Ghost is a pretty incredible offensive type this gen, and I've always liked using Blacephalon and Dragapult. Thus, I decided to build a team around spamming ghost moves. As for the team itself, here's my basic thought process: Dragapult and Blacephalon are self explanatory. Ferrothorn pairs pretty well with both of the ghosts, since they tend to force weakened mons to switch and have to take spikes+shadow ball or stay in and lose a mon. Then I added the core of Lando+Corv, which is one I use on 90% of my teams. Landorus is the top dog of OU, and Corviknight is arguably the best defogger in the game. Lastly, Weavile is a fantastic set up sweeper and physical attacker, which the team desperately needs. It's also a great Dragonite and Dragapult check. Now that I've gone over the roles, lets go over the sets:
Dragapult @ Choice Specs
Ability: Infiltrator
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Shadow Ball
- Draco Meteor
- U-turn
- Hydro Pump
Dragapult is one of the premier special wallbreakers of the generation, with it's great speed and decent special attack complementing it's fantastic coverage. Dragapult is really versatile, it can either punch holes early game or clean up late game. This is pretty much the standard set, with dual stab+u-turn and specs. However, I have it running Hydro Pump to smack Heatrans and Hippowdons, since I don't need Flamethrower because of Blacephalon and Thunderbolt is too easy to take advantage of with all the grounds running around the tier.
Blacephalon @ Choice Specs
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Flamethrower
- Shadow Ball
- Overheat
- Psyshock
Choice specs blacephalon hit like a truck loaded with trucks loaded with elephants. Shadow Ball does some really good nuetral damage across the tier, and once the Fire resist is dead you can start spamming Flamethrower instead. Overheat is a pretty solid nuke if you don't feel like predicting the switch, but be wary of using it if there's a Heatran around. Psyshock is in the last slot simply because I couldn't find anything else. I once had trick but I almost never want to lose the specs, so chipping Blissey seems a bit more useful. Open to alternate suggestions, since I have yet to use the move in the last slot.
Ferrothorn @ Leftovers
Ability: Iron Barbs
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Leech Seed
- Spikes
- Body Press
- Thunder Wave
Ferrothorn kinda just sits in front of half the tier. It has a pretty good defensive typing that lets it wall stuff like Tapu Fini, and eating a Surging Strikes from Urshifu. Leech seed is pretty much mandatory on any Ferrothorn set, and so is Spikes. Body Press let's it catch Magnezones trying to switch in, and Thunder Wave instead of Knock Off to avoid weakening Weavile's knock. I could switch to specially defensive, but I find phys defense more useful.
Landorus-Therian (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- U-turn
- Toxic
Specially defensive Landorus is here so we don't insta lose to Heatran. It's also a suprisingly great blanket check to a ton of things, and glues the team together pretty nicely. This is my first time using sp def landorus, and I gotta say I'm impressed. It eats so many attacks from a variety of things, I can really see why it always tops the usage leaderboard. The moveset is fairly self-explanatory, rocks are rocks, EQ is STAB, U-turn pivots, and toxic cripples defensive Pokemon that aren't steels.
Corviknight @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 244 HP / 176 Def / 88 SpD
Impish Nature
- Roost
- Body Press
- U-turn
- Defog
It's corv. What can I say? Rocky helm improves vs stuff like Urshifu and Weavile, and Body Press threatens the latter. U-turn is pivoting, and defog is for hazards. 88 sp. def EVs lets you not be 3HKOed by specs Lele's Psychic. It forms a nice core with Landorus, and despite sharing a typing they share no weaknesses.
Weavile @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Triple Axel
- Knock Off
- Ice Shard
Weavile finishes off the team really nicely. I lacked a Dragapult check, set up sweeper, priority user, and physical attacker. Weavile is all of those in one. At first I thought Weavile was overrated, but after using it I get what makes it so good. Almost every match it pulls it's weight, due to it come in regardless of stealth rock due to hdb, set up on a switch, and proceed to rip through a weakened team.
Heatran is pretty annoying for this team, since half the team is weak to Fire. Sp def lando can handle it for the most part, but if it's chipped enough you have to rely on offensive pressure. Blacephalon does just under half with Shadow Ball (and is 2HKOed with Earth Power from full), but Dragapult scores a guaranteed 2HKO with Hydro Pump. If rocks are up and Dragapult is dead, that's gg.
Again, half my team is weak to Fire and the two resists I have are offensive. This is only really a problem if it comes in on Ferrothorn or Corviknight, since the rest threaten it with either Earthquake, Shadow Ball, or Knock Off.
Not an insta lose, but pretty annoying nonetheless. It can't directly switch into Ferrothorn because of Body Press, but if it comes in on Corviknight and you didn't click U-turn, it's dead. Blacephalon can OHKO it and it doesn't like eating a knock from Weavile or Shadow Ball from Dragapult though.
Yes, another fire type. I haven't actually faced one yet, but it looks pretty scary on paper. After a single quiver dance it outspeeds and threatens to 2HKO (or OHKO) the whole team, but Lando can live a hit and Toxic or EQ, Dragapult can Hydro Pump, and Blacephalon can Psyshock.
Replays:
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8ou-1427830969 vs Sand+Magnezone
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8ou-1425714882 vs HO
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8ou-1427212903-90mdlsdv24rrwdhc01w6cwpi6i3qygtpw vs Magnezone
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8ou-1426357064 vs HO
Last edited: