SM OU [First Team] Beedrill Pivot Offense

[Geobody]

Hey y'all! This is my first team, cobbled together from various inspirations (particularly RedEmption's team), and I wanted to get some helpful feedback on what I can do to improve it!

The Team

Importable: https://pokepast.es/a07997a623c44a36

The idea of this team is to wear the opponents down with hazards (spikes and rocks) and hard-hitting STAB U-turns (Protean Greninja and Beedrill-Mega).
Z-Dig Greninja, Magma Storm Heatran, and Scarf Lele can get surprise kills on each others checks, which then allows me to then keep momentum for the rest of the game.
Team Breakdown

Greninja (M) @ Groundium Z
Ability: Protean
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- U-turn
- Gunk Shot
- Ice Beam
- Dig

This thing is the MVP. Honestly, I don't know why people use Ash-Greninja (so predictable) when Protean Greninja is way more versatile and is often gets surprise KOs. Just make sure to scout for opposing scarfers so that you don't accidentally lose this guy, which can cripple your team.
Z-Dig OHKOs many pokemon Greninja lures in (Magearna, Jirachi, Magnezone, Heatran, Tyranitar, Charizard-X). Z-Dig only does about 75% to Toxapex, so wait to use your Z-move until you already have hazards up and Toxapex has been chipped, because your other moves can't touch it. Its usually good to pick a target for your Z-Dig at the beginning of the match based on who threatens your team the most. Gunk Shot and Ice Beam are for standard coverage. I'm considering putting some EV's into SpA because right now I don't OHKO Kartana without spikes up. I run U-turn because Ferrothorn provides my spikes, plus STAB U-turn does serious chip to opposing psychics and darks who otherwise threaten me (Latis, Tyranitar, Mew, Gyarados-Mega, Hoopa-U, and opposing Greninja if you win the speed tie).
Threats: Basically anything that is faster, doesn't get OHKOed, and resists U-turn. Anything scarfed, Ferrothorn, Toxipex, Zapdos, Tornadus-T, Charizard-Y, Koko, Hawlucha, Lopunny-Mega, Alakazam-Mega, Medicham-Mega, Mamoswine, Scizor, Volcarona. Watch out for Alakazam-Mega stealing Protean and sweeping your team.

Tapu Lele @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Psychic Surge
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Moonblast
- Psychic
- Psyshock
- Hidden Power [Fire]

This thing has amazing synergy with Z-Dig Greninja, who can take out the pesky steels and chip psychics who otherwise wall Lele. Between scarf and psychic terrain, Lele outspeeds the entire non-boosted metagame making it a great revenge killer and late game sweeper. Moonblast and Psychic are your reliable STABS, Psyshock is for opposing Chancey, and HP fire is for revenge killing Scizor and Kartana because Focus Blast is a terrible move. Lele is my check to Alakazam-Mega who gets 2HKOed by Moonblast while I survive Shadow Ball.
Threats: Steels and psychics, other Tapu's who remove psychic terrain, faster boosted mons (especially Vocarona), rain teams.

Landorus-Therian @ Leftovers
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 HP / 212 Def / 44 Spe
Impish Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Hidden Power [Ice] / Defog
- U-turn

Landorus-T has a couple compressed defensive roles on my team as my Stealth Rock setter, my ground and electric immunity, and my slowest U-turn pivot. Landorus-T can be used as a lead to get up Stealth Rocks quickly, but try and keep it alive as long as possible as otherwise the team is very weak to ground and electric. EV spread is just speed creep to outspeed and 2HKO other Landorus-T with HP Ice.
I'm considering replacing HP Ice with Defog to reduce hazard chip and webs crippling my team, but then I lose my own rocks and spikes which is a problem for my team. I would love advice about how to deal with hazards and if there's a good spinner/defogger/magic bouncer I could replace Landorus-T with.
Threats: Anything packing ice moves.

Beedrill @ Beedrillite
Ability: Swarm
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- U-turn
- Poison Jab
- Drill Run
- Knock Off

I don't want to say that Beedrill-Mega is underrated, because it does has a lot of flaws and is UU for a reason, but this thing packs a mean punch with 150 attack and adaptability. At 145 Speed it is outspeeds every non-boosted pokemon in the tier other than Alakazam-Mega, and with Psychic Terrain coverage it is protected from otherwise problematic priority attacks. Like Greninja, it is fragile and shouldn't be kept in on anything it can't OHKO, but it is a great lead/scouter and chips hard with U-turn. This thing is fun and messes hard with teams that aren't prepared for it. Also it can absorb T-Spikes which Greninja and Lele appreciate. Hazards really reduce the amount of times Beedrill-Mega can switch in and use U-turn, but people often underestimate its power. After the opponent has taken some hazard chip Beedrill-Mega can stay in and clean. Make sure to avoid being statused, because after it is burned or paralyzed the only use it has is removing items with Knock Off.
Threats: Like Greninja, anything that is scarfed, doesn't get OHKOed, or resists U-turn. Hazards, Status, Static Zapdos, Steels that resist Drill Run. I haven't found priority moves to be a problem because you can plan around them and only bring in Beedrill-mega when psychic terrain is up.

Heatran @ Leftovers
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Magma Storm
- Earth Power
- Taunt
- Toxic

Together with Landorus-T, Heatran and Ferrothorn form a nice defensive backbone for the team to fall back on. Magma Storm's 75% accuracy is annoying, but its ability to trap helps kill pokemon that would otherwise wall my team.
Threats: Heatran's problem is that it is easy for the opponent to predict when I'm going to switch it in, and then catch it with an earthquake.

Ferrothorn @ Leftovers
Ability: Iron Barbs
EVs: 252 HP / 48 Def / 208 SpD
Careful Nature
- Spikes
- Leech Seed
- Power Whip
- Knock Off

I hate when I'm up against opposing Ferrothorn, so I figured why not use one of my own? This thing walls every non-HP Fire Greninja set, and more importantly it allows you to scout to see what set they are running (Greninja-Ash, Scarf, ect). Spikes and Leech Seed are to chip opponents down so that they can be cleaned up by one of my sweepers, and Knock Off is really helpful for removing items and identifying Z-users.

Team Threats:
Rain - Ferrothorn is the only thing on my team that doesn't get OHKOed by Swampert-Mega in the rain.
Stall - I'm not sure if the team is weak to stall, or if I am just bad against stall.
Opposing scarfers - Its often worth it to switch to Ferrothorn or Landorus-T if you are worried something is scarfed that way you don't accidentally lose one of the more fragile pokemon.
Quiver Dance/Dragon Dance - QD Volcarona, DD Charizard-X, DD Zygarde, and even DD Dragonite fuck me up if I don't stop them early.
Ferrothorn - Heatran is my only pokemon who can hurt Ferrothorn, and it is an extremely predictable switch in. I fucking hate Ferrothorn.

 

[TheTapDancer]

I'm a simple man. I see Z-Dig Gren, I click like.

Honestly though, I don't think scarf lele takes full advantage. Some variant of Calm Mind Z or Specs feels like it can decimate a bulky team once Gren removes Heatran or Mag, maybe backed up by a scarf lando or kartana for cleaning.

But overall this has the problem a lot of volt-turn teams have, that you don't have any way to really abuse your momentum. You're using two fast turners, but neither of your bulky switchins can recover, and none of your offensive switchins can take advantage of defensive plays on your opponent's side to set up. Combine this with Rocks-weak mons and at best semi-reliable one-off defogs and you'll lose to bulky teams.

I built a team around Z-Dig Gren in early gen 7, I'll post it here. I don't advise you copy this team as it's not built for this metagame but the idea of Gren to clear threats backed up by cleaners and setups with solid pivot potential is what you should take from it.

Z-Dig Offence

Greninja @ Groundium Z
Ability: Protean
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Spikes
- Low Kick
- U-turn
- Dig

Magearna @ Assault Vest
Ability: Soul-Heart
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpA / 4 SpD
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Volt Switch
- Fleur Cannon
- Ice Beam
- Flash Cannon

Nihilego @ Life Orb
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Power Gem
- Sludge Wave
- Stealth Rock

Gallade @ Galladite
Ability: Justified
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Close Combat
- Ice Punch
- Swords Dance
- Shadow Sneak

Mew @ Leftovers
Ability: Synchronize
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SpD
Impish Nature
- Will-O-Wisp
- Roost
- Knock Off
- Defog

Garchomp @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Rough Skin
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Dragon Claw
- Earthquake
- Poison Jab
- Crunch

 

[patlop2307]

Hey Geobody! That team you have there sure is interesting. The team does come with its flaws and problems which I am going to point out and try to cover them the best way possible. Without further ado, let us get started...

