SM OU Gyarados + Ash-Greninja

[s_aman]

Introduction
Hello again, Smogon. I am back after my millionth hiatus from pokemon. After messing around with sample teams a bit, I decided to make my own team. This was based around Flyinium-z Gyarados. After laddering a lot and haxing others and getting haxed in return and a few tilts, I am stuck around 1700 on the ladder. I hope you guys can help me make this team better.

The Team

Mega Gyarados (Gyarados) @ Flyinium Z
Ability: Moxie
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Bounce
- Waterfall
- Earthquake

I started with Flyinium-Z Gyarados. I remember using this set at the start of SM, and I loved it. It threatens a lot of pokemon in S and A rank on the viability rankings. It can set up on Landorus-T as Stone Edge is rare these days as well as Toxic-less Heatran. SpD Toxapex is also 2HKOd by unboosted Earthquake after rocks. Moxie helps it in snowballing through a team. The moveset is standard. I decided to go with Earthquake in the last slot instead of Taunt as it helps against Toxapex and Magearna. This can open a sweep for Ash-Greninja. I don't miss taunt much as I have taunt on Heatran and it can also deal with Ferro and Skarmory. Gyarados also covers me against Volcarona as my scarfer(Landoge) does not outspeed Volc at +1.

Scarfninja (Greninja-Ash) @ Choice Specs
Ability: Battle Bond
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Water Shuriken
- Hydro Pump
- Dark Pulse
- Spikes

Ash-Greninja has a very good offensive synergy with Gyarados as Flyinium-Z Gyarados with Earthquake checks a lot of the Pokemon that wall it such as Toxapex, Ferrothorn and other grass types. It also acts as my emergency button against Hawlucha. Specs Ninja is a very threatening set in general and it puts work in almost every match. Early game it sets up Spikes and can fire off a nuke Hydro occasionally. So many offensive teams (including mine) have only one good switch-in for it and it makes prediction very easy. Most of the time you can blindly send in Heatran as they send Magearna or Tapu-bulu. It acts as secondary sweeper in most games, particularly against offense. If I see that the opposing team has a lot of grounded mons, then setting up one layer of spikes becomes a priority as then I can pressure my opponent into Defog or get punished on every switch. Spikes also naturally helps Gyara a lot as Ferrothorn is OHKOd by +1 Supersonic Skystrike after 1 layer and SR. Dark Pulse is the move that is used mostly late game to clean.

Toxic (Heatran) @ Leftovers
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Magma Storm
- Earth Power
- Toxic
- Taunt

After the 1st 2 pokemon on my team, I felt that Grass types such as Ferrothorn and Tapu-bulu were threats to my team. Also, Chansey is a fat bitch. So, I decided to use Magma Storm Heatran with Taunt, Toxic and Earth Power. Magma Storm is the best move, provided it hits. Trapping and removing a key threat on the opponent's team is the best strategy in Pokemon (just ask Mega Gengara and other imposters and Duggy). Magma Storm also hits pretty hard even without investent. Earth Power helps me against opposing Heatran switchins and a trapped Toxapex. Toxic cripples common Ground switchins, Zygarde in particular. It also helps me against Zapdos, which is one of the biggest threats to my team imo. Taunt+Toxic+Magma Storm allows me to remove Chansey for Greninja. Taunt also prevents a trapped defensive Pokemon from healing, thus making it a very potent Stallbreaker. I previously had Stealth Rock on Tran instead of Toxic. But, Chansey and Zapdos were proving to be difficult to handle. So, I gave SR to Mew and Defog to Lando.

Who needs to spin (Mew) @ Leftovers
Ability: Synchronize
EVs: 240 HP / 156 Def / 112 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Ice Beam
- Will-O-Wisp
- Soft-Boiled
- Stealth Rock

I originally added Mew as I needed a Medicham and Zygarde switchin and a Defogger. However, I ended up giving it Stealth Rock instead of Defog as I wanted to free a slot on Heatran for Toxic. Mew acts as my defensive glue along with Magearna. I was thinking of changing it to a less speedy spread in order to handle adamant Medicham, but that is rare and the speed comes in handy a lot like against Gyarados and adamant Landorus-therian. Will-o-wisp negates leftovers recovery of defensive Pokemon and cripples physical attackers. I am using Ice Beam instead of another attack as Zygarde can be problematic for me otherwise and I don't have HP Ice on Lando.

ASS Vest (Magearna) @ Assault Vest
Ability: Soul-Heart
EVs: 248 HP / 8 SpA / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Fleur Cannon
- Ice Beam
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Volt Switch

AV Magearna is one of the best pivots in the metagame along with Landorus-T. It prevents this team from getting 6-0d by Ash-Greninja. If the opponent has a ground-type then I fire a Fleur Cannon or Ice Beam depending on the situation. I am using Ice Beam instead of Iron Head or Flash Cannon as I have other ways dealing with CM Clefable namely Heatran and I almost never used Iron Head. HP Fire for M-Scizor and Ferro. Volt Switch is the most used move on this set and is the move that makes Magearna so annoying. If the opponent does not have a Ground-type(.00001% chance), or they are eliminated then, there is almost 0 cost of clicking Volt Switch.

Hazardous (Landorus-Therian) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- U-turn
- Earthquake
- Defog
- Stone Edge

How can a USUM team be complete without Landorus-Therian. I needed a scarfer and an Earthquake switchin as Gyarados is generally preserved for late game sweep. I am not using HP Ice as I have other methods for dealing with opposing Lando and Zygarde. Stone Edge helps dealing with Charizard without worrying about the form as well as Mega-Pinsir which can otherwise be problematic for me. Defog is necessary for Gyarados. If opponent has already set up spikes, then I use Defog on a switch ASAP otherwise it is only when Gyarados needs to come in and set-up a sweep. Lando can also cleanup late game sometimes, but that is rare.

