SS OU Iron Defense + CM Tapu Fini (peaked 1739)

[Firest0rm]

Introduction

Hello everyone and welcome to this RMT! My favorite ever Magearna set was Iron Defense / CM and I miss using her, so I looked up which Pokemon could run a similar set and settled on Tapu Fini. Fini is an ideal candidate because it learns ID/CM, stored power, draining kiss (w/STAB) and is both bulky enough to take hits and fend off status with Misty Terrain. I tried other pokemon, but found Fini's speed tier, bulk, and typing to be ideal.

I used it to get to 1739, the highest I've been since January. Excited to share it! Here's proof of the peak;

proof of peak

Team + Description

Tapu Fini @ Leftovers
Ability: Misty Surge
EVs: 252 HP / 44 Def / 12 SpA / 60 SpD / 140 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Iron Defense
- Calm Mind
- Stored Power
- Draining Kiss

The star of this team. Tapu Fini comes in at the end of a game, clicks Iron Defense or CM depending on who she's facing down, and wins. She'll often be the last pokemon standing and boost up and clean opposing teams.
140 speed lets you beat Adamant Bisharp and max speed Magnezone. 252 HP for maximum bulk, 60 SpD lets you beat Tapu Lele Psychic if it switches in on CM. 12 SpA Modest lets you beat Timid Specs Kyurem Freeze-Dry on the switch and ohko defensive Lando-T after rocks, and the rest in defense. She also beats AV Glowking 1v1 after a CM, it's hard to post calcs for that whole interaction so you'll have to take my word for it.

Fini can either be used as a late game cleaner or, if your opponent doesn't have Kartana, Magnezone, or Rillaboom, to blow holes into their team so Zeraora or Kart can go for game.

Relevant Calcs

calcs

+2 12+ SpA Tapu Fini Stored Power (180 BP) vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Landorus-Therian: 330-389 (86.3 - 101.8%) -- 87.5% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock

252+ Atk Iron Fist Melmetal Double Iron Bash (2 hits) vs. +4 252 HP / 44 Def Tapu Fini: 80-96 (23.2 - 27.9%) -- approx. possible 5HKO after Leftovers recovery
This assumes you Iron Defense as he switches in and then again before he hits you. You usually can't outright kill the Melm from full, but you easily do half damage, allowing something else to take it out.

252 SpA Tapu Koko Thunderbolt vs. +1 252 HP / 60 SpD Tapu Fini: 120-144 (34.8 - 41.8%) -- 77.8% chance to 3HKO after Leftovers recovery
+1 12+ SpA Tapu Fini Draining Kiss vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Tapu Koko: 109-129 (38.7 - 45.9%) -- guaranteed 3HKO (23.8 - 28.1% recovered)
If Koko comes in on CM it loses 100% of the time, because at +2 Fini recovers more with Draining Kiss + Leftovers than it takes in damage.

252+ SpA Choice Specs Kyurem Freeze-Dry vs. +1 252 HP / 60 SpD Tapu Fini: 192-228 (55.8 - 66.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
+1 12+ SpA Tapu Fini Draining Kiss vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Kyurem: 186-222 (47.5 - 56.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock (approx. 40% recovered)
with Leftovers, +1 Fini beats specs Kyu 100% of the time.

And here are some replays of Fini in action.

Replays

Fini solos Kyurem and Melmetal
Fini takes down Tapu Koko and Hawlucha
Fini reverse sweeps Koko, Slowbro, and Porygon2
Fini vs rain
(this last one is probably the best portrayal of how the team works— chip Ferrothorn, kill the offensive answer (in this case Regieleki) and then win.

Bisharp @ Choice Band
Ability: Defiant
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Knock Off
- Sucker Punch
- Toxic
- Iron Head
Fini is generally great at beating offense, so I wanted a mon that could help against bulkier teams and punish Slowking, Blissey on the double. So I chose CB Bisharp. This Bisharp set also OHKOs Corviknight if it tries to Defog, and its priority in Sucker Punch has been invaluable against weather and faster teams. The typing also helps against Weavile and Choice Specs Dragapult, who otherwise cause extreme headaches for my team. Fini can win if it gets in safely, but she works more as a late game cleaner, so Bisharp helps pave the way by doing devastating damage with Knock Off.

Knock, Sucker, and Iron Head are mandatory, and I chose Toxic as the fourth option because it punishes Buzzwole and Zapdos.

calcs

+2 252+ Atk Choice Band Bisharp Knock Off (97.5 BP) vs. 252 HP / 168+ Def Corviknight: 379-447 (94.7 - 111.7%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock
252+ Atk Choice Band Bisharp Knock Off (97.5 BP) vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Garchomp: 264-312 (73.9 - 87.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Bisharp Knock Off (97.5 BP) vs. 252 HP / 80 Def Ferrothorn: 189-223 (53.6 - 63.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

And just for fun...
+1 252+ Atk Choice Band Bisharp Knock Off (97.5 BP) vs. 252 HP / 112+ Def Landorus-Therian: 334-394 (87.4 - 103.1%) -- 93.8% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock

Kartana @ Life Orb
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Leaf Blade
- Knock Off
- Sacred Sword
SD Kartana just dumpsters stall and slower and teams. If Corviknight is chipped (or dead thanks to Bisharp) then Kartana can often just win. It even survives a hit from non-specs Koko or Weavile, and can OHKO them in return. It is also incredible against Heatran and Ferrothorn, who Fini has trouble with, and sets up on choice-locked Urshifu-R.


