ARCEUS-GROUND
piss off groudon (Arceus-Ground) @ Earth PlateAbility: Multitype
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- Swords Dance
- Defog
Groundceus is the undisputed leader of this team, being probably my overall most effective pokemon as well as my usual lead.
Arceus-Ground is an exemplary anti-lead to Groudon. I immediately swords dance, OHKO the groudon if it doesn't switch out (and defog the stealth rock if it sets it), and +2 Groundceus can be very powerful with EdgeQuake: people often switch to Primal Kyogre, which is generally OHKOd by +2 Earthquake, M-Salamence, which is OHKOd even after attack drop to 1.5 by Stone Edge, or Lugia, which is wrecked by +2 stone edge (~80% damage with Multiscale intact).
However, he struggles at dealing with suicide leads such as Greninja or Deoxys forms because of taunt, but he's still my best anti-lead to such suicide leads. He'll kill them in 1-2 earthquakes, but afterwards they can switch into something Groundceus cannot take, such as Giratina or Latias, forcing him out without the hazards having been removed.
I wish I could run Recover, Stealth Rock, Will-o-wisp, or Extreme Speed(to deal with the suicide leads) but Defog is essentially required on the set because of Lugia (I've found the other potential defoggers on my team to be less effective, usually because of iffy bulk/speed). If there were any more reliable defoggers to use though, I'd be willing to change this (if it's really worth the sacrifice).
MEGA SCIZOR
bug twat (Scizor) @ ScizoriteAbility: Technician
EVs: 248 HP / 60 Atk / 200 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Bullet Punch
- Roost
- Superpower
- Toxic
Scizor is really only used for his few very specific niches: he checks and eliminates Xerneas, Diancie, Lugia, and the occasional Ferrothorn, as well as providing useful priority and coverage with Superpower, one of just two fighting type moves I have on my team.
Roost and Toxic are needed to get rid of Lugia, and Scizor is my most reliable Lugia check.
I've not found Pursuit necessary, and originally used U-Turn instead of Superpower but found Scizor to be too slow to effectively use U-Turn, so opted for Superpower.
Outside of his niche Scizor is rarely useful, besides occasional bullet punch revenge killing, so if something could do Scizor's job without wasting a mega slot, I'm open to suggestions: he seems to be necessary for my team though.
LUGIA
stall hell (Lugia) @ LeftoversAbility: Multiscale
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Roost
- Whirlwind
- Toxic
- Ice Beam
Standard Lugia set, probably nets more sweeps than anything else on my team when people aren't prepared for him (many aren't). Great check to Xerneas or M-Salamence with whirlwind, Toxic/Roost for effectively stalling a majority of the metagame, and ice beam as the preferred attack for occasionally helpful use against Salamence, Rayquaza, or maybe a yveltal or something (Ice Beam obviously isn't used too often).
XERNEAS
god moose (Xerneas) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Fairy Aura
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Moonblast
- Focus Blast
- Sleep Talk
-
Probably the best counter to Darkrai, which could otherwise destroy a team, scarfed Xerneas is surprisingly very effective.
Only 2 moves with Sleep Talk to make it more reliable against Darkrai, giving it an 85% chance to OHKO Darkrai after Dark Void, and 100% chance (with Moonblast) if the Dark Void misses. Almost no one expects choice scarf, so they nearly never switch Darkrai out.
Even without Darkrai, Xerneas is an excellent revenge killer with just mono Moonblast, especially since it takes everyone by surprise by basically always attacking first and not using a turn to set up.
Ability: Fairy Aura
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Moonblast
- Focus Blast
- Sleep Talk
-
Probably the best counter to Darkrai, which could otherwise destroy a team, scarfed Xerneas is surprisingly very effective.
Only 2 moves with Sleep Talk to make it more reliable against Darkrai, giving it an 85% chance to OHKO Darkrai after Dark Void, and 100% chance (with Moonblast) if the Dark Void misses. Almost no one expects choice scarf, so they nearly never switch Darkrai out.
Even without Darkrai, Xerneas is an excellent revenge killer with just mono Moonblast, especially since it takes everyone by surprise by basically always attacking first and not using a turn to set up.
DIALGA
not on my WATCH (Dialga) @ Life Orb
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Draco Meteor
- Fire Blast
- Flash Cannon
- Stealth Rock
Dialga is somewhat of a mediocre pokemon, doing nothing exceptionally, but provides a wide variety of useful things.
Although I almost never get to lead with him because of having to use Groundceus, Dialga provides useful Stealth Rock support which really devastates the various flying types, namely Ho-Oh and Lugia. If Scizor is gone, I really need the stealth rock support to bring down Lugia: otherwise I have to sacrafice my own Lugia to to do so (with toxic vs toxic).
Draco Meteor will severely dent anything, Fire Blast provides needed coverage for the likes of Genesect, Scizor, and Ferrothorn or Forretress, and Flash Cannon is a very powerful attack that doesn't drop his SpA, while being especially useful against Xerneas, Diancie, or Tyranitar (although Scizor usually covers those).
Shuca Berry is generally the standard for Dialga, so it isn't forced to switch against common threats like Groudon or Groundceus, but I used Life Orb because he isn't a great offensive presence without it: I'm really not sure which would be a better option, I've never tried Shuca Berry and I'll test it out later if I keep Dialga.
I'm completely up to replacing Dialga if something else can provide more useful/powerful coverage as well as Stealth Rock (or if I could somehow fit Stealth Rock on Groundceus, then just a better replacement that also covers Genesect).
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Draco Meteor
- Fire Blast
- Flash Cannon
- Stealth Rock
Dialga is somewhat of a mediocre pokemon, doing nothing exceptionally, but provides a wide variety of useful things.
