ORAS OU Mega Altaria HO

[Halcón]

THE TEAM:

Hello Smogon! To be honest, this team is relatively unoriginal. It consists of the usual pairing of Mega-Altaria and Magnezone. To complement these Pokemon, I then built around them in an HO style. The goal of this Rate My Team is primarily to help improve the team, but it is decent as is. I got to around 1400 from a new alt with a good win-loss record in a little over an hour. I am an average battler and could have gotten much higher, but I wanted to fix some holes on the team first.

THE SETS:

Altaria @ Altarianite
Ability: Cloud Nine
EVs: 248 HP / 136 Def / 96 SpD / 28 Spe
Impish Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Roost
- Return
- Heal Bell

I am running the bulkier Altaria set for a few reasons. First of all, the other mons on my team can deal with problems for this set (no EQ or Fire Blast), including Heatran and Ferrothorn. Additionally, Heal Bell not only helps Altaria set up and sweep, but it also removes statuses that cripple other Pokemon. For example, if a Thundurus Thunder Waves Weavile on an Icicle Crash, and I still need Weavile's speed to deal with Starmie/Lati/etc, I can Heal Bell away the paralysis. This also allows me to play more recklessly with my other Pokemon around Will-o-Wisp opponents.

Magnezone @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Magnet Pull
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Volt Switch
- Thunderbolt
- Flash Cannon
- Hidden Power [Fire]

Magnezone is a very common partner for Mega-Altaria, so this won't likely need a long explanation. Magnezone can trap Skarmory and Ferrothorn, and is a way to beat bulky water types and Diancie. Volt Switch allows me to gain very important initiative, especially on an HO team (I can't afford to switch into too many attacks and sack mons).

Weavile @ Life Orb
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Pursuit
- Knock Off
- Icicle Crash
- Ice Shard

I could really use some suggestions on what Weavile set to run. Although Pursuit isn't always run, I find it very important to trap and take down hazard removers like the Latis and Starmie. To be honest, I find myself using Icicle Crash by far the least, so I am interested to know if I should be using Poison Jab or Low Kick here instead.

Landorus-Therian @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 248 HP / 216 Def / 28 SpD / 16 Spe
Impish Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- U-turn

I am very unsure of having Landorus-T on the team. It gets up SR (mainly to help take down Talonflame), and can switch in once or twice on a boosted Brave Bird and do damage with the Rocky Helmet. However, it isn't a reliable stop to Talonflame as it gets whittled very easily without Leftovers, and I find myself relying on Stone Miss way too often. The main reason I currently have it on the team over other options is because it gets access to U-Turn, forming a sort of Volt-Turning Offense with Magnezone.

Keldeo @ Life Orb
Ability: Justified
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Taunt
- Scald
- Secret Sword
- Icy Wind

Although Taunt isn't a staple on Keldeo, this mon has arguably performed the best out of any on the team. Keldeo has made for a very strong lead most of the time, as it can shut down Hazard Setters and Screen Setters, damage Heatran/Garchomp/etc, and do a ton of damage to any switch in with Scald. Although I probably shouldn't lead with Keldeo when my opponent is clearly going to be leading with Spore Breloom, every single low ladder (1300 and below) match that I have come up against one, Taunt stops the Spore and a switch into Latios or Lando-T (depending on the variant) will help take down the Breloom.

Latios @ Life Orb
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Hasty Nature
- Draco Meteor
- Psyshock
- Earthquake
- Roost

Latios helps beat mons like Manaphy, Venusaur, Breloom, etc. It can also drop a Draco then switch out, or Roost up its HP if it will be relied upon later in the match. EQ is relatively unpopular on Latios, but I have found that it comes in handy against several mons (Magnezone, Heatran, etc.). Defog could be used over EQ, but I typically only have time to set up SR once, and my own rocks essentially need to stay up the whole game if I want to beat Talonflame. HP Fire is an option, but I feel that it is unnecessary. Magnezone typically deals with Ferrothorn and Scizor, and I don't like always being slower than max speed Latis/Gengars/etc.

MY QUESTIONS:

1. How can I be less weak to Talonflame? Should I switch out Latios? Landorus-T? I know that an HO team won't (and shouldn't) have a switch in to every mon, but the only games that I lost were all to Talonflame, and my only way to beat it is with either sacking mons and getting recoil damage, or hitting a Stone Edge.
2. What should I do to Weavile's moveset?
3. What should I do to Latios' moveset?
4. Any other suggestions are welcome, as long as the original concept of Altaria-Magnezone remains.

Thank you for any comments and suggestions!

 

[MrAldo]

MY QUESTIONS:

1. How can I be less weak to Talonflame? Should I switch out Latios? Landorus-T? I know that an HO team won't (and shouldn't) have a switch in to every mon, but the only games that I lost were all to Talonflame, and my only way to beat it is with either sacking mons and getting recoil damage, or hitting a Stone Edge.
2. What should I do to Weavile's moveset?
3. What should I do to Latios' moveset?
4. Any other suggestions are welcome, as long as the original concept of Altaria-Magnezone remains.

Thank you for any comments and suggestions!

Let me try to provide you some solutions. Pretty neat and standard HO, efficient and fun

1. Instead of magnezone, you should consider running scarf magneton instead. Same role, minimal power decrease and can outspeed max speed talonflame, weavile and tornadus-therian which is amazing for a team like this. Still keeps the same concept as well.

2. I dont see much of a need for pursuit on this build, guess trapping latios is neat and all but you dont really need it. Opposing fairies are incredibly threatening so I would recommend Poison jab over pursuit on weavile. Successfully lure the likes of clefable (get rid of it with the icicle crash + poison jab combo) and nails azumarill for neat damage when aqua jet wont kill you unless you are below 45%

3. Latios moveset is fine in the end. Needs a way to lure heatran albeit earthquake latios is kind of expected nowadays, can be useful to have earthquake in the long run.

4. Looks fine, albeit too many life orbs to me (but thats just me being paranoid), but running expert belt over life orb on keldeo is an option you could test. Earthquake over heal bell on mega altaria is something you can test and then give latios roost instead of earthquake or even heal block which is a fun option to improve the matchups against team that rely on their recovery.

Lando-T is far more important than you realize, extremely important glue mon for you to not get ravaged by the omnipresent sand builds. Keep it.

Best of lucks!

 

[rush of my blood]

well then.

i like this kind of team but there are a few things who just beat this team.

e.g. clefable. cm clefable sweeps if it gets 1 cm cuz magnezone does not enuff with flash cannon. so id recommend a specs zone. its a better check and it does a ton even when clef is +1/+1. Also id put poison jab over pursuit since u dont rly need it like MrAldo mentioned. now, ull miss some speed so id suggest a scarf keldeo. this helps against rain and sand. also its a great revenge killer for mega lopunny which is a huge threat to your team.

i hope i helped, the rest is fine. u cud try a latias with hwish over eq latias. just toy around with it a lil bit and u ll get used to your team and so youll know what ur team struggles against ^^

 

[Halcón]

Thanks everyone for your suggestions! I am currently trying out different combinations of the new sets!