SS OU dragapult bulky offense (first team since gen 5... help)

[rcklssoptmsm]

hola everyone. quarantine got me back into playing showdown and i'm just now trying my hand on a gen 8 ou team. the team was built around dragapult bc i think he's cool af. looking for any suggestions literally at all, because this is the first time i've made a team for showdown in like 5 years :) without further ado here we go

Dragapult @ Spell Tag
Ability: Infiltrator
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
- Hex
- Will-O-Wisp
- Draco Meteor
- U-turn
what this team is built around. standard set from smogon, bc the power output with modest max EVs hex after a burn is wack. draco meteor for taking out bulkier fellas that hex can't, and u-turn to keep up momentum since he's super fast. i feel like if i were to switch a move on this, it would be probably u-turn for fire blast just to get more coverage? i think this set is pretty good tho.

Seismitoad @ Leftovers
Ability: Water Absorb
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Scald
- Earth Power
- Knock Off
my main hazard setter and usual lead. made him bulky and i have knock off for things like leftovers to help dragapult take down the bulky dudes that he has trouble with. scald for burn hax bc it's useful for most of seismitoad's switch-ins, and if i'm lucky it saves me a turn having to use w-o-w on dragapult. ep>eq bc he gets burned a lot, so there's no attack drop.

Salazzle @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Corrosion
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Toxic
- Sludge Wave
- Flamethrower
- Nasty Plot
pretty much literally only here for magearna, because she gives dragapult a really hard time. being able to poison her as she shifts her stupid gears and calms her stupid mind is suuuuuper helpful. also useful against other steel types that can be a problem for dragapult, like corviknight. the only issue is salazzle's weakness to psychic moves (aka stored power from magearna) or pretty much any super effective move in general.

Clefable @ Leftovers
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
- Teleport
- Moonblast
- Wish
- Protect
she's my answer to dragons and the bulky fighting types (looking at u conkeldurr) that dragapult can have a hard time with. i've also found that clefable does a good job against zeraora, though maybe a bit unorthodox. considering making her unaware because i've had a hard time with mons that can boost out of control before i have time to do something about it, so unaware would help me handle that a lot easier, but i would miss out on magic guard and she would be a lot easier to wear down.

Corviknight @ Leftovers
Ability: Mirror Armor
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Impish Nature
- Iron Head
- Defog
- Roost
- U-turn
standard cleaner set, although i've found mirror armor to be more useful than pressure since my team is pretty offensive. correct me if i'm wrong tho. also synergizes super well w/ the toad, and even though he was the 5th mon i added to the team, i found that dragapult/seismitoad/corviknight works to be a really good 3-mon core. maybe i should get rid of iron head or u-turn for flying press for more coverage against steel types like excadrill?

Conkeldurr @ Flame Orb
Ability: Guts
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Drain Punch
- Mach Punch
- Knock Off
- Facade
the last dude i added to my team, mostly as an excadrill check, since excadrill can be v problematic. standard guts attacker. this is the one i'm probably most willing to change, because i've found he really only comes out in super niche situations during battle. however, when he does, he's super good at it. this guy was sort of an afterthought, and i'm struggling to find a real solid 6th one that synergizes well with the other 5.

like i said, literally any input at all is helpful. if its just a couple of things, cool, if i gotta throw out like 4 mons, that's great too. also, if it's important information, so far i have about a 70% win rate with the team. ty :)

 

[Surgent James]

I would put pressure on Corviknight due to its more utility role and general bulkiness being useful should you encounter any more tanky mons as then you can run them out of their recovery moves faster, or it will make higher damaging moves run out of pp sooner as well.
for Salazzle I would see about running sub if only to make sure it help it deal with its weaknesses, the other main worry about using it to take out mag is that mon is infamous for its Corrosion ability so while you may make the mag switch out there I don't see it killing it unless your opp really underestimates toxic. I would also give it something like black sludge over heavy-duty boots, or go choice scarf/specs as that would allow you to more quickly damage or take out your opp. I would also almost recommend going bulk up, power trip, defog, roost corviknight due to the combination of utility and sweeping potential.

 

[aqualad33]

Your current ev spread on salazzle doesn't work against stored power mag. Assuming you have to switch salazzle in on mag, she will get a shift gear off making her faster with a stored power that OHKOs 0HP 4 SPD salazzle

 

[Mistytunes]

^
Corviknight's super good, it makes an excellent defogger if you're not running Excadrill as your spinner (which I wouldn't recommend for your team because it feeds off of Salazzle's weaknesses). Your team seems very solid, there's no glaring weaknesses to any one mon I can think of, but you might be better making use of some of the tier's newer Pokemon -- so, without further ado:

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All aboard the "Appreciate Hawlucha" express. I've centered my team around Hawlucha, and honestly, it wouldn't be possible to love this mon more. It has great offensive capabilities, boosted by a godly speed tier after an Unburden boost, and functions well as an early-game check to Steel-types and bulky grass mons (think Amoongus and Assault Vest Tangrowth). It doesn't have access to Mach Punch like Conkeldurr and definitely is a lot more of a glass cannon, but would help cover Salazzle's and Clefable's weakness to Excadrill, and allow Dragapult to sweep late-game by checking Dark-types and common Knock Off users (Mew, rival Fighting-types, Rillaboom, etc). Generally, after it's buffed, it's only real checks are Unaware Clefable and an extremely powerful Sucker Punch, which usually isn't enough to OHKO it without added bonuses like poison or rocks. I honestly can't sing enough praises about Hawlucha as a physical wallbreaker, but I think you could definitely use them.

A little extra bit about Corviknight: he functions very similarly to Skarmory, being able to override defensive mons like Toxapex, and with access to Pressure and Substitute, can PP stall out more passive Pokemon and get set up. There's a little flexibility in running a Corviknight set, you can use Iron Defense + Body Press for massive damage, or stall using Corviknight's fantastic utility moves like Hone Claws, Bulk Up and Iron Defense to get off a massively powerful Power Trip. However, unless you decide to run another defogger like Mew or Mandibuzz, Corviknight functions best as a utility mon with access to Taunt, Defog, U-Turn and Roost -- in short, try to keep him alive as long as possible, and Taunt makes him more useful against Pokemon that need extra time to set up, like Hawlucha and Nasty Plot Hydreigon.

First of all -- Salazzle is an utterly ingenious counter to Magneara. Being only weak to Fire and Earth, and immune to poison, Magneara is a wonderful special wallbreaker, but Toxic can put it on a timer. While Salazzle always hits with a different kind of bat (tail?), she'd probably work best as another stall mon (albeit a frail one) with Toxic, Taunt to stop Stored Power Magneara ahead of time, Venom Drench/Venoshock, and Flamethrower, to damage Fairy and Steel-types.

To end with, I'm definitely no expert, so feel free to take my suggestions under a microscope -- I don't know your style or how you'd work threw different enemies, so by all means, keep on working on your team until you find something that works for you. Have a good day! ^^

 

[rcklssoptmsm]

To end with, I'm definitely no expert, so feel free to take my suggestions under a microscope -- I don't know your style or how you'd work threw different enemies, so by all means, keep on working on your team until you find something that works for you. Have a good day! ^^

First of all, thank you for the Hawlucha idea... it's been working super well for me tonight!! Taunt/U-turn has proven super useful on Corviknight, and I'm trying a toxic/taunt/sub/flamethrower on Salazzle. Overall great suggestions, thanks!!