Team Link Here
Introduction
Psyspam has always been a favorite archetype of mine, and I have been building psyspam teams since July. However, all psyspam teams I made struggled with the combination of Incineroar and Rillaboom. I wanted a Pokemon that discouraged Incineroar from switching in and could OHKO Rillaboom, and looked closer into the list of Pokemon with Defiant, Guard Dog, and Competitive. Kingambit shared weaknesses with Crown and was too slow, Okidogi lacked the immediate explosive power, and Wigglytuff was Wigglytuff. However, I found the mon that was seemingly tailor-made for my specific conditions, a gem among the pile of regular old rocks. It wasn’t perfect, but it certainly seemed good enough:
Galaran Zapdos
Powerful, consistent flying STAB is amazing in this format. Flying resists are few and far between, and they don’t do too well into the rest of my team. Iron Crown wards off enemy Diancie and Glimmora, and Kingambit has to tera to avoid the 4x super effective close combat, and Regidrago discourages Raging Bolt from switching in or staying in.
Note: this is my first RMT and first time ranked above top 10, I still feel inexperienced so please lmk any feedback yall have. There might also be formatting issues bc I copypasted everything from a google docs I did on a plane and might have missed something lol
Zapdos Galar - The Bishop
Zapdos-Galar @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Defiant
Tera Type: Ghost
EVs: 48 HP / 208 Atk / 20 SpD / 232 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Close Combat
- Brave Bird
- Knock Off
- U-turn
I believe Galaran Zapdos would be excellent on this specific team, despite its low usage and some awkward matchups. Galaran Zapdos was chosen because it beat specifically the core of Incineroar, Rillaboom, and Ogerpon-W, as well as Choice Scarf Snarl Chi-Yu, both otherwise awful matchups for most Psyspam variants. Incineroar can switch in on expanding force and chunk Iron Crown. Rillaboom could remove Indeedee’s terrain, and with an assault vest, Bleakwind Storm from Tornadus just wasn’t enough to stop it, and a Terastallized Ogerpon-W can take an Expanding Force before firing back a powerful Ivy Cudgel. Here is where Galaran Zapdos comes in: Gapdos discourages Incineroar from switching in and Chi-Yu from freely spamming Snarls through its ability Defiant, forcing opponents to either let expanding force tear holes through their team or turn my Gapdos into a terrifying sweeper.
Close Combat and Brave Bird are excellent STABs that hit almost the entire format for neutral, Knock Off threatens Gholdengo, and U-turn is used to fast pivot while chunking Rillaboom, Ogerpon-W, and Chien-Pao. A choice scarf allows Gapdos to outspeed all of the above threats and most of the metagame, and the given EV spread survives an unboosted Raging Bolt Thunderclap and Tornadus Spread Bleakwind Storm, OHKOs Rillaboom with Brave Bird, and outspeeds modest Choice Scarf Chi-Yu while still underspeeding Iron Crown. Tera Ghost allows Gapdos to become immune to fake out in a pinch, and removes its weaknesses to Raging Bolt Thunderclap, Tornadus Bleakwind Storm, and Chien-Pao Ice Spinner.
Note: for the majority of my ladder run, I had used an adamant 252/4/252 spread, but max attack investment didn't change many important damage calcs, and in hindsight, always outspeeding modest Scarf Chi-Yu was more important than the extra power given by an adamant nature.
Relevant Calcs:
- 252 SpA Tornadus Bleakwind Storm vs. 48 HP / 20 SpD Zapdos-Galar: 254-300 (76.2 - 90%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
- 208 Atk Zapdos-Galar Brave Bird vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Rillaboom: 404-476 (100 - 117.8%) -- guaranteed OHKO
- 252+ SpA Raging Bolt Thunderclap vs. 48 HP / 20 SpD Zapdos-Galar: 282-332 (84.6 - 99.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
- 208 Atk Zapdos-Galar Brave Bird vs. 200 HP / 0 Def Ogerpon-Wellspring: 428-506 (121.9 - 144.1%) -- guaranteed OHKO
Iron Crown @ Booster Energy
Ability: Quark Drive
Tera Type: Psychic
EVs: 52 HP / 32 Def / 172 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 20 Atk
- Tachyon Cutter
- Expanding Force
- Calm Mind
- Protect
Three words: Expanding Force Bot. Expanding Force hits a decent chunk of the metagame for neutral, and this often translates into a KO with a boost or two. Tachyon Cutter is also an excellent move, being able to OHKO many steel-weak Pokemon through Focus Sash, notably Chien-Pao. Calm Mind helps Iron Crown set up, and even at just +1, Expanding Force begins to pick up OHKOs, and with double redirection, finding a turn to use Calm Mind is definitely doable. Protect is there to protect Crown while a partner Indeedee, Gapdos, or Tornadus switches in to provide redirection, pin down an opponent, or set speed control, respectively. A Speed Booster Energy allows Iron Crown to outspeed almost the entire metagame and sweep with Expanding Force, and the given EV spread survives Incineroar Flare Blitz and Chien-Pao Sucker Punch. Tera Psychic doubles down on the psyspam element of the team while removing Crown’s Weakness to Ogerpon-H and Landorus.
Note: the EV spread is the same as the "Fast Calm Mind Sweeper" spread
Relevant Calcs:
- 0 Atk Incineroar Flare Blitz vs. 52 HP / 32 Def Iron Crown: 282-332 (84.4 - 99.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
- 252 Atk Sword of Ruin Chien-Pao Sucker Punch vs. 52 HP / 32 Def Iron Crown: 278-330 (83.2 - 98.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
- +1 172 SpA Tera Psychic Iron Crown Expanding Force (120 BP) vs. 0 HP / 208 SpD Assault Vest Iron Hands in Psychic Terrain: 480-568 (106.9 - 126.5%) -- guaranteed OHKO
- +1 172 SpA Tera Psychic Iron Crown Expanding Force (120 BP) vs. 200 HP / 0 SpD Ogerpon-Wellspring in Psychic Terrain: 356-420 (101.4 - 119.6%) -- guaranteed OHKO
- +1 172 SpA Iron Crown Expanding Force (120 BP) vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Tornadus in Psychic Terrain: 310-366 (103.6 - 122.4%) -- guaranteed OHKO
Indeedee-F @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Psychic Surge
Tera Type: Fairy
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 1 Spe
- Dazzling Gleam
- Follow Me
- Helping Hand
- Trick Room
Iron Crown’s partner in crime, Indeedee is the perfect enabler for Crown to get going fast. Psychic surge blocks priority moves, notably Chien-Pao’s sucker punch, but also Dragonite’s extreme speed and Raging Bolt’s thunderclap. Psychic Surge turns Crown into a terrifying sweeper and protects Regidrago from Fake Outs, Sucker Punches, Ice Shards, and Thunderclaps.
Follow Me buys time for Crown to set up Calm Minds and the rest of the team to attack. Regidrago in particular benefits immensely from redirection as it prefers to be at full health to be able to spam its powerful Dragon Energies. Helping Hand takes Crown, Regidrago, and Zapdos’s damage through the roof, scoring many important KOs. Dazzling Gleam breaks the Focus Sashes commonly held by Sneasler and Chien-Pao, and Trick Room forces opposing trick room teams into a guessing game and turns the tables on opposing speed control. Indeedee holds the Rocky Helmet item to turn Follow Me into an offensive play in the face of the aforementioned Sneasler and Chien-Pao, and 1 speed IV allows Indeedee to set psychic terrain after most Rillaboom while still outspeeding the Ogerpons in Tailwind, and the EV spread is focused on maximising physical bulk. A tera type of Fairy provides an immunity to dragon moves from Regidrago and Raging Bolt, and a resistance to Chi-Yu Dark Pulse.
Relevant Calcs:
- not much offensively shes a helping hand follow me bot
- 252 Atk Hearthflame Mask Ogerpon-Hearthflame Wood Hammer vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Indeedee-F in Grassy Terrain: 271-321 (78.7 - 93.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Grassy Terrain recovery
- 220 Atk Roaring Moon Knock Off (97.5 BP) vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Indeedee-F: 306-362 (88.9 - 105.2%) -- 31.3% chance to OHKO
Regidrago @ Dragon Fang
Ability: Dragon's Maw
Tera Type: Steel
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Dragon Energy
- Draco Meteor
- Earth Power
- Protect
Regidrago is one of, if not the most terrifying wallbreakers in the tier, capable of clearing the opposing side of the field or forcing early teras with the appropriate redirection and speed control. Regidrago had excellent synergy with Iron Crown and Indeedee, which threaten the fairies and tera fairies that Regidrago struggles with and protect Regidrago from attacks, respectively, and Psychic Terrain combined with speed control courtesy of Tornadus forces opponents to either Protect, Tera, or take a full power Dragon Energy to the face.
