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SV OU Galarian-Zapdos Hazard Stack team

https://pokepast.es/1a95b2551d6a5a10

Within SV OU I believe there has been a generalized formula for how hazard stacks have been conducted that has gone one of 2 ways: Either using :Samurott-Hisui: to guarantee spikes with some sort of spin blocker like :Pecharunt: on more offensive teams, or hazards going up from a :Ting-Lu: with :Gholdengo: to spin block and Defog block. Most these options for keeping up hazards though are more defensive options and I thought it might be more fun to instead punish Hazard removal. The easiest route to that I saw was to capitalize on abilities that with moves lower some stats, leading to certain stats being doubled. With that being said let me introduce the pokemon that this team started around.

:Zapdos-Galar: :

With access to one of the better abilities in Defiant, this was the first mon that came to mind at the idea of punishing specifically defog from :corviknight: . It was between either this or :Ogerpon: But I liked the idea of :Zapdos-Galar: because it isn't as commonly used and it punishes corviknight much more easily than :Ogerpon: . To ensure that this pokemon outspeeds Great Tusk This is a Jolly set instead of adamant. I was oscillating between the speed control of choice scarf and the hard-hitting nature ut ended with banded since any option that would outspeed :Dragapult: would most likely outspeed :Zapdos-Galar: anyways and the extra damage applies much more pressure. With Banded Thunderus Kick as well this pokemon can apply pressure on nearly every defensive wall with its hard hitting attacks as well as the defensive drops. Then if someone leads with :Landorus-Therian: you get the defiant boost and a 2.25 times boosted brave bird that can KO even max hp max defense impish lando (Which isn't even common meaning you probably just guarantee an OHKO anyways). Then with access to knock off you can knock off all the boots on the other side to deal with Hazards anyways. If someone is trying to run a strength sap :Sinistcha: as well then they're going to just give you another opportunity to get a ko meaning that this mon will be applying constant pressure. Instead of boosting the stab hits on it with the tera typing I decided on Tera steel to give it a defensive tera that allowed it to apply pressure for longer instead of focusing completely on damage outputs.

:Milotic: :

With a high hp stat as well as solid bulk Milotic is serving a role as a specially defensive wall on this team. With access to Scald to burn physical attackers switching in , dragon tail to either push out a setup sweeper before they can get out of hand like :Latias: or :Iron Crown: as well as forcing the opposition to deal with the hazards that you've set up by forcing them out. Because Moonblast causes a special attack drop as well Milotic has a great matchup into :iron Valiant: even if it is the calm mind set, and provides the perfect special back up to this team while being a potentially offensive option with the competitive boost, making it into a dual threat on the offensive and defensive end. With a great defensive typing in water as well it can also just be a good switch in. I decided on an ice beam set for this mon, but honestly tera fairy alluring voice feels a bit more valuable so if you want to run that instead I think I may actively recommend it in tandem with alluring voice since it also bypasses substitute.


:Ting-Lu: :

:Ting-Lu: may be the fattest pokemon of all time and it feels borderline unkillable at times with its immense bulk, and on this team it is serving the role of being the hazard stacker with both stealth rocks and spikes going up. To block spin from mons like :Great Tusk: :Ting-Lu: was made into a ghost type tera as well as to no longer take supereffective damage from body press :Zamazenta: or Moonblast :Iron Valiant: and whirlwind a new mon into the hazards that are set up. Then for a strong stab hit the last move that was added to this guy was Earthquake to target mons like :Gholdengo: .

:Pecharunt: :

Pecharunt is the defensive staple for this team with an absolutely monstrous defensive stat, it serves the role of spin blocker perfectly. Even if :Great Tusk: gets the turns right and manages to Headlong Rush both times, you can still just terastallize to get out of the weakness to the headlong rush. Then to switch out of threats trying to pressure like :Walking Wake: on sun, you can parting shot out of the switch in and then work from there to apply pressure with something else like the :Milotic: or the :Dragapult: depending on which sets they may be running. In addition the move Malignant Chain is just cheap and applies instant pressure anyways so it pairs well witha defensive utility mon.

:Dragapult: :

:Dragapult: is supposed to serve as the speed control of this team with the 2nd highest speed stat of anything with usage in the OU tier as well as it having an elite offensive typing. The pult set is pretty basic in that the two stab moves are shadow ball and draco meteor for powerful hits onto anything. Then we added Flamethrower to hit any kingambit who thinks that it has a free switch in into this guy. Finally the last move slot was used on u-turn so that we can keep up momentum on the opposition as well as do a bit of chip damage into any :Blissey: that thinks it can just switch in here for free.

:Great Tusk: :

:Great Tusk: 's utility here is mostly to serve as the hazard removal, but as such an offensively threatening pokemon and with a good defense stat it can also provide enough back up for pecharunt for example if another defensive staple. Then to really have a fully functional hazard stack team it felt necessary to have more than one knocker, so this :Great Tusk: is running knock off for even more knock support. Headlong Rush is being run to pressure the normal mons like :Tyranitar: and :Pecharunt: and :Gholdengo: as well as having a great stab offensive option in general. Then finally Ice spinner is here to go after both :Gliscor: and :dragonite: as well as just be able to chip down :Sinistcha: and pressure the opposition into using strength sap on :Zapdos-Galar: and guaranteeing another KO with that guy, as well as just chipping down :corviknight: once rocks are up. The last move is to make sure that hazards don't become too problematic on your side so rapid spin is of course the last moce on this pokemon.

So with these 6 mons together you have the opportunity to apply massive offensive pressure on Hazard removal whilst still maintaining a solid defensive core that is by no means easy to break through.

Anyways I hope y'all find as much joy in this team as I do and Have a great day in General!
 
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