Just for the record, I didn't make this team with mono-red in mind. It just kind of worked out that way.
This team is built around the incredibly under-rated Mega Latias CM Stored Power. I think everyone knows how good it is and for some reason doesn't use it. So Latias.
The entire premise of the team is built around Stored Power, which means the more boosts the better, so I wanted to throw on a Baton Passer, even if people get kind of mad at it. Scolipede is the premier passer for all things physical.
Quickly a problem became apparent-When Stored Power is your only attack, it is virtually impossible to touch dark types. The rest of the team quickly came together around solving this one idea. Clefable was an obvious choice.
While Clefable is great for combatting a majority of dark types, it is also just one pokemon and not able to do all the brunt work on its own, so more help was needed. Conkeldurr does this admirably as well, and solves the Bisharp problem.
Dark types were getting easier to break, but now I wanted to patch up a hole in Latias's thick hide, which was fairy types, namely hyper voice from Gardevoir and Sylveon, which broke through substitutes. Also, I wanted a solid revenge killer, and Scizor has always been a personal favorite of mine for the task. He also has bug for even more support against dark types.
Finally, my team's main core was set. However, I still occasionally struggled with Bisharp, and I wanted more offensive presence. I opted for smogon bird because it does a decent job at just about all things offense.
The entire premise of the team is built around Stored Power, which means the more boosts the better, so I wanted to throw on a Baton Passer, even if people get kind of mad at it. Scolipede is the premier passer for all things physical.
Quickly a problem became apparent-When Stored Power is your only attack, it is virtually impossible to touch dark types. The rest of the team quickly came together around solving this one idea. Clefable was an obvious choice.
While Clefable is great for combatting a majority of dark types, it is also just one pokemon and not able to do all the brunt work on its own, so more help was needed. Conkeldurr does this admirably as well, and solves the Bisharp problem.
Dark types were getting easier to break, but now I wanted to patch up a hole in Latias's thick hide, which was fairy types, namely hyper voice from Gardevoir and Sylveon, which broke through substitutes. Also, I wanted a solid revenge killer, and Scizor has always been a personal favorite of mine for the task. He also has bug for even more support against dark types.
Finally, my team's main core was set. However, I still occasionally struggled with Bisharp, and I wanted more offensive presence. I opted for smogon bird because it does a decent job at just about all things offense.
Cardinal (Latias) @ Latiasite
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SpA
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Calm Mind
- Stored Power
- Roost
- Substitute
The ace in the hole. The cream of the crop. The king of the hill. Latias' immense immense bulk combined with the potential for endless power with CM Stored Power means that I can literally smash through anything that isn't a dark type. I mean literally. I once got into a CM war with a CroBro, and we were both at +6, and I proceeded to 3HKO it when it used rest. Honestly, not even pokemon that resist can stand up to his fearsome might. Heatran, one of the premier special walls of OU, can't even scratch him. The only thing Latias fears is a potential Roar/Whirlwind, but often times, these can be removed prior. A fast substitute, especially with baton-passed boosts, means avoiding status from all except pranksters. Roost makes the opponents measly attempts to scratch your hull futile. With enough boosts under his belt, Latias often forces forfeits rather than even needing to win the match when the opponent realizes just how impossible it is to break through the bulk.
Vermillion (Conkeldurr) @ Assault Vest
Ability: Guts
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Drain Punch
- Mach Punch
- Ice Punch
- Knock Off
Bisharp and Tyranitar are the two most predominant dark types in the meta, and Conk answers them both in stride, especially because Clef can't answer Bisharp. This is a very standard set, but investing fully into Special Defense rather than HP gives me some interesting options, as I can now generally win 1v1 against even things like Rotom-W and Keldeo. Also, as I played through the ladder, I realized that often times, passing my boosts to Latias isn't the best option. Sometimes I pull an even bigger surprise on my opponent and pass my boosts to Conkeldurr, who with sufficient speed and defense increases, proceeds to tank everything in existence and hit back plenty hard with drain punch. He has enough bulk on the special side with AV+EVs anyways, so this gives me an unlikely, and therefore surprising, yet also respectably potent option to baton pass to should Latias look unappealing. Conk also switches well into Heatran, who often times tries to get off a Toxic or a Lava Plume, which could activate Guts and just make matters worse.
Rose (Clefable) @ Leftovers
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpA
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Moonblast
- Soft-Boiled
- Toxic
- Protect
I never really understand why Clefable is in OU, but somehow, this little sucker never lets me down. Fully Defensive Clefable is a rare sight to see, but she has come in clutch at the last second more times than I can count. She's a great answer to things such as Mega Gyarados and Tyrantiar, along with my team's best answer to the little gremlin that is Sableye. Toxic/Protect/Softboiled stalling is often a great way to nab a kill that would have otherwise been difficult. I've been considering throwing SR on this guy, because my team has a total lack of it, but there is no move un-important enough that the set is viable without it.
Burgundy (Scolipede) @ Black Sludge
Ability: Speed Boost
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SpD
Impish Nature
- Protect
- Iron Defense
- Baton Pass
- X-Scissor
By passing Defense and Speed onto other pokemon, Scolipede paves the way for other pokemon to seal the deal. Oftentimes people expect me to lead with him, as this seems to be the norm with baton-passers. However, if it is not obvious with my team, this is not an effective strategy for me, as I must remove dark types prior to setting up Latias. Thus, often times, Scolipede becomes an unpredictable force on my team, and can pass to any pokemon in mid-late game, allowing for unlikely holes and victories. Iron Defense and Speed Boost allow me to get the jump and set up on a lot of physical attackers that normally a fully HP and speed invested Scoli would struggle with.
Crimson (Scizor) @ Choice Band
Ability: Technician
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Bullet Punch
- U-turn
- Knock Off
- Superpower
Scizor makes it onto a lot of my teams, and he feels right at home here. Bullet Punch is great for removing the fairies that Latias fears, and also serves as an effective revenge killing tool. Superpower gets the jump on switching in Heatran and Magnezone, and knock off is also an effective move at any point in the game. U-turn gives me another tool to potentially punish dark-types with. His role is straightforward, and he also serves as this teams predominant answer to MegaGross.
Scarlet (Talonflame) @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Gale Wings
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Acrobatics
- Flare Blitz
- Roost
- Swords Dance
Talonflame kind of just got thrown on this team because why the hell not, so if there any pokemon that would fit in here substantially better, I'm all ears. I hate banded T-flame, just because I feel like too many things switch into it with impunity. This set can set-up, sitrus berry allows me to come in on even stealth rocks and only take 25%, or to take an attack that would have 2HKO'd me, SD up on that turn, and proceed to go for a sweep of some kind. He does his job well for the most part, but again, I am all ears if there is some great fit for this slot. Maybe Lando-T?
-This team doesn't have hazards or hazard support of any kind. This is sometimes a problem and sometimes not. It mostly depends on whether or not the opposing team has Talonflame because...
-Talonflame. My best answer to Talonflame is either my own talonflame or clefable, neither of which are known to be great switch ins. Somehow, the stallbreaker variant of talon is becoming super popular, and I end up struggling with it a lot. Again, any advice in this slot would be great.
-MegaGross. This guy is just a hike and a half to deal with. He punches hard against everything on my team and my best answer is to nab a 2HKO with Scizor using Knock Off, but people rarely stay in after the first one. Talonflame can come in sometimes and scare it out with Flare Blitz, but because I lack hazard control, Talonflame often can't keep switching in. It's usually a one-and-done kind of thing as far as Talonflame coming in.
All of these reasons lead me to believe that Landorus-T may be a good option, but I am yet to be sold and still want some opinions, because Talonflame is also really good and occasionally just wins me the game with enough SDs, so I'm hesitant to replace it.
-Talonflame. My best answer to Talonflame is either my own talonflame or clefable, neither of which are known to be great switch ins. Somehow, the stallbreaker variant of talon is becoming super popular, and I end up struggling with it a lot. Again, any advice in this slot would be great.
-MegaGross. This guy is just a hike and a half to deal with. He punches hard against everything on my team and my best answer is to nab a 2HKO with Scizor using Knock Off, but people rarely stay in after the first one. Talonflame can come in sometimes and scare it out with Flare Blitz, but because I lack hazard control, Talonflame often can't keep switching in. It's usually a one-and-done kind of thing as far as Talonflame coming in.
All of these reasons lead me to believe that Landorus-T may be a good option, but I am yet to be sold and still want some opinions, because Talonflame is also really good and occasionally just wins me the game with enough SDs, so I'm hesitant to replace it.
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/ou-216597195
^Everyone except Latias being clutch
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/ou-216618968
^Latias being clutch
^Everyone except Latias being clutch
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/ou-216618968
^Latias being clutch
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