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

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Martin

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Ok so voting is over. It was a close run between cores 1, 4 and 7, but congratulations to Infernal for winning this week with core 1 and making it into the hall of fame!
  1. 5
  2. 1
  3. 1
  4. 3
  5. 1
  6. 0
  7. 4
  8. 1
  9. 1
Week 5: A Strong Immune System
Building Condition: At least one core member must be immune to a type which one or more other members of the core take super effective damage from.
N.B.: This can be a natural immunity due to typing or it can be due to an ability.

This week is all about immunities. Immunities are an important part of how a large number of Pokemon play. They help frail Pokémon get safe switch-ins, they help make defensive cores hard to break, and all in all they are very useful when used correctly. Considering these is an important part of teambuilding, and we are celebrating them this week. I expect a range of different applications of immunities in the various submissions, so go nuts! Best of luck to everyone!
 
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Bisharp+Lopunny

Bisharp @ Black Glasses
Ability: Defiant
EVs: 72 HP / 252 Atk / 184 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Knock Off
- Iron Head
- Pursuit

Lopunny @ Lopunnite
Ability: Limber
Shiny: Yes
Happiness: 0
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Frustration
- High Jump Kick
- Fake Out
- Baton Pass

Pretty simple core. Lopunny draws in Clefable, Mega Alakazam, and Celebi, all of which Bisharp can beat. Bisharp also takes on scarf Latios.
 
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Peril (Manectric) @ Manectite
Ability: Lightning Rod
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Volt Switch
- Thunderbolt
- Flamethrower
- Hidden Power Ice

Lifted (Landorus-Therian) @ Earth Plate / Leftovers
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 56 HP / 220 Atk / 232 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- U-turn
- Swords Dance
Lifted (Landorus-Therian) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- Knock Off
- U-turn

Landorus-T and Mega Manectric form a powerful core. They share decent defensive and offensive synergy, being able to break down each others checks. For example, Mega Manectric's Electric-type STAB moves are able to break down Slowbro, Keldeo, Suicune, Starmie, and other bulky Water-types, and can nail the likes of Garchomp, Gliscor, and opposing Landorus-T with Hidden Power Ice. In return, Landorus-T can beat Excadrill, Garchomp, Chansey, and set up on Hippowdon if running Swords Dance. The two also share the same ability, Intimidate. This allows the duo to heavily weaken physical attackers such as Talonflame, Scizor, Breloom, and Mega Charizard X.

Overall, Manectric and Landorus form a very solid core that can abuse each other's positives, such as Manectric's blistering fast Speed tier against offense and Landorus-T's ability to break down bulkier teams with Swords Dance.
 
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Martin

A monoid in the category of endofunctors
is a Smogon Discord Contributoris a Forum Moderator Alumnusis a Community Contributor Alumnusis a Contributor Alumnus

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

Azumarill @ Leftovers
Ability: Sap Sipper
EVs: 252 HP / 114 Def / 138 SpD / 4 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Scald
- Rest
- Toxic
- Encore / Sleep Talk

Sap Sipper Azu is a based set, and it pairs well with Gastrodon due to it acting as an immunity to its sole weakness. Gastro returns the favor with an electric immunity and a poison resistance, allowing for the twosome to have a grand total of zero combined weaknesses. Curse Gastro also benefits from the Encore support if Azu carries it to set up curses on stuff, although the Encore moveslot is entirely interchangeable with Sleep Talk depending on whether you want more utility or to not be a complete sitting duck every time you heal. I stole the azu evs a few months ago but i've forgotten who from or what the EVs do, so credit to whoever made them.
 
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Infernal

Banned deucer.

Gengar
@ Life Orb
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Shadow Ball
- Sludge Wave
- Focus Blast
- Icy Wind

Crawdaunt @ Life Orb
Ability: Adaptability
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Crabhammer
- Knock Off
- Aqua Jet

We all know how good Dark & Ghost became during ORAS, and these two guys are good examples of things that abuse the buff well. Gengar and Crawdaunt form a strong offensive duo and aren't easy to switch into because of the immense power behind their STABs. Aside from packing a punch individually, Gengar and Crawdaunt offensively cover each other's weaknesses rather well. For example, Gengar is afraid of threats like Bisharp, Weavile, and Tar. These are all Pokemon Crawdaunt is able to check or take advantage of to either SD up or use a strong attack immediately. With Aqua Jet, it's also able to check Exca, who revenges Gengar easily. Moreover, Crawdaunt's immunity to psychic allows it to potentially switch into the likes of bulky Starmie, who can revenge kill Gengar with Psyshock. On the flip side, Crawdaunt has trouble with the likes of Mega Venu, Breloom, Chesnaught, and Mega Altaria. Gengar threatens all of these Pokemon nicely and has a useful immunity to Breloom's Mach Punch. Icy Wind also hits unsuspecting defensive Garchomp, which benefits the crab.

In addition to the cool resistances these two have between each other, their immunity to fighting and psychic, respectively, is helpful to force Scarf users like Keld, Jirachi, Lando-T, and Hoopa-U into prediction mind games or unfavorable situations. For example, when Scarf Keld is the only Pokemon remaining on the opposing team, it's going to lose to Gengar + Crawdaunt because using Secret Sword isn't an option. Likewise, if Scarf Keld tries revenge killing a Crawdaunt mid game, it's going to have to face the risk of Gengar potentially coming in for free. The other revenge killers mentioned are forced into similar situations in one way or another, demonstrating how the immunity these two have benefits one another.

Overall, these two make a good combo. They synergize well offensively and are able to overwhelm many defensive builds with their immense power and beautiful coverage. As explained above, Gengar and Crawdaunt make good use of the immunity they have to fighting and psychic, respectively, making them a good duo to fulfill this week's theme.
 
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IF YOU HAVE'NT USED ZYGARDE I URGE YOU TRY THIS MONSTER

Gardevoir @ Gardevoirite
Ability: Trace
EVs: 8 HP / 16 Def / 232 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Hyper Voice
- Psyshock
- Focus Blast
- Calm Mind

Zygarde @ Lum Berry
Ability: Aura Break
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Outrage
- Extreme Speed
- Earthquake
- Dragon Dance

Ok, so originally I was going to post CM Clefable + Coil Zygarde but after testing for an hour this proved to be a better build which I initially planned to post in the Good Cores thread, but I felt like contributing to our thread instead. So we all know how Mega Gardevoir is an incredible wallbreaker and (sorta) underrated right now with the influx of Steel-types namely Scarf Jirachi and Mega Metagross being relatively popular right now. However it's still as dangerous and effective as ever. Zygarde is probably the most slept on threat in the tier as its usually shunned for other sweepers like Mega Charizard X or SD Garchomp. Zygarde, however, has insane physical bulk allowing it to setup on pretty easily and proceed to tear through unprepared teams. So why are these two a good core? Mega Gardevoir easily breaks past most of Zygarde's checks including, but not limited to Landorus-T, Clefable, and Rotom-W. With a wallbreaker such as Mega Gardevoir, Zygarde can find ample opportunity to secure a clean. Despite the power these two bring, Skarmory, Ferrothorn, and Mega Scizor are the most annoying threats to face making SD + Smack Down Landorus-T a nice partner.
 
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Fire-Water-Grass cores have really good synergy in general. But with this core sporting four immunities the core synergizes really well. They can easily switch into each others checks. This core in general is really hard to deal with when it comes to top tier threats like Azumarill, Keldeo, Weavile, and Diancie. M-Venusaur is the win condition. Heatran for rocks and beating steels for Venusaur. Gastrodon to switchin to opposing Heatrans and wear down pokes with toxic. Core struggles against Tornadus. A good partner would be something like Weavile that can beat Tornadus-Therian.

Venusaur @ Venusaurite
Ability: Chlorophyll
EVs: 232 HP / 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 20 Spe
Modest Nature
- Giga Drain
- Sludge Bomb
- Toxic
- Synthesis

Heatran @ Leftovers
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 248 HP / 192 SpD / 68 Spe
Calm Nature
- Lava Plume
- Toxic
- Taunt
- Stealth Rock

Gastrodon @ Leftovers
Ability: Storm Drain
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Relaxed Nature
- Scald
- Earthquake
- Toxic
- Recover
 
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Reserving Shedinja + (Mega and Normal) Diance (going to dinner, so this writeup might take a few hours to finalize posting).

EDIT: Still working on this, sorry about the delay.

Should I separate out Diance and Mega Diance as different cores, or not?
 
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and


This core is probably not super-great, but it's pretty fun and can handle a lot of metagame threats and the like. Plus, frustrating people with Shedinja is always nice. Onto the core.


Shedinja @ Focus Sash/Safety Goggles
Ability: Wonder Guard
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Will O' Wisp/Swords Dance
- X-Scissor
- Shadow Sneak
- Baton Pass/Protect

Moveset: X-Scissor and Shadow Sneak are STAB, and the latter is important priority too that does decent damage to the Lati twins, Alakazam, and other frail mons. WoW is super important because it lets you nail things like Tyranitar, Bisharp, Scizor, Azumarill, Garchomp, and Lando-T on the switch-in, and those are all gonna be viable/common switch-ins since you don't hit hard. WoW neuters most of them, but SD lets you act as a late game cleaner versus things like CM Manaphy, Crocune, CroBro, and so on. Whichever your team needs more, take that option. Baton Pass is super important because it lets you retain momentum and lets you get out of being Pursuit trapped, while Protect lets you scout for coverage from things like Mega Gardevoir or Manaphy.

Items: Focus Sash lets you survive 1 turn of sand or 1 Pursuit-trap, while Safety Goggles lets you ignore Sand and soak up Spore. Generally, Focus Sash is better unless you're running Sand on your own team.

EVs: Yea. Pretty obvious. Adamant over Jolly since you need all the power you can get (and because you sit at a bad speed tier anyways), especially if you're not running Swords Dance.

General: Shedinja's job is to sit there and wall things like Mega Metagross, Keldeo, and anything without the right STAB or coverage to hit you (and hopefully no status either). Your offensive presence is lackluster, but spreading WoW is very annoying. Use Baton Pass liberally to avoid being trapped and to gain momentum, and Shadow Sneak to pick off things that are REALLY low HP or weak to Ghost.

