GOING UP Mega Tyranitar + CB Urshifu-RS Offense
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PART 1: INTRODUCTION [A MESSAGE FROM THE STARS]
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It's been a while. Since my last RMT, ND banned Terastallization and changed the course of the metagame. I decided to try my hand at building, but my first few attempts weren't consistent nor successful. This was the first team that I came up with that enjoyed continued success, and eventually I managed to get suspect requirements with this team alone against a surprising variety of teamstyles on ladder.
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PART 2: TEAMBUILDING PROCESS [ROCK ME DOWN TO RIO]
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I wanted to build around this core of two powerful physical attackers that cover one anothers' checks well. Mega Tyranitar is a great progress maker, being able to remove boots from the few things that check Banded Urshifu-RS such as Toxapex, offensively check and Pursuit-trap other threats like Specs Dragapult, and pick off Psychic-types like Glowking and Tapu Lele so that Urshifu can spam Close Combat rather than the riskier Surging Strikes. Meanwhile, CB Shifu is terribly difficult to wall - with good prediction, everything just drops. This is further aided by Mega Tyranitar's antics, letting both work in tandem to form the main wallbreaking core of the team.
I added these two in because of their natural defensive synergy as well as their great utility for the team. Lando is a blanket physical wall thanks to Intimidate, while allowing Mega Tyranitar to drop Stealth Rock and providing valuable pivoting opportunities for the rest of the team. Oftentimes, it can easily trade with a huge physical threat simply through Sand + Rocks + Rocky Helmet chip. Hex + Thunder Wave Gholdengo, on the other hand, dampens the Fairy weakness of our two main wallbreakers and allows them to flourish by paralyzing Choice Scarf Tapu Lele and ruining Booster Speed Iron Valiant.
Finally, these two were thrown on at the end to fix a few glaring problems with the team - there was a dire lack of speed control, so Choice Scarf Tapu Lele was thrown on as a benefactor of the two main wallbreakers ravaging every Steel-type in the tier, while the team seemed very weak to any form of hazards from Rocks to Toxic Spikes leading to the inclusion of Terapagos.
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PART 3: THE TEAM [PERFUMED GARDENS]
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messages from the stars (Tyranitar-Mega) @ Tyranitarite
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 92 HP / 252 Atk / 164 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Stone Edge
- Knock Off
- Pursuit
- Low Kick
Mega Tyranitar has been a tried-and-true concept for quite a while at this point. 3 of the 4 moves are standard: Knock Off exerts ludicrous amounts of pressure while dealing very good damage as a bonus, Stone Edge gifts you a second terrifying STAB move, and Pursuit has great utility in this Dragapult and Gholdengo-infested metagame. The EV spread is also standard, allowing Mega Tyranitar to outspeed no Speed investment Landorus-T and Kingambit. I wouldn't call this an innovation - after all, it's slashed on the analysis set - but Low Kick on Mega Tyranitar allows us to pressure checks like Ting-Lu, Kingambit, and Ferrothorn, while putting overconfident Roaring Moon users in their place. I chose to remove Rocks considering Lando already had them.
sam the samba man (Urshifu-Rapid-Strike) @ Choice Band
Ability: Unseen Fist
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Surging Strikes
- Close Combat
- U-turn
- Aqua Jet
Band Urshifu-R has no counters that aren't harassed by the rest of the team. If Toxapex gets its Boots removed while Banded Shifu is still around, something will die. Common checks to Scarf Urshifu, like Alomomola, don't work - they just get blasted by Close Combat. The main concern of this set is PP, although that isn't too much of an issue considering how nuclear its attacks are. U-turn allows us to keep crucial momentum. Finally, Aqua Jet may seem anti-synergistic with Tapu Lele's Psychic Terrain, but it is so valuable outside of terrain that I would not recommend dropping it - either way, Ice Spinner's usual targets drop to a BandShifu STAB.
perfumed garden (Landorus-Therian) (M) @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 HP / 32 Def / 224 Spe
Jolly Nature
- U-turn
- Taunt
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
Standard Lando-T shenanigans here, not much to say. Another pivot in U-turn, this time far more defensively biased than previously, and Taunt denies hazards from the likes of Ferrothorn and Ting-Lu. Rocks are immensely helpful in both chipping down foes for both wallbreakers as well as allowing Mega Tyranitar to forgo Rocks for Low Kick. Standard EV spread again, letting this Lando outspeed Great Tusk without Booster Speed activated. It's a great piece here as it is our only Ground-type - do be warned that this cannot die easily. If it does, and there is an Electric-type on the opponent's team, your only hope is to win before they do using Mega Tyranitar as your stopgap check.
winter love (Gholdengo) @ Ghostium Z
Ability: Good as Gold
EVs: 252 HP / 96 Def / 100 SpD / 60 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Hex
- Focus Blast
- Thunder Wave
- Recover
Again, another standard set - Thunder Wave Gholdengo is an excellent paralysis spreader, hazard removal stopper, and check to Tapu Lele, a major threat for the team, with its few Ground-type foes getting eviscerated by Surging Strikes and its fellow phantasms being crushed by Pursuit. Hex both snipes paralyzed foes and Gliscor, while Focus Blast is key for Kingambit and Mega Tyranitar to avoid being Pursuit-trapped (alongside hitting Terapagos as a nice bonus). The given EVs are standard, allowing Gholdengo to survive a Specs Pult's Shadow Ball and outspeed uninvested Lando and Gambit.
two bodies (Tapu Lele) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Psychic Surge
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Psychic
- Focus Blast
- Moonblast
- Hidden Power [Fire]
Choice Scarf Tapu Lele serves as a ferocious late-game cleaner - if I had to estimate, roughly 70% of my games have had a Lele cleanup - as well as a great revenge-killer. Once the Steel-types the physical breaker core handles fall to pieces, Tapu Lele is free to click its STABs to its heart's content. Focus Blast and HP Fire destroy Heatran, Ferrothorn, and Mega Scizor after some chip damage, which isn't hard to come by on this team. Crucially, Tapu Lele also stops a Kingambit reverse sweep if Mega Tyranitar and Urshifu are both low or dead thanks to Psychic Terrain.
party games (Terapagos-Terastal) @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Tera Shell
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Rapid Spin
- Tera Starstorm
- Earth Power / Ice Beam
- Flamethrower / Ice Beam
Terapagos is the team's spinner and generally serves as a one-time check to most dangerous threats thanks to Tera Shell while also being able to clean up hazards easily thanks to its good Speed and incredibly strong Tera Starstorm. Earth Power and Flamethrower hit all the Steel-types for great damage, ensuring Ferrothorn doesn't get greedy with hazards, but one can be dropped for Ice Beam to combat DD Roaring Moon and DD Dragapult, two major issues for the team in its current state.
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PART 4: REPLAYS [HUNGER FOR YOUR JUNGLE LOVE]
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vs. Stall
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9nationaldex-2310359172-vi11qwbboggge6fbl1ihykq5xr95b5bpw?p2
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9nationaldex-2310772513-76agfj0l7na3wxtnedo4in1qdygt3j1pw
vs. Balance
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9nationaldex-2310405994-rlsv5k148gs0dfkkdt1o4n4d76k197spw?p2
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9nationaldex-2310403785-cf4ryfm1q7kijsdarism5rnhuuetqfnpw?p2
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9nationaldex-2310287143-m579u8jcejwac8iu9lpbeyuioxcnnp9pw
vs. Offense
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9nationaldex-2310135518-q1optwanpb1xjmt3u17qftrjpjhiq6dpw [ND Majors Pools]
more replays coming soon
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PART 5: USAGE TIPS [SAM THE SAMBA MAN]
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vs. Stall | Stall is an incredibly good matchup for this team due primarily to Mega Tyranitar's prowess at trading and breaking through stall teams with BandShifu and Rocks support. The main roadblock is getting your Mega Tyranitar burned, but if you avoid that the game should be smooth sailing. |
vs. Balance | Against balance teams, Mega Tyranitar is still your friend, but it will likely take a back seat to Choice Band Urshifu's devastation of Pexless balances. Knock Off and Rocks support is always valuable. Don't be afraid to use Scarf Lele as a revenge killer - better it come out than taking needless chip on something without recovery. |
vs. Offense | Be prepared to use your Tapu Lele often and early - you cannot afford to fall too far behind. It's okay to sacrifice your Rocks going up if it means you trade with an enemy that is key to your opponent. Be sure to leverage the natural bulk of Mega Tyranitar and Gholdengo. |
vs. HO | HO is very likely the toughest matchup for this team because this team relies on being able to either outspeed or chip down setup sweepers to deal with them. HO often carries sweepers that outspeed Scarf Lele after a boost - Dragapult and Roaring Moon are the worst offenders as they can easily run away with a game if Shifu locks into Surging Strikes. Don't lock into moves without a plan to get yourself out of it. As with the offense mirror, it's ok to forgo rocks to trade off a key piece. |
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PART 6: THREATLIST [WINTER LOVE]
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+ 
Both of these Dragon Dance sweepers have the coverage and power to beat the whole team easily. Dragapult is easier to trade with if you can instantly go to Mega Tyranitar, but if it is chipped then the game is over. For DD Roaring Moon it's even more dire - you need to get Rocks up before it comes in, Sand up and Helmet damage (preferably a couple of rounds) as well as more chip from Terapagos to put it in range of Aqua Jet. By that time, you've sacrificed at least 3 of your mons.
Mega Medicham is always a threat when it gets on the field safely and, to give credit, it really struggles to do so against this team. However, when it does get on the field, you better hope you have a healthy Gholdengo - otherwise, it'll be trading kill for kill against your team while barely outspeeding your main source of damage.
Sure, it may be slow, but it likely goes 1-for-1 with your team at worst considering its great bulk and the team's lack of OHKO potential. Just make sure to choose the right thing to give up to the Melmetal and you will be fine. However, when paired with a good momentum generating core, it becomes a major headache.
Scale Shot
Mainly, Dragonite is handled through baiting out its Z-move and then wearing it down with Lando. However, when I ran into Scale Shot Dragonite on ladder, I kept losing because I couldn't kill it for the life of me. Then I learned - you had to put down Rocks before attempting the revengekill. That's how you manage this mon.
Continuing the theme of "Strong Fighting-type breakers that scare off Lando", we've got opposing Urshifu-R here. Scarf variants are especially tough considering Tapu Lele can't revenge kill it if Lele gets chipped, which it is prone to being. Other variants are difficult, but denying SD setup chances and outplaying Band are your best bet against those. For Scarf, you've got to sacrifice Lando-T at some point - Rocks + Helmet + Sand chip are the last resort against physical attackers that Lando can't stop, and Helmet is especially potent versus all of Shifu's moves.
Focus Blast
This is a balance team. Our Mega Zard Y answer is Mega Tyranitar. Mega Tyranitar is 4x weak to Fighting-type moves. Focus Blast is a Fighting-type move. This becomes incredibly difficult to handle 70% of the time, but thankfully it's not common and you can out-offense it with Rocks and Lele / Shifu for Modest variants.
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