Other OU Team Study Week 10 (Stathakis)

[Shadow_Sneak]

Original idea by Melee Mewtwo
OP stolen and slightly adapted from Nova
Approved by Aragorn the King
Co hosted by Analytic
What is this for?
The basic idea of this thread is to look at a high level player's team under the microscope and see what the community can find and learn from each team. Discussing a team helps not only you learn and think about it, but the fellow OU'rs who are new can learn by reading your post. It is a win-win situtation! Additionally, you are supplied with high-level teams to take ideas from if you like a build, and it gives us a look at what is "good" in the high-stakes Tournament metagame.

How does it work?
Each week (more or less) there will be a high-level team that will be displayed for the community as a whole to discuss. The aim of this discussion will be to analyze the team by identifying roles and explaining their purpose, investigating specific movesets and Pokemon choices, strong points of the team, flaws it may have and even questions concerning unusual or confusing aspects. Essentially, the team will serve as a model to learn from and an example to refer to. Once the discussion is over, the teambuilder will post explaining his decisions and answering any questions or false ideas concerning them.

What do I get out of it?

• A good look at current tournament teams and trends.
• Insight on how teams are built and more knowledge of the OU Metagame.
• A good, intelligent thread!

 

[Shadow_Sneak]

Okay so thanks to ben gay for the team for week 1!

team

Altaria-Mega @ Altarianite
Ability: Pixilate
Happiness: 0
EVs: 248 HP / 228 SpD / 32 Spe
Careful Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Cotton Guard
- Frustration
- Roost

Metagross @ Assault Vest
Ability: Clear Body
EVs: 64 HP / 252 Atk / 192 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Pursuit
- Meteor Mash
- Earthquake
- Bullet Punch

Landorus (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Sheer Force
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 30 Def
- Rock Polish
- Earth Power
- Sludge Wave
- Hidden Power [Ice]

Garchomp @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Rough Skin
EVs: 248 HP / 164 Def / 76 SpD / 20 Spe
Impish Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Dragon Tail
- Earthquake
- Fire Blast

Manaphy @ Lum Berry
Ability: Hydration
EVs: 88 HP / 252 SpA / 168 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 30 SpA / 30 Spe
- Tail Glow
- Scald
- Energy Ball
- Hidden Power [Fire]

Latias (F) @ Life Orb
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 29 HP / 0 Atk
- Defog
- Draco Meteor
- Thunderbolt
- Healing Wish

Some things to consider are:

• What do think was the main/inspiring idea/goal ben gay had when building this team?
• Is there a discernible core that he tried to build around?
• What are the strong points of the team?
• What are the weak spots?
• How could his use of certain EV/moveset twists help his team vs specific threats or archetypes?
• How does he use some underrated threats to give his team an advantage?

You can also try to think of other things to discuss about this team.

 

[GeeMick]

That is an excellent idea. I'm assuming we're gonna go over the Volcarona + Aerodactyl-M team ben gay used to win the first ORAS OU Smogon Tour ?
If so, you should post it, or whichever team we're talking about, in the OP, I think.

 

[AM]

I guess I'll start us off since it was in some of the convos during Smog Tour when ben and friends using this team was cleaning house and I can enlighten you guys with some details.

What do think was the main/inspiring idea/goal ben gay had when building this team?

Well for one the Cotton Guard set was inspired by newcomer Smogon and tournament player Stylez where she used this set against Bluwings, BKC, CBB, and a couple of others and floored skilled players out of the blue with nobody knowing who she was. This was the signature set she used in her first match and since then people have became intrigued with the set, to the point that radianthero156 brought 2 unaware users to their OST match and ended up losing based on a different match-up, just to give you an idea of its influence it has now. As such this set and the creation of the team came about through ben's curiosity of building around this concept. It's a set that basically excels against most archetypes due to its lack of knowledge of the M-Altaria amongst a majority of the community base, backed up by a couple of old tricks but successful ones such AV Metagross and Thunderbolt Latias.

Is there a discernible core that he tried to build around?

More or less you can consider M-Alt / Landorus / Manaphy the offensive backbone to the team while Garchomp / Metagross / Latias can be viewed as its utility, Garchomp providing rocks, Metagross providing pursuit support and check to Fairy types for Lando and M-Altaria to clean and an emergency M-Metagross check, Latias providing Healing Wish support.

What are the strong points of the team?

