Introduction:
Altaria is one my favorite Pokemon due to its nice design, amazing typing, and incredible power. I have always preferred building balanced teams because they allow me to make safer plays and take care of many opposing Pokemon. You will find that my building style usually revolves around defensive cores. The thing I really like about this team is the fact it is actually somewhat of a dual core team with Altaria and Excadrill or Heatran making a Dragon/Fairy/Steel core, while Heatran, Celebi, and Keldeo make a Grass/Fire/Water core. However I have found that cores based on type don't usually work to well in OU especially the higher you get on the ladder.Team Building Process:
I wanted to build a team around Mega Altaria because of its incredible defensive and offensive stats. The Dragon/Fairy typing is absolutely wonderful, granting Altaria immunity to Dragon type attacks and allowing it set up on them.
I decided to run with the classic Gen 4 Cele-tran core. Heatran is able to wall and take care of Pokemon, such as Ferrothorn and Clefable, that give Altaria trouble. Celebi takes care of most of Heatran's weaknesses and allows me to keep my Heatran healthier for the longest time possible. It also can deal with bulky Water-types like Slowbro and Gastrodon.
While Heatran and Celebi are an excellent core, they lack the physical bulk that Landorus posses. Landorus can take many hits from Pokemon such as Excadrill that may threaten Altaria. Landorus' Ground-type immunity also covers Heatran's Ground weakness and Altaria's loss of a Ground immunity after it Mega Evolves.
Since Altaria needs to be healthy to insure a successful sweep, entry hazards must be kept off my side of the field. I decided to run Scarfed Excadrill since it can almost always Rapid Spin before it gets KO'ed. However, Excadrill's incredible attack stat allows it to also serve as a potential late game sweeper. Excadrill also some time takes care of pesky Pokemon such as Clefable, Gengar, and Rotom-W all of which threaten Altaria.
My team lacked a strong special type attacker/wall breaker. Specs Keldeo fills the spot perfectly. Specs Hydro Pump can 2KO an incredible number of Pokemon. With the correct prediction Keldeo can even deal with Lati@s by hitting them with Icy Wind, weakening them and lowering their speed which allows Keldeo to knock them out the turn after. Keldeo also completes the team's second defensive core.
Battle Testing:
Altaria @ Altarianite
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Frustration
- Earthquake
- Dragon Dance
- Roost
I don't really know how to describe this thing. Sometimes it's amazing and sometimes it feels like its pulling the team down. Due to the small amount of coverage and lack of speed, I often find myself in situations were Altaria does nothing but die in a game. It's not bulky enough to take a strong super effective hit but it's not fast enough to compete with scarfed Pokemon that try to revenge kill it. Altaria's susceptibility to being burned and weakness to Stealth Rocks prior to Mega Evolution really makes it hard to use.
Heatran @ Leftovers
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpA / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Lava Plume
- Roar
- Ancient Power
Heatran is a solid specially defensive wall. It can set up rocks, roar out pokemon trying to set up or behind a sub, and deal with a lot of pokemon that Altaria is unable to deal with such as Mega Scizor and Ferrothorn. While Ancient Power is unorthodox it is useful against dealing with Pokemon such as Talonflame and Mega Charizard-Y, however lately I have been considering switching it out with Toxic to deal with more Pokemon, such as Slowbrow, or maybe Flash Cannon for pesky Fairy-types.
Celebi @ Leftovers
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 248 HP / 252 SpD / 8 Spe
Calm Nature
- Recover
- Giga Drain
- Baton Pass
- Thunder Wave
Celebi works wonderfully along side Heatran, being able to take all the hits that Heatran does not appreciate taking. This Celebi set is very defensive with little offences. Recover allows Celebi to maintain its HP and is much more reliable than Giga Drain. I chose to go with Giga Drain over Psychic because it allows Celebi to hit Water, Rock, and Ground-types while acting as a secondary form of recovery. However running Giga Drain allows me to be walled by the likes of Mega Venusaur & Amoonguss. Thunder Wave allows Celebi to stop Pokemon from setting up against it by slowing them down and allowing another teammate to come in and take out the paralyzed Pokemon. Finally, I decided to go with Baton Pass because it provides momentum and also allows Celebi to escape common Pursuit trappers like Tyranitar and Bisharp.
