Project OU Teambuilding Competition V8 (Round 24: Building: Post #721 Page 29: Mega Latias + Togekiss)

[DarkNostalgia]

Team 4

 

[Ksh13]

Team 3

 

[Celticpride]

Team 1

 

[Ignus]

Team 5

 

[Ende]

Team 5

 

[AGuyWithPants]

Team 5

 

[ThePack]

Team 4

 

[Vinc608]

Team 4

 

[serendipity]

Team 4

 

[AM]

Alright then so Team 4 by GeeMick has won round 1, good job bud, I'll be adding it on the hall of fame shortly. Anyways on to the next order of business.

I was asked a couple of days ago a question about collaborative team-building if that is allowed and since 1. I had to answer right then and there 2. See no harm in it I'll be allowing it, gonna give it a shot.

You may pair up in teams of 2 to submit teams, no more than 2. Same rules apply for tag teaming but make sure in the conversation you have both builders, one submitting team and the other confirming preferably.

Both Mew and Gliscor can stomach stuff from Torn-T pretty well. I mean yeah I guess it can U-turn on everything but that's not exactly a new thing. Serp gets a kill but it doesn't sweep because just attack when it sets up and revenge with ScarfTar. IMO this team just has the most ways (of all the teams here) to deal with most opposing teams thanks to solid defensive synergy vs offense and dual stallbreakers for opposing balance teams. Granted Ferrothorn is key to prevent a bunch of things from sweeping but that tends to be the case on a lot of teams that pack it anyway.

My issue with Team 3 was that it lacks a real Talonflame check (Tran is kinda worthless against Taunt SpDef if it's lacking Stone Edge) or a "true" answer to Bisharp if things get dicey - though at least his Mew can outspeed it unlike all these other Mews ._.

Granted Team 3 was my second pick - Team 1 is kind of swept by Bisharp, Team 2 relies on Scarf Exca as its Talon check, and Team 5 has problems with water types like Keldeo and Manaphy (Modest Zard Y). Just to be clear I'm not trying to insult anyone's builds. Every team is going to have weaknesses so this isn't an indictment of them saying "oh this team is ass" it's just brief reasoning as to why I chose one team over the others. I just think it's okay to actually have a discussion about why we picked what instead of everyone just posting "I vote this"

I like comments like these because they give justification to an extent without going overboard. If you're gonna vote feel free to state why within reason obviously. No need to nitpick every single detail but it's good to give perspective.

Round 2 Core: Mienshao + Rotom-H

So for Round 2 I'll be providing you guys volt-turn core, credit to Ben Gay for the initial inspiration in choosing this core for the week. Have fun.​

 

[Taliheim]

Now that the second round has started, I can now post this.

As the creator of Team 1, I wish I had replaced Knock Off on Beedrill with Drill Run, as I was very weak to both Bisharp and ZardX. But, I had already sent it, so I had to deal with Knock Off. Still happy with the amount of votes I got tho n_n

 

[GeeMick]

This core is pretty cool really. The use of Mienshao as the fighting type of choice means that you're able to break past common fighting checks like Altaria and Slowbro easier than other fightings would like Keld and Lop, however you're much more helpless against things like Venu or Sab. On the defensive side of the spectrum Mienshao has no value, on the contrary to Keldeo which is able to check both Bisharp and Weavile, a pretty important feat in a lot of build Keldeo finds it's place on. RotomH should be a good pivot into the obvious Talonflame and Torn but also for less obvious threats like Altaria if given the right moveset (said set which craing ran on his team featuring the core). Might be worth considering making RotomH faster than Bish to wisp it, depending on how freely Bish sets up on the partners to Mienshao + Rotom. Might add more thoughts.

 

[AM]

Now that the second round has started, I can now post this.

As the creator of Team 1, I wish I had replaced Knock Off on Beedrill with Drill Run, as I was very weak to both Bisharp and ZardX. But, I had already sent it, so I had to deal with Knock Off. Still happy with the amount of votes I got tho n_n

when you submit a team and if you still follow the formatting you have until I post it for voting to change whatever in your original pm to me through the edit function. Just a heads up for the sake of clarity.