The use of very powerful threats in the meta-game. It has a blanket check for most stuff with a Dragon Dance Sweeper in M-Altaria to threaten offense, Landorus to threaten balance, Manaphy to threaten defensive cores and slower balance as well. Top this off with the utility backed by the other team-mates to apply consistent pressure to the opponents at all times.

What are the weak spots?

The biggest "weakness" so to speak is M-Manectric Weavile + Starmie cores primarily, Mamoswine, and big surprise, Landorus. It's a bit hard to pin-point such a subjective aspect when most of the issues it has is mitigated by 3 set up sweepers if they obtain their necessary boosts in time. Landorus mostly because with a bit of prior damage ben's team is on the clock to stop it as soon as possible, that's most teams though so it's not an exclusive thing to this team. Other than that it doesn't outright auto-lose to anything specific if we're talking about common sets and meta trends. Most issues have the luxury of being played around.

How could his use of certain EV/moveset twists help his team vs specific threats or archetypes?

There's actually nothing I would change on the EVs if I'm being perfectly honest. He could theoretically put some more speed into Garchomp for Bisharp and Loom but the special bulk although minor does have its benefits in practice from what I've seen. I wouldn't change the foundation personally.

How does he use some underrated threats to give his team an advantage?

AV Metagross provides a check to fairies for M-Altaria, pursuit support for Lando to break down its bulky Psychic checks, and AV to pivot into the Latis better. Tail Glow + 3 attacks Manaphy is a trend to break balance better with its additional coverage move with Lum Berry making up for its lack of hydration rain. Already explained the Cotton Guard aspect to a degree but Cotton Guard gives it a favorable match-up late game when all special attackers are out of the picture, thus allowing them M-Altaria to set up more easily against physical attackers.

That's all I can really say from what I've seen and heard.

 

[Shadow_Sneak]

Alright so were back this time with a team by Tesung who I thank for that.

team

"worthless protoplasm" (Slowking) @ Assault Vest
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 248 HP / 56 Def / 204 SpA
Quiet Nature
- Scald
- Fire Blast
- Dragon Tail
- Psyshock

"A mere slave" (Scizor) @ Scizorite
Ability: Technician
EVs: 248 HP / 84 Atk / 168 SpD / 8 Spe
Impish Nature
- Swords Dance
- Superpower
- Bullet Punch
- Roost

"a pathetic worm" (Hippowdon) @ Leftovers
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 HP / 124 Def / 132 SpD
Impish Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- Slack Off

"A fucking prick" (Latios) (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Draco Meteor
- Psyshock
- Roost
- Defog

"Waste of space" (Volcarona) @ Lum Berry
Ability: Flame Body
EVs: 64 HP / 252 SpA / 192 Spe
Timid Nature
- Quiver Dance
- Fire Blast
- Giga Drain
- Bug Buzz

"Fucking dweeb" (Weavile) @ Life Orb
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Knock Off
- Icicle Crash
- Swords Dance
- Ice Shard

Some things to consider are:

• What do think was the main/inspiring idea/goal tesung had when building this team?
• Is there a discernible core that he tried to build around?
• What are the strong points of the team?
• What are the weak spots?
• How could his use of certain EV/moveset twists help his team vs specific threats or archetypes?
• How does he use some underrated threats to give his team an advantage?

Try to think of other questions about this team and don't just let these questions limit your discussion.

 

[GeeMick]

team

"worthless protoplasm" (Slowking) @ Assault Vest
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 248 HP / 56 Def / 204 SpA
Quiet Nature
- Scald
- Fire Blast
- Dragon Tail
- Psyshock

"A mere slave" (Scizor) @ Scizorite
Ability: Technician
EVs: 248 HP / 84 Atk / 168 SpD / 8 Spe
Impish Nature
- Swords Dance
- Superpower
- Bullet Punch
- Roost

"a pathetic worm" (Hippowdon) @ Leftovers
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 HP / 124 Def / 132 SpD
Impish Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- Slack Off

"A fucking prick" (Latios) (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Draco Meteor
- Psyshock
- Roost
- Defog

"Waste of space" (Volcarona) @ Lum Berry
Ability: Flame Body
EVs: 64 HP / 252 SpA / 192 Spe
Timid Nature
- Quiver Dance
- Fire Blast
- Giga Drain
- Bug Buzz

"Fucking dweeb" (Weavile) @ Life Orb
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Knock Off
- Icicle Crash
- Swords Dance
- Ice Shard

• What do you think was the main/inspiring idea/goal Tesung had when building this team?

