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Introduction
This is a team I've built about a month ago, it was the 2nd team I'd built since coming back. I've shown this team to a few of my friends, and the people in the OU Discord, and it's ended up like this. I believe this to be the best team I've built, it's helped me peak #195 on the ladder, for me that's pretty good as I'm usually low #400's. Proof can be seen here.
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This is a team I've built about a month ago, it was the 2nd team I'd built since coming back. I've shown this team to a few of my friends, and the people in the OU Discord, and it's ended up like this. I believe this to be the best team I've built, it's helped me peak #195 on the ladder, for me that's pretty good as I'm usually low #400's. Proof can be seen here.
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Teambuilding process
Mega Scizor is the Pokemon I'd decided to build around, its Swords Dance set, is imo, one of the best sweepers out there in the current metagame, only being rivaled by a handful of Pokemon like Mega Pinsir, Mega Mawile, and Zygarde and Pokemon alike. Mega Scizor outright wins a good amount of games thanks to its amazing defensive utility and astonishing offensive capabilites.
While Mega Scizor's usage may have died down the last month, I still believe it to be the most consistent Mega Evolution as it never does nothing, even in Magnezone matchups, if played correctly, it can be used to get Zygarde in for free and fire off a powerful Choice Band-boosted Thousand Arrows.
I immediately added Choice Banded Zygarde because it is one of the best Pokemon to pair with Mega Scizor. Zygarde can switch into, and break a multitude of Fire-types like Heatran, Charizard Y, and Victini, though it's very limited to switching as it gets worn down quickly if switching in repeatedly. Mega Scizor also helps deal with Fairy-, Ice-, and Grass-types like Clefable, Tapu Bulu, and Tangrowth, which are what Zygarde mainly struggles against.
After that, I decided to go with Tornadus-T, it's a really reliable Pokemon and helps my team's slow nature thanks to its outstanding Speed tier. It provides me with a Defogger, 2ndary Kartana check, Landorus-T switch in, and a Knock Off user, of which are great when paired up with Zygarde and Mega Scizor. Its STAB Hurricane's help with Grass-types that Zygarde has trouble breaking through, and thanks to Taunt it can help against Toxapex and Ferrothorn, which Mega Scizor struggles with.
First of all, Gastrodon-East is the only viable Gastrodon forme and telling me otherwise won't work. Anyways, Gastrodon provides the team with a 2ndary Electric immunity which it desperately needs as Zygarde can't switch into most Electric-types anyways due to them all carrying coverage moves for it. Gastrodon's ability to blanket check a myriad of special attackers, including Heatran, Ash Greninja, Tapu Koko, and Magearna is very important for teams like this as Zygarde is very susceptible to getting chipped down, thus ineffectively checking any of these in the long run. Gastrodon also massively benefits from Tornadus-T's ability to pressure Grass-types.
Clefable is my Stealth Rock setter of choice as it is very reliable at doing so. Its ability to pass around Wishes to the team is simply great because Pokemon like Zygarde, Heatran, and Tornadus-T tend to get worn down. Being able to take on most physical attackers such as Landorus-T, Zygarde, and Mega Lopunny in a 1v1 situation is amazing and is the reason why it's so good. Gastrodon takes on many Steel-types that can pressure Clefable, namely Magearna and Heatran, along with other special attackers, which is why this is such a solid core.
Lastly, I decided to add Heatran, it holds amazing synergy with most of the team, and adds another way to apply pressure onto Grass-types, and massively improves the stall matchup. Heatran is really what holds this team together thanks to its 11 resistances and 2 immunities, it holds a lot of defensive utility, despite being offensive. It's the teams main check to Pokemon like Mega Scizor and also massively helps against Mega Venusaur and Celesteela, which is a super annoying match up for the team.
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Mega Scizor is the Pokemon I'd decided to build around, its Swords Dance set, is imo, one of the best sweepers out there in the current metagame, only being rivaled by a handful of Pokemon like Mega Pinsir, Mega Mawile, and Zygarde and Pokemon alike. Mega Scizor outright wins a good amount of games thanks to its amazing defensive utility and astonishing offensive capabilites.
