ORAS OU Balance/Bulky offense Mega-Altaria Team

[Weavile 4]

Mega-Altaria Team​

So I had always wanted to make a team based around Mega-Altaria, and given how strong it is in the current metagame, what better time to make one? The team's goal is to eliminate Mega-Alt's counters so it can sweep with Dragon Dance (original, I know). I'm pretty happy with this team's performance, but it could use some improvement; it's not perfect.

Teambuilding Process

Of course the first poke of the team is Mega-Alt.

I thought Heatran was a pretty good partner for Altaria. It handles steel types like Ferrothorn, Skarmory, and Scizor, while also beating fairies such as Clefable.

Two main threats stood out to me at this point: Azumarill and Breloom. Azu's STABs can hit both Altaria and Heatran super effectively. Breloom, while not incredibly common, can take an attack from Altaria thanks to Focus Sash and use Spore, and can beat Heatran with a combination of Focus Sash and Mach Punch. Celebi counters both of these 'mons effectively (Oh yeah, and Rotom-W, too).

The team at this point was looking pretty weak to Gengar, Starmie, and Scarf Latios, so a Pursuit trapper looked like a good idea. The team also lacked any priority. Scizor fills these roles nicely. Scizor also forms the first half of a U-turn core, which helps Altaria greatly.

Lando-T provides necessary SR support and is the second half of the U-turn core.

Finally, I needed a way to get rid of hazards, and some Water coverage. Starmie was pretty much a no-brainer.



In Depth:

Altaria @ Altarianite
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Return
- Earthquake
- Roost

The main star of the team. It mainly functions as a late-game sweeper. If it gets up a Dragon Dance It can easily sweep through the opponent's team. I prefer the more offensive set over the bulky one. Return is a strong STAB thanks to pixilate. Earthquake provides great coverage against things like Heatran or Zard-X. Roost is a great option in case Altaria takes a hit setting up DD or from Stealth Rock. EVs are self-explanatory.

Heatran @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 28 HP / 252 SpA / 228 Spe
Timid Nature
- Overheat
- Flash Cannon
- Earth Power
- Stone Edge

The main partner for Altaria. Choice Scarf allows it to outspeed and kill many threats that it wouldn't be able to otherwise. Overheat is insanely strong, causing massive damage to almost anything that doesn't resist it. Flash cannon is a more reliable secondary STAB, and it takes care of Clefable. Earth Power is nice coverage, though I'm considering changing it to HP Ice. Stone edge kills Talonflame and Zard-Y. The EVs allow it to outspeed Mega-Lopunny, which is pretty crucial.

Celebi @ Leftovers
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 HP / 204 Def / 36 SpD / 16 Spe
Bold Nature
- Giga Drain
- Recover
- Psychic
- Thunder Wave

Celebi is just great. It handles Azumarill, Rotom-W, and Breloom extremely well. Its bulk is very reliable, and is something people often underestimate. Giga Drain and Recover are pretty obvious moves to have. Psychic is needed to kill Breloom, and is a pretty good way for Celebi to wear down opposing pokemon outside of that. Thunder Wave support is awesome; it's pretty easy to predict switches and screw the opponent over with it. It can also stop many potential sweeps. The defense EVs ensure that even if I switch into CB Azu's Play Rough with rocks on the field, I can always beat it with Giga Drain. 16 EVs in speed let me outspeed and paralyze Adamant Bisharp. The rest are dumped into Sp. Def for some extra bulk.

Scizor @ Choice Band
Ability: Technician
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 SpD
Adamant Nature
- U-turn
- Pursuit
- Bullet Punch
- Superpower

Banded Scizor is a pretty underrated threat in this meta. It functions extremely well as a pursuit trapper, taking care of Gengar, Starmie, and Scarf Latios effectively. U-turn is of course a great way to wear down the opposing team as well as being a great scouting tool. Bullet Punch provides priority that my team needs. Superpower is the hard-hitting move here, most importantly used for Bisharp, but it hits almost everything hard if it doesn't resist it. The HP investment makes it easier to switch in on things and trap them.

Landorus-Therian (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 HP / 240 Def / 8 SpD / 8 Spe
Impish Nature
- Stealth Rock
- U-turn
- Earthquake
- Knock Off

Lando provides necessary Stealth Rock support for my team. U-turn allows it to form a U-turn core with Scizor, which helps to wear down the opposing team, aiding Altaria's sweep. Earthquake is a pretty much a given. Knock off lets me cripple a lot of things such as choiced 'mons, and is great for hitting things like Starmie on the switch. Not much to say about this guy, really.

Starmie @ Life Orb
Ability: Analytic
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Hydro Pump
- Ice Beam
- Thunderbolt
- Rapid Spin

Starmie gets rid of rocks and other hazards, which is absolutely essential given Altaria's SR weakness and the general amount of switching this team does. Like Altaria, I prefer the more offensive set / EV spread (Though it's of course subject to change). Hydro pump is strong STAB, and Ice Beam is a great move to have. It makes it unsafe for the opponent to switch into a grass type like Celebi or Serperior that resists Hydro Pump. Thunderbolt is a great coverage move that a lot of people don't expect, since Starmie usually runs psyshock. It makes it easy to hit opposing bulky waters and flying types.

​

​

Importable

Altaria @ Altarianite
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Return
- Earthquake
- Roost

Heatran @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 28 HP / 252 SpA / 228 Spe
Timid Nature
- Overheat
- Flash Cannon
- Earth Power
- Stone Edge

Celebi @ Leftovers
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 HP / 204 Def / 36 SpD / 16 Spe
Bold Nature
- Giga Drain
- Recover
- Psychic
- Thunder Wave

Scizor @ Choice Band
Ability: Technician
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 SpD
Adamant Nature
- U-turn
- Pursuit
- Bullet Punch
- Superpower

Landorus-Therian (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 HP / 240 Def / 8 SpD / 8 Spe
Impish Nature
- Stealth Rock
- U-turn
- Earthquake
- Knock Off

Starmie @ Life Orb
Ability: Analytic
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Hydro Pump
- Ice Beam
- Thunderbolt
- Rapid Spin

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


That's the team! I'm looking to improve it, so pretty much any suggestions are welcome. Thanks for reading!

 

[Ryfi110]

This is a pretty nice team. At first glance, it takes out most of the threats going around.
-Gengar provides some trouble, as it can be sent in to SpinBlock, and this set cannot OHKO.
Currently, you rely on Hydro Pump, and if it misses, then Starmie dies, and rocks are still on the field.
252 SpA Life Orb Starmie Hydro Pump vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Gengar: 246-290 (94.9 - 111.9%) -- 68.8% chance to OHKO
Even if it hits, if Gengar is at full health, then it has a 1/3 chance to live the hit, and it depends if you are a betting man.
Perhaps Psyshock > Tbolt would be a decent idea. (At least slash it; this would make you weaker to Manaphy.

+3 Manaphy runs through this team before thing. (These sets are not 100% accurate, but the damage is not close enough for it to matter.

+3 252 SpA Manaphy Energy Ball vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Starmie: 468-552 (178.6 - 210.6%) -- guaranteed OHKO
+3 252 SpA Manaphy Surf vs. 248 HP / 8 SpD Landorus-T: 728-860 (191 - 225.7%) -- guaranteed OHKO
+3 252 SpA Manaphy Hidden Power Fire vs. 248 HP / 0 SpD Scizor: 656-776 (191.2 - 226.2%) -- guaranteed OHKO
+3 252 SpA Manaphy Surf vs. 248 HP / 8 SpD Scizor: 364-430 (106.1 - 125.3%) -- guaranteed OHKO
+3 252 SpA Manaphy Hidden Power Fire vs. 252 HP / 36 SpD Celebi: 262-310 (64.8 - 76.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO (Survives, but with just some chip damage, it dies.)
3 252 SpA Manaphy Ice Beam vs. 252 HP / 36 SpD Celebi: 394-464 (97.5 - 114.8%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock (Celebi does not win against ice beam)
+3 252 SpA Manaphy Surf vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Heatran: 578-684 (178.9 - 211.7%) -- guaranteed OHKO (Heatran cannot do >35% to Manaphy)
+3 252 SpA Manaphy Surf vs. 64 HP / 0 SpD Mega Altaria: 147-173 (47.8 - 56.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock
+3 252 SpA Manaphy Ice Beam vs. 64 HP / 0 SpD Mega Altaria: 392-462 (127.6 - 150.4%) -- guaranteed OHKO

Manaphy can OHKO everything on your team at +3 with the proper move, and the best you can do is sack heatran, then let Altaria take 2/3 of its health IF ITS FWG MANAPHY.
If Ice Beam/Surf/Energy Ball, you just lose, as Scizor is also OHKO'd.

