Proof
Intro
Some people build good teams, some people build fun teams, and some people such as myself want to make people cry. That's what I am here to do. So behold my masterpiece in my asylum room. The matchup fish of all time, and the limits of my creativity(insanity). With these Pokemon by my side, there is nothing(except well-built teams) stopping me from giving everybody a minor migraine.
Background
I was in a slump. Scratch that, I have experienced multiple slumps while making this team. You see I have a bad tendency to tilt and it got me burnt out at several points. A friend of mine named Ferri reminded me that I needed to have fun playing this game. What I came up with was the gimmick team series. The 3rd and final one was a Polteageist team, I heard veil was trending at the time and I wanted to make a veil team which ended up with this composition(Pre Roaring Moon ban)
An illusion to no longer fear
I played with the team, and it felt like something was missing. After a few iterations, the team became even more fishy, yet I was having fun. Was it cheap to spam substitute and pray for full paralysis or try to fish for 100 setup opportunities? Yes of course but one of the things I have picked up from playing ladder is to have fun, standard teams or not. If you aren't having fun then what's the point of playing? So after weeks of experimentation, I came up with an abomination none of my friends have forgiven me for. Not because it was broken, but because it was miserable to fight.
the friend killer 9000
Yet tragedy struck. My beloved Moon was banned. In her place, I had Brainrott(Hisuian-Samurott) replace her, but nothing could fill the void that was my beloved Moon. Some would say this was the end for Polteageist and friends, some said I couldn't do it without my crutch. In my mourning, I resorted to an old friend of mine, a Pokemon that offered me a false freedom known as a situational OHKO on Corviknight. Tetradrive, the Cloyster. This was it, my breaking point, and now you will all experience my grief and pain with the fury of a thousand Tera Ice Icicle spears upon your pathetic Ting-Lus.
Sets
TETRADRIVE (Cloyster) @ Never-Melt Ice
Ability: Skill Link
Tera Type: Ice
EVs: 80 HP / 252 Atk / 176 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Ice Shard
- Icicle Spear
- Rock Blast
- Shell Smash
When you think Cloyster, you are usually thinking White Herb or Focus Sash, yet I didn't like either of them. I found a particular item that makes Cloyster go from "Yeah this falls short of some kills" to "OHKOing anything that isn't a resist bar Pecharunt". The item is Never-Melt Ice. I forgot who suggested it to me but shoutout to Stallcord in general for that. Ice Shard also OHKOs Bolt with the Tera Ice and Shell Smash boost and is very much unexpected by most players but now that this RMT is out good luck with the mindgames. Rock Blast is a standard last move on Cloyster which does pretty well into emergency Moltres situations and those times you try to lead Cloy into Araq(don't do that because Surf ends you after a Shell Smash). Lastly, the only reason I even thought of Cloyster was Shell Smash. Cloyster is the secondary shell smasher on this team but it's the highlight of the RMT, so it goes first.
+2 252+ Atk Never-Melt Ice Tera Ice Cloyster Icicle Spear (5 hits) vs. 252 HP / 4 Def Ting-Lu: 960-1140 (186.7 - 221.7%) -- guaranteed OHKO
+2 252+ Atk Never-Melt Ice Tera Ice Cloyster Icicle Spear (5 hits) vs. 252 HP / 4 Def Tera Poison Ting-Lu: 480-570 (93.3 - 110.8%) -- approx. 80.1% chance to OHKO
+2 252+ Atk Never-Melt Ice Tera Ice Cloyster Icicle Spear (5 hits) vs. +1 0 HP / 0 Def Zamazenta: 350-420 (107.6 - 129.2%) -- guaranteed OHKO
+2 252+ Atk Never-Melt Ice Tera Ice Cloyster Icicle Spear (5 hits) vs. 248 HP / 252+ Def Corviknight: 410-490 (102.7 - 122.8%) -- guaranteed OHKO
+2 252+ Atk Never-Melt Ice Tera Ice Cloyster Icicle Spear (5 hits) vs. 52 HP / 0 Def Kyurem: 630-750 (155.9 - 185.6%) -- guaranteed OHKO
+2 252+ Atk Never-Melt Ice Tera Ice Cloyster Ice Shard vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Raging Bolt: 400-472 (102.3 - 120.7%) -- guaranteed OHKO
+2 252+ Atk Never-Melt Ice Tera Ice Cloyster Icicle Spear (5 hits) vs. 252 HP / 4 Def Tera Poison Ting-Lu: 480-570 (93.3 - 110.8%) -- approx. 80.1% chance to OHKO
+2 252+ Atk Never-Melt Ice Tera Ice Cloyster Icicle Spear (5 hits) vs. +1 0 HP / 0 Def Zamazenta: 350-420 (107.6 - 129.2%) -- guaranteed OHKO
+2 252+ Atk Never-Melt Ice Tera Ice Cloyster Icicle Spear (5 hits) vs. 248 HP / 252+ Def Corviknight: 410-490 (102.7 - 122.8%) -- guaranteed OHKO
+2 252+ Atk Never-Melt Ice Tera Ice Cloyster Icicle Spear (5 hits) vs. 52 HP / 0 Def Kyurem: 630-750 (155.9 - 185.6%) -- guaranteed OHKO
+2 252+ Atk Never-Melt Ice Tera Ice Cloyster Ice Shard vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Raging Bolt: 400-472 (102.3 - 120.7%) -- guaranteed OHKO
Perish in Frost (Ninetales-Alola) @ Light Clay
Ability: Snow Warning
Tera Type: Water
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Aurora Veil
- Encore
- Freeze-Dry
- Moonblast
A standard Atales set but wait is that max Special Attack? Yes, indeed it is max Special Attack which wasn't based on calcs and more on the fact that I am a very aggressive user of Atales. Doing more damage in general for me is nice because I play a dumb mind game of "You think I will mindlessly set up Aurora Veil but in fact, I will mindlessly attack you this turn". Don't do that unless you love the idea of losing or think you're slick, stick to the standard set. I am just posting this one out of obligation because I used it and it's what I like.
An elaboration on why veil in general works here
Veil as a playstyle enables turns for setup sweepers, thus it's the perfect team style to put 2 shell smashers on. Compared to webs, Veil emphasizes turns to setup while Webs emphasize power which Polteageist and Cloyster lack without turns to setup. This is why a lot of Pokemon want to cut down veil turns as much as possible and assume Atales will greed an Aurora Veil. This is the biggest reason I like Max Special Attack Atales in general because of this thought
Bibingka (Polteageist) @ White Herb
Ability: Cursed Body
Tera Type: Fighting
EVs: 252 HP / 112 Def / 144 Spe
Bold Nature
- Shell Smash
- Shadow Ball
- Strength Sap
- Tera Blast
That link in his name is one of my favorite songs. Speaking of my favorite things, Polteageist. I saw KMpot being run in UU and I wanted a slice of that action. If you were observant this isn't the same set I originally had. This is because I realized that full bulk is extremely annoying. Polteageist can casually 1v1 Dnite, Zama, and even Kingambit in endgame scenarios with Strength Sap, Bulk, Cursed Body, and White Herb. Quackborg and I have been running this general set for months and it's been one of our favorites. Aurora Veil paired with this set can easily cheese a majority of teams when played well and the only thing it can't beat in any given scenario is Clodsire. Strength Sap Polteageist is the future and while it sounds insane, give this set a try, you will have a good time with it.
NEVERSTOP (Ogerpon-Wellspring) (F) @ Wellspring Mask
Ability: Water Absorb
Tera Type: Water
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Ivy Cudgel
- Power Whip
- Play Rough
This is the part where the teams get boring. Everybody is experimenting with Pon these days and while I think those sets are cool, this to me is Pon's best HO set. Simple, 3 attacks+SD, and a strong Bonk Stick to remind the tier that this thing is still broken. Play Rough is good because most Dragons think they wall you but in reality they don't and die horribly. Power Whip is a much needed nuke especially because it OHKOs opposing Ogerpon. It's also my key to stall matchups and losing it can make the game unwinnable if they have Clodsire. Welcome to Hyper Offense. That's just how it is sometimes.
Tread Lightly (Iron Treads) @ Booster Energy
Ability: Quark Drive
Tera Type: Ghost
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Steel Beam
- Earth Power
- Rapid Spin
Dying hurts, at least that's what most Pokemon think, except Iron Treads. Iron Treads gets exploited by half the tier when it uses physical sets at least on Hyper Offense. Steel Beam ending its short life expectancy also happens to combo with the many setup sweepers on this team and make the Glimm lead easier for the team. Earth power helps with the Glimm matchup and combos with Steel Beam to destroy Tusk. Stealth Rocks is mandatory for every Treads set. The speed tier is good too because it outspeeds Zama, Darkrai, and Deoxys along with Scarf/Speed Boosted Gholdengo, Tusk, and Dragonite.
Dniteial (Dragonite) @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Multiscale
Tera Type: Normal
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Earthquake
- Extreme Speed
- Ice Spinner/Fire Punch
Originally named JUSTGO to pair with Ogerpon as a funny Guilty Gear reference, a similar line of logic of why I chose this set emerged when making this team. This is Dnite's best set on HO, well debatably, but I am not putting 3 Tera Hogs on 1 team, so 2 1/2 is good enough. Dragonite patches up this team quite nicely. It's bulky, it has a better priority move, and its coverage is good what else could you want? An option I liked in the Moon version of this team but dropped in this new one was Fire Punch to anti-lead Scizor. It's still a good option if you want to ease the Scizor matchup but Ice Spinner is generally better. Espeed saves you when you mess up and Earthquake is a good strong move. Not much else to say on this one.
Bad Matchups
Get out of my head, Get out of my head, Get out of my head. All hail Cinderblight Ganon, Scourage of Veil Teams. Do I even need to say more about this thing, it destroys veil so hard. Kill it asap or setup with Tea or Cloy before it starts doing the stupid pivot dance it does
Lumping this too together since they are both fat special walls that will annoy the entire team whip chip damage. Position Ogerpon to the best of your abilities and kill them before trying a sweep
They can usually tank a +2 Shadow Ball from Polteageist and Cloyster is crippled when statused at all, same idea as Ting-Lu and Clodsire. Playing Ogerpon well and you can somewhat overcome this matchup
The entire tier
I am half joking with this but between the Booster Energy Pokemon, the assorted bulky waters that can sometimes be a pain, Sticky Web, or just Iron Moth getting funny with the dances, or Glowking. Sometimes you have a bad day with Pokemon you didn't have a problem with before and this sounds obvious but just take a breather and think. I can't enumerate every single bad matchup because this team is flawed to its core but there's always a way out, you just have to find it.
Replays
Enough gloom and doom have some funny replays, sitback and enjoy the sweeps(might add more at some point but here's the initial batch of replays)
Conclusion
Have fun I suppose, it's not that deep really. This team was conceived because I wanted to play a tier I love talking about with a team that I genuinely enjoy. I do have a few people to thank though
Heatranator mcribs 0ddish0ne for being my biggest supporters
Stallcord Webscord and HPPL
pinkstork for putting up with my insanity
and probably a lot more people.
Thank you and have a good day
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