Introduction
Hello everyone. Today I would like to share a team that I used to great success on the ladder about 1-2 months ago when the DLC 2 meta was still in its first few weeks. While the meta has advanced and this team is not as great as it once was, it is still pretty decent and usable. With a likely Urshifu ban, I wanted to share this team before it is not usable anymore. Do keep in mind that I will be talking about a past meta with Kyurem Black, Pheromosa, and Zygarde still in the tier. With that said lets get into the team.
Peak
Teambuilding Process
Looking at the meta at this point in time, I noticed that Tapu Lele was severely underrated and was UU by usage. This baffled me as I was looking through the tier and what was common and the only good check to Lele was Corviknight, which was low in usage due to not being able to check Zygarde and Mandibuzz being more popular due to Spectrier. I decided to give this Pokemon a try even though it was not being used much at all.
Cinderace is the perfect partner for Tapu Lele. While already hitting the most of the meta super hard, its best check Toxapex was free momentum out into Tapu Lele to start breaking. The 2 Pokemon complement each other really well along with the next member of the team.
During the time period I was using this team was when future sight Slowbro started picking up insane amounts of usage. I decided to put this Pokemon on my team due to its defensive capabilities while keeping up momentum and helping make Cinderace even more unwallable with future sight. Additionally, Future Sight is boosted in Psychic Terrain making it hit even stronger which has proven very useful to help Cinderace beat Toxapex.
I needed a Pokemon that can sponge special hits from Pokemon like Spectrier and Magearna while also keeping up momentum. Magearna made the perfect partner, giving me good resistances and bulk for the team.
I still needed a ground type so I don't get owned by volt switch, a Heatran check as I felt the Pokemon was super oppressive with its trapping set, and a rocker. Garchomp made perfect sense as it also kept up offensive pressure.
I added Choice Scarf Urshifu because it gave me speed control and was a great Pokemon against Hyper Offense which was sky high in usage at the time. Additionally, Scarf Urshifu is great at keeping up momentum and still hits very hard. Scarf Urshifu is also rarely used, so it picked up a lot of surprise KOs.
The Team
Tapu Lele @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Psychic Surge
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Psychic / Psyshock
- Moonblast
- Focus Blast
- Nature's Madness
As I mentioned before, Tapu Lele was very underrated and very good at breaking. The item of choice here is Heavy Duty Boots. As you can see from the Pokemon on my team, I have no possible hazard remover aside from Court Change Cinderace which I did not use. Heavy Duty Boots makes sure that Lele is not completely screwed by hazard stacking and gives it the most breaking opportunities possible. Using a choice item makes Tapu Lele too prediction reliant for my liking. And an item such as twisted spoon does not give enough of a power boost to justify using over the utility Heavy Duty Boots gives. Psychic and Moonblast are STAB to hit hard. Focus Blast is good coverage to hit steel types that wall Lele's STAB. The final move is Nature's Madness, which is a good midground move to get a lot of chip on whatever comes in, especially defensive Magearna. Psyshock can be an option over Psychic as it hits Slowking Galar and Blissey very hard and Toxapex are becoming more Spdef. I used Psychic on the original team because toxapex were mainly running Defensive EVs.
Cinderace @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Libero
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Pyro Ball
- Gunk Shot
- High Jump Kick / Low Kick
- U-turn
Cinderace was and still is a fantastic Pokemon. Heavy Duty Boots is the best item for Cinderace, a hazard weak Pokemon. I opted for a Jolly over Adamant nature as it out speeds Pokemon such as Kartana and Latios. Pyro Ball hits Steel Pokemon, Gunk Shot hits fairies and fishes for poisons on would be checks such as Slowbro and Mandibuzz, High Jump Kick destroys Heatran while also being able to OHKO Urshifu and Kyurem Black if needed, and U-turn keeps up momentum vs Pokemon that would switch in such as Toxapex, Hippowdon, Mandibuzz, and Slowbro. I would now use Low Kick instead of HJK because Low Kick always hits and still has 100-120 BP on the main targets you want to hit.
Slowbro @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Relaxed Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 0 Spe
- Ice Beam / Scald
- Future Sight
- Slack Off
- Teleport
Slowbro is an amazing Pokemon that tanks physical hits from Pokemon like Garchomp, Landorus T, and Cinderace. The item I chose here is Heavy Duty Boots over something like Rocky Helmet is because the team has no hazard control. Colbur berry was also an option I was thinking of for Urshifu, a big threat to the team, but again, I don't have hazard control and Colbur isn't great in my opinion without Counter. 0 speed IVs is to make sure I get a slow teleport off against other Slowbro so I can react accordingly to the opponents move. Ice Beam was chosen here over Scald because Zygarde was such a huge threat. Ice Beam Slowbro shut down Zygarde as long as it didn't get insane hax with paralysis. Now, I would use Scald as it is a more consistent option, especially vs Excadrill. Future Sight helps Cinderace be pretty much unwallable while Teleport keeps momentum and lets those Future Sight sequences happen. Slack Off gives Slowbro recovery.
