Hey there and welcome to my 2 RMT, ft. Mega Chaizard X, the best Dragon Dancer around right now. I wanted to make a balanced team to incorporate him since I've got a pretty decent foot-hold into OU now and realised just how much of a monster Zard-X is with the right back-up. So let's get into it!
Teambuild Process:
Obviously I started out with Zard-X, since I knew he was who I wanted to build the team around. I then looked into his biggest 4 counters: In my eyes, these are Rotom-W, Heatran, Hippowdon and Tyranitar. To this end, I created an unintentional FWG core to combat these threats consisting of Amoonguss (for Rotom-W especially, but also for every other check as well as good Azumarill check of my own) and Azumarill (for everything except Rotom). With this core I have complete coverage, tick off major threats to my Zard and have a really good mix of offence and defence. I then looked at other partners for these guys: my first point of call was a good hazard remover, and noting I needed a decent Keldeo switch in alongside Azumarill I went with an offensive(ish) Latias for hazard removal. I wanted a stealth rocker next and went with an offensive Heatran, as a back-up fire check to the likes of Ferro/Skarm, and finally I needed a check to ice and fairy since I'm x6 and x4 weak respectively: Scizor fulfills these roles with a priority stab bullet punch, as well as being bulky enough to take a hit and set up if it gets the chance. This made the Heatran pick more viable too since it absorbs the fire that Scizor and Amoonguss are weak to.
A closer look:
Charizard @ Charizardite X
Ability: Blaze ---> Tough Claws
EVs: 72 HP / 184 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Roost
- Fire Punch
- Dragon Claw
The MVP of the team. Once this guy gets to even +1 he can go right through the most dedicated defensive tanks, scoring a 2hko (90% health with SR) On a fully defensive Skarmory, ohkos FatChomp and Lati@s and outspeeds both with 1 speed boost. Basically anything weak to fire or dragon falls to this guy. When he gets to +2 it's a different story as he actually starts to go through things that resist him, though this is often counter productive due to how frail he is. At +2 anything weak or neutral to it is going to have real problems.
EV spread is for max speed and with jolly nature I get to 299, which is pretty slow, but one D-dance gets me to 448.5 (449) which is pretty fast indeed. I decided to dip a little into HP and take a small hit to attack since that's gonna be boosted too, although with this tiny deviation he fails to ohko fatchomp at +1. Fairly standard moveset, I opted to go for fire punch > Flare blitz since I didn't want to take horrific recoil damage when I come up against the likes of Ferrothorn, and the other moves are there for recovery, set-up potential and stab.
Amoonguss @ Black Sludge
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpD / 4 SpA
Calm Nature
- Sludge Bomb
- Giga Drain
- Synthesis
- Spore
Amoonguss is here purely for bulky ground and water checks that want to come in on my Charizard, namely Rotom-W, Azumarill and Slobrow that would normally wall my team, but also provides a massive check to Hippowdon and Tyranitar since they can't really do much to me at all. The mon that was in this slot was Serperior but I found it wasn't a reliable switch-in at all since it was frail too, whereas Amoonguss gives me a far safer switch in with the combo of sludge, synthesis and regenerator. Amoong also gives me a back-up check to fairies alongside Scizor, lessening the dent they have on my team. His role in a nutshell is to pivot and provide defensive support to my overwatch Zard.
I went with a specially defensive spread since I would use this to switch into Rotom-W, but I realised that I tank all it's stabs anyway, and the other 3 threats I'd use him to switch into are physical, so i'm open to suggestions on this guy. Still, full defensive spread and black sludge combo in conjunction with regenerator gives me a really potent pivot. Spore is there for utility, and synthesis gives me recovery, while Giga Drain and Sludge Bomb give me reliable stab and even more healing.
Azumarill @ Assault Vest
Ability: Huge Power
EVs: 240 HP / 252 Atk / 16 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Aqua Jet
- Waterfall
- Play Rough
- Superpower
Azumarill is here to form the end of the defensive backbone and the FWG core, working in tandem with Amoonguss to bring down those bulky threats to Zard-X. While not as tanky as Amoong, with full HP investments and an assault vest it reaches 436 attack, 300 special defence and 401 HP, so it's no slouch on that side, but it has a nasty kick to it, scoring a 2hko on a fully defensive Hippowdown, which is huge, and a 2hko in Tyranitar and an ohko on Heatran, going through them like butter. It goes on to threaten Talonflame and enemy Zard-X's, being my prime counter to him, scoring a 2hko with play rough and taking a 4hko in exchange off his earthquake. He's my go-to guy to any bulky ground, rock, fire or dragon types, decimating them all.
Standard EV spread and moveset for Azumarill, allowing him to reach those stat benchmarks stated earlier, with the moveset being there for stabs and coverage with superpower.
Latias @ Life Orb
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 80 HP / 176 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Draco Meteor
- Psyshock
- Defog
- Roost
Latias is the hazard remover, but he also serves as a back-up check to dragons that manage to fell my Zard, being the fastest unboosted dragon in OU. Latias was the last mon I added to the team, as originally it was an Excadrill with rapid spin, but I found Scizor could do E-drill's job better with more bulk and priority, and Heatran was drafted in to soak fire, so I had too much of a ground weakness with that original squad: Latias gives me a ground resist, so that's nice. Latias also gives me a shaky counter to Mega Lopunny and a good switch in to Keldeo alongside Azumarill, so it covers some bases should Azumarill fall.
EV spread here is for max speed since the 110 speed tier is highly sought after, but some points dipped into HP and the rest lumped into SpA to make that life orbed D-meteor hit that little bit harder. Moveset is for reliable stab and damage (though I tend to miss more 90 accuracy moves than anything else), some recovery and utility as well.
Heatran @ Leftovers
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 SpA / 252 Spe / 4 Def
Timid/Modest Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Rock Slide / Ancient Power
- Flash Cannon / Earth Power
- Flamethrower
I needed a good stealth rocker, and noting that I had a bulky Char, a bulky Azumarill with assault vest, a bulky grass tank, a slightly bulky Latias and a bulky Scizor I could afford to go for an offensive route with Heatran. He also functions as a really nice fire soak for Scizor and keeps it off Amoonguss too, giving me mad predict skills that if they work usually result in trash talking on their side. Not really too much to say about Heatran really, other than he gives me safer non contact offense against steel tanks, making me consider changing fire punch to flare blitz on my Charizard. He is also my prime bird counter, nailing enemy Charizards (Y, not so much X because of EQ) and T-flame, scoring ohkos on Charizard Y and Talonflame, and doing good dent damage to Charizard-X with Earth Power, though it falls to an Earthquake as predicted.
I'm undecided on a fair bit about Heatran at the moment: I'm unsure of the nature for a start, though with a base 130 SpA I don't really need to be invested in that, so I'm thinking Timid for the speed. The Rock slide/Ancient power debate is pretty tough, though. On the one hand, I have an invested SpA stat for Ancient power, and it lets me ohko Char-Y and T-flame, but there are a lot of SpDef T-flames running around, so ancient power would do less. Saying that, Ancient power still does slightly more than rock slide as is more reliable, so. Flash Cannon / Earth Power is pretty hard, too. On the one hand I get good rock and fairy coverage with a good steel move, but since I have Scizor I might not need that. However, being x4 weak to fairy might require me to run a few steel moves to counter, whereas Earth Power saves me getting locked in to other Heatrans or Magnezones, and also gives me good coverage and damage to things like Char-X, who I can cripple on the switch.
