ORAS OU RMT - Strong Defensive Cores

TableForRambo

TableForRambo

Hey everyone! First off, I appreciate the time you're taking to evaluate my team. I've been working on it for a while and actually made it in-game. Currently 8-2 on Pokemon Showdown with the team (but then again, I started at ~1250 rank, so it doesn't hold much merit).

I really wanted to make a team with both defensive and specially defensive cores while also showcasing one of my favorite newer pokemon, Goodra.


Goodra @ Assault Vest
Nature: Modest
Ability: Sap Sipper
EVs: 248 HP, 252 SpA, 8 SpD
- Draco Meteor
- Fire Blast
- Thunderbolt
- Dragon Tail

Simply put, Goodra is a beast. A great Specially Defensive tank, he provides some much needed coverage for my team and creates a solid Specially Defensive core with Excadrill. Draco Meteor and Fire Blast are standard; Thunderbolt is used to nail Gyarados and handle bulky water types more consistently. Dragon Tail is useful to phaze a few boosting threats or spread both spikes and stealth rock damage.


Excadrill @ Leftovers
Nature: Careful
Ability: Mold Breaker
EV's: 252 HP, 224 SpD, 32 Spe
- Earthquake
- Iron Head
- Rapid Spin
- Stealth Rock

A specially defensive Excadrill may seem weird, but it has really good synergy with Goodra and is sturdy enough to Rapid Spin multiple times through the match - something TFlame and Gyarados desperately need. Also, some mind games can be played until his leftovers are revealed; forcing switches due to his perceived offensive threat gives ample opportunities to set up Stealth Rock. Mold Breaker Earthquake is great for Rotom-W (which this set has enough speed to outrun) and levitate users like Gengar. Stealth Rock was put on Excadrill so Ferrothorn can run Spikes and pressure defensive teams.


Gyarados @ Gyaradosite
Nature: Adamant
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 Atk, 252 Spe
- Dragon Dance
- Waterfall
- Earthquake
- Ice Fang

I felt my team was in desperate need of a boosting sweeper, and I found the perfect candidate. I've had success playing mind games and holding off on Mega evolution. With great typing, Intimidate Gyarados and Ferrothorn create a perfect defensive synergy, covering each other's weaknesses. Also, Intimidate creates a lot of opportunity to set up on the opposing team. Waterfall for STAB, Earthquake to take advantage of Mold Breaker and nail Steel/Levitate users. I considered Substitute over Ice Fang, but the coverage is too good to stray away from, especially since Mega Gyarados can outspeed Adamant Dragonite and OHKO with Mold Breaker Ice Fang.


Ferrothorn @ Leftovers
Nature: Impish
Ability: Iron Barbs
EVs: 252 HP, 168 Def, 88 SpD
- Spikes
- Leech Seed
- Thunder Wave
- Power Whip

Ferrothorn is one of the most consistent walls/pivots I've used. Although this set suffers from four move slot syndrome (like any Ferrothorn set), I chose the moves that best fit the team. Spikes are great for racking up residual damage for TFlame/Gyarados/Gengar. Thunder wave helps out Gengar quite a bit by powering up hex and avoiding speed ties with base speed 110 pokemon with some good prediction. Also, I went with an Impish nature over Relaxed so that Ferrothorn might be able to outrun some paralyzed pokemon. I felt Power Whip was mandatory because otherwise my team is pretty weak to Substitute Mega Gyarados and bulky Water types.


Talonflame @ Choice Band
Nature: Adamant
Ability: Gale Wings
EVs: 252 Atk, 252 Spe
- Brave Bird
- Flare Blitz
- U-turn
- Will-o-wisp

The reoccurring OU threat somehow made its way onto my team after some convincing. Talonflame serves as a great revenge killer for my team, and the Gale Wings priority is something that my team may need against a Dragon Dance user (bar Dragonite) since most DD users carry a fire move for Ferrothorn nowadays. U-turn is used to keep offensive momentum against an obvious switch. Even though a status move with a Banded set is generally a bad idea, I decided to go with will-o-wisp in the last slot in order to both cripple threats TFlame can't revenge kill (like TTar) and support Hex Gengar. The last move slot is generally filler anyways, and will almost never be used.


