(1805 Peak) GO H.A.M. OR GO HOME: True Hyper Offense in OU

[whyuhating]

Hello Smogon, I’m BasedDios and this is my first Rate My Team. I’m a horrible person and one day, in a fit of buttrage over having been flinched 8 consecutive times by Jirachi, decided to out-cheese the world and run a team of 6 Choiced Dragon-types. While on paper this strategy seems easily counterable, most teams in OU are designed to counter a multitude of threats, and thus this team tends to pack enough firepower to muscle through 1 or 2 checks and counters and then sweep everything. My top rating with this team so far on the Pokemon Showdown OU Ladder is 1805, and I’m posting this team in the forums to see how I can improve or critique it.

The general strategy with this team is simple, but requires prediction and careful planning against clever opponents, as a few wrong moves can completely stop the team’s momentum and leave you with a full roster of crippled sweepers.

Haxorus (M) @ Choice Band
Trait: Mold Breaker
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 Spd / 4 SDef
Adamant Nature
- Outrage
- Superpower
- Earthquake
- Aqua Tail
In terms of pure damage, Haxorus is the strongest Pokemon on this team. I like to lead with Haxorus against weather or stall-based teams, as he can outspeed most of their common leads while still being able to 2 or 3KO even some bulky Steel-types. His moveset is pretty standard, Aqua Tail is mainly there for filler/rain abuse and something to reliably hit Skarmory with but it could be replaced with X-Scissor, Dragon Claw or some other offensive move. Base 97 Speed with Adamant isn’t fast enough to catch a lot of common offensive threats, so I like to play Haxorus in the early game of a match so he can wreck enough Pokemon to let my faster sweepers clean up.

Dragonite (M) @ Choice Band
Trait: Multiscale
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 Spd / 4 Def
Adamant Nature
- Outrage
- ExtremeSpeed
- Superpower
- Earthquake
The second-strongest Pokemon on this team. Dragonite is my backup lead against weatherless, hyper offense, or teams where it’s tough to figure out what strategy they’re using. The sheer offensive and defensive power granted from Choice Band and Multiscale means this guy can often OHKO anything that isn’t really stupid tanky, and it’s fairly easy to just get two consecutive Superpower kills just through raw force. A lot of people don’t expect Superpower on Dragonite, so it can net some surprise kills if you can predict the switch-in.

Garchomp (M) @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Rough Skin
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 Spd / 4 SDef
Jolly Nature
- Outrage
- Earthquake
- Aqua Tail
- Dragon Claw
The team’s general clean-up Pokemon, Garchomp brings a fantastic Thunder immunity and even more fantastic Base 102 Speed stat to the table. Rough Skin also helps break pesky Focus Sashes and add general residual damage. Knowing when to choose Outrage or Dragon Claw is vital for this set, as Garchomp and Salamence are some of the most vital members of this team for ensuring a sweep, as they pack the speed required to clean up the Pokemon battered by Haxorus and Dragonite’s offense.

Salamence (M) @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Moxie
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature
- Outrage
- Earthquake
- Dragon Claw
- Aqua Tail
Salamence, just like Garchomp, is the late-game cleanup sweeper, and as such the choice between Outrage and Dragon Claw needs him to be played with caution. However, if he can rack up a few kills in a row, Salamence becomes extremely fearsome and can double as a faster Haxorus if the need arises.

Hydreigon (M) @ Life Orb
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 252 SAtk / 252 Spd / 4 HP
Modest Nature
- Draco Meteor
- Flamethrower
- Surf
- Dark Pulse
I’m a little iffy on this guy, but as far as this team goes Hydreigon is a very versatile Pokemon, offering a lot of fantastic type coverage as well as a useful defensive typing. He’s also surprisingly bulky defensive stats, and can even tank some Ice-type moves from bulkier Pokemon. Due to his bulk and coverage, I switched out Choice Specs for Life Orb, as it helps him clean up vulnerable opponents, soften walls, and tank hits while providing good coverage. Also, it comes as a surprise to Trainers who quickly assumed the entire team was Choiced.

