Hello! This is the first team I'm posting on SS OU, and one of the first that I have put continued thought and planning into. While I generally like using stall teams with beefy, defensive Pokemon, I thought using offensive beasts like Hawlucha and Hydreigon would be fun. Currently, testing all sorts of different teams has dropped my ranking to hovering around ~1150, but the team itself is very good if played correctly.
Before I get too it, I'd also like to give a big thank you too ImperialGamer517 for recommending the usage of Dragapult, Mew and Magneara.
Building Process
Originally, I had Ribombee as my Sticky Web setter: it's fast, hits hard, and has access to lots of moves to make it's teammates jobs easier, like Stun Spore and Infestation. I've used Ribombee as an offensive pivot before, but as a lead, it was phenomenal too. All in all, a very solid Pokemon, and it didn't need the same Web setup as my later sweepers.
Most of the sweepers in the metagame are rather frail, especially to hazards like Stealth Rock and Spikes. So, Excadrill: Rapid Spin made it into a formidable sweeper with Mold Breaker + Earthquake to lure out fire-types like Rotom-H, and Iron Head as coverage against Clefable and others fairies.
Hawlucha is a fantastic sweepers that's given me issues in the past, and once it's set up, it's near-unstoppable.
From here, I added on multiple different teammates:
After testing all these teams, swapping team members, etc; I choose the last team because it had the best sweepers and best coverage. I also some other notable changes:
Recommended by ImperialGamer517:
As a lead, Mew was preferred from Ribombee due to Ribombee's defenses (or lack thereof) and because of Mew's larger movepool. Dragapult is used in place of Hydreigon, due to it's better speed, also it synergizes very well with Mew's added hazards. To round off the offensive trio, Magneara was utilized because of it's access to Trick and a variety of other damage-dealing moves.
In-Depth
Mew @ Red Card
Ability: Synchronize
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Stealth Rock / Spikes
- Toxic / Thunder Wave
- Taunt
- Thunderbolt / Giga Drain / Psychic
Pretty much the main support of the team. Chosen as the lead, Spikes/Stealth Rock can be used for chip damage to help enable late-game sweepers, such as Dragapult and Hawlucha. Toxic can be used for additional chip damage, or Thunder Wave can be used to cripple scarfers and give Volcarona the speed advantage it needs to set up Quiver Dance's. Taunt can be used against other lead Pokemon, such as Ferrothorn, to prevent them from setting up hazards, or against support like Clefable and a Wish/Teleport combo. Any move can be utilized as an offensive option, but moves supereffective against Rain Teams are generally preferred, as this team has very little Grass-or-Electric type coverage.
Excadrill @ Focus Sash
Ability: Mold Breaker
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Iron Head
- Rapid Spin
- Swords Dance / Toxic / Stealth Rock
Excadrill is the designated spinner of the team, running a Jolly nature with max speed IVs to give it the edge it needs to outspeed rival Excadrill and get off as many attacks as it can before being crippled by a burn or knocked out. Excadrill is also useful to switch into oncoming Toxic's or Thunder Wave's, being immune to both, and being able to deal supereffective damage to most supportive Pokemon. The last moveslot can utilize Excadrill's position as an offensive Pokemon, or a supportive with Toxic/Stealth Rocks if you decide to run Spikes on Mew.
Hawlucha @ Power Herb
Ability: Unburden
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Acrobatics
- Close Combat
- Sky Attack
And now, for the teams namesake. Hawlucha is one of the best sweepers available in the Pokemon SS metagame, with access to stat boosts such as Swords Dance and the ability Unburden that make it nigh-unstoppable once it's completely set up. Against passive mons, like Toxapex and Ferrothorn, it's useful to continue using Swords Dance and then nuke them with a Sky Attack, a base 140-power move that can OHKO most defensive beasts. Close Combat is important STAB against Steel-type checks, and Acrobatics is a powerful attacking move against anything that doesn't resist it.
Magearna @ Toxic Orb
Ability: Soul-Heart
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpA / 4 Spe
Timid Nature
- Trick
- Shift Gear
- Dazzling Gleam / Ice Beam
- Flash Cannon / Thunderbolt
Magneara functions on this team as more of a niche attacker, using Trick to poison enemies while being immune to Toxic Orbs effects, as a steel type. Shift Gear is recommended as speed control and to help Magneara complete a late-game sweep. To make use of Shift Gear's attack boost, Iron Head could be used as a Steel-type attack with a chance to flinch, but Flash Cannon + Dazzling Gleam are recommended to make use of Magneara's ability, Soul-Heart, and it's phenomenal Special Attack. Another option is to utilize the Bolt/Beam combo, which is only resisted naturally by Magnezone, Rotom-H and Rotom-F. IVs are dumped into HP and Special Attack to keep Magearna alive longer, but it still prefers to avoid Fire and Ground-type attacks.
Dragapult @ Dragon Fang
Ability: Clear Body
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Will-O-Wisp
- Dragon Darts
- Dragon Dance
- Steel Wing / Sucker Punch
Dragapult's Will-O-Wisp is greatly appreciated by Whimsicott, and it works very well together with Volcarona and Hawlucha to provide the team maximum amounts of coverage. Dragon Fang is opted over Life Orb, to give Dragon Darts an extra boost and still utilize all of Dragapult's HP. Dragapult greatly appreciates chip damage dealt by Stealth Rocks and Spikes, due to it's rather frail defenses. Being able to outspeed most of OU, especially after a Dragon Dance boost, is especially useful when facing Fairy-types, which is why Steel Wing is the preferred coverage, but Sucker Punch can also be used for revenge killing, or against predicted OHKO's.
Zeraora @ Leftovers
Ability: Volt Absorb
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Calm Mind
- Aura Sphere
- Thunderbolt / Electroball
- Grass Knot
Calm Mind Zeraora serves as this teams Special Sweeper, opting to make use of Zeraora's special moves such as Aura Sphere and Grass Knot to help make up for our teams general weakness to rain teams. Running a Timid nature to outspeed most other offensive pivots, Zeraora functions best as an opportunist who can use defensive walls as a chance to set up. Thunderbolt operates as STAB, although Electroball can be useful when facing Toxapex. Aura Sphere is a Fighting-type move that's useful when facing off Excadrill, and Grass Knot is used to cover the team's general uselessness against bulky Water-types. Zeraora is generally preferred from other special sweepers due to it's ability to wreck havoc even without a Calm Mind boost, and it's high speed tier.
Threats
Excadrill hates going against strong Water-types like Gyarados and Primarina, and the rest of the team is especially susceptible to Stealth Rocks and Toxic Spikes. Rain Teams are the primary reason to run Giga Drain on Mew and Volcarona, and Taunt can be used to prevent layers of hazards from being set up.
Bulk Up Zerora poses a big threat to this team, capable of one-shotting it's best checks, like Excadrill, with a buffed Close Combat. It's best check is Dragapult, who is immune to an oncoming Close Combat, and this teams Zeraora, which can serve as a soft check.
Notes
Again, as a final note, this is my first team being posted here -- I'd love to hear your opinions, maybe changes you'd like to see, and problems you may have faced running this team. I'd also like to thank all of the fellow Pokemon Showdown fans here -- I've greatly enjoyed playing during quarantine, and designing new teams has helped keep me busy and happy. In short, keep on doing what you do, I'm looking forward to hearing all of your opinions and maybe even battling you and your teams later on. Have fun and play hard!
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