 

[AM]

Forgot about this yesterday so doing now, voting ends at same timeframe as before. Here are the teams for Round 2. FYI Ill only show replays that don't obviously have the name of the builder involved, ie use alts.

Team 1

Explanation

This balance team was originally built around a Shaymin/Tentacruel/Krookodile core, but upon completion, I realized the team was incredibly Fighting type weak. I then replaced Krook with Scarf Jellicent. Rotom-H, Mega Aggron, and Tenta all cover each others' weaknesses very well. One big issue with the team is a reliable form of recovery, but Shaymin is able to function as a great wallbreaker and support poke with healing wish. The goal is to stack hazards and apply pressure through VoltTurn to whittle the opposing team.

Importable

Tentacruel @ Black Sludge
Ability: Liquid Ooze
EVs: 252 HP / 232 Def / 24 Spe
Bold Nature
- Rapid Spin
- Scald
- Toxic Spikes
- Acid Spray

Shaymin @ Life Orb
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Seed Flare
- Earth Power
- Healing Wish
- Psychic

Jellicent @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Water Absorb
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Scald
- Shadow Ball
- Water Spout
- Ice Beam

Aggron-Mega @ Aggronite
Ability: Filter
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
- Thunder Wave
- Stealth Rock
- Heavy Slam
- Earthquake

Mienshao @ Life Orb
Ability: Reckless
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- High Jump Kick
- Knock Off
- U-turn
- Stone Edge

Rotom-Heat @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
- Pain Split
- Overheat
- Volt Switch
- Will-O-Wisp

Team 2

Explanation

The team is built around Mienshao + Rotom-H as the competition requied it to be. Right off the bat I decided I would build around LO Mienshao, which is actually a nice wallbreaker in the metagame, however exteremly troubled by its frail bulk and finds itself really hard to switch into even a resisted attack. I then decided to utilize the bulky physically defensive Rotom-H, which helped covering threats such as M-Alt/Talonflame etc. Next I added a Mega Gardevoir to assist Mienshao in wallbreaking and it was a great partner for Mienshao since it could fend of bulky Psychics and things like Venusaur. Rotom-H also covered some of Mega Gardevoir's common answers such as Scizor, Talonflame and Skarmory, furthermore benefits from momentum that Rotom-H and Mienshao easily obtains due to the good amount of switches they can force to fire off strong hyper voices. Next that was added to my team was a Hippowdown, which covered multiple threats such as Bisharp, Excadrill, Zard X, as well as a reliable stealth rocker. It could also handle Gengar(a shaky answer). SpD Jirachi was added to blanket check a lot of special attackers, such as Tornadus/Lati@s/Alakazam/Clef,etc since their coverage moves fails to 2HKO rachi as well as pass wishes. Thunderbolt may seem extremely odd, but it makes sures that Gyarados Mega, which is a huge threat to the team, doesn't get a free setup/sub or at least weaken it to the point where my scarfer can revenge it, also lives a +6 Azumarill Aqua Jet after rocks and Thunderbolt it. Last was a Scarf Latios, my answer other answer to Keldeo and for Zard Y and provides way to reliably revenge mons like Gengar or Dragon Dancers at +1. Its also a defogger, while not the most reliable when running scarf, could still get the job done pretty well. In the end, some mons are still annoying for the team to deal with, but could be played around to a certain and generally managable. Thanks for reading.

