple movesets, spreads and items. The team worked alright for me.

The last team I used was a team built by Leftiez passed to me by my friend Blackoblivion. This was the final team that I used to qualify and I believe is an excellent team in this meta. Without sharing the pastebin, I'll simply describe the team (which I guess isn't too big of a deal because there are lots of replays of myself and blackoblivion using it). It was built around scarf lando, life orb lati, rocks clef, bandtar specs keld and bulky scizor. This team had only one major weakness in my opinion and that was to life orb excadrill.

At the beginning of the week, when baton pass was becoming dominant, my friend NJNP asked me to say that baton pass should be banned. Honestly, looking at the ladder right now, I would say baton pass is all but dead. It has some good matchups but the meta has quickly adapted and I don't think its viable.

Anyway this post is way too long and I don't feel like adding pictures right about now. Good luck to everyone else who is laddering.

 

[MrAldo]

Glad to know that most people that qualify tend to use different teams that showcase actual metagame trends and great teambuilding instead of actually spamming the same goddamn team over and over again for easy ladder points. This thread has been a great and rewarding read all around, and honestly surprising since I dont have the most love for OLT. Good job from Infernal in hosting this. Fuck that baton pass team tho.

Keep it up every aspiring qualifier, still 3 cycles to go and plenty of chances!

 

[bbeeaa]

This is the team I used to qualify with, a team I built around Mega Medicham and Band Weavile. Weavile is now one of the best offensive mons, as the dark type is really strong in this metagame, most teams barely bring resistances for it, and also it helps me trapping stuff like latios, alakazam, slowbro and with its priority,ice shard. Then I slapped a heatran as my tealth rocker, with a good bunch of special defense so I'm able to take on threats such as Manectric or Lati, it also helps against talonflame, with toxic I'm able to cripple it and also some various threats such as slowbro, keldeo and rotom-w. As the team was being weak to water types I decided to add Amoonguss which is a really good answer to most of them and also it helps a lot with spore as sleeping pokemon are good chances for my offensive threats to come in and hit really hard the opposing team, also added stun spore this way I'm somehow able to keep the speed control. I was also weak to dark types, so I added one of the best dark type checks in the metagame, keldeo, another mon that pairs really well with pursuit since I'm able to threaten and trap most of its checks with pursuit. Lastly I needed some way to deal with ground types and hazard removal so what's better than zapdos fullfiling this role, zapdos is currently a really good mon being able to deal with common trends such as lopunny, bird spm team and being able to defog in toxicless chansey and clefable, and lastly Medicham which does Medicham things, I don't think it really needs an introduction. I highly recommend to play this team aggresively to win most battles and also try to make risky plays whenever it is needed.

Huge shoutout to Posho, the biggest threat in the tournament for helping me with my English as I barely speak it and I wanted to share my team! Good luck to everyone in the tournament, happy laddering!!! :D

importable

Medicham-Mega @ Medichamite
Ability: Pure Power
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- High Jump Kick
- Bullet Punch
- Ice Punch
- Fake Out

Keldeo @ Choice Specs
Ability: Justified
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 30 HP / 0 Atk / 30 Def / 30 SpA / 30 SpD
- Scald
- Hidden Power [Flying]
- Secret Sword
- Hydro Pump

Weavile @ Choice Band
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Knock Off
- Icicle Crash
- Ice Shard
- Pursuit

Heatran @ Leftovers
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpA / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Stealth Rock
- Earth Power
- Toxic
- Lava Plume

Zapdos @ Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 HP / 228 Def / 4 SpA / 20 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Discharge
- Roost
- Heat Wave
- Defog

Amoonguss @ Leftovers
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 64 Def / 4 SpA / 188 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Spore
- Clear Smog
- Giga Drain
- Stun Spore

Replays: http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/ou-435485636
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/ou-433711787
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/ou-433660350

 

[Infernal]

Cycle 5 Qualifiers

Rank: #1 | ELO: 2069 | GXE: 88.9 | Record: Unavailable Record

Rank: #2 | ELO: 2061 | GXE: 85.1 | Record: 80-29 (73.4%)

Rank: #3 | ELO: 2047 | GXE: 88.9 | Record: 87-25 (77.7%)

Rank: #4 | ELO: 2039 | GXE: 86.9 | Record: 44-14 (75.9%)

Rank: #5 | ELO: 2032 | GXE: 88.9 | Record: 114-40 (74.0%)

Rank: #6 | ELO: 2019 | GXE: 89.2 | Record: 153-51 (75.0%)

Rank: #7 | ELO: 2018 | GXE: 86.5 | Record: 105-44 (70.5%)​

​

Baton Pass has quickly gained traction since its appearance in Cycle 4, where qualifiers like Googly, Floppy, and Confide used the strategy to good success for portions of their ladder run. Since Cycle 4's conclusion, Baton Pass has only continued to gain attention, seeing common use throughout Cycle 5. It's also become the topic of discussion around the forums in threads such as "Baton Pass, Yes Again," where various opinions are being shared on the subject. Should something be done, or is Baton Pass fine as is? Even though many are quick to raise their pitchforks and torches against Baton Pass, it's clear there is some division on the matter judging from the responses. Nonetheless, as long as Baton Pass sticks around, ladder players will likely continue to either use the strategy to their advantage or come up with ways for their teams to counter the playstyle. This can be seen through some of the team choices (found below) made by some of this round's qualifiers.