Scizor @ Leftovers
Ability: Technician
EVs: 252 HP / 80 Def / 176 SpD
Careful Nature
- Swords Dance
- Roost
- Bullet Punch
- Knock Off
Finally, my boy, Scizor. His role on this team is purely to counter fairy types and ice types that wanna come in on my two dragons, covering them both with one good priority attack. This is guy is so ridiculous if he's able to get to +6, as he starts smashing even the most dedicated tanks. When he's not boosting, he's healing or setting up, though it doesn't take much to start going through fairies and ice types, even with an uninvested attack: at +2 it goes straight through Mega Diancie, actually tanking the Hidden Power fire with it's massive bulk, and retaliating with a 2hko, it ohkos Weavile, 2hkos Kyurem, ohkos Mega Gardevoir, and goes on to threaten Sylveon too, falling just shy of Azumarill because of the water resist. But it's ability, high base attack stat, bulk and boosting potential make this poke'mon really feared when it comes to protecting your fairies. Hide yo' fairies.
Fairly standard set really on Scizor, choosing to invest heavily into bulk to give me a chance to set up, as at +6 (if it ever gets to this, it's surprisingly common actually) it doesn't matter if it's invested in attack or not, you're gonna die. Moveset is for set-up, recovery, stab and utility with knock off.
Conclusion:
That's the team! I think it's fairly well thought out. The only mon I'm really not sure of here is Amoonguss, but basically I needed a decent grass type to counter Rotom-W and bulky ground types along with Azumarill as they can threaten out my Charizard. So, any suggestions for a replacement for Amoonguss would be really appreciated, preferably something grass type, but essentially filling the role of Amoon at the minute: countering bulky waters and grounds.
Leave your comments and rates below!
Teambuild Process:
Obviously I started out with Zard-X, since I knew he was who I wanted to build the team around. I then looked into his biggest 4 counters: In my eyes, these are Rotom-W, Heatran, Hippowdon and Tyranitar. To this end, I created an unintentional FWG core to combat these threats consisting of Amoonguss (for Rotom-W especially, but also for every other check as well as good Azumarill check of my own) and Azumarill (for everything except Rotom). With this core I have complete coverage, tick off major threats to my Zard and have a really good mix of offence and defence. I then looked at other partners for these guys: my first point of call was a good hazard remover, and noting I needed a decent Keldeo switch in alongside Azumarill I went with an offensive(ish) Latias for hazard removal. I wanted a stealth rocker next and went with an offensive Heatran, as a back-up fire check to the likes of Ferro/Skarm, and finally I needed a check to ice and fairy since I'm x6 and x4 weak respectively: Scizor fulfills these roles with a priority stab bullet punch, as well as being bulky enough to take a hit and set up if it gets the chance. This made the Heatran pick more viable too since it absorbs the fire that Scizor and Amoonguss are weak to.
A closer look:
Charizard @ Charizardite X
Ability: Blaze ---> Tough Claws
EVs: 72 HP / 184 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Roost
- Fire Punch
- Dragon Claw
The MVP of the team. Once this guy gets to even +1 he can go right through the most dedicated defensive tanks, scoring a 2hko (90% health with SR) On a fully defensive Skarmory, ohkos FatChomp and Lati@s and outspeeds both with 1 speed boost. Basically anything weak to fire or dragon falls to this guy. When he gets to +2 it's a different story as he actually starts to go through things that resist him, though this is often counter productive due to how frail he is. At +2 anything weak or neutral to it is going to have real problems.
EV spread is for max speed and with jolly nature I get to 299, which is pretty slow, but one D-dance gets me to 448.5 (449) which is pretty fast indeed. I decided to dip a little into HP and take a small hit to attack since that's gonna be boosted too, although with this tiny deviation he fails to ohko fatchomp at +1. Fairly standard moveset, I opted to go for fire punch > Flare blitz since I didn't want to take horrific recoil damage when I come up against the likes of Ferrothorn, and the other moves are there for recovery, set-up potential and stab.
Amoonguss @ Black Sludge
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpD / 4 SpA
Calm Nature
- Sludge Bomb
- Giga Drain
- Synthesis
- Spore
Amoonguss is here purely for bulky ground and water checks that want to come in on my Charizard, namely Rotom-W, Azumarill and Slobrow that would normally wall my team, but also provides a massive check to Hippowdon and Tyranitar since they can't really do much to me at all. The mon that was in this slot was Serperior but I found it wasn't a reliable switch-in at all since it was frail too, whereas Amoonguss gives me a far safer switch in with the combo of sludge, synthesis and regenerator. Amoong also gives me a back-up check to fairies alongside Scizor, lessening the dent they have on my team. His role in a nutshell is to pivot and provide defensive support to my overwatch Zard.
I went with a specially defensive spread since I would use this to switch into Rotom-W, but I realised that I tank all it's stabs anyway, and the other 3 threats I'd use him to switch into are physical, so i'm open to suggestions on this guy. Still, full defensive spread and black sludge combo in conjunction with regenerator gives me a really potent pivot. Spore is there for utility, and synthesis gives me recovery, while Giga Drain and Sludge Bomb give me reliable stab and even more healing.
Azumarill @ Assault Vest
Ability: Huge Power
EVs: 240 HP / 252 Atk / 16 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Aqua Jet
- Waterfall
- Play Rough
- Superpower
Azumarill is here to form the end of the defensive backbone and the FWG core, working in tandem with Amoonguss to bring down those bulky threats to Zard-X. While not as tanky as Amoong, with full HP investments and an assault vest it reaches 436 attack, 300 special defence and 401 HP, so it's no slouch on that side, but it has a nasty kick to it, scoring a 2hko on a fully defensive Hippowdown, which is huge, and a 2hko in Tyranitar and an ohko on Heatran, going through them like butter. It goes on to threaten Talonflame and enemy Zard-X's, being my prime counter to him, scoring a 2hko with play rough and taking a 4hko in exchange off his earthquake. He's my go-to guy to any bulky ground, rock, fire or dragon types, decimating them all.
Standard EV spread and moveset for Azumarill, allowing him to reach those stat benchmarks stated earlier, with the moveset being there for stabs and coverage with superpower.
Latias @ Life Orb
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 80 HP / 176 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Draco Meteor
- Psyshock
- Defog
- Roost
Latias is the hazard remover, but he also serves as a back-up check to dragons that manage to fell my Zard, being the fastest unboosted dragon in OU. Latias was the last mon I added to the team, as originally it was an Excadrill with rapid spin, but I found Scizor could do E-drill's job better with more bulk and priority, and Heatran was drafted in to soak fire, so I had too much of a ground weakness with that original squad: Latias gives me a ground resist, so that's nice. Latias also gives me a shaky counter to Mega Lopunny and a good switch in to Keldeo alongside Azumarill, so it covers some bases should Azumarill fall.
EV spread here is for max speed since the 110 speed tier is highly sought after, but some points dipped into HP and the rest lumped into SpA to make that life orbed D-meteor hit that little bit harder. Moveset is for reliable stab and damage (though I tend to miss more 90 accuracy moves than anything else), some recovery and utility as well.
Heatran @ Leftovers
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 SpA / 252 Spe / 4 Def
Timid/Modest Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Rock Slide / Ancient Power
- Flash Cannon / Earth Power
- Flamethrower
I needed a good stealth rocker, and noting that I had a bulky Char, a bulky Azumarill with assault vest, a bulky grass tank, a slightly bulky Latias and a bulky Scizor I could afford to go for an offensive route with Heatran. He also functions as a really nice fire soak for Scizor and keeps it off Amoonguss too, giving me mad predict skills that if they work usually result in trash talking on their side. Not really too much to say about Heatran really, other than he gives me safer non contact offense against steel tanks, making me consider changing fire punch to flare blitz on my Charizard. He is also my prime bird counter, nailing enemy Charizards (Y, not so much X because of EQ) and T-flame, scoring ohkos on Charizard Y and Talonflame, and doing good dent damage to Charizard-X with Earth Power, though it falls to an Earthquake as predicted.
