ORAS OU The Blizzard isn't Over Yet: Aurorus Offense

[Jaguar360]

Image by Mark331 on DeviantArt


Introduction

Hey everyone. I'm Jaguar and this is my first RMT! I love to build teams and try out unorthodox sets and Pokemon in different tiers. With this team, my experiment was Aurorus, a Pokemon who I saw potential in as a lead in OU thanks to Snow Warning, good power and special coverage, and access to Stealth Rock. From there, I went on to build an Offense team around it, which seemed to do pretty well in practice.

Teambuilding Process

Hide

I started with Aurorus since I wanted to test it as a lead using a Life Orb set. It had promise as a Stealth Rock setter thanks to Snow Warning breaking Focus Sashes from Azelf and other Sash leads, 2HKO Mega Sableye, lure Rotom-W with Freeze-Dry and just have a good matchup against common OU leads in general.

Alakazam seemed like a useful pick thanks to its high speed, invulnerability to hail and hazards and ability to pressure common offensive Pokemon in OU such as Gengar, Raikou, Starmie and Keldeo.

Mega Charizard Y complemented the team well as a special wallbreaker and could form a slight weather core with Aurorus as a bonus, allowing each of them to be able to reset each other’s weather. Zard and Alakazam also put a lot of pressure against special walls together.

The team needed answers for Bisharp, Tyranitar and Weavile and a more solid way of getting past Chansey, so Keldeo seemed like a good choice. Keldeo also serves as a great check to Heatran and bulky Ground types.

With Charizard on the team, I needed some good hazard control, though on a team with Aurorus as a short-lived lead, a having a Defogger didn’t seem like a good decision. Starmie would be the most reliable spinner for the team, but the roles stacked with Keldeo and Zam, plus I still lacked a strong physical attack outside of Keldeo’s Secret Sword. Scarf Drill fit best in the spinner role to provide a very quick Rapid Spin, check fast attackers like (Mega) Alakazam, Mega Manectric, Raikou and Tornadus-T, and revenge kill threats like Adamant Mega Charizard X and Weavile.

To be honest, I don’t really remember exactly why I put Sylveon in the last slot, but it’s been putting in work each battle, so the reason must have been good haha. Its wallbreaking helps a ton and it can take advantage of the Heatran pressure that the rest of the team has. Its ability to handle most Fighting and Dragon types is also really valuable, soft checking things like Keldeo, Conkeldurr, Dragonite, Mega Altaria, etc.

Set Descriptions

Aurorus @ Life Orb
Ability: Snow Warning
EVs: 88 HP / 20 Def / 196 SpA / 204 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Blizzard
- Stealth Rock
- Freeze-Dry
- Earth Power

The reason I made this team was to experiment with this set. I had used Focus Sash Aurorus on a Hyper Offense team to good success, but this time I wanted to try a variant with more power and more risk. The HP and Defense EVs allow it to live an Earthquake from TankChomp and give it a Life Orb number to minimize LO recoil. 196 SpA has a 57% chance to 2HKO Utility Mega Sableye after Hail damage and will 2HKO after Stealth Rock damage. 204 Spe and a Timid nature outspeeds defensive Landorus-T and Rotom-W. I lead with this about 90% of the time, but if I predict a bad matchup, I will go into something more fitting.

Alakazam @ Life Orb
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Psyshock
- Focus Blast
- Signal Beam
- Knock Off


Pretty much standard Life Orb Alakazam with some lure options. Signal Beam hits what Shadow Ball does aside from Ghosts and is particularly effective against Celebi, Hoopa-Unbound and Serperior, while also hitting some Dark types like Weavile accurately. It can ease prediction against some teams with multiple Zam answers and lure Shadow Ball switchins. Knock Off is really valuable for this team for Chansey especially on this team filled with special attackers. Its utility is also useful to throw off other Alakazam switch-ins, such as Jirachi and Heatran. For this team, Zam makes a great cleaner and check to slower offensive Pokemon (especially Keldeo).

Charizard-Mega-Y @ Charizardite Y
Ability: Blaze
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Flamethrower
- Roost
- Solar Beam
- Focus Blast

Mega Charizard Y is one of the team’s main wallbreakers and checks to Ferrothorn, Gliscor, Landorus-T, Heatran, Conkeldurr, Breloom and more. It can sometimes need to be babysitted when Stealth Rocks are about, but otherwise puts in tons of work. I went with Modest Flamethrower here for the reliability and felt that a Timid nature wasn’t needed on it for this particular team since I just wanted the special wallbreaking pressure. Drought is also pretty cool for removing Hail, resetting Hail for Aurorus and giving Alakazam and Sylveon and easier time when trying to check Keldeo.

Keldeo @ Mystic Water
Ability: Justified
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 30 Def / 30 SpD
- Hydro Pump
- Secret Sword
- Scald
- Hidden Power [Bug]

Keldeo is definitely a vital part of this team to check Heatran, Lando, Chansey, Weavile and a bunch of other stuff. I didn’t like the idea of it being Choice-locked on this team so that I wouldn’t have to deal with more mind games, so I went for Mystic Water to feign Choice sets and create mind games of my own. HP Bug can be a bit weak without a boost from Life Orb, Expert Belt or Choice Specs, but with some prior damage, it’s great for fooling Slowbro, Starmie, Celebi and Latios who think they are safe after taking a Scald/Hydro Pump.

Excadrill @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Mold Breaker
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Rapid Spin
- Iron Head
- Toxic

Scarf Excadrill is the team’s spinner and check to fast mons and Klefki. It also has cleaning potential with a super quick STAB Mold Breaker Earthquake and can also revenge kill some Pokemon like Adamant Zard X and Dragonite. While I do tend to find a lot of situations where I miss Rock Slide, Toxic is really potent for hitting Mega Sableye, Hippowdon, Lando-T, Garchomp, Quagsire and others and prevents Excadrill from being a complete sitting duck against Stall (unless Skarm is on the team...RIP Exca then).

Sylveon @ Choice Specs
Ability: Pixilate
EVs: 236 HP / 252 SpA / 20 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 30 SpA / 30 Spe
- Hyper Voice
- Baton Pass
- Psyshock
- Hidden Power [Fire]

Sylveon is a pretty catdog fairy. Its power with Specs Pixilate Hyper Voice is unmatched by the rest of the team and allows it to break though some boosted attackers on occasion. It also OHKOs the majority of the Pokemon on offensive teams. Its coverage moves also complement some of the quirks its teammates, with HP Fire appreciating the occasional Drought for Charizard Y and with Psyshock benefitting from Alakazam’s Knock Off, 2HKOing Evolite-less Chansey. While I passed on taking Specs Keldeo, Sylveon’s access to Baton Pass + the sheer power of Specs Hyper Voice make being Choice-locked worth it.

Threats

Latios and Latias can give this team some issues, but Excadrill, Sylveon and Alakazam can work together to defeat it, as can Aurorus if it is healthy. Keldeo is always annoying, but Alakazam, Sylveon and Megazard Y to an extent can deal with it. The team’s answers to Azumarill are pretty poor, especially with Assault Vest Azu.


Conclusion

I’m happy with the way that this team came out and I didn’t expect it to do this well. I love to build with underused and unconventional Pokemon and sets and I think that this team captures a lot of that while performing well. I hope that you guys enjoyed this and thanking you for taking a look.


Replays

http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/ou-331565416

http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/ou-331561648

http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/ou-331560256

http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/ou-331558315

http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/ou-331143234

http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/ou-331132391

http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/ou-331130209

http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/ou-331129069

http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/ou-331126519

http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/ou-328477338

http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/ou-328474350

http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/ou-328473173

http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/ou-328472105

Importable

Aurorus @ Life Orb
Ability: Snow Warning
EVs: 88 HP / 20 Def / 196 SpA / 204 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Blizzard
- Stealth Rock
- Freeze-Dry
- Earth Power

Alakazam @ Life Orb
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Psyshock
- Focus Blast
- Signal Beam
- Knock Off

Charizard-Mega-Y @ Charizardite Y
Ability: Blaze
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Flamethrower
- Roost
- Solar Beam
- Focus Blast

Keldeo @ Mystic Water
Ability: Justified
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 30 Def / 30 SpD
- Hydro Pump
- Secret Sword
- Scald
- Hidden Power [Bug]

Excadrill @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Mold Breaker
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Rapid Spin
- Iron Head
- Toxic

Sylveon @ Choice Specs
Ability: Pixilate
EVs: 236 HP / 252 SpA / 20 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 30 SpA / 30 Spe
- Hyper Voice
- Baton Pass
- Psyshock
- Hidden Power [Fire]

 