Aside from Baton Pass, something unique happened after Cycle 5 was all said and done. Blackoblivion, who originally qualified during Cycle 3 with a #5 ranking, ended up reaching the #1 position this time around. So far, this is the only case where someone who already qualified during a previous cycle managed to go on and earn a Top 2 position in a later cycle. Because of this, Blackoblivion will no longer have to go through the preliminary round of playoffs and will instead be entered immediately into the winners bracket. The preliminary spot Blackoblivion earned before has now been given to Liones, who originally had to play a tiebreak for a chance to qualify in Cycle 3. Congratulations to both, well deserved! With only two more rounds to go, will we be seeing any other previous qualifiers make a Top 2 appearance?

Things are dying down as we approach the end of the laddering phases and playoffs draw closer and closer. The anticipation for playoffs is building fast, and it's going to be really fun to see how much it'll differ from the actual cycles. Which new innovations will we see, if any? Will certain things continue to remain as popular as they were on ladder? How will the metagame continue to develop during playoffs? We'll have to wait and see!

Cycle 5 Qualifying Teams

• 
  
  
  
  
  
  used by Blackoblivion - This team was originally used by Cycle 4 qualifier Leftiez, who achieved a #2 ranking. The team made an appearance during Cycle 5 again, being used by Blackoblivion to reach the top and earn a #1 ranking. Judging from its success lately, the squad appears to be a good choice on the ladder. It's filled with many of OU's famed threats, all of which possess a good mix of offensive and defensive utility. With every Pokemon on the team being so solid, threatening, and versatile, this build has the tools to maneuver around many common teams and playstyles being used in OLT. For example, stall is hard pressed by SR Clefable when backed by CB Tar and Specs Keldeo to apply offensive pressure. Offense has to deal with the likes of Mega Scizor and Scarf Lando-T, both of which help the team check a high number of Pokemon alongside the other team members. Search 'LT5A Oblivion' here for replays.
  
• 
  
  
  
  
  
  used by beatiful (click this for a more in-depth description) - The #2 ranking was reached by this team, which is centered around a CB Weavile and Mega Cham core. CB Weavile helps remove Pokemon like Slowbro, Latios, and so on. These threats are all obstacles for Mega Cham, so Weavile's ability to remove them for its partner is really nice. From there, the team makes use of sturdy and bulky Pokemon like Heatran, Amoonguss, and the ever popular Zapdos to patch up various weaknesses. Search 'LT5A Beatiful' here for replays.
  
• 
  
  
  
  
  
  |
  
  
  
  
  
  
  used by Isza (click this for a more in-depth description) - Team 1 is made around Mega Cham and is reflective of many metagame trends mentioned here. For example, Latios is everywhere nowadays and commonly uses coverage moves alongside its STABs. The one on this team uses both Surf and HP Fire, allowing Latios to hugely threaten teams relying on cores with Heatran, Mega Scizor, and Ferro. Mold Breaker Exca is another trendy Pokemon in OLT. Instead of Scarf though, this team uses bulky SR Exca as a way to secure rocks versus stall and handle Fairy-types more reliably (similarly to how Excadrill was used on Sabella's Cycle 3 team here). Manaphy has been an all star during OLT, and this team is one of many to use it as a way to tear stall and bulkier teams to pieces. It's seen with Shadow Ball here, which is a tech used to take down the Shedinja stalls roaming the ladder while maintaining general neutral coverage. Team 2 features non-mega Alakazam, which is cool to see given how uncommon it's been so far. From there, the team uses many conventional Pokemon to fulfill your everyday roles. Search 'LT5A Isza' here for replays.
  
• 
  
  
  
  
  
  used by Nelson - Another Mega Scizor? Who cares, there's a Ditto! Seriously, when's the last time you've seen one of those? Normally, stall-esque builds use Unaware Clefable to keep various boosters in check. However, this build uses Imposter Ditto for the role, allowing Clefable to go with Magic Guard instead. The use of Ditto is certainly unique and definitely isn't something you see very often in competitive play. Another unique thing with this team is Sub Toxic Gliscor, who is very rare compared to SD variants. Nice way for Gliscor to stall common checks like Rotom-W. Search 'LT5X Nelson' here for replays.
  
• 
  
  
  
  
  
  used by patlop2307 - Another team with some more interesting choices. It's using the uncommon Jelli, who prevents Pokemon like Starmie from spinning away the team's hazards. Speaking of hazards, the team's use of Skarm + Ferro is unconventional because people normally use one or the other. Rather, this team uses both, with Ferro being the SR setter and Skarm being the Spiker. From there, the defensive core is backed by offensive choices like Hydreigon and Mega Diancie. One interesting to note here is how Hydreigon is using Scarf rather than the usual Specs or LO, functioning as a revenge killer instead. Search 'LT5X patlop2307' here for replays.
  
• 
  
  
  
  
  
  used by Rampecker - A much more HO oriented build compared to other teams used this cycle. Magnezone appears to be the center of the team, trapping Steel-types like Mega Scizor to give Mega Metagross and Weavile an easier time doing their thing.
  
