Other OU Playstyle of the Week - Hyper Offense

[Subject 18]

OU Playstyles

Shamelessly stolen OP from LilOuOn​

Welcome to the OU discussion of the different playstyles! The main purpose of this thread is to choose a playstyle every week (I'll choose it) and you, (yes, you), are going to be able to comment, give your opinion and suggest pokemons that should be considered when making a team around the style [posting teams is also allowed, just keep in mind that this is not the RMT forums, so if you want to post a team try to make it short and use sprites of pokes, explain how does the team work and post replays if possible]. Obviously, your comments must have connection with the chosen style, as well as solid arguments of why your comment(s) are valid. With this, newer players can decide what playstyle they like most and, of course, more experienced players can also expand their knowledge. Remember to be friendly with other people; if you disagree with someone's opinion don't slam with an aggressive response, just let everyone know what you think in a kind way. The links to discussions of each playstyle will be posted in the OP so everyone can read it at anytime!

Don't be afraid of posting! If you have a great offense, stall, etc team, just think about what to say and go for it! Don't forget that participating in this kind of threads gives you opportunity to earn that awesome Community Contributor badge! Be careful of what do you post! Quality posts will be rewarded, but mediocre comments will be deleted. Do your best and I hope that you like to contribute this thread!


Summary of the rules (Must read):

• Make quality posts. No one-lined posts.
• Your comments must be about the weekly playstyle chosen.
• No gimmicks. If you decided to post a team (or pokemon) don't suggest using pursuit Tauros to trap Latias and Latios while there is an overall better option named Tyranitar or Bisharp.
• Comment how the chosen style affects the current metagame and how it fairs in it.
• Support your team's posts with replays if possible. Explanation of them are a must.
• If you are comfortable, feel free to post one of your own teams and explain the process of making the team.
• Having a wide point of view is needed. Don't post that stall sucks because you always lose to it.
• Your new ideas must have strong arguments of why them should be considered.
• This one is important: We don't want this to become a debate of: "this metagame is stale and has no diversity due to X Pokemon/Playstyle". I will delete and those posts. This thread is here to make a discussion about the different playstyles, not to discharge all your hate against weather. Please, incoherent posts will be deleted and possibly penalized, so think about what are you going to write.
• For reference see the past OU Playstyles projects to guide you on what to discuss.

Playstyle #01: Hyper Offense

​

Hyper Offense. The idea behind this playstyle is simple. Use the early game turns to set up hazards or Screens and begin ruthlessly pounding away at the opposing team. With enough offensive presence, you can easily pressure the opponent into not being able to remove hazards and quickly wear them down for an easy sweep. However, just putting together a bunch of offensive powerhouse doesn't mean its a strong team. What kind of support if needed for the sweepers? What about offensive synergy? And defensive? Do I need entry hazards? What can I do against Magic Bounce? Rapid Spinners? Defog users? Which Pokemon should you be using? And which one shouldn't you be using? What threatens HO? How do you handle stall? Balance? Hyper Offense?

Archive:

 

[TaBuu]

The "Speed" Component
----------------
No hyper-offensive team is complete without a revenge-killer/cleaner Pokémon to finish off the remnants of the opposing team. Deoxys Speed excels at this role like no other. Its incredible base Speed allows Deo-S to outspeed the likes of Scarfed Garchomp meaning threats such as +1 Mega Tyranitar and +1 Mega Gyarados are all susceptible to Deo-S revenge-killing prowess. HO teams struggle to fit in Rapid Spinners and Defoggers at times because it kills offensive momentum, a huge aspect to HO teams as they literally make or break off of momentum. That being said Talonflame requires such support and it is difficult to cram on the Uber-bird all the time. Things like Scarfed Keldeo can become a liability since it locks itself into one single move. Deoxys-Speed fixes all that. It boasts the ability to switch moves with Life Orb, doesn't get neutered by hazards like Talonflame and has an impressive movepool that can be tailored to kill any threat that threatens your team specifically. Talk about customization.

 

[Dr Ciel]

I'm going to throw out the obvious set, as an avid user of Hyper Offense.

