ORAS OU Omicron Upsilon | Mega Charizard X Balance | 1750+

[Galom]

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Introduction
Welcome to my second ORAS OU RMT, and thank you for taking the time to check it out. This team is by no means perfect, so I'll spare the eye-candy and song themes for now; I'm looking for help improving this squad. As I am posting this thread, I've managed to reach >1700 on the OU ladder with it, within the top 100. And while I haven't really felt outmatched at this level, I still want to take every chance possible to improve my team, so I need your help! Please test and offer criticism for my team and know that I take every rate seriously! Now, let's get into it.

Importable

Charizard (Charizard-Mega-X) (M) @ Charizardite X
Ability: Tough Claws
EVs: 72 HP / 252 Atk / 184 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Flare Blitz
- Dragon Claw
- Dragon Dance
- Roost

Excadrill (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Sand Rush
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Earthquake
- Iron Head
- Rapid Spin
- Swords Dance

Hippowdon (F) @ Smooth Rock
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 HP / 144 Def / 112 SpD
Impish Nature
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- Stealth Rock
- Slack Off

Tornadus (Tornadus-Therian) @ Assault Vest
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 132 HP / 160 SpA / 216 Spe
Timid Nature
- Hurricane
- Focus Blast
- Knock Off
- U-turn

Ferrothorn (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Iron Barbs
EVs: 252 HP / 88 Def / 168 SpD
Relaxed Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Gyro Ball
- Leech Seed
- Spikes
- Protect

Azumarill (F) @ Choice Band
Ability: Huge Power
EVs: 88 HP / 252 Atk / 168 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Waterfall
- Play Rough
- Superpower
- Aqua Jet

The Team

Charizard (Charizard-Mega-X) (M) @ Charizardite X
Ability: Blaze
72 HP / 252 Atk / 184 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Flare Blitz
- Dragon Claw
- Dragon Dance
- Roost

Why this Pokemon?
I chose to build around Mega Charizard X, as in my opinion it is the best Pokemon in OU at the moment, and I am the type that prefers to use the best available option. Functioning as an offensive win condition with Dragon Dance, Steel-type counter, and stallbreaker, Mega Charizard X puts in work against basically every current team archetype, and rarely ever feels like deadweight.

Set Details
The Charizardite X is mandatory to Mega Evolve into Mega Charizard X, the form that this Pokemon’s spread is designed to accommodate. Blaze is the base form Ability of choice to prevent loss of HP due to Sunny Day at the end of the turn if switching into the likes of Mega Charizard Y before Mega Evolving.

Use of a Jolly nature with 184 Speed EVs ensures that Mega Charizard X will outspeed Choice Scarf Landorus-Therian after one Dragon Dance. 252 Attack EVs allow it to hit as hard as possible, and it has around a 90% chance to OHKO Choice Scarf Landorus-T after Stealth Rock damage when at neutral. The remaining 72 EVs are dumped into HP to add as much bulk as possible and allow it to set up on standard Rotom-Wash, as Hydro Pump does ~50%, damage that can be easily recovered with Roost until it either misses a Hydro Pump or runs out of PP.

Flare Blitz is the Fire-type STAB move of choice, as its great base power gives Mega Charizard X insane damage output even at neutral, and allows it to pick up many OHKOs at +1 that Fire Punch would not. Dragon Claw is used as the Dragon-type STAB move, having decent power, few resists, and no glaring drawbacks; it is also able to OHKO many offensively-oriented Pokemon after a single Dragon Dance such as Gengar. Mega Charizard X is arguably the best user of Dragon Dance legal in OU at the moment, so the move occupies the third moveslot and is a cornerstone of this whole spread. Roost is chosen as the final move, as it allows the Pokemon to set up on some defensive pivots such as Rotom-Wash, and gives Mega Charizard X a way to independently cope with Stealth Rock damage.

Excadrill (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Sand Rush
252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Earthquake
- Iron Head
- Rapid Spin
- Swords Dance

Why this Pokemon?
When running a Charizard, hazard control is mandatory, and I found that Excadrill makes an effective Rapid Spin user and pairs well with Mega Charizard X because it can eliminate Fairy-types like Mega Diancie and Mega Altaria that can outspeed and badly hurt Mega Charizard X. “Rushmole” is my favorite set currently, as it can function as a cleaner against offense and a wallbreaker against stall simultaneously.

Set Details
The Life Orb maximizes Excadrill’s offensive capabilities, allowing it to pick up the guaranteed OHKO on Pokemon like Gengar with Iron Head that may try to switch in and spinblock Excadrill. Sand Rush is used because a Sand Stream Pokemon is present on this team, and it allows Excadrill to get a great matchup against offense.

252 Attack and 252 Speed EVs are used in conjunction with an Adamant nature to allow Excadrill to hit absurdly hard while still outspeeding the entire unboosted OU metagame when in Sandstorm. The remaining 4 are dumped into Defense.

Earthquake is the primary STAB move of choice, as its fantastic base power and flawless accuracy make it impossible to reject. Iron Head is used as the Steel-type STAB move and allows Excadrill to deal heavy damage to Fairy-types like Mega Diancie, Mega Altaria, Mega Gardevoir, Clefable, and Klefki (if it has Magnet Rise). Rapid Spin is the cornerstone move of this set; it enables Excadrill to remove hazards, especially Stealth Rock, which Charizard loathes. Swords Dance occupies the final moveslot, allowing Excadrill to set up on and blow back defensive walls like Chansey, allowing me to sometimes sweep stall.

Hippowdon (F) @ Smooth Rock
Ability: Sand Stream
252 HP / 144 Def / 112 SpD
Impish Nature
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- Stealth Rock
- Slack Off

Why this Pokemon?
I started looking for a Pokemon that would be able to set sand for Excadrill and check Talonflame while having a decent matchup against Mega Lopunny. Hippowdon fits this bill very nicely, as it comfortably gets up sand and is an amazing wall in OU at the moment. While it does not take Ice Punch from Mega Lopunny well, it is fat enough to make the move a 3HKO, so it is able to switch in and Slack Off the damage.

Set Details
The Smooth Rock is used to lengthen the duration of Sand Stream, which was chosen to allow Excadrill’s Sand Rush to activate.

The EV spread is standard mixed wall Hippowdon. However, this is very important for my squad because it serves as my best switch-in to opposing Mega Charizard X, Talonflame, Mega Lopunny, all of which throw this team for a loop if Hippowdon goes down.

Earthquake is used for, despite lacking any offensive investment, some decent damage due to STAB and naturally high base power. It 2HKOs Mega Lopunny and OHKOs offensive Mega Charizard X, allowing me to eliminate the two Pokemon that are very threatening to my team. Stone Edge was used specifically for Talonflame, but it also finds use hitting threats like Thundurus that try to switch in. Stealth Rock is used as it is mandatory on every OU team, and Hippowdon can find many opportunities to set it up. Slack Off is used for reliable recovery, increasing the wall’s longevity.

Tornadus (Tornadus-Therian) (M) @ Assault Vest
Ability: Regenerator
132 HP / 160 SpA / 216 Spe
Timid Nature
- Hurricane
- Focus Blast
- Knock Off
- U-turn

Why this Pokemon?
My team was looking pretty weak to basically every common variant of Keldeo, so I chose one of the best answers to it, Assault Vest Tornadus-Therian. Additionally, Tornadus makes a great answer to Pokemon like Gengar that greatly frustrate my team otherwise. Overall, it functions as a good pivot against offense and helps me against defense with its utility moves.

Set Details
The Assault Vest is used as it enables Tornadus to comfortably switch in against the likes of Keldeo and Gengar. Regenerator is the only available Ability, but it is important in that it gives Tornadus a method of recovery that it would otherwise lack.

The spread is standard AV Tornadus. 160 Special Attack EVs allow Tornadus to OHKO Keldeo 100% of the time with Hurricane, assuming it hits. 216 Speed EVs and a Timid Nature allow Tornadus to outspeed everything up to Choice Scarf Tyranitar. The remaining 132 EVs are dumped into HP to make Tornadus as bulky as possible, enabling it to switch into Keldeo and Gengar quite well.