• 
  
  
  
  
  
  |
  
  
  
  
  
  
  used by Iloveleague (click this for a more in-depth description) - Here we have two well known teams in FlamingVictini's rain and the Baton Pass team circulating around lately. Rain has been nowhere to be seen so far, so its use by iloveleague during this cycle is a unique choice seeing as the playstyle appears to have become less effective in today's metagame. After using rain, iloveleague gave Baton Pass a go for a while and finished the job with the team used by Leftiez and Blackoblivion (Clefable, Tyranitar, Mega Scizor, Keldeo, Landorus-T, Latios). Search 'LT5A league' here for replays.

 

[p2]

idk how you people can still enjoy ou at this point and not be completely burnt out, gj to most of u all. playoffs looking pretty lit so far tho

 

[blank]

Lysergic vs. Rampecker please.

on a more serious note, it's always interesting to see various ladder trends in OLT. teams like xtra's birds, FV rain, ABR stall, and baton pass are just really easy and pretty mindless to ladder with if you're good, but further than just those, we've seen lots of other interesting choices that have a bit more "consistency" to them outside of ladder. these dugtrio + zapdos stalls are prepared for OLT trends, easy to ladder with, and just super solid to use. options like the aforementioned zapdos & dugtrio and alomomola, crawdaunt, specs kyurem, and more were used on a variety of solid builds. it'll be interesting to see how certain "ladder trend" teams hold up during the tournament phase of OLT (iirc ABR stall was still used in the tournament part last year), and it'll be cool to see if some of the metagame trends that spawned on ladder will prove to be consistent enough in tournament play.

 

[Shadestep]

hello guys while i'm very happy for all of you guys that have qualified so far, the route to qualifying for my good friend p2 hasn't been going as smooth. you may just say this olt has been a rollercoaster of emotions for him and i truly hope you will qualify soon

week 1

★lt1p 2: awesome.
★lt1p 2: fuck outta here

Tyranitar used Stone Edge!
The opposing Charizard avoided the attack!
★lt1p 2: suck my cock
★lt1p 2: eat my add
★lt1p 2: ass
ranamontana: which ass :)
ranamontana: get f*cked toxic player

★lt1p 2: hello
★lt1p 2: i won and
★lt1p 2: he stole it from me
★lt1p 2: cus lucky
★lt1p 2: and BAD

Bisharp used Sucker Punch!
A critical hit!
The opposing Charizard lost 82% of its health!
Bisharp lost some of its HP!
The opposing Charizard fainted!
lt1p 2 won the battle!

★lt1p 2: GET FUCKED
★lt1p 2: GET FUCKED
★lt1p 2: GET FUCKED
★lt1p 2: GET FUCKED
★lt1p 2: GET FUCKED
★lt1p 2: GET FUCKED
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/ou-410288501

The opposing Heatran used Lava Plume!
Dugtrio lost 99% of its health!
Dugtrio was burned!

dude clef lmao: ez
★LT1A Cartoon: lol
★lt1p 2: SMD
★lt1p 2: i too like 2 risk my wincon

★lt1p 2: GOOD GAME
LT1A Cartoon forfeited.
lt1p 2 won the battle!
★lt1p 2: NEVER TAKE SHEDDY AGAIN
★lt1p 2: SHITTY IDIOT

★lt1b Cased: gg
★lt1p 2: ur gay
lt1p 2 forfeited.

week 2

★It'sGameOgre.: gg
★It'sGameOgre.: thanks for the points
★lt6p2: stfu cunt

★lt6p2: hello i fucking clicked defog
★lt6p2: ?????????????

[13:20] +lt6p2: HE CRIT MY WINCONDION!!!!!!!!!!
[13:20] +lt6p2: yes
[13:20] +lt6p2: i lose
[13:20] +lt6p2: kek

[13:25] +lt6p2: that was
[13:25] +lt6p2: absolute minimum

http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/ou-414329423
p2 losing to a very well created cradily-torkoal balance team.


The opposing Keldeo used Focus Blast!
Grotle lost 11% of its health!
Grotle fainted!
★lt2f p2: NNOT 6-0 I WIN
★lt2f p2: NNOT 6-0 I WIN
★lt2f p2: NNOT 6-0 I WIN
★lt2f p2: NNOT 6-0 I WIN
★lt2f p2: NNOT 6-0 I WIN

★lt2f p2: forgot mono players dont know how to make plays
★lt2f p2: at all
★lt2f p2: L
★LT2B Bushtush: ?
★LT2B Bushtush: your just ass
★lt2f p2: lol
★LT2B Bushtush: "lol'
★LT2B Bushtush: u thought that was funny too
★lt2f p2: yeah but you know what i find funny
★lt2f p2: the fact that you need to cheat in mono tours
★LT2B Bushtush: i mean
★LT2B Bushtush: if you know this team
★LT2B Bushtush: and its sets
★LT2B Bushtush: should be easy to beat
★LT2B Bushtush: right?
★LT2B Bushtush: but alas
★lt2f p2: lol
★lt2f p2: this dude

Garchomp used Earthquake!
It doesn't affect the opposing Landorus...
★LT2B Bushtush: see..
★LT2B Bushtush: as i said before
★LT2B Bushtush: learn to play kid lol
LT2B Bushtush won the battle!
★LT2B Bushtush: learn to play kid
★lt2f p2: hf never qualifying


★lt2f p2: stunt on me here
★lt2f p2: you wont pussy
★lt2f p2: stunt
★lt2f p2: stunt
★lt2f p2: stunt
Diancie used Hidden Power!
It's super effective!
The opposing Scizor lost 68% of its health!
The opposing Scizor used U-turn!
It's not very effective... A critical hit!
Diancie lost 60% of its health!
Diancie fainted!

