Hey everyone! I am pretty new to Smogon and competitive in general so I thought it would be a good idea to post my team in rmt. My team is built around Magnezone and Kartana having great synergy with each other being able to get rid of each other’s checks.
Magnezone @ Chople Berry
Ability: Magnet Pull
EVs: 172 HP / 252 Def / 84 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Body Press
- Thunderbolt
- Iron Defense
- Substitute
Set reasoning and comments
this mag set pairs well w Kartana as it traps steel types that easily wall Kartana and put them in range of a sacred sword/knock off I wanted to reap the benefits of this and use it as a gray corv check and things such as ferro,skarm and opposing Kartana are also threats to my team if I didn’t go with this mag set. I wanted to go for Chople Berry as its item because of the abundance of opposing Magnezone and other mons which rely on they’re fighting stab to 1v1 Magnezone such as Zeraora and Urshifu Rapid-Strike
Get papercut lol (Kartana) @ Choice Band
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Sacred Sword
- Leaf Blade
- Smart Strike
- Knock Off
Set reasoning and comments
Kartana is my main breaker on this team as it revolves around it and it’s a great stop to many walls such as Clefable, Slowbro, Slowking, Toxapex and defensive Lando-T while not being completely useless against more offensive teams due to its reasonable speed tier. I wanted band on this Kartana for its breaking power to be as high as possible and it has good synergy with Magnezone removing troublesome pokemon for it like Corviknight and Skamory.
Clefable @ Leftovers
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: 252 HP / 64 Def / 192 SpD
Calm Nature
- Moonblast
- Thunder Wave
- Soft-Boiled
- Knock Off
Set reasoning and comments
I chose this mon to deal w troublesome dragons Kyurem and Dragapult for this team as they can easily break through most of my team .I EV'd clef to have a 29% chance to be 3 hit ko'ed by shadow ball and invested the rest in defense to help deal with Weavile and Urshifu which can also be a nuisance for this team as they can just swap in break an important mon and swap out so I wanted to use clef to also help deal with them.
Dragonite @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Multiscale
EVs: 248 HP / 52 Atk / 52 Def / 152 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Dual Wingbeat
- Earthquake
- Roost
Set reasoning and comments
I wanted this mon to deal with Heatran as it trapped my clef and the rest of my team got destroyed by magma storm and I thought bulky DD Dragonite would help me solve this problem. I used the updated Smogon set EVs on it and it’s a good win-con to have during most battles being able to clean the rest of the team after Kartana had come on the field and punched a few holes in the opponent’s team or it could punch them itself to allow room for its other partners to clean it can be versatile and helps with gameplan making.
Keldeo-Resolute @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Justified
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Secret Sword
- Hydro Pump
- Icy Wind
- Flip Turn
Set reasoning and comments
Keldeo is a bit of an odd pick by me here, I wanted this on the team due to the blatant Weavile weakness and I wanted to add Keldeo here to use as an offensive check to it as well as not lacking the bulk to tank an icicle crash/triple axel as it fears knock off a bit I have invested some def in clef to not fear knock off as much and it’s a good late game cleaner to take advantage of the holes Kartana would’ve made in the team’s defenses.
Landorus-Therian (M) @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 HP / 164 Def / 92 Spe
Impish Nature
- Earthquake
- Stealth Rock
- U-turn
- Toxic
Set reasoning and comments
This is the final mon in my team and it’s meant to be a rocker freeing clef to use Knock Off over rocks as well as functioning as a zera check. I used the updated Smogon set EVs for this lando as well using enough speed to outspeed adamant Bisharp. This mon rounds out the team and it functions as a mon Tapu Koko might not want to deal with on the switch due to most of my team being weak to it. I ran rocky helmet as its item to use as a way to damage Urshifu and weav and punish them for using their contact moves if lando isn’t needed anymore in that battle.
to make it easier for raters I want to include a replay showing how this team functions https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8ou-1353170613-ihf505956tonspdmo5hc8x6l4o9jl9jpw
also big thanks to t045t3r for grammar checking
That is my team, I want to improve it as much as I can so I appreciate all criticism and help I can get!
Magnezone @ Chople Berry
Ability: Magnet Pull
EVs: 172 HP / 252 Def / 84 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Body Press
- Thunderbolt
- Iron Defense
- Substitute
Set reasoning and comments
this mag set pairs well w Kartana as it traps steel types that easily wall Kartana and put them in range of a sacred sword/knock off I wanted to reap the benefits of this and use it as a gray corv check and things such as ferro,skarm and opposing Kartana are also threats to my team if I didn’t go with this mag set. I wanted to go for Chople Berry as its item because of the abundance of opposing Magnezone and other mons which rely on they’re fighting stab to 1v1 Magnezone such as Zeraora and Urshifu Rapid-Strike
Get papercut lol (Kartana) @ Choice Band
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Sacred Sword
- Leaf Blade
- Smart Strike
- Knock Off
Set reasoning and comments
Kartana is my main breaker on this team as it revolves around it and it’s a great stop to many walls such as Clefable, Slowbro, Slowking, Toxapex and defensive Lando-T while not being completely useless against more offensive teams due to its reasonable speed tier. I wanted band on this Kartana for its breaking power to be as high as possible and it has good synergy with Magnezone removing troublesome pokemon for it like Corviknight and Skamory.
