Project ORAS OU Core Building Competition V2 (Round 30: Stalkers) Results

[Swagata]

Core 4
Core 5

 

[SketchUp]

Core 5

 

[LePokeRoi]

Core 2
Core 6

While I'm at it, how do you do that thing where it hides what you type until that person opens it, like on the core voting list?

 

[Eclipse]

Core 4
Core 5

Core 2
Core 6

While I'm at it, how do you do that thing where it hides what you type until that person opens it, like on the core voting list?

http://www.smogon.com/forums/help/bb-codes

This page should have everything such as the quote boxes on there for reference

 

[Jamel]

4 & 6

 

[Sobi]

4 + 5

 

[Ramses]

Voting is over and these are the results of the voting session, a tie between core 4 by littlelucario and core 5 by Infernal

votes

Core 1: 1
Core 2:1
Core 3: 1
Core 4:11111
Core 5:11111
Core 6:1111
Core 7:

Round 4
Status Spam

Clause: Each core member must have a status move.

Enjoy!

 

[Martin]

To clarify: by status we're refering to volatile status conditions (paralysis, burn, sleep and poison). Not the move catagory "status".

 

[Infernal]

Breloom @ Life Orb
Ability: Technician
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Spore
- Bullet Seed
- Mach Punch
- Swords Dance

Talonflame @ Leftovers
Ability: Gale Wings
EVs: 248 HP / 252 SpD / 8 Spe
Careful Nature
- Brave Bird
- Roost
- Taunt
- Will-O-Wisp

Loomy has been seeing lots of use lately, and with access to powerful priority and a 100% accurate sleep inducing move, it's easy to see why. Spore is one of the best moves in the game and makes Breloom unique from numerous other offensive Pokemon. Once something goes snoozing, Breloom can SD up to make itself even more threatening, or simply fire its powerful Technician boosted moves straight away. Its STABs offer a good range of coverage, hitting prominent threats like Bisharp, Exca, and Tar. Unless your name is Mega Venu or Amoonguss, stomaching these hits won't be so easy. With all of these traits, it's understandable why Breloom's popularity has risen.

Regardless of these things though, there are still several issues the mushroom faces. The likes of Mega Venu and Amoonguss are immune to Spore and wall Breloom with no problem. Its low speed also leaves it vulnerable to faster offensive threats like Zard-Y and Mega Gardevoir, although they have to be careful switching in. This is where Talon comes in, helping to cover these threats nicely with its useful resistances to fire, grass, and fairy. The bird also checks many other annoying threats to Breloom, like Torn-T, Mega Scizor, Mega Altaria, Gengar, Volcarona, and so on. In exchange, Breloom is able to threaten numerous Pokemon Talonflame dislikes. These include Slowbro, Rotom-W, Tar, among others. Although Talon can burn ground types itself, it benefits from Breloom's ability to pressure things like Lando-T as well. Likewise, Breloom benefits from Talon's ability to burn Lando-T and Chomp, making them easier to wear down and kill.

Overall, these two work really well together. Their typing synergy is cool and helps them cover many of each other's weaknesses. They are both self sufficient Pokemon and posses status moves that are useful to cripple numerous threats. They both provide a form of priority to help deal with a very different pool of threats, and this is something a team always loves to have.

 

[Phantom Me]

Open

Thundurus @ Life Orb
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Thunder Wave
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power Ice
- Focus Blast
Clefable @ Leftovers
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: 252 HP / 172 Def / 84 SpD
Calm Nature
- Calm Mind
- Moonblast
- Soft-Boiled
- Thunder Wave

Thunderus is a great paralysis spreader thanks to prankster. Thunder Wave is to cripple faster attackers and sweepers.Thunderbolt is its main stab move, as its strong and powerful. Hp ice is for ground, dragon and grass types. Focus blast provides powerful coverage. Now for the theme of the competition, I must have a second member who also knows a status move. Clefable fulfills this role well, as it greatly appteciates Thundurus's ability to remove steel types, in return it kills dragons.

 

[aki0s]

&

A neat little HO/Balance core that excels at placing pressure on stall and balance teams. Gengar can use hex to deal massive damage once mons are statused with the help of Klefki. I've opted for Sludge bomb > Sludge wave & Substitute > taunt on Gengar to effectively one versus one M-Sableye by spamming sludge bomb for the poison then dealing 80% with hex to standard utility M-Sableye. Klefki has heal block & double status over spikes/magnet rise to make up for the fact that this Gengar does not have taunt & to help proc Hex. Substitute on Gengar allows it to safely will-o-wisp threats such as Bisharp and lets it handle pokemon such as Chansey/Clefable who love to spam thunder wave better as they will not be able to break the sub effectively. Heal block on Klefki helps versus balance/stall by denying their walls lefties/roosting/softboiled etc recovery - it also helps deal with stallbreaker Gliscor as it will count as statused for hex - but won't receive any recovery from poison heal. Klefki helps take out M-Sableye/bisharps/gengars and provides a decent switch in to super effective moves aimed at Gengar.

