Wanted to share this team I built a few months back, during the cancer respects suspect and got me the reqs, right before I took a break from the game because seriously, the RNG will drive me insane. Played a few games recently and this team has got me past 1700 elo in any tier for the first time ever, mainly because I never try to reach this high and just stop midway between 1500-1600. I think I’ll stop playing for the next few months again to preserve what’s left of my sanity but wanted to drop this team for anyone who might be interested
Glimmora @ Focus Sash
Ability: Toxic Debris
Tera Type: Ghost
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Spikes
- Memento
- Mud Shot
- Dazzling Gleam
This is the lead. I originally had Excadrill on here during the cancer respects suspect because at the time, I did not realize Glimmora had memento. When I learned that, I immediately swapped over to it. Aside from the obvious, I chose gleam as the final move because I don’t want to play games with Koraidon. If it leads against me, I’ll just kill it. Can be replaced with mortal spin if really needed but as far as I like to play, I’ll keep gleam
Arceus @ Silk Scarf
Ability: Multitype
Tera Type: Ghost
EVs: 168 HP / 252 Atk / 88 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Earthquake
- Shadow Claw
- Swords Dance
- Extreme Speed
No HO team will ever be complete without an God himself and here’s the classic. I chose to forgo taunt because killing Necrozma is a bigger necessity and instantly killing Zacian is also fun. If someone really wants, I guess taunt could fit and maybe even the bulk up set. Can’t say for sure because I’ve never tried it. It’s also a good idea to try and predict potential tera ghosts and go for shadow claw if only to deal significant damage
Necrozma-Dusk-Mane @ Weakness Policy
Ability: Prism Armor
Tera Type: Water
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 Def
Brave Nature
- Trick Room
- Earthquake
- Swords Dance
- Photon Geyser
Of course Necrozma’d be here. This is often mandatory for HO teams because it is the only thing that can truly stop Zacian from ripping apart HO teams from the get go without being dead weight. Also great for late game cleaning against opposing offense. When I made the team, I did use tera water to test it out because I hated Ho oh whirlwinding me away and suffering from stealth rock but I think fire I should revert back to fire
Zacian-Crowned @ Rusted Sword
Ability: Intrepid Sword
Tera Type: Fighting
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Play Rough
- Wild Charge
- Close Combat
- Swords Dance
Zacian’s here because lately, I’ve grown to enjoy how it’s the second fastest relevant mon in the tier, only behind Deoxys. Against opposing HO, it’s still a big threat and even Necrozma can’t be too reliable with tera fighting close combat, tho I don’t do this myself because I find using tera on this is a waste and I would rather play rough then close combat, just to make sure the defense drops won’t get Necrozma’s earthquake to kill. No behemoth blade which means Arceus fairy is kinda scary so just try to power thru it with the rest of the team
Iron Serpent (Miraidon) @ Life Orb
Ability: Hadron Engine
Tera Type: Fairy
EVs: 236 HP / 252 SpA / 20 Spe
Modest Nature
- Agility
- Electro Drift
- Dragon Pulse
- Draco Meteor
Here, Iron Serpent serves as both wall breaker and sweeper. I chose three attacks with agility and life orb because it poses a massive threat immediately. Draco meteor allows this Miraidon to retain its wall breaker role if you need Ting Lu weakened for Necrozma or just to kill Arceus ground. Dragon pulse is the main stab because this is still a very powerful cleaner. Tera fairy is to get that agiltiy in the face of opposing dragons and begin causing mayhem. This is also why I named the threat as "Blood for Blood". Miraidon's blood for its enemies
Winged King (Koraidon) @ Loaded Dice
Ability: Orichalcum Pulse
Tera Type: Ghost
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Substitute
- Scale Shot
- Flare Blitz
- Swords Dance
No surprises on who’s the last member, the King of the Tier, the Winged King itself. Like its counterpart, serves as both breaker and cleaner, as is known by all Uber players. I went with substitute as the final move because tera fairy is such a pain in the ass that scouting for it is just precious. Fire and dragon is a near perfect, or perfect as far as Uber’s concerned, coverage anyway so losing low kick isn’t really a loss compared to substitute’s scouting power. It might even be viable to go adamant on this but I’m not that insane just yet
Threats
Stall teams will always be a threat. The way I built this team was not to handle stall because if I run into one, I just talk shit and fuck off. I genuinely despise stall teams outside of tournaments, whether Smogon or otherwise, because I find it as just someone deliberately trying to waste another person’s time on an RNG infested “competitive” game. As such, I just fuck off and don’t play against such players. Go waste someone else’s time, not mine
By far, the biggest threat to the team. Dragon dance variants are particularly troublesome because one dd and the team’s nearly screwed completely. It’s nearly impossible to survive any hit from +1 earthquake with this team. Only Arceus can do that but at that point, it needs a swords dance to be able to defeat Arceus ground with two extreme speeds then there’s the potential tera ghost. From my experience, the best way is simply to pile up offensive pressure from the start. If Glimmora is somehow still alive, then using memento would be the only way forward. However, calm mind variants are significantly easier to deal with as all the physical attacks can eventually overwhelm it
If Necrozma’s significantly weakened or dead and opposing Zacian’s still alive and well, yeah, it will be a threat. Zacian’s always been a threat to HO teams because it naturally outspeeds everything aside from Deoxys. As such, be careful around Zacian but the team is somewhat capable of withstanding it, primarily with Necrozma and a substitute from Koraidon, assuming of course you don’t send in Koraidon when Zacian’s already on the field
----
