All Balls, No Walls
Tricked you, didn't I?
For all of you celebis who know/don't know/don't care who I am, I'm Eaglehawk and I have an RMT to share with you all. I've been messing around in UU to a point where everything I build borderlines super-weird crap, and today I will show you my team that's built around Genies. Have fun! (NOTE: This is completely conceptual and is guaranteed to be [insert percentage] garbage).
I first started off with the two genies, Landorus and Thundurus (everybody hates Tornadus). I found that these two worked really well with each other not only offensively, but also utility-wise.
I usually consult the OU Viability Ranking thread on Smogon for team members (basically tells me the strongest and noteworthy Pokemon to look out for). Going into the S-Rank Pokemon, a good portion of them are super OP megas and Aegislash and Genesect. Thundurus can handle Genesect and Luke with Thunder Wave and have Lando come in and break them up. Pinsir gets crapped on by Thundo and Aegislash gets rocked by Lando, so the only outstanding problems are Charizard and Venusaur. I decided to go with Azumarill because not only could he handle both Charizards very well, but he also resists both Genies' crippling Ice weakness.
An old gaming adage goes: "If you don't know what to do, go for the most OP shizz."
And that's why I picked Kyurem-B. Kyurem-B hurts Mega-Penusaur super hard with Teravolt Ice Beam (which goes through its fat azz). Furthermore, Kyurem-B is just straight-up abusive to everything else. Bulky waters can't switch into it safely and Utility mons can't hurt him behind a Substitute. It also lures Rotom-W and other Levitating BS in pretty hard because they think they can take a hit and burn Kube and hit with a SE Earth Power via Teravolt.
After building my team to this point, I realized hazard sucks for this team, so I decided to use a Spinner/Defogger. However, based on the build of this team, it really doesn't have a definitive pivot that can take hits and deal damage back, so I decided to go with Mega-Scizor. M-Scizor is basically Offensive pivot, Defogger, and Revenge killer all in one. He forms a super-tight core with Thundo and can sustain super-hard with Roost. Furthermore, Fairies can switch into it because of Bullet Punch (Bullet Punch 2HKOs Standard Toge fyi)
I decided that the final spot should be another fat thing that could set up hazards.
And Hippowdon was born.
Hippo's down the same road as MScizor in the fact that it can tank hits and deal damage both at the same time. He glues things up as a check to Talonflame and other assorted Physical things.
And here's the fun part: scrutinizing English words.
The Team
Landorus (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Sheer Force
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 SAtk / 4 HP
Timid Nature
- Earth Power
- Focus Blast
- Sludge Wave
- Psychic
Landorus was one of the two Pokemon I originally planned to build the team around (the other being not-Tornadus). He originally a set-up Rock Polish sweeper, but as the team-building process and testing went on, he had a less chance of actually setting up and sweeping. I decided that Rock Polish was a bit of a waste and gave it full out coverage. He now functions as a pseudo-wallbreaker-sweeper. His Base 101 Speed puts it above the 100 Speed threshold and thus outspeeds the critical portions of the metagame. The unique thing about this Landorus is that it’s a sweeper that doesn’t need a lot of specific wallbreaking: his moves all 2HKO all the major walls/tanks in the metagame. Basically, things like MegaVenusaur and Togekiss/Clefable can’t come in and tank Earth Powers and Focus Blast because of LO + Sheer Force boosted coverage moves.
252 SpA Life Orb Sheer Force Landorus Psychic vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Mega Venusaur: 192-229 (52.7 - 62.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 SpA Life Orb Sheer Force Landorus Sludge Wave vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Togekiss: 211-250 (56.4 - 66.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
252 SpA Life Orb Sheer Force Landorus Sludge Wave vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Clefable: 250-294 (63.4 - 74.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
252 SpA Life Orb Sheer Force Landorus Earth Power vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Aegislash-Shield: 320-377 (98.7 - 116.3%) -- 87.5% chance to OHKO
252 SpA Life Orb Sheer Force Landorus Focus Blast vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Mandibuzz: 212-250 (50 - 58.9%) -- 73.4% chance to 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
252 SpA Life Orb Sheer Force Landorus Focus Blast vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Skarmory: 272-320 (81.4 - 95.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
As the calculations show, almost every single defensive thing in the meta gets ball-tapped pretty hard by it. However, in terms of the offensive high-speed threats, Landorus incalculably loses to them, such as MLuke and MPinsir.