When you see a manaphy, how do you play it to now get vaporized? (I may consider a more SpDef set on celebi, a set with enough spdef to live a +3 Ice Beam once. Even then its useless, as max 252+ Celebi fails to OHKO with Giga Drain.
252+ SpA Celebi Giga Drain vs. 80 HP / 0 SpD Manaphy: 224-266 (62 - 73.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery)

Your best bet: 120 SpA Celebi Leaf Storm vs. 80 HP / 0 SpD Manaphy: 318-374 (88 - 103.6%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock

 

[Sablenite]

This is a pretty nice team. At first glance, it takes out most of the threats going around.
-Gengar provides some trouble, as it can be sent in to SpinBlock, and this set cannot OHKO.
Currently, you rely on Hydro Pump, and if it misses, then Starmie dies, and rocks are still on the field.
252 SpA Life Orb Starmie Hydro Pump vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Gengar: 246-290 (94.9 - 111.9%) -- 68.8% chance to OHKO
Even if it hits, if Gengar is at full health, then it has a 1/3 chance to live the hit, and it depends if you are a betting man.
Perhaps Psyshock > Tbolt would be a decent idea. (At least slash it; this would make you weaker to Manaphy.

+3 Manaphy runs through this team before thing. (These sets are not 100% accurate, but the damage is not close enough for it to matter.

+3 252 SpA Manaphy Energy Ball vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Starmie: 468-552 (178.6 - 210.6%) -- guaranteed OHKO
+3 252 SpA Manaphy Surf vs. 248 HP / 8 SpD Landorus-T: 728-860 (191 - 225.7%) -- guaranteed OHKO
+3 252 SpA Manaphy Hidden Power Fire vs. 248 HP / 0 SpD Scizor: 656-776 (191.2 - 226.2%) -- guaranteed OHKO
+3 252 SpA Manaphy Surf vs. 248 HP / 8 SpD Scizor: 364-430 (106.1 - 125.3%) -- guaranteed OHKO
+3 252 SpA Manaphy Hidden Power Fire vs. 252 HP / 36 SpD Celebi: 262-310 (64.8 - 76.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO (Survives, but with just some chip damage, it dies.)
3 252 SpA Manaphy Ice Beam vs. 252 HP / 36 SpD Celebi: 394-464 (97.5 - 114.8%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock (Celebi does not win against ice beam)
+3 252 SpA Manaphy Surf vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Heatran: 578-684 (178.9 - 211.7%) -- guaranteed OHKO (Heatran cannot do >35% to Manaphy)
+3 252 SpA Manaphy Surf vs. 64 HP / 0 SpD Mega Altaria: 147-173 (47.8 - 56.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock
+3 252 SpA Manaphy Ice Beam vs. 64 HP / 0 SpD Mega Altaria: 392-462 (127.6 - 150.4%) -- guaranteed OHKO

Manaphy can OHKO everything on your team at +3 with the proper move, and the best you can do is sack heatran, then let Altaria take 2/3 of its health IF ITS FWG MANAPHY.
If Ice Beam/Surf/Energy Ball, you just lose, as Scizor is also OHKO'd.

When you see a manaphy, how do you play it to now get vaporized? (I may consider a more SpDef set on celebi, a set with enough spdef to live a +3 Ice Beam once. Even then its useless, as max 252+ Celebi fails to OHKO with Giga Drain.
252+ SpA Celebi Giga Drain vs. 80 HP / 0 SpD Manaphy: 224-266 (62 - 73.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery)

Your best bet: 120 SpA Celebi Leaf Storm vs. 80 HP / 0 SpD Manaphy: 318-374 (88 - 103.6%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock

I agree with some, psyshock is better than thunderbolt, but my best answer to manaphy would be Assault Vest Raikou.

 

[Weavile 4]

I agree with some, psyshock is better than thunderbolt, but my best answer to manaphy would be Assault Vest Raikou.

This is a good suggestion! I'm having trouble implementing Raikou into the team, though. Do you think I could replace Heatran with Magnezone, who has the Electric STAB while still handling Steel and Fairy types?

 

[Sablenite]

I'd replace scizor for Raikou or, if you must Eviolite Magnaton

Raikou @ Assault Vest
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Thunderbolt
- Volt Switch
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Shadow Ball

Magneton @ Eviolite
Ability: Analytic
EVs: 248 HP / 252 SpA / 8 SpD
Modest Nature
- Flash Cannon
- Thunderbolt
- Volt Switch
- Hidden Power [Ice]

 

[Weavile 4]

Thanks, I'll try out Raikou.

