Desertlovania
Introduction
Hello viewers and welcome to my first RMT of Generation 8! You might have noticed the team is entirely made up of mega and primal reverted Pokémon. That is because this is another Gen 6 Hackmons RMT! This RMT serves as a sequel to Hopes and Dreams and will be the last RMT I'm making for ORAS Hackmons.
There isn't much of a backstory here. The offense team was built five years ago after Hopes and Dreams accomplished making 88 GXE and peaking Classic Hackmons ladder. It was built to remind myself that this was just a game and one of my main focuses with the ladder was to joke around and have fun. Weather is one of the mechanics I've grown to love in Pokémon. It's decent in Gen 6 but while laddering through the metagame I felt I hadn't seen it enough. By starting up each match with sand, Desertlovania fixed this issue and I was able to enjoy the scenery of sand getting blown across the battle screen.
This was built as a semi-serious team I initially thought of as a joke. I didn't think it'd get too far or be of any great wonder. Turns out, I couldn't have been more wrong...
Here's a screenshot:
The account we're focusing on is Dezertez. I was also Testing Team 001 but that account had a different team used.
Achievements:
28-0 win streak (no evidence)
~87 GXE (Pretty high at the time. You can tell by looking at the screenshot)
Like Hopes and Dreams, Desertlovania had also made 28-0. Turns out the team was surprisingly difficult for the metagame to handle at the time and was overall effective, fun, and easy to use. By the time ladder ended, it had been my favorite team I'd ever built and I had actually disliked the Hopes and Dreams team. Now this is my second favorite team I'd ever built behind Hopes and Dreams.
Like Hopes and Dreams, the name of this team was also inspired by Undertale. Because this is a sequel to Hopes and Dreams, it makes sense to give this RMT an Undertale-based theme too.
However, both the team and the character from that boss fight are still beatable. The 29th match with Desertlovania was lost to a V-Create miss.
Well anyway before you scroll down any further I want to clarify that there are two separate versions of this team. The original version was a Classic Hackmons team, but with updates it has turned into a Pure Hackmons team. Here was the original team: https://pokepast.es/fb882a1703e08bb8
I made a couple recent changes to this team before the making of this post.
1) The amount EVs on each Pokémon were downgraded to the standard 508, with investments being placed in their most important stats.
2) Mega Aerodactyl's Brave Bird changed into Dragon Ascent.
3) Shed Shell has been replaced by Safety Goggles on Mega Swampert.
4) Shininess was removed from Mega Metagross and Primal Groudon.
2) Mega Aerodactyl's Brave Bird changed into Dragon Ascent.
3) Shed Shell has been replaced by Safety Goggles on Mega Swampert.
4) Shininess was removed from Mega Metagross and Primal Groudon.
Teambuilding Process
Despite initially considering this as a joke team I wanted to choose the weather effect that had the least negative impact on my team while being able to damage most of the opposition. With all of this coming into mind I concluded sand was the best option for weather. A good sand setter was needed for the team and judging from the potential candidates, Mega Aerodactyl's incredible speed + attack combination, as well as its flexibility proved it to be the best.
I figured if I wanted to take advantage of sand, the team should have only Pokémon immune to it by typing. As with almost all Gen 6 teams, Wonder Guard was needed and Mega Swampert was a very easy choice considering it's one of the best Wonder Guards with sand immunity.
Low-key wanted to slap a Mega Mewtwo X on this team and call it a day but that would've already ruined the theme of type-based sand immunity. As a result, I had to go with one of the next best options for Huge Power. Mega Metagross's speed, bulk, and attack made it a considerable option for the team.
Mega Diancie was added because I wanted a second Huge Power Pokémon and it was nice due to it also being fast and powerful. Mega Diancie however has a different set of weaknesses, even higher attack, and a Fairy-type STAB, which is important for better opportunities to KO metagame threats like Giratina and Mega Sableye. Mega Diancie has less bulk than Mega Metagross but it was given a Focus Sash to work around that.
For most teams one Wonder Guard wasn't going to cut it and continuing the sand immunity trend Mega Scizor had to be the obvious choice. Like Mega Swampert, Mega Scizor is also one of the best Wonder Guards with sand immunity, and having two of the same Wonder Guard Pokémon always backfires in Gen 6.
After looking through the previous five, I very much knew this team needed more options to hit and KO everything. Assuming I still wanted something with sand immunity to cover this there were no better options than Mold Breaker Primal Groudon, hands down. Mold Breaker Primal Groudon makes up for everything the Huge Powers and the Mega Aerodactyl could not hit and is often very easily able to sweep through opposing teams if there isn't a healthy Imposter.
The Team
Introducing the second team I made 28-0 with on Classic Hackmons ladder! As previously stated it has been modified into a Pure Hackmons team. Before looking down it's important to know that all of these Pokémon were given an odd number of HP. This was because of their known reputation in Pure Hackmons to choose an extra turn of survivability against hazards and other forms of passive damage, especially with Wonder Guards in the metagame. For many of these Pokémon, attacks against them have an all or nothing chance to hit and OHKO.
Aerodactyl-Mega @ Choice Band
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Dragon Ascent
- Diamond Storm
- Thousand Arrows
- U-turn
Enter Mega Aerodactyl! It is the primary lead of this team. The combination of its Rock + Flying typing, base 135 attack and a godsend speed tier of base 150 allows this Pokémon to become highly versatile in its abilities. For example, it could be running offensive Shadow Tag, defensive Shadow Tag, Mold Breaker, Huge Power, No Guard, and possibly Gale Wings, but this particular set has been given Sand Steam instead. The same combination between typing and stats also leaves Mega Aerodactyl to not only be one of the most prominent sand setters in the metagame, but also to potentially be one of the best breakers in Hackmons history. If you want a sand team, this Pokémon was one of the go-to options as it's able to take care of plenty metagame threats by itself. Rock typing allows it to be immune to sand and puncture through the likes of Mega Rayquaza, Gyarados, and Yveltal, while Flying-type makes it immune to Spikes for an easier switch-in and helps it check Mega Mewtwo X, the best Pokémon in the metagame. Mega Aerodactyl was given max attack and max speed EVs to exercise both of its greatest stats, then was given a Choice Band to maximize the damage output of all of its physical moves with a Jolly nature. Jolly was given over Adamant so it could outspeed viable Pokemon it wouldn't outspeed otherwise. Examples of these would be Mega Mewtwo Y, Mega Beedrill, Mega Lopunny, Mega Manectric, and the rarer Mega Sceptile. This set has shown to be pretty effective but when I laddered, at the time Dragon Ascent was very new and I decided to carry Brave Bird. Nowadays I figured this Pokémon would rather have its defenses lowered than take recoil damage without recovery options, so it was given Dragon Ascent instead. Aside from this and the aforementioned Diamond Storm, the rest of its moves were given as coverage and to pivot out of messy trapping situations.
Move Descriptions:
Dragon Ascent: Used as a Flying-type STAB move with Choice Band in order to OHKO targets many Fighting-types, Bug-types, and Grass-types, as well as many Pokémon who don't have outstanding Defense. These include but aren't limited to both Mega Mewtwos, Mega Lopunny, Mega Beedrill, Mega Latios, Mega Gengar, Volcarona, and Ludicolo. It primarily targets some of the biggest threats in the metagame and some of the least prepared threats in the metagame at the same time and is capable of doing hefty amounts of damage against anything that isn't a physical wall, Wonder Guard, or just resistant by typing.
Diamond Storm: Used as a Rock-type STAB move to target and OHKO Flying-types like Gyarados, Mega Rayquaza, Yveltal, and other Mega Aerodactyl as they all would be able to take Dragon Ascent for various reasons otherwise. While it doesn't OHKO Lugia, Diamond Storm helps break its defenses. It could also help against the Ice-type Kyurem formes if Black Kyurem doesn't have Refrigerate.
Thousand Arrows: Used to take care of the Steel-types who resist both of Mega Aerodactyl's STABs. It's also more efficient than fire coverage since it OHKOs Electric-types with Air Balloon. It would also be difficult using fire-type coverage moves against a Mega Scizor if it has Powder and knows you're Choice Band anyway. Unfortunately most Steel-types are physically defensive and Thousand Arrows doesn't give STAB, so you may have to put in some extra effort to chip specific Steel-types like Aegislash, Doublade, Mega Metagross, and Dialga if you want to land KOs against them. Otherwise, it's very useful as a coverage option.
U-Turn: Used mostly to prevent this Pokémon from getting trapped. Assuming you want sand up as often as possible it's best to not stay in for too long and to be able to escape if something tries to trap and use Perish Song. It can also be used for high damage output against Wonder Guard Meloetta, Wonder Guard Deoxys-Speed, and Wonder Guard Mewtwo while at least being able to chip Cresselia and Mega Slowbro.
Swampert-Mega @ Safety Goggles
Ability: Wonder Guard
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SpD
Relaxed Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- U-turn
- Defog
- Aromatherapy
- Whirlwind
If I wanted to run a solid sand team I needed to make sure everyone was immune to sand. I also needed to make sure the team carried Wonder Guards as they are pretty much required to build a solid team. Enter Mega Swampert! It and Mega Scizor are pairing up in this team to portray themselves as the absolute best Wonder Guards who're immune to sand. Mega Swampert is Water/Ground type, so its only weaknesses are Grass-type moves and Freeze Dry. Any Pokémon running Grass-type moves or Freeze Dry would do so specifically to target Mega Swampert as they don't do much outside of beating it. There are other Water/Ground-types like Gastrodon and Quagsire but Mega Swampert is the best simply for its bulk and strength over them. It's been given a revamped version of Trambo's Swampert set from the old Classic Hackmons permaladder. Aside from the max defenses used to wall moldy physical attacks better, this set carries min speed with Relaxed nature for slow pivoting and has been given Whirlwind over Roar because why not? It can be helpful in case some wacky Soundproof set ever becomes threatening. It has also been given Safety Goggles over Shed Shell since Mold Breaker Spore users tend to threaten most of this team otherwise, and Mega Swampert already has U-Turn and Whirlwind to escape or get Shadow Tag users out of the way. It could risk being pressured to use one of those moves over Defog and Aromatherapy in times hazard or status clearing are badly needed but that opportunity could be used to predict and switch into one of the breakers or the sweeper on this team. This Mega Swampert is purely a support mon, carrying Defog and Aromatherapy to make life easier, Whirlwind to stop Pokémon setting up on it, and U-Turn to escape from tight situations or gain momentum through slow pivoting. The biggest problem with this set is its lack of recovery. This means it can be worn down by spikes and status a lot faster. However, replacing one of the four moves it already has isn't worth it as all of them significantly help increase Desertlovania's longevity and in most cases, the only moves Swampert is getting hit by are ones that straight up OHKO.
Move Descriptions:
U-Turn: Used for the same purpose as on Mega Aerodactyl. It primarily tries to escape from getting trapped. It can also perform extra damage on Psychic-type Wonder Guards who're weak to Bug and help the team gain momentum through slow pivoting.
Aromatherapy: Used to cure status ailments. This team runs two Huge Powers and a Choice Band Mega Aerodactyl so it's incredibly helpful in case it faces something like Prankster Will-O-Wisp Giratina or Mega Slowbro. It also works in times when Swampert could get poisoned.
Defog: Used to clear away hazards like Stealth Rock, Spikes, or Toxic Spikes. Mega Aerodactyl is weak to Stealth Rock and two Pokémon on the team carry Focus Sash so Defog is important to have. It's also really good for preventing the rest of the team from taking immense chip damage from constantly switching out.
Whirlwind: Used to prevent other Pokémon from trapping or freely setting up on Mega Swampert. There isn't much else to prevent this team from getting swept by Mold Breakers.
