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Gengar and Houndoom decimate stall. Gengar can stallbreak against most of the top threats in stall, whilst Mega Houndoom sets up on them. They can hold their own against offense too due to their high speed tiers. They share great defensive typings, with Houndoom absorbing Dark and Psychic type moves aimed at Gengar, whilst Gengar switches in on the ground and fighting type moves aimed at Houndoom. The burns they spread can ease Houndoom in setting up Nasty Plots. They also counter two very notable threats, which are Mega Metagross, and Mega Sableye, which Houndoom sets up on.
This Core should be paired with both Hazard Setting and removal, as well as checks to offence. This core is threatened by Tyranitar and Keldeo, which is why I paired it with Rotom-W, who also helps with burn-spreading.
Houndoom @ Houndoominite
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Nasty Plot
- Fire Blast
- Dark Pulse
- Will-O-Wisp
Gengar @ Black Sludge
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 28 HP / 148 SpA / 80 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Substitute
- Shadow Ball
- Will-O-Wisp
- Taunt
Maybe make Houndoom evs to :40 in HP 8 in Def 208 in SpAtt and 252 in Spe Make Chansey Seimic Toss a 3 Hit KO and Able to live Choicbsnd Talonflame Bravebird
First post in this thread, please don't kill me lol.
Slowbro @ Slowbronite
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SpA
Bold Nature
- Scald
- Fire Blast
- Slack Off
- Calm Mind
Amoonguss @ Assault Vest
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 248 HP / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
- Giga Drain
- Sludge Bomb
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Clear Smog
Balanced core: this two pokèmons cover their weakness each other. Amoonguss can enter on slowbro's counter and wall/kill them, while they give a perfect coverage and different sets (I'm currently running fblast on slowbro, but you can change that move with something else that helps your team better, or use the "normal set" for amoonguss, the changeable sets can help you baitkilling lots of mons. Remember you're not forced to build a stall with this core, for example now I'm using a bulky-off with this two mons). Once amoonguss took down the pokèmons who can stop slowbro's setup just spam calm mind and clean all.
I hope no one posted a core like this :[
First post in this thread, please don't kill me lol.
Slowbro @ Slowbronite
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SpA
Bold Nature
- Scald
- Fire Blast
- Slack Off
- Calm Mind
Amoonguss @ Assault Vest
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 248 HP / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
- Giga Drain
- Sludge Bomb
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Clear Smog
Balanced core: this two pokèmons cover their weakness each other. Amoonguss can enter on slowbro's counter and wall/kill them, while they give a perfect coverage and different sets (I'm currently running fblast on slowbro, but you can change that move with something else that helps your team better, or use the "normal set" for amoonguss, the changeable sets can help you baitkilling lots of mons. Remember you're not forced to build a stall with this core, for example now I'm using a bulky-off with this two mons). Once amoonguss taked down the pokèmon who can stop slowbro's setup just spam calm mind and clean all.
I hope no one posted a core like this :|
AV Amoonguss is a poor set, because with that item you cannot run Spore, the main reason to use Amoonguss. Slowking should be using Psyshock over Fire Blast on Calm Mind sets. Tbh, if you want to pair these two I'd go with regular slowbro to create a regenerator core.
AV Amoonguss is a poor set, because with that item you cannot run Spore, the main reason to use Amoonguss. Slowking should be using Psyshock over Fire Blast on Calm Mind sets. Tbh, if you want to pair these two I'd go with regular slowbro to create a regenerator core.
Talking about defensive cores, where is Skarmory + Chansey? Reserving this core.
Blissey + Skamory has always been a popular core in OU, but with the introduction of Eviolite the core was even further improved with Eviolite Chansey over Blissey. The idea behind this core is easy: Skarmory can take on many physical attackers like Landorus-T, Mega Pinsir and Azumarill and Chansey can take on many special attackers like Mega Manectric, Mega Diancie and Sylveon. Outside of pure defensive power, they also have very good utility moves like Wish, Heal Bell, Stealth Rock, Thunder Wave and Toxic on Chansey and Stealth Rock, Spikes, Whirlwind, Counter and Taunt on Skarmory.
Sets:
Chansey and Skarmory can switch between sets. They have many options for their moves and you can make several combinations for it. Below is an example of one of these combinations.
