ORAS OU You jelly of my superior fluff?

[Tele]

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Hi all, this is my 3rd rmt on smogon and as I promised it's a M-Altaria (Bulky Offensive) squad. It took me some time to build one, and although this might not be the best team I've made in Oras, it's actually pretty funny to use, with some fast and extremely powefull hitters like Serperior and Weavile. In addition to that I've a very solid defensive core composed of Clefable Heatran and Skamory, which has very good synergy and gives Balance and Offense a hard time, while also removing steel types like Scizor and Ferrothorn to open the way for M-Altaria.

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I started building the team from this core, which has good synergy as Serperior removes bulky pokemons like Rotom-w, Slowbro, Clefable (Taunt Serp beats both Unaware and MG Clefable!) and Hippowdon to make it easier for M-Altaria to sweep later in the game. I opted for an offensive M-Altaria spread with max Atk and an offensive set with Earthquake over Heal Bell because I wanted to give the team a more offensive footprint than I usually do. Serperior is my win condition against generic stall with Sableye, Cresselia and Chansey, and is also very good against offense checking dangerous threats like BDrum Azumarill and TG Manaphy.

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I then needed a status absorber and a Latis' counter (Clefable), a switch for Gardevoir and Talonflame (Heatran) and a M-Scizor and Bisharp's counter (Skarmory). I knew that Latios couldn't get on well with M-Altaria and Serperior, thus I chose Skarmory as my defogger. I then chose Heatran because I needed a Stealth Rock user and anyway his synergy with Clefable and Skarmory is out of discussion. Skarmory is also helpfull because it can phaze physical sweepers like Gyarados, Mega Metagross, Mega Pinsir and Mega Scizor or even KO them back with Counter.
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At this point, looking at my team, I noticed a slight weakness to Heatran and especially to Gengar, and thus I opted for Swords Dance Gliscor, but I wasn't quite satisfied with the team yet.
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Noticing how much weak I was to Nasty Plot Thundurus, as it could potentially set up on Skarmory and sweep the rest of my team, I decided to put Raikou over Gliscor; this way I still had a Gengar counter and a check for SD Gliscor as well. But again, I didn't like the team that much.
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I noticed how the Raikou version of the team was a bit weak to Bisharp, although I had Skarmory and enough speed on M-Alt to outspeed Adamant Bisharp; I also knew that, besides Raikou, not many things could switch into Gengar and Nasty Plot Thundurus and even outspeed them, but at the same time, such a Bisharp weakness was unbearable for me. Therefore I had to choose the middle way, a pokemon that could check Bisharp while still allowing me to have a secondary answer (after Clefable and Heatran) for Gengar and Thundurus: Weavile.​

Altaria-Mega @ Altarianite
Ability: Pixilate
EVs: 52 HP / 252 Atk / 204 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Return
- Earthquake
- Dragon Dance
- Roost
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Altaria is the star of the team, as the whole team was built around it. Like I said it has very good synergy with Skarmory and Serperior, and it kinda fill the Heatran weakness (I don't have many ways to deal with it aside from Thunder Wave Clefable and Earthquake Altaria). I leant toward a more offensive set because I felt like 1 attack+Heal Bell would have made me lose a lot of momentum which I can't afford on this kind of team (think about Magnezone) and it doesn't hit hard enough too; fact that I wanted to give a more offensive footprint to the team is another good reason.

Spread details: I run enough speed to outspeed Jolly Mega Lopunny after 1 Dragon Dance and Max Attack because I want to one shot Gengar after 1 Dragon Dance, rest in HP.

Serperior @ Leftovers
Ability: Contrary
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Taunt
- Leaf Storm
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Dragon Pulse
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If played correctly, Serperior can shut down standard Sableye stall (like this one) with relative ease, while still performing greatly against offense thanks to his excellent speed, revenge killing stuff like Azumarill and Manaphy. It's also helpfull against Gliscor and Keldeo. His synergy with Heatran and Skamory is out of a doubt too, as they are the best counters for Talonflame and Mega Pinsir, respectively (both threaten Serperior a lot with their priorities).​

Heatran @ Leftovers
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpD / 4 Spe
Calm Nature
- Toxic
- Stealth Rock
- Lava Plume
- Stone Edge

Heatran is probably the best Stealth Rock user in the game right now; I was actually obliged to use it because I needed something that could beat Taunt Talonflame 1 on 1. It's also my best answers for M-Gardevoir (although +1 M-Altaria and Weavile both kill with some prior damage) and Jirachi.

Clefable @ Leftovers
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: 252 HP / 164 Def / 92 SpD
Calm Nature
- Thunder Wave
- Moonblast
- Soft-Boiled
- Calm Mind
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Thunder Wave Clefable is one of my favourite sets right now, as it punishes Clefable's most common counters like Charizard Y, Charizard X, Mega Metagross, Mega Scizor, Mega Gardevoir, Talonflame, Bisharp, Gengar, Heatran, Mega Venusaur and Jirachi. Thunder Wave also allows me to beat TG+3 attacks Manaphy 1 on 1. It's also my best switch for Mega Lopunny and Latios, which means I have to keep it healthy as long as possible throughout the game.

Skarmory @ Shed Shell
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 252 HP / 248 Def / 8 Spe
Impish Nature
- Defog
- Counter
- Roost
- Whirlwind
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Skarmory is the best physical wall in the game, both because of his stats and his typing. It helps me a lot against steel types like Mega Metagross and Scizor. I choose Shed Shell because cores with Mega Metagross/Mega Altaria/Mega Pinsir+Magnezone are quite common.

Weavile @ Life Orb
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Icicle Crash
- Knock Off
- Low Kick
- Pursuit
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Weavile is probably the best addition to the team that I could find, as it fills the Gengar, NP Thundurus and Bisharp's weaknesses checking all of them very nicely. But like I said in the intro, there are pros and cons when using Weavile over Raikou; Weavile is very frail and can't switch directly into anything, which means I might be forced to sack a pokemon before going to Weavile. On the other hand, Weavile has much more offensive presence than Raikou, and it's much more of a threat to Balance and Stall than Raikou actually is.

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Threat List: Charizard X, Keldeo, Gengar, Taunt Heatran.
Importable:

Hide

Altaria-Mega @ Altarianite
Ability: Pixilate
EVs: 52 HP / 252 Atk / 204 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Return
- Earthquake
- Dragon Dance
- Roost

Serperior @ Leftovers
Ability: Contrary
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Taunt
- Leaf Storm
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Dragon Pulse

Heatran @ Leftovers
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpD / 4 Spe
Calm Nature
- Toxic
- Stealth Rock
- Lava Plume
- Stone Edge

Skarmory @ Shed Shell
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 252 HP / 248 Def / 8 Spe
Impish Nature
- Defog
- Counter
- Roost
- Whirlwind

Clefable @ Leftovers
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: 252 HP / 164 Def / 92 SpD
Calm Nature
- Thunder Wave
- Moonblast
- Soft-Boiled
- Calm Mind

Weavile @ Life Orb
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Icicle Crash
- Knock Off
- Low Kick
- Pursuit

 

[Ryfi110]

Giving Brave Bird > Whirlwind to Skarmory fixes your weakness to Breloom and Keldeo by giving you an additional check to either. It also makes your Skarmory less suceptible to Taunt.

 

[Tele]

Giving Brave Bird > Whirlwind to Skarmory fixes your weakness to Breloom and Keldeo by giving you an additional check to either. It also makes your Skarmory less suceptible to Taunt.

I'm not staying in with Skarmory against a Keldeo because Specs would kill me. I definetely need Whirlwind because it helps me against SD Bisharp and Mega Scizor; Brave Bird + Counter does not beat SD Bisharp by any mean, it just straight loses to it because the Bisharp user can keep Swords Dancing until you run out of Counters, and you can't Brave Bird because you will lose Sturdy.
Against Breloom I'm probably putting to sleep Skarmory or Heatran and then I'll go to M-Altaria which resists Breloom's stab moves Mach Punch and Bullet Seed (the Breloom user can't have both SD and Rock Slide anyway). I've no idea why I put it in the threat list lol I'll just remove it.

 

[Snowy]

Hey tele, very cool team, but that's to be expected from the likes of you! Any way, there really isn't to much I can change to a really well built and constructed squad like this, however I did notice one flaw in your description. You said your spread on Mega Altaria was to out speed Mega Lopunny at plus one, however with an adamant nature you can not do this, as you need to be able to hit a minimum speed of 271. If you do want to out speed Mega Lopunny, I would suggest to run the spread of 48 Hp / 252 Atk / 208+ Spe, as this allows you to out speed base 135, gives you an even Hp number and some bulk and a powerful punch. Obviously you can play around with the Evs, but Jolly 2O4 speed investment is required to out speed base 135. Any way, hope you were able to get something out of this tele and I also wish for you to keep up the great work!

 

[Ryfi110]

I'm not staying in with Skarmory against a Keldeo because Specs would kill me. I definetely need Whirlwind because it helps me against SD Bisharp and Mega Scizor; Brave Bird + Counter does not beat SD Bisharp by any mean, it just straight loses to it because the Bisharp user can keep Swords Dancing until you run out of Counters, and you can't Brave Bird because you will lose Sturdy.
Against Breloom I'm probably putting to sleep Skarmory or Heatran and then I'll go to M-Altaria which resists Breloom's stab moves Mach Punch and Bullet Seed (the Breloom user can't have both SD and Rock Slide anyway). I've no idea why I put it in the threat list lol I'll just remove it.

You can scout for specs p easily.
Besides, otherwise taunt generates a free switch for the opponent.


Also, is Charizard Y not also a threat? Even Altaria cannot switch in if it has not yet mega evolved. Especially since it needs to take 25% to come in.

 

[Tom Bus]

Hi, Tele. Nice team. You could try Hippowdon over Weavile as it gives you a fairly good answer to Bisharp, Char X, NP Thundurus and taunt Heatran, which you highlighted as threats. Seeing as you have rocks on Heatran, you could even use a three attacks + slack off variant with crunch to hit Gengar. An electric immunity is always a good thing to have, too.