Importable

Mienshao @ Life Orb
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- High Jump Kick
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- U-turn
- Fake Out

Rotom-Heat @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Overheat
- Volt Switch
- Will-O-Wisp
- Pain Split

Gardevoir @ Gardevoirite
Ability: Trace
EVs: 24 Def / 232 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Hyper Voice
- Psyshock
- Focus Blast
- Will-O-Wisp

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

Jirachi @ Leftovers
Ability: Serene Grace
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Sassy Nature
- Iron Head
- Thunder
- Wish
- Protect

Latios @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Draco Meteor
- Psyshock
- Defog
- Trick

Team 3

Importable

Mienshao @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 8 HP / 248 Atk / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
IVs: 30 Spe
- High Jump Kick
- Poison Jab
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- U-turn

Rotom-Heat @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 248 HP / 148 Def / 100 SpD / 12 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Overheat
- Discharge
- Will-O-Wisp
- Volt Switch

Reuniclus @ Leftovers
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 Spe
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Psyshock
- Calm Mind
- Shadow Ball
- Recover

Gardevoir-Mega @ Gardevoirite
Ability: Trace
EVs: 8 HP / 16 Def / 232 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Calm Mind
- Psyshock
- Hyper Voice
- Focus Blast

Tyranitar @ Shuca Berry
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 248 HP / 176 Def / 84 SpD
Relaxed Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Thunder Wave
- Stone Edge
- Crunch

Zapdos @ Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 248 HP / 224 Def / 40 Spe
Bold Nature
- Defog
- Discharge
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Roost

Explanation

i had a bit of problems building around this one, chiefly behind what mienshao can do - i finally settled on a scarf regen set. this allows it to outspeed mega lopunny and scarf terrakion. reuniclus is a mon that i have been in love with lately (probably going to add it to every single team i build for the teambuilding comp, heh). max hp and def with calm allows it to live 2 moonblasts from timid mega diancie. i tinkered with taunt mega garde a while, but i settled for calm mind in the end, as it is just that much more threatening. shuca tyranitar checks eq zard-x, which is pretty common (i also have scarf mienshao, but really that's quite a bit harder to switch in). people also tend to expect scarf from it except this one guy who thought it was mega tyranitar because ben gay core. zapdos checks azu and gives me a much needed ground immunity

Team 4

Explanation

Hi, as people commonly have issues such as a clouded thought process, and endless troubleshooting with builds featuring unorthodox Pokémon, this post was made in-depth!

When we first saw the post, we noticed that this was a fun high risk, high reward core. We understood what the core was meant to do as well, which is to apply momentum for the team through VoltTurn; Offensive teams appreciate the free switch-ins that this core is capable of providing. Mienshao is an offensive pivot which acts as a wallbreaker, as for Rotom-H, it's a defensive pivot which supports Mienshao through beating many of its checks, crippling them, while also providing momentum through Volt Switch. Lastly, Mienshao acts as a lure for several common OU Pokémon for a cleaner to finish up the game.

After we took a second look at the core, we noticed several holes; Some of which can be fixed by role compression. As a glue, we chose Latios; It kept the build together with the role compression of a wallbreaker, hazard removal and the necessity of a water and ground check. For the next slot, a rocker was needed. Our choice was Ferrothorn, it supports the team with the needs of a dragon and fairy check as well as a secondary water check with the utility of Rocks and Thunder Wave. After discussing, we thought that speed in the form of a Scarfer would be beneficial to the team in order revenge kill set up sweepers. However, after we took a different look at the team, it seemed as a rather inefficient choice. Both Azumarill and Suicune fit the squad well, but in the end we decided on Roar Suicune as its a more consistent check to the likes of set up sweepers and strong wallbreakers such as DD Zard-X, Specs Keldeo, SD Bisharp, and LO Weavile. For the last slot, we realized that we didn't have anything to benefit from Mienshao's wall-breaking capabilities, there were several options, including speed boosting cleaners. But ultimately, we came to a conclusion that Mega Tyranitar was the best choice. Our team provides VoltTurn to chip down the opposing team, utility in Thunder Wave for set up opportunities, HP Ice / Poison Jab Mienshao being able of luring bulky grounds such as Tank Chomp, defensive Landorus-T, as well as Fairies such as Clefable which Mega Tyranitar appreciates removed / weakened to clean.

This team has a couple of weaknesses, one being M-Sableye. CM Roar Suicune can be ran to improve matchup against said weakness but at the loss of consistent Roars and Scalds through Sleep Talk. LO Alakazam and Gengar run through this team with ease if not played around correctly; Chople Ferrothorn helps with these two at the loss of Leftovers recovery which is why it's advised to be ran with CB Azumarill to ease the pressure off of Ferrothorn. Although Pain Split on Rotom-H is the most consistent choice to check mons such as Mega Gardevoir, LO Thundurus-I, and Torn-t, Snatch can also be used to disrupt fatter builds as its capable of stealing moves like Spikes, Toxic Spikes, Recover, Taunt, etc. Earthquake Latios is an option to weaken or remove some of its switchins being Tyranitar, Heatran and Bisharp. Rotom-Heat and Ferrothorn appreciate this, as they can respectively cripple the opposing team with Will-O-Wisp and Thunder Wave.

Gameplan

Pick your lead depending on team preview, select the best lead depending on the situation. Suicune's nice against HO as it has the bulk to take on various suicide leads, while being able to roar out or threaten Pokémon that carry SD + SR such as Garchomp or Terrakion. Mienshao and Latios work well against bulky offense, whereas Ferrothorn works against slower, bulkier builds. Whenever you get switch into Ferrothorn, set rocks to wear down the opposing team, afterwards, scout the opposing team's sets through VoltTurn and double switches. From the momentum that VoltTurn provides, whenever Mienshao or Latios get a free switch, something will drop or be severely weakened. Whenever something gets out of hand, Suicune can roar threats out. During mid-late game you should attempt to spread status in order to cripple the opponent. These options include pressuring the opponent with SR, Roar, VoltTurn and several other moves like Will-O-Wisp, Pain Split, Thunder Wave and Scald. During late game, once the opponent's team is weakened, Mienshao or Latios can clean. However, Mega Tyranitar is preferred as it finishes up the game with ease thanks to its sheer power and bulk.

Importable

Rotom-Heat @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 248 HP / 108 Def / 144 SpD / 8 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Pain Split
- Overheat
- Volt Switch
- Will-O-Wisp

Mienshao @ Life Orb
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 Atk / 20 SpA / 236 Spe
Naive Nature
- High Jump Kick
- U-turn
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Poison Jab

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

Ferrothorn @ Leftovers
Ability: Iron Barbs
EVs: 252 HP / 88 Def / 168 SpD
Careful Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Power Whip
- Thunder Wave
- Iron Head

Suicune @ Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Roar
- Scald
- Rest
- Sleep Talk

Tyranitar-Mega @ Tyranitarite
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Stone Edge
- Crunch
- Fire Punch

Replays

OU room-tour finals #2
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/ou-267981214

Team 5

Importable

Mienshao @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- High Jump Kick
- U-turn
- Knock Off
- Stone Edge

Rotom-Heat @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 240 HP / 252 Def / 8 SpD / 8 Spe
Bold Nature
- Volt Switch
- Pain Split
- Overheat
- Will-O-Wisp

Beedrill (M) @ Beedrillite
Ability: Swarm
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- U-turn
- Poison Jab
- Drill Run
- Protect

Suicune @ Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
- Calm Mind
- Rest
- Sleep Talk
- Scald

Ferrothorn (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Iron Barbs
EVs: 252 HP / 168 Def / 88 SpD
Impish Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Stealth Rock
- Gyro Ball
- Leech Seed
- Power Whip

Togekiss (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Serene Grace
EVs: 232 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD / 20 Spe
Bold Nature
- Thunder Wave
- Defog
- Roost
- Air Slash

Description

Before I start I'd like to say that Mienshao+Rotom-H was a tricky pair to build around because of the difference in playstyle that each of them infer. Mienshao (though I don't have much experience with it), seems to be more offensively geared and thus fits on more offensive teams, while Rotom-Heat is a cool tool for balance and bulkier teams. Because of this I decided to build a bulkier team that has some fast Volt-Turners to make the team less passive while maintaining the ability to check things thoroughly. With this idea in mind my first addition was a fast Volt-turner that forms a fast Volt-Turn core with Mienshao whose best set seemed to be Choice Scarf due to its base 109 speed being just below 110: Mega Beedrill. Mega Beedrill is a mega that flies under the radar a bit but it fits this team excellently, having quite a lot of oppurtunites to U-turn into Rotom-H especially. A nice thing about this Volt-turn trio is that Lando-T loves switching into them and therefore can be very easily worn down if Mienshao gets a Knock Off on them. Drill Run was added over Knock Off at the end of the teambuilding process when I saw I needed some extra ways to deal with Heatran who could have been an annoyance otherwise. From here on, it was about building up my defensive core and it was quite clear what I had to have. I had to have 2 water resists including a water type, at least one dragon resist, a stealth rocker and a defogger. Ferrothorn+Bulky Water Type were clear choices with Ferrothorn having stealth rocks and a dragon resist and the water type to have scald. Originally I had Slowbro to compliment Volt-Turn, but due to being weak to Bisharp I changed it to CroCune who fit awesomely, providing me a nice win-condition. Finally I needed a defogger. I tested a plethora of defoggers in this slot from Latias, to Mandibuzz, to Zapdos but a new find for me in Togekiss took this spot. Over the others, Togekiss provided a dragon resist that isn't trapped by Magnezone and a defogger that easily comes in on most of the common rockers, especially Garchomp who can barely touch it at all.

Overall, the team turned out really well, handily taking on most of the threats in the metagame all while not being too passive.

Team 6

Importable

Mienshao @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Reckless
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- U-turn
- High Jump Kick
- Knock Off
- Stone Edge

Rotom-Heat @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Volt Switch
- Will-O-Wisp
- Overheat
- Pain Split

Manaphy @ Leftovers
Ability: Hydration
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Tail Glow
- Energy Ball
- Scald
- Psychic

Tornadus-Therian @ Assault Vest
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 96 HP / 160 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- U-turn
- Hurricane
- Knock Off
- Hidden Power [Ice]

Tyranitar-Mega @ Tyranitarite
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Crunch
- Stone Edge
- Fire Punch

Excadrill @ Life Orb
Ability: Sand Rush
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
IVs: 29 HP
- Earthquake
- Iron Head
- Rapid Spin
- Swords Dance

Explanation

Mienshao and Rotom-Heat is a very interesting and fun core to play around with. Although the core does have a huge weakness to things like Swampert and Gastrodon, so I added Manaphy with energy ball which can sweep teams on it's own anyways :p I also gave Manaphy psychic because Mega Venu is just a really annoying mon. Also with the voltturn core going on, this gives a lot of chances for Manaphy to come in and set up. But I still needed a real switch in to venu so I added Torn-T which is an amazing blanket check, and also adds to the voltturn aspect of the team. Then I needed a spinner seeing as how I didn't have any hazard control, and 2 mons that are weak to rocks. So I slapped on TTar and Excadrill which is an amazing core that can handle the lati twins and other fast threats. I made TTar mega because I didn't have another mega on my team already, and because a lot of people don't prepare for it. Fire punch is a great surprise coverage move, because most people send in Scizor or Ferrothorn and think that they immediately can take a hit and knock it out afterwards. Although Mega Tar can take a banded bullet punch, and Ferro gets OHKOd at +1. This team just struggles with Rotom-Wash and Azumarill but other than that it's pretty solid.