Later that game..:

The opposing Clefable used Moonblast!
A critical hit!
Clefable lost 73% of its health!
Clefable fainted!
lt2A Zebes won the battle!
★lt2f p2: FUCK
★lt2f p2: YOU DONT DESERVE THE CRIT
★lt2f p2: AFTER PLAYING LIKE SUCH A MORON

★LT2F Career Ended: were u wacan mana
★lt2f p2: you're not getting to copy my team loser
★LT2F Career Ended: i didnt want to steal

★lt2f p2: dicks out for harambe


Tangrowth knocked off the opposing Heatran's Choice Scarf!
The opposing Heatran used Stealth Rock!
★lt2f p2: MFW


Diancie used Diamond Storm!
The opposing Chansey avoided the attack!

★Diamountene: ezmoney
★Diamountene: when ur shit
★lt2f p2: when u need to use stall
★Diamountene: its a playstyle u chose urs i chose mine
★lt2f p2: yea but
★lt2f p2: 78 gxe
★lt2f p2: u cant call anybody shit
★lt2f p2: lol

★LT2F P2: ah
★LT2F P2: dogshit double scarf offense
★LT2F P2: classic

week 3

★lt3a p2: fuck u
★lt3a p2: nigga's ass
★lt3a p2: what the fuck
★lt3a p2: HNNNG

The opposing Donphan ate its Custap Berry!
The opposing Donphan's Custap Berry let it move first!
The opposing Donphan used Earthquake!
Medicham lost 64% of its health!
★lt3a p2: NO
★lt3a p2: duuuuuuude
★lt3a p2: lo
★lt3a p2: l
★lt3a p2: stop

★lt3a p2: oh my fuck
★lt3a p2: FUCK
★lt3a p2: FOR FUCK SAKE AAMIR
★lt3a p2: fuck off fuck off fuck off fuck off fuck off fuck off fuck off fuck off

Mr.Cahil forfeited.
lt3a p2 won the battle!
★lt3a p2: YEA
★lt3a p2: SUCK MY COCK
★lt3a p2: POOPY

The opposing Usain Bolt used Earthquake!
It's super effective
Heatran lost 100% of its health!
★lt3a p2: what kinda tryhardass play was that
★lt3a p2: r u not more concerned about
★lt3a p2: letting lati or hydra in for free
★lt3a p2: lol

+Meteordash: ?
+Meteordash: what
+Meteordash: are you doing
★lt3a p2: Meteordash stop talking you dont even play mons anymore


The opposing Sableye used Will-O-Wisp!
Scizor avoided the attack!
★lt3a p2: yea
LT3 ABR an forfeited.
lt3a p2 won the battle!
★lt3a p2: suck my dick

The opposing Landorus used Hidden Power!
It's super effective! Scizor lost 52% of its health!
★lt3a p2: dogshit innovation fueled by abr

★I did ok: p2 beat me last game with a nice dark pulse flinch
★lt3a p2: yea you can stop
★lt3a p2: risking letting hydra back in
★lt3a p2: r u fucking serious

The opposing Kyurem used Ice Beam!
Pinsir lost 100% of its health!
★lt3a p2: when its +spa
★lt3a p2: >
★lt3a p2: why would you give up its good speed tier


The opposing Delibird used Ice Shard!
Tornadus fainted!
warpstar won the battle!
★warpstar: gg
★lt3a p2: ?
★lt3a p2: fguvlkjs
★lt3a p2: fksd;fksd
★warpstar: destroyed


ZoroarkChido's team: Bisharp / Rotom-Wash / Garchomp / Medicham / Keldeo-Resolute / Tornadus-Therian
★lt3a p2: whyyyyyyyyyyyyy
★lt3a p2: do people STILL use this team


★lt3a p2: UR NOT ALLOWED TO USE MY SET AGAINST ME
★Maurice Galactica: i've been using this set forever
★lt3a p2: ive been using it for longer
★Maurice Galactica: hm, i wonder
★lt3a p2: ok tell me when u used it
★Maurice Galactica: last year
★lt3a p2: name a monthi also used it last year
★Maurice Galactica: i don't know
★lt3a p2: i created splash plate mana nigus
★Maurice Galactica: beginning of winter or some shit
★lt3a p2: oWAIT
★lt3a p2: was lefties
★lt3a p2: idc about that
★lt3a p2: bye
lt3a p2 forfeited.

week 4

http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/ou-424431295
tort23's team: Togekiss / Dragonite / Chandelure / Crustle / Gengar / Machamp
tort23 won the battle!
★lt4a p2: NO

Manaphy used Ice Beam!
The opposing Ferrothorn lost 62% of its health!
The opposing Ferrothorn was frozen solid!
★lt4a p2: unfort.

week 6

★Anri of Astora: Yeah because a poor
★lt6p2: what are you on about
★lt6p2: delusional person
lt6p2 forfeited.
★lt6p2: im extremely rich
★lt6p2: I AM SO FUCKING RICH
★lt6p2: my currency is overflowing


[15:09] +lt6p2: ★lt6p2: im extremely rich
[15:09] +lt6p2: ★Ugcyc: Cool
[15:09] +lt6p2: kek
[15:09] +lt6p2: thats what poor people say


