Resource ORAS Good Cores (Check Post #714)

[Tentacruel<3]

Offensive core: Azumarill + Serperior

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Serperior set

Serperior @ Life Orb
Ability: Contrary
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 30 SpA / 30 Spe
- Leaf Storm
- Dragon Pulse
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Glare / Taunt / Giga drain / Synthetis

Azumarill set

Azumarill @ Choice Band
Ability: Huge Power
EVs: 84 HP / 252 Atk / 172 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Play Rough
- Waterfall
- Aqua Jet
- Knock Off / Superpower

Or

Azumarill @ Assault Vest
Ability: Huge Power
EVs: 240 HP / 252 Atk / 16 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Play Rough
- Waterfall
- Aqua Jet
- Knock Off

This is a cool core that I came up with while teambuilding.
These two Pokemon are great wallbreakers (Serp can wallbreak once it gets to +2) that remove each other's counters.
Serperior beats things such as Slowbro, Rotom-W and Ferrothorn, which Azumarill appreciates. Azumarill beats Pokemon that Serperior dislikes
such as Heatran and Altaria-Mega, as well as dealing heavy damage to Tornadus-T. These two Pokemon get walled by Venusaur-Mega and Will-o-Wisp Bulk-Up Talonflame, so partners such as Hidden Power [Flying] Thundurus, Swords Dance Talonflame, Tail Glow + Psychic Manaphy or Rock Rock Slide + Psychic Landorus-I are recommended.
Several moves can be run in the 4th moveslot on Serperior such as Giga Drain, Glare, Synthesis or Taunt. Giga Drain does pitiful damage at +0, but at +2 it can be used as semi-reliable recovery. Glare can be run to cripple fast offensive Pokemon such as Lati@s, Talonflame and Tornadus-T Synthesis provides reliable recovery, but gives checks free switch-ins. Taunt allows Serperior to act as a stallbreaker, locking opposing Pokemon out of recovery and status moves.

 

[firehusky]

After daft made his swellow nomination, I wanted to see if swellow was as good as it sounded. I decided to test it out on one of my teams, and here is one of the cores I've been playing around with.

Offensive Core: Swellow + Manaphy

So as I said earlier, this is a pretty cool core I've been using. Guts Swellow is a really powerful mon, capable of 2HKOing even the sturdiest of physical walls, such as Slowbro. However, there are still quite a few mons that can take hits from it, including: Rhyperior, Doublade, Tank Chomp which is 2HKOed but makes Swellow take a shit ton of residual damage, Physically Defensive Hippowdon, Skarmory, and Ferrothorn which similar to Tank Chomp makes Swellow basically kill itself.

Anyways, I decided to pair up Swellow with a very creative set, HP Fire Manaphy! TG Manaphy with Scald, Ice Beam, and HP Fire destroys all of Swellow's counters. Rhyperior is OKHOed by Scald, Doublade cannot do too much back to Manaphy and is OHKOed by +6 Scald, Tank Chomp is destroyed by Ice Beam, Hippowdon is OHKOed by +3 Scald, while Skarmory can't do anything back and Ferrothorn is lured in and bopped by HP Fire. Scald Manaphy is also pretty nice as early on in the game it can just run around spamming scald to wear stuff down with burns so that Swellow has an easier time breaking through stuff.

Swellow and Manaphy also have a great matchup against all types of playstyles. Thanks to Swellow's powerful attacks and excellent base 125 speed, it has a great time against offensive teams as not much can outspeed it and take hits from it. Against bulkier and more defensive teams, Swellow does not shine as much but can still function as a lategame cleaner after stuff has been weakened. This is where having Manaphy really helps. Manaphy basically has a field day against stall, it can set up to +6 without too much of a problem and just proceed to wreck everything. Checks to Manaphy such as Chansey and Unaware Clefable are also 2HKOed by Swellow.

Mega Manectric is a really big problem for this core. Intimidate weakens Swellow's attacks and it also outspeeds it and can OHKO it with Volt Switch or Thunderbolt. Manaphy needs to setup to be able to KO Mega Manectric while it is KOed by Thunderbolt after some prior damage. You're always welcome to run Wacan berry on Manaphy though. Hazards are really nice to pair up along with this core as they can help Swellow achieve some crucial 2HKOs and OHKOs, such as the 2HKO on Hippowdon with SR and 1 layer of Spikes up, or a 2HKO on Ferro with 2 layers of Spikes up. Hazard removal is also appreciated as Swellow gets worn down pretty fast by Stealth Rock.

