National Dex Bulky Charizard Y Sand

Bulky Mega Charizard Y Sand

:Charizard-Mega-Y::Tyranitar::Excadrill::Tapu Fini::Skarmory::Kommo-o:
https://pokepast.es/7553cbd450977be6

Teambuilding:

The team is built around the core of bulky Zard Y + TTar.

Zard Y was taken from the “good cores” list with defense evs taken out and placed into speed to outspeed Rillaboom, Swampert-m, most Manaphy, standard Zapdos, Gliscor, etc. Zard Y isn’t fast enough to outspeed most offensive threats, at best tying with medicham-m and outspeeding Jolly Landorus-T. As such, the idea of the spread is to outspeed the critical targets, and utilize Zard Y’s excellent typing and natural bulk to switch in and beat many Pokemon one on one. For example, Lopunny-m normally dominates Zard y one on one (1), but with the extra bulk investment, it is able to comfortably survive fake out + return from full health(2). It is also able to more comfortably switch into the defensive Pokemon it is intended to exploit, such as Tapu Fini and Corviknight, due to their inability to significantly damage it. This also means that, counterintuitively, it needs to use roost even less, since it can afford to sponge more attacks and therefore dish out more damage in return. Weather ball for extra damage + 2hko on Pelipper after stealth rock, solar beam for coverage, scorching sands over focus blast for Toxapex in particular, roost for longevity and to let it sponge hits more freely while taking advantage of its good typing.(3)

Zard Y + pursuit is one of the deadliest cores in the game. Its typical checks, Blissey, Latias-m, G-Slowking, etc. all get nuked by Tyranitar, who can force damage on them directly. Tyranitar is the standard choice band set, with earthquake over superpower mainly for Toxapex, Magearna, Mega Diancie, and Mega Mawile. Max attack adamant for maximum power, speed EVs to outspeed random 24 speed skarmory (as well as m-mawile close to that range), 64 hp evs to survive a +1 earthquake from Mega Charizard X, the rest in SpD. Note that it can survive a +1 aura sphere from M-Latias from full, but make sure to keep it healthy if the opponent has one. TTar has amazing special bulk, so it can often come in clutch against many special threats out of nowhere. Use it to set sand for Excadrill, remove Zard Y checks, and hit like a truck. Don’t throw it in randomly expecting it to work, scout for a coverage move to hurt you and get it in before they use it. For example, don’t hard predict Tapu Lele psychic unless you 1) know they are locked into psychic and 2) are choice locked. Focus blast is instant death, and moonblast is a clear 2HKO.

Excadrill is the third Pokemon for the team, as it abuses sand, provides rapid spin, checks electrics like Tapu Koko, and is an absolute monster offensively. It provides a semi-effective win condition and greatly eases the matchup vs hyper offense teams. I used the standard steelium z set, as it provides the breaking power to muscle through most of its checks while not having the recoil of life orb or the locking of choice band. I gave it an adamant nature since the speed was not needed but the power was greatly appreciated (4). Earthquake because earthquake, iron head for secondary stab + strong z-move, swords dance for sweeping and breaking through bulky cores, rapid spin for hazard control and boosting speed (5).

Tapu Fini was the next Pokemon, as it provided defog for backup hazard support, a check to both Ash-Greninja and Kommo-O, knock off for removing items on bulkier teams, and taunt to really shut down hazard setting. Moonblast is also a good coverage move in general, threatening many Pokemon for neutral damage, especially when many of its checks are vulnerable to knock off. Moonblast is also good for Sableye-M, as it allows Tapu Fini to threaten knock off/taunt on the rest of its team, removing critical utility from stall teams. I previously had scald over taunt, but I almost never used it because the things it was used on were checked regardless. Conserve its usage, as it relies heavily on its bulk to function and it has no recovery. 68 Speed evs for modest magnezone, 76 def evs for +2 garchomp earthquake after stealth rock, the rest in HP and spD.

Skarmory was put on after that, as I needed a very solid physically defensive backbone to handle various threats, since the teams’ special defense was already quite high. Spikes were also appreciated for wearing down the opposing team more quickly. Roost for longevity, body press for a strong spammable attack. Rocky helmet so it does damage without using a move, letting it spam roost vs physical attackers and switch into various u-turns. The choice between iron defense and whirlwind is based on the meta. Iron defense makes it a better stopgap to various HO setup sweepers, as whirlwind forces it to take damage. However, whirlwind has much better overall utility, as it forces out special attackers switching in and makes them take hazard damage (cough, Magnezone, cough). It also scouts the opponent’s intentions, forcing them into a difficult mindgame of staying consistent or counterpredicting. At the time of writing, magearna is currently legal in national dex, drastically inflating the usage of dual screens setup teams, an HO archetype which Excadrill isn’t able to combat efficiently. As such, once it is banned, I highly recommend experimenting with either iron defense or whirlwind, imagining scenarios in which you have either, and figuring out which is better in most circumstances (6). Don’t try to sweep with body press, almost every viable team has a special attacker that can threaten it out or a fighting resist that threatens it in return. Ditto goes for any Kommo-O shenanigans.

Kommo-o was the final Pokemon of choice, as it compressed many roles in one. It was a stealth rocker, 1, a check to opposing weather teams, 2, a good wall with toxic + protect and body press to threaten steels, and 3, it had excellent defensive typing + natural bulk that lets it soft check a large number of metagame threats, letting it contribute to the team’s damage output and set stealth rock efficiently. Such Pokemon include Greninja, Heatran, Rotom-W, Tangrowth, Lando-T, Excadrill, Tyranitar, Ferrothorn, etc. I preferred the greater physical defense, as its typing allows it to check most of the special threats it is intended to without much investment, while the physical backbone could use shoring up. Protect allows it to double up on leftovers recovery, sand damage, toxic damage, etc., as well as scout choiced pokemon like Tapu Lele. It can also stall out sun, sand, and misty terrain turns to make it easier to resets those conditions (and use toxic). Overcoat was used because neither bulletproof nor soundproof let it check any more pokemon that the team did not already handle well, while healing in sand is greatly appreciated for a wall.

