Hey! Glad I got this to work. This is a team I put together a while back when I was fed up with losing because I was trying to be “creative” and picking bad sets. Most of the team members are sets I just like to use, and I didn’t expect the team to do exceptional. I’ve taken it up to about the 1500s (I know, not high, but it involved a lot of playtime and I didn't expect to have to go higher to max this team out) and haven’t lost a game that wasn’t due to hax, though, so I was wondering if you all had any advice on how to spruce up the team for that next level.
The two biggest things I’ve noticed are that a) I am weak to knock off/physical dark types, because hippo loses it’s lefties, mew is weak to dark, and clef is SpDef, and b) I have no real solid checks to the majority of the meta. Zard X is an issue when I can’t whittle it down enough, for example. I think this means the team is just high-powered and not actually well built, but I will leave the decision on that front up to you.
One final note before I get to the team: One of this team’s biggest assets is unpredictability. It benefits more from Unaware on Clefable than the typical Magic Guard, because I can send it in on set-up sweepers my team would otherwise have issues with, rather than just using it as a special wall, and then the set-up sweepers will waste turns trying to set up more and take me out in one shot. (And yes, I know these things aren't unheard of, but they at least can give quite a surprise to somebody looking for a standard set.)
Manaphy @ Leftovers
Ability: Hydration
252 SpAtk / 4 HP / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
Manaphy (Na-na) is the entire reason I built this team. I was tired of losing with my other Heart-Swap team, so I just plugged this in to the teambuilder and went from there. Na-na is typically my late game cleaner/secondary special wallbraker, as well as a good check to the aforementioned Zard X, along with opposing Clefableand Volcaronawhen they are around. Typically though, I just use Na-na’s natural bulk to get a switch in on something like Lando-T, then either scare it out and tail glow or get an easy kill with Ice Beam.
Entei @ Choice Band
Ability: Pressure
252 Atk / 4 SpDef / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature
I said an asset of this team is unpredictability, right? While Entei isn’t unheard of, it is out-done by the likes of Talonflame when it comes to the ORAS OU metagame. However, there are very few walls outside of Hippowdon which can safely take a banded Sacred Fire, and in a meta where every fire type is either Heatran, Charizard, or Talonflame, I have found that people rely more on rock-type and ground-type coverage to hit fire-types for 4x damage, leaving Entei and his pure-fire typing to often survive the hit and take out the opponent’s fire counter. (Side note: Iron head is amazing on this set, as it can easily clear fairies that like to annoy the team.)
Manetric @ Manetricite
Ability: Lightning Rod/Intimidate
252 SpAtk / 4 SpDef / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
The third and final offensively oriented member of the team, Mega Manetric fits the role of special wallbreaker on this team, letting Manaphy be the cleaner. Most games I find myself leading with Manetric or Entei, then either switching or Volt Switching to one of my walls almost immediately. Manetric is nice then to bring in later as a revenge killer or offensive counter to Ferrothorn, Talonflame, Lando-T, and Hippowdon, and while I wouldn’t recommend that last one, it works if it’s weak enough. My favorite part about Manetric, however, is that it serves as a fail-safe- If something dies to a crit, or manaphy has a bad matchup, there’s always some way Manetric can solve the problem, even if it takes some working.
Hippowdon @ Leftovers
Ability: Sand Stream
252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Def
Impish Nature
Hippowdon switches in to every Physical attack. That’s pretty much it. Most physical attackers are either steel, fire, or ground, so he basically beats everything but Breloom, which is checked by M-Manetric. Hippo is also my favorite pivot on the team, due to his sand stream for chip damage and his ability to set up rocks on anything unprepared. Yeah, it’s a basic strategy, but it works. Yeah, he can be set up fodder, but set up (especially Calm Mind Clefable, which people love to send in on him) does not fare well against my team with both heart swap and unaware present. So, basically, he’s my mindless play team member. Some people constantly send out Keldeo and hit scald, I send out Hippo and hit EQ.
Clefable @ Leftovers
Ability: Unaware
252 HP / 4 SpAtk / 252 SpDef
Calm Nature
Clefable is special Hippowdon. Moonblast does adequate damage to a large portion of the meta, Wish-Passing on this team is nice and useful, and heal bell support is fantastic, even if my physical attacker is immune to burns. Unaware catches many people off guard with the surplus of calm mind setters in the format, as they desperately try to set up SpDef while getting 3 or 4HKO’d by Moonblast. And a shout out to everyone who uses Magic Guard Clefable- Thank you, because without you, people might try to status Unaware Clefable every once in a while ;)
Mew @ Leftovers
Ability: Synchronise
252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature
At this point, you’re probably wondering, “How on earth does this team beat the ever-present stall teams in the format?” The answer, of course, is Mew. This Mew is a terrible variation on the recommended smogon “Stallbreaker” Set, keeping the two key moves, Knock off and Wisp, while adding hazard removal and Volt-turn support to my team. However, this set is easily worn down without the leftovers, and loses a large portion of it’s ability to stay in on things without soft-boiled. Typically, what has to be done is that I send it in on a wall, take two turns to knock off and wisp, then u-turn out, making mew a key part of the team, but at the same time, it ends up useless in a most every situation not involving Chasey or Ferrothorn, so any suggestions for this part of the team would be appreciated.
Well, that’s all six. Please, do leave as may comments on the team as you like, and feel free to tell me the team stinks and it’s only done this well because of a fluke if you feel that way. Anyway, thanks for taking the time to read and RATE MY TEAM!