Gengar + Klefki

Gengar @ Black Sludge
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Hex
- Sludge Bomb
- Will-O-Wisp
- Substitute

Klefki @ Leftovers
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Def / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Play Rough
- Thunder Wave
- Toxic
- Heal Block

 

[LePokeRoi]

Voting is over and these are the results of the voting session, a tie between core 4 by littlelucario and core 5 by Infernal

votes

Core 1: 1
Core 2:1
Core 3: 1
Core 4:11111
Core 5:11111
Core 6:1111
Core 7:

Round 4
Status Spam

Clause: Each core member must have a status move.

Enjoy!

By status move, do you mean moves like Toxic, T-Wave, and Will-O-Wisp, or status moves like Swords Dance and Light Screen and stuff?

 

[Martin]

By status move, do you mean moves like Toxic, T-Wave, and Will-O-Wisp, or status moves like Swords Dance and Light Screen and stuff?

To clarify: by status we're refering to volatile status conditions (paralysis, burn, sleep and poison). Not the move catagory "status".

 

[Googly]

Sets

Houndoom @ Houndoominite
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 40 HP / 216 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Nasty Plot
- Fire Blast
- Dark Pulse
- Will-O-Wisp

Serperior @ Life Orb
Ability: Contrary
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Leaf Storm
- Dragon Pulse
- Hidden Power Ground
- Glare

Here's a fun core featuring the underrated Mega Houndoom paired with Hidden Power Ground Serperior. Mega Houndoom can be a potent threat in this metagame, especially with the right support. Serperior is great at removing the majority of Houndoom's checks and counters like Keldeo, Diancie and most notably Heatran. With Glare, Serperior can also lure in and paralyse AV Tornadus-T, one of the few Pokemon that can otherwise outspeed Mega Houndoom and halt its sweep.

If you're looking to sweep with Serperior instead, Mega Houndoom can remove those annoying bulky Grass types like Celebi and Steel types like Skarmory. Mega Houndoom is also very good at spreading around burns with Will-O-Wisp, thanks to the number of switches it forces. This can quickly wear down the opposing team and neuters their physical attackers, making it much easier to pull off a sweep with either Mega Houndoom or Serperior.

 

[SketchUp]

Hide

Serperior @ Life Orb
Ability: Contrary
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Leaf Storm
- Dragon Pulse
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Glare

Bronzong @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 SpD
Sassy Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Gyro Ball
- Earthquake
- Hypnosis

Synergy in general: Bronzong struggles with bulky Water- and Ground-Types. Serperior obviously deals with these, as well as some other threats like Tyranitar. Bronzong beats threats to Serperior such as Togekiss, Kyurem-B, Tornadus-T and Mega Altaria. It also provides Stealth Rock support to pressure pokemon like Talonflame, Togekiss and Entei (all threatening to Serperior) Earthquake is useful to weaken Heatran, who Serperior fails to touch without Leaf Storm boosts.

Synergy in status: Hypnosis Bronzong is an excellent teammate for Serperior because Bronzong lures in some counters to Serperior: Charizard-Y, Talonflame, Heatran, Mega Venusaur and Mega Manectric are all put to sleep by Bronzong. Serperior can take advantage from this sleep later in the game, it can risk staying in against Heatran or Mega Charizard-Y and Leaf Storm more, because these pokemon are asleep. This enables Serperior to break through both Ferrothorn / Scizor as Heatran, as long as RNG doesn't hate you. Glare is a great move on Serperior because it can paralyse and slow down pokemon such as Tornadus-T and Mega Houndoom. Add Bronzong's Stealth Rocks and Serperior also has much bigger chances to break through these checks.

Weaknesses: Obviously the double fire weakness is really annoying but it isn't too big of an issue with 4 pokemon left. Glare + Gyro Ball can be a weird combination for the core in theory, but Bronzong is unable to touch most targets of Glare anyways (Char-Y / Volc / TFlame for example) Exceptions being Togekiss, Tornadus-T and Mega Altaria. If these pokemon are really threatening to the team, you can consider using Iron Head over Gyro Ball, but these situations are extremely rare and the loss in power is huge.

 

[TURBODERP]

and

Mega Aggron and Sap Sipper Azumarill

Aggron-Mega @ Aggronite
Ability: Filter
EVs: 252 HP / 16 Def / 240 SpD
Impish Nature
- Earthquake/Rock Slide/Dragon Tail
- Thunder Wave
- Heavy Slam/Iron Head
- Avalanche/Earthquake/Fire Punch

Azumarill @ Leftovers
Ability: Sap Sipper
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 Spe OR 252 HP / 114 Def / 138 SpDef / 4 Spe
Bold Nature
- Toxic
- Scald
- Encore/Sleep Talk/Knock Off
- Rest/Perish Song

