Choiced Grassy Offense
Introduction
It is a personal goal of mine to make a ‘Choice Team (4+)’ every generation. This restriction is a pretty limiting rule that really forces you to make the right predictions in battle. In ORAS, I successfully created a top 8 team, which can be found here. Of course, this generation I had to top that so after experimenting out tons of teams, I finally managed to make one that does pretty well: Choiced Grassy Offense.
Team building restrictions
- When suggesting improvements to this team, please do not bypass the rule of a minimum of four Choice Items.
Strategy
Choiced Grassy Offense plays a game of baiting and breaking. Utilizing tech moves and wallbreakers, such as Focus Punch Mega Mawile and Tapu Bulu, this team tries to break common Grass-resists in order to allow for a Grassy Terrain boosted Kartana sweep. One key problem of many offense teams, due to the lack of defense, is dealing with boosters. Luckily there’s one little pudding called Ditto to fix this problem. Along with the momentum from Landorus-T and the sheer stallbreaking power from Bloom Doom Heatran, this team can deal with practically all of the common archetypes in the current meta. That is… if you make the right predictions.
My stats tell no secrets, I have experimented A LOT. I started out with Fairyspam (is that even a thing?) into Aurora Veil, into Rain, into Zygarde based teams, into Heatran, into Magnezone, into Koko, into Lele, back into Heatran and finally combining Landorus-T with it to put the icing on the cake. Due to the broadness of my teambuilding process, I’ll shortly note everything I have tried that isn’t in the current team.
Tapu Lele, Tapu Koko, Magearna, Magnezone, Ninetales-A, Pelipper, Kingdra, Mega-Swampert, Zygarde, Greninja, Toxapex, Tangrowth, Hawlucha, Zapdos, Mamoswine Mega Lopunny and Volcarona.
As a result, there wasn’t really a thoughtful process of carefully building my team. I just brute forced multiple variations to see what works. Looking back on it though, despite the overall crazy aspects of the team, all of its final members actually make sense.
Tapu Lele, Tapu Koko, Magearna, Magnezone, Ninetales-A, Pelipper, Kingdra, Mega-Swampert, Zygarde, Greninja, Toxapex, Tangrowth, Hawlucha, Zapdos, Mamoswine Mega Lopunny and Volcarona.
As a result, there wasn’t really a thoughtful process of carefully building my team. I just brute forced multiple variations to see what works. Looking back on it though, despite the overall crazy aspects of the team, all of its final members actually make sense.
Analysis
In theory, this team looks absolutely garbage and frail. 4 Choice Items, out of which 3 are Choice Scarf, that’s a massive overkill on the Speed department. No true tanks or walls, just offense – so no truly safe switches. No Defog, Spin (or Brick Break/Psychic Fangs), so no way to deal with Veil, Hazards and Webs. No boosters, so no late-game set-up sweep (albeit BB). 3 Fire type weaknesses, absolutely no Special Defense on the team and above all, a bubbly Ditto!? A lot of things can be said about this team and this team is absolutely not rock solid. That said, it still showcases Choice Teams can be viable in the current meta and above all – are a blast to play.
Tapu Bulu
Xorn (Tapu Bulu) @ Choice Band
Ability: Grassy Surge
EVs: 208 HP / 252 Atk / 48 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Horn Leech
- Wood Hammer
- Zen Headbutt
- Superpower
Tapu Bulu is the center of the team. Bulu provides support through Grassy terrain, which is especially helpful for Kartana, Heatran and Mawile. Choice Band turns Bulu in practically the hardest hitter in the metagame. Anything that doesn’t double resist Grass-type moves is gonna take a lot of damage. In early game Bulu should be used to break some holes in the enemy team. Magearna, Heatran, Ferrothorn, Amoonguss, Mega-Venusaur, Zapdos and Landorus-T are good targets to aim for. Additionally, thanks to terrain, Bulu can check Koko and deal with the pressure of Hawlucha. Preserve some health on Bulu till late game so Grassy Terrain can be utilized to allow for a Kartana Leaf Blade sweep.
