SS OU Dead Anarchist

[Egor]

=========================

click for importable
Introduction
The ban of Arena Trap definitely had influenced the tier positively and freed up a bunch of Pokemon - they no longer fear being trapped. I strongly desired to abuse the departure of Dugtrio by building a team around a concept severely constrained by the three-headed mole in the past. And I've found a one - offensive Calm Mind Jirachi, also known as Superachi. As Dugtrio cannot just come in and revenge kill Jirachi, Calm Mind sets of it can freely afford to drop Substitute and opt for another coverage move, increasing their sweeping potential. The tier has already got used to the absence of Dugtrio during the month, and my idea might not be as fresh, but I've been polishing it until very recently; and now I am ready to share this team around the said concept with you guys! The Russian origin of Jirachi's name has inspired me to name this RMT after a Russian song. If anyone is interested in understanding it, here is an English cover! This song kind of doesn't correlate to the team's spirit I guess, but whatever. Well, enough for the introduction. Let's dive straight into the squad!!

Teambuilding Process

As was stated above, Jirachi was the starting point of the team. Aside of being a setup win condition, Jirachi also boasts some defensive utility in being a soft Ice resist for Kyurem and Cloyster. Going to tell about it more later, moving on.

The problem with Jirachi is that it sort of invites some of the tier's most threatening offensive presences named Ghost-types, and Aegislash is the best of them in terms of handling Jirachi. As such, a really strong Ghost-types answer is necessary. I've picked Mandibuzz on this role. It also provides some valuable utility in U-turn and Defog and checks other threats like Excadrill and Hydreigon as well.

I needed some wallbreaker to clear up the way for Jirachi. Zeraora, the ultimate offensive Pokemon of the metagame, fit this role amazingly, tearing apart common defensive structures with its enormously wide coverage.

The core of Seismitoad and Clefable was an easy choice here. These two cover many important Pokemon like Zeraora, Dracovish, Rotom-H, and Kommo-o as well as give the team useful stuff like Stealth Rock and Wish support.

To complete the team, I wanted to have an extra firepower and to get stronger versus the likes of Excadrill, Hydreigon, Kyurem, and Bisharp. Conkeldurr fulfills the last teamslot perfectly - it hepls in all the aforementioned matchups and hits like a fucking truck.

=>

Ok that wasn't the finish actually. I had absolutely nothing to strongly punish the omnipresent Clefable. Yes, Jirachi is not a good Clefable punisher. Even though I love Zeraora's wallbreaking capabilities, my decision was to dispose of it and fill the teamslot with a relatively strong balance breaker capable of pressuring Clefable. I have been choosing between Gengar and Salazzle and picked the former at the end, mainly since its Ghost typing gives me more room to outplay Conkeldurr.

In-Depth Look

Jirachi @
Ability: Serene Grace
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Nature: Timid
IVs: 0 Atk
- Calm Mind
- Psychic
- Aura Sphere
- Thunderbolt

Meet the Superachi - offensive Calm Mind + 3 Attacks Jirachi. Psychic is chosen over Psyshock to hit popular tier presences like Hippowdon, Seismitoad, and Kommo-o harder. Aura Sphere offers a near-perfect coverage alongside Psychic, denting stuff like Ferrothorn, Excadrill, and Hydreigon. Thunderbolt is generally a filler move and is used only for two, albeit rather notable, targets - Corviknight and Mandibuzz. The EV spread simply maximizes Jirachi's offensive potential. Leftovers eases Jirachi's life in the long run.

Mandibuzz @
Ability: Overcoat
EVs: 252 HP / 160 SpD / 96 Spe
Nature: Careful
- Foul Play
- Roost
- U-turn
- Defog

Standard specially defensive Mandibuzz designed to check Ghost-types and other various threats. I've opted for Foul Play over Knock Off in order to handle stuff like physical Aegislash, Excadrill, and Gyarados better. Well, there definitely were some games when I wanted Knock Off Mandibuzz really badly. Roost and U-turn are self-explanatory. Mandibuzz is not really good Defogger, I will be honest. But my team is rather weak to Spikes, and having at least this is surely better than having nothing to clear the field away. The EV spread allows Mandibuzz to outpace Aegislash, while the rest is put to maximize its special bulk. Heavy-Duty Boots makes Mandibuzz way more reliable pivot. Overcoat is the ability of choice to prevent Mandibuzz from getting Sand chip damage, and its other two abilities are useless anyway.

