DFB's Main XY OU Team

[Evilfaic]

DFB's Main XY OU Team - My First RMT Thread Here On Smogon:

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Glider (Gliscor) (M) @ Toxic Orb
Ability: Poison Heal
EVs: 212 HP / 252 Def / 44 Spd
Impish Nature
- Earthquake
- Knock Off
- Roost
- Toxic

Gliscor's main role is to get up Stealth Rock. I chose it over stuff like Landorus-Therian because of its reliable recovery in the form of Roost. Earthquake is standard and hits many things decently hard. Knock Off is really good for handling frail Pokes that are weak to Dark and for getting rid of a Chansey or Porygon2's Eviolite. I would run Rocks to help wear down the opposing team, but if Rocks are up on both sides I'm pretty much forced to Defog with Latias because of Volcarona and Mega Pinsir's SR weakness. Instead I'm using Toxic

Tumble Dry (Rotom-Wash) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 SAtk / 4 HP
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Volt Switch
- Hydro Pump
- Hidden Power Ice
- Trick

This is pretty much my go-to Rotom set. Rotom makes a great TrickScarfer, and with the variety of Rotom sets out there, a TrickScarfer is not always predicted. Tricking a Scarf onto stuff like Mandibuzz or Bissey can really disrupt an opponent's support Poke. Volt Switch/Hydro are pretty much standard on all sets. I'm running Hidden Power Ice is for hitting Gliscor/Landorus/Garchomp hard. Trick has been explained.

Excaliburn (Aegislash) (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Stance Change
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 HP / 4 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Iron Head
- Shadow Sneak
- Sacred Sword
- King's Shield

Bulky Physical Aegislash. Iron Head covers Togekiss and Sylveon, two problems for this team. Sacred Sword provides necessary team coverage for things like Blissey, and Weavile. King's Shield is standard for reverting to Shield Form, plus the stat drop is nice. I'm not opting for the mixed set mainly because I need the Fairy coverage that Iron Head provides. It doesn't cover Azumarill, but Rotom-Wash handles that nicely.

Sol (Volcarona) (M) @ Lum Berry
Ability: Flame Body
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 SAtk / 4 Def
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Bug Buzz
- Fiery Dance
- Giga Drain
- Quiver Dance

Volcarona has never failed me, this gen or last. Running even HP amount so I don't get 2HKO'd (if you would call it that) by Stealth Rock. Bug Buzz is for STAB and hitting many things neutrally. Running Fiery Dance over Flamethrower/Fire Blast because or the chance for +1 Special Attack/reliable accuracy, respectively. Giga Drain provides necessary coverage of stuff like Azumarill. Quiver Dance is just amazing, and with a few set up, I've often swept teams/gotten forfeits with Volcarona alone.

Alto Mare (Latias) (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 Spd / 244 SAtk / 12 HP
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Dragon Pulse
- Psyshock
- Defog
- Recover

Latias deals with a problem for my team: Stealth Rock. Both Volcarona and Pinsir (once Mega Evolved) are 4x weak to Rocks, so I want a bulky Defogger (also I hate Mandibuzz). 12 HP EVs gives Latias a Leftovers number, and I'm maxing out Speed, so I throw the rest in Special Attack. Dragon Pulse hits tons of things, and Psyshock hits Fairies and Blissey hard. Recover lets Latias stay alive longer to come in and Defog whenever I need it (hopefully).

Stag (Pinsir) (M) @ Pinsirite
Ability: Mold Breaker
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 Atk / 4 SDef
Jolly Nature
- Quick Attack
- Return
- Earthquake
- Swords Dance

And here's my Mega. Mold Breaker threatens Rotom-Wash with Earthquake. After Mega Evolution (if you didn't know), Aerilate turns all Normal-type moves into Flying-type. 1 or more Swords Dance + Return hits things insanely hard that don't resist it. Quick Attack is for some of that deadly STAB priority. Earthquake provides important coverage of Aegislash, which otherwise walls this.

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And that's it for my first RMT! Forgive me if I did something wrong. I'd love to discuss this team in a more "formal" setting than Showdown chat, and I look forward to reading your opinions :D

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Changelog:

• Replaced Carbink with Gliscor
• Replaced Hyper Cutter on Mega Pinsir with Mold Breaker
• Changed Aegislash to a Bulky Physical set
• Added Replays section
• Added Team Record

Replays:

• http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/ou-93066679

Team Record (Wins - Ties - Losses):

• 20 - 0 - 10

 

[Tomahawk]

Hey there, first off: Carbink just isn't that good. It is severely outclassed by Deoxys-S (and Deoxys-D) as a dual screens + hazards setter, and honestly even though Carbink may be your favourite Pokémon you will start getting noticably better results if you replace him with Deoxys-S. Just run Reflect / Light Screen / Stealth Rock / Taunt @ Light Clay with maximized HP and Speed, and a Timid nature.

