Ferrothorn and Co.

Lemonade

WOOPAGGING
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I really like the Uber metagame because I can pretty much be fully offensive without crashing hard. So, I created a team that caters to my gasms. None of that Lugia stuff where I tried to CM and got Pressure stalled out of Aeroblast or that monoattacking Latias that has to get to +6 to do anything worthwhile. Ferrothorn is my sole wall on this team, basically.
I play this team not minding Toxic or hazards because I try not to switch much. I just pound on the opponent until they/I fall, and their/my next thing switches in.
Art from various Smeargle's Studio people.

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6-Dimension
Shaymin-S @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Serene Grace
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Air Slash
- Seed Flare
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Earth Power

Overview
I once thought Shaymin-S to be a strange choice for Ubers. By current OU standards, it has great speed and decent Special Attack, but mediocre defenses. However, flinch hax are truly more fearsome now that I have experienced the giving end of them. Shaymin-S generally serves as my lead, only switching when Dialga, Zekrom, or Scizor are evident to oppose it. With Air Slash I can flinch unsuspecting Darkrai and Deoxys-A to death, giving me an early advantage. I play rather recklessly with Shaymin-S, and generally spam Air Slash or Seed Flare. If I feel I need it for lategame, I will let something else lead and use Shaymin-S as a revenge flinchhax killer, as it outspeeds every common scarfer in the tier.

EVs and Nature
The EVs are standard for a sweeping mindset. Max Special Attack lets me deal the most damage as possible, important for reducing the number of hits I need to KO an opponent so that that chance of every hit flinching is higher. Max Speed allows me to outspeed scarfers such as Palkia and Terrakion and flinch or Seed Flare them to death. 4 Defense is really there to keep Shaymin-S’s HP at an odd number so it can potentially switch in more times. I use Modest because 127 base speed-scarfed outspeeds all the common scarfers except Darkrai, who would be leading and most probably using Trick anyway.

Item
Choice Scarf is the only thing that increases speed. I considered Life Orb for more damage, but I felt I needed something fast on my team. Choice Specs was in the same mindset. Expert Belt isn’t worth it, because Shaymin-S doesn’t have the best coverage.

Moves
Air Slash is the primary STAB move that has 60% to flinch an opponent. This is vital to my opening strategy of leaving the opponent one Pokemon down. I will usually pick this first and continue to use it until Shaymin-S faints, hopefully 2HKO’ing Darkrai and Deoxys-A without retaliation.
Seed Flare is the secondary STAB that has an amazing secondary effect, also boosted by Serene Grace. I will use this if the opponent leads with Groudon or Kyogre, and I will usually OHKO them. If the opponent switches, then the switch-in is usually crippled by the –2Sdef and forced to switch out (Blissey, this means you). I use this to my advantage in letting one of my many set up sweepers start their game.
Hidden Power Ice is a coverage move that hits the Dragon infested tier for 2x and 4x damage (mainly Garchomp and Rayquaza). It rarely sees use outside of those two Pokemon, as flinchhax abuse is usually a better choice.
Earth Power
rounds coverage for hitting weakened Dialga, and sometimes (read: never yet) for the SDef drop.



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(quick sketch by me)
Arceus-Drago (Arceus-Dragon) @ Draco Plate
Trait: Multitype
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Swords Dance
- Outrage
- ExtremeSpeed
- Earthquake

Overview
I must say that Arceus is here because I think every Ubers teams needs a Dragon-type. Flipping through the selections, I found Dialga to be too slow and lack that sweepability because Draco Meteor lowers SpA, it has no way of boosting its special attack, and Bulk Up is much too slow for my taste. Rayquaza has a Stealth Rock weakness, and I don’t enjoy spinning much. Palkia is in the same boat as Dialga, as are Zekrom and Reshiram. Garchomp lacks bulk by Uber standards, and I can’t abuse sandstorm with rain. Basically all that was left was Arceus Dragon, which was a very good selection. I play it recklessly like I do all my other Pokemon, switching into assumed choiced Thunders, unafraid of paralysis. I don’t believe SD Quaza outclasses SD Arceus because Quaza is much slower. In essence, I treat Arceus-Dragon as “just another sweeper on my team” and bring it out whenever I think I have a pretty good chance of cleaning the other team (which happens rarely because Kyogre has been doing that ALOTSTOPSPACING)

EVs and Nature
This is pretty standard for sweeping. Max attack so SD boosts to uber high levels, and Max speed to outspeed the 90 base-infested metagame. I chose Jolly but then realized nothing is in its tier worth noting so I will be switching to Adamant ASAP.

Item
Draco Plate is required. I don’t like Extremekiller because Ferrothorn walls it, which is hard to take down in rain.

Moves
Swords Dance lets me boost to high levels pull off a sweep. Like I mentioned earlier, Quaza does not outclass this because Quaza is slow. I often SD after coming in on what I think are choice locked Thunders (from stuff like Palkia), which doesn’t always bode well. I don’t really mind Paralysis because Arceus is extremely bulky and has Extremespeed.
Outrage is my powerful STAB move, which is boosted further by Draco Plate. It hits anything that isn’t Steel-type for massive damage and cleans up endgame very nicely. I spam it as long as Ferrothorn is gone (which is usually is), and I don’t have much trouble because Skarmory isn’t very common.
Extremespeed is awesome priority that is useful for killing those scarfers that have come in a few times already. At +2 it might not be as good as Extremekiller, but it still saves me against tons of stuff. I also OHKO (lolduh) Deoxys-A, whose own Extremespeed isn’t very threatening.
Earthquake rounds off coverage, hitting steels harder than Brick Break, which I had used for one battle before realizing this. I miss hitting Ferrothorn SEly, but a +2 Brick Break only did ~60% (which is annoying when it recovers with Leech Seed and protect). I haven’t actually had to use it yet though.




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(quick sketch by me)
Kyogre @ Leftovers
Trait: Drizzle
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Calm Mind
- Hydro Pump
- Thunder
- Ice Beam

Quick note about Kyogre and Manaphy: I've played a few battles with Wacan Berry because I dislike switching when Zekrom/Palkia come in to Bolt Strike/Thunder (mainly Zekrom). I haven't actually seen this useful yet, mainly because in the quick 4 battles I've had nothing has come in the threaten me.

Overview
I decided I wanted to use Manaphy, so obviously I needed a rain inducer. I’ve played around with a few Kyogre before, but I enjoy this version the most. It functions as a bulky sweeper (one playstyle I absolutely don’t like playing), but can hit hard without any boosts (so it’s OK). For this reason I can stand to use it. I switch it in rather recklessly and proceed to Calm Mind and surprise common switch-ins with my speed. After a few boosts it is incredibly bulky and hits hard with rain boosted Hydro Pump. I also use it as a weather changer against Groudon and Tyranitar. Since neither can do much (Groudon can’t OHKO with EQ and is outsped, Tyranitar rarely carries electric moves from what I’ve played), I CM and Hydro Pump the switch in.

EVs and Nature
Max HP give me bulk on both sides and increases the special side when CMing. Max Speed surprises a lot of other base 90s, who generally expect to outspeed Kyogre. Timid is used to further increase this speed, as Modest isn’t that useful when I don’t have SpA invested. I didn’t invest any offense because Kyogre is naturally powerful with 150 base SpA. The alternative would be investing Defense, but I dislike the bulky offense play of getting hit and hitting back.

Item
Leftovers increases survivability and recovers a good amount of HP when the opponent can’t hit me back. I dislike the scarf variant because so much of the tier resists water and I dislike being locked into a move that is so easily tanked. Specs is useful, but the lack of speed is deadly usually. I’ve used it for Trick Room, which was awesome.

Moves
Calm Mind is my set up move that allows Kyogre to be an offensive beast. I find many opportunities when changing weather or coming in on Scizor’s Bullet Punch. I rarely exceed +2 because it’s just so tedious, even when I have set up fodder.
Hydro Pump is my STAB move that I spam after +1 SpA in Rain. It hits neutrally for great damage, and wears down non-4x resists. Reshiram, for example, falls. Even at +1 I can OHKO Groudon in Sun and Tyranitar in Sand, which is very useful.
Thunder has perfect accuracy and hits opposing Kyogre, whose own Thunder does pitiful damage when I’m at +1 SDef. I also hit Palkia neutrally, who tanks Hydro Pump and all day erry day. Other uses are finishing off weakened opponents with a perfect accuracy move, like uninvested Mewtwo.
Ice Beam rounds off coverage, hitting Rayquaza for massive damage and Dialga for adequate damage. It's often redundant, as Hydro Pump hits harder.




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(full Sketchbook Mobile by me)
Manaphy @ Life Orb
Trait: Hydration
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Rest
- Tail Glow
- Surf
- Ice Beam

Overview
Manaphy: the only 100-across-the-board=600BST to make it to Ubers this generation. For this reason alone, I decided I wanted to use it. I use this little creature’s great 100 base speed to my advantage in late game sweeping. Rest+Hydration under Kyogre’s rain gives me that instant recovery that makes Manaphy hard to take down so that I can continue to spam Rain boosted Surfs. I also play this baby rather recklessly, switching in to everything except Bolt Strikes and Thunders. From there I Rest if needed, or Tail Glow for massive boost. Basically, my playstyle is very straightforward.

EVs and Nature
Max Speed takes advantage of Manaphy’s nice stat, outspeeding the common base 90 and 95 Dragons. This allows me to fire a quick Ice Beam at them before they can harm me. Max SpA ensures that Tail Glow boosts my Special Attack to high levels, allowing me to hit hard. Four defense gives me an odd HP, which for some reason I enjoy.

Item
Life Orb maximizes damage output while not being locked into a move. I can hit especially hard even without a Tail Glow boost, so Manaphy has utility without Tail Glow. Choice Specs isn’t very good because Manaphy doesn’t have a stellar 150 base SpA or higher.

Moves
Rest is essential for all Manaphy sets, as with Hydration it can recover all of its HP in one turn. It also allows me to heal off LO recoil to increase survivability. Despite this, I rarely use it because of my general playstyle. Tail Glow is amazing for an immediate power boost of +3. With this I can decimate weakened teams after just one turn of set up. I am somewhat considering Calm Mind to increase bulk, but I really dislike the sit-there-and-+6 type of play that bulky offense is usually all about.
Surf is my STAB move of choice, which is extremely powerful in Rain and a Tail Glow boost. It has decent coverage in Ubers, but even resisted Pokemon can be KO’d after a Tail Glow.
Ice Beam finalizes the coverage, hitting Rayquaza, Groudon, etc. more damage than Surf. It also helps me against Power Whip-less Ferrothorn. (I have a vague calculation that rain boosted surf NVE does more than neutral Ice Beam. I know this is true for H-Pump)




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chocolate-kipp
Deoxys-A @ Life Orb
Trait: Pressure
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Naive Nature (+Spd, -SDef)
- Psycho Boost
- Ice Beam
- Superpower
- ExtremeSpeed

Overview
Here’s where I will explicate my playing preference. If I could, I would have a team of 6 Deoxys-A, with Band, Specs, Scarf, LO, Focus Sash, and Focus Sash, permanent Fast Guard, and every coverage move needed. The idea would be the plow through the opposing team without stopping to tank powerful Outrages and stuff. Unfortunately, the species clause exists, and nothing else in the game has 180/180 offenses. The inclusion of this Pokemon is absolutely necessary. I send it in for revenge killing, mainly, as it outspeeds neutral base 90 scarfers like Zekrom and Reshiram. However, it has tons of utility in making huge dents in the opponent with its powerful STAB Psycho Boost. I unfortunately can’t play the DNA monster recklessly, because it is literally OHKO’d by anything.

EVs and Nature
Max SpA and Speed make it a sweeper that is unafraid of most everything. It powers up Psycho Boost, the ultra powerful STAB, and Ice Beam, the all important coverage move. Superpower is every powerful without any investment, and is useful for Tyranitar, Blissey, and Darkrai. Naïve is used because I don’t want to dampen Deoxys-A’s attack, and it’s pitiful defenses don’t even care about being lowered more.

Item
Life Orb maximizes damage output without locking me into a move. The recoil is basically nonexistent because Deoxys isn’t taking any hits anyway.

Moves
Psycho Boost is insanely powerful, even though it has not-so-great coverage. I just throw it out to dent ANYTHING, including things named Blissey. I play it much like people play Latio’s Specs Draco Meteor.
Ice Beam has good coverage in Ubers, KO’ing those Dragons and such. It also is useful in finishing off weakened foes where I might not want a Psycho Boost miss or –2SpA.
Superpower is a coverage move, mainly for Dark-types that are immune to Psycho Boost. I also enjoy its immense power.
Extremespeed in the last slot is the only priority I have, and so I use it to get out of pinches and KOing weakened Scarfed foes.