Team 7

Importable

Toast Ghost (Rotom-Heat) @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 Spe
Bold Nature
- Overheat
- Volt Switch
- Will-O-Wisp
- Pain Split

SMASHING (Ferrothorn) @ Leftovers
Ability: Iron Barbs
EVs: 252 HP / 168 Def / 88 SpD
Relaxed Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Leech Seed
- Gyro Ball
- Power Whip

DAE HENTAI XD (Tentacruel) @ Leftovers
Ability: Clear Body
EVs: 248 HP / 216 Def / 28 SpD / 16 Spe
Timid Nature
- Toxic Spikes
- Scald
- Acid Spray
- Rapid Spin

Captain Falcon (Mienshao) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Reckless
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- High Jump Kick
- U-turn
- Knock Off
- Stone Edge

Mach 1 (Latias) @ Latiasite
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 248 HP / 68 Def / 192 Spe
Bold Nature
- Calm Mind
- Roost
- Substitute
- Stored Power

dans la lune (Clefable) @ Leftovers
Ability: Unaware
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SpD
Bold Nature
- Moonblast
- Heal Bell
- Wish
- Protect

Explanation

Building for this team was kind of a bit out of my comfort zone, as Rotom-H isn't something I'd typically use, and Mienshao wouldn't be the first thing I'd pair it with. I decided to ignore Mienshao early on and focus on a core for Rotom-H to work with. I started off by adding Tentacruel, who has decent synergy with the toaster oven, and can provide both Rapid Spin and hazard support. I added Ferrothorn for Stealth Rock and to patch some holes in the defensive core, completing the FWG defensive core. Clefable made a lot of sense to add at this point; the core was extremely weak to status and had little recovery, so a cleric and a Wish passer was a necessity. Lastly, I added CM Mega Latias as a win condition, with Scarf Mienshao to revenge kill anything that got out of control, while providing offensive pressure and momentum throughout the match.

Team 8

Explanation

This team is based on whittling the opponent down with volt switch early-game and weakening the opposition enough to clear the way for a Scizor or Serperior sweep. Mienshao is a powerful wallbreaker with good coverage and priority and with Rotom-H forms a fast VoltTurn core which is able to scout, cripple with status, grab momentum, and deal a hefty sum of damage in the process. Landorus-Therian came next and completes the VoltTurn trio, allowing more flexibility with slower switches, providing utility in Stealth Rock, Knock Off and Intimidate, good coverage with Earthquake, tanking strong physical hits, and offering some key resistances and immunities such as electric to cockblock oppositing Volt Switch. Starmie comes next, spinning away hazards which is vital for VoltTurn teams and also has great offensive coverage, in particular Ice Beam for Chomp and Lando, plus an anti-meta speed tier which the team so far lacks. Serperior and Scizor are then added as the main wincons, as they synergise fantastically with the rest of the team, covering defensive weaknesses and gaps in offensive coverage. Serp just straight up destroys stall, Leaf Storms can quickly spiral out of control against all archetypes and Scizor checks many important threats such as Mega-Altaria and Clefable, and can pivot with U-turn, as well as cleaning up effectively late game with Swords Dance and Bullet Punch.

Set Details

Mienshao fairly self-explanatory, EVs and life orb for max speed and power, HJK to wallbreak, fake out for priority (knock off can be run over fake out if you prefer the utility although HJK is a KO on Chansey anyway). Stone edge is to outspeed and KO CharY. Regenerator increases longevity and makes up for LO/rocky helmet etc recoil.

Scarf Rotom-H acts as a great revenge killer and fast pivot which the team desperately needed to avoid getting curbstomped by faster threats. 200 speed with Timid nature outspeeds max speed base 150s such as mega-Alakazam, and he can either KO with a powerful overheat, volt switch into an appropriate check, or cripple with Thunder Wave for another team member to kill later (looking at you, Char-X). Trick is to help vs stall or cripple a mon using a set-up move, and is also useful to get rid of the scarf for flexibility against slower teams. The rest of the EVs are dumped into HP for a bit of extra bulk.

Bulky Lando-T takes hits like a champ, has the best move in the game in stealth rock, acts as a bulky pivot with intimidate and u-turn. Earthquake kills stuff especially electrics - EVs allow him to survive HP ice from Mega-Manectric and retaliate with EQ. 8 Speed to outspeed modest Magnezone. Knock off is for utility but can be replaced by stone edge for EdgeQuake coverage if Mienshao swaps stone edge for knock off (or poison jab). Defense EVs allow him to tank anything CharX can throw at him and KO with EQ 43% of the time from full (100% after rocks or any prior damage) which even if it doesn't kill takes it into fake out / bullet punch range.

