Hello everyone!
This guide is a long overdue to what is my very precious little baby. I've been using this team for a very long time, basically ever since Zygarde's ban in 2017. I’m a long-time ladder player in SM OU and I’d like to share what is probably my “best” creation.
Let’s jump into it!
Cœur de Lion (Landorus-Therian) (M) @ Focus Sash
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Explosion
- Stealth Rock
- Rock Tomb
What would be a HO team without its suicide lead? Lando serves a powerful entry hazard setter. Everything is useful in its kit: Earthquake is a powerful option that can force out something as bulky as Mega Sableye and 3HKO most Ferrothorn. Rock Tomb forms a nice EdgeQuake combo and is useful to deny Speed against a fast threat like Tornadus-Therian and Mega Latias and Latios, as well as against boosted threats like Dragonite, Hawlucha, and Kommo-o. Stealth Rock is a good move. Explosion deals massive damage to anything that doesn’t resist it, and comes in handy to take down bulky threats like Tapu Bulu and Tapu Fini. The latter is an important target, which will usually try to Defog your Stealth Rock if you manage to set them up, so using Explosion both prevent Defog from being used but also put Tapu Fini in range for the other threats in the team. The Focus Sash item is used to ensure Landorus will always set up its Stealth Rock, granted that it’s not kept against a Magic Bouncer or a Fake Out user like the aforementioned Mega Lopunny and Medicham. Intimidate is a very powerful ability which cripple many key threats, like Mega Lopunny, Mega Medicham, and opposing Landorus-Therian. It’s the reason why Landorus-T is preferred over something like Mold Breaker Excadrill, as softening physical attackers’s Attack can allow your other teammates to come in and threaten to revenge kill a faster threat.
MONKE (Darmanitan) @ Life Orb
Ability: Sheer Force
EVs: 188 Atk / 68 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Flare Blitz
- Toxic
- Rock Slide
- Earthquake
The star of the team. Darmanitan is a glass-canon like wallbreaker, with paper thin defenses but incredible firepower. Its explosive nature makes it a very strong pick against slow bulky offensive teams, as they will typically offers free entries for Darmanitan and will lack the defensive tools to take on it, opening the way for a sweep with the rest of your team. Darmanitan is preferred over something like offensive Heatran for its higher Speed and overall breaking power, in exchange for a way lower lifespan. Flare Blitz is your main option, which deals ridiculous damages to even resisting threats like Tapu Fini and Slowbro. Rock Slide and Earthquake forms a EdgeQuake combo and threatens Pokemons like Heatran, Pelipper, and Toxapex. Toxic may seem like a counterintuitive move on an offensive Pokemon like Darmanitan, however this allow to cripple permanently specific bulky Water types like Slowbro and Quagsire, which are almost unbreakable without it. A Jolly Nature is used to outruns the key base 90 Speed and outruns Landorus-T, as well as always Speed Tie with non-Choice Scarf Tapu Lele. 68 EVs in Special Defense is used to always survive a +1 100 BP Stored Power Victini from full, which would be an unwinnable matchup otherwise. A Life Orb is preferred, because it grants a 30% damage increase while keeping the option to switch moves.
Ça picotte (Ferrothorn) @ Leftovers
Ability: Iron Barbs
EVs: 248 HP / 20 Def / 8 SpA / 232 SpD
Sassy Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Leech Seed
- Power Whip
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Spikes
Is there a generation where Ferrothorn is bad? USUM is not one of them. This Pokemon is rather standard, with the exception of Hidden Power Fire which I will develop a bit. This is used with 8 EVs in Special Attack to always OHKO Kartana. Meanwhile, the rest of its EVs are put into its Special Defense to better take on offensive threat like Battle Bond Greninja before transforming, Tornadus-Therian, and Tapu Lele. Hidden Power Fire is also a very useful tool to keep on the offensive pressure on the opposing Ferrothorn, dealing at minimum 20%. This can rack up pretty quickly in a situation where the opposing Ferrothorn wants to setup its Spikes. It’s also a great tool against the opposing Mega Scizor, as HP Fire + Leech Seed damage can easily deal over 40% of its health while Ferrothorn can never be OHKO by a +6 0 Atk Knock Off, resulting in Ferrothorn winning the one versus one duel. Hidden Power Fire is also useful to annoy Skarmory, which don’t have a tool to threaten Ferrothorn and will often have to Whirlwind it out, leaving it taking a free chip with HP Fire.
French Touch (Greninja) (M) @ Choice Specs
Ability: Battle Bond
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Dark Pulse
- Hydro Pump
- Water Shuriken
- Spikes
Extremely standard Battle Bond Greninja set. This is a very threatening Pokemon, and it pairs nicely with Ferrothorn and Darmanitan, forming a FireWaterGrass combo and granting a second Spikes setting support. Notice that Hydro Pump is used over Surf, due to it being able to always 3HKO Assault Vest Magearna with Stealth Rock up. In late game, this Pokemon can easily chain combo KOs with Water Shuriken.
Technique (Scizor-Mega) @ Scizorite
Ability: Light Metal
EVs: 252 HP / 20 Atk / 44 Def / 52 SpD / 140 Spe
Impish Nature
- Swords Dance
- Roost
- Superpower
- Bullet Punch
Scizor is among my preferred Pokemon in SM OU for how it can be everything you want it be. This Scizor is a mixbag of offense and defense; Swords Dance paired with Technician STAB boosted Bullet Punch can easily clean weakened team late game. Roost grants a good recovery option, and allow Scizor to come in several times during the game, especially against threats like Choice Scarf Kartana and Landorus-T. Superpower is used as a last option to take surprise KO on Steel-types like Heatran, Kartana, and Ferrothorn. This is preferred over U-Turn for the surprise factor of Superpower, which is very useful to open the way for the other sweepers of the team. It’s also a strong neutral option against the Flying / Steel types in Skarmory and Celesteela, which can be threatened to KO by a boosted Superpower in late game. The EV spread is a homemade concoction; 20 Atk allows to always KO Mega Medicham with a +2 Bullet Punch after Stealth Rock and Spikes (or Iron Barbs) damage. 252 HP + 44 Def alongside an Impish nature allow to never be 2HKO by Mega Lopunny’s High Jump Kick. 140 Speed outruns non-Choice Scarf Modest Magnezone, alongside most defensive Heatran sets. The rest of the EVs are put into Special Defense, which allow to better take special hits from the likes of Psychic-types like Mega Alakazam, Mega Latias, and all hits from Tapu Lele besides Hidden Power Fire.
Vytesse Extrême (Tapu Koko) @ Fairium Z
Ability: Electric Surge
EVs: 8 HP / 4 Def / 244 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Calm Mind
- Roost
- Dazzling Gleam
- Volt Switch
The final member of this squad, also being the Z-Crystal holder of my team. Tapu Koko packs power, Speed control, and is incredibly reliable as a special attacker. It outruns key targets like Greninja, +1 Adamant Dragonite as well as Weavile. Despite its nature being Timid, it's important to not run a shiny Tapu Koko, as it would reveal not only that you are a Timid Tapu Koko, but also specially oriented. 8 HP and 4 Def allow to survive a +2 High Jump Kick from Hawlucha after Stealth Rock. Volt Switch seems counterintuitive for a Calm Mind set; this is used over Thunderbolt for the evident repositioning effect of Volt Switch. This is very useful in a matchup with evident switch in like Chansey and Ferrothorn trying to scout for the moveset, which allow to come in safely on Darmanitan. It’s even better given that this team can easily setup entry hazards, which deal massive chip damage to these switches in over the time. Fairium Z is preferred over Electrium Z because Tapu Koko will usually want the extra breaking power to deal with Ground-types, like Mega Swampert, Landorus-T, and Gliscor.
Tips against specific matchups:
Rain: These teams are usually threatened by the combination of Ferrothorn and Tapu Koko. Tornadus-T is a free entry for Koko, while Ferro can survive the rain-boosted hits of Mega Swampert, Kingdra, Manaphy and Greninja. Not only that, but he can retaliate with a super effective STAB Power Whip, which will usually result in an OHKO or 2HKO, or set up a layer of Spikes, putting more pressure on the opposing team. This can lead to a situation where Greninja is guaranteed to Bond, or forces the opponent to suicide several Rain sweepers to take out Ferrothorn, leaving your opponent unable to deal with Scizor and Koko's priority and Speed control. Unfortunately, Darmanitan is often a deadweight against these teams, or can at best land an Earthquake against Mega Swampert, which, with the support of Spikes, can potentially put him within the range of Greninja's rain boosted Water Shuriken.
Balanced teams: A wide range of teams, from semi-sand teams with Tyranitar + Excadrill to teams such as BuluTran or FerroPex. These teams generally lack the tools to cover Darmanitan, Scizor and Tapu Koko. Against these teams, you want to keep Darmanitan, and trade him aggressively against walls that can't do much against him like Reuniclus, Clefable, and Ferrothorn. Positioned well, Darmanitan will often be the key element that breaks down your opponent's defensive core, paving the way for Tapu Koko, Scizor and Greninja to sweep in.
