SV OU Bax 'n Stacks (Peak ELO 1905, #57 on ladder)

What's the best archetype in the current meta?

  • Hyperoffense

    Votes: 8 28.6%
  • Offense

    Votes: 10 35.7%
  • Bulky Offense

    Votes: 4 14.3%
  • Balance/Semi-Stall

    Votes: 3 10.7%
  • Stall

    Votes: 3 10.7%

  • Total voters
    28
Hi everyone! Welcome to my second RMT of the generation. Using the team from my previous RMT, I was able to hit a new peak using a team I completely built myself, but not my best all-time peak. So, with World Cup usage statistics out, I decided to try to build a new, strong team that I could ladder with and hopefully reach a new peak with. This team managed to help me not only peak, but break 1900's for the first time ever (before swiftly getting blasted back to the 1800's lol).

Please let me know how I can improve, or if you take the team for a spin yourself and enjoy it, please let me know!

Table of Contents:

1. Proof of Peak
2. Teambuilding Process
3. The Pokémon
4. Threat List
5. Considered Changes
6. Conclusion
7. Importable

1. Proof of Peak


With this team I peaked at 1905 ELO as shown below.

1685289625246.png


2. Teambuilding Process

General:


I started this process by going through the World Cup of Pokemon usage statistics. I won't call out every percentage I looked at, but will list a few I looked at to illustrate my teambuilding process. I was looking for Pokemon that were seeing high usage, good win rates, and had great stats and abilities. By great stats and abilities, I'm ideally looking for Pokemon that maximize their effective BST (for example, Specs Pult is cool, and I understand very well why it's good, but the fact that it does not utilize it's 120 base Attack stat just rubs me the wrong way), and have abilities that give the most bang for their buck.

:ting-lu:
Ting-Lu looked strong in the tournament, and he basically defines an entire archetype in OU. Hazard stacking is very viable in the current meta, and I'm honestly a pretty big Ting-Lu propagandist. This guy perfectly fits what I'm looking for-- with a high effective BST (only squandering its 55 SpAtk stat which is quite minimal), and a very useful ability, Ting-Lu will be a valuable asset. Thus, I put my favorite deer on the team, gave him lots of things to throw to the enemy's side, and continued on my way.
:ting-lu: :gholdengo:
If you're running Ting-Lu hazard stack, this guy is almost always a given. Unsurprisingly, these two paired together had a pretty good win rate in the WCOP tournament. Gholdengo has an invaluable ability, incredible stats, and very spammable STAB moves, so he is an easy addition to the team.
:ting-lu: :gholdengo: :rotom-wash:
This next guy was a bit of a surprise for me. Prior to this, I hadn't liked using Rotom-Wash much, as relying on Leftovers + Protect for recovery seemed kinda silly. BUT, this thing had very high usage in the tournament overall, and an INCREDIBLY high win rate when paired with Gholdengo. I mean, it makes sense, right? With Ting-Lu and Rotom-Wash, Gholdengo has all of its weaknesses covered, and Rotom-Wash can heavily pressure all of the common hazard removers. I decided to roll with the funny little washing machine, and was happily surprised by his performance.
:ting-lu: :gholdengo: :rotom-wash: :great tusk:
You knew it was coming. The OU staple, with a whopping 83% usage in the WCOP, Great Tusk is primarily here to force progress via Knock Off and spin away hazards. We're utilizing the Bulk Up variant so that we have a sturdy physical tank who can also snowball if not checked properly.
:ting-lu: :gholdengo: :rotom-wash: :great tusk: :baxcalibur:
At this point, I want something that adds some offensive presence and makes sure I never lose to stall. I opted for Choice Band Baxcalibur who blows everything up with Glaive Rush, can do 30+% with resisted Icicle Crashes, and adds some useful priority to the team.

At this point, I had accidentally built a core of 5 that was used 9 times in the tournament and saw a win rate of about 78%. Oops!
:ting-lu: :gholdengo: :rotom-wash: :great tusk: :baxcalibur: :iron valiant:
I will not lose to Walking Wake.
I will not lose to Walking Wake.
I will not lose to Walking Wake.
.
.
.
Haha funny Trick goes brrrrrr.


3. The Pokemon

:sv/gholdengo:

The Investors (Gholdengo) @ Covert Cloak
Ability: Good as Gold
Tera Type: Flying
EVs: 160 HP / 48 Def / 64 SpA / 236 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Shadow Ball
- Make It Rain
- Nasty Plot
- Recover

:gholdengo: is our premier setup sweeper and ensures that hazards stay up. The set is pretty standard, utilizing Covert Cloak to ignore Salt Cure and :hatterene:'s Nuzzle. Shadow Ball and Make It Rain are strong spammable STAB moves that are very difficult to wall. Nasty Plot allows Gholdengo to spam Make It Rain more freely and setup on switches. Recover allows :gholdengo: to come in on the things it checks, such as :toxapex: and :garganacl:, and heal as they switch out. Alternatively, you can leverage these types of positions to click a STAB move on the obvious switch, punishing whatever comes in heavily.

The given EV spread allows :gholdengo: to live a Pyro Ball from the standard bulky :cinderace: while outspeeding 252+ :breloom:, :Polteageist:, and :Cloyster:. The rest is poured into SpAtk. Since Shadow Ball and Make It Rain are strong enough coming off of :gholdengo:'s 133 base SpAtk stat, we don't miss the SpAtk investment that much. Tera Flying can be used to setup on :Great Tusk: if desired, but is moreso to completely wall :Garganacl: and :Clodsire: who carry Earthquake.

:sv/ting-lu:

King Lui (Ting-Lu) @ Leftovers
Ability: Vessel of Ruin
Tera Type: Poison
EVs: 244 HP / 12 Def / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Spikes
- Heavy Slam
- Whirlwind

:Ting-Lu: is the hazard setter and special wall for the team. Ting-Lu's desire in life is to setup every hazard it can, and it does so with great ease. Stealth Rock is mainly for :Baxcalibur:, :Iron Moth:, and non-:heavy-duty boots: :Dragonite:, while Spikes gets invaluable chip on :Great Tusk:, :Kingambit:, :Iron Valiant:, etc. It's also worth noting that three layers of Spikes + Stealth Rock outdamages Regenerator, allowing :Ting-Lu: to indirectly destroy stall. Heavy Slam is used to allow :Ting-Lu: to punish :Hatterene: and :Iron Valiant: switch-ins, particularly if it greedily Close Combats, eats a defense drop, and dies in one hit. Whirlwind saves us in the face of dangerous sweepers.

The given EV spread maximizes special bulk for maximum wallage. Tera Poison allows Ting-Lu to turn the tables in the face of :Meowscarada:, :Iron Valiant:, :Volcarona:, and Tera Grass/Fairy :Iron Moth:. In many cases, I would turn :Ting-Lu: into a Poison-type in the face of a super effective attack to allow him to setup max hazards, a strategy that proved to be very effective. This Tera also functions as a "break glass in case of Toxic Spikes emergency" button, which furthers Ting-Lu's ability to stop stall.

:sv/baxcalibur:

Kinda Chill Doe... (Baxcalibur) @ Choice Band
Ability: Thermal Exchange
Tera Type: Dragon
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Glaive Rush
- Icicle Crash
- Ice Shard
- Earthquake

:Choice Band: :Baxcalibur: serves primarily as a wallbreaker, and occasionally as a cleaner and revenge killer. Baxcalibur's main job is to invalidate stall and force heavy damage on physical walls. Glaive Rush is only really resisted by physically defensive :Corviknight: and :Kingambit:, blowing up everything else. Even :Dondozo: is 2HKO'd by this move, meaning it cannot safely switch in to check :Baxcalibur:. In general, it is just a good move to click if the opponent lacks a Fairy type, or if the Fairy is cleared. Icicle Crash is a powerful STAB that can muscle through :Corviknight:, :Hatterene:, :Amoonguss:, and :Great Tusk:, OHKO'ing most versions of the latter two and often getting flinch-lucky on the prior two. Ice Shard can revenge kill or clean end games, and can also pressure non-ESpeed :Dragonite:, :Iron Valiant:, :Walking Wake:, and :Dragapult:. Earthquake is used to catch :Kingambit: and :Gholdengo: on switch-in.

The EV spread is pretty self-explanatory-- hit hard and fast. I chose an Adamant nature over Jolly for raw power, particularly versus physically defensive :Rotom-Wash:, :Corviknight:, :Skeledirge:, and :Dondozo:. Tera Dragon was selected to power up Glaive Rush, but I don't honestly recall clicking it during my laddering session. Tera Fairy or Steel could probably be better used to ensure :Baxcalibur: gets his hits off in a pinch.