Gengar @ Life Orb
Nature: Timid
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SpA, 252 Spe
- Hex
- Sludge Bomb
- Focus Blast
- Taunt

On top of my personal love for Gengar, Gengar serves as a special attacker, stall breaker (taunt), and Spinblocker that nicely rounds out the coverage of my team. Now before you say "What the hell is he thinking with Life Orb and Hex?", I've found some niche uses for this set. Sludge Bomb/Focus Blast hit just as hard as it would on a Life Orb set, but Hex/Taunt along with Ferrothorn's status support helps me wallbreak very nicely. Hex with Life Orb still picks up some chances to land important OHKOs after Stealth Rock (Latios, Mega Metagross), and hits like an absolute truck when the opposing pokemon is suffering from status.


Thanks for your insight and recommendations! I will continue to test my team and watch out for potential threats.
 
Hi there, interesting team you have there :] However I'll like to suggest a few changes to the team so as to improve it. Firstly, it would be to run Crunch over Ice Fang on Gyarados as it helps to deal with bulky waters that tries to switch in like Slowbro. Another change you may consider is running Substitute or Taunt instead of Earthquake so as to allow your team to break through stall teams better but that will be up to your personal preference.
Secondly, it is to run Sludge Wave instead of Sludge Bomb on Gengar. With Life Orb, Gengar usually just wish to have the immediate power that Sludge Wave provide instead of the 30% chance to poison from Sludge Bomb. Also, with only Focus Blast and Sludge Bomb as attacking moves, Chesnaught will wall your Gengar due to the fact that both moves are blocked by the ability Bulletproof. In most situations, Gengar would appreciate Shadow Ball's immediate power compared to Hex as your Gengar isn't packing Will-O-Wisp.
Thirdly, your team is very weak to Sand-Offense (Tyranitar + Excadrill) as a Life Orb Excadrill basically runs through your team if Gyarados is too weak to provide the Intimidate support and kill off Excadrill. Even Ferrothorn doesn't appreciate 2 Life Orb hits from Excadrill. To fix this weakness, I'll like to suggest using Chesnaught to replace Ferrothorn to provide Spikes stacking support. Chesnaught: Spikes, Leech Seed, Drain Punch and Wood Hammer/Synthesis with an EV spread of 252HP, 248Def and 8Spd/Atk to help cope with the weakness.
 
Alkov said:
Hi there, interesting team you have there :] However I'll like to suggest a few changes to the team so as to improve it. Firstly, it would be to run Crunch over Ice Fang on Gyarados as it helps to deal with bulky waters that tries to switch in like Slowbro. Another change you may consider is running Substitute or Taunt instead of Earthquake so as to allow your team to break through stall teams better but that will be up to your personal preference.
Secondly, it is to run Sludge Wave instead of Sludge Bomb on Gengar. With Life Orb, Gengar usually just wish to have the immediate power that Sludge Wave provide instead of the 30% chance to poison from Sludge Bomb. Also, with only Focus Blast and Sludge Bomb as attacking moves, Chesnaught will wall your Gengar due to the fact that both moves are blocked by the ability Bulletproof. In most situations, Gengar would appreciate Shadow Ball's immediate power compared to Hex as your Gengar isn't packing Will-O-Wisp.
Thirdly, your team is very weak to Sand-Offense (Tyranitar + Excadrill) as a Life Orb Excadrill basically runs through your team if Gyarados is too weak to provide the Intimidate support and kill off Excadrill. Even Ferrothorn doesn't appreciate 2 Life Orb hits from Excadrill. To fix this weakness, I'll like to suggest using Chesnaught to replace Ferrothorn to provide Spikes stacking support. Chesnaught: Spikes, Leech Seed, Drain Punch and Wood Hammer/Synthesis with an EV spread of 252HP, 248Def and 8Spd/Atk to help cope with the weakness.
Click to expand...