Charizard @ Charizardite X
Ability: Blaze
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Fire Punch
- Dragon Claw
- Earthquake

There is no doubt that Charizard X is an amazing sweeper & one of the most threatening Pokémon in the tier. A base 130 Attack boosted by Tough Claws, which boosts the power of contact moves by 33%. His typing is an absolute gift too, giving him perfect neutral coverage against most of the meta, bar Heatran & Azumarill. Now Dragon Dance is where he gets really scary, boosting his Attack & Speed stats to sky high levels & making him nearly unwallable. Fire Punch + Dragon Claw gets neutral coverage against the entire meta bar Heatran & Azumarill, both of which are covered by Earthquake.

 

[Nog]

The first and most obvious partner that should be ran with a Deoxys on a Hyper Offensive team is Bisharp. It compliments Deoxys well typing wise, resisting Dark and Ghost, while having a neutrality to Bug type. Bisharp puts immense pressure on the opponent with it's ability Defiant as it discourages Defog users to remove hazards or they risk a +2 Bisharp coming in hot. Just having a Bisharp on your team forces your opponent to play more carefully as to think about taking a ton of residual damage from stacked hazards or simply Defog them away and accept the consequence of having a boosted Bisharp in your face. Another thing on how the two of them compliment each other is that Bisharp is not the bulkiest Pokemon around and might die rather quickly if it takes too many shots, Deoxys-Defense remedies this problem by being able to sponge a bunch of hits and force out attackers. Bisharp forces a ton of switches and thus generate even more residual damage build up while Deoxys is excellent death fodder so something can come in safely. Bisharp is also able to Pursuit trap common things that threaten Deoxys such as Espeon or Aegislash.

 

[I AM THE JAMAICAN BOBSLED TEAM]

A very serious pokemon to consider on HO is Thundurus. It has 2 roles it can perform on HO, which is offensive Prankster support and Defiant User. Why use Defiant Thundurus over Bisharp? Well, it has a MUCH easier time killing Mandibuzz and Skarmory, which are the best defensive defoggers. Bisharp simply cant get past these 2 as they may carry whirlwind AND have immense physical bulk and recovery, so bisharp simply isn't going to win vs these 2. With Wild Charge, it remedies this issue. Bisharp does have the advantage of coming in on every defogger, bar Zapdos safely. Here are the sets you should consider running.

Thundurus (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 SAtk / 4 HP
Timid Nature/Hasty Nature
- Thunder Wave
- Thunderbolt
- Psychic/Focus Blast/Knock Off/Taunt
- Hidden Power [Ice]/Hidden Power [Flying]

The basic idea of this set is to cripple threats early game and pick them off later on after hazard damage has racked up. Thunderbolt is the obvious electric STAB, and it hits many threats very hard. The last 2 slots are really up for grabs. Psychic hits Mega Venusaur and Conkeldurr, but Focus Blast hits Ferrothorn. Knock off can lure chansey and cripple it, but taunt can shut down many threats before they set up. The last slot has less competition, but HP Ice gets the first slash as it has better coverage. Flying can be used as STAB and to hit mega venusaur if you didn't choose Psychic in the 3rd slot.

Now the second set to consider, the Defiant User.

Thundurus (M) @ Life Orb/Power Herb
Ability: Defiant
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 Atk / 4 SAtk
Hasty Nature/Jolly Nature
- Wild Charge
- Superpower
- Knock Off
- Hidden Power [Flying]/Fly/Grass Knot.

This set can be used as an alternative to Bisharp. It can beat most common defoggers, but cant switch into the Lati@s safely. Wild Charge hits very hard after a defiant boost, as does superpower and knock off. The last slot is interesting, as it has 2 options. HP Flying gets the first slash as it allows you to get by Mega Venusaur and have an item, but Power Herb Fly hits conk and venu for an OHKO. GK hits quagsire. Now to explain why this set merits use over Bisharp in some situations. It does better against offensive/balance, and has a knack for giving stall a headache, but it is easier to check and knock out due to lack of priority. This lends to Bisharp being the often times better Defiant User, as it punishes for using Defog better.

tl;dr: Thundurus plays a large role in HO as it provides crucial support.