I think he wanted to make use of Volcarona, a very underrated threat which Tesung likes to use to dismantle common balance cores, paired with Latios which baits in Fairies and Steels, which the fire moth sets up on.

• Is there a discernible core that he tried to build around?

The offensive core is Volcarona + Latios + Weavile (the latter being a mon that is pretty good at beating offensive teams and balance builds, as well as denting Heatran for its offensive partners).
The defensive backbone seems to be made in order to handle offensive threats which are a pain to switch into for the offensive part of the team, such as Gardevoir, Azumarill (Scizor), Metagross, Keldeo, Heatran (Slowking) or Thundurus and offensive Talonflame (Hippowdon).

• What are the strong points of the team?

Strong, unprepared for and easy to setup win conditions in Volcarona and SD Roost Megazor. A very good and anti-meta defensive backbone (destroys Metagross + Keldeo cores for example)

• What are the weak spots?

At first glance, two huge threats stand out : SDef Wisp Talonflame which whittles the whole team without getting pressured enough, and more importantly, Mega Gyarados. This Pokemon is maybe the most anti-balance one at the moment, taking advantage of all the fat psychics people use to check Fairies and Metagross in this metagame. Sub MegaGyara 6-0es this build with little support and effort. Knock off Lando-I is a threat, so is NP Thundurus, but Weavile is able to revenge both while applying a great deal of pressure.

• How could his use of certain EV/moveset twists help his team vs specific threats or archetypes?

Maybe Toxic on Hippowdon for SDef Talonflame, though you do get weaker to quite a bit of threats. Grass Knot Slowking and Low Kick Weavile could help with Mega Gyara.

Thinking back about it that doesn't really answer to that question but oh well

• How does he use some underrated threats to give his team an advantage?

Sort of already explained

 

[Vinc608]

• What do think was the main/inspiring idea/goal tesung had when building this team?

I think that he wanted to build around Slowking, to counter Landorus.

• Is there a discernible core that he tried to build around?

Probably, but i don't see it :x.

• What are the strong points of the team?

I think the strong point of the team is the fact that a lot of people are unprepared for Weavile, Volcarona and Slowking. The team is anti-meta and really good against Landorus + Pursuit Support, Keldeo + Metagross-Mega

• What are the weak spots?

The worst match-up is against Bird Spam. Hippowdon is his only response against them, and it is easy to wear down. Speaking to flying-type, Talonflame with WoW is annoying. Gyarados(-Mega) is also a huge threat. U-Turn Landorus is annoying, because the opponnent has the momentum, and this is very important against Tesung s' team.

• How could his use of certain EV/moveset twists help his team vs specific threats or archetypes?

Very difficult to improve this team.

• How does he use some underrated threats to give his team an advantage?

Scizor Bulky SD with Superpower is very uncommon, and lures out Heatran for Volcarona. He also uses Slowking, to check a lot of threats like Landorus, Charizard-Y. Weavile helps a lot against offense.

 

[bludz]

So I think the strongest point I can see about this team is how well it handles Landorus-I. Between Slowking and Latios tesung has some fairly reliable switch-ins and Weavile is an awesome offensive check while Lando really can't one hit anything on the team unless it's running Rock Slide or Knock Off. I get the feeling that he was aware of how strong Lando-I has been recently and wanted to have multiple ways of dealing with it.

I also think that the team is a pretty strong balance one because it's not floored by stall or ho and can pretty much adapt to whatever it has to go up against. Weavile looks like the primary offense against HO and Stall (Knock Off) while Volcarona puts more pressure on balance cores and deals with Keldeo, Azumarill and Clefable which can come in on Weavile. Scizor is a great mega evolution for this team as it provides both offensive and defensive utility and a solid check to stuff like DD Altaria.

I don't actually think the team was built around a Volcarona sweep otherwise he probably would have more for SD and Bulky Talonflame which is a pretty big weakness, particularly Bulk Up variants. Another weak point I notice is DD Lum Dragonite if it's carrying Fire Punch, since it can set up against Hippo, Scizor and Volcarona. Fire Punch OHKOs Mega Scizor and +1 Extremespeed KOs Weavile after Rocks. It can be played around since Slowking and Hippo force Outrage which allows Weavile to revenge if Multiscale has been broken.

 

[Tesung]

I would be happy to answer questions at the end btw, some of u are more right than others about the building process n_n

 

[Clone]

how did u come up with those glorious nicknames Tesung?

 

[Pearl]

tesung showed the falcons an inferior version of that squad with keldeo or some shit like that and we (idr exactly who sry) just told him: "lol fuck that use volcarona"

he did and it delivered!!!

how did u come up with those glorious nicknames Tesung?

LOL

 

[leremyju]

What do think was the main/inspiring idea/goal tesung had when building this team?

Probably to rely on matchup and hax.

 

[GeeMick]

Tesung maybe you could answer to the questions yourself if you feel like it that'd be good hindsight !

 

[bludz]

Following up on GeeMick's post I just wanted to know what original concept/core the team was based on, and if you could give us like a brief overview of the building process, tesung. I would appreciate it, especially considering I played some games with this team as well :)

 

[Tesung]

Yeah, I knew pdc liked alakazam and other fat stuff like clefable, so I decided bulky scizor would be great to bring. It is the best zam answer, and its just really good in this meta as a whole, countering dd altaria and such. Slowking was the other mon that was part of the core I guess, cuz its just a great mon all around and one of the best lando i checks that eexists, while also having a nice offensive presence. Hippo just kinda fit as an electric check and kinda a volc/talon check. Weavile I then just thought would be cool vs what pdc uses, and it rks sd gliscor/rp lando I while being tricky for balance to switch into. BEn gay came up with the awesome suggestion of SD Weavile, as low kick isnt needed and I didn't need pursuit. Latios I don't love to use normally, but I needed it to check what it checks, and I needed some hazard remover for weavile, and cuz I didnt want to use starmie + slowking, it fit. Finally, I was gonna use keldeo in the last slot, because I needed something that could check scizor and threaten ferro, and while it does have some benefits like checking gyara and bisharp, toxzn suggested volcarona, because it fulfills most of the same roles, and is just a huge threat that appreciates defog support.

Weaknesses:
Mega Gyara, I fit superpower on zor but its still a problem
Talonflame, I have ways to kind of deal with it, but nothing reliable
Knock off lando I, but fuck Lando I what can I do

other weak spots that are annoying but I can deal with : keld + pursuit, Volc, scizor, + sr mon that beats lati, bisharp if used well, breloom, nasty plot houndoom 6-0es me


Strengths: pressures balance a ton, can deal with most of the standard threats, has some surprise factor with sd weavile and superpower scizor, good at exploiting mutual counters

This team isn't perfect, but I think it avoids being matchup'd really unless someone brings something super shocking.

Thx for lookin at the team everybody, if anyone has questions feel free to ask here or pm me

 

[Shadow_Sneak]

Sorry for the delay!
Thanks to The DragonKnight for the team.

team

Alakazam-Mega (M) @ Alakazite
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Psychic
- Focus Blast
- Shadow Ball
- Encore

Garchomp (M) @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Rough Skin
EVs: 248 HP / 168 Def / 92 Spe
Impish Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Dragon Tail
- Earthquake
- Fire Blast

Starmie @ Leftovers
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 240 HP / 4 Def / 4 SpA / 8 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Scald
- Reflect Type
- Recover
- Rapid Spin

Tornadus-Therian (M) @ Assault Vest
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 116 HP / 140 SpA / 252 Spe
Hasty Nature
IVs: 30 HP / 30 Def
- Hurricane
- Knock Off
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- U-turn

Jirachi @ Leftovers
Ability: Serene Grace
EVs: 240 HP / 120 Atk / 40 SpD / 108 Spe
Careful Nature
- Wish
- Protect
- Iron Head
- Body Slam

Togekiss (F) @ Lum Berry
Ability: Serene Grace
EVs: 72 HP / 216 SpA / 220 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Nasty Plot
- Air Slash
- Aura Sphere
- Roost

• What do think was the main/inspiring idea/goal that TDK had when building this team?
• Is there a discernible core that he tried to build around?
• What are the strong points of the team?
• What are the weak spots?
• How could his use of certain EV/moveset twists help his team vs specific threats or archetypes?
• How does he use some underrated threats to give his team an advantage

Should I add more questions next week?