Stall: It’s generally hard to setup your hazards against these kinds of teams, due to the popularity of Mega Sableye; this doesn’t mean it’s a bad matchup at all. Given that your opponent will always lead with Mega Sableye, I like to start things off with Tapu Koko, which can put immediate pressure on it, and use Volt Switch on my opponent’s switch; this way, I have a free entry for Darmanitan, which can easily result in progress. Toxic is essential in this matchup, as it’ll often be your best way to deal with those pesky Water-types, namely Quagsire and Slowbro. Using Life Orb will also result in the ability to surprise Toxapex and take a KO with the combination of Flare Blitz and Earthquake. Keeping Landorus-T in the back in this matchup is very important, as Earthquake has a good chance to 2HKO Mega Sableye. Using it aggressively can result in your becoming able to setup your Stealth Rock, which can be game changing against specific matchups like Shedinja stalls or stalls that features Zapdos.
Difficult matchups:
Sun teams: These teams are quite devastating for this team. While Mega Charizard Y is kept in check by keeping the Stealth Rock up, under the sun, this team have little to no response to Venusaur. Hopefully, these full sun teams are very rare.
Victini: Surprise, surprise, another Fire-type that is also very hard to check. Despite Greninja’s excellent typing against Victini, the team lack any defensive answer to it. Darmanitan can survive a +1 100 BP Stored Power and will generally survive two V-Create, however Victini is never far away from sweeping your team. Keeping the hazards up and Greninja high in health are your best tool to deal with it.
Offensive Kommo-o: Most Kommo-o that use Clangorous Soulblaze use Stealth Rock, which can be managed by carefully switching around Tapu Koko and Ferrothorn; this is not the case for the Dragon Dance variants. There's no mind game possible; if they can set up a Dragon Dance (which isn't difficult given that Ferrothorn AND Greninja are free entry tickets), there's virtually nothing you can do to prevent the Dragon Dance sweep. SubDrum variants are also extremely deadly, as once set up, Drain Punch puts Kommo-o back at full power, and none of the Pokemon in the team can retaliate by revenge killing it at that point.
And... That's all for now! I hope you enjoyed reading this RMT. I'm open to suggestions to improve it ! As a proof of working, I used this team to reach top 100 on the ladder. That's not exactly a big accomplishment but I'm fine with it.
If you want to use this team, go ahead and click on the sprites below!
This guide is a long overdue to what is my very precious little baby. I've been using this team for a very long time, basically ever since Zygarde's ban in 2017. I’m a long-time ladder player in SM OU and I’d like to share what is probably my “best” creation.
Let’s jump into it!
Cœur de Lion (Landorus-Therian) (M) @ Focus Sash
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Explosion
- Stealth Rock
- Rock Tomb
What would be a HO team without its suicide lead? Lando serves a powerful entry hazard setter. Everything is useful in its kit: Earthquake is a powerful option that can force out something as bulky as Mega Sableye and 3HKO most Ferrothorn. Rock Tomb forms a nice EdgeQuake combo and is useful to deny Speed against a fast threat like Tornadus-Therian and Mega Latias and Latios, as well as against boosted threats like Dragonite, Hawlucha, and Kommo-o. Stealth Rock is a good move. Explosion deals massive damage to anything that doesn’t resist it, and comes in handy to take down bulky threats like Tapu Bulu and Tapu Fini. The latter is an important target, which will usually try to Defog your Stealth Rock if you manage to set them up, so using Explosion both prevent Defog from being used but also put Tapu Fini in range for the other threats in the team. The Focus Sash item is used to ensure Landorus will always set up its Stealth Rock, granted that it’s not kept against a Magic Bouncer or a Fake Out user like the aforementioned Mega Lopunny and Medicham. Intimidate is a very powerful ability which cripple many key threats, like Mega Lopunny, Mega Medicham, and opposing Landorus-Therian. It’s the reason why Landorus-T is preferred over something like Mold Breaker Excadrill, as softening physical attackers’s Attack can allow your other teammates to come in and threaten to revenge kill a faster threat.
MONKE (Darmanitan) @ Life Orb
Ability: Sheer Force
EVs: 188 Atk / 68 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Flare Blitz
- Toxic
- Rock Slide
- Earthquake
The star of the team. Darmanitan is a glass-canon like wallbreaker, with paper thin defenses but incredible firepower. Its explosive nature makes it a very strong pick against slow bulky offensive teams, as they will typically offers free entries for Darmanitan and will lack the defensive tools to take on it, opening the way for a sweep with the rest of your team. Darmanitan is preferred over something like offensive Heatran for its higher Speed and overall breaking power, in exchange for a way lower lifespan. Flare Blitz is your main option, which deals ridiculous damages to even resisting threats like Tapu Fini and Slowbro. Rock Slide and Earthquake forms a EdgeQuake combo and threatens Pokemons like Heatran, Pelipper, and Toxapex. Toxic may seem like a counterintuitive move on an offensive Pokemon like Darmanitan, however this allow to cripple permanently specific bulky Water types like Slowbro and Quagsire, which are almost unbreakable without it. A Jolly Nature is used to outruns the key base 90 Speed and outruns Landorus-T, as well as always Speed Tie with non-Choice Scarf Tapu Lele. 68 EVs in Special Defense is used to always survive a +1 100 BP Stored Power Victini from full, which would be an unwinnable matchup otherwise. A Life Orb is preferred, because it grants a 30% damage increase while keeping the option to switch moves.
Ça picotte (Ferrothorn) @ Leftovers
Ability: Iron Barbs
EVs: 248 HP / 20 Def / 8 SpA / 232 SpD
Sassy Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Leech Seed
- Power Whip
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Spikes
Is there a generation where Ferrothorn is bad? USUM is not one of them. This Pokemon is rather standard, with the exception of Hidden Power Fire which I will develop a bit. This is used with 8 EVs in Special Attack to always OHKO Kartana. Meanwhile, the rest of its EVs are put into its Special Defense to better take on offensive threat like Battle Bond Greninja before transforming, Tornadus-Therian, and Tapu Lele. Hidden Power Fire is also a very useful tool to keep on the offensive pressure on the opposing Ferrothorn, dealing at minimum 20%. This can rack up pretty quickly in a situation where the opposing Ferrothorn wants to setup its Spikes. It’s also a great tool against the opposing Mega Scizor, as HP Fire + Leech Seed damage can easily deal over 40% of its health while Ferrothorn can never be OHKO by a +6 0 Atk Knock Off, resulting in Ferrothorn winning the one versus one duel. Hidden Power Fire is also useful to annoy Skarmory, which don’t have a tool to threaten Ferrothorn and will often have to Whirlwind it out, leaving it taking a free chip with HP Fire.
French Touch (Greninja) (M) @ Choice Specs
Ability: Battle Bond
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Dark Pulse
- Hydro Pump
- Water Shuriken
- Spikes
Extremely standard Battle Bond Greninja set. This is a very threatening Pokemon, and it pairs nicely with Ferrothorn and Darmanitan, forming a FireWaterGrass combo and granting a second Spikes setting support. Notice that Hydro Pump is used over Surf, due to it being able to always 3HKO Assault Vest Magearna with Stealth Rock up. In late game, this Pokemon can easily chain combo KOs with Water Shuriken.
Technique (Scizor-Mega) @ Scizorite
Ability: Light Metal
EVs: 252 HP / 20 Atk / 44 Def / 52 SpD / 140 Spe
Impish Nature
- Swords Dance
- Roost
- Superpower
- Bullet Punch
Scizor is among my preferred Pokemon in SM OU for how it can be everything you want it be. This Scizor is a mixbag of offense and defense; Swords Dance paired with Technician STAB boosted Bullet Punch can easily clean weakened team late game. Roost grants a good recovery option, and allow Scizor to come in several times during the game, especially against threats like Choice Scarf Kartana and Landorus-T. Superpower is used as a last option to take surprise KO on Steel-types like Heatran, Kartana, and Ferrothorn. This is preferred over U-Turn for the surprise factor of Superpower, which is very useful to open the way for the other sweepers of the team. It’s also a strong neutral option against the Flying / Steel types in Skarmory and Celesteela, which can be threatened to KO by a boosted Superpower in late game. The EV spread is a homemade concoction; 20 Atk allows to always KO Mega Medicham with a +2 Bullet Punch after Stealth Rock and Spikes (or Iron Barbs) damage. 252 HP + 44 Def alongside an Impish nature allow to never be 2HKO by Mega Lopunny’s High Jump Kick. 140 Speed outruns non-Choice Scarf Modest Magnezone, alongside most defensive Heatran sets. The rest of the EVs are put into Special Defense, which allow to better take special hits from the likes of Psychic-types like Mega Alakazam, Mega Latias, and all hits from Tapu Lele besides Hidden Power Fire.