Overview:​

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I absolutely love Mega Beedrill as a Pokémon, although it has the flaws of being frail on the defensvie end and having a pretty bad defensive typing. The first of which you can work around pretty nicely and the second one... well, you cannot change its typing :^). Jokes aside, I do feel like the team covers most of the common OU-Tier threats which is normally a good thing. BUT, the team has one major issue and that is the sheer passiveness of the team. Mega-Beedrill is one of the Pokémon that lives off of momentum, if that is taken away, Mega-Beedrill is pretty much bound to not work. That is the only major flaw I see with the team, but it needs to be covered at all cost.​

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What is your team weak to?​

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: Ash-Greninja is really annoying to your team seeing as how the recovery options on certain Pokémon are lacking. It can come it on a few Pokémon too (Heatran and choice-locked Tapu Lele) and just click Dark Pulse afterwards. Spikes are also a legitimate concern as you only have one Pokémon that does not get affected by them, that being your remover, that being the Landorus-Therian, not the best of removers on a team that heavily relies on keeping the hazards off 24/7.​

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: Using the Chansey as a stall icon here. While I do see the approach you are trying to make versus stall, I still think you are quite weak to it. Mega-Beedrill alone does not beat stall like a Tapu Lele, or Mega-Mawile maybe does. But even those Pokémon rely on some sort of defensive, and sometimes even offensive support, so that is something I am going to be covering in my changes as well.​

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: As a last weakness, I would like to point out Zygarde. In case you run Defog over Hidden Power [Ice] on Landorus-Therian, you really have no counterplay to pretty much any Substitute set, period. Choice Band-Toxic sets also annoy the team if the Landorus-Therian gets toxiced, regardless of its set, so that is something you have to keep in mind as well.​

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How can you improve the team?​

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Major Changes:​

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: Firstly, I want a relatively reliable remover for the team. I came up with Tapu Fini since it not only counters non-Gunk Shot Greninjas, but it also pressures the rest of the team with Nature's Madness and can at least force recovers most of the time. I chose Heatran as the Pokémon that is being replaced since I do feel like it is a momentum drainer on this team. It wants momentum for itself so it can start breaking, but that again would mean that Mega-Beedrill itself would not work that well.​

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: The first real step of making the team more active here. Not only does Choice Scarf Magnezone provide Volt-Turn support which is needed for Mega-Beedrill, but it also gives you a check to Kartana and Mega-Scizor, which would be a problem after the Ferrothorn is being changed. But aside from that, Magnezone and Mega-Beedrill make up for an amazing core seeing how Mega-Beedrill knocks Pokémon like Celesteela and Skarmory off for Magnezone to eventually trap them.​

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Minor Changes:​

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(

) : I do not think we have enough speed controll on the team yet, hence I am going with the change here. While Z-Dig Greninja is a very cool idea, I just do not see it working after I made the changes above. Greninja gives you yet another fast momentum gainer with access to Spikes, which is why I felt it was pretty easy to drop the Ferrothorn.​

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(

) : Since we already have 2 scarfers on the team (one being fast, the other being a bit slower), I do not think another scarfer is necessarily needed. Also considering the fact that you do have a relatively hard time versus stall, I think that Pokémon is anpther pretty good way of dealing with said style. Taunt has the roll being the "main" breaking utility move here, and Psychium Z + Psyshock gives it some nice coverage since the moves hit opposing Pokémon on the physically- and specially defensive end, respectively.​

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Swords Dance > Drill Run (

) : At last I want to make Mega-Beedrill a, more or less, potent breaker for the team. The set I have chosen to go for is a Swords Dance set without Drill Run since the Tapu Fini already beats Heatran on its own, and there is not much else Drill Run is supposed to hit otherwise. I will admit, though, that the set is a tad bit experimental so if you happen to try the team out, do not hesitate to give me some feedback on the Mega-Beedrill set!​

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Conclusion:​

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The team before lacked a bit of momentum and was just too passive, in my eyes at least. Now you have a team that should not be too weak to too much stuff and, most importantly, have a team that has more momentum going for it. The team is not flawless, however, as Pokémon like Tyranitar, Bisharp, and Nidoking threaten a big proportion of the team. The fact that most of the Pokémon are not really that common is pretty relieving, though. If you have any questions, issues, etc. with the team, feel free to tell me! With all of that being said, good luck in your future endeavors!​

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References:​

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What I use for the rates:

https://www.bisafans.de/pokedex/index.php ; https://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Main_Page

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