Basics: Tank Mega Aggron and Sap Sipper Azumarill form a strong, flexible status spreading core that checks/counters many common meta threats such as Weavile (countered by either), the Lati twins (countered by either), Keldeo (countered by Azumarill), Bisharp (checked/countered by both depending on your choice of moves), both Zards (Zard X checked by Mega Aggron and countered by Azumarill, Zard Y soft countered by Azumarill), Mega Latias (countered by either if BoltBeam, countered by either if no Refresh), Breloom (countered by Azumarill, can be checked in an emergency by Aggron assuming something else is already asleep), Clefable (countered by Aggron, unless Max SpA Modest LO Fire Blast Clefable hits you on the switch), TG Manaphy (if you play it right, Azumarill can counter it, but at the very least it's a check), AV/Band/BD Azumarill (checked/countered by Aggron in all cases), Serperior (checked by Aggron, hard countered by Azumarill), Volcarona (checked by Aggron, countered by Azumarill), Mega Altaria (countered in most cases by Mega Aggron), Tyranitar (any version without special Fire coverage tends to lose to Aggron, and choiced variants locked into Crunch/Pursuit get beaten by Azumarill or Aggron), Kyurem-Black (checked by Mega Aggron), and others.

Set Details
Mega Aggron: The Mega Aggron EVs are pretty standard for Tank Mega Aggron. Patch up your weaker SpDef side and still have 550 points of Defense. You can eat a Mega Medicham's Adamant HJK after rocks and never be OHKO'd (thanks to Filter). That's disgusting. Move slots are very customizable, as Mega Aggron actually has a ton of options. Thunder Wave is the preferred status move over Toxic because while bulky grounds do like to switch in against you, the bigger threat is set up sweepers like Zard X and Volcarona, who both despise being Thunder-Waved (even if the latter carries Lum, because you can just Twave again and survive an unboosted Fire Blast). No rocks because one of the best partners to this core (full SpDef Hippo) loves to run rocks, and you really like the extra free moveslot. Heavy Slam versus Iron Head: Heavy Slam nails things like Azumarill, Clefable, Gardevoir, Tornadus, and so on much much harder (OHKOing standard Clefable 50% of the time versus doing below 70% with Iron Head) but loses out on things like Tyranitar, Mamoswine, and so on, so choose what your team wants to hit (IMO Heavy Slam is most often better, because Tyranitar really does not generally want to stay in on Mega Aggron unless it has fire coverage, and even then, unless it's fully invested, you do tons back before dropping or winning). Avalanche is almost mandatory as it lets you nail important things like the Lati twins (you cleanly 2HKO the standard defensive Mega Latias set with Avalanche), the genies, Garchomp, and anything that does not like Ice coverage. Fire Punch lets you beat Mega Scizor and regular Scizor, which can otherwise set up on you, while Earthquake gives you excellent neutral coverage and lets you check Mega Metagross and Tyranitars a lot better (especially if you're running Iron Head over Heavy Slam), as well as hitting Raikou and Mega Manectric on the switch. Rock Slide lets you beat on Talonflame and Volcarona on the switch which is great since they're common switch-ins. Dragon Tail is a pretty good choice as well, since you can shuffle things quite nicely due to your massive bulk.

Azumarill: Two EV options, obviously customizable. The first is focused on Def, and lets you counter the Lati twins (LO Psyshock is a 3HKO at best) and other physical attackers much better, while the latter is more SpDef oriented and lets you wall/beat TG Manaphy and Keldeo a lot easier. Or you can make your own EV spread, just figure out what works best for your team. With this set, if you can, try and conceal that you're Sap Sipper, as that makes your job of beating things like Volcarona and Zard Y much easier since they'll waste a turn using their grass coverage on you, while you nail them with Encore or Toxic. Speaking of move slots, there's a lot of options here too. Toxic is mandatory, because it lets you nail things like Serperior, Volcarona, TG Manaphy, Zard X and other set up sweepers who are either unaffected by Scald burns or can't be burned. Scald is basically mandatory as well since you don't want to be Taunt fodder, and Scald burns let you beat things like Breloom and Scizor that much easier. Knock Off is a nice option since removing items is always cool, but I prefer Encore for the ability to lock things like Volcarona/Breloom/Serperior into their grass moves and then to either hit them or the inevitable switch in with a Toxic. It also makes you less vulnerable to strong set-up sweepers which is always good. Sleep Talk is also really good when paired with Rest, which gives you semi-reliable recovery (plus, people don't expect it so you can often nail things with Scald or Toxic on the switch). Perish Song is actually quite viable, since it lets you beat things that you can't otherwise like Suicune, CM Manaphy, CroBro, and Curse Gastrodon. Choose based on what you need this core to check/counter, and go from there.

Core Weaknesses and How to Patch Them
Electric types make this core very very sad. Mega Manectric, Raikou, Thundurus-T, and Rotom-Wash are all very strong against this core. Mega Aggron can check Thundurus-T and MegaMan and Raikou with Avalanche and EQ respectively, but you lose the 1v1s most of the time.

Certain setup sweepers like Mega Scizor can make this core very sad if you don't carry Fire Punch, and SD/Lum Garchomp can also run the train on this core if it gets to set up freely (although it must be careful of being locked into SD with Azumarill and +2 EQ maxes out at 72% against Aggron which can OHKO back with Avalanche). CroCune, CM Manaphy, CroBro, and Curse Gastrodon have a field day with this core if you don't pack Perish Song (and even then you can't do much back with just this core unless you lock them into something with Encore).

