Project OU Teambuilding Competition V9 (Done! See you all in Sun & Moon)

[Breezy]

team four

 

[1 True Lycan]

Team 2

 

[AM]

Guess this wasnt the most appealing round after all so lets get moving ASAP

Naw appealing rounds are lame. Too many teams and there isn't much to analyze when everyone just relies on using stock stuff. Rounds should be a bit challenging anyways handouts are for dumb.

4 and 5 have the better partners in terms of synergy but I'm gonna go with 5.

Team 1 and 2 are these wicked try hard rain builds. A crummy playstyle already and doesn't help that they're going to have enormous matchup issues.

Team 3 openly just jacking another dudes build and calling it your own is not exactly surprising here, but I definitely got to throw out my signature wow. The blunder point isn't even attractive in the sense you weren't the guy actually winning, also considering it's just ladder, and I'm curious why there was a need to mention that? Rhetorical question btw.

I would've originally voted for Team 4 but these sets are all over the place. Rash Diancie, Grass Knot Torn-I missing EVs. While the idea might've been there it's not really capitalizing on a specific win condition / end game in mind. Granted these days this isn't the case for myself but if you're gonna make a more serious build on the concept it would help to put some effort in identifying and emphasizing this goal I mentioned prior. Grass Knot Torn-I also doesn't stop bulky waters from setting up Calm Minds and having somewhat of a field day.

I'm voting for 5 although it kind of annoys me the same ways that Team 4 does and mentally it has my vote just out of the lack of care for Team 4 really. If there's one thing I do think was done right on this team it was realizing this point here in the description.

Building this was really straight-forward. The only actual reason to use Torn-I is Prankster Tailwind, nearly every other set it can run is either super niche (Bulk Up WutFace) or outdone by Torn-T. Tailwind in and of itself isn't something you should base a team around, but it's nice in a pinch against opposing offensive teams,......

The sets for Team 5 while good in specific scenarios are really out there and in some instances I don't even feel it pairs well overall with the team. I think the 3 attacks / CM Keldeo set is not bad but when Keld is the only thing that's really gonna stop something like Weavile and get worn down quickly from playing prediction games with Amoonguss to not give it a free turn I think it doesn't help a whole lot. On Keldeo with sets like these I also hate just giving away the sets and I feel Keldeos effectiveness is really reliant on its surprise factor which you give up by running Life Orb. If there's something I would consider it would probably be Expert Bel, Fist Plate, or Mystic Water here. I hate my Heatrans not having Taunt especially with Magma Storm, the pressure on defensive cores with Magma + Taunt is pretty huge, to me at least, where it's a large opportunity cost to not run. Even if it isn't Magma (I know a lot of dudes run Lava Plume to) Tauntless Heatran makes me cry tears of sadness. Torn-T is just a nightmare from my perspective when running these kinds of builds and I'd argue that's more for this team than the other due to the Heatran variants. I actually like that you have Serp to handle bulky waters more effectively than Team 4 but the way Torn-T kind of just comes in on it for free is depressing. If there's something I would consider here it would be Glare first / Toxic as a secondary option after depending on which route you want to take. Toxic is better for Talonflame matchups to myself while Glare is a more catch all that I think would fix your teams somewhat over-dependency on using Torn-I as its form of speed control.

Nothing much else to say here. I liked this round a lot sort of puts emphasis on finding the roles that work well with specific mons and making it work effectively.

 

[Pais]

team5

 

[BK]

Team 3

 

[Jamel]

Team 4

 

[FMG]

TEAM 5

 

[Sobi]

Team 5

 

[BIG G CHOPPA]

Team 4

 

[Balandrick]

Team 3. I too like the answer to "what's my lead?" and " what's my wincon?" to be the same.

 

[Groudon ex]

Team 5

 

[Swagata]

Team 3

 

[MrAldo]

Team 5 by Tressed has won this teambuilding round. Good job, will be added to the hall of fame shortly.

Did I hear next teambuilding round?! Yes, but of course!

Round 40:

+

​

Next core will try to appeal to the "I prefer bulky" audience I swear. Ok, heracross breaks or weaken pretty much every talonflame check in the meta. Ground, rock and steel types crumble against the presence of a heracross and talonflame love taking advantage of that to clean weakened teams while talonflame can revenge kill faster mons that could give heracross trouble latis and handling a couple of fairies depending of set. You can use either regular heracross or mega heracross, the option is there for you!

This round will last until Thursday at 11:00 PM GMT -5 (Central time). Have fun!

 

[dk]

Haven't gotten many decent games with this team because of (mostly) hax, but I feel like the team's solid enough so far... so here it is:

Importable:

Hide

Tyranitar (F) @ Chople Berry
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 248 HP / 124 Atk / 136 SpA
Brave Nature
- Stone Edge
- Pursuit
- Ice Beam
- Stealth Rock

Excadrill (F) @ Air Balloon
Ability: Sand Rush
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Earthquake
- Iron Head
- Swords Dance
- Rapid Spin

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

Thundurus @ Life Orb
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 30 Def
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Focus Blast
- Thunder Wave

Talonflame (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Flame Body
EVs: 192 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 60 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Brave Bird
- Roost
- Will-O-Wisp
- Swords Dance

Heracross-Mega (M) @ Heracronite
Ability: Moxie
EVs: 248 HP / 136 Atk / 124 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Pin Missile
- Close Combat
- Rock Blast
- Swords Dance

Description:

Hide

Looking at the initial core of SD Hera + SD Talonflame, I realized I would definitely need something to pressure the checks Talonflame has that Hera doesn't, ie Heatran and Tyranitar (Hera just scares them out, so they're not weakened for a Talonflame sweep). I also wanted something that could decently check some threats to Hera and Talonflame (bulky grounds, Talonflame itself, electrics to name a few) so I opted for Thundurus to check annoying flying types, provide T-Wave support for Hera, and weaken Tyranitar and Heatran for Talonflame. Next, I needed hazard removal, something to check electrics, and something that could trap Lati@s for Hera and to a lesser extent Thundurus, so a sand offense core of Tyranitar and Excadrill partnered nicely. They cover the hazard game well, as Tyranitar traps Starmie and Lati@s decently while also providing rocks, while Excadrill on a balloon spins vs. a ton of the meta. Looking at the team so far, I was painfully weak to bulky grounds, Keldeo, and opposing sand offense, so Azumarill was my final choice.

I'll quickly cover EVs here since I made a few interesting decisions. Heracross is standard fat-Cross, running enough speed to outspeed most slow Rotom-W variants while retaining enough attack to 2HKO most Clef spreads. Talonflame is running 303 speed, which allows it to burn Excadrill out of sand should that play be necessary. Thundurus, Azumarill, and Excadrill are running generic spreads that don't really warrant an explanation, so I'll skip those three. Last, we have Tyranitar, which I'm running enough Sp. Atk EVs to OHKO 248 HP / 24 Sp. Def Landorus-T after rocks with Ice Beam because of how much it troubles the rest of the build. I poured the EVs remaining from the Sp. Atk investment and HP investment into attack to reduce support-Tar's passivity, which fits the build far better than the generic 248 HP / 80+ Def / 180 Sp. Def spread.

 

[HailFall]

I actually already had this team half built so i finished pretty quickly. I started with the core of hera + tflame that was given, and i decided to go for mega hera because normal hera isnt great and i couldnt think of a different mega that would work better. Offensive tflame because i think it works better here as its able to take on skarm better which is a bit problematic for mhera. Latios was my next pick because its the best hazard remover in the tier and i would need one with talonflame on my team. Next i added rotom-w because the team was disgustingly weak to opposing talonflame, and i also needed a solid check to sand and weavile. My next pick was stallbreaker heatran with solar beam. This lets me lure rotom-w for talonflame and stallbreak quite effectively in tandem with mega heracross. This is also my latios check, and my check to hp fire diancie. Finally i added defensive sd landorus-t. this gave me a check to mega lopunny, dnite, and eq zardx while also providing a secondary check to mons like mzor, clefable, and exca. Youve got the option of running yache on lando because thundy is really frustrating to deal with otherwise. The mdiancie matchup is tough, so you need to limit its switchin opportunities. You can try steel wing over roost on tflame to lure it but thats just... ugh. Especially on a wincon dropping recovery isnt great. Latios is also a little tricky but theres counterplay to be had. In some matchups where rotom is less useful you can let it take a draco from full thanks to the 20 spd and pain split to wear latios down. Im not the best teambuilder but this team was definitely fun to make!

