Hi, everyone.
This post was suppose to be called "Some gimmick HO - feat Slaking", but why spoil the surprise? well, now that you are here, you might as well read the whole thing instead of ignoring the team for having Slaking.
So, I like playing hyper offense and today I decided to build a team around some crazy wallbreaker: Slaking. I mean, we all know Slaking is that mon with legendary-high stats, but whose ability just makes it non viable. Well, to me, that 160 base atk plus a choice band is pretty neat, so, I went for it.
I am sure you have already thought this is shit - it was probably the 1st thing that came to your mind. Well, perhaps that is the case and i have just been lucky so far, I haven't test it enough, but it got me to ~1500ish, it's not all bad. And i swear I have so much fun with it, I mean, it is some nice creativity, to be honest.
Anyway, let's move on, shall we?
IT all began with, you guessed it, Slaking. Its major flaw is, of course, its ability, which allows the opponent to set up and sweep your team. So, I added something that would keep people from setting up:
As if Slaking wasn't gimmick/weird enough, i brought this nice PU mon, ditto. Problem solved, now we just need a team. And, for a lead, I chose what I think is a really reliable one in terms of SRing up and keeping hazards away from my side of the field:
With a good reliable lead, a wallbreaker and a revenge killer, I was lacking setup sweepers. So I just went with what's arguably the best one OU has to offer, and that also counters m-sableye:
After that, I chose something that would keep pressure up, make me gain momentum and be all in all a good late game cleaner:
Finally, I realized I lacked a special attacker. First, i thought I should go with double dance thundurus-therian, being my earth immunity, also being immune to electric damage, and being a somewhat reliable sweeper, but since i had Jirachi, I thought I might as well make use of twave (why not, right?):
Ok, now, before I explain each individual mon, this team was built around breaking walls for a nice late game sweep (and zard can often do both theses jobs really well). To do that, as I stated, I went banded Slaking, but not only that: my move of choice is Retaliate. It's a bit of a paradox. Slaking kills all momentum. So I made sure the other mons did not: my lead can just explode, Zard usually dies after taking down 2 mons, Jirachi is a great glue with both u-turn and healing wish. That all helps Slaking, which is why i chose them after all.
Without further ado, here's the team:
Azelf @ Focus Sash
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Explosion
- Taunt
- Stealth Rock
- Skill Swap
My lead is no other than this guy. The reason I chose him pretty much goes without saying. Rocks up, explode, let Slaking kills the next mon. Taunt prevents hazards n my side of the field, skill swap is to guarantee (or almost) rocks against m-sableye and m-diancie teams. Just make sure you read the opponent's team right so that you don't taunt a scarf lead lando and you should be fine.
Slaking @ Choice Band
Ability: Truant
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Retaliate
- Double-Edge
- Fire Punch
- Earthquake
Next, the one and only. You know who he is. The beast. The quintessential of wallbreaking. Most of the time comming in right after the boom, he just destroys everything. With insanely high 160 base atk stat, it is stronger than m-pinsir and m-gyara, to name a few. Add to that a choice band and it becomes second only to Kyurem-B. Besides, it has decent speed (could be 110 base speed, but... oh well, better than a sharp stick in the eye). Anyways, if all that wasn't enough, it runs Retaliate. That is what the team is really built around. Make sure Slaking comes in after another mon faints and there you have it: 140 base power STAB move. Clef? Gone. Rotom? Gone. Mandibuzz? 80% to die after rocks. Actually, dfter rocks, very few mons can come in, namely, defensive lando-t (which still takes a lot after rocks, 50-60%), ferrothorn and skarmory. Tank chomp takes around 80%. Due to ferrothorn being a frequent switch in, I added Fire Punch for a solid 1hko. Heatran would also be a good switch in, but I pack EQ for that. Unless it's balloon, it goes down, granted I predict it right. Last, double edge is there if, for some reason, I can't retaliate and I still need to do reliable damage. All in all, I consider the only two real switch ins to this monster Skarmory and M-Sableye (Gengar takes a lot from fire punch, though, yep, it lives after rocks). Maybe hippon, though people usually lead hippon and take an explosion in the face). One last thing is I run Jolly to make sure I at least speed tie with base 100 speed jolly mons - i think thats important if it comes to speed tie against medicham and gardy.