[Arcanium Ichor]

Your team looks really cool, especially with Aurorus, but I don't think a dual weather team with Hail will would work with its full potential. For example, Refrigerate Hyper Voice Aurorus would do more than Blizzard, and it goes through Substitute. Hail also hurts all your team members until Charizard-Y is sent out, but then if there's rocks up, that'd be hard to deal with. However, as the Snow Warning does break Sashes / Sturdy, it works. Next is Excadrill. The set is Toxic (Ba-Dum-Tsh!) Choice Scarfed Excadrill with Toxic? If I were your opponent I'd be ****ing myself with wonder. May I ask: WHY? You said it hits M Sableye; Magic Bounce it right back at a Steel type that can be burnt. Other than that, it's a pretty solid team. But Mamoswine could go nicely on this team, as either a Stealth Rock setter or a sweeper, with that immunity to hail and Snow Cloak.

 

[Flygonial]

Arcanium Ichor Mold Breaker ignores Magic Bounce.

Now, I adored this team from the moment I looked at it - but apart from my personal biases, I'll get onto the rate. The team is fairly well optimized right now, but a handful of things could pose issues for your team. Defensively speaking (and excluding your threatlist), Talonflame, Gyarados, SD 'Chomps, opposing 'Zards (both forms), Mega Meta, Lando-T are all 'mons that the team has trouble finding any sort of switch-in into - not unstoppable, but will often get free KOs. However, I'm not here to just slap a band-aid solution over an offensive team, so I won't focus on those. I'm more worried about what your team can't break.

And there's plenty of 'mons that can be annoying to break for this team - you can go on and tell me which ones are the most so. Latis, on one hand, are still annoying for the team to break - coming in on 'Zard and Keldeo while their switch-ins get worn down quickly. I can also see opposing Mega Scizors being annoying both offensively and defensively, as if rocks are up, 'Zard is down 20%~, and Keldeo is worn down, it can set-up on literally half the team and sweep - while offensive variants get less set-up opportunities, they need less prior damage to sweep. But what I'm even more worried about is how bulky MZors gets a switch-in on literally half the team - not including Sylveon which it can use as set-up fodder if locked. There are other threats which I'll mention later.

I'll try not to change too much, just give you some other optimizations to make breaking and switching into threats a bit easier.

For Mega Scizor, running extra bulk to stomach hits from it is a pretty tall order - 'Zard needs 200 HP EVs to avoid the KO from offensive SD variants after rocks - 200 HP / 124 SpA / 184 Spe is the best compromise I can come up with. IMO, don't take this too seriously - maybe try it, but take it with a shaker of salt. On the other hand, you might want to run Fire Blast over Flamethrower as it guarantees the 2HKO on Latios and gets the 2HKO on Latias after rocks almost every time - provided you don't miss of course. That's the least disruptive change I can see on 'Zard to alleviate some issues.

Signal Beam is cool on 'Zam and all, but your team has some serious issues with Mega Metagross and Jirachi can be a bit annoying to break at times. For this, I still think you should run Shadow Ball over Signal Beam. It'll let you revenge kill Mega Meta from 71%, which is a major improvement to relying on Focus Miss to RK it from 53%. Sure, that means you have a 'mon that actually lets Hoopa-U in, but I feel like there are more pressing concerns. Calm Mind is another cool option over Knock Off, but the utility of Knocking Off Assault Vests and Eviolites is still valuable - something you can keep if you wish (The team's just a bit short on win-conditions).

IMO, you should consider going with HP Electric and Expert Belt on Keldeo. Gyarados can use a locked Exca, 'Zam, a weakened 'Zard, and Keldeo as set-up fodder. With HP Electric, you remove one of those variables, and with Fire Blast, Gyarados can't even switch-in on the fire spam. Expert Belt allows Keldeo to OHKO uninvested Gyarados 75% of the time, and guarantees the 2HKO on Slowbro after rocks - which isn't possible without the item. Specs is another item you can consider to blast +2 Scizors away, but I don't feel like it's really necessary to go there.

After the aforementioned changes, Celebi can become an issue, but it's not much of an immediately threatening 'mon so that's OK as far as I'm concerned.

Also, even if Toxic works on Mega Sableye with Scarf Drill, you should go with Rock Slide as far as I'm concerned. It gives you an option to RK SD Talon, a weakened Gyarados, and Mega Pinsir. All these are 'mons which are extremely threatening to your team, and Rock Slide hits them all. You don't have to cheese Mega Sableye when Aurorus has EVs dedicated to killing it, and Sylveon murders it for breakfast.

