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Whimsicott

Whimsicotts typing is super effective to Mega Gyarados and its typing -Am​


Strategies used:

When using whimsicott i honestly didn't know what to do with this thing. At first i wanted to attempt at using lo whimsicott but then i noticed how weak it was. So i decided to try a switcheroo+lagging tail set in order to cripple faster threats. This set in particular was pretty interesting because it gives slow wallbreaker Like Charizard-y a advantage over one of its more common switch ins. This is Latios/Latias which are one of the more common checks to zard-y because they outspeed and force zard-y out. On top of this if they carry recovery they check zard-y even better. the lagging tail set takes advantage of this crippling faster threats like the latis for zard-y which is really nice overall.

How i went about building with this pokemon:

When building around whimsicott i thought of it as more of a supporting pokemon then a mon to actually build around. So for this reason i paired it up with a slow wallbreaker in order to take advantage of the lagging tail. Seeing as it was kind of a standalone pokemon, i went from there and build a pretty basic zard-y team.

General strengths/weaknesses:

Pros
-Cool ability
-Great utility moves
-Unique Typing
-Interesting speed tier (not like it can use it well with such low spA)

Cons
-Not very bulky
-Really weak
-Lackluster coverage move pool

Does the meta favor Whimsicott?:

sadly whimsicott is really niche in this tier so chances are the meta will never really favour it. It has tons of competition from klefki and other prankster users in the tier all of which have more useful utility like klefki with spikes or Thundurus who has a offensive presence + prankster t-wave.

Sets used:

Lagging Tail Pivot


Whimsicott @ Lagging Tail
Ability: Prankster
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
- U-turn
- Encore
- Moonblast
- Switcheroo

Cripples faster threats for slower wallbreakers, Provides a slow u-turn, Disrupts sweeps/set up with priority Encore.

Offensive Life Orb



Whimsicott @ Life Orb
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Moonblast
- Giga Drain
- Encore
- Hidden Power [Fire]

Fast offensive mon despite being really weak, Priority encore for disrupting sweeps/set up.


Team Used: Whimsicott Dual Weather


Whimsicott @ Lagging Tail
Ability: Prankster
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
- U-turn
- Encore
- Moonblast
- Switcheroo

Charizard-Mega-Y @ Charizardite Y
Ability: Drought
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
- Fire Blast
- Solar Beam
- Focus Blast
- Roost

Tyranitar @ Chople Berry
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 HP / 80 Def / 176 SpD
Relaxed Nature
- Stone Edge
- Pursuit
- Stealth Rock
- Ice Beam / Superpower

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

Excadrill @ Air Balloon
Ability: Sand Rush
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Swords Dance
- Iron Head
- Rock Slide

Rotom-Wash @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 212 Def / 44 Spe
Bold Nature
- Hydro Pump
- Volt Switch
- Will-O-Wisp
- Pain Split


Basic Sand balance team with Sd loon exca to clean late game. Somewhat weavile/bisharp weak. You can run Keldeo Over rotom-w if that's a problem.
 

Name: Hawlucha
Type: Flying/Fighting
Abilities: Mold Breaker Unburden or Limber
Stats:
HP: 78
Atk: 92
Def: 75
Sp.Atk: 74
Sp.Def: 63
Speed: 118

Overview:
I chose Hawlucha because despite his low and compressed stats, they have a lot of power behind them, especially on its stabs, like High Jump Kick or Acrobatics or Sky Attack. Its speed allows it to annoy the hell out of Fast teams, especially with no priorities. Nevertheless, Mold Breaker is rare yet an amazing stallbreaker with access to Swords Dance and Taunt/Encore, able to annoy stall just with Stabs alone (I've tried Mold Breaker Hawlucha SD Stallbreaker)

Is the Metagame in favor of Hawlucha?
Depends. If Stallbreaker Mold Breaker Hawlucha, hell yes. GG stall. If Unburden, its hard to use it where talonflame is everywhere and weavile/Torn/MegaLopunny so.. :/ I don't think so. Limber? Its situational really so... No :(

Role: Fast Offensive Cleaner/Chunk Maker (Unburden), Stallbreaker/Balance Breaker (Mold Breaker), Anti-Cripple Set Up Attacker (Limber)
Strengths: Strong Stabs and speed and nice type and Abilities.
Weaknesses: Priority moves and faster pokemon (especially Talonflame Weavile Mega Lopunny etc.)

Tips:
If you plan to use Hawlucha, choose what are you trying to beat or do chunks to, whether Fast Teams (Unburden) Stall/Fat Teams (Mold Breaker) or be a reliable anti-cripple attacker (Limber). Since Most priority Moves are his bane, especially ice and Flying, Heatran is a good add, to counter talonflame and offer offensive pressure/Help hawlucha annoy stall with Magma Storm/Taunt.
(Just note that Heatran doesn't counter Weavile or Mega Lopunny. You need separate counters for them like say Keldeo and Rocky Helmet LandoT etc.)
Once you have priority mons countered with your mons (its best if your counters also offer offensive pressure), you can choose a fast/Wallbreaker mega.(For Example, I chose Mega Sceptile) Have Fun! :]

Team:
This is the team I have used in the process. Its compact but very annoying to face.

Hawlucha
Ability: Mold Breaker
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Taunt
- High Jump Kick
- Acrobatics

Sceptile-Mega @ Sceptilite
Ability: Lightning Rod
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Leaf Storm
- Giga Drain
- Focus Blast
- Dragon Pulse

Heatran @ Leftovers
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Magma Storm
- Toxic
- Taunt
- Stone Edge

Landorus-Therian (M) @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 248 HP / 240 Def / 20 Spe
Impish Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Swords Dance
- Stone Edge
- Earthquake

Keldeo-Resolute @ Choice Specs
Ability: Justified
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Hydro Pump
- Secret Sword
- Hidden Power [Bug]
- Scald

Weavile @ Life Orb
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Icicle Crash
- Knock Off
- Ice Shard
- Pursuit
 
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Hawlucha!

I'll stay as objective as I can but I'd like to point out, I have never missed more HJKs than when researching this topic. Also, unburden seems to be broken. I mean, take a look at this replay http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/ou-328900936 Ok against the gengar I should have missed, that was my bad, but I felt like every other time I clicked on it I missed.

Hawlucha has a unique typing, and is the first pokemon EVER to have a move with dual types (which is not as useful as it might seem). Lucha is super fast and has some high power attacks in High Miss Kick and Acrobatics, he also has a good selection of support moves, along with moves like Swords Dance and Substitute, which make him a dangerous unburden sweeper, as well as baton pass (a job he isn't the best at btw, but he can do it) He also can learn taunt and encore, in combination with Mold Breaker, one of the few pokemon who does. This combo allows him to taunt/encore pokemon with magic bounce. Lucha's typing also makes him a great switch-in if you can bait a move he's immune to. He's neutral to rocks, immune to earthquake, he 4x resists U-Turn and 2xresists knock off (in combination with unburden this might even be a good thing). He also has Limber as an option making him immune to T-Wave.

Lucha's biggest problem overall is getting in. Most of the Magic Bounce pokemon aren't really afraid of him either. More things Lucha has going against him are his low defenses. Hawlucha is made of paper and can't take more than one or two hits before going down. He also has some common weakness like electric ice and fairy. His frailty means that he can be put down by even neutral priority moves.

My strategy for hawlucha was to use him to get momentum on my side. (Actually kinda like the CAP project, but I did it in a different way) U-Turn stood out to me on his move pool as something usable, so I messed around with choice sets. I understood the power of Swords Dance, but I coupled it with both Unburden and Mold Breaker to combat different things. Mold Breaker seemed like it would be good to deal with Magic Bounce at first, but I hardly ran into any while I was laddering. Substitute was also very helpful, thanks to his speed, he could outrun a lot of pokemon that would normally throw out status moves, getting him in, and setting up a sub would often force them to shift their plan, it also let me scout teams and see what they had.