While Mega Scizor's usage may have died down the last month, I still believe it to be the most consistent Mega Evolution as it never does nothing, even in Magnezone matchups, if played correctly, it can be used to get Zygarde in for free and fire off a powerful Choice Band-boosted Thousand Arrows.
I immediately added Choice Banded Zygarde because it is one of the best Pokemon to pair with Mega Scizor. Zygarde can switch into, and break a multitude of Fire-types like Heatran, Charizard Y, and Victini, though it's very limited to switching as it gets worn down quickly if switching in repeatedly. Mega Scizor also helps deal with Fairy-, Ice-, and Grass-types like Clefable, Tapu Bulu, and Tangrowth, which are what Zygarde mainly struggles against.
After that, I decided to go with Tornadus-T, it's a really reliable Pokemon and helps my team's slow nature thanks to its outstanding Speed tier. It provides me with a Defogger, 2ndary Kartana check, Landorus-T switch in, and a Knock Off user, of which are great when paired up with Zygarde and Mega Scizor. Its STAB Hurricane's help with Grass-types that Zygarde has trouble breaking through, and thanks to Taunt it can help against Toxapex and Ferrothorn, which Mega Scizor struggles with.
First of all, Gastrodon-East is the only viable Gastrodon forme and telling me otherwise won't work. Anyways, Gastrodon provides the team with a 2ndary Electric immunity which it desperately needs as Zygarde can't switch into most Electric-types anyways due to them all carrying coverage moves for it. Gastrodon's ability to blanket check a myriad of special attackers, including Heatran, Ash Greninja, Tapu Koko, and Magearna is very important for teams like this as Zygarde is very susceptible to getting chipped down, thus ineffectively checking any of these in the long run. Gastrodon also massively benefits from Tornadus-T's ability to pressure Grass-types.
Clefable is my Stealth Rock setter of choice as it is very reliable at doing so. Its ability to pass around Wishes to the team is simply great because Pokemon like Zygarde, Heatran, and Tornadus-T tend to get worn down. Being able to take on most physical attackers such as Landorus-T, Zygarde, and Mega Lopunny in a 1v1 situation is amazing and is the reason why it's so good. Gastrodon takes on many Steel-types that can pressure Clefable, namely Magearna and Heatran, along with other special attackers, which is why this is such a solid core.
Lastly, I decided to add Heatran, it holds amazing synergy with most of the team, and adds another way to apply pressure onto Grass-types, and massively improves the stall matchup. Heatran is really what holds this team together thanks to its 11 resistances and 2 immunities, it holds a lot of defensive utility, despite being offensive. It's the teams main check to Pokemon like Mega Scizor and also massively helps against Mega Venusaur and Celesteela, which is a super annoying match up for the team.
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Individual looks
clout (Scizor-Mega) @ Scizorite
Ability: Light Metal
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SpD
Impish Nature
- Bullet Punch
- U-turn
- Swords Dance
- Roost
Mega Scizor enjoys the current meta trends like the rise of Choice Band Kartana, Weavile, and Tapu Bulu as it can use any of these mons for a free Swords Dance. Besides these threats, it can also be used to pivot in on Pokemon like Tapu Lele, Mega Alakazam, and the likes to scout whatever coverage they're running, although it almost never will beat any of these. It also provides U-turn support which is great to get in Zygarde, Tornadus-T, or Heatran for free. I've tried out Mega Scizor, and it's pretty customizable. Knock Off can be worked with instead of U-turn although this gives the team a significantly harder time against Magnezone teams. Curse is another option, which lets Mega Scizor reliably beat any Zygarde set and improves the teams general matchup against SD Mega Mawile, but, it takes too long to set up for my preference, that's not to say it's not a perfectly viable option, though.
