XY Mega-Pinsir Support

[Blaise]

Introduction

Hey guys, been playing on the PS OU ladder whenever I have the time, been doing pretty well, but I've decided to start this RMT to get a better analysis of how I'm doing and how I can improve. I've been playing with a Mega-Pinsir centered teams, with the remaining Pokemon as support (not meaning that they can't hold their own), since I like that play style and since Mega-Pinsir has such an awesome design that I really enjoy. So, here we go.

Team

Pinsir @ Pinsirite
Hyper Cutter (Aerilate)
Jolly
252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spd

• Frustration
  
• Quick Attack
  
• Earthquake
• Swords Dance

The center of the team, Mega-Pinsir is one of my favorite Pokemon to use! It's very dangerous and acts as my only set-up sweeper. Flying STAB is great to spam around, so much that most of the time I don't even need to boost with SD. The set is a given, but it's very effective at what it does, which is to clean up the opponent's team, especially when its counters are down, while also being bulky enough to switch into some hits.

Heatran @ Leftovers
Flash Fire
Calm
248 HP / 252 SDef / 8 Spd

• Lava Plume
  
• Toxic
• Protect
• Stealth Rock

Specially defensive Heatran serves as a great SR setter, while also taking so many hits before going down. I decided to use everything Heatran's got to offer from his defensive arsenal and ended up with a moveset that uses all those moves combined. Lava Plume for obvious STAB while also retaining a nice chance to burn. Toxic to cripple walls and Defoggers. Roar to shuffle the opponent's team while also preventing other set-up sweepers. And SR because I needed a good user of the move. Heatran supports Pinsir quite nicely, stopping the Lati-twins and Aegislash, as well as other hard hitting special threats. It has to watch out for the occasional EQ cover move, but, all in all, it does its job well.

Latias @ Life Orb
Levitate
Timid
4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd

• Draco Meteor
  
• Psyshock
• Defog
  
• Healing Wish

Latias serves the role of obligatory defogger and really excels at this new role it found this generation. Defog is necessary support for Mega-Pinsir, by nullifying its crippling SR weakness, but Latias can be quite deadly as well. Draco Meteor for obligatory STAB really hits hard, being also a great revenge move against slower opponents. Thunderbolt is the cover move of choice since it has great synergy with DM while cathing many things offguard, such as Bisharp and Azumarill. Healing Wish instead of the usual Roost is there to serve as another breath of life to a damaged teammate. Latias has an amazing typing and bulk for a defogger, serving as a check to things like Rotom-Wash and Manaphy, which can get in Pinsir's way.

Conkeldurr @ Assault Vest
Guts
Adamant
252 Atk / 236 SDef / 20 Spd

• Drain Punch
  
• Mach Punch
  
• Knock Off
  
• Ice Punch

Standard Conkelduy err serves as a tank to stop most special attackers while also absorbing status. The moveset has nothing new to it but it's very effective at what it does. Conkeldurr really enjoys absorbing burns from Rotom-Wash and Heatran to strike back with either a STAB or support the team with Knock Off. Ice Punch is there to take down specific threats such as Gliscor and Landorus-T while also serving as a last ditch to hurt some Fairy-types.

Rotom-Wash @ Chesto Berry
Levitate
Bold
248 HP / 216 Def / 44 Spd

• Hydro Pump
  
• Volt Switch
  
• Will-O-Wisp
  
• Rest

Bulky Rotom-Wash serves as a physical wall to check specific threats such as Talonflame and opposing Mega-Pinsir, while also providing plenty of team support. Hydro Pump and Volt Switch are the STABs, the last one providing momentum for the team. W-o-W is a great way to spread burns, specially with its increased accuracy this gen. Rest is there to extend Rotom's survivability and ensure it can do its job more than just once.

Landorus-T @ Choice Scarf
Intimidate
Jolly
4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd

• Earthquake
  
• Stone Edge
  
• Knock Off
  
• U-turn

Scarfed Landorus-T is the glue to the team and acts as the primary revenge killer and physical attacker check. The moveset is pretty standard with EQ and Stone Edge providing the necessary coverage, while U-turn provides momentum and Knock Off provides support, while both also being excellent coverage moves. Intimidate is really valued, depending on the match, serving as a making of breaking point to keep physical threats at bay. He usually is the one I lead with since most people don't expect scarf leads, while providing momentum right from the start.

Conclusion
So, I've doing reasonably well with my team, and I like it and I hope you guys like it too. Please rate and suggest any changes if possible, I'm really open and really looking forward to it!

Edit: took into consideration the suggestions presented and decided to change Psyshock>Thunderbolt on Latias; Protect>Roar on Heatran. Still testing out Terrakion though.

PS Import

Pinsir @ Pinsirite
Ability: Hyper Cutter
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Frustration
- Quick Attack
- Earthquake

Heatran @ Leftovers
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 248 HP / 252 SDef / 8 Spd
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Lava Plume
- Protect
- Stealth Rock
- Toxic

Latias (F) @ Life Orb
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 SAtk / 4 HP
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Draco Meteor
- Psyshock
- Defog
- Healing Wish

Conkeldurr @ Assault Vest
Ability: Guts
EVs: 252 Atk / 236 SDef / 20 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Drain Punch
- Mach Punch
- Knock Off
- Ice Punch

Rotom-Wash @ Chesto Berry
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 248 HP / 216 Def / 44 Spd
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Hydro Pump
- Volt Switch
- Will-O-Wisp
- Rest

Landorus-Therian (M) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 Atk / 4 HP
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- Knock Off
- U-turn

 

[Analog]

Solid team. I'm a big fan of mega-pinsir myself. You might want to try running Frustration over Return on him to counter this Dittos who are jealous of Pinsir. Also try running Moxie over Hypercutter on him aswell because when Pinsir isn't in his mega, he can still easily earthquake an electric type or something like that and get +1 so you don't even need to swords dance. Now lets talk about Latias. I would run Psyshock over Thunderbolt because not only is it stab, you don't have a pyschic move on your team and Rotom-W can already handle water/flying types.

Hope I could help, you may not want to change it, it's just what I would do. But good team in general.

 

[Blaise]

Solid team. I'm a big fan of mega-pinsir myself. You might want to try running Frustration over Return on him to counter this Dittos who are jealous of Pinsir. Also try running Moxie over Hypercutter on him aswell because when Pinsir isn't in his mega, he can still easily earthquake an electric type or something like that and get +1 so you don't even need to swords dance. Now lets talk about Latias. I would run Psyshock over Thunderbolt because not only is it stab, you don't have a pyschic move on your team and Rotom-W can already handle water/flying types.

Hope I could help, you may not want to change it, it's just what I would do. But good team in general.

Thanks for the suggestions! Frustration is an obvious one, so already changed it.

Definitely gonna try Moxie on Pinsir and Psyshock on Latias, though I do like to prevent Intimidates on the turn I mega-evolve Pinsir and hitting Skarmory with Latias, but I will test it out.

Thanks again!

 

[Timpsu]

Hey! I think your team looks overall solid, you don't have any suboptimal moves or EVs that really need changing. I'm gonna suggest a few changes on moves and EVs, based on personal preference, and then go on to the threats and what you could do to cover them even better.

I suggest you don't switch Hyper Cutter. Situations where Moxie is useful rarely come, and with Hyper Cutter, you make sure opposing Lando-T can't check you. If those 8 Speed EVs don't achieve anything notable on Heatran, I would put them to Defense, just to maybe live a weak physical move. Also, I've found Protect to be a good scouting move on Heatran, I would maybe put it in place of Roar. Also, Protect gives you an extra round of recovery + possible burn damage on opponent. I would also switch Thunderbolt to Psyshock on Latias, as you might otherwise have a hard time getting past Conkeldurr and M-Venu. Bisharp is hit harder by DM, and I think Rotom-W covers Azumarill just fine.

Even though Heatran and Latias are good checks against Char-Y, usually the dragon carries either Focus Blast or Dragon Pulse, making it mandatory to do careful scouting. I guess the versions with Dragon Pulse are better for your team, since Latias can't really recover from hits. Also you have nothing to switch to Greninja. Ofc Landorus can revengekill, but something most likely needs to die first. Also, Deo-S might be problematic for your team, as even with a Scarf Lando-T isn't fast enough. One way to remedy that could be to try a faster Scarfer, such as Terrakion. I don't think I have anything more to add, well built team and good luck in your future battles!

 

[Blaise]

Hey! I think your team looks overall solid, you don't have any suboptimal moves or EVs that really need changing. I'm gonna suggest a few changes on moves and EVs, based on personal preference, and then go on to the threats and what you could do to cover them even better.

I suggest you don't switch Hyper Cutter. Situations where Moxie is useful rarely come, and with Hyper Cutter, you make sure opposing Lando-T can't check you. If those 8 Speed EVs don't achieve anything notable on Heatran, I would put them to Defense, just to maybe live a weak physical move. Also, I've found Protect to be a good scouting move on Heatran, I would maybe put it in place of Roar. Also, Protect gives you an extra round of recovery + possible burn damage on opponent. I would also switch Thunderbolt to Psyshock on Latias, as you might otherwise have a hard time getting past Conkeldurr and M-Venu. Bisharp is hit harder by DM, and I think Rotom-W covers Azumarill just fine.

Even though Heatran and Latias are good checks against Char-Y, usually the dragon carries either Focus Blast or Dragon Pulse, making it mandatory to do careful scouting. I guess the versions with Dragon Pulse are better for your team, since Latias can't really recover from hits. Also you have nothing to switch to Greninja. Ofc Landorus can revengekill, but something most likely needs to die first. Also, Deo-S might be problematic for your team, as even with a Scarf Lando-T isn't fast enough. One way to remedy that could be to try a faster Scarfer, such as Terrakion. I don't think I have anything more to add, well built team and good luck in your future battles!

Thanks for the suggestions!

I definitely will keep Hyper Cutter on Pinsir, it's really, as you said, less situational than Moxie. On regards to Latias, Psyshock is proving to be quite nice, though the lack of some neutral hits can get annoying, but I think I'm gonna keep using it, as suggested.

Scarf-Terrakion is a really cool suggestion that I hadn't thought about, so I will test it out, for sure! It definitely fixes most of my problems, and I hadn't considered it since I haven't seen that many Terras arround.