Strong special attackers with coverage like Mega Alakazam also blast through this core if its members are somewhat weakened.

One of the best partners to this core as a result is Max SpDef Hippowdon.

Hippowdon @ Leftovers
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpDef / 4 Def
Careful Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Stone Edge
- Earthquake
- Slack Off

This set, with max SpDef, lets you counter MegaMan, Thundurus-T, Tornadus-T, and Raikou, with much more room for error when compared to the standard mixed Hippo spread. Plus, it gets up Rocks (freeing up a valuable slot on Aggron!) and gives some nice chip damage for Sand which really helps the core beat what they're supposed to beat (often times there's a 50% chance of Aggron OHKOing something, which Sand damage guarantees then).

Rotom-W still dumpsters you for instance, as do the special sweepers mentioned earlier, but that's easily accountable for in team building.

 

[Aragorn the King]

Amoonguss @ Black Sludge
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
- Spore
- Giga Drain
- Clear Smog / Foul Play
- Hidden Power Fire / Stun Spore / Sludge Bomb

Rotom-Wash @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 240 HP / 48 Def / 220 Spe
Bold Nature
- Hydro Pump
- Volt Switch
- Will-O-Wisp
- Thunder Wave

Amoonguss and fast Rotom-W can form a great core for bulkier teams. Amoonguss is a super annoying Pokemon that is now gaining popularity, and for a good reason. Because of its typing, it's able to serve as a good switch-in to Breloom, Keldeo, Mega Diancie, Clefable, Serperior, Mega Lopunny, and Azumarill, all super relevant and impactful Pokemon on the current Metagame. Clear Smog is really useful for stripping many of the above mons of their stat boosts, and Spore, of course, is an incredibly annoying move capable of incapacitating an opposing Pokemon for a random amount of turns – keeping otherwise perfect switch-ins, like Talonflame, at bay, and forcing opposing players to pick a Spore fodder early on. Once Spore has been used, Stun Spore can be used for more status fun, hindering Pokemon in a different way, and having no limit of use.

However, even though Amoonguss can annoy a lot of Pokemon with its Status moves, Fire- and Flying-types (amongst other more specific mons) will still really annoy it, and Keldeo's Icy Wind 2HKOes it. Thankfully, Rotom-W can be paired with Amoonguss to lessen the amplitude of these weaknesses. Rotom-W checks, largely through the threat of status, SD LO Excadrill, Tornadus-T, Mega Aerodactyl, Victini, Talonflame, Entei, and many others well, which all can make very quick work of Amoonguss. Rotom-W can also help Amoonguss against Keldeo. Rotom-W does take more from Keldeo's STAB moves than Amoonguss; however, it is less crippled by entry hazards than Amoonguss, and if Keldeo is locked into Icy Wind, Rotom-W is a perfect switch-in, giving Amoonguss free recovery and Rotom-W a free turn to try to burn or paralyze a switch-in. Rotom-W also adds backup Azumarill, a mon that a weakened Amoonguss would prefer someone else to handle, can paralyze common Latios switch-ins, and can outspeed and burn Bisharp (unlike slower Rotom-W sets). As for Rotom-W's weaknesses, Grass-types such as Serperior, NP + non-Psychic Celebi, Mega Sceptile, and Breloom are particularly threatening, and Amoonguss is capable of dealing with them all. I chose fast Rotom-W thanks to its ability to more effectively run Thunder Wave, a status move, which a) fits in well with this week's theme and b) helps against Torn-T, a mon Amoonguss deplores. However, defensive Rotom-W can also complement Amoonguss well, and thanks to its greater bulk and Pain Split it serves as a better switch-in to a couple of threats to Amoonguss like Mega Metagross.

 

[Martin]

Reserving T-Wave Alakazam+SpD Talon

 

[Darkreaper]

Togekiss @ Leftovers
Ability: Serene Grace
EVs: 252 HP / 76 Def / 4 SpD / 176 Spe
Timid Nature
- Nasty Plot
- Air Slash
- Thunder Wave
- Roost

Latias-Mega @ Latiasite
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 248 HP / 68 Def / 192 Spe
Timid Nature
- Ice Beam
- Roost
- Thunderbolt
- Thunder Wave

Ferrothorn @ Chople Berry
Ability: Iron Barbs
EVs: 252 HP / 88 Def / 168 SpD
Impish Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Leech Seed
- Iron Head
- Thunder Wave

So I thought I'd stop by and post some cancer right? Ok, so this is a core that's proven very effective in the past utilizing Thunder Wave, one of the best moves in the game. It was built around making Stall Breaker Togekiss as effective as possible as this is a very strong pokemon that not many people use. It's fairy type so I decided to go with a Dragon/Fairy/Steel Core. After Togekiss was added, I realized that Mega-Latias would be a perfect fit as it is a perfect mega pokemon for semistall as well as providing t-wave which again helps Togekiss, it also had access to thunderbolt to have a way of beating manaphy. Mega Latias was also a perfect switch in to Mega Charizard Y. Ferrothorn proved to be a great mon to put in the last spot of the core. It has chople berry to live a superpower from offensive mega scizor and click t-wave as well as beating other mons that break the team like offensive Terrakion and Calm Mind mega alakazam.