Chansey (F) @ Eviolite
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Soft-Boiled
- Heal Bell
- Stealth Rock / Toxic
- Seismic Toss
Threats:
While Skarmory can take on many physical attackers and Chansey can take on many special attackers, they still struggle with many pokemon. Both pokemon are very passive so the move Taunt really kills this core. Also pokemon with Subtsitute can set up on Chansey. Some attackers that threaten both Chansey and Skarmory without Taunt/Sub are Keldeo, Gothitelle, Mega Gardevoir, Mega Metagross and Charizard-X.
Teammates
Skarmory and Chansey are very passive so they don't fit on offensive teams. There are many defensive attackers that work well with this core like Slowbro, Jirachi, Cresselia and Amoonguss, and there are many different combinations of teammates that work well with Skarmory + Chansey.
Way to be original! /sarcasm
No need to reserve cores tbh, it's not like everyone is scrambling to post stuff here, it more or less slowly happens over time. But hey, whatever floats your boat.
Alright i came across this core while teambuilding. Fun fact this seems to be the only core that can have a fire/water/grass/fairy/dragon/steel core with only 3 mons. That Really stood out to me so i thought of showing it here. Anyway the cores pretty simple Mega sceptile breaks water types the Heatran hates (bar azumarill). Heatran beats the fairy types, sets up rocks and beats stall with taunt and azumarill beats dragon types that sceptile hates, opposing heatran and beats t-tar and excadrill. Not only do they cover each well offensively but defensively they cover each others weaknesses( bar ground type moves as scepts frail). The teams weak to things like metagross, stall and has some trouble with wallbreakers so mons that can handle gross like slowbro and pokemon like Av kyurem black are good partners. Pivots such as landorus-t, defensive scizor and rotom wash are also good partners. Gliscor is also a great partner to help deal with stall better as well as mew. This is a pretty cool core overall i recommend trying it out.
Azumarill @ Assault Vest
Ability: Huge Power
EVs: 240 HP / 252 Atk / 16 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Aqua Jet
- Waterfall
- Play Rough
- Knock Off
Heatran @ Leftovers
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 HP / 188 SpD / 68 Spe
Calm Nature
- Magma Storm
- Stealth Rock
- Taunt
- Earth Power
Fun core I've been playing around with, and yes I do find stall fun so grab the box of tissues for the tears looking at this and imagining clerics behind it, and 100+ turn battles. I know boltsandbombers loves stall so I thought this would be a great core to put on his thread so he can embrace it to the fullest extent. Anyways it's pretty basic I've still been playing around with EVs finding the more optimal sets but it's been working out pretty well. M-Sableye is anti-hazard support with its lure Metal Burst set. The drop in speed is to net Metal Bursts on Slowbro and above as Metal Burst doesn't work like Counter and Mirror Coat as it doesn't have negative priority. Other moves are just utility, spread is to a have a shot and surviving 2HKO from Life Orb Gengar after rocks. You could run more Special Defense to miss 2HKOs on stuff like Timid Landorus and a slight shot at Charizard-Y's Fire Blast as well. Manaphy is the stall-breaker of the core and is just standard. Sometimes I speed creep for Adamant Diggersby cause it's an absolute nightmare to the core but you lose some bulk so just a thought when you're building. Amoonguss is the pivot to the team checking the usual stuff like non HP Flying Thundurus, a secondary Gengar switch-in (sort of <_>), Azumarill, etc. Before the mob of OU posters comes after me saying I forgot an item on Amoonguss, this is an intentional aspect I've been trying out to give myself a secondary Knock Off absorber along with a very slight chance of not getting murdered by +6 Knock Off Azumarill. Feel free to throw on Black Sludge if you're adamant about that recovery from it. Pair it up with Wish support from Clefable or Chansey, with Clefable providing Unaware for set up sweepers, and you should be good to go if going heavy stall. Also everything is shiny which is what makes this core work twice as effectively.
Sableye (M) @ Sablenite
Ability: Prankster
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 248 HP / 164 Def / 96 SpD
Sassy Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Knock Off
- Will-O-Wisp
- Recover
- Metal Burst
Edit: Oh and it would be nice for any of you stall guys to provide some neat defensive cores you've been working with. Seems like every time someone asks for some they would like more to go off of.
