The Flying Monkeys!

THE FLYING MONKEYS

Hi Smogon! I'm working on the analysis for Flying Arceus at the moment, which is pretty interesting considering I'm the only person to actually use him on Pokémon Online (or at least well :P) So I decided to make an Ubers team to help me test, and it turned out to work really well. Here's some fun facts.

  • This team has peaked at #40 in Wifi Ubers on Pokémon Online, which is pretty nice.
  • It's a pretty balanced team, with both killer attackers like Rayquaza and Zekrom alongside heavy duty walls.
  • I've been through a few iterations. Ferrothorn used be Skymin, but she never did much. Chansey used to be Giratina, but couldn't take Draco Meteors at all and I wanted a cleric since I didn't run Lum Berry, Taunt or Refresh on anything. It certainly helps deal with random freeze and parahax too. :)
So yeah, let's have a look each of the individual members of the team and see what they do.


Kyogre @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Drizzle
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Modest Nature (+SpA, -Atk)
- Water Spout
- Thunder
- Ice Beam
- Surf

Why Kyogre is awesome.

  • Scarf Kyogre is an absolute beast. In the lead slot, he can OHKO a lot of stuff that would expect to outspeed him without a second thought; even with a Modest nature he outspeeds Skymin, Darkrai and Mewtwo.
  • Water Spout provides incredible power and straight up OHKOs almost anything that doesn't resist it. Surf gives me versatility in a alternative STAB, and has more power than Water Spout once I dip below 60% HP.
  • Ice Beam and Thunder give me near perfect neutral coverage and let me revenge things that I couldn't normally muscle through, like other Kyogre and most Dragons.
  • Provides Rain, which helps out Ferrothorn and weakens Fire attacks and Groudon teams in general.
Criticisms/Improvements.

  • I'm not sure if all of my Speed EVs are necessary, if anyone could help me make a more effective EV spread then let me know. Ideally I'd like to invest in some bulk so that I can switch into stuff like Draco Meteors more easily.
  • Thunder is rarely used unless I'm up against other Kyogre, but I suppose there's not much to replace it with.


Arceus @ Sky Plate
Ability: Multitype
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature (+Spe, -Atk)
- Calm Mind
- Judgment
- Focus Blast
- Recover

Why Arceus is awesome.

  • I'm the only guy to use him, pretty much, and I think he's severely underrated. He has a good immunity to set up on and acts as a great Groudon check, being able to tank a Stone Edge and OHKO him with a +1 Judgement.
  • Powerful Flying STAB is very impressive in Ubers, with the only common pokémon which resist it in Ubers being Zekrom and Dialga. Other Steel types like Lucario, Forretress and Scizor all have seconday types which betray them. Focus Blast also gives me a coverage option against Dialga (and Tyranitar who can otherwise tank him) and lets him continue a sweep.
  • Arceus has fantastic bulk, and can abuse this to his advantage when trying to set up boosts.
Criticisms/Improvements.

  • Flying Arceus, whilst being fun and all, has a pretty poor defensive typing. Being hit by super effective Thunders, Ice Beams and Stone Edges isn't very cool.
  • Focus Blast is a bit crap, if I'm being honest. Whilst I would replace it with Surf, it can't even OHKO Tyranitar in Rain without a boost, and it doesn't hit Dialga either. Any ideas?


Zekrom @ Choice Scarf
Ability: TeraVolt
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature (+Spe, -SpA)
- Bolt Strike
- Fusion Bolt
- Dragon Claw
- Volt Switch

Why Zekrom is awesome.

  • Zekrom is the main physical attacker of the team, and is Electric based rather than Dragon based. The reason? I never used Outrage over Dragon Claw and always found myself missing or running out of PP with Bolt Strike. So I replaced it with Fusion Bolt to provide a reliable STAB that still packs a lot of power, and it helps to nullify Zekrom's PP issues.
  • Scarf Dragon Claw coming from 399 Attack is pretty powerful and let's me significantly damage almost every Dragon type. Plus it doesn't lock me into anything like Outrage does, giving me the option of switching him out of an unfavourable situation.
  • He also acts as a check to other Scarf Zekrom, since if my Kyogre or Arceus is threatened I can just switch into the 4x resisted move, Volt Switch whilst he switches, and gain the momentum back.
Criticisms/Improvements.

  • He's completely wrecked by Groudon, but I suppose that's why Flying Arceus is here. I don't think there's any way that I can get around him efficiently without switching, unfortunately.
  • Thunder would be nice to run on here to take advantage of the weather, but I can't think of any situations where it would come in handy.


Ferrothorn @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Iron Barbs
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Relaxed Nature (+Def, -Spe)
- Stealth Rock
- Spikes
- Curse
- Gyro Ball

Why Ferrothorn is awesome.

  • Put simply, if the opponent tries to Outrage and I predict it, then they lose a pokémon and let me set up a bunch of hazards. Given how popular Outraging Dragons are in the Ubers metagame and given Ferrothorn's excellent physical defense, he was an offer I couldn't refuse.
  • Ferrothorn provides hazard support for the rest of the team when he's not taking Outrages to the face (and often when he is) Curse lets me reduce the damage and boosts my Gyro Ball to an incredible power against all opponents, even without Attack investment it does a lot to most stuff.
  • I used to run a Skymin of my own, but I felt that I didn't really need another sweeper (and another Ice weakness) so I decided to try another Grass type. In the end I didn't end up using Power Whip (since it's a bit weedy without investment and lacks coverage in Ubers) but the residual damage he can stack on opponents has definitely made up for it.
Criticisms/Improvements

  • Ferrothorn lacks recovery and even Leftovers with this set up, but without Rocky Helmet he doesn't do enough damage to Dragon types to outright kill them. I'm thinking of replacing Stealth Rock with Leech Seed, and possibly Curse with Protect for utility, but at the moment I'm undecided.

Rayquaza @ Life Orb
Ability: Air Lock
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
Hasty Nature (+Spe, -Def)
- Dragon Dance
- Dragon Claw
- Earthquake
- Fire Blast

Why Rayquaza is awesome.

  • Rayquaza provides a lot of things for my team. It provides me with a physical booster, another oh-so-important Dragon attack (and a powerful one at that) and also an un-nerfed fire attack, which is pretty nice on a Drizzle team and means that I'm not completely walled by Ferrothorn.
  • He's pretty standard really. Fire Blast is placed over Overheat so I can 2HKO Groudon if need be. Dragon Claw and Earthquake provide good coverage.
Criticisms/Improvements

  • Rayquaza is a pretty standard addition, and I'll happily replace it with something else if it's more viable. I'm thinking of running scarf Palkia instead, but three Scarfers might be a bit much. I'd miss that Fire Attack and I'm not sure whether it'd be worth it.


Chansey @ Eviolite
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 Def / 252 SpD / 4 Spe
Calm Nature (+SpD, -Atk)
- Wish
- Softboiled
- Toxic
- Heal Bell

Why Chansey is awesome.

  • Chansey is the glue that holds this team together. She can sponge Draco Meteors with ease, heal my scarfers of Paralysis, Burns, Sleep and the occasionaly Freeze, stall out opponents and just be annoying in general.
  • Wish lets me heal teammates fully should I be able to get them in successfully. This is really handy, especially to Kyogre who wants to spam Water Spout as much as possible, and especially to Ferrothorn who can use the HP to tank even more physical attacks (which Chansey lures) It's fantastic synergy wise and I just can't really see myself getting rid of it. Softboiled is picked over Protect just in case I need some emergency healing.
Criticisms/Improvements

  • I'd like to fit Seismic Toss somewhere so that I'm not helpless in some situations and so that I can revenge weakned pokémon, but I'm not sure what to replace it with. Maybe Softboiled, but idk.
  • Chansey is complete bait for stuff like Forretress to set up, which can be annoying.
In terms of threats, Mewtwo can be really annoying if he switches in on Arceus, Rayquaza etc when they're unboosted, and I like a reliable switch in to him other than my scarfers. Steel Arceus has also been a thorn in my side, setting up Cosmic Powers and walling my ass in general since I lack a phaser. Dialga can be hard to take down, but it isn't really threatening so I'm loath to consider it a sworn enemy. Extremekiller Arceus will pretty much sweep me if Ferrothorn isn't kicking around, which is troublesome.

Okay, so that's my team in essence! I'm happy to replace stuff for the good of the Flying Monkeys, although I'd like to keep Flying Arceus in if that's possible. Let me know what I can do to get him into the big leagues >:)
 
Hey gtm!

Nice team, there a few things that could help you out. I think Fortress over Ferrothorn would be a wise decision because 1/3 of your team is Stealth Rock weak.

Forrtress @ Leftovers
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 252 HP/4 Def/252 SpD
Relaxed Nature (+Def, -Spe)
- Stealth Rock
- Spikes
- Rapid Spin
- Gyro Ball

You could also go with a physically defensive spread If you wanted, but its much more difficult to set up entry hazards. Other nitpicks are put Outrage over Fusion Bolt on Zekrom, Seismic Toss over Heal Bell on Chansey. I also prefer Naive nature on Rayquaza since it's not going to survive many Special attacks anyway, and it helps slightly against Extremspeeders and Bullet Punchers
 
I don't think that you need rocky helmet on Ferrothorn. You have two scarfers who can take on opposing dragons on both sides of the spectrum with ice beam / dragon claw. Giving Ferrothorn reliable recovery is much more important than weakening their dragons.

On Zekrom, is it really necessary to have bolt strike and fusion bolt? I would recommend switching the one that you use less to thunder wave. This allows Zekrom to cripple it's counter so that it can be picked off later. Crunch is also an option if you have problems with Mewtwo.

Instead of Rayquaza, I would recommend Bluff-Palkia:

Palkia @ Lustruous Orb
Hasty Nature
4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
-Spacial Rend
-Thunder
-Fire Blast
-Outrage

The basic premise, if you are unfamiliar, is to trick your opponent into thinking that you are choiced, and then score a free KO by using a different move. This set, and your team as a whole, does have problems with Ferrothorn in the rain, so you may want to switch outrage to focus blast and switch the nature to timid and the 4 atk EVs to HP.

This is a pretty good team and good luck with it.
 
Woo, feedback! I'll post my opinions as we go.

Nice team, there a few things that could help you out. I think Fortress over Ferrothorn would be a wise decision because 1/3 of your team is Stealth Rock weak.

Forrtress @ Leftovers
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 252 HP/4 Def/252 SpD
Relaxed Nature (+Def, -Spe)
- Stealth Rock
- Spikes
- Rapid Spin
- Gyro Ball
I suppose that's a good idea, Forretress is physically bulky and can help spin away hazards.

You could also go with a physically defensive spread If you wanted, but its much more difficult to set up entry hazards.
The purpose of this guy on my team would be to switch into Outrages and set up hazards, so I don't think running Specially defensive would really be worth it. I already have Chansey for that :P

Other nitpicks are put Outrage over Fusion Bolt on Zekrom, Seismic Toss over Heal Bell on Chansey. I also prefer Naive nature on Rayquaza since it's not going to survive many Special attacks anyway, and it helps slightly against Extremspeeders and Bullet Punchers
I tried Outrage on Zekrom before and /never/ used it, not once. Dragon Claw does enough to most of its targets and lets me switch whenever I want. Heal Bell is the reason why I have a cleric instead of Giratina, it's so helpful in healing my scarfers of Paralysis, Darkrai's sleep, etc. That's not going to go, I don't think. Either Toxic or Softboiled imo. Completely agree about the Naive Rayquaza, I'll change that straight away.

Server_Crash said:
I don't think that you need rocky helmet on Ferrothorn. You have two scarfers who can take on opposing dragons on both sides of the spectrum with ice beam / dragon claw. Giving Ferrothorn reliable recovery is much more important than weakening their dragons.
Good point. I'll change it.