Dragon Energy is too good to think about dropping, and Draco Meteor provides a single-target nuke that bypasses wide guard and makes Regidrago a threat even at low HP. Earth Power is very situational, as it does not benefit from STAB, Dragon’s Maw, or the held item, only narrowly outpacing not very effective Draco Meteor, but allows Regidrago threaten Gholdengo, Incineroar and Kingambit even at low health without a special attack drop. The Dragon Fang held item provides a boost to dragon-type moves without recoil or choice locking and the EV spread is standard, with a modest nature to make the most value out of Dragon’s Maw. The Steel tera type turns all of Regidrago's weaknesses into resistances.
Relevant Calcs:
- 252+ SpA Draco Plate Dragon's Maw Regidrago Dragon Energy (150 BP) vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Ogerpon-Hearthflame: 313-369 (103.6 - 122.1%) -- guaranteed OHKO
- 252+ SpA Draco Plate Dragon's Maw Regidrago Dragon Energy (150 BP) vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Landorus: 364-429 (114.1 - 134.4%) -- guaranteed OHKO
- 252+ SpA Draco Plate Dragon's Maw Regidrago Dragon Energy (150 BP) vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Tornadus: 364-429 (100.5 - 118.5%) -- guaranteed OHKO
- 252+ SpA Draco Plate Dragon's Maw Regidrago Helping Hand Dragon Energy (150 BP) vs. 252 HP / 160+ SpD Incineroar: 381-448 (96.7 - 113.7%) -- 81.3% chance to OHKO
- 252+ SpA Draco Plate Dragon's Maw Regidrago Helping Hand Dragon Energy (150 BP) vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Assault Vest Rillaboom: 403-475 (99.7 - 117.5%) -- 93.8% chance to OHKO
- 252+ SpA Draco Plate Dragon's Maw Regidrago Helping Hand Dragon Energy (150 BP) vs. 248 HP / 24 SpD Gholdengo: 238-281 (63.1 - 74.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
- 252+ SpA Draco Plate Dragon's Maw Regidrago Helping Hand Dragon Energy (150 BP) vs. 0 HP / 208 SpD Assault Vest Iron Hands: 318-375 (70.8 - 83.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
Tornadus @ Focus Sash
Ability: Prankster
Tera Type: Steel
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Bleakwind Storm
- Tailwind
- Rain Dance
- Protect
Speed control is invaluable in the Doubles OU metagame, and despite not being one of the big heavy hitters muscling their way through entire teams, it is invaluable to enabling the powerful sweepers. Lose your Tornadus while the opponent still has theirs, and you have just lost the game.
Prankster Tailwind is the best form of speed control, and Tornadus was the only option since a Whimsicott in Psychic Terrain is dead weight (unless you’re a certain someone using modest Life Orb Tera Fairy Whimsicott). Bleakwind Storm is an excellent flying STAB 80% of the time, threatening the plethora of Grass-Types that roam the tier, and Rain Dance turns Tornadus into an offensive threat now that its Bleakwind Storms can no longer miss, as well as powering up Ogerpon-W, removing Iron Crown’s fire weakness, and making the sunroom matchup actually playable. Protect allows Tornadus to stall tailwind and Trick Room turns and preserve itself for a late-game tailwind sweep. A Focus Sash allows Tornadus to live any one attack, and a tera type of Steel allows it to resist Chien-Pao Ice Spinner and remain neutral to Raging Bolt Thunderclap, though I have never terastallized Tornadus while on ladder. The EV spread allows it to outspeed opposing Ogerpons and threaten them with a big Bleakwind Storm.
Note that in some older replays, I used Icy Wind over Rain Dance. This increases your hold on speed control but significantly worsens your sunroom and sand matchups.
Relevant Calcs:
- 0 SpA Tornadus Helping Hand Bleakwind Storm vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Ogerpon-Hearthflame: 306-360 (101.3 - 119.2%) -- guaranteed OHKO
- not much else lol tailwind bot
Ogerpon-Wellspring (F) @ Wellspring Mask
Ability: Water Absorb
Tera Type: Water
EVs: 200 HP / 124 Atk / 184 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Ivy Cudgel
- Horn Leech
- Follow Me
- Spiky Shield
Ogerpon-W is an amazing attacker with the option of redirection support. It is a very splashable Pokemon generally and synergizes well with the rest of the team.
