Contrast
Hey everyone! With the release of the Crown Tundra DLC, one of the types I was most excited for was flying. It got so many good tools back, including Celesteela, Zapdos, Thundurus, Landorus and more. It could easily said that flying is the type that improved the most between pre-DLC and this current metagame, and this contrast is what inspired me to make this RMT. Of course, as is the case with all good RMTs, the Pokemon on this team are all named after a song; in this case, from majiko's album Contrast. I will link the songs that each Pokemon is named after as a hyperlink on their nicknames in section labeled "The Members" on this post. I encourage you all to listen to the full album because it is very good: Spotify / Apple Music
Now without any further ado, let's dive in!
Teambuilding
(More in-depth set analysis will be in the next section)
Like I mentioned above, the reason I chose to build a flying team is to try out all of the returning staples of mono flying teams, and so 5/6 of the Pokemon on this team are new additions to the metagame with the Crown Tundra. While I built this team right after the release of the new Pokemon and before the first wave of bans, I made a few changes up through the third round of quick-bans, and I hit reached my peak after these bans.(More in-depth set analysis will be in the next section)
I started off this team by slapping on a big fat max-special defense Celesteela. This is just a no-brainer way to start a team, both figuratively and literally. This Pokemon is able to beat many teams with very little to no thought on the part of the player, so I thought to start here. Next I went with Skarmory, the nice Physically Defensive counterpart to Celesteela. Most Pokemon will have pretty significant trouble breaking through Celesteela + Skarmory. In addition to this, Skarmory also acts as my hazard setter as well as a solid phaser. From here I needed to put an electric immunity, so I decided to go with Scarf Landorus-Therian. He can help switch in to some electric attacks if need be, offers solid speed control, as well as a pretty reliable win-con in matchups like electric and rock.
Now please bear with me for a second - I went with Dartrix here as a meme for this team at first as a way to switch in to Choice Band Zygarde-10%, but it was a short-lived meme and I quickly moved on to a real Pokemon. However, before we move on, a quick shoutout to Dartrix for 1v1ing this Tyranitar. Since I'm running both Celesteela and Zapdos, I figured that more electric resists couldn't really hurt. At first I went with a Physically Defensive set, but I switched over to Special Defense to deal with Naganadel and found that it helped deal with several other threats. Therefore, even after Naganadel left, I kept the Special Defense EVs. Dragonite is one of my favorite abusers of Heavy-Duty Boots, as it can take advantage of its Multiscale very reliably without needing to rely on defog support before setting up. Dragonite helps with a ton of matchups, notably fire, electric and poison. At first I put Thundurus on the team with mainly flying mirrors in mind, but as I laddered I found it to be indispensable in the steel matchup as well. It also proves an extremely solid way to handle opposing electric attacks, which pairs very nicely with the Celesteela + Skarmory defensive core.The Members
Amadeus (Celesteela) @ Leftovers
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 SpD
Sassy Nature
- Leech Seed
- Protect
- Heavy Slam
- Flamethrower / Toxic
Celesteela is the first member of my Flying/Steel defensive core. I chose to go with a fully special defense set in this case so that he can sit in front of many specially offensive Pokemon safely with Skarmory in the back to cover for its lack of physical investment. Full special defense EVs allow it to stay in on a hit from Heatran if need be, which lets it pop the Air Balloon to help Teammates like Dragonite or Landorus sweep later in the game. In addition, modest Specs Kyurem Ice Beam is a guaranteed 3HKO, which is extremely helpful. Leech Seed helps preserve Celesteela's longevity, while also slowly wearing down opposing Pokémon's HP. Protect is useful for both scouting and maximizing recovery when paired with Leech Seed; it eliminates the need to make 50/50 guesses against strong choice-locked Pokemon like Kyurem or Darmanitan. Heavy Slam nearly 6-0s fairy teams on its own, as well as helps significantly with ice and rock. The last move I originally was running Toxic, but I found that I didn't ever really rely on it too much, and running Flamethrower instead makes its last moveslot a potential win-con vs the very common steel matchup, rather than a useless one.
