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you guys should stop stalking about "baiting grass types" with SSSSLando because double dance z-fly lando is the best set and nowadays no player with mediocre skill would ever switch a tang or venu in without scouting. its the most threatening set of lando even a bit more than z-rock if it has zone support. the surprise effect of a fly lando is the same as a megameta having ice punch.
Marowak-Alola @ Thick Club
Ability: Rock Head
EVs: 8 HP / 252 Atk / 248 SpD
Brave Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Swords Dance
- Flare Blitz
- Shadow Bone
- Earthquake
The idea behind this core is that A-Marowak can blast through every conceivable steel type under Trick Room making Flash/Fleur Cannon spam all the easier, in addition to being practically unwallable after an SD boost to tear holes in the opposing team in general. By giving Magearna an Air Balloon, the pair also has reasonable defensive synergy - with Magearna's now singular fire weakness being covered by Marowak and dark/rock/ground all being covered by Magearna, with Magearna also taking uninvested Scalds like a champ. Air Balloon gives you a trick up your sleeve for later, as when Trick Room fades with A-Marowak out and the opponent sends out their obligatory ground type counter (often Lando) you get a free switch into Magearna and a free setup of Trick Room on the following turn. Magearna doesn't really miss having a different item, as LO eats into its bulk that you want to retain for setting TR, the coverage is lacking to make good use of an E-Belt, Pixie Plate is okay but Fleur Cannon tends to hit hard in the first place, and the slight increase in power from Wise Glasses doesn't offer enough to be worth it.
To cover some non-standard quirks of the sets, I find max SpDef investment slightly better on A-Marowak than max HP investment as it gives you a 50% chance of surviving an 252 SpAtk Heatran Earth Power after rocks and allows you to take uninvested Scalds from Toxapex and other mons better should you need to. In general, as you shouldn't be taking hits most of the time anyway, SpDef is important to take the kind of hits that are trouble better. Earthquake tends to be better than Bonemerang due to it being 100% accurate, which outweighs the circumstances where Bonemerang might give you a situational advantage (e.g. against sashes and Subs) as well as preventing any risk of a miss against a Heatran. For Thunderbolt on Magearna it hits Skarmory, Celesteela and Toxapex for good damage which Aura Sphere fails to do and provides stronger neutral damage against Mega Metagross, with Aura Sphere being doubly redundant given A-Marowak's ability to annihilate steels. The main threats to the set are Heatran and opposing A-Marowak, both of which consistently pack strong SE moves, and Zygardes whose Thousand Arrows will hit Magearna regardless of Air Balloon.
Greninja-Ash @ Choice Specs
Ability: Battle Bond
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Hydro Pump
- Dark Pulse
- Water Shuriken
- U-turn
Super fun SpecsSpam which aims to overload some shared checks such as Mantine and Toxapex (prevent AshNinja from spamming Pump and Shuriken). Specs Phero is low-key its best set and people need to catch on ASAP 'cause jesus christ this set is completely freaking incredible. The sets are bog standard; HP Electric is used on Pheromosa to 2HKO Toxapex and to hit Mantine hard, but if paired with Dugtrio then U-turn is probably the better option. As for checks they help each other out with beyond simple overloading, Pheromosa threatens a lot of the kinda-SIs that Greninja has, including Hydreigon and fatter Bulu variants, whereas AshNinja uses Alolan Marowak and a few other things for free nukes. All in all this core is just very nice in general and I strongly urge people to try it out.
If you struggle w/ DD Nite/Gyara and Mega Alakazam/Aero then I guess you can also run Timid Phero, but most of the time I'd rather rip shit apart with modest 'cause beyond this and tying w/ timid/naive Mosa this its mostly useless.
So the basis of this core lies within the excellent defensive and offensive synergy between Tapu Bulu and Zard X. I'm not going to list things that Bulu hates that Zard sets up on and vice versa but Bulu breaks down defensive cores very well due to how stupidly strong Wood Hammer is which gives Zard room to setup and clean. The passive recovery Grassy Terrain offers is also a godsend for Zard. The choice between Earthquake and Roost lies in whether or not you want immediate Heatran counterplay when building.
Nihilego @ Life Orb
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Sludge Wave
- Power Gem
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Stealth Rock
Band Zygarde is pretty good and appreciates Nihilego out of the virtue of its typing to break down Fairies and its ability to bait in Ferro / MSciz and bop them with HP Fire, which Zygarde really loves being weakened. The Nihilego set is pretty much up to your jurisdiction as some may prefer a choice set and have rocks on another mon in your team. Frail offensive core so pack some mons that can take hits like Fini or Lando without forfeiting momentum and you should do fine.
Tapu Koko @ Zap Plate
Ability: Electric Surge
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Thunderbolt
- Volt Switch / U-turn
- Taunt
- Hidden Power [Ice]
Landorus-T @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 248 HP / 212 Def / 32 SpD / 16 Spe
Impish Nature
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- U-turn
- Stealth Rock
This core is really simple VolTurn. Can't really elaborate beyond that except Lando sets Rocks and Koko beats Waters and baits in opposing Lando (to an extent) with HP Ice and keeps backbones low and denies opposing hazards with Taunt. Ash Greninja, Hoopa, and Lele absolutely dumps on these two so make sure you pack something for them.
Idea is that Fini + Bulu are great at wearing down bulky squads as well as exceptional defensive qualities. Bulu's set is subjective to team composition so SubSeed, SubBU, etc. works as well. Double Tapu is nice since they reset each others terrains so their terrains qualities can be accessed and reset at any time.
Very simple concept of Fini defogging hazards for Zard in tandem with their defensive synergy. Zard also appreciates Fini breaking down bulkier squads with NM + Taunt so it has an easier time sweeping.
Pinsir and Magearna (with the right set) break down their similar checks. Magearna is stopped by Venu, Amoong, Maro, etc. and coincidentally Skarm and Celesteela which Pinsir struggles with too but it beats the former 3. LO Thunderbolt effectively beats Skarmory and weakens Steela severely to the point where it can't take on Pinsir or take on Magearna over the course of the entire match. LO Magearna is a nice set in general. Zard X & Y ravages this core btw since you're relying on Pinsir to revenge them or a boosted Magearna. Electrics are also a bit of trouble.
Garchomp @ Life Orb
Ability: Rough Skin
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Outrage
- Earthquake
- Fire Fang
- Swords Dance
Similar to the core above, this is set around LO Chomp baiting in Skarm and Steela with Ffang and beating MVenu and Amoong through sheer power so Magearna can clean up. Fairium-Z is awesome for nuking things 3 full powered times and with the aforementioned mons beaten / weakened it has much more freedom with clicking it. Be sure you bring something for Zard X.
Landorus-T @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 248 HP / 212 Def / 32 SpD / 16 Spe
Impish Nature
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- U-turn
- Stealth Rock
Simple defensive core with the idea the Fini and Lando checks nearly all the meta in the two slots while fitting exceptionally well on offensive to balanced teams. They also hold a ton of utility in Rocks, U-turn, Taunt, and Defog in only 2 slots.
Love this core. Idea is Fini (fini issa godess) softens up bulkier squads for Zygarde to setup on without much of a hitch. Toxic could be ran instead of ESpeed but Fini applies hella pressure on both Unaware users to its up to you. Their synergy is great too, except Zygarde isn't usually taking on Electrics so something for them is a must.
Nice offensive (Venu beats both Unaware users and zygarde sets up on most of Venu's stops) and defensive (Venu checks fairies while Zygarde in general sets up on its defensive stops) synergy between these two. I think Knock Off Mega Venu is amazing for crippling Marowaks, Celesteela, AV Magearna, etc. and the best move you could run in the last slot. Lele is a massive threat so Celesteela or Skarm is nice.
Celesteela @ Leftovers
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 248 HP / 92 Def / 168 SpD
Sassy Nature
- Heavy Slam
- Flamethrower
- Protect
- Leech Seed
Steela checks nearly everything that Zygarde can't usually beat and proceed to wear them down with its deceptively powerful moves and Leech Seed. Zygarde loves Leech Seed btw since it wears down anything bar Grasses that come in on it and has a chance to recover HP to it if the oppo doesn't switch. Again, Toxic is an option and something for Electrics (TTar, bulky ZardX, MVenu) is lovely.
Marowak-Alola @ Thick Club
Ability: Lightning Rod
EVs: 248 HP / 136 Atk / 76 SpD / 48 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Will-O-Wisp
- Shadow Bone
- Fire Punch
I think Marowak still has a chance to be decent now it's best qualities were checking Sect, Phero, Koko and other things when they were at large. Now it lost one of its biggest niches but it's kinda stuck in between since it still checks what it checks but loses to a bit more. Anyway, Fini provides Defog support, they have amazing defensuce synergy, and they slam defensive squads together so this is a pretty nice and standard one.
