ORAS OU Lure Victini Balance

[Marcelloc2]

So, here I am, yet again. Hello, everyone.
Once more, I come with some creative team, which, as I have stated in other posts, I like to do: build and bring teams with, I'll just say it, some HEAT.

This time the idea for the star of the show came from reading some ancient posts, namely, these 2:
http://www.smogon.com/smog/issue43/underrated-moves-in-ou
http://www.smogon.com/forums/thread...on-v2-victini-voting-post-275.3542009/page-11
Yep, non-choiced Victini. This is the teambuilding process and, next, comes the analysis of the members of the squad (no peak proof this time cause I haven't managed to get in the ladder, but I got to 1600ish).

Teambuilding process

We start of with the core Victini + Kyurem-B. Nothing new here, just sheer force (almost literally). Kyurem beats heatran and rotom, to name a few. Victini brings down... stuff, and can check m-sableye better due to burn immunity.

Next, a check to Keldeo and Scarf Lando-T and a (somewhat) check to Excadrill. Can also take a hit or two from Diacie.

At this point, Zard and Talon were huge threats to the team, as well as Medicham, Jirachi and Metagross. I just threw a hard counter to all those, with slowbro also helping against Lopunny and Dnite (nice GFW core as well).

Yet, the metagame still presented so many threats to those 4 mons - mostly fairies and psychic types - Sylveon, Diancie, Starmie, Slowbro, Mew, Zam... I also needed rocks. So I decided to counter them with sand sweeping and went Ttar for psychic types, Exca for fairies, in a nutshell.

Victini @ Expert Belt
Ability: Victory Star
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
Hasty Nature
- V-create
- Bolt Strike
- U-turn
- Glaciate
Victini comes first. Often the lead, can deal heavy damage to Skarmory and Sableye. V-create is obvious STAB, Bolt Strike for Slowbro, Manaphy and Talonflame, U-turn to gain momentum, since the team covers threats really well, Glaciate is the nice gimmick move to hit hard Landos and Chompers, also preventing some things to set up and being all in all an underrated move.

Kyurem-Black @ Life Orb
Ability: Teravolt
EVs: 8 Atk / 252 SpA / 248 Spe
Mild Nature
- Ice Beam
- Fusion Bolt
- Earth Power
- Outrage
Next, something to hit hard. Beats heatran and Rotom, can take a hit with full health and retaliate. Ice beam, Fusion Bolt and Earth Power all go without saying. Outrage is... there to hit Chansey, I guess. Lol. The spread allows us to outspeed Gyara and those 4 EVs are more useful there.

Venusaur-Mega @ Venusaurite
Ability: Thick Fat
EVs: 252 HP / 96 Def / 136 SpD / 24 Spe
Bold Nature
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Giga Drain
- Sludge Bomb
- Synthesis
Mega-Venusaur is always something I have trouble taking down, so I brought it to this team. I am no Venusaur specialist, so I just copied a spread I found somewhere and I went for the coverage instead of Sleep Powder/Leech Seed, mainly, to hit Ferrothorn and to not let Scizor set up on it, making Saur a good switch into Ferrothorn.

Slowbro (M) @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SpA
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Scald
- Slack Off
- Psyshock
- Thunder Wave
First I thought I could bring Slowking, but I was in need of all the Def I could put my hands on to counter Mega-Medicham, M-Pinsir, Talonflame and, specially, Zard X. Rocky helmet is nice to wear down u-turners and spinners. T-wave is for Zard, mainly, though it always comes in hand. Scald and Psyshock for STAB, Slack off for healing - Slowbro needs it so bad, it is very important to not overload Slowbro.

Tyranitar @ Chople Berry
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 248 HP / 16 Atk / 240 Def / 4 SpD
Impish Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Brick Break
- Pursuit
- Stone Edge
Gengar and psychic types were a Huge threat and I needed Rocks. So, I brought Ttar. Full defense cause the team is so very weak to Bisharp and Weavile (I guess that spread is standard). Chople is to counter that same Weavile and Gengar, who ALWAYS stay in. Pursuit is for Latis, mainly. Stone Edge for STAB damage and the thing I already know people will suggest me to change: Brick Break. It is for Bisharp. I know it is silly, but it works well enough. It hits Exca, other TTars and other stuff that TTar shouldn't be hitting as well.