Building Sets and teams for this pokemon was challenging, but I had a lot of fun building sets. I built a great number of sets, but I think I've narrowed it down to two that are good enough to consider. Choice Scarf has a niche in that it's able to outspeed and OHKO M-Lopunny, as well as Excadrill in the sand. If you do need more hitting power you can opt for Choice Band, but really the high speed was the real selling point on this set for me, He already hit hard enough. I opted for superpower because I was so tired of missing, but HJK is really the better move. Superpower can work because of the hit and run nature of this set, but HJK allows you to clean up lategame. U-turn allows you to build momentum, and it's also not something people expect from Hawlucha. Iron Head is for Diance, and Aerial Ace is used because Acrobatics would be nice but I would have to surrender my item. There are plenty of coverage moves Lucha learns like Fire Punch, Poison Jab, and Stone Edge, it just depends on what coverage you need.
Hawlucha @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Mold Breaker
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Superpower/High Jump Kick
- U-turn
- Iron Head
- Aerial Ace

I also used a couple of Swords Dance sets. Unburden seems to be broken so most of the time I went with mold breaker anyway as I felt it was the better ability. Limber isn't a bad option but as I mentioned at +1 speed Hawlucha outruns a ton of very fast threats so if they ever fix unburden that would probably be very the best bet.
Hawlucha (F) @ Leftovers/Sitrus Berry
Ability: Mold Breaker/Unburden
EVs: 12 HP / 244 Atk / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- High Jump Kick
- Encore/Taunt/Acrobatics
- Substitute
- Swords Dance

(if you get tired of missing, I recommend hone claws :P, also the 12 HP is for a berry, useful for acrobatics sets as well as unburden, but can be changed to a leftovers number if you need.)

As far as building teams go I was really stuck for a while, I eventually used a team Snow made with M-Camerupt. I modified a few things on the Hawlucha but otherwise I just copy pasted Snow's team and hoped for the best. Later on I replaced a few members. I also built a few teams with Choice Scarf as I felt like it would be a good way to deal with sand, but the problem was Lucha didn't have much use outside of that. He wasn't able to bring down most of the dragon dancers, but I did suprise a lot of people with it.
Below is Snow's team (complete with his nicknames), when I first looked at it I thought I would just try it out and see what happened. I quickly discovered that unburden was broken on showdown, so I changed abilities around a lot. I also shifted away from acrobatics to first Taunt, then Encore. However, this wasn't actually the first team I tried
gayamber (Mandibuzz) (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Overcoat
EVs: 224 HP / 252 Def / 16 SpD / 16 Spe
Impish Nature
- U-turn
- Roost
- Foul Play
- Defog

homoamber (Hawlucha) (M) @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Unburden
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 12 HP / 244 Atk / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- High Jump Kick
- Acrobatics
- Substitute
- Swords Dance

ambergay (Clefable) (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Unaware
EVs: 216 HP / 252 Def / 32 SpD / 8 Spe
Bold Nature
- Thunder Wave
- Wish
- Protect
- Moonblast

amberhomo (Celebi) @ Leftovers
Ability: Natural Cure
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 240 HP / 168 Def / 60 SpD / 40 Spe
Bold Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Giga Drain
- Baton Pass
- Recover

femalamber (Rotom-Wash) @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 248 HP / 216 Def / 44 Spe
Bold Nature
- Hydro Pump
- Volt Switch
- Will-O-Wisp
- Pain Split

amberfemale (Camerupt) (F) @ Cameruptite
Ability: Solid Rock
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Atk / 252 SpA
Quiet Nature
- Yawn
- Fire Blast
- Earth Power
- Rock Slide


I tried out a team with both Hawlucha and Whimsicott early on, but I ran into a lot of problems, especially with talonflame. Still, scarf lucha made a lot of people mad, so I tried that idea out on another team.
Hawlucha @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Mold Breaker
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- High Jump Kick
- U-turn
- Stone Edge
- Iron Head

Latios @ Life Orb
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Defog
- Ice Beam
- Draco Meteor
- Psyshock

Metagross @ Metagrossite
Ability: Clear Body
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Meteor Mash
- Bullet Punch
- Zen Headbutt
- Pursuit

Sylveon @ Leftovers
Ability: Pixilate
EVs: 248 HP / 8 SpA / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
- Heal Bell
- Hyper Voice
- Wish
- Protect

Slowbro @ Leftovers
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpA
Bold Nature
- Scald
- Psyshock
- Slack Off
- Fire Blast

Landorus-Therian @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Stealth Rock
- U-turn
- Earthquake
- Knock Off