Marowak-Alola @ Thick Club
Ability: Lightning Rod
EVs: 248 HP / 136 Atk / 76 SpD / 48 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Will-O-Wisp
- Shadow Bone
- Fire Punch
Celesteela @ Leftovers
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 248 HP / 92 Def / 168 SpD
Sassy Nature
- Heavy Slam
- Flamethrower
- Protect
- Leech Seed
Pretty similar to the one above in Wak checking Electrics, Phero, and in this case Fire-types. Steela helps wear down opposition while offering Leech Seed recovery in some instances. This one is weak to powerful wallbreakers such as Hoopa and Ash Greninja so Fini is a great partner.
Marowak-Alola @ Thick Club
Ability: Lightning Rod
EVs: 248 HP / 136 Atk / 76 SpD / 48 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Will-O-Wisp
- Shadow Bone
- Fire Punch
Ferrothorn @ Chople Berry
Ability: Iron Barbs
EVs: 252 HP / 88 Def / 168 SpD
Impish Nature
- Power Whip
- Iron Head
- Spikes
- Thunder Wave
This is based around a hazard stack core of Ferro and Wak. The beauty of the core is the synergy is amazing but they still lose to similar things so Chople Ferro I think is good here for catching Lele, Mega Meta, and Mega Zam packing Fighting coverage which is very common.
Marowak-Alola @ Thick Club
Ability: Lightning Rod
EVs: 248 HP / 136 Atk / 76 SpD / 48 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Will-O-Wisp
- Shadow Bone
- Fire Punch
Finally, this is a simple core with Wak + CB Bulu. Bulu takes advantage of nearly everything that comes in on Wak (think Lando, Hippo, and Waters) then nukes them with Wood Hammer while also offering Grassy Terrain recovery which is vastly appreciates. Synergy is also good and Bulu's set is very subjective to team composition.
Greninja-Ash @ Choice Specs
Ability: Battle Bond
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Hydro Pump
- Dark Pulse
- Water Shuriken
- U-turn
Super fun SpecsSpam which aims to overload some shared checks such as Mantine and Toxapex (prevent AshNinja from spamming Pump and Shuriken). Specs Phero is low-key its best set and people need to catch on ASAP 'cause jesus christ this set is completely freaking incredible. The sets are bog standard; HP Ground is used on Pheromosa to 2HKO Toxapex, but if paired with Dugtrio then U-turn is probably the better option. As for checks they help each other out with beyond simple overloading, Pheromosa threatens a lot of the kinda-SIs that Greninja has, including Hydreigon and fatter Bulu variants, whereas AshNinja uses Alolan Marowak and a few other things for free nukes. All in all this core is just very nice in general and I strongly urge people to try it out.
If you struggle w/ DD Nite/Gyara and Mega Alakazam/Aero then I guess you can also run Timid Phero, but most of the time I'd rather rip shit apart with modest 'cause beyond this and tying w/ timid/naive Mosa this its mostly useless.
uhm you can run hp electric on pheromosa, in order to hit mantine. I have already saw that gimmick set from my friend Vertex and I like it, you will also do a super effective damage to toxapex so you should b fine
The purpose of this core is baiting the main check of Tapu Koko with Physical Thundurus Z-Fly.
This set of Thundurus can hit pokemons like Chansey and M-Venusaur/ Tangrowth and make pressure on opponent's team with a classic Tapu Koko.
The main threats of this core are:
Bulky grounds like: Hippowdon, Gastrodon, Seismitoad etc...
Marowak-Alola: It can be a problem because Knock Off doesn't kill it
252 Atk Thundurus Knock Off (97.5 BP) vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Marowak-Alola: 180-212 (55.5 - 65.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
Faster mons like Pheromosa, M-Aerodactyl or M-Alakazam etc...can gives some problems but a Scarf Water mon (evenctually with a grass move just for Gastrodon, Seismitoad and Swampert) can resolve this problem.
Thundurus (M) @ Flyinium Z
Ability: Defiant
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Knock Off
- Superpower
- Fly
- Wild Charge
Tapu Koko @ Life Orb
Ability: Electric Surge
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Dazzling Gleam
- Volt Switch
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power [Ice]
Fun little offensive core I've been using with decent success. Mimikyu is a decent (and cute) sweeper due to Disguise giving it a free one-time Substitute letting it set up freely and unleash it's amazing STAB combination on the opponent. However, even with his alright power, bulky Steel-types such as Ferrothorn, Mega Scizor, and Skarmory are still a pain to get through, which is where Magnezone comes in. Magnezone is able to trap these Steel-types and eliminate them from the game (unless they have Shed Shell of course), making Mimikyu's sweep even easier. Magnezone also threatens other Mimikyu checks such as Toxapex with Thunderbolt and is able to soften up defensive Pokémon with his Choice Specs-boosted attacks to help Mimikyu out in the late-game. You can also run the Chople Berry Thunder Wave set on Magnezone to help this core out against Superpower Mega Scizor and Hammer Arm MegaGross (also lets Magnezone beat Kartana!), but I find Specs to be more consistent especially with Mega Meta running Earthquake nowadays over Hammer Arm. Life Orb is also an option over Ghostium Z on Mimikyu if another member on the team is already using a Z-move, although it should be noted that Never Ending Nightmare helps Mimikyu get past his defensive checks easier when trying to sweep. Good partners to this core would include pivots such as Mega Scizor who can bring Magnezone in via U-Turn so he can fire off attacks or trap Steel-types, which Mega Scizor also appreciates. Mega Scizor also checks Mega Metagross, which is a threat to the core, making it even more useful. Ground-type checks such as defensive Lando-T and Tapu Fini help out Magnezone and can also provide utility such as Stealth Rock or Defog. Overall, this is just a really cool offensive core and I hope you all try it out!
Weavile @ Life Orb
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Ice Shard
- Icicle Crash
- Knock Off
- Pursuit
I've found Weavile/Zard X to be an interesting core, as together they can really help wear down opposing Tapu Fini's. Weavile also helps to deal with defensive Lando and Slowbro while Charizard helps threaten Scizor and Magearna. Tapu Fini pairs nicely with these two providing defog support, stall breaking, and some nice resistances.
Greninja-Ash @ Choice Specs
Ability: Battle Bond
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Hydro Pump
- Dark Pulse
- Water Shuriken
- U-turn
I've been having a lot of success on the ladder with this offensive core
This core is predicated on the classic offensive strategy of overloading checks/counters. Charizard X and Ash Greninja are two offensive juggernauts of the tier that are both primarily held in check by the stellar typing and capabilities of Tapu Fini. The main idea behind this core is simple - use Charizard X to draw out Tapu Fini and go ham. Tapu Fini will barely make it out alive, if not outright die, against Zard X 1v1, leaving Greninja free to spam its specs boosted attacks more easily.
I've been harping on Fini but they function well together against other defensive threats. Zard X is great at combating bulky grasses, bulky steels, and even bulky waters thanks to Dragon STAB. Greninja is a major threat to bulky ground types and other devensive pokemon that Zard X tends to draw out. Both wear down bulky waters thanks to great second STAB.
The combination of speed, power, and the phenomenal quad STAB of fire dragon dark water makes it hard for most teams to handle. This core obviously fits best on offensive teams, where other team members appreciate top defensive pokemon in the tier weakened or dead.
Charizard-Mega-Y @ Charizardite Y
Ability: Drought
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Fire Blast
- Solar Beam
- Earthquake
- Roost
Tyranitar @ Choice Band
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Stone Edge
- Crunch
- Pursuit
- Superpower
This is an old old core but it's making its comeback. Ttar is used to trap normal zard switchins for damage so Charizard may later break them. At the time of this post Charizard is very anti meta making this core very useful.
The core has trouble with things like greninja, Metagross, RP landorus ECT. One Mon you should always run with it is tapu fini as it's the best defogger you could ask for plus a water resist. I'm toying with helm tangrowth as a Metagross check but the checks are iffy.
Charizard-Mega-Y @ Charizardite Y
Ability: Drought
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Fire Blast
- Solar Beam
- Earthquake
- Roost
Tapu fini is the best defogger in the tier and helps provide a greninja and slight Metagross check. The nature's madness set let's it chunk counters and not let them heal making Charizard beat them on the switch.
With this core you still have trouble with fast strong threats, a scarfer like lele, garchomp, terrakion are all nice to have.
On the Celesteela + Marowak/Zygarde Cores I think Shed Shell is a very good option with Steela baiting in Mag. Considering Mag is either a free Sub for Zygarde or a free Rocks/WoW/Shadow Bone for Marowak...yeah.
sup, I wanna drop some cores here. I ain't writing a lot, just have fun with them!
First one
+
+
Simply and effective core. Scizor helps against fairies, gives longevity due to roost, provides momentum, checks grounds or steels such as Excadrill. Tapu Bulu checks water types very well and has a strong attack that lets it hit hard like everything. Bloom doom heatran helps other fire types thanks to earth power, hits hard celesteela and skarm that wall scizor + tapu bulu and of course checks fini due to bloom doom and other water stuff.
Second core, mega slowbro is a fucking beast, calm mind + iron defense is so good. Gliscor is there to stallbreak shit and also to check electric types, which annoy slowbro. Adding ferrothorn was kinda necessary to counter koko here, unless it runs hidden power fire which is sooo gimmick w/e. Spikes stack is also good in this kind of balance, ferro helps checking fairies too.
The purpose of this core is baiting the main check of Tapu Koko with Physical Thundurus Z-Fly.
This set of Thundurus can hit pokemons like Chansey and M-Venusaur/ Tangrowth and make pressure on opponent's team with a classic Tapu Koko.
The main threats of this core are:
Bulky grounds like: Hippowdon, Gastrodon, Seismitoad etc...
Marowak-Alola: It can be a problem because Knock Off doesn't kill it
252 Atk Thundurus Knock Off (97.5 BP) vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Marowak-Alola: 180-212 (55.5 - 65.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
Faster mons like Pheromosa, M-Aerodactyl or M-Alakazam etc...can gives some problems but a Scarf Water mon (evenctually with a grass move just for Gastrodon, Seismitoad and Swampert) can resolve this problem.
Thundurus (M) @ Flyinium Z
Ability: Defiant
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Knock Off
- Superpower
- Fly
- Wild Charge
Tapu Koko @ Life Orb
Ability: Electric Surge
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Dazzling Gleam
- Volt Switch
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power [Ice]
sup, I wanna drop some cores here. I ain't writing a lot, just have fun with them!
First one
+
+
Simply and effective core. Scizor helps against fairies, gives longevity due to roost, provides momentum, checks grounds or steels such as Excadrill. Tapu Bulu checks water types very well and has a strong attack that lets it hit hard like everything. Bloom doom heatran helps other fire types thanks to earth power, hits hard celesteela and skarm that wall scizor + tapu bulu and of course checks fini due to bloom doom and other water stuff.
Second core, mega slowbro is a fucking beast, calm mind + iron defense is so good. Gliscor is there to stallbreak shit and also to check electric types, which annoy slowbro. Adding ferrothorn was kinda necessary to counter koko here, unless it runs hidden power fire which is sooo gimmick w/e. Spikes stack is also good in this kind of balance, ferro helps checking fairies too.
Balanced Core: Mega-Metagross and Mandibuzz. Mandibuzz offers a hard stop to a lot of Earthquake users (so long as they don't pull a Z-Continental Crush out), keeping your M-Metagross safe.
Calcs done with Stone Edge / Rock Slide because almost every valid Earthquake user has a rock-attack up their sleeves.
252 Atk Life Orb Excadrill Rock Slide vs. 240 HP / 216+ Def Mandibuzz: 159-187 (37.7 - 44.4%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Leftovers recovery
0 Atk Landorus-Therian Stone Edge vs. 240 HP / 216+ Def Mandibuzz: 142-168 (33.7 - 39.9%) -- 25% chance to 3HKO after Leftovers recovery
252 Atk Life Orb Garchomp Dragon Claw vs. 240 HP / 216+ Def Mandibuzz: 122-146 (28.9 - 34.6%) -- 99.9% chance to 4HKO after Leftovers recovery
Even the surprise Continental Crush can be survived if you got the Mandibuzz in before the Stealth Rocks.
252 Atk Landorus-Therian Continental Crush (180 BP) vs. 240 HP / 216+ Def Mandibuzz: 306-360 (72.6 - 85.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
252 Atk Mold Breaker Excadrill Continental Crush vs. 240 HP / 216+ Def Mandibuzz: 290-342 (68.8 - 81.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
Mandibuzz's basic gameplan is to switch-into the Stealth Rocks (that every early-game Earthquake user seems to be rocking right now...), shrug off the rock-attack, defog them away, roost up, and then Foul Play if the opponent is stupid enough to stay in that long.
Ultimately, Mandibuzz offers M-Metagross protection from strong Dark, Ghost, and Ground attacks... with enough bulk to shrug off most coverage options from the opponent.
---------
On Metagross's side of things: Metagross switches into the Rock, Fairy, and Ice attacks that are surely going to go towards Mandibuzz. If your opponent brings down Mandibuzz with a coverage move, its probably choice-locked... and you'll get a ton of momentum with the Metagross-revenge attempt.
Tapu Lele provides some trouble, as it is commonly scarf'd. It has Shadow Ball for Metagross and Moonblast for Mandibuzz. Together, you can force a 50/50 to help scout for the Scarf: Metagross tanks the Moonblast while Mandibuzz can tank a Shadowball. If Lele stayed in on the Metagross, you can pretty much be sure that its a Scarf.
Scarf Magnezone is a major issue for this core: it comes in on a revenge to lock Metagross in, but its going to Volt-Switch out, forcing you into 50/50 situations as you contemplate hitting "Earthquake" or the 4x resisted Meteor Mash. Scarf Magnezone can stay in and 2HKO with Thunderbolt (if you pick any move aside from Earthquake). Or it can Volt Switch, and probably switch to a ground-immunity... or even a massive wall like Chansey.
Pretty simple core that fits well on zard-y Balance builds. Alola muk serves as a nice alternative to the normal pursuit trappers to pair with zard-y and can do somthing ttar and weavile cant do: switch into tapu lele. This is a really nice niche and alola muk can also poison things quite consistantly thanks to its ability which helps zard-y in the long run with weakening pokemon via poison and stab sun boosted flamethrower. Alola muk traps most of the same things Ttar can but does better with pursuit trapping psychic types. Muk-A also has knock off which makes for solid utility. Seeing as this core fits more on sand balance, hippowdon makes for a solid partner and naturally so does excadrill. Hazard control in the form of tapu fini works really well but latios and excadrill can also serve as hazard control options. Set up sweepers like SD excadrill make for solid partners to take advantage of the havoc zard-y leaves in its wake.
Muk-Alola @ Assault Vest
Ability: Poison Touch
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Gunk Shot
- Knock Off
- Shadow Sneak
- Pursuit
Charizard-Mega-Y @ Charizardite Y
Ability: Drought
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Flamethrower
- Focus Blast
- Solar Beam
- Roost
Tapu Fini+Ferrothorn Defensive core
This is a pretty solid defensive core for bulky offensive teams and balance thanks to the crucial pokemon this core takes care of. Tapu lele takes on zard-x and pheromosa while ferrothorn takes care of tapu koko. Overall fini and ferro have fantastic synergy and provide crucial support to teams thanks to ferrothorn being able to provide rocks while fini can remove hazards. This core struggles against serperior,thundurus and magnezone so pokemon that can deal with these threats are well appreciated. Bloom doom heatran also poses to be a threat to this core so somthing such as calm mind latios or surf latios make for a nice way of switching in and dealing with heatran.
This core is pretty simple and is kinda similar to those wallbreaker+Dugtrio cores in a lot of regards. This core takes advantage of Dugtrio's ability to trap and eliminate a number of Pokemon which give Porygon Z a headache--namely Chansey and Tyranitar--and eliminating them. The sets are pretty self-explanatory; Screech allows Duggy to trap and eliminate Chansey, whereas Memento gives Porygon-Z setup opportunities. Signal Beam is used in case you can't eliminate Tar 'cause it deals more than HP Fighting vs. other Dark-types barring, like, Bisharp and takes advantage of the fact that Tar is more likely to be put into Signal Beam range anyway due to Duggy. A threat to this core is Mandibuzz (lol) so I *guess* you could run Thunderbolt over Nasty Plot, but Porygon-Z wins out between Nasty Plot and Signal Beam if played well anyway so it's prolly not worth it in the long run. (That and Mandibuzz is rare and bad.)
Bring slow VoltTurners that can bait some of the stuff that Duggy needs to trap for Porygon-Z; for example, Specs Magearna and Specs Hydreigon do a good job of baiting Chansey and helps to wallbreak for PZ. If you can keep SR off of the field you can probably get away with hard switching Duggy into Tar, but if you can think of some VoltTurner that does then great 'cause I'm having a mind blank.
Bring slow VoltTurners that can bait some of the stuff that Duggy needs to trap for Porygon-Z; for example, Specs Magearna and Specs Hydreigon do a good job of baiting Chansey and helps to wallbreak for PZ. If you can keep SR off of the field you can probably get away with hard switching Duggy into Tar, but if you can think of some VoltTurner that does then great 'cause I'm having a mind blank.
I'm going to just theorymon some answers for ya. There really doesn't seem to be any "commonly used" mon will be a Volt/Turn bait to draw in TTar... but maybe some "creative / underrated" sort of thing going on.
Ex: Talonflame used to be great TTar bait (I guess more specifically, used to be a great Pokemon who was TTar bait). There was a discussion elsewhere about maybe using Moltres as the Flying / Fire type of choice this generation, since the Talonflame nerf. Moltres gets the U-Turn, Roost, Will o Wisp, Overheat, and Air Slash... a special-clone to Talonflame sets from last generation (without the priority roost / flying moves however). Dunno if it'd be OU worthy but its a consideration.
The discussion was to basically pair up Tapu Fini with Moltres as a defensive core. The whole "Fire and Water" thing always makes a great core, and Fini is the best Defogger of this generation. So Moltres appreciates a good Defog. With a defensive EV spread of 252 / 48 / 208+ and Leftovers, Moltres walls Bulu (sans Stone Edge), Pheromosa, Bloom-doom Heatran, Magearna (yes, even the Thunderbolt), Celesteela, Charizard-Y, Mega-Scizor, even Mega-Alakazam. As long as rocks are kept off the field, its a good bulky-mon. Moltres's overheat draws in both Chansey and TTar, and the U-Turn into Duggy ought to help.
Warning: the above is theorymoning without any actual experience. But it seems more like a solid gameplan than the gimmicky Z-set for Talonflame. The nerf just seems too hard for me to keep using Talonflame this gen.
Going through the list of U-Turners who are Fire types... Victini probably also draws in the TTar. Not much like taking that V-Create, but TTar can. The best Volt-Switch `mon for drawing in TTar looks like... Rotom-Heat.
So yeah, not the best of options. But that's all that seem offered as "Volt-Switchers who invite TTar in".
Dugtrio @ Focus Sash
Ability: Arena Trap
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
IVs: 21 HP
- Earthquake
- Screech
- Reversal
- Stone Edge
This is a very simple Zard-Y core I've been using on the ladder lately which has a really good matchup against Stall and the bulkier builds that rely on stuff like SpDef Heatran or Toxapex to check Zard. Dugtrio traps Chansey Tyranitar Toxapex Heatran and allows Zard to punch holes on the opposing team. Focus Blast is a bit useless on Zard because Dugtrio traps its only targets already so you can use other moves like Hp-Electric for Mantine or maybe Flame Charge for a better match-up against offense, although I recommend sticking with Focus Blast to avoid getting trapped by Tyranitar. Flamethrower can be used over Fire Blast for an even better match-up against Balance and Stall.
Magearna @ Assault Vest
Ability: Soul-Heart
EVs: 248 HP / 252 SpA / 8 SpD
Modest Nature
- Fleur Cannon
- Flash Cannon
- Volt Switch
- Aura Sphere / HP Fire
Landorus-Therian @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 HP / 216 Def / 24 SpD / 16 Spe
Impish Nature
- Earthquake
- Stealth Rock
- Stone Edge / Knock Off
- U-turn / Swords Dance
I'm surprised I haven't seen this core mentioned before. I missed the start of SuMo OU and started to get into it recently, and those two have been the staple core I have been building my teams around. They form a very solid defensive foundation for balanced and offensively inclined teams, sporting the ability to cover a great deal of the meta together. What I like most about these two is the fact they're defensively capable but not passive: thanks to U-Turn and Volt Switch, you can often grab momentum from your opponents. It's also worth mentioning that both are able to dish out decent damage if the situation calls for it, especially if you opt to run SD on Lando (which usually means you lose out on U-Turn, though). Sets are highly customizable for your teams needs, both concerning moves and EVs.
There's been some talk about scolipede being an awesome sweeper and this is the set that started it. Shown in the SPL match here. The set was most likely meant to be a landorus lure but it's also a sleeper sweeper. It deals with bo and offence really well as it's stabs hit alot of the popular mons for heavy damage. The best checks for this thing are scizor, Celesteela, and ferrothorn which of course magnezone slaughters for free. Magnezone was pretty much made to be paired with this thing.
Buzzwole+Excadrill+mantine
Sets:http://pastebin.com/P8CgYF8Z this is one of the best balance oriented cores atm, with all three mons covering each other's weaknesses almost perfectly.