Taking the lead from AM, I figure I'd post a defensive core I've been working with as well (and there's like 4 times as many offensive cores as defensive or balanced lol). The foundation for this core is the ever dangerous "Double Dance" Mega Slowbro. Once it gets a boost or two under it's belt, it can be hard to stop. It's a pain for offense to deal with in general. The specific spread checks Diggeresby, and then invests the rest in Special Defense. However, MegaBro does less work against more defensive teams, so a strong stallbreaker was the next logical step. Mega Slowbro also hates Toxic, so an immunity to poison would be nice. Therefore, Gliscor seemed like the perfect solution. I figure I'd go with an SD SDef variant, as Gengar could be a pain for Slowbro and more defensive teams in general. A Physical set could also be used to check the every so rare Mega Heracross, as well as to check other physical threats better. Several common defensive mons support this core well. Tentacruel is helpful for Unaware Clefable that try to come in on Mega Slowbro, as well as hazard control. Bulky Steels like Rachi and Heatran also help, because Gard is a pain to deal with (Tran also helps with Clefable and Nasty Plot Thundurus-I). Amoonguss can be helpful for the Grass types that try to check Slowbro, namely Sceptile. Overall the core gives a defensive team two solid win conditions, one against more defensive teams (Gliscor) and one against more offensive teams (Slowbro).
Slowbro @ Slowbronite
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 80 Def / 176 SpD
Bold Nature
- Scald
- Iron Defense
- Calm Mind
- Slack Off
Gliscor @ Toxic Orb
Ability: Poison Heal
EVs: 244 HP / 192 SpD / 72 Spe
Careful Nature
- Swords Dance
- Roost
- Knock Off / Taunt / other coverage
- Earthquake
yea i just remembred. guess its the only new oras one :P If its ok with Boltsandbombers id like to post that core in this post seeing since no ones done it yet
I'm actually pretty surprised that the Keldeo + M-Houndoom core was never posted, it works really well. The basis of the Keldeo + M-Houndoom core is that they beat a majority of each others checks. For instance, Keldeo beats Tyranitar, Heatan, Chansey, M-Gyarados, Terrakion, etc. And M-Houndoom beats Lati@s, Slowbro, Amoonguss, M-Metagross (115 Speed is so clutch), Chesnaught, Celebi, etc.
Additionally, Scarf Keldeo beats M-Lopunny, M-Diancie, Scarf Excadrill, Scarf Landorus-T, and Scarf Kyurem-B for Houndoom, and NP Houndoom with Sludge Bomb beats Azumarill, M-Altaria, and Clefable for Keldeo.
Where Celebi comes in is to patch up all the holes in between, such as immediately switching into opposing Keldeo, Rotom-W, and Breloom. It also passes Special Attack boosts so they can tear through teams even further (Houndoom already has NP but it comes in with the boost rather than having to waste a turn. Keldeo just gets kills for free at +2 w/ a Scarf).
The synergy is pretty nice, all three form a FWG core which people still get wet over, plus they break through a lot of playstyles pretty handily. What's also cool about this core is that the mons that try to stop Celebi like Bisharp, Scizor, Tyranitar, and Heatran, all get their asses handed to them by Keldeo/M-Houndoom. So passing boosts is pretty risk free though I'm not a fan of stat passing that much, but i guess Celebi has to pay rent somehow.
Pack a Talonflame check for sure btw.
Sets:
Houndoom @ Houndoominite
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Nasty Plot
- Fire Blast
- Dark Pulse
- Taunt / Will-O-Wisp / Sludge Bomb
I'm actually pretty surprised that the Keldeo + M-Houndoom core was never posted, it works really well. The basis of the Keldeo + M-Houndoom core is that they beat a majority of each others checks. For instance, Keldeo beats Tyranitar, Heatan, Chansey, M-Gyarados, Terrakion, etc. And M-Houndoom beats Lati@s, Slowbro, Amoonguss, M-Metagross (115 Speed is so clutch), Chesnaught, Celebi, etc.
Additionally, Scarf Keldeo beats M-Lopunny, M-Diancie, Scarf Excadrill, Scarf Landorus-T, and Scarf Kyurem-B for Houndoom, and NP Houndoom with Sludge Bomb beats Azumarill, M-Altaria, and Clefable for Keldeo.
Where Celebi comes in is to patch up all the holes in between, such as immediately switching into opposing Keldeo, Rotom-W, and Breloom. It also passes Special Attack boosts so they can tear through teams even further (Houndoom already has NP but it comes in with the boost rather than having to waste a turn. Keldeo just gets kills for free at +2 w/ a Scarf).
The synergy is pretty nice, all three form a FWG core which people still get wet over, plus they break through a lot of playstyles pretty handily. What's also cool about this core is that the mons that try to stop Celebi like Bisharp, Tyranitar, and Heatran, all get their asses handed to them by Keldeo/M-Houndoom. So passing boosts is pretty risk free though I'm not a fan of stat passing that much, but i guess Celebi has to pay rent somehow.
Pack a Talonflame check for sure btw.
Sets:
Houndoom @ Houndoominite
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Nasty Plot
- Fire Blast
- Dark Pulse
- Sludge Bomb
Sweet core, got two minor changes for you to fix and you're good to go.
Sludge Bomb -> Taunt or Will-O-Wisp on Houndoom (better for handling stall / defensive mons)
Celebi's spread -> 252 HP / 148 Def / 108 Spe Bold nature (physical bulk is better than speed to take hits from the likes of azumarill and mega lopunny)
Sweet core, got two minor changes for you to fix and you're good to go.
Sludge Bomb -> Taunt or Will-O-Wisp on Houndoom (better for handling stall / defensive mons)
Celebi's spread -> 252 HP / 148 Def / 108 Spe Bold nature (physical bulk is better than speed to take hits from the likes of azumarill and mega lopunny)
Ferrothorn @ Leftovers
Ability: Iron Barbs
EVs: 252 HP / 88 Def / 168 SpDef
Impish Nature
- Stealth Rock / Spikes
- Power Whip
- Leech Seed
- Protect
Starmie has always been one of my favorite 'mons that is actually viable in OU, so I wanted to build a team around it and found a fairly powerful core. Max HP Timid Starmie + Ferrothorn is one of my favorite balance cores right now because it provides insane flexibility with your Mega slot. Obviously, this core takes up no Mega slot, but the defensive synergy and the support provided by this core is seriously amazing for so many Megas. The fact that Rapid Spin takes hazards off of your side while leaving them on the other is a great boon for offensive Megas such as Charizard, Gyarados, and Pinsir. This core also forms an awesome defensive backbone with bulky Megas such as Sableye (obviously), Venusaur, and defensive Altaria; the fact that this core is Knock-off bait is actually pretty cool, seeing that most Megas absorb Knock Off fairly well. Especially in a metagame where Mega Metagross and Mega Sableye are so common, Starmie is a godsend that can fish for burns with a fast Scald and use Reflect Type to play around its weaknesses. I've been using this core alongside Clefable and Gliscor with great effect, providing two slots for a Mega of nearly unlimited choice.
EDIT: Added sets. Also firehusky, I prefer Scald > Psyshock on Starmie for extra utility, because this is supposed to be a defensive support set. I don't think it's possible to counter every single Pokemon in the tier with two Pokemon, so Keldeo, Azumarill, Talonflame, and other potential problems for this core can be covered by the rest of the team :)
EDIT 2: Slashed Psyshock before Reflect Type, because other users have informed me that otherwise this core is dismantled by SubCM Keldeo, which is arguably Keldeo's best set right now.
Starmie has always been one of my favorite 'mons that is actually viable in OU, so I wanted to build a team around it and found a fairly powerful core. Max HP Timid Starmie + Ferrothorn is one of my favorite balance cores right now because it provides insane flexibility with your Mega slot. Obviously, this core takes up no Mega slot, but the defensive synergy and the support provided by this core is seriously amazing for so many Megas. The fact that Rapid Spin takes hazards off of your side while leaving them on the other is a great boon for offensive Megas such as Charizard, Gyarados, and Pinsir. This core also forms an awesome defensive backbone with bulky Megas such as Sableye (obviously), Venusaur, and defensive Altaria; the fact that this core is Knock-off bait is actually pretty cool, seeing that most Megas absorb Knock Off fairly well. Especially in a metagame where Mega Metagross and Mega Sableye are so common, Starmie is a godsend that can fish for burns with a fast Scald and use Reflect Type to play around its weaknesses. I've been using this core alongside Clefable and Gliscor with great effect, providing two slots for a Mega of nearly unlimited choice.
I love this core and all, but you might want to post the sets.
Also, reflect type starmie needs psyshock, other wise this core is screwed over by SubCM Keldeo. It's actually kind of hard to fit psyshock, scald, rapid spin, recover, and reflect type all on one set.
Sweet core, got two minor changes for you to fix and you're good to go.
Sludge Bomb -> Taunt or Will-O-Wisp on Houndoom (better for handling stall / defensive mons)
Celebi's spread -> 252 HP / 148 Def / 108 Spe Bold nature (physical bulk is better than speed to take hits from the likes of azumarill and mega lopunny)
Ferrothorn @ Leftovers
Ability: Iron Barbs
EVs: 252 HP / 88 Def / 168 SpDef
Impish Nature
- Stealth Rock / Spikes
- Power Whip
- Leech Seed
- Protect
Starmie has always been one of my favorite 'mons that is actually viable in OU, so I wanted to build a team around it and found a fairly powerful core. Max HP Timid Starmie + Ferrothorn is one of my favorite balance cores right now because it provides insane flexibility with your Mega slot. Obviously, this core takes up no Mega slot, but the defensive synergy and the support provided by this core is seriously amazing for so many Megas. The fact that Rapid Spin takes hazards off of your side while leaving them on the other is a great boon for offensive Megas such as Charizard, Gyarados, and Pinsir. This core also forms an awesome defensive backbone with bulky Megas such as Sableye (obviously), Venusaur, and defensive Altaria; the fact that this core is Knock-off bait is actually pretty cool, seeing that most Megas absorb Knock Off fairly well. Especially in a metagame where Mega Metagross and Mega Sableye are so common, Starmie is a godsend that can fish for burns with a fast Scald and use Reflect Type to play around its weaknesses. I've been using this core alongside Clefable and Gliscor with great effect, providing two slots for a Mega of nearly unlimited choice.
EDIT: Added sets. Also firehusky, I prefer Scald > Psyshock on Starmie for extra utility, because this is supposed to be a defensive support set. I don't think it's possible to counter every single Pokemon in the tier with two Pokemon, so Keldeo, Azumarill, Talonflame, and other potential problems for this core can be covered by the rest of the team :)
The core is decent, but I dont like a core that gets run through by sub cm keldeo, especially when starmie by virute of its typing checks starmie; but without psyshock you cant do much back to it. Either remove reflect type from starmie or slash Psyshock before it.
Psyshock is better on defensive starmie in this metagame. Reflect Type is an optional choice at this point because scarftar and many other meta-game trends bypass the effectiveness of Reflect Type to begin with. Also max speed gives you a better shot against Magnezone and speed ties with base 115s.
I'm actually pretty surprised that the Keldeo + M-Houndoom core was never posted, it works really well. The basis of the Keldeo + M-Houndoom core is that they beat a majority of each others checks. For instance, Keldeo beats Tyranitar, Heatan, Chansey, M-Gyarados, Terrakion, etc. And M-Houndoom beats Lati@s, Slowbro, Amoonguss, M-Metagross (115 Speed is so clutch), Chesnaught, Celebi, etc.
Additionally, Scarf Keldeo beats M-Lopunny, M-Diancie, Scarf Excadrill, Scarf Landorus-T, and Scarf Kyurem-B for Houndoom, and NP Houndoom with Sludge Bomb beats Azumarill, M-Altaria, and Clefable for Keldeo.
Where Celebi comes in is to patch up all the holes in between, such as immediately switching into opposing Keldeo, Rotom-W, and Breloom. It also passes Special Attack boosts so they can tear through teams even further (Houndoom already has NP but it comes in with the boost rather than having to waste a turn. Keldeo just gets kills for free at +2 w/ a Scarf).
The synergy is pretty nice, all three form a FWG core which people still get wet over, plus they break through a lot of playstyles pretty handily. What's also cool about this core is that the mons that try to stop Celebi like Bisharp, Tyranitar, and Heatran, all get their asses handed to them by Keldeo/M-Houndoom. So passing boosts is pretty risk free though I'm not a fan of stat passing that much, but i guess Celebi has to pay rent somehow.
Pack a Talonflame check for sure btw.
Sets:
Houndoom @ Houndoominite
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Nasty Plot
- Fire Blast
- Dark Pulse
- Sludge Bomb