 

[Stathakis]

@ above

ill provide my own thoughts later but i don't think paraflinching is anywhere near a central strategy of the team. for starters np togekiss is one of the best balance killers in the game and dual flying types to weaken electric types for each other is pretty strong since the most common flying resists get worn down super fast. i feel like there are a lot of things you missed in order to essentially say "lol serene grace."

will point out some more cool things about the team later

 

[bludz]

So, I'm not sure if this is the core he intended to build around from the start but I think Mega Alakazam + NP Togekiss is the offensive core of the team. Mega Zam beats a lot of offense bar priority users, and Togekiss sets up on and flinches fat cores to death pretty well. I guess Aura Sphere over Heal Bell just so it isn't actually walled by Tyranitars and stuff as well as dealing with pesky Bisharps, while Lum Berry is the pseudo replacement for status healing.

The rest of the team looks like a balance support system. Each of the pokemon actually check an S rank threat along with many other things. Garchomp sets up Rocks and is the main check to Mega Metagross, as well as checking Bisharp and Talonflame pretty well. Starmie spins, can switch into Keldeo and other water types, and carries Reflect type to prevent Pursuit trapping. I'm sensing a theme that he was really accounting for Bisharp because it is one of the better HO mons for checking Mega Alakazam. Torn-T gives the team more speed and utility with Knock Off and U-turn as well as checking non Rock Slide Landorus-I. On that note I'd say Rock Slide is more common on All-Out Attacker sets just because it makes more sense as a final coverage move rather than fitting it onto the RP set just to get walled by a lot more things than normal only to lure a few counters. This means if Torn-T does get bopped by Rock Slide, Zam will probably be able to take on Landorus because it's more than likely not RP. Of course, RP Rock Slide could potentially put in work. Finally Jirachi is a solid check to most fairy types (ahem the S rank threat being Mega Altaria here) because of its decent speed and excellent bulk. Spreading para with Body Slam supports itself and Togekiss immensely as boltsandbombers mentioned. Wish support is amazing for Garchomp which can get overloaded by Bisharp + Tflame cores which are gaining popularity to beat teams that use Chomp/Hippo as their primary check to both.

The biggest threat to this team I see is Thundurus. LO HP Ice can OHKO Garchomp, the only ground type, while LO Thunderbolt puts in massive work on everything else bar Jirachi, and Prankster T-Wave is very threatening to Mega Zam. Charizard Y also looks fairly difficult to switch into. Overall though looks like a really solid team with a good matchup against most playstyles and builds.

 

[GeeMick]

team

Alakazam-Mega (M) @ Alakazite
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Psychic
- Focus Blast
- Shadow Ball
- Encore

Garchomp (M) @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Rough Skin
EVs: 248 HP / 168 Def / 92 Spe
Impish Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Dragon Tail
- Earthquake
- Fire Blast

Starmie @ Leftovers
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 240 HP / 4 Def / 4 SpA / 8 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Scald
- Reflect Type
- Recover
- Rapid Spin

Tornadus-Therian (M) @ Assault Vest
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 116 HP / 140 SpA / 252 Spe
Hasty Nature
IVs: 30 HP / 30 Def
- Hurricane
- Knock Off
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- U-turn

Jirachi @ Leftovers
Ability: Serene Grace
EVs: 240 HP / 120 Atk / 40 SpD / 108 Spe
Careful Nature
- Wish
- Protect
- Iron Head
- Body Slam

Togekiss (F) @ Lum Berry
Ability: Serene Grace
EVs: 72 HP / 216 SpA / 220 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Nasty Plot
- Air Slash
- Aura Sphere
- Roost

• What do think was the main/inspiring idea/goal that TDK had when building this team?

I'm assuming this team was built around Mega Alakazam. Maybe TDK was preparing for weather, or offense in general (bulky or heavy) with the core of megazam + rh chomper (a good mon to support psychics).

• Is there a discernible core that he tried to build around?

MegaZam is paired with Garchomp and togekiss to form a core which fares well against more or less every archetype, while checking a lot of threats. Together, Togekiss and Zam break steels that rely on taking one fighting type move (Ferro, Heatran), blanket SDef checks like hippowdon...

• What are the strong points of the team?

The matchup against balance with MegaZam being a huge threat to non-Scizor builds, and Togekiss destroying slower builds while getting a huge amount of free switches on all of the defensive garchomps. A reliable spinner, the use of good pivots and the combination of status + residual damage help the offensive core do work.

• What are the weak spots?

The team has no real way of breaking through SDef Skarmory, besides haxing it / knocking it off. Even though Garchomp checks it to a very good extent, Scizor can walk + setup on 5/6 members on the team. Will-o-wisp talonflame is a pain to deal with, so is ice punch Metagross I guess. I'm also not sure the team can beat Sableye + Gothitelle stall.