Clefable @ Leftovers
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: 252 HP / 64 Def / 192 SpD
Calm Nature
- Moonblast
- Thunder Wave
- Soft-Boiled
- Knock Off
Set reasoning and comments
I chose this mon to deal w troublesome dragons Kyurem and Dragapult for this team as they can easily break through most of my team .I EV'd clef to have a 29% chance to be 3 hit ko'ed by shadow ball and invested the rest in defense to help deal with Weavile and Urshifu which can also be a nuisance for this team as they can just swap in break an important mon and swap out so I wanted to use clef to also help deal with them.
Dragonite @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Multiscale
EVs: 248 HP / 52 Atk / 52 Def / 152 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Dual Wingbeat
- Earthquake
- Roost
Set reasoning and comments
I wanted this mon to deal with Heatran as it trapped my clef and the rest of my team got destroyed by magma storm and I thought bulky DD Dragonite would help me solve this problem. I used the updated Smogon set EVs on it and it’s a good win-con to have during most battles being able to clean the rest of the team after Kartana had come on the field and punched a few holes in the opponent’s team or it could punch them itself to allow room for its other partners to clean it can be versatile and helps with gameplan making.
Keldeo-Resolute @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Justified
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Secret Sword
- Hydro Pump
- Icy Wind
- Flip Turn
Set reasoning and comments
Keldeo is a bit of an odd pick by me here, I wanted this on the team due to the blatant Weavile weakness and I wanted to add Keldeo here to use as an offensive check to it as well as not lacking the bulk to tank an icicle crash/triple axel as it fears knock off a bit I have invested some def in clef to not fear knock off as much and it’s a good late game cleaner to take advantage of the holes Kartana would’ve made in the team’s defenses.
Landorus-Therian (M) @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 HP / 164 Def / 92 Spe
Impish Nature
- Earthquake
- Stealth Rock
- U-turn
- Toxic
Set reasoning and comments
This is the final mon in my team and it’s meant to be a rocker freeing clef to use Knock Off over rocks as well as functioning as a zera check. I used the updated Smogon set EVs for this lando as well using enough speed to outspeed adamant Bisharp. This mon rounds out the team and it functions as a mon Tapu Koko might not want to deal with on the switch due to most of my team being weak to it. I ran rocky helmet as its item to use as a way to damage Urshifu and weav and punish them for using their contact moves if lando isn’t needed anymore in that battle.
to make it easier for raters I want to include a replay showing how this team functions https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8ou-1353170613-ihf505956tonspdmo5hc8x6l4o9jl9jpw
also big thanks to t045t3r for grammar checking
That is my team, I want to improve it as much as I can so I appreciate all criticism and help I can get!
Last edited:
, Kartana 
and Dragonite 
. Kartana and Dragonite are respectively a deadly breaker and a very good setup sweeper that both struggle to break through the omnipresent Corviknight 
and Skarmory 
. Ferrothorn 
can also be annoying as it force predictions for Kartana and can annoy Dragonite during its set up attempt. Thus, this set of Magnezone is particularly good to help these two deadly threats shine. As for the rest of the team, Keldeo 
is an interesting and not much seen choice that can bring some Speed and act as a reliable revenge killer, but it may lack a bit of power. You also may still remain weak to some threats like Weavile 
on the long run with Keldeo and may have to keep the offensive momentum in this kind of matchup. Clefable 
and Landorus-T 
form a good defensive basis to complete this and can help your breakers with T-Wave or U-turn.
: Blissey could be a better Dragapult 
and Kyurem 
check, who is also able to spread paralysis with Thunder Wave but has the advantage of having access to Teleport in order to pivot on Magnezone or Kartana. This can particularly be helpful as Corviknight 
: Using Blissey will however require to have something to handle physical attackers and thus you will need to use something like Toxapex 
: Urshifu has a slightly better physical bulk to switch into Weavile or Bisharp and has also more reliable STABs with Close Combat hitting way harder than Sacred Sword and Surging Strikes hitting approximatively as hard as Hydro Pump but with a perfect accuracy. I’m not sure that this would change much but it is something you may want to try with this kind of set:
seems to be very difficult to deal with here as you can’t reliably switch into it. You can try to play around it offensively, but you will have to be very careful and keep the offensive momentum as much as possible against him.