Breloom, SMASH!!

[rachet67]

Most teams I try to build I think of the perfect pokemon that synergize with my other pokemon and I go through many tedious cycles of exchanging pokemon. And a lot of those teams turn out meh. This team isn't one of them. I probably spent less time making this one than any other, and its turned out the best. Its only 1897 acre, but honestly despite any team I use, thats just how skilled I actually am.

Team Overview​

I knew at the get go that I wanted a team that would keep constant offensive pressure, and that wouldn't give an ounce of momentum away. I started thinking that tyranitar, keldeo, and latios would make a pretty good team. Latios could take care of the fighting types that bother tyranitar, tyranitar could take care of the psychic types that bother keldeo, and keldeo is just a beast. I also wanted something that could take hits for the team, but not lose momentum and skarmory was able to do this perfectly. Breloom was added to take care of bulky waters that cause problems for keldeo, and garachomp as a scarfer with some natural bulk, that could deal with volcorona.

The team​

@Choice Band
Tyranitar
Ability: Sand Stream
180 HP/252 Atk/ 76 spe
Adamant
-Stone Edge
-Pursuit
-Crunch
-Superpower

In most games Tyranitar is either very important to keep alive and can win the game for me by removing said threat, or its just used as a shield for my other pokemon and is KO'd earlier on. Tyranitar does amazing job at what it's supposed to do. Tyranitar is able to deal with all psychic types that would prevent keldeo or breloom from doing there job that are not named Alakazam. It almost always wins the weather war with Ninetails, as it pursuit Ninetails on the way out and lower it to stealth rock killing range. It can't deal with Politoed quite as well, but honestly I don't mind rain nearly as much as sun. Tyranitar also KO's the bulky version of everyones' favorite spinner Starmie, but I have to watch out for offensive variants.

@ Choice specs
Keldeo
Ability: Justified
252 SpA/4 Spd/252 Spe/
Modest
-Hydro pump
-Secret Sword
-Surf
-Hidden Power Ghost

Even without rain support, Specs Keldeo hits really hard. As in 2HKO's pretty much anything that doesn't resist it and is an amazing wall breaker. Once psychics (especially celebi, latios, and latias) are dealt with by Tyranitar, Keldeo is almost free to spam Surf or Secret Sword. Hidden power ghost is to deal with Jellicent which otherwise stops this. I also have to watch for focus sash Alakazam. Modest is used over Timid just to give a little more power, especially since there's no rain support. And did I mention, damn this pony can hit hard.

@Leftovers
Latios
Ability: Levitate
252 SpA/ 4 SpD/ 252 Spe
Timid
-Calm Mind
-Dragon Pulse
-Hidden Power Fire
-Psyshock

With three choiced pokemon on this team, I needed an offensive pokemon that had more room space to breath. I used latios over latias mostly as a preferential choice, as I prefer the power that Latios brings opposed to a little more bulk. Leftovers is somewhat of a compromise and it helps Latios stay alive longer in the sand. Latios deals with a lot of the fighting types that plague Tyranitar and deals with Tentacruel. Hidden power is for scizor mostly but also can OHKO ferrothorn after a calm mind. Calm Mind can turn Latios into a last resort sweeper to clean up a weakened team.


@Life Orb
Breloom
Ability: Technician
4 HP/ 252 Atk/ 252 Spe
Adamant
-Spore
-Swords Dance
-Bullet Seed
-Mach Punch

Breloom is hands down my favorite pokemon in OU. Breloom can switch into so many slower walls and put them to sleep. After this it can use swords dance, but I have found it just as useful to just use bullet seed right off the bat as many people switch in faster pokemon that resist mach punch, anticipating the swords dance. Even without swords dance, bullet seed packs quite the punch. Breloom puts a ton of pressure on the many bulky water types in OU, including jellicent, which none of the rest of my team really likes dealing with.

@Leftovers
Skarmory
Ability: Sturdy
224 HP/ 252 Def/ 32 SpD
-Stealth Rock
-Roost
-Brave Bird
-Whirlwind

With all these offensive pokemon on my team, I wanted a wall that could take scarfed hits if nessicary, heal them off, lay stealth rocks easily, but most importantly not lose momentum for team. Skarmory is perfect for this role. Whirlwind keeps pokemon from setting up on Skarmory and as a bonus spreads stealth rock damage. Brave bird has been useful for a keldeo switching in. Skarmory also is a completely safe switch into gliscor, as keldeo has to worry about acrobatics.

@Choice Scarf
Garachomp
Ability: Rough Skin
4 HP/ 252 Atk/ 252 Spe
Jolly
-Earthquake
-Outrage
-Stone Edge
-Fire Fang

Scarfchomp was the last pokemon I added and born more out of necessity than anything else. Before I added garachomp my team was destroyed by dragon dance dragonite and volcorona if it got a quiver dance. Scarf Chomp deals with both of these pokemon with stone edge, or earthquake/outrage if I really need the accuracy. Unlike scarf terrakion it's more bulky and typed better for my team. Fire fang is just added insurance against ferrothorn and scizor, and can also hit jirachi and do damage if its already weakened. So many teams are built to resist dragon and ground, so Garachomp really doesn't sweep teams that often. Regardless it does it job well and I can think of many other replacements.
​

Threat list:
There actually aren't a lot of specific threats, but the way I usually lose is just the team getting worn down, especially if I've made a few bad predictions. However, there are a few honorable mentions such as:

Swords dance Lucario: One of the biggest dangers to my team after a swords dance, if skarmory is at low health and garrachomp and latios are just a little worn down, thats pretty much gg. Lucario is rare luckily, but when I see it, I try to KO it before it can do any real damage.

SpD Jirachi: This thing is more annoying than a huge danger. Garachomp can OHKO it with earthquake, buts that a risky move to be using with a scarf, especially early on. My best hope is to try to 2HKO it with keldeo's secret sword on the switch, or just wall it with my skarmory, though skarmory has to watch out for thunder on rain teams.


So thats my team. Any suggestions are welcome (why I'm doing this in the first place) and I'll try to stay open minded. And for some annoying reason I can't paste pictures above breloom and garachomp.

Importable:

Tyranitar @ Choice Band
Trait: Sand Stream
EVs: 180 HP / 252 Atk / 76 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Stone Edge
- Pursuit
- Crunch
- Superpower

Keldeo @ Choice Specs
Trait: Justified
EVs: 252 SAtk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Modest Nature
- Hydro pump
- Secret Sword
- Surf
- Hidden Power [Ghost]

Latios (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 252 SAtk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
- Calm Mind
- Dragon Pulse
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Psyshock

Breloom @ Life Orb
Trait: Technician
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Spore
- Swords Dance
- Bullet Seed
- Mach Punch

Skarmory @ Leftovers
Trait: Sturdy
EVs: 224 HP / 252 Def / 32 SDef
Impish Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Roost
- Brave Bird
- Whirlwind

Garchomp @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Rough Skin
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Outrage
- Stone Edge
- Fire Fang
​

 

[MCBarrett]

Hey ratchet67, pretty standard Sand Offense team you have here, which is probably why it hasn't gotten too much attention yet. There are a few small things you can do to make your team more effective though.

First of all, there are a few Defensive Cores that can give your team trouble, namely the core of Amoonguss and Jellicent. Jellicent runs enough speed to outrun and burn Banded Tyranitar pretty commonly now and Jellicent can take on the rest of your offensive core with relative ease besides Breloom who gets dealt with by Amoonguss among other things. While cores like these can be played around thanks to the offensive pressure your team provides, the fact that you have so many choice-locked Pokemon, and that your Latios hits for pitiful damage with Leftovers as its item makes it much easier for your opponent to play around. With that in mind here are my suggestions.

You should change your Keldeo from a Choice Specs set to an Expert Belt set. Keldeo has pretty decent coverage if you factor in Icy Wind plus HP Ghost/ Bug. Plus the versatility this set provides with being to outspeed threats such as Latios on the switch with Icy Wind is pretty nice. You can keep the Modest Nature if you are fine with it although I personally like using Timid.

For your Latios, I think you would be better served using either a Life Orb set with 3 attacks + Roost or switching to Latias and using a bulkier spread( 248 Hp/ 4 sp att). The thing is with boosting Pokemon is you shouldn't try to find a middle ground with power and defense or else you just end up being lacking in both. You should either have some immediate fire power or be more bulky to be able to set up more boosts throughout the game. If you choose Latias, Sub CM might be a good idea as well.

Lastly, on Breloom, I would recommend using a Lum Berry or Fighting Gem over Life Orb. Both give you added longevity plus Lum Berry can protect you from burns from Rotom-W or Spores from opposing Breloom, while Fighting Gem gives your Mach Punch a boost equivalent to a Choice Banded attack for one turn. This can be useful against things like Latios that switch into a Bullet Seed because you can then take them out with Mach Punch next turn if you get a decent amount of hits. With Fighting Gem you may want to try out Focus Punch as well since it can break through just about anything that doesn't resist it, and even some weaker pokes that do.

Hopefully my suggestions help! Let me know how it works and good luck with the team!

 

[rachet67]

I think that switching keldeo to an expert belt set would be a good idea. There are so many pokemon made to sponge water and fighting attacks, but not a lot for both (latias). With getting locked it makes it's hard to play around these sponges. As for latios I usually just switch tyranitar if i'm predicting a switch. The only thing I have to be careful of is choice specs draco meteor. I'll try expert belt, but I really like keldeo for its wallbreaking abilities, and hope expert belt packs enough power in the sand. I'll definately see how it works out though.

For latios the only reason I really use leftovers is to negate sandstorm damage. I could switch to life orb, drop dragon pulse (most dragons it could deal with are scarfed anyways) and use roost. I think you underestimate leftovers latios without any boosts though. It OHKO's tentacruel, keldeo, and terrakion with psyshock, OHKO's sczior with hp fire, and 2HKOs a lot of other threats. (Albeit life orb may turn a few of these 2HKOs into OHKOs.) After a calm mind, leftovers keeps latios alive longer in the sand, and as its not to bulky, allows it to not have to risk taking attacks while roosting. I think I will try the same latios spread with leftovers except drop dragon pulse for roost, as roost can still be used on bulkier walls that can't do anything to latios.

I'll give fighting gem a chance and see how that works out. That extra power mach punch does sound nice, as there are so many things it almost kills but not quite. Breloom really does more picking off than sweeping anyways, so life orb wouldn't be too missed. Again, I'm not too worried about latios as I can switch in Tyranitar.

As for Amonguss/Jellicent cores, latios can set up a calm mind pretty easily on Jellicent if it doesn't mind a burn and 2HKO jellicent (or OHKO if slightly weakened) and OHKO Amonguss with Psyshock. If I add roost, I can even heal up on jellicent.

I'll try these changes out when I have time and post back how they work. And thanks for rating