ORAS OU Mega Zam/volcanion hazard stack (peak ~1620 and climbing)

Hello, everyone!

Haven't seen mega Zam that much lately, so I decided to build around him, as well as to test Volcanion, the new hype in OU. Honestly, I don't think Volcanion is that good, but hey, that is not the point. The point is I like this team and I might as well put it here to share and improve it.

Here's proof of peak (TOP 100!):

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This is the Squad:
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As stated, I decided to build from a Zam/Volcanion core:
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I decided then I wanted a hazard stacking team for fast paced games. Thus, I chose a very (VERY) underrated lead (over Skarmory) cause I thought Tspikes could be really helpful since I didnt want to run Twave anywhere:
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Next, I thought a spin blocker would go hand in hand with this team. I also wanted something that could endure a hit from Excadrill if I was to get predicted. Offensive Starmie is not really a threat right now (and Zam can revenge). I thought of Trevenant, but I ended up choosing Doublade duo to its priority move, offensive presence and being a nice underrated sweeper:
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Defog is also a problem and Defiant is the obvious answer. I decided to run the less obvious Mixed Thundurus over Bisharp:

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To put everything together, (as suggested), I added a wallbreaker, sweeper and counter to Excadrill and Lando-T:

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Ok, now, the individual analysis:

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Alakazam-Mega @ Alakazite
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Psychic
- Shadow Ball
- Focus Blast
- Protect/Substitute/Encore
Mega zam is a very nice wallbreaker. Powerful and fast. Nothing too odd going on with that set. I run the usual 3 moves and subs Protect. Paired with tspikes, I can scout for so many things (Keldeo and Exca, to name a few, and I can outspeed Weavile and sandrush driller if I need to fblast them and lopunny becomes history). Subs is good as well, since it protects from twave spammin. Zam can 2hko so many things it's amazing. With hazards support, it's a force to be reckoned with. It's a shame people aren't using MZam that much, honestly. I mean, BL? Really?


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Volcanion @ Choice Specs
Ability: Water Absorb
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Steam Eruption
- Flamethrower/Fire Blast
- Sludge Wave/HP grass
- Earth Power
Specs for sheer power. Steam eruption because... duh. I am currently running flamethower and i don't remember ever thinking "i should be running Fire Blast, I wouldve gotten that kill". Anyways, they are both equivalent options. I like to run Sludge Wave to hit Lati@s hard, but Steam eruption works fine enough for that purpose. SW also hits Gardevoir better, since they like to switch into Volc and trace Water Absorb. HP grass might be a better option since Gastrodon, though not common, is a HUGE threat to the team. Earth Power hits hard opposing Volcs that try to switch in. Yet again, nothing too odd.

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Doublade @ Eviolite
Ability: No Guard
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 SpD
Brave Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Swords Dance
- Gyro Ball
- Shadow Sneak
- Sacred Sword
This set goes without saying. As a nice spin blocker, Doublade can come in on Excas and non-offensive Starmies. if i get predicted, doublade can endure a hit and then shadow sneak to pop a balloon or to damage starmie, something like that. Gyro ball over iron head cause this tier is crazy fast. Doublade does its job really well, tbh, has crazy high def., good typing and movepool and it's all in all a nice choice to be there.

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Thundurus @ Life Orb
Ability: Defiant
EVs: 68 Atk / 188 SpA / 252 Spe
Hasty Nature
- Knock Off
- Superpower
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power [Ice]
Mixed Thundurus is just crazy. it pretty much destroys so much of the ladder it's not even fun. I mean, it is, but hey. knock off+Superpower destroys Chanseys, Heatrans, Ttars, Ferrothorns... The list goes on and on. Tbolt is a must, as is HP ice.
Chansey offense is so commom these days, and Thundurus-I is the perfect lure.


Garchomp @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Rough Skin
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Earthquake
- Outrage
- Fire Fang
- Stone Edge
Next, comes Chomper, the late game cleaner. After hazards have done their job, Chomper just spams Outrage or EQ. Boom.
Stone edge beats Talonflame (specially when they try to willo).
Fire Fang is to catch Ferrothorns and scizors off guard. It doesnt hit that hard, but hey, you tak what you can get.


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Landorus-Therian @ Leftovers
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 56 HP / 220 Atk / 232 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- Rock Polish
- Swords Dance
Next, comes Landorus-T. Provides me more reliable ground immunity. Besides, double dance Lando grants me wallbreaking and sweeping potential. It just fits really well in the team, tbh.

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Omastar @ Focus Sash
Ability: Weak Armor
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Stealth Rock
- Spikes
- Toxic Spikes
- Icy Wind
Last comes the lead (?). This thing counters leads lando-t and chomper really well. As stated, I prefer Omastar over Skarm due to tspikes: they are really usefull. Most of the time, I can spike up with easy due to Omastars ability. Just don't lead Omastar vs Diancie, Sableye, MHeracross and Lopunny and everything should be fine. Besides, granted you hit icy wind, you are able to prevent early game sweepings from DD set up sweepers like Zard X. Unexpected, people don't know how to deal with Omastar, and it does its job really well.

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gastrodon
Quagsire
No switch ins to gengar, though my team handles it well.
Also, no team comes without flaws. This team doesnt handle stall that well. It is able to put pressure, but you need some burns to pull the victory off.
Quid pro quo, if the person is able to read this team correctly and lead CM Slowbro or Manaphy (both or which are not at all common), you are in trouble. Switch immidiatly to Thundurus and pray for a crit - there might still be a chance, if it's not MSlowbro.




I decided, just for fun, to run a sticky web team, bringing Smeargle over Omastar and Gardevoir over Zam. It got pretty shitty, but this was the result:
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/ou-370548316
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/ou-370546349

Overall look

All in all, this teams works fine.

As a small piece of advice, do not - I repeat, DO NOT - lead omastar vs sableye, diancie, heracross or lopunny. Watch out for the odd espeons.
That said, suggestions are very welcome. If you read the teambuilding process, you are probably aware that I am willing to change anything in the team.

Anyway, be my guest to suggest changes you believe will make this team work better and also try the team out.

Alakazam-Mega @ Alakazite
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Psychic
- Shadow Ball
- Focus Blast
- Substitute

Volcanion @ Choice Specs
Ability: Water Absorb
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Steam Eruption
- Flamethrower
- Sludge Wave
- Earth Power

Doublade @ Eviolite
Ability: No Guard
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 SpD
Brave Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Swords Dance
- Gyro Ball
- Shadow Sneak
- Sacred Sword

Thundurus @ Life Orb
Ability: Defiant
EVs: 68 Atk / 188 SpA / 252 Spe
Hasty Nature
- Knock Off
- Superpower
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power [Ice]

Landorus-Therian @ Leftovers
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 56 HP / 220 Atk / 232 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- Rock Polish
- Swords Dance

Omastar @ Focus Sash
Ability: Weak Armor
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Stealth Rock
- Spikes
- Toxic Spikes
- Icy Wind
 
Last edited:
Hey man. I really like how creative you got with this team. Let's see what we can change up.

The very first thing I noticed was how you don't really have a great switch in for Mega Lop and Keldeo, specifically the specs variant. Drill in sand is also an issue if Mega Zam hasn't mega evo'd, and you also stated that scarf Lando gives you issues. To check this issues better, I suggest running protect in the filler spot for mega zam, as this not only allows you to get off a free mega, but it also helps you scout for moves, in the case of scarf lando and a choiced keldeo, and prevent fake out damage from Mega Lop. This also helps stall out weather turns, since sand+rain offense can cause issues for this team.

As for Chomp, I suggest running jolly over adamant, as the max speed + scarf helps further ensure that you can check a zard x, as some DD zard x do run 252+ speed.

Unfortunately, that's all for now. Kind of late where I am atm, so I'll definitely come back if I can think of any more stuff lol. Hope I helped for now!
 
Hey I the team it been ages since ive seen some good hazard stacking but i'd change a few things one of them being changing garchomp to either Double dance lando-t or defensive lando-t because although it it HO you still need you ground check to be better that thunderus as double dance lando-t pretty much 6-0's .Also i think you should replace omastar with skarmory in your explanation you say you prefer omastar over skarm because of toxic spikes but that no really a good reason imo because steels air born mons and poison types are so common it not even worth setter them up its very rare you would chose toxic spikes over rocks or another layer of normal spikes and skarm get recovery and isnt as easy to take down and can set up hazards aginast almost any thing and usually gets at least two harzards if it running custap berry.