hokuspokus (Zygarde) @ Choice Band
Ability: Aura Break
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Thousand Arrows
- Extreme Speed
- Outrage
- Iron Tail
Zygarde's Choice Band set has been dominating the OU metagame for quite a while now, only having fallen off quite recently. With the surge of other sets such as SubCoil and Weakness Policy, people will be more cautious of these than Choice Banded Zygarde, letting Zygarde get off an unexpectedly strong hit. Zygarde synergises very well with the team thanks to its ability to force switches into Pokemon like Clefable and Tapu Bulu, which Mega Scizor can abuse to get off a Swords Dance or pivot out into another Pokemon. Toxic may be used in the last slot but the targets are handled perfectly fine by the team anyways, so I prefer Iron Tail.
meerp$pier (Tornadus-Therian) @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Def / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Hurricane
- Knock Off
- Taunt
- Defog
Between checking Kartana and Tapu Bulu, to removing hazards, this mon is honestly great and a very big part of the team. Its ability to pressure every Grass-type lets Heatran and Mega Scizor breathe more freely against Pokemon like Tapu Bulu and Kartana, which are capable of overwhelming both. Outside of checking Grass-types and removing hazards, this Pokemon is great in the matchup against stall and balanced teams alike. Thanks to Taunt it prevents passive moves from being used, and Knock Off lets it remove important items from Pokemon like Celesteela, Ferrothorn, Toxapex, and Chansey. I've tried out Toxic instead of Taunt but Taunt offers far more utility and Mega Lati@s can both be handled by the team anyways, though admittedly, SubCM Mega Latias is a major annoyance.
ubettanah (Gastrodon-East) @ Leftovers
Ability: Storm Drain
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Def / 252 SpD
Sassy Nature
IVs: 11 Spe
- Scald
- Recover
- Toxic
- Earthquake
I dont really think there's a lot to say about Gastrodon tbh. It blanket checks so many special attackers it's lowkey insane, it basically makes it impossible for this team to lose to Tapu Koko or Ash Greninja, and it greatly improves the Heatran matchup. I decided to run 11 Speed IVs because that means it can underspeed Alolan Marowak, slightly improving the match up against Trick Room teams, while by no means dominating the meta anymore, they're very underprepped for, and it's not like Gastrodon really needs the Speed anyways.
geenidea (Clefable) @ Leftovers
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Moonblast
- Wish
- Stealth Rock
- Soft-Boiled
Clefable is arguably the best Stealth Rock setter as of right now because it never fails to set them up, even without Calm Mind. Wish, however, is the main draw of Clefable towards this team as it can consistently keep Zygarde, Tornadus-T, and Heatran healthy, and helps a lot in the matchup against hazard stacking teams. Besides that Clefable is mainly used to check Hawlucha and pivot into Zygarde, Mega Medicham, and Mega Lopunny. I tried out Calm Mind over Wish but the utility that Wish provides is simply too good to pass up on.
teddiebeer (Heatran) @ Firium Z
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Magma Storm
- Earth Power
- Toxic
- Taunt
Heatran heavily improves the matchup against stall teams, which would otherwise be way harder to beat. It's also the team's main check to Pokemon like Clefable, Mega Scizor, and Celesteela, which would otherwise be fairly annoying without it. Utility Heatran can be used with Will-O-Wisp instead to check Mega Mawile better, but this significantly worsens the teams matchup against Gastrodon, but I personally prefer Toxic Heatran due to Gastrodon's current popularity. Specially Defensive Heatran can also be run to improve the general matchup against Mega Mawile and PsySpam, but it also significantly worsens the stall matchup.