 

[s_aman]

Thundurus is a staple of any hyper offensive team checking Talonflame, which can otherwise sweep the frail sweepers on HO easiely. Unlike other bird checks/counters, like, Rotom-W he has a great speed tier and offensive prowess. He also helps against any pokemon which outspeeds and can wreak havoc on your team with prankster thunder wave as well as stopping opposing setup sweepers in their tracks. The best part is his verstility. You never know if he is running Special (although it is pretty safe to assume this one, unless thundy is with deo-d w/o bisharp which is obviously the defiant version), mixed or physical. He can run nasty plot to threaten a sweep or another coverage move to lure and ko specific threats. My personal favourite is grass knot for hippowdon. The mixed set is the one of the best chansey lures giving his special attacking teammates, like, Greninja (another HO staple), oppurtunity to wreak the opposing team.

EDIT : ninjaed

 

[I AM THE JAMAICAN BOBSLED TEAM]

Another crucial part of HO is Aegislash. With air balloon, it blocks almost all spinners and can pose a large threat to the opposing team.
Set name: Spinblocker

Aegislash @ Air Balloon
Ability: Stance Change
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SAtk / 252 HP
Quiet Nature
IVs: 0 Spd
- King's Shield
- Shadow Ball
- Shadow Sneak
- Sacred Sword

The idea is that this set spinblocks almost all the spinners(mega blastoise beats all spinblockers). Shadow ball hits like a nuke off of +252 base 150 special attack. It is also typically the bulkiest member on hyper offense. Sacred Sword hits Excadrill so it cant spin. 0 speed because you want to outslow all the things. Shadow Sneak is also incedible utility as it is a priority move that is relatively strong. Aegislash plays an important role in HO as it spinblocks hazards.

 

[X5Dragon]

Lots of people will be wondering at some point, "well if all you use are offensive pokemons with no bulk investment, how do switch and keep your pokemon alive until they have done their job"? The answer to the first question is many times you simply don't switch, and the decision to bring a pokemon into play is very key. HO teams start with support, usually hazards or dual screens (or weather), and then the hole punchers come in and trying to weaken the opponents team until one or more of your sweepers can set up and sweep. There are times during the match where a pokemon has been weakened beyond use, so instead of switching out to another pokemon with no bulk, you fodderize (allow it to faint) it so you can bring another pokemon in safely. Fodderizing has many uses besides obviously helping your no bulk situation: you can prevent subs from being set up, you can further damage the pokemon to bring him into OHKO/2HKO range, stop a set up sweeper from setting up too much otherwise they will die, and most importantly bring a healthy pokemon in to set up or start to sweep, for example a a Charizard against a Ferrothorn.

Gen 6 has also brought upon us a new age of offensive priority, and HO teams can benefit greatly from the arsenal of weapons now available to abuse, such as Gale Wings Talonflame as well as old goodies such as Dragonite. As said before, offensive pressure is key to winning with HO teams and overwhelm your opponents, and a Choice Band set will help you deal with stall teams, punch massive holes into the opponents defenses immediately and clean up late game with solid, reliable priorities.

My 2 favorites:

Talonflame (F) @ Choice Band
Ability: Gale Wings
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 Atk / 4 HP
Adamant Nature
- Brave Bird
- Flare Blitz
- U-Turn
- Tailwind


Ah yes the infamous Smogon Berd (tm), this set takes advantage of Gale Wings and the power boost from Choice Band to immediately threaten the opponent with 120 BP Brave Bird, which will be hitting most of the meta for solid damage, even targets that resist it. Flare Blitz is to deal with Steels and the occasional chance to burn random switch ins. Both being recoil moves, you can often take advantage by spamming an attack until you die from recoil to bring another pokemon in. You can use U-Turn to hurt some common switch ins such as Tyranitar for hard damage or to gain momentum and bring in another pokemon, and the last slot, Tailwind, can be used end game to surprise the opponent and perhaps even bail your out.

Dragonite (F) @ Choice Band
Ability: Multiscale
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 Atk / 4 HP
Adamant/Naughty Nature
- Earthquake
- Fire Punch/Fire Blast
- Extreme Speed
- Outrage

The suspect Dragon, Dragonite has a fantastic movepool, a phenomenal ability which will allow it survive most powerful attacks and a great attack stat and Extreme Speed, this is the one pokemon screws all set. Outrage is the primary weapon, being boosted to the point that not even walls such as Mandibuzz and Quagsire can switch in anymore. Earthquake hits steels such as Aegislash and Heatran extremely hard, while the fire slot can be either special to hit Skarmory for a 2HKO without any investment or physical to power through with the aid of the Choice Band to guarantee kills on pokemon such as Mega Scizor. Extreme Speed is the star of the show, where it can come out late game, take advantage of the opponents team being hit here and there and start to clean up effortlessly even against other priorities as it has a +2 bracket.

 

[Colonel M]

Perhaps one of the most threatening Pokemon to Hyper Offense has to be Landorus-I. It is commonly seen as a Sheer Force user with access to STAB Earth Power, Focus Blast, Psychic, Sludge Wave, Knock Off, Rock Slide, and Stealth Rock to consider. Perhaps one of the scariest Landorus-I sets has to be Earth Power / Psychic / Focus Blast / Knock Off. This is because Landorus's #1 counter, Chansey, is heavily dependent on its item, Eviolite, to effectively stop Landorus-I. With Knock Off being a possible move for Landorus-I, Chansey takes extreme risk switching into Landorus.

That is not all, though. Between Deoxys-D, Bisharp, and Landorus-I there is a great core amongst the three of them. With Deoxys-D having the goal of setting up entry hazards and Bisharp dettering Defog helps Landorus-I utilize the entry hazards to net safer 2HKOes and OHKOes.

Overall, my recommendation for any serious hyper offensive team is to consider Landorus-I as a possible teammate.

Landorus (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Sheer Force
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spd
Naive / Timid nature
- Earth Power
- Psychic
- Focus Blast
- Knock Off / Sludge Wave / Stealth Rock

EDIT: I almost forgot - you can increase Landorus's might with Calm Mind or Speed with Rock Polish. Cant forget those!

 

[phil]

This guy definitely needs a mention.

Landorus @ Life Orb
Ability: Sheer Force
EVs: 4 HP, 252 SAtk, 252 Spd
Timid Nature
-Earth Power
-Focus Blast
-Psychic
-U-Turn/Sludge Wave/Calm Mind/Gravity/Knock Off/Stealth Rock

Lando is probably one of the best, if not the best stallbreakers in the metagame. If you can get a slightly weakened Chansey in full stall to switch in on Focus Blast (not very hard seeing as Chansey is the #1 thing to go into against Lando in stall, and you can Pursuit it with Bisharp or something to get a bit of prior damage), Focus Blast 2HKOs from about 70-80%, depending on rolls, and of course whether you hit Focus Blast. After Chansey is removed, Lando can go on a rampage and more or less single-handedly stomps stall, being able to easily 2HKO all other components of the average stall team.

Or alternatively Colonel M can ninja me and get in a post about Lando, but I guess I said some things he didn't.

 

[Fourth Inversion]

I find Greninja to be very useful on Hyper-offensive teams. Its high speed, amazing ability, and most importantly, its vast movepool makes Greninja a very flexible revenge killer and cleaner.

I don't think there's a single 'best' set for Greninja, (although Max SpA, Max +Spd with Life Orb is definitely the best EV spread and item) but I'd say that, depending on teammates, the following are all viable moves to run on Greninja, in a very rough order of viability:
Water: Hydro Pump, (Surf, Scald)
Ice: Ice Beam
Psychic: Extrasensory
Fire: Hidden Power Fire
Grass: Grass Knot, Hidden Power Grass
Dark: Dark Pulse
Rock: Rock Slide (only move to guarantee the OHKO on Mega Charizard Y), and does so even with a -Atk nature
[Bug: U-Turn - not run for coverage, but for utility. Probably not the strongest option for hyper offense]

Greninja's biggest vulnerabilities are to priority, Choice Scarf users, and Assault Vest users/Special Walls, however, despite Greninja's terrible defenses, before Protean activates, its base Water/Dark typing helps, by giving it a resistance to Aqua Jet, Ice Shard and Bullet Punch. Additionally, even after one round of Life Orb recoil, it can survive Choice Banded Extreme Speed from Dragonite (and by extension, Entei's/Lucario's etc.) and OHKO (through Multiscale) with Ice Beam.

 

[Escavalier]

Garchomp @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Rough Skin
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Dragon Claw
- Outrage
- Stone Edge

Feel like this guy should get a mention, as he should definitely get a look in as a revenge killer/late-game cleaner on any HO team already running Deoxys-Defense as a hazard stacker. Garchomp has a slightly trolly speed stat, allowing it to outspeed and revenge kill +1 Charizard X (and anything slower) with no troubles at all. It also deters physical attackers with a great ability in Rough Skin. Ground and Dragon coverage is excellent in this metagame, with Skarmory among the few resists. Garchomp's great bulk also allows it to revenge kill many powerful priority users, including Choice Band Talonflame.