Set Details:

Togekiss has enough speed to outspeed jolly breloom and kill it without getting spored on. It has nasty plot to provide a great way to beat stall. Mega Latias has enough speed to outspeed positive base 100's and T-wave them. It also has Bolt Beam as it doesn't need calm mind on this set. Bolt Beam coverage allows it to beat mons like manaphy as well as just being a fat nuicance. Mega Latias's main job is just to spread t-wave and stay fat to help togekiss sweep. Ferrothorn with chople berry gave an effective check to mons mentioned already. Stealth Rocks are mandatory on every team. Leech Seed is for a way to get health back. Thunder-Wave helps Togekiss sweep. Iron Head with thunder wave is a nasty set but we don't need power whip as Latias has t-bolt for manaphy.

So yeah, this is an effective Dragon/Fairy/Steel core that also functions as a t-wave spam core that can be the base to a good semistall team.
​

 

[Ramses]

So we've got some good submissions this week. These are your choices:

Core 1

sets

Breloom @ Life Orb
Ability: Technician
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Spore
- Bullet Seed
- Mach Punch
- Swords Dance

Talonflame @ Leftovers
Ability: Gale Wings
EVs: 248 HP / 252 SpD / 8 Spe
Careful Nature
- Brave Bird
- Roost
- Taunt
- Will-O-Wisp

Explanation

Loomy has been seeing lots of use lately, and with access to powerful priority and a 100% accurate sleep inducing move, it's easy to see why. Spore is one of the best moves in the game and makes Breloom unique from numerous other offensive Pokemon. Once something goes snoozing, Breloom can SD up to make itself even more threatening, or simply fire its powerful Technician boosted moves straight away. Its STABs offer a good range of coverage, hitting prominent threats like Bisharp, Exca, and Tar. Unless your name is Mega Venu or Amoonguss, stomaching these hits won't be so easy. With all of these traits, it's understandable why Breloom's popularity has risen.

Regardless of these things though, there are still several issues the mushroom faces. The likes of Mega Venu and Amoonguss are immune to Spore and wall Breloom with no problem. Its low speed also leaves it vulnerable to faster offensive threats like Zard-Y and Mega Gardevoir, although they have to be careful switching in. This is where Talon comes in, helping to cover these threats nicely with its useful resistances to fire, grass, and fairy. The bird also checks many other annoying threats to Breloom, like Torn-T, Mega Scizor, Mega Altaria, Gengar, Volcarona, and so on. In exchange, Breloom is able to threaten numerous Pokemon Talonflame dislikes. These include Slowbro, Rotom-W, Tar, among others. Although Talon can burn ground types itself, it benefits from Breloom's ability to pressure things like Lando-T as well. Likewise, Breloom benefits from Talon's ability to burn Lando-T and Chomp, making them easier to wear down and kill.

Overall, these two work really well together. Their typing synergy is cool and helps them cover many of each other's weaknesses. They are both self sufficient Pokemon and posses status moves that are useful to cripple numerous threats. They both provide a form of priority to help deal with a very different pool of threats, and this is something a team always loves to have.

Core 2

sets

Thundurus @ Life Orb
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Thunder Wave
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power Ice
- Focus Blast

Clefable @ Leftovers
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: 252 HP / 172 Def / 84 SpD
Calm Nature
- Calm Mind
- Moonblast
- Soft-Boiled
- Thunder Wave

Explanation

Thunderus is a great paralysis spreader thanks to prankster. Thunder Wave is to cripple faster attackers and sweepers.Thunderbolt is its main stab move, as its strong and powerful. Hp ice is for ground, dragon and grass types. Focus blast provides powerful coverage. Now for the theme of the competition, I must have a second member who also knows a status move. Clefable fulfills this role well, as it greatly appteciates Thundurus's ability to remove steel types, in return it kills dragons.

Core 3

sets

Gengar @ Black Sludge
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Hex
- Sludge Bomb
- Will-O-Wisp
- Substitute

Klefki @ Leftovers
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Def / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Play Rough
- Thunder Wave
- Toxic
- Heal Block

Explanation

A neat little HO/Balance core that excels at placing pressure on stall and balance teams. Gengar can use hex to deal massive damage once mons are statused with the help of Klefki. I've opted for Sludge bomb > Sludge wave & Substitute > taunt on Gengar to effectively one versus one M-Sableye by spamming sludge bomb for the poison then dealing 80% with hex to standard utility M-Sableye. Klefki has heal block & double status over spikes/magnet rise to make up for the fact that this Gengar does not have taunt & to help proc Hex. Substitute on Gengar allows it to safely will-o-wisp threats such as Bisharp and lets it handle pokemon such as Chansey/Clefable who love to spam thunder wave better as they will not be able to break the sub effectively. Heal block on Klefki helps versus balance/stall by denying their walls lefties/roosting/softboiled etc recovery - it also helps deal with stallbreaker Gliscor as it will count as statused for hex - but won't receive any recovery from poison heal. Klefki helps take out M-Sableye/bisharps/gengars and provides a decent switch in to super effective moves aimed at Gengar.