:sv/great tusk:

Nose Collector (Great Tusk) @ Leftovers
Ability: Protosynthesis
Tera Type: Fire
EVs: 244 HP / 52 Def / 160 SpD / 52 Spe
Careful Nature
- Earthquake
- Bulk Up
- Knock Off
- Rapid Spin

:Great Tusk: is the hazard controller and secondary physical wall of the team, and occasionally functions as a sweeper if not checked properly. Bulk Up + Rapid Spin is discount Victory Dance for :Great Tusk:, allowing him to control hazards (and :Chesnaught: Leech Seed) while becoming a prominent threat. Earthquake is the STAB move of choice to avoid contact with :Rocky Helmet: users and not drop defenses. Knock Off is a very important move for forcing progress on :Leftovers: and :Heavy-Duty boots: users. However, since :Iron Valiant: is also running Knock Off, Body Press or Ice Spinner could be considered.

The given EV spread allows :Great Tusk: to avoid a 2HKO from :Choice Specs: :Dragapult:'s Shadow Ball after :Leftovers: recovery. In general, the SpDef allows :Great Tusk: to live many hits that the opponent would not expect, and the lack of Defense investment can be patched up with Bulk Up. Tera Fire was selected to improve the matchup against :Iron Moth: and :Iron Valiant:, and gives :Great Tusk: the chance to OHKO :Cinderace: that tries to get a burn off.

:sv/rotom-wash:

Sp'n'gain (Rotom-Wash) @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
Tera Type: Poison
EVs: 252 HP / 212 Def / 44 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Volt Switch
- Hydro Pump
- Protect
- Will-O-Wisp

:Rotom-Wash: is an effective slow pivot, status spreader, and primary physical wall. :Leftovers: + Protect gives :Rotom-Wash: the chance to scout Choice items while healing up. Volt Switch is incredibly important for momentum, allowing :Rotom-Wash: to bring in :Baxcalibur:, :Gholdengo:, and :Iron Valiant: to pressure the opponent. It also threatens great damage into :Corviknight:, :Dondozo:, and :Toxapex:. Hydro Pump tears up :Great Tusk: and :Cinderace:, as well as being strong enough to break Utility :Dragapult:'s Substitute. Will-o-Wisp was selected to increase chip damage for the team, negate :Leftovers: recovery, punish the likes of :Kingambit:, :Iron Hands:, and :Dragonite:, and indirectly improve the bulk of our offensive pieces. Thunder Wave is, of course, worth consideration, but since we have :Choice Scarf: :Iron Valiant:, the speed control feels unnecessary.

The given EV spread allows :Rotom-Wash: to outspeed 252+ :Kingambit: and Will-o-Wisp it. Given that :Great Tusk: and :Iron Valiant: can check :Kingambit: fairly effectively, it is worth considering dropping :Rotom-Wash: to 12 Spe so that it still outspeeds non-invested :Great Tusk: and is a bit more bulky, but this is a judgement call. Tera Poison was selected to completely wall offensive :Great Tusk: and :Iron Valiant:, but Tera Steel could also be used if you can handle these threats properly.

:sv/iron valiant:

Sama Samurai (Iron Valiant) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Quark Drive
Tera Type: Fairy
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- Moonblast
- Close Combat
- Knock Off
- Trick

:Iron Valiant: was added to give the team some much needed speed. With a blazing Speed stat, Moonblast can revenge kill many sweeping threats such as :Dragonite:, :Baxcalibur:, and :Walking Wake:, and can also grab cheeky OHKOs on unsuspecting :Dragapult: and non-:Choice Scarf: :Meowscarada:. Iron Valiant also has good synergy with the hazard stacking core since :Volcarona: and :Skeledirge: will often try to switch into Moonblast, opening themselves up to getting their :heavy-duty boots: removed.

The given EV spread maximizes speed and power, allowing :Iron Valiant: to be a powerful revenge killer. Tera Fairy was chosen just to allow for easy Moonblast clicking in the endgame, but I don't recall ever using it. It could be worth changing to Tera Steel since this would give :Iron Valiant: an immunity or resistance to all of its weaknesses. Tera Dark or Tera Fighting could also be viable.

