Gen 7 Is Psychic Spam still a thing?

[BoomFantastic]

I modeled this team after an Uber team I'd previously used to great success, this OU version took me to 1491 on the ladder. But as with every team I've built, I think it could use some improvement.

THE TEAM:

Tapu Lele @ Terrain Extender
Ability: Psychic Surge
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Taunt
- Psychic
- Moonblast
- Nature's Madness

Lele provides the mandatory Psychic Terrain support for the main wallbreaker, which will be detailed later. A Terrain Extender is used to guarantee 8 turns of psy-terrain, giving me more time to work with (and allowing lele to stay on the field if she needs to, without wasting too many turns of terrain). The moveset is used to prevent most opposing entry hazard leads with Taunt, Psychic and Moonblast are just useful attacking moves, and Nature's Madness in tandem with Taunt allows me to stop Chansey in its tracks. The EVs and Nature allow for speedy Taunts and maximum power with Psychic and Moonblast. This Lele is used mostly as a team supporter, in addition to being a good Chansey check.

Alakazam-Mega @ Alakazite
Ability: Trace
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Psychic
- Shadow Ball
- Focus Blast
- Energy Ball

This is the team's main wallbreaker. Psychic is the obvious main attacking move, Shadow Ball is for opposing psychics (especially Victini, which can otherwise sponge this set's attacks), Focus Blast covers ferrothorn, tyranitar and other Steel and Dark types, and Energy Ball is used both to counter rain teams with Trace, and as a safer answer to Ash-Greninja than Focus Miss. Magic Guard is the pre-mega ability to prevent entry hazard damage. With Alakazam's excellent speed, sky-high SpAtk, and immunity to priority under psychic terrain, the only thing left to worry about is Choice Scarf users. This necessitates some Speed Control, which will be mentioned later.

Gliscor @ Toxic Orb
Ability: Poison Heal
EVs: 244 HP / 52 Def / 76 SpD / 136 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Toxic
- Roost

This Defensive Gliscor is the first part of the team's hazard core. Stealth Rock is self-explanatory, Earthquake does decent damage and prevents Gliscor from being 100% useless when Taunted, Roost provides recovery in tandem with Poison Heal and allows multiple Stealth Rock opportunities throughout the match, and Toxic cripples switch-ins, making them much easier to deal with later. U-turn is also viable instead of Toxic, but the ability to put any switch-in on a timer is greatly appreciated.

Zapdos @ Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 248 HP / 240 Def / 20 Spe
Bold Nature
- Discharge
- Roost
- Heat Wave
- Defog

This is the other part of the hazard core, chosen mostly because of its good defensive typing and solid bulk. Discharge is used as the main attacking move, with its nifty 30% paralysis rate. Heat Wave covers ferrothorn and a good amount of other electric resists. Defog completes the hazard core with Gliscor's Stealth Rock, and Roost provides longevity and thus multiple opportunities for hazard removal. Pressure is chosen as the ability over Static, since I'd rather rely on Discharge for paralysis and Pressure allows me to PP stall in certain situations.

Greninja @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Protean
EVs: 176 Atk / 80 SpA / 252 Spe
Hasty Nature
- U-turn
- Ice Beam
- Rock Slide
- Low Kick

Here's the aforementioned speed control. U-turn is just a good move, allowing some pivoting and dispatching any opposing Mega Alakazam. Ice Beam removes Landorus and Garchomp, and does good damage to Zapdos etc. Rock Slide shreds volcarona and charizard Y, and allows greninja to revenge kill Gyarados. Low Kick is for Tyranitar (Specially defensive variants of which can be an issue), and also hits Heatran the hardest out of any move on the set. The EVs are normal for a scarf greninja, guaranteeing the OHKO on kartana with Ice Beam. This is mostly here to dispatch opposing scarfers/setup sweepers, allowing Alakazam to clean up under psychic terrain with few worries.

Chansey @ Eviolite
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SpD
Bold Nature
- Toxic
- Wish
- Soft-Boiled
- Seismic Toss

The pink blob is chosen as the team's special wall/Ash-greninja counter, as well as a decent Wish-passer. Wish is used over Heal Bell to keep Lele and Alakazam healthy, especially Lele since she lacks recovery and needs to stay alive to keep providing terrain support. Toxic is... well... Toxic, Soft-Boiled provides reliable recovery, and Seismic Toss chips away at the health of whatever I'm stalling. I may consider using Heal Bell over Wish at some point, but currently I'm running Wish. There's nothing too unique about the EV spread here.


And that's about it. What notable improvements could be made here?

 

[Diophantine]

Hey, this seems like the beginning of a good team. Psyspam is pretty potent, but can be hard to build around due to overlapping strengths. However, those overlapping strengths is exactly what makes it good. Somewhat of a paradox lol.