My issue with this team is the fact that defensively there are several sweepers that can take apart this team easily, for example Mega Charizard X sets up on Volcarona or Aegislash and you have pretty much lost right then and there. Bisharp is also a big threat, Volcarona and Mega Pinsir are the most important Pokémon on your team (at least they appear to be), so Latias is pretty much forced to Defog a lot. If Bisharp comes in, you're not gonna be able to take a +2 Bisharp. Also DD Dragonite with Earthquake, Garchomp, DD Mega Tyranitar. Now, Dual Screens do help, but these are only gonna be up 8 turns and personally I believe dual screen teams should be filled with setup sweeper after setup sweeper to keep the offensive pressure, and I think with what you have now, Scarf Rotom-W, Defog Latias and King's Shield Aegislash, they are all great at wasting turns.

What I think you could do are a couple of things:

1. Drop Dual Screens. In this case I wouldn't bother with Stealth Rock + Spikes Deoxys-S either, Defog is very important on your team. Stealth Rock + Spikes could be used on a suicide lead Deoxys-D team, but since you have to Defog pretty much every time SR is set, it's just not a good solution.
2. Rework your entire team. Not really the best solution in my opinion. Volcarona without Roost and Pinsir-Mega aren't exactly happy with Stealth Rock up, but keeping Defog Latias kind of conflicts with this purpose. You'd have to drop Rotom-W and/or Aegislash as well probably, so you might as well build a new team from scratch instead of this.

So yeah, I'll just give you some suggestions for the first option. I'll just use the Carbink/Deoxys as a free slot to fill with a Stealth Rock user that can reliably complete your team. Now, I don't know how defensive of a member you are willing to use, but a defensively-inclined Hippowdon or Landorus-T would in my opinion be a solid fix for the aforementioned problems. Hippowdon with Earthquake / Stealth Rock / Slack Off / Whirlwind (or Ice Fang) deals with the problems most reliably, but Landorus-T may be more to your liking since it has Intimidate, U-turn and offensive presence which is something Hippowdon lacks, but it lacks the reliable recovery. Stealth Rock / Earthquake / Stone Edge / U-turn is a solid set though.

If you still have some questions or aren't satisfied with this change, reply or tag me (with @ Tomahawk9 without the space), I'll respond asap.

GL with the team

 

[Evilfaic]

Tomahawk9: For option 1, how does Gliscor sound? Would probably use a set like this:

Glider (Gliscor) (M) @ Toxic Orb
Ability: Poison Heal
EVs: 212 HP / 252 Def / 44 Spd
Impish Nature
- Earthquake
- Knock Off
- Roost
- Stealth Rock

Normal Poison Heal Defensive Gliscor. 44 Speed EVs outspeeds un-invested base 100's.

Also, side note, which do you recommend on Mega Pinsir (Quake or CC)?

 

[Tomahawk]

Gliscor could work, but you have to keep in mind that Gliscor has less bulk than the others, and lacks Intimidate when you lack at Landorus-T (though has the advantage of recovery).

+1 252 Atk Tough Claws Mega Charizard X Flare Blitz vs. 212 HP / 252+ Def Gliscor: 237-279 (68.8 - 81.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Poison Heal
+1 252 Atk Tough Claws Mega Charizard X Flare Blitz vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Hippowdon: 246-289 (58.5 - 68.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
252 Atk Tough Claws Mega Charizard X Flare Blitz vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Landorus-T: 196-232 (51.3 - 60.7%) -- 92.6% chance to 2HKO after Leftovers recovery

What I personally would do is test them all, and see what you like best. Theory only gets you so far.

And definitely Earthquake, hitting Aegislash is too important to miss (and maybe switch your ability to Mold Breaker to threaten Rotom-W).

 

[Evilfaic]

As I'm testing this I'm getting a lot of Togekiss and it's been a problem. Also I run into a lot of Garchomp and this team lacks an Ice attack to hit it. Granted, Latias outspeeds unless it's ScarfChomp. I'm also really liking Gliscor, it's kind of a medium between Lando-T and Hippo. Another thing I'm seeing is that I can never find an opportunity to use Aegislash. Thinking of switching it for Bisharp. Another option I see is switching from a dedicated Mixed Aegislash to a Bulky Physical Aegislash, dropping Shadow Ball for Iron Head.

 

[Evilfaic]

Ok, team has been updated in the OP:

• Carbink has been removed in favor of Gliscor.
• Aegislash has become a bulky Physical Attacker instead of a dedicated Mixed Attacker.
• Changelog added so posts referencing the team before changes were made will make sense.

 

[Evilfaic]

Sorry for the triple post, but not having an Ice move is becoming an issue. I'm thinking of getting rid of SR on Gliscor and replacing it with Toxic, and replacing W-O-W on Rotom-Wash with HP Ice.

Edit: This has been testing well so far. I'll test it more and update the OP if I decide to keep this.