SM OU The "I still use Sylveon" team


Storytime

I recently got back into Pokemon "pvp", if you will, and, let me tell you, it's been a learning experience. The last time I played was at the start of Gen 6, but even then, most of my knowledge was Gen 5-level. So when I use Quick Attack on a Tapu Lele and jack diddly squat happens, I choke on my drink.

That being said, I've always played a hyper-offensive team. I mean, I can play teams "that require brainpower", but I find it fun trucking enemy pokemon with fat STABs, you know? My core three pokemon from my Gen 6 team never failed me so they return to this team and I still find them perfectly adequate. I've been fiddling around with the lineup for about five days now and, as I am never a particularly good trainer, peaked at 1450 which is actually really good for me, to be honest. So, hopefully, I can get critique and help from here.

The People



Mr. Wiggles (Sylveon) (F) @ Choice Specs
Ability: Pixilate
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpA / 4 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Hyper Voice
- Shadow Ball
- Psyshock
- Hidden Power [Ground]​

Number 1 of the original core. Ever since I first saw Sylveon used as a cleric/wall thing, I fell in love with the pokemon and began running Choice Specs on it. Back then, no one expected a Choiced Sylveon so you would have the weirdest scenarios; opponents would Taunt it, Rotom-W would swap a Choice Scarf with it, and so on. Sylveon has lost that element of surprise, unfortunately, but I still find it an excellent leading pokemon that can also function as a wallbreaker. The main game plan is to spam Hyper Voice, simple. If you are going to do less than 30% damage or your opponent led with something like Ferrothorn, switch out. Despite a choiced Sylveon's very linear playstyle, you can still make use of the pokemon's natural special bulk later on. Shadow Ball and Psyshock are there for er, "coverage", but the only other move I actually use is HP Ground to do a fat 75% on stuff like Heatran when it tries to switch in.​




Ice Shard Me (Garchomp) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Rough Skin
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Outrage
- Earthquake
- Rock Slide
- Fire Fang​

Number 2. Scarfchomp will always be the king of the Dragon-types in my heart. I'm fairly certain he is still one of the, if not the, fastest Outrage user in the OU meta and even with all the fairies and weird tapu bird whatzits running around, this old dude still somehow holds his ground. Though originally intended for a revenge-kill role, Garchomp eventually turned into a pivot, of sorts. He deals with a good deal of Steel-types namely Heatran and Magerna, this fact compounded as both Steels and Poisons are prevalent as a counter to the Tapu. In addition, depending on the opponent's build, he can switch into a Mega-Scizor and 2HKO it while taking two Bullet Punches himself and still survive. If not, well, they both faint. And what he doesn't outright check, he just plows through with Outrage.​




Bob (Latios) @ Dragonium Z
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Draco Meteor
- Psyshock
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Defog
And last, but not least, number 3 of the old guard.

My friend said the Gen 7 meta didn't favour hazard setters.

HAH.

I actually took out Latios for Ash-Greninja for some more of that OHKO goodness. Then I started eating Stealth Rocks and Sticky Web.

I chose Latios as my anti-hazard all the way back in Gen 5 when it was common practice to block Rapid Spin with Gengar. I also needed a big threat and Latios fits the bill perfectly. With the addition of Dragonium Z, it's only gotten better as I no longer need to worry about Draco Meteor's harsh drawback and 90% accuracy. (yup. *sigh*) I previously ran Life Orb and while that did just fine, the 10% really does hurt in the long run on a pokemon with a good typing such as Latios.

Though Rapid Spin may now be just as good as Defog, Latios hasn't let me down yet but if I do need to switch, I'll certainly consider the likes of Excadrill. Scizor might also be a good alternative.

As an added bonus, I've also honed my Latios to a point where it should just be renamed "Anti-Ferrothorn" with that saucy HP Fire.​




Jolteon EX
(Tapu Koko) @ Life Orb
Ability: Electric Surge
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Thunderbolt
- U-turn
- Dazzling Gleam
- Taunt
First and foremost, I might switch Life Orb with Zap Plate. Tapu Koko is the special sweeper of the team, something I badly needed back in Gen 6 with Gliscor running amok. (You guys remember Gliscor? I think he's hollering from somewhere in the depths of UU.) I'm running the standard taunt-offensive set. It works. Sorry, I don't know what else to say about this one.



The Next Hokage
(Tapu Lele) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Psychic Surge
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Psychic
- Psyshock
- Moonblast
- Hidden Power [Fire]​

So one day, I used Mega-Pinsir's Quick Attack on a Tapu Lele. Nothing happened.

I googled Psychic Terrain.

It shuts down priority moves. So what does that mean? Scarfed Tapu Lele is secretly a priority user. :^)
With that mentality, I chose both Psychic and Psychock for a big quasi-Psychic priority move that can hit on both the physical and special side. Same line of thinking with Moonblast. HP Fire is to help with Steels and while it does have its moments, I have considered switching the move out.



Scarlatina (Lopunny) (F) @ Lopunnite
Ability: Klutz
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Fake Out
- Last Resort

I've only ever used Pinsir-Mega so a new mega was an interesting experience. Pinsir is indeed a potent threat, but I've actually found it rather slow. I was mostly only using its Quick Attack for some damage before it gets OHKO by goodness knows what. So, why not just have an even faster Pokemon? Lopunny has done her job thus far, that is, revenge killing and late-game sweeping, but there have been several times where my own Tapu Lele locks Lopunny out of playing Pokemon. That, however, is my only gripe. As for the moveset, I think it really does speak for itself.

Common Counters
Due to the hyper-offensive nature of the team, when one of your pokemon falls, there will always be a chance for an opposing pokemon to just completely wreck havoc. Here are some common ones:

  • Toxapek ruins games if Tapu Koko is dead.
  • Same thing with Celesteele.
  • Marowak-Alola is annoying without Garchomp.
  • As is Excadrill.
  • And Heatran.
  • And Scizor.
  • (basically any OU Steel topkek)
  • Side Note: That is sort of what I get for replacing Pinsir with Lopunny as my Pinsir packed a surprise Earthquake.
  • If you let Volcarona set up, bad things happen. (This wasn't a problem when I had Pinsir and Talonflame... I have actually considered bringing Talonflame back with Fly-Z.)
  • If you let Shuckle use Shell Smash four times, you lose. :^)
If you got this far, thanks for reading, any and all criticism is much appreciated, seeing as I'm not too great with this Pokemon thing.

 
Sylveon @ Choice Specs
Ability: Pixilate
EVs: 112 HP / 252 SpA / 144 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Hyper Voice
- Psyshock
- Shadow Ball
- Hidden Power [Ground]

I think this EV spread is better for Sylveon than the one you're using. With 144 EVs in Speed she outpaces adamant Marowak-Alola and Choice Specs Magnezone.
 
The whole reason MegaLop is good is that Scrappy-Normal-Fighting is unresisted. There's really no point in running a last resort set on him when you could just run Return+HJK. Can even set up some sneaky subs that way, especially on low ladder where everyone expects Fake Out first turn.

I always run it like this:
MLOP (Lopunny-Mega) @ Lopunnite
Ability: Limber
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Ice Punch
- Return
- High Jump Kick
- Substitute

Limber is more handy than you might think. If you're coming in to revenge kill a weakened thundy, staying in normal form on their prankster t-wave can be a power play. Similarly, you can stay in normal form when Ice Punch predicting a static zapdos.
 
Thanks for the ideas. I immediately put the HP Ice on Tapu Koko (though it hasn't actually been used yet) and I also started using Heatran, but with a few modifications as I hate moves that aren't close to 100% accuracy despite Magma Storm's power and trap. Would Sub still be worth it without Magma Storm?

Needs Levitate (Heatran) @ Leftovers
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 212 HP / 44 Def / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Earth Power
- Flamethrower
- Substitute
- Toxic

That same mentality goes for Fire Blast on Garchomp as well. And I've also come to the conclusion that both Fire Blast or Fire Fang will in almost all scenarios 2HKO, with the possible except of Skarmory, but with the addition of Heatran I don't think I'll have any huge issues with that matchup.

As for Sylveon's re-stat, after nearly ten or so more battles (small sample, I know), I haven't run into either Scarfnezone or A-Marowak. If one or the other becomes more prevalent, then I'll invest in Speed.

I also took out Lopunny and went back to M-Pinsir set I've used since it first came out:

Large Pecs (Pinsir) @ Pinsirite
Ability: Moxie
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Quick Attack
- Return
- Earthquake
 

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