Now, what does Shedinja hate? Status, Sand (unless you're running Safety Goggles, which is usually suboptimal since you don't want to stay in on Breloom most of the time anyways or Tyranitar), Stealth Rocks, and Fire/Flying/Ghost/Dark/Rock (which is a lot of weaknesses to cover). Ideally then, you'll have a mon or two that can soak up status, benefit from or take away sand, remove hazards, and eat up the aforementioned moves. There's no one mon that can do those, or even most of those, so you'll need one or two additional mons to form a solid core, but I'll give a start.

Both regular and Mega Diance offer valuable traits to Shedinja: both forms check Flying/Fire/Dark types fairly well, Mega Diance can bounce Hazards and Status, and both benefit from Sand (normal Diance far more so due to being defensively oriented, while Mega Diance at least doesn't take chip damage and can sponge non-STAB special attacks a lot better in sand). I think Shedinja fits better on Balanced/Semi-Stall since it doesn't hit hard, has common weaknesses that ruin it, and offers more utility than offensive presence. Thus, I'm using non-mega Diance with this (might post a Mega Diance variant of this core later on) for the 2-man core.


Diancie @ Leftovers
Ability: Clear Body
EVs: 252 HP / 72 Def / 184 SpD
Sassy Nature
- Diamond Storm
- Moonblast
- Earth Power
- Protect/Stealth Rock/Heal Bell

Moveset: Diamond Storm and Moonblast for obligatory hard-hitting STAB that lets you beat things weak to your STAB. Be careful with your Diamond Storm PP.

Earth Power is very nice since it lets you hit Steel types like Metagross, Magnezone/Magneton, and Excadrill on the switch. It also lets you stop Skarmory or Talonflame (or other Flying pokemon with Roost) from freely Roosting on you, since you're so slow that you'll almost always go second. Hidden Power Fire is not recommended since uninvested it does absolutely pathetic damage even to 4 times weak mons (you can't 2HKO Bulky Mega Scizor with it).

Protect is really nice, as it lets you scout out an opponent's moves, letting you see if they have the right coverage to hit you, racking up burn or toxic damage, and letting you regain valuable Leftovers recovery. This is very useful as it can for example let you determine whether or not Kyurem-B is carrying the coverage needed to beat you (if it's not running Life Orb+Earth Power/Iron Head, it can't beat you consistently in a 1v1), or give you the necessary Leftovers recovery needed to let you beat Mega Lopunny, or even stop that HJK from connecting.

Other options include Stealth Rock if your team has no other setters, or Heal Bell (valuable with Shedinja), but generally Protect is the best option in this slot.

Items: Leftovers is the best option here, since it's your only form of recovery.

EVs: Diance has an awful base HP of 50, but monstrous base defenses at 150 base Def and SpDef, making it far bulkier than Mega Sableye in comparison (although having a different typing and no Magic Bounce, as Clear Body is fairly useless here). This mixed EV spread lets Diance check/counter many common threats such as LO Gengar, all Talonflame variants, Mega Manectric, non-Flash Cannon Heatran, almost all Hoopa Unbound, Conkeldurr (AV and Sheer Force), Thundurus (LO+Mixed+Nasty Plot), LO Tornadus, non-Mega Lati twins, non-EQ Mega Pinsir, Mega Gardevoir, Mega Alakazam, NP Togekiss, Band/Special Victini, and more.

Below are important calcs to show what this Diance set beats/checks, and how.

252 SpA Life Orb Gengar Sludge Wave vs. 252 HP / 184+ SpD Diancie: 114-136 (37.5 - 44.7%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Leftovers recovery
252 SpA Life Orb Gengar Sludge Wave vs. 252 HP / 184+ SpD Diancie: 114-136 (37.5 - 44.7%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
252 SpA Life Orb Gengar Shadow Ball vs. 252 HP / 184+ SpD Diancie: 97-114 (31.9 - 37.5%) -- 0% chance to 3HKO after Leftovers recovery

0 Atk Diancie Diamond Storm vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Gengar: 163-193 (62.9 - 74.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

You cleanly avoid the 3HKO from Sludge Wave even after Stealth Rock and threaten a 2HKO back.

252 SpA Mega Manectric Thunderbolt vs. 252 HP / 184+ SpD Diancie: 85-102 (27.9 - 33.5%) -- 0.1% chance to 3HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
252 SpA Mega Manectric Volt Switch vs. 252 HP / 184+ SpD Diancie: 67-79 (22 - 25.9%) -- possible 5HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery

0 SpA Diancie Earth Power vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Mega Manectric: 158-186 (56.2 - 66.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

You take very little from Mega Manectric and threaten the 2HKO back with Earth Power.

252 SpA Choice Specs Raikou Thunderbolt vs. 252 HP / 184+ SpD Diancie: 114-135 (37.5 - 44.4%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
252 SpA Choice Specs Raikou Shadow Ball vs. 252 HP / 184+ SpD Diancie: 68-80 (22.3 - 26.3%) -- possible 5HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery

0 SpA Diancie Earth Power vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Assault Vest Raikou: 88-104 (27.4 - 32.3%) -- guaranteed 4HKO
0 SpA Diancie Earth Power vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Raikou: 130-154 (40.4 - 47.9%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Leftovers recovery
0 Atk Diancie Diamond Storm vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Raikou: 136-162 (42.3 - 50.4%) -- 1.2% chance to 2HKO

Raikou fares better but if it's locked into the wrong move or doesn't have the right coverage, you win. Note that Earth Power does less than Diamond Storm, so don't be suckered into using Earth Power, especially versus CM Raikou!

252 SpA Heatran Magma Storm vs. 252 HP / 184+ SpD Diancie: 46-54 (15.1 - 17.7%) -- possible 8HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
252 SpA Heatran Earth Power vs. 252 HP / 184+ SpD Diancie: 112-132 (36.8 - 43.4%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery

0 SpA Diancie Earth Power vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Heatran: 248-292 (76.7 - 90.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
0 SpA Diancie Earth Power vs. 248 HP / 192+ SpD Heatran: 188-224 (48.8 - 58.1%) -- 50.8% chance to 2HKO after Leftovers recovery

Offensive Flash Cannon OHKO's you, but that's becoming less and less common in favor of Magma Storm for trapping and Earth Power to hit other Heatran. Either way, scout for the Flash Cannon with Protect, and act appropriately. If there's no Flash Cannon, you win the 1v1.

180 SpA Life Orb Tornadus-T Focus Blast vs. 252 HP / 184+ SpD Diancie: 81-96 (26.6 - 31.5%) -- guaranteed 4HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
180 SpA Life Orb Tornadus-T Hurricane vs. 252 HP / 184+ SpD Diancie: 55-66 (18 - 21.7%) -- possible 6HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
76 Atk Life Orb Tornadus-T Superpower vs. 252 HP / 72 Def Diancie: 81-96 (26.6 - 31.5%) -- guaranteed 4HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery

0 Atk Diancie Diamond Storm vs. 96 HP / 0- Def Tornadus-T: 288-342 (89.1 - 105.8%) -- 37.5% chance to OHKO
0 Atk Diancie Diamond Storm vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Tornadus-T: 260-308 (86.9 - 103%) -- 18.8% chance to OHKO

You threaten the OHKO back after LO recoil or after a tiny bit of chip damage, while taking very little from Focus Blast or Hurricane. Even Superpower doesn't do much, while you threaten back the OHKO with Diamond Storm at that point.

252 SpA Thundurus Thunderbolt vs. 252 HP / 184+ SpD Diancie: 81-96 (26.6 - 31.5%) -- guaranteed 4HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
252 SpA Life Orb Thundurus Thunderbolt vs. 252 HP / 184+ SpD Diancie: 105-125 (34.5 - 41.1%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
76 Atk Life Orb Thundurus Superpower vs. 252 HP / 72 Def Diancie: 91-108 (29.9 - 35.5%) -- 26.3% chance to 3HKO
+2 252 SpA Thundurus Thunderbolt vs. 252 HP / 184+ SpD Diancie: 160-190 (52.6 - 62.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery

0 Atk Diancie Diamond Storm vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Thundurus: 288-342 (96.3 - 114.3%) -- 81.3% chance to OHKO

Even if Thundurus Nasty Plots as you switch in, you threaten the OHKO back. Mixed Thundurus can't really hurt you badly either.

160 Atk Life Orb Hoopa Unbound Gunk Shot vs. 252 HP / 72 Def Diancie: 125-148 (41.1 - 48.6%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
96 SpA Life Orb Hoopa Unbound Psychic vs. 252 HP / 184+ SpD Diancie: 121-144 (39.8 - 47.3%) -- 1.2% chance to 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
96 SpA Life Orb Hoopa Unbound Dark Pulse vs. 252 HP / 184+ SpD Diancie: 55-64 (18 - 21%) -- possible 6HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
252 SpA Life Orb Hoopa Unbound Psychic vs. 252 HP / 184+ SpD Diancie: 133-157 (43.7 - 51.6%) -- 66.8% chance to 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery

252 Atk Choice Band Hoopa Unbound Hyperspace Fury vs. 252 HP / 72 Def Diancie: 96-113 (31.5 - 37.1%) -- 81.2% chance to 3HKO
252 Atk Choice Band Hoopa Unbound Gunk Shot vs. 252 HP / 72 Def Diancie: 153-180 (50.3 - 59.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

Note that only Banded Hoopa Gunk Shot can 2HKO, and even that can be stopped with using Protect to get some HP back. Otherwise, Gunk Shot is a clean 3HKO, while even LO Psychic does under 50% most of the time (and you can Protect to ensure you avoid the 2HKO chance after SR). In response...

0 Atk Diancie Diamond Storm vs. 0 HP / 0- Def Hoopa Unbound: 181-214 (60.1 - 71%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
0 SpA Diancie Moonblast vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Hoopa Unbound: 164-194 (54.4 - 64.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
0 Atk Diancie Diamond Storm vs. -1 0 HP / 0- Def Hoopa Unbound: 273-322 (90.6 - 106.9%) -- 43.8% chance to OHKO

After a defense drop from Hyperspace Fury, you can OHKO back with Diamond Storm (especially if LO recoil is there) and you still take off massive amounts of HP with either Moonblast or Diamond Storm.

