ORAS OU Balanced-ish M-Gallade

[hashtag no]

Basically, after several people saying that it isn't worth wasting a mega slot on M-Gallade due to its basically useless ability, and a speed that would be considered somewhat average, so with so many people hating on it, I really wanted to attempt to make it work, but I'm also ass at teambuilding in general so here is what I got so far,

Gallade @ Galladite
Ability: Justified
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Zen Headbutt
- Close Combat
- Knock Off / Shadow Sneak

[Reasons I chose M-Gallade above] Swords Dance is used to setup against defensive teams and on predicted switches when Gallade forces something to switch out. Zen Headbutt and Close Combat are good options for STAB attacks, though I may try out Psycho Cut for the better accuracy due to having SD to boost its offenses. Knock off is used for some coverage being able to cripple eviolite and some choiced mons, the priority in Shadow Sneak might be nice though it isn't stab and requires a SD to OHKO frail threats like Alakazam and Gengar.

Bisharp @ Assault Vest
Ability: Defiant
EVs: 192 HP / 220 Atk / 96 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Knock Off
- Iron Head
- Sucker Punch
- Pursuit

I chose a Bisharp set that seemed like it would form a decent core w/ Gallade, being able to take on some of its checks such as Fairy types like Clefable and Sylveon, but would be able to take the neutral hits easiler on a switch. Knock Off hits very hard after getting a STAB boost, Iron Head will cripple if not OHKO several specially defensive Fairy types, Sucker Punch for priority, and Pursuit to be able to pursuit trap threats such as Lati@s, Gengar and other psychic and ghost types.

Sylveon @ Choice Specs
Ability: Pixilate
EVs: 244 HP / 252 SpA / 12 Spe
Modest Nature
- Hyper Voice
- Psyshock
- Shadow Ball
- Baton Pass

I picked Sylveon because it has decent type synergy w/ Bisharp, and it takes care of defensive threats such as M-Sableye. Hyper Voice is very powerful due to the Pixilate boost, and STAB, further amplified by Choice Specs. Psyshock hits poison types like Amoongus and M-Venusaur, and Shadow Ball can do a good amount of damage when it catches things like M-Metagross on the switch. Baton Pass is used to pivot around after luring poison and steel types that M-Gallade and Bisharp can take out. Heal Bell is another option but being locked into it would not be ideal, but it would also allow Latias to run Roost over Healing Wish.

Rotom-Wash @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 212 Def / 44 Spe
Bold Nature
- Volt Switch
- Hydro Pump
- Will-O-Wisp
- Pain Split

I chose Rotom because it can take hits and keep some momentum up. 44 Speed EVs are used to be able to outspeed a positive speed nature Azumarill and cripple it w/ a WoW. Physically defensive to be able to take hits from threats such as Talonflame, and Levitate will allow it to switch in to ground type attacks that Bisharp and Heatran are weak to from most Pokemon minus the ones w/ Mold Breaker.

Heatran @ Leftovers
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 248 HP / 192 SpD / 68 Spe
Calm Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Lava Plume
- Toxic
- Taunt

Heatran has a lot of the same checks as Bisharp but with is able to take the fire attacks threaten it. Stealth Rock will help cripple Talonflame, Charizard, Volcarona, etc. Lava Plume is STAB and has a higher burn chance than other options like Flamethrower, which would be able to potentially cripple physical attackers that switch into it. Toxic to be able to hit Pokemon that wouldnt be touched by Lava Plume such as bulky Water types. And Taunt is there to prevent hazards from going up and to prevent setup sweepers from setting up.

Latias (F) @ Life Orb
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 72 HP / 184 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Draco Meteor
- Psyshock
- Defog
- Healing Wish / Roost

Latias is here to mostly provide Defog support and be able to Healing Wish to help cure status and regain HP of one of the offensive 'mons that have no other form of recovery that are also crippled by status like burn and paralysis. Draco is a very powerful STAB move which nothing will really want to switch into other than fairies. Psyshock is a weaker STAB move that deals physical damage that would be able to hit things like M-Venusaur for super effective damage. Roost is another option to keep Latias around, but leaves Gallade and Bisharp to be threatened by burn status.

 

[GotR]

Sup man, I'm actually running a really similar team at the moment as well. I think you should consider running ice punch over knock off/shadow sneak on gallade, it gives you an option against dragons and bulky grounds which you rather lack and you don't need the dark/ghost coverage as much because you have bish.

 

[hashtag no]

Someone has given a suggestion to replace Rotom-W, and Heatran w/ Gliscor and Clefable for a Gliscor/Clefable/Latias Core; if anyone has any other suggestions it would be appreciated, DDance M-Charizard and M-Altaria look like issues for the team as well if anyone has an idea on countering them,

Gliscor @ Toxic Orb
Ability: Poison Heal
EVs: 252 HP / 184 Def / 72 Spe
Impish Nature
- Roost
- Taunt
- Stone Edge
- Earthquake

Clefable @ Leftovers
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: 252 HP / 172 Def / 84 SpD
Calm Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Moonblast
- Thunder Wave
- Soft-Boiled

 

[GotR]

Clefable would definitely shut down Zard X and M-Alt if you ran an unaware set, its pretty much the same as what you have listed but with a different ability and max def evs. I'd also suggest running Toxic > Stone Edge on Gliscor as a way to cripple stall pokemon beyond just taunting them. The main problem I see with making these changes is that you have nothing for Ferrothorn, aside from taunting it and attempting to wear it down with earthquake... you could put flamethrower on clefable but it would have to be over rocks, and you don't really have another mon that can run rocks, so...

Sorry I didn't have all the answers on this one, I'm not actually sure what I'd do with this team.

 

[hashtag no]

Thanks for replying, originally had Stone Edge on Gliscor because other than that theres really nothing to handle Talonflame either, I thought about Unaware Clefable but it still gets 2HKO'd by Mega Altaria's Return. Hopefully someone will be able to chime in eventually. I may have to just join the mainstream and attempt to build around Mega Lop again, but it didn't go too well the first time so idk.

 

[GotR]

I don't think your issue is deciding to use Mega Gallade, I think the issue is that you've worked yourself into a hole with teambuilding where no matter what you do you're always weak to some top tier threat or other. Your core is pretty well tried and tested but I think the best thing to do would just be to take out all the support and try again, see if you can come up with something that works better. Alternatively you could just playtest the team until you figure out what needs changing. Basically I don't think you're going to find any easy answers unless there's a solution I'm missing, which, to be honest, is completely possible.

 

[hashtag no]

up :s

 

[Mega Slutbunny]

Pardon this, I just need a visual reference to the team

Hey there, and welcome to Smogon! Looking at your team as a whole, I feel that some pokemon here actually have pretty redundant roles. For instance, while you have Rotom-W to counter T-Flame, Heatran also does a decent job checking him. On top of that, while you mentioned Latias was used to help deal with M-Venu, M-Gallade is also capable of hurting him significantly.

With that said, this team is really a challenge to fix. It's tough, since in most instances, removing one pokemon would mean that another issue is added.

What I would recommend is actually compressing some pokemon's roles together, so that you have free space to add a pokemon to help check something that you have issues dealing

For instance, since Sylveon's main role is as a check to M-Sableye and Latias' main role is to defog, you could possibly collapse both pokemon into one that accomplishes both, such as Togekiss

examples

+ =
+ =
+ =

That aside, if you're looking for simpler fixes, I would recommend running Scarf Bisharp > AV Bisharp

Bisharp changes

Bisharp @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Defiant
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Knock Off
- Pursuit
- Iron Head
- Low Kick

Scarf Bisharp gives you a mean as to check M-Altaria, while also turning the 50/50s attempting to pursuit trap into a guarantee kill without getting worn down.

Aside from that, while you mentioned Sylveon was your answer to M-Sableye, Heatran is also able to perform that role, being immune to both W-o-W and Toxic, and being able to slowly wear him down.

Because of this, I would recommend Unaware Clefable > Sylveon

Clefable moveset

Clefable @ Leftovers
Ability: Unaware
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SpD
Bold Nature
- Calm Mind
- Moonblast
- Moonlight
- Heal Bell / Thunder Wave

This allows you to check Mega Charizard X, as well as the majority of set-up sweepers, while also helping deal with any other CM users who attempt to boost alongside Clefable, such as M-Slowbro

 

[hashtag no]

Scarf Bisharp gives you a mean as to check M-Altaria, while also turning the 50/50s attempting to pursuit trap into a guarantee kill without getting worn down.

Because of this, I would recommend Unaware Clefable > Sylveon

So I changed Bisharp to the Scarf set, and Sylveon to CM Unaware Clefable.
I also changed Rotom + Latias to:

Zapdos @ Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 248 HP / 176 Def / 68 SpA / 16 Spe
Bold Nature
- Thunderbolt
- Heat Wave
- Defog
- Roost

After these changes what would you recommend for the last Pokemon after combining the roles of Rotom and Latias?