SM OU Z Skill Swap and Poisonous Dragons

[Dazzling Gleamstar]

What is up, Hariyama Alert Nation. I'm your host, Dazzling Gleamstar... Let's get right into the RMT!


I've very used to playing more balanced playstyles. The transition from oras has been a bit rocky for me, not wanting to descend into full stall but also being not the most comfortable with pure offence has proved so far to be tricky. The team I made here is my attempt to move closer to offence, while still having enough bulk to feel safe, and while still maintaining the theme of a meme. After playing competitive pokemon for a long, long time I build with the idea of wanting to have fun on the ladder, not just spam 6 busted mons.

So I should probably get this out of the way as soon as possible: I'm well aware that the team would benefit from stallbreaker Lele or even scarf Lele. I can also understand the people who might disagree with yung Dragalge in OU. But this team was structured for the chance to use both the Tapu Lele set I came up and to use Dragalge (I can't say definitively I'm the first person to use the Lele set, but I haven't seen it used elsewhere and I did come up with it myself). So for that reason, the only two things I refuse to change are the Lele Z moves and Dragalge as a team slot.

Tapu Lele @ Psychium Z
Ability: Psychic Surge
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Psyshock
- Moonblast
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Skill Swap

So I'll begin with the best part of the team. One part gimmick, two parts fun, and more effective than I would have originally imagined. For people who don't know, I'll save you the time it would take to google it; Z skill swap boosts speed. I've had skill swap actually give me value on a few hilarious scenerios: I've copied toxic heal, I've copied beast boost on a sac and then swept, and I've had skill swap effectively reset psycic terrain in a few cases as well. I've chosen to run psyshock over psychic as it hits a few key pokemon harder: Chansey, Volcarona, Gyarados, etc. Moonblast obviously goes without saying, and HP fire is used over focus blast or thunderbolt as Scizor, Mega Metagross and Ferrothorn gives the team more issues (in my humble opinion). It's also relatively easy to bluff a scarf in many scenarios.

252 SpA Tapu Lele Psyshock vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Chansey: 390-459 (55.3 - 65.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock (if i can knock off eviolite)

Metagross @ Metagrossite
Ability: Clear Body
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Meteor Mash
- Zen Headbutt
- Bullet Punch
- Hammer Arm

The next pokemon on the team is Mega Metagross. Metagross is one of, if not THE, best pokemon in the tier at the moment. I like the idea of going for zen headbutt under psychic terrain, but I'm not entirely sure what the bet moveset for my team is. I've found myself missing bolt-beam punches a few times for things like celesteela/skarm, landorus and even sometimes slowbro; but zen headbutt has gotten enough value that it seems to be worth keeping. Meteor mash and bullet punch are the only two moves that i know for a fact can't be altered on the set as the priority is needed to try to patch up the lack of speed control, and meteor mash is well... it's meteor mash. Hammer arm is here to hit Ferrothorn, Heatran, and to take on non rocky helmet Skarmory (which in my opinion shouldn't exist with Magnezone like... existing). Metagross is a decent check to things like Magearna, Tapu Lele, Tapu Bulu and Pheramosa (with bullet punch), which otherwise threaten the team.

Tornadus-Therian @ Assault Vest
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 248 HP / 8 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Hurricane
- Heat Wave
- Knock Off
- U-turn

I haven't been seeing a lot of Tornadus on the ladder recently. But I've been a sucker for any torn set back in oras, and I still think it's a solid mon in sumo. It hits a great speed tier, and regenerator adds more sustain to the team as a whole, being a pivot into things like Latios, Volcarona, and Mega Venusaur with assault vest. Hurricane is the obligatory STAB move, and being a bulky set with max hp and an assault vest, missing hurricane becomes less devastating as it would be on a life orb set. Heat wave deals with steel types that give the team issues, specifically Scizor, Metagross, Ferrothorn, Magearna, Skarmory and Celesteela. With much less offensive presence as a life orb set, the main boon to using this set is the versatility it offers with knock off and u-turn. Getting rid of leftovers from the likes of Tapu Fini, Celesteela, removing eviolite from Chansey, while also directly threatening things like the Latis or just removing an offensive item is the reasoning for the moveset.

Dragalge @ Black Sludge
Ability: Adaptability
EVs: 248 HP / 252 SpA / 8 SpD
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Draco Meteor
- Sludge Wave
- Focus Blast
- Toxic Spikes

So this is one of the more questionable choices for the team I made. Defensively and offensively, Dragalge is a fantastic pokemon. Thanks to it's unique typing, decent stats and fantastic resistances, it can switch into threats like Charizard Y, Keldeo, Tapu Bulu, Manaphy, Tapu Fini, Greninja, Tapu Koko, and Volcarona. Black sludge was chosen as the item to increase its sustainability, and Draco and sludge wave are self explanatory as STABs. Focus Blast is the coverage I chose to help me switch into and deal with Heatran while also being able to hit Ferrothorn. Toxic spikes help my offensive pokemon like Lele sweep late into the game.

Tapu Fini @ Leftovers
Ability: Misty Surge
EVs: 248 HP / 192 Def / 16 SpD / 52 Spe
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Moonblast
- Nature's Madness
- Taunt
- Defog

The Tapu Fini set I'm using is just a standard Fini. The evs I ripped from another team, I usually just ran max-max bold but I thought I'd try out the mixed defenses option. Taunt-Nature's Madness is the closest thing on the team to a stallbreaker, and against more defensive matchups it is vital. Fini is in my opinion the best defogger in the tier, so of coarse it's chosen to be my hazard control. And moonblast is just a very reliable STAB move. Fini helps the team deal with threats like BB Greninja, Pheramosa, and Gyarados.

Landorus-Therian @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 248 HP / 244 Def / 16 Spe
Impish Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- U-turn

And for the last pokemon on the team, being that this is Sumo OU, I was obligated to run Landorus. There's not much to say here, this is as standard as standard can be. It was the best stealth rock option to the team, and hidden power ice helps versus other Landorus, Garchomp and Xygarde. And of coarse, earthquake and U-turn are essential.

Threatlist:


Immediate 6-0 loss:

Being a somewhat gimmick team, I knew there was going to be certain things that I just wouldn't be able to account for. And it goes without saying that this team gets 6-0'd by Dugtrio stall. The best answer to duggie stall on this team is the X button. When I get sick of losing to this playstyle, I'll change the Lele set to shed shell stallbreaker. But for the moment it demolishes my team.


Oh god not that:

(protean)

Now that looks pretty scary...:

Replays (replays are all low ladder, plez forgive me):

Brief montage of the funnier moments I had with this team (editing is subpar unfortunetaly):

Toxic Boost Tapu Lele (very low ladder but still pretty funny): http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ou-540926544

Z Skill Swap late game sweep: http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ou-540911233

Volcarona is scary but dealt with: http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ou-540956825

I choke early game but come come back versus gyarados: http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ou-540948940

 

[FlamingVictini]

Hey man this is an interesting concept you have here, and I really like how lele can make good use of the z-crystal for just a super strong attack to facilitate breaking if z-skill swap isn't gonna come into play, making this "gimmick" set not so bad. Now you said you really want to keep dragalge, so that's fine, we'll keep it. In that situation, I think you should try to tailor it to do some important things for you. A simple EV spread adjustment to 248 HP / 216 SpA / 44 SpD will supplement your bulk enough to switch into specs regular ninja dark pulse and avoid the 2hko almost always after rocks, and also almost always avoid the ko from +1 Ice Beam from mosa after rocks and black sludge recovery (and of course, you will tank a protean greninja ice beam in a 1v1 situation). You'll also have a better shot at taking two +1 hp ice's from volc if you haven't taken prior damage. Still, I think its worth exploring even bulkier variants of dragalge, possibly with something cute like a yache berry if that ends up helping out a lot. This is just a slight change that might prove dragalge to be a tiny bit more useful.

Now consistent with your threatlist, strong pysychics like meta and zam can be massive threats to you, especially cuz of your own terrain and dragalge. In general however your team is just extremely slow and doesn't really have the ability to revenge kill boosting sweepers just by outrunning them and taking them out, which is important for an offensive team. With this in mind, my solution would be to add Scarf Pheromosa and Chople Ferrothorn, in place of Tapu Fini and AV Torn.

I think tapu fini is dragging your team down. You don't need defog for anything (also you may disagree but I think it really is not the best defogger in the tier, it easily gets pressured and worn down), and fini is a huge momentum sap. There might also be a bit of disagreement with the terrains you have up since really everything except dragalge and fini itself wants psychic terrain to be up. You already have dragalge absorbing tspikes so that lele + meta can break non-stall toxapex teams better, so you're only really weak to spikes, and tapu fini loses to one of the most common ones, ferrothorn. Especially since you have dragalge and currently av torn, there's absolutely no need for fini. Torn also seems the most replaceable after that, Meta + Lando have a very good purpose on the team and are stellar mons as it is. Ferrothorn (or possibly Rotom-W) can do the things you want from fini better, and Mosa just provides some necessary revenge killing in a manner that synergizes well with your team.

The purpose of Pheromosa here is to provide a very fast revenger that's also a solid wincon on its own, that specifically covers some of the typings you struggle with as well (threatens psychic and dark types). With Tapu Lele support as well you have the conditions to really protect Pheromosa in the lategame, potentially making a situation where beast boost + blocking prio can lead to a sweep. Ferrothorn is important here because it just checks a ton of stuff like gyarados and ash greninja similarly to fini, but it can also help take on stuff like metagross with chople berry + your own gross, and alakazam by absorbing focus blast with ease. Ferrothorn can even nab a surprise kill on pheromosa even if it uses a z-fighting move. Ferrothorn doesn't really offer a ton of momentum but it still provides spikes, which can be an invaluable hazard when breaking or trying to set up for a sweep. Ferrothorn is just a tank in general, and can also help you take on double dance lando if hp ice + bp won't be enough to finish it off. While being really nice defensively, Ferrothorn still leaves you heavily reliant on dragalge to take on threats like volcarona and heatran, so a mixed defensive rotom-wash can still check greninja and non-mega gyarados + other similar stuff ferro can take on, albeit not with as much defensive sturdiness, but it offers more momentum and also a secondary answer to fires and stuff like mega scizor.

