Introduction: Hi, I'm DracoNinja (sakuya izayoi on PO) I'm here to showcase my favourite team which I have been using for quite a while. As with any good team, the goal of the team is to have as good as a match-up as possible against most other teams, specifically current metagame trends. While majority would say that it is impossible to prepare for team matchup and shit just happens, I personally disagree and feel that team matchup can be alleviated to an extent with intelligent teambuilding.
The team was built when Landorus-I was being suspected on PO. I knew for sure that finch and metal would ban it, hence I started to prepare for the post-landorus-i metagame. I predicted that hippo balance would be even more dominant with the loss of yet another wallbreaker, making it even harder to break. My prediction turned out to be true at the first few weeks of the post-landorus-i metagame, hippo balance was indeed spammed everywhere simply because it was reliable and an aweful pain to break. However as the metagame developed, hippo balance started to dip a little in usage and the metagame shifted to be more offense-inclined, with potent speedy threats such as MCharizard X, Volcarona and Weavile seeing significantly more usage. Stall also became virtually non-existent surprisingly until around 3 weeks ago when MSableye+Shedinja started to infest the ladder ugh. What began as a fun gimmick turned out to become one of the most fun teams I've built in a long time, being used in 2 POWC games as well as being used in the swcop decider in greece vs afrabs which unfortunately lost, and easily got 1800 on the PS ladder before the shedinja bullshit.
I started with Fairy Lock Klefki. I will detail as to why I chose this as my starting point later.
Next, to take maximum advantage of Klefki's incredible support, I chose Specs Keldeo.
Unspoken rule that with spikes support, there must also be a Stealth Rock user. What better mon than chomper
With 2 layers of entry hazards up, it is important to keep them up. Weavile has an excellent match-up vs every hazard control mon in the tier.
Scarf Landorus-T is chosen as the team's revenge-killer because it is also able to take advantage of Klefki's support.
MVenusaur as the team's glue as the team was weak to waters and fairies.
Fuck slow and passive mons, the best defense is a good offense. Replaced MVenusaur with MAlakazam in order to further pressure the opponent and make use of Klefki's support. Let's get it!
D4RR3N (Garchomp) (M) @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Rough Skin
EVs: 248 HP / 216 Def / 28 SpA / 16 Spe
Impish Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Fire Blast
- Dragon Tail
Garchomp is all about doing chip damage. Garchomp's incredible physical bulk allows him to function very reliably as a pivot and Stealth Rock setter. Stealth Rock is arguably the most important entry hazard to lay down in the game as it will always do damage regardless of typing, unlike Spikes. More importantly, Stealth Rock limits the number of switch-ins offensive powerhouses such as MCharizard Y, Volcarona and Kyurem-B, all three of which are huge threats to my team. While the team is very offensive-paced, I still think tankchomp is a better fit for the team because a durable pivot is more important than doing immediate damage with sash/lum/LO SD. yea I guess I'm more vulnerable to stall teams w/ MSableye, but full stall atm is very rare and I rather prepare and have a better matchup vs offense than to prepare for something that is used less than maybe 5% of all the games. Rocky Helmet works very well in tandem with rough skin, doing 29.16% to the opponent back if they touch Garchomp which is a huge amount of recoil. I chose Fire Blast over other utility moves such as Endure or Toxic because I appreciate being able to do damage vs Ferrothorn, Scizor and non sdef Skarmory, all of which can be fairly annoying. The EV spread allows Garchomp to outrun neutral nature max speed base 70s (bisharp/breloom/pre-mega metagross), enough special attack to 2hko standard Ferrothorn even with impish nature and rest is invested into physical bulk. I don't like running a lot of speed on Garchomp just to outrun positive-natured base 70s because I simply don't find them worth creeping on and losing out on the extra bulk. I don't like investing some sdef either to beat electrics since Garchomp is way too valuable to take so much damage, especially when I can play around them and absorb the damage.