Offensive Starmie best hazard removal in the current meta IMO, as removing your own hazards with defog sucks and ice beam beats common rock setters such as Lando and Chomp. Also my fastest mon so works as a powerful revenge killer of sorts. Psyshock for weakened Venu, Conk etc and scald because scald is scald. Thunderbolt was considered over Psyshock until Serp joined the team then was redundant.

Serperior with Taunt is the ultimate stallbreaker and pretty much 6-0s stall on its own. Lum berry to stop the stray toxic, t-wave or scald burn ruining our day. HP ground and rock were considered over fire but their targets are not really troublesome to the team so fire chosen for best overall sweeping coverage. Plus no one actually expects it anymore lol.

Mega-Scizor fills in a ton of gaps in the team, fairy resist, revenge killer, tank, priority user, late game cleaner. Roost for longevity as he can easily be overwhelmed when he fulfils so many roles. U-turn to expand on the VoltTurn core and to pivot, swords dance and bullet punch to clean up. EVs stolen from GeeMick, allows Zor to speed creep opposing mega Scizor while avoiding KOs from +2 adamant Bisharp sucker punch and stray HP fires from the likes of Latios and Diancie.

Importable

Mienshao @ Life Orb
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- High Jump Kick
- Stone Edge
- U-turn
- Fake Out

Rotom-Heat @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 56 HP / 252 SpA / 200 Spe
Timid Nature
- Overheat
- Volt Switch
- Thunder Wave
- Trick

Landorus-Therian @ Leftovers
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 HP / 240 Def / 8 SpD / 8 Spe
Impish Nature
- Earthquake
- Knock Off
- Stealth Rock
- U-turn

Starmie @ Life Orb
Ability: Analytic
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Rapid Spin
- Scald
- Psyshock
- Ice Beam

Serperior @ Lum Berry
Ability: Contrary
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Leaf Storm
- Dragon Pulse
- Hidden Power Fire
- Taunt

Scizor-Mega @ Scizorite
Ability: Technician
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Atk / 84 Def / 164 SpD / 4 Spe
Careful Nature
- Bullet Punch
- Swords Dance
- Roost
- U-turn

 

[GeeMick]

1 has two water types, and it's not like they compensate each other's weaknesses or pummel the same water resists or anything.
2 is weak to a couple wallbreakers like Gengar, Weavile. also don't really know which targets hp ice are luring for the team, and why hippo has edge when talon is already beaten by rotom (which might wanna run discharge to not just get roosted on in that case)
3 has no water resists, and it's not like it has the momentum ho provides to patch that weakness
4 is cool, very weak to offensive zam variants but i definitely realize it's a pain to handle so many threats with such a restrictive core. has good wincons so you can play agressively to overcome its few issues
5 is weak to bish big time, with 2/3 mons being setup on, sdef talon kinda just beats it, overall with the core having such little/specific defensive coverage i don't think you should chose mega bee if you're gonna add 3 fat things in the other slots
6 has no sr, has mana walled by the latis without a pursuiter. good example of how restrictive the core is cause the team doesn't seem to not have thought behind it
7 destroyed by bish too, overall shao isn't the best fighting to go with mlati, also the mono attacking set would appreciatge hazard supports and shao would appreciate lati to be able to damage sab
8 is actually really weak to the latis, just another example of how hard it was to teambuild around this. The momentum is so huge with this one and the sets so well-tailored to fit the needs of it (i.e. Rotom tricking CM Clefs which are a huge pain) that i'm going with this one though. combination of good pivots and scary, reliable wincons make it easier to proceed in a whole bunch of situations.

i vote team 8

also Vertex definitely agree with what you said, i just didn't have the time to post something more elaborated earlier on. also agree that it pretty much comes down to 4 and 8 but that a faster-paced team seems smarter to run with shao + rotomh

 

[yuruuu]

Team 8
Team 1: lol
Team 2: gyara sets up on hippo
Team 3: keldeo and lando-t are issues, even though garde can check keldeo once
Team 4: cute user but i'm sorry, i can't vote for something that is so obviously weak to mega sableye (hoopa-u too)
Team 5: weak to keldeo, zard-x, hoopa-u, and mega sableye.
Team 6: no sr
Team 7: agree with geemick, weak to bisharp
Team 8: mega sable and mega venu can be a bit problematic.

