ORAS OU Back at it again!

[SubZeroDegrees]

Introduction
Hi Smogon! I am back from competitive battling after a very long while and man, the meta-game changed so much since I last played. The last time I played, Rain Offense is the most broken thing ever until it got banned. It was the era where Weavile wasn't one of the top threats ever if I can remember correctly. Haha, it has been a long time and I am trying to get back at it again.

Team-Building Process

I was looking through the various types of cores and (trying but failing quite miserably) analysing the current metagame, this core caught my eye and hence I've decided to use this trio as my starting point.

I wanted a tank and also a SR setter and I thought of Garchomp with Rough Skin. I first thought maybe TankChomp could lure Dragon Types for Bisharp to switch in and set up. Perfect. Clefable was also added for the sake of having a SpD wall and CM set looks pretty broken as of now.

Lastly, Klefki was added for Speed Control and to be honest, Prankster Spikes and Fairy type just works for me, even back in the days.

However, Garchomp just wasn't working out for me for some reason. It gets obliterated too fast and I'm afraid of switching into everything with him. Intimidate Landorus-T solves that problem for me. Clefable was too much of a filler too and it just wasn't doing anything at all other than being a set-up fodder for some reason. It's probably due to the fact that I don't quite know how to use it but meh. Volcanion filled that slot and it has been quite a beast of a Pokemon to use, even with Leftovers.



Overview

Tornadus-Therian @ Life Orb
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 76 Atk / 180 SpA / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- Hurricane
- Heat Wave
- U-turn
- Grass Knot

U-Turn really works for me and Grass Knot get rid of the Hippowdon or bulky Water / Grass types that stands in my way. Hurricane, however, costs me quite a bit of games. It misses more often than not, especially when I desperately need it to hit. Heat Waves destroy the likes of Ferrothorn, Scizor and other Bisharps and what not. U-Turn is for momentum switching. I love scouting with U-Turn and gaining the momentum. It allows me to chip off TTar's HP to switch into Mega-Lop and set up.

Lopunny @ Lopunnite
Ability: Limber
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- High Jump Kick
- Return
- Fake Out
- Power-Up Punch

To be honest, when I first came back, I saw Mega-Lop and be like, "This thing can't possibly be top threat in OU" but when I saw the stats of this monster, I was thoroughly shocked. Fake Out is standard to Mega-Evolve successfully most of the time. It also helps to deal gradual damage bit by bit every time I come in. Return is ridiculous, with or without the boost from PuP. PuP is used to clean up Pokes, get the boost, and sweep with HJK and Return. Honestly, because of the lack of calcs, I've no idea what damage can this monster do but it always surprises me somehow by KOing Pokes with other attacks when I can't afford to risk a weak PuP to get the boost.

Bisharp @ Lum Berry
Ability: Defiant
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Knock Off
- Swords Dance
- Iron Head
- Sucker Punch

Oh, Bisharp. One of my fav Pokemon back then. I use this to lead when I see Gyarados or something with Intimidate in the lead(although no one really starts with Gyarados). Like Mega-Lop, he has insane power even without any boosts. Lum Berry is used to check the likes of Mega-Sableye to set up on them or Rotom-W with their occasional burn with Scald. Sucker Punch is such a fun move to use as there is a lot of mind-games involved in this move. Sometimes, I make use of that and set up a SD or two with it then proceed to 6-0. Iron Head is a staple, really. So no explanation for that.

Landorus-Therian @ Leftovers
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 HP / 240 Def / 8 SpD / 8 Spe
Impish Nature
- Earthquake
- U-turn
- Stone Edge
- Stealth Rock

This guy right here is the ultimate Physical tank. I love this one so much as it is immune to Earthquake which will harm everybody in my team bar Tornadus-T and also blocks annoying Volt Switches. Earthquake + Stone Edge combo covers a lot of threat, making him a very reliable switch in for many Physical attackers such as Talonflame, which will otherwise destroy the team.

Klefki @ Leftovers
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
- Spikes
- Thunder Wave
- Magnet Rise
- Foul Play

Prankster Thunder Wave, to be honest, is a blessing. There are so many fast threats out there that needs to be tamed using Thunder Wave(although I would rather Will-O-Wisp). Spikes combined with SR from Landorus-T would rack up residual damage, making Bisharp and Mega-Lop's job easier. Magnet Rise is there to counter Ground Types and continue setting up on them. Play Rough was there instead of Foul Play a while ago but I find that Play Rough is rather useless in many situations for me. Not that Foul Play really makes a big difference in this case but I find that more damage is dealt to them instead of Play Rough.

Volcanion @ Leftovers
Ability: Water Absorb
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpA / 4 Spe
Modest Nature
- Steam Eruption
- Fire Blast
- Sludge Bomb
- Hidden Power [Ice]

Bulky Volcanion is a great Poke in general. I didn't run Choice Specs on it like everybody else because I really appreciate the extra longevity that comes with Leftovers and the ability to switch around the moves to deal with threats specifically, especially with things that I cannot completely cover, I cannot risk getting stuck in one move and being forced to switch out, allowing the opponent to gain the upper-hand. Steam Eruption is surprisingly strong even without LO or CSpecs. Fire Blast completely roasts all Grass Types and Sludge Bomb serves to kill all Azumarill charging at me with their CB Aqua Jet. HP Ice kills all Dragon types and everything relevant. Great mon.

Conclusion

Making a team has always been the hardest for me as I am extremely bad at analysing current metagames and all. OU has so many threats that it's impossible to cover everything and I still have to take note of synergies and type coverage, team-building is just a nightmare for me. This team has been working out decently, climbing at 12xx+ and still rising. Hopefully you guys can give me some advice as to what to replace and all. Thanks!​

 

[Momo Mentos]

Alright fella! I can do this! Wait wait wait... what the hell is that tornadus set?! Your telling me you have 76 EV's in attack and your only physical move is u-turn? Thats not how it goes, buddy! U-turn isn't for damage! You have to use your noodle and put in Knock off over grass knot because your team seems to lack knock off and dark coverage. It also lets you keep the 76 EV's in attack without being called a maniac! I think you should also use assault vest over life orb since your set is becoming more coverage based then offensive based, and you have 4 attacks anyways. You simply don't need the life orb all that much! The next meme is volcanion, because with the new tornadus set you need some grassssssss coverage, man! (I'm so sleep deprived it's not even funny) I think that you should use hidden power grass over hidden power ice to take on water types easier, and because that simply doesn't do enough you should slap on choice specs for a bit of extra damage. Trust me, a lot of teams don't even have switch-ins to this! Also, use sludge wave over sludge bomb, because we aren't messing around! A choice specs set isn't clicking it's poison type move in the hope of poisoning the opponent, it's trying to OHKO those fairies! I'm sure the 5 BP won't make a huge difference but i'm sure that at some point it will be a life saver! Anyways, here are the updated sets: http://pastebin.com/b9fQiWSN I wish you good luck in your future battles!

 

[SubZeroDegrees]

Alright fella! I can do this! Wait wait wait... what the hell is that tornadus set?! Your telling me you have 76 EV's in attack and your only physical move is u-turn? Thats not how it goes, buddy! U-turn isn't for damage! You have to use your noodle and put in Knock off over grass knot because your team seems to lack knock off and dark coverage. It also lets you keep the 76 EV's in attack without being called a maniac! I think you should also use assault vest over life orb since your set is becoming more coverage based then offensive based, and you have 4 attacks anyways. You simply don't need the life orb all that much! The next meme is volcanion, because with the new tornadus set you need some grassssssss coverage, man! (I'm so sleep deprived it's not even funny) I think that you should use hidden power grass over hidden power ice to take on water types easier, and because that simply doesn't do enough you should slap on choice specs for a bit of extra damage. Trust me, a lot of teams don't even have switch-ins to this! Also, use sludge wave over sludge bomb, because we aren't messing around! A choice specs set isn't clicking it's poison type move in the hope of poisoning the opponent, it's trying to OHKO those fairies! I'm sure the 5 BP won't make a huge difference but i'm sure that at some point it will be a life saver! Anyways, here are the updated sets: http://pastebin.com/b9fQiWSN I wish you good luck in your future battles!

Hey! Thanks for taking your time to RMT. I would really miss the Grass Knot coverage against Hippowdon and the likes but I would try AV Tornadus-T out and see how it goes. I really enjoy the fact that I could switch moves on Volcanion and destroy whoever that tries to come in onto my Volcanion but I'm gonna try out Specs Volcanion with max Spe after looking at this:

Also, please stop running non max speed Specs Volc. You are just asking Breloom to Spore you when there's no reason for that especially when most run Adamant. What is the extra HP saving you from anyway idk I rather outspeed the Lando-Ts that run more than 8 speed. Like I see the argument for Modest Nature but the speed creep on the 180 Spe set is to speed creep speed creepers and this usually won't result in a spread that will maintain traction in a metagame. Lando-T's normal speed creep is maybe the only one (ironic that I'm saying not to creep this) but plenty of people have risen above the conception that 8 speed is the given for all defensive Landos. I think the statistical frequency of needing to outspeed/speed tie things up to the 262 (or even 239) range is gonna come into play a lot more than having to live a Banded Azu Superpower which is probably accounting for about 30% of all Azu sets.

 

[Tricking]

Hi SubZeroDegrees,

I agree with the previous rater's suggestions since you need more power on Volcanion, so a Choice Specs set with HP Grass is really important. Just run max Speed as you stated before because no Speed isn't a good choice at all. Then, the fact you are really weak to Keldeo makes it necessary for you to run Assault Vest Tornadus-Therian. Be sure to run a bulky EVs spread like 168 HP / 88 SpA / 252 Spe alongside a Timid nature to take Scald and Hydro Pump better than you would without investment. You don't need to run any Attack investment on the Assault Vest set. If you feel like Volcanion is enough to deal with Scizor, you can run Focus Blast Tornadus over Heat Wave to improve the matchup against Heatran and common Band Tyranitar which can destroy you.

Furthermore, try to consider to put Toxic over Stone Edge on Landorus-Therian, since this helps you weaken things like Hippowdon, Slowbro, opposing Landorus-Therian, making it way easier to sweep for Lopunny. This change would also effectively support Volcanion. You won't have much problems against Pinsir and Talonflame as long as you manage to play around them carefully. Finally I noticed a glaring weakness to Diancie-Mega, which is a great metagame trend at the moment, so I would run Flash Cannon Klefki to get rid of it, or at least force it out, allowing Klefki to set up entry hazards, easing Lopunny's lategame sweep. Adamant Bisharp is a nice alternative as well, but it isn't mandatory at all.

Tornadus-Therian

Tornadus-Therian @ Assault Vest
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 168 HP / 88 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Hurricane
- Heat Wave / Focus Blast
- Knock Off
- U-turn

Good luck with your team!