Pokepaste: https://pokepast.es/63cd1975bc517fb4
This is a balance team I built around a Zapdos/Corviknight/Clodsire defensive core I saw on the OU Discord. You guys better not ban Zamazenta in a few hours because I sure spent a lot of time making this and wouldn’t that be embarrassing!!
I was hoping to get feedback about the general team structure and advice against specific threats. I’m going to discuss my experience and choices with the team and the main issues I'm running into during testing, but since I’m only in the 1600s please let me know if any of my statements are inaccurate or there's threats I missed. As an additional bonus, this team is ready-made for when we finally implement Nature Clause in Gen XII.
TEAM BREAKDOWN
Zapdos @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Static
Tera Type: Flying
EVs: 248 HP / 76 Def / 184 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Volt Switch
- Hurricane
- Heat Wave
- Roost
I really want to love
but it can’t touch 
and Static is wild. Defensive 
is so good at punishing Rapid Spin and U-turn and has obnoxious longevity even though it can’t hard wall most attackers. is the main 
switch-in, annoys 
in a pinch, and Volt Switches into Rocky Helmet 
to prevent lead 
from getting Spikes up.
I chose Heat Wave over Thunder Wave or Thunderbolt to better pressure
, which can all be annoying for this team to face. 308 Speed creeps +Speed 
but maybe the standard 301 Speed tier is enough.
doesn’t Tera often so I’m unsure about its Tera. I’d imagine that if I’m forced to Tera it’s defensively to emergency check something, so I can see options such as Tera Steel for 
or Tera Water for 
.
Corviknight (F) @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Pressure
Tera Type: Water
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SpD
Relaxed Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Brave Bird
- Defog
- Roost
- U-turn
PhysDef blankets physical attackers like 
and sits on support mons like 
. is also a reliable Knock Off absorber, since it switches safely into 
. Otherwise, Rocky Helmet trades progress against U-turn, helps the team not roll over to 
, and makes very sad. Disregarding matchup context is my preferred sleep absorber since it can often make a lot of progress through just switching in and out for Rocky Helmet chip and Pressure stalling.
I prefer Brave Bird’s wider coverage over Body Press because I’m using
as my primary solution. I chose U-turn along with minimum Speed to help slow pivot for our Choice Band and reduce pressure on our other walls.
’s set is definitely in the air. Tera Water seems abstractly useful but I don’t have any specific scenarios in mind (Tera Water SpDef seems like it could help against better?). I think I’m supposed to run PhysDef so I can rely on it instead of and against most physical attackers, but my team does have a notable weakness to special breakers.
Clodsire (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Unaware
Tera Type: Steel
EVs: 248 HP / 104 Def / 156 SpD
Careful Nature
- Earthquake
- Poison Jab
- Recover
- Spikes
Unaware
checks 
and blankets special attackers like 
. It absorbs Toxic Spikes and status for the team and occasionally finishes off a runaway setup sweeper.
This set uses a lot of inspiration from stall sets, including Tera Steel along with Def investment to withstand Psyshocks and Stored Powers. I chose Poison Jab over Toxic to better check . Poison Jab’s 30% poison makes about the same progress when pressuring bulky, switch-heavy teams, and Toxic isn’t any better in Poison Jab’s fail cases (vs for example). I chose Spikes over Stealth Rocks because this team doesn’t have a Knock Off user to punish HDB fliers, and a single layer of Spikes is better at pressuring mons I really want to chip such as during Rapid Spin pivot cycles.
Zamazenta @ Leftovers
Ability: Dauntless Shield
Tera Type: Ghost
EVs: 252 HP / 20 Def / 236 Spe
Impish Nature
- Iron Defense
- Body Press
- Crunch
- Substitute
’s main job is to stuff and who can otherwise crack the core. I prefer to lean on as my primary physical wall to preserve ’s Dauntless Shield, avoid chip, and scout status. A lot of my wins are from cleaning in the late game.
