ORAS OU Offense/Hyper Offense- coming back into competitive

[XxbraedonxX]

Hey all! I've been working on building a team to make IRL. I haven't done serious competitive play since early 5th gen, but with how easy breeding is nowadays, and how broke I am, competitive Pokemon will be my main source of entertainment for a while. I've always played offensive teams in the past, and this is no exception. I'm not sure if it's hyper offense or offense, just that it is, in fact, offensive. The only 2 Pokemon I do not wish to change on this team are Greninja and Sylveon.

TEAM AT A GLANCE:

Team Building

So I started off with my 2 favourite Pokemon of this generation, since they both turned out phenomenal on offensive teams: Greninja and Sylveon

I decided I needed to figure out my cleanup sweeper next, as this is what the teams tends to end with. I decided to use my mega for this, and chose Salamence

From here, I wanted an SR setter, a revenge killer, and a spinner/defogger. I found suicide-lead Azelf on these forums as the SR setter, as I had always liked the use of traditional leads, and Explosion is excellent on offensive teams

Having taken a break, I was used to Scizor being a top-tier monster, and opted to add it in, functioning as priority/revenge and defog user, and paired him with Azumarill as a second revenge killer, as well as a nice tank.

I don't actually remember why I made a change, just that I was having trouble against certain Pokemon. I replaced Azumarill with a scarf-Latias as a revenge killer/special tank, and switched defog over to it, Having liked the ability to use Trick

Latias was underwhelming in power, and Scizor just doesn't seem to be on par with what it used to be. I Had to make some changes- Latios is a buffed version of Latias offensively, and I wound up not missing the defensive presence. Bisharp seemed a nice addition to the team, with +2 priority (only +1 on Showdown for some reason though) Sucker Punches, and STAB Knock-off. This is where we are now.

IN DEPTH:

Azelf @ Focus Sash
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
Hasty Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Taunt
- Explosion
- Flamethrower

I found this set on this forum, I believe from a Sylveon/Metagross HO RMT. And boy, was the poster right about everyone sending in Ferrothorn against it. Flamethrower wrecks it. Azelf functions as a suicide lead, setting up rocks. After SR are up, I tend to explode on the biggest threat I can, usually OHKO-ing it after SR damage. Azelf is also my easiest way of dealing with Greninja, which my team can have trouble with sometimes, as Greninjas are often sent out first. I simply explode first turn, as sash guarantees survival, and most seem not to carry U-turn, or at least don't use it against Azelf.

Greninja @ Life Orb
Ability: Protean
EVs: 244 Atk / 12 SpA / 252 Spe
Hasty Nature
- Low Kick
- Ice Beam
- Spikes
- Gunk Shot

Greninja is an absolute monster in this meta, and a valuable tool for HO. It really doesn't have any true counters, as it is so versatile. I run the Gunk Shot version as fairies are common switch ins, and Mence has trouble setting up on them. 40 Atk EVs are used to ensure the OHKO on all variants of Azumarill, 252 Spe for speed-ties, and the rest in SpA for max damage. I don't know what else to say- Greninja is a top-tier threat, and it shows. I had a game against what seemed to be a newer player where Greninja 6-0'd him after Azelf set up rocks and hit a couple 'mons with Flamethrower. Link. I have been considering a 244 Atk/ 12 SpA spread with Low Kick instead of Hydro Pump, which I found in the Greninja thread, to help me deal with Ferrothorn better, which is a common switch-in, and often times a problem.

Changes: Completely changed to a physical- based mixed set. It allows Greninja to wreck common switch ins, since Hydro Pump and Dark pulse aren't used to often. Spikes allows me to maintain more pressure on the opponent and potentially force them to keep bad matchups in.

Sylveon @ Choice Specs
Ability: Pixilate
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpA / 4 Spe
Modest Nature
- Hyper Voice
- Psyshock
- Wish
- Baton Pass

Sylveon, being another of my favourite gen 5 'Mons, was looked at immediately, and with Pixilate/Hyper Voice, the specs set is amazing. Very few Pokemon can shrug off a Hyper Voice. Honestly, HV and Baton Pass are the only 2 moves I really click on- the other 2 are just filler. Baton Pass is used like a slow, undamaging U-turn, so I can switch to appropriate counters when Sylveon forces switches. It also does a very good job of sponging special attacks.