Tapu Lele @ Terrain Extender
Ability: Psychic Surge
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Taunt
- Psychic
- Moonblast
- Nature's Madness

Lele provides the mandatory Psychic Terrain support for the main wallbreaker, which will be detailed later. A Terrain Extender is used to guarantee 8 turns of psy-terrain, giving me more time to work with (and allowing lele to stay on the field if she needs to, without wasting too many turns of terrain). The moveset is used to prevent most opposing entry hazard leads with Taunt, Psychic and Moonblast are just useful attacking moves, and Nature's Madness in tandem with Taunt allows me to stop Chansey in its tracks. The EVs and Nature allow for speedy Taunts and maximum power with Psychic and Moonblast. This Lele is used mostly as a team supporter, in addition to being a good Chansey check.

I think that Terrain Extender isn't necessary. While Psychic Terrain is good for Alakazam, it's not essential. Psyspam mainly works by Lele softening up Alakazam's checks by hitting things really hard. Hence, Specs or Z Lele is more commonly seen on Psyspam. These sets can break down common walls for Alakazam. Having a way to hit Steel Types is great too. Psyshock is more commonly seen on Lele because it hits Chansey way harder.

Alakazam-Mega @ Alakazite
Ability: Trace
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Psychic
- Shadow Ball
- Focus Blast
- Energy Ball

This is the team's main wallbreaker. Psychic is the obvious main attacking move, Shadow Ball is for opposing psychics (especially Victini, which can otherwise sponge this set's attacks), Focus Blast covers ferrothorn, tyranitar and other Steel and Dark types, and Energy Ball is used both to counter rain teams with Trace, and as a safer answer to Ash-Greninja than Focus Miss. Magic Guard is the pre-mega ability to prevent entry hazard damage. With Alakazam's excellent speed, sky-high SpAtk, and immunity to priority under psychic terrain, the only thing left to worry about is Choice Scarf users. This necessitates some Speed Control, which will be mentioned later.

Recover, Psychic and Focus Blast are absolutely necessary. Recover means that Alakazam becomes a Heatran check. Focus Blast is so that you don't get trapped by TTar and can hit Steel Types. This means that Energy Ball and Shadow Ball are expendable. Given the rain weakness on this team, I'd drop Shadow Ball.

Chansey @ Eviolite
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SpD
Bold Nature
- Toxic
- Wish
- Soft-Boiled
- Seismic Toss

The pink blob is chosen as the team's special wall/Ash-greninja counter, as well as a decent Wish-passer. Wish is used over Heal Bell to keep Lele and Alakazam healthy, especially Lele since she lacks recovery and needs to stay alive to keep providing terrain support. Toxic is... well... Toxic, Soft-Boiled provides reliable recovery, and Seismic Toss chips away at the health of whatever I'm stalling. I may consider using Heal Bell over Wish at some point, but currently I'm running Wish. There's nothing too unique about the EV spread here.

I think that Chansey can be replaced with something that enables your offensive threats a lot more. Wish can be used on offensive teams, but I don't think it's necessary here, since Alakazam has Recover, Lele won't be tanking hits, and your support Pokemon have reliable recovery. I think that Knock Off Ferrothorn can help to wear down Pokemon like opposing Ferrothorn, Celesteela and Heatran for your Psychic types. Knock their Leftovers off as they switch it in. Knocking Off a Victini's item can be really good too. The second time they do this, you can Leech or get up a layer of Spikes. Spikes support also helps your Psychic types become more threatening. Chansey is also vulnerable to opposing Tapu Lele.

Gliscor @ Toxic Orb
Ability: Poison Heal
EVs: 244 HP / 52 Def / 76 SpD / 136 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Toxic
- Roost

This Defensive Gliscor is the first part of the team's hazard core. Stealth Rock is self-explanatory, Earthquake does decent damage and prevents Gliscor from being 100% useless when Taunted, Roost provides recovery in tandem with Poison Heal and allows multiple Stealth Rock opportunities throughout the match, and Toxic cripples switch-ins, making them much easier to deal with later. U-turn is also viable instead of Toxic, but the ability to put any switch-in on a timer is greatly appreciated.

I would change the EVs here to make it a more physically defensive Pokemon to help out against Tyranitar and Mega Charizard X. 244 HP / 100 Def / 28 SpD / 136 is what Smogon suggests. Alakazam provides another Heatran switch in, so not all the pressure needs to be on Gliscor. This change isn't necessary, though it might be something to consider.

Greninja @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Protean
EVs: 176 Atk / 80 SpA / 252 Spe
Hasty Nature
- U-turn
- Ice Beam
- Rock Slide
- Low Kick

You should make all your Greninja Male. Female Greninja means that it can't be Battle Bond, so you give your opponent unnecessary information before the battle begins.

Here is the team after my edits. As said earlier, you could experiment with a Z Lele, as you haven't used your Z Crystal yet. I think either work fine here. The immediate damage from Specs is very nice though. I realise that I have made this kind of weak to Mega Charizard Y and Victini, but this team works by threatening them with offensive momentum rather than answering them completely with defensive walls. I am kinda weary about using Zapdos on this kind of team, as Stealth Rocks can be kept up quite easily, but there aren't many Flying-resist, Defogging Kartana/Hawlucha checks. Maybe Skarmory could work...

