Turn 4 Turns - an OU Volt-Turn team

[phil]

Hello, iHop here, lurk all the time, never post because i'm awful at arguing.

The idea of this team is so use the free turns gained by a threatening Landorus-T/Thundurus Volt-Turn core to set up hazards, control my opponent's hazards or set up sweeps.

I don't have a particularly impressive ladder peak or anything because I can barely ladder anymore due to my internet being atrocious, but I did test it on an alt and went 28-4, peaking at 1575 Elo which I suppose is ok. I also won the OU room's weekly tournament with this team (although how much of it was due to luck and good matchups I'm not sure)

So, on to the team (ignore the nicknames, I just got bored and decided to nickname them)

Lakitu (Thundurus) (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 SAtk / 4 HP
Timid Nature
- Taunt
- Volt Switch
- Thunder Wave
- Hidden Power [Ice]

I've found Thundurus-I to be one of the most excellent, threatening mons this generation. It has respectable special attack, meaning it forces out a lot of mons (Mega-Pinsir in particular), which allows me to Volt Switch out. Having the 2nd fastest Taunt in the game means I can use it as a nice anti-lead as I can taunt setup leads such as Deo-D and the occasional Smeargle, then Volt Switch out on the switch. Thunder Wave is if I let my opponent set up a scary sweeper, in which case I can sack Thundurus in order to get it paralysed and no longer much of a threat, or to cripple stuff on switchin (although I'll normally be Volt Switching). HP Ice is because most of the ground types that switch in in order to be immune to Volt Switch and 4x weak to ice, for example Gliscor, Landorus-T and Garchomp. I also allows me to check a rampaging Mega-Chomp.

Easy, tiger! (Landorus-Therian) (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 76 Atk / 252 HP / 180 Def
Impish Nature
- Earthquake
- Stealth Rock
- U-turn
- Stone Edge

Landorus-T is the other half of my Volt-Turn core and is equally threatening. Extremely strong STAB Earthquake forces out all sorts of stuff (Heatran in particular) and allows me to either get a U-Turn off to retain momentum (I often go from Thundurus into Lando-T and back again), or to set up Stealth Rocks. The excellent survivability of it due to its physical bulk with Intimidate and Leftovers racking up recovery means I can set up rocks multiple times in a game and often outlast a Defogger/Spinner. Stone Edge is simply for coverage, mainly for Talonflame.

Cactusville (Ferrothorn) @ Leftovers
Ability: Iron Barbs
EVs: 252 Def / 252 HP / 4 Atk
Impish Nature
- Leech Seed
- Spikes
- Thunder Wave
- Power Whip

Ferro is probably my favourite team member. The ability to wall a huge part of the metagame as well as take advantage of a lot of common walls to get Leech seed recovery which I can often pass on to my mons that can't recover their own HP, as well as being able to set up Spikes in the multitude of free turns that Ferro creates, which puts pressure on the opponent to defog (this allows me to get a free switch into Thundurus which is good vs. a lot of common Defoggers, and could also lead to the opponent removing the rocks on my side of the field). Thunder Wave is to cripple stuff switching in and Power Whip is simply so I'm not Taunt bait, as well as being able to hit stuff such as Azumarill, Mamoswine and Mega-Gyarados supereffectively.

Lighters (Charizard) @ Charizardite X
Ability: Blaze
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 Atk / 4 HP
Adamant Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Flare Blitz
- Dragon Claw
- Earthquake

Charizard is the sweeper of the team - if I can get a DD off on unprepared or weakened teams I can easily go on to sweep. This also allows me to steal games that I would otherwise lose because I would focus on crippling the Charizard check if I found myself in a losing position. The set is pretty standard, Flare Blitz and Dragon Claw as its main STABs (Fire Punch is horrendously weak), and EQ as coverage to hit stuff like Heatran. Stealth Rock weakness sucks but the combination of having a spinner and a spiker than forces opponents to Defog means this is less on an issue.

Bubblegum (Sylveon) @ Leftovers
Ability: Pixilate
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 SDef / 252 HP / 4 SAtk
Calm Nature
IVs: null Atk
- Hyper Voice
- Wish
- Protect
- Heal Bell

Sylveon's role is pure support, and is IMO the best cleric this gen. It can pass 197 HP wishes as well as heal itself with easy, cure my mons of status which is nice with the large amount of Rotom-W and TWave Thundurus around. Hyper Voice hits surprisingly hard off its 110 base SpA and the Pixilate boost, and means it's not an absolute liability and can actually be used to offensively check some stuff (Conkeldurr in particular, as well as being able to hit Kyurem-B through its sub).

On a plate (Tentacruel) @ Assault Vest
Ability: Liquid Ooze
EVs: 252 HP / 16 Spd / 240 SDef
Calm Nature
- Scald
- Giga Drain
- Knock Off
- Rapid Spin

Tentacruel in my opinion is perfect for the Assault Vest, especially if you run Wish and Leech Seed support to get its HP back. It gets a whole load of offensive moves that are basically support moves, such as Rapid Spin (the real reason I run it), Knock Off and Scald for its generous burn chance to make opponents think twice about switching into a physical mon. With AV it's Special defense hits almost 550, making more or less all special hits irrelevant (Volt Switch off Rotom-W is a 4HKO) and allowing me to easily bring it in against a lot of common special sweepers (as well as Chansey as it is immune to Toxic and forces it out due to the fear of Knock Off). Giga Drain is simply to recover a bit of HP is possible and hit stuff like Gastrodon and Azumarill.

Threat List

Mamoswine is probably the biggest threat to the team since the only thing that can wall it is Ferro. If I see Mamo on team preview I have to lead with Ferro as most Mamoswines are SR leads, but at any rate it can get SR up without me having much of a response.
Kyurem-B is not really a threat as suck but I rely heavily on Sylveon having full HP and not getting haxed (Ice Beam on Sylveon has a 50% chance of freeze), otherwise I more or less lose to it (assuming it has sub of course which they all should).
Mega-Venusaur is a threat as long as it carries HP Fire because otherwise I can wall it to kingdom come with Ferro and paralyse it and get up Spikes. Otherwise I need to wear it down which, with U-Turn and Volt Switch allowing me to get free switches into Charizard which does threaten Venu to an extent, as well as SR/Spikes damage.
I may have missed out some threats but they're the main ones than sprung to mind.

Importable

Lakitu (Thundurus) (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 SAtk / 4 HP
Timid Nature
- Taunt
- Volt Switch
- Thunder Wave
- Hidden Power [Ice]

Easy, tiger! (Landorus-Therian) (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 76 Atk / 252 HP / 180 Def
Impish Nature
- Earthquake
- Stealth Rock
- U-turn
- Stone Edge

Lighters (Charizard) @ Charizardite X
Ability: Blaze
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 Atk / 4 HP
Adamant Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Flare Blitz
- Dragon Claw
- Earthquake

Bubblegum (Sylveon) @ Leftovers
Ability: Pixilate
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 SDef / 252 HP / 4 SAtk
Calm Nature
IVs: null Atk
- Hyper Voice
- Wish
- Protect
- Heal Bell

Cactusville (Ferrothorn) @ Leftovers
Ability: Iron Barbs
EVs: 252 Def / 252 HP / 4 Atk
Impish Nature
- Leech Seed
- Spikes
- Thunder Wave
- Power Whip

On a plate (Tentacruel) @ Assault Vest
Ability: Liquid Ooze
EVs: 252 HP / 16 Spd / 240 SDef
Calm Nature
- Scald
- Giga Drain
- Knock Off
- Rapid Spin

By all means steal but if you used it and enjoyed it it'd be nice if you were to drop me a PM saying you used it and did/didn't enjoy it. You'll find me in lobby and OU room, I'm a voice so I shouldn't be hard to miss.

Thanks for reading, the main thing I really need help with is EV spreads because I'm crap at remembering what EV spread lets stuff do what.

 

[Redevil360]

I think you need to change the hp number on 'zard to let him switch twice on stealth rocks - make it an odd amount. I think just putting the 4 hp evs into spdef will work. Hope I helped :)

 

[phil]

I think you need to change the hp number on 'zard to let him switch twice on stealth rocks - make it an odd amount. I think just putting the 4 hp evs into spdef will work. Hope I helped :)

This seems good but I put them in Defense instead to help against Bisharp's sucker punch and some other stuff. Thanks for the help!

 

[jpw234]

Hey iHop, awesome team you have. I really like the AV Tentacruel idea (probably stealing that lol). My only suggestion might be Gyro Ball > Power Whip on Ferro. I suppose it depends on what you see more often but it seems like Thundy should take care of those bulky waters, and Gyro Ball gives you an option to hurt quick stuff like opposing Thundy, Lati@s, etc.

 

[Redevil360]

This isn't exactly advice, but I wanted you show you this, iHOP.
[url]http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/ou-90474892 [/URL]
I basically copied the team, and I went on a match and battles some guy who also copied the team XD
(ps. I think you're right when you said ''Charizard is the sweeper of the team - if I can get a DD off on unprepared or weakened teams I can easily go on to sweep.'' As you can see from this battle. :)
But honestly I see no other problems with your team- the only issue I encountered was missing leech seed every goddamn time (it's as if it is 70% accurate) :/
Also, i changed the evs a bit on tentacruel to make it more physically bulky, since you have dedicated physical and special walls.
But other than that, it is a very enjoyable and good team!

 

[phil]

Hey iHop, awesome team you have. I really like the AV Tentacruel idea (probably stealing that lol). My only suggestion might be Gyro Ball > Power Whip on Ferro. I suppose it depends on what you see more often but it seems like Thundy should take care of those bulky waters, and Gyro Ball gives you an option to hurt quick stuff like opposing Thundy, Lati@s, etc.

Thanks for the rate :)

I see why you'd run Gyro Ball but honestly I have never been a big fan of it and it conflicts somewhat with Thunder Wave seeing as Lati@s are like the number 1 things that I want to be paralysing. The only thing where I really see Gyro Ball being more useful than Power Whip is on sub Kyu-B but I have Sylveon for that.

This isn't exactly advice, but I wanted you show you this, iHOP.
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/ou-90474892
I basically copied the team, and I went on a match and battles some guy who also copied the team XD
(ps. I think you're right when you said ''Charizard is the sweeper of the team - if I can get a DD off on unprepared or weakened teams I can easily go on to sweep.'' As you can see from this battle. :)
But honestly I see no other problems with your team- the only issue I encountered was missing leech seed every goddamn time (it's as if it is 70% accurate) :/
Also, i changed the evs a bit on tentacruel to make it more physically bulky, since you have dedicated physical and special walls.
But other than that, it is a very enjoyable and good team!

Thanks for the rate! :)

Flattered to see 2 people using the team on the ladder at the same time. I might consider making Tenta a little more physically bulky, what EVs did you change it to?

 

[BenTheDemon]

Replace Sylveon with Standard Clefable. It serves the same purpose and does the job better.
Sylveon is really underwhelming, and Clefable is absolutely annoying.

 

[phil]

Replace Sylveon with Standard Clefable. It serves the same purpose and does the job better.
Sylveon is really underwhelming, and Clefable is absolutely annoying.

This is probably a preference thing but I prefer having substantially more special bulk, higher Sp.Atk, a stronger STAB move and the ability to hit Kyu-B through its sub to a little bit more physical bulk and immunity to hazards.

 

[Nog]

What's going on iHop? Love the fact that you are using Mega Charizard-X over Y, just a personal preference of mine that I'm glad you share. As far as the team goes you have a pretty large problem with Mamoswine. He breaks your Volt Turn combo and has the potential to beat all of your other Pokemon. Try running Choice Banded Scizor over Ferrothorn for another partner in the Volt Turn combo and a reliable counter to Mamoswine. You Scizor can OHKO Mamoswine with Superpower any day as well OHKO him with Bullet Punch after rocks damage all the while taking almost no damage in return. The EV's are standard and fairly straight forward so no need to explain them.