Hurricane is the STAB move of choice, as its very high base power, perfect accuracy in rain, and chance to confuse the opponent all work to outweigh its con of mediocre accuracy. Focus Blast is Tornadus’ preferred coverage move; it compliments Hurricane nicely by hitting the Rock- and Steel-types that resist the move hard. Despite having a Timid nature, Tornadus utilizes Knock Off not for the damage, but for the utility of removing items from switch-ins, such as Leftovers from Heatran. Furthermore, it makes use of U-turn to generate momentum.

Ferrothorn (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Iron Barbs
252 HP / 88 Def / 168 SpD
Relaxed Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Gyro Ball
- Leech Seed
- Spikes
- Protect

Why this Pokemon?
I felt very susceptible to many variants of Azumarill, so in lieu of a Grass/Poison-type, Ferrothorn makes a decent answer to it, beating Assault Vest variants outright and countering Choice Band variants unless they predict the switch and use Superpower. Additionally, Ferrothorn gets access to Spikes, allowing the team to stack hazards on the opponents so that Mega Charizard X, Azumarill, or Excadrill may more easily clean. Hazard stacking is especially nice on this team, since it uses Rapid Spin, which does not remove your own entry hazards, rather than Defog, which does.

Set Details
The Leftovers is chosen as the item to help Ferrothorn stay alive for as long as possible. It works in tandem with Protect and Leech Seed to keep Ferrothorn alive for as long as possible. Shed Shell is an option, but I decided that Ferrothorn needed all the longevity that it could get since Azumarill is so threatening to this team. Additionally, every Magnezone variant is easily set up on by Mega Charizard X, so if one decides to trap me and lock itself into HP Fire, I get a free Dragon Dance. Iron Barbs is used as the Ability to apply chip damage to threats like the Dragonite and the aforementioned Azumarill.

The spread is standard mixed defense Ferrothorn. Its great physical defense gives me a helping hand against attackers of that type, while it still remains fat enough specially to take on a myriad of specially-based threats. 0 Speed IVs are used to make Gyro Ball as powerful as possible.

Gyro Ball is used to hit attackers that are threatening to my team like Weavile very hard. It also discourages opponents from using Dragon Dance on Mega Altaria, easing the pressure on the rest of my team. Leech Seed and Protect are chosen to work with the Leftovers to provide much-needed recovery to Ferrothorn. Protect also allows me to scout what move a Choice Scarf/Specs Keldeo will lock itself into so I can more easily play around it. Spikes occupies the last moveslot, as it allows me to stack hazards on the opponent, making it easier for me to break stall teams and clean offensive ones.

Azumarill (F) @ Choice Band
Ability: Huge Power
88 HP / 252 Atk / 168 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Waterfall
- Play Rough
- Superpower
- Aqua Jet

Why this Pokemon?
Even with Tornadus-Therian, I still felt somewhat weak to Keldeo. I also lacked priority of any kind, so I decided I wanted a strong priority user. To round out my team, I chose Choice Band Azumarill as it fit my needs nicely, and as an added bonus, it gave me a secondary check to Mega Sableye, which can be trouble for this team if Mega Charizard X goes down.

Set Details
The Choice Band is used to boost Azumarill’s attack stat to ludicrous levels and give it the power to break through many walls. Additionally, it powers up Aqua Jet to allow me to pick off many weakened offensive Pokemon. If you need an explanation on why I’m using Huge Power, you should sit down and consider whether competitive Pokemon is right for you or not.

252 Attack EVs and an Adamant nature in conjunction with the Choice Band allow Azumarill to hit absurdly hard. 168 Speed EVs allow Azumarill to outspeed every common variant of opposing Azumarill and OHKO with Play Rough. This is especially important for opposing Belly Drum Azumarill, as they are normally a huge threat to my team. The remaining 88 EVs are placed into HP to give it some bulk.

Waterfall is Azumarill’s primary STAB move; with perfect accuracy, decent power, and a chance to flinch, it’s a natural choice. Play Rough is chosen as the secondary STAB move; it hits significantly harder than Waterfall and nails OU’s many Fighting-, Dark-, and Dragon-type Pokemon super-effectively—notably Garchomp and Mega Sableye. Superpower is the coverage move of choice; it allows Azumarill to muscle past Steel-types like Ferrothorn that would otherwise easily switch-in on it. Aqua Jet is the cornerstone move of this set, as it allows Azumarill to pick off weakened faster threats and serves as the only priority on my team.

Conclusion
Thank you for taking the time to read my RMT! I strongly encourage you to give me some feedback, even if it's just to know that you like the team or to simply point out a weakness that I have not yet noticed and don't have checked. Overall I think the team is pretty solid, but I know no team is perfect and this one can definitely improve, but I can only do it with your help.

Shoutout to Death God Anubis for collaborating with me on the team that I based this team off of.

See you all next time!

 

[Death God Anubis]

i made dis don't listen to him ;[

my recommendation
maybe like scarf latios + trick > torn mehbe
Latios (M) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Defog
- Draco Meteor
- Psyshock
- Trick/Memento/Hidden Power Fire
fuck bisharp n steels
this thing gives you set up opportunities for exca/char x and allows you to try rock slide > rapid spin on excadrill

 

[Thatwackycruton]

Good! A true-Blue balence team, not just a stall team with a Pokemon that can attack. Anyway, the Pokemon on this team are good choices, but you might want to consider running Rock Slide>Swords Dance on Excadrill. Swords dance is still a solid option, but rock slide koes Talonflame and thunderus as well as a few other Pokemon. SD can work, but I think Exca doesn't quite have the bulk to set up. It's just a soft suggestion, but I think it would work better.

 

[busyguy]

Hey, nice team !
The team has a Specs Keldeo weakness, nothing likes to switch into it, but overall it is solid. Here are my suggestions:
To be able to win with Charizard, Landorus-T, Hippowdon, Quagsire, Rhyperior have to be removed. You do ok with breaking these, with Swords Dance Excadrill or Azumarill, but I feel like that can be easier.
I suggest Tail Glow Manaphy>Azumarill:

• with Scald, Energy Ball and a coverage move like Ice Beam (for Latis and Tornadus-T)
• Manaphy is a bigger threat to walls in OU as Azumarill, because it will be locked into one move

With Manaphy as a wallbreaker with setup, Excadrill can run Rock Slide>Swords Dance. Not being able to threaten Levitators with Excadrill is a disadvantage, your team doesn't like to switch into Thundurus. That change would make you a little bit weaker to Keldeo, since you don't have the double stab resist any more, so an option I have in mind is
Latios>Tornadus:

• This change would improve the matchup against Keldeo

Dragalge crossed my mind since you are trying to check Gengar. It also has good synergy with the team.
SpD Dragalge>Tornadus

• can work too, it switches into Keldeo and can handle Gengar
• brings utility with Toxic Spikes

However there are disadvantages when removing Tornadus:

• would make Gengar and Alakazam a bigger threat if running Lati
• you would lose a Pokemon that can gain momentum with U-Turn
• you would lose a ground immunity
  
• Dragalge has no recovery

I feel like the change of Manaphy and Excadrill would make this team better. I'd keep Tornadus, but Dragalge is worth a try :] Good luck with it.

Dragalge

Dragalge @ Black Sludge
Ability: Adaptability
EVs: 248 HP / 232 SpD / 28 Spe
Calm Nature
- Draco Meteor
- Sludge Wave
- Scald
- Toxic Spikes

 

[Yeezus.]

I personally agree with the Manaphy > Azu suggestion. He explained it enough.

88 SpA Tornadus-T Hurricane vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Keldeo: 306-360 (94.7 - 111.4%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock

I mean I'd personally use this much SpA because I like maxing out on Torn's bulk and these ev's still ohko Keldeo, you just need a turn of chip damage from rocks. Overall, solid team.