User’s Guide:

The basic idea is simple: set hazards, Shred defensive cores with Zard Y and TTar, clean up with excadrill (not necessarily in that order). Use rapid spin and defensive pivoting when appropriate. Keep your walls healthy to check key threats, use hazard removal to let charizard dish out devastation, and maintain pressure with your own hazards to punish switching and make your attackers even more difficult to deal with.

Threatlist:
  • :Medicham-mega: Mega Medicham: Charizard, Skarmory, Tapu Fini, and Excadrill (in sand) can beat medicham one on one, but that doesn’t take away from the fact that this thing will kill something upon switchin. You can try to predict around it, but high jump kick puts everything in range for a coverage move. Your best bet is to limit free entry, set hazards, keep your check healthy, and utilize sand rush excadrill when necessary. Most of the time, you have to sack something if it gets a free turn before going into something that beats it.
  • :Tapu Lele: Tapu Lele: most of the team can beat it one on one or scout its choice lock. Standard specs Lele with focus blast can nuke TTar, excadrill, and do significant damage to skarmory, while everything else is at least 2hkoed by psychic. If you do scout for psychic and you know it’s choice locked, pursuit trap it with TTar. Otherwise bring in a resist to the specific move.
  • :Diancie-mega: M-diancie: Essentially beats the entire team, only pausing against Tapu Fini and not OHKOing TTar. Excadrill in sand outspends and threatens it out with both stabs. TTar takes a moonblast from high health and OHKOes with earthquake. This is basically another mega medicham situation, but greatly amplified since it is able to beat much of the team 1v1. Find a sack, bring in ttar (or excadrill if sand is up) and pray. If diancie-m becomes much more common post magearna, you can give Tapu Fini scald over one of its utility moves.
  • :magnezone: Magnezone: This thing + its partners can be overwhelming for the team. Skarmory is critical for the functioning of this team, as without it pokemon like Lando-t, garchomp, glister, M-diancie, etc. turn from setup fodder to gigantic threats. Steelium z excadrill can check most of them in a pinch, but it’s still a concern. Your best option is to pursuit / quake it with ttar, putting it in range for a skarm body press on the switch.

- Dishonorable mentions:
  • :Latias-mega: Latias-M: If ttar gets worn down, you can be in big trouble. Kommo-o takes a +1 psyshock after stealth rock and toxic poisons it, if you need a last resort. Fortunately, pursuit + crunch makes Tyranitar able to reliably remove Latias.
  • :Charizard-mega-X: Charizard-M-X: Absolute nuke, try to punish / block setup, get sand rush Excadrill in to check it. Tyranitar can handle it 1 on 1 in an emergency. Stealth rocks go a long way. Scout for whether it has dragon claw, earthquake, or roost if you can. Tapu Fini can do significant damage to it and take its attacks, but if it gets worn down you might be in trouble.
  • :gyarados: Gyarados / :gyarados-mega: gyarados-M: Oh look at that, another sweeper that Excadrill doesn’t handle very well. In all seriousness, Skarmory can usually counter it, but be careful.

References:

(1) 252 Atk Lopunny-Mega Return vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Charizard-Mega-Y: 211-249 (71 - 83.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
(2) 252 Atk Lopunny-Mega Return vs. 248 HP / 64 Def Charizard-Mega-Y: 195-231 (54.3 - 64.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
(3) Do note that scorching sands is only a 2HKO on toxapex after stealth rock and with a physical spread. You’ll have to set hazards and/or try to force damage on it with TTar if it’s SpD.
(4)Adamant steelium z after a swords dance is a guaranteed OHKO on max defense Lando-t, as opposed to a damage roll.
(5) +1 adamant excadrill outspeeds jolly m-lopunny, the fastest unboosted Pokemon in the metagame. Rapid spin’s power buff means that it can kill many Pokemon at very low health. Always check the calc before making this move.
(6) Excadrill can deal with magearna very effectively, so besides that one detail the team does not need to be changed post-magearna. The team did not make any notable compromises to its functions due to magearna, as TTar needs earthquake for toxapex regardless, and Excadrill is Excadrill.
 
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Note: Mega Diancie has risen to OU by a clear margin, and Blaziken was recently unbanned. Both are massive threats to this team, seriously hindering its ability to function vs more offensive playstyles, something it could already struggle with to some extent. While scald on tapu fini would seems like a reasonable option, it forces one to drop either taunt or knock off, seriously reducing its overall utility while not sufficiently improving the matchup vs both pokemon. Blaziken in particular almost always packs a z move that slaughers tapu fini, meaning the only real check is kommo-o, who takes near full from close combat while not KOing with body press.

The team can still be excellent, just be aware of this when using it in the future.

Edit: The metagame by April 2022 has landed decidedly on the side of shredding this team's viability. Zard Y, TTar, and Excadrill have all dropped off a cliff in viability, highly offensive teams predominate the metagame compared to the more balance-centric meta this team was build for, and in general the team's "take hits and dish them back harder" strategy just gets overwhelmed from every direction. You would legitimately be better off running a mono ice slush rush hail team in OU than trying to make this work again. The team's core of ZardY/TTar/Excadrill is simply no longer effective, its myriad offensive and defensive holes compounded over time, and now its at a point where it's difficult to recommend this team whatsoever. I'm keeping this team here for archive purposes, with that I'm out.
 
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