I hope those suggestions work out for you without changing the team too much, and I really commend you for thinking outside the box with that lele set. Good luck with the team! n_n

 

[Dazzling Gleamstar]

Hey man this is an interesting concept you have here, and I really like how lele can make good use of the z-crystal for just a super strong attack to facilitate breaking if z-skill swap isn't gonna come into play, making this "gimmick" set not so bad. Now you said you really want to keep dragalge, so that's fine, we'll keep it. In that situation, I think you should try to tailor it to do some important things for you. A simple EV spread adjustment to 248 HP / 216 SpA / 44 SpD will supplement your bulk enough to switch into specs regular ninja dark pulse and avoid the 2hko almost always after rocks, and also almost always avoid the ko from +1 Ice Beam from mosa after rocks and black sludge recovery (and of course, you will tank a protean greninja ice beam in a 1v1 situation). You'll also have a better shot at taking two +1 hp ice's from volc if you haven't taken prior damage. Still, I think its worth exploring even bulkier variants of dragalge, possibly with something cute like a yache berry if that ends up helping out a lot. This is just a slight change that might prove dragalge to be a tiny bit more useful.

Now consistent with your threatlist, strong pysychics like meta and zam can be massive threats to you, especially cuz of your own terrain and dragalge. In general however your team is just extremely slow and doesn't really have the ability to revenge kill boosting sweepers just by outrunning them and taking them out, which is important for an offensive team. With this in mind, my solution would be to add Scarf Pheromosa and Chople Ferrothorn, in place of Tapu Fini and AV Torn.

I think tapu fini is dragging your team down. You don't need defog for anything (also you may disagree but I think it really is not the best defogger in the tier, it easily gets pressured and worn down), and fini is a huge momentum sap. There might also be a bit of disagreement with the terrains you have up since really everything except dragalge and fini itself wants psychic terrain to be up. You already have dragalge absorbing tspikes so that lele + meta can break non-stall toxapex teams better, so you're only really weak to spikes, and tapu fini loses to one of the most common ones, ferrothorn. Especially since you have dragalge and currently av torn, there's absolutely no need for fini. Torn also seems the most replaceable after that, Meta + Lando have a very good purpose on the team and are stellar mons as it is. Ferrothorn (or possibly Rotom-W) can do the things you want from fini better, and Mosa just provides some necessary revenge killing in a manner that synergizes well with your team.

The purpose of Pheromosa here is to provide a very fast revenger that's also a solid wincon on its own, that specifically covers some of the typings you struggle with as well (threatens psychic and dark types). With Tapu Lele support as well you have the conditions to really protect Pheromosa in the lategame, potentially making a situation where beast boost + blocking prio can lead to a sweep. Ferrothorn is important here because it just checks a ton of stuff like gyarados and ash greninja similarly to fini, but it can also help take on stuff like metagross with chople berry + your own gross, and alakazam by absorbing focus blast with ease. Ferrothorn can even nab a surprise kill on pheromosa even if it uses a z-fighting move. Ferrothorn doesn't really offer a ton of momentum but it still provides spikes, which can be an invaluable hazard when breaking or trying to set up for a sweep. Ferrothorn is just a tank in general, and can also help you take on double dance lando if hp ice + bp won't be enough to finish it off. While being really nice defensively, Ferrothorn still leaves you heavily reliant on dragalge to take on threats like volcarona and heatran, so a mixed defensive rotom-wash can still check greninja and non-mega gyarados + other similar stuff ferro can take on, albeit not with as much defensive sturdiness, but it offers more momentum and also a secondary answer to fires and stuff like mega scizor.

I hope those suggestions work out for you without changing the team too much, and I really commend you for thinking outside the box with that lele set. Good luck with the team! n_n

Hey! Thanks so much for the reply, I didn't think somebody of your caliber would spend his time giving advice to a post like mine. I've tried a bunch of games today with scarf mosa and chople ferro. I like the changes, but I've been having several issues with certain pokemon (although that might just be my inexperience with offence). For example, in the past i had trouble versus celesteela, but my counterplay was knocking it off with torn and heat waving it, or getting Fini in on a move that wasn't leech seed and then taunting it. In the games I've had today where I faced celesteela, I couldn't find a way to stop it. I've also been struggling versus more bulky setups without the use of taunt, and of coarse I'm always scared to switch into pheramosa, Sableye, protean ninja (although i always was). I'm wondering if I just need more practice with the team, or if there are further changes I can make. Thanks again for the help, scarf mosa has been patching up my lackluster speed control and makes fast sweepers much more manageable.