252 SpA Life Orb Latios Psyshock vs. 252 HP / 72 Def Diancie: 114-136 (37.5 - 44.7%) -- guaranteed 3HKO

0 SpA Diancie Moonblast vs. 72 HP / 0 SpD Latias: 164-194 (51.4 - 60.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

You eat up LO Psyshock and 2HKO back. Note that you can't actually do over 50% to the standard Mega Latias set, so watch out for that, but Shedinja can handle those.

252 SpA Mega Charizard Y Fire Blast vs. 252 HP / 184+ SpD Diancie in Sun: 88-104 (28.9 - 34.2%) -- 2.3% chance to 3HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
252 SpA Mega Charizard Y Solar Beam vs. 252 HP / 184+ SpD Diancie: 172-204 (56.5 - 67.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery

Diamond Storm obviously OHKO's back. In essence, if you switch in on Fire Blast, you win the 1v1. If you switch on Solar Beam, you don't (unless they go for Fire Blast thinking it'll kill). Still, you check this monster, which is very nice.

232 SpA Pixilate Mega Gardevoir Hyper Voice vs. 252 HP / 184+ SpD Diancie: 127-151 (41.7 - 49.6%) -- 23.8% chance to 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
232 SpA Mega Gardevoir Psyshock vs. 252 HP / 72 Def Diancie: 103-123 (33.8 - 40.4%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
+1 232 SpA Pixilate Mega Gardevoir Hyper Voice vs. 252 HP / 184+ SpD Diancie: 190-225 (62.5 - 74%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery

0 Atk Diancie Diamond Storm vs. 0 HP / 24 Def Mega Gardevoir: 148-175 (53.4 - 63.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

If you want to play it extra safe, go for Protect after you switch in to get that little bit of extra HP and dodge the 2HKO. Watch out for CM variants, but that's why you have Protect and Shedinja.

252+ SpA Togekiss Air Slash vs. 252 HP / 184+ SpD Diancie: 36-42 (11.8 - 13.8%) -- possibly the worst move ever
+2 252+ SpA Togekiss Air Slash vs. 252 HP / 184+ SpD Diancie: 72-84 (23.6 - 27.6%) -- 6% chance to 4HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
+4 252+ SpA Togekiss Air Slash vs. 252 HP / 184+ SpD Diancie: 107-126 (35.1 - 41.4%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
+6 252+ SpA Togekiss Air Slash vs. 252 HP / 184+ SpD Diancie: 143-168 (47 - 55.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery

0 Atk Diancie Diamond Storm vs. 248 HP / 0 Def Togekiss: 224-266 (60 - 71.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
0 Atk Diancie Diamond Storm vs. 252 HP / 252 Def Togekiss: 176-210 (47 - 56.1%) -- 21.5% chance to 2HKO after Leftovers recovery

Unless Togekiss is max Bulk, it can't take Diamond Storms, but in that case, it's probably gonna run out of PP before it can kill you with Air Slash, since you have a very good shot at avoiding the 2HKO using Protect (with a bit of luck of course) even at +6 from a Modest Max SpA Togekiss. Good stop to one of the most potent stallbreakers that can set up on Shedinja with ease.

252 SpA Mega Alakazam Psychic vs. 252 HP / 184+ SpD Diancie: 103-123 (33.8 - 40.4%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
252 SpA Life Orb Alakazam Psyshock vs. 252 HP / 72 Def Diancie: 118-140 (38.8 - 46%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
252 SpA Life Orb Alakazam Psychic vs. 252 HP / 184+ SpD Diancie: 110-133 (36.1 - 43.7%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
252 SpA Life Orb Alakazam Energy Ball vs. 252 HP / 184+ SpD Diancie: 148-177 (48.6 - 58.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery

0 Atk Diancie Diamond Storm vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Mega Alakazam: 153-180 (60.9 - 71.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
0 SpA Diancie Moonblast vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Alakazam: 108-127 (43 - 50.5%) -- 2.3% chance to 2HKO

You dodge the 2HKO from almost all the common moves (except maybe Energy Ball, but then you have Protect and Alakazam is missing out on some other coverage), and Diamond Storm wrecks face.

252+ SpA Teravolt Kyurem-B Earth Power vs. 252 HP / 184+ SpD Diancie: 114-136 (37.5 - 44.7%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
252+ SpA Teravolt Kyurem-B Ice Beam vs. 252 HP / 184+ SpD Diancie: 85-102 (27.9 - 33.5%) -- 0.1% chance to 3HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
252+ SpA Life Orb Teravolt Kyurem-B Ice Beam vs. 252 HP / 184+ SpD Diancie: 110-133 (36.1 - 43.7%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
252+ SpA Life Orb Teravolt Kyurem-B Earth Power vs. 252 HP / 184+ SpD Diancie: 148-177 (48.6 - 58.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
32 SpA Teravolt Kyurem-B Ice Beam vs. 252 HP / 184+ SpD Diancie: 67-79 (22 - 25.9%) -- possible 5HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery

0 SpA Diancie Moonblast vs. 56 HP / 0 SpD Kyurem-B: 224-266 (55.3 - 65.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
0 Atk Diancie Diamond Storm vs. 56 HP / 0- Def Kyurem-B: 240-284 (59.2 - 70.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery

Special Kyurem-Black hits very hard with Life Orb, and Teravolt means would-be checks/counters like Mega Venusaur or Dragonite get destroyed. However, unless Kyurem-B has a Life Orb, max SpA investment, and Earth Power, you avoid the 2HKO and 2HKO back with Diamond Storm or Moonblast. Even if the worst-case scenario is there, you can use Protect to give yourself a better shot (don't switch in Shedinja because Teravolt makes you very sad). SubRoost Kyurem-B (special variants) lose to you in the 1v1 as well.

252+ SpA Victini Focus Blast vs. 252 HP / 184+ SpD Diancie: 68-80 (22.3 - 26.3%) -- possible 5HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
252+ SpA Victini Blue Flare vs. 252 HP / 184+ SpD Diancie: 54-65 (17.7 - 21.3%) -- possible 6HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery

0 Atk Diancie Diamond Storm vs. 248 HP / 68 Def Victini: 204-240 (50.6 - 59.5%) -- 80.1% chance to 2HKO after Leftovers recovery

Special Lure Victini is a thing that beats up on TankChomp/Lando and other common counters to Banded Victini. However, Special Victini can't really touch this Diance set, and your Diamond Storm has great odds to 2HKO even bulky Stallbreaker Victini sets.

252 SpA Mega Diancie Earth Power vs. 252 HP / 184+ SpD Diancie: 130-154 (42.7 - 50.6%) -- 42.6% chance to 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery

0 SpA Diancie Earth Power vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Mega Diancie: 120-142 (49.7 - 58.9%) -- 99.6% chance to 2HKO

You actually beat normal Mega Diance in a 1v1, which is pretty awesome. Use Protect to ensure the victory if rocks are up on your side as you switch in from full.

252+ Atk Choice Band Talonflame Brave Bird vs. 252 HP / 72 Def Diancie: 78-93 (25.6 - 30.5%) -- guaranteed 4HKO
+2 252 Atk Sharp Beak Talonflame Brave Bird vs. 252 HP / 72 Def Diancie: 114-135 (37.5 - 44.4%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
+6 0 Atk Talonflame Brave Bird vs. 252 HP / 72 Def Diancie: 144-170 (47.3 - 55.9%) -- 80.1% chance to 2HKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Talonflame Steel Wing vs. 252 HP / 72 Def Diancie: 248-292 (81.5 - 96%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

0 Atk Diancie Diamond Storm vs. 248 HP / 0 Def Talonflame: 288-338 (80.2 - 94.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
0 SpA Diancie Earth Power vs. 248 HP / 252+ SpD Talonflame: 118-140 (32.8 - 38.9%) -- 6.9% chance to 3HKO after Leftovers recovery
0 Atk Diancie Diamond Storm vs. +3 248 HP / 0 Def Talonflame: 232-276 (64.6 - 76.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery

As you can see, the only Talonflame that beat you are the ones that run Steel Wing and nail you either on the switch, or boost to +2 as you come in and hit you with Steel Wing (which is sometimes run to beat Mega Diance, so scout with Protect). Even if Talonflame has started setting up, Diamond Storm does tons of damage even through Roost, and you can nail Talonflame with Earth Power on the Roost for good damage too. Basically, feel free to switch Diance in to Talonflame whenever, but use Protect to be safe!

248+ Atk Mega Aerodactyl Stone Edge vs. 252 HP / 72 Def Diancie: 123-145 (40.4 - 47.6%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
248+ Atk Tough Claws Mega Aerodactyl Pursuit vs. 252 HP / 72 Def Diancie: 21-25 (6.9 - 8.2%) -- possibly the worst move ever

0 Atk Diancie Diamond Storm vs. 0 HP / 44 Def Mega Aerodactyl: 236-278 (78.4 - 92.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

Aqua Tail is a clean 2HKO, but after SR, your Diamond Storm OHKOs Mega Aerodactyl back. Pursuit is becoming more common on Mega Aerodactyl, but you don't really care about that at all.

252 Atk Tyranitar Stone Edge vs. 252 HP / 72 Def Diancie: 112-133 (36.8 - 43.7%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
252 Atk Tyranitar Crunch vs. 252 HP / 72 Def Diancie: 45-53 (14.8 - 17.4%) -- possible 6HKO

You check this since Stone Edge really hurts and Moonblast is a 3HKO, but still, at least it can check if needed. Definitely something to account for in the rest of teambuilding though.

240+ Atk Pure Power Mega Medicham High Jump Kick vs. 252 HP / 72 Def Diancie: 256-303 (84.2 - 99.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
240+ Atk Pure Power Mega Medicham Bullet Punch vs. 252 HP / 72 Def Diancie: 212-252 (69.7 - 82.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

0 SpA Diancie Moonblast vs. 16 HP / 0 SpD Mega Medicham: 236-278 (89 - 104.9%) -- 31.3% chance to OHKO

You lose the 1v1 handily, but if your opponent thinks you're Mega Diance and goes for the Bullet Punch, has a bit of chip damage, and you're at full or close to it...you can actually pseudo-revenge kill. Unreliable as hell, but interesting enough that I thought it warrants calcing and posting.