Metagross-Mega @ Shed Shell
Ability: Huge Power
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Sacred Fire
- Diamond Storm
- Knock Off
- Gear Grind
It's not Mega Mewtwo X, but it sure is something! Enter Mega Metagross, the fast, bulky, and powerful attacker! For a Pokémon with 700 BST, its stats are very well-balanced. For a Huge Power in Gen 6 Hackmons having the combination of base 145 Attack and base 110 Speed is hardly anything to write home about but is decent nevertheless. This Pokémon makes up for its lacking combination by having immense physical bulk, making it relatively difficult to fully revenge whenever it misses an OHKO. Like any standard Huge Power in ORAS, this Mega Metagross carries a STAB move and three random coverage moves. It has also been given maximum attack and maximum speed for maximum effectiveness, with a Jolly nature because base 110 is already not the fastest but at least with Jolly it could outspeed Regigigas, Xerneas, and Yveltal while level up with Mega Diancie and Mega Latios. It has been given a Shed Shell to avoid Shadow Tag, which otherwise would be painful because this set doesn't have anything to deal with Shadow Tag Primal Groudon sets and potential specific dark-type perish trap + dark weakness cores can't be used to lure Mega Metagross into a Knock Off that gets it trapped.
Move Descriptions:
Sacred Fire: Used to target Wonder Guard Pokémon who are weak to Fire-type moves. Most notably other Mega Scizor.
Diamond Storm: Used to specifically aim towards Flying-types like Ho-Oh, Gyarados, Yveltal, and Mega Rayquaza. Could also help against the particularly rare Wonder Guard Volcarona. Mega Aerodactyl also runs this move but it's less predictable on a Mega Metagross so it's often able to catch other players off guard.
Knock Off: Used to inflict 97.5 BP damage if the opposing Pokémon holds an item and then knocks the item off. Most Pokémon hold an item so it's useful. The main sweeper on this team also relies on Spore so getting Safety Goggles out of the way really helps. More specifically however this move is used to break Giratina and the same Psychic-types mentioned for U-Turn on the two Pokémon above.
Gear Grind: Used as a Steel-type STAB move to go against Fairy-type Wonder Guards and plenty of non Wonder Guards. It breaks sashes and is more powerful than other options such as Meteor Mash and Iron Head. It can still miss however so use this move with caution.
252 Atk Huge Power Metagross-Mega Gear Grind (2 hits) vs. 248 HP / 252+ Def Audino-Mega: 436-516 (106.6 - 126.1%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252 Atk Huge Power Metagross-Mega Meteor Mash vs. 248 HP / 252+ Def Audino-Mega: 390-462 (95.3 - 112.9%) -- 75% chance to OHKO
252 Atk Huge Power Metagross-Mega Iron Head vs. 248 HP / 252+ Def Audino-Mega: 348-410 (85 - 100.2%) -- 6.3% chance to OHKO
252 Atk Huge Power Metagross-Mega Meteor Mash vs. 248 HP / 252+ Def Audino-Mega: 390-462 (95.3 - 112.9%) -- 75% chance to OHKO
252 Atk Huge Power Metagross-Mega Iron Head vs. 248 HP / 252+ Def Audino-Mega: 348-410 (85 - 100.2%) -- 6.3% chance to OHKO
Diancie-Mega @ Focus Sash
Ability: Huge Power
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Leaf Blade
- Play Rough
- Thousand Arrows
- Close Combat
Get a load of this beauty! Enter Meta Diancie! This is a noticeably more powerful but more frail version of Mega Metagross, designed with a different STAB move, and a different pool of coverage. To make up for Mega Diancie's lack of speed and bulk, it was given a Focus Sash. Its Focus Sash helps it beat out the bulky or faster Pokémon who could OHKO otherwise. Stuff like Mega Mewtwo X and Primal Groudon. When compared to Mega Metagross, anyone can tell it has the same nature, the same EVs, same IVs, and same base speed, all for the same reason. It even holds the same purpose of breaking as many things as it could. Mega Diancie just operates with a different set while holding a different item because of the differences it does have in terms of other base stats and typing. One of the key things about this Mega Diancie is that it cooperates with the Mega Metagross in the role of being less predictable. One of the most important things it could do is run a third coverage move over having dual STABs. Diamond Storm would sound great on paper but makes it ridiculously easy for anyone to switch into the appropriate Wonder Guard for. I've tried Diamond Storm + Play Rough once and this became the exact case. The Mega Metagross works better with Diamond Storm because its targets are relatively more frail and with Mega Aerodactyl + Mega Diancie on the team Mega Metagross is the last thing anyone would be expecting Diamond Storm to come from. Instead, Mega Diancie has its own set of one STAB with three coverage moves it can work well with.
Move Descriptions:
Leaf Blade: Used primarily to go against opposing Mega Swampert since it's a popular Wonder Guard Pokémon with a quadruple weakness to Grass-type moves. Leaf Blade could also help against Mega Slowbro if it doesn't carry Fur Coat.
Play Rough: Used as a Fairy-type STAB attack. It breaks Mega Mewtwo X, Wonder Guard Spiritomb/Mega Sableye, and Dragon-type Pokémon like Mega Rayquaza, Giratina, or Wonder Guard Palkia. Unfortunately however, it can only OHKO Giratina on a small roll. Adamant would not be worth it since it'll get outsped by so many things it could avoid getting outsped by otherwise and still just OHKOs max Defense Giratina on a roll.
252 Atk Huge Power Diancie-Mega Play Rough vs. 248 HP / 252+ Def Giratina: 438-516 (87 - 102.5%) -- 18.8% chance to OHKO
252+ Atk Huge Power Diancie-Mega Play Rough vs. 248 HP / 252+ Def Giratina: 476-564 (94.6 - 112.1%) -- 68.8% chance to OHKO
252+ Atk Huge Power Diancie-Mega Play Rough vs. 248 HP / 252+ Def Giratina: 476-564 (94.6 - 112.1%) -- 68.8% chance to OHKO
Thousand Arrows: Used to target Electric-types, Poison-types, and Steel-types. The Electric-types and Poison-types tend to be carrying Wonder Guard with Air Balloon. Thousand Arrows also works because Mega Gengar either resists or is immune to all the other moves this Mega Diancie carries.
Close Combat: Used as a Fighting-type coverage move to break Regigigas, Wonder Guard Slaking, and Wonder Guard Arceus. Also completes the package of moves made to ensure all Dark-type Pokémon get absolutely demolished whatsoever. I'm not sure how much that matters but sounds good for competitive nevertheless. No Dark-type is ever switching into Mega Diancie.
Scizor-Mega @ Focus Sash
Ability: Wonder Guard
EVs: 248 HP / 212 Def / 48 Spe
Bold Nature
- Substitute
- Shell Smash
- Baton Pass
- Gastro Acid
If I wanted to make the team work, I needed a second Wonder Guard user. Mega Swampert is already shown to be on the team and if I wanted the second Wonder Guard to also be immune to sand, Mega Scizor was the obvious choice. Enter Mega Scizor! It and Mega Swampert pair up in this team to portray themselves as the absolute best Wonder Guards with sand immunity. Fortunately it has a completely different typing with a different set of weaknesses. Just as Mega Swampert is a Water/Ground-type only weak to Grass-type moves and Freeze Dry, Mega Scizor is a Bug/Steel-type only weak to Fire-type moves. Also like Mega Swampert, Mega Scizor has other variants of the same type. Bug/Steel-types like Durant, Escavalier and Genesect exist but Mega Scizor is the best simply for its bulk and strength over them. This set's an oddball however. Like Mega Swampert again, it's also purely a support set, but unlike the Mega Swampert this one leans more towards supporting a specific Pokémon. What could it be? It's the monstrosity under this set. The be-all-end-all of this team. This Mega Scizor is merely a specimen crafted to help set up for that monstrosity. It has been given a couple moves to either set up or help set up. It has also been given a Focus Sash in case it gets hit by a Fire-type move and is still able to successfully pass its boosts. It has been given Bold nature with max odd HP EVs and a surprising 212 Defense EVs instead of the max! This is because I discovered a reason to implement speed EVs. If a Mega Mewtwo X or Mega Gengar are out with fire coverage while Focus Sash is broken and Mega Scizor already has a Shell Smash boost, I'd rather be able to quickly pass off those boosts to anything that could possibly survive their next attack for a free opportunity to do more damage the next turn even if that might not necessarily be the monstrosity it's setting up for. With 48 Speed EVs Mega Scizor is able to outspeed both Mega Mewtwo X and Mega Gengar after one Shell Smash while still having as much physical defense it could otherwise. This is so even if this support Pokémon can no longer function to its fullest, it's still able to make a good last resort.
Move Descriptions:
Substitute: Used to block status ailments from moves that don't go through Substitute such as Spore, Thunder Wave and even Nuzzle. Is also incredibly vital to Baton Pass Substittue into the monstrosity below if the opposing team has a healthy Chansey or Blissey because that monstrosity is incredibly weak to Imposter.
