SM OU Keldo Balance

[Clemenprez]

Introduction​

Hi everyone! My first 2 RMTs really helped out my teambuilding and ability to play mons so thanks for that. So I'm super grateful for any advice that you can give me on my third one. Lets get into it!

The Team​

Keldeo @ Waterium Z
Ability: Justified
Nature: Timid
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
IVs: 0 Atk
Moves: Calm Mind | Hydro Pump | Secret Sword | Taunt

With the recent decline in toxapex usage I decided I would build a team around keldeo who really dislikes pex. And although pex is by no means nonexistence, I still thought keldeo might be able to preform a bit better. I decided to run CM waterium Z because of its ability to change moves and also punish pex with taunt. With taunt it can actually set up on pex and all that keldeo really fears is a scald burn. The SDEF boost from calm mind is amazing allowing keldeo to not be revenge killed by tornadus(without z) or shuca koko.

Greninja (M) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Protean
Nature: Naive
EVs: 228 Atk / 88 SpA / 192 Spe
Moves: Grass Knot | Ice Beam | U-turn | Rock Slide

Scarf greninja was my choice for speed control. This set is one of my favorites currently being able to revenge kill so many mons such as scarf kartana, +1 volcorona and mega swampert under rain. It also can lure and kill mons like gastrodon with grass knot. The most notable out of these is revenge killing kart because it is a huge threat to keldeo as it can revenge kill it.

Clefable @ Leftovers
Ability: Magic Guard
Nature: Bold
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
IVs: 0 Atk
Moves: Stealth Rock | Moonblast | Wish | Soft-Boiled

Clefable was the next mon I chose for the team as it is a great stealth rocker and my team was currently looking very frail. This set is pretty standard and I have both softboiled and wish for healing itself as well as passing wishes to mons like keldeo to give it more longevity or another chance to set up.

Amoonguss @ Assault Vest
Ability: Regenerator
Nature: Sassy
EVs: 252 HP / 96 Def / 160 SpD
Moves: Giga Drain | Sludge Bomb | Stomping Tantrum | Hidden Power [Fire]

Amoongus was added next because I needed a check to koko and ash-gren. AV is the best set for soaking up damage from those mons. I chose it over something like gastrodon to avoide lures like grass knot on koko or gren. Its ability to lure heatran or magnezone is another plus. Lastly, it givse me a t-spike absorber.

Mawile-Mega @ Mawilite
Ability: Intimidate
Nature: Adamant
EVs: 92 HP / 252 Atk / 164 Spe
Moves: Fire Fang | Ice Punch | Iron Head | Sucker Punch

For my mega a decided to go with mega mawile because my team was really lacking any form of a physical breaker. I chose it over mega medicham due to its better bulk and stronger priority. Fire fang is great for luring ferrothorn and scizor and ice punch is there to take out a lando-t that is trying to switch in. Iron head is there for a strong stab that also stops me from losing to calm mind clef. Lastly sucker punch is there to force switches and 50/50s and can allow mawile to clean as well. Intimidate was chosen over hyper cutter because lando-t still isn't taking an ice punch and mawile can also be used as a defensive switch-in in a pinch.

Zapdos @ Leftovers
Ability: Static
Nature: Bold
EVs: 248 HP / 240 Def / 20 Spe
IVs: 0 Atk
Moves: Discharge | Roost | Heat Wave | Defog

This last mon was originally tornadus, but I recently changed it to zapdos and I have been having much more success. Zapdos gives me a reliable check to gyarados and mega pinsir which my team struggled with before and a ground immunity. It also gives me hazard removal and can spread paralysis to pivoting mons like scarf lando-t.

Conclusion​

This team struggles with mamoswine because I have no switchins. It is also weak to zard x which destroys my team and often forces me to sack a mon or 2 so I can revenge kill it with gren. Thanks for any feedback or suggestions you have!
Edit: this team also struggles with mega venusaur greatly and cosmic power clef if mawile is dead

Importable

Keldeo @ Waterium Z
Ability: Justified
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Calm Mind
- Hydro Pump
- Secret Sword
- Taunt

Greninja (M) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Protean
EVs: 228 Atk / 88 SpA / 192 Spe
Naive Nature
- Grass Knot
- Ice Beam
- U-turn
- Rock Slide

Clefable @ Leftovers
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Stealth Rock
- Moonblast
- Wish
- Soft-Boiled

Amoonguss @ Assault Vest
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 96 Def / 160 SpD
Sassy Nature
- Giga Drain
- Sludge Bomb
- Stomping Tantrum
- Hidden Power [Fire]

Mawile-Mega @ Mawilite
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 92 HP / 252 Atk / 164 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Fire Fang
- Ice Punch
- Iron Head
- Sucker Punch

Zapdos @ Leftovers
Ability: Static
EVs: 248 HP / 240 Def / 20 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Discharge
- Roost
- Heat Wave
- Defog

 

[DKM]

Hi, Clemenprez, very nice team. M-Mawile + Keldeo is a great offensive core and it seems you supported it well. Although there are a few common things that it struggles with, I'll go over them and suggest changes to hopefully improve your matchup against them.

Threats to the team:

: Both Alakazam and Tapu Lele individually threaten the team, together they're even harder to beat. Your only Psychic resists are Mawile and Greninja, Mawile can only switch in once and Greninja gets OHKOd by Moonblast from Lele or Focus Blast/Dazzling Gleam from Alakazam. Zapdos and Amoonguss can both take a hit from Alakazam but can't do much back, not to mention that Recover is becoming a more common set. When paired together the Psychic terrain boosts Alakazam's Psychic and blocks Mawile's Sucker Punch, so Alakazam can break through the team quite easily

: While you do have Amoonguss to take hits from Tapu Koko and Zapdos, you don't have a Ground type to stop them from spamming Volt-Switch and Discharge (going for Paras). So while they aren't immidiate threats they can drain away your momentum by spamming Volt Switch or in the case of Zapdos can paralyze your answer to one of they're other mons.