Latios (M) @ Choice Specs
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 252 SAtk / 252 Spd / 4 Def
Timid Nature
- Draco Meteor
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Surf
- Psyshock
The team’s other special sweeper. The strategy here is pretty simple: Come in, whack something really hard until it dies, and come out. Like Hydreigon, he has problems against special walls and with the Draco Meteor special attack drop affecting his sweeping power. Latios functions best on this team mid to late-game, when he can act as a sort of finesse sweeper for cleaning up weakened Pokemon my Scarfers can’t steamroll.

Anyway, that’s my team in its first iteration, hopefully with more changes to come. While the general strategy of the team does have flaws, this is probably the epitome of hyper offense in the OU metagame and can absolutely steamroll unprepared teams. Right now, Scizor, Skarmory, and other bulky Steel-types are a huge pain in this team’s collective nuts and a few missteps can cause sweepers like SubDD Gyarados and Swords Dance Weavile to absolutely wreck face. Status and fast Ice-type moves also really hurt, basically anything that can completely shut down the team’s offensive momentum serves as a good check and counter. This team isn’t even supposed to be a 6 Dragon 6 Choice, I just made it as a half-joke and it kind of worked. That being said, I feel like I’m on to something here and this could be really threatening with a push in the right direction.

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Got up to 1805! Switched out Choice Specs for Life Orb on Hydreigon, helps a bit but the core problems still remain. Scarf Latios and Shell Smash Cloyster annihilate this team. Might swap out someone for Dugtrio or Magnezone.

 

[TransparentOpacity]

So does the team have to stay all choiced dragons, just for style? Because if not, I think magnezone would really help your team take care of steel types.

 

[whyuhating]

So does the team have to stay all choiced dragons, just for style? Because if not, I think magnezone would really help your team take care of steel types.

The team doesn't have to be all choiced all dragons, I just did that as a springboard. Do you think I should run a more offensive or defensive Magnezone? I just need someone who can reliably shut down Scizor, Skarmory, Forretress etc.

 

[TransparentOpacity]

I'd probably run scarf magnezone to outspeed mamoswine. You could alternatively run a scarfed magneton, in order to outspeed weavile and kill it with flash cannon. Whatever set you decide on, it will shut down all those steels as long as you have HP fire.

 

[Ballofire]

Why not run Fire Fang on one of them? Why have Aqua Tail on three, seems redundant coverage.

 

[Arcticblast]

Rain is much more common than Sun in the metagame, and Fire Fang doesn't even do a whole lot against physically defensive Steels that Superpower or Earthquake won't accomplish. Haxorus doesn't learn Fire Fang anyway.

Anyway, this team is ironically weak to the very inspiration for the team - Jirachi. Since all of your Pokemon are Choiced, it can come in on a Dragon move (or a Fire move in Rain) and proceed to spread paralysis through your entire team. I know DragMag is cheesy, but it seems that a Dugtrio will really help you here. Dugtrio can trap and kill Jirachi with ease, and also helps deal with a multitude of other threats (for example Choice Band Tyranitar). It can even give you Stealth Rock, which you currently lack.

Dugtrio @ Focus Sash / Choice Band (if you want to stick to the all-Choice theme - all CB options will be in italics.)
Trait: Arena Trap
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 Spd / 4 SDef
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- Reversal / Sucker Punch
- Stealth Rock / Memento

Additionally, I suggest using Fire Punch over Superpower on Dragonite to deal with Skarmory better.

 

[eastamazonantidote]

I was thinking of running a similar team recently, so it's nice to see that it can succeed. I've tested it out a bit and there are a few problems I've run into.

