Hello Smogon. I’ve been playing high-ladder ou for the past half-year or so, and this was the first team I made that really performed well. I decided to lurk for a while before posting to make sure I truly understood the metagame, so this is my first Smogon post and first RMT.
Team link:
https://pokepast.es/faad958317ae8215
Team descriptions:
Dragonite @ Leftovers
Ability: Multiscale
Tera Type: Flying
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Tera Blast
- Earthquake
- Substitute
The original mon I wanted to build around. I believe that tera blast fly is Dragonite’s most broken set: it has the most power while not needing a boosting item and it can sweep teams easily if given even a single turn. Sub is also the best last move imo, it basically makes sure you beat gambit and bolt, lets you dodge secondary effects, and allows you to set up on far more mons safely. Leftovers synergizes with sub, lots of the time you can also recover back to full even after a sub which almost guarantees the sweep. We can also afford lefties over boots because we have double removal, although sometimes boots would be nice, lefties are generally better. This is the lategame sweeper, typically with this team you’re looking to exhaust your opponent’s physical walls and get chip for this mon to sweep. It’s only really stopped by id Corv/Skarm and Zapdos, so chipping these mons is very important. You could maybe consider changing the set to eq+ice spinner or edgequake in order to not have to exhaust to get a sweep, but the power level is significantly weaker. You could also make it espeed over sub in order to still be able to hit flying types without Tera. If you change the set you could probably also run tera blast ground on Zapdos.
Ogerpon-Cornerstone (F) @ Cornerstone Mask
Ability: Sturdy
Tera Type: Rock
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Ivy Cudgel
- Power Whip
- Low Kick
Cornerstone has saved me many times from being swept, and sturdy is helpful for guaranteeing wins. It forces Zama in a lot of the time to exhaust dauntless which is nice for Dragonite and gambit. It threatens the birds and it also helps a lot with the stall matchup as well. Low kick is chosen over knock since the team is kinda weak to gambit but knock is still an option especially if you go stone edge over knock on treads. Knock also hits Pech which this team kinda struggles with. Raging bolt can also be a problem for this team if it Teras, so the electric resist also sometimes comes in clutch. Overall cornerstone is great versus the extremes, HO and stall, but oftentimes it kinda blanks into balance.
Hatterene (F) @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Magic Bounce
Tera Type: Water
EVs: 252 HP / 204 Def / 52 Spe
Bold Nature
- Psychic Noise
- Draining Kiss
- Pain Split
- Nuzzle
With two mons dependent on hazards being off, as well as the team still being quite weak to Zama, Hatt was a natural choice. Pain split has basically become the default set, and since this is a bit of a bulkier offense that doesn’t really rely on pivoting, eject doesn’t really fit here, and I generally dislike cm because it feels too slow and easy to punish. As a bonus this Hatt annoys stall quite a bit, which is always nice. You could potentially go hwish over some move to heal up Dragonite and cornerstone, but there isn’t really a clear move to drop.
Iron Treads @ Air Balloon
Ability: Quark Drive
Tera Type: Fire
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Knock Off
- Rapid Spin
Treads is my second removal as well as my rocks setter. It kinda works as my bolt answer as well, which the team is kinda weak to, but if bolt Teras there might be a problem. Knock is nice for removing helmet from Corv and boots from the other birds, but stone edge is also an option to hit birds harder and also not get set up on by opposing Dragonite. Balloon is the item to act as semi-boots while switching in on many ground types since Dragonite and Zapdos often don’t want to switch in, but you could probably go boots or booster. Tera fire is here to prevent a nightmare scenario with ceru along with balloon but you can go Tera ghost as well.
Kingambit @ Leftovers
Ability: Supreme Overlord
Tera Type: Ghost
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Sucker Punch
- Low Kick
- Iron Head
Gambit is here to clean up lategame along with Dragonite, as well as providing lots of defensive utility with all its resistances, notably helping against Pult and Rai. The two have really nice synergy, chipping for each other. One thing you can do is to send gambit in as the 5th mon with Dragonite in the back, and force some fighting type to revenge it, so then you get free setup with Dragonite. Jolly low kick is unfortunately necessary since opposing gambit is a terrible matchup otherwise, which makes the bird matchup a bit worse. You could potentially run kowtow over iron head but I like hitting fairies, especially if opposing gambit Tera to fairy. Tera ghost is just the default Tera and it’s probably the Tera you use if Dragonite doesn’t use it. Not much to say about it, helps with fighting types and can spinblock. The item could be changed as well, but lefties is nice for bulk since we need gambit for utility.
Zapdos @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Static
Tera Type: Fire
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Thunderbolt
- Hurricane
- Volt Switch
- Heat Wave
The star of the show, and the most unique set on the team. I realized the team was way too physically oriented, and I needed a special attacker and speed control in one slot, as well as wanting a better tusk switchin. This set catches so many people by surprise. For whatever reason people like leading wellspring and Zama and not switching versus Zapdos, so you can just get a free kill with hurricane. Hurricane missing is unfortunately unavoidable with Zapdos, but it’s still a strong move and can revenge faster mons with chip. Volt switch is pretty much necessary since Zapdos needs to pivot out while getting significant chip, whereas U-turn wouldn’t deal enough for Zapdos to kill when it comes back in. Thunderbolt for consistent stab, and heat wave to hit treads and exca. As mentioned previously, Tera blast ground could be an option, it helps with raging bolt, hits glowking hard, helps with Tera electric Zama, and is generally a good coverage move, but you have to run a Dragonite set that doesn’t need Tera. Static is also useful for punishing U-turn, especially from cinder, which is pretty annoying for this team. Also oftentimes people sacrifice their Lu or whatever other spdef wall they have in order to deal with the physical spam, which opens up Zapdos in the lategame. Scarf Zapdos is, in my opinion, generally under-considered on offense as a speed control option, and it does a lot of the work on this team.
Threats:
Tera electric heavy slam Zama: You have two special attackers, and both are countered by this particular set. If it sets up you basically have to spam pain split and slowly chip it down with Hatt, then revenge with Zapdos.
Darkrai: If it has anything to beat gambit, it’s a pretty big threat. Generally the solution is to volt switch into thunderbolt with Zapdos, but you might have to sac something.
Kyurem: Your only switchin is gambit, and gambit is kind of a fake switchin. Luckily if you can get rocks chip Dragonite kills at +1.
Ceruledge: if it Teras and gets the weak armor boost, and rocks are up, it basically sweeps. Gambit can answer Tera ghost but Tera fairy forces you to Tera in response.
Hazard stack: if they get rocks, Treads is most likely not spinning them away. Try to win fast but most of these teams have good anti-offense stuff.
Stall: Annoying to deal with. General gameplan is to force a Tera on dozo with cornerstone, then depending on the Tera use gambit or Dragonite to sweep from there. But if they have a secondary physical check it probably won’t work out (other than non-idef corv). Hatt also annoys stall though so maybe you can force a Tera out with that.
General thoughts:
I don’t know if this team is actually that good. It’s definitely a matchup fish and surprise factor does get you many wins. After my peak I stopped playing for a few days and when I used the team again it performed noticeably worse. Maybe this was because it was close to the end of ladder season but also maybe the team is just inconsistent. If I were to replace one mon on the team it would probably be cornerstone, I feel it hasn’t really been pulling its weight since it bricks into Zama and Pech so hard, but maybe it’s because I haven’t been playing against offense and stall that much recently.
Anyways Dragonite is insanely cheap and gets so many sweeps so easily. I really think it should be banned because this set is so good into so much of the metagame and this isn’t even its only set, and its other sets demand different counters.
Replays:
Didn’t save most of them, but here are some high-ladder replays
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-2557488119
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-2560698693-v473d8dg1qc8iuhwk9c3dwp1qbx5x4epw
(Kinda haxed)
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-2562982126-vdu95g46p8ie05o8iflq4jp4nrli4b5pw
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-2564193343-uxtcy880abb96p68lusiouugoufn3wlpw
1967 peak replay (Also kinda haxed)
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-2564319492-kyh7fuxlbvgte70krs9s5e6wv9yav37pw
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-2566194299-mmm4kxtanemplr5er87suth197gju1lpw
Thanks for reading! Shoutout laxcord and a very belated thank-you to blunder and ctc for using some of my more creative teams in this video:
Team link:
https://pokepast.es/faad958317ae8215
Team descriptions:
Dragonite @ Leftovers
Ability: Multiscale
Tera Type: Flying
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Tera Blast
- Earthquake
- Substitute
The original mon I wanted to build around. I believe that tera blast fly is Dragonite’s most broken set: it has the most power while not needing a boosting item and it can sweep teams easily if given even a single turn. Sub is also the best last move imo, it basically makes sure you beat gambit and bolt, lets you dodge secondary effects, and allows you to set up on far more mons safely. Leftovers synergizes with sub, lots of the time you can also recover back to full even after a sub which almost guarantees the sweep. We can also afford lefties over boots because we have double removal, although sometimes boots would be nice, lefties are generally better. This is the lategame sweeper, typically with this team you’re looking to exhaust your opponent’s physical walls and get chip for this mon to sweep. It’s only really stopped by id Corv/Skarm and Zapdos, so chipping these mons is very important. You could maybe consider changing the set to eq+ice spinner or edgequake in order to not have to exhaust to get a sweep, but the power level is significantly weaker. You could also make it espeed over sub in order to still be able to hit flying types without Tera. If you change the set you could probably also run tera blast ground on Zapdos.
Ogerpon-Cornerstone (F) @ Cornerstone Mask
Ability: Sturdy
Tera Type: Rock
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Ivy Cudgel
- Power Whip
- Low Kick
Cornerstone has saved me many times from being swept, and sturdy is helpful for guaranteeing wins. It forces Zama in a lot of the time to exhaust dauntless which is nice for Dragonite and gambit. It threatens the birds and it also helps a lot with the stall matchup as well. Low kick is chosen over knock since the team is kinda weak to gambit but knock is still an option especially if you go stone edge over knock on treads. Knock also hits Pech which this team kinda struggles with. Raging bolt can also be a problem for this team if it Teras, so the electric resist also sometimes comes in clutch. Overall cornerstone is great versus the extremes, HO and stall, but oftentimes it kinda blanks into balance.
Hatterene (F) @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Magic Bounce
Tera Type: Water
EVs: 252 HP / 204 Def / 52 Spe
Bold Nature
- Psychic Noise
- Draining Kiss
- Pain Split
- Nuzzle
With two mons dependent on hazards being off, as well as the team still being quite weak to Zama, Hatt was a natural choice. Pain split has basically become the default set, and since this is a bit of a bulkier offense that doesn’t really rely on pivoting, eject doesn’t really fit here, and I generally dislike cm because it feels too slow and easy to punish. As a bonus this Hatt annoys stall quite a bit, which is always nice. You could potentially go hwish over some move to heal up Dragonite and cornerstone, but there isn’t really a clear move to drop.
Iron Treads @ Air Balloon
Ability: Quark Drive
Tera Type: Fire
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Knock Off
- Rapid Spin
Treads is my second removal as well as my rocks setter. It kinda works as my bolt answer as well, which the team is kinda weak to, but if bolt Teras there might be a problem. Knock is nice for removing helmet from Corv and boots from the other birds, but stone edge is also an option to hit birds harder and also not get set up on by opposing Dragonite. Balloon is the item to act as semi-boots while switching in on many ground types since Dragonite and Zapdos often don’t want to switch in, but you could probably go boots or booster. Tera fire is here to prevent a nightmare scenario with ceru along with balloon but you can go Tera ghost as well.
Kingambit @ Leftovers
Ability: Supreme Overlord
Tera Type: Ghost
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Sucker Punch
- Low Kick
- Iron Head
Gambit is here to clean up lategame along with Dragonite, as well as providing lots of defensive utility with all its resistances, notably helping against Pult and Rai. The two have really nice synergy, chipping for each other. One thing you can do is to send gambit in as the 5th mon with Dragonite in the back, and force some fighting type to revenge it, so then you get free setup with Dragonite. Jolly low kick is unfortunately necessary since opposing gambit is a terrible matchup otherwise, which makes the bird matchup a bit worse. You could potentially run kowtow over iron head but I like hitting fairies, especially if opposing gambit Tera to fairy. Tera ghost is just the default Tera and it’s probably the Tera you use if Dragonite doesn’t use it. Not much to say about it, helps with fighting types and can spinblock. The item could be changed as well, but lefties is nice for bulk since we need gambit for utility.