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by Iamslow
Ferrothorn (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: Iron Barbs
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SDef
Sassy Nature (+SDef, -Spd)
- Spikes
- Leech Seed
- Protect
- Gyro Ball

Overview
Ferrothorn is one of those interesting Pokemon that isn’t broken in OU but completely viable in Ubers. It also has my other favorite playstyle (strangely enough), full stall (my definition). It’s strange, but Leech Seed+Protect can outstall and force Extremekiller, Palkia, some Dialga, Zekrom, etc. to switch. I love it. In rain I switch it in to everything except Reshiram to tank any sort of hit, set up Leech Seed, then scram for something to set up. I spike in the downtime and don’t enjoy Specs Water Spouts from Kyogre.

EVs and Nature
For Ubers, special is more common so walling special stuff is more ideal. HP is for bulky, as min HP for Leech Seed is foolish. SDef is also cool. Sassy is to power up Gyro Ball to hit max damage against most everything.

Item
Leftovers is for recovery and heals well with Leech Seed, turning some 2HKOs into even 4HKOs. Shed Shell is useless, as Chandelure hasn’t permeated yet.

Moves
Spikes gives me hazards that make the opponent’s switching to tank powerful moves worse. I don’t actually set it up very much because I forget how many chances there actually are. I mean, in OU it seems like Ferrothorn is set-up fodder for so many things. This may change to Stealth Rock to help my sweepers.
Leech Seed is awesome. I seed something unthreatening (read: not carrying Fire Blast in Sun, STAB Focus Blast), and alternate Protect and Spikes from there.
Protect gives me that vital turn of tons of recovery. In addition, it wears down set up sweepers like Extremekiller (c:).
Gyro Ball is very useful in breaking subs and preventing SDers from dancing.. With 0 IVS and min speed, it hits max power against most things. The problem is that a bunch of stuff in Ubers have pressure, and Gyro Ball gets stalled out easily. However, Power Whip is very inaccurate and has pretty horrible coverage (good against Kyogre, but w/e).

Anyway, thanks for reading. Thanks to the artists who responded in time. I look forward to comments ^,^
 
Threatlist in progress

LUGIA: A poorly played Lugia (staying in and Toxicing Deo-A while it hammers away with Ice Beam) is a pushover. However, good Lugia KILL ME. It PP stalls Ferrothorn's Gyro Ball, kills Deo-A with D-Tail, wears down Ogre with Toxic, etc. Pretty much I have to rely on Manaphy to the the last Pokemon on my party to do anything (and it has to be raining still). Thank GOD I've only played 2 well played Lugia.
Ubers
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Arceus

We'll get back to this guy
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Blaziken

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Darkrai
sleep is somewhat overrated for offensive teams. I can usually pull my way out if Ferrothorn sleep fodders. That being said, I don't actually have problems. Scarf'd variants trick their scarf onto Shaymin's while I Air Slash'd. Flinch is even better, because all sane Darkrai are 2HKO'd. Even if I don't flinch, I switch to Deo-A for the Superpower. Darkrai doesn't seem to switch EVER, so it's really easy. In other words, I love facing Darkrai because it's essentially a free kill
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Deoxys <- no-one uses this right? I mean it has no defense more than Deo-A's no defense, and is weaker.
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Deoxys-A
These are somewhat underwhelming. Against Kyogre I switch out to Ferrothorn to tank a Psycho Boost, etc., who KOs easily with Gyro Ball. Extremespeed OHKOs. Etc.
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Dialga
It usually comes in after Kyogre has a CM boost. In this case, Hydro Pump is a clean 2HKO, and it can't threaten me much. If scarfed, the locked move becomes fodder (Draco Meteor and I go to Manaphy or Kyogre, Thunder and I got to Ferrothorn or Arceus)
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Garchomp
The one Garchomp I faced was OHKO'd by Shaymin-S's HP Ice. Scarfed versions are set-up fodder for Ferrothorn. Otherwise, if worst comes to worst, Arceus kills it with Outrage.
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Giratina
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Giratina-O
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Groudon
FYI +1 Kyogre Hydro Pump in Sun still OHKOs. As does Ice Beam. If it doesn't switch into Kyogre, and maybe Manaphy instead, Ice Beam also KOs it. Deo-A also enjoys freezing it. Rock Polish variants are somewhat problematic, as they can easily tank Extremespeed. Oh, and Shaymin's Seed Flare finished this off.
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Ho-Oh
Honestly, if Rain is up, this thing is weak. I boost up to +1 with Kyogre while tanking a Brave Bird and KO back with Hydro Pump. +3 Manaphy also does about 90% to all variants I've seen. Outside of Rain, I have to be a bit more careful and weaken it before I go in for the kill with Arceus's Outrage. Still, it hasn't posed any problems.
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Kyogre
Specs are scary. Hydro Pump once did ~70% to Ferrothorn WTF (IIRC). However, Modest means my own Kyogre outspeeds and Thunders it. Scarf is fodder for whatever move it is locked into.
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Lugia
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Manaphy
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Mewtwo
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Palkia
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Rayquaza
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Reshiram