I chose the IDBP set so can be as reliable as possible for its specialized role on this team. I chose Substitute over Heavy Slam for a better 
matchup and to emerge better positioned when give us an entry point, since those matchups are so polarized.
’s set and Tera type are undecided. I can see the Choice Band set being more useful to trade against problematic breakers like , which our can’t catch at high HP. Tera Ghost has been a useful emergency measure against 
but is rarely used. Also if my dog gets banned I'll probably just run or something.
Iron Valiant @ Booster Energy
Ability: Quark Drive
Tera Type: Fairy
EVs: 40 Atk / 252 SpA / 216 Spe
Naive Nature
- Moonblast
- Close Combat
- Thunderbolt
- Encore
Mixed not only revenges all sorts of things but also muscles through bulky team structures that sit on our other attackers. provides key speed control against problems like some 
and Scarf special attackers. Unfortunately, we often have to rely on chasing them out and then trying very hard to not give them an easy entry point later in the game.
Thunderbolt is the only thing stopping Curse
and IDBP from rolling this entire team. I chose Encore in the last slot to further assist in breaking bulky teams, and it’s a nice bonus in endgames. 354 Speed loses out on basically nothing and frees up some EVs for Atk investment.
I’m unsure about both the last moveslot and Tera type. So far, I haven’t encountered any scenarios where I’ve really missed Psyshock, but I can see it helping us crack and opposing . Otherwise, there may be space for another utility move like Knock Off or Destiny Bond. Tera Fairy has been good for finding important OHKOs () and 2HKOs ( ). However, is often this team’s only answer to bulky waters, and Tera Electric finds 2HKOs on , , and Tera Water .
Baxcalibur (F) @ Choice Band
Ability: Thermal Exchange
Tera Type: Dragon
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Glaive Rush
- Icicle Crash
- Earthquake
- Ice Shard
Choice Band finds a lot of entry points during the game thanks to Defog and pivot support from and to make progress against bulky teams. also helps absorb burns from and 
(but tragically not ) that threaten the status-resistant core, but lack of Heavy-Duty Boots limits its switch-in opportunities.
I chose Choice Band over a setup set because I wanted immediate breaking power against bulky teams and a strong Ice Shard for speed control. I’m also more comfortable without Heavy-Duty Boots because Defog provides reliable hazard control ( consistently hard swaps into any we let in). I chose Tera Dragon because I noticed that Glaive Rush was my most frequent middle-ground attack. Lots of teams have or as their only Dragon immunity and those guys don’t like hard switching into .
GLARINGEST PROBLEMS
All sorts of
Everything on this team thuds into and tries to eat Salt Cures but can’t hit back. It’s embarrassing.
I have a few small-ball ideas like Covert Cloak (can Defog on it but can’t threaten back), Tera Electric , and Adamant Choice Band but they might not be enough.
Special attackers that can’t be checked by
Unaware can’t stop threats like , , 
, and even bulky that avoids Earthquake 2HKO and fishes for Shadow Ball SpDef drops. Special and Wisp + Hex can break past with U-turn pressure and burn damage. Structures such as rain that use multiple special breakers are particularly difficult because ’s low speed means it’s often left too low to stop a second threat. These matchups demand a lot of risky sacs and prediction, and it gets really dicey when has other essential roles like helping the team pivot around or absorbing Toxic Spikes.
Rain
The team has no solution to repeated fast, rain-boosted Water attacks, so some combination of 
can just spam their STABs until we die. is often too pressured to safely check 
. can rarely Defog without letting in something scary so the entire team has limited mobility.
Stall
This team has a lot of trouble making progress against defensive threats such as Tera Fairy, Rest , defensive , and Regenerator cores. Often, the only way to break a stall team is to pull off multiple instances of good positioning and prediction with , which is really unreliable.
CONCLUSION
In short you're supposed to make HO teams sad by dancing around with and then when they make a big effort to break through you can reel them in with . Against bulkier teams we have to do disgusting things like "predict" and ""double switch"" to position and break walls. Against we cry. Thanks for reading!