Sets

Swellow @ Toxic Orb
Ability: Guts
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Facade
- Brave Bird
- U-turn
- Pursuit / Protect

Manaphy @ Leftovers / Wacan Berry / Lum Berry
Ability: Hydration
EVs: 96 HP / 252 SpA / 160 Spe
Timid Nature
- Tail Glow
- Scald
- Ice Beam
- Hidden Power Fire

 

[HUARGH]

Defensive Core

Sets

Slowking @ Assault Vest
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 248 HP / 164 SpA / 96 SpD
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Scald
- Psychic
- Fire Blast
- Power Gem

Talonflame @ Leftovers
Ability: Gale Wings
EVs: 248 HP / 208 Def / 52 Spe
Impish Nature
- Roost
- Will-O-Wisp
- Brave Bird
- Taunt

I know, Slowking and physically defensive Talonflame is a little bit out there and you may ask yourself: why not just specially defensive Talonflame and Slowbro? The reason for this is that Slowking's STABs pack a lot more punch than Slowbro's and due to that Slowbro can forego ice beam for power gem (as slowking OHKOs Landorus after stealth rocks with scald and has >50% chance to OHKO Landorus at full health), which can nail certain pokemon (charizard-y, talonflame). Defensive Talonflame may seem a bit awkward at first, but given that you have such a fast WoW you can actually WoW most physical attackers and they won't be much of a threat to you. Faster ones can be WoW'd on the swap. Slowking can also inflict burns through scald.

0 Atk burned Hippowdon Stone Edge vs. 248 HP / 208+ Def Talonflame: 148-176 (41.2 - 49%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after sandstorm damage and Leftovers recovery
252 Atk burned Garchomp Stone Edge vs. 248 HP / 208+ Def Talonflame: 204-242 (56.8 - 67.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
0 Atk burned Tyranitar Stone Edge vs. 248 HP / 208+ Def Talonflame: 258-306 (71.8 - 85.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after sandstorm damage and Leftovers recovery

Lots of people pack a bulky physical threat to deal with Talonflame - such as Hippowdon - and this fucks them over. It should be noted that Taunt can be swapped out for something else; Flare Blitz is pretty good if you need more coverage against steel. You could even go for Flame Body, this allows you to swap into certain contact moves all day long (hi bullet punch) with a nice chance of burning the opposition. It comes at the cost of losing priority brave bird and roost though.

This core is best ran with defog/spin support. I have not added a 3rd pokemon to the core because many things can fulfill this role, but Latios is a prime candidate.

EVs give Talonflame 301 speed. Talonflame can also be 300 speed (if you're not a fan of speed creep) or 290 speed, giving it a bit more bulk.

 

[firehusky]

Hmm could you please explain the core more? I really do not see the synergy with those two. They stack electric-type weaknesses and I think maybe you could elaborate a bit more on why you're using Slowking over another bulky water such as Rotom-W. Besides, they actually check some pretty redundant stuff such as Landorus-I and Mega Metagross. Also why are you running physically defensive Talonflame when you have w-o-w? Wouldn't specially defensive make more sense to handle stuff like Landorus-I better?

Sorry if I sounded kinda rude I am just confused here.

 

[HUARGH]

Hmm could you please explain the core more? I really do not see the synergy with those two. They stack electric-type weaknesses and I think maybe you could elaborate a bit more on why you're using Slowking over another bulky water such as Rotom-W. Besides, they actually check some pretty redundant stuff such as Landorus-I and Mega Metagross. Also why are you running physically defensive Talonflame when you have w-o-w? Wouldn't specially defensive make more sense to handle stuff like Landorus-I better?

Sorry if I sounded kinda rude I am just confused here.

It's ok, I know it is not a 'book' core or spreads.

Physically defensive Talonflame allows Talonflame to stay in against rock moves. I adopted the WoW + phys def stacking somewhere in gen 5 or 6 with Sableye when he was still UU: people would run specially defensive Sableye and rely on the priority WoW to deal with offensive threats, making it a potent mixed wall provided you can get WoW off. I have found that min-maxing can sometimes yield better results than going for a more balanced approach, because phys def + WoW provides a very large amount of physical bulk. Despite WoW usually being sufficient to deal with physical threats, you will still fall short on edge cases (in this case rock attacks as Talonflame has a x4). The calcs I provided show that Talonflame can get a WoW off and survive potentially crippling key pokemon, although you'll obviously have to evaluate every situation as WoW doesn't have 100% accuracy and you may not always be able to get a roost off later (stealth rocks may also be up and hard to get rid off).

The reason why we're specifically not using Rotom-W here is because of the lack of scald and the lack of overall bulk. It is without a doubt that Slowking is far bulkier due to regenerator and its HP stat and scald allows it to comfortably run assault vest, as scald is pretty much always threatening. Yeah, Rotom-W has WoW, but Rotom-W doesn't have regenerator and can't use assault vest as effectively. Because of that Slowking is also going to hurt more: my spread gives him 304 sp.attk, which is quite substantial. This is also (partly) why Slowking is chosen over Slowbro: aside from Slowbro being more physically defensive (Slowking is specially defensive), Slowking also just hurts a fuckton more.

It is true that you stack electric weaknesses, which is a weakness of the core. Keep in mind these are only 2 pokemon, there'll obviously be 4 more to compliment them.

 

[BlazeLatias]

Alright considering i got free time thanks to using a school ip, ill just post this core. Sorry if it bugs you.

DUAL BUG OFFENSIVE CORE

Yup thats Right a dual bug core. Suprisingly Enough this core is pretty fantastic aside from getting destroyed by talonflame. Sd+ 3 attacks mega scizor is a huge threat to any team due to how easy it sets up Despite this is struggles breaking past a few mons. Namely heatran well look no further as volcarona is here to save the day! 3 attacks volc beats heatran while being able to break stuff scizor has trouble breaking past while volc love how scizor can remove stuff like chansey who walls it to hell and back. Skarmory in scizors way? Volc Takes care of that. What makes this core so good is how they help each other remove threats that the other one struggles against and despite both being a bug type the secondairy typing they have makes them completely different. As mentioned Talonflame Is a huge threat to this team. This means rotom-w, thunderous and raikou are great partners. On top of this hazard removal is a must have so starmie and the latis work nice with the core. Keldeo can give you some trouble as even with a passho berry volc is not a switch in. This agains gives you another reason for starmie and the latis but also Slowbro if you prefer a more balenced team. Both of these mons give teams a ton of trouble as they are really hard to remove as they set up. Despite this wallbreakers can make a big difference so sweeps can be pulled off better. This makes Kyurem-Black and Landorus-i a great partner thanks to there fantastic Breaking abilities. Also cb Scizor can be used over mega scizor if you wanna use another mega and in that case mega gyarados works well if you choose to go that way. Enjoy!

Sets

Mothra (Volcarona) @ Passho Berry
Ability: Flame Body
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 72 HP / 252 SpA / 184 Spe
Timid Nature
- Fire Blast
- Quiver Dance
- Hidden Power Ground
- Giga Drain

Muh Priority (Scizor) @ Scizorite
Ability: Technician
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Bullet Punch
- Knock Off
- Superpower

Got some more time on my hands so heres another core.

Lure Trapper Heatran + 4 attacks Mega Aerodactyl Offensive core

pretty sweet core right here that i built a team around with jpw234 a few days ago. This pretty much takes my own creation of trapper heatran with solar beam which basically allows heatran to remove stuff such as rotom-w, slowbro, Keldeo and overall water types as a whole that this core struggles with to allow m aero to clean better. Next we have 4 attacks mega aero who loves the removal of bulky waters and electric types which thanks to earth power+ solar beam heatran can remove them. In return aero revenges stuff such as lop which troubles tran while also removing talonflame. Gl trying to break this core talonflame as you get hard walled! This team fits great on both balence and offensive teams that really like the removal of rotom-w without really needed somthing just to remove it. This team really hates water types despite the fact tran removes them. This makes Amoongus and serperior great teammates. Pokemon that love the removal of talonflame aka fighting types love to work with these two so keldeo can make for a solid partner. Both heatran and mega aero love hazard stacking so skarmory and garchomp work nice to fill this role while pokemon such as the latis and starmie can remove hazards. Make sure you pack a wallbreaker or a set up sweeper with these two so you can clean better. Slowking works well with these two as it can remove keldeo as well as mega metagross who troubles this core.

Sets

Heatran @ Power Herb
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- SolarBeam
- Magma Storm
- Earth Power
- Taunt

Aerodactyl-Mega @ Aerodactylite
Ability: Tough Claws
EVs: 248 Atk / 36 Def / 224 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Stone Edge
- Aerial Ace
- Aqua Tail
- Fire Fang

Also Lol at how solar beam heatran pretty much always works. Nobody sees it coming.

 

[astroboy]

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So here's an offensive core that I made when teambuilding that's made to support Tyrantrum. Scarf Tyrantrum is something that I've always found cool for its ability to trash offensive teams with Head Smash, but it needs support to get past common threats in this metagame, such as Fairies or bulky Waters. This is where Mega-Scizor and Manaphy come into play. I'm using a variation of Dr Ciel 's Roost+Three attacks Scizor, which makes for a reliable Fairy-Type, Landorus-Therian, Lati@s, and opposing Scizor Switch-in. In return, Tyrantrum checks Fire Types, such as Talonflame, and can threaten them out with Head Smash. Manaphy is used to set up on the bulky Waters, such as Slowbro or Gastrodon, and appreciates Tyrantrum and Scizor's ability to threaten more offensive teams. The item on Manaphy is really up to you, but i just prefer sitrus berry to screw over things like Mega Lopunny, but Wacan Berry is a really solid option in order to help with this cores weakness to Thundurus-I. Good partners include checks to opposing Scizor, such as fast Heatran, who can also set up rocks to help get residual damage on the opponents side and weaken things with Lava Plume.

sets

Manaphy @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Hydration
EVs: 96 HP / 252 SpA / 160 Spe
Timid Nature
- Ice Beam
- Energy Ball
- Scald
- Tail Glow

Tyrantrum @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Rock Head
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Head Smash
- Outrage
- Fire Fang
- Earthquake

Scizor @ Scizorite
Ability: Light Metal
EVs: 248 HP / 96 Atk / 164 SpD
Impish Nature
- Bullet Punch
- Roost
- U-turn
- Pursuit

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Here's a balance core. So I've been meaning to use Togekiss cause it's had a lot of buzz around it, and I came up with this. Seismitoad's an old favorite of mine for its ability to check rain teams, (most) Steel- Electric-, Water-, and Fire- types, while also spreading status and Stealth Rock. However, it's held back by its x4 weakness to Grass, leaving it vulnerable to common Pokemon, such as Serperior, and vulnerability to status, which is alleviated immensely by Stallbreaker Togekiss. It's pretty simple: Togekiss hates Steel- and Electric-Types while Seismitoad walls them, and Seismitoad hates Grass Types whereas Togekiss sets up on them. Seismitoad also appreciates Togekiss' ability to heal status in the form of Heal Bell, as it'll most likely be switching into things like Rotom-Wash's Will-O-Wisps a lot. Togekiss also appreciates Seismitoad spreading Toxics, which when used in tandem with Air Slash can wear down the opponents quite quickly. This core appreciates hazard control from the likes of something like a Latias, which can check more uncommon threats to this core, such as Grass Knot Thundurus. Also, this core loses to Grass Knot Mega-Metagross, so you should definitely pack a check to it with like, a Mega-Houndoom or something of the sort.

sets

Seismitoad @ Leftovers
Ability: Water Absorb
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Def
Relaxed Nature
- Scald
- Earthquake
- Toxic
- Stealth Rock

Togekiss @ Leftovers
Ability: Serene Grace
EVs: 248 HP / 76 Def / 8 SpD / 176 Spe
Timid Nature
- Air Slash
- Nasty Plot
- Heal Bell
- Roost

feel free to comment on any changes you think would be cool or whatever

 

[Celticpride]

Alright considering i got free time thanks to using a school ip, ill just post this core. Sorry if it bugs you.

DUAL BUG OFFENSIVE CORE

Yup thats Right a dual bug core. Suprisingly Enough this core is pretty fantastic aside from getting destroyed by talonflame. Sd+ 3 attacks mega scizor is a huge threat to any team due to how easy it sets up Despite this is struggles breaking past a few mons. Namely heatran well look no further as volcarona is here to save the day! 3 attacks volc beats heatran while being able to break stuff scizor has trouble breaking past while volc love how scizor can remove stuff like chansey who walls it to hell and back. Skarmory in scizors way? Volc Takes care of that. What makes this core so good is how they help each other remove threats that the other one struggles against and despite both being a bug type the secondairy typing they have makes them completely different. As mentioned Talonflame Is a huge threat to this team. This means rotom-w, thunderous and raikou are great partners. On top of this hazard removal is a must have so starmie and the latis work nice with the core. Keldeo can give you some trouble as even with a passho berry volc is not a switch in. This agains gives you another reason for starmie and the latis but also Slowbro if you prefer a more balenced team. Both of these mons give teams a ton of trouble as they are really hard to remove as they set up. Despite this wallbreakers can make a big difference so sweeps can be pulled off better. This makes Kyurem-Black and Landorus-i a great partner thanks to there fantastic Breaking abilities. Also cb Scizor can be used over mega scizor if you wanna use another mega and in that case mega gyarados works well if you choose to go that way. Enjoy!

Sets

Mothra (Volcarona) @ Passho Berry
Ability: Flame Body
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 96 HP / 252 SpA / 160 Spe
Modest Nature
- Fire Blast
- Quiver Dance
- Hidden Power Ground
- Giga Drain

Muh Priority (Scizor) @ Scizorite
Ability: Technician
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Bullet Punch
- Knock Off
- Superpower

Got some more time on my hands so heres another core.

Lure Trapper Heatran + 4 attacks Mega Aerodactyl Offensive core

pretty sweet core right here that i built a team around with jpw234 a few days ago. This pretty much takes my own creation of trapper heatran with solar beam which basically allows heatran to remove stuff such as rotom-w, slowbro, Keldeo and overall water types as a whole that this core struggles with to allow m aero to clean better. Next we have 4 attacks mega aero who loves the removal of bulky waters and electric types which thanks to earth power+ solar beam heatran can remove them. In return aero revenges stuff such as lop which troubles tran while also removing talonflame. Gl trying to break this core talonflame as you get hard walled! This team fits great on both balence and offensive teams that really like the removal of rotom-w without really needed somthing just to remove it. This team really hates water types despite the fact tran removes them. This makes Amoongus and serperior great teammates. Pokemon that love the removal of talonflame aka fighting types love to work with these two so keldeo can make for a solid partner. Both heatran and mega aero love hazard stacking so skarmory and garchomp work nice to fill this role while pokemon such as the latis and starmie can remove hazards. Make sure you pack a wallbreaker or a set up sweeper with these two so you can clean better. Slowking works well with these two as it can remove keldeo as well as mega metagross who troubles this core.

Sets

Heatran @ Power Herb
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- SolarBeam
- Magma Storm
- Earth Power
- Taunt

Aerodactyl-Mega @ Aerodactylite
Ability: Tough Claws
EVs: 248 Atk / 36 Def / 224 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Stone Edge
- Aerial Ace
- Aqua Tail
- Fire Fang

Also Lol at how solar beam heatran pretty much always works. Nobody sees it coming.

Small tweak, you want to run enough speed on Volc to beat Scarf Lando-T at +1. 184 Speed and a Timid nature gets you to that point (310 Speed).

 

[yuruuu]

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

Latios (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Hasty Nature
IVs: 29 HP / 30 Atk / 30 SpA / 30 Spe
- Draco Meteor
- Earthquake
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Psyshock / Psychic

Mega Altaria is really difficult to wall unless you know its set, as EQ / Fire Blast Altaria beat Heatran+Tentacruel+... / Ferrothorn+Scizor respectively.

In comes lure Latios. Earthquake + HP Fire Latios is not a bad set at all, with very few people expecting Latios to carry both of these moves. You do lose out on base 110 speed tier with Latios, but that's a small price to pay to lure in all of Mega Altaria's checks in Heatran/Ferrothorn/Scizor and bop them with the appropriate coverage move (and quite often you bop both of them).

Updated with brokenwing's set- I actually had Psyshock earlier, but I changed it on my team and forgot to change it back. Latios doesn't lure in Mega Venusaur anyway, so you'd need a check for it when using Mega Altaria regardless...Also Psychic is needed to secure the OHKO on Offensive Mega Venusaur after SR (and Psyshock never does regardless of set), so use it as you see fit.

 

[Beastly Grant]

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

Latios (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Hasty Nature
IVs: 29 HP / 30 Atk / 30 SpA / 30 Spe
- Draco Meteor
- Earthquake
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Defog

Mega Altaria is really difficult to wall unless you know its set, as EQ / Fire Blast Altaria beat Heatran+Tentacruel+... / Ferrothorn+Scizor respectively.

In comes lure Latios. Earthquake + HP Fire Latios is not a bad set at all, with very few people expecting Latios to carry both of these moves. You do lose out on base 110 speed tier with Latios, but that's a small price to pay to lure in all of Mega Altaria's checks in Heatran/Ferrothorn/Scizor and bop them with the appropriate coverage move (and quite often you bop both of them).

I don't agree they are an effective core. To begin with, they share similar weaknesses and do not form a really solid synergy (Common threat such as opp's Mega Altaria, Mega Metagross, and sometimes Scizor and Bisharp and so on). Offensively, it's more like "Mega Altaria + something that hurts Steel like Scizor and Ferrothorn" that can be fitted with better mon such as Heatran or whatsoever.

 

[Hellochi]

I don't agree they are an effective core. To begin with, they share similar weaknesses and do not form a really solid synergy (Common threat such as opp's Mega Altaria, Mega Metagross, and sometimes Scizor and Bisharp and so on). Offensively, it's more like "Mega Altaria + something that hurts Steel like Scizor and Ferrothorn" that can be fitted with better mon such as Heatran or whatsoever.

Yea I got to agree with Beastly Grant here, Latios is an effective lure but there is so much better pokemon to do this for Altaria without sacrificing synergy.

 

[Agent Gibbs]

The problem with using Heatran over Latios is that no one is going to leave a Scizor or a Ferrothorn in on Heatran, so you don't actually remove them from the game. They can just waltz right back in the next time you try to set up Mega Altaria and give you just as much trouble as they did the first time. Latios, on the other hand, can lure these two in and KO or at least heavily cripple them with HP Fire (while also luring in and KOing/crippling Heatran), which makes Mega Altaria's job a lot easier. Even if the defensive synergy is questionable, the offensive synergy is definitely there. Even then, the defensive synergy isn't that bad since they only share two weaknesses (Fairy and Ice, which can be covered by half the Steels in the game and a handful of other things), but I digress. You could try replacing Latios with a similar lure that synergizes well with Mega Altaria defensively, but that's actually pretty tricky since some of the best Ferrothorn/Scizor/Heatran/etc. lures in the game are Dragons and Fairies, both of which will clash somewhat with Mega Altaria defensively by default. Maybe Fire Punch + HP Ground Expert Belt Jirachi or something?

Or you could just be boring and run Magnezone. Whatever.

EDIT @ Below: Celebi kinda works, but the defensive synergy is still questionable. Celebi only adds 2 resistances that Mega Altaria doesn't have (Ground and Psychic), they still share two weaknesses(Ice and Poison), and Celebi doesn't cover any of Mega Altaria's weaknesses while Mega Altaria only covers 3 of Celebi's. Not much different from the Latios situation. Manaphy works better for defensive synergy, it just doesn't lure in Heatran at all (and Scizor's not exactly eager to switch-in either), so you'll need some way to remove it.

 

[BlazeLatias]

Small tweak, you want to run enough speed on Volc to beat Scarf Lando-T at +1. 184 Speed and a Timid nature gets you to that point (310 Speed).

Thanks forgot about that. made the changes to volc

 

[AM]

yuruuu the core you put I wouldnt worry too much about the defensive synergy granted it does look weird without showing a third partner. Like mentioned above it works but I dont like double lur latios with malt when something with psyshock to handle malts biigest check in mvenu is much better or even calm mind latios. Just a thought.

 

[brokenwings]

Just wanted to point out that 4 attacks Latios is probably a better option on the offensive core posted above, just relegate hazard removal to one of your other teammates if you need it. Like AM said, Mega Venu is still annoying for that core, and 4 attacks Latios is somewhat uncommon enough to catch some of Mega Altaria's counters off guard while still checking everything Latios normally checks. I've built around similar cores myself and it can definitely be effective at what it does, I would probably run a more offensive Altaria spread here though.. I don't think lack of defensive synergy is really an issue, there are plenty of double dragon offensive cores listed already and there is a clear purpose here, but I'd mention stuff that can check fairies and actually switch into/check steels as good partners, since there's no guarantee your lure will be successful in every game. (Heatran specifically does a very good job of this, just try to account for the offensive steels that typically carry coverage to nail it like scizor and meta)

The premise of the core itself is solid but there's room for variation, as others have said Rachi, Celebi, Magnezone, Starmie, Manaphy, etc could all be used over Latios to lure or get rid of the things that are usually stopping DD Altaria from sweeping

set

Latios (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Hasty Nature
IVs: 29 HP / 30 Atk / 30 SpA / 30 Spe
- Draco Meteor
- Earthquake
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Psyshock

 

[teamsnickers]

just a idea maybe u can add to your opening post and like u have for offensive balance defensive etc do that with all the megas idk just a idea

 

[Tele]

This is an offensive core i came up recently with Omegasization, and theres really not much to say about it: Serperior takes on the most common DD Gyarados switch-ins, aka Rotom-W and Slowbro (be careful with Twave Slowbro though), while Gyarados is a very good switch to birds like Talonflame (not the WoW talon though) or Staraptor thanks to Intimidate and to his natual bulk as well. Gyarados can also switch on fire types like Infernape or Heatran, a common Serperior switch-in. Sets can vary a lot, for example you can use leftovers or Lum Gyara, Sub or Toxic Gyara, Glare or Taunt Serp and so on. Here's Omegasization's sets and spreads.

Gyarados @ Leftovers
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 60 HP / 252 Atk / 196 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Waterfall
- Bounce
- Dragon Dance
- Substitute

Serperior @ Life Orb
Ability: Contrary
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Leaf Storm
- Dragon Pulse
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Glare

 

[MANNAT]

This is an offensive core i came up recently with Omegasization, and theres really not much to say about it: Serperior takes on the most common DD Gyarados switch-ins, aka Rotom-W and Slowbro (be careful with Twave Slowbro though), while Gyarados is a very good switch to birds like Talonflame (not the WoW talon though) or Staraptor thanks to Intimidate and to his natual bulk as well. Gyarados can also switch on fire types like Infernape or Heatran, a common Serperior switch-in. Sets can vary a lot, for example you can use leftovers or Lum Gyara, Sub or Toxic Gyara, Glare or Taunt Serp and so on. Here's Omegasization's sets and spreads.

Gyarados @ Leftovers
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 60 HP / 252 Atk / 196 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Waterfall
- Bounce
- Dragon Dance
- Substitute

Serperior @ Life Orb
Ability: Contrary
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Leaf Storm
- Dragon Pulse
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Glare

Just a nitpick, but wouldn't Miracle Seed be better there because it OHKOs both Slowbro and Rotom-W at +0 and it allows Serp to stay alive longer so that it can kill the mons that threaten Gyarados and Sweep easier after its counters are eliminated?

 

[Starmei]

Just a nitpick, but wouldn't Miracle Seed be better there because it OHKOs both Slowbro and Rotom-W at +0 and it allows Serp to stay alive longer so that it can kill the mons that threaten Gyarados and Sweep easier after its counters are eliminated?

Items on serp (Life Orb, Miracle Seed, etc?) are personal preference. Life Orb offers more power on all moves not just grass (and 1.3x > 1.2x) but also whittles your own HP. Miracle seed gives less power but has no drawback. As for the ohko on rotom and slowbro, hardly significant imo. Neither of them are staying in except in very rare circumstances and chances are if it's that late in the game they'll be whittled anyway. So both Miracle Seed and life orb would be good items on that set really

Edit: tele also says 'sets may vary a lot'

 

[MANNAT]

Items on serp (Life Orb, Miracle Seed, etc?) are personal preference. Life Orb offers more power on all moves not just grass (and 1.3x > 1.2x) but also whittles your own HP. Miracle seed gives less power but has no drawback. As for the ohko on rotom and slowbro, hardly significant imo. Neither of them are staying in except in very rare circumstances and chances are if it's that late in the game they'll be whittled anyway. So both Miracle Seed and life orb would be good items on that set really

Edit: tele also says 'sets may vary a lot'

Ok, thanks for the clarification

 

[Soulz]

This is an offensive core i came up recently with Omegasization, and theres really not much to say about it: Serperior takes on the most common DD Gyarados switch-ins, aka Rotom-W and Slowbro (be careful with Twave Slowbro though), while Gyarados is a very good switch to birds like Talonflame (not the WoW talon though) or Staraptor thanks to Intimidate and to his natual bulk as well. Gyarados can also switch on fire types like Infernape or Heatran, a common Serperior switch-in. Sets can vary a lot, for example you can use leftovers or Lum Gyara, Sub or Toxic Gyara, Glare or Taunt Serp and so on. Here's Omegasization's sets and spreads.

Gyarados @ Leftovers
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 60 HP / 252 Atk / 196 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Waterfall
- Bounce
- Dragon Dance
- Substitute

Serperior @ Life Orb
Ability: Contrary
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Leaf Storm
- Dragon Pulse
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Glare

Nice core tele, but can someone explain the ev spread for gyarados?