​

Major changes

> : The first change I suggest is AV Bulu over Amoonguss, this gives you a switch in to both Lele and Alakazam as it switches the terrain. The spread allows you to live two Specs Psyshocks from Lele and you can threaten it with a strong Horn Leech or Wood Hammer. You still switch well into Tapu Koko, Greninja and other mons like them while having Horn Leech, Grassy Terrain and a potential Wish from Clefable to stay healthy. You also have Megahorn to act as an answer to M-Latios who can also threaten the team. Losing a T-spike absorber shouldn't hurt the team too much as you have a reliable defogger in Zapdos, not too many mons are effected by T-spikes anyway.

> : Next I suggest changing your scarfer to Landorus, possibly the best scarfer right now. It provides an Electric immunity to stop Koko from spamming Volt Switch and Zapdos from spamming Discharge. Scarf Landorus is still a great momentum grabber with U-turn to bring in Keldeo or Mawile safely. It also acts as a decently bulky pivot, being able to switch into Zygarde and Charizard X a couple of times if nessacery. The moveset is EQ, HP Ice for Zygarde and opposing Lando, U-turn and Punishment to help against CM Reuniclus and M-Latias.


​

Conclusion:

I think the team was rather good to begin with, the Tapu Bulu change helps against Psychic spam and Alakazam or Lele on their own, it also improves the M-Latios matchup thanks to Megahorn. Three fairy types might seem a bit much but they're all quite different and having them all on one team isn't really that bad. Landorus is more or less a glue for the team, being a ground type and a pivot that still helps bring in your breakers.

Threats to the team would be Heatran, especially Grassium Z variants. You can usually Wish pass into Keldeo to keep it healthy but if they catch you with a Bloom Doom it becomes alot harder. There aren't many pokemon that switch in well to this variant of Heatran so be cautious of it. Volcarona can also be a threat, although I don't see it used very much.


I hope this rate was helpful, good luck with the team :]

Importable

​

 

[Clemenprez]

Hi, Clemenprez, very nice team. M-Mawile + Keldeo is a great offensive core and it seems you supported it well. Although there are a few common things that it struggles with, I'll go over them and suggest changes to hopefully improve your matchup against them.

Threats to the team:

View attachment 122500View attachment 122499: Both Alakazam and Tapu Lele individually threaten the team, together they're even harder to beat. Your only Psychic resists are Mawile and Greninja, Mawile can only switch in once and Greninja gets OHKOd by Moonblast from Lele or Focus Blast/Dazzling Gleam from Alakazam. Zapdos and Amoonguss can both take a hit from Alakazam but can't do much back, not to mention that Recover is becoming a more common set. When paired together the Psychic terrain boosts Alakazam's Psychic and blocks Mawile's Sucker Punch, so Alakazam can break through the team quite easily

View attachment 122509View attachment 122508: While you do have Amoonguss to take hits from Tapu Koko and Zapdos, you don't have a Ground type to stop them from spamming Volt-Switch and Discharge (going for Paras). So while they aren't immidiate threats they can drain away your momentum by spamming Volt Switch or in the case of Zapdos can paralyze your answer to one of they're other mons.

​

Major changes

View attachment 122511> View attachment 122512: The first change I suggest is AV Bulu over Amoonguss, this gives you a switch in to both Lele and Alakazam as it switches the terrain. The spread allows you to live two Specs Psyshocks from Lele and you can threaten it with a strong Horn Leech or Wood Hammer. You still switch well into Tapu Koko, Greninja and other mons like them while having Horn Leech, Grassy Terrain and a potential Wish from Clefable to stay healthy. You also have Megahorn to act as an answer to M-Latios who can also threaten the team. Losing a T-spike absorber shouldn't hurt the team too much as you have a reliable defogger in Zapdos, not too many mons are effected by T-spikes anyway.

View attachment 122516> View attachment 122514: Next I suggest changing your scarfer to Landorus, possibly the best scarfer right now. It provides an Electric immunity to stop Koko from spamming Volt Switch and Zapdos from spamming Discharge. Scarf Landorus is still a great momentum grabber with U-turn to bring in Keldeo or Mawile safely. It also acts as a decently bulky pivot, being able to switch into Zygarde and Charizard X a couple of times if nessacery. The moveset is EQ, HP Ice for Zygarde and opposing Lando, U-turn and Punishment to help against CM Reuniclus and M-Latias.


​

Conclusion:

I think the team was rather good to begin with, the Tapu Bulu change helps against Psychic spam and Alakazam or Lele on their own, it also improves the M-Latios matchup thanks to Megahorn. Three fairy types might seem a bit much but they're all quite different and having them all on one team isn't really that bad. Landorus is more or less a glue for the team, being a ground type and a pivot that still helps bring in your breakers.

Threats to the team would be HeatranView attachment 122523, especially Grassium Z variants. You can usually Wish pass into Keldeo to keep it healthy but if they catch you with a Bloom Doom it becomes alot harder. There aren't many pokemon that switch in well to this variant of Heatran so be cautious of it. VolcaronaView attachment 122524 can also be a threat, although I don't see it used very much.


I hope this rate was helpful, good luck with the team :]

Importable
View attachment 122515View attachment 122516View attachment 122525View attachment 122511View attachment 122526View attachment 122509
​

Thanks so much for the suggestions! I was actually having a lot of trouble with lele and psychic terrain in general so this should help a lot.