ADVERSARY (Klefki) (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
- Fairy Lock
- Spikes
- Play Rough
- Thunder Wave
Klefki is the team's key to victory and the centerpiece of the team. I really like Klefki's movepool and it's such a perfect blend of utility and will always pull its weight regardless of matchup. How Fairy Lock works is that it only activates on the turn after it is used, but Klefki does not need to be on the field. This means, if i sack Klefki at the right time, I can trap whatever I want and punch a huge hole into the opponent should I catch their glue. In an ideal game, I can lay multiple layers of spikes and also trap the opponent's glue, say Hippowdon. This trade puts me at a significant advantage over the opponent and allows me to apply offensive pressure much easier. The team was built to be extremely fast-paced because I want to catch as many pokemon as possible and make full use of Klefki's Fairy Lock. I really like spike-stacking teams because of how effective they are in punishing the opponent and rewarding smart plays, spikes is basically the epitome of risk vs reward. Spikes is crucial on this team because I absolutely need it to wear down bulky stuff such as Suicune and MVenusaur so that Keldeo can break through them eventually. Prankster Twave is also really great to slow down the opponent's team and gives more opportunities for Keldeo to come in and spam either STAB. Klefki's movepool isn't the only thing going for it, while Klefki doesn't have the best bulk, it does have an excellent defensive typing that allows it to prey on Keldeo's checks, such as Latwins/Tornadus-T/MVenusaur and proceed to twave or set-up more layers of spikes to chip at their health in the long run, and in general Klefki and Keldeo are excellent partners together.
SAKUYA (Keldeo) @ Choice Specs
Ability: Justified
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Hydro Pump
- Secret Sword
- Scald
- Icy Wind
Keldeo is a very straightforward pokemon and most should know what it does. When I built this team, Keldeo was supposed to act as the wrecking ball of the team, as well as to take advantage of Klefki trapping bulky grounds with fairy lock, giving Keldeo an opportunity to eliminate them from the game. With Spikes support, Klefki applies a lot more pressure on its checks and switch-ins, and further potential scald burn chip damage will take its toll eventually and make Keldeo an even larger nightmare to play against. Specs is the optimal set for this team because it lacks a damage dealer and I felt that Specs Keldeo puts in the most work with spikes support because of the immediate firepower that it can provide. I chose Icy Wind as the 4th slot because I feel that catching latwins and weakened tornadus-t is important, but you can try anything really. I've played around with covet (to steal a item once bisharp used knock off), various hidden powers but I like Icy Wind best.
ASTOUNDED (Weavile) (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Icicle Crash
- Knock Off
- Ice Shard
- Pursuit
Weavile is so good atm and synergises amazingly with the team. I want my entry hazards up and I don't want them to be removed. Weavile has an excellent match-up vs every hazard control mon in the tier (bar excadrill but eh the entire team beats it regardless). Furthermore, a lot of hazard control mons are also pursuit-trap weak, think latwins and Starmie. Hence, I felt that Weavile is the best option for the team because it nips the evil in the bud and doesn't allow them to even get off defog/rapid spin before fainting, which is why I prefer to use Weavile over Bisharp. Bisharp is simply too slow and lets the opponent defog away the hazards, which is something I want to prevent. Weavile in also an excellent anti-offense pokemon and possesses very valuable priority in Ice Shard, and with spikes support Weavile can also pressure big threats Keldeo and Azumarill and limit the damage they can do to the team. While pursuit isn't a highly used move because Weavile already has 4mss, I feel that pursuit is the optimal choice as it allows me to open up holes by beating psychics and also prevent latwins/starmie from having a second chance of removing hazards again. Icicle Crash is used over the more reliable Ice Punch because Weavile is still fairly weak even with the boost from LO and needs the additional power to do more damage, and Icicle Crash also has a decent chance of flinching the opponent. I feel that it is worth the trade for a drop in accuracy.
SCORPDESTROYER (Landorus-Therian) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 Atk / 24 Def / 232 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- Explosion
- U-turn
Scarf Landorus-T honestly needs no introduction. Landorus-T has nice utility in intimidate and revenge-kills threats while also taking advantage of the removal of bulky grounds. U-turn + spikes is a devastating combination that creates a lot of chip damage quickly while still maintaining offensive pressure which is excellent. Explosion is used really only as a last-ditch attempt to get off some massive damage on fat stuff like Rotom-W and Clefable so that I can hopefully still win the game later. I've never really found the last slot too useful, I guess Superpower can also work to beat Ferrothorn and MGyarados but I've found Explosion to be better on a whole as the afore-mentioned pokemon are super common and I need as many ways of dishing out massive damage to them in the shortest possible time.
SMURF (Alakazam) (M) @ Alakazite
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Protect
- Psychic
- Focus Blast
- Encore
Mega Alakazam is a beast. Base 150 speed is ridiculous, he can outrun +1 base Mega Altaria and Gyarados and can encore them into DD. He is such a potent weapon and straight up dismantles offense teams if they lack a sustainable switch-in to eat strong hits repeatedly. Encore+Protect is a very weird combination but I feel that they work best on this team because I need Mega Alakazam to mega evolve safely without taking damage, as well as to prevent opposing Mega Lopunny from doing some chip damage with Fake Out. Encore is an amazing utility move that trolls bulkier teams and locks them into their utility moves, making Mega Alakazam even more problematic to play against. While I do agree that I lack Shadow Ball and hence am unable to do damage vs psychics and makes me even more vulnerable to mew, I think it is still worth the trade off because I absolutely need Mega Alakazam to have a free window to mega safely, but yet also disrupt the opponent's momentum with encore. Overall, I think protect+encore works the best for the team, but feel free to swap around the moves.