Core 4

sets

Houndoom @ Houndoominite
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 40 HP / 216 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Nasty Plot
- Fire Blast
- Dark Pulse
- Will-O-Wisp

Serperior @ Life Orb
Ability: Contrary
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Leaf Storm
- Dragon Pulse
- Hidden Power Ground
- Glare

Explanation

Here's a fun core featuring the underrated Mega Houndoom paired with Hidden Power Ground Serperior. Mega Houndoom can be a potent threat in this metagame, especially with the right support. Serperior is great at removing the majority of Houndoom's checks and counters like Keldeo, Diancie and most notably Heatran. With Glare, Serperior can also lure in and paralyse AV Tornadus-T, one of the few Pokemon that can otherwise outspeed Mega Houndoom and halt its sweep.

If you're looking to sweep with Serperior instead, Mega Houndoom can remove those annoying bulky Grass types like Celebi and Steel types like Skarmory. Mega Houndoom is also very good at spreading around burns with Will-O-Wisp, thanks to the number of switches it forces. This can quickly wear down the opposing team and neuters their physical attackers, making it much easier to pull off a sweep with either Mega Houndoom or Serperior.

Core 5

sets

Serperior @ Life Orb
Ability: Contrary
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Leaf Storm
- Dragon Pulse
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Glare

Bronzong @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 SpD
Sassy Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Gyro Ball
- Earthquake
- Hypnosis

Explanation

Synergy in general: Bronzong struggles with bulky Water- and Ground-Types. Serperior obviously deals with these, as well as some other threats like Tyranitar. Bronzong beats threats to Serperior such as Togekiss, Kyurem-B, Tornadus-T and Mega Altaria. It also provides Stealth Rock support to pressure pokemon like Talonflame, Togekiss and Entei (all threatening to Serperior) Earthquake is useful to weaken Heatran, who Serperior fails to touch without Leaf Storm boosts.

Synergy in status: Hypnosis Bronzong is an excellent teammate for Serperior because Bronzong lures in some counters to Serperior: Charizard-Y, Talonflame, Heatran, Mega Venusaur and Mega Manectric are all put to sleep by Bronzong. Serperior can take advantage from this sleep later in the game, it can risk staying in against Heatran or Mega Charizard-Y and Leaf Storm more, because these pokemon are asleep. This enables Serperior to break through both Ferrothorn / Scizor as Heatran, as long as RNG doesn't hate you. Glare is a great move on Serperior because it can paralyse and slow down pokemon such as Tornadus-T and Mega Houndoom. Add Bronzong's Stealth Rocks and Serperior also has much bigger chances to break through these checks.

Weaknesses: Obviously the double fire weakness is really annoying but it isn't too big of an issue with 4 pokemon left. Glare + Gyro Ball can be a weird combination for the core in theory, but Bronzong is unable to touch most targets of Glare anyways (Char-Y / Volc / TFlame for example) Exceptions being Togekiss, Tornadus-T and Mega Altaria. If these pokemon are really threatening to the team, you can consider using Iron Head over Gyro Ball, but these situations are extremely rare and the loss in power is huge.

Core 6

sets

Aggron-Mega @ Aggronite
Ability: Filter
EVs: 252 HP / 16 Def / 240 SpD
Impish Nature
- Earthquake/Rock Slide/Dragon Tail
- Thunder Wave
- Heavy Slam/Iron Head
- Avalanche/Earthquake/Fire Punch

Azumarill @ Leftovers
Ability: Sap Sipper
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 Spe OR 252 HP / 114 Def / 138 SpDef / 4 Spe
Bold Nature
- Toxic
- Scald
- Encore/Sleep Talk/Knock Off
- Rest/Perish Song

Explanation

Basics: Tank Mega Aggron and Sap Sipper Azumarill form a strong, flexible status spreading core that checks/counters many common meta threats such as Weavile (countered by either), the Lati twins (countered by either), Keldeo (countered by Azumarill), Bisharp (checked/countered by both depending on your choice of moves), both Zards (Zard X checked by Mega Aggron and countered by Azumarill, Zard Y soft countered by Azumarill),Mega Latias (countered by either if BoltBeam, countered by either if no Refresh), Breloom (countered by Azumarill, can be checked in an emergency by Aggron assuming something else is already asleep), Clefable (countered by Aggron, unless Max SpA Modest LO Fire Blast Clefable hits you on the switch), TG Manaphy (if you play it right, Azumarill can counter it, but at the very least it's a check), AV/Band/BD Azumarill (checked/countered by Aggron in all cases), Serperior (checked by Aggron, hard countered by Azumarill), Volcarona (checked by Aggron, countered by Azumarill), Mega Altaria (countered in most cases by Mega Aggron), Tyranitar (any version without special Fire coverage tends to lose to Aggron, and choiced variants locked into Crunch/Pursuit get beaten by Azumarill or Aggron), Kyurem-Black (checked by Mega Aggron), and others.