★POKEMON TRILLWAVE: LOL
★POKEMON TRILLWAVE: GET REKT

★It'sGameOgre.: he mad
★It'sGameOgre.: go comfort him

[13:36] @p2: fucking hell
[13:36] @p2: fuck
[13:36] @p2: i hate pokemon
[13:37] @p2: i hate olt
[13:37] @p2: olt is such a shit tournament
[13:37] @p2: fucking hell
[13:37] @p2: literally anybody can qualify
[13:37] @p2: look at some of the retards that got in last cycle
[13:37] @p2: fucking terrible

Scizor is paralyzed! It can't move!
★lt6p2: lol...
★lt6p2: what a fucking joke
★lt6p2: bet its twave rotom too
★lt6p2: fucking joke
★lt6p2: all i use is twave and win with it xD
★lt6p2: why predict when you can just bullshit anything in the game with twave
★lt6p2: right??
★lt6p2: right???
★lt6p2: RIGHT???

and a little bonus..

Hide

[14:06] @p2: my fucking god
[14:06] @p2: my fucking
[14:06] @p2: parents fucking
[14:06] @p2: blocked websites again
[14:06] @p2: FUCK
[14:06] @p2: FUCKING CUNTS
[14:07] %Shadestep: what websites
[14:07] %Shadestep: not pokemon showdown!!
[14:07] @p2: porn
[14:07] @p2: F
[14:07] @p2: I JUST WANTED A CHEEKY TUG
[14:07] @p2: FUCKING HELL

a moment of silence for our fallen brother p2 and may he qualify sooner rather than later. peace. salute, shekels.

 

[Celticpride]

This thread is being reopened for discussion of playoffs and last round of qualifiers.

Keep your posts serious or they will be deleted and possibly infracted.

 

[locoghoul]

After seeing people stealing my team, changing 1 pokemon or 1 set and thus making it worse, ive finally decided time has come for me to throw some light on what i would define the most succesfull team of this year's olt.

Back in may, I was getting ready to play world cup testing a team on the ladder when i met a guy whos team was: Skarmory, Suicune, Clefable, Charizard-X, Dugtrio and (F)apdos. I dont remember what this guy's name was, but i remember i got smashed real hard. I, Telegend, The Bloo Slayer, who 2 months later would lead the italian team to his first playoffs appearance ever, just got slayed. I couldn't believe it. I immeditely went to this guy and asked him if he could pastebin his team. The very second i saw the team, i knew it had something special. Until that moment, no one had ever thought about having 2 defoggers on the same team. That stall team was unconvential. That stall team was surprisingly good. That stall team still had potential left. And thats why i liked it and saved it somewhere in the teambuilder. As you may have noticed, I did not use it throughout world cup. Thats because the team was so fucking powerfull i was scared to even click it when accepting or sending a challenge. Anyway. Flashforward to early august, i finally found the courage to use this freaking powerfull team. I noticed charizard-x wasnt doing shit half of the time and the team was insanely weak to medicham, so i replaced it with mega Sableye. And thats how the team as you see it today was made. Only weaknesses include Charizard-y and Mega Heracross. Direct any other question you may have to the team co-creator user Zepherox.

some ppl may know this but the SkarmDos core is pretty common on monoflying teams. Dunno if the guy you battled had any experience on monoladder but just wanted to point that out.

 

[Mounts]

Hi, just wanted to write some thoughts about last cycle and what's been up in OLT in general until now.

What struck me first when laddering was the massive number of Dugtrio I encountered : it already had decently high usage in August but I'm pretty sure that it will skyrocket in September. This is to link with the great popularity of DugStall - WonderTrio, Double Defog Stall - which is literally everywhere as it is relatively easy to use and has a great matchup against most popular teams (Scizor Bulky Offense, Bird Spam, Sand Bulky O). Those archetypes are actually so powerful that they led many players to express their desire to see them nerfed, and it actually seems that most of them would like to see Sableye suspected.

It was also interesting to note that people's grass pivot of choice is now more and more being Tangrowth rather than Amoonguss, probably in answer to the huge number of physical attackers such as Lopunny, Metagross, Excadrill & offensive Landorus. "Pure" HO seems to have disappeared at this point at the exception of xtra chirps, and Tangrowth easily fit the bulky offensive builds that rule the metagame right now.

I was also pleased to see Bisharp's usage go up, it's an awesome mon and didn't deserve to fall into oblivion for the last few months. Same belief regarding to Azumarill : this pokemon is of incredible use on offense, it checks so many things (having a weavile check that has a great offensive potential is invaluable) and the Belly Drum set is extremely effective right now (as opposed to the spread belief that it lost in viability) as nowadays, most people think of Amoonguss, Tangrowth, Ferro or Slowbro as their Azu check while they all get OKHO'd at +6. Belly Azu is also offense as combined with powerful wallbreakers & sweepers it can put an incredible amount of pressure on any team. However, I agree with the fact that the Banded set lost interest as it has almost no benefit over the BD Set.

Baton Pass also seems to have lost popularity, people know the team by heart and most of the time it is possible to win against this playstyle (if this can be called so) by exerting high pressure right from the beginning - I would be interested to see how people deal with BP when using bulkier builds though.