Conclusion
So, that was my team. I welcome all criticisms to make it better.
P.S.: Sorry to the guy whose Skarmory I flinched to death on the ladder and then went on to sweep his entire team.

 

[lydian]

Hey, s_aman!

I really find your team pretty interesting, the Water spam core of Ash-Greninja and Gyarados seems pretty interesting and I personally really like the way the team was structured. Nonetheless, opposing Ash-Greninja, Tapu Koko, Kartana, and Mega Pinsir seem to be notable threats. Ash-Greninja can be soft checked by Magearna, but after a couple rounds of Spikes, the Artificial Pokémon can get worn down. Tapu Koko can also really pressure Assault Vest Magearna by constantly using Volt Switch and Shuca variants can even take on Landorus-T after some previous damage or correct prediction. Kartana and Mega Pinsir are also very notable as both can pose big threats after Mew has been weakened a bit (252 Atk Kartana Bloom Doom (175 BP) vs. 240 HP / 156 Def Mew: 315-372 (78.5 - 92.7%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock, 1 layer of Spikes, and Leftovers recovery)(+2 252 Atk Aerilate Pinsir-Mega Return vs. 240 HP / 156 Def Mew: 390-459 (97.2 - 114.4%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery). Thus I'd suggest making the following changes to improve your defensive backbone:

Major Changes​

Assault Vest Tapu Bulu > Assault Vest Magearna

Timid Zapdos > Timid Mew

Now with these changes, your team's defensive backbone is a lot more sturdy and you can take on the likes of Ash-Greninja, Tapu Koko, Kartana, and Mega Pinsir with more ease. While Mew was also responsible for checking Zygarde and Offensive Landorus-T, these roles can be filled by Tapu Bulu and Zapdos respectively, and while Magearna was a solid switch-in to Lele, Tapu Bulu does the job just as well. Still, by taking down Mew, I removed your Stealth Rock setter, and I think the match-up against stall can still be improved a little bit:

Minor Changes​

Stealth Rock Heatran > Toxic Heatran

Taunt Gyarados > Earthquake Gyarados

So now you have a Rocker and a bit of a better matchup against Stall, hope you appreciate the changes. Here's the final team:


click the sprites for the PokéPaste.

 

[Anish]

hey, in addition to what lyd suggested, I just have a tweak in mind

​

I would suggest Megahorn on AV Bulu over Wood Hammer. Megahorn helps you with Mega Latios which is a major threat to your team if it runs Draco Meteor, while Megahorn keeps some pressure on Reuniculus and non Reflect Type Mega Latias as well. You can either give up on Natures Madness or Wood Hammer. I prefer giving up on Wood Hammer personally since NM maintains momentum very well, but this does somewhat hurt versus Toxapex and CM Clefable so up to you really.

 

[patlop2307]

Hey, s_aman!

I really find your team pretty interesting, the Water spam core of Ash-Greninja and Gyarados seems pretty interesting and I personally really like the way the team was structured. Nonetheless, opposing Ash-Greninja, Tapu Koko, Kartana, and Mega Pinsir seem to be notable threats. Ash-Greninja can be soft checked by Magearna, but after a couple rounds of Spikes, the Artificial Pokémon can get worn down. Tapu Koko can also really pressure Assault Vest Magearna by constantly using Volt Switch and Shuca variants can even take on Landorus-T after some previous damage or correct prediction. Kartana and Mega Pinsir are also very notable as both can pose big threats after Mew has been weakened a bit (252 Atk Kartana Bloom Doom (175 BP) vs. 240 HP / 156 Def Mew: 315-372 (78.5 - 92.7%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock, 1 layer of Spikes, and Leftovers recovery)(+2 252 Atk Aerilate Pinsir-Mega Return vs. 240 HP / 156 Def Mew: 390-459 (97.2 - 114.4%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery). Thus I'd suggest making the following changes to improve your defensive backbone:

Major Changes​

Assault Vest Tapu Bulu > Assault Vest Magearna

Timid Zapdos > Timid Mew

Now with these changes, your team's defensive backbone is a lot more sturdy and you can take on the likes of Ash-Greninja, Tapu Koko, Kartana, and Mega Pinsir with more ease. While Mew was also responsible for checking Zygarde and Offensive Landorus-T, these roles can be filled by Tapu Bulu and Zapdos respectively, and while Magearna was a solid switch-in to Lele, Tapu Bulu does the job just as well. Still, by taking down Mew, I removed your Stealth Rock setter, and I think the match-up against stall can still be improved a little bit:

Minor Changes​

Stealth Rock Heatran > Toxic Heatran

Taunt Gyarados > Earthquake Gyarados

So now you have a Rocker and a bit of a better matchup against Stall, hope you appreciate the changes. Here's the final team:


click the sprites for the PokéPaste.

Agree with most of the changes and I do think it is a great rate. One question I am asking myself, however, is: Why not run Defog for Hidden Power [Ice] on Zapdos and vice versa on Landorus-Therian? I do think that Landorus-Therian, in conjunction with Grassy Terrain, is a way better pick to run Hodden Power [Ice] on, since it recovers a bit from the Terrain and does not get hit super-effectively the turn after, giving you yet another free turn of recovery most of the time. Zapdos is also just such a great remover right now that pressures a LOT of teams.

 

[s_aman]

Thanks everyone for the rate. Got a little sidetracked due to my final year college project. The changes look ineresting. Gonna try them now.