After playing with Snow's original team I decided I would make some edits to it to suit my liking, I took away yawn for stealthrocks, which meant I could replace Celebi, and I replaced Mandibuzz with Scizor to defog away hazards.
Hawlucha (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Mold Breaker
EVs: 12 HP / 244 Atk / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- High Jump Kick
- Encore
- Substitute
- Swords Dance

Clefable (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Unaware
EVs: 216 HP / 252 Def / 32 SpD / 8 Spe
Bold Nature
- Thunder Wave
- Wish
- Protect
- Moonblast

Rotom-Wash @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 248 HP / 216 Def / 44 Spe
Bold Nature
- Hydro Pump snow
- Volt Switch
- Will-O-Wisp
- Pain Split

Camerupt (F) @ Cameruptite
Ability: Solid Rock
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Atk / 252 SpA
Quiet Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Fire Blast
- Earth Power
- Rock Slide

Scizor @ Leftovers
Ability: Technician
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Def
Impish Nature
- Bullet Punch
- Pursuit
- Defog
- Roost

Garchomp @ Leftovers
Ability: Rough Skin
EVs: 242 HP / 16 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Earthquake
- Dragon Claw
- Substitute


Leaving out all the replays where I miss the first time I click high jump kick, I have a few. This was originally just a game to see if unburden was still broken, but it turned into a solid match, and Hawlucha really showed it's strengths, high speed after an SD, with a sub is hard to stop.
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/ou-330507742


This one is from after I modified the team a little more, another good match.
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/ou-330623626

This match was good, but I feel like my opponent lost because he made more misplays than I did (and I made more than a few)
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/ou-330578590



My final thoughts are, the metagame is NOT in favor of Hawlucha right now. He doesn't hit quite as hard and he has a lot of drawbacks. His movepool is cool but is lacking some coverage, acrobatics is a nice move but you are required to use a consumable which limits your options somewhat. He might be fast but OU is full of fast+strong threats right now, he faces competition in the HJK department from a few other mega fighting types, and other fighting types have different advantages over him. They might not be as fast, but they usually hit harder, and "can get hit, and keep standin' back up." He also faces issues in this offensive metagame, often times your opponent is either going to attack you or try to setup, and even though Lucha can take advantage of the setups in certain situations there are much better switch-ins usually. That doesn't mean he can't be used in OU, far from it. If your team is weak to sand he can actually provide a solid answer. Overall though he's just outshone by other fighting types.
 
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ok so prepare yourselves for not 1, not 2 but 3 analysis in one by ya boi. (Sorry m00ns :3) lets geddit

btw youll want some music to listen to, this gonna be a long one :x


Mega Latias

Strategies used:
Wanted to take advantage of MLatias' insane bulk and add a spikes setter to weaken the dark types and grounded foes. Originally was a TWave Roar set which I saw in an DPP RMT. Turns out, I can't build around that b/c even I have my limits D: Instead I opted for a TWave BoltBeam set which is prolly its best set atm, been seeing a ton of tour usage as well. Like i mentioned before, wanted to utilize spikes and something to keep hazards up so SpD Skarm and ScarfTar were basically a given lol.

Sets:
TWave BoltBeam: imo the best set atm, just is so nice by providing twave support and excellent neutral coverage in boltbeam and its just so phat :o
CM BoltBeam: Another cool set that utilizes MLatias' insane bulk to setup on a surprising number of mons. Also greatly appreciates spikes support for wearing down its checks/counters and can be a nice bulky win con.
Roar TWave: Not as good as the other two imo, but it seemed like an interesting set that offers support for slower wallbreakers in phazing and speed control through twave.

How I went building around this mon:
Just added 5 other mons [:?
Like I mentioned above, i really wanted to use spikes stacking with MLati so I obv chucked on a SpD Skarm to deal with fairies and dragons for Lati and a ScarfTar to trap psychics, namely Starmie and Lati who can spin and defog my hazards away respectively. Next I wanted a wallbreaker who could abuse the layers of spikes that Skarm could get up. Also wanted a solid dark resist for Bish and Weavile so I went with Specs Keld. Next I needed a solid wincon that appreciated Keld's wallbreaking power and something for MSab so i settled on CM Clef. Lastly I went with SD Gliscor as it provided a back up win con and something for Clef in case Skarm died. Unfortunately, no rocks so Skarm had to drop Spikes ;_;

Pros/Cons:
Pros

- Excellent bulk, even without max investment, allowing it to run more speed
- Great moveset allowing it to be a bulky win con, full support or just a wizard, spreading all dat yellow magic

Cons
- Outside of the CM set, it can be rather weak and even that set needs a fair amount of support.
- Again, outside of the CM set, it can be a bit too passive sometimes and even become setup fodder
- The builds with MLatias, as with most ZardY + Sand teams, is that it can be very linear and boring to build. While this isn't necessarily a con, it can be quite dull to build with Mega Latias.