Unless he has team support…
Thundurus (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 SAtk / 4 HP or Att
Timid Nature or Hasty Nature
- Thunder Wave
- Volt Switch
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Focus Blast/Superpower
And from that comes Thundurus. Thundurus plays a strong utility role for Landorus and, later, the rest of the team. He’s basically a paralysis machine that just goes around and paralyzing things for all of the team members. If I were to use Thunder Wave, it would have to be a priority Thunder Wave simply because how priority heavy and fast this metagame has turned. Klefki was an automatic no simply because it couldn’t maintain offensive momentum and was massive set-up bait(for all of you out there who have no idea how Klefki works, he’s basically Thunder Wave, Screens, and die). Thundurus had two super-attracting things that made him the prime choice: his high speed and offensive power. At Base 111 Speed, he outspeeds everything up to Adamant MLuke. This plays in even more for priority moves because in terms of priority moves, Thundurus’ Thunder Wave outspeeds every single other priority move, so it’s a 100% guaranteed paralysis against offensive threats. Thundurus’ Base 125 Special Attack makes his move hit super-hard (as usual). He’s usually my answer to Dragons in the metagame right now with HP Ice. Volt Switch grabs offensive momentum really well, and combined with a later member, he makes a really strong component to a Volt-Turn core.
Now the issue with Thundurus right now is I’m not too sure whether to keep it all Special or Mixed. Through playtesting, I’ve noticed that my team has a very hard time breaking through SkarmBliss (sadly), and by loading up Superpower, I can 2HKO Blissey (barely). However, I do compromise Thundurus’ defensive integrity, which is important for him to function as a pivot.
Azumarill @ Choice Band
Ability: Huge Power
EVs: 252 Atk / 212 HP / 44 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Aqua Jet
- Waterfall
- Play Rough
- Superpower
Azumarill is simply too boss. Strong and fat, this thing’s a fckin sumo wrestler. All kidding aside, Azumarill is one of the best pivot-wallbreakers. His Water/Fairy typing gives him a lot of switch-in opportunities, and CB + Huge Power deals a crap-ton of damage, regardless of resistance. Azumarill clicks really well with both genies because it can switch into Ice-moves and Water-moves and regain momentum through brute strength. Waterfall simply demolishes anything without bulk investment and Play Rough is just straight-up murderous.
Some may be wondering why I’m not using Aegislash as the wallbreaker. Aegislash is good and all, but Azumarill acts as my insurance against MLuke and snowballing Dragons. Even with TWave support and Hidden Power Ice, there will be times where Thundurus goes down way too early and giving the opposing team free reign. Azumarill is by far one of the best checks to MLuke with Aqua Jet and resistance to traditional Fight/Dark or Fight/Ice MLuke coverage. Fairy’s immunity to Dragons help it to check STAB Dragon Claws. Azumarill’s usually bulky enough to take a hit and KO back with Play Rough.
Scizor @ Scizorite
Ability: Technician
EVs: 152 Atk / 248 HP / 108 SDef
Adamant Nature
- Defog
- Roost
- Bullet Punch
- U-turn
As with any team that’s more switch-centric, I have my obligatory Steel-type in the form of Mega-Scizor. Even with the nerf to its resistances, the number of them that it provides is too good to ignore, and couple that with MScizor’s bulk, it becomes one of the best offensive pivots in the tier. Scizor plays multiple roles on this team. It has a huge utility role via Defog support, which is super-vital based on my team’s weakness to Stealth Rocks (and hazards in general). He also functions as a very bulky pivot. MScizor has 70/140/100 defenses, which allows it to survive almost any neutral hit. Hell, even LO Starmie’s Hydro Pump 3HKOs it. Bullet Punch coming off of its massive Base 150 Attack hurts really badly and can almost 2HKO Standard Togekiss (which is pretty impressive). Finally, unlike many other Turning pivots such as Rotom-W and Landorus-T, Scizor has access to Roost, which increases his longevity by a lot. The EVs are from another set (Bulky Swords Dance). This maximizes Scizor’s bulk potential while allowing it to dish a lot of damage in the process.
Scizor’s typing functions as another defensive pairing for the Genies. Steel resists both Genie’s common weakness: Ice. By capitalizing on that, you can make a rather safe switch into MScizor and bring back offensive momentum by using U-Turn. It also acts as the second failsafe when Thundurus fails to paralyze, and specifically addresses DD Dragons, who can’t really hurt it without a Fire coverage move (which most usually don’t carry anymore) and get KO’ed by its Bullet Punch. It also functions as a Steel-type switch-in for Azumarill. It’s Fairy typing makes it take neutral hits from Steel coverage moves, so Scizor comes in and take the brunt of the damage.
