SS OU Corrosive Gar

[meloyy]

Hi everyone. As you might have been able to tell from the title, this team features a Gengar that utilizes the new Poison-type status move, Corrosive Gas. For those who need a reminder, Corrosive Gas has the effect of removing the target's item similarly to Knock Off, just without dealing any damage. The idea of this team is to use Gengar to lure in the ever-present Mandibuzz and remove it's Heavy Duty Boots to enable other Pokémon on the team to capitalize on Mandibuzz's weakness to Stealth Rock. Corrosive Gas can also be used after luring in Chansey to remove it's Eviolite, severly crippling it's defensive capabilities.

View attachment 259535
Hippowdon @ Leftovers
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Def
Impish Nature
- Earthquake
- Whirlwind
- Stealth Rock
- Slack Off
​

Hippowdon is my choice for a consistent Stealth Rock user which is key in weakening an opposing Mandibuzz for the offensive threats on my team. The rest of the moveset is just as standard, Earthquake for reliable STAB, Whirlwind to disrupt set-up Pokémon and spread Stealth Rock damage, and Slack Off for longevity. Also, Hippowdon is the main switch-in to the most threatening physical attackers of the tier including Single Strike Urshifu, Cinderace, Excadrill, and Hawlucha among others. Leftovers are necessary to not get 2HKO'd by Choice Band variants of Single Strike Urshifu. Lastly, Hippowdon provides this team with sand which can enable Excadrill to sweep in the end game with Sand Rush.

Mandibuzz (F) @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Overcoat
EVs: 248 HP / 96 Def / 56 SpD / 108 Spe
Impish Nature
- Brave Bird
- Knock Off
- Taunt
- Roost​

Mandibuzz is the second piece of my team's defensive core and checks other prominent threats in the tier like ghost types, Hydreigon, Excadrill, and it can also switch in to Wicked Blow. To be honest, I found this EV spread on another team, but I think it works well on this build. It is faster than most other Mandibuzz and can Taunt to prevent Defog and Roost. Knock Off helps to cripple defensive Pokémon that switch in to Mandibuzz such as Clefable. Brave Bird helps against opposing Volcorona who try to Quiver Dance in front of Mandibuzz, and it catches Urshifu switches on from those who are expecting Foul Play or Roost. This set does not have Defog, the reason being that I want to prioritze keeping Stealth Rocks on the opposing side of the field, which leaves Excadrill's Rapid Spin the preferred form of hazard control.

Toxapex @ Black Sludge
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Def / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Scald
- Toxic
- Haze
- Recover​

Toxapex is my attempt to cover Azumarill, Volcorona, and Magearna all in one Pokémon, which can otherwise do a lot of damage to this team. Maximum special defense, Toxic, and Haze all help to beat Volcorona but Toxapex can still lose to Psychic variants if it gets weakened. Haze has helped me to shut down opposing Azumarill who try to use Belly Drum in front of Toxapex, but if Toxapex can't shut down the Belly Drum then it no longer checks the Azumarill since it gets OHKO'd by Knock Off. Toxapex can pretty freely switch in to Fleur Cannon from Choice Specs Magearna, but Volt Switch can do over half. Also, set up variants of Magearna with Electro Ball or Stored Power do well against Toxapex if they get a chance to do their thing.

Excadrill @ Leftovers
Ability: Sand Rush
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- High Horsepower
- Iron Head
- Swords Dance
- Rapid Spin​

This Excadrill is pretty much as standard as can be. I put High Horsepower over Earthquake because of how common Rillaboom is currently, I think the 5 BP and Accuracy drop is worth it. As I mentioned before, Rapid Spin is the hazard control for the team and allows Excadrill to be threatening outside of sand thanks to the speed boost. Swords Dance works well on this set since if Mandibuzz has fainted or is weakened a bit before taking Stealth Rock damage, it won't be able to scare Excadrill into switching out with Foul Play, allowing Excadrill to take maximum advantage of the turns of sandstorm from Hippowdon.
View attachment 259535

Gengar @ Black Sludge
Ability: Cursed Body
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Shadow Ball
- Sludge Wave
- Corrosive Gas
- Nasty Plot​

Here he is, the star of this team. As previously stated, Gengar is supposed to lure in the opposing Mandibuzz early on and get rid of it's Heavy Duty Boots using Corrosive Gas. Once the Heavy Duty Boots are removed, Mandibuzz is open to being weakened by Stealth Rock, which can be taken advantage of by the other offensive members of this team. The rest of the set is pretty self-explanatory standard stuff. Nasty Plot along with dual stab coverage is great for wallbreaking and enabling other members for late game sweeps. Black Sludge helps with potential sandstorm and hazard chip, allowing Gengar to stay around for longer and have more oppurtunities to use Corrosive Gas than he would have with Life Orb.

Urshifu @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Unseen Fist
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Wicked Blow
- Close Combat
- Poison Jab
- U-turn​

The last member of the team is Single Strike Urshifu. Another Pokémon that appreciates a weakened Mandibuzz and provides the much needed speed control for this team. Choice Scarf is necessary to outrun the faster threats present in OU. This includes Dragapult, Zeraora, Hydreigon, Cinderace, and non-scarf Urshifu that would otherwise be very difficult to revenge kill without sandstorm being active. The moves are quite standard, dual stab, Poison Jab for fairy types, and U-turn for momentum.

Importable

Hippowdon @ Leftovers
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Def
Impish Nature
- Earthquake
- Whirlwind
- Stealth Rock
- Slack Off

Mandibuzz (F) @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Overcoat
EVs: 248 HP / 96 Def / 56 SpD / 108 Spe
Impish Nature
- Brave Bird
- Knock Off
- Taunt
- Roost

Toxapex @ Black Sludge
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Def / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Scald
- Toxic
- Haze
- Recover

Excadrill @ Leftovers
Ability: Sand Rush
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- High Horsepower
- Iron Head
- Swords Dance
- Rapid Spin

Gengar @ Black Sludge
Ability: Cursed Body
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Shadow Ball
- Sludge Wave
- Corrosive Gas
- Nasty Plot

Urshifu @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Unseen Fist
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Wicked Blow
- Close Combat
- Poison Jab
- U-turn

Now, here are a few things I have struggled against while using this team for the past week or so:

Rain Teams

Toxapex can handle Kingdra in rain pretty well, but the best it can do against Barraskewda is fish for a Scald burn and hope they don't have Psychic Fangs. Offensive Seismitoad is also very threatening to this team in rain thanks to it's access to Earth Power/Earthquake.

Magearna

As I touched on before, Magearna, especially with Choice Specs can be extemely threatening to this team. Toxapex cannot repeatedly switch in Volt Switch and obviously becomes extremely crippled if the Magearna uses Trick to give it Choice Specs. The main problem with this is that nothing else on the team appreciates taking a Fleur Cannon even if it does not OHKO like in the case Excadrill (Gengar can take up to 99.6%, everything else is OHKO'd guaranteed). While Excadrill and Urshifu can keep it in check with High Horsepower and Close Combat respectively, Magearna is still able to tear through this defensive core.

Rillaboom

The only true switch in this team has to Rillaboom is Mandibuzz, which does not appreciate taking a Knock Off at all. When dealing with Swords Dance variants, +2 Grassy Glide forces Mandibuzz to use Roost until Grassy Terrain is over, which usually leaves Mandibuzz weakened and low on Roost PP. +2 Grassy Glide OHKOs Excadrill, Urshifu, Gengar, Hippowdon, and has a chance to OHKO Toxapex. Any Choice Band variant causes the same problem, a quick Grassy Glide sweep.​

I'm sure there are other things that my team is very weak too that I just have not encountered yet, but these are the main weaknesses I have found so far. I think most of the problems come from the weak defensive core, but I'm not entirely sure to be honest. I would appreciate any feedback on this team as it is my first serious build since the DLC has been released. This is also my first RMT post, so please do not be too harsh. Thank you.