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clout (Scizor-Mega) @ Scizorite
Ability: Light Metal
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SpD
Impish Nature
- Bullet Punch
- U-turn
- Swords Dance
- Roost
Mega Scizor enjoys the current meta trends like the rise of Choice Band Kartana, Weavile, and Tapu Bulu as it can use any of these mons for a free Swords Dance. Besides these threats, it can also be used to pivot in on Pokemon like Tapu Lele, Mega Alakazam, and the likes to scout whatever coverage they're running, although it almost never will beat any of these. It also provides U-turn support which is great to get in Zygarde, Tornadus-T, or Heatran for free. I've tried out Mega Scizor, and it's pretty customizable. Knock Off can be worked with instead of U-turn although this gives the team a significantly harder time against Magnezone teams. Curse is another option, which lets Mega Scizor reliably beat any Zygarde set and improves the teams general matchup against SD Mega Mawile, but, it takes too long to set up for my preference, that's not to say it's not a perfectly viable option, though.
hokuspokus (Zygarde) @ Choice Band
Ability: Aura Break
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Thousand Arrows
- Extreme Speed
- Outrage
- Iron Tail
Zygarde's Choice Band set has been dominating the OU metagame for quite a while now, only having fallen off quite recently. With the surge of other sets such as SubCoil and Weakness Policy, people will be more cautious of these than Choice Banded Zygarde, letting Zygarde get off an unexpectedly strong hit. Zygarde synergises very well with the team thanks to its ability to force switches into Pokemon like Clefable and Tapu Bulu, which Mega Scizor can abuse to get off a Swords Dance or pivot out into another Pokemon. Toxic may be used in the last slot but the targets are handled perfectly fine by the team anyways, so I prefer Iron Tail.
meerp$pier (Tornadus-Therian) @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Def / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Hurricane
- Knock Off
- Taunt
- Defog
Between checking Kartana and Tapu Bulu, to removing hazards, this mon is honestly great and a very big part of the team. Its ability to pressure every Grass-type lets Heatran and Mega Scizor breathe more freely against Pokemon like Tapu Bulu and Kartana, which are capable of overwhelming both. Outside of checking Grass-types and removing hazards, this Pokemon is great in the matchup against stall and balanced teams alike. Thanks to Taunt it prevents passive moves from being used, and Knock Off lets it remove important items from Pokemon like Celesteela, Ferrothorn, Toxapex, and Chansey. I've tried out Toxic instead of Taunt but Taunt offers far more utility and Mega Lati@s can both be handled by the team anyways, though admittedly, SubCM Mega Latias is a major annoyance.
ubettanah (Gastrodon-East) @ Leftovers
Ability: Storm Drain
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Def / 252 SpD
Sassy Nature
IVs: 11 Spe
- Scald
- Recover
- Toxic
- Earthquake
I dont really think there's a lot to say about Gastrodon tbh. It blanket checks so many special attackers it's lowkey insane, it basically makes it impossible for this team to lose to Tapu Koko or Ash Greninja, and it greatly improves the Heatran matchup. I decided to run 11 Speed IVs because that means it can underspeed Alolan Marowak, slightly improving the match up against Trick Room teams, while by no means dominating the meta anymore, they're very underprepped for, and it's not like Gastrodon really needs the Speed anyways.
geenidea (Clefable) @ Leftovers
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Moonblast
- Wish
- Stealth Rock
- Soft-Boiled
Clefable is arguably the best Stealth Rock setter as of right now because it never fails to set them up, even without Calm Mind. Wish, however, is the main draw of Clefable towards this team as it can consistently keep Zygarde, Tornadus-T, and Heatran healthy, and helps a lot in the matchup against hazard stacking teams. Besides that Clefable is mainly used to check Hawlucha and pivot into Zygarde, Mega Medicham, and Mega Lopunny. I tried out Calm Mind over Wish but the utility that Wish provides is simply too good to pass up on.
teddiebeer (Heatran) @ Firium Z
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Magma Storm
- Earth Power
- Toxic
- Taunt
Heatran heavily improves the matchup against stall teams, which would otherwise be way harder to beat. It's also the team's main check to Pokemon like Clefable, Mega Scizor, and Celesteela, which would otherwise be fairly annoying without it. Utility Heatran can be used with Will-O-Wisp instead to check Mega Mawile better, but this significantly worsens the teams matchup against Gastrodon, but I personally prefer Toxic Heatran due to Gastrodon's current popularity. Specially Defensive Heatran can also be run to improve the general matchup against Mega Mawile and PsySpam, but it also significantly worsens the stall matchup.