The two biggest things I’ve noticed are that a) I am weak to knock off/physical dark types, because hippo loses it’s lefties, mew is weak to dark, and clef is SpDef, and b) I have no real solid checks to the majority of the meta. Zard X is an issue when I can’t whittle it down enough, for example. I think this means the team is just high-powered and not actually well built, but I will leave the decision on that front up to you.
One final note before I get to the team: One of this team’s biggest assets is unpredictability. It benefits more from Unaware on Clefable than the typical Magic Guard, because I can send it in on set-up sweepers my team would otherwise have issues with, rather than just using it as a special wall, and then the set-up sweepers will waste turns trying to set up more and take me out in one shot. (And yes, I know these things aren't unheard of, but they at least can give quite a surprise to somebody looking for a standard set.)
Manaphy @ Leftovers
Ability: Hydration
252 SpAtk / 4 HP / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
- Tail Glow
- Scald
- Ice Beam
- Heart Swap
Manaphy (Na-na) is the entire reason I built this team. I was tired of losing with my other Heart-Swap team, so I just plugged this in to the teambuilder and went from there. Na-na is typically my late game cleaner/secondary special wallbraker, as well as a good check to the aforementioned Zard X, along with opposing Clefableand Volcaronawhen they are around. Typically though, I just use Na-na’s natural bulk to get a switch in on something like Lando-T, then either scare it out and tail glow or get an easy kill with Ice Beam.
Entei @ Choice Band
Ability: Pressure
252 Atk / 4 SpDef / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Sacred Fire
- Extreme Speed
- Iron Head
- Stone Edge
I said an asset of this team is unpredictability, right? While Entei isn’t unheard of, it is out-done by the likes of Talonflame when it comes to the ORAS OU metagame. However, there are very few walls outside of Hippowdon which can safely take a banded Sacred Fire, and in a meta where every fire type is either Heatran, Charizard, or Talonflame, I have found that people rely more on rock-type and ground-type coverage to hit fire-types for 4x damage, leaving Entei and his pure-fire typing to often survive the hit and take out the opponent’s fire counter. (Side note: Iron head is amazing on this set, as it can easily clear fairies that like to annoy the team.)
Manetric @ Manetricite
Ability: Lightning Rod/Intimidate
252 SpAtk / 4 SpDef / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
- Flamethrower
- Volt Switch
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power Ice
The third and final offensively oriented member of the team, Mega Manetric fits the role of special wallbreaker on this team, letting Manaphy be the cleaner. Most games I find myself leading with Manetric or Entei, then either switching or Volt Switching to one of my walls almost immediately. Manetric is nice then to bring in later as a revenge killer or offensive counter to Ferrothorn, Talonflame, Lando-T, and Hippowdon, and while I wouldn’t recommend that last one, it works if it’s weak enough. My favorite part about Manetric, however, is that it serves as a fail-safe- If something dies to a crit, or manaphy has a bad matchup, there’s always some way Manetric can solve the problem, even if it takes some working.
Hippowdon @ Leftovers
Ability: Sand Stream
252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Def
Impish Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Slack Off
- Crunch
Hippowdon switches in to every Physical attack. That’s pretty much it. Most physical attackers are either steel, fire, or ground, so he basically beats everything but Breloom, which is checked by M-Manetric. Hippo is also my favorite pivot on the team, due to his sand stream for chip damage and his ability to set up rocks on anything unprepared. Yeah, it’s a basic strategy, but it works. Yeah, he can be set up fodder, but set up (especially Calm Mind Clefable, which people love to send in on him) does not fare well against my team with both heart swap and unaware present. So, basically, he’s my mindless play team member. Some people constantly send out Keldeo and hit scald, I send out Hippo and hit EQ.
Clefable @ Leftovers
Ability: Unaware
252 HP / 4 SpAtk / 252 SpDef
Calm Nature
- Wish
- Protect
- Heal Bell
- Moonblast
Clefable is special Hippowdon. Moonblast does adequate damage to a large portion of the meta, Wish-Passing on this team is nice and useful, and heal bell support is fantastic, even if my physical attacker is immune to burns. Unaware catches many people off guard with the surplus of calm mind setters in the format, as they desperately try to set up SpDef while getting 3 or 4HKO’d by Moonblast. And a shout out to everyone who uses Magic Guard Clefable- Thank you, because without you, people might try to status Unaware Clefable every once in a while ;)
Mew @ Leftovers
Ability: Synchronise
252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature
- Defog
- Knock Off
- Will-O-Wisp
- U-Turn
At this point, you’re probably wondering, “How on earth does this team beat the ever-present stall teams in the format?” The answer, of course, is Mew. This Mew is a terrible variation on the recommended smogon “Stallbreaker” Set, keeping the two key moves, Knock off and Wisp, while adding hazard removal and Volt-turn support to my team. However, this set is easily worn down without the leftovers, and loses a large portion of it’s ability to stay in on things without soft-boiled. Typically, what has to be done is that I send it in on a wall, take two turns to knock off and wisp, then u-turn out, making mew a key part of the team, but at the same time, it ends up useless in a most every situation not involving Chasey or Ferrothorn, so any suggestions for this part of the team would be appreciated.
Well, that’s all six. Please, do leave as may comments on the team as you like, and feel free to tell me the team stinks and it’s only done this well because of a fluke if you feel that way. Anyway, thanks for taking the time to read and RATE MY TEAM!
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