This is a balance team I built around a Zapdos/Corviknight/Clodsire defensive core I saw on the OU Discord. You guys better not ban Zamazenta in a few hours because I sure spent a lot of time making this and wouldn’t that be embarrassing!!
I was hoping to get feedback about the general team structure and advice against specific threats. I’m going to discuss my experience and choices with the team and the main issues I'm running into during testing, but since I’m only in the 1600s please let me know if any of my statements are inaccurate or there's threats I missed. As an additional bonus, this team is ready-made for when we finally implement Nature Clause in Gen XII.
TEAM BREAKDOWN
Zapdos @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Static
Tera Type: Flying
EVs: 248 HP / 76 Def / 184 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Volt Switch
- Hurricane
- Heat Wave
- Roost
I really want to love
but it can’t touch and Static is wild. Defensive is so good at punishing Rapid Spin and U-turn and has obnoxious longevity even though it can’t hard wall most attackers. is the main switch-in, annoys in a pinch, and Volt Switches into Rocky Helmet to prevent lead from getting Spikes up.I chose Heat Wave over Thunder Wave or Thunderbolt to better pressure
, which can all be annoying for this team to face. 308 Speed creeps +Speed but maybe the standard 301 Speed tier is enough. doesn’t Tera often so I’m unsure about its Tera. I’d imagine that if I’m forced to Tera it’s defensively to emergency check something, so I can see options such as Tera Steel for or Tera Water for . Corviknight (F) @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Pressure
Tera Type: Water
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SpD
Relaxed Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Brave Bird
- Defog
- Roost
- U-turn
PhysDef
blankets physical attackers like and sits on support mons like . is also a reliable Knock Off absorber, since it switches safely into . Otherwise, Rocky Helmet trades progress against U-turn, helps the team not roll over to , and makes very sad. Disregarding matchup context is my preferred sleep absorber since it can often make a lot of progress through just switching in and out for Rocky Helmet chip and Pressure stalling.I prefer Brave Bird’s wider coverage over Body Press because I’m using
as my primary solution. I chose U-turn along with minimum Speed to help slow pivot for our Choice Band and reduce pressure on our other walls.’s set is definitely in the air. Tera Water seems abstractly useful but I don’t have any specific scenarios in mind (Tera Water SpDef seems like it could help against better?). I think I’m supposed to run PhysDef so I can rely on it instead of and against most physical attackers, but my team does have a notable weakness to special breakers. Clodsire (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Unaware
Tera Type: Steel
EVs: 248 HP / 104 Def / 156 SpD
Careful Nature
- Earthquake
- Poison Jab
- Recover
- Spikes
Unaware
checks and blankets special attackers like . It absorbs Toxic Spikes and status for the team and occasionally finishes off a runaway setup sweeper.This set uses a lot of inspiration from stall sets, including Tera Steel along with Def investment to withstand Psyshocks and Stored Powers. I chose Poison Jab over Toxic to better check
. Poison Jab’s 30% poison makes about the same progress when pressuring bulky, switch-heavy teams, and Toxic isn’t any better in Poison Jab’s fail cases (vs for example). I chose Spikes over Stealth Rocks because this team doesn’t have a Knock Off user to punish HDB fliers, and a single layer of Spikes is better at pressuring mons I really want to chip such as during Rapid Spin pivot cycles. Zamazenta @ Leftovers
Ability: Dauntless Shield
Tera Type: Ghost
EVs: 252 HP / 20 Def / 236 Spe
Impish Nature
- Iron Defense
- Body Press
- Crunch
- Substitute
’s main job is to stuff and who can otherwise crack the core. I prefer to lean on as my primary physical wall to preserve ’s Dauntless Shield, avoid chip, and scout status. A lot of my wins are from cleaning in the late game. I chose the IDBP set so