 

[Vert]

just want to say nitpicking teams over one threat isn't really how you vote, look at your teams and tell me if they suck because m-gyara wins after rocks are up for instance.

if you say "x user has talonflame without hazard removal" or "x user has no water resists", i can tell you that is a good reason to not vote for that team, or if you say "team has no way of dealing with common balance breakers such as manaphy and kyu-b" i would eliminate that from my list as well, but if you lose to one threat like mega charizard y (which can be said for team 8 btw), let's be real - every team is going to have weaknesses.

anyways, basically eliminate the obvious ones out like team 1 and do process of elimination. i came down to team 4 and 8, but at the end of the day, it all comes down to your own taste, so i am going for team 8

 

[blank]

Team 4

 

[Ksh13]

Team 4

 

[Celticpride]

Team 4

 

[AM]

Alrighty so FookMi? and Nedor win Round 2 with Team 4. Nice job being the first collaboration in Hall of Fame. Let's kick off Round 3. The core will be this.

Round 3 Core: Sableye + Suicune

So for Round 3 we'll be going with Sableye + Suicune, a defensive combo. You're allowed to use M-Sableye, I'm just giving you guys the freedom to not use that if you don't want to. Have fun and feel free to discuss about the core.

​

 

[Bendiving]

As the maker of team 8 I just wanted to say thanks for the 3 votes and comments. Was my first time doing something like this and I found it quite challenging as I kept wanting to switch team members around and realising I couldn't, so I'm glad I was able to build something that people liked :) I really enjoyed testing and tweaking it on the ladder until I got something solid and was happy with the end result. (I mean, after getting the first 3 votes I thought I was going to win lol but still chuffed with 2nd!)

Just brainstormed a quick team round the new core based on defensive type synergy, I think it's quite easy to build around and it quickly fell together into a strong and solid but really generic balance build and I even bored myself with it so gonna go back to the drawing board on this one and try out some different things.

 

[GeeMick]

I rly don't expect to see many resttalk cunes in this week's teams; reason being, roar is too good to pass out imo when sableye builds tend to get overhwelmed by things like tg manaphy, cm keld, cm clef and he likes so easily. Roar could also be used to great effect in hazardstacking teams (most will run ferro i assume otherwise idk how you plan on beating mana, other than maybe kyube or the amazing unaware clefable set)
I think we'll recognize the best team by their ability to support cune as a wincon (and maybe pack another wincon) and not only their trying to check all the offensive threats that threaten passive, slow Sableye cores.

 

[AM]

Most of the time when I ever build on a core like this I think of some good partners to utilize and get some sort of game plan in mind. Stuff like Jirachi and Heatran should be really good for Fairy Resist while Jirachi helps in checking Gardevoir which can be a huge annoyance to the core. There's also pursuit trappers in Ttar and AV M-Metagross to emphasis more hazard stacking builds, the former helping with Stuff like Zard-Y and Zard-X (to a degree) and the latter being another decent check to M-Gardevoir while being a pursuiter for the Lati twins.

 

[AM]

Goddam AM i thought i missed the deadline again >_>
Also i have something ready but i might want to swap out my last team member entirely since i haven't gotten many opportunities to test (i can only play and type my submission from phone) but i really want to finish my draft and send it in for now. Forgive me if this is already addressed in the rules, i really just dont want to miss the deadline again.

Deadline is on Thursday nights my time zone (GMT-5, est). Thursday - Tuesday: building, Tuesday - Thursday: Voting rinse and repeat.