Team

Heracross-Mega @ Heracronite
Ability: Moxie
EVs: 240 HP / 136 Atk / 132 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Close Combat
- Pin Missile
- Rock Blast
- Substitute

Talonflame @ Sky Plate
Ability: Gale Wings
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Brave Bird
- Flare Blitz
- Swords Dance
- Roost

Latios (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Draco Meteor
- Psychic
- Roost / Thunderbolt
- Defog

Rotom-Wash @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 248 HP / 196 Def / 20 SpD / 44 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Volt Switch
- Hydro Pump
- Will-O-Wisp
- Pain Split

Heatran @ Power Herb
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 248 HP / 8 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Magma Storm
- Solar Beam
- Earth Power
- Taunt

Landorus-Therian (M) @ Yache Berry / Rocky Helmet
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 248 HP / 228 Def / 32 SpD
Impish Nature
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- Swords Dance
- Stealth Rock

 

[Tio Chico]

Explanation

Mega Heracross Substitute + 3 atk is my favorite set, preventing status and acting as a great wall and stallbreaker.
Talonflame is the second wincon, Bulk Up + Taunt as a decent option against Mega Sableye stall.
Rotom-W is automatically added as the Flying check required. A standart pivot.
I need a durable answer against Keldeo, and preferably it is not vulnerable to Pursuit, because face Pursuit trap + WinCon is something unpleasant, among the few (really few) options, Amoonguss presents as a decent glue to the team, helping against Clefable, Mega Diancie and the mentioned Keldeo.
Hippowdon provides mandatory rocks, and stops Mega Manectric and Raikou. Skarmory is the Lati and Garde switch. Defog support, with Toxic coming to be useful against Rotom-W and other Electric-types who always come freely before her.
Manaphy destroys this team unfortunately, but I prefer to believe that one day it is in a suspect before S / M.

Team

Heracross @ Heracronite
Ability: Guts
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Close Combat
- Substitute
- Pin Missile
- Rock Blast

Talonflame @ Leftovers
Ability: Gale Wings
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Atk / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
- Taunt
- Bulk Up
- Roost
- Brave Bird

Rotom-Wash @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 248 HP / 218 Def / 44 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Volt Switch
- Will-O-Wisp
- Hydro Pump
- Pain Split

Amoonguss @ Black Sludge
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 132 Def / 120 SpD / 4 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Spore
- Giga Drain
- Sludge Bomb
- Clear Smog

Hippowdon @ Leftovers
Ability: Sand Force
EVs: 252 HP / 144 Def / 112 SpD
Impish Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Whirlwind
- Slack Off

Skarmory @ Leftovers
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Def / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
- Roost
- Defog
- Iron Head
- Toxic

Replay

http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/ou-385255372
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/ou-385721603

 

[Agent Gibbs]

Figured I might give this a try for the fun of it. My teambuilding skills are obviously pretty rusty, so cut me a little slack, lol. Some of my sets can be a little weird, I know, but in my opinion that's a huge part of the fun of teambuilding. So anyway, here we go.

Team

Heracross @ Heracronite
Ability: Moxie
EVs: 184 HP / 104 Atk / 4 Def / 216 Spe
Adamant Nature
-Swords Dance
-Close Combat
-Pin Missile
-Rock Blast

Talonflame @ (No Item)
Ability: Gale Wings
EVs: 248 HP / 160 Atk / 8 Def / 84 SpD / 8 Spe
Adamant Nature
-Swords Dance
-Acrobatics
-Roost
-Will-O-Wisp

Scizor @ Iron Plate
Ability: Technician
EVs: 248 HP / 16 Atk / 244 SpD
Adamant Nature
-Defog
-Roost
-Bullet Punch
-U-turn

Rotom-Wash @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 164 Def / 48 SpD / 44 Spe
Bold Nature
-Hydro Pump
-Volt Switch
-Will-O-Wisp
-Pain Split

Slowbro @ Leftovers
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 232 Def / 24 SpD
Bold Nature
-Scald
-Psyshock
-Thunder Wave
-Slack Off

Hippowdon @ Leftovers
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
-Earthquake
-Slack Off
-Stealth Rock
-Stone Edge

Reasoning

Okay, so the first thing that came to mind was a dual Swords Dance thing. I think both of these Pokemon kinda have some cool offensive synergy since Mega Heracross puts a lot of pressure on slower and bulkier teams while Talonflame can be a big threat to offensive teams. Mega Heracross's set is pretty simple, just SD + 3 Attacks. The EV spread lets him outspeed Adamant Bisharp while also escaping the 2HKO from Jolly Bisharp's Iron Head, and the rest is placed into Atk. For Talonflame, I went with a bulky SD set with Will-O-Wisp because I've always liked Talonflame sets that I can play offensively and defensively. No item + Will-O-Wisp also makes him better against Bisharp (if you can't tell by now, I hate Bisharp). The defensive investment is a bit weird, but it has a purpose. The 8 Def EVs ensure that Jolly Mega Metagross can't OHKO even with Thunder Punch, giving me a chance to burn it and stall it out if need be. The SpD EVs let Talonflame Roost stall at least 4 consecutive Fire Blasts from Timid Charizard Y, so given the occasional miss, I should win that matchup.