Vytesse Extrême (Tapu Koko) @ Fairium Z
Ability: Electric Surge
EVs: 8 HP / 4 Def / 244 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Calm Mind
- Roost
- Dazzling Gleam
- Volt Switch
The final member of this squad, also being the Z-Crystal holder of my team. Tapu Koko packs power, Speed control, and is incredibly reliable as a special attacker. It outruns key targets like Greninja, +1 Adamant Dragonite as well as Weavile. Despite its nature being Timid, it's important to not run a shiny Tapu Koko, as it would reveal not only that you are a Timid Tapu Koko, but also specially oriented. 8 HP and 4 Def allow to survive a +2 High Jump Kick from Hawlucha after Stealth Rock. Volt Switch seems counterintuitive for a Calm Mind set; this is used over Thunderbolt for the evident repositioning effect of Volt Switch. This is very useful in a matchup with evident switch in like Chansey and Ferrothorn trying to scout for the moveset, which allow to come in safely on Darmanitan. It’s even better given that this team can easily setup entry hazards, which deal massive chip damage to these switches in over the time. Fairium Z is preferred over Electrium Z because Tapu Koko will usually want the extra breaking power to deal with Ground-types, like Mega Swampert, Landorus-T, and Gliscor.
Tips against specific matchups:
Rain: These teams are usually threatened by the combination of Ferrothorn and Tapu Koko. Tornadus-T is a free entry for Koko, while Ferro can survive the rain-boosted hits of Mega Swampert, Kingdra, Manaphy and Greninja. Not only that, but he can retaliate with a super effective STAB Power Whip, which will usually result in an OHKO or 2HKO, or set up a layer of Spikes, putting more pressure on the opposing team. This can lead to a situation where Greninja is guaranteed to Bond, or forces the opponent to suicide several Rain sweepers to take out Ferrothorn, leaving your opponent unable to deal with Scizor and Koko's priority and Speed control. Unfortunately, Darmanitan is often a deadweight against these teams, or can at best land an Earthquake against Mega Swampert, which, with the support of Spikes, can potentially put him within the range of Greninja's rain boosted Water Shuriken.
Balanced teams: A wide range of teams, from semi-sand teams with Tyranitar + Excadrill to teams such as BuluTran or FerroPex. These teams generally lack the tools to cover Darmanitan, Scizor and Tapu Koko. Against these teams, you want to keep Darmanitan, and trade him aggressively against walls that can't do much against him like Reuniclus, Clefable, and Ferrothorn. Positioned well, Darmanitan will often be the key element that breaks down your opponent's defensive core, paving the way for Tapu Koko, Scizor and Greninja to sweep in.
Stall: It’s generally hard to setup your hazards against these kinds of teams, due to the popularity of Mega Sableye; this doesn’t mean it’s a bad matchup at all. Given that your opponent will always lead with Mega Sableye, I like to start things off with Tapu Koko, which can put immediate pressure on it, and use Volt Switch on my opponent’s switch; this way, I have a free entry for Darmanitan, which can easily result in progress. Toxic is essential in this matchup, as it’ll often be your best way to deal with those pesky Water-types, namely Quagsire and Slowbro. Using Life Orb will also result in the ability to surprise Toxapex and take a KO with the combination of Flare Blitz and Earthquake. Keeping Landorus-T in the back in this matchup is very important, as Earthquake has a good chance to 2HKO Mega Sableye. Using it aggressively can result in your becoming able to setup your Stealth Rock, which can be game changing against specific matchups like Shedinja stalls or stalls that features Zapdos.
Difficult matchups:
Sun teams: These teams are quite devastating for this team. While Mega Charizard Y is kept in check by keeping the Stealth Rock up, under the sun, this team have little to no response to Venusaur. Hopefully, these full sun teams are very rare.
Victini: Surprise, surprise, another Fire-type that is also very hard to check. Despite Greninja’s excellent typing against Victini, the team lack any defensive answer to it. Darmanitan can survive a +1 100 BP Stored Power and will generally survive two V-Create, however Victini is never far away from sweeping your team. Keeping the hazards up and Greninja high in health are your best tool to deal with it.
Offensive Kommo-o: Most Kommo-o that use Clangorous Soulblaze use Stealth Rock, which can be managed by carefully switching around Tapu Koko and Ferrothorn; this is not the case for the Dragon Dance variants. There's no mind game possible; if they can set up a Dragon Dance (which isn't difficult given that Ferrothorn AND Greninja are free entry tickets), there's virtually nothing you can do to prevent the Dragon Dance sweep. SubDrum variants are also extremely deadly, as once set up, Drain Punch puts Kommo-o back at full power, and none of the Pokemon in the team can retaliate by revenge killing it at that point.
And... That's all for now! I hope you enjoyed reading this RMT. I'm open to suggestions to improve it ! As a proof of working, I used this team to reach top 100 on the ladder. That's not exactly a big accomplishment but I'm fine with it.
If you want to use this team, go ahead and click on the sprites below!
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