It's amazing how well Skarmory can sit there and take hits. I've always been a fan of Fire Punch on Dragonite over Superpower (but I only started playing again recently after a 2 year break), and it definitely helps against Skarmory. You could also go completely anti-weather and pack on Waterfall or Aqua Tail, but that would probably just be unnecessary. Magnezone is another option but requires you remove a teammate. If you opt for that route, you should run something like

Magnezone @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Magnet Pull
EVs: 252 SpAtk / 252 Spe / 4 HP
Timid Nature
- Thunderbolt
- Volt Switch
- Hidden Power - Fire
- Flash Cannon / Explosion (only with Naive nature)

Explosion may seem weird, but after you've eliminated the steel types with your other attacks, it's an easy way to get some quick chip damage. Magnezone has only one job on this team, and once he's done with that he might as well go out with a bang. I mean, are you really ever going to use Flash Cannon?

While using this team, there were a few times when I was thinking about how great it would be if I could have entry hazards up. I've been experimenting with Custap Berry Forretress recently and it worked pretty well with this team. Not as well as that Magnezone, mind you, but it is a lot of fun and getting Rocks up is really good for a team that tries to just pound the opponent into the ground. It's also nice to be able to keep Multiscale intact with a quick Rapid Spin, and that quick, super-slow Gyro Ball packs a nice punch in a pinch.

Also, I would almost suggest running Expert Belt on Hydreigon to put on even more of a bluff of a Choice set.

Best of luck!

 

[SquirtleSquad626]

All in all its a great looking team. most of the teams counters or threats have already been addressed, and so have the magnezone, dugtrio, and forretress suggestions i was going to make. Something to think about might be a dedicated cleric as your team seems weak to status. Maybe a Blissey (I hate blissey SO MUCH) or even an umbreon or vaporeon equipped with wish and heal bell?

 

[w1nd1n6s]

I See steel types and walls as your common threats here especially blissey cause she can induce status on your team also jirachi and few others. if your opponent is celver enough it will be really hard for you to be locked on one move seeing almost all of your rosters are choice'd except for hydreigon... just sayin

 

[Z-rex]

Do you cry when you face a scarf latios or terrakion ?

 

[TransparentOpacity]

Do you cry when you face a scarf latios or terrakion ?

Timid scarf latios is pretty rare, and even then Dragonite could tank a hit.

 

[Ice_Truck_Killa]

Timid scarf latios is pretty rare, and even then Dragonite could tank a hit.

Yeah I heard they're usually Adamant these days... lol. And if SR is up dragonite is tanking no hits at all. I honestly don't really like these teams and I feel like half the reason they win at all is the offensive nature of pokemon benefitting players who mindlessly outrage and hope not to hit themselves in confusion/ get a 2 or 3 turn outrage when needed and be able to switch without being revenged. Also as listed above the team has absolutely no way of dealing with scarf latios and even scarf terrak and keldeo outspeed and do a number on all of your pokemon. Also if the opponent is able to get up hazards in the first turns (custap lead ie) your pretty much screwed as none of your team members have the bulk to be switching in and out of hazards and being able to smash through all the threats necessary. I wish I could give you some constructive advice for the team but I feel like I would be taking away from its original spammy nature with thoughts of "synergy" and "supporting" mons. But yeah... the poster above is wrong once again in that scarf latios is almost always timid, and it definitely isn't too afraid of dragonite as long as it has over 70% hp. (65% is around how much CB Espeed does iirc? feel free to calc that)

 

[TransparentOpacity]

scarf latios is almost always timid, yes, but scarf latios is rare. I'd say if stealth rock+scarf latios is your team's biggest weakness, that's a pretty good team.

 

[dwarfstar]

TransparentOpacity, you're incorrect. 30.689% of all Latios carry a Choice Scarf; I wouldn't call that rare.

 

[AriaBladeZ]

I've used a similar hyper offensive team of dragons, and I have to say that they work quite well. Your team seems to be no exception. Nice work!

Steels in the rain will be annoying to face, so I highly suggest you use Trick over Psyshock on Latios. It can cripple basically any threat to your team.

Have fun!