Hope this helps
Skarmory @ Custap Berry
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Stealth Rock
- Spikes
- Whirlwind
- Roost

Landorus-Therian @ Leftovers
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 56 HP / 220 Atk / 232 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- Rock Polish
- Swords Dance
if you chose to run defensive lando-t over double dance heres the set for that.
Landorus-Therian @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 HP / 240 Def / 8 SpD / 8 Spe
Impish Nature
- Earthquake
- U-turn
- Stone Edge
- Stealth Rock
 
Looking at your team again, I notice a huge weakness to sharp (and weavile if zam is weakened), as you don't really have a switch in and if it gets to +2, it becomes a huge issue. To take on this issue, Keldeo is an option to consider over volcanion, as the dark resist is very helpful. I would run the specs set with hp electric to take on azu better, as the loss of Volc makes this team a lot weak to azu.

Like the above user, I agree with using lead skarm, as skarm is faster than omastar and the custap berry gives a +1 prio rather than a +1 speed boost that won't always be consistent.

Hope I helped :]
 
yo, cool team here and grats on the peak. hazard stacking teams are really cool in the current meta so i'm glad you're using it. however, i have some suggestions for your team.

firstly, omastar is a cool mon; however, without rain, it isn't very effective and there are other hazard-stacking mons in the tier that can check much more pokemon and apply more offensive pressure. that being said, scolipede is a great mon to use because it's much faster, outspeeding other leads, and much more stronger. without rain, omastar is kinda slow and this reduces its effectiveness as a lead so scolipede is a much better choice.

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Scolipede @ Focus Sash
Ability: Speed Boost
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Hasty Nature
- Spikes
- Toxic Spikes
- Endeavor
- Megahorn

secondly, because you've lost a very useful stealth rock setter, I think you should try out the tank chomp set over the choice scarf set as it gives you this stealth rock setter and a check to bisharp which, as the above rater said, seems to be a bit of a problem, provided it gets off a Swords Dance or two. it can also phaze it out with Dragon Tail so there's quite a bit of things you can do with it, making it a really effective hazard setter alongside Scolipede.

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Garchomp @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Rough Skin
EVs: 240 HP / 176 Def / 92 Spe
Impish Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Dragon Tail
- Fire Blast

finally, on a really offensive team (teams with Mega Zam are usually offensive), Doublade seems out of place. It's a good spinblocker, but I feel that it isn't necessary on this team; I think that Scarf Jirachi could be used instead of it as it provides you with a form of Speed control (since you lost Scarf Garchomp) and a great revenge-killer / late-game cleaner. It can also support Thundurus / Alakazam through Healing Wish support which is heavily appreciated cuz your team now lacks a way to get rid of hazards (although Doublade wasn't a reliable way to get rid of them either).

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Jirachi @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Serene Grace
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Iron Head
- U-turn
- Heart Stamp
- Healing Wish

if you think that dark-types are still a big problem, you can opt for taunt in zam's last slot. this should help it against setup sweepers and stall mons in general. you can also run the nasty plot + 3 attacks set on thundurus, but the mixed set is much better now.

so yeah try out these changes and see how they work, good luck + hope i helped :)
 
Thanks for all the ideas, guys.

Defending my choice to run Omastar:

Honestly, I think you are underestimating Omastar. Try it out, its a great lead against the commom Lando-T and Garchomp leads, it is pretty much guaranteed rocks and if you see some fast taunt lead like Azelf or Aerodactyl, you can just lead something else (Doublade would be a good choice v. these 2). there are many mons which are not affected by tspikes, but it makes a difference when I want to beat defensive Starmie and v. stall, if i play right and don't let amoongus come in (volc is great for that or i can just not tspike at all). Besides that, venusaur and scolipede are the only poison types in OU that can remove tspikes (Scolipede is usually a lead mon, so there is that, and I can trace speed boost). Add protect to that and Zammer can catch (more reliably) some KO's it otherwise would not be able to. I think it is all in all a very good move to have since the team, with the right prediction, prevents hazard removals quite well, and since I am not running twave nor willo.

