SM OU MegaZard X Bulky Offense rmt

SilverNote3

formerly the chosen nerd

Introduction

**I've had a soft spot for MegaZard X since ORAS, and have been battling with various teams quite a bit lately, including this one. Hopefully my kinks can be ironed out with outside eyes, since I tend to have blinders on during teambuilding. Smogon resources are good, outside critique is better.**

Teambuilding Process


**Mega Charizard X, I love you. Your stats are great, your typing decent, your moves adequate, and I'm a sucker for the aesthetic.**

**Wait, you need stealth rock on AND off the field, don't you Megazard? Excadrill should help you! I am aware that Defog is generally more viable than Rapid Spin, but most of the good ones bar Latios are pretty passive for Bulky Offense. So since I don't want that overlapping dragon typing, Excadrill is our best option to keep some kinda pressure going.**

**Now you need bulky waters threatened, right? Tapu Koko is an amazing check to the majority of relevant water types. Plus Taunt works as a secondary way to control entry hazards.**

**One thing about this metagame: priority is still huge. And can stop a sufficiently weakened zard sweep in its tracks. Psychic Surge not only stops all priority offense, but gives Lele an easy way to join in the wallbreaking fun!**

**This guy has been notorious since Day One Ish. His MAIN purpose is to use Healing Wish to give me essentially a second MegaZard X, tho it still has that infamous flinch hax because why not?**

**Basically. I wanted a secondary win condition. Plus it's resistant to Earthquake, which is a plus.**


The Team


Charizard-Mega-X @ Charizardite X
Ability: Tough Claws
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Outrage
- Earthquake
- Flare Blitz
- Dragon Dance
**The main man, the wallbreaker and physical sweeper all rolled into one! He's incredibly scary once he sets up, and he isn't too shabby without them. Unfortunately, things like Pelipper can often switch in and set rain, and fairies love it when I'm locked into Outrage. His SR weakness goes without saying**


Excadrill @ Focus Sash
Ability: Mold Breaker
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Rapid Spin
- Toxic
- Earthquake
**Removal of Stealth Rocks is mandatory on any Charizard team. Earthquake hits hard, and toxic punishes fliers that wanna switch in. Sash ensures he sets up my rocks unhindered, but Skarmory and Celesteela hard counter him, along with Air Balloon steel types, necessitating a switch and sacrificing momentum.**


Tapu Koko @ Shuca Berry
Ability: Electric Surge
EVs: 104 HP / 12 Def / 176 SpA / 216 Spe
No Nature Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Thunderbolt
- Volt Switch
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Taunt
**My alternative lead if I don't think Rocks will matter too much. set is standard smogon to deal with ground types like the otherwise terrifying Lando-T. Taunt is useful vs. entry setters but this set loses badly to Swampert, Gastrodon, and the never seen AV Slowking. Faster threats also cut his terror short before I can Volt Switch out**


Tapu Lele @ Psychium Z
Ability: Psychic Surge
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Psyshock
- Moonblast
- Calm Mind
- Hidden Power [Fire]
**This lass does WORK! A hilariously great lure for Scizor/Mega Scizor, they never see the HP fire until it's too late. Heatran is a pain tho, since it can live a +0 Shattered Psyche and retaliate with Lava Plume burns, Magma Storm shenanigans, or Flash Cannon death.**


Jirachi @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Serene Grace
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Iron Head
- Healing Wish
- U-turn
- Fire Punch
**Speed control, cleric duties, and of course flinch nonsense. Yep, it's annoying. Unfortunately, water types tend to enjoy switching in and stealing my momentum since I'm locked into Iron Head.**


Serperior @ Leftovers
Ability: Contrary
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Leaf Storm
- Leech Seed
- Hidden Power [Ground]
- Dragon Pulse
**He's a sweeper. HP Ground lures Heatran beautifully, Dragon Pulse surprises dragon types and is my best hope against fellow grass types, Leech Seed is if I don't think I can hurt the next switch in, and serves pseudo cleric purposes with Leech too. Sadly, scarfed mons kill it easily usually, especially Kartana with Smart Strike.**

Conclusion

**This whole team was designed to bring out every inch of potential in Zard X, and any help in drawing out even more would be fantastic!**

Charizard-Mega-X @ Charizardite X
Ability: Tough Claws
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Outrage
- Earthquake
- Flare Blitz
- Dragon Dance

Excadrill @ Focus Sash
Ability: Mold Breaker
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Rapid Spin
- Toxic
- Earthquake

Tapu Koko @ Shuca Berry
Ability: Electric Surge
EVs: 104 HP / 12 Def / 176 SpA / 216 Spe
IVs: 0 Atk
- Thunderbolt
- Volt Switch
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Taunt

Tapu Lele @ Psychium Z
Ability: Psychic Surge
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Psyshock
- Moonblast
- Calm Mind
- Hidden Power [Fire]

Jirachi @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Serene Grace
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Iron Head
- Healing Wish
- U-turn
- Fire Punch

Serperior @ Leftovers
Ability: Contrary
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Leaf Storm
- Leech Seed
- Hidden Power [Ground]
- Dragon Pulse
 
Hey,

M-Charizard X is a really good mon at the moment and I believe your team has potential to be improved. Your team has most of the roles a team should have in it, although it still lacks of a few important ones for a BO like this -- you don't have dedicated defensive mons which can cover some of the recurring weaknesses in your team such as Ground-types like Zygarde, and offensive Water-types like Ash-Greninja. This means your team is super prone to getting overwhelmed by several common offensive threats in the metagame since you don't have proper ways to work around them. Another problem I noticed is the team's hazard control because even though you've got a spinner in Excadrill, it's gonna struggle a lot to keep hazards off the field against the most common stealth rock users such as Gliscor, Ferrothorn and even M-Tyranitar because it because it lacks both the bulk (especially since it's not bulky drill) and the actual power to threaten them (and spin in front of them), making it too unreliable for you to rely on as your means of hazard control (and since it's also your rocker, it's even worse). Also, your team has some unusual sets like Sash Drill, your Koko set, and your Serperior set, which do not fit well here. So, these are the issues my rate are gonna aim to cover.

Major changes

->
- It's true that Serperior does resist Ground-types and does provide a cleaner in addition, but the truth is that it really isn't a reliable way to deal with Zygarde or Landorus-T, which your team is quite weak to. They can simply attack it and wear it down (and Zygarde can Glare / Toxic), especially since it doesn't have recovery. This makes AV Tangrowth an easy replacement since it provides a much more reliable answer to both Ground- and Water-types thanks to regenerator.


->
- I already outlined the issues with having Excadrill as your means of hazard control so I won't repeat that, but I felt that because of these issues, you needed a solidder hazard remover. Tornadus-T made for a perfect replacement here since it matches up quite well with a lot of the common hazard setters, has the ability to generate momentum with U-turn and has more longevity thanks to Regenerator, and provides you with another switchin to Grass-types like Tapu Bulu and Kartana, which could be a bit of an annoyance.


->
- Koko felt really out of place here since you already have Tornadus-T for Defog and Koko without Defog isn't really something I would consider using. Garchomp made for a good replacement here because it makes up for the loss of Excadrill as your rocker and also helps vs. a lot of physical attackers such as Kartana and Tyranitar with Rocky Helmet + Rough Skin, as well Heatran.


Minor change

- On Zard-X, you really want Roost
over 1 of your moves- either Outrage or Earthquake -for more longevity. It is essential against threats like Heatran, Landorus-T and Gliscor so that it can set-up on them (prior to mega evolving). I would probably replace Outrage here so that you can still hit Heatran.

  • An alternative option is Choice Specs on Lele and a Z-Move on Tornadus-T -either Flyinium Z or Fightinium Z would work. The benefit is mainly that you can switch-in on knock off more easily with Tornadus-T, and muscle past some threats with more ease. If you opt for Fightinium Z, you can also lure Heatran, M-Tyranitar, Chansey, and M-Aggron, meaning you can go for Outrage on M-Charizard X to ease your matchup vs. Stall even more.
~~
That's it for my rate. Of course, if there's anything unclear or if you need more help, feel free to contact me. Hope this rate was useful and have an awesome day!

Importable
 

SilverNote3

formerly the chosen nerd
Hey,

M-Charizard X is a really good mon at the moment and I believe your team has potential to be improved. Your team has most of the roles a team should have in it, although it still lacks of a few important ones for a BO like this -- you don't have dedicated defensive mons which can cover some of the recurring weaknesses in your team such as Ground-types like Zygarde, and offensive Water-types like Ash-Greninja. This means your team is super prone to getting overwhelmed by several common offensive threats in the metagame since you don't have proper ways to work around them. Another problem I noticed is the team's hazard control because even though you've got a spinner in Excadrill, it's gonna struggle a lot to keep hazards off the field against the most common stealth rock users such as Gliscor, Ferrothorn and even M-Tyranitar because it because it lacks both the bulk (especially since it's not bulky drill) and the actual power to threaten them (and spin in front of them), making it too unreliable for you to rely on as your means of hazard control (and since it's also your rocker, it's even worse). Also, your team has some unusual sets like Sash Drill, your Koko set, and your Serperior set, which do not fit well here. So, these are the issues my rate are gonna aim to cover.

Major changes

->
- It's true that Serperior does resist Ground-types and does provide a cleaner in addition, but the truth is that it really isn't a reliable way to deal with Zygarde or Landorus-T, which your team is quite weak to. They can simply attack it and wear it down (and Zygarde can Glare / Toxic), especially since it doesn't have recovery. This makes AV Tangrowth an easy replacement since it provides a much more reliable answer to both Ground- and Water-types thanks to regenerator.


->
- I already outlined the issues with having Excadrill as your means of hazard control so I won't repeat that, but I felt that because of these issues, you needed a solidder hazard remover. Tornadus-T made for a perfect replacement here since it matches up quite well with a lot of the common hazard setters, has the ability to generate momentum with U-turn and has more longevity thanks to Regenerator, and provides you with another switchin to Grass-types like Tapu Bulu and Kartana, which could be a bit of an annoyance.


->
- Koko felt really out of place here since you already have Tornadus-T for Defog and Koko without Defog isn't really something I would consider using. Garchomp made for a good replacement here because it makes up for the loss of Excadrill as your rocker and also helps vs. a lot of physical attackers such as Kartana and Tyranitar with Rocky Helmet + Rough Skin, as well Heatran.


Minor change

- On Zard-X, you really want Roost
over 1 of your moves- either Outrage or Earthquake -for more longevity. It is essential against threats like Heatran, Landorus-T and Gliscor so that it can set-up on them (prior to mega evolving). I would probably replace Outrage here so that you can still hit Heatran.

  • An alternative option is Choice Specs on Lele and a Z-Move on Tornadus-T -either Flyinium Z or Fightinium Z would work. The benefit is mainly that you can switch-in on knock off more easily with Tornadus-T, and muscle past some threats with more ease. If you opt for Fightinium Z, you can also lure Heatran, M-Tyranitar, Chansey, and M-Aggron, meaning you can go for Outrage on M-Charizard X to ease your matchup vs. Stall even more.
~~
That's it for my rate. Of course, if there's anything unclear or if you need more help, feel free to contact me. Hope this rate was useful and have an awesome day!

Importable
Ok this all makes a ton of sense, which is awesome and you are great at explaining why certain things are flawed
 

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