Landorus-T @ Leftovers
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 HP / 240 Def / 8 SpD / 8 Spe
Impish Nature
- Earthquake
- Knock Off
- Stealth Rock
- U-turn
Lando is amazing in terms of physical defense (most of the time). The set is very standard, however I am really considering switching out Stealth Rock for Rock Slide. Initially, I decided to run two Pokemon with Stealth Rock to make sure I set them up and while they are important most of the times, I now feel like I am just wasting a moveslot on one of them. However I am not sure if I should get rid of the rocks on Lando or Heatran.
Excadrill @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Mold Breaker
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Rock Slide
- Rapid Spin
- Iron Head
Excadrill is one of the most surprising Pokemon on this team. While I expected to use it to spin rocks and revenge kill if needed, I found myself late game sweeping with Excadrill. It hits decently hard and with the Choice Scarf it can out speed a huge number of Pokemon. Even if Excadrill fails to out speed some Pokemon, its natural bulk allows it to tank some super effective hits. However, just as with Keldeo, being locked into a move usually gets me into some deep trouble. I also sometime run in trouble by using Rapid Spin on a Ghost-type switch-in.
Keldeo @ Choice Specs
Ability: Justified
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Hydro Pump
- Scald
- Icy Wind
- Secret Sword
Love this thing. Love this thing to death. Just absolute raw power. Hydro Pump just breaks everything. Even (some) Pokemon that resist Hydro Pump don't want to switch into it. Secret Sword is also incredible allowing me to remove Ferrothorn and hit Pokemon like Gastrodon & Volcanion and do a good amount of damage. Icy Wind is also nice as it allows me to deal with Lati@s and Tornadous, however since they are faster than Keldeo I have to predict them switching in. While Keldeo is great, it suffers greatly from teams with defensive Water Absorb Pokemon because of it being locked into a move which may present a problem.
Paraflinch Duo (Togekiss & Jirachi)
Not fun to use, not fun to play against. However they are very minor threats because Excadrill cannot be paralyzed by their Thunder Wave and can out speed both.
Latios
The only ones that give me trouble are the variants with Surf because they usually take my Heatran off by surprise.
Mega Lopunny & Medicham
They both are extremely powerful and have a diverse move pool that allows them to OHKO the majority of Pokemon on my team. I can usually deal with them, but they put a lot of pressure on my defensive cores.
Intermediate:
Gastrodon w/ Good Teammates
Eats up physical hits and eats up Keldeo's hits. And in the right team it is practically impossible to deal with. Since my team lacks Toxic support the best way to deal with this thing is to hope that my opponent makes a mistake and that I mange to capitalize on that.
Bulky Water-types
Can't hit them and Celebi can just force the opponents to switch. Considering how common moves such as Knock Off and U-turn Celebi sometimes doesn't even live long enough to stop the Water-types. Again the lack of Toxic support really allows the majority of them to be issues.
Weavile
Takes out Celebi, Lando, and Altaria. Can be dealt with if the opponent makes mistakes or doesn't realize its importance in battle. However, in well built teams Weavile is a major threat.
Azumarill
+6 252+ Atk Huge Power Azumarill Aqua Jet vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Keldeo: 173-204 (53.5 - 63.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
Azumarill is a power house and after a Belly Drum it becomes a huge pain to deal with. Most of the time however, I am able to deal with it with the combination of Celebi and Keldeo but Celebi always ends up dying to a Knock Off. I put it as a threat because if Keldeo is weakened enough it could easily sweep my team.
Gengar
I never built a team that wasn't torn apart by this thing. Focus Blasts Heatran. Sludge Waves Celebi. Out speeds Keldeo. Destorys Lando. Ends Altaria. Switches out against Excadrill.
Chansey / Skarmory / Sableye / Clefable / Quagsire / Talonflame
It would be easier just to say stall, however this team is probably the hardest one to deal with. It's bulky and annoying and everyone uses it. I have faced this team so many times and I lost every time. Just can't deal with stall in general but this one is the most annoying and most common teams used. Chansey, Skarmory, and Quagsire can deal with physical moves. Keldeo also suffers against this team since Secret Sword doesn't do much against Quagsire and Hydro Pump heals it. Talonflame revenge kills weakened Pokemon and can taunt Heatran which stops it from setting up rocks and shuffling Pokemon with Roar. Sableye is extremely annoying and attempting to use Altaria to take it out always results in a switch into Skarmory which walls my Altaria completely.
Scolipede + Manaphy + 4 Set-up 'Mons
Another common annoying team. The diversity of the offense on those teams are the main reason why I fail to win against them. The biggest annoyance however is Manaphy. It's bulky and can OHKO every single Pokemon on my team after just one Tail Glow and a speed boost. Manaphy alone is also usually sufficient enough to deal with my team.
Sub Heracross
Heracross is a huge power house. While I can deal with it, if it manages to get a sub it is almost impossible to deal with being able to knock out everything on team baring the Landorus. However, Lando can be knocked out if it is sufficiently weakened.Final Remarks:
If you made this far, I'd like to thank you for taking the time to read this RMT. Your suggestions are very much valued. Also if you would like to use the team I will leave the importable version down below for everyone to (hopefully) enjoy!!! ^o^
Altaria is one my favorite Pokemon due to its nice design, amazing typing, and incredible power. I have always preferred building balanced teams because they allow me to make safer plays and take care of many opposing Pokemon. You will find that my building style usually revolves around defensive cores. The thing I really like about this team is the fact it is actually somewhat of a dual core team with Altaria and Excadrill or Heatran making a Dragon/Fairy/Steel core, while Heatran, Celebi, and Keldeo make a Grass/Fire/Water core. However I have found that cores based on type don't usually work to well in OU especially the higher you get on the ladder.
I wanted to build a team around Mega Altaria because of its incredible defensive and offensive stats. The Dragon/Fairy typing is absolutely wonderful, granting Altaria immunity to Dragon type attacks and allowing it set up on them.
I decided to run with the classic Gen 4 Cele-tran core. Heatran is able to wall and take care of Pokemon, such as Ferrothorn and Clefable, that give Altaria trouble. Celebi takes care of most of Heatran's weaknesses and allows me to keep my Heatran healthier for the longest time possible. It also can deal with bulky Water-types like Slowbro and Gastrodon.
While Heatran and Celebi are an excellent core, they lack the physical bulk that Landorus posses. Landorus can take many hits from Pokemon such as Excadrill that may threaten Altaria. Landorus' Ground-type immunity also covers Heatran's Ground weakness and Altaria's loss of a Ground immunity after it Mega Evolves.
Since Altaria needs to be healthy to insure a successful sweep, entry hazards must be kept off my side of the field. I decided to run Scarfed Excadrill since it can almost always Rapid Spin before it gets KO'ed. However, Excadrill's incredible attack stat allows it to also serve as a potential late game sweeper. Excadrill also some time takes care of pesky Pokemon such as Clefable, Gengar, and Rotom-W all of which threaten Altaria.
My team lacked a strong special type attacker/wall breaker. Specs Keldeo fills the spot perfectly. Specs Hydro Pump can 2KO an incredible number of Pokemon. With the correct prediction Keldeo can even deal with Lati@s by hitting them with Icy Wind, weakening them and lowering their speed which allows Keldeo to knock them out the turn after. Keldeo also completes the team's second defensive core.
Battle Testing:
Altaria @ Altarianite
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Frustration
- Earthquake
- Dragon Dance
- Roost
I don't really know how to describe this thing. Sometimes it's amazing and sometimes it feels like its pulling the team down. Due to the small amount of coverage and lack of speed, I often find myself in situations were Altaria does nothing but die in a game. It's not bulky enough to take a strong super effective hit but it's not fast enough to compete with scarfed Pokemon that try to revenge kill it. Altaria's susceptibility to being burned and weakness to Stealth Rocks prior to Mega Evolution really makes it hard to use.
Heatran @ Leftovers
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpA / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Lava Plume
- Roar
- Ancient Power
Heatran is a solid specially defensive wall. It can set up rocks, roar out pokemon trying to set up or behind a sub, and deal with a lot of pokemon that Altaria is unable to deal with such as Mega Scizor and Ferrothorn. While Ancient Power is unorthodox it is useful against dealing with Pokemon such as Talonflame and Mega Charizard-Y, however lately I have been considering switching it out with Toxic to deal with more Pokemon, such as Slowbrow, or maybe Flash Cannon for pesky Fairy-types.