252+ Atk Life Orb Sheer Force Conkeldurr Poison Jab vs. 252 HP / 72 Def Diancie: 114-135 (37.5 - 44.4%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
252+ Atk Life Orb Conkeldurr Drain Punch vs. 252 HP / 72 Def Diancie: 125-148 (41.1 - 48.6%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
252+ Atk Life Orb Conkeldurr Mach Punch vs. 252 HP / 72 Def Diancie: 66-79 (21.7 - 25.9%) -- 4% chance to 4HKO
252+ Atk Conkeldurr Drain Punch vs. 252 HP / 72 Def Diancie: 96-114 (31.5 - 37.5%) -- 0% chance to 3HKO after Leftovers recovery

0 SpA Diancie Moonblast vs. 0 HP / 236 SpD Assault Vest Conkeldurr: 144-170 (41 - 48.4%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
0 SpA Diancie Moonblast vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Conkeldurr: 290-344 (70 - 83%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

You actually only check LO Sheer Force Conk due to how much Drain Punch and Mach Punch do (although it's possible to outplay with Protect), while you dumpster AV Conkeldurr

252 Atk Mega Pinsir Close Combat vs. 252 HP / 72 Def Diancie: 100-118 (32.8 - 38.8%) -- 99.5% chance to 3HKO
252 Atk Aerilate Mega Pinsir Return vs. 252 HP / 72 Def Diancie: 83-98 (27.3 - 32.2%) -- guaranteed 4HKO
252 Atk Aerilate Mega Pinsir Quick Attack vs. 252 HP / 72 Def Diancie: 33-39 (10.8 - 12.8%) -- possible 8HKO
+2 252 Atk Mega Pinsir Close Combat vs. 252 HP / 72 Def Diancie: 198-234 (65.1 - 76.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
+2 252 Atk Aerilate Mega Pinsir Quick Attack vs. 252 HP / 72 Def Diancie: 64-76 (21 - 25%) -- 0% chance to 4HKO

0 Atk Diancie Diamond Storm vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Pinsir: 216-254 (79.7 - 93.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
0 SpA Diancie Moonblast vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Pinsir: 138-163 (50.9 - 60.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

Diamond Storm OHKOs Mega Pinsir, and unless Mega Pinsir is running EQ (most run CC nowadays to hit stuff like Tyranitar harder while still hitting Heatran), you win the 1v1 handily, even if you switch in on Swords Dance'd Quick Attack. If Pinsir doesn't mega to try and mindgame you, you still do loads with Diamond Storm and even Moonblast is a clean 2HKO.

252 Atk Adaptability Mega Beedrill Poison Jab vs. 252 HP / 72 Def Diancie: 130-154 (42.7 - 50.6%) -- 2.3% chance to 2HKO
252 Atk Adaptability Mega Beedrill U-turn vs. 252 HP / 72 Def Diancie: 57-68 (18.7 - 22.3%) -- possible 5HKO

The Mega Beedrill that think they can just Poison Jab you and kill you are in for a nasty surprise since you cleanly avoid the 2HKO even without Protect and Diamond Storm obliterates back.

252 Atk Mega Lopunny High Jump Kick vs. 252 HP / 72 Def Diancie: 147-174 (48.3 - 57.2%) -- 91.8% chance to 2HKO
252 Atk Mega Lopunny Return vs. 252 HP / 72 Def Diancie: 57-68 (18.7 - 22.3%) -- possible 5HKO
252 Atk Mega Lopunny Fake Out vs. 252 HP / 72 Def Diancie: 23-27 (7.5 - 8.8%) -- possibly the worst move ever

0 SpA Diancie Moonblast vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Mega Lopunny: 212-252 (78.2 - 92.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

If you don't use Protect, you lose the 1v1, but with Protect you can force out or beat Mega Lopunny handily. Of course, Shedinja handles Mega Lopunny handily, but always good to have a backup.

+2 252 Atk Hawlucha High Jump Kick vs. 252 HP / 72 Def Diancie: 223-264 (73.3 - 86.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
+2 252 Atk Hawlucha Acrobatics (110 BP) vs. 252 HP / 72 Def Diancie: 94-111 (30.9 - 36.5%) -- 69.4% chance to 3HKO
252 Atk Hawlucha High Jump Kick vs. 252 HP / 72 Def Diancie: 112-133 (36.8 - 43.7%) -- guaranteed 3HKO

Even behind the sub, Hawlucha can't OHKO you at +2 so as long as Hawlucha isn't at +2 and behind a sub already, you can beat it. Judicious use of Protect can also make Hawlucha's life miserable.

252+ Atk Choice Band Victini V-create vs. 252 HP / 72 Def Diancie: 135-159 (44.4 - 52.3%) -- 16% chance to 2HKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Victini Bolt Strike vs. 252 HP / 72 Def Diancie: 130-153 (42.7 - 50.3%) -- 1.2% chance to 2HKO

0 Atk Diancie Diamond Storm vs. -1 0 HP / 4 Def Victini: 320-380 (93.8 - 111.4%) -- 68.8% chance to OHKO
0 SpA Diancie Earth Power vs. -1 0 HP / 0 SpD Victini: 194-230 (56.8 - 67.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

Banded Victini is a monster, and Banded V-create is even more scary. Even without Protect though, you eat that up and avoid the 2HKO most of the time while threatening the OHKO back with Diamond Storm or Earth Power.

252+ Atk Choice Band Entei Bulldoze vs. 252 HP / 72 Def Diancie: 134-158 (44 - 51.9%) -- 13.3% chance to 2HKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Entei Sacred Fire vs. 252 HP / 72 Def Diancie: 82-97 (26.9 - 31.9%) -- guaranteed 4HKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Entei Stone Edge vs. 252 HP / 72 Def Diancie: 110-130 (36.1 - 42.7%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Entei Stone Edge vs. 252 HP / 72 Def Diancie: 110-130 (36.1 - 42.7%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Leftovers recovery and burn damage

0 SpA Diancie Earth Power vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Entei: 164-194 (44.2 - 52.2%) -- 17.6% chance to 2HKO
0 Atk burned Diancie Diamond Storm vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Entei: 123-145 (33.1 - 39%) -- 99.9% chance to 3HKO
0 Atk Diancie Diamond Storm vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Entei: 246-290 (66.3 - 78.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

Banded Entei is strong and underused, and Sacred Fire burns wreck many common checks/counters like Tyranitar and fat ground types. If Diance gets burned, things get a bit dicey, but Protect and Earth Power mean you still win the 1v1 (even if you switch in). If Entei locks itself into Bulldoze, just go into Shedinja.

Weaknesses of this 2-mon core: If you're not running SD on Shedinja, you will lose to CM Manaphy/Latias/Suicune, and things like CroBro too. Strong setup sweepers like Charizard X with EQ and Sand Rush Excadrill will also easily muscle past this core, as well as things like Mega Altaria and DD/Band Dragonite. Probably the biggest weakness of this core is the lack of recovery/status absorption or removal: yea, Shedinja has 1HP, but it's vulnerable to status, while Diance has no recovery other than Leftovers and does not like status at all. Things with coverage like HP Fire Manaphy can also wreck this core, so if not scouted, they dismantle the duo.

How to patch the core's weaknesses: Mega Sableye works decently with this core, since it bounces Hazards, but it doesn't deal with the setup sweepers I mentioned very well. Fat Wish-Passers like Alomomola can put in work versus physical setup sweepers like Zard X and Excadrill, and give super-valuable recovery to Diance. One of the best mons to pair with this duo is Unaware Clefable, which ignores boost and if packing CM, can boost up and beat the special sweepers mentioned. Plus, Unaware Clefable can alternatively Wish-Pass and carry Heal Bell (but it can't do everything at once).
 
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I just realized I am missing ~40 EVs randomly from my Diance set. RIP. Will update calcs, but mostly same other than "better at checking the stuff" than it was earlier by 1 or 2 percent on the defensive sides.

EDIT: Changed the calcs after adding the missing EVs to SpDef, changes some 3HKO's/2HKO's after rocks to the larger value (when including Protect), so actually important-ish.
 
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+

Heatran @ Leftovers
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Magma Storm
- Earth Power
- Taunt
- Toxic

Latios @ Life Orb
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Defog
- Roost
- Psyshock
- Draco Meteor


Latios is perhaps stallbreaker heatran's best partner having solid defensive synergy with it being able to switch into most of its counters and reliably beat them. Heatran is also able to take on some of Latios' counters, for example clefable which is trapped and beaten along with other trans as well as some other threats like SD Scizor which can set up on Latios.

Overall they form a pretty solid core that can cover up each other weakness and remove the counters/checks.
 
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Phantom Me

Banned deucer.

Keldeo-Resolute @ Choice Specs
Ability: Justified
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Scald
- Secret Sword
- Hydro Pump
- Icy Wind
Bisharp @ Black Glasses
Ability: Defiant
EVs: 252 Atk / 52 SpD / 204 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Knock Off
- Iron Head
- Sucker Punch
- Pursuit
Manectric @ Manectite
Ability: Lightning Rod
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Volt Switch
- Thunderbolt
- Flamethrower
- Hidden Power Ice

But still,this is one of the best cores in the oras ou metagame.Bisharp takes care of psychic,fairy types for keldeo.It also pursuit traps the latis.Its also one of the most reliable switchins to venusaur and slowbro.It also resists dragon moves.Keldeo kills fire,ground Mons for bisharp.They both exert extreme amount of pressure.Since the core is weak to tflame and other electrics,torn-t,manectric was added.It also weakens physical attackers with intimidate and provides momentum with volt-switch.Hope you like it.
 
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Martin

A monoid in the category of endofunctors
is a Smogon Discord Contributoris a Forum Moderator Alumnusis a Community Contributor Alumnusis a Contributor Alumnus
Signups close in 7-8 hours, so any last-minute submissions need to be in by then.
 


Thundurus-Therian @ Leftovers
Ability: Volt Absorb
EVs: 100 HP / 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 152 Spe
Modest Nature
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power [Flying]
- Grass Knot
- Agility

Keldeo @ Choice Specs
Ability: Justified
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Scald
- Secret Sword
- Hydro Pump
- Icy Wind


Keldeo helps remove bulky grounds, steel types & Chansey/Blissey who can give Thundurus-T trouble. Keldeo can also switch easily in to most super effective moves aimed at Thundurus-T (bar Freeze dry). Thundurus-T takes most super effective moves aimed at Keldeo (bar Psychic & Fairy). It removes grass types such as Amoonguss/Venusaur & water types such as Jellicent/Gastrodon/Seismitoed to make cleaning up late game easier for Keldeo. The ev's on Thundurus-T allow it to outspeed sand drill after an agility (although you can't do much to it) & gives it extra bulk to turn HP-Ice from M-Man into a roll instead of a guaranteed 2hko.

This core struggles with M-Man somewhat, SD/Scarf excadrill & Latios/Latias/M-Gardevoir; Adding something like mixed Hippowdon/M-Venusaur & Scarf T-tar (to pursuit trap/revenge) can be beneficial.
 

Martin

A monoid in the category of endofunctors
is a Smogon Discord Contributoris a Forum Moderator Alumnusis a Community Contributor Alumnusis a Contributor Alumnus
OK so the submission stage is now over. Your options are below (I apologise for the format; I'm stuck posting from my iPad rn due to my sister hogging the computer, and as such its really obnoxious trying to c/p stuff on the forums using this thing. I'll fix the format when I get to a computer so just bare with me until then).
Bisharp+Lopunny

Bisharp @ Black Glasses
Ability: Defiant
EVs: 72 HP / 252 Atk / 184 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Knock Off
- Iron Head
- Pursuit

Lopunny @ Lopunnite
Ability: Limber
Shiny: Yes
Happiness: 0
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Frustration
- High Jump Kick
- Fake Out
- Baton Pass

Pretty simple core. Lopunny draws in Clefable, Mega Alakazam, and Celebi, all of which Bisharp can beat. Bisharp also takes on scarf Latios.

Peril (Manectric) @ Manectite
Ability: Lightning Rod
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Volt Switch
- Thunderbolt
- Flamethrower
- Hidden Power Ice

Lifted (Landorus-Therian) @ Earth Plate / Leftovers
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 56 HP / 220 Atk / 232 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- U-turn
- Swords Dance
Lifted (Landorus-Therian) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- Knock Off
- U-turn

Landorus-T and Mega Manectric form a powerful core. They share decent defensive and offensive synergy, being able to break down each others checks. For example, Mega Manectric's Electric-type STAB moves are able to break down Slowbro, Keldeo, Suicune, Starmie, and other bulky Water-types, and can nail the likes of Garchomp, Gliscor, and opposing Landorus-T with Hidden Power Ice. In return, Landorus-T can beat Excadrill, Garchomp, Chansey, and set up on Hippowdon if running Swords Dance. The two also share the same ability, Intimidate. This allows the duo to heavily weaken physical attackers such as Talonflame, Scizor, Breloom, and Mega Charizard X.

Overall, Manectric and Landorus form a very solid core that can abuse each other's positives, such as Manectric's blistering fast Speed tier against offense and Landorus-T's ability to break down bulkier teams with Swords Dance.

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

Azumarill @ Leftovers
Ability: Sap Sipper
EVs: 252 HP / 114 Def / 138 SpD / 4 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Scald
- Rest
- Toxic
- Encore / Sleep Talk

Sap Sipper Azu is a based set, and it pairs well with Gastrodon due to it acting as an immunity to its sole weakness. Gastro returns the favor with an electric immunity and a poison resistance, allowing for the twosome to have a grand total of zero combined weaknesses. Curse Gastro also benefits from the Encore support if Azu carries it to set up curses on stuff, although the Encore moveslot is entirely interchangeable with Sleep Talk depending on whether you want more utility or to not be a complete sitting duck every time you heal. I stole the azu evs a few months ago but i've forgotten who from or what the EVs do, so credit to whoever made them.

Gengar
@ Life Orb
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Shadow Ball
- Sludge Wave
- Focus Blast
- Icy Wind

Crawdaunt @ Life Orb
Ability: Adaptability
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Crabhammer
- Knock Off
- Aqua Jet

We all know how good Dark & Ghost became during ORAS, and these two guys are good examples of things that abuse the buff well. Gengar and Crawdaunt form a strong offensive duo and aren't easy to switch into because of the immense power behind their STABs. Aside from packing a punch individually, Gengar and Crawdaunt offensively cover each other's weaknesses rather well. For example, Gengar is afraid of threats like Bisharp, Weavile, and Tar. These are all Pokemon Crawdaunt is able to check or take advantage of to either SD up or use a strong attack immediately. With Aqua Jet, it's also able to check Exca, who revenges Gengar easily. Moreover, Crawdaunt's immunity to psychic allows it to potentially switch into the likes of bulky Starmie, who can revenge kill Gengar with Psyshock. On the flip side, Crawdaunt has trouble with the likes of Mega Venu, Breloom, Chesnaught, and Mega Altaria. Gengar threatens all of these Pokemon nicely and has a useful immunity to Breloom's Mach Punch. Icy Wind also hits unsuspecting defensive Garchomp, which benefits the crab.

In addition to the cool resistances these two have between each other, their immunity to fighting and psychic, respectively, is helpful to force Scarf users like Keld, Jirachi, Lando-T, and Hoopa-U into prediction mind games or unfavorable situations. For example, when Scarf Keld is the only Pokemon remaining on the opposing team, it's going to lose to Gengar + Crawdaunt because using Secret Sword isn't an option. Likewise, if Scarf Keld tries revenge killing a Crawdaunt mid game, it's going to have to face the risk of Gengar potentially coming in for free. The other revenge killers mentioned are forced into similar situations in one way or another, demonstrating how the immunity these two have benefits one another.

Overall, these two make a good combo. They synergize well offensively and are able to overwhelm many defensive builds with their immense power and beautiful coverage. As explained above, Gengar and Crawdaunt make good use of the immunity they have to fighting and psychic, respectively, making them a good duo to fulfill this week's theme.
IF YOU HAVE'NT USED ZYGARDE I URGE YOU TRY THIS MONSTER

Gardevoir @ Gardevoirite
Ability: Trace
EVs: 8 HP / 16 Def / 232 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Hyper Voice
- Psyshock
- Focus Blast
- Calm Mind

Zygarde @ Lum Berry
Ability: Aura Break
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Outrage
- Extreme Speed
- Earthquake
- Dragon Dance

Ok, so originally I was going to post CM Clefable + Coil Zygarde but after testing for an hour this proved to be a better build which I initially planned to post in the Good Cores thread, but I felt like contributing to our thread instead. So we all know how Mega Gardevoir is an incredible wallbreaker and (sorta) underrated right now with the influx of Steel-types namely Scarf Jirachi and Mega Metagross being relatively popular right now. However it's still as dangerous and effective as ever. Zygarde is probably the most slept on threat in the tier as its usually shunned for other sweepers like Mega Charizard X or SD Garchomp. Zygarde, however, has insane physical bulk allowing it to setup on pretty easily and proceed to tear through unprepared teams. So why are these two a good core? Mega Gardevoir easily breaks past most of Zygarde's checks including, but not limited to Landorus-T, Clefable, and Rotom-W. With a wallbreaker such as Mega Gardevoir, Zygarde can find ample opportunity to secure a clean. Despite the power these two bring, Skarmory, Ferrothorn, and Mega Scizor are the most annoying threats to face making SD + Smack Down Landorus-T a nice partner.


Fire-Water-Grass cores have really good synergy in general. But with this core sporting four immunities the core synergizes really well. They can easily switch into each others checks. This core in general is really hard to deal with when it comes to top tier threats like Azumarill, Keldeo, Weavile, and Diancie. M-Venusaur is the win condition. Heatran for rocks and beating steels for Venusaur. Gastrodon to switchin to opposing Heatrans and wear down pokes with toxic. Core struggles against Tornadus. A good partner would be something like Weavile that can beat Tornadus-Therian.

Venusaur @ Venusaurite
Ability: Chlorophyll
EVs: 232 HP / 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 20 Spe
Modest Nature
- Giga Drain
- Sludge Bomb
- Toxic
- Synthesis

Heatran @ Leftovers
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 248 HP / 192 SpD / 68 Spe
Calm Nature
- Lava Plume
- Toxic
- Taunt
- Stealth Rock

Gastrodon @ Leftovers
Ability: Storm Drain
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Relaxed Nature
- Scald
- Earthquake
- Toxic
- Recover
and


This core is probably not super-great, but it's pretty fun and can handle a lot of metagame threats and the like. Plus, frustrating people with Shedinja is always nice. Onto the core.


Shedinja @ Focus Sash/Safety Goggles
Ability: Wonder Guard
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Will O' Wisp/Swords Dance
- X-Scissor
- Shadow Sneak
- Baton Pass/Protect

Moveset: X-Scissor and Shadow Sneak are STAB, and the latter is important priority too that does decent damage to the Lati twins, Alakazam, and other frail mons. WoW is super important because it lets you nail things like Tyranitar, Bisharp, Scizor, Azumarill, Garchomp, and Lando-T on the switch-in, and those are all gonna be viable/common switch-ins since you don't hit hard. WoW neuters most of them, but SD lets you act as a late game cleaner versus things like CM Manaphy, Crocune, CroBro, and so on. Whichever your team needs more, take that option. Baton Pass is super important because it lets you retain momentum and lets you get out of being Pursuit trapped, while Protect lets you scout for coverage from things like Mega Gardevoir or Manaphy.

Items: Focus Sash lets you survive 1 turn of sand or 1 Pursuit-trap, while Safety Goggles lets you ignore Sand and soak up Spore. Generally, Focus Sash is better unless you're running Sand on your own team.
EVs: Yea. Pretty obvious.

General: Shedinja's job is to sit there and wall things like Mega Metagross, Keldeo, and anything without the right STAB or coverage to hit you (and hopefully no status either). Your offensive presence is lackluster, but spreading WoW is very annoying. Use Baton Pass liberally to avoid being trapped and to gain momentum, and Shadow Sneak to pick off things that are REALLY low HP or weak to Ghost.

Now, what does Shedinja hate? Status, Sand (unless you're running Safety Goggles, which is usually suboptimal since you don't want to stay in on Breloom most of the time anyways or Tyranitar), Stealth Rocks, and Fire/Flying/Ghost/Dark/Rock (which is a lot of weaknesses to cover). Ideally then, you'll have a mon or two that can soak up status, benefit from or take away sand, remove hazards, and eat up the aforementioned moves. There's no one mon that can do those, or even most of those, so you'll need one or two additional mons to form a solid core, but I'll give a start.