In a nutshell, the metagame is quite cool right now except the horrendous Sab teams (i'm happy that the entire community realized something needed to be done about these) and as Sun & Moon dangerously approach, it's nice to have a stable meta overall.

As of my experience of laddering, it was mitigated : honestly the necessity to play almost 100 battles in a week is exhausting and it is why this tournament isn't only about playing pokemon but also about having strong mental abilities in order to avoid loosing battles for psychological reasons rather than skill-related reasons. I know some of the older players on the site (and young players too) criticize OLT for being a "tour for bad players" basically, but oh boy was it hard to qualify! The tour might be less prestigious than the Smogon Tour or the Classic but it's actually hard to make playoffs and the people who make PO are mostly great players, even if unknown in the tour scene. It's true that most of the series in the prelim tour weren't that great as of now (let's show them Posho :3) but there were still some great battles such as ABR vs Bushtush.

Let's hope for a great playoffs phase! bisous

 

[Posho]

As I've already played my preliminary round matches I decided I wanted to do some sort of pre-game and game analysis of my series vs Mounts.

Pre-Game preparation:

As well as me, Mounts is a player that recently joined the tournament scene while having really good results despite the few time he's been playing tournaments. Knowing this I knew beforehand that it wouldn't be easy to prepare against him given the few tour replays he has and the wide variety of teams he always brings. Even so I noticed he's quite a bulky offensive player which eased my team choices and thus be able to get decent match-ups against him.

Game 1:
------------------------------------------------------------------​

-------------------------------------------------------------------

/

So the game started and this was the team preview, he was running quite an odd team but yet really solid, Alomomola offense isn't something you can find every day! I inmediatly noticed that Stealth Rock would be a huge weapon for both of us as we aren't running any kind of removal. Also from the start I knew that if I played my life orb Tornadus-T well, it'd be possible for it to put in a lot of work since he's running Metagross as his flying resist and I'm packing Heat Wave which does a shit ton to Metagross, the main problem for it was obviusly Weavile as it was obvious that he was Pursuit. The game started and I lead with Tornadus since I'm able to threaten 5/6 mons with it, Mounts smartly anticipates to this and leads off with Weavile. I'm clearly threatened by it and inmediatly pulled a switch into my Keldeo, which took relatively well the Icicle Crash, from there I double switched into Amooguss: I predicted Alomomola to come in which meant that I could get a free spore if I predicted correctly, things don't go my way and he goes into Serp, which was decent too, he Leaf Storms to boost itself into +2 and I went for the Spore again trying to catch his Metagross, but it didn't work. As Serp was at +2 he knew that I was forced to go for Clear Smog, he smartly switches out into Metagross knowing that. I was in a terrible spot there, him mega evolving first meant that I was taking a lot of dmg from that Gross. I first switched into my own Metagross since Intimidate wouldn't work without it mega evolving before and then I pivot back into Landorus while he goes into Chomp: this was an important turn since we both would get our rocks up, so we do. The turn after I uturned, it may look as a weird play but I didn't know the set he was running on Gengar so it could easily get a kill if we switched there and Landorus was kind of useless as it only served to get cheap damage with helmet on Metagross. I sent my Tornadus knowing that I could cause huge damage on that turn, I went for my best move which was Hurricane and did good damage to it although it was a low roll which came kinda annoying in some part of the game. Then the battle is just me clicking scald and pivoting until Turn 19 where I get a crucial max roll vs. Garchomp (0 SpA Amoonguss Giga Drain vs. 248 HP / 0 SpD Garchomp: 82-97 (19.5 - 23.1%) -- possible 5HKO) and thus ended up beating it, which was huge as it would have been a big problem for my team if it got healed. Then he lets me kill his Serperior, probably predicting me to Spore or trying not to risk any of his remaining mons, he pulls some nice doubles into metagross, gengar and weavile which forced me to sack half of my team. I realised that if I wanted to win that I needed status on Alomomola, so I started clicking our beloved move scald mindlessly to get a burn on Alomomola and finish him up with Bp mega metagross, but in the process I caught him trying to pull some doubles predicting my Amoonguss to come in Alomomola, which gave me a huge advantage in the end. The end of the match is approaching and it was going to come down to a few factors such as prediction and also hax with sleep rolls and parahax, I decided to switch my Amoonguss out in front of Gengar expecting him to pack Trick which could really fuck me up and sent in Metagross which was the least useful mon left that I had. I didn't get the prediction well so the game was coming down wether I parad or no, luckily enough I could put Gengar to sleep and got the 3 turn sleep roll which was very fortunate for me and then winning with Amoonguss as alomomola couldn't do anything.​

I'll see if I do game 2 and 3 later :P

 

[ez]

Cycle 6 Qualifiers

Rank: #1 | ELO: 2044 | GXE: 89.6 | Record: 108-31 (77.70%)

Rank: #2 | ELO: 2037 | GXE: 87.4 | Record: 135-59 (69.59%)

Rank: #3 | ELO: 2037 | GXE: 88.3 | Record: Unavailable Record

Rank: #4 | ELO: 2031 | GXE: 91.4 | Record: 109-41 (72.67%)

Rank: #5 | ELO: 2028 | GXE: 85.5 | Record: 79-39 (66.95%)