Celebi @ Leftovers
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 248 HP / 252 SpD / 8 Spe
Calm Nature
- Recover
- Giga Drain
- Baton Pass
- Thunder Wave
Celebi works wonderfully along side Heatran, being able to take all the hits that Heatran does not appreciate taking. This Celebi set is very defensive with little offences. Recover allows Celebi to maintain its HP and is much more reliable than Giga Drain. I chose to go with Giga Drain over Psychic because it allows Celebi to hit Water, Rock, and Ground-types while acting as a secondary form of recovery. However running Giga Drain allows me to be walled by the likes of Mega Venusaur & Amoonguss. Thunder Wave allows Celebi to stop Pokemon from setting up against it by slowing them down and allowing another teammate to come in and take out the paralyzed Pokemon. Finally, I decided to go with Baton Pass because it provides momentum and also allows Celebi to escape common Pursuit trappers like Tyranitar and Bisharp.
Landorus-T @ Leftovers
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 HP / 240 Def / 8 SpD / 8 Spe
Impish Nature
- Earthquake
- Knock Off
- Stealth Rock
- U-turn
Lando is amazing in terms of physical defense (most of the time). The set is very standard, however I am really considering switching out Stealth Rock for Rock Slide. Initially, I decided to run two Pokemon with Stealth Rock to make sure I set them up and while they are important most of the times, I now feel like I am just wasting a moveslot on one of them. However I am not sure if I should get rid of the rocks on Lando or Heatran.
Excadrill @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Mold Breaker
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Rock Slide
- Rapid Spin
- Iron Head
Excadrill is one of the most surprising Pokemon on this team. While I expected to use it to spin rocks and revenge kill if needed, I found myself late game sweeping with Excadrill. It hits decently hard and with the Choice Scarf it can out speed a huge number of Pokemon. Even if Excadrill fails to out speed some Pokemon, its natural bulk allows it to tank some super effective hits. However, just as with Keldeo, being locked into a move usually gets me into some deep trouble. I also sometime run in trouble by using Rapid Spin on a Ghost-type switch-in.
Keldeo @ Choice Specs
Ability: Justified
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Hydro Pump
- Scald
- Icy Wind
- Secret Sword
Love this thing. Love this thing to death. Just absolute raw power. Hydro Pump just breaks everything. Even (some) Pokemon that resist Hydro Pump don't want to switch into it. Secret Sword is also incredible allowing me to remove Ferrothorn and hit Pokemon like Gastrodon & Volcanion and do a good amount of damage. Icy Wind is also nice as it allows me to deal with Lati@s and Tornadous, however since they are faster than Keldeo I have to predict them switching in. While Keldeo is great, it suffers greatly from teams with defensive Water Absorb Pokemon because of it being locked into a move which may present a problem.
Major Issues:
- Lando & Celebi lack defensive synergy due to their weakness to Ice-type moves.
- Lack of priority moves prevents my team from revenge killing Pokemon with boosted speeds.
- Overall team is super slow allowing many Pokemon to effectively sweep me if allowed to set up.
- No Toxic support allows some bulky Pokemon to stay in for an extended amount of time and weakening my team in the process.
Changes in Consideration:
I am really considering adding Talonflame somewhere in this team due to its incredible offensive synergy with Altaria being able to take out Pokemon such as, Venusaur, Amoonguss, Scizor, and other fast hard hitting Megas like Lopunny and Medicham. It can also provide some needed priority on my team.
- Lando & Celebi lack defensive synergy due to their weakness to Ice-type moves.
- Lack of priority moves prevents my team from revenge killing Pokemon with boosted speeds.
- Overall team is super slow allowing many Pokemon to effectively sweep me if allowed to set up.
- No Toxic support allows some bulky Pokemon to stay in for an extended amount of time and weakening my team in the process.
Changes in Consideration:
I am really considering adding Talonflame somewhere in this team due to its incredible offensive synergy with Altaria being able to take out Pokemon such as, Venusaur, Amoonguss, Scizor, and other fast hard hitting Megas like Lopunny and Medicham. It can also provide some needed priority on my team.
Threat List:
Minor:
Minor:
Paraflinch Duo (Togekiss & Jirachi)
Not fun to use, not fun to play against. However they are very minor threats because Excadrill cannot be paralyzed by their Thunder Wave and can out speed both.
Latios
The only ones that give me trouble are the variants with Surf because they usually take my Heatran off by surprise.
Mega Lopunny & Medicham
They both are extremely powerful and have a diverse move pool that allows them to OHKO the majority of Pokemon on my team. I can usually deal with them, but they put a lot of pressure on my defensive cores.
Gastrodon w/ Good Teammates
Eats up physical hits and eats up Keldeo's hits. And in the right team it is practically impossible to deal with. Since my team lacks Toxic support the best way to deal with this thing is to hope that my opponent makes a mistake and that I mange to capitalize on that.
Bulky Water-types
Can't hit them and Celebi can just force the opponents to switch. Considering how common moves such as Knock Off and U-turn Celebi sometimes doesn't even live long enough to stop the Water-types. Again the lack of Toxic support really allows the majority of them to be issues.
Weavile
Takes out Celebi, Lando, and Altaria. Can be dealt with if the opponent makes mistakes or doesn't realize its importance in battle. However, in well built teams Weavile is a major threat.
Azumarill
+6 252+ Atk Huge Power Azumarill Aqua Jet vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Keldeo: 173-204 (53.5 - 63.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
Azumarill is a power house and after a Belly Drum it becomes a huge pain to deal with. Most of the time however, I am able to deal with it with the combination of Celebi and Keldeo but Celebi always ends up dying to a Knock Off. I put it as a threat because if Keldeo is weakened enough it could easily sweep my team.
Major:
Gengar
I never built a team that wasn't torn apart by this thing. Focus Blasts Heatran. Sludge Waves Celebi. Out speeds Keldeo. Destorys Lando. Ends Altaria. Switches out against Excadrill.
Chansey / Skarmory / Sableye / Clefable / Quagsire / Talonflame
It would be easier just to say stall, however this team is probably the hardest one to deal with. It's bulky and annoying and everyone uses it. I have faced this team so many times and I lost every time. Just can't deal with stall in general but this one is the most annoying and most common teams used. Chansey, Skarmory, and Quagsire can deal with physical moves. Keldeo also suffers against this team since Secret Sword doesn't do much against Quagsire and Hydro Pump heals it. Talonflame revenge kills weakened Pokemon and can taunt Heatran which stops it from setting up rocks and shuffling Pokemon with Roar. Sableye is extremely annoying and attempting to use Altaria to take it out always results in a switch into Skarmory which walls my Altaria completely.
Scolipede + Manaphy + 4 Set-up 'Mons
Another common annoying team. The diversity of the offense on those teams are the main reason why I fail to win against them. The biggest annoyance however is Manaphy. It's bulky and can OHKO every single Pokemon on my team after just one Tail Glow and a speed boost. Manaphy alone is also usually sufficient enough to deal with my team.
Sub Heracross
Heracross is a huge power house. While I can deal with it, if it manages to get a sub it is almost impossible to deal with being able to knock out everything on team baring the Landorus. However, Lando can be knocked out if it is sufficiently weakened.
If you made this far, I'd like to thank you for taking the time to read this RMT. Your suggestions are very much valued. Also if you would like to use the team I will leave the importable version down below for everyone to (hopefully) enjoy!!! ^o^
Altaria (F) @ Altarianite
Ability: Natural Cure
Happiness: 0
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Frustration
- Earthquake
- Dragon Dance
- Roost
Excadrill (M) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Mold Breaker
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Iron Head
- Rapid Spin
- Rock Slide
Heatran (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpA / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Stealth Rock
- Lava Plume
- Roar
- Ancient Power
Celebi @ Leftovers
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 248 HP / 252 SpD / 8 Spe
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Recover
- Giga Drain
- Baton Pass
- Thunder Wave
Keldeo-Resolute @ Choice Specs
Ability: Justified
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Secret Sword
- Scald
- Hydro Pump
- Icy Wind
Landorus-Therian @ Leftovers
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 HP / 240 Def / 8 SpD / 8 Spe
Impish Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Knock Off
- U-turn
- Earthquake
Ability: Natural Cure
Happiness: 0
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Frustration
- Earthquake
- Dragon Dance
- Roost
Excadrill (M) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Mold Breaker
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Iron Head
- Rapid Spin
- Rock Slide
Heatran (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpA / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Stealth Rock
- Lava Plume
- Roar
- Ancient Power
Celebi @ Leftovers
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 248 HP / 252 SpD / 8 Spe
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Recover
- Giga Drain
- Baton Pass
- Thunder Wave
Keldeo-Resolute @ Choice Specs
Ability: Justified
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Secret Sword
- Scald
- Hydro Pump
- Icy Wind
Landorus-Therian @ Leftovers
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 HP / 240 Def / 8 SpD / 8 Spe
Impish Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Knock Off
- U-turn
- Earthquake