Magearna @ Assault Vest
Ability: Soul-Heart
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpA / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Fleur Cannon
- Volt Switch
- Focus Blast
- Flash Cannon
Assault Vest Magearna is one of the best special sponges for offensive teams as it can keep up momentum while also having good coverage to hit most of the tier hard. Assault Vest gives Magearna crazy Spdef with max Spdef EVs. Fleur Cannon is strong STAB that hits many Pokemon neutrally decently hard even without any significant Spatk investment. Volt Switch keeps up momentum and safely brings in breakers. Focus Blast hits steel types such as Heatran and Ferrothorn hard. Flash Cannon hits Clefable, which can otherwise sit on Magearna.
Garchomp @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Rough Skin
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- Swords Dance
SD Garchomp is a huge threat for any team. Additionally, it keeps Stealth Rock up pretty well. The item I chose to run is Rocky Helmet because it gave me important chip on threats such as Pheromosa and Urshifu and even defensive Pokemon such as Mandibuzz trying to Foul Play or a Landorus T trying to U-turn out. I chose to go with an offensive SD rocks set instead of a bulky Helmet set because I think that the bulky set sucks as its too passive. With Swords Dance and edge quake coverage, Garchomp is for sure going to heavily chip something or get KOs.
Urshifu @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Unseen Fist
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Wicked Blow
- Close Combat
- U-turn
- Poison Jab
Scarf Urshifu is a great offensive check to many offensive threats such as Pheromosa, Kyurem Black, Cinderace, and Spectrier while U-turning out to other threats on the team against fat Pokemon like Toxapex and Clefable. Scarf Urshifu helped ease the Hyper Offense mathcup greatly as its able to revenge kill so many set up sweepers with its powerful STAB, including Kyurem Black which was in the tier at the time. Its also a great late game cleaner once everything is chipped down. Wicked Blow and Close Combat are powerful stabs, even without a Choice Band/Life Orb/Black Glasses boost. U-turn keeps up momentum vs the Pokemon that switch in. Poison Jab is used to hit fairy types such as Clefable, Tapu Fini, and Tapu Koko.
Threats
Offensive ground types -
As you can see, this team has no ground resist. Powerful earthquakes can only really be tanked by Slowbro, which can be easily pressured to be put in 2hko range. Excadrill was especially a problem during the Zygarde meta when I was using Ice Beam Slowbro because it out sped and killed everything in sand.
This team also has no ghost resist. Magearna can take a few Specs Shadow Balls from Spectrier but you have to make sure that Spectrier doesn't get too many opportunities to dismantle the team.
and 
The only switch in to Wicked Blow is your own Urshifu. Pheromosa pretty much gets free U-turns on the whole team. At the time of building this team Banded Pheromosa was not as common as it was when it got banned so the main switch in was Slowbro because you take less then half from U-turn and Garchomp to chip Pheromosa.
Dragon Dance Kyurem Black could be checked by a healthy Magearna or Scarf Urshifu. I usually found myself revenging the Pokemon with Scarf Urshifu, which surprised opponents who thought they could sweep at +1 speed.
Replays
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8ou-1218784525-2fjxei00ou82myd1a7opk1q6t4eb06cpw - vs Kyub balance (boots really shows its worth on lele)
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8ou-1223312661-erd43l9uaw7pjfszkqjcr8s4j2mlp6hpw - vs rain
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8ou-1223952163-q243s1n2a3ftwdr2m3qj7ve3q8jhty9pw - vs sand
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8ou-1219422918-qwy0a4rivdv48hxtbagdwhavoojuulzpw - vs Spectrier balance
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8ou-1219426430-g94t037qtf3ghjexlvzro7fj1c07vv1pw - vs Screens HO
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8ou-1224258280-7az99lwlpzno1moimnb5p1e313jmldxpw - vs Bulky Offense with Spectrier, Shifu, Kyub
Conclusion
Looking back at this team now, it was very defensively unstable. However, I found success with the team due to how much offensive pressure it put and by also playing aggressively myself. I made sure to always keep up momentum as any sort of loss in momentum was very detrimental to the team. While this team is still usable in the current meta, I feel that the weaknesses to some of the threats are way too big to be able to use consistently in this meta. Additionally, the meta 1-2 months ago was filled with Offense that this team could just simply out offense with good playing and managing around threats. Thanks for reading and shoutouts zoomers.
Import
https://pokepast.es/3d6eed86145ff17f
Hello everyone. Today I would like to share a team that I used to great success on the ladder about 1-2 months ago when the DLC 2 meta was still in its first few weeks. While the meta has advanced and this team is not as great as it once was, it is still pretty decent and usable. With a likely Urshifu ban, I wanted to share this team before it is not usable anymore. Do keep in mind that I will be talking about a past meta with Kyurem Black, Pheromosa, and Zygarde still in the tier. With that said lets get into the team.
Peak
Teambuilding Process
Looking at the meta at this point in time, I noticed that Tapu Lele was severely underrated and was UU by usage. This baffled me as I was looking through the tier and what was common and the only good check to Lele was Corviknight, which was low in usage due to not being able to check Zygarde and Mandibuzz being more popular due to Spectrier. I decided to give this Pokemon a try even though it was not being used much at all.
Cinderace is the perfect partner for Tapu Lele. While already hitting the most of the meta super hard, its best check Toxapex was free momentum out into Tapu Lele to start breaking. The 2 Pokemon complement each other really well along with the next member of the team.
During the time period I was using this team was when future sight Slowbro started picking up insane amounts of usage. I decided to put this Pokemon on my team due to its defensive capabilities while keeping up momentum and helping make Cinderace even more unwallable with future sight. Additionally, Future Sight is boosted in Psychic Terrain making it hit even stronger which has proven very useful to help Cinderace beat Toxapex.
I needed a Pokemon that can sponge special hits from Pokemon like Spectrier and Magearna while also keeping up momentum. Magearna made the perfect partner, giving me good resistances and bulk for the team.
I still needed a ground type so I don't get owned by volt switch, a Heatran check as I felt the Pokemon was super oppressive with its trapping set, and a rocker. Garchomp made perfect sense as it also kept up offensive pressure.
I added Choice Scarf Urshifu because it gave me speed control and was a great Pokemon against Hyper Offense which was sky high in usage at the time. Additionally, Scarf Urshifu is great at keeping up momentum and still hits very hard. Scarf Urshifu is also rarely used, so it picked up a lot of surprise KOs.
The Team
Tapu Lele @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Psychic Surge
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Psychic / Psyshock
- Moonblast
- Focus Blast
- Nature's Madness
As I mentioned before, Tapu Lele was very underrated and very good at breaking. The item of choice here is Heavy Duty Boots. As you can see from the Pokemon on my team, I have no possible hazard remover aside from Court Change Cinderace which I did not use. Heavy Duty Boots makes sure that Lele is not completely screwed by hazard stacking and gives it the most breaking opportunities possible. Using a choice item makes Tapu Lele too prediction reliant for my liking. And an item such as twisted spoon does not give enough of a power boost to justify using over the utility Heavy Duty Boots gives. Psychic and Moonblast are STAB to hit hard. Focus Blast is good coverage to hit steel types that wall Lele's STAB. The final move is Nature's Madness, which is a good midground move to get a lot of chip on whatever comes in, especially defensive Magearna. Psyshock can be an option over Psychic as it hits Slowking Galar and Blissey very hard and Toxapex are becoming more Spdef. I used Psychic on the original team because toxapex were mainly running Defensive EVs.
Cinderace @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Libero
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Pyro Ball
- Gunk Shot
- High Jump Kick / Low Kick
- U-turn
Cinderace was and still is a fantastic Pokemon. Heavy Duty Boots is the best item for Cinderace, a hazard weak Pokemon. I opted for a Jolly over Adamant nature as it out speeds Pokemon such as Kartana and Latios. Pyro Ball hits Steel Pokemon, Gunk Shot hits fairies and fishes for poisons on would be checks such as Slowbro and Mandibuzz, High Jump Kick destroys Heatran while also being able to OHKO Urshifu and Kyurem Black if needed, and U-turn keeps up momentum vs Pokemon that would switch in such as Toxapex, Hippowdon, Mandibuzz, and Slowbro. I would now use Low Kick instead of HJK because Low Kick always hits and still has 100-120 BP on the main targets you want to hit.
Slowbro @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Relaxed Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 0 Spe
- Ice Beam / Scald
- Future Sight
- Slack Off
- Teleport
Slowbro is an amazing Pokemon that tanks physical hits from Pokemon like Garchomp, Landorus T, and Cinderace. The item I chose here is Heavy Duty Boots over something like Rocky Helmet is because the team has no hazard control. Colbur berry was also an option I was thinking of for Urshifu, a big threat to the team, but again, I don't have hazard control and Colbur isn't great in my opinion without Counter. 0 speed IVs is to make sure I get a slow teleport off against other Slowbro so I can react accordingly to the opponents move. Ice Beam was chosen here over Scald because Zygarde was such a huge threat. Ice Beam Slowbro shut down Zygarde as long as it didn't get insane hax with paralysis. Now, I would use Scald as it is a more consistent option, especially vs Excadrill. Future Sight helps Cinderace be pretty much unwallable while Teleport keeps momentum and lets those Future Sight sequences happen. Slack Off gives Slowbro recovery.