• How could his use of certain EV/moveset twists help his team vs specific threats or archetypes?

Lum Togekiss provides a way to set up on status moves, in turn allowing tdk to run 2 attacks togekiss. HP Ice on AV TornT retains the ability to check Lando-I, especially the rising in popularity Rock Slide variants.

• How does he use some underrated threats to give his team an advantage?

Togekiss is funny to use against some teans. So is MegaZam against bulky offense builds. These two make some of the most underprepared for Pokemon in the metagame.

 

[Shadow_Sneak]

The infamous fail hail team that has been going around. Built by ben gay given to me to share to you by aim

Fail Hail

Abomasnow-Mega @ Abomasite
Ability: Snow Warning
EVs: 192 HP / 64 Atk / 252 SpA
Quiet Nature
- Ice Shard
- Blizzard
- Giga Drain
- Earthquake

Conkeldurr @ Assault Vest
Ability: Guts
EVs: 252 Atk / 232 SpD / 24 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Drain Punch
- Mach Punch
- Knock Off
- Poison Jab

Zapdos @ Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 248 HP / 64 Def / 160 SpD / 36 Spe
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Defog
- Volt Switch
- Heat Wave
- Roost

Slowbro @ Leftovers
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 248 HP / 72 Def / 188 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Trick Room
- Slack Off
- Scald
- Psychic

Heatran @ Air Balloon
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 88 HP / 216 SpA / 204 Spe
Timid Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Magma Storm
- Flash Cannon
- Earth Power

Kyurem @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 24 HP / 252 SpA / 232 Spe
Timid Nature
- Draco Meteor
- Blizzard
- Ice Beam
- Earth Power

• What do think was the main/inspiring idea/goal that Ben Gay had when building this team?
• Is there a discernible core that he tried to build around?
• What are the strong points of the team?
• What are the weak spots?
• How could his use of certain EV/moveset twists help his team vs specific threats or archetypes?
• How does he use some underrated threats to give his team an advantage?
• Do you think this team could shine in the ORAS Metagame?

 

[Dee Train]

I'll take a stab

• What do think was the main/inspiring idea/goal that Ben Gay had when building this team? : Ice is a very good ofensive type, very good, and stab users are not as prevelent in the meta. Being able to handle genies well as well as mega Alts is always a benefit. Hail is also a pretty interesting form of weather as it damages almost everything, which can help in wearing down bulky steels etc... also slow weather is good to counter other weather (somewhat counter.

• Is there a discernible core that he tried to build around? : regular Kyruem, and abomasnow have pretty nice synergy, as abomasnow can handle bulky waters that resist the blizzard.

• What are the strong points of the team?: Nice bulk, its like really bulky, also mons like conk, and abomasnow have passive secondary recovery with natural bulk. It also hits hard.

• What are the weak spots? : Speed, outside of scarf kyruem the team is really slow, and can be taken adtange of, as well as more susceptable to hax (lol true since if you go last they can crit first :) ) , trick room on king is a nice answer to this, but it can be unreliable. ALso having 2 Ice types is problematic not only for rocks (with zapdos 3 weaknesses) but also since ice is a horrible defensive typing (despite being great offensively) mega diancie can be trouble if tran loses baloon as well.

• How could his use of certain EV/moveset twists help his team vs specific threats or archetypes? : I am not a mastermind with EV spreads, I kind of think ben gay knows what hes doing.... however id max speed for tran, i dont want to auto lose the tran on tran tie and get earth powered.

• How does he use some underrated threats to give his team an advantage?: by running them!, blizzard plus hail is great...scarfers faster than lando t are great! stab ice is very solid in the meta, hell spaming blizzard is fun as well. plus hail chip damage is great for helping making 3hkos into 2hkos etc.