Zapdos @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Static
Tera Type: Fire
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Thunderbolt
- Hurricane
- Volt Switch
- Heat Wave
The star of the show, and the most unique set on the team. I realized the team was way too physically oriented, and I needed a special attacker and speed control in one slot, as well as wanting a better tusk switchin. This set catches so many people by surprise. For whatever reason people like leading wellspring and Zama and not switching versus Zapdos, so you can just get a free kill with hurricane. Hurricane missing is unfortunately unavoidable with Zapdos, but it’s still a strong move and can revenge faster mons with chip. Volt switch is pretty much necessary since Zapdos needs to pivot out while getting significant chip, whereas U-turn wouldn’t deal enough for Zapdos to kill when it comes back in. Thunderbolt for consistent stab, and heat wave to hit treads and exca. As mentioned previously, Tera blast ground could be an option, it helps with raging bolt, hits glowking hard, helps with Tera electric Zama, and is generally a good coverage move, but you have to run a Dragonite set that doesn’t need Tera. Static is also useful for punishing U-turn, especially from cinder, which is pretty annoying for this team. Also oftentimes people sacrifice their Lu or whatever other spdef wall they have in order to deal with the physical spam, which opens up Zapdos in the lategame. Scarf Zapdos is, in my opinion, generally under-considered on offense as a speed control option, and it does a lot of the work on this team.
Threats:
Tera electric heavy slam Zama: You have two special attackers, and both are countered by this particular set. If it sets up you basically have to spam pain split and slowly chip it down with Hatt, then revenge with Zapdos.
Darkrai: If it has anything to beat gambit, it’s a pretty big threat. Generally the solution is to volt switch into thunderbolt with Zapdos, but you might have to sac something.
Kyurem: Your only switchin is gambit, and gambit is kind of a fake switchin. Luckily if you can get rocks chip Dragonite kills at +1.
Ceruledge: if it Teras and gets the weak armor boost, and rocks are up, it basically sweeps. Gambit can answer Tera ghost but Tera fairy forces you to Tera in response.
Hazard stack: if they get rocks, Treads is most likely not spinning them away. Try to win fast but most of these teams have good anti-offense stuff.
Stall: Annoying to deal with. General gameplan is to force a Tera on dozo with cornerstone, then depending on the Tera use gambit or Dragonite to sweep from there. But if they have a secondary physical check it probably won’t work out (other than non-idef corv). Hatt also annoys stall though so maybe you can force a Tera out with that.
General thoughts:
I don’t know if this team is actually that good. It’s definitely a matchup fish and surprise factor does get you many wins. After my peak I stopped playing for a few days and when I used the team again it performed noticeably worse. Maybe this was because it was close to the end of ladder season but also maybe the team is just inconsistent. If I were to replace one mon on the team it would probably be cornerstone, I feel it hasn’t really been pulling its weight since it bricks into Zama and Pech so hard, but maybe it’s because I haven’t been playing against offense and stall that much recently.
Anyways Dragonite is insanely cheap and gets so many sweeps so easily. I really think it should be banned because this set is so good into so much of the metagame and this isn’t even its only set, and its other sets demand different counters.
Replays:
Didn’t save most of them, but here are some high-ladder replays
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-2557488119
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-2560698693-v473d8dg1qc8iuhwk9c3dwp1qbx5x4epw
(Kinda haxed)
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-2562982126-vdu95g46p8ie05o8iflq4jp4nrli4b5pw
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-2564193343-uxtcy880abb96p68lusiouugoufn3wlpw
1967 peak replay (Also kinda haxed)
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-2564319492-kyh7fuxlbvgte70krs9s5e6wv9yav37pw
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-2566194299-mmm4kxtanemplr5er87suth197gju1lpw
Thanks for reading! Shoutout laxcord and a very belated thank-you to blunder and ctc for using some of my more creative teams in this video: