Illusions and Blades

Vaiken

Illusions and Blades


I've been playing testing and fiddling with many teams in the months of battling in the BW era and I must admit I miss 4th gen. None of the teams so far have been enjoyable to use and the metagame is too weather orientated for my liking.

After hunting for a fun Pokemon to build a team around I discovered Zoroark. And I discovered my love of 5th gen.
Needless to say I fell in love with the play style associated with him and generally messing with my opponents head. I needed a physical attacker that covered Zoroark's weaknesses and vice versa. I decided to go with a rather underused Pokemon; Gallade. With a resistance to fighting moves and very very good bulk, the synergy worked brilliantly, luring in the physical walls for Zoroark to annihiliate. And from that point, the team came together through testing and adding in random Poke's for synergy and it is definitely one of my all time favourite teams to use.​
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AT A GLANCE
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The Individuals


The Illusionist

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Zoroark @ Choice Specs
Trait: Illusion
EVs: 252 SAtk / 252 Spd / 4 HP
Timid Nature
- Trick
- Dark Pulse
- Flamethrower
- Focus Blast

More Info:
The star of the team. You would not believe how many Skarmory's and Reuniclus's have died to this complete monster. Reaching a scary 509 SpA, not many things can take a hit from my baby. And the special walls that would usually give it issues can't deal with a tricked Choice Specs. By changing the last slot member to suit which Pokemon I want to destroy, I can successfully remove a counter for basically any of the Pokemon in my party. Flamethrower to get rid of Scizor and Ferrothorn (I hate Ferrothorn with a passion), Focus Blast mainly for Tyranitar and Dark Pulse for some strong STAB and a nice flinch chance which has saved my ass more than once. Now I'm not one for incredibly specific EV sets, so unless anyone has any alternatives I stick with the nice and simple basics. Other than that though, everything is pretty self explanatory. Choose a target, switch, mess with their mind and watch as a Pokemon of your choice kicks the bucket.



The Deep Freezer

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Abomasnow @ Leftovers
Trait: Snow Warning
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Leech Seed
- Substitute
- Ice Shard
- Focus Punch

More Info:
As I said before, I despise weather with a passion. Thankfully, there is an easy way to get rid of the opponents weather, annoy them more, and introduce a very underrated and useful Pokemon to my team. Against a sun team, my Abomasnow is absolutely necessary to stop the rampaging monsters such as Lilligant or Venusaur. Not only does he shut down sun teams, but works incredibly well against many common rain abusers. Anything that resists scald is valued in the metagame, as its a move that's spammed by many Pokemon. With leech seed attached behind a substitute, the indirect damage stacks up incredibly quickly. But if you want to get them a bit quicker, SubPunch works incredibly well on him if a switch is forced, as very few Pokemon appreciate a Focus Punch to the face. Ice Shard is a must against the dragons that run rampant in this tier, specifically Dragonite and Garchomp, which would wreck my team otherwise. This Poke has definitely earned its place on my team.



The Blade

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Gallade (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Justified
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 HP / 4 SDef
Adamant Nature
- Bulk Up
- Psycho Cut
- Drain Punch
- Ice Punch

More Info:
Gallade. Oh Gallade. While your evolutionary line has always been the subject of trap jokes, you have always been a badass Pokemon. I've wanted to use him in a team for a long time, but he's never fitted a niche correctly. But in this team, he works perfectly.
By complimenting each others weaknesses, Gallade and Zoroark are meant to be team partners IMO. He's naturally tanky on the special side, allowing him to sponge whatever hits needed and after setting up one or two Bulk Ups, he can be nearly unstoppable. Psycho Cut to deal with the fighting types that plague the tier and prove a problem to Zoroark, Drain Punch for some nice HP restore and Ice Punch mainly for Landorus and Dragons. He hasn't performed stellarly, mostly just used as a Zoroark mask, but he does his job pretty decently and it would pain my to replace him.



The Machine

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Rotom-Wash @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 252 SAtk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Modest Nature
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Volt Switch
- Hydro Pump
- Thunderbolt

More Info:
Rotom-W is seen on most team variations. Stall, hyper offence, rain, volt-turn and even some sandstorm. Evidentially, Rotom-W is one of the most defining threats in OU at the moment. I'm thinking of replacing Thunderbolt with another move, but I'm not all that sure yet. Either way, this Pokemon works brilliantly for me; outspeeding and KO'ing many huge threats such as Terrakion, Salamence, Dragonite and most water types. With the plethora of bulky water types in the tier, Rotom-W is hugely important to get rid of them so that the squishier sweepers will have no issue cleaning up. Like Abomasnow, this thing can tank scalds all day, and KO all users of it easily, making it incredibly versatile. Since I have Abomasnow though, I was considering replacing HP Ice with HP Fire for the easy Ferrothorn and Scizor kills.
Because god damn it I hate Ferrothorn.

So much.



The Fighter

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Scizor @ Choice Band
Trait: Technician
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SDef
Adamant Nature
- U-turn
- Superpower
- Bullet Punch
- Bug Bite

More Info:
I find that Scizor is reliable in nearly all situations. One of the easiest Pokemon to use. If in doubt; U-Turn out. Otherwise Bullet Punch the crap out of every living thing. Sharing a common fire weakness with Abomasnow isn't great, but he makes up with it for his amazing revenge killing and general raw damage. Like honestly, it amazes me sometimes how much Bullet Punch can do. I have yet to use Bug Bite yet and will probably replace it sometime, but Superpower has helped me out quite a bit. Although Choice Band works nicely for the quick kill, I was considering replacing Bug Bite with Swords Dance, so give me some advice for that last move slot if possible and it would be much appreciated. Basically, this guy loves killing Terrakions and Tyranitars. With the HP investment, it can tank hits quite nicely, dealing out a truckload in return. A core member of my time who's here to stay. Love you Scizor <3



The Star

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Starmie @ Expert Belt
Trait: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 SAtk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
- Ice Beam
- Thunderbolt
- Surf
- Rapid Spin

More Info:
The second 'Star' of my team. Get it? Hahaha... Anyway, I've found Starmie to be absolutely amazing in OU. It's nice to have a rapid spinner that has a use other than hazards, unlike Forretress. Due to the double fighting weakness I have, a relatively bulky psychic type is always appreciated, and Starmie is just so damn useful. Natural Cure is a vastly underrated ability. Any status is healed off straight after switching. In a status based metagame filled with paralysis and toxic and will-o-wisps everywhere, the ability to refresh its status is always welcome. Starmie is usually a good switch in for choiced Terrakion or most fire types like Infernape, Heatran, or even the occasional Chandelure. This Pokemon really is a little 'Gem'.




In Summary


This team has served me very well in the weeks I've had using it. Although it's not perfect, each and every member of my team has had moments where they managed to salvage me a battle going against me. By using some threats not seen in OU very much, I can get the surprise factor and grab kills that end the game, right there and then. The unpredictability of this team is ultimately what makes me enjoy using it the most; by throwing out Zoroark in interesting situations you can really mess with people and screw their whole strategy. Any feedback would be much appreciated and valued. As although I've been doing pretty well with this team, you can always do better. So drop a comment if you want and if you could, say how I did with the RMT since it's my first one and I'm not sure if I'm doing it right... Thanks for reading and remember; It's all a mind game.
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Importable

Zoroark @ Choice Specs
Trait: Illusion
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
- Trick
- Dark Pulse
- Flamethrower
- Focus Blast

Abomasnow @ Leftovers
Trait: Snow Warning
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Leech Seed
- Substitute
- Ice Shard
- Focus Punch

Gallade (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Justified
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SDef
Adamant Nature
- Bulk Up
- Psycho Cut
- Drain Punch
- Ice Punch

Rotom-Wash @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 252 SAtk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Modest Nature
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Volt Switch
- Hydro Pump
- Thunderbolt

Scizor @ Choice Band
Trait: Technician
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SDef
Adamant Nature
- U-turn
- Superpower
- Bullet Punch
- Bug Bite

Starmie @ Expert Belt
Trait: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 SAtk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
- Ice Beam
- Thunderbolt
- Surf
- Rapid Spin
 
Hello,

From what I see on the team. I don't really see a need for abomasnow to really be on this team. Rotom and a well played starmie handles rain nicely already while scizor can deal with non hippowdon sand team archetypes. All you're missing really is an answer to sun. While abomasnow can handle some chlorophyl users, It can't really do anything to a sun if that isn't the win condition.

I would replace abomasnow for heatran or Snorlax for the team. They both handle sun teams nicely and complement scizor and rotom fairly well. Snorlax should be choice band while heatrans can be either the standard offensive or sunny day sets.
 
Hey,

Frst off, awesome team. i love zoroark, and ive always wished he was just a little bit more viable in ou. i also agree with ninetale3. Abomasnow is a bit of a weak link here, as he has loads of weaknesses and not many notable resists when you factor in the rotom-w and scizor. Heatran would help a lot in team synergy, handling sun threats well and being a much better mon in most every way. I would also further recommend the sunny day set, as the ability to remove opponents weather is always helpful. He also forces loads of switches, something zoroark can capitalize on. Id also recommend running psychic on starmie to better handle conkeldurr. All in all, awesome team, i love the idea.
 
Gallade is cool and all but kinda outclassed by toxicroak which sees more chances to set up and sucker punch to actually pose a threat to faster pokes. Abomasnow is quite useless mamoswine easily replaces it. Id run scarf keldeo over rotom cause it can take advantage of zoroark killing its counters. If u need weather politoed definetly helps. Id use sd croak specs toad and scarf keldeo all on smogon
 
I agree with Toxicroak being a better choice than Gallade. Having Zoroark posing as Toxicroak really baits the psychic type move because Toxicroak is 4x weak to psychic, which Zoroak is immune to. I also think it would be best if you tried out a Nasty Plot set with Expert Belt or Life Orb instead of having Zoroark choice specs'd. Sending out Zoroark as Toxicroak after getting rid of all of Zoroark's counters on the opposing team can give you the opportunity to set up and wreck the opposing team.
 
Sweet, thanks a lot for the input! I'm replacing Abomasnow with Heatran and Gallade with Toxicroak. Although, if I run sunny day on Heatran to stop enemy weather, Toxicroak will get destroyed. So any ideas on that?
 
Vaiken said:
Sweet, thanks a lot for the input! I'm replacing Abomasnow with Heatran and Gallade with Toxicroak. Although, if I run sunny day on Heatran to stop enemy weather, Toxicroak will get destroyed. So any ideas on that?
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Honestly, I wouldn't go for toxicroak. The team is perfectly fine without it. If your mind is stuck on removing gallade then go for bulk up conkelduur as it's a better fit for weather independant teams than toxicroak.
 
If your running sun with heatran is a problem for toxicroak try infernape he draws phychic attacks and zoroark destroys water types with grass knot and infernape can abuse the sun. try this:
Infernape
Blaze @Life Orb
Rash 252atk/128spatk/128speed
Overheat
Grass knot
Close Combat
Stone edge
 
Another huge problem I've been having with this team is killing Terrakion. Because that evil shit has no true counters. I guess infernape could work, but against choice scarf I'm wrecked.
 
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