Started Showdown competitive battling on Gen 8 OU a few days ago and I really enjoy it and so I wanted to try and make at least a semi-decent balanced own team for ladder. I wanted to build around Dragapult as it is very fast special wallbreaker that is an incredibly large threat in the current metagame as I understand.
Dragapult @ Choice Specs
Ability: Infiltrator
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Shadow Ball
- Draco Meteor
- U-turn
- Hex
Running a relatively normal Specs wallbreaker set. I chose Hex over Thunderbolt or Flamethrower here to allow for dealing with threats by using the Toxic or Thunder Wave coverage from the rest of my team and then have Dragapult clean then up using the STAB 130 power Hex.
Melmetal @ Protective Pads
Ability: Iron Fist
EVs: 40 HP / 252 Atk / 104 SpD / 112 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Double Iron Bash
- Thunder Punch
- Superpower
- Thunder Wave
I was really confused on my other offensive choice, and considered Urshifu-R for a while, but I ultimately ended up choosing Melmetal as an offensive wallbreaker, as I believe he has a lot of coverage to offer to Dragapult's counters. Please let me know if you believe Urshifu-R is better and why as I am really interested in it and debated hard over which to choose. Melmetal provides a counter to a lot of Dragapult's weaknesses with special walls such as Blissey, Toxapex, Clefable, Tapu Fini and Tyranitar to some extent. His Double Iron Bash is a great tool against the fairy walls in Clefable and Tapu Fini and his Superpower is good against Blissey and Tyranitar. Toxapex is susecptible to Thunder Punch as well. Additionally, Thunder Wave goes great along with both Dragapult's Hex and also allows it outspeed the very few base pokemon that are faster than it such as Zeraora using Thunder Wave.
Landorus-Therian @ Leftovers
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 HP / 164 Def / 92 Spe
Impish Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- U-turn
- Toxic
From this point onwards I wanted to have a mainly defensive and utility portion of my team that support Dragapult and Melmetal into sweeping and finishing the game for me. This is what I understand would make it be a balanced team with 2 offensive and 4 defensive pokemon. Landorus-T is a very good defensive Stealth Rock setter as I understand, and also has access to Toxic to help with the aforementioned Hex from Dragapult. The U-turn can help get a clean swap in dicey situations, which can be chained with other very fast U-turns like Dragapult's own.
Slowking @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Sassy Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 0 Spe
- Scald
- Slack Off
- Future Sight
- Teleport
Slowking is an amazing stall tool as a special wall, as I understand and a complements Lando-T well. His Regenerator and Heavy-Duty Boots allow him to live for a very long time using his teleports and easy switches from the likes of Dragapult and Corviknight into and out of him as well to sustain his health. His Future Sight, Slack Off and Teleport provide him virtually infinite special bulk.
Corviknight @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Pressure
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 HP / 168 Def / 88 SpD
Impish Nature
- Brave Bird
- U-turn
- Roost
- Defog
Corviknight has it's place on the team primarily for being the premier defogger in the tier due to it's great typing and decent bulk. It also complements Lando-T well as a core just like Slowking, due to being a bruiser using Rocky Helmet and being able to take decent hits on switch in and also useful against Fairy types that try to threaten Dragapult.
Clefable @ Leftovers
Ability: Magic Guard
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 HP / 200 Def / 56 SpD
Calm Nature
- Moonblast
- Wish
- Soft-Boiled
- Knock Off
Finally, Clefable is on this team due to it complementing Corviknight well as a combo with both countering each other weaknesses. I opted not to used Stealth Rock on this Utility Clefable as Lando-T has it, and opted to get Wish instead which is a very useful tool in healing team members and adding additional sustainability to the team in the form of a cleric. Clefable is also an incredible asset due to it's survivability in my experience as with it's Leftovers, Wish and Soft-Boiled it can take many hits (physical or special) mainly, and so I would imagine it adds stall factor until I can create a situation for my offensive pieces to win by sweeping the rest of the bruised or weak by typing pieces of my opponent's team (correct me if this thinking is wrong), similarly to Slowking.
I would love any suggestions and any constructive advice at all. I will also take any education about the tier and specifics as I am really interested in learning about it and getting used it. If you've read this far, thanks for taking the time out of your day to help me and I hope you have a wonderful day
.
The Team - https://pokepast.es/850ccf2771d1a4c4
Dragapult @ Choice Specs
Ability: Infiltrator
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Shadow Ball
- Draco Meteor
- U-turn
- Hex
Running a relatively normal Specs wallbreaker set. I chose Hex over Thunderbolt or Flamethrower here to allow for dealing with threats by using the Toxic or Thunder Wave coverage from the rest of my team and then have Dragapult clean then up using the STAB 130 power Hex.
Melmetal @ Protective Pads
Ability: Iron Fist
EVs: 40 HP / 252 Atk / 104 SpD / 112 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Double Iron Bash
- Thunder Punch
- Superpower
- Thunder Wave
I was really confused on my other offensive choice, and considered Urshifu-R for a while, but I ultimately ended up choosing Melmetal as an offensive wallbreaker, as I believe he has a lot of coverage to offer to Dragapult's counters. Please let me know if you believe Urshifu-R is better and why as I am really interested in it and debated hard over which to choose. Melmetal provides a counter to a lot of Dragapult's weaknesses with special walls such as Blissey, Toxapex, Clefable, Tapu Fini and Tyranitar to some extent. His Double Iron Bash is a great tool against the fairy walls in Clefable and Tapu Fini and his Superpower is good against Blissey and Tyranitar. Toxapex is susecptible to Thunder Punch as well. Additionally, Thunder Wave goes great along with both Dragapult's Hex and also allows it outspeed the very few base pokemon that are faster than it such as Zeraora using Thunder Wave.
Landorus-Therian @ Leftovers
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 HP / 164 Def / 92 Spe
Impish Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- U-turn
- Toxic
From this point onwards I wanted to have a mainly defensive and utility portion of my team that support Dragapult and Melmetal into sweeping and finishing the game for me. This is what I understand would make it be a balanced team with 2 offensive and 4 defensive pokemon. Landorus-T is a very good defensive Stealth Rock setter as I understand, and also has access to Toxic to help with the aforementioned Hex from Dragapult. The U-turn can help get a clean swap in dicey situations, which can be chained with other very fast U-turns like Dragapult's own.
Slowking @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Sassy Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 0 Spe
- Scald
- Slack Off
- Future Sight
- Teleport
Slowking is an amazing stall tool as a special wall, as I understand and a complements Lando-T well. His Regenerator and Heavy-Duty Boots allow him to live for a very long time using his teleports and easy switches from the likes of Dragapult and Corviknight into and out of him as well to sustain his health. His Future Sight, Slack Off and Teleport provide him virtually infinite special bulk.
Corviknight @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Pressure
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 HP / 168 Def / 88 SpD
Impish Nature
- Brave Bird
- U-turn
- Roost
- Defog
Corviknight has it's place on the team primarily for being the premier defogger in the tier due to it's great typing and decent bulk. It also complements Lando-T well as a core just like Slowking, due to being a bruiser using Rocky Helmet and being able to take decent hits on switch in and also useful against Fairy types that try to threaten Dragapult.
Clefable @ Leftovers
Ability: Magic Guard
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 HP / 200 Def / 56 SpD
Calm Nature
- Moonblast
- Wish
- Soft-Boiled
- Knock Off
Finally, Clefable is on this team due to it complementing Corviknight well as a combo with both countering each other weaknesses. I opted not to used Stealth Rock on this Utility Clefable as Lando-T has it, and opted to get Wish instead which is a very useful tool in healing team members and adding additional sustainability to the team in the form of a cleric. Clefable is also an incredible asset due to it's survivability in my experience as with it's Leftovers, Wish and Soft-Boiled it can take many hits (physical or special) mainly, and so I would imagine it adds stall factor until I can create a situation for my offensive pieces to win by sweeping the rest of the bruised or weak by typing pieces of my opponent's team (correct me if this thinking is wrong), similarly to Slowking.
I would love any suggestions and any constructive advice at all. I will also take any education about the tier and specifics as I am really interested in learning about it and getting used it. If you've read this far, thanks for taking the time out of your day to help me and I hope you have a wonderful day
.The Team - https://pokepast.es/850ccf2771d1a4c4
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