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Shaymin-S
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Zekrom
chuuu~~~~ This is such an effective revenge killer because it eats both Manaphy and Kyogre after they have boosts and I have to switch out and deal with it in a roundabout way....However, Dragon Arceus can tank two Bolt Strikes (usually) and SD up for the XSpeed or Outrage KO. I can also use Ferrothorn to wear it down with Leech Seed if it says in, or I get to Leech the switch. Overall, it's never been game changing.
Non-Ubers:
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Blissey
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Chansey
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Deoxys-D
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Deoxys-S
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Excadrill
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Dugtrio
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Espeon
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Whimsicott
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Forretress
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Gengar
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Heatran
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Heracross
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Jirachi
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Kingdra
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Kyurem
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Latias
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Latios
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Lucario
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Ludicolo
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Mew
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Metagross
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Ferrothorn
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Hydreigon
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Scizor
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Chandelure
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Shedinja
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Skarmory
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Tentacruel
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Terrakion
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Tyranitar
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Victini
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Wobbuffett
 
One problem I can see is that an opposing Ferrothorn walls your whole team, assuming it has Power Whip (which most do). An easy way to deal with this would be to put Overheat on your Arceus-Dragon, since Earthquake won't do that much damage. This is also an easy way to kill Forretress and Scizor, while still (usually) killing Jirachi.
If you've been able to play around this, I'd recommend Shadow Claw on the Arceus as a way to deal with that pesky Lugia, who can be more easily killed by physical attacks.


Another problem is Choice Scarf Palkia, who can OHKO Manaphy with Thunder, 2OHKO Kyogre with the same, kill Deoxys-A and Shaymin with pretty much anything, and OHKO Arceus with Spacial Rend. Ferrothorn walls him pretty well, but if he is taken out you have a problem. I'm not sure how you can deal with this, however.

Psycho Boost is not very effective against a LOT of ubers. I would reccommend Shadow Ball on Deoxys-A in order to hit Mewtwo and opposing Deoxys, but your call.

But other than those issues, I like the team. If you play it decently I think it will go far.
 
Yeah Ferrothorn is annoying. I usually weaken it and finish it off with Superpower from Deo-A. if it comes in on boosted Kyogre I can 2HKO some variants with Hydro Pump. Leech Seed Protect is REALLY annoying though. Generally I get rid of it early enough, so it hasn't been as troubling as it could.

Palkia is surprisingly ineffective against Kyogre because it always comes in after I have one CM. I tank one Thunder comfortably while retaliating with my own, then switch to Arceus to set up. By the time Palkia comes around again I can comfortably KO it with Extremespeed.

I definitely haven't used EQ in Arceus yet, so I will give Shadow Claw a try.

Psycho Boost is useful because it can OHKO Reshiram, but true, I have been wanting to hit Mewtwo and stuff. I'll try this out as well.
Thanks!
 
Opposing Ferrothorn are problematic, since they have many opportunites to come in and either lay hazards or sap health with Leech Seed. Lack of Stealth Rock is also a problem; it will make it much harder for you to take out Lugia, Rayquaza, and opposing Skymin. Speaking of Lugia, the Calm Mind set can give you some trouble once it grabs a boost - which it can do easily versus Skymin locked into Seed Flare or Earth Power. My suggestion is to try Forretress in your own Ferrothorn's place. It sets up easily versus other Ferrothorn and can Rapid Spin their hazards away; it gives you a reliable SR user; and it can help defeat Lugia with Toxic, which is also used for wearing down Giratina so you can get a successful Rapid Spin off.

Forretress @ Leftovers | Impish | EVs: 252 HP / 16 Def / 240 SpD
Stealth Rock | Spikes | Rapid Spin | Toxic

With this change I think your team will improve significantly. Good luck.
 
Wow I must have some bias against Forretress. I completely glossed over it when choosing, but what you say makes sense. I'll try this out. Thanks!
 
Good looking RMT, well organized. Only thing ideally have to say is you have too many ice attacks so shadow ball or energy ball or thunder on Deoxys and HP grass on Kyogre because of the fucking snail that issupposedlyUU.... BUt yeah, good team
 
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