Set Details
Mega Aggron: The Mega Aggron EVs are pretty standard for Tank Mega Aggron. Patch up your weaker SpDef side and still have 550 points of Defense. You can eat a Mega Medicham's Adamant HJK after rocks and never be OHKO'd (thanks to Filter). That's disgusting. Move slots are very customizable, as Mega Aggron actually has a ton of options. Thunder Wave is the preferred status move over Toxic because while bulky grounds do like to switch in against you, the bigger threat is set up sweepers like Zard X and Volcarona, who both despise being Thunder-Waved (even if the latter carries Lum, because you can just Twave again and survive an unboosted Fire Blast). No rocks because one of the best partners to this core (full SpDef Hippo) loves to run rocks, and you really like the extra free moveslot. Heavy Slam versus Iron Head: Heavy Slam nails things like Azumarill, Clefable, Gardevoir, Tornadus, and so on much much harder (OHKOing standard Clefable 50% of the time versus doing below 70% with Iron Head) but loses out on things like Tyranitar, Mamoswine, and so on, so choose what your team wants to hit (IMO Heavy Slam is most often better, because Tyranitar really does not generally want to stay in on Mega Aggron unless it has fire coverage, and even then, unless it's fully invested, you do tons back before dropping or winning). Avalanche is almost mandatory as it lets you nail important things like the Lati twins (you cleanly 2HKO the standard defensive Mega Latias set with Avalanche), the genies, Garchomp, and anything that does not like Ice coverage. Fire Punch lets you beat Mega Scizor and regular Scizor, which can otherwise set up on you, while Earthquake gives you excellent neutral coverage and lets you check Mega Metagross and Tyranitars a lot better (especially if you're running Iron Head over Heavy Slam), as well as hitting Raikou and Mega Manectric on the switch. Rock Slide lets you beat on Talonflame and Volcarona on the switch which is great since they're common switch-ins. Dragon Tail is a pretty good choice as well, since you can shuffle things quite nicely due to your massive bulk.

Azumarill: Two EV options, obviously customizable. The first is focused on Def, and lets you counter the Lati twins (LO Psyshock is a 3HKO at best) and other physical attackers much better, while the latter is more SpDef oriented and lets you wall/beat TG Manaphy and Keldeo a lot easier. Or you can make your own EV spread, just figure out what works best for your team. With this set, if you can, try and conceal that you're Sap Sipper, as that makes your job of beating things like Volcarona and Zard Y much easier since they'll waste a turn using their grass coverage on you, while you nail them with Encore or Toxic. Speaking of move slots, there's a lot of options here too. Toxic is mandatory, because it lets you nail things like Serperior, Volcarona, TG Manaphy, Zard X and other set up sweepers who are either unaffected by Scald burns or can't be burned. Scald is basically mandatory as well since you don't want to be Taunt fodder, and Scald burns let you beat things like Breloom and Scizor that much easier. Knock Off is a nice option since removing items is always cool, but I prefer Encore for the ability to lock things like Volcarona/Breloom/Serperior into their grass moves and then to either hit them or the inevitable switch in with a Toxic. It also makes you less vulnerable to strong set-up sweepers which is always good. Sleep Talk is also really good when paired with Rest, which gives you semi-reliable recovery (plus, people don't expect it so you can often nail things with Scald or Toxic on the switch). Perish Song is actually quite viable, since it lets you beat things that you can't otherwise like Suicune, CM Manaphy, CroBro, and Curse Gastrodon. Choose based on what you need this core to check/counter, and go from there.

Core Weaknesses and How to Patch Them
Electric types make this core very very sad. Mega Manectric, Raikou, Thundurus-T, and Rotom-Wash are all very strong against this core. Mega Aggron can check Thundurus-T and MegaMan and Raikou with Avalanche and EQ respectively, but you lose the 1v1s most of the time.

Certain setup sweepers like Mega Scizor can make this core very sad if you don't carry Fire Punch, and SD/Lum Garchomp can also run the train on this core if it gets to set up freely (although it must be careful of being locked into SD with Azumarill and +2 EQ maxes out at 72% against Aggron which can OHKO back with Avalanche). CroCune, CM Manaphy, CroBro, and Curse Gastrodon have a field day with this core if you don't pack Perish Song (and even then you can't do much back with just this core unless you lock them into something with Encore).

Strong special attackers with coverage like Mega Alakazam also blast through this core if its members are somewhat weakened.

Core 7

sets

Amoonguss @ Black Sludge
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
- Spore
- Giga Drain
- Clear Smog / Foul Play
- Hidden Power Fire / Stun Spore / Sludge Bomb

Rotom-Wash @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 240 HP / 48 Def / 220 Spe
Bold Nature
- Hydro Pump
- Volt Switch
- Will-O-Wisp
- Thunder Wave

Explanation

Amoonguss and fast Rotom-W can form a great core for bulkier teams. Amoonguss is a super annoying Pokemon that is now gaining popularity, and for a good reason. Because of its typing, it's able to serve as a good switch-in to Breloom, Keldeo, Mega Diancie, Clefable, Serperior, Mega Lopunny, and Azumarill, all super relevant and impactful Pokemon on the current Metagame. Clear Smog is really useful for stripping many of the above mons of their stat boosts, and Spore, of course, is an incredibly annoying move capable of incapacitating an opposing Pokemon for a random amount of turns – keeping otherwise perfect switch-ins, like Talonflame, at bay, and forcing opposing players to pick a Spore fodder early on. Once Spore has been used, Stun Spore can be used for more status fun, hindering Pokemon in a different way, and having no limit of use.

