Polteageist is often known as the face of cheese, often either being useless or winning on preview, being ragebait-inducing to lose to. Thus, after my good friend Summer Hater got 3 wins during Natdex last chance against well-known tour players 1yr and Ryuji with it, we decided to make a new and improved Polteageist team.
Polteageist is well-known as a threat in SV OU psyspam with focus sash, but strength sap + white herb is not to be underestimated. Having strength sap means it can often get past many physical attackers, not die to priority, live hits from dark types when they are at -1 attack, etc. Through the spamming of shadow ball and strength sap Polteageist can often get past many dark types like
, 
, and even 
if it is the last Mon and you can't just get whirlwind-ed out. Many times you will face opposing teams that just get 6-0ed by the teapot and you just need to find a good setup opportunity to win the game.So we set out to make an optimal Polteageist screens HO that can reach #1 on the NDOU ladder and managed to exceed all expectations.
So originally the idea was to pair it with Volcarona and Mega-Diancie. Mega Diancie would deny entry hazards for Volcarona who would then help to chip down the dark types. However, while that team had some good matchups, it was not a consistent matchup fish, barely getting past 1800 on the ladder
It was decided that screens HO was probably a better approach as it allowed Polteageist more setup opportunities. Zamazenta was preferable as the screens setter as it doesnt get counter-led by Kingambit unlike Grimmsnarl.
After running power trip Corviknight on the ladder for a while, I realized it was much better than originally anticipated, being able to get past many special attackers that are able to hit it super effectively such as Tapu Koko, Zapdos, Raging Bolt, and even ZARD-Y with a good light screen timing. The name of the game here is to add as many cheesers/sweepers that can get past as diverse a set of counters as possible, and thus Summerhater also added a Cloyster as with substitute and groundium Z as it can get past many of its supposed checks in Kingambit, Alomomola, Gholdengo and even Melmetal
Afterwards, the team still really struggled to break fat teams, as well as on set up on more offensive teams. Thus, a terrain extender Tapu Fini was added for status immunity which helped against stall teams and Mega Altaria was added as it could set up on rain teams/Zard Y with its awesome defensive typing
Zamazenta @ Light Clay
Ability: Dauntless Shield
Tera Type: Fighting
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Light Screen
- Reflect
- Body Press
- Roar
So this is just your standard Zamazenta screens set, you have dual screens, body press and roar. You could run CC over body press if you want to, but I personally don’t like the def and spdef drop from it and didn’t really find it necessary on this team. Zamazenta shouldn’t always be your lead Mon, especially if your opponent has an annoying counter lead like AV Mola with knock. If the opponent has no strong special attackers that they look likely to lead with, you can try leading with Cloyster to get that immediate smash on a physical attacker or Tapu Fini to prevent status
Polteageist @ White Herb
Ability: Cursed Body
Tera Type: Ghost
EVs: 224 Def / 76 SpA / 208 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Shell Smash
- Shadow Ball
- Stored Power
- Strength Sap
Polteageist, the star of the team! 224 def EVs allows it to live a scarfed surging strokes from Urshifu after rocks, which is the bane of screens HO teams. 208 Spe EVs with a timid nature allows it to hit 250 speed, outspeeding Garchomp at +1 speed. 76 EVs in Special Attack give it a more than decent odds of OHKOing SD mons that can stop its sweep like SD Waterpon and SD Lando. If the opponent has no priority left and you can get 2 shell smashes up, a +4 260 BP resisted stored power does more than a neutral shadow ball and will OHKO just about every Mon, including Dnite through its Multiscale and Terapagos through its Tera Shell. Polteageist is also the primary stall-breaker of the team, utilizing Tapu Fini's misty terrain to smash up to +6 in front of Stallmons such as Clodsire, Chansey and Blissey. 224 Def EVs lets it live hits at -1 atk from many dark types, clicking strength sap until they can no longer KO you, followed by shadow ball. It can also get past most Mega-Lopunny through repeated healing via strength sap.
-1 252 Atk Sharpness Samurott-Hisui Ceaseless Edge vs. 0 HP / 224 Def Polteageist: 200-236 (76.6 - 90.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
+2 76 SpA Polteageist Shadow Ball vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Samurott-Hisui: 165-195 (51.4 - 60.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
-1 252 Atk Weavile Knock Off vs. 0 HP / 224 Def Polteageist: 144-170 (55.1 - 65.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
-1 252 Atk Choice Band Weavile Knock Off vs. 0 HP / 224 Def Polteageist: 216-254 (82.7 - 97.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
+2 76 SpA Polteageist Shadow Ball vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Weavile: 134-158 (47.6 - 56.2%) -- 84% chance to 2HKO
-1 252+ Atk Tyranitar-Mega Knock Off vs. 0 HP / 224 Def Polteageist: 198-234 (75.8 - 89.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after sandstorm damage
+2 76 SpA Polteageist Shadow Ball vs. 92 HP / 0 SpD Tyranitar-Mega in Sand: 67-79 (18.4 - 21.7%) -- possible 5HKO
(Weavile requires careful playing around as it carries SD if its not banded and Kingambit does still put a hard stop to Polteageist almost all the time)
Corviknight @ Maranga Berry
Ability: Pressure
Tera Type: Flying
EVs: 216 HP / 48 Atk / 220 SpD / 24 Spe
Careful Nature
- Bulk Up
- Agility
- Roost
- Power Trip
Our second cheesy sweeper comes in, one that is reliant on your opponent not having taunt, haze or encore (well it can get past encore sometimes). But yet it can be surprisingly potent and hard to take down, even via super-effective special attacks. 24 Speed EVs allow it to outspeed the base 110 speed tier at +1 speed. 48 Attack EVs allow it to 2HKO Zard-Y with power trip after one agility and bulk up (with its maranga berry activated). This combined with sun only lasting 4 turns allows it to sweep past Zard-Y with a well timed light-screen. Alternatively zard-Y is also OHKOed after agility and 3 bulk ups.
252 SpA Charizard-Mega-Y Weather Ball (100 BP Fire) vs. +1 216 HP / 220+ SpD Corviknight in Sun through Light Screen: 157-186 (40.1 - 47.5%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
+1 48 Atk Corviknight Power Trip (120 BP) vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Charizard-Mega-Y: 148-175 (49.8 - 58.9%) -- 99.6% chance to 2HKO
+3 48 Atk Corviknight Power Trip (200 BP) vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Charizard-Mega-Y: 412-485 (138.7 - 163.2%) -- guaranteed OHKO
The remaining EVs are then split between Spdef and HP, with a careful nature to boost its special defense stat.
Due to the well-known mechanic that clicking Roost removes your Flying typing until the end of the turn, it is crucial to set up Agility enough times to outspeed Electric types while underspeeding Fighting types.
You could also go with mirror armor on Corviknight over pressure. I preferred pressure to help stall out many moves with low PP, but it only dubiously came into use twice across more than thirty games, so its up to you.
Cloyster @ Groundium Z
Ability: Skill Link
Tera Type: Water
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Shell Smash
- Icicle Spear
- Drill Run
- Substitute
Our third cheese sweeper and Z-Move user, Cloyster. Substitute + Groundium Z allows it to overcome many of its supposed checks and counters in toxic Mola, Raging Bolt, and even steel types such as Kingambit, Gholdengo and Melmetal
+2 252+ Atk Cloyster Tectonic Rage (160 BP) vs. 220 HP / 0 Def Melmetal: 452-532 (96.9 - 114.1%) -- 81.3% chance to OHKO
Kingambit and Gholdengo obviously die to that too. Cloyster often has a difficult time finding a good setup opportunity, given its terrible special defense as well as questionable defensive typing, thus its best to just hard switch Cloyster in on a physical attacker or a Lando/Great tusk clicking stealth rocks if possible. If a Cloyster lead can't be significantly punished by a Tapu-Lele or some other similar special attacker forcing serious damage on a team member, it can be a good idea to try leading off with Cloyster into Mola or some other physical attacker it can set up in front of. Cloyster can also sweep right past Ferrothorn and Corviknight with the aid of reflect halving the damage it receives from body press and power whip.
Tapu Fini @ Terrain Extender
Ability: Misty Surge
Tera Type: Water
EVs: 248 HP / 144 SpA / 116 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Calm Mind
- Taunt
- Stored Power
- Draining Kiss
Tapu-Fini was originally envisioned as both a support Mon and a sweeper, but without weakness policy or leftovers it often finds itself unable to fulfill its latter role, except against really fat teams with mons such as Toxapex and Ting-Lu. Tapu-Fini mostly plays a defensive role on this team, protecting its team members from status and enabling Mega Altaria to sweep past Mons such as toxic Mola and Slowbro. Max HP investment is made to allow it to live as many hits as possible, and originally it was given only 88 speed EVs to outspeed 0 speed Gliscor, but that was bumped up to 116 speed EVs to speed creep the other Mons around that speed range (such as bulky Ghold) after Occular's suggestion. The remaining EVs were put in Special Attack and it was given a modest nature to allow it to heal more from draining kiss and break past fat teams better.
Altaria-Mega @ Altarianite
Ability: Natural Cure
Happiness: 0
Tera Type: Dragon
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Frustration
- Earthquake
- Roost
Our final sweeper and match-up fisher, Mega Altaria, helps with the offense and weather matchups (rain and Zard-Y), while also serving a defensive role for the team against threats such as nasty plot Gholdengo, Kingambit and Waterpon. Mega Altaria is hard walled by some mons such as IDBP Corviknight and Mega-Scizor, but can be really good in the right match-ups. Mega Altaria also happens to be one of the dragon dance sweepers that is grounded and can thus benefit from misty terrain preventing status. I assume dragon dance Mega Altaria is often disparaged due to its inconsistency, as other dragon dance Mons such as Dragonite or Mega Charizard X are often better at consistently providing value, but an inconsistent sweeper fishing for other matchups is exactly what the team needs, as the other setup sweepers are mostly all or nothing sweepers. Thus Mega Altaria fits the final slot well as it can often perform full team sweeps by itself as compared to Mega Charizard X which would get worn down by flare blitz recoil or Dragonite which has a much worse defensive typing as well as not benefiting from misty terrain. Frustration also helps with the ditto matchup, if they happen not to be running minimum happiness.
Wins:
Corviknight gets past Zard Y + Raging Bolt in the endgame
Corviknight sweep against Kyurem Scizor balance
Corviknight sweep against weird Mega Tyranitar/Alolan Ninetails Offense
Tough matchup against dual taunt sample team (Bailed by Cloyster critical hit)
Tough matchup against Semistall Team with Zard-Y
Cloyster sweep against Glowking Mola balance
Cloyster sweep against Zard-Y Ting Lu balance
Corviknight sweep against another Mola Glowking balance
Corviknight gets past and forces trade on encore Mega-Banette, followed by Polteageist sweep
Cloyster breaks past Untrue_reality's Mega-Venusaur balance
No idea why the opponent risked two mons to deal with Cloyster if they had a physdef Glowking, but Polteageist sweep enabled by Cloyster
Got lucky with Polteageist living a knock-off into bullet punch (its about a a 50/50) but this shows the power of strength sap Polteageist
Got lucky with the lack of full paras but this shows Corviknight getting past Tapu Koko + Cinderace
Mega Altaria does its job against a Zard-Y team
Victory against Gholdengo stall with Polteageist as the wallbreaker
Polteageist sweeps past Weavile
I get bailed by two Cloyster crits after throwing with the Mega Altaria against Corviknight. Also shows why you should never forfeit
Mega-Altaria gets past Chaos King
The one Tapu Fini sweep against a fat team
Losses:
Tough matchup against Kingambit semistall, made a few misplays i guess
Threw against banded Shifu because (I decided to risk it because I was scared of the Kartana)
Misplayed against Chaos King and lost
Speedy nasty plot Ghold is just a massive threat to the team, you have to go Corviknight ASAP
Corviknight gets past Zard Y + Raging Bolt in the endgame
Corviknight sweep against Kyurem Scizor balance
Corviknight sweep against weird Mega Tyranitar/Alolan Ninetails Offense
Tough matchup against dual taunt sample team (Bailed by Cloyster critical hit)
Tough matchup against Semistall Team with Zard-Y
Cloyster sweep against Glowking Mola balance
Cloyster sweep against Zard-Y Ting Lu balance
Corviknight sweep against another Mola Glowking balance
Corviknight gets past and forces trade on encore Mega-Banette, followed by Polteageist sweep
Cloyster breaks past Untrue_reality's Mega-Venusaur balance
No idea why the opponent risked two mons to deal with Cloyster if they had a physdef Glowking, but Polteageist sweep enabled by Cloyster
Got lucky with Polteageist living a knock-off into bullet punch (its about a a 50/50) but this shows the power of strength sap Polteageist
Got lucky with the lack of full paras but this shows Corviknight getting past Tapu Koko + Cinderace
Mega Altaria does its job against a Zard-Y team
Victory against Gholdengo stall with Polteageist as the wallbreaker
Polteageist sweeps past Weavile
I get bailed by two Cloyster crits after throwing with the Mega Altaria against Corviknight. Also shows why you should never forfeit
Mega-Altaria gets past Chaos King
The one Tapu Fini sweep against a fat team
Losses:
Tough matchup against Kingambit semistall, made a few misplays i guess
Threw against banded Shifu because (I decided to risk it because I was scared of the Kartana)
Misplayed against Chaos King and lost
Speedy nasty plot Ghold is just a massive threat to the team, you have to go Corviknight ASAP
While these two Mons aren't much of a threat by themselves, it is hard for the setup sweepers to set-up in front of them, with only Corviknight and Mega Altaria able to set up on Mega Diancie and Mega Charizard Y respectively, and if those mons can sweep the rest of the team for whatever reason, it can be awkward to force them out. They can also force some damage on critical support mons/require the sacking of other mons to pivot.
