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Congrats to the winners of the 2023 Smog Awards!
Project SV OU Teambuilding Competition (Indigo Disk Edition) Cycle 11: Volcarona!
- Thread starter zastra
- Start date
Congratulations to DiscoDucky for winning!
Cycle 10: Deoxys-S
Moving on to another tournament trend: Deoxys-S has an absurd 76.9% winrate in SPL overall and has exhibited strong set versatility as well as fitting on a variety of archetypes. In SPL alone, we saw Deoxys share the spotlight with mons like Gholdengo and Dragonite on HO as well as Gliscor and Ogerpon-Teal on Balance. I think this is a very open prompt for exploration. Will you use an unorthodox coverage or utility move to support teammates in a unique way with Deoxys' superlative speed? Or will you use a more standard set and support it with teammates in a way that lets Deoxys play to its particular strengths?How would you build a team that lets Deoxys-S to rise to its full potential? You have 1 week to build!
Psych Up Deoxys Speed
So, psych up is a move I've been using a decent amount lately on primarina, and I've been thinking of using it on other mons as well. And what better chance then this?
Pokepaste:
Deoxys-Speed @ Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
Tera Type: Fighting
EVs: 200 Atk / 204 SpA / 104 Spe
Naive Nature
- Psycho Boost
- Superpower
- Psych Up
- Ice Beam
Deoxys Speed is of course, the mon that is being requested to build around today, but this one is a bit special. I found that with only 104+ in speed, you always outrun +1 gouging (and scarf lando, but those don't always run full speed). This is still very fast for the metagame, while allowing deoxys speed to invest more in its attacking stats. I've gone with leftovers on this set because the main way people deal with Deoxys Speed is by allowing it to ko itself with its own life orb chip by switching between resists. This heavily punishes this gameplan while meaning Deo-S can hard switch into something like zama's close combat more easily. Psycho Boost, Superpower and Ice Beam are of course standard, but psych up is very interesting. Against something like a calm mind primarina, or a quiver dance volcarona that has locked into q-dance by encore, deoxys-speed can psych up and reverse the macthup by psyching up and sweeping the rest of the team. Even something like iron defense zama can be useful, allowing it to live a +2 gambit sucker punch if the zama gets to +4 (which it most likely will). Tera fighting is good both defensively and offensively, as it boosts up superpower's power and makes it resist dark type moves.
TLDR, Deoxys good, outrun lost of things but have lots of power, can reverse sweep.
Ting-Lu @ Leftovers
Ability: Vessel of Ruin
Tera Type: Fairy
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
- Earthquake
- Ruination
- Spikes
- Whirlwind
Trust me, the explanations are going to be much shorter from now on. Ting lu is a good defensive mon for the team and can handle pesky ghold's that may try to wall Deo-S. It can also chip opponents into Deo-S ko range by using both spikes and ruination, which helps the other sweepers of the team. Whirlwind can also stop sweepers that Deo-S may not be able to switch in on, thus giving it the opportunity to do that another time when its positioned properly. Tera fairy is just a good defensive tera that allows it more opportunities to chip things down. Ting-lu can help deal with dark types that Deo-S may not be ready to start sweeping against such as gambit if its chipped or moon that has got a dd off.
Garganacl @ Leftovers
Ability: Purifying Salt
Tera Type: Ghost
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Def
Impish Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Salt Cure
- Recover
- Protect
Garganacl is the second mon to punish Gholdengo and another defensive tank of the team. It is able to set up stealth rocks for the team quite reliably due to threatening everything with salt cure. It also is an amazing check to dragapult, which can be a bit iffy due to ice beam from Deo-S not OHKO'ing it. Recover and protect allow it to annoy everything and stay on the field longer. Finally, tera ghost allows garg a good defensive typing and stops ghold who may try to make it rain to defeat it before it gets a salt cure off. Garg allows Deo-S to more easily defeat things late game with the added bonus of salt cure chip.
Ogerpon-Wellspring (F) @ Wellspring Mask
Ability: Water Absorb
Tera Type: Water
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Ivy Cudgel
- Swords Dance
- Power Whip
- Encore
Waterpon is the second sweeper of this team and a switch in to water types that might threaten the team. This set is mostly standard, it allows waterpon to do as much damage as possible, which allows Deo-S to sweep. I chose Encore over Play Rough because it allows Deo-S to come in easier on a boosting threat to either psych up or just hit it while its stuck boosting in the case of SD mons. Waterpon provides some much needed offense to the team and means that any threat that trys to counter it by setting up, is giving Deo-S the freest opportunity to start doing massive damage.
Corviknight @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Pressure
Tera Type: Dragon
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Def / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Defog
- Iron Defense
- Body Press
- Roost
The hazard remover of the team, corviknight allows the team to be able to fully abuse either their leftovers, or to switch in to start setting up (in the case of waterpon). Tera dragon of course allows corv to live more fire and electric hits that may come its way, such as against gouging fire. Defog of course removes hazards for the team, and due to ting-lu and garg having lefties, they are able to set them up again easily. Id+bp allows corv to stop physical based sweepers that threaten the team while acting as a very niche late game sweeper. Roost of course gives corv recovery and alongside rocky helmet to punish contact moves, corv can stop u-turn spam and physical threats that may try to overhwhelm the team. It's ev'd more into special bulk so something like kyurem doesn't try to overwhelm the team with sheer damage.
Skeledirge @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Unaware
Tera Type: Fairy
EVs: 248 HP / 92 Def / 168 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Torch Song
- Slack Off
- Will-O-Wisp
- Hex
The fighting immunity of the team (Deo-S doesn't really want to switch in early to resist fighting moves) and the final potential setup sweeper of the team, Skeledirge fills both defensive and offensive roles perfectly. The ev spread and nature allow it to take many hits from physical mons, such as being 3hit ko'd by crunch from zama and never being 2hit ko'd by gliscor's e-quake, while still having lots of special bulk. HDB allows skeledirge to still function even if hazards are on the field, while tera fairy gives it a nice resistance to dark and removes all its other weaknesses while retaining a fighting resistance. The moves are standard, torch song boosts its sp.Attack, slack off gives it reliable recovery, will-o-wisp can cripple physical attackers and hex does big damage to the opponent when statused by will-o-wisp. Skeledirge allows Deo-S to more easily threaten opponents by chipping them down with the threat of a torch song sweep, while crippling physical attackers so that Deo-S can come in easier.
Anyways, wall of text is done, Imma go do some work.
So, psych up is a move I've been using a decent amount lately on primarina, and I've been thinking of using it on other mons as well. And what better chance then this?
Pokepaste:
Deoxys-Speed @ Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
Tera Type: Fighting
EVs: 200 Atk / 204 SpA / 104 Spe
Naive Nature
- Psycho Boost
- Superpower
- Psych Up
- Ice Beam
Deoxys Speed is of course, the mon that is being requested to build around today, but this one is a bit special. I found that with only 104+ in speed, you always outrun +1 gouging (and scarf lando, but those don't always run full speed). This is still very fast for the metagame, while allowing deoxys speed to invest more in its attacking stats. I've gone with leftovers on this set because the main way people deal with Deoxys Speed is by allowing it to ko itself with its own life orb chip by switching between resists. This heavily punishes this gameplan while meaning Deo-S can hard switch into something like zama's close combat more easily. Psycho Boost, Superpower and Ice Beam are of course standard, but psych up is very interesting. Against something like a calm mind primarina, or a quiver dance volcarona that has locked into q-dance by encore, deoxys-speed can psych up and reverse the macthup by psyching up and sweeping the rest of the team. Even something like iron defense zama can be useful, allowing it to live a +2 gambit sucker punch if the zama gets to +4 (which it most likely will). Tera fighting is good both defensively and offensively, as it boosts up superpower's power and makes it resist dark type moves.
TLDR, Deoxys good, outrun lost of things but have lots of power, can reverse sweep.
Ting-Lu @ Leftovers
Ability: Vessel of Ruin
Tera Type: Fairy
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
- Earthquake
- Ruination
- Spikes
- Whirlwind
Trust me, the explanations are going to be much shorter from now on. Ting lu is a good defensive mon for the team and can handle pesky ghold's that may try to wall Deo-S. It can also chip opponents into Deo-S ko range by using both spikes and ruination, which helps the other sweepers of the team. Whirlwind can also stop sweepers that Deo-S may not be able to switch in on, thus giving it the opportunity to do that another time when its positioned properly. Tera fairy is just a good defensive tera that allows it more opportunities to chip things down. Ting-lu can help deal with dark types that Deo-S may not be ready to start sweeping against such as gambit if its chipped or moon that has got a dd off.
Garganacl @ Leftovers
Ability: Purifying Salt
Tera Type: Ghost
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Def
Impish Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Salt Cure
- Recover
- Protect
Garganacl is the second mon to punish Gholdengo and another defensive tank of the team. It is able to set up stealth rocks for the team quite reliably due to threatening everything with salt cure. It also is an amazing check to dragapult, which can be a bit iffy due to ice beam from Deo-S not OHKO'ing it. Recover and protect allow it to annoy everything and stay on the field longer. Finally, tera ghost allows garg a good defensive typing and stops ghold who may try to make it rain to defeat it before it gets a salt cure off. Garg allows Deo-S to more easily defeat things late game with the added bonus of salt cure chip.
Ogerpon-Wellspring (F) @ Wellspring Mask
Ability: Water Absorb
Tera Type: Water
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Ivy Cudgel
- Swords Dance
- Power Whip
- Encore
Waterpon is the second sweeper of this team and a switch in to water types that might threaten the team. This set is mostly standard, it allows waterpon to do as much damage as possible, which allows Deo-S to sweep. I chose Encore over Play Rough because it allows Deo-S to come in easier on a boosting threat to either psych up or just hit it while its stuck boosting in the case of SD mons. Waterpon provides some much needed offense to the team and means that any threat that trys to counter it by setting up, is giving Deo-S the freest opportunity to start doing massive damage.
Corviknight @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Pressure
Tera Type: Dragon
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Def / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Defog
- Iron Defense
- Body Press
- Roost
The hazard remover of the team, corviknight allows the team to be able to fully abuse either their leftovers, or to switch in to start setting up (in the case of waterpon). Tera dragon of course allows corv to live more fire and electric hits that may come its way, such as against gouging fire. Defog of course removes hazards for the team, and due to ting-lu and garg having lefties, they are able to set them up again easily. Id+bp allows corv to stop physical based sweepers that threaten the team while acting as a very niche late game sweeper. Roost of course gives corv recovery and alongside rocky helmet to punish contact moves, corv can stop u-turn spam and physical threats that may try to overhwhelm the team. It's ev'd more into special bulk so something like kyurem doesn't try to overwhelm the team with sheer damage.
Skeledirge @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Unaware
Tera Type: Fairy
EVs: 248 HP / 92 Def / 168 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Torch Song
- Slack Off
- Will-O-Wisp
- Hex
The fighting immunity of the team (Deo-S doesn't really want to switch in early to resist fighting moves) and the final potential setup sweeper of the team, Skeledirge fills both defensive and offensive roles perfectly. The ev spread and nature allow it to take many hits from physical mons, such as being 3hit ko'd by crunch from zama and never being 2hit ko'd by gliscor's e-quake, while still having lots of special bulk. HDB allows skeledirge to still function even if hazards are on the field, while tera fairy gives it a nice resistance to dark and removes all its other weaknesses while retaining a fighting resistance. The moves are standard, torch song boosts its sp.Attack, slack off gives it reliable recovery, will-o-wisp can cripple physical attackers and hex does big damage to the opponent when statused by will-o-wisp. Skeledirge allows Deo-S to more easily threaten opponents by chipping them down with the threat of a torch song sweep, while crippling physical attackers so that Deo-S can come in easier.
Anyways, wall of text is done, Imma go do some work.
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I thought I was never going to post again here, but I got asked for help so sure let's go, and I had a team so fuck it l
your average screens' setter, the whole idea about the team is just using the TTar HOs from gen 7 but here, I always found them cool even tho I'm fully aware they were niche already even with Mega ttar, so here are even more eye rasing
the featured shitmon, I just come in on screens, grab the 1000 million spedef boost, get 1 DD, activate weakness policy and sweep with stab knock off, stab stone edge and ice punch for Tusk, Gliscor and Lando
I went with the bulky set, because I really wanted to farm for boost forever, HO will always appreciate some defensive backbone that does not lose momentum for the team, and I think this encapsulates that perfectly
I needed a special attacker so here we are, I'm running specifically the set that gets me by vs fat because combining it with deo-s hazards and knock support, I should be fine, + I can just spam moonblast and be fine
needed hazard removal, and I love bulk up tusk I wanted hazards, another special attacker, a speed check and momentum, deoxys checks all, with this I can get hazards on and just fuck off straight into whatever I want, it's simple but works well for the teamweakness: No water resists, also no good fairy resist, and twave spam gets you livid
Probably dogshit, but I hope you like it
How much longer is this running? Thinking of putting smth in but if the time is too tight, might not.
I forgot to make an announcement, but we extended the deadline due to a lack of submissions. Voting should be up in about 24 hours.
A
B
Voting time! Sorry for the delay. As always, you have 2-3 days.
B
I mean, what other choice do I have?
I mean, what other choice do I have?
