Hello, I make bad sets and worse teams. I have a fun team featuring the Thunder Chicken for you. This was originally posted in the OU Bazaar, but it ended up better than I first thought, so posting it here.
Highlighting the double "zaps" of Regieleki and Zapdos-Galar, this team focuses on applying lots of pressure to the opponent through hazards and status. Where the team diverges from full stall is through the use of banded zapdos to punish hazard removal, and an unusual regieleki set that capitalizes on the support from the rest of the team.
All in all, I think this is a very fun team to use. You can turtle vs common offenses with your defensive walls, control most weather games with hippowdon and regieleki, and have the ability to outplay lots of teams with zapdos-G with smart switching.
Importable
Building the Team I use these two pokemon on way too many teams. Started with these and the aim of using healing wish.
Meandered through a bunch of offensive variants like the ones above that put more of a focus on softening up the opposition for a sweeper like garchomp or weavile. These were fun, but not the most consistent.
I threw some basic stall + hazard stack core on and with a few tweaks it ended up working great. Inspiration was from ABR 's team from the OLT thread that had Tapu Koko as the offensive component. The core idea of loading up on hazards and not caring so much about those on your side is appealing.
I don't really build bottom-up, so sorry if you were expecting a step-by-step process here. 
Set Details
Zapdos-Galar @ Choice Band
Ability: Defiant
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Brave Bird
- Thunderous Kick
- U-turn
- Close Combat
The first Zap -- I think galar zapdos is a better defog punish than bisharp. +2 Banded STABs kill the whole tier bar static zapdos. Super good vs the ever so common landorus, especially now that most are specially defensive. Resists common priority and shreds sand by itself. Regieleki doubling into Zapdos is the easiest play in the world. Most of the time, you should just click one of the STAB moves. the only time you hit U-Turn is if they have rocky helmet slowbro and you have no boosts. Thunderous kick is how you ruin balance teams -- for when you see that the opponent will try to do some dumb switching. Use this aggressively into defog and landorus-T. This is also a back-up stop to kartana, rillaboom, bisharp, etc if you mess up with Skarmory.
Boppin ' stuff:
+2 252 Atk Choice Band Zapdos-Galar Close Combat vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Corviknight: 399-469 (99.7 - 117.2%) -- 93.8% chance to OHKO
+2 252 Atk Choice Band Zapdos-Galar Brave Bird vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Toxapex: 306-360 (100.6 - 118.4%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252 Atk Choice Band Zapdos-Galar Close Combat vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Ferrothorn: 338-402 (96 - 114.2%) -- 75% chance to OHKO
Regieleki @ Leftovers
Ability: Transistor
EVs: 84 HP / 252 SpA / 172 Spe
Timid Nature
- Protect
- Substitute
- Rapid Spin
- Thunder Cage
Blessed is the second Zap. OU's pariah. I cry for thee, regieleki.
Regieleki is actually broken. It's way too fast, super strong with no choice items, and forces specific lines of play from the opponent. The common regieleki trope is that it's "useless" when the opponent has a ground or fat SpD wall, however, with this trapping set (and the power of Toxic Spikes, Regieleki can wear through the common grounds that so plague its being. Sub+Protect+Thunder Cage should all be self-evident. Rapid spin may be a bit out of place, especially considering the lack of boots, but a few too many times, I was out-pressured by similar spikes-stacking teams. I needed to drop volt switch for rapid spin to get the near-guaranteed hazard clear. Probably some space to go back to voltswitch if I go boots on hippowdon as well. EVs are to go faster than 110 at +1, so you beat kartana, gengar, latias/latios, etc. I think there is also an important defensive EV requirement that i'm forgetting to live + 1 extreme speed from Dragonite after rocks, but I can't be bothered with that level of tweaking.
From here down, the team is classic fat core. Nothing should be too surprising.
Blissey (F) @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Healing Wish
- Toxic
- Soft-Boiled
- Teleport
Blissey needs no intro. Eats all special attacks. Juicy ghost resist. Pivots on everything. yada yada. Healing wish is the interesting choice here: Zapdos in particular gets worn down a bunch, whether it be through status, contact damage, or brave bird. Getting a second wind with healing wish lets the team crack through cores that are otherwise reliant on winning through chip. Sometimes its worth saving your hippo or skarmory witha healing wish if they get crippled in certain matchups. I have harped on rocky helmet blissey previously, but here, I found that boots were more important (I',m still going back and forth on this). Seismic toss I clicked maybe 1 in 20 games, so it was dropped. Toxic is necessary to not lose to calm mind stuff. Teleport gets things in for free vs special attackers.