Ivy Cudgel is an excellent move and Horn Leech hits opposing water-types. Follow Me enables Iron Crown to set up a Calm Mind or Regidrago to use Dragon Energy at full power, and Spiky Shield is a better Protect that also breaks the focus sashes of Chien-Pao and Sneasler. The given EV spread is standard, outspeeding all Landorus and surviving Tera Stellar Chien-Pao Icicle Crash. Ogerpon-W has particularly good synergy with Galaran Zapdos as it wards off intimidators switching in and threatens the Grass-Types that wall Ogerpon, who redirects Ice Spinners and Thunderclaps meant for Gapdos.
Note: I might adjust the EV spread in the future to survive Landorus Sludge Bomb or something. Also in some older replays this was an Ogerpon-Hearthflame with the Cudgel Bonk set, but lacking water resists felt bad so I switched to Wellspring.
Relevant Calcs:
124 Atk Wellspring Mask Ogerpon-Wellspring Ivy Cudgel vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Landorus: 366-432 (114.7 - 135.4%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252 SpA Life Orb Sheer Force Landorus Sludge Bomb vs. 200 HP / 0 SpD Ogerpon-Wellspring: 315-372 (89.7 - 105.9%) -- 37.5% chance to OHKO
252+ SpA Charcoal Tera Fire Torkoal Eruption (150 BP) vs. +1 200 HP / 0 SpD Tera Water Ogerpon-Wellspring-Tera in Sun: 125-148 (35.6 - 42.1%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
220+ SpA Life Orb Hatterene Expanding Force (120 BP) vs. +1 200 HP / 0 SpD Tera Water Ogerpon-Wellspring-Tera in Psychic Terrain: 188-224 (53.5 - 63.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
Bad Matchups: (In order of least bad to nightmare)
- Wide Guard: Wide Guard is annoying as it shuts down Crown and Regidrago's most powerful damaging options and Tornadus's only damaging option.
Snow: Gapdos, Regidrago, and Torn are all in the "gets fried by av tera kyurem" camp. Crown, RD torn, and Wellspring make the matchup playable tho
Booster Energy Raging Bolt: The threat of Thunderclap forces Gapdos to tera or switch out, and because Gapdos is a flying type, it does not benefit from Psychic Terrain.
Grassy Seed Gholdengo: Gapdos Knock Off does nothing, and Ivy Cudgel is a lot less effective. The only special moves that hit it for neutral is Regidrago’s weak Earth Power.
Ursaluna + Cresselia: The most problematic variant of hardroom for my team, Ursaluna and Cresselia don't require weather or terrain, and I am not using any of the fake out pokemon that stop the lunar duo.
Throat Chop / Crunch + Ice Shard Chien-Pao: This specific Chien-Pao set OHKOs every single mon on my team aside from Ogerpon, and can autowin with speed control if my redirectors are dead. Ice Shard does huge damage to Tornadus, Zapdos, and Regidrago, and the former two cannot be protected by psychic terrain.
Laddering:
Night of the 1799s: on Christmas Day 2025, I reached 1799 3 times and fell back down after the first 2 times, finally breaking 1800 for the first time in quite a while.
Night of the Great Tilt: I don’t know if it was skill issue, running into the most random stuff that countered my game plan or just missing all of my moves but on that one day I lost 200 ELO and was barely hanging on to the top 100 on ladder. I gained some ELO back, but it’s nowhere near enough to get back to my peak, landing me somewhere around the top 40 currently.
Some Replays: (A lot of them were losses :p)
Vs. CM Bolt Tspikes (L)
Vs. Gouging Fire + Ting Lu (W)
Vs. Life Orb Whimsicott Tailroom (W)
Vs. CM Bolt Rain (L)
Vs. Typhlosion-H Sun (W)
Proof of Peak:
View attachment 796944
Conclusion
I hope to have shown a bit of Galaran Zapdos's true potential so a better player could maybe take it much higher into the Doubles OU ladder. #3 is my current ladder peak and a jump from my previous peak of #16, and with 2026 around the corner, I'm not sure if I want to keep using this team or try to take something else to the top of the ladder. Happy New Year and best wishes for 2026!
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