Shell Smash: Used to gain +2 Attack and +2 Speed stages for the monstrosity it's giving these stat boosts to. :) The beast will take them kindly. Mega Scizor is a Wonder Guard and does not care about defense drops. The most suitable Pokémon it's giving these stat boosts to also would not care very much once they are figure out they have the ability to outspeed everything and perform double or triple the damage.
Baton Pass: Used to Baton Pass Shell Smash boosts and Substitute to the monstrosity or any other Pokémon on this team whenever necessary.
Gastro Acid: Used because sometimes Mold Breaker Pokémon are brought out to hit Mega Scizor. Gastro Acid removes their ability and allows Mega Scizor to continue walling and setting up. It also ruins opposing Baton Pass strategies as the ability-neutralizing effect can get Baton Passed.
Groudon-Primal @ Lum Berry
Ability: Mold Breaker
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Shell Smash
- Thousand Arrows
- V-create
- Spore
THIS is the aforementioned monstrosity below the Mega Scizor above supports! Enter Primal Groudon! With the infamous Ground/Fire dual-typing STABs, offense stats higher than Godzilla, its own Shell Smash, and a sleep-inducing move to help it set up by itself whenever it can, Primal Groudon is made into being one of the greatest sweepers in ORAS Hackmons. This set is simple. Max attack with max speed for max effectiveness. It does not care enough about its speed to justify using Jolly over Adamant after one or two Shell Smashes. All it wants to do is break everything. Anyone who dares to even try stopping it can get a V-Create to the face. It's a Mold Breaker, because you know what a Mold Breaker does? It breaks. Even Wonder Guards can't defend themselves against this one. Unless you have an Imposter, hardcore Prankster wall, Mega Slowbro, or Safety Goggles Primal Kyogre, good luck! Heck, the Primal Groudon even has a Lum Berry to safely come into Toxic Spikes or take one sleep-inducing attack. It's fine over Safety Goggles because this isn't a Pokémon you should freely throw out whenever and should only be brought out when the main conditions are met. Whenever it's against a less threatening presence and the opponent doesn't have a healthy Imposter user. Examples could be whenever a Wonder Guard is trying to heal up, a defensive Pokémon is trying to set up hazards, or when Mega Scizor can freely pass a Shell Smash boost. Aside from having this behemoth thrown out sparingly the main reason Lum Berry is used over Safety Goggles is that it expands the conditions the Pokémon can get sent out in. Toxic Spikes can hinder this team and Primal Groudon with Lum Berry has the opportunity to ignore that and sweep anyway.
Move Description:
Shell Smash: Used because when you see this move, you know this behemoth is just warming up. It gives the Primal Groudon two stages of Attack, Special Attack, and Speed each. The Defense drops aren't going to matter when it could then start shattering universes.
Thousand Arrows: Used as the Primal Groudon shows no mercy to anyone who treads in its path! This is a 90 BP Ground-type STAB move that hits everything! Even Air Balloon Pokémon! The only Pokémon who resist are Grass-types and Bug-types but they all get deep-fried by V-Create.
V-Create: Used to shatter universes in half and double Thanos snap anyone out of existence if they don't resist it. It's a 180 BP Fire-type STAB move that the average Pokémon couldn't even survive unboosted. The move is so powerful it causes Primal Groudon's defenses and Speed to lower by one stage upon usage. If it even starts to get used with Attack boosts, the opponent might as well kiss their Pokémon goodbye and forfeit the game. There's one big problem with this move however. It has a 5% chance of missing. Rare but a single miss from this thing could cost the entire game.
Spore: Used since sometimes the beast needs someone to have their beauty sleep. Whenever that happens it can Shell Smash to rack up them boosts then type
/forcewin [Your Username] 'cause you know it's the Global Admin of the team.
Checks and Counters
The changes made for this team have been relatively minor and I don't have a whole other CH drama scene to tell the story of so these will just be for the newly updated Pure Hackmons team.
Imposter: Don't let Imposter transform into Primal Groudon. You'll thank me later. No seriously, there is almost nothing the team can do to stop the Impostered Primal Groudon. Other than that you should be good with Imposter as long as you have both Wonder Guards standing.