Ditto @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Imposter
EVs: 248 HP / 8 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Transform
As I had already said, I paired Slaking and Ditto to prevent other mons from setting up on the turn Slaking loafs around. Not only that, but Ditto is actually a very nice mon to bring in if the opponent counters Slaking with Lando-T - intimidate, u-turn. Besides that, Ditto can be a late game cleaner, turning into, let's say, talonflame or dnite.
Charizard-Mega-X @ Charizardite X
Ability: Tough Claws
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Dragon Claw
- Dragon Dance
- Flare Blitz
- Earthquake
M-Sableye was a treat, Skarmory was a treat. I still had my mega slot and I needed a sweeper. Well, hello, Zard-X. I went max speed Jolly DD 3 attacks to make sure nothing (namely heatran and starf lando/exca) stops it but... recoil damage. It pretty much is more of a wallbreaker than a setup sweeper, but, oh well. Sacrificing himself for the team, Zard is what actually makes this team wins. In theory, every time one of my mons is taken down, Slaking comes to even the scores. Zard usually cripples 2 mons, maybe more.
Jirachi @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Serene Grace
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- U-turn
- Iron Head
- Heart Stamp
- Healing Wish
I usually hate to bring 2 scarfers, but it just made sense in this team. I was already running ditto, but i needed u-turner. It would also be pretty nice to have a way to bring back, let's say, Zard, or Ditto (or Retaliate full health Slaking). Jirachi does that and can also be a late game cleaner, thanks to scarf and to its good speed, as well as due to good old flinching. As stated, it is the glue of the team. Can't switch in on Weavile, but beats it, getting rid of a threat to the team.
Thundurus (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Nasty Plot
- Thunder Wave
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Thunderbolt
The last mon, something that can abuse prankster t-wave for a Jirachi victory. I realized my team didn't have any special attacker, nor did it have ground immunity. Thundurus solved those problems. It is really useful to twave other mons, the hp ice is nice to beat gliscor/lando/chomper and it all in all fits in his spot.
That said, suggestions are very welcome, but please keep in mind this is [1] an offensive team [2] built not only around Slaking, but designed to make it work. But yeah, I'll really appreciate suggestions such as about my zard stats and move, maybe fitting Magnezone somewhere.
Anyway, be my guest to suggest changes you believe will make this team work better and also try the team out: I guarantee "spamming" retaliate is the funniest thing.
This post was suppose to be called "Some gimmick HO - feat Slaking", but why spoil the surprise? well, now that you are here, you might as well read the whole thing instead of ignoring the team for having Slaking.
So, I like playing hyper offense and today I decided to build a team around some crazy wallbreaker: Slaking. I mean, we all know Slaking is that mon with legendary-high stats, but whose ability just makes it non viable. Well, to me, that 160 base atk plus a choice band is pretty neat, so, I went for it.
I am sure you have already thought this is shit - it was probably the 1st thing that came to your mind. Well, perhaps that is the case and i have just been lucky so far, I haven't test it enough, but it got me to ~1500ish, it's not all bad. And i swear I have so much fun with it, I mean, it is some nice creativity, to be honest.
Anyway, let's move on, shall we?
IT all began with, you guessed it, Slaking. Its major flaw is, of course, its ability, which allows the opponent to set up and sweep your team. So, I added something that would keep people from setting up:
As if Slaking wasn't gimmick/weird enough, i brought this nice PU mon, ditto. Problem solved, now we just need a team. And, for a lead, I chose what I think is a really reliable one in terms of SRing up and keeping hazards away from my side of the field:
With a good reliable lead, a wallbreaker and a revenge killer, I was lacking setup sweepers. So I just went with what's arguably the best one OU has to offer, and that also counters m-sableye:
After that, I chose something that would keep pressure up, make me gain momentum and be all in all a good late game cleaner:
Finally, I realized I lacked a special attacker. First, i thought I should go with double dance thundurus-therian, being my earth immunity, also being immune to electric damage, and being a somewhat reliable sweeper, but since i had Jirachi, I thought I might as well make use of twave (why not, right?):
Ok, now, before I explain each individual mon, this team was built around breaking walls for a nice late game sweep (and zard can often do both theses jobs really well). To do that, as I stated, I went banded Slaking, but not only that: my move of choice is Retaliate. It's a bit of a paradox. Slaking kills all momentum. So I made sure the other mons did not: my lead can just explode, Zard usually dies after taking down 2 mons, Jirachi is a great glue with both u-turn and healing wish. That all helps Slaking, which is why i chose them after all.
Without further ado, here's the team:
Azelf @ Focus Sash
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Explosion
- Taunt
- Stealth Rock
- Skill Swap
My lead is no other than this guy. The reason I chose him pretty much goes without saying. Rocks up, explode, let Slaking kills the next mon. Taunt prevents hazards n my side of the field, skill swap is to guarantee (or almost) rocks against m-sableye and m-diancie teams. Just make sure you read the opponent's team right so that you don't taunt a scarf lead lando and you should be fine.
Slaking @ Choice Band
Ability: Truant
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Retaliate
- Double-Edge
- Fire Punch
- Earthquake
Next, the one and only. You know who he is. The beast. The quintessential of wallbreaking. Most of the time comming in right after the boom, he just destroys everything. With insanely high 160 base atk stat, it is stronger than m-pinsir and m-gyara, to name a few. Add to that a choice band and it becomes second only to Kyurem-B. Besides, it has decent speed (could be 110 base speed, but... oh well, better than a sharp stick in the eye). Anyways, if all that wasn't enough, it runs Retaliate. That is what the team is really built around. Make sure Slaking comes in after another mon faints and there you have it: 140 base power STAB move. Clef? Gone. Rotom? Gone. Mandibuzz? 80% to die after rocks. Actually, dfter rocks, very few mons can come in, namely, defensive lando-t (which still takes a lot after rocks, 50-60%), ferrothorn and skarmory. Tank chomp takes around 80%. Due to ferrothorn being a frequent switch in, I added Fire Punch for a solid 1hko. Heatran would also be a good switch in, but I pack EQ for that. Unless it's balloon, it goes down, granted I predict it right. Last, double edge is there if, for some reason, I can't retaliate and I still need to do reliable damage. All in all, I consider the only two real switch ins to this monster Skarmory and M-Sableye (Gengar takes a lot from fire punch, though, yep, it lives after rocks). Maybe hippon, though people usually lead hippon and take an explosion in the face). One last thing is I run Jolly to make sure I at least speed tie with base 100 speed jolly mons - i think thats important if it comes to speed tie against medicham and gardy.
Ditto @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Imposter
EVs: 248 HP / 8 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Transform
As I had already said, I paired Slaking and Ditto to prevent other mons from setting up on the turn Slaking loafs around. Not only that, but Ditto is actually a very nice mon to bring in if the opponent counters Slaking with Lando-T - intimidate, u-turn. Besides that, Ditto can be a late game cleaner, turning into, let's say, talonflame or dnite.
Charizard-Mega-X @ Charizardite X
Ability: Tough Claws
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Dragon Claw
- Dragon Dance
- Flare Blitz
- Earthquake
M-Sableye was a treat, Skarmory was a treat. I still had my mega slot and I needed a sweeper. Well, hello, Zard-X. I went max speed Jolly DD 3 attacks to make sure nothing (namely heatran and starf lando/exca) stops it but... recoil damage. It pretty much is more of a wallbreaker than a setup sweeper, but, oh well. Sacrificing himself for the team, Zard is what actually makes this team wins. In theory, every time one of my mons is taken down, Slaking comes to even the scores. Zard usually cripples 2 mons, maybe more.