• Do you think this team could shine in the ORAS Metagame? : yes, it has to be played carefully, but it has alot of great traits to succed and looks hell of fun to play. plus its surprise mons have very good utility , they arent just there for the sake of being there. (gotta try this out!). though if aegi comes back it hurts the team significantly...like very much

 

[GeeMick]

Fail Hail

Abomasnow-Mega @ Abomasite
Ability: Snow Warning
EVs: 192 HP / 64 Atk / 252 SpA
Quiet Nature
- Ice Shard
- Blizzard
- Giga Drain
- Earthquake

Conkeldurr @ Assault Vest
Ability: Guts
EVs: 252 Atk / 232 SpD / 24 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Drain Punch
- Mach Punch
- Knock Off
- Poison Jab

Zapdos @ Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 248 HP / 64 Def / 160 SpD / 36 Spe
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Defog
- Volt Switch
- Heat Wave
- Roost

Slowbro @ Leftovers
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 248 HP / 72 Def / 188 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Trick Room
- Slack Off
- Scald
- Psychic

Heatran @ Air Balloon
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 88 HP / 216 SpA / 204 Spe
Timid Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Magma Storm
- Flash Cannon
- Earth Power

Kyurem @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 24 HP / 252 SpA / 232 Spe
Timid Nature
- Draco Meteor
- Blizzard
- Ice Beam
- Earth Power

• What do think was the main/inspiring idea/goal that Ben Gay had when building this team?

I'm assuming he wanted to build around hail, and more specifically Mega Abomasnow. While not the best OU mon, it is able to dismantle some balanced cores (the popularity of fat grounds and the decrease of mons like clef help it).

• Is there a discernible core that he tried to build around?

To me he paired Abomasnow, Slowbro and Heatran together. While saying that this core is near impossible to wall is pretty pointless, as the same can be said for so much in OU, they offer pretty good defensive utility as well as solving the problem of their overall lack of speed through the use of priority and TR.

• What are the strong points of the team?

This is quite the bulky offense team. It has a check to a vast majority of Pokemon in the metagame, while having some luring abilities and applying strong offensive pressure with Heatran's coverage + Magma Storm, as well as Conk's and Aboma's coverage. Rounding off the team, Scarf Kyurem looks like a potent cleaner with that high-powered Blizzard.

• What are the weak spots?

Latios is, surprisingly enough, actually pretty annoying, with Heatran running an offensive set and lacking leftovers. I can see HP Ground Volcarona completely running through the team if it gets free setup with rocks down. In a similar way, Charizard-Y is a big threat too. Scizor is a little problematic since it can wall, setup or grab momentum on 4 out of 6 members of the team. Some Clefable variants could prove difficult to beat, although Conkeldurr luring it in helps. Stealth Rick setters that beat Zapdos really hinder the team's good functionment. I'm also not sure this team can break Sableye + Gothitelle stall.

• How could his use of certain EV/moveset twists help his team vs specific threats or archetypes?

Poison Jab Conkekdurr luring Clefable, Volt Switch Zapsos grabbing momentum off Lati@s switchins, 188 SDef on Slowbro to tank everything Metagross throws at it, are all changes that make the team that little bit better.

• How does he use some underrated threats to give his team an advantage?

Ice Spam can become quite overwhelming for a lot of teams which typically carry two checks maximum. Abomasnow obviously stands out as the underrated threat, which gives a hard time to some common structures like the bulky offensive ones using Garchomp and Tornadus-T as pivots. Conkeldurr also can be hard to switch into for some teams with it's coverage and bulk.

• Do you think this team could shine in the ORAS Metagame?

Definitely. Applying constant offensive pressure is one of the ways to success in ORAS and this team does just that while being decently hard to pressure itself. Also, I would like a round of applause to Ben gay for making a team which Landorus-I is absolutely useless against.

Love this thread!

 

[leremyju]

252+ SpA Mega Abomasnow Blizzard vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Mega Sableye: 178-210 (58.5 - 69%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after hail damage

252 SpA Kyurem Blizzard vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Mega Sableye: 160-189 (52.6 - 62.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

Would not be surprised to see this stall broken. Kyurem and Abomasnow both fire off high powered blizzards and Kyurem can Pressure stall Recovers. I can see the standard stall being problematic, but coupled with hail damage and these strong attackers it takes very good play from stall to win.

 

[GeeMick]

252+ SpA Mega Abomasnow Blizzard vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Mega Sableye: 178-210 (58.5 - 69%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after hail damage

252 SpA Kyurem Blizzard vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Mega Sableye: 160-189 (52.6 - 62.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

Would not be surprised to see this stall broken. Kyurem and Abomasnow both fire off high powered blizzards and Kyurem can Pressure stall Recovers. I can see the standard stall being problematic, but coupled with hail damage and these strong attackers it takes very good play from stall to win.

Fat blob just walls this tbh

 

[leremyju]

Conkeldurr :O yea stall is a bitch but magma storm heatran can also beat eye