Other Metagames High Hopes [Gen 7 Balanced Hackmons]

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High Hopes

~Contents~
1. Introduction
2. Teambuilding Process
3. The Team
4. Replays, Importable, Threatlist, and other resources
5. Conclusion
6. Shoutouts

Thanks to Morogrim/Anaconja for the format, the artwork was done by Magii :3
Welcome, everyone, thank you for deciding to click on this RMT. I'm Magikingdra, one of the lesser-known players in the BH community, and this is my team, High Hopes. It's my third RMT and hopefully it wont be as cringy as the last two. :pikuh:
This team idea occured to me when I thought about how I'm always copy/pasting pokemon from earlier teams. I'm not just talking about the once in a while repitition but full on 10 straight teams using nearly the same defensive core, and the perpetual 3 Offensive+Two Defensive Pokemon (Unaware/Magic Bounce/PH/Regenvest and slap on an imposter chansey for good measure. I only play Balance and occasional Shed Stall. In this team, I don't deviate from that archetype. However, I do want to change it up, use something that I've used before but not extensively, something that's not often seen on the ladder. I decided on Specs Manectric/Xurkitree, with partial Electric Terrain support and PH Sableye. Weird choices, but bear with me.

I was going to do an RMT for my 1K Post (Uggh), and then a bunch of people started quitting. 4 people I know have quit in the last month, 1 very recently who I was very close with towards his final hours, and they just left. This RMT is for them, OM!, HawaiianGirl, LordNwahs6, and aki0s . Godspeed.

Without further ado, High Hopes.


The Team at a Glance:



I started out with Mega Manectric as a powerful wallbreaker able to bring down defensive behemoths. I'll include calcs later on in the RMT, but suffice it to say that with speed control this pokemon is a behemoth. There will be an alternate version included later as well featuring Xurkitree, the pros of which are many, but is simply too slow to include right now. Manectric's best set is Galvanize, with Choice Specs. It also, however can run an Icium-Z or Refrigerate Lure set to attract some of the bulky dragons this team struggles with.


Next on the list is Magearna. I saw this on Gurpreet Patel (Sent you a Friend Request)'s team against Morogrim and fell in love with the set. It spreads nuzzle to support Manectric and the next pokemon you'll see here, as well as provide a soft check for Regigigas in case my poison heal user dies, and just generally provide support for this team. I'm sure there are better options for this slot, and I'm open to suggestions, but quite frankly I'd be uncomfortable changing it.

Now, we have Groudon. I was looking for even more support for Manectric, and the next step, logically, is a terrain setter. All of the dedicated terrain setters, however, make this team far too bulky and not offensive enough. However, Groudon can set Electric Terrain, and then revert itself to become more offensive with Desolate Land. Groudon works really well with Manectric, each of them can cover each other's threats.

Sheer Force Mega Mewtwo Y is my last offensive pokemon remaining on this team. It functions well as a fast wallbreaker, doing things that Manectric simply can't do. It's coverage in 4 moves is second to none. Life Orb provides a boosting item with no drawbacks. Moongeist Beam / Psychic/BoltBeam coverage is, in my opinion, optimal while still being imposterproofed by Magearna.

At this point, I still needed a Shedinja check and a way to block its endeavors, (except if it's pixiliate [which is extremely rare on the ladder anyway, and is then checked by Sheer Force MMY/Groudon]). Core Enforcer + Stealth Rock forces Shedinja out, especially since
252+ Atk Shedinja Spectral Thief vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Sableye-Mega: 78-93 (25.6 - 30.5%) -- possible 5HKO after Poison Heal
252+ Atk Shedinja Spectral Thief vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Sableye-Mega: 78-93 (25.6 - 30.5%) -- possible 5HKO after Poison Heal

252+ Atk Regigigas Knock Off (97.5 BP) vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Sableye-Mega: 84-99 (27.6 - 32.5%) -- possible 5HKO after Poison Heal
252 Atk Choice Band Mewtwo-Mega-X Knock Off (97.5 BP) vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Sableye-Mega: 130-154 (42.7 - 50.6%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Poison Heal
252 Atk Choice Band Mewtwo-Mega-X Knock Off (97.5 BP) vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Sableye-Mega: 130-154 (42.7 - 50.6%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Poison Heal

Sableye also forces Regigigas and non-pixiliate MMX out, as they utterly hate Glare and Core Enforcer. It's a great all around defensive pokemon.