252 SpA Life Orb Gengar Shadow Ball vs. 252 HP / 192 SpD Hippowdon: 175-208 (41.6 - 49.5%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery

Hippo set

Hippowdon @ Leftovers
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 HP / 64 Def / 192 SpD
Impish Nature
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- Crunch/Toxic/Curse
- Slack Off

 

[Zuccherino]

Hi, Tele. Nice team. You could try Hippowdon over Weavile as it gives you a fairly good answer to Bisharp, Char X, NP Thundurus and taunt Heatran, which you highlighted as threats. Seeing as you have rocks on Heatran, you could even use a three attacks + slack off variant with crunch to hit Gengar. An electric immunity is always a good thing to have, too.

252 SpA Life Orb Gengar Shadow Ball vs. 252 HP / 192 SpD Hippowdon: 175-208 (41.6 - 49.5%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery

Hippo set

Hippowdon @ Leftovers
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 HP / 64 Def / 192 SpD
Impish Nature
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- Crunch
- Slack Off

The Team is already weak to Kyurem Black imo , add Hippo is bad tbh , i think that weavile is a good "middle way" option to check bisharp and revenge kill stuff like Kyu B or Gengar that destroys the team otherwise.

 

[Tom Bus]

The Team is already weak to Kyurem Black imo , add Hippo is bad tbh , i think that weavile is a good "middle way" option to check bisharp and revenge kill stuff like Kyu B or Gengar that destroys the team otherwise.

Yeah, I considered that, but Clefable is one of the few counters to standard Kyurem-B (without iron head), so I figured he would be ok against it

 

[Zuccherino]

Yeah, I considered that, but Clefable is one of the few counters to standard Kyurem-B (without iron head), so I figured he would be ok against it

Yeah clefa is a good answer but need to keep it full HP to avoid the 2hko :

252+ SpA Life Orb Teravolt Kyurem-B Ice Beam vs. 252 HP / 92+ SpD Clefable: 179-212 (45.4 - 53.8%) -- 2% chance to 2HKO after Leftovers recovery


The Team is Weak To Kyu-B cause it spam Ice beam so easily , nothing to play around with this Squad , weavile is an option to Revenge Kill it and Hippo make the team weaker against it imo.

 

[Tom Bus]

Yeah clefa is a good answer but need to keep it full HP to avoid the 2hko :

252+ SpA Life Orb Teravolt Kyurem-B Ice Beam vs. 252 HP / 92+ SpD Clefable: 179-212 (45.4 - 53.8%) -- 2% chance to 2HKO after Leftovers recovery


The Team is Weak To Kyu-B cause it spam Ice beam so easily , nothing to play around with this Squad , weavile is an option to Revenge Kill it and Hippo make the team weaker against it imo.

Yes, so you can send Clefable in every time and soft-boiled to get back to 100% while Kyurem-B gets worn down by life orb and stealth rock.

 

[Tele]

I think Clefable is one of the best Kyurem-B counters in the game; yes, I need to keep it full HP to avoid the 2HKO but it's not that big of a problem considering that it has Magic Guard (means it can't be pressured with double switches); Heatran can live an Earthpower as well which allows me to make some aggressive plays against it (like go to Heatran first, then go to Clefable on the obvious Earthpower, getting it worn down by LO and scouting his set as well). Moreover both my offensive win conditions manage to kill it after they set up (+1 Mega Altaria, +2 Dragon Pulse Serperior).

Hey tele, very cool team, but that's to be expected from the likes of you! Any way, there really isn't to much I can change to a really well built and constructed squad like this, however I did notice one flaw in your description. You said your spread on Mega Altaria was to out speed Mega Lopunny at plus one, however with an adamant nature you can not do this, as you need to be able to hit a minimum speed of 271. If you do want to out speed Mega Lopunny, I would suggest to run the spread of 48 Hp / 252 Atk / 208+ Spe, as this allows you to out speed base 135, gives you an even Hp number and some bulk and a powerful punch. Obviously you can play around with the Evs, but Jolly 2O4 speed investment is required to out speed base 135. Any way, hope you were able to get something out of this tele and I also wish for you to keep up the great work!

Thanks. Thing is, +1 Jolly Altaria fails to kill Gengar and (AV) Azumarill, 2 pokemons that threaten the team a lot (my best switch for Azumarill is Skarmory); moreover the only 2 pokemons that Adamant M Altaria doesn't outspeed, M Manectric and M Lopunny, don't hit hard enough (Hp Ice doesn't 2HKO and Jolly Lopunny is slighty less powerfull than the Adamant).

Also, is Charizard Y not also a threat? Even Altaria cannot switch in if it has not yet mega evolved. Especially since it needs to take 25% to come in.

CharY doesn't really worry me as I have Thunder Wave Clefable, Stone Edge Heatran and Mega Altaria which are all very solid answers to it (Weavile also does 88%-100% with Icicle Crash).