 

[Style]

The goal of your team is to sweep with Dragon Dance Altaria. To accomplish this goal, certain Pokemon need to be eliminated, namely things like Skarmory, Ferrothorn and Scizor-Mega. You do have some ways to scare them away and make them switch, but no real way of eliminating them for Altaria. This means those three steels will have little trouble sticking around throughout the match to keep Altaria from doing its thing. Here's what I mean,

Explanation

Skarmory: Walls your Altaria, Scizor, Landorus-T and Celebi. Can lay hazards on all of them rather easily and since your Starmie doesn't have recovery, coupled with the fact that Skarmory is commonly paired with a user of Pursuit, it is a very real possibility that hazards be be there to stay in the long run and really pressure your team members.

Ferrothorn: Walls your Altaria, Celebi, Starmie and even annoys your Scizor and Landorus-T between Leech Seed and Protect. Like Skarmory, this means it will have little trouble laying down Spikes on your side of the field to apply pressure.

Scizor-Mega: You can scare it away with Heatran (being very careful of switching in on Knock Off), but the real problem is how it has very little to fear from the rest of your team. Bulky Scizor-Mega can actually set up on Landorus-T, and the remainder of your team doesn't appreciate the bug either so it can stick around a long time.

This issue is important to consider because those are three very common deterrents to an Altaria sweep. Without having to replace too many members of your team, you can consider changing the set on your Celebi to to help with the issue.

Celebi

Celebi @ Leftovers
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 HP / 96 Def / 160 Spe
Bold Nature
- Nasty Plot
- Giga Drain
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Recover

With HP Fire, you can lure in Ferrothorn and Scizor, doing 75 - 88.6% to the former assuming a standard 252 HP / 168 SpD spread and 85.1 - 100.2% to the latter assuming a standard 248 HP / 176 SpD at +2. You also dent Skarmory decently, and HP Fire is really unexpected on ORAS Celebi, giving you a way to lure those guys in for your Altaria. The Speed EVs make you faster than offensive Scizor-Mega and most Mew, with the remainder placed in for bulk.

Onto your weaknesses. There is a major one and it's Landorus-I. After a Polish, which it can set up in a few places, you are at a big risk of being swept. Non-RP sets are equally as dangerous since you don't have anything to reliably come in. 4/6 of your Pokemon are slower, exacerbating the problem. One thing you can consider is Tornadus-T in place of your Scizor. It gives you the Landorus-I check you need while still retaining the check to Gengar, Starmie and Latios that Scizor served as, arguably doing the job better (for example, Scizor can't come in on Gengar and if it does, you are placed in a 50/50 between BP and Pursuit.) The bird adds more speed to your team, which is invaluable to damage threats like Manaphy in a pinch, and still gives you a form of U-turn.

Tornadus-T

Tornadus-Therian (M) @ Assault Vest
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 208 HP / 52 SpD / 248 Spe
Timid Nature
- Knock Off
- U-turn
- Heat Wave
- Hurricane

Heat Wave is here over Focus Blast to give you an additional way to weaken Scizor, Ferrothorn and Skarmory for your Altaria. The EVs make you faster than regular Alakazam, who is rising in popularity. The remainder is placed in bulk to help you check the things you need with AV. Overall you still handle the things Scizor was meant to and gain a more reliable answer to them and other threats. The only downside is losing priority.

The last major weakness is SD Bisharp. It does have a few places where it can set up on you, and once it gets to +2, everything on your team falls to Sucker Punch + Iron Head. Most Bisharp use Jolly nowadays, meaning it is faster than your Altaria. One small "fix" you can make to address this is Jolly on Altaria over Adamant so that you are faster. Jolly also has the added benefit of being faster than Scarf Heatran. By itself, this isn't enough to fix a Bisharp weakness and sacrificing the star of your team to deal with it isn't ideal. If you don't mind changing more members of your team, you can consider Hippowdon over Landorus-T to help more. They serve similar purposes, but Hippowdon is a better answer to Bisharp and handles most of the things Landorus-T checks better because of Slack Off. You do lose out on U-turn, but gain better answers to several threats.

Hippowdon

Hippowdon @ Leftovers
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 HP / 144 Def / 112 SpD
Impish Nature
- Earthquake
- Slack Off
- Stealth Rock
- Whirlwind

I recommend using 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe with a Hasty nature on Heatran. The HP EVs you have don't really do much, and as situational as this may be, max speed means you are faster than Adamant Excadrill outside of sand and offensive Jolly Scizor-Mega if your Scarf is removed, which is better than nothing. Hasty lets you get the guaranteed KO on Charizard-Y unlike Timid and increases your chances of killing bulky Talonflame from 25% to 80%. You might also want to consider Toxic over Earth Power to cripple its common switch ins. EP only really hits other Heatran, and between Starmie, Hippowdon, Altaria and Tornadus-T you are well off against it.

As a word of caution, these changes make you a little weaker to Clefable by removing Scizor. Try and delay its set up as much as possible with WW Hippo and preferably put yourself in a position where you can 1v1 it with Heatran late game or pressure it with your own set up Pokemon (Altaria and NP Celebi) before it gets going. Removing its Leftovers with Knock Off will also help!

 

[Weavile 4]

I'll try out your suggestions, Style! The only problem I see is that this version still has the huge manaphy weakness that Ryfi110 mentioned.

 

[Weavile 4]

Hi, nice RMT you have here ^.^
A few suggestions:

-First I would change your Scizor's EV spread to 200 HP / 252 Atk / 56 Spe. This allows Scizor to outspeed opposing Azumarill that run the common spreads (Band, AV, and BD spreads found in the SmogDex) with a little bit of speedcreep. This would allow Scizor to get in a Bullet Punch before Azumarill's Aqua Jet, giving you a little extra damage on the thing. Please note: this is if you decide to keep Scizor. I personally like the idea of running Tornadus-T instead, but if you decide to keep Scizor, I would change its spread.

-Secondly, I would change your Mega Altaria... there are two ways to go about this really. One option is to change its nature to Jolly (like Style already explained), but the another is to run a more bulky spread with a little bit of speed. I feel like 248 HP / 84 Atk / 76 Def / 4 SpD / 96 Spe with Jolly nature would work nicely here. This spread has a decent amount of speed and bulk, and it is able to help with Starmie, Raikou, and Scarf Mag a little bit more (after the DD). While these things aren't huge threats to your team, the fact that it helps with them is always nice :P

-My final suggestion is to run speedy Magma Trap Heatran > ScarfTran (set below). Magma Trap Heatran would allow you to trap some stuff that Altaria can easily set up on, making its job of sweeping a whole lot easier. Also, with moves like Taunt and Toxic, it would provide some nice speedy utility for the team.

Magma Trap Heatran (open)


Note: you can try out different moves on here depending on what your team needs. Stone Edge is useful for birdspam (run the 31 Atk IVs if you decide to run Stone Edge... Timid nature is fine, however), Flash Cannon is useful for Fairies, Earth Power is useful for opposing Heatran, a Fire type move like Lava Plume/Fire Blast/Overheat is useful for bulky Steels that stand in Mega Altaria's way (Skarmory, Scizor, Ferrothorn...), etc.

Thanks for the suggestions, m00ns. I am actually replacing Scizor with Raikou to cover up the huge Manaphy weakness. I will be experimenting with Altaria's EVs.

I'll try out Magma Trap Heatran; seems like an interesting idea.

Thanks again!

 

[DennisEG]

Sup man, really solid team u have, i like to point some weakness i've see. First thing Jolly SD Bisharp 6-0 'ed ur entire team it can easily set up on celebi or choice lock Heatran as well, another mon u struggle againsted is CharX due to Lando-T is u only switch in and the lack of recovery bar leftovers can easily be wear down by flare blitz / dclaw, and last i think Stall is very hard to play around with ur team.
My suggestion to this problems are:

• Change Hippowdon > Landorus-T which provide u the same roll and actually i think better job than lando-t, because u can safely switch into Bisharp and slack off all the damage or KO'ed with EQ, also u can live +1 Adamant Flare Blitz from CharX and Ko'ed in return with EQ and Flare Blitz recoil, is a rock setter and deal to talonflame as well. set down below.
• I like to recommend Fire Blast > Overheat on Heatran, i always think being -2 after killing something isn't worth it, after all is only a lil bit base power that doesnt make any difference imo.
• And last fairies isnt than problematic for u having two strong steel types, but u can replace one of those to Stallbreaker Tornadus-T or make scizor Spedef SD, i leave both sets down below and u try out both and pick u more like.

sets

Hippowdon @ Leftovers
Ability: Sand Force
EVs: 252 HP / 148 Def / 108 SpD
Impish Nature
- Stone Edge
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Slack Off

Mix Def Hippo also helps with electric types, and Sand Force > Sand Stream because sand hurt u a lot as well.

Scizor @ Leftovers
Ability: Technician
EVs: 252 HP / 16 Def / 240 SpD
Careful Nature
- Knock Off
- Roost
- Swords Dance
- Bullet Punch

Tornadus-Therian (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 96 HP / 160 SpA / 252 Spe
Hasty Nature
- Taunt
- Hurricane
- Knock Off
- Heat Wave

hope i help u man