Gengar @
Ability: Cursed Body
EVs: 96 HP / 72 SpA / 88 SpD / 252 Spe
Nature: Timid
IVs: 0 Atk
- Substitute
- Hex
- Sludge Bomb
- Will-O-Wisp

The StatusHex Gengar pretty much heavily weakens and shreds apart many common defensive structures. Its niche over StatusHex Dragapult - this Gengar's main competitor - is being really strong versus Clefable, which is very very appreciated by this team. Substitute makes Gengar even more annoying to fat and passive cores/Pokemon. Sludge Bomb is preferred to Sludge Wave due to the former's higher poison chance, which is useful against stuff like Mandibuzz. Bulletproof Kommo-o isn't an issue due to Hex hitting it. The EV Spread ensures that Gengar's Substitute is never broken by Toxapex's Scald. Black Sludge makes up the HP lost on Substitutes and helps Gengar do well against fat in long games.

Seismitoad @
Ability: Water Absorb
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Nature: Bold
- Stealth Rock
- Scald
- Earth Power
- Knock Off

The standard Seismitoad that you basically see every day you play SS OU. Scald is necessary on every bulky Water-type. Earth Power is preferred to Earthquake in order to hit Toxapex and Kommo-o harder. Knock Off is a good long term progress-making option, especially considering that the likes of Clefable and Ferrothorn, which absolutely love their Leftovers, tend to switch into Seismitoad. Stealth Rock, the move necessary in every OU team, is generally what sets Seismitoad apart of Gastrodon. The EV spread is very straightforward and helps Seismitoad handle physical threats like Excadrill and Bisharp better. Leftovers on a defensive Pokemon don't need any explanation. Water Absorb grants Seismitoad an immunity to Dracovish's Fishious Rend.

Clefable @
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Nature: Relaxed
IVs: 0 Atk / 0 Spe
- Moonblast
- Wish
- Protect
- Teleport

The most annoying thing in the world - WishPort Clefable itself. Moonblast is obvious. Protect coupled with Wish gives Clefable a form of relatively reliable recovery. Teleport pairs greatly with Wish as well and acts as a great momentum-grabbing move. The EV spread is oriented to Defense instead of Special Defense because otherwise only Seismitoad on my team checks Zeraora, and actually Seismitoad is a very shaky check to it. Minimized Speed is needed in order to get the slowest Teleport possible in Clefable mirrors. Magic Guard makes Clefable an amazing pivot, and Leftovers - the obvious item choice - contributes to it as well.

Conkeldurr @
Ability: Guts
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Nature: Adamant
- Drain Punch
- Mach Punch
- Facade
- Knock Off

One of the hardest-hitting Pokemon in the tier - Conkeldurr, and it runs its standard set on my team. Drain Punch compensates Flame Orb's chip damage and is Conkeldurr's main STAB move. Mach Punch slightly patches up Conkeldurr's awful Speed tier and revenge kills offensive threats like Excadrill, Hydreigon, Kyurem, and Bisharp. Facade hits Fighting resists like Clefable and Togekiss really hard and is even stronger that Drain Punch on a neutral hit, given that Guts is activated. Knock Off is necessary to prevent literally any Ghost-type from sitting in front of Conkeldurr. It's also generally a very spammable move, especially early-game. The EV spread is very simple and maximizes Conkeldurr's firepower and sets its Speed on a reasonable level, enough for outpacing most defensive Pokemon. Flame Orb and Guts increase Conkeldurr's Attack to a crazy number.

Threatlist

: almost no team is truly safe against Kyurem. My Ice resist is offensive Jirachi, which is overwhelmed rather quickly. In Kyurem matchup, it is needed to be played around aggressively, mainly with Conkeldurr. The combination of Wish Clefable and Jirachi is also helpful enough.

: I'm talking specifically about Nasty Plot variants, since Hex Gengar is handled rather adequately by Mandibuzz, and Choice sets are pretty nonexistent. Once Gengar gets at +2 it is capable of OHKOing basically everything bar Mandibuzz, which, however, needs minimal chip to be in the range of Sludge Wave and dies to Thunderbolt. My own Gengar Speed ties with it, which is just a coinflip between me and the opponent.

: this thing picks up a Calm Mind on four Pokemon out of six in my team, and the remaining two - Gengar and Conkeldurr - are scared of Psychic STAB. If Conkeldurr gets a free switch, however, it can do a fuckton of damage to Reuniclus with Knock Off. If Reuniclus was Knocked Off before, though, it doesn't really care much about Conkeldurr.

Conclusion
Even though I really dislike the current state of SS OU and have almost zero motivation to play it, I am satisfied enough with this group of six. It represents the most viable playstyle in the meta - balance - well enough and boasts both offensive and defensive tools to rule out various matchups. Of course, there aren't any team without its weaknesses, but pretty much nothing seems totally unwinnable in the tier. I truly hope you guys enjoy this team, and I definitely would love to hear out some thoughts on it! Have a good day everyone!!

shoutouts

Commander F капитан комиссар генерал майор фъ
curiosity feel like tagging you. btw go team 2018
Eric079 бля вытащи наш см турик)))0)
Karpovich Ksenia Ukraine це Europe
Kekbreon thanks for all the... just for all, you're the best :3
lyd youre def a great artist! thanks for the banner!
Mister Tim лис мастер нашего данжна
MultX разъеби все киоски
Psynergy huge thanks for letting me participate in the first bspl of my own! kamikaze Memoric stax CrystalNinetales qsns MetalGro$$ love yall blitzers <3
Ruft thanks for all the help with the next best thing! also like your great knowledge of ss ou
spatulakun bro bro
Zeon228 не играй в жакотуриках))0)

sorry for everyone I have occasionally forgotten, hope there aren't any

 

[Goodbye & Thanks]

Hi, your team looks solid and I just have two minor suggestions you may want to consider:

I think you may want to think about replacing Drain Punch with Close Combat on Conk to allow for it to break better. CC allows Conk to almost always 2HKO max phys def Hippo, where as Drain Punch is almost always a 4HKO and can usually just be Slacked Off. Same thing where as CC is a guaranteed 2HKO against even max phys def Corviknight, but Drain Punch can only 3HKO. CC also is guaranteed to OHKO most Rotom-Heat spreads, where as Drain Punch cannot. I'm sure there are other important damage rolls but those are the main things I can think of right now; here are the calcs:

Vs.

:
252+ Atk Guts Conkeldurr Drain Punch vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Hippowdon: 136-162 (32.3 - 38.5%) -- 2.6% chance to 3HKO after Leftovers recovery
252+ Atk Guts Conkeldurr Close Combat vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Hippowdon: 219-258 (52.1 - 61.4%) -- 96.1% chance to 2HKO after Leftovers recovery

Vs.

252+ Atk Guts Conkeldurr Drain Punch vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Corviknight: 148-175 (37 - 43.7%) -- 99.5% chance to 3HKO after Leftovers recovery
252+ Atk Guts Conkeldurr Close Combat vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Corviknight: 237-280 (59.2 - 70%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery

Vs.

252+ Atk Guts Conkeldurr Drain Punch vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Rotom-Heat: 202-238 (66.4 - 78.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ Atk Guts Conkeldurr Close Combat vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Rotom-Heat: 322-379 (105.9 - 124.6%) -- guaranteed OHKO

Drain Punch is nice to offer some more longevity and as you said, alleviate some of the Flame Orb damage, so there are merits to leaving Drain Punch. I personally just prefer CC on Conk to make him even more of a nuke, especially when paired with Wish support from Clef to heal him.

This is very minor, but I personally like running 100 Speed EVs on Mandibuzz to speed-creep Kommo-o that use 56 Speed EVs to also outrun Aegislash. Kommo-o has a higher base speed than Mandibuzz and should theoretically win the speed-creep war, but the most common defensive Kommo-o spread uses 56 Speed EVs and doesn't take into account Mandibuzz. Outrunning Kommo-o is nice because many Stealth Rock Kommo-o also carry Taunt to prevent Defogging. However, outrunning Kommo-o is a little annoying in other ways because Body Press does too much after a Roost (60.8 - 72.1% ), so you can't wall it indefinitely, and getting a faster U-turn prevents Mandibuzz from absorbing the hit from Kommo-o before switching (although you're often better off just switching into your Clef in this scenario anyway so the faster U-turn isn't really bad). I'm also not aware of any damage rolls that are significantly hurt by using 100 Speed EVs on Mandibuzz instead of 96, but I guess they could exist. So yeah, 100 Speed EVs on Mandibuzz isn't a big deal and there are trade-offs, but I wanted to mention the possibility. Outspeeding Kommo-o is more important if you're running Taunt on Mandibuzz, and I get that you can't easily fit it on your Mandibuzz within the context of your team, so it's not that helpful to you anyway.


As I said though, your team looks good to me and there are good reasons to keep Drain Punch over CC on Conk and 96 Speed EVs over 100 on Mandibuzz; I just wanted to throw my two cents in about a couple of minor things that may be worth considering. Anyway though, nice team and thank you for the write up!

 

[Attack on Samurott]

Yo I love the look of this team. Definitely think that CM Rachi is underrated at the moment and should be explored more. Personally would've kept Clef Spdef anyway cause Kyurem can be a problem. Overall you broke down everything about the team. Definitely gonna give a shot.

 

[ithrowrocksatkids]

Made a similar team wit spdf clef and spex pult over gengar