Mamoswine @ Focus Sash
Ability: Oblivious
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Endeavor
- Ice Shard
- Earthquake
- Stealth Rock
Mamoswine is usually my lead. He sets up rocks, chips Ferrothorn, and invites in Corviknight to Defog thus allowing Bisharp to kill it. Sash + Endeavor is useful in a pinch against offensive pokemon, as well. Finally, he's a very strong check against Dracozolt, who otherwise destroys my team with some timely predictions.

Honestly, I'm not really sure about this one. If there's a different rocker that can beat Ferrothorn and take a hit while applying offensive pressure and checking Dracozolt, I'd love to hear it.


Tornadus-Therian (M) @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Nasty Plot
- Hurricane
- Focus Blast
- Defog
Torn is my ground immunity and defogger. I experimented with defensive Torn with various combinations of Knock, u-turn and Heat Wave, but found this offensive variant to be better against Slowking, Landorus, Ferrothorn, and most importantly, Heatran, which it usually OHKOs after rocks. These are important pokemon to check for Tapu Fini, but I'm often annoyed at how unreliable its moves are. He's also extremely useful for his ground immunity, as my team is very weak to ground without it.

Essentially, the goal is to be immune to ground, defog, and chip Slowking and Blissey so Fini can come in and beat them later. Would be very open to other options, though; Hurricane misses are painful.


Zeraora @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Volt Absorb
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Plasma Fists
- Toxic
- Knock Off
- Close Combat
Finally, the cleaner of my team. Zeraora checks Dragapult, Urshifu, and Weavile and poisons Landorus-T on the switch. Zeraora, Kartana, and Bisharp act synergistically in that they overload each other's counters. If Zeraora poisons Lando-T and Knocks off his item, it becomes that much easier for Kart to sweep. If Zera clicks CC on Melmetal, Kartana can usually kill it with Sacred Sword. If Bisharp knocks Corviknight, Zeraora can kill it with Plasma Fists. Essentially, these 3 pokemon work together to defeat physical walls.​

Threatlist

You can't let Venusaur get in safely. If it does, it wreacks havoc unless you land a Torn Hurricane in the sun or you use Mamoswine's focus sash + ice shard to take it out. What I'll often do is lead Fini against and start setting up; if you get two CMs off then Venusaur does less than 50% with Sludge Bomb and Stored Power OHKOs.

Victini and Darm in the sun usually just claim a kill whenever they come out and the only way to stop it is to out-offense them. This is possible, but it's incredibly difficult. You'll need good predictions with Bisharp and Fini to get anywhere.


Grimmsnarl and screens in general are very hard to deal with. Theoretically Fini could deal with screens, but Grimmsnarl has taunt. Zeraora can try to toxic and Bisharp can Iron Head, but the former is very passive and the latter is generally easy to switch into. Most setup sweepers lose to Fini or Mamoswine 1v1 even behind screens, but multiple sweepers can overwhelm my defensive answers.


If you want to beat hail with this team, you'll need great predictions and relentless pressure. Mamoswine and Bisharp are crucial to stop Arctozolt from wreacking havoc, although it will usually claim a kill before being taken out.


You have to toxic this to stop it from walling the entire team. Torn does well, but you often have to sacrifice a pokemon to sleep before it starts putting in work. And even then, it often just switches to something else while Torn takes Leech Seed chip, or knocks its boots, or something. The strategy of using 3 strong physical attackers to beat physical walls is largely ineffective against Tangrowth as even Toxic damage gets regenerated.


This is always, always a threat. You mostly have to pray you don't get scald burned and beat it with Zeraora or SD Kart. Misty Terrain helps with that, but then you risk getting knocked, and Fini really needs its leftovers to beat things like Koko and Lele. Fini can win at +2 if you get good rolls before it hazes, but it's still tough.


I don't really have a reliable switch to this. Usually I just go Bisharp and if he clicks a fire move, start setting up with Fini. But early pressure from Blaceph is very hard to deal with.

Importable + Closing Thoughts
https://pokepast.es/b7ca2e2785df0271

Special shoutout to d on the OU discord for helping me out. He recommended Hydreigon and Skarmory in addition to some moveset changes. I loved the moveset changes and have included them here, but defog Hydreigon and spikes Skarm made the team feel way too passive and those pokemon often became setup bait and were easier to pivot around than NP Torn or Mamoswine.

Overall, I would like to improve my matchup against the weathers and screens while maintaining the strategy of the team, which is to overwhelm Fini's answers and chip its offensive checks allowing it to sweep. This fini set is a lot of fun to use, I hope you try it out and enjoy it!

 

[Kylz7]

I like the sash mamoswine set

 

[Clone]

You mentioned that you wanted your Stealth rocker to beat ferrothorn, but heatran is really the only one capable of doing so. You could make the switch, but that leaves up a gaping hole in your team as you would then lack a Ground type to stop zeraora/koko. The easy answer would be to slap a garchomp/landorus on the team over bisharp, but landorus doesn't really fit unless it's it's Stealth Rock set and I'm not sold on garchomp.

I think the best thing to do here would be to try out spdef Lando > mamoswine and something like weavile > bisharp. The former gives you an out vs heatran and electrics, sets up rocks, and invites in corviknight which torn can use as set up fodder (I think heat wave might be worth looking at for this team)

Weavile gives you Knock Off support and ice coverage and can sweep on its own. It's also capable of overloading things like ferrothorn for fini, corv for kart, and makes you not autolose to tangrowth (in tandem with toxic damage from lando)

Other changes I would consider are heat wave or Taunt over defog on torn. I don't think defog is the best 4th move here, especially since you're trying to do damage with the set. You could also try the bulky set in lieu of pure offensive to give it more longevity. This pairs pretty well with taunt. The EVs for that would be 248 HP / 92 Def / 168 Spe Timid.

Finally bulk up on zera is worth looking into. Toxic is fine but your team is pretty offensive and I can't see too many scenarios where you'd want to try and stall some turns. Instead, bulk up gives you a fast wincon and a way to break things like Ferrothorn or Garchomp with some help from the rest of the team.

I'll post the sets below. Good luck with the team.

Hide

Landorus-Therian (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Atk / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
IVs: 30 Spe
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Toxic
- U-turn

Weavile @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Knock Off
- Triple Axel
- Ice Shard

 

[Smashburn]

I like the Mamoswine sash set, although I would still choose Icicle Crash > Endeavor. Endeavor can be an unreliable move without a secondary high power slot like Icicle Crash, especially if Mamoswine is needed late game and sash is already enough as is. In addition to this, I feel like Endeavor shares a slot with Stealth Rock as Icicle Crash, EQ, and Ice Shard are all necessary coverage.

Out of my personal preference, I would use Adamant > Jolly. It requires more breaking power for Mamoswine to be used in its current position, while this is a trade for matchups VS Rillaboom and Jolly Dragonite, I feel like team synergy can be made to where Adamant is consistent since no other slow mons (at the least not many) favor outspeeding Adamant Mamoswine at 260.

Aside from that, cool set! I'd love to build around it

[EDIT]

I did

https://pokepast.es/f9244c8f8fb78548

 

[Firest0rm]

You mentioned that you wanted your Stealth rocker to beat ferrothorn, but heatran is really the only one capable of doing so. You could make the switch, but that leaves up a gaping hole in your team as you would then lack a Ground type to stop zeraora/koko. The easy answer would be to slap a garchomp/landorus on the team over bisharp, but landorus doesn't really fit unless it's it's Stealth Rock set and I'm not sold on garchomp.

I think the best thing to do here would be to try out spdef Lando > mamoswine and something like weavile > bisharp. The former gives you an out vs heatran and electrics, sets up rocks, and invites in corviknight which torn can use as set up fodder (I think heat wave might be worth looking at for this team)

Weavile gives you Knock Off support and ice coverage and can sweep on its own. It's also capable of overloading things like ferrothorn for fini, corv for kart, and makes you not autolose to tangrowth (in tandem with toxic damage from lando)

Other changes I would consider are heat wave or Taunt over defog on torn. I don't think defog is the best 4th move here, especially since you're trying to do damage with the set. You could also try the bulky set in lieu of pure offensive to give it more longevity. This pairs pretty well with taunt. The EVs for that would be 248 HP / 92 Def / 168 Spe Timid.

Finally bulk up on zera is worth looking into. Toxic is fine but your team is pretty offensive and I can't see too many scenarios where you'd want to try and stall some turns. Instead, bulk up gives you a fast wincon and a way to break things like Ferrothorn or Garchomp with some help from the rest of the team.

I'll post the sets below. Good luck with the team.

Hide

Landorus-Therian (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Atk / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
IVs: 30 Spe
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Toxic
- U-turn

Weavile @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Knock Off
- Triple Axel
- Ice Shard

Hi! Thanks for the feedback. I tried SpDef Lando and I think it works better overall; however, it is worse against Ferrothorn, whose elimination is crucial for Fini. I still think it is worth it, though, to have a better matchup vs. things like Lele, Heatran, and Koko. BU Zeraora has been fantastic and I have made this change.

Weavile, however, has been extremely underwhelming everytime I've used him. Bisharp's raw damage output just feels better, as it allows Kartana to come in and pick off a Pokemon and potentially start sweeping. I already have good speed control between Torn and Zeraora. You mentioned Ferrothorn, but Bisharp Knock Off cripples it to the point where Zera or Kart can finish it off, and Corviknight, but this becomes setup fodder for Zeraora anyway. As for Tangrowth, spdef lando as you said is a good check anyway.

Finally, as for Torn, I like Defog because it allows Fini and Lando to come in repeatedly if they need to. Additionally, Torn sometimes gets knocked by various things, so hazard control is important in those situations.

Thank you for the feedback!