This guy can stop Polteageist with swords dance and bullet punch, as well as walling Mega Altaria and Cloyster. This guy can potentially stop 3/4 of the team's sweepers, and is the biggest common threat to the team. The best bet is to try to chip it down/KO it with Cloyster's Tectonic Rage, or position Polteageist carefully to sweep past it
Fast nasty plot Gholdengo, especially with ghostium Z, can threaten to sweep past the entire team. Thankfully most Gholdengo i have ran into seem to be running a more bulky set/a twave set.
These mons (and others) can be annoying if they happen to carry taunt, but they can be played around as Cloyster and Mega-Altaria can both do significant damage to them without any set-up
These guys can be really annoying to deal with if they carry defog. The best bet is to try setting up in front of them without screens/forcing them out. Mega Altaria can start setting up dragon dances in front of them without mega evolving to keep natural cure. Polteageist can set up in front of them but you have to bring it in on a move that's not defog as defog will remove it's white herb. Cloyster can threaten them out with icicle spear/rock blast (if they dont know the Cloyster lacks rock blast). Corviknight can try setting up in front of Zapdos and can get past Zapdos without screens up if you don't get hit with full paralysis on a few critical turns.
Ghostium Z ceruledge can be really threatening and sweep past the entire team if you arent careful
While none of these necessarily wall the entire team by themselves, unaware/phasing/haze can be really irritating to deal with, and Cloyster trying to 1v1 Toxapex can be an annoying prediction game.
If you run into Shedinja stall with shadow sneak, its pretty much GG on preview, you can try chipping Dondozo down over time with misty terrain to block rest, but its really tough as you are likely to run out of health before they do. Thankfully i did not run into this guy past the 1800s.
Ditto is a problem for any HO team, but here we have two sweepers possibly capable of getting past it, sub Cloyster which will block the transform ability and Mega Altaria with frustration. I did not really encounter this Mon so I don't have much to add here, but its definitely a potential threat.
Zamazenta @ Light Clay
Ability: Dauntless Shield
Tera Type: Fighting
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Light Screen
- Reflect
- Body Press
- Roar
Corviknight @ Maranga Berry
Ability: Pressure
Tera Type: Flying
EVs: 216 HP / 48 Atk / 220 SpD / 24 Spe
Careful Nature
- Bulk Up
- Agility
- Roost
- Power Trip
Polteageist @ White Herb
Ability: Cursed Body
Tera Type: Ghost
EVs: 224 Def / 76 SpA / 208 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Shell Smash
- Shadow Ball
- Stored Power
- Strength Sap
Cloyster @ Groundium Z
Ability: Skill Link
Tera Type: Water
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Shell Smash
- Icicle Spear
- Drill Run
- Substitute
Tapu Fini @ Terrain Extender
Ability: Misty Surge
Tera Type: Water
EVs: 248 HP / 144 SpA / 116 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Calm Mind
- Taunt
- Stored Power
- Draining Kiss
Altaria-Mega @ Altarianite
Ability: Natural Cure
Happiness: 0
Tera Type: Dragon
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Frustration
- Earthquake
- Roost
Ability: Dauntless Shield
Tera Type: Fighting
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Light Screen
- Reflect
- Body Press
- Roar
Corviknight @ Maranga Berry
Ability: Pressure
Tera Type: Flying
EVs: 216 HP / 48 Atk / 220 SpD / 24 Spe
Careful Nature
- Bulk Up
- Agility
- Roost
- Power Trip
Polteageist @ White Herb
Ability: Cursed Body
Tera Type: Ghost
EVs: 224 Def / 76 SpA / 208 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Shell Smash
- Shadow Ball
- Stored Power
- Strength Sap
Cloyster @ Groundium Z
Ability: Skill Link
Tera Type: Water
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Shell Smash
- Icicle Spear
- Drill Run
- Substitute
Tapu Fini @ Terrain Extender
Ability: Misty Surge
Tera Type: Water
EVs: 248 HP / 144 SpA / 116 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Calm Mind
- Taunt
- Stored Power
- Draining Kiss
Altaria-Mega @ Altarianite
Ability: Natural Cure
Happiness: 0
Tera Type: Dragon
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Frustration
- Earthquake
- Roost
So after almost an entire year of using Polteageist cheese, I have finally come up with a team that hit rank one and proves it deserves respect. I am also pretty proud of how this unconventional team, running sets seen nowhere else, still managed to peak at almost 2000 Elo. Thanks to Summer Hater for believing in Polteageist (and me), as well as giving many suggestions for this team.