Both regular and Mega Diance offer valuable traits to Shedinja: both forms check Flying/Fire/Dark types fairly well, Mega Diance can bounce Hazards and Status, and both benefit from Sand (normal Diance far more so due to being defensively oriented, while Mega Diance at least doesn't take chip damage and can sponge non-STAB special attacks a lot better in sand). I think Shedinja fits better on Balanced/Semi-Stall since it doesn't hit hard, has common weaknesses that ruin it, and offers more utility than offensive presence. Thus, I'm using non-mega Diance with this (might post a Mega Diance variant of this core later on) for the 2-man core.


Diancie @ Leftovers
Ability: Clear Body
EVs: 252 HP / 72 Def / 184 SpD
Sassy Nature
- Diamond Storm
- Moonblast
- Earth Power
- Protect/Stealth Rock/Heal Bell

Moveset: Diamond Storm and Moonblast for obligatory hard-hitting STAB that lets you beat things weak to your STAB. Be careful with your Diamond Storm PP.

Earth Power is very nice since it lets you hit Steel types like Metagross, Magnezone/Magneton, and Excadrill on the switch. It also lets you stop Skarmory or Talonflame (or other Flying pokemon with Roost) from freely Roosting on you, since you're so slow that you'll almost always go second. Hidden Power Fire is not recommended since uninvested it does absolutely pathetic damage even to 4 times weak mons (you can't 2HKO Bulky Mega Scizor with it).

Protect is really nice, as it lets you scout out an opponent's moves, letting you see if they have the right coverage to hit you, racking up burn or toxic damage, and letting you regain valuable Leftovers recovery. This is very useful as it can for example let you determine whether or not Kyurem-B is carrying the coverage needed to beat you (if it's not running Life Orb+Earth Power/Iron Head, it can't beat you consistently in a 1v1), or give you the necessary Leftovers recovery needed to let you beat Mega Lopunny, or even stop that HJK from connecting.

Other options include Stealth Rock if your team has no other setters, or Heal Bell (valuable with Shedinja), but generally Protect is the best option in this slot.

EVs: Diance has an awful base HP of 50, but monstrous base defenses at 150 base Def and SpDef, making it far bulkier than Mega Sableye in comparison (although having a different typing and no Magic Bounce, as Clear Body is fairly useless here). This mixed EV spread lets Diance check/counter many common threats such as LO Gengar, all Talonflame variants, Mega Manectric, non-Flash Cannon Heatran, almost all Hoopa Unbound, Conkeldurr (AV and Sheer Force), Thundurus (LO+Mixed+Nasty Plot), LO Tornadus, non-Mega Lati twins, non-EQ Mega Pinsir, Mega Gardevoir, Mega Alakazam, NP Togekiss, Band/Special Victini, and more.

Below are important calcs to show what this Diance set beats/checks, and how.

252 SpA Life Orb Gengar Sludge Wave vs. 252 HP / 184+ SpD Diancie: 114-136 (37.5 - 44.7%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Leftovers recovery
252 SpA Life Orb Gengar Sludge Wave vs. 252 HP / 184+ SpD Diancie: 114-136 (37.5 - 44.7%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
252 SpA Life Orb Gengar Shadow Ball vs. 252 HP / 184+ SpD Diancie: 97-114 (31.9 - 37.5%) -- 0% chance to 3HKO after Leftovers recovery

0 Atk Diancie Diamond Storm vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Gengar: 163-193 (62.9 - 74.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

You cleanly avoid the 3HKO from Sludge Wave even after Stealth Rock and threaten a 2HKO back.

252 SpA Mega Manectric Thunderbolt vs. 252 HP / 184+ SpD Diancie: 85-102 (27.9 - 33.5%) -- 0.1% chance to 3HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
252 SpA Mega Manectric Volt Switch vs. 252 HP / 184+ SpD Diancie: 67-79 (22 - 25.9%) -- possible 5HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery

0 SpA Diancie Earth Power vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Mega Manectric: 158-186 (56.2 - 66.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

You take very little from Mega Manectric and threaten the 2HKO back with Earth Power.

252 SpA Choice Specs Raikou Thunderbolt vs. 252 HP / 184+ SpD Diancie: 114-135 (37.5 - 44.4%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
252 SpA Choice Specs Raikou Shadow Ball vs. 252 HP / 184+ SpD Diancie: 68-80 (22.3 - 26.3%) -- possible 5HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery

0 SpA Diancie Earth Power vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Assault Vest Raikou: 88-104 (27.4 - 32.3%) -- guaranteed 4HKO
0 SpA Diancie Earth Power vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Raikou: 130-154 (40.4 - 47.9%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Leftovers recovery
0 Atk Diancie Diamond Storm vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Raikou: 136-162 (42.3 - 50.4%) -- 1.2% chance to 2HKO

Raikou fares better but if it's locked into the wrong move or doesn't have the right coverage, you win. Note that Earth Power does less than Diamond Storm, so don't be suckered into using Earth Power, especially versus CM Raikou!

252 SpA Heatran Magma Storm vs. 252 HP / 184+ SpD Diancie: 46-54 (15.1 - 17.7%) -- possible 8HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
252 SpA Heatran Earth Power vs. 252 HP / 184+ SpD Diancie: 112-132 (36.8 - 43.4%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery

0 SpA Diancie Earth Power vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Heatran: 248-292 (76.7 - 90.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
0 SpA Diancie Earth Power vs. 248 HP / 192+ SpD Heatran: 188-224 (48.8 - 58.1%) -- 50.8% chance to 2HKO after Leftovers recovery

Offensive Flash Cannon OHKO's you, but that's becoming less and less common in favor of Magma Storm for trapping and Earth Power to hit other Heatran. Either way, scout for the Flash Cannon with Protect, and act appropriately. If there's no Flash Cannon, you win the 1v1.

180 SpA Life Orb Tornadus-T Focus Blast vs. 252 HP / 184+ SpD Diancie: 81-96 (26.6 - 31.5%) -- guaranteed 4HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
180 SpA Life Orb Tornadus-T Hurricane vs. 252 HP / 184+ SpD Diancie: 55-66 (18 - 21.7%) -- possible 6HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
76 Atk Life Orb Tornadus-T Superpower vs. 252 HP / 72 Def Diancie: 81-96 (26.6 - 31.5%) -- guaranteed 4HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery

0 Atk Diancie Diamond Storm vs. 96 HP / 0- Def Tornadus-T: 288-342 (89.1 - 105.8%) -- 37.5% chance to OHKO
0 Atk Diancie Diamond Storm vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Tornadus-T: 260-308 (86.9 - 103%) -- 18.8% chance to OHKO

You threaten the OHKO back after LO recoil or after a tiny bit of chip damage, while taking very little from Focus Blast or Hurricane. Even Superpower doesn't do much, while you threaten back the OHKO with Diamond Storm at that point.

252 SpA Thundurus Thunderbolt vs. 252 HP / 184+ SpD Diancie: 81-96 (26.6 - 31.5%) -- guaranteed 4HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
252 SpA Life Orb Thundurus Thunderbolt vs. 252 HP / 184+ SpD Diancie: 105-125 (34.5 - 41.1%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
76 Atk Life Orb Thundurus Superpower vs. 252 HP / 72 Def Diancie: 91-108 (29.9 - 35.5%) -- 26.3% chance to 3HKO
+2 252 SpA Thundurus Thunderbolt vs. 252 HP / 184+ SpD Diancie: 160-190 (52.6 - 62.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery

0 Atk Diancie Diamond Storm vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Thundurus: 288-342 (96.3 - 114.3%) -- 81.3% chance to OHKO

Even if Thundurus Nasty Plots as you switch in, you threaten the OHKO back. Mixed Thundurus can't really hurt you badly either.

160 Atk Life Orb Hoopa Unbound Gunk Shot vs. 252 HP / 72 Def Diancie: 125-148 (41.1 - 48.6%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
96 SpA Life Orb Hoopa Unbound Psychic vs. 252 HP / 184+ SpD Diancie: 121-144 (39.8 - 47.3%) -- 1.2% chance to 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
96 SpA Life Orb Hoopa Unbound Dark Pulse vs. 252 HP / 184+ SpD Diancie: 55-64 (18 - 21%) -- possible 6HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
252 SpA Life Orb Hoopa Unbound Psychic vs. 252 HP / 184+ SpD Diancie: 133-157 (43.7 - 51.6%) -- 66.8% chance to 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery

252 Atk Choice Band Hoopa Unbound Hyperspace Fury vs. 252 HP / 72 Def Diancie: 96-113 (31.5 - 37.1%) -- 81.2% chance to 3HKO
252 Atk Choice Band Hoopa Unbound Gunk Shot vs. 252 HP / 72 Def Diancie: 153-180 (50.3 - 59.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

Note that only Banded Hoopa Gunk Shot can 2HKO, and even that can be stopped with using Protect to get some HP back. Otherwise, Gunk Shot is a clean 3HKO, while even LO Psychic does under 50% most of the time (and you can Protect to ensure you avoid the 2HKO chance after SR). In response...

0 Atk Diancie Diamond Storm vs. 0 HP / 0- Def Hoopa Unbound: 181-214 (60.1 - 71%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
0 SpA Diancie Moonblast vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Hoopa Unbound: 164-194 (54.4 - 64.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
0 Atk Diancie Diamond Storm vs. -1 0 HP / 0- Def Hoopa Unbound: 273-322 (90.6 - 106.9%) -- 43.8% chance to OHKO

After a defense drop from Hyperspace Fury, you can OHKO back with Diamond Storm (especially if LO recoil is there) and you still take off massive amounts of HP with either Moonblast or Diamond Storm.

252 SpA Life Orb Latios Psyshock vs. 252 HP / 72 Def Diancie: 114-136 (37.5 - 44.7%) -- guaranteed 3HKO

0 SpA Diancie Moonblast vs. 72 HP / 0 SpD Latias: 164-194 (51.4 - 60.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

You eat up LO Psyshock and 2HKO back. Note that you can't actually do over 50% to the standard Mega Latias set, so watch out for that, but Shedinja can handle those.