Although I almost never get to lead with him because of having to use Groundceus, Dialga provides useful Stealth Rock support which really devastates the various flying types, namely Ho-Oh and Lugia. If Scizor is gone, I really need the stealth rock support to bring down Lugia: otherwise I have to sacrafice my own Lugia to to do so (with toxic vs toxic).
Draco Meteor will severely dent anything, Fire Blast provides needed coverage for the likes of Genesect, Scizor, and Ferrothorn or Forretress, and Flash Cannon is a very powerful attack that doesn't drop his SpA, while being especially useful against Xerneas, Diancie, or Tyranitar (although Scizor usually covers those).
Shuca Berry is generally the standard for Dialga, so it isn't forced to switch against common threats like Groudon or Groundceus, but I used Life Orb because he isn't a great offensive presence without it: I'm really not sure which would be a better option, I've never tried Shuca Berry and I'll test it out later if I keep Dialga.
I'm completely up to replacing Dialga if something else can provide more useful/powerful coverage as well as Stealth Rock (or if I could somehow fit Stealth Rock on Groundceus, then just a better replacement that also covers Genesect).
LATIOS
psydragon twat (Latios) @ Soul Dew
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Draco Meteor
- Psyshock
- Thunder
- Hidden Power [Fire]
Since I don't need him for defogging, Latios becomes a pretty powerful special attacker.
Draco Meteor is a nuke, with Psyshock a less powerful attack that doesn't require the stat drop (and being generally more useful than Psychic).
Thunder is needed to make Latios a good check to Kyogre, as I don't have many reliable answers to Kyogre. Although an ice beam is dangerous, Latios has great special bulk and resists Origin Pulse, and wrecks Kyogre with Thunder. Thunder could also prove useful against other flying/water types, but it's not for much other than Kyogre.
HP Fire is just for extra coverage against Scizor, Ferrothorn, Forretress, and Genesect, as only Dialga also carries a fire move. However, Latios is destroyed by Genesect's scarfed U-Turn, and fears bug moves from Scizor and Forretress(although they're slower).
I'm not at all convinced that a Mewtwo or a Rayquaza wouldn't be a better option than Latios, especially since Mewtwo's Taunt would be helpful, and the old Choice Band Rayquaza set I used to use provides an excellent counter to suicide leads.
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Draco Meteor
- Psyshock
- Thunder
- Hidden Power [Fire]
Since I don't need him for defogging, Latios becomes a pretty powerful special attacker.
Draco Meteor is a nuke, with Psyshock a less powerful attack that doesn't require the stat drop (and being generally more useful than Psychic).
Thunder is needed to make Latios a good check to Kyogre, as I don't have many reliable answers to Kyogre. Although an ice beam is dangerous, Latios has great special bulk and resists Origin Pulse, and wrecks Kyogre with Thunder. Thunder could also prove useful against other flying/water types, but it's not for much other than Kyogre.
HP Fire is just for extra coverage against Scizor, Ferrothorn, Forretress, and Genesect, as only Dialga also carries a fire move. However, Latios is destroyed by Genesect's scarfed U-Turn, and fears bug moves from Scizor and Forretress(although they're slower).
I'm not at all convinced that a Mewtwo or a Rayquaza wouldn't be a better option than Latios, especially since Mewtwo's Taunt would be helpful, and the old Choice Band Rayquaza set I used to use provides an excellent counter to suicide leads.
THREAT LIST
EDIT: I just realized Lucario-M could potentially replace Scizor in many ways, while also resisting everything of Genesect's, and I could use an unexpected Blaze Kick to provide the needed coverage. Alternatively, I could replace Latios/Dialga with Entei, which takes care of Genesect while also being an effective anti suicide lead with extreme speed: however, Entei's stats are otherwise pretty underwhelming in the Ubers tier and its only small niche over Ho-Oh is Extreme Speed, so it could prove a liability. I'm also considering just replacing Latios/Dialga with a Genesect of my own, with Blaze Kick, although this obviously could never be a totally reliable check for fear of opposing Genesect's Blaze Kick. Also, while Genesect's Extreme Speed can be useful priority, it's not strong enough to anti lead suicide leads as Choice Banded Entei or Rayquaza could do.
piss off groudon (Arceus-Ground) @ Earth Plate
Ability: Multitype
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- Swords Dance
- Defog
bug twat (Scizor) @ Scizorite
Ability: Technician
EVs: 248 HP / 60 Atk / 200 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Bullet Punch
- Roost
- Superpower
- Toxic
stall hell (Lugia) @ Leftovers
Ability: Multiscale
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Roost
- Whirlwind
- Toxic
- Ice Beam
god moose (Xerneas) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Fairy Aura
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Moonblast
- Focus Blast
- Sleep Talk
-
not on my WATCH (Dialga) @ Life Orb
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Draco Meteor
- Fire Blast
- Flash Cannon
- Stealth Rock
psydragon twat (Latios) @ Soul Dew
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Draco Meteor
- Psyshock
- Thunder
- Hidden Power [Fire]
Ability: Multitype
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- Swords Dance
- Defog
bug twat (Scizor) @ Scizorite
Ability: Technician
EVs: 248 HP / 60 Atk / 200 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Bullet Punch
- Roost
- Superpower
- Toxic
stall hell (Lugia) @ Leftovers
Ability: Multiscale
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Roost
- Whirlwind
- Toxic
- Ice Beam
god moose (Xerneas) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Fairy Aura
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Moonblast
- Focus Blast
- Sleep Talk
-
not on my WATCH (Dialga) @ Life Orb
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Draco Meteor
- Fire Blast
- Flash Cannon
- Stealth Rock
psydragon twat (Latios) @ Soul Dew
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Draco Meteor
- Psyshock
- Thunder
- Hidden Power [Fire]
Thanks for reading and for any suggestions!
Last edited: