GONNA CONK YOU UP!
Proof of ladder ranking. I actually managed to get to 23-3 before I lost again, knocking me from #1.
Hello Smogon! Welcome to my second Rate My Team. Like the last one, this team was based around a powerful Fighting type Pokémon. However, this one is much more underrated. This particular Pokémon has a bit of a sad story. A long time ago, there was a lonely first stage Fighting type that was considered to be pretty weird looking and weak. It was never used very often. This little Pokémon, wishing to grow stronger so that others might accept it, went to train in every dojo it could find. It trained in caves, in forests, on the tops of mountains, and in the grasslands. Eventually, it evolved, and became a fearsome opponent for the everyday trainer. But competitive trainers, though initially seeing its potential, soon began to laugh at it even in its final stage. It used to be known as a pretty good 'mon! It has a monstrous attack stat, great ability, and a movepool that, while shallow, works for it. In the past, it used to strike fear into the hearts of those who dared to face it. Though some say it looks a bit derpy (and some go as far as to say it looks stupid), I think its appearance is endearing, and just goes to show how powerful it is. It doesn't need to look pretty. You certainly won't when it's through with you. That's right, this amazing Pokémon is none other than...
PSH, YEAH RIGHT.
GTFO
A common misconception is that Conkeldurr's best set is his Bulk Up set, which is probably why so many people think Conkeldurr isn't worth putting on an OU team. In case you were wondering, the Bulk Up set is just not worth it. It takes a turn to set up before it can do anything (which is a lot to ask for in a metagame where the majority of games are <20 turns), and it has to sacrifice a move slot that could be better used for coverage. Nope. Don't use Bulk Up. And I don't much like Flame Orb/Toxic Orb sets either. It's true that they absorb status, which is really useful, but I feel like they kill themselves off way too easily with the constant -12%. The best set to use right now is, in my opinion, the Sheer Force set Lavos Spawn recently posted in The Next Best Thing Thread in the OU Forums. This is the set I chose to use. I knew using this set would instantly make me weak to Volcarona, so my next Pokémon would somewhat alleviate that weakness.
I chose Keldeo, as I said before, to help deal with Volcarona. Scarf can outspeed and 2HKO easily with Hydro Pump, and OHKO after Rocks. It also just so happens that Keldeo is the best Scarf user in the tier right now, and provided me with a shakey answer to rain boosted attacks, which is one reason I chose Keldeo over something more reliable, like Terrakion. I also thought it would be great to have something that could more easily deal with Landorus-T and Gliscor, which Conk can annihilate with Ice Punch, but Landorus-T loves playing switching games, and Gliscor can suck a big one (I don't like Gliscor). Next, I realized I would have big problems with Psychic types, especially Lati@s. And there's one Pokémon I knew could take care of them, no problem.
Tyranitar is a fantastic Pokémon, and it makes a pretty decent partner to Conkeldurr and Keldeo. It is already well known how Tyranitar can help Keldeo, by trapping Jellicent, Celebi, and Lati@s, clearing the way for a Hydro Pump/Surf sweep. But Conkeldurr also appreciates these Pokémon being taken out, especially Lati@s. Though all of these Pokémon can be taken out with the appropriate coverage move, they also all present a threat to Conkeldurr. Tyranitar eliminates any possibility of them being a problem, short of me switching into a Specs Surf from Latios.
I needed a better check to some hard-hitting Psychics like Alakazam and Reuniclus, as well as a slightly better answer to Gengar. Jirachi was the perfect answer. It could spread paralysis, which Conkeldurr just loves, as well as passing huge Wishes, which everything loves. I was also considering Jirachi for being a SR setter, since everything appreciates the extra damage. So Jirachi seemed like the perfect member of my team. At this point, I noticed a bit of a Garchomp weakness (Keldeo can only deal with it semi-reliably) so I decided to add another member to help deal with it, as well as things like Thundurus-T, Landorus, and Tornadus, which could be a pain without some sort of backup check.
Mamoswine is a really great Pokémon in today's meta. It became my official Stealth Rock setter, which freed Jirachi up to use Protect, giving it a better way of recovering lost health, as well as scout choiced enemies. Ice Shard was also a very useful move to have, as it gave my team double priority, and a better way to make sure Landorus, Thundurus-T, and Dragons would think twice before trying to set up. I noticed I was still a bit specially weak though, so I decided my last member should be a bulkier check to these threats.
Latias is also amazing. She deals with all the threats I mentioned before, as well as giving me an ok check to sun and rain Pokémon like Venusaur and Keldeo. Not only does she check all those things, she makes a great offensive pivot. I chose the Life Orb set because I thought having a powerful Psychic type of my own could be useful for taking out opposing Fighting types, as well as Tentacruel. Latias has made a great team member, and definitely pulls her weight. Plus she's so damn cute, how could I possibly say no?
Orange=Testing
Red=Definite Change
Mr. Wiggles (Conkeldurr) @ Life Orb
Trait: Sheer Force
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 Atk / 120 HP / 136 SDef
Adamant Nature
- Drain Punch
- Ice Punch
- ThunderPunch
- Mach Punch
Like I said before, I think Conkeldurr gets a bad wrap because people don't know how to use him. After making this team, I can say with 100% certainty that the Sheer Force set is the one people need to use if they have any doubts about Conkeldurr's viability in OU. This thing really is fantastic. It's a great wall breaker, having ways to deal with many common cores such as Celetran, SkarmBliss, the one-man-wall Landorus-T, and FerroCent/FerroCruel. It makes it much easier for other things on my team, like Keldeo and Latias, to clean up after he has demolished the opponent's team. Drain Punch is the STAB move of choice, healing up Conkeldurr when Life Orb Recoil and Sandstorm damage have taken their toll. It is the main move you'll be using if Ice Punch or ThunderPunch isn't super-effective on the Pokémon in front of you. Ice Punch hits Celebi, Salamence, Lati@s on the switch, Landorus-T, and Gliscor. It also has the very neat ability to OHKO Dragonite through Mulitscale! This is especially useful when people try to get cheeky and send out Dragonite as a lead before I can get Stealth Rock up. ThunderPunch deals with the would-be counters like Jellicent, Tentacruel, and Skarmory, as well as hitting Politoed for huge damage. I have to be careful with Politoed, though, because Choice Specs sets can OHKO with Hydro Pump , and all variants out-speed me. ThunderPunch can also hit Vaporeon, an extremely annoying wall in the rain, for a 2HKO. mach Punch is for revenging weakened Terrakion, and hitting things before they have a chance to hit me back/KO me. Coming off of Adamant base 140 attack, the fact that its only a base 40 move doesn't really matter.
Napoleon (Keldeo) @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Justified
EVs: 252 SAtk / 252 Spd / 4 HP
Timid Nature
- Hydro Pump
- Secret Sword
- Icy Wind
- Hidden Power [Electric]
Keldeo is a pretty simple Pokémon. Wear things down with powerful Hydro Pumps and then clean them up later with the appropriate coverage move. Tyranitar also helps this guy a lot by Pursuit trapping most of his counters. If I'm winning a match, it's usually with a Surf-spam sweep on the opponent's last few Pokémon. Even though I wanted to use HP Ice and Surf because I can't stand Hydro Pump's accuracy, I know that, for my team, Hidden Power Electric and Icy Wind are better. The rest of my team is extremely weak to Gyarados, so I need something that can revenge kill it at +1. Keldeo does just that. Icy wind is also useful too, since I can slow down things like Venusaur in the sun and proceed to hit it again before it can get off a Giga Drain. Unfortunately, I need Venusaur to have taken some prior damage before Icy Wind is a guaranteed 2HKO, and its accuracy is just annoying enough to keep me on my toes, but it does its job, I suppose. Keldeo is still one of the best cleaners in the game, and I usually end up finishing up matches with this guys spamming either Hydro Pump or Secret Sword.
Sharptooth (Tyranitar) @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 Spd / 4 SDef
Jolly Nature
- Stone Edge
- Pursuit
- Superpower
- Crunch
Tyranitar was always one of my favorite Pokémon when I was a little kid playing Silver version on my green Game Boy Color. Not much has changed now that I'm nearing 20 and am playing on my Macbook Pro on Pokémon Showdown instead. Tyranitar is just such a great Pokémon right now. This team is essentially a weatherless team that uses Tyranitar more for his Pursuiting ability than the weather he provides. That being said, Sand Stream allows me to handle sun and rain teams much better since I can eliminate their weather starter so that their abusers are severely weakened. I replaced the Banded set with a Scarf set so I could put Lati@s in a checkmate situation (they never ever try to switch out anyway) with Crunch. It can also trap Starmie, which can be a pain in the butt otherwise. Stone Egde has the nice perk of 2HKOing Skarmory, which is always nice, and hitting foolish Politoed that try to switch in to change the weather. It can also OHKO Ninetales after Rocks even when Tyranitar is burned. Crunch is basically only used for Jellicent, which is never OHKO'd by Pursuit if it isn't switching out. Superpower is for opposing Tyranitar, and is a good way to hit things like Blissey and Chansey if Conkeldurr has already been taken out. It also hits Terrakion on the switch, but that rarely happens.
Roselina (Jirachi) @ Leftovers
Trait: Serene Grace
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Careful Nature
- Thunderbolt
- Psyshock
- Calm Mind
- Wish
This slot was formerly occupied by a specially defensive Jirachi, which was meant to support the team with wishes, absorbing certain Dragon type attacks, and spreading paralysis. However, it had no offensive presence whatsoever, and was a bit of a momentum killer. Calm Mind Jirachi does all the good things SDef Jirachi did, but also provides me with yet another win-condition, and isn't setup bait. It also helpt to deal with my huge weakness to bulky Water types like Politoed and Vaporeon. Calm Mind is the crux of the set, being able to boost Jirachi's special attack and special defense to higher than fully invested SDef Jirachi, while also making him a special powerhouse. Thunderbolt, though not as nice as Body Slam or Thunder, has a heightened chance to paralyze the foe, allowing me to set up more Calm Minds, more easily pass wishes, or ease sweeping with my other teammates later in the match. Psyshock allows me ot win CM wars with Latias, Keldeo, and Reuniclus, since I can hit them on the physical side. Calm Mind Jirachi fits the team much better than SDef Jirachi did, and is a wonderful addition. Thanks Neliel and toshimelonhead!
The Hound (Landorus-Therian) @ Leftovers
Trait: Intimidate
EVs: 220 Spd / 200 HP / 88 Def
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- U-turn
- Stealth Rock
- Stone Edge
Formerly Mamoswine, Landorus-T has proven to be a much, MUCH better asset to the team. While still mainiaining Mamoswine's one and only role (setting up Stealth Rock to prevent Volcarona sweeps and discourage Gyarados switch-ins), Landorus-T also adopts a role entirely its own: Intimidate offensive pivot. Landorus-T can switch into many of the top physical threats in OU, including non-banded dragons, Terrakion, opposing Tyranitar, Lucario, and many more. STAB Earthquake is obligatory, and hits everything that isn't immune to it for, at minimum, decent damage. Stone Edge forms the nifty EdgeQuake combo that is nearly unresisted. U-turn, next to Stealth Rock, is definitely the most important move on the set. It allows me to grab momentum, while also doing nice damage coming off of its monstrous base 145 attack. U-turn makes Landorus-T's role of being a pivot much easier, since it has little trouble switching into something it walls and then U-turning on their switch, allowing me to bring in a counter for that. Conkeldurr especially appreciates U-turn, since it gives it many free switch-in opportunities. Since Conkeldurr is taking LO and sand damage, it definitely appreciates not having to take a hit on entry. Landorus-T allows him to do that and more, and is a wonderful addition to the team. Thanks Nantsuki. for the suggestion!
Arya Stark (Latias) @ Life Orb
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 184 SAtk / 252 Spd / 72 HP
Timid Nature
- Draco Meteor
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Psyshock
- Roost
Finally, we have Latias, the younger sister of the fearsome Latios. Many have said that Latios is the better of the two, but I would have to disagree. I think that, at the very least, they are evenly matched in today's metagame. Latias is one of the best ways of dealing with rain and sun, and is definitely the best offensive way of doing so. At first, I wanted to use Expert Belt ove Life Orb since Latias doesn't like having to take LO and sand damage at the same time, but since I run a bit of bulk in this set, I wanted all the power I could get. Life Orb was necessary. Draco Meteor is an extremely powerful STAB attack, and is a great way of nuking threats when I need to. Psyshock allows me to KO major threats like Keldeo and Terrakion in the sand. I used to have Psychic in this slot, but without Psyshock, I can't do anything at all to Blissey that want to switch in on a predicted Draco Meteor. Hidden Power Fire is my main answer to Forretress, non-rain Ferrothorn, and Scizor, though losing out on speed ties is a nasty side effect. I wouldn't be completely opposed to using Surf instead, or even Thunderbolt for Gyarados. Latias is also a great cleaner, and makes a good pair with Keldeo late-game.
Gyarados takes a huge dump on this team. Luckily for me, I haven't seen many of them, so it hasn't been a major problem so far. But it's only a matter of time before it happens. Sub DD can set up on anything that isn't Conkeldurr and sweep. Such an incredibly dangerous threat. Now I have Keldeo with HP Electric, which somewhat mitigates the problem, but Sub DD sets can still get the better of me if I'm not careful.
Reuniclus is only really a problem if it's the Calm Mind set, since Jirachi walls the OTR set to hell and back. People say CM Reuniclus is bad, but I think it's one of the scariest things in the meta. It's so damn bulky, and with a few boosts, it can demolish my team. I can try to stall out Focus Blast with Jirachi, but that isn't very reliable. It's uncommon, but a big problem.
Breloom is a huge pain to deal with, since Latias is the only thing I have that can deal with it, but Technician Focus Punch sets can destroy Latias after Rocks with FP + Mach Punch, and after that, it can slowly pick apart my team. Swords Dance sets can also sweep if Latias has been weakened (which isn't uncommon with sand and Life Orb). Spore is also really hard to deal with, since nothing I have likes being put to sleep.
Bulky Water types in general give my team some trouble. Conkeldurr is the only thing that hits them super effectively, and he runs a serious risk of being burned with Scald. Though I personally would never EVER try to burn a Conkeldurr, fearing Guts, I've noticed people don't share my fears. I've even considered using Thunderbolt on Latias just do better handle these things.
Rotom-W can be a real thorn in my side. I don't have any Grass type moves on my team, so I can't hit it super effectively, meaning Conkeldurr's Drain Punch is the best thing I have to hit it with (short of Latias's Draco Meteor, but they usually just swithc in their Scizor in that case, and then I'm boned). Conkeldurr isn't safe against it though, since offensive variants can really dent him with Hydro Pump, and bulkier ones can cripple it with Will-O-Wisp. Not a major threat, but it's definitely an annoying one.
Sub Disable Gengar is nearly impossible for me to handle. Nothing on my team can adequately deal with it. Jirachi would normally wall Gengar, but it can simply disable my Iron Head. And I'm not entirely sure...does Protect stop Disable from working? I've never tired that, but either way it's still a pain. Conkeldurr can hit it with both of its elemental punches, so it has a chance, but Gengar usually doesn't even bother trying to disable him, rather, it just immediately goes for the Shadow Ball. Not really sure how do deal with this thing.
I've been extremely satisfied with this team. Over all the alts I've used it on, I've reached a total of 40 wins with only 5 loses (the ones still on my MagicMaaaan alt), and I've never had this much success with a team, and I've certainly never come even close to the #1 spot before. Yes, I realize that the ladder being reset the other day probably contributed to this, but I'm still really proud of the tem as a whole. I'm so glad I decided to use Conkeldurr, and I hope maybe this team will help other people realize that he is really useful. With that in mind, I hope that the rates you all have don't try to change Conkeldurr. If you see that Conkeldurr is somehow taking away from the rest of the team, then I will consider changing it, but only if there aren't other changes that could be made first. Other than that, I am completely open to criticism, and I thank you in advance for any advice you might have! I hope you like the team and appreciated the presentation. Thank you!
Shout-outs to Lavos Spawn for the set, Gary2346 for getting it through my thick skull how good it is, Don Honchkrorleone for being hilarious and suggesting I do shout-outs at all, False Sense for keeping a level head and putting up with my shiz, and Tabuu for inspiring me to build a team that will kick his butt next time we battle ;)
AND SHOUT OUT TO MARK FOR BEING A SEXY BEAST. ILY SHOOTINSTARMIE <3
Also, I almost forgot! Thanks to Curseoftheradio for the awesome picture at the top.
Mr. Wiggles (Conkeldurr) @ Life Orb
Trait: Sheer Force
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 Atk / 120 HP / 136 SDef
Adamant Nature
- Drain Punch
- Ice Punch
- ThunderPunch
- Mach Punch
Napoleon (Keldeo) @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Justified
EVs: 252 SAtk / 252 Spd / 4 HP
Timid Nature
- Hydro Pump
- Secret Sword
- Icy Wind
- Hidden Power [Electric]
Sharptooth (Tyranitar) @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 Spd / 4 SDef
Jolly Nature
- Stone Edge
- Pursuit
- Superpower
- Crunch
Roselina (Jirachi) @ Leftovers
Trait: Serene Grace
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Careful Nature
- Thunderbolt
- Psyshock
- Calm Mind
- Wish
The Hound (Landorus-Therian) (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Intimidate
EVs: 220 Spd / 200 HP / 88 Def
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- U-turn
- Stealth Rock
- Stone Edge
Arya Stark (Latias) @ Life Orb
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 184 SAtk / 252 Spd / 72 HP
Timid Nature
- Draco Meteor
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Psyshock
- Roost
Trait: Sheer Force
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 Atk / 120 HP / 136 SDef
Adamant Nature
- Drain Punch
- Ice Punch
- ThunderPunch
- Mach Punch
Napoleon (Keldeo) @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Justified
EVs: 252 SAtk / 252 Spd / 4 HP
Timid Nature
- Hydro Pump
- Secret Sword
- Icy Wind
- Hidden Power [Electric]
Sharptooth (Tyranitar) @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 Spd / 4 SDef
Jolly Nature
- Stone Edge
- Pursuit
- Superpower
- Crunch
Roselina (Jirachi) @ Leftovers
Trait: Serene Grace
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Careful Nature
- Thunderbolt
- Psyshock
- Calm Mind
- Wish
The Hound (Landorus-Therian) (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Intimidate
EVs: 220 Spd / 200 HP / 88 Def
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- U-turn
- Stealth Rock
- Stone Edge
Arya Stark (Latias) @ Life Orb
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 184 SAtk / 252 Spd / 72 HP
Timid Nature
- Draco Meteor
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Psyshock
- Roost
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