Lorelei (Skarmory) @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Spikes
- Roost
- Stealth Rock
- Whirlwind / Body Press
The physical side of the defensive core, Skarmory is able to switch in on nearly all physically offensive threats. 248 HP gives Skarmory an odd amount of HP while still maximizing it as much as possible, allowing it to minimize damage from Stealth Rocks. 252+ defense EVs allows it to be as physically bulky as possible, and I put the remaining EVs in speed to outspeed opposing un-invested Skarmorys, as well as other un-invested base 70s. Bold nature and 0 attack EVs are okay to run on this set even if you opt to run Body Press, since damage calculation is done entirely with the defense stat and minimum attack will allow it to tank foul plays and potential confusion damage. Spikes are a fantastic way to apply pressure to many teams, notably electric and steel, providing chip support for potential sweepers like Landorus and Thundurus. Stealth Rock is extremely useful in almost every game, especially in matchups like the flying mirror and ice. Roost is quite self-explanatory: it keeps Skarmory alive, and Whirlwind is a great option for both stopping potential sweepers from setting up on Skarmory, as well as forcing switches to inflict hazard damage on opponents who try to gain momentum. I found Body Press to be quite situational and the only time I really found it useful was when Skarmory ended up Taunted, which is already an unideal situation that should be avoided; therefore I much prefer Whirlwind, dual hazards and Roost.
Irony (Landorus-Therian) (M) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Knock Off
- Earthquake
- U-turn
- Stone Edge
Scarf Landorus-Therian has been the star of many matchups, as it offers invaluable speed control, momentum preservation, as well as revenge killing and sweeping potential. Max attack and max speed with a jolly nature maximizes its speed as much as possible, while still boasting an impressive 389 total attack. Knock Off is useful both for removing items on annoying bulky threats like Celesteela, and can also offer potential sweeps against ghost or psychic. Earthquake is an incredibly strong STAB attack, dealing significant damage to anything that doesn't resist it. U-Turn is very important for preserving momentum early game by taking advantage of an opponent's switch out of a Pokemon that tries to come in on an Earthquake or Stone Edge, and it is also one of the best ways to pop Heatran's Air Balloon. Stone Edge is used to catch things like Zapdos and Thundurus, and it can also help clean up in certain matchups like ice or flying.
Glowfly (Dragonite) @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Multiscale
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Roost / Fire Punch / Outrage
- Dual Wingbeat
- Earthquake
Oh boy, where do I even begin with this monster... The addition of Heavy-Duty Boots and Dual Wingbeat feels like it was meant specifically to make Dragonite as good as possible. They let it come in without first relying on a teammate to defog for it, which is unbelievably helpful in so many situations. I chose to run adamant to maximize its offense, since it is almost always safe to click Dragon Dance to boost speed easily, especially if you're choosing to run Roost. If it is able to get one or two Dragon Dances, it is able to sweep so many teams: fire, poison, bug, steel and grass if you're running fire punch, dragon with outrage, late-game electric and rock, and more. Fire Punch can be teched on if you are having trouble with steel, but I found that most of the time it wasn't needed due to the amount of pressure the other members of the team were able to provide. Outrage is a decent pick as well, as very little can take a boosted adamant Outrage and live to tell the tale. In addition, it is a very solid win-con in the dragon matchup if you find that you're struggling with that. However, I prefer running Roost as it can set up more Dragon Dances freely, as well as take even more advantage of Multiscale. It is also useful if you're trying to sweep against teams with Sucker Punch users like Cinderace or Bisharp, and can be useful if you find yourself in a pickle and needing a fire type switch-in. Since the defensive core is both steel type, Dragonite can switch into something like Heatran in a pinch and roost off the damage to preserve its Multiscale for later.
Hypocrite Syndrome (Zapdos) @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Static
EVs: 248 HP / 8 SpA / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Roost
- Defog
- Discharge / Toxic
- Heat Wave
Zapdos is another Pokemon that went from great to greater with the addition of Heavy-Duty Boots. Static lets Zapdos come in on something like Kartana and threaten Paralysis, and I never felt that Pressure would be a more useful ability to have on this team. As I mentioned in the previous section, I at first was using a physically defensive set, but after losing several times to Naganadel I got angry and switched it over to special defense and put Extrasensory on it (lol). After doing this, I found that while Extrasensory was pretty much a dumb meme, the EVs were helpful for threats other than Naganadel, so I kept this set even after the ban. One of the most notable matchups I found this useful for was electric; having a Pokemon that can even switch in on things like Tapu-Koko is extremely useful. Specs Thunderbolt from Koko is a roll to 2HKO in terrain, but if you can scout with something like Celesteela or if terrain is gone then Zapdos can switch in freely. Roost is absolutely essential as it allows Zapdos to continue to provide defensive padding against threats, since the two electric immunities are unable to recover and are therefore not safe switch-ins for fear of things like a Dazzling Gleam from a Tapu-Koko. Zapdos is also my only source of hazard removal on this team, which is useful if opposing Pokemon are capable of knocking off the boots of your other team members. Discharge is its STAB option that can threaten other flying types that Zapdos might be switching in on, while also providing a chance to paralyze. Heat Wave is another way to help deal with pesky steel types, and it lets Zapdos come in on Ferrothorn and take care of hazards while it is forced to switch out. Toxic can be ran over either Discharge or Heat Wave here; I found that Toxic was never very useful for this team, especially in a meta dominated by a lot of steel teams, but you can choose to run it if you so desire.
End (Thundurus-Therian) (M) @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Volt Absorb
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Thunderbolt
- Focus Blast
- Agility
- Dark Pulse / Grass Knot / Nasty Plot
Yet another fantastic abuser of Heavy Duty Boots, Thundurus-Therian is a Pokemon that provides another electric immunity, sweeping potential, and help against things like steel and flying. I went with a modest nature to make sure it hits as hard as possible, and I never found the lack of speed to be an issue, especially with Agility. Thunderbolt is a very strong STAB that can easily break down many opponents, allowing it to either sweep on its own or provide chip in support of Landorus or another win-con. Focus Blast is extremely useful for beating steel types, as it can catch things like Ferrothorn or Excadrill on a switch. I think that agility is its most important setup move, as boosting its special attack is not usually as necessary since it's naturally so powerful. For the last moveslot, I put Dark Pulse as an option to deal with opposing Thundurus, but other than that it didn't really help too much other than catching a stray Latias/Latios or something. You can use it if you find you're struggling to beat psychic, but Landorus is a much better win-con in almost all situations vs psychic. Grass Knot helps defeat water and other things like Hippowdon, and Nasty Plot can be used if you really want to devastate opponents with a double set-up sweeper.
Threats
Naturally, now that Kyurem has access to Dragon Dance and a physical ice move, it is threating to a flying team. The best way to deal with Kyurem is to make sure it cannot come in for free with Landorus or Thundurus, but especially against ice this can be difficult to do. If it's not running Life Orb, then Fusion Bolt is a roll to 2HKO Skarmory, so it can Whirlwind it out hopefully for Landorus to deal with later. If it is Life Orb, then it will be taking a lot of passive damage from Life Orb, Hazards and Rocky Helmet. 
While I didn't run into Zygarde too much, it was a real pain to deal with when I did. Skarmory can come in on it even if rocks are up, but not if it has been chipped to around 80% HP. In addition, Landorus can switch in once or twice, depending on if rocks are up, but without reliable recovery it isn't a surefire way to defeat it. I'm hoping these two get further looked-at in the near future; I believe pretty strongly that Kyurem-Black is
unhealthy for this metagame and I'm not sure yet about Zygarde-10%. While it is manageable, I don't think
that at least having a discussion around it would be an issue.
unhealthy for this metagame and I'm not sure yet about Zygarde-10%. While it is manageable, I don't think
that at least having a discussion around it would be an issue.
Scarf Nihilego is tough to deal with if Celesteela is weakened, but Dragonite can live a +1 Power Gem from full, so it can either force it out or revenge kill it as long as Multiscale is preserved. In a real pinch, Landorus can live a +1 Power Gem, but not by much.
I feel like there isn't too much to say about Darm, it just does Darm things. The best way to deal with it is with pressure from hazards, and then play around it being choice-locked. Skarmory can take a Icicle Crash and Dragonite can take a Flare Blitz with Multiscale, so it is manageable, albeit difficult to deal with.Replays
I might add a few more replays later on; if I do, I'll bump this thread.
Peak Proof
Importable
(Click one of the sprites)
Happy laddering everyone! I would love it if anyone has any suggestions or feedback, I'm always open to constrictive criticism. Thanks for checking out my team! :)I might add a few more replays later on; if I do, I'll bump this thread.
Peak Proof
Importable
(Click one of the sprites)