Scarfposter does stuff. As a good man named Highlighter said-
Imposter Chansey is what defines the entire meta. The key to playing Chansey well is to use it for only 3 things: scouting, PP stalling, and forcing switches. When you scout with Chansey try to send it in safely or against an offensive mon that wouldn't do too much damage such as Mewtwo-Mega-Y. Do not blindly switch to Chansey against non-ghost type walls since they sometimes run trapping, which will end Chansey. You also don't want to use Chansey against frail mons such as Deoxys-Attack or mons that are typically improof such as Mgar. Overusage or overreliance on Chansey will only result in the premature loss of one of your best tools. Fake Out is for breaking illusions and Whirlwind phazes out opponents hiding behind a sub.

'Nuff Said.


Go, Celesteela! I was not happy after this last change. Let the record show that I will use that Magearna set in my next RMT. However, my Groudon lacked an imposterproof. Celesteela with Flash Fire also serves as a blanket -ate check for everything except Galvanize. This works really well as a Groudon lure (not the PSea set, however) by trapping it, and is immune to every single one of its moves.


~The Team~

@

High Hopes (Manectric-Mega) @ Choice Specs
Ability: Galvanize
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 252 SpA / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature / Modest
IVs: 0 Atk
- Boomburst
- Ice Beam / Moonblast
- Volt Switch
- Earth Power

Imposterproofed by: Sableye if running Ice Beam and Groudon if running Moonblast.

Manectric is the star of this team, the reason I even wanted to build this team. With a base 135 Special Attack, and Choice Specs, it is a premier electric-type wallbreaker in many regards. With a 140 BP STAB and BoltBeam coverage, it's a force to be reckoned with. 135 Base Speed allows it to outspeed most of the pokemon it wishes to KO, and the ones which it doesn't are shut down by Glare support from Sableye or Celesteela (whichever one happens to be running it). Running a timid nature allows you a solid check to Gengar, while speedcreeping it and keeping the OHKO. However, if Gengar is not running a speed boosting nature (notably on imposter-proof setup sets), Modest will still get a guaranteed OHKO while still outspeeding it. With a timid nature, Manectric hits 405 speed, and otherwise only 369.

Modest Calcs are in Red, Timid are in Green. All OHKOs are bolded, no matter how small the chance.
252 SpA Choice Specs Manectric-Mega Ice Beam vs. 252 HP / 252 SpD Zygarde-Complete: 496-584 (77.9 - 91.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
This is a 2HKO, assuming you either have chip damage or kill it on the switch. Even though it isn't optimal, it still gives this pokemon a way to handle Zygarde.
252 SpA Choice Specs Manectric-Mega Ice Beam vs. 252 HP / 252 SpD Groudon: 256-302 (63.3 - 74.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 SpA Choice Specs Galvanize Manectric-Mega Boomburst vs. 252 HP / 252 SpD Tyranitar-Mega: 295-348 (73 - 86.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Poison Heal

/shrug
252+ SpA Choice Specs Galvanize Manectric-Mega Boomburst vs. 252 HP / 252 SpD Tyranitar-Mega: 322-381 (79.7 - 94.3%) -- 50% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock and Poison Heal
252 SpA Choice Specs Galvanize Manectric-Mega Boomburst vs. 252 HP / 252 SpD Gengar-Mega: 346-408 (106.7 - 125.9%) -- guaranteed OHKO