4. Threat List

:sv/Iron Valiant:

Part of the difficulty with this threat is the ambiguity of its set. Typically :Gholdengo: is a relatively safe switch-in, but if this is running Swords Dance + Knock Off then this becomes challenging. I typically have sac'd something, Tera'd :Ting-Lu:, and just Heavy Slammed to get rid of this guy. Changing our own :Iron Valiant: and :Baxcalibur: to Tera Steel and Tera Steel/Fairy, respectively, and may be a viable alternative to deal with this. Regardless, if you see :Iron Valiant:, try to save your Tera to stop its sweep.

:sv/Toxapex: :sv/Glimmora:

As mentioned above, Toxic Spikes are something of a nuisance to our team since we lack a grounded Poison-type. This is particularly true regarding :Toxapex:; since the rise of :Assault Vest: :Toxapex:, Toxic Spikes has become a relatively uncommon move, making it hard to read on team preview. If you suspect that :Toxapex: is running Toxic Spikes, then it's probably worth getting :Ting-Lu: in and Tera'd as soon as possible. I have even led :Ting-Lu: into :Toxapex:, Tera'd first turn, negated their Toxic, and got all my hazards up and won as a result.

:Glimmora: is similarly a threat in its ability to setup Toxic Spikes, but its typically much easier to deal with. If you suspect lead :Glimmora:, lead :Rotom-Wash: and Hydro Pump twice for the kill. You do have to play the 50/50 of whether or not they will just Energy Ball you twice or if they'll set up Stealth Rock first, but you could Tera :Rotom-Wash: first turn to account for this (and assuming that this is a good Tera into the rest of the opposing team).

If Toxic Spikes go up before :Ting-Lu: has a chance to Tera and clear them, try to switch between :Rotom-Wash: and :Gholdengo: until you can get :Great Tusk: in to spin. If the Toxic Spiker is still alive at that point, you can choose between getting :Ting-Lu: in to Tera, or continuing to bring :Great Tusk: in to spin.

:sv/Pelipper: :sv/Floatzel: :sv/Golduck: :sv/Azumarill: :sv/Amoonguss: :sv/Iron Treads:

The most difficult part of the rain matchup is probably the pressure it puts on :Ting-Lu:. Our favorite fat deer has trouble setting up his hazards when he's watching his life flash before his eyes in the face of :Choice Band: :Floatzel:. Plus, :Great Tusk: is pretty much a dead slot in this matchup, and we don't have Tera Water to help with this.

The most important member for this matchup is definitely :Rotom-Wash:. He can keep momentum up and force heavy damage on everyone on the team (except :Amoonguss:). Most importantly, he can live :Choice Band: :Floatzel:'s Tera Water Wave Crash with relative ease and can OHKO all variants of :Iron Treads: in rain. Try to play aggressively and make reads to keep the pressure on the opponent. For example, rain players will typically lead :Pelipper: or :Iron Treads:. If they lead :Pelipper:, expect a switch to :Iron Treads: or :Amoonguss:. Hydro Pumping either is a good option since one is an OHKO, and the other allows us to Volt Switch after into :Gholdengo:.

5. Replays

Disclaimer: I'm still relatively new so there are definitely some missed wins and/or misplays in these battles. Sorry if these are not the highest quality battles, but I hope they still give a good overview of the team!

spin da bloc (1879) vs. harden steps (1789) :dragapult: :toxapex: :iron hands: :great tusk: :ting-lu: :iron valiant:
spin da bloc (1854) vs. knexhawk2 (1943) :dondozo: :alomomola: :talonflame: :toxapex: :blissey: :quagsire:
spin da bloc (1819) vs. KING ATILLART (1899) :corviknight: :dragapult: :skeledirge: :ting-lu: :toxapex: :great tusk:
spin da bloc (1760) vs. Noobula (1639) :floatzel: :pelipper: :kingambit: :great tusk: :zoroark-hisui: :iron jugulis:
spin da bloc (1744) vs. Srn (1832) :arboliva: :kingambit: :great tusk: :hatterene: :toxapex: :dragapult:

6. Conclusion

There's not too much to say about this team-- hazard stack is strong, and the offensive pieces on this team make good use of the hazards. I wish I could post something a little less standard, but standard is standard for a reason, right? The team could use a few tweaks here and there, perhaps a change of Tera Type or two and a few small move adjustments, but overall the team is very viable on high ladder!

I look forward to reading everyone's input regarding some of the changes I mentioned. See y'all in the next one!

7. Importable

Bax 'n Stacks (Classic)
Bax 'n Stacks (Spicy)
 
Last edited:
Back
Top