Changes: HP Fire -> Wish, as per suggestion. I would add Protect as well, but then I would need to drop Choice Specs. I may try it out, but we'll see for now

Bisharp @ Life Orb
Ability: Defiant
EVs: 244 HP / 252 Atk / 12 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Sucker Punch
- Swords Dance
- Knock Off
- Pursuit

Bisharp is my priority, although it can be unreliable at times. Especially since Sucker Punch is only +1 priority on Showdown for some reason. Bisharp is my go-to when I expect an Ice Beam from Greninja, as he can shrug the Ice Beam off, and KO with Sucker Punch. Sucker Punch also KOs Landorus-T most of the time. Due to Sucker Punch's unreliability, I am considering a replacement, but not quite sure what. Possibly Adaptability Crawdaunt. The big issue, though, is that I need someone who won't be using a Life Orb, as I want to use this team on Wifi, and it has the item restriction.

- Modifications: Life Orb-> BlackGlasses, Iron Head -> Swords Dance/Brick Breack. Black Glasses because on Wifi I can only have one Life Orb, and SD/BB because I found that I have never actually used it, so I want to try new options. One lets me use Bisharp as a backup cleanup sweeper, or to massively damage walls, the other because I seem to see dual screens fairly often

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

Previously Latios. Suggested on here by Albacore, He replaced Latios, who seemed lackluster. I didn't really need a defogger, so I was looking to replace him. So far, Magnezone is doing well, Helping me by trapping steels, and forcing switches via Volt Switch, which is nice with Spikes being added. As well, having a reliable Azumarill switch-in is REALLY nice

Salamence @ Salamencite
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Return
- Dragon Dance
- Substitute
- Earthquake

Originally a bulkier mono-attacker, I was having trouble with M-Metagross, and EQ came to the rescue. A more offensive stat distribution came with that as well. I decided to keep the sub, however, as it allows me to set up on Pokemon like Chansey, who seem to always spam status moves. Salamence functions excellently as a cleanup sweeper. My only problem is him being weak to SR, since I am likely getting rid of my Defogger.


The big problems this team has is dealing with Greninja, Ferrothorn, Belly-Drum Azumarill if Azelf's sash is broken, and M-Lopunny.

Previous members

Latios (M) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Draco Meteor
- Psyshock
- Defog
- Trick

I made the switch to an offensive fogger, and very much prefer it to defensive, but I realized that I don't actually ever use Defog. I'm looking into Scarf Lando-T as a replacement, as I feel it could work significantly better in this spot. As it is right now, Trick is great, Draco Meteor is good, and Psyshock is almost never used. I could try a Scarf Latios with different moves as well, and would like suggestions as to what to do here.

 

[Albacore]

Hey there! This team certainly looks very offensive, and it actually looks really solid, but I have a couple of this to say :

- I recommend trying out Spikes on Greninja. This enables you to put even more pressure on opposing defensive teams and fits is very well with the very offensive nature of your team, and has good synergy with Bisharp, absorbing Defogs. Unfortunately, I don't think you can really fit it, If I would run it over anything it would be Dark Pulse. Gunk Shot is obviously needed to not lose to Azumarill and Clefable. Hydro Pump lets it beat Heatran and TTar which not much else on your team really switches into, Ice Beam is basically mandatory. Dark Pulse mainly hits Mew, Jirachi, but Mew is literally just setup fodder for Mence and Trick fodder for Latios, and while Jirachi is more of a problem, you always have Bisharp to trap it. It seems the less useful of the 3 overall, though being able to beat CM Slowbro is definitely nice. This is really up to you, if you don't like Spikes then feel free to not run them at all, but I would at least try them out. You'll probably need to move stuff round in your team to make space for them, and they're kinda tricky to use but they can be really effective if you master them.

- I would be tempted to run Low Kick over Hydro Pump on Greninja as you just said, it hits pretty much all of Hydro Pump's targets and Ferrothron looks like massive pain for your team. However, keep in mind that this means you get walled by Mega-Scizor, who is also a big problem for your team. Replacing Dark Pulse for Hidden Power Fire on Greninja could also work. Obviously, you can't fit in Spikes but it may well be worth it because, although Mega-Scizor is uncommon in ORAS right now, it's still a pretty huge threat. I guess you could also run HP Fire over Defog on Latios but given that you have a Salamence and that it's not running Roost you may well need that emergency Defog in case things go badly.

- As for your weaknesses : You're basically just weak to stuff HO is typically weak to. Not too much you can do about that, so I wouldn't lose sleep over it. Scarf Latios kinda helps you lure/check the faster stuff that threatens you, and if you setup with MMence before these faster threats come into play you no longer have to worry about them (Mmence even sets up on non-Ice Punch MLopunny). Azumarill is a bigger problem since absolutely nothing on your team enjoys taking a Play Rough. One option would be to run Magnezone, preferably a Choice Scarf variant, though you can always run Specs to beat MSlowbro. It is one of the best checks to Azumarill on offense. It also traps the aforementioned Ferrothorn and Scizor, huge threats for your team, and patches up your weakness to defensive Steel types in general. You can even run Scarf Magneton if Greninja becomes a big problem, but I wouldn't recommend it since the ability to actually switch into Azumarill would be the main reason to run it. I'm not sure what to replace for Magnezone though. The obvious answer would be Bisharp, since it covers more-or-less the same threats and shares a Steel-typing. However, if you do run Magnezone over Bisharp, you may want to keep Dark Pulse on Greninja, simply because you end up with a Jirachi weakness (You may think Magnezone can beat Jirachi but it can't : Rachi just PP stalls it with Wish+Protect). Fortunately, you don't need HP Fire or Low Kick on it anymore, so you at least can afford to run it over other options. You also kinda lose the BP Sylveon+Pursuit Bisharp synergy thing, but I think it's worth it just because the support Magnezone could provide to your team is pretty valuable.

Good luck!

 

[MANNAT]

Overall this is an excellent team, but there are just a few things that I would like to say.

Azelf: Good

Greninja: Good

Sylveon: instead of running HP fire and psyshock, you can run wish and protect to gain reliable recovery and the ability to heal your team mates. If you are willing to, I recommend replacing sylveon altogether with a more physically defensive fairy such as Clefable or Diancie, but with my edits, I think your current set will work out well enough.

Bisharp: Only nitpick I have with this set is that you should change the item to black glasses since 75% of the set consists of dark type moves and you are basically getting the same stat boost.

Latios: Good

Salemence: Run dragon claw over return if you are running EQ because it provides better neutral coverage.

 

[Albacore]

Forgot to mention this but you're very weak to Sand Rush Excadrill. Once again, this is a problem with most HO teams. That being said, Bisharp can revenge kill it, and MMence can actually take a Rock Slide, Dragon Dance, outspeed Excadrill (unless it's Jolly which it rarely is), and EQ it unless it's running an Air Baloon. With a slightly bulkier spread and Roost on MMence lets you actually set up on Excadrill so that's an option, otherwise you may want to try Air Balloon Magnet Rise Excadrill. A bit gimmicky, and losing either Scarf or Specs is unfortunate against most matchups and means you lose momentum, but at least you can trap Excadrill unless Iron Head flinches you.

Actually, and this just occured to me, running Fire Blast>Earthquake on MMence actually solves most of your problems concerning Ferrothorn, Scizor and Balloon Excadrill, and you still hit MMetagross hard, AND you free up a moveslot on Greninja more easily so that you can run Spikes, so definitely try that out (of course, you don't need this if you run Magnezone)

also lol please don't run DClaw over Return on MMence, hitting Rotom-W and Zapdos 21% harder is not worth hitting literally everything else 60% weaker (I'm not even kidding either, run the calcs). Aerialate Return is the main reason to use MMence, why the hell would you drop that?

You certainly have a few options to improve your team, between running Magnezone, Spikes, Low Kick or HP Fire on Greninja, or Fire Blast on MMence, so I'd try most of these out and see which one you prefer (remember, if you run Magnezone, you should probably lay off on the Fire coverage on everything else. Always make the appropriate changes to your team to compensate for other changes you've made)

 

[XxbraedonxX]

Thanks guys!

There is no way I am dropping Return from Mence, as Albacore said, it's a main reason for using him in the first place. I will run Fire Blast over EQ though, and replace Scarf Latios with Scarf Magnezone.

As for Greninja, you mentioned adding Spikes and Low kick, then mentioned not having to replace a move on him. I was thinking Ice Beam/Low Kick/Spikes/Gunk Shot with a 244 Atk/12 SpA/ 252 Spe spread. Opinion on that?

 

[L5 Milkman]

I have no Idea how to fix it, but you have no switch-in into Mega lopunny with a fakout. evrything of you gets outspeedet + 2ohko (firsthit means fakeout) after you have no intimidate on your salamnce or its weakend