Perhaps this might be useful. Tangrowth is used over Ferrothorn because it can pivot better thanks to Regenerate, while still being a Greninja check with Knock Off. Spikes with Defog may seem counterintuitive, but you're only clicking Defog if you're facing Toxic Spikes, or in situations where you need more HP on your offensive threats. Skarmory isn't dead in the face of Garchomp like that Zapdos set is. Experiment and see what you prefer.

I hope you enjoy!

 

[Jordy]

Hey man! While it has fallen out of favor significantly since its peak, Psychic spam is certainly still potent in the SM OU metagame, though I can't say I'm a big fan of the approach this team takes for various reasons. I'd like to go over some issues, and then provide some alternative advice to Diophantine's.

Structural Issues

One issue that immediately stands out is the very mediocre matchup against various Psychic-types. A Steel-type is considered to be mandatory on bulky offensive teams by many, which this team currently lacks. They are considered mandatory for a good reason: Psychic-types. Without a sturdy Steel-type, teams tend to be rather weak to a variety of Psychic-types, most notably Tapu Lele, Mega Alakazam, and Mega Latias, but also some nicher options such as Reuniclus. This applies here too; this team is very prone to being overwhelmed by opposing Tapu Lele and Mega Alakazam.

Another issue that stands out pretty badly is the reliance on Chansey. Chansey, while capable of blanket checking most special attackers, is a huge momentum sack, as it has to spend many turns to passively heal up, that in turn significantly hurts the potential to break down teams with Tapu Lele and Mega Alakazam a lot. One notable result of spending too many turns passively, is that Chansey creates many opportunities for Pokemon such as Garchomp and Kartana into play unpunished, which often leads towards having this team overwhelmed quickly.

Major Changes

Gliscor → Kommo-o

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I would like to propose running Kommo-o instead of Gliscor as a Stealth Rock user. It still checks Heatran relatively well, while also serving as a pretty sturdy Ash-Greninja and Volcarona check. The latter part of that is especially notable as this plays into the change I'd like to suggest for Chansey very well. Beyond that, it doesn't weaken your matchup against sand teams too much.

Greninja → Victini

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Something worth atleast considering is running Choice Scarf Victini instead of Choice Scarf Greninja. It adds an extra layer to the matchup against Tapu Lele and Mega Alakazam, and synergizes with Mega Alakazam incredibly well, oftentimes forcing Pokemon like Mega Latias to go down. It's also worth acknowledging that Victini can hold the matchup against rain team together pretty well; it forces atleast one KO, oftentimes against a vital piece of the puzzle for them. However, Choice Scarf Victini does in fact leave you much weaker to Psychinium Z Volcarona, which Greninja doesn't. That, combined with the fact that Choice Scarf Greninja can still punish Choice locked Tapu Lele, definitely make it a valid option too.

Chansey → Magearna

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As noted earlier, this team is very weak to various Psychic-types. I would like to suggest that you run Magearna instead of Chansey to remedy this issue; it leaves you much less weak Tapu Lele and Mega Alakazam, and still keeps other Psychic-types like Calm Mind Mega Latias in check very well. Beyond that, Magearna makes it a lot easier to bring Tapu Lele and Mega Alakazam into play safely thanks to Volt Switch.

Minor Changes

As Diophantine pointed out, there's really no need for Terrain Extender, even though Psychic Terrain can be very useful for Mega Alakazam. A more notable part of the synergy between Tapu Lele and Mega Alakazam is how well they can overwhelm shared checks. For that reason, I'd like to suggest Choice Specs Tapu Lele too, which is a much more devestating wallbreaker than the current set you're using and paves much bigger holes for Mega Alakazam.

I'm going to rip Diophantine off once more and agree that Recover is absolutely mandatory on Mega Alakazam; the ability to consistently check Heatran and Toxapex is very important. However, I would like to acknowledge that there are various valid options that can be run here. I'm going to speak with Psychic, Focus Blast, and Recover as the other moves in mind. Energy Ball is a very decent option on this team, as the rain matchup is a little on the weaker side otherwise. Alternatively, Knock Off is a very cool option as it makes Celesteela much easier to overwhelm in combination with Tapu Lele. Lastly, Hidden Power Ice is a cool option too; the offensive counterplay against Garchomp relies a lot on chip damage or Psychic terrain being up otherwise.

Speaking of Garchomp, Hidden Power Ice is definitely an option that can be run instead of Heat Wave to pressure Ground-types like Garchomp, Landorus-T, and Swords Dance Gliscor. Heat Wave, while certainly still useful for Pokemon like Mega Scizor and Kartana, isn't necessary on a team like this. You have ways around the former between Tapu Lele and Victini, and Zapdos is still a decent check to Kartana without Heat Wave, though this obviously leaves you much more susceptible to Swords Dance Kartana. If you elect to stick to Heat Wave, I'd also like to throw the option of Chilan Berry out there; it allows Zapdos to take a boosted Breakneck Blitz from Kartana. Also, you should definitely run 72 Speed EVs, as guaranteeing the damage from Discharge on Heatran can be very useful.


Importable

Hope this was of help and let me know if there's anything I've left unanswered!