can be as reliable as possible for its specialized role on this team. I chose Substitute over Heavy Slam for a better matchup and to emerge better positioned when give us an entry point, since those matchups are so polarized. ’s set and Tera type are undecided. I can see the Choice Band set being more useful to trade against problematic breakers like , which our can’t catch at high HP. Tera Ghost has been a useful emergency measure against but is rarely used. Also if my dog gets banned I'll probably just run or something.Iron Valiant @ Booster Energy
Ability: Quark Drive
Tera Type: Fairy
EVs: 40 Atk / 252 SpA / 216 Spe
Naive Nature
- Moonblast
- Close Combat
- Thunderbolt
- Encore
Mixed
not only revenges all sorts of things but also muscles through bulky team structures that sit on our other attackers. provides key speed control against problems like some and Scarf special attackers. Unfortunately, we often have to rely on chasing them out and then trying very hard to not give them an easy entry point later in the game.Thunderbolt is the only thing stopping Curse
and IDBP from rolling this entire team. I chose Encore in the last slot to further assist in breaking bulky teams, and it’s a nice bonus in endgames. 354 Speed loses out on basically nothing and frees up some EVs for Atk investment.I’m unsure about both the last moveslot and Tera type. So far, I haven’t encountered any scenarios where I’ve really missed Psyshock, but I can see it helping us crack
and opposing . Otherwise, there may be space for another utility move like Knock Off or Destiny Bond. Tera Fairy has been good for finding important OHKOs () and 2HKOs ( ). However, is often this team’s only answer to bulky waters, and Tera Electric finds 2HKOs on , , and Tera Water . Baxcalibur (F) @ Choice Band
Ability: Thermal Exchange
Tera Type: Dragon
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Glaive Rush
- Icicle Crash
- Earthquake
- Ice Shard
Choice Band
finds a lot of entry points during the game thanks to Defog and pivot support from and to make progress against bulky teams. also helps absorb burns from and (but tragically not ) that threaten the status-resistant core, but lack of Heavy-Duty Boots limits its switch-in opportunities.I chose Choice Band over a setup set because I wanted immediate breaking power against bulky teams and a strong Ice Shard for speed control. I’m also more comfortable without Heavy-Duty Boots because Defog
provides reliable hazard control ( consistently hard swaps into any we let in). I chose Tera Dragon because I noticed that Glaive Rush was my most frequent middle-ground attack. Lots of teams have or as their only Dragon immunity and those guys don’t like hard switching into .GLARINGEST PROBLEMS
All sorts of
Everything on this team thuds into
and tries to eat Salt Cures but can’t hit back. It’s embarrassing. I have a few small-ball ideas like Covert Cloak
(can Defog on it but can’t threaten back), Tera Electric , and Adamant Choice Band but they might not be enough.Special attackers that can’t be checked by
Unaware
can’t stop threats like , , , and even bulky that avoids Earthquake 2HKO and fishes for Shadow Ball SpDef drops. Special and Wisp + Hex can break past with U-turn pressure and burn damage. Structures such as rain that use multiple special breakers are particularly difficult because ’s low speed means it’s often left too low to stop a second threat. These matchups demand a lot of risky sacs and prediction, and it gets really dicey when has other essential roles like helping the team pivot around or absorbing Toxic Spikes.Rain
The team has no solution to repeated fast, rain-boosted Water attacks, so some combination of
can just spam their STABs until we die. is often too pressured to safely check . can rarely Defog without letting in something scary so the entire team has limited mobility.Stall
This team has a lot of trouble making progress against defensive threats such as Tera Fairy
, Rest , defensive , and Regenerator cores. Often, the only way to break a stall team is to pull off multiple instances of good positioning and prediction with , which is really unreliable. CONCLUSION
In short you're supposed to make HO teams sad by dancing around with
and then when they make a big effort to break through you can reel them in with . Against bulkier teams we have to do disgusting things like "predict" and ""double switch"" to position and break walls. Against we cry. Thanks for reading!