Magearna @ Assault Vest
Ability: Soul-Heart
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpA / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Fleur Cannon
- Volt Switch
- Focus Blast
- Flash Cannon
Assault Vest Magearna is one of the best special sponges for offensive teams as it can keep up momentum while also having good coverage to hit most of the tier hard. Assault Vest gives Magearna crazy Spdef with max Spdef EVs. Fleur Cannon is strong STAB that hits many Pokemon neutrally decently hard even without any significant Spatk investment. Volt Switch keeps up momentum and safely brings in breakers. Focus Blast hits steel types such as Heatran and Ferrothorn hard. Flash Cannon hits Clefable, which can otherwise sit on Magearna.
Garchomp @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Rough Skin
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- Swords Dance
SD Garchomp is a huge threat for any team. Additionally, it keeps Stealth Rock up pretty well. The item I chose to run is Rocky Helmet because it gave me important chip on threats such as Pheromosa and Urshifu and even defensive Pokemon such as Mandibuzz trying to Foul Play or a Landorus T trying to U-turn out. I chose to go with an offensive SD rocks set instead of a bulky Helmet set because I think that the bulky set sucks as its too passive. With Swords Dance and edge quake coverage, Garchomp is for sure going to heavily chip something or get KOs.
Urshifu @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Unseen Fist
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Wicked Blow
- Close Combat
- U-turn
- Poison Jab
Scarf Urshifu is a great offensive check to many offensive threats such as Pheromosa, Kyurem Black, Cinderace, and Spectrier while U-turning out to other threats on the team against fat Pokemon like Toxapex and Clefable. Scarf Urshifu helped ease the Hyper Offense mathcup greatly as its able to revenge kill so many set up sweepers with its powerful STAB, including Kyurem Black which was in the tier at the time. Its also a great late game cleaner once everything is chipped down. Wicked Blow and Close Combat are powerful stabs, even without a Choice Band/Life Orb/Black Glasses boost. U-turn keeps up momentum vs the Pokemon that switch in. Poison Jab is used to hit fairy types such as Clefable, Tapu Fini, and Tapu Koko.
Threats
Offensive ground types -
As you can see, this team has no ground resist. Powerful earthquakes can only really be tanked by Slowbro, which can be easily pressured to be put in 2hko range. Excadrill was especially a problem during the Zygarde meta when I was using Ice Beam Slowbro because it out sped and killed everything in sand.
This team also has no ghost resist. Magearna can take a few Specs Shadow Balls from Spectrier but you have to make sure that Spectrier doesn't get too many opportunities to dismantle the team.
and The only switch in to Wicked Blow is your own Urshifu. Pheromosa pretty much gets free U-turns on the whole team. At the time of building this team Banded Pheromosa was not as common as it was when it got banned so the main switch in was Slowbro because you take less then half from U-turn and Garchomp to chip Pheromosa.
Dragon Dance Kyurem Black could be checked by a healthy Magearna or Scarf Urshifu. I usually found myself revenging the Pokemon with Scarf Urshifu, which surprised opponents who thought they could sweep at +1 speed.
Replays
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8ou-1218784525-2fjxei00ou82myd1a7opk1q6t4eb06cpw - vs Kyub balance (boots really shows its worth on lele)
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8ou-1223312661-erd43l9uaw7pjfszkqjcr8s4j2mlp6hpw - vs rain
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8ou-1223952163-q243s1n2a3ftwdr2m3qj7ve3q8jhty9pw - vs sand
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8ou-1219422918-qwy0a4rivdv48hxtbagdwhavoojuulzpw - vs Spectrier balance
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8ou-1219426430-g94t037qtf3ghjexlvzro7fj1c07vv1pw - vs Screens HO
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8ou-1224258280-7az99lwlpzno1moimnb5p1e313jmldxpw - vs Bulky Offense with Spectrier, Shifu, Kyub
Conclusion
Looking back at this team now, it was very defensively unstable. However, I found success with the team due to how much offensive pressure it put and by also playing aggressively myself. I made sure to always keep up momentum as any sort of loss in momentum was very detrimental to the team. While this team is still usable in the current meta, I feel that the weaknesses to some of the threats are way too big to be able to use consistently in this meta. Additionally, the meta 1-2 months ago was filled with Offense that this team could just simply out offense with good playing and managing around threats. Thanks for reading and shoutouts zoomers.
Import
https://pokepast.es/3d6eed86145ff17f