Excadrill @ Life Orb
Ability: Sand Rush
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Rapid Spin
- Earthquake
- Iron Head
- Rock Slide
Finally, the fairy killer and the thing to beat fast threats - Zam, +1 Zard, Torn... It is also one of the two OU spinners and the set I run is pretty standard - just to hit hard. Rock Slide over SD, it is all in all better in this team.

​

This is how the team works, btw:
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/ou-322826103
Pretty solid, just pull some clever doubles, give Victini and Kyurem-B the chance to punch hard. Exca won late game.
And this is the team beating threats:
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/ou-322853847

Threats I have noticed so far

I can see nothing that the team can't handle. Honestly, I tried to address every threat.
The team does lack priority, though, but it has counters to Scizor, Breloom, M-Pinsir...
There are, nonetheless, 3 threats I worry when i see:

Weavile doesn't last long, but it is a nice end-game sweeper against my team. If Ttar can't take it, Exca is suppose to revenge kill. Slowbro can Twave it and Saur can make it weaker. it might also fear scarf Tini.

Another priority user, if it SDs, it is gg. Luckily, the team doesn't let it set up most of the time, though I might end up sac-ing something.

Zam is fast, can outspeed my attackers, can take down my walls. Chople Ttar is good, but one must hit Stone Edge. Exca outspeeds in the sand, except if MEga-Zam manages to trace Sand Rush.

Overall look

I built the team having in mind all major threats in OU and, though the team is weak to some things, it has a way of handling everything in OU - luring stuff with Victini and Ttar helps. Thus, I believe it is a quite nice balance team.
That said, suggestions are very welcome - if it helps beating Bisharp, even better.
Maybe a scarfer, or a different mega, I don't know, this team came naturally as i started building, I can't really see other options, that is why I am posting it here.

Anyway, be my guest to suggest changes you believe will make this team work better and also try the team out if you also think Victini deserves more credit.

Importable

Victini @ Expert Belt
Ability: Victory Star
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
Hasty Nature
- V-create
- Bolt Strike
- U-turn
- Glaciate

Kyurem-Black @ Life Orb
Ability: Teravolt
EVs: 8 Atk / 252 SpA / 248 Spe
Mild Nature
- Ice Beam
- Fusion Bolt
- Earth Power
- Outrage

Venusaur-Mega @ Venusaurite
Ability: Thick Fat
EVs: 252 HP / 96 Def / 136 SpD / 24 Spe
Bold Nature
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Giga Drain
- Sludge Bomb
- Synthesis

Wenceslas (Slowbro) (M) @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SpA
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Scald
- Slack Off
- Psyshock
- Thunder Wave

Tyranitar @ Chople Berry
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 248 HP / 16 Atk / 240 Def / 4 SpD
Impish Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Brick Break
- Pursuit
- Stone Edge

Excadrill @ Life Orb
Ability: Sand Rush
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Rapid Spin
- Earthquake
- Iron Head
- Rock Slide

 

[Moonclawz]

Hi Marcello,

This is a pretty cool bulky offense team. I really like Glaciate Victini - as you said it can lure TankChomp and KO it, making Excadrill's like much easier.

I agree with NotFalse that your team is really weak to dark-types (Bisharp and Weavile) and strong ground-types like Landorus-T and opposing Excadrill. Although the combination of Slowbro and Mega-Venu can check most ground-types pretty well, it can get overwhelmed, especially it you're facing a Swords Dance Landorus-Therian. For example, Adamant Earth Plate Lando-T at +2 has around a 44% change to KO even max defense Slowbro with SR. Slowbro also really can't switch into opposing Excadrill, since it risks getting 2HKO'd by Earthquake after Stealth Rocks

+2 252+ Atk Earth Plate Landorus-T Earthquake vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Slowbro: 313-370 (79.4 - 93.9%) -- 43.8% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock
252+ Atk Life Orb Excadrill Earthquake vs. 252 HP / 232+ Def Slowbro: 165-195 (41.8 - 49.4%) -- 87.5% chance to 2HKO after Stealth Rock

