
Hello! This thread is here to archive teams from the ORAS OU metagame and showcase popular playstyles and archetypes of the current metagame. Its aim is to help beginners and intermediate level players to get acclimated to the tier, or simply to help anyone in need of a solid team to play.
The tier is in constant shift, so if you have suggestions for teams to be excluded/included, don't hesitate to post in this thread.
I also wrote a basic overview of the team styles and some key notes on how they should be played for the Hyper Offense and Stall sections. The humble section is too varied for that, maybe we'll add an overview for each particular team in the future, but that's not really the scope of a Sample thread.
Without further ado:


Spanish Webs (by Spaniards)The current paradigm for the tier is fast paced teams with suicide leads that ensure the early hazard game develops in your favor and set up mons that compliment each other well to break past the opposing team and sweep, either assisted by Sticky Webs to allow slower threats like Mega-Scizor and Bisharp to beat their faster checks or through Screens to buy relatively frail but strong sweepers like Volcarona and Altaria the turns needed to set-up. This type of team is especially hard to prepare for due to the sheer versatility of threats they can employ, but also quite risky to use, as games will be very short and your Pokémon have very limited longevity, any wasted turns will be a big deal.
The playstyle for these teams is relatively straightforward. Unless you have a good reason not to, lead with your suicide hazard setter and get 'em up, then send out the heavy hitter most suitable for the current turn, in the case of Webs, and remember that keeping your hazards up will be paramount in most matchups. In the case of Screens, you'll often first want to set up the Screens before sending in your most suitable set up sweeper. This style cares more about keeping rocks off of its own field than guaranteeing they stay up on the opponent's, so play aggressively to that end. Towards the late game, a Healing Wish may help to revitalize the offense.






Italian Webs (by Italians)






Tyranitar Screens (by xray, Garay oak and London Beats)






Altaria Screens (by Sjneider)








Mega-Altaria Stall (by Trosko)On the other end of the spectrum we have Stall teams, which are dedicated not so much to winning as to stifling all routes your opponent has of making progress, slowly but surely suffocating them and making them forfeit after 150 turns of switching and softboiling. Riveting. The style is characterized by the presence of strong hazard control to prevent opposing hazards from staying up, as stall teams rely a lot on switching around, and would quickly get worn down by a skilled opponents if they're allowed to stay up. Almost as important are your own hazard setters, the game will last very long so you will benefit greatly from having them up to wear down your opponent's threats. Another hallmark of the stall team is the presence of a Pokémon with the ability Unaware, to prevent common set up sweepers from getting out of hand and the pink blob Chansey, which single-eggedly handles almost all special attackers in the tier. Always remember that just because it isn't the main focus, it doesn't mean stall teams can't have win conditions of their own that don't rely on the opponent admitting defeat, but you shouldn't let the temptation of winning faster distract you from your true goal, which is to not lose, though damaging the opponent's team with these win conditions will obviously make it harder in turn for them to threaten you.
The playstyle for this type of team is also relatively simple, though mistakes may be more likely when piloting these teams due to the longer nature of its games. Your main concerns will be to keep hazards off of your side of the field at all times, and effectively manage the opponent's threats. You will generally simply play safe and switch in your counter to the Pokémon the opponent has out in any given turn, and given the type of team you're using you'll often have a counter or at least solid check to most things. With stall, more than with any other type of team, being smart about which mons to sacrifice and when is important. If the opponent has a Pokémon capable of dismantling you, or if they are increasingly generating chip damage through volt-turning or smart doubles, more aggressive play might be necessary. Though it sounds paradoxical, the old proverb goes that there is nothing scarier than a stall team played aggressively.






Mega-Scizor Stall (by Italians)






Mega-Venuaur Stall (by TDK and ABR)








Mega Latias Talonflame Bulky Offense (by xray)Finally we have the humble team, the term humble here being defined as anything that isn't hyper offense or stall (or other, less viable gimmicks like weather), which as you can imagine paints a rather vast picture. It's impossible to give a breakdown on what characterizes humble teams since almost every ORAS team falls under the umbrella, so instead i'll just say if you're learning the tier i'd recommend starting by using these as opposed to hyper offense or stall, that'll give you a better idea of how ORAS feels and plays, you can move to the cheesier stuff after you have the bases covered.
How you play this type of team will depend on the matchup, if your opponent is using stall you'll want to be on the offensive and make aggressive plays to break through their core, if your opponent is using hyper offense you'll want to hunker down and weather the storm, because they'll be vulnerable after they blow their load. If playing another humble team you'll have to figure out whether you're the aggressor or the defender (and these roles will be exchanged over the course of the game) on a case by case basis, your gameplan will vary from game to game, so the best way to figure out how to use these teams is to, well, use them.






Metagross Keldeo Bulky Offense (by erz)






Diancie Volcanion Sand (by erz)






Clefable Lopunny Bulky Offense (by Luigi)






Charizard-Y Sand (by baddummy and z0mOG)






Taunt Gliscor Sand (by Crashinboombang, xray and Trosko)






Spikes Balance (by erz)






Medicham Manaphy Bulky Offense (by jonfilch)






There are a few techs in these teams that might be confusing to new players, so i'll attempt to explain the more esoteric sets here.
Tyranitar Screens:
Brick Break on Tyranitar serves the purpose of fighting coverage, and as a tech against opposing screens
Safeguard on Latias can be used instead of (or in addition to) screens when you need to set up on the face of something that runs a status move
Diancie Volcanion Sand:
Worry Seed does a million interesting things, most relevant for this team is it lets Tangrowth beat Gliscor by removing its Poison Heal, and it makes damage stick to Tornadus-T by removing its Regenerator
Clefable Lopunny Bulky Offense:
Healing Wish on Lopunny let's you exchange your Lopunny for a second life for one of its teammates, usually Clefable or Serperior, but it'll depend on the matchup
Taunt Gliscor Sand:
The namesake of the team is Taunt on Gliscor, which lets it break some defensive structures it wouldn't otherwise be able to touch, and also potentially prevent hazards and set up
Aqua Jet is an emergency option you won't be clicking very often but might save you by finishing off something heavily weakened
Spikes Balance:
Smack Down lets you hit Volcarona and Charizard without having to worry about Hurricane's atrocious accuracy.
Medicham Manaphy Bulky Offense:
Encore lets you punish both set-uppers and passive play, and sets up free switches for your breakers.
Tyranitar Screens:


Diancie Volcanion Sand:

Clefable Lopunny Bulky Offense:

Taunt Gliscor Sand:


Spikes Balance:

Medicham Manaphy Bulky Offense:

Now you have no excuse, so go out there and enjoy ORAS