Chesnaught! How could I forget? He'd make a great substitute for Ferrothorn. The only thing I'm thinking about is how weak my team is to opposing banded Talonflame (not that Ferrothorn is much better). I have intimidate Gyarados, but:

-1 252+ Atk Choice Band Talonflame Brave Bird vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Gyarados: 189-223 (57 - 67.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

I'll have to sack one of my pokemon to do anything to it. At least with Ferrothorn, I have some wiggle room if it is choice locked into Brave Bird:

252+ Atk Choice Band Talonflame Brave Bird vs. 252 HP / 168+ Def Ferrothorn: 148-175 (42 - 49.7%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Leftovers recovery

Scary stuff.

To your other points, Gyarados could definitely run Crunch and Taunt. I had that in the back of my mind as an alternative, but I was a fan of the coverage the other set provided. Without any ice coverage on my team after the switch, I might contemplate putting Icy Wind instead of Taunt on Gengar, which would also allow it to deal with Specially Defensive Gliscor if I replace Hex with Shadow Ball. The only reason I had Sludge Bomb instead of Sludge Wave is because Sludge Wave is an event move, and I don't have the ability to retrieve one at the moment.

Thanks for your input! I'm looking forward to testing the changes.
 
Most Talonflames right now in the meta is rarely banded. One way to deter it would to be through the means of setting up Stealth Rocks so that it is limited to only a few hits after Stealth Rocks' damage. Majority of Talonflames used right now is the specially defensive variant with a lot of HP and SpDef investment with the move Will-o-wisp, Roost, Brave Bird and Taunt/Swords Dance. That instead might be a bit harder to beat. However if you want to beat all variants of Talonflame I know of, I'll recommend using Slowbro. With its natural bulk it can be used as your Mega-Metagross check if it doesn't have Grass Knot, it wins Mega Lopunny too and all variants of Talonflame. The EV spread being 252HP, 216Def and 40SpDef with Bold nature helps it to take 2 Grass Knot from Metagross and still take on physical hits very well but as for what to replace on your team, I'll lean towards Goodra but it'll be up to your preference if you want to make the change.
 
Alkov said:
Most Talonflames right now in the meta is rarely banded. One way to deter it would to be through the means of setting up Stealth Rocks so that it is limited to only a few hits after Stealth Rocks' damage. Majority of Talonflames used right now is the specially defensive variant with a lot of HP and SpDef investment with the move Will-o-wisp, Roost, Brave Bird and Taunt/Swords Dance. That instead might be a bit harder to beat. However if you want to beat all variants of Talonflame I know of, I'll recommend using Slowbro. With its natural bulk it can be used as your Mega-Metagross check if it doesn't have Grass Knot, it wins Mega Lopunny too and all variants of Talonflame. The EV spread being 252HP, 216Def and 40SpDef with Bold nature helps it to take 2 Grass Knot from Metagross and still take on physical hits very well but as for what to replace on your team, I'll lean towards Goodra but it'll be up to your preference if you want to make the change.
Click to expand...

I've always been a huge fan of Slowbro, but pairing him with Gyarados scares me a bit. Something like Kyurem-B with Fusion Bolt would have a field day with my team.

What if I swapped out Mega-Gyarados/Ferrothorn for Mega-Altaria/Slowbro? The only thing I'd really lose is Spikes, and they have pretty damn good type synergy. I'd still have a boosting sweeper, and I'd add solid recovery for my defensive wall. Burn chance with Scald is welcome too.

Back to the drawing board...
 