Does the meta favour Mega Latias?
I would say the meta favours Mega Latias atm, it can be really annoying to certain teams that aren't prepared for it due to its bulk + reliable recovery. Even though I didn't list that many pros/cons, its pros highly outweigh the cons, as its cons can be negated by teammates. Therefore, meta is in favour of Mega Latias

Set that I used:

Latias-Mega @ Latiasite
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 248 HP / 68 Def / 192 Spe
Timid Nature
- Thunder Wave
- Thunderbolt
- Ice Beam
- Roost

248 HP for maximum bulk while maintaining a rocks number and 192 speed and a timid nature to outspeed Reg max speed Jolly Chomp and hit it with an ice beam. Another spread of 176 speed can be used to outspeed max speed Timid Manaphy as well.

The Squad:

Latias-Mega @ Latiasite
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 248 HP / 68 Def / 192 Spe
Timid Nature
- Thunder Wave
- Thunderbolt
- Ice Beam
- Roost

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

Skarmory @ Leftovers
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 248 HP / 252 SpD / 8 Spe
Careful Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Iron Head
- Whirlwind
- Roost

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

Clefable @ Leftovers
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: 252 HP / 172 Def / 84 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 8 Spe
- Moonblast
- Flamethrower
- Calm Mind
- Soft-Boiled

Gliscor @ Toxic Orb
Ability: Poison Heal
EVs: 244 HP / 8 Def / 200 SpD / 56 Spe
Careful Nature
- Swords Dance
- Earthquake
- Facade
- Roost





Mega Gyarados

Strategies used:
Really wanted to use a Sub Mega Gyarados set as it can dismantle quite a few fatter teams and can find a few fair setup situations and it also protects it from status from the likes of MSab, Quag and Chansey. Paired it with LO Zam and Sub Seed Serp, all three mons that I've wanted to use for a while.

How I went about building with this mon:
Originally this was a LO Zam team lol but then i had a look and Mega Gyarados really helps with the psychic types that Zam struggles against while Zam helps with the fat grasses such as Amoon and Venu. Serp was also added to deal with bulky waters such as Azu and Keld. After that, I just grabbed some mons to help support the core.

Pros/Cons:
Pros

- It's typing before mega evolving is really nice and can be better than its mega forme when trying to setup.
- Against fatter teams, it can set up a sub and proceed to DD quite easily. Examples include Quag, MSab, TankChomp at -1 from Intimdate and Chansey, Suicune and Power Whip less Ferro.
- It fucks up Wonder Trio :]


Cons
- Although it sets up on fat teams quite easily, offensive teams are quite annoying to it, as it finds less opportunities to setup.
- Once it mega evolves, it is much more susceptible to being revenge killed due to it's typing.
- Even at +1, it can be still quite slow, and is outspeed by many other common scarfers/Dragon Dancers in the tier, including ZardX, Scarf Lando, Kyube and Keld.
- Sub can also be slightly deadweight against some offensive teams, as while it can ease prediction, EQ/Ice fang are preferred more often than not.

Does the meta favour Mega Gyarados?
Due to how common offense is now, I would say Mega Gyarados is struggling to make its mark but not totally unviable, as with the right team support it can defintely be a threat to almost all playstyles. Meta is not in favour ATM

Set I used:
Gyarados-Mega @ Gyaradosite
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Substitute
- Dragon Dance
- Waterfall
- Crunch

Max attack and max speed allow it to outspeed up to jolly Mega Beedrill at +1. Pretty standard set, and not much to say. Another spread of 56 HP and 200 speed can be used to outspeed MLop and Mega Mane at +1.