I'm voting B mostly because the Psych Up claims in Team A sound too good to be true. First, the reverse sweep claim after a Psych Up sounds strangely optimistic when two of the moves drop SpAtk or Atk + Def. Second, the comment about Psyching Up CM or QD seems interesting since it copying a +1 SpAtk and +1 SpDef doesn't give you any net advantage over either mentioned Pokemon. In Primarina's case, your best option is to spam Psycho Boost + Psych Up against it, and that will most likely end with a Primarina win barring a random crit. You most certainly do not win if Primarina is CM + Draining Kiss. Volcarona's case is heavily dependent on Encoring it on QD, and Wellspring use on Encore really isn't to stop QD/DD sweepers. I'd be more sympathetic if you were using a Booster Valiant with Encore, who is capable to stop +1/+1 Spe setup sweepers. Assuming you that you successfully Encore'd Volc into QD, what's stopping it from switching out? In my head, this scenario could happen:
Turn 1: Pokemon X switches out to IV, Volc QDs
Turn 2: IV uses Encore, Volc QDs again
Turn 3: IV switches to Deoxys-S, Volc switches out to Pokemon Y
In that above game plan, you lose any perceived advantage that Psych Up DeoS could provide.
Turn 1: Pokemon X switches out to IV, Volc QDs
Turn 2: IV uses Encore, Volc QDs again
Turn 3: IV switches to Deoxys-S, Volc switches out to Pokemon Y
In that above game plan, you lose any perceived advantage that Psych Up DeoS could provide.
Congratulations to 1LDK for winning!
Cycle 11: Volcarona
Volcarona has a set that has a good matchup against nearly any team archetype or style. For this versatility and it's overbearing presence on teambuilding it has found itself on the chopping block in OU. Weigh in on your thoughts in the suspect thread and experiment with some interesting synergies and sets in this project. Also check out OU Matchmaking where they are also investigating Volcarona!
How would you build a team that lets Volcarona to rise to its full potential? You have 1 week to build!
Cycle 11: Volcarona
Volcarona has a set that has a good matchup against nearly any team archetype or style. For this versatility and it's overbearing presence on teambuilding it has found itself on the chopping block in OU. Weigh in on your thoughts in the suspect thread and experiment with some interesting synergies and sets in this project. Also check out OU Matchmaking where they are also investigating Volcarona!
How would you build a team that lets Volcarona to rise to its full potential? You have 1 week to build!
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https://pokepast.es/edfe5fb878c289d2
Somewhat boilerplate Volcarona SpikeStack I threw together based on bulky Volc's analysis. Great Tusk + Skarmory + Glowking provides a decent backbone. Weavile is a good wallbreaking partner to Volcarona + provides Knock Off support; can be brought in safely with Glowking. Dragapult provides partial spinblocking + wallbreaking.
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The Team:
https://pokepast.es/1d903c69c31504b7
Description:
Offensive Volc with Sub over Bug Buzz beats Toxic, one of the most splashable Volc checks in the meta right now while also helping vs 's sucker punch. + 
are good defensive pivots, the latter checking with Psyshock. here is a good mixed mon providing all around coverage and speed control for the team. and are just good offensive mons to slap onto this team.
https://pokepast.es/1d903c69c31504b7
Description:
Offensive Volc with Sub over Bug Buzz beats Toxic
, one of the most splashable Volc checks in the meta right now while also helping vs 's sucker punch. + are good defensive pivots, the latter checking with Psyshock. here is a good mixed mon providing all around coverage and speed control for the team. and are just good offensive mons to slap onto this team.Double Fire+Grass Team
Basically, this this team tries to get giga drain volcarona into the best sweeping situation it can by ovewhelming its checks with a second grass+fire mon in tera blast fire rillaboom and primarina, which conveniantly counters every mon that giga drain volc struggles against. Stealth rock lando-t gets it up reliably and can counter most physical threats. Tera Poison Roar Zama counters most i-val variants and can soft check many physical attackers, while still bein a devestating sweeper. Defense ev's on this are to always 3hit ko gliscor at +6, which with tera poison it can set up on easily. Custap berry hamurott basically guarentees a spike up and can soft check anything with endure, kind of like focus sash variants but *special*.
Basically, this this team tries to get giga drain volcarona into the best sweeping situation it can by ovewhelming its checks with a second grass+fire mon in tera blast fire rillaboom and primarina, which conveniantly counters every mon that giga drain volc struggles against. Stealth rock lando-t gets it up reliably and can counter most physical threats. Tera Poison Roar Zama counters most i-val variants and can soft check many physical attackers, while still bein a devestating sweeper. Defense ev's on this are to always 3hit ko gliscor at +6, which with tera poison it can set up on easily. Custap berry hamurott basically guarentees a spike up and can soft check anything with endure, kind of like focus sash variants but *special*.
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A
B
CDouble Fire+Grass Team
Voting time!
Nice Ubers teams