The speed investment allows to outrun noninvested Heatran, Mega-Venusaur and Hoopa-U. The rest of the points are put in HP so Bulu can take a hit from utility Magma Storm Heatran, Ice Beam Greninja, Brave Bird Koko, as well as Flash Cannon Magearna, Iron Tail Zygarde, Smart Strike Kartana and Explosion Lando-T. For this team I found that the extra bulk offers much more than the usual spread which additional speed.
Heatran
Tariq (Heatran) @ Grassium Z
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Magma Storm
- Taunt
- Earth Power
- Solar Beam
Bulu begs for Heatran, it’s simple as that. Nearly everything that checks Tapu Bulu, gets checked by Heatran. Heatran provides the obvious switch-in against many common Steel types which this team would otherwise struggle against. Additionally, Heatran prevents Fire-moves from being used and he is a phenomonal stallbreaker. Magma Storm and Taunt break just about any stall, Bloom Doom helps to avoid being checked by Ground types. More important, in Grassy Terrain, Bloom Doom can OHKO most of the common checks to Heatran, such as Landorus-T, Zygarde, Gyarados, Keldeo, Greninja and Garchomp. Heatran is best used to bait out Ground types, but should be preserved to pressure Steel types throughout the game.
252 SpA Heatran Bloom Doom (190 BP) vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Garchomp in Grassy Terrain: 357-420 (99.7 - 117.3%) -- 93.8% chance to OHKO
252 SpA Heatran Bloom Doom (190 BP) vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Landorus-Therian in Grassy Terrain: 374-441 (97.9 - 115.4%) -- 87.5% chance to OHKO
252 SpA Heatran Bloom Doom (190 BP) vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Gyarados in Grassy Terrain: 309-364 (93.3 - 109.9%) -- 62.5% chance to OHKO
252 SpA Heatran Bloom Doom (190 BP) vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Zygarde in Grassy Terrain: 324-382 (90.5 - 106.7%) -- 43.8% chance to OHKO
Kartana
Origami (Kartana) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Leaf Blade
- Sacred Sword
- Knock Off
- Smart Strike
Building around the Bulu core, Kartana is an incredible addition to the team. The little Origami absolutely sweeps through the meta when you remove its primary counters. It definitely requires support and proper game-planning to work, but Kartana is often closing the games. Grassy Terrain allows for a scary late game sweep that is very hard to stop thanks to Beast Boost. In early and mid, Kartana can be sent out as a revenge killer and sometimes as a defensive tank. Provoking the switch, Knock Off is an excellent spammable move that can put some pressure on in midgame. Make sure to preserve Kartana till late though, especially versus enemy Rain teams.
4IV’s in Special Defense help Kartana surviving Water Shuriken easier.
Mega-Mawile
Xira (Mawile) @ Mawilite
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 160 HP / 252 Atk / 96 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Play Rough
- Sucker Punch
- Fire Fang
- Focus Punch
When you think of more ways to pressure Steel types, Heatran in particular, Mawile doesn’t instantly pop-up in your head. This is the surprise of this team: Focus Punch. Mawile preys on Heatran and Ferrothorn while punching through enemy teams. Additionally, it can pressure Latios and Zygarde to an extent. Sucker Punch helps dealing with (unsubbed) Blacephalon and M-Alakazam. The weird combination of both Fire Fang and Focus Punch is absolutely needed to deal with Scizor and Celesteela. Intimidate is chosen over Hyper Cutter to check Hawlucha and allow for more safe switch-ins. Against stall Mawile can put pressure on pretty much all Pokémon, due to Huge Power. Grassy Terrain allows Mawile to deal with Landorus, Gliscor and other quakers. Try to break some opponents in early, while keeping Sucker Punch for late. All in all an amazing breaker.
The speed investment allows to outrun noninvested Clefable and Celesteela.
Landorus-Therian
Mufasa (Landorus-Therian) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- U-turn
- Explosion
- Stealth Rock
What’s a team without Landorus-T? Initially, I didn’t want to use this liger, but in the end he proved to be the most worthwhile addition to the team. The momentum advantages you get from Landorus-T are beyond measurable. Stealth Rock and U-turn obviously give you the upper hand in the switchfest whereas Explosion allows to break unexpectedly through bulky threats (or at least damage them) such as Charizard, Volcarona and Clefable. Earthquake doesn’t synergize too well with my team, but once in a while it allows for a lategame sweep. Usually Landorus-T leads the game and gives a lot of momentum in mid. In midgame Lando-T typically Explodes to help setting up the Leaf Blade sweep. Landorus-T is an amazing Pokémon that helps you getting the right Pokémon in battle at the right time.
Ditto
Bubbly (Ditto) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Imposter
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Def
Relaxed Nature
IVs: 30 HP / 30 Atk / 30 Def / 30 SpD / 0 Spe
- Transform
Ditto; I would argue that it is most overlooked Pokémon in the current meta. Ditto offers so much, and contrary to the assumption that this thing needs Regenerator or semi-stall to work, this team showcases that Ditto can find its place very well in an offense team. With the many archetypes running around, ranging from Aurora Veil to Stall to Sticky Web, Ditto takes the enemy strategy and nullifies it. Additionally, Zygarde and a myriad of other boosters seem to find their place in many teams. Ditto pressures boosters a lot, immensely helping offense teams to stay in pace. As a final huzzah, Ditto absolutely destroys Magnezone with Hidden Power Ground. Ranging from support to stall to set-up sweeper, Ditto provided this team with just about everything it needs.
The IV’s give a minimum of Speed for Ditto vs Ditto while allowing Hidden Power Ground to counter Magnezone. Max happiness is important to allow for Return sweeps while transforming into Mega-Pinsir. As Lopunny you can High-Jump Kick. (Mega Pinsir most often runs Return.)
This team doesn’t have any ‘6-0’ counters. Defensive Volcarona comes close, but can be played around. That’s what I really like about the team. With the right predictions, you can win any battle. Of course sometimes you will be fighting an uphill battle, but that makes it all the more fun if you win.
Defensive Volcarona
This team struggles a lot against defensive Volcarona. Typically, they run crazy Defog support so getting the Stealth Rocks damage in is hard. I’ve considered swapping Stealth Rocks/Zenn Headbutt for a Rock-move, but ultimately defensive Volcarona is so rare I found it to be not worthwhile. This abomination just burns my entire team and I can’t 2HKO it, allowing for a Roost-Spam. The best bet is to Explode on it and then follow up with Knock Off – this is pretty much the only way to beat it.
Z-Volcarona
Volcarona is pretty hard for my team as they pretty much always run HP: Ground, but Z-Volcarona takes it to a next level. This is because Kartana (who outspeeds it at +1) is stuck with Knock Off with 65 BP, which doesn’t deal 50% damage. Additionally, should I swap in Ditto when the Volcarona is at a higher percentage, then I will get OHKO’d by the Z-move while not OHKO’ing Volcarona itself, thus requiring a sacrifice. This thing can OHKO my entire team at +1, so often I Explode on it or try to get a Sucker Punch in, following it up with Knock Off.
Pelipper with SPA investment and Hurricane
My team has no good switch-in against Pelipper – zero. Every Pokémon fears something. Mawile and Bulu are the best bets, as they can survive Scald and Hurricane. Just try to kill this thing as soon as possible. The Rain isn’t much of an issue, it’s just the bird itself. Wood Hammer can OHKO it, and after a Play Rough you can Sucker Punch or let Kartana grab te kill.
Charizard-Y
Because of Focus Blast and Quake, I cant safely Switch-In Heatran. Against Y, Ditto is often a valuable asset. Stealth Rocks helps immensely, but usually one sacrifice is necessary to get it down. Again, Kartana can’t really pressure it, so keep Landorus-T around for this one.
Charizard-X with Earthquake
Ditto can revenge kill this thing easily, but the only real switchin on Charizard-X is Landorus-T. Problem is, it won’t work after a Dragon Dance, so often a sacrifice is required.
Greninja
The trick to beating Greninja is scouting its moveset and basing your checks on that. Ditto is excellent for this. Even so, I have no safe switch-ins on all Greninja sets, so it's a threat to watch for.