252+ SpA Choice Specs Galvanize Manectric-Mega Boomburst vs. 252 HP / 252 SpD Magearna: 333-393 (91.4 - 107.9%) -- 50% chance to OHKO
252 SpA Choice Specs Galvanize Manectric-Mega Boomburst vs. 252 HP / 252 SpD Magearna: 304-358 (83.5 - 98.3%) -- 31.3% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock
252 SpA Choice Specs Galvanize Manectric-Mega Boomburst vs. 252 HP / 252 SpD Magearna: 304-358 (83.5 - 98.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 SpA Choice Specs Galvanize Manectric-Mega Boomburst vs. 252 HP / 252 SpD Mewtwo-Mega-X: 334-394 (80.2 - 94.7%) -- 12.5% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock

252 SpA Choice Specs Galvanize Manectric-Mega Boomburst vs. 252 HP / 252- SpD Mewtwo-Mega-X: 372-438 (89.4 - 105.2%) -- 68.8% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock
252 SpA Choice Specs Galvanize Manectric-Mega Boomburst vs. 252 HP / 252 SpD Mewtwo-Mega-X: 334-394 (80.2 - 94.7%) -- 12.5% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock
These calcs assume that Mega Mewtwo X is running 3 different natures. The fist one assumes a hasty nature, +spe, -def (found on Choice Band). The second works if they have a naive nature, which subtracts from special defense (found on Contrary and DazzleSmash). The final calc is a given with a Jolly Nature (found on Poison Heal). Notably, Manectric must run a timid nature to beat Mega Mewtwo, and even the it will take heavy damage from its STABs, or after it boosts.

*Note- These calcs do change under Electric Terrain, which Groudon provides. My suggestion is to not let Groudon undergo Primal Reversion until you encounter a situation where you absolutely need electric terrain.

@

one in a million (Celesteela) @ Leftovers
Ability: Flash Fire / Primordial Sea
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpA / 252 SpD
Brave Nature
IVs: 1 Spe
- Anchor Shot
- Spectral Thief
- Rapid Spin/Glare
- Shore Up
Imposterproofed by: Manectric, just click boomburst, and itself.
Celesteela is my first of two defensive pokemon, and it's a very underrated one. Flash Fire acts as a lure to keep Groudon in, rather than primordial sea, and Rapid Spin/Glare alone can outstall the imposter's PP after switching in. It also works well as a blanket -ate check, which my team struggled with while I had Magearna. Spectral Thief acts as a last ditch effort to remove any setup the opponent may have acquired, and Rapid Spin is one of the best moves to PP Stall with. Glare and Rapid Spin are interchangable, since Sableye is running the other one, but the team is less imposterproofed if the change has been made. My last note is that since Groudon is running Synthesis, a drastic option (or just something to remove weather) could be giving Celesteela Primordial Sea. All in all, it's a great defensive pokemon.


wildest dreams (Groudon) @ Red Orb
Ability: Electric Surge
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- V-create
- Thousand Waves
- Synthesis
- Haze / Filler
Imposterproofed by: Celesteela

Groudon is serves as my Steel-Type removal, general Physical Attacker, Terrain Setter, Sleep Immunity, and all around bulky fire type. With V-Create, Thousand Waves, and a filler, it can hit most of the metagame for neutral damage. My only suggestion is TO NOT RUN BOLT STRIKE ON THIS THING. While it may be very tempting, it allows Groudon to actually damage Celesteela, something that I personally think is too much of a trade off. Groudon serves as much needed role compression, and it does an amazing job.
@

Manifest Destiny (Mewtwo-Mega-Y) @ Life Orb
Ability: Sheer Force
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpA / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Hasty Nature
- Moongeist Beam
- Ice Beam
- Bolt Strike
- Psychic
Imposterproofed by: Sableye (this one's shaky)
Mewtwo is a weird choice for this team, I admit it. Why add duplicate coverage? While Manectric brings a very strong boomburst, Mewtwo seeks to check the pokemon it can't (or can only do so shakily). Moongeist Beam is a secondary precaution for Shedinja, if it decides to come in. It's a very uncommon choice on Mewtwo, but works well as tech. With Bolt-Beam coverage, it also can hit a large portion of the metagame supereffectively, and checks threats such as Spectile Mega that are absolutely horrendous for this team to face.