Server_Crash said:
On Zekrom, is it really necessary to have bolt strike and fusion bolt? I would recommend switching the one that you use less to thunder wave. This allows Zekrom to cripple it's counter so that it can be picked off later. Crunch is also an option if you have problems with Mewtwo.
Most of Zekrom's counters are ground types like Groudon and Gliscor, so I don't think Thunder Wave would get much use. Crunch does less to Mewtwo than Bolt Strike and only slightly more than Fusion Bolt, so I'm not using that either.

Server_Crash said:
Instead of Rayquaza, I would recommend Bluff-Palkia:

Palkia @ Lustruous Orb
Hasty Nature
4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
-Spacial Rend
-Thunder
-Fire Blast
-Outrage

The basic premise, if you are unfamiliar, is to trick your opponent into thinking that you are choiced, and then score a free KO by using a different move. This set, and your team as a whole, does have problems with Ferrothorn in the rain, so you may want to switch outrage to focus blast and switch the nature to timid and the 4 atk EVs to HP.
Ah, I see. Fire Blast still does plenty of damage to Ferrothorn in rain, so it's not really worth swapping it for Focus Miss in my books. Other than that, this looks like a good idea, considering I hardly ever have time to use Dragon Dance on Rayquaza. I think I'll try Outrage on it and see how it goes, a bluffer is probably the best user of Outrage since I can lure in Dragons with my coverage moves.

Being an avid user of Bluff Flygon in 4th Gen OU, I'm enthusiastic towards this idea. :)
 
Definately run timid max speed on kyogre to out speed the incrediblay common scarf kyogre
Ice is another fun arceus thats heavy offensive, then you only need thunder/bolt as a coverage move
Your zekrom set is killing me. Take an electic move off asap and put on ANYTHING else. Seriously, 3 electric type moves?
On ferrothorn, definately remove spikes for leech seed (you need recovery and spikes arent that important). Protect instead of curse can also work well
Chansey: fuck man. FUCK!!! Wish and softboiled? Definately replace softboiled with protect and heal bell with seismic toss. Do this or replace wish with seismic toss so you arent taunt bait
Other than that, great team!!
 
Due to your semi-stallish nature of your team, it is advisable to use a ghost arceus as a spinblocker. Ghost is still a decent wallbreaker or you can use gira-o sub CM instead. Ferro cannot use rocky without leech so I'd recommend just using lefties ferro. I'd make zekrom have either DM or HP fire as it can help with groudon or ferro respectively.
 
Definately run timid max speed on kyogre to out speed the incrediblay common scarf kyogre
Ice is another fun arceus thats heavy offensive, then you only need thunder/bolt as a coverage move
Your zekrom set is killing me. Take an electic move off asap and put on ANYTHING else. Seriously, 3 electric type moves?
On ferrothorn, definately remove spikes for leech seed (you need recovery and spikes arent that important). Protect instead of curse can also work well
Chansey: fuck man. FUCK!!! Wish and softboiled? Definately replace softboiled with protect and heal bell with seismic toss. Do this or replace wish with seismic toss so you arent taunt bait
Other than that, great team!!
Okay, I stopped using this team a while ago, but I feel I need to justify some of my choices. Zekrom runs 3 electric moves for a reason; Volt Change is useful as a scouting move whilst I often found that I never used Outrage on Zekrom due to the plethora of better late game pokémon in my team, as well as the plethora of Steel types in Ubers in general. Meanwhile, Lightning Strike occasionally missed and often ran out of PP, so using the reliable Fusion Bolt in Outrage's place solved both of my problems. Heal Bell is necessary on Chansey for my team since Kyogre, Arceus, Zekrom and Rayquaza are all horribly vulnerable to paralysis, and Seismic Toss just ins't good in a metagame where the biggest threats have reliable recovery.

I appreciate that Zekrom and Chansey's movesets aren't standard, but they've all been playtested significantly and work better than your suggestions in my experience. However, if I revisit this I'll make sure to change Kyogre's nature and Ferrothorn's moveset, those are both good suggestions and areas that have remained unexplored thus far.

I'm also liking the suggestion of Ghost Arceus, since I used to run a Giratina as my special wall I'd appreciate the spin blocking support and coverage STAB against other Giratina, which was often a nuisance.
 

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