Rank: #6 | ELO: 2012 | GXE: 85.6 | Record: 77-18 (81.05%)​

Rank: #7 | ELO: 2012 | GXE: 89.5 | Record: 131-44 (74.86%)​

Cycle Six presented a marked divergence from the dominance in previous cycles of Baton Pass and hard stall. Four of the eight teams used to qualify could be considered offensive in nature, with the remaining four being balances of some kind. This cycle also had a tiebreaker. However, unlike Cycle Three, the winner of the tiebreaker would immediately move into the winner's bracket. This meant that regardless of the winner between John Yiu and DANN3, both were guaranteed a spot in the tournament. Like in previous cycles, the ELO requirement for qualification decreased. For example, the first place qualifier for Cycle Five had a ranking of 2054, while Cycle Six's top qualifier finished 10 points lower than his Cycle Five counterpart. Due to the commencement of the Preliminary Qualification Round this week, this cycle was also the last cycle for players who had already qualified to earn a spot in the winner's bracket. This motivated some previous qualifiers, like Googly, Rampecker, and Isza to ladder again, aiming to enter the winner's bracket. This cycle was also the last possible cycle to qualify for the tournament through reaching a top seven spot, since the last cycle (Cycle Seven) will only allow four players to qualify. With only 4 slots available who will qualify for olt? Guess we will have to wait and see!

Cycle 6 Qualifying Teams

• 
  
  
  
  
  
  |
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Used by Tele - Team 1 is a well known semi-stall / balance team that was RMT'd by Tele (can be found here) that showcases the popular core of Talonflame + Mega Sableye + Starmie, which is used to help prevent hazards for Talonflame. Tele's team also has its own hazard stacking core, with Stealth Rock Hippowdon, Spikes Ferrothorn. He uses an Unaware Clefable to help him stop set up sweepers that could threaten his defensive core, like Manaphy and Thundurus. Team 2 is a team that has already been used by a qualifier, featuring Dugtrio to trap threatening Pokemon like Tyranitar and Heatran. Double Defog support from Zapdos and Skarmory control the hazard game, which is necessary to keep Dugtrio's Focus Sash intact. Search 'LT6Z Tele' here for replays
  
• 
  
  
  
  
  
  Used by JohnYiu and DennisEG - This team features some unique sets, like BoltBeam + Hidden Power Fire Latias and Life Orb Calm Mind Clefable. The Mega Lopunny is a Quick Attack variant with an Adamant Nature, taking advantage of double priority in order to make up for the lower Speed from an Adamant nature. The Landorus-Therian is an Adamant Rocky Helmet set, with Stealth Rock and Swords Dance to pressure Mega Scizor, Clefable and also weaken common switch ins to Mega Lopunny like Slowbro, Skarmory, and other Landorus-Therian. Search 'LT6J XY' here for replays.
• 
  
  
  
  
  
  Used by DANN3 - DANN3's team relies on hazard stacking, using Toxic Spikes Dragalge, Spikes Skarmory, and Stealth Rock + Rapid Spin Excadrill to wear down opposing defensive Pokemon such as Slowbro for Mega Medicham and Thundurus. It also has Suicune as a bulky Calm Mind user, which can sweep once its common checks have been whittled down by hazards. Search 'LT6D NY' here for replays.
• 
  
  
  
  
  
  Used by Bushtush - This is now the third time that this team has been used to qualify. Its previous two users, Blackoblivion and Leftiez, obtained top two spots with this team. With Bushtush's qualification, the team's ability in the metagame has become increasingly obvious. This team has already been explained here and here. Search ''LT6k bushtush'' here for replays.
• 
  
  
  
  
  
  Used by Mounts - A similar team to the one used by Rampecker, using Magnezone to trap steel types like Mega Scizor for Mega Metagross and Azumarill, giving them room to do their thing. Unlike Rampecker, Mounts uses Landorus-Therian over Weavile, which gives him a better ground resist for Pokemon such as Mold Breaker Excadrill. Search ''LT6G Mounts'' here for replays.
  
• 
  
  
  
  
  
  Used by Nintendi - A balance team, featuring Stored Power Clefable to help Clefable break past common Unaware Pokemon, such as Quagsire. This team features a double trapping core, with Choice Band Weavile Pursuit trapping Psychic-types like Latios and Starmie for Keldeo, and Magnezone trapping Steel-types like Mega Scizor and Skarmory for Weavile to have an easier time breaking through teams. Search ''LT6x Nintendi'' here for replays.

My English no good so i had Hector Hard Mode help me n_n cheers!

​

 

[Lusa]

Since Posho decided to analise his series vs Mounts, I thought that doing the same thing with my series vs Lysergic would be cool too.

PREPARING

So preparing for him wasnt very easy, his replays show a lot of different teams so i didnt really know what to bring. I ended up bringing a hazard stacking balance team game 1 because he didnt seem to run hazard removal too often, and for game 2 I just brought a team I felt confortable with, wont reveal the game 3 team in case I bring it in future rounds.

GAME 1

So in team preview I quickly realised that my matchup was not good at all, Breloom just beat my team and if he was Taunt Wisp Talon (wich was the case), that thing would also give me issues. I decided to lead with Tran cause it beat Breloom and got up rocks for Talon as he lead Lati, I knew Trick was a strong possibility but I also had nothing to take it, so in my mind I made the right move staying in to get the rocks up right away, that ended up not being a good play because it allowed him to keep rocks out the field easily and the whole game I was just trying to kill that Talon. I made some decent plays that allowed me to get up a spike, but that wasnt helping with the main threat unfortunately, he made some good doubles wich allowed him to get his Breloom in, and as I said before, that thing also just wrecked my team. At the end I didnt play as agressive as I shouldve considering the bad matchup, and Lysergic played his Talon well to take advantage of that, taking game 1 without major problems.

GAME 2

Unlike game 1, my team wasnt bad vs his this time. Keldeo and Metagross were huge threats to him, so if i could get those in while playing smart around his Gengar and mainly his Lopunny, i could win that game. So i lead with Clef cause it beat most of his team, including his biggest threat wich was Lopunny. I was quickly able to get up rocks and toxic the Rotom, both of wich made Metagross' job a lot easier. This game ended up being a lot more offensive than I thought it would, with both of us having to sack to each others threats, at the end I kept Metagross, Clef, Keldeo and Landorus, and made a play that was considered bad by a lot of people: sacking my Keldeo instead of my Clef. My thoght process was: Keldeo has a chance to die to High Jump Kick from adamant Lopunny after another rocks switch in, so let me sack it, get a kill with Lando and then he is gonna have to hax my Clef really badly to win. Maybe i shouldve kept Keldeo cause he did end up critting my Clef trough Intimidate to win the game, but I still dont think that loss was my fault.

Anyway, I enjoyed my games vs Lysergic and wish him good luck on winners bracket, wouldve been cool to have a game 3 but its how the game goes I guess. Thanks for reading all of this!

 

[ez]

Cycle 7 Qualifiers

Rank: #1 | ELO: 2029 | GXE: 88.8 | Record: 90-26 (77.70%)

Rank: #2 | ELO: 2016 | GXE: 86.5| Record: 110-41 (72.80%)

Rank: #3 | ELO: 2015 | GXE: 85.6 | Record: Unavailable Record

Rank: #4 | ELO: 2009 | GXE: 86.3 | Record: 40-18 (68.9%)

Cycle 7 was the last cycle, meaning that it was the last chance for players to qualify for the tournament and previous users that already qualified were not allowed to ladder again. It also had the lowest ELO requirement of all cycles, with the number one qualifier, Valentine, only attaining 2029 Elo. In contrast, most of the other cycles required qualifiers to ladder ELO before the deadline to retain their spot against their competition. This was not the case for Cycle Seven. User: Valentine, for example, attained the number one spot a day before the deadline, and did not have to play more games on the day of deadline because of how ''dead'' this cycle was. The teams used to qualify for Cycle Seven mainly consisted of bulky offense. Of those, half had already been used by other qualifiers. Since this cycle was the last cycle to qualify, it is no longer possible to enter this year's OLT. Round 1 has now begun. Who will come out on top and win the trophy? It's time to find out.

Cycle 7 Qualifying Teams

• 
  
  
  
  
  
  Used by Valentine - This team was previously used by Lysergic, who qualified in cycle 1 (seen here). The team focuses on Adamant Mega Lopunny, using double priority in Fake Out + Quick Attack to make up for the speed lost from an Adamant Nature. Clefable also has Stealth Rock to set the entry hazard against most playstyles, in particular, stall teams that rely on Mega Sableye to stop entry hazards with Magic Bounce. Garchomp is a Life Orb variant with Fire Fang to hit Steel-types like Skarmory after a Swords Dance Boost. Search 'LT7A val' here for replays.
  
• 
  
  
  
  
  
  Used by Paycard - The team that Paycard used has now qualified four cycles in a row. This is but further proof of the team's consistency in the current metagame. Click here and here for more information. Search 'LT7B Paycard' here for replays.
  
• 
  
  
  
  
  
  Used by AdvanceShip - This team features some unique sets, like Offensive Life Orb Zapdos. With max speed, it can speed tie with Pokemon in the base 100 speed tier and outspeed neutral Speed Nature Pokemon, like Adamant Mega Pinsir and Mega Medicham. Talonflame has Choice Band with Roost as its last moveslot, enabling it to stay healthy during the midgame in order to continually break through opposing teams. Volt Switch + Defog Mew provides momentum and free switches for Dugtrio to trap its prey, like Heatran, Tyranitar, Chansey and Clefable with STAB Earthquake and Screech. With those Pokemon removed from the match, Talonflame, Mew, and Mega Scizor have an easier time performing their roles. Search 'LT7a Ship' here for replays.
  
• 
  
  
  
  
  
  |
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Used by TheThorn - Team 1 relies on a Pursuit core, using Metagross to eliminate Pokemon such as Latios to help Manaphy sweep. This team also has a solid defensive backbone, with physically defensive Tangrowth and specially defensive Heatran. Team 2 showcases the core of Sableye-Mega + Talonflame + Defog Skarmory, which prevents Stealth Rock from going up, allowing Talonflame and Dugtrio to perform their roles effectively. It also has an Unaware Clefable to stop set up Pokemon from plowing through the team, like Nasty Plot Thundurus and Tail Glow Manaphy. Gastrodon stops Electric-types and absorbs Water-type moves. Search 'LT7X Thorn' here for replays.

Shoutout Hector Hard Mode for revising my stuff and good luck to all the olt players!

 

[NVT_Sart]

Hey guys, I hope I'm not violating any rules by asking this question here, but... maybe I'm oblivious, but why are there literally ZERO sand teams used in all cycles by the people qualifying? Are the matchups to other common teams really that horrible?