 

[Luckstard.]

Excadrill (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Mold Breaker
EVs: 222 HP / 252 Atk / 36 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Earthquake
- Iron Head
- Rock Slide
- Rapid Spin

I think he is really important in HO teams when you play things like Talonflame, Thundurus-I or M-Pinsir since he can put both offensive pressure and clean your side from hazards.

> A little word about weaknesses of HO teams.

As in Gen 5, the Water spam is really threatening for HO teams. Common user are Greninja or Keldeo and there is only few Pokémon to check them (Azumarill is the main Pokémon used to check offensive Water Type).

A new threat appears in Gen 6, the Bird spam (mainly Talonflame and M-Pinsir), there is few way to check this playstyle, Thundurus-I is the best one in my opinion, and I can't make an HO team without him.

Offensive Megas can be really annoying too, especially M-Scizor (set-up on Deoxys) and M-Gyarados (set-up on Bisharp).

 

[Sucker Lunch]

Sweetiepie (Pinsir) (M) @ Pinsirite
Ability: Hyper Cutter/Mold Breaker
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature
- Return
- Earthquake
- Quick Attack
- Swords Dance

Mega Pinsir is the cutest bug in the game and one of the staple sweepers of HO. Due to that massive base 155 Attack and above average 105 speed this thing is a hyrbrid between a wallbreaker and a sweeper. Pinsir has coveted Ground/Flying coverage which is only resisted in the OU by Rotom formes, Zapdos, and Skarmory. In most cases, Pinsir only needs a threat or two removed before he can wreck face. One of the defining perks that the bug has is that he outspeeds base 100 to 102 threats such as Charizard, Manaphy, Mega Gardevoir, Mega Medicham, Garchomp, Landorus, and VOLCARONA (lol). Anyway, Pinsir shines on Hyper Offense because he appreciates hazards stacked on the opponent's side of the field. With just a single layer of Spikes and Stealth Rock many of his 2HKO's (primarily with Quick Attack) become 1HKOs after +2 from Swords Dance. He works well with the archetypal Deo-sharp-slash HO core because Deoxys-D is nearly gauranteed to set-up hazards, Air Balloon Aegislash spinblocks and spams Ghost STAB, and Bisharp/Thundurus can use Defiant to counter defog and proceed to sweep in many cases. When partnered with a fast Special-Attacker like Defog Latios that checks Rotom/Skarmory/Zapdos, and the staple HO tank named Azumarill to sponge hits, Pinsir basically has the teammates he needs to cover his weaknesses.

Just gotta watch out for that Dastardly Stealth Rock.

 

[Subject 18]

Well, I guess I will post my thoughts on Hyper Offense. At the moment Hyper Offense is probably the best playstyle, because of how easy and auto-pilot it is. With the presence that Deoxys-D and Deoxys-S have in the current meta its incredibly easy to set up hazards or screens to put massive pressure on your opponent. As most people know the DeoSharp core is very potent because of how well they work together both with good offensive synergy and defensive synergy. Bisharp is able to switch in on common Defog users, gain a +2 in Atk and proceed to spam Sucker Punch and Knock Offs. With its typing its able to switch into the Aegislash and trap it to allow Deoxys to continue to setup hazards. Meanwhile, Deoxys can switch in on Fighting types to cover for Bisharp and give it an opportunity to set up.

If you build you're team correctly, you shouldn't really give much room for your opponent to be able to find time to Defog or spin without paying the price of getting a free setup and potentially loosing the game if the right Pokemon sets up. Common Hyper Offensive cores include Mawile + Greninja + Dragonite, Talonflame + Excadrill + Mega Pinsir, Mega Tyranitar + Excadrill + Azumarill. All these cores abuse the fact that hazards are put down and allows for 2HKOs to be OHKOs after SR + Spikes.