To sum it up, yes, I believe Custap Bbird Skarmory is just as good (and can prevent hazards on my side, which omastar can't), but, for that very specific team, Omastar can grant me some victories with tspikes.

[I really like lead Scolipede, mainly due to these 2 teams I had success playing with:
http://pokemonshowdownteams.com/ou-team-21-tropical-onesie-mega-sharpedo/
http://www.smogon.com/forums/threads/dannys-agiligross-offense-ft-banded-landorus-t-peak-8.3549415/
]

Nevertheless, lately, I feel like LO Scolipede it is easy to play around, even though I like it a lot.
 
You say you struggle against gastrodon and quagsire, yet you refuse to run hidden power grass on volcanion? You don't need sludge wave, dude!
 
That's a good point, a grass move is nice. Tspikes work fine v. quag and gastro, and steam eruption destroys quag anyway. It is just that chansey+ quag/gastro might be hard to deal with, but I'll be sure to try hp grass, thanks!
 
Main defogger in the current metagame is Lati. Latios dies to thundurus knock off +SR.
Scizor is not a threat to volc, nor is Skarm to the team. It requires just a little prediction, honestly.

Latias could be a problem, depending on the rest of the team, but then again, no team is perfect.

If I run prankster i lose a huge Chansey lure.
 
Hey man really cool HO team you got here, as every HO is super hard to play because you have to predict correctly or put a lot of pressure. At first glance your team depend a lot of getting up hazards late game for Mix thundy breaks early game, and cleans up late game with Zam or Specs canion, however the first flaw is the Omastar despite being a great suicide lead in OU is highly outclased for mons mentioned above like Scolopide or Skarmory. Another issue i found is that you get completly destroy by fasters pokemon such as Weavile, Lopunny, and Manectric (The 2 last only if kazam doesnt have mega evolv). The biggest threat for you team without a doubt is Bisharp because can spam knock off/Sucker punch pretty freely. So i would like to recomend a couple change that might help your team a bit more:
  • This team works with a reliably lead suicide, however the only lead suicide that have rocks and spikes and can beat opposing magic bouncer such as Diancie and Sableye is Smeargle with Skill Swap, even then you lose a turn doing this and Diancie is faster after mega evolv so you basically wont get hazards again Diancie, but you can get SR and Spikes against Sableye lead. I think you only need rocks because you have enough raw power to break teams on Zam and Canion. So i recommend lead Azelf as is the faster lead suicide with access to Skill Swap and doesnt get HKO by the combination of Fake Out + Return coming from Lopunny.
  • The other issue is Speed control and Dark types, for this there are a few combinations that migh help you. The first one is put encore on MZam to force at least a 50/50 against Bisharp, and change Terrakion > Landorus-T, Terrak can also check dark types bar Low kick weavile(Only if you choose LO set), gives to the team the much needed speed control as well(if you choose Scarf Set). NOTE: If you choose LO set you should change Thundurus to a prankster t-wave set for a speed control against set up sweepers such as Zard X.
Azelf @ Focus Sash
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 228 Def / 28 SpA / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Explosion
- Skill Swap / Hidden Power Steel
- Taunt

Thundurus @ Life Orb
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Thunder Wave
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power Ice
- Focus Blast

Terrakion @ Life Orb
Ability: Justified
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Close Combat
- Stone Edge
- Substitute / Rock Polish

OR

Terrakion @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Justified
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Close Combat
- Stone Edge
- Rock Slide / Earthquake
- Iron Head
Hope i help you and gl :toast:
 
Hello, here we have a team that needs some adjustment, as you noticed Omastar and Doublade are redundant in your team, usually Volcanion builds using this formula of building: Volcanion / Pursuit trapper / bulky pivot / fairy check( usually a steel type) / water check, in your team lacks the pursuit trapper and also a check for Bisharp, Weavile, Ttar, then I'd suggest utilize Scarf Keldeo > Omastar, This change allows you to have a check for Bisharp, ttar, Weavile that bother your team, also it has a good speed control, capable of beating faster threats such as mega Manectric, Lopunny mega, mega Zam.

At this point, since you are missing a pursuit trapper for Latios / Latias and even a fairy check, I suggest you utilize AV Metagross> Doublade, Metagross is capable thanks to assault vest to hold very well as threats mega Garde, latios, and trap Latias with Pursuit, also has the ability to deal Kyurem-black, Mega diancie, which are very difficult to deal with for your team.