However, even though Amoonguss can annoy a lot of Pokemon with its Status moves, Fire- and Flying-types (amongst other more specific mons) will still really annoy it, and Keldeo's Icy Wind 2HKOes it. Thankfully, Rotom-W can be paired with Amoonguss to lessen the amplitude of these weaknesses. Rotom-W checks, largely through the threat of status, SD LO Excadrill, Tornadus-T, Mega Aerodactyl, Victini, Talonflame, Entei, and many others well, which all can make very quick work of Amoonguss. Rotom-W can also help Amoonguss against Keldeo. Rotom-W does take more from Keldeo's STAB moves than Amoonguss; however, it is less crippled by entry hazards than Amoonguss, and if Keldeo is locked into Icy Wind, Rotom-W is a perfect switch-in, giving Amoonguss free recovery and Rotom-W a free turn to try to burn or paralyze a switch-in. Rotom-W also adds backup Azumarill, a mon that a weakened Amoonguss would prefer someone else to handle, can paralyze common Latios switch-ins, and can outspeed and burn Bisharp (unlike slower Rotom-W sets). As for Rotom-W's weaknesses, Grass-types such as Serperior, NP + non-Psychic Celebi, Mega Sceptile, and Breloom are particularly threatening, and Amoonguss is capable of dealing with them all. I chose fast Rotom-W thanks to its ability to more effectively run Thunder Wave, a status move, which a) fits in well with this week's theme and b) helps against Torn-T, a mon Amoonguss deplores. However, defensive Rotom-W can also complement Amoonguss well, and thanks to its greater bulk and Pain Split it serves as a better switch-in to a couple of threats to Amoonguss like Mega Metagross.

Core 8

sets

Alakazam @ Focus Sash
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Psychic
- Focus Blast
- Shadow Ball
- Thunder Wave

Talonflame
Ability: Gale Wings
EVs: 248 HP / 212 SpD / 44 Spe
Careful Nature
- Acrobatics
- Will-O-Wisp
- Bulk Up
- Roost

Explanation

So yeah the aim is pretty much for Talonflame to break down Alakazam's checks with Will-O-Wisp and breaking Stall pretty efficiently. Sash Zam + Twave allows for you to effectively check certain setup sweepers and work as a nice revenge killer.

Core 9

sets

Togekiss @ Leftovers
Ability: Serene Grace
EVs: 252 HP / 76 Def / 4 SpD / 176 Spe
Timid Nature
- Nasty Plot
- Air Slash
- Thunder Wave
- Roost

Latias-Mega @ Latiasite
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 248 HP / 68 Def / 192 Spe
Timid Nature
- Ice Beam
- Roost
- Thunderbolt
- Thunder Wave

Ferrothorn @ Chople Berry
Ability: Iron Barbs
EVs: 252 HP / 88 Def / 168 SpD
Impish Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Leech Seed
- Iron Head
- Thunder Wave

Explanation

So I thought I'd stop by and post some cancer right? Ok, so this is a core that's proven very effective in the past utilizing Thunder Wave, one of the best moves in the game. It was built around making Stall Breaker Togekiss as effective as possible as this is a very strong pokemon that not many people use. It's fairy type so I decided to go with a Dragon/Fairy/Steel Core. After Togekiss was added, I realized that Mega-Latias would be a perfect fit as it is a perfect mega pokemon for semistall as well as providing t-wave which again helps Togekiss, it also had access to thunderbolt to have a way of beating manaphy. Mega Latias was also a perfect switch in to Mega Charizard Y. Ferrothorn proved to be a great mon to put in the last spot of the core. It has chople berry to live a superpower from offensive mega scizor and click t-wave as well as beating other mons that break the team like offensive Terrakion and Calm Mind mega alakazam.

Togekiss has enough speed to outspeed jolly breloom and kill it without getting spored on. It has nasty plot to provide a great way to beat stall. Mega Latias has enough speed to outspeed positive base 100's and T-wave them. It also has Bolt Beam as it doesn't need calm mind on this set. Bolt Beam coverage allows it to beat mons like manaphy as well as just being a fat nuicance. Mega Latias's main job is just to spread t-wave and stay fat to help togekiss sweep. Ferrothorn with chople berry gave an effective check to mons mentioned already. Stealth Rocks are mandatory on every team. Leech Seed is for a way to get health back. Thunder-Wave helps Togekiss sweep. Iron Head with thunder wave is a nasty set but we don't need power whip as Latias has t-bolt for manaphy.

 

[Darkreaper]

Since I can't vote for myself I'll go for Core 4 as it's got Mega Houndoom.

Edit also voting core 7

 

[Jamel]

1
7

 

[Swagata]

Core 1

Edit: Second vote is Core 2

 

[Moonlit Raptor]

Core 3+9

 

[Sobi]

Core 1 + 8, gamer boy