Also, on Sylveon, you should run 232 HP / 252 SpA / 24 Spe. This jumped out to me because it speed tied with the Band Azu spread that I use to speed creep Specs Sylveons and everything it's creeping - with an extra point in speed just because I wanted the rocks number and saw no reason to not put the EVs in speed (Except for Download Porygon2, which made me go back on those extra EVs). But in this case, there is legitimately no reason to not put those EVs in speed, so just go ahead and get the SR number. It's probably the most minor and ineffectual change I'm suggesting, but I also see no reason to not go for it.

Aurorus' spread makes me shed tears of joy, no changes I have there. Hope I helped!

 

[Jaguar360]

Your team looks really cool, especially with Aurorus, but I don't think a dual weather team with Hail will would work with its full potential. For example, Refrigerate Hyper Voice Aurorus would do more than Blizzard, and it goes through Substitute. Hail also hurts all your team members until Charizard-Y is sent out, but then if there's rocks up, that'd be hard to deal with. However, as the Snow Warning does break Sashes / Sturdy, it works. Next is Excadrill. The set is Toxic (Ba-Dum-Tsh!) Choice Scarfed Excadrill with Toxic? If I were your opponent I'd be ****ing myself with wonder. May I ask: WHY? You said it hits M Sableye; Magic Bounce it right back at a Steel type that can be burnt. Other than that, it's a pretty solid team. But Mamoswine could go nicely on this team, as either a Stealth Rock setter or a sweeper, with that immunity to hail and Snow Cloak.

The weather's not really the focus of the team. It's not really a dual weather team, but more of an offensive team that happens to have dual weather on it if you know what I mean. Aurorus' Hail is more meaningful for its matchups against opposing leads (particularly Azelf) than its team support and Zard Y just happened to have that extra perk with the Sun. It was chosen moreso for its wallbreaking and defensive capabilities than for its Sun.

Breaking sashes is too important for Aurorus' niche to give up Refridgerate for Snow Warning. Hail damage also makes the damage output with Blizzard and Hyper Voice pretty even against most relevant targets aside from Clefable.

196 SpA Life Orb Aurorus Blizzard vs. 248 HP / 144+ SpD Mega Sableye: 133-156 (43.8 - 51.4%) -- 57% chance to 2HKO after hail damage
196 SpA Life Orb Refrigerate Aurorus Hyper Voice vs. 248 HP / 144+ SpD Mega Sableye: 140-165 (46.2 - 54.4%) -- 54.3% chance to 2HKO

I don't mind the Hail so much for this team, especially when you consider that Alakazam isn't affected by the hail either and that the chip damage will affect most mons on opponents' teams that aren't Alakazam, Clefable or Ice types.

Flygonial addressed most of this, but Toxic works fine on Excadrill (as well as on some other Choiced mons like Terrakion and Tyrantrum) for crippling walls and Exca's Mold Breaker ignores Magic Bounce. I do think Rock Slide might work as a better option though, especially after reading Flygonial's post.

Thanks for the rate.

Arcanium Ichor Mold Breaker ignores Magic Bounce.

Now, I adored this team from the moment I looked at it - but apart from my personal biases, I'll get onto the rate. The team is fairly well optimized right now, but a handful of things could pose issues for your team. Defensively speaking (and excluding your threatlist), Talonflame, Gyarados, SD 'Chomps, opposing 'Zards (both forms), Mega Meta, Lando-T are all 'mons that the team has trouble finding any sort of switch-in into - not unstoppable, but will often get free KOs. However, I'm not here to just slap a band-aid solution over an offensive team, so I won't focus on those. I'm more worried about what your team can't break.

I completely forgot to mention Talonflame in the threatlist. Huge threat without a doubt for this team, probably tied with Azu as the biggest. The rest of the list is pretty agreeable too.

And there's plenty of 'mons that can be annoying to break for this team - you can go on and tell me which ones are the most so. Latis, on one hand, are still annoying for the team to break - coming in on 'Zard and Keldeo while their switch-ins get worn down quickly. I can also see opposing Mega Scizors being annoying both offensively and defensively, as if rocks are up, 'Zard is down 20%~, and Keldeo is worn down, it can set-up on literally half the team and sweep - while offensive variants get less set-up opportunities, they need less prior damage to sweep. But what I'm even more worried about is how bulky MZors gets a switch-in on literally half the team - not including Sylveon which it can use as set-up fodder if locked. There are other threats which I'll mention later.

Yeah Latis are hard from experience, though Zam + Sylv + Exca + Aurorus can deal with them pretty well I think. Mega Scizor is probably the most threatening, though I haven't encountered any yet. Having only Zard and Keldeo to deal with it does seem like it could be pretty dangerous.

I'll try not to change too much, just give you some other optimizations to make breaking and switching into threats a bit easier.

For Mega Scizor, running extra bulk to stomach hits from it is a pretty tall order - 'Zard needs 200 HP EVs to avoid the KO from offensive SD variants after rocks - 200 HP / 124 SpA / 184 Spe is the best compromise I can come up with. IMO, don't take this too seriously - maybe try it, but take it with a shaker of salt. On the other hand, you might want to run Fire Blast over Flamethrower as it guarantees the 2HKO on Latios and gets the 2HKO on Latias after rocks almost every time - provided you don't miss of course. That's the least disruptive change I can see on 'Zard to alleviate some issues.

Signal Beam is cool on 'Zam and all, but your team has some serious issues with Mega Metagross and Jirachi can be a bit annoying to break at times. For this, I still think you should run Shadow Ball over Signal Beam. It'll let you revenge kill Mega Meta from 71%, which is a major improvement to relying on Focus Miss to RK it from 53%. Sure, that means you have a 'mon that actually lets Hoopa-U in, but I feel like there are more pressing concerns. Calm Mind is another cool option over Knock Off, but the utility of Knocking Off Assault Vests and Eviolites is still valuable - something you can keep if you wish (The team's just a bit short on win-conditions).

IMO, you should consider going with HP Electric and Expert Belt on Keldeo. Gyarados can use a locked Exca, 'Zam, a weakened 'Zard, and Keldeo as set-up fodder. With HP Electric, you remove one of those variables, and with Fire Blast, Gyarados can't even switch-in on the fire spam. Expert Belt allows Keldeo to OHKO uninvested Gyarados 75% of the time, and guarantees the 2HKO on Slowbro after rocks - which isn't possible without the item. Specs is another item you can consider to blast +2 Scizors away, but I don't feel like it's really necessary to go there.

After the aforementioned changes, Celebi can become an issue, but it's not much of an immediately threatening 'mon so that's OK as far as I'm concerned.

Also, even if Toxic works on Mega Sableye with Scarf Drill, you should go with Rock Slide as far as I'm concerned. It gives you an option to RK SD Talon, a weakened Gyarados, and Mega Pinsir. All these are 'mons which are extremely threatening to your team, and Rock Slide hits them all. You don't have to cheese Mega Sableye when Aurorus has EVs dedicated to killing it, and Sylveon murders it for breakfast.

Also, on Sylveon, you should run 232 HP / 252 SpA / 24 Spe. This jumped out to me because it speed tied with the Band Azu spread that I use to speed creep Specs Sylveons and everything it's creeping - with an extra point in speed just because I wanted the rocks number and saw no reason to not put the EVs in speed (Except for Download Porygon2, which made me go back on those extra EVs). But in this case, there is legitimately no reason to not put those EVs in speed, so just go ahead and get the SR number. It's probably the most minor and ineffectual change I'm suggesting, but I also see no reason to not go for it.

I really like that Zard spread! I'll try that out with Fire Blast the next time I get to battle. The bulk seems nice since Zard's defensive qualities are so important for this team.

Shadow Ball seems like it would be nice on Zam, though I don't think that Jirachi and Mega Metagross are that hard to deal with for this team. I'll test it and see how it goes. I kind of want to run Calm Mind for the sake of having a win-con, but with the lack of Chansey answers on this team, having an immediate way to cripple it seems a little more appealing.

Expert Belt is looking like the better option for Keldeo on this team. HP Electric kind of amplifies the Lati issue, but I do like hitting Gyarados and Tentacruel. I'll test it out.

I agree on Rock Slide Exca with the Talonflame and Mega Pinsir issues that the team can have, as much as I want to weaken things with Toxic. I've missed having it a couple of times, so its inclusion makes sense.

Aurorus' spread makes me shed tears of joy, no changes I have there. Hope I helped!

Thank you :)