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Threatlist
Mega Mawile can run SD or a handful of different coverage moves and without scouting, losing against this Pokemon is very possible.
Tapu Lele and Mega Alakazam, the infamous 'PsySpam' core, can easily spam their STAB moves against a majority of the team and can blast through Mega Scizor and Heatran with their respective coverage moves. The matchup isn't unwinnable though, because, as soon as Psychic Terrain has run out, Mega Scizor immediately threatens this core.
Specifically Z-Solar Beam Heatran can pose a very big threat to this team. It's been popping up more and more as of lately and efficiently lures Gastrodon, the main Heatran check on the team. But, it does still have to be wary of Zygarde with Wish Clefable.
Choice Band Tyranitar isn't unbeatable either but it's very hard to play around considering how powerful its STAB moves are.
While Swords Dance Landorus-T sets may be rather uncommon as of now, it still poses a very big threat to this team, only really being threatened by Tornadus-T, and Mega Scizor and Zygarde's priority moves (which can claim it if it's been weakened). It basically gets a free kill if it gets off a free Swords Dance.
Tapu Bulu with Swords Dance / Superpower / Horn Leech / Stone Edge and Fightinium Z can be very threatening if it doesn't set up too early and instead decides to fire off attacks to break down my team, but can sweep late-game.
I don't think I can put into words how much I HATE this core, it's so annoying. It pressures Clefable from freely Wishing Heatran back up and Heatran can get whittled down thanks to Leech Seed spam. Zygarde may seem like a threat to these sorts of teams, but that involves getting it in safely.
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Mega Mawile can run SD or a handful of different coverage moves and without scouting, losing against this Pokemon is very possible.
Tapu Lele and Mega Alakazam, the infamous 'PsySpam' core, can easily spam their STAB moves against a majority of the team and can blast through Mega Scizor and Heatran with their respective coverage moves. The matchup isn't unwinnable though, because, as soon as Psychic Terrain has run out, Mega Scizor immediately threatens this core.
Specifically Z-Solar Beam Heatran can pose a very big threat to this team. It's been popping up more and more as of lately and efficiently lures Gastrodon, the main Heatran check on the team. But, it does still have to be wary of Zygarde with Wish Clefable.
Choice Band Tyranitar isn't unbeatable either but it's very hard to play around considering how powerful its STAB moves are.
While Swords Dance Landorus-T sets may be rather uncommon as of now, it still poses a very big threat to this team, only really being threatened by Tornadus-T, and Mega Scizor and Zygarde's priority moves (which can claim it if it's been weakened). It basically gets a free kill if it gets off a free Swords Dance.
Tapu Bulu with Swords Dance / Superpower / Horn Leech / Stone Edge and Fightinium Z can be very threatening if it doesn't set up too early and instead decides to fire off attacks to break down my team, but can sweep late-game.
I don't think I can put into words how much I HATE this core, it's so annoying. It pressures Clefable from freely Wishing Heatran back up and Heatran can get whittled down thanks to Leech Seed spam. Zygarde may seem like a threat to these sorts of teams, but that involves getting it in safely.
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Shoutouts
mellowyellowhd Thanks for hearing me out and giving me ops on whenever I suggested changes and helping me write this, and ofcourse being a good friend.
HarrisIsAwesome XxKidofDeathxX ZstealthrockZ Guru (whats ur smogon account lol) You guys are the best friends I could've imagined, I always have a blast when talking to you guys.
nubzie Same goes for you, It's always nice talking to you.
mellowyellowhd Thanks for hearing me out and giving me ops on whenever I suggested changes and helping me write this, and ofcourse being a good friend.
HarrisIsAwesome XxKidofDeathxX ZstealthrockZ Guru (whats ur smogon account lol) You guys are the best friends I could've imagined, I always have a blast when talking to you guys.
nubzie Same goes for you, It's always nice talking to you.
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