Kyurem-Black @ Leftovers
Ability: Teravolt
EVs: 56 HP / 200 SAtk / 252 Spd
Mild Nature
- Substitute
- Ice Beam
- Fusion Bolt
- Earth Power
I chose Kyurem-B purely out of sheer walll-breaking power. As you read earlier before, Landorus doesn’t really need specific SE-typing wallbreaker, but just super strong things that soften everything up for Landorus to clean up with his STAB and coverage, and Kyurem-B does the job. Kube has the perfect mix of godly bulk with godly damage to allow it to switch into moves and proceed to do craptons of damage, and most importantly to act as a counter to Rotom-W. With both Genies and Azumarill on the team, Rotom-Ws will most of the time go for Hydro Pump or Volt Switch respectively to KO them. Kube takes advantage of its Dragon-typing and takes minimal damage from Rotom-W. On the next turn, Kube can set up a Substitute to block Will-o-Wisp and proceed to tear their team up. The magic of Kube is that no matter what you switch in, it’ll be taking sh1ttons of damage. Furthermore, the Teravolt allows it to murder retarded things such as Mega-Venusaur (Ice Beam no longer affected by Thick Fat) and Rotom-W (Earth Power no longer affected by Levitate).
As you can see, I run 252 Speed with a + Speed nature; however, it still doesn’t hit the 100 threshold for it to be considered as a sweeper. This is where Thundurus comes into play. With Thunder Wave on certain targets, Kyurem-B is able to melt through those targets with its massive offense, morphing it into a pseudo-high speed sweeper and thus makes him extremely dangerous.
Hippowdon (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 HP / 80 Def / 156 SDef
Impish Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Rock Slide
- Earthquake
- Slack Off
Hippowdon rounds off the team very nicely. As you may/may not have noticed, I my team has a pretty big Talonflame weakness (granted it can be worked around, but it’s really risky). Hippowdon patches that up really nicely. Stolen from none other than Ace Emerald, Hippowdon is one of the best Mixed tanks in OU. 252 HP / 80 Def / 156 SDef allows it to take neutral hits very well from both sides of the spectrum, where it can use the opportunity to set up Stealth Rock. Stealth Rock works super well in the fact that it punishes opponents for switching (which my team often forces due to Volt-Turn). It also functions as a tank that can do massive damage back at the opponents. Even though switching in with this loses my team some momentum, the benefit of Stealth Rocks completely makes up for it.
Conclusion
And that’s the team, folks. It’s far from perfect, so if you can drop your two cents (or any sum of money greater than $0.02), I’d greatly appreciately. If you are the most interesting man in the world, remind me to write a check of $36.98 out to you.
Landorus (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Sheer Force
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 SAtk / 4 HP
Timid Nature
- Earth Power
- Focus Blast
- Sludge Wave
- Psychic
Thundurus (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 SAtk / 4 HP
Timid Nature
- Thunder Wave
- Volt Switch
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Focus Blast
Azumarill @ Choice Band
Ability: Huge Power
EVs: 252 Atk / 212 HP / 44 Spd
Adamant Nature
IVs: 30 Atk / 30 SAtk / 30 Spd
- Aqua Jet
- Waterfall
- Play Rough
- Superpower
Scizor @ Scizorite
Ability: Technician
EVs: 152 Atk / 248 HP / 108 SDef
Adamant Nature
- Defog
- Roost
- Bullet Punch
- U-turn
Kyurem-Black @ Leftovers
Ability: Teravolt
EVs: 56 HP / 200 SAtk / 252 Spd
Mild Nature
- Substitute
- Ice Beam
- Fusion Bolt
- Earth Power
Hippowdon (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 HP / 80 Def / 156 SDef
Impish Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Rock Slide
- Earthquake
- Slack Off
Ability: Sheer Force
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 SAtk / 4 HP
Timid Nature
- Earth Power
- Focus Blast
- Sludge Wave
- Psychic
Thundurus (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 SAtk / 4 HP
Timid Nature
- Thunder Wave
- Volt Switch
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Focus Blast
Azumarill @ Choice Band
Ability: Huge Power
EVs: 252 Atk / 212 HP / 44 Spd
Adamant Nature
IVs: 30 Atk / 30 SAtk / 30 Spd
- Aqua Jet
- Waterfall
- Play Rough
- Superpower
Scizor @ Scizorite
Ability: Technician
EVs: 152 Atk / 248 HP / 108 SDef
Adamant Nature
- Defog
- Roost
- Bullet Punch
- U-turn
Kyurem-Black @ Leftovers
Ability: Teravolt
EVs: 56 HP / 200 SAtk / 252 Spd
Mild Nature
- Substitute
- Ice Beam
- Fusion Bolt
- Earth Power
Hippowdon (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 HP / 80 Def / 156 SDef
Impish Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Rock Slide
- Earthquake
- Slack Off
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