Jirachi @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Serene Grace
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- U-turn
- Iron Head
- Heart Stamp
- Healing Wish
I usually hate to bring 2 scarfers, but it just made sense in this team. I was already running ditto, but i needed u-turner. It would also be pretty nice to have a way to bring back, let's say, Zard, or Ditto (or Retaliate full health Slaking). Jirachi does that and can also be a late game cleaner, thanks to scarf and to its good speed, as well as due to good old flinching. As stated, it is the glue of the team. Can't switch in on Weavile, but beats it, getting rid of a threat to the team.
Thundurus (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Nasty Plot
- Thunder Wave
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Thunderbolt
The last mon, something that can abuse prankster t-wave for a Jirachi victory. I realized my team didn't have any special attacker, nor did it have ground immunity. Thundurus solved those problems. It is really useful to twave other mons, the hp ice is nice to beat gliscor/lando/chomper and it all in all fits in his spot.
That said, suggestions are very welcome, but please keep in mind this is [1] an offensive team [2] built not only around Slaking, but designed to make it work. But yeah, I'll really appreciate suggestions such as about my zard stats and move, maybe fitting Magnezone somewhere.
Anyway, be my guest to suggest changes you believe will make this team work better and also try the team out: I guarantee "spamming" retaliate is the funniest thing.
I am not really sure, cause Ditto can revenge pretty much anything, specially late game. It is the case with Lop, gengar, Talonflame and even medichan, the latter one being, otherwise, a problem.
By experience, i'd say Weavile puts work against the team, though it's way too frail and doesn't last long enough to be a real threat.
Also Raikou (and I believe scarf Thundurus-Therian and Manectric as well) can be very annoying, with all that switching. Speacially CM Raikou.
Finally, Keldeo often requires to play around. I would really appreciate suggestions to deal with Keldeo. The best way I can deal with that thing is trying to inflict some damage on it with Zard and going Ditto to secret sword sweep late game, cause it's hard for people to just let their keldeos being twaved.
By experience, i'd say Weavile puts work against the team, though it's way too frail and doesn't last long enough to be a real threat.
Also Raikou (and I believe scarf Thundurus-Therian and Manectric as well) can be very annoying, with all that switching. Speacially CM Raikou.
Finally, Keldeo often requires to play around. I would really appreciate suggestions to deal with Keldeo. The best way I can deal with that thing is trying to inflict some damage on it with Zard and going Ditto to secret sword sweep late game, cause it's hard for people to just let their keldeos being twaved.
I have just a few replays, but they show the team in action well enough.
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/ou-311105473 (Raikou being hard to take down, I needed to use double edge and Zard cleaned late game).
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/ou-310972501
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/ou-310974326
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/ou-310970223
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/ou-310968319
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/ou-311105473 (Raikou being hard to take down, I needed to use double edge and Zard cleaned late game).
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/ou-310972501
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/ou-310974326
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/ou-310970223
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/ou-310968319
Slaking @ Choice Band
Ability: Truant
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Retaliate
- Double-Edge
- Fire Punch
- Earthquake
Ditto @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Imposter
EVs: 248 HP / 8 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Transform
-
Azelf @ Focus Sash
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Explosion
- Taunt
- Stealth Rock
- Skill Swap
Charizard-Mega-X @ Charizardite X
Ability: Tough Claws
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Dragon Claw
- Dragon Dance
- Flare Blitz
- Earthquake
Jirachi @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Serene Grace
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- U-turn
- Iron Head
- Heart Stamp
- Healing Wish
Thundurus (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Nasty Plot
- Thunder Wave
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Thunderbolt
Ability: Truant
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Retaliate
- Double-Edge
- Fire Punch
- Earthquake
Ditto @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Imposter
EVs: 248 HP / 8 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Transform
-
Azelf @ Focus Sash
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Explosion
- Taunt
- Stealth Rock
- Skill Swap
Charizard-Mega-X @ Charizardite X
Ability: Tough Claws
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Dragon Claw
- Dragon Dance
- Flare Blitz
- Earthquake
Jirachi @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Serene Grace
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- U-turn
- Iron Head
- Heart Stamp
- Healing Wish
Thundurus (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Nasty Plot
- Thunder Wave
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Thunderbolt
Last edited:
