Hello. I have been reading threads on smogon forums for some time already but I have never posted anything here, and yet here is my first RMT. With about 1500ELO after 150 games I am really a weak player... So I am hoping to get some useful comments to have some improvement :)
After some time playing the brand new XY OU metagame, I have observed that priority has become a must-have feature for most of the teams due to new threats such as fast MEvo pokes, Prankster users and pokes with higher base speed (like Greninja and previously-banned Garchomp). Seeing this, I made use of a lot of priority moves in the team (3 + Talonflame's BB) to counter the aforementioned threats.
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Building Process
With the word 'priority' in mind, I quickly chose Azumarill and Aegislash to be the first 2 pokes on my team. They both possess the ability to start a sweep individually yet their typings match, with Azumarill and Aegislash both covering 2 of one another's weaknesses, and only Electric, Ground and Ghost type moves manage to hit both PMs without being resisted.
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Thinking of improving the chance for Azumarill to start a sweep, I decided to provide some extra support for it, and the first thing that comes to my mind is that the mediocre speed of Azu may make it hard for Azu to face dragons 1v1 as they are faster and resists STAB Aqua Jet. Therefore, I added Scolipede into the team. Scolipede is suitable for multiple reasons: its fire weakness can be manipulated in the pass to Azu; it can simultaneously pass Swords Dance to Azu; and wears down threats like Rotom-W and Venusaur with STAB Megahorn.
-
With 3 offensive pokes on duty, this is the time where the choice need to be made: should this team be hyperoffensive or balanced? Without doubt I put my attention on THE Banded Talonflame which is so useful as a wallbreaker whose BB can rip away 30%+ from popular defensive walls like Gliscor and Mandibuzz, and even from pokes like Rotom-W which resist its moves. AND in addition to this it has +1 priority over 126 base speed(off topic but to be honest I think this thing is more unhealthy to the metagame than 'suspects' Genesect and Deoxys-S). However, a big problem of it is that it is seriously weak to SR, which is still a prominent feature in the current metagame. Although I plan to use Talonflame as the favoured lead, there is still need to find ways to get rid of hazards. Among the choices of Defog, Rapid Spin, Taunt and Magic Bounce, I personally prefer the last one since it does not waste a turn like the others do and can bounce off status to cripple the opponent too, which is a big advantage for an offensive team like mine. With the Ghost-weakness in mind, I tried out Mega Absol - another priority user - to do the job.
-
To improve the electric resist, I turned to Thundurus-T due to Volt Absorb making it immune to Electric moves. It can also benefit from the speed boost from Scolipede to start a sweep, and counters Gliscor much better due to its Ground immunity (the team previously have to rely on Talonflame BB to wear down Gliscor). However, it still doesn't solve the vulnerability to Rotom-W of the team, whose Will-O-Wisp could cause big problems when Absol is down or damaged.
-
However, after a certain period of battling, I found that Scolipede doesn't really benefit the team very much. It's weaknesses became a burden to the team's defence and with a priority-based team, other teammates don't really need those speed boosts. Also, considering my team is weak to pokemon like Mega Charizard Y, Talonflame, Gyarados and Mandibuzz, I decided to substitute Scolipede with Rotom-W. Celebi, meanwhile, effectively counters 2 major threats to the team - Gliscor(who rarely use Flying-type moves nowadays) and Rotom-W.
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Thanks to Dirty Bum's helpful advice, I found that Mamoswine is the check/counter for nearly all of my team's top threats and has Stealth Rock which makes it the perfect substitute for Celebi. With it I also regain my Electric immunity which is important due to the lack of electric resistance in my team.
After removing Celebi from my team, the problem of weakness against Rotom-W appeared again, since Mamoswine isn't really a good lure to it. Therefore, I decided to change my Rotom-W to Rotom-C who, while still having a Water resist and Ground immunity, also brings the benefit of increased Electric resistance and complete shut up Rotom-W with ChestoRest.
----
The Team
Talonflame @ Choice Band
Ability: Gale Wings
EVs: 88 HP / 252 Atk / 168 Spd
Jolly Nature
Brave Bird / Flare Blitz / U-turn / Steel Wing
Mostly I just use the first move on its moveset, Banded BB is simply too powerful. Steel Wing is in the fourth slot because sometimes I switch in Talonflame to take a hit from Fairy-types and Steel Wing allows me to hit them without recoil. It is also useful against Rock types like Tyranitar who usually come in on Talonflame. Usually, I use Talonflame as the lead as long as I see no SR users or Smeargle on the opposing team during Team Preview, because then I would need Absol to come in first to Mega Evolve and activate Magic Bounce. The speed EVs are to outspeed Timid Starmie.
Absol @ Absolite
Ability: Justified
EVs: 196 Atk / 80 SAtk / 232 Spd
Naive Nature
Sucker Punch / Play Rough / Swords Dance / Fire Blast
Mega-Absol is one seriously underused MEvo poke for now. With 150/115/115 offenses and a STAB that nothing is immune to, Absol can be a useful wallbreaker. Its STAB Sucker Punch off 418Atk has rescued me out of a sweep for countless times and it has the most powerful Sucker Punch in the whole metagame (yes, it does). Play Rough is there as a good coverage moves against Dark, Fighting and Dragon types which resist the other moves, and Fire Blast is to help Absol achieve its mission of stopping the like of Forretress, Skarmory, Ferrothorn to exist and place hazards all over my side. The combination of Swords Dance and Sucker Punch is fantastic since Magic Bounce prevents the use of status moves which makes Sucker Punch useless, and if they switch out then it is the perfect chance for Absol to set up SD.
Some notes about the EV spread: 80SpA allows me to OHKO 252/0 Ferrothorn, and 232+Spd lets me outspeed Jolly Scolipede which can either use Substitute on me or set up as I fail to hit it with Sucker Punch.
Azumarill @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Huge Power
EVs: 240 HP / 252 Atk / 16 Spd
Adamant Nature
Belly Drum / Aqua Jet / Play Rough / Encore
With a new typing, Aqua Jet+Belly Drum combination made legal and a new 90BP STAB, Azumarill has found itself becoming one of the most prominent forces in XY OU. 100/80/80 defences allow it to tank a hit and use Belly Drum, which allows it to almost punch through anything with STAB Aqua Jet off 1744 Atk. While there is no doubt for the first 3 moves in the set, Encore is an extremely useful move for Azumarill. For example, Azu can Encore opponents' Will-O-Wisp and then Belly Drum, which still gives Azu a resultant +2 Atk, allowing it to OHKO back with 90BP STAB Play Rough off 872 Atk (atk drop of burn factored in). Also, Encore helps me beat Aegislash.
Mamoswine @ Leftovers
Ability: Thick Fat
EVs: 200 HP / 252 Atk / 56 Spd
Adamant Nature
Icicle Crash / Earthquake / Stealth Rock / Ice Shard
Mamoswine effectively check/counters the Ground/Flying type pokemons which threaten my team's synergy, namely Gliscor, Landorus and Landorus-T. It also simultaneously put a stop on the like of Zapdos, Thundurus and Thundurus-T whose Electric attacks was a major problem to me. With its Ice STAB, Mamoswine is also provide reliable SR support as it helps me beat Mandibuzz, who arguably is the main defogger for now. Ice Shard is also another brilliant priority move which kills DD Dragon types.
Rotom-C @ Chesto Berry
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SAtk / 4 Def / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
Volt Switch / Leaf Storm / Rest / Will-O-Wisp
Volt Switch makes it another suitable lead for the team, reducing predictability. Will-O-Wisp greatly reduces the pressure on my team's defence, and cripples foes, most notably the annoying-as-hell Mega Venusaur (given it does not have Aromatherapy). Rest+Chesto is great on Rotom-C as continue Volt Switching cause it to take some damage and is a good way of getting past opponent Rotom-W's Will-O-Wisps as well. Rotom-C's acceptable speed and good resistances allow it to pull off a Rest in front of opponents, and with my EV spread opponents are easily confused with my item which allows me to bluff a Scarf.
Aegislash @ Leftovers
Ability: Stance Change
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Def
Brave Nature
IVs: 0 Spd
Swords Dance / King's Shield / Shadow Sneak / Sacred Sword
Personally I think this is the best pokemon in XY. With offensive and defensive abilities being the same as good, it even has a priority to play with and a wonderful move King's Shield to use with its ability. With it I have no fear over things like Lati@s, Scizor and Alakazam. It is good that it can take an Earthquake from 252+ Excadrill and OHKO back with Sacred Sword. Against Knock Offs I King's Shield then switch to Azu / Absol. Against dragons it depends. Even 252 Garchomp's Earthquake couldn't OHKO so if I must I can Swords Dance in the turn it EQs and Shadow Sneak to at least do some damage (then I leave it to other priority users to finish it, most probably Absol).
----
Threats
Mega Venusaur
Without Talonflame, I am done. I can predict a switch in and let Rotom-W use Will-O-Wisp to burn it, but there is nothing more I can do. Outside Talonflame's attacks, the one who hit it the hardest is Mamoswine's Earthquake, which isn't even near a 2HKO against 252/0 MVenu.
Kyurem-B with Substitute
Fusion Bolt may OHKO Azumarill. If it does not have Sub, Aegislash beats it.
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Thank you for reading this and I would appreciate your comments~
After some time playing the brand new XY OU metagame, I have observed that priority has become a must-have feature for most of the teams due to new threats such as fast MEvo pokes, Prankster users and pokes with higher base speed (like Greninja and previously-banned Garchomp). Seeing this, I made use of a lot of priority moves in the team (3 + Talonflame's BB) to counter the aforementioned threats.
----
Building Process
With the word 'priority' in mind, I quickly chose Azumarill and Aegislash to be the first 2 pokes on my team. They both possess the ability to start a sweep individually yet their typings match, with Azumarill and Aegislash both covering 2 of one another's weaknesses, and only Electric, Ground and Ghost type moves manage to hit both PMs without being resisted.
-
Thinking of improving the chance for Azumarill to start a sweep, I decided to provide some extra support for it, and the first thing that comes to my mind is that the mediocre speed of Azu may make it hard for Azu to face dragons 1v1 as they are faster and resists STAB Aqua Jet. Therefore, I added Scolipede into the team. Scolipede is suitable for multiple reasons: its fire weakness can be manipulated in the pass to Azu; it can simultaneously pass Swords Dance to Azu; and wears down threats like Rotom-W and Venusaur with STAB Megahorn.
-
With 3 offensive pokes on duty, this is the time where the choice need to be made: should this team be hyperoffensive or balanced? Without doubt I put my attention on THE Banded Talonflame which is so useful as a wallbreaker whose BB can rip away 30%+ from popular defensive walls like Gliscor and Mandibuzz, and even from pokes like Rotom-W which resist its moves. AND in addition to this it has +1 priority over 126 base speed(off topic but to be honest I think this thing is more unhealthy to the metagame than 'suspects' Genesect and Deoxys-S). However, a big problem of it is that it is seriously weak to SR, which is still a prominent feature in the current metagame. Although I plan to use Talonflame as the favoured lead, there is still need to find ways to get rid of hazards. Among the choices of Defog, Rapid Spin, Taunt and Magic Bounce, I personally prefer the last one since it does not waste a turn like the others do and can bounce off status to cripple the opponent too, which is a big advantage for an offensive team like mine. With the Ghost-weakness in mind, I tried out Mega Absol - another priority user - to do the job.
-
To improve the electric resist, I turned to Thundurus-T due to Volt Absorb making it immune to Electric moves. It can also benefit from the speed boost from Scolipede to start a sweep, and counters Gliscor much better due to its Ground immunity (the team previously have to rely on Talonflame BB to wear down Gliscor). However, it still doesn't solve the vulnerability to Rotom-W of the team, whose Will-O-Wisp could cause big problems when Absol is down or damaged.
-
However, after a certain period of battling, I found that Scolipede doesn't really benefit the team very much. It's weaknesses became a burden to the team's defence and with a priority-based team, other teammates don't really need those speed boosts. Also, considering my team is weak to pokemon like Mega Charizard Y, Talonflame, Gyarados and Mandibuzz, I decided to substitute Scolipede with Rotom-W. Celebi, meanwhile, effectively counters 2 major threats to the team - Gliscor(who rarely use Flying-type moves nowadays) and Rotom-W.
-
Thanks to Dirty Bum's helpful advice, I found that Mamoswine is the check/counter for nearly all of my team's top threats and has Stealth Rock which makes it the perfect substitute for Celebi. With it I also regain my Electric immunity which is important due to the lack of electric resistance in my team.
After removing Celebi from my team, the problem of weakness against Rotom-W appeared again, since Mamoswine isn't really a good lure to it. Therefore, I decided to change my Rotom-W to Rotom-C who, while still having a Water resist and Ground immunity, also brings the benefit of increased Electric resistance and complete shut up Rotom-W with ChestoRest.
----
The Team
Talonflame @ Choice Band
Ability: Gale Wings
EVs: 88 HP / 252 Atk / 168 Spd
Jolly Nature
Brave Bird / Flare Blitz / U-turn / Steel Wing
Mostly I just use the first move on its moveset, Banded BB is simply too powerful. Steel Wing is in the fourth slot because sometimes I switch in Talonflame to take a hit from Fairy-types and Steel Wing allows me to hit them without recoil. It is also useful against Rock types like Tyranitar who usually come in on Talonflame. Usually, I use Talonflame as the lead as long as I see no SR users or Smeargle on the opposing team during Team Preview, because then I would need Absol to come in first to Mega Evolve and activate Magic Bounce. The speed EVs are to outspeed Timid Starmie.
Absol @ Absolite
Ability: Justified
EVs: 196 Atk / 80 SAtk / 232 Spd
Naive Nature
Sucker Punch / Play Rough / Swords Dance / Fire Blast
Mega-Absol is one seriously underused MEvo poke for now. With 150/115/115 offenses and a STAB that nothing is immune to, Absol can be a useful wallbreaker. Its STAB Sucker Punch off 418Atk has rescued me out of a sweep for countless times and it has the most powerful Sucker Punch in the whole metagame (yes, it does). Play Rough is there as a good coverage moves against Dark, Fighting and Dragon types which resist the other moves, and Fire Blast is to help Absol achieve its mission of stopping the like of Forretress, Skarmory, Ferrothorn to exist and place hazards all over my side. The combination of Swords Dance and Sucker Punch is fantastic since Magic Bounce prevents the use of status moves which makes Sucker Punch useless, and if they switch out then it is the perfect chance for Absol to set up SD.
Some notes about the EV spread: 80SpA allows me to OHKO 252/0 Ferrothorn, and 232+Spd lets me outspeed Jolly Scolipede which can either use Substitute on me or set up as I fail to hit it with Sucker Punch.
Azumarill @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Huge Power
EVs: 240 HP / 252 Atk / 16 Spd
Adamant Nature
Belly Drum / Aqua Jet / Play Rough / Encore
With a new typing, Aqua Jet+Belly Drum combination made legal and a new 90BP STAB, Azumarill has found itself becoming one of the most prominent forces in XY OU. 100/80/80 defences allow it to tank a hit and use Belly Drum, which allows it to almost punch through anything with STAB Aqua Jet off 1744 Atk. While there is no doubt for the first 3 moves in the set, Encore is an extremely useful move for Azumarill. For example, Azu can Encore opponents' Will-O-Wisp and then Belly Drum, which still gives Azu a resultant +2 Atk, allowing it to OHKO back with 90BP STAB Play Rough off 872 Atk (atk drop of burn factored in). Also, Encore helps me beat Aegislash.
Mamoswine @ Leftovers
Ability: Thick Fat
EVs: 200 HP / 252 Atk / 56 Spd
Adamant Nature
Icicle Crash / Earthquake / Stealth Rock / Ice Shard
Mamoswine effectively check/counters the Ground/Flying type pokemons which threaten my team's synergy, namely Gliscor, Landorus and Landorus-T. It also simultaneously put a stop on the like of Zapdos, Thundurus and Thundurus-T whose Electric attacks was a major problem to me. With its Ice STAB, Mamoswine is also provide reliable SR support as it helps me beat Mandibuzz, who arguably is the main defogger for now. Ice Shard is also another brilliant priority move which kills DD Dragon types.
Rotom-C @ Chesto Berry
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SAtk / 4 Def / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
Volt Switch / Leaf Storm / Rest / Will-O-Wisp
Volt Switch makes it another suitable lead for the team, reducing predictability. Will-O-Wisp greatly reduces the pressure on my team's defence, and cripples foes, most notably the annoying-as-hell Mega Venusaur (given it does not have Aromatherapy). Rest+Chesto is great on Rotom-C as continue Volt Switching cause it to take some damage and is a good way of getting past opponent Rotom-W's Will-O-Wisps as well. Rotom-C's acceptable speed and good resistances allow it to pull off a Rest in front of opponents, and with my EV spread opponents are easily confused with my item which allows me to bluff a Scarf.
Aegislash @ Leftovers
Ability: Stance Change
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Def
Brave Nature
IVs: 0 Spd
Swords Dance / King's Shield / Shadow Sneak / Sacred Sword
Personally I think this is the best pokemon in XY. With offensive and defensive abilities being the same as good, it even has a priority to play with and a wonderful move King's Shield to use with its ability. With it I have no fear over things like Lati@s, Scizor and Alakazam. It is good that it can take an Earthquake from 252+ Excadrill and OHKO back with Sacred Sword. Against Knock Offs I King's Shield then switch to Azu / Absol. Against dragons it depends. Even 252 Garchomp's Earthquake couldn't OHKO so if I must I can Swords Dance in the turn it EQs and Shadow Sneak to at least do some damage (then I leave it to other priority users to finish it, most probably Absol).
----
Threats
Without Talonflame, I am done. I can predict a switch in and let Rotom-W use Will-O-Wisp to burn it, but there is nothing more I can do. Outside Talonflame's attacks, the one who hit it the hardest is Mamoswine's Earthquake, which isn't even near a 2HKO against 252/0 MVenu.
Fusion Bolt may OHKO Azumarill. If it does not have Sub, Aegislash beats it.
----
Thank you for reading this and I would appreciate your comments~
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