 

[Dilwar]

Nice core tele, but can someone explain the ev spread for gyarados?

Max attack, enough speed to outspeed Lopunny and Manectric at +1, rest in HP

 

[Tele]

Max attack, enough speed to outspeed Lopunny and Manectric at +1, rest in HP

Exactly. And Jolly is necessary becos Adamant cant outspeed Lop and Manec even at +1.

 

[bludz]

So just as a disclaimer I don’t claim to have invented this core. I was reading the Tornadus-T analysis during QC or GP and I saw I believe Steve Angello (anyone may correct me if I'm wrong) mention this core in the responses to firehusky's write-up. So I ended up asking AM about it and he described the basic premise to me. I recently built a team around it and it’s really fun. Anyway without further ado here it is.

Balance Core:

Clefable + Charizard X + Tornadus-T

This is a really cool balanced core which checks a lot of the metagame and also provides some nice win conditions.

Clefable is the first win condition with a Calm Mind set utilizing Magic Guard because the rest of the core doesn’t really like status or hazards. For the last move you can really run whatever fits your team best but I have Encore since it screws over shit like Manaphy when it goes for a Tail Glow, and also lets you set up on other walls more easily. Knock Off is a nice option for neutering switch-ins and the obvious moves like Thunder Wave, Flamethrower and Ice Beam are all options too. Anyway Clefable checks many things such as Garchomp, Latis, Weavile, Rotom-Wash, Mega Diancie, Tyranitar and many other pokemon that are unfriendly to Charizard or Tornadus-T. Another option you can go for is an Unaware Clefable with Heal Bell for team support and can still potentially run a CM set or just a standard cleric set.

Charizard is your standard Dragon Dance set although I’m speed creeping other Zards and Volcarona because I’m a hipster I guess. Zard is the primary offense of the core which both checks and sets up on steel types that threaten Clefable like Mega Scizor, Skarmory, Ferrothorn etc. I have Earthquake as the main slash just to handle Heatrans, but Dragon Claw is absolutely an option as well so that you aren’t as troubled by Garchomp + Skarmory cores (Flamethrower on Clefable is also good for alleviating this problem). Charizard also provides another check to electric types for Tornadus-T and can deal with some other fire types like SpDef Talon which is pretty annoying. A bulky Will-O-Wisp set is definitely an option as well to lure in stuff like Hippowdon and whatnot just to burn them making life easier for Tornadus-T while also checking Bisharp better than the DD set.

Tornadus-T is the AV set so it can check Gengar for Clefable while also checking things like Serperior, Volcarona, Mega Venusaur, Landorus and more. Choice of moves is up to you but Knock Off is really nice for Gengar although you can opt to just run coverage over it if you put Knock Off on Clefable. HP [Ice] is for Gliscor / Landorus / Garchomp, Heat Wave for Skarm / Ferro / Scizor and Focus Blast / Superpower for Ttar / Excadrill / Heatran. Torn-T provides a nice pivot for the core and speed control that can wear down / beat fast threats to the core.

Torn-T’s EV spread is max speed so that it outspeeds LO Alakazam and ties with other Tornadus-Ts. I dumped some extra HP to better check stuff and 100 SpA is enough to OHKO Keldeo after Rocks with Hurricane. This is a custom spread inspired by one that Zamrock used in his Aegislash Suspect RMT although his ran 56 Atk for Superpower so allocate that from HP if you want to run it. Of course you are free to run whatever standard 96 HP / 160 SpA / 252 Spe or 132 HP / 160 SpA / 216 Spe spreads you want depending on how important bulk or speed is to you.

For Encore on Clefable I have 4 extra speed EVs just to know where I’m at with other Clefables so I don’t have to guess whether I'm going first or second for Encore to make sure I’m locking them into the right move. If you decide to run something else though just put those 4 EVs back into HP.

This core doesn’t appreciate hazards so running a Defogger or Spinner is essential, pokemon like Skarmory and Starmie are pretty nice options in that regard. The core is also weak to rock type attacks in general so having a secondary check to those is nice which makes Hippowdon a nice partner since it also sets up rocks and checks Bisharp better. Other physically bulky pokemon like Slowbro and Ferrothorn are pretty cool as well just to check some of the beast shit running rampant through the tier such as Dragon Dancers and Sand Rush Excadrill and whatnot. Have something else for mons like Spdef Talonflame and Manaphy because they can be brutal for balanced teams and of course a steel type is great because Mega Fairies can be big threats. Several of the S ranked mons in OU are not totally dealt with by this core so make sure to bring some other checks to them, Slowking is pretty nice in this regard.

sets

Clefable @ Leftovers
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: 248 HP / 172 Def / 84 SpD / 4 Spe
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Calm Mind
- Moonblast
- Encore / Knock Off / Flamethrower
- Soft-Boiled

Tornadus-Therian (M) @ Assault Vest
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 156 HP / 100 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Hurricane
- Heat Wave / Hidden Power [Ice]
- Knock Off
- U-turn

Charizard @ Charizardite X
Ability: Blaze
EVs: 104 HP / 216 Atk / 188 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Flare Blitz
- Earthquake / Dragon Claw
- Roost

Sorry this post is so long :( Hope you enjoy the core!

 

[Hellochi]

So just as a disclaimer I don’t claim to have invented this core. I was reading the Tornadus-T analysis during QC or GP and I saw I believe Steve Angello (anyone may correct me if I'm wrong) mention this core in the responses to firehusky's write-up. So I ended up asking AM about it and he described the basic premise to me. I recently built a team around it and it’s really fun. Anyway without further ado here it is.

Balance Core:

Clefable + Charizard X + Tornadus-T

This is a really cool balanced core which checks a lot of the metagame and also provides some nice win conditions.

Clefable is the first win condition with a Calm Mind set utilizing Magic Guard because the rest of the core doesn’t really like status or hazards. For the last move you can really run whatever fits your team best but I have Encore since it screws over shit like Manaphy when it goes for a Tail Glow, and also lets you set up on other walls more easily. Knock Off is a nice option for neutering switch-ins and the obvious moves like Thunder Wave, Flamethrower and Ice Beam are all options too. Anyway Clefable checks many things such as Garchomp, Latis, Weavile, Rotom-Wash, Mega Diancie, Tyranitar and many other pokemon that are unfriendly to Charizard or Tornadus-T. Another option you can go for is an Unaware Clefable with Heal Bell for team support and can still potentially run a CM set or just a standard cleric set.

Charizard is your standard Dragon Dance set although I’m speed creeping other Zards and Volcarona because I’m a hipster I guess. Zard is the primary offense of the core which both checks and sets up on steel types that threaten Clefable like Mega Scizor, Skarmory, Ferrothorn etc. I have Earthquake as the main slash just to handle Heatrans, but Dragon Claw is absolutely an option as well so that you aren’t as troubled by Garchomp + Skarmory cores (Flamethrower on Clefable is also good for alleviating this problem). Charizard also provides another check to electric types for Tornadus-T and can deal with some other fire types like SpDef Talon which is pretty annoying. A bulky Will-O-Wisp set is definitely an option as well to lure in stuff like Hippowdon and whatnot just to burn them making life easier for Tornadus-T while also checking Bisharp better than the DD set.

Tornadus-T is the AV set so it can check Gengar for Clefable while also checking things like Serperior, Volcarona, Mega Venusaur, Landorus and more. Choice of moves is up to you but Knock Off is really nice for Gengar although you can opt to just run coverage over it if you put Knock Off on Clefable. HP [Ice] is for Gliscor / Landorus / Garchomp, Heat Wave for Skarm / Ferro / Scizor and Focus Blast / Superpower for Ttar / Excadrill / Heatran. Torn-T provides a nice pivot for the core and speed control that can wear down / beat fast threats to the core.

Torn-T’s EV spread is max speed so that it outspeeds LO Alakazam and ties with other Tornadus-Ts. I dumped some extra HP to better check stuff and 100 SpA is enough to OHKO Keldeo after Rocks with Hurricane. This is a custom spread inspired by one that Zamrock used in his Aegislash Suspect RMT although his ran 56 Atk for Superpower so allocate that from HP if you want to run it. Of course you are free to run whatever standard 96 HP / 160 SpA / 252 Spe or 132 HP / 160 SpA / 216 Spe spreads you want depending on how important bulk or speed is to you.

For Encore on Clefable I have 4 extra speed EVs just to know where I’m at with other Clefables so I don’t have to guess whether I'm going first or second for Encore to make sure I’m locking them into the right move. If you decide to run something else though just put those 4 EVs back into HP.

This core doesn’t appreciate hazards so running a Defogger or Spinner is essential, pokemon like Skarmory and Starmie are pretty nice options in that regard. The core is also weak to rock type attacks in general so having a secondary check to those is nice which makes Hippowdon a nice partner since it also sets up rocks and checks Bisharp better. Other physically bulky pokemon like Slowbro and Ferrothorn are pretty cool as well just to check some of the beast shit running rampant through the tier such as Dragon Dancers and Sand Rush Excadrill and whatnot. Have something else for mons like Spdef Talonflame and Manaphy because they can be brutal for balanced teams and of course a steel type is great because Mega Fairies can be big threats. Several of the S ranked mons in OU are not totally dealt with by this core so make sure to bring some other checks to them, Slowking is pretty nice in this regard.

sets

Clefable @ Leftovers
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: 248 HP / 172 Def / 84 SpD / 4 Spe
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Calm Mind
- Moonblast
- Encore / Knock Off / Flamethrower
- Soft-Boiled

Tornadus-Therian (M) @ Assault Vest
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 156 HP / 100 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Hurricane
- Heat Wave / Hidden Power [Ice]
- Knock Off
- U-turn

Charizard @ Charizardite X
Ability: Blaze
EVs: 104 HP / 216 Atk / 188 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Flare Blitz
- Earthquake / Dragon Claw
- Roost

Sorry this post is so long :( Hope you enjoy the core!

Small nitpick but wouldn't Icy Wind be better than HP Ice, I don't think HP Ice secures the OHKO or 2HKO on anything and speed drops are pretty nice in general :^)