Buzzwole takes care of zygarde,weavile, and scizor(without having to rely on burns) and ferrothorn. Exca counters 2/4 of the tapus,and also deals with tbolt latios, a big nuisance to both mantine and buzzwole, gives rapid spin support which mantine appreciates;it also setups rocks vs mega sableye, making the stall matchup much easier. mantine serves as the sturdy water resist, countering all variants of ash gren and checking 4 atk variants of protean gren, and also beats fire types like volcarona and heatran which destroy buzzwole and excadrill.
Greninja-Ash breaks common checks of Kartana like A-Marowak, Zapdos, Buzzwole, etc. and helps vs. offence, on the other hand Kartana weakens the opposing team making more easy the Greninja transformation.
Greninja-Ash @ Choice Specs
Ability: Battle Bond
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Hydro Pump
- Dark Pulse
- U-turn
- Water Shuriken
Everybody loves Crawdaunt Crawdaunt is pretty good, Choice Band Adaptability break everything not named Tapu Fini, Tapu Bulu or Azumarill, and this is the moment when Grassium Z Heatran appears, Heatran remove all those mons via Magma Storm making Crawdaunt a biggest threat, also Heatran set up stealth rocks. Pretty fun core.
Crawdaunt @ Choice Band
Ability: Adaptability
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Crabhammer
- Knock Off
- Crunch
- Aqua Jet
Heatran @ Grassium Z
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Magma Storm
- Earth Power
- Solar Beam
- Stealth Rock
Greninja-Ash @ Choice Specs
Ability: Battle Bond
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Hydro Pump
- Dark Pulse
- Water Shuriken
- U-turn
Super fun SpecsSpam which aims to overload some shared checks such as Mantine and Toxapex (prevent AshNinja from spamming Pump and Shuriken). Specs Phero is low-key its best set and people need to catch on ASAP 'cause jesus christ this set is completely freaking incredible. The sets are bog standard; HP Electric is used on Pheromosa to 2HKO Toxapex and to hit Mantine hard, but if paired with Dugtrio then U-turn is probably the better option. As for checks they help each other out with beyond simple overloading, Pheromosa threatens a lot of the kinda-SIs that Greninja has, including Hydreigon and fatter Bulu variants, whereas AshNinja uses Alolan Marowak and a few other things for free nukes. All in all this core is just very nice in general and I strongly urge people to try it out.
If you struggle w/ DD Nite/Gyara and Mega Alakazam/Aero then I guess you can also run Timid Phero, but most of the time I'd rather rip shit apart with modest 'cause beyond this and tying w/ timid/naive Mosa this its mostly useless.
Toxa/Mant/Clef for dealing with setup mons (I appreciate I probably don't need all three, but I started with Toxa, realised most DD users have EQ, added Mantine, realised DD Outrage would fuck my team up and added Clef) and Mamo for my massive Electric weakness, as well as having SE priority on Dragonite and Mega Aerodactyl, and powerful priority for Alakazam.
Toxa/Mant/Clef for dealing with setup mons (I appreciate I probably don't need all three, but I started with Toxa, realised most DD users have EQ, added Mantine, realised DD Outrage would fuck my team up and added Clef) and Mamo for my massive Electric weakness, as well as having SE priority on Dragonite and Mega Aerodactyl, and powerful priority for Alakazam.
The team is way too passive to properly utilise a core like this; Toxapex and Mantine are almost exclusively viable on stall and extremely defensive balanced builds, as is Unaware Clefable, whereas this core is far better suited to bulky offense. I like the direction you're going with Freeze Dry Mamoswine to more consistently pressure things like Mantine and pre-mega Gyarados, although I would bump the SpA investment up to 12 to guarantee the 2HKO on max HP Rotom-W. I'd also change HP Ground to HP Electric on Phero 'cause Mantine and Tapu Fini are still bitches even with Freeze Dry on Mamo. If you're worried about setup just make the team to immensely offensive that your opponent gets extremely limited setup opportunities rather than carrying passive Haze and Unaware users.
While it's somewhat outdated due to being written in ORAS, I strongly suggest giving WECAMEASROMANS' offense teambuilding guide, or at least some of it, as well as the wider playstyles general guide by UberPyro in the same thread; it will give you a rough idea about the kinds of things that you need to be considered when building teams like these, although like I said before there are certain time-sensitive things in these guides that need to be taken into account. I also suggest taking a look at the smog article Frameworks in Teambuilding by Limitless--specifically the offense skeleton--and, once again, taking the details within the paragraphs with a pinch of salt due to it being kinda old, as well as disregarding the balance structure due to it being a gen 5 exclusive thing (lol @ weather balance in SM OU).
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