Hawlucha
Preserving Mawile in non-mega form is important against Hawlucha, as Mawile can survive a +1 HJK and then get the kill with Play Rough. If not possible, Landorus-T can go for Explosion and then allow Mawile to threaten Sucker Punch.
Mew with Will-o-Wisp and a Ground Move
This team is just very weak against burns. Whereas Rotom-W isn’t much of an issue to to its Grass-type weakness, Mew with WoW and Quake can harass the entire team. The best bet is to U-turn on it and go to Heatran, making the switch back to Lando-T to scout for Ground moves and get the U-turn K.O.
Keldeo with Scald
Due to the burn chance, swapping in Mawile or Bulu is kinda risky vs Keldeo. Still, it’s often a gamble you have to take. Again, fast Water sweepers threaten this type.
Mega-Venusaur with Earthquake
Although Heatran can normally deal with Mega-Venusaur, this won’t apply if it has quake. Landorus-T can still pressure it though and Zenn Headbutt Bulu allows to KO it as well.
Substitute Boosters
Many forms and variants, such as Blacephalon, Gyarados and Zygarde exist. Although most of the time Kartana can outspeed to break the sub, especially against Coil spam Zygarde this isn’t always possible. This leaves a problem, cause Ditto can’t use Imposter on them. Lando-T will have to explode to allow for that, giving the team a superboosted Pokémon.
Defensive Volcarona
This team struggles a lot against defensive Volcarona. Typically, they run crazy Defog support so getting the Stealth Rocks damage in is hard. I’ve considered swapping Stealth Rocks/Zenn Headbutt for a Rock-move, but ultimately defensive Volcarona is so rare I found it to be not worthwhile. This abomination just burns my entire team and I can’t 2HKO it, allowing for a Roost-Spam. The best bet is to Explode on it and then follow up with Knock Off – this is pretty much the only way to beat it.
Z-Volcarona
Volcarona is pretty hard for my team as they pretty much always run HP: Ground, but Z-Volcarona takes it to a next level. This is because Kartana (who outspeeds it at +1) is stuck with Knock Off with 65 BP, which doesn’t deal 50% damage. Additionally, should I swap in Ditto when the Volcarona is at a higher percentage, then I will get OHKO’d by the Z-move while not OHKO’ing Volcarona itself, thus requiring a sacrifice. This thing can OHKO my entire team at +1, so often I Explode on it or try to get a Sucker Punch in, following it up with Knock Off.
Pelipper with SPA investment and Hurricane
My team has no good switch-in against Pelipper – zero. Every Pokémon fears something. Mawile and Bulu are the best bets, as they can survive Scald and Hurricane. Just try to kill this thing as soon as possible. The Rain isn’t much of an issue, it’s just the bird itself. Wood Hammer can OHKO it, and after a Play Rough you can Sucker Punch or let Kartana grab te kill.
Charizard-Y
Because of Focus Blast and Quake, I cant safely Switch-In Heatran. Against Y, Ditto is often a valuable asset. Stealth Rocks helps immensely, but usually one sacrifice is necessary to get it down. Again, Kartana can’t really pressure it, so keep Landorus-T around for this one.
Charizard-X with Earthquake
Ditto can revenge kill this thing easily, but the only real switchin on Charizard-X is Landorus-T. Problem is, it won’t work after a Dragon Dance, so often a sacrifice is required.
Greninja
The trick to beating Greninja is scouting its moveset and basing your checks on that. Ditto is excellent for this. Even so, I have no safe switch-ins on all Greninja sets, so it's a threat to watch for.
Hawlucha
Preserving Mawile in non-mega form is important against Hawlucha, as Mawile can survive a +1 HJK and then get the kill with Play Rough. If not possible, Landorus-T can go for Explosion and then allow Mawile to threaten Sucker Punch.
Mew with Will-o-Wisp and a Ground Move
This team is just very weak against burns. Whereas Rotom-W isn’t much of an issue to to its Grass-type weakness, Mew with WoW and Quake can harass the entire team. The best bet is to U-turn on it and go to Heatran, making the switch back to Lando-T to scout for Ground moves and get the U-turn K.O.