252 SpA Mega Charizard Y Fire Blast vs. 252 HP / 184+ SpD Diancie in Sun: 88-104 (28.9 - 34.2%) -- 2.3% chance to 3HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
252 SpA Mega Charizard Y Solar Beam vs. 252 HP / 184+ SpD Diancie: 172-204 (56.5 - 67.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery

Diamond Storm obviously OHKO's back. In essence, if you switch in on Fire Blast, you win the 1v1. If you switch on Solar Beam, you don't (unless they go for Fire Blast thinking it'll kill). Still, you check this monster, which is very nice.

232 SpA Pixilate Mega Gardevoir Hyper Voice vs. 252 HP / 184+ SpD Diancie: 127-151 (41.7 - 49.6%) -- 23.8% chance to 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
232 SpA Mega Gardevoir Psyshock vs. 252 HP / 72 Def Diancie: 103-123 (33.8 - 40.4%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
+1 232 SpA Pixilate Mega Gardevoir Hyper Voice vs. 252 HP / 184+ SpD Diancie: 190-225 (62.5 - 74%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery

0 Atk Diancie Diamond Storm vs. 0 HP / 24 Def Mega Gardevoir: 148-175 (53.4 - 63.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

If you want to play it extra safe, go for Protect after you switch in to get that little bit of extra HP and dodge the 2HKO. Watch out for CM variants, but that's why you have Protect and Shedinja.

252+ SpA Togekiss Air Slash vs. 252 HP / 184+ SpD Diancie: 36-42 (11.8 - 13.8%) -- possibly the worst move ever
+2 252+ SpA Togekiss Air Slash vs. 252 HP / 184+ SpD Diancie: 72-84 (23.6 - 27.6%) -- 6% chance to 4HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
+4 252+ SpA Togekiss Air Slash vs. 252 HP / 184+ SpD Diancie: 107-126 (35.1 - 41.4%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
+6 252+ SpA Togekiss Air Slash vs. 252 HP / 184+ SpD Diancie: 143-168 (47 - 55.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery

0 Atk Diancie Diamond Storm vs. 248 HP / 0 Def Togekiss: 224-266 (60 - 71.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
0 Atk Diancie Diamond Storm vs. 252 HP / 252 Def Togekiss: 176-210 (47 - 56.1%) -- 21.5% chance to 2HKO after Leftovers recovery

Unless Togekiss is max Bulk, it can't take Diamond Storms, but in that case, it's probably gonna run out of PP before it can kill you with Air Slash, since you have a very good shot at avoiding the 2HKO using Protect (with a bit of luck of course) even at +6 from a Modest Max SpA Togekiss. Good stop to one of the most potent stallbreakers that can set up on Shedinja with ease.

252 SpA Mega Alakazam Psychic vs. 252 HP / 184+ SpD Diancie: 103-123 (33.8 - 40.4%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
252 SpA Life Orb Alakazam Psyshock vs. 252 HP / 72 Def Diancie: 118-140 (38.8 - 46%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
252 SpA Life Orb Alakazam Psychic vs. 252 HP / 184+ SpD Diancie: 110-133 (36.1 - 43.7%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
252 SpA Life Orb Alakazam Energy Ball vs. 252 HP / 184+ SpD Diancie: 148-177 (48.6 - 58.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery

0 Atk Diancie Diamond Storm vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Mega Alakazam: 153-180 (60.9 - 71.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
0 SpA Diancie Moonblast vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Alakazam: 108-127 (43 - 50.5%) -- 2.3% chance to 2HKO

You dodge the 2HKO from almost all the common moves (except maybe Energy Ball, but then you have Protect and Alakazam is missing out on some other coverage), and Diamond Storm wrecks face.

252+ SpA Teravolt Kyurem-B Earth Power vs. 252 HP / 184+ SpD Diancie: 114-136 (37.5 - 44.7%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
252+ SpA Teravolt Kyurem-B Ice Beam vs. 252 HP / 184+ SpD Diancie: 85-102 (27.9 - 33.5%) -- 0.1% chance to 3HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
252+ SpA Life Orb Teravolt Kyurem-B Ice Beam vs. 252 HP / 184+ SpD Diancie: 110-133 (36.1 - 43.7%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
252+ SpA Life Orb Teravolt Kyurem-B Earth Power vs. 252 HP / 184+ SpD Diancie: 148-177 (48.6 - 58.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
32 SpA Teravolt Kyurem-B Ice Beam vs. 252 HP / 184+ SpD Diancie: 67-79 (22 - 25.9%) -- possible 5HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery

0 SpA Diancie Moonblast vs. 56 HP / 0 SpD Kyurem-B: 224-266 (55.3 - 65.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
0 Atk Diancie Diamond Storm vs. 56 HP / 0- Def Kyurem-B: 240-284 (59.2 - 70.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery

Special Kyurem-Black hits very hard with Life Orb, and Teravolt means would-be checks/counters like Mega Venusaur or Dragonite get destroyed. However, unless Kyurem-B has a Life Orb, max SpA investment, and Earth Power, you avoid the 2HKO and 2HKO back with Diamond Storm or Moonblast. Even if the worst-case scenario is there, you can use Protect to give yourself a better shot (don't switch in Shedinja because Teravolt makes you very sad). SubRoost Kyurem-B (special variants) lose to you in the 1v1 as well.

252+ SpA Victini Focus Blast vs. 252 HP / 184+ SpD Diancie: 68-80 (22.3 - 26.3%) -- possible 5HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
252+ SpA Victini Blue Flare vs. 252 HP / 184+ SpD Diancie: 54-65 (17.7 - 21.3%) -- possible 6HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery

0 Atk Diancie Diamond Storm vs. 248 HP / 68 Def Victini: 204-240 (50.6 - 59.5%) -- 80.1% chance to 2HKO after Leftovers recovery

Special Lure Victini is a thing that beats up on TankChomp/Lando and other common counters to Banded Victini. However, Special Victini can't really touch this Diance set, and your Diamond Storm has great odds to 2HKO even bulky Stallbreaker Victini sets.

252 SpA Mega Diancie Earth Power vs. 252 HP / 184+ SpD Diancie: 130-154 (42.7 - 50.6%) -- 42.6% chance to 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery

0 SpA Diancie Earth Power vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Mega Diancie: 120-142 (49.7 - 58.9%) -- 99.6% chance to 2HKO

You actually beat normal Mega Diance in a 1v1, which is pretty awesome. Use Protect to ensure the victory if rocks are up on your side as you switch in from full.

252+ Atk Choice Band Talonflame Brave Bird vs. 252 HP / 72 Def Diancie: 78-93 (25.6 - 30.5%) -- guaranteed 4HKO
+2 252 Atk Sharp Beak Talonflame Brave Bird vs. 252 HP / 72 Def Diancie: 114-135 (37.5 - 44.4%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
+6 0 Atk Talonflame Brave Bird vs. 252 HP / 72 Def Diancie: 144-170 (47.3 - 55.9%) -- 80.1% chance to 2HKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Talonflame Steel Wing vs. 252 HP / 72 Def Diancie: 248-292 (81.5 - 96%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

0 Atk Diancie Diamond Storm vs. 248 HP / 0 Def Talonflame: 288-338 (80.2 - 94.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
0 SpA Diancie Earth Power vs. 248 HP / 252+ SpD Talonflame: 118-140 (32.8 - 38.9%) -- 6.9% chance to 3HKO after Leftovers recovery
0 Atk Diancie Diamond Storm vs. +3 248 HP / 0 Def Talonflame: 232-276 (64.6 - 76.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery

As you can see, the only Talonflame that beat you are the ones that run Steel Wing and nail you either on the switch, or boost to +2 as you come in and hit you with Steel Wing (which is sometimes run to beat Mega Diance, so scout with Protect). Even if Talonflame has started setting up, Diamond Storm does tons of damage even through Roost, and you can nail Talonflame with Earth Power on the Roost for good damage too. Basically, feel free to switch Diance in to Talonflame whenever, but use Protect to be safe!

248+ Atk Mega Aerodactyl Stone Edge vs. 252 HP / 72 Def Diancie: 123-145 (40.4 - 47.6%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
248+ Atk Tough Claws Mega Aerodactyl Pursuit vs. 252 HP / 72 Def Diancie: 21-25 (6.9 - 8.2%) -- possibly the worst move ever

0 Atk Diancie Diamond Storm vs. 0 HP / 44 Def Mega Aerodactyl: 236-278 (78.4 - 92.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

Aqua Tail is a clean 2HKO, but after SR, your Diamond Storm OHKOs Mega Aerodactyl back. Pursuit is becoming more common on Mega Aerodactyl, but you don't really care about that at all.

252 Atk Tyranitar Stone Edge vs. 252 HP / 72 Def Diancie: 112-133 (36.8 - 43.7%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
252 Atk Tyranitar Crunch vs. 252 HP / 72 Def Diancie: 45-53 (14.8 - 17.4%) -- possible 6HKO

You check this since Stone Edge really hurts and Moonblast is a 3HKO, but still, at least it can check if needed. Definitely something to account for in the rest of teambuilding though.

240+ Atk Pure Power Mega Medicham High Jump Kick vs. 252 HP / 72 Def Diancie: 256-303 (84.2 - 99.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
240+ Atk Pure Power Mega Medicham Bullet Punch vs. 252 HP / 72 Def Diancie: 212-252 (69.7 - 82.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

0 SpA Diancie Moonblast vs. 16 HP / 0 SpD Mega Medicham: 236-278 (89 - 104.9%) -- 31.3% chance to OHKO

You lose the 1v1 handily, but if your opponent thinks you're Mega Diance and goes for the Bullet Punch, has a bit of chip damage, and you're at full or close to it...you can actually pseudo-revenge kill. Unreliable as hell, but interesting enough that I thought it warrants calcing and posting.

252+ Atk Life Orb Sheer Force Conkeldurr Poison Jab vs. 252 HP / 72 Def Diancie: 114-135 (37.5 - 44.4%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
252+ Atk Life Orb Conkeldurr Drain Punch vs. 252 HP / 72 Def Diancie: 125-148 (41.1 - 48.6%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
252+ Atk Life Orb Conkeldurr Mach Punch vs. 252 HP / 72 Def Diancie: 66-79 (21.7 - 25.9%) -- 4% chance to 4HKO
252+ Atk Conkeldurr Drain Punch vs. 252 HP / 72 Def Diancie: 96-114 (31.5 - 37.5%) -- 0% chance to 3HKO after Leftovers recovery

0 SpA Diancie Moonblast vs. 0 HP / 236 SpD Assault Vest Conkeldurr: 144-170 (41 - 48.4%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
0 SpA Diancie Moonblast vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Conkeldurr: 290-344 (70 - 83%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

You actually only check LO Sheer Force Conk due to how much Drain Punch and Mach Punch do (although it's possible to outplay with Protect), while you dumpster AV Conkeldurr

252 Atk Mega Pinsir Close Combat vs. 252 HP / 72 Def Diancie: 100-118 (32.8 - 38.8%) -- 99.5% chance to 3HKO
252 Atk Aerilate Mega Pinsir Return vs. 252 HP / 72 Def Diancie: 83-98 (27.3 - 32.2%) -- guaranteed 4HKO
252 Atk Aerilate Mega Pinsir Quick Attack vs. 252 HP / 72 Def Diancie: 33-39 (10.8 - 12.8%) -- possible 8HKO
+2 252 Atk Mega Pinsir Close Combat vs. 252 HP / 72 Def Diancie: 198-234 (65.1 - 76.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
+2 252 Atk Aerilate Mega Pinsir Quick Attack vs. 252 HP / 72 Def Diancie: 64-76 (21 - 25%) -- 0% chance to 4HKO

0 Atk Diancie Diamond Storm vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Pinsir: 216-254 (79.7 - 93.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
0 SpA Diancie Moonblast vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Pinsir: 138-163 (50.9 - 60.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

Diamond Storm OHKOs Mega Pinsir, and unless Mega Pinsir is running EQ (most run CC nowadays to hit stuff like Tyranitar harder while still hitting Heatran), you win the 1v1 handily, even if you switch in on Swords Dance'd Quick Attack. If Pinsir doesn't mega to try and mindgame you, you still do loads with Diamond Storm and even Moonblast is a clean 2HKO.

252 Atk Adaptability Mega Beedrill Poison Jab vs. 252 HP / 72 Def Diancie: 130-154 (42.7 - 50.6%) -- 2.3% chance to 2HKO
252 Atk Adaptability Mega Beedrill U-turn vs. 252 HP / 72 Def Diancie: 57-68 (18.7 - 22.3%) -- possible 5HKO

The Mega Beedrill that think they can just Poison Jab you and kill you are in for a nasty surprise since you cleanly avoid the 2HKO even without Protect and Diamond Storm obliterates back.

252 Atk Mega Lopunny High Jump Kick vs. 252 HP / 72 Def Diancie: 147-174 (48.3 - 57.2%) -- 91.8% chance to 2HKO
252 Atk Mega Lopunny Return vs. 252 HP / 72 Def Diancie: 57-68 (18.7 - 22.3%) -- possible 5HKO
252 Atk Mega Lopunny Fake Out vs. 252 HP / 72 Def Diancie: 23-27 (7.5 - 8.8%) -- possibly the worst move ever

0 SpA Diancie Moonblast vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Mega Lopunny: 212-252 (78.2 - 92.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

If you don't use Protect, you lose the 1v1, but with Protect you can force out or beat Mega Lopunny handily. Of course, Shedinja handles Mega Lopunny handily, but always good to have a backup.

+2 252 Atk Hawlucha High Jump Kick vs. 252 HP / 72 Def Diancie: 223-264 (73.3 - 86.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
+2 252 Atk Hawlucha Acrobatics (110 BP) vs. 252 HP / 72 Def Diancie: 94-111 (30.9 - 36.5%) -- 69.4% chance to 3HKO
252 Atk Hawlucha High Jump Kick vs. 252 HP / 72 Def Diancie: 112-133 (36.8 - 43.7%) -- guaranteed 3HKO

Even behind the sub, Hawlucha can't OHKO you at +2 so as long as Hawlucha isn't at +2 and behind a sub already, you can beat it. Judicious use of Protect can also make Hawlucha's life miserable.

252+ Atk Choice Band Victini V-create vs. 252 HP / 72 Def Diancie: 135-159 (44.4 - 52.3%) -- 16% chance to 2HKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Victini Bolt Strike vs. 252 HP / 72 Def Diancie: 130-153 (42.7 - 50.3%) -- 1.2% chance to 2HKO

0 Atk Diancie Diamond Storm vs. -1 0 HP / 4 Def Victini: 320-380 (93.8 - 111.4%) -- 68.8% chance to OHKO
0 SpA Diancie Earth Power vs. -1 0 HP / 0 SpD Victini: 194-230 (56.8 - 67.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

Banded Victini is a monster, and Banded V-create is even more scary. Even without Protect though, you eat that up and avoid the 2HKO most of the time while threatening the OHKO back with Diamond Storm or Earth Power.

252+ Atk Choice Band Entei Bulldoze vs. 252 HP / 72 Def Diancie: 134-158 (44 - 51.9%) -- 13.3% chance to 2HKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Entei Sacred Fire vs. 252 HP / 72 Def Diancie: 82-97 (26.9 - 31.9%) -- guaranteed 4HKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Entei Stone Edge vs. 252 HP / 72 Def Diancie: 110-130 (36.1 - 42.7%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Entei Stone Edge vs. 252 HP / 72 Def Diancie: 110-130 (36.1 - 42.7%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Leftovers recovery and burn damage

0 SpA Diancie Earth Power vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Entei: 164-194 (44.2 - 52.2%) -- 17.6% chance to 2HKO
0 Atk burned Diancie Diamond Storm vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Entei: 123-145 (33.1 - 39%) -- 99.9% chance to 3HKO
0 Atk Diancie Diamond Storm vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Entei: 246-290 (66.3 - 78.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

Banded Entei is strong and underused, and Sacred Fire burns wreck many common checks/counters like Tyranitar and fat ground types. If Diance gets burned, things get a bit dicey, but Protect and Earth Power mean you still win the 1v1 (even if you switch in). If Entei locks itself into Bulldoze, just go into Shedinja.

Weaknesses of this 2-mon core: If you're not running SD on Shedinja, you will lose to CM Manaphy/Latias/Suicune, and things like CroBro too. Strong setup sweepers like Charizard X with EQ and Sand Rush Excadrill will also easily muscle past this core, as well as things like Mega Altaria and DD/Band Dragonite. Probably the biggest weakness of this core is the lack of recovery/status absorption or removal: yea, Shedinja has 1HP, but it's vulnerable to status, while Diance has no recovery other than Leftovers and does not like status at all. Things with coverage like HP Fire Manaphy can also wreck this core, so if not scouted, they dismantle the duo.
How to patch the weaknesses: Mega Sableye works decently with this core, since it bounces Hazards, but it doesn't deal with the setup sweepers I mentioned very well. Fat Wish-Passers like Alomomola can put in work versus physical setup sweepers like Zard X and Excadrill, and give super-valuable recovery to Diance. One of the best mons to pair with this duo is Unaware Clefable, which ignores boost and if packing CM, can boost up and beat the special sweepers mentioned. Plus, Unaware Clefable can alternatively Wish-Pass and carry Heal Bell (but it can't do everything at once).
+

Heatran @ Leftovers
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Magma Storm
- Earth Power
- Taunt
- Toxic

Latios @ Life Orb
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Defog
- Roost
- Psyshock
- Draco Meteor


Latios is perhaps stallbreaker heatran's best partner having solid defensive synergy with it being able to switch into most of its counters and reliably beat them. Heatran is also able to take on some of Latios' counters, for example clefable which is trapped and beaten along with other trans as well as some other threats like SD Scizor which can set up on Latios.

Overall they form a pretty solid core that can cover up each other weakness and remove the counters/checks.

Keldeo-Resolute @ Choice Specs
Ability: Justified
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Scald
- Secret Sword
- Hydro Pump
- Icy Wind
Bisharp @ Black Glasses
Ability: Defiant
EVs: 252 Atk / 52 SpD / 204 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Knock Off
- Iron Head
- Sucker Punch
- Pursuit
Manectric @ Manectite
Ability: Lightning Rod
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Volt Switch
- Thunderbolt
- Flamethrower
- Hidden Power Ice

But still,this is one of the best cores in the oras ou metagame.Bisharp takes care of psychic,fairy types for keldeo.It also pursuit traps the latis.Its also one of the most reliable switchins to venusaur and slowbro.It also resists dragon moves.Keldeo kills fire,ground Mons for bisharp.They both exert extreme amount of pressure.Since the core is weak to tflame and other electrics,torn-t,manectric was added.It also weakens physical attackers with intimidate and provides momentum with volt-switch.Hope you like it.


Thundurus-Therian @ Leftovers
Ability: Volt Absorb
EVs: 100 HP / 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 152 Spe
Modest Nature
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power [Flying]
- Grass Knot
- Agility

Keldeo @ Choice Specs
Ability: Justified
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Scald
- Secret Sword
- Hydro Pump
- Icy Wind


Keldeo helps remove bulky grounds, steel types & Chansey/Blissey who can give Thundurus-T trouble. Keldeo can also switch easily in to most super effective moves aimed at Thundurus-T (bar Freeze dry). Thundurus-T takes most super effective moves aimed at Keldeo (bar Psychic & Fairy). It removes grass types such as Amoonguss/Venusaur & water types such as Jellicent/Gastrodon/Seismitoed to make cleaning up late game easier for Keldeo. The ev's on Thundurus-T allow it to outspeed sand drill after an agility (although you can't do much to it) & gives it extra bulk to turn HP-Ice from M-Man into a roll instead of a guaranteed 2hko.

This core struggles with M-Man somewhat, SD/Scarf excadrill & Latios/Latias/M-Gardevoir; Adding something like mixed Hippowdon/M-Venusaur & Scarf T-tar (to pursuit trap/revenge) can be beneficial.
You can vote for up to two cores. Best of luck to everyone made submissions!

Edit: actually scratch the promise I made I like this format now that I've seen it so I'm gonna use it permanently.
 
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Core 3; I use this core myself (with different EVs and sets, but yea), and it's super solid. Bonus points since each has an immunity to the other's weakness.
 

Martin

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Sorry for double posting, but I forgot to do this in my last post and I want my tag to go through. Sobi the core 9 that you voted for is now core 10. Update this unless you intend on changing your vote to the current core 9.
 
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