D4RR3N (Garchomp) (M) @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Rough Skin
EVs: 248 HP / 216 Def / 28 SpA / 16 Spe
Impish Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Fire Blast
- Dragon Tail
ADVERSARY (Klefki) (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
- Fairy Lock
- Spikes
- Play Rough
- Thunder Wave
SAKUYA (Keldeo) @ Choice Specs
Ability: Justified
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Hydro Pump
- Secret Sword
- Scald
- Icy Wind
ASTOUNDED (Weavile) (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Icicle Crash
- Knock Off
- Ice Shard
- Pursuit
SCORPDESTROYER (Landorus-Therian) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 Atk / 24 Def / 232 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- Explosion
- U-turn
SMURF (Alakazam) (M) @ Alakazite
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Protect
- Psychic
- Focus Blast
- Encore
Ability: Rough Skin
EVs: 248 HP / 216 Def / 28 SpA / 16 Spe
Impish Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Fire Blast
- Dragon Tail
ADVERSARY (Klefki) (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
- Fairy Lock
- Spikes
- Play Rough
- Thunder Wave
SAKUYA (Keldeo) @ Choice Specs
Ability: Justified
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Hydro Pump
- Secret Sword
- Scald
- Icy Wind
ASTOUNDED (Weavile) (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Icicle Crash
- Knock Off
- Ice Shard
- Pursuit
SCORPDESTROYER (Landorus-Therian) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 Atk / 24 Def / 232 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- Explosion
- U-turn
SMURF (Alakazam) (M) @ Alakazite
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Protect
- Psychic
- Focus Blast
- Encore
Azumarill - can be worn down by garchomp and later revenge-killed, it's more of a threat early game because of its ability to nuke quickly. chomp is really good for wearing it down and forcing azu to attack twice and do nearly 60% of recoil which makes it significantly easier to deal with while still getting up sr in the process.
Keldeo - scout which set and move Keldeo locks itself into. Scarf and SubCM are easy to play around. Specs has to be played around carefully but as long as you do a decent amount of damage to it, it is vulnerable to being revenge-killed easily.
Rotom-W - more of a pokemon that you have to overload quickly and burst it down with damage. Rotom-W can only heal itself up vs Garchomp, so make sure you dragon tail when you see Rotom-W coming in to get a pain split off to prevent it from recovering itself.
Suicune - spikes+encore mzam is key. If you can force it out multiple times and chip away its health, Keldeo/mzam should be able to kill it eventually
MSableye - honestly i've only played against 2 of them but it's really a huge threat to the team. Usually MSableye would eat the hpump to get a wisp off and later come in on chomp to recover its health back. Double into Weavile since most Keldeo switch-ins on stall are pursuit-weak (Gothitelle/Tentacruel etc). Take out the Keldeo check and try to get as many kills as possible with Keldeo.
Zard Y - once you get up sr it's not even a threat, but if you don't have sr up you need a lot of chip damage for weav/mzam/keld/landt to revenge.
Keldeo - scout which set and move Keldeo locks itself into. Scarf and SubCM are easy to play around. Specs has to be played around carefully but as long as you do a decent amount of damage to it, it is vulnerable to being revenge-killed easily.
Rotom-W - more of a pokemon that you have to overload quickly and burst it down with damage. Rotom-W can only heal itself up vs Garchomp, so make sure you dragon tail when you see Rotom-W coming in to get a pain split off to prevent it from recovering itself.
Suicune - spikes+encore mzam is key. If you can force it out multiple times and chip away its health, Keldeo/mzam should be able to kill it eventually
MSableye - honestly i've only played against 2 of them but it's really a huge threat to the team. Usually MSableye would eat the hpump to get a wisp off and later come in on chomp to recover its health back. Double into Weavile since most Keldeo switch-ins on stall are pursuit-weak (Gothitelle/Tentacruel etc). Take out the Keldeo check and try to get as many kills as possible with Keldeo.
Zard Y - once you get up sr it's not even a threat, but if you don't have sr up you need a lot of chip damage for weav/mzam/keld/landt to revenge.
thanks APC guys for the amazing journey, we'll kill them again next year
thanks bof and especially zamrock :]
enjoy!
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