Keldeo with Scald
Due to the burn chance, swapping in Mawile or Bulu is kinda risky vs Keldeo. Still, it’s often a gamble you have to take. Again, fast Water sweepers threaten this type.
Mega-Venusaur with Earthquake
Although Heatran can normally deal with Mega-Venusaur, this won’t apply if it has quake. Landorus-T can still pressure it though and Zenn Headbutt Bulu allows to KO it as well.
Substitute Boosters
Many forms and variants, such as Blacephalon, Gyarados and Zygarde exist. Although most of the time Kartana can outspeed to break the sub, especially against Coil spam Zygarde this isn’t always possible. This leaves a problem, cause Ditto can’t use Imposter on them. Lando-T will have to explode to allow for that, giving the team a superboosted Pokémon.
It’s a little bit sad that I choked some of my most important battles, because otherwise I’d had gotten #2 and maybe even #1, but alas – that is the life of a battler. I’m fairly sure this team can get even higher, but an issue with the relatively low playerbase at high ladder is that you start to battle people twice, sometimes even more. This is a huge problem because the team relies on ‘surprising’ the opponent with things like Focus Punch and triple Scarf. Additionally, Volcarona is seeing a rise in popularity which is a bad thing for this team. Due to facing this problem, I think now was the right time to let others experiment with this team so that more variants may pop-up to deal with the new developments.
I saved a lot of replays (all victories though) and bolded out the ones I find most interesting. I sorted them per category of opponent. Sometimes it’s a little hard to pinpoint their archetype precisely, so bear with me.
Vs Balance
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ou-761467136
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ou-760388511
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ou-762300852
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ou-762347853
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ou-762473244
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ou-760356418
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ou-762355098
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ou-762450469
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ou-762353299
Vs Offense
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ou-761005248
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ou-762309103
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ou-762399699
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ou-760412226
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ou-762372932
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ou-762468580
Vs Hyperoffense
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ou-762342805
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ou-760956010
Vs Stall
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ou-762441658
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ou-760358232
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ou-760401345
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ou-762332450
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ou-762463241
Vs Semistall
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ou-760408725
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ou-762397853
Vs Aurora-veil
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ou-760382358
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ou-760386565
Vs Rain
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ou-760430237
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ou-762352603
Vs Webs
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ou-760403334
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ou-760417823
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ou-760428378
Vs TR
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ou-762718123
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ou-762725107
Vs (semi-)Sand
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ou-760354850
Vs Other
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ou-762350601
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ou-762454030
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ou-760422407
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ou-760939339
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ou-762376537
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ou-762433150
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ou-762330951
Vs Balance
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ou-761467136
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ou-760388511
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ou-762300852
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ou-762347853
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ou-762473244
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ou-760356418
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ou-762355098
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ou-762450469
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ou-762353299
Vs Offense
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ou-761005248
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ou-762309103
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ou-762399699
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ou-760412226
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ou-762372932
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ou-762468580
Vs Hyperoffense
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ou-762342805
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ou-760956010
Vs Stall
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ou-762441658
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ou-760358232
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ou-760401345
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ou-762332450
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ou-762463241
Vs Semistall
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ou-760408725
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ou-762397853
Vs Aurora-veil
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ou-760382358
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ou-760386565
Vs Rain
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ou-760430237
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ou-762352603
Vs Webs
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ou-760403334
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ou-760417823
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ou-760428378
Vs TR
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ou-762718123
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ou-762725107
Vs (semi-)Sand
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ou-760354850
Vs Other
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ou-762350601
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ou-762454030
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ou-760422407
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ou-760939339
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ou-762376537
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ou-762433150
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ou-762330951
Conclusion
For those who love offense and those who gotta go fast, this team is something I’d surely recommend trying out. It heavily relies on prediction and has quite some flaws, but it certainly has a lot of potential. With this team I hope to further encourage Choice based strategies as well as getting more people to give Ditto a second thought on offense teams. If you have any suggestions on how to further optimize this team, or any questions, please leave a comment!
I’d like to thank my mom because, well… I don’t really know anybody in the Smogon community ;(.
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