Finally, given the lack of a bulky pivot, i'd suggest using Defensive Lando-t, Defensive Lando allows you to better control Charizard x, Talonflame, Jirachi Excadrill, and other physical attackers, also generates a slow momentum useful to put in Volcanion without suffering damage.
Last tip, I would use this set on Thundurus: Thunder wave / Thunderbolt / Hidden Power Ice / Focus Blast, this set allows Thundurus to deal better with Ferrothorn, Heatran, I chose this set because in my suggestions above is av Metagross, killing Latias / Latios, then Thundurus does not need to use Knock Off.

Keldeo @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Justified
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Scald
- Hydro Pump
- Icy Wind
- Secret Sword

Thundurus (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 30 Def
- Thunder Wave
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Focus Blast

Landorus-Therian (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 240 HP / 252 Def / 8 SpD / 8 Spe
Impish Nature
- Stealth Rock
- U-turn
- Stone Edge
- Earthquake

Metagross @ Assault Vest
Ability: Clear Body
EVs: 160 HP / 252 Atk / 96 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Meteor Mash
- Bullet Punch
- Earthquake
- Pursuit

i Hope i've helped :)


 
Hey man really cool HO team you got here, as every HO is super hard to play because you have to predict correctly or put a lot of pressure. At first glance your team depend a lot of getting up hazards late game for Mix thundy breaks early game, and cleans up late game with Zam or Specs canion, however the first flaw is the Omastar despite being a great suicide lead in OU is highly outclased for mons mentioned above like Scolopide or Skarmory. Another issue i found is that you get completly destroy by fasters pokemon such as Weavile, Lopunny, and Manectric (The 2 last only if kazam doesnt have mega evolv). The biggest threat for you team without a doubt is Bisharp because can spam knock off/Sucker punch pretty freely. So i would like to recomend a couple change that might help your team a bit more:
  • This team works with a reliably lead suicide, however the only lead suicide that have rocks and spikes and can beat opposing magic bouncer such as Diancie and Sableye is Smeargle with Skill Swap, even then you lose a turn doing this and Diancie is faster after mega evolv so you basically wont get hazards again Diancie, but you can get SR and Spikes against Sableye lead. I think you only need rocks because you have enough raw power to break teams on Zam and Canion. So i recommend lead Azelf as is the faster lead suicide with access to Skill Swap and doesnt get HKO by the combination of Fake Out + Return coming from Lopunny.
  • The other issue is Speed control and Dark types, for this there are a few combinations that migh help you. The first one is put encore on MZam to force at least a 50/50 against Bisharp, and change Terrakion > Landorus-T, Terrak can also check dark types bar Low kick weavile(Only if you choose LO set), gives to the team the much needed speed control as well(if you choose Scarf Set). NOTE: If you choose LO set you should change Thundurus to a prankster t-wave set for a speed control against set up sweepers such as Zard X.
Azelf @ Focus Sash
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 228 Def / 28 SpA / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Explosion
- Skill Swap / Hidden Power Steel
- Taunt

Thundurus @ Life Orb
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Thunder Wave
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power Ice
- Focus Blast

Terrakion @ Life Orb
Ability: Justified
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Close Combat
- Stone Edge
- Substitute / Rock Polish

OR

Terrakion @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Justified
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Close Combat
- Stone Edge
- Rock Slide / Earthquake
- Iron Head
Hope i help you and gl :toast:


I will try Azelf, definitely, but I want to reafirm Omastar is a great lead for this team and has granted me many victories.

Terrakion is nice, but I lose ground immunity and Exca/Lando-T switch ins. Imo double dance Lando-T fits perfectly there, specially to counter lead Diancie. It hits so damn hard it is ridiculous.

Bisharp is a problem, it hits hard, but nothing bar Omastar lets it set up. I don't remeber having get swept by Bisharp, honestly, though, yeah, it is annoying.
 
When I said "and climbing", I meant it.

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Thanks for all the tips, double dance lanto-T is amazing and fits perfectly, as well as Protect Zam + Volc and Doublade. So great, it's amazing.
 
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