 

[zedhatool]

Importable of changes: https://pokepast.es/1507dfd131c1faa1

This is a really creative tech! There are some changes I made to the rest of the team to improve your matchups.

Major Changes

• ->
  • Kommo-o is a better defensive rocker than Hippowdon in the current meta because it is a check to Rillaboom.
  • This is faster than Jolly base 60s and Adamant Bisharp.
  • Taunt to keep up hazards. You are removing Heavy Duty Boots, so you want to make sure stealth rocks stay up.
  • Improves your matchup to rain as well a little bit because it can soft check some rain abusers.
• ->
  • Magearna is just broken in this current meta. It's actually kind of like RBY, where the best check to a mon is often that same mon.
  • Eerie Impulse Magearna is one of the few hard counters to opposing setup Magearna. You can Eerie Impulse it so that its attacks do nothing and then start to rack up chip on it with Volt Switch and Burn/Knock off damage with your Toxapex.
  • Magearna is also a decent switch-in to Urshifu in a pinch, and can check a lot of prominent threats, especially Dragon and Fairy types.

Minor Changes

1. Made Mandibuzz specially defensive and Pex physically defensive
   1. Changed the Mandibuzz set as well
   2. Mandi/Pex is a good defensive core in the metagame right now. It's one of the primary ways of stopping Urshifu-SS.
2. Made Urshifu Choice Band.
   1. Choice Band Urshifu is just broken.
   2. I don't think you need a scarfer on this team, because it's pretty bulky.
   3. I would replace U-Turn on Urshifu for Sucker Punch, but I didn't change it in the importable because it's a matter of personal preference.

 

[meloyy]

Firstly, I just want to say that I really appreciate you taking the time to reply and help me out with my team. Thank you so much!

->

As for the first major change, I like the switch from Hippowdon to Kommo-o. It gives the team a much needed Rillaboom check and can still reliably get Stealth Rocks up. Keeping a Taunt user on the team is also nice to keep Stealth Rocps up. My only concern is that the team becomes weaker to Cinderace. Although Kommo-o is immune to Pyro Ball, Zen Headbutt is much more threatening as it has a small chance to 2HKO both Kommo-o and Toxapex from non-Choice Band variants. Though, I might be worrying too much since Mandibuzz isn't 2HKO'd by non-CB Pyro Ball, and CB variants can be played around.

->

I also like this change since without sand, Excadrill becomes less useful for this team. Eerie Impulse Magearna is not something I have seen before, but it looks really cool and should definetly help against opposing Magearna. This change obviously removes hazard control in the form of Rapid Spin, but I can see you made up for that by putting Defog on Mandibuzz. Also, another switch in to Wicked Blow on this team can definetly help if Mandibuzz gets weakned.


For the minor changes, I like the new Mandibuzz set for the most part, but I think I might change Knock Off to Foul Play since Toxapex can remove items from defensive Pokémon and Foul Play helps to check Excadrill. I also agree with you that Sucker Punch is a better option than U-turn since this team lacks and any other priority, and Sucker Punch can be used to revenge kill faster Pokémon like Zeraora and Cinderace. Once again, thank you so much for the help, I can't wait to test this team out more.

 

[zedhatool]

Stuff

No problem, I'm happy to help. The reason I have Knock on Mandibuzz over Foul Play is that 1) it's specially defensive so it doesn't check Excadrill or Bisharp as well, and 2) Kommo-o already checks Excadrill and counters Bisharp. Either one is viable and good, knock improves your matchup against stall and balance more, whereas Foul Play improves your matchup against HO.

 

[readytolose]

There is really no reason to use Corrosive Gas over Knock Off (which gengar does get). The fact that it does damage and works when taunted more than offsets the lesser PP and proccing random abilities like iron barbs and justified. If you were running Life Orb you could justify it as "oh I don't want to take LO recoil when removing chansey's eviolite and mandibuzz's boots, the damage is negligible" but that is not an argument for this set.

IMO Corrosive Gas (in singles) is only really worth it on the handful of mons that get it but don't get Knock Off (Weezing-G comes to mind).