ORAS OU Clawing my way to the Top (Balance)

[Spoiled Rotten]

So, having made a few decent HO teams, I decided to try my hand at balance. Now needing to have a few things that can take a hit didn't come naturally to me, so bear in mind this team heavily used the checks compendium, and over the last 15 or so battles has preformed solid enough for me to think I've finally ironed out the obvious kinks. That being said here is the team.

Claudius (Crawdaunt) (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Adaptability
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Crabhammer
- Aqua Jet
- Knock Off

1st of all let me say this is my favorite Pokemon and then let me immediately follow that with saying, that is not the only reason I picked it. I got really sick of stall when I was playing HO and this thing shits on it. It also provides some priority, albeit slow priority, and can serve as a decent cleaner late game. It's main niche is Adaptability knock off however, and this is what makes this thing the wallbreaker I love. With one SD up, every common mon on stall dies to either knock off or crabhammer except Ferrothorn or Mega Venasaur. Even Mega sableye is ohkoes by crabhammer after an SD. +2 252 Atk Life Orb Adaptability Crawdaunt Crabhammer vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Mega Sableye: 330-390 (108.5 - 128.2%) -- guaranteed OHKO
So with this in mind, I continue in no particular order to the rest of the team.

Old Team member Gliscor

Claurice (Gliscor) (F) @ Toxic Orb
Ability: Poison Heal
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 244 HP / 8 Def / 200 SpD / 56 Spe
Careful Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Roost
- Earthquake
- Knock Off

I needed a switch in to a lot of things... especially with Crawdaunt contributing almost 0 useful switchins. With that in mind I went with an odd Gliscor set. While originally an SD Gliscor, I swapped that to SR when I realized game one I didn't have any hazards. I then went for the rest of the swords dance set just for coverage and maximizing what it can check. Only problem with this set is its inability to beat talonflame, which is bit of a problem for the team, but sacrificing any coverage makes this team weak to so much else that It's better to just make Talonflame not want to switch in due to SR.

The Don (Hippowdon) @ Leftovers
Ability: Sand Force / Sand Stream
EVs: 252 HP / 144 Def / 112 SpD
Impish Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- Slack Off

The newest team member as suggested by Nedor, Hippowdon the Don replaced Gliscor as the bulky Ground Typer Stealth Rocker on the team. It serves to weaken a fast electric weakness on the team, as it fails to be 2hkoed by hp ice, unlike Gliscor which has a chance to be ohkoed. Stone Edge also allows it to check talonflame much better while still allowing it to check much of the same mons Gliscor did. I am still testing whether I like Sand stream on or off the hippo as it mostly wears down my team, but also improves my match up against rain.

Santa Claws (Scizor) (F) @ Scizorite
Ability: Light Metal
EVs: 248 HP / 44 Atk / 16 Def / 200 SpD
Impish Nature
- Swords Dance
- Roost
- Bullet Punch
- U-turn

This thing can SD on a +1 Dragonite w/ EQ. This thing is a monster. Light metal is the most useful ability due to Weavile's Lowkick doing less and there being exactly zero reason to not mega evolve when you come in. Def SD helps check even more threats, with Mega Scizor being a SSI (Safe Switch In) to nearly the most mons of any mega I noticed. It adds another cleaner, along with a sweeper later in the games, while being a good revenge killer at times soon. U-turn makes me not lose to Bisharp especially as this is my only switch in, and forms a nice volt turn core with the rest of my team. The rest of moves are standard on Bulky Swords Dance.

Illuminati (Latios) @ Life Orb
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Draco Meteor
- Psyshock
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Defog

At this point I seriously needed some speed on my team (and a keldeo switchin). I decided to go with Latios as I needed some Defog support and something to just hit hard in general.(#DROPADRACO).
HP fire is there to help me out against Ferrothorn and Scizor which wall and set up on most of this team respectively. This just ends up serving as a glue for the team, filling in a lot of holes in the team.

Old Choice Specs Set

Stimulus (Raikou) @ Choice Specs
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Thunderbolt
- Volt Switch
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Shadow Ball

I needed something to help break some walls, and also take some hits from some birds. This is where Raikou came in. While I prefer MegaMan, Mega Scizor was too good to pass up, so I went with inferior dog. Choice specs was chosen in order to increase power output though I've considered changing it to life orb multiple times, since I really hate having to predict between T-bolt and HpIce against the freaks on the ladder who think Lando-T is invincible. Shadow Ball eases prediction somewhat, and this helps to form a volt-turn core with Scizor and the next mon.

Stimulus (Raikou) @ Zap Plate
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Calm Mind
- Thunderbolt
- Volt Switch
- Hidden Power [Ice]


I needed something to help break some walls, and also take some hits from some birds. This is where Raikou came in. While I prefer MegaMan, Mega Scizor was too good to pass up, so I went with inferior dog. Calm mind is the dominant set of the meta and allows for a late game sweep, serves as a stall breaker, and provides a momentum grabber with volt switch. T-Bolt and HpIce provide pseudo bolt beam coverage. Thanks to Nedor and Unfixable for both suggesting the change.

Tornanus (Tornadus-Therian) @ Assault Vest
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 96 HP / 160 SpA / 252 Spe
Hasty Nature
- Hurricane
- Heat Wave
- U-turn
- Knock Off
Tornadus-T was added to help patch up some finaly weaknesses with its amazing coverage. Heat wave breaks down Ferrothorn , doing 75% with a min role. It also provides a Lati switch in with AV, and helps to beat Starmie. It also adds another Fast U-turner to the team finishing up the triune core. The rest of the moveset is standard to Tornadus

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And there's the team. Coincidentally it ended up with three clawed pokemon, so hence the title. Here's some of the weaknesses to the team I've noticed so far. Note: I'll edit this post as I gain more information, and later when I'm not falling asleep at my computer.

Weaknesses:
Talonflame: When Raikou is your best switch in to the Smogon Bird you got a problem. My counter is Brave Bird Recoil and SR.
Mega Manectric: This things coverage singlehandidly destroys my team. The only mons able to switch into it are Raikou and Latios, and those only Latios does something to it.
Ice punch Mega Loppunny: My play is to sac something, then go into Torn-T and rely on Hurricane. Not my kind of fun.
Mega Charizard X: Gliscor is my only check to this monster... And it dies to an offensive Charizard +1Flare Blitz. This is also the reason why I have Gliscor over Garchomp for this wondering.

There's probably a lot more weaknesses but these where the ones that jumped out at me right away.
Anyways thanks ahead of time for taking the time to read this thread, even if you don't have the time to rate it. Apologies ahead of time for any mistakes and have a great day.

Disclaimer: Not my art. Each piece belongs to their respective owners.

Some replays showing how the team functions:
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/ou-296261010
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/ou-296382155
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/ou-296389508
Will post more as I find time.

 

[dusk raimon]

This actually seems very good, it's nice to see the crawdaunt too :3 i gtg now Im on phone, I'll edit proper rate onto here later.

 

[skies]

hey there Spoiled Rotten, cool team!

right off the bat i notice that you have a weakness to manaphy, which only raikou can effectively handle 1v1. a slight change you could adjust is to make raikou a calm mind set. this set is able to take manaphy on better, seeing as scald at +3 will not ko a +1 raikou, while thunderbolt koes in return. yes, you could argue the choice specs effectively does this as well, but it makes for a much better switch in overall and also has the perks of alleviating a weakness to mega sableye, and it can offer a nice fallback to take on ground-types which is great if crawdaunt goes down. can also beat crawadaunt's #1 counter: chesnaught. speaking of chesnaught, calm mind raikou can take care of it when it thinks it can switch into a thunderbolt! you also have tornadus-therian, so chesnaught is basically a non-threat. still, i believe that calm mind raikou offers a lot more to your team than choice specs, and is arguably a better set overall.

secondly, mega altaria. its special sets can beat gliscor and crawdaunt, it can lure in and beat scizor 1v1 thanks to fire blast, and it walls latios. tornadus-t can attempt to break through it, but it still falls short. of course calm mind raikou helps alleviate a bit of this pressure, but the threat of earthquake still remains. fairy-types in general, also notably sylveon, seem quite threatening to you. with only mega scizor to fall back on, and it falling to a lure fire-type attack, it can be a hard uphill battle. there isn't a solid way to take care of these threats, but i would like to offer the suggestion of clefable over gliscor. clefable is able to take on mega altaria for you, and it also can help you versus talonflame by crippling it with thunder wave, to which crawdaunt can then take advantage of and outspeed with aqua jet. clefable gives you a backbone versus mega manectric and mega lopunny as well, though mega lopunny can potentially overpower clefable which can suck, but it's still a nice extra assurance. by adding clefable, you aren't opening any more holes to your team. mega charizard x is still a problem, but at least now you are having a nicer matchup versus a few other threats. the only notable thing i see as an opening that is taken advantage of by running clefable is that bisharp becomes a slight issue; however, i think that mega scizor takes care of it fine and it should be able to be beaten through careful plays. i also thought of excadrill, but mega scizor has a nice matchup against it and aqua jet from crawdaunt ohkoes it anyways, so it shouldn't be a big deal.

besides that, i think your team is overall really solid! i really like the usage of crawdaunt! it's such an underrated pokemon and you make exceptional use of it. best of luck in your future laddering endeavors n_n.

to summarize,

sets:

clefable @ leftovers | magic guard
calm | 252 hp / 172 def / 84 spd
stealth rock / moonblast / thunder wave / soft-boiled

raikou @ leftovers | pressure
timid | 4 def / 252 spa / 252 spe
calm mind / thunderbolt / hidden power ice / volt switch or substitute

 

[Spoiled Rotten]

hey there Spoiled Rotten

clefable @ leftovers | magic guard
calm | 252 hp / 172 def / 84 spd
stealth rock / moonblast / thunder wave / soft-boiled

raikou @ leftovers | pressure
timid | 4 def / 252 spa / 252 spe
calm mind / thunderbolt / hidden power ice / volt switch or substitute

First of all thanks for the rate, I'm happy about all the support I'm getting for the team, especially considering its the first balance one I've built. One problem with Clefable over Gliscor is that I lose a ground immunity, and a knock off switch in. The change while it does alleviate a specific Mega Altaria weakness, Fire blast alt is rare enough and can usually able to be seen at team preview. So I think Scizor is a fairly consistent counter. What Gliscor does give over Clefable is a consistent switch in to magnezone, especially as I have U-turn Megazor. If you look closely you can see magnezone eats this team like dinner without Gliscor there. Crawdauntblives a normal brave bird anyway and so does raikou so as long as I play safe around talonflame then I should be safe, especially with the limited switch ins it has with A. Stealth rocka up and also with the number of members I have. Clefable does alleviate a Mega Sableye weakness I've noticed but that's also the reason I have choice specs raikou over calm mind. Choice specs raikou, while definitely a far worse set than calm mind, fits on this team better imo. It grants me the ability to ohko most Garchomp including a guarenteed ko on max hp chomp after rocks with a possibility of doing it without them. Shadow ball also helps with the lati matchup and with a few other nitpicks like Jirachi and such. I'll try out calm mind because I think both work great on this team but I think there are merits for either set on this particular team.

As they say... Unless your running stall you can't counter them all.

 

[Nedor]

the foundation of this team is fairly solid, i'm fond of the use of crawdaunt as it is an underrated threat in the current metagame when built with correctly. from what i see at first glance, the team has multiple goals, one of the main ones being weakening the opposing team early-mid game with the combination of sd crawdaunt, raikou, latios, and tornadus-t so mega scizor can clean with relative ease and having a solid backbone to utilize. in this rate, i'll focus on enhancing this goal and the backbone, mainly through small details and optimizations. i do recognize offensive dd zard x and physical sweepers similar to it as a huge issue as it finds set-up opportunities on mega scizor, raikou, and to an extent tornadus-t, and you then have no way of revenge killing it. also, as you mentioned in your threatlist, most variants of talonflame and offensive electrics cause issues to the build as your form of counterplay which is raikou gets worn down quickly through hazards and repeatedly coming in on resisted hits.

first off, to remedy this, i recommend using standard mixed def hippowdon as opposed to gliscor. it still provides you a consistent stealth rocker, but it also checks every threat mentioned above. as this is more of a balanced build leaning toward a subset of offense, hippowdon does not cut momentum for the team in any way, but rather just strengthens that backbone you rely on. personally, i don't like specs raikou in the current metagame as it loses momentum with grounds being a staple on most playstyles and how many sweepers / cleaners can simply take advantage of it. on this specific build, i'd opt for cm + volt switch > specs as it still provides you a momentum grabber which this team greatly appreciates, and pressures defensive backbones once crawdaunt has softened them up, while also breaking checks to mega scizor such as physdef rotom-w and garchomp. next, i recommend changing your mega scizor's ev spread to 248 hp / 96 def / 164 spdef. with the given spread, it finds many easy set-up opportunities on mons' such as mega gardevoir, mega diancie, lo gengar, and lo zam, etc., as 2hko's are easily avoided. the extra defense is appreciated to help with checking stuff such as lo exadrill, mega lopunny, and sd bisharp, while the attack ev's aren't too imperative.

opposing bulky sd mega scizor is something that can be problematic if it is provided with free turns, so pressuring it and forcing it to switch is mandatory; this shouldn't be too hard to achieve as the build does have a voltturn component to take advantage of. not many changes were required as the build is a good representation of bulky offense in the current metagame but if you have any doubts on my suggestions, feel free to message me about it. hope i helped and have fun with the updated team! n_n
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sets

Hippowdon @ Leftovers
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 HP / 144 Def / 112 SpD
Impish Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- Slack Off

Raikou @ Leftovers / Zap Plate
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Thunderbolt
- Volt Switch
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Calm Mind

Scizor-Mega @ Scizorite
Ability: Technician
EVs: 248 HP / 96 Def / 164 SpD
Impish Nature
- Swords Dance
- U-turn
- Bullet Punch
- Roost