burn your bio (Sableye-Mega) @ Toxic Orb
Ability: Poison Heal
Level: 99
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 252 SpA / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Glare
- Core Enforcer
- Shore Up
- Stealth Rock
Imposterproofed by: Celesteela and itself (if you don't mind Celesteela getting Paralyzed)
Sableye is an DANK MEMES unorthodox choice to use on a team like this, but from my experience, it's just stellar. Using Glare/Core Enforcer on the imposter can force it out, allowing Sableye to set up Rocks. In combination with its typing, it also can force MMX, Regigigas, and Shedinja out using its moves. It, unfortunately, is walled by Magic Bounce fairy types (Audino and Magearna + the very rare Xerneas), and friends, but it still carves a very useful niche on this team.

252+ Atk Shedinja U-turn vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Sableye-Mega: 60-72 (19.7 - 23.6%) -- possible 8HKO after Poison Heal
252+ Atk Shedinja Spectral Thief vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Sableye-Mega: 78-93 (25.6 - 30.5%) -- possible 5HKO after Poison Heal


@

rewrite history (Chansey) (F) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Imposter
Happiness: 80
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 252 SpA / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Serious Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Final Gambit
- Whirlwind
- Roost
- Baton Pass
Imposterproofed by: Imposter is Imposterproofed by itself.
Since I'm still too lazy to write something decent on imposter, I choose you highlighter [Blatant Abuse]
Imposter Chansey is what defines the entire meta. The key to playing Chansey well is to use it for only 3 things: scouting, PP stalling, and forcing switches. When you scout with Chansey try to send it in safely or against an offensive mon that wouldn't do too much damage such as Mewtwo-Mega-Y. Do not blindly switch to Chansey against non-ghost type walls since they sometimes run trapping, which will end Chansey. You also don't want to use Chansey against frail mons such as Deoxys-Attack or mons that are typically improof such as Mgar. Overusage or overreliance on Chansey will only result in the premature loss of one of your best tools. Fake Out is for breaking illusions and Whirlwind phazes out opponents hiding behind a sub.

~Resources~

Importable (Final)

I don't have that many replays due to more unfortunate circumstances., but at least a few lowish ladder meh ones are better than none... right?
Me vs. Some Low Ladder Player
How to beat shed
Groudon is good I swear
I nearly loose like a dumdum
this
Bonus of me getting trashed by SL42

Never

One user asked me this question earlier, and I decided to throw this in as an excuse to shamelessly plug this rmt to anyone who asks for them, and possibly others, to use as a resource. The general style that I ripped from Morogrim is

  • Banner
  • Contents
  • Intro/Where you can dump a music video
  • Teambuilding Process
  • The Team at a Glance
  • In Depth Analysis
Picture
[Set]
High Hopes (Manectric-Mega) @ Choice Specs
Ability: Galvanize
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 252 SpA / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Boomburst
- Ice Beam
- Volt Switch
- Earth Power
Imposterproofed by: (what imposterproofs this pokemon)
Reasoning/Explanation

  • Import/Replay Dump
  • Excuse to shamlessly plug your rmt everywhere you can
  • Inside joke
  • Shoutouts
  • Conclusion

It's really simple, and once you get the hang of it, you can add your own touches and pretty much copypaste it from team to team.

☆FuckLuckerz: Stop trying to rape me?