Da Squad:

Gyarados-Mega @ Gyaradosite
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Substitute
- Dragon Dance
- Waterfall
- Crunch

Alakazam @ Life Orb
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Psychic
- Shadow Ball
- Focus Blast
- Encore

Serperior @ Leftovers
Ability: Contrary
EVs: 56 HP / 200 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 30 SpA / 30 Spe
- Substitute
- Leech Seed
- Leaf Storm
- Hidden Power [Fire]

Garchomp @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Rough Skin
EVs: 252 HP / 160 Def / 96 Spe
Impish Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Dragon Tail
- Earthquake
- Fire Blast

Skarmory @ Leftovers
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 248 HP / 252 SpD / 8 Spe
Careful Nature
- Spikes
- Roost
- Whirlwind
- Iron Head

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

aight im absolutely fucked @_@, finish mamo tomorrow​
 
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Strengths

Whimsicott has access to Prankster and a variety of support moves to abuse it such as Memento, Taunt, Encore, Tailwind, Stun Spore, and has access to Knock Off. Whimsicott also has a high base speed of 116 which just outspeeds Pokemon such as Starmie, and are able to get priority over other fast Prankster users such as Thundurus.

Weaknesses

Whimsicott has a sub-par typing in Grass / Fairy, it is weak against some common types in the tier such as Steel, Flying, Fire, and Ice but it also resist some others such as Ground, Fighting, Water, and Electric. Whimsicott also doesn't have the best offensive presence as it would like to have due to its low offensive stats, but its strong STABs surely makes up for it. Whimiscott is also Taunt bait, which usually shouldn't be a problem since you have a priority Taunt, but if Whimsicott does so happen to be taunted, it wouldn't be able to abuse its other support moves it gets.

Sets

Offensive Support: This is Whimsicott's best set hands down. With access to Prankster and a load of moves which fits perfectly for offensive teams, forces your opponent to play very cautiously. An example is if they try to set up with another Pokemon or get up an entry hazard while Whimsicott switches in. Encore allows you to keep them into that one move, and gain momentum with U-Turn or forcing them to switch beforehand, hence them wasting a turn. Whimsicott also has Taunt to stop leads from getting up their hazards which can be annoying from time to time. Stun Spore can stop faster Pokemon which usually does well against Offense such as Mega Lopunny and make it more manageable. Memento goes great with set up sweepers giving you a free turn.

Whimsicott @ Leftovers
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 252 HP / 112 Def / 144 SpD
Calm Nature
- Moonblast
- Stun Spore
- U-turn
- Taunt


Offensive Life Orb: This set isn't as effective, but is still usable because of Whimsicott's speed and STABs it receives. Its Grass and Fairy STABs hits a good portion of the tier, and with Hidden Power Fire coverage allowing it to hit Scizor and Ferrothorn allows Whimsicott to actually have great coverage. Whimsicott also has a great speed tier, outspeeding up to base 115 Pokemon. The ability is differen't as it has access to Infiltrator, being able to bypass Substitute is really good for an Offensive Pokemon. Prankster can still be an option if you plan on running a move like Encore or Taunt if you still want Whimsicott to have the supporting aspect for your team or able to stop entry hazards.


Whimsicott @ Life Orb
Ability: Infiltrator / Prankster
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Moonblast
- Giga Drain
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Psychic / Encore / Taunt



Building


The Squad
http://www.smogon.com/forums/threads/definitely-not-clickbait-i-swear-oras-ou-rmt.3556709/

I already went in-depth with the team once (also includes Hawlucha!) so if you want to see more of how I went into teambuilding and what made me put Whimsicott and why just click the pictures above!

 
Mega Latias
Strategies/Building:
So I built two teams with MLatias, one a balance team and another a stall team (which was fucking impossible to build). For the balance team I thought of using bolt-beam Latias, it has coverage that is difficult to wall in Electric and Ice type coverage. As a result, it allows it to 2HKO and OHKO some of the more common mons in the tier, including Landorus-T, Garchomp, Skarmory, Talonflame, Keldeo and Azumarill.



