Other Kagome Kagome - A Balanced Hackmons RMT

[Kit Kasai]

Cinderella Cage o3o

Kagome kagome / The bird in the cage,
When, oh when will it come out
In the night of dawn
The crane and turtle slipped
Who is behind you now?

Hi guys, it's Kit. I'm finally retiring my infamous BH Illusion team (much to the delight of Adrian Marin ), and I feel like it's good enough to warrant an RMT. Keep in mind that this team was made very early in gen 6, when I was just starting to play BH. However, this team still functions well enough in the current metagame and is still insanely fun to play.

For those who don't know, Balanced Hackmons is a tier where you can put almost any thing on any Pokemon, both moves and abilites. There are only a few bans (hence "balanced"), so it gives a huge opportunity to try out new creative sets and strategies. If you haven't played BH before, I highly recommend that you try it out. It's very different from standard tiers and is good if you want a break from the monotonous "cookie cutter" teams that are often seen in standard tiers. If you want to try it out, I'm open to teach you the basics and get you started, just meet me in the Other Metas room ^.^ Or if you prefer a more demonic stall playstyle, you can talk to my friend Adrian Marin, who also hangs out in the OM room. Anyways, on to the team:

[At a Glance]

In Balanced Hackmons, Illusion is usually regarded as a gimmick or a noob strategy, but with careful planning, it's possible to turn Illusion into a competitively viable strategy. This is made even easier by the fact that Balanced Hackmons has no team preview. Also, unlike standard tiers, where if you see a Zoroark you know immediately that it has illusion and can prepare for it, in BH you have no way of telling what an illusion is without breaking it, as any Pokemon can have the ability Illusion. This team functions by using the huge offensive pressure that Kyurem-B provides to force the opponent to switch into a counter, which is then easily destroyed by the Illusion Pokemon.

Chandelure @ Spooky Plate
Ability: Illusion (As Kyurem-B)
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 252 SpA / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
IVs: 0 Atk
Modest Nature
- Shell Smash
- Judgment
- Secret Sword
- Infestation

Chandelure is the main wallbreaker on this team and the Pokemon this team is based on. At first glance, Chandelure seems like an outclassed pokemon in Balanced Hackmons, as Gengar-Mega has a higher Spe and SpA stat than Chandelure. However, there are two things to note here. One is that I made this team before megas could use the ability Illusion. In early gen 6 megas would show up as an illusion, then mega evolve, effectively canceling out the effect of the illusion. At that time, Chandelure had the highest SpA stat of any ghost type that could use illusion. Secondly, Chandelure's typing helps it maintain the effect of an illusion, as it takes the same Stealth Rock damage as Kyurem-B.

Chandelure's goal is to break Kyurem-B's counters for it to sweep later on in the game, and it does this pretty effectively. At +2 SpA, Chandelure can OHKO threats like Scizor-Mega, Aegislash, Aggron-Mega etc. The illusion synergizes extremely well, as Chandelure breaks Kyurem-B's counters and the illusion scares away Chandelure's counters (No one is going to switch a Yveltal into Kyurem-B).

The set used is a standard Spooky Judgment set. Judgment is for powerful STAB, Secret Sword gives perfect coverage and hits special walls, Shell Smash boosts SpA and remedies Chandelure's low speed stat. Infestation is for hitting Shedinja with. This move takes a little bit of prediction to use, as you have to use Infestation as Shedinja switches in, not after it's switched in.

Gengar @ Gengarite
Ability: Illusion (as Kyurem-B)
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 252 SpA / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
IVs: 0 Atk
Bold Nature
- Spiky Shield
- Perish Song
- Encore
- Recover

Gengar is another fantastic stallbreaker in this meta. The goal of this set is to use Gengarite to mega evolve and and get the ability Shadow Tag, which is normally otherwise banned in Balanced Hackmons. Basically, the opponent switches in their counter to Kyurem-B, and you mega evolve and perish trap them. Spiky Shield and Recover are to stall out the Perish Song timer. Encore can be used to lock the opponent into a support move so they can't escape using a pivot move like Baton Pass, U-Turn, or Volt Switch.

Heatran @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpA / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Calm Nature
- Substitute
- Baton Pass
- Recover
- Haze / Disable

Heatran is used as a counter to my Kyurem-B set if it gets impostered. Heatran can pp stall to force the Imposter out or kill it through Rocky Helmet damage. Sub Pass is extremely helpful to the team as it give more opportunity to set up and to pivot. Recover is essential to keep Heatran's HP up. Haze is a good general utility move and stops Imposters of Kyurem-B from setting up. Disable is also an interesting option that I've been trying out. You can use Substitute to draw out the opponent's strongest coverage move on Heatran, then Disable it next turn. It also helps in stalling out Imposter.

Giratina @ Leftovers
Ability: Fur Coat
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 252 SpA / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
IVs: 0 Atk
Careful Nature
- Infestation
- Will-O-Wisp / Worry Seed / Haze
- Recover
- Spiky Shield

Giratina pretty much covers all purely physical attackers, even Kyurem-B. Infestation is used to trap the opposing Pokemon and slowly kill it. Recover and Spiky Shield are used for stalling and sustain. The last moveslot is used for utility. I'm not really sure what fits best on it right now. Will-o-Wisp basically renders the opponent unable to do anything to Giratina, and adds to the damage over time. Worry Seed prevents is used against Poison Heal users so they die from the damage over time, and Haze can be used to prevent setting up.

Kyurem-Black @ Safety Goggles / Lum Berry
Ability: Refrigerate
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpA / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Naughty Nature
- Fake Out
- Extreme Speed
- Boomburst
- Shell Smash

Kyurem-B is basically the reason this team works at all. It provide a huge amount of offensive pressure and can clean easily once its counters are weakened. Mono Ice attacking Kyurem-B is an interesting concept I came up with. Normally, Kyurem-B runs coverage moves to try to cover as many of its counters as possible. This set instead focuses on the sheer power of Kyurem-B's STAB. Fake Out + Extreme Speed boosted by STAB and Refridgerate off of Kyurem-B's Attack stat provides an insane amount of power. Boomburst usually isn't seen on Kyurem-B, but at +2 it's extremely powerful (it hits harder than extreme speed) and allows Kyurem-B to 2HKO certain physical walls like Aggron-Mega and Scizor-Mega.

Cube gets two ^w^

Kyurem-Black @ Icicle Plate
Ability: Refrigerate
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpA / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Naughty Nature
- Fake Out
- Extreme Speed
- Boomburst
- Shell Smash

Wait, another Kyurem-B? This is one of things that pisses so many people off when facing this team. Once they KO the first Kyurem-B, the opponent doesn't expect another Kyurem-B. They usually predict it as an illusion, which causes whatever they send in to get wrecked by Kyurem-B. At this point, I've usually taken down enough of the opponents defenses with Chandelure, Gengar, and my other Kyurem-B that this Kyurem-B can easily clean the rest of the team. The set is identical to the other except it has Icicle Plate for extra damage. I got the idea from the old Salamence / Rayquaza core, in forcing your way through counters just by stacking the same threat.

I had a lot of fun using this team back in early gen 6, as it was a great combination of competitiveness and sillyness. Alas, it's not as viable in the current meta, with things like Prankster Kyogre going around :( So I'm retiring this team for now :P

Thanks for reading ^.^
​

Importable

Chandelure @ Spooky Plate
Ability: Illusion
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 252 SpA / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
IVs: 0 Atk
Modest Nature
- Shell Smash
- Judgment
- Secret Sword
- Infestation

Heatran @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpA / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Calm Nature
- Substitute
- Baton Pass
- Recover
- Topsy-Turvy

Gengar @ Gengarite
Ability: Illusion
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 252 SpA / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
IVs: 0 Atk
Bold Nature
- Spiky Shield
- Perish Song
- Encore
- Recover

Giratina @ Leftovers
Ability: Fur Coat
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 252 SpA / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
IVs: 0 Atk
Careful Nature
- Infestation
- Perish Song
- Recover
- Spiky Shield

Kyurem-Black @ Safety Goggles
Ability: Refrigerate
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpA / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Naughty Nature
- Fake Out
- Extreme Speed
- Boomburst
- Shell Smash

Kyurem-Black @ Icicle Plate
Ability: Refrigerate
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpA / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Naughty Nature
- Fake Out
- Extreme Speed
- Boomburst
- Shell Smash

 

[AWailOfATail]

Alright let's give this a shot

Before I say anything else, plz minimize Attack on pokes that don't need it

From a first glance, this team seems to lose to Soundproof Arceus. Chandy can kinda handle it without prior damage (T-Waves KOs after Shell Smash and SR) but without it, I can't really see a way you win. Proper imposter scouting would reveal your sets and what's a threat or not. KyuB has a shot at Arceus now that I think about it because of SS (except for when me cuz I carry topsy), but PH Support Xern can usually force it out. Both of these are really common on STALL, DESTROYER OF BH.

Still, Illusion mind games can and WILL fuck people up if they're not careful so the team is probably fine against 90% of other players.
Also mfw no shoutouts

 

[Kit Kasai]

Alright let's give this a shot

Before I say anything else, plz minimize Attack on pokes that don't need it

From a first glance, this team seems to lose to Soundproof Arceus. Chandy can kinda handle it without prior damage (T-Waves KOs after Shell Smash and SR) but without it, I can't really see a way you win. Proper imposter scouting would reveal your sets and what's a threat or not. KyuB has a shot at Arceus now that I think about it because of SS (except for when me cuz I carry topsy), but PH Support Xern can usually force it out. Both of these are really common on STALL, DESTROYER OF BH.

Still, Illusion mind games can and WILL fuck people up if they're not careful so the team is probably fine against 90% of other players.
Also mfw no shoutouts

+2 252+ Atk Kyurem-B Outrage vs. 252 HP / 252 Def Arceus: 366-432 (82.4 - 97.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
-2 252+ Atk Refrigerate Kyurem-B Extreme Speed vs. 252 HP / 252 Def Arceus: 81-96 (18.2 - 21.6%) -- possible 5HKO

If it took any prior damage it's basically dead on first hit. Otherwise, high chance of KO'ing with leftovers, 100% chance without.
It can also be PP stalled / Worry Seeded / whatever by Giratina

252 SpA Xerneas Moonblast vs. 252 HP / 252- SpD Kyurem-B: 294-348 (64.7 - 76.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
+2 252 SpA Refrigerate Kyurem-B Boomburst vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Xerneas: 408-481 (89.4 - 105.4%) -- 37.5% chance to OHKO

not the most reliable, but works after prior damage.

 

[aesf]

I can confirm that this is indeed a very well built team (I actually copied it myself the day after you posted it in the thread to great success). It's fun to play with, effective, and the movesets are as perfect as they can get right now (MAYBE put boomburst on chandy but secret sword is still good as it is). I've played with plenty of illusion BH teams in the past, but none have been nearly as effective as this. Great job!

Although it isn't very common, I've found myself running -ate users with boomburst and 1k arrows. How does your team deal with these kinds of pokemon (xerneas and kyurem in particular)?

 

[GlassGlaceon]

this team suks -1/10 would not use
salty b/c got rekt by it once ;_;

 

[AWailOfATail]

+2 252+ Atk Kyurem-B Outrage vs. 252 HP / 252 Def Arceus: 366-432 (82.4 - 97.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
-2 252+ Atk Refrigerate Kyurem-B Extreme Speed vs. 252 HP / 252 Def Arceus: 81-96 (18.2 - 21.6%) -- possible 5HKO

If it took any prior damage it's basically dead on first hit. Otherwise, high chance of KO'ing with leftovers, 100% chance without.
It can also be PP stalled / Worry Seeded / whatever by Giratina

252 SpA Xerneas Moonblast vs. 252 HP / 252- SpD Kyurem-B: 294-348 (64.7 - 76.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
+2 252 SpA Refrigerate Kyurem-B Boomburst vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Xerneas: 408-481 (89.4 - 105.4%) -- 37.5% chance to OHKO

not the most reliable, but works after prior damage.

>no outrage on KyuB
ESpeed still does almost the same though.
But if something u-turned out of KyuB into Arceus, wouldn't you have a tendency to Boomburst? Then again 99% of arcei these days are soundproof but still

I guess a surprise Soundproofer would catch you off guard but there's not much this team can't handle (since soundproof Xern doesn't run Moonblast iirc)

 

[Whatwasthatnoise]

Damn this team was anoying to face. The trick was (For me at least) to keep the pressure at a sufficient level so that you didn't ever have the opportunity to get off a Smash. Sometimes harder than it sounded, especially given the way that Illusion works with Mega Evolution, but it usually worked. You do have a slight weakness to Pixilate Xern though, especially if it has Earth Power. Seeing as everything on the team is weak to one or the other.

252+ SpA Pixie Plate Pixilate Xerneas Boomburst vs. 252 HP / 252 SpD Chandelure: 166-196 (51.2 - 60.4%)
252 Atk Pixie Plate Pixilate Xerneas Extreme Speed vs. 252 HP / 252 Def Chandelure: 87-102 (26.8 - 31.4%)
With the slightest bit of prior damage you die. Or if you Shell Smash.
252 Atk Pixie Plate Pixilate Xerneas Extreme Speed vs. -1 252 HP / 252 Def Chandelure: 130-153 (40.1 - 47.2%)

 

[Kit Kasai]

That's kind of why I put disable on my Heatran. I tried using Torment first (lol), but that only works after the opponent attacks once with a move, so it only works if you have a sub up. Disable comes into effect immediately, canceling their move, but only blocks one move, so there's kind of a trade off.

 

[Adrian Marin]

This team was really annoying to face!

Really not much to say as Illusion allows you to beat a lot of things if used right, good job!