Despite being very cookie cutter (Deoxys / Bisharp / Scarf Ground / three fillers), Hyper offensive teams dominate the current metagame because of their efficiency and raw power. Sets you should consider while build a HO team should definitely include the face of HO:

Kevin Durant (Deoxys-Defense) @ Mental Herb
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 216 HP / 40 Atk / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Spikes
- Taunt
- Superpower

This set has become the new standard for Deoxys-D. This set abuses the fact that only a few things are able to limit Deoxys-D to just Stealth Rock, and exploits the most common one, Bisharp. With the given spread you can OHKO 0/0 Bisharp with Superpower and give you the opportunity to setup Spikes and Stealth Rock as your heart desires. Taunt is really important to avoid being setup fodder for Mega Pinsir, CM Landorus, DD Zard X, etc. Mirror Coat is an option over Superpower but the EV spread is much different and luring in Aegislash isn't really needed when Bisharp beats it with relative ease. Mental Herb is the most reliable item to avoid fast Taunt users such as Terrakion or Thundurus and still get up you Stealth Rock. Red Card isn't need because it doesn't help in the event that you are OHKOd and is redundant when you have Taunt /Thunder Wave as your way to prevent being set up fodder. For example this match vs Texas Cloverleaf allowed me to prevent him from Rapid Spinning on my Excadrill to ensure that I would get the SR damage on his Mega Pinsir. Myself vs Thunder631 shows the Mirror Coat version of this set that I used during XY tour a few weeks back. Despite not being able to set up my own hazards I took care of a threat to my team and eased some pressure.

Kevin Durant (Deoxys-Speed) @ Light Clay
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
- Reflect
- Light Screen
- Taunt
- Stealth Rock

I can't mention Hyper Offensive without mentioning my favorite type of HO, Dual Screens. This type of HO is just as auto-pilot as hazards stacking. The difference here is you rely on powerful setup sweepers to deal damage and use the screens to your advantage to shrug off damage and breakthrough walls that require multiple attacks. Dragonite, NP Thundurus, CM Landorus, Mega Zard X, Mega Pinsir and others are all really good options for this type of team. Because of how much common Talonflame is and how difficult of may be to sweep with Brave Bird being spammed against you therefore a cool option such as Shell Smash Omastar is fun Pokemon to use if you have already used your Mega slot, otherwise Mega Tyranitar is superior.

 

[Touymato]

Bisharp (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Defiant
EVs: 20 HP / 252 Atk / 236 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Knock Off
- Swords Dance
- Sucker Punch
- Iron Head

No doubt about it. Bisharp IMO, is possibly one of the most threatening wallbreakers to be ever put on an Hyper Offensive team. With a stellar base attack of 125, it can pretty much steamroll any unprepared team, especially stall.
But what makes it so threatening is the question? One word: Defiant. What defiant does that the certain pokemon's attack rises when it gets a drop. This can act as a perfect advantage to switch into an incoming Defog from Latios, and then follow up in the next turn to OHKO it with Knock Off. Bisharp loves Hazard Support such as Deoxys-D to simply abuse hazards on the opposing side, chipping down Talonflame. Aegislash also comes to mind, as it can put a stop to Assault Vest Conkeldurr, which is one of Bisharp's counters.

If you're worried about Fairies walling you to death when building a Hyper Offense team, or simply want a physical sweeper to put prior damage on the opposing side, Bisharp here can be considered to be fitted as a member as it can check Defog users such as Latios, Skarmory, Scizor, Latias, and Zapdos.

 

[rob.]

​

Terrakion @ Choice Band
Ability: Justified
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 Atk / 4 SDef
Jolly Nature
- Close Combat
- Stone Edge
- Earthquake
- Quick Attack​

In the beginning of X&Y Terrakion was overlooked, mostly due to the usage of Mega-Lucario and Blaziken. But after both pokemon were banned, Terrakion was able to step into the spotlight as a premiere powerhouse. This behemoth is capable of a number of different sets that utilize numerous items. Terrakion can play many different roles on a team and be successful, whether he's using swords dance or rock polish; holding onto a Choice Scarf, a Choice Band, a Life Orb, a Salac Berry, or Focus Sash. It doesn't matter. But in terms of raw power the choice band set is his best. Terrakion has great coverage behind his two stabs Close Combat and Stone Edge, that allow him to punch holes in most of the tier. His speed and power allows him to take care of the tiers most fearsome threats. Including the Mega-Charizard's, Mega-Pinsir, Thundurus, Bisharp, and Talonflame (Just to name a few). Even the tiers top defensive pokemon are wary of Terrakions sheer power. This pokemon has no problem functioning on an hyper offensive team because of its ability to punch holes into teams with little resistance.

 

[Hail Magikarp]

Something that has suprisibgly hasent been mentioned yet is Staraptor or to be precise its choice scarf set, with a scarf it outspeeds most of the metagame and with the combination of reckless, brave bird and a 120 base Atk this thing is gonna hit HARD!! For instansande its choice scarf brave bird is Actually stronger then a CB talonflame's brave bird with is a testament to just how powerful Staraptor really is. The good news doesnt stop there as Staraptor has acess to the precious U-turn allowing it to act as a scout, all things considerd the biggest advantage Staraptor has over Talonflamesdick is however its abillity to get past rock types due to close combat where as Talonflame has to run shitty steel wing.


A set like this is what i recommend

LOOK AT THOSE BADASSE EYES

Staraptor @ Choice scarf
Abillity: Reckless
Evs: 252 Atk 252 Spd 4 HP
Nature: Adamant

- Brave Bird
- Close combat
- Double edge
- U-turn

This thing hit like a truck Right from the start but why the hell not add a 120 base power STAB move wich gets a 30 */• power boost and call it a day. In all seriousness this is the set that makes Staraptor such a great pokemon, it allows it to act as a silent assaisan AKA revenge killer. Hell it can even act as a decent wallbreaker using this set simply due to the sheer power behind its attacks.

 

[DaiGuren]

I'll mention a pokemon that's a cool option for/against HO teams.

Scolipede @ Life Orb
Ability: Speed Boost
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Megahorn
- Protect
- x
- x

Why is this guy even mentioned? Because it outspeeds the common lead Deo-D variant and OHKOs it all the time, and imo its a small yet important niche in this HO-oriented meta. If you predict succesfully, you can have fun watching the opposing HO team squirm as they struggle without their hazards. It's not like Scolipede is dead weight against other team either. It can punch holes in opposing teams, while accumulating Speed Boosts, with the threat of Baton Passing its boosts to a slow, bulky sweeper. But overall, its main niche is to stop Deo-D from getting up any hazards, which is the crux of the HO playstyle.

 

[.TM87]

Can anybody recommend a few Grass Types that could fit well on a Hyper O Team?

- I've tried Shiftry and I loved using him. He's kind of great if M.Charizard Y dies or switches out to a resisted move. He can also use Defog, and Knock Off. He's a very unexpected Threat to face in battle. I've actually defeated a [Mostly] Fire Team with just Shiftry while Sun was up.

Offensive Shiftry

Shiftry @ Life Orb
Ability: Chlorophyll
EVs: 6 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Explosion
- Sucker Punch
- Seed Bomb

- If I'm not using Shiftry, it's always Breloom because of that extra Priority and Rock/Ground/Status resistance.
- I've occasionally used Whimsicott to Encore M.Charizard X/Other Set-Up Sweepers after the Resisted Move or Boosters.

The only Pokemon left to try out is Liligant and Venusaur I guess?
- Own Tempo +1 Petal Dance is something to try and attempt, and Chlorosaur can be beastly.

 

[Halcyon.]

Instead of just talking about a specific Pokemon that fits on HO, I think it's more valuable to talk about the style as a whole. One of the key elements to playing successfully with HO is double switches. Watch some of the best offensive players like CTC, Tox, etc., and you'll find that they will make lots of double switches to give themselves advantageous match ups. People often complain about how HO has no backbone and can't function because of a lack of defensive synergy, but double switching takes that out of the equation. Of course, sometimes this boils down to getting a 50/50 right, but especially against stall teams, people will feel very pressured against HO to switch to their best counter. When combined with hazard damage, this can make things a lot easier when fighting defensive teams that you can't necessarily break without it (think breaking Quagsire for a Charizard).

 

[phil]

Instead of just talking about a specific Pokemon that fits on HO, I think it's more valuable to talk about the style as a whole. One of the key elements to playing successfully with HO is double switches. Watch some of the best offensive players like CTC, Tox, etc., and you'll find that they will make lots of double switches to give themselves advantageous match ups. People often complain about how HO has no backbone and can't function because of a lack of defensive synergy, but double switching takes that out of the equation. Of course, sometimes this boils down to getting a 50/50 right, but especially against stall teams, people will feel very pressured against HO to switch to their best counter. When combined with hazard damage, this can make things a lot easier when fighting defensive teams that you can't necessarily break without it (think breaking Quagsire for a Charizard).