That’s the entire team. The general idea here is to not rely heavily on one member to sweep but rather, if one can’t sweep, have it do as much damage as it can and allow another to clean up. That’s the idea of HO teams anyway and it took me making this team to finally understand that
Until the next time I play this RNG infested game again
Glimmora @ Focus Sash
Ability: Toxic Debris
Tera Type: Ghost
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Spikes
- Memento
- Mud Shot
- Dazzling Gleam
This is the lead. I originally had Excadrill on here during the cancer respects suspect because at the time, I did not realize Glimmora had memento. When I learned that, I immediately swapped over to it. Aside from the obvious, I chose gleam as the final move because I don’t want to play games with Koraidon. If it leads against me, I’ll just kill it. Can be replaced with mortal spin if really needed but as far as I like to play, I’ll keep gleam
Arceus @ Silk Scarf
Ability: Multitype
Tera Type: Ghost
EVs: 168 HP / 252 Atk / 88 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Earthquake
- Shadow Claw
- Swords Dance
- Extreme Speed
No HO team will ever be complete without an God himself and here’s the classic. I chose to forgo taunt because killing Necrozma is a bigger necessity and instantly killing Zacian is also fun. If someone really wants, I guess taunt could fit and maybe even the bulk up set. Can’t say for sure because I’ve never tried it. It’s also a good idea to try and predict potential tera ghosts and go for shadow claw if only to deal significant damage
Necrozma-Dusk-Mane @ Weakness Policy
Ability: Prism Armor
Tera Type: Water
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 Def
Brave Nature
- Trick Room
- Earthquake
- Swords Dance
- Photon Geyser
Of course Necrozma’d be here. This is often mandatory for HO teams because it is the only thing that can truly stop Zacian from ripping apart HO teams from the get go without being dead weight. Also great for late game cleaning against opposing offense. When I made the team, I did use tera water to test it out because I hated Ho oh whirlwinding me away and suffering from stealth rock but I think fire I should revert back to fire
Zacian-Crowned @ Rusted Sword
Ability: Intrepid Sword
Tera Type: Fighting
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Play Rough
- Wild Charge
- Close Combat
- Swords Dance
Zacian’s here because lately, I’ve grown to enjoy how it’s the second fastest relevant mon in the tier, only behind Deoxys. Against opposing HO, it’s still a big threat and even Necrozma can’t be too reliable with tera fighting close combat, tho I don’t do this myself because I find using tera on this is a waste and I would rather play rough then close combat, just to make sure the defense drops won’t get Necrozma’s earthquake to kill. No behemoth blade which means Arceus fairy is kinda scary so just try to power thru it with the rest of the team
Iron Serpent (Miraidon) @ Life Orb
Ability: Hadron Engine
Tera Type: Fairy
EVs: 236 HP / 252 SpA / 20 Spe
Modest Nature
- Agility
- Electro Drift
- Dragon Pulse
- Draco Meteor
Here, Iron Serpent serves as both wall breaker and sweeper. I chose three attacks with agility and life orb because it poses a massive threat immediately. Draco meteor allows this Miraidon to retain its wall breaker role if you need Ting Lu weakened for Necrozma or just to kill Arceus ground. Dragon pulse is the main stab because this is still a very powerful cleaner. Tera fairy is to get that agiltiy in the face of opposing dragons and begin causing mayhem. This is also why I named the threat as "Blood for Blood". Miraidon's blood for its enemies
Winged King (Koraidon) @ Loaded Dice
Ability: Orichalcum Pulse
Tera Type: Ghost
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Substitute
- Scale Shot
- Flare Blitz
- Swords Dance
No surprises on who’s the last member, the King of the Tier, the Winged King itself. Like its counterpart, serves as both breaker and cleaner, as is known by all Uber players. I went with substitute as the final move because tera fairy is such a pain in the ass that scouting for it is just precious. Fire and dragon is a near perfect, or perfect as far as Uber’s concerned, coverage anyway so losing low kick isn’t really a loss compared to substitute’s scouting power. It might even be viable to go adamant on this but I’m not that insane just yet
Threats
Stall teams will always be a threat. The way I built this team was not to handle stall because if I run into one, I just talk shit and fuck off. I genuinely despise stall teams outside of tournaments, whether Smogon or otherwise, because I find it as just someone deliberately trying to waste another person’s time on an RNG infested “competitive” game. As such, I just fuck off and don’t play against such players. Go waste someone else’s time, not mine
By far, the biggest threat to the team. Dragon dance variants are particularly troublesome because one dd and the team’s nearly screwed completely. It’s nearly impossible to survive any hit from +1 earthquake with this team. Only Arceus can do that but at that point, it needs a swords dance to be able to defeat Arceus ground with two extreme speeds then there’s the potential tera ghost. From my experience, the best way is simply to pile up offensive pressure from the start. If Glimmora is somehow still alive, then using memento would be the only way forward. However, calm mind variants are significantly easier to deal with as all the physical attacks can eventually overwhelm it
If Necrozma’s significantly weakened or dead and opposing Zacian’s still alive and well, yeah, it will be a threat. Zacian’s always been a threat to HO teams because it naturally outspeeds everything aside from Deoxys. As such, be careful around Zacian but the team is somewhat capable of withstanding it, primarily with Necrozma and a substitute from Koraidon, assuming of course you don’t send in Koraidon when Zacian’s already on the field
----
That’s the entire team. The general idea here is to not rely heavily on one member to sweep but rather, if one can’t sweep, have it do as much damage as it can and allow another to clean up. That’s the idea of HO teams anyway and it took me making this team to finally understand that
Until the next time I play this RNG infested game again