 

[Century Express]

For this team, Azumarill looks more important than Manaphy IMO. It isn't only for Keldeo... it alleviates a LOT of his weakness against Weavile (especially when he loses his only Dark-resist), and serves as a great backup plan against some combinations like Zone + Mega Diancie or Mega Gyarados. Some scenarios revenge killing Mega Zam or Mega Lop whenever Hippo gets weakened are a plus as well.

For this squad everything is pretty fine, but i like to use Air Balloon Excadrill more than Life Orb, so it gets easier to capitalize his breaking potential on Defensive Lando-T or Garchomp, opening more space for Zard to break stuff in the mid- or late-game. Heat Wave sounds like a more comfortable option on Torn-T so you can weaken Skarm for your Azuma | Excadrill... but i guess you considered Focus Blast since your Zard lacks Earthquake and then you can punish Tran and Ttar switch-ins? If yes, i guess it's fine to slap Focus Blast anyways. Oh yeah, good luck with your team. :)

 

[Galom]

The comments of Century Express are exactly the reason that I am reluctant to make the change of Azumarill --> Manaphy. My team is a little weak to Weavile as is; this change could possibly get me 6-0'd by it.

 

[ScroogieTW]

Oh my days, this is exactly the team i built 30 min ago including the suggestions, no joke. LOL. I did not see this before building. I was intending to do a RMT myself but i think thats irrelevant right now. Anyways, i wouldnt have ever been able to do the RMT so nicely! Imo, this is the best team in the Meta right now. It has a nice FWG- Core (with azu even DFS!!) boasts top rated pokemon, 2 S and 4 A+ ranked, has (the most) powerful breakers, a great cleaner (Exca), uses weather (never bad!), catches awesome Utility (knock of, my Ferro has T-Wave, Leech seed) can sweetly hazard stack (alongside rapid spin!), and has good fallback options in Torn as a Pivot and Ferro/ Hippo as Hazard Setuppers. I feel no pokemon is ever dead weight and having sooo many options in the playstyle, i think it has a decent chance versus any team and can deal with everything. If u dont share my opinion gtfo and play LC. No, if so, share yours as well! Best team, i really think so, i only dont understand the name. :(

 

[Galom]

I'm glad you like it. As for the name, just do some research about what the two words mean. You'll figure it out pretty quickly.

Nice first post btw. Welcome to Smogon.

 

[ScroogieTW]

Thank you! I love the team but i somehow tend to lose a lot. Do you have some usage tips?

http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/ou-279729025

quite nice battle i had today, i got lucky v the SD Bisharp.

I found the team is troubled by SD Bisharp, might have Proplems with Kyu-B, MLop and Heatran, especially the Lure Variant.

What do you guys think?

 

[rookierobbie]

because you dont set up stealth rock on a + 2 bisharp stupid

 

[ScroogieTW]

Hey, no need to get insulting! I was making a hardcore predict cuz i felt like doing so but it didnt work out. If it had it would have been genius.

 

[rookierobbie]

manaphy is better because this team is so weak to calm mind slowbro

 

[Martin]

I personally don't like spin Exca at all simply because it doesn't fare very well v.s. most spinblockers when it doesn't have sandstorm up. Additionally, Starmie makes for a god-like core with Zard-X due to their complementary typing and Starmie's access to Spin. In addition, running it reduces the pressure that you place onto Azu to check Keldeo as it provides an offensive answer to it. Therefore, I suggest switching Exca-->Starmie.

If you implement this change, your Hippo will have its item slot freed up. I suggest using Rocky Helmet as it allows you to check Talonflame (who currently tears apart a large portion of the team) significantly better by increasing the recoil it takes when it attacks. In addition, opposing Sand Rush Drill gives the team big trouble as it sets up on Ferrothorn and takes advantage of Hippo's Sand Stream. As a result, you lack any consistent way of dealing with it. Therefore, I suggest running Sand Force>Sand Stream on Hippowdon as it allows you to check it without granting it a boost to its speed.

Best of luck with the team!