Next I was obviously going to want some sort of hazard removal. Lati@s is an obvious choice, but that's boring, so here's a Scizor! This is an old set I used way back when that makes a decent switch-in to plenty of Fairies and Dragons while still providing Defog support. The Atk EVs, Adamant nature, and Iron Plate let it hit some important KOs with Bullet Punch, including a OHKO on Mega Gardevoir and a 2HKO on Mega Altaria and Clefable.

At this point, Rotom-W felt like an obvious choice. It synergizes well with Scizor, it gives both of my Swords Dance users more free switches with Volt Switch, and it checks Flying-types that looked like they'd be a pain at this point. The spread outspeeds all Azumarill and ensures that LO Tornadus-T can't 2HKO with Focus Blast from full health. The rest is used to bolster Rotom-W's physical bulk.

Now I noticed that the team didn't have a good switch-in to offensive Electrics, I rely on Mega Heracross too much to tank Rock attacks, and I still needed Stealth Rock. I decided to try Hippowdon out here. I went full special bulk with Stone Edge to better handle things like Thundurus and Tornadus-T, among other things.

Finally, I wanted something else to switch into Keldeo besides just Rotom-W, and I needed something that I could toss in front of Mega Medicham. Additionally, since I went with a specially defensive spread on Hippowdon, I wanted something else that could compensate with more physical bulk. Slowbro fit the bill pretty well here. Again, pretty standard set, nothing too unusual.

Rotom-W can be pretty annoying since Hippowdon, the only thing that resists Volt Switch, is weak to Hydro Pump. Choice Specs Volcanion is dangerous. If you can get Slowbro in safely, it can paralyze it and you can hopefully finish it off with Mega Heracross. A well played SD Lum Garchomp will probably take down at least one Pokemon as well. Suicune can be a hassle too, although this could probably be remedied by running Calm Mind > Thunder Wave on Slowbro. Not a huge fan of Crawdaunt either since it can click Knock Off and do major damage to everything but Mega Heracross, who dies to Crabhammer + Aqua Jet.

That's all that jumps out at me right now, although there's probably more issues because like I said, I'm really rusty.

 

[eden]

team

Heracross @ Heracronite
Ability: Guts
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Close Combat
- Pin Missile
- Rock Blast
- Substitute

Talonflame @ Liechi Berry
Ability: Gale Wings
EVs: 48 HP / 216 Atk / 244 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Brave Bird
- Flare Blitz
- Swords Dance
- Natural Gift

Keldeo @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Justified
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Scald
- Hydro Pump
- Secret Sword
- Icy Wind

Latios (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Defog
- Draco Meteor
- Psyshock
- Roost

Landorus-Therian (M) @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 HP / 232 Def / 24 SpD
Impish Nature
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- Stealth Rock

Tyranitar @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Hasty Nature
- Stone Edge
- Pursuit
- Ice Beam
- Crunch

Explanation

I figured that this core should go on an offensive squad of some sort. Heracross/Talonflame is a really cool offensive core looking at it at first, but the only overlapping check for the most part is Landorus-Therian which is kind of an iffy answer to begin with. Being an offensive team I thought that not losing to stuff like Bisharp/Weavile straight up would be nice, hence the Scarf Keldeo; which also gives me an edge versus rain because of the nice speed tier. I went Will-o-Wisp+SD Talonflame because I'm a big fan of sets, that can basically soften up their own checks. I'm running HP:Ice Landorus-Therian because that's one less "check" for Cross/TFlame, and it also lets me do something substantial versus Lead Garchomp. Latios was almost a given, as an offensive defogger given the nature of the core, I might have gone Starmie instead but Latios felt like it checked some things for me way better. Substitute Cross was chosen because of its ability to pressure opponents a lot after forcing a switch, although SD might work equally as well; I went with Jolly Cross to get the jump on some things like Breloom/Bisharp/Specs volcanion that I found irritating, but again the bulky Adamant set here is definitely worth looking into. Tornadus-Therian was tossed on because of it being able to offensively check some stuff for me, and also because I think that Flying STAB is amazing and lets me pressure Talonflame's check as well for the most part. Iron Tail is on Torn-T because I found Mega Diancie to be a tad irritating on paper. The team isn't amazing and has an iffy matchup versus electrics(you can try running defensive SD/SR Lando-T+yache berry for this), thankfully Mega Manectric is on the rarer side/Raikou isn't even good so you should be fine. You could run Latias>Latios if you really wanted to I suppose but otherwise for the most part I'm satisfied. A cool option I haven't noted here is running NG:Grass Talonflame to lure Rotom-W for Keldeo/Tornadus-Therian, and if doing that you should probably look to run HW Latias I feel. gl! n.n