Latias-Mega @ Latiasite
Ability: Levitate
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 248 HP / 84 Def / 176 Spe
Timid Nature
- Calm Mind
- Thunderbolt
- Roost
- Ice Beam

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

Starmie @ Leftovers
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 248 HP / 8 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Rapid Spin
- Scald
- Recover
- Ice Beam

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

Thundurus @ Leftovers
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Thunder Wave
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Volt Switch
- Grass Knot

Skarmory @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 248 HP / 248 Def / 12 Spe
Impish Nature
- Roost
- Iron Head
- Whirlwind
- Spikes

Nothing much to say here, skarm and talon take out fairies and darks assist MLatias, it's still pretty Dark-weak, and kyub is fairly annoying

Latias-Mega @ Latiasite
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 248 HP / 52 Def / 16 SpD / 192 Spe
Timid Nature
- Thunder Wave
- Ice Beam
- Thunderbolt
- Roost

Quagsire @ Leftovers
Ability: Unaware
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Def
Impish Nature
- Recover
- Scald
- Earthquake
- Toxic

Skarmory @ Leftovers
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
- Roost
- Spikes
- Whirlwind
- Defog

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

Clefable @ Leftovers
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: 252 HP / 172 Def / 84 SpD
Impish Nature
- Soft-Boiled
- Calm Mind
- Moonblast
- Heal Bell

Heatran @ Air Balloon
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 64 HP / 192 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Magma Storm
- Taunt
- Earth Power

This team was impossible to build, but it's just a stall team with quag to check weavile and bisharp, Skarm checks (annoyingly shakily) fairies. i've also had to resort to using defog skarm and heal bell + cm clef which sucks lol.

the stall team originally was meant to use a bulkier set for Latias, however, with the help of Nedor, decided that bolt beam twave would probably be better for the team.

Strengths: extremely bulky and fast, allows it to blanket check a good proportion of the meta, has good lead matchup against the likes of Garchomp and Lando-t. cm is a solid late game win condition, that has difficult to wall coverage (as a result magnezone and rotom-heat become setup fodder for it, because of its solid defensive typing). It is also fairly easy to support and isn't worn down by hazards and such, and as a result fits well on balance. Checking the likes of Manaphy and Keldeo is also useful for such a Pokemon. bulkier sets are also solid against certain weather builds and can wall mons such as Excadrill and Megazard Y

Weaknesses: twave mlatias is a bit passive, and doesn't hit that hard, despite this it is still capable of doing considerable damage. also since it is heavily prone to statusm and as a result multiple status absorbers are required on a team. also cm + stored power sets need a lot of mons out of the way to be able to effectively clean, since it is walled by dark types and bulky steel types, such as Skarmory and Bisharp.

the only sets i really used/tried to use were, the defensive utility set (which i didn't use in the end), bolt-beam cm and bolt beam twave.
Bolt Beam CM
Latias-Mega @ Latiasite
Ability: Levitate
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 248 HP / 84 Def / 176 Spe
Timid Nature
- Calm Mind
- Thunderbolt
- Roost
- Ice Beam

Bolt Beam Twave
Latias-Mega @ Latiasite
Ability: Levitate
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 248 HP / 84 Def / 176 Spe
Timid Nature
- Thunder Wave
- Thunderbolt
- Roost
- Ice Beam

Utility
Latias @ Latiasite
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 248 HP / 68 Def / 192 Spe
Timid Nature
- Thunder Wave
- Roar
- Recover
- Dragon Pulse


verdict:
The metagame is in favour of it because it can check mons some of the more common mons, as well as potentially prove a nuisance to sand builds etc. also being somewhat unpredictable seems to fare well.
 

Eclipse

Like a chimp with a machine gun
is a Contributor Alumnus

Mega Latias

Strategies Used:

Looking at Mega Latias, it is easily able to check many threats in the metagame with its awesome bulk and good moveset which allows it to fit great on balance builds. I wanted to build a balance build based on spreading status across the enemy team to prepare for my wincon to come in and hopefully sweep. I wanted to build around a Dragon/Steel/Fairy core so in this case I used Clefable and Cobalion as partners for M-Latias, as they synergize surprisingly well with each other.