I'm undecided on a fair bit about Heatran at the moment: I'm unsure of the nature for a start, though with a base 130 SpA I don't really need to be invested in that, so I'm thinking Timid for the speed. The Rock slide/Ancient power debate is pretty tough, though. On the one hand, I have an invested SpA stat for Ancient power, and it lets me ohko Char-Y and T-flame, but there are a lot of SpDef T-flames running around, so ancient power would do less. Saying that, Ancient power still does slightly more than rock slide as is more reliable, so. Flash Cannon / Earth Power is pretty hard, too. On the one hand I get good rock and fairy coverage with a good steel move, but since I have Scizor I might not need that. However, being x4 weak to fairy might require me to run a few steel moves to counter, whereas Earth Power saves me getting locked in to other Heatrans or Magnezones, and also gives me good coverage and damage to things like Char-X, who I can cripple on the switch.
Scizor @ Leftovers
Ability: Technician
EVs: 252 HP / 80 Def / 176 SpD
Careful Nature
- Swords Dance
- Roost
- Bullet Punch
- Knock Off
Finally, my boy, Scizor. His role on this team is purely to counter fairy types and ice types that wanna come in on my two dragons, covering them both with one good priority attack. This is guy is so ridiculous if he's able to get to +6, as he starts smashing even the most dedicated tanks. When he's not boosting, he's healing or setting up, though it doesn't take much to start going through fairies and ice types, even with an uninvested attack: at +2 it goes straight through Mega Diancie, actually tanking the Hidden Power fire with it's massive bulk, and retaliating with a 2hko, it ohkos Weavile, 2hkos Kyurem, ohkos Mega Gardevoir, and goes on to threaten Sylveon too, falling just shy of Azumarill because of the water resist. But it's ability, high base attack stat, bulk and boosting potential make this poke'mon really feared when it comes to protecting your fairies. Hide yo' fairies.
Fairly standard set really on Scizor, choosing to invest heavily into bulk to give me a chance to set up, as at +6 (if it ever gets to this, it's surprisingly common actually) it doesn't matter if it's invested in attack or not, you're gonna die. Moveset is for set-up, recovery, stab and utility with knock off.
Conclusion:
That's the team! I think it's fairly well thought out. The only mon I'm really not sure of here is Amoonguss, but basically I needed a decent grass type to counter Rotom-W and bulky ground types along with Azumarill as they can threaten out my Charizard. So, any suggestions for a replacement for Amoonguss would be really appreciated, preferably something grass type, but essentially filling the role of Amoon at the minute: countering bulky waters and grounds.
Leave your comments and rates below!
Charizard @ Charizardite X
Ability: Blaze
EVs: 72 HP / 184 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Roost
- Fire Punch
- Dragon Claw
Amoonguss @ Leftovers
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
- Sludge Bomb
- Giga Drain
- Synthesis
- Spore
Azumarill @ Assault Vest
Ability: Huge Power
EVs: 240 HP / 252 Atk / 16 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Aqua Jet
- Waterfall
- Play Rough
- Superpower
Latias @ Life Orb
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 80 HP / 176 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Draco Meteor
- Psyshock
- Defog
- Roost
Heatran @ Leftovers
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 HP / 168 SpD / 88 Spe
Serious Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Rock Slide
- Flash Cannon
- Flamethrower
Scizor @ Leftovers
Ability: Technician
EVs: 252 HP / 80 Def / 176 SpD
Careful Nature
- Swords Dance
- Roost
- Bullet Punch
- Knock Off
Ability: Blaze
EVs: 72 HP / 184 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Roost
- Fire Punch
- Dragon Claw
Amoonguss @ Leftovers
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
- Sludge Bomb
- Giga Drain
- Synthesis
- Spore
Azumarill @ Assault Vest
Ability: Huge Power
EVs: 240 HP / 252 Atk / 16 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Aqua Jet
- Waterfall
- Play Rough
- Superpower
Latias @ Life Orb
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 80 HP / 176 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Draco Meteor
- Psyshock
- Defog
- Roost
Heatran @ Leftovers
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 HP / 168 SpD / 88 Spe
Serious Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Rock Slide
- Flash Cannon
- Flamethrower
Scizor @ Leftovers
Ability: Technician
EVs: 252 HP / 80 Def / 176 SpD
Careful Nature
- Swords Dance
- Roost
- Bullet Punch
- Knock Off