Mega Slowbro: Mega Slowbro is an incredibly bulky physical wall who's been well-invested into having Shellder eat them up just so it could gain base 80 base Defense. Well, that worked and now it's able to physically tank every attack coming from this team, including from Primal Groudon, Leaf Blade Mega Diancie, and Knock Off Mega Metagross. This is just a regular Mega Slowbro. This team will have to chip it a ton and hope it doesn't have Fur Coat and/or King's Shield in order to deal with it. In the base case scenario, Mega Scizor gets thrown out, sets up twice, then Baton Passes into Primal Groudon while it's still behind Substitute hoping Mega Slowbro doesn't use Scald or have Safety Goggles.
252 Atk Huge Power Metagross-Mega Knock Off (97.5 BP) vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Slowbro-Mega: 214-254 (54.3 - 64.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 Atk Huge Power Diancie-Mega Leaf Blade vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Slowbro-Mega: 214-254 (54.3 - 64.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
+2 252+ Atk Groudon-Primal Thousand Arrows vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Slowbro-Mega: 195-229 (49.4 - 58.1%) -- 98.4% chance to 2HKO
252 Atk Huge Power Diancie-Mega Leaf Blade vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Slowbro-Mega: 214-254 (54.3 - 64.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
+2 252+ Atk Groudon-Primal Thousand Arrows vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Slowbro-Mega: 195-229 (49.4 - 58.1%) -- 98.4% chance to 2HKO
Hazardstack + Walls: Teams that stack up on hazards threaten, especially if they have Toxic Spikes. This is because both Wonder Guards can get worn down by hazard stack and the lack of recovery on this seemingly HO-based team means the other members have to work with Primal Groudon quicker and Mega Scizor has to hope it doesn't get pinned down by Pokémon with fire coverage or phazing moves, and whatever it Baton Passes into has to hope no opposing Pokémon have the stats of a fat skyscraper.
Choice Scarf Mega Mewtwo X: If it has Fire and Grass-type coverage, it breaks through both Wonder Guards and heavily restricts any opportunity Desertlovania could be given. If the Mega Mewtwo X is not Choice Scarf then it could at least be outsped by the Mega Aerodactyl.
Mold Breaker Sweepers: Just as Primal Groudon is able to win games by setting up, other sleep-inducing Pokémon with Mold Breaker/Teravolt/Turboblaze can do the same against this team. The team has a lot of breakers but only a Whirlwind Mega Swampert to stop the masses of them from sweeping if they were to set up. Mega Diancie and Mega Scizor could be able to help if they don't have sleep-inducing moves since they could freely move while holding Focus Sash but even then rocks have to be cleared from the team's side.
Water Shuriken: Water Shuriken is a priority Water-type attack able to take care of Mega Aerodactyl, Mega Diancie, and Primal Groudon before they could be catastrophic to the opposing team.
Conclusion and Replays
This team had been a sample of mine for quite a while. I've used it quite possibly hundreds of times throughout the last five years and have more recently been giving it around to other users along with other samples. One of the greatest things I've noticed after handing out my teams is that most users who check them out gain some form of immediate attachment with Desertlovania. It's a team that greatly introduces new players to ORAS Hackmons because it's really fun, easy, and effective to use. While it may not be a hardcore standard team, most of the standard elements are there and it's proven to be a fantastic team nevertheless. In all summary, this is the best sample team I could have ever given for a format and I'm glad to be able to share this with everyone here. Thanks to everyone who read or even skimmed through this post to find the team. If you have any questions or concerns about Desertlovania, feel free to rate by posting below. You can also DM me on Discord, PM me on PS!, or start up a Smogon convo. It's still an RMT so I'm able to take consideration into any great advice offered. If you are rating however, be sure to use the updated Pure Hackmons version. The Classic Hackmons version is pointless now.
Importable:
Feb 2015 Ladder:
bigibam
farty mcfart
bigibam
farty mcfart
testestguest
Arthur Lanches
regirock
BahamutLagoon
mc56556
BahamutLagoon
regirock
ShovelCat
AV Cosmoem
Alexgrizz
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