Building with M-Latias:

As mentioned, I tried to build around the core of M-Latias, Clefable, and Cobalion. Figuring out which set to run for the three of them was kind of difficult, and I'm still not sure about my Clefable set at the moment, lol. I wanted to use Zapdos as well with M-Latias, as the two of them can easily spread paralysis and Zapdos can spread poison to pokemon that are not able to get paralyzed as well. Here was the team that I used:


Zapdos @ Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 248 HP / 132 Def / 16 SpD / 112 Spe
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Substitute
- Discharge
- Roost
- Toxic

Latias-Mega @ Latiasite
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Def / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Thunder Wave
- Recover
- Thunderbolt
- Ice Beam

Clefable @ Leftovers
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: 252 HP / 172 Def / 84 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Stealth Rock
- Heal Bell
- Soft-Boiled
- Moonblast

Cobalion @ Leftovers
Ability: Justified
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Substitute
- Swords Dance
- Iron Head
- Close Combat

Starmie @ Life Orb
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 32 HP / 224 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Rapid Spin
- Recover
- Scald
- Psyshock

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


This is a really fun balance team which I have been using the most of as of late, it is very fun and has some kinks that I need to work on (will probably make an RMT very soon, so watch out for that, lol) which involves the spreading of status so that my wincon, which is Cobalion in this case, can sweep. Not the strongest team out there or the best I've built, but its a fun squad that showcases M-Latias's strengths tremendously.

Strengths

M-Latias is insanely bulky and eats up a ton of hits that I absolutely did not expect it to take. Depending on how much bulk you decide to invest into it (I run max speed Latias to check Keldeo better), it can even take non-STAB Knock Off's easily depending on the pokemon using it. Obviously BoltBeam gives M-Latias great coverage, and its damage output is not bad due to its base 140 Special Attack stat, which hits decently hard even without investment. Its ability to act as a status spreader with Thunder Wave or as a bulky wincon with Calm Mind shows that it can run a variety of sets to threaten the opposing team.

Weaknesses

Really, the main issue I faced with M-Latias, is that more than with many other pokemon, M-Latias HATES status a lot. Given that with Thunder Wave, Latias acts as a nice bulky pivot, any status cripples it heavily and forces you to either try and heal it up more often or go to a cleric (provided that you have one) to clear M-Latias of status, giving your opponent a lot of momentum in the process. M-Latias builds should have some solid status absorbers or clerics so that M-Latias has more breathing room to do its job. Generally M-Latias checks can be broken past due to T-Wave being so broken good, so really it doesn't have all too much to worry about aside from status, which is a HUGE issue for it, and all M-Latias builds again need to make sure that it is not getting inflicted with status.

Verdict

Overall, this mon has been gaining a lot of traction in the meta as of late, and for good reason, it checks many top threats such as Keldeo and does well in this ground-infested meta by easily dealing with common grounds such as Lando and Chomp. Other mons HATE getting T-Wave'd, so it can help put major threats to a stop such as Torn-T for example if it manages to get hit with a T-Wave. M-Latias has a lot to love about it and a lot of reasons to be running it in this meta, so I would absolutely say that the meta is in favor of Mega Latias.
 
c l o s i n g. thanks to everyone who participated!

the posts being added to archive are this post on hawlucha by StarBomber109, this post on mega latias by CrystalRam, and this post on whimsicott by Terrakion.. good work guys [:

thanks Infernal and FookMi? for helping me decide on the posts to archive. also, remember: the archived posts are simply the posts that best summarize the pokemon for future reference. not every post needs to summarize the pokemon; some people may just want to center their posts around one aspect, and that's totally okay. you don't need to follow the guidelines perfectly to post here; they're just there to guide you a bit if you're unsure of what to post.

~​

week #5

volcarona | mega gallade | gastrodon
REMEMBER: you simply pick 1 one of these 3 (or 2 / 3 of them if you want :p) and post here saying which one you're taking. also, you can use any set you want!


the discussion period will start on 2/20; those of you who want to participate have between now and then to play around with one of these pokemon.

also, i'm gonna try out something new for next week and request that those of you signing up / posting suggest a pokemon to research (if you'd like to ofc). if you want to suggest a pokemon, you can either include it in your signing up post, or you can put it at the end of your write up. if you wanna suggest a pokemon, but you don't want to participate this week, feel free to leave suggestions on my wall (VMs) or PM me on PS!.

have fun :D
 
I'll be taking Mega Gallade? So what he gets inner Focus? At least I can depend on him Mid-Late Game Clean/Sweeps :)
 
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