I think a lot of other minor weakness on your team are a result of not having enough speed - not counting Excadrill in sand, your fastest unboosted Pokemon is Victini from its low base speed. This means with dealing with relatively fast or fast balance breakers like Manaphy, Mega-Pinsir, Mega-Charizard-Y, and Alakazam (and Mega-Zam) is a little difficult. In these situations, you're sort of forced to go to Tyranitar to set-up sand so that Excadrill can outspeed and revenge these Pokemon. Since Tyranitar is your main switch-in to a lot of special attackers like Latios and Torn-T, it will also get worn down very easily - and once Tyranitar has been KO'd, your at a major disadvantage.

Since NotFalse already gave you a overhaul, I'm going to suggest some changes that hopefully will allow to keep most of your team intact.

Firstly, I would run Air Balloon over Life Orb on Excadrill. Air Balloon gives your team a pseudo-ground-type immunity, allowing you to switch into Earthquake from Scarf Lando-T or opposing Excadrill, helping you immensely against opposing ground-types. I would also use Jolly nature over Adamant on Excadrill. Given that opposing Adamant Excadrill can outright sweep your team at +2 (in the sand), running Jolly will allow your Excadrill to outspeed and revenge opposing Excadrill, even when its Balloon is broken. Since losing Life Orb decreases Excadrill's sweeping power, you can also try running Swords Dance over Rock Slide/Rapid Spin, which will allow Excadrill to better act as a win condition.

I think you should also switch to LO Jolly Hydreigon with Draco Meteor, Dark Pulse, Earth Power, and Roost instead of Kyurem-B. Like Kyurem-B, Hydregon complements Victini not only in type-synergy (Hydreigon resists water/electric), but also in beating Pokemon that could wall Victini. Hydreigon can KO Heatran with Earth Power and heavily damage Rotom-W with Dark Pulse. More importantly, Hydreigon gives your team an important ground-type immunity and dark-type resistance. Having a true ground-type immunity helps fix you team's weakness to opposing ground-types, while a Hydreigon's dark-type resistance allows it to check Bisharp, outspeeding and KOing Bisharp with a super-effective Earth Power. A Jolly Nature allows Hydreigon to outspeed and KO all non-scarf Lando-T with Draco Meteor after SR, giving Excadrill an easier time sweeping. Roost helps prevent Hydreigon from getting worn-down by LO/hazard/sand damage, helping it check Bisharp better.

Although this changes your cool lure Victini set, to fix your speed issue, I would recommend running a Adamant Scarf Victini with V-create, Bolt Strike, U-turn, and Final Gambit over your current Victini. Scarf Victini gives your team another way to deal with fast attackers besides using Excadrill in the sand. For example, Victini can outspeed and KO weakened Manaphy and Zard-Y with Bolt Strike, while still doing heavy damage to Skarmory and Sableye with V-create. U-turn allows Victini to pivot out of Pokemon that would check it, such as tank Chomp, to Hydreigon which can KO the aforemetioned Pokemon.

I would also run Superpower instead of Brick Break and Tyranitar. Superpower hits the same targets as Brick Break, but with much more power, which can be crucial to getting certain KOs. For example, with Superpower, Tyranitar has can 83% to KO Excadrill on the switch with Superpower (with SR), while Brick Break does a max of 63% to Excadrill. Although Superpower has stat drops, Tyranitar will most likely be switching out after using Superpower, so it doesn't really matter.

Finally, I think you should use Leftovers instead of Rocky Helmet on Slowbro. Keeping Slowbro healthy is really crucial for your team as Slowbro is your main check to physical attackers like Lando-T, Mega-Loppuny, and Mega-Metagross. Although it has Regenerator, Slowbro can still be easily worn down due to sand and hazards, which is why I think Leftovers would be better item choice.

Hope this helps!

Sets:

Hide

Hydreigon @ Life Orb
EVs: 4 SpD / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Draco Meteor
- Dark Pulse
- Earth Power
- Roost

Victini @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Victory Star
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- V-create
- Bolt Strike
- U-turn
- Final Gambit
[\HIDE]