EDIT: Went with Tyranitar>Torn-T because I was too weak to electrics in practice. Also because Pursuit trap+Keldeo is fun, and now I cover some more stuff I was having trouble with like the latis. Also screw it I'm going NG Talonflame, people have slept on offensive talonflame for too long as is. Ice Beam TTar helps me lure Lando-T btw, cause I'm running a not very bulky MCross+TFlame. TTar also helps me beat all the birds so thats cool :)

 

[Breezy]

importable

Heracross-Mega @ Heracronite
Ability: Moxie
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Close Combat
- Pin Missile
- Rock Blast
- Sword Dance

Talonflame @ Leftovers
Ability: Gale Wings
EVs: 248 HP / 248 SpD / 12 Spe
Careful Nature
- Will-O-Wisp
- Taunt
- Roost
- Brave Bird

Kyurem-Black @ Life Orb
Ability: Teravolt
EVs: 16 Atk / 252 SpA / 240 Spe
Mild Nature
- Ice Beam
- Fusion Bolt
- Earth Power
- Roost

Jirachi @ Leftovers
Ability: Serene Grace
EVs: 252 HP / 224 SpD / 32 Spe
Careful Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Iron Head
- Wish
- Protect

Zapdos @ Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 248 HP / 176 Def / 68 SpA / 16 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Defog
- Volt Switch
- Heat Wave
- Roost

Amoonguss @ Black Sludge
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 248 HP / 168 Def / 92 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Spore
- Giga Drain
- Clear Smog
- Stun Spore

describtion

This team destroys stalls. Taunt tflame is a bitch and MCross destroys every type of teams. Checks off MCross are Unaware Clefable, Gliscor etc. etc. So I thought to put Cube in the team wich checks mons like Manaphy and MManectrik. I needed a rocks setter and a dragon resistor so jirachi was a good option for this team. Amoonguss is there to Paralyze fast mons and so to help MCross sweeping, because cross is really slow even jolly nature wich is given to stop jolly bisharp sweeping. Zapdos is a check to flying k0k ons like tflames and tornadus therian wich were annoying for this team. It also has defog because hazards make a lot of pressure.

 

[false]

I actually made this team as an application for the teambuilding shop. It was built around Mega Hera + Thundurus, however it has a Talonflame, and it still fits the description.

Importable

Azelf @ Focus Sash
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 128 HP / 128 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Explosion
- Taunt
- Skill Swap
- Stealth Rock

Heracross-Mega @ Heracronite
Ability: Moxie
EVs: 40 HP / 252 Atk / 216 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Pin Missile
- Close Combat
- Rock Blast
- Swords Dance

Excadrill @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Mold Breaker
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Iron Head
- Rock Slide
- Rapid Spin

Thundurus @ Life Orb
Ability: Defiant
EVs: 72 Atk / 184 SpA / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Superpower
- Knock Off

Talonflame
Ability: Gale Wings
EVs: 200 HP / 248 Atk / 60 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Acrobatics
- Will-O-Wisp
- Swords Dance
- Roost

Manaphy @ Salac Berry
Ability: Hydration
EVs: 96 HP / 252 SpA / 160 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Surf
- Psychic
- Shadow Ball
- Tail Glow

Description

This is a dumb HO that I made in like 10 minutes, but it's pretty fun.

Azelf gets Rocks, and has investment to live Fake Out + Return from Mega Lopunny to ensure you get Rocks in that matchup. Skill Swap it to try get Rocks on Magic Bouncers.

Mega Heracross provides a nice breaker for of the fatter defensive Pokemon which can sometimes be annoying for HO builds like this. SD is preferred since the rest of this team already has a pretty decent matchup vs offense, and the ability to lure in and heavily weaken a wall for the rest of the team is pretty good support.

Thundurus is a mixed breaker because the team really doesn't switch into anything, and so losing momentum or having to sack is annoying. Knock Off means you don't have to switch out vs Latis, but also makes it easier to wear down fat mons in general. Since I'm mixed I can run Superpower, which is nice to hit Chansey and Heatran, is 100% accurate, and is also boosted by Defiant. BoltBeam coverage is standard.

Since the team isn't super resilient against hazards I decided to throw on Scarf Excadrill which is a pretty great mon on HO because it provides pretty good role compression. It provides a bird check, Electric resist, a check to Dragons like Latios and Kyurem-B. It also spins, and in general Mold Breaker Earthquake can be a problem for a lot of teams to switch into, especially considering how the rest of this team pressures bulky Grounds.

Talonflame is another almost necessity on teams like this, but I decided to go with the bulky SD variant on this build for a few reasons. Wisp support gives Pokemon like Mega Heracross and Manaphy a much easier time setting up, but also gives the team a bit of flexibility against Pokemon like Mega Scizor Excadrill and Bisharp, which a bulkier Talonflame is slightly more reliable against. Obviously standard Jolly SD Talonflame works fine in this slot too.

Manaphy was an interesting last choice for this team which I think has actually worked out really well. I needed a Water resist, and a check to the likes of Keldeo, but I also wanted something that could lure and deal with Electrics. Manaphy does that, whilst also wearing down bulky Grounds. With Excadrill's Rapid Spin support, Manaphy is able to run a Salac Berry set. Manaphy has just enough bulk to live all the stuff that you'd want it to, taking a Thunderbolt from the likes of Mega Manectric, Scarf Magnezone, a Draco Meteor from Latios and with a +1 boost to speed, and a +3 boost to SpA, Manaphy becomes a menace which is effective in weakening many defensive cores in order to gear up for a Talonflame sweep. I wanted to be able to hit fat Grasses like Mega Venusaur whilst still being able to hit Latios and Slowbro. Shadow Ball + Psychic was the only coverage I could come up with, but its been working fine. I'm running Surf because this is HO, and the damage is more important than the burn chance. Surf gets rolls on things like Garchomp and Landorus which Scald cannot (since I'm not running Ice Beam)Manaphy could run a bit more Speed for Scarf Landorus (184 Spe) if you wanted.

 

[MegaStarUniverse]

M-Heracross + Talonflame Sand

Hide

Mach 5 Speed (Latios) @ Life Orb
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Hasty Nature
- Draco Meteor
- Psyshock
- Roost
- Earthquake

Talonflame @ Leftovers
Ability: Gale Wings
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 248 HP / 248 SpD / 12 Spe
Careful Nature
- Swords Dance
- Taunt
- Roost
- Brave Bird

Heracross @ Heracronite
Ability: Guts
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Close Combat
- Pin Missile
- Rock Blast
- Swords Dance

Tyranitar @ Chople Berry
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Sassy Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Pursuit
- Fire Blast
- Stone Edge

Excadrill @ Life Orb
Ability: Sand Rush
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Earthquake
- Iron Head
- Rock Slide
- Rapid Spin

Slowbro @ Leftovers
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 224 Def / 16 SpD / 16 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Scald
- Psyshock
- Calm Mind
- Slack Off

Hey everyone today we have Talonflame + M-Heracross Sand... Heracross destroys and beats Steel,Rock, and ground types which can give lead way for talon to sweep late game. the other members help and support Talon and Heracross also. EQ Latios can Lure Heatran if played correctly and theres your Talon counter gone, Latios also checks Keldeo, Electrics and Volcanion etc which helps the team out a lot and provides us a ground immunity and Slowbro is there to take all the water and fighting hits and cover the remaining weaknesses of the team. Next comes the Sand Core Excadrill and Tyranitar which helps vs a good amount of the metagame outspeeding and taking hits. Tyranitar has Fire Blast to Hit those Ferrothorns, Skarmory, and Scizor etc which takes the pressure off of Heracross and Talonflame. Heracross is Standard SD to put holes in stuff and Talonflame is a late game sweeper and stall breaker with Swords dance and Taunt.


Replay > http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/ou-385555817 vs Charizard X + Clefable Semi Sand Balance[/hide]

 

[Sobi]

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Importable

Starmie @ Life Orb
Ability: Analytic
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Hydro Pump
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Psychic
- Rapid Spin

Diancie-Mega @ Diancite
Ability: Magic Bounce
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Hasty Nature
- Moonblast
- Diamond Storm
- Earth Power
- Protect

Heracross @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Moxie
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Close Combat
- Megahorn
- Knock Off
- Pursuit

Landorus-Therian (M) @ Soft Sand
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- Swords Dance
- Stealth Rock

Talonflame @ Sharp Beak
Ability: Gale Wings
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Brave Bird
- Flare Blitz
- Swords Dance
- Roost

Raikou @ Choice Specs
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Thunderbolt
- Volt Switch
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Shadow Ball

Description

so this is a team i made, i chose regular heracross over mega heracross because choice scarf heracross w/ moxie is a really interesting set and it's been really fun so far. mega heracross can't utilize a choice scarf and moxie can really turn heracross into a devestating wallbreaker if it gets a KO, so that's why i'm using it. first off then, starmie is my spinner, having one is mandatory because talonflame doesn't like losing 50% HP when it switches in, i went for hidden power fire to lure in scizor/ferrothorn and take them out. mega diancie is chosen to discourage the use of hazards because neither heracross nor talonflame like them on our side of the field, mega diancie can also weaken foes, allowing heracross to finish them off. heracross is pretty much straightforward & i summed up the set already, jolly nature ensures that extra speed and moxie provides an attack boost anyway but you can go for adamant if you'd like. knock off + pursuit is really helpful because the former helps with softening up pokemon that rely on their item for recovery or w/e, and pursuit can help against the latis, so there's that as well. lando-t is my offensive rocker, soft sand boosts the power of earthquake and intimidate can help against physical attackers and weakening them can allow for an easier time setting up. talonflame is my secondary setup sweeper, pretty simple, brave bird should be spammed late-game and it ohoes a lot of stuff with sharp beak but u can go for no item + acro, that's up to you. finally, raikou wraps up this team with some boltbeam coverage and it brings some momentum, pairing up well with landorus-t to soften up attackers with intimidate. this team probably isn't perfect but it's been working well for me. hope you like it!

 

[BIG G CHOPPA]

Nothing too special here but regardless i built this team around mega heracross and talonflame. Mega heracross is very threatening as it quite easily flexes on a plethora of stall builds. Using its ridiculously high attack stat to its advantage, as well as its solid bulk for an offensive mon. Close combat hits very hard and just dents anything severely if they dont resist it and is mandatory stab obviously, as it can wallbreak well just simply by clicking it. Pin missle helps it nail bulky psychics who think they can stomache a close combat. Rock blast is obviously for birds as they resist both of its stab and that 4x weakness to flying types means it needs a way to at least scare them off. I opted for sub on the last slot of mega heracross as it makes it less vulnerable to revenge killing when it has a sub intact, meaning it can pick up 1-2 kills depending on situation. Talonflame provides a fairy resist which can be useful as mons like clefable are running around in this meta and just clicking t wave while the parahax intensifies, and deals with some strong wallbreakers like mega charizard y as it can roost stall the fire blasts provided rocks are not up so that it has an easier time roost stalling and then proceeds to set up on it. Went for BU taunt as a bulky wincon is appreciated and its nice how it can get past mega sableye since toxic mega sable is not that common, its usually fake out variants more or less on stall builds. Still able to function as a fast revenge killer, using that bulk to support it along with gale wings. Able to somewhat check mega gardevoir although psyshocks hurt, it wont like a brave bird as it can pick off when weakened. Now obviously using talonflame necessitates the means of hazard removal, the core was looking overall keldeo weak as they wouldn't like switching into a scald or a hydro pump. Latios was the ideal fit as it provides hazard control in the form of defog, being able to threaten keldeo, provide the team with a fast and powerful wallbreaker. It's ability to check fast electric's along with volcanion was appealing as they posed a problem to this team so far. It's resistances to water, fire, and electric along with being immune to ground type moves due to levitate grant it a plethora of opportunities to switch in. Landorus therian is extremely splashable, offers excellent role compression and like why would i not have it on this build, good stealth rock setter. Bread and butter check to physical attackers (basically a go-to honestly), as this set takes on a defensive role. 8 sp def allow him to tank an hp ice from mega manectric at full health but isn't really needed considering there is a latios which runs roost. 8 speed evs helps it outspeed modest magnezone. Handles threats like tyranitar, terrakion, charizard x, mega lopunny, opposing landorus therian's, and so forth. Providing momentum with u-turn can put the matchup in my favor early game so that's nice. But the interesting choice i went with on this set was hp ice, helps me catch opposing lando t's, and tankchomps. Tyranitar was added for some speed control along with checking lati twins, psychics in general and pursuit trapping them. Good bird check as it threatens talonflame, mega pinsir, thundurus, and mega charizard y. Useful in removing weather also like sun and rain set by charizard y or politoed. I felt like a spiker would be cool here and how my team is weak to azu in general, ferrothorn looked like it would be the optimal fit here. Being able to set up spikes which helps mega heracross exert even more pressure onto builds complimented the team well overall. Chople is the item as my team is hilariously weak to mega gardevoir and mega alakazam so chople allows it to take a focus blast and OHKO them with gyro ball. But yea ferrothorn provides a bunch of useful resistances and forms an awesome rocker / spiker duo in tandem with lando t. Hope you like team :d.

importable

Heracross @ Heracronite
Ability: Moxie
EVs: 240 HP / 136 Atk / 132 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Close Combat
- Pin Missile
- Rock Blast
- Substitute

Talonflame @ Leftovers
Ability: Gale Wings
EVs: 248 HP / 252 SpD / 8 Spe
Careful Nature
- Brave Bird
- Roost
- Bulk Up
- Will-O-Wisp / Taunt

Tyranitar @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Stone Edge
- Pursuit
- Superpower
- Crunch

Ferrothorn @ Chople Berry
Ability: Iron Barbs
EVs: 252 HP / 88 Def / 168 SpD
Relaxed Nature
- Spikes
- Leech Seed
- Gyro Ball
- Power Whip

Latios @ Life Orb
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Draco Meteor
- Psyshock
- Roost
- Defog

Landorus-Therian @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 Spe
Impish Nature
- Earthquake
- U-turn
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Stealth Rock

 

[You...You...]

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Importable

Heracross-Mega @ Heracronite
Ability: Guts
EVs: 240 HP / 136 Atk / 132 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Close Combat
- Pin Missile
- Rock Blast
- Substitute

Talonflame @ Sky Plate
Ability: Gale Wings
EVs: 88 HP / 252 Atk / 168 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Brave Bird
- Flare Blitz
- Roost

Starmie @ Leftovers
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Scald
- Rapid Spin
- Recover
- Thunder Wave

Ferrothorn @ Rocky Helmet/Leftovers
Ability: Iron Barbs
EVs: 252 HP / 168 Def / 88 SpD
Relaxed Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Spikes
- Leech Seed
- Gyro Ball
- Power Whip

Landorus-Therian @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SpD
Impish Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- U-turn

Kyurem-Black @ Life Orb
Ability: Teravolt
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Rash Nature
- Ice Beam
- Fusion Bolt
- Earth Power
- Roost

Description

So this is a reasonably solid balance team that aims to break through teams with the combination of hazards, dual helmet (although I slashed lefties on Ferro as it really is personal preference) and two mons that are extremely difficult to switch into; Mega Hera and Kyu-B, leaving Talon open to clean. Hera and Cube put immense pressure on the opponent, making them really tough to handle, especially with hazards up. Mega Hera is the standard bulky spread and is the Sub variant which is perfect for taking advantage of common Talon checks such as Rotom (subbing to avoid wisp) and T-tar. Talon is just the common offensive SD variant, Starmie is bulky spinner to check Keldeo and spread status, Helmet Ferro and Lando wears down a whole host of physical attackers putting them in range of Talon's Brave Bird or hazards and, finally, Cube is just the standard LO Specially-Based Roost variant.

 

[yuruuu]

Hide

Heracross-Mega @ Heracronite
Ability: Moxie
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Substitute
- Close Combat
- Rock Blast
- Pin Missile

Talonflame
Ability: Gale Wings
EVs: 224 HP / 252 Atk / 32 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Will-O-Wisp
- Acrobatics
- Roost

Empoleon @ Chople Berry
Ability: Torrent
EVs: 248 HP / 196 Def / 52 SpD / 12 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Defog
- Scald
- Toxic
- Flash Cannon

Raikou @ Zap Plate
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 30 Def
- Volt Switch
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Shadow Ball

Landorus-Therian @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 248 HP / 48 Atk / 192 Def / 20 Spe
Impish Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- U-turn

Rotom-Wash @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 224 Def / 20 SpD / 12 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Hydro Pump
- Volt Switch
- Will-O-Wisp
- Pain Split

Talonflame + Mega Heracross lends itself to an offensive build. I started with Empoleon as my defogger, which is a pretty awkward choice in hindsight, but it fills up a steel type niche that every OU team really needs, as well as provide a resist to Water and Fairy attacks, especially Clefable. Raikou was next added as an Electric and a secondary Flying check, since Empoleon dies to coverage moves from Flying types. With Mega Heracross, it is imperative that Flying types be covered very fully (I have like 3 checks lol). Rotom-W serves the same purpose here, and both provide Volt Switch support so that I can get Mega Heracross in easily. RH Lando-T, blah blah.

I don't believe in bulky Heracross, and I guess you could run Guts if you wanted, but I like the extra potential boost against slower teams. Threatwise, Weavile can be an issue, faster Pokemon can be an issue since Talonflame is weak, multiple fairy types can weaken Empoleon, so you have to play around those. Keldeo can be an issue but you shouldn't really be letting it in too often.