~Shoutouts and Conclusion~
Warning I'm going to repeat some people so don't be surprised if you have like 5 tags...
Whydon LOL Why would you host a Circus game with a circus noob, thanks for letting me work with you. <3
Thanks to Willdbeast aki0s Anaconja for rating this team, ya'll are the best.
Thank you so much to all of my trivia people- mgperson Awesome96Birdy + more people I'm forgetting/don't have your smogons- you guys do so much for me, PM me when I'm having problems (spoiler: I have a lot) and just making me feel better about myself. IRL I'm a shoulder to cry on so it's nice to have you guys.
highlighter God just charge me a dollar every time I copypaste your thing on imposter chansey
Gurpreet Patel (Sent you a Friend Request) Thank you for whooping my ass those games we play, and making me realize that I have so much to learn. Nobody's got your heat, especially not me.
To my Bhad Bhiatches- Willdbeast sin(pi) aki0s Anaconja Gurpreet Patel (Sent you a Friend Request): Ya'll made the puzzle hunt a fucking joy to do, hopefully we can actually make the dream and complete this thing next year. You guys rock.
morogrim You're cool, thanks.
loser2017 You're really cool, a good friend, and you stole that shedstall team from memory and gave it to me. 10/10 IGN
pazza You're pretty cool too. Rip in not getting drafted for Snake or OMPL though I know a certain manager mighta wanted to pick us both up as subs. I've built some shit for you, you've done some stuff for me, and I'm better because of it.
Anaconja
Magaykingdra
You're a great shitposter, amazing in most respects. <3

E4 Flint You're corrupt
MAMP You're a great firebot poster and a better BH player, I hope to be 1/10 the Balanced Hackmons player, and just to have the courage to come out that you are/have. Fellow LGBT person <3
GL Volkner same as mamp but you aren't lgbt
Chloe Fellow LGBT person
Awesome96Birdy I needed to shout you out again, you've given me advice on everything from how to talk to guys to shittalking people, you're a great person. gO BIRB!
aki0s It sucks that you had to quit, I'll really miss you after snake. gO Registeels, and I hope you have a great life outside of asshole social forums mods.
Zovrah edit gang kek, you're a cool user. Thanks for being there
Ari wherever you are : thanks for helping me with mustering the courage to ask a guy out, didn't work but I'm glad I did
I'm sure I've made some glaring errors, if you're a friend and I didn't mention you, pm me with "Why the fuck didn't I get a shoutout", and I'll edit you in.

Last but not least, you, the reader, for taking the time to read this post, are a great person. Thanks for supporting your neighborhood Magii!

Also I'm gay kek
 
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a loser

I'm a loser, baby, so why don't you kill me?
is a Tiering Contributoris a Contributor to Smogonis a Community Contributor Alumnus
Yo nice team! I must have missed this when you originally posted it. I like Specs Manectric a lot and people underestimate is ability to dent offensive and defensive mons.

One question right off the bat is how would Sableye be an improof for Manectric when its a guaranteed 2HKO taking 67-78% damage from Boomburst? Also, Groudon improofing while you run Earth Power is like 43-50% from Timid and takes even more if you hit back with V-Create.

Sableye using Glare on imposter also guarantees that it will move last on Core Enforcer and remove your ability and force you out. Maybe you could change this to Nuzzle and have Groudon be the improof. This way Magic Bounce doesn't completely wall it and Groudon doesn't get paralyzed. U-Turn could be nice in the last slot for a very slow pivot to bring in your offensive teammates.

Speaking of Groudon, Haze seems like a wasted move slot and I can't imagine when you would ever click it. My suggestion, which goes along with the above suggestion, would be to either give Groudon Stealth Rocks instead of Sableye or to add Shift Gear/Shell Smash since Celesteela fully improofs it anyway. Adding rocks is a more balanced choice but setting up can get you momentum on impostered Sableye. Getting +1 with Shift Gear allows you to do this to Eviolite imposter:

+1 252+ Atk Groudon-Primal V-create vs. +1 252 HP / 252+ Def Sableye-Mega in Harsh Sunshine: 382-451 (54.2 - 64%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

As for a threat list, you might as well click X if a BellyBurden mon gets set up or hope Scarf imposter isn't taking 4x effective damage.

And last thing, you better keep Sableye healthy because it takes 41-48% from MMY's Ice Beam and a little more from Bolt Strike.
 
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