Hippowdon @ Leftovers
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
- Slack Off
- Whirlwind
- Earthquake
- Stealth Rock
Ye olde wall. Set rocks, beat electrics, cycle stuff over your hazards. Boots may be better than leftovers, but this thing eats a lot of knock offs. Toxic is definitely desired, though you need this for rocks since blissey wont set them, and skarmory doesnt have the space for it. Make aggressive plays with hippo vs weather teams; it's fatter than you think.
Skarmory @ Shed Shell
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Body Press
- Iron Defense
- Spikes
- Roost
Steel bird. Walls landorus, rillaboom, kartana, weavile (usually), bisharp, buzzwole, garchomp, dragonite and so on. Iron defense is necessary so you don't lose to everything. Spikes are what you do when you get free turns. Don't let shed shell get knocked off for nothing, or else you will have to monumentally outplay grass spam after skarmory gets trapped. If you face sun with garchomp, concede.
Toxapex @ Shed Shell
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 248 HP / 140 Def / 120 SpD
Impish Nature
- Knock Off
- Recover
- Toxic Spikes
- Haze
Ev's live specs Kyurem freeze dry. Lead this and click knock off. All toxapex should run knockoff and recover. Toxic spikes are core to this team's strategy. Haze is also necessary on toxapex, since this team has no unaware pokemon. Light Screen would be nice to fit, but without another knockoff user on the team, you are reliant on toxapex to gets boots off the opposing grounds/zeraora. Toxapex is your first pivot into heatran and trapper fini; knock off their leftovers and get outta there. Most games you will lead toxapex to eat trick, knock off a choice item, whatever.
Threats
Overall, I didn't find that this team had any horrendous matchups. Obviously it's lacking some priority-based speed control, so stuff like double weather sweeper teams or the sneaky DD dragapult could pose problems if you don't see the set.
Specs kyurem that avoids the knock off can put a lot of pressure on blissey. SD garchomp is cheese. you can just lose to a stone edge crit or fire fang in sun.
. Taunt + nasty plot is challenging. You'll have to go hard to regieleki on a taunt. Important to knock this off.
You have no switch-ins. You have to knock it off, offensively beat it, or get the read on choice sets. Specs moonblast is way too strong.Future sight + Water Spam. Usually, you want to beat future sight offensively with this team, but hippo, skarmory, or blissey can handle most FS combos. Banded Urshifu you shouldn't let in, but if you do, something dies. This is why I'm looking for ways to get light screen into the team.
How To Beat...
Stall
Load up hazards and catch 'em slipping with Zapdos when they defog. If corvinknight dies, you win. Direct all opposing toxics to your toaxpex
Balance
Same as stall. Kill the defogger. Load hazards.
Hail
If they read the hippo switch and blizzard you, then RIP, but otherwise zapdos does a number on most weather teams while the weather is down. Deny veil as much as you can and use regieleki to force switches into Landorus-T.
Sand
Easy. Hippo + Skarmory walls most sand teams.
HO
Careful vs webs since it will cripple your regieleki, which you need to win vs some sweepers. Thunder cage is very strong and will usually cleanup after a round of hazards. Use healing wish aggressively.
S Rank:
S Rank
Dragapult
Blissey nullifies. Physical variants get beaten by hippo. Dont get surprised by band
Landorus-Therian
You have skarmory + zapdos-G. The tricky part can be getting a toxic on it if they play scared. Gravity/Smackdown not encountered. You would have to sac or read the SD and go hard to zapdos.
S- Rank
Heatran
Toxapex into Hippo
A Rank:
A+ Rank
Clefable
Phase with hippo if it sets up, otherwise, toxapex walls. Zapdos will beat it 1v1 as long as clefable is not a life orb version if it comes down to it.
Corviknight
You pressure the bejesus out of corvinight. Don't let it defog unless you want it to.
Garchomp
hard to skarmory. It it's lead, then it's probably fire blast, in which case go hippo.
Slowking
DO NOT GIVE IT FREE FUTURE SIGHTS.
Toxapex
Don't let it knock off zapdos. +2 brave bird kills. Regieleki traps.
Urshifu-R
Alone, it's easy: go toxapex. You lost if you let it get future sight in the rain.
Weavile
toxapex + haze boots versions. Skarmory also beats it, but you need to preserve skarmory in some matchups.
Zeraora
hippo walls.
A Rank
Dragonite
Skarmory walls
Ferrothorn
Zapdos and skarmory take advantage
Kartana
Scout with toxapex, then go skarmory. Use caution around knock off. Regieleki always revenges
Kyurem
Goal is to knock off the item. Then blissey wins. If substitute, hippo can phase.
Melmetal
Knockoff into skarm
Slowking-Galar
It will try to eat your zapdos attacks. it can't
Tapu Fini
Tapu Koko
hippo.
Tapu Lele
Hard. you have to hope it's choice and guess right.
Tornadus-Therian
Taunt sets are a pain, but you can switch around and take its boots.
Volcarona
Always blissey. If it's safeguard, then you have pex and hippo.
A- Rank
Bisharp
Don't try to be fancy. just attack it
Blissey
Zapdos
Buzzwole
Zapdos
Hippowdon
If it's boots, you'll have a tough time. Try to knock off so that Tspikes do something.
Hydreigon
Blissey needs to toxic into teleport mospt of the time.
Magnezone
Let it come in on skarmory then go hippo. Easy
Rillaboom
Birds
Scizor
REgi or bird
Skarmory
Regi
Zapdos
Static is a pain. get a toxic or knock off on this and then zapdos G will eventually get through.
S Rank
Dragapult
Blissey nullifies. Physical variants get beaten by hippo. Dont get surprised by band
Landorus-Therian
You have skarmory + zapdos-G. The tricky part can be getting a toxic on it if they play scared. Gravity/Smackdown not encountered. You would have to sac or read the SD and go hard to zapdos.
S- Rank
Heatran
Toxapex into Hippo
A Rank:
A+ Rank
Clefable
Phase with hippo if it sets up, otherwise, toxapex walls. Zapdos will beat it 1v1 as long as clefable is not a life orb version if it comes down to it.
Corviknight
You pressure the bejesus out of corvinight. Don't let it defog unless you want it to.
Garchomp
hard to skarmory. It it's lead, then it's probably fire blast, in which case go hippo.
Slowking
DO NOT GIVE IT FREE FUTURE SIGHTS.
Toxapex
Don't let it knock off zapdos. +2 brave bird kills. Regieleki traps.
Urshifu-R
Alone, it's easy: go toxapex. You lost if you let it get future sight in the rain.
Weavile
toxapex + haze boots versions. Skarmory also beats it, but you need to preserve skarmory in some matchups.
Zeraora
hippo walls.
A Rank
Dragonite
Skarmory walls
Ferrothorn
Zapdos and skarmory take advantage
Kartana
Scout with toxapex, then go skarmory. Use caution around knock off. Regieleki always revenges
Kyurem
Goal is to knock off the item. Then blissey wins. If substitute, hippo can phase.
Melmetal
Knockoff into skarm
Slowking-Galar
It will try to eat your zapdos attacks. it can't
Tapu Fini
Tapu Koko
hippo.
Tapu Lele
Hard. you have to hope it's choice and guess right.
Tornadus-Therian
Taunt sets are a pain, but you can switch around and take its boots.
Volcarona
Always blissey. If it's safeguard, then you have pex and hippo.
A- Rank
Bisharp
Don't try to be fancy. just attack it
Blissey
Zapdos
Buzzwole
Zapdos
Hippowdon
If it's boots, you'll have a tough time. Try to knock off so that Tspikes do something.
Hydreigon
Blissey needs to toxic into teleport mospt of the time.
Magnezone
Let it come in on skarmory then go hippo. Easy
Rillaboom
Birds
Scizor
REgi or bird
Skarmory
Regi
Zapdos
Static is a pain. get a toxic or knock off on this and then zapdos G will eventually get through.
Replays
I also have the worst GXE of anyone in top 50. Alt accounts are for the weak. Peak 1930.
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8ou-1397154035 vs copy-paste choice item rain
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8ou-1397112252 vs 2 ground + tangrowth
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8ou-1397296414 vs sand. Zapdos destroys
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8ou-1397297315 vs cool stall
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8ou-1397301826-abkyno3jy2p43s0s9wjxxtghfiwjo27pw vs scary breakers. EpicRegiGaming
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8ou-1398220643 vs hail. regi doing work
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8ou-1398233642-s0euep0p3enpsew1xm9ss2o7l0qlzklpw +1 regi > +2 barraskewda
Feedback
I would love input on sets, EV's, or even pokemon in the defense core, since I'm sure there is refinement to be made there. Regieleki and Zapdos I will be keeping no matter what. If you try the team out, let me know what you think -- any weaknesses I missed?
Last edited:
Impish ---> Relaxed, IVs: 19 Spe