Tentacruel rocking an Assault Vest is pretty weird and definitely uncommon simply because it puts Black Sludge to better usage. I recommend swapping out Assault Vest for Black Sludge and changing Giga Drain to Toxic. Toxic is to hit things on the switch in and whittle them down so it is easier for your Zard-X to make a clean sweep with no resistance. Because you now have a Scizor (assuming you make the changes I suggested) you have two special walls and no physical wall. Try and swap out the EV's on Tentacruel to 252 HP / 240 Def / 16 Speed in order to better make use of him and once again give you something more to combat Mamoswine among other physical threats.

Lastly when using a Stealth Rock weak Pokemon or a Volt Switch/U-turner you want to take less damage when switching in, which you do often. How you lessen the damage is making sure all of these Pokemon have an odd number of HP. Your Landorus, Thundurus, and Charizard all had even numbers of HP meaning they would take 12%, 25%, and 50% respectively. I suggest you give the EV's that are in their HP to a defense of some sort. Which one makes no difference, but it does help you when staying alive. With an odd number in HP you now take 11%, 24%, and 49% respectively and thus can swap in one extra time without dying. Good luck with the team and don't be afraid to ask me for more help n_n.

Scizor Set

Scizor @ Choice Band
Ability: Technician
EVs: 252 Atk / 248 HP / 8 SDef
Adamant Nature
- Bullet Punch
- Pursuit
- Superpower
- U-turn

 

[phil]

What's going on iHop? Love the fact that you are using Mega Charizard-X over Y, just a personal preference of mine that I'm glad you share. As far as the team goes you have a pretty large problem with Mamoswine. He breaks your Volt Turn combo and has the potential to beat all of your other Pokemon. Try running Choice Banded Scizor over Ferrothorn for another partner in the Volt Turn combo and a reliable counter to Mamoswine. You Scizor can OHKO Mamoswine with Superpower any day as well OHKO him with Bullet Punch after rocks damage all the while taking almost no damage in return. The EV's are standard and fairly straight forward so no need to explain them.

Tentacruel rocking an Assault Vest is pretty weird and definitely uncommon simply because it puts Black Sludge to better usage. I recommend swapping out Assault Vest for Black Sludge and changing Giga Drain to Toxic. Toxic is to hit things on the switch in and whittle them down so it is easier for your Zard-X to make a clean sweep with no resistance. Because you now have a Scizor (assuming you make the changes I suggested) you have two special walls and no physical wall. Try and swap out the EV's on Tentacruel to 252 HP / 240 Def / 16 Speed in order to better make use of him and once again give you something more to combat Mamoswine among other physical threats.

Lastly when using a Stealth Rock weak Pokemon or a Volt Switch/U-turner you want to take less damage when switching in, which you do often. How you lessen the damage is making sure all of these Pokemon have an odd number of HP. Your Landorus, Thundurus, and Charizard all had even numbers of HP meaning they would take 12%, 25%, and 50% respectively. I suggest you give the EV's that are in their HP to a defense of some sort. Which one makes no difference, but it does help you when staying alive. With an odd number in HP you now take 11%, 24%, and 49% respectively and thus can swap in one extra time without dying. Good luck with the team and don't be afraid to ask me for more help n_n.

Scizor Set

Scizor @ Choice Band
Ability: Technician
EVs: 252 Atk / 248 HP / 8 SDef
Adamant Nature
- Bullet Punch
- Pursuit
- Superpower
- U-turn

Thanks for the rate Nog! :)

I'm really unwilling to get rid of Ferro since he's such a clutch member of the team and is able to easily wall so much stuff. The ability to set up Spikes to pressure opponents into Defogging away rocks on my field is really good. I like CB scizor and I'd love to be able to fit it on but I couldn't let go of Ferro.

I'll definitely give the regular Tenta set a try to see how it compares with AV, having Toxic support does seem nice I admit. I'll also test defense EVs.

I'll see what I can do to make the HP stats odd, stuff like that doesn't realise cross my mind when teambuilding (I'm still p. inexperienced). Also, would you have any idea how to minimise the ATK IVs on Thundurus while keeping its other IVs as high as possible and still keep HP Ice?

 

[Nog]

Thanks for the rate Nog! :)

I'm really unwilling to get rid of Ferro since he's such a clutch member of the team and is able to easily wall so much stuff. The ability to set up Spikes to pressure opponents into Defogging away rocks on my field is really good. I like CB scizor and I'd love to be able to fit it on but I couldn't let go of Ferro.

I'll definitely give the regular Tenta set a try to see how it compares with AV, having Toxic support does seem nice I admit. I'll also test defense EVs.

I'll see what I can do to make the HP stats odd, stuff like that doesn't realise cross my mind when teambuilding (I'm still p. inexperienced). Also, would you have any idea how to minimise the ATK IVs on Thundurus while keeping its other IVs as high as possible and still keep HP Ice?

I'm pretty sure a certain combination of IV's gives you a certain Hidden Power type so changing any of his IV's would mean changing his HP typing. Not too sure though and that would definitely be something to find out.

 

[Star]

Hey iSuck. Two suggestions cuz I don't have much time. First off I would suggest trying Knock Off over Stone Edge on the Landorus-T set. Knock Off just has fantastic utility and rocks do a number on Talonflame anyway so it really shouldn't be a problem. Char-Y OHKOs you before you can hit it with Stone Edge anyway. The other suggestion is go Jolly on Char-X because the speed is really crucial because you don't want to be outsped by all the scarf dragons lurking in the 90s speed tiers. Other than that pretty good team.

 

[Nog]

Hey iSuck. Two suggestions cuz I don't have much time. First off I would suggest trying Knock Off over Stone Edge on the Landorus-T set. Knock Off just has fantastic utility and rocks do a number on Talonflame anyway so it really shouldn't be a problem. Char-Y OHKOs you before you can hit it with Stone Edge anyway. The other suggestion is go Jolly on Char-X because the speed is really crucial because you don't want to be outsped by all the scarf dragons lurking in the 90s speed tiers. Other than that pretty good team.

Granted I'm not the greatest at math, but a base 90 with max speed and a neutral nature hits 418.5 with a scarf while jolly max speed Mega Charizard-X hits 328. He isn't anyway near out speeding them. Jolly out speeds things like Garchomp, Hydreigon, Kyurem-Black, and Haxorus bar a Choice Scarf and KO's with a dragon STAB and Adamant just gives you extra power to take down things that you wouldn't with the boosted speed. Off the top of my head I don't know what KO's you miss out on if any, but Adamant is generally preferred for the power creep that it gives you.

 

[Star]

Granted I'm not the greatest at math, but a base 90 with max speed and a neutral nature hits 418.5 with a scarf while jolly max speed Mega Charizard-X hits 328. He isn't anyway near out speeding them. Jolly out speeds things like Garchomp, Hydreigon, Kyurem-Black, and Haxorus bar a Choice Scarf and KO's with a dragon STAB and Adamant just gives you extra power to take down things that you wouldn't with the boosted speed. Off the top of my head I don't know what KO's you miss out on if any, but Adamant is generally preferred for the power creep that it gives you.

What I meant was high base 90 scarf dragons with a jolly nature such as Kyurem-B, Haxorus and Hydreigon will all outspeed Adamant +1 char-x

 

[Liquidocelot]

Well i consider myself somewhat of a volt turn enthusiast and with saying this i would strongly reccomend putting in a mienshao or torn-T somewhere.

 

[phil]

What I meant was high base 90 scarf dragons with a jolly nature such as Kyurem-B, Haxorus and Hydreigon will all outspeed Adamant +1 char-x

I'd want a more convincing argument than 3 uncommon sets on (apart from Kyu-B) uncommon mons to make Charizard take such a drop in power.

 

[Nog]

Well i consider myself somewhat of a volt turn enthusiast and with saying this i would strongly reccomend putting in a mienshao or torn-T somewhere also I see you lack a mega and in doing so i reccomend the best volt switcher in the tier over thundy and that is mega manectric who with lando forms a amazing volt turn core with intimidate.

How does he lack a mega with a big Mega Charizard-X sitting on your screen? O.o