Most Kyurem-B used right now is actually specially offensive with Life Orb so Ice Beam will still take out Altaria and Fusion Bolt will do a lot to your Slowbro. One way to do with is probably through pivoting your Excadrill as it Fusion Bolt and then go to your Talonflame while it attempts to use Earth Power or scare it off by bluffing a scarfed Excadrill and get up Stealth Rocks ASAP to limit its switch ins so that it gets lesser chance to put in work against your team. To attempt to cover the Kyurem-B weakness and different variants of Talonflame might change your team structure too much though :[
Edit: if you want to check Kyurem-B and still win most variant of Talonflame, you can try out Tyranintar, I would recommend the scarfed variant with Stone Edge, Pursuit, Superpower and Crunch/Ice Beam as it helps to cope with Talonflame and Kyurem-B and Tyranitar has superb SpDef bulk naturally. However with Tyranitar it'll bring about more other weaknesses in your team so you can only play around the Pokemons that threatens your team too much. "6-Pokemon syndrome" :[
 
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What about Mega-Gyarados/Rotom-W? The inherent grass weakness is handled by Sap Sipper Goodra (who handily deals with Ferrothorn) and Talonflame. With Levitate, Rotom-W isn't a bad check to Sand teams due to Excadrill mostly running Sand Rush and not Mold Breaker. Rotom-W is also a great counter to Talonflame.

This allows me to run pretty much the same team with one small roster change. :)
 
Mega-Gyarados and Rotom-W may help to counter Talonflame and Sand however it aggravates your weakness towards Kyurem-B due to the fact that most Kyurem-B is specially offensive and they run Earth Power which dents Rotom-W and it can't do anything back, which also means Kyurem-B almost gets a free switch in every time your Rotom-W is in. It'll be better off with Chesnaught and lay down hazards as much as possible and with the possibility of the move Drain Punch deters away Kyurem-B from switching in so freely. Also, because most Kyurem-B runs Life Orb, their switch ins are limited if Stealth Rocks and Spikes are up along with the Life Orb recoil. Also because Gengar and Talonflame has the ability to revenge kill Kyurem-B after it takes some prior damage and it doesn't appreciate switching out and then coming back in again due to the presence of the hazards withering Kyurem-B too much.
However if you really want to switch a Pokemon in your team to better deal with Kyurem-B or other forms of special attacker, I'll suggest switching Excadrill to Clefable with the following spread

Clefable (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: 252 HP / 160 Def / 96 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Stealth Rock
- Thunder Wave
- Moonblast
- Soft-Boiled

252+ SpA Life Orb Teravolt Kyurem-B Ice Beam vs. 252 HP / 96+ SpD Clefable: 177-211 (44.9 - 53.5%) -- 1.2% chance to 2HKO after Leftovers recovery

With the given spread it takes Kyurem-B's Ice Beam relatively well and is able to out stall it easily and it also fulfill the role of setting up Stealth Rocks. Thunder Wave on it is optional but it may come in handy as a support. You can always replace it for a coverage move like Flamethrower for the Steel types or something.

With Clefable and Chesnaught it'll help to fix your Sand offense and Kyurem-B weakness much better while still maintaining the roles of the original Pokemons. :]
 
Alkov said:
Mega-Gyarados and Rotom-W may help to counter Talonflame and Sand however it aggravates your weakness towards Kyurem-B due to the fact that most Kyurem-B is specially offensive and they run Earth Power which dents Rotom-W and it can't do anything back, which also means Kyurem-B almost gets a free switch in every time your Rotom-W is in. It'll be better off with Chesnaught and lay down hazards as much as possible and with the possibility of the move Drain Punch deters away Kyurem-B from switching in so freely. Also, because most Kyurem-B runs Life Orb, their switch ins are limited if Stealth Rocks and Spikes are up along with the Life Orb recoil. Also because Gengar and Talonflame has the ability to revenge kill Kyurem-B after it takes some prior damage and it doesn't appreciate switching out and then coming back in again due to the presence of the hazards withering Kyurem-B too much.
However if you really want to switch a Pokemon in your team to better deal with Kyurem-B or other forms of special attacker, I'll suggest switching Excadrill to Clefable with the following spread

Clefable (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: 252 HP / 160 Def / 96 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Stealth Rock
- Thunder Wave
- Moonblast
- Soft-Boiled

252+ SpA Life Orb Teravolt Kyurem-B Ice Beam vs. 252 HP / 96+ SpD Clefable: 177-211 (44.9 - 53.5%) -- 1.2% chance to 2HKO after Leftovers recovery

With the given spread it takes Kyurem-B's Ice Beam relatively well and is able to out stall it easily and it also fulfill the role of setting up Stealth Rocks. Thunder Wave on it is optional but it may come in handy as a support. You can always replace it for a coverage move like Flamethrower for the Steel types or something.

With Clefable and Chesnaught it'll help to fix your Sand offense and Kyurem-B weakness much better while still maintaining the roles of the original Pokemons. :]
Click to expand...
Getting rid of Excadrill means that I don't have a rapid spinner anymore, and I desperately need one :x

I honestly don't think there is a good way of dealing with Kyurem-B other than hazards and revenge killing. The BoltBeam combo on his kit is really good, and the only way I could check him efficiently is to change the entire structure of my team. And that's not worth it over one potential pokemon.

Here's an interesting idea.

Gyarados --> Tyranitar @ Leftovers
Nature: Relaxed
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 248 HP, 252 Def, 8 SpD
- Stealth Rock
- Stone Edge
- Crunch
- Fire Blast

Ferrothorn --> Slowbro @ Slowbronite
Nature: Bold
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP, 252 Def
- Scald
- Calm Mind
- Rest
- Sleep Talk


Both of these Pokemon can definitely handle Talonflame, and check this out:

252+ SpA Life Orb Teravolt Kyurem-B Earth Power vs. 248 HP / 8 SpD Tyranitar in Sand: 177-208 (43.9 - 51.6%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Leftovers recovery

0 Atk Tyranitar Stone Edge vs. 0 HP / 0- Def Kyurem-B: 308-366 (78.7 - 93.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after sandstorm damage

This also doesn't take into account Life Orb damage, so even if I miss one Stone Edge, I can pick up the KO with the second.

I can also run a more offensive Excadrill (LO Sand Rush - Replace Stealth Rock with Rock Slide). With this change, I don't lose a sweeper, and I gain some serious offensive prowess with Excadrill. The only thing I can think of is being a tad weak to Bisharp, but I think this change is pretty solid.
 
TableForRambo said:
Getting rid of Excadrill means that I don't have a rapid spinner anymore, and I desperately need one :x

I honestly don't think there is a good way of dealing with Kyurem-B other than hazards and revenge killing. The BoltBeam combo on his kit is really good, and the only way I could check him efficiently is to change the entire structure of my team. And that's not worth it over one potential pokemon.

Here's an interesting idea.

Gyarados --> Tyranitar @ Leftovers
Nature: Relaxed
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 248 HP, 252 Def, 8 SpD
- Stealth Rock
- Stone Edge
- Crunch
- Fire Blast

Ferrothorn --> Slowbro @ Slowbronite
Nature: Bold
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP, 252 Def
- Scald
- Calm Mind
- Rest
- Sleep Talk


Both of these Pokemon can definitely handle Talonflame, and check this out:

252+ SpA Life Orb Teravolt Kyurem-B Earth Power vs. 248 HP / 8 SpD Tyranitar in Sand: 177-208 (43.9 - 51.6%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Leftovers recovery

0 Atk Tyranitar Stone Edge vs. 0 HP / 0- Def Kyurem-B: 308-366 (78.7 - 93.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after sandstorm damage

This also doesn't take into account Life Orb damage, so even if I miss one Stone Edge, I can pick up the KO with the second.

I can also run a more offensive Excadrill (LO Sand Rush - Replace Stealth Rock with Rock Slide). With this change, I don't lose a sweeper, and I gain some serious offensive prowess with Excadrill. The only thing I can think of is being a tad weak to Bisharp, but I think this change is pretty solid.
Click to expand...

If you do this change Gengar to Specs Sylveon as it can help you with that Bisharp problem, KyuB, DD Nite etc while not removing the Stallbreaker of the team, or you could also change it to your own KyuB, but if you don't really want to change it change Hex to Shadow Ball.

Sylveon @ Choice Specs
Nature: Modest / Jolly
Ability: Pixiliate
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Sp.Atk / 4 Spe (OR) 4 Def / 252 Sp.Atk / 252 Spe
- Hyper Voice
- Psyshock
- Hidden Power Fire / Hidden Power Ground
- Shadow Ball

Kyurem-Black @ Life Orb
Nature: Rash
Ability: Teravolt
Evs: 4 Atk / 252 Sp.Atk / 252 Spe
- Ice Beam
- Fusion Bolt
- Earth Power
- Roost
 
Radio_Active said:
If you do this change Gengar to Specs Sylveon as it can help you with that Bisharp problem, KyuB, DD Nite etc while not removing the Stallbreaker of the team, or you could also change it to your own KyuB, but if you don't really want to change it change Hex to Shadow Ball.

Sylveon @ Choice Specs
Nature: Modest / Jolly
Ability: Pixiliate
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Sp.Atk / 4 Spe (OR) 4 Def / 252 Sp.Atk / 252 Spe
- Hyper Voice
- Psyshock
- Hidden Power Fire / Hidden Power Ground
- Shadow Ball

Kyurem-Black @ Life Orb
Nature: Rash
Ability: Teravolt
Evs: 4 Atk / 252 Sp.Atk / 252 Spe
- Ice Beam
- Fusion Bolt
- Earth Power
- Roost
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Kyurem-B would make my team pretty weak to Fairy, but Sylveon is a solid choice. It is still susceptible to Bisharp because it is slower, but it fits in well with my other teammates.

This is pretty much a different team by now XD I can try testing this team out as well. I like the sound of it.
 
Okay. So after a bunch of testing on Showdown tonight, I've landed on a team (albeit a bit different from the original, but at least I still have Goodra, Talonflame and Excadrill :D )

Tyranitar @ Leftovers
Nature: Relaxed
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 248 HP, 252 Def, 8 SpD
- Stealth Rock
- Stone Edge
- Crunch
- Ice Beam

Venusaur @ Venusaurite
Nature: Bold
Ability: Chlorophyll
EVs: 252 HP, 240 Def, 16 Spe
- Giga Drain
- Sludge Bomb
- Synthesis
- Leech Seed

Goodra @ Assault Vest
Nature: Modest
Ability: Sap Sipper
EVs: 248 HP, 252 SpA, 8 SpD
- Draco Meteor
- Fire Blast
- Thunderbolt
- Earthquake

Excadrill @ Life Orb
Nature: Adamant
Ability: Sand Rush
EVs: 252 Atk, 252 Spe
- Earthquake
- Iron Head
- Rock Slide
- Rapid Spin

Azumarill @ Sitrus Berry
Nature: Adamant
Ability: Huge Power
EVs: 92 HP, 252 Atk, 164 Spe
- Belly Drum
- Aqua Jet
- Play Rough
- Knock Off

Talonflame @ Choice Band
Nature: Adamant
Ability: Gale Wings
EVs: 252 Atk, 252 Spe
- Brave Bird
- Flare Blitz
- U-turn
- Will-o-wisp


After trying Mega Slowbro for a while, I realized I didn't have any answers to Rotom-W, which I need taken down before Azumarill can do anything. Bring in Mega-Venusaur. Mega Venusaur gives me a great way to deal with Bisharp, which I've been struggling to deal with otherwise. I may swap out leftovers on Tyranitar to Smooth Rock so I have more opportunities to get Excadrill going. However, the sand can be a little troublesome for Azumarill, so I usually have to save him until very late in the battle to get a sweep going. I also swapped Dragon Tail on Goodra for Earthquake because he seems to be my primary switch-in for Heatran. All of the other Pokemon that could potentially deal with it either don't like burns or get hit super effectively.

This is my favorite variation so far. Let me know what you think!
 
TableForRambo said:
Okay. So after a bunch of testing on Showdown tonight, I've landed on a team (albeit a bit different from the original, but at least I still have Goodra, Talonflame and Excadrill :D )

Tyranitar @ Leftovers
Nature: Relaxed
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 248 HP, 252 Def, 8 SpD
- Stealth Rock
- Stone Edge
- Crunch
- Ice Beam

Venusaur @ Venusaurite
Nature: Bold
Ability: Chlorophyll
EVs: 252 HP, 240 Def, 16 Spe
- Giga Drain
- Sludge Bomb
- Synthesis
- Leech Seed

Goodra @ Assault Vest
Nature: Modest
Ability: Sap Sipper
EVs: 248 HP, 252 SpA, 8 SpD
- Draco Meteor
- Fire Blast
- Thunderbolt
- Earthquake

Excadrill @ Life Orb
Nature: Adamant
Ability: Sand Rush
EVs: 252 Atk, 252 Spe
- Earthquake
- Iron Head
- Rock Slide
- Rapid Spin

Azumarill @ Sitrus Berry
Nature: Adamant
Ability: Huge Power
EVs: 92 HP, 252 Atk, 164 Spe
- Belly Drum
- Aqua Jet
- Play Rough
- Knock Off

Talonflame @ Choice Band
Nature: Adamant
Ability: Gale Wings
EVs: 252 Atk, 252 Spe
- Brave Bird
- Flare Blitz
- U-turn
- Will-o-wisp


After trying Mega Slowbro for a while, I realized I didn't have any answers to Rotom-W, which I need taken down before Azumarill can do anything. Bring in Mega-Venusaur. Mega Venusaur gives me a great way to deal with Bisharp, which I've been struggling to deal with otherwise. I may swap out leftovers on Tyranitar to Smooth Rock so I have more opportunities to get Excadrill going. However, the sand can be a little troublesome for Azumarill, so I usually have to save him until very late in the battle to get a sweep going. I also swapped Dragon Tail on Goodra for Earthquake because he seems to be my primary switch-in for Heatran. All of the other Pokemon that could potentially deal with it either don't like burns or get hit super effectively.

This is my favorite variation so far. Let me know what you think!
Click to expand...

Good team all right, but you do not have any safe switchins to M-Gardevoir. To remedy this a little, I recommend changing Tyranitar to Sp.Def Hippowdown to atleast give a little safety. Otherwise, solid team!
 
Radio_Active said:
Good team all right, but you do not have any safe switchins to M-Gardevoir. To remedy this a little, I recommend changing Tyranitar to Sp.Def Hippowdown to atleast give a little safety. Otherwise, solid team!
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Hippowdon doesn't quite handle both Talonflame and Mega Gardevoir. The only way Hippowdown can somewhat switch into Mega Gardevoir is to fully invest in SpD, and even then, it's still dicey:

232 SpA Pixilate Mega Gardevoir Hyper Voice vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Hippowdon: 201-237 (47.8 - 56.4%) -- 28.9% chance to 2HKO after Leftovers recovery

However, if I do that, I partially lose one of the main reasons I chose Tyranitar: the ability to deal with Talonflame.

252+ Atk Choice Band Talonflame Brave Bird vs. 252 HP / 4 Def Hippowdon: 204-240 (48.5 - 57.1%) -- 41% chance to 2HKO after Leftovers recovery

It also has a much harder time dealing with Kyurem-B.

However, it's still a great idea. The meta is inundated with Lando-T, and I've found myself having to constantly predict their first move of the battle (between Superpower, U-Turn, EQ, Stealth Rock), which could mean the premature death of TTar. Hippowdon would have a much more consistent ability to set up stealth rocks turn 1. It also lessens the amount of weaknesses to my lead, which is nice.

Thanks for the input!
 
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