I've found this to very strongly be the case with Landorus against stall. If you can predict a Heatran/Skarmory switch, for example with Skarmory coming in on Bisharp, you can not only pressure the opponent into not defogging with Skarmory but can also start to pressurise Chansey with Focus Blasts, as Chansey is more often than not the only thing stopping Lando dismantling the entire team. A few good switches with Lando can be the difference between a win and a loss in these matches.

 

[rob.]

The most important aspects of a hyper offensive play-style is to maintain momentum through constant pressure and team-building. Forcing your opponent to switch unfavorable match-ups repeatedly is one of the goals of hyper offense; effectively racking up residual damage allowing you to be able to punch holes in the opposing team. All while setting up an eventual sweep with one of your own Pokemon. The ability to maintain pressure relies on your ability to build teams with great offensive synergy, making use of Pokemon with the ability to check opposing threats while forcing walls out. Another underrated aspect would be defensive synergy. You don't want to make defense a priority but you should make sure your Pokemon stack resist and/or immunities (i.e six fighting types would guarantee that Talonflame wrecks you). Make sure your team has very few defensive threats or counters and at the same time maintains immense pressure.

 

[Mix]

Deoxys-Speed @ Life Orb
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 100 Atk / 250 Satk / 160 Spd
Mild Nature
- Ice Beam
- Psycho Boost
- Superpower
- Stealth Rock

This, is what I call sets to surprise with this set deoxys can set the rocks, takes on the break Bisharp, Landorus-T and other pokemon that try to statupping.

 

[I AM THE JAMAICAN BOBSLED TEAM]

Let me bring up rain hyper offense, arguably the most dangerous playstyle in the meta. Rain HO utilizes, you guessed it, rain. With rain HO, you can use very dangerous setup sweepers like Kabutops, Omastar, and various nonsetup sweepers, like Kingdra and Ludicolo. It also has various ways to set up rain, with either a suicide lead or autosetters like Politoed, as well as Prankster users Thundurus and Tornadus. Here are some staples on rain HO:

Deoxys-Speed @ Damp Rock
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Stealth Rock
- Rain Dance
- Taunt
- Magic Coat
This set is a standard suicide lead for rain HO, as it can guarantee rocks and rain. On rain HO, it is preferred to have multiple rain setters. so here are some setters:

Tornadus (M) @ Damp Rock
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 SAtk / 4 HP
Timid Nature
- Hurricane
- Rain Dance
- Taunt
- Focus Blast
Prankster rain dance ensures rain stays up for 8 turns, and during that timeframe, it can spam hurricane. We know how deadly Flying- STAB is in this meta, and having Hurricane spammed in your face is VERY scary. Focus Blast is a way to get around ferrothorn, the biggest stop to rain teams. Taunt is taunt, so it can stop setup sweep, leads, etc.

Now for your auto-setter.


Lolitoed (Politoed) @ Damp Rock
Ability: Drizzle
EVs: 252 Def / 252 HP / 4 SAtk
Bold Nature
- Rain Dance
- Scald
- Toxic
- Encore
This is a staple on rain teams, because of drizzle. It is defensive because we need it to set up rain consistently throughout the match, and when its ready to die, it can bring in another pokemon to clean up. Scald spreads burns quite easily, and can cripple threats to the team. Toxic is to wear down walls, and Encore sets up a deadly sweeper.


Now what you have all been waiting for, the sweepers.

Kabutops @ Life Orb
Ability: Swift Swim
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 Atk / 4 HP
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Waterfall
- Aqua Jet/Low Kick
- Stone Edge

This here is one of the few reasons to run rain HO. Kabutops is an absolute freak of nature under the rain, and at +2, it just mows through offensive and defensive teams alike with STAB waterfall. Stone Edge hits the exceedingly few things that can switch in on rain-boosted waterfalls, excluding Ferrothorn. Now aqua jet or low kick is a preference thing, as Aqua Jet allows it to outpriority thundurus, which can end a sweep with thunder wave. Low Kick enables it to take out ferrothorn, the biggest thorn in the ass to rain HO(huehue).

Now I know there are things I haven't covered, but that's what I want to be discussed. In particular, Keldeo, other swift swimmers, and potential megas that work best under rain.